Transition to the Outdoors

So, after a few weeks of saying I would run outside, but never doing it, the time came to venture to the outdoors to see if running outside was a lot worse than running on a treadmill. I had prepared myself to expect anything. I didn’t think it would be too difficult, but I really didn’t know. So on Monday (like 2 to 3 weeks ago now), after the girls went to bed at 7pm, I headed out into the unknown. I had stretched for the full 15 minutes as per my training plan and borrowed my wife’s watch, as I do not own one, to keep track of my pace and I was ready to go. (I have neglected to mention that my wife’s watch is a really sleek looking Nike watch. It was a Christmas present a few years ago, but … it’s pink.) So, with my wife’s pink watch, and my new Nike shoes (well they were new as of February) I took off for my first run outside. It felt pretty good to be outside with the wind and fresh air. It was a big improvement over my basement. Deb (that’s my wife), gave me a route to my daughter’s elementary school, so being the good husband I am, I listened to her advice and headed in that direction. For the most part I was feeling good, my breathing was steady and my legs were good, but the further I went the more labored my breathing became. I knew the first mile and a half would probably be the toughest, so I continued to push through the pain. My daughter’s school was in sight and as I approached I was wheezing like a asthmatic smoker. I couldn’t keep running and stay conscious so I slowed to a walk. Dejected, I turned to go home as I couldn’t run another step. My muscles were fine, but my breathing couldn’t take anymore strain. I guess all those folks who said running outside was “totally different” were right. How am I supposed to run 13.1 miles when I can’t even run 1 mile without almost passing out? So I walked home. Still wheezing when I arrived, I told Deb about my run. I could see the sympathy in her eyes while I relayed the story. She asked how long it had taken me to run to the school. It was a little more than 11 minutes 30 seconds. She said that I ran 1.5 miles in that time? I said I suppose. Well, as it turns out the school was 1.5 miles from the house, not 1 mile. I had run the mile in 7 minutes and 30 some seconds, which was way too fast. I should be running at a 10 minute per mile pace and that was the reason I couldn’t breathe (because I was almost sprinting). While Deb, my buddy Eric who got me into this and his wife all had a good laugh at my expense (and now I suppose more people will be laughing at this) I was able to realize that the real difference from the treadmill and outside running was the pace. I needed to get used to setting my own pace instead of letting a machine do it for me. This was my first adventure to outside running and it was quite a humorous one. I am happy to say that my next run outside was much better as I stuck to my 10 min/mile pace. This about catches me up to the present, other than the fact of my run last Saturday and my run yesterday, but these stories I will share next time. Moral of the story, if you are training for a half marathon, don't try and sprint the entire time, you'll either cough up a lung or pass out. Gotta run.

In the beginning …

Well, I thought I should start at the beginning even though I’m already 2 months into my training. I wouldn’t want to leave anything out. I started my training on Feb 15, 2010. Now for those of you that have not experienced a winter in Wisconsin, you know that you don’t want to be outside for an extended amount of time in February. However, we have been blessed with a treadmill from some great friends of ours so I was able to train in the comfort of my own home. My first run was only 2 miles, which I was able to do quiet easily I thought. After this I thought that this was going to be a piece of cake. Well, looking back it has been a piece of cake if the cake is one of the most difficult cakes ever to make. My second time on the treadmill was … not like the first. I don’t know if the incline was set higher than 0, but my calves burned like crazy and I couldn’t run the full 2 miles. I started doubting if I was going to be able to do this half marathon thing since I couldn’t even run 1 mile without needing a break. The third time on the treadmill was like the second. Thanks to my running buddy I was able to do some better stretching exercises and I was able to get through it though it still hurt. The next week I was out of town for over a week for a tradeshow for work and I only ran 2 times in 2 weeks (Yikes). After that I was better at keeping to my schedule and I’ve slowly increased my distance on the treadmill. I got up to 6 miles on the treadmill without stopping to walk in the middle. I was pretty pleased with my efforts except that whenever I told anyone about it (especially those that are runners) they would say “running outside is totally different.” So I got a little (ok a lot) nervous about transitioning to running outside. That story will come next post. Gotta run.

What's The Deal?

A few months ago a buddy of mine told me he was training to run in a half marathon and asked if I wanted to join him.  I looked at my waistline and thought that I could use the exercise, but 13.1 miles is a long way to run.  I mean, I ran cross-country in middle school (that was only like 20 years ago) so I felt like the foundation has been laid, however it is 13.1 miles of running.  Plus, I wouldn't be doing this alone as my buddy and me would be helping each other out throughout this endeavour, but did I mention that I would be running 13.1 MILES?  So, to make a long story short, I said yes.  Fast forward to 2 months later, I've been training approximately 3 times a week and I'm surprised how well its been going.  I started out running 2 miles at a time and have worked up to about 6 miles each run.  I've got up to 7.66 miles last Saturday and I have ran it in 70 minutes and 15 seconds.  So far so good.  So this is my journey on this half marathon experience and I plan on keeping track of my progress and hopefully funny stories along the way. Gotta run.