I'm here to complete, not compete...

It's been a crazy few days, and the hot week we had in Phoenix hasn't helped at all. Seriously, it's November and we're still seeing 90°+ days? I was ready for summer to be over in September, but it's still beating us down.

But enough bitching about the weather.

I did my week three short runs this week on Monday evening and Wednesday morning. Both were four miles and uneventful. Just the usual run out to the park, around the lake and back home. I was supposed to do a seven mile long run on Friday. I woke up too late to do it before work, so I figured I'd do it in the late evening. I ate too much for dinner, though, and even though I waited 2-1/2 hours before my run, I got sick about 2.5 miles into it and called for a ride home. The upside to that run was that I found $30 in cash on the ground.

I thought about making another attempt at the seven miler on Saturday, but my knee was feeling sore and I had the Phoenix 10K the next day, so I decided it would be more prudent to take the day off. This puts me behind on the training schedule, but I think I can make it up; I'm supposed to be doing ten mile long runs by December. Once I reach that point, I think I'm within striking distance of the half-marathon goal.

The shoes that I won finally showed up on Friday. Nike Air Pegasus+. They're pretty cool shoes, and I'll probably try them out in about 100-200 miles. I overpronate, though, which means that I need stability shoes, and the Pegasus (Pegasi?) are just cushioning shoes for normal pronators. I've been working on my stride, though, and they may work out. We'll see.

The grand total of stuff I've gotten from running. Not exactly breaking even, yet.

As I foreshadowed earlier, Sunday was the Phoenix 10K. Laurel and I both went; she was signed up for the 5K and I the 10k. The event was well organized and publicized. There were approximately two thousand  participants in the 10K event and the coordinators had set up pacing teams for various speeds all the way up to 10:00/mile. I decided to start just behind the 10:00 pace team based on my earlier experiences. They sounded the horn promptly at 8:00 am, and about a minute later I crossed the starting line.

I have a new pet peeve: walkers who start at the front of the pack after being told repeatedly to start in the back. There must have been a dozen announcements before the 10K and Laurel said there were at least as many before the 5K. Even so, I was dodging walkers before I crossed the starting line, and pretty much continuously for the first couple miles. Some of them were even walking three or four abreast, completely oblivious to the runners. It was like I was the one chasing the zombies. I wanted to hit every one of them with a dipstick. Fortunately, both events took place on wide streets, so it wasn't hard to get around them. It was just frustrating, though, that so few of the walkers bothered to follow the rules.

At around 2.25 miles, some motor officers started pushing all the runners to the right side of the road. I was kind of annoyed at first, but then I saw the elites go by, making sub-five minute miles look easy. As I had expected, they lapped me. It was awesome to see them fly by us, though. Everyone around me was clapping and cheering for them, and we all even sped up a bit. Running is one of the few sports where professionals and hobbyists share the same field, and to quote Jerry Myers in Spirit of the Marathon, it's like running in the footsteps of giants.

I finished the first five kilometers somewhere around 28:30 (the timing company doesn't provide a 5k split time even though we crossed the timing mats), but somewhere around 2.5 miles, the inside of my left knee started hurting. The second five kilometers turned into a run/walk with a sprint at the end, but somehow I managed to complete the event with a chip time of 1:03:31, which put me at an overall pace of 10:14. I finished 1330/1988 overall, and 94/113 for my division. It felt completely awesome to finish. I turned in my chip, limped over to the clothing check, and managed to get the camera out just in time to get a few shots of the beginning of the 5K.

 The 5K gets underway. I think Laurel is in there somewhere. Yup, she's waving. Um, I think you're supposed to wave with all of your fingers.

I took a few minutes to ice my knee in the shade and savor the sanctification of finishing. It wasn't my best performance, and I was frustrated with the knee forcing me to walk for about a fourth of the distance, but I still finished, and finished ahead of almost 660 other runners. On the off chance that any of the hundreds of people that worked to make this event a success are reading my blog, I want to wish you a hearty thanks.

Now I need to get caught up with my half-marathon training. This week is 4/5/7, and I absolutely have to get that seven miler done on Friday morning due to weekend plans. I'm planning to do a slow four mile jog this evening to work out the kink in my knee; hopefully some even ground will help.

Last of all, I'm getting frustrated with the limited featureset on blogspot and I'm thinking of moving my blog over to Wordpress.

Spooky Six

I'm not blogging to myself anymore; I've amassed a loyal band of readers that number somewhere in the single digits. Mid-to-low single digits. So, I will no longer address my nonexistent readers. I've also decided to limit myself to weekly blogging because (a) I don't have time for much more than that, (b) that's been the trend lately, anyway and (c) my posts are a lot longer when I can put an entire week's worth of content into them. Which brings me to throwing in the last week's worth of content.

Monday was the official start of my half-marathon training program. I'm using the Coach feature on nikerunning, which starts off with two four-mile short runs and a six-mile long run. When I first started the C25K program this summer, I really couldn't comprehend the idea of four-mile short runs. Part of me still can't, but I did them anyway. I did both of them in the early evening, following a familiar route to the park, around the lake and back home. I was scheduled to do my long run on Friday, and I even had the day off from work, but I just didn't feel like doing it. Instead, I got caught up in reading Addicted to Hate, Jon Michael Bell's account of Fred Phelps and his Westboro Baptist Church. Believe it or not, there is a running tie-in there, but I'll leave it to you, my paltry band of readers, to discover it for yourselves.

Saturday, of course, was Halloween, and I really needed to get that long run in. It's one thing to skip a short run during the week; another entirely to blow off a long run. The day was already busy with errands, meals and trick-or-treaters, though, so I decided to do it after the trick-or-treating tapered off. Shortly after nine o'clock, and under a nearly-full moon, I finally started. I took the same route as the short runs, but added another lap around the lake to increase the distance. I kept my pace at approximately ten minutes per mile and focused on my form. I'm still trying to clean up the mechanics of my stride to avoid injury and reduce recovery time. Every time Nike+ announced a mile completed, I had three or four sport beans and a mouthful of water (thanks for the tip, Michelle). I ran past quite a few Halloween parties, but I didn't see any ghosts, ghouls, zombies or even the Great Pumpkin. The six miles ticked away one at a time until I completed them, leaving me with a quarter-mile walk to my front door. Week One - Done.

On Sunday, we stopped into Ross and scored. I got a pair of Reebok men's running tights for $15 (regularly $50, and yes, I'm sure they're actually men's). Now that it's finally starting to cool off in the evenings and mornings, they'll come in handy.

I also watched the 2009 New York City Marathon on Sunday. I thought it was a bummer to see Paula lose it at the end, but apparently Nike didn't get the memo:

This week is 4/4/7, plus I have the Phoenix 10K on Sunday. I'll post again after all of that.

The Finish Line is Just Another Starting Line

My apologies, nonexistent readers, for not updating you in almost a week. Most of the week was spent icing my shin or knee and trying to keep both elevated, so there wasn't much to report.

On Thursday, I felt well enough to run again, but I decided to leave the hydration belt I hate behind and just see how my leg and all of its sore components felt. The answer was, they felt better. I did start feeling a little bit of shin splint after about ten minutes, but after another half mile it loosened up and felt fine. I was supposed to do a forty-five minute run, but without any hydration or nutrition I settled for thirty-one minutes and 3.26 miles.

Between Thursday and Saturday, I picked up the Nathan Speedbelt 4 that I talked about getting the last post. I loaded up the bottles with water and electrolyte replacement drink and set out Saturday morning to run the Nike+ Human Race 10k. That belt is light-years better than the other one. It doesn't bounce around at all, and I barely even noticed it.  There is a small pouch on the front that's perfect for a bag of sport beans, of which I ate a small handful every two kilometers. About 400 meters from the finish I felt a twinge in a rather personal adductor muscle, but I kept going because I was so close to the end. This was my longest run so far, and it was tough, but I finished it in 1:00:09.  That completes the One Hour Runner program, which segues directly into my half-marathon training program.

Remember that Shoes Challenge I was logging runs for? I WON! THEY'RE SENDING ME SHOES! I don't know what shoes they are, but I'll probably just put them on the shelf until I mile out my Equalons.

After I recovered from my Saturday run, we went to the State Fair using the pass I got from my last 5k. We had a good time, enjoyed the fair food and saw all the animals (I saw a lot of mutton that didn't know it was mutton, yet).

Sometime over the last week, I went green on Nikerunning. Which is cool, but it means that I have 465 miles to go until I hit blue.

This is probably a good time to mention that I've signed on with the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's Make Cures Happen program. I'm hoping to raise $1000 for research into blood cancers, and everyone reading this blog can help. No donation too small, and no donation too big.

Running for...Fair Tickets?

Saturday was supposed to be week 9, day 3 of One Hour Runner, a 55 minute run. I started with my usual half-bagel with cream cheese and added a bag of extreme sport beans. It was hot and I just felt exhausted. I only made it about thirteen minutes before I just completely ran out of energy. I'm also just hating my hydration belt more and more every time that I run with it. On Saturday it was bouncing around and the buckle was punching me in the abdomen. I think it would be fine for hiking, but it's torture for running. I'm about ready to give up on it and get one of these instead:

The reviews on Amazon and other sites are pretty good, and my friend Michelle just finished a full marathon using one on Sunday. She spoke highly of it, so it's probably worth a try. The heat was supposed to break after Sunday, so I decided to shelve the run for Monday and headed home. I really should have pushed ahead.

Speaking of Sunday, I ran the Arizona State Fair 5k. I completed the race in 29:09, coming in 75th overall and 8th in my division. I think that's a respectable finish. One I can improve upon for sure, but I'm happy with it.

The author posing with "Midway Marge," a State Fair mascot.

Included in the registration for the race was a pass for 5 to the Arizona State Fair. Admission is usually $10, so I've rounded up four friends to go next weekend.

Monday showed up right on schedule, cooler but still unseasonably warm, so I tried the 55 minute run again. This time I skipped the pre-run sport beans and just took a bag of the non-caffeinated variety as a refueling snack. I felt better, but after 2.6 miles I developed shin splints in my right leg for the first time. Actually, my whole right leg was getting sore; my quad, knee, IT band and ankle were also acting up. All of those I could power through, but the shin splint was too much. Somewhere around week 6 of the Couch-to-5K program, I was experiencing pain and weakness in my right knee, which I traced to a bad habit of turning my right toe in when I got tired and lazy. I think I was trying so hard to keep from turning my right toe in that I was just out of balance and landing really hard on my right foot. I'm going to spend the next couple of days icing my shin and knee while loading up on ibuprofen. I'll try for running 45 minutes on Thursday; if that's successful I'll push ahead to 6.2 miles on Saturday.

I don't need to run around in circles....

Condition: I hate running laps. I like for my run to have a start and a finish, and there's something demoralizing about running around in circles, even if they're really big circles. I realized that this had actually become an anxiety, causing me to map out long and complex routes to avoid running laps.

Problem: The Phoenix 10K consists of two laps of a 5 kilometer course, so I'm going to have to run the laps to complete it.

Solution: Exposure therapy. I learned this from watching Obsessed. The best way to get over an anxiety is to confront it head on. Plan a run that includes multiple laps of the same course.

So, that's what I did. This morning was week 9, day 2 of One Hour Runner, a forty minute run. A park near my house has a small lake with an island. Running all the way around the lake is 1.1 miles, adding in the island makes it 1.5. Guesstimating that my pace would be a little under 10:00/mile, I decided to go for three laps including the island, which would leave me about a five minute cooldown walk to my car at the end.

I got up at 5:30, had half a bagel with cream cheese and a bag of caffeinated sport beans and then drove over to the park. It was still pitch dark for the first lap; except for a few geese and a couple of fishermen, I had the park to myself. By the time I started my second lap, the sun was breaking the horizon and I was sharing the pathways with walkers and homeless guys collecting cans. I downed most of another bag of sport beans with some water on the loop around the island. On the third lap I was wishing for sunglasses, but the fastest way to get to them was to finish the run. I got the five minute warning just as I hit the bridge to start my last island loop, and as I came around the south end of the lake I completed my forty minute goal.

So, do I like running laps now? No. Still not my favorite way to put miles on my shoes. But with 1.5 mile laps, it's a convenient way to stack up some distance without actually going very far.

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I just got a Facebook update from the Runner's Den about the Arizona State Fair 5k Fun Run/Walk. Apparently registration includes admission to the fair and Stone Temple Pilots is playing that night. Hmm...

Running for Beer & Pizza

It's been a long few days, and I haven't had time keep you updated, nonexistent readers.

On Thursday night, Laurel and I attended the Training Kick-Off Party for the P.F. Chang's Rock 'N Roll Arizona Marathon & Half-Marathon. We had a good time and made contact with several charity running organizations. I'm probably going to sign with either Team-in-Training or the Shade Foundation. After making the rounds at the expo and listening to a pep talk from Josh Cox and Susan Loken, we did the 3.5 mile run. It was completely disorganized; everybody just walked up to the starting line and started running. Cox was supposed to be leading the run, but he started from all the way in the back and worked his way up to the front. I paced him for a couple of minutes before he pulled away from me. Unlike my first 5K, I started in the middle of the pack at my own pace of about 9:13/mile and moved up slowly. This will be my strategy for future races. After the run we came back to free beer and pizza. How awesome is free beer and pizza? Infinitely awesome.

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On Saturday morning I was scheduled for week 8, day 3 of One Hour Runner, a fifty-minute run. I got up and got dressed, but had a hard time motivating myself to get out the door. I finally dragged myself onto the street and ran the first quarter-mile before I realized that I had forgotten my hydration belt. I knew I would absolutely need it, so I headed back home. By the time I really got underway it was almost 9 o'clock am. Still feeling unmotivated, I slogged out of my neighborhood and into farmland, cursing myself for picking the route. There were no sidewalks and the shoulder was rough, so I ended up running towards traffic on the rarely traveled roads. I had to stop and walk twice to safely cross busier streets, but I kept pushing and pushing myself as the Nike+ announcer counted down my time. When she announced "one minute remaining," I checked the distance and was disappointed to hear only 4.83 miles. I decided to keep going until I crossed five miles, which only took another minute. When I finally paused Nike+ and checked Runkeeper, I had already hit 5.18 miles. Adding a few hundredths for the time it takes to start Runkeeper after starting Nike+, and subtracting a few hundredths for crossing the busy streets, I calibrated the workout to 5.1 miles. Some days I feel great at the end of a long run, but this was not one of those days; I felt just as crappy for the rest of the day as I had before I ran. The upside, though, is that I finished the run and qualified for the Shoes Challenge.

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On Sunday, Laurel and I stopped into The Runner's Den and registered for the 34th Annual Phoenix 10k. I'm scheduled to run seven miles just two days before this event, so I'm confident about finishing. I'm aiming to finish in just under one hour, so I fully expect the elite runners to be crossing the finish line as I'm completing my first lap.

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I just looked at the video highlights from the Kick-Off Party and I'm briefly visible talking to Ron from The Runner's Den.

Running for Shoes

I waited until after nine o'clock pm last night to go for my run so that it would count for the Shoes Challenge. It was the final run for week seven of One Hour Runner, so I loaded up my hydration belt with water, sports drink and sport beans. The moon was full and accented by a few streaks of clouds; the air was calm and 72°.

I set my iPhone for a 45 minute workout and started down the trail, mouthing the words to "My Neck, My Back" by The Vandals. I cruised along past horse pastures and stalled housing developments, heading for the park. By the time I reached the halfway point I was on the far side of the lake. Small groups of fishermen were clumped in various spots, enjoying the cool evening and probably hoping for a free dinner. I took a handful of sport beans from their pouch and chewed them slowly, washing them down with some water. As I came around the lake, the moon was reflected perfectly in the nearly still water. Someone's unleashed pit bull ran alongside me for a couple hundred yards, reminding me of passage in Great Races, Incredible Places where a Klondike Relay runner was being paced by an actual grizzly bear. After a quick loop of the island, I reluctantly turned away from the lake and started back towards home. Before I knew it, I was hearing the five minute warning. With one minute remaining, I opened up and sprinted to the invisible finish line, completing my new personal distance record of 4.65 miles in 45 minutes.

When I got home and synced my run I was already in second place, so I obviously wasn't the only one trying to get a jump start on the challenge. By the time I checked it again this morning, I had dropped below fortieth.

I learned a few things on this run:

• Night running is pretty awesome now that the evenings have cooled off.
• Sport beans are even more awesome. I finished that run feeling great and I attribute that to the beans I ate at the halfway point.
• The hydration belt works best once the main water bottle is at about 75% capacity. It stops bouncing around and rides evenly. I only drank about 50% of the bottle, anyway, so I'll just fill it to 75% for future long runs.
• I've decided to just round all the remaining run times in OHR to the nearest five minutes.
  

Tomorrow starts week eight of OHR and Thursday is the Training Kick-Off Party for the P.F. Chang's Rock 'N Roll Arizona Marathon & Half-Marathon. That will count for day two and I'll finish the week with a fifty minute run on Saturday.

Rule #1: Cardio

What most people don't get is that zombie movies aren't really horror movies; they're disaster movies. Nobody cares about the zombie characters. It's fun to see them get killed in new, imaginative ways because they've lost their humanity. No, zombie movies are about how survivors cope and continue to survive, how they learn to depend on themselves and each other. I am generally not a fan of movies with fast-moving zombies like the 2004 remake of Dawn of the Dead. It's an unsurvivable, apocalyptic scenario. Most movies of the genre, however, focus on the outbreak stage, with one notable exception being Romero's Day of the Dead.

Zombieland, however, is set in the inevitable wasteland that our planet has become after a fast-moving zombie outbreak, and I loved it. It was loud, crass, violent, funny and a little touching, all at the same time. You can read a review of it on a thousand other web sites and blogs. All I'm going to say is that we had a great time seeing it and now we're making sequel speculations.

In other news, I received my prize from the first T-Shirt Challenge. It's a nice dri-fit shirt with an individual race number.

I'll be wearing it when I do the Human Race 10K on 10/24, which will coincide with the last day of One Hour Runner.

This evening I'll be doing week 7, day 3 of OHR, a 45 minute run. I have to wait until after 9 o'clock pm local time to have my run count toward the Shoes Challenge that's starting up tonight. I'll be using my hydration belt and carrying a bag of Sport Beans that I got on sale at REI.

Tenacious with a capital T!

For some reason, yesterday morning's run didn't sync properly on nikerunning.com. It showed up in my dashboard and applied to my goals, but did not show up in my list of runs, and more importantly it did not apply toward any of my challenges. I emailed Nike+ support about the issue, and they said that if it didn't show up in 48 hours they'd have their IT department look into it. Not being content to let it go, I got dressed and did a one mile run last night (8:27) to be sure to get credit for the day on the T-Shirt Challenge. When I synced that run, not only did it propagate everywhere, it seemed to force the morning run through as well. All's well that ends well.

We tried to go see Zombieland last night, but the theater smelled like it was already full of the undead. We traded our tickets for passes, and we're going to try again Sunday morning at a different theater in the same chain.

This morning was week 7, day 2 of OHR. I did 3.68 miles in 34 minutes. I didn't quite meet my pace goal, but I've got plenty of short runs left in the month for that.

New Month, New Goals

Yesterday, I completed all of the goals that I set for the last four-week period, so I set all new goals for the next four weeks:

• Run 15 times.
• Run 60 miles.
• Burn 8000 calories.
• Complete 5 runs at a pace of 9:20/mile or better.

All of these goals are due by 10/30, and they're built around my training schedule for the same period.

To start it off, and to get in a run for the current T-Shirt Challenge, I went out did two miles this morning. It was another beautiful, chilly morning, 62° here in Phoenix. I was actually shivering for the first quarter mile. I finished the two miles at a pace of 9:19/mile, so it goes toward all of those goals.

I think I've finally gotten my Nike+ sensor calibrated properly. It was dead on with Runkeeper this time.

This weekend is looking pretty busy, but I'm going to try to go see Zombieland at some point. It has a very high rating on the Tomatometer for a zombie flick, so I have high hopes for some quality zombietainment.

Brrr...This is awesome!

I stepped out the door this morning, clad in lightweight polyester moisture wicking running garb, and encountered a foreign sensation. I was actually cold. Fall has finally rolled into the valley of the spun, and a sunny 65° morning greeted me. I shook it off and started down the road, warming up quickly. I took my usual thirty minute route, but this time I encountered rabbits, squirrels and various other wildlife enjoying the cool morning. By the end of it, I was hot, sweaty and tired, but I was able to relax on my patio to cool down. I think I'm going to enjoy running a little more over the next few months.

As of today, I have 23 days until the Human Race 10K and 108 days until the Rock 'N Roll Arizona Half Marathon.

Maybe I should just rename this blog to "Running for T-Shirts"

So, Nike is throwing another T-Shirt Challenge, requiring challengers to run at least one mile each day on four consecutive days by 10/6/09. Since I'm a sucker for free stuff, I decided to squeeze in an evening run tonight. I took Chuckles, my overweight Irish Shorthair Parson John Russell Terrier and I tried my hydration belt again. I had 1.8 miles left on one of my goals, so I set my iPhone for a two mile run and we hit the road.

There's a funny thing about running for time versus running for distance. In almost all of my past workouts, I was really just trying to run out the clock, to keep running for x number of minutes. This is great for building up endurance and confidence. But tonight, when I had a relatively short distance goal, I ran faster because I just needed to complete the distance. Chuckles and I finished 2.14 miles in 19:43. And we all know that rate = distance/time, so my pace was 9:13 minutes/mile.

I also tried using Runkeeper Free over the top of Nike+. Runkeeper uses the iPhone's internal GPS to do workout tracking more accurately than Nike+. When Nike+ told me I had completed my goal of two miles, I paused the workout and checked Runkeeper, which showed 2.14. I then calibrated Nike+ to this distance. I'm hoping this will help me to better calibrate my Nike+, since I'm pretty committed to using it.

The hydration belt worked out better this time. I cinched it as tightly as I could and positioned it right in the small of my back. It didn't bounce nearly as much and after the first mile I didn't really notice the bouncing and sloshing. I'll be using it on my runs that are forty minutes or more.

Oh, and Chuckles? He ran the two miles and just about collapsed when we got home. He's almost five pounds overweight, so he needs the runs way more than I do. I'm going to try to start taking him on my runs that are thirty minute or less.

That's enough blogging; I've spent more time writing about tonight's run than I did running. I'm going to watch the end of Slap Shot on Versus and go to bed.

Long Run + Dark, Quiet Office = Sleepy Andy

Today was week 6, day 3 of One Hour Runner, a 41 minute run. I took the time yesterday to make a new playlist and drank water all day. Even so, I woke up this morning feeling like I had taken a Tylenol PM to get to sleep. My head felt like a rock, my lips felt chapped and I could immediately tell that I was badly dehydrated. I decided to take some time before my run to relax and load up on water. One hour, three glasses of water and a slice of banana bread with cream cheese later, I headed out the door. Knowing that it would be my longest run yet, I started off slow, keeping the pace even and comfortable. I wound through my neighborhood, seeing other runners and walkers enjoying the cool morning. Every few minutes, my iPhone would chime in:

"5 minutes completed...10 minutes completed...15 minutes completed...20 minutes completed...Halfway point, 20 minutes 30 seconds remaining...15 minutes remaining...11 minutes remaining...6 minutes remaining...4 minutes remaining...3 minutes remaining...2 minutes remaining...1 minute remaining...Congratulations, you have reached your goal of 41 minutes."

And just like that, I set a new personal distance record of 4.11 miles. It's a far cry from the 13.1 miles that I'm signed up for in January, but toward the end of the run I really started feeling like I could go as far as I wanted to go. I really think that at this stage it's all about setting reasonable and manageable goals, and improving upon them continually. And right now, my goal is to stay awake all day. Or at least until my 12:00 meeting.

It's been a long September...

Hello, nonexistent readers. I know I can always count on your patience when I have to neglect this blog for a while. After last Saturday's 5K, I picked my mom up from the airport for a seven day visit, for which I was taking Monday and Tuesday off from work. Later on Saturday we went to a Diamondbacks game (which included a Roger Clyne & the Peacemakers Concert), Sunday was a turnaround trip to the Grand Canyon.

On Monday, I did week 5, day 2 of One Hour Runner, a 32 minute run. I did 3.16 miles (calibrated with gmaps-pedometer). That morning we hit the Phoenix Zoo; Tuesday was the Heard Museum and a showing of The Informant. I paid for all of this fun with a crappy run on Wednesday morning. It was supposed to be week 5, day 3 of One Hour Runner, which is a 38 minute run, but I stopped to use the restroom at about 19 minutes and had a hard time getting moving again. I finally mustered my resolve and finished the run, but I think I was just exhausted and dehydrated from the action-packed long weekend.

Wednesday through Friday I was back at work, although I did manage to work from home on two of those days. Friday's W6D1 run, just 30 minutes, was a breeze. I did 3.1 miles at 9:42/mile.

I took my mom back to the airport on Saturday and spent most of the day puttering around the house, glad to be free of house guests again. I felt great for Sunday's W6D2 run and covered 3.36 miles in 33 minutes.

So now, as I sit at my desk and recount the previous week, I'm mentally preparing myself for tomorrow morning's 41 minute run. I know that I need to hydrate, eat well and get to bed early tonight. I'm also starting to get concerned about my hydration and nutrition needs as my runs start pushing out beyond 45 minutes. I really don't want to start running with one of those hydration belts, especially after the bad experience I already had. I don't have anywhere that I'd be comfortable stashing food and water, either, unless I loop past my front door. Something to ponder.

I have one run left in my plan for the month of September. It's been unseasonably hot, but that's finally supposed to break in a couple of days.

Almost forgot to add: I crossed the 100 mile mark sometime last week. It's just the beginning, really, but a pretty cool milestone.

Learning lessons the hard way

Saturday was my first organized race, a 5K right in my neighborhood. I finished in 31:40, which was not dead last. I was there to complete, not compete, anyway. Here's what I learned that day:

• I'm not a fast runner, and I don't need to start at the front of the pack. I made the mistake of pacing myself with the leaders at about 7:20/mile and burned myself out early. Next time, I'll start at the back of the pack and move up slowly.
• Running on grass sucks. A portion of the run was on grass, and the extra traction just meant more effort on my part to keep going.
• My Nike+ sensor was off significantly. It read 3.42 miles at the end of the race. I calibrated it to the actual 3.11 mile distance, but this means that my recent run distances and paces have been off. I need to do another calibration run/walk.
• Grabbing a cup of water on the run takes practice, and actually drinking it while running takes even more. The cup I grabbed was full of hot water, which I almost choked on. I didn't bother with water at the second station, and I shouldn't have bothered at the first; I don't carry water or stop for it on my three mile runs, and this shouldn't have been different.
  

I ended up taking a couple of short walking breaks due to my fast pace at the start and the terrain, but I finished it running. Overall, I had a good time at the race and I'm looking forward to my next organized event, which as of now is the SRP Training Kick-Off Party for the P.F. Chang's Rock 'N Roll Arizona Half-Marathon.

Today was W5D2 of the One Hour Runner, so I did a 32 minute run. I'm not running as fast as I was a couple of weeks ago. I've slowed down to just over 10:00/mile. On my next short run, which will be Friday, I need to focus on keeping my pace between 9:00 and 9:30.  Today, though, my right knee was bothering me again. At about 25:00, it felt like it went out from under me. I had to to rest it for a couple of minutes, but I resumed the workout and ran the remaining seven minutes, finishing 3.17 miles. This means I need to pay attention to my stride, especially on the right side. Hopefully, I'll have better numbers to report on Wednesday, when I do my 38 minute run.

Running for T-Shirts, Part Deux

You (the nonexistent reader) may remember that I ran an extra day last week because Nike was doing a T-Shirt Challenge. Due partially to my extra effort and more substantially to the low number of challengers that actually completed the requirements, I won! I got an email from Nike this morning:

Hi Nike+ Runner!

Congratulations! You’re a Winner in the Nike+ Human Race T-Shirt Challenge on NikePlus.com.

As a result of your hard work, you’ve won a limited edition Human Race T-Shirt!

If you are a high school or collegiate student-athlete, acceptance of the prize may compromise your ability to play high school, NCAA College or other amateur sports.  You are solely responsible for determining whether acceptance of the prize will affect your amateur athletic eligibility.

In order to receive your prize, we’ll need you to provide your mailing address and t-shit size (Women’s XS through L, and Men’s S through XL).  Please reply to this email within the next 5 days to confirm your receipt of this notification.  Should we not hear from you within 5 days, you’ll be removed from the winners list and your shirt will be given away to the next winner.

Again, congratulations.  We can’t wait to hear from you!

-Nike+

Important Amateur Athlete Disclosure.

NIKE reserves the right in selecting potential winners and in awarding the prizes to take into consideration anything that may compromise a student or amateur athlete’s ability to play high school, NCAA College, or other amateur sports. In addition, if a potential winner currently participates, or plans to participate, in a school-sponsored or amateur organized sport, receiving anything of value for participation in this Sweepstakes may affect his/her eligibility, both immediately and in the future.  NIKE suggests you also check with any local team organizations with respect to similar amateur prohibitions.

Please see the Official Rules for additional terms and conditions.

http://inside.nike.com/blogs/nikerunning_news-en_US/

Wait, what's that, they want my t-shit size?

Finally adding some distance again

Today was week 4, day 3 of One Hour Runner, which meant that I finally got to add some distance again (actually time, but same net effect). After a couple of false starts, I completed 3.83 miles in 35:14 at an overall pace of 9:13/mile.

I learned a couple of things today:

First, I absolutely hate the hydration belt that I bought. Within a quarter of a mile, it had bounced around so much that the belt had loosened up and the whole contraption was threatening to fall down around my ankles, forcing me to halt the run, walk home, ditch the belt, and start over. I'll need to figure out some way to stash hydration and nutrition along my runs as they get longer.

Second, the knee pain that I was experiencing was being caused by my tendency to turn my right toe in slightly when I got tired and lazy, thus twisting my knee with almost every step. When I focused on keeping my foot straight throughout the stride, the knee pain was diminished, and once it heals from my other runs I don't expect to experience it again. I'm only a couple of chapters into ChiRunning, but this is really what Dreyer is talking about. Instead of forcing yourself to run through pain and treat it with ice and ibuprofen, fix the mechanics of your stride to run pain-free. The result is apparent in the stats from this morning's run; I did my longest run to date at a faster pace than most of my shorter runs.

On Tuesday evening, I attended the Get Fit Challenge seminar at Roadrunner Sports. I had been to Roadrunner just six weeks prior, and had already gone through their shoe fitting service. I had also been buying technical running wear from Target and Ross, so I was pretty up to speed on most of the information presented. I did, however, get some good information about nutrition and hydration before, during and after a long run or race. I ended up buying a pair of green Superfeet insoles and a jar of Luna sports drink mix. I realize that it's ostensibly for women, but that's just because it has extra iron and follic acid. All of the other sports drink mixes had artificial coloring, which I try to avoid.

And now, for something completely different...

After completing ten 30 minute runs (actually eleven, including that extra one I did for the t-shirt challenge), today was time for something new: 29 minutes. Yes, 1 minute less than I had been doing for almost the last three weeks. Whatever, I'm just working the program. 2.99 miles at 9:43/mile.

In more exciting news, I took advantage of the last day of early registration for the 2010 P.F. Chang's Rock 'N Roll Arizona Half-Marathon. I am now officially registered and committed. I just have to increase my endurance more than four-fold.

What's another mile?

I did the last of the long stretch of 30 minute runs in the One Hour Runner program this morning, and then some. I set off on my run and had been cruising along for about a mile when I realized that I never heard the "5 minutes completed" notification from Nike+. I hit the button on my iPhone, which usually gives me time, distance and pace information, and got nothing. I finally pulled it out of my armband and found that I had been running for 8:36 without recording any distance. Rargh. So, I did the obvious thing, which was start the 30 minute run over again. 30 minutes later, I had run 3.11 miles, so today was probably a little over four miles.

A grim reminder to always carry ID

From this Tuesday's Arizona Republic:

Phoenix teen in critical condition after hit-run accident

by Erin Zlomek - Sept. 7, 2009 07:35 PM
The Arizona Republic

A teenager is in critical condition after he was struck by a hit-run-driver Labor Day morning.
The accident happened around 6:30 a.m. at 72nd Place just north of West McDowell Road in Phoenix. The teenager was on the east side of the street when a vehicle veered from the road and hit him.
The Phoenix Police Department is looking for tips that could lead to the driver's arrest. Officers also need help identifying the victim so that they can contact his family.
The victim is a Hispanic male in his late teens or early 20s. He is just under six feet tall and weighs about 160 pounds. He was wearing a white t-shirt, dark blue or black nylon shorts and Nike tennis shoes. He has a small scar on the left side of his chest, black hair and brown eyes.
If you have any information about the accident or know someone that fits the victim's description and is missing, call the police at 602-262-6151.

I usually stuff my driver's license into my armband with my iPod, but I know that in the effort to minimize their load, many runners and bikers don't carry any ID at all. Not a great idea.


I ran my regularly scheduled 30-minute run this morning, completing 3.18 miles at 9:27/mile. My knee was pretty sore afterword, so I applied RICE (Rest, Ice, Compression and Elevation) and it feels fine now. I started reading ChiRunning last night; I'm hoping it will help me work out some of the kinks in my form.

Running for T-Shirts

Nike decided to throw a T-Shirt Challenge, requiring all challengers to run at least one mile on three consecutive days. So, I decided to wedge a quick run in this morning between my regularly scheduled OHR runs. I felt pretty good when I left the house at about 5:40, so I set the iPod for a 5K run and set off. 28:23 later, I had set a new PB!

I have a new ritual. Every time I get back from a run and strip off my sweaty, stinky running clothes, I pull a fresh pair of shorts and shirt out of the drawer and lay them out on top of the dresser for the next run. My little way of telling myself that, yes, today's run is one little victory, but in a day or two I start all over again. I need more running clothes.

I got you, babe...

I ran W3D2 of One Hour Runner this morning. The 30 minute runs are getting easier, but kind of repetitive. I started this morning's run a little on the slow side but finished strong, cranking up the pace for the last couple of minutes. I'm starting to feel like I could run longer, but I want to stick to the program.

Wow, these shorts are snug!

It's been a few days since my last post, but I haven't forgotten about this blog, even though I'm fairly certain no one reads it.

I'm up to W3D1 of One Hour Runner, which is to say that I've done a bunch of 30 minute runs and still have a few to go before I start adding more distance. I backed off on the pace a bit, and that has seemed to help with achieving the daily goal. That and the fact that the weather has cooled slightly. I'd like to get my pace down under 9:30/mile, and I'm not far off from that now.

I went shopping at my favorite designer clothing store, Ross Dress for Less, and found two pairs of Champion running shorts for $6.99 and another pair of New Balance shorts for $8.99. This was really awesome because I had been running in long, unlined mesh basketball shorts from Target, and as my runs have gotten longer they've started to rub things in a bad way. I bought all three and didn't bother to try them on until I got home. The NB shorts seemed uncomfortably snug, but I figured I would lose a few pounds and fit into them later. It occurred to me this morning to look a bit more closely at the tag, and doing so confirmed my sudden suspicion that they were women's running shorts. So, Laurel gets a free pair of running shorts and I get a reminder that Ross isn't all that careful about which rack stuff ends up on in their stores.

Left Foot, Right Foot, Left Foot, Right Foot, Left Foot, Right Foot...

I went out and did a 30 minute run this morning, right on schedule. It was hot and humid and I just didn't feel like being out there, but I pushed on. Ended up setting a new PB for the 5K at 29:21. I know, that's not exactly world record pace, but it's an improvement for me.

This Nike commercial pretty much summed me up this morning:

C25K - Complete!

I finished C25K this morning - I did W9D3, the final 1/2 hour run. I wasn't feeling great, and I never settled into the run they way I had on D2 & D3, but I pounded out the 30 minutes at 9:40/mile.

So, as I've said before, I'm transitioning into the One Hour Runner program and continuing to run every other day. I cannot say enough good things about the C25K program.

Braaaaaaaiiiiiinnnz!

So, this is the inaugural post of my running blog, where I'll give you, the reader, some background info on me, the blogger, as well as define the goals I'm working on.

I'm Andy. I live in the Phoenix area and I love zombie movies and books. About two months ago, my girlfriend (we'll just call her Laurel to protect her identity) found an app in iTunes application store called C25K. We'd both talked about getting in better shape, but usually just stumbled along and quit because we would get frustrated with lack of structure or progress. C25K uses the Couch to 5K Running Program to work the user up from a complete couch potato to a 5K runner in 9 weeks. It tells the user when to walk, when to run and when the workout is complete - you never have to look at your watch. I paid the $2.99 for the app. So far, it's the only paid app I've purchased for my iPhone and may have been the best $3 I ever spent.

I dragged myself through the workouts, at first just running on Monday, Wednesday and Friday but after couple weeks switching to running every other day in the oppressive Arizona summer. Today is my off day between W9D2 (Week 9, Day 2) and W9D3. That means that tomorrow, I'll complete the C25K program. I ran 3.14 miles on both W9D1 and W9D2, so tomorrow should just be a repeat.

Speaking of repeats, the next eight running days should be like Groundhog Day. I'm overlapping the last week of C25K with the first week of One Hour Runner since they're exactly the same.

I'm planning to run a neighborhood 5K fun run on September 19. At this point, I feel like I'm pretty prepared for that.

The goal now is the Nike+ Human Race 10K on October 24. As of today, I have 57 days to get ready to run 6.2 miles on that day.

You Cannot Petition the Lord With Prayer

I haven't bothered to blog anything in a long time, and I'd like to get back to the occasional observational humor piece. Maybe I'll start another blog about running. Or not. First, though, I want to work through another issue.

Lately I've noticed a lot of requests from friends, acquaintances and extended family members asking people to pray for their sick or injured loved ones. I don't really think there have been more of these requests lately, rather that I've just noticed them more. These requests are all obviously well-intentioned and come from a wide variety of faiths, although most from Abrahamic believers. Intentions notwithstanding, though, I couldn't help but ponder their implications as I lay awake the other night, struck by insomnia (I suppose I could have begged my friends to pray for God to bless me with sleep).

If God answers prayers, which you would have to at least somewhat believe in order make or grant a request of prayer, why would He create the situation that requires prayers? Why allow the wasting disease, the car accident, the violent incident to occur? Does He hold us hostage until we meet an unspecified ransom demand of a certain number of Hail Marys? Or do we just have to pester Him until He relents? And who are we, His created, to second guess His will? If He desires that I should die, what right do my loved ones have to demand He change his mind? Jim Morrison said that "You cannot petition the lord with prayer," and I see no reason to disagree with him.

This brings us to the Problem of Evil. Epicurus presented the Problem well before Christianity, and to my knowledge it has never been sufficiently answered.

Is God willing to prevent evil, but not able?
Then he is not omnipotent.
Is he able, but not willing?
Then he is malevolent.
Is he both able and willing?
Then whence cometh evil?
Is he he neither able nor willing?
Then why call him God?

Or, even more succinctly:

1. If a perfectly good god exists, then there is no evil in the world.
2. There is evil in the world.
3. Therefore, a perfectly good god does not exist.

Let us return to the question of prayer.

• Does God need us to inform Him of the tragedies in our lives so that He may prevent them? Then He is not omniscient or omnipotent.
• Does God want us to beg him for mercy, to save us from our injuries and illnesses? Then He is not benevolent. In fact, He is a capricious bully, twisting our arms until we cry "uncle" (and then usually breaking the arm, anyway).
  

I don't really blame people for praying for the things they want and asking that others do the same. It's a great way to feel like they're doing something when they're really doing nothing. But I have to wonder about whether they've thought through these inconsistencies. If you've worked them out, I'd love to hear the solutions.