{Brad} Still Sick Still Complaining- New Challenges

Well its been over a week and I’m still sick. I just can’t seem to kick this and although its past the pain stage, more into the annoying stage, it still has a negative effect on my running. I just can’t seem to build up the energy to take off and when I do my difficulties breathing continue making it tough. I didn’t want to post something like this but its been so long since the last time I’ve posted. I don’t want the impression that this blog is an area where I moan and complain about how tough my life is. To be honest I don;t even like talking about my problems let alone write them. Either way I was able to go for a light jog yesterday, meaning I went as fast as I normally do, and hopefully it’s a start to working to get back on track.

Speaking of track, I’m a track coach. I have coached sprinters/hurdlers/high jumpers/relay teams for two years now, this being my third. I coach at my local high school where I used to work before being unfortunately laid off because of financial issues with the school. I’m not bitter obviously but it does feel a little weird since I’m not there every day. No one still in the school apparently wanted my position so I decided to help again. I like it, but it dose have a time factor that will make finding time to run a little more difficult. Since I intend to increase the overall distance of each of my runs, I will clearly need to increase the amount of time I can dedicate to each individual run. They will all be at least over a half an hour and will hopefully build up to an hour of solid running. Track is a challenge I can manage easily.

Since my long term substitute job is over, I’m now a full time dad. Its awesome to be able to sit at home with my little one and at the same time its exhausting. Maybe its because I’m still relatively new to the dad thing, she’s only four months old, I can’t just leave her alone. If she is awake I’m with her and if she’s asleep its even harder not to hold her. I thought that maybe I would be able to sneak a run in before track practice started, but I was way wrong. In fact I haven’t even been close enough to the treadmill to even think about hopping on. Thankfully she likes baseball so everything has been wonderful so far, but no running yet. Maybe when the weather gets better and I become a little more comfortable being a dad, I’ll try take her outside for a run. But the combination of her being so little and me being somewhat protective, I doubt I’ll try it anytime soon.

Here is a random picture I found of my little one. It makes me smile every time!

{Brad} “I think I’ve got the Black Lung Pa”- Time to go farther- Meta

With a week left of my long term substitute teaching job, I had hoped that I was going to come away unscathed. It is common for educators, especially relatively new ones, to get sick over the winter. As you can probably imagine, there are a ton of germs flying around the school. Making it out of the winter without getting a cold is like being the one hundredth customer at a store and winning a free t-shirt. A cold put down my running partner the mourning of the GR 5K and he wasn’t able to make it. Now I’m in the same boat, I haven’t been able to run in a few days (consequently that’s the reason for the lack of posts here lately). However last Wednesday, my last run, I was able to hit a pretty cool milestone in running over fifty miles since starting in January. It was pretty cool even though natures occupy my face movement made the run unpleasant. Since then I’ve stepped up the level of meds I’m taking, no more generic cold medicine for me, and I hope to be back on the road in no time. Or the treadmill considering the substantial amount of snow that has been freshly dumped on the southwest corner of Michigan.

When I’m get back on my feet again, I’ll need to have a change in the running program I’m using. Since the overall goal is a half marathon (13.1 miles) I’ll need to obviously start going farther in order to make reach that somewhat ridiculous distance. So the next goal is to be able to run a 10K (6.2 miles) within the next few weeks or so. I don’t want to do to much to soon and hurt myself, but I also want to stay on pace to gain enough miles to make my half marathon goal within the time limit I set for myself. Still looking for a free guide online, Nike plus doesn’t have a real detailed plan at first glance and runners world offers an extremely detailed plan at a price I’m not willing to pay for. So hopefully later no today I can hammer out something concrete that I can follow.

I’d also like to quickly comment on the progress of this blog site thing. I am really happy and surprised how many people are starting to venture to my little corner of the internet. People are starting to find us and although its not a ton, its enough to make a writer feel good. I encourage those of you who stumble this way to keep tabs on us, maybe leave a comment or two, because this is truly a great motivator for running. Thanks to all for your support!

{Brad} Dash Down Division Recap

As I was progressing in my training leading up to yesterdays race my goals had always stayed the same: don’t walk and finish as close to thirty five minutes as possible. Driving up through some rather mild winter weather I made the executive decision while in the car that I’d settle for not walking and worry about the overall time another day. It was somewhere around Kalamazoo when my wife pointed out the fourth car that had slid off the highway, when I made up my mind to take it easy. Truth be told I really didn’t want to fall down and I was increasingly starting to question what I was even doing driving all the way up there in the first place.

Grand Rapids had very little snow and the registration was very easy to find, but I had to drive a little slower then what I had wanted leaving me little time for anything once I arrived. Checking in was easy enough and I didn’t have to wait long at all for my number bib thing and my t shirt. A few toe touches and a quick look at the course map and the announcement to line up at the start was made. Not that I wasn’t ready, I doubt I would have felt ready no matter how much time I had.

It was unique to see the different walks of life toeing the line at the start. Having made my mind up that I wouldn’t be blazing out of the gate I tried to find a spot somewhere in the middle of the pack of 182 participants. I couldn’t help but feel a little out of place considering my company. The vast majority of folks had on nice tech shirts and a wide array of the latest running footwear. I really couldn’t help noticing the tight spandex running pants that had an awesome polarizing effect I thought. I mean people probably wouldn’t wear them if they weren’t comfortable and yet seeing some of these people in them made me feel slightly uncomfortable.

The mayor of Grand Rapids was there to sound the starting horn even though I didn’t see him, nor would I have recognized him even if I did. Early on in the race I had thoughts of my poorly planned breakfast. I had eaten a McDonald’s sausage egg mcmuffin on the way up that didn’t necessarily go well with my oversized coffee. The coffee was speaking to me in the form of a sudden urge to call a timeout and continue running to the restroom. Not happening and thankfully the thought went away with the surprisingly swift pace that was set by the people around me. I had thought I placed myself in a prime spot at the start to avoid this sort of thing. At the first mile marker I had developed a slight stomach cramp as the leader of the race flew by me back in the direction from which we came. That guy finished in a time of sixteen minutes! At the two mile mark I’d slowed down immensely and started to have a few ugly stomach bubbles. My burps felt like finding plastic Easter eggs as a kid, I was disappointed each time there wasn’t anything inside. I’m not sure that simile makes sense so I’ll clarify, I thought I might throw up, that is until the Nike Plus cheers started rolling in and a random song from the movie Rocky came on. I got into a decent groove following a guy sporting dreadlocks and before I knew it I had crossed the finish line.

I didn’t walk which felt good but better yet I finished in a time of 30:12 giving me an average pace of 9’45”. I placed 112th overall, I was the 74th male to cross the finish and I came in 14th in my age division. My total age grade was 45.7% which isn’t good but I don’t really understand the whole age grade thing enough to be disappointed by it. With the first 5K complete I’m looking forward to increasing my mileage over the course of the next month in preparation for the Big House Big Heart race in Ann Arbor. Thanks for the support everyone!

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Here is a few pictures I have from the event, nothing special but it’s all I’ve got.

{Brad} Not thinking about the race

Pre-race jitters started Friday morning, but quickly subsided as I traversed through a sudden winter storm on my way to work. School went by quick and the busy day kept me from thinking anything running related. On the way home, the alternator in our car went out. My sister, who works at the same school, tried to jump our car. Which was a unique experience since neither one of us has tried to jump start a car before. Sparks, smoke, screaming and other assorted pyrotechnics lead me to call a tow truck. After waiting for a little while, our first tow truck blew out its hydraulic lift and we were forced to go back and sit in our frigid car again. Can’t complain though because all the commotion kept me from thinking anything running related. After a second tow truck came to our rescue, my wife and I were dropped off in the outskirts of a foreign town at a local auto shop. Three hours later and a new alternator for our car we were on our way again. Best part was the randomness of the whole situation prevented me from once again thinking about the race. After eating at a generic bar we found on our way home, at this point we were starving, I made it home and passed out with little problems.
Jump to this morning where I’m not packed, dressed, or in general prepared to drive to Grand Rapids in a flash of lake effect snow. I’m not sure I’ll make it on time and I didn’t have time to pre-race blog which is why at the moment my wife is currently typing all of this mess into my phone. It’s official I’m nervous.
Dictated but not read (if you read that with a Don Draper voice it sounds a lot cooler then what it really is).

{Scott} Strong legs…. For Everyone!

While I genuinely hate working out my core, strengthening my legs is something I actually do enjoy, and it’s an integral part of being a successful runner. There are numerous benefits to having strong legs, from functionality to aesthetics. Overall, it’s easier to be a better runner when strong legs are present.

Although using machine weights can be a good way to start working on the legs, most of my favorite leg workouts can be done at home with little or no equipment. In addition, many of these exercises also work on stability and balance, forcing you to use every ounce (maybe that’s a stretch) of muscle. Here’s the rundown.

(Note: the majority of these exercises are found on the American Council of Exercise (ACE) website. There’s lots of good stuff to be found there. A further note: my preference is to do 3 sets of 10-15 reps, with 60-70 seconds rest between sets)

1. Stability Ball Hamstring Curls and Single Leg Romanian Dead Lifts. Both of these work muscles of the lower back, hips, glutes, and hamstrings. SBHC’s can be modified by going with a single leg instead of two (for greater difficulty) and the SLRDL’s can be made easier by not using dumbbells.

2. Wall Sits and Squats and Ball Squats. Every time I do a set of wall sits, I try to add at least 5 seconds to my previous time. There are also multiple variations of the squat, as you can see on the ACE website.

3. Lunges. Holy crap, are there lots of ways to do lunges. You can do a lunge walk until you get tired, or use dumbbells, are elevate your rear foot, or eat spare ribs while doing them, or etc…. Always use proper form!!!! I once was unlucky enough to get some severe patellar tendonitis from having improper form while lunging.

4. Dumbbell Deadlifts. I prefer to have the dumbbells out in front of me with palms facing in, as opposed to arms at sides. This makes the exercise a bit more difficult. You can also use a bar instead.

These are the primary exercises I do during lower body workouts. I do 4 total sets, picking one exercise from each of the four groups. The exception is that I always do wall sits, then add another type of squat. The key is to constantly mix it up. If you do a lunge walk one time, the next time try a lunge with overhead dumbbell press. Don’t get too comfy with one workout. Always mix it up.

{Brad} I Wanna Go Fast- We’re going to run to one song and one song only

Once again it’s been awhile since I last posted. I’ve found that I take a little longer to post after I put up something I really liked. Maybe I’m just waiting and hoping for readership to spike hardcore and I don’t want them to miss the good stuff.

I decided that it would be a good idea to take a longer run at a slower pace this week. I was really hoping to slowly go the 3.1 miles as a sort of confidence boost, considering that my main goal is to just finish without walking this Saturday. After yesterday’s run I’m still nervous about Saturday’s 5K and I’m surprisingly really sore. The day before was a very active filled with various games all outside and all rigorous to the point of a very healthy sweat. More of a reason to slowly run, but I have this terrible internal problem that apparently prevents me from running at a slower pace. That and I love listening to Kanye West. My first mile was blistering for me and it turned out to be a personal record for me. Despite starting slightly fatigued I went faster then I ever had for a mile, until the “bear jumped on my back” as they say. 2.68 miles in 25:20 is pretty good, but it’s not three miles and it was anything but an easy run. Doubts are quickly starting to rise for this weekend.

I am trying to find something to blame for my lack of restraint and I can’t think of anyone better then Kanye West. Seriously, I can’t slow down when one of his songs comes across my playlist. My favorite song to run to of his is Power off of his album My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Which it upsets me to think that the Grammy winner for best rap album and best rap song isn’t nominated for best overall album of the year. Yeah I didn’t watch the awards show for that reason. The one millionth of a percentage point they lost in ratings was a direct result of my protest. Being an activist feels good. I’m still trying to incorporate other non Kanye songs into the running playlist that I don’t mind hearing but it’s hard and with the IPhone holder I have I hate changing songs. Let’s just say I’m open to any suggestions.

{Brad}Relax Fella, You need a rest guy- avoiding dysentery- 5K countdown

It’s been a while since the last time I wrote anything and there is a very good reason for that. I haven’t done anything in a while. After a very good workout with my friend Scott in which we ran by some of the beautiful vineyards of Coloma, my legs were screaming at me to stop. I’ve had the whole sore legs thing before, but this was very different. My ankle was still stiff and sore moving up my shin, but out of the blue my knees started to also experience sharp pains outside of the soreness level and into something much worse. Just to the inside of my knees would sting very badly each time pressure was applied suddenly, i.e. like when I lightly ran. It hurt to the point that two runs were cut short due to the overall pain I felt, so I took three days off. I read an article that stressed the importance of listening to your body and knowing when to run the pain and when to pull back. After yesterday’s long run I feel pretty confident that I made the right choice.

Since most of the snow had dissipated by the time I got home from work, I made the conscious decision to run a little out of the norm. For a while now I’ve wanted to test whether or not I thought I could run beyond the typical two miles. With the help of Google maps I was able to plot a course to my mother’s house along the Kal-Haven trail. It’s really a quiet little trail with a beautiful bridge overlooking the Paw Paw River. There was a little leg pain prevalent in the early goings, but it quickly went away once I reached new territory. The funny thing about the trek out to the mouth of the trail was the awesome array of litter strewed along the road heading toward the out skirts of town. I had been thinking that my new hobby was potentially a bad idea after my wife pointed out my body’s negative reaction to the riggers of the workouts. But as I shuffled into the country, I repeatedly kicked a multitude of other people’s bad habits that they apparently discarded out their car windows. Cigarettes, empty cases of Bud Light (which is apparently drink of choice in my parts), fast food containers of all shapes, cans of chew, reminded me that maybe what I was doing wasn’t so bad. I’m no saint but heck there are a lot of other things I could be doing that would be way worse. At the mouth of the trail I picked up the pace due to a wonderfully laid out hillbilly back yard that made me nervous. They had everything you could think of just out and about. It probably wasn’t that bad but it just had that look of “hey you found my meth lab” or beware big mean dog. I felt great once I got to the bridge that was just beyond the two-mile mark. I kicked it in gear coming down the home stretch partly due to the massive amounts of positive energy surging through me and in part due to the gun shots I heard in the distance. It’s a nice area for hunting and although they were pretty far off, it still freaked me out a little. I walked into my mom’s house super happy and proud (I’m fairly confident that my parents didn’t think I was serious when I said I was going to run over for dinner).

The Nike Plus had me clocked in 28:31 for 2.79 miles. That’s a pace of 10’13” per mile and the best part was at the end of the run the Nike celebrity that congratulated me on my run was Tim Tebow. I didn’t Tebow since it was raining out and I had no one to take my picture, but it still made me laugh thinking about the opportunity. The first 5K race is in Grand Rapids next weekend and I feel much better about finishing the race after having gone down the trail. I think at this point a goal of 3.1 miles in under 35:00 isn’t ridiculous. It will be my first ever 5K race and as the day slowly approaches I can’t help but feel excited. Go me! If you liked this post remember to give me a “like click”, I appreciate knowing that someone might actually be reading this.

Here’s a picture of the bridge.

{Brad} With a Bit of a Limp- Look No Hands

Well despite having the king’s appetite when it comes to buffalo wings, I didn’t go to crazy during the Super Bowl. Don’t get me wrong I ate more then plenty, but a food coma didn’t strike me at the end of the night. Instead the damage was done outside of the kitchen and long before the game started. It is really disappointing that of all the articles I’ve read as far as preventing injuries while running the first time I have a set back is by rolling my ankle playing a family game of kickball. Kickball! I lightly kicked an easy single in which I wasn’t even about to run hard at all and on the light hop I gave to triumphantly signal success, very Sammy Sosa like, I totally rolled my right ankle. I didn’t go down, so it wasn’t embarrassing so that’s a plus right?

I decided to go ahead and run on Monday despite my ankle being a little sore. I ran inside on the treadmill to go a little easier on myself and it was the first time I was able to use my new gear. I was a little weird running without holding the phone and things, I can’t lie I didn’t really know what to do with my hands. For the first few minutes I ran alternating different hand positions like the karate chop, the little hand circle, the okay signs, etc. I never really found a hand position I liked but that whole thing became a minor afterthought a few minutes into my run. A very strange tightness ran up the outside of my right shin and it was exceptionally uncomfortable. I’m going to attribute the whole thing to rolling my ankle but it did make me a little worried.

Wow this was a seriously whinny post and I apologize. Hopefully I’ll cheer up and have a better run this week.

I’m not sure what to do with my hands.

{Brad} No Walking Allowed- An Inspired Purchase- Gearing Up For A Weekend of Excess

Last night I ran two miles outside and somewhere around the mile and a half point, while running up a surprisingly steep hill, I could have stopped. I began talking myself into a light walk to regroup, but I didn’t. I don’t know what caused me to keep running but I did and better yet I started to go faster. At the end of my run when some random Nike inspired celebrity chimed in my headphones, “congratulations you’ve just recorded your longest outdoor workout” I felt a swell of pride in me that hasn’t been there in several years. I just kept repeating ‘I didn’t walk’ almost delirious. I even called a good friend to tell him about the run, not sure how much of what I said he understood considering I was still breathing hard but none the less. I felt fast running at a pace of 10’14” per mile and I can’t believe how much confidence it gave me.

So much that I drove up to Gazelle Sports the morning and made a few hasty purchases that I talked myself into. I bought a IPhone running carrier, because I have grown tired of holding it in my hand. I know that seems silly but it really is kind of annoying, its hard to explain. I also bought a shoe pouch for the Nike Plus sensor which became a necessity after the little thing fell off my shoe last night. I had been running with it wedged in between my shoe laces, but last night it fell out. Thankfully I was in between songs and heard the little piece of plastic skip off the sidewalk, otherwise that would have been really upsetting. So I dropped some cash on these two items that I deemed necessary after last nights real run.

After all the good that has recently happened I am preparing myself to dive into the depths of gluttony. The Super Bowl for me is a game within a game and I am fully prepared to accept the consequences of eating a ridiculous amount of food in the name of tradition like any red blooded American should. Should I eat twenty buffalo wings, probably not but I’m not going to say no should the opportunity present itself. Truth is though I have been absolutely starving since exercising regularly. I can’t help it I’m hungry and I’m ready to silence the stomach at all cost. Right now while typing I ate a Taco Dorito, something I haven’t had since new years eve and it tastes like an exotic heaven. Hopefully I won’t eat this entire bag of paradise and hopefully this weekend won’t set me back too far, but after all it’s the Super Bowl.

{Brad} This Is Not Paris- Nike Problems Add Up Fast

I am not a big time movie buff, although I do enjoy talking with my knowledgeable friends about the academy awards. I make it a point each year to watch some of the nominated movies and each year I usually don’t. The time factor plays a role as well as my wife’s different taste in movies, but I more often then not miss the chance to have a personal opinion on the matter. This year I’m well on my way to film critic status having watched two. Yeah that’s right a whopping two and while I enjoyed Moneyball, I loved Midnight in Paris. It was so charming and wonderful, based on a time period of writing that I genuinely admire in the 1920’s. The movie really struck a deep chord with me, to the point in which I thought about it all day. As a teenager I didn’t really find an interest in anything outside of football until much later in life. I went to college on a tight budget with many counting on my success. I’ve done well, but people who read often time wish they could write and I am no different. While I have never given myself a real chance at writing, I did have a brief spat during the later college years where I halfheartedly tried. Strangely enough what I miss most about that time in my life is walking. Now I know what you’re thinking, come on man just got out side and walk for chrissakes. But it’s not the same in my town; it isn’t a place that is congruent for a thoughtful artistic walk. My town is artful in the same way the ruins of Detroit are. No I miss the city, where a hidden stimulus is alive and a person can kick an idea around on the sidewalk. I watch the snow heave itself onto my back porch through a dirty window I should clean and I can’t help but feel a little sad. This isn’t Paris, nor will it ever be. That isn’t a priority now and won’t ever be scratched into my future plans. It’s ironic but I feel sad about missing out on a life where I’d be worse off. I was much too lucky to make the whole starving artist thing work any how. I love my family and they belong at home where it snows.

Where it snows to much making the roads dangerous and thus my outdoor day has been cancelled. Instead the long run is done on the treadmill and I push the Nike Plus App on my phone up to 2.6 miles, in order to break a personal goal I created on the website of running 25km within four weeks. Still dreaming of a walk while oddly enough running, the first thirty minutes is awesome and I feel like I’m cruising. My form starts to falter when I hear the mystical Nike Lady voice say “1.3 miles you are half way”. My stomach dropped and the sweat started to run faster then I could. The treadmill said that I had gone an entire mile further at a pace of five minutes faster then the little Nike pill in my shoe. I altered the treadmill since my last run after reading that running on a slight incline was better for a runner, since it forced you to push off in a more natural way. Perhaps that skewed the numbers. My run was in jeopardy and I wasn’t sure if I could make it running on Nike time. An entire mile later at just about the same pace my knees were beginning to really bother me, on the front side of my knee which I think is a little strange. A longer run and a new pain! I tracked down 3.6 treadmill miles in 44:52 without stopping once, a serious accomplishment for me even if it came with the aid of a treadmill. The Nike Plus was recalibrated to match the treadmill distance. I went to bed very tired and sore, where I resumed my dreaming of a walk.