8 Miles Yesterday. Hard to believe.

Justin and I ran 8 yesterday! It was a good run. Chilly at first, but it warmed up. We kept a good pace, 12:18, which was even a bit faster than a 4 mile we ran on January 5th. I was pretty tired during the day yesterday (even took a nap, although I shouldn't say that because Justin had to go work all day after. He's tougher than I am), but feel surprisingly good today. I discussed this with Justin, but I think your body gets used to not only the running, but to healing from the wear and tear that running puts your body through. Let's just hope we can hold up for the 10-miler we have scheduled for Sunday!

Tsk Tsk

John and Travis,

 

Unexcused absences today, dudes.  Very troubling. J  I ran anyway.  I guess that means everyone is going to be loaded with energy for our 8-Mile run on Sunday.  Maybe we should get ready for the run by listening to Eminem.  You know, Eminem….  8-Mile…..Sorry, had to.

 

--Matt

 

Getting a little faster...

Here's a speed vs distance vs time pic of our runs. Thought it was pretty cool. Check the pink line. We're getting gradually faster.

Proud of the Big Dogs today

Today was our makeup run for yesterday. We ran the lamar loop twice, going for 6 miles. Well, according to the GPS (click here and go to the run called "6 miles") we actually ran just under 6 and a half miles, which makes that the longest distance I've ever run at a stretch. We kep a pretty good pace too, even with pushing the stroller. That's almost exactly half of the half marathon distance we're working towards. Good stuff.

NOW THIS IS A RACE

I am so down for this it's not even funny...well it kinda is. follow this link
http://i-run.com/2006/01/18/krispy-kreme-challenge/ On a side note we did'nt run because of the rain. John ran, but he is insane. I get to live longer now. Thank you Jebus!

WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME

So I've been doing the running thing pretty diligently for a while now. I've been taking my vitamins, I don't drink anymore and I rarely stay awake past ten o'clock. This I thought would be a good thing. Every time I go out running now, it gets harder and harder, almost like I'm doing more harm than good. I feel like I am going to die on some of the running segments. We're running six miles tomorrow. Six miles. Further than I've ever gone before. Matt seems very cheery about this. Am I wrong to think he's f*cking nuts? This is why I hate this blog. Accountability...oh lament...oh mimsy....oh Meriwether. So I will post about how this goes. (or not if I die) On another topic I would like to address those folks who holler out words of encouragement to us runners alike. Let me give some examples..."come on...you can do it"..."Almost there...Keep pushing"..."You got it...You're almost there". I hope you all choke on your sunny disposition and here's why...How do you know I'm not doing my best. I may be pushing as hard as I can and you look up from your evian (backwards that spells naive) and see me chugging along looking as though I've been dragged behind a truck and you feel the need to uplift my spirit, motivation whatever. I like most other fat people am going as fast as I can. We can't go as fast as you...you know why...CAUSE WERE FAT THAT'S WHY. That is why were running, to not be fat and you stand there, height weight proportionate and think that I don't try as hard as I can. Must be nice in those 34" waist jeans. Gee, if my waist were that slim, I MIGHT NOT LOOK AS RIDICULOUS AS I DO WHEN I DO RUN. So, in closing, keep your comments to yourself and talk about the fat guy you saw on the trail behind my back like a descent human being. Thanking you in advance, Justin.

Doh!

Met John to run today and kept a pretty good pace. I really wanted to share it with you, but I realized as we were in the last half mile that I had forgotten to start the timer on my GPS. Doh! Just wanted to share. :-)

We're going 6 miles this Sunday as we prepare for the Freescale Half Marathon. This should be interesting...

I freaking rock!!!

I forgot that Justin starts school today and that we go on an alternate schedule this week, so I showed up at the trail at the normal time. Since I was solo, I decided to push myself and see how fast I could go. I still did the same 4mins/90secs intervals, but really picked up the speed during the running periods. Check out my run by clicking here , then selecting "Fast 4 Miles" from today. My previous fastest overall pace (granted I had Jillian in the stroller that time) was 11:00/Mile, but today, I did it in 9:40/Mile. It was cold as hell (44 degrees) and super windy (12-15 mph Northwest). It was especially windy during the last three quarters of a mile as I was running North East along the North shore of the lake. If I accomplish nothing more today, at least I've had a good run.

Wonder if this will work

Doing something that won't help my run tomorrow. Checking out a band called Chili Coldblood at the poodle dog lounge. These guys sound fresh. Three piece, guitar, drums, and lap steel. Very blues/groove oriented, but not shuffles. A lot like RL Burnside. I never knew a lap steel could sound so heavy, but I guess there are some low strings. Almost sounds like drop D with a slide or seomthing. Anyway, it was surprising how long they could keep rehashing a groove withouth it getting boring. Really like the sound, the bass wasn't missed at all. Makes me wanna dust off the old axe and play. I recommend these guys. Got their CD.

Dorking out on the trail

So, my lovely wife Cassie got me the Garmin Forerunner 201
for Christmas this year. I didn't really get into it at first until I discovered what you can do with the data. Check the link on the right and you'll see my uploads to MotionBased, a software company whose service really adds value to your GPS data. The Forerunner 301 includes heart monitoring too, but I already had that, because I had bought myself the Nike Triax C8 right before the Turkey Trot. Now, I've really gotten into having all of the telemetry right there. On the watch, I'll track the run/rest intervals that we're doing as part of the Galloway method along with my pulse. Then, on my other wrist, I'm tracking pace, distance, and total time. This, of course, means that I am the dorkiest person on the trail at any given time. Oh well.

Check here for information on the next generation of forerunner that has several improvements over my model.

WAY TO GO MATT

SO I START RUNNING WITH MY LONGTIME PAL MATT. THIS STARTED ROUND ABOUT...OH, LAST OCTOBER NOVEMBER SOMETIME. I LIKE RUNNING WITH MATT BECAUSE LIKE MYSELF, HE IS A LARGE INDIVIDUAL. I DON'T LOOK SO LARGE STANDING NEXT TO HIM. I HOPE HE FEELS THE SAME WAY. ANYHOO HE SAYS TO ME..."JUSTIN HOW ABOUT RUNNING IN THAT TURKEY TROT THING ON THANKSGIVING". OR MAYBE I ASKED HIM. I DON'T REMEMBER. THE IMPORTANT THING IS THAT WE DID IT AND WE DIDN'T FINISH DEAD LAST. I SEEM TO REMEMBER SOME OCTOGENARIAN AHEAD OF US FOR AN UNCOMFORTABLE AMOUNT OF TIME. SO WE CONTINUED RUNNING AFTER THAT ON A REGULAR BASIS. THEN MATT DROPS THE BOMB. "I'M STARTING A WEBSITE CALLED IRUNWITHTHEBIGDOGS.COM TO TRACK OUR PROGRESS". MATT IS A BUSY GUY. SURLY HE WOULDN'T HAVE TIME TO DO THIS WITH THE THREE KIDS, THE JOB ET CETERA. I HOPED HE WOULDN'T HAVE TIME. IF YOU'RE READING THIS YOU MIGHT BE SAYING TO YOURSELF..."SELF, WHY WOULD JUSTIN SAY THAT. THEY HAVE KNOWN EACH OTHER FOR A LONG TIME AND JUST WHY WOULD HE JUST SAY A THING LIKE THAT. IT MAKES ME UNCOMFORTABLE". WELL I'LL TELLS YOU WHY. NOW I HAVE TO DO THIS. NOW IF I WANT CASUALLY DWINDLE DOWN MY RUNNING TIME TO SAY...I DON'T KNOW NEGATIVE TWO MILES A WEEK...I CAN NOT. NOW PROGRESS IS BEING RECORDED. GREAT, ACCOUNTABILITY. MY ARCH NEMESIS. WITH A PICTURE OF ME BEING ALL FAT AND RUNNING. SO I HAVE TO PUT A PICTURE OF ME UP THAT'S NOT SO PUDGY. THAT MEANS I HAVE TO RUN AND RUN AND RUN AND RUN...YOU GET THE IDEA. SO HERE'S TO YOU MATT. LET'S RUN THE RACES AND MAKE THE FACES AND CHART THE PLACES. LETS DO THIS. I'M COOL WITH IT. I HOWEVER CAST MY DOUBTS ON A HALF MARTHON BY FEBUARY. WE'LL SEE.

Hello?.....This thing on?.....

Seriously, though. Hello, and welcome to my initial post.

Here's a photo of Justin and I running the Thundercloud Turkey Trot. It was five miles and it took us just over an hour. The clock showed 1:06, but we spent about 5 minutes from the gun waiting to crose the starting line.

That was back in November and Justin and I have been running a couple of times a week since then. We're making steady progress, although Justin might not admit it.

I used to run pretty fast in High School, but that was 12 years, 3 kids, and 80 pounds ago. I want to keep the kids, don't have a choice about the years, but I'm ready to lose the pounds, or at least a good chunk of them. So, I plan to talk a little bit about my journey of getting faster, including losing some weight.

Justin and I are currently training for the Freescale Half Marathon
and will run in association with Team Justin . We've been running 4 miles at a stretch, so we'll need to up our distance over the next 5 weeks. Over the next 5 Sundays, we'll run 5, 6, 8, 10, and 5 miles. Should be fun.