My goal in January is to run a Marathon + every weekend. So far so good. Fat Ass 50k was January 4th, my slowest time yet, but a good run either way. Like I say, good friends always trump a sub par run. As for the Disney Marathon I will have to say ditto. The run started off well enough and I was on my way to a 3:35 marathon with the pace I had been keeping. Disney is not a terribly tough course except for the whole concrete and asphalt thing, the toughest part was the camber of the road. This became evident at about mile 18 when the wheels fell off. Now this phenomenon seems to have been the case for everyone, my wife, Scott D'Angelo, Rico Dorsey, Andrew Tate, Angela Harris all our friends that were there experienced the same thing. PAIN after mile 16. All of those for mentioned are experienced runners and this was a new experience. So I have to say that the concensus for Disney is that I will not bother again. I ran it in 04' did not care for it then and in 09' the rule is not the exception. (Made that one up)
Looking forward to the 30 miler on the AT, Mountain Mist and the 26hr run with my buddy Jon Obst for his 26th b-day. Should make for a great month.
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Fat Ass 50k
A sore disappointment. I have had bad days, I have had good days, but Yesterday was a really, really bad day. From the moment I started running I could not breathe, I could not keep pace and began to experience pain in my stomach area. This would last the entire run. Hamstrings and IT bands would be making an appearance as well. This just made the day! Now I could not keep heart rate, I could not physically run a good pace either. Oh well, I guess that is why they call it a "fun run". Fortunately for me all of our friends from GUTS were there and they were at least the "fun" part. Aside from the run, getting to see everyone for the first time this year was great. As always a well stocked aid station and an ice cold keg make every event just a little more special. Jen was there helping and did a little run herself for a bit. It also seems every time we go to an event we meet more people and acquire more friends. In the end the day it was not a total loss, good company always trumps a bad run.
Yoga
HTFU you say? Lane is doing yoga? Yup, gave it a shot the other day and it seemed to help with my over used IT bands and my hamstrings. I never once thought I would be caught in a yoga class. Jennifer has tried to get me to go before and I refused. The thing is that I never thought it would do anything for me. Well, I was wrong. That s*#t works man. Either way I have to say I am pretty decent at it from the get go, I did not fall, I did not stumble and I did not stare at girls butts. Jen likes to do yoga in the very front, or maybe just the very front with me ;) Some of the poses were a bit strange but after doing them I could see where they were going and what body parts they were focusing on. I must say that I will probably continue on this yoga road and see where it takes me.
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
It has begun
What? What has begun you say? Jennifer has started training again. She is a woman on a mission. A woman with a goal, and a woman I live with. Training with Jen is in its self an experience, or maybe it is not. See I do not train like Jen, Jen sticks firmly to her coaches plans and will not stray. Not at all. As I write this short take on what is going on Jen is out there running in the rain again. I joined her yesterday for a little 8 miler in the rain, but today skipped the run. We have a date tonight anyway, I will see her then. But as for her training she is an animal, she has a goal and will do whatever it takes to succeed. So again, she is off and running. Tomorrow will be another 8 miler and I will join her for that. Unfortunately I do not follow her training paces. I say that because I am sure I would get better if I did. Either way I kind of stick to my run as she pulls ahead for her repeats, time and time again she leaves me in the dust. I catch her on occasion, but I think that is only when she is resting.
I myself had the worst 8 mile run I can remember yesterday. I goofed on a few different levels. I met Arnaldo for lunch at "Caribbean Fiesta" and indulged in a jerk chicken sandwich and a few chicken wings. Whoaaaaaaaa, that is not the proper fuel my body said as I began to run last night. My body was revolting, the lunch, the heavy weight lifting the past three weeks were just not making the run yesterday and easier. I got through it though, one painful step at a time. In addition to that "feeling like a meat head" while running thing, my feet are still wrecked from Pinhoti and Ironman. More likely Pinhoti I believe, the jagged, leaf covered rocks did a number on the bottoms of my feet. The last remnants of broken blood vessels still remain on the bottoms! I guess this weeks runs will determine how well my dogs hold up for the month of January.
So yes, it has begun.... whether I want to participate or not. I will try for the most part to accompany Jen on her runs and enjoy anytime I get to spend with her even if she is a hundred yards ahead and pulling away. This is why we do what we do, why we sign up for these crazy races and why all our friends do as well. It comes down to enjoying the company of others with like interests and goals. So for every person tapering, or taking a bit of time off...your time will come, it to will soon begin.
I myself had the worst 8 mile run I can remember yesterday. I goofed on a few different levels. I met Arnaldo for lunch at "Caribbean Fiesta" and indulged in a jerk chicken sandwich and a few chicken wings. Whoaaaaaaaa, that is not the proper fuel my body said as I began to run last night. My body was revolting, the lunch, the heavy weight lifting the past three weeks were just not making the run yesterday and easier. I got through it though, one painful step at a time. In addition to that "feeling like a meat head" while running thing, my feet are still wrecked from Pinhoti and Ironman. More likely Pinhoti I believe, the jagged, leaf covered rocks did a number on the bottoms of my feet. The last remnants of broken blood vessels still remain on the bottoms! I guess this weeks runs will determine how well my dogs hold up for the month of January.
So yes, it has begun.... whether I want to participate or not. I will try for the most part to accompany Jen on her runs and enjoy anytime I get to spend with her even if she is a hundred yards ahead and pulling away. This is why we do what we do, why we sign up for these crazy races and why all our friends do as well. It comes down to enjoying the company of others with like interests and goals. So for every person tapering, or taking a bit of time off...your time will come, it to will soon begin.
Saturday, December 13, 2008
Snow Skiing
Man do I miss skiing! Just thinking about that today, realizing it has been now over a year since I have last been skiing. I am just looking at the fact that skiing would have been my first "endurance sport". My family had always done their skiing in one simple way. Be the first out on the mountain, eat quick and keep skiing until they kick you off the mountain! Now as my parents are getting older, being first and last is not so much as important as it used to be. I can appreciate that seeing as this is a great way to spend some time with them. Unfortunately the economy has been in the crapper for the last 2 or so years and my ability to go on a vacation without my lovely wife Jennifer has disappeared. Jen does not care for skiing all that much, however I have managed to get her to go a few times. I really think she loved Telluride!
I love skiing anywhere. I was fortunate enough to have grown up skiing every year in Steamboat Springs, CO and miss it so. ( I hear the Marathon is a great one to!)I have skied Colorado, Montana, Canada, Nevada, and California. I will admit in a desperate moment I even skied in North Carolina. So, skiing is in my blood and until today never thought of it as an endurance sport. Most people would disagree I suppose, but I ski different than most. Balls to the walls, full throttle and as long as I can. I remember in British Columbia there is a ski run that is 7 miles long, I would do that as much and as quick as I possibly could. My goal was to get down faster each time, and to not wreck myself doing so. This I guess is endurance, I would like to think so. Jen would comment on why I had to be first on the lift, first on the run and why do we always have to stay till they close the lifts? I guess I was just doing what I was taught, get as much out of the day as you can while there is still daylight!
The part about wrecking myself is something that is always a possibility. I have had my share of yard sales and thought I had broken limbs, but alas no crash was so sever that I had to go to the hospital. Crashes have occurred in such fury that I actually landed off a jump so hard I thought I had lost my arm. A pinched nerve actually caused my arm to press against my body in a fashion where I lost all feeling for 20 minutes. Watches have been lost, skis have left me on the run while they have journeyed down by themselves. Trees have attacked my knees, and bananas in pockets have been exploded and smooshed. Oh man do I love to ski! But man oh man do I love to run trail. The same experiences can be said for hard trail running. Tree limbs threaten to poke your eyes, rocks smash themselves against you in furious running and falling will smoosh what ever is in you water bottle holder. Roots will grab your feet just like the bumps (moguls) will take you out of your boots if you hit them to hard. Trail running and skiing are very similar in my eyes. My concept of most things is a bit skewed though. Come to think of it, skiing all day and signing up for night skiing that same day sounds like a good idea, to me.
Endurance sports can be viewed in many ways, some more extreme than others. Skiing in my opinion has just become another endurance sport today. Maybe not as extreme as running up the mountain like in the Speed Goat 50K, but if you make it hard, skiing can be a helluva challenge.
I love skiing anywhere. I was fortunate enough to have grown up skiing every year in Steamboat Springs, CO and miss it so. ( I hear the Marathon is a great one to!)I have skied Colorado, Montana, Canada, Nevada, and California. I will admit in a desperate moment I even skied in North Carolina. So, skiing is in my blood and until today never thought of it as an endurance sport. Most people would disagree I suppose, but I ski different than most. Balls to the walls, full throttle and as long as I can. I remember in British Columbia there is a ski run that is 7 miles long, I would do that as much and as quick as I possibly could. My goal was to get down faster each time, and to not wreck myself doing so. This I guess is endurance, I would like to think so. Jen would comment on why I had to be first on the lift, first on the run and why do we always have to stay till they close the lifts? I guess I was just doing what I was taught, get as much out of the day as you can while there is still daylight!
The part about wrecking myself is something that is always a possibility. I have had my share of yard sales and thought I had broken limbs, but alas no crash was so sever that I had to go to the hospital. Crashes have occurred in such fury that I actually landed off a jump so hard I thought I had lost my arm. A pinched nerve actually caused my arm to press against my body in a fashion where I lost all feeling for 20 minutes. Watches have been lost, skis have left me on the run while they have journeyed down by themselves. Trees have attacked my knees, and bananas in pockets have been exploded and smooshed. Oh man do I love to ski! But man oh man do I love to run trail. The same experiences can be said for hard trail running. Tree limbs threaten to poke your eyes, rocks smash themselves against you in furious running and falling will smoosh what ever is in you water bottle holder. Roots will grab your feet just like the bumps (moguls) will take you out of your boots if you hit them to hard. Trail running and skiing are very similar in my eyes. My concept of most things is a bit skewed though. Come to think of it, skiing all day and signing up for night skiing that same day sounds like a good idea, to me.
Endurance sports can be viewed in many ways, some more extreme than others. Skiing in my opinion has just become another endurance sport today. Maybe not as extreme as running up the mountain like in the Speed Goat 50K, but if you make it hard, skiing can be a helluva challenge.
Enchiladas
Today started off great. Jennifer left at 6a.m. to go do a 22 mile run with our friend Jon. Jon is fast, I mean very fast and Jen is trying to get faster. Makes sense that she run with someone other than me right? I agree. I did miss getting to go out with them this morning but I did my own run by myself instead. I left the house with no water, and one gu. It was a very cold morning, the sign by the high school said 28 degrees when I went by on my way out. I looped out and started heading down the road thinking of where I was going and what I would eat for breakfast when I returned. My run took me down hwy 141 and to the turn around where I would head back. I decided to scoot into Medlock Bridge neighbor hood because there is a decent little "tail" that follows a creek in the middle of the neighborhood. I ran that twice until on the last loop I found a soccer ball. Yup, I carried the thing the entire way back. I even kicked it a few times while running. So getting back to my thoughts, what to eat? I was going over what we had at home. Eggs? Bread? Pizza? Oh snap! I remembered we have Trader Joes cheese enchiladas! So at this point my run was going to be shorter than I had anticipated. The enchiladas were calling me home like a horse racing to the stable! Except I had a soccer ball in hand and am really not that fast. I had planned on doing 20 miles today and cut it short at 12. All I can do is blame those enchiladas. Enchiladas for breakfast you say? What a treat, they were delicious. In fact I am sorry that I only had one package, cause' I would have had two! As for the soccer ball, I can pretty much say that Gator and Porter are happy I cut my run short because they are enjoying the soccer ball out in the yard as I speak. :)
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Balls. balls, balls and balls
Balls. The word "Ball" in my house brings up great anxiety, fever and shaking. Oh yeah, this is a good one. The word "Ball" if not said by spelling the entire word out letter by letter will lead to the inevitable crying, howling and barking. Yup, we are talking about Gator Vogel. Gator is our 2 year old American Bulldog. Shes nuts, maybe a little crazy and definitely psycho. She has a passion for chasing and chewing balls that is not unlike a serial killer. She is just frankly plain nuts when it comes to a ball. My point? Well here we go. Sunday December 7th, we go to play ball with the dogs a park next to the Chattahoochee River. Both Gator and Porter are loaded up, anxious and ready to go. We have done this many, many a time. We go to the wide open field by te river and throw the ball so both our pups can get some much needed exercise and burn off some steam. Gator goes at 120% and Porter goes at 65%, that is why they are great together. kind of like yin and yang. Elvis and Costello....ha..ha j/k Anyway, the dogs are doing the exercise and Jen and I are the ones getting ready to have heart failure. See even though it was just 42 degrees, Gator nearly gave herself heat stroke. Yeah...unreal I think now, but at the time our only "daughter" can't walk and is getting googly eyed. A very scary scenario, and we were petrified. We managed to get her cooled down and back to normal but still rushed her to the vet. She was fine, no problems, and ok. Whew....
Oh yes my point. This is a running/endurance blog right?
My point is that what would one do if their passion, their sport was taken away? What would you do if you can't run, ride, exercise for that matter? Would you go crazy, would you become sedentary and obese? Think about how lucky we are as humans, and runners and athletes that we can do what we do. Gator is on lock down until we feel she can run/chase balls again. Why is this relevant? It happens to be a greater cause issue, maybe I have found something that is not touched on all that much. What about the folks out there that are unable to run, that can't ride a bike. What are there options for exercise and fulfillment in being healthy? Both my wife and I are blessed with the ability to experience life with sports and exercise, there are many out there that can not. Today, I feel I should find a cause that focuses on such a thing and make an effort to do something more constructive with this life. Maybe I can be apart of something greater than one person.
Oh yes my point. This is a running/endurance blog right?
My point is that what would one do if their passion, their sport was taken away? What would you do if you can't run, ride, exercise for that matter? Would you go crazy, would you become sedentary and obese? Think about how lucky we are as humans, and runners and athletes that we can do what we do. Gator is on lock down until we feel she can run/chase balls again. Why is this relevant? It happens to be a greater cause issue, maybe I have found something that is not touched on all that much. What about the folks out there that are unable to run, that can't ride a bike. What are there options for exercise and fulfillment in being healthy? Both my wife and I are blessed with the ability to experience life with sports and exercise, there are many out there that can not. Today, I feel I should find a cause that focuses on such a thing and make an effort to do something more constructive with this life. Maybe I can be apart of something greater than one person.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
