Screws In My Coffee

I ran for the first time in a long time. I love running on trails. Saturday was a nice cool overcast day.  there was a High School cross country meet and several schools were running on the trails.  I avoided the finish line area near the soccer fields.  I usually run on the hospice Center trail and keep on the back side trails.  All of my artificial vascular arterial parts worked fine.

I went for a walk today. I got some back talk from my trail shoes.  I had not had them on for a long time.  I was feeling kind of anxious after vacuuming and mopping the floors in the house.  I had the urge to get out on a trail at the near by campus of Darton College. I ran for 16 minutes and ran 1.3 miles.  My average pace was 13 minutes per mile.  It felt good to be running on a trail again.  I have not had the Dirty Girls out in a long time.  I miss them.

This morning I ran for one hour without stopping.  This is not the first time that I have accomplished this feat.  In fact I have run for several hours just 4 years ago when I was an avid trail runner.  What is significant for this one hour run for me is that I am slowly repeating what I did before in that I am building up my endurance so that I can run a marathon. Setting goals in life is very beneficial to the quality of how you live.  If you are successful in one area of your life you will also see benefits in other areas.  The flip side of this is also true, if you have barriers in one area of your life those same barriers will exist in other parts of your life. My goal for the year was to walk 1,000 miles in 2012.  I am modifying this goal to state that I will travel 1,000 miles or more under my own power (and not on a bike).  I have had the experience of great running coaching when I lived in Austin, Texas.  One of the challenges for me now is that I do not want to over train and...

Setting my goal I ran my first Ultra Marathon 100k (62.14 mile) Endurance Trail Run this past Saturday January 10, 2009.  My goal that I set in August was to run 100k at Bandera.  At the time the longest distance that I had run was 14 miles around LBJ Lake in Austin.  I did not have any idea how to prepare for running 100k, but I trusted my coach Robert Heynen when he said, if you do the work you will do the 100k. Human interaction required There are a lot of things that you can learn from books and on the Internet, trail running is not one of this things. I have taught myself a lot of skills from reading books and the Internet.  I learned HTML and how to manage a Linux server by reading.  There comes a time when you want to learn something that is bigger than you can grasp and that is when you need a coach or a mentor. My coach, Robert Heynen, is like a tribal elder.  He is passing on a skill using words and real time experience to teach successful trail running.   The art of trail ...

My first run at Bandera was just wonderful.  I carpooled with my buddy Stephanie and we arrived at 7:30 AM and it was 28 degrees.  We sat in the car and waited for signs on life to appear.  Soon the parking lot was buzzing with crazy folks getting ready to run. I was wondering if I would soon discover that I had forgotten some essential part of equipment like my running shoes. Before the run got underway we all gathered around Jason's truck where all the goodie bags were stored.  Henry was standing in the back giving a lecture on the course and handing out maps.  After the course description he started tossing out goodie bags by shirt size to the first person to raise their hand to claim it. I usually do not like holiday gift exchanges but this was the most unique white elephant exchange that I have participated in.  If you did not like your bag you still got the best gift of all and that was the run. We all started out on the first 10 mile loop and soon separated into a fast pace ...

I have made my goal of running 1,000 miles in one year.  When I started in January I had not enrolled myself in the idea of running 62 miles.  All I wanted to do was run around LBJ Lake and rack up the miles so that I could say that I ran 1,000 miles. Well much to my surprise I have made a lot of discoveries and friends along the way to running 1,000 miles in 2008. Running on rocky trails is like feeling the force with a light saber in your hand and your eyes blindfolded. Rocky trails are natures way of giving you the ultimate chance to do ballet tap dance and jazz all at once. You can learn a lot about people by running two or three hours with them on a trail. If you do not fuel your body on a long run the brain is the first thing to get cut off on energy. I can run for over 8 hours but my Garmin 405's battery can not. For me setting goals is more about how I am being on the way to the goal instead of reaching the goal. I did not drag myself through 1,000 miles of runnin...

Technical Yesterday I ran from 7 AM to 4 PM and a distance of 37 miles.  This is the longest that I have run to date.  I ran in the Barton Greenbelt in Austin, Texas . The last time I attempted a long 30 mile training run I ran out of fuel and only completed 28 miles.  During that 28 mile run on 10/25/2008 I now know that the lack of fuel for my body directly affects the ability of my brain to focus on running. There are several hurdles that I will overcome in my quest to do my 62 mile run at Bandera in January 2009 . One of these hurdles was how to fuel my body on long runs.  During my run yesterday I tried Spiz for the first time.  I used Spiz exclusively for fuel with the exception of two handfuls of cashews and two sticks of dried sweetened papaya. The Spiz really helped because on my last lap at mile 30 from Zilker Park to the Hill of Life I was able to run the whole way with confidence and energy.  I only slowed my pace to go over the really rocky spots because I really wanted ...

I set my goal to run 1,000 miles in 2008. so far I am averaging 91 miles a month. I have run a total of 918 miles this year. In September I ran 137 miles. In October I ran 122 miles. My longest run so far is the 30 mile trail race that I did on October 18 in Palo Duro Canyon. I am getting comfortable running trails at night with my green flashlight. I can comfortably run 10 miles in about 2 hours. A 10k (6.2 miles) run is just a warm up run for me now. What I am dealing with now is how to get fuel into my body at mile 25.  I have been experimenting with eating PPJs, protien fruit smoothies and gels, but they do not last.  I am going to try a product called Spiz next.  I have placed an order with a local doctor and I will get it next week.

I ran my first 50K trail run this past weekend. It is the longest run that I have done in my life.  I ran from 7 AM in the morning until 2:44 PM. My total time on the course was 6 hours and 44 minutes. The run started in the dark.  I was really excited to do this run.  My friend Stephanie had told me that this trail run was really cool.  When we started out of the starting gate it took about a quarter of a mile before we could all start running.  It was a congested group of runners with flashlights and head lamps shuffling along down a path that got narrower and narrower until it was single track.  For a few seconds I felt like I was in the crowed exiting ACL on Sunday night. As we ran through the early pre-dawn I was in awe of how the colors of the canyon walls started to slowly fill with color.  I was running with a green flashlight and I felt like Flash the Green Lantern as I hopped and danced over an occasional rock on the red dirt trail. I only hoped to have this much energy at mi...

I am training for Bandera 100k Trail Race in January so this is why I am running this race in Palo Duro .  I have been preparing for endurance running since last year.  Currently my longest run is 20.36 miles.  When I was in my forum the leader, Steve Zaffron was 70 years old and he was doing 100 mile runs in the Rockies.  His goal was to be the strongest man for his age.  This really inspired me. I had stopped running in my early thirties because of knee injuries.  I am 56 years old now. I had been telling myself that I could not run. So after Landmark Education training I started creating some possibilities and my life was being transformed.  There were several areas that Landmark provided me with tools to make my life fulfilling.  I transformed relationships at work, home and with my children, but I wanted more.  I wanted to really challenge myself to do something that I had no way of figuring out how to do it except that I was going to take a big leap of faith and say that I wan...

Last weekend I ran 16 miles.  This weekend I ran 20.36 miles. The LBJ Lake loop (minus the MoPac to Ist street 2 miles) Total distance: 8.05 mi Total Time: 1:34 Avg Pace: 11:40 per mi Total Ascent: 1214 Ft Total Descent: 1208 Ft The Barton Creek loop Total distance: 10.31 mi Total Time: 2:26 Avg Pace: 14:12 per mi Total Ascent: 3280 Ft Total Descent: 3277 Ft Total distance 20.36

[gallery] I ran the race in 53:32:35 at 8:31 minute per mile.  You can view my stats here . The Ben Harper concert was so fine. Ben played a solo on the tombolas during his first song and then threw the drum sticks in the audience and I caught one. The race was a blast, but it was challenging.  It was really hot and humid and there was little breeze.  I am glad that I trained in the afternoon and evening during the heat so that I was prepared for this race. Running with 13,758 runners who were all wearing the same red shirt was amazing.  As I looked up ahead of me I felt like I was a part of a flowing read blob that was winding it's way through the streets of Austin. Austin had more runners than New York or Los Angeles. which are much larger cities by population and area. There were more than 700,000 runners world wide running in the race. Out of the 750,000 runners I finished in 46,721st place. In Austin out of 13,758 runners I finished in 1,114th place. One of the nice things tha...

Well all of the RunTex Fit City training and Nike club runs are over.  I had such a fun time running and going to the bars after the training runs.  I do not drink alcohol and do not go to bars.  It was a refreshing twist to be in a hot and sweaty crowd of runners in a bar in Austin. I ran in 100 degree heat from July 19 until last night training for the Nike Human Race on August 31, 2008.  Last year I struggled to run back to back 10 minute miles on a tread mill.  Last night I ran 7.02 miles around Lady Bird Johnson Lake from Mile 0 to the MoPac Brige to I-35 in 1:01:56. Below is the pace that I ran each mile. Mile 1 at 8:07/mile Mile 2 at 8:15/mile Mile 3 at 8:54/mile Mile 4 at 8:29/mile Mile 5 at 8:25/mile Mile 6 and 7 9:48/mile (my cool down run) The RunTex coach and Coach Ware (HT track) say that stress training helps make you run stronger. I have never measured my running until I started the Nike Human Race training. Now I have a Garmin 405 and it makes a bi...

I did something that amazed me last evening.  The RunTex training session finished with another 2 mile stress run.  During a stress run you run about 70-80% the first mile and then you run was fast as you can for the second mile.  This training is for running under stress at the end of the race.  The first time that I did it a few weeks ago I ran the 2 miles in 15 minutes and when I finished I was really tired.  This time I ran the 2 miles in 15 minutes 10 seconds and I was not exhausted like the the first time.  I rested and talked to members of the class and when the coach said for the class to do a cool down jog I decided to run some more.  I looked up and saw some Nike Human Race pace setters with a group of runners at the water coolers.  I decided that I would run with them.  After we started runing I thought we would run at a 10 minute mile pace but after talking with a sweeper I found out I was running with the 9 minuted mile pace group.  I ran with them for about four miles bef...

Training Data from my Garmin Fore Runner 405 can be viewed online. I still remember last summer barely being able to run 4 miles in the heat in 45 minutes.  Now I am running 5 in under 45 minutes. Data collection does have it's benefits even when you are measuring just your own personal performance. This training run was very humid and I did not feel like running right before the start. Running with 45 other people started out with the 9 minute 5 mile group gave me a lot of motivation to just do it. What surprisies me about running the hills in Travis Heights is that I thought that the elevation gain would be more than the elevation gain on the 24th street hill on the Starbucks training run.

I am really excited about running.  I have been running again since February 2005 without a watch or timing device.  This year starting in January I challenged myself to run 1,000 miles in a year.  So far I have run 589 miles this year.  Most of the miles have been around LBJ Lake by myself.  Well in July I started training with RunTex and the Fit City Team to train for the Nike Human Race 10k.  I just ran my second run using my new Garmin Forerunner 405.  I am now collecting data to improve my strength and speed. Today I ran again with the 9 minute 5 mile group.  The pace leader also had a Garmin Forunner 405.  we ran for about 1.5 miles at 7.5 minute miles. This was faster than I was use to, but I kept up. The Garmin 405 sends data to my computer wirelessely when it is in range. When I looked at the data from today's run I was amazed that I averaged 8.23 minutes per mile.  The after the last part of the run up the hill I was running as fast as at the start of the run. During the...

I purchased a Garmin Forerunner 405.  This training run on Newnan street was a test for hill training and the GPS tracking.  I ran from the hill training over to the 6th bar for a total of 4.09 miles.  I ran the hill 7 times and then ran halfway 3 times backwards for a total ascent of 1,399 feet and a total descent of 1,325 feet.  Now I would have never guessed that I had run this much ascent in two miles but I did.

I 2 miles in 15 minutes

Yesterday was the second training run.  I ran with the 9 minute per mile group for 5 miles.  I improved my time running it in 42 minutes.  I pushed myself to keep up with two guys that started to leave the group and we ran the last mile fast. The course started at Guero's on South Congress and looped through the Travis Heights area. there were some hills in the course that were fun but for me were a challenge at the pace that I was running. I met Ashley of Nike who is coordinating this event in Austin.  Last Saturday at Starbucks I talked with her about shoes.  At this run we spoke again and she asked me why I was doing the run.  I though a moment and then I responded with my feeling about wanting to be part of a community of runners.  I had already met several new friends since starting this running adventure.

Today was the first training run for the Nike Human 10k Race.  I started with the 11 minute per mile group that was running 5 miles.  After about one half a mile I cought up with the 10 minute per mile group. I stayed with the group until mile 3.5 and then the main group took a wrong turn and I follow a woman as we looped up some hills and returned to the start at Starbucks Coffee on 24th and Nueces. We ran about 5.5 miles in 55 minutes.