Yesterday, I ran a 10k. It was not my best time, about an hour. I felt good the whole run. Monday, I ran my third five mile run, in my cycle. Time to do my six mile, I did it plus a little extra. My training routine is three five mile runs and then the fourth is long. The next one will be seven miles. If you notice, you can see my writers block and my runners block working together in this blog, I run when I wrestle my mood and my mind into my body, and get it moving. This may not happen in a routine cycle. In fact, it does not. I write, when I have something to write about. I stop writing when I don't want to talk about it. About what is blocking me. Inevitably it is me. Usually, I know what I am doing and do it on purpose. I just choose not to share it with you the reader. So here is the one, the one that reveals me for who I am. An inconsistent man. I am who I am and that is what I say to myself, when I am being stubborn.
I took a week off, to rest my muscles and enjoy some alcohol. It turns out this was a good idea. I feel better. I know that I said "No Alcohol." I drank three times in January. A major reduction in my normal consumption. The week that I took off, I drank five out of the seven days. It is very clear to me, the residual effect that alcohol has on my motivation to run. It is not just physical, which it is, but it is mental. Alcohol is a depressant. So grappling with this toxin, is not what my body needs, in order to prepare itself to run 26 miles. I will keep working to keep my intake low. I know that I must, if I am to finish. The big question is, do I quit smoking marijuana? (the big reveal) I am a legal participant in Washington State. I have fused vertebrae in my C4/C5, and life long discomfort. I smoke it everyday. I have during the entire time that I have been working on my marathon and this blog. I wonder if this is why I have not finished lol. I am now working this algorhithm into my training routine. No alcohol, generally. Marijuana has to be reduced or eliminated all together, but I am reluctant to say silly things about what that schedule will be. I smoked and drank yesterday. I ran a 10k. I felt great. I have been up this hill before. Somewhere around seventeen miles, I crap out. So this time, I will be focused on my body and what it needs. Rather than tell you what I "will do" and then tell you how I didn't do those things, this blog will be a report of what I did do. Come on this run with me.
Friday, February 24, 2012
Friday, February 10, 2012
This is the Plan
The five mile club, round two...not so easy as the first one. HaHa...the excitement of a new achievement is pure adrenaline, low dose and constant. Today was the reality, I have decided that five miles is the minimum training run from here on out. Everything since the new year has been conditioning to train, now it is time to train, actual. This distance is a strong run, I plan to repeat it three times and then up it one mile on the fourth. I will repeat this cycle, all the way up the hill. In my mind it is like slow boiling a frog, one day I will wake up and be at the top. In my mind. In reality there are many miles to go. The last go of it I had, in between the time I completed the Walla Walla Half Marathon (and fell out of the full), and my PBR of seventeen miles in March of 2011, I pushed way to hard...I was trying to train regularly above 10 miles per run, and I think my muscles were just, pretty much, like "fuck you, asshole," after my 17 miler. Also, it was pretty epic, because I ran from my house, in a complete circle around my home community of Walla Walla, WA...all of it, including the bedroom community next door, home to my alma mater, College Place, WA. I fell, had blood all down my leg, met jesus on the road, died twenty times inside, was sunned on, rained on, winded on...I was like a victorious battled, veteran of the war...which I am. So I said, "fuck it, I am drinking beer for a while." This time? I will only reward myself with bloody mary's and beer, after I finish this one little thing...actually, twenty six of them. Ha.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Back on the Trail
The marathon effort is underway again. 2010, I left the writing for another day. By summers end, I was close to ready...for a half marathon, instead, I registered for the full in the Walla Walla Marathon, 10/10/10. I ran fourteen, walked two, had too drop due to the road cramps...twice, and then caught a ride back. I realized that the goal is not to kill myself, the marathon will always be there, and fourteen running miles was a PBR. My younger Marine Corps self could never have achieved that. 2011, I kept training. I increased my PBR to seventeen miles in March of last year. After feeling road worn and abused, by my own mentality, I quit training for the year. Keep in mind, that during all this period of training, I never gave up my late nights or my beer...so not really surprised that I could not go over the hump, are we?
2012 brings with a renewed vigor and a sharpened sense of purpose. Yesterday, I rejoined the five miles plus club again. Feels good, even though I am packing an extra twenty pounds over my previous fit weight...this shall go. No alcohol, limiting meal portions, getting regular sleep...running with toe bounce and easy stride...back up the hill I go! This blog light is back on, so you can follow my steps to my final tape, 26.2 miles later.
2012 brings with a renewed vigor and a sharpened sense of purpose. Yesterday, I rejoined the five miles plus club again. Feels good, even though I am packing an extra twenty pounds over my previous fit weight...this shall go. No alcohol, limiting meal portions, getting regular sleep...running with toe bounce and easy stride...back up the hill I go! This blog light is back on, so you can follow my steps to my final tape, 26.2 miles later.
Sunday, May 23, 2010
A Marathon Effort: Step Two
The end of the last post...week two. Week three manifested into three forty minute runs. Week four, two forty five minute runs, ending with the run of my life, a ten mile run into the sunset. I have dreamed of running like this since I was a child. It didn't matter if I was running one hundred yards, in high school track, or three to five miles in the Marine Corps. I ran as hard as I could. It was never easy. Later, in college jogging class, for my p.e. credit, we even joked about it. I was always the guy who started fast and ended working really hard to keep up and not quite doing it. When I was a marine, I only fell out of a run one time, I was very, very, hung over. Every run was murder. It didn't matter how far.
Now I do yoga. I can belly breathe. When I was a teenager, I wasn't able to make it to the next level of choir, because I could not diaphragm breathe. I really tried hard. I could not do it as a Marine, either. I remember just gasping for air, top breathing the whole way. No way could I breathe in my nose out my mouth. Finally, when I am forty one years old. I get it. That doesn't mean I breathe in my nose for my whole run. Not yet. I do it periodically. What I always do? Belly breathe.
My fourth week I ran about 10 miles in an hour and a half. Incredible. I felt so good the whole way. From the moment I moved into my current house, in Walla Walla, Wa., I have wanted this run, about three to four miles up from my house is a reservoir with trails and dirt roads around it. The run back, is down a river walk and then the last mile kicking it to my house through Walla Walla. All told, about ten miles. Done on a late after noon. The first part of the run contains the uphill, with the reward of down along the river, into the sunset. Awesome. The week after? Wow. I was sore.
That was my first crash. I realized then that I was going to have to build my self back up. So, over a month, I climbed the hill again. Had an incredible ten mile run into the wheat fields and back, and on a windy day, so I could pretend I was in Hawaii, in the Iron Man. The next week, I wasn't too sore. But I still had a training crash. Now? I am back up to five mile runs again. My next training goal is a full half marathon, with no training crash this time. Do date for the real deal, is now 10/10/10. The Walla Walla Marathon. Which I think is appropriate. Turns out the Marine Corps Marathon sells out fast. So, that puts me there in 2011, with the Walla Walla bracket, under my belt. Also, it seems to me, appropriate.
Now I do yoga. I can belly breathe. When I was a teenager, I wasn't able to make it to the next level of choir, because I could not diaphragm breathe. I really tried hard. I could not do it as a Marine, either. I remember just gasping for air, top breathing the whole way. No way could I breathe in my nose out my mouth. Finally, when I am forty one years old. I get it. That doesn't mean I breathe in my nose for my whole run. Not yet. I do it periodically. What I always do? Belly breathe.
My fourth week I ran about 10 miles in an hour and a half. Incredible. I felt so good the whole way. From the moment I moved into my current house, in Walla Walla, Wa., I have wanted this run, about three to four miles up from my house is a reservoir with trails and dirt roads around it. The run back, is down a river walk and then the last mile kicking it to my house through Walla Walla. All told, about ten miles. Done on a late after noon. The first part of the run contains the uphill, with the reward of down along the river, into the sunset. Awesome. The week after? Wow. I was sore.
That was my first crash. I realized then that I was going to have to build my self back up. So, over a month, I climbed the hill again. Had an incredible ten mile run into the wheat fields and back, and on a windy day, so I could pretend I was in Hawaii, in the Iron Man. The next week, I wasn't too sore. But I still had a training crash. Now? I am back up to five mile runs again. My next training goal is a full half marathon, with no training crash this time. Do date for the real deal, is now 10/10/10. The Walla Walla Marathon. Which I think is appropriate. Turns out the Marine Corps Marathon sells out fast. So, that puts me there in 2011, with the Walla Walla bracket, under my belt. Also, it seems to me, appropriate.
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
A Marathon Effort: One Step at a Time
My training for a marathon has begun. February of 2010. Official. All of the running I have done, prior to this missive, are preconditioning runs. All the way back to the foot races around the ball field in 5th grade that I used to talk Tom U. into running, even though I was faster and he knew he would lose. Thank-you Tom. This includes running on the Drake High School varsity track team, in San Anselmo, CA, as an underclassman, and all of my running in the United States Marine Corps. Most especially, I also include the last year and a half of running, during which time, I have been conscious of my goal and trying to get my body ready for it. I have been putting the miles in and hitting it hard. I am done doing that. That is all conditioning.
In November of 2009, I sprained my ankle. I was doing 3-4 mile runs (4x) per week and (1) 7-8 mile run on the weekend. Pushing myself up from there that was my plan. I was training, or so I thought. After the sprain I made the classic mistake of running on it too soon. A week later, I taped up and got out there. It clearly hurt it to do that. Which is my real point here. All of my life I have been willing to hurt myself for my own good. And in this case, I wasn't even doing yoga to make it better. I am now. Hopefully, as the New Method takes hold, that old "hurt yourself for your own good" mentality will stop. Gutting your way through a marathon is not the goal. Running it is.
So the new method. Its all about time. It will take 3-5 hours to run a marathon, depending on my conditioning. The real goal is to be able to be on my feet, running, for that time. Not hiking for 3-5 hours, which is awesome, but running. Which should be awesome. Once I have trained to get there. Not killed myself for. That is not the goal. Amazing how hard it is to eschew oneself of this type of ideology. Now this blog is dedicated to one day of training after the other. The plan? Run time not miles. Week by week increases. Until I am ready to go race. There are two goals here. The first one is on the Oregon coast in May. Only if I am ready. The real goal is the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington DC, in October.
Week One, Starts Now. (3-4) 30 minute runs with (1) one hour run at the end of the week. If you are reading this and are curious how it goes, check back periodically, because I will update it every training day.
Day 1: (Tues. 2.23.10) 10 m. to downtown, five minute break. 20 more minutes, down 13th street and across mill creek on the tracks and back up to the statue of the Chief. Then later sauna/steam room.
Day 2: (Wed. 2.24.10) 5 m. 1-1 basketball game @ Lion's Park for warm-up, which I won. 30 min. run up mill creek and back, followed by my daughter, Hannah's basketball game. Which she won. Biked down to the Y for 1 hr. of yoga, followed by spa, sauna, steam room...with cold immersion in between.
Day 3: (Fri. 2.26.10) 5m warm-up run. Concentrate on breathing through my nose and smelling the river. relaxing with my stride, not rushing. Arrived at house and collected the young man who wants to run for his middle school eighth grade track team. We had some issues with appropriate running attire, thankfully grandmother was there to sort it out. We headed out into stormy weather, with good gear on. 5m warm-up jog, stop and stretch out with toe stretchers and leg stretchs on a bench. 30min run up mill creek and back down, we split up at seven eleven. Damn, he is fast and everybody happy. hahaha. good. No yoga tonight, not gonna do it. Nope.
Day 4: (Sat. 2.27.10) One of those days. I have dreamed of this day, maybe all of my life. What a run. Left my house at 4:53 pm. Ran from there up mill creek to the rooks park bridge turnaround @36m. Pre-sunset light, so amazingly crystal. water was beautiful and came in over my ipod music. sunset @the bridge, caught it with my video cam, should post on this blog soon. The run back down was so good, I was really feeling it, stride strong, breath steady, could smell the fecund spring aromas along the creek. my energy was rising at 1hr. bounce in my step, coulda been the march fourth album i was listening to. nothing like trombone to get one jazzed. LOVED it! Unbelievable! I felt so good. Maybe this marathon is really doable after all....total time 1hr7m.
WEEK TWO
Day 1: (Mon. 3.1.10) The sun was shining and the need was great. It was a good run. Difficult to get into the breathing. It happened though, and I rolled it for 30m. Ending up @ the YMCA in time for yoga. So good to have the conditioning up to support my needs. This is my body. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
Day 2: (Wed. 3.3.10) Great run today. 35m. Downtown into the sunset. Finishing @ the YMCA in time for yoga and then steam/suana/spa...cold water immersions in between. This is so great. I go at least a minute, as cold as I can, either with the shower or hose, in between the hot. This pulls the blood in, and requires deep breathing, then the hot pushes the blood to the surface of the skin. Yes! Cycles of this produce endorphin drops into the body.
Day 3: (Fri. 3.5.10) Feeling good for the run up mill creek. 37m. Really nice. Although, I decided not to do yoga today and then cooked my favorite meal. I am a vegetarian. I love curry broccoli, with pasta and gluten bits. Ate way to many calories, but later went and danced it off. Hopefully.
Day 4: (Sat. 3.6.10) Wow! I did it again. 1hr. (plus change) Feeling good the whole way. This week, instead of the finish being a down hill pull, it was uphill. Ran from home to the trail on the other side of Hwy. 12. Down that paved trail to its end, past 9th Street, nearly to the prison. Back uptown, past the chief, through downtown and up to the house. Even had a kick for the last block. Realizing, however, just how steep the hill I am setting out to climb is. A full marathon is a long, long ways, and takes a long, long, time. One step at a time....next week...we step up the time.
In November of 2009, I sprained my ankle. I was doing 3-4 mile runs (4x) per week and (1) 7-8 mile run on the weekend. Pushing myself up from there that was my plan. I was training, or so I thought. After the sprain I made the classic mistake of running on it too soon. A week later, I taped up and got out there. It clearly hurt it to do that. Which is my real point here. All of my life I have been willing to hurt myself for my own good. And in this case, I wasn't even doing yoga to make it better. I am now. Hopefully, as the New Method takes hold, that old "hurt yourself for your own good" mentality will stop. Gutting your way through a marathon is not the goal. Running it is.
So the new method. Its all about time. It will take 3-5 hours to run a marathon, depending on my conditioning. The real goal is to be able to be on my feet, running, for that time. Not hiking for 3-5 hours, which is awesome, but running. Which should be awesome. Once I have trained to get there. Not killed myself for. That is not the goal. Amazing how hard it is to eschew oneself of this type of ideology. Now this blog is dedicated to one day of training after the other. The plan? Run time not miles. Week by week increases. Until I am ready to go race. There are two goals here. The first one is on the Oregon coast in May. Only if I am ready. The real goal is the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington DC, in October.
Week One, Starts Now. (3-4) 30 minute runs with (1) one hour run at the end of the week. If you are reading this and are curious how it goes, check back periodically, because I will update it every training day.
Day 1: (Tues. 2.23.10) 10 m. to downtown, five minute break. 20 more minutes, down 13th street and across mill creek on the tracks and back up to the statue of the Chief. Then later sauna/steam room.
Day 2: (Wed. 2.24.10) 5 m. 1-1 basketball game @ Lion's Park for warm-up, which I won. 30 min. run up mill creek and back, followed by my daughter, Hannah's basketball game. Which she won. Biked down to the Y for 1 hr. of yoga, followed by spa, sauna, steam room...with cold immersion in between.
Day 3: (Fri. 2.26.10) 5m warm-up run. Concentrate on breathing through my nose and smelling the river. relaxing with my stride, not rushing. Arrived at house and collected the young man who wants to run for his middle school eighth grade track team. We had some issues with appropriate running attire, thankfully grandmother was there to sort it out. We headed out into stormy weather, with good gear on. 5m warm-up jog, stop and stretch out with toe stretchers and leg stretchs on a bench. 30min run up mill creek and back down, we split up at seven eleven. Damn, he is fast and everybody happy. hahaha. good. No yoga tonight, not gonna do it. Nope.
Day 4: (Sat. 2.27.10) One of those days. I have dreamed of this day, maybe all of my life. What a run. Left my house at 4:53 pm. Ran from there up mill creek to the rooks park bridge turnaround @36m. Pre-sunset light, so amazingly crystal. water was beautiful and came in over my ipod music. sunset @the bridge, caught it with my video cam, should post on this blog soon. The run back down was so good, I was really feeling it, stride strong, breath steady, could smell the fecund spring aromas along the creek. my energy was rising at 1hr. bounce in my step, coulda been the march fourth album i was listening to. nothing like trombone to get one jazzed. LOVED it! Unbelievable! I felt so good. Maybe this marathon is really doable after all....total time 1hr7m.
WEEK TWO
Day 1: (Mon. 3.1.10) The sun was shining and the need was great. It was a good run. Difficult to get into the breathing. It happened though, and I rolled it for 30m. Ending up @ the YMCA in time for yoga. So good to have the conditioning up to support my needs. This is my body. There are many like it, but this one is mine.
Day 2: (Wed. 3.3.10) Great run today. 35m. Downtown into the sunset. Finishing @ the YMCA in time for yoga and then steam/suana/spa...cold water immersions in between. This is so great. I go at least a minute, as cold as I can, either with the shower or hose, in between the hot. This pulls the blood in, and requires deep breathing, then the hot pushes the blood to the surface of the skin. Yes! Cycles of this produce endorphin drops into the body.
Day 3: (Fri. 3.5.10) Feeling good for the run up mill creek. 37m. Really nice. Although, I decided not to do yoga today and then cooked my favorite meal. I am a vegetarian. I love curry broccoli, with pasta and gluten bits. Ate way to many calories, but later went and danced it off. Hopefully.
Day 4: (Sat. 3.6.10) Wow! I did it again. 1hr. (plus change) Feeling good the whole way. This week, instead of the finish being a down hill pull, it was uphill. Ran from home to the trail on the other side of Hwy. 12. Down that paved trail to its end, past 9th Street, nearly to the prison. Back uptown, past the chief, through downtown and up to the house. Even had a kick for the last block. Realizing, however, just how steep the hill I am setting out to climb is. A full marathon is a long, long ways, and takes a long, long, time. One step at a time....next week...we step up the time.
Saturday, January 16, 2010
Blue SUV's
They don't haunt my dreams,
I see them every day.
Driving by, nice and shiny.
Most especially, I am looking,
To see just one, dark blue SUV.
Mitsubishi Endeavor, to be
Precise. One specifically, the one
I never see. Nope not me.
I see all the rest, from dawn til'
Dusk. I never knew before,
There were so many blue SUV's.
Toyota, Ford, and Chevy too.
All of them, it seems to me, are
Also blue. Oh, I know that
There are other colors, but since
You left, they slip right by
Me, and disappear in the blink
Of an eye. And again I see
One, just like that, cruising by.
A blue SUV, I know for sure,
That it's not the one, and yet I can't
Help it, when my heart, just
For a second, is quietly stunned.
There is even one around, right
Make but not model, as I was told
So long ago, before it all unraveled.
Even if twas', it's who is not
Driving it that is the matter.
I see them every day.
Driving by, nice and shiny.
Most especially, I am looking,
To see just one, dark blue SUV.
Mitsubishi Endeavor, to be
Precise. One specifically, the one
I never see. Nope not me.
I see all the rest, from dawn til'
Dusk. I never knew before,
There were so many blue SUV's.
Toyota, Ford, and Chevy too.
All of them, it seems to me, are
Also blue. Oh, I know that
There are other colors, but since
You left, they slip right by
Me, and disappear in the blink
Of an eye. And again I see
One, just like that, cruising by.
A blue SUV, I know for sure,
That it's not the one, and yet I can't
Help it, when my heart, just
For a second, is quietly stunned.
There is even one around, right
Make but not model, as I was told
So long ago, before it all unraveled.
Even if twas', it's who is not
Driving it that is the matter.
Thursday, December 24, 2009
An Hour Away
Throughout my life, I have struggled with domestic tasks. Oh, I can cook with the best of them, but cleaning is my bane. From the wandering days of my hippy mother until now, what I like best is to play. It is amazing to me, how many people just don't like it. Or are not good at it. Life is best when we are playing a fun game. We laugh harder, think better and act out of our true selves. I suppose that is why so many resist the fun of good playfulness, because we act out of our true self when we are being playful. That can be scary for many. When I act of my true self, I can be scary to many. I am only sort of kidding, just ask my brother.
There are many fears associated with playing the games that life presents us. Sometimes the consequences are not fun. We accept certain risks when we agree to abide by the rules and play. Namely, losing. But depending on the game, many physical injuries occur to the players. And of course, there is always ridicule. The joy of abandon to the game is the motivator. In my work with oppositional children, I have learned the reason for rules. They are required to have fun. They give us an agreed upon platform for our fun. That is all. No drama required, when we all agree to play by the rules. Within the rules, however, even drama can be fun. But that requires serious directing and blocking. So don't attempt drama without proper training. Again, I am sort of joking here, only sort of. All my drama people say, Hey! I love you all.
It is only in the last couple of years that I have been able to conceptualize cleaning as part of the fun. Clearing the way for the next table of fun, that is the concept. This is so clearly revealed in the realm of cooking. Doing the dishes and having clean dishes, make creative cooking possible. A fresh tableau. First, I have to do the dishes. That is generally where I am at. I dream of the clean kitchen, and I know how to have one, but I am not there yet. As a single dad, my house is my castle. I have moved up in the world. It is not a perfect castle, however.
Seeking the ultimate state of living, is our life goal and I now accept that cleaning is part of ultimate living. I realized the other day, while cleaning, in preparation for my brother and his daughter to visit, that while I wasn't there yet, I was only an hour away. Somehow, my rhythm has shifted. Upon reflection, generally speaking, I keep a state of house that is perpetually an hour away from visitors. I feel that this is an acceptable adult reality. Grown up life. This includes the toilet. As a guy, I now accept that it is mostly our mess and therefore ours to clean. We all prefer a clean spot. So stop by anytime, I am not ashamed of my life and I love stop-bys. If, however, you need to stay the night. Please, give me an hour.
There are many fears associated with playing the games that life presents us. Sometimes the consequences are not fun. We accept certain risks when we agree to abide by the rules and play. Namely, losing. But depending on the game, many physical injuries occur to the players. And of course, there is always ridicule. The joy of abandon to the game is the motivator. In my work with oppositional children, I have learned the reason for rules. They are required to have fun. They give us an agreed upon platform for our fun. That is all. No drama required, when we all agree to play by the rules. Within the rules, however, even drama can be fun. But that requires serious directing and blocking. So don't attempt drama without proper training. Again, I am sort of joking here, only sort of. All my drama people say, Hey! I love you all.
It is only in the last couple of years that I have been able to conceptualize cleaning as part of the fun. Clearing the way for the next table of fun, that is the concept. This is so clearly revealed in the realm of cooking. Doing the dishes and having clean dishes, make creative cooking possible. A fresh tableau. First, I have to do the dishes. That is generally where I am at. I dream of the clean kitchen, and I know how to have one, but I am not there yet. As a single dad, my house is my castle. I have moved up in the world. It is not a perfect castle, however.
Seeking the ultimate state of living, is our life goal and I now accept that cleaning is part of ultimate living. I realized the other day, while cleaning, in preparation for my brother and his daughter to visit, that while I wasn't there yet, I was only an hour away. Somehow, my rhythm has shifted. Upon reflection, generally speaking, I keep a state of house that is perpetually an hour away from visitors. I feel that this is an acceptable adult reality. Grown up life. This includes the toilet. As a guy, I now accept that it is mostly our mess and therefore ours to clean. We all prefer a clean spot. So stop by anytime, I am not ashamed of my life and I love stop-bys. If, however, you need to stay the night. Please, give me an hour.
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