The "I'm insane" weekend

I'm exhausted and my body aches. All over. As I mentioned in my inaugural post, I am a soccer official. This weekend, my town hosted a regional tournament for teams wishing to play in the Louisiana State Cup, the state championship for Division-I soccer (traveling squads--more serious than rec soccer). Saturday and Sunday, I officiated soccer matches between some of the best teams in this region. On Saturday, I "centered" (the Center Ref--the one who runs on the field with the players) two games in the U-14 and U-15 Boys brackets. I ran my fanny off. Plus the sun was oppressive and the sunscreen--waterproof and sweatproof my foot!--melted off of me within 20 minutes.

Sunday, I AR'ed one game (The linesman, the guy who runs along the sideline (touch line) with he flag) and Centered another. To add tension to the situation, a former national referee and current state level referee and assessor served as the Tournament Referee, the ref in charge, as it were, who mediates complaints and disputes. He puttered all over the soccer complex in a golf cart watching and critiquing us. He gave great feedback and wonderful advice, but still, I found myself looking for the golf cart during stoppages in play.

Well, to make a long story longer, I had registered to run a 5K this Sunday as well. I decided I would go ahead and run, thinking that with all the sprinting and multi-directional running I had been doing, running in a straight line for 30 minutes might be fun. So, I ran. I saw a good friend and we decided to take it easy and run together. But in a classic case of male miscommunication, I though I was keeping pace with him (which I thought he was a little fast) and he thought he was keeping pace with me (and thought me a little fast for him). Nevertheless, we ran a pretty good race for a couple of older guys, and I once again broke 33 minutes (32:23) on a 5K, even with all that running that I had done over the past two days. It was very hot and the sun was rough. I found that even though I had consumed what I thought were adequate amounts of gatorade while reffing in the morning, I still was deficient on fluid. I was actually dry-mouthed when I finished the race.

My dear friend Lisa gave me my training program for the half-marathon and today's scheduled run was 3 miles, so the 5K met that and the reffing took me a little farther. I'd guess that in the game I AR'ed, I ran an easy mile and a half, sprinting down the sideline. In the CR game, I probably ran 2 miles, maybe. Lots of play in the center of the field. I ran an easy 4 miles, if not farther, reffing on Saturday.

A comment!

Someone named Bob left a short but sweet comment on my first post. Thanks! I was beginning to think I was writing to myself. If you are reading this blog and have input or comments, please do leave a comment.

For his comment I have named Bob "reader of the week." Congrats.

New shorts

I was in "Ross-Dress for Less" a few weeks back and found a nice pair of New Balance running shorts for very cheap. They are made of the new "lightning dry" material and are very light. They feature a "phantom waistband" that is designed not to chafe or blister over long runs. I liked them so much I wanted some more running shorts and tried some UnderArmour shorts designed for running that I purchased from the local sporting goods store. I got them home and found that they had the largest, roughest seam running right down the middle of my, er, umm, private area...that I could only imagine the intense pain from that seam on that delicate area over 13 miles. I really didn't see these shorts "protecting my house", so I took them back and ordered some New Balance Vega Shorts made of the same material as the other shorts from Ross. Nice fit. Here is an image of the Vega short.


Here is an embarrassing question. They feature a very soft liner/brief. Do I treat these shorts like a bathing suit and run in only the liner and shorts or do I wear underwear too? I am embarrassed to ask, but I'd really like to know!

This week's runs

I informally began my half marathon training this week. Lisa will be sending me a half marathon training plan soon (right Lisa?) but after I ran three nice miles on Monday, she emailed me and told me to run 2 miles this morning with 3x 30 second bursts at 5K pace. It was a very good run to be done at 5:30 a.m. If I don't hear from Lisa tonight, I'll most likely do 4 miles on Wednesday. My biggest hurdle so far has been pacing. I want to run every mile as if it were a 5 k at an elevated pace,and I don't think one can do that in a half or full marathon.

I wrote a couple of weeks ago that I had lost 17 pounds. I am now down 20 pounds and holding at a plateau for what feels like an eternity. I've lost a good bit over the past four months that I got spoiled and want to lose more and more, but friends who know better tell me that my body has to adjust, that I may continue to lose inches before actual pounds; that soon the weight will resume dropping after this adjustment period. The nice thing is that I bought a new belt, two sizes smaller than the ones I still wear, albeit with newly drilled holes to keep my now baggy pants up. Feels great!

Race result

Much better running conditions this morning. A major storm had just rumbled through and the course was wet and the temp was cool, maybe 60 degrees at race time. This course was a flat course that took us over the Ouachita River and back to Monroe. Low turnout because of the storms, but some good runners nonetheless.

I beat my goal ( sub 33), finishing in 31:46. I started out fast, maybe too fast--probably following these great runners a little too close and my first mile clocked at 9:33, mile 2 at 10:32, and mile 3 at 10:41. The last tenth of a mile clocked at :58. I am satisfied with the result. That is my fastest ever mile time for mile 3, which shows that I have built some stamina but really need to get serious. Plus, my family was at the finish line and cheering me on. That gave me a last 100 yard kick.

Lisa, my triathlete friend is supposed to give me a 1/2 marathon training program next week.

The next 5K

Okay, I am hooked. I wasn't home for more than a day before I found in the mail a flier for a local 5K--The Monroe, Louisiana YMCA Healthy Kids Day 5K. On Saturday April 14, I'll run in my second race. Given that last week's was cold (32 degrees F), hilly (Birmingham--need I say more?), and I could only breathe out of half a nostril, I have greater expectations for my finish time. I am now shooting for a sub-33 min 5K. Training this week has been difficult--I've only run about 6 miles total. My sinus junk moved to my chest over the weekend and on Friday night (April 12) it was just about gone except for a nagging runny nose and an occasional cough. All I did on Friday was go to Yoga class (Luna Blue Yoga--awesome). But I should be well-rested for Saturday's run.

Here's a shout out to Lou from WDW radio. Thanks for a great podcast and sharing a love of all things WDW with us.

I also discovered Disney Running. A Great website that posts all things related to running at WDW, including race reports, images,and tips.

The 5K Results

Well. It's over. My first official road race, my first 5K. My goal was to run it in 36 minutes or less. I finished in 33:41.5. For my age group (men, 35-39--I turn 40 in two days--so I am at the back end of that group) was 14 out of 21 and overall, I was 186 out of roughly 350 who ran (not including walkers). The overall winner of the race for men ran in 17:51, the overall women's winner ran in 21:33. This was a very hilly course. I have never trained for hills. Living in Louisiana, hills to us are speed bumps! Plus I am dealing with a major sinus blowout right now. So running with only one-half of one nostril working and with a cough hurt me. Plus it was about 33 degrees at start with a pretty strong wind of around 15-20 MPH!

I am very proud of my finish. I now understand what people have told me about races. For those of us racing our own personal clocks and just wanting to finish, the culture of the race is addictive. The community of racers, the sense of accomplishment, the feeling that I have done something meaningful draws me to more races and this community of racers.

The 5k Strategy

Runner's World online has an interesting piece on 5K strategy--that starting out at a faster pace than previously thought will actually increase physical performance and reduce race times. Let's be clear here. I just want to finish my 5K. BUT, I will say that the study they site in this piece worked for me yesterday. I ran just about 3 miles last night and started my first mile fast--at least for me! The next mile I ran slower, slower than my standard mile pacing. The final mile I ran a little up-tempo because my I-Pod had some nice music I had loaded just for running--the sound track to the Disney Spectromagic Parade (by the way, if anyone has a better quality soundtrack for that parade--the entire parade, please let me know. I had to loop a one-minutes clip about 8 times to get a decent length). Great music for running. I was thinking a lot about my kids (they've been out of town all week with mom for spring break vacation) and I even imagined seeing them as I made the finish line of the Disney Half-Marathon. Got a little emotional too, I'll admit. But I ran that distance, even with a couple of walk breaks for stretching my back, in a pretty decent time for an overweight novice runner.

The link is here:
(http://www.runnersworld.com/article/0,7120,s6-238-244-259-11738-0,00.html?cm_re=HP-_-In%20This%20Issue-_-Go%20Out%20Fast%20In%20Your%20Next%205K)

The 5K

My younger brother called me on Sunday and asked if I wanted to run in a 5K with him this coming weekend (April 7). The run is in Birmingham--The Christ Church United Methodist Church Run to the Cross. He has also returned to running as means of ensuring that we live long enough to see our kids get really, really old.

Two things concern me here: first, this is my first-ever real race. To this point I have run alone and without the pressure of a competitive environment. Plus, it has hills. Where I live there are no hills. So I guess that'll be an new experience.
Two: it is supposed to be cold. The low Friday night in Birmingham will be 37! I guess it could have been 90 degrees for the race. So I choose cold over hot anytime.

Runner's World (http://www.runnersworld.com) had a nice article last month on the one-week training program for a 5K. It is designed to get someone ready to race in 7 days. I have been following that program to gear up.

Welcome!

Welcome to this new blog. In December, I found that I suffered from high blood pressure. This is due primarily to weight (I was very overweight, but had been a regular exerciser) and family history. My doctor, also a good friend, advised me--urged me--to lose weight. The BP now is under control thanks to meds, and I started running again and eating better, the result of which has been my loss of 17 pounds from December through the end of March 2007. I have another 26 to go before I reach my goal weight of 200 pounds.

To keep myself motivated, I have decided to come under the tutelage of a dear colleague (a fine triathlete herself and an all-around great person to be around), who has agreed to train me for a half-marathon--specifically the Disney Half-Marathon in January, 2008--hence the title of this blog. This blog will serve as a training journal, as it were, of my quest for better health and my plan to run 13 miles in Disney early next year.

I am also a soccer ref, so I may throw a few ref stories and links into the mix.


I welcome your feedback and I hope you will join me in what is not only my first blog, but what will be my first half-marathon.