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Sunday, February 11, 2007
11 1/2 in 11 1/2
Run Time: 2:10:58
Total Miles to Date: 350.7 (564.4K)
Thoughts on the Run:
First, from this point forward I will do my best to make this blog "International Friendly." I'm going to go back through the articles at my website and do the same ... it takes only a little effort on my end but makes it much easier for our international readers!
This week has been a fun week. Let's cover some personal items first.
We've had a wonderful dog named Lizzie for quite some time. Lizzie had a companion who for various reasons stayed behind in South Dakota when we moved down to Florida. Unfortunately, one of the main reasons was that the little house on the beach we moved into would only allow one modest sized pet. So, we took our cats over to my parents house and let Bailey, our other dog, find a very friendly home in Spearfish, South Dakota. As one of my dear parrots died on the trip up there, I didn't want to put the other parrot through the same thing on the way down, so we found her a home, too. That left us with a turtle and Lizzie.
Lizzie is a very smart and playful dog. However, we've always known she loved having a companion and had talked about finding one for her. For some reason we all came to agreement this past weekend it was time. A few searches on Craig's List later and we found a candidate. The puppy came to visit and instantly was "adopted" by our family. She is a young (9 weeks old) mutt who already knows how to sit and is very well "potty trained" (yes, she has a few accidents but always after she's made it to the door to let us know her intentions). It's been a fun week because she is one of those pets who fit right in. Lizzie was surprisingly timid the first day and actually acted afraid of the puppy. The puppy had no fear and would chase Lizzie around, and we instantly agreed upon the name "Sassy." The second day, Lizzie was moping around acting depressed. She was no longer afraid of the puppy but had the look of "make it go away." The third day, however, and they were playing nonstop and now you cannot separate the two.
I had a very productive week with all of my businesses. Major code pushouts for the WiFi business, as well as construction on my health and wellness website - extended the gallery, added some exercise illustrations, some more articles, etc. What I did not do a good job of this week was, well, um ... running.
So I missed a sizeable midweek run. I had a good, fast, short run, but it was time to do some distance. After a beautiful service at church (our daughter was presented her personal bible this morning, and we welcomed some new members to the congregation) we came home and I prepared for my run. My shipment of nutrition had not come in yet so I bought some Gatorade Endurance and brought along a Clif Bar.
The intention was to go a full 20 miles but I was happy with anything over 10 - I'm a little behind on my schedule and it usually staggers long distance with middle distance.
I may have mentioned for me the best run is the out-and-back. Loops make it too easy for me to make excuses and come back home. I was lazy and did not want to drive down to the Silver Comet, so I ran a 10 mile loop around the neighborhood.
The loop went well. My Garmin 301 worked well the entire way (the previous run it had shut off for some unknown reason). I also paced myself well ... I was elated to find I had finished the 10 miles at just over an 11 minute pace. I grab a handful of peanut-filled pretzels, refilled my water bottles, and headed out to do the loop again. I was already struggling on the first mile, but it was the hills that did me in. The Silver Comet is a flat trail and it was simply to put one foot in front the next on the way back. Trying that while scaling a sizeable hill, on the other hand, eventually defeated me. Once I was walking, it was over.
Now, I know that in the ultras, there will be a fair share of walking up hills. So this is a strategy I need to embrace and practice. I have to get over the constant desire to run at a fast pace and focus on the real goal of distance. But let's face it - 2 hours into a run, grinding to a halt on a hill and starting to get cold makes for a great excuse, especially when home is a short walk away.
So, I turned around and headed back.
Now, I'm not going to complain about running a nice 11.5 run. I still remember the excitement I felt doing 12 in the rain the last day of 2006, so I appreciate that this distance feels like a "normal" distance now. And there was another bonus. If I hadn't turned around, I would not have met the gentleman in his driveway who saw my bottles and my Garmin and instantly deduced I was coming back from a "long run." It turns out there are six men in the neighborhood training for the ING Georgia Marathon and he invited me to get in touch and perhaps catch a ride down.
I may take him up on the offer .. however, I also received a surprise from my wife and daughter the other day. They had an event scheduled that Saturday and weren't going to be there for the run. However, they had a talk and decided they really wanted to support me for my first marathon and be there. So, they are going to arrange to be at the finish line to cheer me on and receive me at the end of my first marathon! Very exciting.
So, another sizeable run to add to the log books. I will continue to refine my schedule and get it right, but I know my important runs are the long ones so if I have to sacrifice anything, it will be the shorter ones during the week.
The other exciting news is about my book. I did not hesitate to make it available on the Google Books engine when it was available. When I sold my Natural Physiques website, I had to transfer the book to my Golden Summit Inc. account. Some technical glitch kept them from porting the book over. It's taken ... get this ... ELEVEN MONTHS for them to fix the glitch! Insane! However, not only did they get it back in, but if you do a search on lose fat, it's the first entry.
If you are curious about the book, I allow 70% of it to be browsed online and am seriously contemplating opening up the entire book. However, it's a great way to browse it and see if it is something you are interested in if you've been sitting on the fence.
Until next time ...
Warmly,
Jeremy Likness
posted by Jeremy Likness | 6:43 PM
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