Happy Halloween! Goal Change Again, and Birthday Presents

Ok, so it's been a while. A lots gone on. A week or so ago just after Angela & I signed up for the 10k, I got a call from the race director... weird. She told me for "logistical reasons" they had to cancel the 10k... GREAT! She gave us the option of moving to the 5k (tempting, let me tell ya!) or the 1/2 Marathon. Well... being that I was on the spot and had to make a decision all I could think of was Angela would hate me if I chose the 5k... so 1/2 Marathon it is (sarcastic "yea!"... just kidding). So, I need to revamp the schedule again ;-)

We both ran 3 miles on Friday the 22nd, but at different times. Mark-32min 42sec (10:54mi) Angela-33min 58sec (11:19mi)

Last weekend my birthday present came due :-) Angela treated me to a weekend of fast driving! I participated in a "High Performance Driving Event" with The Drivers Edge on the 1.7mile road course race track in Cresson Texas. For anyone that's interested in driving their car fast in a controlled and relatively safe environment, this is the way to do it! 2 days and eight 25-minute sessions on the track with an instructor in your passenger seat giving you real-time feedback. I learned so much and got to where I was pushing my car father than I ever thought possible. The really cool thing is, I know there's a lot more in it once I work on my technique... Can't wait to do it again!!!

Here's some video of me on the last run on the last day:



Angela was out of town last week on business. She was pretty busy and didn't get a chance to run. Me... I was just lazy. Today though, we finally got out and did 6 miles while the neighborhood kids were just starting to do their trick-or-treating. With all the rest we had, and the fact that we walked quite a few times, and stopped to talk to some of the neighbors ;-) it didn't seem too bad at all. Total time was 1hr 11min 12sec (11:52mi)

New Schedule... and a Change in Goals ;-)

Ok, so if you've been following us at all you'll notice that the 1/2 Marathon Training Schedule looks a bit different... Well, that's because its now a 10k Training Schedule. My practical side took over and I decided I was going to do the 10k instead of a half marathon (we're registered so it's a done deal now!)... plus Angela wanted to incorporate some weight training in there as well (I love that girl!!!). So here's the deal... we'll keep our long runs on Sundays (same day as race day), they'll just be a bit shorter now. Mondays and Saturdays are rest days. Friday is the short run day followed by a little bit of weight training. Wed & Thur are weight training days as well (we plan for one of these days each week to be legs in order to work on our joints to hopefully avoid knee injuries). And Tuesday is interval training day. This will be alternating 1/4mi sprints (x5) & 1/4mi walks (x6) for a total of 2.75mi. This is to hopefully build up some speed... it could happen ;-)

Ok... sounds good in theory... lets see what happens!

Oh yeah... we did our 5mi run tonight. We had 4 or 5 short little walks in there but still managed a decent pace. M-55min 19sec (11:04mi) A-55min 42sec (11:08mi)

1/2 Marathon Training - Day 53

Missed our 4mi run yesterday so Angela & I decided to do it today instead of the 3 on the schedule. Mark: 42min 52sec (10:43mi); Angela: 43min 24sec (10:51mi)

1/2 Marathon Training - Day 50

Struggled this morning again, but forced myself to finish. Looking back over the last few 3 mile runs this morning's was my worst time yet... 33min 7sec (11:02mi)

1/2 Marathon Training - Day 48

This morning the schedule said 4miles. I sorta felt up to it, but that's not un-typical... I usually do well on those days I "sorta" feel like going (usually do bad on the days I initially feel good)... Anyway, I planned to shoot for a target heart rate today (wearing my new fancy-dancy runners watch :-) which was my theorectical 80-85% rate, or basically 155-165 bpm. Well, you know what they say... all good plans sometimes just go to... er... heck. I was less than a quarter mile into my run, pulling a little less than an 11min/mile pace and my heart rate was already 160 (I didn't really need a heart rate monitor to tell me I was already suffering). I tried the remainder of 2 miles to keep my heart rate below 170, and that proved to be almost impossible even slowing to an 11:30/mi pace. Something just wasn't right, so I called it quits after 2miles.

Some guesses: Lots of caffeine yesterday, not a night over 7 1/2 hours sleep in the last week, and a really bad diet yesterday (but left over mexican food is ALWAYS hard to turn down).

Today I had to go into work for 5 or 6 hours. At sunset, Angela did her 4 miles, and I decided to tag along for the 1st 2 to atleast get my mileage in! Pace was a little slower than this morning, but the heart rate was MUCH slower... ahhh that was much better! I could breath!

I'm super proud of Angela, she ran the entire 4miles! She even looked like she could run some more after she was done... Good Job Baby! Angela's Total time: 46:50 (11:43mi)

Car Stuff, Sushi & 1/2 Marathon Training - Day 46

Wednesday I left work early to get my car inspected for the upcoming track day mentioned a couple days ago. This wasn't the typical state inspection, it was instead a safety inspection to make sure I can drive the car hard on the track... safely :-) I'm happy to say it passed! Excitement level rising!

Yesterday we missed our run. Got up too late and then we had dinner plans with friends... sushi! Hadn't had sushi in a while and we tried a new place, Hui Chuan Sushi on Camp Bowie... pretty good stuff, and it was good to get caught up. Good Times!

This morning I was determined to get my run in (Angela's planning hers for tonight). It's definitely getting cooler outside. I decided to run the 1.0mi course 3 times and take 2 "water breaks" (if 5-7 sec of walking while chugging a couple ounces of water can be called a water break :-/ ). I also tried out my new runners watch this morning. I tried to maintain a 10min/mi pace from the start, and that proved to be difficult. I paid for it the whole time... I hurt the whole time. May have to shoot for something a tad slower, but I've got time to manage that. I've got a way to monitor it now... toys! End result: 31min 57sec (10:39mi).

1/2 Marathon Training - Day 43

It only took about 1.25mi into my 3.0mi run this morning for me to make the decision that I was only going half way. Just not a good morning. I did manage to sprint the last quarter mile to feel like there was some accomplishment. Of course, some perspective may be in order... just 5 weeks ago I was doing good to simply make 1.5mi. Total time - 14:36 (9:44mi)

Car Stuff & 1/2 Marathon Training - Day 41

For my birthday a while back my WAY-Cool wife got me a weekend at The Drivers Edge High Performance Driving Event down at the local road course race track, MotorSport Ranch. The really cool thing about this is you use your own car. It's basically a 2-day class on how to drive your own car to it's limits around a dedicated race course... how cool is that! Ever since I found out, I've been prepping my car for the event. I actually have to get a performance inspection done before my car will be allowed on the track... makes since, since I'll be pushing it pretty hard... I hope :-) I replaced the front brakes a couple weeks back. Day before yesterday I had new tires put on it. Today I flushed and replaced all the brake fluid with higher temp DOT 4 fluid. Angela was wonderful and helped me bleed the fluid through the lines. I also replaced the rear brakes today and tracked down (& hopefully fixed) a suspension squeak I had in the right-rear. I think I should be good for the inspection now... we'll see. I hope to get it done this week.

I didn't run this morning... Angela & I went after sunset. Today was long run day, so the goal was simply to finish. Firt time doing 3.5miles, and our plan was to do our 2mile course, have some water then do our 1.5miler. Things actually went well, and I'm proud of Angela! She stuck with it the entire time... we finished together!!! 37minutes even (10:34 mile).

1/2 Marathon Training - Day 39

This morning was one of those days that makes me wish I could keep track of my pace during our run. I felt like crap even though I was running a "slow" pace. Angela & I stayed side-by-side for about half the run then she started dropping off the pace a bit. I felt like I was dogging it, and I was breathing a little harder than usual... nothing major, just noticeable. Anyway, I was really fighting with myself about walking for a bit. Finally, at about 2miles I made a deal with myself (there's lots of time to have conversations with yourself when you're running ;-)... If I walked, I better finish hard and not stop again no matter how much I wanted to. So, I walked for a bit... maybe only a couple hundred feet. I ran the rest of the way... not my hardest, but quicker at least. Once I checked the times it became obvious why it felt harder than I thought it should've. My time was 24min 34sec (9:50 mile) Surprised me. Bad thing is, this means I should probably expect a reality check on Sunday... ugh...

Angela's time: 27min 15sec (10:54 mile)

Oh, no running Thursday... I had a convenient excuse... I had to get to work early. Then I was just lazy and didn't feel like it when I got home.