I’m a beer drinker and I
have a running problem. That’s not too far from the truth except that I am rediscovering
my love of running from almost a year of separation.
For those of you that
don’t know, I used to run all the time. In high school, I skipped classes to go
for runs and I couldn’t think about anything else except what my splits should
and will be during practice or the next race. I used to day dream of running
sub- 5 minute miles like it was my job. I once threatened my high schools girl’s
soccer team for cutting in front of us (the cross country team) during one of
our workouts – I later had to write an apology note to the soccer team. After
high school I went to college and ran. I brought my determination to Keuka
College all for about one season and that is where my love for running started
to fade.
After junior year in
college I left for a semester to do an internship. The summer before senior
year, I pretty much stopped running. My alcohol consumption increased (still
hasn’t gone down) and I turned into a hobby jogger. I’ve been going on spurts
of running for a month or two then stop for three or four months. This brings me to current day.
About three weeks ago,
more specifically St. Patrick’s Day, I ran in a local 5 mile race with a
co-worker. After the race I decided I wanted to get back into running. I
pondered the idea for awhile and made the commitment of “I’m going all in.”
Essentially, that means I am going to train for my first marathon. This blog
will keep me honest and keep you laughing.
My training started exactly
on April 1, 2012. Being April Fool’s day I was really hoping I was going to
fool myself but apparently my mind has caught up. To start training I know that
I need to create my base. I will be following an 18 week training plan as the
marathon is on September 23rd, 2012 and 18 weeks out will be May 20th, 2012. Until
then, it’s all about the miles and getting the legs used to this strange
movement again.
April 1st Day 1: A nice
3 mile jaunt around the neighborhood. Running around Greece, NY is fairly easy.
However, when one isn’t used to just going out and running 3 miles, you might
notice these random little inclines and declines throughout the neighborhoods.
I didn’t have a watch for this run so I had no idea at what pace I was running
but I’m assuming it was somewhere around 5:30 pace – at least it felt like it.
After every run, even back in the glory days, I would go walk down the street
for a little cool down. Half way down the street I turned around and ran back
to the house – the bathroom was calling my name. Note to everyone: don’t eat
about 5 servings of Buffalo chicken wing dip the day before a run. I actually felt pretty good after the run
overall. Nothing gets better than having a nice cold beer after a run. No, it
doesn’t defeat the purpose!
April 2nd Day 2: At
work I sent a text to a good friend, Matt A. asking if he’d like to join me for
a “4ish mile run.” He obviously said sure so I met up with him at his place. We
had a great run through Mt. Hope Cemetery. I never realized how damn hilly that
place was. Matt hadn’t run for a month (granted, he was recovering from an
incredible indoor track season) and he is just a much faster runner than I, he
really punished me. As I was trying to suck in oxygen, he was talking away. I
gave it the college try to appear that I wasn’t struggling – I think it went
alright. During the run, I couldn’t help but realize that we probably ran
further than 4 miles but I didn’t dare ask Matt in fear that he would make us
go further. We got back to his place and the time was 40 minutes and change…damn
we ran 5 miles. I need a beer.
April 3rd Day 3: I’m at
work and I send Matt a text: “How are your legs feeling?” Clearly he was in
much better shape than I was. The legs were a bit stiff and when I woke up in
the morning I was telling myself there was no way, unless Hell froze over, that
I would run after work. What happened at 5:30pm? I went out for a nice 3.18
mile run. The start of the run was great. I looked like a stiff zombie as I’m
pretty sure I couldn’t bend my knees. About mile 2 I look at my watch and I see
13 minutes and change. Holy crap, I’m going way too fast for base training and
marathon training in general. This is the perfect opportunity and a great
excuse to slow way down. Now, I’m right in front of Wegmans and there is a lot
of traffic so I needed to make this look good. Luckily, everyone else is in a
car and they can’t tell if I’m running fast or not. Perfect. Nothing is better
for you post run than a couple of cheese burgers. A calorie is a calorie no
matter how delicious.
April 4th Day 4: I need
a rest. Since I haven’t run consistently in about a year I know what I’m doing.
If I am going to do this right, I need to take a break. Today I did a nice
little core workout and stretched for a good 30 minutes. Sometimes it’s nice to
take a break and get a little focused and recovered. Good thing the night isn’t
over so I can get some beer in me! After all, it is Opening Day for baseball so
I need to continue with the American tradition. Tomorrow will be a morning run
but not sure where or how far yet!
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