A tale of two runs

Last Monday the temperatures were above freezing for the first time in a two or three weeks.

The training plan called for three miles, but I couldn't bear to stop. So I went for nine miles!

It had rained all day Sunday then froze that night so everything had a light glaze on it. 

The ice at Walton Lake was singing. I've never heard that sound before. 

Then today we had our first good snowfall. And again I couldn't resist going for a long run, even though my plan called for a rest day. I got in six miles.

Two crazy different days, both equally beautiful.

Baby it's cold outside!

This morning's run was pretty cold. Weather.com said it was 18 degrees F with a 12 mph wind, which put the wind chill in the single digits!

But it was so pretty, I stayed out for an hour and got six miles in.

Look at that sky! The wind was a little challenging but when you prepare properly it's no big deal.

I've got to say, I'm a huge fan of wool. I can't wait for my wool tights to be delivered. That material really does make a difference.

I saw a guy I didn't recognize running on Sunday, and I saw another new guy out running this morning.

Today's guy looked like a new runner, and it made me glad to see him out when the weather was so horrible.

If you look closely, you can see Jack Frost gave me some eyelash extensions! LOL!

Tomorrow's forecast is not looking good either. The temperature is supposed to be 8 degrees, with a wind chill below zero! And it's not supposed to get much warmer the rest of the week.

Don't get me wrong though, this isn't a complaint. I love winter! And it's been so long since it seems we've had a real one around here. Now if only Pennsylvania would share some of that snow they got I'd be happy!

I'll end with a photo of a building which caught my eye on my run this morning.

Winter is here

Last week was a little rough.

Not sure if I came down with a little cold, or if I hurt something; but something was just a little off. So I took it easy.

The weather took a serious turn for the colder but I still had some good runs. We finally got some snow!

Saturday was my birthday, I took a short run then my Beloved and I drove down to Joplin.

On the way down I thought about how I'd always wanted to visit a casino to see what all the fuss was about. There's one just outside Joplin and we headed there first.

I took in $20 and the casino gave me around $12 for my birthday. Mostly I played the penny slots, and I walked out with about $80. It as kinda fun, next time though I'm going to have to try the Texas Hold 'Em.

I found an outstanding book recently. It's titled "Run Gently Out There." It's by an ultrarunner. I'm nothing close to an ultrarunner, but his writing is incredible.

I love reading about running, but I have to admit most running books are kinda dry. Paces and VO2max and lactic threshhold.

His writing on the other hand is mostly about the places and people he encounters on the run. And it's very well done.

Also I have officially discovered wool. I bought a SmartWool PhD running zip top. And it is incredible! I love it.

I've never really felt cold on the run, despite running near zero occasionally. But there is a different feel to wool than the technical clothes I've had up till now.

I like it so much I went right out and bought two pairs of their tights too. I'll let you know what I think when they get delivered.

Band on the Run part deux

Two years ago when I started running, I didn't have any intention of signing up for any races.

But in September 2015 the local high school held the Band on the Run 5k about the time I finished the C25k program. So I decided to sign up for it.

Here I am at the starting line of that race. I weighed 230 pounds. I finished in 33:54, and that hurt!

They didn't hold the race in 2016, but a couple weeks ago they announced they would run it this year.

I told myself I wasn't going to run it, my training plan called for a 12-mile long run that day. But when I woke up yesterday morning, I just had to!

Here I am before the race yesterday. I weigh 175.

Here we are getting ready for the start!

Here I am crossing the finish line. My watch said 24:25! I am so happy!

My time was good enough to get me first place in my age group!

Running has changed my life. The progress I've made over the past two years blows my mind.

I really hope I can make running my life, helping others find the joy in it that I've found.

Labor Day weekend

This past weekend was Labor Day weekend, where we celebrate working by not working! LOL!

We went to Kansas City primarily so my Beloved could spend some time with her sister.

But I had to go running of course.

Saturday we took out on a nice trail near her sister's house about sunrise, it was very nice.

Later that day we went out and did some shopping. I got a nice photo of the carousel at the mall.

Sunday morning I found out the nice folks at Run 816 were hosting a free group run of 11 miles through downtown Kansas City. So I had to take part in that.

There was a good number of folks who showed up for the run. I wish I had talked to more people, but I'm not very outgoing (working on it though!)

I really wanted to just run, but the photographer in me couldn't help but make some pictures.

I did fall in and get to meet Sarah and Emily when I got a little confused as to which way I should run. Thanks again for letting me run with you all!

The run went along the riverfront too, it was spectacular!

This is the ASB Bridge, the lower deck is for trains and the upper deck used to carry cars. The upper deck is no longer in use but trains still go over the lower. And it's a draw bridge! Those big rectangular blocks are weights. The lower deck rises straight up into the upper so tall barges can pass underneath. Here's a video of it in action on YouTube!

Going up the stairs I was surprised to find folks have been putting love locks on the fence. I knew people do that in Paris and such didn't think anyone would do it here!

My half marathon is a little more than a month away. And I'm very excited.

My Beloved decided to register for the 5k, I'm so proud of her!

We decided to book a room at the hotel right near the starting line so we won't have to get up so early on race day. We can just walk right outside to the race!

Hanson's Half-Marathon Training

I'm several weeks into the Hanson's Half-Marathon training plan and I thought I'd give my thoughts on it thus far.

Basically, my thoughts are that it is much much higher mileage.

And I like it. I really really like it. Every run now is more than 5 miles, and many are 8 or more. My long runs are up to 10-12 miles.

I went from 20-mile weeks to 40 miles plus! I LOVE IT!

The Garmin heart-rate plan which I did for my first half was adequate. But I always thought I wanted to do more mileage. The training never really challenged me, it never really hurt. But after the race, I hurt quite badly. I was pretty worried at one point.

The Hanson's training is challenging, and it hurts sometimes. So my hope is that by hurting some now, it will hurt less after the race this fall.

And speaking of fall, they're bringing back pumpkin spice this year! LOL! I don't imagine I'd like it, but then again maybe I should give it a shot.

I hope you all are well!

Week 7 half marathon training

We rode to get groceries on last Sunday and my Beloved tells me my rear wheel is out of true. When I got home I found a broken spoke. Not very happy about that. Thankfully I had a spare wheel to put on till I can figure out what I want to do about that.

Tuesday was Valentine's Day, and my Beloved sure knows the way to my heart!

The Garmin Connect app got an update this week that included this new feature. It will automatically put your activity stats on a photo for you to share. It's kind of limited, it only does this one thing. But it's still pretty neat.

I really like the Orange Mud hydration packs, but they aren't something I really need right now. I will surely buy one of their vests when I start really racking up the miles later this year in preparation for my first ever marathon. I have had my eye on this Squishy Hat they sell. So I ordered one and it came in the mail.

My first run with the Squishy hat and it's exactly what I was wanting in a hat. Something to put on my head so I wouldn't have to worry about my hair before a run (LOL!), something to act as a sweatband that didn't look like a sweatband, and something with a bill I could use to keep the sun out of my eyes. The Squishy Hat performs very well. And it even (mostly) fits my massive melon! I usually have to special order hats from a store that specializes in triple-XL size hats.

Today's long run was my longest run to date. And it's still only half way to the finish line of a half marathon! And there's only 63 days left to the Garmin Marathon! Part of me is screaming, "WHAT HAVE YOU DONE!" But I'm sure I can do this.

Last week's long run was kind of miserable. My usual habit is not to eat anything before my morning runs. But with my runs getting up in the 90 minutes plus range I think that's hurting me. So today I had a bowl of granola cereal with milk and a glass of water. I felt much better on this run, so we'll have to keep an eye on that.

The weather has been crazy beautiful here these last couple days.

2016 year in review

It's been a good year.

I set my goals for this year on Dec. 31, 2015. On that day, I weighed 214 pounds.

This photo was taken on that day.

The goals I set were these:

I wanted to weigh 170, finish a 5k in less than 30 minutes and finish a 10k race.

I ran my first sub-30 5k on April 17.

I went on to clock a 26:53 on my race in October.

I ran 10 kilometers distance way back in February, but I pushed myself further on that run than I was supposed to and ended up hurting my knee a little. It wasn't a big problem, but it scared me. I've fallen in love with running and I'm not anywhere near ready to give it up.

Sometime in summer I decided that I needed to run an actual 10k race. So I started looking and found the Ward Parkway Thanksgiving Day Run.

I started training and was raring to go by the end of November.

I wanted to finish in less than an hour, and I came so close clocking 1 hour 40 seconds. I had an absolute blast. It was so much fun!

The last goal on my sheet was to weigh 170 pounds. When I wrote that down, I have to admit I just pulled that number out of the air. I didn't really think I'd get close, I thought I was aiming high. But as the year went on I realized I was getting very close.

I dropped below 180 pounds for the first time on Nov. 8. I almost can't believe it myself.

This photo was taken a couple days ago, my weigh-in this morning was 177. I'm going to count it as a win!

So what are my goals for 2017? Well I went a wrote up a sheet for them too.

I'm excited, it's going to be a great year!