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Thursday, January 31, 2013

Hustle

Some people hustle.  Others don't.  Sometimes people hustle at certain times while other times they don't.  Now when people are hustling, it means that it's urgent and probably important to them.  When they don't hustle, that means that it's not THAT urgent or important.  Some people work ahead and are able to live life without hustling too much... and that's great!  Sometimes, we can't get away from that.  There's no other way to get through some things other than to hustle.

So what does it mean to hustle?  It means that you are driving forward towards whatever you want.  It could be simple as getting to class on time, or even chasing after a soccer ball.  To me, when you're going towards your goal, and you really want it, you're hustling and bustling to get to the goal and do whatever you can to get it.  Now lately, I haven't been running too much, and in fact, things have gotten in my way.  However, tonight, I was able to play some floor hockey for about 2 hours.  This meant that I was going back and forth from one side of the gym to the other, pushing myself to run fast at all times.  It was a great speed and agility workout and really helped me push myself to get faster.  At the same time, I observed other people and how they played in the game.  Some people hustled, but not many people hustled all the time.  I mean, it's important to conserve your energy to last through the whole game, but at the same time, it's important to do your best at ALL time.  The more you do that, the better you can become and eventually, you'll be able to go all out at all times.

Same goes for whatever you do in your own life.  When you have a goal and only half heartedly hustle, you'll get there... but you won't really 'conquer' it.  When you have a goal, you ought to conquer it, doing your best and working towards that with all the energy you can muster.

After looking at where I am and where I want to be, I figure I should train myself to run shorter distances faster and just decided that I'm going to plan on running the Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon and aim at getting a PR and hopefully 1st place.  I have 66 days to train to complete the marathon in under 2:56.  This is going to be a totally new direction, but I need to make sure I have some sort of speed if I'm going to attack this 100 miler.  It's also another goal that's a little nearer for me and would help me work harder.  The more pressure I put on myself, the more hustle I'll put in.  The more hustle I put in, the better the results are going to be.

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

The Last Few Days

It's been hectic getting things together, but that's what life's all about.  Little things that get in the way and things that we have to sacrifice.  The past few days, because of work and school, my running schedule has been slightly messed up.  Yesterday, I was able to get in a good run twice because I planned it out that day, but today, I didn't even get to go out once.  Fortunately, work involved me standing, so I'll take what I can get from that.  The next stop for me would be to eventually figure out my schedule and go further.

Yesterday, I planned a double run.  A run before I went to work, and a run after I got off work.  I'd be standing in between the runs so I wouldn't fully recover, but because of this, I was able to run a longer distance than usual.  Before the run, I ran 5.43 miles in 40:13 min, an average of 7:24 min/mile.  This meant that I was able to set a decent pace with hills.  After work, I ran 4.31 miles in 31:58, an average of 7:25 min/mile.  It was a little slower because of the run and work before that, but it was very liberating for me to get the miles down.  Hopefully, I'll be able to get more days like that in, and eventually work myself up to running double digits every day.

With the race this Saturday, it's important that I don't push myself too hard during the last few days, however, it's important to me to use it as a training race and not an actual race.  The big race is happening less than 200 days away.  I'm going to have to train to get there and this 50k is only part of that training.

Hoping I'll get a good run in tomorrow morning/noon

Monday, January 28, 2013

Schedules

When life is out of control and you don't know what's going to happen day by day, you end up without a schedule.  Living life without a schedule can be good... but it can also be chaotic.  Now that life is getting back into a nice schedule, I'm fortunate enough to take steps towards putting running into my schedule.  As I don't want to tire myself out, I've started to write my running schedule as two-a-days.  Running twice, or even three times, a day will definitely get both speed and endurance.  It would work on my speed because it would be shorter distance, but at the same time, it would work on my endurance because my body wouldn't have all the rest it needs over continuous running.

My goal is to schedule out my running so that I would be able to run a fast ultramarathon.  The thing is, I've been too random with my scheduling that I haven't been able to do that.  My plan today was to run an hour and then go on with life, but instead, I was invited to a surprise birthday party, ending up with me only having about 20 minutes to run before the surprise party started.  I ended up running 2.58 miles in 17:16 min, an average of 6:42 min/mile, which wasn't too bad, but considering that I ran up and down hills, I gave myself a thumbs up on that one.

Now tomorrow, I'm hoping that I'll get my sleep (because last night, I slept at 3 to wake up at 8, which definitely wasn't enough).  Once I get into a good habit, I'll be able to schedule out my running and be able to positively train so that I would end up faster and ready for longer distances.

Saturday, January 26, 2013

Gratification

If there was a shorter way to get from one point to another, we'd take it.  Whenever I go to a different place, I figure out what's the shortest way or which way takes the least amount of time.  It's honestly something that we all have inside of us.  When it's about us getting from one place to another, it's obvious that we'd take the road that's faster.  Speed is what we want when it has anything to do with our goal.

We want instant gratification, we want to be able to HAVE that gratification right now.  However, there are just some things that can't be right away.  As for me, the goal that doesn't have short cuts is the 100 miler that's coming up in about 200 days.  There are no short cuts for me to take.  I'd like it to exist, but sometimes, you've gotta push through and go through... a lot of things in order to get you to your goal.

Wishing that there is a short cut doesn't mean that it'll pop out and boom, you get your goal.  If it did, then your goal wasn't that high to begin with.  We choose these hard goals BECAUSE they are hard.  Being hard makes the goals mean so much more when you accomplish it.  What good is a goal when it's easy to do.  Why go easy when you can go hard.  When you 'accomplish' taking one step upstairs, it's nothing.  However, when you climb Mt Everest, now THAT is an accomplishment.

You see, an accomplishment can be big or small.  We tend to look at it as something big.  When we look to have these huge accomplishments, you need to work hard to get it... meaning that there is no 'fast track' to getting to where you need to be to accomplish whatever you goal is.  It's not instant gratification because it'll take time, and the more time it takes, the better it should feel.

Some people like to finish, but because they found some short cut, they don't realize the accomplishment and they won't feel AS happy, or revert to where they were before.  Some people find ways to lose weight quickly, but because they found some easy fast short cut, they're not as satisfied because they were instantly gratified.  A hard road is a road worth traveling, because the final destination is THAT much more worthwhile when the road is tough.  The tougher the road, the more that goal would impact you.

Today, I was going to run a long and easy, however, due to the roads being iced over, I ran 4.1 miles in 35:14, an average of 8:36 min/mile because I ran slow and safely in my cross country spikes.  Wasn't my best, but every little bit that I put into my runs should help me with my goal.  It's going to be a tough 200 days, but I'm going to have to make sure to make it worthwhile as I cross the finish line after the 100 mile race.

Friday, January 25, 2013

Effort

Not everyone has talent built within them.  However, everyone has potential to grow.  As long as you put in effort, you can grow.  It doesn't just apply to the talented individuals, it applies to every individual.  Talented people may have more potential, but if they don't tap into it with their effort, then a person without talent can beat them with enough effort.

Effort is what makes good people great.  It's what produces results.  As Winston Churchill put it, "Continuous effort - not strength or intelligence - is the key to unlocking our potential."

We all have potential in different areas of our lives (whether it be a specific sport or a school subject) and effort is what it takes to growing to that potential.  In the past few months, I've been feeling that I've gained too much weight.  I've known for a bit that because of my inactivity, I've been gaining that weight.  However, over the last few days, I've noticed the considerable difference in weight and speed due to my consistent effort in running.  Granted, it hasn't been like when I was in college, where I was able to schedule running alongside several other activities, but it's a step forward.  My average weight is over 5 pounds lighter than a couple months back, and I'm on my way towards running that 100 mile race in Leadville.

Each step is a step forward.  As long as I don't stop, I can continue to grow.  Effort drives me forward and helps me grow.  Effort is what my running is made up of.

Thursday, January 24, 2013

That One Thing

No it's not the One Direction song, it's about the one thing you want to do with your life, and how you treat it.  When you have a lot of things you want to do with your life, you've got a ton of options, but when you solely focus on just one thing, everything else vanishes, leaving just that one thing in your head.  When you only have one thing, you want to cherish it... treasure it... and give it your best.

Running is a passion of mine, and it is one of the few things that I actually do during an average day.  Yesterday, I went out for a pretty fast run, running 3.96 miles in 25:25, an average of 6:24 min/mile.  It was a good run and I was able to push myself really well.  Running is important to me that I make sure to take care of myself.  I did say that I believe wearing flip flops can help your feet get stronger, but I believe I failed to mention what wearing it too much can do.  It can make the individual feel a lot of pain in the calf area.  Running being an important part of my life, I treasure my feet and how I treat them, to make sure that I do.

However, once in a while, something else takes its place because I lose track of the main thing, the one thing that I want to focus on.  When I lose that, I lose what is important to me.  In caring for it and cherishing it, you put yourself into it, and part of you 'lives' through it.  How you treat what is important to you really means a lot, because people would look at it and judge how you act and whether or not you really are working towards your goal.  If you only do things half-heartedly, is your goal really that important to you?  No.

If your goal is really that important to you, then what you ought to do is to give it your best, to show yourself and the people around you, how much you care about that one goal.  If you don't have too many goals in your life, then that one goal becomes that much more important.  It becomes the one thing that your life is about.  The more choices you have, the less you'll be able to focus on improving yourself because there's just too many things going on.  The less choices you have, the more focus you'll put in to the goals, which in turn will give it more power, where you'll be able to put your best into it.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Trying

I like the saying, 'You never know until you try' because it's so true.  When you don't doubt yourself and the possibility isn't zero, then there's a chance.  It may be a one in a million chance, but a chance is a chance.  Or maybe you don't know if it's possible.  You can't figure out if you can do it or not so you try.  It may have been impossible, but you still went on that journey.  You followed what you believed in and worked towards it.  I think that the journey is just as important as the end of the road.  Over the past few days, I've been running a little bit and I feel quite a bit stronger, ready to take on whatever is ahead of me.

On Friday, I went out for 3.96 miles in 30:11 (an average of 7:37 min/mile) and oh man it was cold.  Thursday night, snow came down and instead of running, I just made snowmen (you know where my priorities lie...) and the next day was just as cold because of all the snow being on the ground.  Not feeling like I wanted to go too fast, I just went out for an easy run and that's what I got.

On Saturday, I had work at night, so at about 10:00am, I went out for a long run after shoving chia seeds in my mouth and gulping quite a bit of water.  I wanted to be able to run for a long period of time without food, to practice getting all the energy out of my own body.  I ran 21.72 miles in 3:03:59, an average of 8:28 min/mile.  It wasn't too fast, but it was still something.  It made me pretty happy to know that I'm capable of such things.  I was a little bit tired from that, but still went to work and stayed standing up for 8.5 hours.  Throughout the whole day, I bet I stayed on my feet for over half of it.  It was a little tough on my legs to stand still while working, but still glad I have a job and made it through.  Next time, I'm hoping I'll get off earlier.

Sunday, I took a break and didn't run... too much.  I was going to go caving with my friends, and in looking for that cave we were suppose to go, I did quite a bit of running... probably only a mile, but hey, it's a lot for a break day!

Monday was one of those days where I didn't feel like running.  I just wanted to chill before work and just laze around on the couch. Fortunately, I was reading some manga, and was inspired by one series and changed and went out for a 3.94 mile run in 25:58, an average of 6:35 min/mile (9 seconds per mile faster than my marathon pace).  Looking at the amount of effort I put into that, I can see that I still have a long ways to go if I want to get to that 'beast' shape that I want.

I believe I have a chance at finishing well in the Leadville 100.  Do I have much to base it off of?  Not too much, but I believe in myself and am going forward to my goal.  I'm going to try because without trying, nothing can really happen.

Thursday, January 17, 2013

Walking vs Running

Now walking generally uses the same amount of energy (unless you're speedwalking for the Olympics), and in an hour, walking will use 240-468 kcal.  However, running is a totally different story.  Running for an hour varies so much because it depends on how fast you're running.  An individual can run a mile in 14 minutes.  Another person might run a mile in 4 minutes.  Now, yesterday, I had run for about an hour, and in that hour, I was able to run 8.61 miles.  Looking at how much I weighed and how fast I ran, the mapmyrun app said that I burned 1031 kcal.  That's over 500 kcal more than what walking for an hour can do.  According to this calculator, for me, each mile is worth 120 kcal.  Instead of counting the hours, I'll be looking at calories used per mile.

Considering that an individual needs to use 3,500 more calories to lose a pound, it will take 29 miles to lose a pound.  However, this only assumes you are replacing using ZERO calories with the calories used to running 29 miles.  Obviously, as we are always using calories, I'm going to say that if an individual doesn't change ANYTHING else in his or her life, they would need to run 30 more miles in order to lose a pound.

As for me and my life, I already run a good bit, and so what I would need to do (should I not change anything else except my running), would be to add 30 miles to my training in order to lose a pound.  Fortunately, I don't have to lose too much weight to get into my 'ideal weight' so by August, I'll be able to get to a point where I need to be.  It's dangerous to suddenly jump into using too much energy to lose weight.  When change happens, it's better to let it become a part of your life and eventually balance it out til your body finds that good balance.

My goal is to run and finish the Leadville 100.  I can't just jump into getting myself to that point.  It'll take dedication and perseverance to get there.  Adding the extra running to my life will be good for me.  It'll help me take that step towards sculpting my body into that of a professional ultra distance runner.

Standing vs Walking

There's a 12-30 kcal difference between sitting and standing.  However, the difference between standing and walking is considerably different.  Once again, I looked at one of my favorite sites, eHow.com and looked at the difference in calories between standing and walking.  Standing uses 84-156 kcal/hour while walking can range from 240-468 kcal/hour.  This means that replacing an hour of standing with an hour of walking can burn between 156-312 kcal/hour more.  Once again, assuming that you eat the same as you do and you don't change anything else, you can lose a pound of weight in between 11 hours and 13 minutes to 22 hours and 26 minutes if you replace walking with standing.  (side note:  If you replace sitting with walking, you can burn 168-342 kcal/hour more, burning a pound with 10 hours and 14 minutes to 20 hours and 50 minutes of walking)

It's funny how an hour can change a lot.  As your body is desperately trying to reach some sort of balance, your addition or subtraction of activities and eating makes a huge difference.  There's a big difference when comparing an hour of standing and an hour of walking.  Walking definitely takes a lot more energy than standing, and calculating the difference, it's a big enough difference to change an individual's weight in roughly around 2 weeks.  Imagine what one could do if they changed 2... or even 3 hours a day?

Today, I had a great time running around my old university campus with a friend.  I took all the roads, sidewalks, stairs that the college had to offer, going up and down hills, running 8.61 miles in 1:00:08, an average of 6:59 min/mile.  Running with a friend definitely boosted my speed, and even though we had a lot of climbs and descents during the run, we still managed to run it in a pretty fast pace.

One hour can be filled with anything.  From a body at rest to a body in motion.  Changing your lifestyle with one hour CAN make a difference.  It doesn't matter if you're trying to lose weight, getting a good grade in class, working at your desk.  One hour can make a difference.  It depends on what you do in that hour.  You can choose to use that hour to do something really productive... or you can just waste that hour.  Standing or walking.  It's up to you to decide what to do.




http://www.ehow.com/about_5472437_calories-burned-standing-vs-sitting.html

Wednesday, January 16, 2013

Standing vs Sitting

eHow.com is one of my favorite websites.  It gives me so much random information about so many different things that I enjoy reading a lot from it.  I learned that it takes approximately 3500 kcal to lose a pound (that is, 'calories used' subtracted from 'calories taken in' must equal 3500 kcal).  Now understanding that, we can see two main reasons for individuals gaining weight.

Reason number one is that some people take in more calories than they use.  Individuals take in a massive amount of energy so that they come to a point where they continue to add to what they do.  Because the body uses more energy when it gains weight, the body will continue to grow in weight until it reaches a balance where the energy consumed equals how much the body needs to use (and until then, the body will continue to gain weight to reach this homeostasis).

The second reason is basically the same as the first reason, but considered from the opposite perspective.  The second reason is this.  People use less calories than they use.  The focus of this reason is on the calorie usage.  Sometimes, people eat (what should be) the proper amounts for their body, but due to their lack of physical activity, they don't use what they put in and their body stores the excess energy.  Thus, the body does the same thing reaching the proper balance.

Homeostasis is when you are in a stable state, when depending upon different elements.  The two major elements in this equation is energy consumed and energy used.  The body will reach a stable state (balanced state) in which the energy consumed WILL equal the amount used.  So why talk about standing vs sitting?

Going back to eHow.com, I figured out that there is a 12-30 kcal of difference between sitting and standing (per hour) which means that should the only thing you change in your day is the amount you sit/stand, if you lose a pound between 116 hours and 40 minutes to 291 hours and 40 minutes of standing.  On average, if you replace 204 hours and 10 minutes of sitting with standing, you can lose a pound.  On the other hand, if you replace the standing with sitting, you will gain a pound.  Obviously, you won't make that huge difference in one day, but over a longer period of time, your body will add it up (like a bank account) and what you put in will show.

It usually won't take one day to make someone a millionaire, and in the same way, it won't take one day for someone to gain or lose weight.  Instead, it takes multiple days... weeks... months, for that kind of change to happen.  If you want to make a big difference, it'll take a longer amount of time, but fighting your battles one day at a time, you can end up making a big difference in the long run.

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Too Late?

When is it too late?  Sometimes, it's hard for people to figure out when too late is.  The reason is that we normally don't fully look at what's before us and give up before we have a chance of changing the direction we're going.  Today at work, I talked with a few friends about where they were in life and they talked about their dreams of doing different things but saying that it was too late for them and that now they can only work here because that's where they are.  Sadly, it's only true because of their decision to give up.  As Napoleon Hill says, "Whatever your mind can conceive and believe, it can achieve."  Giving up is itself the final nail in the coffin.  Should there be any hope, then there's a chance (unless it's after the fact).

So when is too late?  Too late is when you look back at the past because you can't change the past.  However, you do have control over the present and the future.  Should you strive forward, you can achieve it.  It's never too late to make a difference, a change, so let's go forward and make that change.  The faster you act, the less time you'll waste and you can be on your way towards your goals.  As my goal is in running, I need to consistently be running or I lose sight of that.  It's never too late for me to get into running, even after being sick and taking time off from running.  It's now that I'm going to start to make a difference and it'll be an awesome feeling as I take steps and steps closer to my goal.

Today, I ran 3.96 miles in 26:13, an average of 6:36 min/mile.  Little by little I'm getting faster, but I need to make sure that I don't forget to get the distance down.  As I'm training for both speed and endurance, it's important that I keep that in my training and not save it for later.  As my calculus teacher always told me, "Proper preparation prevents poor performance."  Work ahead, don't give up... and don't play around with deadlines and procrastinate.

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Being Bold

Sometimes we don't realize what being bold is.  To me, being bold is when you're going forward with life, knowing that you're taking the right steps.  Taking risks because you're confident with whatever is going on.  With my running, I need to be bold because it takes risk to run an ultramarathon.  It's not every day that I just go out and run races over 30 miles.  It means that I have to be absolutely confident with myself.  Able to take that leap and run knowing that I'd get to the end.

Whenever you do something, it's better to be bold about it.  To be brimming with confidence in your own ability and knowing the risks you're taking.  But what's the point of being bold if you have nothing to base it off of?  When you're bold, it means you've got something backing you up.  I'm watching a show right now on TV about this guy that's wrestling an alligator.  To me, that looks dangerous and really bold, but to them, they've got the experience backing them up.  They danced with the alligator before catching it, letting it almost snap their hands off as they drug the giant reptile out into the open and taped it's mouth shut.  There's always a risk that they'll lose a limb to an alligator snapping their mouths on it, but so far (knock on wood) they've caught the alligators with their skills.

One can only be bold by either being stupid or being smart.  Either they have no clue what they're doing, or they know exactly what they're getting themselves into.  I'm not advocating the stupid route, but I'm definitely all for the smart route.  The better the background, the more experience you have.  The more experience you have, the more you know about what you're getting yourself into.  How do I do that?  I run.  A lot.  I have to because if I don't, then I don't get the experience I need.  Yesterday, I went out for a run in the morning and ran 3.77 miles in 28:01, an average of 7:26 min/mile.  Didn't run too far too fast, but every little bit gets me closer to the next big step.  I was being bold when I signed up for the 100 mile race.  It may have been a stupid impulsive decision, but with proper training, I'm able to change that stupid impulsive decision into a smart idea (not that I'm saying running a 100 mile race is smart...).  I'm ready to have some fun, be bold and leap forward.

Are you?

Saturday, January 12, 2013

The Present You

The past does make up who you are, but it doesn't control you.  You are who you are now, and THAT is what truly matters.  Today, I had a good time going to Gatlinburg for TCTC (Tennessee Christian Teen Convention) where I led my little group of kids to the session to start off an awesome weekend.  Before all that, I knew that I needed to go for a run, so I did.  I went out and ran decently hard, finishing 3.89 miles in 29:44, an average of 7:38 min/mile.  A nice pace, but still would like to be able to run faster... but hey, I still have a good amount of time before my next race.

Now the present me is where I am at the moment, and it's only the moment, where we can truly control ourselves.  The past has already passed and although it does give a firm foundation to who we are, it doesn't describe who we are EXACTLY in that EXACT moment.  It's important to know what has gone on before, but the moment that really matters is the moment we live in now.  As a runner, I identify myself as a runner.  I look back and see how my training or lack of training has gotten me to where I am now.  However, I don't let that bog me down and slow my training.  Instead, I focus on the me now and work to be the runner that I want me to be.

In order to do that, I do need to look at where I come from and where I'm going, but it's the moment that defines you and everything else doesn't really matter.  Some people may look at the past and see you as who you were, but in reality, you're not.  You are not that person.  You are the present.  I find it hard sometimes to do that, but looking at myself now, I see that I am different that the person who ran a sub 3 hour marathon years back.  I'm wanting a comeback, but it'll be a different sort of training and I would have to work hard to get back to that.  It's the me now that really matters.  Your history... is just history.  It gives reference to who you were and who you might be, but you aren't exactly that.  You're different.  I'm different.  We're all different than what we were a year ago, a month ago, a week ago... even a day ago. 

You are who you are right now.

So... who are you?

Friday, January 11, 2013

You Only Do What You Want 2.0 (Power)

In a previous post, I mentioned that people only do what they want.  However, I want to go a little further because looking at it, I noticed some inconsistencies.  It's very true that we only do what we want, but it goes a tiny bit further because we only do what we want within the realm in which we can control.  For example, in a soccer match, there are two opponents.  Both wants to win.  According to my initial rule of thumb, they would both win.  However, it's impossible for that to happen.  There must be a winner and loser (unless there's a tie).  The difference between the two opposing forces is control.  Whoever has more 'power' will get what they want.  Sometimes, weaker teams will end up beating the strong ones, but that's only because they happened to have more 'power' during that certain match and things lined up.  It could be willpower, it could be pure strength.  It could be speed, or it could be technique.  One way or another, the 'power' rule works.  Whoever has more power will end up doing what they want.

Power is something that we all need in order to progress.  Power allows us to do what we want and if we are powerless, we are less likely to do what we want.  There are points where we blame the powerlessness for us doing things we don't 'want' to do, but let's make it clear when we could blame powerlessness for that.  In certain games and competitions, I believe that you could give credit to powerlessness for their loss.  However, when it comes to a friend wanting to do something and you wanting to do something else, but you're too shy to step up... it's not the powerlessness that causes you to do something else.  In this case, you chose what to do.  No one actually forced you to do it, it was just a hard decision where you valued the other person's opinion (maybe begrudgingly) and would rather do their way instead of fighting for your way.... but you know?  Even in those situations, you still have your priorities and you do what you want.  When it comes to a matter of skill vs skill, it's different.  However, if it's about one side 'giving up' then it's their choice and not a matter of being powerful or powerless.  (For running, I want to run at a 4 min mile for 10 miles but because I'm incapable of doing it, I can't do it.  Power does make a difference.)

It's good to be powerful because it gives you the freedom to choose what you want to do.  Today, I chose to go out and run a little bit.  I ended up running 5.9 miles in 44:25, an average of 7:31 min/mile.  I was glad to run at that pace because after my previous run, I wasn't sure how long it would take me to get back to where I needed to be.  It looks like I'll be able to get back on track for the next 50k.  The more I train, the more power I'll have during the races I do.  My goal is to get the power to be able to do what I want.  With that training, I'll be able to achieve just that.  Let's see how bad I really do want it.

Thursday, January 10, 2013

The First Run After a Race

It's always the first run after a race that really gets you.  My run happened yesterday.  I was still sore from the race, but I felt like I needed to get a run down to get the lactic acid out of my system.  If you let it stay, it won't go.  If you work on it, it'll break up and get out.  I ran 4.05 miles in 35:40, an average of 8:49 min/mile.  Not fast, but it was nice enough after a long race.

Time's running out now because my next race is coming up in less than a month.  Now if I were to not train at all and just go with how I feel, it wouldn't be good because I would listen to how sore my muscles were and not run for a week.  Getting it out of my system was very vital and is hard to do.  After a day of rest, I'm planning on restarting my training and jumping right on it for the next race.  I know that I can run a marathon with ease whenever I want to, but I need to step it up and be able to run 50k trail races at any time.  Having a harsh race schedule will get me to that point, and hopefully, I'll be able to get to being able to run longer distance races a little easier.

The first run after your race needs to be handled with care.  A little too much and you'll end up overstraining yourself.  Doing too little won't get you enough to go forward.  I need to start right and then push forward.  I need to make sure that the race was a step and not 'the end' because once you 'end' something.  That means that you have to restart and the whole restart process takes a little more time.

Whenever you're finished with whatever goal you had, the hardest thing to do is to take the next step towards your next goal.  You want to revel in your accomplishments and to just take a break.  However, in doing that, we hurt ourselves even more.  Take the rights steps after your goal and then go even further with whatever your goals are.

Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Experience

The results came up today on the Frozen Sasquatch.  The official finish time was 5:15:51.6 which made my average mile time 10:11 min/mile.  It wasn't a fast race, but then again, I was also off of running for 10 days, so I'm definitely pleased with myself.  However, one thing that I know needs improvement is once again my nutrition.  During my runs, it's important to rehydrate and replenish what you lose.  Running the 50 miler, I was always lacking the energy at around mile 30 and would have to gut through the next 20 miles to get to the finish.  Now if I'm at that point for the 50 miler... what would it be like for a 100 miles?  I think I need a little more training, and also study a little more about nutrition.

After running the 50k, I went in to the lodge nearby and met with those that finished ahead of me.  One of the runners and I talked about running and I mentioned that I had signed up for my first 100 miler, he started talking to me about his experience with the 100 milers he's run.  Being older, he's had his fair share of 100 milers, and me as a newbie... well I learned from him.  According to him, the most important thing about running the 100 miler is that you need to make sure to get the food in before you run out of water or nutrients.  The thing is, when you run out of one of those things, you are going to lose (according to my new friend) about 20 miles trying to get back at where you were suppose to be at.  I totally understand what he's saying and I do realize the importance of balancing your diet during the run because you need both of those things because during the run... you're going through a lot of nutrients and a lot of water.  He also mentioned the importance of understanding that you're going to hit several walls.  Much like the wall you would hit in a marathon when you're running so hard, hitting the wall in a hundred mile occurs multiple times.  According to my new friend, you would hit the walls at approximately 30 miles in, 50 miles in, and 70 miles in.  However, if you push yourself hard enough, you would be able to get through and continue on.

After learning from an experienced runner, I'm both horrified and excited about what I've embarked on.  My next race is going to be a 50k in Charlotte, so I'll have to train about a month in order to improve my speed as well as my nutrition planning.  Knowing what I'm getting into (and hopefully not getting sick), I will be able to improve my time and have a good race.  I'm planning on taking things step by step and improving my ability to run longer distance races.  Pacing is important... but I'm going to be working on properly preparing myself nutritionally.  Hopefully, as I experience more races, I'll be able to understand what I need and what I can do.  Looking at my past experiences, I can see that I'm getting used to stopping and walking during races, so I'll have to make sure that this upcoming 50k, I'll make sure to not stop to walk.  The only reason I can attempt to do this is because this race doesn't have as many hills according to the elevation map and the competition is a fast paced group (according to last year's time).  The out and back will give me a good idea of how everyone else is doing, and it'll be a good game of tag.  We'll see what happens.

Experience is important, and the more experience you get, the more you can improve yourself.

Monday, January 7, 2013

Frozen Sasquatch

Saturday, January 5th, I had the... opportunity to go to West Virginia and run a 50k called the Frozen Sasquatch.  It wasn't called the Frozen Sasquatch for nothing.  When I arrived there with my flip flops, I saw that there was snow on the ground... and it was 21 degrees.  It was a pretty cold race.  I raced with my shorts... which made my legs... pretty cold.  Fortunately, I had underarmor so my upper body was okay.  This 50k was a double loop.  The first loop was my 'test loop' where I would figure out what the trails were like, and the second loop would be the actual race.  I finished the first loop in about 2:20, and they told me that I was 5th place.  I was pretty happy with myself (especially considering that I hadn't run the last week and a half) and felt like I could keep on going at about the same pace, if not faster.  I made the mistake of not properly fueling up and drinking pedialyte after finishing my half that when I pushed myself on the second lap, my legs started cramping up.

Now the first lap started at 8:00 am so the whole course was pretty much frozen.  I went through the course running on the rigid trails with tire tracks that were frozen solid.  It was pretty tough, but not impossible.  I just had to make sure not to run on the ice patches which was pretty slippery.  However, the second loop was harder.  The course that was once frozen and rigid started to melt a little bit and the trail became a little bit muddier.  As it became muddier, it was harder for me to find a proper place to place my foot and so I kept on slipping.  At one point, my right foot slipped and I almost fell off the ledge.  Fortunately, I twisted my body (a major twist) and somehow managed to catch myself with my left foot and kept on going.

On my second lap.  I was excited because I was 5th place, and so I forgot to take in some electrolytes and energy and kept pushing through.  Around mile 23, my legs started cramping up, and I knew I had put myself in a terrible position.  I had passed the 4th place person, taking his spot, but pushing myself too fast, I went through my electrolytes a little too fast, causing these cramps to happen.  As I went pass the first aid station, I grabbed some M&M's to give me some energy, hoping that it would boost me, but they didn't have anything with salt so I kept on going.  Cramps were getting more severe by then and I was passed by two other people.  I stopped at the next aid station and sat down and ate a lot of chips.  I talked to the guys there, thanking them for their support, and after a drink of water went on my way.  I started slow as it was uphill, but as soon as it leveled up, I started to jog again.  It was pretty tough, but as I went on, the cramps slowly disappeared.  I was fortunate that I put in the salt that I needed, but the thing was that I messed up on my dietary plans which can't be undone.  I would have to deal with it.

I pushed myself after that and managed to finish the race as the 6th place runner, and ran the race at about a 10:10 min/mile pace.  A decent place, but I could have done a better job had I worked on my nutrition.  Next time, I know that I need to make sure I'm taking care of myself and constantly take in the electrolytes that I need so that I wouldn't run (no pun intended) into this problem again.  I finished the race with a lesson learned.  Now I'll have to make sure that I don't have to learn it again.  Gotta train for my next race soon!

(and a side note... due to my lack of planning, I didn't sleep that night and drove from 1am to 7am from TN to WV, ran the race, then ate, drove an hour, slept, drove the rest of the way home.  It was a very long day)

Thursday, January 3, 2013

Sickness

You know.  People get sick.  Things happen that are out of your control.  You don't have to like it, but you are forced to accept it.

I had the great moment of being sick this past week.  Not the best moments of my life... but it could have been better.  I've been attempting to get better as soon as I could before the race... but it looks like I'll have to run the race without running for a solid week.  Now tapering involves taking a break, but this is way too much and I'm not sure how I'm going to handle it... except I'll just have to live with it and jump on it.

In two days, I'll be running a 50k race, and hey, it's okay.  It's just a 50k and not a big deal.  I won't be able to perform at my best, but I think it'll still be a pretty sweet deal.

Bad days happen, but it doesn't mean that my life is now messed up.  Take it and deal with it.  It's part of life, and there's nothing you can do about it other than taking care of yourself.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

100 Mile Race

I've never run a 100 mile race in my life... but it looks like it's about time for me to start.  I just signed up for my first 100 miler... the Leadville 100.  This is going to be an intense race, with an average of less than 50% finishers.  Fortunately, it's a first come, first serve deal, so since it was suppose to open up at 2pm Eastern Time, I made sure to get on the computer and refresh the computer til it came up, and was one of the first people to sign up for it.

A 100 miles isn't something that you can up and do.  It takes steps to get there... I'm worried that just signing up for one race isn't good enough.  Sometimes, when we set goals, we don't realize the gravity of the situation you're in and how much the goal is.  I remember the time when I got homework and it was a lot... but we had a lot of time to do it... then how is it that most of my classmates (including myself) chose to do the homework last minute rather than right away?  That's because we have a hard time pacing ourselves.  We have a harder time understanding the big picture, so how do we get around that?

Simple.

What I do in order to get through those things is to set up little steps that gets me up to that.  I'm planning on a 24 hour race June 1-2nd as a training run before my 100 miler.  That gives me 2 more months to figure out where I'm at and what I need to do.  However, before all that, I'm going to need to make sure to put other races in to ensure that I would be able to continuously train.  Continuously training is the only way to run the 100 mile race.  I have the 8 months... am I going to use it?  You bet I am.  I'm planning on putting steps in my 8 months where I'll have big races that will help push me forward to being able to run.  It all starts now.

Pace yourself and push forward, set up your own little goals that leads to your big goals... and you'll make it.

Tuesday, January 1, 2013

New Year's Resolution

Well it's a new year and as we come to that time, people start making their New Year's Resolution.  I think it's a pretty cool idea to do that, to decide something and go with it, to make up your mind to make a difference in your life.  A new beginning, a big change.

My new years is going to be another one of those days where I make a difference in my life (since I like changing up and adding or taking away things to improve my own lifestyle) and count the miles I've run this year, to keep track of what I'm doing and see how much I've gone in a year.  I'm really not used to running and keeping up with the mileage, but this year, I'll make that change to see where I'm at and where I'm going.  I think it's a great idea and I'm going to run with it (no pun intended) and see how many thousand miles I'm going to run in a year.  There's a lot you can do in one year... and I figure that with these ultramarathons, I might be able to hit or go beyond 3,000 miles, but we'll see.  I think it'll be pretty cool to reach that much (or even go beyond).

A New Year, a New You, and ideally, a Better You.