Posts Tagged ‘marathon’

Lactic Acid + Garmin = Good Times

May 13th, 2009

“Lactic Acid!!!”  Back in high school track and cross country this was one of our favorite battle cries and was trudged through tortuous workouts.  If it don’t hurt, it ain’t working…or so our thoughts were back then.  Our workouts were hard and fast, but in the end they paid off.  Some of my personal bests include a 4:56 mile, 2:07 half mile, and 17:31 5K.  Not that those are wow, super-speed world-class times, but they’re not too shabby either.

trackshoes-smallWell, high school is far behind me…well, not that far…I’m only 29…but the speed of those days is behind me.  Or is it?  Yesterday was my first speed workout since…well, since high school.  I’ve started a new training program to get my half marathon time down to my goal of 1:44.  Up to now my best is 1:50:27.   That time was at the Long Branch Half Marathon – 2008 edition.  So it’s been a year, and I’m ready to chase after that new goal.  I’m hoping to get there by the Virginia Beach Rock N Roll Half Marathon on September 6 I’m doing with Team in Training.

So back to the speed workout.  My workout was to be a 5 minute warm-up, followed by 7×400M repeats with a 2 minute jog in between each, followed by a 5 minute cool-down.  I was wondering how I was going to do this without a track.  So I’m poking around my Garmin, and BONUS!, it can do interval workouts…complete with warm-ups, cool downs, and “rest” time in between intervals.  AMAZING.  I was so excited to get out there and do my thing…to see where my body was.  It even does like countdown beeping when you’re almost done with an interval or a rest period, and a little “finished” jingle at the end.  I LOVE MY GARMIN!

So my final times for the 400s were 1:35, 1:29, 1:28, 1:37, 1:30, 1:37, 2:05.  I had to just run the last one normal  because my thigh started to twinge a little.  But I was definitely impressed with myself…I haven’t run that fast in ages.  I’m definitely looking forward to my training over the next 15 or so weeks, and I’m looking forward to the race.   The lactic acid definitely made itself known last night, but all in all it was a good time.

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Running in the Rain

May 5th, 2009

This past weekend I ran the Long Branch Half Marathon (www.njmarathon.org) in Long Branch, New Jersey.  It was the wettest half marathon I’ve ever run…the only other wet one being when I ran the same race last year.  But lets be honest…running in the rain is what we used to love to do as kids, and now you can do it as an adult without anyone thinking your crazy.  They just think you’re crazy for running a half marathon.  Perhaps we are crazy, those 9,000 of us who were out there in the rain, but if so, than I’m OK with it.

Last year I ran a 1:50:27, a PR for me.  This year?  2:55.  1 Hour, 5 minutes slower.  You’d think I’d be disappointed.  You’d think perhaps that I got injured during the run.  You’d think I wouldn’t want to let people know my time.  Well, you’d be wrong.

This year I had the honor of helping my girlfriend achieve her PR in the race.  Together, through almost 3 hours of rain and wind, we pushed through it all to help her knock 21 minutes over her previous time.  That, by anyone’s standards, is an amazing feat.  What made it even more amazing was that in the 14 weeks we were training, she missed 2.5 weeks due to sickness, one week due to vacation, and struggled throughout with a resurgence of asthma.  But through it all, she stayed focus and positive, and I’m proud to say she kicked some butt!

See, happiness in running is not always found through your own successes.  Sometimes, and probably the luckiest of times, happiness in running is found through someone else’s achievements, through someone else reaching their goal.  I was proud and excited to help her reach her goal, but not only that, I actually was able to enjoy the race.  I wasn’t huffing and puffing and hurting and struggling to reach a new PR for me.  I was able to run easy, and take time to enjoy the simple act of running.  I was able to fully appreciate the beauty of 9,000 mostly complete strangers coming together for one purpose, one goal…to cross the finish line.  Sometimes when you’re too focused on yourself, you miss the bigger, and oftentimes greater, picture. 

Take the time to help someone else reach their goal.  Through their achievement, you too will feel like you accomplished something great.

 

“A life isn’t significant except for its impact on other lives.” 
 - Jackie Robinson

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