Week 4 Assessment complete

Today's mileage:           1.72
Week to date mileage: 11.99

Today, according to my training guide is supposed to be a day of rest, but because I am in the Summer Assessment contest at work, it was the day I had to do my assessment. I did it at 8am this morning and on no breakfast at that. My assessment consisted of as many pushups as I could muster up, total number of curl up situps and my distance in the 12 minute walk/run.

• I needed 27 push ups and stopped at 30.
• I need 80 curl situps and got 83.
• I needed to run 1.71 miles in 12 minutes and finished with 1.71 exactly. That was a 7:01 pace.
• A little secret with this...I had to hold onto the treadmill bar today to ensure I could force myself to run at such a wicked pace. I have been training well, but haven't done enough speed work over a specified time to compliment my runs...I was out of breathe and couldn't catch my breathe. Sad, but true!

I live for another week and there are only 2 weeks left in the competition. I know I can do this...up next? I gotta get 1.77 miles in 12 minutes. YIKES! That is a 6:47 pace! I haven't run that since college.
Lord help me. :)

I gotta keep it real though, even if I don't make it past next week's assessment, I still have a race to prepare for in 2 weeks from today. Looking forward to the excitement that surrounds a race...not ready to run the distance yet.

Up next for the weekend....1 hour of cross-training...aka: biking/walking/light jogging on Saturday
Sunday: run 4 miles at relaxed pace...in this heat...I don't think there is any relaxed pace

chalk up another 3 and we aren't talking basketball either

Mileage for day: 3.0
mileage for week: 10.27

Well today was the 2nd in a row for me to eclipse the 3 mile mark. This distance used to be so easy for me to complete, but years of poor health and no exercise will bring you back to reality and put a few more hurdles out there to clear before being in that kind of condition. I literally did not have enough mileage in or base built up to even consider making 3 miles. I would normally quit due to lack of motivation or fatigue.

Yesterday I ran a tempo run for a total of 30 minutes and today was supposed to be more comfortable and a total of 3 miles. I started off pretty comfortable and then towards the last 3/4 mile - mile I started to push myself a little more. I increased the speed on the treadmill and got some blood pumping so I have a feel for the speed I will have to maintain tomorrow for my 12 minute run portion of my Assessment.

The run today felt decent. I felt pretty good through the first 2 miles. I am finally building some endurance and my recovery time is getting quicker. I dropped from 176 to 126 in 2 minutes. I am still a bit above where my target heart rate should be when I am sprinting, etc. but it is getting better. With my recovery time at 40 seconds in 2 minutes, it puts me in the category of my RealAge is about the same as my calendar age. The faster it recovers, the healthier the heart.

I definitely need to get more rest at night as I was feeling pretty drained and sluggish today.

Tomorrow will be a push for me, but I feel confident I can do it. I must do 27 pushups, 85 situps and run 1.71 miles in 12 minutes. Time to step up and shine! I can do ALL things through Christ who strengthens me! Phillipians 4:13

Training Week 6 -

Weekly mileage to date=  7.27 miles

Today marks week 6 of my return to running form and I hit a small goal. I finally was able to break out of my funk and go through the wall that I have been facing since starting back up. Due to lack of training and endurance, every time I would go out and try and run a solid 2-3 miles I could never finish and often times ended up walking; of course extreme heat lingering in the 100's doesn't help with the confidence either.

The last 6 weeks have been to build my base and to get myself back into the idea of pushing the threshold and going beyond just a nice, casual jog through the neighborhood. I mean business! While I do not think I will ever obtain the speed/endurance/abilities from my days of running college cross country, I will do everything within my abilities to get back into competitive form. I have a goal and I am going to push myself to achieve it.

I started a new training program this week that is designed to get you prepared to compete in an 8K. While 8k's are not your standard race length, it is a solid program that will get me above a 5k skill set and just under a 10k distance. I have run in several 10k's and 2 half marathons and like those distances and as long as my knee holds up, that is where I will find myself.

Today my workout was a Tempo Run workout:
It consisted of running 5-10 minutes at an easy pace, shift gears and run 10-15 accelerating to a 15k pace and then decelerating for last 5-10 min. I probably went a little harder than I should have, but I tend to push myself a bit harder and have yet to find that "groove" on what my race tempo should be. This will take time.

I have been running on the treadmill to get myself built up and then I can go tackle the heat and have a good base to carry me the distance. Today's workout was tough as I pushed hard. I started at 6.7 on the treadmill for 10 minutes, then bumped it to 8 for 10 minutes and then dropped back down to a 6.5-6.7 for 10 minutes. I think I started off too fast and should have been more like a 5, but can't change the facts now. I survived, but it kicked my butt.

Total time run = 30 minutes
Total distance = 3.27
Total calories burned = 667
5k = 27:30 (definitely some room to improve) last 5k race I ran in was a 23:40 in July 2006.
Didn't have my IT band compression wrap on, so my knee is sore, but I did use the foam roller afterwards to work out the soreness.


Tonight will be ibuprofen and ice if necessary.

Up next tomorrow is supposed to be a 3 mile comfortable pace mixed with some strength training.
Here is to the next 8 weeks of training!

The Scarecrow Runner cometh

   This is my first post in this new blog environment. This blog will be to record all of the activities of my training and workouts to get back into running form.

   A few weeks before my 36th birthday I was a participant in the Corporate Challenge with my work. As I stood in the infield of the track and watched numerous individuals competing in the races the competitive fire began to burn deep within my core. A sleeping giant had awakened from its slumber and was beginning to stir. The giant had been put down for a longer than anticipated hibernation. More like a coma, if you ask me. There were few, if any remnants of a former college cross-country athlete lingering within.

   Hampered by nagging IT Band issues over the last 5 years made a return all the less realistic. The internal clock seemed to pass time more quickly the further along it was in operation. Three summers before I had shed 30 pounds off my frame and looked more like the runner I once was, but did not muster up the courage or motivation to endure in a training program and over the next several months those pounds came back with a personal vendetta.

  Through two job losses and other personal drama, the pounds continued to attach themselves to me and refused to play fair. I stepped on the scales the day before my birthday and did not like what I saw. I was well over 255 pounds and had at one time hit 260, a far cry from the days of a starving collegiate athlete who often was considered a heavyweight at a mere 195 pounds. So out onto the streets I ventured that birthday eve and managed to survive a 1 mile run. At least my pace was respectable, so not all hope had been lost.
 
The next 2 weeks would be a challenge due to our incredibly hot temperatures, but I managed to squeak out a few miles a week. At the end of June the fitness center at my work announced a Summer Challenge Incentive Program. It is a 6-week program where we all had to test ourselves doing pushups, curlups (the sititng down kind) and a 12  minute walk/jog/run and increase by 10% week over week. Originally there were well over 25 participants in this challenge, but as of Monday the numbers have shrunk to a total of 10.

  We are currently in week 4 of our Challenge program and it has definitely stretched me beyond my comfort zone. Going forward this blog will reflect my triumphs, defeats and everything in between as it pertains to running. I really am anxious to see how well I do with recording my information and improving regularly. This time next year I want to be in the best shape of my life at the age of 37 and not be ashamed of anything I have done during the last calendar year. I realized I was at the point in my adult life that if I chose to not to do anything that I was increasing my odds for sickness, disease and limiting my abilities to take care of my family going forward. I am willing to go the distance and persevere regardless of challenge that is before me.

As of today, I have been training for exactly 6 weeks and have built a core foundation to springboard off of going forward. The first 6 weeks were not the prettiest and I will spare you the details and drama I went through. Ultimately, I am still pushing forward. I have not allowed it to beat me into submission and force me to quit. My mental toughness has been sharpened and my physical toughness has been tweaked. I am ready for the challenge(s) that lie in the miles ahead of me and will be sharing along the way.

You may still be wondering why I called my blog the scarecrow runner..well I am from Kansas, enjoy the movie Wizard of Oz and am a runner...the town in Kansas that I was born in has a Wizard of Oz museum, so its only fitting. I am rather tall and lengthy and often times can relate to the personality of the scarecrow from the movie. Not that I don't have a brain, but the general personality. :) So...from hence forth, the scarecrow runner cometh.