As one year comes to a close and another one is on the
doorsteps approaching I wanted to take and recap my running adventures in 2013.
Scarecrow Runner’s Year End Review.
In November of 2012, I suffered a grade 3 sprain. See
previous blogs for pics and info on this injury. I didn’t know if and when I
would be able to run again. I wanted to walk without any issues or pain. I was
determined to get back on the roads and make a go of it and did so on January
1, 2013. After several weeks of icing and keeping my ankle elevated and slowly
rehabbing it, I laced up an air cast and took off for a 2.16 mile hobbled jog.
It wasn’t the most comfortable day I’ve experienced as a runner, but one of the
most anticipated I’ve felt in a long time. It took the entire month of January
to really begin to get back into the swing of things and overcome soreness. By
the end of the month I had logged 60 miles. Not bad for someone who couldn’t
walk at the beginning of December.
February 2013
I had already registered to run in the Oklahoma Memorial
Marathon in April and so I had 2 ½ more months of training time available and I
was sure to take advantage of the time I had left.
In February I logged 98 miles and really started getting
back into the groove. While it may have been a little much in the eyes of
others, it was much needed for me. I remained healthy and continued to push
forward. The only setback I had that month was the fact I had tightened my shoes
too tight one morning on an 8 mile run and ended up bruising the ligament on
the top of my foot. What was initially thought of as a stress fracture turned
out to feel better after some ice and bicycling for the next week.
March 2013
In March, I took some serious strides in my training for the
marathon and logged the most mileage in a month since my freshman cross country
season at Allen County Community College. I peaked at 126 miles that month. In
March I began my Spring racing season and it all started on St Patrick’s Day in
Tulsa, OK. The weather was more winter-like than spring and the temperatures
were around 38 degrees and a heavy mist was falling for the majority of the
morning. It made for perfect trail running weather. I ran in the 3 hour Snake
Run. I completed 17.1 miles in the 3 hour time on some treacherous trails and I
was hooked on trail-running. I finished 18th overall and 6th
in my age group.
My ankles took quite a beating, but after soaking them in
ice and keeping them loose on the stationary bike, I was able to bounce back
quickly and compete in the Wings to Fly 15K in El Reno, Oklahoma the following
Saturday. The temperatures were hovering just above freezing and were very
windy with some winter precipitation that fell during the course of the run. I
finished 2nd in my age group and 19th overall. The
following Friday evening after a massive Thunderstorm rolled through the
Oklahoma City metro, I competed in the OU Health Dash in downtown OKC at night.
It was dark and very wet, but a very successful race for me and the end of a
very solid training month. I was able to finish 1st in my age group
and 12th place overall.
April 2013
April started off really solid for me as I traveled to
Kansas City to run with my college buddies in the annual Brew to Brew relay
from Kansas City to Lawrence, a 44.4 mile relay. This took place on Sunday,
April 7th, but prior to that run, 3 of us competed in the Ruckus
Race in Grainville, Missouri. It was a 4 mile obstacle challenge and definitely
pushed my limits. The next day we all got up at the crack of dawn and endured
in our relay. Since I was training for the marathon I went ahead and ran 15
miles of the 44 mile relay. It felt really good to put in some good miles with
some great friends. The temperatures were near perfect with overcast skies and
the temperatures hovering just above 70 degrees. A far improvement from the
year before when we were soaring in record 90 degree heat. On April 13th,
I drove to Lake Hefner in Oklahoma City and ran in the Race for the Dream. It
was a race to help end sex trafficking. The weather was again, near perfect
conditions with temps in the low 70s and nice breezes blowing off the lake. I
managed to grab 1st in my age group and 3rd place overall
and took home 2 medals. First race I have ever taken 2 medals home. The
remainder of the month was low-key training and tapering to prepare for my
first marathon. The Oklahoma City Memorial, on April 28th. I had to
be there by 5:30 am to deal with all the security and thousands of runners who
gathered for this event. I didn’t really know what to expect from a race of
this magnitude, but when I finished I realized that it was more than I had
really bargained for. I experienced every possible emotion during this
adventure. I went from loving running to hating running to laughing to crying
to frustration to elation. When I saw the finish line, even though I was really
in pain and suffering, I pushed myself and crossed the finish line. That was
one of the greatest feelings ever and one of my proudest moments as a runner.
Coach Barry Switzer met me at the finish line and placed my finisher’s medal
around my neck. What a treat!
I literally suffered from runner’s depression following the
marathon and did not want to run or even want to think about running, but
eventually broke out of my funk and managed to log some mileage the following
week after taking a full week off to recover. My body ached and hurt for a full
week and even if I had wanted to run I don’t think I would have been up to it physically.
In the middle of May, I ventured to Inola, Oklahoma (just
east of Tulsa) with a friend Steve Farrell and his daughter to run in the
Warrior Dash. Since I was going to be competing in the Tough Mudder in
September I figured I better start getting ready for it and opted to run the
Warrior Dash twice. I literally ran in near back to back heats. The course was
great and even though we had to army crawl through a cow pasture with cow poop
all around, it made for a challenging and rewarding day.
As the temperatures began to heat up, my training begins to
slow down and my desire to run outdoors decreases. Mainly because I tend to run
on the warm-side and do best when the temperatures are below 80 degrees.
Anything above 80 is a recipe for me to overheat and thus my competitive edge
drastically drops. I can run, but I don’t run near as hard or as fast. During
June I was on a business trip and wasn’t too far away from El Dorado, Kansas
where I swang by El Dorado State Park and competed in the Storm the Dam Trail
Half Marathon. It was another trail run that I really enjoyed competing in, but
I had major allergy issues and my stomach was really upset from eating some bad
Taco Bell the night before. Word of advice…don’t eat Taco Bell on the eve of a
distance run…BAD IDEA! I still managed to finish in the top 25 and logged it as
a solid training run and experience. The hill we had to go up at mile 6 was
literally hell. The dam hill was one that is deemed that damn hill. It sucked,
but I ran up the entire way. The course was beautiful and well laid out. I
would recommend it and consider running again in the future.
This was the only race I did in June. As I had already
accepted a position with a new company in the Tulsa area and would soon be
relocating my family there. With moving and preparing to move my mileage took a
massive hit in the months of June and July. I logged right at 100 miles in 2
months. Not the ideal mileage for those months, but for the amount of craziness
and heat I will call it good.
July & August 2013
I began the month of July being able to run on stretches of
trail I had run on many moons before when we lived in Tulsa previously. I had
longed to be able to train on some great trails and stretches of road where I
could feel free again and be around other runners. And after 13 years, it
finally came to pass. My office sits less than a ½ mile away from the Tulsa
RiverParks trails along Riverside Drive and those trails go on for miles. It
includes several other trails that branch off and are beautiful and full of
foliage. My heart was happy in the running world again. Slowly I began to adapt
to the high humidity of Tulsa and began to build my mileage up again. In August
I was able to ramp my mileage up considerably due to some unseasonably cooler
weather during the month. What a difference 15 degrees makes in the heat of
August. I managed to run in 2 races at the end of the month. The first was on
August 31st at LaFortune Park and was the Race for the House 5K. It was
my first 5K in well over a year and I was definitely rusty with a faster paced
race. It didn’t help that it was very humid that morning either, but
none-the-less I finished 3rd in my age group and 5th
overall.
Sept 2013
It was another very solid training month for me as I began
the month with a 5 mile trail run at Turkey Mountain called ‘Escape from Turkey
Mountain’. Let’s just say my legs were still tired from running a hard 5K two
mornings earlier. While I didn’t achieve a great overall placing amongst the
competition I still enjoyed the trail race. On Sunday, September 22nd
I competed in the Tough Mudder in Topeka and boy was that a grueling task. It
was one of the most difficult challenges I have ever faced. Even though it was
11 miles worth of running, which didn’t phase me, it was the 25+ obstacles that
kicked my butt. I enjoyed it so much that I registered immediately to run it
again in May. Am I nuts? LOL
This was another busy month for me as I competed in the
Tulsa Zoo Run-15K on October 5th. First time I had run it since
1999. It was a nice and cool day for a run and there were a lot of runners out
for this race and thus the competition field was massive. I settled for 524th
overall. I just considered it a good, hard training run to prepare me for the ½
marathon in 2 weeks. On October 19th, I ventured to Oklahoma City
and participated in the HITS Running Festival ½ marathon and finished 10th
in my age group and 43rd overall. It was a frigid morning as the
race began at 7am and was before the sunrise. Temperatures were 30 degrees and
there was ice on the bridges and overpasses that we crossed initially. I have
never ran in a race that had ice on the street. It was a crazy race, but I felt
like I did really well. The next weekend it was Aiden’s 4th birthday
party weekend and we had family come to town. I was running in the Tulsa Run.
Again, another run I had not done since 1999. Mom, Dad and Alexis came to cheer
me on in the 50 degree temperatures. My legs were still a bit taxed from the
race the weekend before, but still ran hard and under my goal. I finished in
under 1:15. Thousands of runners were there for the race and it was the largest
race I had run in since the Memorial marathon. Tulsa runners sure show up for
the big races.
The first weekend in November was extremely cold and just
about anyone who is anyone in the running community runs in the Route 66 here
in Tulsa; however, I took the weekend off and rested and ran in the Jenks Half
the following weekend. I really struggled in the Jenks ½ and struggled mentally
and physically. I was drained and just didn’t have it in me to run a great
race. Still managed to finish 2nd in the Clydesdale division and
logged under a 1:55, so not horrible, but still not great. My running season
was coming to an end and it was evident that I was wearing down. What started
out as a very successful spring season where I was still fresh was turning out
to be an average fall season where I was worn out, but still competing. I didn’t
run in any other races in November as I started to focus on putting in miles
and stretching towards the 1000K mark. My brother, Austin and I put in some
great workouts over the Thanksgiving break and that gave me hope and prevented
me from being too lazy during the weekend.
The last month of the year sure seemed to hit me pretty
hard. I ran in the Tulsa ½ and ½ on December 15th at Turkey
Mountain. I initially was only registered for the trail ½, but wanted to
qualify for the Half Fanatics and so I ventured out and ran in back to back ½’s
or a full marathon technically. ½ on the trail and ½ on the road. The trail
half pretty much took it out of me and I didn’t have much left for the ½ on the
road. I managed to finish, but had obviously drained my body of every possible
nutrient and was severely dehydrated.
While I experienced fatigue and soreness as I have in races
past, 2 days later I had a severe panic attack where I thought I was dying. It
was one of the scariest moments I have ever had and I continued to have major
anxiety the rest of the week. It led me to the emergency room and doctor’s
office where they diagnosed it as General Anxiety Disorder and gave me a
prescription to help settle my nerves. I ended up taking a full week off from
running and just rested and tried to get myself composed. I am doing better
now, while not 100%, I have gotten back out onto the roads. I received a bunch
of running stuff for Christmas that I had to try out and just couldn’t wait any
longer. While I am going to come up about 40 miles shy of the 1000 mile mark, I
still feel like my year was very successful and am very pleased with my overall
results. I now have a very good baseline to build on for the next year. While I
don’t anticipate running as many races this year, I do plan on being
competitive and running in several ½ marathon’s and some other races that I
spot through the course of the year. Here’s to a wonderful 2013 and looking
forward to an even better 2014.
January- 60
February - 98
March - 126
April- 82.17
May - 51.76
June - 50.42
July - 48.72
Aug - 86.93
Sep - 80.06
Oct - 88.70
Nov - 86.45
Dec - 86.82
Micah (6) and I before our winter run on Christmas break. He is wanting to start running with me. Looks like I have a future long distance runner on my hands. :)
