I am NOT a runner...
I'm *not* a runner.
Whenever I meet new people and they ask what I do (no - it's not Dallas where they are asking your profession - in Boulder they are asking what's your outdoor activity of choice) I invariably answer "I'm a mountain biker". Yes - i ride a road bike, I work out at ATC, and do (and have done) a variety of other things but I *am* a mountian biker.
Running never comes up in the list of "things I do/did". The last time I ran was probably 3 years ago during the off-season and I was trying to do something to keep in shape. I didn't like it - it hurt, it's boring and the fact I was slow didn't add any appeal. I could hold a steady 10 minute mile pace for an hour or so but anything faster was torture. I remember once a heavy-set middle-aged lady passed me on the Bob-o-Link trail and I tried to keep up with her. I held a 9:30 pace with her for ~3 minutes but then I thought I was going to DIE and had to back off. Seriously - 30 seconds faster per mile takes that much more effort??? are you 'effing kidding me?? Let me tell you - this isn't for me!! I probably "ran" for ~3 or 4 months - then the mtn bike trails opened up and that was that.
After Dave broke his arm after the Breck Epic - he was looking for something to gain some fitness. Actually he had been toying with the idea of running for a month prior to that. But since ice hockey was off the schedule for a while - he bought some running shoes and started running.
I thought it might be fun to join him - so I started running - as long as Dave was running so would I.
Run #1 - 2 miles/11:10mile pace:
I know that 2 miles isn't a "real" run but you gotta start somewhere... on Sept 15th I did a little 2mile run from the house.
OMG - are you kidding me?? It was just as I remembered with all the various body parts that hurt. My upper tailbone hurt?!?! How in the heck does running make your upper tailbone hurt?? Seriously! I don't know but it did. My right hamstring was hurting, both psoas muscles were screaming at me, and my left vastus medialis hurt and not to mention i was working hard cardiowise. I took my little trusty GPS with me and my avg was 11:10 minute per mile pace. I nodded to myself when i was finished - 'yep - that's about right...slow as molasses and in dire pain'.
I did know that if i kept it up - everything would settle down and eventually stop hurting.
Run #2 - 2 miles/10:09mile pace:
2 days later I ran a little 2 mile loop with Dave. He had been running for a couple of weeks by now so my goal was to try to keep up. It was a struggle but I was able to keep up at his pace. My psoas muscles and right hamstring were "talking pretty loud" to me but I could tell it was "not used to being used" pain and not "injury pain" so I focused on keeping my feet moving and my head up.
I was glad when the 2 miles was over. ;) And I was happy that I was able to hold a pace that was ~1 minute a mile faster than my 1st run. Cardiowise it was a "tempo" effort with a HR at 160. I know I can hold a higher HR for longer but I was happy...progress!
Run #3 - 3 miles/10:30mile pace
I added another mile to my run and the pace went down slightly but so did my HR. My HR avg was ~155 and various things started hurting less.
Run #4 - 3 miles/9:40mile pace
I tried a different running route and rode my bike to the Bob-o-link trail and ran for 3 miles. A strange thing happened - I started feeling pretty good and so I pushed the pace. Shockingly I dropped my mile pace by a whopping 50(!) seconds. How in the heck did that happen? My HR was a tad bit higher but for 50 seconds a mile faster the effort was certainly worth it. Maybe it was fluke...i didn't know but I was exhilarated by the run and couldn't wait to run again. ??
Running week 2/ holding the 9:40mile pace
I ran 5 times the next week - usually for 3 or 3.5 miles...nothing long but I wanted to be consistent before I added a ton more mileage. I was shocked my avg pace for a tempo effort was 9:40. After only 2 weeks of running - I was happy with that. Who knows maybe I could up the pace to a sub 9 minute mile - now that would be a miracle!
Running week 3/pace dropped by 35(!) seconds to a 9:05
On Oct 1st I ran in Longmont - warmed up for .5 miles, ran 3 and cool down for .5 miles. As I was cruising along about halfway through I looked at my trusty GPS and saw my pace was 9:05. I was flabbergasted. Really? Plus running felt GOOD - i mean it still was an effort but I got in a rhythm and felt happy just cruising along. The pace/effort was hard but not undoable and PLUS it kinda felt good to "hurt".
I wondered if my GPS was off or broken. But after I downloaded my data - it looked consistent and accurate. I couldn't believe I was running 9:05s. I was really excited about this and all of a sudden it was all i could think about running.
Running week 4/ 8:55pace/good advice & perfect storm of fitness & strength
By now running was part of my routine. I love Saturday and Sunday mornings where Dave and I would get up and go run together and then hit up the Mini Walnut for breakfast.
I talked to my friend, Phil (great runner and athlete) and he gave me some good advice. TLC (T= run tall, L= lean from the ankles, C=fast cadence). So incorporated it into my running and like magic my pace dropped from 9:05s to 8:55 with the same effort. Wow - there was my sub-9 minute miles.
That Saturday the weather was crappy so I ended up running on the treadmill at the gym. I thought it would be torture to be inside but once I accepted the fact that I was inside - I turned on my ipod and cruised. I ended up kinda liking running on a treadmill - you could control/force the pace. hmm....not bad.
Never in the past had i dreamed I could run a sub-9 minute mile. I know it's not *fast* in the whole scheme of things but it is for me. I think for me - the reason I could do this now where I haven't been able to in the past was becuase my cardio fitness is the best it has ever been. (a side-effect of my Breck Epic training) and all the strength training i have been doing at the ATC. I noticed when doing "front squats" "turkish getups" "running with a 50lb sandbag", "jumping lunges" , "weighted lunges" that I'm using my running muscles. So being strong with the running muscles and my cardio fitness - this was enabling my body to perform better.
So between the "running form" advice from Phil, the cardio fitness from the Breck Epic training and all the strength work from the ATC - it has been a 'perfect storm' for me to do my best ever running.
Running week 5/signed up a for a 5k and pace drops even more
Dave and I signed up for the Eerie Erie - a 5k or 10k run in Erie. This year it's a new course. It literally starts 2 blocks from his house and coincidentally it's *very* similar to our "normal" weekend run. We both signed up for the 5k.
On Saturday I wanted to time trial the Eerie Erie course to know what to expect. Dave had been injured for a few weeks and lost some fitness so I was just going to bust it out and not worry about running with him. He was ok with this.
The course is a tad short of a true 5k. 2.94 miles but I ran it in 25:23 which comes out to a 8:37 minute mile. A whopping 18 seconds faster than last week's average. I was running pretty much as hard as I could. My HR avg was 168 - that's high for me. I might can run a tad faster during a race - I don't know I've never run a running race in my life.
Yesterday the weather was crappy so I went to the gym to run on the treadmill. Just for fun I put it on a 8:10 mile pace and ran that for a mile - it seemed doable but it scared me for some reason that I could hold that pace comfortably so i backed off.
We'll see how Saturday goes.
Oh yeah and for the record - I'm a mountian biker - I am not a runner. ;)
Whenever I meet new people and they ask what I do (no - it's not Dallas where they are asking your profession - in Boulder they are asking what's your outdoor activity of choice) I invariably answer "I'm a mountain biker". Yes - i ride a road bike, I work out at ATC, and do (and have done) a variety of other things but I *am* a mountian biker.
Running never comes up in the list of "things I do/did". The last time I ran was probably 3 years ago during the off-season and I was trying to do something to keep in shape. I didn't like it - it hurt, it's boring and the fact I was slow didn't add any appeal. I could hold a steady 10 minute mile pace for an hour or so but anything faster was torture. I remember once a heavy-set middle-aged lady passed me on the Bob-o-Link trail and I tried to keep up with her. I held a 9:30 pace with her for ~3 minutes but then I thought I was going to DIE and had to back off. Seriously - 30 seconds faster per mile takes that much more effort??? are you 'effing kidding me?? Let me tell you - this isn't for me!! I probably "ran" for ~3 or 4 months - then the mtn bike trails opened up and that was that.
After Dave broke his arm after the Breck Epic - he was looking for something to gain some fitness. Actually he had been toying with the idea of running for a month prior to that. But since ice hockey was off the schedule for a while - he bought some running shoes and started running.
I thought it might be fun to join him - so I started running - as long as Dave was running so would I.
Run #1 - 2 miles/11:10mile pace:
I know that 2 miles isn't a "real" run but you gotta start somewhere... on Sept 15th I did a little 2mile run from the house.
OMG - are you kidding me?? It was just as I remembered with all the various body parts that hurt. My upper tailbone hurt?!?! How in the heck does running make your upper tailbone hurt?? Seriously! I don't know but it did. My right hamstring was hurting, both psoas muscles were screaming at me, and my left vastus medialis hurt and not to mention i was working hard cardiowise. I took my little trusty GPS with me and my avg was 11:10 minute per mile pace. I nodded to myself when i was finished - 'yep - that's about right...slow as molasses and in dire pain'.
I did know that if i kept it up - everything would settle down and eventually stop hurting.
Run #2 - 2 miles/10:09mile pace:
2 days later I ran a little 2 mile loop with Dave. He had been running for a couple of weeks by now so my goal was to try to keep up. It was a struggle but I was able to keep up at his pace. My psoas muscles and right hamstring were "talking pretty loud" to me but I could tell it was "not used to being used" pain and not "injury pain" so I focused on keeping my feet moving and my head up.
I was glad when the 2 miles was over. ;) And I was happy that I was able to hold a pace that was ~1 minute a mile faster than my 1st run. Cardiowise it was a "tempo" effort with a HR at 160. I know I can hold a higher HR for longer but I was happy...progress!
Run #3 - 3 miles/10:30mile pace
I added another mile to my run and the pace went down slightly but so did my HR. My HR avg was ~155 and various things started hurting less.
Run #4 - 3 miles/9:40mile pace
I tried a different running route and rode my bike to the Bob-o-link trail and ran for 3 miles. A strange thing happened - I started feeling pretty good and so I pushed the pace. Shockingly I dropped my mile pace by a whopping 50(!) seconds. How in the heck did that happen? My HR was a tad bit higher but for 50 seconds a mile faster the effort was certainly worth it. Maybe it was fluke...i didn't know but I was exhilarated by the run and couldn't wait to run again. ??
Running week 2/ holding the 9:40mile pace
I ran 5 times the next week - usually for 3 or 3.5 miles...nothing long but I wanted to be consistent before I added a ton more mileage. I was shocked my avg pace for a tempo effort was 9:40. After only 2 weeks of running - I was happy with that. Who knows maybe I could up the pace to a sub 9 minute mile - now that would be a miracle!
Running week 3/pace dropped by 35(!) seconds to a 9:05
On Oct 1st I ran in Longmont - warmed up for .5 miles, ran 3 and cool down for .5 miles. As I was cruising along about halfway through I looked at my trusty GPS and saw my pace was 9:05. I was flabbergasted. Really? Plus running felt GOOD - i mean it still was an effort but I got in a rhythm and felt happy just cruising along. The pace/effort was hard but not undoable and PLUS it kinda felt good to "hurt".
I wondered if my GPS was off or broken. But after I downloaded my data - it looked consistent and accurate. I couldn't believe I was running 9:05s. I was really excited about this and all of a sudden it was all i could think about running.
Running week 4/ 8:55pace/good advice & perfect storm of fitness & strength
By now running was part of my routine. I love Saturday and Sunday mornings where Dave and I would get up and go run together and then hit up the Mini Walnut for breakfast.
I talked to my friend, Phil (great runner and athlete) and he gave me some good advice. TLC (T= run tall, L= lean from the ankles, C=fast cadence). So incorporated it into my running and like magic my pace dropped from 9:05s to 8:55 with the same effort. Wow - there was my sub-9 minute miles.
That Saturday the weather was crappy so I ended up running on the treadmill at the gym. I thought it would be torture to be inside but once I accepted the fact that I was inside - I turned on my ipod and cruised. I ended up kinda liking running on a treadmill - you could control/force the pace. hmm....not bad.
Never in the past had i dreamed I could run a sub-9 minute mile. I know it's not *fast* in the whole scheme of things but it is for me. I think for me - the reason I could do this now where I haven't been able to in the past was becuase my cardio fitness is the best it has ever been. (a side-effect of my Breck Epic training) and all the strength training i have been doing at the ATC. I noticed when doing "front squats" "turkish getups" "running with a 50lb sandbag", "jumping lunges" , "weighted lunges" that I'm using my running muscles. So being strong with the running muscles and my cardio fitness - this was enabling my body to perform better.
So between the "running form" advice from Phil, the cardio fitness from the Breck Epic training and all the strength work from the ATC - it has been a 'perfect storm' for me to do my best ever running.
Running week 5/signed up a for a 5k and pace drops even more
Dave and I signed up for the Eerie Erie - a 5k or 10k run in Erie. This year it's a new course. It literally starts 2 blocks from his house and coincidentally it's *very* similar to our "normal" weekend run. We both signed up for the 5k.
On Saturday I wanted to time trial the Eerie Erie course to know what to expect. Dave had been injured for a few weeks and lost some fitness so I was just going to bust it out and not worry about running with him. He was ok with this.
The course is a tad short of a true 5k. 2.94 miles but I ran it in 25:23 which comes out to a 8:37 minute mile. A whopping 18 seconds faster than last week's average. I was running pretty much as hard as I could. My HR avg was 168 - that's high for me. I might can run a tad faster during a race - I don't know I've never run a running race in my life.
Yesterday the weather was crappy so I went to the gym to run on the treadmill. Just for fun I put it on a 8:10 mile pace and ran that for a mile - it seemed doable but it scared me for some reason that I could hold that pace comfortably so i backed off.
We'll see how Saturday goes.
Oh yeah and for the record - I'm a mountian biker - I am not a runner. ;)
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