Highs and Lows.....

I have learned, when training for a race for over 5 months, there are many highs and lows. There are the good runs that get your spirits up; And the bad runs that make you want to give up. The good runs that make you think you can do anything; And the bad runs that make you doubt your ability to run 13.1 miles come race day. The good runs that trick you into thinking you can do a full marathon; And the bad runs that make every inch of your body hurt.

I have had many highs since that first "official" training run back in June. They seem, at times, to out number the highs. I finally learned to never let them get me down. At one point this summer, I felt it was over a month before I had a good run. I am just too hard on myself,  I know that. I just have to remember for every bad run, I know at some point there will be a good run. It might not be tomorrow, or even this week. But somewhere down the road, there will be a great run that blows you away. Always keep going and never give up.

Then there are the highs. That time when I went out for a simple two mile run, yet my legs felt so good that I went a full five miles. Or that time when our Start 2 Finish group ran 8 miles for the first time. The last two weeks have been full of highs. I completed two 5K races with finishing times under 26:30. Before last weekend, I had never completed a 5K under 30 minutes. Today I was able to finish third in my age group, something I never thought was possible. Yesterday was the Prairie Fire Marathon Half Marathon course preview day. The Start 2 Finish groups ran the first 12 miles of the 13.1 miles. Many of us decided to save that last mile for race day. I feel this will be an emotional finish for many of us. So many highs that make you feel great.

Air Capital Quarter Marathon........

was ran today. Just like many things in life, I go into every race with a goal in mind. When I ran my first ever 5K back in 2013, my goal was under 30 minutes (it didn't happen and still hasn't happened in an official race). Today's race was 6.55 miles, or a quarter marathon. My goal today was 1 hour and 5 minutes. My thinking was simple: If I can do this for a quarter, I hope I can carry this time to the Prairie Fire Half Marathon in a few weeks.

I woke up feeling good, just a little sleepy. Made the 45 minute drive over to race. Ran into many friends before the race, some I haven't seen in a year or so.

Me and Tegan

Race started and like always, I start in the back. I think I need to re-think this strategy. I had to pass too many people, many I had to jump up on the grass to safely pass. The legs felt great for much of the race. I think way too much when running. In my head I know how far I have ran and how much I have left. I wish I could just float away to a happy spot when running. But that doesn't happen and when I get to the final miles of a run, I feel I let my head tell me I am tired, when I am probably still good to go.

As I made it back to 13th Street for the final stretch, I tried to push myself. It wasn't until I was about a quarter-mile from the finish line did my legs really kick in. For the last half mile of the race, I was on pace for a 9:14 mile, pretty good for me. As I crossed the finish line all I wanted was water.  I stopped my Garmin watch and saw the time: 1 hour 4 minutes and 36 seconds. Unofficially I had meet my goal. I just had to wait for the official time to be posted. Now give me that water! Water had never tasted so good. 

I am 5th down

Officially I was 2 seconds faster than my watch. I was happy with my time. I wasn't happy with my splits. I wanted to make each mile faster than the previous mile. That didn't happen today. That is something I will work on in the next few weeks. 

Ran into more friends after the race. I stayed for over an hour after I was done to talk with everyone. Always great to see the friendly faces. Everyone did great. A few of the Local Joe's won/placed in their age groups. All of us that started the race finished the race, which is always good. 

Karolina, Jeanie, Me, Kevin, Gray, and Tony

Big thank you to Fleet Feet/Go Run for putting on the race. Thank you to all the volunteers who help to keep us on the right path, give us water, or just cheer us on (I need more cowbell!!!!). A huge thank you to the Wichita Police Department for stopping traffic and keep us safe today and everyday.

Just 35 more days until Oct 11 and the Prairie Fire Half Marathon!

How to Upload from Garmin Watch to Daily Mile.......

Probably an easier way to do this, but this is how I do it. I did a Google search and seems like the synch feature between Garmin and Daily Mile broke about a year or so ago.

I sync my Garmin to the Garmin Connect app on my iPhone. This places the activity onto the Garmin Connect servers.
I then login to the Garmin Connect website from my laptop.
I click on the most recent activity.

Then in the upper right hand corner, there is a gear wheel.

I click on that and download the TCX file. 

Go to Daily Mile and click on Sync. 

Click on upload TCX file, then "Choose File". Pick the file you just downloaded and upload it. It could take a few seconds to upload.

Once uploaded, click on "Import". Once you import, it will give you options to edit the work out, add notes, and add gear.

Injury......

was the one thing that worried me the most when I took on this entire endeavour. And for about ten weeks I was able to avoid injury. Then I woke up on Sunday morning with soreness in my left heel. Not sure how it happened or why, but it did. I've taken the last few days off from running. Not what I wanted to do, but I rather take a few days off than staying hurt for weeks. Tonight will be my first run in a few days. I hope all goes well and the pain stays away. 

Week 1.....

is done and in the books. How did it go? It went. There were ups and downs this week. We started with our first group run of the Start 2 Finish training. Luck for us Local Joe's, we receive this training as part of our package. This is a great program for anyone looking to get into running a road race. Be it a 5K or a full marathon, hit up Joel at Go Run.

Some of the other Local Joe's

The rest of the week on was on my own. Trying to find time with coaching, city council, work and family, well, it is not always easy. Friday night I had to tell friends that we couldn't go out with them for dinner as I still needed to run. Today (Sunday), I needed to do two separate runs to make up for a missed run on Saturday. It would be easy to miss my scheduled runs. There are many excuses a person could use to not run. But if you are serious about completing your goal, you must work past those excuses. Anyone can find the time to run. You might need to get up an hour earlier than you are use to. Or you might have to put off plans for an hour or two to get that run in. It can be done.

High note of the week: Friday night running 5 miles non-stop. Never have done that before in my 37 years on this great planet.
Low note of the week: Soreness in my knees. Not sure why, but it is there.

They Want Selfies, They Get A Selfie

How did Forest do it?????

I kept asking myself that today as I ran my 2.64 miles. Forest Gump ran across this great country 5 times. I was just running 2.64 miles. Man, Forest Gump was a heck of an athlete. Then I come across this: Guy to Recreate Forest Gump Run. Really? This guy is going to run from California to Maine? I tip my hat to this guy. 30 miles per day for 100 days. Ouch. And yes, he will be in Kansas at some point on the "jog". Project Gump is where you can get more information about him and his "jog".

Soreness: Some of you might have seen my Daily Mile updates. One issue I am having is getting my legs to go longer distances. My lungs are having no problem. I'm not out of breath when I run. My legs though are killing me. My knees hated me today. My quads, when I run, are hating me about a mile into any run. I'm guessing this will get better over time. I hope. Andrea, I did try to keep my arms moving faster. It did help.

Treadmill running: I still haven't tried this yet. I'm not sure I will????? I use Plot A Route to mark my routes before I run to give me an estimate on how far my run will take me. I like to run in a circle. I hate going back over a road I just ran down. I will probably just use Plot A Route when I'm in a hotel to map out runs in strange cities. Probably will end up in Compton by accident.

first big race.....

I ran the Prairie Fire Marathon 5K this past Sunday. it was my first real big race. I've done three other 5K's before (only ran two due to one being canceled for weather). but those only had about 100-400 runners. but Sunday's race had, if you added all the runners from the different races, over 3,000 runners I'm guessing. it was crazy seeing that many people run. crazy seeing an event this big and being apart of it. from all the people watching on the sidewalks, to the food, to the vendors, to the music, it was awesome to see. those who put on the Prairie Fire Marathon races are great at what they do. and all the volunteers, I can't thank them enough. they all had smiles on their faces. I cannot wait for the Fall race.