On your mark.......

I was so inspired by my brother in law Tobe's training blog, that I decided to start one of my own. If you want a good read I would check out his blog because he is a pretty good writer plus he's training to be a cage fighter (sweet), I'm just a runner.

I'm going to just start keeping track of where I'm at now instead of trying to recount my entire journey, but I do feel some historical perspective is in order. I've always considered myself somewhat athletic. I always enjoyed playing sports like football, basketball, baseball, etc. I ran track in 7th and 8th grade mostly because my good friend Jeff Taylor was an amazing runner and it was pretty much just hanging out with my buddies. I wasn't an outstanding runner, but I wasn't embarrassing myself either. By the time high school rolled around, I was only playing organized basketball.

I think it was basketball that turned me off to running. Then, running was used as a punishment. Run ladders if you're late to practice, run if you miss free-throws, or just run if the coach was in a pissy mood. So after basketball, running just for the sake of running was not an idea I was willing to entertain.

Then came college and marriage and even a kid. Suddenly, I looked in the mirror and had to control my gag reflex. I was a bit overweight. I'm sure the daily trip to Wendy's for a super sized lunch and daily doses of 100+oz of mountain dew didn't help. In high school I weighed in at somewhere around 185-190 lbs. I was now tipping the scales at 240+. So, I figured running would be a good way to start dropping some pounds and getting healthy. I started running with a buddy from work, but came down with a bad case of shin splints due to starting too fast and wearing cheap foot locker shoes. I took some time off, got a decent pair of shoes and in June 2005 I was running my first 5k race. I think I finished in like 26 min or so. Nothing impressive, but I was officially hooked.

We then moved to Flagstaff. Paige says it is Flag that has gotten me into running and in a way she's probably right. The combination of awesome trails, a lot of amazing runners, and not much else to do, makes for a good running town. In fact you'd be hard pressed to find an elite distance runner who hasn't trained in Flagstaff at one time or another (due to the high altitude and other stuff I already mentioned). Since living here my runs have gotten longer and faster.

So, now I'm a few pounds lighter but that's not what keeps me running. It's funny, I started running to loose weight, now I loose weight to run better.

Not that they are impressive, but just to give you an idea of what kind of runner I am, my PR's are as follows:
5K - 24:15 (don't know that I trust this distance, I need to run another 5k)
10k - 49:01 (my most satisfying PR because I'd been trying to break 50min for what feels like forever)
1/2 marathon - 1:51:45

So as you can see I'm a solid middle of the pack runner, but better than average for guys my size.

I imagine this being a weekly thing unless something amazing happens that I just can't wait to write down. I'll record my weeks workouts and any thoughts worth writing down at the time.

Starting with this week:
I'm training for the Robie Creek half marathon. They tout it as the toughest half-marathon in the northwest. It could probably be the hardest in the nation if it weren't for the Pike's peak ascent (a really crazy half marathon, google it). The Robie Creek SOB climbs 2,100 ft. in the first 8.5 miles (with about 500 ft in the last .5 mile) and a 1,000 ft. or so drop over the rest of the 4.5 miles. I decided to do this race for a few reasons. 1: It's in Boise which is where a good portion of Paige's family lives. 2: I've done a couple of halfs and am ready to step it up. 3: I've heard it's as physically challenging as a full marathon and since I want to try one of those this fall (Hopefully St. George), I thought it would be a good way to get ready.

I'm starting to regret this choice. I've been running a lot of hills and am now remembering why I tried to avoid them in the first place. I'm a little nervous that I'm just going to bonk hard on this run and embarrass myself by having to be carried out in an ambulance. Tuesday's run was in Tucson at the gym. I felt pretty good. Then on Thursday, I did a hill workout where I ran 5x400m up a 8% incline plus about 6 miles it was hard but satisfying. Today, I tried running on some trails but it turned out to be a total quagmire because of all the melting snow. I should have known better because Ells ran some trails on Friday and said it was a mess. At first it was kind of fun because it was an adventure, then it got a little warmer and it was basically running through a river. My feet were soaked, I was muddy, cold and ready to be done. I cut the run a little short (wanted 9 but got 8.3), but felt that I put in the full effort. It was really good to get back into the forest. That's one of the best parts of running for me, just being out there on my own and enjoying the view.

Later,

Justin