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Rode Shelby Bottoms

I rode Shelby Bottoms today on my new single speed road bike. I rode end to end with both loops.

Afterwards I stopped by East Side Cycles and ordered a fixed cog and a lock ring to turn the other side of my rear wheel into a fixed gear. I am looking forward to riding "fixie" a little bit, but I am not sure I want to commute like that.

At least one day next week I am going to ride to work. Maybe after I get the new cog I will try to ride fixie at Shelby Bottoms a little bit.

Hip Bike

Sure, I was able to just up and run a 5k, but it reminded me of why I am not running all the time...

It takes me a long time to recover from a run.

I am not sure why, but my hips hurts for a couple of days after a run. Maybe it is misleading to say I am not sure why, but I don't want to believe it and no doctor has verified it recently.

When I was in high school I didn't do what my doctor told me; I ran more than 10 miles in practice and ran 6-7 days a week. He specifically told me not to do those things because I was still growing. I was 16 which meant I was not only invincible, but I also knew everything.

Well, on Fall night I woke up with incredible pain in my hip. I couldn't walk and the regional Cross Country championship was in two days. At the time the doc told me that I had developed juvenile arthritis (which is the same as regular arthritis, but when you are a juvenile). I didn't do very well in that regional meet, but I ran (hobbled? limped?) it and finished it.

My mom now has some issue with her hip where she is losing cartilage and the bone is rubbing against bone. I am assuming these two things are related and that they are the cause of my hip pain. The thing is, I don't really like that answer. I keep thinking that I will get in better shape and my hips will no longer hurt. Granted, I haven't been consistent enough to test this theory and I haven't asked a doctor. Still, I like that answer better. Who needs Occam's Razor?

I really like the idea of running again. I like how I feel when I get done with a run. I like to race. I like to run far. I like meeting goals. I am also at a point in my life where I have a choice to either get in shape or get fat; I am not able to coast by on my metabolism any longer.

So I bought a bike. Riding a bike is great fitness that should help me get in shape without hurting my hips. So what did I buy? A single gear road bike with the plan to flip the back wheel and ride it fixed.

Yeah, I haven't really ridden a bike much in 7 years and I chose to get one of the most difficult bikes to ride. It would be cake if I still lived in Philly or New Orleans; they are flat. Nashville? Full of hills. Big hills, small hills, up and down, up and down with very few flat roads.

Yeah, that makes sense. I am a masochist or am ego driven or a fool. Most likely it is some combination of the three.

So I took out my little road bike today. It wore me out. My legs hurt. My lungs hurt. My dreams hurt. But my hips don't hurt. Oh, and the bike was really fun to ride. It will be more fun fixed but I am going to have to work up to that.

I still want to run. Maybe I can start riding my bike to Shelby Bottoms to run a few miles and then ride home. Like I said, foolish ego driven masochist.

I Owe It To Myself

I haven't run in months. Today I decided I needed to run so I ran a 5k in 30 minutes. I owe it to myself to run.

I just need to get in the habit of running. It makes life better.

Back At It

Ok, I am going to get back on the ball. I am in better spirits when I exercise and I could use some "better spirits".

I know this blog is about running, but I haven't started running yet. I am starting a new program that falls under fitness, so I am posting about it here.

HundredPushups.com is a site for training to do one hundred pushups without starting. I took the "initial test" tonight. I was able to do 30 pushups without stopping. The last one was tough. So now on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday I will be doing pushups in order to get to 100 consecutive pushups without stopping.

Hopefully posting about it here will get me motivated to start running again as well. I should be able to train for the Music City Marathon without problem.

Fangtastic Run

I ran the Nashville Predators Fangtastic 5k last weekend. My sister was in town so we both registered for the race. I decided that it would be more fun to run the race with her than to try and beat the previous week's time.

The race was a lot of fun. My sister and I don't get to spend much time together these days, so it was nice to have just under 27 minutes of quality time.

Yep, just under 27 minutes, that was our time. It was my sister's best 5k ever. She said she wanted to get under 27 so I pushed her and told her she could do it. "I can't do it" she would say. "I am going to throw up" she continued. My reply was a little less than gentle when I told her "you better throw up at the end of the race or you aren't running hard enough". Ahh, what are big brothers for?

For the record, she did not blow chunks and she never stopped to walk. I have to say, it was hard for me to resist sprinting to the finish.

PIcture from Zoo Run Run

The Nashville Striders have posted pictures from the Nashville Zoo Run Run 5k including this one:

Thats me!

I Ran the Nashville Zoo Run Run 5k

My leg was in so much pain when I woke up Saturday morning that I was convinced I would not be able to run the 5k race I had signed up for. I thought maybe it would feel better as I walked around the house, but it didn't. The thing is, I had spent $35 to register for the event and I really didn't want to waste it. I also didn't want to do anything foolish and hurt myself so bad that I wouldn't be able to run for a month.

I eventually decided that I would at least go pick up my shirt (which turned out to be a sweet technical long sleeve). If I was going to go down there then I at least needed to dress as if I was going to run just in case I felt up to it. Maybe I would walk it.

By the time I got suited up and down to the zoo, I had convinced myself that I was going to run. I knew it would be smart to stop running if it hurt, but I think I was too vain. Luckily, it wasn't that bad.

I ran the race. As I had mentioned, my goal time was 26:21. I ran the 5k in 25:43. SWEET! Not bad for 2 weeks training.

I am going to run another 5k next weekend. Hopefully I can do that one in under 24:00. My sister is going to be in town that day too, so she is going to run it too.

After that I am going to start upping the mileage again. I need to do a 10 miler the 2nd or 3rd week in February if I am going to pull off the Tom King Half Marathon in early March.

My goal for the Tom King Half Marathon is to finish. Then I can try to run the CMM 1/2 in late April in a good time (under 1:45).

It feels good to be back.

Here is a link to the Nashville Zoo Run Run results. You can see I was in the top 1/3 of racers and the top 1/2 of my age bracket.

Run Through the Pain

After feeling some pain in my calf on Wednesday, I too Thursday off. Yesterday (Friday) I ran a 5k on the treadmill at the gym. My leg started hurting shortly after I started, but I made myself run the full 5k. I am not sure if it was a good idea or a bad one.

Today I am registered for a 5k at the Nashville Zoo. My leg is sore and I won't be able to run with a great time. It is also cold outside which I think makes my muscles more prone to getting hurt. I don't want to waste my $35 entry fee, but I also don't want to hurt myself. I am thinking I will run, but take it real easy.

Tales From the Treadmill

Yesterday I set out to run 4 miles. It was cold and rainy so I went to the Y and hopped on a treadmill. I wasn't too pleased with my 3.1 the day before, so I wanted to really impress myself. Naturally, that meant I would start out faster than I had before, but that was not enough.

When I have been running on a treadmill I have been leaving it perfectly flat (incline 0.0). I know this is nowhere near the real world so I thought I would pick one of the random-ish incline patterns to make the run more "realistic". I decided to pick Cross Country #3. It was a up and down that gradually increased over the course of the run.

About 2 miles into I was getting my ass kicked by the incline. I realized that it was only going to get worse and decided I better drop the incline and just finish the 4 miles. Well, as I was pushing the "down" arrow real fast to get some relief I accidentally pushed the big red "stop" button. The treadmill came to a halt and all of my momentum was lost. As I got it started back up I decided to just run one more mile and to finish strong.

Wednesdays are my long mid-week run. Today I was going to run 6 miles; once again I would be running on the treadmill. After not being pleased with a 3.1 mile day and not being able to finish a 4 mile day, I didn't want to take any chances on today's run. I walked a quarter mile and then started slow (just under 12 min mile pace). I gradually sped it up, but not too fast. At the halfway mark I was running just over 10 minute miles. I sped it up a little more. After the 4th mile I really started to get my stride. I noticed that my heart rate was lower than other days and that I was able to breath easier. Maybe I was actually starting to see some progress from my short time running again. I could take a drink without gasping for air after, and the best part was I was sure I could speed up and still go farther than the 6 miles I set out to do.

I was well into the 6th mile when I hit the 60 minute mark...

COOLDOWN...

The damn treadmill had decided I had run long enough. The pace automatically slowed from a 7.0 to a 5.8. I was almost to 6 miles so I decided to just run through the cooldown period and the be done with it. The weird thing was that it never slowed down any more. After a short while I decided to speed it back up and finish the 6 miles. I like to finish strong and didn't want to hold up the machine b/c people were starting to fill in, so I really pushed the pace. I ran the last quarter mile in well under 2 minutes and it FELT GOOD.

My right calf was hurting a little bit when I got done, but I think it will be alright. Tomorrow I am planning to do 4 again and then rest on Thursday. I am now confident I will be able to do my 8 mile long day this weekend. If so then this will be a 30.1 mile week. If I was going to run a marathon at the end of April, my weekly mileage would be good even though my long run is a little short.

Motivation

On March 14th, 1992 I was given this mug as a trophy in the Music City Half Marathon. (I know, what a crappy trophy)

I finished the half marathon in around 1:45. I wish I knew the exact time. My time was fast enough to win 3rd place in the 19 and under age group. I was 14.

I know I can do it because I have done it before. However, I am over twice as old as I was then. That is weird.

5k Time to Beat

I ran a 5k this evening. It wasn't a race or anything, but I tried to run it like it was. I started out a little slow and gradually picked up the pace as I went. I was definitely feeling it at the end.

This was another treadmill run. I will wait until it gets a little warmer before I start venturing outside. One thing I am noticing about running on a treadmill is that I seem to use a shorter stride. It isn't until I get it up to an 8 min mile pace before I start feeling myself stretch it out more.

So my 5k time was 25:10. That sounds slow, but I sure felt like I was running as fast as I could (and still finish). At least I now have a time to beat for this weekend's 5k at the Zoo.

Tomorrow I am planning to run an easy 4 miles. Once again it will be on the treadmill. I am actually going to miss the page/time/distance screens when I run outside. Maybe I should pick up one of those Garmin watches.

First Long Day

A long run each week is an important part of training to run a long race like a half-marathon (or a marathon, I am still a little undecided). This long run is typically on Saturday or Sunday. I had planned to do my long runs on Saturday with a day of cross-training on Sunday, but that didn't work out this week. Instead of skipping the long run yesterday and doing cross-training today, it was more important to do the long run today. Tomorrow I will go back to my plan.

My long run today consisted of a 6 mile run on a treadmill at the YMCA. I didn't turn on the TV on my tradmill because I wanted to focus. I ran with an iPod listening to a DrumAndBass Arena podcast (hour long DnB mix). For the last mile I through out the headphones and picked up the pace.

My old self finds it a little amusing that I am talking about picking up the pace on a long run where the "long" is 6 miles and the pace is 1 hour and 6 minutes. Still, I am pretty pleased to have struggled to run 2 miles on Monday and to complete 6 miles on Sunday. This week was between 18 and 19 miles. Well, last week was a 12 mile week and I have started out this week with a 6 miler, but you know what I mean. I am going to have to site down and revise my training plan to reflect my good progress so far.

I said earlier in the week that if I could run 6 miles this weekend then I could run a marathon at the end of April. I made that goal. While I still think that is possible, I am leaning towards running the half in April. I may be able to pull of the half in May as well. Who knows, if I run a couple of halfs in the spring I could train to run a Fall marathon with the goal of qualifying for the Boston Marathon (i.e. running 26.2 in under 3:10:59)

Let's cut this in half

I am thinking that it is a bad idea to run the Music City Marathon in April. I still think I could do it, but I won't be able to run the marathon I want to run.

I like to compete. I don't have any delusions about actually winning any races, but I would like to log some respectable times. If I run a half marathon in April I will be able to be more competitive. I ran the Music City Half Marathon once upon a time and I did it in about 1:45. I may be able to do something close to that in April, but it would be dangerous to my body to run a 4:00 marathon with the same amount of training.

So here is a new plan. I am going to run a half marathon in April and a full marathon sometime later in the year. I am also going to do some smaller races as part of my training. First up: Nashville Zoo 5k next weekend. Desired time: under 24 (I think it is doubtful).

A Breath of Fresh Air

This afternoon I went for a run at Shelby Bottoms. My training plan had me running 3 miles today, but I didn't know what to expect since I had never been to Shelby Bottoms before (even though it is just a couple of miles from my house).

First off, it was cold. I had forgotten what it was like to run in cold air. I also haven't run outside in a long time. In some ways running on a treadmill is easier. A treadmill tells you how long you have been running and how far you have run. It also keeps the pace steady for you.

I don't know if I started out too fast or if it was the cold air or if it was the hills, but I just couldn't get settled into the run. I was running with an iPod and wasn't able to hear my breath and steps. Maybe that is why I just couldn't find a groove. After two miles I was getting pretty bad cramps in my side (lack of oxygen?). I stopped to pee and started walking back. I walked for one mile and then ran the last mile back. I made sure to pick up the pace for the last half mile and ran as fast as I could for the last 50 yards or so.

It was not a great run, but it was a needed one. I learned that I don't much care for running outdoors with an iPod (though it seems to help on a treadmill). I am going to have to put in some serious time running outdoors, which is hard because the YMCA has childcare.

Next Saturday I am going to run the 5k at the Nashville Zoo. Sometime between now and then I want to find a 5k course and time myself running it without music.

Tomorrow I am going to try and run 6 miles on the treadmill at the YMCA.

Looking Back to Look Ahead

Last night I set out to run 4 miles in under 44 minutes (11min/mile). I wasn't sure I could run 4 miles since just two days before I had to push myself to run two. I was also surprised I wasn't really sore from running 2 days in a row. If I couldn't pull off 4 miles I promised myself I would at least run for 45 minutes.

The first mile took just under 12 minutes. I knew I was a little behind pace, but I figured I could make it up later. I sped up a little for mile two, finishing just over 22 minutes. I was right on pace, but I was starting to get tired. It wasn't muscle soreness or pain as much as it was something in my head telling me to quit.

"I can't do this," I thought. "Maybe I bit off more than I could chew. I should just run 3 miles and slow it down a little. What if I hurt myself?"

This is where I expected my previous experience to come into play. Even though I haven't run in 10 years I should still be able to win the battle in my head. I can power through; I have done it before. How did I do it then?

At this point I started thinking about my previous experience. I remembered running the Music City Half Marathon. I remembered crossing the finish line first in a mile track race. I remembered chasing The Kenyan for the last mile of another half marathon. I remembered 5ks and 10ks and fun runs and training runs. I remembered pain and I remembered reward. I remembered strides and I remembered breaths.

As I picked up the pace I realized that I was half way through the 3rd mile. At the pace I was going I would finish 4 miles in just over 41 minutes. Could I hit 40? I thought, "There is no reason to push it. I don't want to injure myself. Let's just keep it steady and smooth." Gone were any thoughts of not finishing 4 miles. Gone was the fear of pain. I was focused.

As I started the 4th mile I wanted to stretch my legs a bit. It was time to really run and feel the speed. I have always liked fast finishes. Without pushing too hard I should be able to run the last mile at my desired marathon pace (8:45min/mile). As I started picking it up I realized that I would be very close to hitting 40 minutes. I pushed harder, thinking back to how it felt to finish strong in the past. I felt like I could go faster and faster. As I approached the final quarter mile I was wishing I was on a track so I could burst into an all out sprint, but alas I was on a treadmill. I continued strong without sprinting and completed the 4 miles in 40:18. Not too shabby considering I ran a total of 3 miles in all of 2007.

After last night's run I revised my training plan a little. Instead of 5 miles this Saturday I am pretty sure I can run 6. Instead of an easy 3 miles on Friday I am going to try to run sub 9 minute miles. As I think about running 3 miles in under 27 minutes I think back again. This time I think back to when I could run 5k races under 20 minutes every day of the week. I start to feel stupid for being proud of my 40 minute 4. The thing is, by looking back I am able to find motivation in all kinds of ways. I may never be as fast as I used to be, but each mile means more now. I just have to keep telling myself to keep it slow and steady and I will get there. A single week of running is nothing but a start and I can't finish without starting. Who knows, maybe the wisdom of age will trump the speed of youth.

The Journey Has Begun

First, let me introduce myself:

My name is Jackson Miller. I have another blog at jaxn.org where I have posted regularly since 2001. Recently I posted an entry titled Defining "The Best Shape of My Life". As a result of that post (and the thoughts behind it), I have decided to run the Country Music City Marathon. This blog is where I am going to post training/fitness/racing information. I am also thinking I may post some relevant stories from my past that I have been thinking about to get motivated.

I am pretty close to day 1. A couple of weeks ago I ran 2 miles on a treadmill and it almost killed me. This week I have been staying in a hotel room with a treadmill in the room. On Monday I ran two mile. On Tuesday I ran 3.1 miles (a 5k) in just under 30 minutes. Last night (Wednesday) I ran 4 miles in 40:18. Today is Thursday. I have to travel today so I am going to take the day off. Friday I am going to run 3 miles at the pace I hope to run the marathon (8:45 mile). Saturday I will run 6 miles. If I can run 6 miles on Saturday, I can run 26 miles in 17 weeks.

Am I crazy? maybe.