Ruud Rush 5K

~Spectator Style ~

The boys both decided to do this one. After missing his race he’d trained for the end of April Dom had sort of lost steam with his training. He had not run in almost a week and was trying to get out of it Friday night. I knew it was just nerves so I told him we would head over there in the morning…and if he felt like running…do it…if he didn’t…I wasn’t going to make him. I also told him that I would NEVER set him up to fail…and I wouldn’t let him race if I didn’t KNOW he was ready.



So we got up and headed over on the all of 5 minute drive. It was cool…just the three of us….like it was BEFORE Skip and BEFORE Tate. Like it would have been if Skip and I had never met…that part I don’t like.

We got there and I was amazed how big a set up they had. I knew T was going to be BUMMIN because they had tons of kids activities including but not limited to…a bounce house, cookie decorating, coloring, planting sunflowers. How cool. Lori my running buddy and her husband Mike were also running this one and we ran into them right away. Gave Lori the massage coupons out of the boys goodie bag. Dom thought he could use a massage but I told him he had a good 10 years before he needed a massage. So they got their bags…got bibbed…and were ready. Dom was nervous…Vincent didn’t really have any expectations. V had done NO training and this race was like triple the size of his last couple. Why did I let him run it? Dunno….I kinda blow like the wind sometimes….and I was morbidly curious to see what would happen to him and his time….sick…I know.

So we head over to the start. I had Dom go over by Lori and told V to get up front. They sang the national anthem and I was so pleased to see V with his hand over his heart when NO one around him did it. I went over in front of the start line….interesting to be on the other side…the gun went off and they were gone. I saw Vincent pass…but never did see Dom again till he was almost done.


The cool thing about watching a 5K that you know a number of people participating in, is that there’s not a whole lot of waiting around…especially when you have a fairly fast kid out there. I went to the bathroom….walked around a little bit…and before I knew it 14 minutes had went by and I headed out towards the 3 mile mark. Much to my surprise…..like you could have knocked me over with a feather surprise…the first runner was coming. He finished in a little over 15 minutes….Holy shit.

Sixteen minutes ticked by..and 17…and 18…and 19…and 20. Now I was kind of starting to worry. I didn’t even see Vincent. His last 5K was 21 minutes flat…and that was with some training….but I also know he’d gotten his mile time down around 5 minutes…but then again that’s gym class….and 1 mile is way different then 3.1 miles. Finally I spot him…my heart is in my throat. It’s what he’s meant for and it emotionally crushes me to watch him run….breaks my heart in the very best and worst ways. He hit’s the 3 miles mark and just GOES…passes every other runner on that stretch and crosses in 21:52.  His best? Heck no. But the only running that kid has done in the last year is 2 miles with me at my marathon two weeks ago….and a handful of little runs since this time LAST year. And he talks to me about football…ugg. He ended up taking 3rd for his age group of 15-19 year olds. And I realized something today..every race he’s done in the last 2.5 years he has either WON or placed in his age group. Makes me want to beat my head against a wall.


My neighbor Mike came in next followed closely by Lori who missed her goal time by 3 seconds but still a PR for this distance.

And now I wait. I wasn’t really sure what kind of time Dominic would run. From looking at his training runs on my Garmin I figured he’d be right around 12 minute miles…which would put him coming in around 36 minutes…plus change…maybe. So V and I headed back to the 3 mile marker again and watched for him. When we saw him I told V to stay and run him in…but to stay off the course…and I waited near the finish. So he runs in…RED as a freakin Tomato!! Looking like he is about to TOSS some cookies….crosses the finish at 36:02 and HURLS! Outstanding!! By the time I make it over to him he hurls AGAIN and the first aid people are huddling around him and he’s sitting on the ground. My boy…I always tell them it’s not a race till somebody pukes..and Dominic helped me out by doing just that.

We stayed for the awards. I figured V had placed but not taken his age group and I wanted him to have his medal. It was an awesome race for an awesome cause and VERY well put together. I could not have been more proud of my boys….they both put their BEST out there….one very prepared…one completely unprepared…which shows you the unfairness of running..LOL. Dominic crossed his first finish line as an official race participant and I knew I’d done the right thing when I see this posted on Facebook later….

• Dominic **cs
Ran my fist 5k today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i got 36 min which was my exact goal so i am very happy got a shirt and band and me and Vincent the cleptos we are stole a bunch of the freee stuff lol

Please ignore my child’s atrocious grammar….Dom…you can’t steal stuff that’s free.


And for your viewing pleasure…since I gave my marathon medal away…I got a little something to keep for my marathon.

Have a great weekend! and Yeah...it hurt

Want some Cheesse with that Whine?

Better….sort of…on the mend anyways. I’ve decided..with the guidance and advice of both Dr. F and Lori…to stop freaking the hell out. In the words of…well…both of them really…you’ve done the work..take it easy this week and you’re body will remember what to do come Saturday.” Good nuff. The weather is threatening to suck..but I can deal with anything except hot and it’s not supposed to be that. A high of less then 50 and thunderstorms….HA! Mother Nature can bite the big one. I’ve done sub-zero…you can’t do shit to me.



So I have Dom tweeking my play list. I had each of the kids pick a song to put on there for me. They didn’t tell me what they picked and I had Dom just put the on there. There are people in my life that are with me on most of my runs…my kids are among these people..and I wanted them to be able to pick something THEY liked for me to listen to on THIS run.


Baring him being in the hospital…my Dad will be there when I finish this race. Good thing too because he is 100 percent of the reason behind the timing of my doing my first marathon. Even if he doesn’t ‘get’ why I do it…he is so very proud of my running. Which moves me to tears because lord knows I haven’t given him much reason to be proud..and in spite of that..he has been. His faith in me is much like Skips…blind. Me being unable to do something doesn’t even come into the equation. When I question….he has no doubts. When I say maybe..he says ‘of course’. How refreshing to have that kind of backing in my corner…how could I possibly fail?


2 days

Finally Hit It

Goal pace that is. But still kept banking time every mile…so I guess I really didn’t? This was my last run of any real kind of distance. Marathon in 8 days….ran 10 miles today under marathon goal pace. The key to finally not blowing myself up? Pace band. Runners world has these rad things and you just enter your goal time and it prints out a mile by mile time that you need to hit to get your goal. I wore one today and the only problem I had was trying to keep myself where I needed to be…but at least this gave me a pretty good idea. 10 miles at a 10:06 average pace. And I felt great when I was done…and if I could hold it for 10 miles..what’s 16 more right?



The kids are off this week for spring break. Dominic has his first official race this Saturday and is very excited. V is also running this…and is very pissed off at me because I told him I wasn’t going to pay for a race he hasn’t trained for. This is the one he took third in last year…and he has big plans to win it this year. He’s going to do some work for grandma today to earn his entrance fee. He’s done little to no running and I’ve kept my yap shut except for telling him I wasn’t paying for it….so we’ll see what he can do. I don’t think Dom has a goal time..just a finish time. He’s trained exclusively in his Skeltoes *ghetto Vibrams* and is feeling pretty confidant. He did his last run last night and is feeling ready. Saturdays forecast is calling for thunder storms and a hi of 59…which is just fine…except the wind is calling for 23mph winds..and it’s always way winder out there…that part will suck. Either way…I’m excited to watch these guys race and to be a spectator for a change.
8 Days

100 Barefoot Miles and a Quick Note

Yeah…I hit that this Sunday. I’m back up to 1.1 miles barefoot out of every run I do. I’m not risking any more with this little marathon looming in ….yep…less then two weeks.



My taper is going ok. This training cycle has taken a lot out of me…as in…I am so OVER training right now. My longrun last week was a mere 15 miles at marathon pace. I almost hit it. The pace I need to hit to run the race in my goal time is just so damn awkward for me. Basically I’m taking every run till the race and doing marathon pace runs..just to finally nail down that pace. And honestly..I still don’t think it will happen. I’ve almost resigned myself to that thought..but you never know come race day.


Alright…I’m back off to crawl back under my taperrock…peace out.

2010 Mileage and the Marathon Plan

So my grand total of miles for 2010 is…..1234.3 miles. I didn’t get my garmin till the second week of January of 2010 so that’s probably actually right around 1250..but whatever. Next year I’m shooting for 1500 I think.



Onwards.


I sat down the other night with 4 months worth of blank calendar sheets and finally got to work. My plan was to start the 1st of January…talk about waiting till the last minute. I don’t know why I put it off except for the fact that that’s when it gets really real..and I wasn’t ready to see it. I showed it to Skip when I was done and he looked it over…says it looks good. You don’t think it’s too aggressive I ask? Nope…piece of cake. That’s one of the things I love about this man..his unshakeable faith in me. I toss out a plan with 2 full race distance plus multiple runs in the teens and higher and he says it’ll be a piece of cake for me. Let’s see if he’s till saying that come March!


The plan.


Please remember that I’ve done a weekly base longrun of 10 plus miles once a week for over a year.


Four weekly runs, 18 weeks including a two week taper. Speedwork, mile repeats and hills introduced in the final 10 weeks of training. I have one scale back run a month of 8 miles. And the months that I do full race distance I have two scale back runs..one the week before…one the week after.


Long runs include..

1- 12 mile run
1- 13 mile run
1- 14 mile run
2- 15 mile runs
2- 17 mile runs
1- 19 mile run
2- 21 mile runs
2- 26.2 mile runs


Since my training starts the first of the year….my weeks will go Saturday to Saturday. My long run day is Thursdays. I run Saturdays, Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays. My weekly mileage will top out at 42 miles a week but most weeks will only be in the 30’s. I will post the plan for the week each week.


Week 1…January 1st through the 8th


Saturday- 3-5 miles easy. Sunday- 6.5 miles. Monday- cross train. Tuesday- 5.5 miles. Wednesday- REST. Thursday- 12 miles marathon pace. Friday- cross train. Total- 27-29 miles.


So there it is….week one. Ready? You bet yer ass I am.