First Marathon

What I learned this Week
- Outside of Monday, I have not run well.

Today's Run
- About 5 Miles with an unknown time
- Did some walking, but not enought running.
- Could have run more, but lacked a passion for running and more drudgery instead.
- I could have run longer, but did not.

Saturday
- Spent the day cleaning and housework (did not Run)
- Spent the evening at a friend's

Friday
- Spent the evening in the kitchen cleaning
- Spent dinner at a men's church event (did not run)

Thursday
- 5 miles (walked twice briefly)
- Ran for 1 hour
- On the last .25 mile I was passed by a group that was going slow and I was even going slower...
- Saw the most attractive girl running on the battery in the opposite direction that I have seen in the last 6 months. I waved and she focused on tourists walking along the battery, her radio, her pace, and saw each other briefly as she was jogging in the opposite direction. She was tall (6'0), late 20'3 or early 30's, rather attractive, and had an excellent pace and running strength form at the time.
- Saw another guy who I keep seeing running in the opposite direction. Maybe I can see him again and going running with him as we seem to be running with smiliar form. He and I greet each other frequently (about 1 or 2 times a week) over the last month or so. He is about 6 foot and the same age as I am.


Wednesday
- Ran just a few miles as I had a committment after work with Pat.
- It was great running with Pat as it kept me motiviated to run.
- Perspiration was not that bad
- Felt as if I had something significant left "in the tank"

Off Road Thoughts
- There are so many people running along the Battery after work, that maybe I could start a some kind of a running group. Maybe this could work at the garage I park at as there are others who park their car, work, and start at the garage and go running.
- It is great to have this Monday Labor Day off.

Thought from "4 Months to a 4 Hour Marathon" by Dave Kuehls

There are three heat-related prblems that runners suffer
1) Muscle cramps: Calf and hamstring muscles are where muscle cramps strike most often. Somtestes tha are so severe you have to stop running for the day. Other tiems you can stop, stretch the muscle and then continue. Muscle crampls are caused by dehydration, so drinplenty of luid before, during, and after your runs. You can sweat up to a quater of fluid per half hour and you need to replace that fluid or you will become susceptible to cramps the next time you run in the heat.
2) Heat Exahustion: dizziness, heavy seating, and muscle fatigue that may cause you to actually weave when you run. Heat exhaustion is also cause by deydation and benerally ccurs diuring intense efforts... A good run of thumb is to drink until you are full and then keep dringking six ounces every ten minutes thereafter - until you urine is clear.
3) Heatstroke: you stop seathing because you are out of fluid. Your skin is red, hot, and dry. An you pass out. ... Do not train alone on very hot days (I know I am guilty of this...)

Sorry About Not Posting Very Often this Week,
Steven S.

What I have learned
- Read this month's www.active.com website article on training for a marathon and it suggests just focusing on shorter runs as overtraing can take place. Fridays run felt okay, but I wanted to press a little more. I'm going to think about it, but I am going to keep running 5 days a week. I need to go tomorrow (Sunday to make up for this past Monday). I'm thinking about going for 5 miles...


Today's Run
- Saturday I did not run at all instead, I went swimming and help set up for a lau au? SP?. It was a good evenining.
- Fridays run (Not what was posted yesterday) was a short ~2.3 mile run to McDonalds. Overall, the run went well and I really enjoyed it.
-~88 degrees, sweating heavily still
- Ran with 2nd set of shoes - big mistake as the "bounce" in the shoe is almost non-existent. I need to go shopping for another pair.

Off Road
- The lau was wonderful. I really needed that. It has probably been the most relaxed I have have been in three weeks or so.
- Air conditioner to the house broke again, it did last weekend and was repaired on Monday, but it made for a long weekend...
- Approaching a Friday deadline to schedule a vacation (self-imposed) ;)

Getting Late and Until Next Time,

Steven S.

What I learned Today & Yesterday
- Sometimes lossing the watch and just running is a releasing experience. It goes back to the joy of when I first started running for fun, not just for time, but for the thrill being: running well, fast, and visting with people walking the streets saying hi or seeing someone I know.
- Changing my diet and eating more fruit, which I hate eating fruit, has been beneficial the past week or so. Eating 1 to 2 fruit items a day instead of one every three days or so has made a difference in my running and probably overall health.
- Began to question on Wednesday if I am really challenging myself? Am I getting "lazy" at mile marker say ~3 and ~4 and really not trying to remain running at a good pace. Wednesday, I was pushing myself to run, even through a little discomfort (out of breath, tired legs, and ho hum routine) that when I did I had a relatively good run just pushing myself instead of giving in the temptation to run at a slower pace or even walk.

Today's Run
- Somwhere in the neighborhood of 3.25 miles. My running partner Pat was thinking it was more than that. It was a so so run for me.
- ~34 minutes according to his watch (I was not using a timer).
- We went at his pace. I lead, but did slow down as to keep this distance between close, as he was going at a slower pace. Eventually we started walking about a mile from the garage where we finished about 2 hours from start time. More on off road section...
- Felt 8 of 10 actually really wanting to do more milage, but did not.
- Felt 4 out of 5 in the "gas in the tank" at end of run category.
- Had some tights in calf muscle in begging and end of run, but ran through the difficulty and it feels fine this evening and it did shortly after running.

Yesterday's Run
- Did not keep track of time.
- ~4.5 miles in distance for the run.
- Had an above average pace as I had a limited time to go running after work.
- Felt 6 of 10
- Felt 2 of 5 in the "gas in the tank" at the end of the run category.

Off Road Thoughts
- Thursday not many other than events going on at church...
- Friday - did have a humerous situation. Pat and I walked around the Charleston Marina and he was curious about the bar. So he walked in and then I did. After walking in a employee of the bar carded me. Yep, I'm 30, had no intention of drinking and he carded me. Man, it felt weird. I have not had that experience in sometime. I'm not under 21 I AM 30 YEARS OLD! Anyway, it made me feel a little young.
Today, Pat and I talked a lot about work, running, finance and investing, plus other generalities especially when we both started walking back to the garage...

Until Saturday,
Steven

What I Learned Today (and yesterday)

- A co-worker was talking about her husband and that he ran in a marathon a few years ago and his chest, to be more specific nipples, experienced chafing during his first marathon, and that he has or now does wear a band aid to preventing this from happening. Hmm, this was the first time I have actually heard someone suffering from this other than reading in a book or magazine. I have heard of chaffing from running shorts, but this is the first time that I have actually been able to identify someone who has actually had this problem.
- I had a test of patiences and plans as yesterday it rained after work and I had another committment so that I was not able to go running later in the evening. I was really wanting to go, but did not because of the late hour.

Today's Run
- Distance ~5 miles in 52 minutes with 5 walks inter-spersed.
- ~87 Degrees at time of start this AM.
- Saw a couple of people also running and it was encouraging.
- Felt 6 of 10 in ready to rock'n'roll this morning
- Had 3 of 5 left in the tank running.
- Wheather seemed to be rather misty this morning.

Off Road - Yesterday
- Spent time chasing down a friend after work to give him a ride. It did not leave me in a postive mode as it was raining and trafic was exteremly slow. The fiasco added from a 20 to 25 minute commute to about an 1 hour and 10 minutes. Much of the time was finding him (bus stop, place of work, or at alternate location he might have been at). Long story short, it was not a very fun period right after work. The guy needed glasses, (hearing aid), and a fixed car...
- Committed to go to a lau SP? over the weekend. Looking forward to it, but this means other projects will take a back seat to much needed house work Saturday.


Until Tomorrow,
Steven

What I Learned Today

- It is getting harder and harder to get into the "groove" after taking a couple of days off not running.
- When running and getting tired find a pattern such as a sidewalk and focus on staying on one side or another. Don't be like the a car that tends to go from right to left and back all over a lane. Stay on one side of the lane it takes less energy.
- Challenge yourself while listening to the radio if you run with tunes. Today, I picked a distance I wanted to run to during a certain song. It probably was about .4 of a mile and a ~4 to ~5 minute song. I had almost made my goal, but was short about 10 feet before the song ended. This was at the end of my run and felt rather good about trying to go a little faster and farther. I had already run about 4.5 miles at the time I tried this excercise. It was fun and I'll do it again.

Today's Run (Day 6)
~ 87 degrees out, slight wind
- Water 1 glass before, 1 glass during, and very little immediately afterward (mouthful of water in shower).
- I had a kind of mediocre run. Nothing by any means to brag about at all.
- ~5 Miles in 48 to 52 minutes.
- I have to get my watch fixed.
- Felt 5 out of 10.
- Felt 2 out of 5 for "gas left in the tank".
- I have been sweating so much more than normal the past month or so. I normally do not perspire this much, something seems to be going on with my body. Any suggestions? I guess I'm going to have to read about it...


Off Road Thougths
- I need a vacation vacation! I have given myself two weeks to find time to take a vacation
- Yesterday, I did not run at all but did a lot of housework. My goal for the coming week will be to run Monday through Friday with a long run sometime during the week.
- A friend of mine said he thought I looked like I was getting into shape.
- I really felt tired during the weekend, and I got some much needed rest (3 hour nap on Sunday).
- I need to learn more about runnning long distances and to increase my endurance, stamina, and speed over time. The run is just a few months away.

Until Tomorrow,

What I learned Today
- I have posponed reading and today's factoid dealing with running in a real structured way -- until tomorow again. Sorry :)
- I'm not the only battling the heat. Today, I talked with a co-worker who also runs, although he and I run normally at different times and we both agreed that Charleston SC seemed to be rather toasty most of this past week. It's not just me, it seems to be a sticky hot instead of a toasty hot lately. Maybe that is why I have been sweating buckets.
- My temptation to run an actual seventh day in a row, got brushed aside, and I really got involved in doing some yard work today after work. It seemed rather satisfying in that I was getting some of a workout raking leaves. (I have a few trees that have already started shedding lots of leaves eventhough this is just the middle of August). I have another that is going to get a major haircut tomorrow to avoid falling on my neighbors house in the future.

Today's Run
- I took the day off. I really wanted to run, but did not. My running shoes need a break ha.

Off Road Thoughts
- Maybe I could benefit from have a coach or at least someone to guide me. Sunday, I talked with a guy who ran the Boston Marathon in 1983 and he said that he just had to run so many 10k's and that it really did not take much to qualify for Boston back then. Ha. To bad I was not into runnning back then, heck I was only 10 years old then. Oh well.

Until Tomorrow,
Steven

WHAT I LEARNED TODAY
- Not Much - This day was the 6th day in a row I had been running.
- I did find a couple of people who are also journaling and sharing informaiton about their runs as well on other blogs.

TODAY's RUN
- 3 Miles in ~29 Minutes. The course was along the battery.
- The temperature was not bad and today, I did not complete sweat through a t-shirt.
- Run took place at 5:10 PM
- At the beginning I started slowly and mainly just felt that I was chugging along with not great adrenline rush or that I felt spent.
- Water 1 glass 2 hours before; 1 glass at the park; and a couple of glasses later I did not drink water after running immediately afterward.

OFF ROAD THOUGHTS
- I heard from co-workers to take it easy. My inclination is that I had a lot left in the tank for my run today.
- I could probably run better if I had someone to run with challenge each other. My running buddy Pat had other commitments and he did not go running after work. Today, was one of those days were I probably could have used the encouragement of running with someone else.


Tommorow, I hope to find a couple of interesting tidbits to add to tomorrow's post.

Steven

Today, I'm focusing in on health briefly, running form, todays run, and off road factors.

Are you Physically Health?

Sometimes, it is also good to consider your physical health and as Clint Eastwood said in some famous movie: "A man's got to know his limitations." Yes, limitations can be stretched, but there is also a practical point in not overdoing a run just because you feel like you can really go those few extra miles. I know in the past couple of years I have overdone it by wanting to run just an extra mile or two that I should not have done. It sometimes has come back to rather hinder me instead of help me turn into a better runner. Plan how far you want, how fast you want to run, and then double check that your plans are reasonable for your current abilities, stamina, and endurance. If while running you begin to feel unable to complete the practice run stop running, walk or do something else, it is not worth risking injury or your health from what I have found.

Also, keep in mind there may be problems "brewing" with your health you are not aware. For example high blood pressure can linger and not even be realized. My father had a heart attack and did not even know it untill he had additional heart problems 10 years later. It is sometimes safe just to ask and getting a physical might reavel some hidden danger that may be exagerated by running. The benefits of running can far outweigh the risks in most circumstances.

Now that may have taken a good physical inventory and asked yourself if your ready to run it is time to look at how you do it. In the next couple of days, we will look at optimal times and places to run. I hope to cover more of this later on. This week, I just want to cover the basics of running.

Running Form

The following section comes from Dave Kuehls "4 Months to a 4 Hour Marathon" a Pergee Book published in 1998 on pages 2 to 3. It is written so well, I just wanted to include this in the blog. The bottom lines as he has it: "Do what feels natural." He starts from the top with your head to your feet in describing and focusing on running form. His description flows naturally. Think about it the next time your on a run.

1. Your Head: Should be straight up and down slightly leand forward. If your head is arching back you throw the rest of your body backward.
2. Your Mouth: Breathe through a comfortabley open mouth. Some runners like to breathe in through the noxe then out throught the mouth. But, unless you'r running throught a cloud of black flies, why not open your mouth and suck in all the oxygen you can get?
3. The lower lip: Louse. If you have a loos lower lip that means your not clenching your teeth. And the rest of your body is staying loose, too.
4. Shoulders: Low rather than high. Looser rather than tense. They should have an upright or slight forward lean.
5. Arms: Bent perpendicular ar the elbow. Swing back and forth between the waist and the bottom of your rib cage -- try to do as little side-to-side motion as possible. Give yourself a couple of inches berth on each side so your not punching yourself in the kidneys with each swing.
6. Hands: Half fists Do not clench. Keep them between waist level and rib cage level for most of you running. Your arm cadence should mimic your stride. Pump them higher and harder when spring or going up hills.
7. Thumbs: Keep loos and outside the fist.
8. Back: Upright or slight forward lean.
9. Chest: Upright
10. Lungs: Learn to belly breathe, that is take deep breaths and push down with your diaphragm, expanding the stomach, not the chest. This ensures that you are inflating your lungs with each breath.
11. Hips: Forward but under you
12. Butt: Forward and tucked under.
13. Knees: Gentle lift but not pronounced. You should not feel your needs lift in the thight muscles, unless you are running uphill or sprinting.
14. Leg Swing: Reach out just ahead of you to land and swing your leg back behind you - Your foot going halfway toward your butt. Don't reach out too far. That means you are overstriding (slowing yourself down by taking steps that are too big.)
15. Foot Placement: Land on your heel, roll to the front of your foot, and push off with the front of your foot - not just your toes.

Today's Run
~ 3+- Miles and a lousy time of a whopping ~36 minutes (still without working watch).
- middle 80's, nice breeze probably 5 miles an hour, partly cloudy after rainy morning/afternoon
- Down East Bay and along the Battery forming a loop.
- 2 of 5 felt as if I had some gas in the tank (probably underatted yesterdays score say 3 of 5.
- 4 of 10 stars I felt tired and less than focused during certain times of the day@work and was not really feeling sharp at the beginning of the run.
- This was my 5th day in a row runnning.
- Water 0 glasses before; 1 at end of mile 3; 1/3 of a glass at end of run pluss 2 glasses when back at home.
- Ran listening to music as background noise slow tempo and some talk radio.
- Speed up between mile 2 and 3 afraid of being passed by two slower runners talking and jogging at a moderate pace (without breaking a sweat they were running)

Off Road Thoughts
- Felt sleepy most of the day and think it might have something to do with not resting and sleepin well last night.
- Began to wonder if I can complete a marathon in 4 hours let alone achieve what seems like a distant dream: qualifying for the Bost Marathon in the future.
- Todays was a reality check in that completing a marathon in 4 hours will take a lot of work for me to do it within this time frame.
- I need a vacation from work. Not just an extended weekend like I took in July. Something like an entire week off including weekends and weekdays. I did this last year having 7 days in a row off. Maybe I should do it again this Fall. Heck, I probably have 5 or 6 weeks worth of vacation time available, I just need to use it. I'm sure I would be more productive.



Until Tomorrow,
Steven

Greetings,

This is a 123 day journey to complete a marathon. From this blog, I hope to learn and share with others the adventure and joy of running a marathon for this first time. My experience includes running in 5k, 10k, 12K, and 6 months ago my first half-marathon race, but this is my first marathon and the course seems daunting at 26.2 miles in length. I have been running since February of 2000 mostly in races and in practice from 5Ks to 10Ks.

I hope to cover and welcome comments about running concerning: nutrition, practice running form, and other miscellaneous things that might be useful for you.

WHAT I LEARNED TODAY
- Shoes - Make sure you have a second pair of shoes to practices on. A friend told me that running back to back days e.g, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday ... can really be very trying on footware in that a pair of shoes needs time to regain cushioning after being compressed during a long run. I went running yesterday, and after thinking about it I'm actually following my friend's advice. This second pair of shoes is really not a running pair, So I'm going to spend the money on another pair.
- When its hot and your soaked in sweat - take the shirt off. There's no since in running in a cotton shirt dripped in sweat. Eventhough I am rather pale and white skinned this morning it was worth getting rid of the shelf conciousness and shedding the shirt. It was the upper 80's and I have been really sweating lately while running. I think I have been concerned thinking does it look COOL to be walking around (in case you run out of gas so to speak) with your shirt off. I just figured I would run all the way and this would motiviate me.

TODAY's RUN
- 3 Miles in ~24:00 (did not use timer as watch is broken)
- 88 Degrees, No wind, somewhat cloudy
- Run took place at ~9:15 AM
- Felt like I had some gas left in the the tank 2 of 5
- At the beginning of the run I felt 7 out of 10 stars physically.
- Water: 1 glass before, 0 during, and 2 afterward
- Ran with talk radio and bad channel that faded in and out.

OFF ROAD THOUGHTS
- In order to gain free time, I am thinking about giving up TV completely for the next few months. I have been reading about a guy who has given up the (TV) Time Vacuum and it sound interesting (although his wife just bougth a TV after a 10 year abscence in their house).
- I've got to get more sleep and sleep better (If your having sleep problems do you change your sheets monthly, bi-monthly or something else?

NUTRITION:
- Does your diet stink? Well, not literally. You may be rather trim and think: "Why should I look at diet or to be more specific a nutritional plan?" Frankly, I have not. I eat junk food galore being penut butter and chocolate, ice cream, fatty hamburgers, and tend to cycle food (tuna or pizza several days a week for say 5 or 6 meals). I also tend to skip out on fruit. My goal is to eat one fruit serving a day. Something I have been lucky to do once every 3 or 4 days. Your like a car running on bad gas if you do not fuel up with a balanced diet. Do you have enough fruit in your diet? I hope to share some really interesting nutritional tidbits in the days to come...

Until Tomorrow,
Steven