But I Would Run 1,000 miles and I Would Run 1,000 More ...

Apologies to The Proclaimers for hijacking their lyrics.

I am a numbers junkie.  I work with metrics all day long at work, attend Business Intelligence conferences, and generally just swim in a pool of statistics all day.  That bleeds over into my non-work life as well, where I love to crunch numbers and maintain spreadsheets and pivot tables for all kinds of things, many of which have no business being in a spreadsheet.  My trusty Garmin has enabled my numbers addiction in many wonderful ways.  At the heart of all that data, however, is the key question of how many miles have I run.

As of yesterday morning’s run I crossed over 1,000 miles run for 2012.  It sounds like a big number, and many days feels like a big number, but taken in isolation it’s not particularly significant.  However, when I look at that number relative to last year, it starts to tell a story.  Part of what drives me with running is trying to get better.  Not trying to win races or any crazy lofty goals, just pushing myself to get better in terms of the quantity and quality of my training, and hopefully my performance when race days come along.

When I finished my run yesterday I was at 1,004.3 miles of running for 2012 spread across 113 runs.  On this same date last year I had run 585.87 miles spread across 116 runs.  Basically the increase is a combination of a more strenuous training plan, but more importantly, I’ve stayed relatively injury-free this year versus last year, where I started the year with no running and lots of quality time with my PT.  Although I’m sure luck plays some part in staying healthy, I’ve worked very hard to try and learn from my injuries and address the root causes.  At the risk of jinxing myself, it seems to be working fairly well this year.  Knock on all things wood.

Looking back at all of 2011, I ended the year with a grand total of 1020 miles run, so I’ve nearly reached my full-year numbers from last year.  Additionally, this time last year I didn’t even own a bike, versus this year where I’ve logged 582 training miles on the bike.  I think that may be a big reason for my relative health this year.  At least I like to think that to justify the investment I made in the bike.  I thought running was expensive until I started buying bike accessories.  Ouch.

I’m really excited to see how my body responds to the next 3 months of training prior to my first try at a 50-miler.  The long runs are getting plentiful and lengthy, and even the shorter runs are lengths that a couple years ago would have seemed crazy to try and get done before heading to work for the day.

Miles to go before I sleep.

No Run for You

I am still in my self-imposed exile from running as I work on strengthening my knee and resting my feet.  Also finally dealing with some medical issues that I had been postponing out of concern that they would derail my marathon training.  I definitely miss running, but not as much as I thought I would, which leads me to believe my need from some downtime was both physical and mental.  Looking forward to starting the new year strong and getting back into training for some yet-to-be-decided event.

Work and life have been a bit crazy, so I've fallen far behind in terms of blog posting, and following other blogs.  On the few occasions that I can reflect on this past year, where I went from never doing any race, to having completed two marathons, I try to track the tools and techniques that truly contributed to this marathon push.

Garmin - a necessary evil for me to track mileage and pace as I move along.  I'm a data junkie at work, so this is right up my alley.

FuelBelt - I'm a creature of habit with running, so this allows me to fuel at my own rate and hopefully stay ahead of dehydration when it hits 100 degrees with 800% humidity in the Carolinas.

Superfeet green insoles - Kept my Plantar Fasciitis largely under control.  Use them in all my shoes now.

Compression gear - started with compression shorts to help support a pulled hamstring.  Added 2XU calf compression sleeves for my training for my first marathon to deal with a strained left calf.  Added CEP compression socks for the last month of training for marathon 2.  The socks are great for recovery after a long run, and the fact that they squeeze your feet too really seems to help with the PF issues.  Added bonus in that my whole family thinks I look like a dork wearing them, which, although this is mostly correct, makes it more fun to wear them around the house.

iPod - my little musical friend.  Sadly, the screen on my Nano fell victim to a major downpour while in the middle of a training run, but it still works and was there for just about every mile, including the races.  Hoping to get a new one for Christmas so I can see what I'm picking to listen to.

Accelerade, Ultragen, Gu, Hammer gels - None of these things are very tasty, but they all do seem to work.  Haven't had any issues with cramping other than a minor hamstring twinge around mile 23 of my first marathon.  Wish these things were a little cheaper, especially the Ultragen.

Tempo runs, mid-foot strike form - Added tempo runs for M2 training, and worked on mid-foot strike during the training for M2.  The tempo runs really helped to recalibrate my normal running speed at a faster pace than during M1 training.  I'm still working on the mid-foot strike, but being able to do this during M2 really helped my knee to make it to the finish

Lots of other things I could list, but these were the most important and/or helpful of the bunch.

Finally, if someone approaches you to join a Fantasy Football league after you haven't watched football for about 10 years and have very little free time, run away as fast as you can.  My personality is such that I am way too analytical about the whole thing, and devote way too much time to it.  It's been mostly fun, but much more work than I would have expected.

Run swiftly my friends...

Cruise Running

No, I’m not referring to the nutball above rapidly making his way to the next Scientology meeting.  Rather, Mrs. Evolving’s company is hosting a Bahamas cruise this weekend, and she has been kind enough as to bring me along to serve as her personal cabana boy.  Neither of us has ever been on a cruise before, so it should make for quite the adventure.

When faced with the prospect of a first-time cruise to sun-drenched islands aboard a giant floating buffet table with countless possible activities, what would a normal person do?  Clearly not falling into the normal category, and afflicted with a bad case of the need-to-runs (decidedly preferable to a bad case of the runs) I quickly made my way to the website, skipped past the assorted decadence, and went directly to the description of the workout room in search of treadmills.  In reading about the workout room, I stumbled upon a reference to the running track located on one of the many levels of the ship.  An outdoor track on the deck of the ship.  Perhaps this is common knowledge to the cruising veterans of the world, but that has must-try written all over it.

We’ve all seen the ‘you know you’re a runner when’ lists, and we’ve probably contributed to a few, but this was one of those moments when the chocolate of the list hit the peanut butter of reality.  4 kid-free, worry-free days at sea, and I’m most excited that I’ll be able to stick to my training plan with a 4-miler on Saturday and a 14-miler on Sunday while Captain Stubing guides us across the waves and Isaac whips up a cool recovery shake.

"Your wife just left the ship and headed for the beach ..... but you keep right on running my man"

I’ve already shared my nerdtastic fascination with Garmin route maps from random outings, and if the satellites cooperate this one should be very interesting.

With October just days away the Fall races are finally getting underway.  Just 6 more weeks until mine, and I’m already getting excited.  As for this weekend …. To those about to race, I salute you.

Goin' to WallyWorld

All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. True for people, and I like to think it’s true for my trusty Garmin as well. I got some funny comments when I posted one of my Garmin maps from a recent fishing trip, and it got me thinking. I just assumed that most folks with a 305 strap that monster on their wrist and record random outings or paths completely unrelated to their training. I honestly assume that’s not the case, but if I can convince myself of this then I feel like less of a tool, and my wife is less justified in rolling her eyes at me when I bring it to random locations.

I like to think that my Garmin needs an occasional break from splits and paces, and needs a chance to take the pixels out for some R&R. For example:

This was from a swimming/tubing outing a couple weeks back, when we loaded up the Wagon Queen Family Truckster and headed to Nags Head for the July 4th weekend.

My wife got me the Garmin last fall just before my father, brother-in-law, and I headed out for a (most likely, but hopefully not) once-in-a-lifetime fishing trip on Kodiak Island, Alaska. Here’s the flight from Anchorage to Kodiak:

Here’s the Garmin out trying to catch some king salmon off the Alaska coast. Sadly no kings were caught that day.

Here’s a couple days later going offshore after halibut:

The Garmin had much more success on the halibut outing:

Just to make sure the Garmin isn’t only focused on training and vacations, it also assisted with the lawn mowing (actually did this when my foot was hurting to see how far I was walking when mowing since I wasn’t supposed to be doing much walking at all – net result was 1.25 miles):

I think all these experiences have helped my Garmin and I build a better relationship, and hopefully encourages it to round down (time) or round up (mileage) at opportune times.  Gotta be nice to your training partner.

Crawl then Walk, Walk then .....

Abruptly awakened from its lengthy slumber it rapidly adjusted to the burdened thickness of the air and the blazing brightness of the pale sky. Despite the extended break, it quickly recovered its natural instincts and began the search. Eye to the sky, craving unseen hulks maintaining a safe distance but constantly watching. The search started slowly, but once the first was found the pace quickened. Soon two, then three, then enough to satisfy its need. With a quick flash of zeros and an eager anticipation of impending movement the Garmin was back.

Reunited, and it feels so not entirely bad.

1.93 glorious miles run this morning. Started with a .8 mile walk to check if I was really going to be able to step up to a run, then finally shifted into a run, followed by another ~1 mile walk to cool down, much stretching, much ice, and much Advil. So far the aftermath seems to be OK. My first steps tomorrow morning will probably be the true test, but for now I’m just enjoying the fact that I got through a run, and that I may have actually been patient enough to allow myself to recover without heading back to square one. Sticking with my ‘listen to my body’ approach to getting back to training, yesterday my foot seemed to be telling me that it was time to give it a try. Not something that I can really explain, but something just seemed different in a vaguely positive way.

Not sure what this means in terms of next-steps, short-term or long-term schedules, etc., and resolved not to worry about any of that right now. For approximately 2 wonderful miles I was a runner again today, which made me and my Garmin very happy.