After a layoff of some 22 weeks, I finally got back on the road again twice in the past week. The hiatus was necessitated by a foot injury incurred the day before the Kansas City marathon last October, and exacerbated during the race. The injury - inflammation of a toe joint on the ball of my left foot - required several visits to the foot doctor, numerous sessions with the physical therapist, an a long period of just waiting for the discomfort to evaporate.
I planned to start running on May 1 no matter how I felt. But, the weather on April 29 was perfect and I had the time, so I decided to move the timetable up a bit.
While most of the discomfort from the injury is gone, my foot still gets pretty sore if I'm on it too long. Walking, oddly, hurts it, but I'd noticed over the last few weeks that running a few steps actually felt fine. For that reason, I was fairly confident that I'd be OK if I just took it easy.
I set my goal at 4 miles and decided I'd be happy with any time, as long as it could qualify as running. I settled into a pace of around 11 min. per mile and just held that for the whole distance. I half expected some negative effects from the pavement pounding, but it never happened. I did 4.1 miles in 44:30, and boy, it was a great feeling to run again. I've spent hours in the gym on the machines, so my fitness level was pretty good, but I was post-marathon sore the next couple of days anyway. I loved it.
I was back out on May 1 for 4.2 enjoyable miles, and this time averaged 10:15 per mile. My plan now is to run a couple times a week and keep the mileage low. I doubt I will enter any races until next year, if the recovery holds. With a 237-mile end-to-end Katy Trail ride coming up in October, it's all about the bike this year.
Plus an occasional run. -- Rob
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Wednesday, May 1, 2013
Eventful Day!
Even though I ordinarily would rest today, since I rode Sunday and Tuesday, I decided to go ahead and test myself with a longer ride. After all, today looked to be the last really nice day for awhile and I needed to see what I had in the tank. Although I only rode 12.5 miles Sunday and 10.5 yesterday, I thought I could handle a higher mileage day.
My first thought was to ride 30 plus miles on the Interurban Road, but elected, due to the boring straight out and straight back route, to go to the Smithville Trail around the lake. Sure glad I did!
I knew my target was to go over 30 miles, but wasn't sure just how much over I could handle right now if that! I began my ride by heading across the bridge to the Bone Bender trail. The wind was a little stiff and it seem kind of chilly. However, I knew that it would improve as I warmed up. About two miles into the ride two deer ran across the trail about 40 feet in front of me. Not unusual to see plenty of deer around the lake. However, it sure was unusual to have two geese fly across the path at eye level about 8 feet in front of me. I was coming around a corner and a large evergreen tree was blocking my vision on the right. I heard the geese, but assumed they were higher in the air. Now, I've been goosed before, but never in the face! Pretty darn close!
It was just another two miles in to my ride when I saw a red fox run into the forest. This is the second time I saw a red fox at Smithville lake. I made my turnaround at eight miles into the ride and headed back to my starting point. As I made a right hand turn and headed down an incline I almost ran over a 4' to 5' garter snake! If he wasn't in a double S serpentine position I would have ran over him. Fortunately, for me and snake, I was on the right hand side of the trail to avoid any possible riders or walker coming the opposite direction. The good news is, this time I remembered my phone/camera and stopped about 25 feet past the snake. I put the kick stand down and walked back to where the snake was, but by the time I got there snakey was gone! Phooey! I did happed to come across a turtle on the trail which was a first.
I crossed the bridge and headed back to the car, stopped for a swig of water, a Cliff Bar and headed back down the Anita Gorman part of the trail. For some reason, I just started feeling really good and decided to start pushing the pace. I was cranking it pretty good all the way to the turnaround. I only stopped just long enough to get a fast swig of water and headed back to the car. I kept checking my Garmin and I was clocking a pretty fast pace. I wanted to keep pushing the pace until I just couldn't stand it anymore. However, although I was really feeling it in my quads and the back of my arms, I didn't let up.
I ended up riding a total of exactly 34 miles at a 12.6 mph pace. I know that doesn't sound very fast, but this is a very windy trail with some long uphill grinders. Besides, my first eight miles were at a warmup pace!
Starting to feel very confident about longer rides in the future!
My first thought was to ride 30 plus miles on the Interurban Road, but elected, due to the boring straight out and straight back route, to go to the Smithville Trail around the lake. Sure glad I did!
I knew my target was to go over 30 miles, but wasn't sure just how much over I could handle right now if that! I began my ride by heading across the bridge to the Bone Bender trail. The wind was a little stiff and it seem kind of chilly. However, I knew that it would improve as I warmed up. About two miles into the ride two deer ran across the trail about 40 feet in front of me. Not unusual to see plenty of deer around the lake. However, it sure was unusual to have two geese fly across the path at eye level about 8 feet in front of me. I was coming around a corner and a large evergreen tree was blocking my vision on the right. I heard the geese, but assumed they were higher in the air. Now, I've been goosed before, but never in the face! Pretty darn close!
It was just another two miles in to my ride when I saw a red fox run into the forest. This is the second time I saw a red fox at Smithville lake. I made my turnaround at eight miles into the ride and headed back to my starting point. As I made a right hand turn and headed down an incline I almost ran over a 4' to 5' garter snake! If he wasn't in a double S serpentine position I would have ran over him. Fortunately, for me and snake, I was on the right hand side of the trail to avoid any possible riders or walker coming the opposite direction. The good news is, this time I remembered my phone/camera and stopped about 25 feet past the snake. I put the kick stand down and walked back to where the snake was, but by the time I got there snakey was gone! Phooey! I did happed to come across a turtle on the trail which was a first.
I crossed the bridge and headed back to the car, stopped for a swig of water, a Cliff Bar and headed back down the Anita Gorman part of the trail. For some reason, I just started feeling really good and decided to start pushing the pace. I was cranking it pretty good all the way to the turnaround. I only stopped just long enough to get a fast swig of water and headed back to the car. I kept checking my Garmin and I was clocking a pretty fast pace. I wanted to keep pushing the pace until I just couldn't stand it anymore. However, although I was really feeling it in my quads and the back of my arms, I didn't let up.
I ended up riding a total of exactly 34 miles at a 12.6 mph pace. I know that doesn't sound very fast, but this is a very windy trail with some long uphill grinders. Besides, my first eight miles were at a warmup pace!
Starting to feel very confident about longer rides in the future!
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
Quads Burning!
Okay, so I only rode 10.5 miles today, but it was super tough! I've been wanting to check out one of the newer Platte County trails built in the last couple years near Platte City. The mileage map states that there is four miles of trail. My first thought was maybe I could ride it four or five times. Then, after looking at the map, it occurred to me that, since there were different spurs that took off in about four different directions, I could go out and back on each spur until I covered all the spurs including the main trail.
As it turned out, I could have covered a lot more than the 10.5 miles! The trail hooked up, on the north end, to very wide sidewalks on 136th street. Since my quads were starting to fight me on my initial decision to continue, I gave in to them and began my return to my car.
The trail is fairly hilly and some of the hills reminded me of the Hilly Hundred, just not quite as long. Made no difference, I had to get off the bike and walk some of them anyway. They were short, but way to steep for Mikie!
Probably won't return since the trails are short, but glad I experienced the beauty of this trail. It would be a perfect place to run!!!!
As it turned out, I could have covered a lot more than the 10.5 miles! The trail hooked up, on the north end, to very wide sidewalks on 136th street. Since my quads were starting to fight me on my initial decision to continue, I gave in to them and began my return to my car.
The trail is fairly hilly and some of the hills reminded me of the Hilly Hundred, just not quite as long. Made no difference, I had to get off the bike and walk some of them anyway. They were short, but way to steep for Mikie!
Probably won't return since the trails are short, but glad I experienced the beauty of this trail. It would be a perfect place to run!!!!
Boston Memorial and My Long Runs
While Mitchell was running the Kansas Half Marathon Saturday, April 20th, the Runner's Edge group's weekly workout featured very moving memorials to Boston. Like Mitchell's experience in his half, Boston was on everyone's minds, and running seemed to be a natural way to work through our collective grief.
We began our day with a 30-minute ceremony at Runner's Edge that included some reports from runners who were there and a very nicely done prayer led by a RE volunteer. We then did our long run. I ran 16.5 miles very slowly, averaging 12:20's on my Garmin. Afterwards, we all drove over to the finish line of the Olathe marathon where all 27 Boston runners ran 0.7 miles with 3 who didn't get to finish Boston leading the pack (they were pulled from the course 0.7 miles out). I've included 3 pictures below from the day -- it was a very special event and I'm glad I participated in it all.
Last weekend, I ran 20 miles and averaged easy 11:30's for the first 14 miles, feeling quite good. But I then ended up by myself on a twisty, lonely run through suburbia that got very slow at 13-15 minute miles to the finish. I'm not sure if I slowed down because I was tired or just on my own. I do know I keep up better running with others....and I'm holding onto that thought going into my Traverse City marathon 5/24. My mid-week running program has suffered from heavy business travel of late, that will continue all the way to the race, so it will be interesting to see what shape I truly line up with on May 24th!
Last note -- I fly out to Vancouver BC tomorrow for a client's conference and I'm hoping to get some city runs in while out there. Here's our Boston pictures from April 20th:
We began our day with a 30-minute ceremony at Runner's Edge that included some reports from runners who were there and a very nicely done prayer led by a RE volunteer. We then did our long run. I ran 16.5 miles very slowly, averaging 12:20's on my Garmin. Afterwards, we all drove over to the finish line of the Olathe marathon where all 27 Boston runners ran 0.7 miles with 3 who didn't get to finish Boston leading the pack (they were pulled from the course 0.7 miles out). I've included 3 pictures below from the day -- it was a very special event and I'm glad I participated in it all.
Last weekend, I ran 20 miles and averaged easy 11:30's for the first 14 miles, feeling quite good. But I then ended up by myself on a twisty, lonely run through suburbia that got very slow at 13-15 minute miles to the finish. I'm not sure if I slowed down because I was tired or just on my own. I do know I keep up better running with others....and I'm holding onto that thought going into my Traverse City marathon 5/24. My mid-week running program has suffered from heavy business travel of late, that will continue all the way to the race, so it will be interesting to see what shape I truly line up with on May 24th!
Last note -- I fly out to Vancouver BC tomorrow for a client's conference and I'm hoping to get some city runs in while out there. Here's our Boston pictures from April 20th:
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| Boston Runners Finish in Olathe April 20th |
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| The Chau Family was out in force! |
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| Chau and Mary Haley -- long term Runners Edge runners! |
Sunday, April 28, 2013
It Don't Get Any Better Than This, weather wise!
What a simply gorgeous day! I had planned on riding 15-20 miles after the 1:00 Royals game, but since Chris had to work, we went to 8:00 AM Mass, which lead me to the decision to go ahead and ride before the game.
I wasn't sure where I was going to ride, but I was sure I didn't want to ride in the street. While in church, it came to me to ride Cliff Drive, my old stomping grounds. I wasn't sure how far it would be from end to end, but I decided I would repeat the distance for how ever many miles I wanted or to just ride for time.
I parked on a side street by the KC Museum and began my ride east on Gladstone Blvd. to Indian Mound. I circled Indian Mound and headed back west on GB to the east entrance to Cliff Drive, now a scenic Missouri Byway. About a mile into the Cliff Drive experience I came across a female runner around 30-35. I slowed down and accompanied her for probably around two miles. Even though Cliff Drive is closed off for the weekend for pedestrians and cyclists, I was still not real comfortable seeing a female running by herself in such a desolate area and I mentioned that to her.
Her name was Cheryl and she was grateful for the company, such as it was. She informed me that she usually runs with her two dogs, but her ex-husband had the dogs since it was his weekend. I don't know if that was a court order or custody battle, but it made for some interesting conversation.
Sheryl turned off at the split that goes up to the KC Museum and we bid farewell. Oh yeah, she wants to run her first half and full marathon, so I told her about RE.
Guys, it was just one of those days that was good to be either running, biking, or just walking. I did both! After my ride, and after the game (9-0 Royals), I took the dogs for a ncie walk. BTW, I only rode for a little over 12 miles, but it was just a super nice ride.
My next ride will be Tuesday by myself, Thursday and Saturday with Rob. Need to start building the mileage.
I wasn't sure where I was going to ride, but I was sure I didn't want to ride in the street. While in church, it came to me to ride Cliff Drive, my old stomping grounds. I wasn't sure how far it would be from end to end, but I decided I would repeat the distance for how ever many miles I wanted or to just ride for time.
I parked on a side street by the KC Museum and began my ride east on Gladstone Blvd. to Indian Mound. I circled Indian Mound and headed back west on GB to the east entrance to Cliff Drive, now a scenic Missouri Byway. About a mile into the Cliff Drive experience I came across a female runner around 30-35. I slowed down and accompanied her for probably around two miles. Even though Cliff Drive is closed off for the weekend for pedestrians and cyclists, I was still not real comfortable seeing a female running by herself in such a desolate area and I mentioned that to her.
Her name was Cheryl and she was grateful for the company, such as it was. She informed me that she usually runs with her two dogs, but her ex-husband had the dogs since it was his weekend. I don't know if that was a court order or custody battle, but it made for some interesting conversation.
Sheryl turned off at the split that goes up to the KC Museum and we bid farewell. Oh yeah, she wants to run her first half and full marathon, so I told her about RE.
Guys, it was just one of those days that was good to be either running, biking, or just walking. I did both! After my ride, and after the game (9-0 Royals), I took the dogs for a ncie walk. BTW, I only rode for a little over 12 miles, but it was just a super nice ride.
My next ride will be Tuesday by myself, Thursday and Saturday with Rob. Need to start building the mileage.
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Well, finally the weather broke and Rob and I were able to get a nice ride in at Smithville. Rob added on about another half mile than I did, but I'll record an 18.5 miler. Weather was just about perfect with blue skies, fresh cut green grass and budding trees. Just a nice little ride.
We both agreed that we need to begin upping the mileage, so we're planning on another 20-24 miler next Thursday and a longer one on Saturday. If anyone cares to join us on the Saturday ride let us know. I think we might be shooting for a 30-35 miler, but no more.
We're also beginning to make our lists for our October adventure. So far, toilet paper and ear plugs heads the list and those might be interchangable!
FYI, don't forget the Ride of Silence on May 15th!!!
We both agreed that we need to begin upping the mileage, so we're planning on another 20-24 miler next Thursday and a longer one on Saturday. If anyone cares to join us on the Saturday ride let us know. I think we might be shooting for a 30-35 miler, but no more.
We're also beginning to make our lists for our October adventure. So far, toilet paper and ear plugs heads the list and those might be interchangable!
FYI, don't forget the Ride of Silence on May 15th!!!
Tuesday, April 23, 2013
Kansas Half
Another week another half marathon. This was the Kansas Half Marathon in Lawrence.
Here are my splits:
I started the race 15 minutes late, looking for a port a potty or restroom. The line was so long, I thought I'd do better walking. Well I didn't, but I did find a field. I lined up with the 5K runners and started a minute before them. But I made a wrong turn circled back and joined them for 2 miles. By the time I split off to the 1/2 route, I did see some walkers. I assume I was the very last starter. So I ran a race mostly by myself. I passed many people, but missed running with someone at my pace. At other races I notice when I pass someone and they pass me and maybe I pass them again. Not this one. But it was liberating in a way. I didn't have a time goal, but was satisfied with my pace. There was one reaction I had that I didn't expect. There were several places that were an out and back. So I was running with some pretty slow people and some of the oncoming runners yelled words of encouragement. They were thinking I was a really slow pathetic runner that needed support. I appreciated the intent, but really wanted to give them the finger. (I didn't) but decided to never yell good job to a slower runner again.
The Boston Marathon bombing was on everyone's mind. Several runners had a bib on the back of their shirt. One said we are all Boston Marathoners. Another had a quote from 8-year old Martin Richard who was killed, "No more hurting people. Peace." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/16/martin-richard-photo_n_3092473.html?
As I said, there were times when there were lots of oncoming runners. One had simple T-shirt that said Boston. The night before the race I checked the weather and picked out one of my Under Armour shirt. I rejected my Penn shirt because I wore that at Brew to Brew and rejected my Baltimore Marathon shirt because I wore that for Rock the Parkway. So I settled on a shirt from another University that I had visited with Nathan. It was his shirt, but I inherited it. I did not have any other reason for picking it. Now back to the Boston shirt I saw. I was thinking, that was smart to wear something to show solidarity with Boston. I should have thought of that. But I don't have a Boston shirt. Oh wait.... I do have an MIT shirt. And yes that is the one I was wearing. I felt stupid for not thinking of it, but smart for actually wearing it. So luck allowed me to run as a Boston marathoner too. See photo below.
My average pace was 11:03. My GPS time was 2:26. But because I made a wrong turn, my GPS distance was 13.25. My official chip time was 2:28 (2 minutes for a port a pot break that auto stopped my GPS). This was slower than my RTP time, but I was satisfied.
Kansas Half Garmin
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--Mitchell
Here are my splits:
Split
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Time
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Distance
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Avg Pace
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Summary
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2:26:21.5
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13.25
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11:03
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1
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10:21.7
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1.00
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10:22
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2
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11:24.0
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1.00
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11:24
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3
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10:48.5
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1.00
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10:49
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4
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10:28.0
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1.00
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10:28
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5
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11:18.1
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1.00
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11:18
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6
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11:17.8
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1.00
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11:18
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7
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11:02.1
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1.00
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11:02
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8
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11:31.3
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1.00
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11:31
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9
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11:41.7
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1.00
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11:42
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10
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11:00.2
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1.00
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11:00
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11
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10:52.5
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1.00
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10:52
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12
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11:38.3
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1.00
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11:38
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13
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10:25.7
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1.00
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10:26
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14
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2:31.9
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0.25
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10:02
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I started the race 15 minutes late, looking for a port a potty or restroom. The line was so long, I thought I'd do better walking. Well I didn't, but I did find a field. I lined up with the 5K runners and started a minute before them. But I made a wrong turn circled back and joined them for 2 miles. By the time I split off to the 1/2 route, I did see some walkers. I assume I was the very last starter. So I ran a race mostly by myself. I passed many people, but missed running with someone at my pace. At other races I notice when I pass someone and they pass me and maybe I pass them again. Not this one. But it was liberating in a way. I didn't have a time goal, but was satisfied with my pace. There was one reaction I had that I didn't expect. There were several places that were an out and back. So I was running with some pretty slow people and some of the oncoming runners yelled words of encouragement. They were thinking I was a really slow pathetic runner that needed support. I appreciated the intent, but really wanted to give them the finger. (I didn't) but decided to never yell good job to a slower runner again.
The Boston Marathon bombing was on everyone's mind. Several runners had a bib on the back of their shirt. One said we are all Boston Marathoners. Another had a quote from 8-year old Martin Richard who was killed, "No more hurting people. Peace." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/16/martin-richard-photo_n_3092473.html?
As I said, there were times when there were lots of oncoming runners. One had simple T-shirt that said Boston. The night before the race I checked the weather and picked out one of my Under Armour shirt. I rejected my Penn shirt because I wore that at Brew to Brew and rejected my Baltimore Marathon shirt because I wore that for Rock the Parkway. So I settled on a shirt from another University that I had visited with Nathan. It was his shirt, but I inherited it. I did not have any other reason for picking it. Now back to the Boston shirt I saw. I was thinking, that was smart to wear something to show solidarity with Boston. I should have thought of that. But I don't have a Boston shirt. Oh wait.... I do have an MIT shirt. And yes that is the one I was wearing. I felt stupid for not thinking of it, but smart for actually wearing it. So luck allowed me to run as a Boston marathoner too. See photo below.
My average pace was 11:03. My GPS time was 2:26. But because I made a wrong turn, my GPS distance was 13.25. My official chip time was 2:28 (2 minutes for a port a pot break that auto stopped my GPS). This was slower than my RTP time, but I was satisfied.
Kansas Half Garmin
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--Mitchell
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