Hard, Easy, Hard, Easy

My route along Cement City Rd. is just full of wildlife. Spring must be around the corner, because I saw a robin. He must have flown a long way, because he was really tired. And that little bugger, they really do play possum.

I felt really good today, so I did nice 2-hour run and covered close to 14-miles. Maybe I will be ready to run a marathon PR this Feb. Lot's of work ahead, though. I might look into a March race instead.

If you've been looking at my runs, you'll notice that they, generally, fall into a hard-easy-hard-easy pattern. Since I'm mainly running easy, longer runs right now, you can see that in terms of the mileage I run each day. 9 on Wednesday, 7 yesterday, 14 today. This is a lot more effective than to just go out and run the same intensity and distance everyday. You can even apply the same principle to your weekly training load, hard week, easy week, hard week, easy week. I tried the easy, easy, easy, easy method, but, it didn't produce.

Oh, and I found another cool item, a big Buck knife in a case. It looked well worn, like the pocket knife your grandpa had. Mr. Kumar sent me a nice thank you e-mail for returning his wallet. You're welcome... you humus-eating, job-stealer : ) I put a smiley face there so you know it was tongue-in-cheek.

Way to go MU Tigers!! I knew they would come back and win it. Actually, I went home and took a nap after they went down by 21. But, I woke up in time to see them win.

If you are driving down Cement City Rd. the next few weekends, SLOW DOWN! I don't want to end up as road kill with my tongue hanging out of my mouth.

I got a last minute message on one of my personals site inviting me to a Kelly Hunt concert (blues). She turned out to be a very attractive, fun, and together woman. It kind of gives you hope. She admitted that she was in a relationship (kind of) and that she was still holding out hope of one day reconciling with her ex, who ran off with her best friend last year. She was pretty traumatized by that.

The concert was great. The crowd was older, 45 - 55. You know you're getting older when you look at a grandma, and think, "Umm looking good!"

Visualization & Supplementation

This is Shadrak Kimili, winner of the KC Marathon.

Today, I headed for the gym. I started lifting weights about a month ago and I was a little overdue. It's important to note that I only supplement my training with weights. I make sure that they don't interfere with the main focus which is running and racing. However, I do think that the lifting is beneficial. Everyone has a weakness, and, should focus on those weaknesses. For me, I tend to develop problems with my hips somewhere during the season. So, this year, I'm going to try to nip that in the bud with added flexibility and weight training.

First things first, though. I have to get my running in, and today, I did 7-miles on the treadmill. Now, for most runners, the thought of spending an hour spinning in your wheels is akin to Chinese water torture. But, I get through it with a little mental tool called visualization. Most often, I'll visualize an elite African athlete, running hard and effortlessly through one of their native envionments, like the Savannah with Mt. Kilimanjaro in the background.

Try it sometime. Use whatever works for you, pick your favorite athlete, and get a very vivid, detailed picture of him (or her) in your mind. Maybe you are in a race, maybe there is a guy (or girl) trying to keep up with you. See and hear the roaring crowd that lines the course. See yourself coming to the finish line. You're neck and neck... Now, back to reality. Notice how fast your are running now? The power of the mind is amazing.

Don't get visualization confused with disassociation. That's when some one puts on their headphones, or watches the TV monitor, or even reads a damn book while they run. They are putting their minds in a distance place trying to separate themselves from what they perceive as the drudgery and pain of training. I'd rather see you focused, and in tune with what your body is going through.

The run is done. Always do it first. Now to the weight room. Remember, I'm a runner who does a little lifting, not the other way around. I'll do about 5 different exercises, and they should focus (I've used that work a lot today) on your core muscles. I tend to just do 2-3 sets of relatively high reps, 10 - 15. I'll hit the bench press and arm curls a little heavier though, not because it helps my running. I just like to look good for the chicks!

The Joys of L.S.D.

That's Long, Slow, Distance.

This pic is not me. Though, I wish I had his bodyfat percentage. This is a finisher from the KC Marathon.

Today's run was an easy 9-miles. I'm on vacation and I'm using it to build a solid aerobic base. LSD should be the foundation of early season training. I know it's cold out, but, put on those sweats, tights, stocking cap, and just go. Don't worry about running fast, in fact, make an effort to NOT run hard.

The course I ran is one of my regulars. Go to Mapquest and look up the corner of Kentucky & Cement City Road in Sugar Creek. It runs along the Missoui River and is very flat, sparsley traveled and sceinic, with towering Cottonwoods one side and a bluff on the other. I saw a huge flock of turkey in an open field. Feel free to share some of your favorite courses by clicking on the comments tab.

Tue 12-27 Cross Training

Tues, I took my 9-year-old nephew skiing at Snow Creek. Which brings up the topic of cross-training. My main sport is running, but, it's important to throw in a healthy dose of cross-training. Today it was skiing. 7-hours of skiing makes for a pretty good workout. It incorporates all of the stabalizer muscles.

Not to mention the fact that it is just plain fun! Keeping the body,and mind, fresh, is a good thing. So, make it a regular habit of doing a completely different sport than the one you are training for. It's even more gratifying of you can spend it with a kid. Your kid, your sister's kid, or that neglected kid that lives next door. Just unplug his playstation while he's in the middle of a game and take him outside for some one-on-one basketball, or kick the soccer ball around, or, whatever.

Now, a different subject. As you can tell by the blog's name, this is about running and Love, one of which, I know quite a bit about, the other... well, I'm still trying to get a feel for. I'll try to set this site up in such a way that vistitors can post feedback, ask questions, give advise, etc.

Last weekend, I took my ex-girlfriend to the Chiefs game. It was kind of a date, but, I looked at it as more two good friends hanging out. I mean, she's a great woman with a lot to offer, but, I know she has some issues to work through before we could ever get back together. Well, we were in the parking lot, and it was pouring rain, and cold. It reminded me of a game a couple of years ago that me and another ex, initials JoJo, went to, so I told her about it and then I kind of looked at the water dripping down the wind shield and how it kind of distorted the background. It kind of mesmorised me for a second, and then she gets mad because she thinks I'm pining for my long lost love, JoJo. No, I was just looking at the water flowing down the windshield.

Well that passed, and we were having the time of our lives at the game until she made another comment that really made me mad. I mentioned that I had to send off a Christmas Card to a friend (Yes, I realize that it's Chirstmas eve). And she assumes that it's some other long lost love. No she was just a friend who used to be a neighbor (we only did it one time).

My point is, I have a past and there are a lot of women in my past, many of whom, are still good friends of mine. I ask you, is there anything wrong with that? Does a man have to permanently close the door on all past relationships when he enters a new relationship?

12/26

This is a pic from the kc Marathon. I'll ry to regularly post a pic, since I love photography.

What a beautiful today. I went for a 11.5 mile run. It took me about 1:45. Okay, that's not exactly smoking, but, this time of year, I'm just trying to build up my mileage. I went out to the country, just East of Liberty. I'd be glad to show you the route sometime. One of my goals on this blog is to kind of throw out my training philosphy, and , hopefully, be an inspiration to somebody out there. Try to give them some direction to their running.

The main thing this time of year, is to build an aerobic base. Most of the running is pretty easy, but, the mileage is fairly high. I'm shooting for a late February marathon (Ft Lauderdale) and would like to PR. I'm actually a little behind schedule in that respect. I'll have a better idea of where I'm at after the Topeka Half-marathon, Jan 21.

Once I lay down the basic training log, I'm going to let mythoughts drift where ever they take me. Often you find things on your runs. Today and yesterday were no exception. My boss, who's an avid runner, even keeps a log of what he finds: aquater here, a hammer there. Well, on my last two runs I've found a wallet. Today it was a wallet, yesterday it was a wallet. Today's wallet didn't have too much. Just some 20 year old's drivers liscence, no money or anything.

But yesterday it was different. It has $20, a bank card, an other stuff. I belonged to an Indian. You know, the kind of Indian that's come over here to steal our high tech jobs. I'm a computer programmer, and our place is crawling with them. When I first go into the field 10 years ago, companies were begging for programmers. Recuiters were calling me up every week. Well, they don't call anymore. They have a whole big country to choose from, people that would work for a lot less and be happy with it.

So there I am, part of me wants to just take the 20 and throw the rest of the wallet out at 39th & prospect so that some crackhead can take the bank card and buy some groceries or something. but, as I go through the wallet, i see his littel Hindu prayer card. One thing about those Indians, they are all nice and as ploite as hell. Makes you just want to just slap them. Well, I don't need any bad Karma, so, Mr. Ravulaparthy Pvan Kumar, your damn wallet is in the mail.

Christmas 2005

Merry Christmas all. Spent some time at two different sister houses, played with my nephew and 3 great nephews. Above is my 88 year old mom and my newest great nephew born on Halloween. He's got some kind of weird name so I just call him Little David after me, his great uncle.

Wanted to do a long run of about 13, but, ended up doing a slow 7-miles along Longview Lake. Next race it Topeka Half-Marathon, mid Jan. Then a 10k the first week of Feb. The Ground Hog Run.

The main thing I need to do is LOSE WEIGHT. It's kind of hard to do this time of year. If I just maintain, I'll be lucky.

Yesterday, went to the Chiefs game. Ate, drank, and saw a great game.