run :: Jim's Run

Five on the Treadmill

Posted by Jim on March 13, 2012

I ran five miles on the treadmill this evening at a moderately slow pace. I was still feeling a little worn out from Sunday’s long run and had to push myself to even get out the door. The run went okay except for one concern. I’m feeling a slight pull on my left muscle (for lack of better wording). It’s not pain and it doesn’t yet hinder my running. But I feel as if it I could end up with a pulled calf muscle at any moment.

I tried to compensate a little with my stride. I found that running off my toes a little more seems to lessen the feeling. Even sitting here now I can feel that tingling in my left calf muscle.

I think I’ll have a chat with my wife (a nurse) and see what she suggest as preventative measures. Then I will look into making a doctor’s appointment to get an even more informed opinion. I really want to avoid anything happening that would keep me from running the marathon. I’ll keep you up to date as soon as I learn more. In the meantime, all else seems right on track for being ready and conditioned for the marathon run.

Categories Training
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My Own Personal Battlefield

Posted by Jim on March 4, 2012

When I started my run today, I was thinking about doing more than my typical four mile run, but I wasn’t sure just how far I wanted to go. I decided to run at least seven miles at the Chickamauga Battlefield near our home. I got there around 4:30 p.m. and figured I had about two hours of sunlight.

I choose a route I had not run before around the north and then east sides of the park. This took me across the recently reopened Alexander Bridge which has a rich history from the Civil War. I wanted to do a loop, so I kept running south thinking I would soon come across a road that would take me west to the main road through the park. Well, that took a little longer than I had expected.

I finally arrived at Red Belt Road and was able to make my way back to Lafayette so I could run north to my car. But by now I had run eight miles and had another four miles to go. It soon became dark, and I found myself breaking an important safety rule. I was wearing black and running in the dark. This is NEVER a good idea. There were white reflective strips on my jacket, but it was still not the best situation to be in. So, anytime a car approached, which was frequently, I would get several feet off the road and make my way as best I could.

By the time I got to my car I had run 3 hours and 12.8 miles. Even though I didn’t enjoy running after dark, the rest of the run was relaxing and a real pleasure. I had no soreness during or after the run. I feel privileged to live where there are so many great places to run.

So my runs are going very well, but I’ve got another battle going on right now, my weight. I had added about 10 pounds during the winter break while recovering from injury and illness. And now I find that my diet is simply not good. I have been eating more than I should and craving snacks throughout the day. Usually running helps me control these cravings, but not so much lately. As of this morning, I have only lost 12.5 pounds since starting the marathon training last October. The goal was much greater than this.

So, I’m confessing my problem and hoping that it’s one more step toward doing something about it. I’ve done okay today, but still not great. I really need to buckle down unless I want to weight 240+ pounds when I run the Nashville Country Music Marathon next month.

(Photo Credit: Michael Noirot)

Categories Diet, Training
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Having Fun with My Marathon Training

Posted by Jim on February 23, 2012

Yesterday I took a day off from running, but still wanted to find a way to exercise my legs. So, I headed up the mountain with my best friend (and German Shepard/Lab mix) Tessa. We went to Cloudland Canyon State Park on Lookout Mountain here in the northwest corner of Georgia. After taking care of some volunteer things I needed to do at the park office, Tessa and I headed for the waterfalls. Cloudland Canyon has multiple waterfalls, a few that can only be seen during the rainy season, like now. I have hiked all the trails in the park with the exception of the complete waterfall trail with it’s 600 steps. So down we went into the canyon and pass three of the most beautiful falls in this region.

Getting down the trail along the canyon cliff side means following a path of staircases, board walks and dirt paths. At each waterfall, I stopped to enjoy the beauty while Tessa took a brief dip in the ice cold water. At one stop she nearly pulled me in with her as she jumped from a large rock we were standing on. I was just glad I didn’t have her leash wrapped around my wrist as I often do.

Once at the bottom, we rested for a few minutes. Then turned around and prepared to tackle the trail and 600 stairs going up. Tessa was more excited about the challenge than I was. But off we went. Just to be sure the stair count was as I was told, I counted each of the steps on our way up. Yep, 600 steps and maybe a couple extra. The entire hike was just over an hour and my thighs were feeling the workout. Back in the truck, Tessa took a nap while I made the 20 minute drive back home.

It was nice to take a running break and still get a good leg workout. Today I could still feel a little bit left of my effort as I completed a 4.5 mile run at the church trail. It was a moderately paced run for me, made even a little more pleasurable by the audiobook, Steve Jobs. I’ve been listening to the biography during my runs this past week.

Categories Trail Runs and Hikes, Training
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Running on the Riverwalk

Posted by Jim on February 21, 2012

I had an interview near downtown Chattanooga today, so I decided to take a change of clothes and run on the Tennessee Riverwalk (just across the street from my interview). It was a chilly 52 degrees, but the sun was shining and the Riverwalk was busy. I parked by the Chickamauga Dam, changed clothes and hit the trail. Even though I had a long run yesterday, I was feeling great and decided to see how I did eliminating my walk breaks on this run.

My pace for the first mile was nice at 11:45. Again, since I run with a heart monitor, I expected that I would slow down over the next few miles. And I did. I decided to turn around at the two mile mark (easy to recognize by the Jim Collins metal sculptures place at each mile mark, see photo above). My run back was almost a minute slower per mile.

I finished the four mile run in just under 49 minutes. This is a pretty good pace for me right now. I stayed in my training zone of 132-150 heart beat per minute for 95% of the run. Overall, this was a great run for me. I feel confident now that my past injury is healed and I should have no problem training for the marathon these next two months. I still want to lose nearly 15 more pounds so that I’m running the marathon at a weight of about 235. But honestly, I’ll be happy to be under 240.

One other note: since I am playing catch-up on my training, I have to accelerate my long run increases for the next several weeks. I’m thinking about adding 3 miles to my long run every other week. That would have me running my longest, a 22 mile run, just two weeks before the marathon. I had wanted to run up to 25 miles on my longest run before the marathon, but the 22 miles will have to do. I don’t want to injure myself from over-training.

(Original Photo Credit: Michael Tinkler)

Categories Diet, Training
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Training Run: December 11, 2011

Posted by Jim on December 11, 2011

I ran another five miles on the treadmill tonight. Really didn’t want to run today, so I put it off until it was so late I had to run on the treadmill. I really should have headed up the mountain and ran on a trail. I would like to get in a few more trail miles before the race on Saturday.

Categories Training
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Cool Running

Posted by Jim on November 29, 2011

A couple times this year I have run the Back Country Trail at Cloudland Canyon State Park to get some trail running experience. This is what the trail looked like today. My friend Greg “Sourdough” Foster took this photo while hiking at the park while I stayed in the slightly warmer valley down below. Just this past Friday I rolled my ankle on this trail and today was my first run since that slight injury. I stayed away from the frozen trail.

Since I hadn’t run since Friday I decided to put in a couple extra miles. I did 6.4 miles on an asphalt trail in about 1 hour and 12 minutes. The ankle felt great, so I’m not worried about it slowing me down. Actually, I felt good all around with the exception of the frigid 38 degree temperature. But I was ready: gloves, hat, layered tech shirts and running jacket and pants. The only thing that I didn’t manage to keep toasty warm were my toes. I should have put on an extra pair of socks. But it wasn’t that bad.

I ran the first mile a little fast and had trouble keeping myself in the correct heart rate zone. I think my body was just trying to keep warm. I settled in to an 11:30 per mile pace after the second mile. With just under a mile to go, I decided to ignore the heart monitor and just run at the pace I felt comfortable with. It was a good finish to a good run.

Categories Clothing & Equipment, Training
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