When it’s just too dang cold to go outside!

Looking for a winter workout on those days that it is just too cold to go outside?  Lately when the alarm goes off at 5am it’s been about 30 degrees outside.  When the temps drop that low, I just don’t enjoy heading outside and pounding the pavement for 30 minutes to an hour.  If you are like me and don’t like the cold weather, here’s a recipe that works to get both weightlifting and cardio completed in only 45 minutes time, but is sure to burn those calories away!

** Weights – perform 3 sets of 10 reps each
Dumbbell Chest Press
Dumbbell Row
Dumbbell Shoulder Press
Dumbbell Curls
Tricep Extensions  

Make sure you use a weight that fatigues your muscles…..you should have some difficulty performing the last few reps of each set.

** Peak 8 Treadmill Cardio – The basic concept of Peak 8 is to quickly raise your heart rate 8-9 times for 30 seconds each, with 90 second recovery periods in between.

Warm-up: Get moving and steadily increase your heart rate.  I usually set the treadmill at 5mph for my warm-up.

Sprints: Go as hard as you can safely and with control. Find your max effort.  I like to start out with my 1st 2 sprints at 6.5 mph until I get my legs loosened up, then for Sprints 3 -6 I set it to 7.5 mph, sprints 7-9 are increased to 8.0 mph. 

Rest: This doesn’t mean stop! Maintain at least 70% of your maximum (or 70% of your max heart rate) picking a pace that you can recover your breath.  I bring the treadmill back down to 5.5-6.0 mph to recover my heart rate during the rest phase. 

Cool down: Pick a pace that allows you to decrease your heart rate closer to normal and get your breath back.  I phase it down every 30 seconds starting at 5.5 mph and ending at 4.5 mph during cool down. 

0:00–2:00 Warm up
2:00-2:30 Sprint #1
2:30-4:00 Rest
4:00-4:30 Sprint #2
4:30-6:00 Rest
6:00-6:30 Sprin#3
6:30-8:00 Rest
8:00-8:30 Sprint #4
8:30-10:00 Rest
10:00-10:30 Sprint #5
10:30-12:00 Rest
12:00-12:30 Sprint #6
12:30-14:00 Rest
14:00-14:30 Sprint #7
14:30-16:00 Rest
16:00-16:30 Sprint #8
16:30-18:00 Rest
18:00-18:30 Sprint #9
18:30-20:00 Cool down

Perform this routine 2-3 times per week and you will be a stronger & faster runner by springtime when the temps warm up again.

What workout do you get in when it’s to dang cold outside to run?

BioSkin Calf Sleeve Review

We are all guilty of it……we don’t make time for proper RECOVERY!!! We all strive to get better, push ourselves faster, and run farther. The only problem is that we don’t take the time to ensure that our bodies are adequately recovered to ensure we can met our self-imposed goals. So when BioSkin reached out to me and asked if I was interested in being a Brand Ambassador in exchange for wear testing and providing a review, I was all in.

BioSkin designs and manufactures compression gear, orthopedic braces, for athletes on every level. They make sure to pay attention to the little details in products to ensure they not only perform, but more importantly are comfortable to wear.

The interaction with BioSkin has been extremely classy and they have been very responsive to my inquiries. My calf sleeves came a couple days later in the mail and even included a hand written card from Jake…..that’s pretty damn thoughtful if you ask me.

I was pretty eager to try out the calf sleeves, as I’d just recently completed a half marathon that I hadn’t really trained for and my calves were still a little sore. In addition to that, I’ve been suffering from Achilles tendonitis that I believe is a byproduct of tight calves. Thursday night rolled around and my wife asked if I wanted to run with the Sloppy Moose Running Club…..I was hesitant at first since I’d already gone for a short run that morning, but decided it was a perfect time to try out my new calf sleeves.

Now one thing I wasn’t prepared for was just how tough they were to put on. These things are tough to get on, but it makes sense once you think about the fact that they are compression gear and meant to reduce the vibration in your muscles. When you order calf sleeves from BioSkin, your calf measurements are required to make sure you get the proper fit. You have to make sure that your skin is dry and you haven’t recently put lotion on, and I’ve found that it also it also helps if you have a thin sock on to help the sleeve slide over your heel. Once you get them on, you really don’t even remember you are wearing them. That is the sign of a well-designed product if you ask me!! The calf sleeves have a single seem that runs down the back of your calf, but you don’t feel it at all.

Once out on the road running with my wife (and about 50 other members of the Sloppy Moose Running Club), I never felt the need to ‘adjust’ the sleeve or needed to pull it up at all. These things stay in place!! That is a great thing while out running and helps to prevent chafing. And all you fellow runners out there know there is nothing worse than chafing while you are running………..the only thing that could be worse than that is the dreaded BLISTERS!!!

I bet you wanna know if they work, did they make my muscles less sore, did I run faster, recover quicker? Truth be told, I don’t really know, but I do know that much of running for a mid-forties amateur athlete is mental based and if a quality product like BioSkin Calf Sleeves can help me over another self-imposed barrier, it has done its job!! The calf sleeves did significantly reduce muscle vibration in my calves, which over longer distances should help you maintain your performance.

I will be using my calves sleeves during my winter workouts with 9RUN6 as I’ve pretty much shut it down this year as far as racing goes.  I don’t have anything definite on the race calendar until the Blue Diamond Almonds Shamrock’n Half Marathon (March 13, 2016) and the inaugural Pony Express Marathon (May 1, 2016) and you can bet I will be wearing my calf sleeves for both.  Use code RUNNWINE*PEM2016 when registering for the Pony Express Marathon and receive to save $10 off registration.

Next on my wish list from BioSkin is a pair of the Compression Shorts to help reduce hip and glute pain on longer runs.

 Disclaimer: I was provided with a pair of calf sleeves, all opinions and reviews are my own and not influenced by the BioSkin company and/or their employees.

Back Of The Pack Runner tackles The San Francisco Marathon

Well it finally happened……my 1^st Full Freaking Marathon!!! The last Sunday of July I was blessed to be able to participate in The San Francisco Marathon, thanks to my training/workout group at @9run6!  I found that San Francisco is both the perfect place and the stupidest place to run your first marathon.

All runners have to pick up their race packet and bib number at the Expo location on either Friday or Saturday. With so many runners in TSFM, I thought for sure we would be waiting in lines to get our stuff.  Boy was I wrong, we walked right in, made our way to the pick-up area and got our race packet and bib and got directions to get our shirt from the next table over.  It was all done within a matter of minutes. Since we had plenty of time to spare, we decided to mill around the expo. We needed to pick up a shirt for one of our good friends @WholeHeartRuner and I wanted something as well. I also looked around for some arm sleeves to wear during the race, but never found any that I liked that weren’t pretty think. Ended up making it out of expo without spending any more moollah, which was great since the shirts were fairly spensive.

My wife and I both love the water and the Golden Gate Bridge is my wifey’s all-time favorite bridge, we walked along the San Francisco Bay Trail to get a good view. It was kinda chilly so we made our way over to our hotel to check-in. Unfortunately it was still fairly early and we couldn’t check in….so we might as well sit in the bar and drink a Bloody Mary. Before we knew it, it was time to head over to AT&T Park to catch the Giants vs. A’s. The game was a BLAST and the Giants won to boot. After the game we made our way out of the stadium and walked down the Embarcadero before deciding to get some dinner at Delancey Street Restaurant, where I had some pasta primavera with a glass of red wine. Then it was back to the hotel to ‘try’ and get a good nights sleep.

Race morning came and the alarm went off just before 4:30am. I wanted to make sure I had enough time to get some food in my system and ‘take care of morning business’ before we needed to head down to the starting line. As much as I wanted to, I just didn’t have much of appetite. I’m certain it was because of nerves. I was in Wave 6 which started at 6:10am, so at 5:20am we started our 1.5 mile trek down the hill to the starting line. My plan was to just hang in the back of the pack of runners in wave 6 and run MY pace. My goal was to finish in 4:39.40 (10:40/mi). I had just recently finished The Shamrock’n Half Marathon in 2:03.21 (9:25/mi), so I definitely thought this was attainable. The horn blew and out of the chute we went. Things went GREAT during the first half of the marathon, the views were beautiful, running the Golden Gate Bridge was awesome, and then up into The Presidio area. While running up Lincoln Boulevard, it was great to be able to look across the bay to Point Bonita Lighthouse. That’s where my wife and I got engaged last year. My pace times were right on point, averaging 10:34/mi at just past the half way point. At this point I’d followed my pre-race strategy of 1 GU Energy Gel every 4-5 miles even though I didn’t feel like I really needed them.

Just after making our way into Golden Gate Park, I decided I needed to eat something and I just didn’t really feel like another GU. During the week prior to the marathon, we had gone to a Sacramento River Cats baseball game and they were handing out sample packs of Jelly Belly’s. I’d also participated in a golf tournament and for whatever reason in the ‘goody bag’ for that there was a small pack of fruit snacks. I’d brought both of those things along with me and ‘thought’ to myself those would be perfect to eat right now. To this point I was feeling pretty good and pretty confident that things were going to plan and I’d be able to at least be close to the 4:39.40 time I wanted. At mile 13, I passed the #WeRunSocial cheer squad that consisted of @pavementrunner and @fitfam6, plus some others I didn’t know. It was awesome seeing 2fitfam6 out there and get a Hi-5 along the way. @fitfam6 even got a picture of me coming over for that Hi-5 and if you look close at the picture you can see the pack of fruit snacks in my hand.

Shortly after passing the cheer station at mile 13, things went south for me. I was starting to feel the miles and putting one foot in front of the other just wasn’t as effortless. Plus I started to have some stomach issues……..most likely from all the sugar I’d just consumed in the form of jelly beans and fruit snacks. Finally at mile 14.5 I had to walk and boy was that a HUGE mistake. After I walked, I just wasn’t ever able to get a steady run on again. The last 12 miles or so were a STRUGGLEFEST!! The miles went by much slower and I just couldn’t get a good gait going and my breathing was labored. Coming up on mile 16, I knew I’d be passing the #WeRunSocial cheer squad again and that gave me the motivation to try and save face in front of all those great runners and I set off running again before seeing them. It was beyond great to have David of #fitfam6 meet me and run a 100 yards or so with me and cheer me on and try and pump me up. I remember him telling me ‘you look great’, but I think he was just trying to keep me motivated and moving along because I’m sure at this point I was looking beat.

After mile 16, it continued to be a struggle, but I continued on with a walk/run (more walk than run I’m certain). With the exception of actually crossing the finish line, one of the best parts of the 2^nd half of the race was the free mimosa station set-up at mile 22. I’m never one to say no to a mimosa, so of course I obliged. I even told the guy, ‘Hopefully this will make the last 4 miserable miles better!’ I kept trying to have those little talks with myself that all run/walkers have, ‘ok, at the next corner I’ll start running’ or ‘at the light pole I’ll run again’. It didn’t really work as I continued walking more than running. It got to the point that I was calculating in my mind how long it would take me to actually run a mile and deciding if I even had that much energy in me. More often than not, the answer came back NO. It was somewhere around mile 20 that I had to accept the fact that I wasn’t going to finish in 4:39.40 or even meet my secondary goal of finishing in 4:59.59. See, it took me 3:52 to finish 20 miles so I knew I would have to run 10:00/mi for the last 10k to finish under 5:00 hours. Coming up on mile 25, I had already decided that I was going to run the last 1.2 miles and finish strong……….but my mind and body had different ideas I guess. The mile 25 sign was coming up and I started a slow steady jog and as I made my way around AT&T Park, I had to walk again. This time I made the deal with myself that when I could ‘see’ the mile 26 marker I would run all the way through the finish.

I was about a ½ mile out from the finish when I could see, so off I went. It was a fast pace, but it was a jog and I finished strong and of course passed a couple other runners in the chute coming to the finish. Official finishing time of 5:27.53, not at all what I wanted, but it was a marathon completed nonetheless.

For me personally, the 1^st half of the race is breathtakingly beautiful, starting at the Ferry Building, running down The Embarcadero towards Pier 39, into Fort Mason then Chrissy Fields, up onto the Golden Gate Bridge, then the climb up into the Presidio before dropping down into Golden Gate Park. But once you exit Golden Gate Park, for me, the race view turned ugly. Maybe it was just me and the fact that the race had beaten me and I was discouraged and looking for things to not like, but I don’t think so. Just like my wife, I’d much rather be near the water with views of the ocean or bay.

For the ‘Back Of The Pack’ runner, like myself, the marathon is a mixed bag. You are definitely proud of the accomplishment of finishing, but at the same time you are disappointed with the finishing time and know you can do better. Now I know I’m never going to be an elite runner and run a BQ time, but I’d like something more respectable. All of my local running friends run in the California International Marathon (CIM) every year and have encouraged me to run in it because they believe I can do better there. But I just don’t know if I want to yet, that would mean I would need to start training again around the middle of August. It’s a huge commitment of time to train for a marathon and I’m just not sure if I want to commit the time again so soon. In addition, I’m an Ambassador for next year’s Pony Express Marathon here in Sacramento, so I could run another marathon then………..or I could run the half marathon and try and set myself a new PR and finish in under 2:00. Even I don’t know what I will do, but I do know that I’m not ok with that marathon finishing time. I will be back again someday and attempt to conquer that 26.2 miles again!!!

The Time Is Now!!

Well here it is already, just a couple days out from my 1st full marathon, The San Francisco Marathon.

I’m not exactly sure what emotions I am having going into this race.  It ranges everywhere from excitement to fear to nervousness to elation and on and on and on.  My training has of course had its ups and downs, but all in all it seems to have come together fairly well.  I didn’t get in as many super long runs as I would have liked, so we will just have to see how that plays out on race day.  The longest run I got in as part of my training was an 18 miler, so that could come back to haunt me this weekend.  I’m not sure if emotion and adrenaline will be enough to carry me all the way thru to the end, or will I crap out and the last 8 miles will be a strugglefest to the finish line.

During my training I relied on the Nike+ Coach app to layout which days to run and how far to run.  For those that haven’t used it before, it is actually a pretty sweet little app.  You input what race distance you are training for, what the date is, and what level (beginner, intermediate, or advanced) you are committing to and it will give you run distances and type of run to perform on each day.  It will keep track of your weekly mileage and your total mileage for the program.

Now I wish I could say that every week I hit my mileage mark each day /week, but that would be a lie!!  For me, I have found that I need more than 1 days rest after my double digit runs.  My body just needs more time off than that.  The long runs are always scheduled on Saturdays, so that meant that I missed most of my Monday runs.  And since my wife and I began a Power Vinyasa Yoga class on Monday nights at Solfire Yoga, so I’ve missed a couple Tuesdays as well.  These are just some of the things that make me nervous for the race.

There are 2 things that are guaranteed from this weekend though; 1) No matter what I will get a PR, and 2) I’ll cross that finish line with a smile on my face!  I guess when it comes down to it, it really doesn’t matter what my time, I just need to enjoy it.  After all, it is my 1st full marathon in one of the most beautiful cities in California and you only get 1 first.  The beauty of the city is more than just visual to me, it also holds a special place in my heart because it is the city I have watched my daughter grow into the young women she is today while attending University of San Francisco, and in addition my wife and I got engaged at Point Bonita Lighthouse just across the Golden Gate Bridge in Sausalito.

And hey, I’m just shy of 46 years old and I can still participate in running events and workout with kids who I am old enough to be there dad and hold my own.  That in itself makes me feel proud of my accomplishments and encourages me to keep going and be the example for others my age.  Don’t use your age as an excuse for not getting out there and competing.  If you don’t want to compete against others, compete with yourself and just try to be a little bit better than you were yesterday.

Wish me luck and I’ll see you on the other side of twenty six point fucking two miles!!!

You can’t outrun your results!!

Man oh man, where do I start?  Well let’s see, I’ve been wanting to utilize Inside Tracker for quite some time as my training intensifies for this years The San Francisco Marathon, but at the same time I didn’t want to shell out too much cash. For those of you who don’t know, Inside Tracker has a platform that tracks and analyzes key biomarkers (blood tests) and provides personalized optimal zones for each biomarker based on their sophisticated algorithms and large scientific database. In short, they will tell you everything that your doctor doesn’t about your blood test results and then provide you with the knowledge to get you into the optimal zone for each biomarker.

After reviewing the different plans available from Inside Tracker, I determined that the DIY option was the best option for me.  I can get my bloodwork performed for free at Kaiser and the DIY option allows for you to enter up to 30 different biomarkers and best of all it only costs $49 smackers!  Being a runner and knowing my doctor wouldn’t order all of the tests I wanted, I focused on the following biomarker categories: ‘Energy & Metabolism’ and ‘Oxygen & Performance’.  Getting my results back from these tests showed the good, the bad, and the REALLY ugly truth about what’s going on within my body.

Upon getting my test results back, I immediately set out to enter the information in my Inside Tracker account. If you are anything like me, you usually get your results back from your doctor and see that some biomarkers are out of whack, but don’t really know how to improve them.  Inside Tracker not only lets you know your optimal zone for each biomarker, but also lets you know what foods (fuel) to consume to get you there.  This is what makes Inside Tracker so valuable to not only athletes, but everyone!!!

My REALLY ugly truth : I gotta say, my results were VERY shocking, especially the Energy & Metabolism biomarkers. Both my Total Cholesterol and LDL’s came back at close to 100 mg/dL outside of my optimal zone and my Fasting Glucose was 20 mg/dL too high. By all technicalities, this makes me a pre-diabetic. Not really what I was expecting to hear, but that’s the reality and as Inside Tracker says #BloodDontLie.  This was an extreme shock to myself as well as anyone who knew me and my eating & exercise habits.  All of this can lead to increased risks of heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and weight gain, while at the same time decreasing energy.  Sounds like all bad things for a runner and endurance athlete.

My bad truth: My results also showed my Iron, Transferrin Saturation (iron binding level), and HDL’s needed some work. They all fell within the normal range, just not my optimal range. I wasn’t too worried about these since my REALLY ugly truth required immediate attention.

My good truth: As a saving grace, I did have some tests that fell in the optimal range that included; Ferritin, Hemoglobin, Triglycerides, Potassium, White Blood Cells, Alt, and Total Iron Binding Capacity.  For now, I’m not going to worry as much about these as the foods and Vega One I need to fuel my body with for my REALLY ugly and my bad truths should continue to maintain these in the optimized range.

Even after reviewing my results from Inside Tracker, I was still pretty overwhelmed and unsure of exactly what direction I needed to go. I knew what I needed to improve, not only for my running performance, but also for my life. Trying to take in all of the different food choices became a little bit too much, so I set-up my own spreadsheet with information and then identified what foods I needed to eat more of to improve each biomarker. This provided me with an easy snapshot view of which foods I could consume that would make the biggest impact on my biomarkers that I now try to eat every day.

Red = At Risk, Yellow = Needs Work, Green = Optimal Range

As you can see, my top 5 foods to consume on a daily basis are oatmeal, spinach, almonds, tuna, and apples to help get me into the optimal ranges for those biomarkers that were off the charts. I’ve also added Vega One Nutritional Shake to my daily regime as it provides me with 6 servings of much needed greens, 1.5grams of flaxseed, and 20 grams of plant based protein to help build and repair muscles.

My plan at this point is to make sure my fuel choices are as close as possible to the recommendations provided by Inside Tracker and get retested in 90 days.  As much as I would love to complete the Ultimate Plan by Inside Tracker that will provide me with results for 30 different biomarkers, I believe the cost will be prohibitive. But I will at the least be able to use the DIY Plan again, and see if the Inside Tracker recommendations of how to improve my biomarkers works.  If all goes as planned, my biomarkers will be well on their way or be in the optimal zone for each category.

Shamrock’n 2015 Half Marathon Weekend

My 1st Half Marathon of 2015 and my plan was to accomplish my ‘C’ goal for the year and break the sub 2:00 hour barrier.  Blue Diamond Almonds Shamrock’n is held annually and starts just outside Raley Field and finished inside the ballpark on the warning track right by home plate.  The Shamrock’n weekend is a little bit different than many events, where they have a 5k on Saturday and then the half marathon on Sunday, which does make it pretty easy to run both races.  Since Lady Di is not yet ready to run a half marathon we both signed up to run the 5k on Saturday.  I figured this would be a great way to get some couple time together and running at her speed would be a perfect shake out run for Sunday’s half.  With Lady Di & I recently moving, literally, right across the street from the ballpark, getting to and from the races was nothing more than crossing the street.  The 5k went off without a hitch, Lady Di and I ran the course together and enjoyed the brisk morning and the city just waking up and we finished the course in just under 34 minutes.  Unfortunately, we couldn’t stick around after the race to check out any exhibits or partake in the celebratory beer since I had a golf tournament with the Nor Cal Fiji boys that started at 10am (for those curious, I shot an 86 at Lincoln Hills Golf Club that day).

Lady Di and myself before the 5k

Sunday morning came with the usual butterflies before a race of this distance.  I made sure to get up early enough to get some food in and drink some Nuun Energy on the walk over to the ballpark.  As silly as it may sound to some, your race day ‘outfit’ can play a critical roll in how well you perform on any given day.  For me, the two most critical pieces are my shirt and my shoe choices.  For this race, I went with my Boston Strong technical tee that I picked up at Marathon Sports while in Boston last year and my Skechers GoRun Ride 4’s.  Most of the 9run6 crew was running the half marathon, so we all planned to meet outside the main gates to the ballpark for a ‘before’ photo.  Pretty awesome group of folks, if I say so myself.

The 9run6 Crew ready to throw down some PB’s!!

With this being my buddy Brad’s first official half marathon, he planned to just stay with me the entire way as we were both seeking the same goal time of sub 2:00.  We had talked about it a bit and knew that we wanted to keep a steady pace all the way through with mile times between 9:00 and 9:09/mi.  We were both in Wave 1 and with the clocking coming up on 7:45am, we made our way into the corral and lined up at the 9:00/mi sign awaiting the starting horn.  We planned on being just in front of the 2:00 hour pacer, but couldn’t seem to find him in the starting corral.  Exactly at 7:45 the horn blew and we started the ‘pre-race shuffle’ up to the actual  starting line.  Crossing the starting line we both started our watches and began the task of weaving around other runners who were going slower than we wanted.  This weaving continued for roughly the first 2 miles before being able to settle into a spot and run your race.    It was just after mile 1 that Brad finally saw the 2:00 hour pacer and he was just ahead of us.  Brad had made more moves in the first 2 miles passing slower runners, and really wanting to get ahead of the 2:00 hour pacer and was now about 20 yards ahead of me at the mile 2 marker.  The first two mile ticked by a little quick at 8:41/mi and 8:39/mi. I wanted to catch up to Brad but knew that the 1st 2 miles were a little to fast and trying to catch him meant I would have to maintain that pace.  I figured it was best to let him go and now that I found a spot to settle into, I could just run my race and pace it out at some 9:00/mi and get my sub 2:00. Just after mile 2 I caught and passed the 2:00 hour pacer.  Miles 3 through 7 were right where I wanted them to be, ranging from 9:00/mi to 9:07/mi.

In my 1st half marathon I neglected to have any sort of fuel during the actual race and found that I faded drastically towards the middle of the race.  Even during my 13 mile training run leading up to this race, I found that my body quit on me around mile 12.  It was right after that run, I decided I better get some sort of race fuel to hopefully get me through the ‘crash’ I had been experiencing.  After a little bit of research, I decided on using the Honey Stinger Organic Energy Chews.  I tried them out on a couple of longer runs just to make sure that they didn’t give me any kind of stomach issues while running.  During the race, I made sure to grab some water or electrolytes at each aid station.  I know it was early in the race, but right around mile 2 I threw in my first energy chew. I quickly found that for some reason on this day, they seemed a little difficult to chew up and swallow while maintaining any sort of breathing rhythm. The next time I popped one in was around mile 5 and it too was difficult to maintain a breathing rhythm, so I just decided to put it in between my cheek & gum and let it dissolve slowly.  This seemed to work a little better, but they sure don’t dissolve on there own very quickly.

The Shamrock’n course winds through Downtown Sacramento for the first 4 miles and then up onto the American River bike trail for the next 6 miles or so, before heading back into downtown Sacramento and then into Raley Field for the big finish.  After finishing 7 miles, I was averaging a 8:56/mi, thanks to the 1st 2 mile splits, and on pace to finish with a 1:57:03.  I was feeling good and had found someone who was running at the same pace I was, so I just tucked in behind my unintentional pacer and kept charging away. But it was  Brad was still somewhere up ahead, but I could no longer see him.  I was hoping that I wouldn’t se him and he would crush his sub 2:00 hour goal.  But lets be honest, there was also a part of me that was hoping I would see him and pass him before the finish.  Running may be an individual sport where you are rooting for everyone around you to perform at their best, but we all like to ‘win’ too.  My unknowing pacer that I had tucked in behind stopped to get some water at the 7.5 mile aid station and now I was on my own again.

Gabbi & I had talked before about how my hardest struggle in running a half seems to be a mental block that I hit somewhere around mile 10.  For whatever reason, my body just wants to shut it down after 10 miles and call it a day.  It just so happened that Gabbi would be home on spring break from University of San Francisco the week of the race.  So she suggested that she come out and meet me at about mile 10 and help me through to the end.  Talk about EXCITING!!!  I always love running with my girl and her helping me through the last 3 miles was more than I could ask for.  The night before the race, we took a look at the course and figured out the easiest spot for her to join me, it would be coming up the  small hill exiting Old Sacramento just after mile 9.

I could tell my body was starting to fade with mile 8 coming in at 9:25/mi and mile 9 at 9:18/mi, but I was excited to meet up with Gabbi so I tried to keep my pace steady. Coming up from the underpass out of Old Sacramento I could see her waiting just before the top of the hill.  She quickly joined me and began motivating and cheering me on.  She told me that the 2:00 pace group was just up ahead and pointed them out for me, they were definitely within reach if we just kept our pace.  I asked her if she saw Brad and she said he was right in front of the 2:00 pacer.  My goal now, with Gabbi by my side, was to catch up to the 2:00 pacer and just stay there.  I told Gabbi about my unintentional pacer, but that I had lost them about 1.5 miles back and had been on my own.  Shortly after the course finds itself back up on the American River bike trail, Gabbi saw Brad walking up ahead.  She sped up in front of me and when she got to Brad, patted him on the back, and gave him some encouragement to run with us.  Brad picked it up for just a bit with us, but then he fell behind us and at this point in the day I had to keep looking forward, I couldn’t look back at where I’d been.

We passed mile 10 at 9:20/mi and I was trying to hold on for just 5k more.  My sub 2:00 was still in site, but I was starting to fade.  Coming out of Miller Park there is a slight downhill run towards the mile 11 marker.  I was doing all I could to keep going, and Gabbi was cheering me on and trying to boost me up, but my quads had really started to tighten up I was slowing drastically.  At mile 11 there was a water station and as sad as it was, I knew I had to walk for a bit, with mile 11 coming in at 9:43/mi. Looking back, I really think I could have kept going, but my mind got the better of me again.  I grabbed both a water and an electrolyte and walked for about 2 minutes.  It was during this 2 minutes that the disappointment set in as I realized my sub 2:00 had just slipped away.  Gabbi continued to try and boost me up and help me along to the finish and now my goal was to beat my previous PB of 2:04:27.  I was pretty upset with myself, for letting my mind quit before my body did, but I knew I had to pull it together and get moving.

We re-entered the streets of downtown Sacramento and crossing the mile 12 marker my Garmin showed a mile time of 11:51/mi.  A sub 2:00 was nowhere in sight now, so I had to muster up my strength and salvage the race with a new PB.  Turning onto Capitol Mall, you can see the Tower Bridge once again, and know you are almost there.  It’s along this stretch that I really noticed and appreciated the cheering and encouragement from total strangers.  Everything from the usual cheer of ‘You only have 1 mile to go!’ to the ‘You got this, you can do it!’.  The best one by far though was ‘Come on Boston Strong you got this, you know there aren’t many of those shirts in Sacramento!’.

Less than a mile to go at this point!!

Since Gabbi wasn’t registered for the race, she was just helping her old man through the part of the race that usually beats him, I had suggested that she peel off the race course just before we entered Raley Field which is basically at the mile 13 marker.  Once you enter Raley Field, there is nowhere to get out of the way of the other runners unless you run all the way across the finish line.  As we approached the stadium, we both kind of forgot about that decision.  She was focusing on pulling me through to the finish line and continually giving me encouragement that we kept going together.   We crested Tower Bridge and hit the mile 13 marker at a 9:52/mi and were just about to turn into the stadium.  The last 1/10 of a mile to go we picked up the pace and we entered the stadium side by side and with only about 100 meters left, she began to sprint with her old man in tow.  I tried to catch her, but just couldn’t quite make it there.  Funny thing is, I was actually slowed a little bit when I almost, literally, ran over my unintentional pacer in the last 10 yards of the race.  Official race time of 2:03:21 (9:25/mi), a new official PB of just over 1 minute.

Hitting the finish line with Gabbi just in front of me

As upset with myself as I was about not getting my sub 2:00, I have to be realistic and consider setting a new PB a pretty damn good day.  But without a doubt, the highlight of the race is having my daughter come out and run with me trying to help me reach my goal.  She knew what it means to me and wanted to do everything in her powers to help me achieve it.  Talk about a special feeling as a father!!!!

Now fast forward just a couple days after the race, and my wife sends me a link to the DIVAS Half Marathon & 5k Race in San Francisco held this May.  I ask her if she’d like to run in that race and she says she would, but it’s just for woman.  I immediately tell her that I would go support her!!!!  We text back and forth just a bit about the race and then she says that ‘it’s expensive and she’s nervous’.  It was at this point that it hit me, I think she is talking about doing the half marathon. Holy Smokes this is AWESOME, I think to myself.  See, Lady Di has never run a race longer than a 5k and I think the longest training run she has been on is just over 6.5 miles, so when she replied that she was thinking of doing the half I was both surprised and excited for her.  We talked a little bit about it and decided that stepping up from basically running a maximum of a 10k to a half marathon in just over 2 months might be a little much for her based upon her limited ability to train.  Looking at the race calendar, we agreed that her 1st half marathon would be the 2015 Urban Cow.  Wasting no time, I signed her up for the race so she couldn’t back out of her decision.

Now it’s onto training for my next big race, The San Francisco Marathon on July 26, 2015!!

Better add some hills into my TSFM training

FREE.FUN.FITNESS

That’s what #9RUN6 is all about.

An awesome experience happened this week!  See, for almost a year now every Wednesday & Friday morning I’ve gotten up before the sun even thinks about rising and headed downtown to workout with the crazy folks of 9run6.  9run6 was created and is led by Christopher Malenab, who just happens to be one of the 916’s top marathoners and an Assistant Coach for the Sacramento Republic FC (Sacramento’s own professional soccer team).  The 9run6 workouts usually consist of a little bit of running and then some strength and core exercises mixed in to help get a full body workout.  Each workout last about 30 minutes, but trust me when I say you work up a sweat and definitely know that you WORKED OUT!!  With his responsibility as a coach for the Sacramento Republic FC taking him away to the desert of AZ this week, I was tasked with running the workouts this past Wednesday.  I say workout’s’ because in addition to the morning Wednesday workout, last week we added in a Wednesday evening workout in the hopes of getting even more people out to be active.

One of the best parts about working out with this group is the simple fact that it’s FREE.  Did you hear that, FREE!!! I won’t lie, it’s hard to get up early some mornings, but this group makes it easier than I would have thought.  The group has become very close and even gets together outside of workouts at various events around town, while still welcoming new members into the fold.  I’ve been there pretty much from the beginning when sometimes there would be a total of 3 of us and to now see some workouts when we have anywhere from 16 to 20 people out there busting some ass and sweating like pigs is pretty awesome.  Especially when you consider the fact that everyone who shows up is doing so because they want to.  Nobody has paid any money to come out and workout, so there is no sense of ‘having to’ in order to get your moneys worth.  Now that isn’t to say if you miss a workout, you won’t get ‘called out’ on social media, but it’s all in fun and is really just our way of saying we missed you at todays workout.

Here’s a little rundown of how this past Wednesday went –

What do the faces of LIQUID AWESOME look like?

Just because our usual leader, Chris Malenab, was off in Arizona, didn’t mean the group didn’t get together and pour out a dose of liquid awesome onto the sidewalks of the Capitol Building!!! Just to keep things simple for the group and not have to remember a new leader’s name, Chris asked Chris to lead today’s workout. Everyone gathered on the west steps of the Capitol Building wondering what today’s workout would bring.

We did notice quite a few missing faces this morning, Ethan, Kelsey, Lisa, Judy,Tara, and Derek. I guess they all figured since Chris Malenab wasn’t here this week that the workout wouldn’t be as awesome. Let’s just say that I don’t think anyone walked away without feeling it in their calves and dripping sweat on the pavement.

The group started off with a little 3 lap warmup around the west lawn (about 1/3 of a mile) before jumping right into everyone’s favorite workout, affectionately known as “THE BEAR”. The Bear is 3 sets of exercises and a ¼ mile run in between each set. The sets of exercises included one minute each of jump ropes, high knees, butt kickers, and jumping jacks followed by either burpees, mountain climbers, or push-ups and dips. Then the group closed is out with another 3 lap cool down run around the west lawn.

As if working out with this group once a day wasn’t enough, later that evening it was time for me to lead the Wednesday Evening workout held at Yolo Brewing Company.  The group may have been small with only 4 of us showing up, but that didn’t stop the madness from happening.  This time around we performed the We.Are.Sparta workout, which will leave you with your legs wobbly, your arms like jello, and your abs burning.

As usual it starts with a 3 minute run, but then this is where the workout bears it’s teeth, with no rest you perform 50 jump squats, 50 push-ups, 50 dips, 50 walking lunges, and then 50 leg lifts.  With the group making remarkable time completing all of the reps we performed another 3 minute run, group leader Chris found it necessary to throw in just a little bit more and perform some of the exercises from #theBEAR workout – 1 minute jump rope, 1 minute high knees, 1 minute butt kickers, and finally 1 minute of jumping jacks.  If the goal was to leave the group totally exhausted in just about 30 minutes time, then my mission was a SUCCESS!!!

Now some of you may be reading this and think there is no way that you could make it through a workout like this.  To that I say, don’t let your mind hold you back.  You are capable of some amazing things if you just believe in yourself!  One of the greatest fears people have is the fear of failure.  If at first you don’t succeed in attaining your goal it’s not a failure unless you don’t learn from it and try again.  I’m pretty proud of where I’ve come from over the year and what I have accomplished.  To some it may not seem like a big deal to lead a workout group, but to me it is another small achievement along the journey, be proud of the little steps you take!!

#9RUN6 Breaking New Ground

Last night was pretty awesome, it was the inaugural Wednesday Evening #9run6 workout!!! If I counted right, we had right at 20 attendees show up to pound out a workout and then tap a new brew at #Yolo Brew. There were some familiar #9run6 members and a lot of new faces that showed up for the evening workout. Some members of #9run6 were so badass, they completed both the Wednesday morning workout AND the Wednesday evening workout.

Bobby Mack of Nuun Hydration with Team Nuun member Chris Malenab and Nuunbassadors Kevin Kamai, Alexia Poon, and Chris McDaniel

Bobby from #NUUN Hydration was on hand to keep the group properly hydrated and he also rocked the workout. The workout was a fixture in the 9run6 morning routine, the ‘Deck of Cards’ where the card you pull dictates the number of push-ups, sit-ups, and squats you have to perform followed by a short run around the parking lot. This was repeated a total of 10 times with both a 3 minute warm-up run at the beginning and a 3 minute cool-down run to close it out.

After completing the workout, it was time to head inside, tap the keg, and enjoy some #9run6 Red Ale!!! The fine folks at #Yolo Brew were awesome enough to sell the #9run6 Red Ale for $2.62/pint (get it, a marathon is 26.2, but that’d be pretty expensive for beer). Everyone hung out, enjoyed some pints of brew, and shared stories and told lies about everything & anything.

#9RUN6 Red Ale

All in all, it was just plain AWESOME to see all the new faces show up for the 1^st #9run6 Wednesday Evening workout. I know I’ve heard from a couple of people that they would love to join us, but can’t make the 6:25am workout and get to work on time. Well now you are out of excuses because #9run6 will be coming at you every Wednesday Evening at Yolo Brew!!! Here’s the full run down of weekly #9run6 gatherings:

Wednesday Morning 6:25AM – West Steps of the Capital Building

Wednesday Evening 6:25PM – Yolo Brewing Company

Friday Morning 6:25AM – West Steps of the Capital Building

What do you run with?

We runners are a weird bunch when it comes to the stuff we take with us on a run – water, gels, cell phones, headphones, and of course our trusty GPS watches. And we all have our go to running pants/shorts, shirts, socks, and favorite shoes. Here’s a list of my essentials when heading out the door.

Shoes: One word – Skechers.

I started out the year in an old pair of Under Amour running shoes and closed out the year with 5 pairs of Skechers Performance shoes. I don’t think I would have been able to run as consistently or as pain free without my Skechers shoe rotation. My 1^st pair of Skechers was the GoRun Ride 3, these quickly became my trusty high mileage trainers and most used shoe. Racking up 376.5 miles in them. These are soon to be retired and replaced with either another pair of Ride 3’s or a pair of the new Ride 4’s.

Then through Amazon, I found a deal on a pair of Skechers GoRun 2’s for $35.00. Who could pass that kind of deal up? With its minimalist design and connected feel to the road, these became my speed shoe and used for many a 5k. Putting 228.5 miles on a minimalist shoe is a lot!

Then I found another deal on Amazon and picked up a pair of GoRun Speed 2’s New York Editions for under $60.00. I saved these for Speed Tuesday’s and shorter distances, as I’m still not efficient enough runner to not have my feet fatigue in them. I ran less than 100 miles in these throughout the year.

Lastly came 2 pairs of Skecher GoRun 3’s. One is still in the box and the other pair has 123.1 miles in them so far. Gotta say, this is one of my favorite shoes, it’s a multi purpose shoe that can go many distances. I’ve run a 5k to half marathon and everything in between in these puppies. It has a little more cushioning than the GoRun 2, but not near as much as the GoRun Ride 3

All of my other 235 miles, including too many miles on the ‘dread’mill during the early part of the year, were spent in these. These served me well in establishing some base miles under my belt and getting me started on this running journey. They were however, retired the day I purchased the GoRun Ride 3’s!

GPS watch/tracking:  I’ve tried it all as far as tracking runs goes. I started out the year just using my cell phone with the Nike+ running app. It worked well enough to start out with, giving you total mileage, pace splits, and posting to the Nike+ website. But once you placed your phone in an arm sleeve, so you didn’t have to carry it in your hand, you could no longer see your pace time.

So then I did a little research and purchased the Nike+ GPS Sportwatch. This worked much better for me, as I could now see my pace/distance at any time. The GPS signal acquisition was fairly quick (as long as you’d synced the watch within the last 3 days) and the GPS tracks were fairly accurate. After using it for about 3 months, I realized I wanted more. I like to ride to work every now & then and I couldn’t use my watch to track my ride distance or speed, as it records everything as a run. I also found that I couldn’t set-up any interval/speed workouts on it. So I started looking around for something a little bit more advanced that could tackle all of my needs.

What did I end up with you ask? Well, I ended up with a Garmin Fenix 2……WAY more watch than I need. The Fenix 2 will track ANYTHING and EVERYTHING! Hell, it even has a skydiving function called Jumpmaster. Tell me again, why I need that? After 6 months of use, I’m not completely sure I’m going to keep it. Lucky for me, I bought it at REI and have 1 full year to return it, so this may be replaced soon. The watch will track whatever I want for running, cycling, swimming, hiking, etc. But I’ve started to notice a few issues with the GPS tracking, I don’t use nearly ½ of its features, and it’s just plain big & bulky. It never feels heavy on my wrist while running, but to look at it, jeez it’s like you have the bottom of a coke bottle on your arm.

Clothing: I’m not too particular when it comes to clothing. About the only thing I care about is that it doesn’t make me chaff and for me it’s all about warmth in the winter time. Most of my winter gear comes from either Target or WalMart and for the summer time it’s just a pair of shorts and a technical tee from a prior race. I know I need to make an investment in better socks for running longer distances, since I’ve noticed some irritation from the toe seams of my current ones. It seems from talking with my friends that I need to be looking at Injinji and Feetures.

So what gear do you use to make it through your miles? Do you ever run naked…….ok, not really naked, just with no electronics? I mean, if you don’t track your run, did it ever really happen?

Let’s Do This 2015

It’s that time of year again where everyone takes a look back on their year and decide to make some changes for the coming year.  Looking back at 2014, I had a pretty successful 1st year of taking running seriously, especially considering I had no real plan.  I never really set out any goals for running in 2014, I just knew I needed to lose some weight and running was going to play a part in being successful.  So with the close of 2014 and the beginning of a new year just around the corner, Let’s Do This 2015 and establish some running goals.  I’ll break out my goals by race distance and then, at the suggestion of Christopher Malenab,set an A goal, B goal, and C goal for each.

5k – current race PB is 25:57 (8:22/mi) at the 2014 Running of the Elk

A) run a sub 24:00 (7:43/mi)

B) run a sub 24:30 (7:52/mi)

C) run a sub 25:00 (8:02/mi)

10k – current race PB is 53:32 (8:40/mi) at the 2014 Run to Feed the Hungry

A) run a sub 51:00 (8:12/mi)

B) run a sub 52:00 (8:22/mi)

C) run a sub 53:00 (8:31/mi)

Half Marathon – current race PB is 2:04:27 (9:34/mi) at the 2014 Urban Cow.

1st schedule race of the year is the Shamrock’n on 3/15/2015 and then I’ll be running the Urban Cow again on 10/14/2015.

A) run a sub 1:55 (8:46/mi)

B) run a sub 1:58 (9:00/mi)

C) run a sub 2:00 (9:09/mi)

Marathon – new distance for me this year.

1st scheduled race of the year is The San Francisco Marathon on 7/26/2015 and then the California International Marathon on 12/6/2015.

A) run a sub 4:00 (9:09/mi)

B) run a sub 4:05 (9:20/mi)

C) run a sub 4:10 (9:32/mi)

I’m putting these goals in writing to not only hold myself accountable, but also put them in the hands of my friends and running partners who will also hold me accountable and help me along the way.  Reaching my A goals would make me ecstatic, my B goals would make me very happy, and my C goals are those that I would be content with, but feel as though I could have done better.

Attaining each of my goals will be totally dependent upon me and the commitment I make to my training, nutrition, and hydration.  At the end of each quarter, I’ll review my training, nutrition, and hydration and decide what changes or adjustments I need to make to help reach each goal.

What will it take for you to be successful in 2015 and meet or exceed your resolutions/goals?