My First Race!! Hard Work Pays Off

After months of hard work, training, and aches and pains, I finally started and finised my first race.  As you've read previously, I started the Couch to 10k program in October.  Just after the first of the year I had to take a couple weeks off due to tendinitis issues in my right leg.  A week and a half ago it my leg started feeling better so I started back at the running.  I had already signed up for a race, but instead of a 10k (6.2miles) I signed up for a 9 miler.  Once I had to take time off from training, I knew 9 miles was not feasible.  Instead I stepped it back down to the 4 mile race.

The night before I made a list of items I thought would be good to take.  Quite a few items were a "just in case" deal.  I made sure I had my shoes all set with the race transponder in the laces.  Got my shirt all pinned up with my number along with the rest of my running attire laid out.  It was going to be cold in the morning.

Cold it was...in the teens.  I got up at 6am, had some toast with honey, grabbed a couple bananas and off to feed the horses.  I skipped making coffee and instead had 24oz of water with two packets of Emergen-C.  While at the horses I realized I did not put my shirt on with the number pinned to it.  Luckily I gave myself enough time to stop home to get it.  I then stopped by Walmart to pick up a pair of gloves.  I arrived at the US National Whitewater Center around 8am.  Plenty of time to warmup....as good as one can warmup in 20°F.  I changed into my Xterra trail running shoes and decided to leave my windbreaker on.  Then got my Garmin heartrate transmitter strapped around my chest.

Just before 9am event organizers had everyone gather in the staging area.  They informed us that the 13 and 9 mile races would start together at 9am.  The 4 mile race would start 10 minutes later.  The pic to the left shows the start of the 13/9.  Notice the guy's shirt that I've pointed out.

Once the 13/9 runners were off we had to wait another 10 minutes for the start of the 4 mile.  As you can see from the pic to the right people were doing all they could to stay warm.  Thought it would be fun to wear my horn hat.  Received lots of compliments.

All the 4 milers were gathered at the start line watching the official clock count down.  As it hit 0 the group was off.  For some reason everyone stopped, went back, and started laughing.  Appently even though the clock said start, we were not to go yet.  The group gathered back up and waited for the OFFICIAL start.  AND WE'RE OFF!!

The first half mile ran us around part of the whitewater park, which as you can see has been emptied for the winter.  This gave the group a chance to spreadout a bit and each person to find a pace.  The trail quickly went into single track as it entered the woods.  Everyone was pacing along nice.  The trail weaved all around, up and down, and had lots of rocks and roots to watch out for.  This trail also had a bunch of foot bridges which were a blast to run over.  About a mile in, the people in front of me started to slow a bit and I was still feeling good.  So I did my best to find good spots to pass.  Passing was a bit tricky at times, especially when there was a steep slope on either side, one up and one down, with the down slope going to a lake.  On I want though.  As I picked my way through I had one guy that seem to follow me through the whole way.  2 miles in, as we ventured away from the lake we start to hit more hills.  A few declines you literally had to leaping down the trail.  Really had to watch the ankles here, but still a blast.

The last mile I found many runners starting to hit a wall I guess.  My stomach was feeling a bit odd, but I ran through it and worked it out.  Many others started walking, so I was able to pass quite a few.  According to my Garmin I knew we were close.  I didn't try pushing it any faster since I felt my pace was still pretty good.  The last stretch was round a corner and up a hill to the finish line.  Crossed the finish strong and feeling great.  Not once through the whole run did my tendinitis flare up.  Now right after the event is a different case.  I walked around to cooldown and grabbed a free coffee which hit the spot.  Went back to my truck to wrap ice on my leg and down a couple more waters with Emergen-C.

I'm so glad I went ahead and did the 4 mile race at least.  Wish I would have had someone there to cheer me on.  Unfortunaly my wife was at a conference in Chattanooga and I didn't want anyone else to suffer in the cold just for my little race.  All I can say is that I'm hooked on running now.  They say you need to do something for 3 months before it becomes a habit, well I've been running since October so I guess it's a habit now.  Finished 51st out of 225.  My pace averaged 9:30/mile....not too shabby.

Place     Div       No.                    Name                Age S              City          St         Time   
===== === ===== =================== === = ============ == =======
       51     11     190                  Timothy Worden   34 M          Iron Station NC       34:36

Making Progress!!

I've been pretty quiet on my blog for the last couple weeks.  Been quite bummed about having to rest from running.  I know I've mentioned having some pain in my lower right leg on the inside just above the ankle.  Through research on the internet I found that it was tendinitis.  So for the last couple weeks I've been avoiding running, taking ibuprofen, and ice it a couple times a day.  This also meant I had to pause my Couch to 10k training and bow out of the race I had signed up for on January 22nd.

Instead of sitting around being bored and eating junk I decided to look into the new fitness studio just down the road.  They were running a special for the day since it was the new year.  I had some cash so I decided to join 24/7 Fitness Studio.  It's located just 5 miles down the road, right next to Jersey Mike's!!  So you can guess what I'll be having for lunch quite a bit.   The membership does not require you to sign a long term contract; I can pay cash month to month.  The studio is nicely equiped with top notch machines and free weights.  Since I could not run I decided to try the stationary bikes and elliptical machines.  Both worked really well and did not bother my leg one bit.  The elliptical machine is the best, though not quite like running, it still gave my legs and cardio a great workout without stressing my injury.  I like to try burning 400-500 calories per workout.   After a good cardio burn I've been hitting the weights.  My goal is to tone up with more definition in my upper body.  I'm not looking to bulk up since my long term goal is focused around running and weightloss.

My ankle had been feeling really good lately so I decided to jump on the treadmill for a little run.  I was not sure how long I was going to run at first so I just felt things out and decided after about 10 minutes.  Since I was still feeling good I figured a 5k distance (3.1miles) was a good intro back.  I set the pace at 10min/mile.  I hit 5k and was almost to 500 calories burned.  Finished the workout at 3.45 miles in 37min and 528 calories burned.  Mild discomfort in the ankle, but not pain.  Did some ab work to finish up my workout for the day.  Went home for ibuprofen and ice.  Still feeling great.  Official weight before workout was 184.2lb.  Down from 200lb in October.  I seem to be stuck in the mid 180s.  Guess I need to work a little harder;)

The Red Devil is back!!

Lara took all this week off and wanted to do some riding.  The first few days I had to get some shoeing in and make money to pay bills.  I decided it would be good to at least take Thursday and Friday off from shoeing horses and go trail riding.  Our last endurance race was Thankgiving weekend at JDs Carolina Ride in SC.  After this race I pretty much pulled the horses shoes and let them be through Christmas.  When we decided to go riding today I figured I better put front shoes on.  So Taz and Patton got front shoes last night.

We were going to drive to South Mountain State Park, but at the last minute this morning we decided to head for Latta Plantation.  This was to be Patton's first ride back since August.  We think he had a tendon issue going on and gave him some rest.  Needless to say I was really excited to hit the trail on Patton.  We figured the easier trails at Latta would be a good warmup back to getting him in shape.

We arrived at the horse parking at Latta just before 11am.  Took us a bit of time to saddle up since I was also fitting Patton with a new saddle.  We picked up a couple Wintec saddles off eBay for a great price.  My friend Christine let me try a set of eventing irons, which were pretty nice to use.  Patton had grown a bit chunky over the last few months of pasture rest and I had to use the longest english girth we had.  I ended up not using the breastcollar or a crupper and hoped the saddle would not move.  Compared to South Mountain, the trails at Latta do not have as severe a hills.

Lara was all set with Tazz and I had Patton all saddled up.  I put my foot in the stirrup and swung my leg over and found out what 4 months of rest did for Patton...aka...the Red Devil.  Boy was he ready to go go go!!  Had a hard time getting my other foot in the other stirrup and the Red Devil even gave me a little buck cause we hadn't moved on down the trail.  After a few smacks on the head, he stood still long enough to get my feet in the stirrups and myself set in the saddle.  And off we went.  It was hard to keep him in a walk.  The air was fresh and cool in the 40s and Patton was ready to move out.  Man I love that horse.  I was on cloud 9 being back in the saddle on him.  The new Wintec saddle felt comfy and appeared to fit him well.  We ended up riding in just under 2 hours and did an easy going 8 miles.  The saddle did not move one bit.  Typically you can tell saddle fit by the sweat pattern when the saddle is pulled.  Since we were going so easy and it was pretty cool we did not get enough sweat to tell fit yet.  We're going riding again tomorrow and the weather is suppose to be a bit warmer.  

Over all I'm very pleased with how Patton moved and seems well on his way to getting in shape for our first event in south GA the second weekend of February. 

 

Tazz did really well for Lara today.   Since he's dumped me several times, Lara was a bit intimidated by him.  Surprisingly Tazz settled right in and gave Lara an awesome ride.  He even led a good bit today and was not spooky one bit.  Looks like I'll be slapping some front shoes on Slick in the morning and we'll be taking him and Patton back to Latta again.  We'll meet up with a couple friends this time.

The day after Christmas

Decided to get on the treadmill today after taking a few extra days off.  I wanted to give my ankle a bit of a rest and figured a few days through Christmas was a good time.  My ankle still did not feel 100% before getting on the treadmill.  Planned on running about 20minutes to see how I felt.  I did a warmup walk for the first 5 minutes then started running.  The longer I ran the better I felt so I figured I'd run to the 500calorie mark.  Once I hit that I was close to 40minutes so I kept running to that point.  When I hit 40minutes I was almost to 4miles, so I kept running.  Once I hit 4miles I decided that was good and walked another 3 or so minutes to cool down.  This put me at a 45 minutes workout of 4.2miles.  Did more than I anticipated and feel great.  Promptly iced my ankle.  Of all the junk I've eaten the last few days I was happy to see I had not gained any weight.  I will now continue on with my couch to 10k workouts this week.

Week 10, Day 1

This evening I did week 10, day 1 of Couch to 10k.  53 minute work out with 10minute runs and 1 minute walks in 4 sessions.  Felt really good for the first two 10 minute sessions.  The walk between the second and third run I felt my ankle getting really sore.  Took several minutes into my third run session before my ankle was stretched out again.  Forth run sessions was about the same, had to stretch it back out for a few minutes.  Again I was close to 5 miles as the cooldown started, so I continued to run a couple minutes into the cooldown.  I set my pace a little faster tonight.  For the last minute and on into cooldown I kicked it up to 7mph.  I finished the workout with another 5.2 miles. 

This was a tough one though.  Seriously thought I was going to have to quit.  I pulled out the ice wraps when I was done and gave my ankle a good icing.  Now to put some biofreeze on it.  I also ran in my new Xterra shoes.  Figured it was a good time to work on breaking them in.  They felt good and I don't notice any rubs on my arches.

Now the real running and endurance training begins.

Week 9, day 3

Nothing too exciting to talk about with this workout.   On December 19th I did week 9, day 3 of Couch to 10k.  This day was also my 34th birthday.  This session consisted of 5, 8 minutes runs, with 2 minute walks.  With warmup and cooldown for a total of 58minutes.  I decided to do this workout on the treadmill instead of outside.   I needed to give my right ankle a break from the hard ground.  It's been giving me a bit of trouble since week 8, day 1 where I ran on the paved track at the middle school.  Doing some research and I think it's a tendon issue, not so much as a joint issue, which actually makes me feel better.  Picked up some Biofreeze to see if it helps.  Anyway, this workout went really good.  The last run session I kicked up the speed the last minute and ran until the treadmill said I had gone 5 miles.  Once the cooldown was done I had complete 5.2 miles.

Looking ahead at the coming workouts, I will have one more run walk run walk type session.  Then it will be almost entirely running.  I'm really excited to see how these last few weeks go.

I'll end this entry by sharing a link to a YouTube video that was posted on RunningAhead forums.  This guy's story and blog are so inspiring.
 

Week9, Day 2

Today brought about much welcomed warmer weather to the Charlotte, NC area.  Temp got up around 50 today and the sun shown all day.  Not much was on my schedule today other than 5 trims which I was able to take care of in the morning.  This left my afternoon open to go trail running again for my next Couch to 10k workout.

I chose to head for Latta Plantation again since there were many trails I had not ran on the time before.  This time I chose a route on the west part of the nature preserve.  Not only was I anxious to see new trail, I was also ready to break in some new trail running shoes.   I had wanted a new pair of trail running shoes when I read a tweet from @SeriousRunning about a 50% off sale at Xterra Footwear.  I jumped on the website and ordered the only color they had left in a size 11.  And wouldn't you know it, they were bright orange.  My endurance rider friends could have only guessed I would have picked these shoes regardless since all my tack is bright neon orange.  It was all too fitting.  I received the shoes the day before.  Unfortunately they did not fit my arch.  So I ended up getting a pair of Dr. Scholls Gel Athletic insoles.  They shoes now felt pretty good.  So off I was off to brake them in on their virgin run.

Todays Couch to 10k workout again consisted of 7min runs done 6 times with 2min walks in between.  Along with 5min walking warmup and cooler down, this workout was 58min long.  I started my warmup on Hill Trail and circled back around the equestrian parking lot and crossed the main road to continue on the trail.  A half mile down I came to Shady Trail and took a left.  This was a nice gravel trail that weaves back behind the Carolina Raptor Center.  This stretch took me about a mile before I hit the road and worked my way down towards the lake. 

At the lake I joined up with the Audubon Trail.  This trail was quite technical and slow going, much like Cove Trail.  However, the obsticles were not rocks.  This time it was tree roots.  The trail went up and down quickly along the lake and traversing the roots was harder than picking through rocks.  This trail also had a bunch of fun foot bridges to cross.  Finally got through the worse of it and hit a nice single track trail that eventually brought me out to a parking area.

I ran up the road a ways and took a left on a gravel drive that went to the Historic Plantation home site.  From there I took a right and proceeded to Buzzard Rock Trail.  After Buzzard Rock I took a right on to Catawba Trail.  After a mile I came out by the canoe rental and followed the road to Treasure Tree Trail.  This trail was marked with numbers, which I believe corresponded with species of trees that it was placed with. This was a fun but tricky trail again with tree roots.  It too had another set of fun foot bridges to jump on and run over.

My workout was winding down so I hit Hill Trail and turned to run around the barn and show arenas.  By this time my cool down had begun and I walked on towards my truck in almost perfect timing with a finishing distance of 5.5miles.

As I started out on my first run session, it took me almost that whole 7 minutes to feel like I'd warmed up.  I was feeling so good after that first session, that I continued to run through the walk sessions.  I ended up only walking at the halfway point for a couple minutes.  The rest of the time I decided to keep running.  Though there were times, especially up hills and through those rooty sections, that I almost decided to walk.  Yet I pushed on.

Over all the shoes felt pretty good considering this was the first workout in them.  They did rub me just a tad on the arch, but nothing that will slow me down.  Apart from the shoes, I'm still having some issue with my right ankle.  This is an issue that has stopped me from running in the past so I'm being really cautious.  Taking my days off is really important right now as I build my body up.  Hopefully my ankle will strengthen up as I go.

I just thought this was a cool tree and took a pic to share.  As you can see it grew horizontal and had two trunks.  Between was almost a perfect height seat.