30 Minutes of Intervals

I got out this morning before the rain. I walked for 5 minutes and then did 30/30 second intervals of running and walking for another 5. After that I switched to 1:00/1:00's. It has been a while since I had run intervals and although it was a little tough, it felt good. The temperatures were in the 40's and overcast, but I heated up pretty quickly. I'm hoping to get out again tomorrow to do some more.

30 Minutes on the Treadmill

I usually don't train the day after my long mileage, but since I always find it tough to squeeze a training in on Tuesday, I decided to do hills on the treadmill tonight. I did 30 minutes of fairly steep hills in preparation for Austin which is only 3.5 weeks away.
Bob and I signed up to do the Rockets Run 5K this Saturday. It's downtown, starting and ending at the Toyota Center. Each entrant gets a ticket to the game that night.

6 Miles in the Park

The weather report for Saturday morning was not pretty - cold and rain- so Bob and I decided to put off our 6 miles until Sunday. What a great decision. It was cold, in the low 30's and windy, but the sun was shining and it felt good. We mostly walked with a few short bursts of running. It took us 1 hour and 39 minutes.

I really didn't have the energy to run very much. This is day 7 of the elimination diet and I am feeling great. But my energy levels are low, partially because of detoxing, partially because my calorie and carb intake is not very high and I've stopped taking vitamins. I'm getting lots of vegetables and fruits so I believe that my vitamin intake is probably better than it's been. I've lost 9 pounds so far, a lot of it water weight.

35 Minutes in Beautiful Weather

What a relief to finally have sunshine after so many days of rain and cold. My knee was still hurting when I finally got out this afternoon, so I walked briskly for 35 minutes. Amazingly, quit hurting by the time I was done.
The diet is going well. This is day 4 and I am feeling better - less bloated and less achy. My food cravings are gone and I'm actually having to force myself to eat. I had a slight headache yesterday morning (probably caffeine withdrawal), but it was very mild. I've also stopped taking all of my supplements and vitamins. I hadn't realized that the multivitamin I've been taking has brown rice in it, one of my trigger foods. As I looked over all of the labels, even though these products are supposed to be "all natural", I discovered that they have quite a few questionable ingredients. I figure it won't hurt to be off of any of them for just 30 days.
I've also been trying to pinpoint when it was that I began feeling physically worse and I can relate it to when I started drinking coffee again. I know what is not being re-introduced into my diet!

Back to the Beginning

It's been almost 2 years since I began this journey and like most travels, I have taken some detours. Some have been positive and some have not. I can come up with every excuse in the book, but the bottom line is that I diverged off the straight and narrow path and I now must return. Over the past few months the migraines have returned with increasing numbers and intensity. I can relate all of my woes to improper eating (sugars, breads, processed foods, etc.) and weight gain. So I have decided that although it's difficult to continue to train, race and diet, that I must start back on the elimination diet I had followed in March of 2005. I'm still planning on participating in some half marathons, but I'll most likely walk them since I'll be cutting down dramatically on carbs.
This morning I walked briskly for 30 minutes. It was chilly, but clear. I had half of a yam for breakfast and will have vegetables and lamb for lunch. No more coffee nor caffeine and no more white stuff. I'll be following Dr. Cranton's Elimination Diet which can be found here Elimination Diet . This is the program I follwed successfully in 2005. I felt great after just a few days, and except for the headaches from caffeine withdrawal (which I'm not looking forward to), it was the best I have ever physically felt.
Wish me luck!

Heavy Medal Party

Me and Robert Key

Steve, Me, Terrell and Bob

Tonight FBF celebrated our Marathon achievements with a fun filled night of food, drink and dance. The event was held in Southwest Infiniti's showroom. It was a lot of fun congratulating one another on our Marathon Day victories and sharing our stories. Your marathon medal was the only dress requirement. Bob and I decided that we would also display our Fall Marathon Medals - New York for him and Chicago for me.

6 Miles

Bob and I met this morning at Velocity. There were at least 40 other FBFers raring to go. We did 6 miles up Dulles, into the park and back. We walked briskly and did intermittent intervals. Our pace was just over 15 minutes. The weather was perfect, just like Marathon Day without the fog and with a little more wind. My right knee is hurting a little, so I'm icing it. Hopefully, this is a short term problem and I'll be ready for the Half in Austin on February 18th.

Zero Week

I had a massage yesterday and it really helped, but it wasn't until today that I felt good enough to start training again. The weather was really nasty, so I'm glad we have the treadmill set up. I did 25 minutes with hills.
The finish line videos are up at the Marathon site. Here's mine and Jacque's spectactular finish: Finish Line Video

Marathon Day

This past week was a blur. I was only able to get two trainings in - my second one was Thursday night on the treadmill for 25 minutes. I did hills at a slow pace. Friday, Shelley, Jacque and I went to the EXPO to pick-up our packets and go shopping. It was a lot of fun seeing our fellow FBFers and other running friends. Shelley was sidelined with an injury to her knee and toes so she couldn't participate in the half.

Shelley, Jacque and me at the Expo

I was sick as could be yesterday with a severe migraine, in bed all day. When I woke up this morning my headache was thankfully gone. Bob picked me up at 4:50am and then we met Nancy and drove to the George Brown Convention Center for our Fort Bend Fit "Hooyah" cheer and pre-race photo at 5:45am.

Jacque and Kim Before the Race

Jacque and I got to the start corral and looked for Bob and Jen, but didn't see them. The race started at 7:00am but we didn't cross the start line until about 7:07am. As we were "climbing" the Elysian viaduct, we connected with Bob and Jen and did intermittent intervals with them for a while, but after about 45 minutes my headache started coming back. Jacque stayed with me while I walked and Bob and Jen left us in the dust.

Bob and Jen at Mile 10

As we approached the turnaround just before mile 9, my feet started hurting really badly for the first time ever. I think the medicine I took for my headache might have constricted the blood flow to my feet. I was ready to throw in the towel, in fact Jacque kept asking me if she should call Stan, but I persisted. We ran the last few blocks to the finish and made it in with a time of 3:34:16 - not a very good time but better than a DNF (did not finish).

Nancy completed her first race ever - the Fleet Feet 5K and Steve completed his first Marathon, a full 26.2 in a little over 7 hours. The blur below is the only photo I had after the race. It's just like this past week and today - a blur......

Jannelle, Nancy, Bob, Me & Steve After the Race

FBF Pasta Party

Tonight was the Fort Bend Fit Pre-Marathon Pasta Party. It was great to see everyone dressed in "regular" clothes, hair fixed, and make-up on the women. It was hard to recognize some folks! Motivational speaker and fellow runner Robert Key gave us a very funny and inspirational talk. Everyone was fired up about the Houston Marathon this coming Sunday.

Nancy, Steve, Jacque, Me, Shelley, and Bob at the Pasta Dinner

I have really been off this week. I didn't train yesterday because I had visited the chiropractor in the morning for an adjustment and know from experience that it's best not to run that same day. My schedule was packed today so I missed again. I'm planning on getting out tomorrow.

25 Minutes Nice and Easy

The weather was beautiful this morning. I did 1:00/1:00 intervals after a 3 minute warm up. This is "Marathon Week" - Wednesday is the FBF Pasta Party, Friday is the Marathon EXPO and packet pick-up, and then Sunday is the race. It's hard to believe that it's here already

Last Official FBF Training for the Season

This morning was our last official Saturday run for the season. It's hard to believe that this is Marathon Week! We were down to the end of the taper - 6 miles. Bob, Jacque, Peggy and I started out together, walking for the first 3/4 mile until we got into the park. Then we did 1:00/1:00 intervals for about 2 miles, reverting back to walking for the balance. I connected with Vicki just as Bob took off talking to someone he knew while Jacque and Peggy started walking together. Vicki and I talked about our trip to Austin for the Marathon and planned some of our race strategy for the coming months.

I figured out what was causing my knee pain. I had my shoes switched and was wearing my "new" (50 miles) wide shoe on my right foot and my older one (with 250+ miles) on my left. I got it straight this morning.

30 Minutes on the Treadmill

I decided to rest my knee yesterday, so I didn't train. I iced it several times and it felt a lot better today. The weather was pretty rotten today, so I waited until tonight and did 30 minutes on the treadmill with lots of hills. I'll be short one training this week and then do my six miles on Saturday. It's hard to believe that Marathon Day is just a little over a week away.

30 Minutes Walking

This morning the weather was really nice, clear and cool. It would have been great for running, but since my knee started acting up last week, I've been walking. I did a leisurely 30 minutes by the lake and enjoyed the scenery. It's only 12 days until Marathon Day. My excitement level is down a few notches from last year when Houston was my first Marathon. I'm still looking forward to a fun time, doing the half with my friends and cheering in the Full Marathoners as they complete their runs.