I'm troubled

Signed up for two half marathons in January. In Chicago. Yeah, I'm a little crazy. Polar Dash 14-miler and the F3 Half Marathon here I come.

I'll admit that I like running in the cold more than the heat and that if it's in the teens during these races there's a certain amount of bragging rights. "Oh, you ran a half marathon on May, cool. I ran one in below zero wind chills!"

Yeah, I'm sick and troubled.

Runs this week have been fine. Planning 13 tomorrow, which should be interesting since we did a lot of lunges and squats in boot camp this morning. I need to recommit to boot camp and eating clean. I would like to drop another 20-pounds and while I love running but it's the weight training that really makes that happen. Through all the mileage I put in during marathon training my weight pretty much stayed the same. That's mostly because I was hungry all the time.

I also need to break in the new pair of Boost, hit 300-miles on the red pair this week so I know there's only so many more miles left in them before I start getting some aches and pains.

9/26 run - 'Taper madness'

The next reality check will be when
I pick up my bib and chip. 

3.7 miles: 40:32: 11:04 pace

Friends who have run marathons before were talking about "taper madness." There was even an article in the latest issue of Runner's World on how to deal with it. I figured I would be ready to back off after the 20-miler and the intense training regiment from the previous months.

I was wrong.

I feel like I'm going a bit stir crazy. It doesn't help that my ankle is still bugging me and this run is the only one I got in this week. I could have gone farther, the ankle hurt but it wasn't too bad, but again I didn't want to push it too hard.

I'm running the Crosstown Classic 10K -- Go South Side -- on Saturday morning. As much as I want to break my personal best on this race I don't think it's going to happen. I don't want to push it too hard and aggravate the ankle more.

The training schedule called for 12 this weekend and depending on how the 10K goes and how I feel Sunday I might do another six. Everybody says that I can take it easy after the 20, get some work in, do some cross training and just generally try to maintain. But again "Taper Madness" wants me to try and get one more 10-12 mile run in next week. I might need someone to hide my running shoes.

Boot camp this week has been good, nice bit of cross training and I plan to hit it three days next week. Higdon calls for 13 miles during the week and the long run a week from Saturday is eight miles, followed by a total of nine miles the week before the marathon.

Otherwise, I'm just trying to get the ankle healthy and am thinking about getting a sport massage next week to try and work out some of the knots in my calves.

9/19 run - DOMS

4.1 miles: 48:46: 11:52 pace

DOMS -- Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness -- has been creeping on my this week. The two boot camp sessions I attended this week focused on glutes, lower back, legs and core. Tuesday I just ran through it before my body could tell what was happening but today was a different story. I didn't feel all that bad or slow but clearly I was and am battling soreness.

I also had to cut this run short because of weather. I was about two miles in when I started seeing lightning off in the distance. It was far enough away so I was concerned and the drizzle felt nice. But a half miles later the strikes were getting closer and thunder was moving in so I bailed. I'll run in a lot of weather but lightning isn't one of them.

I would like to get some type of run in tomorrow but it will be in the afternoon. I've been dragging ass all week and need a decent sleep. The question is will I just do an easy three or be ambitious and do six.

Big 20-mile run on Sunday, weather is looking pretty good, should be in the 50s when we start and it's only supposed to get into the upper 60s. Debating carrying fluids, there are eight aid stations, which will probably be plenty but still thinking about it.

6/11 run

7 miles: 1:16:49: 10:58

Pretty uneventful run, was happy with my pace, felt good. Considering I was dragging ass on Monday at boot camp I should be jumping for joy. It's getting warmer and I'm starting to acclimate a little better, that may have been part of my problem last week.

Though this morning I was dragging again at boot camp. I wonder if I should start doing a gel before class to help with my energy level? It's just not where I want it to be and I'm feeling sluggish. Today's session was particularly brutal, haven't had one in awhile that really kicked my ass but that was this morning.

Speed work in the morning, fun run in the evening, more boot camp and nine fun-filled miles early Saturday.

5/11 run

Run to boot camp: 42:49: 4 miles: 10:40 pace

Boot camp, upper body and core

Run home from boot camp: 45:03: 4 miles: 11:11 pace

Nice workout on Saturday. Really nice run to boot camp, legs were feeling fresh and was happy with my pace and how I felt. 

Boot camp was a tabata style workout -- eight consecutive sets 20 seconds of work and 10 seconds of rest -- mostly upper body and some core. The run home was good, my calf was a little tight but my foot/ankle is feeling a whole lot better. 

Did boot camp this morning, planning six or seven tomorrow morning, boot camp again Wednesday and three miles on Thursday. Friday will be a rest day before the Tough Mudder. 

We have an 11:40 am start time, they say the course (PDF) will take about three and a half hours. The weather is expected to be in the 70s with a chance of rain. I'm happy about the temp, rather be warm and wet than cold and wet. 

The later start time is causing me to think about eating/fueling. Usually I have a PB&J a couple of hours before the race but with the travel time and everything else I'm trying to figure out my food intake. I'm planning to pack a cooler with some PB&J, water, gatorade and maybe some celebratory beers for after. 

5/2 training

After 8 miles and boot camp. 

4 miles: 43:57: 10:51 pace
Boot camp
4 miles: 46:40: 11:37 pace

Boot camp on Friday was a heavy legs day, three sets of 20 weighted squats, three dozen lunges and three sets of 20 dead lifts -- yeah, not exactly legs but the glutes. My quads were sore yesterday and were still sore this morning when I woke up. I really didn't want to run but I still did.

The run there was fine, wasn't moving as quick as I would have liked but it wasn't awful. The boot camp sessions was cardio/back and core. In the first series we did jump rope, lats, jump hops from a push up position and Arnold curls. Second series were box hops, assisted pull ups, burpee jacks and bicep curls-shoulder press-triceps extensions.

We did three sets of each series and for the most part I was ok. At the very end we tacked in some plank variations and here is where I began to feel fatigued. Regular planks are fine but then we did reach outs in the plank along with 60 seconds of side planks on each side. I didn't do very well on this part. I really need to work on my side planks.

As you can see the run home was quote a bit slower but I wasn't trying to set any records. My goal now is just to be able to walk around like a normal person the rest of the weekend and not look like an arthritic 70-year-old.

My foot is also feeling better, froze a water bottle and have been rolling the achy part on that. Other than general soreness the runs were pretty pain free as well.

Good weather today too, about 50 when I left the house and partly cloudy. Warmed up a but while in class and was nice run home. Kind of feel bad for not running the 13 miles today but with the leg workout I probably wasn't up for it and would have been disappointed with my time.

A little background

In November 2011 I was probably 50 to 60 pounds overweight. I worked out, ran a little on the treadmill and lifted some weights but didn't have any results. My diet wasn't great either. It was obvious I wasn't feeling great about myself at this point, I can't find a picture from this time either.

November 2011, the beer was part
of the problem.

Right before Thanksgiving in 2011 I started with the now defunct Chi-Town Boot Camp, which met four mornings a week at a dojo in Evanston, Ill. This was a turning point. I purchased a Groupon for a month and have been with the program ever since.

During that time I have lost more than 40 pounds and 10% body fat. I owe most of the thanks to the trainers who have guided me and the support of my wife, Rory, all of whom you'll hear more about later. The boot camp program is fantastic. Every workout is something different and you don't have to worry about getting into a rut.

Working out has led to my diet improving and my drinking has reduced. A year ago I was barely able to run a mile and three days ago I ran ran more than eight. I've run numerous 5Ks, two 10Ks and while I'm not blowing away any records it feels good to get out there and moving.

Last August a group of my college friends invited me to take part in the Tough Mudder on May 18, a 10 to 12 mile obstacle course race that excited and terrifies me. I'm also doing a half marathon in July.

But the culmination of all this will be October 13 when I run the Chicago Marathon. It too is both exciting and terrifying but I'm confident I can do it. My plan with this is to is to chronicle my training and race results as I make the journey to October.

There's another motive too, I'm running the marathon to raise money for the Wright-Way Rescue, the animal shelter that Rory and I got our Matilda.

So, hop on board the crazy running train, it's going to be a heck of a ride.

Matilda cuddling with a toy she would proceed to destroy minutes later.