Race for the Bacon 5K 2012 Recap

Friends, another race and another 4 for 4 on my goals.  I got to stretch and goof around with a Racing Sausage before the race.  My leg feels good and no new injuries.  I ran the first mile in under 9 minutes and finished in 28:20 (unofficial), which is a new personal record.  Then got to hang out with some friends, drinks some beer and eat a lot of bacon.  Taking look at my goals below, that covers all my goals.

• Have Fun!
• Finish Without Injury
• Finish in less than 30:42
• Finish in less than 29:06

Now, after I finished, and before the beer, a funny thing happened.  I turned into that guy wandering the course the cheering everyone on.  My friend John did the 10K version of the race, so I started by going around to cheer him on, but I like it when random people cheer for me, so I cheered for whoever ran past me.  It is definitely an interesting form of people watching.  Some people are just focused on the running, and I don't think they even heard me.  Others gave me a half-hearted smile with a little eye-roll on the side.  I know most of my cheers are cheesy, but hey, I'm trying here. :)

Then there were the people who were struggling.  They were the people I was really cheering for.  I'd make eye contact with them, they would give me a thank you nod, anything more would be wasted energy, and they would keep running as hard as they could.  I've been there, and I know that a couple words from a stranger can help you take that next step, and the step after, and the step after that.  If you can push yourself and just keep taking that next step, and not give up, you can finish.  For some people, that might be the encouragement and the step they need to set they own personal record.  I feel good for accomplishing my goals and setting a new personal record.  I feel better knowing I may have helped someone else reach their goals.  

Race for the Bacon 5k 2012 Goals

My next race is tomorrow, so it is time to put down some goals for the run.

• Have Fun!
• This is a race for bacon, where we eat bacon when we are done.  If I can't have fun, I'm doing it wrong.
• Finish Without Injury
• I've written a lot about my leg, enough said.
• Finish in less than 30:42
• I ran this course on New Year's Eve and finished in 30:42.  I've trained a lot since then, I know I can beat this time.
• Finish in less than 29:06
• This is my best official time and this is a chip timed race, so I'm sticking with 29:06 as my personal best.  Although, I have to admit I'm really hoping to beat 28:50 to not have to worry about an official & unofficial personal best. :)

Check back this weekend for the results!

Week 6-4 Wrap-Up & Week 6-11 Plan

Last week I was going to rest more and get my leg to 100%, but that didn't really work.  Two things are working against me with that plan.

First, it is just going to take longer than a couple weeks to get back to 100%.  I'm getting bruising on lower leg, which with the other symptoms, make me think it is a grade 2 strain.  I'm looking at 1-3 months to get back to 100%.

Second, I don't really want to slow down.  I've stayed away from specific exercises that cause pain, but really I just want to keep going.  I can take full strides when I run.  I need to do some extra stretching and be careful as I warm-up, but I can plant and cut in volleyball and basketball.  I'm careful with it, but I am going to keep going, and I am going to keep getting stronger as it heals.

There is one highlight from the week that I'm very proud of.  I wrote about it in detail here, but I ran over 7 miles on Saturday.  It was tough, but now I know that even if my leg doesn't get any better, I can run my 10K distance.

Alright, that's enough about last week, here's what's on my plate for this week.

Week 6-11 Plan
Monday: 2 Mile Run & Strength Training - Done!
Tuesday: Volleyball & Strength Training - Done!
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: 5K Race for the Bacon! (Look for a Race Goals post tomorrow)
Friday: Basketball
Saturday: Rest or Run
Sunday: 6.5 Mile Run

This could be the first week I top 15 miles, it will all depend on how my legs feel on Saturday morning.

Hank Aaron State Trail Run

I had a great run on Saturday morning, even though I got a little lost (more on that later).  I decided to do my long run on Saturday and a friend of mine recommended I check out the Hank Aaron State Trail.  Now, this is one of those cases where you discover something awesome in your neighborhood that you never knew was there.  It turns out the trail runs straight through West Allis and there are two entrances to the trail within a mile of my house.

I set out before 6:00 AM for my run, to beat the heat, and headed straight for the trail.  Turns out this is a great place to run.  Most of the trail is paved, where it isn't paved it is hard packed gravel, so it is a smoother run than going along streets.  There weren't many other people on the trail, probably because it was so early, and the people I did see were friendly.  When I got about half-way through my run, I saw this cool mural.

After I kept going, the trail switched gravel, and then to a dirt path.  Before I knew it, the dirt path disappeared and I was just running next to some railroad tracks.  I had enough distance for the first half of my run, so I decided to turn around and back-track.  As I was running back, I saw a biker heading into the area I just came out of, which makes me feel a little better about the next part.  As I got back to the mural, I paid a little more attention to the bridge on my right and found this:

Yep, I was just in my own world, looking at the mural, completely ignoring the bridge and sign clearly telling me to turn and follow it.  Well, now I know for next time, and there is a whole new part of the trail for me to explore!

Thursday Injury Report

It's Thursday, so I thought I would pretend I'm in the NFL with a required injury update today.  As coach McCarthy would say, "He's got a calf."  For whatever reason, the Packers coach just refers to the body part that is injured as the actual injury.  I think it's part of how coaches try to hide information about injuries, but I just think it is funny.

Overall, my leg is getting better.  Today it was sore and I had to do a couple extra heat and ice treatments, but that is my own fault.  I played basketball yesterday, and I played well, then followed it up with a run this morning.  By the end of the run I could tell I had pushed it to the limit and it was going to hurt today.  The good news is that 12 hours later, it feel like it did before I played basketball yesterday, tight and a little sore.

I'm going to take a rest day tomorrow so I will have a full 48 hours between runs.  I have a busy weekend ahead, but I am going to try to get 2 runs in this weekend.  I'll do a shorter 2-3 mile run with some strength exercise on Saturday, then a longer 5-6 mile run on Sunday.  If I can get through the weekend with my leg continuing to feel better, I know I will be back to 100% soon.

Check back on Sunday to find out how I did!

Week 6-4 Plan

Last week was all about my leg injury and race, which I have written a bunch about, so I'm skipping that here.  Moving on from last week, I want to get my leg back to 100%, so I'm going to deviate from previous plan.  Here's what was planned for the week:

1 Stretching Session
2-3 Cross Training Sessions
1-2 Strength Sessions
3 Mile Run
2 Mile Run
5 Mile Run

Instead, I'm going to focus on just doing what I can through most of the week, and a 5 mile run on the weekend.  If I can do that, I'm sure I can pick up the last couple weeks of training and finish strong from my 10K.

Laura's Smile Mile 5K 2012 Recap

It was a beautiful day for a run at the lakefront on Saturday for the race, and I made the most of it.  Here were the goals I went into the race with:

• Don't Make My Injury Worse
• Just Finish
• Finish in 31.24
• Finish in 29.06

I can't  believe it, but I accomplished all four goals.  The race wasn't chip timed, so my time in unofficial, but I'm still proud of running a 28.50.  That is 16 seconds, or about 5 seconds a mile, faster than my best time.  I'm just smiling at imagining what I could have done on two good legs!

In terms of my leg injury, I'm happy to report I did not make my injury worse.  My leg still hurts, and hurt on every stride of the race, but it isn't any worse.  If anything, the calf is better, but my lower leg is sore.  I'm assuming this is from compensating for the injury.  I'm continuing the ice, heat & stretching, so I expect I will be back to 100% soon.