Running Phat!!

absolutely beautiful things: All Over Red Rover

2011-01-02T09:29:00.000-08:00

absolutely beautiful things: All Over Red Rover

Trail of Tears: Jim's Second Half-Marathon

2008-04-27T17:21:00.000-07:00

Well, I completed my half-marathon Saturday, but I had to be carried away from the venue in an ambulance. I have been fighting allergy symptoms since last weekend and had a NASTY asthma attack starting just before the two-mile mark. In my infinite wisdom, I kept running, although I slowed down. After an experience akin to breathing through a straw for the two miles and a half, the symptoms started to ease up and my trachea felt like it was opening up, just in time for the big downhill on the course which would be a sharp uphill coming back. I felt fine lungwise at this point, but was getting quite fatigued. I walked the sharp uphill coming back. The last four or five miles of the thirteen were a gentle slope downward which I jogged at a relaxed pace. What I didn't know is that my muscles weren't getting much oxygen during the breathing-through-a-straw phase of the race, not to mention the elevation was ~5000 feet, compared to the 1800-2000 at which I had been training. I started to get rather nauseated at mile 11 or so. The real pain came when I reached the finish line and stopped running.

I have never felt an agony like that in my life. I couldn't stand up. I couldn't sit down. I could barely lift my arms. My speech was slurred and it felt like someone was standing on my chest with their hands around my neck. Everything ached and I was dizzy. After I had been stumbling around for about ten minutes, making Cris wonder what I was going to do next, and waiting to see if this agony would eventually subside, the intermediate (EMT-type) approached me and asked me if I needed oxygen. I gladly accepted. He assessed my situation and decided I needed an IV of saline as well. I was nearly panicking as I gasped for each breath. It took about an hour or so for that to calm down. My blood pressure was unbelievably low. About the time the ambulance from town (the course was about 45 miles from the city) got there, my symptoms started to calm down and I was able to speak in complete sentences, though my breathing was still labored. They put me in the other ambulance and off we went to the St. Rose Dominican Hospital, San Martin branch.

By the time I got the hospital I had been given a breathing treatment, about seven liters of oxygen, and a liter and a half of water. The sweat on my head and face had dried and encrusted as salt that was visible by the EMT crew. I had been hooked up to an EKG to make sure my ticker had survived the electrolyte depletion unscathed. When I got into the ER, I was placed in a room where the oxygen and saline treatment continued, copious amounts of blood was drawn, and I was kept under observation. I was there from about noon to eight, then they released me so Cris and I could go home. Cris was there with me the whole time and kept me in good spirits, because she's good like that.

Today I feel groggy and fatigued. My shoulders, hips, legs, and feet are sore, as well as my lower abdomen. My chest still feels a little tight and I'm having to take medicine to keep it under control.

Suffice it to say, I won't be at work tomorrow. I need to rest. I've surmised that (1) allergy season is not a good time for me to do these races, (2) heat, me, and running don't mix well, and (3) if I'm going to run a race at a certain altitude I should train at that altitude. A link to the course (so you'll see what I'm talking about) is below. My time was 2:53:53.

Map and elevation profile of the Lovell Canyon half-marathon, hosted by Calico Racing

uh-oh

2008-03-31T11:40:00.000-07:00

I've taken a week off from training due to my knees bothering me. Resuming tomorrow with normal schedule. The highlight as of lately is the 14.35 miles I ran at Red Rock. I am beyond ready for Lovell Canyon on April 26, so I'm gonna get a few more long ones banged out between now and then, but am keeping a close eye on my knees.

Fun stuff.

Twelve miler down the Las Vegas Strip (and back up)

2008-03-09T18:09:00.000-07:00

My workouts were long this week (eight miles each), but I only had two, plus the twelve miler I did on the Strip this morning. There were quite a few other people out running the strip, too, which was pretty encouraging because we'd greet each other with a smile, a wave, or a head nod. Most of us runners are a friendly bunch. The run took me from the site of the house I own in a historic neighborhood, which is near Charleston Blvd. and Las Vegas Blvd. I took LVB all the way down to the famous Welcome-To-Las-Vegas sign, which is about a quarter-mile south of Russell Road (think Mandalay Bay). I think the biggest challenge was tackling the cross-walk/footbridges at Tropicana, Spring Mountain, and Flamingo, which basically amounted to scaling a flight of stairs, each.

All-in-all, it was a good run. I had no pain and no stiffness or severe fatigue to speak of. I did some yard work at the house I own afterwards, then drove home for a nap. I just scarfed some tuna and cabbage salad for dinner.

31 miles and stomach issues.

2008-03-02T12:37:00.000-08:00

So here's how things went down this week. I put in seven miles Monday, six on Wednesday, seven on Thursday, and eleven for my long run on Saturday. I've had to back off on the throttle a little bit due to my knees acting a little janky. Other than that I had a pretty decent week. Well, other than that and the stomach bug I woke up with this morning. I must've passed about a gallon of water when I woke up. I'm starting to feel better now, but I'm still pretty lethargic. I started yesterday's two-hour treadmill run a bit gassy yesterday, so I'm thinking the condition existed before I even got started, the activity just pushed me over the edge. This problem existed briefly last year when I was training for the Las Vegas Half. My GI doctor said that it's probably ischemic in nature, meaning that blood flow to that nether region is restricted due to it being redirected to my legs and lungs while running. I looked it up. Seems like it's fairly common. Small price to pay, I reckon.

Guess I'll have to watch what I eat when I start to put the miles on. Or something.:-)

Long run, 2/16, what's the haps lately?

2008-02-19T10:44:00.000-08:00

I laid down an eight miler this past Saturday afternoon through downtown LV, to include Freemont Street. It was a lot of fun and seemed to go by very quickly. My knees have been acting iffy lately, not to mention the soreness in my hamstrings and back from pulling weeds in my yard Sunday, so I chilled out last night. The YMCA at which I do a lot of my training was closed, anyway.

I'm going to go ahead a swear by the gels - they frickin' work. I had one during my ten miler a couple of weeks ago at about mile six and boy oh boy did I ever feel a surge of energy. I have learned the value of backing off the throttle on the long runs, given the fit my knees gave me, which I attribute to taking the last four miles of the ten a little too quickly (I think I was in the 9:20 range which is hauling ass for me).

I'm only running three times this week - two sixes and an eleven for the long run on Saturday morning, afternoon, whichever is more comfortable weather wise. I'm feeling good about being ready to go April 26, but I'm keeping a close watch on my knees.

I forgot to mention how perfect the weather has been lately. I'm off to go get my bones cracked. :-)

Long run.

2008-02-11T05:02:00.000-08:00

I put in a ten miler Saturday and averaged about a 10:20 mile overall. It was slow going the first half, mainly due to the steady incline of the road. I was pulling sub-10's between miles six and nine. Nice, until the last mile. That was the time at which my knees started acting up. I even had to stop at one point and massage my kneecaps a little. I think that maybe I should slow it down a little on the long runs, although inside I'm proud that I could haul as much ass as I did after mile six. I'm still pretty sore, in fact, but they say that's a good thing. I have done more work to prepare my muscles for the long haul on race day. :-) In other news I had a pretty solid tempo run last Thursday. In that hour I managed to make it 6.5 miles.

This week:
Monday: Recovery run (I told you I was still sore:-/) - 5 - 6 miles
Wednesday: Intervals - one hour (probably 10K, tentative depending on how my knees are doing)
Thursday: Moderate run - 6 miles
Saturday: "long" run - 8 miles.

That'll be 25-26 miles. I ran 28 last week. I'm pretty happy with the way things are going so far. I'm looking at the idea of possibly doing more than one 13-miler in preparation for the race. It all depends on what my body can handle. :-)

I'm glad I don't live in Mississippi.

2008-02-03T20:08:00.000-08:00

Apparently that state has legislation on the table that would prevent folks with a BMI over 30 (this means me, too) from getting into any restaurant. Says the post at Shapely Prose:

Unless you were living under a rock or had something better to do than read fat blogs yesterday, you already know about the absurd piece of stunt legislation being proposed in Mississippi, which would require (not allow; require) restaurants to deny service to fat people. (Here’s JoGeek, The Rotund, Big Fat Blog, Lindsay, Rachel, Thoughtracer… did I miss anyone?) Of course this is a farcical suggestion, especially as they propose sending restaurants written material on determining whether someone is too fat to eat in public. Presumably this means “advanced eyeballing notes,” since diagnosing “obesity” requires at very least a scale and a ruler, neither of which qualifies as written material. And we all know how effective eyeballing is at determining where someone falls on the BMI scale.

I'm one of the many people on this planet that are living proof that BMI is bullshit. I'm certain the diet industry is every piece of bullshit legislation behind this. They already work hand-in-hand with the food industry to induce the primal indulgence-guilt cycle in all of us. What the Mississippi State Legislature ought to be doing is passing legislation to promote physical fitness. They can start by sponsoring road races and opening user-friendly (this means all users) gyms. As for the over-30 BMI crowd: forget about dieting. Just stay away from junk food (most of the time at least) and get running. That's what I do and my doctor agrees that it's the right thing. And I'm 5'9 and *gasp* 230 pounds. Those flat-bellied delusional bastards can register for my next half-marathon and watch my fat ass jiggle as I gain distance on them, preferably between miles 11 and 13 - a classic tortoise-versus-hare scenario.

Take your BS legislation and shove it.

This week's plan...

2008-02-03T13:37:00.000-08:00

Mon: 6 miles
Wed: 6 miles
Fri: 6 miles
Sat: 9 miles

Total: 27 miles.

I started the glucosamine supplements again Monday of last week. A little pain in my right hip and knee should be alleviated with a trip to the chiropractor and thorough stretching before each workout. Will try to maintain 10:00-mile pace for each run, and about a 10:30-10:45 for the long run.

I've also discovered that I get winded a lot faster if I eat too much on the days I plan my runs. I will more than likely back off on the portions on run days, especially starchy stuff like brown rice and bread. The GI doc says that the decrease in blood flow to my guts is to blame for the phenomena. Enough said there.

Calico Racing Mardi Gras Masquerade 10K

2008-02-02T12:11:00.001-08:00

Pre-race photo op with an inflatable jester.

Time: 1:02:23. w00t! Great times this race. It was definitely a family-oriented event as there were pinatas for the kids (and the adults) after the race. Participation appeared to be about 50-75 folks, including children as young as seven. There was a kid that looked only a little older than my oldest son who passed me like I was standing still (not saying much, seriously. I kid. I kid.). Those youngsters have inspired me to get my kids running shoes and get them signed up for some 5K's. They had plastic Mardi Gras beads for participants to purchase, plenty of chow, and plenty of water along with Hammer HEED sports drink. The goody bag included a t-shirt and (yet another) sample of Udder Cream.

All-in-all, the event was well organized and the staff, friendly. I'm looking forward to Calico's Labor Of Love event on April 26, as mentioned in my inaugural post, where I'll be running the half-marathon again.

Great times, great scenery, great run. Now onto training for the Labor Of Love half. The plan is to maintain running six milers two or three times during the week, then running my long runs on Saturday mornings leading up to race day, toggling between long and shorter runs each Saturday. I think I'll go with 9-6-11-6-11-6-12-6-13-6-8 or 10-race day (distance in miles on each Saturday), or something like that.

calicoracing.com

Hello world!

2008-01-31T12:45:00.001-08:00

After nearly six years I decided to come back to Blogger. This site will be where I chronicle my running adventures, seek encouragement from readers, and encourage other oversized folk like me to get off the sofa and get running. It's a passion and an addiction, believe me.

I started running (this means distance running) when I was getting ready for Marine Corps boot camp. In the Marine Corps I grew to hate running, probably because I was required to do it. I ran off-and-on again after I got out. I was serious about running, but not committed, so I'd let it slide a few months, then get back at it again.

Meanwhile, my weight was an up-and-down roller coaster as I desperately tried to cling on to the shape I had when I was younger. I eventually stopped giving a shit about the numbers, at the advice of my wife and many experts I encountered in real life and on the Intarwebz, and began focusing on making personal fitness fun. I had been playing with the idea of doing a 10K or a half-marathon for a few years. Finally, I signed up for the Las Vegas Half-Marathon in August of 2007. I trained like a mofo for this event, and damn near broke down crying when I finished, after having laughed to myself after every time I propelled by 225-pound (at 5'9") ass past one skinny person after another between miles 11 and 13. I was stoked and proud of what I had accomplished.

I had been bitten by the running bug.

Meanwhile, I had been to the doctor for a physical because I wanted to see how my new *habit* affected my health (and to find out what was going on with my GI tract: lactose intolerance). Turns out that at 5-feet, 9-inches and 228 pounds I ran 116/74 blood pressure, cholesterol at 124, and low blood sugar (don't remember the number) - a picture of health - better numbers than most skinny folk, might I add. I had been eating healthily and still do, scarfing down just enough to help me with the pounding my body was taking at 35-40 miles a week.

As of this post I'm doing a 10K this Saturday and training for another half-marathon that's being held on April 26. I'm putting in about 24-28 miles a week, increasing as I get closer to the Big Day. Since April 26, 2008 is the 110th anniversary of my great-great-grandmother's birth (she died when I was 13), the race will be done in her honor. Coincidentally, the race is called the Labor Of Love. Nice ring to it.

Wish me luck, encourage me, give me advice, whatever. This blog is for the oversized runners out there who are living proof that skinny is not synonymous with fit. I don't mean runners who are over 200 pounds, but happen to be seven feet tall, either. I mean overweight, healthy, endurance athletes, so yes, this is a fat acceptance blog.

Oh, and yeah, I said A-T-H-L-E-T-E-S. Get used to it.

By the way, I have folks like Sarah at fatgirlonabike.wordpress.com to thank for the inspiration in starting this blog up. Solidarity, sister!