My first time running with a partner, even if I did not intend to.

A lot of people say that one of the things they like about running is doing it with other people and having a chance to socialize while exercising.  Also, running with someone keeps you more motivated to actually stick with a plan since there is accountability.  It's a lot harder to put off a workout if you think someone else is waiting for you, even if the other person is thinking the same thing.

That's great and all, but for the most part, I like to run alone.  The main reason is this is the case is that during my workouts I like listening to podcasts on my phone.  I don't need another person to distract me because the podcasts do that.  Running is my chance to get away from people, to get away from my world.

Anyway, today I started an easy 30-minute alone, just like most of my workouts.  I had my phone set up to track the run and was listening to the newest video game podcast (there is a certain irony of listening to a podcast about a sedentary hobby while exercising) that I had downloaded.  I ran up South Street and about a half mile in I heard a jingle behind me.  I thought it was a bike and looked behind me, but didn't see anything.  Then I noticed in the corner of my eye something running diagonally across South Street towards me: a dog.  At first I scared that the thing was going to jump me, but he ran past me.  I started running again and he started following me.  

Another advantage of having my phone with me on my workout is that I have a camera with me.

Last time I wrote about running I talked about nipple chafing as a common problem for runners.  Well, apparently dogs are also a common problem for runners.  I had read about dogs when looking at stuff about running, but figured the problem was dogs attacking or running in your way from out of nowhere or leaving certain surprises in your path.  I never thought the problem would be that an unknown dog would decide to run with you for two miles.

I tried losing the dog a couple times, taking advantage of distractions such as squirrels, but every time I thought I had abandoned him, he found me again.  He kept weaving in front of me as I continued to run, making me worry that he would stop and cause me to trip over him.  Also, the dog forced me to change direction a couple of times because he was about to go into a busy street and I figured if he was going to follow me against my wishes I should at least keep him on side streets to keep him safe.

Perhaps my biggest concern was a selfish one.  During my run I came across several people out and about, whether walking or driving.  As far these people could tell, the dog was mine and I was being a very irresponsible owner, letting him run without a leash.  I think a couple of drivers who had to stop because the dog ran in the street gave me the evil eye, all while I was shaking my head and mouthing "it's not mine".

I kept hoping the dog would get tired or get distracted enough to go his own way.  Unfortunately, the dog made it through the rest of my workout and ended up at my house.

Standing outside our house, he just wouldn't go away.

In fact, even after I went inside, the dog stayed in our yard for an hour or two.  We tried calling a phone number on the dog's collar that appeared to be the owner's number.  Of course, the phone number was not in service.  I think my new friend has finally disappeared and hope that he made his way home.

Looking back, I take back what I said about not wanting to run with others.  I can say that with this running partner, I was distracted enough that I barely noticed I was exercising.

Hey, my eyes are up here! A "sensitive" blog post

WARNING: The following blog post makes reference to male nipples in a strictly non-sexual sense.  If this offends you, please continue reading anyway, since you will likely be offended by anything you come across anyway.

When I started running earlier this year and slowly worked myself up to being able to run for thirty minutes straight, I had no real issues with injuries or ailments that sometimes come with running.  When I ran a 5k in May, there was no problem.

Then, only a couple days after that, in the middle of a twenty-five minute run, I started noticing two areas of sensitivity in my chest area.  My nipples were becoming hard and rubbing against the fabric of my shirt.   I would have blamed the shirt, but it was the very same shirt I had worn for the race.  I also had done my homework and made sure I only wore moisture-wicking technical shirts made of non-cotton materials during my workouts.  Also, the shirt I was wearing was a pretty good fit, so it wasn’t moving too much. 

Yet, there I was in the middle of my run, with my nipples getting irritated.  I couldn’t just stop there because I run away from my house for the first half of a workout and turn back for the second half.  That meant I was about a mile and a half away from home, and I had to continue my workout.  Also, it didn’t really hurt.  Yet.  I continued jogging at a slightly slower pace for about five more minutes holding the front of my shirt out with my hands so they wouldn’t touch my nipples.  That didn’t seem to be working.  I finally decided that my comfort was more important than that of the drivers of South Street, and removed my shirt.  This helped a little bit, but by that point my nipples were so irritated that just the air blowing on them was annoying.

Me, minus the blood and the ability to sing a capella.

When I got home, my nipples were feeling real sore.  And that pain lasted for at least three days, and was bad enough that I did my next run shirtless.  I knew that nipple chaffing was an issue for runners, but I was still caught by surprise when it happened, since I went for so long without it happening.  It turns out I was probably just very lucky for the first three months of training.  This year we actually had a pretty cool/mild spring.  I never had to run in temperatures above 65 degrees, except for a couple hot days during a trip to Denver, but there it was dry.  The day my nipples started chafing, it wasn’t too warm, but it was one of the first really humid days.  I’m a bad sweater, and all I needed was a humid day to make my sweat too heavy for even a moisture wicking shirt to take care of.

One of the problems with nipple chafing is that once it occurs, it just makes the nipples <okay, I’m starting to feel awkward constantly writing the word nipples, but that’s why I gave the disclaimer> more sensitive.  Now I can’t even run in conditions that I used to be able to run in without protection because even merely thinking about nipple chafing is enough to cause it. 

So I had to do something more about it.  My first solution came from some online suggestions: Vaseline.  Vaseline acts as a lubricant so prevents the rubbing between the skin and fabric.  This seemed like a good, economical solution.  Except it wasn’t a solution.  Also:

It kind of stains

Even after several washes with pre-treatment, the greasy and awkwardly placed stains remain.

Since that didn't work, I decided I had to actually cover up my nipples during a workout.  See, one of the reasons that nipple chafing doesn't happen as often to women is they wear sports bras, which naturally hold everything in place and reduces rubbing.  Unfortunately, men don't wear anything like that, so if we're going to cover up our nipples we have to put something "unnatural" on there.  The first thing I tried were some Nexcare Sports Bandages I got at Walgreens because they were free with mail-in rebate <note to self: perhaps you should actually send that in>.  If there's even a little bit of moisture where you are putting them on, they will not stay and the bandage is ruined.  But, if you get them on just fine, they stay on very well, even with moisture.  I'd even say they stay on a little too well (ouch).  Also, when not "free", they are kind of expensive.  So now I use something much cheaper and just as effective, 99 cent Walgreens bandages:

They're cheap, and I would never use them as an actual bandage, but for temporary nipple protection, they're a bargain.

Since I started using the bandages, I have had no problem with my nipples, despite the fact that it is getting warmer and more humid, and I am running for longer distances.  There are fancier (read:more expensive) solutions out there, but this works for me.

Also, I have purchased another product to take care of similar problems called "Body Glide".  It looks like a stick of deodorant and applies non-staining protection to the skin.  Although some claim it works well for nipple chafing, I will stick to actually covering my nipples.  Still, I do use this stuff to prevent other chafing, but since my disclaimer above only mentions nipples, I will not go any further.

Achievement Unlocked: The longest run of my life so far.

Last time, I talked about my experience before the Lucky 7 Fun Run 10k, stopping just at the beginning of the race. Well, here's my experience from the race.

The race was supposed to start at around 8 am, but no action was actually taken until closer to 8:15, when they finally had us line up. Some sort of introduction was made, talking about how the person the race was being held for had passed away and this race was in her memory. Then someone fired off the starter gun, and everyone, except some poor lady who immediately died from a bullet wound, started off. This might be a good time to note that I plan to maintain a 95% factual accuracy rate in my blog.

So we were off. Based on my expertise (from reading, not actually running), I stayed toward the back of the line for the beginning. This is a very good idea for anyone who is not seriously competing in a race because being towards the front puts you with faster people, and you will end up going faster at the beginning than you wanted to. If you run too fast at the beginning, you're using up all your stored energy and will slow down towards the end. Also, it's really hurts your pride when everyone starts passing you halfway into the race.

This worked well for me for the first half-mile. We were on a wide downhill road, and there were a ton of people in front of me, but I could pass a few and remain towards the back of the pack. At one point during this stretch the road bent in a way that you could see what was going on about a quarter of a mile down the road and there were a bunch of people already running there. I'm not going to lie. It's a little disheartening to be trying hard and see a bunch of people ahead of you going at a speed you can't even reach when you try to sprint. Still, there I was, running a long race, and time was not the main reason for me being there.

Then we ended up on a trail that was one or two people wide. Now I was stuck behind a few middle-aged men and women who were not necessarily going slow, but were going slower than I probably wanted to go. Also, as I mentioned they were middle-aged, and I certainly couldn't let them stay in front of me. I had to wait a little while since there were trees on the sides and little room for passing, but I eventually passed them, but it didn't make much difference, since in front of them were a couple dozen more people going the same pace. These people were all twenty- and thirty-somethings, though, so I would just let them be, for now.

I reached the first mile marker and looked at my watch to see that it took me 10 minutes, not bad, but somewhat disappointing. After the first mile marker came the obstacle course. The rain from overnight stopped a little before the race started, but the remnants were still there. A twenty foot stretch of the path was covered in water. Everyone went in the grass to go around it, only to realize that the grass was also ankle deep in water. I went really wide around the trail, about ten to fifteen feet off of it and stayed mostly dry, until I hit an invisible patch of water in the grass that completely soaked my feet. Apparently it was inevitable. Fortunately I was wearing my special moisture-wicking non-cotton socks, so my feet felt relatively dry.

After a couple more puddles, the real fun began. Now, before the race, I had looked at the trail online, and the online map included an elevation chart. One thing this elevation charted noted was that in mile two there would be a mild incline for several hundred feet. I'm not quite sure what the definition of a mild incline is, but this hill was not fun, especially in the middle of a race where you're trying to maintain a modest speed. The worst part when you got to the top of the hill, you started going down a little, only to face another longer hill. All of this uphill running lasted for about 1/3 of a mile. After the hills, I got to the two mile marker and my time was around 20 minutes 15 seconds, meaning this mile took even longer.

The third mile was a little bit of a blur, although I do remember that a little creek was going over a part of the path so there was absolutely no way of avoiding the water. I also remember they had a volunteer pointing the way at a roundabout, which made me a little frustrated because I wanted to take the short way when no one was looking. At the end of the third mile, there was a fork in the road. The vast majority of people were going to the right, toward the 5k finish line. A small and idiotic group of people were going to the left, deciding that another lap around the park sounded like a good idea. I was one such idiot.

At this point my time was well over thirty minutes. While I say my main goal was to finish the race, I was going to be extremely disappointed with myself if I did not run the 10k in less than an hour, or a little less than 10 minutes per mile. I certainly wasn't running my best that morning, but I still should have been able to easily run that speed. I kicked it up a notch, taking a certain pride in passing individual people along the trail. I started passing a few people, all of whom were women. It seems a little sexist, but I really wanted to pass another guy, but since I had passed those middle aged men at the beginning of the race, I hadn't even seen another man. Still, any person passed was a small victory for me. The fourth mile was finished in 9 minutes 15 seconds, making my goal of staying under an hour much more attainable.

As I mentioned, the second part of the 10k was just a repeat of the first, so that meant the fifth mile was the same grueling set of hills as the second mile. By this time, I was a little more tired, but the competitive and stupid person in me noticed some people slowing down on the hills and took advantage of the opportunity to pass them. Towards the top of the hill I really wanted to stop for a walk, but I also knew that I was cutting it close to that hour goal, so I couldn't slow down. I did stop to walk briefly at a water stop while I was drinking, but that was it. Back to running. I ran the fifth mile in about 9 minutes 50 seconds. That was over 20 seconds faster than I ran the equivalent mile two, but it left me with about 11 minutes left to run the final 1.2 miles.

Like the third mile, the sixth mile was a blur to me. Although during training I had run a few hour runs, this was the first time I ran for an hour at a consistent and relatively high speed, and my body was starting to remind me of that. I'm glad there were no runners around me then, because at this point I started chanting "one hour" to myself to motivate myself to keep going. I kept looking at my watch to see how long I had to go. It was approaching 57 minutes and I was getting worried. I still didn't see any sign of the six mile marker. Still, I kept chanting out loud "one hour". 58 minutes. I finally saw the six mile marker. I pressed the lap button on my watch. 9 minutes 10 seconds. Somehow I managed my fastest mile of the race in my stupor, but that would be in vain if I collapsed right before the finish line, which was increasingly seeming possible. Still, I kept running and saw the finish line showing 59 minutes and some seconds on it. I just had to keep going and I would make it. I made it across the finish line at 59 minutes 33 seconds. More importantly, I made it across the finish line. Period. Sorry, that cliche just made me throw up in my mouth a little. Well, while I take care of that, I'll just say, see you next time.

How I Ran a 5K times two

Oh no, it's been over a week since I've written anything. I went out of town for a few days, but that doesn't really explain the rest of those days. Oh well, commitment in blogging --and running-- is not about doing it every day or every time you have it scheduled. No, much more important and difficult is coming back after taking a break.

Anyway, Friday afternoon I made a somewhat spontaneous decision. I decided that I should run a 10k race the next morning. My half-marathon training has gotten me to the point where I can run for about an hour, and that's about the time it takes mortals to finish the 10k, which is a little over six miles. I had known about an event, the Lucky 7 Run, for about a month before and figured that it would be just the right time to try out my 10k. I contemplated signing up during the month, and even got mostly through the registration webpage one time, but never did. This event, though, had day of race registration, so even someone as impulsive as I am could sign up for it. In the excitement of my decision to race, though, I decided it couldn't wait til morning. I went to some gym where they were doing registration for the race and signed up Friday evening.

Of course, after I made the decision to do it, things didn't seem to go very well for me. First, my stomach started acting up. As part of my new running hobby, I've read more about running than is probably necessary or even advisable and know that the worst thing you can do the night before a race is eat too much. And I didn't eat too much. I had a couple pieces of toast with peanut butter, and some oatmeal with fruit at around 5 pm. And half a big box of Chewy Lemonheads later on. I have no idea how my stomach got upset. Sidenote: Chewy Lemonheads are delicious, and I would totally recommend them for those times you aren't as concerned about what goes in your stomach.

Another problem, partially caused by my upset stomach, was my inability to sleep. I have this uncanny ability, whenever I know I have to wake up early in the morning for something important, to forget how to sleep. I know everyone gets this every once in a while, but I'm almost certain it happens to me more often than it happens to you. I went to bed around 11 pm, but did not fall asleep until 1:30 am, which is actually better than what I usually do when I forget to sleep.

That sleep was short lived. At around 4:30, I woke up. The forecast had called for it to storm all morning, but I noted to myself as I glanced toward the window that it was not raining. Almost as if to mock me for thinking it wouldn't rain, the bolt of lightning flashed and thunder roared almost immediately after. Within seconds, it started pouring.

The lightning and thunder and pouring rain were enough to keep me awake, but I also had to now worry about running in the rain. A look at the radar on my phone show that the storm was pretty big and could last for several hours, long enough to still be there come the 8 am start time. Despite the pouring rain, the chances of the event being cancelled were slim. For some strange reason, races are held even in the pouring rain and some crazy people seem to actually enjoy running in the rain. I have never run in the rain. My schedule is flexible enough that I will put off or skip a workout if the weather is too wet or too hot. And now my first "bad weather" run would be for a race, where there would be other runners and masochistic crowds. Bad weather and worry kept me up for probably an hour (or more likely ten long minutes that always feel like an hour to people who need more sleep).

My alarm went off at 6:30, and I got up right away. I had breakfast, but my stomach was still bothering me a little and I was feeling bloated. Nothing too serious for a normal day, but not good if I was going to run. So, there I was, feeling crappy (literally and figuratively) and tired. A look outside revealed it still was very much raining. I was mad at myself because I could have easily backed out of it if I would have just waited to sign up in the morning. Instead, I was already committed. Of course, that was the idea. I know myself well enough to know that I sometimes have to take out what I call an "insurance policy" to guarantee I follow through with something.

Resigned to the fact I was going, I left around 7 am and stopped at Russ's Market to get a poncho or something for the rain. In the dollar section I found some large garbage bags and bought those. I drove slowly towards Pioneer Park, people riding my butt and passing me often, a bad sign when you're going to a race.

When I got there around 7:30 am, the rain actually stopped and the clouds showed signs that they would eventually clear. The ground was wet, but my makeshift trashbag poncho was unnecessary, which made me kind of sad since it took me a few minutes to determine where to put the head hole and how to properly "cut" the hole with my fingers.

For the next half hour I walked around. I also went to the bathroom twice, once because I had to, and once because I'm always afraid if I don't go immediately before I start running, I'll have to go about ten minutes into the run. I also noticed the people around. The crowd wasn't nearly as large as it was for my first race, a 5k in Council Bluffs, IA. I also noticed that most of the crowd was of a decidedly female persuasion. The race was to benefit breast cancer, or the more likely the fighting of it, which probably explains that.

Holy crap, this blog post is over a thousand words long, so I think I will stop here, right before the race actually starts. Come back tomorrow for another exciting installment of "running out of my mind", a Mark Hautzinger production.

How I Ran a 5k: Becoming a Runner

The fact that running has become a hobby for me and that I actually want to run a half-marathon later this year is quite the surprise to me. As I’ve said before, I had no interest in running, and more significantly, before this year, I had no reason to think I was capable of it. I want to make this clear because one of the things I hope to do is encourage others who aren’t runners to give it a try.

In a previous post, I mentioned the Couch to 5k program. To put it simply, this program is the answer to “How I Ran a 5k”. I started the program in March as part of a weight-loss challenge at work. The program consists of nine weeks, with three runs a week.

The first few weeks were pretty easy, with relatively short run intervals followed by walking periods. As you progress, the run intervals get longer. The amazing thing is as the workouts get harder, you find them difficult, but still are able to do them, even if at the beginning you think you couldn’t possibly.

That’s what happened to me during the fifth week. On day one, I ran for five minutes, walked three, ran five, walked three, and ran five more. This wasn’t too difficult, since it was the same as week 4. The second day of the week was a little harder. I would have to do two eight minute runs, with a five minute walk in between. Eight minutes amounts to about three-quarters of a mile. I made it through the workout just fine, although it was the first time I would repeatedly look at my timer to see if the running part was almost up.

The third workout of week 5 is what really shocked me. It called for me to run for twenty minutes straight. The mathematician in me was confused, as this workout seemed to come out of nowhere. Not only was twenty minutes straight much longer than eight minutes straight, but the two eight minute runs only amounted to a total of sixteen minutes of running. That meant not only was this the longest period of continuous running, but it was more total running.

This was definitely the first run that actually scared me, and I doubted my ability to do it. I went into others knowing they’d be difficult, but I didn’t think they’d be impossible.

Still, I decided to try. When the timer on my phone told me I had gone ten minutes and was halfway done, I still felt great. I had essentially run a mile straight without it even really fazing me. I kept on running until I started to really feel it. I was starting to breathe harder and felt some aches in my sides. I looked at the timer and saw I had gone for eighteen minutes. I only had two minutes to go, and there was no way I was going to stop. Maybe it was adrenaline or something, but those last two minutes were both the most tiring and most relaxing minutes I have ever run. It was in those two minutes I realized: I am a runner.

How I Ran a 5k: Extreme Weight-loss Edition

At the beginning of this year I decided to sign up for a weight-loss challenge at work. The prizes were kind of crappy, especially since I think the winner the year before got a TV or something, but that wasn't the point. I knew that it was a good chance to force me to eat a little healthier and stick with working out.

I figured I could be successful because I had previously lost large amounts of weight before in the past. After my freshman year of college, I weighed in somewhere over 230 pounds. I don't think it was the "freshman 15," because I probably weighed close to that after high school even though I never weighed myself. During that summer, I started playing Dance Dance Revolution every day for about 45 minutes. I didn't make huge changes to my diet, with the possible exception that that was the time I decided that eating a full frozen pizza for one meal was not a good idea.

Anyway, by doing an exercise that I found fun, I lost about 30 pounds and for the first time in years, the weight on my driver's license was accurate. Through the rest of college I regained a few pounds, but was lighter than my freshman self. After that, I really put on the weight again. Towards the end of my first year of law school, I had ballooned to 240 pounds. Partially because I was getting married soon in the summer after my first year of law school and partially because I started having acid reflux problems around that time, I again resolved to lose some weight. Fortunately, because of the mentioned acid reflux problem, junk food was making me feel like crap if I ate too much, I had an easier time eating somewhat healthier. I also started lifting weights and playing DDR again.

Oh yeah, let me get back to talking about the weight-loss challenge at the beginning of this year. My weight has ballooned back and forth the last couple years, and most of last year it stayed pretty stable at about 215 pounds. I decided it was time to try to get back to 200 and try to lose even more weight than that, since even at my best 200 pounds seemed to be my plateau.

Of course, it wasn't just about the weight. It was also about shutting up a nagging little voice. No not some voice in my head (I'm not that crazy). I'm talking about the Balance Board mascot thing in Wii Fit. I would use Wii Fit as my scale and everyday, even after it congratulated me for losing weight, it would smugly say, "That's overweight". That's because my Body Mass Index was still somewhere around 26, putting me in the overweight category. To get to the "normal" category, I would have to get below 190 pounds, something Iassumed was impossible. But as they say, a picture is worth a thousand words.

On April 12, 2011, I achieved my goal of being "normal".

Of course, I just realized I didn't tell you how this happened, although I'm sure you can figure out that training to run a 5k had something to do with it.

I guess I'll just have to go into that next time, since this post went longer than I expected, and didn't really say anything.

How I Ran a 5k, the prequel

As I mentioned in my last post, I literally had never run a mile before this year. In school, I only did as much running as was required of me, and even then I cheated the system to do even less than that. During my senior year of college, I made a noble effort to start running, after noticing all the people jogging through my neighborhood and how happy they were. To be honest, I have no idea if they were actually happy, but they were attractive so therefore must have been happy. I decided to take it slow, and was going to run for a block, then walk for a block, and so on.

This lasted exactly half a block. And that was the extent of my running in the year 2005.

Fast forward to last year, when I heard about a wonderful program called "Couch to 5k". The idea of the program was to, in the matter of eight weeks, take someone who couldn't run around the block (or halfway down it) and turn them into someone who could run an entire 5k race, or a little over 3 miles. It did this by starting you off slow, jog for 1 minute, then walk for 90 seconds. Repeat for 20 minutes.

The best part of this plan, at least for me, was there was an app for it. I had an iPod touch and saw that there was an app that would keep track of where you were in the program and that it would give you audio cues during the workout to let you know when to speed up and to slow down. Also, you can listen to your own audio while using the app, which was added incentive.

So I used that app and after about five weeks I got to Week 3 of the program. For some reason I can't remember, that was the end of that. I'm sure it was just my feet hurting a little bit and me being a baby, but whatever it was, my ambitions to become a super runner were over.

Then this year, I tried the program again, and succeeded. But that, my friends, as well as how I met your mother, is a story for another time.

P.S. Couch to 5k really is a wonderful thing. Check it out: Cool Running | The Couch to 5k Running Plan