The 2012 Tulsa Run 5K

Shirt/bib/tag - what
more do you need?

As episode two in my three 5K race trilogy - beginning with the 2012 St. John's Tulsa Zoo Run and concluding with next month's Route 66 5K - this race was definitely my Empire Strikes Back, my Dark Knight. Like Empire, I was excited for it but after the sheer exhilaration of the first installment, held little hope that it would compare favorably to the one before it. And like The Dark Knight, it was a beautiful experience that I'll soon come to realize was merely a transitional phase between where I was and where I am now.

I've been anticipating this race since about three hours after the end of last one, and though I (successfully) braved the Expo on Friday during lunchtime to get my bib and D-tag, the jitters didn't begin to set in until later that evening. That's when I made the mistake of walking the course through downtown Tulsa.

I really didn't have to go out of my way to do this - one of my boys takes piano lessons downtown, and so I had ninety minutes to kill anyway. On Tuesday, I had anticipated walking it but instead ended up going on a little walking tour of the downtown area. Tonight, I was determined to focus on the task at hand - familiarize myself with the lay of the land and the course I'd be running the next day.

Boy, was that ever a mistake! I had driven downtown thousands of times on the very streets I was walking now, yet never did I realize how steep some of the hills were, or even that there were that many hills. On top of that, it was cold and windy, and the wind whipping through the buildings made it seem that much colder.

The final leg of the run was to be northbound on Boston Avenue - much of the final kilometer would be uphill! When I mentioned this to a friend who's wife is running the 15K (and ran it last year), he commented that she hated that final approach last year.

When I arose this morning, I drank some decaf (Bonnie's new dietary kick) and saddled up Zeus for a walk around the running trail we usually visit every morning. We ended up doing five kilometers - four walking and one running. I ran that last one because a) I couldn't resist the temptation to run a little, and b) it was 32 degrees and I was a little chilly, and thereby in a bit of a hurry to get back to the warmth of the car.

I am by no stretch of the imagination a superstitious person, but something happened on the run this morning that made me believe I was going to, if not do well, at least not embarrass myself. We found a tennis ball by the new tennis courts just as we hit the three kilometer mark. This took me back to the Friday before the Zoo Run, when I found a stray baseball by the baseball diamonds on the other side of the running trail - a sign from above, maybe? I pocketed the ball, which was not a popular decision with Zeus, who thought HE should get to keep it. Finder's keepers, I told him. I pouted the rest of the way back to the car.

Dad and Ian, cold but ready to run!

After an early breakfast, we packed up the family and headed for downtown. Ian and I were doing the 5K, while Bonnie and the rest of the kiddos were doing the 2K Fun Run.

Ian and I lined up halfway between the 8-minute-mile and 9-minute-mile signs (a happy coincidence, as it would turn out, as I ended up running an 8:30 pace) and waited in the cold, jumping around, taking pictures and engaging in general silliness to pass the time. Then the announcements, a beautifully sung national anthem and the starting gun!

To be honest, I don't remember much of the actual race. For the first kilometer, Ian and I paced each other before he moved to the side and began to slow a little. I took that opportunity to begin weaving my way forward through the bunches of runners, which never really thinned out until after the turnaround over the bridge and well into the third kilometer.

Midway through the first kilometer, rushing
headlong down Boulder Avenue.

I can remember passing specific buildings, but there was really nothing of note in this race for me. I never hit the wall, never struggled with pace or breathing, and the uphill/downhill nature of running out of downtown to Veteran's Park and back didn't seem to make an impact. I held a nice, stead pace throughout the entire run. Had the same issue breaking out of the crowd during the first kilometer that I had at the Zoo Run, and posted my slowest split of the five at 5:13.

Approaching the turnaround on the 23rd St. bridge

After making the turnaround and passing Veteran's Park, I stuck the earbuds in and let the Dave Matthews Band and David Gray sing me to the finish line. I'd agonized over this decision - one, whether to even bring the earbuds, and two, what to listen to should I need or want to. I've been listening to the Life Is Good radio stream from their website, and it's really had a calming effect on my psyche this week, so it seemed a good idea to move some DMB and Bruce Springsteen to my phone. This proved to be a good decision - my splits for kilometers 2-4 were right around 4:50, but I clocked a 4:01 (!) on the final kilometer, which was surprising considering the unrelenting uphill nature of the section of Boston Avenue.

Finish line in sight...! Major props to the woman
going sleeveless in the 30 degree weather!

And then as we passed 10th Street (the finish line was at 4th and Boston), the cheers started to pick up as you could hear families and friends cheering on the runners - that more than anything prompted me to kick it into a higher gear for the final half mile. There were also a couple of humorous signs that made me chuckle - "You're doing great, random runner I don't know" and "Why do all the cute guys keep running?" were two of my favorites.

And then I was crossing the finish line, getting my bling and bottle of water, and being herded down the chute towards the free beer, bagels and candy bars. Here's how I felt at that moment:

And here's the official line:

276th overall, 10th in my division. For only my second race, I'm happy with that...

...and I'm already counting down the days until the Route 66 Marathon weekend and the 5K race I'll be running that Saturday. I know one thing - I'll be ready for it!

#Twitterholics Anonymous

Hello. My name is Steve. I'm a #Twitterholic.

(See? I can't even type it without the hashtag. :-/ )

My story is the same as most of you, I suspect. I joined Twitter a couple of years ago because it was new (to me) and kinda cool. Mike & Mike on ESPN2 referenced the Twitter accounts of various athletes. I saw hashtags on my TV screen, in magazines, virtually everywhere it seems. So I created an account.

For the longest time I had four followers - my sister-in-law, a co-worker, a woman who had a crush on me, and Paula Poundstone. Now, don't get the wrong idea - I love Paula, but she hasn't a clue who I am. If you approached her and said "Hey, Steve Benway says 'hi'!" she'd most likely smile and say "Great, how's he doing?" because she's that nice, but she would have no recollection of ever having heard of me. However, she HAS favorited a couple of my tweets, and RT'd me once or twice, so in my head we're THIS close to being actual IRL friends.

Then a funny thing happened - I began running. I run early in the morning with my dog, and there aren't a whole lot of people willing to drag themselves out of bed at 4AM to run with me. Zeus has no choice, and he's always happy to get out of the yard, even if it means running in circles for 30-45 minutes. Mrs. B, on the other hand, becomes violent if anyone disturbs her before 6:15AM (8:00AM on the weekends), and I know better (after nearly fifteen years of experience with her) than to shake THAT tree.

So I began casting about for different ways to make connections with other runners, and Twitter seemed to lend itself wonderfully to that task. The list of people I was following slowly evolved from the feed for Men's Health magazine and 80's hair-metal bands to runners posting their times/distances and the feed for Runner's World magazine.

And I began posting my times and distances as well.

Now I should make it clear that I'm not a social media newbie - I've been on Facebook for years. However, not many of my Facebook friends are runners. In fact, I took quite a bit of good-natured ribbing for posting my morning runs every day.

Twitter is different, though. I've made actual connections with runners across the country. I've tried to mainly connect with runners who are better than I - marathoners and half-marathoners, experienced runners, fitness buffs and nerds - and I've made some very real friendships along the way. These are the people who will check with you to make sure you're okay if you miss a day, who are genuinely interested in your success and know you're genuinely interested in theirs.

But no one really talks about the dark side of Twitter. Oh, I was warned. When I started to become more involved in it, I also started to push it on other people as well. One friend told me that she had been into it years ago, but had to quit because it began to take over her life. [Happy to report that I've gotten her sucked back into it, just like any good pusher would do! :-D ] I scoffed at her, secure in my belief that I could manage my time online as well as offline.

And that should have been my first clue, when I began referencing the two aspects of my life as "offline" and "online." But I ignored the warning signs. I began to crave followers, following anyone I could find, trying to grab low-hanging Tweep fruit...

Finally, something clicked in my head, and I knew that I needed help. I also knew the only one that could help me...was me. I started by scouring the list of people I was following - anyone that was not a special interest that related specifically to running (sorry, Jimmy The Bartender and Jerry Seinfeld) or a runner whom I'd followed and never received a reciprocated follow (you know who you are...well, I guess not, since you won't see this blog) was gone. I whittled the list of people I followed down to twice the number of the people following me - as I type this, the ratio is 381/211, a very respectable following-to-follower ratio for some dude in the midwest who isn't famous and just likes to run.

But my story doesn't end there...

I had just finished my morning run. My normal practice at that point is to attempt a second plank (oh, what a joyous day when my second plank after a three mile run exceeds two minutes!), pet and hug Zeus (fragile Doby ego, you know), and then write up and post my run to Daily Mile and Twitter. This usually takes 5-10 minutes, depending upon how verbose I'm feeling that morning and how much coffee I've already ingested.

My mistake, after accomplishing all of this, was to check my feed for new Tweets. I had a number of them, and as a couple were back East and one was in London, they were wide awake and ready to talk.

Suddenly, I realized that a bored Zeus was nudging me from the back seat, it was starting to get lighter outside, and there were more walkers and runners at the park than I was accustomed to seeing at 5:20AM...because it wasn't 5:20AM, it was 5:45AM, and I should already be home and in the shower so that Mrs. B would have enough hot water for HER shower at 6:15AM.

So I put down my phone, started the car, and started for home.

Not before tweeting about it, of course:

By the way - I had most of this blog composed in my head by the time I reached the house ten minutes later. Is there a support group for this sort of thing? I certainly hope not...

My Home(down)town

With the Tulsa Run 5k, my second official race, coming up this Saturday, I thought it might be nifty to walk the course through downtown Tulsa to see exactly what I had let myself in for. Downtown Tulsa is pretty flat, and I've done the Fun Run with the kiddos the past few years, but have never done any serious running there. I was going to be stuck downtown for 90 minutes anyway, so it seemed like the smart thing to do.

Then I started wandering. Although not a big downtown area, it is spread out over a number of miles, with many interesting landmarks and architectural sites. Tulsa is the second-largest city in Oklahoma, behind only the capital of Oklahoma City. As of the 2010 census, the population stands just north of 390,000 people.

Settled in the early 1800's and located in "Tornado Alley," downtown is situated on the Arkansas River, it is often referred to as "Green Country," especially by meteorologists who are looking to shorthand "the northeastern part of the state."

ONEOK Field

My first stop was the newly built ONEOK Field, home of YOUR TULSA DRILLERS, the double-A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies. The Drillers moved here from Drillers Stadium at the Tulsa State Fairgrounds for the 2010 season; Tim McGraw threw out the first pitch on April 8th of that year before the Drillers fell to the Corpus Christi Hooks, 7-0. This is the view from the main gate at 2nd and Elgin - holding my camera threw the fence, you're looking at the right-field view of home plate. Many good memories here - seeing the Drillers beat the Rockies this year in a pre-season game, Girl Scout campout, company picnic and fireworks show a few weeks ago...really, a fun place to watch a game.

John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park

Right across the street from the stadium is the John Hope Franklin Reconciliation Park and Monument. Surrounding the monument is a hedge-lined labyrinth, and the entire park, nestled in between the stadium, I-244 and dilapidated warehouses, is serene and calm. The park is part of Tulsa's historic Greenwood District, which was one of the wealthiest African-American communities in the U.S. in the early 20th centurty. The area was known as the "Black Wall Street," and was the scene for the horrific 1921 Tulsa Race Riot, one of the most devastating race riots in American history.

Guthrie Green - view of the stage from the pavillion

My next stop was Guthrie Green, an entire city block opened in Setpember of this year (2012) in the Brady Arts District. With a stage on the south end (where I saw The Wailers a few weeks ago), a covered pavillion on the north, and framed by water fountains, this is really one of the most beautiful green areas in all of Tulsa, not just downtown. The park is big enough for kids to run around and play - there's a spash pad for the hot days (left center of picture), and plenty of space to spread out and listen to some good music or stare at the clouds and nap.

Historic Cain's Ballroom

What can be said about the historic Cain's Ballroom that hasn't already been written? Right around the corner from Guthrie Green, it is perhaps the best place to see a show in all of Tulsa - standing room only, great view of the stage from wherever you're standing, horrible acoustics - what more could you need? Saw Grouplove here a couple of weeks ago with Mrs. B, and we also saw Jonathan Coulton and They Might Be Giants a few months ago. As I took this pic, people were arriving to see Todd Snider, Jason Isbell and Amanda Shires - never heard of any of them, but I'm sure they put on a killer show. How could you not, with the spirit of Bob Wills smiling down upon each and every performer.

The BOK tower

Leaving the Brady Arts District and heading back towards downtown proper, I crossed over the Main Street pedestrian bridge and was greeted by a spectacular view of the BOK tower, which at one time was the tallest skyscraper in the eight state region comprising Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Missouri, Arkansas and New Mexico. It is currently second only to the Devon Tower in Oklahoma City. It was built in 1975 by the same architect who designed the World Trade Center, Minoru Yamasaki - I think the similarities are obvious.

The sculpture in the foreground, by the way, is the Artificial Cloud, created for the 1991 Mayfest by Native American artist Robert Haozous. It lies several feet to the south and west of the "Center Of The Universe" acoustic anamoly outside of the Oklahoma Jazz Hall Of Fame. Standing over 72 feet tall, and was created with the premise that people would be more interested in looking at a rusty steel cloud then they would at actual clouds.

7th and Boulder in downtown Tulsa

Keeping in mind my original mission, I crossed the Main Street bridge and walked over to the intersection of 5th and Boulder, in front of the Tulsa World building. This is historically been the starting line for Saturday's Tulsa Run - a quick check of the website as I was writing this revealed that the new Start Line is at 7th & Boulder, a couple of blocks south. Good thing I checked! This pic is taken from the steps of One Williams Tower, and in the past has provided a stellar view of the runners taking off for their various races.

Chocolate/Pistacio gelato - yum!

No walk of downtown Tulsa would be complete without making a food stop somewhere - Hey Mambo, Elote, Enso, The Vault, McNellie's...all would have been worthy choices, but I elected (since I hadn't eaten dinner yet) to stop at Mod's Coffee And Crepes for a gelato. A small chocolate/pistacio mix hit the spot!

And this whole walking tour thing was so much fun, I imagine I will be doing again very soon, and before very long!

I started my walk around 5:30 and finished around 6:15 - as I was eating my gelato, dusk was just starting to fall. I then went to pick up my son from his music theory lesson (had to finish my treat first - it's not that I'm selfish, I just didn't want to spoil his dinner!) and by the time I'd gotten there to pick him up, darkness had already fallen, marking the end of my walking trip downtown...

Tulsa skyline after dark...

Another One Of Those Days...

It's already been one of those days.

Mrs B and I got in from Rocktoberfest around midnight-thirty and fell into bed. I was awakened at 6am by Mrs B's phone alarm going off downstairs. I trudged down the stairs, turned off her phone, and started the coffee. While it was brewing (which seemed to take forever), I turned on The Weather Channel, and noted that it was 41 degrees outside...ugh, another cold weather run.

Poured my first cup of coffee and decided to get my Plank-a-day out of the way.  Here's the subsequent post on Daily Mile:

That's right, my plank was interrupted by a pesky insect. *Sigh*

I poured a second cup of coffee, leashed up Zeus, and headed over to the running trail. Here's my subsequent post from THAT trip:

To expand upon my observations:

I don't often run that late in the morning, for a number of reasons. First, as I have to get ready for work AND get the kids ready and to school every morning, I have to be out the door by 7:15, which means I have to be in the shower by 6am, which means I have to start running by 4:45, which means I have to be up at 4am. Every week day. As a result, my body has become accustomed to rising early, and do so even on the weekends. I've never been a "sleep in" kind of guy, and even less so now.

Second, and most importantly, if Zeus is out on the trail with me and there's any sort of daylight, then the number of rabbits, squirrels and birds increases exponentially (and his attention span decreases by the same degree). Therefore, I've found it most effective to be finished running before there's any hint of sunlight.

Along Hudson Street, which runs parallel (sort of) to the back two kilometers of the running trail, there are a number of houses whose backyards face the street. At 5am, the dogs that live in those backyards are either still inside or fast asleep. We NEVER have dog barking issues during the week.

Today was different, as it seems every dog was awake and out and ready to distract us (and by "us" I mean "Zeus".)

We were running north, which meant I was between Zeus and the dog yards. On three separate occasions he came across the front of me to investigate the barking from the yard across the street. On each of those occasions, I nearly took a header as I tried to simultaneously jump out of his way and pull him back in line so we could proceed.

When I wrote the post above, I was just kidding about making puppy burgers.  When I wrote it in my mind immediately after the third episode, however, I was dead serious. Lucky for Zeus there are no free standing grills along the running trail.

And just a quick note about the third item - this has been a great concert year for me. I've seen a lot of bands that I have loved for years or have just discovered - Seether, Bush, My Darkest Days, Staind, Godsmack, Shinedown, Papa Roach, Adelitas Way, P.O.D, Jonathan Coulton, They Might Be Giants, Lit, Hellyeah, Buckcherry, Hinder - and have had to suffer through comparatively few bands that "someone else" (not naming names) likes in order to do it - James Taylor, Grouplove and Nickelback come to find - and I'm sure there were others that I don't remember or have blocked from my memory. I've seen far more bands this year than in the last few years combined!

Many of these I've already uploaded to Facebook, but I'll share them again here as my tribute to a great concert season!

Buckcherry - Rocktoberfest, Oct 2012

Godsmack - Rockstar:Uproar August 2012

Hellyeah - Rocktoberfest 2012

Hinder - Rocktoberfest 2012

Papa Roach - Rockstar:Uproar 2012

At Rockstar:Uproar Festival in
Bonner Springs, KS

Shinedown - Rockstar:Uproar 2012

Staind - Rockstar:Uproar 2012

Hottest Chick at Rocktoberfest!

Freezing our butts off waiting for Hinder
at Rocktoberfest 2012

Milestones and Nirvanas

So, I reached a bit of a milestone this morning on my quest to be ready to run a 10k race next Spring - I ran over seven uninterrupted kilometers! 

(One of my health and fitness-minded tweeps demanded to know the miles - that's 4.34 miles. You're welcome, Michelle.)

Just in case you have not had your fill of pictures of sweaty men and uninterested, camera-shy dogs today, here's what we looked like after 7 kilometers:

We're not looking at anything in particular,
just posing dramatically for the pic!

My friend, fellow runner and unofficial run coach (because I'm not paying her for tips and advice) Becky was a serious runner in high school, and is now getting back into it. She's been giving me tips and tricks and encouragement, and one of the things she's passed along to me are stories of how, in certain races and at certain distances, she would suddenly shift into an almost effortless state of running. In this state, her breathing would become easier, her stride would come more naturally, and there would be virtually no effort to the run for her - a sort of Nirvana on the track or trail.

This morning I finally experienced a limited version of this. Up until this morning, the farthest uninterrupted run (i.e. no stops or slowing down to a brisk walk) I'd been able to do was just over 5.8 kilometers, or 3.6 miles. This morning was a bit different, although I'm not entirely sure of the reason. I've had some soreness in my calves in recent days, and as a result I skipped yesterday's (Sunday) run altogether. When I awoke this morning to my usual 4 a.m. alarm, I briefly considered skipping today as well, but the thought of missing two days in a row was too much, so I went downstairs, started the coffee, popped a couple of Advil, and turned on The Weather Channel (TWC, I believe, is just one of many gifts God has given me).

Out the door and to the park we went. As we started to get into the run (well into the first kilometer), I was feeling pretty decent (pain had subsided to a dull, nearly unnoticeable ache - thanks, Advil, another gift from God to me). However, at the 1km mark, it became evident that this was going to be a struggle today, as Bambi announced in my ear, "One kilometer in six minutes and zero one seconds."

(Quick aside - I hate the way Bambi pronounces kilometer - "kilo-METER." Ugh.)

As I'm used to running a 5:30-ish kilometer, the subsequent km's were nearly as disheartening - 5:43, 5:54, 5:52, 5:41, 5:47 and 5:41. 

However, something strange happened about halfway through kilometer #5 - the sand of the trail became less daunting, the duck pond to my left seemed suddenly tranquil, my breathing became a non-issue, my legs began to feel lighter...I was either having a heart attack or I was experiencing what it was like to be "in the zone."

Who needs OU/Texas when you have a front yard?

This was actually the second time I was "in the zone" in the last few days. The first was Saturday morning during the Red River Shootout (OU vs. Texas, for all you non-college football fans). No, I wasn't at the Cotton Bowl this weekend. I had it better - I was playing football with my crew in the front yard, and man, they couldn't stop me, they could only hope to contain me.  Which they could not do. And so they did what any group of 10- and 12-year-old's would do - they kicked me out of their game and played themselves, leaving me the honor of shooting the video of their front yard heroics.

Anyway, it turned out not to be a heart attack.  As Bambi informed me that I had just run "six kiloMETERS in thirty-four minutes, fifty-eight seconds, last kiloMETER in five minutes, forty-seven seconds," I knew I could easily keep going. And that's what I did.

The feeling of running a sixth and seventh kilometer, and having it be easier than any of the previous five, is indescribable. I literally felt as if I'd just started running instead of already having been out there for the last 30 minutes - totally lost in the music blasting in my ears, right up to the moment Bambi informed me that I had completed seven kilometers. I was tempted to keep running further, but I knew this was foolish at this point in my training, and I didn't want to risk any further injury to my calves (or anything else, for that matter), so we slowed to a brisk walk, turned around, and went back to the car (and after a few stretches snapped the pics above).

My goal this week had been to run six uninterrupted kilometers, and I'd managed seven on the first day! Not only did I blow my weekly goal out of the water on the first day, I alleviated all of my guilt over the big pancakes-and-bacon breakfast the kids and I made (and gorged on) last Saturday morning! Win-win!

I love it when a plan falls apart and comes back together even better than before!

Pancakes, bacon and guilt, anyone?

As an added bonus: Zeus, the most camera-shy dog in the world!

The Great No-Bake Energy Bites Experiment!

My no-bake energy bites are cooling their heels in the fridge, so I thought it would be a good time to start this post. I have no idea how they're going to come out...you'll find out right along with me!

A good friend of mine, cognizant of my near-constant snacking, sent me a link to Gimme Some Oven's No-Bake Energy Bites. Intrigued, I decided to try my hand at it.

Tonight's participants - oats, wheat germ, honey,
peanut butter, fruit, chips, walnuts

I'm no cook (not even a no-bake cook), but this sounded relatively easy. After dinner, I ran to the store and picked up the ingredients I didn't already have - rolled oats, chocolate chips, dried fruit, honey - and headed home to begin the experiment.

Here's the thing about me and recipes. Sometimes I painstakingly measure each ingredient, and sometimes I don't. Tonight, I winged it.

The original recipe calls for:
1c. dried oats
2/3c. toasted coconut flakes
1/2c. peanut butter
1/2c. flaxseed or wheat germ
1/2c. chocolate chips
1/3c. honey
1tbsp vanilla

Here's what my recipe ended up being:
2c. rolled oats
some peanut butter
2/3c.-ish wheat germ with flaxseed
1/2c. walnuts (that was the entire package)
1/2c. dried cranberries
2/3c-ish Hershey's dark chocolate chips
a couple of splashes of vanilla extract

So I dumped all of my ingredients in a bowl and started mixing with a butter knife and spatula. It quickly became obvious that I was getting nowhere, so I put the utensils aside, rolled up my sleeves and got my hands dirty, so to speak.

And now, after extensive mixing and another 1/4c. of peanut butter, the mixture is in the fridge, chillin' out. My hope is that in four minutes, when they're supposed to be done, they will miraculously be ready to be rolled into little one inch balls and consumed as pre-run snacks or as a quick breakfast.

So I'll step away for now, and go back to work on my energy bites...

---------------

30 minutes later...

More honey!

Well, I can only characterize the first pass as complete, abject failure. Totally not holding together. Stick my hands in the mixture and it completely falls apart. 

Adding more honey, remixing, placing back into the fridge for 15-20 minutes. I may end up eating it out of a bowl with a spoon...

---------------

10 minutes later...

While you've been sitting there waiting for me to continue, I used my down time constructively - made coffee for the morning, made the kids lunches, emptied the dishwasher, picked up the kids' shoes and socks and homework off the den floor so the dogs didn't eat them, etc....

---------------

5 minutes later...

We may well be on the verge of success. Just tested the mixture and it seems to be holding together. Chilling for another 10-15 minutes, then will either attempt to roll them into balls or make them into bars while watching The Daily Show with Jon Stewart...

---------------

24 minutes later...

The sweet taste of success!

"Do you like apples? Well, how 'bout them apples?" my friend Carl always says. And what do you know? Success! Twelve nifty little energy bites, ready to be snacked upon.

So what was tonight's lesson? That's easy - if at first you don't succeed - add more honey!

-Steve

October 2012






---------------

Update I - 8 hours later...

The final verdict from the official taste tester: "Mmmm...really good. Too crumbly, but really good!" At least that's what I think she said through her mouthful of No-Bake Energy Bite...

 

 

 

Update II - 8.5 hours later...

 

The boys both like them, too! All three kids giving thumbs up...I must be on to something!

 

 

 

Houston, I Have A Problem...

So I tweeted an out-and-out lie this morning - see if you can catch it:

A little background first. After completing my first 5k race this past weekend, and with two more tentatively penciled into my calendar for later this month, I decided now would be a great time to start training for my next goal. I am shooting for running my first 10k race this Spring - most likely the St. Patrick's Day run, which gives me a good five months to work up to (and beyond) ten kilometers.

It's no secret that I have two areas that will need to be resolved before I can successfully run a 10k race - my heavy foot-striking and my horrible breathing technique. Two separate runners have given me some advice as to how to fix the latter, so I thought I'd begin there.

And so there I was this morning in the chilly 50 degree morning, ready to work on my breathing for the next four kilometers. One piece of advice I'd received from a good friend, who was something of a track star when she attended high school in Germany, involved modulating my inhales and exhales in a certain manner tied to my stride. I decided to start there.

The other piece of advice I'd received was that I would better be able to concentrate on my breathing if there were no distractions, i.e. no music or talk radio in my ears.

So Zeus and I began running, and all my years of sitting zazen flew out the window.

Two things began to happen simultaneously. First, for the first time, I experienced what our run must be like for Zeus, albeit three feet higher in the air - the sound of my shoes crunching in the gravel, the early morning traffic, the cold, biting wind blowing through the trees.

Second, absent the presence of Foo Fighters, Staind, Seether, or even Z-104.5 The Edge blaring in my ears, my mind began to wander. Oh, sure, I could keep track of my breathing...for about 30 seconds. Then I would be distracted by a squirrel chattering at us as we jogged past, or be preparing to greet a runner approaching from the other direction. Then I would begin composing tweets and blog ideas in my head.

In fact, the idea for this post came to me somewhere between kilometers three and four, and I pretty much had it laid out in my head by the time we got back to the car, including the line you just finished reading.

And so I tweeted the above.

However, upon further reflection, I realized that this distraction-less running, or Awareness Running as a yoga buddy has called it, is probably not for me, and is something I will only be doing on occasion, perhaps to punish myself for missing a run the day before or having that extra slice of pizza I knew I shouldn't have.

Gratuitous shot having nothing to do with
this post - Zeus as a puppy!

For one thing, while not horrible, my splits were not what I was hoping for on this morning - a morning that proved to be the warmest one I'd run in days. My per-click average was a full 30 seconds slower than I had been running the last week (including yesterday's overdressed, overheated fiasco), which means that at the four kilometer mark, I was a full two minutes behind my usual pace.

I know my breathing won't take care of itself, and it will have to be addressed (and soon), but perhaps I'll begin working on the other aspect of my training instead...

-Steve
October 2012

Fall Running

We are now heading into cooler weather here in the midwest, and I feel unprepared for running in colder weather.

Having just completed my first 5k race, and with two more on the horizon this month, I've started training for a 10k race in the Spring (most likely the St. Patrick's Day run, but we'll see...). Since I raced Saturday and took Sunday off (a mistake, I think, and definitely the subject of a future post), I felt obligated to get back out this morning and run, if for no other reason than to get out and run with Zeus, whom I hadn't run with since Friday morning.

Goofy hat from
Tulsa Zoo Run

Checked the weather before bed, and our local station was predicting a drop as low as 33, so I set out extra clothes - thermals, a sweat jacket, the goofy hat I wore at the Zoo Run - frankly, it was going to be colder weather than I'd ever run in, and I didn't know quite what to expect.

When I got up and had the first of three cups of coffee in my hand this morning, I tuned to The Weather Channel - 39 degrees, very little wind to speak of. I decided to go ahead with the extra garments, anyway...

Zeus and I arrived at the park and got out to stretch in the empty parking lot like we do every time we race. I could see my breath and was feeling good about my wardrobe decision. Once I fired up my tracking app and hit the trail, my neck started to get cold, I pulled down my hat over my ears to save them from frostbite, and we pressed on.

Well, at about the two kilometer mark of my 5k run this morning, I realized I had overdressed. As sweat began to soak my collar and waistband, I kicked myself for wearing so many clothes. However, with Zeus' leash wrapped around my left arm and my phone case around my right, I wasn't really in a position to doff anything, so we just kept running.

Post run nap on the
way back home...

As we hit the four kilometer mark, I was ready to slow it down to a walk, but my intention this week is to start working up to 10k so I'd be prepared to run a 10k race in the Spring, so we kept putting one foot (or paw) in front of the other.

Ended up going just over 5 1/4 kilometers and called it quits. I couldn't wait to get back to the car and take off my sweat jacket.

So, lesson learned - less is better! We're due for a warm up this week, but when the weather turns in a few weeks (or days - this is Oklahoma, afterall), I'll be better prepared to make the right call.


-Steve
October 8, 2012

Thoughts On My First 5k Race

5k Runners!

Today I reached a milestone.

I've been running since mid-March, in the process dropping 30 pounds and feeling better physically than I have in decades. As I've recounted in a previous post and countless conversations with friends, family and co-workers, it started with simply trying to "take the edge" off my new puppy so he would stop terrorizing my wife's Shar-Pei. It quickly morphed into serious bonding time between Zeus and I, and a means for us to get out in the mornings, spend time together, and get some exercise.

Somewhere along the way, I became serious about running, about becoming a better runner. I began to read running publications and blogs, I created a Twitter account with the sole purpose (in the beginning, at least) of connecting with fellow runners across the country as a means of gaining some inspiration, and I used a phone app to track my runs.

In the past, the kids and I have done the St. John's Tulsa Zoo 1-mile Fun Run - the kids because they enjoyed being able to run past all the animals at the zoo, and me because of the awesome post-race spread.

This year would be different, though. Last school year, then-nine-year-old Ian made it clear that he wanted to start running 5k races. He actually ran a couple of them last year as an unregistered 5k'er - we'd signed him up for the 1-mile or 1k fun run, and if he was done with that before the 5k started, he'd run that as well. This year, however, we both registered for the 5k run as legitimate participants.

And so we arrived at the Tulsa Zoo at 7:20am on this cold Saturday morning. When I awoke at 5am, TWC gleefully informed me that it was 41 degrees. The temperature would top out this day at 54, which it hit when I teed off for a charity golf tournament later that day. However, the entire 2 1/2 hours we were on the zoo grounds we never sniffed 50 degrees.



Ian and Nick with one of the many zoo mascots
in attendance at the pre-race rally.

Ian and I excitedly got our chips and fastened them to our shoes. We then rejoined the rest of the family for the traditional pre-race rally, this year hosted by Dave and Lisa from one of the local pop radio stations. We jogged in place, stretched and danced silly dances to Gangham Style, all the while trying to stay warm.

After the rally, Ian and I walked Bonnie, Brooklyn and Nick over to the 1-mile Fun Run Starting line where they got to partake in another warm up/rally, dancing to the hokey pokey and generally being silly. After a few minutes, Ian and I began the trek back out of the zoo towards the starting line for the 5k.

Mohawk Park is a decent sized park, and it took us a few minutes to get over there. We quickly found an open space about halfway back from the starting line amidst the sea of over 750 other runners. As this was my first race, and I'd never run with Ian in a race so didn't know what to expect from him, I was reluctant to get too close to the starting line this first time.

In the sea of people - silly faces free of
charge. You have to catch him off guard
if you want to see a normal smile...

We were joined by one of his friends from school, and then it was just a matter of waiting for the gun. Once it went off, we began the slow walk to the starting line, and then once we crossed the blue timing pad, the three of us began to run.

The boys peeled off onto the grass along the side of the road, and I kept back a little so I could both keep my eyes on them and make sure I didn't run into anyone in front of me. My immediate impression was that there were a lot of people in that first half kilometer that really weren't prepared for this. As a new runner running my first race, I'd spent the previous week making sure I was ready - I'd run a complete wire-to-wire-with-no-stopping-to-tie-my-shoes-because-I'm-winded 5k every morning for the four mornings preceding the race, so I was reasonably certain I wouldn't embarrass myself.

Here are my click-by-click thoughts on my first timed 5k race:

First kilometer - wow, I did not anticipate the crowd! I ran a full minute slower pace than I was used to, in part because I was busy navigating the crowd and in part because I was hanging back watching the boys. This was the coldest temperature I'd ever run in, it was taking me a little longer than normal to warm up. Also, my first run ever, for any distance, without Zeus attached to my left arm, so having the full use of both arms and hands (no leash, not carrying plastic bags to clean up accidents, etc.) took a little getting used to.

Second kilometer - the boys are now playing a little bit, jumping up to grab tree limbs, pushing each other and joking around, and just being little boys. I decide to leave them behind. ;-)  Quickly hit my accustomed stride - about 5.5 clicks per minute. Starting to warm up, glad I had decided against thermals or compression pants beneath my sweat pants.

Third kilometer - finally able to mentally relax and enjoy the run. Beautiful scenery running through the north part of Mohawk Park - lots of trees, the crowds have thinned, and I've fallen in with a group of runners keeping a good pace. This is where I made my only real mistake of the day. When I hit the first water station, I grabbed a glass of water and tried to drink it while I was still running. If it were 100 degrees like it was all summer, the water running down my face and chest would have been refreshing; in the forty degree cold, it was...uncomfortable. Not wanting to stop, I passed the subsequent water stations without drinking.

Fourth kilometer - apparently not satisfied that I was running in the cold with a wet face and chest, someone (or was it Someone?) called for rain and sleet. At first I wasn't sure what it was pelting me - fat raindrops? No, the tiny ice pellets bouncing off the pavement in front of me signaled clearly that our resolve was going to be a little more severely tested than that. Of course, I'm exaggerating - it wasn't all that bad. But it'll make for a great story in a few years - "In MY first race, I ran through bitter cold, rain AND sleet..."

Fifth kilometer - the first real uphill of the entire race, and it was hidden. I turned a corner on the back side of the zoo, and BAM there it was - 100 yards if it was a foot. Head down, press on. And then we were in the zoo proper, the part of the zoo that I recognized - past the petting zoo, past the snack bar...at this point, you could start to hear the crowd cheering at the finish line. It was a sudden infusion of adrenaline, and it caused me to run my best kilometer of the day, despite the nasty uphill segment - I finished with a 4:58 kilometer on this last kilometer of the day.

I was nowhere near the overall lead - I finished 124th out of 287 men and 247th out of 762 runners overall - but I was less than three minutes behind the third place finisher in my 45-49 age group, and therefore less than three minutes short of medaling in my first race. I placed eighth in my age bracket, and left me thinking "what if...?" What if I'd started closer to the start line? What if I had lagged back with the boys during that first kilometer? Ah well, there's always another race...actually two more this month.

And besides, medaling was never the goal. I met, and exceeded, my goal - to complete my first 5k race with my head held high.

Simply Crimson

My good friend and fellow runner Becky is also a fellow blogger.

 Follow her on Twitter @soonrgirl

 Check out her blog at Simply Crimson

 Her unique voice and storytelling style will keep you alternately laughing, crying and shaking your head. Definitely worth checking out!

 -Steve

What I've Been Training For...

According to my RunKeeper profile page, my first race is less than a day away - the Tulsa Zoo 5k Run.

I'm nervous about it for two reasons.

First, it will be my first non-solo run - I'm running it with my 10-year-old son, who is in his second year of running 5k races. Not to mention, my first-ever timed race...

Second, it will the first time I've run any distance at all without my faithful companion, Zeus, at my side.

Zeus and I have been walking and running together since mid-March, and I admire his patience with me. He is just over a year old now, a Doberman-Lab mix that only has two speeds - fast and faster. When we walk together (which we did last night), his walking gait is slightly faster than mine, which has the effect of pulling me along - we average sub-16-minutes walking miles at that rate.

However, when I run, my stride is too fast for his walking gait but not fast enough for his full on run. He has no gallop mode, so he's either dragging me forward or backwards when we run. To his credit, he's a great sport about it, and he gets his revenge - every time we pass a squirrel or rabbit (we run at 5am, when there's plenty of wildlife around and about), he jerks me in that direction in the hopes that one day I'll follow or the leash will break.

To digress a moment, we saw our first possum this morning. It was a sight to behold, a cat-sized gray blob scurrying across the grass, headed for the nearest tree. To Zeus, it must have looked like a rabbit covered in dog food and leftover gravy, because he totally freaked out over it - he pulled me off the trail, and it took a minute or two before we could both regain our composure and move along.

So tomorrow I'll get up early like I usually do, but our run will instead be a walk through our neighborhood to warm up for the 5k. Then I'll put him back in the yard, pack up the wife and kids (she and the other two kids are doing the one mile Fun Run), and head for the zoo.

Then Zeus and I will resume our daily routine on Sunday.

-Steve

New Look, New Day

A good friend of mine recently started a blog - when I get her permission, I'll link to it here. In the meantime, she's inspired me to start writing again.

So, the blog is back up - new look, new location, same ol' nonsense from me.

 New experiment for me, as well - blogging from my phone.

Time will tell if this works or not, but for the moment I'm fired up and ready to go!

 -Steve