I Finally Felt my Own Version Of the Runner's High

It was a rainy race day as all of the 5K racers pilled into the starting area.  I was focused as ever and I wasn't going to let the weather or my injured leg get in the way of my goal time of under 25 minutes. 30 Days of Physical and Metal Preparation all comes down to this moment.

Off the start it was very difficuly to move with any type of speed as we were all jammed together in a tight area.  After a couple minutes the course led us to the closed down streets and I was able to breakaway from the large crowd and make my own lane off to the side.  I had set my IPOD to a 25 minute timed run to let me know just when things were getting close.

I didn't anticipate that many hills in the course, which proved to cause major fatigue.  I was wearing down big time, with no idea how much farther to go then I saw a sign that said 500Metres.  At some point I blocked out the sounds of the people cheering us on or even my IPod informing me how long I had till 25 minutes was up.  All I knew was that it was going to be extremely tight.  I went into as much of a sprint as my body would let me in the final 200Metres.  It felt amazing to run right by a bunch of serious joggers who had taken the lead on me in the early stages of the run.  I crossed the finish line and a few seconds later my IPOD came on and said "Congrats, you have completed your 25 minute run".  It was tight.  By the time the official Chip Time came out (I had a chip attached to my running shoe that accurately gave a time based on when I went through the starting and finishing gates) it showed a Official Time of, drum roll.......................24:56!!!!!!!!!!   I DID IT!  Incredibly with 4 seconds to spare!  I finished in 206th place out of 4,400 Runners.  30th place in my Age Category of Males 25-29 yrs old.

Thanks to everyone pushing me towards this goal.  I have made my Father and my Family very proud. Throughout the training I was met with alot of obstacles, vomiting, cramping, severe dizziness, getting hit by Cyclists, Running with Dog Poop on my hand and finally a Doctors Warning not to run due to a deep tissue bruise on my left leg.  But through all of that I had one goal in mind.  To compete in the 5K run and be under 25 minutes.  And now i finally feel my own version of a Runner's High.  Just wanted to give a shout out to a couple of People:

OUTDOOR JOGGING - I played your silly little game and I won.  Sure I might try you again on some sort of inconsistent basis perhaps next summer. But for now we are thru!   

CANCER- Hey you big bully, a small step was made towards figuring you out and destroying you.  Just thought you should know that.

FINAL GRADE:    A+

Part of me feels this blog isn't complete with out some sort of 80's Style Lookback Montague.  Sadly I don't have the time nor the footage to prepare that kind of thing.  But I like to think we can all imagine what it would look like and how awesome it would be.  

Last Blog Before The Big Race - Going against Doctor's Advice

1 DAY TILL THE RACE-

Well no one said it was going to be easy.  Now it's going to be even tougher than that.  Last weekend during an intense game of Softball I took a line drive off my leg.  It was swollen so badly I could barely walk later that night.  I rested it for one day then returned to training.   In retrospect, a couple more days of rest would have been the better decision.  I am currently writing this blog with my left leg elevated in between mini Ice baths to bring down the swelling in my ankle.  My foot is also black and blue and is causing alot of discomfort while trying to walk.  I did the smart thing and got X-Rays done earlier today, the doctor informed me that I have a very deep Tissue Bruise.  His advice, to stay off my feet for the next few days.

I told him about the Race, and he said "It's my professional Advice that you do not take part in this and rest but your probably going to ignore that and race anyway right?"   I told him he was right.  I've trained too hard for the last 30 days doing something I absolute hate and had no real prior training at for a cause I so deeply believe in.   I have all the motivation in the world to go out there tomorrow and attempt to run my race in a time under 25 minutes (even if I have to end up limping my way to the finish Terry Fox Styles)

Thanks to all the support I have received from everyone.  I'm going to go out there tomorrow and make you all proud.  But I will be running with one person in mind, My Father.  Here is the most recent picture of us taken last week.  He really wanted to meet me at the finish line tomorrow but unfortunately due to logistic issues of there being over 20,000 Runners and the cold weather, its not really possible.



FINAL GRADE - Not going to give myself a grade, instead I will use this quote:

"PAIN IS TEMPORARY, GLORY LASTS FOREVER AND CHICKS DIG SCARS"

The Weirdest/Most Memorable Training Session To Date.

4 DAYS TILL THE RACE-

I apologize for the length of this one, but I promise you it's well worth the Read.

I went out yesterday for another 5K training Run and this one will go down as by far the most Memorable of all my Training Days.  I started off doing a few light wind sprints before starting my run in hope to avoid early cramping/fatigue.  I must say that it definitely worked nicely.  Helped me get into a nice early groove already feeling warmed up.  Then everything took a very Weird turn.

As I crossed through a park it turns into a Bike/Pedestrian path.  Here is where my half way point is and as I was turning around to head back - BOOM~!  Huge Collision with a Cyclist.  Not just some random dude out for a casual bike ride to work.  This guy was decked out in total cycling nerd training gear.  He nearly fell off his bike and I tumbled into the grass along the path.  For whatever reason instead of just getting up right away I decided to whip off 5 pushups, spring to my feet, 'Mean Mugged' the dude and carried on with my run.  The look on his face was filled with complete bewilderment.

Another major Learning lesson when it comes to outdoor jogging.  The streets can be a tough and dangerous playground.  When your jogging in a direction and your about to turn around, a useful tip - Check behind you for any sort of on coming Nerd Cyclists that have utter disregard for their fellow Jogger.  This story gets worse  or Perhaps cooler depending on your outlook.  

As I carry on with my jog I start to pick up the terrible scent of Dog Poop.  I realize upon my stumble into the grass my hand landed in Dog Shit.  I proceeded to run out the final 2.5 Km's with that on my hand.  Perhaps this would have been a factor that would have caused me to Mentally breakdown and stop running in earlier training days.  But not today.  Not this week.  This week is Race Week.  The competitive juices are now completely flowing through my veins.  Perhaps during the collision with that Bike Enthusiast it woke the sleeping dragon that lies inside me.  

I was cramping up down the final 300 Meters and my pace slowed.  All of a sudden a Jogger in his mid to late 30's wearing all the Nerd Jogging Gear (including the shortest shorts I have ever seen) Jogged at a steady pace right by me.   Now this is something that has occasionally happened throughout my training days and something that always secretly bothered me but due to my lack of Cardio I could do nothing about it.  But on this particular day, with my hand covered in Dog Manure and still cursing the damn Cyclist that hit me I would no longer allow this sort of disrespect (I realize simply jogging by someone else that is going at a very slow rate is hardly disrespect but its hard for me not to view it like that.  Especially when they have those damn short shorts and full Jogging attire.  I feel like they are saying "Hey Pal, nice Baggy Sweat pants and generic Nike running shoes. These are our streets, and we set out here every morning experiencing a Runner's High that you know nothing about".  

Now I may have yet to Experience this Runner's High and perhaps I never will.  But I will tell you this, I pushed my body like never before with a surge of Adrenaline I sprinted by that Jogging Douche all the way down the final 300 Meters.  I could feel him gaining on me as if accepting my challenge of a race (in retrospect I don't think he changed his pace at all) and as I crossed the spot where I began my 5Km run, I outstretched my arms and chest as if I was crossing an imaginary finish line.  I pumped my fist in the air in Victory.  The look on his face was that of complete bewilderment.  The very same look the Speed Nazi Cyclist game me earlier.   

After nearly 30 days of Training, I'm taking the streets back.  I'm setting the tone for Sunday (Race Day).  For all the people out there that despise the act of jogging.  I will finish this race in a time under 25 minutes and I'm doing it to stick it to the following- 

Joggers that have passed me by while I'm out on my Run and question my Jogging Attire with their Judgemental eyes

The Cyclist That Hit Me

And Lastly the biggest Asshole of them All - Cancer

FINAL GRADE -     BADASS  (yeah that's right, I just gave myself a grade called Badass. And no, I don't even know what that means)

Also should be noted, I have no idea what my time was for the 5K, at the time of the Collision my Ipod came detached from my headphones causing my time to stop.  But I like to think it was my best time to date.  When you have Dog Poop on your hand it will cause you to run just a bit faster in hopes you can wash it off as soon as damn possible.

Something they forgot to Mention About Jogging

DAYS TILL THE RACE:  10

A couple of days ago I got up to go for a morning 5K run.  Now on this particular morning, I felt like I might have to use the washroom for a little while but I thought to myself "It can wait till I get back and perhaps till even after breakfast"

This was a big lesson I have learned when preparing to push yourself and your body into Jogging for 5k.  If you even feel like you have to go a little bit.  Try and go.  When I typed in "Training for a 5K race for Beginners"  they completely failed to give this type of Advice.

For the first 2-3 minutes of the run I was cramping up and really felt like I couldn't go for much longer. Then as I pushed past that I got into a bit of a groove.  As I got to the half way point of 2.5K my IPOD informed me that it had been 12:29 seconds.   I decided if I was going to break the under 25 minutes mark than I would keep up the same tempo and go into a mini sprint in the final 100-200 Metres.  This was the decision that caused me to almost Shiat Myself on the street.  Never have I been so close to losing control of my bowels then during the final 10 feet before the finish line.  A valuable lesson to learn just under 2 weeks before the race.


I asked a couple "Jogging Enthusiasts" about my early cramping.  They informed me this is due to my lack of warming up.  Apparently doing a few short sprints before the run helps the body alot.  I'm going to try that on my next 5K attempt.   I admit I'm nervous of this as I feel like it may be expending extra energy that I need to finish the entire 5K but only one way to find out.


FINAL GRADE -   A   (Highest Grade and Performance to date, Completed my Goal in this training session of doing 5K under 25 Minutes.  But I nearly Pooped my Self in the process, alot of work still needs to be done)

Much Improved Time

16 DAYS TILL THE RACE

Body very sore.  Went out for a real light 15 minute jog this morning.   But the notable training came from a couple days ago. As you can see from the high quality picture below I'm extremely close to my goal of 5K under 25 mins.   Off by just 4 seconds. 

This weekend I'm going to switch up my running area and try doing some hills in an attempt at expanding my Cardio ability.   It still has only gotten slightly easier, it hurts and feels so unnatural to run for any length over 8-10 minutes.  There I said it.  Take that Jogging Community and your Damn Short Shorts.



FINAL GRADE - B

A Step in the Right Direction

19 DAYS TILL THE RACE

Over the past few days I was down in Delaware to fulfil my Father's Dying wish  of attending his family's Reunion.  Unfortunately he was too ill to make the 10 and a half hour drive but I went down and made him proud.  Along the way I stopped in Philadelphia and went for a light jog.  My route ended atop these stairs.  Cross that off the Ol' Bucket List.

While on the trip I got up most mornings to go for a light 15-20 minute jog.  Today I ran 4 Km's in just over 20 minutes!   That's close to the pace and my goal of finishing the 5km's in under 25 minutes.

I find that the first 10 minutes of my Runs are the absolute worst.  I want to stop and my lungs and legs hurt the entire time.  Then after the 10 minutes my mind set changes from "I want this to end"  to "Gotta keep Running, Don't Give Up".   I really feel like if I stop running then there was no point of having to endure that horrendous first 10 minutes.


If the "Runner's High" is feeling light headed and close to Vomiting.  I feel that almost every time out.  

Tomorrow morning I'm going to make another attempt at 5K in hopes that I'm in and around the 25 minute mark. 



FINAL GRADE -   C +   (finally seeing some improvements!)

Training Day 4 - Interval Running?

24 DAYS TILL THE RACE


Yesterday I tried "Interval Running" which basically consisted of running lightly for 5 minutes than at "Race Pace" for 15 minutes, then back to light jogging for 5.   I have no idea what "Race Pace" means as I tried to go faster and that did not last very long.  I basically just ended up jogging lightly for the entire 25 minutes.   I realize at the moment I only have one pace and it's "Survival Mode".   Not very fast, just at a speed that allows my body to continuously move in a Jog Like Motion.

I'm starting to feel more IN with the jogging community.  I noticed a couple joggers as they past gave me a shorten hello sign with their hands.   I found myself doing this to a few of my fellow joggers at the end of my workout.  Feels good to be part of this new community.  Although I can't help but feel as though they are all experiencing this "Runner's High" while I'm trying not to constantly Vomit or fall over due to Exhaustion.


FINAL GRADE -   D +