The KodaFit Blog

Runners World had some rules for running without a shirt a month or two back.  According to the article, you can run without your shirt on, if…

1.  You have the body to pull it off.

2.  If you have doubts about number 1, it’s best to assume you don’t

3.  If you can avoid being within an arms length to other runners for the duration of your run.

One of my tri clubs - The Northern Utah Triathletes, put on a mini triathlon a few weeks back.  I ended up running a little late, and so my packing was left a little lacking.  It didn’t turn out to be completely bad, since I have been curious about what it would be like to do an Open Water Tri without a wetsuit.

So there I was wearing my somewhat thin and transparent 2XU tri shorts, and for the benefit of everyone else…  My Speedo underneath - and don’t worry, it’s the Endurance model, not a pair of the really tiny ones!

The swim actually went really well.  The water was perfect and although it felt a little weird to not have the usual neoprene barrier to the water - I think I liked it though.

In T1, I thought about grabbing a shirt, but all I had was my cotton club t-shirt, and so I threw caution to the wind and decided to go topless.

I should add here, that the thought that perhaps I could be running afoul of rule #2 did cross my mind at this point.

Out onto the bike we went, and for the first 2 miles, I didn’t feel too hot.  My legs were still sore from a 70 mile ride 2 days before and I couldn’t get into a rhythm.

After the turn around however, I decided to try and chase down everyone who passed me.

I passed the last person with just a couple of hundred yards to go, and hit T2 in first place.

My transitions weren’t as smooth as I would have hoped, helped along by the fact that my Garmin kept popping out of it’s clip, both on my bike, and on my running wrist strap.

But there I was in T2, getting my running shoes on, and another athlete next to me decided to inform me about triathlon rules…

“Just so you know…  You have to wear a shirt at most triathlons!”

Clearly she doesn’t know how many tri’s I’ve done, but I think her comments may have had other motivations…

First, when I passed her on the bike (After she passed me), I was probably closer than an arms length, thereby breaking rule #3.

And I think her comments confirm my doubts about rule #2, thus indicating that I was in violation of rule #1 as well.

I had a good run to finish it off though, and came in 2nd overall.

The biggest lesson of the day though I think, was that I probably shouldn’t do the topless thing, until I can get my six pack back.

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So last night was speed work again…  The goal was to do 9 400M sprints at 1:45 or better.   I was curious to see how this workout went after trying the NO-Explode before a similar workout last week.

The workout itself went well.  I started with a mile warm up, and then got into the sprints.  I was actually able to hold a pace of about 1:35 for most of them.  A couple quicker, and a couple slower.  #7 was the worst, but I think it was more a mental struggle, although the delicious Chicken Fajita’s of an hour or two previous featured prominently as well.

It turns out that in addition to Nitric Oxide, NO-Explode also contains loads of various members of the Vitamin B family as well as caffeine.  This would explain the fact that following the last workout, I didn’t get to sleep until after midnight, and was wide awake again at 2am.  Did having NO-Explode prior make a difference to the work out?  I would have to say yes, but I suspect it was more related to the B vitamins and caffeine than anything else.  I could probably get the same effect by downing a 5 hour energy, which I frequently do in longer races.

But all that aside, this post wasn’t about last nights workout…

I’ve been looking at ways to drop my times, especially in the shorter races.  One definite area of improvement is with my transition times, which actually seem to have slumped of late.  I have friends who don’t use socks, and so I wanted to try this out.  Socks probably added 2-3 minutes to my IronMan transition times, but they were probably necessary there, whereas on a sprint, I could probably go without.

I tried it out last Saturday.

At first it felt a little weird.  I could feel a contact point on my left big toe and was worried it would blister.  I also took the liberty of Body Gliding the tongue and the fabric at the top of the shoe which would sit around my upper foot/lower ankle.

Did it work?  I think so.  It’ll speed up my transition times, and I didn’t notice any major adverse effects during the run.  The one downside though, was that I could feel the moisture building up in my shoe towards the end of the run.  Now it’s decision time.  I’ve got a sprint race next weekend, that I think I can do fairly well in.  I’m not 100% convinced I can place, but if I don’t, I’ll at least be close.  The key for this race is going to be the run.  If I lose the socks, I suspect I’ll be able to drop 20-30 seconds in my transition times, however I’m concerned that not being 100% comfortable during the 5k might lose about that same amount of time…  Could be that the decision is going to come down to seconds…  Perhaps I need to run a mile at the tracks sans socks, and then see if it affects my times at all.

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Well folks…  After slacking on my blogging duties for a whole week, it’s high time I did another post.

By way of follow-up from last week though.  The enemy which had amassed along the borders of my immune system launched it’s offensive with a Shock & Awe campaign late Friday night.  Saturday was a blur of sinus pressure, throat irritation and blood red ‘demon eyes’.  By Sunday things were looking a little better, and by Monday I felt well enough to return to work.  I hate how sickness likes to strike Friday night and clear up in time for the new work week, but if I am to be completely candid, I have a great job, which makes it easier, and work gives me an opportunity to escape five very active and rambunctious kids too!

Work outs this week were pretty minimal.  I did a good solid trail run on Monday at lunch, followed by three additional miles on the treadmill at night - 2 minutes climbing at a solid pace at a 4% incline alternating with 2 minutes below my 5k pace at 0% grade.  It was exhausting, but I really like it.  Light bike ride Tuesday, moderate run Wednesday and then a nice slow run yesterday.  Tonight I’m going to do another 20 minutes or so of very light running/jogging and that will bring us to tomorrow.

 TOMORROW IS THE BUFFALO RUN 50K!!!

I think I’ve put in about 15 miles already this week, but in my experience, I do better when I run the whole week before, probably because I stay loose.

The race will be my first ultra-distance event and the plan is to use it as a good mental prep and pacing session to prepare for the IronMan.  For the past two months my goal has been an 8 hour finish, but I think sub-7 could be very possible if I pace myself right and stay on top of my nutrition.

That all said though, it’s not an A race, and I’m not looking to break any records, personal or otherwise, which means, I’ll have time for a few distractions along the way.  Cell reception isn’t exactly great on the island, but I can get a signal in a few places, and I’m planning on pausing briefly at those places and tweeting my progress, likely with photo’s as well.

If you’d like to follow along on my journey, I’d be honored.  At the very least it’ll provide some good fuel for the race report.

You can follow along on my twitter feed, which is:

 http://twitter.com/kodafit

You can also follow along on Facebook if you would like as well, just make sure you get your friend request in before about 6am MDT tomorrow.

http://www.facebook.com/kodafit

The race starts for me at 8am Mountain Daylight Time (MDT).

I’m hoping to tweet about every hour or so, hopefully with accompanying pictures on TwitPic!

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So, in keeping with my new goal of not putting stuff on my to do list, and then wondering why it’s still there months later…

Here’s my initial report on part 1 of the Running Form Analysis I did last night.

First, for those who are interested…

I went to The Blonde Runner for the analysis. Lora, the owner of The Blonde runner is an accomplished athlete and from what I’ve seen of her results, borders on being freakishly fast on her feet, so I figured it she not only talks the talk, but she walks the walk - or more appropriately runs the run - but that doesn’t rhyme!

You can find out more about about her form analysis services here.

My whole goal here is to hopefully improve both my speed and my efficiency when running. I know I’m not putting enough intensity into my running, but I’m feeling like something else is missing as well.

Which brings us to last night…

I ran a half marathon on Saturday, and so come Monday I was a little more fatigued than I would have like to be.

I figured I would take a very easy lunch time run, and use it as a chance to loosen up a little and get everything moving again in preparation for Tuesday. And folks, I swear I started out with those intentions!!!

As we started running, I turned my Garmin on so that I could track my pace and heart rate. I wanted to make sure I stayed below 140 bpm and I didn’t want to be running anything faster than a 10 minute mile.

The first part of our run was along the rim of the canyon above Memory grove. It has a very slight uphill grade to it, but is generally smooth and flat. For some reason, my Garmin couldn’t get a signal. It usually struggles in this area and last week, I even lost signal in a couple of spots. That’s interesting because no where else I’ve run does it struggle, and in fact back in April, I drove from East Canyon back to my house with the device inside the neoprene sleeve of my wetsuit, which was crumpled up on the floor in the back of my car, and it tracked the entire 50 mile journey!

Anyway, finally, right before the mile mark, it got itself ready… And it looked like we’d been running at a 9:40 pace. Ooops!

We went through the gate to City Creek park, and walked the first little way up the canyon. After a while I got antsy though and started a slow jog. We hit the next mile marker with an average pace of about 11 minutes a mile, but we walked a bunch, so that was still way too fast, and it was uphill. Dang it Mike - SLOW THE HECK DOWN!!!

We walked the next bit, which has some pretty hairy climbs, and after a half mile or so decided to hop onto one of the trails.

I’ve grown a real fondness for trail running. The leaves have started falling and so the trail is soft and crunchy underfoot. The canyon is still surrounded by trees in all phases of fall change, from green to yellow, to brilliant red. Surrounded by beauty, there still remains the need to watch the path ahead for rocks, slick spots and possibly snakes, although we think they’ve mostly vanished for the year. Looking around and concentrating on the path ahead, leaves little time to check speed and all of that, and so before I knew it, we were at the bottom again, and again, had gone waaay faster than planned.

The final mile has a slight negative grade, and I was feeling really loose and ready to go, so we pushed it a little and both finished feeling great!

Fortunately I don’t think that affected me much last night, which was good. I feared arriving at the track with stiff legs and no energy.

Long story about the journey there, but I arrived at the track a little early and set about a nice easy warm up. The plan was slow, but as usual I got lost in watching the kids practice football and looking at the mountains. Last time I was here was when the Olympic torch came through on it’s way to the Winter Games in Salt Lake.

I met up with Lora and another runner after a quick trip to the restroom… I was also worried about being dehydrated, but that didn’t appear to be a problem!

I gave her my guesstimate of 12 minutes for the mile and a half and set about filling out some paper work.

Did another half mile to make sure my legs were ready, and while I still wasn’t quite feeling as loose as the day before, I figured it was about as ready as I was going to be.

We started off and the first lap went really quick. The nice thing about running that fast, is all your mental faculties are focused on keeping it going, and so I think my form reverted to how I normally run. By the time I hit half way, I was spent, but knowing that I only had 3 laps left made it easier to keep going. I tried to relax a little and lengthen my stride, but you can only relax so much when pushing your pace and trying to beat the clock.

My Garmin auto lapped on each lap, but I didn’t look at it much at all, which was probably good too. I have a theory that it may actually be slowing me down - especially if I see great numbers and then mentally tell myself I can’t keep it up.

My splits were as follows:

Lap 1 - 1:41.98 (Avg pace: 6:47, Avg BPM: 156)
Lap 2 - 1:46.69 (Avg pace: 7:06, Avg BPM: 170)
Lap 3 - 1:52.20 (Avg pace: 7:28, Avg BPM: 171)
Lap 4 - 1:54.96 (Avg pace: 7:39, Avg BPM: 170)
Lap 5 - 1:54.20 (Avg pace: 7:36, Avg BPM: 170)
Lap 6 - 1:44.91 (Avg pace: 7:17, Avg BPM: 171)

My personal analysis…

My heart rate was pretty steady, and not too much higher than during the half mary on Saturday. Makes me wonder if I can go faster with minimal effort. Or does my heart top out at 170 or so, and that’s all I’m going to get from it…

I slowed on Laps 3, 4 and 5 quite a bit. I notice this in swimming too. If I do 10 laps, 5 or 6 will usually be my slowest. I think it’s mental.

Finally… My final time was 10:55 with an average pace of 7:16. That’s freaking fast for me. I’ve never timed myself over this distance, but that has to a personal record.

Now the Coach’s analysis and suggestions…

Most of this I’ll get in my followup appointment on Friday.

1 - I need to keep my arms closer to my sides. She said it might feel weird. I tried it afterward and it did. I’m also worried about chaffing, so I may have to stock up on BodyGlide for my runs!!

2 - Trunk rotation. Part of the problem is the way I swing my arms, but I’ll definitely try and focus on this.

3 - Lots of movement in my legs. Now your first thought is probably the same as mine… Hello?!? I was running. But I think it’s additional movement that is going to cause me problems by running with it, and may well be the reason I’ve had shin splints and IT Band problems. I was actually excited to hear this, because it means that there is room for improvement!!!

Actually my wife is a little concerned about the last item, and my getting it fixed. Apparently (and she’s not the first to notice) I have a distinctive run. It helps her pick me out in races, which is good, but as I told her… If I can get it fixed, perhaps she could just look instead for the guy who comes in first!!

I guess I’ll find out on Friday what changes I need to make. I’m totally psyched about this too. I’ve grown to really love running, and I think this will make the whole experience even better.

As a complete aside, as I got in my car to drive home, I started shaking and feeling weird… Kind of like when I’ve had a couple of late nights, and I take too much caffeine in one shot. It lasted till I got home and was combined with a feeling of optimism and general excitement about life. Usually with caffeine I get a little edgy and short tempered.

I had a great evening at home, and when the time came for bed, I really struggled to get to sleep.

Folks I think I got the runners high, and a good one at that!!!

I’ve never really been tempted to partake of illicit drugs, but if it’s anything like how I felt last night - IT WAS AWESOME!!!

Don’t worry though - I’ll only seek it through natural means!!

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I did my second half marathon 2 weekends ago.  It was a beautiful course, and I knocked 9 minutes off my time from the previous attempt.  I did however reaffirm something which irked me in the first race.

I think with the half distance races, it’s a short enough distance that the course can be walked in 4 to 5 hours.  In both races, I’ve noticed a number of people, specifically older ladies with bodies that might not be in perfect marathon shape, who walk the course.  Let me first say that I have the utmost admiration for these ladies for trying to do this and I’m sure they complete it.  Good on ya Ladies!!

So I feel a little bad bringing this up, but I think it needs to be said…

If you’re planning on walking a half marathon, and you’re positioning yourself at the start…  The little sign which says 7 or 8 is for the people who are going to run at an average pace of 7 to 8 minutes per mile, not those that are going to take 7 or 8 hours!!

I usually place myself towards the back of the pack.  I like people in front of me to keep me slow for the first few miles until I can get warmed up, but invariably, 30 yards past the start line I come upon the wall of ladies.  Usually they’ve positioned themselves in a row, 5 or 6 ladies across and there’s not enough space between them to run through, and with what it left on the side of the roads, it creates a huge bottleneck.  And they always seem completely oblivious to everyone around them.  Usually with a bottle in one hand, and a walking stick in the other, toddling along talking about how great it is to be doing a half marathon…

So for anyone reading this, who likes to walk half marathons.  At the start, find the back of the pack and that’s were you want to be starting from!!

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My reports on the Layton Tri, the Utah Half, the Top of Utah half Marathon, and now the Red Rock Relay are still coming, but I wanted to share something else.  It’s pretty significant - at least to me…

At the beginning of this year, I had come to the realization that I was not meant for speed, and that expecting to run at a pace under 9 mins/mile was a rather unrealistic expectation.

Somehow though, over the course of the year, things have changed.  My training has included more intensity and I’ve been doing intervals at the track on occasion as well.

I did a 5k back in June, and came in at 24:18, which is an average pace of 7:48 per mile - a new record!!

I felt like dying though, convinced that I would never be able to maintain that pace for very long.

I’ve read two things since then…

1 - Most world records have been broken when the runner has negative split the course, something I didn’t do in my 5k.

2 - Speedo Steve, after competing in a 40k bike time trial, described it as painful, but not as painful as a 5k.  I’m uncomfortable running a 5k, but I don’t think I cross the threshold into pain.

So armed with those 2 pieces of information, I’ve been trying to start slowly, and put it into the pain zone towards the end.

8/29 - Half Marathon in Logan UT.

Started slower and felt my legs kicking in around mile 6.  Mile 7 dropped below a 9 min/mile.  It hurt, but I kept pushing.  Interestingly enough, my mile splits kept dropping, even as I ran the hill at mile 12.  It hurt, but I was determined not to stop.  The final mile was brutal!  I passed a girl who was puking her guts out, and thought about joining her.  Final time… 1:53:16.  That’s 8 minutes and 49 seconds faster than my previous best, and the course appears to have been a little long!!!

9/4 - Relay Race in St. George UT.

Leg 1 was rough, but I was running at 11,000 ft, so we’ll leave that one for now.  Leg 2 was a 6.7 mile run on essentially flat ground, although there were some rollers.  Started slow, although I was feeling warmed up from my earlier run.  Found a rabbit in another runner, and chased her down for a couple of miles.  Found my groove within the first mile, and finished strong.  Final time.  58:16.  That’s only slightly slower than my 10k PR!

Leg 3 start with a down hill, and then a mile of uphill, and finally 3-4 miles alongside the river.  It was in the dark, it was muggy, and my head lamp wasn’t real bright.  I didn’t see another soul after the first couple of miles.  It was lonely, but peaceful.  I kinda liked it.  I’d also been up for well over 24 hours at this point.  I started at a good pace, determined to push it at the end.  6.1 miles in 52:26.

Now heres the really amazing thing…  All three races/legs…  My pace averaged out to 8:35!!!  Considering my first 5k 2 years ago came in with a pace a little over 10 min/mile, I’m pretty excited.

Folks, I may be able to make a runner out of this old body yet!!

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This post is more for me than anyone else.  I usually track my workouts on BuckEye’s Training, but this may give me more accountability.

1 thing I realized from the race Saturday, is that my running needs work.  I can run if I have to, but mentally I’m lacking, and physically I could use more strength as well.  So with that in mind, as I headed to the track tonight, my goal was speed!!

And the results are:

1 mile warm up at an easy pace (9:12)

Did the following ladder set with 100m rest in between:

1 x 400m (6:39/mile)

1 x 300m (6:11/mile)

1 x 200m (6:15/mile)

1 x 100m (5:45/mile)

400m recovey 1/2 run 1/2 walk

1 x 100m (6:20/mile)

1 x 200m (6:06/mile)

1 x 300m (6:17/mile)

1 x 400m (6:30/mile)

At this point I pretty much wanted to puke, but I’d gotten ‘er done!!!

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I may have shared the canary joke here before, but since it’s probably been a while.

When I was a kid, we attended church with a  rather conservative congregation in South Africa.  I recall one Sunday, it was particularly warm, and within a building not equipped with air conditioning, most of the congregation was asleep.  My best friend’s dad stood up to give the final address, and began by stating that things are never what they seem..

“It’s like the Canary Islands, they’re called the Canary Islands, but ironically there aren’t any canaries there.”

“It’s the same thing with the Virgin Islands.”

He’s paused for dramatic effect, and let me assure you the effect was pretty dramatic.  It was as if a shock-wave went through out the congregation - I’ll remind you again, this was a very, very conservative congregation…

“There aren’t any canaries there either!”

I just spent 15-20 minutes writing a race report for Rage on Saturday.  It ended up being waaay too wordy, and wasn’t going anywhere, and then as luck would have it, I wiped out the whole thing.  “Save as you go, Mike, Save as you go…  DOH!!!”

So perhaps I’m not meant to write that today, or perhaps not until later tonight.

To calm your curiosity though the race went very well.  I wasn’t planning on it being an “A” race, but as time got closer, I figure I could still do well at it.  That was until we drove the course, and realized that Google Earth does not do the hills justice.  At that point I figured I would just be racing for fun, and interestingly enough, I think I probably did better doing the race with that mind set, rather than stressing about making my goal.  I could probably have made it in under 3 hours had I tried, but I took my time in the transitions, and I wouldn’t trade the kiss from my wife, or the high 5’s from my kids for a new PR anyway.  My cheering section rocks!!

Final time was 3:11 and some change, but I’ll share more on that later.

I like the Olympic distance!  And to tie this in with the canary joke, it seems that not racing made my racing more effective, and way more enjoyable too.

What got me thinking about the canary though was my training run today.  My usual training partner is off this week, but I have a couple of other people I run with from work.  Today we decided to run up City Creek Canyon, and then come back down on one of the trails.  It’s a route we first tried last week, and the trail run at the end makes it really fun and varied.

Here’s how the run went…

Got to the corner we usually start from.  I was hungry, but feeling good.

1st mile - nice and easy.  Probably 10 min/mile pace.  Realized toward the end, that I drank too much prior to running.  Fortunately the gate to the Canyon at mile 1 has bathrooms.

2nd mile - started OK, but it’s mostly up hill.  Lower legs started hurting.  Right calf started cramping on the outside.  My legs started to feel weak.  I started walking at just after the half mile mark.  Tried running again for short bursts, but it didn’t help.

Mile 2 to 2.5 - Legs are feeling horrible.  I’m wondering if I’ll make it back down in time for my 2pm meeting.  Maybe I could convince one of my running buddies to get their car and come pick my up…  Maybe I’ll just die up here on the side the trail…  Will I ever see my family again?

Turn around.  THIS SUCKS!!

Mile 2.5 through 3.5 - Calf isn’t cramping as bad.  I think it’s because I’m mostly going down hill.  My quads feel like jelly though, and I don’t feel like I have any power in my legs.  I’m leading the group at this point along the single track, watching for rattle snakes and avoiding the rocks.  I hear a rustle to my right and look into the bushes, only to roll over on my ankle.  CRAP!!  That hurt.  Keep running down a small decline and up the other side.  It starts to feel better, so I keep going.

Mile 3.5 to 4.  Things start going right.  My legs still feel very weak, and as I pass a lady with some dogs, she’s asks if I’m OK, since I seem to be limping. I respond that I probably am, but it’s to be expected.

Mile 4-4.75.  Realize we’re going to miss our meeting if we don’t hurry up.  Legs are feeling weak but I can make it.

Mile 4.75 - 5.25.  No clue what happened here, but my legs started working.  I usually average about 9 minute miles on a good strong run.  I find myself pushing 8’s and it feels good.  I push it some more, my legs respond, and I’m holding at 7 and half minutes per mile.  A bike comes by rather slowly.  I can hang with him, so I push harder.  I drop below 7 minutes a mile.  The wind feels good, my legs feel strong and I can see the end of the road.

I walked and ran back to the office feeling on top of the world.  Salt is caked on both sides of my face, and I can feel it drying on the back of my shirt, scraping against my skin.

I’m not sure why, but that last half mile felt great, and the feeling hasn’t worn off yet.  My shins feel fine, my calves feel strong, and I have this urge to run some more.  Perhaps it’s just the endorphins kicking in, and I’ll pay for this tomorrow.

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This a a topic I’ve been exploring for a number of years now, not specifically spirituality as it pertains to running, but spirituality in general.  In posting this, I will be the first to admit that I don’t know much and so what I share is my opinion and feelings on the subject.  I mean no offense to anyone or any organization, and would hope that none is taken, be the reader someone who considers themselves religious, atheist, agnostic or identifies with any type of organization that might be so affiliated.

I think there is a marked difference between religion and spirituality.  From what I have observed, religion would seem to be more concerned with the outward demostration of spirituality, and partaking in various rituals, rights and other activities which in most cases may be used to reflect or enhance spirituality, but may not necessarily always be related.

Spirituality on the other hand would appear to be a very personal and internal thing.  It has to do with how the person views themselves, as well as their relationship to others, to the world around them, and if their belief system includes the belief in a divine presence, then the relationship to that as well.

In identifying a difference between religion and spirituality, I should probably also point out that there are many religious people who are themselves very spiritual, and religion is used to enhance their personal spiritual experience.  I believe there are also many religious people who have minimal contact with a personal spiritual experience, and perhaps a similar number of highly spiritual individuals, who choose not to participate in religious ceremonies.

I believe firmly that  each individual has a right to choose for themselves and that we as a species have no right to remove that right from a person, nor condemn the choices of a person who exercises that right.  But enough of that!

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about the impact that running and for that matter, any type of endurance activity in which I engage, has on my life.  There are a couple of things which these activities have given me.

1. Catharsis -  I actually only found out what this meant a few weeks ago.  It basically means purging of the body.  In the way that a catheter purges the bowels, I’ve found that running, cycling and swimming each have a purging effect on the emotional side of who I am.  In recent years, as I have tried to understand more of who I am and where I came from, running has somehow allowed me to process things more efficiently.  When the stresses of life become too much, all it takes is a couple of miles of good hard running, and things start looking up.  Someone who knew me well as a child remarked recently that I tend to hold things in, allow them to hold me back and destroy me.  Not so since I started running!
2. Relationships - My favorite place to run and bike is an island on the Great Salt Lake.  It is stocked with Bison, Antelope, Coyotes and a host of other animals and birds.  It is a State Park and is in pristine condition.  When I run out there especially, I feel a connection to the world around me.  We’re not aliens invading a foreign planet, the earth is part of who we are and we are part of it.  We share a great responsibility to respect our place in the world in relation to other things.
3. Humility - As I ran the last 100 yards of the St. George marathon last year, I was filled with an inordinate amount of pride.  I had done it.  I had trained and finished the race.  I was a marathoner, and no-one could take that away from me.  I was also in an incredible amount of discomfort and pain, but that seemed to evaporate as I crossed the finish line.  You would think that perhaps such an achievement could have the effect to turn one into a pompous asshole.  I would hope that hasn’t happened to me, at least no more than I was prior to finishing my first marathon.  Personally I feel like it has given me an opportunity for introspection and a kinship with other runners.  I didn’t run St. George by myself, I was encouraged by my wife and kids and relatives and friends from all over the world.  I ran along side the fast and the slow (more of the slow though), the fat and the skinny, but all of us trying to achieve something great.  Finishing a marathon and multiple triathlons has given me confidence, but also humility.  Running a race is a lot like going through life.  All that you need is to do you best.  You cheer on those around you, thank the crowds, realize that when you cross the finish line, you’re not doing it alone.

I could likely go on and on about all the benefits of running, from the way it helps me solve coding problems at work to the increased energy and time I’m able to spend with my kids.  I’m not even sure some of those things fit under the topic of spirituality, but it’s a hard thing to define.  When I run I feel more a part of the world around me, closer to loved ones and strangers, and closer to understanding that there is far more to each of us that ourselves that just the physical shell that covers our souls.

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The guy who is responsible for my transformation from overweight couch-potato to an weekend warrior and wannabe Iron Man, still hits the gym with me regularly on most nights of the week.  We’ve been trying to split it all up between cardio and strength training.  Tuesday night was strength training and so we decided to work on shoulders and legs.

Due to some recent leg problems, we opted to go light so as not to exacerbate any thing and chose Prison Squats for the first leg set.  Prison Squats or Prisoner Squats (I forget what they’re called exactly, but it did involve something about doing time!), involve you putting your hands behind your head, feet shoulder width apart and then squatting down to the ground and rising again…  Pretty easy right?!

It was pretty easy.  Set 1 was 12 reps…  No problem!  Set 2, another 12 reps…  As they say in Oz - Piece of piss really!!  Set 3, 12 reps, and since it’s the last Set, I threw in another 12 since I didn’t think I was getting the best workout.  …  didn’t think I was getting the best workout…  Let me just state for the record that I am an IDIOT!!  I was supposed to run yesterday, but there was white crap falling from the sky, I probably could have made it out, but my inner thighs were a little sore.   This morning, I’m having trouble walking, at least walking with any speed and without wincing.  OOOOOOOWWWWW!

So, I think I’m going to be adding these to my regular regimin, and not pushing it too hard if it feels to easy.

On other exercise news…  I read an excellent post by Joe Friel yesterday.  Joe is the author of The Triathletes Training Bible, a book which I don’t yet own, but is next on my list to buy (or be gifted - Wife - take note!!).  He blogs every week or so about training, and this weeks entry has to do with running style and core training.  Without giving it away, I was a little shocked to find out what the main cause of running injuries may be.  It makes for excellent reading.  That particular post is right here.

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