So since my last post, among other things, I've managed to complete a few things:

1. A 5+ mile run which was a gradual uphill track all the way to the halfway point, then downhill all the way home.  I highly recommend that, made me feel really fast even though I consider myself to be pretty damn slow.
2. The YMCA 2012 Back Road Ramble, held at Camp Watchaug in Charlestown, Rhode Island.  Very scenic trail run through the camp, and awesome trails.  The run was held at 1PM, though, and it was pretty warm out, and the course ended up being 3.4 miles, not 3.1, but I came in 17th place and felt pretty good!
3. Did a very hilly 11 mile run a few days later, my longest run in the minimalist shoes I wear.  I still think that as long as I had the time, and was not trying to push the pace at all, I'd be able to do 26.2 without an issue...just have to prep, pick a day and do it.  As for the 50K trail race, well, I haven't hit the trails nearly as much as I'd like, and I'm going to have to make a point of finding some good ones that are close by...

Something Every Day

Sunday was a day of surfing with my nephew Gino, and some other friends at a different spot, good times and a really nice day, but not up for a run after several hours in the water.  Monday was a brutal Muay Thai workout in the morning, followed by an equally active karate class.  Again, I'm getting in some serious cardio every day, all adding to the goal.  Tuesday was a day of "miracle" waves, as there weren't supposed to be any, and it bumped up to chest high and clean at Matunuck...

Yesterday.  Started with another killer Muay Thai class, followed with a bruising karate class.  Got home and realized that it was National Running Day, and went out for a run here in NoSto.  Just under 6 miles in about 53 minutes, got caught in the rain, and although it was really humid I felt good in spite of the morning's workout.

Today is going to be all about the lawn, if the rain holds off long enough...

Well!  Drove down to Matunuck with a bag of running gear on Thursday, with all intentions of the surf being flat and going for a run.  As I pulled into the lot, a clean waist-high wave peeled off without a single person in the water...so of course I had to suit up!  Surfed perfect little longboard waves for an hour and a half, then went home and took care of some much-needed yardwork.  Friday was a family day, and didn't get a run in...

This morning, I got up at 4:45 and went to watch the black belt candidates at the karate school I train at, do their 3-mile run in a torrential downpour and cheer them on, and watch the rest of their test.  They all passed.  Great family at the school, one which I've come to be very proud of and I'm happy to be a student there.

After the test, I went down to Pawcatuck, CT to run the Lions 5K at 10 AM.  I wasn't expecting a lot, as there was a brisk headwind along the river, and the ground was very wet.  Now I'm not fast, but I've been trying to improve my short distance time...and I did!  Came in 17th, with a 24:07 time, and a 7:47 per mile average.  Came in 17th, and I was really excited about my result.  Pretty proud to say that at 41, I'm faster than I was 20 years ago...


So I'm shooting to get a run in early or late tomorrow, and will be hitting at least one trail race next weekend, the inaugural "Back Road Ramble" in Charlestown, RI - meantime, have to get offroad for some miles...

May 30...thankfully, there won't be anymore runs in 30 degree weather for a few months, but I have a new nemesis - humidity...the last few days have been a bit muggy, to say the least.

After an hour of Muay Thai, and an hour of karate this morning, I drove down to Narragansett.  I love 'Gansett, it has everything I love about living in New England.  History, world class waves when there's a swell, readily accessible fresh seafood, laid-back attitude...awesome place.  And they have the NRA (No, not that NRA...), the Narragansett Running Association, who puts on one of my favorite races of the year, the "Super 5K" on Superbowl Sunday.  Always a freezing good time and certainly one of the colder races of the year, since it's early February and it's an out-and-back run along the seawall, and gets a bit breezy.  But they put on a great race, and there's an excellent pasta buffet afterwards.  Warms the heart :)

Today, I did a short three-mile run along part of the race route, and through some of the quiet streets of the Pier neighborhood.  Finished at the Coast Guard House.  Great landmark.

Nice, easy run, but sticky out!  Yesterday was the only day I didn't run in the last week, so I figured I'd go short today, and long trail run tomorrow.  Like I said, I'm making up my routine as I go, but cross-training in multiple sports is going to help me build my endurance.  That said, I'm on a Sunday to Saturday schedule to track my miles, and right now I'm at just under 12 miles for the week and counting.

Post #1:  So here it is:  I'm a runner.  An average, 41 year old, middle-of-the-pack runner who did his first race a few years ago on a whim, the Run4Kerri 4-mile road race in 2009 in Matunuck, Rhode Island.  I surf near the race site, and some friends asked me to join them...and I got hooked from that first race.  I finished with a 9:29 per mile average, coming in #412 of nearly 900 runners.  Like I said, completely average.  I've always been in good shape, due to surfing and martial arts training, and finished with a respectable time.  But I got hooked on  the race, the buildup to race day, the sheer spectacle, all of it.  You can be fast or slow, compete against others or yourself, but damned if it isn't fun.  My side of the walk-in closet that my wife Lori and I share is now full of race t-shirts, and I haven't gone clothes shopping in over three years.  I have a huge stack of race bibs and a lifetime supply of safety pins, if ever I need them.  If this sounds at all familiar, you're a runner.  If not, welcome!  I'll try to make sense of this.

I've decided to do this as a way of documenting my race schedule/obsession (which requires a separate calendar from our usual family stuff), my training, and to share the fact that I signed up for an "Ultramarathon" in October, the Bimbler's Bluff  http://mrbimble.com/WordPress/bluff/ 50K trail race (that's 31 miles, y'all), which I've committed to financially.  Which means that I paid for the entry, so I have to attempt it.  Once I've paid for a race, there's no way I'm not going to do it.  And I'm terrified.  Really.  Like I was with my first half marathon last September, the inaugural Surftown Half in Misquamicut, RI.  Nervous and driving to the race in the dark, asking myself "What the Hell was I thinking???"  But I made it, and crossed the finish line with my friend Gary, who I met during the race.  Gary is a lunatic who was running with a rucksack full of bricks (GO RUCK!!!), and has provided just enough peer pressure to get me to do this...so I have him to thank!  Thanks, Gary!!!

I'm going to be as detailed as I can, with regard to every run, race and training sesh I do leading up to the run.  I'm sort of winging it here, and while there may be a better way of doing this, it's not me.  I've always found my own way of getting there, in spite of all the good intentions of family and friends.  So here ya go.  I'm in, going to give it my best, and will let you all into the fold, as it were.  I'll also be sharing some observations from my previous races (like the three barefoot runners in yesterday's 5K, now there's a subculture for you), and trying to show whoever has read this far that anyone can build up to the short, middle, and long distances, and have fun doing it!  Aren't there worse things to do with twenty bucks and a couple of free hours?

Of course, I could also fail miserably at this whole project, and wouldn't that be just as entertaining???  Full disclosure, people, I'm not a politician...so you get the good and the bad and everything in between!  More fun for you!  So here goes...