Last Long Run

Just as the title says I did my last long run.  That is until my race next Saturday.  I have a few short runs lined up, nothing longer than a 10K.  I ran this route tonight.  I left around 8:45 pm for my run.  I took me 1:30:07 for a pace of 8:43.  This run seemed pretty easy to be honest. I really didn't have any problems till I got to Jackson Ave (the cross run for 11th to 10th).  There is a Del Monte processing plant out there and the smells made my eyes water, my nose and throat burn, and it sucked.  I also ran through there during a shift change cause that road was way to busy for the time I ran through there.  I had to stop a little past the plant to take a leak.  It was kind of strange being in a hurry like that and all.  With a couple cars driving past I hid behind what might be the only real tree on the route.  I also lost my red blinking light somewhere on the way north.  I remember having it when I stopped but not when I checked for it.  I drove back that way trying to find it and could not.  While it clips on great to the waist band of my shorts the water belt is not thick enough for a good hold.  I might order something from Fuel Belt.  My nipples started to hurt around mile 7 which is a first for me.  My nipples never hurt.  Band Aides are going to be a must for the race.  I have a short run planned for tomorrow and a couple more next week, then it's race day.  The nerves are starting to tingle.

The Month of July

Sorry Friends, it has been a while.  July has been an adventurous month for me.  I've been onboard an aircraft carrier for work and traveled the state and ran in the foothills and a lot of other stuff.  My milage this month is lacking compared to last month.  It's a week before the race and I'm starting to get a little nervous.  I have to keep reminding myself that I'm not out to win it.  I'm out to finish it.  So lets start on the 5th of July since I haven't written to you since then.  After my long run with Matt on the Fourth I took the day off to recover and hang out with my family.  I had the day off from work as well and left for the boat on the 6th.  I'm a contractor working for a company called AECOM and my title is Aircraft Worker.  I'm not going to explain my job because I do several different things, but the over all goal is to train pilots to fly F/A-18 E&F Super Hornets.  

That's one right there.  The first 2 days aboard the ship we didn't have any jets onboard so we only "Worked" for 8 hours.  work consisted of reading Dean Karnazes book Ultramarathon Man: Confessions of an All-Night Runner on my iPhones iBook app.  It's a great read and extremely motivational.  Being on the ship is different and I'll post some pictures of it at the end of this blog.  The main thing is that I had to run on a treadmill while I was there.  I only did it twice though (shame on me).  Once we got aircraft onboard we switched to 12 hour days and we actually worked a good majority of it.  Running around a flight deck with six tiedown chains is no joke.  They weight 10 or 11 pounds each and can really take a toll on you with all the other gear you have.  My runs on the boat were boring to say the least.  The first was around five and a half and the second somewhere around 7.  I'll just say that it's really hard to watch a movie on an iPhone while running.  Moving on now to what happened upon returning home from my little trip.  

    My first run after coming home was a my usual 5 mile loop downtown which almost killed me.  It was insanely hot, 103ish if I recall, and I had just eaten a ton of food.  Hummus and Tabouli taste pretty good the second time around.  That weekend my friend Matt and I went back out to Exeter to run some hills.  We decided to do a full 13.1 that day.  I wasn't really feeling it after 5 miles I wanted to stop.  My legs hurt the hill had just kicked my butt and It was heating up.  I had to walk a lot on the way back up Rocky Hill (we did an out and back).  I hauled it on the way back down though.  I ran out of water around mile 11 and stopped to soak my shirt in a sprinkler that was spraying an orchard.  That really helped to keep me cool.  Even with all the walking I was excited to see that I'd finished under 2:15.  I'm confident now that I can complete my run near the 2 hour mark.  The hills at this corse are nothing like those in Exeter.  I took a few days off to recover from that run and only ran 8 miles the next week.  My normal 5 and then a birthday run. 

     My birthday was on the 24th and my family and I went to the Central Coast to get out of the heat. Stopped in Paso Robles because I wanted to find some TOMS shoes which I did.  It was a little b-day present to myself.  We then went to Atascadero for a little picnic and to walk around the little zoo there.  It's nothing amazing, but Lilly liked the animals there.  After that we headed out to Morro Bay on the 41 which is a drive I've always liked and I had a slice of the best pumpkin pie ever.  We took tons of pictures out on the beach which I've posted on facebook. (Click here to see birthday pictures) When we were done there we headed down to SLO to walk around and do some shopping and what not.  We made it home just after dark.  My wife was exhausted and went straight to bed but I was full of energy so I decided to go for run.  I did 2.6 miles (I turned 26) as fast as I could  I came out with a 7:07 pace which is pretty quick for me.  

    My training this week has been rather lacking.  I've had to watch my daughter everyday till it's time to go to work and then work has been kicking my butt.  See now that I'm on nights I run the radio during the flight schedule.  I'm on my feet nearly 7 hours a day now.  It keeps me active though and I'm getting used to being on my feet for long periods of time which is good if I'm going to be doing greater distances.  By Wednesday I'd had enough and went to Walmart after work and got some lights.  I got a red blinking light that I can clip onto my waist band and a hat bill light that I put on my running visor.  I was ready to go Thursday after work and ended up doing a 10k.  The lights worked great.  My contacts were a little dry so it was hard to see sometimes but the head lamp was bright and the flashing red light will blind you if you look into it.  My 10k route takes me out of town into the fields, the wind blowing through the corn is pretty creepy late at night when you're all alone.  I'm sure several people thought I was crazy.  My run time wasn't super fast but I forgot to bring water.  I think if I did have some I could have shaved a few seconds off the pace.  The weather was awesome too, a slight breeze, 75 degrees.  So this brings us up to today.  I plan on putting some miles in later tonight around sun down. I've also been looking into some other things to do.  I've gotten in touch with a old friend about cycling and he's given me a contact out here to get started.  I need to find some alternatives to running as my knees are starting to hurt a little.  I've also wanted to look into a swim coach to possibly give a Tri a shot sometime next year.  My ultimate goal though is a Marathon in 2011.  I'm thinking that the Fresno Two Cities would be good.  

The Ship USS Carl Vinson

This was taken with my iPhone and an app called Pano.  It's not perfect but you get the point.  This was the day after all the jets flew off.  

This is your standard rack and cube.  These are generally called "Coffin Racks"  it does sort of feel like you're in a coffin.  They are arranged into cubes of usually 6 racks.  They aren't comfortable as the mattress is only 4 inches thick.  Now imagine sleeping in this for 6-10 months.  

This is me with all of my gear on.  I have a cranial for head protection, it has my headset for hearing protection and googles for the eyes.  Long sleeve turtle neck is to protect the skin from the hot, hot exhaust (this really sucks in place like the Persian Gulf where it's 100+everyday), Leather Gloves are a must for chains and such. I also have a float coat on, It's a vest that will inflate itself if I somehow end up in the water.  I'm also wearing cammie pants steal toe boots.  I have 6 chains which are about 60-65 pounds total and a tool pouch thats 3 or 4 pounds.  Now run around with all of this stuff for 6+ hours in a place that's been referred to Organized Chaos.  That's my job.  A workout in itself.  

Fourth Of July: Happy Birthday America

As we celebrate the independence and the birth of our nation lets remember those that have given so much to keep it that way.  Please join me in supporting our nations finest by clicking the Proud Supporter banner at the top of the page. Thank you and have a happy and safe Independence Day.