2/22 Through 2/31 The Tenth Week

Day 64 - Monday - A day of rest. What a beautiful thing. This past weekend was a long weekend. Monday is becoming my second best day of the week.

Day 65 - 5:00am - 11.5 miles on the track. The run starts out kind of slow. I'm still a little tired from the weekend. Dennis and I pick up the pace for a few miles and then settle back down into a slow pace. This is an uneventful run but I complete the mileage without any trouble. Dennis has been working his way through P90X and we enjoy laughing at the particular workouts and how tough they are at the same time training for an endurance event. I still think Plyometrics is really tough. Probably the most difficult workout considering all of the running.

Day 66 - 7:00am - P90X Yoga. An hour and a half of fun. I'm getting better at this. It is still tough but I'm able to do the work without as much trouble.

Day 67 - 5:00am - 11.5 on the track again. "On the track again, just can't wait to get on the track again". Sounds like a Willie Nelson song. Dennis and I run a pretty quick pace. Some of the miles go by sub 9 minute pace. I feel good and the miles go flying by. We discuss this Saturday's run and where we are going to run. When Dennis runs I can run the big hill with the cows and know nothing will happen. I don't know what it is but when he runs the cows leave me alone.

Day 68 - Friday - I have a busy day scheduled and don't get to my P90X workout. Not necessarily a bad thing but not something I want to become a habit.

Day 69 -6:00am - 4 hour Saturday! I'm looking forward to a 23 mile run. I start out with Dennis on a 13 mile loop. We head up over the hill. The usual hill. No cows, not one damn cow on the road. The run goes relatively uneventful. A little rain but thats about all. Then around mile 12 I start to get a little ache on the outside of my right knee. Nothing too serious but something different. I haven't had this before. I finish the 13 mile loop back at my house. I change clothes, grab my fuel belt and something to eat. I head out for a 10 mile loop to complete the 23 miles. Oh Oh! My knee does not feel right and is starting to hurt more. I continue on the road trying to walk, run my way through. I end up running and walking 7 miles. The first thing I do when I get home is call for a massage and a trip to the chiropractor. I know this is a temporary issue that I need to address immediately. The good news is I still complete 20 miles on the day. The not so good news is my knee hurts and I've never had to deal with this before. Between the massage and the chiropractor I feel much better. I hadn't been to the chiropractor in awhile and that was a mistake. I now have appointments on a weekly basis up to the race. I'm still a little sore in the knee but not near as bad as during the run.

Day 70 - Sunday - I take the day off from running. I go instead to the pool for a workout. I go about three quarters of a mile. The swim feels good but the best part of the day was sleeping in. Sleeping in means 6am. This doesn't sound like much but compare 6am to 4am. Not only did I sleep in but I got to lay in bed and read the paper. I haven't done this in 10 weeks. A nice treat. My leg feels much better and I can't wait until Tuesday. I'll take it easy this upcoming week. Fortunately the eleventh week is a break week. I'll run as much as I can. It'll be interesting to see if I can manage this knee for the remainder of the training. Still looking forward to next week but with an asterisk.

Week Ten Totals - 43 miles and a sore knee. I only missed my target by 22 miles. But whose counting? Tuesday and Thursday went exactly like I planned. Saturday was a different story. If I had only run 20 miles due to fatigue I would have been happier but I still made it through 20. Not that bad and for Sunday. Well taking the day off was a smart move. Not what I wanted but a smart move none the less. Live to run another day. Week eleven and only six weeks until race day. Oh Oh!

2/15 Through 2/21 The Ninth Week

Day 57 - Monday = nada, nothing, I'm resting today. No P90X, no running, no walking, nothing. I thought I would use Mondays as a P90X day but today, this Monday, I'm not doing anything.

Day 58 - 5:00am - Off to the track. Flying solo today. With things happening in my family I found myself turning this rather simple routine run into a speed session. This is a 11.5 mile run that includes a little tempo work. I spent the entire run a at a 9:30 pace. I should have averaged 10:30 - 10:45 pace. I spent so much time talking to myself that I actually was fighting with somebody. I mean a full on physical fight in my mind. It was unbelievable. I'm yelling, cussing and trying to throw punches while running around the track. Just as I start to get a grip on myself I look up and see my Asian friend coming towards me. Now we don't actually talk or for that matter barely even acknowledge each other but here he was coming towards me as I'm looking spastic trying to fight and run at the same time. Oh shit! He goes by without looking, like I'm not even there. God love him. This was probably a good day not to have Dennis with me. Obviously I was having imaginary issue and Dennis would have spent the entire run laughing at me. In spite of all of this my legs feel pretty good.

Day 59 - P90X, Shoulders and Arms. A really good workout. The weights felt great with just enough stress on the body. No ab ripper today. I'm going to have to get back into the routine of having P90X on a regular basis. I actually miss it. Not that running this much isn't enough but this is a different workout that feels really good. I thought it would be good if I cut back once the 90 days were up but I'm having second thoughts.

Day 60 - 5:00am - 11.5 miles that I break up into 3 parts. I still end up with the 11.5 completed I just take longer to complete. The good news, no fights on the track. I was back to normal. I don't like breaking the runs up. It really makes the run seem longer. They're long enough already. The tempo part of the run goes smooth and at the pace I actually planned to run. Again my legs felt good. The weather this week has been foggy but dry. We're expecting rain Friday night into Saturday. Great!

Day 61 - 7:00am P90X morning! Chest, Shoulders, Triceps and Ab Ripper. I had a GREAT workout! Pushups and sit ups. What's not to like. I really do enjoy these workouts. It's a nice change from the constant beating I'm giving to my legs.

Day 62 - 6:00am - 4 hours of fun!!!! Dennis and I take off for a 9.5 mile loop. He is just recovering from a cold and not really up to a long run. But like he always does, he sucks it up and hangs in for the run. I feel great! Legs feel good and I'm looking forward to a 40+ mile weekend. We go up and over my favorite hill complete with dairy cows, damn dairy cows. We have a lot to talk about and the run goes by quickly. After Dennis heads home I head up over the hill again and add another 3 miles to the loop. No trouble with the cows, thank god. I swear they know they make me nervous. I finish up 23 miles. I feel really good after the run. I've had 18 mile runs before where I was toast at the end. Not today! I feel good and the rain didn't show up.

Day 63 - 7:30am - Today is 3.5 hour run. I'm looking for 20 miles but will settle for 19. I want the 20. There is something psychological about getting 20 today. I have my run mapped out. It's simple! Two laps up and over the hill. No problems, no worries. I take off and I'm not 2 miles out and I have to head home for a bathroom break. Jesus! I get back on the road and start towards the hill. There in front of me off the road are about 10 dairy cows, not on the road but close. They are in a spot that is half way up this part of the hill and I start walking. I was looking down and out of the corner of my eye I see something coming towards me. It's a damn dairy cow. A young one starts charging me. Are you kidding me? I start running up the hill and this one stops chasing me but up ahead is another young one who starts chasing me. What the hell is going on? I just want to run. I haven't even got to the area on this run where the "real" dairy cows hang out. Christ what happens if they're all in the road and won't let me pass and I have to go back. I'm screwed. As I come up over the hill I don't see the cows where they normally hang out and I think, great I'm going to catch a break. Oh shit I didn't see the ones down the hill. Three to the left, three to the right. Alright I'm going to run by them and not walk. Oh good they let me pass with no problems. Got Milk! I take off and finish this part of the run with no more problems. I start out for the second part and decide no more dairy cow hills. I take off for another set of hills. As I go over for what should be just one set of hills I decide to go back and forth over these hills. The race is going to be nothing but hills so why not prepare. I spend the next 4.5 miles running hills. I finish this run not really sure how many miles it will be and hoping to run 20. Final tally, 20.33 miles, YEAH! I've run back to back 20 mile runs. This is a first for me. I've never even tried this before and I feel great, tired but great.

Week Nine Totals - 66 MILES!! I've never run 66 miles in a week and I've never run 20 milers back to back. This was the type of week I was hoping for coming off a rest week. I have 2 more weeks of this type of mileage before I get another rest week. I'm looking forward to the next two weeks. This will be a good test to see how I'm progressing. It just dawned on me. I know why the dairy cows give me such a bad time. They know I don't eat dairy. Crap I hope the other cows don't find out I'm vegetarian. I'll have to leave town. Seven weeks left!

2/8 Through 2/15 The Eighth Week

Day 50 - Monday morning. This is going to be a rest day. Nothing at all! This is a break week. My mileage will go down to the low 40's. I need this week to recover from the previous three. Still 40+ miles doesn't seem like a real break.

Day 51 - 5:00am - 11.5 at the track. Dennis has business plans early and won't make it. The track is in great shape. Soft but not sloppy. It's that part of the beach where the water rolls over when the tide comes in that everybody wants to walk on. Only it's not a beach and I get to go around in circles. I know, shut up and run. My legs feel good. I don't have any soreness.

Day 52 - 6:00am - It's a P90X day. Chest and Back. The workout goes great. It felt good to get back into the program. It is so funny to see this workout revolve around push ups and pull ups. No gimmicks just old school drop and give me as many as you can now exercises. I can still hear the middle school coaches yelling, "Is that all you got?" I bet they get fired if they say that now.

Day 53 - 5:00am - Track workout. I'm suppose to run 11.5 but I cut it short at 5. My legs don't feel sore just a little fatigued. There was another rookie mistake that took place but I'll spare you the details.

Day 54 -7:00am - Yoga!!! An hour and a half. I really enjoy yoga. I broke down and bought a mat, brick and strap. I'm not sure what the straps about but god love ya for the crazy thoughts. Is Yoga really Kamasutra without the sex? Different positions that make breathing difficult yet fulfilling? Does an upward dog and a downward dog make Yoga puppies that know not to pee on the mat?

Day 55 - 7:00am - Off for a 2.5 hour run. I should cover 14 miles. My run goes perfect. Legs felt great, no pain, no fatigue. I wonder around the west side of town going through hilly areas that Dennis and I have gone before but haven't been in awhile. I got enough hill work to make this run productive. Hills are a big deal since the whole damn race seems to be uphill. Here's a Yogi Berraism, the only time it's not uphill is when it's downhill. I've heard the start line is flat. One day it's Yoga and the next day it's Yogi. See what happens when you leave a runner alone on the west side of town? My mind went off the deep end. I finish the run with 14.3 miles.

Day 56 -7:00am - I'm in Stockton watching Elece's son Adam's soccer tournament. I take off for a 2 hour run with no real idea of where I'm going other than I'll head west for an hour and then return to the hotel. I get on this trail that ends at this high end housing area. Is that an oxymoron for Stockton? I have to cut over and I as come up on this main street there are 8 runners heading down the street in the same direction I'm going. WOW! What the heck is going on. I keep heading west and come up on this park. I have no idea where I am but the sign says this is a park. A couple of runners come up to the gate and I ask them for help. The man says "yeah, just head up this path for the time you need and then return the same way." "Make sure you stay on the bike path". I thought great a dirt trail. Why was he emphasizing for me to stay on the bike path? There is this wide dirt road with beautiful big homes to the left and the river to the right. Why would I need to get on the bike path? Because the the sign said "Stay on bike path. Road belongs to home owners." "Here's your sign!" Oh! The homes are beautiful, the boats are nice to look at and the trail is dirt with a lot of people out running. I find out later the gentleman that helped me owns the Fleet Feet in Stockton. An absolute beautiful place to run. Of course I'm talking about now and not in the summer when Stockton has the heat like Palm Springs without the palms or the springs. All in all it was a beautiful run and I wanted to complete 11 miles. I finish 11.3 miles.

Week Eight Totals - 42 miles!! I'm very happy with the results. I needed a down week and this worked out perfectly. I feel ready to pick it back up next week. I'm looking at a 65 mile week ahead. I'm also back on schedule with P90X. Ill do this 3 days a week for maintenance. Eight weeks until race day!

2/1 Through 2/7 The Seventh Week

Day 43 - 7:00pm - P90X, this is week thirteen!!! The last week of the program. I can't believe I've made it through the 90 days. Today it's Yoga. I wait until Monday night to workout. My legs are still very tired. Yoga as hard as it is is still one of my favorite workouts. I actually work through the workout without any major pain other than I can't breath and twist my body at the same time. I'm sure breathing is an option or should be.

I have been asked about my diet. How do I eat, how much do I eat and most importantly WHAT do I eat? A year and a half ago a friend told me about a book called "The China Study". He told me how much he felt it helped him. I bought a copy of the book and couldn't put it down. In short it's the "why" we should eat a plant based diet and it is also the "why we shouldn't" eat animal products. My family history was reason enough to read this book but also I am an endurance athlete, not very good or fast but neither was the Tortoise in the Tortoise and the Hare Race. This book really changed my life. I thought I was eating a healthy diet until I read this book. I wasn't doing everything wrong but I was eating products that weren't in my best interest. I had just had a physical and blood test prior to reading The China Study and so it was a perfect time for me to have another test to see the results after 30 days. Unbelievable!!! Triglycerides had plummeted (this is a good thing) and my cholesterol which was 194, 30 days earlier was now 187. I find it interesting that there have been several articles recently about longevity and what cultures live the longest. Plant based diets seemed to be the common denominator. But I haven't answered the real question. What do I eat? For protein I eat fish, not a lot, unless it's Fish Tacos, Wahoo's Fish Tacos and then I have three. God I love them. Quinoa, pronounced "keen-wa", is a root high in protein. My boys call it "hairy rice"and of course beans and spinach. I've started using a product called "Mila" which is a seed from the plant Salvia Hispanica which is science for "taste great and less filling". Mila is a product that I was recently introduced to by my friend Mandy. Mila is high in protein,omega 3's, antioxidants, fiber and anti-inflammatory properties to name a few of it's benefits. I use this as a post workout drink. The protein and antioxidants are extremely beneficial to the recovery process not to mention the value of the anti-inflammatory benefits. The link is in the upper left side of the blog if you want more information. The rest of my diet consist of fruits, veggies, whole grains and dark chocolate. Oh yeah, don't forget wine. It's high in antioxidants and looks good in the glass. Most of my kids dislike my diet. Not really hard to understand in our fast food world. Don't get me wrong, I have been known to sneak into a Costco and order the polish sausage and drink or take the boys to In and Out and order fries. I'm just conducting quality control.

Day 44 - 5:00am - 11.5 at the track. This time I decide to run at Casa High School with the dirt track. Apparently I haven't had enough fun in the mud and was looking for a little more. Unfortunately in communicating with Dennis I wasn't very clear and he went to Petaluma High School with the "non dirt track". This is the track that we spent the last two weeks running due to the rain. This was a tough run. My legs were clearly in control and were not about to let me go fast. It was a bit of a grind but I made it through with the ipod cranking to help take my mind off of the pain. This was my toughest run.

P90X- Core Synergistics!! I make it through without to much trouble. Although I shortened all the leg work. This is one of the programs I'll keep doing. I really like this one. I don't know if you can do enough core work. Core is the one workout we should do the most but actually we probably do the least. It's painful!

Day 45 - 6:30am - P90X, Kenpo! This is a lot of fun. It's a sneaky workout. You get this great workout but it feels more like you're playing than working out. The kicks can be a little tough on my legs but the rest of it is a blast. Legs are still in recovery mode. No pain just tired which I consider remarkable considering the amount of running the past 2 weeks.

Day 46 - 5:00am - 11.5 at the track. People wonder how we can run this many miles on a track. Don't you get bored? When we run it's dark. You can't see anything and therefore you aren't missing anything. Plus when you run with someone you have plenty of time to talk. Dennis and I were talking about our Saturday run. I told him that on Sunday I didn't know how I was going to run 16 miles and that the first quarter mile my legs were wobbly. After that I just locked in and set my sights on completing this run. I needed to make it another 60 mile week. Your brain works wonders when there isn't a satisfactory alternative. You can run fast, you can run slow, hell you can even walk but today you are running 16 miles, period. Turn up the music and get going. Also I spend an inordinate amount of time day dreaming. My mind wonders all over the place. Sometimes I catch myself talking to myself. I'll have a full on conversation. It's the only time I get all the answers right. There are times when Dennis and I will stop talking and let our minds wonder off. It's hilarious in that we won't say a word for awhile and then all of the sudden start talking like we hadn't stopped.

Day 47 - Woo Hoo a day off. I'm not doing anything today. I'm tired and really need some time off. I have another weekend of 37 miles in front of me.

Day 48 - 6:00am - Long run Saturday. 4 hours and I'm hoping to get 23 miles. I have set up a double loop run. Dennis will run the first which will go 13 miles. We take off in the dark. Clouds all around us but no rain. Around mile 1.5 there are these two hills that don't seem so tough when its dark. You can't really tell how steep the climb is when you can't see 30 feet in front of you. Dennis has started doing P90X. He survived the first week with the same types of pain I remember having. It's funny talking to someone about this and hearing their perspective. He loves it including Yoga. Soon we'll start reciting Ohms. We are about 2.5 miles into the run and deep into conversation when down comes the rain. Not to hard at first but then it really came down. We are both soaked and every step seems to land in a puddle. It gets to the point where the puddles actually feel warm on the feet. I didn't know the uphill and downhill parts of the road could flood but today there did. It was like being kids except no one was going to yell at us when we got home for being soaking wet. The run with Dennis goes pretty good. At the end of 13 miles I stop at home to change, get something to eat/drink and head out for another 10. It's like a Nascar pit stop, change tires, get fuel and then get going again. Although instead of 14 seconds I take 14 minutes. The start of this second loop isn't going so well. I'm starting to get tired and I've just started. The rain has stopped but the wind has picked up. I'm feeling the effects of 3 weeks of excessive mileage and last night I didn't eat properly. I'm paying for that mistake. I've been running long enough to know better and I still have a 3 hour run tomorrow. Physically it becomes a grind, mentally it becomes a gut check. Once I got out into the farm area of the west side it became a little easier. I start using walk breaks to help. I should have started doing this earlier in the run. Memo to self....On long runs start out a little slower and go to walk breaks earlier. This was a long run both literally and mentally. At the end of the day, 4.25 hours, 23 miles. No P90X, period!

Day 49 - 7:30am - Super Bowl Sunday! Off I go for another double loop run. This run is going to be a grind from the get go. My goal is 60 miles for the week. This would make 3 weeks of 60 miles per week. The weather is cool and sunny. It's great to finally have to wear sunglasses on a run. I run almost the same route Dennis and I ran yesterday. As I was getting close to finishing the first part I was really starting to fade. I thought just get home and call it a day. Better to back off now and prevent possible injury. Next week is "lighter" mileage week. Just as I get home I can't quite get around that I'm actually going to stop. This next loop is only 6 miles. I grab something to eat and drink and set back on the road quickly. I don't want my body to start settling down. I got into a run walk routine where I run for 5 to 8 minutes and then walk for 1 minute. The loop goes by pretty quick. I make the mileage needed to get to 60 miles. I am really tired! I shower, eat and start getting ready for the Super Bowl. Dave and Mandy and their kids are coming over to watch the game. Elece and I have to go to the store and get the food prepared. I really want a nap but I know if I lay down I won't want to get up. I'm running on fumes.

Week Seven Totals - 60 miles!!! This was a long week. I'm looking forward to the lighter week ahead. I happy with my progress so far. I had moments of doubt and was able to fight through. I can see going forward I'm going to need to upgrade my eating. The night before long runs I really have to eat right. During runs I'll need to take on fuel sooner. I usually can run 15, 16 miles without taking on fuel but now it's not just 15 or 16 it's 22 today and 16, 17 tomorrow. I'm getting educated in a painful way. 9 weeks to go until race day.