Freeze Your Thorns Off 5K Race Report

a.k.a. Game of Thorns
a.k.a. how to run with an ingrown and broken toe nail
a.k.a. This is where the running turns around baby!

I've kept to my running schedule since my bull-shitake run two weeks ago.  And it's been basically consistent crappiness interspersed with bought of sheer loserdom.  So I needed a run to turn it all around.  And this one was it baby!

Today's run was a complex 2.9 mile warm up, 3.2 mile virtual race, plus 1 mile stagger home.  Did I mention I operated on my toe last night at 4 in the morning?  My toe cracked on my run yesterday, and I pulled out the broken piece, but there was a piece left in and it began to grind into the fat cheeky part of my big toe while I was sleeping.  And at 4 am I couldn't take the pain and dug the rest of the nail out.  Taped the toe up with gauze, rubber bands and put two tight socks on the foot and went for the run.

The pain made me run in a funny way.  And when I uploaded my track from the Garmin I discovered the thorny problem.

Here's the interactive route if you want to take a look:


I think if I could figure out which way the "s" and "z" go I could open up a GEO-Writing business.

Here's the summary:

precipitation	freezing rain and blowing snow
temp	feels like -4°C (16 °F)
winds	gusting to 54km/h (34 m/h)
distance	5.1 k (3.2 mi)
time	37:29.5
HR	126 bpm

Thanks for another wonderfully directed race Adam!

BULL-SHITAKE!

what a universally crappy run last night

- no Energy (I felt at mile 1.5 like I felt at mile 13 of the half last summer)
- no Desire (I was thinking of stopping and breathing)
- no Visualization (my mental image leaving the house was of me leaving the house)
- bad Music (Juice Newton was in my friggin playlist!  I don't listen to Juice Newton!)
- poor Equipment management (shoes clogged with mud, earphone falling out of ears, draw strings all knotted together)
- Hydration problems (dry mouth, drinking all the time, peeing all the time)
- poor eating cycle (ate about 1 hour before running - 3 bowls of vegetable soup)

from the coach:

Sorry about the run.  

Peel back the layers and figure out what was going on, 

you are a master at that now! :)

I give up.

Today I run again ... I MUST BE STOPPED!

... gears are turning ... things will be analyzed!

RE-JECTED!

I hit the wall on an Interval run!

6°F light flurries, feels like 1°F (-14°C feels like -22°C).  Winds from the southwest at 4 m/h (6 k/h).

Alpaca socks, two track pants, cotton turtle neck, t-shirt, thermal sweatshirt, windbreaker, mittens, toque.

I came back hyperventilating, dizzy and WALKING!

Food Calories:   1993

Carb:                  51%20% (corrected after Shawn and Ewa's comments)

Protein:               29%

Fat:                     20%51% (ibid)

Net Calories: 1993 – 2000 (for day) – 603 (for running) = - 610

Secret Santa Presents

from Adam:

and a signed cover from Guy Kawasaki:

I'm not sure what Guy wrote.  My wife was kind enough for stating "Andrew, Resisting you is futile! - Guy Kawasaki 12/21/11"  but I think it says "Andress, Klaraty cju is butane! - Colkard 12/21/11" ... from the Vulcan impotence curse.

My first run this year!

I'm hoping to lose some bad-weight (mostly fat) this year and put on some good-weight (mostly muscle) - so we've planned out a running schedule to do so.  Matched with good food choices, I'm hoping to bring the weight down in the next 20 weeks by at least 20 lbs.

Yesterday's Workouts:

RUN: 

4 miles @ base + 4x30 sec hill sprints (http://connect.garmin.com/activity/138502616)

Split	Distance	Avg Pace	Avg HR	Max HR	Calories
1	2.04	11:49	128	154	223
2	0.06	8:26	115	138	6
3	0.07	13:40	134	140	7
4	0.06	8:36	123	139	5
5	0.07	13:40	136	142	7
6	0.06	8:57	132	144	5
7	0.07	14:55	137	149	7
8	0.05	9:09	124	137	5
9	0.06	13:29	137	141	6
10	2.05	12:12	124	137	214
Summary	4.58	11:57	127	154	485

It wasn't really base pace for me because it was freezing cold!  It was 15°F light flurries, feels like 1°F (-9°C feels like -17°C).  Winds were from the north at 15 m/h (24 k/h).  My only defense was Alpaca socks, two track pants, cotton turtle neck, thermal sweatshirt, windbreaker, mittens, and toque.

WEIGHTS: 

2x15 Hammers/Triceps extensions/Shoulder Press/Push Press/Lat Pull-downs/Planks/Shoulder taps

FOOD:

Calories:             1424

Carb:                  54%

Protein:               26%

Fat:                     20%

Net Calories: 1424 – 2000 (for day) – 485 (for running) – 62 (for weights) = - 1123

Things to improve for today: drop the fat, increase the protein, add some more good calories, increase the lb-age on the weights slightly for tomorrow.

I hope you have all started the New Year on a positive note.  To quote EMZ: You've friggin GOT THIS!