New Years Eve

"We are different, in essence, from other men. If you want to win something, run 100 meters. If you want to experience something, run a marathon."
-Emil Zatopek




1 hour of martial arts training

Training Day 6

"Every morning in Africa a gazelle wakes up. It knows it must move faster than the lion or it will not survive. Every morning a lion wakes up and it knows it must move faster than the slowest gazelle or it will starve. It doesn't matter if you are the lion or the gazelle, when the sun comes up, you better be moving." - Maurice Greene (attributed to Roger Bannister shortly after running the first sub-4 mile)


Today I picked up the pace a bit, felt good despite a long day at work
37min run
weather: wet, drizzling, 4C, dark

Day 5

The greatest pleasure in life, is doing the things people say we cannot do.
-- Walter Bagehot






2 hours of basketball

Day 4 (Dec 28)

"What matters is not necessarily the size of the dog in the fight - it's the size of the fight in the dog." - Dwight D. Eisenhower





Rest Day

Day 3

"Maybe I shouldn't have had breakfast at Denny's."
-Jordan Kent (who vomited after running the 400 meters in the 2002 USA Junior National Championships held in Eugene, OR)

Time: 45min
weather: cloudy, humidity 79, temp 5C (41F)
I was cruising the first 30min then struggled in the last 15, but felt good to add some tempo to the run

Day 2 (dec 26)

"Most people run a race to see who is fastest. I run a race to see who has the most guts." - Steve Prefontaine


Time: 30min
Weather: wet, cloudy 5C
Easy run, legs a bit jello-like after yesterday's first day back

Day 1

First run back: 30min easy run

I must have gotten soft while living in England. Today I wore a long sleeve t-shirt and jogging pants and a hat and half way through my run I realized that was too much. It was about 4C (or 39F)
Back in WI thats shorts and t-shirt weather.

For only a 30min run I was a bit winded, but I guess that is to be expected while I build my base back up. All I could think of was the type of shape I used to be in, but I need to stay positive and remember that it will take time to get my endurance back.

Happy trails!

for my fellow mathematicians:

Fahrenheit to Celsius:
Tc=(5/9)*(Tf-32)

Celsius to Fahrenheit:
Tf=(9/5)*Tc+32

*multiply

Runner's high (technically speaking)

Many of us have experienced a runner's high to different extents, so what exactly is a runner's high? Well, technically speaking it is a state of euphoria which is not only caused by biological aspects of stress associated with running but is also influenced by the environmental stimuli around the runner during the run. When the body is put under stress the mind generally reacts proportionately to the level of stress. One reaction is the release of endorphins within the body. Endorphins are opiate proteins with pain relieving properties that are found naturally in the brain. The origin of the word "endorphin" comes from endogenous, "produced within the body" and morphine which is derived from opium which is a drug that elevates mood and reduces pain. Interestingly enough endorphins are chemically similar to morphine and endorphins are neurotransmitters. People in the medical field have discovered that the brain has morphine receptors. This suggests that the body produces substances similar to morphine. Endorphins and enkephalins are the names of these neurotransmitters which are chemically similar to morphine.

Most runner's have experienced the runner's high to different extents, some may just experience a sense of happiness and contentment while their body seems to go on autopilot while others (like those Hard-Core ultra-marathon runners) may sense a total separation of mind from body during an extreme runner's high.

Happy Trails...

Out of Retirement!

So I am coming out of retirement! Yeah I am a bit young to have already retired and to be coming out of retirement. I was all burnt out at the end of 2005's track season at UWW so I did one last race: the Mountain Bay 5k aka the Shawano Run which I won and then retired from competitive running. Now I am planning a comeback. I haven't planned when my first race back will be yet, it will take some time to regain my endurance base first, but I am determined. It is Hardcore time!

I plan on using this blog as an online running journal of my training progress. It will also benefit me since I plan on detailing my workouts and missing a day or just doing a short run will result in receiving a few jabs by my fellow HCDRs :) -unless its a recovery day-

Cause I'm a Hard-Core distance runner!