Tag Archives: nike+

Rocking and rolling in Arizona for MLK Day

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In January, TB and I are heading to Phoenix for the annual P. F. Chang’s Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona race. It will be my second half-marathon and a race that seems popular with our family: TB ran the full marathon in 2006 and returned with her mom and sister in 2007 for the half. The course map below.

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I’m looking forward to experiencing the adrenaline of race day again. This time there will be a lot more runners on a much warmer and flatter course. This being only my second race, I am not quite ready to set a time goal although I am still ecstatic about finishing my first half in 1:56:56.

Rock 'n' Roll Arizona Course MapThe short spurts of daylight are at the top of the list for worst parts about training this time of year. The cold and rain are manageable but running long distances in the dark is generally bad news, particularly when sharing the road with Seattle drivers. Endurance isn’t as much a problem as when I began training for the Bellingham Bay half so now I’m working on getting stronger and running more efficiently.

Off to the races…

I finished first in the Nike+ Human Race 10K

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OK, not really FIRST first.

Petanque boules On August 31, before heading to Belgium, I completed The Human Race 10K. For this global 10K running event my time was 57’14” (or about 9:32 per mile) which means I finished first…in the second group of 13,900 runners. Ha! The top finisher overall finished in 27’38”. You know nothing crushes a guy’s ego like the reality that someone not only runs faster but over twice as fast. I have to take solace knowing I can probably bench more than mjjensen80. If that fails, I will destroy him in a game of Pétanque.

Seattle wasn’t cool enough to make the list as one of 25 official host cities so I registered and ran as a “public runner.” For public runners to get credit for running, we had to run on August 31 and upload our results by September 2.

When I registered for the race over a month ago, I had my mind set on finishing in 54 minutes flat but two things conspired against me. First, my recent hamstring injury forced me to focus less on speed and more on endurance. Second, we decided to go to Belgium and our flight was at 7:15 AM the day of the race. I had to wake at 3 AM to have enough time to run, shower, eat and make it to the airport for an international flight. We wouldn’t arrive in Belgium until September 1 so it was either do the run before our trip or not at all. Let me tell you, running a 10K solo at 3 in the morning on 4 hours of sleep was brutal.

I was not used to running in the dark and I carried a flashlight so I could see more than three feet in front of me. It was difficult to relax since I worried I would encounter a pack of rabid coyotes and have to unleash a devastating fists of fury combo. Afterwards, TB told me coyotes don’t attack people. I was like, “Yeah, right!” and quickly reminded her of bouts like Buck vs. Christopher Reeve, Montecore vs. Roy Horn and Stingray vs. Steve Irwin. Sometimes, like humans, animals forget what they are and are not supposed to do. I want to get on Wikipedia eventually but not like that.

Three weeks from tomorrow is the big event: My first half marathon. Considering I have yet to run more than 10 miles, I feel caught between wanting to give my leg proper time to heal and wanting to tack on the miles to build endurance at the longer distances. I’m not running for time but I am running to finish.

Nike+ - Human Race 10K - August 31 2008

200 Miles and Running

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With today’s 4-miler, I broke the 200 mile mark since I began my Nike+ experiment in December. Reaching the 100 mile mark took four months so I ran the second 100 miles in about half the time, 72 days. Sweet! I received the following achievement when I accessed the Nike+ site after our run. Nike says I’m a champ. That’s funny. I think their system does an excellent job motivating new runners.

Nike+ Milestone - 200 Miles - July 1, 2008

I also set a new personal best in the mile today: 9’05”. The voice of Lance Armstrong greeted me at the end of the run to notify me of the accomplishment. I hadn’t heard from him or Paula in a while so that was a pleasant surprise.

TB is a great running partner. She knows all the routes based on the distance I want to run and she’s a great motivator while, at the same time, she keeps me from overdoing it. She also has all the cool long-distance running gear which I’ve started stealing borrowing indefinitely. I’ve been her biggest fan—cheering from the sidelines—for all the races she’s trained for and completed over the years. I must admit I enjoy running with her even more.

Based on my current training program, I should hit the 300 mile mark in about 40 days. Off we go.

108 miles in 12 weeks: Check

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Today I completed the Nike+ goal I set back in March to run 108 miles in 12 weeks. I am pleased to say I finished one day early and only fell behind (by 3 miles) once over the 12 week period and quickly recovered.

Nike+ Goal - 108 miles in 12 weeks - Finished June 21, 2008

What’s next? I start a Nike+ 12 week, half-marathon training program tomorrow. If things go as planned and I avoid injury with the increased mileage and frequency, I will register for a race in the fall. Notice in the picture below, I will more than double my miles over the next 12 weeks from 108 to 233! Wow, this is going to be nuts.

Nike+ Goal - Half-Marathon in October - Start June 22, 2008

Of course, I need gear and gadgets to keep me motivated so, following the recommendation of our strength trainer, Michael, I dropped by Everyday Athlete this morning before my run to get fitted for a proper set of running shoes and pick up some specialized running socks. The specialist watched me run and had me try 5 different shoes. About 40 minutes later, I walked out with a pair of Saucony ProGrid Omni 6 Moderate Medium (size 12 1/2) to replace the Nike Air Pegasus (size 12) that have been with me since I started running consistently back in December. The Nikes carried me close to 200 miles but the stability, fit and comfort of the Sauconys are noticeably better. I’ll need all the help I can get to complete my half-marathon goal. Wish me luck.

As for the socks, I’ve started getting blisters as the weather has gotten warmer. The specialist told me the most important thing was to get away from cotton and go with synthetics. I chose a few pairs of nylon/polyester/spandex blends to see which make and style I prefer. High-end running socks are ridiculously expensive at $12-$14 per pair…however, they do feel great. :smile: I probably don’t need those for anything under 10 miles so I also grabbed a 3@$10 pack for shorter distances. I can’t afford to be sidelined by blisters so hopefully the less expensive socks will be equally effective as the high-end, super silky, extra wicking ASICS Kayano Low Cut socks I ran in today.

100 Miles and Running

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roadrunner Today I broke the 100 mile mark with the Nike+ system. It took 4 months since I started in December but I lost about 6 weeks rehabbing old but persistent ankle and knee injuries. I’m satisfied with the progress I’ve made and I’m able to run considerably faster, longer and easier than I could back in December.

It seemed fitting to pass the 100 mile mark running along side TB. She’s the long distance runner in our household. The funny thing is I vowed never to run with her again after a previous outing led to a trip to the emergency room and a week of me not being able to take the stairs. We ran outdoors, too, which has grown on me despite the bizarre weather (80° last Saturday, 50° today) we’ve been having.

A good friend invited me to run the Kirkland half-marathon with him next month. That’s distance I’m not ready to tackle just yet—I’m more chicken than roadrunner when it comes to races. Who knows, if I keep running with TB, I may get there by the summer.

[Update: The Nike+ site presented me with the certificate below to commemorate my 100 mile achievement. How nice.]

Nike+ 100 mile certificate