Father's Day Started With a 5K Run

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Last Saturday while picking up my 4 year old son my back spazzed out and my training was placed on hold for several days. My chiropractor in Camarillo, Dr Jensen, whipped me back into shape by Wednesday. I ran very slowly with a back brace on Tuesday after my initial adjustment on Monday, then after my 2nd appointment on Wednesday, felt pretty much back to normal by Thursday.  Nice!!

My last adjustment was at the end of December, so I had gone nearly 6 months without a visit. That was a no no. I'll be back to once a month adjustments to keep my back in order.

The 2 day layoff must have been good for me, because today I was able to run a 5K in Newbury Park and actually feel up to par. In fact, I actually won the entire race in a time of 17:27 (though later I discovered the course was actually about 3.06 miles (not the standard 3.1 for a 5K), so technically I ran closer to a 17:45 for my purist running friends.

In any case, I felt pretty good about being able to run under 18 minutes at age 46 without any type of speedwork, other than the 10K race I ran a few weeks back. Gives me more motivation to start training hard again...but I'd have to stop blogging or something so I'd be more rested for it :>

Since personally I'm not a big fan of interval work on the track, my goal will be to run more local races this year as I train for the Singapore Marathon in December. It felt great pushing my body today. Running  a hard 5K race is a good way to shock the body and lungs into a higher level of training!

Aching Back to the Future

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This past Saturday started out as a lovely day. One week after my longest run of the year and a 10K race in successive days, a bit of muscle soreness the first few days of the week, I ran a decent hilly 8 miler on Saturday morning.

So at 10 a.m. I was excited to bring my boys to the Los Angeles Zoo and have some fun. 'Twas a beautiful day to be outdoors.

But my 4 year old was being a brat.  He was goofing around inside the minivan and just would NOT get into his seat. The little guy was messing with me. So I finally lost my patience and bent over to pick up him, when ....ZOWWWWW....an electric shock went off in my lower back.

IMMEDIATELY I knew as was done for. This was exactly the same painful sensation I first encountered in my froggy encounter on August 7, 2009. Deja vu. So as I winced in pain, I wondered if I could even make it to the zoo when I couldn't even stand up straight.

But as pissed off and sore as I was, I was determined to go to the zoo with my kids. So I found one of my back braces and we enjoyed the rest of the day. Of course, I had to walk like an old man and not bend over, but I got through the day.

Sunday and Monday training was shot. Advil temporarily helped but what I really needed was to start the chiropractic work right away. So I did. I felt it working right away.  I've been through this several times now and know the drill.

This morning it was still sore but I was able to sloooowwwwwly jog 30 minutes with a back brace on. Felt good to get out there again. Tomorrow I'll be back at the chiro's office.

Taking things in stride. But I do have to figure out how to eliminate this back spasm issue as it ain't fun.

Busy Weekend! Long Run on Saturday and 10K on Sunday!

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Pretty crazy weekend for me. I ran my longest run of the year yesterday, 1 hour and 15 minutes, roughly 10 miles, including the infamous 800' descent/ascent down into Sycamore Canyon that takes a toll on one's body.  Then I went to the gym for a famous 20 minute workout. Did some grocery shopping with my 4 year old at Trader Joes.  Then off to my 7 year old's school for 6 hours of hard labor helping out with the annual carnival.

I was beat. Sore, tired, done. Bathed the kids, read them books. Finally to bed at 11:30 p.m.

This morning I could barely drag myself out of bed. My bladder was awake at 6 a.m. but my body was still asleep. So back to bed.

I generally like to sign up for races ahead of time. Cheaper, easier and less stress on race day morning. But I had not done so for today's 17th Annual Senior Concerns Love Run 5K/10K in Westlake Village. Not exactly sure why other than procrastination and the fact that I've done zero focused training this year. Zero.

But the Love Run is a great local race that helps local seniors programs, so my intention was to go and support the race. And since my training has been so lackadaisical (I love that word...and that's the first time I've actually typed it), my plan was to run the 5K at 8 a.m. as that would be a good "speed" workout for me.

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Singapore Marathon Here I Come...I Think!

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A few months ago a close friend who grew up in Glendale but has lived in the Far East for a number of years asked me about how I trained for a marathon. That prompted me to write this summary "26.2 Training Tips For Your First Marathon." But he hadn't committed to a particular marathon at that point.

David and I are both in our mid 40s and he never really ran, though in recent years he took up cycling and started committing himself to the sport, waking up at 4 a.m. for long rides, shedding pounds, etc. Reminded me of ME in 1993 when I started running.

So I blurted in my reply email to David that if he commits (notice that word is a recurring theme), then I'll join him.  What the heck. Would be fun to support him in his first marathon while finding motivation to run it too.

Two weeks ago he emails me his registration form to the Singapore Marathon on December 5th. Discount early bird pricing if registered by June 4th. After obtaining spousal approval, without much more thinking...I SIGNED UP!

Here we are just 2 weeks later and race organizers say the marathon is completely full. Whew, glad I made the decision to sign up quickly!

I'm now signed up. But now I have to do the REAL work...TRAIN. I've been running at a base level of 30 to 35 miles per week this year. So today I went out for a 1 1/4 hour run and felt good...though my left knee problem is still there. Hmm, I'll have to work on that.

All for now....