Rantings from a Maniacal Wanna-be Athlete

Well ever since the Air Force Half Marathon on Sept 18th my running has taken a downword spiral to say the least. For most people they might say, "oh well you need to recover from the half" I say maybe. But I think I've ran a total of maybe 20 miles since the half marathon which was now a month ago. With the longest of that 20 miles being a little over 4 miles on hills. I can't really seem to click back into it. My breathing gets weird and it feels like my lungs are coming out of my chest or I feel sluggish like I haven't been nutritionally sound (which in reality I haven't been as good).

Needless to say the last couple of weeks have been especially frustrating because my mind is ready to get back into running it just seems my body isn't. Maybe it's because I need the thrill of the crowd or the competitiveness of running next to someone who is maybe going a little bit faster. I went for a run yesterday on the River Trail and I even pushed myself up the Broadway hill on the first section of my run. Wanted to do between 6 and 7 miles so I set my ipod for a 10k. Well the first 5K was really no problem but then I felt really sluggish like I needed fuel but I'd only been running 40 min. By the time I hit 6K I had to walk and that was frustrating. So I checked my knees, fine, ankles, fine, feet, a little sore but fine, what then what the frick.

Maybe it's what I'm fueling my body with before my run; to many simple sugars. Well I did eat Cap't Crunch for breakfast that morning. Plus my post run recovery has slipped some so maybe I go back to the drawing board and eat my banana and bagel with peanut butter before my runs and after my runs go back to drinking my recoverite.

I've been doing circuit training at the gym on Tues and Thurs to help build muscle strength and endurance. Plus then going for a stationary bike ride for 30 min to work some of my other leg muscles. Next semester I am taking Biomechanics and Physiology of Exercise at Mesa so hopefully that will give more insight as well.

Perhaps it is my up bringing and being told I wasn't as good as so and so or I wasn't smart enough. While I've overcome this in other parts of my life maybe it hasn't hit home yet in physical activity. Maybe I've lost my inner drill Sergeant as my friend Bethany calls her inner voice. But I shouldn't have to dig deep to run 6 miles for crying out loud I ran a PR in the half.
We haven't covered the brain yet in A&P so I can't tell which part of my brain helps with motivation and "digging deep" but I sure has hell can tell you which muscles are activated when I run and how to make fast twitch muscle fibers respond more like slow twitch muscle fibers.

Bowha ha ha ha ha (I am Maniacal which is my word of the day).

The Royal Gorge "Rim to Rim" 10k ummm I mean 5K

Several weeks ago Renae and I signed up for the "Rim to Rim" Royal Gorge 10k outside of Canon City. We thought it would be a nice follow-up to the Air Force 1/2 marathon and I'd never been to the Royal Gorge (another Canyon). So we headed out Friday late afternoon and meandered down 50 to Montrose then Gunnison. Then we headed to Salida and ate at my most favoritest Mexican eatery. First thing I ordered were fire roasted jalapeno's. After setting my mouth on fire we finished eating and headed out to Canon City. It was dark now and supposedly deer were everywhere even though I didn't see any. However, the corners were tight and the traffic was intermittent with their dang bright lights on. We got in around 830 pm and got situated before going to sleep. We got up the next morning and decided to leave around 7am since we were n't sure of the parking and how long it would take us to pick up our packets. We drove into the park and watched the deer along side the road eating breakfast it was very surreal. We picked up our race packets and I was pretty jazzed because the t-shirt (cotton) was a burnt orange color. Happy because orange is my favorite color and because most race t-shirts I've gotten lately have been dark colors like black or navy blue. We then parked and slowly took our time getting ready as it was only 725 and the race didn't start until 0830. I sat in the back of my car and watched people which is something I am really good at until about 0750. We then headed over to the start line to do the prerace things like go to the bathroom and stretch. We talked to a couple of different runners from Colorado Springs who talked about the running clubs there. Renae and tried to decide which way we would be running to start the race. Since we were standing on an incline for the start I hoped it was downhill but we were wrong and it started up the incline. Dang....I'm really starting to take my sister's philosophy on hills. As the race director explained the route there were three different loops for the 10k all of which required up hill running before returning down hill on the way back, then up hill, down hill, up hill then way way down hill and across the Royal Gorge bridge to the finish. Then the race director stated that if we switched from the 10k to the 5k to let them know at the finish line which set the tone in my head of opting for a out. So we were off Renae and I both running together, Renae lasted longer running up the hill than I did but not by much. We both ran about a 1/4 of a mile before I was huffing so hard I could see the air racing into my lungs as I swallowed all of the oxygen that surrounded me. We walked the next 1/4 mile and started running again. I was a little bit ahead of Renae because she hadn't yet been able to relax into a stride. Shortly I found myself at the 5k turn around and decided that my lungs nor my legs could take a lot more up hill running. So turned at the 5k turnaround and saw Renae was right behind me she too turned around at the 5k and caught up with me in a couple of minutes on the down hill. This was on one of the camp ground loops and we soon hit the pavement headed back down to the bridge. Now I hadn't noticed it when we drove in but this road was a pretty good incline, I would say 8 or 9%, enough that I had to drop down into a lower gear when driving in. So that said it sucked running up and was awesome running down. Renae and I were running together at this point. Renae with her long strides and me with my littler strides at one point we stopped to walk for about 45 sec and then started running again. These are my favorite routes because I can just release my body and let it fall forward. The second half of the 5k my average pace was probably between 9-10 min miles which is about 2-3 min faster than I normally run. As we got to the bridge Renae needed to walk again but alas I was already on the bridge. With my fear of heights I was only able to turn around and take a picture of her, I had been carrying my camera the entire way as I had no pockets, and turn back around and run like some wild man was chasing me. Now it was probably only 400 meters across the bridge but it was my fastest 400 meters I've ever run. Renae finished about 1 min behind me. It was my fastest 5k despite all the walking it seemed I did...I came in at 36'52, which was 15 out of 24 in my age group.

For lunch we tried a brewpub in Canon City called McClellans which served the most disgusting nastiest tasting draft beer on the face of the solar system. I watched several people sample the beers and then laughed as they nearly threw it up and Renae who I've never seen not finish a beer ordered a stout and took three drinks and that was all. I ordered a homemade root beer and it tasted like anis straight from an anus. Lol sorry that made me laugh. After drinking and then eating at the pub we had to stop by the candy store and get some real food. The candy store made Jalapeno Fudge which was really good but I ended up getting my old standby Amaretto Fudge.

That evening I had booked reservations on the Royal Gorge train for a murder mystery dinner. Lets just say it was only slightly better than the melodrama in Durango. But the food was to die for. Overall it was a great weekend. Will post pictures soon. I promise.