Baldy Half Marathon and Festive of the Grape

First Annual Baldy Half MarathonI came in 4th in the male category. I really enjoyed it, and I got access to the Festive of the Grape in Oliver BC.here is the local paper’s coverage the race was flat along our scenic channel trail, and it was very small, so very intimate and personal with the staff and organizers. Got to take in the grape stomping competition after and a bit of food too! What a great way to get back into racing. I enjoyed it immensely! Rick Mercer came to cover the festival for a segment on his show the “rick mercer report”. I can be seen in the crowd behind him when he is talking to the camera! Very fun.

Mindfulness, meditation, and mental health

Mental healthis my bag. I talk it all the time. I have posted how I talk to the Big Guy, Creator, before when out on runs. In the last couple years though, I have been conscious of how crowded my mind is with worries, with strong emotions, with thoughts I cannot shake. I would be on a run and realize most of it was churning in my head. I would be so busy I felt like I couldn’t fully capture the joix de vivre I use to. The run was still helpful, don’t get me wrong! I just noticed this and realized a running Man who works as a therapist needed to work on his mental health more intentionally.

A simple thing I do for the last while is to stop midway and walk.  I took on a simple practice of mindfulness. Here is how it goes.

1. Stop

2. Breathe through my belly

3. Look around, notice surroundings what can I see, hear, smell, touch, even taste? 

4. Notice how your legs feel. Stand firmly and notice the large globe under your feet.

5. What am I feeling? Don’t judge anything you note. notice breathe.

6. As you resume, note this very moment, you are alive, healthy, breathing Creation.

That is it.  Being more present I the moment is a habit for anyone. When I get caught up in people’s problems, unsolvable dilemmas, heart ache, regrets or worries, I am not being mindful, and this is exhausting work. It leads me to lower mood and crankiness. I can stop and run mindfully to help get connected again.  

I’d love to hear any other tips or practices you may have. I also have learned much through a yoga group I have been part of at work with clients around being “mindful” versus being “mind full”.

running to keep ahead

It’s incredible!  I am 44 now and haven’t given up running the good race.
I raced the first inaugural “Baldy Half Marathon” here in Oliver B.C. this fall. More on that race next blog! My running regime has softened and I run now for reasons I didn’t before.  I think I now run because I want to age well. want to run now because I want to keep ahead and be able to do all the things in my life that I am determined to do.  For example, I went skiing last week and plan to do a bit more. This was the first time in 10 years that I hit the slopes. Running makes that a reality for me :-). On another front, research shows that as you age into your 50s and 60s, and beyond, that your agility, stamina,  sex life, overall health, all retain vital youthful vigor. Who doesn’t like that? But it starts now. It starts here . It starts in the morning when I don’t feel like getting up to go for a run. So I get up, and when I’m out I see things I never would’ve before, I sort things out in my head, I plan for my week,  and I go out with my kids, I dream up vacations, and I know I would be able to do those things because I am in the shape that I want to be. Marathons aren’t quite high on my priority list anymore. PR you no longer that important. Fitting in my jeans  and my shirts are still high priority! I do admit to having a “dad bod”; I’m proud of what I have been given in good health. I have fought for it!

As I age, I note my priorities shift I’m now thinking about maintenance rather than forging into new horizons, I think more about how to maintain the good things and still have wiggle room for new dreams. My prayers and my worship still happen on the road. Mostly without headphones! To be honest, I eat too much.  I could stand to lose about 20 pounds I believe. This year I’m going to try to up my mileage in order to achieve that and reduce my intake go to more appropriate servings and treats. The kids are getting older, my wife began a new career journey, and this last few months has been quite busy. Running is still my priority about 3 to 4 times a week, sometimes more. I will likely try and half marathon again this year and see where that takes me possibly a full marathon again just to conquer that beast one last time. Cheers!

Still Pounding the Pavement

Im still here!This runner still runs, this runner still works, but this runner is not as driven as he used to be.  No races this year, finishing line for his Master's degree was enough.  Averaging 30 km a week, my routes are  a time of meditation, sans music or tech, to reach within and work out the kinks of the inner life. 

One thing I absolutly love about my time running is the things in nature around me I get to see.   Animals, the seasons changing, steam rising off of the water of the channel, my breath steaming, the beautiful sunrise, it all reminds me of my smallness and my need for self-care and for wonder.  Merry Christmas from this running dude!

That Last Push

For the lastyear, I have made my final push for my Master's Degree in Counseling.  This month my name was called and this summer I am completing my last two courses.  Let me say I have never felt so desperate to stop doing something!  The only thing on my mind is the finish line.  I draw every day on the last few km of a marathon.  It is my image, what I refer to, what I meditate on.  You know the agony, the feeling of being spent, longing to just stop running and enjoy the crowd cheering, after throwing up and crying.  HA!  This is my image.  

I have mentally prepared, I would say for this moment as I have run.  I am thankful, as the feeling of discouragement can be so strong. It is just you and the books, the discussions, the papers and the writing. The long haul feels long, but from experience, I know that I have trained, and that pushing forward is so important.

I have not posted much lately, for conservation of my energies is also a part of this journey! I continue to run and will continue to post as I have energy or time.  I am running over 30 km a week right now, and my enjoyment increases in the last year each week. My mileage will crreep up and I think I will sign up for a half-marathon soon.

Now back to my studies!

Running But No Frills!

Long time no post!Running continues this year, but its the busiest I have ever been. Posting, therefore has taken a back seat.  New career transition, new schedule, ongoing schooling has all been overwhelming my priorities, all while keeping sane!  New trends in my running regime include no headphones (my thoughts to myself) and accepting slower times for now.  No races on my schedule have left me to renew my appreciation for the times I have carved out to rejuvinate and exercise.  No injuries which is awesome, but there is less pushing for times.  This is a time of my life I never imagined how demanding it would be.  If ever atime came when I would be tested to see if running would stick, it is now!

Keep running, people!  

Naked Running

I read a lotof tweets, facebook statuses and blogs regarding running.  Those who have seriously changed their lives with a physical activity buy in completely:  its a part of the process.  In order to make real change, we often need to buy in hook line and sinker to a new way of living, a new way of thinking.  Often the new way is taken to extremes, becomes religious and fanatical!  I am in a different place than when I started.  This place is going for more runs with no devices on my body: aka running "naked".  I am going bak to the simplicity of running to enjoy moment by moment the experience of my heart pumping, my breath rhythmic and my mind wandering.  I push at times and go very slow others.  I am not training for a race this year.

Some people tweet that running is their whole life.  It is not my whole life.  It is an important part of self care for me.  It is not the only part.  I love running at times and I have moments of ugh.  Freeing myself from that which is overtaking my passion for life is important.  Devices are sometimes distractions from this passion, a pressure builder for more output, which I already have enough of.

So, enjoy your run.  Take care of yourself.  Unplug once in a while.  Dont worry if your passion is waining in the process.  Find those moments of enjoyment, access your inner passion.  

I work towards overall health, and until my body can no longer do it I will keep on running.

Running : Discovering Your Limits

I understandmy life journey differently now.  I use my experience in running, the good and the difficult, as material to draw from in relating to others.  I see challenges from a lens of how I have experienced a marathon, or a solo run, or recovery.  Not sure if you can relate, but in conversation with people, it becomes an analogy that is quickly accessible to me.  

I am in the middle of my masters degree, and the only way I can relate this to others or to understand it myself in how I am feeling is to refer it to a marathon.  First half, you are feeling energized and alive, able to keep a steady pace.  Second half is the real grunt work.  None of a marathon is easy.  But the endurance really shows in the ability to keep moving, keep working hard.  Endurance training is a test, to find the end of one's self.  I have felt the end of myself and been rattled!  How I face life's demands and challenges suddenly gets altered in this revelation:  I have limits, and I have experienced them in a way that is emotionally jarring!  

I have seen the first bit of my running training as a discovery of the amazing sort, all honeymoon.  And then the limits were found, and now I am running to maintain, but in all honesty I feel the wind has come out of my sail a bit in my drive.  I guess I ask myself, now that I know how far I might push myself, why bother visiting that limit over and over?  I know this is probably faulty thinking, but it is a process of experiencing the journey.

Boston's Finish Line

Evil.  It exists in our world, explodes in random places.  This year's marathon in Boston was cut short due to evil.  I think of all the dreams people were fulfilling as they ran their race and how it turned so quickly to tragedy.  My heart is sickened to know that for two people their race here on earth ended this week.  I think of all the people affected by the chaos, stopped while on their final stretch, told to go home, to wait.

I reflect as well on my own marathons, wondering how that must have felt.  It is intensely emotional to train for months and complete a marathon.  I would have been confused.  I would have been hurt.  I also would not have cared about the race when I heard.  I think of my last time I recorded.  I was at 3:31:57.  This seems to have been before the time recorded the blast hit first for the Boston Marathon.  The blast may have been when I crossed, had I run a difficult race with the same experience as I had last.  This last marathon was a slow and painful race for me.  Then I reflect on the kind of race people were having that  morning.  Some had good races, some bonked.  Some achieved a PR.  Some did not finish.  That day a certain fate awaited runners.  Some had been stopped just as they hit that painful last 5 km, when one digs deep to run their best despite having nothing left.  I think about how that may have dictated their fate with those explosions.  Being at the wrong place at the wrong time, one can only speculate.  I would have felt guilty had my family been subject to a blast because I bonked or because I was PRing.  Or because I ran at all. It seems that this terror attack was meant not for the runners but for those who cheer them on, a densely populated and highly visible event.  Its confusing, and twisted.
Let me just clarify to those who went for their dreams that morning:  it is not your fault.  No one could have predicted this.  Only the sick bastards who planned mayhem are responsible for this tragedy.  You ran and you trained.  Hard. 

More long term, how will it feel to get on a course again to run another, perhaps this race again?  I imagine the road to heal this wound will be long.  But that is what runners do.  They are in it for the long haul.  God has given them longevity, perspective, reflection and strength.  We understand our limitations, we push ourselves.  We are conscious of recovery.  I stand with my brothers and sisters, their families and friends and those who support each runner and say that this tragedy will not stop us.  We hurt with them and it was evil and wrong, but evil and wrong will not stop us either.  I look to the place where evil and wrong were conquered.  It was not a place of might and anger.  It was the place my savior, Jesus died on a viscous slab of wood, by choice, to vanquish death and wrongdoing.  He can change the most evil of hearts, he can heal the most wounded of souls.  He will help us run again.  Pray with me to the One who can do this miracle, and lets keep running to the Finish.

"...let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God."Heb 12

Shaking this Creature of Habit

Last postI spoke of shaking up my habits.  I have been doing this with success.  Discovery about myself is that I will get a good thing going, enjoying my labors, hitting that groove. But after a long while I need to just switch it all up.  Winter blahs have been mostly avoided this year; I am running on concrete roads, avoiding the trails where snail's pace is rewuired to keep good traction and cougars wont attack as readily!  This has put my mind at ease and taken the dread off of winter morning runs in the pitch black.  Now, light is beginning to show!  I love the crack of dawn!  Its warming up!  Spring is coming!  This last winter has proven to be a turnign point in my running, I feel more invigorated: I true change from how I felt in the fall after the marathon.  Goal accomplished.  

I guess I write this as an encouragement to those who may feel drudgery.  It is helpful to not quit, but to persevere may mean to change your angle, to find that nugget of joy in your journey again.  This means maybe pursuing healing from injury, getting inspired, pulling back and changing up your routine. 

Shakin It Up

To feelInspired I need to change up my routine.  Obligation is killer to me.  I will begrudgingly wake up, go through the motions, but it will eventually make me resent what I am doing.  For me the cure is a simple shake up.  Always running one distance?  Change it.  Always the same days?  Change that too.  Right now I am running 2-3 5 km runs in a row during the work week and then the longer ones on the weekends (10-12 k twice).  My shake up?  I have changed my winter running routes and kept my runs shorter for easy digestion.  I need a certain km per week for my own plan to keep fit and be ready for the day light hours.  Over all this has worked for the last few months to keep my head in the game!  I am also changing my eating habits, less snacking in the evening, more herbal teas.  Less wine too.  Change is the constant in life, it helps one adapt and puts a new perspective on life so it must keep my running fresh.

You may have noticed I am not blogging as often either.  This is also my shakeup!  Less to say, so when I say, I mean it!  Happy running everyone!

Running Through Slumps

Its the weekbefore Christmas.  I am clamoring to get to the last day before holidays, as the year's demands are noticable.  My short runs have dwindled to 5 ks and my long run is 10 k.  In an attempt to simplify my life, I have given myself slack for the purpose of recapturing my love for this part of my life.  

  Some things have changed this year.  My time is more pressed, I am working over 40 hours a week, going to school and I am spending less time with other people because of all this.  I have stopped wearing my Garmin as well, with more of a need to jsut get out and stop timing myself with pressure to get it done.  I change my running goal mid-run more often too.  Not sure what all these changes mean, but i know that I am sticking to it, and building from here.  

   Since my dismal results at the marathon in October, I think I have seem my limitations and felt some discouragement from this.  i will charge on, but to regain my previous achievments seems daunting.  I know I have gained some weight, not a lot, but this may also factor back in to things.  I could stand to lose 5-7 pound comfortably as well, and my asthma has been noticeably more bothersome in the last year stemming back from being around a dog Christmas 2011! 

Want to say a Merry Christmas to you all, and thanks for stoping by, even though my blogging is less consistent than in past years.

God Bless!

A Month To Heal

My Finish lineat the Marathon in October was a triumph of human will. It was the hardest race I ever ran.  It was also my slowest, as predicted.

I literally hobbled for a few weeks after, having run on an emerging injury.  I found it hard to turn over in bed!  Ibuprofen was my best friend, as well as massage to my trigger points while I healed.  Eventually the pain subsided.  My chiropractor told me my hip flexor on my left was very tight, creating my pained buttock.  I mosied everywhere, trying desperately to cover my pain, as many would comment on how weirdly I was running or exclaim (as my mother did) that running was risky and killing me.  I hate showing the pain of running because I love it so much.

I decided as I crossed the line that I was probably going to rest for a month from running so I could recuperate and recharge my running passion.  I continued to stretch my hip flexor.

Well, I did.  I am now just entering back into the running scene, having started at 5 k, 8 k and then 10 k last week.  My delayed muscle soreness has lasted me a lot longer than expected, so I could have probably backed off the mileage, but one month should be alright for not losing too much fitness.  At least this is my stubborn belief.  I know I have gained a bit of weight, so this will need to be addressed, mostly due to snacking and inactivity, and wine :).

A Harrowing Dehydrated Journey

It went aboutjust about as wrong as a run could go wrong. My hip was sore from my recent speed work and long runs, and I put off  long running for as long as I could in the week changing my plan to a Sunday afternoon rather than the regular.  I have one last long run to squeeze in at 37 k.  

Being the afternoon, I knew t would be warmer.  I was nervous for a couple of reasons.  I went to the chiropractor for an assessment for my hip, he gave me a green light, but I was conscious of it turning into a full blown injury.  Second, it was a hotter day, and I was busy for the morning, so it would have to be after lunch.  I brought gatoraid in my four belt containers.

Right away, I began sweating.  Salty Sweat.  This was something to keep conscious of as losing salt can be bad.  

By km 20, I was running out of my liquids, and about to have a second half of my long run not passing homes.  My lips were feeling dry, a sure sign of dehydration.  I decided to stop and get water from the last house along my path.   Nice lady gave me a bottle of water.  That was gone fairly soon.  My garmin died about this time (km 21 of 37).

This is when I noticed had stopped sweating.  It was dawning on me that I was in trouble.  I took my gel and began thinking about liquids more and more. 

As I thought of the distance left ahead of me and the situation I was in, I concerned myself with where I might find water.  My arms were sweaty again, a good sign that the bottled water was a help.  I was running now along the water channel for the rest of my run.  This channel was a risk to drink from for two reasons: the bank was steep and the water was iffy.

I had to stop running, my legs were finished, nothing left in them to ask and this realization made the run seem so much longer.  This was very different for me as I never stop and walk on long runs.  I tried to pick it up a few times but had to walk every 500 meters or so.  I was realizing how much longer this run would be.

I thought of eating some fo the beautiful apple from the orchards and stopped to see where I may jump over the tall fences.  My mind began obsessing about liquids.  I thought of coke Slurpee constantly for almost 18 k that run.  Finally after I licked the salty sweat  off my arms, I decided to risk it and find a spot to drink from the channel.  I found a spot where campers (pickers who camp near the orchards) wash in.  I stumbled clumsily down, realized how dazed i felt, and drank deeply from the water.  After this, I felt queasy, so I got up and clambered up the bank and kept going. I looked over to where the water I drank came from and realized it was swampy.  Uh oh? 

I tried running a bit and stopped, ran a bit more, and stopped again.  I started thinking about worse case scenario, I would have to go to a nearby orchard house and ask for a ride. I have read enough about dehydration to know I was in trouble, but in my foggy reasoning I thought, "there is only 12 k to go, and I could make it".  

I was frustrated by my limitations, my body was saying no.  I started to HATE running.  I kept thinking "why do I do this to myself?"  My heart sank into dark thoughts of never running again, quitting altogether.  I seriously thought of not doing the marathon.  I was scared and angry, angry at myself and the situation.  Also, I was determined to make it home.  WIth no garmin, I was guesstimating distances, making it seem longer.   I ran/walked slowly home.  This added a good 40 minutes to my normal time in the 37 k.  I was getting desperate to be home, but determined I would keep on going, it would take less time that way.  My body wanted to sit down.  I said no.  I could see the familiar land marks of home stretch, but like a surreal horror movie, the last bit stretched out to the longest 7 k I had ever run. 

I got 2 km out and really began getting emotional.  I knew home and water and coke slurpee were so close.  I found the fountain in the park 1 km away and drank, but knew that it was almost moot, that I was needing to get home.  I jog-walked the last click celebrating and commissurating this the last of my long runs before an event i no longer wanted to do.

I walked through the door and collapsed in an emotional heap, drinking and drinking.  And vomited and vomited.  I felt so awful.  Queasy tired and stupid and exhausted.

It took all of a few days to piece together all that went wrong.  I underestimated that salts I needed, the water I  needed, and the heat of the day (over 30 C). 

I got my coke slurpee.  It was divine.
To be sure, this experience traumatized me.  I was unsure of my limitations for the race psychologically and physically.   I knew I would have no way of re-establish my confidence, only the memory of this experience to haunt me.  Also, not having run that last half fully, my body would most likely not recognize the distance.  

I now knew what it felt like to reach my limits, to push - foolishly Ill add- beyond them.  

I look back and knew I was at least 5 % dehydrated.  10 % brings on dire risks.  I was experiencing mental confusion, led feet, numbness of the hands, lack of sweat.

The race itself later on I dreaded.  That happened yesterday, and survived.   What oes not kill me makes me stronger?  This was not true here.  I was foolish.  I was stubborn.  I was also smart and tactical.  I saw the best in me and the worst in a crisis.  It was a personal battle.  I would not want to ever experience that again and I have learned something about myself.  

I think I would need a road ID bracelet, and for long runs, perhaps a phone, although I dont know how I would carry it.  More to come on the race, but this sets up the story for my next entry.  Sorry for the lenght, but for me this was an important blog to write out.

Remaining Injury Free/ Last long run snag

Its been a whileSince I last blogged here, life has gotten a hold of my energy and time, but I wanted to update people here! I am training for the marathon on our Canadian thanksgiving weekend (October 6) in Kelowna BC.

Runs have gotten to a length of 34 km last week, and I have had to squish my training because I got out to a late start in training.  So I have been adding 3 or 4 km each week for the last 3 weeks.  This may now being nipping me in the butt.  Literally.  Today I was due for my 37 km run, my last long run of the training.  all week however, my hip has been tight and a tad, a titch sore.  Stretching, foam rolling and my cruel but effective baseball rolling have all been part of the game.  Now however I sit typing when i was scheduled to go out this perfect Saturday and run my heart out.  But something doesn't feel right.  Experience has taught me not to push this too hard or I will pay.  BIGTIME!  Now I am left with a conundrum.  When to actually do my longest run?When to actually run at all again?  I have also learned that this can be feeling fine but not dealt with properly.  So I will sit and stew about it, frustrated and worried, but determined to figure something out before taper time.  I will roll and stretch and take care of my body, knowing that I will get there somehow, perhaps not the way I wanted but in one piece, hopefully not hobbling, and hopefully with a medal around my neck on the 6th.

Signed Up For A Marathon?

I have committedagain to the regiments of training for a marathon.  This will be the third for me.  It wil be Kelowna's BMO Okanagan Marathon.  This week I pushed my times to see if I could get back to my old ones and am taking a few days to rest my poor butt.  Literally!  Stretching my hip flexors and massaging will keep the injuries that come to me with speeding up away!

Its been a humid summer for running which is a hinderance to speed for me as well, but I am seeing good gains.  My goal was to amp up the mileage to over 40 km per week and keep raising it. 

Have you signed up for a fall marathon?  The serious training starts soon depending on your plan.  One rule I try to stick to is to not increase more than 10% per week in mileage for the long run and over all, as I pay for it in injury, feeling it in my glutes.  Stretching and masaging helps stave off long bouts of recovery.  Happy training everyone!

Scooter Race

Enjoy.You are welcome. :)

Taking in Life on the Run

My running life had a high point I love to embrace:  where ever I go, I run.  ON a vacation, people would say, why run?  Aren't you on vacation?  But honestly, I have taken in more beauty in my life while running than I ever have.  From shorelines to rolling hills, to cityscapes, and little moments of splendor, its incredible what I have witnessed and have been able to appreciate while running.  Moments with nature are common as I run often along a water channel, I have seen beavers, all types of birds, deer, hawks, eagles, turtles, snakes, and many other wildlife encounters.  If not out there, I would miss all that.  Makes getting out there more of a draw for sure!I feel I need to be able to bring a smallish camera with me that I can take pictures with, but in a way I like that I can capture them in my heart, for me to appreciate privately as a part of my inner life, my self care, as so much of life is "putting it out there" for everyone to see.
This leads me to look at possible vacation spots and trips through the eyes of an athlete.  What will I see when I run?  are there trails?  Expanding your world, your length of runs also helps this as you may find yourself like me, wondering how far I need to go to get to that sweet spot.  Being fit then takes on a new purpose!

Running Buddy

It has been a long time since I ran with anyone at all, in fact 9 months is about right with my friend Jeremy.  Jeremy and I have been running for the same amount of time.After a couple of lame attempts to get out for a run together (most of which was me saying lets do it and then bailing!) we went out yesterday for a 12 k.  One observance:  friends like him are rare for a guy, we have family holidays in the summer together, we play on the same worship team, and we are often either really similar or polar opposites.  Mostly opposites though.  What I want to say is this: we went faster than usual on our run, even while talking a lot and enjoying the scenery.  Firends push friends to go further and push themselves.  We have run marathons together and been one another's compadres.  I appreciate my friend, and it was a good run!  One tends to be able to share more while running, for guys it is much easier to talk more in depth when you are parallel, doing the same task, so its a win-win.  Go get yourself a running friend like mine!

Seawall Run

Coldplay and Siwash rock.  Perfect.