Support

I met tonight with members of the girls' track team and other kids after school. Some are serious runners, and some are just planning to run to stay in shape. I plan to run with them as often as I can. I figure it is a good group for me in my current condition. They have some incentives for the 14 weeks -- 100, 150 and 200 miles. I would love to reach the 200-mile mark, but I am building conservatively and realistically I will make the 150-mile mark. But over 16 weeks, I will make 200 miles. At that point, I will try to add a day of faster training to my schedule. But for now -- stay healthy, be consistent. Focus on tomorrow morning's run.

Standards of excellence

I just figured out that my goal is pretty much right on track to be named an All-American for my age group. For runners ages 45-49, I would have to run a 5-minute mile to achieve the Standard of Excellence. The 800 mark is 2:11. At ages 50-54, those slow down to 5:10 and 2:16.

I feel good today. My legs are a little sore (on Saturday I did a lot of running all over the course), but they're OK. Normal rest day. So far, so good.

Great weekend

My weekend of running was outstanding. On Saturday, I went to the state meet. The weather was beautiful -- 50 degrees, sunny, a little windy. There were about 1,000 runners between the boys and girls, and the crowd was huge. It was colorful and spectacular on a perfect fall day. I took pictures for Surveyor, which I think came out pretty well. It was great to see the kids -- they seemed happy to see me. The Wash girls team finished eighth -- I think they are capable of doing better. I wish I had the opportunity to coach them. But in a week, I will start running with them and see how things go.

My running on Sunday was very good. I upped the time to 24 minutes, some on grass and some on pavement. and I was again very steady. Still a little soreness in the lower back, but I had it nice and relaxed and stretched out.

My wife is the most supportive person in my life toward my goal. She also would like me to take a teaching job where I could also coach cross country and track -- which is something I want badly. I'll see how that goes. Like my 5-minute mile goal, I'll take it steady, one step at a time.

Nice and steady

Since I last wrote, I have established an easy flow to my running routine. I am still running every other day, and the last four times I have gone 22 minutes. My cardiovascular condition is improving -- I feel like I have more endurance through everything I do during the day. The ease in which I proceed through my runs increases.

Today, I ran on the treadmill.

The Achilles tendinitis is still there, slightly, but I don't feel it when I run. I am concentrating on taking quick strides and not putting any undue strain on the Achilles. Then, for about the last three runs, I have experienced some discomfort in my upper butt-lower back-left hip area. It seems to relax/loosen up as I get further into the run. When I lie on the ground, I feel that area sort of relaxing/stretching. It's as if I am taking pressure off it. I think what I will do for that is not push it, do as much stretching as I can, and concentrate on strengthening my abdominal muscles. I need to strengthen my core.

I will be running occasionally with the distance girls on the track team starting in early November. I am preparing for that -- sort of building up to that point. I am really looking forward to going to Fort Dodge tomorrow for the state cross country meet. Some girls I teach will be running, some girls from my wife's school will be running. On top of that, I love the atmosphere -- the cool weather, the positive, well-adjusted, hard-working kids. I believe I was meant to be in this atmosphere, and I embrace it every chance I get.

Healing run

Yesterday, after a brutal Monday at school -- conferences, ITEDs, papers piling up, first night of pasteup with computer problems -- I got up at 5 a.m. and just went for a run. It was beautiful. Again, I just ran for 20 minutes (walking 6-7 minutes to warm up and 5 minutes to cool down), but it felt great. This is one thing I can truly control at this time.

I am starting to feel better. My achilles soreness is slowly fading away. Until it leaves completely, I will just run easy and not add to my minutes. I will continue to ice it and take ibuprofen and simply be consistent. My weight seems to be slowly going down, too. This morning, I am at 188 -- about a 5-pound loss. It helps to stay away from the junk food and make an effort to eat well.

So I have been at this for five runs and feeling good. I have been telling people who are knowledgeable of the difficulty of my goal and they are very supportive. I'm telling them because I want the support and because I need to be held accountable.

Inspiration

"A 48-year-old can't run a 5-minute mile."

Those are the words of my daughter, Megan, when I told her of my plans. And those words will be part of my motivation in my quest to run the mile in 5 minutes before age 50.

In fairness to my kids, I have been kicking around this idea of running very fast -- for the first time in their lives -- for a few years now. They have to wonder whether I can do it, because I always seem to be derailed by injuries.

But I have the knowledge, the will and the motivation to do it. It will make it very special when my kids finally see it.

Good first week

I've run every other day this week, and I am maintaining quite well. First of all, my Achilles is feeling pretty well. It's a little sore ocassionally, but it is not getting worse. In fact, it feels better. My eating has been great. Very little junk food, not over-eating.

Wednesday, October 10, I did the same workout as Monday, October 8. I did a 6-7-minute walk to warm up, ran 10 minutes (about a mile) and walked a couple of minutes. Then finished with another 10-minute run. I kept it very steady and felt like I was in control the whole way.

Then this morning, after a poor night of sleep, I did the warmup walk of 6 minutes, followed by a 2-mile jog in 20:40. It felt great. I'm in poor shape, so I labored a bit as I ran. But I kept it very steady and in control. It was a real nice run, and then iced my achilles immediately. I believe if I keep up this pace-distance for a while, and keep icing and taking ibuprofen, the Achilles tendinitis will fade away.

I am concentrating on being light on my feet, as Jeff Galloway recommends. Quick turnover. I'm not overstriding, in fact just concentrating on keeping my upper body directly over my legs as I run. I'm keeping my upper body very steady.

I'm starting to feel like a runner again.

"Good things come slow - especially in distance running."

-- Bill Dellinger, former Oregon coach

Day 2

It was a long, sort of frustrating day of teaching. I am teaching a very mixed group of kids and it can be a challenge.

I did not run today. I am going to run every other day, at least to start. That is how my body does best. Then later, after I am sure my body can handle it, I will make sure I am running 4-5 days a week. I will reach 20-25 miles a week, then maybe increase to 30, but I will want to make sure I am healthy and injury-free.

I ate good today. That is a big issue with me, especially on these tired, stressful days. I simply just need to maintain moderation.

The beginning

I woke up at 5 a.m. eager to get going. I walked-ran for 35 minutes -- including 20 minutes of running in two, 10-minute stretches. I want to do this right, and that means I need to go slow and steady at first. I will try to increase my time running by about 10% each week. I only know one way to do this -- and the first step is to slowly build my base. I do have a bit of tenderness in my left Achilles tendon, but I am icing it frequently.

The other part of this first phase is to moderate my diet and be sensible. I weigh 193 pounds, and I realistically probably need to lose 30. But I think that will come with regular running (and biking or walking on days I don't run), plus eating sensibly.

I am psyched. I am trying to follow the model that Dr. George Sheehan, my running hero, set. He was a strong high school-college runner, then had 20-some years of inactivity and overwork and stress. He realized that running was always with him, and at age 45, as he said, he stepped off the train and started to run. He started with about a mile very slowly. I am not too far away from that story, although I have done some running through the years. About 12 years ago, I ran a 3:30 marathon and did some pretty good 5Ks (19-minute range).

My other motivation is that I want to coach high school runners. I recently changed careers from newspaperman to teacher, and I love working with kids. I think I have some wisdom to impart to them as a cross country/track coach -- that would complete my career change. But I do need to show I can still run.