A Labor(ed) Day Effort...

Good morning!  Hope that Labor Day is treating you well.  I kicked of my Labor Day with a 2:00:58 run for about 17 miles.  Not too bad of a run after racing last night. 



Speaking of last night, I appreciate all of the well wishes before the race.  I got back around 9p last night and did not have time to blog (since I was getting up early to run).  So...here's a race update.  Last night I ran the Ripple Effect 4 Mile run in Broadripple.  Believe it or not, it's only the third race I've run in the past year (Ripple Effect 2010, Outrun the Sun June 2011, and last night).  I've been running a lot and training for the Monumental Marathon, but have not run many races.  So...there were 526 of us lined up for the start at 7p.  I ran about 3.5 miles before the race to warm up and to calm my nerves.  Not sure why, but I was kind of nervous.  Anyway, I lined up behind a few folks, which is a trick I use so I don't get out to fast.  The starter issued his command and we were off.  Now...in any race I've ever run there are always about 15-20 people who just start off like gangbusters and run much faster than they can handle.  The key for me was to not go with them and just be patient.  When we approached the half-mile mark I was about in 20th place, but I could hear everyone in front of me breathing pretty hard.  I got settled into what I thought was a good pace and went through the first mile in 5:28 and in about 13th place.  I really wanted to hit 5:40 and was scared I was going to have a repeat of Outrun the Sun, when I got out too fast and then tanked it.  As I got into the second mile, I found my stride and just slowly started moving up and running strong.  At mile two I was 11:18 (5:50 second mile) and had moved into 10th place.  I could see positions 4-9 in front of me and my legs were feeling strong and I knew if I could concentrate then I could possible finish in the top five.  My pace stayed about the same during mile three and I kept moving up.  At the third mile I was 17:08 (5:50 third mile) and in 8th place.  I very quickly took 7th place in the first quarter of the fourth mile and was chasing down the guy in 6th and thought I may even have a shot at 5th.  At the 3.5 mile mark I moved into 6th position and was only about 5 seconds back from 5th place.  The guy in 5th was closing on the guy in 4th and the guy in 3rd was very close.  I started to give chase and cut into the gap a little, but as I hit the last turn it was clear I was not going to take him.  Still, I was going to be pleased.  And then...I got caught sleeping.  As I was finishing and was probably at 3.98 miles, someone flew past me--and that really bothered me.  There is a rule in running that you don't let folks pass you back.  This guy tracked me down.  Funny thing is that he was doing what I was doing--just slowling picking people off.  He was not one of the guys I had been passing and he sort of snuck up on me.  So...I finished the race in 22:51 (5:43 last mile) and landed in 7th place (NOTE:  For some reason the results on the Tuxbro page are off--not sure why but I know what the clock said at the finish). 



Myles & I's Face of Frustration

Overall, I was happy with the race and for 3.98 miles I really ran smart and ran tough.  That last .02 really left a bad taste in my mouth.  It's rare that I get passed like that and I was none too pleased with myself.  None to pleased at all!  I spent a good part of my 17 mile run this morning thinking about it.  You have to finish and I talk to my staff about finishing strong all the time.  And here...I got caught celebrating a great finish before I was done.  It was a great a lesson on not losing concentration.  And...if I'd paid more attention to getting the guy in 5th place instead of enjoying 6th place then it would not have mattered.  Ahhh...frustration.  After the race, though, I did the runnerly thing and went up to the guy who passed me and told him good job and congratulated him.  He did a great job and I will learn a lesson from it.  I know it probably seems ridiculous, but I'm Competitive with a capitol C.  And...I'd never be upset getting passed if I knew that I had not made a mental error.  Last night I just made a mental error. 
As I head into this week I'm very excited to be heading to Atlanta to see Sarah and Sarah's family.  Myles is ready to see his Momma as I make a poor substitute.  Myles loves his Dad, but he LOVES his Momma--and I totally get that!  ;-) 

Have a great Labor Day, don't forget to finish, and happy running to you!

Attack or be attacked...

Good morning!  Hope that you are having an outstanding Labor Day weekend.  I'm having a pretty good one as my parents and their friends came up to Indianapolis for a visit.  We went to the Drag Racing Nationals on Friday evening and then hung out a bit yesterday.  Sarah is in Atlanta completing an away rotation and Myles and I miss her very much.  Yesterday, was an awful football day for both Sarah and I.  We both root for IU and Georgia and they both lost.  Sometimes...that's just the way it goes.

I'm very excited about tonight.  For the first time in three months I'm racing.  Since my last race in early June I've run over 650 miles and have really gotten into shape.  The race is the Ripple Effect in Broadripple and it starts at 7p.  I ran in this race last year and had a great time and a great race finishing in 22:47.  I really am not sure what sort of time I'll run tonight.  I've posted tempo runs of 23:39 for four miles and 29:43 for five miles by myself on a track.  I also ran 12 mile repeats with one minute rest in between each repeat on Thursday morning and kept every mile between 5:51 and 5:57.  Usually, I run faster in races so we will see.  No matter what, it's a great way to see where I'm at and to have some fun. 

I'll tell you one thing about my personal running journey and how it relates to Indiana football and then to life.  So...last night I went to the Indiana football game and they started off great.  They scored on 3/4 possessions and looked better than in years past.  Then...Ball State hit him back, stayed tough, and took it from Indiana.  They broke that tackle for a couple extra yards, they made sure to get first downs at the end of the game to ice the clock, and they stopped IU.  Ball State was much more mentally tough than IU.  Of course, this upset me and I had to analyze it and it made me think of my workouts from last week.  In each marathon specific workout (Tempo Run/Red Mile--mile repeats), there was a point at which I was not sure if I could achieve my workout goal.  In fact, for just a couple seconds on both days (Monday/Thursday) I considered compromising my goal.  And then...I thought about the fact that if I want to run a 2:39 marathon on 11/5, then I have to push through fatigue and pain to train my body to fight through it.  If I want to be a 2:39 marathoner, then I have to train like a 2:39 marathoner.  Most of us are capable of running through more than we give ourselves credit for.  It's just that we don't practice getting through it.  So...on both days I said to myself ("attack or be attacked") and I decided to attack the fatigue, hold my pace, and reach down deep.  I know that if I continue to practice this, as I have in the past, then I'll reach my goals.  In watching IU last night, I just did not see a team that was willing to reach down deep and do what was required to reach a goal (to win).  Ball State had it.  Indiana did not. 

I believe that this same principle applies to one's life.  There are roadblocks we all face and some folks have many more than others.  There is not much one can do about a roadblock that is set in front of them.  However, there is a lot one can do to get past the roadblock.  Personally, during the times in my life when I've decided I could overcome a roadblock despite what the roadblock was then it happened.  On the flip side, when I've let the roadblock dictate my actions then it's stopped me.  Attack or be attacked!  Be the driver or be the passenger along for the ride.  Everyday, running presents me with the option of getting through a roadblock or just stopping and giving into fatigue.  Every time that I choose to find a way, then it just helps me do that in other areas of life as well. 

Have a great Sunday.  If you are in the Broadripple area tonight around 7p then say hello!  Happy running to you...

A sign that caught my attention...

Good morning!  Myles is resting in his rightful place, my lap, as I type a short blog this morning.  First, I have to say Happy Birthday to my Mom!  She turns 29 today.  Ever heard of Benjamin Button?  My Mom is the real life female version.  She just keeps getting younger.  It's amazing.  Really it is.
Today is the last day of August and typically on the last day of the month I rest--especially if I've already hit my monthly mileage goal.  This months goal was 200 miles and I ran 238.3, which is great considering that August is so busy for me with Res Life training and opening.  Anyway, I fully intended to run this morning and even laid my stuff out for the morning.  On my way to bed, though, I made a pit stop (use your imagination) and happened to pick up an article I had been reading in Running Times about Ian Sharman, a successful ultramarathon runner.  I only looked at one page but in 20 point font in bold I read a quote:  "I've learned that all the other stuff you do is wasted if you don't allow the body time to recover properly..."  Wow!  It was like a sign from the Running Gods. I've been running a lot lately and have run 677.3 miles since June 1 after running 585 miles in the first five months of the year.  Almost 100 more miles in the last three months than in the first five months of the year.  I've also run 48 double digit mile runs (over 10 miles) since June 1.  I noticed that I've been a bit more sore than usual over the past few days.  So...when I read that quote, I was like okay I'm going to take off a day.  Whew.

I constantly battle with running just the right amount.  Specifically, I need to run the miles and workouts to hit my goal pace for the Monumental Marathon on 11/5, but at the same time I don't want to over train and injure myself.  It's SUCH a fine line and I really rely on my instincts to tell me when to take a break.  However, sometimes there are signs that just pop out in front of you in the most random places (For example, in the bathroom before bed).  Anyway, I'm a big believer in signs and things happening to give you direction--sometimes they are just subtle or in unexpected places. 

I hope that you have a wonderful day.  Keep your eyes open for signs and happy running to you...

A Year with Myles...

Good Morning!  Hope that you are well.  This morning I ran 15.25 miles and it was a beautiful morning for it.  I woke up early, took Myles out to potty, stretched, and then just went for it.  This week I ran 59.85 miles and have now run over 1240 miles for the year.  Just running along...

August 28, 2010

August 27, 2011

One year ago today, August 28, 2010, my life changed in a way that I could not possibly imagine at the time.  Sarah and I were getting ready to cook some dinner and I had fired up the grill.  I had started on a beer and was checking the players I picked up in the fantasy football league draft that I play with some of my friends.  Sarah looked at me and said, "Josh, what do you think about this one?"  I walked over to her computer, took one look at the picture, and said, "let's go."  Very quickly, Sarah and I packed a quick sandwich and some chips, I grabbed some water while putting the beer in the fridge, and we drove to the north side of Indianapolis.  When we entered the place where he was I was so nervous.  Very quickly, we saw him, picked him up, and as Sarah held the little one in her arms I knew he was going to be our little puppy.  I kid you not--one and a half hours after seeing Myles online, we were sitting at our place in downtown Indy with an eight week old puppy.  We were happy, nervous, scared of screwing it up, but mostly just happy.  It took a couple days for us to name him, but finally we settled on Myles after considering names like Indy, Desmond, and Charlie.  Myles just stuck and it's a perfect name for our perfect boy.
The last year has been wonderful and the impact Myles has had on my life has been immeasurable.  I know that I carry on and on about him on this blog, on Facebook, and on Twitter (he has his own account:  @MylesTweetz), and I would imagine it's difficult to understand if you don't know Myles and you don't know me.  But...if you know me well and you've met Myles, then you know first-hand what an impact he's had on me.  I thought about composing three lessons he's taught me and writing about each one.  However, I think the impact Myles has had can be summed up in one simple story.  Everyday when I come home from work, Myles greets me with unbridled enthusiasm, untempered excitement, and pure love.  When Sarah comes home, he greets her with the excitement  and energy that would make you think he'd not seen her in a thousand years.  Quite simply, Myles is love and he treats Sarah and I like we all would like to be treated.  That, in itself, has helped me take things less seriously, come home from work earlier to care for him, and he's helped me improve my level of patience (OH, the joys of Potty Training and Doggie School!).  I feel so very responsible for Myles and having him and knowing how much he depends on Sarah and I to come through for him has really helped me achieve some balance, both at work and with my mental mindset.  It's tough to be too awfully upset about anything when Myles runs to you, rubs his head and nose against your arms, and just rolls at your feet all because you came home to see him.  You see, Myles understands what many of us don't:  everyone wants to be treated like they are someones "most important" person and it's great to be able to make someone feel that way.  Myles makes me feel that way every single day and that's an absolute gift.

Well, once again I have gone on and on about my Myles.  And...yes, I'm well aware that to the outsider and perhaps to the insider I seem completely ridiculous.  But...there are a few of you who know Myles and you probably feel exactly the same way I do.  And that provides me with some hope that my grip on my sanity is quite tight.  Have a great week and happy running to you...

Red Mile...

Good morning!  Hope you are well.  Now that move-in is over and training for our staff is over I hope to be able to blog.  August has been great and I'm very proud of our staff.  Running has been going well too.  I've been able to put in the miles and I'm now just 11 weeks from the Monumental Marathon. 

This week I started what I call marathon specific training:  training many miles at the pace I hope to run.  The two major sessions I'll do in addition to my normal runs are tempo runs (running continually at race pace for a few miles) and mile repeats (running at marathon pace for X number of miles with little rest in between).  My goal race pace is about 6 minutes a mile--which is brisk.  On Monday I ran a 4 mile tempo run and averaged 5:55/mile for 23:40 for 4 miles.  Today I ran what I'm calling the Red Mile Workout!  It's running a mile at race pace with a one minute rest in between each mile.  Today I ran 10 of them.  I was not sure how it would go, but here is how I fared:

5:55, 5:39, 5:55, 5:47, 6:00, 5:48, 6:00, 5:50, 5:56, 5:52

I was very happy to hit every single one at 6 minutes or better.  I do need to work on getting the miles a bit closer.  But...the odd miles were uphill and the even miles were downhill so that accounts for much of the variance.  All in all, this was a very successful workout.

I have to be honest.  This goal of trying to run a 2:39 or better marathon time scares me.  It really does.  I've run a 2:48 and that was great, but it was well within my capability.  This 2:39 would be such an accomplishment, it would push my limits, and it requires such tough effort.  Basically, I'm spending 6 months training just for one race.  As I've thought about this goal I have thought about readjusting it.  But...I know deep down I can do it if I push myself, if I sacrifice, if I'm mentally tough.  And...shouldn't a goal that is worth something to you scare you a bit?  If it does not scare you just a bit, then maybe the goal is not enough?  In my life, I've not regretted much.  The only thing I ever regretted was being too scared to walk on the IU Cross Country Team.  I was invited, but I was afraid of failing and chose not to do it.  That has truly been my only running regret.  And now...as I have set this ambitious goal I'm once again feeling that way...just a bit scared.  This time, though, I plan to fight for it, to sweat for it, to gut it out, and to mentally commit to the goal.  At the end of the day, I'd rather go 100% after something rather than to go 90% and reach it easily.  The Red Mile will help me get there!

Thanks to those of you who read my blog.  Set a goal today that scares you just a bit and happy running to you...

HRL: The Wall...

Happy Sunday evening to you.  I apologize to those who like reading my blog for the lack of posting.  This time of year is my busiest and it's tough to write.  I did have a great week of running.  I ran 60.2 miles and have run 115 miles over the past two weeks.  Lots of running early in the morning at 5a before the sun rises.

We are a little over half way in our Student Staff Training and we just returned from camp today.  We take our staff to Camp Tecumseh in Brookston, In.  It's a terrific place and our host, Neal Morehead, is absolutely terrific.  We take our staff to camp so that we can continue our development as a team.  If you follow this blog, then you know I think of our HRL Program as special and I saw so much of that this weekend.  Neal challenged our 48 person group to tackle an activity for our final activity of our ropes course segment called "The Wall."  In running, "The Wall" is often referred to as that point in the marathon that you just don't think you can get over.  At camp, "The Wall" was a 12 foot wall that had to be scaled without any assistance other than people and it was tough.  In fact, there were a good number of people who were hesitant to try.  In my mind, I worried that if we tried this and it did not go well then what would that do to our team.  Wow...what happened during the activity was amazing.  The group came together and quickly decided that rather than have a goal of everyone having to scale the wall--an all or nothing goal--that the goal should be for us to get those over the wall who wanted to go and for everyone to find a way to assist in that goal.  Everyone contributed by either lifting, spotting, pulling, cheering, supporting or climbing.  And...everyone felt encouraged and valuable, and everyone helped us succeed.  There was a point in which one of the staff members took a risk and climbed the wall despite being very nervous.  This picture defines what that moment was like when she did it--a moment of celebration for something she wasn't quite sure if she could do. 

Pure Elation!

As each person helped our team achieve something that was challenging, I felt our team grow stronger, closer, and ready to do well this year.   Driving home I made a comment that we "really have a chance for something special this year."  Very quickly I said, "well, we had something very special last year too."  Then...the person and I talked about how nice it was to be working in an environment was there was a culture of "building something special" every year.

Camp once again reminded me of how lucky I am to work with the HRL Staff at IUPUI.  We truly have a special family and I love the enthusiasm and pride displayed by our staff.  This week was so cool because as we trained our new team, I received at least 10 correspondences (some in person) from former staff members who wanted to check-in on training, say hello, and just remain active.  I love it and it makes me proud of the people who helped build our team--past and present--and the folks who are working hard each day to help us develop a great place for our residents.  Have a wonderful Sunday evening.  I probably will not blog again until after opening (8/20).  Happy running to you...

Many of the 2011-12 HRL Staff Team

In the first week of August...

Good Morning!  Hope that you are well.  The first week of August is in the books and it's off to a fast paced beginning at work.  August is brutal for Housing and Residence Life--especially for our department this year as we sandwiched an office move in the first week of August.  Whew.  Still, was a great week on the roads.  I ran 55 miles this week and have now run 1079.9 miles for the year.  I have not done three best in a few weeks so here's my three best:

1. Sarah being back from Milwaukee.  It's been nice having her back as I missed her while she was gone.  We are about to enjoy a little French Toast Breakfast before I head into work for a move-in today.
2. New Staff Training:  The energy displayed by our student staff keeps me extremely motivated and energized.  It's a wonderful group and they did not make too much fun of me for my "eggs in the basket" faux pas. 
3. Friday Night Lights:  If you read this blog then you know that I love the show Friday Night Lights--which ended this year.  The show touches a lot of topics including personal decision making.  The coach, Coach Taylor, and his wife, Tammy Taylor, are often presented with challenges and opportunities.  I will say that this week I called upon a couple of story lines from the show to help me with a decision I needed to make.  At the end of the day, I think I made the correct, but difficult, choice.  Now...I'm not suggesting that I make tough choices based off of a TV show, but sometimes shows have a way of previewing the way things could work out and Friday Night Lights does that well. 

Have a great week.  I'll try to blog again midweek if possible.  Happy running to you...