Couldn’t help myself.
Posted By Jon on December 29, 2005
I have this week off from work so I’ve been doing all the stuff I’ve been neglecting on the house. Today I put a drain in the sump cover. Not so amazing except that the sump is sealed because of the radon fan we have installed. By the way, I was incredibly impressed with how fast those things stop the radon from coming into your house. I watched the radon drop to zero in 7 days. I tracked it on a graph and it was a straight line down to zero. Amazing.
Anyway, the cover is sealed with a plexiglas sheet and so I have to pump the condensate from the furnace/AC out through a hole in the side of the house. So today I cut a hole in the sump cover and put a 3″ deep water trap drain that I can run the condesate into. The radon fan draws only an inch of water at most, so the trap does very well. So very pleased with myself. :)
No running in the AM because we had a lightning storm. In December. In the summer I’d go for it, but 40F rain is really miserable so I stayed in until evening. We all watched the Chariots of Fire DVD I got from Santa. My son and I had seen it before but my wife had not. Its kinda hard to understand the Scots when they talk (“D’ya knew wh’ de’ ’tis?” = “Do you know what day it is?”), but a good movie just the same.
So right after the movie I got dressed and went out for my three miles. It was getting dark so I wore my strobe light. Naturally, all pumped from the movie, I ran like a crazed fool. 3 miles, 23:05, 7:41 pace. Egads. I thought my lungs were going to explode by the end. Judging how I felt, I’d say that was about all that I could give it, so my current fastest 5K pace stands at 7:41. And by the way, no shin splints and no achilles soreness.
I was thinking about that pace while I was in the shower. My 5K PR pace is 7:09, 32 seconds faster. I’ve gained atleast 10 pounds since that race (hard to tell because I stopped weighing myself that summer), but if I apply the 3 seconds/mile/pound rule, that would shave the 30 seconds off my pace.
Granted there are other reasons for going slower (out of shape, no base left from the marathon), but this gives me some real incentive to shave off that weight again. With those 10 extra (17 would be ideal), there’s no way to PR my next 5K, or any next race for that matter. So not only does the fat stand in the way of my pants fitting comfortably, but now it stands in the way of progress, and an oversized sweater isn’t going to cover up a missed PR like it does a bulging belly.
And no more with this eating thing. I read too many books and articles that talk about not dieting in training and making sure you fuel up all.week.long. You know what? That’s crap. That’s why people gain 10 pounds while training for a marathon. Paula Radcliffe needs to fuel up. She’s a pro athlete. Jon in Michigan needs to use his running and training to get his fat butt into shape, and eating 5 giant plates of pasta is NOT going to make him thinner or run faster (put that in the “Jon needs” list for Google).
I don’t mean to get on a rant here, but I’ve done alot of rethinking about running and conventional wisdom. I’ve begun to believe that conventional wisdom is crap. Ice your legs and eat lots of pasta. Crap. I did all that and all I got was fat with shin splints on the side. Drink your water. Crap. I drank enough water to fill Lake Erie and all that happened was I had to stop a million times during the marathon. Don’t heel strike. Crap. I tried running without it and I still get shin splints and I still get as tired and I STILL lose the form eventually anyway so what the heck am I doing wearing myself out doing it in the first place!
I’m going to run. I’m just going to go out and run how it feels good. I’m going to do my stretches and all that because they seem to be helping. I’m going to eat right and lose the damn weight. No more ice. No more GIANT carb meals unless I’m hungry. Really hungry. And I’m wearing my bandaids because I SWEAR that is the only piece of running advice that really works. Trust me, guys, bandaids.
I feel so much better. :)
Tomorrow I have 3 miles on the schedule and I think it will be an easy run because I ran hard today, but if I feel good, I’m going to run my ass off.
LOL!!! (for real!)
Go Jon Go!!!
I tried the no dieting during training for most of 2005 and my weight stayed the same for 10 months despite running mega-miles preparing for two marathons. As soon as I started dieting and training I lost weight and experienced very little change in performance. For me it?s all a matter of eating the right food at the right time (e.g. on run days) and eating less on non-training days. Yep, maybe Paula R. needs 8K calories day, but us ?normal? citizens can easily get by with far less.
I think my motto 2006 will be ?Run for Fun?, or in other words to stop worrying so much about speed, tactics, etc and just run for the shear pleasure of running. Yesterday was a good example, I had a wonderful run in the first snow that we have had this year ? I ran for almost 3 hours and enjoyed every minute of it! I went slow, I ignored my stopwatch, and I made it a point to look around and enjoy the scenery.
Happy running!
go jon. go jon. lay your thing down. get busy. And don’t forget the bandaids
I agree with so much of what you are saying here Jon but I’m gonna speak up on one thing because, well…I care about you.
You say you are going to give up on not heel-striking because you tried it that way and you still get shin splints? I may have missed something but a few of your recent writings about this stated you thought you were not heel striking but that you in fact still ARE. You even showed pictures?
You and I kid each other about Pose vs. ChiRunning but I honestly think *both* of us are onto something in trying to eliminate heel striking. Did anyone say it was going to be easy? I don’t think so AND I am living proof that mistakes can be made and problems encountered while trying. Just in case you thought so, you are not alone.
IMHO, it is actually in trying to eliminate the heel striking that we are going against traditional thinking.
At any rate, do what is best for you and please DO enjoy your running!
Ciao buddy. :-)
that’s it! you think too damn much. oh and gorging on all that pasta just contributes to the long toilet lines at the start of races.
Have fun, Jon.
Just don’t drink the water OUT OF Lake Erie. Ew.
You definitely need to find what works for you and your body. You don’t have to eat all that pasta or drink a million gallons of water. You have to find the things that make YOUR body perform at its best. That’s it. And enjoying running just for the sake of running is a BIG part of that.
awesome, jon. getting pissed about something is the best way to make sure you change it. have a great run and good luck ‘running your ass off’.
Looking for people running Disney’s Marathon on January 7th. I travel with my family, but there is a long lonely time between 3:00am and the fireworks to worry, be scared and how with so many there is still a line for the porta potties and people “going” outside the box.
Please send a call out if you think it is a viable request.
Thanks, glad all is well.
P.S. I got orthotics and no longer have need for foot shots. Yeah!!!
I’d say this post qualifies as an epiphany. You’re right in your discovery that conventional wisdom often doesn’t apply to individuals. The only way to find what works best is trial and error, and experience – which you continue to accumulate every passing day.
Wow Jon, You’ve already gotten a ton of good advice and feedback on this post so I’ll skip most of what I was going to say and just add that most of what I read on blogs or heard from other runners about diet, ice baths, etc. didn’t apply to me. I did best eating what I wanted to eat, drinking water when I was thirst, etc. I think much of what gets recommended is little better than witch doctor hoo doo.
Hey. Just came accross your blog from another blog, another blog and then you. Love the post and agree with everything you say. Agree so much that I’m taking your advice b/c I’ve been doing the other and I can’t lose a damn pound. Thanks for the infor regarding the poundage pace time too.
Go Jon Go! All the best in 2006.
I love a Scottish accent. I could listen to them talk for days. Must find hot Scottish man. Oh right…running comments…:-)
It sounds like you’re on the right track. Realizing the problem (eating too much, drinking too much, etc) is the first step to getting help. Oh wait, we’re not with runners anonymous here are we?
Hang in there. And I’m sure knowing what adjustments you want to make will pay off in the end.
I am with you on all the crap notes. Run for sake of running and feeling fine. And buy lots of band-aids. I have seen what can happen when those little things go uncovered. OUCH!
Preach it, Brother!!!
Way to go on the run! That is SUPER fast!! Do whatever works for YOU in 2006, most of what I read is crap anyway. Best wishes for a FANTASTIC 2006!
Grasshopper, you have broken through to the next level of understanding. You have thrown off the cloak of others’ wisdom to find you need your own. Be careful, my son. You are on the manicured path of running right but remember to always listen to what your body speaks to you. It knows what it wants and you must listen; not with anger – with patience, focus and understanding.
You will fly, as you did today, like chocolate chariots of fire.
You are my HERO! I say we know our own (running) bodies better than any “conventional wisdom” tells us. So keep listening to yourself and do what you know to be right. And for the love of all things good, AMEN TO BANDAIDS! Happy 2006, you squaredancer!
Heh – I’ve just been coming to the CW is crap point myself.
I think that most of what’s out there is absolutely gold if you’re one of the 5% (max) of the population who is a finely tuned athelete. For the rest of us schlubs, it’s a matter of doing whatever it takes to get to the 5% before teh CW works.
Happy new year.