Running Update

This blog used to be exclusively about running, but over time it's become more personal and featured more posts about mental health.

I know some of my running-related readers have still stuck around, so I thought it was time to give an update on how my running is going.

Last November, we purchased a treadmill. It did wonders for my running over the winter months. With the pandemic going on, we felt better about not getting a gym membership, and having a treadmill made running indoors convenient — even more convenient than running at the gym. I did miss the indoor track, but the ease of running as a stay-at-home dad and squeezing workouts in during naptimes was great.

Once the warmer weather started, I began doing a lot of stroller runs. Most of them have been with the youngest, who's been awesome during stroller runs (she loves to look at puppies, and we make animal sounds together), but I've also done a handful with both of them. It's nice that they both tolerate, if not enjoy, jogging stroller rides. I think they find it relaxing as both of them have fallen asleep on occasion.

My spring mileage has been better than it's been in several years, and I'll touch on the numbers a bit in my next post.

I haven't been doing much in the way of structured workouts. In the winter I was doing one session a week of 3 X 30s all-out sprints three times (I read about the workout on a blog describing the workout as I way to maintain fitness). I also do a tempo run on occasion.

The most exciting thing that's happened to me during this early spring is breaking my goal time for the year in the 5K.

I was pretty happy with my first 5K of the year for several reasons. First off, I did the Eagan parkrun course, which was a tougher course than most of the courses I picked last year, including my best time of last year, 18:02, on a pancake flat course. The parkrun has a significant hill that shows up twice in the looped course.

The second thing was how early in the season this race was. I set a goal of running under 18:15 for the year, and I planned on having a legitimate shot at that goal in the fall.

Thirdly, I hadn't done any specific workouts for the 5K yet. I'd done a few fartleks and a handful of tempo runs, but no structured training plans.

The virtual race went very well. I started off at a semi-comfortable pace — I wasn't planning on going all-out in my first race of the year. I checked my pace at the half mile mark and saw that I was averaging 6:00 / mile. I was pretty happy with that as it would put me at a pretty decent time for my first 5K of the year.

I kept going comfortably hard without looking at my watch until just over the halfway point. When I looked down, I saw that I was averaging 5:47 / mile. I was pretty surprised. I wasn't feeling that tired, and if I kept up at that pace, I would easily meet my goal for the year.

In the back of my mind, I also thought that based on how I was feeling, it wouldn't be out of the question to break 18 minutes — a goal I couldn't hit all last year.

With a little less than a mile to go, my legs still felt fresh, so I started pushing the pace. I never felt overly tired and didn't even feel the burn I normally feel in my lungs and legs during a 5K, so I think had I started out just a bit harder at the start, I could have run 10 - 20 seconds faster.

I ended up finishing in 17:53 — a 5:45 / mile pace. Running that fast that early in the season and running faster than I could manage all last season despite more structured workouts and higher mileage left me to wonder how I did it.

The main reason was consistent mileage. After running my virtual marathon in November, while I took it easy in the couple weeks after, past that I kept running pretty consistently.

I also think that not doing structured workouts and running about 10 miles fewer per week that last fall when I was trying to break 18 minutes might have helped me, or at least come out in the wash as it left my legs pretty fresh compared to last year when I was training concurrently for a marathon.

Finally, I've also been doing more auxiliary running-related exercise than ever. I've been doing some work from Jay Johnson's website that was suggested to me by a cross country coach I've worked with, some Foundation Training work, and plyometrics. Not sure if they've made me faster or healthier, but they certainly haven't hurt as the only thing that's been bothering me is an over two-year-old chronic foot injury, and that only hurts when I'm at home barefoot.

The doctor I saw recommended I wear shoes in the house, so while that seems to be working, I'd still like the injury to go away completely.

Slop city on a long run where I thought a two
mile loop through Lebanon Hills would be
a good idea

Thanks for reading my long-winded running update.

Stay well.

One Year Ago

One year ago my life changed more drastically than ever. Laura had just finished maternity leave, and the pandemic had just hit. Our plan had been to send our littlest to daycare three days a week while I worked as a substitute teacher those three days and be home with the littlest one day and both the other day.

I know I'm not the only one who had major life changes in the last year. Many have made major life adjustments. Still, that didn't make the adjustment any different. With all the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic, I began to take care of both our children full-time.

It's amazing how different caring for my children has looked from then until now. At first, the older one and I did a lot of playing sub (taking our imaginary submarine to various locales) in the younger one's room while she slept or relaxed. Other activities were also possible as she was immobile.

Then came the rolling, crawling, and now walking, and things look much different now. 

The older one was also doing distance learning preschool, which mostly took place during the younger one's morning nap. In a piece of good timing, the older one returned to preschool three days a week when the younger one switched to taking only one nap a day in the afternoon.

So now I've been home with the littlest one three days a week and home with both of them two days a week. The littlest one keeps changing so fast — walking, talking more, and getting into more have all made taking care of her a little more exciting.

With the weather now being decent we've played outside a lot, taking a couple walks to the park and walking and biking around the cul-de-sac. I've also used the jogging stroller and double jogging stroller a fair amount, and this week we drove to a trail where the older one rode his bike and I ran with the younger one in the jogging stroller.

I never imagined my life like this. Almost five years ago I was going to stay home in the summer with our first, but then I ended up having a moderate manic episode which kept me from being able to take care of him. Now I've been out of the workforce for over a year and home with the kiddos, and I couldn't feel more fulfilled in life.