The Running Mike

Paleo / Primal Coach, Runner, and Triathlete

Archive for the tag “fun”

24 Oct 2012

What could have been a tough half marathon

The fact is that everyone has tough weeks – whether it’s dealing with an injury, an abnormal work schedule, things going on in your personal life or even just feeling a bit off.

We’ve all been there!

It doesn’t take anything away from our training or mean we’re not good runners – it just means we had a bad day. Three days before the half, I near bonked during an 8 mile run.  I didn’t even finish the run and had to call my wife to come pick me up. It’s been more than a year since I’ve had to deal with bonking – must have jinxed myself with last week’s post :)

My original plan was to peak for this race and maybe even pull off a PR.

To make a long story short: I went into this race feeling sick, dealing with allergies, in heavy trail shoes due to the mountain.  I knew it probably wasn’t going to be a PR, so I decided to just enjoy it.and I DID enjoy it.  I didn’t look at my watch for the first hour.  I talked to other runners. I took pictures.  I encouraged those having to walk up the mountain.

Running up Sentinel Peak (A Mountain) in Tucson

What’s that? the city I was just in?

My only regret is that I didn’t go into the shop with the large sign that said “Weird Plant Sale” – just seems like something I should have checked out…but after all, I was in a race!

There was no water after mile 9.5 – which was strange and likely due to the course changes.  I wasn’t the only one struggling toward the end.

At the end of the day, this could have been a miserable experience turned out to be one of the most fun races I’ve had.  I wasn’t anywhere near my PR – but then again, I didn’t need to be.

I’m not saying I’ll run all my races like this – but a bad day doesn’t take away from my ability as a runner or the great training runs that I had this year.

Coach Mike
Offering FREE Half Marathon Coaching and Training Plans
http://www.stuffmyrunnerloves.com

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Posted by The Running Mike in Event Report, Status Updates and tagged , , , , , , | Leave a Comment
07 Aug 2012
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Major Changes Coming!

Mike
Mike (Photo credit: MarinaAvila)

I’ve been heads down on a major update to this site.  I hope that all of you are still out there and ready to see some big changes.

I have no idea what this picture is for… but thought I should randomly include it in this post.

Sorry for not blogging much in the interim, but I know these new changes will be a great help! Hope everyone has had a great summer and is enjoying the Olympics!

- The Running Mike

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Posted by The Running Mike in Status Updates and tagged
29 Mar 2012
3 Comments

Don’t be that guy–Runner Faux Pas to Avoid

Every now and then, you’ll see as a runner, there are some things you just shouldn’t do…so, please – Don’t be that guy!

  1. Extra Short Shorts: these rank right up there with knee socks, but there is no reason for them. It isn’t the 70s (and let’s not let them come back) and they won’t make you run any faster or even improve aerodynamics.
  2. The Shirtless Runner in Cool Weather: It’s 55 degrees, dry and perfect running weather and there’s some dude running without a shirt.  A quick poll of the female runners in the area tells me that men should “never run shirtless” and that “most have no self awareness that they should never take their shirt off in public.”  I’m not that critical Smile  but at least wait until it’s hot out to justify it.
  3. Wearing the event shirt during the event:  Even though you get this the day before at packet pickup, many people consider this a “finisher” shirt.  Not a big deal to me, but many runners will label you a newb.
  4. Ultra-Accessory guy: I’m terribly guilty of this one, an oversized GPS watch, water belt/camelback, MP3 player and headphones, and cell phone.  When you fully gear up for that long run, you’re that guy.  On the plus side, it’s getting easier to combine devices (cell phone is also a MP3 player) and GPS watches are getting smaller. 
  5. The litterbug: Probably my biggest pet peeve, I’ve been in plenty of small races that you see an empty Gu packet at mile 5…Being far away from an aid station or any volunteers, this will likely never be picked up. Please, just hang on to it until the next aid station – it’s not that hard and they’ll have trash bags there!

What about you?  Any pet peeves or faux pas that drive you nuts?  

Posted by The Running Mike in newbie, Status Updates and tagged ,
09 Apr 2011

Mike’s Strange Running Food Silliness #1

Often during (and after) a hard workout, I like a quick shot of carbs.  One of my favorite post run foods is applesauce… all natural and plenty of vitamins but it doesn’t work well on a run/bike because I don’t want to carry a spoon and well, I don’t think warm applesauce is very appealing.  Enter a frickin cool idea GoGo squeeZ applesauce:

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A 4 pack was $3.69 at my local grocery store.  I found you can buy a case of GoGo Squeez on Amazon if you can’t find at your local store.

It doesn’t need to be refrigerated (like an apple) but I will want to experiment with freezing it and taking it out on a bike ride. Sports food AWESOMENESS!

Posted by The Running Mike in Fun Running Foods, Nutrition and tagged , , | Leave a Comment

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