Running Towards Fitness

Personal Awareness
The ancient Greeks used to believe that a healthy mind and a healthy body not only went together, but were both critical for happiness and a successful life. They were also intertwined, meaning that a weakness in either area would affect the other. When I started this transformation I was overweight and full of excuses. And by overweight I don't mean just a few pounds - I weighed over 70 pounds more than I do now. I finally took my life into my own hands and started exercising. At the time, I had no idea where it would lead - to a stronger body, a happier, more nimble mind, and a chest full of race medals. Healthy mind, healthy body, indeed! It hasn't been easy, or without issues, but I wouldn't trade the experience for the world.

Good workout

Well, I started with a simple set of 20 minutes on the elliptical, hill profile. Followed that up with a pretty decent leg workout since I'm not doing a whole lot of running early this week - 3 sets each of 4 exercises: leg press (90,180,180 lbs), standing single ...

Cut it short

Well, we were supposed to do nine miles today - I did four. I was also sweating pretty hard, something which I found out from Eliza happens a lot when you're still getting into shape and are coming back from an injury. The first couple of miles were ...

Workout with Jason

Well, let's start with the good news. On the treadmill, I did three sets of 9 minutes, stretching between each set. I felt pretty good - better than yesterday. Hopefully, tomorrow's run will be just fine. Did the first two sets at a 10:00 pace, the ...

Getting Better all the Time

Ten minute miles, five repetitions of eight minutes each, hitting the treadmill at the office. Stretched my IT band between every run. And it felt good. There were a few times during the run that my right ITB started making its presence known, but I found that ...

Goals for 2004

I just realized that, while I had posted a recap of my 2003 progress some time ago that included a couple of ideas, I'd never set down a comprehensive list of goals for 2004. So here we are: RacingFinish every race that I enter PR at least once at every distance ...

Mild Treadmill Time

Okay, so I hit the treadmill at Gold's right after dinner at Taco Cabana. Not real smart, but sometimes that's just how it goes. Started out by stretching, then doing two minutes of walking, then stretching again. Next, in six minute increments separated by stretches, I did a 10 ...

Slow and painful

Well, I did two miles in twenty minutes. Not counting stretching at the 5, 10 and 15 minute marks - calves and ITB. What concerns me a little is that my heart way was way up during the run. This is a pretty slow speed for me, ...

Again with the recovery…

Well, my IT band is doing pretty well. My left calf remains a little sore, but its my right calf that's giving me the most grief. Still, I think that its doing better. We were scheduled for 20 minutes today, but I took it off because I ...

RunTex 30K in Buda

Well, I finished. Finally. On paper, this may well go down as my worst race ever - I certainly hope that it does. On the other hand, I did finish, which is more than I can say for some of those people picked up in the sag ...

Cleared by the doc

Well, I just got back from seeing Dr. McCarty, and she gave me a (mostly) clean bill of health. Both of my IT bands are stiff, my right one being very stiff, but if I stretch it well, I should be able to run again just fine. No ...


About

I'm Richard Stanford, a fit, happy runner. Of course, that wasn't always the case. Dip into the archives to follow my progress from couch potato to sub-four hour marathoner.

I also like to cook, write, code, and play with power tools...

Personal Records

DistanceRaceTimePace
Marathon2006 Freescale3:54:078:56
20 Miles2006 RunTex3:00:089:00
30K2005 RunTex2:42:448:45
Half M2006 3M1:42:577:51
20K2005 Decker1:40:428:06
10 Miles2005 Pervasive1:20:138:01
10K2005 Dublin Dr Pepper48:437:51
5 Miles2005 Turkey Trot37:017:24
5K2005 Margarita Run22:327:15
4K2006 Fila Relays17:247:15
1 Mile2006 Congress Ave6:236:23

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May 20th 2007
Tags: Running, Races

One Comment

2007 North Trail Half Marathon

I'll start out by saying that this wasn't a PR.  Not even close.  It was, however, a really fun race, taking place in the middle of a fun weekend, surrounded by fun friends. Fun! Going into it I knew that I wasn't going to PR.  To be honest, I was more than ...
May 19th 2007
Tags: Running

No Comments

Update

Well, so much for keeping the blog current, eh? I've been doing pretty well, most of the time. I'm currently in Dallas just a few hours away from running in a small half marathon (400 people, give or take) - and I've only managed to get up to 10.5 miles ...
April 10th 2007
Tags: Running

No Comments

Lunchtime Ladera

This was my third time to run Ladera Norte, and its actually getting easier.  I walked once, about 3 minutes into the hill, for a minute (timed), then ran the rest of the way.  Not that I was fast - the remainder took me a solid 5 minutes - but I ...
March 4th 2007
Tags: Running, Races

9 Comments

2007 BagelFest 5K

I'm very glad that I did this race.  I almost didn't - the idea of doing something where I know that I wasn't going to come close to a PR was not terribly enticing - but I've done it every year since I started running, and its been a whole ...
March 1st 2007
Tags: Running

One Comment

Unplanned 3 Miler

Well... I know that I said that I wasn't goint to run today... but I did anyway.  You see, at lunch today Thon offered to run his 3 mile hill loop with me this evening.  Naturally I stuck to the gameplan and told him that I wasn't running until Saturday.  ...
February 27th 2007
Tags: Running

One Comment

Rollingwood Revisited

I went to Rollingwood for the second time - or at least the second time since my recovery - and while ended up running a slightly different course due to inattention, it was a fantastic run.  Last time I averaged a 9:41 pace (9:54, 9:30, 9:46) around the hills, and it felt ...

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Famous Marathon Times

RunnerTimePace
Al Gore4:58:2511:23
Oprah4:29:3010:17
P. Diddy4:14:549:43
Will Ferrell3:56:129:01
George W. Bush3:44:528:35
John Edwards3:30:188:01
Carrie Sapp3:29:067:59
Boston Qualifier3:10:597:17
Lance Armstrong2:59:366:51
Gilbert Tuhabonye2:23:075:28
Paula Radcliffe2:15:255:10
Paul Tegat2:04:554:46

People I Train With

Alex - Addicted to Exercise
Carrie - Tri to be Funny
Erine - Thousand Miles
Frank - Running Blog
Gilbert - Gilbert's Gazelles
Jay - Leotian Blog
Mike - BROTH