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.

Six Mile Pace Run

I was running a little short of time this afternoon, so I did my six mile pace run today - I’ll do my thirteen miler tomorrow instead, just swapping them around. I ended up doing 6.07 moderately hilly miles in 50:30 which gives me an 8:19 average pace. That’s pretty good, especially with my history of poor pacing for these faster runs.

Time: 8:18 - 8:23 - 8:16 - 8:20 - 8:07 - 8:37 - 0:29 (6:33 pace)

Doing marathon pace is definately getting easier. I didn’t stop at all, didn’t need to drink anything (gotta love this cool weather, 70 degrees with 45% humidity is wonderful to run in). Even better, my lovely wife rode her bike with me the whole time. I wasn’t exactly chatty, but I could still talk - if a little rhythmically.

By an interesting coincidence, my 10k PR is 51:39, which is also an 8:19 pace. I know that I could have run faster today - in fact, not only did I finish with a great kick, but if I hadn’t I feel like I could have gone for another 2-3 miles without much difficulty - and this without water or good nutrition. Improvement rocks.

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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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Activity

4 total comments, leave your comment.
  1. Alex
    Nov 7th 2004
    12:21 PM

    How much of this do you think is the weather? I have been surprising myself with how easy the running has been this last week or so. I know the weather’s been really awesome, but I’ve also added more recovery/easy workouts, too.

    Oh well, maybe my GPS is broken. :-) Here it says that when I did my kick at the end of my long run yesterday I got my pace down under 5 for the last couple hundred meters. I know I was bookin’ it there, but I didn’t think I was that fast, but then again, Gilbert was standing there yelling out what to do with my form…

  2. susan
    Nov 7th 2004
    4:23 PM

    Great running weather…and having your wife along must be great!

  3. Improvement does rock Richard, especially after everything you’ve been through. Nice run!

  4. The weather? Love it. I’m going to be really happy when it gets down into the low 60s consistently though. Great job on that final push there, Alex.


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Famous Marathon Times

RunnerTimePace
Al Gore4:58:2511:23
Oprah4:29:3010:17
P. Diddy4:14:549:43
Sarah Palin3:59:369:09
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
Haile Gebrselassie2:03:594:44

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