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.

Weekly total

As you can see if you check my Cool Running log, this was my highest mileage week ever - even with the short run on Sunday. 32.7 miles at just under a 9:00 average pace. Tuesday: 7 Wednesday: 7 + elliptical Thursday: 3.5 Saturday: 6 Sunday: 9 Let's try to keep that up. This ...

Crappy mileage

I guess I shouldn't complain. It just seems like every weekend when I try to swap my runs around so that my long run is on Sunday - especially if I do it midday - things go wrong. Today, I had an ITB flareup at about mile 9, ...

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. ...

Nope

Well, I didn't get to do my upper body workout during lunch today because I had an early morning meeting that kept me busy until after lunch. And I won't do my spin class because - due to being distracted because of that aforementioned meeting - I left my ...

Decker Route

We just got a preview of the route for the upcoming Decker Challange 20K race. It looks like fun - plenty of hills, but most of them are of the rolling country variety. Of course, there have to be exceptions, like this one. This race isn't until December, but ...

3 miles

Three and a half miles, 9:00 pace. Ho hum. Not really long enough to warm up. Still, my legs probably need a break at this point.

90 minute elliptical

I missed my Tuesday elliptical workout because we were having an election gathering at our house - even though none of the networks were broadcasting the result shows in HD. Ah, well. I did get one in this evening though, and it went fairly well. If I bring a ...

Town Lake Fartleks

The weather was decent this morning - temperature was a touch warm, but the wind coming off the lake was still pretty dramatic. Today I decided to copy an exercise from Alex, doing intervals during the seven mile close loop around Town Lake. I did a one mile ...

Google is so smart

So, I'm assuming that you all know about the Google calculator. Type something into google, such as 2 + 2 or even ((10 * 7) + 4) / 3 and it figures it out for you. This is even easier if you use the Google toolbar. It ...

Seven mile loop

I wasn't able to do my seven mile run this morning, due to having to carpool in with my wife and a bit of a line at the polling station this morning. So I did it at lunchtime. The weather here is ideal for running at the moment, ...


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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November 9th 2008
Tags: Running

One Comment

2008 Marine Corps Marathon (long)

I'll say its long - 26.2 miles when you haven't run more than about 16 all year is way too long! Let me recap my training schedule for the last two months, just in case you haven't been paying attention (or I haven't been posting it): September 6: 60 mile ...
November 9th 2008
Tags: Running, Races

No Comments

2008 Gazelle 10 Miler

It was great getting to see everyone today. I wasn't sure that I would race - hell, I knew I wouldn't race, I wasn't sure I'd even bother to show up. Packet pickup had come and gone without me, and I was out 'til late last night getting ...
October 26th 2008
Tags: Running

3 Comments

2008 Marine Corps Marathon (quick)

Turns out that yes, I was ready. Kinda. This was my first marathon since I started triathlon and the cardio benefits really showed - my breathing was always under control and my HR stayed low. My legs were really feeling the fact that I only ran ~25 miles in the ...
October 25th 2008
Tags: Musings, Running

One Comment

Am I Ready?

Tomorrow morning, at 5AM (EST of all things), my alarm will go off. It will go off again at 5:15, 5:30, and 5:45, just to make sure. And its not just one alarm, its a combination of the hotel clock radio, the wake-up service, and my iPhone. I think that, as ...
October 22nd 2008
Tags: Workouts, Swimming

2 Comments

Swim Clinic

My swim times have been, well, let's be nice and just say "abysmal." That's fine for now - at the beginning of the year I could barely make it to the other end of the pool, and just a couple of weeks ago I did a half Ironman. ...
October 5th 2008
Tags: Races

4 Comments

2008 Longhorn Ironman 70.3

Wow.  That was the hardest thing I think I've done - certainly including my first marathon.  The big difference was that I went into this knowing that - if I made the cutoffs - I was going to finish.  No question. And I did - some 45 minutes slower than I'd ...

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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