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.

Distance Challenge

We’re 5/7 of the way through the DC, and at least I’m doing better than average. The median cumulative chip time is 6:39:55, and I’m right at 6:12:58. Before this weekend’s race I was 171st out of 473 remaining competitors, beating 63.8% of the field. Now I’m 156th out of 427, dropping slightly to 63.4%. Ah, well. I guess I wasn’t the only person to have a disappointing finish - I was thinking that I’d drop further than that.

This has been a really fun series. If I wasn’t in it, I doubt that I’d have run Pervasive for example - and without Pervasive I probably wouldn’t have done as well at Motive, which remains my favorite race by far. Come to think of it, I wouldn’t have done Decker either - I’d have planned to, but I doubt I’d have actually done it with my ankle not feeling 100%.

Anyway, next up in the series is the 30K out in Buda, but that’s not for another six weeks. Time to completely heal, run long, get back to the gym, and get comfortable with long, slow uphills!

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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

9 total comments, leave your comment.
  1. Wow, that’s a lot of races. You must find this helps with your training. I see your marathon isn’t too far away. How comes the training for that?

  2. jeff
    Dec 6th 2004
    4:16 PM

    that whole series looks like such a fun race series! i haven’t heard of anything around here like that. plus, you’re getting such fun gear from the races! non-cotton race shirts and groovy socks? sheesh, i need to move to texas! maybe meghan can find me a job in the park!

  3. The 20k/30k are exceptionally good values in this regard - IIRC Decker cost $28 and Buda is $35, and both include long sleeved technical shirts as part of the entry fee. A lot of locals consider them more like a reasonable price for a shirt that comes with a free race.

  4. i’m just impressed that you did the decker race. i’ve yet to graduate from 5ks (although i do want to do the danskin triathlon again). nicely done!

  5. Great going, Richard.
    Yesterday I finally tried one of the Spin class that you write about. It was fun enough that I might actually enroll for a class.

  6. Meghan
    Dec 7th 2004
    11:51 AM

    Hi Richard,

    Sorry to have missed you this weekend! I should have been more on the ball in contacting you beforehand. Good race report, I had having a hard time trying to remember the hills and you refreshed me. Sorry to hear your ankle is giving you problems and also sorry to hear you’re not incredibly thrilled with your performance. I haven’t done a ton of racing in my life, but I will say that was the hilliest of any paved courses I’ve run. Difficult to really gauge your fitness unless you have past years on the same course to measure yourself by. Be proud of what you did do, though, and remember that those hills are providing you great workouts to prepare for Freescale.

    Take care!
    Meghan

  7. susan
    Dec 7th 2004
    6:55 PM

    What great numbers Richard…you’ve had such a strong come back from last summer’s “break” Great work…

  8. Alex
    Dec 7th 2004
    8:43 PM

    Yeah, man, I keep forgetting you took all that time off. Considering that, you are running really strong these days. Now get out there and do a nice slow long run. :-)

  9. vj
    Dec 7th 2004
    10:34 PM

    Gosh, Richard, you are a force of nature!


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