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.

3M split

You know, I just can’t accept that I ran dead even splits on Sunday, between the course difficulty (started harder, became easier) and my effort (started comfortable, became faster). Looking back through the results, last year’s 3M had the midpoint mats at the 6.7 mile point. If I assume that they were actually in the same place this time, my pace for the first section would be 8:17 and my pace for the second would be 7:57. That seems much more reasonable to me. I’ve shot an email off to the timing group to ask for clarification, but until then I think I’ll just go with those numbers.

Thanks for those kind comments, by the way. I feel like I’ve come a long way, and its wonderful to be a part of such a mutually supportive group of friends. You guys are great!

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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

6 total comments, leave your comment.
  1. Karen
    Jan 31st 2005
    12:38 PM

    Sounds like a very good race. Also it sounds like you’ve made so many improvements over this past year. I hope the response you get back is what you’re looking for. But don’t sweat over the timings, just look ahead to the marathon to come. I’m sure you’ll reach your goal there.

  2. amy
    Jan 31st 2005
    5:23 PM

    Richard, that’s wonderful! Congratulations!!! I haven’t been keeping up with the running blogs as much as I’d like, but man oh man, you have worked hard and come a long way. Just look at your sidebar of PRs! Good job!

  3. Hi Richard,

    I came across your training blog the other day — great job!!! I love your dedication.

    Hey, I noticed that you sometimes train with the Garmin Forerunner 201. If you like this device, you should check out motionbased.com. I’m slightly biased since I co-founded the company, but you may take some interest to what you can do with all of your training data.

    Regardless, good luck with everything.

  4. Clark - I’ve looked at MotionBased, and it seems interesting, but too steep for what I get for it. I use TopoFusion (I would prefer a web-based product), for which I paid something like a $20 one time cost.

  5. BD
    Feb 1st 2005
    12:09 PM

    Wow, excellent race. I had been concerned that you were pushing too hard as you approached your marathon but I kept it to myself because I figured that you knew a lot more about your body and what it could handle than I did. And I’m glad I remained quiet because you seemed to have handled 3M quite easily!!! Great pace, amazing improvements over last year!

  6. Clark
    Feb 1st 2005
    7:47 PM

    Richard -

    Send me an email at [removed from spider view]. I’ll hook you up if you want to use MotionBased.


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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