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.

Seven Mile Fartleks

Since I have an upcoming race on Saturday, Gilbert directed me (and others) to do some fartleks around the loop. I ended up running with Amy who is in her third Danskin tri this Sunday, and had a very fun time. We warmed up by running about a mile and a half at a 9:30 pace, then started in on our intervals doing one minute hard, one easy, for the next 3.5 miles.

We didn’t have a target pace for the intervals. We were to keep a strong focus on form, and not exhaust ourselves for our upcoming races. We varied quite considerably in fact, depending on the terrain, the traffic, and how much we were enjoying our conversation. We did stop to get water under the Lamar footbridge:

  Pace:   7:13   8:19   8:32   8:43   8:06   7:18   7:25   7:42   7:49   8:05   7:27   6:27
  HR:   160   168   166   169   169   167   178   171   170   169   174   176

When we got to the MoPac bridge, we started our cooldown and slowed to about a 10:00 pace for the last two miles. All told, it was easy, comfortable, and highly enjoyable. Now I just have to relax, and stay strong, and get ready to knock down my 10K PR on Saturday.

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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. Mark
    Jun 9th 2005
    8:02 PM

    Richard, I’m not seeing a very big variation in heart rates between the lower and higher speeds. Pretty neat. What is your MHR?

  2. jeff
    Jun 9th 2005
    8:39 PM

    i love the hard push on the last interval…6:26! awesome! and there wasn’t much difference between that one and the 7:25 you did. very cool!

  3. Nice job, Richard. I think when I get below 8:00 pace, my HR starts to really climb (much higher than yours).

    Good luck on Saturday! Based on the training you’ve been putting it, I think you are really going to kick butt.

    By the way, I always thought that pic of you was during a training run or something because you look so relaxed (and the guy behind you is even smiling), but now I just realized it was race. Wish I could look that cool during a race. I always look like I’m going to die.

  4. Actually, that was taken during my finishing kick for the Motive half marathon, so thanks!

  5. heh heh you said fart.

  6. Best of luck on Saturday! I am sure you will have a great race.


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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