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.

Out of Touch

Hey y'all - sorry for the lack of updates lately. In a nutshell, I've been sick, then travelling for business, then (most recently) sick again this past weekend. I have a ton of email backlog to go through, probably close on two weeks. And a similar amount ...

1000M Swim

Swimming is getting easier for me - although that's not saying much. Today followed what's becoming my standard pattern of needing 5-6 laps to find a rhythym, then settling down and doing the remainder while working on various things. Still took a breather at the end of most ...

Four Mile Tempo Run

What's that? A four mile tempo run 3 days after Pervasive? Well, if that's what the man wants... yes, the tempo run was on the calendar today, and it was indeed intended for everyone to do. Gilbert was late today, or rather we were all early - ...

Possible Freescale Course?

WARNING: The following post is not, at all, official. Really. I don't speak for the Austin Marathon in any way, shape, or form. We've all been waiting eagerly for the final Freescale course to be announced. John's been dropping little hints here and there, but there's still nothing ...

Post #23

So, the question of the moment has been tossed my way: 1. Go into your archives. 2. Find your 23rd post. 3. Find the fifth sentence (or the closest one to it) 4. Post the text of your sentence in your blog along with these rules. 5. Tag five other people. First off I'm going to ...

NYC Confirmation

So... I'm in the green start. That's the odd one out - the other two merge after about three miles, I won't join in until mile seven. You know, that might not be such a bad thing, limiting the crowds for the first few miles (to a mere ...

Swimming

Lesson learned - don't go swimming immediately after having a massuse pound the crap out of your calves, even if it is the only way to get any water time in before the pool closes. I swear my body was at a 20 degree angle most of the time. ...

Seven Mile Loop

Same ol', same ol', did the seven mile recovery loop with everyone else who ran Pervasive yesterday (at least, those who managed to show up this morning). I didn't even wear my watch, but we probably took around 1:13 with the water stop. The good news is that ...

2005 Pervasive Power Charge 10 Miler

Now that was a fantastic race. But I'm getting ahead of myself. Yesterday I'd driven the course, and was reminded just how hilly this is. There's a monster hill about four miles into the course, but that tends to make it easy to ignore the fact that ...


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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May 20th 2007
Tags: Running, Races

One Comment

2007 North Trail Half Marathon

I'll start out by saying that this wasn't a PR.  Not even close.  It was, however, a really fun race, taking place in the middle of a fun weekend, surrounded by fun friends. Fun! Going into it I knew that I wasn't going to PR.  To be honest, I was more than ...
May 19th 2007
Tags: Running

No Comments

Update

Well, so much for keeping the blog current, eh? I've been doing pretty well, most of the time. I'm currently in Dallas just a few hours away from running in a small half marathon (400 people, give or take) - and I've only managed to get up to 10.5 miles ...
April 10th 2007
Tags: Running

No Comments

Lunchtime Ladera

This was my third time to run Ladera Norte, and its actually getting easier.  I walked once, about 3 minutes into the hill, for a minute (timed), then ran the rest of the way.  Not that I was fast - the remainder took me a solid 5 minutes - but I ...
March 4th 2007
Tags: Running, Races

9 Comments

2007 BagelFest 5K

I'm very glad that I did this race.  I almost didn't - the idea of doing something where I know that I wasn't going to come close to a PR was not terribly enticing - but I've done it every year since I started running, and its been a whole ...
March 1st 2007
Tags: Running

One Comment

Unplanned 3 Miler

Well... I know that I said that I wasn't goint to run today... but I did anyway.  You see, at lunch today Thon offered to run his 3 mile hill loop with me this evening.  Naturally I stuck to the gameplan and told him that I wasn't running until Saturday.  ...
February 27th 2007
Tags: Running

One Comment

Rollingwood Revisited

I went to Rollingwood for the second time - or at least the second time since my recovery - and while ended up running a slightly different course due to inattention, it was a fantastic run.  Last time I averaged a 9:41 pace (9:54, 9:30, 9:46) around the hills, and it felt ...

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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