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 of blog updates.

Basically though, I haven’t done any noticable running for a week. Yeah. Last Monday I did some lightweight (but still decent) hill work, and that’s been it. I’m still a bit under the weather, but I want to go out and run ~5 miles today or tomorrow: warmup, 1-2 miles at goal pace, and cooldown. Some sprints on Wednesday, maybe a couple of miles on Thursday/Friday, and that’s it.

I fly out for NYC late Friday evening, and I’ll be staying at the Flatotel when I’m there. Saturday I’ll hit the expo, maybe go to a show in the afternoon, and try to stay off my feet. Come Sunday, I need to be down at the library by 6AM to catch the bus, then I’ll be sitting around waiting until the 10:10 start, after which I’ll be running for - hopefully - around three and a half hours.

I’ll try to do more updates later… and sorry for not returning your emails in a timely fashion. The good news is that the week after NYC I should have some time to get everything caught up. The bad news is that it might take me that long.

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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

21 total comments, leave your comment.
  1. Carrie
    Oct 31st 2005
    12:09 PM

    Richard,

    I’ve missed running with you!! It was weird going back to the Gazelles this morning with a bunch of strange faces. Best of luck this weekend. I’ll be following along with your progress! You’ve done the work, now enjoy the results!!!

  2. Meghan
    Oct 31st 2005
    12:14 PM

    I second the “good luck” for this weekend. You have trained really hard! Good thing you’ve been under the weather up until now, before the race. Have tons of fun in NYC and run hard! I can’t wait to hear the race report!

  3. Jay
    Oct 31st 2005
    9:25 PM

    Richard,
    Err on the side of caution this close to NYC. If you’ve been sick, then rest is way more critical to you than running. A couple of days’ running will be plenty to complete your taper. Good luck at the Big Apple! No pressure, but you know we’ll all be following you virtually from here. :-)

  4. Susan
    Nov 1st 2005
    10:11 AM

    Good luck Richard. Hope you are feeling better. Can’t wait for the race report.

  5. Mike
    Nov 1st 2005
    12:26 PM

    Thank goodness! I was starting to feel rejected.

    Hope you get back to normal soon, and good luck!

  6. same thing happened to me last week before MCM. Good luck — stay well — your progress has been amazing — I can’t wait for your race report!

  7. Erine
    Nov 1st 2005
    4:01 PM

    Richard–

    go get ‘em. And don’t worry about running too much this week. Get better first and go for a light jog on Saturday. You’re going to do great!

  8. Anne
    Nov 1st 2005
    5:25 PM

    Richard,

    All that rest will serve you well on Sunday. I remember the toughest part being the 59th Street bridge. It seemed to go on forever. But once you come off of it and onto First Avenue, you’re handsomely rewarded with the kind of cheers we dream about during training runs. Enjoy the moment, and the minutes it takes you along the way to Central Park.

  9. I echo the good wishes. You deserve a fantastic run after all the focused training. Go!

  10. Good luck in NYC!! (see ya there!)

  11. oh I was worried that I’d waited too long to wish you good luck. Glad you’re still here!

    And good luck!

  12. Alex
    Nov 2nd 2005
    8:34 PM

    Rest up now and have a fun trip!

  13. hey… hope you get to feeling better and…. GOOD LUCK this weekend! have so much fun! can’t wait to hear about it! :)

  14. Mark
    Nov 3rd 2005
    8:42 PM

    Take care Richard. We’ll wait for ya. :)

  15. Mark
    Nov 5th 2005
    8:35 AM

    Rich

    Best of luck to you man. I just ran my first marathon last month and loved the whole experience. You have quite the fan club. Keep that in mind as you pass the finish line!

  16. Yvonne
    Nov 5th 2005
    10:11 PM

    Best of luck! Can’t wait to read about how you’ve done =)

  17. DGC
    Nov 6th 2005
    7:32 AM

    Good luck today!

  18. Hope you are rocking the course today and all that training has paid off!

  19. Benjamin
    Nov 6th 2005
    4:46 PM

    At least it was a new PR for Richard!

    Richard J Stanford 31M TX GBR
    Place: 9492 7665 2908
    Pace: 9:13
    Finish: 4:05:06
    Split: 4:01:51
    Split: 57:55
    Split: 1:56:53
    Split: 3:04:5

  20. Benjamin
    Nov 6th 2005
    4:53 PM

    4:05:06 for Richard.

    New PR!

  21. You were way too far in front of me for me to see you!!

    Congratulations on an excellent race!


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Famous Marathon Times

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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