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.

2005 3M Half Marathon

Last night I stayed up until about 11:30 reading, then never really got to sleep. I'm usually a very sound sleeper but for some reason I just dozed in and out until the 4:50 alarm went off and it was time for me to go. Luckily this didn't ...

Pictures from the 30K

The first of the 30K pictures are out, so I thought I'd share: This one was taken somewhere between mile 4 - where I dropped my jacket - and mile 6. I know this because if you look closely you can see that I'm still holding a Gu in my ...

2005 RunTex 30K

What a race! I didn't quite make my goals, but I had a good time and it made for a wonderful training run. This was an out and back - mostly - starting, ending, and benefiting the Hays County high school (see map for details - not to ...

2004 Decker Challenge 20K

Its odd. My overall pace at this race - 8:42 - was almost identical to my 8:41 pace at Motive; and yet the way that I felt after they ended could not have been more different. Admittedly, this time I had my ankle to worry about (its sore, ...

2004 Thundercloud Turkey Trot

This was a decent race. Not great, not bad, just decent. Overall, when you consider that I was nursing my achilles and had just come off a hilly half marathon four days before, I'm pretty content with my performance - especially considering that this was another hilly course. Anyway, ...

2004 Motive Bison Stampede Half Marathon

This was another amazingly fun race. If any of y'all are down in the Austin area next time next year, I seriously recommend that you come on down and check it out. Besides, you get free race-logo technical socks in your race packet. How cool is that? ...

2004 Pervasive Power Charge 10 Miler

I just did one of the most fun races I think I've ever had. Sure, the weather was lousy (73 degrees with 96% humidity), and the terrain was hilly (to say the least), but I had a good plan, executed it fairly well, and enjoyed myself. That, to ...

2004 IBM Uptown Classic 10K

Today was a fun race. The weather was great: low 70s with moderate humidity, and good cloud cover without any actual rain. There was a good breeze, but nothing too much. In other words, perfect PR weather. The course was fairly flat with just a couple ...

Mile Breakdown

Just for fun, I wanted to see what my splits were for the mile yesterday: .25 - 1:30 - 1:30 - 6:00 pace .50 - 2:58 - 1:28 - 5:56 pace .75 - 4:50 - 1:52 - 7:36 pace 1.0 - 6:38 - 1:48 - 7:12 pace So not exactly negative splits. You can ...

2004 Congress Ave Mile

I've never done a one mile race before in my life. On the one hand, that means that today's time was a guaranteed PR. On the other hand, it meant that I didn't really know how to prepare for the distance. On the gripping hand, even with ...


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