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.

CT Scan Reaction

The scan itself was really no big deal - it was over in about 20 minutes. Heck, the paperwork took longer than that. I am having a very mild reaction to the iodine, though (they inject you with iodine about halfway through the procedure). At the time ...

So.

So. Its been a little while since my last post and, while there are some folk I keep up with over email, I know that a few other people have been wondering what's going on. Anyway, last Saturday I decided that I wasn't going to run if I ...

Interesting Run

I finally got out of the door this morning for an early run with Mike.  We "kept it easy," because I hadn't run since last Friday (almost two weeks), and ran from Barton Springs up Scenic to 35th, then over to Exposition and back.  Total distance was about 9 1/2 ...

Overnight Sickness

I wasn't feeling great yesterday, but I put it down to being tired.  In fact, I'd been at the doctor's office for an unrelated followup, and my blood pressure (normal last week) was up at 138/80, but I felt just fine.  Then yesterday evening I started feeling cold and grumpy, ...

Alternative Workout

Rather than doing 400M repeats, one of my favorite workouts ever and by far my preferred track workout, my body decided that I needed to get some sleep.  I ended up with 9 hours last night, which is the longest I've been out in quite a while.  So I guess ...

Potential Marathon Course

The Austin Marathon, long known for being a fast course (and often criticized for being nothing more than a fast course) is changing drastically this time around. While its historically been a downhill point-to-point, its now a loop with some pretty juicy hills in the first half. This ...

Easy morning

Just the guys today: Mike, Thon and I met up at what's become our usual 5:45 meeting spot, Barton Springs. Its amazing how crowded it it out there so far before dawn. This time we just did a bit under six miles, running to MoPac, then clockwise around ...

Three Year Anniversary

Three years ago today I signed up with AustinFit. You know the spiel (or maybe you don't): "Run a Marathon, Change your Life." Or in my case, run a marathon, get addicted, and run lots of other marathons. Before AF I was hardly a runner. My 5K PR ...

No Running Today

I had to skip this morning's scheduled fartlek series, unfortunately, due to a personal-life conflict. I'm still planning on running tomorrow but probably won't try to replicate the workout, just do a nice easy seven or eight miles to make sure that I'm moderately rested for Friday afternoon, when ...

Simple little run

After yesterday's aborted recovery I wanted to get a good, simple run in, and that's exactly what I did. I met up with Amy and Thon this morning at Barton Springs and we ran to the trail and did the seven mile Town Lake loop, then ran back. ...


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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November 9th 2008
Tags: Running

One Comment

2008 Marine Corps Marathon (long)

I'll say its long - 26.2 miles when you haven't run more than about 16 all year is way too long! Let me recap my training schedule for the last two months, just in case you haven't been paying attention (or I haven't been posting it): September 6: 60 mile ...
November 9th 2008
Tags: Running, Races

No Comments

2008 Gazelle 10 Miler

It was great getting to see everyone today. I wasn't sure that I would race - hell, I knew I wouldn't race, I wasn't sure I'd even bother to show up. Packet pickup had come and gone without me, and I was out 'til late last night getting ...
October 26th 2008
Tags: Running

3 Comments

2008 Marine Corps Marathon (quick)

Turns out that yes, I was ready. Kinda. This was my first marathon since I started triathlon and the cardio benefits really showed - my breathing was always under control and my HR stayed low. My legs were really feeling the fact that I only ran ~25 miles in the ...
October 25th 2008
Tags: Musings, Running

One Comment

Am I Ready?

Tomorrow morning, at 5AM (EST of all things), my alarm will go off. It will go off again at 5:15, 5:30, and 5:45, just to make sure. And its not just one alarm, its a combination of the hotel clock radio, the wake-up service, and my iPhone. I think that, as ...
October 22nd 2008
Tags: Workouts, Swimming

2 Comments

Swim Clinic

My swim times have been, well, let's be nice and just say "abysmal." That's fine for now - at the beginning of the year I could barely make it to the other end of the pool, and just a couple of weeks ago I did a half Ironman. ...
October 5th 2008
Tags: Races

4 Comments

2008 Longhorn Ironman 70.3

Wow.  That was the hardest thing I think I've done - certainly including my first marathon.  The big difference was that I went into this knowing that - if I made the cutoffs - I was going to finish.  No question. And I did - some 45 minutes slower than I'd ...

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Famous Marathon Times

RunnerTimePace
Al Gore4:58:2511:23
Oprah4:29:3010:17
P. Diddy4:14:549:43
Sarah Palin3:59:369:09
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
Haile Gebrselassie2:03:594:44

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