11 Miles

We started our run around 6:35 AM. Nice sunny morning. Not too hot or cold. We ran 11 miles on the local bike trail. I ran with "someone" but as is typical of my Treo 650 photos, you might not know whom it was.

Took us about 1:41 to run the 11. Nice pace.


....and I'm now home. Almost forgot that little fact.

Antalya (sounds almost like Italy)

I've been in Antalya (Turkey) for the past couple of days. I've been out for a few runs.

Today's run was along the beach (and stones) of the Mediterranean. I was wearing my old marathon Ascis instead of attempting to run barefoot. I ran up the beach for 2.75 miles then back. It was a 63 minutes run with 90+ F temps. I carried a bottle of water so that I wouldn't die. (see camels in photo not needing a bottle of water)

Running in sand and some stones is much different than running on pavement. After an hour I had only covered 5.5 miles. I'm sure my muscles are going to hurt from this run. It's impossible to have normal form when running in sand. I found some spots that were solid footing, but other areas were darn soft.

Turkey borders Iraq and Syria to the south. Some of the scenery reminds me of photos I've seen of Iraq. I read an article in Runner's World about an ad hoc marathon in Iraq. I can't imagine running for multiple hours in the sand and heat.

I'm in Antalya which is gorgeous. With my Treo phone cam, I wasn't able to capture the big mountains off in the distance and the sea. It's spectacular! Besides the Turks, there are Russians and Germans here. I've not met another American.

I leave here at 3 am. My next run will be at HOME!

Istanbul

Earlier this week I ran for 45 minutes in Istanbul. Great weather! Good run!

...I did this a couple times while in Istanbul.

14 and Counting

I did a fast hour walk on Saturday to be ready for my 14 mile run on Sunday. I left my Treo 650 on my desk so I didn't get an "action" picture. There is a sweaty picture somewhere that I'll have to locate on another camera. I was pretty sweaty after all those miles.

I planned to run the past two mornings, but didn't work up the motivation. Always plenty of excuses. Good news is that the 14 went smoothly.

Yesterday I decided to set a goal of running back to back, a half marathon and a full marathon in January 2007. Back to back meaning that I'll run the 1/2 one day and full the very next day! It's a little hard to comprehend yet, but it will be an amazing accomplishment.

Dead is Too Restful

Running can be tiring, but being dead is a little too restful for me right now.

I got in an early morning 7-miles today. While I was out running, I was thinking:

I’ve been running for 5-years. I don’t get tired too quickly. An hour run isn’t something that my brain tells me is all that hard or even all that long. My body doesn’t hurt after running for an hour. It feels good! Unless I’m really pushing hard, I’m not even out of breath.

I’ve had loads of people tell they can’t run because their knees are shot. I used to believe this. My knees WERE always sore. Even walking around a mall made my knees hurt. A doctor said I had arthritis in my knees. Suggested I start taking some prescription. (I didn’t.)

After the arthritis diagnosis, I spent a few years of getting more out of shape. My cholesterol got higher, my stomach acid/aches got worse, my heart fluttered more often, my body hurt, I was flabby and I got headaches.

I finally got serious about living healthier and getting in shape, I tired to run. It was painful. Everything about it. I ran ½ mile and gave up. My knees hurt so badly. My side hurt. My stomach didn’t feel good. I got a headache. It was kind of like I felt when I wasn’t running, but worse. I wasn’t a runner anyways. I never liked running anything longer than 50-100 yards as a kid. Running further made my side hurt so much I wanted to puke!

I had to walk instead of run…not because my knees were actually shot, but because I was completely out of shape. I walked for 5 months with 2 lbs weights that I pumped with my arms as I walked. I moved up to 3 then 4lbs still only walking. I then started walking for 5 minutes and running for 1 minute. Over time I was running 2 miles then 2.2 miles without walking. I matched the exercise up with eating much healthier foods and reading about running to improve my form.

I’m a bit competitive so races fit my personality well. I ran my first 5k fun run not knowing if I could run that far without walking. I completed it, but was beat on the final stretch by a guy 30 years older than me. (He wasn’t even out of breath.)

It was a year before I ran a 10k race. It was hilly and hard, but I ran it in under an hour. Even though a dog on a leash beat me by many minutes, I realized I was becoming a runner.

I’ve completed two ½ marathons and 1 full marathon now. I’ll run more of these. Each is a short term goal that keeps me motivate, but the long-term objective is staying healthy.

My knees never felt better!