Marathon Journal: 10 Miles Slow

These were the most pathetic miles I’ve run yet. It was pretty tough since I’m just over a cold and I was running on bad carbs… the 8 million I ate during the Super Bowl yesterday. I skinned my knee and a pizza roll came out.

It’s hard to believe that only last week I could do double this amount, because I could barely eek out this one. Some of it’s mental, some physical, it’s hard to tell where one begins and the other ends. I only got in one 4 mile run this last week and that’s no good. My knees and joints needed an extra long break after the last long run.

I don’t have much of a plan, but I need to get in a few more 4 mile runs before I attempt another long run. Just so you know my schedule has me doing an 18-20 mile run again this Saturday. I can tell you right now that’s not gonna happen.

Marathon Journal: 0 miles

I caught one of my 4 kid’s colds that have been stewing around the house. It’s hard to avoid them when there’s that much plague caked on every door handle and water bottle.

I got in one 4 miler this week, and today was supposed to be 10 miles. I can’t imagine I’m going to be doing 10 miles tomorrow after eating fried everything and beer during the Super Bowl. I’ll push the 10 back to Monday, and hope my lungs are back in shape by then.

This just reminds me that almost anything can take someone out from a marathon run. Our friend was walking through her own house, tripped over a kid-gate and broke her leg in three places. All of our lives can turn on a dime just like that. One day you’re doing fine, the next day you’re in a wheelchair. Or one day you’re done for and the next day you win the lottery.

Marathon Journal: 4 little miles

You’d think after running 20 miles that a guy could knock out four miles without much drama. For the most part that’s true, but it still felt weird. I was relieved to not have to do five miles, let’s put it that way.

The knees feel stressed, as do all of the bones in my legs. I’m tall, so I have a lot of bones in my legs. In fact, I’m just a head growing out of a pair of legs.

Our four kids have been home from school for most of the week due to a new cold that sprung up among them. Dang it, tonight I feel a little something in my sinuses. Let’s hope it just passes right on through without any trouble.

Today’s shuffle was mostly a panel discussion of two Theistic Evolutionists (or old earth Creationists or Intelligent Design guys) and an atheistic evolutionist. They were humble, friendly and didn’t try to negate each other’s work as scientists. I can count those kinds of discussions regarding this topic on one hand.

Marathon Journal: 20 miles!

Today was supposed to be a 16 mile run but something happened in mile 15 that changed my mind. We have to go back to last year’s marathon where I almost didn’t run it because of my knees. So with every run this year I have this fear that that old knee injury is going to come back and end my pursuit of this year’s goal. So when I felt pretty good around mile 15 I honestly didn’t think I might feel as good at mile 15 in one month when I’m supposed to run 18 to 20 miles.

It would stink if after I ran a 16, 18 and a 20 miler that I blew out my knee three weeks before Marathon day. So I figured if I went for it and screwed up my knee I might still have time to recover by the big race. It is common knowledge that increasing miles on long runs by too much increases risk of injury more than anything else which is why most mileage increase by one or two miles each week. So it probably seems weird to doubly risk injury in the name of avoiding injury but I think I did the right thing.

I’m not sure what the rest of my training should be now given I just reached the goal I wanted to reach 30 days from now. It’s not good to overtrain or peak too early, so I’ll have to work something out that keeps me frosty for the race but doesn’t put more pressure on my knees. I’ll probably avoid running for a good 4 or 5 days to really let my legs recover before doing even a 4 mile run. My plan is to do long runs on weekends of 9, 18, 10, 16, wait 3 weeks and do the Marathon. Something like that (Bob, maybe you can help me figure them out).

The run wasn’t pretty. The first 15 miles went really fast, but I was really dragging during the last three miles where I was doing 15 and 16 minute miles which is barely moving and most scientists would be split on defining it as a jog. At mile 15 I had to run into the house to pee. My Beloved assumed I had just finished my long run and I yelled that I was just stopping for a potty break. I asked her for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. She hammered one together and I was out the door for the last leg of my run. The PB and J thing is working well for me since it puts something more solid than Gu packs in my system. It’s satisfying.

The shame of all shames was my musical selection. I got a lot of help from an unexpected source: Lady Ga Ga. Hi, I’m a 43 year old man listening to two Lady Ga Ga songs to keep my mind off the road. I also listened to Larry Arnn on Hugh Hewitt going over the great thinkers of the Western world. He went over Rousseau, Hobbes, Locke and Marx. Stand to Reason has a great apologetics podcast and they were talking about parents who experience suffering through the loss of a child. I drew strength from the story of a couple who endured excruciating pain yet drew closer to God.

My previous running record was 18 miles. I did that some time around March of 2009. That was the run that first blew out my knee with arthritic symptoms. I looked down at my mileage counter and when it read 18.4 miles I got this huge smile. I knew I was in personal record territory! I didn’t know if I’d ever get north of 18 miles again so I felt humbled and appreciative of a good God who saw fit to give me another day on this amazing earth to run just a little more.

I want to start this next point by announcing that I think women are tougher than men. Men are weaker and that’s why our accomplishments are actually more heroic than when women do them. We’re weaker, lazier, stupider, meaner but the world records of strength, productivity, intelligence and kindness are all held by men in my view. It’s because we are crippled with skills but compensated by a naive, almost-childish grasp of inspiration. We really are romantic about our pursuit of accomplishments. James Brown doesn’t tell you why it’s a man’s world, but I have a feeling it’s our world because we’re born without it.

I’m not sure if it was Dale Lawrence or Mark Lorenzen who wrote this portion of the Neverhood Chronicles (a video game I created in the mid-90s) that document a mythic race of alien ant-creatures called Ynts. The Ynts were wonderfully sexist in a stupid, hilarious way including their desire to always be at war. Well, they end up being in a war against a bunch of female Ynts and they jumped on each other’s spears because it was more honorable to be killed by a fellow male Ynt than to lose in battle to a female. I don’t know if that’s good or bad but I know that only a wise male would come up with a such a story. Follow me just a little farther, I swear this is going somewhere.

Yesterday, my 18 mile TenNapel family record was beaten by a woman. My Beloved ran 19 miles yesterday, and yes, that played into my desire to run 20 miles. Don’t get offended, because I didn’t do it out of strength or nobility, I did so solely out of weakness and frailty as a member of the weaker stronger sex. When my Beloved ran 19 miles yesterday, she wore the running pants of the family. Now we all know she’s the better athlete, I guarantee you that should we both finish the marathon that her time will be better than mine. So she’s going to win the election, but I’m going to smoke her in the primaries. Because as big as my smile was when my Garmin read 18.4 miles I had an entirely different kind of smile when it read 19.2. I wear the running pants of the family again. It’ll only last for two weeks, but I’ll take those two weeks in the name of honoring my fellow Ynts. And yes, running 20 miles felt more like jumping on a spear than winning any kind of race.

Upon reaching the sidewalk in front of my house I stopped and looked at the cement steps that lead up to the front door. That looked like another 20 miles. Everything was hard. I couldn’t untie my shoes. I dropped a water bottle and just looked at it on the floor for a minute before saying, “I can’t get that.” After a good hour of eating, I took off my shoes and found that two of my right toes were bleeding. The pinky toe wouldn’t be going to market because the market would think it was a pinky toe Dawn of the Dead.

Marathon Journal: 4 Miles even faster!

I just did 4 miles and shaved a good 30 seconds off my time from day-before-yesterday. It’s easier to hustle a little more across all 4 miles rather than just try to pour it all on at the end.

I feel kinda good because my knees are holding up so far. That’s my big fear. I fear my knees. They can take away the glory of finishing the LA Marathon. I hate when things have power over me. I mean, that I can do my best but something outside of my control like my knee health can keep me from doing something. I resent my knees. If I were a 14 year old the knees would be my father telling me what to do.

The day after tomorrow I’m gonna attempt 16 miles! I try not to think too much about the future because I don’t want to horrify myself about stuff when fear doesn’t help my running. I’ll bet my knees blow out on that 16 miler. I’ll bet I have to quit. STOP IT!

The good news is that I’m finally getting a good foundation of 4 milers under my belt. It’s really hard to train for the long runs without a body of short runs to hold everything up. I’m also reducing my number of four mile runs between long runs on weekends, mostly in an attempt to save my knees. I usually do three shorter 4 mile runs during the week and now I’m only going to do 2 of them. That’s what my Beloved Angie does in her training and she’s about to try 19 miles coming up soon!

I tried listening to a bunch of Kid Cudi songs and they didn’t do the trick. I ended up listening to more Larry Arnn lecturing on the great books of the western world.

Marathon Journal: 4 Miles Fast

I thought I’d lean into my body a little to see if I could get any performance on a short 4 mile run and was pleased. I did 4 miles in just under 40 minutes which is really fast for me.

It’s important to do speed training even though I hate it. Speed works out a muscle in a different way, I don’t know (or care) exactly how, I just know that it feels different. Now I can run long distances pretty well. Point me in a direction and this turtle will chug along until he drops, but don’t ask me to go fast.

So there’s a sense of pride in this morning’s work out. It’s good for my athletic confidence, good for my muscle strength, and good for the coming epic that is the LA Marathon! Remember that if I can run 4 miles in under 10 miles then you can probably do a whole lot of things you told yourself you couldn’t do for most of your life. I don’t want to go all Dr. Phil on you, but the idea that I’m training for a marathon is something that most of my life I didn’t think was possible.

Marathon Journal: 7 Miles

Today was my short-long run. No big problems, my knees held up well. Averaged just over 11 minute miles.

I think the theme of this year’s marathon is that it will be a purely mental run, assuming my body holds up. It’s hard to jog even the 7 miles today, without last year’s fire and excitement. I need the Eye of the Tiger. Does that mean I have to get a cabin in the snow and chop wood? I’m hoping it will be a little easier, like chopping some Sevan Chicken instead.

Shuffle: Prince, Fleetwood Mac, Larry Arnn lecturing on the great Western thinkers on an old Hugh Hewitt podcast.

Marathon Journal: 4 miles

This is my first run since the big 14 mile catch-up I did in the storms of Glendale last week. My knees are really sore, and this is was jacked up my marathon from last year so I’m extra-troubled by it. I’m trying to train while not training. See? I guess that makes me a PostModern jogger.

Gotta do 7 miles on Monday and 16 next weekend. I’m not sure how I’m going to accomplish those, but we’re going to need every ounce of my own obsession, the eye of the tiger, my Beloved’s encouragement and every prayer I can muster to pull this off. Is there a reason to be scared? Not really. This is what the whole adventure is about. It wouldn’t be a challenge, or much fun if there wasn’t a constant risk of it all falling apart. And I flat out don’t want to fall into the trap of just being proud as if it’s all up to me-me-me and therefore all about me-me-me. One should keep their head in the midst of their accomplishments.

I listened to David Allen White’s (Hugh Hewitt show) lectures on Charles Dickens during today’s jog.

Marathon Journal: 14 Miles

I went to my men’s Bible study this morning. Every week a different guy brings breakfast and today Glen brought oatmeal, oranges, OJ and pastries… perfect food to provide energy for a good run. Now today was my put up or shut up day for the LA Marathon, where if I couldn’t do at least 10 miles I couldn’t do LA in March.

At the Bible study, we discussed the Haiti earthquake, and weather God does or can speak through disasters. It’s a deep subject, because it ponders God’s choice to act, or if it’s fair for him to insert His will into the natural course of events in the universe. These were ideas I thought about during my run, since I often wonder if God cares about my daily jogging schedule, or if he cares if I run the LA Marathon at all. Is exercise just another trivial thing our culture enjoys, and does God still manage or influence trivial events? That’ll have to be a discussion on another entry.

I started out jogging normal enough, trying to keep a slow, 12 minute mile pace. I felt confident, refreshed, and finally over this hideous one month long cold. After a couple of miles, all hell broke loose. SoCal was hammered with a great storm, and I had the remainder of a mighty long run still in front of me. Good thing I wore my rain slicker.

After my first five mile loop, the rain picked up a lot. By now, I had to avoid streams of run off that poured over streets and sidewalks. By mile seven my hands grew so cold that I couldn’t feel my fingers. I was wearing little blue shorts so my thighs were red from wind blowing cold rain on my legs. The weird thing is that I was getting hungry.

I passed another runner at mile 9 and we laughed at each other. I shouted, “What’s wrong with you?!” I try to keep a good attitude when running because it doesn’t make sense to be a grouchy anything. Life is too short. Still, I was tempted to complain when I passed two Mexican gardeners who also smiled at me. Let’s face it, these guys work ten times harder than I do and they aren’t out in the storm by choice like me. How can I complain or give up when they’ll be out gardening long after I’m inside getting warm and cozy? I draw strength from other people’s strength and hard work. Both gardeners smiled as I jogged by and we gave each other the “You’re crazy.” “No, you’re crazy!” look.

I wrapped up mile 10 which put me back in front of my house. The Beloved Mrs. TenNapel came out to run a couple of miles with me and I asked her to quickly make me a peanut butter and jelly sandwich! “Right now?” “Yes, right now!” She ran inside and came back out in 30 seconds with a perfect PB and J. When a woman has four kids she can hammer out a good PB and J with her eyes closed… in a coma. She joined me on the tail of my run as I devoured the sandwich. It was one of the best PB and J sandwiches I can remember. It hit the spot and warmed me up… and I would need it.

Now Angie became my pace car. She runs a little faster than I do, so it kept me from dragging my feet too much. But the storm picked up even more and my feet were getting soaked. Ever run in wet shoes? Don’t. After mile 13 Angie went back into the house and I made a last push to squeeze out one last mile. I jogged 14 miles in 2 hours and 41 minutes. That’s about an 11 3/4 minute mile average. Pretty good for running in a storm. Can you tell I’m proud of myself?

The best news is that I’m still alive for the LA Marathon. I’m back on track so long as my knees hold out. As I write this, my knees feel pretty banged up. I took a couple of Advil and just got up from a nap. I’ll take a few days off to let my body catch up but today was a really good day. I needed this.

Today’s jogging music was a new mix I put together late last night: Fleetwood Mac: RUMORS, Paul Simon: NEGOTIATIONS AND LOVE SONGS, RHYTHM OF THE SAINTS, Prince: (singles RASPBERRY BERET, ALPHABET STREET, KISS, WHEN A DOVE CRIES), Pure Funk, Tears for Fears: GREATEST HITS, Everclear: SO MUCH FOR THE AFTERGLOW, World Party: GOODBYE JUMBO. I never got to Larry Arnn’s overview of the greatest thinkers of the last 2,000 years… next time.

Marathon Journal: 4 Miles

This morning I felt like doo-doo but knew I had to get in a run. I’m on the bubble for the LA Marathon where if I miss just one training session, no matter how trivial, my ability to run that race would be in jeopardy.

I visited the LA Marathon website to get inspiration. This is not a hard marathon course, other than it being 26 miles long. It’s generally flat or downhill and the architecture goes from dumpy at Dodger Stadium to beautiful at the Santa Monica Pier.

Our friends are returning from Haiti, so it’s hard to focus on my training when another country is melting before our eyes. This one particular friend has been trying to adopt a boy from Haiti for 14 months and has gotten to know her soon-to-be-son through visits and updates. You can’t imagine the turmoil of having to leave a young boy at an orphanage just two days after a deadly earthquake, but she couldn’t get him out of the country just yet. Diane Sawyer visited the same orphanage and picked up her son so we got to see him on TV!

If you are born in a country that enables you to have the internet coverage to read this, I hope you’re thanking a good God in these tough days. Because you and I won the lottery. While there’s no crime in winning the lottery, there is one in winning then living a life of ingratitude or willful ignorance of the Power That Be.