My First Run-cation of 2014

OK...as much as I hate some of the made up words that this winter has brought about (i.e. Snowpocolypse, Stormagoedden, etc)...then I go and throw a word like "Run-cation" out there?  Seriously??  Oh well.

In a couple of days I'm scheduled to fly out to Phoenix for this weekend's Phoenix Half Marathon.  I haven't got all of my plans for site seeing lined up quite yet, but have made plans to get together with my cousin Brittany and her fiancee for lunch one day while I'm there.  There are a couple of other things that I'd like to do while I'm in Phoenix, and of course, I've got the race to run on Saturday morning.

Saturday looks to be an early day with the race starting at 6:30am Mountain Time.  The Runkeeper app on my phone is now set to track my runs in real time, so friends and family should be able to watch on a map as I move along the course.  I used a similar app for my last half marathon, but I'm hoping this works a little better.  The one thing this won't do is post splits at different points along the course, but while live tracking, it will post my current and average pace.

This week is a taper week for me, so the couple of runs that I do are just to keep the muscles loose and give them a chance to recover from the training leading up to this week.  I was very happy with today's run.  Although I felt that I was running at a nice easy pace, just trying to stay loose and get some time in, my pace was much faster than it felt.  If I'm able to harness that same feeling on Saturday I could end up with a PR.  I don't want to put the cart before the horse, and I'm not sure what it was about today that made the run go so well, but it does make me optimistic and allow me to take the chance and dare to hope for a PR already this early in the year.

So my goals for this race would be:

1 - Finish in under 2:04:21.  That was the time it took me to finish Myrtle Beach in February of last year.  That time was on a fairly flat course, run early in the morning, so basically I want to better my time on a somewhat similar course.  The difference here is that Phoenix is more of a downhill course than Myrtle Beach was, and that should help with this goal.

2 - Finish in under 2:00:00.  I've only finished a half marathon in under two hours one other time.  It was a time that I originally thought was unattainable.  Prior to finishing in under 2 hours at Philadelphia last Sept. I thought I had peaked.  But knowing that I was able to run it last fall, and knowing how comfortable I felt running earlier today at a pace that would put me well under the 2:00:00 mark.  If I can keep that same comfort level for 13.1 miles, I'll be in good shape.

3 - Set a PR.  My current best time for a half marathon is 1:57:37.  That would mean running an 8:59/mile pace throughout the half.  Again, that is right about where I was at on today's run.  As I commented on Runkeeper, if I knew what the magic elixir was that made that run feel like a nice easy run, I would be drinking it every day.

I'd like to try and make it down to Tuscon to see the airplane graveyard at Davis-Monthan Airforce Base.  Don't think a trip up to the Grand Canyon is going to work, as it's a little far for the amount of time I'll be in the area.  But the purpose of running in all of these other locations is to see the country, and that's what I hope to do.

If you want to follow my progress in the race, watch my facebook page for the link to live tracking on Runkeeper.  That link will also allow you to cheer me on by sending cheers, etc. directly to my phone while I run.  By clicking here you can see a map of the half marathon course and compare it to the live tracking map so that you'll have some idea of where I'm at on the course.

The race starts at 6:30 a.m. Mountain Time or 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.  The nice thing about these app features is being able to have active support on the runs, even during times when friends and family aren't right there on the course showing support.

But if you're not interested in watching a little dot crawl across a map, my unofficial finish time should post to facebook and twitter when I'm finished.

Changes in Latitude - Changes in Attitude

Well, if you've been keeping up with my blog, then you know that things at work have been changing quite a bit, especially these last few months.  More changes are happening in my professional life, some by my own hand and some that are out of my control.  Just to clarify though, nothing tragic, nothing that can't be handled, nothing that brings about a lot of anxiety, some that are positive changes even.

I've taken those tests before...tests where there is a list of different life events and I'm supposed to put a check mark by each event that has occurred in my life over the past year.  Then I count up all the checks and that's supposed to tell me how much stress I have in my life at that moment.  Some of the events on that list are negative events (the death of a family member, losing a job, being hospitalized) while others are positive (buying a new home, getting a new job, getting married).  However, positive or negative, each event counts the same on your "stress scale".

Now if you are someone who knows me at all, is a friend of mine on facebook or have followed this blog at all, and you don't know that I'm a runner, then well....I'm not really sure what to say, because most people who know me would probably agree that I talk, or blog, or facebook about running much more than they'd like to hear or read.  So, I will say nothing more about running in this particular blog entry.

So, what other changes???

Well, first of all I've got a new supervisor.  Lauren Yankanin was recently promoted to Communications Center at NRECC.  See Lauren, I told you back when I interviewed you that you would move up quickly in seniority ;-)  That change came as part of our expansion from the Dublin Communications Center to the Northwest Regional Emergency Communications Center.  It was decided that a third supervisor was needed as part of our growth, and Lauren is now that third supervisor.  I think she'll do well in the position.

Another change on the professional front.  Late last month I was accepted as the newest member of the Mid-Ohio Critical Incident Stress Management team.  "The Critical Incident Stress Management (CISM) Team members are a group of volunteers from local agencies across Central Ohio including police officers, dispatchers, clergy, medical & mental health personnel that are on-call 24/7 to assist officers and agencies in need."  One of the Dublin Police Sgts. is a long time member of this organization, and I've been interested in getting involved for some time.   Our purpose is to be there to help first responders who experience a traumatic event in their lives.  The Mid-Ohio team primarily serves agencies in Franklin and surrounding counties of Ohio, but has also been activated to respond to events outside of that area, and even outside of the State of Ohio.  Currently I am one of two dispatchers that are part of this team.

One other change is that I will be the alternate union associate at work.  Our dispatchers are member of the FOP-OLC.  I honestly don't expect that to take up a whole lot of my time (if any of my time) as the main union associate will handle any issues unless she is, for some reason, unavailable.  So, kind of like the first runner-up of the Miss America Pageant, I stand ready to fill in should Amy not be able to fulfill her responsibilities.  She's been doing it for a while, so I think she's got a handle on things.

Today we found out that one of our co-workers will be out for a couple of weeks for surgery.  This will open up quite a bit of overtime, in addition to the overtime that's already posted.  I'll try to get as much of the overtime as I can, without burning myself out.

I took two online "stress" or "anxiety" tests.  In one I scored a 7 out of 40 (with 40 being the most stressful) and in the other I scored 16 out of 100, so I feel I'm handling my stress/anxiety fairly well.  I don't think we can go through life "stress free".  But I do feel that how we deal with many situations really is a matter of choice.

Starting my next Taper

I've hit the longest of my "long runs" for a while as I begin to look towards my first half marathon for 2014.  On March 1 I will be running the Phoenix Half Marathon.  This will be my 13th state in my quest for (at least) 48, as well as my 13th half marathon.  This is usually the point where I set my goals, but to be honest, I'm not sure what goals to set.  My last half marathon was not the greatest, that because of some poor habits on my part during the preparation and the fact that it came only about six weeks after having run a full marathon.

While my training has rebounded to some extent, and I expect to do better in Phoenix than I did in Cocoa Beach, it's still not feeling as good as it did just prior to Philadelphia, where I ran a PR, or before running the Columbus Marathon.

So, that being said, my goal for Phoenix would be to a sub 2:07.  An ultimate goal at this point would be to run a PR of under 1:57.  I really don't think that's in the cards, but some of that may depend on how I feel throughout the taper over the next few weeks.

I recently celebrated my birthday, going out with some friends and family for dinner.  I'm blessed to have the friends that I do, and this group represented a cross section of various parts of my life.  From an old high school friend, to a long time friend from my previous job, to former running friends and "posse" members, to current running buddies.  Throw in two of my nephews and their girlfriends and it made for a very nice evening.

Then on my day off I went out and bought myself some birthday presents.  At least that's the excuse I'm using for spending the money.

Speaking of tapering, as much as I like getting the overtime, it has been kind of nice not working as much overtime lately.  I've actually had my last two weekends off in addition to a vacation day.  I'm looking forward to a little site-seeing in Phoenix, as well as getting together with my cousin, who lives in the Phoenix area.  I want to try and get up to the Grand Canyon while I'm there.  I made that attempt a couple of years ago when I visited Las Vegas, but that area of the Canyon is controlled by the indian tribes who want to charge an arm and a leg to get in to the area.  Going from Phoenix will be through the National Park instead.  Time off is kind of at a premium right now, so I'll take advantage of the time when I can get it, and to be able to combine that with the blessing of running a race is always nice.

I may have to postpone my Nebraska run this year.  I wasn't paying attention to the calendar when I registered for the Laugh & and a Half-Marathon in Norfolk, NE on June 14.  The problem is this would be about a 13-14 hour drive.  On June 13 I will be teaching a class at the State Police Academy.  Being the last day of class, we usually get out fairly early.  But even if I am able to get out of there by 10 a.m.  I then have to drive at least 12 hours to get to Nebraska and then be up early the next morning to run a half marathon.  One word comes to mind....UGH!  So I may put that one off.  There is a half marathon that same day in Illinois (The Biggest Loser Half Marathon).  The drive is only about 8 hours away, which is not nearly as bad, but it would cost me a little more money, as I would have to pay for a hotel room.  Running in NE allows me to stay at my brother's place, which is only about 30 min. away from the race location.  The other alternative of course, is to just not run a half marathon that weekend.  I'm running plenty of races this year, but I hate to give up that weekend.  So we'll see what happens as the time gets closer.