Dear Running of the Pink friends,

    

    While it is uncertain if we will be able to hold The Running of the Pink, it makes sense that we all get in shape as though it is going to be held on June 6^th.  I have tried to keep this blog about how you can start running even with little prior experience, but today I would like to give a surprisingly good report on my progress using the tips we have been sharing.

    

  On Thursday I jogged three miles on the treadmill and was slower than last week at 11 minutes per mile. A little disappointing to have slowed down, but our point has been to do the miles and not worry about the time, which WILL solve itself. On Friday, at 50 degrees, I jogged a somewhat hilly three miles and scored 10:30 per mile with no walking. I was encouraged enough that I went out on Saturday and finally tried four miles. I scared myself with four 9:59’s. Mixing the treadmill with the elliptical has worked. The extra miles also helped my weight, which had stalled at 187. I am now down 19 at 186, with a base goal of 180 and a stretch goal of 175. My original goal for the 10 K was to make it without walking. I have toughened this up a little looking for 11 minute miles with a stretch goal of 10’s

Equipment

    I am a minimalist on equipment. As a fat boy, I wear shoes with lots of heel cushion (I will tell you a story about these in a moment). I strongly recommend a light wind shell with a front zipper because you can adjust your inner temperature as you warm up or get cold turning into the wind, by zipping up and down.

   

   I was visiting with a new runner who asked me how much water she should take along on her runs. She was hauling along a quart container, which must have been a pain, and then was throwing up two miles in. I have had great success drinking 3 or 4 ounces of water before I run, which have carried me easily through 6 plus miles. I would recommend a little toilet paper (a good story about that in another week).

    

   My shoe story is that I have always purchased my shoes from Gun and Reel, too often for their bottom line, from their half price rack at Crazy Days. I was out of town and had forgotten my shoes, saw a store where they video you running, measure the hot spots on your feet and match you to the exact shoe you should wear. I am all excited about becoming a movie star until the “consultant” turned out to be an 18 year old kid, working on a stringy goatee, who watched my wonderful running video and looked at my foot hot spots and said “you need XYZ”, and I speculate, runs to his half price bin, tears off the sale label and charges me full boat, because I was in his video. What I did learn was to buy a shoe ½ size bigger than normal so that the shoe fits during and after your runs. The best ending is that I just bought a pair of Asics Kayanos from my Gun and Reel friends and they are great.

    

   Keep up your workouts and your attitude. This is a great time to run, mentally and physically.

Casey

Treadmill advice

    Dear Running of the Pink friends,

   

     I hope you are making good running progress as we get closer to the Running of the Pink. Being a wimp, I am still doing my workouts indoors and because of my advanced age, I am doing the elliptical four days and running just one or two. We talked earlier that we don’t have to get there all at once. Making progress step by step is great. I was able to do three miles on the treadmill yesterday at an average of eleven minutes. Again, the time doesn’t matter, slowly adding distance is what counts.

    

    Several years ago I was all ego tripping about how well I was doing on the treadmill. I was far and fast and easily convinced myself that I was a stud. Finally on a beautiful February day I took my new found speed outside and bombed completely. I learned that I was practicing at dead level and that doesn’t match outside conditions. I now jog at a two percent grade and while my ego is bruised, I now match my treadmill times when I am on the street.

  

    My other finding is that all elliptical doesn’t convert to running. I may be in overall good shape after a winter of elliptical, but I can’t run a step. The two muscle sets don’t cross over well. I am very pleased with my results when I substitute a couple days of treadmill for the elliptical every week.

    See you June 6th.

    Casey

Mind Games

     I am fortunate that I have run for 60 years. I only have to defeat one devil on my shoulder. There are two, constantly whispering defeat messages. One says my body can’t make it. That one can be right and needs to be slowly defeated every day as I add miles or speed. The other devil whispers that I am not capable of doing this. My 60 years allow me to know that is bull. If I put in the miles and slowly and not even purposely increase my speed, I will succeed.

    

     Like the trick of getting dressed even when I don’t want to go, I am also able to fool myself by negotiating. When the mind devil whispers that I am too tired and I need to walk, I negotiate with him and change the big picture of not being able to make the whole run, into a small picture: I am tough enough to run 200, or 300, or 400 more steps. Because I can’t multitask, I start counting steps and a couple of hundred in, all I am thinking about is the count. All whining about not being able to make it is gone and even if I do give in, I made 400 extra steps, so the next time the negotiation is for 500 steps because I now know that I can do 400. Wasn’t it Abe Lincoln who said “You can fool some of the people all of the time and all of the people some of the time”, but you can fool yourself every time?

    See you on June 6^th.

Casey

   

   

Fooling Myself

    I am lucky to be dim witted enough that I can keep secrets from myself. When I don’t want to run, I often tell my little pea brain to “just put on the shoes and trunks, you really don’t need to decide to run.” By the time I am dressed to go guess what happens? I am all dressed up for the ball, I may as well go dance. If I can fool myself that easily, imaging the fun you, as a thinking person, can have with me.

    See you on June 6^th.

Desk side Olympics

    As part of getting ready to run, I thought it would be fun to tighten up a little bit, but often my jog or elliptical workout leaves me with little ambition. So, I have decided to do simple, non-sweating, exercises at my desk when the spirit moves me. I am alternating three sets of sit-ups with three sets of push-ups and throwing in a little light weight three curl sets to round it out. One of our salesmen came running into my office after seeing me lying on the floor immobile. I thought that beat my inclination, which would have been to run the other way. It’s OK Wade, I appreciate you. Now my creators of unending torture are advising me to throw in some planks. I am up to two and a half minutes, but I am shaking like a leaf. No world records for me.

What you do in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas

    I have been silent for too long about my progress. Our dealership was recognized by Ford for the good works they and you do at Running of the Pink. We got to hob nob for a couple of hours with the big shots, including Edsel Ford and his son Henry the Third, before we were turned back onto the street. Unfortunately “What you do in Vegas does not stay in Vegas when it is calories.” I am now back to 187 but somewhat more in shape from a “fun” plan I have undertaken. 

The journey continues dear Running of the Pink friends.

As of 2/9/2020 I'm at 187 pounds vs goal of 180. Three mile slow jog, 34 minutes on my treadmill, three sets of 22 pushups. At least my fat will be hard.

I have found that while getting started can be tough mentally and physically, it doesn’t need to be. I have learned that the trick is: Incrementalism. Sure our goal is to do three or six miles, but pick a reasonable start. I decided to start my six mile goal with a three mile start (one mile works just as well). Don’t run three miles, wear yourself out and miss the next week exhausted. Slowly jog and go ahead and walk every time you feel like it. I do recommend an inexpensive watch that shows your pace, time and distance. I like a Garmin, because I don’t need to carry my phone for it to track me with GPS.

Write down your time and distance on the legal pad that you are going to proudly display on your fridge or bathroom door. You will find that goals that are measured will improve. Without pressing it, you are going to find that most of your jog/walks are going to improve. You will be walking less and just by repetition, your jogging will be slightly faster. Once a week you will have a down day, but often my next jog moves wonderfully forward. I would not add additional distance until I was jogging most of my initial short runs. There is lots of time to add miles; we just want to start a habit with a recorded plan. One of my favorite quotes is that “A goal without a plan is just a dream”. We are making a plan here that will fulfill that dream.

Don’t forget, I want to have you cost me my full $10,000 match at JRMC. Send them a donation labeled Running of the Pink and I will match it.

Yours running truly,

Casey