Rock N Roll: Going for Broke

And by "Going for Broke" I mean that I would go broke trying to run a lot of races in DC. Running is expensive! (But I'll get to that later.) I was ready to pay the $110 to run the Rock N Roll Half Marathon, when the race-- sans course map and three months away-- SOLD OUT. This is the first year that the ubiquitous "Rock N Roll" series has visited the District, so I wanted to see what the fuss was about. I knew that there were about 600 entries left, but I decided to wait until the next day because I procrastinate. When I tried to register the next day, I found out that the number of entries was zero. Well that made my decision easy. I think my procrastination was generated by the fact that the Rock N Roll half marathon was way overpriced and that chaps my ass.

As you can see from the screen cap to the right, the prices for the half marathon were really expensive. I think I ran the Freedom Run Half Marathon for less than $60. Granted it was an hour and a half away, but still. Paying over $75 for a half marathon really is pretty ridiculous, especially when the full marathon is only $15 more. By that logic, the extra 13 miles of race logistics are a little more than $1 more per mile? Makes no sense. And as I stated above, there is no course map, so what people are getting themselves into? The only thing I took away from this experience is that I really need to get into the race directing game.

There are a few other choices I have including the Colonial Half Marathon, which is at the end of February and the GW Birthday Classic 10-K, which is mid February. These races will put me in good position for Boston on 16 April, and I won't go broke either.

Big Deal, News Follows

According to this article, when men exercise there is a protein in our brain that is created known as BDNF, which helps promote a healthy memory. There is high levels of BDNFof those of us who exercise, therefore it's important to exercise in order to retain a healthy memory. As if you already didn't know, right? Therefore, if you want to maintain cognitive health, go move your ass.

New Year, New Shoes

When I went to the Logan Circle Pacers fun run about two months ago, a brand rep from Saucony was there with a trial pair of running shoes if we wanted to give them a spin. I decided I wanted to give the minimalist Kinvara a try and that's what I did. I noticed that I had to shorten my stride with them. I could definitely feel it in the bottom of my feet by the end of the run though.

A few days ago, following Christmas, I decided to give myself the gift of new running shoes. I waited until today (Happy New Year!) to open the package and try them on.

I went for my inaugural 2012 run around the US Capitol with these shoes and I felt great. They were really light. I felt much more focused on my stride and how my feet were hitting the ground. At the end I didn't even feel any pain in the bottom of my feet. I am still suffering from some sort of groin strain. Afterward, I iced, I stretched, and hopefully it will go away or I'll be taking a trip to the sports doc.

I still need to start training plan!

Uh-oh: Injury

I've noticed that since September (three months ago) some groin pain and a distended lower right abdomen. Neither has given me any remarkable problems or discomfort until last week during a tempo run. I only noticed pain after I finished while bending over to tie my shoe and it wasn't extreme pain (it depends on how I move). Then the next day I decided to do speed work on a treadmill, which was paintful in my groin at first, but I pushed through it and stretched out my groin afterwards. I felt ok. I don't know why, but I decided to take the next three days off. Anyway, here is a list of my symptoms below:

Symptoms:
Groin pain in the crease between my man parts and my thigh (right side).
Lower right abdominal pain half way between my belly button and my junk.
A vague dull ache on one of my testicles (can't remember which one) that has since gone away.
Also I don't know if this is a symptom, but my lower right side of my abdominals is a bit distended and is different than my left side.














Non-Symptoms:
No pubis pain.
Full range of motion with my abs (although some pain with my lower abs while doing hanging leg lifts).
No pain while coughing or sneezing.
No pain while getting out of the car or out of bed. 
I can still do the ADDuctor machine (with some initial difficulty and pain, but it's not a lot). I think last time I did close to 100lbs. 

Maybe I'm being a hypochondriac, as I'm not in a lot of pain but it's noticable. I made an appointment with my general practitioner for next Friday but I'm a little type A so I wanted to get a jump start with the worrying. Also I am looking forward to running the Boston Marathon this spring so I wanted to start training this Christmas (10 days away). I will keep you updated. Hopefully it will be nothing, but since I've been taking it easy I noticed that I'm turning into a worrier. I've been reading a lot of posts on the Runners World forum about Sports Hernias and I think that I might have one. So I'll be asking him about that. Meanwhile, I'll try taking it easy for now while continuing to run at a light pace. I wanted to take these two weeks easy anyway. 

Training: Fixed it

Recently I found this website called dailymile.com, which allows you to log your miles online and it computes everything for you. What's not to like? It's a little like facebook for runners in that it also creates a social network if you want to go that way. Right now I have zero friends on there and just use it for the mile calculations. Best of all it's free. So instead of trying to fit in all in here, I just go to that website now and y'all can see for yourselves. Plus I think there's a wigit at the bottom of this webpage that says how much I've run this week. That is, if you're interested.

Here I am: http://www.dailymile.com/people/Bobby_J

Training: 10/31/11 - 11/6/11

This week I am getting back on track (although I haven't actually been to the track in a while). Daylight savings ended on Sunday, which means that all my weekday runs will be in the dark from now until who knows when... unless I decide to run on my lunch hour. I still have a couple of weeks until the 10-K Turkey Trot in Detroit, which I kind of want to kill, which would mean that I run it in under 38:53 (sub 6:15 pace), which is kind of fast for me. So we will see.

Also FOUR times a week I lifted at the gym. I'm nearly 150lbs now. I look better, but I'm carrying more weight.

Monday: Semi Long Run- 10@ 7:28min/mi
Tuesday: Tempo- 5@ 6:59min/mi (Ran w/Pacers Logan Circle -Georgetown loop)
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: 5@ 6:41min/mi (Ran w/Pacers Logan Circle -Georgetown loop)
Friday: 3 w/ 1@ 6:00min/mi
Saturday: Long Run- 15@ 7:33min/mi (w/6:33)
Sunday: 1@ 7:45min/mi


Total: 39 miles

From the Cheering Section LIVE!

This isn't really live, I just wanted to try this app on my iPhone.

Last week I spectated at the Marine Corps Marathon. It was Halloween weekend so I woke up too late to watch as the leaders passed, but I got a chance to see a lot of the rest.

There were lots of runny noses due to the temperature, but not so many people in costumes besides fairies. Also not a lot of people wrote their names on their shirts for people to chher for them and the ones that did wore headphones as well -- why do people do that?

The highlight of the race was the eccentric lady who brought music, candy, her outrageous personality and a few brilliant signs like the one hopefully posted below. She really needs to do this full time.