Sitting Here Thinking...

Title says it all for this one. I'm caught up on all my posts for all the races I've done to date and have been in training mode around the neighborhood. Things were starting to get a little "routine", I needed a purpose other than the sport itself to put some more focus in it for me. While at races and expos you see my organizations that do fundraising with runners and the thought had crossed my mind. I had talked with a friend that was working with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society as his wife and former coworker of mine had passed away two years ago...than this past December, another coworkers lovely daughter was diagnosed with Leukemia and now the purpose had a home and I signed on with the Team in Training program that raises money for blood cancer research. I was already registered for one of the races they were sponsoring for...the AmFam Richmond Half Marathon, so things were really coming into place. My goal is to raise $1500 for the cause and I had built my own incentive plan...autographs...brilliant right? Official (unused) tube socks and custom pictures complete with certificate of authenticity for anyone who makes a donation. Knowing that inevitably they could end up on eBay was no bother to me as long as raised the money for such an important cause...my neck has been bothering me more carrying this big head of mine around...hehehe. Having purpose now has spurred on more training combined with having an actual coach with great information for better running is bringing my game to a whole new level...here is the link to my donation page, please take a moment to check it out...Thanks!
http://pages.teamintraining.org/va/richmar13/nathanmiller#home

Friends...

I had come full circle...breaks, bruises...sprains and strains and now again...The alarm clock went off at 5:00am Sunday morning and Fredericksburg's finest 13.1 lay ahead of me.
Lets back up a moment...not too far...because this time we had a team. There was Sara, a seasoned runner like myself who can certainly power the hills that lay ahead. Next was Austin...some people are built to run...that's all him. Then Will...a lean young guy we dubbed the "Wild Card" as his training did not consist as much of cardio than calories, but no stranger to the gym though. Last but certainly not least was Patti...my good friend and coworker of many years whose physical prowess is as strong as her youthful spirit. Five of us made up the Half Marathon team...not to exclude the 10K duo of Larisa and Megan as well as 5K duo Aubrey and Tony.
The Friday night before the race I hosted a carbo load party at my house for teammates and their families...pretty much anyone else who wanted to cheer us on too. Spaghetti and Chicken fettuccine that could feed an army didn't stand a chance against the hungry and energy deprived lot of us. We talked and laughed like warriors before a battle to take on the unknown of Sunday morning...weather was still up in the air of course and our electronic devices updated us hourly.
Fast forward...its Sunday morning...its pretty cloudy with high humidity and a solid 65 degrees with chances for rain...or perfect as I like to also call it. Got to the parking area and made our way to the stakeout where friends and family knew to meet. I headed to the start line and reminisced in my mind a little from last year and how far I had come. To think that this is now my way of life...Nathan Miller, runner...it still almost sounds a little sarcastic when I say it. It had become my stress release and adrenaline rush...my new habit and source of...fun! I would love to go back a few years in time and tell myself that this is what he would be doing soon...but then again, I believe Doc told Marty that seeing one's self from the past or future could have grave consequences on the space time continuum...uh, sorry...got a little off track there. So I'm running now and feeling great...having fun and feeling the adrenaline as I make my way out of Central Park (for my out of town followers, we here in Fredericksburg have a Central Park too...that's how we roll) and head for downtown. We ran into a little rain at mile 3 which always feels nice and saw a few people along the way that I knew, the course was laid out exactly as last year and we serpentine-d through the streets into the old part of Fredericksburg where bands played for us and spectators cheered despite the weather. I was also wearing my calf compression sleeves as my shins had started to give me issues and they were working very well...when your calf muscles are as huge and defined as mine (that's right, you thought it, I said it) they can vibrate from the impacting of running pulling on the tissue in the front of the Tibia and cause...pain, thus...compression sleeves to minimize it! I only ran into Patti out on the course out of all of our crew and good that I saw her first as she claimed that if it were the other way around...I would have her on my back. Continuing on to mile eight now and bumped into yet another friend Christianne...we continued onward together towards Hospital hill which is the "Highlight" of the race and just like last year, put all my energy into it and again made it through...well, not with ease of course...damn thing is steep! We continued on up Cowan  Blvd and the unassuming hill that was there too, but to our surprise...The VA Runner crew was out there to pump us up and got us through it like champs...gotta love 'em! That last couple of tenths of a mile in are great...better than any other race out there...the cheering and fanfare really makes this event the absolute best. We powered to the finish line where yet again Marine soldiers were settling medals around our necks. The satisfaction feeling with this is tremendous...I never want to take these medals off and want to scream from the top of a mountain my accomplishment...and with so many friends too. I stayed over with my entourage again and cheered on more runners as they made their way in and got to escort Patti to the finish as well just like with Laura the year before...the irony. This had been my 4th Half Marathon and my first repeat half race...and as long as I can go out and do this, expect to see me and my tube sock coursing through the historic streets...sweet calves and all.

Top left to bottom right: Will, Austin, Sara, Your's truly, Larisa, Patti and Megan

Christianne and myself displaying out "Bling"

Coming up to the finish

Patti...one of my favorite race pics!

Your Time Is Gonna Come...

A wonderful welcome to April...and with it...much more forgiving running weather. The Monument Ave 10K was next on the hit list and it was about time...all about the time. This was my first race last year and now I wanted to go into it like a lightning bolt...I wanted under an hour. This meant my pace had to be 9:30-9:45 min miles for the duration...no easy task for 6.2 miles.

This race was no small time dance...with 50 some start corrals and over 32,000 runners, this is the only event that the winner can take a shower and a nap before the last person crosses the start line. My specific corral was a seeded one...which meant I had to prove I could do the time so I used my Turkey Trot time which was a lean 29:00 for a 5K. No shortage of irony here as well as coworker and friend Larisa Washburn who also did the Turkey Trot...used her time and ended up in the same corral as me. This couldn't work out any better...I could feed off the crazy/fun energy that she gives off naturally...even if it was for only a mile or two before she smoked me! On top of that I also ran into a former coworker and future super therapist Holly Paton...turns out I know a lot of people in the running world.

The goal was going to be a tough one to reach, but I had energy and motivation on my side...and my mom even came up from Portsmouth to see me run again...which meant a lot. So my music was running and now so am I...with the sun shining and a perfect pace rolling out my adoring fans could only catch a quick glimpse of the tube sock before I was gone. I am keeping an eye on my time as each mile dropped off and my legs were really feeling it...but I pushed on. I knew how upset I would be if I had to walk at all and to my pure enjoyment and pain...I came in at 59:15...right on the mark! On my way home I popped over to Wegmans for the ingredients to an epic turkey sandwich that would conveniently display my finish time for all of Facebook to see.



Larisa "LDawg" and Natedogg




A new PR never tasted so good



Down By The Seaside...

       The cold weather triumph made possible the beginning of my 2013 season in Virginia Beach with the Shamrock Half Marathon. You would think that having down two very hilly and higher of the temperature side races that I would be going into this one with the highest of confidence...yeah, no.

This was a solo trip down as my wife was under the weather and standing in damp, cold environment would certainly not be good. I did get to meet up with a very dear friend of mine and we got dinner and had many laughs that helped ease my nerves a bit. That night I wore out my iPad battery constantly updating the weather. It all came down to attire once again. While running at home, I had the luxury of stopping and starting at my front door with wardrobe chances that could be done on the fly, but in races...what you start with is what you finish with...unless you don't mind littering.

So the morning arrives after an evening of light rain to blowing wind that cut too the core. I sat in my car at the parking area about a half a mile from the start line going through the many scenarios of attire in my head...felt good in the fact that everyone parked around me was doing the same thing. I knew that shorts would always be a must but now it was between gloves, face wrap and jacket. I finally decided jacket all alone and headed towards the start line.

In the lovely Summer time when we all go down by the seaside for surf and sun, the breeze is refreshing in the hot temperatures and we laugh and play. Well...in the middle of March at 6:00am with 43 degree wind blasting across the ocean into the mainland...refreshing is the last word on your mind. We all stood near our corrals plastered against the buildings blocking this piercing wins. My corral was set at two and a half hour finish mark and as the race began, we slowly started moving up as each segment took off in waves of excitement we could all hear. This is the moment I feel like this truly is a battle and we infantry we next off the boat to storm the beach...ironically I had been chatting with US Marine for most of the morning and had really worked each other up to the start line. We kicked off on our journey down the street with crowds cheering on both sides of us. It was a couple of miles in and we got away from the wind...as it turns out, the running Gods knew what they were doing with this day and giving the temperature and humidity...it was perfect. I was 10 miles in before needing to walk a little and noticed immediately that it hurt more to walk than run so I jumped right back into it. I equated this to having almost two hours of consistent impact interrupted by walking angered the continuity of my muscles and decided to go with the flow. At mile 11 we hit Atlantic Ave and was rewarded with that lovely wind again...and not at our backs of course. I came in at two hours and twenty seven minutes...a new personal record, an awesome finisher medal with built in bottle opener, a shamrock hat and ironically once again...a finishers blanket!...as if they knew what the weather was going to be like. I met up with my mom and we proceeded back to my car to relax and drove her to her vehicle and then back to the hotel. I got back to the hotel room and took the best feeling shower that washed the sweat and chills right off of me. I took to the social media to announce my triumph before leaving the room and while channel surfing came across my favorite movie...The Usual Suspects...right at the bombshell ending too. So I stood there as Chazz Palminteri as learning the true identity of Mr. Soze and like that...I was gone.

With built in bottle opener...

No Quarter...

         The Summer heat had dissipated into the mild fall, in which I had plenty of free time to curse the meek little tip of my toe. I did get to spend a couple of nice days after fully recovering getting back into the swing of things and before I knew it...frost. I had oddly faired well in the heat and humidity with my training and being more of a cold natured individual didn't think the colder temps were going to be much of an issue...from reading from the beginning, you would already know that more than often...I am wrong.

With heat and sunlight...it's simple, dress in light colors to reflect the suns rays, a nice pair of sunglasses, a cooler of Gatorade and of course your tube sock for perspiration. So now the Winter...first, is the sun out? Light colors don't absorb so you are freezing right out of the gate...darker colors, you are getting cooked by mile two. Ok then, how about layers...well how many and for how many miles? Perhaps and windbreaker or sweatshirt...do I wear pants or shorts? Even if all that is figured out...my damn fingers are freezing! The fun is wearing off... The time of day, temperature and position of the sun swayed all the options. I felt like I needed a team of scientists and meteorologists to evaluate every minute of the day. On top of all that, huffing and puffing that cold air made me feel like I had the flu and or pneumonia after the first mile. I was exhausted before ever leaving the front door.

I felt like there was a constant battle with Mother Nature once again and it was take no prisoner. Talking with more seasoned runners and reading online, I gained the proper weapons to win the good fight...even when the cold rains started. For the hands...who would've guessed glove right? Nice ones too with special finger tips that worked on the touch screen of my iPod so I didn't have to bump it with my nose to skip a song anymore. For the rain, a light hooded zip up sweatshirt that could be opened for ventilation. Lastly and most importantly...a face wrap that covered the lower half of my face trapping the expelled air against my face...note on that, do not eat anything spicy or burp while in use as it will be quite unpleasant.

As is with the Winter time, the sun, is pretty much down by 5:30 so running in the dark...rain...and cold had become my life and the battle was won. Luckily no one called the police on me as I looked as if I were trying to conceal my identity around the neighborhood and wore the tube sock for identification as often as possible.

The police are looking for this man