David Taylor Gonzales

running and other things

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I’m a husband, father, son, and runner

  • Marathon Training Week 30

    Defining the Easy Run

    7/24

    I did a sprint workout tonight. 15 minute warm up, 9 10 second intervals @ 4:20/mi pace. I’ve said it before but I have a really hard time keeping a consistent pace when I’m running that fast. My slowest interval was 5:16/mi and my fastest was 3:44/mi. It would be great to run more consistently within my target range but I only do workouts like that a couple times per month. We have run 16 miles so far this week. Legs feel fresh but we’ve started noticing some chest pain so we’re gonna monitor that going forward. It’s only noticeable during the warm up portion of my runs. I never notice it when I’m at rest or sitting down or walking. It’s kinda weird, but I’m not concerned about it yet. I have a 11 mile long run tomorrow in St. Louis. 30 total miles is the goal this week. I’m excited to get in some hill workouts and experience a change in scenery in St. Louis.

    7/28

    We got into St. Louis around 9 PM Thursday night so I waited to run my 11 easy miles until Friday afternoon, with my last 2 miles at marathon pace. Like I said before I’ve been having some mild chest pain when warming up for my runs recently so I wanted to be careful. I ran 33 laps around the block in the blistering sun at their house. I set up an aid station for myself with gatorade, water, ice, a washcloth and some strawberries. Despite how boring the route was, I actually enjoyed doing something a little outside of the norm. The best part, very little chest pain! I made the mistake of running the same direction for all 33 laps so my right TFL was extremely sore that afternoon. I used a resistance band that evening to stretch and work it out. I woke up early on Saturday morning to play golf with my father in law and brother in law. We did a 3 man scramble for 9 holes and shot 5 over as a team. We’re terrible at golf but I was thankful for the quality time. When we got back we went to The Hill to eat at Gioia’s. I had the usual: a hot salami sandwich with giardiniera and banana peppers. We walked to DiGregorio’s to do some grocery shopping in the old neighborhood afterwards. After we put the kids down for nap time I did a quick 18 set workout in the basement and ran 3 easy miles (9:26/mi pace) and mixed in some hill sprints. Trying to take advantage of as many of these hot summer days and miles as possible. I did notice more chest pain during this workout, probably related to the quicker pace and hill work. I’m a bit concerned so I’m gonna look into getting an EKG.

    I took Sunday off due to some gnarly allergies and driving back to Springfield. Despite the miles, I gained FIVE POUNDS while in St. Louis. Turns out no amount of miles can outweigh pizza, pasta, chocolate chip cookies, and angel fruit cake. I’ve heard it said before, that greatness is boring. It requires discipline and consistency, especially when it comes to dieting. Let’s just say I had a lot of fun this weekend. I may not have been great, but what’s the point of family time if I’m off grilling chicken by myself while everyone else enjoys toasted raviolis around the kitchen table? No regrets. We’ll dial it all back in this week.

    I realized a few weeks ago that I was pacing most of my easy runs at marathon pace which wasn’t giving my body a real opportunity to recover so I could execute my speed runs effectively. That 11 mile run I did this week would’ve been run at a 9:05ish pace if I had run it 2 months ago but instead, I ran it truly easy at 10:08 average pace (factoring in 2 miles at marathon pace). My body was able to rebound much more quickly from the work load because I wasn’t pushing beyond what was expected for the workout. ChatGPT estimated that an easy run for me should be about 60-90 seconds per mile slower than my marathon pace. That’s a big mental hurdle for me to jump because sometimes it almost feels too slow but I’m starting to adjust and enjoy the easy runs.

    Right now, I’m nervous about my chest pain. I don’t know if it’s heart related or not so I’m going to go to urgent care and get an EKG. I don’t usually feel the pain when I’m not working out so I’m not sure how much good it will do, but I’d rather have a doctor tell me I’m fine than find out I’m not fine by dropping dead.

    7/30

    I stopped by the Urgent Care this morning before work. I actually got seen by Doctor Scott Dooley, a friend from the Potter’s House coffeehouse ministry. I showed him my heart rate data from my runs, explained the weirdness of how the pain actually went away the higher my heart rate climbed. He said it’s impossible to rule anything out with 100% certainty, but based on my overall health and pain symptoms, he was fairly confident I’ve got Costochondritis. This basically means I damaged the cartilage that connects my upper ribs and breast bone during a chest and arm workout with my Dad a few weeks back. It can take a bit to heal but I can keep running and most of my training will stay the same. I’ll keep monitoring it but I’m glad that this isn’t an issue that’s going to drastically hurt my training. I’ll skip arm and chest workouts for the next few weeks while it heals up and focus on mobility and lower body workouts in the meantime.

    It was a bit of a weird week, but ended on a high note now that I know I can keep training and prepping for this marathon in November. As always, I’m thankful for my health and my family’s health. God has been very good to us.

    Keep Going!

  • Marathon Training Week 29

    7/17

    Barefoot run yesterday (0.6 miles) and 3.7 miles in shoes. Tempo run 0.66 mile warm up, 2.33 miles at 7:50/mi, 0.74 mile cool down. I’ve been really enjoying the barefoot runs. This one was short and sweet but we were able to pick up the pace a bit because there were more running on grass opportunities. I waited to do the rest of my run until after my small group time. Sam was the only one who could make it this time around so we ended up just catching up about work and talking shop. The tempo workout wasn’t my favorite. It always takes a good effort for me to sustain a pace below 8 min/mi and I don’t think I was adequately recovered to give it my best effort.

    Today is a light workout day. We focused on triceps, back and shoulders. Average heart rate of 88 BPM so it wasn’t the hardest workout of all time. I really just wanted to get the body sweating without going all out. I have a 5K race at the end of this week and I want to be able to keep a sub 7 minute pace for the race. Some part of me is afraid of training legs this week because I don’t want to wake up with any soreness on Saturday. I tend to struggle with Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness (DOMS) so if I lift on a Thursday, there’s a good chance those muscles are still cooked two or even three days later.

    7/18

    I texted Travis last night asking him if he wanted to run Friday together and do my sprint workout with me. He wanted to take the day off to taper for the 5K on Saturday. I decided to sleep in before work and then do a short shakeout workout this evening. Three miles at an easy pace just to keep the legs warm for tomorrow morning. I plan on adding some easy miles after the race when I get back home to round out my week. I need to hit 28 miles this week to stay on track with my marathon training. I’m going to start ramping up the mileage by increasing 2 miles each week between now and early October (every 4th week will be step down week to recover from the increased mileage).

    7/19

    I ran the 5K today. Adrenaline was pumping through my veins and I looked down at my watch after the first 400 meters and saw that my average pace was 4:20/mi. Way too fast. I throttled back to what I thought was closer to 6:50/mi. I looked down again. 5:30/mi pace. I couldn’t believe how amped up I was. It took a conscious effort to throttle back to a pace that felt right. I settled in and completed the first half of the race in 10:05 (6:31 average pace). I had a great shot at breaking 20 minutes but I needed to run a negative split and I didn’t have it in the tank. I don’t know precisely what my lactate threshold is, but I was in it during the race. I ended up getting 4th place and 1st in my age group! Final time: 20:29. Average pace: 6:37. First time I’ve ever gotten 1st in my age group. I paced myself really well considering I’ve never trained for a 5K race. I wasn’t sure if I was running too fast or too slow but I had just enough gas in the tank to sprint out the last 30 seconds or so. I am very proud of how I ran this one.

    When I got home, I went out for my five easy miles to round out the week. I ran them very slow (10:09 pace). No need to try to be a hero after the morning I had. This summer has been so hot. It’s great training for this marathon but in the moment, it’s hard to be thankful for. I know I’ll reap the rewards later.

    7/21

    Today was a rest day. I did a light core workout in the basement before my shower. I have a sprint workout tomorrow: 15 minute warm up, 9 x 10 seconds @ 4:20/mi pace (3 minutes rest in between) and a 10 minute cool down. I think the legs will feel pretty well rested and ready for it, but I haven’t been getting a ton of anaerobic exercise recently so it will probably be an adjustment.

    7/22

    The run felt pretty good but I’ll admit, I’m tired and I don’t feel that confident at pacing correctly when I run that fast for those sprint intervals. My slowest interval was 5:14/mi pace and my fastest was 3:43/mi pace. One thing I was proud of was that I continued to light jog through each of the three minute rest intervals, something I’ve never done before. Ended up putting 5.6 miles on the legs. The week is off to a strong start! We have nineteen more miles to go. We’re taking the family up to St. Louis to visit Lane’s parents and siblings. Joy and John are really excited about it. I’ll get to do some hill sprints in their neighborhood which I’m going to pretend to be excited about. I know it’s good for me but they’re so tough. I have five miles today, eleven miles on Friday, three to four miles on Saturday to get to thirty for the week.

    It was a great training week overall. I was glad to race again, my first since early April. There’s a good chance that’s my last race between now and the marathon so to end on a high note like that will be great to look back on as we inch closer to November 2nd. I’m thankful for my health and my family’s health. Life is not always easy but knowing that my kids are healthy, my wife is healthy, it really provides a clear lens through which I can process all of the normal nonsense and daily struggles of life. I spent the cool down of my run yesterday thanking God for our health and a peaceful home (though not a quiet home). God is good and kind and gracious always. Psalm 23:1-6.

    Keep Going!

  • Marathon Training Week 28

    7/13

    I’ve been reading Born to Run by Christopher McDougall. It’s been described by some as the barefoot runner’s manifesto. Basically it’s the story of McDougall’s personal running journey, injury issues and curiosity which eventually leads him to seek and spend time learning from a largely unknown native tribe in Mexico called the Tarahumara (or Rarámuri, the Running People). They are known as some of the best runners on planet earth. They run ultra-marathons well into old age. And the fact that I can’t get out of my brain is that they run in what basically amount to homemade sandals. The Tarahumara aren’t buying $180 Brooks Glycerins online, I doubt any company would be willing to ship to the Copper Canyons even if they did. They rarely get injured, and they don’t face the chronic issues modern runners deal with: plantar fasciitis, shin splints, etc.

    I bought the Brooks Ghost Max’s last week and when I unboxed them, they reminded me of my first pair of Hoka Clifton 9s. The stack height was tall, to be expected. The cushioning was pillow-like. The shoe itself, shockingly light for the size. But I couldn’t get this thought out of my head: “all this brainpower and energy and engineering and yet, based on historical data, some 65% of runners will sustain some sort of injury this year.”

    What are we doing wrong? I’m the wrong guy to answer this question, because a lot of people are doing a lot of things right. For those who find themselves at this fork in the road where I am, there are probably multiple answers depending on the person. But I ask it because reading this book got me interested in the idea of running barefoot. I figure, “if our distant ancestors did it-hell, if I did it as a small child, why should I assume I can’t right now?” On Saturday I tried run-walking one mile on grass. I felt so good after the first mile I ended up running three and a half. It felt great. I ran the grass segments and walked when pavement was the only option. My feet are pretty beat up but I thoroughly enjoyed the feeling. There were moments I felt like a kid again. I wasn’t worried about pace, mechanics, heart rate zones, etc. I was enjoying the ebbs and flows, the change in stride length to avoid sticks, the way my hips shifted as I alternated between pavement and grass. It was the definition of joy. The sun was warm against my back. The road and grass segments I chose were uneven and sloped. I didn’t care. My average pace for the entire run was 12:44/mi but there were moments I felt I was flying. It was like I was falling in love with running all over again.

    7/15

    On Sunday we took the kids out for a walk. It was cut short due to a great conversation with our neighbor Nick who, we found out, owned several iconic Springfield restaurants over the years (including Ebbett’s Field from 1972-2002). We walked 1.2 miles together and I did it barefoot. Around the 0.9 mile mark a large pebble dug into the back of my right heel. I howled like a wounded dog. It hurt like crazy. No blood, but my heel has been sore ever since. After some rest time and ice, I ran 8 miles that afternoon in my Ghost Max shoes (my third run in them overall). My goal was to focus on my cadence and my landing, specifically toe striking. Any time I’ve tried to focus on running mechanics for a long run in the past, my focus starts to diminish after mile 4. To combat this, I tried listening to a playlist of only nine songs all from the same album (State Champs, self-titled album from last year if you’re curious). Cody Ko said in his training that listening to the same song on repeat helps in get into the “flow” state. I wasn’t sure if I could handle that much repetition.

    Here are my cadence charts from my last two runs of similar length.

    Cadence chart from my 7 miles on Friday 7/10.
    Cadence chart from my 8 miles on Sunday 7/13.

    I attached these two cadence charts to show what I noticed on Sunday. Turns out, I was able to focus on my mechanics quite well on this run. When compared to Friday’s run, you can see I was much more consistent throughout the run. Based on the chart, the difference in cadence between the first few minutes of mile 1 and the final moments of mile 8 was minimal. Compare that to the Friday run and the difference is definitely noticeable. For starters, because I was heel-striking, I was able to start at a much higher cadence in the beginning of the run because I wasn’t doing anything outside of my comfort zone. And the drop off in cadence illustrates the deeper point here: if I don’t focus on running economy or my mechanics consistently throughout a run, I can keep a good cadence for a time but once fatigue sets in, I revert to bad habits quickly and I lengthen my stride to make up for the lower cadence. The more I focused on good mechanics and running economy, the shorter my stride and therefore, a higher, more consistent cadence.

    Are you sick of reading the word “cadence” yet?

    So what does all that mean? I have only been running for a couple years now so I’m not an expert but one thing that I’m hoping it means is that I’m improving my chances to stay healthy and prevent injury. Each step I take is a tremendous amount of force on my body (I’ve read from smart people in the running world that your lower body sustains 2-3 times your bodyweight of force when you run). Higher cadence means less stress on my soft tissue and my joints. Being less “bouncy” (vertical oscillation) with each stride will help keep me in good running shape as I age. That’s the goal with all this. I don’t want to enjoy running just long enough for my body to fail me. An older friend of mine quoted his physical therapist a few weeks back, “running is the best thing you can do for your cardiovascular health, and the worst thing you can do for your soft tissue and joints.” I don’t know if he’s right. But I’d like to prove him wrong by running well into my 70s.

    The question I’m asking myself is, “so what’s the plan now?” I don’t know the answer yet. I know a couple things for a fact: I loved barefoot running and I think I can incorporate it into my weeks to allow myself more “fun” training since I’m now fast approaching the dog days of my marathon block. I also know that I’m too close to my race to realistically become a full time barefoot runner or run the race in minimalist shoes. Maybe that’s where my training will lead me some day, but for now I’m going to have to stick with what’s got me here. If running shoes have led to increased injuries in the last 50 years, I’m sure that reversing course and attempting to run a full marathon barefoot with only 5 months to go can cause injuries at an even higher rate.

    Here’s the third thing I know.

    I want to run for the rest of my life. I don’t know if there’s running in heaven but if there is, I want to run there too. That feeling I had running barefoot on Saturday, I’m going to chase that feeling for a long time. I thank God for healthy legs when I’m out for a run. I probably don’t thank Him enough but writing this blog has really helped me meditate on how lucky I am, how lucky we are, to learn what it means to endure. The sweat is worth it.

    Keep Going!

  • Marathon Training Week 27

    7/7

    I ran 10 miles on Saturday. We had a great 4th of July weekend with family and I was thankful for the time to run, despite the oppressive heat. The run was really challenging but I kept my nutrition dialed in for it so despite the exhaustion, the chia seed pouch gave me a much needed boost at mile 5. I finished the run with a mild strain on my right ankle, just below my calf. I’ve watched enough NBA basketball to be a bit worried about the possibility of an achilles injury so I took Sunday off and did some cross training with my Dad. It’s possible that the issue is related to my shoes. I crossed the 400 mile mark in my Brooks Ghost 16s, the shoes I plan to race in. I bought the Ghost Max’s today to see if I like the extra cushioning better.

    I ran tonight, 4 miles at recovery pace (10:09/mi). I kept a zone 2 heart rate for most of the run (average 133 BPM). I wanted to see if the shoes were really the problem or not. As I sit here drinking my magnesium supplement, I feel fine. I don’t know if I really need to retire the shoes but I’d rather be safe than sorry. I’ll keep them for low mileage recovery days and walking.

    I ran 31 miles last week, that’s two weeks in a row above 30 miles. This week I’ll throttle down to 25 or so. The build phase of my training starts next week and I don’t want to be fatigued going into the most intense block of training.

    7/8

    I’ve been using ChatGPT for nutrition advice. I’m surprised by how effective it is at tracking macros for me and giving me estimates on caloric intake. It makes plenty of mistakes but it’s helpful. I’m trying to get down to 168 pounds (losing about 5 pounds). My theory is that it’ll help my running form and efficiency. Only problem: I love cookies and Andy’s frozen custard. We’ll see how much discipline I truly have.

    I have a 3 mile shakeout run tonight. It’s been raining off and on all day so it’s gonna be humid and miserable. Gotta learn to be thankful for these days and these runs. New shoes come in Thursday. I am giving my body some time off before a big threshold workout later this week. Still monitoring my calf. Garmin says my training readiness is at 97 today.

    7/9

    Well, I felt too good during the first half mile of my run to keep it low and slow. I ran the first half mile at 8:55 pace and ended up running a 5K at an average pace of 7:15/mi. My heart rate peaked in the 170s, average of 150 BPM. I missed my PR by 20 seconds so if I hadn’t run that first half mile at a warm up pace, I had a good chance at a PR. I’ll have another shot at it on July 19th at a race in Branson. I’m excited for that one. Some of my buddies from church are gonna run it together.

    I worked out with my Dad this morning. We did chest, back, hamstrings and glutes. 3 sets of pull-ups and jumping negatives, 4 sets of dumbbell bench press, 4 sets of trap-bar deadlifts, 4 sets of single-arm rows, 5 sets of dumbbell shrugs. I can tell I’m gonna be sore tomorrow. I’ve been impressed with him sticking with it. He told me he would do four workouts with me while in town and this was number three. We’ll do our last on Saturday before they leave town. He asked me about what it means to run “smooth” and I told him about how I’ve been working on increasing my cadence the last few weeks. We ran a bit together after the workout so I could show him what I was talking about. He bought Hoka Cliftons for walking last week but my hope is that he tries running a bit when he gets back home.

    I love working out in the morning but one thing I miss when I do that is my quiet time. I always feel more centered on God throughout the day when I spend that first 30-45 minutes of my day with Him. I’ve been thinking about how I can do both in the morning. Unfortunately, most of the ideas I’ve come up with involve me waking up at 5:30 AM. That would be a challenge. As a former night owl, the idea of going to bed at 10 PM was a foreign concept to me until a year ago. 5:30 AM would probably require a 9 PM bedtime.

    My parents came in to town to hang out for a couple weeks. Living many hours away from family with two kids at home has been a challenge so I’m thankful that both our parents both have the flexibility to visit us and help with the kids as often as they do. My wife and I are seeing F1 at Alamo tonight. It’s our first time going to an actual movie in theaters in at least a year and our second date night since my parents got here last week. I’m really thankful for the time we’ve gotten to spend alone together. I’m trying to keep my nutrition dialed in but I’ll tell ya, I’ve got a hankering for those loaded fries. I’ll let y’all know if I cave in or not.

    Keep Going!

  • Marathon Training Week 26

    7/2

    Last night I finished a 55 minute tempo workout. 10 min warm up, 2 x 15:00 @ 10k pace (7:35ish pace), 5 min recovery between, 10 min cool down. It felt great. I usually dread these speed workouts but I really enjoyed this one. Garmin wanted me to do a threshold workout (same structure but 6:50 pace) but I wanted to throttle back a bit and I think that’s why I actually enjoyed the workout. Total stats: 6.82 miles, 8:18 average pace, 147 average HR.

    I was drinking water in the kitchen after the workout when a thought crossed my mind: when you start something new, your mind has had days, weeks or months even to prepare for it. Your body, however, is still at the starting line. It’s important that you treat yourself with grace when taking on that new challenge. There’s almost always a gap between mental preparedness and physical ability. If there is no gap, it might be a sign that the goal isn’t high enough. Even if you think you’re ready, you may be shocked at your body’s inability to execute. That’s totally normal, it’s part of the process. But if you start with the expectation that you’ll be able to execute your plan perfectly the first time, you’re setting yourself up for failure.

    I remember installing my squat rack a few weeks back and staring at the pull-up bar. I decided that I was going to start doing pull-ups twice a week to strengthen my back. I began building out my workouts, assuming that I’d be able to do three sets of five pull-ups to start. And do you know what happened? I could barely squeak out three pull-ups on my first set before switching to jumping negatives. My mind was ready to do fifteen pull-ups. My body was not. I was really disappointed leaving the garage that night. But it’s a good reminder that if discipline is required to show up and train consistently, grace is required to keep us from burning out and giving up.

    7/3

    It’s a difficult thing to have grace for myself during the summer months. My pace slows, my VO2 max stagnates, all the metrics I use to measure whether I’m performing well or not seem to decrease this time of year. Obviously it’s heat related but still, it’s a mental hurdle for me. I ran a base run at 9:00 pace for 6 miles. That felt like a failure because I didn’t hit 8:40 like I wanted to. Was it a failure? No. I did what I needed to do for the workout. I was within the range I wanted to be in. But I find that when I put my faith and trust in the metrics instead of Jesus, it ends up being a losing battle. No matter how high I climb, there will always be someone above me. There will always be an athlete or a time goal or a distance PR to chase. I have two choices. Either I believe that God is sufficient to cover my weaknesses and I can choose to lean into His strength, or I can dwell on all my shortcomings and beat myself over the head with them until eventually, I decide it’s all futile and decide to retire the running shoes permanently.

    “A run doesn’t end when you stop, it ends when you don’t start again.” -Coach Bennett, Nike Run Club

    “Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us.” Hebrews 12:1

    The sin I’m choosing to lay down this week is the sin of pride, the sin of believing that my best is sufficient, the sin of believing that I ought to have no weaknesses for God to cover for me., the sin of believing I have no sin.

    The more I write in this blog the more I think back to Coach Bennett’s words in the early days of my running journey, back when I would run in the same old pair of sneakers I mowed my lawn in, those days before I ever spent a dollar on running equipment or knew what cadence was or cared about my vertical ratio.

    “This is about running, this is not about running.”

    Keep Going!

  • Marathon Training Week 25

    Back Home

    6/20

    I don’t talk about my work much on here but I think there are a lot of valuable lessons that I’ve taken from work and applied to my training. I work as a sales manager and recruiter for the Academy of Hair Design, a beauty industry trade school. I love my work. I’ve been with the company since 2023. I had no idea that I’d be interested in or particularly good at sales, but I realized pretty early on that I had a natural talent for some skills that are pretty important in sales: mirroring, personality reading and awareness, a good memory, and persistence.

    I’ve got two medium distance runs back to back: 7 miles tonight, 10 miles tomorrow. I’ll update this on how I feel after my longer run tomorrow.

    6/21

    Here are the stats on last night’s run: 7.02 miles, 10 min per mile pace. 144 BPM heart rate. I called my buddy Colin to catch up on life during this one. It’s challenging but talking with friends while running is (almost) always a welcome interruption to the usual routine. I’ve been trying to improve my cadence so speed hasn’t been a high priority lately.

    6/21

    I just finished 9.4 miles this morning. It’s incredibly hot today and I needed to keep it low and slow. I set out my electrolyte water for the halfway point of this one and I’m glad I did. I started this run at 10:15 AM and by the time I finished, my water was mostly warm. Pretty wild. I ran this one similar to yesterday: 10:01 pace, 148 BPM. Garmin estimates I burned 1,200 calories which is crazy because that’s almost what I burn during a half marathon race.

    The heat this summer is no joke but I’m thankful for the opportunity to challenge myself in new ways. I know the short dark days of winter will be here before I can blink. I’ll be running in 15 degree weather looking back fondly on this summer. I’m trying to be thankful in the moment even though these runs are an absolute slog to get through sometimes.

    6/24

    Seeing myself improve in so many areas: strength, mental toughness, endurance, quantifiable running metrics, PRs for distance and time have all played a huge role in improving my mental health over the years. My wife and I used to joke that I was the pessimist and she was the optimistic realist in the early days of dating. That has totally changed for me in the two years since I began this journey. I still probably err on the side of pessimism, but I see the world through an entirely different lens now. I think the physical activity, increase in time in daylight, and discipline required to train during weird hours with kids at home has all caused me to see the world differently. The lows aren’t as low and I am more in tune with my body than at any other time in my life. I know when I’m craving a run, I know when my mental health is being positively or negatively affected by my amount of time being active.

    6/26

    Running is very hard in the summer but I think about what it means to love something. Sometimes that means doing it even when it doesn’t love you back. That’s what I’m reminded of when I’m wiping my sweat-soaked face with my sweat-soaked shirt on hot days like this. Running requires almost nothing from us, other than willingness. But on the hard days, it requires persistence.

    Persistence. If that doesn’t sound like summer running, I don’t know what does.

    Keep Going!

  • Marathon Training Week 24

    Elevation Pain

    6/13

    We have a family reunion in Santa Fe, New Mexico this weekend. Elevation: 7,190 feet. I have never ran at elevation. On Saturday I’m going to give it a shot. I’ll let you know how it goes. I want to run long(ish) and see how my body holds up. Main fears: hydration and heart rate. Gonna try to keep it at a 3-4 RPE.

    “People don’t change until the pain of staying the same outweighs the pain of change” -Tony Robbins -Papa

    I spent most of my lift thinking my grandpa made that up but I just googled it and apparently it’s Tony Robbins. It’s a bit convoluted, but I think about that quote a lot.

    Okay back from my run. That was brutal. The neighborhood wasn’t ideal for running so we had to loop around a few times and I needed to run by the house to get a quick sip of water twice. 7.21 miles, average pace 9:56/mi, average HR: 140 BPM (peaked at 161 BPM). My VO2 Max estimate dropped from 56 ml/kg/min to 52 ml/kg/min. I knew it would drop but I didn’t expect it to be that drastic. This was a hilariously difficult run. I ran out of breath almost immediately. At one point I was running uphill and my watch showed a current pace of 11:20/mi. I don’t know how some people do it day in and day out but the benefits are obvious. If I trained at that elevation for 2 months and then raced in Springfield I’d PR most distances.

    6/16

    I only ran 20 miles last week, the perfect way to get back into the swing of things. But I want to talk about our family reunion, more than the training. It’s been on my mind since we got back on Sunday night.

    The travel was a pain in the ass, there’s no two ways about it. Traveling with a 2 year old and a 3 month old isn’t for the faint of heart. We had a great time though. The moment we landed in Albuquerque and Joy saw her grandma, she screamed and ran to her arms. It made the whole painstaking process of getting there worth it. I missed our last reunion in 2017 so I hadn’t seen many of these extended family members in 15 years. I got to catch up with Florencia, Isabella and Nicole about running and their experiences running ultra-marathons. I talked with my Dad’s cousin Tim about his videography. I shook Uncle Eloy’s hand while he looked me up and down saying, “shiiit,” and laughed about how long it had been. I got to reacquaint myself with Chris, Reyna, Lucretia, Luanna, and countless others. I’m realizing now as I get older how lucky I am to have a big family. This was a “small” reunion for us and we had 50 people show up! It was cool to see so many different generations celebrating just being together. As Lane and I celebrate 4 years of marriage this month, this reunion was a great reminder of why it’s important to put in the time with family, even if it’s inconvenient.

    6/18

    This week I’m going to up the mileage to 25 miles. I’ve only run 8.6 so far but I was craving a long Saturday run anyway. I have been working on my cadence to reduce injury risk. My watch tells me I usually run at about 165 steps per minute. I did 5 miles this morning at 182 steps per minute. It required a lot of mental energy to keep that cadence but it felt great and seemed to work different muscles in my legs. I’m curious what recovery will look like if I keep this up.

    Keep Going!

  • Marathon Training Week 23

    VO2 Max has increased to 56 ml/kg/min. I’m never quite sure if the Garmin data is that reliable but the increase in easy runs has helped. I’d like to get my VO2 Max tested sometime. I only ran 13 miles this week so the legs feel really fresh. My buddy lives in a small apartment and asked if he could set up his squat rack in my garage so I spent last week focus on strength training. I haven’t lifted like this in awhile and I discovered that repping out 5 sets of 5 at 145 pounds on the bench press was not realistic so we throttled back to 125. I was able to do 3 sets of 5 pull ups but I had to jump and do slow eccentrics on the last set which was a bit disappointing. The goal is to get stronger, no matter what the numbers say. I constantly have to remind myself of this.

    I’m going to buy two more 45 pound plates and a trap cage for rows and deadlifts. I want to have a strong back. When I consider what longevity looks like for me in the next 10 years, I think of my dad pulling his back when I was in middle school. It sidelined him for a long time, and worse, he was fearful of doing it again. I don’t know if there’s any scientific evidence to this, but I like to think I’m pushing those middle aged man injuries further and further back when I show up for my workouts.

    Friday morning it was pouring down rain. Travis texted me to cancel the run but instead of crawling back into bed, I made coffee and started reading my Bible. I finished 2 Samuel, reading about David’s exile and his son Absalom trying to overthrow his reign. It was heavy but I enjoyed spending some alone time with God in quiet reflection. I turn too many of my recovery workout days into hard training when the whole point is to listen to worship music, run slow, and enjoy the outdoors. This morning was a good reset for me.

    I noticed that my quads and abductors took a long time to recover from back squats. I did 26 reps total over 3 sets at 125 pounds which, while challenging, wasn’t close to an all out effort. That was Wednesday. I’m writing this Friday. I still feel lactic acid build up in those two muscle groups. According to ChatGPT, it’s possible that the barbell back squat engaged my abductors more than my usual air squats for high reps or goblet squats with the 50 lb dumbbell. I’m running 8 miles tonight so we’ll see how I recover.

    Okay back from my run. I decided to try to PR my 10K since I rarely run that distance. Perceived effort: 9/10 Average pace: 7:36 per mile. This was a very challenging and rewarding run. I ran the first 5K at 24:10 pace so I knew I could break 48 minutes if I finished with a strong negative split. I was able to complete 6.3 miles in 47:55. I really surprised myself overcoming the moderate quad soreness for this one.

    Saturday was a gym workout. I experimented with ChatGPT and it gave me a very difficult full body 3 circuit anaerobic workout. As one would expect, lifting in a garage with no insulation and no air conditioning makes for some high heart rates. Average HR 121 BPM. Peaked at 160 BPM. I’m really happy I invested more time in the gym this week. I felt strong and I think it’s going to pay off next week when we ramp back up to our regularly scheduled programming.

    I finished this week with only 13 miles on the legs but almost 2 1/2 hours of lifting spread over 3 sessions. I wish I could’ve added another run to get to 20 miles but I’m happy with the week. I’m glad I had the self-discipline to emphasize my strength training. Too often I feel like a day is wasted if I don’t run. They’re not, and I felt an increase in my overall fitness by switching up my training emphasis.

    This week I’m thankful for quality time with my family, quiet time with God and the opportunity to train. It’s easy to forget how lucky I am when I’m in the midst of a tough workout. God has given me good health, the time needed to workout, a supportive wife, and more grace than I deserve.

    Keep Going!

  • What Changed?

    It’s easy for many of us to envision God as the archetypal angry and distant father. Seeing Him as loving, present, sincerely interested in us, seeing Him as a friend even, has always been harder for me to conceptualize. I remember the first time a mentor told me, “God is crazy about you.” It sounded cheesy and frankly, too good to be true. Why would He concern Himself with me?

    The author of the universe made my legs. The one who made the mountains and canyons also created my love for writing and running. The artist who paints every fiery sunset into the Missouri sky also formed the wrinkles in my brow and the curls of my hair. The God of infinite wisdom cares deeply about the universe in all its depth, and the minute details of the earth: the sands of the Sahara Desert, the salt of the sea, every pine needle.

    Over the last two years I’ve spent a lot of time sharing my story of physical fitness with different people in my life but I haven’t spent nearly as much time thinking through or discussing my relationship with God and how it has coincided with this health journey I’ve been on. When my wife and I were pregnant with our first baby, a girl, I gained a lot of sympathy weight. I ballooned up to 230 pounds, the heaviest of my life. I ate poorly, I was addicted to sugar. I drank 3 Dr. Pepper’s a day and I frequently said, “no” when my wife would ask if I wanted to walk the dog with her.

    I looked in the mirror and analyzed myself honestly in April 2023. I knew something wasn’t right. I didn’t recognize myself. My face had no definition, my chest was puffy and my gut overhung, causing my boxer lining to fold over. I looked terrible. And the truth was, I felt terrible too. I had sleep apnea and any physical activity resulted in severe soreness the day after. My resting heart rate was in the low 70s. I had low energy, low testosterone. My body was symbolic of where I was spiritually: bloated, gluttonous, lazy.

    I chose to make a change. But unlike some of the audacious goals I had set and failed in the past, I decided to start with something achievable, and small. “I want to run 3 miles on the treadmill.” I hadn’t run 3 miles since high school. I bought a cheap Planet Fitness membership and started training. I didn’t know what I was doing first, I hadn’t stepped foot in a gym in almost 10 years. But I kept showing up, even in those early days when I had no motivation to do so.

    Then, something funny happened. I suddenly felt the impulse to open my Bible. I started reading the gospels again, reacquainting myself with Jesus, re-reading old stories with fresh eyes. It felt like I was finding my faith again. I had been spiritually stagnant for so long. Not long after buying my membership I ran 3 miles on that treadmill. Then 4. Then 5. Then, in October, my buddy Jason called me and challenged me to run outside. We met up in Kansas City and ran 8 miles together. I felt rejuvenated, it was as if going to the gym was the kick start my heart needed to start beating again.

    In 2023 Lane and I became parents and I fell in love with my daughter as only a new father can. A new kind of thankfulness awoke from within me. I started thanking God for the people in my life more consistently. I became aware of how much of my life and all the blessings in it had nothing to do with me. God was the beginning and end of my days. I started praying for people more often. I was going to the gym 3-4 days per week and even started leading Bible studies and sharing my testimony for the first time in years.

    Now, I’m training for this marathon and I know a lot of people are probably sick of hearing about it. But the truth is, regardless of how race day goes in November, I’ve proven something to myself just by training and showing up for the last two years: I’m capable of far more than I ever imagined. The idea that I would ever have an interest, much less the ability, to run a half marathon, or run 30 miles in a single week, would’ve seemed preposterous on its face three years ago. But when I look back on who I was and who I am becoming, it’s clear that God’s fingerprints are everywhere.

    God was walking with me through every high and every low. He’s the author of my story, the one who initiated all this change and the one who guides my steps every day. So when people ask, “why did you make change?” it’s a difficult question to answer. Was it becoming a father? Maybe, but that doesn’t explain why didn’t I change when we found out we were pregnant in 2022. Was it a newfound sense of purpose? No, I had loved my work and career for years at that point. Maybe the shortest answer is this: I didn’t change at all. God changed me. God is still changing me. He wanted me to start walking in the truth of who He made me to be. And now, I’m not just walking in that truth, I’m running towards it.

    Keep Going!

  • Marathon Training Week 21

    Get Out and GO

    I have two kids. My youngest, a boy, hasn’t slept great since he was born in March of this year. During my wife’s pregnancy, I was averaging 8 hrs 35 minutes of sleep per night, waking up at 6 AM to train and eating three high protein/high carb meals everyday. I was able to be home in the evenings and not have to worry about rushing out the door to run or disappear into the basement to lift. I was more present, had higher energy, and felt great about our family schedule.

    Then, something amazing happened. My son was born at 4:27 AM on March 7th…..and I haven’t had a great night’s sleep since. It’s not all doom and gloom, but the days of waking up early to train are long gone. I’ve been night running for the better part of 3 months. It’s exhausting. Putting on my running shoes at 9 PM is as big a mental challenge as the run itself. I’m averaging 6 hours 40 minutes of sleep per night. That may sound like plenty to some of you, but keep in mind, these are not uninterrupted hours of sleep. Getting out of bed at 7:15 AM is a slog. My morning routine is shot. I have just enough energy and time to get my daughter out of her crib, change her, make the coffee, eat my egg whites, make a sandwich, and rush out the door. I haven’t shaved in two months (thankfully Lane likes the scruffy look).

    Anyway, back to training. We are twenty one away. I put thirty miles on the legs last week and I feel good overall. My body has definitely had more trouble adjusting to the increased mileage but outside of some left ankle soreness, everything else feels ready to roll. So far I’ve logged 11 easy miles at the time of posting this blog (Wednesday). Tonight is a 50 minute anaerobic workout. 15 minute warm up, 6 intervals of 1:00 @ 6:05 pace, 3 minute recovery pace in between and 10 minute cool down. These anaerobic workouts always kick my butt. After that, I’ve got bible study with the boys at 7 PM. If I stick with my Garmin plan this week (never a guarantee) I’ll put around thirty three miles on the legs this week.

    It’s an amazing thing to look back on where I was a year ago. I completed my first half marathon in April of 2024 (9:49 avg pace). I was incredibly proud of myself. Prior to that I had never trained for an endurance event of any kind. I remember how proud I was when I hit twenty miles in a single training week, and how incredible it felt to have my name called out when I crossed the finish line in Kansas City. When I decided to train for this marathon (Bass Pro Marathon November 2, 2025) I set the goal to break 4 hours (9:09 pace). Admittedly, it’s a totally arbitrary goal, but the idea of running that far and that fast (I ran 16 miles at 9:55 pace in September 2024) felt just scary enough and outrageous enough to pursue.

    I’m monitoring my body fat percentage bi-weekly. Since I’m hybrid training, I thought it’d be good to use this training block (especially being still a long ways out from race day) to play with my weight a little bit. I bulked up to 181 pounds back in February to build some muscle but it was really hard to put mileage on the legs when I was that heavy. I’m down to 174 now and I feel a lot better. Last scan put me at 14.8% body fat. I’d like to see how I feel at 12%. Again, it’s an arbitrary number but I’m not a bodybuilder so all of this is uncharted territory for me.

    Today, I’m feeling thankful that God has given my family and I good health. I took my physical body for granted for many years and now, every time I lace up, I know that I’m not running from my past, I’m running towards my future. Lane is eleven weeks postpartum and started running three weeks ago. It’s been a joy to watch her ramp back up. Whenever one of us works out, we say to each other, “Thanks for taking care of yourself.” We say it because we know that we are better parents, better partners, better friends when we take the time to get out and go.

    Keep Going!