The Iron Bar What's harder, law school or an ironman triathlon? Stick around and we'll see.

Sorry blogspot. I just like wordpress a little better and it has an iPhone App.

New blog address if anyone actually reads this stuff: theironbar.wordpress.com

Well, time for a White Rock recap I guess. This will be a good de-stresser before my final in a couple of hours :)

Yesterday morning, I joined with 20,000 fellow runners to run the White Rock Marathon (well, I just ran the half, but we all started at the same place). Racing conditions were almost perfect; no wind, foggy with low hanging clouds, and about 45 degrees outside. Even though I'm just about as hot natured a person as there is, I think I'd have warmed it up about 10 degrees at the start if I could.

The race started out well. I didn't let myself get caught up in everyone's excitement at the beginning and try to run faster than I needed to, which is an improvement for me (on a side note, I think I have to stop calling them races because I'm not really competing with anyone except myself - so "runs" they are).

The first couple of miles went good. I had noticed yesterday morning, when I woke up, that something from my pre-game meal the night before wasn't sitting well, but I figured I'd run through it like I had on other long runs. As I reached the first aid station and the orange porta potties, my body told me I needed to stop. I stopped and took advantage of the facilities and then kept going, not thinking much of it.

As I hit mile four or so, I realized that it was going to be a tough run. At that point, whatever I ate had my stomach in knots. I stopped at the second aid station and once again tried to clear my body of whatever it was, but to no avail (how's that for euphemism :). I sure as hell wasn't going to give up, so I decided to just keep going and deal with it later.

Now up to yesterday my longest run ever was somewhere around 9 or 10 miles, and that's only been in the past couple of months. I don't think I appreciated the challenge of adding 3 or 4 more miles on top of that. I sure do now! That middle stretch (miles 5 to 10) was particularly rough. At one point, we ran through our neighborhood with a U-turn at the end. It was kind of cool seeing all those people running, and it was still cold enough that you could see the steam rising from the runners. At one point I wondered if it was really still as overcast as it seemed or if our steam was creating a haze that hung over the course.

The last three miles of the race were absolutely the hardest. As I turned on to the Katy Trail, I had a horrible pain in my left foot. As I have mentioned, I run in vibram five fingers and have now for about three months. While I have never gone over 10 miles in them, I have run long runs in them and never had any pain associated with running in them. After going another 15 paces or so, I had to stop. As I felt my foot and tried to stretch, I noticed that the pain was directly underneath the seam of the neoprene cover on my KSOs. The only thing I could figure was that I, in my pre-race excitement, had tightened the shoe too much (I put my nike sensor underneath the velcro strap) and it slowly bruised the top of my foot. After stretching for a few moments, I even more slowly lurched toward the finish line with a noticeable limp.

I did finish. That was the goal. I had hopes of completing it in under 2 hours, but the main goal was just to finish. There were moments, especially in the last three miles, where I thought I wasn't going to make it, but there were so many encouraging runners who would say something at just the right moment to help keep me going.

So that was the first step. Finishing an half marathon. While there were moments that I thought there was no way I could do an ironman after yesterday's performance, I know this is just a step. It was a bad run for me, but I made it through. That's what it takes, I think. You finish, you get up and run again, and you reach your goal. I have another half marathon planned for next month (although I don't know yet if it will be the 3M in Austin or the Texas Half here in Dallas). I'll do better. I'll finish in under 2 hours.

Ironman, here I come!

I have a final tonight. ARRRGH!

The primary difference between year two of law school and year one has to be a lower degree of urgency in studying. I just don't have that same sense of fear as I did last year. Leading up to my first final last year (and every final thereafter) I lived in the library. I watched no TV and really didn't do anything but study. Now? I'm sitting here at home blogging and getting ready to work out before going up and printing off my outline and other approved documents to take into the test.

Speaking of working out, yesterday was brutal. Our highs were in the 30s and it was raining here in Dallas. I hated doing it, but I ran inside for only the second time since I've started running regularly. The first time was on a treadmill. Treadmills are my least favorite place to run. While I like that I can keep the speed constant, it's just about the most boring run ever. I love being outside and having different scenery as I run. Yesterday's run was on the track at the school's sports center. I like that marginally better than a treadmill only because instead of being in one spot you are moving, even if it is in a never ending circle. I made it through the run though. It just showed me I need to invest in outdoor, cold weather running gear.

Today I start phase 3 of my P90X program. I have enjoyed the program this go 'round. Five more weeks and I'm done with it. I have missed a couple of workouts and supplemented with runs and other activities at times, but I can definitely see a difference. We'll see how Insanity treats me after having done 90 days of this workout. I hear that's even tougher a workout.

Alright, enough stalling. I do need to get to work so I can get up to the library and finish prepping. Only twelve days until relative freedom!

UPDATE:

Why is the Chest and Back such a hard workout?! I can't ever get through it without feeling like I'm about to pass out! That's two sub-par workouts in two days. I've got to get my head right before the White Rock Half on Sunday!

Law School finals are a bear. Actually, I normally use another word, but I don't know the blogging rules here in blogspot world. I've been studying pretty much all the time for the past few days (with the exception of blogging and other avoidance techniques). My first final is Monday, so I'm running out of time to avoid anything without serious GPA repercussions.

Among the things I hate the most about finals time each semester is the effect it has on my daily habits. As I previously stated, last year those habits weren't particularly healthy, but they were still disrupted. This year, being a more healthy human, I like it even less. I was able to get a back and arms workout in yesterday morning before starting my studying, but today I have been in front of a computer for 10 hours and didn't even get outside, let alone get in a run or a workout. Now that I'm actually doing those things on a regular basis, I really hate not doing something active every day. Not only do I feel more listless and not as sharp mentally, but it also helps me burn off some of the stress of law school. Couple this with the fact that I haven't had a real run since Wednesday (even though I played a couple of flag football games) and I have a half marathon a week from tomorrow, and I'm really missing the regularity of the non-final times in my life.

Despite all that (and the fact I'm not completely ready for Monday's final) I am running 10 in the morning. I have to or else I don't know what will happen next Sunday in the White Rock Half.

Well, wish me luck on Monday. We'll see how it goes.

So it's finals season here at the law school. This means two things: (1) I should be studying and (2) I will find pretty much any reason to avoid doing so. Since a post could kill some time, I thought I would give a little background about what got me to both law school and to an ironman.

I am in my second year of law school. I didn't think I would ever go to law school, although it was something I had considered a few times throughout undergrad. I was out of school for four years between undergrad and law school, spending most of that time in Amman, Jordan and Guyuan, China. After moving back from China for a family illness, I decided to apply. I only applied to one school, the one closest to my family, was accepted, and here I am. I do enjoy it even though that first year was a bear. I work during the day (I'm an evening/part time student), so life can be horribly hectic and certain points of the semester.

My first year of law school was rough in many ways, one of which was my personal health. After the death of my grandpa (the reason for coming home), I just didn't feel like working out and running as arduously as I once had. Once school started that desire was further diminished. I just wasn't aware of the time demand that is law school.

At the end of my first year, I had gained at least 30 pounds, but the reality is that I was probably a good 50 pounds overweight. Last summer I was in Oxford, England, taking summer classes, and realized that I was tired of being overweight and out of shape. I tried to run a few times, but was winded and hurting after barely a mile.

I got home from Oxford and decided things had to change. First was the diet. I was eating out way too much last year. I lived in the law school library and there was a Chick-Fil-A across the street, so that became a staple. I love Chipotle, so I ate there a couple times a week. I figured that, after having been away from the US for a month, what better time to change those habits? It has been an up and down battle, but I am on the E2 diet, which is essentially vegan. I'm not dogmatic about it, but I try to keep it as much as I can. That alone helped me lose some weight, and I felt more energized and healthy.

Second was working out again. This became two parts, resistance workouts and running workouts. I had several times tried to start the P90X program, but always faltered after a week or so. I finally buckled down and started, and am now done with the second phase. Once I finish I am going to try the Insanity workout. I really enjoy these workouts because they are not just a simple weight or running program, which I had tried before and had only mixed results.

As for running, I couldn't figure out why I kept having horrible shin splints and knee/hip problems. After talking to a buddy of mine about barefoot running and doing some research, I decided to buy a pair of vibram five fingers and try running without shoes. I LOVE IT! I have run several 5Ks, a couple of 10Ks, a Turkey Trot, and plenty of individual runs, and I can confidently say I've never loved running more, never felt better while I'm running, and I'll never go back to running shoes. I am running constantly now, and find that I want to run even when I'm not. I will say that reading "Born to Run" helped spur me on. I would highly recommend it if you haven't read it.

So that bring me to now. I've lost about 30 pounds since August. I have been running farther and keep signing up for races to keep me running (I like having goals to shoot for). I'm running a half marathon a week from Sunday and am planning on one a month for the next four months. I realized that I wanted something more than just a run, and began looking into Ironmans. I know I'm nowhere near running one yet, but I want to. I'm going to.

I'll graduate from law school in a year and a half. I'll take the bar in July of 2011. I'll turn 30 in September (a weird thought). I am aiming for the Arizona Ironman in November of 2011. This depends on where I sit for the bar and where I'll be working. An alternative is the Lake Placid Ironman, but I don't know about running an Ironman and then trying to sit for the bar. Who knows though?

Well that's a lot more than I intended on writing. If you read all that, wow. Well done. This is all subject to change (at least minor changes), but I'm putting it out there because I want to be held accountable for completing these goals I have set.

So I decided to take up blogging again. I always figured that what I had to say wasn't worth clogging up the internet with one more voice. I don't know that has changed, but I figure that this will give me just a little more accountability.