After having to frustratingly cut 3 straight runs short, I finally ran for a full 34 minutes this morning.

I’ve been battling either a very minor cold or some allergies.  It was throwing off my breathing, thus having to cut the 3 previous runs short. I felt better today. Not 100%, but a lot better than I have been.

My goal is to add on 2 minutes each week (3 runs a week) until I reach 40 minutes. With the ultimate goal of going 4 miles in that 40 minutes. I only got to complete 2 runs at 32 minutes. I decided today that if I felt good, I would just go the 34 instead of rounding out 3 runs at 32.

It was a good run. Not my best. But good coming off the funk I was in. Plus the track was pretty hot despite the weather not being too hot (the sun just beats down on it I guess). I’m not sure if the CardioTrainer app was 100% accurate. I lost track of the laps. I think it over-reported the distance, but not by much. According to the app I ran 3.52 miles in exactly 34 minutes (9:39 pace). The splits were 8:41 for the first mile, 9:22 for the second mile, and 10:22 for the last mile.

I slowed down quite a bit this time. A lot more than I did my last two 32 minute runs. I’m sure that will work itself out the more I run. I can wait for some much cooler weather.

I hope this cold/allergy is out of my system. I have my 2nd shot at 34 minutes on Wednesday.

Ok, so these aren’t “real” letters to Chan, but please just play along.

Dear Chan,

Last I wrote you I demanded that you get your act together and treat pre-season seriously. Something your predecessor failed miserably at (among other things he failed miserably at, including showing candor at press conferences, but I digress).

I’m glad you took my demand advice seriously. I like you as head coach. I think you’ll make a difference this year.

Perhaps I’ll write a follow up letter to Buddy Nix too. Perhaps he isn’t savvy with the world wide interwebs. I don’t think he read my last letter to him. Or maybe he did, but it was too late to change anything so late in the off-season. Or perhaps, since you obviously read my blog thoroughly, you can pass this on to him.

Let Buddy Nix know that even though I’m confident you’ll make a difference this year, the difference will be minimal. That’s no disrespect to you, it’s because you don’t have much talent to work with. Tell Buddy to wake the heck up and get some quality real free agents into Buffalo!!!

Look at the WR position. I like Roscoe, always did. Too bad Jauron “Jauroned” him. See whenever something fails, I call it “Jauroned.” Get it? Roscoe is no #2 WR though. I mean how can Buddy think by losing TO and Josh Reed, whoever was left over would pick up the slack?

Hey, that Spiller was an awesome draft pick, but how about the offensive line? What was good ole’ Buddy thinking when he basically did nothing to improve this already weak unit?

I know the problem is that the Bills have so many weaknesses that it’s hard to know where to begin. But the solution to that can’t be to hope every draft pick turns out to be a superstar. The draft is a gamble (see Aaron Maybin, the bust, for example). Therefore you really have to pick up some quality free agents.

I know in the priority of weaknesses, linebacker is not the top, but you have to be worried about Poz and Mitchell. I hope you are, because they’ve looked terrible, not just this pre-season, but previous seasons too.

So despite Buddy not getting you upgrades of at least 1 WR (can argue 2), 3 OLs, and 1 more LB, I see your coaching getting the Bills to a 7-9 season. Personally I’d consider an 8-8 season a monumental achievement given what you have to work with. Please don’t settle for 8-8 though. Please have a man t0 man talk with Buddy Nix. Souther style if you must. Tell him the front office has been pitiful the last decade, and he needs to fix it.

Thank you,

Matt Soreco

P.S.
You need to fix kick off coverage badly.

I think the morning runs have finally caught up with me. I’ve been sort of hesitant getting out of bed, and I think that’s a reason I haven’t have the mettle to finish the last 2 runs. This morning I felt a little thirsty (I really need to step up hydration, especially at night) and a little tired (I have been going to bed earlier, but it’s crept back later and later).

Still though, I went 1.87 miles in 16:57 (9:03 pace). That’s pretty good work in even if it’s not the full 32 minutes.

I’m going to head back to the track on Saturday and do the full 32 minutes. I’m going to go later in the day rather than first thing in the morning. Hopefully I bang out a nice run and I get back on track for a 34 minute run on Monday. I’m off work Monday, so I can run later in the day and also hit the track again.

I wanted to make it the 3rd straight day of improving my pace time this morning. I was stopped short though. I’m not sure if it’s a cold or allergies, but my throat was a little sore both yesterday and today and I was a little bit stuffy. I was also very thirsty this morning. I slacked the last few days with water intake, and I surely felt it.

I did manage to get 2.25 miles in, which is pretty good work even if I didn’t go the whole 3+ miles. I got off to a very fast pace. Running a 8:12 for the first mile* and 9:06 for the second.

The CardioTrainer app acted up again, and reported a much faster pace at the beginning, which is why I put the little asterisk by my first mile time. I wrote the developers, but they kind of dismissed the problem. I searched around, and it seems a lot of other people are having accuracy issues with the app. It was spot on until about July this year. I made sure I turned off all other running apps and services and rebooted my phone. That had worked the last few times, but not today. Luckily only the first 2 or so minutes were off, then it seemed to smooth out. I definitely didn’t run 300+ yards in the first minute. But I was running faster than I have before.

The second mile pace time is legit. At the 2.25 mile mark, I pass my house. The combination of the thirst, stuffiness, the sight of my house,  and the fact that it still was 6:15 am, made me stop there and not continue on.

Hopefully I shake this cold/allergy thing and get back out Thursday to finish up my last 32 minute run. Then hopefully a 34 minute run comes this weekend. I might go to a track this weekend to mix up the scenery a bit.

This might become a theme. I ran this morning. Felt great. Again, it was cool and dry out. Again I hit new personal bests.

I ran 3.41 miles in 32:11 (a 9:25 pace). The splits were 9:15 for the first mile, 9:14 for the second mile, and 9:37 for the 3rd mile.

It was the fastest pace (and most consistent) and it was the longest I’ve ever run in my life.

I mentioned before that the CardioTrainer app reads out the pace every 2 minutes. Only twice during the entire run did it read back a pace over 10 minutes (at 27 minutes (10:01) and at 31 minutes (10:25)). The rest of the way was all under 10.

I have one more run at 32 minutes, then it’s up to 34.

Something kind of weird happened earlier this week. I happened to be thinking of healthy protein muffins. Since I’ve been exercising a lot more and watching what I’ve been eating, I thought these would be a good healthy and filling treat. What does this have to do with the blog title? Not much, yet.

Coincidentally I got a Trader Joe’s flyer (more like a mini newspaper) in the mail the other day. Lo and behold they sell protein muffins and they were on sale! Talk about relevant ads! What does this have to do with the blog title? Still not much, yet.

I know of a few locations around me, so I was set to go the next day to pick some up (with some other things that caught my eye). Before I did however, I decided to learn a little more about them in the social media space. Maybe look at (or ask) what people were saying about the muffins. What did I find? Crickets chirping.

Nothing. Nada. No twitter, no facebook, no blog. Nada.

Hmmm. This is odd. How can an eclectic trend-setting establishment have  zero presence in the social media space? A place like Trader Joe’s is a perfect fit for the kinds of fans social media attracts. Surely the social media “gurus” must be as perplexed as I am.

Still baffled today I did a little searching. It appears that they are very secretive. And also insanely successful.

I still went and bought the muffins. I suspect the lack of social media doesn’t hold any of their other customers back either.

It kind of makes you think. Really how important are twitter, facebook, etc?

Oh, by the way, I don’t recommend their protein power muffins. They are a lot smaller than I expected, and kind of gooey. I do recommend their jalapeño jack cheese though!

I do think brands can use social media to attract, engage, etc. I’ve become a fan of MMA and the UFC. Sports wise, there is no comparison to what they’ve been doing in social media. I love it. BUT, despite what the blog “gurus” are saying, sometimes there isn’t a perfect fit/niche/audience worth all the effort and sometimes brands can do ok without it.

What a difference the weather makes! Tonight was cool and dry. A welcome change from the heat and humidity I’ve faced from the start of this year’s quest.

I skipped the morning run in favor of a nighttime run due to my son coming down with a cold last night. I had to take care of the lil guy in the middle of the night, so I needed the extra sleep in the morning.

But I was determined all day to get the run in at night. I made sure 1) to eat only a little for dinner (before the run), and 2) wait over 2 hours after eating.

It all paid off. I ran 3.34 miles in 32:14 (9:38 pace).

I had 3 personal bests:

1. 9:38 is the fastest pace I’ve run, given the distance.
2. 3.34 miles is the longest I’ve run in my entire life.
3. All 3 mile splits were under 10 minutes a mile (I didn’t slow down much at all). 9:19 1st mile, 9:42 the second mile, and 9:45 the 3rd mile.

The run was nearly effortless the entire way. I felt real good. My stride was smooth. I’ve been hoping for over a year that there would be a time that I’d be able to go for a run that’s seemingly effortless. Well that’s done!

Also, only a few times during the entire run did I creep over 10 minutes a mile. I think the CardioTrainer app reads back the pace from the previous minute (not an average), and there were only 2 or 3 times I heard it read a pace over 10 minutes.

I’m really happy with the progress. On top of it all, I did add in the 2 minutes. Each week I’m going to add another 2 minutes until I reach 40. I felt strong enough tonight that I think 4 miles in 40 minutes won’t be a hard task.

After 3 consecutive disappointing runs, this morning’s run was my best run ever.

Previously, my best 3 miles has been with a 9:54 pace (back in November). Today I did 3.11 miles in 30:20 (9:45) pace. More importantly, the splits were 9:12 for the 1st mile, 10:06 for the second mile, and 9:52 for the last mile. I did not have one of my signature “brick wall” moments (when I slow down considerably). My last mile was pretty strong! Also, I felt like I could have gone further, but I decided to end it there.

The CardioTrainer app has been accurate lately, so I know the time is legit. Some of my previous runs this year have been off, and were recording a faster pace than actual.

I might reconsider the running every day idea. Instead I’m going to really dedicate the effort to adding 2 minutes on the every-other-day run each week, with the ultimate goal going 4 miles in 40 minutes. That means this Thursday, I have a date with 32+ minutes.

Looks like my son inherited his musical talents from both his mom and me. Which are none!

I’ve gone 0-3 in my last attempts at breaking 10 minutes per mile for 3 miles. I decided to try to run every day instead of every other day. Depending how I feel during the runs, I will either cut it short or keep going. My goal is not to run 3 miles every day, but alternate long and short days (but continue running if I feel really good and strong). Friday I was prepared to run only 2 miles, but was burping up the entire time. I waited about 2.5 hours after eating. Saturday I suffered the same fate, even when waiting over 3 hours after eating. I must have a very slow digestive system. I didn’t eat too much either day. I ended both runs at only a mile. Better than nothing I guess…

This highlights a major benefit of running first thing in the morning. I remember battling this last year. Although I don’t feel 100% energized first thing in the morning, a lot of distractions are out of the way.

Yesterday I was fully prepared to run 3 miles. I made it 2 before it started to rain hard. So I stopped. The first two miles were ok, not great. My pace was 9:16 per mile. I think I started out very fast, and I don’t think I could have maintained that pace for another mile. It was terribly humid from the rain all day, which didn’t help either.

I was going to pick up again this morning, but we had a power outage last night. My alarm clocks and cell phone were all dead, so there was no planning on waking up early. Plus the whole distraction of it all made me not want to run anyway.

Sooooo. Tomorrow morning I’ll be back on my routine. Given the two incidents, I’m going to run first thing in the morning on the weekends too.