Latest Races & Eating

I have not updated the blog in a little while. A few weeks ago I ran the Fauquier Half Marathon in Warrenton, VA on November 9. The training up to that point was that I ran 13 miles a couple of times. I found that it was not enough. I ran the first 10 miles in 1:30 pace and faded to 1:35:15. I came in 6th overall and 1st in age division. It appears in the 36-39 age group and even the 30-39 group I am very competitve and routinely placed 1st in my division. I will take it and learn from it. I have to remember that I had heart surgery on Jan 22, 2008 and the fact that I can run as fast and as far as I can is just incredible.

Yesterday, my kids (9 (girl) and 7 (boy)) and I ran the Remington Turket Trot in Remington, VA. My kids both got PRs, 9 year old ran in 30:51 and my 7 year old ran in 26:28. They have improved over 4 minutes since the beginning of the season. I am very proud of them. We run together 2-3 days a week. I am a firm believer in training before you race and that is what I am trying to instill in my kids since they just want to race.

I ran a 19:10 with a stomach issue the whole race. I am not sure if it was a cramp or quesiness or both. It was a very cold day and the wind chill was in the 20s and temperature was in the 30s at race time. I do train in any temperature and all year round. I came in 6th overall and 1st in my age division. I brought home a turkey for the family for Thanksgiving. My first race this spring was 24:52 and that was a couple of months after surgery. I have progressed well. This was my 3rd race this year under 20 minutes. Last year I had one race in 20:29 and the others were higher than that. It is just amazing what modern health care can do for you.

I have become fanatical about eating over the last few years. It was not that long ago that I weighed around 280 pounds. I am now down to around 185. I will leave that nutrition discussion to another post. My wife and I are distributors of Amway Global/Quixtar and we have been using their products for a year. I routinely use the Nutrilite products which are all from certified organic farms and all natural. I take the Double X vitamins every day as part of trying to improve my diet. I do credit these products to helping me in my running. I am for the most part injury free and healthy. The doc has taken me off my heart meds. I take a cholesterol drug (niaspan) which I am not convinced I need anymore. I have weaned myself down to 1 tablet a day and probably will take myself off of it soon. I do not recommend that you do this without your doctor's consent. I do have a good relationship with mine and he told me if I can get off of meds he will help me to. I also need iron and I have a thyroid issue. If you are interested in the products, then go to www.quixtar.com and send me an email if you want to buy items from them at keith.morneau@gmail.com. We can set you up. I can do some limited sampling if you want to try something. We have been able to cut our time grocery shopping since we do it online and visit the grocery store for perishable items. We hardly go down isles anymore. If you are time crunched, then I recommended you try this.

Final Week until the Half Marathon

My goal is to run a half marathon on Nov 9, 2008 in Warrenton, VA called the Fauquier Half Marathon. I am shooting for a 1:30 time. My last long run was last Sunday for 13.1 miles in 1:35. This was a pretty easy pace with my heart rate in the 140s. It would occasionally hit the 150s but tried to keep it under 155.

So, we are now in the final week. I am planning on taking it easy this coming week running an easy 6 miles each day and taking next Friday with an easy run on Saturday of 3 miles just to stretch out the legs.

I have become a big fan of Adidas running shoes. I will highlight my experiences with Adidas running shoes in another post. Overall, I have been pleased with the comfort and stability of the shoes. I was wearing Supernova and now wearing Boston Classic. Boston Classic is a good shoe especially for long runs. The cushioning is excellent. I bought a second pair of Adidas called the Boston and they are very different from the classic. This show is very light and not sure about the cusioning right now. I am still breaking them in. I was hoping to use them next week but I may stick with the Classic.

Training Regimen

I had AVR surgery on Jan 22. Towards the end of February, I was
recommended by my cardiologist to start Cardiac Rehab. I did. I was
walking 30 minutes a day as I started Cardiac Rehab. I gradually
increased my workload at cardiac rehab. I was doing 5 different
machines with lifting added the two weeks before I was done. I was also
walking/jogging between visits against my nurses wishes. I did cardiac
rehab M,T, and Th. I walked/jogged W,Sat,Sun and gradually got to 5-6
miles on those days. I took Fridays off to rest. I ended Cardiac Rehab
in mid May after 12 weeks.



Once the cardiac rehab was done, I started running 40-45 minutes a day
with having to walk 2-4 times during the run. I ran a 5k on May 25,
2008. This was more of a test to see where I was. I ran in 24:37 and
finished in 19, second in 30-39 age group. I walked up the last hill
towards the finish. I have issues with hills and that is getting better
as I get stronger.



I joined the Fauquier Running Club with my son and we run with them on
Tues/Thurs starting at the end of May after the Ma 25 race. June 2 I
ran with my son in the 5K run for youth in Manassas, VA. I ran that
race in 21:14 and came in 2nd in 30-39.



My weekly log is something like this -



M - 6 miles

T - 3-5 miles (very easy/jog) / 5 miles with Fauquier Running Club

W - 6 miles

Th - 4-5 miles (very easy/jog) / Speedwork on track with Fauquier Running Club

F - OFF

S - 7-8 miles (the idea is to do 10 miles this day but not up to that yet)

S - 6 miles



I know it may sound strange to run twice on T/Th but I was not sure of
the training regimen that the running club does. I have been laying off
the morning runs a bit and is just a habit to run in the morning. I
have been scolded by the coach of the running club for doing this, btw.




I ran the Fathers Day Mile Run on June 15 with my family in 5:50. I
came in 6th and 2nd in my 30-39 age group. It is the same guy in front
of me each time and I eventually passed him in the next race.



On 6/29/2008, I ran the Fauquier Free Clinic in a time of 20:29 and 3rd
overall. I came in first in 30-39 finally overtaking the guy in the
previous two races.



Then, came back on July 4, 2008 for the culpeper 5k, Culpepper, VA in a
time of 19:49. I came in 15 out of 237 and 2nd in my age group. A
friend of mine beat me again just like last year in this race. This is
about 40 seconds faster than last year before the heart operation. I ran a 10K in 42:36 in Leesburg, VA on August 10, 2008.


I ran a 5k on 9/14 in 20:48 in Fredricksburg, VA. The course was pretty flat on dirt/gravel. I ran another 5K on 9/20 in 20:52 in Warrenton, VA. This course is very hilly. Then, I ran a 10K in 45:30 (I have to look this up) and struggled. I took it out too fast and had to walk quite a bit. This was a very hilly challenging course.

Anyway, my training is going much better now with an adjustment I made
with the coach's blessing. Before, I was running too hard. My coach had
me running hard on Tues, Thur, with a long run on Saturday. Well,
school started and we were not able to do the Thur speed work anymore.
What was happening was that I could not run at all on Wed and Fri which
was my day off anyway. The long run on Saturday was not good. I had to
walk quite a bit. Then, racing season started and I kept getting slower
each week. Well, I did a 10K in 45 minutes 3 weeks ago and I had to
walk the last 3 miles quite a bit. Then, came back and ran a 5K the
next weekend in 20:54 and I had to walk the hill in the last mile.
Something to me was amiss and I always thought that I was running too
hard. It could have been overtraining but not sure about that because I
did not exhibit a lot of the symptoms. I was stopping during my
training runs quite a bit also. I believe this caused my body to
exhibit issues during races because I was not running the total
mileage. I was walking and running. So, I laid off for a while.



I felt that the issue was breathing because I struggle with it during
hard runs. I started focusing on breathing and trying to get that
worked out. I find if I can control my breathing than I am able to run
fast. I just have to focus...focus...focus. Also, if I focus on
breathing, then my HR stays in check and during the last race I was
around 162.



Then, I decided to change things up a lot. I felt I was on the verge of
being able to run fast. So, I went back to the Maffetone method and put
on the HR monitor again. I was not wearing it because it was causing
issues with my incision area. According the Dr Maffetone, my HR should
for aerobic activity should be around 148. In conjunction with all of
this, I was doing the 5Ks as speedwork so I was not doing Thurs
speedwork anymore.



Here is what is happening. I believe the 5Ks were getting me into race
shape. Because once I started backing off, I had a burst of energy
everyday and I had a spring in my runs that I was not feeling before.
The long runs were getting faster each week. I was able to run without
having to stop again which felt great because I could not figure out
why I was having to stop all the time. I feel like I am in a zone now
and hope I feel like this for the half.



So, my workouts look like this now -



M - 3-4 miles

T - 6 miles

W - 6 miles

T - 6 miles

F - Off

S - 12 miles (8:00-8:30 pace)

S - 8-10 miles (depending on how I feel)



I am keeping my HR around 148. This allows me to run between 7:30-7:50
pace. Also, the HR is a also a good indicator of how tired I am. I am
finding if I am tired and my legs seem tired my HR of 148 slows me down
to 8:30 - 8:40 pace. I have been following this HR each day and I let
my body dictate how fast I run. I am not sure if this is wise but it is
working better than before. Night and day better for sure.



For the last month or so, I have been lifting (which I know is against
the Maffetone method. I lift to gain strength in the upper body) around
120 pounds two sets of 20 for different upper body exercises trying to
target the different muscle groups. I do this 2-3 times a week. I am a
newbie to the lifting thing but I think it is having a difference in my
strength and I also do two sets of 50 crunches a few days a week. This
has tightened up my abs.



So, if you look at the MAF minute per mile -



7:30 puts me at 6:00 5K pace which is around where I am right now. I
know in this method it does say that you will reach a peak and will
slow down over time and then need to include some anaerobic workouts to
increase your speed.



I am not sure how I was able to go from a 20:30-20:54 5K to a 18:26 5K
Saturday but I will not complain. This is a big swing in just a couple
of weeks. Part of it was I was holding back. My first mile I can run a
5:50 pretty easily but die in the last two miles usually. I wonder if I
psych myself out when I see this at the mile marker. Last Saturday I
felt like I could run in the top 5. Strategy wise I wanted to be in the
top 5 and ran to be in the top 5. I just need to convince myself that I
can win these races. Also, I wanted my breathing to be under control. I
was monitoring my breathing the whole race to make sure I did not get
out of breath. Also, I was bound and determined to speed up the last
mile and not slow down 20 seconds. I am not sure if I realized that I
was running that fast until after. I guess part of it was mental. My
splits were 5:50, 6:05, 5:59.



This puts me in the top 20 fastest times this year in my age group in
Virginia within a minute of top 10. This is just unbelievable when you
think that I was under the knife on January 22, 2008.

The Maffetone Method

Here is a link to the Maffetone method that was shared with me on the Cardiac Athlete's forum (www.cardiacathletes.com) by Trish - http://www.rrca.org/resources/articles/slowdown.html.

This article talks about how to use a heart rate monitor to improve performance. I have been using a heart rate monitor off and on since surgery. I stopped for a while because it was irritating my incision area. I am using it again for training and is working wonders for my running. I do give a lot of credit for the training program given to me by Fauquier Running Club coach. He was able to increase my speed. I just could not withstand that training any longer. I am now using the Maffetone method and I also lift a few days a week to increase my upper body strength which is a little weak from the heart surgery.

Journey to a Half Marathon

I have not posted in a while because I am trying to find a voice for this blog and decided to share my running journey.

On November 9, 2008, I will run in my first half marathon called the Fauquier Half Marathon. I have been running 5Ks as speed work this fall to get ready. I have run between 20:30 - 20:55 until a couple of weeks ago. I was in Cincy for a conference and there was a 5K a couple of blocks from the hotel. Well, I ran this one in 18:26 which blew me away. I have been worried in the past about taking it out too fast. My splits were 5:50, 6:05, and 5:59. This put me in the top 20 in Virginia for my age group according to active.com.

My training has been up and down to get ready for the half. This summer I was following a program given to me by the running club coach. This program was brutal for me. I was running hard T, Th, and a long run on Saturday. I think that caught up to me about a month ago and stepped back to using a modified Maffetone method and have been feeling great ever since. I am actually faster and feel ready for each run.

Ultimately, I will be sharing some of my training and eating habits in this blog.

Current History

A little recent history of where I was to where I am today.

2002-04 - sick, high blood pressure, cholesterol, etc. Tried the carbohydrates addicts diet and lost 75 pounds and went from 280 to 205. Doc pleaded with me to switch to a low fat diet because my numbers were still bad. I was also hypothyroidism and anemic. I started taking iron supplements which is not good for the bowels to say the least. I had to increase my fiber intake.

2004-05 - Gained back 35 pounds with very bad numbers. I decided to change my diet, life style, and started running again. I was still too sick and always tired.

2006-08: Ran in my first 5k in April of 2006 and logged a time around 30 minutes. Then, inch by inch I was running 3 miles a day and moved up to 6-8 miles a day. My times also started to get better. In the fall of 06, I ran a time of 24:37. Then, the next spring I ran in late April 21:41. During this time, I dropped down to 190 pounds and started eating so much better by cutting out the sugar and the grease. It is not easy to wean yourself off this stuff but slowly but surely I was able to. I also try to eat an all natural diet that is high in fiber and low in fat.

Feb 2007: My numbers were all normal. Hooray! I finally got my health back. My iron is still low so I still take iron supplements.

July 2007: Ran in the 4th of July race in Culpeper, VA and logged a time of 20:29 which was my personal best as an adult.

Aug 2007: I underwent hernia surgery because I hurt myself moving a large desk with a friend from my second floor.

Nov 2007: My wife and I became IBOs of Quixtar, Inc (www.quixtar.com).

Nov. 2007: I was diagnosed with severe aortic regurgitation which required open heart surgery. My doc told me to continue running and I did. I jogged in a race in early Dec in a time of 20:49 and placed 5th. I took it easy that day and I was surprised of my time and effort.

Jan 22, 2007: I underwent open heart surgery. The surgery was a success and entered cardiac rehab at 4 weeks through 12 weeks of recovery.

May 2008: Ran my first 5K after surgery in a time of 24:37 and placed 19th. I came in 3rd in my age division of 30-39.

June 7, 2008: Ran in 2nd 5K in a time of 21:14 and placed 5th overall and 2nd in my 30-39 age division.

Two 5Ks in two weeks

I have run two 5Ks since open heart surgery now. The first being at the Delaplane Strawberry Festival where I logged in a time of 24:37 and came in 19th. I placed three in the 30-39 age division.

This was a huge accomplishment for me since I had open heart surgery to replace a heart valve on January 22 of this year. I will blog on this experience in a little while.

Then, I came back and ran a 5K on Saturday at the Boys and Girls Club in Manassass, VA. I came in 5th and logged a time of 21:14. I place second in my age division 30-39. My best time as an adult is 20:29 last year at the Culpeper, VA 4th of July race. This is within reach it appears even with just having open heart surgery. This was before I knew that I needed heart surgery.

This is two 5Ks in a few weeks. I am starting to feel a lot better and my strength is slowly coming back. I still need to build up some stamina, endurance, and speed.

I joined the Fauquier Running Club (www.fauquierrunners.com) recently with my 7 year old son. He has been wanting to run for a few years and I have been hesitant about letting him run because of his age. He is able to do two miles without a sweat. I go back and forth on this but decided that good exercise habits are fostered when you are young. Some people disagree with me and told me I should not let him run until he is 10. He ran the two races with me with the first one being in 30:39 and the second one in 30:14. He came in first in his age division last Saturday and was the first youth to cross the finish line. I am so proud of him. He is dedicated himself to running and this is his sport right now along with being a Wolf Cub.

I am a fan of Nutrilite (www.nutrilite.com) and I do sell their products off of my site - http://kmorneau.qhealthzone.com/. I take DoubleX vitamins everyday. These vitamins are great and have helped me a lot in maintaining my blood pressure and cholesterol. My energy levels are great with these vitamins. Nutrilite is a great product line with the best of nature with the best of science. These vitamins are so much better for you than the off the shelf variety you get in your pharmacy. These products are truly amazing and are organic from certified organic farms. Nutrilite controls the farms to the packaging of these products. I will share more of what I take but do not want to far away from sharing my story with you.