Thanks

To those of you who wrote comments on my last post I just want to say thanks. Those were all things that I needed to hear and it means a lot. I am starting to pick myself back up and am really getting excited for what I have in store next.

Defeated

Disappointed, humiliated, stripped of confidence.

The decision to run my second marathon was made moments after the completion of my first. Disgusted with the way the first one went, I was determined to do things differently. After a week of recovery I went to it, with back to back 50 plus mile weeks, and then I became injured. I spent the next two months trying to get healthy and really stared running again with about 11 ½ weeks to go. I was still in some pain, but I was running. I worked up to about 40 miles a week but the overall average was only 25.5 miles. I had several long runs that would suggest a 3:30-3:40 was well within reach. Just 2 weeks before the big day I ran 15.75 on a very hilly course at a pace under 3:30 with ease.

Wednesday night I began to feel sick. Thursday I started to get worried and Friday I was in the midst of a head cold. Saturday I woke up feeling better but had developed a cough. That’s right, it moved into my lungs. Sunday the cough was worse. Still there was no way I was not running and I still thought I would meet my goal.

Below are the splits that will be haunt me for a long time.

1 8:55
2 8:12
3&4 16:33
5 8:03
6 8:09
7 8:28
8 8:09
9 8:01
10 8:20
11 8:28
12 8:34
13&14 17:20
15 8:42
16 8:54
17 9:00
18 9:28
19 9:58
20 11:32
21 11:26
22 14:38
23 12:18
24 13:38
25 13:04
26.2 12:59

I started out feeling pretty well but not great, I knew that at that pace during a marathon with the crowd and the excitement I should have felt great. With each mile after 13 I began to realize more and more the restrictions I was feeling from my cold. At mile 19 I was demoralized by my 9:58 mile and began to walk. The rest was just horrible. My final time was 4:13:01 only 3 minutes and 17 seconds faster then my first marathon. I know it was because I was sick but it is still really hard to take. I am going to get another race on the calendar quickly and will hopefully have something to feel better about. I have plenty more to say but wanted to get this up.

I'M SICK!!!!!!!!!!!

Well, I've got some pretty bad timing. Yesterday I started to feel bad and today I had a full blown head cold. I still have like 50 something hours until the race so I am really hoping to be better. Right now it is all in my head and I am doing everything I can to kick it, so we will see how it goes. No matter what, I will be running on Sunday.

A couple of people asked about my training for the last marathon compared to this one. I took a closer look at the stats and they are not great. Last time I averaged about 31.5 miles the 12 weeks leading up to the race. This time I have only averaged 25. However, I think my running was much better this time and my long runs were much more strategic. My biggest concern was to get healthy and I have done that, so I am okay with not running really fast this weekend. I know that I will be right back to training and don't have to worry about an injury. I hope I have learned my lesson about over training and will continue to build slowly this time.

Final Thoughts

Well, for the most part all the training is in the books, now I just have to wait until Sunday. I started out training for this marathon with a fury, sure I was going to run somewhere around 3:00. Two weeks of hard training and I was sidelined with an injury. Determined not to make that mistake again I got back in very slowing after losing almost 1/2 of my training time. I put together a light training plan and stuck pretty close to it. The good news is I stayed healthy, the bad news is I am shooting for 3:40 instead of 3:00, big difference. However, I think I probably only averaged about 30 miles a week for the last 12 weeks so my mileage just was not where it would need to be to run faster. Throughout this process I worked up a plan for a new adventure. I am starting a new blog with a new purpose. I am really excited about the launch of this new site and hope to do a lot with it. The readers of this blog will be getting a sneak peak at the new site in about 2 weeks. I am hoping that if you like what you see you might be inclined to write about it on your blog. Well, there will be more on that later. I am going to enjoy this week taking it easy and hope to have a great marathon. For the rest of you racing this weekend I wish you the best as well.

Through The Country

This weekend we made our way back to my hometown for the first time since January. I grew up in a little country town in Indiana, and now live in another world, the suburbs of Cincinnati. Coming back is fun and it brings back a lot of good memories. This weekend I planned to do about a 15 mile run and was ecstatic to do it on the country roads of Scottsburg. The weather was perfect, in the low 50's, with low humidity and a perfect blue sky. Leaving my parents home I had no idea where my legs would take me but quickly came up with a grand plan. Having no idea how far away a particular hill was I decided to run towards it. Just outside of a little village called Leota are the floyd knobs. Indiana is not know for its hills, but southern Indiana landscaped with the Floyd Knobs is scattered with beautiful peaks, none of which are very high but are constantly up and down. This particular hill is a destination for hikers. At it's peak is a trial head on the Knobstone Trial, named after the nearby village, Leota Trial Head. As I ran towards the hill I caught glimpse of it weaving my way through the curvy roads flanked by cornfields and cattle farms. Run down barns appearing to be waiting for the next strong wind to turn to a pile of wood were scattered through the country adding to the array of sites that enticed every step of the adventure. My watch seemed to be set on fast forward and every time I looked down I was shocked to see how much time had passed. I was truly gliding through the country side enamored by the simplicity of the country.
Approaching the bottom of the knob I prepared for the accent to come. I had already been running for almost an hour and knew the climb ahead would be challenging. Once engrossed in the climb the sharp turns and tall trees shielded my view of the daunting peak. Turning each sharp corner I began to expect to see the top and was let down several times before finely getting a glimpse of its peak. Once at the stop I turned around and throughly enjoyed the decent, smiling the entire way about my accomplishment.
As I said I planned to run about 15 miles but had not marked the course in advance. I stopped at 2:05:40 hoping it was close to 15 miles but thinking it might be a little short. After getting home my wife and I drove the course and I was thrilled to learn that it was in fact 15.75 miles. That means I ran a 7:58 pace on a course littered with hills and conquered a .75 mile hill a little over half way into the run. All said and done it was a huge confidence builder for me and I can not wait for my next adventure.

Today's Run
15.75 Miles
7:58 Pace

A Little Behind

I had my long run this weekend and I am just now getting around to writing about it. After a long week I really needed to run off some steam and decided the best time to do that would be Friday night. With the kids in bed I set out on my longest non-stop run ever at about 8:20 PM. I ran most of the time in and out of subdivisions to avoid fast moving traffic, so I really don't know how far I ran. I do know that it was the longest time I have ever gone without walking one step, 2:51:30. Which I believe was over 20 miles. After walking for a few minutes I ran about another 1/2 mile to see how it felt and it was good, I definitely could have kept going. That was my 4th straight day of running so I felt pretty good that it went that well. I will slowly start to taper now that I am 20 days away from the big day.

I have really been neglecting this blog because I have been working on another one. For anyone who reads this one I think you will find the next one to be far more compelling. I will be sharing more in the days to come and will be introducing the new blog in about a month.

Late night and early morning

Tuesday night I had the opportunity to go to a concert with a good friend. We went to see the band Mute Math, who are incidentally, incredible live. I got home a little after midnight and then had to unwind, so it was around 1:00am when I finally settled into bed. Scheduled for Wednesday was my 5th straight week of hill sprints, something I knew I could not miss. The alarm was set for 6:00 and after 2 punches of the snooze button it read 6:14. I got up and stumbled out into the humid dark morning for my warmup, followed by my 6 hill sprints of about 12 sec a piece, capped off with a cool down.
Tomorrow morning I am taking the day off and actually have the opportunity to get 8 hours of sleep tonight. As for the 5 hours of sleep followed by the hard run in the thick, humid, morning air... it was worth every waking moment.

20 Mile Run, 12 Mile Canoe trip, and an Ice Bath

Today was a long and adventurous day. I started this morning with a 20 mile run. The first 14 miles or so went really well, then I got a horrible side stitch. At a little after 18 miles I actually started walking. I walked for about 6 and a half minutes and then went back to running for the last mile or so. Overall it was a pretty good run, with an average pace of 8:34. Considering I walked for almost a half mile I did not think that was too bad. After the run I took my first ice bath. It was not as hard as I thought it would be to get in and I really think it helped. After being home for about an hour after my run, my dad and I drove to a local canoe place and did a 12 mile canoe trip. I am pretty tired to say the least but it was a really good day. Tomorrow marks only 4 weeks until the marathon and I definitely still have some work to do.

20 Miles
2:51:32
Pace 8:34

An exciting day

Yesterday was an exciting day. I have been running off and on for the last 20 years and I am proud to announce that I finally, after all this time, lost my first toe nail. Two weeks ago during my 15 mile run I could feel that my toe was hurting a little, but just a little. I took my shoe off after the run to discover my toe nail in a dark shade of purple. At that point I figured it was a lost cause. After talking to a co-worker I decided to cut it back some. When I did it relieved some pressure and the next day it was actually looking pretty good. I started to think maybe it was going to be okay. For the next week or so it seemed to be getting its color back and was looking more like my other toes. Then I ran 18 miles on Saturday, it did no hurt at all but when I took my shoe off it was as white as could be. Yesterday, I went to cut it back some and discovered it was just hanging there ready to be cut completely off. Perhaps the most surprising thing about he entire process is that it has barely hurt at all. I always thought losing a toe nail would be a pretty painful endeavor, perhaps for some it is. What I can say is that I am so proud, like a kid losing his first tooth. I thought about leaving it under my pillow, but I would guess the nail fairy is kind of creepy.

Today's Run:
5 Miles
40:26
8:00 Pace

18 miles

This morning was 18 miles. To make sure that I did not crash like last week I ate a bunch of food yesterday. I decided to run my 9 mile course, an out and back course, 2 times. That way I could check my watch at 4.5 miles, 9 miles, 13.5 miles and 18 miles. I also decided that I would shoot for negative splits. I know that I should be doing my long runs at like 8:45-9:00 minute miles but I really struggle with that so I just ran what felt comfortable. The splits were as follows.

37:52 8:24 pace
36:59 8:12 pace
36:42 8:09 pace
35:32 7:53 pace

Total
2:27:03 8:10 pace (3:34:00 marathon pace)

Solid 6 this time

I set out to run 6 today. I started pretty slow thinking I would pace around 8:00. It was very difficult to get up this morning so I just thought I would go at a pace that was comfortable. I actually thought to myself before leaving about how sometimes when I start running I wake up and do much more then I thought. This morning that seemed like a joke. Sitting in the kitchen putting my shoes on jogging 6 miles seemed like a long shot, I was just happy I got up.

About half way into the first mile I was awake and starting to realize that I was having a pretty good day. The first mile ended up being about 7:25. At that point I thought it would be really neat to run a 7:00 pace. It got really difficult around mile 3 but I pushed through it and the last 2 miles really weren't that bad. I ended up running about 6:58.

Today's Run:
6 Miles
41:42
6:58 Pace

Back to Back semi long runs

Well, the plan called for 17 on Saturday. I decided to get up with my family and run when my son went down for a nap. This meant that I would be leaving about 4 hours later then usual. Unfortunately, it also meant it would be close to 20 degrees warmer. I started about 10:40am and it was already in the low 70's, with a humidity of around 90%. The first three miles I was feeling pretty good and was averaging under 8:00 per mile, too fast for a long run. About 5 miles in I really started fading. By 9 miles I was in a lot of pain and my muscles started shutting down. I held on until 10 and had to start walking. After some walking I ran about another mile and called it a day. Besides the heat I think my sore throat from earlier in the week was the main reason I did not run well. Since I had a sore throat I had not been eating nearly as much as I usually do. I think that finally caught up with me on Saturday.

The good news is that I ate a lot on Saturday and prepared for another run on Sunday. I started about 6:30, so it had only be 20 hours since my last run. I ran 9 miles at about a 7:54 pace and it felt great. It is very important to me not to have two horrible runs in a row, that can really get to you mentally. Fortunately, I was able to run well on Sunday and make up for the shameful performance on Saturday. Monday is a day off and then I will be back to it on Tuesday. Next Saturday will hopefully go better and I will be going for 18 miles.

My sore throat made me run

This morning I awoke to my alarm clock, swallowed and cringed. I got up and turned the alarm off. That's right I bypassed the snooze and when strait to skipping my run. My throat hurt so bad I could barley swallow so I thought that was a good enough excuse to get another 80 minutes of sleep. Getting back into bed felt great but swallowing was so painful that I could think of nothing but my throat. Realizing I would not be going back to sleep I decided to put myself in the kind of pain that feels good...I Ran.

The run was a decently paced 4.25 miles. Then I did 3 hard hill sprints, 10 seconds each. I followed that up with 1.25 cool down. And by the way, it did make my throat feel better.

Today's Run:
5.75 Miles
Varied Pace

Solid 5 Miles

The humidity was down to 90% and the temp was way down to 49 this morning. I set out to run 5 miles easy. Well, as I typically do I started to speed up, it was feeling way too good this morning. I just love running in the cool air, I had my tights on (love running in tights) and it was just working. I don't know my exact mile times but they were about 7:20, 7:12, 7:04, 7:02, 6:04. As you can tell by the last mile time I had a lot left at the end. I think I could have run close to my 5 mile PR this morning, but I was happy with a 34:42.

I want to say thank you so much to those of you who leave comments about my posts, I love reading them and they help keep me going.

5 Miles
34:42
6:57 Pace

Another Long Run...Successful

Yesterday I set out to run 15 miles as a part of ramping up my weekly long run for the marathon. Today marks 7 weeks until the big day so I really don't have a lot of time left. It was in the low 60's but the humidity was about 100%. I have discovered that high humidity is harder for me to run in than heat. I was not 3 miles into the run when thoughts of quiting started to enter my head. I had weighed myself before I left and then again upon my return to discover that I lost 4 lbs during the run. I took water along and drank all 20 oz. My clothes have never been so wet. My shorts were completely soaked and I felt like I was running in a pair of swimming trunks.

Instead of focusing on miles I decided to go until I hit 2:07:30, or 15 miles, if I were running at a 8:30 pace. Well, I made it. I think I might have actually run a little slower then 8:30 but I was out in the humidity and I endured. That was the first time I had run over 2 hours without stopping since the marathon in May. Next week will be 17 miles. I think I will run for 2:27:30, hopefully that is over 17.

Ramping up

I am in a very slow progression of adding to my long run. Caution has become my new matto, and I want to make sure I do everything I can to stay healthy this time. Today, I was hoping for 13. I had not measured the route before hand and ended up only running 12.54. It was in the upper 50's when I started and it was amazing. Since route plans had not been made I just set out to see what happened. I am surrounded by a lot of pretty big hills and I wanted a pretty flat run. A wrong turn early in the run meant that I ran 4 big hills and a number of smaller ones. A couple of the big hills have an extremely steep grade, I am not sure but I would say between 4% to 6%. So the hills alone made it a very good workout. It was very relaxed the entire time. There was never a time when I thought I needed to stop or even considered it. The first 8 or 9 miles must have been pretty slow because I ran the last 3 or 4 pretty fast and still only averaged 8:22. Overall I fell very good about the workout. Next weekend will be 15 miles.

12.54 miles
1:44:05
8:22 pace

Active Recovery Run

Today was another active recovery run. It is amazing how much more fresh you can feel the next day after a truly easy run. I ran just over 6 miles at about a 8:30 pace. With just over 8 weeks to go until the marathon I am far from where I would like to be but am trying not to think about that too much. I am definitely not running pain free but it is not bad enough to hold me back either. I am trying to run smart and am hoping to peak at just the right time. I am still very confident that I will smash my last marathon time and that is what I really want to do. Something I am definitely realizing with distance running is that the longer you do it the easier it gets. It is amazing how easy it is for me to just go out and run 6 to 10 miles now, even if I have not been logging a lot of miles each week. I think I have several more years of continuing to get better and I am trying to focus on that.

Why I Love Running

This week I have been on vacation. Tiffany and I went away for a couple of nights and the rest of the time we have just been staying at home with the kids doing lots of fun stuff. We have been having so much fun that I have not been running because I don't want to miss out.

Last night Tiffany got tired at 10:00 and said she had to go on to bed. I decided it was an opportunity to get a run in. So I laced up and set out for a run, having no idea what kind of mileage or time I was shooting for. After running about 1/2 mile, I knew I was going to run my 9 mile out and back. I was feeling really good after the first mile that clocked about 7:45. I began to pick up the pace a little and was feeling great. Just after 2 miles there is a big hill that I just seemed to float up. If you can get into a good rhythm going up a hill then when you get to the top it feels so easy. I reached the halfway point in 33:15, or just under a 7:30 pace. I knew at this point that I would be breaking my 9 mile record of 1:07:30. I did not really push it, but just ran what was comfortable. That made it more enjoyable, but I am pretty sure I could have put the hammer down and shaved some more time. My final time was 1:05:12, or about 7:15 pace. I think that is the fastest pace I have run anything over about 6 miles. It is so much fun to run at a pace like that, especially when it is that easy. I have no idea where that run came from, but I am not questioning it for now.

Heeding Your Advice

I have had several people suggest that I slow down my easy and long runs. It is very true that I tend to only have one speed and because of that I don't get the most out of all my runs. I am sure that has also played a part in some of my injuries. So today I set out for 10 miles and decided to take it easy. I started out with about an 8:45 mile. Despite feeling like I needed to speed up several times, I stayed pretty close to that pace and ran at an average of 8:30. I must admit that I felt like I should be going faster and it is hard for me mentally to run that slow when I know I can run faster. I just have to realize that in the long run it is not about today's workout it is about the my overall fitness and peaking for the marathon.

Back to Back

Yesterday and today were back to back all around bad runs. Yesterday it was raining pretty hard and I set out to run between 6 to 10 miles. After just over 4 miles I stopped. I was running slower then I have been and did not understand why it felt so hard. I did start back up again and run 4 more miles after about 8 minutes of walking but it still just felt like a bad workout. Today was no better. I set out to run just 6 miles and after about 3.5 I stopped. Again, I was running slowly and it just seemed so labored. After walking for a few minutes I ran about another 1/2 mile. The humidity when I got back was 98% so I am hoping it had something to do with the bad run. It just seems like there are days when I am in horrible shape and others when I could run forever. Perhaps the most puzzling is that I have been running far better after being on my bike for 20 to 30 miles. Tomorrow I think I am going to ride my bike to work again. I think it will be good to have a day off of running. Hopefully my next day back running will be better.

I am so excited

Well, I just registered for a fall marathon. The Columbus marathon in Columbus, OH. I am really excited that I am healthy again and back on track to run another marathon. I am very confident that I will do far better then the last. I am trying to have very realistic expectations and will be happy with anything under 3:45. I have mapped out a new training schedule and it is much less grueling than what I was trying to do before I became injured. It also involves some cross training/cycling.

Riding Blind

If you read my post yesterday then you know that I missed my long ride/run because of the weather. I could not bear the thought of missing it for the entire week so I decided to squeeze it in today. Saturday is my long day because I don't work and there is no church. In order to get in the long effort today I knew it meant an early start. Church starts at 9:00 and we live about 15 minutes away. I also wanted to be back in time to eat something, shower, and help Tiffany with the kids.

With the bad weather out of the way the next obstacle would be the morning darkness. The sun does not rise until 6:30, and I set the alarm for 5:00. Running in the dark is not a problem but I was planning to ride first. Fortunately I live right next to a 73 mile bike trail. Therefore, I only have to worry about being able to see and don't have to worry about people being able to see me. I have a head lamp my dad got me for one of our hiking trips and decided to attach it to my bike with some zip ties. I took it for a spin and it worked perfectly.

At 5:00 I awoke and set the snooze for 5:14. At 5:14 I got up and went downstairs where everything was ready for me. I ate a bagel, chugged some water, and got dressed. By 5:25 I was on the road. One thing I had not planned for was thick fog. As I turned onto the bike trail I realized I could only see a few feet in front of me. The trail is straight and flat so it really was not much concern just extremely creepy. It is through the middle of the woods so it was really dark and there were plenty of rabbit and deer that I stirred up along the way. After being on the bike for about 45 minutes it slowly started to become light.

I rode my bike for 1:36:00, and covered just over 30 miles. Then I parked at my house and transitioned for about 2 minutes. Would have been faster but Tiffany and the kids saw me and came out to talk for a second. About 3/4 mile into the run both of my sides started hurting and I was beginning to think I would have to stop. Immediately I thought to myself, "you did not get up at 5:14 to only run 3/4 of a mile, pull it together." That is exactly what I did. I focused on my breathing and was quickly running very comfortably. I ended up running 7.3 miles at a pace of 7:39.

I also included a picture of my new tri shorts because I am excited about them. They were much more comfortable than running shorts while riding the bike and I really like the compression aspect of them while running.

Today's workout
Ride 30 Miles
1:36:00
18.8 MPH

Run 7.3 Miles
55:53
7:39 Pace

Rain Rain Go Away

I awoke this morning at 6:00 ready for a 3 hour brick. I purchased some new tri shorts and was really excited to try them out. I went down to the basement to change and heard a loud sound that sounded like thunder. I had looked at the hour by hour forecast before going to bed and it did not call for rain until the afternoon, so I just figured I was crazy. Arriving back on the ground level of our house I heard it again, this time there was no mistaking it. I went quickly to the front door, swung it open and found the beginnings of a rain storm on display. Still unwilling to except what my eyes had just seen I turned to a more reliable source, the internet. Sure enough 90% chance of rain. (perhaps about 10% low). The hour by hour showed thunder storms all day. I don't mind running in the rain, but I am not brave enough to bike in the rain yet. However, today is not just rain, there has been plenty of lightning. So my once a week opportunity to get a really long brink in has been dashed. Guess I will wait until next week.

Feeling Great

This morning I set out to run 9 miles. The 9 mile route I ran is somewhat daunting. It is an out and back course, which means if you stop somewhere in the middle you have a very long discouraging walk back home. It also has a couple of pretty serious hills in it. Leading up to the marathon I set out to run that route a few different times and was not able to accomplish it. It was really turning into a mind game. So any time I think about that route I get a little nervous.

I felt I was up to the challenge. I started out slow and finished the first half in 37:00 (8:13 pace). It was perfectly comfortable, no pain at all. Then I decided to slowly pick up the pace, and finished the second half in 33:29 (7:26 pace). The best part was I still had a lot left at the end. I could have easily run 13 to 15 today, which does a lot for me mentally. Tomorrow I will be riding instead of running. I am trying to take it slow but feel I am already ready to better my last marathon time.

Today's Run:
9 Miles
1:10:29
7:50 pace

I love Bricks

Today I set out for my first real brick workout. I have done a couple of pretty easy ones where I got off and ran a mile or two but today I wanted to take it up a notch. I started out by riding my bike 28.1 miles. I choose a really hilly course so my time was not great, I think an average speed of 17.4 or so. Then I got off the bike, took about a minute to take my helmet and gloves off and gulp down a little water.

I took off for a 10K. It is a really weird feeling running after being on the bike for an hour and a half. At first it feels like your legs are going to give out. It also feels like you are barely moving. I knew from a previous run off the bike that you totally loose the ability to know your pace. I would have said I was running a 9 minute mile, instead my first mile was 7:20. I knew I needed to slow down a little bit but still managed to maintain a pace of 7:39 for the 10K.

The entire workout took about 2:25 minutes. That was my first workout that long since the marathon. It felt great, and I have felt a since of accomplishment all day because of it.

If only I could have swam .93 miles to start the workout I could have gotten an Olympic distance triathlon in this morning.

To work and back

One thing I like about the bike is its practicality. Today I rode to work for the 3rd time since the purchase. It is 16.9 miles and it is pretty up and down, it takes me between 50 minutes and an hour each way. It is really the only way I can get two a day workouts in and not miss time with the family. It actually takes me about 40-45 minutes to drive home so it really does not take much longer. It is also good for the environment, and saves me the wear and tear on my car as well as the gas money. So pretty much it is a win, win.

Tomorrow I am hoping to run about 7 miles, I can't wait.

Thanks to all of you who stopped by and wrote comments. It really made my day.

A lot to say

I will try to bring you up to speed as to what happened to me. My heel continued to get worse and I became so discouraged that I could not bear to write about it. When I am injured, I try my best to avoid anything to do with running. I won't even read my Runner's World magazine when it comes in the mail. I was the most motivated I have ever been and was running great. Then all the sudden out of nowhere I was sidelined again. My running does a lot for me mentally, emotionally, and physically so it has been very tough.

Determined to stay in shape, I purchased a road bike. The first week I got it I rode 140 miles and loved every minute of it. It was my first experience on a road bike and it was really good. But then the unthinkable happened. I got an injury from the bike. The upper part of my shin/lower part of my knee had become very sensitive and was hurting when I placed pressure on it. I continued to push through the pain but it was getting worse. After 3 weeks I made an appointment with an ortho. I have had bad experiences in the past but I just had to give it a shot.

Last Friday I went to see Dr. Hill. He was great. My favorite thing about him was that he wanted to come up with a solution that kept me active, and he was curious about what active for me was. His prognosis was irritation and inflammation. He prescribed an anti inflammatory and told me not to slow down. Well, I took him seriously. The next two days I road 50 miles and ran a mile. That's right, I ran a mile and my heel did not hurt, neither did my shin/knee.

On Tuesday morning, I got up very excited knowing I was just going to be running. I had no pace goal or distance goal, just wanted to run. Well, I ended up running 5 miles at a 7:30 pace and it felt very comfortable which helped me feel like I was not completely out of shape. It also made me feel like I still have a fall marathon in me. I am really going to scale back my goal and just enjoy running for a minute.

Today I rode 11 miles really hard with an extremely difficult hill, then I jumped off the bike and ran for 2 miles. It was awesome. I really love brick workouts.

If you are reading this thanks for coming back after all this time. I am back and have never felt better.

Where I have been

Well, my heel problem got worse. It hurt pretty bad on my Thursday run and even more on my Friday run. Then it hurt most of the day on Friday. It was obvious that it was getting worse fast. Not wanting to cause any real damage I decide to take the weekend off. Two straight days off. It was feeling much better yesterday and thought I was ready for my run this morning. Well, I hate to admit it but I talked myself out of running this morning and slept in. I must say that I felt guilty all day today. The good news will hopefully come tomorrow with a pain free run, I have my fingers crossed. I still can't believe that I took 3 straight days off. Hopefully it was just what I needed to get past this heel pain and start running well again.

Recovery

I have read a lot about how important it is to get the proper food into your system after a hard workout. However, knowing what to do and putting it into practice are two totally different things, especially when it comes to food. I have experimented with several things before and after my workouts.

For a long time I did not eat anything before a workout and it seemed to go well. As I began running further, I felt like I needed more fuel. I started eating a breakfast bar and progressed to a small bowl of cereal. Leading up to the marathon that is what I did and I started to think that it was making my stomach hurt . Since the marathon, I have stopped eating before my runs again and it is going well.

What to eat after the run has been the much more difficult thing to figure out. Since I run in the morning, I have to stretch, shower, and then get to work. This makes it difficult to get a good meal in. For awhile, I was having a bowl of cereal while I checked my e-mail at work first thing. The problem with that is that it was typically about an hour and a half after the run. I know my body needs to be replenished sooner than that. The other problem with the cereal was a lack of protein. I did not feel that my muscles were getting the protein they needed to recover.

I just started trying something new. I have done it four times now and it seems to be working well. I got some protein and am making shakes. The great thing about a shake is you can eat it anywhere. So it works perfectly in the car on the way to work. It is also easier to get a big shake down than a big meal. The problem with it is the lack of carbs and calories. So to off set that I am adding what I can...milk instead of water, a banana, and some chocolate syrup. I try to stay away from sugars like syrup, but I can’t think of another way to add a bunch of carbs and calories. If you have any suggestions, please let me know.

Today’s run was a new record for me, 8 mile repeats. Each of these was done with 1:30 recovery. At some point, I plan to start cutting back my recovery time until I get it down to 1:00. I would also like to get up to 10 to 12 repeats. I have done that workout each week for the last 3 and I only did it twice leading up to the last marathon.

Today’s Run:
8 Mile repeats with 1:30 recovery, average pace 6:31
6:35
6:33
6:25
6:29
6:30
6:31
6:34
6:31

Winning the Battle

This morning I entered into an epic battle and came out glorious. The long weekend lent itself nicely to laziness. Saturday and Sunday I slept in until around 6:20, and both days I managed to catch a short nap. Monday was my day off from running and I slept in until about 7:15. This morning, however the alarm was set for 5:30 again. After a day off, I knew it was very important to quickly get back into my routine, no room for backsliding.
I awoke on my own in what I thought was the middle of the night. A look over to the alarm clock filled me with immediate disgust as I saw it read 5:20. Immediately I began to search for excuses. Internal battles are interesting and trying to find excuses for myself is much the same except I know the full truth. There is nothing to embellish or hide. I can’t tell myself that I didn’t really sleep that well or that I don’t really want to run, I know the truth.
I decided not to get up yet, but to instead get what enjoyment I could out of the last 10 minutes of sleep or lying in bed. At 5:30, the alarm went off. I got up to turn it off and on my way kept thinking about hitting the snooze. I thought maybe I had it coming since I woke up 10 minutes too early, perhaps I deserved an extra 10 minutes of sleep. Well, that was just foolish so I turned it off.
Walking in a half daze I sat in the chair in our room, not ready to accept the fact that I was going to transition from a comfortable sleep to a hot and tiring run. I just sat there actually trying to come up with an excuse. Maybe my heel was hurting, I thought to myself. I began to press on my heel with my thumb. I am ashamed to say that I was actually hoping it would hurt some so I could write the day off as a needed recovery day. Nothing, not even a hint of pain radiated from the vigorous rubbing of my thumb. After a few minutes of sitting there, the lazy me, the me that has been feeling pretty defeated lately, hung his head in shame. The me that has ambitions and dreams beyond sleep had won and was ready to run.

Todays Run:
7 miles easy
56:00

Recap

Yesterday I ran a 1/2 marathon. Not a race, just on my own. I was happy with my time of 1:42:00. That is not my fastest, but it is only a few minutes off. My best was actually during a 14 mile run so I don't know how fast it would have been without that last .9 miles, but probably about 1:38:00. Anyway that was the best distance run I have had in a while so I was pretty happy with it.

All day yesterday the back of my right heel was bothering me but I did not think much of it since I had run 13 miles earlier in the day. This morning I set out for a really easy run and ended up with 5.5 miles. It was easy but my heel was bothering me again. It has been kind of off and on today so I have decided to take tomorrow off. I really don't want to but I also don't want to end up with some silly injury. (The back of my heel. Any ideas what it could be anyone?)

Last week I finished with 52.2 miles. I am really happy with that and was hoping to run around 55 this week. However, since I am taking tomorrow off that will make it pretty hard to accomplish. I guess we will just see. I certainly don't want to push it too hard.

Overall my spirits are still up and I am really enjoying every bit of it. After 9 straight days I need a day off. I just hope it is enough time for my heel to get back to normal so I can push it hard the rest of the week.

Early is the key

The last week and a half of training has been phenomenal. My motivation has been up, I have gotten a lot of miles in and they have been good miles. The key to this recent success has been my wake up time and refusal to use the snooze. I woke up the last 4 days at 5:30, and did the same 3 days last week. I am not going to lie, it has been really difficult. However, I did not give myself a choice. The thoughts about going back to bed entered my mind, but they were not entertained. Thoughts how nice it would be to sleep entered my head but then I would think about how disappointed I would be to cave after only a few days.
The exhaustion was tough to handle for about the first week. I think my body was just not use to getting up that early. The last two days have been much better, and I am hoping that trend will continue. I think that getting up at the same time everyday is imperative. My hope is that my body will adjust to that time and I will naturally start to feel awake that early. The other huge advantage is that my workouts are not rushed. Getting up that early gives me plenty of time to get my workout in, stretch, shower, and get to work. I did 9 easy miles the other day and had time to spare. I used to base my wake-up time on my workout. Then I would snooze and have to shorten my workout to accommodate. Well, we see where that got me last time. My biggest struggle over the last three years or so with my running has been consistency. I think I am finally on to something that is going to change all of that.

Today's Run
4 Miles Fartlek
2 x 9 sec hill spints (more on that later)
1 Mile Cooldown

Yesterday's Run
7.3 Miles Easy (oops)
7:33 Pace

Car Smacking

When I think of an endurance athlete, the word punk definitely does not come to mind. Well, I like to think of myself as an endurance athlete, but I guess I have a little inner punk as well.

At some point in my running history, I became frustrated with oblivious and/or self absorbed motorists and decided to fight back. I don't remember plotting it out, it just kind of happened. A car got close enough to me that I thought I could touch it and so I did. This evolved into what is now known by me as car smacking. I have never been the recipient of a car smacking, but I can assure you it is startling. Just imagine driving along passing a pedestrian, whom you may or may not have seen and then you hear a loud thud.

So the secret is out, if a car gets close enough to me, I let them know by applying a generous amount of force from my hand to their vehicle. At first I always assumed this just ticked people off or made them realize how close they really were. However, I had an encounter that changed my perspective.

Out for a run one morning on a curvy road in the dark, an SUV was coming towards me. It was obvious they had no idea I was there and they were headed right for me. This time instead of smacking the SUV, I jumped into the air and shoved off the side of the car to avoid getting hit. Without missing a step, I landed and kept going. When I looked over my shoulder, I noticed the SUV was stopped and a man was getting out. I was pretty frustrated and assumed he wanted to fight me or something. I looped around and headed back towards him to give him a piece of my mind. To my surprise he was terrified and asked if I was alright. I said yes and threw in a ”watch where you are going”. Somehow it had not occurred to me that I was making people may think they hit me.

So I guess that is the mean streak in me. I am not proud of it so I try to rationalize my behavior. Perhaps scaring them makes them more aware in the future and keeps them from hitting someone else. An elderly person or a child who may not be as aware of what is going on. I also think about how it is their laziness or rudeness, and my safety, I have a lot more to lose.

I have never talked to or heard about another runner who participates in this sort of practice. I can’t imagine that I am alone. If you have a similar story, please share.


Today's Run:
6 mile repeats with 1:30 recovery between each
6:39
6:36
6:30
6:23
6:23
6:11

At Last

The easy run made a return to my training this morning. The last truly easy day I had was Friday the 1st, two and a half weeks ago. That run was 7.3 miles at a 8:15 pace. Today’s run was even easier then that and longer. Perhaps the most exciting part was the pace; 7:46. I started out easy and kept it that way even though I felt like I could easily speed up. The last ½ mile was a breeze. I just could not help wonder where today was a couple of weeks ago during the marathon. I was already starting to hurt at that point in the marathon and I was running about 20 seconds a mile slower. I think it has a lot to do with the consistency I have had over the last week and a half.
It was a lot of fun to have an easy run, no pain, just a little over an hour of running enjoyment.

New Workout

Today's workout was something new for me from the Run Faster book. It was a progression run. The book uses these runs in a lot of different ways, but the premise is always the same. Start slow and build, or shift to a different speed. For instance he might have you run a long run, 14 miles easy and then 3 at marathon goal pace. Today I started with 4.5 miles at 8 min pace. I was really excited to be able to maintain that slower pace for that long and it felt really good. It was fun to just take it easy and enjoy the run for a while. Then I switched gears and ran the last 2.8 miles in 19:15 or a 6:52 pace. It is amazing how much easier it is for me to run at a pace like that if I start out slow. I think it was actually easier for me to run that last 2.8 miles then it would have been if I had just run that 2.8 miles by itself.

Anyway, I am a fan of the progression run after today. I think it allows you to get the miles in and run at a fast pace without completely draining yourself. I also think it teaches you to pick up the pace when you are fatigued. I will continue to use that workout and try some of the different ways it is suggested in the book. More attempts at consistency and variance to come.

2 a Day

Well, before dinner I could not resist going out for a hard mile. I am still chasing that infamous sub 5:00 mile. Well, tonight was not the night, but I did run my fastest mile in over 10 years so I will take it.

1 Mile 5:19

The usual

Well, just like usual I went out too fast. I looked down at my watch at 4.5 miles hoping to see 8 min pace or slower, which would have been 36:00, instead it read 34:50. So I could not help but speed up a little more. I ended up stopping at 7 miles with an average pace of 7:35. I then ran a 1.5 mile cool down. I guess since I can't seem to slow it down I just need to get into better shape so I can maintain that pace. The wind was down today but I did get to run in some poring rain, which was fun.

30 MPH

Probably my least favorite thing to run in is strong wind. I would rather run when it is -5 degrees then when it is really windy. You just can't seem to get into a rhythm when it is windy. It is like you are doing interval work the entire time. Yesterday morning I ran in wind gust up to 30 mph. It was perhaps the strongest winds I have ever run in. It was also poring down rain so that made it pretty interesting. I ran for about 4.5 miles non stop and then ran 2 minutes on and 1 minute off until my entire workout was 1 hour. I think I covered a little over 7 miles and ran about 6.25. Overall considering the conditions I was pretty happy with the workout. Today was another scheduled day off, my last day of recovery from the marathon. Tomorrow is a short long run, probably around 10 miles. Unless I am feeling really good.

5 mile repeats

Today I set out for 5 mile repeats with 1.5 minute rest. I started out with a 6:23, and then ran a 6:07. I started the third one and only made it about .25 miles then stopped. Instead of getting discouraged I just took about an 8 minute break and then ran a 6:14. Then I took a 2.5 minute rest and ran 6:11, then I took about 5 minutes and ran 5:52. So it was not exactly what I set out to run, but I also was not planning on averaging 6:10 per mile. All in all I was happy with the run.

Mile repeats is probably my favorite training day to be done with. I know it does a lot for me and I always feel a sense of accomplishment. I must say that I dread it when it is coming and don't aways enjoy it much during, but it is worth the return.


Mile Repeats
6:23
6:07
6:14
6:11
5:52

It's just in me

I remember the first time I ran with my dad, though I am not sure how old I was, I am guessing around 10. We had planned in advance to get up early and run down the street as far as we could go. We made it about a quarter of a mile until we both collapsed. I am not sure if we just went out too fast or if we were both that out of shape.
As a high schooler my dad was a great miler. His best performance came at the end of a medley relay, his split 4:28. Yeah fast. He also ran 10 miles in an hour as a high schooler. After high school he went to Purdue where he was on the cross country team. Unfortunately he got mono was not able to run the first season. He put on some weight and did not come back to the team.
Before our first morning running together I don't remember him running on any kind of regular basis, but that morning starting what would be years of early morning runs. I could not keep up an quite frankly did not want to get out of bed so he was soon doing the runs by himself. He was not out there to break any records. He never ran in a single race and I don't think he ever ran much over 3 miles. He just used it as time to think, pray, and stay in shape. Eventually he stopped running because of a bad knee. He should have had surgery years ago but is stubborn so he has had to result to other kinds of exercise.
My dad has always been a big supporter of my running. He and my mom were at all of my high school meets, track and cross country. He listens to my excitement about running and offers advice. However, he does not share the same excitement for the sport that I do. Even he, a runner, has trouble comprehending why I would put myself through some of the things I put myself through to keep my dream alive. I guess he started a spark in me and it has grown into a fire.

No Choice In The Matter

Tomorrow is a prescribed day off. I am making myself take tomorrow off in an effort to fully recover from the marathon. I am feeling pretty good and I ran 13 miles in the last 2 days. However, I want to be sure I am fully rested for what is to come. I plan to have one more of these days on Friday, but we will see how it goes.

I am sure that a lot of people out there think it is crazy and not smart to run everyday. However, I have learned from experience that taking a day off can, way too easily, lead to more days off. The reason for this is simple, you give yourself a choice. I am sure if you talk to anyone who has a serious streak going they will tell you they have no choice but to run. To break their streak would be crazy, it would take something out of their control. However for someone who runs 5 days a week it is really not that big of a deal to run 4, or so you tell yourself. I would like to take the happy medium, but, I am afraid it would lead to more days off. So after this second week of recovering I don’t have too many planned days off. I will just have to make sure that I have easy days that simulate a day off.

I have got to get myself into the habit of running regularly, and eliminate the struggle I put myself through in the morning to get up and out there. Once I do that I will be able to focus more on the runs themselves . Wednesday and Thursday I will be up at 5:30, no snooze.

You Snooze You Lose

Today was the first day of my 23 week training for my next marathon, a.k.a, redemption. I decided to institute a few rules so that I stay on track. One of those rules is not using the snooze button. On a typical running morning, I will snooze an average of 3 times. Not only does it cut into my run, it just doesn't make any sense. It does not get any easier to get up, as a matter of fact I think it gets harder with each snooze. Plus on multiple occasions, I have snoozed 20 minutes or so and then told myself I did not have enough time left for a workout. So all in all, it will cause me to be far more consistent and get a lot more out of my runs if I give it up. Not to mention I will score some major bonus points with my wife. She has often times just got back to sleep after being up with our son in the middle of the night when the snoozing starts and wakes her up all over again, and again, and again. You get the drift.

This morning the alarm went off at 6:00am and I got right out of bed, it was such a good feeling. I was hoping to get in some decent miles today and set out for an easy run of 7 to 8.5 miles. Like usual, I started out too fast. Though my legs feel back to normal I think that each stride is still taking more effort. After 4.42 miles I was spent and started walking. My pace to that point was 7:37. Not too bad, but way too slow to tire after only 4.42 miles. Determined to get more out of my work out,(another one of my new rules) I walked for a little while and then set out to do 3 800 meter splits with 2 minutes rest. I was able to accomplish those and it felt good, 3:07, 3:01, 2:59. I will be up again tomorrow morning and will bask in the accomplishment of not succumbing to the snooze.

Also you can click on my workouts to the left and it will show you more detail about the daily workout.

Back out there

Today was my first day back since the marathon. I just went out to run a little and see how it felt. It went better then I had expected. I ran 3 miles in 22:15, or about 7:25 pace. I then walked a little and then ran another 1/2 mile at about the same pace. My legs hurt a little during the 1/2 mile at the end, but overall it went well. However, my legs have felt really tired all day today so they are obviously not back. I will be taking tomorrow off and then will be back for Sunday.

I want to thank all of you who have commented on my posts, it is very encouraging. I think about my blogging friends when I am running and it gives me that extra push I need. I am trying to do better with my running and blogging and all the comments and viewings of my blog really help in both areas.

Lindsay asked me in a comment if I follow any type of training plan. Well, yes and no. Probably around last October I got a book at the library titled Run Faster by Brad Hudson. I read most of it and then had to return it. For Christmas my wife purchased the book for me. I adopted a few of the things he suggested but was not consistent with them. I think it is full of some really good stuff and this time plan to follow it much more closely. I hope to share some of the things he suggests on the blog as I do them.



In case you are wondering Brad Hudson is a current day coach and he trains some of the nations best distance runners. Most notably Dathan Ritzenhein who placed 10th in the 2008 Olympic Marathon.

Things To Note

While I was walking parts of the marathon I realized I was really out of my element. If I ever have to stop during a workout I call it a day and end the workout. I might have to walk a ways to get home but I rarely start running again. I just chalk it up to a bad day and tell myself I will make up the miles in another workout. Well, that certainly did not prepare me for what I encountered in the later parts of the marathon. When I stop running my body is used to a stretch and a shower. This go around I am going to change things. Of course I have no intentions of ever walking during a marathon again but I will be prepared if it does happen. Now if I am not having a good workout I will stop but I will start again. Of course more interval work will help with this as well. Not only will these things teach my body to keep going when its tired, they will also cause me to get more out of my workouts.

New to the blog is my training history. You can now see my last few runs, as well as my week and month totals. All compliments of Runner's World where I log my workouts. Hopefully having those there will hold me more accountable.

My legs are still hurting, but are really starting to make their way back to normal. The plan is to run tomorrow morning for the first time since the marathon. There is really no distance on the agenda, just whatever feels good. I can't wait to get back out for another long run. Depending on how I feel I might put up double digit miles on Sunday, which will be the beginning of my 23 week plan. I am anxious.

23 weeks ago

This is a look at the 23 weeks leading up to the marathon. The red boxes are the days I ran, black indicates days off, and yellow is weekly totals. The 2 weeks of no running occurred when I thought something was wrong with my foot. The light colored red boxes indicate runs on a treadmill. Out to the right of the weekly totals are the days I ran that week. At the bottom you can see some of the records for this training period.

I only averaged 29.23 miles a week. Despite having some really good weeks, my average was pretty low. I just could not seem to stay consistent. Perhaps the worst part of the entire thing for me was how early I peaked. I did my best running 6 weeks to two months before the marathon. I am not really sure why I fizzled like I did, but I think it was nerves. On March 28th I ran 14 miles at a pace of 7:30 and it felt amazing. I still had 5 weeks to train and should have been able to easily turn a run like that into a 3:30 marathon. That is, if I would have continued to train at the same intensity. The three weeks leading up to the marathon I only averaged 21.53 miles. I took the tapering thing way to seriously.

Perhaps the hardest stat for me to swallow is that I averaged 4.087 days a week of running. This was mainly because I would get up turn off my alarm and go back to sleep. I only had 3 weeks when I ran 6 days and 1 when I ran all 7.

My record for the most miles in 4 days I still think is impressive. In 4 days I managed to run 42 miles. Unfortunately I did that in early December and never even came close to that again.

Lastly, not only did I run too little but the running I did was not well rounded. The vast majority of my runs were easy or tempo runs. I did very little hill work, fartlicks, or intervals.

Needless to say I can change a lot that will prepare me much more for my next marathon. After this week of mostly rest I will have 23 weeks to train for the next one. I will be looking at my plans side by side and my hope is that I blow this one away.

I hope to improve in 3 main areas.
1. Run more miles
2. Run more days a week
3. Mix up the running more and get the most out of my runs

If I am able to maintain consistency in doing all of these things I know I will blow away my time from this past Sunday. To hold myself more accountable this time I will be displaying my training program some along the way.

Lessons from the race

I have had some time to think about the marathon and I still can't believe how much differently it went than I expected. Partially I think I had unreal expectations based on my training, which I promise to share more about soon. Next I think it had a lot to do with doubt, nerves, and race day strategy.

I have already shared that I think I went out too fast. I think if I would have slowed the pace down and stuck with the 3:40 pacer I could have held out for several more miles before walking. I now know that the longer you can hold out before walking the better. Of course I hope to never walk in a marathon again. If I would have known how hard it was going to be to start running again, I think I could have kept going for a couple more miles. Instead I convinced myself that walking was going to rejuvenate me and get me going again. It just messed with my head and made it that much harder to keep going.

I know that the demoralizing effect of walking had a lot to do with my time. When you start to realize you are not going to come close to your goal, what's another 5 minutes, if it means you can be more comfortable. If I would have been close to my goal, then of course I would have dug deep and found the will to keep going. That is the importance of setting obtainable goals.

My legs hurt more then I could have ever imagined. Which really surprises me since they did not really bother me after my 20 mile run, in which I ran the entire time. It has been almost 60 hours since the finish and I can still barely make it up and down the stairs. I think most of that has to do with my training. However, I think the lack of sleep and lack of food before the race also contributed. Before the next marathon I will eat more then a bowl of cheerios 2 hours before the start. Milk, raisins and all I probably got about 300 calories. I think a little more fuel would have really helped.

Those are just a few of the things I learned from this marathon. I will share more as they come to me. I love being a student of this sport and am amazed at how much I continue to learn.

I am debating between 3 marathons for the fall. Indianapolis, Louisville, and Columbus. I will probably register soon. I am much more excited about the 2nd then I was the 1st.

Cincinnati Flying Pig Marathon Race Report

The marathon chewed me up and spit me out. Let me just start by saying that I have a new respect for the distance of the marathon, the hills of Cincinnati, and the training it requires to do well.

How it started...

Yesterday my wife and I went down to the city for the expo. We had a great time and I got my shirt, bib, timing chip, and various other things. While we were there I talked to the pacers. The 3:30 pacer was not there, but I learned his name was Roger. I planned to try to catch up with him at the starting line and find out what his strategy was.

Tiffany and I got home around 7:30 and I spent awhile getting everything ready. At around 10:00 we went to bed. I tossed and turned and ended up only getting 2 hours of sleep. Last night was one of the hardest parts of the entire marathon. There were times when I thought I would not be getting any sleep at all. I was so stressed out that I was going to be running a marathon after staying up all night.

At 4:30 Tiffany woke me up telling me my alarm had gone off, I was so confused because I had dreams that I slept through the marathon and thought that was reality.

By 5:00 my dad and I were on the road down to Cincinnati.

By 6:05 I was at the starting line. That is when I caught up with Roger. I asked what he hoped to run the first few miles at and he said right on pace. I decided at that point to start out with the 3:40 pacer. So I tucked in next to him and waited for the gun to go off. At this point my nerves were down and I was ready to run. The gun went off and I was going.

Now for as close as I can get to the mile by mile report...

Mile 1 8:37 -Just off pace for 3:40, it was really difficult to navigate through the crowd.
Mile 2 7:49 - I already decided to leave the 3:40 pacer. Stupid, Stupid, Stupid!!!
Mile 3 7:53 - Feeling good, but knowing I was running too fast too early.
Mile 4 8:02 - I had finally slowed back down to goal pace, but in reality I had gone up and over a large bridge so it was still too fast.
Mile 5 7:45 - Just getting caught up in the atmosphere. I had no business running this fast.
Mile 6 8:05 - Started going up some serious hills. I was passing a lot of people and the adrenaline was flowing.
Mile 7 8:39 - Up a huge hill. Finally running smarter though.
Mile 8 8:17 - Still going up hill, but running at a more manageable pace.
Mile 9 8:07 - Getting back to goal pace.
Mile 10 8:11 - Really starting to feel it.
Mile 11 7:33 - Not being smart again. I was just behind the 3:30 pacer for a while around mile 6 and I was trying to reel him back in.
Mile 12 8:29 - I was paying for the 7:33.
Mile 13 9:00 - Starting to unravel.
Mile 14 8:44 - Holding onto hope for a 3:40 and realizing 3:30 was now done.
Mile 15 9:06 - Still out in front of the 3:40 pacer and doing my best to keep it that way.
Mile 16 12:51 - I walked!! I still can't believe that I had to walk. The reality is that I walked a bunch the rest of the way. When I started walking, I thought it would just be for a couple of minutes and I would start running strong again. That was not what happened. The rest of the race is pretty embarrassing and very demoralizing, but here it is...
Mile 17 8:37 - I ran the entire mile but it really hurt.
Mile 18 12:40 - There was a decent amount of walking. Since I had not planned on walking I really had no strategy for walking and probably walked more then I needed to.
Mile 19 11:23 - A little less walking, but walking none the less.
Mile 20 9:18 - I actually ran an entire mile again.
Mile 21 12:00 - Emotionally it was really starting to get to me as I realized that the rest of the race was going to be like this.
Mile 22 12:32 - More walking.
Mile 23 13:33 - I started out this mile running for 4 minutes. When I stopped, I could barely walk. I was actually concerned that I might not finish for a minute. But I hobbled for a couple of minutes and it slowly started coming back.
Mile 24 14:41 - Much more walking then running.
Mile 25 11:52 - Was able to pull it back together a little knowing the end was near.
Mile 26.2 12:22 - Which equates to a 10:18 pace. Of course I pulled it together to run the last half and cross the finish line.

Total 4:16:18 46 minutes behind goal

There was a time during the collapse that I was so disappointed that I started thinking I might never run again. I have since regained my composure and I have chalked my poor time up to a few things. Lack of weekly mileage, which I will share more of in a future post (It was actually just my legs that kept me from doing well, I seemed to be in great cardio shape, and despite the side stitches I had over the last week of training, I did not have any during the marathon.). Lack of sleep. Starting out way too fast on a course that climbs 500 feet from miles 5-8. Not getting enough calories in before the run.

I am already ready to do another one and can't wait to get back out and running again. I will be running a fall marathon. I will break 3:30 easily next time. After this week, which I plan to take pretty easy, I will have 24 weeks to train. This time I will show some respect.

I want to say thank you to Tiffany, my wife, who has put up with a lot of early alarm clocks, a lot of long Saturday runs, and a lot of talk about running. She has been amazingly supportive and she makes chasing this dream possible.

57.5 hours to go!!!!!!!

It is almost here. I have to admit that I am feeling very scared and very unsure of myself. I have recently developed a horrible side stitch that has affected me on my last 4 runs. All of which would have led you to believe that I am not ready. Tomorrow morning is my last run before the big day. I am only running between 2-4 miles and I am hopping that it is really easy. I need something to bring my confidence level back up. I spent some time reflecting on my training log to help ease my mind and did notice that I have had several times when I was running really poorly and then out of nowhere I had a great run. I am really hopping that out of nowhere that great run is the marathon. I know this is only my first and I just want to enjoy the experience and learn as much from it as I can. I am still really hung up on finishing in less then 3:30:00, but want to start out really slow and build. I would rather run the entire way and finish in 3:39:00, then to start out strong, die and finish is 4 hours. I think for my mental state it is imperative that I start out at a pace that is so easy that is does not cause me any pain. If I can feel could through the first 8 miles then I think I will be ready to go mentally. Miles 5 through 8 take you up a pretty decent climb. This may be my last post before the big day but I will definitely be recapping marathon.

A Saturday Off?

Today was my first Saturday off since early January. Saturdays are my long runs to it was really weird not to run at all today. I am really taking advantage of this tapering thing.

I did however manage to get in a little exercise while running through the sprinkler with my daughter.

taking it easy

Today was just over 6 miles at a pace of 7:45 a mile. It felt really good. I just hope the first 6 miles of the marathon go as easy as today's run. There are only 11 days left until the marathon and I am planning to do mostly race pace running, or slower. I plan to get a decent amount of miles in over the next 5 or 6 days and then start cutting back.

I have started thinking a lot about my plan for the big day and the main thing I think I need to focus on is controlling the pace early on. No matter how good I am feeling early on I want to make sure that I do not run faster then 8 min miles for the first 16 to 18 miles. If I am still feeling good at that point we will just see what happens. I know I have no chance at breaking 3:30 if I have to walk at all so I have to make sure I go at a pace I can maintain. I also will not break 3:30 if I start out to slow, but I know that is not a problem. No matter how hard I try I can't seem to run any slower then 8 min miles. Tomorrow morning I am going to practice running slow for 9 miles, we will see how it goes.

Fear

A good dose of fear struck me this morning. I set out for an easy 10 miles. Leaving the house just before 6am it was dark, about 42 degrees, very damp, and winds at about 10 mph. My goal was to just keep it easy, running whatever felt comfortable. Pain radiated from my side before the first 1/2 mile was finished. This continued until the 8 mile mark where I conceded and began to walk. I ended up running at about an 8 min pace, which should be really comfortable for me but it just wasn't. I have days where I am really on and days when I am really off. The fear struck when I thought about the possibility of having one of those off days May 3rd. I will do my best to be rested and the rest...well I guess we will see.

Today's Run
8 Miles
1:04:00
8 Min Pace

Still pushing it

One of my fears during this process was that I would peak at some point and then give up. I would then run the entire marathon knowing that if it had been several weeks prior I would have done better. A lot about preparing for something like this is timing and perseverance. If you push too hard too soon you might not leave enough steam. Playing it safe could result in never getting into shape. So you have to try your best to push yourself hard, at an intensity you can maintain.

I have had some really good runs over the last month and I want to make sure that I continue to push hard and don't rest on the work I have already done. Today I set out for an easy run like usual and ended up pushing it pretty hard. I just kept telling myself that I needed to make it hurt to make sure that I was not just maintaining my current fitness but improving on it in the last 14 or 15 days before I begin to taper.

Today's Run:
6.16 miles
44:10
Pace 7:11

3 WEEKS TO GO!!!!

It is only three weeks until the marathon. I thought I was going to start feeling really nervous, but I am instead feeling really excited. I have put so much work into getting ready for this race and I am ready for it to be here.

I am not in as good of shape as I hoped to be. I could have gotten out of bed more. I could have kept going on runs were I stopped. I could have stuck to my plan more. I could have done more speed work and more intervals. I could have eaten better. I could have started all of this 10 years ago. I also could have given up on this silly dream, I didn't, for that I am grateful. Despite all of those things I am proud of myself. I ran through the winter. I have bounced back from several injuries, two of which I thought were the end of my running altogether. I

Yesterday I ran 17.7 miles very comfortably, at a pace that was slightly faster then my goal marathon pace. I have one more long run left slated for next Saturday. I hope to push it pretty hard the next two weeks and then really start to taper.

Day Number Twelve

Today was my 12th straight day of running. My legs felt pretty sluggish yesterday and today. I did some really serious hills yesterday and ran about 12.5 miles. Today I went out to run a really easy 5 to 8 miles, whatever felt good. Well, unfortunately nothing felt good. I felt slow the moment I left and it was hard the entire time. I told myself just to run really slow and try to enjoy it. Which is just what I thought I was doing.

At 53:35 I called it quits. I came inside and mapped the run. To my surprise it was 7.13 miles making it an average pace of 7:30. Well so much for taking it easy.

Tomorrow will be easy because it will be a forced day off. My wife is going out of town tonight in order to go to her uncles funeral. I am staying home with our daughter. Tomorrow morning Avery and I will be getting up early so I can drop her off at my sister's house while I go to work. Then I will pick her up after work and come home. The only way I could run would be to run tomorrow night and I don't run at night. I think it is probably time for a day off so I am just planning to enjoy it.

Today's Run:
7.13 Miles
53:35
Pace 7:30

WHAT!!!!!!!

So I set out for another mile repeat workout this morning. I had decided to take it slow but decrease the recovery time from 2 min to 1.5 min, to more closely immolate race conditions.. I had also decided to only run 5 of them and was going for a pace of about 7 flat.

The first half of each mile was in the wind so the second half felt amazing. After the first mile I looked down and my watch read 6:47. It felt really good so I decided to shoot for that pace. The next mile was 6:46. I was starting to loosen up and I was feeling good. The next mile was 6:29. Mile number 4 was 6:29 as well. With one mile to go I decided 5 was not enough. Since it was my seventh straight day of running I decided to celebrate with 7 mile repeats. Mile number 5 was 6:27, number 6 was 6:23, and number 7 was 6:03.

WHAT!! Where did that come from. This not taking a day off is going really well right now. My average pace was 6:29 and it felt really good. Needless to say I have completely gotten my motivation back. The hard part is going to be running easy tomorrow morning. I know I have a sub 3 hour marathon in me, its just a matter of time before it comes out.

Today's Run:
Mile Repeats with 1.5 min recovery
6:47
6:46
6:29
6:29
6:27
6:23
6:03

New milestone

Today was 7.3 miles easy at a little under 8 min pace. It was also my sixth straight day of running. Making it the 3rd time I have run six straight days in the last few months. However, I have yet to run more than six. Tomorrow will be that day, and I still have no plans of taking a day off.

Ups and downs

I feel like I have been up and down a lot lately and am really striving for some consistency. Today was my 5th straight day of running and I have no plans to take a day off anytime soon. There are times when the running is just not going like you think it should and it can become such a mental disappointment. My running means a lot to me, so when it is not going well it is tough to handle. I have spent many commutes back and forth to work pondering my lack of motivation when I know I love to run. Sometimes it just does not make sense. To make it even more confusing, it seems that I struggle with motivation when things are going well, then it is compounded when I take a few days off and then have a couple of bad days to boot. I had about a 10 day struggle that I finally broke through on Saturday. I am too embarrassed to share some of those bad days with you but would be happy to share what broke me through it.

As you may have gathered, my long runs are slated for Saturday's and yesterday was to be a shorter long run at 15 miles. My plan was to run a little under 8 min per mile. My record for a long run was a pace of 7:52. I looked down at my watch after the first mile and it read 8:30. Pretty far off the pace, but I was excited. It seems like most of my disappointing runs start with an over ambitious first mile. Not yesterday, I was taking it easy and it felt easy. I have discovered my body needs to get into a rhythm and I will naturally speed up. It truly is a natural and slow progression. It is not anything I need to plan or work on I just start running faster.

I would not know my pace until 4.5 miles in and was hoping to be close to the 8 min at that point making it 36 min. I came to the marker in about 35:30. I could not believe it I had already made up that first 30 second lag and then some, and felt great. It was not pressured, just fun and easy. The next time I would know my pace would be at 9 miles, so with my mind off of that for now I just enjoyed the run.

1:12 would be 8 min and I came in at around 1:09:30. I was now pacing around 7:43. I decided at this point to start pushing it a little. I would know my mile splits from here on out. I did not make it the entire 15 but stopped short at 14. However it still goes in the books as one of my best distance runs ever. The last 5 miles were as follows. 7:15,7:30,7:05,6:52,7:00. So the final 5 mile pace was 7:08. The pace for the entire run was 7:34 and I was really proud. That pace would deliver a marathon time of 3:18 and I am shooting for under 3:30. I still think I have a chance even after those 10 hard days.

Busy but doing great

I have been really busy and have really neglected my blog. Fortunately I have not neglected my running. Last week got off to a rough start but I ended up running 51.6 miles, and had 5 strait days of really good running. Two of the runs were particular highlights for me. Thursday I ran 6 mile splits averaging 6:43 with 2 minutes of rest between each mile. 6 is the most mile splits I have ever done. Saturday I ran 20 miles making that the longest run of my life. It felt really good and was a lot of fun. I actually looked at my watch 27 minutes into the run and thought it was going to be really tough to make it for 15 miles, fortunately it got easier and I made it for 20.

Today I ran 10 hard miles at a pace of 7:30. Things are going really well right now and I am hoping to keep it up. I also hope to be back on the blog again soon.

Oh and it was 43 degrees this morning...I am loving this warm weather.

Today's Run:
10 Miles
1:14:53
Pace 7:30

Are you kidding?

Well, I just can't seem to catch a break. Tuesday night I started to feel sick. I woke up Wednesday with a sore throat but ran anyway. That took me out for most of the day. I took Thursday and today off, which I am really upset about. I am not struggling with any pain or motivation and I got sick. To top it all off, it is going to be 55 degrees in the morning. That's right. I still don't feel great, but I am hopeful to get out there. I woke up the last two nights at 4am feeling like crap, so hopefully that won't happen tonight. I keep thinking, this is it, nothing else can get in the way of my running. I JUST WANT TO RUN.

I am still here

Well, last week was a tough one. I was dealing with some achilles pain and that led to low motivation. I only ran about 25 miles. This week is off to a much better start. My pain level is way down and I feel like I continue to dodge potential injuries. I must say that I am really tired of running in the cold however. Today it was 11 with a wind chill of -2. It is March and that is just way to cold. I think I would be running much faster if I could actually breath.

I do have one thing I need to get off my chest. As I was struggling to stay motivated I realized that part of the reason was a fear that I was not going to make my goal of sub 3:10. It just does not seem to be coming together fast enough for that. I have lowered my expectations drastically and will shoot for 3:30. It is my first marathon. For this one I just need to finish and have fun. I am already thinking about my second one and perhaps that one can be sub 3:10.

Today's run:
8.3 miles
1:05:08

Last week

Today was 5 mile repeats. 7:05, 6:33, 6:43, 6:40, 6:40. I think mile repeats is a really good workout. It gets the body used to running at a faster speed. I know my training has lacked speed work so I thought I would try to start throwing more in. I took 2 minutes to rest between each mile. I would like to build to doing 8 to 10 of those but I should probably slow them down a bit to right around 7:00.

I forgot to post my mileage for last week. It was 50.8. Hopefully this week will be another 50+ mile week.

New Record

Today I set out for a new record. I wanted to run 18 miles and gave myself 2 hours and 35 minutes to accomplish this task. Our daughter is staying the weekend with her grandma and papa so I changed up my schedule for Saturday morning a little bit. Tiffany and I had decided it would make more since for me to run during his morning nap while she got ready. So instead of getting up to run we went to McDonald's for breakfast. I have been eating pretty healthy recently and this did not fit into that plan, but it was good. Two sausage egg cheese biscuits and a hash brown and I was full.

After getting back I sort of mapped out my run and Tyson went down for his nap. It was about 34 degrees with 15 to 20 mph winds. The weather was not perfect but it could have been worse. My route took me all through the country around us. At just over an hour I ate a powerbar gel, which I must say really did the trick. I was feeling really good until about 2 hours and 10 minutes when it starting getting pretty rough. I made it until 2 hours and 29 minutes.

After getting home I got some quick food, an orange and drank a bunch of water. I then sat down to figure out how long the run was on mapmyrun.com. I was really scared that I had not run the full 18 since I stopped 6 minutes short. 18.53 was the final count and I was very pleased.

Today's run:
18.53 Miles
2 hours 29 minutes
8:03 Pace

hip update

A few people commented about the hip, so I thought I would mention the status. I iced last night for 20 minutes and this mornings run was nothing more than an little muscle pain. It probably wasn't the smartest thing to run the mile tonight but I'm feeling pretty good.

When It's No Fun

After 4 straight sluggish days, I set out for the fifth straight day. There are days where it just doesn't seem to be working. Runs that should be easy are amazingly difficult. Every step is a struggle and it's just no fun. Today was not one of those days. The nice thing about those sluggish days is that it really makes you appreciate the good days like today. Today I felt lighter, faster, and stronger. I ran 6 miles ending it with a nice fun 6:26 mile.

Tonight after putting my daughter to bed, I decided to get in another fun run. I have not run a timed mile in a long time and just wanted to see what I had in me. I set out to break 5:37 and came back with 5:27. I've been chasing the infamous sub 5 minute mile for a long time and guess I will have to keep chasing. Sub 5 minute mile, if you are listening, I'm coming and there's no place you can hide.

Todays runs:
6 miles
44:16
pace 7:22

1 mile
5:27

Making it work

For about a week I have been struggling with a sore ankle. Once again it is just a surface level injury. The outside of my left shoes have been poking repeatedly at my ankle bone and has caused me to have a sort of stone bruise. Yesterday morning the beginning of my run was excruciating. Each step sent a stabbing pain through my leg and foot.

As I was thinking about what to do, I decided to take an old shoe and cut the part of the shoe that was hitting my ankle. This morning I laced them up and went for my run. I am happy to say it went perfectly. I think a few days like that and I might be able to wear my shoes that are whole again.

I am also dealing with another nagging problem. Since early last week my left hip has been bugging me. During my long run it was really bad right at the beginning but seemed to get better. This morning I did not notice it much but during the day today it has been touch and go. Sometimes it feels like it is going to give out on me when I put weight on it. I had not planned to take another day off until Friday, but I will have to play that by ear. The thing that is really bothering me is that I think this all started when I pushed it so hard during the last Monday challenge. Sometimes I just don't know when to stop. I keep learning from my mistakes. Hopefully this will not slow me down by much.

Another long run in the books

Today's long run was a little disappointing after last weeks run. This week was only 13.55 miles and the pace was 8:19. It was tough from the start. My right hip was popping, something that concerned me because that has been the source of a previous injury. My hip got better, but I felt sluggish most of the run. On a positive note, I logged another long run and I did it on a very hilly course.

For the first time, I tried one of those gels during my run. The best way to describe it was a cross between tooth paste and yogurt. With that said, it really wasn't too bad and I definitely think it helped give me some fuel to keep me going. I also probably drank 14 to 16 oz. of water, through my camelbak. I often wonder what cars passing by think of the blue straw sticking out of my jacket.

I have been having conflicting thoughts about the upcoming Monday challenge. This week it went really well, but I paid for it later. The next day I ran 7 easy miles and felt pretty good, but later that day my calves just locked up and my hips were pretty sore. I had to take the day after that off. I want to really push the pace a couple of times a week, but I don't want to push myself right into an injury. I must say that I am also pretty sick of the treadmill and really enjoy the runs outside. I try my best to adapt my training as I go and I think I might need to forgo this weeks Monday challenge to keep moving in the right direction. If I workout so hard one day that I have to take an unplanned day off, which is what happened this week, then I don't think it is worth it. I think what I really need to focus on is some consistency.

Today's Run:
13.55 miles
1:52:40
Pace 8:19 (slow)

Week total:
38.8