Wednesday, October 21, 2009
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.
Monday, October 19, 2009
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.
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.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
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.
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.
Monday, October 12, 2009
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.
Saturday, October 3, 2009
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
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
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