I skipped my run today because I've been bothered for a few days with some pain in my left hip area. Pretty sure this is related to playing tennis with my sons on Sunday evening. We had fun hitting the ball around, but I'm not used to the sprint-pivot-reach type of movements compared to running. The pain is right in the ball 'n socket joint area...probably some inflammation. I've felt this pain (rarely) before but not since a long time.
I'm hopeful that this will be resolved in another day or two so that my scheduled 20 miler (Sunday) will be a go. This is actually the Broad Street Run 10 mile race, but I'm going to park at the finish, run up to the start, and then race back down again. My plan is 8:45 pace first 10, and then 8:00 pace for the second 10. This will be much much slower than last year, but it's all about the longer goal now.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Monday, April 27, 2009
Ten Miles - Hot Trails
My legs are pretty sore from yesterday's 10 miles on the trails in B.C.S.P. Very hot temps for this time of year. I'm thinking that will help get me ready for any race day weather up in Vermont. I carried some water & CarbBoom, plus stopped back at the car when ran dry. The woods themself were rather uneventful. No wildlife of note. Heard the friendly calls of Blue Jays & Piliated Woodpeckers, but never actually saw any. The Bluebirds weren't in the small meadow - and I was looking for them. The park service needs to add some nesting boxes at this location to attract these colorful little guys. No snakes, turtles, frogs. Plenty of fishermen in the small stream by the road - this was stocked a few weeks back. Wonder if any trout still swim there now? Doubtful. On first sight of the Brandywine I remembered the last visit here (has it been 6 wks?) when the river was frozen almost entirely with just the center channel still moving. Then it was frigid and distant. Now it looks refreshingly cool & inviting. A few men in waders in out in the current...but trout aren't stocked here so the fishing poles per water area ratio is dramatically different than the small stream.
This was the last trail run prior to the marathon. I almost bought the farm on the fast downhill section along Rocky's Run. It's fun counting down the last this, the last that. It's exactly 4 weeks to marathon day! One more 20 miler, a few weeks of taper. One very long day of car drives & seeing old friends. And then BAM - waking up at 5:30 in strange hotel room (it better be nice)...finding the best parking lot (no time to scout around the night before)...picking up my race packet on marathon morning (7 a.m. cut off with race starting at 8:05). I can sense that it's going to be a hectic & stressful 24 hours leading up to the gun. I'll just have to rest as best I can. Hydrate, carbo load, etc.
Yes, I've been totally out of blog postings for about 3 weeks. I'm committed to some catch up and definitely staying current from here on out!
This was the last trail run prior to the marathon. I almost bought the farm on the fast downhill section along Rocky's Run. It's fun counting down the last this, the last that. It's exactly 4 weeks to marathon day! One more 20 miler, a few weeks of taper. One very long day of car drives & seeing old friends. And then BAM - waking up at 5:30 in strange hotel room (it better be nice)...finding the best parking lot (no time to scout around the night before)...picking up my race packet on marathon morning (7 a.m. cut off with race starting at 8:05). I can sense that it's going to be a hectic & stressful 24 hours leading up to the gun. I'll just have to rest as best I can. Hydrate, carbo load, etc.
Yes, I've been totally out of blog postings for about 3 weeks. I'm committed to some catch up and definitely staying current from here on out!
Friday, April 3, 2009
March '09 review
If you had asked me mid-month how was the marathon training going in March, chances are you'd have gotten a negative response. As late as the 25th I was making plans to abandon the spring marathon, find a fall target instead, and try to do something different with the remainder of the spring season. But it all turned around by the end of the month. Now I have finally found confidence that I can & will finish a marathon this spring season.
March 2009:
I had set the bar pretty damn high for March's goals: 100 miles total, with a long run of 15 and 16. Lose 5 pounds of fat. Make decision to register for VCM or postpone to the fall.
Total miles: 88 (that's 4 & half weeks)Avg. = 19.5 per week. 3rd month of weekly avg. increase and 88 is my highest month in several years.
Races: Haddonfield 5k - reasonably sucessful. Caesar Roday 1/2 marathon - very painful, difficult effort. Discovered that my fitness level isn't where I thought it might be. The time was within my goal range, but I just plain went out too fast and suffered mightily during the last few miles.
Long runs= 1x 15 miles & 1x 24 miles. 24 is my longest run ever by far. Convinced me that i can do a marathon with correct pacing.
Highlites: a couple of trail runs; a couple of USATF races; and that 24 miler will stick in my mind as one of my best runs ever of all time. Injuries are gone although i still feel nagging pains once in a while. Note: I didn't lose any weight, might have gained one pound.
April goals: I need to do 2 more 20 milers to be 100% ready for the marathon. Be smart about recovery, racing, diet. Must lose at least a few pounds. 100 miles total goal.
March 2009:
I had set the bar pretty damn high for March's goals: 100 miles total, with a long run of 15 and 16. Lose 5 pounds of fat. Make decision to register for VCM or postpone to the fall.
Total miles: 88 (that's 4 & half weeks)Avg. = 19.5 per week. 3rd month of weekly avg. increase and 88 is my highest month in several years.
Races: Haddonfield 5k - reasonably sucessful. Caesar Roday 1/2 marathon - very painful, difficult effort. Discovered that my fitness level isn't where I thought it might be. The time was within my goal range, but I just plain went out too fast and suffered mightily during the last few miles.
Long runs= 1x 15 miles & 1x 24 miles. 24 is my longest run ever by far. Convinced me that i can do a marathon with correct pacing.
Highlites: a couple of trail runs; a couple of USATF races; and that 24 miler will stick in my mind as one of my best runs ever of all time. Injuries are gone although i still feel nagging pains once in a while. Note: I didn't lose any weight, might have gained one pound.
April goals: I need to do 2 more 20 milers to be 100% ready for the marathon. Be smart about recovery, racing, diet. Must lose at least a few pounds. 100 miles total goal.
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Junk Miles
I really don't subscribe to the concept of just running miles for their own sake. I've always favored intensity over total mileage. But today's workout felt like "fluff". Just some miles to write down on the training log to say "I ran something today." Legs still achy from long run. Toes still sore, gonna lose that one toenail for sure.
This is really more of a running journal entry than a blog posting: 5 miles easy on the treadmill at 8:30 pace. Nothing much happening. Buddy Chris at the Y may run the Lewes 1/2 - I want to do that race too, but it really doesn't fit into the marathon game plan.
Must drop about 5 pounds before the race. Got to get serious about diet.
This is really more of a running journal entry than a blog posting: 5 miles easy on the treadmill at 8:30 pace. Nothing much happening. Buddy Chris at the Y may run the Lewes 1/2 - I want to do that race too, but it really doesn't fit into the marathon game plan.
Must drop about 5 pounds before the race. Got to get serious about diet.
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
VCM Here I Come!
Well I finally paid the entry fee for my marathon. Almost too late, the race is like 89% sold out. I scanned through the registration list, there's not many folks from Del.
The only issue I see on the trip is that packet pick-up ends at 7 p.m. Saturday night, and I'll almost certainly be arriving later than that. The race day pick-up is until 7 a.m., with the start time 8 a.m. The pick-up looks to be about a half mile from the start area... sooooo, that will take some running around to make it work, but it's doable.
There's no way out now, I have a strong track record of running once I've paid the fee. I'm feeling pretty good about that!
The only issue I see on the trip is that packet pick-up ends at 7 p.m. Saturday night, and I'll almost certainly be arriving later than that. The race day pick-up is until 7 a.m., with the start time 8 a.m. The pick-up looks to be about a half mile from the start area... sooooo, that will take some running around to make it work, but it's doable.
There's no way out now, I have a strong track record of running once I've paid the fee. I'm feeling pretty good about that!
2 Miles to shake out the legs
Tried to run a few today, but really feeling sluggish. Wrote it down in the training log as 2 on the treadmill, had hoped for 4. Did a good stretch afterwards, stayed away from the weights but had the urge to go over there - which hasn't hit me in a while.
Pigged out on way too much for lunch & dinner. Not good. Tomorrow I start that diet for real. I've got to lose weight before the marathon. 55 days to race day!
Pigged out on way too much for lunch & dinner. Not good. Tomorrow I start that diet for real. I've got to lose weight before the marathon. 55 days to race day!
Monday, March 30, 2009
Legs = not bad
I was expecting my legs to be in rough shape today, but they're really not too bad. I was worse off than this 2 weeks ago after the Caesar Rodney half marathon. I'll head into the gym Tuesday for a few easy treadmill miles & stretch.
Here's the run-down on yesterday's effort, overall it's 24 miles @ 8:45 pace:
Ate good carbs Sat. nite, and got a good nite's sleep. Woke up to some caffeine, a dump, a shower, a Gu packet, and drinking half a bottle of water. Decided to def wear the new Brooks Glycerin's - hell it's the first time ever spending over $100 on shoes so I'd better put them to the test. They passed with flying colors! Greased up the toes pretty well, small concern about new shoes, have only run in them once, and wore them around the house a half day once also. I set out a whole smorgasbord on the bench on the front porch. If I hadn't already fallen behind schedule I would've taken a picture to post here. Several waters, Gatorades, Gu's, cereal bars and new pouch of trail mix. I was supposed to meet my neighbor in front of his house at 8... was about 10 mins. after when I got there (about a block & a half).
It was awesome to have somebody to to run with - thanks again to Ray for pacing me to a conversational pace for the first 6 miles. One of my big faults is going out too fast, and this long run seriously emphasized this error. These early miles went down smooth & easy:
1. 9:30
2. 9:07 - 18:37
3. 8:55 - 27:32
4. 8:43 - 36:15
5. 9:43 - 45:58
6. 8:53 - 54:51
That mile #5 included a 45 second walk/break for a Gu packet & water. I left Ray after #6 and tried to pick up the pace right away, although then the next mile has a significant uphill. The rain had started up again (beginning was wet but only foggy, not actually raining in early miles). All these middle miles were enjoyable; my confidence was building as each mile passed:
7. 8:35 - 1:03:26
8. 8:45 - 1:12:11
9. 8:05 - 1:20:16
10. 9:15 - 1:29:31
11. 8:42 - 1:38:13
12. 8:10 - 1:46:23
13. 8:36 - 1:54:59
14. 8:01 - 2:03:00
15. 8:45 - 2:11:45
16. 9:15 - 2:21:00
17. 8:01 - 2:29:01
18. 8:00 - 2:37:01
Miles # 10 & 16 each included about 45 seconds for water & Gu & about 1/3 of of cereal bar. I'm wondering how much credit to give these walk breaks which were timed to each loop around back to pass my house. Of course I've heard of the run/walk philosophy, which I've always thought that it's just not for me, so how might help could those breaks provide? I will have to experiment with this further in the next weeks/months prior to the marathon day. I also popped inside to grab a towel to dry my glasses, which at this point I could barely see thru the rain. The weather varied between mist/ light rain/ fog and the temp was either slowly climbing or my own exertion was beginning to send me thru cycles of too warm (take gloves off) then too cold (retrieve gloves, put back on). I only carried one Gu at a time, since I had the supply on the porch, so I had plenty of pocket room for gloves.
This next section I began to feel fatigue setting in, but was able to mostly hold pace and push thru. Every small uphill felt like it was taking something measurable out of me. My calves felt very heavy & tight on these uphill stretches. But after a few minutes on the flat or downhill I recovered. Also my right plantar/arch area was feeling pain off & on. My index toes on both feet were obviously taking a pounding...and they hadn't fully recovered from the C.R. half yet. Someplace around 17 or 18 I had to stop and loosen the laces on my right shoe because my feet were swelling and the right was becoming uncomfortable. Here's the final splits:
19. 8:31 - 2:45:32
20. 8:21 - 2:53:53
21. 9:25 - 3:03:18
22. 9:02 - 3:12:20
23. 8:25 - 3:20:45
24. 8:24 - 3:29:09
Mile #21 had the walk/Gu/drink break. Actually, this was a funny one. As I come to the porch a squirrel runs away and I didn't think much of it. But I knew there was no more Gu's out, so I was planning on the remainder of cereal bar and a handful of dried fruits from the trail mix (planned to pick out the nuts because i don't think they would sit well). So I reach for the cereal bar, and it's not there! And the trail mix is all torn open and spilled out... Apparently that squirrel had one hell of an awesome Sunday brunch on my front porch! I did see the cereal bar wrapper in the mulch down by the steps. I headed right inside to grab another Gu. So I never did test the dried fruit, will attempt that on a future workout. My kids already know that dad has a running battle with the squirrels, so this only adds fuel to the situation. Lately it's not been so bad, but about 2 years ago we were totally overrun with the critters. We had trapped and released about a dozen - moved over to the state park about a mile away.
Anyway, all during these last miles I was trying to do the mental math to figure 'What's my pace' and 'How far should I try for' and etc. I debated stopping at 21, and then again at 22. I considered going for the full 26 too. But in the end I settled on 24 because I had calculated that the total time would equal the BQ standard for my age= M45 is 3:30:59. So I was 2.2 miles short, and if I subtract out the walk breaks 3 mins + under time of about 1:45... bottom line is that I need to run 30 secs. per mile faster to BQ. That seems like a tall order especially given that the most important lesson learned here is to go out easy for the first miles. Unless some future training sessions indicate I can go faster, I'm giving up the BQ dream for this first marathon and will set the goal at 3:40 - 3:45 range instead.
Damn, that's a long list of mile splits! I've been eating anything & everything since finishing yestserday's long run. We'll see the bottom line about that tomorrow on the scale at the Y.
Here's the run-down on yesterday's effort, overall it's 24 miles @ 8:45 pace:
Ate good carbs Sat. nite, and got a good nite's sleep. Woke up to some caffeine, a dump, a shower, a Gu packet, and drinking half a bottle of water. Decided to def wear the new Brooks Glycerin's - hell it's the first time ever spending over $100 on shoes so I'd better put them to the test. They passed with flying colors! Greased up the toes pretty well, small concern about new shoes, have only run in them once, and wore them around the house a half day once also. I set out a whole smorgasbord on the bench on the front porch. If I hadn't already fallen behind schedule I would've taken a picture to post here. Several waters, Gatorades, Gu's, cereal bars and new pouch of trail mix. I was supposed to meet my neighbor in front of his house at 8... was about 10 mins. after when I got there (about a block & a half).
It was awesome to have somebody to to run with - thanks again to Ray for pacing me to a conversational pace for the first 6 miles. One of my big faults is going out too fast, and this long run seriously emphasized this error. These early miles went down smooth & easy:
1. 9:30
2. 9:07 - 18:37
3. 8:55 - 27:32
4. 8:43 - 36:15
5. 9:43 - 45:58
6. 8:53 - 54:51
That mile #5 included a 45 second walk/break for a Gu packet & water. I left Ray after #6 and tried to pick up the pace right away, although then the next mile has a significant uphill. The rain had started up again (beginning was wet but only foggy, not actually raining in early miles). All these middle miles were enjoyable; my confidence was building as each mile passed:
7. 8:35 - 1:03:26
8. 8:45 - 1:12:11
9. 8:05 - 1:20:16
10. 9:15 - 1:29:31
11. 8:42 - 1:38:13
12. 8:10 - 1:46:23
13. 8:36 - 1:54:59
14. 8:01 - 2:03:00
15. 8:45 - 2:11:45
16. 9:15 - 2:21:00
17. 8:01 - 2:29:01
18. 8:00 - 2:37:01
Miles # 10 & 16 each included about 45 seconds for water & Gu & about 1/3 of of cereal bar. I'm wondering how much credit to give these walk breaks which were timed to each loop around back to pass my house. Of course I've heard of the run/walk philosophy, which I've always thought that it's just not for me, so how might help could those breaks provide? I will have to experiment with this further in the next weeks/months prior to the marathon day. I also popped inside to grab a towel to dry my glasses, which at this point I could barely see thru the rain. The weather varied between mist/ light rain/ fog and the temp was either slowly climbing or my own exertion was beginning to send me thru cycles of too warm (take gloves off) then too cold (retrieve gloves, put back on). I only carried one Gu at a time, since I had the supply on the porch, so I had plenty of pocket room for gloves.
This next section I began to feel fatigue setting in, but was able to mostly hold pace and push thru. Every small uphill felt like it was taking something measurable out of me. My calves felt very heavy & tight on these uphill stretches. But after a few minutes on the flat or downhill I recovered. Also my right plantar/arch area was feeling pain off & on. My index toes on both feet were obviously taking a pounding...and they hadn't fully recovered from the C.R. half yet. Someplace around 17 or 18 I had to stop and loosen the laces on my right shoe because my feet were swelling and the right was becoming uncomfortable. Here's the final splits:
19. 8:31 - 2:45:32
20. 8:21 - 2:53:53
21. 9:25 - 3:03:18
22. 9:02 - 3:12:20
23. 8:25 - 3:20:45
24. 8:24 - 3:29:09
Mile #21 had the walk/Gu/drink break. Actually, this was a funny one. As I come to the porch a squirrel runs away and I didn't think much of it. But I knew there was no more Gu's out, so I was planning on the remainder of cereal bar and a handful of dried fruits from the trail mix (planned to pick out the nuts because i don't think they would sit well). So I reach for the cereal bar, and it's not there! And the trail mix is all torn open and spilled out... Apparently that squirrel had one hell of an awesome Sunday brunch on my front porch! I did see the cereal bar wrapper in the mulch down by the steps. I headed right inside to grab another Gu. So I never did test the dried fruit, will attempt that on a future workout. My kids already know that dad has a running battle with the squirrels, so this only adds fuel to the situation. Lately it's not been so bad, but about 2 years ago we were totally overrun with the critters. We had trapped and released about a dozen - moved over to the state park about a mile away.
Anyway, all during these last miles I was trying to do the mental math to figure 'What's my pace' and 'How far should I try for' and etc. I debated stopping at 21, and then again at 22. I considered going for the full 26 too. But in the end I settled on 24 because I had calculated that the total time would equal the BQ standard for my age= M45 is 3:30:59. So I was 2.2 miles short, and if I subtract out the walk breaks 3 mins + under time of about 1:45... bottom line is that I need to run 30 secs. per mile faster to BQ. That seems like a tall order especially given that the most important lesson learned here is to go out easy for the first miles. Unless some future training sessions indicate I can go faster, I'm giving up the BQ dream for this first marathon and will set the goal at 3:40 - 3:45 range instead.
Damn, that's a long list of mile splits! I've been eating anything & everything since finishing yestserday's long run. We'll see the bottom line about that tomorrow on the scale at the Y.
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