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!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
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.
Sunday, March 29, 2009
First Ever 20 Miler...and 21, 22, 23, & 24 !!!
Wow, what a feeling to have a great day running. I was scheduled to run 16 - 18 for my long run this weekend. This was the absolute last chance to get my marathon schedule back on track. I was sort of dreading the whole thing. The last week or more I've been making plans on pushing the marathon back to the fall and focusing my spring season on a few PR attempts. But then there's days like today!
Big SHOUT OUT to my buddy Ray for pacing me on the first 6 miles. That sensible steady pace was a big part of feeling good for so many miles. As the miles went down I just felt fine and kept going & going. Amazing. I know I'll be paying for the effort over the next few days...thinking that the recovery may take 7-10 days or more. I can work with that. At the moment the worst of it seems to be general swelling/soreness in the R knee and the big toes on both feet took a brutal beating (both were already blackened from the half marathon). I was feeling a lot of tightness/strain the calves & arch/plantar areas, so we'll keep on eye on that.
The total time was 3:29 and change. Just happens to be under the BQ standard for me. Now I just have to figure a way to run an extra 2.2 miles inthe same time and I'll be all set. More details later, right now I've got to take a nap so I can get up in time to see the Tar Heels later this afternoon.
Later today: log into Vermont City Marathon website and register for the racE!
Big SHOUT OUT to my buddy Ray for pacing me on the first 6 miles. That sensible steady pace was a big part of feeling good for so many miles. As the miles went down I just felt fine and kept going & going. Amazing. I know I'll be paying for the effort over the next few days...thinking that the recovery may take 7-10 days or more. I can work with that. At the moment the worst of it seems to be general swelling/soreness in the R knee and the big toes on both feet took a brutal beating (both were already blackened from the half marathon). I was feeling a lot of tightness/strain the calves & arch/plantar areas, so we'll keep on eye on that.
The total time was 3:29 and change. Just happens to be under the BQ standard for me. Now I just have to figure a way to run an extra 2.2 miles inthe same time and I'll be all set. More details later, right now I've got to take a nap so I can get up in time to see the Tar Heels later this afternoon.
Later today: log into Vermont City Marathon website and register for the racE!
Friday, March 27, 2009
Power Surge
Today's schedule called for easy 4 miles, decided to do it on the treadmill so that I'd be sure to get a good stretch afterward. And stop for a big salad on the way back home.
About 10 or 12 minutes into the run I was feeling a ton of energy coming on. Weird - no tiredness left from C.R. now. And the tempo run on Wednesday somehow re-energized me. tried to contain my enthusiasm, but decided I could afford to do one fast one. Mile 3 = 6:30 and I was really wanting to do more but managed to slow it down and then also just do one more (total of 4). Stretch & no wts.
Feeling very good. But the real test is this Sunday. Got to do a 16 miler, better if I go the full 18 (or more?).
About 10 or 12 minutes into the run I was feeling a ton of energy coming on. Weird - no tiredness left from C.R. now. And the tempo run on Wednesday somehow re-energized me. tried to contain my enthusiasm, but decided I could afford to do one fast one. Mile 3 = 6:30 and I was really wanting to do more but managed to slow it down and then also just do one more (total of 4). Stretch & no wts.
Feeling very good. But the real test is this Sunday. Got to do a 16 miler, better if I go the full 18 (or more?).
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Tempo Wednesday
Mid week works good for me to do my tempo runs. This was my key workout last year when gearing up for PR's.
The last chance for the spring marathon is this weekend's long run. It will have to go really very well for me to sign up for the marathon. VCMarathon is 60 days from today. Not a lot of time. I'm figuring that the dream is to be postponed to the fall season. Therefore I'm thinking about a half marathon PR attempt on April 26th, and a 5k PR attempt in May before the heat & humidity hits.
Thus the weekly tempo run has got to be implemented. Today was total 5 miles, 1 warm-up & 1 cool-down. The 3 in the middle were at 7:00 and felt not so bad. Next week I'll either add a forth, or cut the pace to 6:50 - or both if I'm feeling it. The first 10 mins definitely felt tougher than the last 10, so maybe I should do a longer w-up...may try that next week. I felt light on my feet when I stepped off the wheel - only a bit high, but a notable floating sensation. So I've got that at least, which is nice.
Generally, I'm feeling much better. The beating i took from the half marathon is finally healed... very long recovery this time. Nip is still tender, but much better. Weird how it's just the one side, I wonder if I run leaning to one side?? Diet news: the past 2 days have been good. The first back to back days since last fall. So far today I'm good too, just have to get thru dinner somehow!
The last chance for the spring marathon is this weekend's long run. It will have to go really very well for me to sign up for the marathon. VCMarathon is 60 days from today. Not a lot of time. I'm figuring that the dream is to be postponed to the fall season. Therefore I'm thinking about a half marathon PR attempt on April 26th, and a 5k PR attempt in May before the heat & humidity hits.
Thus the weekly tempo run has got to be implemented. Today was total 5 miles, 1 warm-up & 1 cool-down. The 3 in the middle were at 7:00 and felt not so bad. Next week I'll either add a forth, or cut the pace to 6:50 - or both if I'm feeling it. The first 10 mins definitely felt tougher than the last 10, so maybe I should do a longer w-up...may try that next week. I felt light on my feet when I stepped off the wheel - only a bit high, but a notable floating sensation. So I've got that at least, which is nice.
Generally, I'm feeling much better. The beating i took from the half marathon is finally healed... very long recovery this time. Nip is still tender, but much better. Weird how it's just the one side, I wonder if I run leaning to one side?? Diet news: the past 2 days have been good. The first back to back days since last fall. So far today I'm good too, just have to get thru dinner somehow!
Monday, March 23, 2009
Bluebird Run
I wanted to run trails today so that I could re-visit the "treasure hunt" location that my son & I found yesterday. More on that in a minute. Great weather, clear blue 'Carolina' sky, 12 noon, 45 degrees. Started from the trail head at Garden of Eden Rd. Took the first left so I could go up & over the mtn bike ramp - i dig cheap thrills!
I hit the correct turn off today for the R down tot he river. I've missed this several times over the winter ending up on the new gravel bike path which I don't like at all; however, the steeper downhill of this trail was interesting with lots of leaves covering it. At river road started towards Adam's dam first, then back upstream to Thompson's bridge. At the open meadow area near Adam's I saw what at first looked like a blue jay. But upon closer look it was a bluebird. Two in fact, flying together zig-zigging across my path in the bright sunshine. Very nice. Beautiful bright feathers, I suppose they're looking for a nesting sight along in there someplace...would be nice if somebody put a few boxes in there - I know they have numerous boxes on the other side of the river in the open fields.
The rest of the run: hawk flying above ridge over pine grove, same place i've seen before. A dead snake with head missing in Rocky Run meadow north. I moved it upside down into middle of trail...maybe a vulture will see it. But then further up the trail a dog off it's leash momentarily slowed me. I felt like spitting on the owner when he said "don't worry, he won't bite." F*ck these selfish bastards that let their dogs crap all over our park and interfere with other people's trail use.
Near the end of the run I detoured to the treasure area. I spent about 10 minutes re-inspecting the box & searching the nearby area for the addt'l boxes. Woods very quite. I hid the box a bit better so that it's still visible but you'll have to look more. I've found out that this is not actually a Geocache but rather it's a Letterbox. Who would know that? Only the folks that play these games. A nice Geocache lady, Michelle, told me to check the other website when there was no record of our box. Another nice lady, Suzanne, confirmed that the box is hers. It's one of four, plus the clues to bonus boxes - you have to get all 4 clues to figure location. Fun stuff, but a little pointless. I may take the boys back this weekend to search for the other boxes. Weekends have gotten soooo busy lately with little league practice, soccer, cub scouts, tennis, and I had races the last 2 weeks. You can read all about our "Into the Woods box #2" here.
I hit the correct turn off today for the R down tot he river. I've missed this several times over the winter ending up on the new gravel bike path which I don't like at all; however, the steeper downhill of this trail was interesting with lots of leaves covering it. At river road started towards Adam's dam first, then back upstream to Thompson's bridge. At the open meadow area near Adam's I saw what at first looked like a blue jay. But upon closer look it was a bluebird. Two in fact, flying together zig-zigging across my path in the bright sunshine. Very nice. Beautiful bright feathers, I suppose they're looking for a nesting sight along in there someplace...would be nice if somebody put a few boxes in there - I know they have numerous boxes on the other side of the river in the open fields.
The rest of the run: hawk flying above ridge over pine grove, same place i've seen before. A dead snake with head missing in Rocky Run meadow north. I moved it upside down into middle of trail...maybe a vulture will see it. But then further up the trail a dog off it's leash momentarily slowed me. I felt like spitting on the owner when he said "don't worry, he won't bite." F*ck these selfish bastards that let their dogs crap all over our park and interfere with other people's trail use.
Near the end of the run I detoured to the treasure area. I spent about 10 minutes re-inspecting the box & searching the nearby area for the addt'l boxes. Woods very quite. I hid the box a bit better so that it's still visible but you'll have to look more. I've found out that this is not actually a Geocache but rather it's a Letterbox. Who would know that? Only the folks that play these games. A nice Geocache lady, Michelle, told me to check the other website when there was no record of our box. Another nice lady, Suzanne, confirmed that the box is hers. It's one of four, plus the clues to bonus boxes - you have to get all 4 clues to figure location. Fun stuff, but a little pointless. I may take the boys back this weekend to search for the other boxes. Weekends have gotten soooo busy lately with little league practice, soccer, cub scouts, tennis, and I had races the last 2 weeks. You can read all about our "Into the Woods box #2" here.
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