Rocket City Marathon Training

The Daily Battle

2012-01-24T10:53:00.001-06:00

Some days, just getting out the door is a battle. I love to run. I love to run fast. I love to run easy miles. I love to run alone. I love to run with friends. I love tempo runs. I love long runs. I love races. So, why is getting out the door a battle? Someone please tell me.

As a side note, the streak is over. It doesn't really bother me, either. I don't think I'm a candidate for a long running streak. I just have too much other stuff going on and I do like an occasional day off. I say that I like a day off, but I always find myself wishing I had run on days that I take off. Anyway...

Back to the out the door thing... This morning, I had to drag myself out of bed. Then, I got dressed and laced up my racing flats for some work on the track. There were at least three different times that I had to talk myself into leaving after I was dressed and ready. I just didn't want to walk out the door and take the first few steps. Finally, after wasting 15 minutes doing nothing but deciding whether or not I would run this morning, I hit the road and ran to the Athens High track.

This is how quickly things change. The schedule called for 6x1000m repeats at 5k pace. After the 3rd one, I was thinking, "Wow, this feels good. I like this. It's hard, but fun." After the 5th one I was thinking, "Really, do I only have one more to do? Maybe I should do 8 instead of 6." After the 6th and final one, I thought, "I'd love to do 2 or 3 more, but I'm out of time. I wish I hadn't wasted so much time talking myself into leaving this morning." How does one's mindset change so quickly? Oh yeah, 3:36, 3:32, 3:32, 3:33, 3:33, 3:26.

It's probably a good thing that I didn't do any extra. There's a small race this weekend, you know.

Seven Weeks

2012-01-17T14:02:00.001-06:00

It's a little hard for me to believe that I only have 7 weeks left to prepare for the Albany Marathon. I'm excited. I'm nervous already. I really want to break 3 hours. I believe I'm in that kind of shape, but I have doubts. I've had about as close to a perfect training schedule as I could have had. I've hit almost all of my workouts. I've avoided injury. I've avoided illness. I've been able to do doubles. I've adhered to the recovery weeks in my schedule.

But... 6:50 per mile still seems fast to me. How do I get over that? Saturday, I did a 20 miler with 10 miles at marathon pace. I kept most of the miles in the 6:46 to 6:49 range. But a couple crept up to 6:56 and 6:57. It was such a struggle during the 19th mile. Granted, that run put me just over 80 miles for the week, so I was running on tired legs. But shouldn't 6:50 feel easier than that? I just don't know.

Today I did the "easy" track workout. It's a 5x600m workout. It's easy enough to not wipe me out for the next day, but hard enough that I can't mail it in. I have to focus and finish. I did 2:09, 2:08, 2:05, 2:05, and 2:03. It felt great, and if I had time, I would have done 3 or 4 more even though the schedule called for only 5. Tomorrow calls for 15 miles. I'll try to do 10 or so of those at marathon pace. I have to get to where 6:50 feels something close to comfortable.

Confidence Ebbs and Flows

2012-01-10T15:35:00.001-06:00

I had a bad workout about 3 weeks ago. That combined with not much fast running had caused my confidence to ebb just a bit. After the RFH 50k and a good track workout and today's tempo run, my confidence is flowing again. I hope to ride this flow for the next 8 weeks through Mountain Mist to the Albany Marathon.

Last week's workouts were 6x800m at 5k pace (2:47, 2:49, 2:47; 2:46; 2:47, 2:44) on Tuesday. I followed that with repeats of Waterline on Thursday, then did some quarter mile hill repeats on Friday. I probably should not have done those hills on Friday, but the group was doing hills, and I let peer pressure get the better of me.

Today, I got revenge on the last poor tempo workout. The schedule called for 7 miles at tempo pace. I ran 7 miles at a 6:15 average pace and felt like I could have rattled off a couple more without exhausting myself. It felt GREAT! The splits were 6:13, 6:14, 6:15, 6:14, 6:14, 6:15, and 6:14. Sweetly consistent, and it really didn't feel hard.

For the past couple of marathon training cycles, I've really depended on this tempo workout to be a measuring stick. It comes about 8 weeks from the goal and I think it gives a pretty good indicator of the progress of marathon training. I've read and heard that in order to run a 3 hour marathon, your tempo runs need to be 6:30 pace or faster and not very uncomfortable. Today was 6:15 for 7 miles and not uncomfortable. In the past, I haven't been able to hold 6:30 for 7 miles and this workout has been a chore and not comfortable at all.

Man, I sure hope the injury bug stays away. I feel pretty good and a 3 hour marathon seems possible if I continue to have the good fortune I've enjoyed to this point.

2011 In Review

2012-01-03T11:14:00.001-06:00

It's hard to believe that 2011 has passed! It was a very difficult year for me in a lot of ways. It also was a breakthrough year in some ways. Here's to 2012 being a better year!

Early Year
The year started off bad. I battled illness and a hamstring injury in the first quarter of the year. For some reason, I was sick more often than I ever had been. I had bronchitis, sinus infections, stomach viruses, and a struggle with depression that lasted most of the year. I slogged through the early months with much inconsistency and very little quality.

Boston
Boston was the greatest running experience that I have ever had. My family was so very supportive and excited for me for this event. Though I wasn't physically prepared for this race, it was perhaps the best race I have ever had. I recommend that all serious runners make whatever sacrifices are necessary to qualify and go to Boston. I wrote a two part recap of my Boston experience as well as a description of what went wrong in training.

A Tough Summer
This summer was really hot and humid. Early on, I let the heat along with my personal struggles get me down. I dropped my mileage and increased my quality. My body seemed to really respond to that much better than I expected. When the temps began to drop, so did my times and I was in the best 5k shape of my life by the time Fall arrived. The one reason that the depression did not destroy my fitness is that it zapped my appetite. I wasn't running much, but I wasn't eating much, either. So, I made it through running 40-60% of my normal mileage without gaining any weight. Whew.

A Breakthrough Fall
The quality work through the summer was paying off! I struggled with the decision to race a fall marathon or not. I opted to push that out to early 2012. That allowed me to focus on 5k training, and I had a few breakthrough races in September and October. I broke 18 minutes in the 5k and 40 minutes in the 10k during those months. I was feeling fit, fast, and confident. Also, after making some very difficult changes, my personal struggles were getting smaller in my rear view mirror.

I leveraged this fitness to be a true contributor to our winning Ragnar Relay effort in November. November also saw my longest single run ever as I came in second overall in the Dizzy 50s 40 mile trail run. From there, I launched into training for Albany Marathon on March 3 in Albany, GA. That's where I am now. I leveraged this fitness to run my best 50k ever at Recover From the Holidays 50k.

Highlights of 2011
I set a PR at every distance I raced this year. My 5k, 8k, 5 mile, 10k, and 15k PRs all fell. I did not race (though I paced) a marathon or half marathon. My highlights for 2011 are listed below.

17:46 at Spooktacular 5k
3 sub 18 5k efforts (Liz Hurley, Spooktacular, and Turkey Trot)
58:58 15k at Monte Sano
Completed a 40 mile run
38:01 10k at Rails to Trails 10k
Pacing the 3:30 group at Rocket City Marathon
A breakthrough 50k at RFH

I'm looking forward to 2012!

Recover From the Holidays 50k

2011-12-31T16:55:00.003-06:00

Wow. Just wow. For the first time that I remember, I smashed my expectations for a race. Even so, I know I could have run a better race today. But I'm not complaining. Really, I am not the least bit disappointed. I only say that I could have run better because I didn't aim to run the best possible time today. Besides that, I was not in complete misery at the end of the race. I felt great, in fact.

My A goal was 4:30. My B goal was to set a 50k PR (sub 4:47) and my C goal was sub 5 hours. I smashed my A goal with a 4:14:45 and 5th overall finish. I say I could have run better because I started very slow and didn't really prepare for this race at all. And, make no mistake, I know my place. DeWayne Satterfield won going away today in 3:50 and change. Tim Vinson was second about 6 minutes behind. I am not an ultra machine like those guys are. I look way up to them.

The Plan
I'm laser focused on Albany Marathon. So, I trained right through this race. Today's race put me at 90 miles for the week. Last week was an 82 mile week. My schedule called for 20 miles with 12 at marathon pace. Since this was a 50k, my plan was to run 11 miles easy. Then run 10 miles at my typical long run effort, and then whatever I had left for the last 10 miles, hopefully marathon pace effort.

Since I'm focused on March 3rd, any good performances between now and then are just gravy. Today was delicious gravy on top of country fried steak! :)

The Race
There's not much to tell here. It's 1 mile followed by 10 repeats of a 1.5 mile out and back. The only thing more boring than running it would be reading about it! Huge thanks to Eric Charette for putting on this event. He has found a way to make 10 repeats of 1.5 miles out and 1.5 miles back next to a smelly dump a cool thing to do. Major props to him for that.

I started out at 8:30 effort. I actually went a little faster than I planned at first because I had some friends running a little faster. So, I joined them. I enjoyed the early laps with Andy Davidson, Mark Freeman, Jon Elmore and others.

After 11 miles, I did crank up the effort a bit to more like 8:10 effort. The only low point came at about 15 miles. I really was struggling then and ran a 9:00 mile. I was just thinking, "I don't feel so good to be less than halfway." I battled it. I thought positively, and thankfully, it passed. Also, I had to take two bathroom breaks which was very frustrating. I didn't want to stop running.

After 21 miles, I dropped to sub-8 effort. I didn't quite think I had marathon pace effort in me. I didn't want to go too hard too early. But at this point, I felt very confident of my A goal. When I hit the next to last lap, I passed the lead female. I was very glad to not get chicked! I was seriously worried about that for most of the race.

The last lap, I decided to just let it go, leave it all out there. I started too late because I had a lot left. I ran about a 6:30 final mile because I knew I was close to breaking 4:15 and I really wanted to do that. And I recovered very quickly. I'm only just a little sore. I really had more than I gave today. But I'll be recovered and ready to hit marathon training hard again next week.

I am so thankful to God for the health I have enjoyed to be able to accomplish this!

Should I Streak?

2011-12-29T12:06:00.001-06:00

So, should I streak? No, I'm not talking about running naked across a football field during a bowl game. I'm talking about starting a streak of consecutive days of running.

I've been toying with the idea of starting a streak. It seems like a good idea to create motivation to get out the door. It's also something that lots of runners do. Could I run every day in 2012? I don't know. It would certainly be a challenge. I'm just not sure it's realistic given my crazy travel schedule. It could mean running at some very weird hours, either very early in the morning or very late in the evening.

Pros: Interesting challenge. Extra motivation on some mornings. 4 miles is better than 0 miles.
Cons: Crazy travel schedule will make it difficult sometimes. It could add extra stress. I like a day off sometimes.

I don't know. I guess I have a couple of days to decide.

Not My Day

2011-12-24T13:31:00.000-06:00

I had my first bad workout in a while. I was planning to do a 12 mile run with 6 at tempo pace. Lately, 6:15 - 6:18 has felt about like tempo pace. I've been able to hold that without a lot of trouble. It feels hard at the end, but not too bad, and nothing like a race. Every tempo run, I've felt like I could have run a couple more miles at that pace, maybe more.

Well, Wednesday that streak ended. I planned to do 6 miles at 6:15. It was wet, windy, and a muggy 60 degrees, but that shouldn't have done me in like it did. I totally tanked at 4.5 miles and barely kept it below 6:20 pace. I had to completely stop. I don't know. I'm just chalking that up to the fact that it wasn't my day. I hope that's all it was.

The next day's 11 mile trail run felt great. My total mileage this week is pretty high at 83 miles. So, I hope it was just a bad day. We all have them right? I'll have to admit that I am losing a little confidence since I'm not cranking out the super fast 200s and 400s any more. I was very confident while focused on 5k training. But marathon training is a different animal. I could really test my 5k fitness any given week on the track. Marathon fitness, not so much. I've typically used tempo runs and long runs to feel marathon fitness. And it's just a guess.

Well, my long runs have been ok. I've done some marathon pace runs that felt hard, but ok. My normal long runs have not totally drained me. I've felt fine afterwards. But Wednesday's tempo run... The others have been great. Yeah, unless it happens again, I'm just going to say that Wednesday wasn't my day.

Training Update

2011-12-20T17:59:00.000-06:00

I don't remember if I've mentioned it on this blog or not, but I've settled on an early 2012 marathon. I'll be running the Albany Marathon (formerly the Snickers Marathon Energy Bar Marathon) in Albany, GA, on March 3, 2012. I chose this one because it's supposedly fast and it is within a drive-able distance. Also, it's not one of the mega marathons with all the stress of tens of thousands of people at the same place. This was just the kind of event I was looking for to attempt a BQ minus 20 minutes. A BQ minus 20 minutes basically guarantees entry into the Boston Marathon for 2013. It allows one to register with the first wave of registrations during the first week of registration. So, that's my plan for this winter.

Along the way I'll run Recover from the Holidays 50k on New Year's Eve 2011 and Mountain Mist 50k on January 28, 2012.

The past 3 weeks have challenged my mettle. I've been in 6 cities in 3 weeks. I've honestly had trouble remembering which rental car is mine and my hotel room number. I did wake up in the middle of the night (only once, thankfully) wondering where I was. That's why they print the address on the phone in a hotel room! This time of year, it's dark in the morning and it's dark after work. So, I have to really know the area or I have to run on the treadmill. So, I've done most of my mid-week miles on the treadmill for the past 3 weeks. The end result is that my mileage isn't as high as I would like for it to be. These were the treadmill runs: 11 miles, 15 miles, 6 miles, 8 miles and 13 miles. Man, that was really tough.

Here are some things I enjoyed about the travel.

I was able to do a 12 mile run with 6 miles at tempo pace (6:15 per mile). This was a beautiful run along the Red River in Shreveport, LA, in 60 degree weather. It was awesome!
I followed that near sea-level mild weather run with a recovery run at altitude in 28 degree weather on icy, snowy, muddy trails in the foothills of the Rockies just outside of Denver.

Here are some things I didn't enjoy about the travel.

A 15 mile run on a treadmill.
A 13 mile run on a treadmill.
An 11 mile run on a treadmill.

I'd like to do the rest of my training for the Albany Marathon outside! One funny thing that I noted... While I was doing the 13 miler on the treadmill, I noticed that no fewer than 6 people came in and out of the hotel fitness room while I was running. I outlasted them all!

Rocket City 3:30 Pace Group

2011-12-11T13:46:00.001-06:00

This year, I was asked to lead the 3:30 pace group at the Rocket City Marathon. I have to say thanks to Eric Charette and Fleet Feet Racing for giving me this honor. I am so glad that RCM has added pace groups. That is a feature of many much larger marathons. I am being honest and trying not to be such a homer when I say this, but Rocket City Marathon is one of the best marathons in the country. Run this one.

RCM Pace Groups
I'm pretty sure it was Eric Charette's idea to add pace groups to RCM, and he does the work to organize them. I'm very thankful that he thought of me and asked me to lead a group. It's a ton of work and juggling to organize these groups. You have to find 15-20 runners who are able to run a steady pace for 26.2 miles. It really helps if those runners are personable and know a lot about running and know the course. Then, those runners have to be willing to give up their goals to help others. Those kinds of runners don't grow on trees and the fact that we have so many here in North Alabama speaks highly of the running community in this area. Those kind of runners are usually busy professionals and are also fairly likely to get injured. So when someone drops out because of a stress fracture or IT band or hamstring or work schedule, you have to scramble to find replacements and you have to put people where they can run comfortably. What a job to organize that! Big thanks to Eric for pulling that off.

Leading a pace group is FUN!!!! Man, that was amazing. Last year was my first experience. I was leading the 3:45 pace group and we finished in 3:45:04. This year, Boston Qualifying times do not give a 59 second grace period, so I had to bring the group in sub 3:30.

The 3:30 Group
I was amazed by how many runners joined my group at the start. They all had different stories. Some were looking to BQ. Some were looking to BQ-5 to get an early sign up. Some were looking to BQ with a 3:35 but to stay with 3:30 as long as they could. Some just picked a 3:30 pace group because it seemed like a good round number. I really don't know how many runners started in my group. I tried to introduce myself to them all, but it was nearly impossible. There must have been 30 runners who started in the 3:30 group.

I warned them that the second half would be difficult. I let them know that we would have a fairly stiff breeze in our face after about mile 15 or so. I also assured them that we would run as even splits as possible, except for mile 8 and mile 21 which would be a little slow because those two miles have hills. I also let them know that I would try to never run slower than 8:10 and never faster than 7:55.

There were runners from all over the Southeast and one from Kansas in our group. The states represented were Alabama, Tennessee, Mississippi, Kentucky, Georgia, Florida, Indiana, North Carolina, and Kansas. The guy from Indiana was from southern Indiana, which is a lot like the South, so we'll consider him from the Southeast.

The Runners
It was really an honor to get to meet and hear about the lives and training of all the runners in my group. They all had very interesting stories to tell.

One guy was a 4:35 miler on his high school track team and he just wanted to train for and run a marathon to improve his endurance before track season. It was his debut, and it was a very good one at 3:34. He hung in there on pace until about mile 23. It was awesome to hear his track and cross country experiences and to hear that his coach encouraged him to run a marathon. I hope my children are as well mannered as this young man when they're 17.

Another guy had just recently paced a 70 year old man to a marathon finish. He had helped him train and ran with him all along the way. Wow.

Another lady was running her first post pregnancy marathon. She had a 4 month old baby! Um, and she left the pace group at about mile 21. No, she didn't fall behind, she dropped the hammer and took off!

Everyone in the group was so nice and we all just had a great time! I know that several were suffering at the end, and I tried to help them through it, but there's only so much that words of encouragement can do.

The Run
I consider this pacing effort a very good success. If I had it to do over again, I would have run the first half about 10-15 seconds faster and positive split this run. This is because the wind was stiff in our face from mile 15 to the finish. I ran the first half in 1:44:47 and the second half in 1:44:22. Most of the negative split was in the last mile. I ran it in about 7:50. There were about 4 in my group who were feeling good in the last mile and dropped the pace. Three of them pulled way ahead of me. There was nobody near me from behind, so I decided to run a little faster with them. My slowest mile was mile 8 at 8:08. My fastest mile was mile 26 at 7:50. Other than that, pretty much every mile was between 7:55 and 8:02. I'm particularly proud of that consistency.

On a funny note... While we were running into the wind, there were a couple of runners from the group out front. I asked them, "Do you want me to break wind for you?" Um, that didn't come out quite right! Everyone laughed at that, and most people said, "No, thanks. Hold it if you will." :) The bad part is that I said it more than once... Anyway, I did spend much of the time leading to shield the group from the wind.

For some reason, I didn't have very many catchy quotes for this one. The only one I had was, "Extraordinary accomplishments require extraordinary effort." The group really liked that, and I think it helped some.

At the end, three or four from the group couldn't resist giving me a hug. I'm not much of a hugger, but after running 26.2 miles with someone and suffering through the overwhelming desire to quit or slow down, I'll make an exception. It actually made my day to know that they appreciated my efforts that much.

I really hope I'll be invited to do this again next year. Thanks again to Nike, Fleet Feet in Huntsville and Eric Charette for giving me this opportunity.

Dizzy 50 (40)

2011-11-19T17:12:00.001-06:00

Dizzy Fifties is not an easy 50 miler. Sure, it's not very technical. Sure, it only has one major hill (that you repeat 5 times). But, anyone who says it's easy has never tried to complete 50 miles on that course. Could I have finished 50 miles today? Probably. Did I want to? Not after finishing 40 miles. That's the thing that makes this race so difficult. When you approach the start/finish area, you really want to be finished! The freedom to quit without any real consequence was just too much for me to handle again this year.

The results... I was the second place 40 mile finisher in 6:46, (way) behind Dewayne Satterfield. There were no 50 mile finishers today.

The First Lap
Check out the Dizzy Fifties website for details about the laps. It starts with a little 2-ish loop and then it begins the North loop then South loop alternation. I started out conservatively at about a 9:20-ish pace. I let all the competitive 50kers go. I would have liked to have gone a little faster, but I was in a pack and saw no real need to push the pace.

That's me, #56, finishing up the 2.3 mile Little Loop. Happy.

The North loop has a long hill from the Sinks/Stone Cuts/Keith Trail intersection up to the Bikers parking lot. My plan was to try to run it the first time through and then walk it every time after that. The pack I was in was walking the hill, so I just joined them. Then I saw Matt running up ahead. I had to go catch him. Which was a little fun.

The South loop is an uneventful, mostly flat, windy, dizzying section of trail. On the first time through the south loop, I was with Matt early. I eventually pulled away and didn't see him again until after he finished the 50k. After pulling away from Matt, I caught Wayne Heckler (Alabama half marathon record holder for 61 year old men at 1:30). We chatted some and I pulled away because he was still recovering from his record setting effort last week. From that point on, I was all alone except for very short sections the rest of the way. That probably hurt my chances of finishing 50 miles as much as anything.

The Second and Third Lap
There isn't much to say here. I ran all alone for all of these laps. My nutrition plan was to eat Gu Roctane on the South loop and to eat a Clif Bar on the climb up Sinks and refill with water at every stop. That was working very well. My running plan was to run the flats and downs and walk the ups on the North Loop and to run 10-12 minutes and walk 2-3 minutes on the South Loop. I was feeling absolutely great through 50k. I hit 50k at 4:55, which is my second best 50k time ever. I think I could have had a very good 50k race today if I had planned for 50k.

The Fourth Lap
Again, all alone. As I started the North Loop, I was feeling great. I ran a solid pace until the downhill on Cold Springs trail. Then, I probably had my best descent of the day. 50 miles seemed to be just in the bag. I continued to run the flats and downs and walk the ups. I was passing some slower 50kers. Life was good. Then, out of nowhere, my stomach was turning sour. I couldn't think of eating anything. When I began the walk up sinks, I simply could not eat the Clif Bar. I thought I was going to throw up. I did a little in my mouth. I was just feeling awful. As I topped the hill, I continued to walk. I was completely falling apart. As I ran to the start/finish area, Matt was there holding up a bowl of chili and celebrating a 50k finish. So, I knew he wouldn't catch and pass me on the 50 miler. The chili was not even tempting at all. Throwing up was very tempting.

I got out of the start/finish very quickly to avoid any temptation not to go 40 miles. I was still walking and fighting nausea. I just could not eat. I hadn't had any calories in about 2 hours. I knew then I was done. I got more liberal with my walk/run on this south loop. I caught Joey and Shannon, and hung with them for a while. I knew that I could finish this 40 miler in less than 7 hours. I also knew that I had very little chance of going beyond 40 miles.

With about 3 miles to go, I decided I would just run the rest of the way. There was no use conserving energy now. I still couldn't eat and I had made up my mind to stop at 40.

Rob is trying to get me to go back out there!

The Finish
I finished in 6:46. Yep, it took me 1:51 to run that last 10 miles. Rob Youngren was at the finish really encouraging me to continue. He wanted me to finish the 50 miler very badly. I really appreciate the advice he gave me leading up to this race and I really appreciate the encouragement he gave. He continued to encourage me. He almost had me talked into going out there, but I really don't regret not going. I was done. But I am thankful to Rob for his support!

I'll take it. I was clearly falling apart. That's the best I could do in this race with only 5k training leading up to the event.

Unprepared

2011-11-15T09:58:00.001-06:00

I've really enjoyed my recent 5k training. I've loved those fast track workouts. Love the 37 or 38 second 200m and 75 second 400m repeats. Running fast is fun. And the 5k training has paid off with a drastic reduction in my 5k PR. I went from 18:29 to 17:46. Forty-three seconds is a large chunk to chop off of a 5k time. What's crazy is that I really believe I could chop off at least 30 more seconds if I specifically trained for a 5k for the next few months. 5:25 per mile doesn't seem as crazy fast as it once did. And there is just something about racing a 5k. You can take silly risks because if it doesn't work out, you can race another 5k next weekend! It's a fun, no pressure, let it all hang out kind of a race. I used to despise the 5k, but now I view it as fun, plain and simple fun.

But I don't think that's the best preparation for a 50 miler.

It has dawned upon me that I have signed up for a race this weekend for which I am unprepared. I mean, I've known for a while that Saturday, November 19 would arrive. I just haven't done very much to get ready. Since I skipped the fall marathon this year, I let my buddy Matt talk me into signing up for this.

So here is my Dizzy Fifties race day strategy... Run the first 5k comfortably. Then, hang on for the next 46.9 miles. If it's too miserable at 50k, just stop running and get a 50k finisher's award.

Also, I'm focused on a March 3, 2012 marathon, so I'm just running through Dizzy Fifties. I'm not tapering and I'm continuing to do my marathon prep. Today I did a warm up with 6 strides, 5 tempo miles (6:15 pace), and a cool down with 4 strides for 10 miles total.

And maybe I'm not as unprepared as I think... I've had a few 75 mile weeks, and an 85 mile week. But no single run has been over 17 miles. We'll see. I should have learned from last year that you can't fake your way through a 50 miler, but I'm going to try again this year.

Ragnar Tennessee

2011-11-07T19:59:00.000-06:00

If you've never done a relay race, you're pretty much missing out on one of the silliest things you can do. It's silly, and you get 5 or 11 other people to do it with you. You run 196 miles together, usually 15 to 30 miles each, in just over 24 hours. And you do it while depriving yourself of sleep. Just. Plain. Crazy. But it's fun!

I would try to describe this for you, but no words can adequately explain the relay experience. It's an excuse to break all the rules.

Rule 1: Recover properly from a hard effort before giving another hard effort.
You gotta break that one or you're not giving your teammates what they deserve from you. Give your best effort for 10.9 miles. Then, 7 hours later give your best effort for 11.2 miles. Then, 5 hours later give your best effort for 12.7 miles. While your best may get progressively slower, give your teammates your best.

Rule 2: Eat well to fuel and recover from a run.
Reese cups, peanut m&ms, Little Debbie Oatmeal Creme Pies, cookies, PB&J (okay, that's not so bad), chips, and a Clif bar or two thrown in just to give the appearance of balanced health in convenient ready to eat packages. Midway through, you're badly craving a cheeseburger or a pizza or a bacon, egg and cheese biscuit. Better yet, a cheeseburger pizza with bacon and a biscuit crust. And oddly enough, you don't want dessert when you're done with the cheeseburger pizza.

Rule 3: Sleep plenty.
How are you gonna sleep while the van is in motion and everybody is talking about directions and where the next exchange is and who's running next?

Rule 4: Warm up and cool down properly.
Yeah. There simply isn't time. You get to the next exchange just in time for your runner to get there. And you're really guessing about when he'll get there. You don't want to be out warming up when he gets to the exchange. If you warm up too early you'll get stiff again waiting. And cool down? You don't want to run after you're done with your leg and your teammates are all... "Let's get goin to the next exchange." Run hard from cold. Get in the van and get stiff. Repeat. Repeat.

Having said all of that, it's insanely gross and fun. Dudes stink anyway. But now think about this van we were in... Dudes were running hard and getting sweaty. Then, we'd get right into the van, change clothes and shoes and leave the nasty smelling shoes in the van floor. Then we'd compound that odor by having 6 dudes do the same thing. Then, we'd eat junk food which creates its own set of different odors. Now, don't shower and only use port-a-johns for 24 hours. GROSS! You gotta try this. It's so much fun.

Now... How did we do? We ran 196 miles in 24 hours, 2 minutes, and 51 seconds. That was good enough for first place ultra team and third overall. Yep. That's right. We won that. And second place was over two hours behind us, so it wasn't even close. We had people at the finish line saying... "You guys were an ultra team? And you're finished already? You started later than we did!" Yep. That's right. We're bad. And we're sore, too. :)

Here's my quick rundown of my legs on this adventure.

Leg 1: 10.9 miles
This was an extreme downhill leg. I had a net loss of 1140 feet over the first 6 miles. That was some of the most fun running I've ever done! I had to climb about 180 feet in the first mile which slowed my overall pace down, but then I let it fly on the downhills. Then, I got disoriented with about two miles to go. I didn't see any other runners or any course markings and panicked and thought I had missed a turn. So, I turned around and walked a bit. Then, I ran. Then I saw other runners so I turned around and ran like mad to the end! Even with that diversion, I averaged 6:20 pace for 10.9 miles. I only passed 3 people during this leg.

Leg 2: 11.2 miles
This leg started at 10:00 PM and the first thing I saw after getting started was a couple of dogs to chase me. Nice. But they backed off because the road was busy and cars were coming, thankfully! Running at night is neat because you see the blinking butt lights ahead and you just go and try to pick them off. Pass. Next. Pass. Next. Pass. It's pretty motivating to pass people like that. I was able to reach 6 people during this leg with the concentration coming toward the end. There was one guy who was trying to hold me off at the end. I wanted to ask him... "Are you on an ultra team?" But I didn't. That seemed... not nice. So I told him that I was very tired and he'd probably hold me off. He ran faster and I stayed with him. Then he faded and I kept going and put about 10 seconds between us. I was kinda glad that he did that because I would have mailed in that leg without his motivation.

Leg 3: 12.7 miles at 4:40 AM
Still running in the dark for this one. And fog... Man, it was foggy. I was so sore from the downhills and the fast running of the previous two legs. I really just wanted to keep a sub-8 pace. Anything faster would be gravy. Given that I wasn't warmed up, I just started at about a 7:45 pace to shake my legs out. Up ahead, I could see a light that I wasn't gaining on very quickly. So, I tried a little harder to gain on him. When I did, I didn't blow by. I was toast and not feeling it on this run. I asked him if he wanted to work together for a bit, and he did. We ran pretty much 7:00 miles for about 4 miles before he faded. That was very nice to have some company. I just tried to hold on to that pace for as long as I could. The last section was uphill and my pace slowed way too much. I averaged about 7:30 for this leg. Very disappointing, but it was all I had given the sleep deprivation. Really, I'm convinced that the sleep deprivation contributes more to poor performance than the previous hard efforts. The good news... Even with that slow pace I was able to pick off 35 runners on this leg! Too fun!

Do a relay some time. It's an experience.

Spooktacular 5k

2011-10-29T16:49:00.000-05:00

I've said it before and I'll say it again. The Spooktacular 5k is the funnest 5k race in the area. It is a great combination of festive and fast. Sarah, the race director, does all the things that runners like including accurate timing, a fast course, standard race amenities, fast crowd, and very cool awards. But when you add to that the costume contest and the Thriller dance show before the race, she does some cool and fun things that normal people like. If you haven't run this event, you should.

My numbers... 17:46 for a PR and another sub-18. That was good enough for 14th (I think) overall and 2nd in the 36-42 (unusual, I know) age group.

This was my circled race for the fall. I knew I couldn't get in good marathon shape in time to do a BQ-20 for Boston 2012. So, I decided to focus my training around the 5k. I've never thought about racing short distances before. I have to say that I have found this type of running to be quite fun! I'm probably better at the 5k distance than any other that I've run, but I'm not good enough at any distance to do anything but have fun with it. So, the plan was to get in peak 5k shape for Spook, then shift my focus for an early 2012 marathon.

Late Again
I have to break this cycle that I've gotten into of showing up just before race start. I did not have time to get in a proper warm up again today. I woke up in plenty of time, but by the time I read Facebook and drank my coffee, time just slipped away and I was late leaving the house. And I had stomach problems again this morning. I don't know if it's pre-race anxiety or something in my pre-race diet, but this is happening too often and I need to fix it. I was barely able to get my number pinned on and run 1.5 miles before the start.

The First Mile
I really didn't know what to do with this race. The temperature was great for running. The crowd was fast. The course was fast. What am I capable of? Sub-18 for sure, but by how much? I had grand thoughts of hanging onto Donald Bowman or George DeWitt's shoulder for as long as I could. Both of those guys are much faster and tougher than I am. They're heroes to me. They're out of my league, and they know it and I know it. I tried that for about the first half mile. I knew that wasn't sustainable for me, so I settled down a bit.

I could see Marty Clarke and Jon Elmore up ahead. I had to surge just a bit to catch them. I didn't expect to beat them, but I wasn't going to let them go this early. Again, both of those guys are well ahead of me. Marty is a guy that I have never beaten. And I know that Jon's best is better than my best. I was about a second behind them at the 1 mile mark which I hit at 5:33. That is the fastest mile I've ever run by 5 seconds!

Mile 2
After the 1 mile mark, I decided to make a move. I surged a bit and passed Marty and Jon just after the turn on White Street. Jon came along and passed me back as we ran on Clinton Avenue towards the downtown area. I hung on to him for the rest of the second mile and even passed him after the turn on Holmes Avenue. I had no idea how close Marty was, but I figured he was near. Jon passed me back on the hill up to the courthouse area just before the 2 mile marker. My watch lapped early, and had us running this mile in 5:41.

The Finish
There is a long downhill stretch on Madison Street. I made my move on Jon here. I wanted badly to stay ahead. I felt like I was pushing the pace, but my watch was showing a 5:55 pace, even downhill. My legs were dying. They just weren't kicking like I wanted them to. But I could still feel that I was opening a gap between Jon and me. Again, I had no idea where Marty was, but I figured he was very close. I wasn't about to look.

My watch was showing a lap pace of 5:54 for the third mile. I was so disappointed in that! So, I just decided that I had to dig deep and push to the finish. I felt like I was going to puke. My instantaneous pace was showing 5:25, so I figured I'd try to hold that to the finish. I didn't quite do that, probably running a 5:30 pace or so for the last quarter of the third mile, but I was sure giving all I had. My watch lapped early again at 5:49. The final stretch showed 0.13 and it took me 44 seconds to cover it. That's about a 5:28 pace. I was able to hold off both Jon and Marty, but not by much. They were both less than 5 seconds behind me!

Jon just over my right shoulder!

Post Race
You know you had a good race when people ask you, "What have you been doing in your training?" at the end. Well, my dirty little secret is that I've been relatively focused on the 5k distance for about 10 weeks now. Most people just run 5ks to see where they are while they're training for other stuff. Many of the folks I finished ahead of today would crush me in a 10k or 15k (see what Marty did a few weeks ago at Monte Sano 15k) or a half marathon. I'm not sure I could run a 3:15 marathon right now. This is the best I can do in a 5k. Now, I'm shifting my focus to a March 3, 2012 marathon. I'll see what I can do there. 2:55 is the goal for a BQ-20 early entry for 2013.

More Mile Repeats

2011-10-18T11:14:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday, I accomplished one of my big goals for this year, breaking 18 minutes for the 5k. The good and bad news is that I did it before my target race. My target race for breaking 18 was Spooktacular. Then, after Spooktacular, I was planning to shift my focus to marathon training. So, I have a decision to make. Do I want to keep on the 5k training schedule and be ready to peak for Spooktacular, or do I want to go ahead and shift my focus now and get a couple of extra weeks of marathon prep? I've decided to stay on the 5k schedule and see what I may have on a cool day on a fast course. Hopefully I can shave some time off of Saturday's 5k PR.

So today was 4 x 1 mile repeats at 5k pace with good friends and Ragnar Teammates Jake McCleary and George DeWitt. Just a shade over 10 miles total including warm up and cool down.

5:45
5:38
5:39
5:42

Great way to start a day!

Sub 18

2011-10-15T15:50:00.000-05:00

I did it! I don't know what is so special about minute markers, but they're meaningful. I remember trying to break 20 minutes. That was big for me. Then breaking 19 was big, and I tried several times before I actually broke that one. Then, 18 was the next big minute. I've only seriously tried to break 18 once, and that was today, and I did it with a 17:54 at the Liz Hurley Ribbon Run 5k.

I had a pretty hard week of training along with a couple of emotional ups and downs. (I'm still considering posting more about that some time, but things are drastically improving, thankfully.) I had fast 400s on Tuesday that really zapped me on Wednesday. I felt great after them on Tuesday, but Wednesday, my legs felt like concrete, heavy and stiff. Then, Thursday, I was planning to have an easy day, but I saw fellow Athens runner Chris Ramsden doing a tempo run and I just HAD to join him for a few 6:30 miles. My weekly mileage is over 70. My legs just didn't feel fast this morning, but I had tons of confidence that I could pull this off anyway.

The Event
Wow, this race is an event! I had never run this one before, so I did not know what I was missing. I'm still amazed that they had to turn runners away. 5500 runners!?!?!?! Wow. Congratulations to Liz Hurley and her breast cancer awareness foundation for an incredibly successful fund raiser. And it was a very fun event, too.

There was pink everywhere. I need to get some pink just for this event. I felt like the only oddball not wearing pink. Any other time, I'd feel like an oddball for wearing pink! And there were lots of fast people at the starting line. There's just something about an event this size. It was very festive and fun.

The Race
My plan was to run an aggressive first mile and then hold on the best I could after that. I was thinking 5:35 or so. There was a lot of bobbing and weaving avoiding runners at the start and through the first turn that wasted some time and took some energy. I don't know what the split timer said, but my watch recorded 5:40.

There was a pack that pulled away from me just before the mile marker that included Dink Taylor, Jon Elmore, Sean Allan, Tim Horvath and Blake Thompson. They probably were 5 seconds or so ahead of me. I decided not to let them go. If I were going to break 18, I needed to stay with them, so I kicked it after the mile marker and joined in. Sean fell off the pace early, but I stayed with this group for the whole way. I couldn't have broken 18 if I hadn't done this.

The second mile is no joke. It rolls and gains about 40 feet. I probably ran harder during this mile, but split it at 5:46. The pack thinned and clustered, but I stayed with them, just waiting for the downhill finish I had heard about.

The third mile has a hill in it, too. It loses 20 feet or so, but that hill is mean. The third was another 5:46 mile and I was tired.

The last uphill and downhill were very eventful! Jon and Blake pulled ahead. I passed Tim Horvath. Dink put some space between him and me. I caught Dink on the downhill, but he would have none of it and dropped me pretty good while chasing Jon and Blake toward the finish. Tim Horvath and Tim Vinson came zooming by after I gave up on chasing Dink. So, I got picked off by three people in the last 0.1. Oh well. I BROKE 18 MINUTES!!!

On the Track Again

2011-10-11T14:47:00.001-05:00

I'm still struggling a little to get going in the mornings. I don't know what my problem is, but I need to solve it quickly. I was able to get a lunch workout in today even though I wasn't able to roll out of bed. I did 10x fast 400m repetitions. I did full recoveries in between reps. It was a good workout. I felt like I could have done a few more, but I was out of time. 76, 78, 79, 76, 78, 78, 77, 78, 78, 74.

I'm pretty focused on that sub 18 5k this fall. I'm going to give it a go this weekend at Liz Hurley. I still have another chance at Spooktacular on Oct. 29. Maybe I'll break 18 twice. Maybe not at all!

Monte Sano 15k

2011-10-09T14:52:00.001-05:00

First, the numbers. I ran a 58:58 which was good enough for 13th overall and 2nd in the 35-39 age group. This race always draws several fast runners. That was a PR by 2:40. My goal was just to be faster than an hour, but I felt like running faster, so I ran a little faster. I really couldn't be more pleased with this race. Sure, I made some mistakes and I left some seconds on the course, but I ran about as well as I am capable of running today.

Pre-Race
I had been traveling this week and it had taken a heavier toll than usual on me. Thursday and Friday, I worked in three different time zones in that two days. I ate drive-thru garbage on Friday (well, I did the best I could with drive-thru). Friday afternoon, I had to choose between a shake-out run or a nap. I slept for 2 hours! Then, I spent over three hours on my feet at the Fiddler's Convention in Athens. I had excuses ready for this race. I felt tired and heavy.

I woke up feeling icky. I could not think about eating. I had stomach problems all day, before, during, and after the race. This may be TMI, but I spent way too much time in the restroom before and after the race.

Eventually, I was able to choke down a gel about 10 minutes before the race started. I sure couldn't eat anything else. Because of all of this unwanted "activity", I barely got warmed up and showed up at the starting line about 2 minutes before the start of the race.

The Start
The race started right on time, which is the norm for HTC races. (We Huntsville runners should be very thankful for such a great organization as HTC. They really help to make the local running scene great.) I looked around and knew that top 10 was very unlikely. So, I decided to just run my own race and shoot for anything less than 1 hour. I'll just have to go whether anyone is with me or not. During the first mile, I ran a good part of it with Dink Taylor and Marty Clarke. I've had my eye on Marty as someone that I should try to hang on to during a race some time so that I can step up to the next level. Marty made it clear late in the first mile that today wasn't that day. He and Dink had a pretty good battle all day and they left me behind right at about the one mile mark.

The first mile was 6:28. I really thought my one hour goal was in trouble. That pace felt about right, but the split was too slow to beat an hour. So, I dropped the pace a bit, and it oddly enough felt better. With one exception (mile 7, which is a brutal hilly mile), the first mile was by 10 seconds my slowest mile. Wow.

This pic, courtesy of Gregg Gelmis is about 1.5 miles in.

The Rest of the Race
There are a couple of overlapping sections in this race. During these, I got to see several people who cheered me on. I cheered back. This, for some reason, really helps. I can't explain it. Dale Carnegie said that the sweetest sound to any person is the sound of their own name. There is a lot of truth to that. I took tons of energy from that and from the smiles and encouragement. And I tried to reciprocate.

Other than those sections, I was all alone. I could see the battle between Dink and Marty for the early part of the race, but I really couldn't gain much on them. During the out and backs, I could tell that nobody was threatening me from behind. So, I knew that I was not going to have anyone to realistically chase and I knew that nobody was going to push me. It was me versus myself. How badly do I want to break an hour?

I ran like this until about mile 7. That's when I got Dave Purinton in my sight. But he was pretty far ahead. He would have to come back to me. And, man, that 7th mile is a beast. I tried to keep positive thoughts, but the hills during that mile are relentless. And my stomach came calling again. I was beginning to worry that I wouldn't be able to finish this race. This was not good. So, chasing Dave was pretty far out of my mind. Keeping my shorts clean was the primary goal! TMI, I know.

I just tried to think about other things and keep my effort consistent and strong. I really didn't look at my watch very much for some reason. I don't know why. I looked at every mile marker, but that's about it. I really couldn't believe that basically every mile was sub 6:20, except mile 1 (6:28) and mile 7 (6:29).

During the 8th mile I had gained significant ground on Dave Purinton. I thought about giving chase, but I wasn't really competing with him for anything, so I didn't see the point. Also, up ahead I could see Greg Reynolds. I was really surprised to be this close to him. But he was far enough ahead that catching him did not seem realistic. Looking back, I probably had a shot, but I just didn't. If I had it to do over, I definitely would have given some effort toward that.

When I crossed the 9 mile marker, I heard FFRT teammate Christy Scott say "56:59". I nearly jumped for joy! I knew that sub-1 hour was IN THE BAG!!! I'd have to death march at near a 10:00 minute pace to not beat 1 hour. I then figured that I had a realistic shot at sub-59. I think that 9 mile split time was a little off, because my watch tells me I ran about a 6:05 pace for that last stretch. I really did run hard. Eric Charette was cheering me on near the finish to break that 59:00 barrier. I thought again about trying to pass Dave but I just focused on beating 59:00 and did with a 58:58.

Post-Race
I did the obligatory congratulations to other runners on my way to the restroom after crossing the finish line. I still can't believe I ran that well while fighting stomach issues. I have no idea what upset my stomach so. After I got settled down a bit, I went back on the course to bring some other runners in. Knowing how much of a struggle those last couple of miles were for me, I figured someone else could use a little help.

Jeremy, a fellow Athens Sunday morning 10 mile regular joined me. I met a fellow Limestone County runner, Stacey Glover, and Jeremy met some people from his Mizuno 13.1 group and we brought them in to the finish. Fun stuff.

Final Thoughts
I had a little left, but I am still VERY pleased with this race. This gave me tons of confidence going into the winter training months for a March marathon. I'm thankful and excited to be running.

I've run my last three PRs in these Nike Lunaracers.

I've struggled with blisters in those shoes, but man, they make me feel faster. I really like the ride, but hate the blisters. I've tried breaking them in by walking around the house in them, and it seems to have paid off. They were much more comfortable today. I ran 12 miles total with no sign of a blister or hot spot. It just took a little breaking in. Now, I'm not saying that these shoes magically made me PR, but a good, fast feeling pair of shoes never hurts!

More Mile Repeats

2011-10-05T11:48:00.001-05:00

Sometimes, I just do things that don't make sense. I really want to break 18 minutes in the 5k. So, I'm doing considerably more fast running. However, just like last year, I signed up for the Dizzy Fifties Trail Run. I signed up for the 50 mile. A fast 5k and a 50 mile trail run are about as incompatible as two goals can get. My mileage is pretty high (for me) right now, so I'm hoping that base will let me hang in there for one day. If not, I'll drop at 50k again! :) I'm not remembering last years lesson that you can't fake your way through 50 miles. But I'm going to try again anyway.

So, with the focus on a fast 5k, I did another set of 4 mile repeats at 5k pace. I'm figuring if I can do 4 of them at 5k pace, running 3 without a break should be possible, right? I don't know. I'll just connect the dots of my training on race day.

Yesterday I did 4x 1 mile repeats during lunch. It was warm out, and that affected how I felt and how fast I was able to run. In my recent track workouts, I've left the track feeling like I could have done one or two more. That was not true yesterday. I may have been able to do an additional 800 at that pace, but not another mile.

5:45
5:43
5:45
5:46

My shoe came untied during the 3rd lap of that fourth mile, or I would have brought it in under 5:45. I didn't stop to tie it, but I did slow down to keep my shoe from flying off.

Odds and Ends

2011-10-02T09:15:00.000-05:00

One of the things I've learned this year about running is that sometimes you just have to take what the day gives you. Saturday was one of those times. I really wanted to get in a long run. A long run would have put my weekly mileage into the mid-70s, which is where I want to be. But Saturday, it just wasn't to be.

I've mentioned some personal struggles on this blog. One day soon, I'll do a post about that. Like my story of weight loss has been inspirational to some, I hope this story, the parts I'm able to tell, can help some. Anyway, last night, I hardly slept at all. Though I was in bed before 11:00, my first wink of sleep did not come until well after 2:30. Based on that, I abandoned any early morning running plans. When I finally did get out of bed, it was like I was walking in quicksand. I just could not get going and could not get out the door. I didn't leave until after 10:00 AM.

I had to go to Huntsville anyway, so I went over to Monte Sano to get in a long trail run. Well, I forgot how different trails are. I struggled early and often. I had stomach issues. I could barely move. I was exhausted when I started. I finally settled into a groove about 8 miles into the run, but by that time I was already on my way back to my car and had given up on the run. Just. Plain. Awful. Oh well. Take what the day gives you. It was beautiful weather, and I really enjoyed being in the woods. I'll try again another day.

I still had a solid week of training with mileage in the mid-60s. I had a good track workout and a good tempo run in the hottest temps of the week. I still believe sub-18 in the 5k is attainable. Just keep moving forward.

Rails to Trails 10k

2011-09-28T11:15:00.000-05:00

What a beautiful day for a race! Thanks to my good friend Whitney Hollingsworth for directing this great event. I really like the 10k distance, and there aren't very many around. I'm glad that one of them is in Limestone County. I haven't seen any results yet, and I had to leave early, so I'm taking a guess at the numbers here. I think I was first in the 35-39 age group. I think was sixth overall and I ran a personal best about 38:03 or so.

UPDATE: I got my name in the paper! Thanks Whitney! It turns out that I ran a 38:01, officially.
http://enewscourier.com/sports/x1173958210/York-overall-winner-of-Rails-to-Trails-10K-for-second-year-straight. Also, results are available at the HTC website.

Pre-Race
I had back to back good nights of rest leading up to this race. I really am starting to think that rest is a key that I have been overlooking. When I woke up, the temps were lower than I expected. I just felt good this morning. I knew that I had to leave early because I was planning to go to Tuscaloosa to watch some football (Roll Tide). So, I was a little out of my routine getting out of the door. I had to do a little extra getting ready. I had to get everything ready so I could shower and leave my house as quickly as possible when I got home from the race.

As I was driving, I was thinking of goals for this race. I struggled for so long to break 40 in the 10k. I knew I was capable of much better than sub-40, but it just never came together for me on race day. I finally broke that silly mental barrier three weeks ago when I ran 39:09 at Monte Sano. I remembered that it was very uncomfortable to run that 39 minute 10k. I felt better today than I did that day and the temps were cooler. So, I just set the modest goal of sub 39.

Oh no. Really? I was over halfway there and realized that I forgot my watch! Nooooo! Oh well. I can't go get it now. I just have to run. What would my strategy be? I saw Tim Vinson and Jon Elmore before the race. I know that both of those guys are much more talented than me, but I knew that they were both coming off the summer doldrums and not quite in peak shape. So, my strategy without a watch was to just hang with them.

The First 5k
This race is really two 5ks. The first 3 miles is on a curvy, hilly road. There are some steep downhills, some flats, and some small climbs. But it is very much a net downhill first 5k. Then you turn onto the Rails to Trails trail that covers an old railroad track. It is a nice, scenic crushed gravel trail. But it is all uphill. There is nothing steep about it, but it is just gradual uphill for 3 miles.

So, you have to positive split this course.

For the first mile, we, Jon, Tim, and I, all ran together. During the second mile, which is a very fast, downhill mile, Tim pulled a little ahead. I wanted to be sure not to let him get too far ahead. The split caller said 7:00 at the first mile. I said, NO WAY! Jon reassured me that it was 6:05 and not 7:00. Whew! The second mile we hit at 11:50. Wow! That didn't really feel THAT fast. But it was pretty close.

Tim extended his lead some in the third mile, but I wanted to keep him close, so I covered part of the distance, and Jon came with me. We were gaining on him late in the third mile and he was coming back a bit. We hit the 3 mile split at 18:00 flat. Wow. I'm just above 5k PR pace. But it was a downhill 5k and I know what's coming. Steady uphill.

The Uphill 5k
During the turn on to the trail, Jon and I passed Tim. He wished me well, telling me to get a PR. I appreciated that and it gave me some energy for the grind I was about to have to endure. All I had to do was to average a 6:15 pace till the end and I'd be near 38. Wow! My goal was sub 39, so I was feeling really good about that. I changed my goal to sub 38 right after the turn. I knew I'd have to work for it, but I also knew it was attainable.

I had Jon right behind me pushing me along, so I was counting on that to help. But, somewhere before the 4 mile marker, Jon fell off. There was nobody calling splits at any of the mile markers on the trail, so I was completely blind to my pace. So, I just focused on effort level.

During the 5th mile, the pace became quite uncomfortable. I allowed negative thoughts to enter. I feared falling apart. I had a new blister on my right foot. I don't really know the split, but there is no doubt that the 5th mile was my worst. I missed Tim and Jon. I was all alone, except for a young guy who started out too fast and was falling completely apart and death marching to the finish. I encouraged him as I passed, hoping that wouldn't be me in the 6th mile.

When I saw the 5 mile marker, I took some new strength. I could see Greg Reynolds in the distance, but I knew there was no way to catch him. I just wanted to keep him in my sight, in the distance. I figured he would be running somewhere near 37 for this race, so I figured I was still close to 38. I just gutted and gritted until I could see the clock.

On this race, you can see the clock for about the last half mile. But you can't make out the numbers. I saw the clock, I was running hard, but I was not getting closer to it! I'm sure we've all had those strange dreams like that, where you're running and running toward something, but you just aren't gaining on it, kinda like Alice in Wonderland. That is exactly what it felt like, except that it was real. And it hurt!

Finally I could make out the numbers on the clock... 37:44... Noooo!!!! There is no way. I knew that I could not break 38. The clock was too far away. I still gave it all I had, and nearly puked before the finish. I turned myself inside out for that last stretch, but didn't make it. I was frustrated when I saw 38:00 and still wasn't there. I almost stopped right then. I did slow down a bit, and crossed at 38:02 or 03 or something like that. Oh well.

Still, I cannot be disappointed with a 1:07 PR. I wanted sub 38, but that wasn't the goal when I left the house. That was a minute better than the goal! Would it have been better if I had my watch? I have no idea. I won't be intentionally leaving my watch behind, that's for sure.

I once read somewhere, I can't remember where, that if you don't have the genetic makeup to run a 38 minute 10k, then you probably won't be able to run a sub 3 hour marathon. Well, I'm calling this a 38 minute 10k, and that on a not very easy course. This gives me confidence that with work, dedication, and focus, I can break 3 hours in the marathon.

Fast 800s

2011-09-28T08:11:00.001-05:00

Yesterday called for a set of 6 "fast" 800s. Fast means 15 seconds per mile faster than 5k pace. Doing the math, that would come out to 2:45 per 800. Ouch. But hey, it's only 6, right? I did feel like I could have run one or two more at that pace, so good.

2:48
2:44
2:44
2:47
2:44
2:46

A little off, but it still counts.

I have been running a bit faster lately in my workouts. When I run faster, I typically decrease the volume and increase the recovery between workbouts. Before this summer, I almost never ran faster than 5k pace, and I rarely ran 5k pace. This summer, I ran some fast (for me) 200s (35-37 seconds). I ran some fast 400s (76-79 seconds). And, I was sure to do strides once per week and twice on most weeks. I really believe this faster running has helped. I know it has helped my finishing kick (which is still pretty weak). We'll see if it helps me get to sub 17. I'll try to keep it up through the winter and see if it has any benefit in ultra and marathon racing.

Mile Repeats

2011-09-20T08:31:00.000-05:00

I don't know how long it's been since I did mile repeats. The last time I remember was back in April of 2010. It just seems like it's been forever! I had planned to do them all week last week, but it just never happened. I had a crazy busy week at work and actually took two days off from running. Oh the horror! The week before, I had an 80 mile week and felt pretty good. My legs were dead and just wouldn't turn over fast, but I felt great. I knew that jump was pretty quick, and it followed three consecutive 70 mile weeks, so I turned down both the intensity and the volume last week. I did about 50 miles and most of them were fairly easy except for a tempo/speed combo workout on Friday. As a result, I'm feeling great again this week.

Today called for 4 x 1 mile repeats at 5k pace. I dreaded it, but I'm so glad I did it! Matt joined me for the first couple of repeats.

5:49
5:43
5:44
5:43

Sub 18 sure feels like a possibility if I have a good day and the weather cooperates. It was a joy running in the rain this morning.

Battling Lee

2011-09-06T08:53:00.000-05:00

Now those of you who know my wife's name is Leigh but don't know how to spell her name may misinterpret the title of this post. No, I didn't battle my wife today. I battled the remnants of tropical storm Lee. The wind was very stiff and the rain was yucky. I like running in the rain, but I don't really like running on the track in the rain and wind.

The track that I workout on has straightaways that face pretty much north and south. The prevailing winds are from the southwest around here. So, it's actually a pretty nice layout. There's a large stadium protecting you from winds from the west and there are tarps on the fence to the south to block some of those winds. But today the winds were out of the north. There was no protection. I felt like I was running to stand still.

Also, my legs felt totally dead today. I'm not sure what that was all about,but they just wouldn't turn over as quickly as I wanted them to. They were very heavy. Aerobically, I was fine, but my legs were just heavy. And running into a 18mph wind with gusts up to 30mph slowed me some, too. I think that's all the excuses I have for today.

11 miles total. 8 x 800m intervals with 400m jogs between. 2:58, 2:55, 2:54, 2:57, 2:53, 2:56, 2:56, 2:46. What a difference two weeks makes. Those were slower than I wanted. But I got them done and I did take some encouragement in the fact that I was the ONLY runner that I saw all day today. I didn't see another soul at the track, and I usually see a dozen or more people at that time of day. I am doing today what you won't so that later I'll be able to do what you can't.

Monte Sano 10k and 5k

2011-09-03T16:34:00.000-05:00

Well... I think I just want to talk about the 10k today. I pretty much mailed in the 5k after 1 mile. But I did give good, consistent effort in the 10k. I have always struggled with exactly how to approach this race. I'm not a big fan of racing, then taking off some time, and then racing again. I just struggle to put it together again for the second race. I had a big fat case of "I don't want to" during the 5k.

The numbers up front... I was 10th overall in the 10k and 2nd in the 35-39 age group with a time of 39:09. I was 14th overall and 2nd in the 35-39 age group in the 5k with a time of 20:29 (blech).

My prerace routine was much better today than it has been. I have been really struggling to get out of bed for a variety of reasons (maybe I'll detail those on a later post). As a result, I've been showing up with hardly any time to warm up and haven't been able to, ahem, take care of business (runners know what I'm talking about here) before the race. All was good for this race. Plenty of time.

The First Loop
This course is a rolling double loop with a crowded out and back that I really don't like very much. I really only run it because it's the place to be for runners on Labor Day weekend. Well, that and 10k races are scarce around here. And it's an excuse to mix hard miles into a long run.

Anyway, I was hoping to hit 39:00 for this race. I was figuring that I had recently run about a 19:00 5k. This is a difficult course, so double your 5k and add a minute. That's how I got 39 minutes. I probably should and could run this a bit faster.

The first mile is pretty much all uphill and not a nice uphill at that. I don't know why I didn't take that into account, but I didn't. I went out a bit too hard and hit the first mile in 6:11. The second mile rolls quite a bit, but it is still a net downhill mile. I didn't keep even effort here, slacking a bit on the uphill portion and already tiring from the aggressive first mile. Still, the split was okay at 6:12. The third mile is another rolling net downhill that I didn't keep even effort on and split at 6:15. I was feeling pretty good as I hit the 5k split at about 19:24 with a very good chance to beat 39:00. But I knew I was tiring.

There are a couple of spots on this course where you see the runners ahead and behind. On this first loop, I was battling Dave Purinton, Robert Whitaker, and Chad Davis. (The wrong part of that is that all of them have several years on me. I have work to do!) As we were coming back and other runners were going out, I kept hearing so many people shouting my name! That was totally awesome! I really appreciate it. I cheered for those that I know and recognized. Big thanks! It really helped.

The Second Loop
I knew I had some work to do on this second loop. I was tiring and needed to keep consistent effort on the last half. Chad had dropped the hammer and pulled a good 30-40 seconds ahead of me. He really ran a great race today. Robert and Dave were still in sight, so I hung on to them. I probably let their effort level dictate my effort level more than I should have.

Mile 4 is pretty much the same as mile 1, uphill. I worked a little hard up the hill, but no way I was going to 6:11 this mile this time. It was more like 6:20. Ewww. Just after the 4 mile marker, I passed Dave Purinton, but he hung on to me pretty good. I put some distance on the way out to the cone turnaround. After the turnaround, I decided to make a move on Robert. I did and he didn't really give chase. I think it was more of those two fading more than me running strong, because the 5th mile (again a rolling but downhill mile) split at 6:28. Ewww again. What is happening to me? Oh yeah, I'm not really prepared to run a 10k, that's what's happening.

After that, Chad was out of reach, and there really wasn't anything left to run for except to break 39:00. I still thought I had a chance, and I really did. But that 6:28 really discouraged me. I let it get in my head. This was my biggest mistake during this race. I lost focus during the fifth mile and let it discourage me during the 6th. One thing that helped a TON was that Linda Scavarda saw me and I was really tense. She said, "You're looking great. Relax your arms! You got this!" I really needed that. I relaxed my arms, and my pace almost instantly dropped! I ran the next mile in 6:19. Much better, but not where I should be and not good enough to undo the damage. Oh well.

I cruised in at 39:09 when I saw that I had no chance of sub-39 I just mailed in the last few yards. Shame on me.

Post Race
It was great to see everyone and I had some good easy miles between the races and some good cool down miles after the 5k with Fleet Feet teammates. And, I've never placed in my age group at this race. I was glad to do that today!

Was That Fall?

2011-08-30T15:45:00.000-05:00

Wow, this morning felt great. It's the week of the first college football games. Fall must be near. It was a cool 57 degrees this morning. I could not believe the pep that the cooler temps put into my step. Wow.

I met my good buddy Matt at the track for a 2x 2 miles at tempo pace followed by 4x 400m at repetition pace. What a beautiful morning to run fast. And, to think, I had to talk myself out of bed this morning. Boy am I glad I did!

The 2 milers were 13:02 and 12:37. I could not believe how easy that felt. I definitely should have run that first 2 miler faster, but I was trying to stay in control. The cool weather just felt so good! I sure hope that enduring these miserable midday 95+ degree runs will pay off this fall!

I ran the 400s at 78, 78, 78, and 76. Those didn't feel easy, but I could have done 3 or 4 more. I was really reining myself in today.

Daydreaming

2011-08-23T08:46:00.000-05:00

If you've read this blog long enough, you'll know that I occasionally ramble for no good reason. Today is a rambling day.

Workouts... I had a good one today. I did 11 miles with 6x800m intervals at 2:50. I was wildly inconsistent, 2:54, 2:47, etc., but I averaged under 2:50 and finished strong with a 2:46 and a dry heave. Saturday was a miserable, hot 18 miler on the XC course after volunteering at the triathlon. I hated that, and that pretty much firmed up my decision to never ever run recover from the holidays 50k. Well, actually, I'll probably run it this year.

I honestly feel great physically and for the first time in a long time, I'm excited about running again. Actually, I'm kinda excited about life again. Dark times pass, but sometimes you have to take action (sometimes drastic) to make them pass. Man, it's nice to have some optimism back.

Back to running. I have this love hate relationship with the track. Man, I didn't want to go this morning. That alarm went off, and I rehearsed at least a dozen excuses not to run this morning. You know what got me out the door? It was as simple as the fact that I had my running clothes laid out. No, that doesn't always work, but it did this morning. I didn't want to leave them there all day. My Nike Lunaracers were right next to my clothes, so today seemed like a good day to go to the track.

I spent the first 2.5 miles trying to talk myself into going to the track. I knew it would not be pleasant because it never is. But the weather sure was nice. And I had on my racing flats. How silly it would be to run an easy 10 miles in my racing flats. So, I was able to convince myself to go to the track. I secretly hoped that the track would be closed when I got there, but it was open. Now, I have to do it. Boy, I'm glad I did.

Optimism... I spent my getting ready for work time today daydreaming. I have two numbers in mind. Sub 18:00 for the 5k and sub 3:00:00 for the marathon. I spent my time imagining running 17 something at Spooktacular and 2 something at an early 2012 marathon. I have this silly condition where that I imagine I'm faster than I really am. But I once imagined running a Boston Qualifying marathon, and I did it. I once imagined breaking 19 for the 5k, and I did it. So, I'm going to keep on daydreaming about sub-18 and sub-3. Yeah, I'll probably need to put in some long runs, tempo runs, hills, and intervals on the track, too. But daydreaming about it sure won't hurt, will it?

Brooke Hill Run for Awareness 5k

2011-08-14T14:48:00.001-05:00

I made a last minute decision to run in the Brooke Hill Run for Awareness 5k in Decatur yesterday. A super big thanks to fellow Fleet Feet Racing teammate Jon Elmore for putting on a great event. Also thanks to Fleet Feet Racing teammate Eric Charette for encouraging me to run this event and congrats to Eric for taking the overall win. Congrats also to Fleet Feet teammate Kathy Youngren for her overall win.

Limestone County also had a strong showing at this race with fellow Athens Sunday morning 10 mile runners taking wins in the 30-34, 35-39, and 40-44 age groups! So, the lesson is this: Come run the Athens Sunday morning 10 miler and you'll get an age group win! Congrats to Danny Harrison for taking the 30-34 age group and Lance Perry for taking the 40-44 age group. I took the 35-39 age group.

Post-race, I had an opportunity to visit with some friends that I wouldn't know without running. Running has been a source of great blessings for me. I had a chance to visit with Dan Burleson, April, my Fleet Feet teamates, and my Athens running buddies.

So, the numbers... I ran an 18:46, which is an August PR. (Hey, don't knock my qualifying statements. It's hot and humid. In Alabama, you're allowed to keep separate PRs for July and August, at least in my rule book for PRs.) That 18:46 was good enough for 4th overall and 1st in the 35-39 age group. I was pleased with that time given the heat and hills on the course.

The First Mile
I felt really good and had some idea of aiming for 18:00 flat until I ran my warm up on the course. The course was just too difficult and the weather was just too hot for me to have a reasonable chance at that. Fellow Fleet Feet teammate Marty Clarke was there. I know he's faster and a much more experienced racer than I am, so I had no delusions of beating him. However, I wanted to stay as close as I could. Well, that lasted all of about half or three quarters of a mile. He ran that first mile probably somewhere around 5:40, and I just didn't hang. I was afraid that I would blow up if I kept that pace. I ran more like 5:54 in that first mile, and that may have been a bit too quick.

I looked ahead, and the race seemed to be settled already. Eric Charette took the lead and held it. Victor Brown followed a few seconds behind. Marty was a few seconds behind him. And I was keeping Marty in my sight. That never changed after the first quarter or half mile. There were a couple of youngsters who were around for the first three quarters or so, but they fell quickly off of the pace.

Mile 2
The second mile had the steepest hill on the course. It was draining. I could feel myself slowing. Marty had opened his lead on me by just a few seconds, but I sure wanted to keep him in sight. I could not hear the split callers at any of the miles and I didn't really look at my watch, so I'm just looking retroactively at the data now to get my splits. I was looking at Marty and not my watch. I took a cup of water at the aid station and dumped it on my head. It was a hot one. I ran this mile with the hill in 6:03.

The Finish
I still was looking at Marty, but I could feel myself slowing down. No matter how badly I wanted not to slow down, I was still slowing down. But I noticed that Marty wasn't opening the gap, so he was slowing down, too. I wish I had more, but I just didn't. I ran the last mile in 6:11. I ran the last 0.1 in 0:37.

This course is no joke. There is a significant incline in every mile, with the first mile being by far the easiest mile on the course. I need more strength, speed, and hill training. So, I basically need to step up my all around training. Still, though, I feel very good. I feel fit and ready to attack some races this fall. My body feels as good as I remember in a long time. My mental outlook is getting better.

I am so thankful to God for my physical health. What a blessing it is to be able to join friends so often and be healthy enough to do something I love to do. Also, God has lifted some burdens from my mind in recent weeks. He gives grace and answers prayer. Every blessing comes from Him.

Weekly Update

2011-08-06T14:06:00.000-05:00

I suppose a weekly update is better than the non-existent updates lately. I survived another summer week. And I had a pretty good week of training. I'm getting stronger, but not really faster. That's ok. I'll take whatever improvement comes along.

I also had a silly revelation this week. I say silly because I knew it already, but for some reason I didn't behave as if it were true. That silly revelation is that a day that begins with a run is better than a day that doesn't. I've known that to be true for over three years now, but I had let myself get in the habit of sleeping in. I was sometimes getting in my runs in the afternoon or at lunch, but the day was just not right because it didn't begin with a run. The extra hour of sleep did not make me feel better. The hour or so of running did. Besides that, a run as the first thing in the morning just sets up the day.

I got in a decent track workout with five 1200m intervals. I kept them all around 4:26. Not great, but not bad considering the heat I was running in. I got in a long tempo run of about 11 miles total with about 7 miles near 7:00 per mile pace. That run did not feel good at all. I was just happy to survive it. It was hot that day, too. And today's 17 miler put me at 60 miles for the week. I think I'm ready to begin training for something. But what?

Also, this week, I made the decision to forego a fast fall marathon. I am planning to be a pacer for the Rocket City Marathon. Pacing the marathon last year was an incredibly rewarding and fun experience. I have to do that again. I just can't resist getting in a nice long run and helping people achieve their goals at the same time. Not to mention, it's an opportunity to run a marathon without hurting! I gotta take advantage of that! I don't know what pace group I'll be leading this year, but I hope it's the 3:45 group again. I already have the shirt. :)

So, I'll probably make this fall/winter the year of the ultra for me. I may get in my first 50 miler. I'll run as many trail races as my schedule permits. I'm pretty excited. I'll pick out a 2012 marathon soon.

18 Miles Is Far

2011-07-30T11:21:00.002-05:00

I've had a couple of good weeks in a row now. I'm expecting that I'm turning the corner and getting past some things that have been hindering my running. Also, cooler weather can't be too far around the corner, can it? And, I took a look at the calendar yesterday... If I'm going to run a fall marathon, I have to start getting in marathon shape!

This summer has been admittedly a struggle. I've had some lingering personal issues that I just haven't been able to shake. Those have ZAPPED my motivation. I've been substituting 12-13 mile runs for long runs. While those are okay, they are no substitute for 18-22 milers. My weekly mileage has been in the 45-50 mile range. While that isn't terrible, it's not where I need to be if I want to run a 3 hour marathon.

One positive thing about this summer so far... I have been doing most of my quality runs. I've done tempo and track work and several races as additional tempo runs for the week. I'm probably in as good of 5k shape as I've ever been in (not the best I could be, but as good as I've ever been in). I don't think I could have dropped a sub 19 at this time last year. I think I have a very good chance to break 18 minutes this fall.

So, today, I decided I'd just run far. I planned for 15, then to just see what happened after that. Well, I was feeling pretty good at 13, so I thought I'd try for 16. Late in a run, my math gets pretty bad, so as I was trying to figure out where to run to get 3 miles before I got home, I got all mixed up and ended up running 18 miles. 18 is a lot farther than 12. But, I needed a good, long run. I was exhausted, but it was a good exhausted. I'm glad I did it, and I need to keep doing that.

It's time to get ready to run a marathon.

Paint the Streets 5k

2011-07-23T22:10:00.000-05:00

I had no idea what to expect today. I haven't raced a 5k since October. My fitness has been on again off again. And it is hot!! I had two terrible weeks of training leading up to this. I've just been discouraged. I'll probably post on that later. But last week I had 10 miles for the week. Yep. 10 miles. This week I had 40, so that's a little better. I have to get better and more consistent. Anyway... the race today.

The numbers... 18:58 which was good enough for 8th (of 433) overall and 1st (of 27) in the 35-39 age group. It wasn't a PR, but it was a reasonable performance for July. I'll call it a July PR.

The Start
This event was very well organized and very well supported. It reached the limit of 500 runners and had to turn some away. It has grown since the inaugural event last year. There were so many co-workers from ADTRAN there and I know that several ran their first 5k today. Nice!

I need to get up earlier. I just didn't quite have enough time to get warmed up like I wanted. I got 2.25 miles and just a couple of strides. It had to be enough. After some nice welcome announcements, we were on our way at about 7:04 AM. The early start helped with the heat.

I really had no idea what I had in the tank today. I probably had more than I gave, but I always think that afterwards. But at no time during this race did I feel absolutely horrible, so I didn't run hard enough. I started at about a 6 minute pace and backed only slightly off of that the rest of the way. There were so many who went out WAY too fast today, but the roads were wide so it wasn't a problem.

The first mile is slightly downhill, the very slight breeze was in our face, and the sun was at our backs. So, there was really no excuse for running this mile in 6:04. But, I honestly had no idea what my splits were at any time during the race. I barely looked at my watch and I just didn't know was running. I was going by how it felt. And, the first mile actually surprised me a little. I glanced at my watch and saw 1.11, so I missed it. I had to look at the data post-race to know the split. There was no split caller. That is something this race needs to add. Before the mile marker, we had pretty much settled into our places.

Mile 2
Mile 2 starts back up the slight incline that we descended in the first mile. The small breeze was at our backs, but probably not as fast as I was running. The air was barely moving! And the sun was in our faces. It was a hot second mile. I don't know why I ran it in 6:05 if I could only run the first one in 6:04. I caught and passed one guy before the mile marker, but I didn't know him.

Mile 3
The third mile is just plain flat. Again, the sun was in our face and there was no breeze. I had two guys in my sights. One I passed at about 2.5 miles. The other was Dink Taylor, and I just couldn't gain any ground on him. Really, the passing I did was by just running a steady pace. I didn't speed up. In fact, mile 3 was slower than I wanted and slower than it should have been at 6:11.

The Finish
Near the finish, I heard footsteps. I thought it may have been the guy I passed in the third mile. It was not. I later learned that this was fellow Athenian Ben Greene. It was a realization that I'm still not very competitive with others in running. I didn't really care to chase him down. He could have the next place. But when I saw the clock, that's when I poured it on! I saw 18:49... Can I make it sub-19? That's when I just turned on the jets, and almost caught Ben. But really, I didn't notice how close I was to him because I was just thinking sub-19. I even let up a little when I saw that I was going to make it. I nearly caught Ben and didn't realize it until I looked at the results and saw that we had the same finish time!

Maybe one day, I'll learn to compete with fellow runners. For now, running is purely me against myself and the clock.

Nice race. I'm pleased with sub-19 on a very hot day. It was tons of fun. I had a great time just hanging out with friends and running fast. I ran the course a couple more times for 11 miles total.

Another Summer Week in the Books

2011-07-09T13:08:00.000-05:00

It's a typical Alabama summer: hot, humid, and afternoon thunderstorms. I've been moving some runs to the lunch time and afternoon, hoping that my body will make some adaptations to the heat that will result in faster race times in the morning races. Also, I'm hoping that it will result in some really fast times when the temps cool off. We'll see. I'm hopeful and I'm hanging in there.

HTC Weekly XC Runs
On the 4th, I really tried not to overdo the food. I ate some bad stuff, but it wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been. I still had a bit of a food hangover on Tuesday when I ran the HTC Cross Country race at the John Hunt running park. It was especially humid. Yuck.

I was undecided about how to approach these. My stomach wasn't right, so I decided not to race and just do a 3 mile and a 2 mile tempo run. For the 3 mile, I tucked in behind Dewayne Satterfield and kept him in sight for most of the run. I had no intentions of passing him, but I also didn't want to let him get a way. He was a pretty good pacer for that 6:40-ish pace. I ran 20:08 or so.

For the 2 mile, I was feeling horrible and ready to just mail it in. I was going to run 8:00 to 8:30 miles. But then I got caught up with Jon Elmore and Timothy Pitt. I decided to just hang on to these guys and see what happened. We were running just under a 7:00 pace. Maybe 6:50 or so. Good enough. I felt like I could hold that, so I did. At the end, I could tell that they were going to make a race of it, so I joined in and out-kicked them down the final stretch to the finish line. It was fun. Maybe those 200m repeats are paying off!

Thursday Track
Thursday's track session was miserable. I planned 5x 1200m intervals. I could not do it. I could only do 4, and the 4th one nearly killed me. I ran 4:24, 4:26, 4:30 and 4:35. I knew that it wasn't my day and it was best to just mail it in and not even attempt the 5th. So, I added a couple extra easy miles to the cool down run. It was just a miserable workout, but I believe I accomplished some good. I got some positive stimulus without destroying my confidence.

Saturday Long
Today was a ho-hum 16 miler. I just wanted to get the miles done in the heat without coming apart. Mission accomplished. It wasn't pleasant. I have a lot of base to recover before marathon training begins. But I am surviving the summer without weight gain and without significant speed loss.

It's weird. I had a week where that I didn't feel good on any single run. But I still consider it a good week for some reason. Oh well, maybe I'm delusional. Definitely I'm delusional. I've always thought I'm faster and fitter than I really am.

I Love the Track

2011-06-28T11:45:00.000-05:00

I'm going to try to begin maintaining this blog more regularly. It's relaxing for me. It forces me to think about things I enjoy. Lately, I've only been thinking about heavy stuff, and it's wearing me down to a nub. I love running, and I love it more with almost every run. So I need to spend some time thinking and talking about it to refresh my mind.

Before a month ago, I had never run 200 meter repeats. That first attempt nearly killed me! It was much harder than I expected. Twenty 200m repeats. How hard could that be? Pretty hard! I ran most of them at 37 or 38, which is quick for me.

Today, I was back at the 200m repeats. I did 24 this time. Wow! It felt great! Okay, it hurt and I was tired and grimacing, but it hurt good! My plan was to do 20. I was going to do 2 sets of 10 with an easy mile in between the two sets. But I was feeling good, so I didn't take a break. And I was feeling good after 20, so I did 24! I kinda liked it. Running fast is fun. I ran mostly 37 and 38 seconds. I got lazy and ran two 40s and a few 39s. But I did have a 33 and a 35 after the 40s to punish myself for being lazy!

My mileage is down this summer to 45-50 miles per week. However, I'm not missing my quality workouts. Almost every week since Boston has included track work and a tempo workout. I've also added some races as faster tempo workouts, getting two tempos in several of those weeks. I'll probably start adding a few miles at a time through July to get a solid base for a late fall marathon.

Helen Keller 5 mile

2011-06-25T15:36:00.003-05:00

Perhaps I should update this blog. I really have had good intentions, I just haven't gotten the updates done. Maybe today starts a trend toward more regular updates. Long time readers will remember that I've mentioned some personal struggles. Well I thought I saw light at the end of the tunnel. But, a good friend told me that it wasn't light I was seeing; it was only my eyes adjusting to the darkness. So true!

Anyway... Helen Keller 5 Mile...
I ran 32:55 (with an extra 0.14) which was good enough for 6th overall and 1st in the 35-39 age group. This just isn't an easy course. It's a far drive from Athens, too. But it's part of a series of events in Tuscumbia, AL, the birthplace of Helen Keller. It's really a nice way to make a day out with the family. There's a car show, a foot race, some kind of arts and crafts show, live bands during the day, and an excellent play The Miracle Worker in the evening.

Enough... How about the race?

Pre-Race
This was a last minute show up and run type of event for me. Apparently it was for everyone else, too. The race day registration line was LONG! I wondered if I would get registered in time. I did, barely. I had just enough time to hit the port-a-potty and run a mere 1 mile warmup. YUCK! I wasn't ready for the start, but I had to go when the Race Director said "Go!"

The First Mile
This race starts on a flat section just north of the courthouse. Then, it slopes drastically down to spring park. I started just a bit too fast, but I was surprised by how many were ahead of me. When we hit the downhill, people kept passing. I was in like 20th place. Oh well. The race turns out of Spring Park and goes up the hill we just descended. It's a TOUGH uphill for the first mile! I passed back a few runners here, but I wasn't sure how many and I didn't know how many were ahead. I really wish I had kept track of this. I hit the first mile in 6:25. That wasn't bad given the uphill.

Mile 2
I have no idea what happened here. I just got lazy at the top of the hill and ran a 6:40 second mile. Nobody passed me, and I passed about 2 runners. But still, why was I running so slowly? Why did I just give back 15 seconds? Why did I hit this at 13:05? It gains about 50 feet, but I simply didn't focus. Ashamed. I took water and ran through a hose at the aid station here. It was starting to get warm!

Mile 3
I had a group ahead of me that I wanted to catch. I think they ran about a 6:05 first mile, but I could tell that they were slowing. So, I just kept working and working making sure that the distance was getting less all the while. This is a rolling mile, but doesn't really net that much. 6:28. That's a little better, but I'm not making up that ground that I gave up in mile 2. Just focus on the group ahead and close the distance. One runner fell out of that group, and I blew past him.

Mile 4
This is the good and the bad. That group? Well, another runner fell off the pace and I caught and passed him, but he didn't want to let me go and stayed on my shoulder. I was determined to catch the group ahead. I closed almost all of the distance. There were only 3 runners, and they were less than 5 seconds ahead of us.

Ugh. Why do I do stupid things when I know better? Why do I follow a crowd? I saw green arrows on the street pointing left. The race had been marked with both green and orange, and there was no sentry. Also, Heath White was just ahead of the group I was trying to catch, and he's a Shoals runner. He knows the course, right? He went straight. The group went straight. I said, "Hey guys, I think we should turn!" One guy said, "Heath went straight, that's the right way!" I followed. Ugh. That was an unwise move. I glanced at my watch and noticed the distance was 3.97. I looked over my shoulder, and I caught a glimpse of the 4 mile marker about a block from where we should have turned. I said to the guy on my shoulder, "We've got to turn around! They're going the wrong way!" So, we turned around and went back. He stayed ahead of me because he turned first! I crossed the 4 mile marker at 4.14 on my Garmin. I was MAD!

There were two people working the 4 mile split. I slowed down and told one of them to go to the intersection and that several had gone the wrong way. One said that she would take care of it and was walking that direction. I heard from later finishers that there was still nobody working that turn. Ugh. Race directors, please put sentries on your turns! I've never missed a turn before this year, and I've missed two this year! I suppose I should take the responsibility myself since it has happened twice now.

Well, I auto-lapped at 4 miles even and it was 6:30. Still a disappointing split. Mile 4 is very much a rolling mile.

The Finish
The guy I was running with said, "Weren't you in front of me when we made the wrong turn?" I said, "Don't worry about it, man. If you can take me from here, you should do it." I didn't want to move too early, but I didn't want him to think he could just hang on and out kick me, either. So I moved past him. As we went on, I saw the others who had gone straight joining back up with the course. WE WERE AHEAD OF THEM! Cool! They seemed to be upset that we had passed, but we had been angry and running faster!

Here, Stacey LeMay separated from the group and stayed on my shoulder. He should have known the course and not gone astray. He's a Shoals runner! I asked him if they had run extra. He said that they had a little, but wasn't sure how much. Stacey is known for sprinting at the end and passing, so I dropped the pace with about 0.6 miles to go to get enough separation to weather his kick. I ran the last 1.14 mile in 6:17 and :37.

What I didn't account for was two teenagers or twenty something sprinting at the end. Ugh. Remember that I thought I was in about 12th place? It just wasn't worth going with them for the difference between 12th and 15th place. BUT... This race was for 3rd place! I JUST MISSED a podium finish. Ugh. Disappointing. I had no idea. So... if I hadn't run an extra 0.14 miles, I would have gotten a spot on the podium. If I could have sucked it up at the end, I would have gotten a podium finish. ARRRRGGGGHHHHH!

The good news? The guy who did get 3rd place? He puked. That's what he gets. I hope it tasted bad. Really, I'm just kidding here. We spoke and he was a nice guy and we joked about it. He ran hard and deserved to finish ahead of me.

Overall, I didn't give race effort today, but still won my age group. I'm very much enjoying this twice per month race schedule I'm on. It was a good day and a very good 5 mile tempo workout with 11 miles total. I hope this more laid back approach to racing doesn't soften me up, but I'm liking it so far.

Final Thoughts on Boston

2011-04-25T21:58:00.000-05:00

Those who don't like it when I'm hard on myself for not meeting my own expectations may want to skip this post. I was completely unprepared to race a marathon on April 18, and Boston revealed that. A lot went wrong, and this post is about that. I am severely disappointed with my finishing time. Please don't interpret this post as detracting from the Boston experience. I had the time of my life. I was able to do something very special and I'm thankful for that. This post is about what went wrong in my training and in my race to prevent me from being in marathon PR shape on April 18.

Early Training
Ugh. I was battling a hamstring injury through November and December. I pretended that it didn't hurt, but it did. I wanted everything to come together for Boston, but it just wasn't meant to be. Then, I got the flu during the holidays. That forced me to take some time off, but I was too stubborn to take enough time off to allow my hamstring to heal, too. Remember, I was pretending that it didn't hurt.

I recovered from the flu, but because of the hamstring, I took two weeks off prior to Mountain Mist. With the flu and a two week layoff just prior, I opted to treat Mountain Mist much more like a jog/hike than a race. I ran a 6:30. That meant that I wouldn't need any recovery time before resuming training.

I was 6 weeks into my training and had gone backwards. So, I opted to punt the whole program and try for a 12 week training program instead of 18. But I wasn't at a good starting point. I had gained weight and lost speed. I had hardly done any quality work in 4 months. I was out of shape.

Restarting
So I reset my expectations and restarted with a 12 week schedule. That started OK, but it wasn't long before I was struggling and inconsistent. I let some personal struggles get the better of me during this training cycle. I gutted out some tough workouts, but had more days of sleeping in and laziness. I'm hoping I'm past those personal struggles, but they really had me down. Boston certainly lifted my spirits to the point that I'm simply determined. I will run! I will run fast!

In addition to the mental struggles that were defeating me, I had more physical sickness this spring than I've ever had. (I'm not sure the mental stress and physical illness are unrelated.) I caught a stomach bug that weakened me for a week. Then, I had a case of bronchitis that had me out for another week.

Ugh.I was out of shape and not getting better. So, restarting with a 12 week program was a miserable failure. I averaged less than 50 miles per week and I was woefully inconsistent. I don't think it's possible for me to get in marathon PR shape on mileage that low, especially when the miles weren't really quality miles.

So, that's what went wrong in training. I was injured some, sick some, stressed, lazy, and for some reason unmotivated.

Race Day
So, I did take advantage of the opportunity to taper before the marathon. Why not?!? Fewer miles and more carbs? I'm in! That also meant that I was probably as heavy as I've ever been for a marathon at about 172 or so. That's pretty inexcusable, but I'm on my way down already.

Likewise, I had no goal or plan for the race. How about this for a goal... I'll just run however I feel like and hope for the best. It's not totally true that I had no goal, I had the typical 3 goals. The "A" goal was 3:05. The "B" goal was 3:15. And the avoid disaster goal was 3:30. I really thought I was in about 3:10 to 3:15 shape. It turns out that maybe I've learned a little bit about my body in the past 3 years because I ran 3:13:05. I was close to 3:10 before the come apart I had at the end.

I also used a lot of energy interacting with the crowd. I sure wouldn't change that, though.

So what went wrong on race day? I was fat, out of shape, had no plan for the race, and ran an inconsistent pace by getting excited and running fast sometimes and losing focus and running slow at other times.

Boston! - Part 2

2011-04-20T17:37:00.003-05:00

Racing purists who think that one has to be serious and focused any time he pins on a number may not like this post. I considered running an 8:00 pace and treating Boston as a victory lap for qualifying. I'm glad that I didn't get that lax about it, but I'm glad I didn't put a lot of pressure on myself to perform either.

After the finish with my girls. Joy, joy!

I really soaked in the moment. I relished every minute of the experience of running the oldest foot race in America. I'm glad I pushed enough to suffer, because suffering is part of racing. But I'm also glad that I did some things that I know hindered my finishing time. Running Boston is an experience that not everyone is blessed enough to have. I wanted to enjoy the sights, sounds, and people while respecting the race. I hope I gave the race enough respect. I sure enjoyed the experience enough!

Again, I have to say that Boston does this EXACTLY right. It's a total celebration. And the town pulls it off without a hitch. The city, the people, the transportation, the expo, the swag, the start, the support, the course, the race, the finish, the post-race organization. Everything is perfect.

The First 15k
As I mentioned earlier, there is no way to describe the electricity that surrounds this event. Because of this, a mistake that many runners make is to go out WAY too fast. It's very difficult not to just fly past the start and run 5k pace for a couple of miles.

This is where the crowds of runners came in. The start is on a two lane street, so there is no way to sufficiently spread out 27,000+ runners. So, as a strategy, I purposely stepped into the coral behind my assigned starting corral thinking that surrounding myself with runners with slower qualifying times would rein me in. It worked. I ran a 7:21 opening mile and I could not believe how easy that felt. It felt like a 9:30 mile. Really. During the last quarter it thinned out and I picked up the pace a bit.

The crowd support at the start was nearly deafening! I could not believe what I was seeing, and it stayed that intense for most of the race.

Just past the 2 mile mark, I heard a spectator shout, "You're almost there!" I got a little kick out of that. In what sense were we almost there? We weren't even almost to the 5k mark! I was like, "Don't tell me that the 'almost there' cheers have already started!" I don't think I heard another one until mile 17, so that's ok. Even so, someone who says "almost there" at mile 17, 20, or even 25, has obviously never run a marathon. You're never "almost there."

The next several miles were fairly typical miles at Boston. I cannot count how many high fives I gave. Most every kid that I saw with his/her hand out, I gave a high five to. They seemed so excited to be getting the fives from the runners! It made my day to be part of their day. I saw several teenagers and young adults sticking their hands out and then pulling them back when a runner would attempt a high five. Ha ha very funny. So I pretty much kept it to the kids except at Wellesley and BC.

I hit 5k a little behind at 23:01. The 10k and 15k splits were about where I expected at 45:20 and 1:07:50. And I felt great. I was absorbing the energy around me.

On To The Wellesley College
Just after the 15k split, I joked with another runner, saying, "Is it bad that I just set a 15k PR?" Of course I didn't come close to a 15k PR, but the miles felt so easy! Have I mentioned the energy at this race? :)

As we entered Natick, I kept hearing people shout, "Go Molly!" I couldn't believe the support for Molly! I thought maybe Molly was from Natick or something. I'm so gullible. I found Molly, and she had her name in big letters on the front of her shirt! I'm dumb! I told Molly that I was going to run next to her for a while and pretend that my name was Molly. She was laughing and truly enjoying the Boston experience. It was her first Boston and she was having a great time. I ended up leaving Molly after a couple of miles, but that was pretty fun.

Before mile 12, I could hear this loud screaming up ahead. I mean, the town of Natick was great, but this was LOUD! Could it be the infamous "scream tunnel" at Wellesley already? Why yes, it can! From nearly a mile away, I could hear the girls of Wellesley College screaming! It's all they say it is and more! No, I didn't stop for a kiss, but I did soak in what was going on! I just kept my hand out for the entire time I was passing the girls at Wellesley getting the fives! I could not believe the volume of the screams! And there were several variations of the "Kiss Me" signs. Quite entertaining! I think I ran a sub 6:30 mile here!

I hit the halfway mark at 1:35:11. I believed that I still had a chance to qualify (per 2013 standards, 3:10), but I knew it would require a special set of circumstances in the second half to get that done. Those circumstances didn't come together for me.

To The Newton Hills
Between the halfway mark and the beginning of the Newton Hills is the only portion of the race that I spaced out a bit. I didn't really notice much about what was going on around me. I wish I had been more aware of this portion of the course. I wasn't soaking it in for this 3 or 4 miles.

A couple of things I do remember from here is that there was a guy named Eric. So I hung with him for about a half mile, similar to how I did with Molly during earlier. This time, I didn't have to pretend. But he was fading, so I left him. Then, there was a section of people who were cheering and ringing cowbells. The cowbells faded as I was about 200 yards from them, so I shouted, "I gotta have more cowbell!" ala Christopher Walken. Then the cowbells got nearly deafening! That was awesome!!!

After the halfway mark, the course rolls up and down, but mostly up to near the 15 mile mark. At 15 or 15.5, there begins a nearly 200 feet drop over about a mile with 150 of it in the last half of that mile. I'm guessing this is the steepest downhill on the course, but I'm not sure. It sure seemed that way, and my quads screamed at me as I ran quite briskly down this hill, a 6:50-ish mile. That wasn't very smart, but I don't know how I could have avoided it.

I don't know if this next hill is considered part of the Newton Hills or not, but it is in my opinion the second worst of the uphills on the course. It's the climb up from the Newton Lower Falls to I-95. The course makes you climb back up that 150 feet that you just descended in about three quarters of a mile. Ouch. I tried to keep a steady pace here and was passing folks like mad. Unbelievable carnage! This hill ate people alive.

Then comes the famed Newton Hills. The first one is noticeable. Again, unbelievable carnage. I was passing people all over the place by trying to keep a steady pace. Was this Heartbreak? Couldn't be, because I've only climbed one hill before this one. But it was tough. It's followed by a sharp descent that invites you to run fast. It's not a good idea to do so.

The second of the Newton Hills is really nothing, nothing at all. Fifty feet in a little over a quarter of a mile. I mean, you'll notice that you're climbing, but it's short and you can see the crest from the start, so it didn't discourage me at all. Again, I was passing and passing. Again, I asked, "Is this Heartbreak Hill? I sure hope so for my sake, but I hope not for the reputation of the hill."

Then came Heartbreak Hill. I knew it because of all the chalk on the street advertising it as such! And the crowd here! AMAZING! How could this hill slow you down with all these people cheering you on like this? WOW! The cheers were crazy! This is a perfect place to watch the race!

I knew that I shouldn't be running 7:10s up those hills, so I backed off to 7:25s for those miles. Backing off was wise, but I didn't back off enough. I will say, though, that I could not believe how good I felt at the top of Heartbreak Hill.

Brookline
All right, 2:33 at mile 21. Let me see... that gives me 40, no, 37, no 27, no, 35, no 37 minutes to run the last 5.2 miles and still qualify (2013 standards). That's slower than 7 minutes per mile if you don't count the .2. But the .2 counts. But isn't it downhill from here? Do-able. Or is it? I have no idea. Do I need to run sub-7 or not? If so, I may as well give up. If not, then I have a chance. Ugh! I can't do this math! How about this... I'll just go as fast as I can from here to the finish. Yeah, that's what I'll do. As fast as my legs will go. But wait... that's a cramp. Ok, not that fast. How fast can I go without cramping? Ok, I'll do that. It turns out that speed wasn't very fast.

Let me tell you a secret. It's not all downhill from Heartbreak. Sure it's net downhill and mostly downhill, but there are some NASTY hills left. Heartbreak is the second or third worst hill on the course. The worst, for me, was the climb to the overpass where Beacon St. crosses over I-90. OUCH. It's not much of a hill, but it ate me alive.

Oh yeah, Brookline. Here's a picture of someone who's focused on racing and competing at 23.7 miles. That's Ryan Hall for those of you who don't know. Thanks to my wife for this awesome shot!

Ryan Hall 23.7 miles into his 2:04:58 at the 115th Boston Marathon

This is what someone who is just soaking up the experience looks like at 23.7 miles. Yeah, that's me. I have no idea what suffering lies ahead.

Joyful to see my girls!

This was right in front of our hotel. I had no idea when I booked the hotel how great a spot for watching that it was. I had no idea what suffering was ahead for me. I was feeling pretty good here, obviously. The hugs and kisses from Leigh and the girls really picked me up. I motored toward 24 and 25. And by the way, I beat everyone in the picture (I cropped, there were several more than shown here) whose bib I could read. :)

The Last Mile
Ugh. I have never suffered as much as I suffered in this last mile. The crowds are deafening. After the incline to I-90, I was zapped. Then the right on Hereford and left on Boylston to the finish! I wanted so much to summon some energy for the finish. The crowds were cheering so loudly! "You've got this!" "Go Fleet Feet!" "Yay!!!" Screaming, cheering, cowbells, whistles, deafening noise! I had nothing. The hill up Hereford killed me. I've never been in that much pain in all of my life. I had a horrible side stitch. My left calf was tied in a knot. My right quad would not move. My lower abs cramped. Seriously, all of this happened at once on Hereford. I knew that I only had the left on Boylston to the finish. But when I made the left, the finish looked like it was miles away. I could not get there at all!

I seriously thought right now about quitting... Quitting running altogether. I walked. I could not run. The screaming the cheers. I was crying. Seriously, I cried like a little girl. I cried right there in front of thousands and thousands of people. I was overwhelmed with emotion and physical pain, and I couldn't make myself not cry. I hope nobody has a picture of this. I wanted so badly to get to the finish, but I had no idea how I was going to get there. I walked some more. Then, I put one foot in front of the other and started some sort of humped over limp-jog to the finish. It hurt, but I could run now. I thought I may be one of those who pass out this close to the finish line. I've never experienced this much physical suffering in my life. I dropped a 9 minute last mile. Ouch.

After crossing the finish, I just looked for somewhere to sit. But the red cross guys would not let me sit. "Are you OK?" "Yes, I'm fine, I just need to sit for a while." "You can't sit, you have to keep moving. It's better for your body to keep moving." "No, I don't want to move, I just want to sit here." "You have to move." Ugh. I got up and walked out of his sight and sat down again. This time, I lay flat on my back. "You OK?" "Yes, I'm just tired." "I can't have people laying on the sidewalk." "Ok, can I sit here?" "I'll let you sit here for 2 minutes, but then you have to move." So, I got up and got out of his sight and sat down again. What is it with these people? I don't need medical attention. I'm just tired because I just ran 26.2 miles. Can you not understand that? I just want to sit down. Please let me. One thing, to be sure, for every one of the Red Cross people who made me move, I thanked them for doing what they were doing. I was trying to be polite, but I was also trying to convince them that allowing me to sit down was the right thing to do!

Post Race
When I finished, I heard an announcer say that the winner had run a world record 2:03:01! And then I heard that Ryan Hall had broken 2:05! I waxed emotional again because I was blessed enough to be part of something as special as this race on this day.

I was overjoyed to meet Leigh and the girls. It was much easier to find them than I expected. Boston does a perfect job of organizing this race!

We took the train back to our hotel in Brookline. When I walked in wearing my finisher's medal, the whole crowd in the lobby and the employees and everyone cheered! It was awesome! So many people congratulated me on the ride back and walking on the street. This continued until we left Tuesday night. Nearly everyone congratulated me and many cheered as I walked by. I felt like a celebrity!

Work as hard as necessary and qualify and run this race. I mean it. Do it. Start now.

Boston!

2011-04-19T09:25:00.002-05:00

There is no way to put words to what I experienced today. My friend Lance shared a video with me that helps, but still doesn't quite capture it. You have to imagine the intensity of that video for 6 or 7 hours!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cpwZujYTwNM&feature=player_embedded

One thing I have to say up front... Boston knows what they are doing. They know how to handle this event and this many people. The Rock and Roll marathons need to come take lessons from these guys. The experience, everything, transportation, aid, support, logistics, the finish line, the results, EVERYTHING was perfect. I didn't notice a single glitch. I cannot wrap my mind around what it takes to pull that off. I don't know if I'll ever do another mega race except for this one. They'll all fail by this standard.

Also, kudos to the city of Boston. The people were incredibly hospitable to us tens of thousands of people who descended on their city for this race. The city is abuzz all weekend. There is so much energy in this town surrounding this event. I really cannot describe how the locals embrace and get behind this event.

A Picture of the End
Not much matters less than my finishing time in this race. Boston is about the experience. I'll post soon about my performance, but this post is about the Boston experience. I got the idea for the picture below from my friend Eric Charette and I've seen others do the same. I like it.

Race shoes, shirt, bib, Garmin, and finisher's medal

The Trip
I was blessed enough to be able to bring my family with me for the entire trip. Spring break fell the week before, so we made a mini-vacation out of it. I was a little concerned that would wear me out, but it was so much fun that if it added 10 minutes to my time, it was worth it. We did a quick tour of coastal Maine up to Portland on Friday. Beautiful! We explored downtown Boston on foot with Shane O'Neill and Linda and Beth Scavarda on Saturday. Sunday, we went to church in Tyngsborough, MA and stayed all day with the Christians there. That was a wonderful experience!

The Expo
Shane joined me for the expo. Ugh! It was so crowded that you could barely move! I wanted to spend more time there, but it was just too miserable. I didn't get to see nearly as much as I wanted. If I ever do Boston again, I'll spend more time at the expo. The highlight was the ability to try on the Nike GPS sportband. I don't know if I'll replace my Garmin with it or not, but I really liked it, $299 MSRP.

The Bus Ride
Part of the Boston experience is the bus ride from Boston Common to Hopkinton. You never know who you'll meet or what you'll end up talking about for the nearly 1 hour ride to the start! I had planned to meet a friend here, but with the sea of people, it was just impossible! I hoped I'd catch up with him at Athlete's Village in Hopkinton, but no luck there, either. So, from the time I left my hotel until Mile 24, I saw NOBODY that I knew! But I was far from alone.

Athlete's Village
Shivering! 40 degrees and a 10-20 mph wind made this not so great. Oh, I know it could have been much worse. I really have no complaints about the weather. But I could not get warm pre-race. I felt like I was wasting too much energy shivering.

I staked out a spot in the sun to get some warmth. I felt like I needed a flag or something to claim my ground! People everywhere! I bought a $10 fold up camping chair to take with me based on the advice of Dink Taylor. Nice. I was happy to have a place to sit! Others were jealous! I had a nice dry place to sit comfortable for nearly 2 hours. Some charity now can enjoy that chair.

The Start
Wow. I was struggling with disbelief that I was actually there. I even got emotional a couple of times near the start. I don't know why, but I fought back some tears. It is an overwhelming experience! The energy of the crowds at the start is incredible. The noise. The knowledge that the elites are just ahead. The anticipation of Wellesley and Newton and Boylston. Indescribable. This is why I trained and suffered to qualify to be part of this.

To be continued...

Scholarship Fund Run 8k

2011-04-02T22:36:00.002-05:00

First, the numbers... 8k in 31:24 which was good enough for 10th overall and 1st in the 35-39 age group.

I was on the fence about racing this one. I intended to race the Rocket Run 10 Miler, but got grossly (in more ways than one) sick. Then, I was planning to run McKay Hollow Madness, which got cancelled. I realized on Thursday that I had no idea what I may be capable of at Boston. I haven't raced. in quite a while. I haven't finished a road race since Halloween! I mean, there was Mountain Mist that I was woefully unprepared for. There was Dizzy Fifties where I changed my mind 60% of the way through the race. I just had absolutely no fitness test!

So why not? I couldn't come up with a reason why not, so I signed up on Friday. After all, I've never raced an 8k before, so a finish is a PR today! I had to do this. I'm glad I did.

It was good to see my friend Mike Greene back at the races! Mike and I warmed up together and it was my first time to see the course, so I was glad to have someone who knew the course to guide me. Woah... this thing has hills! It's a double loop course with three significant climbs on each loop. I'm glad I got a pre-race scout loop done. And, I must say, that for a road course, it is one of the prettiest I've ever run! I'm partial to the Duck and Run 5k in Athens for beauty, but this one may be prettier.

Loop 1
The race starts by Huntsville Middle School and leads off with the first significant climb up Adams. When we started, Donald Bowman and Victor Brown took off ahead of most everyone and a small pack of 7 or 8 runners formed behind them. For some reason, I was in this pack. I stayed here for about a quarter mile, but knew that I had no business there, so I backed off a bit. I felt good up this climb, but I knew I was running too fast.

As we were coming up the first hill, I noticed footsteps behind me and looked to my left and saw a young guy that I didn't recognize. I surged a little and didn't see him again.

On the second hill, I heard more footsteps. As we neared the 1 mile marker, Robert Whitaker passed by. I thought about hanging on to him, but his surge was more than I felt like I could cover. I kept him in sight as much as I could, which was most of the race. I split mile 1 at 6:12, just a second behind Robert.

After Robert passed, I settled into the position that I would hold for the remainder of the race. I ran pretty strong up the climb to the courthouse, but Robert was pulling away. I hit mile 2 at 12:25, but I'm starting to feel it.

Loop 2
Up ahead, David Purinton was falling back from that pack, and Robert was trying to catch him. As I turned left to begin the second loop, the hill was steeper than I remembered! I struggled up the hill and welcomed the slight downhill before the climb up Eustis. Mile 3 was 18:57. Oops.

There was an interesting battle going on ahead at the top of Eustis as Robert passed David. I was trying to close in on them, but I was struggling. As I topped the hill I wondered how much I had left. The downhill wasn't as fast as I would have liked. Then the climb up to the courthouse completely zapped me. Mile 4 was 25:25. I could not let up any if I were going to break 32:00! But I was fading for sure.

Luckily, there is a significant downhill after the courthouse to the finish, and I was able to take advantage. I seriously didn't know how close I was to breaking 32:00 for the rest of the way. It felt like I was crawling, but it was all I had. David and Robert had pulled out of my sight. I had no idea if anyone was behind me or not. Man I felt slow.

As I turned and saw the clock, I thought I would see some number very close to 32. 31:10? WOW! I WILL break 32! I just kept running hard and finished in 31:24, so the last .97 miles took 5:59. I was surprised because it felt like the slowest .97 that I've run in a race. Weird!

Wrap Up
I'm very glad to be back to a road race. It was amazingly fun and I was pleasantly surprised with my finishing time. Supposedly, if I can run a 31:24 8k, then I should be able to run a 3:05 marathon. I think that is very optimistic and 3:10 is more realistic, and 3:15 is more likely on a course as tough as Boston.

And by the way, this 8k course is pretty tough.

Training Update

2011-04-01T21:14:00.000-05:00

Three weeks to Boston. The old saying is that the hay is in the barn. I didn't put up much hay. I have a number of reasons (excuses) for this. I battled a nagging calf injury during the fall that hurt my base to start the training. I battled a hamstring injury during the winter that prevented me from doing any hard running. I've been sick more in the past 4 months than I have been in the past 5 or 6 years combined. Those are my reasons. I've struggled with personal and work stress that has at times completely zapped my motivation to run or do anything. As a result, my mileage base is about 75% of what it was at this time last year. My diet has been inconsistent. There has been no core work or cross training. My weight is up. Call me tubs. Those are my excuses. I'm not fit to run the Boston Marathon.

But the date is near and my family is excited and my airfare is paid and my hotels are reserved and my vacation time has been claimed. I'm going, and I'm going to have fun. I'm sure that I'll pin on a number and run hard. But my hard running is not going to be fast, unfortunately.

Recent Workouts
I was as sick as I remember ever being back on March 19. That caused me to miss both the Rocket Run 10 mile and the Sunday morning 10 miler. Those were to be key workouts in my week! To try to make up without overdoing it, I ran a tempo on Monday the 21st.. I still wasn't recovered from the vomiting and diarrhea. I was nauseous and it was hot. As a result, I could barely hold 6:45 pace for 5 miles. Yuck.

Then, I met Matt and Lanier for a track workout on Wednesday morning the 23rd. I still felt like garbage battling nausea. But I did the workout anyway. We did 6 x 800m repeats. I ran them all at about 3:00 flat, some 3:01 and some 2:59. It was good to have company, and I was glad that my lethargy didn't slow Matt down at all. Due to peer pressure, I did jump some hurdles that were left on the track during one of the recovery jogs. I had no idea I could do that!

Over the weekend, I unofficially ran the cancelled McKay Hollow Madness 25k.

This week I had business travel, but I was determined not to let it ruin my week. On Monday, I did 10 miles total and 6 x 800m. I just found a high school near my hotel, ran over there, and hoped that the track would not be in use. There was lacrosse practice happening inside the track. I just acted like I knew what I was doing and started doing my reps! Nobody told me to leave. I felt much better than I have in a while and was able to run most of those 800s at 2:52. One crept up to 2:54, but I was fairly consistent and ran the last one at 2:50.

I followed up the track work with a 13.5 miler along the Olentangy greenway. The plan is to run the Scholarship Fund 8k in the morning and see what I have.

McKay Hollow Madness That Wasn't

2011-03-28T22:07:00.000-05:00

The past two Saturdays, I've planned to race and it hasn't happened. On March 19, I woke up at 4:00 AM with a stomach virus (I'll spare the details) that just made getting out of the house impossible. An easy run was out of the question. A race? No way.

On the 26th, I planned to race McKay Hollow Madness 25k, but nature had other plans. I was actually feeling pretty good and I was curious about what I could do on that course on that day. But it was lightning. HTC will not run a race while there is thunder and lightning. There was no chance of the weather clearing up any time soon, so Blake had to cancel the race. It was the right call. I know several were disappointed, but it is part of the risk of paying the entry fee of a race.

A dozen or so of us decided to run the course anyway. What a blast!!! I've never seen the course in those conditions. It was raining and had been. It rained harder. It was lightning and thundering. I know it wasn't the smartest thing I've ever done, but it wasn't the dumbest, either. We joked that it was the "unofficial" McKay Hollow Madness.

I was just amazed by the way the elements changed the course. The last few times I've run this, it has been bone dry. On Saturday, there were several places that were over knee deep. There is no way I can describe the course. I ran with a smile on my face the whole time. Waterfalls were everywhere. Streams that I don't remember were just rushing. Slush Mile was the wettest I've ever seen it. I loved just playing in the mud and water. It was just a great day to be out in the woods. Today restored a good bit of joy to my running. I enjoyed the company, the trails, the elements, the little bit of danger of the lightning, and the tired feeling I had at the end of the run.

I didn't run it very hard, but I did get the feeling that it would have been a better race than I expected. But I would have to put that in perspective. I am not as fit as I was at this time last year. I have a lot of work to do this spring and summer.

Still Training...

2011-03-16T15:39:00.000-05:00

I feel like I've been gaining momentum in my training recently. That's a really good feeling. No, I'm not at the level of fitness that I want to be. I am not anywhere near 3 hour marathon shape. I'm not in my peak condition. I'm not where I was at this time last year. But... for the first time in a long time, I think I'm improving.

Last week was a very low mileage week. I took 4 days off because of bronchitis. It's hard to run when you can't sleep because of coughing and when you can't breathe. But Friday and Saturday I felt much better. I was torn between racing the Huff N Puff 15k or just doing a long run around Athens. Well, Friday night was an awful, sleepless night because of the personal struggles that I've occasionally mentioned on this blog for well over a year. (I do see an end in sight.) Given that and the week of sickness, I opted to save my money and to save the embarrassment of a super slow 15k. So, I just ran from my doorstep around town I planned for 18 with 10 at marathon pace. Ouch. It was miserable. I totally tanked and I was only able to do 8 at MP.

I felt great for Sunday's 10 miler (even with the lost hour due to Daylight Savings Time). Monday was a struggle just to get the miles done. I had no motivation in the morning. I just could not drag my head out of bed. I didn't want to run at all. I didn't want to even wake up. (Beginners, see, it happens to most everyone some time. We all struggle with it from time to time.) So, I slept in and told myself that I'd run at lunch. I was able to get a recovery run done at lunch. Whew.

Tuesday morning, the sound of the alarm clock was repulsive. I could not motivate myself to get out of bed. I had no desire to run. None. So, I told myself the lie that I'd run at lunch again. As I was considering leaving my office at 11:20 or so, my director walked in. I decided to talk shop with her instead of asking her to come back in an hour and a half because I was going to take a long lunch. That was probably a good career move.

So, the afternoon came. Oh how I wanted not to run. But my wife talked me into it. I'm so glad she did. I ran over to the Athens High track and just happened to meet Johnny there. He didn't plan on a track workout, but I convinced him to join in the suffering! It was an easy workout as track workouts go, 5x600m.

2:06
2:11
2:08
2:09
2:01

Less than 12 hours later, I did a 15 miler at about a 7:40 average pace. A couple more weeks of hard training, then I'll be tapering for Boston. Man, I hope the progress continues.

Not Enough Pictures

2011-03-05T12:02:00.000-06:00

I'm not a visual learner. That's one reason why I don't post more pictures here. I'm such an auditory learner that my lips move when I read. (Okay, I'm not quite that bad, but close.) But I need a picture to describe today's run.

Hills have been missing from my training with the exception of the trail runs that I've done. Shane made me fix that this morning. I need to run that route more often to prepare for the Newton Hills at Boston. We did 20 miles at just under 8:00 average pace. Thanks to Shane for letting me set the pace. He could have destroyed me on this run today. I dreaded the run but really enjoyed it. It was fun! I probably should have run it faster because I feel great just a couple of hours later.

Midweek 15 Miler

2011-03-02T12:54:00.000-06:00

Ah, the midweek 15 miler. It's been a staple in my last 3 marathon training plans. I must say that I enjoy these runs. Yes, I run them easier than tempo runs. Yes, I run them easier than Marathon Pace. But I don't run them easy. Today's 15 miler was at a 7:40 average pace, including a 9 minute warm up mile. So, it was mostly at like a 7:30-7:35 pace. That's not an easy pace for me.

For some reason, I just like doing this run. It's long enough that I want to quit before I'm finished, so I feel like I've accomplished something every time I run one. It's not so long that I'm out of commission for the rest of the day. I feel great right after this run. That may mean that I should run it a little harder, I don't know.

Today actually gave me back a little of the confidence that yesterday's 1200m intervals destroyed. For the first 5 miles today, I was coughing up my lungs... huge, firm hunks of phlegm. I didn't sleep well at all last night because I couldn't breathe and I was coughing and tossing and turning. Maybe I was slow yesterday because I couldn't fill my lungs with air because they were congested. Yeah, that's my excuse. I felt awesome immediately after today's run, but now I feel yucky. I feel like I have a chest cold and a sore throat from coughing.

Running makes me a better employee. If I weren't a runner, I would have called in sick today and slept in. But my conscience won't let me run a hard 15 miles and then take a sick day! And I wasn't about to miss a nice pre-dawn 15 miler through my hometown on a crisp, cool morning.

Almost Weekly Update

2011-03-01T11:32:00.000-06:00

I've good intentions of updating this blog with my training. I really do.

I finished last week with a good few days of running. Matt joined me for most of a 15 miler on Thursday. On Saturday I ran the McKay Hollow course plus 2.5 for 18 total. That course just beats me to death! I followed that up with the usual Sunday 10 miler, but I had stomach issues and nothing in my legs on Sunday. I ended up with about 9 miles, and they were not a very good effort.

Today was the first visit to the track in a LONG time! It showed. I was slow. It was uncomfortable. I couldn't remember if I were supposed to do 6x1200m or 5x1200m. Again, I had stomach issues this morning so I was running late. When I got there, Matt had already run 3, so he did another 3 with me. And he ran me into the ground. That guy is in pretty good shape right now. I could not keep up with him.

4:27
4:29
4:30
4:31
4:31
1:33 (only a 400m)

When I could only do a 93 second 400m, I realized that I was not doing any good at all by trying to finish that 6th repeat, so I quit. Then when I got home and looked at the schedule, I was only supposed to do 5 repeats! So, what I thought was an absolute beat down and failure turned into a reasonable workout. Sometimes things are funny like that.

So much work to do to get ready to race a marathon.

Another Tempo

2011-02-16T18:07:00.000-06:00

I finished a lackadaisical week of training last week. I took a couple of days off just because work hours were ridiculous and my body said that it needed the rest. My body was literally shutting down on the couch as soon as I got home at 9:00 PM. Showing up at 7:45 and working until 9:00 leaves little time or energy for running, but I somehow managed 60 miles for the week anyway. So, while last week wasn't ideal, I somehow got enough miles in to not go backwards.

This week, I ran the Sunday morning 10 miler faster than we have in a while. 1:18 or so. I wanted to run faster starting at about mile 4, but there was some resistance. Then after mile 5, Carl told me I was speeding up and I told him it was on purpose and he came along. And he pushed me even more towards the end of the run. It felt better than it has in a while.

Today, instead of eating lunch, I ran 10 miles with 5 miles at tempo pace, which I think should be about 6:30 per mile. That's probably too fast for my current fitness level, but I'm not going to let myself believe that. It was warmer than it has been in a while, but it was really nice running weather. I ran the 5 miles at a 6:31 average pace, but I was fading fast at the end. It was a struggle just to get one foot in front of the other. I thought I was going to throw up, and my stomach has been sick, sour, and upset ever since. I don't handle lunch time runs as well as early morning runs for some reason.

I'm going to keep on preparing as if I can run a 3:00 marathon. We'll see, but 3:05 is much more realistic.

Week in Review

2011-02-06T08:18:00.000-06:00

This past week may just have been a turning point. I had taken nearly three weeks completely off with the hamstring injury. Before those weeks off, I wasn't running hard because I couldn't, so I wasn't doing any quality training. So, I went over a couple of months with little to no quality training. I had no confidence and I was very discouraged. Can I still call myself a runner?

When I smash PRs later this year, I'm going to look back at the week beginning January 30, and say that was the turning point. I started with travel to Minneapolis. I packed for the cold. I had tights, gloves, ear muffs, jackets, a scarf, the works. I was planning to run in the cold. The temp was -8 with a 17 mph wind with snow everywhere. So I had a choice to make. Gut it out on a treadmill or don't run.

I gutted it out on a treadmill. I did a 10 miler with 4 miles at 6:31 pace as a tempo workout. That tempo run was absolutely pain free in the hamstring. I wanted to quit the whole time, and I didn't ever quit. My confidence was back! Then, the next day, I ran 11 on the treadmill. Both runs were absolutely miserable. But they both boosted my confidence like no runs have in a while because (a) they didn't hurt my hamstring and (b) they were miserable and I hung in there anyway.

Then, Saturday I ran 21.5 of the toughest miles in Alabama. James Falcon and I ran the McKay Hollow Madness course, but we added the Land Trust loop (including Waterline) to get over 20 miles. It was a brutal run, and we were slow (thanks to James for not dropping me because he could have at any time), but again I gutted out a tough run beyond the point of wanting to quit.

Then that was followed up with a nice 10 miler (I did almost 14, running there and back home) with the Athens crew. And we ran a more brisk pace than usual today. What a solid week. I feel great! Tired, but great!

Mountain Mist 50k

2011-01-29T20:53:00.001-06:00

The infamous Mountain Mist 50k Trail Run.. This event simply demands your respect. It draws the best local runners and also draws top national talent. The course has very difficult climbs and descents and is very rocky and muddy. Mountain Mist is exactly what a trail run should be.

Before the Race
I have been injured and I haven't been training. So, in addition to running gingerly like a school girl in a tutu, I'm out of shape because I haven't done any hard workouts since November. I just wasn't prepared for this race. I had taken two weeks off and then tapered for the week leading up to the race. I was very stale, both mentally and physically.

The thought of just sitting this one out and volunteering instead of running crossed my mind. Knowing that I wouldn't be able to compete at the level I expect was discouraging. How do I approach this? Do I just run as if I'm prepared and see what happens? Do I let up and just have fun? Ugh. I was so confused going into this. I decided to just run at a 5 hour pace and then see what happens.

Because of the indecision, I didn't really mentally prepare the evening before like I usually do. I had some vague idea of when I'd hit the aid stations, and that was about it. I didn't eat a normal pre-race dinner. I did the math to figure out the absolute latest that I could sleep and still get to the race just in time to check in and start. That time was 6:30.

I set everything out for the race the night before as usual, except for my shoes. I didn't set out my shoes because they were still wet from a muddy trail run earlier in the week. I had set them on a rack underneath a ceiling fan to dry out. I'll just grab them before I leave and they'll be dry. They were dry, but I forgot to grab them. Yep. I'm that absent-minded.

I mean, to run a race, all you really need is clothing, shoes, and your number. Everything else is just fluff. How could I forget shoes? Well, I was driving along and thinking about the race, doing the most mental preparation I had done for this race! I'm not sure what triggered this thought, but something did right as I crossed the Jeff Road and University Drive intersection. MY SHOES ARE AT HOME! The time... 7:09. NO WAY I CAN GO BACK HOME AND MAKE IT ON TIME FOR THE RACE!!

So, I called my lovely wife. I was afraid I was going to make her mad. (Really, I'd be mad if someone woke me up at 7:00 AM on a Saturday asking me to bail them out of their own stupidity.) She was incredibly gracious! She didn't call me dumb or anything. She didn't complain or yell. I do not deserve her as a wife. Truly. She just got out of bed, woke the kids up, got ready, grabbed my shoes and headed toward the mountain. I turned around and headed toward Athens. After I met her, I took the shoes and knew I'd be late.

The only good thing about it is that I got premo parking! Someone had left after the start. I hopped out of the car (I had put on my shoes at at red light on the way.) ran to the check-in desk where Ronnie Nelson quickly said, "We got you!" (It helps to know people.), and took off! 8:00, 8:15, what's the difference? In my haste, I forgot to get my S Caps. That will factor in later.

Aid 1
It's a good thing I know the course. There wasn't anyone in sight, obviously. I was running about 7:40 pace on the road thinking about how to make up some time. I was sticking with my 5 hour pace plan. On the descent down Walnut Hill on Cold Springs trail, I caught the pack. This is unfortunate. I would have preferred to have caught them at the bottom. People were literally sitting on their bottoms and sliding down the hill. I couldn't believe what I was seeing! I explained that I had a late start and did the best I could to run by, but it was crowded and slow. I was courteous and did most of my passing off of the trail. It was tough running!

As I hit Mountain Mist trail, I couldn't believe how beautiful the mountain was today. It was completely snow covered. The trails were covered in snow and the beauty was just breath-taking. I've never been so proud to welcome people to my home course before. On Mountain Mist Trail, I met up with Keith Hallmark, the RD for Black Warrior 50k. We chatted it up about his race for a bit. I'm still unsure if I can run it or not, but I'd really like to. If you can, run the Black Warrior 50k or 25k. That is one of my all time favorite events. I digress.

The rest of the journey to Aid 1 was fairly uneventful, except that I used a lot of energy passing people. I ran a little with fellow Limestone County runner Glen King. I also met several people from all over the country, Georgia, Tennessee, Mississippi, Indiana, Ohio, and Pennsylvania. This race draws them in.

At the aid station, I barely slowed down enough to top off my water bottle and thank the volunteers. 1:10 gun time, 55 minutes "chip" time.

Aid 2
Immediately after Aid 1 is one of my favorite descents on any trail anywhere. But it was very crowded. Just before the descent, I saw and spoke with Josh Vinson who asked why I was this far back. He got a kick out of my story. I also chatted with Ragnar teammate Shawn Barber. Then, I kinda recklessly started flying down the descent weaving in and out of more timid runners. I nearly crashed with several trees, but descents are so much fun.

At the bottom, I ran along with a couple of strangers until Power Line. Running their pace forced me to reign it in after the quick descent. On Power Line, I passed them. I was thankful for the cold temperatures to keep this trail from being so muddy. I moved along passing folks until the K2 climb. Here, I stayed behind Randy McFarland and Linda Scavarda and chatted with them until the top.

On Goat Trail, I met Carly Koerner from Oregon. We chatted a bit about the National Championship game and the competition at the front of the race and the conditions of the trail and the weather in Oregon and on and on. We both blazed through the Aid Station with a water top off only. 2:03 gun time, 1:48 "chip" time.

On to Fearn
I ran with Carly for another mile or so and then I left her. This was my first mistake. I was really surprised by how good I felt 12 miles into the run. But I knew that the race hadn't begun. From here until the turn on Mountain Mist was a very lonely 4 miles and I struggled mightily. I should have stayed with her.

After the turn on Mountain Mist, I caught up with fellow Limestone County runner and Athens Sunday morning 10 miler regular Lanier Greenhaw. He was already struggling with cramps. I was beyond ready to slow down, so we ran together to Fearn. Again, the course was just absolutely beautiful. There was a stretch where we were walking, and there was a camera lady snapping pictures. Wait! We begged, we're running now, take pictures! Delete the ones of us walking! She obliged. Too funny.

I had icicles forming on my beard. One of them was about 1.5 inches long. It was funny to look at. At the aid station, everyone was commenting on it! I said that I needed a picture because I was afraid that my wife would make me shave after this race. Greg Gelmis obliged and got a really nice shot of the frozen beard. That's Lanier over my left shoulder.

3:02 gun time, 2:47 "chip" time.

Enter Land Trust
I left the Fearn aid station after a couple PB&J squares and a pretzel. I knew I needed salt and I knew the cramps were coming. Ugh, I forgot my S Caps. Still, I continued running Toll Gate and High Trail. I settled into a pack and ran their pace until Bluff Line. Bryan Campbell was in this pack and we chatted a while. At Bluff Line, I again let it go on the descent. I flew down, passing people like crazy. I felt fatigued, but still wasn't too bad off. I left Bryan behind here. Again, a mistake.

I heard some noises up ahead. Am I coming up on someone else to pass now? I don't see anyone... Then I ran by an electronic skeleton! Perfect given the race mascot! Nice touch! But to make him speak, someone must have been here recently... Sure enough, I caught some people.

But now, my legs are starting to hurt. This isn't minor pain, either. Ouch. Spasms and cramps. 20 miles in and I'm done. I don't know how I'm going to get through the next 11 miles. I gut it out until the Land Trust Aid Station. I beg for salt there, but there's no salt or S! Caps. I eat a couple of banana pieces and a pretzel hoping the potassium will help. Even now, it was too late, though. My legs are done. 3:47 gun time and 3:32 "chip" time. A fall apart is in my immediate future.

On to Waterline
Railroad Bed trail is the death of me in this race. My legs are hurting bad. I need to lift my legs for this awful rocky section. I just can't. I'm toast. My goal just now changed from run as fast as you can to finish the race with as little additional suffering as possible.

I need to lie down. Seriously. There was nowhere to lie down. Snow is everywhere. I continue looking and looking. Eureka! There is a large rock with no snow on it! (I have no idea how it got there, but I was so glad to see it.) Right next to the rock is a tall tree. Yes, I did it. I lay down on that rock and propped my feet straight up against that tree. I lay there for nearly 20 minutes. It felt SOOOOOOO good! The people passing kept asking if I were OK. Yes, I'm fine. I'm hurting, but I'll live. I even joked that the race wasn't difficult enough for me so I needed to do an ab workout here.

When I saw Lanier coming, I got up and ran with him. That break was magic for my legs. I knew, though, that to press too much would do me in again, so we both ran easily through Railroad Bed trail and Alms House trail. Toward the end of Alms House, Lanier tripped but didn't fall on a rock and that triggered another cramp for him. He slowed but seemed to be ok and I kept going.

When I hit Waterline, I walked the whole way, but I did walk rather quickly. I was walking along with a couple of ladies, one from Chattanooga and one from Atlanta, each running their first ultra. They did AWESOME! They stayed with me until the hand climb part of Waterline where I opened a lead. This climb never gets easy.

At the top of Waterline, the pain was back in my legs. I just gutted it out to the aid station where I knew there would be salted potatoes. I ate mostly salt and a little potato and stayed here WAY too long. 4:55 gun time and 4:50 "chip" time.

The Last 10k
My legs are killing me. It hurts bad. I need to lie down again. How can I finish with the least amount of pain and suffering? I found a spot before Natural Well that was dry enough to lie down on and prop my feed up against a tree again. People passing were nearly mocking this time. It's OK, I deserved it. "Look, that guy crashed again!" Yes, I did. Nearly 20 minutes later, I got up again.

I struggled through the muddy nasty trail. Tom Holt from Athens caught me from behind here. I could barely move and I just let him go. I continued to struggle down the nasty rocky un-runnable descent past Natural Well. I slipped on an icy rock and fell and bruised my hip pretty good, but got up and kept going. My hamstring had not started hurting, and I had vowed that injury would be the only thing that would keep me from finishing this race if I started. I don't remember ever covering this part of the trail slower than I did on this day. I was so glad to see the bottom and the turn to McKay Hollow trail.

Here, I met Kris Strope. We ran "slush mile" and "Rest Shelter Climb" together. He obviously felt better than I did. I hadn't run with Kris in a long time, so it was good to run and chat with him. We ran pretty good on this part of the trail. At the top of Rest Shelter, I saw Tom Holt again, and cramps were really getting him. Kris decided to stay with him and I continued on.

The Finish and After
I crossed the finish line in 6:30 gun time and 6:15 "chip" time. This was far and away my worst race performance ever. I understand why. I'm not angry or disappointed, but I was a little embarrassed about my time after the race. I did what I could do. I was unprepared and it showed. I wasn't unprepared because of laziness. I was unprepared because of injury. I'm not ashamed now.

I mailed it in and stopped pushing so that I could recover in time to begin (again) Boston training. I saw no need to keep pushing knowing that I wasn't going to have a good finishing time. I think it was a wise decision to back off in the second half.

After the race, I saw lots of friends waiting on me. Shane O'Neill came in after me, but neither of us have any idea when I passed him. If I had known, I would have hung with him to have company till the end.

Several of my friends had great races. I'd like to give a shout out to some who had amazing performances.

James Falcon absolutely blistered the course going sub 4:30 with a 4:29 and 11th overall. I'm amazed by his performance! James, you're out of my league.
Brett Wilks showed his manliness on the trails with an awesome 4:42.
Marcus Farris went sub-5:00 with a 4:56.
Eric Fritz ran a personal best Mist with a 5:15.

As always, thanks to Dink and Suzanne Taylor, Fleet Feet in Huntsville, HTC, and all the volunteers. Mountain Mist is what a trail run should be. It's a first class event.

New Year's Resolutions...

2011-01-05T08:21:00.000-06:00

Well, it's a good thing that I didn't make a New Year's resolution to update this blog more often! I do plan to update more, but generally it will be when I have something to say.

Right now, I'm taking time off my feet because of that nagging hamstring that first hit me during the Huntsville Half. I just can't run fast without pain so severe that I favor that left side. I'm icing, resting and trying not to get fat in the mean time. My last two runs were very painful on that left hamstring, so I have to stop now. I'm hoping that I can be back to 100% in time to do enough quality work before Boston.

Just Not Well

2010-12-29T19:58:00.000-06:00

I keep trying to get out the door even though I don't feel like it. Some nasty funky germ is ravaging my house. Everyone has been running a fever and coughing and sneezing and just feeling miserable. Me too. We just can't seem to shake it. I've had good days and bad, but I haven't felt well since about last Wednesday. This is messing up my training!

Today, even though I didn't feel like it, Andy and I rode over to the Owl Creek Horse Trails in the Bankhead National Forest to run the Black Warrior 25k course. The plan called for a 14 miler today. I love those trails! The mountains were still snow covered, and it was an absolutely beautiful run! I ran hard, too. I finished the course in about 2:02, which is faster than I raced it in 2009. I think I inadvertently shortened the course by about a quarter mile, though. I wanted to finish stronger, but my left hamstring just kept whispering to me to slow down. I listened. It's still sore. Ugh. I just want to run fast again without worrying about injury!

The rest of the day I have been completely wiped out. I was not well enough to run, but in a way, it was worth it. I'm miserably sick now, but the joy of the beauty of nature and camaraderie was almost worth it. Almost.

The Holiday Week in Training

2010-12-24T11:25:00.000-06:00

I mostly did what the plan called for this week. First, I did a 12 miler with 10 of them with the usual Sunday morning 10 mile crew. Have I mentioned how much I like having that Sunday morning fixture on my calendar? I think I have.

Monday, I did a recovery run and 10 strides (yay! I didn't hurt myself with the strides!). Tuesday, Matt and I did a 13 miler at a much harder pace than my plan called for. It was miserable at times, but overall it felt awesome.

Wednesday, I went to the trails and did an 11 miler mostly on the second half of the Mountain Mist course. Joining me were Matt, Marcus, and Andy. Marcus and Andy are much younger and faster than I am. I need to hang out with young fast people more often. I was still feeling Tuesday's 13 miler and totally tanked at about 10 miles. I had no idea how I was going to finish that last mile. I stopped and walked a bit, let them all pass me and even get out of sight. Then, I had to just "suck it up, buttercup" and tried to catch them. As they were cooling down on the last quarter mile, I got back in sight and was able to nearly catch them.

Thursday, I felt like garbage. I'm sure that was a combination of the back to back hard days and the fact that everyone in my house except me is running a fever. I generally don't run a fever even if I am sick. I feel sick. I thought a recovery run in the warmest part of the day would make me feel better. Wrong.

I had to try to squeeze the long run in on Friday because I have to see what Santa Claus brings on Christmas Day. So, I tried to run 17 miles with 8 miles at marathon pace. That was a complete no-go. I dreaded the run before I started. I struggled to get out the door. I finally got out the door an hour later than planned. Then I ran at my normal long run pace for 9 miles. I never relaxed and enjoyed it, which is unusual for a long run. My HR was fine, but I just couldn't get comfortable. Then, I sped up to the 6:50 3 hour marathon pace after 9 miles. I ran 3 miles at that pace and just had to stop. My left leg was hurting and I knew that it would only get worse. Also, I just felt horrible. So, I slowed to about a 9:00 pace and ran home from where I was. That turned out to be about a mile, so I got 13 in with 3 at marathon pace. Ugh. I hope I feel better soon so I can train for this crazy 3 hour goal.

Chugging Along

2010-12-18T12:57:00.000-06:00

I battled weather and flight delays to get home on Thursday. What a day. I had to get up too early to get in a run before heading from my hotel to DFW. I figured that getting home at 12:40 would allow me to get in the missed medium-long run of 12 miles. But Delta Airlines had other plans for my day. I spent much of the day cramped up in a plane out on a tarmac awaiting departure and awaiting an open gate. Ugh.

Business travel is great. Ask anyone who travels 20 or more times a year and they'll tell you how wonderful it is to sit at an airport and be away from your family and have your diet and schedule interrupted. And the wonderful sights you see. Hotels, airports, and offices pretty much look the same no matter where you are. Seriously, if I didn't run, I don't think I'd be able to bear business travel. I do get to see things that others don't see because I explore a bit on foot. Wow, I just got off topic, didn't I?

I did the 12 miler when I got home and barely finished before dark. It felt really good, but my body is tired from the travel, lack of sleep, and horrible diet this week. I really enjoy those medium-long runs.

After recovering Friday, I went to Monte Sano today and ran the second half of the Mountain Mist course. That race is going to eat me alive! Natural Well trail is much rougher than I remembered, and I remembered it being nearly impossible. I have a lot of work to do to even run close to last year's time on that course. 5:00 is out of the question. It's brutally difficult and I am not in good shape, and I'm nowhere near trail shape right now. But the run was really good. I love it out there on the mountain.

First Tempo

2010-12-15T07:39:00.000-06:00

My mettle to train for Boston has been tested early! I have been on business travel in a very unfamiliar city this week. The only place I've found to run is a 2.7 mile concrete path. So, if you run out and back on it several times, you can get your scheduled mileage!

Yesterday, I ran 10 miles with 3 miles at 6:29 overall pace. Yep, all 10 of them were on that concrete path that goes by the dump and the jail and the airport and the middle school. In fairness, it also goes by two nice parks, too.

Today, I needed to run 12 miles. I tried running on the roads around here, but apparently there is no leash law. after getting chased twice by dogs in the pitch dark black of pre-dawn, I decided that the trail was my safest option. I only did 10 miles because I ran out of time and I couldn't bring myself to running out that silly path again.

The upside is that the weather has been gorgeous! 50 degrees this morning!

Boston Training... Day 1

2010-12-12T20:18:00.000-06:00

My training schedule for Boston started this morning. It was a 9.7 mile recovery run. I met with the usual Athens 10 mile crew. One in the group was struggling a little with a sore Achilles, so I stayed back with him at an easier pace. We also cut the run a little short to avoid a hill on a recovery run.

It was cold and WINDY! I guess that is a sign of things to come this winter. I have to get in 3:00 shape. I have a tempo run and a med-long run scheduled this week. It will be a challenge to get them in while I'm traveling, but I'll do whatever it takes to get the miles and quality done.

Everything counts. Miles. Quality. Diet. Recovery. Strides. Core work. Hills. Stretching. Drills. Rest. 3:00. 3:00. 3:00.

Rocket City Marathon 2010 - 3:45 Pacer

2010-12-11T21:53:00.001-06:00

Pre-Race
I was more nervous for this than I was for any race I remember, even my first one.

There will be people counting on me! What if I have an injury? What if I mess up the pace? What if go out too fast? What if I get behind? What if nobody shows up to run in my pace group? What if I get a jerk in my group? What if I'm just boring? What if, what if, what if.

Well, it was an absolute blast! Running a marathon without hurting is fun! I thoroughly enjoyed the company of the entire group. I really wish we had stayed together the whole time, but I know that was not realistic.

As I made my way to the starting area, people began to crowd around me. I had a group of maybe 25 or 30! I couldn't believe it! I tried my best to chat it up with all of them and get their names. I only remembered a few names, and I simply didn't have time to get everyone's name before the anthem. Most of them needed a 3:50 to BQ and were planning to hang with me as long as they could.

I warned everyone before the race that we would get as much as 40-45 seconds behind in the first three miles. I told them not to worry because we would make that up in miles 4-15, but not all in one mile. I told them that we would try not to run any mile more than 5 seconds too fast.

The Early Miles
We had to run a slow first mile because of the crowds. Very early in the race, my Garmin was way off of the markings on the course. I should have disabled auto-lapping and pressed "lap" at every mile, but I didn't do that. My Garmin actually measured this course at 26.45 miles. Because of this, my splits were not as consistent as I had hoped. The second mile was also a little slow, but we had a good third mile and were about to settle into a pace.

I got all kinds of questions about my running and the course and the area and the weather and who knows what else. The chatter just kept the miles clicking away. It was a fun group of miles, for sure! Our splits were pretty consistent here, too. Mile 8 was a little slow, but it is uphill.

The long stretch on Baily Cove was even boring with this big group. We were out of conversation, and this section of the race is just brutal. I tried to take the lead as much as I could, but the group had spread out some, with some running ahead. I tried, but pretty much everything I said was artificial. I just couldn't stay cheery here.

Near the halfway mark, I HAD to go to the port-a-potty. I was about to burst. I hated to do that because there are no scheduled bathroom breaks on the pace group. I just had to, though. I did not want to, but I had to. So, I spotted the ugly blue plastic stall and told everyone in the group that I was going to run ahead and told them not to chase me! That made mile 13 a 9:03 mile and mile 14 an 8:00 mile trying to catch the group again. I did catch them and settled down quickly.

On to 20
After the turn on Cheney Thompson, the conversation picked up again. The group stayed together well, and we were having fun. I kept reminding people how much fun it is to run. The conversation was amazingly positive and it was just plain fun. I don't remember a lot here. I could see people beginning to fade, and I was trying to bring them along. It worked for the most part. I got several of them to 20 with me.

The Last 10k
People really began to drop here. I told the group, "If you feel good, you can drop me at any time. I won't chase you. Leave me." Only one took me up on it, and I passed him again before mile 23. I hope it wasn't bad advice that caused that.

Actually, the opposite was beginning to happen. People were dropping. Oh... I wanted to go get them. I wanted everyone to finish with me. Badly. It hurt each time I passed someone. People kept saying, "No! I don't want you to pass me!" My response was, "Don't let me! I don't want to! Hang with me! I'll get you there in 3:45!" Some would lift and hang for a while, but most just faded.

I know how difficult that last 10k is. I kept telling everyone that. I kept telling them that the secret to the marathon is conquering the last 10k. You haven't lived until you've experienced the last 10k of a marathon. The last 10k is what you love. The last 10k is what you train for. Embrace the last 10k. Overcome the desire to quit. Overcome the desire to slow down. 10k? That's an easy distance! At 5k I was saying, "5k? we laugh at people who only run 5ks!" During the last mile it was a pure celebration! I was saying, "DO NOT LEAVE ANYTHING ON THE ROAD! You should not be able to take another step when you cross the finish line! Dig deep! You got this! A mile? A mile is NOTHING!" I was supposed to finish under 3:45, but I yielded to some in my group to allow them to finish ahead of me and went across in 3:45:04 chip time, 3:45:24 gun time. That's pretty close for a first time pacer, I suppose.

Conclusion
Rocket City Marathon is one of the best marathons ever. Run this one. Great race. Great people. Great town. I'm super excited that it now offers pace groups. I'd lead a pace group again if asked. Awesome fun.

And I'd like to give a shout out to Bob, Sheryl, Lisa, Gretchen, Amy, and Stephanie for Boston Qualifying today! Also, nice job David, Lucas, and Matt for hanging in there the whole way. Sweet! I hope I was some help to you along the way.

After the finish, I wanted to hang out to find all of those that I lost. I found some, but not all. It was great to reunite and congratulate. I'd love to do this again. The star of my group was clearly Stephanie. She BQ'd in her first marathon EVER! She absolutely dropped the hammer in the last mile. She showed toughness and guts that are rarely seen.

What To Say?

2010-12-09T08:34:00.000-06:00

I'm really looking forward to this weekend's Rocket City Marathon. Helping folks reach the goal that they have trained so hard for will be a pretty neat experience. I've been thinking about what I may say to the group. I like to talk, but I have to make conversation with strangers for nearly four hours? I'm sure I'll get by. And I need to mix in some trite running quotes to inspire them, too. You know, the classics I use in this blog, like "Suck it up, buttercup!" I'm guessing that one will get old sometime before mile 26. I'm open for new suggestions.

I'm happy to report that my hamstring seems to be cooperating with me now. I tried some fast running yesterday (well, faster than I've been running). I did a 6:30 mile and 5 or 6 strides. I could feel it, but it never tightened up on me. Today, I did 6 strides again with no problem. I think I'm ready for the hard running that will be my training for Boston. Oh yeah, Boston training starts Monday. 3:00.

I Really Do Maintain a Blog

2010-12-05T08:56:00.002-06:00

I know, I know. It's been a while. My posts here have been anything but regular.

I have been under considerable stress recently. When you add to that some nagging injuries, it's just been hard. Are the injuries related to the mental stress? Anyway, it's been a real struggle to break the 50 mile per week mark. 60 miles per week has taken almost super-human focus. The few times that I've broken 70, I honestly don't know how I did that.

However, I'm coming off of a 65 mile week that felt fantastic. I believe that I have the necessary 65-70 mile base required to begin serious marathon training. So now it's time to come back and focus again. Now everything counts: planning, stretching, diet, drills, mileage, hills, quality workouts, recovery runs, rest. Three hours at Boston.

I'll end with a funny story from yesterday's 18.5 miler. After 17.5 miles, some kids on bicycles were riding alongside me and we started chatting. They seemed like good kids, maybe 10-11 years old. I asked them if they thought they could beat me in a race to the end of the street. One said, "We've been out here a long time and we're pretty tired." I said, "I'm working on my 18th mile, I'm tired too." "WOW! 18 miles?!?!" "Yes. It's fair. Let's race to the top of the hill there." I took about 5 or 6 quick steps and said, "GO!" I had the lead! But of course, bicycles are much faster than feet after 17.5 miles and they pulled ahead. My hamstring actually stood up to that fairly well. At the top of the hill, I congratulated them and paused for a minute to share some high fives and idle chatter. It made my run. The moral of the story? Have fun. There are more opportunities for innocent fun than we ever realize. Little things can make big things more enjoyable.

Goal Adjustment

2010-11-22T18:08:00.000-06:00

I have a completely new set of goals now. The second half of 2011 has been mostly a disappointment. I'm not discouraged. I'm coming back in focus again.

Rocket City Marathon
I love this race. It was my first marathon and will be a fixture on my calendar indefinitely. I'm so happy to have a quality marathon so close to home. I'm signed up and I look forward to running the course on that day. However, I will not be running or attempting to run a sub 3:00 this year at RCM.

In 2010, the Rocket City Marathon is offering pace groups for the first time ever. I am VERY excited about this! Most large marathons offer this feature, and I'm glad that RCM is offering it this year! Setting a goal and training for a goal are nice. However, having a group and a dedicated cheerleader for every step on race day makes achieving that goal a little easier. I will be leading the 3:45 pace group. This is the Boston Qualifying time for women 35-39 years old and for men 55-59 years old. I know how much hard work and preparation are involved in running a BQ marathon. I consider it an honor to be chosen to lead others to the finish line in BQ time. Come join me and run a 3:45 at Rocket City! I am beyond excited about leading others to their race day goal!

Mountain Mist 2011
Since I won't be racing RCM, I should have plenty of umph in my legs for a strong showing at Mountain Mist. I don't really want to say that this race is circled on my calendar, but it's important to me. I want to break the five hour barrier. This race draws such an elite crowd that breaking 5:00 won't get you much, but that does seem to be the measure of excellence on that course. I'll be hitting the trails quite a bit in December in preparation.

Boston 2011
This is my new 3 hour goal. This one IS circled on my calendar. I know it's a big goal and a tough course that eats people alive. I know that I'll have distractions the week of the race. I know I'll be tired from traveling. But I will work harder and smarter than I ever have before. 2 something at Boston. Nice.

Dizzy Fifties

2010-11-20T18:07:00.000-06:00

Today was a day of lessons. Most importantly, I learned a lesson in humility. What ever made me think that I could just show up and run a 50 miler? It turns out that you need to prepare your body to run 50 miles. You can't just run a couple of weekend 20 milers and call yourself prepared. I am not above the rules of nature. Maybe there is some level of grit and determination that can pull one through 50 miles, but I don't have that.

The Little Loop

I had such hubris. I thought, "I'll just find some 50k'ers slower than me and just run with them to make the first 30 miles pass." I had no plan for the next 20 miles. So, that's what I did. I tucked in behind Brad White for a bit. Then I caught Christy Scott and ran with her for the rest of the loop. I HAD to stop and shed some clothes; It was WARM today.

The North Loop

I was behind at the beginning of the north loop because of the stop. I ran most of it alone, until just before 3 benches. There I caught up with a few folks from the Knoxville area. I don't remember all their names, but I ran with them and passed going up the Sinks hill. I was running quite a bit too fast to expect to finish a 50 miler, but I had to make a pit stop and needed to get there quickly! I stopped again and there was some distance between me and the next group again.

The South Loop

Ugh. Alone again. I was very much alone for much of this South loop. It took me until the South Plateau loop trail at O'Shaugnessey point to catch Linda Scavarda. She was also planning 50 miles, and let me know that my pace was too fast for her. Well, it was too fast for me, too. We chatted a bit, but I went ahead. Shortly after that, I caught the next group, the folks from Knoxville. I ran a bit with Malinda Honkus who told me in no uncertain terms that I would not finish 50 miles if I did not slow down. What does she know about how fast I am? Quite a lot, apparently. I should have listened. But NOOOO! I ran ahead.

North and South Loop 2

After leaving the aid station I caught Christy again and ran the north and south loops with her. It was great to have some company. On the turn at Cold Springs trail, we had to shout down the second place female to bring her back on track. Other than that, it was completely uneventful except for some really good conversation. This was especially helpful because I was already wondering how I'd run the South loop again.

North Loop 3

I let Christy pull away from me at the beginning of the North Loop because I knew that I would not be able to maintain this pace for 50 miles. I really should have made the decision right then to go 50k and then keep up with her. She made a wrong turn that cost her a spot or two in the race which really made me regret delaying the decision. I'm sure I could have helped her through that. My bad. I'll take some blame for that.

Soon after this I caught Dan Burleson. We had some very good conversation, and then Malinda caught us again. Malinda and I left Dan on the way up Sinks trail. I told Malinda that she was in 4th place, so she turned it up a notch as we left the aid station to start the South loop.

South Loop 3

This was completely miserable. I was alone the entire loop. I just couldn't convince myself to do this loop again. It's the easiest of all the trails physically. However, mentally, it's mind numbingly boring! This loop is an absolute test of mental toughness and I failed. I didn't want to run another step. I knew that a reasonable 50k time was long since past. I had no desire to do any more than 50k. So I made my decision to just quit when this loop was over. I walked a lot of this loop wondering if that would convince me to keep going. Nope. Not if this loop is included. I believe I could have run the North loop 3 or 4 more times, but there was no way I could run the South loop even once more.

Conclusion

My hamstring held up and I feel pretty good several hours later. I'm going to run the Sunday morning 10 miler tomorrow. So, today was just another long run. I didn't give this race the preparation and respect it deserved. Then I didn't commit to either of the 3 distance options available. This is what happens when you do that.

Huntsville Half - Humbling DNF

2010-11-13T21:00:00.001-06:00

Well, I report the good and the bad here. Today was the bad. I DNF'd for the first time. I don't regret my decision, but I do regret having to make it. I believe it was the right one. Ouch, my pride hurts. It turns out that I'm not invincible. I can't just run as far and as fast as I want without consequence.

Pre-Race
I had a bad week of preparation. I knew it would be. I had to be at work early and work late on Monday and Tuesday. I had to travel on Thursday and Friday. I just viewed the packed schedule as an excuse to "mini-taper" for the half marathon. I had a very good short tempo run (6:19 avg pace for 3+ miles) on Tuesday and a very comfortable 11-12 miler on Wednesday. I took Thursday off and ran an easy treadmill 5 on Friday. Reducing the mileage was the only way to survive the added fatigue and stress of the work week.

I rode over with Lance, one of the regulars for the Athens Sunday morning 10 miler. This was his first half marathon, and I'm proud of his hard work in preparation and his effort today. Nice job buddy!

My stomach was all out of sorts, as usual. I just couldn't go to the bathroom enough before the race. But somehow, I was able to overcome that discomfort. I enjoyed the pre-race pep talks and visits. That's one of my favorite parts of racing! I worked my way to near the front of the starting line just in time for some pre-race announcements and the start.

The First 5k
For some reason, I had a lot of adrenaline for this race. In spite of the bad week and stomach troubles, I was as mentally ready for this race as any I remember. I wanted to GO! I was pretty pumped. I started really quick and constantly had to rein myself in during the first mile. It's a rolling first mile and I kept peeking at my instantaneous pace and it was sub 6:00! Then I'd purposely slow down and then I'd be running fast again. I just couldn't help it. I clocked the first mile in 6:21.

I knew that I still had to pull the reins in some to last. Mile 2 is a much easier mile, but I was able to hold back the excitement and run it in 6:30 flat. The split caller said 12:51. Nice! I'm on pace, feeling great, and have some time in the bank! Greg Reynolds blew past me as we passed the mile marker. I did not even entertain the thought of chasing him. He's faster than me. Period.

Mile 3 is pancake flat and I was still trying to hold back. 6:31. The split caller said 19:22. Nice.

Miles 4-6
I didn't remember that Mile 4 was so uphill. It's a long, continuous uphill. It's not that steep, but it's uphill. And today, it was into the wind. I was struggling up this hill! I was working maybe a little harder than on the previous miles. I hit this mile in 6:38. The split caller said 26:02, so I was off just a bit.

Near the top of this hill I caught up with Robert Whitaker. We ran together for a a few minutes. I know that he has run the 10 miler at about 6:30 overall pace, so I figured we were looking for about the same pace. I could tell that he was working harder than me for this same pace, so I dropped the pace a bit to pull ahead. From here I could see some bodies in the distance to go after.

I also wanted to make up some of the 8 seconds that I lost in the fourth mile, but I didn't want to do it all at once. I ran the 5th mile in 6:27. Nice. Do that a few more times and I'm back on pace. It's a downhill mile and I took some advantage. I probably should have run it a bit faster, but it was still nice.

Mile 6 is also flat, and I had a person picked out to pass. I passed him (did not know him) at about 5.75 or so and ran the mile in 6:29.

I can't really describe how good I was feeling. 6:30 pace seemed like 7:30 pace. My breathing was controlled. The stomach issues were gone. I was feeling great. It just seemed like it would be my day.

The End
I was cruising along and had another unknown runner picked out to pass. And I did just after the 6 mile marker. I had to make a bit of a move to pass him, and dropped to below 6:15 temporarily to get by. After that I settled back to the 6:30 that was I was feeling.

Then, I noticed a pain in my left hamstring. It was toward the outside, near where the tendon attaches at the knee in the back, but inside such that it couldn't be IT band. And the pain was clearly muscular. It wasn't that bad for a few steps. I thought I could handle it. Then it got worse. Then I couldn't run without limping. So I stopped to try to shake it out. I started again. No. I walked. I tried to run about an 8:00 pace to see if I could do that. No. I was limping. NOOOOO!! What do I do? I started walking again. The guy I just passed ran by. He checked on me and I told him I was fine and that I would make it to the aid station just ahead. I appreciate his checking on me. Then, I tried an easy jog. My gait was affected. No go. Ugh. This was about 3/4 mile from the aid station, so I just walked there and dropped out.

Humiliating. Disappointing. Frustrating. Embarrassing.

I noticed the hamstring soreness the week before last while I was doing some strides. On about the second or third acceleration, it tightened, so I just quit the strides and jogged home. It was sore the next day, but it never bothered me again. Today's pain was just a little worse than a couple of weeks ago, but it doesn't seem that bad. It just seemed like continuing, and especially continuing to push the pace, would risk real injury.

Hopefully, today was just discretion being the better part of valor. I probably could have limped to the finish. But why? If it had happened at mile 10 or 11, I definitely would have considered finishing through the pain. But with 6.1 miles to go, it just seemed silly and pointless and risky.

Thanks to Madelyn Patton for her kindness and encouragement when I dropped out. Also thanks to Mark York for giving me a ride back to the start.

Week In Review

2010-11-06T19:30:00.000-05:00

This week was up and down. I didn't get nearly my scheduled mileage on Saturday because I ran the Spooktacular 5k and felt more like visiting with friends than running extra miles. So I ran 16 or 17 on Sunday to make up for the lost mileage. I felt sick on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, but just ran and worked through it.

Tuesday called for 6x1000m intervals, but I just didn't feel like it. I opted for about 11 miles with some strides instead. I would have called in sick at work, but missing work wasn't an option on Tuesday. Since I had to work, why not run?

Wednesday was by far the best workout of the week. I felt much better. Matt and I ran a "long tempo". We ran three warm up miles and then we ran 10 sub-7:00 miles. Matt peeled off after 7 and then I was joined by one of the happiest golden retrievers I've ever seen! I told him to go home, but he wouldn't. He joined me for two laps around the Athens High 1.5 mile track at a 6:45 pace! I could tell that he was struggling at the end, but he was welcome company! I really had to get stern with him to keep him from following me home, which wouldn't have been safe for him. I petted him and congratulated him for hanging with me. It made me want a dog!

Today was a 17.5 miler at long run pace.

Spooktacular 5k - A New PR

2010-11-02T21:39:00.000-05:00

First, the numbers. I ran an 18:29 which is a PR by 22 seconds. That was good enough for 24th overall and 2nd in the 35-39 age group. Congratulations to Fleet Feet team mate Brandon York for out-dueling perennial winner Josh Whitehead for the overall win in a very swift 15:19. There was a very fast crowd up front with the top 19 finishers under 18 minutes. The overall results are at the HTC website.

Pre-Race
Yet again, I wasn't sure I'd run this race. I still have bruised confidence and legs that are slow to turn over. The last workout on the track humbled (or is the word humiliated?) me. But I really needed a good 5k fitness test, so I signed up. Late.

This race is really too cool. Costumes are encouraged, so you will laugh. And there are awards for the best costumes. Cool awards, too. The start of the race is preceded by a rendition of Thriller complete with dancing zombies. Really, you should run this race. Also, this race draws a FAST crowd. So, if you just want to see the costumes and really compete, you can do that, too. Fun and competitive. Nice.

It was very cool with temps in the mid 30s and no wind. PERFECT running weather. I warmed up with Sean and Jon from Fleet Feet on the course. It wasn't a good sign that I was already feeling nauseous. I had great weather, but I wasn't confident and I didn't feel well.

I opted for a long sleeve Nike base layer, Fleet Feet sleeveless shirt, shorts, beanie, and gloves. Also, this was my first race in my Nike Lunaracer2 shoes. I REALLY liked racing in those shoes. They just stay out of my way and let me run fast.

The Start
After Vincent Price was finished rapping and laughing and a few announcements, the race started right on time. That's impressive given all the pre-race festivities.

I was scoping out the competition, looking for people in my age group, knowing that the front would be way ahead of me. Shane O'Neill was running with his son, so who else? Rob Youngren. Sometimes Rob runs hard and sometimes he doesn't. This day, he ran hard and I had no chance to touch his sub 17. I figured I should be 2nd in my age group. Now that's out of the way, how fast can I run?

The start was VERY crowded. There were tons of young runners who started WAY too fast. It was just absolutely packed. It took a good half mile for it to thin out at all. Even the front runners had to weave and bob through the crowd. After maybe 3/4 of a mile, I had passed a dozen or so teenagers and it seemed that we had settled into our places.

I tried something different for this race. I barely looked at my watch. I wanted to have it for log purposes, but I wanted to run based on how 5k pace feels. Oh, I definitely paid attention to the split callers, but I didn't look at my watch very much at all.

Mile 1... Mike called out 5:42, but I think it was slower than that. Post-race I learned that my auto-lap on the watch clocked it at 5:47.

Mile 2
Just ahead of me after the turn on Clinton was a teenage boy, then Caitlin Morris and a group of 3 teenage boys. I could tell that the first teenager was struggling a bit, so I passed him and he made no attempt to hang close. For the rest of the race, I stayed close behind the group of Caitlin + 3.

I thought several times about making a move and passing. I probably should have. I at least should have joined the group. I just didn't. I have no idea why not, just not. It's probably because I was already running pretty hard!

The only noticeable climb on this course is between 1.5 and 2 miles. Here, I lost the group ahead. As we were climbing up toward the courthouse, I just didn't (couldn't?) keep up with them. They passed the two mile mark and crested the hill with some distance that I didn't know if I could make up. I MUST work on hills. The distance at the two mile split was enough that I didn't hear their split, but I heard mine. There was probably 15-20 seconds difference. Randy said 11:44. Post race, my watch said 11:52.

The Finish
Going down the hill, I closed the gap considerably. Now, there couldn't have been any more than 5-6 seconds between me and the group ahead. Again, why did I not continue the move? Why did I not hold that pace? The course is downhill to the finish except for the bridge by the Embassy Suites. I fancy myself a better than average downhill runner. Why didn't I run faster? Sure, I was running hard and I was tired of that pace, but I wasn't hurting that bad. I have no idea why I don't run harder in races. Really, I don't.

Approaching the 3 mile marker, I noticed that the teenagers ahead had a final kick. Caitlin didn't give them chase. I didn't want to be the guy who sprints past a lady at the finish line (yeah, that's it, chivalry and all), so I didn't try to close the gap either. Also, there was nobody within striking distance behind me, so I just maintained pace the rest of the way in. Yeah, it's a weak way to finish, I know.

It was a PR and a fun race, but as always, I know I could have done better. It's a tired refrain. I say it after every race. When will I really let it go in a race?

Trail, Track, and Medium-Long

2010-10-26T11:58:00.001-05:00

I was on the wait list for the Dizzy Fifties Trail Run, but now I'm in. So I decided that Saturday would be a good day to scope out the course. I know the course, but I've never run those loops together. I did about a 21 mile run on the course Saturday. I had no snake or deer hunter encounters, so it was a pleasant run. I felt very fresh for the rest of the day, too. I'm planning on the 50 mile option at Dizzy, so I'll be walking the Sinks Trail climb pretty much every time. November 20 should be both miserable and fun.

The schedule shifted the track work back from Tuesday to Monday for some reason that I don't understand. But I did what it said. I still had tired trail legs Monday morning when I did the 5x600m intervals. I forget how difficult that workout is. 5x600 sounds easy. But there's nothing about sub 5k pace that is easy. Matt totally dominated this workout and finished every interval 5-7 seconds ahead of me.

2:12
2:05
2:08
2:08
2:09

Today, the day following the track workout, called for a 15 miler. Yuck, it was muggy today. I finished the run strong and managed a sub-8:00 overall pace, but I feel tired and beat up right now. Tomorrow will be a day off.

Long Tempo

2010-10-19T13:55:00.000-05:00

Twelve miles with seven miles at tempo pace were on today's schedule. Actually, a 15 miler was on today's schedule and 12 / 7 was on Thursday's schedule. But I slept late and realized that I didn't have time to get 15 miles done before 7:00 AM. I seriously thought about doing 12 miles at long run pace. That would have been easy and pleasant. I still had that thought when I hit the road at 5:20 AM. When my watch hit 3 miles, though, I decided to just do it.

I did mix it up a bit and do the tempo miles on the roads instead of on the track. That time of day there is very little traffic in the neighborhoods where I'm running. It worked out well as I only had one stop for traffic. Running that fast in the dark does disturb dogs a little more, though. There was more barking than usual and I had to squirt a couple back with my water bottle.

I ran 7 miles at a 6:36 overall pace. After the first mile at 6:37, I spent most of the rest of the run talking myself out of quitting. When I hit mile 6 with a 6:35 average pace, I wouldn't have quit early for $100. It's funny how a distance runner's mind works. I kept telling myself, "Running until you're tired doesn't make you a better runner. Running AFTER you're tired makes you a better runner."

Why do I like this suffering so much?

Oh The Track

2010-10-12T14:59:00.000-05:00

The schedule for today was 12 miles total with 6x 800m at 5k pace. What is 5k pace? I sure don't know. So I opted for just slower than dry-heaving pace. If I dry heave or throw up, then I ran too hard. If I don't feel like I'm going to dry heave or throw up, then I'm not running hard enough. Yeah, that sounds about right.

2:51
2:50
2:50
2:54 (almost lost my guts, so I'm running just about right)
2:54
2:52 (Not sure how I didn't lose anything, but I didn't.)

The 4th and 6th were especially brutal for some reason. Other than that, I got some sick enjoyment out of today's workout. I ended up with 11.5 miles total. I hope this helps shake some slowness out of my legs.

Fleet Feet Monte Sano 15k

2010-10-09T15:17:00.003-05:00

The Numbers
I ran a 1:01:39 which is a 5 second PR (I guess that still counts as a PR). That was good enough for 15th (of 412) overall and 2nd (of 30) in the 35-39 Age Group. 14th overall was 59:49, so I wasn't close to catching anyone. 14th overall also happened to be 1st in the 35-39 Age Group. Overall results are available at the HTC website. The young runner I mention in the first 5k of the report below was David Gunther, a 14 year old. He set a state age record at the race. I met him and his parents after the race and he was a very nice young man and was happy with his race. He should be!

Pre-Race
I wasn't sure I'd run this one. I wanted to. I mean, I haven't raced since Cotton Row, and I needed to toe the line again. But my daughter just had a tonsillectomy, and I wanted to be sure she was recovering well before I committed to a race. Well, she's done just GREAT since the surgery, so Leigh and I decided late last night that I'd get up and go sign up on race day.

I was running a little late as usual, but was able to get most of my pre-race routine done and even registered in time to get one of the last shirts. Thanks to Mike O'Melia, Fleet Feet, and all the volunteers today.

I did a 2 mile warm up with a random runner who happened to be Eddie Blankenship. He ran the Duck and Run 5k and actually won the masters honors there. He was telling me what a great time he had at the race before I even let him know I was the race director. AWESOME! I'm glad to know so many folks had such a good time.

First 5k
The race was just a little late getting started, but it was no big deal to me. I scoped out the competition, and picked out who would be the lead pack, the next pack, and the group I should be in. I definitely started a little quick, with the second pack, but backed off quickly. I saw Timothy Pitt who has been running strong lately and was running about my pace, so I decided to stay with him for bit.

I had an hour in mind, but I knew an hour would be a challenge on this course. I hit the first mile, an uphill mile with a turnaround, at 6:20, well on pace for that and still behind Tim. I felt really good, but there was a long way to go. I passed a really young runner (maybe 15 years old or so?) at the scenic overlook just before the 2 mile split. I ran mile 2 in 6:25, still on pace. Just after mile 2, I passed Tim and clocked mile 3 in 6:24. An hour will be tough!

On to 10k
On the way to mile 4, the course starts to growl at you a little. Along the way to mile 4, I passed Emily Hardin. I am not in her class. She's a tough runner who regularly wins, won the San Francisco Marathon, and who looks like she's jogging when she's running a 6:00 pace. I asked her, "Is this a marathon pace run? Are you OK?" She had just finished doing a 40 mile Rim to Rim run in the grand canyon. Ahhh. That explains it. I absolutely admire her and know that she's the top female runner in North Alabama. She wished me well as I went by.

Mile 4 was a miserable 6:40 and the wheels were coming off. I decided that I couldn't make up 15 seconds in one mile, but if I'm tenacious I can make it up before the end. Well, there was nobody challenging me and nobody in reach. Mile 5 was 6:36 and mile 6 was 6:37. So much for making it up a little at a time. Here, I lost my focus and really didn't run well.

The Last 5k
At all the turns here, I would sneak a peek over my shoulder. I knew that I was losing time because my splits were just too slow, but nobody was really close. Mile 7 was 6:43. I have no idea why I didn't just gut it out and run faster. Mile 8 was 6:44. Again, the pain of exertion comes down to three words, "Suck it up!" I didn't. I exerted less. After mile 8, I looked over my shoulder and noticed the young guy that I passed early gaining on me. I knew that at this point, I would have to come back (which I was kinda doing) or they would have to run much faster than they had been to catch me. So I ran a little harder in the last 1.3. I ran closer to my pace during the early miles. Nobody caught me, but they weren't too far behind. Mile 9 was 6:37 and the 0.3 (actually 0.4 by my watch) was 2:27.

This was also a very lonely stretch. After Emily in the fourth mile, I didn't see another runner (except on the overlapping portions of the course). I could have used some motivation.

Lessons
I finished 1:01:39 which is a 5 second PR. It's a personal best 15k, but it wasn't my personal best and I know it. Not bad for shaking the race cobwebs off, though. I know that I need to work harder, especially on the track. I felt like I could have maintained a 6:35 - 6:45 pace for another 3 or 4 miles, but I don't think I could have run any faster. Weird, I know.

I'm going to mix up my training a bit after RCM. I'm going to spend more time on the track working on speed. I'm going to do drills and 5k pace and faster more often.

Ahh, The Mid Week 15 Miler

2010-10-05T08:27:00.001-05:00

For some reason, I've come to believe that the multiple mid-week 13-15 mile run is the staple of marathon training.

Sure, the long run is important. You have to learn what happens to your body at 20+ miles. You have to learn to hydrate and fuel during your run. You have to build endurance. Don't skip the long run. And you better practice marathon pace at the end of some of those long runs, too.

Likewise, the tempo run is a must. You'll never learn to hold a difficult pace for mile after mile if you don't practice it. And the physiologists (who are much smarter than I) claim that lactate threshold is the single best predictor of marathon performance. Tempo runs aim to improve lactate threshold. You'll never be able to run your fastest marathon without a steady diet of tempo runs.

But the mid-week 13-15 miler seems to be what gives my marathon training its kick. Perhaps I say that because I enjoy them (sick, I know) more than the other types of runs. But I know that twice a week I'm going to pound the pavement from 5:00AM to 7:00AM. I'll suffer some misery, but then I'll see the sun rise and for some reason I'm not as tired. These runs seem to separate those who train for marathons from those who train, but happen to run marathons. If I want, I can mix in marathon pace miles. If I don't feel like it, I just run at a long run pace. And people look at me funny when I'm wearing my reflective vest in broad daylight. Yeah, I've been out here that long.

Today I belted out a 15+ miler at 7:35 average pace (minus the warmup 8:50 mile) and my heart rate never climbed out of the 150s. Gotta love cooler weather. Aerobically, I feel like I'm in pretty good shape. I could certainly improve, but my HR seems to stay low for a given pace. Old man age seems to be catching up with my legs. I can't get them to go much faster. It's really weird to feel like I'm at about max effort in my legs while I'm able to breathe and converse normally.

Update

2010-10-04T08:11:00.000-05:00

Well, I do suppose an update to this blog is due. What, has it been 2 weeks now? I knew back in June or July that September would be the kind of month that I just have to find a way to endure. Well, I have endured September. I made it through the preparation, business travel, directing a race, and running Ragnar.

I'd really like to do a Ragnar report, but I don't know that I'll have time. Let me just say that it was extremely hot (100F and 90F during my first and last runs) and I didn't go all out during my legs like I did last year. I never got a side stitch while running, but I got several while laughing in the van with my friends. If you ever get an opportunity to run a relay like that, take advantage of it. It's an amazing experience. It'll be one of the most fun events of your life.

I've still been trudging along with my marathon training. I'm trying to hang in there and get the miles done. My confidence is severely bruised and I don't feel very fast at all. I haven't raced since Cotton Row, and I stunk so bad that day that if you sniff in downtown Huntsville, you can still get a whiff of my stench. That was just an awful race (actually an awful 2 races). I really don't know how to get my mojo back, except to keep waking up at or before 5:00 AM to slog through the miles and gut out the tempo runs and MP runs.

I signed up for Dizzy Fifties, but didn't get in. Maybe a few more will drop out and I can get in. Since I'm so stinking slow right now, I thought I'd give a try at 50 miles.

I signed up for Mountain Mist also. I did get in that one. I'll have to bust it on the trails to be ready for that one. I ran 23 miles on the trails on Saturday, part of it was on the Mist course. Humbling. I'm still sore from that run. And I still have visions of the rattlesnake I saw while running alone. That was a little spooky.

Duck and Run 5k

2010-09-19T23:24:00.001-05:00

I haven't posted in a while. That's mostly because my life has been consumed by two things over the past week. Work and the Duck and Run 5k.

This weekend was my first attempt to direct a race. WOW! It's a lot of work. My wife made this happen. She deserves all the credit for the success of this event. And I must say that this event was a resounding success. We made very good proceeds for KALB and everyone at the race had so many positive things to say and seemed to have great fun.

I was more nervous for this event than I was for my first marathon. I had nightmares the week before the race. I kept dreaming that I'd never get the race started on time because I'd be running around getting nothing done. I dreamed that half of my volunteers backed out Friday night. I dreamed that the police didn't show up. I dreamed that I totally botched the scoring. I dreamed that someone got ran over by a car that ignored traffic control. I dreamed that we ran out of food. I dreamed that we ran out of water. I dreamed that we had 500 people sign up on race day. I dreamed that the leaders missed a turn and got lost in the last mile, causing about half the field to go the wrong way. I guess the only thing I didn't dream was the classic showing up naked dream.

I'm glad to say that none of those nightmares came to be. It was a great event (if I do say so myself) and I'm SO glad that I did it. Now, I need a week to recover from this. And here is my sage advice for anyone considering becoming a race director. Don't!

We had 263 finishers, and the largest age group was 11-14. There were 85 runners between 11 and 19. Almost all of those were from Limestone County. I can't describe how happy that makes me. I believe the sport of running is very healthy in Limestone County. I'm going to do my part to keep it that way.

The community of Athens came out big time to support the runners. There was much cheering and fun to be had by all. I even had a couple of local celebrities at the event, Bill Holtzclaw and Mayor Dan Williams!

As a result of work (ugh, but it pays the bills and supports my running addiction) and the Duck and Run 5k, I had to put a hold on my marathon training. I had a 35 mile week with no long run. I will not be running near 3:00 this year. But Athens had a good September 5k.

Early Long Run

2010-09-10T17:32:00.000-05:00

Ahhhhh! Ahhhhh!

Well, that didn't translate to the written word very well. Just imagine Robert Plant as he's belting out the screams in "Immigrant Song". That's how I felt after today's run. Good screams. I wanted to shriek with joy at the end of 18 miles with 10 miles at marathon pace today. Finally, a good run. A run that required me to maintain a challenging pace for a long time. A run that I was able to finish and want some more.

What is marathon pace? That's a good question. Today, with my bruised confidence, I just wanted it to be below 7:30. But after two miles at that pace, we realized that it needed to be faster. So, we dropped to 7:20 and 7:10 and then 7:05. Next time, I'll try 7:05 as a start.

Today is the kind of run that reminds me of why I like marathon training. I had a challenging schedule this weekend with NO time to run on Saturday. So, I adjusted my running schedule all week so that I could be recovered and ready to hit the long run early Friday. Getting 18 miles in before work means wake up and smell the asphalt no later than 4:45 AM. Ouch. Getting it done when it ain't easy is what marathon training is about. Marathon training teaches you to overcome the overwhelming desire to give up. I could have given up on this week, but I found a way and I'm glad I did.

I asked Matt if he wanted to join, and he did. He's as crazy as I am. It's beyond awesome to have a training partner who'll join you with a crazy schedule like that. And Matt really pushed the pace this morning. I couldn't have done today's workout without him.

Cooler Weather... Don't Go Away!

2010-09-07T15:25:00.000-05:00

This morning Matt and I met for a 10 mile run with 4 miles at tempo pace. Man, it felt so good outside this morning. It was warm enough for shorts and warm enough to sweat, but it wasn't so warm that it slows you down. My weather records say 64, but it felt even cooler than that. Nice. I don't think the rest of the week will be so pleasant.

We decided that our tempo pace should be a little quicker with the cooler temps and (supposed) improved fitness. We were aiming for 6:40 pace for the tempo miles. We hit 6:36 overall pace with 6:42, 6:31, 6:30, and 6:40. It wasn't miserable, which is good because a tempo run shouldn't be miserable. It was uncomfortable at the end, which is good because a tempo run shouldn't be easy.

Maybe progress is happening. I have a lot of work to do and I have to improve in my willingness to hurt, especially during training. But just maybe I can run a 3:05 in December. 3:00 still seems out of reach.

Chugging Along

2010-09-05T13:05:00.000-05:00

Even though I didn't travel this week, I didn't have a great week of training. I got in most of my miles. I got in all of my quality miles. I only missed recovery miles and I traded one recovery run for a spinning class, which is effectively the same thing (elevate the heart rate without stressing the running muscles). However, it was a struggle to get it done this week. I'm tired and stressed. I knew the month of September would be a huge challenge. My calendar is overrun. I'm overbooked. I have too many irons in the fire. And then some additional stress has been added. Ugh.

Anyway, I did the miles: 12 on Monday and 14 on Wednesday. Then, I did a lazy (can a 20 miler be lazy?) 20 miler at an 8:00 average pace on Saturday. The weather was beautiful and I just enjoyed being out in it. I didn't really think about how fast (slow) I was running. I just ran. I honestly didn't look at my pace until mile 16, and decided to finish as fast as my tired legs would allow (about 7:40-7:45 for the last 4 miles). It was mind clearing, but probably not the best way to run for marathon preparation. It did reduce my stress considerably, though.

I should have gone to Monte Sano and run the 10k and 5k, but again, I'm afraid of the reality that is my slow 10k and 5k pace. Some time soon, I'm going to have to run fast.

The Weekend

2010-08-29T16:20:00.000-05:00

Yet again, I chickened out of a 5k. The thought of 5k pace right now, even if it is only for a 400m lap around the track, makes me want to puke. I'll get over that soon, I hope. I missed the Running of the Bulls 5k Saturday. Part of the reason was that I had traveled on back to back weeks and I was just tired and out of sorts.

I did what the plan called for on Saturday, 16 miles. I didn't get after that 16 very hard. I ran into a friend on the streets of Athens and ran his pace for about 5 miles. After that, I did pick up the pace a bit, but it was getting hot.

The Sunday 10 miler just keeps going. Running seems to be strong in the Athens area.

Do Over

2010-08-27T06:40:00.000-05:00

I'm glad that I got a do-over this week. Last week was so miserably bad. No sleep, working late, terrible food, and 2 key missed workouts. This week was much better. I somehow made time to fit my runs in. I had to cut one run a couple miles short because of time constraints, but I got all the quality work in on that one anyway.

Yesterday I did a 14 mile run along the Olentangy River. There is a really nice greenway that goes along the Olentangy and Scioto rivers for miles and miles. I did an out an back and negative split by 4 minutes. I finished strong with miles in the 7:20s and felt great. I especially thought the run was a good one since it followed a tempo run the day before. The lower temperatures and humidity make a huge difference. Still, though, 3:00:00 ain't in my 2010 Crystal Ball.

I've done all my running in the evenings this week because I've been traveling and working early mornings to coincide with the work day in India (great). I MUCH prefer morning runs. An evening 14 miler when you don't finish work until 6:30 will really mess up your eating schedule!

Weekly Report

2010-08-25T23:35:00.000-05:00

I'll do anything to put off doing this weekly report that I have to do for work, including posting on this blog. Ugh. What did I do this week? I worked. Something tells me that won't be good enough. Anyway...

Today, I did a 5 mile tempo run. The schedule called for 10 miles total with 5 at tempo pace. Because of time constraints, I had to shorten that to 8 total. I still managed 5 at (almost) tempo pace, 6:48 per mile. It wasn't terrible. It wasn't a suffer fest like a race, but I wanted to stop at 3 miles, at 4 miles, and at 4.5 miles. But I didn't stop. It was just a matter of being tough and finishing the run even though it was uncomfortable. Today's run was 95% mental. It was a little warm and muggy for the run, too, at 80F and 55% RH. That's not North Alabama heat and humidity, but it's not exactly comfortable, either.

I'm considering 6:45 my tempo pace right now. I am not anywhere near 3:00:00 marathon shape. I won't be there by December, either. Oh well. I'll just try to run 26.2 miles as fast as I can and see what that number is.

Cross Country Running Park

2010-08-21T21:31:00.000-05:00

Believe it or not, before today, I had never run the course at the Cross Country Running Park in Huntsville. Yeah, I know that's hard to believe. I've never done the Sprint Tri. I've never done the Recover from the Holidays 50k. And, I have never done one of the summer cross country runs. I really wanted to this summer, but with my injury, it just never worked out.

I suppose now I have officially been inducted into the Huntsville Track Club.

I volunteered to record splits for the run portion of the 30th annual HiWAAY Sprint Triathlon today. It was a great event today, and I admire George DeWitt and all he did to pull this off.

After the last runner was in and we had cleaned up the tents, tables, etc. I took off running with Brett Wilks and Joe Francica on the cross country course. Man, that's not an easy run. I planned to do 16 miles, but it was just too hot and I really didn't have that much time. So I only did 10.

Besides, I realized that I got confused looking at my calendar and I'm a week ahead in my marathon training. So, THIS WEEK DIDN'T COUNT!!! :) I'm repeating this week's schedule next week.

Everything Counts

2010-08-19T21:27:00.000-05:00

I need to re-remind myself of that. I had an awful week in terms of diet and training.

Business travel is not as glamorous as some people think. There is no glamor in being prodded onto a metal tube like cattle. There is no glamor in conducting business on a cell phone surrounded by strangers who may be listening to your conversation and noisy loudspeakers blaring gate change and TSA announcements. There is no glamor in cancelled flights and running from gate to gate trying to get the next flight to your destination. There is no glamor in waiting in line and waiting on hold at the same time just to see which queue is shorter to re-book a flight. There is no glamor in flying during dinner hours and landing after all the restaurants have closed and your options are a 24-hour drive-thru grease bomb or a vending machine.

In spite of all of that, I don't really mind business travel except for one thing. You see, while I'm actually in the air or on the customer site, nobody is doing my job. If someone would take care of my daily duties while I travel (and if my family could accompany me on every trip), I'd love it. So that's what I do in the evenings in the hotel -- catch up for the day. And that totally messes up my sleep patterns and my diet.

I had a horrible week of nasty fast foods and I took two zero mile days because I simply was too tired to run.

I wish this week didn't count.

But the up side is that I did get in an 11 miler with 4.5 miles at tempo pace on a surprisingly hilly route right along the Minneapolis side of the Mississippi River. The run felt great, was very scenic, and I was able to hold about a 6:45 pace for the 4.5 miles. It turns out that 75F and 47% humidity feels a LOT different from 77F and 95% humidity. I wish I could have found a way to run in the morning when the temp was 58F.

Second long run

2010-08-14T16:27:00.000-05:00

I planned to run the Brooke Hill Run for Awareness 5k this morning. I ate a healthy, light dinner. I got in bed early. I set out my Fleet Feet Racing uniform. I packed a change of clothes. I packed some post race nutrition. I set my alarm so that I would have time to register and do a full 3-4 mile warm up. I even visualized finishing strong in blistering heat. I had done all of the pre-race preparation (Well, except for the work on the track at 5k pace. Details.)

When the alarm went off this morning, I just did NOT want to race. I wanted to run, but I didn't want to race. I feel bad because I had told the race director, a friend and Fleet Feet team mate, that I would be there. Then I just wimped out. I don't really want to know how badly I'm out of shape, I guess. Racing a 5k would expose just how slow I am right now. I was really afraid that I wouldn't be able to break 22 minutes and that I might lose my breakfast trying to do that. I totally chickened out today. Call me a girl. Call me a coward. I'm not proud of that.

Instead, I slept an extra hour and then hit the road from my house and ran a 16 miler. The schedule called for 17 with 8 at MP. HAH! There was just no way possible to pull that off in today's heat. I ran 16, and barely held on to an 8:20 pace at the end. I was drenched in sweat, miserable, tired, hot, and discouraged after today's run. I know that sounds negative, so I'll follow that up with this. I'm glad I ran and I enjoyed seeing all the people I saw. I mixed up the route a bit and saw some old sights from a new perspective. (I've lived around Athens for 36 of my 38 years. There are no new sights for me!) It was a good run, but my body was ready to stop long before the run was over.

I guess my expectations are not realistic right now. I decided to compare my runs this year with my runs at the same time last year. I was quite amazed to find that my times, distances, and paces are nearly identical! I'm marginally faster this year, by less than 10 seconds per mile. The big difference? It's been consistently 10 to 15 degrees warmer for most of those runs this year! (Yes, I am a nerd that logs the temperature, relative humidity, and wind speed during my runs. So, that's not a subjective "it's hotter this year". It has really been hotter this year.) So, I just need to stop complaining and thinking negatively and take what the weather gives me. It's time to not be discouraged any more. It's past time to start believing that I can accomplish my goals.

Keeping on...

2010-08-11T08:23:00.000-05:00

This has been a tough summer. The heat and humidity started early, and with only a couple of days here and there, it has stayed consistently hot and humid. Hopefully training through this will pay off. In a way, I hate that I missed the early part of the summer. I think gutting out a few more weeks of this brutal heat and humidity would have made me stronger. That said, I'm ready for fall. I'm ready to see if it's just the heat or if I have really lost that much conditioning.

Tuesday's run was about a 2.75 mile warm up, a 21 minute tempo run (6:44 overall pace, very consistent mile splits, 43, 44, 46), and a 2.7 mile cool down. That 6:44 pace was much more difficult than it should have been. I could have run that pace for a little longer, but the heat was bearing down! It was 77F with RH near 95%. I left pools in the kitchen floor (of course I cleaned up) as I was making my chocolate milk. I don't remember ever being that disgustingly sweaty and gross.

Today, I did spinning to give my legs a break from the pounding and to be ready for a big mid-week run tomorrow. I followed spinning with a very lackadaisical effort with weights in the gym. Is a lackadaisical effort better than no effort? I hope so.

Long-ish

2010-08-07T11:14:00.000-05:00

I met Shane in Decatur to attempt a long run. I had no confidence. I know that Shane is in much better shape than I am, and even when I'm in great shape, he's much faster than I am. The plan was for 18, but we did 16. Wow, I was surprised.

I had several things going for me on this run. I took a couple of easy days before today's run. We had a small break in the weather (though it was HOT at the end, like 85F or so). The pace of the run was modest (probably painfully slow for my speedster partner), and I fueled early and often. But still, I made it 16 miles with no pain and I felt GREAT after the run.

I think I'm ready to continue with this marathon training thing. Whether or not 3:00 is realistic still remains to be seen, but I feel ready to train. I'm kinda excited about this. I hated taking the time off. I like running and I like higher mileage. I broke the 50 mile mark this week with two days off. I don't feel the least bit beat up for it, either. (I know that will change. Marathon training catches up with you and you inevitably go through a phase of feeling completely drained.)

Let's start week 2.

Hot Hot Hot.

2010-08-04T07:55:00.000-05:00

I was going to try to do 12 miles today. I know I said that I was going to continue base building before marathon training and maybe do a 12 or 16 week plan instead of an 18 plan. Well, I looked at my training and realized that I have basically done the first of an 18 week program already. If I did 12 today, I'd be right on schedule.

So I tried to do 12 today. I got 11 done and probably could have done 12, but I ran out of time. I looked at my watch at 9 miles and realized that I had to go straight home. It turned out that home was about 1.6 miles away and if I was going to do 10.6, I may as well do 11, so I ran around my block to click off 11.

I'll say that it was as miserable as I ever remember a training run to be. I struggled mightily to average an 8:17 pace. I was drenched, hot, and tired. But my leg felt great!

So, I may start marathon training this week after all. I kinda already have.

Sloooowwww!

2010-08-03T09:44:00.000-05:00

Wow, I've gotten slow. I attempted a tempo run this morning. So, I knew that I wouldn't be cranking out 6:30 tempo runs like I was doing in prep for the Country Music Marathon. That just wasn't a realistic expectation because I took what amounted to about 5 weeks off and because it is STINKING HOT! So I opted for a more modest 7:00 pace.

I was struggling after 2 miles at that pace. Really. Struggling. But I made it 3 miles at about a 6:55 overall pace. But I couldn't have maintained that for much longer. I have work to do. I'm pretty sure that I need to give up on 3:00 this year. It just doesn't seem realistic at this point.

I was glad to have Matt there to endure the misery with me.

Marathon Training

2010-08-01T23:52:00.000-05:00

An 18 week schedule for Rocket City would begin today. I still feel like I need to do some more base building before I venture into a steady diet of tempo runs, mid-week 15 milers, and marathon pace long runs. So for now, I'm still doing mostly easy runs and building my mileage back up. I'll re-assess my fitness and general feeling in a couple more weeks and may go with a 16 week schedule.

Another option is a 12 week schedule. That's what I did for Nashville, and it worked out very well. However, I rolled into that 12 week schedule with a very big, solid base. I'm not sure that 12 weeks will get me to a PR in December.

The 10 miler was hot and humid, but fun today.

I Think I'm Back

2010-07-29T07:58:00.000-05:00

My calf is well. My fitness is not. My weekly mileage has been about 35-38 miles for 3 weeks now, and it's time to increase that. On most of my days off from running, I have either done a spinning class, intense resistance training, or both. Even so, my fitness is a shell of what it was in March/April. I run slow and short. I want to run fast and long.

So I have work to do.

I'm going to bump up to 45 or so miles for the next couple of weeks, and then hopefully start an 18 week marathon training program that peaks at 70 miles per week. Will that get me to 2:59:59 or less? I don't know. And I will re-assess that goal after running a 5k fitness test in the next couple of weeks. But I will focus on my training and will make choices in other areas of my life that will help me get there.

This spring, my oft repeated trite little motivational quote (is the word I'm looking for "mantra"?) was "Suck it up, buttercup." This fall, I'm switching over to "Everything counts." Hopefully this will help me to keep my diet, sleep, rest, recovery, and hydration in check. Everything counts. Everything I do will either help me progress toward my goal or it will set me back. Everything counts.

Let's do this.

Still coming back

2010-07-20T10:21:00.002-05:00

I had a great weekend of running compared to the past 6 weeks with 8 miles on Saturday followed by 10 miles on Sunday. The Sunday 10 miler was nice with a strong finish. I was struggling and my calf was tight for the last two miles, but it never hurt. I decided to take Monday off completely which felt really good. My calf was feeling great this morning.

I decided to use the spinning class to sub for a tempo run today. I don't know if I'm quite ready for good hard running just yet. So, I ran over to the gym (about two miles on the route I took, but it can be as short as 1.25 miles) in time for the 5:15 AM spinning class. We did 30 minutes of standing and increasing the resistance followed by 5 minutes of sitting at a hard pace + warm up and cool down. For that 35 minutes, my HR was in the tempo zone. Still, it's not the same as a tempo run, but it will have to do for now. I followed that up with a push workout and a 1.75 mile run home.

I'm still deciding on the 5k fitness test to run in a couple of weeks. That race may actually be the ABS CC versus alumni race. (Though if that happens this year, it looks like I'll have to be the one to pull it together.) From there, I'll assess my goals for the remainder of the year and begin training for Rocket City. Sub three hours may be gone as a goal for this year, but that's okay with me. If sub three is clearly out of reach, I'll probably totally reassess everything and try to determine what is reasonable and then schedule my races around that.

Coming Back Slowly

2010-07-17T11:11:00.002-05:00

Oh how I want to run 20 miles right now. And I probably could, but I would definitely regret it.

I did an 8 miler this morning around Athens. It was a great run, and one in which each mile was faster than the previous one. My calf was fine, but it was starting to tighten up during the last half mile or so. I'm still working much harder than I should be to run an 8:00 mile. I really enjoyed the run and can't wait until I'm back up to 70 miles per week.

Knowing that 8 miles just isn't enough exercise for a day, I went for a swim immediately after the run. That also went well. I was able to go 200 yards without stopping. That's a huge improvement over what I've been able to do. It wasn't fast, but it was steady and there was no interruption in the 3 or 5 strokes between breaths rhythm I was in. I'm going to try to keep a couple of weekly swims in my routine. I really enjoy it.

Wednesday Run

2010-07-15T10:21:00.002-05:00

I'm going to have to be careful in my comeback because I REALLY want to run about 20 miles right now.

I ran Wednesday morning, and it felt GREAT. There was absolutely no pain or discomfort in the calf. It was sore later in the day, though. My cardiovascular system is NOT conditioned for running just yet. I was working much harder than I should have been to run 7 miles at an 8:23 average pace, but I'll take it.

I didn't run today (though I planned a short 3 miler), but I did do a killer interval spinning workout followed by a "pull" weight session in the gym. I don't enjoy weights, but I do like the results.

Update

2010-07-13T08:05:00.003-05:00

Monday's 5 miler didn't exactly go as planned. I ran the first mile very slow, like 10:00. I didn't even notice! The next mile, I was bold and dropped down to about 9:35. Ouch. I actually had to stop and walk, but I never limped. During the 3rd mile, I ran nearer a 9:00 pace, and my leg was very tight. It loosened considerably on the 4th and 5th mile and actually felt fine. The 4th mile was 8:40 or so and the 5th was 8:00. Everything felt great while I was running those last two miles. After the run, though, it was sore all day. I hit the gym really hard yesterday and today. My calf feels much better today and I'll give another try either later today or tomorrow morning.

I'm going to go with the advice I've heard and given others. If it doesn't affect your gait, you can run through it. So far, it isn't affecting my gait.

Last Day Off!

2010-07-11T18:09:00.003-05:00

Today is the last day of rest before I try to start running again! Woohoo! I'm very excited to get out in the morning! I hope it all goes well.

My plan is to start with easy miles and keep up the spinning and swimming so that I can get some good high heart rate work done without the impact. I plan to start at about 30-35 miles per week. If that goes well for a couple of weeks, I'll replace one of the spinning sessions with a tempo run. I plan to do a 5k as a fitness test some time during the first week of August (maybe Sunset 5k in Sheffield or Dog Trot in Huntsville). That will give me an idea of how to pace my workouts as I train for the Rocket City Marathon this fall.

While I've been out, I've really tried to avoid losing ground by doing weights, core, spinning/stationary bike, and swimming. I spent over an hour in the pool yesterday! It's a 25 yard lap pool, and I did 25, 50, and 75 yard intervals. I just can't quite last for 100 yards yet. I was pushing really hard, was gasping for air, and nearly puked. But still, it's not the same as busting out a set of hard intervals at the track.

I will say that swimming is humbling! I'd like to keep practicing, though. Who knows, one day I may try a tri.

After This Message...

2010-07-09T18:45:00.004-05:00

I've been meaning to do this for a while, and I just haven't done it. I'd like to take this opportunity to talk about Fleet Feet Sports in Huntsville.

When I first started running, runners in the area told me to go to Fleet Feet Sports in Huntsville. That is the single best piece of running advice anyone has ever given me! The staff there was very friendly, helpful, and knowledgeable. They truly take care of their customers. Every time I have been to the store, it has been a great experience.

I was honored when I was selected for the Fleet Feet racing team, sponsored by Nike, for the 2010 season. I didn't write about it here sooner because I wasn't sure it was for real. I was waiting for them to realize how slow I am and that there had been a mistake in the selection process. But now, I've got a spot on the website and a uniform that I've worn, so I'm in for this season!

Seriously, nobody has better customer service and higher quality products and employees than Fleet Feet. Nobody does more to support the local running community than Fleet Feet. I can't imagine buying running gear anywhere else.

Maybe the Sky Isn't Falling

2010-07-02T10:04:00.003-05:00

I went to the doctor Wednesday for a check up and I mentioned my calf problem while I was there. The calf is tendinitis and rest, ice, and ibuprofen are the treatment. That was my plan anyway.

My BP was 120/75. Compare that to 157/112 four years ago when I weighed in at 238. Yeah, that's a terrible number, and that number alone may have been the catalyst for my current fitness kick. I still remember the serious look of concern in my doctor's eyes when we discussed my blood pressure. I am thankful that diet and exercise have been successful in getting that number to a healthy range.

I've been terribly worried about my weight since my calf started bothering me. However, my weight was exactly the same as last year's doctor visit, and I had a great fall/winter of races last year. I guess it doesn't really matter that I lost 8 or 9 pounds for the April marathon and gained them back. I'm still right where I was last year as far as weight is concerned. I can have a great fall and winter again and I can drop those pounds again.

I'm still trying to maintain cardio fitness and take advantage of the time off to strengthen my core and tone my upper body. So far, it seems to be working. Who knows, maybe I'll return better than ever once I regain the running specific conditioning on my bones and muscles.

Where Am I?

2010-06-29T07:57:00.002-05:00

I'm still around. I'm trying as hard as I know how to avoid losing too much fitness during the time off.

I tried running Sunday morning. Nobody but me showed up for the weekly 10 miler, and that was probably a good thing for me. I started very slowly, and I could feel my calf. There was no pain, but I knew that if I went farther or faster that it would start hurting, so I just quit. If someone else had showed up, I probably would have run with him and done more damage. I'm taking a full two weeks from Sunday and then I'll test it again. If all goes well, I'll start base building so I can hit August 8 (the first day of my 18 week marathon training schedule) ready to endure the grind.

In the mean time, I'm doing weights, spinning, recumbent bike, core work, etc. I'm really hitting those exercises hard. I'm watching my diet very closely. Yet the pounds relentlessly appear. I've gained 6 pounds since the first sign of the injury. Maybe they're not all bad pounds because I do think I look a little better in the mirror! :) (But that's not nearly as objective a measure as the scale itself.)

One thing I've learned in my 38 years is that I am not a person who can just go on auto-pilot when it comes to body weight. I have to watch it very closely all the time. I'll never have it licked. I'll have to be disciplined with it for the rest of my life or I'll weigh 250-300 pounds or more. I envy people who can eat cookies and ice cream and cake and fast food and not gain weight. I am not one of you. Even at 70-80 miles per week during training for Country Music Marathon, I gained weight because I got lazy and unfocused with my diet. Ugh. And to me, saying "no" to ice cream is more difficult than grinding out that 5th 1200m interval at sub 5k pace.

Still not back

2010-06-22T09:46:00.003-05:00

I took another 5 days off because of the calf. On Sunday, I thought it was 100%. I took off from the 10 miler to be sure. Not wanting to just be lazy on Sunday, I went to the gym. I was on the recumbent bike at the gym and about 50 minutes into the ride, that same calf just completely locked up. We're talking a serious Charlie Horse. I had to get up and walk it off, and it hasn't been the same since.

I ran Monday anyway (probably not wise), and after about 6.5 miles, it was very sore. It was sore for the rest of the day and is still tender today.

I had to be at work at 7:15 this morning, so I woke up at 5:00 hoping to get an easy run in. My leg was still sore, so I thought better of it. So I went to the 5:15 AM spinning class at the gym. That was a pretty good cardio workout. It did nothing for my endurance, though. I say that because I was sweating like mad during the class and was struggling at the end of each interval. However, 5 minutes after the class, it felt like I had done nothing. I liked the class, and I'll probably be back at least until my leg heals.

I feel like I'm going to have to spend the next 6 weeks strictly getting over this calf thing and building base for the training that starts in August.

Ugh.

2010-06-18T07:57:00.002-05:00

So I thought I was better. Sunday's run was great. I ran a little hard and my calf felt fatigued at the end, but there was absolutely no pain. Monday's run was also great. Tuesday, not so much. I mixed in some strides on Tuesday's run, and the calf started hurting. And it hurt all day Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday was better, but I could still feel it. Today it doesn't hurt, but I'm afraid to run.

Ugh. And I said every day that I would go to the gym and I didn't go at all. What is wrong with me? I won't get to 3 hours in December like this. The injury I can live with. It's part of running and I know that. It's nothing that rest, ice, and Aleve won't cure. However, the lack of motivation to do something else while I'm injured is something I have to overcome.

Athens 10 Miler

2010-06-13T14:57:00.002-05:00

We had another good group to join our weekly 5:45 AM Sunday 10 miler today. There were 6 of us and it was HOT and HUMID!

After about a mile, the group formed into two packs with Carl and I up front. I didn't realize it until I looked at the splits this afternoon, but we did a pretty good stair step today. Each mile was faster than the one before it. I was working much harder than I should have been for a 7:28 finishing mile. I'll blame the heat.

The calf is fine. I felt fatigue in the calf, but no pain for the last mile. I'm going to continue to baby it and avoid 5k pace or faster and avoid hard hills until it is completely normal.

Have I ever mentioned that I'm really glad that this run is a fixture on my calendar? Come join us some Sunday morning. You'll be hooked.

The Plan

2010-06-10T18:13:00.002-05:00

I have an answer for the "what next" question.

I am going to run a sub 3 hour marathon this year. I will do this on December 11 at the Rocket City Marathon.

August 8th marks the beginning of an 18 week training schedule for the Rocket City Marathon. I plan to hit that date healthy, in shape, lean, and ready to work hard. If I meet any of the other goals I have set for this year, it will be collateral to my preparation for Rocket City. Laser focus.

Goodbye cheeseburgers, ribs, ice cream, cookies, and chocolate. Goodbye sub-50 mile weeks. Goodbye extra pounds. Hello 2:XX:XX.

On the Couch

2010-06-06T13:02:00.005-05:00

After the Cotton Row 10k, I noticed some pain in my right calf. It was completely new. Hmmmm. I didn't want to run the 5k, but I did anyway, and it didn't hurt any worse, but I noticed it during the entire 5k. By Monday morning, the pain was completely gone. I was probably just tired, I thought.

Yesterday, I went on a long-ish trail run. There was a time when 20+ miles was a long run. Now, anything over 12 is long for me. Ugh. Anyway, about 8 miles into the run, I noticed that same pain again. Hmmm. I didn't stop because it was bearable. It was nothing major. But it kept getting worse with every step, especially every uphill step. By 11 miles, I had to stop. I walked for a bit, then tried to run again. Ouch. Walked more and then ran again, but couldn't run without a limp.

The problem was that I was a long way from my car. I didn't know how far, but I knew it was FAR. Walking would take way too long. I had to run when I could. Uphill running was completely unbearable. So, I ran (okay, limp-jogged) the downs and flats and walked (okay, limped) the ups. It ended up being just over 3.5 miles back to the car.

I could barely walk the rest of the day. With that, I'm on the couch with ice and advil for a few days. It completely feels like a muscle pain and not ligament, tendon, or bone. But I'm taking at least 5 days off to let that heal up. Maybe during that 5 days I can get some cross training and stretching mixed back in.

I'm guessing that the fairly sudden increase in hills recently has caused this. I'll get back to hills soon, but gradually, like every other week instead of twice per week. One of my less measurable goals this year is to convert uphills from weakness to strength.

Really, what next?

2010-06-01T23:50:00.002-05:00

What will I do next? I still don't have an answer to that one!

I looked at my goals for 2010, and I'm way off. Way off. Let's see....

A 5k in 18:30. I haven't done it yet and my best chance was Chick Fil A in Athens. However, that doesn't seem unattainable for this year and I'll have plenty of chances to try.
A sub 38:00 10k. Um. Perhaps I should re-think that. Ouch. The only chance I can think of to get this one is the Dam-Bridge run in Florence in November. At least I have time to prepare. I had better get started.
A sub 1 hour 15k. I think I can do that at Monte Sano in October.
An 84 minute half. This means 1:24:59. Maybe.
26.2 miles in 2:59:59 or faster. I'm not sure I'll run another marathon this year. I'll have to decide. If I give a go at this goal, it will be Rocket City.

Maybe I should punt and make all of these 2011 goals. Or maybe I should just pick one of the hard ones and make it my focus and see what happens with the others.

Cotton Row 2010

2010-05-31T12:12:00.003-05:00

Cotton Row, Cotton Row. How I love and hate you all at the same time!

Cotton Row is the premier footrace event in this area. I love the festivities. I love seeing people who may run one race per year pushing themselves. I love renewing old acquaintances. I saw people today that I haven't seen in well over 5 years. Really, this is a first class event.

Dink and Suzanne Taylor know how to put on an event. Thanks to Fleet Feet in Huntsville and Mercedes Benz of Huntsville for sponsoring this race. Every year it seems better than the year before.

Huge shout to some folks who ran great today... I'm proud of my bud Daniel Ogles for his hard work preparing for this and then gutting it out. A co-worker Olivia Cole signed up and did both the 10k and the 5k. I thought only crazy people did that. And my good friend and Fleet Feet Racing team mate Eric Fritz busted the 20 minute mark today! Nice job!

It is all about me isn't it? I ran a 40:36 (why o why can I NOT break 40 in the 10k?) which was 66th overall. I ran a lousy 5k in 20:18 (how's that for even pacing) but that got 2nd in my age group.

The 10k

I was going to run with my friend Shane O'Neill, and I did for a mile and a half or so. He was going to pace me to a sub 40. If I had stayed with him, I would have broken 40. I let him go pretty early.

I was totally unprepared for this race. I am simply not in 10k shape. And this course is tough. Really tough. I should have been a little tougher. I just didn't get after it like I should have today. It's one thing to be unprepared, but it's another to lay down a bit during a race. I have a good reason to be unprepared (Country Music Marathon), but not giving my best to the course today is inexcusable.

Having said that, 40:36 is a 21 second PR. That's nice, but I should be breaking 39.

I ran a smart race, but not a tough one. I didn't start too fast. I ran the hill hard, but didn't redline. I was right on pace at the top, and I intended to bring in the last 2 miles near to 6:00.

6:13
6:27
6:45
7:00
6:14
6:29 (I just didn't like hurting. Wimp.)
1:27 (0.24 miles)

The 5k

I had no motivation for the 5k. I didn't want to put in the effort that would be required to break 20. I knew that I had no PR in me. Why was I doing this? I still don't know. Next year, I think I'll just volunteer at Cotton Row.

I started on sub 20 pace and thought I might hold it. I hit the 1 mile mark at 6:22 and felt un-miserable. So, I held on for about another quarter mile and simply gave up. It was hurting and I wanted to quit. I ran mile 2 in a terrible 6:50. Huh? Really. I was a quitter today. I seriously thought about coasting the rest of the way at about a 9:00 pace. That would have been pleasant.

But then Brett Wilks caught me at about 2.5 miles. I probably was coasting near 7:30 when he caught me. Miserable. I even told Brett to go ahead, I was done. I expected him to surge and go, but he didn't. He stayed with me. So, I had to speed up. The faster I ran, the faster he ran. He wasn't going to put me away, but he wasn't going to let me quit either. When we hit the 3 mile mark, I decided that now is the time. Will I toy around or just go all out? I decided to just go. I really didn't know I could run that fast. I ran the last 0.11 miles in 29 seconds. Yeah, that's a sub 4:50 pace. And I felt like I could have done that a little longer, which was weird given how miserable the rest of the race had been.

Summary

I've just got to get tougher. I need to work harder, lose weight, and repeat hills. Cotton Row last year gave me the kick in the pants I needed to get serious about my training. This year, it will do the same.

All in all, a PR on a tough course and a day in which I was woefully unprepared isn't bad, but it wasn't my best and I know that. And the 5k, at least I learned that I can run fast if I have to. Positives and negatives from both races.

Cotton Row Nerves

2010-05-30T15:22:00.002-05:00

Um. I'm not sure what I was thinking when I decided to sign up for Cotton Row this year. A 10k a month before a marathon is genius. A 10k a month after a marathon is not wise at all. I simply haven't had time to recover from Nashville and then focus on the systems necessary to run my best 10k.

So, this will be one of the first races that I've gone into without really being prepared. I've done a couple of weeks of crash course type training with hills in Denver and track work and tempo runs. But all of that has felt extremely uncomfortable and sub-40 on a flat course would be tough. Sub-40 tomorrow on that beast may not be possible. Oh well. Maybe I can PR.

And then there's the 5k afterwards. What was I thinking? At least the 5k course is more reasonable. I'm pretty nervous. Maybe I'll get lucky and have a good day and PR both distances. More likely, my lack of preparation will show and I'll finish way back of where I should be.

Live and learn.

A Tempo

2010-05-27T09:50:00.003-05:00

The title of this post is just a play on words for those who read music. I'm getting back to my pre-marathon tempo pace. (Get it? a tempo. Nevermind.)

Believe it or not, I know a little bit about music. Not much, but a little. I really wish I knew more, but I can't truly enjoy music on the same level that most folks can because I'm nearly tone deaf. I can sight read pretty well because of my days as a tubist in high school. But miss a note by up to a step and a half, and I'll never know it. You'd think that these inept ears equip me perfectly to be an American Idol viewer, but I don't really like that show. Even I can tell that those people can't sing.

Wow, I'm rambling. But I know you missed my wit much more than you missed my workout descriptions and splits. Maybe not.

Anyhow, I did a 20 minute tempo run with Matt this morning. We did a 3.5 mile warm up and a 2.5 mile cool down for 9 miles total for the day. The tempo portion ended up being 3.11 miles in 20 minutes for a 6:27 (6:30 was the goal) overall pace. That was much harder than it should have been and I'm having difficulty imagining how I could hold that pace for 10k, especially with a huge Mountainwood hill right in the middle.

How bad is a DNS? I'm not ready for this race, Cotton Row.

My Apologies

2010-05-25T16:43:00.002-05:00

I owe all three of my readers an apology. I mean, I can't just stop by this blog and tell you what a great workout I had this morning without some sort of explanation about why I haven't posted in 3 weeks. Don't you at least deserve that? My apologies for leaving you hanging.

Work has been extremely busy since about March 15, and it really has gotten intense since the week of the Country Music Marathon. I've had to decide whether I'll do without sleep, workouts, or blogging. Well, blogging got the ax. Actually, lots of things slipped, not just blogging. Things seem to be more reasonable now, so the hiatus was temporary. I'm back. Besides, all you missed was marathon recovery. You didn't really want to hear about short, slow workouts did you?

Right now, I'm beginning Jack Daniels' Gold Elite plan. It's supposed to get one ready for a variety of race distances, except the marathon. I don't have a marathon on my schedule any time soon, so I'll be doing the occasional 5k, 10k, 5 mile, 8k, or whatever distance is in the area on a given weekend. This plan adds what Daniels calls "repetition" training. I haven't done any of that, so I hope this will freshen up my workouts and stimulate systems in my body that haven't been used yet and help me past this plateau I'm on.

Today was a repetition day. 10 x 400m at "R" pace (faster than 5k, maybe 1 mile or 3k pace) with long rest between bouts. The goal is to recover such that the next one feels like the first one. You may take 3 to 5 minutes between reps. If it takes longer than 5 minutes, you're running too fast.

Matt came over and we ran to the Athens high track. This was perhaps the slowest warmup ever because I dreaded running these reps. I was delaying in every way possible, and Matt called me out on it, too! It turns out that I really liked this workout. The last 3 or 4 were right on the edge of nausea in the last 100m, which is where I like to be for a hard workout. I sure don't want to cross the line and lose the contents of my stomach, though. Anyway, here are the numbers.

I've really felt great all day. Man, that workout felt good. (Well, except for the actual running fast part, that pretty much hurt.)