13 miler

Today's long run was scheduled to be a 13 miler. I was really disappointed in the run (1:39:44) until I looked at the splits and saw the strong finish. It was my first long run with my new Garmin 305. Wow! How do people train without these? Yeah, I really like it.

1. 8:03
2. 7:52
3. 7:39
4. 7:37
5. 7:41
6. 7:37
7. 7:54
8. 7:48
9. 7:47
10. 7:31
11. 7:58 (Really not indicative of the effort required. Uphill, through a gate, and I had to wait on traffic. This felt MUCH more like a 7:30 mile than an 8:00 mile)
    
12. 7:10
13. 7:01 (Yeah, baby!)

I must remember on race day to start slower than 8:00. I have to remember that, so I can finish strong.

Then, I played 5 games of racquetball, just to be sure I had enough exercise. :) Actually, it's because I really miss racquetball.

My weight was 163 this AM. I'm not focused on weight loss over the next two weeks, but if I toe the starting line nearer to 160, I think that will be a big advantage late in the race.

22 miles!!

It's a long post today, but if you've been following the blog, it's worth reading. Besides, it's a post about a long run, so it can be long!

I finished 22 miles today. Actually, the total distance was a smidge over 23. Woot!!!!! It felt GREAT!!! I mean, the whole time it just felt awesome! Sure, I got tired, but when I finished I felt like I could have run 10 more miles! I hope today's run gives me the confidence I need in 3 weeks.

BIG congrats to my wife today. We both are celebrating a longest distance finished (LDF) today. She wanted to try for a two miler today. She nailed it, and even sprinted at the end! I ran that with her, and, of course, counted that toward my 22. I'm so proud of her!!!

After the 2.5 (.25 warmup and cooldown with her), I started my 20 more miles. After about 1 mile, I saw Phillip Stewart, and joined him for about a mile and a half. He was winding down a 20 miler at about a 9:00 pace. On long runs, it's always good to have a companion! Then, at about the 7 mile mark, I saw Matt playing with his kids near the creek on the trail towards Hwy. 72, and they cheered me on like it was race day! Then, with about 3 miles left to go, I saw Eddy Burks at the beginning of the trail toward Hwy. 72. I joined him and introduced myself and stayed with him for the entire out. I continued on towards Lowes, and threw what little bit of a hammer I had left for the last two miles to clock the last two miles in the 7:40's.

The GREAT news is... NO PAIN!!!! I hope I can keep the nagging injuries and aches away for the next 3 weeks. Now, I begin to reduce my mileage to hopefully peak on Dec. 13.

I'm so geeked for the ROCKET CITY MARATHON!

1. 8:15
2. 9:06
3. 8:08
4. 7:57
5. 8:00
6. 7:55
7. 7:50
8. 7:51
9. 8:10
10. 9:01
11. 7:49
12. 7:41
13. 7:55
14. 7:49
15. 8:01
16. 7:58
17. 8:39
18. 9:13
19. 7:41
20. 7:46

All of the 9+'s were either water bottle refills or running with someone else at their pace. Given how good I felt, perhaps there's a lesson to learn about pacing early on.

When I turned the corner to get to my house, my lovely twin daughters were waiting on me... One had a cup of peanuts, and the other had a cup of gatorade! They were congratulating me on finishing my long run! That made the run all the better!!

18 miler

Long runs have a way of humiliating me. I need it, for sure. I planned to do 22 miles today. When I got started, I knew I wouldn't finish. I started too late. I simply didn't have the 3 hours available that I knew it would take. It wasn't a terrible run. I accomplished a lot in the 18 miles, but I missed my goal. Next week, I'll try to get 22 in.

I'd be lying if I said my knee didn't hurt at all, but it sure does feel better than it has in a long time after a long run. I think I can get to the start line from here.

I ate lunch, and then started my run less than 30 minutes later. Big mistake. My stomach was not right for the whole run, and still isn't. To make it worse, I started too fast. I was struggling a little at 6 miles, so I knew this run had disaster written all over it. 4 miles short of the goal is pretty much disaster.

But hey, the weather was FANTASTIC!

1. 7:27
2. 7:25
3. 7:31
4. 7:36
5. 7:33
6. 9:10 (Walked some to refuel)
7. 8:30 (Water bottle refill)
8. 7:23
9. 7:36
10. 7:45
11. 7:38
12. 7:46
13. 9:06 (Walked to refuel)
14. 8:20 (Water bottle refill)
15. 8:04 (out of excuses now, just running out of gas)
    
16. 8:05
17. 8:14
18. 9:11

I could have gotten two more miles in. 4 more, I'm not sure about. But I was out of time.

Hopefully next time I can start a little slower and hit 7:40-ish on the last miles.

Huntsville Half Marathon Recap

I met my friend Mark at the start of the HTC Huntsville Half Marathon at about 6:45 this AM. The training schedule called for 20 miles, so Mark and I ran 6 miles together before the race start at about an 8:10 pace. We finished just about 10 minutes before the race start. The goal that I had set for this race was 1:40. I crossed the line at about 1:40:12. I'll link to the official results when they're available.

What a great turnout for today's race! There were over 1000 entries for the half and the 5k combined. I didn't get to visit as much as I normally do before and after the race. Before, I was busy getting in my 6. After, I was completely toast! I tried visiting, but I just couldn't make myself be friendly. I could only think about how bad I hurt!! I've never felt as bad after any run or race as I did today at the end of the race.

I didn't set the Garmin up to auto-lap, so I don't have mile splits. But I held around 7:25 to 7:35 for the first 10 and about 7:55-8:05 for the last 2.5, and all I had for the last 0.6. Mark was my pacer, and I had told him that he should leave me behind if he has something left. For the last 5k or so, he took off. One day I'll catch him if he slows down. Nice run today, buddy. I enjoyed the 17 mile visit.

During the first mile, Glen King and Whitney Hollingsworth passed me. For the rest of the race, all I saw was Glen's back. He was REALLY running strong today. Nice race, Glen! Congrats on shattering your PR by 4 minutes. I was able to pass Whitney somewhere past mile 11, but Glen was barely in sight then. I entertained the thought of trying to catch him, but my legs talked me out of it.

I'm relatively pleased with the finish. I was fading in the last 5k, but I was not getting passed. Only one runner passed me (well two others did as I stopped at the last aid station, but I easily tracked them back down) in the last 3.1, and I passed 5 or 6, maybe more.

That last quarter to half mile, I really gave it all I had, which was a mistake. There was nobody really in sight to try to pass, and I saw the clock pass 1:40, which disappointed me a little. I was in some pretty serious pain when I crossed the line.

Then, Mark and Glen joined me for a one mile jog so that I could get in my 20 for the day.

20 miles!?!

I met my good friend Matt this morning for a nice 20 miler. I have a completely new respect for the marathon distance now. It is simply amazing what happened to my mind and body during that last 5 miles. I was warned, but I did not believe it. Now that I've experienced it, I know it's real.

Oh the hubris at 12 miles! "I feel GREAT! This is going to be easier than I thought!" That was simply pride before the fall! I will say that it was in some ways easier than last week's 18 miler because I had a partner. It's amazing how much more pleasant running is with a partner.

I don't really have splits. The whole 20 miles took 2:53 for a rough average of 8:37 per mile. My iPod / Nike+ started acting up again. (I need a Garmin Forerunner 305.) Most of the first 13 or 14 were near 8. Some below (as low as 7:40, maybe) and some above (one as high as 8:50, but most others sub 8:15). The last few were nearer to 9:30. And that seemed almost impossible to maintain.

It hurt. I wanted to stop. I finished. Now, I'm off for an ice bath.

And a big shout out to Matt for hanging in there with me. That last mile from your house to mine was MISERABLE!!! I needed a partner to keep me going at the end!

Thanks to my good friend Kevan Moore for mowing my lawn today! When I got home, he was on his way to my house to mow my lawn. He wouldn't be talked out of it! He says 20 miles deserves it. He's been cheering me on and encouraging me the whole way. I appreciate it bud! After painting at the church building today, I don't think I could have also mowed the lawn.

18 Miler!

18 miles has always seemed like an insane distance to me. Even though I finished today, it still seems insane!

I chose to sleep in a bit today, so I didn't hit the track until about 9:00 AM or so. It is AWESOME that the weather was fit to do that today. It was ugly, slow, and painful, but I was determined to finish. I'm still learning this fueling on the run thing, and I learned some today. At about the 12.3 mile mark, my iPod crashed, so some of my splits are way off. Here they are, but they are not really 1 mile splits.

1. 7:54
2. 8:09
3. 7:49
4. 7:38
5. 7:50
6. 8:16 (get used to the 8+)
7. 8:14
8. 8:07
9. 8:27
10. 8:10
11. 8:14
12. 8:35
13. 12:36 (restroom break, water bottle refill, and ipod crash)
14. 9:35 (About a 1.2 split, the out on the Swan Creek Greenway)
    
15. 10:41 (about a 1.3? split, the back up to the nearest 1/4 marker on the track)
16. 8:49 (pretty accurate)
17. 10:23 (I'm totally guessing because I left the track)
18. No idea, I was just glad to be home.

And before I started the 18 miler I jog-walked about 1.8 miles with my wife, so I'm somewhere near 20 miles total for today.

I'm going to try my best to stick to this schedule because Saturday is the only day that I have to completely blow on a long run. I was completely worthless for the rest of the day!

14 Miler

This week's long run was scheduled to be a 14 miler. I made it!! That is a long way, and it is over halfway. Whew! I still have a LOT of training miles to log before I'm ready, but I really feel like I'm finally making some progress.

I saw my friend Matt out running today, and I'm glad of that! He has been battling some shin splints and wisely took some time off from running. That 1/4 or so we ran together sure did go fast! Well, as fast as a 2:00 quarter can be. What I mean is that it was good to have some company even if for a short while. Get better and get back out there, buddy!

I averaged about a 7:48 pace today. 7:45 was my goal, so I'm pleased, except for the last two slow miles. I also tried eating on my run. I've gotta get used to food while I run if I'm going to survive a marathon. I ate a granola bar at 5 and 10 miles, about 360 calories total. Splits...

1. 7:34
2. 7:44
3. 7:35
4. 7:41
5. 7:48
6. 7:54
7. 8:04 (stopped to tie my shoe, that's my excuse)
8. 7:50
9. 7:53
10. 7:49
11. 7:55
12. 7:46
13. 8:07 (hill is my excuse)
14. 8:07 (no excuse!)

13.1... Halfway!

Warning! Long, boring post.

First, before the boring stuff, Duck and Run 5k results are here and here.

This week's long run was scheduled to be a 13 miler. I just set my iPod to half marathon because it was a pre-set distance. I made it, at a slower than planned pace. My knee started hurting on about the second step and hurt the entire run. It's time to just man up and run. From here on out, almost every long run will be my longest distance ever run, except for the recovery weeks.

Here are the splits.

1. 8:40
2. 7:57
3. 7:57
4. 7:57
5. 7:51
6. 8:04
7. 8:46 (This was actually a 1.1 mile split, so 7:57, 0:49, maybe?)
8. 8:23 (aid station stop, thanks for the Gatorade, Matt!)
9. 7:59
10. 8:03
11. 7:38
12. 8:05 (worst hill on the run, and a fence to go through)
13. 7:56

That was 1:45:22 total for an average of about 8:00 per mile. I sincerely hope for a better time at the HTC Half Marathon.

I was really pleased with the consistency of the splits, but disappointed in the pace. I intended for the first mile to be slow. I really wanted mile 11 to be closer to 7:20 and mile 12 to be MUCH closer to 7:20. I forgot about that hill and fence in mile 12. I should have kicked in mile 10 and 11. I still had some energy at the end of the run, and felt like I could have gone further. I had gotten used to ignoring the knee pain! That's probably because of the slower than planned pace. It did cross my mind that it was only halfway.

Here's something similar to today's route. Not exactly, but I did run all of that route and then some.
http://www.mapmyrun.com/route/us/al/athens/944178296964

12 Miler

I did finish my 12 miler today, and it felt really good. The thought that this isn't even halfway did cross my mind. The IT band on the right knee annoyed be from miles 7-12, but it wasn't severe. Long runs rule. I hope I still feel this way when I hit 18, 20, and 22 miles.

7:47, 7:43, 7:36, 7:26, 7:44 (bleh traffic), 7:29, 7:47, 8:01, 7:56, 7:53, 7:58, 8:26.

Not too bad, but not too good, either. I need to work on reversing those splits to finish stronger. Miles 4-6 are usually my strongest (as they were today) and that's why I really like the 10k race.

I actually ran about 12.25 miles and it took 1:35:05 for an average pace of 7:46. I'm really disappointed in the splits on miles 10 and 11. I thought I was picking up the pace on those miles. I was hoping to hit those at 7:35-ish. I felt like I had energy. I felt like I was expending extra energy. It just didn't show up in my pace.

I felt like I hit a wall around mile 7, and my pace did slow down for the remaining miles. A funny thing is that "Struggle Within" by Metallica was playing (random shuffle on the iPod) when I was feeling the worst.

I promised Erin that I'd run a mile with her today. She has reminded me of that at least three times today and 5 times this week. :) So that's on this afternoon's schedule, along with miscellaneous chores and college football.

11 Miler

Well, I went ahead and did my long run today. When I woke up, my legs were feeling fine, so I went for it. And besides, I knew my buddy Matt was waiting for me... I couldn't let him down. Nice run today, Matt. Thanks for the push.

I left my stopwatch at home, so no splits. But my iPod with Nike+ kept track of the overall run. Just a shade over 11 miles in 1:31 that comes out to about an 8:17 per mile pace. That is NOT where I wanted to be at all, but I finished. Today was more about mental toughness than speed. I was fatigued, but I wasn't hurting. I wasn't having trouble breathing. My heart rate seemed under control. But something in me started saying "STOP!" at about mile 5. And I just gutted it out and finished. I had to "reachdown" and find some energy to finish. I'm looking forward to the day off tomorrow.

After the run, I helped some friends move a piece of furniture. They probably wish I hadn't run today. :)

RE: the pace...

My good friend at work, Angie, told me that I probably shouldn't be running race pace when recovering from injury. I had a "DUH!" moment. That's so obvious, but I didn't figure it out until I heard someone say it.