let the taper begin

Wow, what a month it has been. I finished my last 20 mile run in high spirits today. I averaged a 9:00/mile pace and felt great the entire time. I feel ready, so let the taper begin. Unfortunately, the taper is the worst part of the training for me. I always feel like I am losing my ability to run and therefore second guess myself... I just need to remember the great runs I have had and I think I'll be okay. I have not looked at the training schedule for next week, but I am not worried. For now my focus will be on tomorrow only.

Tomorrow is Steph's baby shower. Everything is ready, so now she can relax and enjoy her day. After that, it will be a big focus on work to get a project out the door on time... then it will be time to run 26.2 miles in under 4 hours...

week 14 recap... 4 weeks to go

It was a decent week of running for me. I got all my runs in and felt good for all of them. Yesterday's 17 miler was no exception. I started out at 6am and got my first 5 miles in by myself, running right around marathon pace... not planned, but it felt good. I met up with Jason and a couple of friends we had run a relay race with back in July. John and Andrea ran the first 7 miles with us - it was a nice relaxed pace. We ran on the half/full marathon course for a little practice - especially on the hills. No problems, the hills actually felt pretty easy (though the second time around they were a little more difficult). All in all, my average pace for the 17 miles was 9:31/mile - right where I wanted to be for this run.

During our final 5 miles, Jason and I saw Brooke and her husband Keith looking like they were just getting ready for their run... we shouted out hello and kept going (hopefully we didn't offend them by not stopping - I had to be back home in time to get cleaned up to go down to Steph's grandmother house to do some landscaping... )

Next week is a tough schedule for me... I'll start out with a 5 mile recovery run mixed with 6x100m strides, then I will follow that up the next day with a VO2 max workout of 10 miles with 4x1200m at 5k race pace... Wednesday I am out of town, so no running for me then... I finish up the week with a 10 mile run Thursday, then a 4 mile recovery run Friday and capped by my last 20 mile run on Saturday. Then it is all taper after that... oh boy, this marathon is coming up quickly...

35

Well, I'm officially another year older.

Another age group to race in.

Happy Birthday to me.

rock star-in-training?

It happened.

I had an amazing run this morning.

I feel like I have been raised to rock star status...

I give most of the credit to the incredibly cool temperature this morning... a wonderful 48 degrees when I started and about 55 when I finished. Truly an BIG help. Now if only marathon day can duplicate the weather then it will be awesome...

I started out just past 7am and ran six miles solo. I was meeting up with Jason at 8am so I wanted to make sure I had time to get some mileage in as I had 17 miles to do (14 at marathon pace). Jason had planned to run 9 miles with me so it would leave me with an easy 2 miles at the end.

Once I started, I was right on pace (mainly to try to get warmed up quickly). I soon noticed that my pace had picked up and was remaining steady (and faster) than I had expected. I was feeling good, so I thought "why not?" I finished my 6 miles up and checked my watch - 49:50 - about an 8:18/mile pace. Awesome...

I let Jason know we could run a pace between 8:30/mile and 9:00/mile. He was fine with keeping it closer to the 8:30, so off we went for 9 miles. It didn't slow down at all, and it was feeling pretty good. I did start to feel a little tired at one point, but a gel and some water and I was feeling better again. As we approached the end of the 9 miles Jason decided he was feeling too good to stop, so he finished out the last two miles.

Average overall pace: 8:29/mile right where I was supposed to be. I honestly believe that I could have run another 9 miles at that pace too. That is how good I was feeling. The running gods were smiling down on me today and I hope they do it again come marathon day...

For one day at least, I was a rock star out there!

Happy running to all!

open letter to my body

Dear Body, You let me down on Saturday. Though you did get me through 20 miles, you were still conspiring with my mind to work against me. You have probably noticed that our last two runs were a little more work than usual. This is your pay back. I am upping the pace and proving that we can do this. Every time you let me down, I will come back stronger and harder - this I promise.

Monday you remained strong and averaged an 8:40/mile pace without any problem - even with some slight humidity left in the air, it was nothing compared to Saturday. This morning, even though it began to rain just as we stepped outside, you did not fail me. You started out stronger than I thought you could and you averaged an 8:29/mile pace. You are proving to me that I did not make a mistake by signing up for the marathon. With just under 6 weeks to go, you still have a lot to prove, but we can get through this together.

I hope we have an understanding from this point forward.

Your Truly, Dave

week 12 recap

With a rough week last week, I was hoping for some better results this week as I began mesocycle 3. Here's how it went:

Monday was an VO2 max - 8 mile run with 5x600m at 5k race pace - no problem, felt good after this run.

Tuesday I got in 7 miles out of 11. Time was an issue here... I must learn to run faster...

Wednesday I did 4 miles recovery with 6x100m strides - no problem.

Thursday was supposed to be an 8-15k race pace "tune up" run, but I pushed it off until Friday.

Friday - my body was not feeling it. I was exhausted and could not muster the strength to get up and out the door. So no "tune up" for me...

Saturday was supposed to be 17 miles, but I insisted on a 22 mile run to make up for my previous shortened long run... well, I eked out 20 miles and it was not pretty. I felt awful for almost all 20 miles, but I pushed through it. There were plenty of times I had wanted to quit, but I had to prove that I could do this. Unfortunately, this was not the run I had hoped to have. It did not give me any confidence that I could run the marathon in October - okay, I know I could finish it, but I do not want to run slower than my previous marathons. I was really hoping for a faster time. Now I am undecided about the marathon... I am leaning very heavily towards the half instead, but feeling like I'd be giving up, which is not my style. But there is some feeling of relief in the back of my mind by only running the half. I hate being in this position...

My plan is to continue my training regardless of my decision, though. I will modify my pace and long run mileage most likely. Anyone have any thoughts? Ugh... six more weeks to go...

does the good outweigh the bad?

Week 11 recap...

It seems like so many of my posts have been about bad runs. I had hoped to write about a great run I had on Saturday - completing my first real 20 miles run for this training season... well, first off, 5k races and 20 mile runs do not mix... I got up early to run before the 5k race and I was able to do 6 miles. Then came the 5k race and I decided that I would not try to see how fast I could run the thing. That was a good plan, since the race was mainly cross country and trails.

After the race, I got home to prepare for my remaining 11 miles, but my body did not feel up to it. I could not get myself out the door. It was already 10am, and it was getting warm out, so I mentally do not think I wanted to deal with any heat. I convinced myself that I would run in the evening - not exactly what Pfitz had in mind for the long run, but it was going to have to do.

Well, that didn't happen either. I felt sluggish the rest of the day - even after a 2 hour nap. I conceded that I would have to make up my mileage on Sunday even though I use this as a rest day. Sure enough, I kept it as a rest day. I still felt out of it and un-inspired. Steph asked me if my heart was really in this training for this marathon and I began to wonder... Physically I am getting prepared, but mentally I am not sure I am capable of it. I have until September 12th to decide if I am ready.

After today's run, I feel ready. I actually had a great run. I started out later than I wanted, but I only had an VO2 max run -- 8 miles with 5x600m at 5k race pace. I wasn't sure how it was going to go, but as I headed down the street I felt pretty good - not fast, but good. I ran to the track about a mile away and ran my 600m repeats. I was tired by the end, but even my slow jog was faster than expected. I finished my run strong - my last mile at 8:14... hmmm... So, maybe I can do this marathon thing again... I am looking at reworking my schedule on the weekends too so I can recover some 20+ mile runs. Next weekend is a 15k trail run so I am deciding if that will work into my schedule. I have until the beginning of October until I begin my taper, so September is going be a busy month.