baby update

Mom and baby doing well. Lillian has been in NICU since delivery since she was 5 weeks early, but she has been proving to everyone that, while she was early, she was ready.
She did have a heart murmer, but this is normal, as the top valve of the heart is open while in the womb since it is not needed. In just one day it has improved dramatically to where it is almost gone. Her lungs were were just fine and she has beathed on her own since the delivery as well. She is also no longer having to be under a warmer so is now in a regular bassinet. Lillian is strong - just like her mom.
Steph was able to change Lillian's diaper and feed her twice yesterday. Lillian loves to eat - just like her dad.
Steph gets to go home today, but Lillian will have to stay for about another week - though we have not been given an exact date yet. This is proving to be very difficult for us. We truly love this little girl and don't want to be separated from her, but we also want to make sure she is ready to go home as well.
That is all for now. I'm going to try to go back to sleep...

daddy by design

As of 5:16 this morning, I am officially a daddy by design.
Lillian Violet is her name... More to come

on the road again

So after a few days off I came back to the running world for a nice easy s-l-o-w run this morning. The weatherman was saying it was 44 degrees, but with a wind chill it felt like 33.

What?! Did he say "wind chill"? Yep. With wind gusting at 17 mph, it was a brisk one out there in the dark, but dressed with a hat and gloves I was fine.

I even ran without my music or my watch - it was actually quite nice. It was a bright, full moon and a clear sky. It was also very quite - almost too quiet, but it was great.

This weekend I am going to attempt to get back to my roots. By roots I mean trails, by trails I mean going for a trail run. My last trail run was back in June some time. I have missed two races that I had planned at the beginning of the year to run, but marathon training got in the way. With all of that aside now, I need to get reacquainted.

That's all for now... Best of luck to Yumke as runs the Marine Corps Marathon on Sunday!

indianapolis marathon race report

It was a beautiful day. The sky was cloudless and the temperature was perfect at 52 degrees. I am not sure I could have asked for more perfect race conditions for my third attempt at a marathon and second attempt at the Indianapolis Marathon.

I met up with Brooke, Jason, John and Andrea before the race. The race was delayed 10 - 15 minutes due to heavy traffic near the race site and they wanted to make sure all racers could get there in time. So we got lined up and talked a little more. The plan was to run together at about an 8:30/mile pace - the fastest I would want to run (especially since I was the only one running the full marathon). I felt I could reasonably run at this pace and be just fine, though I only need a consistent 9:00/mile pace to accomplish my goal.

With everyone lined up under the large American Flag, the national anthem started. There was a problem with the sound system and it cut out a few times at the beginning, but when it did, there was a low murmur in the crowd singing along, getting louder as we went along. Kind of gave me goose bumps.

Then it was time to race. Luckily where we were lined up we were close to the start - probably 45 seconds from the start line. Once we got started, we took off with the group. The first mile was right on pace and I was feeling good. The next couple of miles I had noticed that we were going too fast - about 8:00/mile. This is when Jason and John pulled away and Brooke and I tried to slow it back down to the goal pace. I wasn't sure if those first 5-6 miles above pace would hurt me, but I was feeling good so I didn't worry about it. I had a few minutes in the bank, so even if I slowed down on the back half to 9:30/mile I would still be okay.

At mile 6 I took some gel and water and continued on. We approached my neighborhood around mile 6.5 and Steph was out in front of our house with our neighbor cheering everyone on. We pushed on and then I started thinking about the hills in the state park - the ones I trained on - the ones I knew I could run. I am not sure what I was dreading, but it was at the back of my mind. Just after mile 8 we saw Brooke's husband Keith and her mom. We waved and headed towards the state park. Once in the park we were able to relax a little for a nice gradual downhill section of the course (of course the hill was on the back side of the loop still to come). The park looked amazing today - the sun and the leaves seemed in perfect harmony and they seemed to just glow. We rounded the back side of the loop and took the hills with no problem. It was a little work, but it was over before we knew it. We headed out of the park towards mile 12. I took a gel and water at the next water stop to keep up my energy, I was still feeling good and was having visions of crushing my goal at this point (not a good idea).

Brooke and I separated at mile 12.5 where she headed to the finish (she PR'd) and I headed into the state park, this time at the main entry where I would run straight through and do an out and back. At this point I was on my own. This was the part I had been dreading all summer long. This is where I had to prove to myself I was mentally strong enough to keep going on my own because this is where the fan support tends to drop off.

I was still feeling amazing. My pace was still around 8:30 - 8:40/mile so I figured I would push to stay at this pace as long as I could. I still felt like I would crush my goal and come in well under 4 hours even if I had to slow down to 9:30/mile further on.

Mile 14 got me to the back of the park and then I headed out to to the turn around point at mile 19. I tried to keep my mind busy with taking in the sight of colorful trees and looking at all of the runners. My pace was still holding steady up until around mile 19. I started to slow down and I was now running about 9:03/mile. I was starting to feel a little tired, but strong enough to keep up this pace. I took my last gel at mile 21 where I walked through the water stop and I pushed on. It was at this point I was trying to conserve some energy and I was planning on a walk break every mile - I still had plenty of time in the bank so I wasn't too worried, though I really didn't want to do any walking at all.

It was getting harder and harder to keep myself going. I finally made it back to the back of the park at mile 24 and I started walking at the water stop some more. At this point I was not feeling well. I couldn't tell if I drank too much or if I was at my limit. I continued to walk some more until I saw a photographer taking photos. I immediately threw my drink down and started running. I got a few good photos (I hope) and was about 25 feet past him when I felt light-headed and nauseous. I stopped and was walking once again. I had hit the wall HARD. It wasn't my legs at all - they did not hurt, it felt like my body had no energy left to give. I tried taking deep breaths, but couldn't seem to relax. My GPS had somehow gotten messed up at the very beginning of the race, so I wasn't even sure what my overall time actually was at this point, but I knew my banked minutes were disappearing quickly.

Brooke had promised to meet up with me somewhere in the park and pace me in. Unfortunately I was in no shape to be paced. She found me at about 24.5 miles walking and I had nothing in me to start any kind of shuffle, let alone run. She walked with me to the next water stop and then to mile 25 where I stopped to stretch. I though it might help, but I still felt awful.

This is the part I keep going over in my head. I keep thinking I could have started running at this point and made the last 1.2 miles, but I know at that given moment I could not. It wasn't until mile 25.5 that I was able to start a jog. I tried to pick up the pace for the last .2 miles and I am not sure if I did, but as I turned the corner I had a sudden surge of energy and I felt like I was sprinting to the finish.

My official time: 4:12:59. I am always happy to PR by ten minutes, but I still feel a bit disappointed to have made it so far into the race feeling strong only to crash and burn as I did so close to the end. I don't know if the first few miles hurt me (most likely), but I am going to try to not over analyze this anymore. It leaves me open for another PR for my next marathon and thw same goal to finish in under 4 hours still.

I have to thank Brooke for sticking around and helping me finish. I am not sure I could have started running again without some encouragement. Also, thanks to Jason who was at the end to see me finish (and to hand me some Propel, though an ice cold beer sounded better!). Without the support of my friends, it would have been a miserable experience.

That is all for now. I am taking a few days off and then will get back to it. I think my next race will be a trail run at Fort Harrison State Park on November 17th . Until then... Happy running to all!

i made it

I have finished the race. I did PR, but I did end up short of my goal to finish in under 4 hours... I am awaiting official results, but gun time was somewhere around 4:13. I'll fill you in in my up coming race report... but I will say it was a great race and a great experience...

'twas the night before marathon...

and all through the house,

Dave was excited,

annoying his spouse.

The weather looked better than ever before,

now Dave will try to run it in under four...

Yes, that's right, the weather is about as perfect as it can get... no worries except that I do not have any excuses for not running a good marathon tomorrow. It is just over 12 hours away, but for the most part, I am actually calm - not like I have been for any other race. So I guess that means I am as ready as I can be.

Tonight, Steph took me out to carb load at Maggiano's. I had my favorite spaghetti and meatballs dinner and lots of water. Afterwards, I headed over to packet pickup and expo. It isn't much of an expo (not like Chicago or the Mini-Marathon) but it is a nice, quaint expo - very small town - and I mean this in a good way. The whole race has that feel to it which is why I like it so much - plus it was also my first marathon, so it is special in that way too. After I got my packet I came right home and now I am preparing to go to bed early - all of my racing gear is out and ready.

So stay tuned for the race report soon to follow. Results will be posted HERE.

P.S. Bib #809

changes: some good, some not so good...

As I drove home this evening, I noticed a number of trees had changed color in just last last few days. It looks to be a very scenic marathon this year... this is the good.

Feeling inspired, I decided to drive by the start/finish area and noticed the tents were already set up as well as all of the port-a-johns lined up. I even noted that the arrows were painted on the pavement that direct runners and walkers alike on which way to turn. As a runner and a past and present participant in the race I am thrilled that it runs right through my neighborhood and right by my house. Seeing all of these things get me excited - even if there are some not so good changes - such as the weather forecast changing. And not in the direction I had hoped. I guess the good thing is at least the humidity will be lower than previously forecasted...

Trying not to obsess, but just wanting the perfect racing conditions... always seems to be a week to two too soon or too late... oh well.

My final tapering is going well, though I must admit that I had a tough time keeping my pace slow during my run yesterday. I was closer to marathon pace for almost all seven miles of my run instead of just the two miles I was supposed to run. I think my body is ready to run this thing...

like a ton of bricks

So it just hit me this evening...

I am running 26.2 miles next Saturday Morning.

I am slightly nervous, slightly anxious and very ready to run this thing in under 4 hours. I just looked at the forecast and it looks so much better than it did a few days ago where it was 60% chance of rain...

But I don't think rain would be terrible - not like the heat Chicago Marathoners faced. I could deal with it -- in fact I am trying to be more zen-like and be at peace with whatever mother nature throws at me and just not worry about it... but who am I kidding? I will obsess and then prepare like I have every other time before. I am as ready as I can be.

On another note, I just received an e-mail that the Indianapolis Marathon is actually reaching it's cap! For the first time in 12 years it will be sold out before race day... this small-town race is growing up and I am glad to be a part of it...

Taper is winding down... just a few more runs and then it's showtime!

Until then, Happy Running to all!

week 17 recap -- hello marathon week!

It certainly felt like a taper week this week. I got in my runs and felt a desire for more... strange considering there have been runs over the last 17 weeks where I couldn't make the mileage due to time or just had a bad run.

Today's run was an amazing opposite from last weekends hot and humid run... once again, congrats to all of you who ran Chicago last week - whether you were able to finish or not you are all superstars.

Looking back, it has been quite a roller coaster - seemed like a lot of bad runs for quite a long time and it seemed that I was always behind or out of sync with the training program. No doubt about it - Pfitz is tough and requires a lot of discipline. I feel better having gone through it even though I probably accomplished 85% of it... I feel more prepared than I have in previous years, but I am not sure how or why exactly. I have not compared my training plan from last year to this year, but I am pretty sure I ran more miles than I ever have in any training.

Yesterday I got a belated birthday present / early marathon present from Steph... a new running shirt personalized just for next Saturday...

week 16 recap

It wasn't the easiest taper week I have had - mainly because the weather has been like it was the middle of August. Other than that, my runs were good, but my pace was a bit erratic on my runs. My average pace was where I wanted it, but my splits just didn't seem right.

Next week looks a little easier, but still challenging... still doing strides and VO2 max runs and finishing up with a 12 mile run.

For all of the Chicago Marathoners out there - good luck and stay cool. Here's a little AC/DC for you ...