a marathon weekend

It has been a busy weekend for me...it started very early on Saturday morning...4:30am to be exact.

The idea was to get started on our long run by 6:00am. So up at 4:30, get dressed, get the cooler, fill it with ice, water and gatorade, load my truck and head over to the designated "refreshment zone". Brooke meets me there at 5:30am, I leave my truck there and we head over to Jason's.

It is still dark out, and it remains this way for about another hour. It is so dark, we could barely see the path in front of us. The nice thing about it being dark though, is the miles go by very quickly (or so it seemed). What you can't see, won't hurt you, right?

Before we knew it we were at the "refreshment zone" - 8 miles into the run and we grab some gatorade and gels and then continued on. We got to our turn around point, but decided to run just a little further to the drinking fountains in the park - an extra 1/2 mile or so. This would create a little bit of a walk at the end of the run, but thought it would be fine. It was a little tougher to get started again after the short break to refill water bottles, but we felt good. We made it back to the "refreshment zone" one last time at approximately mile 16.5 and got more gatorade and gels. Still feeling pretty good, we headed back to Jason's. Only 6.5 miles to go to get our mileage in. Andy and Jason held on for a couple of miles, then they took a walk break. Brooke and I continued, settling in on our pace and focusing on getting the run done. Our legs were protesting a little more with each mile, but we didn't hurt enough to stop. We talked the entire way back, which helped keep our minds off of our pain. Before we knew it we were done. We waited about 10-15 minutes for Andy and Jason, and then we had to walk an additional 1.5 miles to get back to Jason's...it was good and bad. My feet hurt, my legs ached - in fact it seemed a new spot on my leg ached as we walked along. By the time we got back, my legs weren't too bad - certainly not tight at all, just tired.

Didn't look at our splits until we got back. They were surprisingly slower than our previous long runs. Interestingly, Brooke and I picked up the pace after we separated from Andy and Jason. I don't think they were holding us back at all, but we just settled into our comfortable pace. I felt like I could have easily run another 3.2 miles, and in fact with the 1.5 mile walk back, then mowing my lawn when I got home, I think I easily covered 26.2 miles...my last "marathon" at the age of 33...

Today is my birthday. #34. I am going to rest today. I feel like I earned it. My legs don't feel too bad - slight ache in my right hip, but other than that, good. We are going to go have brunch with my parents this morning (it is my mom's birthday today too). We went out for dinner last night with my wife and her parents - went to McCormick and Schmick's - awesome seafood restaurant!!! I had an incredible cashew crusted tilapia with a jamaican rum butter sauce...excuse me while I wipe up my drool...afterwards I had a 7 layer carrot cake... it was sweet heaven... I couldn't even eat the whole thing (I was disappointed in myself, but it was a huge piece!).

Here is how each mile looked:

• Mile 1: 10:32
• Mile 2: 10:35
• Mile 3: 10:11
• Mile 4: 10:35
• Mile 5: 10:57
• Mile 6: 10:50
• Mile 7: 10:57
• Mile 8: 10:53 (water/gel/gatorade)
• Mile 9: 10:32
• Mile 10: 9:35
• Mile 11: 10:28
• Mile 12: 10:21 (water)
• Mile 13: 10:43
• Mile 14: 10:25
• Mile 15: 10:35
• Mile 16: 10:25 (water/gel/gatorade)
• Mile 17: 10:37
• Mile 18: 10:36 (Andy & Jason take break, Brooke & I continue)
• Mile 19: 10:14
• Mile 20: 9:46
• Mile 21: 9:56
• Mile 22: 9:53
• Mile 23: 9:28

Average Pace: 10:23/mile

did i miss my chance?

I was doing some reading on Dean Karnaze's Endurance 50 Website…he is running the Boston Marathon on October 15th…THE ACTUAL COURSE! ...AND he is running his races in 4:30 to 5:00 hours - I could so run that! Had I known this, I could have prepared to run Boston in October this year (a better time than April!)… oh well, I'll make it there some day…first comes Chicago, where I hope to finish faster than him...

7 mile tempo run

Decided I needed to leave early from work to get in my 7 mile tempo run tonight. I conviced Jason to do the same. I "tried" to leave right at 4:30, but as soon as I did someone came up to discuss a project. I was there all day, but they chose then...oh well, it was just a few extra minutes... I got to Jason's a few minutes late, then changed and it was out the door to the Monon. The nice thing about running from Jason's is that his condo is right near mile marker 3.5. We ran from there up north to mile marker 0 and back. As we started we both felt pretty tired, but our pace was right where we needed to be and fairly consistant throughout. I thought we had picked up the pace on the second half, but it apparently was the fact that it was just more effort...maybe it was due to the rain that came down from the half way point all the way until we got back -- the sun came out just as we finished. Here's how we did:

• Mile 1: 8:38/mile
• Mile 2: 8:45/mile
• Mile 3: 8:55/mile
• Mile 4: 8:34/mile
• Mile 5: 8:48/mile
• Mile 6: 8:45/mile
• Mile 7: 8:45/mile

Overall time: 61:10 --- Average pace: 8:44/mile

what was i thinking?!

I broke one of the cardinal rules of marathon training... - I tried something new. - I've wanted to try this for some time, but I was patiently waiting... - that is, until opportunity came a-knockin' and my excitement got the best of me. - Just as we (the usual Chicago-bound running group I run with) were scheduling our 10 mile run for the weekend, an idea presented itself (with a little help from Brooke)... - There was a local 15k race. Close enough to 10 miles and it sounded like a great idea. The only problem? - It was a trail run. - To be fair 3 out of 4 of us thought it sounded like a great idea, so it must be fine - heck, 4 out of 5 dentists chose Trident gum didn't they? - So the morning of the race... -

Get there, meet Brooke and her husband there. Jason never shows up... not sure what happened there.

- The start of the race was approaching, so we assemble in front of the start line. I go to tighten up my laces so I wouldn't have any problems, and just as I pull on one of my laces, it breaks... could this possibly mean anything? I dismiss it and try to get mentally prepared for my first trail run - what was I getting into? The race director then informs us that the 15k race would be a little long today - 9.6 miles. "No problem" I thought, "I'm supposed to do 10 anyway".

- The race started and off we went! The first 300 yards or so was a deeply rutted road. Brooke and I were talking like we normally do on our runs -- then we hit the trail.

- All at once it became single file and talking stopped. I quickly learned that this was a completely different type of running -- though I knew this, yet I didn't... We had to focus on the ground and our foot placement.

- We resembled a group of lemmings - I was wondering when the cliff would come, but instead of a cliff we had come to a hill. I conquered it no problem and I started to smile...

- I was enjoying this!

- My euphoria wore off about half way through the run. There were a few instances of some near rolled ankles and a couple of stumbles (pick up your feet), but I remained upright and surprisingly was keeping a 9:00/mile pace! I was growing tired as we progressed and I felt more and more like a castway on the show LOST - running through the woods, never really seeing very far in front of me or very far behind.

- About 6 miles into the run Brooke is the first to take a spill. I was sure it was going to be me - I'm not the most graceful runner. She was fine, no blood drawn and she was back on her feet and right back to running before I could even do anything. We kept going, our pace growing increasingly slower. - I was getting the hang of this trail running. I was feeling tired, but I was also feeling comfortable running on the trail. We had just passed the 8 mile marker and were in the final stretch of the race when - for a split second - a. split. second. - I took my eyes off of the ground. I was going up a hill and as I approached the top I didn't lift my foot high enough and it found a root or stump or rock (that was marked with flourescent marking paint).

T-I-M-B-E-R !!!!

-

I fell to the ground like a giant redwood tree. I laid there for a brief second - just a brief second - wondering if I should just stay there. But I got up, covered with dirt (sweat + dust = dirt) and started running again -- my ego slightly bruised, but I was fine. 1.6 miles later we were crossing the finish line -- 1:32, a 9:35/mile pace. Not too bad for a first time and spending some of it sprawled out on the ground... - My legs are sore right now, so I now know this was not the best decision I have made, but on the positive side of it all - I am not injured. And what doesn't kill me makes me stronger, right? - I did learn some valuable lessons though:

1. Definitely do not attempt in the middle of marathon training!
2. Do not wear a white shirt
3. Wear trail running shoes, not worn running shoes (which, by the way, I got my new shoes yesterday, same as before - Asics Gel Fortitudes)

I am not sure how (or if) this will fit into my running in the future -- there is a marathon in December that is run entirely on trails...I think I need more practice first...

bited-sized tempo run

With it being an easy week this week, my tempo run on Wednesday was short - it was only a three miler. During my run tonight I was thinking about how my tempo run fit so nicely between my recovery runs (kind of like bite-sized Nutter Butters where the creamy peanut-buttery goodness is the tempo run and the cookie parts are the recovery runs). Yes, I was thinking about food during my run - no big surprise there. Even on a short run this happens...and trust me it is much worse on the long runs. Inevitably we all start talking about food. (At last years marathon all I could think about from mile 6 on was ice cold margaritas...needless to say I had a few later that night...) Anyway, enough about food. I was describing my tempo run. I felt pretty good, almost antsy to get out for my run... so I ran it a bit on the fast side - not all out, but faster than my pace was supposed to be. My splits were [1] 7:39, [2] 8:14, [3] 8:05 -not very consistant and too fast, but it felt so-o-o good to get out there and go. This evening I got out for an "easy" three again, this time it was supposed to be at a relaxing recovery pace. Well, my legs are out of calibration I think. I felt like I was taking it slow and to my surprise, not as slow as I thought...[1] 8:58, [2] 9:06, [3] 8:48. Once again, it felt good... So, to finish out this week before the next big mileage week, I'll do some cross-training on the bike tomorrow, and then cap it off with 10 miles on Saturday at marathon pace. 44 days and counting...