@bigfatshoe

That is an INCREDIBLY nice thing to say. Thank you!

P.S. I wish I had her running form. She is a natural, even at 6.

My Most Frustrating Race

Need to vent! Of my 25+ races completed, today’s Murfreesboro “Middle” Half Marathon was by far the most frustrating.

I’ve made a big deal the past few months about my quest to break 3:15 in a full marathon. However, there has also been a sub-quest to break 1:30 in a half marathon (my current PR is 1:31).

Well today I think I ran fast enough to break 1:30 (6:52 avg pace), BUT the police officers who were leading the race took a wrong turn during mile 2 that added .4 miles to the course. This meant that I actually ran 13.5 miles and had an official time of 1:32:40.

I’m frustrated because I not only lost the chance to break 1:30 but also to set my full marathon and half marathon PR in the same week.

I realize this is insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but I’m still disappointed.

@davidsgoals

David….I know!! It sold out in 11 DAYS! I’m friends with the Race Director, and he gave me a heads up that it was not going to last long this year. I really wanted to run it for the 5th anniversary. It was my first long distance race in 2008 and the site of my half marathon PR last year.

Races and Personal Records (PR)

Last Updated: March 24, 2013

Marathon

  1. 2009 Bank of America Chicago Marathon – Oct 11, 2009 – 3:53:05
  2. 2009 St. Jude Memphis Marathon – Dec 5, 2009 – 3:42:22
  3. 2010 Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon – Mar 28, 2010 – 3:39:12
  4. 2011 Country Music Marathon – Apr 24, 2010 – 3:52:55
  5. 2011 Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon – Oct 3, 2010 – 3:25:38
  6. 2011 Rock n’ Roll San Antonio Marathon – Nov 14, 2010 – 3:24:13
  7. 2011 Walt Disney World Marathon – Jan 9, 2011 – 3:43:08
  8. 2011 Mercedes Marathon – Feb 13, 2011 – 3:39:46
  9. 2011 Bank of America Chicago Marathon – Oct 9, 2011 – 3:22:28
  10. 2011 Rocket City Marathon – Dec 10, 2011 – 3:18:44
  11. 2012 Rock n’ Roll New Orleans Marathon – Mar 4, 2012 – 3:12:28 (PR)
  12. 2012 St Jude Country Music Marathon – Apr 28, 2012 – 3:59:11*
  13. 2013 Rock n’ Roll New Orleans Marathon – Febr 24, 2013 – 3:18:28 
*Official 4-hour pace team leader

Half Marathon

  1. 2008 Murfreesboro Middle Half Marathon – Oct 11, 2008 – 1:58:29
  2. 2009 Country Music Half Marathon – Apr 25, 2009 – 2:19:41
  3. 2009 One America 500 Festival Mini Marathon – May 7, 2009 – 2:12:22
  4. 2009 Clarksville Half Marathon – Nov 7, 2009 – 1:44:37
  5. 2010 One America 500 Festival Mini Marathon – May 8, 2010 – 1:42:46
  6. 2010 Murfreesboro Middle Half Marathon – Oct 16, 2010 – 1:31:00
  7. 2011 Oak Barrel Half Marathon – Apr 2, 2011 – 1:34:46
  8. 2011 One America 500 Festival Mini Marathon – May 7, 2011 – 1:32:00
  9. 2011 Murfreesboro Middle Half Marathon – Oct 15, 2011 – 1:29:49 (PR**)
  10. 2012 Cedars Frostbite Half Marathon – Feb, 11, 2012 – 1:32:41
  11. 2012 Oak Barrel Half Marathon – Apr 7, 2012 – 1:29:52 (PR*)
  12. 2012 One America 500 Festival Mini Marathon – May 5, 2012 – 1:31:28
  13. 2013 Chickamauga Battlefield Half Marathon – Nov 10, 2012 – 1:39:06

*Official PR

**Unofficial PR – Course was .4-miles too long in mile-2 due to misdirection. This time was calculated by using the average pace for the first 10K (official time – 6.6 miles), and then reapplying to correct distance (6.2 miles). Final 6.9 was unaffected.

15K

  1. 2009 Shelby Bottoms Boogie 15K – September 26, 2009 – 1:21:21
  2. 2011 Shelby Bottoms Boogie 15K – October 2, 2011 – 1:03:39 (PR)

10K

  1. 2011 Purity Moosic City 10K – April 16, 2011 – 44:59 (PR)*

*Race started 10 minutes after I finished the Purity Moosic City 5k

5-Miler

  1. 2009 Boulevard Bolt – Nov 26, 2009 – 35:31
  2. 2010 Boulevard Bolt – Nov 26, 2010 – 32:22 (PR)
  3. 2011 Boulevard Bolt – Nov 24, 2011 – 32:35
  4. 2012 Boulevard Bolt – Nov 22, 2012 – 33:07

5K

  1. 2007 Sherry’s Run – September 8, 2007 – 24:24
  2. 2008 Franklin Classic 5K – September 1, 2008 – 23:01
  3. 2008 Chick-Fil-A 5K – September 20, 2008 – 23:11
  4. 2011 Purity Moosic City 5K – April 16, 2011 – 19:43 (PR)

Other

  1. 2011 Tupelo 14.2-Miler – September 4, 2011 – 1:48:06
  2. 2011 Ragnar Relay -Tennessee – 196.2-Miles – 24 Hours 19 Minutes

2011 Bank of America Chicago Marathon (Race Review)

My thoughts on the 34th annual Bank of America Chicago Marathon…

Bank of America Chicago Marathon
October 9, 2011
www.chicagomarathon.com

My Run:  Overall, the 2011 Bank of American Chicago Marathon was my ninth full marathon. Chicago was also the site of my first marathon back in 2009. There was no secret that my goal coming into this race was to break 3:15 for the first time. I had set my current PR of 3:24 at the Rock n’ Roll San Antonio Marathon in November 2011. Just before this I tried to break 3:15 at the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon in October, and was able to hold that pace for 22-miles before hitting the wall hard and finishing with a 3:25.

Everything in my training program, which started on July 4th, was aimed at this goal. I reduced the amount of time I spent doing cardio-based cross training, and spent that time instead on putting in extra miles on the road or trails. I added trail running and barefoot running to my schedule to improve strength, and was diligent about doing tempo runs and marathon pace workouts around this goal pace. My training throughout the summer went extremely well, and I felt ready to break 3:15.

The one thing that I could not control was the weather. When I ran Chicago back in 2009, the temps were in the 30s and 40s during the race, but this year it was 65 at the start and nearing 80 when I finished (with full sun). While this is not oppressive heat when compared to what we run through in Tennessee during the summer, it is way higher than what is ideal for a race of this distance. Also, Middle Tennessee had seen morning temps in the 40s and 50s for the past two weeks, so this made it even more difficult to adapt.

We all knew what the temps were expected to be going into race day, but I decided I was still going to give 3:15 a shot. My plan was to run a slightly conservative pace for the first 15 to 18 miles, and then take inventory and see if I could push it the rest of the way.

On race morning, everything went according to plan. This included my pre-race meal, hydration, warmup, etc. My legs felt really good with no soreness or pains. I ran easy for just over a mile with Nathan and Paxton, and then did a few short bursts in the corral to get my heart ready for race pace.

Read more »

Quest for 3:15 – Chicago Training Days 96 & 97 (Last Entry)

Log for October 7 & 8 – Training for Bank of America Chicago Marathon on October 9th.  Goal for the fall and winter marathon season is to break 3:15 for the first time.

Friday & Saturday

  • This is It – Since my last training run was on Thursday night, this will be my last log entry related to Chicago Marathon training. While I try to stay in marathon shape year-round, my official training for this race started back on July 4th, 97 days ago. Here are some statistics from my training:

    * Total running distance: 576-miles / 81 hours 51 minutes.
       (Completed 206-miles just in the month of August)

    * Total time cross training: 24 hours
    * Finished 12th overall & 2nd in age group in the Tupelo 14.2-miler
    * Finished 12th overall & 3rd in age group in the Shelby Bottoms Boogie 15k

    Now, I just have to go out and run the race. No matter what happens, I just want to enjoy it and know that I did the best I could. Thanks to everyone for your encouraging words and support. I sincerely appreciate it.

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