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Log for September 5-6 – 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.
Monday
- Crash – One day removed from the Tupelo 14.2, I took Labor Day as a rest day. I didn’t even set my alarm, and my awesome wife got up with the kids and let me sleep-in. Without an alarm or kids to wake me up I slept till NOON! Other than days when I’m sick, I can’t remember a time in the last 10 years where I’ve slept till noon. I guess it’s obvious that my body needed it. I also ended up taking a nap in the late afternoon while Sara was asleep. It is nice to feel rested and refreshed.
- Cross-Training – Even though it was a day of mostly rest, Olivia and I did one set of P90X: Ab-Ripper X.
Tuesday
- 7.25-Mile Tempo Run – The remnants of tropical storm “Lee” have brought much cooler weather to Middle Tennessee. At 6am this morning it was in the mid 50s with steady rain and wind. Tuesday is normally my tempo day, but didn’t know if this type of pace was possible only two days after a race. I started at the PW Park gates with Nathan and Paxton, and told them I’d let them go if I needed to take it easy. The plan was to do two loops with a stop back at the cars in-between for some fluids. I stayed with them for most of the first two miles, but after that I started to fall back as my legs were feeling a little heavy. I also cut off the route a little shorter than they did for a pit stop at the golf course. My first four miles ended up being 8:39, 8:21, 8:13, and 8:11.
I ended up meeting them back at the cars, and we decided to run the second loop down and back Belle Meade Boulevard. Even though my legs felt heavy for the first loop, they felt GREAT for the second loop, and I began to pick up the pace. My last three miles were 7:41, 7:01, and 6:11. It was like the cooler temps had taken the shackles off of my heart and lungs, and I felt like I could run as fast as I wanted. I know that Nathan and Paxton thought I was crazy, and honestly it probably was to run a 6:11 final mile. Regardless, it felt really good to run fast, and it was a big confidence boost to know how much more speed is there when the temperatures are lower.
- No cross training tonight, as Olivia and I celebrated our 14th wedding anniversary with a nice dinner at the Stockyard, followed by coffee at Starbucks.
My thoughts on the 28th annual Tupelo Marathon and 14.2-Miler in Tupelo, MS
Tupelo Marathon and 14.2 Miler
September 4, 2011
tupelorunningclub.homestead.com/tupelomarathon.html
My Run: Trample the Weak…Hurdle the Dead! Overall, the Tupelo 14.2 miler is my 9th half marathon (even if this one was a little more than half a marathon). I decided to participate this year for two reasons: (1) It was highly recommended by a number of friends from my running group who participated last year (2) it seemed like the perfect tune-up to the Chicago Marathon which is in five weeks.
Log for September 2-4 – 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.
Have not posted a log since my awful track workout last Thursday. Just wanted to step away for a few days and not think about training plans, workouts, etc. Now that the Tupelo 14.2 race is behind me, I’m ready to get back on task toward Chicago.
Friday
- 4-Mile Recovery Run – After feeling terrible during the track workout on Thursday night, Paxton and I ran our usual 4-mile loop through Bellevue at an easy pace. I normally do these Friday runs in my Hattoris, but wanted to take extra care not to put more stress on my feet with race coming up on Sunday. We ended up picking up the pace a little for the final 2 miles, to finish with an average of 8:31 per mile. This is a little faster than our normal shakeout runs, but actually felt pretty good. Nice to feel good after an abysmal track workout.
Saturday
- Rest – Saturday was a travel day as we made our way down to Tupelo for the Race on Sunday. No running or cross training today, and tried to stay off of my feet as much as possible.
Sunday
- 14.2-Mile Race + 3.6-Mile Warmup & Cooldown – I intend to post a full race report for the Tupelo 14.2-miler in a couple of days, so this will be a brief post. The race started at 5am, so at 3:45am I started what ended up as a 1.6 mile warmup. This included a steady run which started at easy pace and ended at race pace. It also included 6 x 100m stride-outs about 15 minutes before the start of the race. Since this was a Chicago tune-up race, my goal coming in was to finish with an average right around my goal marathon pace (7:26). However, race-day weather cause me to re-evaluate this. It was 81 degrees at 5:00am, with high humidity. I was able to handle the temps fairly well for the first 9 miles, but after that the heat really started to get to me, and I was never able to pick up the pace at the end as intended.
I finished with an overall average of 7:36 which I feel pretty good about considering the conditions. Jeff Galloway says that when temps are between 75 and 80, you should expect a 12% reduction in pace. For a goal pace of 7:26, this would add an additional 53 seconds (8:19). Considering this, I’ll take 7:36 all day long. My finish was good enough for 12th overall (11th overall male), and 2nd in my age group (30 to 39).
After most of our group had finished we did 2 really, really slow shakeout miles. It was hard to get moving again, but my legs felt much better after we finished than when we started.
We have been using Google Voice as our primary telephone number for a little over two years. One of the “features” of this service is that it will transcribe voice mail messages and email them to you. Unfortunately this “feature” is monumentally unhelpful and usually only good for a bit of humor. I found the message below especially funny. It is a birth announcement received this morning from our church:
This is the P. O view Church of Christ. Phone, 3. We rejoice in the birth of soap the Join in the car home Thursday September 1st, at 5:22 PM, She weighed 6 pounds, 14 ounces, and 20 inches long. She is the daughter of keel I could. Tina at the car and she has a big brother, Todd. Again, we rejoice in the birth so for yes, Joey at the call at on September 1st. Have a great day.
6lbs, 14 ounces, and 20 inches long is a big piece of soap!
Log for August 31 & September 1 – 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.
Wednesday
- Rest – After the debacle that was Tuesday’s run I took today completely off. Did some lower body stretches in the evening, but no running or cross training.
Thursday
- 4-Mile Track Workout – (Warning – Contains a lot of venting) After taking Wednesday off, I was very hopeful for a good track workout tonight. Unfortunately there were a number of things leading up to the workout which were not ideal:
(1) The heat and humidity was back with a vengeance. Temps at 6pm were still 95 degrees with high humidity.
(2) I did not hydrate enough during the day. And to exacerbate this I had too many drinks with caffeine.
(3) I got to track late, and was only able to do a rushed 1/2 mile warmup before it started.
(4) I’ve been trying to fight off a cold since Monday night.
So what did all of this add up to….I felt AWFUL!! With the Tupelo 14.2 coming up on Sunday, my plan was to run the entire workout at a relaxed pace. However, after the first two sets, even the relaxed pace felt ridiculously bad. On the third set I ran with the leaders just to try and shake things up a bit (and felt better), but then ended up feeling even worse for the last two sets than I did at the beginning.
It is very discouraging to feel this bad after putting in so much hard work. I know that the factors above contributed to my feeling fatigued tonight, but I still can’t let go of being ANGRY at how bad I’ve felt during the last two runs. If I feel this bad on Sunday, I’ll be lucky to break 2 hours, much less try to maintain goal marathon pace.
On top of this, I’ve been dealing with a weird tingling sensation between my first and second toes and on top of my foot. It doesn’t really hurt in a structural sort of way, but is worrisome and annoying. I don’t know if this is (a) a shoe issue (b) an issue with my new forefoot stride (c) lingering issues from my “playground” accident last week with my daughter.
Well, enough of the pity party. Time to get my mind right and get some rest.
- Cross Training – Tonight I did a modified version of P90X: Legs and Back, just doing the chest exercises.
Log for August 30 – 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.
Tuesday
- 6.7-Mile Easy Run – Today, the wheels fell off the bus. My training schedule called for a 10-mile tempo run, but there were a couple of reasons why I made some modifications for this week:
(1) I don’t have a big need for tempo work this week due to my 14.2-mile tune-up race in Tupelo this weekend.
(2) I had an early morning meeting today, and didn’t want to start my run at 5am to try and get in 10 total miles.
My thought going into today was to try an get in 6 easy miles, and then do a 10-mile moderate pace run tomorrow. Paxton, Nathan and I started off together from the Nature Center, but I quickly told them to go on without me because I was going to maintain an easy pace, and because I was feeling TERRIBLE. Anything under 9:00 minute pace made me want to shut it down. I just felt fatigued, my legs felt heavy and achy, my feet were sore. I was determined to finish the run today, but by the end I knew that my body was telling me I needed to rest. No Wednesday run for me. I’m thinking that for the rest of the week I’ll do my normal track workout on Thursday night (at a more relaxed pace), 2 or 3 easy miles on Saturday, and then race on Sunday. That would cut out my normal Wednesday and Friday runs, but I really think I need it. Today was one of those runs that is just a confidence killer.
Since I’m not running tomorrow that means that I’ll finish the Month of August with 207 miles completed. That’s a new monthly record for me by 33 miles.
- Cross Training – Tonight Olivia and I did P90X: Ab-Ripper X
Log for August 28 & 29 – 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.
Sunday
- Rest – As always, Sunday was my regular rest day from running and cross-training. I didn’t feel great on many of the runs this week, but finished pretty strong on Saturday. Overall I completed another 48 miles, and am at 194 total for the month of August. This is 20 miles over my previous record for a month, and we’ve still got 3 days to go!! Hoping for a finally tally of 216.
Monday
- 6-Mile Trail Run – I decided to switch things up a bit this morning, and do my normal Monday trail run on the horse trails in Percy Warner Park. These trails are a little easier than the Red, White or Blue trails, and I want to take this week fairly easy since I have a 14.2-mile tune up race in Tupelo on Sunday. The temperatures at 6am were awesome, and that made for a very pleasant run. I was able to do all 6-miles using my forefoot stride, and never felt the urge to fall back to my old stride. I have noticed that later today my feet are fairly sore, but I’m pleased with how good it felt during the run. I saw lots of wildlife this morning including wild turkey, deer, and even an owl that flew over my head and landed in a tree just off the trail. What a fantastic morning. That now makes an even 200 miles for the month with 2 more days left in August.
- 2.5-Mile Hike – After I got home from work, I took my daughter Kate to Edwin Warner Park for a hike on the Blue trail. We went at a fairly easy pace, but she did pick it up to run in spurts. This was the first time that she has ever worn her Vibram FiveFingers on trails, and they did fairly well except on large, smooth rocks. Unfortunately she did take a big spill near the end, but didn’t do too much damage. I was proud of her for shaking it off fairly quickly and getting back up and finishing. Overall it was an awesome way to spend an evening with Kate.
- Cross Training – Tonight was P90X: Legs and Back.
Jim Gaffigan: Hot Pockets – I know I’m always posting videos from comedian Brian Regan, so I decided to change it up a little. This is a brilliant bit from Jim Gaffigan about Hot Pockets. Definitely worth a viewing.
(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)
My little Sara singing “Special Me” #fb
Log for August 27 – 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.
Saturday
- 15.7-Mile Marathon Workout – Today’s workout consisted of intervals that were a variable mix of paces, times, and distances. We started in Percy Warner Park at the Beech Woods picnic area, just at the base of 9-mile-hill. The temperatures at 6am were in the mid 60s, with fairly high humidity. As the workout progressed, the temperatures rose into the mid 70s, but the humidity dropped dramatically (which was nice).
Our first interval was a 45-minute warmup run, and I was not expecting the group to take off onto the horse trails. I was running in my Nike Vomeros (which I’m beginning to sour on as a road shoe) and it is hard to imagine a worse shoe for running tails. They have a really think sole and no lateral stability. Paxton, Nathan and I separated from the rest of the group a bit as we went up the trail. The three of us exited the horse trail at the top of 3-mile-hill and then navigated our way back down 9-mile-hill to the staging area. At the staging area, we ran the 2-mile loop between the 7-mile and 8-mile markers to complete our 45 minute warmup with an average pace around 10:00 min per mile. My legs were a little sluggish during the warmup, so I was a little nervous about the rest of the workout.
After taking a short break to hydrate, we started a 30-minute interval that was supposed to be done at goal marathon pace (7:26 per mile for me). A large portion of our group ran the 11.2 loop backwards towards the Harpeth Hills Golf Course (very hilly), but I decided to do my 30-minutes on the 2-mile loop between the 7-mile and 8-mile markers. During the warmup I was using my old heel-striking stride, but switched to my new forefoot stride during this interval, and felt really good. The first 1/2 mile of the 2-mile loop is all uphill, and my average pace at the top was around 7:45. I was slowly able to bring that lower on the downhill, and was right at 7:26 average at the end of the first 15-minutes. As I began to climb the hill again for the second loop, I switched back to my old stride for 1/2 mile before switching back for the remainder of the loop. I felt really good throughout the 30 minutes, and ended the interval with a 7:24 average pace (a little too fast).We took another short hydration break, and then set off on an easy 10-min recovery run that was supposed to end at the 7-mile marker to be ready for the next 2 intervals. The next interval was a 1-mile run uphill from the 7-mile marker to the 8-mile marker, which was designed to be done at tempo or half-marathon pace (~20 seconds faster than marathon pace). John, Sue Anne, and I ran this first mile together and reached the 8-mile marker in 6:47. This was again a little too fast, but I still felt really good. After the first mile we were supposed to take a 1-minute recovery, and then run back downhill to the 7-mile marker at tempo pace. Dan really encouraged us to try and remain consistent and resist the urge to pick up the pace going downhill. Nathan joined John, Sue Anne and I on the way down, and we ended up focusing so much on not picking up the pace, that we actually were 5 seconds slower at 6:52. I did both of these miles using my forefoot stride and continued to feel fantastic.
We ran easy for 5-minutes back to the staging area to hydrate before setting off on the last interval, which was another 30-minute run at goal marathon pace. This time, most of the group headed for the horse trails, but again I ran on the 2-mile loop. I ran the first mile of this with John, and was very uncertain of my pacing because my Garmin was doing some weird things. At one point I asked John what he showed for our pace and he said it was hovering between 7:00 and 7:20. My Garmin was showing 8:30. John started to separate from me after 10 minutes, but I still felt pretty good through the first 15 minutes before my legs just revolted. The last half of the interval was tough, but I kept pushing through. Nathan caught up with me about 20-minutes in, and we ran together for most of the remainder before he pulled away from me at the end. At the end of the 30-minutes I was toast. My Garmin showed an average pace of 7:54, but I have no idea what it really was. I’m confident it was slower than my first 30-minute interval, but think it was probably a bit better than 7:54. I again ran most of the interval with my forefoot stride, but did revert back on some of the uphills.
Overall this was a great workout, and I’m pleased at how good I felt through all but the last 15 minutes. The final tally was 15.7 total miles, at an average pace of 8:27 (by my wonky Garmin), including the warmup and recoveries. The forefoot stride now feels much better than my old stride, but I still don’t have the lower leg strength to use it all the time. My impatience doesn’t help with this, but I am excited about what the future holds.
A week from tomorrow will be a Chicago tune-up race, the Tupelo 14.2-miler. I know I need to treat this race as a “dress rehearsal” for Chicago, and resist the temptation to actually race it. That would mean working my way down to goal marathon pace as the race progresses. However, I know that at some point my mind will start reminding me that I am capable of running 14.2 miles much faster than goal marathon pace, and my competitive nature might just take over. Of course, the heat and humidity could be so bad in Tupelo that reaching goal marathon pace might be a pipe dream.
Only “women’s only” marathons count for records according to a decision by the IAAF
This is utterly ridiculous. I don’t understand it at all. Why would it matter whether or not a woman set a world or American record during a marathon that also included male competitors? If they intend to apply this retroactively, it would mean Paula Radcliffe’s 2:15:25 at London in 2003 is no longer the world record. It would also mean that Deena Kastor’s 2:19:36 at London in 2006 would no longer be the American marathon record. Does anyone disagree with me that this is CRAZY?
Yo Gabba Gabba: I Like Bugs! – About 3 weeks ago on an 18-mile run I got so tired at the end that I started singing this song to myself (My kids watch way too much TV, thus the TV fast this past week). I think that might be a sign of delirium. What do you think?
(Source: http://www.youtube.com/)