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My thoughts on the 2013 Rock n’ Roll New Orleans Marathon…

Rock n’ Roll New Orleans Marathon
February 24, 2013
runrocknroll.competitor.com/new-orleans

My Run:

The 2013 Rock ‘n Roll New Orleans (NOLA) Marathon was my 13th marathon overall and first since being diagnosed with a femoral shaft stress fracture in late August 2012. My current marathon personal best of 3:12:28 came at the 2012 Rock ‘n Roll NOLA Marathon in ideal weather conditions.

After having a great month of January, my training had been very inconsistent in February leading up to the race, primarily due to my mission trip to Honduras and subsequent illness. I had also been dealing with IT band issues since returning from Honduras, which persisted until race day. All of this left me fairly unsure of my level of fitness for this marathon.

Well other than a 2 mile shakeout run on Saturday my training is complete for the 2013 Rock ‘n Roll New Orleans Marathon. My running over the past week has been pretty meh, including two 3-mile goal marathon pace runs which were not terribly comfortable.

Not sure what race day holds but I’m pretty confident that I’m not in BQ shape for this one. My plan is to run the first half fairly conservative and then see how I feel for the second half. Since this is the first marathon after the stress fracture, the primary goal is to simply get this one under my belt. As for time, I honestly think I would be happy with anything under 3:30.

Anyway, about to board the plane for New Orleans with my bride. Looking forward to a great weekend together.

Beast mode…On!

When my wife and I were there for the race this year we had pasta the night before at Cafe Giovanni (117 Decatur Street), and it was fantastic! Highly recommended.

Well, tonight Olivia and I officially decided on the 2013 Rock n’ Roll New Orleans Marathon as the race for my marathon comeback. I wanted to wait to register until I got through the Chickamauga Half Marathon last weekend to make sure my leg held up ok. Since that race turned out waaaaay better than I expected, we signed up tonight (Olivia signed up for the half).

My only hesitation in picking this race was that I’ve done it before, and it will not be contributing to my goal of doing marathons in all 50 states. Other than that, it seems like the perfect place for marathon #13. Time to work out a training schedule, and get to work. Almost feels like old times again!

I am seriously considering making my Marathon return at the Rock n’ Roll New Orleans Marathon next February 24th. While I’m doubtful that will leave me enough time to get into Boston Qualifying shape, there are several reasons why I’m thinking about running this race again in 2013:

1. I’m ready to get my first “post-injury” marathon out of the way, so I can stop worrying about the durability of my leg, and focus on taking my running to the next level. Though I’m not terribly superstitious, my next one will be lucky # 13, so it will also be nice to put that one behind me.
2. Even though it may not be enough time to get in Boston shape, 4 1/2 months should be plenty of time to be ready to finish RnR NOLA at a reasonable pace.
3. The course is pancake flat, and therefore should not put any additional stress on my femur.
4. The RnR NOLA race is the site of my current PR (3:12:28), so I’ve already got some good vibes going with that course. 
5. Our friends Marc and Janna are planning to go down there that weekend to visit their daughter at Tulane, and run the half marathon. 
6. Olivia and I both love New Orleans, and it would be a fun weekend trip together. She would run the half marathon again, which is also the site of her half marathon PR.
7. Since we didn’t get to go to Milwaukee two weeks ago for the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon, we still have two tickets on Southwest Airlines. It just so happens that they have multiple direct flights per day from Nashville to NOLA, and the price is almost identical to our existing tickets. 

Well, that’s what I’m thinking at the moment. We’ve already made hotel reservations, but just waiting to pull the trigger on registering for the race and airline tickets. Would be even nicer if I could convince Nathan and his wife to go down there with us.

What do you think?

My thoughts on the 2012 Rock n’ Roll New Orleans Marathon…

Rock n’ Roll New Orleans Marathon
March 4, 2012
runrocknroll.competitor.com/new-orleans

My Run:

Overall, the Rock n’ Roll New Orleans Marathon (NOLA) was my 11th full marathon, and first since setting my current PR of 3:18:44 at the Rocket City Marathon last December. For NOLA I had been very public about my goal of breaking 3:15 for the first time (i.e. my “Quest for 3:15”).” My training leading up to the race had been fantastic, having only missed 4 scheduled runs due to two stomach bugs and a flare-up of my Small Fiber Sensory Neuropathy in January.

The weather for NOLA was just about as good as anybody could have hoped. The temperatures were right around 50 degrees at the start, with low humidity, clear skies, and a light breeze. By the end of the race the temps were just over 60 degrees. Can’t ask for much better than that in New Orleans in March.

For this race I tweaked my preparation schedule and nutrition plan slightly. This included:

• For the second time in my 11 marathons, I only did a two-week taper as opposed to three. The other was before Rocket City last December.

• I ran 3.5-miles the day prior to the race. I normally don’t run the day before.

• I ate a peanut butter PowerBar, a banana, a Honey Stinger Waffle, and a bagel 3-hours prior to the race.

• I drank a full cup of caffeinated coffee 1.5-hours prior to the race.

• I took a 2x caffeine Gu 1-hour prior to the race, and another 15-minutes prior.

• I took 6 more Gu packs during the race at 30-minute intervals. I only washed these down with water, taking Gatorade occasionally between Gu packs during the first half of the race. The first of these six was a 2x caffeine, the next two were 1x caffeine, and the final three did not have caffeine.

• Starting 1-hour prior to the race, I did a 12 minute warmup run followed by 4 x 100m stride outs 15-minutes prior to the race.

All during the warmup my legs felt good with no unusual aches, pains, or stiffness. My strategy for this race was to start off fairly conservative and then slowly work my way down to goal pace (7:26). I wanted to try and delay “the Wall” as long as possible, and knew that starting off too fast would bring it on a whole lot sooner.

A HUGE thanks to all of you who have offered so much support and encouragement throughout my “Quest for 3:15.” It has been and continues to be greatly appreciated. Below is just a sampling of the awesome shout outs I got after my 3:12 yesterday at the NOLA Marathon (Any my wife’s PR in her first half marathon after injury). THANK YOU!

davidsgoals said: Fantastic news Tim! Congrats to you both

beautifulday4running said: Congrats!!

runtastic said: So fantastic!! Many, many congratulations to both!

losingitall said: Congratulations to you both! 3:12 thats within the mens qualifying time for the Virgin London Marathon here, amazing time!! Well done.

lagirlontherun said: Congrats!!!! You killed it!!! Revel in your success 🙂

runslikeapenguin said: Congratulations!!

livelongtrainhard said: Awesome job!! Congrats to you both.

runrunningrunner said: Congrats – to the both of you – that’s awesome!

catchthemontherun said: Man that’s incredible!!! So proud of someone I barely know, haha. Great job!!

Olivia and I arrived safely in NOLA this morning just after 9am along with 10 other members of our group.

After checking in to the hotel we enjoyed a ridiculously good lunch at Pat O’ Brian’s before heading out to the expo. We are now waiting on the rest of our group to finish up at the expo before heading back to the hotel.

It is nice to be in NOLA, but we’re worried about our kids, family, and friends back in Tennessee with the impending severe storms. Everybody be safe!!

Beast Mode…ON!

Tonight was our weekly track workout with the Jim Spivey Running Club (JSRC) at Vanderbilt University. Since the NOLA Marathon is on Sunday, I did something a little different than the planned session. After a 3-mile warmup, I ran 3 continuous miles with Dan at goal Marathon pace. The idea was to get in one last practice at maintaining consistent pace.

I came out of tonight feeling confident. 7:26 pace felt very comfortable, and I was able to have a nice conversation with Dan during the run. Other than a planned 2-mile shakeout run on Saturday morning, this will be my last tune-up before NOLA.

So, tonight I need to finish up my packing and then we fly out at 8am tomorrow morning with several members from our group. Thanks to everyone for your support and encouragement. The next time I post will most likely be from NOLA!

Beast Mode….ON! 

P.S. – I haven’t said much about this, but the NOLA 1/2 Marathon will be my wife Olivia’s first race back since being diagnosed with bilateral tibial stress fractures last summer. Major props to her for working so hard to get back! Hope she has a great and fun race. I am very much looking forward to spending the weekend together (with no kids)!

Big Change in the forecast for NOLA Marathon on Sunday….I hope this holds, because it looks perfect!

While there are some nice things about tapering before a race (like getting extra rest), it definitely brings it’s own challenges….Such as:

• Having so much extra energy that I feel like I’m hyped up on caffeine ALL THE TIME!
• Being SOOO Hungry (I guess my body is still operating in 50+ miles per week mode)
• Going through periods of mild panic attacks when I start thinking about how painful those last 6 miles are going to be on Sunday.
• OBSESSING about the weather forecast (and every other aspect of the race whether it is within my control or not).

Oh well….you would think that after 10 marathons this part would get easier, but I guess not when you are a Type A, Control Freak, Perfectionist like me!

Beast Mode…ON!

A huge good luck for next week

Thanks SO much!! Looking forward to the challenge!

Hopefully this time next week I’ll be well on my way to finishing the NOLA RnR Marathon. I’m currently on my way back home from Greenville, SC for my Niece’s wedding last night.

I didn’t get to run on Saturday due to travel and the wedding, so I got up early this morning for a beautiful 10-miler on the Swamp Rabbit Trail by the river in Downtown Greenville. I felt pretty awful for the first 5 miles and thought about cutting off the run early. Then I finally got my legs under me and finished with a strong final 5 miles.

This was the first greenway type trail I’ve run on that had a 4’ wide section which was rubberized. It was like running on a track. Pretty nice.

Anyway, this was my last scheduled run over 5 miles before NOLA. I’ve got 5 tomorrow, 3 Tuesday, 3 Thursday, and 2 on Saturday.

Hope everybody else doing NOLA is enjoying their taper and feeling great!!

Beast Mode…ON!!

have fun! you are going to kill it!

Thanks so much! I really appreciate the encouragement!

Good luck!! We’ll be tracking you. Keep the 3:15 pace up or I will virtually smack you. Do not get virtually smacked.

Love It! I’ll give it everything I’ve got.

Like most everyone else I got my final NOLA RnR marathon confirmation last night and I’m Bib number 2032, assigned to corral 2. Being near the front is going to be nice since this is a Rock N’ Roll event with their long and drawn-out wave start process. I understand why they do it, but it ultimately leads to the start taking over an hour for the later corrals.

Even though I’ve been dealing with a stomach bug since yesterday, I was able to get in my scheduled track workout tonight with the Jim Spivey Running Club (JSRC). I ran pretty conservative, and kept my pace consistent even though I felt crummy. Hated that I felt bad for one of my favoriate workouts (3 sets of 3 x 400m intervals), but am glad to have been able to get in the work.

Also, even though I don’t feel like eating, I have been able to get in a full day’s worth of calories. That was actually my biggest concern with the stomach bug. Need to make sure that I keep my nutrition and strength up all the way to NOLA.

Beast Mode…On!

Yesterday morning was supposed to be a 4-mile recovery run in my Saucony Hattoris with Paxton. When I was getting ready it started lightening, and I decided to postpone the run until after work. About mid afternoon I started feeling bad, and realized pretty soon that I was coming down with another stomach bug. I spent the rest of the day laying down on the couch.

So, yesterday turned into an unplanned day off from running. Not too big of a deal since I’m tapering for NOLA anyway, but my biggest concern is whether or not I can keep my nutrition up since I don’t really feel like eating anything.

Still feeling rough today, but think I’m gonna give track a shot tonight and see what happens. Wish me luck!

Thanks so much for the encouragement! I really appreciate it!

Can’t wait to see you hit 3:15. 1:32 on a tough course sounds like you’re right on track. Do it!!!!! Exciting!!

Can’t wait to read how you get on. 3:15 surely has to be in the bag this time? 🙂

Even though my taper for the NOLA Marathon officially started Saturday after my final 20+ mile training run, it is hard for me to FEEL like I’m tapering until after my final 10+ mile tempo run before the marathon. This is almost always completed on the next to last Tuesday prior to race day (i.e. Today).

This morning Nathan and I did just under 10.5 miles in Edwin Warner Park, on the Harpeth River Greenway and through the streets of Bellevue. Normally I want these final 10+ mile tempo efforts to be completed at race pace, but going into today I didn’t think that was feasible or smart. In the last 10 days I’ve finished a 1:32 half marathon on a tough course, run my fastest track workout since last summer, and completed a 20+ mile training run.

With that in mind I told Nathan that I was shooting for a moderate 8:00min pace. Well, this lasted for 3 miles before we completed miles 5 and 6 at 7:45 pace, and the remaining miles in the 7:30s. While this is still not quite goal race pace, it was still faster than I had planned. However, my legs also felt much better than I expected.

Now that this run is over, the mileage on my remaining runs before the race will all be significantly reduced, and it will actually feel like a taper. I should land at about 40 total miles this week, and then 15 next week prior to race day. Gotta make myself get plenty of rest and plenty of fuel to ensure I’m properly recovered from the intense training on race day. Getting excited and nervous!!

Beast Mode….ON!!