A Conquering Run

If you know me, you would know that going to bed by 10 on Saturday, waking up at 7 to go run on Sunday, and doing it all to be outside in 19 degrees to get in a long run is all something I would never typically do. However, since I got to bed early, I made up my mind - out of desperation since my training has gotten so soft. I needed this run, to keep my spirits going as I continue to "train" for Boston.

And running with a great group was very awesome. Made the run go by so quick, the pace seem so comfortable, and was amazing to get it out of the way for the day.

We started off with our slowest mile at 7:30, and then were pretty much off. Not that we were trying to hammer, just that it was cold, the pack was large, and the runners are talented. Was able to hold on and not feel too taxed.

Longest run since Thunder Road '11, and pleased with the effort.

Miles: 12.1
Time: 1:26:05
Pace: 7:07

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/149093901

Week in Review: 24 miles on 3 days. One medium slow, one short, and one long at medium pace

3 in a row, and 3rd run at an increase in mileage

When David asked me to go run at 10am Monday morning, Jan. 2nd I was hesitant. One, because it was 10am, and I wasn't sure how long I would be lingering in bed on my last day of vacation, and Two, because I was almost satisfied enough with having run the last 2 days in a row to not worry about going for a run. Nonetheless, I obliged and we set out at McAlpine for 10 miles. It was pretty cold, and took 3-4 miles until I was comfortable warm. Our first mile was the quickest (707) no doubt from trying to get warm. This settled us eventually into near 730 pace for the middle of the run. We ended well, and scaled back at the end, with no reason to really push it. At least I didnt' want to.

I was happy to be able to run 10 miles at such a pace and not feel too bad after such a light Dec. Gives me encouragement as I start gearing up for Boston this April.

Miles: 10
Time: 1:13:30
Pace: 7.20

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/138581944

night comes early

Hit the door in the dark cold air, and found myself for the first time in a long while running in the night. It was brisk outside, so my pace was a little quick in the beginning. Felt fresh though and kept it comfortable and easy. Just a little jaunt to keep the legs from getting rusty, while at the same time, getting them preserved for the race!

Miles: 4
Pace: 7.26

4 mile (out and back)

The weather was a little cold, but with appropriate layers up top, and shorts on the bottom, I was, along with gloves and headband, warm enough. Decided to head north from my house and run to Park Road as Seneca spills onto it across from the McAlisters. The way I go has it 2 miles from my house, as I meanader along some extra roads in Madison Park. Not much to report on this run, other than the fact I felt pretty comfortable and naturally settled with 7:30-45 min miles.

Time: 31.04
Miles: 4
Pace: 7:40

Last run

Got home from work, changed clothes, and set off for 3 miles around the neighborhood. Pace was around 7:05, 7:20-30 for the next two. Legs felt fine, and nothing else to report. Just looking forward to the Race Saturday.

Cold as (fill in the blank)

Even though it was only 3 miles, the thought of being outside for 20+ mins was not appealing. Definitly the coldest run of the year. Probably high 20's and almost dark by the time I set out to trot around the neighborhood.

Splits: 7.15, 7:35, 7:30

Legs felt fine.

Final Long Run

Welp, here we are. Less than 1 week away from the marathon. It's nice to look back and see all the work put in over the last 18 weeks, and relish the excitement building up to the race. Such attention running a marathon garners (I suppose the first few anyway) from friends and family; I guess that is part of the fruits of the labor. Anyway I am trying to be in the moment, and enjoy this time before the race. Soon it will be over, and be only a memory. Speaking of which, I was commenting to Katie the other day how I really feel like the days just fly by. Perhaps the winter months make the days seem even shorter, but when I get off work, run, and lay around for a bit during the week, I find myself in bed thinking "here we are, another day gone, another day in the morning." I digress...

So, after waiting 10 minutes by my clock, I figured Dave wasn't coming since he is never late (and also because I didn't have my phone, wondered if he assumed a different entrance to McAlpine), and decided to start the run. The route was just out to Harris and back for 8 miles total. Some nice symmetry where the long runs of this training phase have been bookend by a couple of 8 milers. Funny how much easier this one felt, not to mention about 60 degrees cooler as well!

As I was just heading back from the turnaround post, Dave passed me and I waited a couple of minutes for him to catch up so we could finish our run together. We averaged around 730's for the last 4 miles, while I would say (since I left my watch at home) my first 4 miles were in the 740s.

The legs felt fine once again, and the pace seemed comfortable. Just bidding my time until Saturday!

4 at 4

Met David after work, at 4pm, for 4 miles at Freedom Park. Obviously we took to the streets, and stayed around Myers Park. It was cold, so our pace started out a little quicker than the slow 8 mind pace, and remained there pretty much for the next 30 mins. Legs were feeling good, and nothing negative to report.

Miles: 4
Time (approx): 7:25, 7:45, 7:36, 7:30

Feeling out the pace

For the "workout" this week, I saught advice from Carson and Deal, and both suggested I simply do a shorter tempo run at marathon pace, in order to become more familiar with the ideal pace.

Met David at Freedom park, and after a mile warm up we went into a 5 mile 7:00 min/mile tempo run. We actually averaged 6:59 pace, and it was nice to see that all of our miles were right on target from the beginning. That tells me that I am getting honed in on what the pace needs to feel like for my goal.

After a 1.35 mile cool down we were finished. Temperature was cold.

Miles: 7.35

Taper Time!

What a treat/reward to cut down the miles and intensity from here until the marathon. For today's easy run I just ran 4 miles, doing the standard loop from the house around the neighborhood.

Temperature was a little chilly, so my pace was a little quicker due to trying to get warm. Averaged around 7:40 pace.

Miles:4

Dowd YMCA Half Marathon

With Mike Mitchell, who beasted it despite treating it as a "training run" as well: 4th place, 1.19.40, for the former App teammate

Splits: 6.23, 6.52, 6.24, 6.45, 6.26, 6.38, 6.22, 6.42, 6.25, 6.37, 6.28, 6.33, 6.28, 1.15(.1).

The plan was to run the first 9 around 6.45-55 and then the last 4 hard - around 6.20s. With the idea of tempoing for the first 9 miles, and then running hard the last 4 miles, I obviously was a little quicker than I wanted to be, and wasn't able to drop my last 4 miles as much as I wanted. Still, throughout the first 9 miles I didn't feel like I out of my comfort zone - and that I still had some in the tank to make the last 4 faster.

After the first mile totally got me off pace, with it being pretty much a downhill mile the whole way, I tried to back off and find my pace. From looking at the splits above, you can see that I really didn't maintain an even pace as I wanted - with big fluctions in pace per mile. I was okay with being faster than planned, as long as I felt like I was still saving some for the end. With the up and down gradual descents and ascents on the course, I hovered around the top 15 for the first 5 miles or so, then found myself around the top 10 going into mile 9. The last half of the race was much more uphill than the first half, and that also made it harder to drop the pace as well. I felt strong and comfortable for 12 miles, with the last mile being uphill - I could tell that I was struggling to really get into that next gear. However, I picked off a couple guys the last 4 miles and moved into 8th place, where I would stay until the finish. There was 2-3 guys ahead that I was trying to work on catching the last 2 miles, but I was only able to close the gap and not pass them.

The conditions were cold - mid 30's to high 30's and probably low 40s by the time the race was over. I consumed 3 energy chews prior to the race, and put 3 in my shorts to take along the way. I had one around mile 5, 9, and 11 - where at that point realized I was starting to feel sick of eating them and spit half of it out.

It was nice to have some support along the way. Dad showed up at mile 6, 9, and 12, and helped me push through the pain. Oelz cheered me on around mile 10, and Jason was on the last mile up Morehead as I fought to the finish.

Result: 8th place, 1.25.54

I was happy with my time, and placed 2nd in my age group. Avereged 6.36 through 10k and 6.33 for the race overall.

With warmup and cool down, I totaled 17 miles for the day.

Results

Maintenance run with Mitchell

Mitchell came over and we ran the same route as Thursday, minus tacking one mile at the end, for just over 6 for the day. Good pace, easy, and the weather was cold and wet.

6 miles
730ish pace

Getting Chilly

While Tuesday's run was the first where it was noticable cool until I was warmed up about a mile or so in, today was the first run that required long sleeves! It was in the low 50s if not already in the high 40s when I set out, and I was definitly cold until about a mile in. Never got warm in the dry fit long sleeve top - and that being said, the weather was perfect for running...once you get comfortable.

It seems like the last few times I've set out to run I start to pysch myself out the first mile or so with thoughts of "I rather be doing something else", "this is going to take too long" "I don't want to keep doing boring runs!" and other such negative vibes. However once I get going, I'm glad I'm out there doing it - and sometimes, like today, I end up tacking on more miles that I planned just because I want to keep going! The thing about running is you have to sometimes just get yourself out there and be patient. Thinking about how long you have to go, how longs its going to take, and other such things can weigh you down - but hardly ever, at least in my case, do I regret it once I'm in the middle of it, if only even at the end of the run.

These temperatures, while to me seem a little unseasonal given this early in November, are some of the best conditions to run. Today I averaged maybe my quicest run, while at an effort that was entirely natural for the called upon routine day. But, with it being 2 days out until my Half Marathon race, I definitly am "training through" whereas most times before a race you want to take off or do the minimal amount two days prior to race day. As Thunder Road is the goal, I'm treating the Half Saturday as a training run, and not sacraficing valuable days of training for the upcoming 13.1 this weekend.

Time: 54.30
Miles: 7.35
Pace: 7.24

last run in Charlotte (B4 the marathon)

Miles: 4
Time: 28.28
Pace: 7:07

It was cold outside and sunny, so with headband, gloves, long sleeve T and shorts I opted for my standard 4 mile route around our neighborhood as my final run before Katie and I take off to Ft. Lauderdale tomorrow.

Went through the first mile in 7.06 and was feeling good. The idea was just a final easy jaunt before leaving tomorrow. I wanted to shake out any soreness from yesterday, and keep the legs feeling fresh. The pace seemed easy, and the second mile I split 7:12. Clicked off 7:15 and 6:51 for the final two miles.

The negative thing about today's run is my continuing nagging knee. It just won't seem to go away completly. Today it was pretty bothersome. I iced it afterwards and hope that it will not play a big factor on Sunday's race.

400's and a Bobcats loss

Miles:3
Workout: 1 mile warm up, 4x400, 1 mile cool down.

Not having run since last Saturday, and not having gone more than 5 miles in 9 days, I decided to get in some 400s on the track near our house. Smith middle school is right on Tyvola near our neighborhood so I ran there and proceeded to get some turn over with some quarters.

Splits on the track were: 75, (1:30 rest); 74 (1:40): 76 (1:30); 66

The weather was very cold, and I am still not 100 percent healthy. It's been over a week where I have had a sore throat and feeling run down. One thing I am trying to do this week is good at least 8 hours of sleep a night, and so far I have. I just want to be feeling great come Sunday morning at the starting line.

This was also the first run outside in 8 days. The others, as you can see by the posts below have been on the treadmill. I have been trying to stay out of the cold weather because I've been sick, and today I can tell that it does make a difference, by me feeling lousy on the run.



Anyway: We went to the Bobcats game last night and they lost to the worst team in the NBA. You can see a post on it on my friend Josh's blog here.

easy 3 on the 'mill

Miles: 3
Time: 23:30
Pace: 7:50

Still fighting illness, and weather still fighting harsh winter, I again went to the Harry Y to knock out an easy 3 mile run.

This time, set the treadmill on 7:50 pace and cruised along while I watched the Tar Heels and Wolfpack in the second half. My knee bothered me today, and my legs didn't feel great alltogether on this run. My body seemed a little worn down, and this run took quite a bit of effort.

20

Miles: 20
Time: 2.47.01
Pace: 8.21

this was the height of my distance training for this marathon. wanted to complete the task and not worry about time. This was a slow pace which was compounded with the snow and slush I had to run through, making the shoes heavy and footing hard to manage. Yet, I completed the assignment, and feel a good sense of accomplishment.

ran 4 miles to David's house, grabbed an ibuprofen, and did 12 with him. Consumed a power/energy gel after 12 miles and gulped it down with some snow. After we got back to his house, where I was at 16 miles, I grabbed a sip of water and shedded my running pants, one of the two longsleeve shirts, gloves and headband. The reduction in weight felt good those last 4 miles, but the chill did not.

The toughest miles were from 15-19, the last mile I actually felt a little better (probably cuz I knew I was almost done). I believe that when race days comes I'll be able to finish, and that my pace should be a little faster.

snowrun

miles: 6.5
time: 47.51
pace: 7.21

the streets were covered in a layer of ice and light snow and my shoes did great...no slipping. Ran actually at a nice pace. Felt pretty good too. It was cold, but very enjoyable.

getting it done

Miles: 7
Time: 52:53
Pace: 7:34

Hard to say how the "progress" has been the last few weeks. On the one hand, the 7 mile runs have become manageble from a day to day standpoint - but what leaves me guessing is how my pace has been on these runs. What could be adding to this is maybe my lack of proper eating. I've felt low on fuel the last few runs and think that I need to start snacking in the afternoon before my runs which are useually aroudnu 5pm. I'm also going to start taking a protien shake afterwards, which I started after this run.

This was another freezing cold run, and having David along for this one in my neighborhood, I took into account his perspective that the neighborhoods arounud my house which we ran, were quite hilly. We started off a little quick, then I tried to hang out and was toughing it out during the majority of the run, then I found a second wind and was able to close the run strong - otherwise it could have been a pretty slow pace.

tough run

Miles: 7.57
Time: 56:43
Pace: 7:29

Ran the loop with David backwards this time in 35 degree weather, mostly in the dark. The pace definitly felt quick - maybe the hardest felt run since I've trained. It wasn't too hard, but I was really surprised the pace was not faster. Legs felt good first 4 miles, then started to get tired. Last mile and a half or so I started to fell energy drain and just tried to hold one. Glad to have completed the day.