Due to scheduling conflicts as school and Saturday kids soccer has started up again, my buddy and I were unable to run together for our 17 miler. Iin a funny way it worked out better that way for me as I needed to do this run by myself to clear my head from the drama of the past week. The 6-7 milers during the week were fair. Not anything amazing. I keep trying to push my pace during the week, but I don't know if I see any real change. Some runs the pace is better, other runs of the same distance I struggle through. Not sure what I'm doing that's different, but I'll take the good runs when I get them.
I got out early for a Saturday (6:30) and the heavens were spitting on me. It really wasn't raining, but there was something being sprayed in my face. I had only gone 2 blocks when I felt something weird on the top of my right foot. It felt like a rock between my foot and the top of my shoe. I stopped to look, but didn't find anything. So I kept going. I went about a half mile further and the pain (it was more of an annoyance than pain) was still there. So I adjusted the tongue in my shoe, retied the laces, and went off again. Still a little troublesome, but didn't really was a non-factor the rest of the run.
Over a mile into the run, the rain really starts coming down. With no real shelter from trees, I just have to tough it out. I chuckle to myself as I think that this is some kind of test. Either I can leave my goals of training for a marathon at the puddles in the road and go back home because of the rain, or I can keep myself focused and run through the little bumps in the road. As in life, when something bad happens, I can either give up because its too tough, or keep focused see my goals through to the end. I decided I would keep running. After 3-5 minutes of rain, it let up and didn't really rain the rest of my 17 miles.
I was out of gels so I had to find something else to keep my energy up. All I could find in the cupboards were M&M's. A few of those each little break and a half a banana on the bigger breaks seemed to keep me energized and able to complete the rather long run. I'd stick to the gels though from here on out.
The last 2 miles were pretty difficult, but I was able to finish the 17 miler at a good pace of around 9:25 minute miles. Though my right foot was sore the rest of the day I was still pleased with how the run went and I'm beginning to think that running this marathon is actually possible. Gotta run.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
Increasing Miles
Well, with a well deserved week off after the half marathon (just fewer miles, not really a week off), it was time to increase the miles on our Saturday runs. First was a 15 mile run. We did well. We've heard a number of opinions of how to train and run the marathon. Since neither one of us has ever run one, we are not sure which is correct, or which will work for us. We would like to run the whole marathon, do it in under 4 hours, and live to tell the tale. Its funny to think that we were dreading running 13 miles and now we plan to double it. It is very helpful to have someone to run with. These long runs are difficult anyway, but finding ways to pass the time with out a buddy would be excrusiating.
So we plan on taking our training runs slower than we will for the marathon to save a little for the actual event. We also plan to take a few breaks during the long runs to get fluids back as well as gel up for energy, since we plan to walk to aid stations and make sure we (or I) don't spill all the contents of my cup on my shirt. Right, wrong, or otherwise, we plan on sticking with this and next week we'll be jumping to 17 miles. Yikes! Gotta run.
So we plan on taking our training runs slower than we will for the marathon to save a little for the actual event. We also plan to take a few breaks during the long runs to get fluids back as well as gel up for energy, since we plan to walk to aid stations and make sure we (or I) don't spill all the contents of my cup on my shirt. Right, wrong, or otherwise, we plan on sticking with this and next week we'll be jumping to 17 miles. Yikes! Gotta run.
Sunday, August 29, 2010
The Time Has Come
Well, since this past February, my buddy and I have been training for one single goal, to run half marathon. Last Saturday, we did just that. The past few weeks we have really kicked into high gear running 10, 11, then 12 milers every Saturday. Now, that day had come. With my sore ankle I only ran once during the week, a 3.5 miler that I ran in undre 8:30 minute miles. I altered my diet so I would have plenty of energy (carbs) as my wife prepared a wonderful meal of pasta, with chucks of meat and delicious garlic bread the day before the race. I'm not sure if the garlic bread is on an approved diet list somewhere, but its on mine. I was a little too excited to sleep, but I've never had problems falling asleep at night, but 5 minutes after laying down I was out.
Then came the day of the race. Since the race was 45 minutes away, we had to get up at 5am. I got myself ready, got snacks for the kids and my wife, so they had something to sustain themselves. We had laid out the girls clothes the night before as well as everything else we would need. My buddy and his family was coming around 5:30, so we needed to be up, clothed, diapered (just one of us and its not me) and ready to go by then. While the night before the girls were excited to get up early and go, the day of, they were not as excited.
We got ready and were out the door by 5:45. As this half marathon was in the "big city" we had to park in a garage for a hourly price. Driving downtown is not all that fun and to have 4500 people crammed into downtown as well, the driving was not fun either. However, we managed to find a nice spot close the the starting line and as our wives got the children out of the cars and into strollers, my buddy and I walked to the starting line. When we got there, it was already packed with runners, volunteers, officials and the local college's marching band. Since my breakfast consisted of a banana, part of an energy drink mix and what would be an energy gel I wanted to use the rest room so I wouldn't have to hold it for over 2 hours. The line to the port-a-potties wasn't as bad as I thought, but moved at a snails pace. We waited in line for 15-20 minutes and I passed the time by stretching and chatting with my buddy. Finally relieved, we headed back to the starting line and we heard "T-minus 1 minute". Yep, waiting in line took all of our prep time from us. I felt fairly ready, excited and a little nervous about how my body would respond to 13 miles of constant running.
There were signs posted 20 or so feet apart with 2:40, 2:30, 2:20, 2:10 and so on all the way up to the starting line. This was so people like us could stand in the section where we thought our end time would be. We had planned a 10 minute a mile pace which would put us around 2:10. There were so many people that there was no way we were going to make it up there, but we snuck our way up to the 2:30 line and got to count down from 5. The gun fired and we were off! Well, the front of the line was off, we had to wait 5 minutes to reach the line. There was the overall clock and our chips would document our individual time and would not start until we crossed the starting line. It slowly approached as the band played a rousing tune to get us all pumped up. It was an uphill walk to the starting line and then as it got closer, we started to jog. By the time we crossed it we were at our pace that we hoped to maintain for over 2 hours. It was after the first mile that we finally saw our families. They were cheering us on and it was a nice boost for mile 2.
As it turns out my official time was 2 hours 5 minutes and 57 seconds. I was 1544 person out of 3240 finishers (that's under half of all finishers). I was the 910 male out of 1473 men to finish and 162 out of 255 men between 30-34 years old. My buddy and I also came in under our 10 minute a mile pace. It was a big goal and we worked hard to get here and now that we have completed the half, we are now going to train for a FULL marathon in October. Wish us luck ... we're going to need it. Gotta run.
Then came the day of the race. Since the race was 45 minutes away, we had to get up at 5am. I got myself ready, got snacks for the kids and my wife, so they had something to sustain themselves. We had laid out the girls clothes the night before as well as everything else we would need. My buddy and his family was coming around 5:30, so we needed to be up, clothed, diapered (just one of us and its not me) and ready to go by then. While the night before the girls were excited to get up early and go, the day of, they were not as excited.
We got ready and were out the door by 5:45. As this half marathon was in the "big city" we had to park in a garage for a hourly price. Driving downtown is not all that fun and to have 4500 people crammed into downtown as well, the driving was not fun either. However, we managed to find a nice spot close the the starting line and as our wives got the children out of the cars and into strollers, my buddy and I walked to the starting line. When we got there, it was already packed with runners, volunteers, officials and the local college's marching band. Since my breakfast consisted of a banana, part of an energy drink mix and what would be an energy gel I wanted to use the rest room so I wouldn't have to hold it for over 2 hours. The line to the port-a-potties wasn't as bad as I thought, but moved at a snails pace. We waited in line for 15-20 minutes and I passed the time by stretching and chatting with my buddy. Finally relieved, we headed back to the starting line and we heard "T-minus 1 minute". Yep, waiting in line took all of our prep time from us. I felt fairly ready, excited and a little nervous about how my body would respond to 13 miles of constant running.
There were signs posted 20 or so feet apart with 2:40, 2:30, 2:20, 2:10 and so on all the way up to the starting line. This was so people like us could stand in the section where we thought our end time would be. We had planned a 10 minute a mile pace which would put us around 2:10. There were so many people that there was no way we were going to make it up there, but we snuck our way up to the 2:30 line and got to count down from 5. The gun fired and we were off! Well, the front of the line was off, we had to wait 5 minutes to reach the line. There was the overall clock and our chips would document our individual time and would not start until we crossed the starting line. It slowly approached as the band played a rousing tune to get us all pumped up. It was an uphill walk to the starting line and then as it got closer, we started to jog. By the time we crossed it we were at our pace that we hoped to maintain for over 2 hours. It was after the first mile that we finally saw our families. They were cheering us on and it was a nice boost for mile 2.
Here we are, still all smiles!
There we go off to finish 13.1 miles
The next 6 or so miles (so miles 2-8) went pretty smoothly. We did see the remains of someone's breakfast after mile 2 as well as a poor lady who tripped right in front of us. She seemed to be alreight though. Then we also saw a few people who had passed out with medical personnel assisting them. Other than those few incidents, the race was good. They had a few live bands preforming which helped give us a boost of energy. Also, there were aid stations every mile and a half to 2 miles with water and Gatorade. Due to the number of people waiting for a drink at the first station, we decided to wait as it had only been 2 miles. However, the very first time I got a drink, I tried to sip a little at a time as I was running, but what actually happened, was the water seemed to jump out of the cup and onto my shirt. A third of the drink got in my mouth at least, but my shirt was drenched the remainder of the race.
The course took us through downtown, by some nice lakes and wooded areas and then back to the city streets and finally around campus. Miles 9-12.5 were difficult with the hardest mile being mile 11. Being so close, but knowning there are still 2 miles left was a challenge. Mentally it was difficult not to mention physically. At mile 12, fellow racers who had finished and were walking back as well as fans kept saying, "You're almost there!" It should have been a relief to hear that, but with every step I could not see the finish and the "almost there" people clearly had a different definition of the word "almost" than I do. My buddy pointed out the back side of the building we started infront of so we knew we were close. We ran up a small hill and off a bike path to a paved street. The crowds had gathered and I knew, we were almost there. Up ahead we saw our familes again and got the last boost of evergy we needed as I was pretty zapped of all energy.
The course took us through downtown, by some nice lakes and wooded areas and then back to the city streets and finally around campus. Miles 9-12.5 were difficult with the hardest mile being mile 11. Being so close, but knowning there are still 2 miles left was a challenge. Mentally it was difficult not to mention physically. At mile 12, fellow racers who had finished and were walking back as well as fans kept saying, "You're almost there!" It should have been a relief to hear that, but with every step I could not see the finish and the "almost there" people clearly had a different definition of the word "almost" than I do. My buddy pointed out the back side of the building we started infront of so we knew we were close. We ran up a small hill and off a bike path to a paved street. The crowds had gathered and I knew, we were almost there. Up ahead we saw our familes again and got the last boost of evergy we needed as I was pretty zapped of all energy.
Here we are just before the final turn!
Tired, exhausted, soaked, but totally excited to finish this thing, we gave our kids a high five and rounded the final corner. The finished line was closer than I had pictured and a few stides later, we crossed the line at what the clock said 2 hours and 10 minutes. We had to keep moving as there were people behind us finishing as well, but my body just wanted to stop moving. Further up the line was the table with our medals. The lady put it around my neck and it was official. I had run a half marathon. It was difficult to feel any real excitement as I was just so tired! We walked through a gauntlet of volunteers offering us water, trail mix, bagels and other snacks. At the end of that line our families were waiting. I gave my kids a tenative hug as I was pretty soaked with sweat, water and Gatorade. My wife was more excited than I was as I was really too tired to process what I had just accomplished. It was an amazing moment.
Tired and soaked, but excited about finishing the half marathon
Two happy half marathon finishers
We really do stand out in a crowd.
As it turns out my official time was 2 hours 5 minutes and 57 seconds. I was 1544 person out of 3240 finishers (that's under half of all finishers). I was the 910 male out of 1473 men to finish and 162 out of 255 men between 30-34 years old. My buddy and I also came in under our 10 minute a mile pace. It was a big goal and we worked hard to get here and now that we have completed the half, we are now going to train for a FULL marathon in October. Wish us luck ... we're going to need it. Gotta run.
Sunday, August 22, 2010
Energy Drinks, Powerbars, Gels and more
So this past week (early August) my wonderful wife and I went to a running store to ask a few questions about what I would need for long distance running. The guy was very nice and patient with me not knowing anything about running, but introduced me to Energy Gels that I can eat before and during long distance running to keep my energy up as well as an energy powered mix drink that does the same thing. Apparently for my body type I would need to consume 250-300 calories every hour to replenish what I would be losing in my running. That ended up being 16 oz bottle of drink and 2 gel packets per hour (which I should be running at least 6 miles each hour). So for the 11 mile run on Saturday I got 4 gels for my buddy and I to "enjoy" (I use the term loosely). I gotta say it is a very strange texture. I guess since it is called a "gel" its texture is just like it sounds, but the flavors are a little too strong. I had Tropical and it was awful, as was the Orange my buddy said. Halfway through around mile 6.5 we tried our second helping of gels which for both of us tasted much better. I mean it was still a gel, but much more tollerable.
The energy drink however, was not good at all! Not only did it taste weird, it make me sick. Over the past few weeks I've been able to add Gatorade to it to help the taste and pleasantness of it, but that first time was horrendous. I'm not sure if it helped, but we were able to run for all 11 miles so it didn't hurt.
The next week my buddy hosted and he had a powerbar. It was different, but not as difficult to get down as the drink or gels were. However, I had eggs for breakfast so add the powerbar on top of that and there was way too much stuff in my stomach for a good run. I felt like I was dragging the entire way. This was the 12 miler and the week before the half marathon. Around mile 11 besides my ankle aching pretty bad, my knee started hurting as well and I had to stop to walk for a quarter of a mile to regain my strength. So I learned not to eat that much before running, but at least I didn't lose the contents of my stomach during the run.
As far as the last run before the half goes, I was concerned that I had to walk. I was also concerned now that I had knee and ankle problems. This doesn't bode well for the half. Maybe it was all a fluke and everything will be peachy for the half. I guess we'll wait and see. Gotta run.
The energy drink however, was not good at all! Not only did it taste weird, it make me sick. Over the past few weeks I've been able to add Gatorade to it to help the taste and pleasantness of it, but that first time was horrendous. I'm not sure if it helped, but we were able to run for all 11 miles so it didn't hurt.
The next week my buddy hosted and he had a powerbar. It was different, but not as difficult to get down as the drink or gels were. However, I had eggs for breakfast so add the powerbar on top of that and there was way too much stuff in my stomach for a good run. I felt like I was dragging the entire way. This was the 12 miler and the week before the half marathon. Around mile 11 besides my ankle aching pretty bad, my knee started hurting as well and I had to stop to walk for a quarter of a mile to regain my strength. So I learned not to eat that much before running, but at least I didn't lose the contents of my stomach during the run.
As far as the last run before the half goes, I was concerned that I had to walk. I was also concerned now that I had knee and ankle problems. This doesn't bode well for the half. Maybe it was all a fluke and everything will be peachy for the half. I guess we'll wait and see. Gotta run.
Ankle Me This ...
I have been away for a while and unable to find the time to update my running progress most of the month. Well, soon after my last post, I had done some research and found that I needed to up my miles I run in a week to better prepare for the half. So, I decided I'd run 4 times a week. I ran an Monday and Tuesday back-to-back mornings. Then I ran a Thursday and then Saturday for my long distance run. Well, that was the plan. Tuesday morning the run went fine, but for the next few days I was plagued with an ankle problem. Maybe it was lack of stretching the ankle, but it hurt. It hurt to walk, go up and down stairs and especially to run. Thursday I tried to run with it and I ended up only able to complete 3 miles before it got really bad. I iced it and tried to keep off of it for the next few days. By Saturday it was feeling well enough to do the long run of 10 miles. However, now it has become a constant worry for me. Having never had ankle issues, I wonder why something like this is starting to be painful. Maybe its my age (almost 31) or the fact that I've been running on it now consistantly for 5 (now 6) straight months. Both are probably true. I just hope moving forward this doesn't keep me from accomplishing my overall goal. Gotta run.
Sunday, July 25, 2010
Home Route Advantage
For the past 2 weeks now I have had company for my long Saturday runs. Last week my buddy, who got me running in the first place, came down and ran my route with me. Yesterday I went and ran his normal route with him. I discovered something interesting about running your own route than someone elses. Running on your own turf is easier than running on someone elses. I suppose this sounds like a no brainer, but for me I realized I was able to run my 10 mile route with much less effort than it took me to run his 10 mile route. Maybe its because I knew how long we still had to go and I could prepare my mind for what was coming next, I'm not 100% sure why I had a more difficult time with his route than he did and vica versa last week. This also brought to mind the 10K we did months ago. Because I had run a practice run the Monday before I knew what to expect for the day of the race and it helped me prepare my mind for what was coming. Life is that way as well. When we are prepared for certain events, whatever they are, we handle those situations better than if we are unprepared. However, there are many things that come up that we are not prepared for, but, like in running, as long as we are doing our best in training, we can overcome those obstacles when they arise. Like not knowing what mile we are at and continuing to run 6 hills in 10 miles (which was my buddy's route).
In any event, this week was a good one. I ran 4 times: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday morning. Monday was a 6 miler. Tuesday I decided I might need to up my weekly mileage so I got out for a quick 3 miler before work. Since this was the first time I'd really run back-to-back I don't think my legs were quite used to it. Even today I have a little pain/soreness in my knee and ankle, but after stretching and warming up that first mile, it goes away. I took Wednesday off and was back at it Thursday for another 6 miles. This one, was accompanied by rain. After 2 miles it started to sprinkle and then, a decent rain developed by mile 3. I decided to keep going as it was just a little rain. I was afraid we might get rained out Saturday as storms passed through Friday night, but by the morning all the storms were gone. So my total mileage this week is 25. That's probably my highest mileage to date. Next week we'll see if I can manage go up my 10 miler to 11. Only one way to find out. Gotta run!
In any event, this week was a good one. I ran 4 times: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday morning. Monday was a 6 miler. Tuesday I decided I might need to up my weekly mileage so I got out for a quick 3 miler before work. Since this was the first time I'd really run back-to-back I don't think my legs were quite used to it. Even today I have a little pain/soreness in my knee and ankle, but after stretching and warming up that first mile, it goes away. I took Wednesday off and was back at it Thursday for another 6 miles. This one, was accompanied by rain. After 2 miles it started to sprinkle and then, a decent rain developed by mile 3. I decided to keep going as it was just a little rain. I was afraid we might get rained out Saturday as storms passed through Friday night, but by the morning all the storms were gone. So my total mileage this week is 25. That's probably my highest mileage to date. Next week we'll see if I can manage go up my 10 miler to 11. Only one way to find out. Gotta run!
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Back on Track
I'm getting caught back up here in more ways than one. I missed posting last week so now you get 2 posts from me today. Also, while I'm not yet caught up to where I should be in my training I made a good step today in getting back on track. Over the past 2 months now I have been trying to run 10+ miles on my Saturday runs, but have been unable to do so. Today was different. It started earlier this week. Though I wanted to run 6 miles Monday I only had time for a little over 3. Then on Wednesday I was able to run 6 miles and I felt really good about today. It helped that a buddy of mine (who is training with me, though we have never trained together) offered to come down and run a 9-10 miler with me today. While I am used to getting up early during the week to run, my body didn't want to get out of bed today (I have to apologize to my wife and she was the one who woke up to my alarm and in turn woke me up. Sorry about that). Even with my sluggish start to the day we still managed to get out there and run. The first 6 miles were pretty good and as always there is the wall. Luckily the wall wasn't as solid as it could have been so I was able to push through it. I was able to run over 10 miles today. It felt really good (not during the run and especially not at mile 9, but when it was over) and I'm glad I had a buddy to run with as we (well he did and I hope I did for him) encouraged each other to keep going. Thanks ... buddy.
Now that the 10 miler is out of the way, next week is 11 or maybe 12. It's nice that the run is out of the way today so I'm not thinking about it for the rest of the day. Though I already took a cat nap of 10 minutes today, I do feel pretty good. My calves are a little sore, but nothing too bad. Until next week, gotta run.
Now that the 10 miler is out of the way, next week is 11 or maybe 12. It's nice that the run is out of the way today so I'm not thinking about it for the rest of the day. Though I already took a cat nap of 10 minutes today, I do feel pretty good. My calves are a little sore, but nothing too bad. Until next week, gotta run.
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