More of the Same

After taking yesterday off, I ran for 20 minutes again this morning. Like the last two runs, the hamstring was tight at first and then loosened up. I did the hamstring exercises, stretched, iced, and then massaged a little with the stick. All of that seemed to help because my leg feels better today than it has for a while.

Tomorrow's another day off since J and I are taking the kids to Day out with Thomas for j's birthday. He turned four Nov. 21 and I'm sure he'll be ecstatic tomorrow.

Baby Steps

After two weeks off, my hamstring didn't really feel much different than it did after the marathon. Massage seemed to be helping a little, but not drastically. I decided to try running and some strengthening exercises and see what happened.

The past two mornings I ran for twenty minutes. The hamstring felt tight at the beginning, but loosened up during the run. Afterwards, I came back, did the strengthening exercises, stretched, and iced. My big concern is not how it feels while running, but after I get ready for work and sit in the car for about an hour, it's tight when I get up. I'm going to continue with the plan for a few more days and see how it goes, and maybe massage the hamstring with the stick instead of icing and see if that makes a difference. I'm anxious to get back to training, but I want to be careful not to rush anything.

Richmond Marathon

I haven't written for a little while, mainly due to being busy and a lack of desire. But now I feel like the break has been invigorating, and I feel like writing again.

The last month of training for Richmond was going well up until the taper. I did something to my left hamstring, and it didn't feel quite right the last three weeks or so leading up to the race. The top of the hamstring felt tight and a little sore. Still, it didn't keep me from running, and I had registered for the race and paid for the hotel room, so I decided to go ahead and run the race.

J and I drove down to Richmond the night before the race. We checked into the hotel, picked up my stuff at the expo, and then went to dinner at The Olive Garden. I ate the same meal I did last year. I got to bed about 10:30.

I got up a little before six on race morning and took a shower to help me wake up. I looked out the window and saw that the rain had stopped but it seemed a little blustery. The temperature was in the low 40s. Our hotel was about a mile from the starting line, and I walked over. I jogged for just a few minutes to warm up and then dropped off my excess clothes and made my way over to the starting line.

The race started and I went out conservatively. I passed the first mile in barely under seven minutes. I was a little concerned that I wasn't feeling a good as I did last year. I sped up over the next few miles, running them in the 6:40 range. During these miles my stomach started bothering me, and I had to make a pit stop at the porta-johns at mile six. I felt better after that and made my way downhill to the "Party Zone" at mile seven.

After the seventh mile, the race goes up a hill and over a bridge. Going up the hill I felt a twinge in my hamstring. It felt tight and I backed off my effort. Over the next few miles my pace slowed and people started passing me. My leg was still tight and I began to think about dropping out. I knew J would be somewhere around mile 16, so I concentrated on getting there and seeing how I felt. I passed halfway in 1:35:XX, and was almost positive I was going to drop out. I wasn't going to seriously negative split the course and break three hours, and I wasn't going to kill myself just to finish. The last straw came when I went over the second bridge. I was running into a strong wind and ran my slowest mile, and after I came off the bridge I really started to tighten up. About a mile after the bridge, I saw J and dropped out.

I wasn't terribly disappointed about dropping out. I certainly wasn't having my best day, and the risk of further damage was not worth trying to finish. I haven't run since the race, and my hamstring still doesn't feel quite right, especially when it gets stretched in certain directions. I'm resting for a little while, and then looking to run another marathon in the late spring.

Still on Schedule

Everything's still going basically according to plan for the marathon. I finished up last week with ten miles on Friday and then just three on Saturday. Friday's run went well in that I was able to pick up the pace towards the end.

Sunday I ran for three hours and 20 miles at Burke Lake Park. The run went well--I didn't even look at my watch until I was two hours and forty-five minutes in. Ideally I'd like to run at a little faster pace, but I'm glad that I'm getting the long runs in. I feel like last year a major factor in my blow-up over the last 10k was a lack of longer runs. I was pretty much wiped out the rest of Sunday.

When my alarm went off Monday morning I hit the snooze button twice and seriously considered taking the day off. However, I heard one of the boys making some noise and I got up to go check on them. Once I was out of bed, I figured I'd go out for a run. I ran six miles, but really didn't feel good.

This morning I ran 10 miles with the HRM. It's been a little while since I've worn it. If there's one indication I'm getting in better shape, it's that the average heart rate was lower for this run than for a similar run a month or so ago. Also, the max I got up to for the run was lower as well.

An Overdue Update

Since the 20-mile race, training has been going well. It took me a few days to recover after the race, but by Thursday of last week I felt good enough to attempt a workout. The workout was 2 x 1 mile, 4 miles steady, and then 1 x 1 mile. I ran two miles over to the track to warm up and then ran the first mile in 7:12. I rested for a minute, and then ran the second mile in 7:05. I ran the four miles, and then I was back at the track for the last mile, which I ran in 6:46. Friday and Saturday were seven and ten miles respectively, and I ended with 74 miles for the week.

J ran the Army 10-Miler this past Sunday, so rather than try to coordinate a long run Sunday I moved it to Monday, which I had off for Columbus Day. I ran eighteen miles, and while it wasn't terrible it certainly wasn't great either. Tuesday I ran eight miles and yesterday ten, and this morning I had planned on a tempo run. However, I had also planned on going to bed early since I was pretty tired, but that didn't happen. I was exhausted when I woke up this morning, and I reset my alarm so I could get some more sleep. I got up in time for just an easy three miles.

If I run a good marathon in Richmond, I think one big factor will be my consistency. It's now been over a month since the last day I didn't run. I've also been running good mileage over the past month, with long runs of 16, 17, 21, and 18 miles. I'm excited to see what I can do November 10.

DCRRC National Capital 20 Mile Race Report-Long

Race morning was beautiful. It was sunny and about 50 degrees, perfect running weather. The race was in Alexandria, about a half-hour drive, and as usual I was running a little late. I still needed to pick up my number, since I didn't do it on Saturday. It's a good thing I wasn't planning on much of a warm up.

I got to the race about 15 minutes before the start. I picked up my number and jogged around a little to warm up. I went over the plan in my head--stay conservative early, don't go out too hard and die. After a few announcements, we were off.

The race started at a school, and then the course went through a neighborhood and out and back in both directions on the Mt. Vernon trail. I hit the first mile in about 7:15, right on pace, and before the second mile marker we got on the trail. We followed the trail towards Mt. Vernon until we got to the turnaround just before the five mile mark. At five miles my time was 36:xx, and I was still on pace. I was taking Gatorade at each of the water stops (a quick aside: why do the fill the cups up so much?) and the next five miles passed uneventfully until I got to halfway in 1:13:27.

At the water stop just before halfway, I took a Gu and some water. I was going to try and pick up the pace, but I wasn't feeling that great. I just tried to continue to maintain my pace. Around mile fourteen I had lost a little focus and ran my slowest mile of the race, 7:44. Seeing that split combined with the fact that I had turned around and was headed back to the finish at the school woke me up. I got my focus back and began to work on the drive to the finish. I got to seventeen miles in 2:06:xx, and I picked up the pace. I felt like something had come over me--I had this new energy. Miles eighteen, nineteen, and twenty were the three fastest of the race. I split just under 21 minutes for the three miles. I also passed three or four people in those last three miles, including one just as we were getting on the track for the finish. I kicked hard on the three-quarters of a lap on the track to finish in 2:27:06.

I'm very pleased with the way this race went. I didn't quite follow my original plan of running the last ten miles at marathon pace, but I did pick up my pace by 15-20 seconds a mile over the last three miles. Plus, I ran my three highest mileage weeks thus far going into the race, so I wasn't tapered at all. This race was a big confidence booster for the marathon in a little more than a month.

DCRRC National Capital 20 Mile Race Report-Short

I'm very pleased with the way the race went. I was 31st overall in 2:27:06. I ran remarkably even 10-mile splits of 1:13:27 and 1:13:37. The legs were definitely sore this morning, but I got out for eight very easy miles. I want to keep the consistency I developed of late. The only negative about the race is the marble-sized blister I ended up with on the second toe on my left foot. I'll post a more detailed recap tomorrow.

Easy Day

This morning I ran an easy 11 miles, 10 out and back along the parkway and then I added a mile on, mainly because I felt like it and the run was going pretty well. I felt better today than I have the past two days, I'm sure at least partially because I slept better last night. Tomorrow's a very easy day, and then I've got the race Sunday. I'm a little nervous because I've never actually run 20 miles in training, but I figure as long as I don't go out too hard, I should be fine.

How It's Been Going

It been a few days since I updated this thing.

The weekend running went well. Saturday was just an easy four miles, nothing special. Sunday I ran a 17 mile long run. I felt pretty tired at the beginning and I was a little worried about how it was going to go. I told myself that short of me collapsing, I was going to be out for at least two hours. As the run progressed, I felt better and better, and even felt good enough to cap off the run with a 7:06 last mile, the fastest of the run.

Monday and Tuesday were recovery days. Normally I'd have a workout scheduled for Tuesday, but this week is set up a little differently because I'm running a 20 mile race on Sunday. Monday I ran eight miles and Tuesday I ran 10.

The workout that I would normally run Tuesday I wanted to move to Wednesday. That didn't work out because J had a Pampered Chef party Tuesday night and I was up late. I slept in Wednesday morning and ran an easy seven miles. Then I was going to run the workout this morning, but I didn't feel too good. My stomach was bothering me, and I bagged the workout and ran eight miles.

I don't plan on racing the 20 miles all out this Sunday. I want to run the first 10 steady and controlled, and try to work down to marathon pace or even a little below over the last 10. We'll see how it goes.

Hill Work

This morning I headed out for another Friday morning hill workout. This morning I ran out along the parkway. I warmed up for three miles, ending up just about at the base of the hill. The path along the parkway is marked every kilometer, and the 10k mark is just before the hill and the 11k mark is at the top of the hill. I ran four 1k repeats up the hill. The first two took 4:41 and 4:45. I was a little disappointed the second repeat was slower than the first, so I was cooling back down the hill I got on myslef to really concentrate and work hard on the last two. I wanted to run 4:40 and then 4:30, but ended up running 4:32 and 4:31. I cooled down back to the house, giving me 11 miles for the day.

My reaction after this workout is that this would have been a better workout with less recovery. But to get back to the starting line, of course, I had to run all the way back down the hill. It felt like too much recovery. The recovery is probably one of the reasons hill work is usually included a little earlier in training, but I still feel like I benefit. Plus the longer recoveries make for a less taxing second work out for the week.

Thursday was an easy 10 miles.

Nothing Special

Today's run was just an easy 10 miles. I was going to just run out and back along the parkway, but I was a little concerned that if I did I might convince myself to cut the run short, so I went with the 10 mile loop instead.

I've been hungry lately while running. Usually I'd just be a little hungry when I started, but the feeling would go away. Now it hits me toward the middle of the run and I feel hungry the rest of the way. I have increased my mileage the last 10 days, but I've run this mileage before and don't remember being quite so hungry.

Disappointing

This morning's workout certainly did not go as planned. The plan was to warm up, run five miles at marathon pace, and cool down. I warmed up with three miles, and when I got to the three mile mark and checked my watch and saw how slow I had been running, I had a bad feeling about the workout. However, I decided to give it a try, figuring I could always cut it short if I needed to. I never got within a minute of marathon pace and ran the five miles in over 40 minutes. If I had checked my watch at anytime other than three-quarters of a mile into the workout, I might have cut it off, but probably not. Oh well, I can't expect every day to go perfectly. With the warm up and cool down, I had ten miles for the day.

Weekend Update

Saturday I managed three miles on the treadmill. Once again I wondered how I can feel like I'm running so much faster than the treadmill says.

Sunday I had a good 16 mile long run. I was feeling a little tired after the first ten miles, but then I stopped at the house to pick up my Gu and within a few minutes I felt much better. The last six miles were much more pleasant than the first ten, and over those six miles I picked up the pace slightly and finished strong.

This morning I ran a very easy eight miles. My legs felt ok, but I was pretty tired and hungry. I really don't think that I ate enough yesterday to recover as well as I could have.

Tired

Even though I had a late night, I still got up and out the door for my run this morning. I figured if it got really bad, I could always just come back home. It turned out that I didn't have to worry.

I had a hill workout on the schedule for today. I warmed up a little less than four miles, and then ran seven hill repeats. I think my tiredness contributed to not running as hard as I could have, but I never wanted to quit the workout. The hill was a little longer than a quarter mile, twisting up and then flattening out at the top. After the last repeat I continued, striding out on the flat part at the top. Then I cooled down for two miles, ending the day with ten miles.

Go Back to Sleep

When I get up to run in the morning, before I go downstairs I check on the kids to make sure they're still covered up and not cold and just because they're cute. Mostly they sleep right through it. This morning I checked on b and covered him up, and then I went into j's room. The door squeaked when I opened it, and j sat up and said, "No, daddy, no." I walked over and asked him if he had to go to the bathroom, he said no, and I started to rub his back. He closed his eyes and then whispered, "Daddy, I have to go to the potty." I took him to the bathroom, put him back in bed, and told him I'd see him when I got back from running. He looked at his window, and told me "Daddy, you run in the morning. It's still nighttime." It was only about 4:40 in the morning and still dark. I gave him a stuffed dog named Wiffles to cuddle up with and then he told me, "Daddy, Wiffles loves me." I told him I loved him too and to go back to sleep, which he did.

Today's run was better than yesterday's. I ran a loop that I haven't run for a while, and I still took it fairly easy but faster than yesterday, finishing today's 10 miles about eight minutes faster than yesterday. The weather here the past two days has been great. The cool morning temperatures make it feel like fall is on the way.

Slow Slow Slow

I ran a ridiculously slow 10 miles this morning. I knew I was taking it easy, but I was still surprised when I reached seven miles and saw my pace was over nine minutes a mile.

Today is j's first day of school for the year. He has a year's experience under his belt and he's excited to be back in school. b was upset that he couldn't stay at school too, but he has his own class starting Friday.

A Good Workout

This morning I headed over to the track to run 3x2 miles at marathon pace. It had rained overnight and was still all wet, but at least it didn't rain this morning while I ran. The rain did make it really humid, though.

I decided that I was going to run the workout by feel rather than checking my watch every lap or so. If that meant that I ran too slow or too fast so be it; I need to know what marathon pace feels like without having to constantly check my watch. The first two miles went by in 14:03. This was a little slow, but at least it was in the ballpark. Goal marathon pace is 6:45-6:50. I jogged a lap to recover and then ran two miles in 13:55. I jogged another lap and ran the last two miles in 13:52.

I'm pleased with the way the workout went. I was able to basically hit marathon pace without checking the watch, and I thought I recovered quickly during the lap between repeats. The warmup and cooldown gave me 10.5 miles for the day.

I'm Back

Hilton Head was a lot of fun. The beach, the pool, some golf and running, and some time with the family provided a nice relaxing two weeks. And J and I also got back to Clemson to see them beat Florida St.! But now it's back to the grind.

I ran most days while on vacation. Out of thirteen days, I ran on ten of them. I could have done a little more mileage, but at least I was out there. Hilton Head had bike paths that go all over the island that are good for running. I had one semi-long run, one good out and back workout when I ran out in 25:45 and back in about three minutes less, and one 3x10 minutes at around marathon pace. The rest was just easy miles.

Today I ran eight miles easily along the Parkway. I was able to keep my heart rate in the right zone for the most part, but ended up running fairly slowly. The HRM bugged me a little this morning since it was sliding around and at one point the strap came out and I had to stop and fix it.

New Toy

One of the gifts I received yesterday was a heart rate monitor. I think it will definitely aid me in my training. This evening when I got home from work I gave it a try. It took me a few minutes and a little frustration to get everything set up, but I finally got out the door. I ran pretty easily for a half hour, but my heart rate ended up higher than I thought it would. Overall it averaged 163, with a high of 182. Also, it seemed to spike near the end of the run. It was in the upper 80s, so that had something to do with the higher heart rate, but did that account for the spike at the end too? I'm anxious to see what the heart rate is tomorrow morning, when it's a little cooler.

I'm leaving tomorrow morning for Hilton Head and I'll be there for two weeks, and I don't know if I'll have a chance to update the blog. In case I don't, best of luck to Beth, who is competing in the ITU World Championships in Germany in just a few days.

Quick Update/Happy Birthday

I don't have time to write much, but here's a quick update.

First, happy birthday to me. Today I turn 27. It turns out that Jenny Barringer and I share the same birthday. Tonight I get to celebrate by packing to get ready to go on vacation--J and the boys leave tomorrow and I'm leaving Saturday.

Now for a brief training recap:
Sat.-30 minutes on the treadmill, about 2.5 miles
Sun.-5 miles easy
Mon.-8 miles
Tue.-10 miles
Wed.-11 miles
Thu.-5 miles