May the Mass x Acceleration be with you

Weyerhaeuser Way route - 6 miles in 46:31

I felt pretty good today, not really very tired and not sore from yesterday's race.

Splits:
7:48
15:27 - 7:39
23:17 - 7:50
38:48 - 15:31
46:31 - 7:43

Great marathon predictor long run - 10 miles at normal pace, 10 at marathon pace, 1 mile cool down. This went better than the 18 miler two weeks ago, and better than expected. The first half I was a little on the slow side, but the pace felt very easy and comfortable. When I say slow, I mean I was under my original goal of sub-7/pace, but not quite down to the 6:53/mile which is my new goal, to break 3 hours. On the second half I was able to run a bit quicker, but the pace still felt pretty easy. Even the last couple miles of the pace run I kept thinking that if I feel that good at mile 20 I will be set - I should be able to speed up and bring my time down over the last 6 miles.

10 miles of normal running on Allison loop and start of Vickory route - 1:16:47
Splits: 8:10 - 7:41 - 7:45 - 7:40 - 7:32 - 7:24 - 15:17 - 15:17

10 miles at marathon pace -
Splits:
0.5 - 0:03:27 - 3:27.5 - 6:54/mile
1.0 - 0:06:56 - 3:29.25 - 6:56/mile
1.5 - 0:10:22 - 3:26.0 - 6:55
2.0 - 0:13:53 - 3:30.25 - 6:56
2.5 - 0:17:23 - 3:30.5 - 6:57
3.0 - 0:20:45 - 3:21.75 - 6:55
3.5 - 0:24:12 - 3:27.25 - 6:55
4.0 - 0:27:39 - 3:26.75 - 6:55
4.5 - 0:31:01 - 3:22.00 - 6:54
5.0 - 0:34:22 - 3:21.0 - 6:52
5.5 - 0:37:46 - 3:23.75 - 6:52
6.0 - 0:41:12 - 3:26.5 - 6:52
6.5 - 0:44:42 - 3:30.0 - 6:53
7.0 - 0:48:12 - 3:30.25 - 6:53
7.5 - 0:51:35 - 3:22.5 - 6:53
8.0 - 0:55:00 - 3:25.0 - 6:53
8.5 - 0:58:25 - 3:25.0 - 6:52
9.0 - 1:01:53 - 3:28.5 - 6:53
9.5 - 1:05:16 - 3:22.25 - 6:52
10.0 - 1:08:20 - 3:04.0 - 6:50

Cooldown - 1 mile in 7:59

Warmup:

2.35 mile warm up in 18:17

2x500@1/2 marathon pace with 300 recoveries as warmup. I accidentally ran these @ 5k-10 pace
1:52.5, 1:57

Workout:

3 circuits of:
100m stride
  12 Plyometric Pushups
  10 1-leg body squats
100m stride
  12 burpees
  40 crunches
100m stride
  10 1-leg high bench step-ups
  25 Back arches
100m stride
  15xHeel raises
  15 Bench Dips
100m stride
  18 walking lunges
  10 feet-elevated pushups
  50 1-leg hops
100m stride

Times: 19.03, 19.72, 19.69, 19.41, 20.04, 20.05, 19.47, 19.31, 19.22, 19.55, 19.54, 19.41, 19.74, ???, ???, 18.??

Cooldown:

2.35 miles in 18:35

Warmup:

6xLM, 7xCM, 2 mile warmup in 15:15

Skipping exercises

2x2 min @ 1/2 marathon pace, recovery to 1/2 mile mark. I think I ran a little fast on these. I usually complete this exercise in about 7:15 on the track.

Workout - 3 sets of 1/4 mile@5k, 1/2 mile@10k, 1 1/4 mile@ marathon pace (with no rest between these), 1/2 mile jog between the sets

So different than when I did this workout two weeks ago. Then it was pouring down rain. Today it was sunny and cool (upper 50's). On the other hand, the last set was a little more difficult than expected. I'm sure that I am still fatigued from Saturday's long run and yesterday's strength workout, though.
1/4 mile - 1/2 mile - 1 1/4 mile
Goal splits: 88 - 3:04 - 8:36

Actual:
1st set: 84.75 - 3:03.75 - 8:02.0 (3:03.75, 3:18, 1:40.25)
2nd set: 83.5 - 3:03.75 - 8:26.25 (3:17.5, 3:25.75, 1:43)
3rd set: 88.5 - 3:10.75 - 8:29.5 (3:33.25, 3:13.25, 1:43)

Cooldown:

1.75 miles in 13:52

Easy run on trails - 6 miles in 50:31

Vickory route - 10 miles in 1:16:08

I had planned to run part of this at marathon pace, but I was still too tired, and a little sore, to do it.

Splits:
1 - 8:05
2 - 15:50 - 7:45
3 - 23:29 - 7:39
4 - 30:58 - 7:29
5 - 38:31 - 7:33
5.5 - 42:11 - 3:40
6.5 - 49:32 - 7:21
7 - 53:17 - 3:45
8 - 60:52 - 7:36
9 - 68:25 - 7:33
10 - 1:16:08 - 7:43

SEJ-5 Mile loop - 5 miles in 37:44

My first run with my new Garmin 305. The mile splits I've been using were dead-on with the Garmin, except the finish line, which was about 10 feet too long. Feeling a little better than yesterday, but still a little sluggish and sore.

Splits:
1 - 7:40
2 - 15:12 - 7:32
3 - 22:47 - 7:35
4 - 30:17 - 7:30
5 - 37:44 - 7:27

Strength Training:

3 sets of
  12 Plyometric Pushups
  10 1-leg body squats
  12 burpees
  40 crunches
  10 1-leg high bench step-ups
  25 Back arches

3 Sets of
  15xHeel raises
  15 Bench Dips
  18 walking lunges
  10 feet-elevated pushups
  50 1-leg hops

Foothills trail run - 13.61 miles with Carl in 1:46:07 (7:48/mile)

It stayed dry for about 5 miles, then the rain started. On the second half it was fairly pouring. My upper quads were still tired and sore from the strength drills. The second half of the run was getting pretty difficult, even as we slowed to 7:50 then 8/mile. This was supposed to be a 13 mile run, but I wasn't paying attention at the halfway point and we ended up going out 6.8 miles instead of 6.5. On the last mile I decided to try picking up the pace to see how that felt with sore legs. I actually felt a lot better during that mile.

Splits:
1 - 0:08:13
2 - 0:16:06 - 7:53
3 - 0:24:11 - 8:04
4 - 0:32:02 - 7:51
5 - 0:39:58 - 7:56
6 - 0:47:53 - 7:55
7 - 0:55:42 - 7:48
8 - 1:03:24 - 7:42
9 - 1:11:00 - 7:37
10 - 1:18:42 - 7:42
11 - 1:26:44 - 8:02
12 - 1:34:44 - 8:00
13 - 1:42:22 - 7:38 - I started pickup up the pace here, at 12.6 miles
13.61 - 1:46:07 - 3:45 (6:09/mile pace)

Vickory route - 5 miles in 38:02

I am still a little tired and sore. I need to get more serious about my taper I guess. I ran my Vickory loop with the Garmin today. All the 1/2 mile marks were pretty close, but they were all a little long. Surprisingly, the 2 mile and 2 1/2 mile marks were both long by several seconds, even though I have a good view of those areas in Google maps.

Splits:
0.5 - 03:53
1.0 - 07:49 - 3:56
1.5 - 11:40 - 3:52
2.0 - 15:30 - 3:49
2.5 - 19:21 - 3:51
3.0 - 23:02 - 3:41
3.5 - 26:48 - 3:46
4.0 - 30:35 - 3:47
4.5 - 34:14 - 3:38
5.0 - 38:02 - 3:48

I decided to do the strength training first today, and then the run. I did that a lot before last year's marathon, but not this year.

 Strength Training:

3 sets of
  12 Plyometric Pushups
  10 1-leg body squats
  12 burpees
  40 crunches
  10 1-leg high bench step-ups
  25 Back arches

3 Sets of
  15xHeel raises
  15 Bench Dips
  18 walking lunges
  10 feet-elevated pushups
  55 1-leg hops

Warmup:

Warmup run. I'm still feeling a little tired and stiff from Tuesday's run.
Splits: 3:42 - 7:25 (3:43) - 11:17 (3:52) - 15:00 (3:43) - 18:57 (3:56) - 22:41 (3:44)

2x2 min at 1/2 marathon pace (6:30) as warmup

Workout:

3 circuits of:
100m stride
  12 Plyometric Pushups
  10 1-leg body squats
100m stride
  12 burpees
  40 crunches
100m stride
  10 1-leg high bench step-ups
  25 Back arches
100m stride
  15xHeel raises
  15 Bench Dips
100m stride
  18 walking lunges
  10 feet-elevated pushups
  50 1-leg hops
100m stride

Except that, instead of running 100m on the track I was striding on an asphalt path using my Garmin as my guide. Half the strides were up a gradual hill (2%) and half were back down. I doubt the Garmin is very accurate at these short distances, but oh well.
The strides were:
360 ft - 23.98 (5:51)
375 ft - 22.41 (5:16)
371 ft - 21.74 (5:10)
378 ft - 22.56 (5:15)
373 ft - 21.35 (5:02)
368 ft - 21.59 (5:10)
354 ft - 21.23 (5:17)
373 ft - 19.49 (4:36)
373 ft - 21.09 (4:59)
357 ft - 19.36 (4:46)
364 ft - 21.78 (5:16)
357 ft - 20.49 (5:03)
339 ft - 20.81 (5:24)
365 ft - 19.72 (4:45)
354 ft - 20.30 (5:03)
357 ft - 20.53 (5:04)

Cooldown:

3.14 mile cool down
Splits: 3:45 - 3:39 - 3:51 - 3:52 - 3:50 - 3:55

Easy run on the trails.

Vickory route - 12.02 miles in 1:26:47

Still a little tired and sore today from Thursday's workout. I guess it was harder on me than I thought it was. This was my first time doing a marathon pace workout with the Garmin, and it was much easier than without. How nice to be able to see early in a lap that I am running slightly slow and need to speed up. Can't wait to put this into practice in the marathon in two weeks!

Splits:
6 mile warmup - 7:45 - 7:46 (15:31) - 7:39 (23:10) - 7:35 (30:44) - 7:23 (38:07) - 7:18 (45:26)

5 miles at marathon pace or faster:
52:13 - 6:47
62:25 - 10:12 (6:49/mile pace)
65:53 - 3:28
72:27 - 6:44
79:14 - 6:37

1.02 mile cool down in 7:34

Warmup:

2.35 mile warm up in 17:42

2x500@ 1/2 marathon pace, with 300 meter recoveries as warmup
1:58.21, 1:59.08

Workout:

Cutting back to only 2 sets, from 3.

2 sets of Circuit training, including 5x500:
500m @5K
  12 Rockies (Pushups with a clap)
  10 1-leg body weight squats
  15 Burpees
  40 crunches
  10 1-leg high bench step ups
  25 back arches
500m @5k
  15 Heel raises
  15 bench dips
  18 walking lunges each leg
  10 feet-elevated pushups
  55 1-leg hops
500m @ 5k

Splits: 2:10.65, 2:09.67, 2:08.35, 2:08.47, 2:09.57

Cooldown:

2.35 miles in 18:31

BPA route - 5 miles in 38:10

I got to run a route I haven't done in a long time. I haven't run this route in probably 2 years because I knew it was short. But, thanks to the Garmin, I ran it today. At the 2 1/2 mile mark it was only off by about .02 miles or so, but that adds up.

Splits:
0.5 - 03:49 - 3:49
1.0 - 07:37 - 3:48
1.5 - 11:19 - 3:42
2.0 - 15:15 - 3:56
2.5 - 19:09 - 3:54
3.0 - 22:57 - 3:49
3.5 - 26:42 - 3:45
4.0 - 30:26 - 3:44
4.5 - 34:19 - 3:52
5.0 - 38:08 - 3:49

3 miles easy, 3miles at marathon pace, 1 mile easy. I was feeling stiff and sore, and a little tired, moreso than expected given the easy week. Ah, the agony of the taper!
The first mile of the mp part was mostly uphill, and was consequently slow. However, I never felt very comfortable on the mp part at all, even on the flat and downhill sections. Towards the end of the run I decided to skip the strength training today, which means I'm done with that until after the marathon.

Splits:
7:34 - 15:16  (7:42) - 22:39 (7:23)
29:36 (6:57.5) - 36:26 (6:49.5) - 43:11 (6:45)
50:34 (7:22)

Easy run on trails - 5 miles in 38:24

Still kind of sore, but energy-wise I felt ok. I ran faster than usual over this course. But then I am usually dragging through an ultra-easy recovery run on the trails, and today was just a normal light day.

Ran with Carl on the Foothills Trail - 10.08  miles in 1:14:26

My upper quads continue to be fairly sore and tight, and the run did not feel very comfortable. Tapering is so frustrating! The weather stayed dry for us, just starting to sprinkle as we finished.

Splits:
1 - 08:03 - 8:03
2 - 15:52 - 7:49
3 - 23:37 - 7:45
4 - 31:16 - 7:39
5 - 38:57 - 7:41
6 - 46:17 - 7:19
7 - 53:29 - 7:13
8 - 60:13 - 6:43
9 - 67:03 - 6:50
10 73:49 - 6:46
10.08 - 74:26 - 0:37

Ran the SEJ-5 mile loop, plus an extra mile - 6 miles in 44:29

Felt pretty good mostly, but my right hip and upper thigh is still pretty sore and has me somewhat worried about the marathon this weekend.
Splits:
1 - 7:41
2 - 7:25
3 - 7:20
4 - 7:27
5 - 7:26
6 - 7:11

7 miles with 2 at marathon pace - 51:05

Still feeling tighti n the right hip and upper thigh. The run was not very comfortable, and the pace felt more difficult than I wanted it to on the two mp splits, though they were a few seconds fast, too, and were mostly uphill.

Splits:
1 - 7:39
2 - 7:27
3 - 7:33
3.5 - 3:41
4.5 - 6:44.75
5.5 - 6:44
6.5 - 7:33
7 - 3:43

Easy run on the trails - 4 miles in 32:36

Feeling better today, less tightness and soreness in the hip and upper thigh. Lots of stretching and loosening exercises afterwards. Today was my last day of work before the marathon! Tomorrow I head to Richland and run on the course for the first time!

Last 6 miles of the TCMarathon course - 44:08

Felt great on the course. It is such a beautiful course, and very flat except for the bridge. No issues about getting lost. It is a paved trail along the river, then on the straight road the last mile before the bridge. I can't wait to try out the last 4 miles tomorrow and try out a mile over the bridge at mp.

Splits:
.74 - 5:39.9
22 - 7:21.4
23 - 7:28.6
24 - 7:26.7
25 - 7:17.7
26 - 7:18.3
.22 - 1:36.0

Pictures of the course here 

Last 4.4 miles of the TCM course, with the 3rd mile at marathon pace.

Felt pretty good again today. It was cold (low 40's), and took a couple miles to get warmed up, but the mp mile felt really good. It also happened to be over the hardest mile of the course, over the last bridge from mile 24 to 25. The uphill part will be tough tomorrow in the race, but once at the top it is a gradual downhill to the other side of the river for about 1/2 mile or so, then a fairly steep but short drop to get down off the bridge to the normal ground level. Looking forward to rocking this mile tomorrow! At the top of the hill my pace was slowed to 6:56 (goal of 6:50), but by the other side of the bridge I was down to 6:48, and dropped a few more seconds by the 25 mile mark.

.13 - 1:08.47
23 - 7:40
24 - 7:25
25 - 6:43.25
26 - 7:11
.23 - 1:33

Tri-Cities Marathon - 3:01:43 - PR by 10:02

Tri-Cities has a great marathon course, mostly run along the Columbia River, crossing over said river 4 times using three different bridges (Hwy 182, Blue Bridge and the Cable Bridge). The course is mostly flat, except for the bridges. Only the last bridge was significantly challenging.

Over the last 18 months I had run a great summer last year, but then developed an abdominal injury that cost me 6 months of running. I was able to resume regular running in March of this year, and began "training" in April, so it was about 7 months of preparation leading up to today's race. My goals for the race kept changing as my training and fitness progressed faster than expected. On race day my main goal was to break 3 hours (6:52/mile), but I would be satisfied to break 7:00/mile (about 3 hours 3 minutes).

The first two miles were great and it felt easy. However, by 3 miles I was already feeling some fatigue in my quads. Also, my right hip and upper thigh, which had been bothering me for weeks, were very tight and sore. I knew it was going to be a tough go today. Nevertheless, I kept pursuing the sub-3 hour goal. There was a group of 6 of us who were shooting for this goal, so we mostly ran together, although for much of the first half of the race I hung back behind the pack by about 10-20 seconds.

I brought salt tablets to take throughout the race, to prevent cramping. Unfortunately, when I took them out at 10 miles to take my 2nd one I discovered the bag they were in had a hole, and I lost several of them. The rest I put in my mini-pocket and they slowly dissolved the rest of the race. I was still able to take them every 2-4 miles the rest of the way.

From mile 11 to 15 I felt pretty good, and during that time I caught back up with the pack. When we crossed the Cable Bridge at mile 16 the pack broke up. The front 2 runners took off and left the rest of us behind. I stayed with the rest of the pack for another mile and then decided to brave the wind and pulled ahead of them. At this point the wind was pretty harsh, as we ran on a trail along the edge of the river for the next 4 1/2 miles. The wind was definitely a challenge, sometimes head-on, sometimes sideways or swirling. Around 19 miles it was like a pulse that would blast me sideways every few seconds, impossible to adjust for it. At 20.5 miles the trail pulled a little away from the river and the wind became much less of a factor.

I held on to sub-3 hour pace all the way through mile 22, catching and passing a couple more runners. Some spectators said I was in 4th, others said 5th. But then my body began to give out. At first, I didn't slow too much, but I couldn't go any faster. The moleskin on my left little toe had come off by this time and that poor little guy was getting a lot of abuse from my shoe, but it was hardly noticable compared to the pain all over the rest of my body. Interestingly, my right hip had stopped hurting by this time, but it didn't help. I struggled down the road to the 24 mile mark, about 30 seconds behind schedule. I tried to take another salt tablet at the 24 mile aid station, but it made me gag, so I spit it out. No salt or gatorade the rest of the race.

What really killed me was the uphill onto the last bridge. It's not very long, but as I ascended I got slower and slower until I almost had to stop to walk just before the top. I forced myself to keep running over the crest, and as I descended the other side I found I had no energy left. One of the guys from the sub-3 hour pack caught and passed me at this point. I didn't feel too bad about it, though. He had been hanging back to pace a friend and must've decided to run ahead. He ran a solid last 2 miles, but he missed the sub-3 goal by less than a minute.

The last mile I just trudged through it, and as I neared the 26th mile I noticed that I was seeing little dark pin-pricks on the outsides of my vision. I hung on as best as I could, and just tried to stay up and moving through the finish line. The last thing I wanted was to pass out right before the finish.

Despite all the struggles, I still came away with a sub-7 performance, PRing by more than 10 minutes, from 3:11:45 to 3:01:43. I finished about 5th or 6th overall. The post-race recovery was not as difficult as last time. I was nauseated and starting to cramp more, but I still wasn't able to swallow a salt tablet. But, I discovered I could suck on one, and whenever it got too salty I would just sip a bit of water. Once the salt was down, my nausea and cramping improved. One of the great aspects of this race is that it starts and finishes at the hotel, so I walked back to my room. Apple juice is my new friend. Quick carbs and a different flavor than gatorade means I could swallow it without gagging. Within a few minutes I was able to swallow another salt tablet, and then I did something I've never done after a marathon before - I layed down on the bed and was able to get back up a few minutes later!

While this report sounds mostly negative, it was still a very positive experience. I'm pleased I was able to hold to the planned pace for so long even though I never really felt very good. Also, the cramping during the race was minimal, just a few spasms in my left foot. The salt really helped! Although my last few miles weren't as good as I had hoped, I still didn't slow down too much, and I was able to pass other runners in the later miles. Plus, it was a beautiful course. I would definitely do this race again sometime.

Splits:
Mile - Time - Split (Avg. Pace)
01 - 0:06:49 - 6:49 (6:49)
03 - 0:20:34 - 13:45 (6:51)
04 - 0:27:23 - 6:49 (6:51)
05 - 0:34:12 - 6:49 (6:50)
06 - 0:41:07 - 6:55 (6:51)
07 - 0:48:02 - 6:55 (6:52)
08 - 0:54:54 - 6:52 (6:52)
09 - 1:01:51 - 6:57 (6:52)
10 - 1:08:45 - 6:54 (6:52)
11 - 1:15:42 - 6:57 (6:53)
12 - 1:22:24 - 6:42 (6:52)
13 - 1:29:12 - 6:48 (6:52)
14 - 1:35:59 - 6:47 (6:51)
15 - 1:42:48 - 6:49 (6:51)
17 - 1:56:34 - 13:46 (6:51)
18 - 2:03:30 - 6:56 (6:52)
19 - 2:10:24 - 6:54 (6:52)
20 - 2:17:19 - 6:55 (6:52)
21 - 2:24:11 - 6:52 (6:52)
22 - 2:30:58 - 6:47 (6:52)
23 - 2:38:01 - 7:04 (6:52)
24 - 2:45:11 - 7:10 (6:53)
25 - 2:52:43 - 7:32 (6:55)
26 - 3:00:04 - 7:21 (6:56)
26.22 - 3:01:43 - 1:39 (6:56) - not much of a kick