Doing What I Can

6 painful miles in 45:35, 7:36 pace. my legs are thrashed, i was plannin on a 5k tomorrow but after the highest mileage week of my life i prolly wont now, i need a day off.

Been wanting to run this race in years past and finally got a chance today. However, i have never toed the line feeling more dead and sore than i did today because today was right after a 60 mile week, my first ever at that mileage. Thus, my legs were tired, but i wanted to run nonetheless so tired legs aside i figured itd be good speedwork as long as i didnt aggravate any of my sore spots into worse injuries. Got out easy and was surprised at the first split-- 5:40, was thinking id be around 5:25-5:30, but just had no pop in the legs. next split was 5:58, final was 5:53, with a :29 second sprint kick to come in just above 18 minutes and 5:49 pace. Overall, i was actually very happy with how this one turned out. given how i felt yesterday and before the race, i figured id be lucky to get through it uninjured, but i managed a decent pace and even had a nice kick uphill at the end. Not my best 5k by any means, but i knew that it wouldnt be going in and im okay with that. My goal race is in 2 weeks and that is where all the mileage will pay off. In other news, they gave cash payouts to the top 3 and my 18:01 was good enough to net me 20 bux cash! Not much, but pretty much broke even on the race entry! also side note, weather was amazing! 

after a much needed day off, i got back at it today, 8 in 57:xx..something. felt very tired, prolly from the caffeine addiction that i am no longer partaking in. stopping caffeine for the 2 weeks before the half mary is tough but its a good idea in the long run.

Felt a little better today, my muscles are finally relaxing from the lack of caffeine and my body is adjusting. very warm already this morning, splits:

1- 7:11.0

2- 6:58.8

3- 6:58.5

4- 7:05.5

5- 6:58.4

6- 7:14.8 uphill

TOTAL-- 42:26, 7:04 avg pace

14 miler tonight, felt okay, not super great though which came as a surprise. tried to go 6 miles relatively easy then drop it into GHMP (6:00-6:10) but had big time trouble maintaining that pace late. a little concerned, but not too much, it happens sometimes. Weather was actually a lil warm, never thought id go shirtless on an evening run in iowa in october. 80 degrees at the start of this one, 78 at finish, after sunset. splits:

1- 6:39.9

2- 6:54.1

3- 7:02.2

4- 7:08.9

5- 7:16.2 (uphill)

6- 6:34.3 downhill

7- 6:01.7

8- 6:11.7

9- 6:19.5

10- 6:27.4

11- 7:04.8

12- 6:54.9

13- 7:22.4

14- 7:51.8 (uphill)

total-- 1:35:50, 6:51 avg pace

7.5 after work tonight, hit the first 2 in 6:50 and 6:51 respectively, the rest were consistently slower as i consciously slowed my pace. Total time was 53:42, 7:10 avg pace, anchored by a 7:44 uphill final mile that was rough. Still very warm out for this late in the year.

5 today in 37:33, 7:30.6 avg pace. didnt feel real great, but was tired from just having woke up and ran. ice bath after.

squandered a great opportunity today. weather conditions were perfect, course wasnt too bad (cept for the last mile was crazy hilly), good competition to run with..but all those advantages were lost to GI issues, i couldn't push it late in the race cuz my stomach was cramping and i was having major issues there. not really sure why this came to be, but it definitely cost me a good race. you can see it in my splits: 5:29, 5:40 (11:10, 5:35 pace at 2 mile) then hit 6:11 on an uphill and stomach issue laden 3rd mile, closed .1 in 35. I know im still coming off a pretty good week (for me) mileage wise, so i wasnt expecting to fly, but i know i gave one away today and could have run much faster if not for the problems i experienced. o well, thats running i guess.

In other news..taper time for the des moines half marathon a week from today.

easy 6 in the am fog this morning, felt pretty decent as i begin the taper week. total time was 42:39, 7:06.5 avg pace with a 6:57 2nd mile (hence the gmp).

rainy 6 tonight as i  made one of the biggest decisions of my running life...im still sorting it out, i have decided to up my registration to the full marathon this weekend. i am not specifically trained for the full, but i think that it is a now or never type deal, and i have put up more weekly mileage than at any point ever before. Thus, my goal is to finish..period. i want to do a marathon..period. once i do a marathon, i will have crossed it off my list, and maybe the 1:20 half wont seem as daunting. My half-marathon specific workouts have been lackluster as of late...not that a 1:20 was going to be impossible..its just one of those things that i feel like the full is the right decision. I'll be hurting afterwards, but i wanna get it out of the way and call myself a marathoner. Tonight's 6 felt easy and smooth, 6:59, 6:46, 6:48, 6:50, 6:54, 7:20 hill, total...41:39, 6:56.5 avg pace.

Although i have no specific time goal for the marathon this weekend, i want to go out about 7:00-7:10 for the first couple of miles and shoot for 1:30 in the half. Very slow and very methodical and easy. Now to find the right shoes...

purchased a new pair of shoes today, they will be my marathon shoes, Asics DS trainers, i like how they are light but still have a lot of cushion, plus they have the fit of asics, a shoe that i have always found comfortable. Not only will I use them for the marathon but i will definitely log some miles in them after. 

Got out for 4.5 tonight, 6:47, 6:52, 6:59, 7:15 hill, 3:31 half mile, total 31:26, 6:59 pace. Felt very easy, i coulda busted a big one tonight but i guess that is what tapering is for. I feel so out of sorts but its just cuz ive cut back so much. The new shoes felt great and i just felt really comfortable running tonight.

3 miles before sunrise this morning, 23:26, 7:49 pace

pre marathon 2, systems check, all was in working order.

My 1st marathon!! Here is the official race report.

Pre-Race

I made sure to taper all week and i also made sure to monitor what i was eating in the last few days before the race.given the GI issues of late, i made sure to monitor this part. 2 days out it was all wheat spaghetti all day as i carb-loaded, 1 day out it was white rice for lunch and white bread sandwich and just lean turkey for dinner. race day morning i woke up at 4:45 and had 2 pieces of no fructose white italian bread.

Got downtown about 6:50 and found a parking garage to park in. It was pretty neat cuz the sky was just lightening and yet the city was so alive with all the people moving around. Went and used the restroom, repeated this once and also went for about a .5 mile run to stretch my legs. Did some static stretching then went to the line to get ready for the race. Didn't do another bathroom break, so my last one was about 45 minutes before the race, it worked out that that was a good move. weather was near perfect, high 40s and low 50s for much of the race, light winds and no rain, but not abundant sunshine either, very good running weather.

the Race:

started off super easy. I wanted to be up near the front so my gun time matched my chip time, but i didnt wanna take off like i usually do, so i got out and moved way over on the road while i settled in a pace that felt very pedestrian but it was a pace i knew i had to maintain. Here were my splits on the tremendously easy feeling 1st half:

1- 7:04.2

2- 6:46.4

3- 6:56.5

4- 7:12.0 (27:59, right on 7 pace)

5- 6:57.1

6- 7:01.9

7- 6:55.0

8- 7:16.7 (56:09, 7:01 pace through the first 8 miles which included nearly all of the course's major hills)

9- 6:55.2

10 & 11- missed the mile marker cuz i was getting water from the aid station, 13:39, 6:50 avg pace

12- 6:48.9

13- 7:04.8

half-marathon- 13.1-- 1:31:26, 6:59 pace, felt very easy and relaxed

14- 7:06

15- 7:06

16- 7:08 (1:52:01, 7:00 pace)

this is where things started to go south

17- 8:10 (had to stop to adjust my shoes as all of a sudden they felt way to tight and my feet were on fire cuz it felt like my circulation was getting cut off)

18- 8:54, walk breaks have occured

19- 8:06, last mile where i deemed it reasonable to keep splits

last 7.2- 1:08:06, 9:27 mile pace, these miles included many walk breaks as my feet were killing me (probably the new shoes) and my legs were just dead

I DONT THINK THE EARLY PACE IS WHAT KILLED ME, instead it was the lack of training mileage. My longest run ever was 17 miles going into this race and on this training cycle i only hit 14. thus, it is no surprise i blew up at 17. That being said, the last 9 miles were a struggle and finishing took a lot of will power as it would have been a lot easier to stop, but i knew i had to push through. Took my final walk break just before turning onto the home stretch (about .4 on 3rd ave) i ran it in and crossed in 3:25:05. Not the best time in the world especially given my walk breaks, but it made me a marathoner. When i crossed that line, my life changed because i had done something that not many other people have done and i was proud of the accomplishment.

POST RACE:

I ate everything in sight. Right after the race i was incredibly hungry and so i chowed on pulled pork, a banana, pizza, and chocolate milk. Even as i write this report today, i am still hungry. I am also incredibly sore. my body feels like it has been put through the ringer and walking is a chore. hopefully some more rest will help that.

Some closing thoughts:

1. super happy to have finished my 1st marathon

2. too bad a  marathon has to be two halfs..first half was perfectly paced 1:31:24, just at 6:59 pace, 2nd half was 1:55 with several necessary walk breaks

3. i was undertrained, and i knew that going in, so i was not at all surprised that the wall kicked my butt

4. that being said, i was very proud of myself to muscle through the last 10k, that was the hardest 6.2 miles ive ever experienced, but i dug deep, got tough and finished!!

5. I think i utilized good race strategy, i drank something at almost every aid station, mostly water, only a few gatorades, i gu'ed twice, once between 9 and 10 and once at about 18, i avoided stomach problems and it was only leg issues that cost me running the whole thing

6. did i mention i was super happy to have finished my 1st?

after being completely out of commission yesterday, i was still quite sore today, but after work tonight i decided to get out to see if i could still run, and after 3 easy miles, im happy to report that aside from some tender areas, my legs still work. 7:33, 7:22, 7:09, 3 miles in 22:06, 7:22 pace.

colder today, a hint of whats to come unfortunately, 40 degrees, wc around 32. 5 miles easy in 37:49, 7:34 pace. pretty sore still and probably pushed it a little far today. may just do some swimming tomorrow as i am still on the mend from the marathon and dont wanna get hurt coming back from that

i have a lot of drive and motivation right now, but unfortunately my body needs time to heal and rest. kind of an interesting problem to have

legs were quite tired after yesterday so i didnt want to push it with another run. after work went over to the urbandale pool and swam some laps, very nice zero impact cardio workout. probably did 1000-1200 meters all told. felt good to get some cross training in.

felt decent tonight after work. 5 miles in the nice 60 degree late fall weather. beautiful little run. legs are still tight from the marathon, so i will probably forgo the race for the cure 5k, a race i have done 3 years running. just too much of a risk of injury, instead tomorrow i will prolly do an even paced 7 miles, then sunday a slower 10. today's 5 were split like this:

1- 6:56

2- 6:47

3- 6:51 

4- 6:29

5- 6:52    uphill mile usually a 7:15pace, feeling strong today

total-- 33:56, 6:47 pace

ouch, 6 in 43:14, 7:12 pace, then struggled the last mile and only ran about .5 of it to get home.

back at it today, felt very good. start of my run the sun was setting, by the end of it, it had turned super dark...getting near winter..cant believe how fast it got dark on me, the woods kinda got spooky! splits:

1- 6:56.8

2- 6:46.7

3- 6:56.3

4- 6:59.7

5- 6:51.2

6- 6:59.5

TOTAL-- 41:30, 6:55 pace

really moved today, havent hit mile splits like today's in quite a while. Got out easy and decided I was going to throw down a hard mile ever other mile, i did this workout once before and hit pretty good splits, but today's were better. here were my real time splits as i ran continously:

1- 6:42.1

2- 5:18.3 (flat mile)

3- 6:44.4

4- 5:26.1 (flat mile with last 300-400 meters uphill) good finish

5- 7:35.7 huge uphill

6- 5:10.1 (huge downhill, just let it roll)

ran the rest with a bathroom stop after mile 7, averaged about 7:06s, last mile felt GI issues big time so i only ran about 3/4 of it.

overall, very nice speedwork, im happy with the consistency and the ease that i felt while carrying that pace.

had a nice evening run tonight after work, sun really went down fast as i started in daylight and ended in the dark. 8 miles easy paced, pretty sore, but i pushed through. splits:

1- 6:59.5

2- 6:57.9

3- 7:06.7

4- 7:09.3 (28:13, 7:03 pace)

5- 7:05.0

6- 7:04.9

7- 7:02.6

8- 7:06.5 uphill

TOTAL-- 56:32, 7:04 avg pace, ran 28:19 (7:05 pace) 2nd 4 miles, for just a 6 second positive split, really got in the zone tonight and kept a steady, comfortable rhythm regardless of if i was going up or downhill, i love runs like that

kind of a weird nighttime run after a work trip to omaha. got out fast but fell apart quick, body just gave up on me. 6:35, 6:17, 6:24, 6:32, for the first 4, then just jogged home. not a great workout.

4 in 30:05, 7:31 pace

got out for a morning 10, a little crisp, but no wind made for a beautiful fall morning. 30 degrees at start, warming to 38 by the finish. thought about doing 12, but my IT band was very tight late in the run and it was becoming painful, so given that im within only 2 weeks of finishing my first marathon, i thought it wise to pull it in after 10. overall tho, not too bad of workout especially considering it was within an hour of waking up and i had morning legs. splits:

1- 7:12.5

2- 7:03.0

3- 7:07.7

4- 7:15.0

5- 7:30.6 uphill

6- 6:33.3 downhill

7- 7:15.8

8- 7:10.7

9- 7:09.9

10- 7:23.8 uphill

total-- 1:11:42, 7:10 avg pace

nice run tonight after work, saw a lot of trick or treaters out there. it was a great night for running, high 40s to low 50s. splits:

1- 6:56.1

2- 7:01.8

3- 7:02.2

4- 6:45.3

5 & 6- 13:49- 6:55 avg

7- 6:47.6

.3- 1:52

TOTAL-- 50:14, 6:53 pace

absoultely great workout tonight! ive never had a workout of this caliber, but i always knew i was capable of it. got out easy and then just opened it up and hit a great tempo run. ran the first 6 miles continuous then stopped to catch my breath before finishing the last 3 miles as a cooldown. splits:

1- 6:46.7

2- 6:08.8

3- 5:54.1

4- 5:44.7

5- 5:41.0

6-5:53.5 (36:08 through 6 miles, 6:01 pace INCLUDING a 6:46 slow 1st mile)

some observations: i ran the 8k from 2-6 in 29:20, 5:52 pace, i ran the 4 miles from 3-6 in 23:12, 5:48 pace, ran the last 3 miles in 17:19, 5:46 pace, overall, very happy with the workout and the comfort at 5:40 pace, definitely a great tempo today

ran the final 3 miles slowly (at about 7:15-7:30 pace) for a recovery and 9 total, then ice bath