The Long Run

Today's run went pretty well for a 20 mile run. I was ready to start running just after 6:00. I was supposed to meet up with someone but he had said that if he's not there by 6:00 then start without him, so I did, which was good since he decided not to show up. This is understandable since there was some thunder but it seemed to be far enough away. Temp and humidity were not too bad, not ideal for running but certainly tolerable.

Started out at a pretty easy pace, 8:45 - 9:15 for the first few miles. My garmin was still on 0.25's for the splits. I decided to leave it that way for a while. The first few miles were not difficult. This is nice when that happens because those are oftentimes very difficult.

I stopped at the lake park for some water and powerade gel, then continued on towards the high school. Drank the accelerade I was carrying on my belt and refilled with water at the high school. At about mile 8 I was feeling pretty good. I did two loops through the neighborhood at the corner of east lake and keystone. There are a couple small hills in there, not too tough but a little bit of variety to break up the flat monotony. After this I was on my way back. I did a few miles at marathon pace.

I was running low on water so I looped through lake park on the way back, drank some water and refilled my bottles. After I left there, the Garmin said I had done 16.02, less then 4 miles left! Felt really good about that and did the next mile at marathon pace. I slowed down a little bit for the next mile as my average pace was right where I wanted it to be. But the next mile I felt it was getting harder to keep my pace, even my slower pace. I didn't want to slow down too much. Finally just one mile left to go. I wanted the run to be over at this point. I had to go 0.5 miles past where I was parked - which is tough psychologically when you have to loop past the "finish line" and then come back. I finished the last mile at 7:58. I might have been able to go faster - although it would have been very hard - but there was not much point to doing that.

Average pace was 8:13

I ran into a few of the other runners who were doing long runs and had some gatorade, grapes, and a soy joy bar. Legs felt kind of tight but not bad. Knees did not hurt during the run. I got home, stepped the wrong way and felt some pain in my right knee. Took a quick ice bath - although there wasn't that much ice. Then I got into the pool for a bit to loosen up. Iced the knee and took some advil, feels ok now.

Glycerin - 89.7 

Today's run started off slow and sluggish. I didn't mind because I had just run 20 miles the day before and was glad once again that I was ready to run after a long run with just one day off. I had planned on doing 12 miles this morning. Since today is a holiday I wasn't on a tight schedule, my only constraint was to start and finish before the sun was out in full force. Woke up at 6:25, fed the dogs, tried to get myself moving. I decided to just start running from my house.

Finally got moving at a bit after 7:00. First mile at about 9:30, second mile at 8:50. For the 6th mile I finally had a mile under 8:00. I was carrying my water belt, filled with accelerade which I drank now and then. After 6.5 miles I stopped at the Y to refill my water bottles, then continued on. The next mile was pretty good then I finally picked things up, finally no longer feeling sluggish. I did the next 4 miles at marathon pace. It felt about the same effort as the first few slow miles that I did. By the time I reached the entrance to my neighborhood I had already gone 12.5 miles. I thought about walking back, which I started to do, then I figured why not just run back slowly, it was getting hot and walking would have taken longer. So I ran slowly - faster than when I started but slower than the last 4 miles.

Average pace: 8:09

Asics gel - 335

Today was cross training day, which was good as I did not get a lot of sleep last night.  For some odd reason I woke up at 3:30 wide awake, fortunately got back to sleep, then my youngest son runs in the room at 5:30 saying he had to throw up, fortunately he did not.  At 6:00 the dogs told me they had to go out, it was the oldest dog who asked - I've found that if I ignore her request there is a good chance of an accident, so I let them out.  Got back in bed for another 20 minutes and then finally got up.

Went to the Y, did some time on the arc trainer and some time on the rowing machine, followed up with some lower body weights and ab work.  A fairly light day.

Planning on another 50 miles this week - possibly 51 or 52. 

Another "easy" 11 miles today. Ok, 11 miles isn't quite easy yet, although 9 is, but at least it is no longer hard!

Met up with Dixie at the 7-eleven near John Chestnut park and got moving at little bit after 6:00. Started out at a comfortable pace, didn't pick things up much until there very last mile which was at a 7:29 pace. Run felt good overall. Weather was decent, about 76° - each degree cooler really seems to help with the runs. Saw a family of deer in the lake park where I had seen them last Monday. We spent the second half of the run talking, at times arguing about some financial product he is going to sell. It certainly seemed to make the run go by faster.

Average pace: 8:29

Glycerin - 100.75

I woke up about 3:30, and half-dreaming I thought it was Friday today and that I had done my speed work already, then realized it was Thursday. Fortunately able to get back to sleep and up at 5:15 when the alarm went off.

Made it to the Y by 5:45, Dixie was already there. We warmed up with 2.5 easy miles then headed to the track. It was a new challenge for me today. I wanted to do 4 1600's at 6:28. My previous best was 3.

The first one felt hard, but it was doable and completed in 6:27

Second one felt better at 6:28. Third one was at 6:25.

At this point I told myself that I should be able to do the 4th one. The speed was not a problem and my endurance was up. Dixie decided to end on a high note and just do 3, since last time he had to slow down on the 3rd 1600, so completing all 3 on pace was good enough for him. But he did offer to do the last 800 on my last 1600 with me, so that sounded like a good deal to me. I completed the last one in 6:16. I felt like I could have done one more if I had to.

The Garmin kept on measuring short, it displayed one mile complete each time when we were about 50 feet or so I think from the finish. So I had to add on the seconds between the Garmin mile and the track's 1600 finish to get the above times. If I had been running just off of the Garmin I would have had really good times, with the last Garmin mile at 6:08. Well, I guess that is what the track is for.

Cooled down with an easy 2 miles or so to get in at least 10 miles for the morning.

Asics gel - 345

Easy run today.   Three miles around Kinsmere, no Garmin, but I did bring the watch.  Time was 26.06, so about 8:42 depending on whether it was more or less then 3 miles.

Warmed up inside on the arc trainer, before heading out.  Started out very slow and didn't go too  much faster.  Felt a bit stiff at the beginning of the run.  Much better at the end of the run.

After the run did about 20 minutes of upper body weights.

Another big run tomorrow although not quite as big as last weekend's big run. 

Today's run made me feel pretty good since I didn't feel like fading out at all at the end of the run. A good strong finish can be a great confidence booster.

I had some company for the beginning of the run. Joe, Keith, and Nelson were at Starkey park just before 6:30. Keith and Nelson were only going to do between 6 and 7. So, we all started out together at a nice and easy pace for the first three miles, between 9:00 and 9:20. Keith and Nelson said good bye and turned back.

It was a beautiful morning, about 74º with the sun just coming up over the trees. There was one near disaster on the way out, we almost ran into a huge spider web. I'm not sure how it was connected because it was in the middle of the path, centered about 5 feet above the ground and parallel to the direction of the path instead of straight across it. I would have missed it except for the large spider in the middle of the web, it's body was probably at least one inch in diameter, with it's legs making it even larger. I would have hated to have the web and spider wrapped around me. After that the other guys talked about who had seen rattle snakes on this trail and how one person had even seen a gator farther out. Fortunately, we didn't run into any of those today.

Joe and I continued on, to the end of the Starkey bike path and turned left onto the suncoast bike path for another 1.5 miles. Pace was picking up slightly.

Turned around at the 8 mile point. Pace continued to pick up gradually. Just after 10 miles, Joe said he wanted to slow down but insisted that I continue at my pace. So, I kept on going with my pace continue to pick up. It felt not hard at all. At this point I decided I'd try to hold marathon pace for the return trip, which I was able to do. The last mile was at 7:04. I felt like I could have gone farther but was glad that today's run was just 16.

Stopped back at my truck, grabbed a recovery shake then walked back towards the trail, just in time to catch up with Joe as he finished his run.

Average pace - 8:08 

This wraps up my highest mileage week so far. I've got one more big week next week, then start tapering off for Chicago. I can't believe how close it is now.

Glycerin - 116.81

Last night, Noah, my six year old son decided that he wanted to run.  He was very insistent.  How can anyone turn that down?

Later, I found out that his real motivation was that I had left out some sport jelly beans which I hadn't used.   He wanted those and figured that going on a run was one way to get them.  Well, whatever gets you motivated I suppose! 

So, this morning we did one loop around the neighborhood.  It was about 8:45 and the cool morning weather was starting to disappear.  We walked a couple hundred feet then I let Noah lead the way.  He kept a pretty consistent pace, had speed up to about an 8:50 pace at one point.  Had to stop and retie his shoes - I should have double knotted them.   At 1.2 miles he announced "Walk Break!" so we walked about 1 minute, then continued on back to the house.

After the run we both hopped into the pool to cool down. 

We averaged 12:11 pace. 

Good Monday morning run. Met up just after 6:00 with Dixie. Started out at a nice and easy pace for the first few miles. Weather was great. On the way back the pace had picked up by itself, with one mile at marathon pace, then the next mile started out that way but we slowed it down a bit. Finished last mile with 7:48.

Average pace: 8:16

 Asics gel - 355
 

I'm aiming for a mile or two more this week then last week, then I'll start backing it down.

Cross train/take it easy day.   Felt a bit wiped out this morning, maybe something that has been making its rounds through my family.  Not terrible though.  Thought about doing nothing, went to the Y did some walking on the treadmill with varying speeds and inclines for about 10 minutes, then 20 minutes on the rowing machine.  I definitely felt better afterwards than I did before so doing something proved to be the right choice.

Needed to head back so that Jenny could do her run before the kids had to go to school.

Going to try and take it easy today and get to bed early tonight. 

6:00 run starting at the Y with Dixie and Randall. Pretty good run with a slightly faster start than my usual slow 9:00+/mile starts but not too fast. Fairly consistent pace with a slight pick up at about 7 miles before we decided to back the pace back down because this was supposed to be an easy day.

Average pace: 8:14

Glycerin - 127.84

I barely listened to my ipod except for a little bit towards the end. Chicago marathon says absolutely no ipods or other devices this year, so I'm planning on going without music. The music got a bit annoying towards the end of my last marathon so I shouldn't miss it, plus there is supposed to be tremendous crowd support at Chicago.

I had dental appointment cloud hanging over my head for this morning's run. One of my teeth was chipped so that needed fixing. In the past week I chipped another tooth. The first one I attributed to bad luck but after the second one I'm suspicious of maybe too much sports drink, so I've been trying to rinse with plain water after drinking sports drink. Ok, both teeth are fixed now although the appointment turned more complicated and longer than I had anticipated.

Another good tempo run today. Dixie was going to do it with me but he called at 5:37 saying he could not make it because had been up late with clients. It would have been nice to run with someone else but it also meant I didn't have to rush to meet anyone. So, I took my time a little bit and didn't get out the door until 6:00 instead of 5:45.

I got to the Y, warmed up inside a little bit on the arc trainer for 6 minutes, then stretched a little bit and headed outside. Today's goal was 7 miles of tempo at 7:01 ~ 7:07 range, with a total of 10 miles including warm-up/cool down. Ran about 1.75 miles at a 9:30 pace or so, then dropped off my bottle of acclerade and took a power bar gel. I was trying to follow the steps of another successful tempo run I had recently.

I took off and wanted to get into a pace that felt like tempo as soon as possible, it was a little faster than 7:00 but it seemed to feel ok so I thought I would stick with it. As I knocked off the miles I still had to keep bargaining with myself - e.g. ok, mile 4, this is the minimum, mile 5 - try and get this one because I slowed down here last time, mile 6 - ok getting close, mile 7 - countdown to finish. I got 6:55, 6:49, 6:53, 6:51, 6:40, 6:54, 6:40.

I think between now and the marathon I'm going to focus on finishing my remaining runs, slow down and take it easier as the "getting close to the race something might happen to me paranoia" is starting to set in.

The pace for this run when projected to a 5K beats my 5K PR. I know those mileage predictor charts don't apply equally to everyone but hopefully there is some correlation. There are lots of things that can happen on marathon day so I'm going to hope for the best conditions I could hope for and go out and do my best.

Average pace - 7:37

Asics gel - 365 

Mainly a cross training and weights day.  I did some time on the arc trainer and rowing machine.  Then I did 2 miles at an easy pace on the treadmill, followed by about 20 minutes of upper body weights.

Getting prepared for a nice and easy 20 mile run tomorrow, the last big long run before the marathon. 

Last big run before the marathon. Next weekend runs are 12, 8, and then marathon.

When woke up this morning and let the dogs outside I found that the heat and humidity had come back. It wasn't completely miserable but not as nice as it has been recently. Starting conditions were 79° and about 90% humidity.

I met up with Dixie and Joe at the Suncoast pkwy trail at 6:00. Joe was going to run about 15 or 16 and Dixie had signed up for the full 20 miles. We started out at an easy pace, 9:30 for first mile and then 8:40-8:50 for the next few. It was still dark for a while which was nice except for a good number of bikes on the trail zipping by. We turned off the suncoast trail and made a left into the Starkey park trail. After 7 miles Joe turned back. Dixie and I continued on until we had done 10 miles then started back. We still had the pace nice and easy with nothing really faster than 8:15. We stopped a few times to keep our water bottles filled and take some gels, so some of the miles were slower.

When we got back to the Suncoast trail, I had to take a left to retrace the route and get the full 20, about .35 miles up before heading south. Dixie was starting to fade so he took a right. With his head start it took me a while to catch him. I found out that although he was fading, there was a big guy that Dixie wanted to stay ahead of. I eventually caught up. We ran along side for a short time. With one mile left to go, my "reward" for not going fast (it was an 8:36 average pace). I wanted to see if I could do the last mile at marathon pace. So, I picked up and got into a pace, I looked at the Garmin and it said 7:06, so I figured I would hold onto that if I could do so without an all out effort. I pretty much did that, finishing the last mile at 7:08. Total distance was 20.12 at this point.

I drank some water, then walked back on the trail until I met up with Dixie then jogged the last 0.2 miles in with him.

The temp at the end was 86° but the humidity had dropped to 78%. Not ideal but a little better than miserable.

The run felt pretty good overall. I did end up with a blister but I don't think it should bother me too much. I didn't feel completely spent at the end. Part of my brain said no way could you do that ending pace for another 6.2 miles let alone an entire marathon. Another part of my brain said otherwise.

Glycerin - 148

I ran alone this morning. The humidity was way up but fortunately the temp wasn't terrible. Our new bed arrived yesterday. I was warned it might take some time to get used to - I did not sleep too well. I ate out at a Mexican restaurant - I didn't stuff myself but it's not ideal food before a run.

So, the run did not start out too well. I started out slowly with about a 9:30 for the first mile. Things usually start picking up after that but they did not pick up too much, just under a 9:00 pace for the next few miles. This was not good but I have learned not to panic in this situation - just keep moving, don't force the pace, just wait for it. It's supposed to be an easy day. Eventually I shook it all off and finally picked up for the sixth mile, seventh mile was 7:28, then I backed off slightly and kept it a bit under 8:00 (about 7:45~7:50) for the rest of the run.

On an interesting note, my pickup coincided with turning off my music.  At about 5 miles my right ear piece had become so sweaty it stopped working and I was having trouble keeping it from falling out.  So, I took the headphones off and practiced doing "association" while running.  Sometimes music can keep me motivated, but if it becomes a nuisance then it's better to just switch it off. 

Average pace: 8:23

Asics gel - 375

Non-running day today.   Did the arc trainer and rowing machine.  Stretched.   Did some lower body weights and ab work.  Nothing too heavy or hard.  I feel like I worked out some kinks and loosened up.   Ready for a good run tomorrow.

The weather was a bit nicer this morning. A few degrees cooler, a very slight breeze. Met up with Dixie, got moving a little bit after 6:00. Taking it easy as usual for the first mile, gradually getting faster for the next two miles after that. Took some time to feel fully warmed up. Stopped at the lake park at 3.4 miles, drank some accelerade then got moving again. Now, the legs felt warmed up and much lighter. Pace increased some more but not too much. The easy pace felt easy now.

Last 1.5 miles at about 7:45/mile pace. Felt very good.

Average pace: 8:14

When I race a 5K I usually run slow for two miles or so before the race to get warmed up. But I'm worried about warming up too much before a marathon, burning off too much glycogen before the race has started. I'll have to figure something out so I can start the run with my legs feeling awake and ready to run.

Glycerin - 157 

I woke up this morning just before the alarm was supposed to go off. I went over to the Y and talked to some people I know. Karen had just gone to Chicago for a 20 mile training run as part of a program by New Balance - the pace group sponsors. She said the weather was great, nice and cool in the low 50's.

This morning it was 73° which felt "chilly", it was slightly humid but overall very nice. I warmed up with two easy miles then headed to the track. I did 4 1600's with 800m recovery jogs between them. No Dixie today to follow behind. I knew what to expect, that the first one would not be easy and I'd think "how can I do three more of these". I got past all that and did each one pretty consistently. It wasn't easy but it was not as hard as last time. I did 6:25, 6:26, 6:25, and 6:24.

After that I did a bit over 2 miles for the cool down and so I'd have 10 miles for the day.

Felt really good when I was done.

Asics gel - 385

Easy day today.  Warmed up on the arc trainer, then did some light stretching.  Did an abbreviated full body weight routine.

I then headed outside for a run.  The temp was nice, it was warmer than yesterday, a part of me at some point might miss the hot weather, some morning maybe when I go out and it's in the low 40's.

 No garmin on my run, just went out at what felt good.  Easy pace was easy, ran for 28:56.  Later mapped the run and it turned out to be pretty much 3.5 miles on the nose, which meant an 8:16 pace.

I'm going to do my Saturday run on Sunday since we have to leave early to get to the zoo for Jenny's 5K Zoo Run Run
 

Starting on Thu. night I felt like I was coming down with something, felt a little bit better on Friday morning, and a little bit worse on Saturday morning.  Sat. morning was Jenny's 5k race at the zoo.  She did great with a new PR of 26:28.  The first mile was outside of the zoo, the next mile went through the zoo past all of the outside animal exhibits and also through the indoor portion of the manatee exhibit.  Lots of sharp turns and up and downs.  After we got home I felt wiped out and run down so I took it easy most of the rest of the day.

I let myself sleep in a little bit later today as I was not meeting up with anyone.  The weather hasn't been too bad so I wasn't worried about beating the heat.  I arrived at Starkey park about 7:15, it had just started getting light out.   I started out the first mile taking it easy with a 9:14 pace, it felt pretty good.  Sometimes the first mile of the day can be difficult even at a slower pace.  The next mile I thought I was going faster, it felt good, but then I looked at my pace and saw I was going slower, about a 10:15 pace halfway through the mile.  I kept it easy but went a little faster with a 9:34 for the second mile.  After that I felt looser and lighter and settled into an 8:30ish pace.

At 7 miles my pace had picked up so I figured I would try out my legs with a mini tempo run.  I held the pace pretty well and averaged a 7:17 pace for the last 5 miles.  Went slow for the next 0.25 miles to get to the trail turn off to the parking lot which I walked.

Average for the run was 8:08 pace.

When I got home, Jenny had already run with the boys around the 1.7 mile neighborhood loop so I didn't do the kid run today.

I still felt a bit sluggish this morning when I woke up, but I got moving, warmed up and started my run.  Once I got going it was not too bad and I even picked up a little bit for the last two miles but nothing too fast.  The weather was warm (but not hot) and humid this morning.  Actually not bad weather to run through when one is not feeling so well.

Average pace: 8:17/mile 

Fortunately I don't have a demanding running schedule this week so I can get fully recovered rested and feeling on top of my game for the marathon. 

Today was a rest day.   I did not go to the Y to cross train.  I did take Sammy (my dog) on a walk around the 1.7 mile neighborhood loop.  It was a great morning for a dog walk.

For breakfast I made a bowl of cream of buckwheat cereal.  It was pretty good.  I had been looking for buckwheat in the stores but could not find much.    My wife had grown tired of me talking about buckwheat all of the time - about how Sasha eats buckwheat and is very fast.  So, when she was near a health food store she bought cream of buckwheat cereal, buckwheat maple cereal, and some buckwheat groats.  We haven't tried the groats yet but hope to soon. 

I didn't sleep great last night.  My lower back was hurting.  For some unknown reason on Monday I had spent too much time slouching in my chair at work, I think I was concentrating on something too intently, until finally I had realized I was slouching and straightened up.  I should be able to get rid of it soon. 

Ran around my neighborhood for the first time in a while.  I did this for several reasons.  One of the reasons was for some drinking practice.  I set out some cups of endurance formula gatorade on the tail gate of my truck.  

I grabbed a cup after the first loop (1.7 miles), then another cup on the next loop.  It went pretty well, I was able to drink it all without spilling any or breaking my pace.   After the second loop I added on some side streets and a smaller loop off to the side so I wouldn't have to do 4 of the same loop.  For the sixth mile my slowness had worn off and the pace picked up almost by itself.  I backed it down a little bit for the last mile, although it was faster than the first 5 miles.

Average pace: 8:11 

I didn't try to get up extra early in hopes of meeting up with some of the 5:30 guys, instead I slept in to 5:55.  Headed over to the Y and did some warm up on the arc trainer of about 12 minutes.  Always make starting out on the run so much easier and I wanted this to be an enjoyable run today.

Started my run with a usual starting up, not in a hurry to get anyplace pace.  Second mile was faster but still easy.  So, it didn't take too long this morning before the slow feeling wore off. 4th mile was just under 8:00 pace, then 5th, 6th, and 7th felt like what I want to run for the marathon, a bit slower than the comfortably hard pace of a tempo run but faster than "easy" training race pace.

Added a little bit at the end for a cool down, then went back inside for some more cool down.

Average pace: 7:53 

I think my back problems are mostly cleared up now.   Still a few remnants left from my bout of run down-ed-ness which started last Thursday night.  

Walked Sammy around the neighborhood loop.

Then did an easy 2.5 run around neighborhood, running the 1.7 mile loop plus an extension out to Trinity blvd. and back.

Left the Garmin at home, just took a watch and had mapped out the route before hand.

Average pace: 8:16

Felt better at the end than at the beginning.

Biked with the kids to school so that Jenny could get her run in.

Unfortunately her run did not go so well - hit by a bad side stitch.  Anyone have ideas on how to prevent side stitches?  She's tried pretty much all of the "published" remedies.

Easy pace, not very far run today.  Met up with Joe in John Chestnut park at 7:00.  Ran at an easy pace for pretty much the entire run.  It was a nice morning for running.  Spent some time socializing and talking about Chicago marathon with some of the other runners that are going to be doing it.

Average pace: 8:40