It's all relative

AM: 10 slow miles on the Causeway to Honeymoon Island with the sunrise.  Beautiful, and wish I took a picture.  Very humid and windy, but it was nice.

PM: 4 miles watching the replay of the NY Marathon on the treadmill TV.  Cool finish for the guys race, and that Japanese guy is just unreal.  Also, did the gym- biceps, back, lats, traps

PM: Late run in East Lake after some pretty crappy news that confirmed a lot of suspicions.  Fortunately I kept it nice and slow, but I just needed to run today.  

I could do without this hot/humid weather that should be gone by now although...

PM: Track in St. Pete.  Originally I wasn't planning on making the trek since I had just raced and have a marathon coming up, but I'm happy I did since I had a lot on my mind and running usually helps.  I had planned to drive down with Tyler and Cory, but each bailed at different times which was tough, but I just drove anyway.

Fun track group today and everyone was in good spirits.  I don't think anyone really wanted to commit to running the planned 800s, so they let me try my silly run game with them and split the workout into two pieces.

4 x 800 with 200 recover in between.  Paces ranged from 2:30-2:33.

Then we went on the trail for a 2-minute, 3-minute, 4-minute, 3-minute, 2-minute workout with the bridge in our way and recoveries ranging from 1-2 minutes.  It was a fun way to game-plan and "race" the times as opposed to just focusing on pacing.  Was about 2.4 miles of speed and did some sprinting in there at points too which was fun.

I will incorporate negative points next time for the out for the last place person I think, and likely for the way back too, just to keep it more honest.

PM: 2 Miles on the Treadmill, then gym: tris, chest, shoulders, followed by 5  1/2 of the slowest miles I've probably ever run outside in some wonderful humidity and with some friendly bugs attaching themselves to my face and various body parts.  Some of the nicer ones even flew into my nose, eyes, and month.

<3 bugs. 

PM: Run in Safety Harbor with Tyler then track with the team.

PM: Slow run on East Lake.

AM: 5 mile run at Eckerd College.

PM: 8 miles at treasure island.

AM: Demen's Landing in St. Pete with Anthony, Drew, Sean, and Lee for my last (and first in over a month and a half) long run. First 10 miles were 7:15 or so. At mile 10 we threw in a 5-mile marathon pace tempo that ranged from 6:05-6:15 paces. I haven't practiced that pace at all let alone at 10 miles into a run, so it felt pretty terrible. Last 5 miles after that were slower, but not really as awful as I thought they'd be.

Drew really helped my confidence today entering the end of this "marathon training," so I appreciated the boost- I sincerely needed it.

PM (late): Dark outside, misty, but it made for a good run.  Sometimes at night, you feel like you're almost gliding over the ground and don't register the footfalls at all.  Tonight was one of those nights.

PM: Tempo run with Cory and Tyler.  2-mile warmup followed by 5 miles at 6:10-6:15 pace.  I did not expect to feel very good after having done a tempo in my long run two days ago, so I expected it to feel pretty uncomfortable.  Fortunately my breathing was fine and it wasn't really a struggle at all.  Tyler hung for about 2 miles, but Cory hung the entire 5 miles and even took off during the last mile a bit.  I wanted to push since I'm competitive and it's fun, but I'm happy I didn't.  

Splits for the tempo: 6:07, 6:10, 6:08, 6:09, 6:10

A big goose egg.

Busy at work until 8:00pm.  Not happy.

PM: Played kickball with my co-workers tonight, then went out for a night run.  Very warm tonight and knees hurt from kickball (running around the bases).  Made me feel nice and old.

AM: 5 slow miles.  So.  Hot.  Out.

PM: 3ish miles with some striders in PH

Race report Shipyard Half Marathon.

The weather was favorable, in the low 70s, breezy, and lower humidity. The course itself was short- 13 miles at most- and although I expected the bridges to be tough at mile 2 and 9, they didn't seem bad at the slower pace. The course was also a double loop, which can get annoying when having to weave.

As for the actual race, today was tough in that I didn't perform at my best intentionally. After talking with Drew and getting his advice, I went into it intending to just stick to my marathon pace or 6:09 (dream time) since my marathon is close and I want to stay fresh, however when a friend of mine, Sean, showed up randomly and went out fast, it was tough to see him go and to know I could be there next to him. After 6 miles of battling my desire to speed up, I was about 2 minutes back and just resigned myself to stick to general marathon pace.

The moment I made that decision to relax and run the pace, everything was incredibly fun! As much as I relish competition, running a half at marathon pace in a race was one of the most pleasurable things I could have ever imagined. I felt like a million bucks the entire run. I was high-fiving teammates, cheering other runners on, not worrying about tangents, goofily weaving through people who I had come upon in lap two, and running on the grass without even being annoyed that they were five across and taking up the entire course- and we all know how that can be. By the time mile 13 hit, I was sincerely sad to realize that the run (race?) was over, and was all smiles for my friends watching me run in. It was tough to hear everyone in my group wonder why I didn't have a faster time after the race, but I got over it quickly. I believe that it truly does allot me the best opportunity to be successful for my marathon in two weeks.

Even if the marathon doesn't go according to plan in two weeks and I just don't have it that day, I know now that I'm capable of a good marathon eventually. That's truly a cool feeling.

Splits: (goal was 6:09 overall pace): 6:06, 6:18, 5:59, 6:08, 6:01, 6:03, 6:00, 6:03, 6:17, 6:00, 5:53, 6:08, 5:56, no last 0.109 (short course).

6:05 overall pace. A little quick, but that's okay I think.

PM: Slow jog  then into the gym: shoulders, chest, tris- all free weights and new angles this time and finally brough back dips.  It was time to switch it up.  

No running.  Semi-planned... I would have rather have had my off day on Thursday, but I guess it happens.

PM: some miles in John chestnut.

PM: A couple of miles running in the rain, then gym for back, delts, traps, biceps, lats.  Last gym day until after the marathon, which stinks.

PM (late): 5 miles in Lansbrook.  

AM: 10 miles in John Chestnut and the area, felt incredibly sore and slow.  Ridiculously, I perked up real nice when I saw a cute blonde run by though despite that... my immaturity baffles me sometimes.

PM: cold run on rails to trails in Connecticut. Forgot that the cold air makes my throat burn.

PM: late, cold recovery run.

AM: holy cold, batman! Final prep before marathon. Three miles at MP sandwiched in between warmup and cool down.

Weather forecast for Sunday morning in Cocoa looks to be mid 70s, humid, and higher dew point particularly since it is completely next to the water. Not exciting, as I hoped the better weather would stick around all week down there. I may have to amend my goals knowing my performances when the weather is warmer. it's going to be a battle.

Planned day off

AM: easy run with six striders.

3 days to go.

Weather for Cocoa, Florida on Sunday looks... Relatively bad for marathon running. Mostly sunny, 70-78 degrees, 10-20mph winds (seriously? what the hell?), 70-75% humidity, and dew point around 65. Guess I'll be chaffing...

Current goals without taking weather conditions into account at all.

A+) 2:40:00

A) sub 2:42:00

B) sub 2:45:00

C) sub 2:50:00

F) above 2:56:44

Minor goals: to hurdle some half-marathon walkers on the way back as opposed to weaving around (ideally while they are tying their shoes), to not bleed from the nipples (or at least bleed out), to not cramp (hilarious dream), to high five at least 10 people along the way, to attempt to high 5 Joe Burgasser and get snubbed, to attempt to high 5 him a second time and get snubbed again but this time casually pass my hand through my hair as if it was planned, and lastly to fashion a pancake sandwich after the race and eat it while drinking a beer.

A boy can dream.

Planned off day

AM: easy run with some pickups. Mentally went through my race.

Race Report- The Space Coast Marathon, Cocoa, Florida

Conditions: 80 degrees, sunny, cloudless, windy (10-15 mph), humid, and dewpoint around 70. 

Race prep: Mostly did half-marathon specific stuff, but got a pair of 17 mile runs and a 20 mile run in in the weeks leading up to it with a full taper minus a marathon-paced 13.1 about two weeks before (6:05 average). 

The race: So this was my second ever marathon, so my expectations were all over the place.  The race started off with me following the lead group in 5^th overall by the first half mile.  I was hoping to run at about a 6:05 pace, and started off running quite well, as I just wanted to ease into that pace.  By mile 4, I had run a 6:10, 6:07, 6:05, and had moved into a group of 3 runners way behind the lead runner (and eventual winner).  We sat together for a bit talking and just enjoying everything.   One of the runners (Marc Burget) had mentioned he had been injured after Boston so he was taking it easy this race and he said he was shooting for a 2:40-2:42, so I figured he’d be a good one to pace with as he’s done that before.  He is normally a low 2:30s marathoner, so I felt I could trust his pacing.  This was also nice as talking passed the time and he even offered/gave me one of his GUs at mile 8 when they didn’t have the box of GUs opened up for the runners yet, which meant I didn’t have to stop.  We were clicking along at 6:04-6:05 up until around mile 10 and then we just slowly dropped the pace to 5:55-6:00 for the next 5 miles or so.  This turned out to be a terrible idea for both of us.  We both went through the halfway point at around 1:19:30 or so with him a couple of seconds back, but I could really tell he was breathing much harder than me, so as he slowed down a bit, I kept the pace (which turned out to be 2 more miles) since I felt fine. 

Mile 15 was really the turning point for me (and likely Marc as well).  The sun had fully risen into view and the heat really started getting at me.  I had prepared and drank at every water stop the entire race except one (the stupid one without the GU that was being overrun anyway by runner’s going the other direction), but it just wasn’t enough for the conditions.  I could taste the salt on my lips and feel it on my face at mile 15 and immediately knew I was in trouble even if my pace wasn’t suffering yet.  Even with 2 Gus and about 12 half-cups of water at that point, I just wasn’t hydrating well enough at all.  Mile 16 was a 6:12, Mile 17 was a 6:18, and I knew that I was in even bigger trouble as the cramping began.  First the quads, then the hamstrings, then the calves, then the side of my abdomen.  Fortunately, Marc had caught up to me, however he must have been hurting a bit too since we locked into a 6:40-6:50 pace.   We were able to use each other as a crutch for the next couple miles until about mile 24.  Neither of us were breathing hard, but our gaits were just a mess trying to battle through it, so we battled it by giving each other encouragement.  Mile 24- 26 were terrible- somewhere in the 7:00-7:30 range at best, but I don’t even want to check my watch to guess.  I also felt like I was moving in slow motion and was incredibly sloppy with my footfalls.  I wanted and felt like I could speed up at any moment, but even a slight lean forward made the cramps spastically retract my muscles and my legs just wouldn’t fight through it.  So, to compensate and to make sure Marc didn’t get too far ahead, I’d throw in 10 second bursts to catch and pass Marc, and then suffer some pain for the next 20-30 seconds or so.  In retrospect, it must have been kind of funny to watch.  I was trying everything to speed up, even moving to running more on my heels to try and stretch my legs, but it had been too late for that for a while now.

During the last half mile, Marc had found another gear and I just couldn’t will myself to catch him, as he crossed about 20 seconds in front of me for second place.  I loped in after that in third place and congratulated him and thanked him for helping me along.  In the end, I could do nothing but feel sincerely gratuitous for him though.  Without him there, the conversation, and just using each other to will ourselves faster, I think I would have had an extra 10 minutes slower on my final time. 

Overall… I think I can honestly say I just need to practice more marathons.  That’s really it.  I need more long tempos, more marathons, and more confidence in myself in that distance.  My body will get used to it, and I will learn how to fuel better.  I’m just a slow learner I suppose.  The first 15 miles really felt fantastic though, and even speeding up during miles 10-15 felt right at the time, so that’s a positive sign.  I guess the nine minute PR is also a nice final thought for me to hang my hat on, so at least I can focus on the positives a bit and learn from the negatives.

Splits: I can't bear to look right now.

Day off, rehab ;)