Winning Back What I Lost

Long easy run Saturday for me to Kuna and back; set a PR for miles in one week; got up early on 5 hours sleep; had to stop twice at convenience stores w/ an....[/ahem]....upset stomach; other than that, not too bad; my saucony's have really helped my right knee soreness; I wish I would have purchased them a couple of weeks ago and saved myself the grief; oh well, lesson learned

easy run @ 9:05 pace including a couple of water breaks (temp in low 90's); used my garmin 305 for the first time and I'm loving it; no more friggin' google maps!!! some tightness in left calf; wifey gave me a massage for my b-day so I'll have to schedule it soon

Cross-training/Weight training day: stationary bike and weight training (pullups, curls, tricep extensions, chest press, hip adductor/abductor, standing one leg press, seated two leg press, misc ab exercises)

Seattle, WA

T/M: Finally got a run at the Hilton; worst treadmill ever; belt was so loose and curled up at the end that I probably should have avoided it altogether; wanted to run outside but I'm smack dab downtown and at least a couple of miles from any viable outdoor running; Tempo run for 6 miles @ 7:55; calves and achilles are real tight; got a 10 minute foot massage at the Convention Center during one of the breaks in my conference; should have popped for 30 minutes

Long, easy run this morning; had to cut it short due to stomach problems, again; don't know what the deal is w/ my stomach but it seems that anything over 6-8 miles ends up being torturous due to my constantly upset stomach; experimented w/ jelly beans as a carb booster to no avail; no knee pain but its been replaced w/ sore calves; can I be 100% healthy for a change?

Easy run at 8:48 overall pace; some right achilles soreness; temp in the mid 80's; felt pretty good especially the first 6 miles; legs felt pretty heavy after mile 7 or 8; I have gained a couple of pounds from lax diet; making a concerted effort to clean out my system before the big day, 8/23.

Got up at a quarter to 6 this morning after not falling asleep until 1ish; probably should have stayed in bed but I knew I probably wouldn't have time after work today; cranky as hell today so I'll make this short; 7:55 pace run for 5 miles w/ warmup and cooldown

Easy run in the dark at 9:17 overall pace; felt a little nauseous from the vanilla ice cream I inhaled immediately before running....ooops; legs felt better at this slow pace; scheduling a massage and a chiro visit for early next week to get out all the kinks before the big day; T minus 9 days and counting!

Cross-train/weight train day; rode the stationary bike; pullups/curls/front raises/bench/hip adductor/abductor; seated leg press; seated leg curl; standing leg press; hanging leg raises

Phasing down my long run w/ one week left; its a good thing too because I didn't get up this morning and by the time I finished the honey-do's it was 130 in the afternoon; temp was already approaching 90 and climbed to the mid-90's by the end of the run; felt really good w/ no aches or pains anywhere for a change; tired by mile 6 in the heat but that was not unexpected; 8:55 pace

Didn't get out yesterday like I planned; early morning run at 1/2 marathon race pace; felt pretty good and when I heard the Chemical Bros coming through my ipod it was on; out and back to Locust Grove; purchased some new Nike runnning shorts w/ the built in lycra boxers and I love em so far; not such a big deal on shorter runs but I was getting some chafing on longer runs where the elastic on the sewn in briefs contact the skin; I also really like the new Nike shox socks w/ the extra padding; 8:02 pace; one more short run and some X/T on Wednesday and Thursday before I call it quits and rest up for Saturday   

Early morning easy run; felt really strong and, dare I say it cocky; all that confidence went out the window w/ my IT band; started to flare up around the third mile and I shut it down so as not to risk injury; I really don't need this right now; iced it when I got home and will ice again tonight; the wifey was kind enough to schedule a massage tonight too; no idea as to pace as the battery in my Garmin crapped out right away

I finished- and that was enough. I didn't reach my pre-race goal of 3:45 but considering where I started I can't muster any disappointment. I ran the first half just over 1:50 and the second half in 2:11ish. I was at an overall 8:38 pace until I started the hill climb and ended up up w/ a 9:14 pace (9:09 if you count the extra two tenths of a mile I ran during the race). That pretty much tells the story.

Highlights: My family greeting me at the top of the 3 mile long hill comprising miles 18-20; high fiving more than one kid along the way; a sign at mile 22 or 23 that said, "Any idiot can run, it takes a special kind of idiot to run a marathon"- had to chuckle a bit; a fantastic view of Mesa Falls, Warm River, the Tetons, and amber waves of grain; running with my buddy from law school- at least for the first 1/4 mile or so; and giving my finisher's medal to my 4 yr old (her older siblings got the previous two medals from my two half marathons this year)

Not so highlights: Getting up at 3:30 am to get ready and drive from Rexburg to Ashton, ID in time for the runner's breakfast and load up for the 45 min bus ride to the start; Twenty eight friggin degrees at the start which deterred me from exiting the bus with enough time to adequately stretch out; sore left calf and right IT band around the knee from mile 12 on; washboard gravel road for the first 1/3 of the race; a three mile long hill which was about 2.5 miles longer and 3000 ft higher than anything I trained on; two extended porta-pottie stops at mile 10 and 17.

Here are my times:

1. 8:11
2. 8:18
3. 8:22
4. 8:24
5. 8:32
6. 8:32
7. 8:51
8. 8:50
9. 8:29
10. 10:44 (1st pitstop)
    
11. 8:29
12. 8:32
13. 8:18
14. 8:24
15. 8:32
16. 8:38
17. 11:41 (2nd extended pitstop)
    
18. 9:34 (hill climb)
    
19. 10:37 (steepest part of hill climb)
    
20. 10:19 (hill climb)
    
21. 8:52
22. 9:20
23. 9:21
24. 9:51
25. 11:06 (stopped to walk several times w/ sore IT band and left calf)
    
26. 9:47
27. 3:11 (my Garmin 305 says I ran 26.4 miles; obviously I didn't run in a straight line)

First workout since the marathon; ran on the greenbelt at lunch; legs still a little sore at first but I warmed up after the first mile and felt so good that I ran the last mile in 7:30; 8:01 overall pace

Another lunch hour greenbelt run; felt good but I just don't have enough time to put in more miles when I run at lunchtime; right knee isn't all the way back but its getting there; didn't push it too much today- 8:27 pace

Slow, easy lunchtime run on the greenbelt; extended out another mile; looking to run 8-10 miles tomorrow; 8:45 overall pace

Wanted to stretch it out a bit more but it was really hot this afternoon and i ran out of water; don't know what my pace was because i forgot to charge my Garmin and it crapped out