Buttsweat Towel© season has begun

50F.  Forgot the pace, 8:20's I think.  Kinda lethargic today, but still going for 10-12 @ MP tomorrow.  It's going to be tough, to say the least, but hopefully give me an idea of what I'll be able to do in a couple weeks.

57F, 7:06 AP.  Ok, not bad, not bad.  I am slowly but surely climbing out of this slump, and the timing is good.  I did 4 easy, then 10 @ MP, followed by a short cooldown.

The 10 MP miles were 6:46 AP.  Splits were 6:46, 6:39, 6:44, 6:47, 6:41, 6:40, 6:49, 6:57, 6:46, 6:49.

Did it feel like my true MP?  Nah, probably not.  A little too much fatigue in the last 2 or 3 miles.  But the fact that I could still execute the run shows improvement even from a week or two ago, so there is hope of returning to normal by the race, which means it's not quite time to throw in the towel on sub-3.

The course I ended up running was neutral, actually about 15' net uphill.  Normally I like a slightly aided course for this kind of run but the wind direction meant it could not be set up that way today.  Plus the darkness, and not entirely cool weather, could factor into making it tougher today.  So there are a lot of bright spots.

58F, NNE 18 mph.  8:18 AP.

45F, N 10 mph.  7:26 AP.  I didn't want to do a full-up long run with the hard effort 2 days ago, so I settled on my favorite 15-mile loop.  A little faster than I intended, but the legs were ready to go today.

I think I am finally ready to start training for a marathon!  Maybe if I called the RD, they could move the race back a month or two?  But then I'd probably have to buy him/her a pony too, and I'm not made of ponies.

52F, 8:24 AP.  Miles are only scaled back a little this week - this will be more like a 9-day taper since my mileage never got too high.

39F, 7:31 AP.  Easy with strides/sprints in the last couple miles.

41F, 8:16 AP.

51F, SSE 11 mph.  7:09 AP.  Last hard workout, 10 days out.  I copied the one Jake did before his last marathon, 10K @ MP.  I figured he won the race with that, so I should do no worse than 1st place, right?

5K easy, then 10K in 41:21 (6:40 AP).  Then a 1 mile cool down.

The AP on the 10k was a little skewed as I finished with a 6:21 mile.

The last .2 was uphill, and I ran it hard, then almost puked.  I have never been one to puke even after my hardest efforts, but my daughter got sick (threw up) yesterday so I guess I might be next.  That elementary school is apparently just a giant petri dish for all kind of diseases.  Hopefully it will just come and go; she is already feeling better this morning.

67F, S 20-27 mph.  Got the day off today, so a rare opportunity to run with Danielle, after we dropped the kids off at school!  It was a bit windy though.  At some points I was yelling and she still couldn't hear me over the wind.  At least that's what she said....hmm....

8:13 AP

72F, S 21-30 mph.  7:50 AP.  In McKinney, TX for my cousin's wedding last night.  I ran from the hotel room.  Planned on 13 but by the the time I got done wandering around and back to the hotel, I only had 10 or so...meh...oh well.  Kinda hot and sticky down there, but we are back in OK now and it's 30 degrees colder as the front just blew through.

Looking like pretty good weather for Tulsa next Sunday so far.

52F, 7:52 AP.  Had the day off, so I got to sleep in a little and run in the afternoon.  Saved me from the sub-30 morning we had...super-extreme cold huh?  Especially next to those snowstorms/blizzards everyone else has...

Pretty easy week lined up obviousy - 7 w/strides tomorrow, 8 w/3MP on Wednesday, 5 easy on Thurs, no run Friday, shakeout Saturday, race Sunday.

So fat it's looking like no-excuse weather: 43 to start, 55 to finish, 7-8 mph wind.  Going to have to buckle down and really brainstorm some other excuses if the forecast holds true.

30F, 7:26 AP.  Easy + strides.  Tough to make myself leave the house when it's cold out, but my legs love the chilly weather...felt pretty smooth out there today.  Might have been the taper starting to kick in as well.

33F, 7:17 AP.  5 easy, then 3 @ MP.  Felt ok, not too bad.

Plan for the race is to run conservatively, at least initially, but stay within striking distance of sub-3.  Hopefully by halfway, I will know if it's going to be my day or not.  I haven't had a single run that really indicates to me that I am ready for sub-3, but you never know...

60F, 7:45 AP.  Ran after work to maximize sleep this morning.  Easy run, with 2 x 0.5 @ MP on the way back home.  I tried to pace the second one without looking at garmin and it was 6:36 pace.  I think the lesson is to not get carried away early on.  I don't need to be splitting the first 10k in 41 like I did at OKC...

55F.  A little shakeout before I drive to Tulsa, no watch.  Will post a race report tomorrow evening...

I don't know how to start this report, so i'll just get into the details.

Weather - Start - 44F.  Finish 54F, S 12 mph.

Pre race - Mexican for dinner.  Early to the start line to meet Daniel, the only other blogger from Oklahoma.  I think that's 6 bloggers I've met now.  Daniel is a great guy, really friendly, and ran a big PR today so go congratulate him!  We got up a few rows back from the starting line and were off right on time.

The course - Basically a 2-loop course.  The first with the half-marathoners, to the south of downtown, and the second loop is to the north and east - just the marathoners obviously.  Definitely the hilliest course I've run, hillier than OKC.  So maybe not the best for a PR, as I had been warned, but not too unreasonable either.

Miles 1-5 - 6:46, 6:50, 6:43, 6:45, 6:51.  Daniel and I ran the first 2 miles together; a little faster that I was going to run, but basically on pace for 3 hours so no harm done.  Lots of ups and downs through this first 5 miles.  Everything was feeling good, way better than I was anticipating.  Lots of holding myself back.

Miles 6-10 - 6:42, 6:43, 6:48, 6:51, 6:54.  Ok, still feeling easy.  The course flattens out here as it starts to go along the river.  Split the 10k in 42:05, pretty reasonable.

Miles 11-15 - 6:41, 6:46, 6:46, 6:47, 6:54.  More flats from 11-13, nice and comfy.  Hit the half in 1:29:05, feeling really good.  I knew the second half was probably net uphill, so I was happy to have banked a minute.  After 13.5 or so, the course turns through downtown and we got some nice uphills.  I played it conservative on the ups, and stepped it out on the downs, which is what I usually do.

Miles 16-20 - 6:46, 6:52, 6:45, 7:15, 6:48.  I had to just kind of take what the hills gave me.  Mile 19 was one I had circled in my mind.  It goes due south, into the teeth of the wind, and climbs the entire time - just one long, stupid, hill.  I had been keeping track of where I stood against the 6:50 guy....pretty much 20-30 seconds ahead of him the whole time, but I gave it all back on 19.  Ok, no problem, still ahead of the 6:52 (sub-3) guy by about 40 seconds.

Miles 21-26.3 - 6:45, 6:52, 7:04, 7:05, 7:11, 7:08, 1:50 for 0.3 (6:08 pace).  So you can see where I lost it, right after 22.  The hills and the wind.  Ok, and my legs too.  At mile 20, I saw that I needed about a 43:10 on the last 10k.  That is sub-7 pace.  Why did it have to be so close?  I wanted to either be way behind or way ahead of sub-3, I did not want to have to fight for it.  But fight I did.  At mile 23, I saw I had about 22:30 left.  So still hanging on, and on pace.  But now the uphills were bringing me to a halt.  Mercifully the last few miles are net downhill, but everytime it went back uphill it felt like I was barely moving.  I felt my world slowing down - I was bonking, but still close.  My form was terrible and I was clomping loudly but still running as hard as possible.  Even so, I was mowing people down left and right.  I did not get passed by anyone, I don't think.  As I passed the mile 26 sign, the clock there said 2:58:50 or so.  Couldn't do the math.  Turned the corner and made a furious sprint.  I literally saw the finish line clock change from 2:59:59 to 3:00:00 and knew I had probably just missed it, based on where I was.  Crossed the line and yeah, I was about 10 sec slow by my watch.  3:00:08 officially.  6:51 AP on my watch, enough for sub-3, but oh, those pesky tangents, got me an extra tenth of a mile.

I don't know how to feel.  I mean my training was terrible.  It was the hardest course I've run.  But I still got a 1-minute PR.  After I crossed the finish line it was a mix of sadness, anger, happiness, disappointment, relief, and frusturation.  I can't even pick one.  Now that it's been a few hours, I'm just kinda "meh."  And if I had run 2:59:59, a completely arbitrary number as far as my body knows, I would probably be a lot happier.  Just to rub it in a little, I actually arrived back at home at 2:59pm, seriously.  But given all the circumstances, I will certainly take it.  It sucks that I will be a 3-hour marathoner for at least another 5 months, but just 1 month ago I could barely run an 8-minute pace so I guess I'm just glad I got back to normal.

Gonna take at least a week off and start ramping up (slowly) for Boston.  I need a gameplan.  I've kinda stalled out on my marathon progress at a most unfortunate place!

Thanks for reading everyone!

I think I've said all I have to say about the race, so please enjoy some copyrighted photos of my misery at the end.  I think it's a nice progression.

First one is in the 3rd mile; nice and upright.  Not sure what the weird face is all about, possible sniper in an adjacent building maybe.  You can see Daniel Brunson in the background!

Next one is somewhere in the first half, can't remember where - either 10k or 10 miles.  Danielle said it's my "Joe's Not Impressed" look.  I make a lot of weird faces when racing, I guess.  Still just out for a nice stroll though.

Let's skip ahead to just after the mile 25 marker.  Note the trademark balled up fist, flailing arms, and pained expression.

Aaaaand, I'm toast.

Easier to smile when it's over!

31F.  8:22 AP.  Well, it's been 10 days so I jogged around for a few miles this morning.  Kinda nice to skip the achy, tired-leg runs after a marathon.  Felt pretty decent, although I was out of breath after about 3 steps.  That feeling will go away in a couple weeks, though.

I managed to gain 5 or 6 pounds, which I'm pretty impressed with.  It's usually hard for me to gain weight, but I was able to accomplish it by not doing any exercise whatsoever and eating greasy foods almost exclusively.  If I had anything healthy in the last 10 days, I don't remember it.  Anyway, it's time to start reversing the trend again.

37F.  7:53 AP.  8-minute pace will be status quo for awhile.

48F, 7:52 AP.  Basically a repeat of yesterday, but with some fog.  Looking forward to getting my legs back.