To give anything less than your best

weekly long run (in the ay-em!)

2008-05-02T04:37:27Z

I decided that today I would do my long run of the week in the morning, after I dropped off some food at the lab, instead of waiting to do my run in the evening. My rational for this was primarily because today is Thursday which means an all new Office episode at 2100. I have Clinical Measures in Exercise Physiology on Thursdays from 1600-1900 so doing long runs means I'll be cutting it very close getting a run in and getting home in time. The Office takes precedent over almost everything, including running. Last week I found myself cutting my run short, but also running too fast because I was worried about getting home in time. So today, I solved my problem by doing my 12 miler at 0930! Yikes! I think this is the furthest I've ever run before noon, races notwithstanding. It's also the furthest I've run since my marathon. I was really excited about today though. Here's the damage:

12 miles in 1:40:26 (8:22 pace)

including:
Mile 1- 8:35.20
Mile 2- 17:18.95 (8:43.75 mile)
Mile 3- 25:46.58 (8:27.63 mile)
Mile 4- 34:10.32 (8:23.74 mile)
Mile 5- 42:35.95 (8:25.63 mile)
Mile 6- 50:50.70 (8:14.75 mile)
Mile 7- 59:08.48 (8:17.78 mile)
Mile 8- 1:07:23 (8:14.99 mile)
Mile 9- 1:15:37 (8:14.04 mile)
Mile 10- 1:23:58 (8:20.62 mile)
Mile 11- 1:32:16 (8:18.64 mile)
Mile 12- 1:40:26 (8:09.85 mile)

1st half: 50:50.70 (8:28 pace)
2nd half: 49:33.92 (8:15 pace)

1st third: 34:10.32 (8:32 pace)
2nd third: 33:13.15 (8:18 pace)
3rd third: 33:03.15 (8:16 pace)

Like I said, I started off a little after 0930, which is when T-Th classes start, they get out at 1045, at which point I was still running and had to dodge the influx of undergrads walking to and from class, which actually added some interestingness to the run. I had my short shorts on today which cover about a quarter of my pretty impressive thighs. I decided to check out of the corner of my eye how many people took notice and gave me weird looks as I passed them. Needless to say, I lost count around a dozen by halfway ha! Around 4 miles in, a light drizzle started that was actually very welcome because it wasn't too cold and it helped refresh me because I was getting a little heated.

Throughout the entire run, I kept thinking to myself that the McMillan running calculator told me my long runs should be about 8:03-9:03, and I was focusing on keeping my pace there. I knew I felt good, despite still being a little sore from lifting Tuesday night, really good and really strong and I knew if I didn't focus I'd let the pace drift too fast and I wouldn't gain as much as I should out of this run. I'm very proud of how my pacing went to that end. Tomorrow possibly a run in Philly while waiting for Laur to get in after picking up our race packets, then a 5k Saturday (not a race, just the distance) and the Broad St. 10 miler with Laur on Sunday :)! to round out the week. Hooray running!

hi-ho, hi-ho, it's to the gym I go

2008-04-30T02:10:17Z

So because today was a pretty easy day, and tomorrow is going to basically be the same if not easier, I figured tonight was a good night for weight training. I'm still going to have to figure out how to regularly and routinely work this in but it's not as important as the running, obviously. Anyway, here's the damage for this evening:

squats:
warm-up: 1x10x95
4x8x145

lunges- with 30lb dumbbells
2x15xBW+60

calf raises (on hack-squat machine):
2x12x180

abs- exercise ball crunches
2x12xBW+25 (1st set straight, 2nd set side-to-side)

I could have done more but I haven't lifted in something like 2 weeks and I could feel my muscles getting sore even before I left the gym- a good kind of sore though. Obviously I will build on this but the goal is to get stronger so I can get faster and more efficient with my running, not so I can set squat or deadlift PRs. To that end, tonight was good. Had a chocolate milk back here and watched some DWTS (YEA JASON TAYLOR!). Sleep and a much easier day to follow. Goodnight all

some fairly big news...at least to me

2008-04-29T22:49:54Z

Today, I decided that I will consider this week the official start of training for the Mohawk-Hudson River Marathon on October 12th. As of this past Sunday I have 24 weeks left.

I will dedicated 17 of those weeks to steady aerobic base building, 5 to focused speed work, and 2 to tapering. I have a loose idea of weekly mileages and I will consult with some online training schedules to finalize it, but I am very much all systems go.

The first time around I had been sick from August-mid-September, then I slowly eased into exercising of any sort for most of October, running MAYBE 15 miles/week before jumping into a 19 week training plan for the Shamrock Marathon- which I managed to still eek out a 3:29:36, besting my seemingly lofty goal by a few seconds. My highest mileage week didn't crack 50, the last few weeks of training were kind of undisciplined and scattered and I dealt with some minor injury issues a few times. Basically I went into it blind and it was a great learning experience. I DID have an excellent "online coach" and the BEST support I could ask for (both in training and during the race): Lauralee.

This time, I have the marathon under my belt, along with the aerobic benefits that come with it. I have knowledge of previous mistakes and also knowledge that I CAN DO THIS! I've been running solidly for about half a year now, so I'm not starting from scratch, I'm starting with a pretty good fitness level, a VO2 max of 69mL O2/kg/min (which is pretty good) and all of the stuff I learned the first time through this. I have 4+ months to build up my aerobic base more, and I'm committed to being disciplined in this approach- last time too often I ran my "easy" runs much too fast and thus didn't fully benefit. This time around I STILL have a great resource in runners and the BEST support I could ask for in Laur- who will be moving in with me June 1st (can you say a summer full of running and exploring Wark together? SO FRAKKIN' EXCITED!). This time I have a loftier goal. Before March I thought 3:30 was a reach. I surprised myself. This time I know what I'm capable of, and while I don't have an official goal yet, something sub 3:20 seems fairly reasonable. This is really exciting to me and I just needed to get this all down. I can do this. I will do this. Wish me luck!

running against my brain

2008-04-29T20:01:24Z

Did the exact same run as I did Friday, only better I feel. I was feeling a lot of adrenaline surges and dealing with some things that would normally cause me to just go out and run way too fast, 7:00 pace fast, lung-searing fast. In light of that, I am very proud of how I was able to run easy and not go too hard or fast today ::pats self on back:: The weather had been gloomy and murky all day which didn't help matters, but somehow managed to brighten up a bit just as I started. The temperature was much more pleasant than Friday, but there was also more wind, which I didn't mind. All in all, I needed this today. Thank you, running.
Here's the damage:

5.5 miles in 46:04.13 (8:22 pace)

PMRI to track (1 mile)- 8:27.33

on track:
Lap 1- 2:06.15
Lap 2- 2:08.28
Lap 3- 2:02.97
Lap 4- 2:13.15 (8:30.55 mile)
Lap 5- 2:06.98
Lap 6- 2:05.71
Lap 7- 2:06.96
Lap 8- 2:05.08 (8:24.73 mile)
Lap 9- 2:07.40
Lap 10- 2:04.06
Lap 11- 2:03.80
Lap 12- 2:03.12 (8:18.38 mile)
Lap 13- 2:05.13
Lap 14- 2:03.98 (4:09.11 half mile)

track to PMRI (1 mile)- 8:14.03

A little slower than Friday, but also consistent and gradually faster from start to finish (first mile is very downhill so the effort was actually quite easy). As I went on in the run, the effort level remained the same but the pace picked up very incrementally.

More news to come later.

easy end-of-week track run

2008-04-29T03:15:22Z

this afternoon I had to work and then I was headed to NY for the weekend. But in between those two things, I had some time to get in an easy few miles. I decided to just head out from the parking lot of my job at Christiana Care's PMRI location to the track off route 141 that belongs to Ursuline Academy. conveniently enough from lot to track is 1 mile. I didn't know this going in, but by the time I got near the track I figured it had to be close to a mile away. My plan was to do 5 miles, figuring ~1 there, 1 back, and 3 on the track where I could figure out what pace I was going. I wound up doing a bit more just to be on the safe side...and because I felt so good! This was also the first run of the year I used sunblock and ran shirtless because it was so frakkin' hot and I was sweating just walking around. Took an ice water and was off. Here's the damage:

5.5 miles in 45:24 (8:15 pace)

including:
PMRI to track (1 mile)- 7:30.09

3.5 miles
Lap 1- 2:06.50
Lap 2- 2:10.42
Lap 3- 2:09.40
Lap 4- 2:07.40 (8:33.72 mile)
Lap 5- 2:07.53
Lap 6- 2:07.85
Lap 7- 2:06.03
Lap 8- 2:09.45 (8:30.86 mile)
Lap 9- 2:04.99
Lap 10- 2:08.40
Lap 11- 2:06.91
Lap 12- 2:06.41 (8:26.71 mile)
Lap 13- 2:04.30
Lap 14- 2:06.20 (4:10.50 half mile)

track to PMRI (1 mile)- 8:13.07

The first mile was quick thanks to the pretty big downhill from PMRI to the track and fresh legs. I had the track all to myself which was nice. As you can see by the lap splits, I was pretty good about being consistent with my pace. I felt absolutely fine as far as effort level- this DEFINITELY qualifies as easy pace now, and I kept it right where I wanted it. Running on the track itself was such a wonderful and welcome change of pace from running on asphalt and concrete! It felt like I was running on air almost, and my legs felt so good I really had to concentrate on not pushing. The heat actually helped me keep my pace honest, because I knew if I pushed harder I'd definitely lose it quickly and cramp up. Overall, the end of a very good week of running, 4 days in a row! Next week...30+ miles and ramping up to 50 by the end of June!

longish run- a campus 9 miler

2008-04-25T13:01:42Z

Tonight I had visions of doing a 12 miler around campus by doing the 6 miler from earlier in the week and doubling back on it. But Thursdays revolve around The Office for me. As much as I love running, I can do it whenever. An all new Office episode is only on at 9pm Thursdays. It's very personal time. Laur and I watch and call each other during the commercials, and later on in the week I'll have a talk with my best friend Andie about it too. This will be the same for Mondays at 9 starting next week when House starts. So tonight, to make sure I wasn't going to miss any part of The Office, and also because the heat was pretty brutal, even at 2100, I cut the run to 9 miles (using the 3 mile run of Main St. and The Green, out, back, then out again).

Like I said, the temperature was prolly still in the upper 60s/low 70s. I brought a bottle of Gatorade and figured that this would be a good way to study what I'm learning in Advanced Physiology of Exercise (which would be thermal regulation and heat acclimation and all the fun stuff that happens when you exercise in heat, etc.) Here's the damage:

9 miles in 1:10:28 (7:49 pace)

including:
Mile 1- 7:34.57
Mile 2- 15:18.56 (7:43.99 mile)
Mile 3- 23:14.39 (7:55.83 mile)
Mile 4- 31:01.82 (7:47.43 mile)
Mile 5- 39:11.24 (8:09.42 mile)
Mile 6- 47:18.12 (8:06.88 mile)
Mile 7- 55:13.32 (7:55.20 mile)
Mile 8- 1:02:53 (7:39.99 mile)
Mile 9- 1:10:28 (7:34.90 mile)

first 3rd- 23:14.39 (7:44 pace)
middle 3rd- 24:03.73 (8:01 pace)
final 3rd- 23:10.09 (7:43 pace)

I was a little surprised when I saw the first mile split but I didn't feel like I was pushing particularly hard. Even still, I told myself to ease up a little. By the end of mile 2, I realized that this run was going to hover around 8:00 pace throughout and I accepted that. I rationalized it by telling myself that this was still conversation pace so really, it was ok, even if it was near the faster limits of ok.

I can't believe how many people still are stupid enough to smoke! I know I sound like a broken record but there is NOTHING I hate more on a run than running past a cloud of smoke, especially if they are walking ahead of me in the same direction. My runs turn into fartleks there, because I speed up to get away from it and try to hold my breath as long as possible. Tonight it seemed there were more than usual even, but maybe that's just because I ran longer around populated areas. I was particularly annoyed at the audacity of three shitheads who were walking across the North Green, in broad daylight, smoking marijuana! I don't care what people do in the privacy of their own homes- be a degenerate and get high and whatever, fine, but DON'T SUBJECT ME TO YOUR FUCKING SMOKE! It felt like I was back on my HS track at night in December with the local stoners getting high in the bleachers and talking about their guns. Only worse! I had to run right through this thick, visible cloud of marijuana smoke. I managed to get through most of it with my breath held (and I had half a mind to tackle all three of the assholes and beat the crap out of them-adrenaline can be a dangerous thing!) but I definitely got more than a whiff of the very unpleasant and overpowering smell. UGH! >:O

Aside from that, my run was pretty good. There was a noticeable lull in the middle when my legs started to feel heavier and the calves started getting tired from the mid-foot striking. But I had enough to not continue to slow through the end. In fact, my last third was my fastest third, which I consider a positive.

I noticed probably a 4:1 ratio of females to males running, myself included. This is an observation I've been making for years now around here, and I wonder what gives because it's definitely not representative of the campus population on the whole. I also noticed that of the dozen or so people running that I passed, ONE acknowledged me and gave a smile and a nod. Everyone else looked quite miserable and/or unpleasant. What gives people? You're running outdoors and it's beautiful. oh well.

Not much else to say, it was a nice 9 miler. It felt good to get my legs moving for longer than a couple miles, I'm up to 19 for the week, hopefully I'll tack on another 11+ by the end of the week. My legs feel like they can handle it.

and on an unrelated note- I noticed that online registration for the Mohawk-Hudson River Marathon is now open! I'm excited!

an "easy" 6 miler (?)

2008-04-25T03:58:30Z

Set out to do an easy 6 miles tonight. Did two 3 mile laps of this route. I dunno if it was the nice, perfect running weather, or just the tons of rest I've got this weekend, or what but my "easy" run doesn't look too easy, pace-wise. Oh well, here's the damage:

6 miles in 45:45 (7:37 pace)

including:
Mile 1- 7:36.59
Mile 2- 15:17.04 (7:40.45 mile)
Mile 3- 22:59.70 (7:42.66 mile)
Mile 4- 30:33.00 (7:33.30 mile)
Mile 5- 38:23.55 (7:50.55 mile)
Mile 6- 45:45.36 (7:21.81 mile)

1st half- 22:59.70 (7:40 pace)
2nd half- 22:45.66 (7:35 pace)

Once again I focused on midfoot striking and running relaxed, these are two things I want to start making a habit. My calves were still pretty tight and sore from Sunday's double, however there is a decided lack of pain anywhere, especially in my knees!

I was really surprised how easy the pace felt but I was able to easily maintain it throughout with no heavy breathing and my HR stayed within aerobic limits. I guess maybe I'm starting to reap those supposed post-marathon aerobic benefits? time will tell

first post-marathon run

2008-03-26T23:42:48Z

Went for my very first run of any significance since the marathon tonight. After the race, my left knee had been bothering me, I suspected the patella tendon was inflamed and so I figured a week of doing nothing would help. This was to be my first attempt at anything more than a brisk jog for more than a few meters at a time. I was both nervous and excited to finally get my legs some exercise that they've been craving. I knew, and was reminded by Laur, that I had to take it easy today. No 8:00 miles, no 9:00 miles even! My goal was somewhere around 9:45-10:00 pace. This was also the first run in as long as I can remember that I did just that, run. I timed it because I was shooting for a 45 minute-ish run, but I had NO IDEA where I was going. I didn't want to map a route because then I'd probably be tempted to speed up or try to get a mile done in x minutes and I just didn't want to think about any of that. I wanted to run easy and enjoy the gorgeous weather and the gorgeous campus.

(The serious runners out there will appreciate this aside:)
So I went to the Little Bob to change, stopped in the IM office where I was going to leave my clothes so I didn't have to get a lock and thus be trapped in the building because I'd have to give my student ID which meant I wouldn't have it to get back into the building. The IM program always gives away random crap like deodorant, foot powder, etc. Today I noticed they had a new giveaway- sport beans. They're supposed to be like Energy Gels but they're jelly beans that have a lot of electrolytes, carbs, etc. I decided to give them a try on my run, eating a bag a half hour before I left and then I was going to pop one bean every few minutes during the run. I didn't anticipate running low on energy but I figured I'd see if they sat well with my stomach at the least.
I started chatting with Adam, the Grad Assistant who I'm pretty good friends with from last year, and Kate, one of the office girls who works there. The conversation first centered around how I quit the football team in 11th grade to start a hackey sack club with my friends and there was the appropriate ridicule that came from that revelation. Then as I started to get ready for my run they started asking me questions about running. Adam asked about my marathon and I told them how I did and Kate asked if that was good. I explained it was an 8:00/mile pace which she seemed impressed by as she mentioned she probably couldn't do one mile that fast. I said that one mile at 8:00 would be an easy run for me, but after 26.2 it hurt. Adam then asked me, "Well then how fast could you run just one mile right now." I put some thought into it seeing as how I haven't gone all out on a mile since high school. I said that my 5k time trial a week before the marathon was run at 6:25/mi pace and I estimated that I could probably gun it to about a 5:30 mile right now if I put everything into it. (I AM curious about this and maybe I'll have to have a mile time trial sometime in the next few weeks) Then they asked me about my run this evening, so I mentioned that I was looking forward to it and that it was the first run back since the marathon so it would be easy and relaxed and I couldn't wait. Kate and Adam both seemed surprised by my enthusiasm for running in general and almost in unison asked, "You actually like running?" To which I matter-of-factly replied, "Of course...I've loved running since I lapped everyone in my class in the mile in 3rd grade." (true story). I mentioned how granted, I only seriously got into running in middle school but nonetheless there has always been an attraction to using my legs to propel myself through space faster than a jog for prolonged periods of time. After I had said that, Kate just looked at me with utter consternation and asked, simply, "But why? Why do you enjoy it so much, why do you do it?" Instantly I thought of my favorite running quote ever, "People ask why I run. I say, 'If you have to ask, you will never understand'. It is something only those select few know. Those who put themselves through pain, but know, deep down, how good it really feels." I just shook my head and said, "I just do, it's something you either get or you don't."

With that I was out and off. As far as the run goes, here's the damage:

easy running for 51:31, which amounted to ~5.2 miles, ~10:00 pace

These aren't exact measurements because I just ran where I pleased and the mapping websites were being weird last night. At one point I was tempted to run around the green in what I knew to be a mile loop to see how fast I was going but I veered off and went to the Harrington Beach instead because I didn't care and I felt like it. It was such a liberating feeling and while my left knee was a little sore, it stopped hurting immediately after I finished which I take to be a good sign. I'm going to take it easy and try some cross-training the rest of this week and next to be in top shape for my 10k race April 5th in Plainview.

Shamrock Marathon Race Report

2008-03-20T03:05:06Z

It's been less than 4 full days since I crossed the finish line on the boardwalk of Virginia Beach, thus ending my run in the 2008 Yuengling Shamrock Marathon and entering the “marathon finisher” club and realizing a lifelong goal. My mind has had some time to start working again and start processing things other than mile splits, pacing, and fuel intake. Following is my unabridged and detailed account of the weekend that was, thoughts, experiences, feelings, and one helluva great memory:

Thursday night:

Picked up my darling girlfriend, Lauren (starsinmycloset) in Wilmington. She took off both Friday AND Monday. Friday so she could come down to Delaware Thursday night and we could leave early Friday morning instead of Friday late-thus giving me a full day and a half to get acclimated to Virginia, the weather, check out the location of the race, and take in the festivities of the event. Monday so she could play the awesome role of taking care of her miserable, sore, ache-y boyfriend who more than likely will barely be able to walk, and also to celebrate St. Patrick’s Day with me (even though technically it was Friday). Got to bed kinda late Thursday but it was well worth it.

Friday

Woke up and didn’t really feel like getting out of bed before sunrise, or an hour after, or two hours after. I don’t remember exactly when we did surface but I was already getting calls from my parents asking if I made it to Virginia alright. The day before I made a list of what I needed to bring for the trip so I wouldn’t be scrambling like a madman Friday morning trying to get stuff together and inadvertently forgetting something anyway. While Laur was comatose in bed I was getting my stuff together and started loading up the car. I started freaking out when I couldn’t find my knee strap-the good one that I had been using with much success for the past few weeks, not the crappy blue one that never stays on. I scoured the whole of my car and my room. I made sure everything else was packed up, then I woke up Laur and told her we were ready to roll, we looked over the room once more and then left, figuring on picking one up at Rite-Aid on the way. A few minutes past noon and we were officially on our way to Virginia Beach.
After a stop for gas where we also loaded up on some PowerBars and assorted carbs for me to snack on, then a stop at Rite-Aid to get a knee strap that seemed a bit too bulky but it would have to do, we were off, for real. I was slightly worried that we’d hit traffic, if only because I had a surprise planned for Laur for the evening- Carbon Leaf, the band we saw on our first date was playing at the Shamrock Party on O’Plaza in Newport News, which was only some 20 miles north of Norfolk, where our Holiday Inn was located. They went on at 7:30, it was free, and I figured it would be an awesome way to kick off the weekend and give me some time to relax and not focus on the building nerves that the upcoming race was creating.
We wound up not hitting traffic the whole way there, got to drive on the Chesapeake Bay Bridge Tunnel, which is pretty cool, and made it to the hotel by 5ish. After getting everything into the room and somewhat organized, I re-checked my directions to Newport News and then we were off again. Turns out, Newport News’ town center is REALLY PRETTY, complete with a fountain in the middle. The festival was really nice, with Irish bagpipers and leprechauns and such. Carbon Leaf played a great set from 7:30-9ish and a great time was had by all. Afterwards we strolled around for a bit then drove back to Norfolk where we sought out an Applebee’s to satisfy our hunger.
Turns out Virginia doesn’t have the same no-smoking indoors laws that NY, DE, and PA have. THEY SHOULD! Other than that the food was good and we got back to the hotel around 12:30am. The king size bed we had at the hotel was a significant upgrade over my sad little twin back in Delaware. And the pillows came with a funny warning about how they may cause drowsiness and not to operate heavy machinery while using. Got to bed kinda late, which I was completely ok with again and is pretty much the norm for us.

Saturday

Having skipped the expo Friday to go to the concert, I had to get there Saturday at some point to pick up my race packet. The original plan was to head in to Va Beach early to see the 8k race at 8am, then go to the expo, which was open from 10a-6p, stay a few hours there and check out the vendors and goodies, and then head to the beach to check out some of the course and soak in the atmosphere of race weekend before I was too full of pain and soreness to enjoy it, and, of course, get some salt water taffy.
As most best laid plans go, this was not to be entirely. Because of the late bedtime, comfy pillows, warm blankets, and the phenomenal job of the shades to block out any trace of sunlight, we slept in. Til like 12:30ish. That’s when we regained consciousness at least. Having missed the 8k and still have 5+ hours to do the expo there was no pressing reason to rise just yet. So I stayed in bed some more, rationalizing that it was a good idea because I was conserving energy for the race. Some college basketball watching ensued and eventually it was after 4 and we were still in bed. Oops. There was a bit of rushing and we got to the expo, held at the Virginia Beach Convention Center, around 5ish.
The expo was cool- I got my packet after I found my name on the board with all the marathoners. There were SO MANY names; it was the first time it really hit me that I was doing this SOON! I also got a sweet backpack with a technical fabric long-sleeve shirt.
Then we went into the vendor area. I hadn’t planned on getting anything but there were so many cool goodies I couldn’t help it. First we found a booth for OneMoreMile.net where I bought some car stickers that I could proudly display after my race and Laur bought a lovely necklace that says “run” on it. There was a bunch of booths for other races this year. I found a bitchin’ pair of sunglasses that I figured could come in handy during the race to keep the wind from drying out my eyes and the sun (if it shown) from bothering me. I also picked up a skull cap made of moisture-wicking material that worked better than UnderArmor (as demonstrated by the flamboyant and eager salesman) and would be a better bet for the race than the too small cotton hat I brought. Also, we picked up a cool temporary tattoo from the Saturn booth that acted as a pace chart. There were ones for every goal time from about 3:00:00 to 4:00:00+, you put it on your forearm so when you’re running you just have to look down and see what time you should hit each mile split at. Knowing all of my splits already (8:00 per mile), I didn’t need it but we picked up one for the 3:30:00 goal time for Laur to put on HER arm so that when I texted her my splits she would be able to quickly see if I was on target or not.
As an afterthought, Laur wanted to get sandals so we stopped at the Kai-Kai sandal booth as it looked like they were closing. The really friendly woman working it commented on the Republic Airport Leap Year Midnight 5k shirt I was wearing, telling us she did that too. Turns out she ran the race too, her name’s Gabrielle, and Laur and her hit it off really well, bonding over talks of meeting significant others through running (big smile) and whatnot. She even gave her her cell and email address and offered to run with her sometime. We’ll go visit the store in Montauk when we do our century out there this summer. If you’re ever in the area and want sandals, I absolutely recommend them.
We left the expo and drove up to the beach. Walked up to the start/finish area, took some pictures, bought that salt water taffy, and decided we were both starving. At first we tried the Holiday Inn on the boardwalk whose sign offered a pasta buffet. A 45 minute wait and the fact that it was getting kinda late changed our plan to heading home and trying the Italian restaurant the concierge suggested Friday night. Good decision, the food was delish. Stopped at Food Lion after to stock up on last minute supplies for the morning (bananas, Oatmeal Squares, Vitamin Water) and then back to the hotel. It was about 11ish, I think.
When we got home, we had some last minute things to take care of. I pinned my shirt, laid out all of the clothes I was going to wear for the race, and then we looked at the course map to figure out where Laur was going to be standing. We decided she’d be with me at the start, then go to the 13 mile mark and then make her way to the finish area. I was so nervous and excited I was worried I wouldn’t be able to sleep. I knew I wasn’t going to get that much, but I never do so it wasn’t the biggest deal. Sleep at around 12:30, alarm was set for 5-5:30.

Sunday (Race Day)- pre-race

The wake-up call came in at 5ish. There were a few alarms thereafter. I got up and let Laur sleep for a bit, after all I was the one who needed to get prepped to run. Got dressed and packed my bag up. In the process I found my McDavid knee strap that works so well, very good surprise! Started munching on some Oatmeal Squares and sipping Vitamin Water…breakfast of champions! Woke Laur up and we got out the door around 6ish. It was still dark and raining lightly. Every car we passed on 264E seemed to have a runner or three in it, which didn’t surprise me.
Got to Va Beach and found a sweet parking spot right off Atlantic Ave. around 6:30. I wanted to walk up and see the start of the half and see the Start/Finish area…basically I just wanted to walk off some of the nerves that were building again. I also had to go to the bathroom badly, which always seems to happen before a big sports event like this for me, nerves make me go to the bathroom a dozen times right up to show time (overshare much?). I saw all the half marathoners doing their thing to get ready, be it walking or running or stretching, etc. Apparently the half marathon start was much further north than the marathon start and we heard the countdown and air horn from the marathon start area. We kept walking north a little and watching the latecomers sprint up to the start.
The sun was starting to light everything up and we decided to head back to the car to do final preparations. I saw the cones that marked the course moving off Atlantic and onto the boardwalk for the final stretch and impulsively decided to follow it to the finish area. I dunno if there’s some sort of taboo against walking the final stretch before you run it but I didn’t care. I figured I was going to be so tired at the end, knowing how much I had left when I hit that spot would help me mentally push through the exhaustion to the end. I could feel the wind blowing in from the north toward the finish, the rain had fortunately let up and the sun was out. We walked all the way up to the finish line, along the way I was almost overcome by emotion-this was REALLY about to happen!- and there were lots of people around. I ran to the porta potty again, some guy was handing out free McDonald’s coffee, I soaked it all in and then we headed back to the car. On the way back I talked to my best friend, Andie, who informed me that I had a whole convent in San Antonio praying for me, and my parents- my mom was crying.
Once in the car I went through the process of mentally and physically getting myself ready for the race. Put the knee strap one, put Gold Bond Foot Powder on my feet, then my SOLE Blister Control socks, then my NB 768’s. Hat and sunglasses next. Then I sat in the car, we closed the doors, and I cranked up Metallica’s “No Leaf Clover” and rocked out to it for a good 5 minutes. Ate my PowerBar Performance Bar and then packed the black bag of stuff that Laur would be giving me at halfway- PowerGels, Gatorade, and Advil.
Then we walked back up to the start, where I had a minor freakout because the race announcer was counting down from 5 and blew an airhorn…5 minutes too early, which caused me to rush and tear off my clothes. Turns out it was just the signal for everyone to move up to the start line. I calmed my nerves and gave Laur the tightest hug ever. I tucked one PowerGel into my shorts, the other apparently fell out somewhere, I put on my gloves and put my cell phone inside one (the plan was to text Laur periodically along the route so she’d know when to expect me and she would text me encouragements to keep me going strong), and I put one Gatorade in the other hand. A good luck kiss and a smile for the camera and I made my way into the start area, a little closer to the start than the 3:30 pace group, I figured it would help me have a clean start. There were a few women in the field apparently trying to qualify for the women’s Olympic trials, they needed to run a 2:47 (I checked later and saw the women’s winner ran a 2:48:xx-bummer!). The last words of advice were the ones I needed the most…”Don’t go out too fast, I LOVE YOU!” With that, the air horn went off and my first marathon was officially started!

THE RACE

I started my watch as I crossed the line a few seconds after the horn. I was thinking to myself at the beginning-I’ll have a tailwind for the first few miles, then the middle chunk I’ll be running into a headwind of about 20mph and the last 5 or so miles I’ll have the tailwind again. I knew that meant the beginning would feel pretty comfortable and I just focused on maintaining a steady, even pace. A few minutes after I started, Laur sent me a text message saying, “LOVE YOU! So does your mom. Stay smart, stay even. I can’t wait to see you! GO MARK!” That was AWESOME and put a smile on my face that lasted many miles. I saw a guy in a Superman cape running with another guy and I overheard them talking about a 3:30 goal.
Mile 1 came at 8:10, I remember calling Laur at that point because it was easier than texting her and I was feeling pretty good still. Right after that, I got caught up to by the 3:30 pace group. I figured I should probably stick with them considering that was my goal. I quickly realized they were going a bit faster than the 8:00 pace that would achieve that goal. In fact, mile 2 came in at 7:41 (yikes!). I thought mile 2 felt a little short but c’est la vie. At this point I was starting to lose the 3:30 pace group and the 3:40 group had actually caught up and was passing me. The old-Mark would have been freaking out and rushed to catch up with them. As it was, I felt so good and confident in my pace and my plan that I just let them run on by and was committed to running MY pace, MY race.
After mile 2, we looped around a block of buildings and headed over the Rudee Bridge (elevation gain- 40ft.) down towards Camp Pendleton and the Virginia Aquarium. I missed the 3 mile marker but caught the 4 mile marker and passed it in 31:26 (mile 2-4 were done in 15:35, a little quick but pretty close to pace). Around that time I started running with an older guy who was talking to me about past marathons he ran, including last fall’s Marine Corps Marathon. He also gave me some pretty standard advice after learning it was my first marathon, telling me it was all about finishing and going out easy because you could try to make up time if you went out too slow but you’ll never be able to recover if you go out too fast. I knew everything he’d told me but I took the advice to heart as important reminders. It was nice having someone like that running with me in the early goings to keep me on pace and from thinking about the daunting distance still ahead of me. We also joked about the pace groups running way too fast for the goal times. Mile 5 was run in 8:17 and I was 39:43 into the race (still slightly under goal pace). Around this time we saw the front runners nearing mile 6, flying along- it was quite the sight. We turned around near mile 5.5 and headed back north for the first time, but fortunately we were shielded from most of the wind. Mile 6 was by far the slowest, 8:28, putting me at 48:12, still close to goal time.
We swung right and hit mile 7 in 56:18 (8:06 mile), still feeling comfortable and pretty easy. I was also really happy that I didn’t have an urge to go to the bathroom at all. I probably could have if I tried but I realized that the pace I was running, if I wanted to maintain it throughout, I wouldn’t have much leeway for stops like that. We swung around and entered Camp Pendleton, where we were greeted by about a dozen soldiers on our right doing some sort of drills carrying big machine guns. We also ran past a bunch of soldiers outside a house cheering their heads off and yelling “Ooo-rah!” I yelled thank you as we passed, for the cheers and everything else they do too. Mile 8 was within the barracks, and I passed it in 1:04:23 (8:04 mile). Around this time I started running a little ahead of my older friend, and after the water stop I didn’t see him again. Around this point I also was coming up on the 3:40 group and by mile 9 I had passed the 3:40 pacers and saw the 3:30 pacers just ahead.
I crossed mile 9 in 1:12:22 (7:59 mile). I didn’t feel like I had noticeably sped up but it felt encouraging to run an 8:00 mile more than 1/3rd into it and have it feel good still. Right before mile 10, we crossed the Rudee Bridge again. I thought to run on the dirt along the curbside but quickly abandoned this idea when my feet started sinking in. By mile 10, I had caught up to the back of the 3:30 group, which was now running much closer to their goal pace. I crossed mile 10 in 1:20:13 (a downhill on the bridge aided 7:51 mile). I was a little nervous because at this point I’d be heading north on the boardwalk/Atlantic Ave. (into the wind) until mile 16. I could feel sporadic gusts from mile 6 on.
This is where I’ll give myself a big pat on the back for excellent strategy and course management. Having caught up with the pace group, I tucked in behind them as we ran out onto the boardwalk and they blocked the wind for me magnificently. The boardwalk had a bunch of spectators both on the ground and hanging out of the balconies of the hotels on the beach cheering us on, it was nice to see and hear. Mile 11 was on the boardwalk and we crossed it as a group in 1:27:57 (a very easy feeling 7:43- probably because of the drafting I was doing behind the pace group), right on pace! I remember swinging out wide and looking ahead and seeing only a few people here and there in front of the pace group, and they all looked a lot less comfortable than we did on the whole. I allowed myself to enjoy the scenery a bit and mostly focused on the back of one runner or the other.
We left the boardwalk and got back on Atlantic and then passed mile 12 in 1:35:58 (8:01 mile). I texted Laur at this point and asked her for 3 gels instead of 2 and where exactly she was. Turns out I “gels” came out as “help” in the text and she took it to mean 3 Advil. I also told her in the morning that when she gave me the gels to rib off the top so I didn’t have to deal with that. What I should have said was only tear off one, the one I was going to eat right away, and leave the rest on because I was going to shove them in my pocket. As I neared mile 13, I looked on the right and a few meters ahead was my darling girlfriend standing and cheering. I got the biggest smile on my face when I saw her and must have sped up a bit. When I got to her I threw my arms around her and gave her a hug and a kiss. She was holding 3 Advil in her hands and I didn’t bother to take them out, I just sucked them out of her hand and washed them down, then picked up the other Gatorade bottle and two PowerGels. Another kiss and I was off. I passed mile 13 in 1:43:51 (a 7:53 mile, into the wind no less!). It was at this point I realized my folly of having her rip open ALL the gels, and that I only had one left. I stuck it in my little pocket inside my shorts and hoped most of it would stay in. I knew there’d be a different brand of carb gel at mile 16 and while I was nervous about trying a different brand I figured it would be alright.
Around this point, some guy caught up to his friend Felix who I’d been running around since Camp Pendleton. Turns out his friend had done the half (in 1:20, wow!) and they started chatting. Turns out this kid PROPOSED TO HIS GIRLFRIEND AT THE FINISH LINE OF THE HALF! How romantic! I was slightly behind the pace group again but I was ok because I was still running on pace. And I still had a handful of runners to shield the wind, which didn’t feel too brutal. At this point we saw some of the last finishers of the half coming south on Atlantic. We also saw the marathon leaders pass by…the black guy and eventual champion was well ahead of the white guy and eventual second place winner- they had been running together when we saw them at mile 6. Yelling words of encouragement at the half runners helped take my mind off the fact that I still had 10+ miles to go. I had started marking off miles on a chalkboard in my head.
I passed mile 14 in 1:51:45 (7:53 mile). Nothing much happened between that and mile 15 which I crossed 8:00 later in 1:59:45. Except that I got a series of awesome text messages from Laur, the first informing me, “YOU ARE A FUCKING ROCKSTAR!” then a quote from Kayne’s song “Stronger” right at mile 15 which made me laugh. I overhead people saying that after mile 6 we bore left and lost the wind in the trees and then the last few miles were with a tailwind. I picked up a Carb BOOM! Energy gel and then crossed the mile 16 marker at 2:07:48 (8:02 mile).
We then turned onto Shore Drive which took us on a spectator-less road lined with big trees and silly placards with random facts and jokes on them. The road seemed to go on forever. (In fact, we ran 3 miles in a relatively un-turning westward direction). Mile 17 was passed at 2:15:46 (a 7:58 mile). I thought to myself how I still felt pretty good. The pace group had thinned a bit, and were somewhat ahead of me still but I had them in my sights and that was good enough for me. I passed mile 18 in 2:23:51 (8:04 mile) and thought to myself that this road was getting boring. I also texted my time to Laur at this point and she just texted me back “PERFECT!” which was really encouraging, even though I knew already that I was on pace. My brain was getting a little foggier and while I knew I was running 8:00 miles still and thus close to on pace, I wasn’t really doing any computations in my head like in the beginning.
We entered Fort Story at the mile 19 mark, and I was at 2:31:53 (an 8:02 mile). I felt my legs beginning to feel the slightest bit tight and I thought to myself, “Is this the dreaded mile 20 wall?!” I just focused on keeping my breathing even and tried to open my stride a bit. Mile 20 was passed 2:40:03 (an 8:09 mile). For the first time since the beginning I had slipped ever so slightly over 8:00 pace. I wasn’t worried just yet, I was close enough and I only had a 10k to go. If I could do the 10k in 50 minutes I’d JUST hit my goal. At mile 21 I saw the Cape Henry lighthouses, passing the marker in 2:48:14 (an 8:11 mile). At this point we started heading southward again, and I could feel the tailwind begin to pick up, giving me a bit of a mental boost. Somewhere around this point I took off my hat and stuffed it in my shorts, I also sucked down my other PowerGel and the last of my Gatorades. At the s water stop at mile 21 I started sucking down a Gatorade (as I’d been doing at every water stop) and splashing a cup of water over my back. This helped a lot. Also at this point, Laur texted me as an inspirational joke,“I expect a strong finish, like my Coogan’s. ” alluding to the fact that she had a serious kick at the end of the Coogan’s 5k race in Washington Heights March 2nd. I got it and was a little concerned if I was going to be able to do so.
We hit mile 22 right before the exit from Fort Story. I passed it in 2:56:17 (an 8:02 mile). This made me pretty happy because the previous few miles had been getting slower and that was getting me nervousish. Right before mile 23, I was handed another Carb BOOM! Energy gel. I tried to open it and it was an epic fail, so I threw it on the ground and figured I would be ok with just the Gatorade and water til the end. Right out of Fort Story, I saw a woman, she must have just been someone who lived in the area, she was running up to runner swith a Tupperware container. After she gave the runner about 30 meters ahead of me something she started running right at me. I saw that she had orange slices which she so graciously offered me. I took one and it was probably the best on-course re-fueling I had the entire time. What wonderful local support!
Mile 23 was passed at 3:04:17 (an 8:00 mile). Around this time I was getting kinda nervous and sort of telling myself that 3:35 or even 3:40 was still a respectable time. My brain was started to check out. Fortunately for all involved parties, my legs weren’t really listening. At all. They kept chugging along, through the building fatigue. I think part of it was just the feeling that it the finish was so close but it felt so far. At this point I was sort of by myself, the pace group had really dissolved into a string of runners. The great thing was that, despite the way I started feeling, I was started to pass people one by one. I got a big mental boost when I passed Felix and his newly engaged friend because they had gone pretty far ahead of me in Fort Story and I figured I wouldn’t see them again. I had also taken to counting down the cross streets at this point- they were numbered and we exited Fort Story around 88th St. and I knew the finish was on the boardwalk around 30th St. My mind really was being ignored because despite the way I felt, I passed mile 24 in 3:12:16 (a 7:58 mile!). I started thinking to myself that I could totally do 2.2 miles in about 18 minutes, but it was going to be close. I was passing more people and trying to keep pace with one guy who looked like he was running strong. I also saw the bald 3:30 pacer still encouraging people along and then came mile 25. I passed it in 3:20:16 (an even 8:00 mile). All I had to do was run 1.2 miles in 9:44, although I wasn’t able to do that math at the time. Instead I just remember knowing I was slightly over 8:00 pace and that I had to really go and not slow down.
Right after the mile 25 mark and the water stop, I started internally chanting to myself “Lau-ren-Lau-ren” over and over and thinking about how she was waiting at the finish for me (she had texted me that she was in between the big Neptune statue and the finish line and that I was her hero). It really got me going, thinking about her and about how good it felt that someone else cared so much about this. I didn’t want to let her or myself down and I told myself as much as I sped up. Atlantic split from Pacific Ave and turned left closer to the beach around 38th St. and I could see the cones a block ahead directing runners to the beach. I caught and passed a woman in bright blue running shorts as we turned towards the boardwalk and the final stretch.
Having walked the boardwalk from this point to the finish line earlier in the day I knew about how much I had left and that was a HUGE help mentally. I looked down at my watch and saw 3:26:XX and knew it would be close but that 3:30 was definitely within reach. I could see the Neptune statue and the Finish Line. I pushed it. I passed mile 26 in 3:27:59 (a 7:42 mile!) but I don’t remember looking at that, just running. As I came up to the Neptune statue I looked for Laur and spotted her. I don’t think I had the energy to smile but the adrenaline boost inside was ENORMOUS! NO WAY was I slowing down, not this close! I pushed, I ran and ran and ran as hard as I could. My last thought before I finished was to remind myself not to look down and stop my watch as I crossed the finish because it would ruin the picture. I crossed the finish line with my hands raised triumphantly and my heart ready to leap out of my chest, both from the effort and the emotion of actually finishing. I hit the tape in 3:29:35…I HAD DONE IT!!!! I AM A MARATHONER!!! MARK MANZ FTmfW!!!
Right after I passed the finish and slowed to a walk, I felt the toll that 26.2 miles of running as hard as I had took on my legs. More than that, though, I felt like I was in a total daze. The whole sequence from finish to leaving the finish area was like a dream sequence. I was so happy I know I pumped my fist and shouted a “YES!” but I was too dehydrated and out of it to cry. I saw some people getting their chips removed so I put my foot up in front of someone and they took mine. Then someone put a medal around my neck. Or did it happen the other way around? Then I got a goodie bag and a hat that Laur later pointed out says “26.2 Finisher” on the back. I remember sucking down a 16.9 oz water bottle in about 4 seconds and taking another.
Laur tried calling me as I exited the finish area and I fumbled with the phone and missed the call. Then I tried calling her back as ambled down the steps to the beach, where the Beer/Stew/Finish Line Party tent was located. I finally got her on the phone and told where I was and then we spotted each other. I know finishing the marathon was one of the BEST FEELINGS EVER, especially knowing I had beat my goal time. But the BEST part of the whole experience is what came next. I saw her and she started running to me and my legs tried in vain to move quickly towards her, so I just stopped and bent over with my hands on my knees. She got to me and we immediately threw our arms around each other in the tightest hug. THIS was when I lost it, just crying over and over “I DID IT BABY! I FRAKKIN’ DID IT!” through tears and sniffles. She told me she was so proud of me and I got a hard-earned finishing kiss! We shuffled into the party tent where a really good cover band was rocking out, I got some stew and we both got a free Yuengling, drank another water, and put our stuff down at a table. Then we raised our beers and toasted. She said, “If you have to ask.” To which I replied, “You’ll never understand.” “TO FINISHING A MARATHON!”
We stayed for a while, cheered on some of the 4+ hour finishers, and then headed back to the car. As I hobbled back down Atlantic, I was overwhelmed with pride and contentment that I had managed to accomplish such a monumental goal, that everything had gone exactly as well as I could have hoped. And to be able to share it with someone so awesome and appreciative of what I just did made the whole thing so much more meaningful and rewarding. We’re planning to run our first one together, which will be her first ever, November 22nd in Rehoboth Beach, DE (something about beach marathons!). I’ll probably do another one the end of August/September-ish (any suggestions?), but for the time being I’m going to really soak in the feeling that this whole wonderful experience has given me. I want to send a HUGE THANK YOU to travelogger for really helping me plan through my training pretty much from the onset and being so patient with my questions, and to runners in general for first inspiring me to actually attempt this, and motivating me from beginning through the whole of my training on up to race day.

My splits:
Mile 1- 8:10
Mile 2- 15:51 (7:41 mile)
Mile 3- ????
Mile 4- 31:26 (15:35 for 2 miles)
Mile 5- 39:43 (8:17 mile)
Mile 6- 48:12 (8:29 mile)
Mile 7- 56:18 (8:06 mile)
Mile 8- 1:04:23 (8:05 mile)
Mile 9- 1:12:22 (7:59 mile)
Mile 10- 1:20:13 (7:51 mile)
Mile 11- 1:27:57 (7:44 mile)
Mile 12- 1:35:58 (8:01 mile)
Mile 13- 1:43:51 (7:53 mile)
Mile 14- 1:51:45 (7:54 mile)
Mile 15- 1:59:45 (8:00 mile)
Mile 16- 2:07:48 (8:03 mile)
Mile 17- 2:15:46 (7:58 mile)
Mile 18- 2:23:51 (8:05 mile)
Mile 19- 2:31:53 (8:02 mile)
Mile 20- 2:40:03 (8:10 mile)
Mile 21- 2:48:14 (8:11 mile)
Mile 22- 2:56:17 (8:03 mile)
Mile 23- 3:04:17 (8:00 mile)
Mile 24- 3:12:16 (7:59 mile)
Mile 25- 3:20:16 (8:00 mile)
Mile 26- 3:27:59 (7:43 mile)
26.2- 3:29:35

HAPPY RUNNING INDEED!

A not-a-race race report (on breaking lifetime goals)

2008-03-14T14:51:40Z

This weekend was EXACTLY what my body needed! I spent most of it horizontal in bed with Laur (get your minds out of the gutter...or not). I had planned on doing the inaugural Caesar Rodney 5k which took place an hour before the half marathon start. The very same half marathon that I chose to make my debut to the world of distance running almost exactly a year ago, on shoes that were totally wrong for me, knees that had been breaking down, and training that could be considered pathetic and scattered and unfocused at best. And yet I managed to slog through 13.1 miles in 1:37:30, a 7:27/mi pace. This time around I'm doing double the distance but I've also quadrupled the training, in amount of miles put in and in the focus, thanks in large part to the wonderful advice gleaned from runners, especially travelogger.

So the plan was to do the 5k Sunday morning as a tuneup race of sorts before the marathon. But with daylight savings and the fact that we didn't get to bed til roughly 6am, I figured it best to skip the official race and do a time trial of sorts today. Granted, this would be different, nothing can exactly match the way a race feels- the adrenaline, the crowds, the support, that nauseous feeling right before the start and the thrill of crossing the finish line and seeing your results posted later. Regardless, I was still very psyched to run this "Inaugural Mark Run 5k As Fast As He Can Race". Partly because it would give me a chance to really open my stride and see what all these months of training have accomplished, if they would, in fact, pay off finally. It gave me an excuse and a chance to go fast, really fast, to test my limits and my considerable VO2 max that I had tested- 5.02L O2/min (64.9 mL O2/kg/min) in case you were wondering, well above average- (I love being an exercise physiology grad student and doing these kinds of tests for class that some people pay hundreds or thousands of dollars for, bee tee dubs!) Also, I was looking for a confidence boost that running a fast time here would give me. And finally I had a time goal, or really a pace goal that would translate into a time goal...6:30-6:35 pace which meant I'd be happy with anything under 21:00. I remembered the day I ran 3 miles with Kenny at the MacArthur track and how I did it in 20:05 and I was shot at the end. This would have to be faster. I also remembered that my last official 5k that I ran as fast as I could was only the third or fourth time I had run since being cleared of mono, September 30th, 22:40, 7:17 pace. I remember being dead on the final stretch there too.

I didn't have a flat place to run, let alone a track. I opted to run on the James F. Hall trail because it was marked every 0.1 mile and it wouldn't be crowded, I wouldn't have to wait for cars or slow people or anything. I was going to go out 1.5, turn around to the beginning, turn around and do 0.1 to finish. The way it worked out, I would be starting headed downhill for the first ~0.3 miles, so I knew my time for the first mile would probably be slightly higher than my goal pace and I was ok with that because I knew that coming back I'd have to deal with it going uphill. In fact, going out felt much more downhill than up and vice versa for coming back in. Fortunately that meant the last 0.1 would be downhill, my reward for doing 2.7-3.0 at the steepest incline of the course.

The weather for the run was PERFECT. A little chilly but not terribly so. I had to do a 2 mile warmup first, so I parked my car across the street in the Pep Boys lot and jogged a mile in and a mile back on the trail, going over what splits I needed to hit and psyching myself up. A mile into my warm up I sucked down a PowerGel and then I got back to my car, stripped to just shorts, t-shirt, knee-strap, gloves, and hat and headed back to the start. I made a split decision to lose the t-shirt- I didn't want to be running at the end bogged down with a sweaty, clingy tee. Shirt off, a few rubs of my legs and imaginary gun went off in my head! Here's the damage:

5k (3.1 miles) in 19:56 (PR BY 2:44!!!)

including:
0.5- 2:55.27
1.0- 6:05.53 (3:10.26 split)
1.5- 9:23.85 (3:18.32 split)
2.0- 12:43.65 (3:19.80 split, 6:38.12 mile)
2.5- 16:02.43 (3:18.78 split)
3.0- 19:19.23 (3:16.80 split, 6:35.58 mile)
3.1- 19:56.42 (37.19 tenth of a mile)

WOO-FRAKKIN'-HOO!!!! ::allows self a minute of celebration::

Like I figured, I started the first part faster even then I figured on going. From the first step, my legs felt spry and quick but it was a comfortable feeling, as if they realized that I was allowing them to push their limits for the first time in months, actually- like I had never really pushed them before. I went through the first half mile (which included a moderate uphill from 0.3-0.45, at 5:50 pace and was really shocked but I knew that was the "fast section" so I allowed my body to maintain the effort level. I remembered at this point reading an article about a study done that found when a group of girls was told to go a little faster than planned at the beginning of a 5k, they wound up running a faster overall race. I figured I'd do that too and hope for the best.

Blew through mile 1 feeling good, and about 30 seconds faster than my goal pace. I knew I wasn't going to negative split this and I was ok with that. From 1.0-1.5 was fairly flat, a little rolling. I took the turn at 1.5 without slowing down considerably and I knew I had done almost half, that was an encouraging thought. On the way back from 1.5-2.0 it felt a little more uphill, around this time I was thanking myself for deciding to go shirtless because I was dripping. Right after the turnaround I also took off my hat and shoved it in the side of my shorts to cool myself a bit better. Coming to mile 2, I felt my lungs working harder to suck in the necessary oxygen and I knew I was running right around my anaerobic threshold. More uncomfortable was my stomach, not so much GI distress, just a tightness in it as my body moved up and down quickly and forced air into my chest cavity. I dealt with it.

I was really looking forward to 2.5-2.6 as it was a downhill now, and ahead of me I saw the 2.7 mark which signaled the start of the climb to 3.0 that felt so nice going down. I hit the uphill and really focused on maintaining pace by increasing effort and my stride. I felt my quads powering as they pushed my legs off the incline with my goal so close at hand. I had been keeping track of my splits and I knew that after the first mile my splits were all over 6:30 pace and I didn't want it to get away from me. I worried for a brief moment about bonking so close and quickly pushed the thought of slowing down or failing to meet my goal out of my head. Right after 2.8 the trail turns left and I got a view of the last 0.2 to the start.

As I was approaching 2.9 I thought to myself maybe I would just turn around there and thus give myself a 0.2 mile downhill finish instead of having to go up the steepest part to 3.0 and only going downhill for the last 0.1 mile. After giving this a second or two of consideration, another voice chimed in "WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK YOU'RE DOING?! THIS ISN'T A RACE! THIS IS A TRAINING RUN! WHY THE HELL ARE YOU SO WORRIED ABOUT MAKING IT EASY OR RUNNING A FASTER TIME!? YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BE A FUCKING WIMP! YOU ARE GOING TO RUN UP THE FUCKING INCLINE AND FINISH STRONG! NOW! GO!"

And that's just what I did. I went all out and attacked the uphill. At 2.9 I had noticed it was still in the 18:00s and that I may have a shot a 20:00. That was the first moment I had entertained the thought of breaking 20 minutes. When I reached the 3 mile mark and hit the split button, I glanced down as I was turning for home. "19:19! Holy crap, I can do this, but I'm gonna have to go all out, I can't slow down now!"

I opened my stride further and was running as fast as I could at that point, letting gravity aid me. I knew it was going to be close and I just kept repeating "DON'T SLOW DOWN! DON'T SLOW DOWN!" I hit the "tape" and stopped the watch and looked down as I slowed to a jog...SUB 20:00!!! I HAD DONE IT! I lost it, totally lost it. I jumped as high as my tired legs would let me and pumped my fist in the air and let out a loud, excited YES! I just kept bouncing up and down (actually it probably looked more like seizing because my legs didn't have the energy to properly bounce) and yelling "YES" "WOO!" and some expletives. I could not believe what I had just done. An almost 3 minute PR. I know this wasn't an official race, but I ACTUALLY ran the distance and that's how long it took me. I was thrilled. I still AM thrilled. This was the biggest confidence boost yet for the marathon this weekend. I of course immediately called Lauren as I was walking around campus to cool down and regaled her with the nitty gritty details. In a way, I couldn't have done it without her, the positive encouragement that she gives me on a daily basis, how proud I know she is of my achievements, her support and love really have pushed me to get a bit higher than I would've gotten on my own. This running thing is most definitely a team effort.

So that's that. I'm already thinking ahead to the next official 5k I can run, thoughts of age group placing dancing through my head and maybe someday even an overall place! Wow! Amazing what one run can do. Happy running indeed!

last track workout of training!

2008-03-12T01:01:22Z

There's going to be a lot of lasts from now until marathon day. Today was the last interval track workout. The weather was not being very cooperative- it was drizzling to full on raining all day- but the temp wasn't freezing and that's all I care aboot. I went to the UD track, which I had never been on, although Kenny and I went down to it one night but it was locked. So today I got there and had the track pretty much to myself. Two football players showed up while I was warming up, looked like they were doing some sprint workout themselves for spring conditioning. I did my warmup and stripped off my sweats and psyched myself up mentally. It's not that I don't like sprints, I actually do...they are quick and hard and then they're done. Repeats suck but I realize they play an integral role in increasing overall speed via VO2 max improvement and improved oxygen uptake efficiency in the muscles.

This workout called for 8x400 at 5k race pace
Here's the damage:

Lap 1- 1:24.48
Lap 2- 1:28.50
Lap 3- 1:25.80
Lap 4- 1:26.85
Lap 5- 1:26.07
Lap 6- 1:25.50
Lap 7- 1:26.53
Lap 8- 1:24.07

I gave myself ~50-55 seconds rest in between each one. Like I mentioned, it was raining light to moderate the entire time with ~10-15 mph winds.

On the whole it was a pretty difficult workout, as well it should have been! I went a little too fast but was also very strong through last lap. The pace for those (~5:40-6:00) is not really where I anticipate my 5k race pace being at (6:30-6:40) but I'm happy I didn't slow considerably and ran consistent splits from start to finish. Great final speedwork session! Now for a relaxing weekend with my lovely girlfriend!

a much better (and still frigid) long run, success!

2008-02-28T20:12:11Z

Tonight, exactly one week after the debacle that was the 20 miler with an attempt at running the last 5 at marathon goal pace, I set off on a similar run with optimism in tact. I got a bit of a late jump on it, not starting the watch until 2110ish. It didn't matter though because my evening prior was spent preparing and having good conversation, and furthermore I don't have anything I need to be awake for Thursday, just Clinical Measures in Exercise Physiology at 4pm (in which we will be putting Justin through a full PFT and VO2 test...I'm really looking forward to this, this class is so much fun!)

Learning from last week's weather issues, I was more prepared this time. I was not going to let the fact that I was freezing to death affect my run appreciably. So I had my UnderArmor coldgear long sleeve, my Livestrong t-shirt, and then my awesome, bright orange vest that dad gave me last weekend. I also had on my tights and my knee strap on my left knee (which frustratingly kept slipping down). I went to Pathmark before my run and picked up some Powerbar PowerGels in strawberry banana flavor. I also picked up a Detour Runner Bar for some more solid food for the run. And I downed a Chocolate flavored Nutrament shake about 2 hours prior.

I was supposed to do 18 miles w/ last 6 miles @ goal marathon pace (8:00/mi). I'll get into specifics of the run in a sec. Here's the damage:

18 miles in 3:00:27 (10:01 pace)

including:
first 12 miles in 2:14:05 (~11:00 pace)
last 6 miles in 46:22 (7:43 pace)

Now the first 12 were supposed to be easy, and the 11:00/mi pace definitely indicates that was the case, but I can tell you they were far from easy for the most part. Factored in to that 2:14:05 is multiple and somewhat frequent stops to adjust my kneestrap or give my aching right knee a rest. Right before mile 1, I felt a searing pain shooting up my left ankle, from the medial condyle. It hurt to put any weight on it or touch it, I was sure I had just suffered a stress fracture. I was so pissed at this I remember throwing my water bottle at the ground in disgust with my shoe off. Magically, after a few minutes of moving my ankle around and stretching it and rubbing the area, I was able to continue gingerly at first and worked into a more steady pace and it has not bothered me since. Go figure.

More troubling was my right knee which was tight to start. I wasn't sure exactly WHAT was the issue, hamstring, calf, MCL, other. I have a feeling its something of a combination but the tightness is centered around the medial side and to the back of the knee and most pronounced when I push off. hm.

So all of that and the fact that it was frakkin' cold conspired to slow me down considerably during the first two 6 miles loops of the UD campus. I had one powergel at mile 3, then again around mile 8ish, I downed 2 bottles of water in the first 12 miles and I ate the Detour Runner bar at the end of mile 6. At mile 6, I also popped 2 Advil in hopes that it would kick in at least by my last 6 miles (which it did!) I paused to call Laur and tell her I'd be a little late in calling at the end of my run at mile 12, before I started the last 6 which I was a bit nervous about given how poorly last week went and how slow I'd been running to that point tonight. I wound up walking around my car a bit and downed half a bottle of water because I didn't want to bring it with me, I also had the third powergel then hoping it would give me energy enough to carry me home.

I started my last 6 feeling good, my breathing was relaxed, my stride felt comfortable and the pacing was right on. Throughout the last 6 miles I felt like I was getting stronger and the knees became less and less of an issue which was great! I started going under marathon pace and I just told myself to run comfortably and see what happens. Around mile 1.5 I turned onto Delaware Ave and was hit with strong winds which sucked but when I turned onto The Green the wind was with me and definitely helped some. Running into the wind as I was going west on Main Street right near the end also sucked, but at that point I started repeating to myself what laur had told me on the phone earlier, "NO ROOM FOR WHAT IF!" Over and over again I said it and thought of her and Kenny cheering me on near the finish line and the adrenaline boost that provided really helped me not to slow down and instead speed up until I got to the crosswalk, crossed Main St. and started running back East toward the high school and the finish, with the wind. I finished strong, and :17 on marathon pace! I'm happy about it but my knees are really tightening up now, I'll deal with them tomorrow which figures to be an easy day.

A few miscellaneous things from the run that I remember:
-running near the light at Main St & S. College Ave. and some girl yelling "RUN FORREST RUN!" out her window, ha!
-I mentioned this to Laur as I drove home: Along Main St. the run takes me past Iron Hill Brewery. Every time I passed it, there was a line of college kids, probably 30-40 deep, waiting outside in the sub-freezing temperature and cold gusting winds to get in. Some of the girls were wearing stereotypical sorostitute outfits- high heels or uggz (UGH!), mini skirts that were a little too mini, and tops that they were spilling out of, however unflattering they may be. As I ran up to the crowd and past it, I could see many of them turning and looking at me with a look like I was absolutely insane. I mean who runs in this weather and at this hour?! Well to me, what's more insane, being out in this weather running, burning kcals and thus producing heat, or those people standing on line out in the freezing cold? hmmmm, I KNOW I'm crazy, so I guess we all were!
-the powergels tasted pretty darn good!
-UD has such a pretty campus!
-A quick phone conversation w/ Laur was the next best thing to a kiss
-I overheard after I ran past a number of people walking along Main St them stop their conversations and start saying something about how crazy that guy must be to be running now, or who the hell does that, or something that was clearly about me and what I was doing, mostly all in an incredulous manner. It made me feel like I was doing something special, which I know I am, and something that nary a soul on campus was also doing at the same time I think it's safe to assume. :)

so good run overall. I just have to make sure this knee tightness doesn't get worse and the next few days will thusly be pretty easy and relaxed and involve lots of stretching, hot showers, and sugar scrub. Happy running!

back on track

2008-02-27T17:54:15Z

Today didn't exactly go as planned but that's alright really, in the end. I thought I was going to do a longer run, but time issues caused me to postpone that, and instead I wound up doing what I had wanted to do yesterday before the treadmill-overheating-vomit debacle. The schedule called for 45 minutes @ half-marathon pace with last 15 minutes @ 10k race pace Because it was wet, and because it's in a sort of shady area, I didn't want to do it at the Newark High track, and I didn't want to even think about doing it on a treadmill at the CSB, so I went to the James F. Hall bike trail, admittedly not the greatest place to run speedwork but it IS marked every 0.1 mi so I could keep track of my pace. The biggest issue with the trail is that its undulating, and at some points, especially miles 2.5-3, and 5.5-6.0 last night, there was a fairly steep uphill. That meant finishing going up on somewhat tired legs when I'm supposed to be running the fastest. Yikes! Here's the damage:

6 miles in 42:37 (7:06 pace)

including:
mile 1- 7:17
mile 2- 14:37 (7:20 mile)
mile 3- 21:43 (7:06 mile)
mile 4- 28:50 (7:07 mile)
mile 5- 35:52 (7:02 mile)
mile 6- 42:37 (6:45 mile)

1st half- 21:43 (7:14 pace)
2nd half- 20:54 (6:58 pace)

Wow! For a track, this would have been a good workout for me. On the trail, with the issues that I previously mentioned, this is an INCREDIBLE workout! Granted, after the first 2 miles I quickly dropped to low 7:00 min/miles and only dropped a few seconds between 4-5 and then only one mile under 7:00 at the end. But first, I ran the whole second half in sub 7:00 pace, which is what I'd imagine would be my 10k race pace, and second, I ran the last mile in 6:45 when I DEFINITELY wasn't feeling all that strong, and like I mentioned, the last half mile was fairly steeply uphill. I remember turning for the last uphill stretch with about .25 mile left and feeling like I wanted to slow down and thinking to myself, "THERE'S A FUCKING QUARTER MILE TO GO, THAT'S IT, YOU ARE NOT SLOWING DOWN DAMMIT RUN FASTER!!!!! When I hit the end and looked at my watch, the math took a bit longer than if I weren't exhausted but then I realized I got under 7:00 and was thrilled. I immediately called Laur as I was driving home to share in the good news and temporarily distract her.

Also a positive, my knees felt a little off but didn't get worse. My left knee had been bothering me all day and actually felt fine during and after. My right MCL was tight after but nothing some stretches and ib200 can't fix I'm sure. Positive energy from working my ass off. YES!

running on a treadmill until you throw up= EPIC FAIL!

2008-02-27T17:04:47Z

I went to the apartment complex fitness center again tonight, after not running since Friday morning, something that mentally was freaking me out because of how close my marathon is and the worries about being underprepared, but probably was a blessing for me and my fatiguing legs. My intention was to do 45 minutes @ half marathon pace with last 15 minutes @ 10k race pace. This would mean doing the first half hour in 7:20 pace and speeding up to ~6:50-7:00 for the end. This did not go well. Here's the damage:

~3 miles in ~25 minutes

This makes it look much better than it actually went. I did the first 2 milesish in 7:20 pace and went through my water bottle before I was done with the first mile. Almost right away it felt more difficult than it should have, and would have on a track outdoors. The combination of the hot, stale air and lack of ventilation was causing me to overheat and sweat like I was in a sauna. Being the stubborn person I am, I was all set to press on and gut it out. Fortunately my darling girlfriend called me and I stopped running and talked to her, at which time I started feeling really sick and I would not stop sweating, I thought I was going to pass out. I jogged back to my apt and immediately started throwing up in the toilet, at which time I knew I had pushed it too far.

So a big THANK YOU LAUR for stopping me from literally killing myself, because I have no doubt that I would have kept going at that pace and passed out in the fitness center where no one would have gotten to me for hours, I would have overheated and potentially aspirated on vomit. FUN! This was NOT the workout I was looking for after a few days off. I know I would have had a much better run on a nice, flat, outdoor track where the cool weather would have helped cool me off. Tomorrow HAS to be a good run or I'm going to start freaking out in earnest about this marathon.

Actually, I just need to forget what's already happened, relax, and focus on having a good run for every run from now until the Shamrock. ::deep breath::

a whole week of deja vu

2008-02-27T16:42:01Z

I ran last night, slept a few hours, woke up and went back to the fitness center to do another 5 miles on the treadmill. I started on the one I didn't run on last night, and it turns out the speeds are completely off so I went back to the original one. I was still feeling kind of sore and didn't want to push anything so I went even easier than the previous 5 miles. Here's the damage:

5 miles in 48:20 (9:40 pace)

including:
mile 1- 9:40
mile 2- 19:18 (9:38 mile)
mile 3- 29:00 (9:42 mile)
mile 4- 38:40 (9:40 mile)
mile 5- 48:20 (9:40 mile)

Nothing really more to say about this. It's not common I run during the day, especially early morning but whenever I do get a morning run in, it leaves me feeling nice and refreshed, so that was good. I think my body has been telling me that it's been overtaxed for a while now, moreso than ever before, since wrestling 5 years ago at this point (wow, that makes me feel old!). I hope it just means I need some of these easier runs and the taper for the next 2-3 weeks will leave me fresh to run 26.2 miles as best as I possibly can.

a healthy dose of humility once in a while

2008-02-22T04:29:33Z

So if Sunday was super encouraging and uplifting and other words of a similar vein, today was pretty much the opposite. I realize that not every run is going to be the best run ever, some runs are going to feel hard and miserable and I'm going to have to suffer just to get through them. I suppose this becomes even more likely when there are big distances involved. For example, the 20 miler I did today.

The schedule called for 20 miles easy with last 5 miles @ goal marathon pace. For me, I've come to the conclusion that goal marathon pace is 8:00/mi based on a predicted 3:30 finishing time which has seemed more and more reasonable of late. So my goal going into this run was to do an easy 15 miles through the University of Delaware campus and surrounding neighborhood and then get to the James F. Hall Trail at mile 15, and do the 5 miles on the trail where I would have 0.1 mile markers the whole way to keep me on pace. This is what happened, sort of, but with some not-so-minor snags.

First the here's the damage, then I'll discuss:

20 miles in 3:05:17 (9:16 pace)

including:
first 15 miles in 2:22:00 (9:28 pace)
last 5 miles in 43:17 (8:39 pace)

So, overall, not a terrible run. The overall pace is comparable to the other two 20 milers I've done, a bit slower but not by much. However, the way I felt at the end, and the epic fail that was the last 5 miles and my attempt at running 8:00 pace, which was abandoned in favor of just finishing the distance, is not really that great or encouraging. In fact, this has the opposite effect, mentally, that my 8x800 workout had...it's created some doubt and apprehension. Feelings I will do my best to push out of my mind and focus on positives and go from here.

I can't say that I went too fast initially, because the 9:28 pace for the first 15 was right around what I feel I should be doing. Other factors came into play that negated my otherwise pretty solid and smart pacing.

A few of these factors I think contributed to this failure at achieving my goals for the run:

First of all, I really underprepared nutrition-wise. I don't think I ate enough during the day leading up to my run (which started a little after 1600) nor did I eat well the night before, as I did before the other two 20 milers... there was no carb-heavy dinner last night. During the run was an even bigger nutrition problem, and one of the largest factors, I feel, towards my ultimate bonking. I had a 16 oz Gatorade that I mixed up from the powder, that was it. And I was done with it by mile 10, halfway through my run. For the rest of it I had nothing to replenish my electrolytes or calories that I was burning. By the end, my muscles were screaming for something, anything and my body had nothing to give them. I could feel this especially so in my calves which felt like they had gone on strike indefinitely.

Secondly, I completely failed to anticipate or account for the weather. At all. When I started, it was snowing a bit, but the temp wasn't terrible, the sun was still up albeit hidden behind clouds and whatnot. I wore shorts (which was not really the issue, my legs were ok and the cold probably did some good in keeping them from overheating), a Dri-Fit t-shirt and a sweatshirt. Gloves and a Dri-Fit skull cap. The biggest problem was the gloves. I have pretty bad circulation in my hands, and it is exacerbated in cold weather- it doesn't take much for my hands to get REALLY cold. It doesn't help that I was holding the water bottle full of cold liquid in them. The gloves were clearly not meant to keep hands warm in very cold weather and my left hand got increasingly number. Around mile 10 I realized that my face was almost completely numb as well and ice crystals had begun forming on my beard. My core felt ok, as it was protected and all the blood was being directed to my legs and to my core, but my head and my hands got really cold. By the time I started my last 5 miles I could feel the effects of hypothermia starting to set in. I was getting that extremely overwhelming tired feeling, making me tempted to just stop and lay down and go to sleep...from which I would never wake up. I began realizing my brain wasn't functioning properly, when I tried to talk out loud I was slurring everything, things were starting to shut down, and I was panicking. By around mile 18 I was earnestly worried that my hand was frostbitten and by the end of the 20 miles I was borderline delirious and had to coach myself through crossing the street, opening my car, and finding something to drink. I left my Lauren an insane voicemail because I was afraid I was going to pass out and not wake up. I think once the sun went down and the weather got much colder, my body felt the effects and like I said, I was caught very underprepared. This is a consideration I need to be mindful of come marathon weekend.

Another factor that I think played some role, though maybe not as big as the first two, was the topography of the route. I've been running on tracks and on the flat streets of Long Island for the past few months. Newark is not exactly NH or CO, but it's much hillier than Wantagh. Not so much on the main campus, but going from campus to up by the Towers and back and parts of the James F. Hall trail are kind of hilly, especially so when legs are tired and glycogen stores are completely depleted and your body is shutting down from the cold. I really felt some of the pretty slight ups and downs on the trail during my last 5 miles that normally wouldn't really register. So while normally this wouldn't be a big deal, this being my first longish run in town and the other factors accounted for, this just exacerbated things.

I dunno what else to say about this run. I'm disappointed and slightly disheartened but I can't do anything about it now. It happened, I have get over it and move on and have a better run next time. There is still 3+ weeks til my marathon, plenty of time for good, quality runs. Better I have a bad run now then March 16th right. And glass-half-fulling here, this is a learning experience. While it would have been nice to hit my pacing precisely and crush this run like most of my previous ones, I can look at what went wrong and take steps to not repeat those mistakes again, in my next few long runs and in the marathon itself.

on crushing the most important speedwork day, and how marathon training is a team effort

2008-02-20T18:33:40Z

So according to travelogger's final 7 week training schedule, I was supposed to do this workout earlier in the week. This specific workout was very important not just as a good, hard speed work day, but also because it is a good indicator of marathon finishing time. Essentially, you run the 800s in whatever time you want to run the marathon in (min:sec, instead of hr:min, though) with equal recovery time in between intervals. So for me, it was:

8x800, each 800 in 3:30 (marathon goal time of 3:30:00) with 3:30 active recovery in between

I was nervous because if I struggled, it would be a big mental blow to my goal of a 3:30 marathon, something that has started to seem more and more within reach and not a far-fetched goal. So between some necessary schedule juggling and the fact that I wanted fresh legs and an un-burdened mind with which to run this, it got pushed to Sunday. The Cisneros clan went to church at noon and my darling girlfriend and I went to the high school track nearby. Originally I was going to run and Laur was going to watch/read/relax in the car because it was kind of chilly out. But then she decided and could not be talked out of coming down to the track and timing me with her awesome Nike watch. This way I wouldn't have to worry about recording my split times, and furthermore, I could get each 800 broken down by lap. And a kiss in between 800s is always a nice motivating tool.

I started with a half mile warm-up and then was ready and raring to go. The only minor annoyance was the two girls who were walking in the inside lanes that I would have to go around, but like I said- minor annoyance, I was feeling too good and too amped up.

Without further ado, here's the damage, meticulously recorded by the wonderful starsinmycloset:

800 repeats (3:30 rest in between each)
1- 3:15:08 (Lap 1- 1:31:80, Lap 2- 1:43:28)
2- 3:28:00 (Lap 1- 1:43:00, Lap 2- 1:45:00)
3- 3:29:28 (Lap 1- 1:42:97, Lap 2- 1:46:31)
4- 3:24:79 (Lap 1- 1:46:02, Lap 2- 1:38:77)
5- 3:28:37 (Lap 1- 1:46:81, Lap 2- 1:41:56)
6- 3:28:11 (Lap 1- 1:45:23, Lap 2- 1:42:88)
7- 3:27:93 (Lap 1- 1:44:20, Lap 2- 1:43:73)
8- 2:48:18 (Lap 1- 1:29:05, Lap 2- 1:19:13)

So, I didn't actually do any of the 800s in 3:30, and towards the end I wasn't even giving myself 3:30 rest, I was just taking whatever I ran the previous 800 in. And I had energy enough to really sort of crank it on that last one. I know that running the last one as fast as I did may not have been what I was supposed to do, but by golly, I was feeling SO FRAKKIN' GOOD and I had so much energy that I really wanted to push it, like I haven't pushed myself in months. My legs responded with the final 400 being close to a sprint, but I still didn't feel like my muscles were going to seize up.

All of this is VERY encouraging as far as my potential to hit my goal time in the marathon next month. 4 more weeks of good, solid, injury-free, intelligent running and I have all the confidence that I will do very well. Today illustrated how marathon training is not always a solo venture though. I was running a workout drawn up by one person who knows better than I do, and had another there for support and help. My legs feel good, never tired or sore, and no pain whatsoever. Happy running, indeed!

welcome back to UD (or, reminding myself why I loathe the CSB treadmills)

2008-02-13T23:27:32Z

So today was quite surreal. I drove down to UD this morning, and started my search for someplace to live for the next few months as I START GRAD SCHOOL! Yikes. That's still sort of sinking in. And I've already had my first class, Advanced Physiology of Exercise. We learned all about cardiac physiology tonight, the cardiac cycle, what the various squiggles on an electrocardiogram mean, all about stroke volume (get your mind out of the gutters!) and cardiac output. Real interesting stuff....to me and not many others.

So we had ourselves a little ice storm today, everything was super slippery, the sidewalks especially because no salt had been put down. So running outside was not just impractical, it was impossible. That meant I'd have to settle for the treadmills at the Little Bob. Fortunately when I got there, there was one open, I did my half mile warm-up then got into it.

I was supposed to do 20 minutes @ 5 mile race pace.
Here's the damage:

3 miles in 20:10 (6:43 pace)

including:
mile 1- 6:49
mile 2- 13:33 (6:44 mile)
mile 3- 20:10 (6:37 mile)

Pretty consistent with last time, except last time was on the track which I prefer. The treadmill is easy on my knees and all, but the way they're set up at the Little Bob, they face the mirrors so you're running staring at yourself the whole time and that's it. No tv to distract you from acting like a giant hamster, not even facing the workout area so you can stare at people working out to distract you from running in place. And what's even worse than that, the air is oppressive. It's stale and there is little or no ventilation right there. It'd be nice to have some air blowing on you but nope, nothing, stifling, hot air that makes me overheat quicker than I normally would. That being said, I "eased" into the run. The one thing I really like about the treadmill is that you can control the pace exactly, which means I constantly and gradually increased speed, so the entire run was a negative split. Sweet. I finished and did a some ab work, showered and got out of there as the place was closing, so nothing really has changed from last year in that regard.

One funny moment, I was running, about 10 minutes in; at that point there was a treadmill unoccupied to my left, then a girl running at a decent pace, then another unoccupied treadmill. These two stereotypical sorority-type girls came over to the treadmills. I could see int he mirror that they were unenthused about the prospect of not running next to each other. I heard the one say to the other something to the effect of "great, I'm stuck between two serious runners" I chuckled to myself. It seemed that most of the people on the treadmills were using them as their daily cardio, probably not even knowing what that meant really but doing it because they read it in a magazine or something. I know I shouldn't judge, or complain, because the fact that they're there doing something, anything is good, and better than nothing. So long as they don't take up all the treadmills when us "serious" runners need them. ::removes tongue from cheek::

Anyway, good run, feel good, still adjusting to things, a feeling that will probably persist until sometime next week when I'm here for good and settled into a routine and a rhythm.

running at MY beach

2008-02-13T22:46:02Z

So I guess I really felt the part of someone who will be packing up and moving away from the island for 2 years in a matter of days, possibly forever. Wow. I decided to do my 14 mile run from the Jones Beach bike path that starts in Cedar Creek Park, to the beach, up and down the boardwalk, and then back. I mapped out a course that would take me from the end of the bike bath to the boardwalk, and then up and back to the bike path that was ~5.35 miles. Factor in that the bike path itself is 4.33 miles (8.66 out and back) and that works out to a nice, even, scenic, WINDY 14 miler. I didn't have any specific pace, just easier than what I've been doing because my body needed a bit of a break, as much of a break as 14 miles can provide. Here's the damage:

14 miles in 2:00:33 (8:37 pace)

I didn't really keep track of mile splits because the middle miles were on the boardwalk and not very evenly, plus this was an easy run that required an easy, nonspecific pace. I started feeling alright, when I got near the end of the bike path the wind picked up and started becoming a factor. By the time I got to the boardwalk it was ridiculous. I went east about .2 mile on the boardwalk to the eastern terminus, then ran the 2 mile length east to west into a very strong headwind. WeatherBug later told me it was about 35 mph with gusts up to 55mph...yikes! Close to Mt. Washington weather! I struggled for those two miles and got to the halfway point of my run in about 1:03:00. Once I turned around things were much easier as I had the wind at my back. I know the last 4 miles I ran in 31:00 which is 7:45 pace, which is a bit too fast, I know, but it felt good and my legs were itching to work. No knee pain or anything which is good to see on a longer run like this. I was kinda sore at the end but nothing that lingered or that a little stretching won't take care of. Good week.

Weekly mileage total: ~40 miles

first day of real speed work

2008-01-30T06:45:44Z

Today I went up to the track, but instead of doing the usual easy runs that I've done there throughout my marathon training, I did my first speedwork session. I was dreading it a little, given that most of my runs have been longish and relatively slow. Nothing under 7:00 pace, maybe a mile here or there when I was feeling particularly good but nothing where the focus was on speed and improving VO2 max, not endurance and increasing aerobic capacity. I am going to be following travelogger's final 7 week plan that he posted in runners the other day. I'll post that later but in the meantime, let's talk about today. It called for 1 mile warm-up, mile intervals on the track at 10k race pace and a 1 mile cool-down. Let's just say it went better than I expected. Here's the damage:

3x1 mile @ 10k race pace
mile 1: 6:39
mile 2: 6:39
mile 3: 6:33

1 mile warm-up, 1 mile cooldown, very easy, 1 lap in ~3:30 recovery in between each mile

I figured that back in November, early on in training, I ran on 10k in 7:09 pace and while it felt kinda hard back then I figured if I can run that back then, around a 6:50-7:00 pace for a race wouldn't be unreasonable. So that was the times I wanted to run today.

The first mile felt good, I realized it was going to be faster than the pace I had anticipated, I slowed myself a little but still finished well below 7:00. The lap of slow, easy jogging in between felt nice as I sucked down some water. The second mile felt the hardest. I tried starting at a slightly slower pace and my legs didn't feel tight or tired but they didn't feel quite as fresh this time around. The third mile felt just fantastic. I was noticing consistent 50sec. 200 splits and then the last lap or so I just took off apparently. I think this may have been slightly faster than a realistic 10k race pace for now but a good first workout nonetheless. Looking forward to the rest of this week!

markrunsfar @ 2008-01-25T13:40:00

2008-01-29T18:46:27Z

Tonight I went down to the Jones Beach bike path that runs from Cedar Creek park to Jones Beach State Park. It is conveniently marked every mile for the 4+ miles it runs. I decided I'd do some out and backs on it to get my 20 in, getting every mile split from 1-20 along the way, mostly for my own personal amusement when I get to play around with the times and what they mean later. When I started (around 1600, I was worried that I would have to cut it to 18 or even 16 because I had to pick up Laur at the train station at 1900, and I didn't want her to have to wait.) 3 hours was slightly less than I ran my first 20 miler and I was shot after that, it means an even 9:00 pace and I was hoping that was attainable. Halfway through I wasn't so sure, but by the end, as you will see, it certaintly was, and then some! Here's the massive damage:

20 miles in 2:58:36 (8:55 pace)

Miles
1- 8:48
2- 17:48 (9:00 mile)
3- 27:08 (9:20 mile)
4- 36:05 (8:57 mile)
5- 48:52 (12:47 mile)
6- 58:40 (9:48 mile)
7- 1:07:10 (8:30 mile)
8- 1:16:14 (9:04 mile)
9- 1:27:36 (11:22 mile)
10- 1:36:08 (8:32 mile)
11- 1:45:17 (9:09 mile)
12- 1:53:57 (8:40 mile)
13- 2:02:36 (8:39 mile)
14- 2:10:50 (8:14 mile)
15- 2:18:46 (7:56 mile)
16- 2:26:52 (8:06 mile)
17- 2:34:57 (8:05 mile)
18- 2:42:58 (8:01 mile)
19- 2:50:59 (8:01 mile)
20- 2:58:36 (7:37 mile)

I will update this later to fill break down what the various splits and what it all means. Suffice it to say, it was a very good run, it gives me a lot of hope that a good marathon is well within reach, possibly even a 3:30! It gives me a lot of confidence going into this last segment of my marathon training and the fact that my legs had so much energy and felt so strong at the end is supremely encouraging and I feel tells me that my training thus far has been solid. Now for a relaxing weekend with my amazing girlfriend, including a comedy show at the Upright Citizen's Brigade theater and an eastern-LI excursion!

I RAN 20 FRAKKIN' MILES! TWO-ZERO, TWENTY!

2008-01-17T20:26:28Z

So I may be just the slightest bit pumped up about my latest MILEstone. At the advice of travelogger I changed up my running plans for the next week or two and did a 20 miler today so I can do another one next Friday before starting my speed work and tapering for the marathon. Yikes, it's getting so close! It such an odd feeling leaving for a run at 2:30 in the afternoon and getting done sometime after dark, which is exactly what happened yesterday.

I layered up because it was chilly out, I put some nourishments in a bag in my driveway along with changes of clothes. I set it up so I would do an 8 mile route, a 5 mile route, a 4 mile route, and then 3 mile laps, in between the first three longer sections I would change into dry stuff and refuel.

My goal was to take this very easy, this would be a distance PR by 4 whole miles and I didn't want to go out fast and burn out or hurt myself. To that end I think I did a very good job. I was also smart about avoiding knee issues. For the first few miles I stopped periodically to stretch, relace shoes as needed, basically just make sure I was warmed up and comfortable. This helped me avoid any issues that would cause me to stop completely for an extended period of time. Naturally there were SOME aches along the way, as well there should be (ankle tightness towards the end, aches and pains everywhere afterwards) The biggest concern is that hours after, when I got to Trivia Night @ La Negrita in the city with Lauren, Scott, & co, my right knee, on the outside IT band possibly (?), was fairly painful and didn't really ease up. I'm going to look up some stretches and try that out on my off day, and might possibly take 2 days off from running for the first time since I started training for this marathon!

Here's the damage:

20 miles in 3:04:51 (9:14 pace)

including:
1st 8 miles in 1:15:41 (9:28 pace)
(3:40 break to change and drink) 1:15:41-1:19:21
miles 8-13 (5 miles) in 43:47 (8:45 pace) 1:19:21-2:03:08
(:52 break to change drinks) 2:03:08-2:04:00
miles 13-17 (4 miles) in 35:08 (8:47 pace) 2:04:00-2:39:08
mile 17-18 (1 mile) in 8:32; 2:39:08-2:47:40
mile 18-19 (1 mile) in 8:42; 2:47:40-2:56:22
mile 19-20 (1 mile) in 8:29; 2:56:22-3:04:51

So what the times show me is that I started easy and got faster, definitely negative splitting which makes me happy, and also that I didn't let my speed get out of control at any point. There was no wall that I ran up against, I got tired but I was able to refeul at enough spots along the way to maintain enough energy through the end. Had a 16 oz. water through the first 8 miles and a Nurti-grain bar at mile 5, then a 20oz. Gatorade along from miles 8-13, a banana at mile 13, and another 20oz Gatorade from miles 13-17. This worked well and also allowed me some brief breaks where I walked around and stretched out.

Some things that I remember along the way. Around mile 4, some kid was at the window of his house and he yells out "HI!" to me, I yell hi back and then as I'm running off his block he starts yelling to come back, it was funny. Around mile 6.5, I saw what seemed like a grandma walking with a little girl who couldn't have been more than 3 years old coming towards me. As I was approaching them the girl looked all wide-eyed at me, then almost as I reached them she waved, so I waved back and she goes to her grandma excitedly, "I want to run, I can run!" while running in place. I hear the grandma say something to the effect of, "You don't want to run, you walk" and I know she probably meant at that specific moment but nevertheless I turned my head, as I was a few yards past them, and yelled to the girl, "YOU CAN RUN HOWEVER FAR AND HOWEVER FAST YOU WANT AND DON'T YOU EVER FORGET IT!" I felt a little bad about stepping on the grandma's parenting toes and sounding like I was encouraging her to misbehave, but it was important to me at the time to let her know that running is a good idea for ANYONE! And I hope if she someday grows up to be a track superstar that I subconsciously had something to do with that. Just after mile 5 I came across a huge group of what had to be middleschool kids just loitering around Sand Hill Park, some were tearing up bushes, most were on their BMX bikes. As I ran down Sand Hill Rd. towards Wantagh Ave. a few of them took to following me and chanting the obvious and trite "Run Forrest Run!" and then trying to ask me why I was running and basically heckling me for a bit, all while struggling to maintain my pace on their bikes. They eventually gave up following and I turned on Wantagh Ave, they went back to do some sort of degenerate-ness. Then around mile 9 I was in running in the street as a man got out of his truck. He looked to be about 45-50ish and somewhat overweight. He takes one look at me running by and exclaims, "I wish I had your energy!" In my head I replied, "I wish I had some more!" but I hadn't the energy to vocalize that sentiment, ironically enough. Also saw a runner on the opposite side of Wantagh Ave. around mile 15 and gave him a thumbs up but it went unacknowledged. And around mile 18.5 I saw my godmother Diane walking her dog around the block from her house (which is around the block from MY house). This is the second such sighting this week for me. I was so focused on form and pace that I hadn't noticed her on the sidewalk and she yelled out "HI MARK!" I said hi back and she said "LOOKING GOOD!" which was very encouraging at that point because I wasn't feeling great but that was a shot of adrenaline. Finally, on my last lap, right around the 19.5 mark, I see two girls who were probably in 10-11th grade light up a bowl of marijuana right there on the corner. I know this is what they did from the overpowering smell and emanating from the thick cloud of smoke I had to run through. I swear one of these days I'm going to actually get high from running in my neighborhood. It's sad to say I wasn't even that shocked.

As soon as I finished and started walking up my block to recover, my legs felt it, big time. I took my pulse and it was around 168, good. I walked up and down the block for a bit while the soreness in my legs became more and more prominent. Walking in the house was more of a hobble initially but it let up a bit with some stretching and just moving them. I feel so proud of myself, this was very daunting at the onset and I managed it well and got through it and it gives me some more hope about this marathon. It also gives me an appreciation of just how much of an undertaking a marathon is. It's a whole 10k MORE than what I ran. Wow! It's gonna be a challenge, but one I cannot wait to take on.

a make-up 6 miler

2008-01-15T20:50:35Z

So I cut my Sunday long run short, and I felt equal parts guilty and ok with that. Regardless, my legs are used to higher mileage, and I've done mid-week runs that were almost as long, so I didn't think it the worst thing to do an extra run on what is normally an off-day for me. The reasoning I used is that if I get 6 miles in today, I would have done the 47 miles I had wanted to do for last week in a 7 day period still, even if it doesn't fit in my Mon-Sun week. Tuesday will be an off day and then I'll be back on track for the final push towards Virginia Beach. Originally I'd wanted to go up to the track but it got late so instead I just ran mile laps around my block. Here's the damage:

mile 1: 9:50
mile 2: 19:50 (10:00 mile)
mile 3: 29:43 (9:53 mile)
mile 4: 39:40 (9:57 mile)
mile 5: 49:29 (9:49 mile)
mile 5: 58:49 (9:20 mile)

1st half: 29:43 (9:54 pace)
2nd half: 29:06 (9:42 pace)

1st third: 19:50 (9:55 pace)
middle third: 19:50 (9:55 pace)
last third: 19:09 (9:35 pace)

As you can tell, I enjoy running 6 miles because I can break it into mile splits, half splits, and third splits. All of which indicated that I had a good, easy run tonight, where I got progessively faster with no real appreciable increase in effort or energy expenditure on my part, just warming up and relaxing. The best part was that I had no knee pain or other pains that shouldn't have been there. Tomorrow I suppose is a day off like I mentioned and then I'm still trying to formalize plans thereafter, incorporating travelogger's advice about speedwork, as my marathon is fast approaching and getting my VO2 max up to match my aerobic capacity which I have been building up the past few months is becoming priority so I can have a respectable showing.