The Next Step...

So the Goofy is over and I enjoyed my week off thoroughly. I decided to sign up for the ING Georgia Half Marathon, which takes place March 29th. I'm also going to track my training mileage. I'm basing my mileage around the Hal Higdon Intermediate Half Marathon Plan. I'm going to try to break the 2 hour mark (9:00 pace), with a goal time of around 1:50 (8:30 pace). I'm not really sure how realistic 8:30 is but I think 9:00 is pretty doable. My achilles tendon has been acting up since the Goofy, so I'm trying to take it kind of slow starting back. I'm going to do some strength training based on Hal Higdon's recommendations in his training plan. My training also includes speed work and tempo runs. I stayed away from these training techniques during my Goofy training but am looking forward to incorporating them this time.

I'm also going to run a 10K or two this spring as I prepare for the Half. I decided to do this for two reasons. First, it's good race prep work. Second, I want to qualify in either group 1A or 1B for the Peachtree Road Race this year. I haven't done the Peachtree, which is the largest single location 10K race in the world, so I'm going to do it this year just to knock it out. With about 55,000 people at the start, I REALLY want to be in the front. The only way to get up there for this race is to qualify by running another race during the year. 1A requires a time between 42:00 and 49:50, 1B is between 50:00 and 54:59.

I'll update this blog along the way!

So I'm Officially Goofy - in more ways than one...

Wow. That was tough. Disney's Goofy Race and a Half Challenge took place last weekend. The race was a Half Marathon (13.1 miles) on Saturday followed by a full marathon (26.2) on Sunday. My strategy was to play Saturday very conservatively and save myself for Sunday, which conicedentally, was my first ever marathon (not smart but back to that later). Saturday morning came and we got up at 3:45 AM for the 5:50 race start. It was still dark when we lined up in our start corrals, but that made the fireworks that went off at the starting gun that much more impactful. I didn't stick to my plan to be conservative at all. I finished the half in 2:18 on Saturday and was feeling pretty good. The course was very entertaining for the most part. We went through the Magic Kingdom and Epcot and saw many characters and cheering spectators along the way. It was really a good race.

Then Sunday came. Same drill, wake up at 3:45, get in the nutrition, suit up, and head out. Dark at the start, starting corrals, fireworks, etc. If it's boring to read the same thing at the start of both races, imagine doing the same thing for both at 4:00 AM. A lot of deja vu feelings. Anyway, I was feeling a little sore at the start of the race today, which was different from the day before. I started out feeling a little stiff and rusty but after a couple miles, settled in and was feeling pretty good.... One of my fellow runners was wearing a shirt that said "If you feel good during a marathon, don't worry, it will pass." So true. My stomach started acting up around mile 5. I think it was the combo of three Ensures with PowerBar energy drink that I had around 3:45 AM. I once read a quote from a marathoner that said something about how the marathon is an experience in the unknown. You never know what's going to happen and how your body will respond on race day. Yep, got it. So after a stop at a restroom in the Magic Kingdom, I was under way again. I hit the half way point about 30 minutes behind my finish time the day before. Not too shabby!! That would put me in at about 5:15. Definitey not spectacular for a marathon time, but not too bad considering it was my first ever and i ran a half the day before. OK, i'm cool with it. Unfortunately, my stomach wasn't finished protesting. Another stop at a restroom in the Animal Kingdom around mile 17 and I was chugging along. The two stops really hurt my overall time, but what can you do, you never know what's going to happen on race day...

After about mile 20, my legs were shot and took over protesting on behalf of my stomach. From then on, I hung with the 'sweepers', bringing up the rear and gutting out my quest for the finish line. I crossed the line at 6:07. I paused my iPod during my 'stomach stops' but kept it on during walking or stretching breaks and the time read 5:38 on it when I finished. Whatever the time, I completed a 39.3 mile, two-day event and I'm happy with my accomplishment.

The consensus among everyone I talked to was that I am crazy for doing my first marathon after doing a half the day before. I'm not arguing with that but I do have to say that the mental challenge was much greater and, therefore, I learned much more about myself by doing this event. That being said, it's not the hardest endurance event I've ever completed. That honor goes to the Florida Half Ironman in May 2005. This was a very close second though...

I definitely think I will do the Goofy Challege again. I would like to run just a marathon at some point before I do it again though. I think that, and having the knowledge of what I'm up against in the marathon, would help a lot when planning the race. In Spirit of the Marathon, Paula Radcliffe says that the marathon is like a life journey - there are good patches, rough patches, and all that matters is that you keep moving forward. After completing one, I can see where she's coming from with that comment. Let's just hope that next time out I can condense my life journey to around 4 hours...

A Sad Realization...

So after three weeks away from the blog and two weeks away from home, I put in a whopping 3 runs while away. Not so good for the training... I basically started all of October over this week - a two week jump backwards in my training schedule. It is what it is and I'm home now and back in the routine. Today was 6 miles following yesterday's 3. While out for my 6 today, came to a disheartening realization: my legs forgot how to run slowly and my lungs forgot how to run quickly. Bascially, I couldn't get my legs to go slowly enough to keep my heart rate down. I ended up averaging 170, which is 85% of MHR - barely in Z1. I've been in this place before, so I'm not too worried. The upside is that the weather is about perfect these days so it's great being outside. Progress should come quickly.

The 100th Mile

So, as noted by the fancy applet to the right, I made it 100 miles in September. My foot was still hurting a little today but I still managed to squeak out 6.75 miles to get me to my goal. I'm not completely sure why my knees and foot is hurting but from what I've been reading, it could be due to some tightness in my calves. I started to feel a cramp coming on in my right calf at about mile 4 but it went away. I did notice that I seemed somewhat dehydrated. I feel like I ate a salt block and there's residue on my face. Glad that run is over...

So yesterday I was dealing with some minor pain in my left foot but didn't really think it was a big deal. I mean, it is the foot I broke twice but still. Well, I work up this morning and as soon as I stepped out of bed, my foot got my attention. It's on the outside of my foot and a little along the bottom. After some research, it seems that it's a pretty common running injury - most likely tendonitis. I planned to run 3 today and 6 tomorrow but I'm going to move today's run to Friday and hopefully be able to get my 6 in tomorrow. Getting to my goal of 100 miles in September is in jeopardy but I'd rather rest it for a day now that push it and have to take a week off...

Buckhead Sizzler 10K

So waking up at 6:00 AM on a Saturday SUCKED! The Buckeyes have another noon game today though, so it was kind of nice to get started early. The weather was perfect - about 60 degrees, very light breeze, and partly sunny. I got a spot pretty close to the starting line and got ready to go. They don't use chip time so I wanted to try to get as close to the start as I could, especially since I was planning to slide in just under an hour...

They got started a little late but whatever. I took off when the gun sounded and tried to find my rhythm. The first mile felt a little harder than I thought it would. I was watching my HR but had no clue what my pace was. I wanted to shoot for keeping my HR in the 'Threshold Zone' per Runners' World, which is defined as 88-92% of Max HR, or 176-184 for me. So I watched and it held, so I just kept running. I wasn't able to get into a rhythm at all for the first time, but did hear my time when I passed the marker in 8:50 - WHOA!!!! Time to SLOW DOWN! So I did what I could to try to slow and continued to watch my HR. I was still within the range I was shooting for, so all good for now. Well, I passed mile two in 17:40! Now i'm starting to get worried a little. I mean, I haven't trained AT ALL in the 'Threshold Zone' so who knows how long I can maintain it? 30 minutes? 40? Anyway, I'm starting to find a groove now and just trying to keep my HR in the range and keep it going. I get to mile 3 in 26:50 - OK, a little better...

By now we're starting to get to the part of town where I always run. Things look familiar and I'm settling in. I tried to find someone to pace me, but no luck. We're getting into the hills now and it's taking a bit of a toll. We're also having to dodge drivers that are making their way to the one gas station within 5 miles that has gas. The drivers don't really want to stop for us. Anyway, trucking along nicely. They had a water station at 4.5 miles so I actually slowed and walked quickly through it and got a cup of water. After that it was a nice, gradual downhill past the 5 mile mark. The first half of mile 5 was uphill, then it was downhill to the finish.

I have no idea what they are going to call my official time. I hit my watch right at the finish line and it read 55:58. Not my fastest 10K ever, but not my slowest. All in all, I'm happy with it. I held right at about 9:00 pace the entire time, which is not something I thought I could do at this point in my training. Nike+ continues to disappoint. It showed 9.65K at the finish. I'm pretty sure the course was accurate, at least according to MapMyRun.com. I'll drop in the route below. At any rate, 9.65K turns out to be 5.99 miles. Since my training plan only called for 6 today, I don't really care that much. It was a good day and a good race. Can't ask for much more than that. GO BUCKS!

Much Better...

So I did my 6 today at 10:07 pace. Before I left I reset the calibration of Nike+ - not recalibrated, just reset to default. It was much closer; off probably 80 meters at the most. I guess my running pace is starting to get closer to what Nike considers 'normal'. At any rate, I felt good and I'm looking forward to the 10k this weekend. I did average 165 HR, which is about 82% of my Max HR. I'll work to average no more than 88% on Saturday, so an hour looks OK.