Week 13: An intense weekend

Today's 20 miles, following a 10 mile marathon pace day was tough. I learned today that Noble is intending to run the marathon at the pace we've been training at on our long runs. So A.) I'm probably partially killing him and B.) He's got more in him than he thinks. Hopefully not too much of A and more of B. Anyhow, we were a little low on our water, and I think plotting out a route with more than 1 water stop is a must for any other such long runs. We took several walk breaks in the last 6 miles.

The trip out seemed fine, no troubles, but the return trip was not so smooth. Both Noble and I ran out of water earlier than hoped, causing us to conserve too much. We also had the sun beating directly on us for much of those miles. Some may be amused by the white strip across my sun burned torso from where my HRM strap was.

The 10 mile pace run was smooth, and I completed it @ a quick 7:02 pace, which I now know is 15 seconds faster than the minimum pace to qualify for Boston.

distance	time	Pace	HR Avg.	HR Max
10.00	1:10:19	7:02	169	188

That is my goal, to beat the Boston Qualifying Time of 3 hours and 10 minutes (+59 secs). That's a pace of 7:15-7:17. If I reach my goal, I will consider running another marathon. If not, I will concentrate on 5k, and perhaps run a few miles at open track meets. Those are some fun races that I miss.

Tomorrow will be a day of healing...

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Week 11: A 20 miler under my belt

Once again I moved my Sunday long run to Saturday for convenience. This was my first of 3 20 milers before the marathon. I chose to run on the W&OD starting from Old Town Herndon. I staged my car at the 20 mile marker and ran toward Leesburg for 5 miles, returned to the car and ran toward Reston/Vienna and back for the final 10 miles.

distance	time	Pace	HR Avg.	HR Max
20.03	2:44:59	8:14	146	178

It was a decent morning for a run, plenty of cloud cover, but humid and warm. Brenda, who ran 14, and I got off to a late start (9:00) much to our chagrin as the sun poked through the clouds around 11 heating up the trail and giving me a good burn. The last 2 miles were brutal and I was toast by the time I reached the 20 mile mark for the last time.

An 8:14 pace w/ 3 minutes of walking a ~5min break in the middle might have been a bit overboard. It helps when I have a running partner to mellow the pace, but on my own, with all sort of traffic on the road, I was sucked into a quick pace.

At the mid-point I stopped to top off my water and changed my socks (No blisters... YAY!). I finished with a sore right hip and rear of the knee (above the calf). Both were alleviated by my Body Glide Warm-Fx, the product that caused recent shenanigans. At least it's making up for the pain, but it did manage to transfer to some spots I wouldn't have wanted it to.

After today I'll have run over 200 miles for the month of August, and put nearly 300 miles on my month and a half old shoes. That order from Brooks can't come soon enough... I look forward to this, a lighter week.

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Week 10 Wrap-up

Despite being the first week over the mid-program hump, week 10 did not relent! All told, I put in 48+ miles at an average pace of 8:02. That includes a 9 mile marathon pace run Sunday to cap off the week. Though I ran it @ 10 seconds over Boston pace which is my lofty goal, the terrain in Reston is much wilder than i'll see in Toronto. That's a good sign past the midpoint, especially the day after a long run.

distance	time	Pace	HR Avg.	HR Max
9.02	1:06.06	7:20	155	173

That long run day did not go so smoothly... I showed up late to Noble's place in Arlington after a poor night's sleep. I was completely disorganized which led to my key fob falling out of my Fuel Belt pouch around mile 10. Of course I didn't realize this until 3 miles later. After completing a very hilly 18 miles (1 short of the plan) we tried to hunt down the fob to no avail. We had to drive the distance to Reston to get my backup key. Things smoothed out afterward and we had a good BBQ lunch at Rocklands.

distance	time	Pace	HR Avg.	HR Max
18.20	2:33:44	8:27	143	175

My training earlier in the week was a bit brutal due to the humidity. Finishing Thursday's hill workout was tough, as was Tuesday's 9 miler. I had a little blister trouble after the Sunday pace run including a tear in my right big toe callouses. I decided to take today off to heal. I'm going to be a little more cautious with the belt. I'm a bit disappointed that I can't secure my keys better.

This weekend is 20 miles. It's going to be a tough solo run.

So ends my first iPhone post!

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Week 8: Day 6 - Long runs are always better with company

I moved my Sunday run up a day to run with Noble who will also be running the Toronto Marathon. I can't deny the benefits of having a running partner when doing distances like this. We met up in Waterfront in DC bright and early (7:30 AM) where I met my training group for Honolulu a few years back. It's a great spot to run with fairly level terrain and lots of great scenery.

We ran around the mall and along the Potomac on our out and back. I learned of Noble's sour luck this summer, and hope that will turn around for him. He definitely had a lemons to lemonade outlook on the situation which is refreshing. We were able to carry on conversation throughout the run. The pace was steady throughout, though we sped up in the later downhill miles. I was able to run a comfortable 7:57 extra last mile.

distance	time	Pace	HR Avg.	HR Max
17.05	2:22:28	8:21	136	157

I've been running with my helium 2 Fuel Belt which has worked well, even up to 17 miles yesterday, but I've definitely pushed the limits. Now I wish I had gone with helium 4 and run with less bottles when I didn't need them, but it's a little late for that now. The question is do I try to find a way to reload my bottles late into these runs, or do I spring for the larger capacity belt??

My recommendation: Buy the helium 4 the first time around!

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Week 8: Day 2 - On the Road Again

Today I returned from a long weekend in Rochester and Fredonia, NY. I stayed on the wagon for the most part, though I missed yesterdays 3-miler for some recording sessions in the folks' barn with Jim. I even got Jim to join me for a run. On Sunday he joined me for the final 4 miles of my 16-miler in Fredonia. I ran the first 12 faster than recommended (8:20/mile), so relaxing the pace with my bro was a nice relief.

distance	time	Pace	HR Avg.	HR Max
16.29	2:21:35	8:41	132	146

Over the course of my run, I climbed a fair amount, and still kept the heart rate low. This is a good sign with 11 weeks to go. I experienced sharp ankle pain for a few moments prior to my brief stop to pick up Jim, but that subsided. I had run over 7 hard miles in Rochester with some difficult inclines and winding single track paths which might have led to the soreness.

distance	time	Pace	HR Avg.	HR Max
7.05	52:30	7:27	156	180

Brenda and I had stayed at the Woodcliff Hotel and Spa perched at the top of a steep hill for our friends' wedding (Congrats Ben and Lauren!) which made for an awful return trip on the run. I had "golfed" 9 holes earlier in the day as well adding a good deal of miles on foot Saturday.

Today I went out in Fredonia for 8 before hitting the road. I pushed the pace more and more as the run went on hitting a 7:32 mile at the end. It wasn't intentional, but it felt smooth, and I had a long day on the road ahead of me. Now I get to enjoy some time back home, and just maybe... I'll have a few relaxing days. It was great spending time with friends and family, but it's great to be home.

distance	time	Pace	HR Avg.	HR Max
8.05	1:02:43	7:47	146	165

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Week 5: Day 7 - Pain train boarded

After failing to do the whole long run last Sunday I decided that was not an option today. This evening I returned from Brooklyn around 6, stretched and fueled for 30 minutes and set out for a 14 miler. Not only did I sit in the car for 4.5 hours today, but I also played basketball for my brothers team who were severely short handed.

distance	time	Pace	HR Avg.	HR Max
13.72	1:53:33	8:17	146	170

We played the whole 40(?) minutes: 5 on 5 with no subs. I should stick to running... I had several opportunities to shoot, but I couldn't buy a bucket... the rims and backboards were straight street with absolutely no give. Anything that hit the rim went flying out. Sorry to Jim for my Shaq-esque performance (minus the strong play in the paint).

My run took me to new territory. I ran down to the Franklin Farm area of Herndon where people clearly throw plenty of dough around. I imagine some of the houses have rooms that aren't used for months. I almost got run over by a BMW and a Mercedes. At least I'd be going out in style :-P

I have my first blister in a while. It's that darn long second two. It's not an unusual place for me to get them, but hopefully it'll toughen up after a few more distance runs.

The ol' Garmin went screwy on me, or more likely user error kicked in. My watch stopped for 5 minutes, and my mid-run math was a little off leaving me slightly short of 14, but I can more than live with 13 3/4 after the week I've had. I hurt. I should have passed out hours ago. Time to make it happen...

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Week 2: Day 7 A long run to cap it off

Despite the race Saturday night, I decided to stick to my training plan last night. At 6:30 I set out for a ?? supposedly 11 mile run. I set out initially unsure of how this would turn out after going all out at the 4-miler. I also decided to experiment with a new Fuel Belt brand water belt I bought along with some new "Frictionless" socks. It turned out to be a pretty solid run.

I ran to the Fairfax County Park way and gave my self several outs in case I thought I'd have to cut the run short. I had initially felt some mild tightness in my mid-section, and some soreness under my left quad. As I approached north Reston I was running out of escape routes, and thus I was locked into a long run. I felt a general fatigue in my legs, around 7 miles in, but some significant downhills helped me to relax and coast in.

It's difficult to find a flat course around Reston. This particular run had my climb and descend ~650 feet. Not bad since it's spread out over the course of 10 miles, but there are some steep parts.

distance	time	Pace	HR Avg.	HR Max
10.57	1:27:39	8:18	146	166

I am definitely happy with the Fuel Belt. It's a two bottle (8 oz+ each) belt with room for some food. I put about 6-7oz of Propel in each bottle and emptied them before the last mile, drinking about every 2 miles.

The socks were excellent with no blister troubles or associated pains over a fairly long run.

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