Quick Training Update

Monday - I woke up Monday morning, and my ankles looked like those of an eight month pregnant woman.  Probably not the best start to the day.  I laced up with the hopes that I'd be fine after warming up.  I was wrong.  This turned out to be an unbelievably difficult run for such a short distance.  My legs felt like they were hungover from Sunday's long run, and responded in a similar fashion.  Imagine running with 20 lb. weights on your ankles for almost an hour and you'll get the idea.  My 9:36 minutes per mile pace was a new one for me.   

Tuesday - Not sure why I went for a run today considering yesterday's travesty, however, I'm glad I did.  I ran a new route and it turned out to be a little longer than I anticipated.  I kept a little over an 8:00 minute / mile pace and for the most part, the run felt comfortable.  And after running past a pack (or flock?) of five or six turkeys,  I was reminded how far removed Lauren and I now live from the metro area.

Wednesday - I guess I might as well keep the consecutive running-day streak going.  I grabbed my iPod, laced up, and went out for what I thought were going to be a few easy miles.  I would up knocking out six miles at a 7:42 min / mile pace, which was a result of hustling for the last two miles.  A Britney Spears song may or may not have been what caused me to pick up the pace (this last sentence pains me as well).

All in all, I'm pretty happy with the last three days, and I'm starting to feel a little like a runner again (emphasis on starting).  This was the first week of my formal 12-week marathon training program, and for the most part, I've stuck with it.  For those who are interested, I'm following Pete Pfitzinger's 12-week training plan at 55 miles or less a week from Advanced Marathoning.  There are also marathon plans for 70 miles or less a week, and greater than 70 miles a week, both of which are next to impossible for me for many reasons.

Unfortunately, I already have some concerns about finishing my long run this Sunday.  Two of my college buddies, John von and Jeremy, are flying into Boston early Friday morning, and the three of us are heading up to Montreal along with some others,  for John Von's bachelor party.  I'm planning on taking Saturday off from running, so no worries there.  However, after a weekend of hanging out with the French for 36 hours and two five-hour car rides within three days, running 13 miles may not be at the top of my want-to-do list when I come home on Sunday.  Ahhh, the French...

First Long Run Complete!

Today's run went surprisingly well from start to finish.  I woke up at 5:30 this morning, had some coffee and answered some emails.  I checked the weather and the high for the day was only 80, so I purposely took my time before I left for my run.  Knowing that my productivity would plummet after running for 2+ hours, I figured I'd attempt to get as much done as possible within the next couple of hours while I was still capable.

I headed out the door at 8:15, and had a really easy pace going for the first eight miles.  There are no running trails in Norfolk, MA (or at least that I'm aware of), so most of my running is done on the street.  There are a lot of windy roads, however, and I was fortunate enough to only have to deal with people driving to church, and no speed demons.

  

I ran to Medfield and at my halfway point, I stopped in to a convenience store to buy some gatorade.  As I'm walking through the store, I receive a few quizzical looks.  I assume that this is resulting more from the fact that I look like I've just been sprayed down by a firehouse, and less of the fact that I have the whitest legs known to man.  I knock back the gatorade and I'm off for the second half of the run.  I'm running approx 8:30 minutes a mile, and aside from the wet clothes, I feel fine.  At mile 10, I run into my first and only issue of the run, and luckily it wasn't anything physical.  I had kept my debit card, a GU, and my iPod in the pouch of my running belt, and some water / sweat got into my iPod and caused it to stop working.  Fantastic.  (Somewhere, Chris Crook is reading this and laughing hysterically).

At 13 miles, I had an unexpected, but much welcomed, visitor.  Lauren was heading home from the gym and decided to see where I was.  Once she spotted me, she pulled over to the side of the road, and I jogged over to her.  After some chit chat, I "borrowed" what was left of the water she had, and went back at it.  It was a welcomed visit because this is where my run started to get difficult.

I was waiting for this to happen, and was happy that the tough part of the run started right at the two hour mark.  Yesterday's run was tough because it was hot.  Today, this part of the run was tough because my legs had had enough.  Completely different ballgame.  Anyway, I try to keep the same pace (8:45 - 9:00 minutes / mile) for the last three to four miles, and did so with moderate success.  I muscle through the last couple of miles, and finish my 18 mile run in 2 hours and 37 minutes.  Not bad.

The biggest success today wasn't the time or the distance of the run, but more so that I actually finished my first long run, and I did so in one piece.  The long runs should only get easier from here (emphasis on should).  And don't worry, I'll keep you posted on how they turn out...

Glory Days

Yeah, just sitting back trying to recapture a little of the glory of, well time slips away and leaves you with nothing mister but boring stories of glory days  

 -Bruce Springsteen

This morning's run is / was a testament to the amount of work I have to do to get back to where I was as a runner a few years ago.  I got up early this morning to beat the heat (it's supposed to be 95 degrees in New England today!), and knocked out nine miles in 73 minutes.  The time isn't that bad, however, the effort required to finish those miles and the fact it required a two hour nap to recover from is a little ridiculous (I know, I've got it tough).  Taking into consideration that I've only run twice this week, there's no reason for me have to sleep after running for an hour and 15 minutes.

Patrick Ewing once told me I sweat a lot.

At the same time, I know I shouldn't even consider trying to run the amount or at the pace I used to run in the past.  On average, I've run one to two times a week for the past year, and usually never running for more than 45 minutes.  I haven't followed any sort of training program or diet, and it's obnoxious to think that I would be able to pick up where I left off.


So, what am I going to do to get back to running at a 7:00 / mile pace?  The obvious answer is to run more.  And in order for me to do so, I'm going to have to start waking up really early in the morning to do so.  This is something that I know I'm going to struggle with.  I can get up at 5:00 AM if I know I've got something to do or some place to go for work, however, any other reason usually involves hitting the snooze button the minute my alarm goes off, and then waking up at 6:15 - 6:30 and cursing myself for sleeping in.


Does anyone have this problem?  And does anyone have any solutions?  If so, I'm all ears.

My training is heating up

And only in the literal sense.  Today I was planning on running my first long run, which was supposed to be a nice, easy run to cap off what I would consider to be a successful first week back in the saddle of marathon training.  Instead, today's long run turned into a run / walk mess, and required a marathon effort just to finish 13 miles.

Of course all of this could have been easily prevented.  Instead of getting up at 7:00 and hitting the road at 8:00 AM to start my run, I decided to enjoy a long Sunday morning reading and drinking coffee.  Not really paying attention to the time, next thing I know it's 1:00 PM.  What the heck, I'll just go run now I tell myself.  It's ONLY 85 degrees and I'm ONLY planning on running for 2 hours.  After heeding Lauren's advice to wear sunscreen, I lather up in SPF 2000 (it's fun being Irish), grab my iPod and sunglasses, and hit the road.

After running approximately 25 miles in the past five days, I somewhat convince myself that I should be able to finish close to 15 miles in 2 hours, just like the old days.  Silly me.  After the first 20 minutes, I realize that this will not be the case.  Now it feels like 95 degrees.

I take the first hour slow, running between 8:30 and 9:00/miles.  At the hour mark, I'm a little over 6.5 miles, so I decide turn around and start the second half of my workout.  And here's where it became ugly.  After one mile on the return leg, the heat started really getting to me, and I started my first of four walking "intervals" (calling these intervals makes this sound and read like a legitimate workout).  I walk by Medway Garden Center, and decide to see if I can get some water from one of their hoses.  The supervisor countered with a ice cold bottle of water, and after a few thank yous, I was back on my way.  While the water was great, the benefits turned out to be short lived.  I wound up finishing my last 4+ miles running one mile, and walking a half a mile, until I was finished.

Luckily, the 13 miles only took 2 hours and ten minutes (ughhh).  I could have and probably should have, walked the last five miles of my workout, but last thing I wanted was for my sunscreen to sweat off, and top off my workout with a sunburn.  I'm not sure anyone would really call this a long run, but for the sake of my training calendar, I am going to.   Going forward, I will be running in the mornings or evenings.  And I will be bringing water and food with me on any run longer than an hour and a half.

Other than today, I'm pretty happy with the week.  For those of you interested in follow my runs in more detail, you can click on the specific workout to the right of post section and it'll take you to a page with a ton of stats and a map of my run.  If you run and enjoy documenting your runs/times/etc., I recommend checking out RunningAhead.com.  After using it for a day, I find it much easier to use than other similar sites, such as mapmyrun.com or garminconnect.com.

Here we go again!

For those of you who know me, I'm at it again.  This will be eighth marathon, and the second time I will be blogging about my marathon training progress.  On October 16, 2011, I will be toeing the starting line in Lowell, MA attempting to complete 26.2 miles in a somewhat timely fashion. 

Why am I blogging about another marathon, and why am I running the Bay State marathon again?  Both great questions.  I signed up for the Bay State marathon in order to raise money for and awareness of Easter Seals of Massachusetts.  As some of you may know (and hopefully everyone will know much better in the next few months), Easter Seals provides services to ensure that children and adults with disabilities have equal opportunities to live, learn, work and play.  I have been volunteering with our chapter for the last few months, and the more I participate with our chapter and it's participants, the more I realize the opportunity we have to make a positive impact for individuals and families who receive services from Easter Seals.

Am I running the Bay State Marathon because it is known as being one of fastest and easiest marathons in the United States?  Am I running it because Bay State is the only fall marathon in Massachusetts?  Is it because it's a great opportunity to run a state marathon while fundraising for a state charity?  Or am I running Bay State because this is the only marathon (that I know of) that Lauren will be able to ride along on her bike for most of my run?  Yes, yes, yes, and a resounding yes are my answers.

Bear with me while I get the blog up and running (get it?) and make it a little easier on the eyes.  I'm looking forward to sharing my experiences training and volunteering with you.  Thanks for reading.