One More Mile

Upcoming Race Thoughts and Shoe Reviews

2012-02-25T09:45:00.001-05:00

My training has been going well for the Corporate Cup half in two weeks and I'm fairly sure I'll beat my time there last year. I'm not sure if I'll PR, the course is a bit hillier than Savannah so whether or not I can maintain the pace is a toss up. I'm certain I can get close but won't really know until the last 3 miles of the race.

After watching "Unbreakable" I'm toying with the idea of adding a few longer races in 2013. If my current frame of mind re: ultras remains consistent I'll shoot for a 50 miler in March of 2013 at Umstead. I'm very much interested in seeing what a race at that distance would be like. I'm not putting too much emphasis on that right now; I've got races to focus on for this year.

I've finally got enough miles on my Brooks PureConnects to have an opinion about them. I love them. The shoes are light, responsive, and insanely comfortable for such a minimal shoe. It's no racing flat, but it's a great shoe for medium to long tempo runs and my feet love them.

I also got a new pair of Nike Zoom Streak XC 3's. I love my 2's and have worn them for 3 half marathons and some longer tempo runs. The 3's are essentially the same shoe with a bit more padding under the tongue.

Earlier this week I hit a 7.5 mile steady state run at 7:00 average with very even splits. I'm excited about my progress so early in the season, but I'm trying to tone that down and make sure to put as much effort into my recovery as I do my hard runs.

January Recap

2012-02-07T12:50:00.000-05:00

I began training again in earnest in January after a significant reduction in mileage through December. I'm running the Corporate Cup in March and needed to get back on track. I took all of January and the first week of February but this morning's easy 6 miler gave me confidence that I'm back where I need to be.

I also started tracking my calories in January using http://www.myfitnesspal.com/. The site is simple to use and the iPhone app is perfect for what I need. My daily allotment is around 1,800, with activity pushing the total closer to 3,000. I'm not doing this to lose weight, but I would like to be leaner. If that comes with a few lost pounds I won't complain.

Two weeks ago I purchased a Withings digital scale that give you a body fat estimate and has very nice integration with Runkeeper. I've been obsessively weighing myself daily, not because I'm on some weight loss craze, but because I find the daily fluctuations interesting. My estimated BF% is somewhere between 6 & 9 depending on what I've eaten and my activity level. Tracking that obsessively isn't normal, I know, but it's a nice way for me to monitor how what I take in and do affects my body. And I find it interesting.

2012 Running Goals (NOT resolutions)

2011-12-27T12:41:00.002-05:00

Perhaps it's just semantics, but setting a "goal" is more meaningful to me than making a "resolution". Everyone (or nearly everyone) makes "resolutions" this time each year and I'd be willing to bet most fall by the wayside after February or March if they even last that long. Making "resolutions" is simply paying lip service to doing things that we know we should be doing; they're a way to make us feel like we're doing something positive or proactive until life comes along and makes us forget how we wanted to stop smoking, eat better, travel more, or [insert typical, unfulfilled resolution here]. They're bullshit (more or less).

Goals imply (to me, anyway) that there is some accompanying plan to actually achieve them. So I'm setting goals for 2012:

Get my weight under 180 and keep it there. I'm not overweight by any means (any more) but I'm carrying a little extra that's completely due to some recent over indulgence in candy and cookies. I will attain this goal by replacing my candy snacks at work with healthy alternatives (like rice cakes).
Qualify for the Boston marathon. I'm on track for that now, I just need to continue to be consistent with my training.
Drop my 5k time closer to 19:00. That's a little aggressive but I believe that on the way to accomplishing goal #2 I will make the progress necessary to hit this one.
Maintain my NYC qualifying time in the half-marathon. This will be the most difficult since NY has raised the standard but I qualified this year so I don't have that far to go to maintain.

That's it. The goals I set are attainable with a solid work effort but won't require super human commitment,i.e. I can still have a life outside of running.

Savannah Half Recap

2011-11-07T22:18:00.000-05:00

The weekend started Friday morning as Cora and I kissed the kids and departed from my parent's house. A little over 3 hours later we arrived in Savannah and headed to the convention center and a parking nightmare. My only complaint about the entire weekend is packet pick-up. The parking attendants didn't appear to be doing much in the way of coordinating traffic and it took about 15 minutes of circling before we found a spot.

Once we got into the convention center the process of actually picking up our bibs and bags was quite simple and efficient... until they forced us to route through the expo center to get out. The layout was too tight for the number of people and there was no clean way to get through the throngs of people browsing the over-priced gear (I can get better prices from my local running stores). Give us an option to exit without being subjected to the marketing BS and the experience is a pleasant one.

When we finally extricated ourselves from the maze of consumerism the trip to the house was a short one. The location was perfect, blocks from the start and finish, and we spent the rest of Friday strolling around Savannah.

Saturday morning was chilly and I got to the starting area early (as usual). I was in coral 1 behind the elites and was at the front. About 10 minutes or so before the start they moved everyone up and I found myself 2 rows back from the very front. I looked around and there were runners as far as I could see. Cool!

The start was a little odd, the gun was too silent and there was no real count down, but being up front made that a non-issue. From the beginning I could tell I was surrounded by sub 3:00 marathoners and I saw a few people from Charlotte (I don't know them, but I recognized the faces from other races). I stayed within site of them for the first mile or two and then let some space open up between myself and them. I was shooting for a 1:30 because I wanted to qualify for NYC but wasn't sure I'd hit it after my last marathon. I'd be close, but it was up in the air.

Around mile 3 or 4 I hooked up with 2 guys who were running the full and shooting for around 3:00 and I stayed with them, trading the lead, until the half split off around mile 11. One of the guys was wearing a Snickers Team Marathon jersey and that gave me a sense of comfort because I have a friend who runs for them and I LOVE their bars. My pace dropped a little when we split but I still felt really strong. I hadn't been paying much attention to splits or time but I felt like I was close to 1:30.

When I made the turn towards the finish I could see 1:29:19 on the clock and knew I had to kick hard. Somehow I dug out some sub-six speed for a bit and managed to cross the line in 1:29:54!!! A PR by nearly 5 minutes, 9th in my age group, and a NYC qualifier! Way more than I had thought I'd do!

Hats off to my coach, Mark Hadley, for the program he has put me on. I've put forth the same effort I did in 2010 but with dramatically different results!

When I got home and finally uploaded my data I had another shocker. I ran the most consistent splits I think I've ever done for that distance. Here they are:

mi Pace (min/mi)
1 6:47
2 6:50
3 6:43
4 6:48
5 6:48
6 6:45
7 6:52
8 6:51
9 6:47
10 6:53
11 7:03
12 6:55
13 7:04
14 6:49

R2B Marathon

2011-10-23T18:19:00.001-04:00

I ran the Ridge to Bridge marathon yesterday in 3:23.40 and missed qualifying for Boston by 8:40. Am I disappointed? Honestly? A little. I have worked hard over the past several months with this race in mind and my coach put together a great program for me. I REALLY wanted to BQ yesterday. That being said, I'm more excited by my results than anything. Extremely excited. I finished 11th in my age group, 53rd overall, and yesterday's time was a PR.

Almost one year ago I ran my first marathon (Baltimore) in 3:55:02. I improved on my marathon time by 31:36 IN JUST ONE YEAR!!! F#%* YEAH!! Thank you, coach!

The R2B course is beautiful. The mountains of NC in the fall are gorgeous and R2B hits them at just the right time. Temps at the start were around 32 and as we descended the mountain they warmed to the mid 50's. Perfect weather.

The course starts out fairly normal for the first 6 miles; beautiful, rolling hills on mostly asphalt and some gravel. Then the downhill starts and for the next 8 miles it's fast. At one point I couldn't stop if I'd wanted to. For roughly the first 16 miles Gordon Bynum and I ran together, shared some laughs, and had a great time of it. At the aid station around mile 16 I stopped for a GU and kept moving (he ended up BQing).

All that nice, fun downhill sets you up. Once I hit mile 19 my quads were fried. The second half of the course is beautiful, gentle terrain with a few hills and flat sections that did an admirable job of finishing off my legs.

My goal had been to run the first 6 at race pace, 6-14 a bit faster than race pace, 14-21 at pace again, and then empty the tank on the last 5.2. I was spot on until mile 19, when I knew my legs were done. My pace slipped and I actually walked for about 1/8 of a mile during mile 25 but I recovered and ran the last mile at a pretty good pace.

I don't think I would change anything about my race plan or my running plan. What I WILL do is add in some strength exercises for my legs and try to get some more hills in over the next year. I think my quads simply weren't strong enough to handle the downhill. My lungs were fine, heart rate was great, absolutely no aches or pains. Just the quads.

I'm actually not even that sore today; I'd call it "mild".

Here are the splits (roughly, the Garmin was off by about .2 miles for the last 9 miles):

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	3:23:39.3	26.03	7:49.4
1	7:31.8	1.00	7:31.8
2	7:25.4	1.00	7:25.4
3	7:13.1	1.00	7:13.1
4	7:21.4	1.00	7:21.4
5	7:27.1	1.00	7:27.1
6	7:40.7	1.00	7:40.7
7	6:53.8	1.00	6:53.8
8	6:56.5	1.00	6:56.5
9	7:00.3	1.00	7:00.3
10	7:25.5	1.00	7:25.5
11	6:59.7	1.00	6:59.7
12	7:08.1	1.00	7:08.1
13	7:33.1	1.00	7:33.1
14	7:02.9	1.00	7:02.9
15	7:43.7	1.00	7:43.7
16	7:34.1	1.00	7:34.1
17	7:40.3	1.00	7:40.3
18	7:48.4	1.00	7:48.4
19	8:28.3	1.00	8:28.3
20	8:25.2	1.00	8:25.2
21	8:28.3	1.00	8:28.3
22	8:40.6	1.00	8:40.6
23	9:07.5	1.00	9:07.5
24	9:09.6	1.00	9:09.6
25	10:03.4	1.00	10:03.4
26	8:35.7	1.00	8:35.7
27	:13.7	0.03	7:15.7

Salem Lake 30K Recap

2011-09-26T12:14:00.000-04:00

I went up to Winston Salem this past Saturday with a group of friends and ran in the Salem Lake 30K. It ended up being a little longer than 30K due to some flooding, but given the course that's not a complaint. This place was a blast to run and I'll definitely be back next year!

The weather at the start was wet. The area had been blanketed with showers overnight and there was a fine mist in the morning that helped keep the humidity bearable. It actually felt pretty good. Everyone sort of milled around before the start and then a guy on a ladder with a megaphone instructed us to gather at the trail head for the start. "Ready, set go" and we were off.

I hung behind Butch Holt for a bit and then picked up the pace. My target for the race was somewhere between 7:00 & 7:20 but I was pretty sure the weather had made that a little out of reach. About 4 miles in the course began to get muddy and I was glad to be ahead of the main pack. Running that section consisted of primarily hopping from root to root and trying not to fall. I hit the half way point at 50:15 and was pretty happy with my time/effort.

About half way into the second lap Gordon Bynum caught up to me and we ran together and had a great conversation until the course turned us around at about 13.5 miles. The trail was a soupy mess at that point until about mile 15. Gordon slowly pulled away (he's fast!) as I faded a bit after the turn around. I had been watching my Garmin the entire time and it told me I was averaging about 7:45. Disappointing!

When I hit the finish line I was surprised to see my time at 2:21 - my Garmin had my average pace closer to 8:00 and I knew a 2:21 was around 7:30. When I caught my breath I saw that the Garmin had my distance at 18 miles even and I realized it had been off the entire time making my splits essentially useless.

The mapped distance with the reroute was 18.85 which I ran in 2:21:30 with an average pace of 7:31! I'm especially happy with this because it's right around where I need to be to get my BQ! I'm crossing my fingers for Oct 22!

The ride there and back was a blast; Josh, Rob, Nicole, and Phyllis made the trip fun! I'm lucky to have such a good group of friends to run with!

Another Fast(er) 20!

2011-09-19T12:36:00.003-04:00

I met up with the Sunday Long Run crew this past Sunday for another 20 and, as usual, had a blast. Rodolfo met me at 6:00 am to put in the early 6.5 before the main group got there. We started out a bit aggressively (probably my fault) but ended strong at somewhere around an 8:18 - not bad - and it proved to be a pace I think Rodolfo kept for the remainder of his 20. Nice!

I hooked up with Dave at the start of the main group's run and hung with him until he decided to drop the hammer somewhere around mile 10 (my 16) I think. I tried to keep him in sight for as long as possible but that didn't prove to be too long. The boy is FAST!

At mile 18 I turned and made the painful climb up to 51 and then headed down to Rae Rd.. I made a right onto Rae and enjoyed the respite provided by the downhill section, it was enough to get my pace back under 8 for the mile.

I ended the run in 2:41:12 (8:04 pace), nearly 3 minutes faster than my prior (last week's) PR for 20! I'm really happy with where my training is right now!

Here are the splits:

mi	Pace (min/mi)	Elevation (ft)
1	8:21	42
2	8:44	54
3	8:31	-4
4	8:09	-18
5	8:04	-15
6	7:46	-54
7	8:04	-10
8	7:43	-9
9	7:32	-3
10	7:50	0
11	8:09	-1
12	8:05	4
13	8:18	-1
14	7:57	-16
15	7:59	12
16	7:59	5
17	7:45	-11
18	8:06	29
19	8:21	70
20	7:49	-76

20 mile PR and New Gear!

2011-09-12T12:33:00.000-04:00

Yesterday I ran my usual Sunday long run with a great group of friends (the usual Sunday long run crew). These guys & gals are a diverse group that provide fun conversation if you're into a slower pace and great motivation if you want to push it and really work. Sometimes you get both.

I met up with Peter, Willem, and Anastacio at 6:00 am to get in 6.5 miles of hills before the normal 7:00 group started. We kept a fairly easy pace and got back with time to spare. We hooked up with the main group and I took off with Dave at a little faster pace until he dropped the hammer for some faster miles. I joined back up with the main group and did the next 12 at a pace that kept creeping up thanks to Kate! At mile 18 I broke away from the group and took a different route with some hills to round out the 20.

I finished the run in 2:43:53 (on the lower end of my pace range for the workout) and felt great! Feeling optimistic for Ridge to Bridge in October. Here's the breakdown:

mi	Pace (min/mi)	Elevation (ft)
1	9:00	42
2	8:33	49
3	8:39	13
4	8:42	-25
5	8:39	-16
6	8:22	-28
7	8:02	-41
8	8:10	-19
9	8:05	17
10	8:11	-12
11	7:50	-7
12	7:47	15
13	7:55	11
14	7:59	-17
15	7:49	5
16	7:30	5
17	7:35	-13
18	7:55	44
19	8:39	56
20	8:32	-74

I also got some new shoes last week! So far, I've put 10 miles on my new Mizuno Wave Precision 12s and love them! I got them primarily for longer tempo runs and recovery runs but can see myself putting in some longer miles in them. Overall a light shoe that's very responsive and extremely comfortable.

I'll add them to the 3 shoe rotation and should now be good for another 4-6 months.

I also got some new sunglasses. My old ones were held together by superglue (literally) so I treated myself to a pair of Oakleys.

These glasses are light and fit my head perfectly. They don't grip too tightly but they didn't move a bit during the long run. The only complaint was that they fogged up fairly easily; I'll have to look into a remedy for that.

Socks?

2011-08-27T17:36:00.001-04:00

I never thought socks were a big deal. I usually wear whatever thin, white, cotton socks I grab to go run. Recent discussions among a few friends, however, got me curious and I dropped some coin on some "high end" socks.

Wow.

I got four pair of Balega "Hidden Dry" socks and after two runs in them I'll be hard pressed to wear another pair of socks to run.

They're thin and do an amazing job of pulling moisture away from my feet. They also don't rub or move. Essentially, when I put these socks on I forget they're there.

You should be able to find them at your local running shop and can definitely get them online direct from Balega or any number of other outlets. If you're the least bit curious you owe it to yourself to get a pair and try them.

Thinner

2011-08-22T13:53:00.003-04:00

On June 26, 2003, I decided I needed to make a change. I was 307lbs and doing simple things were becoming difficult. I got winded walking up the two short flights of steps to my apartment. I didn't fit in some amusement park rides and wasn't comfortable in any of them. I broke chairs just by sitting in them. I was miserable.

I didn't start out that way, though. I was a skinny kid and gaining weight was just not something I was capable of doing. I graduated high school at 170lbs and college at 180. I stayed roughly that weight until 1996 when I took a job as a computer programmer.

For the next 7 years my diet consisted largely of cheeseburgers and beer and I didn't really notice the weight. I drank sodas and sat all day, and drank beer and sat all night. At a rate of about a pound a month it was easy to ignore. Sure, I knew I was getting bigger, but it wasn't something that happened overnight so I wasn't constantly thinking about it.

I'd gain enough weight for my clothes to become uncomfortable so I'd buy some more and those would get me through the next 20 pounds or so. By the time I was aware of what was really going on I was approaching 300 pounds and in a state of denial.

I didn't think of myself as fat, even though I was. I was unhealthy and on the road to a shorter, uncomfortable life plagued with health problems. And it was all my fault.

I chose to stop exercising and to eat poorly. I chose to buy the bigger clothes instead of controlling my weight. Sometimes it's easier to make bad choices than good ones but that's no reason to do so. It's an excuse born of laziness and complacency. Somehow that knowledge made it worse and I became embarrassed and I ate even more. I'd been a trainer in a gym and knew what to eat and how to exercise. I felt like a failure.

When my wife and I started talking about having kids I knew I didn't want to be huffing and puffing while attempting to play with them and I wanted to be around to watch them have kids of their own. She's a saint (my wife), by the way. She met and married me when I was at my heaviest and in the middle of a downward health spiral. She supported me throughout my weight loss and I couldn't (wouldn't) have done it without her.

I lost the weight initially by starting Weight Watchers and using their online tools. That got me from 307 to 235 before I slowly started putting the weight back on. In June of 2009 I'd gained back to around 250lbs and rejoined Weight Watchers online. In 3 months I lost 42lbs (as the chart shows) and got my weight down to 208. In July of 2009 I started running and stopped Weight Watchers again.

At first I was only able to slowly jog a few blocks at a time; it took me almost 24 minutes to go less than 2 miles. I stuck with it, though, and began to set reasonable goals for myself.

Weight Watchers was instrumental in my early weight loss. Their tools helped me to reteach myself portion control and their online tools were great for tracking my calorie intake. I don't need to use them any more, but I am very glad they were there when I needed the assistance.

I didn't just decide to lose the weight, either. If I had done that I would have failed. Gaining the weight was a choice I made indirectly through poor diet and lifestyle decisions; I never sat around and thought "I want to be a fat guy" so sitting around thinking "Thinner!!" would have got me nowhere.

I was only successful at losing the weight when I stopped thinking about it in terms of weight lost and started thinking about what and how much I was eating and the frequency and intensity of my workouts.

There aren't any quick fixes or magic pills, you'll do more harm than good by shoving diet pills down your throat. Unless you address the root cause of your weight gain you will only be temporarily treating symptoms. People ask me how I did it, the answer is really pretty simple.

I stopped making excuses about why I ate what I ate and how much I ate. No one was forcing me.
If I didn't buy bad food, I couldn't eat it.
I could say "No" when offered a tasty (and completely unnecessary) treat but it didn't mean I was a failure if I occasionally indulged in one.
Exercise. Yes, it was uncomfortable initially. Yes, I looked a little foolish until I got the hang of it (I may still); everyone does. No, there wasn't really any other way.

Today I'm back down to 182lbs, in the best shape of my life, and feel wonderful. I've lost a total of:

125lbs
17 inches in my waist
12 inches in my chest
5 1/2 inches in my neck

My Treadmill Is Trying To Kill Me

2011-08-17T13:01:00.003-04:00

This morning began innocently enough; wake, dress, and start the morning run on the treadmill. Why the treadmill, you ask? For some reason (genetic deficiency?) it seems I actually prefer to do speed work on the treadmill. Perhaps the way it forces you to maintain a constant pace appeals to my need for order and easily calculable distance/pace metrics. Perhaps it's the climate (and television remote) control. Maybe the voices have finally gotten to me with their subconscious siren call.

"Only 60 minutes today?"
"Push that speed button once more... there, now isn't that better?"
"Do I smell asphalt on your shoes?"
"I'm afraid I can't let you do that..."

Whatever the reason, I headed into my morning workout with a spring in my step. This was going to be a good one. Coach had me scheduled for a 1 mile warm up followed by 10 repetitions of 1:00 minute at a 5:30 pace ,split by a 1:30 minute jog, and wrapped up neatly with a 1 mile cool down. That was the plan. It was a good one.

Enter the treadmill and its cold, black heart.

Five repetitions in and I was in "the zone". Turn over was good. Breathing was on target. Heart beating. With 4 seconds left in the cycle the treadmill decided I had had enough and without the slightest warning it turned itself off. While I was running at 10.9 mph. On a suddenly stationary rubber belt.

I recovered and completed the workout but one thing became clear:

My treadmill is trying to kill me.

Sunday Afternoon Run Fail

2011-08-16T12:13:00.001-04:00

Saturday night I went to the The Visulite to see The Band of Heathens (excellent show) so I didn't get to bed as early as usual. As a result I opted for a later run Sunday. The temps ranged from 85 to 90 with 72% humidity and very little wind. On asphalt. With almost no tree coverage. And no lunch. Not smart.

The run started well enough; I took the usual route out of the neighborhood and then headed to Lake Park for a lap. The first 3 miles were around 8:15 and miles 4 & 5 were under 9:00. Things went downhill from there and I found myself running the slowest that I have in quite a while. No matter what I did my legs just got heavier.

I ran out of water a little before mile 10 but luckily spotted a guy washing his car and he was nice enough to refill the bottle for me. At 12.36 miles I decided the prudent course of action would be to stop and walk home. I was overheated, almost out of water again, and thoroughly demoralized.

My target had been 14-16 at 8:00 - 9:00 average. I ended up with 12.36 @ 9:08 average.

Tomorrow is a 1 mile warm-up, 10 x 1:00 at 5:30 per mile pace with 1:30 jog recovery, and a 1 mile cool-down. Should be fun! This Sunday will continue the long run ramp up with 17 @ 8:00 - 9:00.

On the plus side, this past Sunday was my first long run in my new Brooks Ghost 4's and I must say I was impressed. My feet were the only part of my body that wasn't in near open revolt by the end of the run.

Blue Points 5K Recap

2011-08-09T12:03:00.003-04:00

Last Saturday's Blue Points 5K was hot and humid and I missed a PR by 12 seconds so I'm a little bummed. The course itself wasn't that difficult but the heat and humidity made it hard to breath during the climbs of miles 2 & 3. I could feel my legs getting heavy. When I hit the 3 mile marker the gun time was at 19:30 and I knew I'd failed to set a PR; there was no way I had anything left in my legs.

One personal goal I've had this season is to finish ahead of Butch Holt. Butch is quite a runner and he had been ahead of me for all but one of my 5Ks this season (he didn't run that one). We started out near each other and I kept my eye on him and passed before the first turn onto Stonewall Street. It didn't take him long to pass me back and I followed him out of uptown. Somewhere around McDowell I passed him (for the first time this year) and decided that I was going to do whatever I could to stay ahead of him. For the rest of the race he was only a few seconds back and I continued to get more nervous as the finish line got closer. I could hear spectators cheering "Go Butch!" and knew he wasn't more than a few steps away. I managed to hold a tiny lead and finished 11 seconds ahead of him as he took 1st in his AG (he crushed it, nice!). I finished 6th in my AG and 64th overall out of 691 finishers.

I've heard quite a few people were 20 - 45 seconds off their usual pace and I did run my best race mile yet (6:03). Here are how my splits worked out:

Splits

mi	Pace (min/mi)	Elevation (ft)
1	6:03	-72
2	6:41	18
3	6:49	23
4	5:36	17

RFYL 4Miler Recap

2011-07-20T15:31:00.000-04:00

In July of 2010 I ran 93.8 miles at an average pace of 9:06. As of July 20, 2011, I've run 94.8 at an average pace of 7:56 and am on target to end the month somewhere around 170 miles total. I am psyched! I can remember thinking how fast it must feel to run an 8:00 pace, now I want to hit 7:00 (and faster)! My RHR is also down to 52 BPM!

The RFYL 4 miler was this past weekend and I hit within my target range of 26:00 - 27:00 with a 26:45; good enough for 7th in my age group and 61st overall. My splits weren't bad, but mile 3 killed me. Overall I'm pleased that I hit within my target but I'm not pleased with mile 3. I have a 5k in just over 2 weeks and I seriously want to break 20 minutes with this one. We'll see.

RFYL 4 Miler Splits

mi	Pace (min/mi)	Elevation (ft)
1	6:36	59
2	6:35	-17
3	7:02	17
4	6:26	-54

Back on the 'Mill

2011-07-06T16:09:00.000-04:00

I was back on the treadmill this morning for some speed work. After 2 days of boring neighborhood running (trust me, the treadmill is more entertaining) I was looking forward to a hard workout.

I started with a mile warm up and then settled in to do 10 repeats of 1:00 minute at a 5:49 pace followed by a 2:00 minute jog. The 10 went by quickly and left me feeling tired, but also like I could have maybe pushed the pace to 5:30. We'll see next time.

I ended with a cool down and then did a core circuit (push ups, crunches, etc.) which is something new I'm adding in this week.

Tempo Run

2011-06-29T12:08:00.000-04:00

Today's workout was awesome! I started out at 5:00 am with a 1 mile warm up @ 8:34 pace, then ran a 40 minute tempo @ 6:49. Cool down was an easy half mile @ 8:34 again.

Going in to this one I wasn't sure how I'd do. The pace and time was (initially) daunting. Once I'd settled in to a good rhythm, though, I knew I was going to nail it. It was definitely work, and right at the edge of my current conditioning, but once again my coach has nailed my pace goal for the workout.

Next week I'm going to add core and strength circuits to my workouts. I know that's one area that I've been lacking and I intend to remedy that.

Schedule for the Week

2011-06-27T09:27:00.002-04:00

This week looks to be a fun one! I'm trying to keep my easy pace runs around an 8:13 - 8:24 pace. I'm also going to try to get a little more sleep even though I hate going to bed early.

Schedule

Mon: Run: 5-6 miles at an easy pace(8:00 to 9:00 per mile)

Tue: Run: 5-6 miles at an easy pace(8:00 to 9:00 per mile)

Wed: Run: 1 mile warm-up, 40 min Tempo at 6:45 to 7:00 pace, .5 mile cool-down

Thu: Run: 4-5 miles at an easy pace(8:00 to 9:00 per mile)

Fri: Run: 7-8 miles at an easy pace(8:00 to 9:00 per mile)

Sat: Run: - day off -

Sun: Run: 10 miles steady state long run (7:20 to 7:50 per mile)

King Tiger Recap and Other Stuff

2011-06-22T12:35:00.001-04:00

On 6/4/11 I ran the King Tiger 5k in 20:21, 21 seconds slower than my PR. Overall I'm happy with the race; my first two splits were 6:15 & 6:17 but the heat and the hill in the third mile took it out of me and a clocked a disappointing 6:34 and then... just died. Those first two miles are very promising, though. The next race is a 4 miler and I'm going to target somewhere between 25 & 27 minutes (conservatively).

Training is progressing well and I've scheduled the rest of the year's races. I'll be running the aforementioned 4 miler, 2 more 5Ks, a marathon (R2B), and at least 1 half (Savannah in Nov). I'm very excited to run R2b, the course is supposed to be amazing and there's a huge contingent of Charlotte folks going. Savannah should also be a great time since my wife and brother will be running it as well and I know of at least 2 old college friends that will be there. I'm shooting for PRs in both, something under 3:30 for R2B and a sub 1:30 for Savannah. One of the 5Ks should provide me with a sub 20 if I keep progressing and can pull it together for the race.

We'll see.

CPCC Skyline 5K

2011-05-02T12:56:00.001-04:00

This past weekend I ran the CPCC Skyline 5k with my brother and a few friends. I finished 11 seconds off my PR with a 20:11. While I'm not terribly happy with the results I'm not crushed by them. I put in a solid effort and I have a 4 week round of training coming up. I see a sub 20 5k in my near future.

I took Sunday & today off to rest my left foot. I started feeling a little twinge Friday in my arch near the heel and it didn't get better. The two days of rest with some light stretching should be sufficient to allow for healing (it's already feeling better).

Bulldog 5K Recap

2011-04-14T08:18:00.001-04:00

On April 9, I set a PR of 20:00 in the 5k and got 3rd overall male masters! Amazing!

Prior to the race I did an easy 1 mile warm-up at about an 8:15 pace, then some light exercises to get the legs ready. The start was a bit jumbled with a fair number of kids, excited by the race, bolting to the front. Most of them ran out of steam before we left the parking lot and from there on it was a perfect race.

I fixed on 3 runners at the start that appeared to be hitting about the pace I wanted and made sure to keep them within reach. By the half mile mark no one passed me and I started reeling them in slowly. The split at the one mile mark was incorrect due to some technical difficulties with the walkie talkies but I had the garmin and it told me I was a bit ahead of my planned pace (20 seconds ahead, but who's counting?).

I felt great and decided to continue my fast pace for as long as I could. The second mile was uneventful and I continued to close the gap on the 3. By mile 3 I had caught them but simply didn't have the legs to pass them. We all kicked at the same time and finished within 4 seconds of each other!

The course was great; easy rolling hills on neighborhood streets. I'll definitely run this one again next year.

I'm now in my 4th week of coaching with Mark Hadley of MPR; I can't say enough good things about them. Mark's program for me has placed me right at the edge of my comfort zone and really allowed me to break through the training wall I was hitting. I'm excited to see how much I can improve with his guidance.

What a Difference a Year Makes

2011-03-17T13:06:00.001-04:00

This past Saturday I set a PR of 1:34:35 in the half marathon at the Coporate Cup; just over 17 minutes faster than I ran it in 2010! The course was the same, the differences in elevation in the table below can be attributed to different GPS tracking devices.

Corprate Cup 2010

mi	Pace	Elevation (ft)

1	8:33	-13
2	7:59	-11
3	8:22	63
4	7:47	-116
5	8:24	58
6	8:45	-19
7	8:09	-13
8	8:47	-28
9	8:30	-2
10	9:05	20
11	8:46	-21
12	8:52	41
13	8:18	9
14	13:15	35

Corporate Cup 2011

mi	Pace	Elevation (ft)

1	7:01	-15
2	7:22	-11
3	7:33	59
4	6:53	-110
5	7:22	58
6	7:07	-19
7	7:02	-6
8	7:08	-36
9	7:18	-1
10	7:21	11
11	7:08	-17
12	7:14	46
13	7:06	29
14	6:56	62

This year I started out a bit fast so I purposefully slowed down for miles 2 & 3. This proved to be a perfect decision.

Mile 4 hits after the 5k'ers break off from the main group and is a fast downhill. I decided to run what felt good there and logged a conservatively fast mile. Mile 5 I slowed back down to my original goal pace range but by mile 6 I could tell I had more in me than that.

Once mile 6 hit I decided that I would open up and run as fast as I could and just hang on. The course is hilly but that provides for some nice downhill sections and I took full advantage of those. My plan for the rest of the race was to run up as hard as I could and coast down the back side of the hills.

My friend Josh jumped in somewhere near mile marker 10 and paced me for the rest of the distance and that was a HUGE help. Having a friendly face there to talk to and encourage me helped me keep my pace for the final 3 miles.

Before the start, I'd hoped to hit somewhere around 1:37 for my time. I would have been more than happy with that. I'm ecstatic with my 1:34:35 and am taking steps to get even faster!

Treadmill Repeats

2011-03-02T13:21:00.002-05:00

I didn't go quite as aggressive as I originally intended to with today's workout because I was feeling a bit under the weather this morning. I had a slight headache when I awoke and was fearful that I was coming down with something. Luckily that has so far proved to not be the case.

I started with a half mile warm up and then jumped into 3 x 1 mile @ 6:54 pace with a 1% incline. I split those with 400m jogs. The pace wasn't too difficult but I definitely had to work during the 3rd repeat.

I liked this one and will be adding it to the regular rotation.

Mile Repeats Tomorrow

2011-03-01T12:17:00.003-05:00

With the Corporate Cup in less than two weeks I feel really confident in my training so far. This past Sunday I clocked 12 miles at a 7:25 average and that's well below what I need to finally break 1:40:00 for the half! I think mid 1:30's is possible (I'm counting 1:37 as the "mid 1:30's")!

I did an easy 4 on the treadmill this morning after a day off yesterday and plan to do mile repeats tomorrow. I'll warm up and then will aim for 3 x 1 mile @ 6:45 pace @ 1% incline with 1/4 recovery jog sandwiched between the standard warm-up and cool-down. 6:45 may be a bit aggressive, but I'm going to make an honest effort. If I'm going to get faster I need to run faster.

Figuring Things Out

2011-02-24T10:16:00.001-05:00

The past few months have been ... interesting. I had an abysmal performance at Charlotte's Thunder Road marathon due to a nagging ankle injury that I didn't allow to properly heal. I skipped the Charleston, S.C. marathon as well and spent a few weeks taking it easy. Thanks to that rest I'm finally at 100% and (more importantly) I learned a lot in the process.

Easy runs should be EASY. I was pushing too hard and not slowing down enough. As a result, my body was never allowed to properly heal.
Variety is good. My prior runs were more or less identical and as a result I had stagnated in my progress which lead to frustration and poor training.
If something hurts, rest. I had been pushing through pain and discomfort and was lucky I didn't wind up with a more serious injury.

I've registered for the Corporate Cup on March 12th and am shooting for a PR. I eased back in to training over a 3 week period and am now (as of this week) up to 6 days a week. The mileage is currently between 30 - 40 per week and I will increase that slowly. Very slowly. For now, I'm focusing on consistent training and gradual increases. I've also incorporated a good bit of treadmill work which allows me to focus more intently on pacing and actually get in some "hill" work.

Here's today's workout:

Set 1: steady pace 1 minute each @ 4, 5 and 6 percent incline. 2 minutes recovery @ flat

Set 2: steady pace 1 minute each @ 5, 6 and 7 percent incline. 2 minutes recovery @ flat

Set 3: steady pace 1 minute each @ 6, 7 and 8 percent incline. 2 minutes recovery @ flat

Set 4: steady pace 1 minute each @ 7, 6 and 5 percent incline. 2 minutes recovery @ flat

Set 5: steady pace 1 minute each @ 6, 5 and 4 percent incline. 2 minutes recovery @ flat.

Tomorrow will be an easy day, followed by rest on Saturday and a long run Sunday morning. I feel confident that a sub 1:40 half is in my future for the Cup (my last 12 miler was at that pace) as long as I continue to train smart.

Working on: Cadence (180 steps per minute), minimal arm swing, breathing (2 steps per inhale, 2 steps per exhale).

Dowd Half Recap (Sort of)

2010-11-19T08:40:00.001-05:00

I ran the Dowd YMCA half marathon on November 16 and set a PR by around 35 seconds (1:41:42), good enough for 113th overall and 21st in my age group. Overall not a bad race but it reaffirmed my need to train more hills. I might have cracked top 20 in my age group had my shoe not come untied. That's the first time that has happened to me on any run and I may resort to triple knots to make sure that it doesn't happen again.

I'm currently training for two more marathons this season; Charlotte's Thunder Road in December and the Charleston, SC, Riverfront Race Festival in January. That will be 3 marathons in 91 days and will allow me to get "Marathon Maniac" status. Pretty cool.

I'm planning on taking a week off after Charleston and then reducing my training volume for two months to give my body time to recover fully. During that time I'll plan my races for next season and work out a training program to get me closer to a 3:30 marathon. I'm pretty sure that with the right training I can hit that and maybe even get closer to 7:30 for half marathon pace. We'll see.

A Little Over-Trained

2010-11-02T08:16:00.001-04:00

I started out last week great, my legs were feeling good and I was running fast. I decided on Friday to do an additional tempo run and that, it turns out, wasn't such a good idea.

On Sunday I showed up for the weekly long run a bit early because I wanted to hit 16 miles. The first 9 went well but then my legs simply died. My breathing and heart rate were good but my muscles just didn't want to move. I hadn't changed anything nutritionally and had actually gotten some rest for a change so I was a bit surprised. I cut the "out" portion of the out and back short and actually had to walk after mile 14 back to the car. My legs were that shot.

What I think I did wrong was two-fold. First, I didn't allow myself a good rest after my marathon effort. Then, I started back up my training a little faster than I should have and didn't give myself proper rest during the week.

I have a half marathon this Saturday so I'm taking 5 days off prior to give my body a chance to recover. I'll be back on my regular training schedule the week after and will be paying more attention to my body. Looking back I can tell I was seeing early signs of over-training during my tempo run that I ignored. Luckily, I'm not injured and the rest will do me some good.

Baltimore Marathon Recap

2010-10-21T22:09:00.001-04:00

I ran my first marathon on October 16 in Baltimore. Running 26.2 miles wasn't always a goal of mine; I used to laugh at the thought. When I got hooked on running I set 26.2 miles in 4 hours as a long term goal. I finished Baltimore in 3:55.

The event was amazing. The crowds were the most supportive I've seen and the locals were friendly. The course was hilly. Very hilly. 26.2 miles of hill repeats. There was also a wind that was gusting up to 30 mph. Did I mention the hills?

I set out at a pace that I should have held for the distance but I started feeling good and decided to push it. I hit the 13 mile mark at about 2 minutes slower than my half-marathon PR. Not good. Around mile 16 my quads died and the pace dropped. Significantly.

I knew I wasn't going to hit my BQ (3:20) by mile 10. I think I was around 2 minutes off that pace and knew I couldn't make up the time and likely wouldn't be able to hold that gap for another 16.2 miles. When the 3:30 pace group passed me around mile 15 I figured I could hold on to beat the 3:40 group. I think they passed me about 6 miles later. I swore to myself I wouldn't let the 3:50 group by me. Somewhere between miles 24 & 25 they flew by.

Overall I'm extremely happy with my results. I hit my original goal and learned a lot. I learned I need to run more hills and that my weakest area right now is my pacing. It sucks.

Here are my splits. It will be obvious where my legs died on me. My next marathon will be in December when I run Charlotte's Thunder Road (assuming I get the switch form turned in this weekend). I'm shooting for somewhere around 3:40.

Baltimore Split Times

08:22.2
08:00.1
08:14.6
07:56.1
08:01.7
07:26.5
07:35.0
07:40.4
07:24.1
07:51.2
07:49.6
07:52.8
08:10.4
08:12.7
08:13.0
08:37.0
08:45.9
09:33.5
09:59.8
10:18.1
10:21.8
10:47.0
10:57.8
11:08.6
11:10.4
10:41.6
03:50.8