Monthly Archives: March 2010

What is the old saying “How do you eat an elephant?  One bite at a time.”

This training plan is more than a bit overwhelming.  I look at the peak of the training and there is just so much.  It is teaching me a great lesson.  I am just trying to take it one step at a time and just keep moving forward.  I am increasing the time of my long runs anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour each week.  This week I am going from 2 hours and 30 minutes to 3 hours.  I know I can do 30 more minutes.  I am also trying to break down each hour of the run.

I am trying to run about a 9 to 10 minute per mile pace and walk 5 minutes after each mile.  That breaks down to about 4 sets an hour.  That is a big mental break for me to just know I have four sets left during a run instead of an hour.  This week I am just increasing by 2 sets not 30 minutes.

When you have a task that is just too big to imagine the best way to put it down is, “Just one bite at a time”.  Hope this helps and happy running.

Nothing discloses real character like the use of power.  It is easy for the weak to be gentle.  Most people can bear adversity.  But if you wish to know what a man really is, give him power.  This is the supreme test.  – Robert Ingersoll

Friday was my second Test for the Lone Ranger Ultra.  I started Friday with about 5 miles that morning and then did 2 1/2 hours Friday night which ended up with about 13.5 miles and 18.5 for the day.  I was trying to test several things Friday.

1- Running on tired legs.  I did speedwork Friday morning so my legs did feel like I had already put in some work.  By the time Friday night came I was feeling it some. 

2- Pace.  I felt a little more worn down at the end of this run than I did two weeks ago.  However I think a week of high mileage and running the half marathon was the main reason for that.  Usually a slower pace makes me feel worn down so it might have been a little of both.

3- Hydration.  I used my new Camelbak for this run.  It went well and was not as tough as an adjustment as I thought it would be.  My only challenge was a little discomfort with my sleeveless shirt but no real problems with the weight.  However having said that when I took it off after about mile 11 it was a substantial difference.  

Overall I was very pleased with how it went.  I will be adding a few new challenges this week.  I will be doing a 10 mile run in the morning and 3 hours at night.  I will also be trying out a few new hydration tactics and will add some eating and see how I respond to different foods this week.

This provides some additional challenges that even the 50 miler did not.  It forces you do your homework real well.

From Gary Vaynerchuk “Crush it”

Gary’s Three simple rules

1- Love your family

2- Work Superhard

3- Live your passion

Pretty much sums it all up.

This weekend will be another good test run for me.  Again I will be testing my pace and I will also be running a double to get me used to running on tired legs.  I will start with this on Friday and repeat it most all of the way through my training.  This week I will only have a 4 mile run in the morning and 2.5 hours Friday night.  Eventually that morning run will increase to about 12 miles and the Friday night run will be quite a few hours long.

I really want to get the doubles in to make sure I am getting used to running on tired legs for the end of these long runs.  I also want to take advantage of running late on Friday nights.  My body also needs to become adapted to running that late at night.  This weekend won’t be bad at all.  The biggest thing is increasing the time and keeping my pace where I want it.  Again seeing how I feel afterwards is the key.  Have a great weekend.

So how are you doing so far this year?  Did you make a New Year Resolution or two?  One of the things I think is good is to use the change of seasons as a quarterly progress report.  We are just about done with the first quarter of the new year so it is a great time to assess your progress so far this year.

There are a quite a few good reasons to do this now.

1- Great weather.  It is a great time to start getting outside and being active. 

2- Spring races.  There are plenty of 5k and 10k races in the spring to begin to set a goal for yourself.

3- Plenty of time.  If you have dropped off the wagon you still have 9 months to make things happen and create some real change for the rest of the year.

4- BHAG.  You still have time to work on creating or reaching your BHAG this year.

Right something down you hope to do and get active this spring.  Start simple and use the change of season to our advantage.

Mile 6 would end with a strong uphill and then a downhill stretch.  Neither one of those are really fun for the legs at this point.  I would finish Mile 6 in 7:20.  This is right in line with what I was hoping for to keep the pace under 7:21.  After the banging of my screaming quads down hill we would have another uphill so I kept pushing hard and my pace felt good.  I was passing a good many runners that the hills were obviously beating up.

Right now is where I am happy I did hill sprints and hill work.  I have gotten to a point where I know this is what makes the difference.  I used to watch the strong runners zoom past me up the hills and I knew that more hill work is what would make this happen for me.  Funny story at this point as I began to feel real good my thoughts began to say “leave it all on the course”.  Just as I began repeating that in my head I saw two runners stop and “leave something else all on the course”.  Holy Mother of all things!  I think I saw a boot in there.  I felt bad for them and decided that is not what I meant by “leaving it on the course”.  I would finish Mile 7 with tough hills in 7:25.  Just after Mile 7 is the top of a hill and where the Half and Full Marathoners split. 

At this point I finally learned something about me and the marathon.  First let me say that I love the marathon.  That being said when a marathon is run only as marathon is when I want to run it.  The combination of the half and full run on the same day is not a full marathon I really want to be in.  It has been a little tough in the past to see runners splitting off or even worse at Tybee where I watched them cross the “flipping” finish line when I had 13.1 to go.  That was a bad day!  The idea that all of us running that day are in the same battle is encouraging to me.  I had the thought that those are the marathons for me.

At the top of the hill after Mile 7 I wanted to assess how I felt and determine how the rest of the race would go.  I really felt strong and I had found some company.  I had started to pace myself with two runners going at a real nice pace.  We would begin to head into the Virginia Highlands area and my two other runners and I were running strong together.  We would approach Virginia Avenue so I knew Piedmont Park was getting close.  I passed Mile 8 in 7:10.  We stayed together and we would for the next two miles or so.  We ran into Piedmont Park and the crowd of runners began to thicken as I could see the fast starters begin to slow as we would catch them.  Mile 9 is in the Park and I would finish it in 7:00 flat. 

Leaving Piedmont I would leave my two friends I have run the last few miles with.  Starting Mile 10 would be my favorite part of the Peachtree Road Race but not a fun part of this race.  We would go UP 10th Street and I mean up.  A nice hill where I am used to a downhill finish going up is not as fun.  We would take a left on Juniper where for one year we finished the Peachtree Road Race on this street which is also full of hills.  A lot of ups and downs through here but I was pushing the best I could.  I hit Mile 10 in 7:20.

I love to hit Mile 10 in a Half Marathon.  I know it leaves me with a 5K and I know I can put forth the effort to finish strong.  I had taken a quick look at the course clocks and knew a 1:40 finish was no problem and began to realize if I pushed this pace with a strong finish this could be one of my fastest half marathons.  The problem was not going to be as much what I had left as I felt good, the problem would be the course and the hills that were left.  I knew the next two miles in particular would be a real challenge. 

I knew we were getting close as I could begin to see many landmarks I was looking for.  The next landmark I knew would be close to Mile 11 and that would be Georgia Tech and Grant Field.  I would finish Mile 11 in 7:18.  Again I was very happy with the miles I was putting down and keeping them at a nice consistent pace.  The next mile would be the toughest left with a long uphill on North Avenue taking me by Coca-Cola buildings.  I pushed pretty hard during the hill which felt like 10 miles itself.  I would finish Mile 12 in 7:13 and knew there we were straight ahead for about a mile.

The last mile again seemed long .  I would begin to see CNN center and hear the crowd which is a welcome site and sound.  The finish in this race suddenly appears.  You have to make a left turn into Centennial Park and all of the sudden you see the finish line.  It is not something you can see from a distance but you can hear them.  I would finish Mile 13 in 7:05 and a final finish in 1:35:25.  I did not have the same kick as I did in Berry but I also felt I ran a much smarter race than Berry.  At the end of Berry I looked back and felt I might have left some effort out on the course.  I knew for this race I did not.  In Berry my fastest mile and slowest were almost 1:30 different.  For this race only 42 seconds difference.  In fact only one mile was off and that was mile 4.  Other than Mile 4 there was only about 25 seconds difference between my fastest and slowest mile.

It was the most consistent race I have run in the half marathon.  My PR was me running like a mad man and hanging on for dear life at the end.  Not always the best method but you can get used to it! 

This also was a nice way to finish up a few busy months of racing.  I am really looking forward to my training for the ultra and the Peachtree Road Race.  It will present its own challenge of distance training and speed training together.  This does get me excited about the rest of this year and early 2011 where I hope to translate the same success to a strong marathon.

But for now a little recovery this week and I will begin to stretch out my long runs for this summer.  More to come on the Peachtree and Lone Ranger Ultra Training.  Have a great week running.

I went down on Saturday to pick up my race packet and number.  I really enjoyed the expo this year.  I am used to going down to the Disney World Expo where you can’t move so the ability to walk around and take it all in was amazing.  I went early enough where the crowd was pretty small.  Coming into the race I had no real plan or idea of how I would do.  I had just come off a couple of days of very strong carb loading!  (Cake and cookies thanks to my Dad’s and my birthdays)  Not exactly the ideal race preparation.  Oh well!  I knew it but that did not stop me from enjoying it.

I got to the race area nice and early hoping to loosen up and get a nice warm up in.  From the time I walked from the car to the start line and got in the corral I think I walked and ran about 4 miles combined.  I had plenty of time and morning runs always get me as I typically do most speedwork in the afternoons.  So I always try to give myself as much warm up as I can.  Also thanks to Chris who I met before the race for the bottle of water as it saved me from the first few water stops.

First let me saw how the race has grown and improved.  I remember the first year and the adventures that were.  Running out of water at water stops, cars parked in the road at the start line and some course running issues.  The next year was a vast improvement and this year in its fourth year they did better than ever.  It is really shaping up to be a nice race and great crowds as well.  I feel like the race has come a long ways and improving each year.  I don’t love the course but it has some real good features and when I can support a solid local race I will always try.  A few other things they do real well are the sponsored water stops for local organizations and the neighborhood challenge cheer zones as well.  I think it is very creative and they really tend to give you a shot in the arm when you need it.  They also have volunteers on the course warning you about any road issues ahead.  In the city where the streets have some issues that is a great benefit to have.

Start time was a 7am.  Unlike the Berry Half I really came into this with no plan and no idea how I would feel.  In fact if the warm up was any indication it was going to be a long day.  That is one reason my warm up was so long as I was trying to get where I felt good but that just never happened.  I decided to just go out and find a good solid pace and try to run consistent.  We start on Marietta Street right in front of the CNN center.  The first mile takes you down to Piedmont and down into Georgia State University.  At this point the whole road is wide open and the pacing of the runners is consistent with not too much in the way of runners weaving in and out.  I felt solid on mile 1 with a 7:26.

We would continue down Piedmont for mile number 2 with some rolling hills but nothing too bad.  Mile 2 was 7:11.  We would begin a few more twists and turns as we would pass Central Park and Mile 3 would be done in 7:21.  At this point I remember seeing a few more hills.  I felt good so far and was happy with my pacing but I had no idea how long and how strong I would be able to go.  In my head I felt like an initial goal not that I was moving would be keep it under 1:40.  I felt that would be a reachable goal for me today and still make me keep my pace up.

We would pass my favorite stretch of the race by the Martin Luther King Jr Historical Site.  A lot of history there and I always enjoy passing Ebenezer Baptist Church.  I would pass Mile 4 in 7:42.  At this time we would begin to head toward my least favorite stretch and that would be the Freedom Parkway and Carter Center area.  We would first begin to approach the Little Five Points area and mile 5 would pass in 7:14.  I knew with the hills in the next couple of miles I wanted to keep up a good pace.  I still felt strong and decided to push hard on the hills.

I was a little surprised at how good I felt to this point and was almost waiting for the slow down and thought I might start wearing down at any moment but so far that did not seem to happen.  I knew in my last couple of half marathons my total pace for the race ended up at about 7:20-7:21/mile.  After mile 5 I decided my goal for the rest of the race was to keep each mile at or under that pace as much as I could.  I knew I was just at mile 5 but if I pushed hard the next two miles through the hills and still felt strong I had a chance at a real good race.  The key would be how I would finish the next two miles and how I felt after that.

I will be working on a race report but the event went fantastic.  I don’t feel like I could have asked for anything more on Sunday.  I did not feel 100% prepared and was uncertain of how I would do.

I ended up with my second best half marathon time at 1:35:25.  Full of birthday cake I ran better than I would have ever expected to.  I left it all on the course.  (Effort that is not birthday cake!)  This is the 4th year of the ING Georgia and I thought it went really well and the best yet.  That was my fastest half in a year and a half and I don’t think I am in the best racing form right now which gets me really excited for the rest of this year and I am hopeful it sets me up for a chance at a PR for the Disney World Half Marathon in January.

Happy running…

So many of our dreams at first seem impossible, then they seem improbable, and then when we summon the will, they soon become inevitable.
     - Christopher Reeve, 1952 – 2004

That is going to be going through my head this weekend.  It has been a busy 6 months.  In that time I have never raced as much as I have before in an entire year much less 6 months.  7 half marathons, 1 full and 1 50k.  I feel like I have taken good care of the body during this time.  I really have nothing on the horizon of importance for a while.  A 5K in a couple of months maybe but that is it for now.  Which brings me to my motto for this weekend.  I don’t know what I will have in the tank or how the hills will come into play but I don’t really care either.  We will just find out.

I am out there with nothing else but training runs on the horizon so I plan to just run hard until I can’t run hard anymore.  I feel like I will do well and the consistent yet conservative training miles the last four months have been helping me recover.  Have a great weekend of training or racing as it is a busy weekend for races around the country.

I am very excited to be running in support for such a great cause and organization.  I heard about Anne from someone on my team after I had registered.  The more I read the more excited I get.  It made it an easy decision to make this my next ultramarathon.

This past week I tried out my first “test” long run for the Lone Ranger Ultra.  I wanted to see how I felt at running about a 10 minute per mile pace or just below and walking 5 minutes after each mile.  That is the initial strategy I plan to use this summer but I really want to test it and see how I feel post run.  My concern is that in the past if I tried running at a slower pace than I am used to I tend to get tired and worn down easy during the run.

The entire time during the run I really wanted to push it and run faster but I had to make sure I tested this and knew what it did to my body.  It seemed to work really well.  They key for my long runs the next 4-5 months is going to be time on my feet.  My long runs will consist of hours on my feet, not miles.  If I have a mileage distance to run I will be tempted to knock it out quick.  This strategy should keep me more disciplined to keep my pace down and force me to take walk breaks.

I was really pleased with this past weekend and felt fresh after I finished.  I ended up doing 11 miles in the 2 hours.  I will start to gradually increase the time each weekend.  I have the ING Half this coming weekend but after that the time on my feet will be vital.  Once I get into the 4-5 hours on my feet that will tell the tale and I will know about my strategy but so far so good on test number 1.

These videos are getting me excited for the adventure this summer of the 24 hour ultramarathon.  Enjoy

A week to go before the ING Half.  So far the weather is forecasted to be perfect.  Hope to run in weather that makes spring in Georgia a great place to be.  This race seems to get better each year I have run it.  Looking forward to seeing what changes are in store for 2010.  I did not race last year and I already see some positive changes from 2 years ago.

Good luck to those tapering for races next weekend.  Quite a few races to welcome in spring next week.  National Marathon in DC, ING Georgia, Rome Marathon, Virginia Beach and many others.  Any only 5 weeks til Boston for those running in April!

Before mile 7 I had settled in behind a few runners not grouped up but staggered.  I was content just to tuck behind a few of the runners and run a good pace.  At mile marker 7 there was a water stop going uphill.  The runner in front of me stopped but I went on ahead and passed him.  I thought nothing of it at the time but once we got to the top of the hill I could hear his footsteps coming.  I decided to push the pace just a little bit.  We did some twists and turns and would eventually come to a steep downhill that would lead to a gravel path around a pond.

As we came down the hill their was a volunteer there yelling encouragement.  He told me and the runner behind me that we were 53rd and 54th.  When I go to a race the thought never occurs to me where I might finish and I really don’t care.  I am trying to get the best out of myself and leave it all on the course.  Something happened today though when we told me that.  I really felt like I had accepted the idea of running an average race for myself.  Not really pushing it but just running a nice pace.  In fact I would have been given a congrats and a job well done by those who know me.  However, I know the race I was running.  It was not the pace and not the place and not the speed but it was the idea of running without passion and not giving all I had to give.  At some point I decided in my mind I did not need to push through the pain of great effort this day.  I justified it with knowing I was racing again in two weeks.

At this point I decided not to settle in behind anyone but to begin to push the pace.  Mile 8 I would finish in 7:08 and mile 9 in 7:31.  After mile 9 we would begin to make a push back to the starting area.  This honestly would be the worst part of the race.  It was run on the Viking Trail and there was nothing back there.  My friend Mark said it was like running on a treadmill.  He was correct!  For the most part it was a straight path and reasonably flat.  I still was trying to ignore the temptation of settling in behind other runners and running their pace.  It is easy to do that near the end of a race.  I would finish mile 10 in 7:10 and 11 in 7:09.  I was starting to catch a good many runners and feeling better by the step.  I really wanted to try to push the pace the last two miles and felt like I had enough left to do just that.  Mile 12 would still be on the trail and I would finish it in 6:55.

We would make our way to the main part of the campus to finish the race and I felt really strong.  I love to be able to finish with a nice kick and mile 13 would be in 6:39 and I would finish overall in 1:36:35.  It was just a handful of seconds slower than Tybee but I was pleased with the last 5 miles.  I felt I might have taken a couple of miles off mentally in the middle of the race but I felt good that I was able to refocus and push myself at the end.  I had a plan coming in and did not execute it perfectly.  Looking back though I feel I executed it well.  My only real complaint about my effort was mental in the middle and not really pushing myself.

My biggest desire each race is not to set a PR but to make sure I gave it all I had.  Set a plan and execute on that plan.  It can be easy to fall into a trap of good enough.  I remember when I first lost a lot of weight when I was heavy and those around me told me how good I looked.  I fell into the trap of buying into it.  I had not reached my goal but I thought I have done good enough.  Listen to those around me as they say how good I look.  It was fine for everyone else but I did not hit my goal.  I ended up gaining a lot of that weight back.  The next time I set a goal and would not let anyone talk me out of hitting it.  That time it stuck and I have kept it off.

I need to know that at the end of the day I did all I could do.  Did I give my best effort?  My friends and family will be proud of me but do I have that seed of doubt that I left some effort on the course?  With everything in my life I want to know that I have done all I can do to be my best today.

Did I give it all today?

“Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it.”  George Santayana

A couple friends of mine recently went to the Holocaust Museum in DC.  There is a purpose that the museum serves.  It is not just to honor those we were killed but to remember.  We must not forget how it happened.  As we are further removed from events, friendships and relationships we should look at the whole not just the individual parts.

As with everything in life there is good and bad in everything and every person.  We are all humans who fail and succeed.  I see my boys look at me as a hero and there is a lot of pressure that I will probably never live up to.  I pray one day they will remember the whole thing.  Not just the good and not only the bad.

There is a time to honor and lift up people around us.  Honor and enjoy the good times.  Good experiences, good memories, good friends and good family.  We should honor them all.

However we should also Remember the bad.  Let us understand that we are flawed people so let us learn the lessons that history, family and people are there to teach us.  Seeing failure allows us to put a stake in the ground to take a stand and not let it happen to us and see history repeat itself.  Seeing those who fail should humble us not to do the same.  Sometimes you see things you don’t really want to see.  Sometimes you here things you don’t want to hear.  Let me accept if for what it truly is, ”a lesson”. 

Let me honor, let me remember and let me learn.