T-Minus 11 Days and Counting. . .

Well, if today was an indication of the kind of shape I'm in, then this training has certainly worked its magic. I did my 3 x 1600 intervals and experienced the not-always-attainable negative splits, where your last intervals are faster than your first. Running from home on my usual out and back that involves a half mile down and then another up to the mile mark, I cranked out the first in 7:55, the second in 7:58 (running further south a half mile and then turning around) and the third all the way back in an unreal 7:24. Perceived effort for that last mile was well under what was indicative of the time and my recovery was quick as well. Was quite stunned at my time when I looked at my watch; a nice problem to have.

Couple of random thoughts:

*I'm feeling good right now about my conditioning but am a little concerned about how my feet, ankles and quads/hamstrings are going to hold up on race day. This time around I seem to be a little more beaten up physically, though I'm in better overall shape. I'm really going to try to schedule a massage for next week, as I think that will help loosen and limber me up for race day. Make no mistake, though. I fully expect to be downright trashed on Monday after the race.

*I've mentioned in another post that both Jen and I are a little burned out right now and are looking forward to being done with the marathon. One positive byproduct of that that's seemed to have crept up in the last couple of days is this; I'm not nearly as "nervous" about the race as I have been in years past. Part of that is experience; this is our fourth marathon and we have a good training plan, a good race weekend plan and we know what to expect. The other part is that I'm happy with my conditioning and know that I can complete the 26.2 miles. It's a nice place to be in but I'm still looking forward to being done, damn it!

T-Minus 12 Days and Counting. . .

I’m all over the board with this post as we now duck under the two week mark until the big day.

I was back at it on Sunday after a week-long hiatus to rest my incredibly-sore hamstring. In the end, it was a weird injury in that I had high levels of pain attempting to walk up the stairs but never had pain going down the stairs or on the bike or even doing some light jogging. Odd.

Anyway, I did 5 miles in about 46 minutes, which was an easy 9:20 pace or so. Kept waiting for some kind of pain to appear but it never did. Had to shake off the cobwebs that come with not running for seven days but overall I felt really good. Jen had razzed me about not going too hard and, surprisingly, I heeded her advice and eased back into it. Looking back, I probably could have handled the 15 miles with her and Mary on Saturday but sometimes it’s better to play it safe, rather than risk further injury.

I’d done 45 minutes on the bike at the Y on Friday night and felt great during that ride as well. My level of cardio conditioning is such that that felt like a very easy workout even though my pace and cadence was high.

This is a critical point in the training as we taper to get our bodies ready for race day. This week we’re set for 3 x 1600 intervals, an 8-mile tempo run and then 10 miles on Saturday. Going to work in some cross training as well just to keep the legs fresh.

T-Minus 16 Days and Counting. . .

Pain. And a lot of it. After the successful 20-miler, I seemed to be recovering fairly well on Monday and into Tuesday. Had a little leg soreness and some regular pain in my left ankle tendons but nothing out of the ordinary.

That all changed on Tuesday afternoon when I began to have serious pain in my left quad/hamstring area. Had sat through a four-hour training session that morning but am not sure if that had anything to do with it. It’s since become problematic enough that I can’t quite put much weight on it to go up stairs.

Even more annoying is that I can’t figure out exactly what the problem is. I rode the bike for 30 minutes yesterday at the Y with absolutely no pain at all during the ride. Going up stairs was nearly impossible, however, and this morning the leg is even more sore. Jen did a quick eval last night and is thinking it might be that my hamstring is strained. Part of me isn’t quite sure that’s it but can’t quite figure it out.

My plan at the moment is to take two full days off, at least, and skip the 15-mile run on Saturday. My fitness level is such that I have a better shot at still finishing the race in two weeks if I lay off now and recover rather than trying to push through it and injure myself even more. Rather frustrating to be hit with this during the last two weeks.

Mentally, right now I’m in a different place than I was last year when I was injured with about eight weeks to go and had to take six weeks off from running and just cross train. Last year, I was frustrated and apprehensive about possibly missing out on the race. This year, I’ve become somewhat burned out by all the training and am desperately looking forward to the end of marathon training and the transition back to pure cross training (running, biking, swimming, weights, etc.) If I’m able to recover in time and finish the race, that would be great. If not, I think I’m OK with that too.

Injuries suck.

T-Minus 19 Days and Counting. . .

Our 20-miler yesterday in Chicago was a mixed bag but, in the end, I think I’m feeling pretty good about where our training is with three weeks to go. I said to Jen at the end that while I didn’t feel great during the run, I didn’t feel like total crap either. How’s that for a summation?

We did the Chicago Area Runners Association Ready to Run 20 Miler, which is an organized run scheduled to coincide with training programs for the Chicago Marathon. It’s capped at about 5,000 runners who leave in waves from Foster Ave. Beach, head north briefly, and then turn south to run all the way down the lakefront to the South Shore Cultural Center. It includes aid stations and support along with way and a small post-run festival at the end. It’s fun and a nice break from having to come up with another 20-mile route on our own.

Temps were perfect, upper 50s, as we shoved off a little before 7 a.m. We treated this run as a rehearsal for the race and were focused on taking gel every 5 miles or so, walking quickly through the aid stations and getting back at it, etc. The first 5 miles were good as we dialed in slightly under our 10-minute/mile pace. We were feeling good from miles 5 to 10, as well, as we held pace and kept moving along. Temps picked up a bit as the sun was up higher but it wasn’t much of a factor because of the low humidity.

Miles 10 to 15 became a little more difficult, as they usually do during a run of this length. You feel good because you’ve passed the halfway point but not so good because you still have 10 miles to go. We picked it up around mile 13 and I know I was thinking, “oh, only 7 miles to go, not too bad.” Well, that happy feeling passed rather quickly and the quads and feet were beginning to feel the pain.

Miles 15 to 20 were up and down. We hit mile 17 and I felt a surge of energy as I realized we only had 3 to go. Again, that feeling passed, and I was hurting again at mile 18. The last two miles of a run this long always brings mixed emotions; “it’s only two miles, sure, but it’s still two miles to go.” Love the contradiction.

We hit the final mile and cranked it up as best we could on the narrow sidewalk with a lot of other runners. Finished pretty strong and were feeling sore but in good spirits. My ankle’s a bit sore today and the quads are a little tight but, surprisingly, I’m feeling pretty good. Mentally, I’m definitely looking forward to the race being done as I’m becoming slightly burned out by the training. It will be much more exciting to do this with thousands of other people and with thousands of others cheering us on so I’m sure that will carry me through.

We begin our three-week taper now as we give the body its rest while still keeping the legs fresh and ready to run 26.2. Cross training, sleep and nutrition will be critical as we get closer to the big day.

T-Minus 19 Days and Counting. . .

Our 20-miler yesterday in Chicago was a mixed bag but, in the end, I think I’m feeling pretty good about where are training is with three weeks to go. I said to Jen at the end that while I didn’t feel great during the run, I didn’t feel like total crap either. How’s that for a summation?

We did the Chicago Area Runners Association Ready to Run 20 Miler, which is an organized run scheduled to coincide with training programs for the Chicago Marathon. It’s capped at about 5,000 runners who leave in waves from Foster Ave. Beach, head north briefly, and then turn south to run all the way down the lakefront to the South Shore Cultural Center. It includes aid stations and support along with way and a small post-run festival at the end. It’s fun and a nice break from having to come up with another 20-mile route on our own.

Temps were perfect, upper 50s, as we shoved off a little before 7 a.m. We treated this run as a rehearsal for the race and were focused on taking gel every 5 miles or so, walking quickly through the aid stations and getting back at it, etc. The first 5 miles were good as we dialed in slightly under our 10-minute/mile pace. We were feeling good from miles 5 to 10, as well, as we held pace and kept moving along. Temps picked up a bit as the sun was up higher but it wasn’t much of a factor because of the low humidity.

Miles 10 to 15 became a little more difficult, as they usually do during a run of this length. You feel good because you’ve passed the halfway point but not so good because you still have 10 miles to go. We picked it up around mile 13 and I know I was thinking, “oh, only 7 miles to go, not too bad.” Well, that happy feeling passed rather quickly and the quads and feet were beginning to feel the pain.

Miles 15 to 20 were up and down. We hit mile 17 and I felt a surge of energy as I realized we only had 3 to go. Again, that feeling passed, and I was hurting again at mile 18. The last two miles of a run this long always brings mixed emotions; “it’s only two miles, sure, but it’s still two miles to go.” Love the contradiction.

We hit the final mile and cranked it up as best we could on the narrow sidewalk with a lot of other runners. Finished pretty strong and were feeling sore but in good spirits. My ankle’s a bit sore today and the quads are a little tight but, surprisingly, I’m feeling pretty good. Mentally, I’m definitely looking forward to the race being done as I’m becoming slightly burned out by the training. It will be much more exciting to do this with thousands of other people and with thousands of others cheering us on so I’m sure that will carry me through.

We begin our three-week taper now as we give the body its rest while still keeping the legs fresh and ready to run 26.2. Cross training, sleep and nutrition will be critical as we get closer to the big day.

T-Minus 21 Days and Counting. . .

There is at least one weird benefit when you get this far along in marathon training; sometimes it's harder to go slower than it is to go faster. Last night, I did an easy 5K in about 25:30 just to keep the legs fresh for tomorrow's 20 miler in Chicago along the lakefront. Did a quick out and back from our house and was making a concerted effort to go slow. Hit the first mile in 8:45, faster than I wanted, but was feeling good and perceived effort was low. Did the second mile in about the same and then finished up with a speedy 7:45, again with a fairly low level of effort.

I'm feeling good about the 20 miles tomorrow. Temps are supposed to be good and the course is flat and fast. More thoughts coming later. . .

T-Minus 22 Days and Counting. . .

Well, here we are about three weeks until the race and the training continues to progress. Did a good 3 mile run on Wednesday in 25:05, with the last mile in about 8:15. Hit the upper weights afterward and felt really fresh and rested during both parts of the workout. While speed isn't really a focus at this point in the training, the mileage base that I've built is allowing me to go fast with minimal effort during these shorter runs.

Going to do 4 miles tonight to keep the legs fresh and ready for Sunday's 20-miler in Chicago. Temps are supposed to be cool Sunday and the minimal rain threat is supposed to take place later in the day. Though it's a run, and not a race, we're going to treat it as the latter and attempt to maintain our race pace of 10 minutes/mile including any stops for Gatorade and gel. It's a flat course so I'm hopeful things will go smoothly. More updates soon.

T-Minus 26 Days and Counting. . .

The last few weeks after our long runs, I've taken a little extra time off until the next run and I think it's left me sluggish. So, today, I got back into it with an easy 5K in 26:25, capped off with a 7:50 last mile. Most importantly, my legs felt incredibly fresh and my turnover rate was quick from start to finish.

As we get ready for Sunday's 20-miler, I'm planning to hit my tempo run on Wednesday and then do my 6 x 1200 on Friday. I think that should keep me fresh and get the legs ready for the long run.

T-Minus 28 Days and Counting. . .

We were in Madison this weekend to do our 15 miles this morning. Great to have somewhere different to run as the streets of Rockford get a bit boring week after week. It's also Ironman Wisconsin weekend in the Mad City so the vibe on the Isthmus and around Lake Monona was electric as we saw many triathletes getting in a last swim/bike/run before the big day tomorrow.

Our plan was to leave my sister's house and do a straight out and back, 7.5 miles each way. Temps were good as we shoved off at 7 a.m. Cool and clear, at least to start. Picked off the first few miles on autopilot as I waited for my body to warm up. We hit Monona Terrace at about 5 miles and took some Gatorade and a gel. Felt really good at that point as we headed into some interesting lakefront neighborhoods.

Almost like clockwork, I was feeling awesome at about 6 miles as I finally warmed up. Our pace was holding steady at about 9:30 or so, slightly fast but not too problematic. Jen began having some issues at around 6.5 with a tight IT band that's been giving her some problems lately. We separated before we hit the turnaround and she took a break to get it stretched out while I kept going. Finally caught up to her back at Monona where she'd decided to call my sister and get a ride back to minimize the chances of any major injury. She finished about 11.5 miles so it wasn't too big of a deal on the mileage end. She'll be treating it this week and doesn't seem too concerned.

I kept pressing and, as it turned out, my suffering from mile 10 to the end was due to the quick pace I was holding. Did the last 5 miles in about 9:25 pace, with the last mile in 8:55, to bring in the 15 miles in 2:20:30, much faster than I would have anticipated. That pace was much quicker than we'll do the race, most likely, and it's what led to the struggle in those last 5 miles.

However, as I told Jen later, sometimes it's OK to have these kinds of runs. I was struggling in the last 3 miles and was very tempted to walk a bit numerous times. Each time I just told myself to get to the next block, mailbox, fire hydrant, etc., and each time I did the urge passed. Being able to hold that pace for about 15 miles bodes well for our last month of training.

Another tough week this week as we're set for 6 x 1200 intervals; 5 mile tempo run and then the big 20 miler in Chicago on Sunday. Read more about that here.


Minor notes:

*Having incredible soreness after the long runs in the upper connective tissue where my leg connects to my foot. Been icing it well and it usually goes away within a day or so. Kind of a mystery, though, as to what's causing it.

*Been having a few struggles in the last couple of weeks with eating the right thing on the night before our long runs. Been doing the pasta thing but had noticed that that was giving me some GI issues so had throttled that back a bit in favor of a little more protein. Laid off the pasta again last night and had Cheerios and some cinnamon bread for breakfast before the run. Took three gels and that seemed to keep my stomach full and energy level up.

*As I mentioned yesterday, we'll be re-focusing on our cross-training this week, as I think that will help the legs stay fresh.

T-Minus 29 Days and Counting. . .

Had a crazy week and, again, have been lax with the blogging. Cranked out my 5-mile tempo run in 42:50 on Wednesday, with the last in 8:05 without too much effort. I felt a little sluggish for the first couple of miles, which I pinned on the extended layoff following our 20 miles on Saturday. However, the last two miles felt great and had no issues with any kind of pain, surprisingly.

We head to Madison tonight and will be doing 15 miles tomorrow along Lake Monona. It's Ironman Wisconsin Triathlon weekend so I'm pumped about soaking up the vibe tomorrow as the city gets ready for Sunday's race. Puts me in a completely different frame of mind when we get to run in a different city.

On another note, we're now four weeks away from the race and are heading into an important time. We've been a little lax with our cross-training lately due to numerous outside activities with kids and my school and it's been a little nuts. We'll be re-focusing on that beginning Monday so we make sure that we head into the race completely ready to go. Now is not the time to lose focus.

T-Minus 35 Days and Counting, Part 2. . .

Been a little lax in my run blogging so I'll try to get a little bit caught up here.

Today was the culmination of week one of our Three Weeks of Hell, as I'm calling it. This is the toughest period of our training program as we go with tough mid-week runs followed by 20/15/20 long-run weekends. Did 20 miles today in Rockford and, all in all, I was both pleased and surprised by my performance. Felt strong and fresh all the way to about 18 miles, with the last two somewhat of a slog.

I've mentioned before that I'm a much better runner when faced with a loop or point-to-point than I am with multiple out and backs or a finish where we might be challenged with adding on a few turns here and there to gain mileage. I like to know exactly where I'm going and when and where I'm going to finish. It helps with knowing how and when to push the pace and it helps in knowing that when I decide to kick it up at the end, I can do so at the right time.

Was feeling great all the way up to about 16, when we had to slightly alter our route to hit our last water stop. Did then and then had to estimate our ending point, which threw me off just a bit. Got back on pace just fine between 16 and 18, until the quad and foot soreness kicked in over the last two miles. No worries, though, as we still finished at consistent 9:45 pace, coming in at just under 3:20 for the 20 miles.

I'm feeling cautiously confident as we begin to see the end of the road, and the starting line in Chicago, on our horizon. Next week, we'll tackle 15 in Rockford, before heading to Chicago the following week for the CARA Ready to Run 20 Miler. More on that as we get closer.

Looking forward to this week's running and need to work back in to some cross training. As has happened before, when the long runs get longer and the fall busyness creeps back, it's been too easy to slack off on the cross training. Must fix that for the last month.

T-Minus 35 Days and Counting, Part 1. . .

My recovery from last week's illness continued unabated during my 8-mile tempo run on Wednesday. Ran home from my work on the west side of Rockford to the east side. Did not have the GPS with me so I relied on the route that Jen had plotted for me. All in all, it went well, as I held steady at about 8:55 pace and scorched the last mile in 7:55, based on the already-measured mile from the Rock Valley College campus near our house. Felt great during the whole run, temps were good and had no foot or ankle issues.