Run a marathon

Mom, 6.2 more miles is another hour. A qualifying time of 3 hours, 10 minutes is a blazing 7:15/mile pace. I don't think that's happening. My goal is simply to finish.

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Noteables from the run yesterday:
- I had planned to run the same 5 mile loop around the river (with short breaks after each loop for some Gu and Gatorade). However, there was some Walk for a cause (not sure what) so there were literally thousands of walkers I had to dodge. After 1 loop, I had to change my route to the other end of the river (the end I don't like), which was frustrating.
- The temperature was great (in the low 60s)... perfect for running. However, it also rained about a third of the time, which was both good and bad. The rain felt good, but running with soggy shoes and getting splashed by cars was not so good.
- At mile 13 I quickly stopped at a Shell station to use the restroom. My feet were soaked, so when I went in the bathroom, I slipped, pulling my quad. This was bothersome for the next 4 or 5 miles, but feels ok now.
- At mile 16, my double-notted shoe came untied! Shows what the wet weather can do.
- At the end of mile 18 I got a bad cramp in my right calf. I walked for a minute until it went away. I need to be sure and eat a lot of bananas the week before the race.
- I ran the whole thing pretty fast... a 9:03/mile pace, and finished right at 2 hrs 59 mins. However, this is a little misleading, as this was my running pace. I stopped the clock at times when I involuntarily had to stop running (traffic lights, etc), as well as my 3 hydration breaks (but didn't stop it when I got the cramp and had to walk).

I'm really hoping the weather in Chicago is like it was today in Boston, minus the rain.

I ran 20 miles yesterday morning. My legs hurt, but I think they are injury free. I had been battling tendenitis/shin-splints ever since my 18 mile run 2 weekends ago. This was attributed to the way I was running - during my runs I was progressively landing more and more on my toes and less on my heels. It was to the point that I finished a short 4 mile run a week in a half ago in agony. So for the 14 miler last Saturday, I emphasized landing on my heels more and rolling to my toes. It made the run hard since my legs were trained to run the other way, but I ended the run feeling pretty good. The pain continued all this week, but changing my running style (and lots of icing!) made sure that the pain didn't get worse.

For the run yesterday, I wanted to try and do everything like I will on race morning. No breakfast has been working well, so I've decided I won't eat before the marathon (don't want any surprise indigestion/stops during the race). Instead, I down 2 packets of Gu gel before the run, and continue taking a Gu every 5 miles during the run.

It's been a while since I've posted, so to quickly catch up...

My training suffered in the first 3 weeks of August due to the move, our West coast trip, and then lots of job interviews when I got back. Running in San Fran and Napa was nice and the weather was awesome, but most days left no time to get my runs in. I finally did my 16 mile run when we got back from the West coast (a week late). I was supposed to do a 17 mile run the following week, but stopped at 10 miles when the top of my foot began hurting pretty badly... I wasn't going to risk the injury. I could probably blame the lack of running in the previous weeks as a reason for this (it took most of the week to recover from the 16 mile run).

This week I got back on track. I got in good 7 and 10 mile runs in the middle of the week, and did an 18 mile run yesterday (Saturday) morning. It was tough. However, my recovery after this one was much better than how I felt after the 16 mile run. I could hardly walk after the 16 mile run, but after this one I was getting around just fine (albeit with some pain), so I think that's a good sign.

I just checked my training schedule, and it looks like my long run notches back to 14 miles this week. The following week is the big 20 miler. That will be the longest run I do before the marathon.

5 weeks to go!

So I forgot to mention I just purchased a new pair of running shoes that should get me through the rest of my training and the marathon. I definitely recommend the shoe store I went to in Atlanta - Phidippides. Every employee there is a runner. They watch you run and then bring out 5+ pairs of shoes of varying brands (or more if you want to keep trying others). I had previously been wearing New Balances, but I test-ran in the Saucony's, and they just felt better. The pair I ended up getting was the
Saucony ProGrid Tridgon 5.

After running the 14 miler last Saturday, my running schedule this week has totally been screwed up by our move to Boston. The entire week was devoted to packing, driving, and unpacking. I ran 3 miles on Monday, but that was it. Today (Saturday) was my first run in Boston. As mentioned in the previous comment, I ran 6 miles on the Charles River this morning. It was sunny and hot, but nice out. My legs were still burning from walking up and down three flights of stairs (at least 100 times) the previous day, so this was a good run to get back on track. The good thing is that this was supposed to be my step-back week, where my long run was supposed to be 10 miles. The bad thing is that I didn't do my prescribed distance. I felt that I shouldn't do much more than 5 miles today because I hadn't run all week, and also because I knew I had another long day of unpacking/moving furniture today.

Tomorrow we leave for our San Fran trip. I should be able to do a good bit of running out there, as it should be beautiful in Big Sur and Napa. I'm supposed to jump up to a 16 mile run next weekend. If I feel prepared enough by then, I will go ahead and attempt it. Hopefully I'm not too warn out from all the other outdoor activities.

Did 6 miles today (Thurs). 9:11 min/mile

I have been very busy so far this week and thus my running has suffered. Preparing for our move to Boston next week and preparing for job interviews have monopolized the majority of my time. I had to skip my Tuesday run and had to run a shorter distance today (Wed) for lack of time. My plan is to do a 6-7 mile run tomorrow evening before dinner with my parents to make up for the shorter run today.

Also, the plan this week was to buy a new set of shoes (the current ones are at the end of their mileage) and try them out on 1 or 2 short runs before this weekend. However, the store my mom is insisting I get them from is closed during the only hours I am able to visit, so I will put this purchase on hold until after my long run this weekend. I am ok with this so long as this doesn't cause injury (my shin splints started sneaking back last weekend so I'll keep my fingers crossed).

I meant to post after my run on Saturday, so here it is. Chris Penley and I ran 13.11 miles (half marathon distance) that morning. It was basically a round-about route from my apartment all the way to his house down in Grant Park. We made sure to keep our pace down around the 10 min/mile mark, and succeeded, finishing at a 9:59 min/mile pace, with one 1 minute stop at a gas station around the 8 or 9 mile mark to pick up gatorade. I really liked the route we chose, going down Piedmont to Morningside, down N. Highland Rd (through Virginia Highlands), and then down Ponce forking down toward East Lake golf course (2nd St), which had nice wide sidewalks and little traffic. The only bad part of the course was at the beginning of Glenwood Rd. where there was no sidewalk, so we were basically running through people's yards for a half-mile. The rest of the run was fine, running straight through East Atlanta and ending up at Penley's house. The last mile was very tough in my opinion. My knees were hurting and my body was feeling it. Also, I was running low on energy since I didn't eat breakfast (the 2 energy gels were my breakfast). I may try eating a Cliff Bar as my breakfast before my 14 mile run this Saturday morning just to see whether it helps or hinders my run. I need to try both eating and not eating before my morning long runs to see what will work better for the marathon. The run was tough, but I felt good once we finished.

So I ran 3 miles Mon, 3 miles on Tues, and 7.5 miles yesterday (Wed). Yesterday's run ended up being much harder than I expected. There were many factors that contributed this:

- I was not properly hydrated.
- I ran in the late afternoon so it was hotter and there was tons of rush-hour traffic (lots of stopping at intersections and exhaust on Peachtree).
- I started mile 1 and 2 way too fast, which came back to haunt me.
- I got lost running through the Ansley Park neighborhoods (it is literally a maze). This was demoralizing. Every time I thought I had found the way out, I realized I had somehow circled back to the same 5-way intersection.
- My Dairy Queen lunch from earlier in the day did not help things (not a good pre-run meal).
- I definitely ran too hard during my short runs on Monday and Tuesday (these are supposed to be slow-paced and easy... I pushed myself during these).

All this added up to one lousy run yesterday. I wanted to collapse at the end. The run was so hard on my body that it even affected my sleep last night. I was tossing and turning all night (only slept 4 hours).

So I decided to take today off to let my body recoup. I will probably do the same tomorrow so that I can be ready to do the 13 mile run on Saturday. Next week I will need to be more disciplined in my shorter runs and stick with the prescribed slower pace so as not to wear my body out.

So, I just joined Goalmigo and added all my past training info into the graph. I will try and post comments from here on regarding my training and progress.

For background, the training plan I'm following is to do 1 long run a week (usually on Saturday), along with short to mid distance runs during the week. The long run is the most important, since this is where the big distance increases are made. I decided to do a hybrid of the Hal Higdon novice training rogram . The philosophy is that every 3rd week you have "stepback" week, where you reduce the mileage to allow for the next big push in mileage.

This week was my "stepback" week. My long run this morning was 8.1 miles (whereas last week it was 11.0 miles). Hopefully my muscles will be ready for the big 13 mile (half-marathon distance) run next weekend!

I actually ran at a good pace this morning. My average pace was 8:57/mile, which I was happy about (last week's 11.0 mile run was at a 9:16/mile pace). Besides finishing the marathon, a secondary goal is to finish it in under 4 hours. A 4 hour finishing time equates to about a 9:15/mile pace, so I feel like I have been doing well at keeping the pace in that range as I increase my distance.

Another thing that helped my run this morning was the weather. It was overcast and drizzling the whole time (the cool mist was nice!). This definitely makes a huge differnce for a run. Running when it is sunny and in the 80's definitely tacks on about 30 seconds/mile to my time, and leaves me absolutely exhausted for the rest of the day.

Well, I will try and update this with my progess as much as possible. I've battled a few injuries thus far (from shin-splints to rolling my ankle on the pavement one night). Right now, I can say my legs now feel pretty good and are injury free. Let's hope they stay that way!