Monthly Archive

It’s Wednesday.  I should have been at the track

I swear I had every intention of running this morning.  My alarm was set for 4am.  My clothes were laid out and my water bottle was full.

Since this weekend is the Hartford 1/2 Marathon, I had no intention of running too hard, but I thought that I’d at least do some slow jogging and maybe even a little taunting of Keith while he ran his 800s. 

Keith and I have run together nearly every Wednesday morning since June.  Over the past four months, I think I’ve spent more quality alone time with Keith than with Michelle.

But for some reason, when the alarm went off this morning, I rolled over and fell back to sleep. I actually slept until 5:00.  When I opened my eyes and looked at the clock I felt like a schmuck .. like I was letting Keith down, but then I rolled over and fell back to sleep until 5:45.

So now I sit here, feeling sluggish and wishing that I got in a run this morning. 

Fortunately, Rick has already called to give me a hard time about not running.  I deserve it.  I’m a load.

I’m ready.

The morning of my last long run started at 5:10am.  It was 39 degrees as I left the house under a full moon for the walk to Pepper’s Pantry.  All I kept thinking was “how do people train for Boston in the middle of February when it’s 7 degrees?”    I was bundled up w/ a singlet, long-sleeve shirt, hooded sweatshirt and gloves.  The only indication that I was a runner and not a homeless person was the running shorts, untied Asics and tube of Body Glide in my hand.

Keith and Mark picked me up at 5:20 and we headed into Falmouth.  After meeting Kevin and getting a little lost in the dark, we parked on Hatchville Rd, did some obligatory stretching, reset our watches and started off in the dark. 

 

The first 5.4 miles
The run was essentially four 5-milers.  The first five miles were a drag.  It took me about 30 minutes to get into a rhythm and during that time my mental state was not conducive to running 20 miles.  I was weary.  My breath was uneven.  My arms and legs weren’t working together, and I was wondering how I’d make it.  The worst part – everyone else seemed fine.  I felt like a huge poseur.  I don’t belong out here. These guys are training for a marathon, and I’d be lucky to finish a 5K with how I feel right now. It wasn’t until we hit the 1/2 marathon line in the road (about 3.6 miles into our run) that everything came together. 

It was about this point that we broke up into pairs.  Keith and Mark ran ahead.  Kevin and I stayed together @ a 9:00 pace.  By the time we reached the first water stop @ the 15-mile mark near the Chapaquoit Grille I was feeling great.

Split time:  49:25

The second 5 miles
The next leg of our run happened to be the section of the marathon that killed me a few weeks ago – the hills of Sippiwisset.  Even though I felt great when we stopped for water, I was nervous about how I’d do on this next stretch. 

We resumed our pairs running (Keith and Mark/me and Kevin), but within the first mile Mark slowed down to our pace and let Keith run ahead. 

Unbelievably, destiny decided that Mark and Keith needed to run together this morning.  Both of them were victims of the stomach cramps & coincidentally found the exact same port-a-pottie between the 16 and 17 mile mark.  None of us knew that Keith had decided to stop until Mark tried to open the port-a-pottie and heard Keith’s voice from inside.

Kevin and I ran ahead and the next 3 miles were nearly effortless.  Three weeks ago these same hills were soul-destroying mountains – each climb up winded me .. each climb down thrashed my quads.  Last time my mile splits went from 8:40 to 9:30, to 10:30 to 11:00 to “holy fuck, someone call me a cab”.  This time, our splits went from 9:20 to 9:10 to 8:50.

The best part about the run was the company.  Kevin is a great person to run with.  We were stride for stride the entire time – talking about family, work, strategies for our first marathons.  Before I knew it we were at the 20 mile mark (10.4 miles into the run). 

I thought for sure we’d be taking off before Keith and Mark showed up, but somehow, someway, they showed up two minutes after us.  While Kevin and I were busy enjoying our 9:10 pace, Keith and Mark were ripping off a sub 8:50 in an attempt to catch up to us.   (FYI:  Mark’s marathon pace is about 9:15)

Split time: 46:19

 

The third 5 miles
Back through the hills of Sippiwisset … I was a little concerned about Mark.  I know that he went a whole lot faster than he had planned. 

Conventional marathon training wisdom dictates that long runs are done a minute or two slower than your marathon pace.  I don’t necessarily subscribe to that, but I do agree that they should be done at a relaxed pace – one that allows you to have a conversation with your running partner. 

As we were leaving for the third leg of our run, I mentioned to Kevin that I was going to go a little bit slower this time to make sure that Mark had someone to run with.  It’s not that I didn’t think he could do it, but I know what it’s like to be all by yourself and struggle on a long run.

As it turned out, Mark was perfectly fine.  The three of us (me, Kevin and Mark) took turns setting the pace on the way back to the Chapaquoit grill (the 15 mile mark) where we’d have our last water break of the run.

 The hills were a bit more noticeable on the return trip, but overall it was smooth.  The philosophy that I had shared with Kevin on the previous 5-mile leg (it’s just a 45-minute run) came in handy.  When a stretch of the run got a little difficult, I repeated that thought to myself – it’s just a 45-minute run.  With each 10 minute interval, I reminded myself, it’s only 35 minutes …

Split time: 46:25

The last 5.4 miles
If I was by myself, I would have walked at mile 16.  If it wasn’t for Kevin and his motivation, I would
have been overwhelmed by the distance that remained.  Fortunately, Kevin was there to remind me of my own advice – it’s just 45 minutes of running.  I was able to block out the fact that I had already run over 15 miles and simply focus on the short run that remained.

As it turns out, the last leg of the run was my fastest and (mostly) easiest.  The hills of Thomas Landers sucked, and the last .4 was a lot longer than the first .4, but I was about 20 seconds/mile faster and finished the run feeling completely ready for the marathon.

Split time: 47:56

Thanks to some motivation (manhood questioning) from Rick, I was able to do 7 instead of my usual 6 800s Wednesday morning. 

If Rick and Keith weren’t @ the track yesterday, I don’t think I would have done more than 1 or 2 – I had nothing on those first couple except labored breathing and tired legs.  Plus, the air was thick – felt like early August instead of early October

The times were:

• 3:35
• 3:31
• 3:28
• 3:28
• 3:26
• 3:23 (Keith ripped off a 3:14)
• 3:28

I threw in an extra 400 (1:42) as a warmup before Keith and Rick got to the track.

This might have been my last official track workout before the marathon.  With the 1/2 marathon race next weekend (10/14) I think I’m going to skip the track on Wednesday.  After that, my workouts are more focused on race pace instead of 5k pace.

11:30 is too late if I want to be able to run in the morning.

My alarm went off at 4am today, but I didn’t drag myself out of bed until 5:30.  I did the same thing last Monday night, and felt the exact same way last Tuesday morning.

Next Monday will be different.  I promise (maybe)

Along with my food experimentation, I also decided to test my theory that ice baths have helped my long run recoveries.

OK, it wasn’t much of a test.  I was too damn cold to take an ice bath yesterday.  I started to fill up the tub, but was shivering so badly that I quickly turned it off and ended up taking the hottest shower of my life instead.

The result – my legs are screaming at me today.  I had to hold onto the railing on the way down the stairs this morning so my knees wouldn’t buckle and send me face first onto the landing.  I’m dreading the climb back up the stairs in a few minutes to wake up the kids and get them ready for school.

The lesson – ice baths do help with recovery and I should have sucked it up and taken one yesterday.

One last training note from today .. strawberry gatorade is way, way, way too sweet.  Purple is good (Rain is the best), Blue is OK and Green is palatable, but I’d rather drink Clamato than suck down another strawberry gatorade.

One good thing about long runs is I have the chance to experiment with eating and drinking for the marathon.

This morning, I tested both GU (Vanilla) and Blocks (Berry). Unfortunately, I made the mistake of testing them together @ the five-mile mark. Within 10 minutes, I knew that I had made a HUGE mistake. I spent the next 30 minutes consumed with thoughts of finding either:

1. a bathroom
2. someone I know to drive me a bathroom
3. a gas station/convenience store miraculously appearing on the service rd
4. a nice tree

I would have been happy with any of those options. There was no way that I was going to last another 2 hours of running w/out finding some relief. Fortunately, out of the blue, a construction site appeared. To the right of it, the answer to my prayers – a Port-a-Potty. I’ve never been so happy to see one in my life. 5 minutes later, I was back on the road, a smile on my face, feeling 10 pounds lighter.

The rest of the run went by without incident. I didn’t eat another block for the rest of the morning. As a matter of fact, I only had 1 more GU over the next two hours. I was just too damn scared to risk that feeling again.

The lesson for this one – GU is the way to go.

When it was all over, I felt like I could have kept going. It was better than I hoped for, and exactly what I needed after my sub-standard long runs over the past month (with the exception of some intestinal issues – more on that later).

Keith and I ran the Service Rd (Rick joined up for about 30 minutes) from Oak St down to Route 130 and back. Total time of the run was 2:41:35 (about an 8:53 pace), but our last five miles were done in ~8:30 – actually, the 17th mile was about 8:20. I never expected to move that well today. I would have been happy with 10:00 miles. I would have been happy just finishing without feeling exhausted. This run gave me the confidence that I’m been lacking. I’m looking forward to next Sunday’s 20-miler (the last one before the marathon). I’m also feeling good about the Hartford 1/2 Marathon scheduled for October 14.