Milestones Galore - Marathon Training Week 11 Recap

An Eventful Week

Excellent News!

The week started off with the anticipation-filled annual physical. I was sure I was taking good care of myself, but there's always some dread, at least for me. Maybe some background will help explain why. Last September I had my first physical in a while, and even though I had been exercising regularly for over a year, and tried to eat reasonably "cleanly", my cholesterol was still high. Not off-the-charts, astronomically high, but still north of 200. At my doctor's recommendation, I stuck with a sensible diet where vegetables, fruits, mostly lean meats made up the bulk of my diet. My first half-marathon was coming up, so I was fairly sure I had the exercise portion covered. We scheduled another round of blood work for March. March rolled around, I went for an exam and the results were not very encouraging. The numbers were better, but still above the normal range.
That was one of the last deciding factors in a very big change. My wife and I had been talking about becoming vegetarians, and had started eating the last of our meat stockpile. You could say I am now mostly lacto-ovo-vegetarian - I still eat eggs and dairy, but I'd estimate at least 80% of my energy needs comes from plants  -, although I sometimes eat seafood, maybe every 3-4 weeks. So I guess I'm kind-of-sort-of-mostly-vegetarian?
The end result was a resounding success. The lab results came back with a 34 point drop in total cholesterol, meaning I am now officially in the normal range. Additionally, my LDL is 28 points below the maximum for the normal range. I was overjoyed for not having to take any medicine to control it. That was some of the best news I could hope for.

A Year-To-Date Round Number

Tuesday's run was fairly tough, I felt like hitting the snooze button, and just dragged through most of it, but I completed my 6 miles and the prescribed strides. On the flip side, that put me over 800 miles for the year. If you had told me 3 years ago that I'd have run 800+ miles before the end of September, I would have replied with a question: "Are those lifetime miles?". Others have run more, but I'm happy I have been healthy and able to run. Thank you, feet!

My First Twenty-Miler

And we wrap up the week with my first ever 20-mile run, freshly completed this morning. I won't lie to you: it was at times difficult, and I am very sore and tired. Actually I think I felt every muscle sore at least once at different stages of the run. The route was tough and hilly, with roughly 1800 ft of elevation gain over those 20 miles; I ran the last two miles making deals with myself ("When you get to that traffic sign, you can walk a minute"); and I wondered - hopefully not aloud - whether I had bitten more than I could chew, but I finished it, and now I'm more confident about it.

Afterwards, I did something I had read and wondered about, but had not dared: *clears throat* I took an ICE BATH.

 

After the initial shock, it was actually ... nice? It definitely soothed my aching legs a bit. I can see myself repeating that after a long run or tough speedwork or tempo workout.

 

I did take a nice hot shower later, though. I think I earned it

Marathon Training Weeks 9-10

A Break in the Weather

I'm so happy I chose a fall marathon. Sure, running in August was brutal, but the past two weeks have been much more pleasant, and that has coincided with the longest runs so far, include today's 18-miler.

Honing in on marathon pace is still a work in progress. The last time I tried, I ended up with 2 miles at MP, and one closer to HMP, instead of the intended 3 miles @ MP.  Practice, practice, practice.

Going Farther Than Ever Before

The last two long runs have been the longest I have ever run (16 and 18 miles, respectively). They have been encouraging, because while I felt tired and sore afterwards, there were no unusual pains. So training has progressed well, and I'm optimistic about it.

Have I Seen You Before?

You know other people in your area are training for a race around the same time when you cross paths with the same person three times during your 18 mile run. Especially when it's two different people. Keep running, neighbors.

Procrastination and Poor Pacing

It's been 4 weeks since the last post. My updates have not been so timely, have they? What happened between weeks 4 and 8? Glad you asked

Traveling

We went to the Princeton area for the doubly momentous occasion of my sister-in-law's Birthday and her baby shower (hi Cris!). Running there was very different from running in Jersey City last year.

Marathon Pacing is Hard

After spending some time with the Daniels and McMillan calculators, I determined a range of marathon paces, based on my most recent races, and from there started sprinkling some Marathon-pace miles into my training.

Some of those went better than others. On a few days I was able to say within the range, on another I found myself breathing a lot harder, stole a glimpse at my watch and realized I was actually running 8 seconds per mile faster than my last 5k pace. SMART! I definitely need to work on my pacing. Not a huge surprise there.

Farther than Ever Before

Week 7's long run was a 15-miler, and that's officially the longest I have ever run. Interestingly enough, I didn't feel as tired on that day as I expected, although DOMS hit me on Monday, my calves were really sore.

An important take away from that run was that the shirt I wore to the Peachtree Road Race was still comfortable going from a 10k to 15 miles. No chaffing anywhere. Thumbs up, Saucony (Note: I am not affiliated with Saucony, neither did I receive any compensation whatsover from them). Additionally, a Peanut Butter and Jelly with banana was an excellent pre-run breakfast, and kept me going well into the run.

Running in the Soup

This morning, the humidty was 100%. There was a lot of fog when I started around 6:40 AM, and the sun didn't burn it off until 9 AM. And to further illustrate the point, in addition to sweat, there was dew on my shirt through most of the run. The end result was that the 12 miles felt tougher than last week's 15. But I finished it, and week 8 is in the books.

Overall, I think training is progressing well, I just need to get plenty of rest, hydration and nutrition are fine.

Until next time.

Positive Splits Are Not a Plus

Marathon Training Week 4: Now with a 5K Race Recap

Tuesday Morning's Imaginary Nefarious Intent

Signs you are ready for Breaking Bad to return. When running on a peaceful residential area, on a Tuesday morning around 5:45AM, if you see two cars parked by the curb, you think "Huh, wonder what sort of thing they're up to. Maybe I should cross the street? Or should I just make a point of focusing on my water bottle as I take a really long drink while approaching them?". Then you feel like a suspicious jerk when it turns out to be two young guys chatting.

Lightning-Free Thursdays

Thursday morning's 4 miles were not as interesting, except for the threatening lightning off in the distance. Fortunately, I managed to finish my run without being electrocuted. That's always nice.

Race-Day

This Saturday, August 3rd, was a special running day. 2 years ago my wife and I ran our first 5k. We had not exactly trained for it, we had actually just started working out again less than three weeks earlier, saw the race flier, and decided to register for the 2nd annual Run For Wounded Warriors. We thought (and still do) it would be good to support a great cause, the Wounded Warrior Project. I finished that particular race in 40:59, and immediately thought "I can do better!". Humble as that time was, it the start of my current journey towards training for a Marathon. We decided to come back every year.

Below you can see me, waiting at the start line. I'm actually excited, although you'd be excused to think I'm barely awake.

When the gun went off, I started running, and after the initial jostling and dodging, I settled into a faster pace than I should. I could blame the fast course, and the downhill start, but really, I should know better. When I ran the first mile in 7:00 I thought "I should probably slow down a bit", ran the second mile in 7:11, and reaaaaaaally slowed down to a 7:43 mile 3. At least I had a bit of a kick for the final 0.1 mile.

Still, I shouldn't complain, I finished in 22:58, just 17 seconds off my 5K PR, and only the second time I finished under 23 minutes. Just need to work on my discipline and pacing.

Trail Sundays

Today's run wrapped up Week 4 of my Marathon training. My wife and I went to a nearby park to do some trail running. Toughest 7-miler I have ever run, or at least it feels that way. Maybe my legs were still shot from yesterday, or maybe the mountain bike trail was that difficult. All I know is that I struggled to a 14:50 pace. But at least I ran my long run, and learned a valuable lesson: don't run that particular trail after a race-day effort the day before.

Till next week, happy trails!

Marathon Training Week 2 Recap

On the Importance of Sleep

The week started off well enough, with a good leg-focused strength training session on Monday. Then on Tuesday morning I fought the Snooze button, and the Snooze button won, so I ran in the neighborhood in the late afternoon. Late Summer afternoons in Georgia are hot, and it was such a humid day that it made things much tougher. Add to that the neighborhood hills (327 ft elevation gain for 3 miles), and it was tough all around. Must wake up early.

Sleep was again an issue on Wednesday night, rather, the lack of sleep was an issue. That again moved the morning run to the afternoon, but this time I chose the treadmill. After some upper body strength training on Friday, it was back on the treadmill on Saturday.

Finally today the alarm went off, I put on my running clothes and went out the door and ran outside again. There was nothing to be done about the humidity, but at least it wasn't so hot. The sun was just peeking out above the trees, so there was plenty of shade, even the occasional breeze. And that puts week 2 at 18.7 miles.

If there was one thing I learned this week is that I do need to sleep better. Otherwise, it was a good training week.

Till next time.

In The Beginning

Hello There

I had planned on starting a running blog roughly since I started running, but I procrastinated. Actually, I procrastinated a lot. Almost two years, to be exact. Then it hit me. The starting point for my first Marathon's training would be a perfect starting point for a blog. So, armed with a beginner training plan, two pairs of running shoes I've started breaking in and some time for reflection, we begin.

My plan is to post at least every week, allowing me to keep tabs my training progress.

Week 1 Recap

Today marked the end of the first of 16 weeks of training. The training plan I'm following calls for 4 days of running, with 3 days of rest/cross-training. Week 1 was actually fairly easy; I logged 17.7 miles, along with 2 days of strength training. The mileage was actually a drop back compared to the previous few months, but as with the race itself, I imagine the first few weeks are supposed to feel easy. There will be plenty of time for tough training weeks in the near future.