Imagine that?
More later ....
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Affirmations
A friend was thoughtful enough to provide the following positive affirmations to quell the doubts in the back of my mind:
"Skill and confidence are an unconquered army." George Herbert
"If you aren't going all the way, why go at all?" Joe Namath
"To win without risk is to triumph without glory." Corneille
"Never, never, never give up." Winston Churchill
"I know I can, I know I can" The Little Engine That Could
"Kick Butt!"
"Skill and confidence are an unconquered army." George Herbert
"If you aren't going all the way, why go at all?" Joe Namath
"To win without risk is to triumph without glory." Corneille
"Never, never, never give up." Winston Churchill
"I know I can, I know I can" The Little Engine That Could
"Kick Butt!"
Easy Stretch Out
OBJECTIVE
3 mi. jog
ACHIEVED
~3 mi. (28:19 = 9:26/mi.)
Garmin battery was shot this morning so I didn't have it with me.
Didn't sleep much last night. That is NOT GOOD!
Right knee seems fine. Didn't bother me yesterday or today. Having phantom twitches in my left IT band. It my be my nerves more than a reality. Hopefully that's the case!
I've got a ton to do today before flying out in the morning.
PRE RUN
Clif bar & water
POST RUN
SlimFast, multivitamin, & GrapeNuts w/skim milk
3 mi. jog
ACHIEVED
~3 mi. (28:19 = 9:26/mi.)
Garmin battery was shot this morning so I didn't have it with me.
Didn't sleep much last night. That is NOT GOOD!
Right knee seems fine. Didn't bother me yesterday or today. Having phantom twitches in my left IT band. It my be my nerves more than a reality. Hopefully that's the case!
I've got a ton to do today before flying out in the morning.
PRE RUN
Clif bar & water
POST RUN
SlimFast, multivitamin, & GrapeNuts w/skim milk
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Let the Loading Begin!
OBJECTIVE
warm up then all-out for mile or less
ACHIEVED
1.08 mi.@ 8:32/mi. incl.
WU - .53 mi.
blast - .55 (3:25)
5:54 AM 57° 88% 0 mph
Finally some carbs! I ran a short blast effort this morning to "open the pipes". Hopefully this approach to supersaturate myself with stored carbohydrate energy works.
I woke up with some doubts about the marathon. This is frustrating. I really shouldn't be questioning myself at this point. I think it's a combination of what happened with the injury in my last marathon and the aggressive goals I've set for myself in this one. The long-term investment in training and the one-shot nature of the event is a bit daunting too.
Fortunately, I didn't have much time to deal in my doubts today. Work turned into chaos and kept my hopping. This is inevitable. Any time I have something planned it seems work conspires against me.
I am happy to be back eating carbs. Today I had an apple, some low-fat granola, pasta, UltaLabs' carb supplement, and granola with milk. I also tried focusing on hydrating which I plan to continue up to the marathon. It must have been working. I made far more trips to the restroom today than is typical.
Looking for my best effort in three days.
PRE RUN
weight = 154#
water
POST RUN
SlimFast, 5 grain hot cereal w/flax, brown sugar & skim milk
warm up then all-out for mile or less
ACHIEVED
1.08 mi.@ 8:32/mi. incl.
WU - .53 mi.
blast - .55 (3:25)
5:54 AM 57° 88% 0 mph
Finally some carbs! I ran a short blast effort this morning to "open the pipes". Hopefully this approach to supersaturate myself with stored carbohydrate energy works.
I woke up with some doubts about the marathon. This is frustrating. I really shouldn't be questioning myself at this point. I think it's a combination of what happened with the injury in my last marathon and the aggressive goals I've set for myself in this one. The long-term investment in training and the one-shot nature of the event is a bit daunting too.
Fortunately, I didn't have much time to deal in my doubts today. Work turned into chaos and kept my hopping. This is inevitable. Any time I have something planned it seems work conspires against me.
I am happy to be back eating carbs. Today I had an apple, some low-fat granola, pasta, UltaLabs' carb supplement, and granola with milk. I also tried focusing on hydrating which I plan to continue up to the marathon. It must have been working. I made far more trips to the restroom today than is typical.
Looking for my best effort in three days.
PRE RUN
weight = 154#
water
POST RUN
SlimFast, 5 grain hot cereal w/flax, brown sugar & skim milk
Roadkill
Anyone wanting to see my dead carcass on the marathon course can check out this link
>>> LINK <<<
They're supposed to have pics posted 72 hours following the event.
>>> LINK <<<
They're supposed to have pics posted 72 hours following the event.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Tapering is Fun ... Carb Depletion Isn't
OBJECTIVE
3 mi. EZ
ACHIEVED
3.01 mi.@ 8:25/mi.
5:15 AM 63° 78% 0 mph
Once again went a bit faster than necessary today but it felt "easy" so I think I'm okay. Run the Kleinwood Loop for the umpteenth time. I'm getting a bit tired of that route and may have to come up with an alternative sometime soon.
A run negative splits.
My right knee is still a bit bothersome but it continues to get a little bit better each day. It occurred to me yesterday what happened to it. I'm 80% certain that it happened during my run in Washington DC last Friday. While going around the Washington Monument, I turned on a path that went up hill and curved to the left. Once I got a ways up the hill, I could see the sidewalk was going to go right up to the monument. I didn't want to go to the monument. I wanted to go around it. Looking to my right, there was another sidewalk and I could also see it looked like it went around the monument. To get to the other sidewalk, I jumped from a retaining wall maybe 3 - 4' high. I landed hard but kept my feet and didn't think anything of it. I finished the run 9about 1 1/2 mile) with no problems. But thinking back, I must have jammed my knee or something when I jumped from the wall to get to the outer sidewalk. The knee started bothering me later in the day during the conference I was attending and was really bad after sitting on the plane for the flight home. Luckily, it seems to be gradually improving each day so I fully expect it won't be a problem on Saturday.
I think I mentioned I'm depleting myself of carbohydrates right now. I wasn't feeling that great yesterday or today. I think it's from a lack of fuel. The carb loading portion of this exercise can't come soon enough. Hopefully, it works and provides me greater glycogen reserves on marathon day.
While running today, I recalled seeing Bob Williams at the start of last year's marathon. Bob is a great guy, a college buddy and friend. It was a coincidence that we ran into each other. He had run St. George before and offered this race tip:
Have fun over the first 10 miles.
Work over the next 10 miles.
Race the last 6.2.
I think this is really good advice and somewhat adopted it during last year's marathon. After running this morning, I found in article with advice along a similar line:
Run the first 10 miles with your head.
Run the next 10 miles with your legs.
Run the last 6.2 miles with your heart.
I like this one because it reminds me to start out slow and easy then pick it up with good strength, stride and turnover. Then, finally race to the finish. It has occurred to me that everyone can run 20 miles. It's what happens after that is the point.
I scheduled an hour massage for Thursday.
PRE RUN
weight = 154.5
water
POST RUN
water, multivitamin & turkey
3 mi. EZ
ACHIEVED
3.01 mi.@ 8:25/mi.
5:15 AM 63° 78% 0 mph
Once again went a bit faster than necessary today but it felt "easy" so I think I'm okay. Run the Kleinwood Loop for the umpteenth time. I'm getting a bit tired of that route and may have to come up with an alternative sometime soon.
A run negative splits.
My right knee is still a bit bothersome but it continues to get a little bit better each day. It occurred to me yesterday what happened to it. I'm 80% certain that it happened during my run in Washington DC last Friday. While going around the Washington Monument, I turned on a path that went up hill and curved to the left. Once I got a ways up the hill, I could see the sidewalk was going to go right up to the monument. I didn't want to go to the monument. I wanted to go around it. Looking to my right, there was another sidewalk and I could also see it looked like it went around the monument. To get to the other sidewalk, I jumped from a retaining wall maybe 3 - 4' high. I landed hard but kept my feet and didn't think anything of it. I finished the run 9about 1 1/2 mile) with no problems. But thinking back, I must have jammed my knee or something when I jumped from the wall to get to the outer sidewalk. The knee started bothering me later in the day during the conference I was attending and was really bad after sitting on the plane for the flight home. Luckily, it seems to be gradually improving each day so I fully expect it won't be a problem on Saturday.
I think I mentioned I'm depleting myself of carbohydrates right now. I wasn't feeling that great yesterday or today. I think it's from a lack of fuel. The carb loading portion of this exercise can't come soon enough. Hopefully, it works and provides me greater glycogen reserves on marathon day.
While running today, I recalled seeing Bob Williams at the start of last year's marathon. Bob is a great guy, a college buddy and friend. It was a coincidence that we ran into each other. He had run St. George before and offered this race tip:
Have fun over the first 10 miles.
Work over the next 10 miles.
Race the last 6.2.
I think this is really good advice and somewhat adopted it during last year's marathon. After running this morning, I found in article with advice along a similar line:
Run the first 10 miles with your head.
Run the next 10 miles with your legs.
Run the last 6.2 miles with your heart.
I like this one because it reminds me to start out slow and easy then pick it up with good strength, stride and turnover. Then, finally race to the finish. It has occurred to me that everyone can run 20 miles. It's what happens after that is the point.
I scheduled an hour massage for Thursday.
PRE RUN
weight = 154.5
water
POST RUN
water, multivitamin & turkey
Monday, September 29, 2008
An Odd Little Jaunt
OBJECTIVE
3 mi. including 1 EZ, 1@7:15, 1 EZ
ACHIEVED
3.0 mi.
8:22/6:56/7:50
4:50 AM 63° 80% 0 mph
This was a strange run. My right knee is still bothersome. It feels bruised underneath the kneecap. I still have no idea what I did to it. It was fine last Thursday morning in DC but wasn't later that day. It seems it's been getting slightly better each day but I'm concerned that the issue may not be fully cleared by Saturday. So this morning I was monitoring it closely. At the outset, it was stiff and sore. Midway through the first mile, I stopped thinking about it and it stopped being a bother. But it was still "there".
The temperature was great this morning. In fact, I wore long sleeves against the coolness in the air. I reminded myself that 63° might be the warmest temperature during the marathon. Although I'm certain the 83% humidity this morning made the air feel cooler.
With the temperature cool and my legs feeling good from the taper, the first mile rolled off easily at 8:22. I felt like I was walking. The pickup mile came next. I didn't know if I could comfortably get to and hold 7:15. The "getting to" was easy. I dropped to under a 7:00/mile average pace right out of the gate. This isn't unusual. It just means I'll be getting slower over the distance. That didn't happen this morning. My pace drifted up a bit as I didn't want to push too hard. It is "zero week" after all. But I still came in at 6:56; 19 seconds faster than planned. The effort felt like I pushed it but it wasn't hard.
After running the second mile much faster than necessary, I thought I'd really ease it back over the last mile (something around 8:40-50). I pulled back on the reins until I felt like I was crawling. After a half mile, I was surprised to find I was around marathon pace. I finished at 7:50 and it felt REALLY slow.
I'm not sure what all of this means. My times during taper have all been faster than planned but I've felt good. I think my fitness is significantly improved over where I started this training cycle and that's why I'm on top of all my times this way. I'm taking confidence in this. But two questions weigh in the back of my mind. First, have I just been hammering my taper runs to give myself a false sense of security and effectively ruining the taper? Second, to date it's always been a question of endurance for me. Has my training given me the endurance to accomplish my goal? Since starting back running, my attributes have always been tilted heavily toward speed over endurance. Hopefully, I've remedied that somewhat.
Stay tuned to see what the answers to these questions are ....
Oh, should also throw out an arrogant thought that occurred to me this morning. While imagining the St. George finish, I was thinking of feeling strong and having a good finishing kick. It occurred to me that since I started racing a little over 18 months ago, no one has ever passed me at the finish of a race. My memory may be a bit clouded. So I might be forgetting an occasion to make myself feel better but I don't think so. I finished St. George really strong last year and I plan to do so again this year. No one will pass me down the home stretch!
One other point before dropping off. I'm cutting carbs right now prior to loading later in the week. I was hoping to smell ammonia this morning. I don't know the details or understand the physiology but here's a very rough outline. Complex carbohydrates are high octane fuel for your body. It's the preferred fuel and burns very clean. After burning through all carbs (simple and complex), your body shifts to a far less efficient method of providing fuel. It involves protein and fat as fuel. This process throws off ammonia as a waste product. Normally the ammonia is carried out of the body via urine. However when this process is in high use and urination isn't occurring, the ammonia will come through the sweat glands and out your pores in your sweat. When this happens, you can smell. So with my carb depletion program in effect, I figured a test of how well I was doing would be if I could smell ammonia today. I didn't. So I've either still got too many residual carbs or I didn't run far enough for the process to really get throwing off the ammonia. I'm guessing the latter.
PRE RUN
weight = 155.5#
water
POST RUN
water, multivitamin, Labrada ProV60 (protein shake)
3 mi. including 1 EZ, 1@7:15, 1 EZ
ACHIEVED
3.0 mi.
8:22/6:56/7:50
4:50 AM 63° 80% 0 mph
This was a strange run. My right knee is still bothersome. It feels bruised underneath the kneecap. I still have no idea what I did to it. It was fine last Thursday morning in DC but wasn't later that day. It seems it's been getting slightly better each day but I'm concerned that the issue may not be fully cleared by Saturday. So this morning I was monitoring it closely. At the outset, it was stiff and sore. Midway through the first mile, I stopped thinking about it and it stopped being a bother. But it was still "there".
The temperature was great this morning. In fact, I wore long sleeves against the coolness in the air. I reminded myself that 63° might be the warmest temperature during the marathon. Although I'm certain the 83% humidity this morning made the air feel cooler.
With the temperature cool and my legs feeling good from the taper, the first mile rolled off easily at 8:22. I felt like I was walking. The pickup mile came next. I didn't know if I could comfortably get to and hold 7:15. The "getting to" was easy. I dropped to under a 7:00/mile average pace right out of the gate. This isn't unusual. It just means I'll be getting slower over the distance. That didn't happen this morning. My pace drifted up a bit as I didn't want to push too hard. It is "zero week" after all. But I still came in at 6:56; 19 seconds faster than planned. The effort felt like I pushed it but it wasn't hard.
After running the second mile much faster than necessary, I thought I'd really ease it back over the last mile (something around 8:40-50). I pulled back on the reins until I felt like I was crawling. After a half mile, I was surprised to find I was around marathon pace. I finished at 7:50 and it felt REALLY slow.
I'm not sure what all of this means. My times during taper have all been faster than planned but I've felt good. I think my fitness is significantly improved over where I started this training cycle and that's why I'm on top of all my times this way. I'm taking confidence in this. But two questions weigh in the back of my mind. First, have I just been hammering my taper runs to give myself a false sense of security and effectively ruining the taper? Second, to date it's always been a question of endurance for me. Has my training given me the endurance to accomplish my goal? Since starting back running, my attributes have always been tilted heavily toward speed over endurance. Hopefully, I've remedied that somewhat.
Stay tuned to see what the answers to these questions are ....
Oh, should also throw out an arrogant thought that occurred to me this morning. While imagining the St. George finish, I was thinking of feeling strong and having a good finishing kick. It occurred to me that since I started racing a little over 18 months ago, no one has ever passed me at the finish of a race. My memory may be a bit clouded. So I might be forgetting an occasion to make myself feel better but I don't think so. I finished St. George really strong last year and I plan to do so again this year. No one will pass me down the home stretch!
One other point before dropping off. I'm cutting carbs right now prior to loading later in the week. I was hoping to smell ammonia this morning. I don't know the details or understand the physiology but here's a very rough outline. Complex carbohydrates are high octane fuel for your body. It's the preferred fuel and burns very clean. After burning through all carbs (simple and complex), your body shifts to a far less efficient method of providing fuel. It involves protein and fat as fuel. This process throws off ammonia as a waste product. Normally the ammonia is carried out of the body via urine. However when this process is in high use and urination isn't occurring, the ammonia will come through the sweat glands and out your pores in your sweat. When this happens, you can smell. So with my carb depletion program in effect, I figured a test of how well I was doing would be if I could smell ammonia today. I didn't. So I've either still got too many residual carbs or I didn't run far enough for the process to really get throwing off the ammonia. I'm guessing the latter.
PRE RUN
weight = 155.5#
water
POST RUN
water, multivitamin, Labrada ProV60 (protein shake)
Sunday, September 28, 2008
"Zero Week" = Singular Focus
Well, this is it. The work has been done. Saturday is the day of truth. I feel more focused than ever. I have concerns but I'm telling myself that's natural.
Sunday - Rest
Monday - 3 mi. w/1 EZ; 1@7:15; 1 EZ
Tuesday - 3 mi. EZ
Wednesday - Rest
Thursday - 3 mi. jog
Friday - 2 mi. jog
Saturday - St. George Marathon (smoke it!) GOAL = 3:27:00
I started carbohydrate depletion today and plan to continue through Tuesday. On Wednesday, I'll shift to carbohydrate loading. The objective, of course, is to build excess energy stores to run the marathon on.
I may visit a chiropractor this week if I feel it will be beneficial and I can get what I need. I'm also contemplating a massage later in the week.
I broke out my fifth pair of Mizuno Wave Rider's for last Saturday's long run and plan to wear them for the marathon. I still haven't settled on race shorts or singlet. I like my Nike shorts but the pocket is very small and won't hold all of my Carb Boom. If I wear them, I'll have to pin the Carb Boom to my shorts. My RaceReady shorts have plenty of pockets and fit great but they also cause a chafing problem that I can't take a chance on at the marathon. I won't wear my CAL Runners singlet again. It's too big. Because of the size, it gave me problems in both the St. George and Ogden marathons. I may be wearing New Balance.
Finally while discussing apparel, I shouldn't fail to mention the discovery I made yesterday. First some background, I've been considering racing flats for my shorter races. I really like Saucony A2's. Thinking back, I remember my favorite running shoes ever. I wore them in high school. I don't recall the model but I know they were Nike, red and black, light weight, and very comfortable. I wished I still had them around. While surfing the net yesterday, the following popped up in a banner ad:
It's my shoe! What are the odds? Nike is re-releasing my favorite shoe. It's the Nike Air Pegasus 83. I've got to check this one out. I can't tell if they've redesigned it as a casual shoe or if it's still a running shoe. In any event, I'm all over it.
Sunday - Rest
Monday - 3 mi. w/1 EZ; 1@7:15; 1 EZ
Tuesday - 3 mi. EZ
Wednesday - Rest
Thursday - 3 mi. jog
Friday - 2 mi. jog
Saturday - St. George Marathon (smoke it!) GOAL = 3:27:00
I started carbohydrate depletion today and plan to continue through Tuesday. On Wednesday, I'll shift to carbohydrate loading. The objective, of course, is to build excess energy stores to run the marathon on.
I may visit a chiropractor this week if I feel it will be beneficial and I can get what I need. I'm also contemplating a massage later in the week.
I broke out my fifth pair of Mizuno Wave Rider's for last Saturday's long run and plan to wear them for the marathon. I still haven't settled on race shorts or singlet. I like my Nike shorts but the pocket is very small and won't hold all of my Carb Boom. If I wear them, I'll have to pin the Carb Boom to my shorts. My RaceReady shorts have plenty of pockets and fit great but they also cause a chafing problem that I can't take a chance on at the marathon. I won't wear my CAL Runners singlet again. It's too big. Because of the size, it gave me problems in both the St. George and Ogden marathons. I may be wearing New Balance.
Finally while discussing apparel, I shouldn't fail to mention the discovery I made yesterday. First some background, I've been considering racing flats for my shorter races. I really like Saucony A2's. Thinking back, I remember my favorite running shoes ever. I wore them in high school. I don't recall the model but I know they were Nike, red and black, light weight, and very comfortable. I wished I still had them around. While surfing the net yesterday, the following popped up in a banner ad:
It's my shoe! What are the odds? Nike is re-releasing my favorite shoe. It's the Nike Air Pegasus 83. I've got to check this one out. I can't tell if they've redesigned it as a casual shoe or if it's still a running shoe. In any event, I'm all over it.
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