St. George Marathon

Official time: 3:27:00

Imagine that?

More later ....

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!"

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

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

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.

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

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)

"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.

Nice Taper, Stupid!

OBJECTIVE
13 mi. Slow

ACHIEVED
13.02 mi.@ 8:14/mi.

6:07 AM 67° 74% 1 mph

Everything started out fine and most likely ended up horribly. Let me explain. Our group was small today: Stephanie, Michelle (???), Josh, William, and me. Everyone was planning for around 10 miles except me. I had 13. I revisited my training schedule to make sure 13 miles was the right distance for me the week before the marathon. That's what it calculated out at so I've got to trust the schedule. That makes my last two weeks' long runs (taper) 15 and 13 miles. Last year I think I did 10 and 8.

You'll notice my run was scheduled to be slow. "Slow" is slower than "Easy" in my training schedule. For me, "easy" is in the 8:24-54/mile range and "slow" is at the very top of that range of even slower up to 9:17/mile. Okay, you'll notice today's 13 miles were covered with an average pace of 8:14/mile. Faster than "easy" and much faster than "slow". Now I have a serious concern that I may have left my best marathon out on the road this morning.

Everything started out just fine. We eased out for a very leisurely two miles that were above 9:00/mi. From there, it just gradually picked up. The weather was good. I think we were all feeling good running on rested legs from tapering. Mile 5 was 8:23 which was about the fastest I wanted to be running. But Steph and Josh picked it up over their last 3 miles. Remember they were only going 10 while I had 13. I couldn't let them drop me. I felt strong and as they picked up. I hung with them. Miles 7 - 10 came in at 8:07/7:49/7:49/7:45. That was absolutely stupid! Those are marathon splits for me and shouldn't have happened today. Oh but it gets worse.

After leaving the others at the swimming pool, I'm on my own for a final 3 mile loop of Memorial Park. I can slow down, right? No rabbits pulling me along; no competitive fires burning, etc. etc. Well, I clocked the last 3 miles at 7:45/7:27/7:43. Faster than the prior 4 miles! Midway through, I looked down and I was averaging 7:17 for the current mile. I kicked myself in the butt and said SLOW DOWN (that's the mile that ended up at 7:27). I hope I enjoyed my personal Olympics this morning because that was absolutely ridiculous and shouldn't have happened. Hopefully I don't regret it next Saturday. For example, when I need to be dropping some 7:55 miles after Mile 20 in St. George.

A couple observations from this stupidity. First, I felt really strong from a cardio standpoint. I wasn't breathing hard at any point. However, I felt a bit weak from a musculature perspective. My lower abs were complaining slightly and my legs didn't feel strong; just okay. Hopefully, I get some spring in them with this week's light running.

Also, I must have done something to my right knee running in DC yesterday. I didn't ever notice anything but it was sore yesterday especially after the flight back home. The problem is right under the kneecap. It didn't seem to bother me running today. I wonder if it was the shoes I wore yesterday (my oldest, high-mileage pair) or running on cobblestones or hopping up and down at intersections waiting for the traffic lights to change. It's a concern that hopefully improves and takes care of itself over a couple days.

Lastly, I took an ice bath once I got home. It was good. I hate getting in but once used to the tub filled with only cold water and two bags of ice, it's fine. I stayed in for twenty minutes. Hopefully that aids recovery from today's insanity!

PRE RUN
weight = 154.5#
FRS liquid concentrate, 2 FRS chews, oatmeal w/1% milk & brown sugar, multivitamin & water

POST RUN
2 SlimFast

Where Do You Stand on the $700 Billion Bailout?

My thoughts are that we should trust the markets. There's going to be pain either way. Innocent people will be burned either way. But guilty people only pay if we let them fail. My position is NO BAILOUT. Let them fail!

Take a look at Joel Stein's article in the Los Angeles Times. He articulates my views quite well.

Chippy in DC

OBJECTIVE
3 mi. Slow

ACHIEVED
3.04 mi.@ 8:09/mi.

6:13 AM 63° 83% 16 mph

This was a fun run. I was actually considering canceling my trip to Washington DC because it might hinder my training. But after committing to go, I figured I could turn it into a couple interesting runs. That didn't work out yesterday. I had planned for an easy 3-miler after my day of meetings. But regretfully traded the run for a happy hour that included excellent food but the usual mindless drivel that happy hour events so often substitute for real conversation. I hate happy hour! Before going inside, I walked past three times trying to decide whether to go our not. I knew what was inside but I was lured in by the food. I figured I'd make a quick hit through the buffet line then get out. Of course, while eating I got sucked in by others and ended up trapped. Why don't I have the social grace to stand up, say "Screw you. I don't care what color the flowers were at your sister's, niece's, cousin's, daughter's, friend's wedding." then leave? (Only a slight exaggeration of my experience.) No, I just sit there. At some point, I stop trying to act interested but the conversation rolls on. Finally, a break. I take it only to find it's raining outside. My hotel is a mile away. There's a long line at the taxi stand. I say "forget it" and start walking. At least it was a "warm rain". I was beyond drenched when I got back to my room. So that's what I gave up my run yesterday for!

This morning, I was up and rolling. I didn't know where I was going but looked at a map and figured I'd go down 16th Street until I ran into the White House. The morning was absolutely beautiful. Urban running is a bit frustrating with all the stopping for traffic lights. There's a peculiar juxtaposition as runners striding along the sidewalks mix with the walking, business-attired foot traffic.

I went by the White House, crossed Constitution Avenue and around the Washington Monument. From there, I headed back. My pace was faster than I wanted it to be but I just let myself go thinking it was the new surroundings. I was also stopping my watch and the traffic light stops.

While circling the Monument, I was thinking this is a really nice morning. It's cool and a bit breezy. The setting is nice. Then a flock of honking, geese came through overhead. They were huge and beautiful, flying in formation. It was a postcard moment.

My DC run was fun. I only wish I had made time for another one yesterday.

PRE RUN
Clif bar

POST RUN
Later, orange juice, eggs benedict, Raisin Bran w/milk, & water

Hamburger

OBJECTIVE
WU 1 mi.
4x1 mi. @ 7:31/mi. (no faster) w/ 2:00 jogging rest
CD 1 mi.

ACHIEVED (all times & distances are estimates due to no Garmin today)
WU 1 mi. (9:00)
7:00/7:18/7:14/7:17
CD 1 mi. (8:56)

6:05 AM

I dropped the hammer on this one today. I think this is my last real hard run before the marathon in 10 days.

I didn't have my Garmin. Left it at work since that's the only place I can sync to MotionBased.com right now due to my lack of internet at home. I used the IronMan instead and estimated the mile marks along the Wimbledon Forest Loop. Instead of looping, I ran 3 miles out-and-back. Because school started today, I didn't want to take a chance of getting caught on Cypresswood in heavy traffic.

The workout scared me a bit. I was supposed to run the 1 mile intervals at lactate threshold BUT NO FASTER. Lactate threshold is estimated to be 10- to 12-mile race pace. I ran the attackpoint.com and runbayou.com pace converter and came up with around 7:30/mile as my 10-mile race pace equivalent. Notice that I hit each interval at significantly faster (he said like a proud parent). I know I wasn't supposed to go faster but it felt okay. It was hard but "comfortably hard". However, I was glad to be finished at 4 intervals. I justified going faster by telling myself that my last true race was a 10K in March and that I must be in better condition now than I was then. I hope this is true. I ran a 10K PR in March with a strong effort. If I'm in better shape now that gives me hope for a good marathon result.

Oh, about my title today, Hamburger. That's kind of what my legs are feeling like these days. I've been reading emails and blogs of others who will be running St. George and I keep hearing how their taper is going. People are saying things like "I love the taper."; "my legs feel ..." choose your adjective ... fast, strong, like I could fly, etc. I'm not feeling this, people. Have I screwed up my taper?

I've got a couple real easy days then 13 miles on Saturday.

PRE RUN
weight = 156
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
SlimFast, multivitamin, water, oatmeal w/brown sugar & 1% milk

No More Strides

OBJECTIVE
7 mi. Slow

ACHIEVED
7.10 mi.@ 8:52/mi.

5:34 AM 70° 87% 4 mph

I didn't get my scheduled 3 miler last night. My excuses are twofold: First, I got home from work after 8 pm. Second, my left IT band wasn't feeling too good. Let me take a moment to comment on each.

First, power is still out to a little over half the city. Houston is the nation's fourth largest city. The outage extends throughout Harris and adjoining counties. Most people started back to work this week. Houston traffic can be challenging under the best circumstances. With the power out, many traffic signal lights are out. Everyone knows the rule, right? Treat as a four-way stop. Most people are handling this situation correctly. But the result of the lights being out and everyone back to work is a nightmarish traffic situation. My commute into the office yesterday took 80 minutes. Going home at about 7 pm resulted in about the same commute time. Now I thought I was smart and chose to ride the bus. It has a dedicated lane. Someone who understands queuing theory better than I needs to explain to me how traffic lights that are out on surface streets cause gridlock on the freeways where no traffic lights exist ... ??? I don't get it.

As for my IT band, I think it's the strides that I introduced 9 days ago. The concept is that strides help clean up bad running form. Following a training regimen that I loosely adopted, I planned to introduce speed and strides over the last couple weeks of tapering leading to the marathon. I have felt pretty good running the strides and they're short enough that I can really "open up the throttle" without going into full oxygen deficit. But I'm convinced they're the source of my IT band issues that started gently hinting to me last week something was going on. Maybe I'm over-striding during the strides. Whatever the case, strides are now being eliminated from my routine. I can't be aggravating the weakest link in my running biomechanics (i.e., left IT band) right before the marathon. There will be plenty of time to experiment with strides after the marathon. At this point it's all about getting to the starting line healthy.

PRE RUN
weight = 158
Clif bar & water

POST RUN
SlimFast, water, multivitamin, oatmeal w/brown sugar & 1% milk

Easy 3

OBJECTIVE
3 mi. Slow
3x100 strides

ACHIEVED
3.01 mi.@ 8:46/mi.
6:26/6:16/6:00

5:17 AM 71° 86% 5 mph

Easy run this morning. Just stretching it out after Saturday's long run and Sunday's rest. Having some concern about my left IT band. It seems to be inflamed or swollen .... I really don't know how to describe it other than it feels "thick". It hasn't slowed me any yet but the fact that I'm feeling it this close to the marathon freaks me out. This is all supposed to be behind me!

Thankfully, I've got power at the house. Many of my neighbors still don't after 10 days. My biggest problem now is the storm knocked out my internet service. That won't be fixed until Wednesday at the earliest. That makes blogging difficult. But I plan to stay on top of it this week.

PRE RUN
weight = 158
nothing

POST RUN
water, multivitamin, oatmeal w/brown sugar & 1% milk

Training Schedule: Sep. 21 - 27

Sun. Rest
Mon. 2 runs: 3 mi. Slow w/3x100 strides @ 6:31/mi.
Tue. 7 mi. Slow
Wed. 6 mi. incl. 1 mi. Easy, 4x30 strides, 4x1 mi.@7:25/mi. w/2 min. rest, 1 mi. Easy
Thu. 3 mi. Slow
Fri. 3 mi. Slow
Sat. 13 mi. Slow w/6x100 strides@6:31/mi.

15-Miler through Debris-strewn Houston

OBJECTIVE
15 mi. Easy
6x100 @ 6:31/mi.

ACHIEVED
15.08 mi.@ 8:21/mi.
7:38/6:14/6:04/6:16/5:45/6:26/?:??

6:09 AM 72° 91% 6 mph

OBJECTIVE
5 mi. Slow
3x100 strides @ 6:31/mi.

ACHIEVED
5.12 mi.@ 8:56/mi.
5:52/6:12/5:50

OBJECTIVE
3 mi. Slow

ACHIEVED
3.01 mi.@ 8:55/mi.

6:09 AM

OBJECTIVE
WU 1 mi.
4-3-2-1 mi.@ 7:55/mi. w/2 min. rest
CD 1 mi.

ACHIEVED
WU 0.26 mi.
4 mi.@ 7:44/mi.
3 mi.@ 7:49/mi.
2 mi.@ 7:47/mi.
1 mi.@ 7:50/mi.
CD 0.10 mi.

6:04 AM

This one scared me before I started and continued while in progress. I think I found out a couple things. First, this 7:55/mi. marathon pace which translates into a 3:27 marathon is going to keep my hands full. Of course, I've felt the pace before during pickups at the end of long runs. But today was the first time I sustained the pace (discounting the 2 minute standing/walking breaks between intervals). I was drifting slower over the last mile. I think that's from starting faster than necessary. The pace also requires my concentration - both mental and physical. There is no autopilot at this pace for me. This is a little disappointing because it's tough for me to stay focused like that for 3 1/2 hours. When I let my mind wander this morning, the pace fell off and I had to work to regain it.

On the positive side, this workout was a bit of a confidence booster because I think it's doable; it's just going to require a sterling effort. This seems to suggest to me that I'm targeting the right marathon time.

It was still very dark this morning as the power in still out at my house and the neighborhoods I run through. However, it's not quiet. The loud hum of generators really pieces the stillness of the early morning.

OBJECTIVE
7 mi. Easy

ACHIEVED
7.03 mi.@ 8:52/mi.

5:19 AM