I guess I’ll have to be.
That’s my answer to the question, “Am I ready for the 22 miler in the morning?” I honestly haven’t been focusing too much on the run this week. Sure I think about it, but I’m trying not to dwell on it. It is the last long distance run before the marathon and I’m beginning to experience the down side to training. Everything I have been focused on for the past 4 months is now in the final stages. I’ll certainly miss the long runs, but I’ll also enjoy taking it easy for some time. I’ll miss sticking to a schedule, but I’ll enjoy being a bit more carefree with my running.
What a mix of emotions! I’ve always heard about the ups and downs of training for a marathon, but here I am, finally experiencing them. The more I think about it, the more “numb” I feel. It’s a very odd feeling.
The only thing I am not looking forward to about tomorrow’s run is the potential for rain. Kentucky has been swamped with rain this past week. the good news is, it’s coming to an end. The bad news is, the end is on Sunday. But, I must carry on, even in the rain. There are no guarantees that on Oct. 18th it’s going to be sunny and cool in Columbus. (Although those of you who want to pray for that, I won’t complain!) Rain is always a possibility and I guarantee that after all this training, I will be running that marathon - no matter the weather conditions! So, we’ll see how tomorrow goes. We start at 3:30 am and will most likely be going until around 7:30 am. Nothing like 4 hours of running to get your weekend started!
After this weekend, the taper officially begins. I’ve also read that “taper madness” can set in and to be aware of the symptoms. I’ve been building up my milage and focusing on my schedule and suddenly, everything drops off. Of course, the theory behind this is that the taper gives the body time to heal and be as close to 100% ready as possible for the 26.2 miles. It’s a great theory, but I just know it’s going to be hard to not run as much and truly give my body a chance to heal.
Certainly more to come on that!
Friday, September 25, 2009
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Burnout, “Only” 10 Miles, and Feeling Good
The title pretty much sums up the past week of my running.
First, the “Burnout.” Last Monday I barely rolled out of bed to run a 5 miler. I was exhausted still from the 20 miler on Saturday. I wondered why I was getting up and why did I have to run that day. It was a classic case of training burnout. I’d had it. I was done.
Somehow I managed to get up and run. Surprisingly, I was not as sore as I expected to be that morning. Monday done. Next up, Wednesday and a 6 to 7 miler. Again, this was not a good run. I was tired and didn’t have any motivation to get out and run. But, again, through determination, I made it through that one. Thursday came and I swore I wasn’t getting out of bed. I was sleeping in and I was through with running. However, I did get up and did end up running 4 miles that morning. Thank God for Friday and resting. If I had to run that day, I would have been done with it for good!
And now onto Saturday.
I had an epiphany on Friday afternoon when I asked by my coworkers, “How far do you have tomorrow?” And my reply was “Just a 10 miler.”
JUST A 10 MILER?
At what point did running 10 miles become so casual? I realize I’ve been putting in some long distance runs, but “Just a 10 miler?” Well, it turns out that 10 miler was every bit as challenging as running that distance sounds. I hated the first 5 miles of this one. HATED THEM! Even thought about cutting it short. All I kept thinking about was getting home and going back to sleep. Well, thankfully I didn't turn back. I trudged on and I ended up really enjoying the last part of the run.
So, lessons learned from last week: 1) A 20 mile run will kick your butt. 2) There is no need to overdo it with running the week after a run that long. 3) Even the following Saturday, you will still be worn out!
Monday arrived and I was up and ready to go. For the first time in over a week, I wasn’t exhausted when I got out of bed. I met up with the group at the high school and we went out for our 5 mile run. I felt great the entire time! I was able to maintain a pretty fast pace for the duration.
The burned out feeling was gone and I am ready to take on the week! On Saturday, we have our longest run before the taper, 22 miles this Saturday morning. I can’t wait! And, I’ve learned my lesson from last week, no running next Monday and take it EASY for the rest of the week (and beyond). After all, Columbus is only 3-1/2 weeks away!
First, the “Burnout.” Last Monday I barely rolled out of bed to run a 5 miler. I was exhausted still from the 20 miler on Saturday. I wondered why I was getting up and why did I have to run that day. It was a classic case of training burnout. I’d had it. I was done.
Somehow I managed to get up and run. Surprisingly, I was not as sore as I expected to be that morning. Monday done. Next up, Wednesday and a 6 to 7 miler. Again, this was not a good run. I was tired and didn’t have any motivation to get out and run. But, again, through determination, I made it through that one. Thursday came and I swore I wasn’t getting out of bed. I was sleeping in and I was through with running. However, I did get up and did end up running 4 miles that morning. Thank God for Friday and resting. If I had to run that day, I would have been done with it for good!
And now onto Saturday.
I had an epiphany on Friday afternoon when I asked by my coworkers, “How far do you have tomorrow?” And my reply was “Just a 10 miler.”
JUST A 10 MILER?
At what point did running 10 miles become so casual? I realize I’ve been putting in some long distance runs, but “Just a 10 miler?” Well, it turns out that 10 miler was every bit as challenging as running that distance sounds. I hated the first 5 miles of this one. HATED THEM! Even thought about cutting it short. All I kept thinking about was getting home and going back to sleep. Well, thankfully I didn't turn back. I trudged on and I ended up really enjoying the last part of the run.
So, lessons learned from last week: 1) A 20 mile run will kick your butt. 2) There is no need to overdo it with running the week after a run that long. 3) Even the following Saturday, you will still be worn out!
Monday arrived and I was up and ready to go. For the first time in over a week, I wasn’t exhausted when I got out of bed. I met up with the group at the high school and we went out for our 5 mile run. I felt great the entire time! I was able to maintain a pretty fast pace for the duration.
The burned out feeling was gone and I am ready to take on the week! On Saturday, we have our longest run before the taper, 22 miles this Saturday morning. I can’t wait! And, I’ve learned my lesson from last week, no running next Monday and take it EASY for the rest of the week (and beyond). After all, Columbus is only 3-1/2 weeks away!
Sunday, September 13, 2009
20 miles!
Well, it's official, I have run 20 miles at once. I still can't wrap my head around that distance. It seems so long and yet I'm still so far from the marathon distance.
The morning started at 4am. We went out for a 6 mile loop. This 6 was uneventful. We took it slow, but not as slow as in the past. Still not any problems.
Sabrina and I met up with Rick at 5am and left for a 14 mile loop. This distance is the furthest we've ever run at once from the gym, so we had a lot ahead of us. We made it to our first water stop (around mile 5 - 11 overall). It was good to stop and refuel a bit. Then it was off to the hills of our route. This proved to be challenging. We had to push each other through this part, we kept saying - Columbus won't be like this, if we can do these, then Columbus will be easy!
Whatever it took...
We made it through that part and miles 6-8 (12-14 overall) I ended up telling the story of what brought me to Louisville to begin with (Bellarmine) and the reason I still live in Kentucky (Sarah). That worked really well because I don't even remember those miles!
Another water stop and it was on to the final stretch. The run started to get quite a bit more difficult here. My legs and feet were sore. I still felt strong, but I knew that there was a lot more to go and I just had to keep moving forward. We had to detour a bit to make sure we hit 20. This was nice because it was something different. At the final water stop (mile 18 overall) I was wondering what was going to get me to the end. I stretched my legs and felt GREAT! We had planned on walking one of the final hills - not far after the water stop - but our legs felt so good, we powered on. It was also around here that my legs went numb. Not in a bad way, but I'm pretty sure they were in so much pain and so exhausted, that this was some sort of defense mechanism. Whatever it was, I didn't care, I was still moving.
Finally, I could see the end of our run in the distance. I knew we didn't have that much further to go. At this point, I started to understand why mile 20 is considered "the wall." There really was a part of me that thought, no way, I just physically cannot go any further. I now understand what people are talking about. But, I did go on. I finished that 20 miler and I won't look back.
Today, I'm a bit sore, but not too much. I look forward to my run tomorrow morning to "flush out" the long run. This week is relatively easy with a 10 mile long run this Saturday. But in 2 weeks, we're going to conquer "the wall" in our last long run of 22 miles. Yes, this leaves us 4.2 left for the actual marathon, but mentally that's nothing. And running, as "they" say, is 90% mental.
Look out Columbus!
The morning started at 4am. We went out for a 6 mile loop. This 6 was uneventful. We took it slow, but not as slow as in the past. Still not any problems.
Sabrina and I met up with Rick at 5am and left for a 14 mile loop. This distance is the furthest we've ever run at once from the gym, so we had a lot ahead of us. We made it to our first water stop (around mile 5 - 11 overall). It was good to stop and refuel a bit. Then it was off to the hills of our route. This proved to be challenging. We had to push each other through this part, we kept saying - Columbus won't be like this, if we can do these, then Columbus will be easy!
Whatever it took...
We made it through that part and miles 6-8 (12-14 overall) I ended up telling the story of what brought me to Louisville to begin with (Bellarmine) and the reason I still live in Kentucky (Sarah). That worked really well because I don't even remember those miles!
Another water stop and it was on to the final stretch. The run started to get quite a bit more difficult here. My legs and feet were sore. I still felt strong, but I knew that there was a lot more to go and I just had to keep moving forward. We had to detour a bit to make sure we hit 20. This was nice because it was something different. At the final water stop (mile 18 overall) I was wondering what was going to get me to the end. I stretched my legs and felt GREAT! We had planned on walking one of the final hills - not far after the water stop - but our legs felt so good, we powered on. It was also around here that my legs went numb. Not in a bad way, but I'm pretty sure they were in so much pain and so exhausted, that this was some sort of defense mechanism. Whatever it was, I didn't care, I was still moving.
Finally, I could see the end of our run in the distance. I knew we didn't have that much further to go. At this point, I started to understand why mile 20 is considered "the wall." There really was a part of me that thought, no way, I just physically cannot go any further. I now understand what people are talking about. But, I did go on. I finished that 20 miler and I won't look back.
Today, I'm a bit sore, but not too much. I look forward to my run tomorrow morning to "flush out" the long run. This week is relatively easy with a 10 mile long run this Saturday. But in 2 weeks, we're going to conquer "the wall" in our last long run of 22 miles. Yes, this leaves us 4.2 left for the actual marathon, but mentally that's nothing. And running, as "they" say, is 90% mental.
Look out Columbus!
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Potentially Wet, Definitely Fast Week
So far, this week has been pretty productive. It almost wasn’t on Monday though. We decided to “sleep in” and run an hour later Monday morning. When I got to the gym it started to sprinkle. Off in the distance I could see lightning. My only thought was, who’s going to show up?
Well, everyone who said they’d run at 6 did! We laughed about who would or wouldn’t show up inside the gym and then decided it was time. As we stepped out, the sky opened up. I mean, it...opened...up! I hadn’t seen rain come down that hard in a long time. If only we had met at 5! We even saw runners from one of the other groups (runners who run in ANYTHING) come to the gym saying they weren’t going out in this downpour.
We stood there and watched as our Monday run was getting washed out. Still unsure about what we were going to do, it suddenly stopped raining. What a difference 10 minutes makes. We looked at each other and decided to chance it. As it turns out, we never saw another drop of rain. In fact, there were parts of our run that were dry as a bone. Yes, Kentucky weather.
Wednesday was supposed to be an easy day. As it turned out, we did speedwork. A nice “up tempo” run. While it felt good to do a speed session, I like to be prepared (mentally) for those kind of runs. Oh well, Thursday, Thursday will be a nice slow run before the 20 on Saturday.
Nope.
We started off at a nice steady pace. I was enjoying the leisurely pace. But then around mile 2 we started increasing our speed. Then we made a turn to go 5 miles (which is what I wanted to do). But our pace just kept increasing. In fact, my last mile this morning clocked in at 8:10. That’s pretty fast for me.
Fortunately, I have a day of recovery and then the 20 miler. I actually can’t wait to run this distance. Yes, a marathon is another 6.2 miles, but there is something mentally awesome about reaching that 20 mile mark.
Well, everyone who said they’d run at 6 did! We laughed about who would or wouldn’t show up inside the gym and then decided it was time. As we stepped out, the sky opened up. I mean, it...opened...up! I hadn’t seen rain come down that hard in a long time. If only we had met at 5! We even saw runners from one of the other groups (runners who run in ANYTHING) come to the gym saying they weren’t going out in this downpour.
We stood there and watched as our Monday run was getting washed out. Still unsure about what we were going to do, it suddenly stopped raining. What a difference 10 minutes makes. We looked at each other and decided to chance it. As it turns out, we never saw another drop of rain. In fact, there were parts of our run that were dry as a bone. Yes, Kentucky weather.
Wednesday was supposed to be an easy day. As it turned out, we did speedwork. A nice “up tempo” run. While it felt good to do a speed session, I like to be prepared (mentally) for those kind of runs. Oh well, Thursday, Thursday will be a nice slow run before the 20 on Saturday.
Nope.
We started off at a nice steady pace. I was enjoying the leisurely pace. But then around mile 2 we started increasing our speed. Then we made a turn to go 5 miles (which is what I wanted to do). But our pace just kept increasing. In fact, my last mile this morning clocked in at 8:10. That’s pretty fast for me.
Fortunately, I have a day of recovery and then the 20 miler. I actually can’t wait to run this distance. Yes, a marathon is another 6.2 miles, but there is something mentally awesome about reaching that 20 mile mark.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Tough (But Good) Week
Well, this week started out with me skipping Monday's run. I woke up that morning and felt horrible. I guess the 10 mile warm up for the 5K wore me down more than I thought it would.
No worries though. Tuesday I was back out there running. Took it really easy that day and only ran 4 miles. This was Sabrina's (my training partner) first day back as well, so we made it a light running day. Wednesday I was out there and put in a 5 miler that morning. Feeling pretty good, I decided to run 10 on Thursday, as Sabrina had to work this weekend and she wasn't going to be able to run long. So on Thursday morning, I was up at 3:15am to meet at 4am. We went and ran 5 and came back to the gym to meet the others who "slept in." I got the additional 5 run and my time was pretty good. In fact, it was 6 minutes slower than my race time from April. Six minutes over 10 miles is not that much! I actually felt pretty good all day at work - even shocked my co-workers at my crazy stunt from that morning!
Now for Saturday. It started out normal. We ran a 5 mile loop, came back to the gym and planned an additional 5-6. The first 5 were really good and this is probably were I should have stopped. But no, I wanted to go on. I even thought that running 11 was not enough. Apparently, I forgot that I had just run 10 miles 2 days prior. Well, the second loop was hell, absolute hell! Uhg, it was miserable. I knew it was bad while I was out there, but it wasn't until later that day and into today (Sunday) that I realized how bad it was. I had to dig really deep to get through that run. Yes, ultimately this will make me a stronger runner, but I cannot express enough of the misery I felt from this run. Perhaps, running a 10 miler and then 2 days later running close to 11 may not be a good idea after all.
Well, lesson learned. This week will be a "normal" week. I've got a 20 mile run on Saturday and I'm not going to do anything crazy during this week that will zap my energy. In hindsight, I'm glad yesterday's run was so awful. I need those every once in a while. Hopefully this means the "bad one" is out of the way for a while and it's smooth sailing to October 18th! Hopefully!
I do want to take a moment and recognize my friend Ben Stafford who ran the Virginia Beach Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon this weekend! He told me his time was right around 2 hours. Outstanding! I'm really proud of him getting out to a race and hope he enjoyed it enough to do more in the future. I also hope at some point to meet up with him and run at least a half - perhaps full? - marathon with him! Nice job Ben!
No worries though. Tuesday I was back out there running. Took it really easy that day and only ran 4 miles. This was Sabrina's (my training partner) first day back as well, so we made it a light running day. Wednesday I was out there and put in a 5 miler that morning. Feeling pretty good, I decided to run 10 on Thursday, as Sabrina had to work this weekend and she wasn't going to be able to run long. So on Thursday morning, I was up at 3:15am to meet at 4am. We went and ran 5 and came back to the gym to meet the others who "slept in." I got the additional 5 run and my time was pretty good. In fact, it was 6 minutes slower than my race time from April. Six minutes over 10 miles is not that much! I actually felt pretty good all day at work - even shocked my co-workers at my crazy stunt from that morning!
Now for Saturday. It started out normal. We ran a 5 mile loop, came back to the gym and planned an additional 5-6. The first 5 were really good and this is probably were I should have stopped. But no, I wanted to go on. I even thought that running 11 was not enough. Apparently, I forgot that I had just run 10 miles 2 days prior. Well, the second loop was hell, absolute hell! Uhg, it was miserable. I knew it was bad while I was out there, but it wasn't until later that day and into today (Sunday) that I realized how bad it was. I had to dig really deep to get through that run. Yes, ultimately this will make me a stronger runner, but I cannot express enough of the misery I felt from this run. Perhaps, running a 10 miler and then 2 days later running close to 11 may not be a good idea after all.
Well, lesson learned. This week will be a "normal" week. I've got a 20 mile run on Saturday and I'm not going to do anything crazy during this week that will zap my energy. In hindsight, I'm glad yesterday's run was so awful. I need those every once in a while. Hopefully this means the "bad one" is out of the way for a while and it's smooth sailing to October 18th! Hopefully!
I do want to take a moment and recognize my friend Ben Stafford who ran the Virginia Beach Rock 'n Roll Half Marathon this weekend! He told me his time was right around 2 hours. Outstanding! I'm really proud of him getting out to a race and hope he enjoyed it enough to do more in the future. I also hope at some point to meet up with him and run at least a half - perhaps full? - marathon with him! Nice job Ben!
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