Marathon Week

It's Tuesday, so that means it's only 4 days until my next (and final) marathon, the Rehoboth Beach Seashore Marathon in Delaware. I'm currently in taper mode, trying to ignore all of the phantom aches and pains that are mysteriously showing up this week.

This past Thursday, I ran the Inside Out Sports Turkey Trot 8K in Cary, NC. It was sunny and 21 degrees at the start, and for those of you who haven't had the pleasure of running in the Raleigh-Durham area, it's hilly. My goal going into this race was to A) stay injury-free, and B) try to hit a 42:30 time. Everything went swimmingly, and I escaped injury-free with a new PR of 42:08 (an 8:28 pace).

Now the focus is on Rehoboth, and constantly thinking about my race pace. In an earlier post, I determined that from past performances I could run about a 4:08 marathon. I ordered pace bands from Races to Remember, and since they only do paces on the zeros, 5's & 10's, I settled on the 4:10 band. But further study is showing that this may be conservative, or at least confusing to me.

Looking at the Jack Daniels Calculator, and entering recent race times, I found something rather startling. When I entered my Army Ten Miler time of 1:28:15, I came up with a projected marathon equivalent pace of 4:03:11, below my 4:10 goal. And while it doesn't show a projected 8K time, I can average the 5K and 10K equivalents and come up with roughly 8:24 for an 8K, which is very close to my 8K pace last week. So that seems surprisingly accurate.

OK, so I went back to the calculator and entered my 8K time of 42:08 - and got 4:04:14 as a marathon equivalent. So 2 races in the past month, and the difference in marathon equivalents for both is 63 seconds. Average the 2 together, and Mr. Daniels formula spits out a 4:03:42 equivalent marathon time.

Considering my training hasn't exactly been stalwart for this race, I'm really not sure if I have it in me to break off a 4:03 in the marathon. Heck, I'm still wary about trying for a 4:10. But I'm going to stick with the 4:10, with the caveat that if I feel good at 20 (and if I'm still on track for a 4:10), I may just ditch the pace band and go for that 4:03, or something close to it.

Time to focus now.

Thinking About My Marathon

With 5 weeks to go before the 2013 Rehoboth Beach Seashore Marathon, I saw a tweet today posted by the Runner’s World editors that made me ponder my race strategy:

@runnersworld: Don't cling to a race goal you set 6 months ago. Instead, adjust them to match your fitness, your health, and the weather. #runningtips

Back in May, when I signed up for this race, my goal was to run it somewhere around 4 hours, 20 minutes, which would be a 10-minute improvement from my time at Marine Corps Marathon in 2012. But my current training, along with race results since signing up for the marathon, is making me reconsider that time goal.

First, I ran a 1:59:23 at the Alexandria Running Festival half-marathon on Memorial Day weekend. Plugging that time into the McMillan Running Calculator shows that I could reasonably expect to run a full marathon in 4:11:15 (9:35 pace). I ran a good race there, but missed a PR by 14 seconds.

Next, in the Anthem Great Pumpkin 5K on October 12th, I ran a PR of 25:03. Again, using McMillan, a reasonable marathon time extrapolates out to 4:04:05 (9:19 pace). I don’t see much use in using a 5K time to estimate a marathon time, especially one that would be almost a 30-minute improvement on last year. But still, I’ll take it into consideration in my valuation.

Last, I ran 1:28:15 at the Army Ten Miler 12 days ago, another PR. McMillan calculates a marathon time of 4:07:44 (9:27 pace) based off of that result. But even though I thought I ran a great race there, McMillan calculates that I should run a 25:25 in the 5K, which is 22 seconds slower than I ran a week prior. So I’m valuing that 5K estimation a little more now.

If I average those 3 estimations together, I come up with 4:07:04 as a reasonable marathon time, which is a 9:26 pace. I then averaged my last 6 double-digit long run paces, and came up with a 9:53 average. Again, working off McMillan and those 3 races, my long run paces should run between 9:22 and 10:33. The midpoint of those 2 numbers is a 9:58 long run pace, 5 seconds slower than the average of my last 6 runs.

Being the numbers geek that I am, I am very much inclined to adjust my goal time for the marathon to 4:08:00, a 9:28 pace. That would represent almost a 23-minute improvement on my marathon time. But with the relatively flat course in Rehoboth, and likelihood of cool weather on December 7th (although last year was mild & humid), I’m not terribly afraid of that goal. The key for me will be to log negative splits, and to start off slow and finish strong.

And even though I’m “retiring” from the marathon after this event, a 4:08 would make it very intriguing to try for a sub-4:00 sometime later.

Looking Back, Looking Ahead

2012 was a very memorable running year for me. Memorable for me with training for and completing my first marathon, but also for my logging my most yearly miles ever (1500.5) and making it through without major injury.

I started 2012 off with a run streak I had started on Thanksgiving Day 2011, and continued it until April 7th, a streak of 136 days. Not awe-inspiring, but it really got me focused on my running. It set the stage for what was to come.

On New Year's Say 2012, I ran my first race, a 5K in Reston. I didn't PR (26:20), after PR'ing my 2 previous 5K's in November, and was wondering if my streak had something to so with it. I was training for the Rock & Roll USA Half Marathon, and my concern was if training for a half and keeping a run streak going was counter-productive.

But in early March, 2 weeks before R&R, I ran the Reston Ten Miler, and logged a PR of 1:29:03, my first substantial distance with a pace under 9:00/mile. This was very encouraging to me, and I was expecting good things in DC on March 17th. But that was not to be, as I struggled in the late stages and came in with a 2:01:13. Not my best half, but also not my worst. I stopped my streak 3 weeks later, and focused on the Ashburn Village 10K on April 22. I hadn't run a 10K since New Year's Eve 2010, so I was curious to see how I would do. This was kind of a tough course, but I finished in 53:03, 93 seconds better than my previous 10K best, and almost 4 minutes faster than I had run the course 2 years prior.

In May I started adding twice-weekly bike training sessions to my 5-day running, and it seemed to help. Marathon training started on June 16th, and biking, I believe, gave my legs a break from the pounding while strengthening my quads in the process. On August 19th, in the middle of Marine Corps Marathon training, I ran my first 20K in Leesburg, and used it as a training run. I ran the 12.4 miles in 1:54:12, not my fastest, but very helpful, as I ran the last 3 or so miles at below 9:00 pace.

I ran almost 173 miles in September alone, due to the fact that I logged my first 20 mile training run that month, along with two-10 milers, two-14 milers, and two-16-milers. I followed up a big September with a 22-mile training run to start October, and then it was taper time until MCM. Without rehashing the details, I can say that it was a great experience, I amazed myself at what I was able to do, and I'm not doing another 26.2 for a while.

I finished out the year strong, PR'ing both a 5K on Thanksgiving (25:04) and a 10K on New Year's Eve (52:35). I ran 9 races - 3 5K's, 2 10K's, and a 10 miler, 20K, half-marathon, and full marathon. A little bit of everything. Of those 7 races in which I had previous PR's (i.e., not the 20K and marathon), I set new PR's in 5 of them. All in all, a very satisfying year for me.

Going forward, in 2013, my focus is going to be on getting faster as I slowly get closer to age 50. My goals will be: to run at least 3 Ten Milers, with the initial goal being an 8:45 pace; to run a 5K in under 25 minutes (I have to shave 4 seconds off my time); and to run a 10K in under 52 minutes (a 35-second improvement needed). Another sub-2:00 half-marathon is also an achievement I'd like to hit. I'd also like to run 1650 miles this year, a 10% increase over 2012. I am also committed to adding some weight training to my repertoire, and to pull the bike out again when it gets light in the early mornings (I won't ride when it's dark).

Let me know your goals!!

After The Thrill Is Gone

For the past 20 weeks (and more likely, since March), my mind has been consumed with one thought: finishing the Marine Corps Marathon. Now that the end is near, in a week I will be faced with the post-marathon blues. What do I have to train for now?

I have been giving that a lot of thought, and as of today, I think my plan will be to run a number of 10-milers next year. It's my favorite race distance, and to date, I've only done 3 of them. The races I'm targeting:

1) Cherry Blossom Ten Miler: a signature event for the Washington, DC, metro area, and a race that I've never tried, usually due to conflicts with other Spring half-marathons I've been training for.

2) Broad Street Run: Back in 2009, this was my first race over the 5K distance, and with it being held in the area where I grew up (Philadelphia), I hold a special fondness for this race. Plus, the course is flat-to-negative sloped, so it's easy on the legs.

3) Army Ten Miler: another great race in our Nation's Capital. I ran this in 2010, and thoroughly enjoyed everything about this event.

4) Reston 10 Miler: this race is in my current hometown, and although it's hilly, I ran it well preparing for the Rock & Roll USA Half Marathon this past March. I have to support the local races.

I also believe that I should take the remainder of 2012 to get in the habit of doing core work and restarting my strength training workouts. These are areas that would help me improve if I were to just put in some effort. I am guilty of neglecting these 2 areas and focusing just on roadwork.

As for other race distances, I don't think I'm going to try another marathon again anytime soon. The time it has taken away from my family wasn't something my wife was particularly happy with, so I think I'll just cross "finishing a marathon" off my bucket list and focus on races up to 10 miles, and throw in an occasional Half Marathon when the occasion suits me. I enjoyed the challenge of marathon training, but there are more important things in life.

One thing that I'd like to explore, though, and would need to discuss with my family beforehand, is possibly training for a 50K in 2015 (the year I turn 50). I believe that could be a rather unique way of celebrating a half-century on this planet, but we shall see. Until then, I will be focused on continuous improvement and overall fitness.

The Homestretch

49 months ago, when I went out for my first run in over 20 years, never in my wildest dreams did I think that I'd be attempting a marathon, much less even thinking about one. In fact, I distinctly recall a conversation I had with my running partner back then, saying I wasn't even interested in running a HALF marathon. I couldn't fathom running for 2-plus hours.

But here I am, 20 days away from lining up for the Marine Corps Marathon. Yesterday I completed a 22-mile training run, in just under 3 hours, 45 minutes. Two 20-milers within 4 weeks. a 173-mile month of September. And I've probably eaten more spaghetti, pancakes, and potatoes in the past 5 weeks that I care to think about.

It's almost here.

My whole lower body aches. My left calf has been screaming at me for the past 2 weeks now. My right foot, where I had a bout of plantar fasciitis a couple months ago, is reminding me to not forget about him. My right hip flexor wants my attention as well. But it's too close to let any of that affect me. This is within my grasp.

Going in to this, my goal was to just finish the race. A few weeks into training, with the stifling heat & humidity, I was wondering if it was all worth it. Monster Month came, and I regained my confidence. And yesterday's run, while it was excruciatingly difficult, affirmed the fact that, yeah, I can finish this thing. I have a time goal, but that takes a back seat to just finishing. My ultimate goal for MCM would be a 4:08:00, which is a 9:30 pace. Depending on how I come out of the hills early in the race, that could be doable. More likely, I'm looking at a 4:15-4:20 finish (9:45 to 10:00 pace). I'd be happy with that.

I've received tons of motivation & help from a lot of people these past 17 weeks, and for that I'm extremely grateful. It's helped me get through this. But I can see that finish line now. It's that close. When and if I cross that finish line, it will be my biggest personal athletic achievement of my 47+ years.

From 275 pounds and grossly out-of-shape in April 2007 to potentially being called "marathoner" in October 2012 is beyond words for me.

Tramps like us...

All About The Karma

I'm not a big believer in the supernatural, but things happen, and I wonder why I don't. Take, for example, this morning.

First, though, let me go back to my weekend. I caught a 3-hour concert from my all-time favorite performer, Bruce Springsteen, on TV on Saturday (I'm a Jersey boy). My wife didn't seem too happy that I sat around on a Saturday afternoon watching an 8-year old concert, but hey, it was in HD. And it was Bruuuuuuce (she's not a fan).

Sunday morning, I get up at the crack of dawn to get in my long run. 10 1/2 miles through the neighborhood, never once doubling back on a road I'd just run. I've never done that in my neighborhood before, so there's another good thing.

Last night, as I was planning my training for the week, I figured I'd have to do my long run on Saturday instead of Sunday, since we're going up to my cousin's house outside of Philly for a family reunion on Sunday. As a result, my training runs for this week will be on Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Saturday. That also means having to run my 5 miler (which I usually do on Tuesday) today, a day after my long run. I generally like to take a rest day both before and after my long runs, so this would be a challenge.

I went out this morning with the goal of not running it too hard, not getting injured, but also getting in some quality miles. And I pretty much hit my goal of running the 5 miles at about 65% of my Heart Rate Reserve - 64%, to be exact - which I've been having trouble doing on my easy runs (I tend to run them too hard). So far, so good.

So I get to work today and hook up the iPod, since music helps get me through the day. It's on "shuffle", and the first (full) song that comes up? Bruce Springsteen, "Born to Run".

'Cause tramps like us; baby we were born to run

It's all about the karma.

Halfway There

502.6 miles through June 30th. That's what my on-line running diary read today after my 5-mile interval run this morning (in 66 degree weather, with no humidity!!).

One of my goals at the beginning of the year was to run 1,000 miles in 2010. Staying injury-free (so far, knock on wood) and training for 2 half-marathons has brought me halfway to my goal. I only need to average about 19 miles per week the rest of the year to achieve that goal. I intend to average at least 23 miles per week through October, so there's a pretty good chance I'll make it.

My other goal (8-minute pace for a 5K) seems like it could be in sight as well, after seeing what I ran today. I ran my mile repeats today at an 8:32 pace, and that was with big hills at the last quarter-mile or so of each. I was in the 8:20 range early, and slowed going up the hills. If I get a pancake-flat 5K (I'm thinking Cape Canaveral again in December), I'm pretty certain I can do it.