City of Oaks Marathon

Race day is here. I got up at 5:00am, which wasn't too big of a deal since we turned back the clocks last night. I headed out around 5:20, so I could get good parking. More on that later. It was fucking cold. Somewhere in the 40's. I was dressed well, but could have used some gloves. It wasn't too bad since it warmed up quite nicely later on. We started off promptly at 7:00. It took a couple of minutes to get to the start with all the runners. It's not a big marathon, but the half is very popular since it's an easy course. The marathon course if very challenging even though they made it a little easier than last year.

I came out pretty strong. I was keeping a solid 10:30-ish pace most of the first half of the race. I befriended two woman at the start of Ebenezer. We ran together for a bit, so it helped pass the time, especially on Ebenezer, which I think is the hardest part of the course. It starts down hill, but then you have a few miles uphill that are not super steep, but are fairly long with a few flats mixed in. This is followed by a nice flat entry into Umstead and a nice downhill for about a mile. I made it all the way down that hill, which takes you to about mile 16, and that's where I started to lose it. So now we have two marathons, and I get hit at mile 16 with the same affliction. Quad cramps! I've never had this problem on any of my training runs. For whatever reason, it hits me race day. I did everything right. I had gels. I had some food. I had plenty of water and gaterade.

So now, I'm in the same boat as last time. My quads are twitching, and I have 10 miles to go. At least this time, I wasn't relegated to walking the rest of the way. I did have to stop and stretch, and I did take walk breaks, but I was able to run a lot more than I did before. So I just tried to keep moving forward. It was hard. There were a few times that my quads were giving out. Stretching helped a bit, but not enough at times. I think I realized at about mile 22 that I wasn't going to make my 5 hour goal, so at this point my goal is to finish as fast I can. The last couple of miles were not as flat as I was expecting, but I made it, and I finished with a chip time of 5:05:55, which is the one that I count for myself. Officially (gun time) I finished 5:08:21.

Overall, I feel good about this. I was off my goal but happy that I fought through and finished as strong as I could. Not once did I think about giving up.

I have to say this was a really good marathon. It was very well organized, and Raleighans were very supportive. The coolest thing about the race, though, was the inspirational marine. He ran the whole marathon with a flag pole down his shirt holding an American flag. This was not a small flag/pole. The pole probably spanned from the bottom of his back and well above his head. The longest part of the flag almost touched the ground. I saw him after and asked to shake his hand. He was truly inspiring.

Now on to my post race parking drama. After all the running and walking around for massage and food, I could not find my car. I knew I parked in a deck, but it was dark. I tried the one I thought was it, but it was empty. I asked around and found another, but no car. I'm so fucking tired at this point, and I want to go home. I wandered around some more and found out that I had the right deck in the first place, but the entrance to the other half of it was on the back end of it.

Good day, but man, I am shot. My legs are killing me...

City of Oaks, Race Week Training

I can't believe that race week is finally here. I'll have a separate blog about the actual race on Sunday, but I still want to get my training for the week logged.

Tuesday's run was a break from the normal track stuff. We ran a 2 mile tempo with a warm up and cool down. We started out Research and down Harrison to Black Creek, and then up the trail parallel to Montibello. The numbers were 1.02 mile warm up at 10:43 pace, a 2.01 mile tempo run at 9:09 pace, and a 1.23 mile cool down at 11:07 pace. The over run was 4.25 miles in 42:43, which is a 10:03 pace. Definitely a good run.

Thursday's run was supposed to be a lite 3 miler, just to keep the legs moving. I ran in the morning by the house in case I got a chance to early vote, which I didn't. I ran 2.94 miles in 27:31, which is a 9:22 pace.

This is it. 3 days to go...

City of Oaks, Week 2 Training

This was a taper week, which means it's supposed to be fairly lite. I ended up scaling back this week to only my 3 normal runs, with no cross training, but that was not because of the tapering. Just normal circumstances getting in the way.

Tuesday's track was 5 x 1K's. My times were 5:01, 5:01, 5:06, 5:01, and 5:06. Very even, which means my pacing is good. I felt pretty even on each interval. I really feel like I'm reading my body well. The overall, with warm up/cool down, was 6.16 miles in 1:07:26, which is a 10:55 pace.

Thursday's run was supposed to be an 8 miler. I ran the first 3.5 with Bill, Cindy, and Vivian. We ran Research/Harrison/SAS Campus and back behind building S. I cut off at Dr. G's and headed out Appletree to Harrison, down to Black Creek, out at Montibello and back in at Research. I finished with 7.4 miles in 1:16:33, which is a 10:19 pace. My tempo pace seems to be getting stronger. I'm hoping this is setting me up for a strong race pace and finish.

Sunday's run was supposed to be 8-10 miles. I decided to do an oldy but a goody; the Maynard loop, which is an 8.5 mile run. I started out strong, running south from High House in the direction of Kildaire Farm Road. By the time I hit Kildaire, which is the 2 mile mark, I remembered how challenging this run is. It's very hilly. I made the stretch toward the mall a bit easier but was challenged up the hills past the trailer park (yes, Cary has a trailer park; it's not all Preston) and up to Chatham. The hill leading me to Harrison is the one I remembered, so I wanted to hit it strong, which I did. I have to say, overall, this was very challenging, but I felt strong throughout and really finished well. I remember the first few times I ran this routes and dying on the hill coming up to Harrison, as well as the hill past the dog park before Lowes. When I hit the starting/finishing point, I kept running onto High House toward the house and finished the run at exactly 9 miles. I finished in 1:30:24, which is a 10:02 pace. I was extremely happy with my time.

This is it. This week is race week, which means a couple of lite, short runs. I have to say, I feel great. I am much more prepared this time. I'm actually thinking of signing up for the National Marathon in March in DC. Sounds crazy, but I'm really thinking about it.

1 week to go...

City of Oaks, Week 3 Training

The week started with some Yasso 800's; 8 to be exact. This is supposed to be a good predictor for marathon pace. So you run a bunch of 800's, take your average time in mm:ss and that should translate to hh:mm in the marathon. So my times were 4:28, 4:10, 4:05, 4:02, 3:58, 4:03, 4:02, and 3:59. That averages to 4:06, so in theory I should be able to do the marathon in 4 hours and 6 minutes. NOT GOING TO HAPPEN!!! That's just crazy talk. My overall workout was 6.38 miles in 1:06:27, which is a 10:25 pace.

Thursday's run was solid. I ran the Black Creek/Harrison loop, which is just under 5 miles. The final numbers were 4.95 miles in 49:31, which is a 10 minute pace.

I added an extra run on Friday this week, since I was working from home and didn't feel like heading in just for the gym. I ran my typical 3.5 mile loop by the house. The numbers were 3.54 miles in 35:17, which is a 9:58 pace.

I attempted the weekend long run on Saturday, since Jen had her triathlon on Sunday. I got a late start, but I finally motivated and got out to Umstead only to find that I didn't have my watch. I didn't have time to head back, get it, come back, run, and make it back for Aidan's party, so I scrapped it for Sunday. I headed out in the afternoon after the morning festivities, which included brunch at Weaver Street Cafe in Carrboro after Jen's tri. BTW, she did really well. I had a 13 miler on the plan, but as I got out, I realized that I just didn't have it in me. I ended up running 10.03 miles in 1:43:40, which is a 10:19 pace. The run was respectable, but I just didn't have it in me for the whole 13. I didn't think it was a big deal, since I added the Friday run in to cover my overall miles for the week.

Overall, I feel good at this point. I feel ready for the marathon. Or at least I hope I am.

2 weeks to go...

City of Oaks, Week 4 Training

This week was a bit so-so.

Tuesday's workout was 10x400's. Sounds great on paper. Not so great in reality. I did my typical warm up, then on to the laps. The times were 1:59, 1:45, 1:42, 1:46, 1:43, 1:43, 1:40, 1:41, 1:40, and 1:43. Keeping up this pace was very tough. The overall workout was 6.62 miles in 1:17:12, which is an 11:40 pace.

Thursday's workout was a short one in preparation for the long Sunday run. I had 5 on my plan, but I decided to go short, because I'm going to add a bit on my long run on Sunday. I ended up doing 4.21 miles in 44:02, which is a 10:28 pace.

Sunday's run had 20 miles on my plan. This was my last 20+ miler before the marathon, so I was really hoping for a good run. I decided to do the 2x10.5 mile run that is part of the course, which makes it a 21 mile run. I started at the usual place on Duraleigh and made the turn onto Ebenezer. I could tell right away, it was going to be a hard run. I was really feeling the first hill on Ebenezer, which is not usually that hard. I fought my way up and into Umstead. Overall the first half of the run was good. I ran it at an 11:02 pace, but I was definitely feeling tired. I had a 3 minute transition to swap bottles and grab food, which factors into my overall time. The second half was a real struggle. The Ebenezer hills were pretty tough, and I had to take my first break to stretch a bit. Even coming down the Graylin hill was beating up on my quads. I had to take numerous breaks to stretch and walk throughout. I ended the second half at an 11:49 pace. The overall run was 20.94 miles at 4:01:59, which is an 11:33 pace. Very tough run.

3 weeks to go...

City of Oaks, Week 5 Training

This blog is a little late. I was a bit busy after Sunday's run, but more on that later.

The week started well. I had 3 x 1600's on the plan. The workout went well. I ran them in 8:22, 8:16, and 8:17.

Thursday's run was good as well. I had 10 miles on the plan. I decided to do a late morning run, instead of first thing. The weather was still cool, which was good. I ended up running 9.86 miles in 1:43:56, which is a 10:33 pace.

Sunday's long run was a 15 miler. I planned a 7.5 mile out and back on Black Creek and into Umstead. I ended up taking Reedy Creek to Graylin to the point where it almost meets Ebenezer before turning back. I ended up running the 15 miles in 2:45:23, which was an 11:01 pace. I split the run into 2 7.5 mile laps, which I finished at 11:09 and 10:54 pace, respectively.

After the run I felt amazing. I don't think I ever felt that good after that long of a run. The good times didn't last, though. I somehow decided that this would be a good day to finish tiling my fireplace. After 5 hours of being on my knees, my legs were shot! After the kids went to bed, I melted into the recliner with a glass of wine, thanks to my lovely wife who went to buy it.

Overall, it was a great week.

4 weeks to go...

City of Oaks, Week 6 Training

Definitely a good week. I started with typical track work on Tuesday. I had 1K, 2K, 1K, 1K on the plan. I ended up running 1K, 2K, 2K, since the first 2K felt good. My numbers were 5:26, 11:14, 10:40. Pace numbers were 8:31, 9:09, and 8:40. Overall, I ran 5.74 miles in 1:03:49, which is an 11:07 pace.

Thursday's run was good as well. I had 8 miles on the plan. It was a rainy morning, but not that hard, so it was nice. The wind was a bit strong, but only affected me when I hit the open farm land section of Trenton Road, south of the SAS entrance and just north of the Trinity turn. I ended with 7.98 miles in 1:24:10, which is a 10:33 pace. The only thing bothering me was a bad stomach ache late in the run.

I added an extra run on Saturday, since I originally had 13 miles for my long run, but I was only doing 10 miles on Sunday for the Anna's Angels 10 Miler. I did an out and back on Black Creek starting at West Dynasty and turned at the gazebo just at the beginning of Lake Crabtree. The run was 3.85 miles in 35:19, which is a 9:10 pace.

Sunday's long run was a race, which I thought would be good for me, since I haven't run one in a while. This is a good one, because it is fairly flat, except for a late hill at about 8.3 miles, which can be very challenging. It was cool, but very humid, and there was a thick fog at the beginning of the race. I started off at a 9:30 pace on the first mile, but it didn't feel too fast. Again, it's pretty flat, and the beginning is a decline/downhill. I was in the 9:30's for a few miles, and I was feeling strong, so I just kept running, since it felt comfortable. I ended the race in 1:37:47, which was a 9:44 pace, so I stayed pretty even for most of the race. I did take a couple of walk breaks on the big hill, but I kept them short, and ran most of the hill. The last .8 miles can be a little bit of a challenge on this race if you don't save some energy, because it's rolling. The hills are short, though, so it's doable. I was very happy with my results, which was about 8 minutes faster than last year, although, I'm going by my watch time, not my official time, since the results are not posted yet.

5 weeks to go...

City of Oaks, Week 7 Training

I love running when it's not summer! The weather this week has been amazing. Morning lows have been in the high 50's! I absolutely love it.

The week's training started off so-so. I don't have perfect stats on Tuesday's track run, since I forgot my watch, but I was able to borrow a stop watch from the gym. I had 6 x 1200's on the plan. After my fifth lap, I was done. I just wasn't feeling it. My lap times were 6:07, 6:09, 6:09, 6:29, and 6:23, so you can see I was sucking it the last two laps. The overall workout was 6.35 miles in 1:08:44, which is a 10:49 pace.

Thursday's run was great. I had 5 miles on the plan. I ran the first 4 miles with Bill. We ran at about a 10:50 pace if I remember correctly, but the last mile I had a good amount of energy, so I really pushed it. I ended up running 4.9 miles in 51:18, which is a 10:28 pace, so I really kicked it up that last mile.

Sunday's run was the longest I've had scheduled for myself on my training plan, which was 22 miles. I have one more 20 miler on the plan in a couple of weeks, which I may extend, but for now this is the longest. I ran the Ebenezer/Grayline/Reedy Creek/Edwards Mill 10.5 mile loop, plus a little more. I wanted this to be a good one. I decided to lap this run at the 5.5 mile marks, splitting it into 4 laps. I came out very strong. I finished the first lap in 59:39, which is a 10:51 pace. I finished the second lap in 59:41, which was a 10:51 pace, so the first half was very strong. The third lap was a respectable 1:00:39 and 11:02 pace. The last lap was understandably hard, but I still did pretty well. I finished it in 1:04:20, which is an 11:46 pace. I hit the typical wall at 20 miles, so I did take a few walk breaks, but I tried to limit them. The final numbers were: 4:04:18, which was an 11:07 pace. I'm totally stoked about the run. My hr rate numbers were 154 average and 182 max, but that last number is probably not accurate. The few times I felt like I was pushing my heart rate, I was usually in the upper 160's.

I can't believe it, but there is only 6 weeks to go...

City of Oaks, Week 8 Training

Another off week. My mom had surgery this week, so I had to head up to Krooklyn for a few days. I got my 3 runs in, but no other exercise at all, although I may count Wednesday since I went up and down the hall of the hospital and outside about a thousand times. And I didn't sit much at all. I was on my feet most of the day.

Tuesday's run was reversed from Thursday. I had a 6 mile run on the plan. I don't want to call it a tempo. Not much tempo going on. I ran with Cindy. I don't remember what route we ran. It's kind of a blur at this point. It's been a long week. I ran a little short; only did 5.52 in 1:00:55, which is an 11:02 pace.

Thursday's run was my typical Tuesday intervals. But Brooklyn's a little short on tracks, or at least ones that I was allowed on, so I ran around Dyker Park. Dyker is a park/golf course. It's not too bad to run around, since it's about a 2+ mile loop, and no street crossing. A bit of cars, though, so I had to deal with car exhaust, but that was going to happen anywhere in Brooklyn. My intervals were 2 miles, 1 mile, 2 x 800's. I ended up doing 2 miles, and 2 x 1 mile instead, with a 1.5 mile warm up. My times were 18:07:10 (9:03 pace), 8:36:82 (8:37 pace), and 8:23:40 (8:24 pace). The total run including rest intervals was 6.48 miles in 1:06:47 (10:18 pace).

Sunday's run was a bit tough. It was very humid and mid 70's by the start of the run. I had 16 miles on the plan. I started at Black Creek, ran into Umstead, and did an out and back. It ended up being a solid run. I ran the whole thing, hills and all, although I was dead by the end of the run. That last mile was torture. I ended up running it in 2:59:24 (11:12 pace). Average hr was 154, with a 168 max. I probably hit that max coming up the S hill. Holy crap, that's a long hill when you don't take a break.

Overall, not a bad week. I can't wait for the heat/humidity to die down a bit.

7 weeks to go...

City of Oaks, Week 9 Training

This week was pretty much a throw away. The whole family came down with strep throat. Not only did I miss my weekday runs, but I didn't even get to exercise.

I did manage to salvage the week with a strong long run on Sunday. It wasn't as long as planned, though. I had 13 miles on my plan, and I ended up running 11. I had a solid first half. I ran the first 5.75 at a 10:57 pace. The second half started slow, but I finished the last two miles strong finishing the second half at an 11:16 pace. Overall, I ran the 11 miles in 2:02:06, which is an 11:06 pace. My average hr was 155 with a max of 166. Since it was a shorter long run, I didn't use any gels. I just had about 20 oz. of Accelerade.

8 weeks to go...

City of Oaks, Week 10 Training

So another humid week from hell passes causing a week full of struggles.

Tuesday wasn't too bad. Typical warm up and cool down. This week's intervals were 6 x 800's. The first half was solid, but on the second half, the humidity got the best of me. The lap paces were 7:45, 7:46, 7:46, 8:01, 8:09 and 8:19, so it's obvious that I ran out of steam. Average hr was 139, with a max of 171.

Thursday's run was short and a bit slow. I only had 5 miles on my schedule to keep me fresh for the long run. Bill and I ran the Montibello to Black Creek to Harrison route. I should have been able to do a 10:20-10:30 pace, but I fell short. It was a foggy, humid morning. I ended up running 4.86 miles in 53:15, which is a 10:57 pace. Average hr was 149, with a max of 168.

Sunday's run was not all I hoped for, but definitely better than last week. I had a 20 mile out and back on the plan, starting at Maynard and Evans. The route was Evans, right on Dynasty, left onto the Black Creek trail to Umstead, Reedy Creek trail out onto Reedy Creek Road, and turn around at the 10 mile, and follow back. I hit a little snag at the end of Black Creek. Saturday night's rain caused the lake at the end to wash out the trail. Thank goodness for the gps watch. I doubled back to a path that took me through an apartment complex and out onto Weston, where I caught Old Reedy Creek Road to the Umstead trail. That added a little less than a mile onto the run, so I was able to cut the out part short before coming onto Reed Creek Road. I was feeling pretty strong the first half. I finished the first split at an 11:21 pace. I was feeling pretty good through about 14 miles. I slowed up a bit at that point, so I could try to make my way to the finish. I took a couple of short walk breaks on some of the hills. I made it out of Umstead pretty well, but I was feeling tired. I made it back to Black Creek and filled up on water. My goal at that point was to just make it through Black Creek at a slow pace without stopping, and I would take a two more walk breaks on the two hills on Dynasty. I made it most of the way through, but I had to stop a couple of times toward the end. Once I made it out, I took the two breaks I planned on the hills because they are pretty tough hills. Once I hit Evans, I psyched myself through the pain and finished out the last mile. It was a tough run, but I made it. If I had to do 26.2 today, it would not have been pretty. My second split was at a 12:21 pace. A full minute off the first, so I can't say it was a great run. My final time was 3:56:48, which was an 11:50 pace. My average hr was 152 with a max of 165. I upped my gell intake to every three miles, based on an article I read this week in Runner's World. I think it helped, but I was going to try electrolyte capsules and forgot them. I'll try them on my next long run.

Overall it was a so-so week. The coming week has morning lows in the 60's, so hopefully the cooling trend is starting.

9 weeks to go...

City of Oaks, Week 11 Training

Well, it wasn't such a great week, especially compared to last week.

Tuesday's track run was pretty solid. After the usual 1.5 mile warm up, I ran 2 x 1200's and 4 x 800's with 200 RI's. The lap paces were 8:47 and 8:32 for the 1200's and 8:04, 8:07, 7:47, and 8:18 for the 800's. The last two 800's should have been a bit more consistent with first two 800's.

Thursday felt a bit off. It should have been a fairly easy 6.2 mile run, which I ran at an 11:08 pace, but for whatever reason, it felt hard. I finished at 1:09:07. I forgot my heart rate strap, so I couldn't track heart rate.

Sunday's run was straight out crap. The workout was a slow 17 miler. I tried to take a nice easy pace. I ran the first 8.5 miles at 11:47. When I hit mile 13, I started to crash. I needed a lot of walk breaks to finish. The second half pace was 12:44 because of the walking. I ended up finishing in 3:28:27, which is a 12:16 pace. My average hr was 146, with a max of 165, so my body didn't appear to be working too hard. I had 4 gels on the run, with about 48 ounces of fluids, but it was a hot morning, so I think I needed more to drink. I have 4 8-ounce bottles, so I'm going to see if I can get bigger bottles that fit in my belt.

10 weeks to go...

Running in the depths of hell

Originally posted on Facebook blog on June 8th.

We were having a nice spring. It was fairly mild. Actually most days were below normal temps. Then global warming reared its ugly head. We've been hovering around 100 degrees for days now, and weather reports say the heat will last for at least a couple of weeks, although probably not around the 100 range, but definitely above normal highs.

This is greatly impacting my running. I'm glad I'm not officially training for anything, but I will be starting at the end of June, and July/August is only going to get worse.

Today's weather monkey wrench caused me to cut my 6.5 mile run to 5.5 miles with a bit of walking on the sunny hill parts. And I was a very slow 11:22 pace.

I can't fully blame this on the heat, though. I donated blood on Thursday, so my body is not at 100% yet. I feel like I get dehydrated faster. Tonight is not going to help, as we're having friends over for margherita's and mudslides, but we all have to sacrifice a little ;)

Since when is 90 degrees cool

Originally posted on Facebook blog on June 15th.

So today was a lot better. Actually, the last few days haven't been as hot. Funny that lows 90's is not that hot. Makes you realize that everything is relative.

I tried to head out early to see how my body would do before the sun/heat/humidity really got going, but it didn't help much. I'm noticing that hills are still pretty killer. I think I have to do a long run in Umstead next weekend in the really early morning and see how my body reacts. I'm worried that when I start official training in a couple of weeks, that I'm going to struggle to finish my long runs.

I'll start testing next week...

Week 12 Training

Originally posted on Facebook blog on August 17th.

Ok. I've slacked on the training blog, so I've decided one weekly blog is doable.

I've been training for 7 weeks now, and my feet are taking a beating. I just got my orthotics this week from the Chiropractor, so I'll try those on Tuesday's track run. Hopefully, they'll help.

This week's track run was awesome. It's amazing how well the body responds when there is no humidity. I ran 3 x 1600 meter intervals, with the typical 1.5 mile warm up and .5 mile cool down. My first 1600 was at an 8:57 mile pace, which was really good for me. The next two were at 8:30 pace, which is awesome for me. I was surprised at how good I felt after the third one.

I did an extra run this week on Wednesday instead of cross training. I ran an easy 3.5 miler at a 10:22 pace.

Thursday's tempo run was strong as well. I ran 7.65 miles at a 10:16 pace, which is probably the fastest tempo I've run since training started. I'm really looking forward to the next few months as the humidity gets lower and the temps cool.

My long run today was a 15 mile run starting on Maynard and Evans, up to Dynasty, onto Black Creek, which I took to Umstead onto Reedy Creek trail. I turned onto Graylin, and down the first hill, which took me to the 7.5 mile mark and the turnaround point. So the total route was an out and back. My pace at times was probably too fast, which took its toll late. I was running out of steam the last couple of miles. I was definitely happy to finish. My overall pace was 11:06, which is a little too fast for the long run. I really need to keep them around 11:30 or so.

11 Weeks to go...