Distance: 5 miles
Total for the week: 5 miles
Overall total so far: 198 miles
Notes: It felt good to be back on the roads after the horrible long run on Saturday. Our "short" runs are now five miles. The weekday runs are 5-8-5 until the taper.
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Sunday, July 29, 2007
Week 9, Day 4 (The Wall)
Distance: 16 miles
Total for the week: 27 miles
Overall total so far: 193 miles
Notes: By far the worst run ever and the most grueling physical experience of my life. Quite simply, Tracey and I both ran out of fuel at about mile thirteen. Literally, we had no more carbohydrates to burn. This is called "hitting the wall" or "crashing," and I'd heard it was a pretty nasty experience. Well, it was. My legs simply could not run any longer. And yet I had to keep going, through the heat of the day, because I needed to relieve our friends who were watching Abel—they had a wedding to get to.
So I walked a while, and then jogged for a minute until the burn overtook me again, and then I walked. At one point I sat on the grass next to a tree and just didn't move for a while. Finally I arrived and basically collapsed on their lawn for a while. When I got home, I sunk onto the couch and shivered under a blanket in my running clothes with a stomachache. It took a few hours to feel any better. Eventually we went for ice cream at Friendly's, and then I started to feel kinda normal again.
This was the first time during the program where I had any whisper of "Maybe I can't do this after all." Writing about it a few days later, I can see all the stuff that went wrong and the ways to correct it, and I am optimistic again. But that was awful. We have two more cracks at sixteen, then two weeks of eighteen before the training tapers for a few weeks to build strength before the marathon.
Total for the week: 27 miles
Overall total so far: 193 miles
Notes: By far the worst run ever and the most grueling physical experience of my life. Quite simply, Tracey and I both ran out of fuel at about mile thirteen. Literally, we had no more carbohydrates to burn. This is called "hitting the wall" or "crashing," and I'd heard it was a pretty nasty experience. Well, it was. My legs simply could not run any longer. And yet I had to keep going, through the heat of the day, because I needed to relieve our friends who were watching Abel—they had a wedding to get to.
So I walked a while, and then jogged for a minute until the burn overtook me again, and then I walked. At one point I sat on the grass next to a tree and just didn't move for a while. Finally I arrived and basically collapsed on their lawn for a while. When I got home, I sunk onto the couch and shivered under a blanket in my running clothes with a stomachache. It took a few hours to feel any better. Eventually we went for ice cream at Friendly's, and then I started to feel kinda normal again.
This was the first time during the program where I had any whisper of "Maybe I can't do this after all." Writing about it a few days later, I can see all the stuff that went wrong and the ways to correct it, and I am optimistic again. But that was awful. We have two more cracks at sixteen, then two weeks of eighteen before the training tapers for a few weeks to build strength before the marathon.
Friday, July 27, 2007
Week 9, Days 2 and 3
Day 2 (Wednesday)
Distance: 7 miles
Total for the week: 11 miles
Overall total so far: 177 miles
Notes: Seven miles in the hills of Oxford, ME. And when I say hills, I mean bigger, longer hills than they have here in Rochester. A most challenging run, though I thoroughly enjoyed being out on the streets of small town Maine. It was a profoundly nostaligic experience—totally took me back to my childhood.
Day 3 (Thursday)
Distance: 4 miles
Total for the week: 15 miles
Overall total so far: 181 miles
Notes: Still in Maine, I ran a quick out and back. Uphill for the first half, downhill for the second half. Not a bad little run, though quite hot.
Distance: 7 miles
Total for the week: 11 miles
Overall total so far: 177 miles
Notes: Seven miles in the hills of Oxford, ME. And when I say hills, I mean bigger, longer hills than they have here in Rochester. A most challenging run, though I thoroughly enjoyed being out on the streets of small town Maine. It was a profoundly nostaligic experience—totally took me back to my childhood.
Day 3 (Thursday)
Distance: 4 miles
Total for the week: 15 miles
Overall total so far: 181 miles
Notes: Still in Maine, I ran a quick out and back. Uphill for the first half, downhill for the second half. Not a bad little run, though quite hot.
Monday, July 23, 2007
Week 9, Day 1
Distance: 4 miles
Total for the week: 4 miles
Overall total so far: 170 miles
Notes: Four boring miles in the rain, big whoop. My next two runs will happen in Maine, where the air is clean and pure. I'll post about them when I come back.
Total for the week: 4 miles
Overall total so far: 170 miles
Notes: Four boring miles in the rain, big whoop. My next two runs will happen in Maine, where the air is clean and pure. I'll post about them when I come back.
Saturday, July 21, 2007
Week 8, Day 4
Distance: 14 miles
Total for the week: 24 miles
Overall total so far: 166 miles
Notes: Tracey and I tried even more frequent walk breaks this time, and it actually shaved another ten seconds per mile off our average pace. We walked for one minute every mile. Far more important than the increase in pace was the fact that we felt good and finished pretty strong. I think I'm becoming a believer.
Attention Town of Pittsford: They invented this awesome thing called sidewalks. You can put them next to your roads in order to help pedestrians (including runners) keep from, well, dying. You might want to Google it.
Total for the week: 24 miles
Overall total so far: 166 miles
Notes: Tracey and I tried even more frequent walk breaks this time, and it actually shaved another ten seconds per mile off our average pace. We walked for one minute every mile. Far more important than the increase in pace was the fact that we felt good and finished pretty strong. I think I'm becoming a believer.
Attention Town of Pittsford: They invented this awesome thing called sidewalks. You can put them next to your roads in order to help pedestrians (including runners) keep from, well, dying. You might want to Google it.
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Week 8, Day 3
Distance: 4 miles
Total for the week: 14 miles
Overall total so far: 152 miles
Notes: Over 150 now, nice. I ran this alone and did two speed pushes, running at over 80% for a couple minutes twice during the run to see if I could recover without walking. It may have been good for my cardiovascular strength, but it did nothing for my pace. Interesting.
Total for the week: 14 miles
Overall total so far: 152 miles
Notes: Over 150 now, nice. I ran this alone and did two speed pushes, running at over 80% for a couple minutes twice during the run to see if I could recover without walking. It may have been good for my cardiovascular strength, but it did nothing for my pace. Interesting.
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Week 8, Day 2
Distance: 6 miles
Total for the week: 10 miles
Overall total so far: 148 miles
Notes: Six miles is now one of the "easy" runs.
Total for the week: 10 miles
Overall total so far: 148 miles
Notes: Six miles is now one of the "easy" runs.
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Week 8, Day 1
Distance: 4 miles
Total for the week: 4 miles
Overall total so far: 142 miles
Notes: I can't believe it's already week 8! This was my fastest run yet (a staggering 8:40/mile, whoopie), including a final mile that was about 7:30. I pushed it throughout the run and ran as hard as I could when the iPod gave me the "400 meters to go" warning. I don't know why; I just felt like lengthening my strides a bit. My legs were achy the next day, though!
Total for the week: 4 miles
Overall total so far: 142 miles
Notes: I can't believe it's already week 8! This was my fastest run yet (a staggering 8:40/mile, whoopie), including a final mile that was about 7:30. I pushed it throughout the run and ran as hard as I could when the iPod gave me the "400 meters to go" warning. I don't know why; I just felt like lengthening my strides a bit. My legs were achy the next day, though!
Sunday, July 15, 2007
Week 7, Days 2, 3, and 4
Another quick and dirty set of recaps. Been really busy moving the church to our new building.
Day 2 (Wednesday)
Distance: 6 miles
Total for the week: 10 miles
Overall total so far: 122 miles
Notes: A nice long loop after dark. Six felt pretty good.
Day 3 (Thursday)
Distance: 4 miles
Total for the week: 14 miles
Overall total so far: 126 miles
Notes: I was exhausted during this run after painting outside in the sun all day long. But I ran it anyway. Not a bad pace, either.
Day 3 (Saturday)
Distance: 12 miles
Total for the week: 26 miles
Overall total so far: 138 miles
Notes: After last week's eleven mile debacle, we were determined to make this run good. Tracey plotted a nice round loop, we made sure to start out in a better mood, and we decided to try the "walk break" idea. Every two miles, we walked for one minute. It kept us feeling pretty fresh, and our pace was actually faster than we've been averaging on long runs. Interesting—we'll probably try a few different ways of using walk breaks over the next few weeks.
Day 2 (Wednesday)
Distance: 6 miles
Total for the week: 10 miles
Overall total so far: 122 miles
Notes: A nice long loop after dark. Six felt pretty good.
Day 3 (Thursday)
Distance: 4 miles
Total for the week: 14 miles
Overall total so far: 126 miles
Notes: I was exhausted during this run after painting outside in the sun all day long. But I ran it anyway. Not a bad pace, either.
Day 3 (Saturday)
Distance: 12 miles
Total for the week: 26 miles
Overall total so far: 138 miles
Notes: After last week's eleven mile debacle, we were determined to make this run good. Tracey plotted a nice round loop, we made sure to start out in a better mood, and we decided to try the "walk break" idea. Every two miles, we walked for one minute. It kept us feeling pretty fresh, and our pace was actually faster than we've been averaging on long runs. Interesting—we'll probably try a few different ways of using walk breaks over the next few weeks.
Monday, July 9, 2007
Week 7, Day 1
Distance: 4 miles
Total for the week: 4 miles
Overall total so far: 116 miles
Notes: This was a fast four, for me anyway. Ran a personal best over the first mile, then joined Brian, who only had to run three, to finish it out.
The medium run bumps to six miles this week, and I have to do twelve on Saturday, in addition to performing a wedding later in the day. Oh, and I'm also painting the new/old church building on Thursday and Friday. Should be a tiring week.
Total for the week: 4 miles
Overall total so far: 116 miles
Notes: This was a fast four, for me anyway. Ran a personal best over the first mile, then joined Brian, who only had to run three, to finish it out.
The medium run bumps to six miles this week, and I have to do twelve on Saturday, in addition to performing a wedding later in the day. Oh, and I'm also painting the new/old church building on Thursday and Friday. Should be a tiring week.
Saturday, July 7, 2007
Week 6, Days 2, 3, and 4
Quick blast edition, since I'm behind on posting my notes—very, very busy week in other areas of life.
Day 2 (Wednesday)
Distance: 5 miles
Total for the week: 9 miles
Overall total so far: 97 miles
Notes: Ran in the rain for the first time (!) since the official training began. Not too bad, especially since Tracey had the day off (Independence Day).
Day 3 (Thursday)
Distance: 4 miles
Total for the week: 13 miles
Overall total so far: 101 miles
Notes: More rain. Broke 100 miles for the training.
Day 4 (Saturday)
Distance: 11 miles
Total for the week: 24 miles
Overall total so far: 112 miles
Notes: Worst run ever. But we finished it, so I'm calling that good. I don't really feel like writing about it, but Tracey did. Better luck next week, right?
Day 2 (Wednesday)
Distance: 5 miles
Total for the week: 9 miles
Overall total so far: 97 miles
Notes: Ran in the rain for the first time (!) since the official training began. Not too bad, especially since Tracey had the day off (Independence Day).
Day 3 (Thursday)
Distance: 4 miles
Total for the week: 13 miles
Overall total so far: 101 miles
Notes: More rain. Broke 100 miles for the training.
Day 4 (Saturday)
Distance: 11 miles
Total for the week: 24 miles
Overall total so far: 112 miles
Notes: Worst run ever. But we finished it, so I'm calling that good. I don't really feel like writing about it, but Tracey did. Better luck next week, right?
Monday, July 2, 2007
Week 6, Day 1
Distance: 4 miles
Total for the week: 4 miles
Overall total so far: 92 miles
Notes: Brian showed me a two mile route down to the new pedestrian trail along the Genesee River, and we ran it as an out and back. The trail is really pretty, except that for some reason the city of Rochester is unwilling to bother to pull fallen trees out of the river, and it means any bit of debris gets hung up and covered in algae. Anyway, it was a nice quick run. It's a good feeling to be able to pound out four miles and have it basically feel like nothing!
Total for the week: 4 miles
Overall total so far: 92 miles
Notes: Brian showed me a two mile route down to the new pedestrian trail along the Genesee River, and we ran it as an out and back. The trail is really pretty, except that for some reason the city of Rochester is unwilling to bother to pull fallen trees out of the river, and it means any bit of debris gets hung up and covered in algae. Anyway, it was a nice quick run. It's a good feeling to be able to pound out four miles and have it basically feel like nothing!
Sunday, July 1, 2007
Week 5 Recap
Quite a week. My first ten miler—that was a good feeling. I finished up my 70 mile 4-week goal and reached a big milestone on the Nike+ iPod system. But really, the biggest accomplishment for me this week was just getting out there and doing the runs. This was an important week in my mind, because it was week five—and I only made it through week four the first time I set out to train for a marathon. So I was officially in uncharted territory when I took my first step on Monday.
The NRMT suggests incorporating visualization techniques at this point in the training. The idea is that you create two short "videos" in your mind and commit them to memory; then you "play" those videos every time you get discouraged or tired on a run. The first is based on the memory of your best run ever, and the second is the scene that you imagine will meet you when you finish the marathon. I have to admit, this technique seems a little goofy to me. But I'm going to try it out and see if I find it useful.
This week the short runs bump up to four miles each, so there will be no more three milers until the program tapers leading up to the race. I'm looking at 4-5-4-11 this week, and the great thing about it is that I know I can do it, no problem. But the mileage really gets serious in the next few weeks, and I'm just the slightest bit nervous about it. At least until I remember that 3-4-3-5 seemed a little scary when I was looking at that for the first week of training. What can I say? You just run until you finish the mileage, and then you stop. We are not very good at estimating our own limits. They're higher than we think, and the only way you will believe that is if you are willing to try something you don't think you can do. So get out there and try!
Or else you'll wind up living in a van down by the river.
The NRMT suggests incorporating visualization techniques at this point in the training. The idea is that you create two short "videos" in your mind and commit them to memory; then you "play" those videos every time you get discouraged or tired on a run. The first is based on the memory of your best run ever, and the second is the scene that you imagine will meet you when you finish the marathon. I have to admit, this technique seems a little goofy to me. But I'm going to try it out and see if I find it useful.
This week the short runs bump up to four miles each, so there will be no more three milers until the program tapers leading up to the race. I'm looking at 4-5-4-11 this week, and the great thing about it is that I know I can do it, no problem. But the mileage really gets serious in the next few weeks, and I'm just the slightest bit nervous about it. At least until I remember that 3-4-3-5 seemed a little scary when I was looking at that for the first week of training. What can I say? You just run until you finish the mileage, and then you stop. We are not very good at estimating our own limits. They're higher than we think, and the only way you will believe that is if you are willing to try something you don't think you can do. So get out there and try!
Or else you'll wind up living in a van down by the river.
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