Tuesday - Played softball today. We normally play 10 handed and don't supply a pitcher. We started this game with 7 and had one player show up in the bottom of the first. There is a max of 5 runs that you can score per inning and by the end of the 2nd inning, it was 10-10. After that, both teams started playing some defense. I played shortstop and 3rd base most of the time. I was actually back in shallow left field to allow myself to try get to as many balls as possible as I was the only one on that side of the field. We started to make some plays and I made some plays as a shortstop and at 3rd. After a huge debacle about losing an inning somewhere, we only ended up playing 8 innings. We won by 8 or so. Not bad for being short handed 2 players. I had a solid game at bat, but nothing great. 4 for 6 with 3 runs, a double, triple, 5 RBIs and a SH. That was the last game of the regular season. I believe we ended 7-5 and were either the highest or the 2nd highest scoring team in the league. Not bad considering I didn't think we'd win any. Next week starts a double elimination tournament. As we have been struggling to field a team lately and since a few people have said they are out next week, we may be in trouble.
Season Stats
G - 12
AB - 60
R - 38
H - 38
2B - 11
3B - 9
HR - 6
RBI - 46
SF - 4
AVG - .633
SLG - 1.417
Wednesday - Ran 8 miles today with a 6 mile tempo. Goal pace was 6:56, which seemed pretty to be a bit slow. Without trying too hard, I averaged 6:38s with my heart rate averaging 169 during the effort. My legs were a bit heavy and my diet and sleep have been horrendous lately. With that that, it wasn't all that hard.
1 - 6:44, 161
2 - 6:43, 165
3 - 6:39, 168
4 - 6:38, 172
5 - 6:38, 172
6 - 6:36, 174
Thursday - Was planning on running to/from work tomorrow, but I'm just too busy at work. I can't afford to lose that much time. As it is, I will be up past midnight again tonight and up before sunrise tomorrow. If I run 20+, I will be useless tomorrow night. I need to work late again and can't afford to lose a night from unproductivety.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Monday, July 28, 2008
Speed Session - 6x800s
Another busy week is happening. Our release date at work just got bumped up by a week or two. That means that somewhat busy work schedule will become a very busy work schedule. As I already have tons of other non work related plans scheduled, I guess all the extra work happens at night for me again.
Today was speed work. The schedule called for 6 800s at 5:36 pace with 1:30 recovery. I'm just not fast enough to hit those times right now. I could do it for 1, 2 or maybe 3, but not 6. With that said, looking at my average HR during each, it looks like I could have pushed harder. Maybe I just need to work on my top effort. But then again, with the schedule I have coming up over the next week or two, maybe I'm better off doing this session.
1 - .50, 2:55, 168
2 - .50, 2:52, 170
3 - .50, 2:50, 171
4 - .50, 2:50, 172
5 - .50, 2:52, 173
6 - .50, 2:47, 174
The tentative running schedule for the rest of the week is tempo on Wednesday, running to/from work on Thursday and potentially the same 23 miler I did this past weekend again on Saturday. Phew! I'm going to be wiped out by the time noon on Saturday rolls around.
We have had some recent activity on the house. No offers yet, but there are people seeing it now and expressing interest. We had an open house on Sunday and have a couple more this week during the week and on the weekend. Fingers crossed. Hopefully we get a reasonable offer so we can start pursuing the houses we want to buy.
There is only 1 softball game for me this week as I have a bye in the competitive league this week. The beer league plays tomorrow. As I will start leaning towards not getting enough sleep again, I'm hoping that my level of play doesn't fall in the crapper again.
I guess that's enough procrastinating for now. I really need to get started working again.
Today was speed work. The schedule called for 6 800s at 5:36 pace with 1:30 recovery. I'm just not fast enough to hit those times right now. I could do it for 1, 2 or maybe 3, but not 6. With that said, looking at my average HR during each, it looks like I could have pushed harder. Maybe I just need to work on my top effort. But then again, with the schedule I have coming up over the next week or two, maybe I'm better off doing this session.
1 - .50, 2:55, 168
2 - .50, 2:52, 170
3 - .50, 2:50, 171
4 - .50, 2:50, 172
5 - .50, 2:52, 173
6 - .50, 2:47, 174
The tentative running schedule for the rest of the week is tempo on Wednesday, running to/from work on Thursday and potentially the same 23 miler I did this past weekend again on Saturday. Phew! I'm going to be wiped out by the time noon on Saturday rolls around.
We have had some recent activity on the house. No offers yet, but there are people seeing it now and expressing interest. We had an open house on Sunday and have a couple more this week during the week and on the weekend. Fingers crossed. Hopefully we get a reasonable offer so we can start pursuing the houses we want to buy.
There is only 1 softball game for me this week as I have a bye in the competitive league this week. The beer league plays tomorrow. As I will start leaning towards not getting enough sleep again, I'm hoping that my level of play doesn't fall in the crapper again.
I guess that's enough procrastinating for now. I really need to get started working again.
Sunday, July 27, 2008
23 Miles on Saturday
For some reason, I've been wanting to do a run from my house, out to and up Iron Mountain and back. On Saturday, as most of the others in my running group had other plans, I decided to stay home and give it a shot. I woke up at 4:30 wanting to get an early start. I ended up hanging around the house until 5:30 as I waited until the sun came up. I'll let the picture below tell most of the story. It was a bit more difficult than I was thinking it was going to be. I ended up running out of water and had to stop on the way. I had to incorporate a few walks breaks at the end in order to get up the last 400 foot hill. It's amazing how much harder things can be after at the 22 mile mark of a run versus the 3rd mile of a run. This run ended up being 2,900 feet of climbing
The plan was for the group to do this run next weekend. I'm wondering how many people will be up for it after seeing this picture.
The plan was for the group to do this run next weekend. I'm wondering how many people will be up for it after seeing this picture.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Running and Softball
Here's a quick recap of the week's info.
Monday - Tough speed session. I struggled on this one. My eating and sleeping were a bit off along with some heat. I just wasn't feeling it. The schedule called for 2x1200 (5:41 pace) and 4x800 (5:36 pace) with a 2 minute recovery between each. I didn't really reach goal pace and the last one was short.
1 - .75, 4:31 (6:01), 175 bpm
2 - .75, 4:21 (5:49), 177 bpm
3 - .50, 2:50 (5:43), 179 bpm
4 - .50, 2:51 (5:41), 179 bpm
5 - .50, 2:47 (5:34), 179 bpm
6 - .17, 0:54 (5:21), 171 bpm
Tuesday - I played softball today in the competitive men's league. Our team is not that great, but were not so bad that we should get shut out. We lost 6-0 in 7 innings. These games almost always run out of time before finishing the full 7 innings. We managed to play the whole thing in 10-15 minutes under the time limit. It was 1-0 after 5 1/2. I think the total time was 40 minutes. Crazy! I managed 2 hits on the night which was probably about 1/3 of the team's total. Sad! Oh yeah, I also lifted today.
Wednesday - The schedule called for a 5 mile tempo run today at 6:41 pace. I tacked on a 3/4 mile warm up and cool down for a total of 6.5 miles. I felt great today. I ran faster than goal pace, picked it up on the last mile and could have easily gone faster. That's very encouraging for the upcoming 1/2 marathon. I may have to adjust my goal pace down a bit. I did the 5 miles in 32:37 which is 6:31/mile and HR was only 168 bpm on average.
1 - 6:33, 162 bpm
2 - 6:36, 164 bpm
3 - 6:33, 168 bpm
4 - 6:39, 170 bpm
5 - 6:16, 174 bpm
Thursday - Tonight was the casual beer league. We had 11 players tonight and the other team only had 8. With that, we were tied 19-19 going into the 9th. We scored 8 and shut them down to win 27-19. That would have been pretty sad if we couldn't beat an 8 handed team. My fielding is way better these days. I'm back to where I should. I had tons of touches tonight and had no errors. I probably had something like 4 put outs and 6-8 assists. By the end of the night, I think I had figured out some of my batting problems and really started driving the ball again. Although, my box score might reflect me hitting a bit better than I actualy did. I was 5 for 5 with 5 runs scored, 3 triples and 1 home run. I had 6 RBIs and 1 sac fly. That helps the season totals a bit.
Season Stats
G - 11
AB - 54
R - 35
H - 34
2B - 10
3B - 8
HR - 6
RBI - 41
SF - 3
AVG - .630
SLG - 1.444
I was off on my work estimation. I have one more week than originally planned. My ridiculously busy schedule is definitely made more busy by all this extra curricular stuff, but it's worked out so far. I still have 2 more weeks of this madness and then hopefully things start to slow down so that I can breath again.
Monday - Tough speed session. I struggled on this one. My eating and sleeping were a bit off along with some heat. I just wasn't feeling it. The schedule called for 2x1200 (5:41 pace) and 4x800 (5:36 pace) with a 2 minute recovery between each. I didn't really reach goal pace and the last one was short.
1 - .75, 4:31 (6:01), 175 bpm
2 - .75, 4:21 (5:49), 177 bpm
3 - .50, 2:50 (5:43), 179 bpm
4 - .50, 2:51 (5:41), 179 bpm
5 - .50, 2:47 (5:34), 179 bpm
6 - .17, 0:54 (5:21), 171 bpm
Tuesday - I played softball today in the competitive men's league. Our team is not that great, but were not so bad that we should get shut out. We lost 6-0 in 7 innings. These games almost always run out of time before finishing the full 7 innings. We managed to play the whole thing in 10-15 minutes under the time limit. It was 1-0 after 5 1/2. I think the total time was 40 minutes. Crazy! I managed 2 hits on the night which was probably about 1/3 of the team's total. Sad! Oh yeah, I also lifted today.
Wednesday - The schedule called for a 5 mile tempo run today at 6:41 pace. I tacked on a 3/4 mile warm up and cool down for a total of 6.5 miles. I felt great today. I ran faster than goal pace, picked it up on the last mile and could have easily gone faster. That's very encouraging for the upcoming 1/2 marathon. I may have to adjust my goal pace down a bit. I did the 5 miles in 32:37 which is 6:31/mile and HR was only 168 bpm on average.
1 - 6:33, 162 bpm
2 - 6:36, 164 bpm
3 - 6:33, 168 bpm
4 - 6:39, 170 bpm
5 - 6:16, 174 bpm
Thursday - Tonight was the casual beer league. We had 11 players tonight and the other team only had 8. With that, we were tied 19-19 going into the 9th. We scored 8 and shut them down to win 27-19. That would have been pretty sad if we couldn't beat an 8 handed team. My fielding is way better these days. I'm back to where I should. I had tons of touches tonight and had no errors. I probably had something like 4 put outs and 6-8 assists. By the end of the night, I think I had figured out some of my batting problems and really started driving the ball again. Although, my box score might reflect me hitting a bit better than I actualy did. I was 5 for 5 with 5 runs scored, 3 triples and 1 home run. I had 6 RBIs and 1 sac fly. That helps the season totals a bit.
Season Stats
G - 11
AB - 54
R - 35
H - 34
2B - 10
3B - 8
HR - 6
RBI - 41
SF - 3
AVG - .630
SLG - 1.444
I was off on my work estimation. I have one more week than originally planned. My ridiculously busy schedule is definitely made more busy by all this extra curricular stuff, but it's worked out so far. I still have 2 more weeks of this madness and then hopefully things start to slow down so that I can breath again.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Sorry
Sorry for the lack of recent updates. I'm in the middle of the last push at work. By the end of next week, my 8-10 week ridiculously crazy, busy schedule should start to drop back to my normal 40 hour work week. I'm SOOOOO looking forward to that. I'm excited about getting home at a reasonable time every day and spending time with my wife and child to be. How exciting is that?!?! He/She is the size of a lemon these days. :)
Saturday, July 19, 2008
The Best Pre-Run Meal
I did something last night that I try to avoid when I'm in heavy training. In general, I try to eat better and smarter. It turns out, that this may not be enough food, but that's not the point. For the third time now after eating this meal Friday night, I've had an awesome run. The meal is... Domino's Pizza. :) Friday night I had a bit over 1/2 of a large pepperoni pizza from Domino's and just killed the run this morning. The schedule called for 18. I was pushing the pace the entire time and could have easily tacked on more at the end if anyone wanted to do more. It was great. I felt like it didn't take much effort today and my heart rate reflected this feeling as well. I ended up averaging 7:50 over 18 miles and it was easy. Sweet! I guess all this speed work I'm doing is paying off. Plus, the weather today was perfect.
OK, so I'm joking a bit about the pizza, but I'm serious that I'm now 3 for 3 with great runs after the meal. I think the more probably reason behind it is that I don't eat enough generally and I feel better because I have more food in my system. I also think that my body processes food for a long time. I don't think that it takes excess food and stores it as fat nearly as fast as it does for normal people when overeating. I feel like I'm able to draw on food from the night before which gives me more energy. Of course, it's entirely possible that I'm just full of it. Anyway you look at it though, if I think it gives me an edge, then this gives me more confidence which actually does give me an edge.
Not too much to report on the baby yet. I'll give some updates when there are updates to give.
Our house has been on the market for 1 week now and we've had 1 showing so far. Ugh! That's not very encouraging. So far, we have 1 scheduled for tomorrow. Even though I'm a realist, I'm pretty optimistic that we'll sell the house sooner than the market has been indicating we should sell. Until that happens though, the realist in me is preventing me from getting too excited about any of the houses we are looking at. We saw a nice one today that was just put on the market. I have a feeling this one won't be available by the time we decide to finally put some offers out there. Bummer!
OK, so I'm joking a bit about the pizza, but I'm serious that I'm now 3 for 3 with great runs after the meal. I think the more probably reason behind it is that I don't eat enough generally and I feel better because I have more food in my system. I also think that my body processes food for a long time. I don't think that it takes excess food and stores it as fat nearly as fast as it does for normal people when overeating. I feel like I'm able to draw on food from the night before which gives me more energy. Of course, it's entirely possible that I'm just full of it. Anyway you look at it though, if I think it gives me an edge, then this gives me more confidence which actually does give me an edge.
Not too much to report on the baby yet. I'll give some updates when there are updates to give.
Our house has been on the market for 1 week now and we've had 1 showing so far. Ugh! That's not very encouraging. So far, we have 1 scheduled for tomorrow. Even though I'm a realist, I'm pretty optimistic that we'll sell the house sooner than the market has been indicating we should sell. Until that happens though, the realist in me is preventing me from getting too excited about any of the houses we are looking at. We saw a nice one today that was just put on the market. I have a feeling this one won't be available by the time we decide to finally put some offers out there. Bummer!
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
A Quick Speed Night
The schedule called for a 3 mile tempo run today along with 3 miles of warm up and cool down. The goal pace of the tempo was 6:26. I did 6:22, 6:28 and 6:12. I could have stayed consistent, but wanted to pick it up on the last one over the last 1/2 mile or so. This averaged out to about 6:21 per mile during the tempo. I was definitely tired at the end, but felt like I didn't completely burn it out. It's a good thing too because less than 12 hours after finishing it, I will be out there doing 10+ to work and then another 10+ on the way home at the end of the day. I think bed time will come very early tomorrow night.
Speaking of which, I need to get ready for the run and turn in early tonight.
Speaking of which, I need to get ready for the run and turn in early tonight.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Softball
I'm sure I'll be trashed again for missing ATP, but softball duty calls. I had two games scheduled for tonight. As they overlapped, I had to choose. My loyalties are to the beer league as I've been with them longer.
The good news is that I figured out my fielding problems. I've had 3 solid games in the field in a row. The first 2 came with me back at third again and then I played shortstop again tonight and played well. I didn't get as much action as I would have liked, but I fielded and threw well. Now my hitting has gone to crap. I think I'm trying to do too much and keep popping up.
We played short handed tonight in the beer league against a very good hitting team. They are all friendly and we had a good time. We lost by a lot, but were actually ahead after a few innings. It's wasn't the worst experience since they were nice. I ended up 3 for 5 for 4 runs scored, doubles and 2 RBIs. It's not the worst line ever, but it should have been better. Oh well.
Season Stats
G - 10
AB - 49
R - 30
H - 29
2B - 10
3B - 5
HR - 5
RBI - 35
SF - 2
AVG - .592
SLG - 1.306
The good news is that I figured out my fielding problems. I've had 3 solid games in the field in a row. The first 2 came with me back at third again and then I played shortstop again tonight and played well. I didn't get as much action as I would have liked, but I fielded and threw well. Now my hitting has gone to crap. I think I'm trying to do too much and keep popping up.
We played short handed tonight in the beer league against a very good hitting team. They are all friendly and we had a good time. We lost by a lot, but were actually ahead after a few innings. It's wasn't the worst experience since they were nice. I ended up 3 for 5 for 4 runs scored, doubles and 2 RBIs. It's not the worst line ever, but it should have been better. Oh well.
Season Stats
G - 10
AB - 49
R - 30
H - 29
2B - 10
3B - 5
HR - 5
RBI - 35
SF - 2
AVG - .592
SLG - 1.306
Monday, July 14, 2008
Update on The Past Few Days
Saturday Run - The group met at Lake Miramar on Saturday. As I live about 3 1/2 miles from there, the plan was to run there, run with the group and then run home as I was scheduled to do 20 on Saturday. I wasn't sure that the group would only want to do 13 though and I had a feeling that meant I would be doing over 20. I wasn't ready for that. As I woke up early, I decided to head to the lake early and put in about 3. Dano and I headed out around Scripps Ranch and put in 1500 feet of climbing/descending. I know that's not tons of elevation compared to some people, but it is more than I usually put in my long runs, especially the 20 milers. I was not fully prepared for this run and only brought along water for the run. I started feeling the lack of food the last 2 miles and really had to push myself to finish. As we hit the cars, Dano hit 17 and I was 1/4 mile short. I was thinking about not being my anal self and just quit, but Dan made me finish. That's good. I needed it. All in all, a good, but challenging workout.
Sunday Gym - I actually made it to the gym for the 2nd time in one week. I had a great workout on Sunday which included lifting legs. As I'm just getting back into it, I'm not pushing myself super hard, but I picked up the intensity a bit this time compared to last time.
Monday Run - Well, I'm sore today from the gym yesterday. My legs are especially feeling it. Just want you want during speed work. The schedule today called for 3x1600 @ 5:51 with 1:00 recovery. I got carried away on the interval and burned myself out. I struggled to maintain on the last one. I really had to force myself to continue as I really wanted to quit. Times were 5:51, 5:43 and 6:11.
In other parts of my life, I'm not sure that I've shared this here or not, but we are looking to buy a bigger house as we are getting ready to get a bigger family. We've been working to get the house ready and we put our house on the market on Saturday. Unfortunately, we had to list it a little lower than we wanted to as another house in the neighboorhood undercut us as they are trying to sell their house at a low price. That sucks as we need the extra money for the new house. Anywho, the pictures and virtual tour should be coming in the next day or two. If anyone is interested in or knows someone else interested, please let me know. It's a great first home and priced lower to match others in the neighborhood.
We are also out there checking out houses that we can expand to. As the market sucks these days, we are not really pushing this aspect until we get some interest in our house. We have found a few that we are interested in, but as houses easily go 1, 2, 3 and more months before selling, we are not letting ourselves get too excited about any options out there yet. As Wendy progesses through her pregnancy, things may become a bit more urgent. For the time being, there is not too much of a hurry.
Things don't slow down the rest of this week. Tomorrow is the gym and softball. Wednesday is a tempo run at 6:26 pace. Thursday I'm running to and from work for my 2nd 20+ mile day of the week. Friday will likely be a rest day, but could potentially be another gym day. As Saturday only drops to 18 miles, I'm thinking it may be a good day for a break.
That's it from here. Talk to you soon.
Sunday Gym - I actually made it to the gym for the 2nd time in one week. I had a great workout on Sunday which included lifting legs. As I'm just getting back into it, I'm not pushing myself super hard, but I picked up the intensity a bit this time compared to last time.
Monday Run - Well, I'm sore today from the gym yesterday. My legs are especially feeling it. Just want you want during speed work. The schedule today called for 3x1600 @ 5:51 with 1:00 recovery. I got carried away on the interval and burned myself out. I struggled to maintain on the last one. I really had to force myself to continue as I really wanted to quit. Times were 5:51, 5:43 and 6:11.
In other parts of my life, I'm not sure that I've shared this here or not, but we are looking to buy a bigger house as we are getting ready to get a bigger family. We've been working to get the house ready and we put our house on the market on Saturday. Unfortunately, we had to list it a little lower than we wanted to as another house in the neighboorhood undercut us as they are trying to sell their house at a low price. That sucks as we need the extra money for the new house. Anywho, the pictures and virtual tour should be coming in the next day or two. If anyone is interested in or knows someone else interested, please let me know. It's a great first home and priced lower to match others in the neighborhood.
We are also out there checking out houses that we can expand to. As the market sucks these days, we are not really pushing this aspect until we get some interest in our house. We have found a few that we are interested in, but as houses easily go 1, 2, 3 and more months before selling, we are not letting ourselves get too excited about any options out there yet. As Wendy progesses through her pregnancy, things may become a bit more urgent. For the time being, there is not too much of a hurry.
Things don't slow down the rest of this week. Tomorrow is the gym and softball. Wednesday is a tempo run at 6:26 pace. Thursday I'm running to and from work for my 2nd 20+ mile day of the week. Friday will likely be a rest day, but could potentially be another gym day. As Saturday only drops to 18 miles, I'm thinking it may be a good day for a break.
That's it from here. Talk to you soon.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
2008 Heritage Festival 5 Mile Race Report
My parents had been looking for a local 5K to enter for their first race in preparation for their participation in the Sacramento relay marathon. Since Wendy and I were planning on being in town over the 4th of July, I looked around and found a 5 miler within 30 minutes from their house. They were super excited about entering a race we all signed up. As long as you signed up by July 3rd, the entry fee was $20. You can't beat that. We even got a t-shirt and a timing chip. Two days before the race we went down to get our numbers and both Roni (my sister) and Wendy decided to enter as well. We ended up with 5 of us entering the race. The Smidt's (and 1 Shevlin) were planning on taking down the race. Ok, maybe not. I was shooting for 32-34 minutes. My Dad was aiming for 1 hour. My Mom was going for 1:05 and Roni and Wendy were hoping for under 1:25.
This was definitely a low key race. We got there a little less than 1 hour early and there weren't many people around. As we got closer to 20-30 minutes before the race it starting picking up. We hung around for a bit just chilling and trying to convince my mom that she wouldn't get lost on the course. Apparently she had nightmares that she got lost.
Fortunately, the weather cooperated as much as you could hope for in Virginia during summer. The race started at 7:45. It was humid, but overcast and the temperature wsa 73.
With a couple minutes to spare I headed out for some pickups around 6:30 pace. If all went well, I was going to aim for 6:30s and try to pick it up at the end if I had anything left. We all got on the street by everyone else I said my good byes and good lucks and headed to the front. I couldn't get all the way up there and there were people in front of my that had no business whatsoever being up there. So after a bunch of maneuvering, I was able to get 1 back from the front row. As it turned out the chips we were all wearing were for the finish only. So everyone else lost a few seconds as their time was gun time.
The gun goes off and wear are flying. A group of 8-10 runners were just in front of my and some guy decked out in all JMU colors lead the pack. There were a few others around me, but I was right there near the leaders. Very cool! I felt great. I looked down at my watch and saw that was I doing about 5:25. Oops! I really forced myself to slow down as there was no way I could maintain that pace. At mile one I was falling back some from the leaders (which is a good thing) and the guy at the marking said 5:55 (it was a hair short on the GPS). Crap! What a rookie mistake. I know you are supposed to start a bit easier and then pick it up. I just got caught up in the moment. But since I was there, I decided to keep pushing it to see what I could do. During the next mile I was feeling it. I knew I was in for a battle. I had slowed a bit to a 6:22, and I was tired. I could tell I was slowing and my HR was out of control. The next 2 miles I tried with all my might to maintain focus and to continue to push myself even though I wanted to walk. I did 6:37 for each. About 3-4 people passed me from the first mile to the end. So even though I was slowing, I knew I was still pushing it pretty good. About 300-400 meters from the end I make this left hand turn and see this hill facing me. Ugh! I didn't want to see that with how I was feeling. I pushed up the hill, made a right hand turn and saw the finish line and it was down hill. I picked up the pace and pushed towards the line. I heard someone coming from behind and pushed it a bit more. I crossed the line at 32:18 for a 6:28 pace. I was 26th out of 620 runners and 4th in my age group. The top 3 were paid. What a bummer. Unfortunatlely, I'm in the fastest and most difficult age group. Next year I'll graduate to the 2nd or 3rd fastest age group. I would have been 2nd or 3rd in the other age group. Anyway, here are my splits and heart rate. No wonder I felt tired. I guess I was pushing pretty hard.
1 - 5:59, 178 bpm
2 - 6:22, 185 bpm
3 - 6:37, 185 bpm
4 - 6:37, 186 bpm
5 -6:32, 188 bpm
Thinking back, if I started smarter, I really believe I would have been closer to and likely under 32:00. I think if I did 6:30s for the first 2 or 3 miles that I would have had enough energy to really push the last couple. Instead, I was just hanging on. Even with that silly mistake, I'm still very happy with my result. I didn't know I could run that fast for that long.
So I crossed the line, got a couple cups of water and then started jogging backwards looking for my Dad. I found him somewhere between miles 3-4. We was doing the Jeff Galloway. He was jogging 3 minutes and walking 1 minute. He was ahead of pace and feeling pretty good. He was a bit suprised at the speed he was going. I tried to prepare everyone for the fact that their time would be faster than anticipated given the race atmosphere. It still caught him off guard. I tried to make sure he didn't drop off the pace we were going and gave words of encouragement. Before we came to the hill I prepared him for what he was about to see. We headed to the finish coming in at 57:19, well under his goal.
I turned right around and headed back to find my Mom. I didn't expect her to be too far back so I pushed pretty hard to get to her to catch her before she had to see the hill. I found her between 4 and 5, before she could see the hill. She looked tired, but was ahead of goal pace and feeling OK. I gave her the same talk I gave my Dad about her pace and the hill. She was mostly walking, but was throwing in a few runs. As we made the right hand turn after the hill she started to jog. My Dad was there and the three of us headed to the finish line running at approximately a 10:00 pace. She finished at 1:02:47.
I turned around again to look for Wendy and Roni. I found them somewhere around mile 4 and we walked it on in. There were both feeling good, for the most part. They were ahead of pace too. The pace was a little slower then Wendy usually goes and she was staying with Roni the whole way. They started a bit fast, slowed down bit the next 2 miles and then Wendy picked up the pace while telling Roni it was the same speed. :) I told them about the hill and when we finished and made that right hand turn, my parents were there. The 5 of us headed to the finish line together. They finished at 1:17:27.
All in all a great performance by everyone. Everyone had fun and beat the time that they were expecting. I definitely enjoy doing races that I'm not out there to burn it up and do it for myself. Even though I did that today, I was able to still do the race with other people at their pace. It is so much more enjoyable doing that. Maybe as I begin to get out of shape next year as Wendy and I start a new chapter in our lives, I can put in a race here and there with some people slower than me and just enjoy it and help them. We will see.
As we were walking back to the car, my Dad and I found someone handing out free Drumsticks (the ice cream cones). Score! How awesome is that. That was a nice little treat after the race. My Dad was already looking for his next race. He picked up a flyer for another local race. It's a 10 miler about a month later. LOL, they are hooked.
Race Results
A local write up. I almost made the paper. I was just to the left of the camera at the start and missed that picture. Also finishing 1 out of the money prevented me from getting my name ther.e
This was definitely a low key race. We got there a little less than 1 hour early and there weren't many people around. As we got closer to 20-30 minutes before the race it starting picking up. We hung around for a bit just chilling and trying to convince my mom that she wouldn't get lost on the course. Apparently she had nightmares that she got lost.
Fortunately, the weather cooperated as much as you could hope for in Virginia during summer. The race started at 7:45. It was humid, but overcast and the temperature wsa 73.
With a couple minutes to spare I headed out for some pickups around 6:30 pace. If all went well, I was going to aim for 6:30s and try to pick it up at the end if I had anything left. We all got on the street by everyone else I said my good byes and good lucks and headed to the front. I couldn't get all the way up there and there were people in front of my that had no business whatsoever being up there. So after a bunch of maneuvering, I was able to get 1 back from the front row. As it turned out the chips we were all wearing were for the finish only. So everyone else lost a few seconds as their time was gun time.
The gun goes off and wear are flying. A group of 8-10 runners were just in front of my and some guy decked out in all JMU colors lead the pack. There were a few others around me, but I was right there near the leaders. Very cool! I felt great. I looked down at my watch and saw that was I doing about 5:25. Oops! I really forced myself to slow down as there was no way I could maintain that pace. At mile one I was falling back some from the leaders (which is a good thing) and the guy at the marking said 5:55 (it was a hair short on the GPS). Crap! What a rookie mistake. I know you are supposed to start a bit easier and then pick it up. I just got caught up in the moment. But since I was there, I decided to keep pushing it to see what I could do. During the next mile I was feeling it. I knew I was in for a battle. I had slowed a bit to a 6:22, and I was tired. I could tell I was slowing and my HR was out of control. The next 2 miles I tried with all my might to maintain focus and to continue to push myself even though I wanted to walk. I did 6:37 for each. About 3-4 people passed me from the first mile to the end. So even though I was slowing, I knew I was still pushing it pretty good. About 300-400 meters from the end I make this left hand turn and see this hill facing me. Ugh! I didn't want to see that with how I was feeling. I pushed up the hill, made a right hand turn and saw the finish line and it was down hill. I picked up the pace and pushed towards the line. I heard someone coming from behind and pushed it a bit more. I crossed the line at 32:18 for a 6:28 pace. I was 26th out of 620 runners and 4th in my age group. The top 3 were paid. What a bummer. Unfortunatlely, I'm in the fastest and most difficult age group. Next year I'll graduate to the 2nd or 3rd fastest age group. I would have been 2nd or 3rd in the other age group. Anyway, here are my splits and heart rate. No wonder I felt tired. I guess I was pushing pretty hard.
1 - 5:59, 178 bpm
2 - 6:22, 185 bpm
3 - 6:37, 185 bpm
4 - 6:37, 186 bpm
5 -6:32, 188 bpm
Thinking back, if I started smarter, I really believe I would have been closer to and likely under 32:00. I think if I did 6:30s for the first 2 or 3 miles that I would have had enough energy to really push the last couple. Instead, I was just hanging on. Even with that silly mistake, I'm still very happy with my result. I didn't know I could run that fast for that long.
So I crossed the line, got a couple cups of water and then started jogging backwards looking for my Dad. I found him somewhere between miles 3-4. We was doing the Jeff Galloway. He was jogging 3 minutes and walking 1 minute. He was ahead of pace and feeling pretty good. He was a bit suprised at the speed he was going. I tried to prepare everyone for the fact that their time would be faster than anticipated given the race atmosphere. It still caught him off guard. I tried to make sure he didn't drop off the pace we were going and gave words of encouragement. Before we came to the hill I prepared him for what he was about to see. We headed to the finish coming in at 57:19, well under his goal.
I turned right around and headed back to find my Mom. I didn't expect her to be too far back so I pushed pretty hard to get to her to catch her before she had to see the hill. I found her between 4 and 5, before she could see the hill. She looked tired, but was ahead of goal pace and feeling OK. I gave her the same talk I gave my Dad about her pace and the hill. She was mostly walking, but was throwing in a few runs. As we made the right hand turn after the hill she started to jog. My Dad was there and the three of us headed to the finish line running at approximately a 10:00 pace. She finished at 1:02:47.
I turned around again to look for Wendy and Roni. I found them somewhere around mile 4 and we walked it on in. There were both feeling good, for the most part. They were ahead of pace too. The pace was a little slower then Wendy usually goes and she was staying with Roni the whole way. They started a bit fast, slowed down bit the next 2 miles and then Wendy picked up the pace while telling Roni it was the same speed. :) I told them about the hill and when we finished and made that right hand turn, my parents were there. The 5 of us headed to the finish line together. They finished at 1:17:27.
All in all a great performance by everyone. Everyone had fun and beat the time that they were expecting. I definitely enjoy doing races that I'm not out there to burn it up and do it for myself. Even though I did that today, I was able to still do the race with other people at their pace. It is so much more enjoyable doing that. Maybe as I begin to get out of shape next year as Wendy and I start a new chapter in our lives, I can put in a race here and there with some people slower than me and just enjoy it and help them. We will see.
As we were walking back to the car, my Dad and I found someone handing out free Drumsticks (the ice cream cones). Score! How awesome is that. That was a nice little treat after the race. My Dad was already looking for his next race. He picked up a flyer for another local race. It's a 10 miler about a month later. LOL, they are hooked.
Race Results
A local write up. I almost made the paper. I was just to the left of the camera at the start and missed that picture. Also finishing 1 out of the money prevented me from getting my name ther.e
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
June Monthly Summary
I did a 6 mile run today with a 4 mile tempo with a goal pace of 6:41 for the tempo. I felt pretty good during the run. I definitely felt the pace, but could have gone faster if needed. The actual pace was a bit quicker than goal pace. The 4 mile tempo average took 26:05 and I average 173 bpm. That's a 6:31.4 minute per mile average. That included some hills as it was done on the street. Here are the splits:
- 8:31.77, 139 bpm
- 6:28.47, 167 bpm
- 6:43.38, 173 bpm
- 6:29.97, 176 bpm
- 6:23.62, 177 bpm
- 7:52.52, 167 bpm
I know I'm way behind in providing my monthly summary for June. My schedule has been hectic along with being out of town at the beginning of the month is the reason for the delay. The numbers are off this month since I wasn't doing any heavy duty training, June was spent recovering from the Rock and Roll Marathon and a very hectic work schedule that caused me to lose lots of sleep and not be able to devote as much time for working out as I would normally like. For comparison, see June's summary.
I'm still on pace for my first 2,000 mile year, but barely. Since I've been so busy and taper/recovering from a marathon, I'm not barely on pace. I hope to step it up for the next couple months to give myself some buffer for when I taper for the next race. Plus, after October, I'm predicting that I won't be training for anything for some time. I guess the motivation of getting to 2,000 may help me at the end of the year when I'm not training for a race.
Looking at the weight numbers from June, it looks like I manage to lose muscle and gain a bit of fat. I guess that is expected when I don't go to the gym, don't exercise as much and eat very poorly. July should be slightly better and August noticeably better. With that said, I'm continuing to lose weight. Is that a good thing? I'm not sure. I think it's helping me to get faster, but I'm definitely weaker.
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
In My Defense...
So I've been called out. In a post by Michelle she basically said that I've been slacking off and not upholding my reputation. See I've missed the last 2 weeks of MarcFit ATP. I have legitimate excuses so far. Last week I was out of town. Tonight I had a softball game. As it turns out, I will be playing softball games the next couple months on Tuesday so they will have plenty of time to drag my name down. No baby excuses for me yet. I'm sure there will be plenty coming in the future, but that is not my reason for "slacking" at this point.
I guess I will need to bump up my numbers just to make sure I keep my reputation. Tomorrow is a 6 miler witha 4 mile tempo run at 6:41 pace. It sounds like my project at work will be delayed a little bit so I may be able to start my commute runs again next week to get my weekly mileage back up to 50-70 miles per week. Plus this weekend is the first of 5 20 milers in preperation for St. George in October. I guess to truly redeem myself, I will need to start doing ESEs on my own.
I started playing softball in a competitive mens league at Poway Sportsplex. These games are timed and you only play 55 minutes. We were home and likely in the last inning. We were up by 6-4 with 2 outs. A bunch of hits and a couple errors later, we were down 5. WTF!?! We scored 3 in the home half to lose by 2. How much does that suck. To make matters worse, I hit like complete crap. I was 0-3 with 2 popups and a groundout. I should have stayed home and worked.
I guess I will need to bump up my numbers just to make sure I keep my reputation. Tomorrow is a 6 miler witha 4 mile tempo run at 6:41 pace. It sounds like my project at work will be delayed a little bit so I may be able to start my commute runs again next week to get my weekly mileage back up to 50-70 miles per week. Plus this weekend is the first of 5 20 milers in preperation for St. George in October. I guess to truly redeem myself, I will need to start doing ESEs on my own.
I started playing softball in a competitive mens league at Poway Sportsplex. These games are timed and you only play 55 minutes. We were home and likely in the last inning. We were up by 6-4 with 2 outs. A bunch of hits and a couple errors later, we were down 5. WTF!?! We scored 3 in the home half to lose by 2. How much does that suck. To make matters worse, I hit like complete crap. I was 0-3 with 2 popups and a groundout. I should have stayed home and worked.
Monday, July 7, 2008
A Recap of the Past Week
Now that I'm back in town it's time to catch everyone up on what has happened over the past week. Wendy and I went back to Virginia to visit my family and break the pregnancy news to them. Before we took off, we hit the Lake for a quick speed session as I wasn't sure what I'd be doing when we got to Virginia. The schedule called for the following intervals in meters (and pace) with 200 meter recoveries: 1200(5:41), 1000(5:39), 800(5:36), 600(5:31), 400(5:26), 200(5:21).
.76, 4:32.13, (5:59) 172 bpm
.13, 1:38.33, 144 bpm
.63, 3:31.95, (5:37), 175 bpm
.13, 1:43.90, 151 bpm
.50, 2:50.47, (5:40), 175 bpm
.13, 1:43.38 155 bpm
.38, 2:00.57 (5:17), 177 bpm
.13, 1:38.05 161 bpm
.25, 1:22.65 (5:24), 175 bpm
.13, 1:42.23 159 bpm
.13, 0:38.57 (5:01) 172 bpm
I was pretty close on most of the numbers. It was mid 80s out there which may have slowed me down a bit.
Our plane was scheduled to leave at 10:15 pm, but it was delayed nearly 45 minutes. That sucked. Unfortunately for me, I can't sleep much on planes. I guess it's just too uncomfortable. I manage to get somewhere around 30-60 minutes combined sleep on the trip and was pretty wiped by the time we arrived and drove an hour to my parents house. We wanted to break the news to the family then, but some people were still sleeping. We had breakfast and talked for about an hour and gave up. We headed to bed for a couple hours of sleep. Everyone was awake and around when we woke up, but it's hard getting everyone together in one room with the kids running around and the family getting things ready to head out on the boat. We were going to tell them by showing them pictures from my last marathon and at the end we slipped in the picture of the EPT and pictures from the sonogram. Right when I pulled out the pictures, everyone but one sister and my dad left. We figured we might was well go ahead. When the last race picture came up, my dad got distracted by something and my sister was the only one to see the real picture. She was very happy and excited for us, but tried to keep quiet so it would be a surprise for everyone else. Slowly but surely, everyone finally saw the pictures and found out the news. It feels so much better not having to keep that a secret anymore. Phew!
The next couple days were spent just hanging out with the family. It was good seeing everyone again. But as I expected, my running suffered. Between the lack of sleep and the energy exerted out on the water and the heat and humidity, my speed session on Saturday which included a 5 mile tempo run at 6:46 pace didn't really materialize. I ended up getting in 3 pretty weak runs on both Wednesday and Thursday. Friday was the 5 mile race in the Heritage Festival 5 Miler. I will put up my race report for this race in the next day or two.
My attitude towards running definitely suffered over the past week. Marc Fit ended up meeting for a run on Sunday. That worked out perfectly for me as I had to do a 17 miler and missed it on Saturday. I felt my time would be better spent sleeping in though. So I missed the weekend long run. Today I was still not completely into it, but was able to get myself out there for today's speed session. The schedule called for 5x1000 at 5:36 pace with 400 recoveries. I was a bit off today as I'm still getting back into it. Even with that, I'm still pretty happy with the results today.
.62 miles, 3:41(5:54 min/mile), 173 bpm
.62 miles, 3:35(5:46 min/mile), 175 bpm
.62 miles, 3:39(5:53 min/mile), 174 bpm
.63 miles, 3:34(5:40 min/mile), 177 bpm
.62 miles, 3:25(5:33 min/mile), 180 bpm
My schedule is not going to be any better than it was for the past month for the next week or three. I pretty much need to spend every waking hour working as I aim to meet a nearly impossible goal that is two weeks away. During this time I'm also playing in 2 softball leagues that will take up time 2 nights a week. I need to get in 2 speed sessions a week along with some other running. We are getting our house ready to put on the market on Saturday. Unfortunately, there is a lot involved with doing this. We are looking for another house to move into which also takes time. Somehow I'm thinking I may not have time to get in my runs to/from work at least once per week. Ugh! Bring on the caffeine!
And saving the best for last (anyone still reading?). We went to the doctor today for the 2nd checkup. We are now 12 weeks in. We got to hear the heartbeat of our child today. That is so cool. Knowing that little guy (probably a girl) is in there growing like mad is such an exciting thing. We can't wait to meet him in 6 months.
.76, 4:32.13, (5:59) 172 bpm
.13, 1:38.33, 144 bpm
.63, 3:31.95, (5:37), 175 bpm
.13, 1:43.90, 151 bpm
.50, 2:50.47, (5:40), 175 bpm
.13, 1:43.38 155 bpm
.38, 2:00.57 (5:17), 177 bpm
.13, 1:38.05 161 bpm
.25, 1:22.65 (5:24), 175 bpm
.13, 1:42.23 159 bpm
.13, 0:38.57 (5:01) 172 bpm
I was pretty close on most of the numbers. It was mid 80s out there which may have slowed me down a bit.
Our plane was scheduled to leave at 10:15 pm, but it was delayed nearly 45 minutes. That sucked. Unfortunately for me, I can't sleep much on planes. I guess it's just too uncomfortable. I manage to get somewhere around 30-60 minutes combined sleep on the trip and was pretty wiped by the time we arrived and drove an hour to my parents house. We wanted to break the news to the family then, but some people were still sleeping. We had breakfast and talked for about an hour and gave up. We headed to bed for a couple hours of sleep. Everyone was awake and around when we woke up, but it's hard getting everyone together in one room with the kids running around and the family getting things ready to head out on the boat. We were going to tell them by showing them pictures from my last marathon and at the end we slipped in the picture of the EPT and pictures from the sonogram. Right when I pulled out the pictures, everyone but one sister and my dad left. We figured we might was well go ahead. When the last race picture came up, my dad got distracted by something and my sister was the only one to see the real picture. She was very happy and excited for us, but tried to keep quiet so it would be a surprise for everyone else. Slowly but surely, everyone finally saw the pictures and found out the news. It feels so much better not having to keep that a secret anymore. Phew!
The next couple days were spent just hanging out with the family. It was good seeing everyone again. But as I expected, my running suffered. Between the lack of sleep and the energy exerted out on the water and the heat and humidity, my speed session on Saturday which included a 5 mile tempo run at 6:46 pace didn't really materialize. I ended up getting in 3 pretty weak runs on both Wednesday and Thursday. Friday was the 5 mile race in the Heritage Festival 5 Miler. I will put up my race report for this race in the next day or two.
My attitude towards running definitely suffered over the past week. Marc Fit ended up meeting for a run on Sunday. That worked out perfectly for me as I had to do a 17 miler and missed it on Saturday. I felt my time would be better spent sleeping in though. So I missed the weekend long run. Today I was still not completely into it, but was able to get myself out there for today's speed session. The schedule called for 5x1000 at 5:36 pace with 400 recoveries. I was a bit off today as I'm still getting back into it. Even with that, I'm still pretty happy with the results today.
.62 miles, 3:41(5:54 min/mile), 173 bpm
.62 miles, 3:35(5:46 min/mile), 175 bpm
.62 miles, 3:39(5:53 min/mile), 174 bpm
.63 miles, 3:34(5:40 min/mile), 177 bpm
.62 miles, 3:25(5:33 min/mile), 180 bpm
My schedule is not going to be any better than it was for the past month for the next week or three. I pretty much need to spend every waking hour working as I aim to meet a nearly impossible goal that is two weeks away. During this time I'm also playing in 2 softball leagues that will take up time 2 nights a week. I need to get in 2 speed sessions a week along with some other running. We are getting our house ready to put on the market on Saturday. Unfortunately, there is a lot involved with doing this. We are looking for another house to move into which also takes time. Somehow I'm thinking I may not have time to get in my runs to/from work at least once per week. Ugh! Bring on the caffeine!
And saving the best for last (anyone still reading?). We went to the doctor today for the 2nd checkup. We are now 12 weeks in. We got to hear the heartbeat of our child today. That is so cool. Knowing that little guy (probably a girl) is in there growing like mad is such an exciting thing. We can't wait to meet him in 6 months.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Back Home
It's good to be back home. I took 5 days off as I went back home to visit the family. Other than logging in here to post my message about Wendy's pregnancy, I pretty much unplugged during this time. It was great spending time and catching up with family. It was also nice to disconnect with the rest of the world for a bit. Now that I'm back home, I have a back log of things to get through. In the days ahead I'll get you a brief recap of my week to include my race report from the Heritage Fesitval 5 Mile run that my family participated in. For the time being, I'm just trying to get caught up on tons of email and other miscellaneous things. Back with more tomorrow.
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
Breaking News
The MarcFit family is going to expand once again. Now that the immediate family has been told, it's time to start spreading the word.
Wendy is expecting. We are super excited. It's finally sunk in that this is really happening. So far we are enjoying the journey and are looking forward to our new adventure. Other then some nausea, tiredness and some minor things here and there, the mother-to-be is doing well so far.
Woohoo!
Wendy is expecting. We are super excited. It's finally sunk in that this is really happening. So far we are enjoying the journey and are looking forward to our new adventure. Other then some nausea, tiredness and some minor things here and there, the mother-to-be is doing well so far.
Woohoo!
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Time for a Break
After 6 weeks of continuous stress and tiredness, I had a nice, productive, relaxing weekend. I work for one day this week and then head out on vacation for a few days. I get to spend time with my entire immediate family. There's always bad eating and some drinking going on along with lots of time spent out on the boat boat skiing and tubing (not while drinking though ;) ). This summer may be a bit different. At least three of us will be doing a 5 mile race on the 4th. That may put a damper on the eating and drinking. This is my parents' first race and they are super psyched for it. I'm sure they are going to eat well and not drink. If I'm running it with them, anything goes, but there's a chance I may try burn it out. If that's the case, I can't fill the tank with pizza and beer and expect to perform that well. I could actually do that and complete destroy my 5 mile PR. Well, I've never run 5 miles before during a race, but I have done an 8K a couple times. That is essentially 5 miles (just a bit shy). This was years ago before I became a runner. My PR is 43 minutes. (You can see all my results on my Athlinks page.) I'm not sure what the course looks like and just how hot and humid it will be on Friday, but I'm expecting somewhere around 33 minutes if I burn it out. So I think I could run the entire thing backwards and beat my best 8K time. But then again, it might just be more enjoyable to take it easy and enjoy the race with my family. We'll see.
I hope everyone has a great 4th of July. I may not have another entry until next weekend. Good luck to all of you doing races this coming week.
I hope everyone has a great 4th of July. I may not have another entry until next weekend. Good luck to all of you doing races this coming week.
Friday, June 27, 2008
"That's good. One less thing."
Anyone know this movie? It's a good one.
Finally! That day has come and gone. I made it. Phew! The exam was scheduled for 3 hours 15 minutes. There was a survey at the beginning that needed to be filled out and they added 15 minutes onto the time. The survey only took me 5 minutes. So I had 3:25 to take this thing. I finished the last question with somewhere around 5 minutes to spare. Wow! That's a long test. I finished feeling very confident that I easily passed. I had to wait a minute or two for the results and it turns out I was mistakenly confident. I didn't make it by much. I should be happy because all I needed to do is pass, but all that freaking time I spend over the last 6 weeks and to only squeak by is very frustrating. Oh well. I passed and I'm done with it. Such a relief!
Finally! That day has come and gone. I made it. Phew! The exam was scheduled for 3 hours 15 minutes. There was a survey at the beginning that needed to be filled out and they added 15 minutes onto the time. The survey only took me 5 minutes. So I had 3:25 to take this thing. I finished the last question with somewhere around 5 minutes to spare. Wow! That's a long test. I finished feeling very confident that I easily passed. I had to wait a minute or two for the results and it turns out I was mistakenly confident. I didn't make it by much. I should be happy because all I needed to do is pass, but all that freaking time I spend over the last 6 weeks and to only squeak by is very frustrating. Oh well. I passed and I'm done with it. Such a relief!
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Twas the night before...
This would be a good place to write something creative to match the title of this blog, but I'm too tired and too busy. Sorry. My certification is tomorrow at 11:45. I've got to tell ya, I'm burnt out. I'm sick of studying. I'm sick of burning the midnight oil night after night and being in a continuous stage of extreme tiredness. The test is 3 hours and 15 minutes and it sounds like I'll need most, if not all of the allotted time. So by 3 pm, I should be done and as long as I pass, I won't to spend night after night studying while thinking that I should be working. I'll be able to focus on... well... working. The other thing that has kept me ridiculously busy of the last 6 weeks has been work. We needed to wrap everything up by tomorrow. I thought we were on pace to come into this cut-off with only minor things remaining to clean up while the testing is happening. It turns out that the one thing that I have left on my plate is huge. It will require at least 2 weeks of solid development. As I will be out of town for 1 week, that means that the development for this part will not wrap up for 3 weeks from now. So it looks like I will be busting my bum for a couple more weeks. At least there will be a week in the middle where I can relax and spend some time with my family.
On to something that is a bit more enjoyable. With all the craziness going on, I'm still making myself get out there to get in my key workouts for the week. I'm not getting to the gym and getting some of the additional miles in during the week, but I am making myself do the quality stuff. Today was a 7 mile run with 5 of those miles at 6:52 tempo. I did 1 mile warm-up and cool-down and then averaged 6:45 during the 5 mile tempo with my heart rate averaging 172 bpm. The numbers are slightly skewed as I picked it up a bit over the lat mile. Again, I felt pretty good today. Not bad considering my slightly over 5 hour per night sleeping time.
1 - 6:52, 165 bpm
2 - 6:50, 169 bpm
3 - 6:51, 171 bpm
4 - 6:48, 174 bpm
5 - 6:26, 179 bpm
That's it for today. Hopefully tomorrow I will be back with good news.
On to something that is a bit more enjoyable. With all the craziness going on, I'm still making myself get out there to get in my key workouts for the week. I'm not getting to the gym and getting some of the additional miles in during the week, but I am making myself do the quality stuff. Today was a 7 mile run with 5 of those miles at 6:52 tempo. I did 1 mile warm-up and cool-down and then averaged 6:45 during the 5 mile tempo with my heart rate averaging 172 bpm. The numbers are slightly skewed as I picked it up a bit over the lat mile. Again, I felt pretty good today. Not bad considering my slightly over 5 hour per night sleeping time.
1 - 6:52, 165 bpm
2 - 6:50, 169 bpm
3 - 6:51, 171 bpm
4 - 6:48, 174 bpm
5 - 6:26, 179 bpm
That's it for today. Hopefully tomorrow I will be back with good news.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Speed Work - 800 Repeats
Somehow, I was actually awake today. After Only sleeping 4 1/2 hours last night and 5 1/2 the night before, I somehow found the energy after work to put in a quality speed session. The schedule called for 4x800 @ 5:36 /mile pace with 2 minute recoveries. Since the weather cooled off nicely, it was very pleasant out there after work. That 10+ degree difference in the temperatures makes a huge difference for me. Before the run, I decided the recoveries would be 1 minute walking followed by 1 minute jogging. Two minutes seems like a long recovery for 800 repeats, but hey, I'm not complaining. After a 10 minute warm up, here's what I did. The intervals show time, (pace) and avg HR while the recoveries show time, distance and avg HR.
#1 - 2:51.20 (5:41), 175
(rec)2:01.38, 0.18, 151
#2 - 2:41.27 (5:23), 177
(rec)2:01.59, 0.19, 158
#3 - 2:41.58 (5:22), 180
(rec)2:01.28, 0.18, 161
#4 - 2:42.03 (5:21), 181
I was pleasantly surprised by how good I felt out there today. I didn't expect to hit the goal pace on any of the intervals. I thought they would all be right around there the first interval was. I'm sure I'll be paying for my lack of sleep just as I have for the last 5 weeks, but for the time being, I feel good.
#1 - 2:51.20 (5:41), 175
(rec)2:01.38, 0.18, 151
#2 - 2:41.27 (5:23), 177
(rec)2:01.59, 0.19, 158
#3 - 2:41.58 (5:22), 180
(rec)2:01.28, 0.18, 161
#4 - 2:42.03 (5:21), 181
I was pleasantly surprised by how good I felt out there today. I didn't expect to hit the goal pace on any of the intervals. I thought they would all be right around there the first interval was. I'm sure I'll be paying for my lack of sleep just as I have for the last 5 weeks, but for the time being, I feel good.
Monday, June 23, 2008
Officially in Cram Mode
I am quickly running out of time to prepare for my test. I'm down to less than 4 days now and I don't feel at all ready yet. I may be able to squeak by with a barely passing grade right now, but I'd like to make sure that I can have some breathing room. To make matters worse, my work deadline is quickly approaching and I can't spend much of my spare time trying to finish as I need to devote that time to studying. There just isn't enough time in the day to do it all.
Through all this, I'm trying to make sure I get out and get a little exercising in. Today I did 6 miles up and down a 3 mile hill by my house at about 8 min/mile just to get some miles in. Tomorrow I will get in about 6 miles with 4 800 repeats at 2:48 each. Since the temps will be a bit cooler, it shouldn't be ridiculously painful.
I can't wait for next week. Hopefully I can get back to my normal life. It's been 6ish weeks since life has been anything but chaotic. I'm not sure what will happen when I can start getting 7-8 hours of sleep a night again. Those 800 repeats I mentioned above may feel like an easy jog.
Almost there...
Through all this, I'm trying to make sure I get out and get a little exercising in. Today I did 6 miles up and down a 3 mile hill by my house at about 8 min/mile just to get some miles in. Tomorrow I will get in about 6 miles with 4 800 repeats at 2:48 each. Since the temps will be a bit cooler, it shouldn't be ridiculously painful.
I can't wait for next week. Hopefully I can get back to my normal life. It's been 6ish weeks since life has been anything but chaotic. I'm not sure what will happen when I can start getting 7-8 hours of sleep a night again. Those 800 repeats I mentioned above may feel like an easy jog.
Almost there...
Thursday, June 19, 2008
Busy, busy, busy
I'm not reaching crunch time in my ridiculously busy schedule. My certification exam in barely over 1 week away and my project deadline is the following Monday. So extra time in my schedule is very hard to come by. I've already missed a couple work outs this week as I have not had any time to get out. I did a reduced and modified speed workout yesterday and will try to get in a few tomorrow if I can. The schedule calls for 13 miles at 7:22 pace on Sunday. The temps are ridiculously hot around here lately and Saturday looks to be the same. Fortunately the group is starting nice and early so we will avoid the bad part of the day.
Had another softball game tonight. As the team was nearly short on players, I couldn't blow it of to work. We played another really bad team and played down there level. We only beat them by a couple runs and they were playing with only 8 fielders. It seems like our team always plays up or down to the competition. Oh well, I guess in this league a win is a win. I was 2 for 5 with 4 runs scored, 2 HRs and 2 RBIs. As they were not that good of a fielding team, they couldn't handle 2 of my hot shots in the field. A lenient scorekeeper may have marked them down as hits, but I couldn't do it.
Season Stats
G - 8
AB - 38
R - 23
H - 24
2B - 6
3B - 5
HR - 5
RBI - 32
SF - 2
AVG - .632
SLG - 1.447
Had another softball game tonight. As the team was nearly short on players, I couldn't blow it of to work. We played another really bad team and played down there level. We only beat them by a couple runs and they were playing with only 8 fielders. It seems like our team always plays up or down to the competition. Oh well, I guess in this league a win is a win. I was 2 for 5 with 4 runs scored, 2 HRs and 2 RBIs. As they were not that good of a fielding team, they couldn't handle 2 of my hot shots in the field. A lenient scorekeeper may have marked them down as hits, but I couldn't do it.
Season Stats
G - 8
AB - 38
R - 23
H - 24
2B - 6
3B - 5
HR - 5
RBI - 32
SF - 2
AVG - .632
SLG - 1.447
Monday, June 16, 2008
Week 1 Speed Work
Today officially began my training for the St. George Marathon. I'm following a modified version of the FIRST training approach. I'm taking the key runs given my this 3 day a week plan and adding additional work out to the plan. Today was the first speed session. The numbers that I generated for this training plan are based on my goal time of a 3 hour marathon. Some may say that isn't the correct approach as I'm not currently in 3 hour shape, but I like it as it pushes me harder. According to all my calculations, today included 3 1 mile repeats at a 5:51 pace. I knew going into the workout that I would not hit that number. There were various reason. Firstly, as I said, I'm not currently in 3 hour shape. As the goal marathon will be in much cooler weather and is a net downhill course, whatever times I'm able to do here during the summer will be easy to beat out there. Another reason I knew I wouldn't hit that number is because I've taken the last 2 weeks off. I'm coming off my taper, race and recovery from the RnR. So I'm not in prime shape at the moment. The last reason I knew I wouldn't hit that number was because it was 85 degrees when I started my run today. So the idea was to push hard, but not blow myself out in the first repeat so I couldn't finish the other two. That is what I did a lot last year. I'd do everything I could to hit that goal pace and then would struggle for the next few repeats. Here's what I was able to do today.
16:48 156 bpm (2 miles)
6:08.75, 182 bpm (1 mile)
1:01.43, 171 bpm
5:58.52, 185 bpm (1 mile)
2:01.20, 162 bpm
6:12.38, 186 bpm (1 mile)
1:00.90, 177 bpm
8:22.96, 172 bpm (1 mile)
I normally like to do slow jogs for my recoveries. Last year when following this plan, I found that I often had to walk the recoveries. Today was no different. By looking at the recovery and interval HR efforts, it's no wonder I had to walk. I even had to increase the recovery after the 2nd repeat to 2 minutes because I was feeling it big time. Usually after the last repeat I start the cool down. Today was I so tired at the end that I put in another 1 minute recovery before starting the cool down. I hit a max HR of 191 in the last repeat.
All in all, I'm not disappointed with the effort as I'm just getting back into it. It definitely was a harder workout then I intended it to be. My only negative/constructive thoughts would be to be more consistent and to not have pushed so hard on my first workout.
I looked back at my training schedule from last year when I likely did the same workout. I don't think I was in quite as good of shape at the time last year, but the run last year was on the road. Today I did it around the lake. The lake is definitely flatter than the route I did last year. This is approximately what I did last year.
6:21, 171 bpm
1:01, 151 bpm
6:41, 172 bpm
1:03, 166 bpm
6:29, 173 bpm
So I was faster today, in hotter weather on an easier course, but I pushed harder. It will be interesting to compare the workouts from last year to this year.
The schedule for the week is being slightly altered due to conflicting schedules. I'm doing my next speed session on Wednesday and not doing the 20+ work run this week. I figure 50+ is too much the first week back and it won't really fit into my schedule this week.
16:48 156 bpm (2 miles)
6:08.75, 182 bpm (1 mile)
1:01.43, 171 bpm
5:58.52, 185 bpm (1 mile)
2:01.20, 162 bpm
6:12.38, 186 bpm (1 mile)
1:00.90, 177 bpm
8:22.96, 172 bpm (1 mile)
I normally like to do slow jogs for my recoveries. Last year when following this plan, I found that I often had to walk the recoveries. Today was no different. By looking at the recovery and interval HR efforts, it's no wonder I had to walk. I even had to increase the recovery after the 2nd repeat to 2 minutes because I was feeling it big time. Usually after the last repeat I start the cool down. Today was I so tired at the end that I put in another 1 minute recovery before starting the cool down. I hit a max HR of 191 in the last repeat.
All in all, I'm not disappointed with the effort as I'm just getting back into it. It definitely was a harder workout then I intended it to be. My only negative/constructive thoughts would be to be more consistent and to not have pushed so hard on my first workout.
I looked back at my training schedule from last year when I likely did the same workout. I don't think I was in quite as good of shape at the time last year, but the run last year was on the road. Today I did it around the lake. The lake is definitely flatter than the route I did last year. This is approximately what I did last year.
6:21, 171 bpm
1:01, 151 bpm
6:41, 172 bpm
1:03, 166 bpm
6:29, 173 bpm
So I was faster today, in hotter weather on an easier course, but I pushed harder. It will be interesting to compare the workouts from last year to this year.
The schedule for the week is being slightly altered due to conflicting schedules. I'm doing my next speed session on Wednesday and not doing the 20+ work run this week. I figure 50+ is too much the first week back and it won't really fit into my schedule this week.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
The End of the Recovery
This is my last weekend of recovery after the RnR. To celebrate, I decided to miss the group run and get some much needed sleep. As has been the case for the past few weeks, I was basically surviving on caffeine and very little sleep. I got to sleep around 12:30 and planned on waking up whenever Wendy woke me up. She later told me that her plan was to let me sleep as late as possible, just to see how late I would go. She got sick of waiting at 11:15 and woke me up. Sweet! Nearly 11 hours of sleep. I really needed that. I'm still behind and a bit tired yet, but I felt a million times better today then I have in awhile.
I continued to follow the theme of this recovery period by eating pizza tonight. This is my last day to binge on pizza for the next four months so I decided to do it right. I got a Digiorno Thin and Crispy pepperoni pizza and ate the whole thing. It was only 1600 calories and 75 grams of fat. Since I'm a weirdo and like milk with my pizza that added another 200ish calories. Now that's how it's done. :) Then I chased that down with a couple beers and called it a night. I think today should help me gain back all the weight that I lost the last few months.
I planned on getting in around 10 miles today, but it just didn't work out. I'm not too worried about it. I will run for about an hour tomorrow before all the Father's Day festivities begin and then start my 16 week schedule on Monday. This is my plan for week #1 (I know it starts with Sunday, but I feel Monday is the first day.)
Sunday - 7 easy miles
Monday - ~20 min warm up; 3x1600m @5:51 pace with 1:00 recovery; 10 min cool down
Tuesday - Lift
Wednesday - ~20 miles to/from work
Thursday - 2 easy; 2 Short Tempo Speed (6:26); 2 easy
Friday - Rest Day (or make Wed rest day and do ~20 today)
Saturday - 13 miles with the group (schedule says 7:22 pace, but I'm sure it won't be that fast)
Week ~52 miles
Hmm, now that I have that down in print, that's a big week for #1. That should go well with my continued lack of sleep. Unfortunately, I still have 2 more weeks of hell left before things start to calm down. The goal will be to not get sick, but with that kind of effort combined with my burning the midnight oil there's a good chance it will happen.
I scheduled my certification exam for 11:45 on Friday the 27th. So as long as I pass, that should help put an end to all this madness. I think I will still be busy at work for awhile, but at least it will only be 1 thing and not 2 things that take up all my spare time.
The Cubs continue to dominate the majors. Nearly unstoppable hitting combined with top notch pitching makes for a great combination. Even though they recently lost the team leading home run hitter and lead-off man, they should continue to dominate. Go Cubbies!
I continued to follow the theme of this recovery period by eating pizza tonight. This is my last day to binge on pizza for the next four months so I decided to do it right. I got a Digiorno Thin and Crispy pepperoni pizza and ate the whole thing. It was only 1600 calories and 75 grams of fat. Since I'm a weirdo and like milk with my pizza that added another 200ish calories. Now that's how it's done. :) Then I chased that down with a couple beers and called it a night. I think today should help me gain back all the weight that I lost the last few months.
I planned on getting in around 10 miles today, but it just didn't work out. I'm not too worried about it. I will run for about an hour tomorrow before all the Father's Day festivities begin and then start my 16 week schedule on Monday. This is my plan for week #1 (I know it starts with Sunday, but I feel Monday is the first day.)
Sunday - 7 easy miles
Monday - ~20 min warm up; 3x1600m @5:51 pace with 1:00 recovery; 10 min cool down
Tuesday - Lift
Wednesday - ~20 miles to/from work
Thursday - 2 easy; 2 Short Tempo Speed (6:26); 2 easy
Friday - Rest Day (or make Wed rest day and do ~20 today)
Saturday - 13 miles with the group (schedule says 7:22 pace, but I'm sure it won't be that fast)
Week ~52 miles
Hmm, now that I have that down in print, that's a big week for #1. That should go well with my continued lack of sleep. Unfortunately, I still have 2 more weeks of hell left before things start to calm down. The goal will be to not get sick, but with that kind of effort combined with my burning the midnight oil there's a good chance it will happen.
I scheduled my certification exam for 11:45 on Friday the 27th. So as long as I pass, that should help put an end to all this madness. I think I will still be busy at work for awhile, but at least it will only be 1 thing and not 2 things that take up all my spare time.
The Cubs continue to dominate the majors. Nearly unstoppable hitting combined with top notch pitching makes for a great combination. Even though they recently lost the team leading home run hitter and lead-off man, they should continue to dominate. Go Cubbies!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Running and Softball
I ran 5.5 easy miles today. I'm just trying to take it easy this week in preparation for kicking things off next Monday. I expect that I'll hit the gym tomorrow and then run again on Thursday. Depending on how I feel and how busy I am, Friday will be another running day, another gym day or a rest day. I'll probably do 8-10 on Saturday.
We played a really bad team tonight in softball. I think they are winless on the season and for good reason. The are all incredibly inexperienced. We won easily 29-14. As in our last blowout, we gave up a lot more runs than we should have, but when the other team is so bad, you get off your "A" game pretty quick and easily. Our SS from last year was back for a game and this put me back at third. No errors tonights and I made some nice plays. Our SS had some errors, but it's much better when I'm not the one causing the problems. Continued hitting pretty well. I got on base 6 times in 7 at bats. I was 5 for 7 with 5 runs scored, 2 doubles, 1 triple and 4 RBIs. I batted 2nd for the first time this year and didn't get as many RBI opportunities. Instead I tried more to get on base and let the guys behind me knock in the runs. The one time I got on and didn't score was when I knocked in the 4th and 5th runs for the inning and this ends the inning.
Season Stats
G - 7
AB - 33
R - 19
H - 23
2B - 6
3B - 5
HR - 3
RBI - 30
SF - 2
AVG - .697
SLG - 1.455
We played a really bad team tonight in softball. I think they are winless on the season and for good reason. The are all incredibly inexperienced. We won easily 29-14. As in our last blowout, we gave up a lot more runs than we should have, but when the other team is so bad, you get off your "A" game pretty quick and easily. Our SS from last year was back for a game and this put me back at third. No errors tonights and I made some nice plays. Our SS had some errors, but it's much better when I'm not the one causing the problems. Continued hitting pretty well. I got on base 6 times in 7 at bats. I was 5 for 7 with 5 runs scored, 2 doubles, 1 triple and 4 RBIs. I batted 2nd for the first time this year and didn't get as many RBI opportunities. Instead I tried more to get on base and let the guys behind me knock in the runs. The one time I got on and didn't score was when I knocked in the 4th and 5th runs for the inning and this ends the inning.
Season Stats
G - 7
AB - 33
R - 19
H - 23
2B - 6
3B - 5
HR - 3
RBI - 30
SF - 2
AVG - .697
SLG - 1.455
Monday, June 9, 2008
Low Content
Sorry for the lack of updates lately. Here's a summary of what has happened since I last wrote. I worked a lot. I've studied a lot. I had 2 nights of good sleep this past weekend, but followed that up with a 4 1/2 hour night and now I'm struggling already at the beginning of the week. I've eaten tons of pizza. And I've been out on 2 runs so far. The first was an easy 5.45 miles and the 2nd was a unintentionally intense 7 miler. It was supposed to be a nice and easy 1 hour run that ended up being a bit hard and fast. I just couldn't slow it down. My heart rate was going crazy, but I did nothing today. So I don't think that I will be over training during this recovery time.
This is my last recovery week. I'll get out for a couple more easy jogs, maybe hit the gym once or twice and then do 10ish this weekend. Monday the 16th starts the first of my 16 weeks of training for St. George. It will be my first speed session. Since that's coming up, I'm trying to focus on work, studying and "recovery". Of course, real recovery would be much healthier eating and involve getting much more sleep, but hey, you can't have everything.
So, until next week, I'm not sure what the posts will be. There is a softball game, so I will probably write something about how poor my fielding continues to be. I will be back to more regular posts next week.
Go Cubs!
This is my last recovery week. I'll get out for a couple more easy jogs, maybe hit the gym once or twice and then do 10ish this weekend. Monday the 16th starts the first of my 16 weeks of training for St. George. It will be my first speed session. Since that's coming up, I'm trying to focus on work, studying and "recovery". Of course, real recovery would be much healthier eating and involve getting much more sleep, but hey, you can't have everything.
So, until next week, I'm not sure what the posts will be. There is a softball game, so I will probably write something about how poor my fielding continues to be. I will be back to more regular posts next week.
Go Cubs!
Wednesday, June 4, 2008
Rock n Roll Marathon Race Report
The following is a summary of my race day for the Rock n Roll Marathon in San Diego, June 1, 2008.
As I had been mentioning over the past few weeks, I had not been getting the rest I needed, but I was putting in some good quality speed sessions during the taper period. This helped me to build my confidence come race day. I decided I was aiming for a 3:15 and if I was able to manage, I'd try to beat 3:14:19, which was my current 2nd fastest race to date. The goal was to head out at approximately 7:26 per mile and adjust at the half way point and/or mile 20 as my body allowed. Andy and I were starting together and planned on doing the race together to the end.
I woke up at 4:00 am and had my normal N-Large Weight Gainer shake with 8 oz skim milk. As I was tired, I also drank a cup of tea on my way to the race. I picked up Andy and on our way to the race Andy said he wanted to start out a bit quicker and bank some time. I wasn't too keen on the idea, but figured if I was running with him the whole time he could push (or pull) me to the end.
Along with the other 20,000 other people out there, I waited about 30 minutes in a line for a port-a-potty and by the time I got back to where the group was meeting, people were starting to head to their corrals. When Andy got back, we headed into corral number 1 and were ready to go. As we were waiting for the race to start, we saw a dude with a chick tattoo on his lower back. It was pretty funny looking.
Right from the gun we were running faster than goal pace. (see split times below) I felt fine for the first few miles but then started feeling like it was a bit fast and that I wasn't sure I could keep the pace the entire time. Even though there were hills, we were 55 seconds ahead of pace after the first file miles and I was feeling a bit tired. I was wanting to slow down a bit, but Andy want to keep the pace up. I decided I would just stay mentally focused and push myself the entire time. The rest of the way through downtown was pretty uneventful. We started going up hill a bit and our times started to slow a bit to right around goal race pace. As we started heading up the bigger incline going up 163, I started to feel better. Our pace kept up pretty good while going up hill. We slowed a bit as the hill got steep, but were still easily passing people. I've heard a lot of people say in the past that you should break a race up into 3 segments to help you focus. You do 2 10 milers and then a 10k. At this point, we just finished the first 10 miler and I was feeling a bit better. I told myself to stayed focused for the next 10 and we would pick up the pace around 18 or so if I was feeling good.
We now fly down the 163 hill and head around the corner by Fashion Valley Mall. This is where I planned on meeting my wife. Andy was only expecting to see Wendy as his wife and son were only going to make it to the finish line. Little did Andy know that my wife and his wife talked and planned on both being at the mall. Here's a couple pix of us seeing them and the surprise on his face.
That gave both of us an energy boost over the next mile. By the time we hit the half way point, I was feeling tired again. Around this time, another running friend, Denise caught up to us and ran with us a few miles. She said she had been trying to catch us since down town being right behind us the entire time. She just had her first child 8 months ago and was on pace for a sub 3:15 race. Incredible! We found out that her fastest RnR was right around mine. My prior course PR was 3:26 and hers was 3:27.
As we headed towards Mission Bay, I felt the pace drop a bit and picked it up at a water station. Denise fell behind a bit at the water stop and we didn't see her again until the end. Our pace was staying fairly consistent between low to mid 7:20s per mile. I was feeling more and more tired as we were going. We were still on pace for a 3:13 race and if we could pick it up, we could easily do at least 3:12. I could feel my mind start to go, but would force myself to pay attention saying the 2nd 10 miler was almost over. I was taking 2 water cups at every station and got most of it down nearly every time. I took a 150 calorie Cranksports goo pack every 45 minutes for needed energy.
Around mile 19 I decided we should pick it up a bit and try to drive down that finishing time. I knew we were less than an hour from the finish and just had to push myself a bit more for a little while. The next four miles were faster, but the 3rd mile really hurt me. Throughout the run Andy kept asking how I felt and I was giving him the updates that I've been writing here. After this third mile, I said "I'm tired. That one hurt."
We are now into the last 10 K of the race and going through the most boring part of the course. It's definitely the most mentally challenging as there are a few rollers and the heat is start to come up as the sun is coming out. I felt myself getting really hot and my mind was fading fast. I took my shirt off as I had been dumping water over my head and the shirt was not drying that fast. It was a bit heavy and annoying. I carried it for a bit, but it started getting heavy in my hands. It was my favorite race shirt and definitely the most expensive one I had. Notice the past tense. After a brief struggle in my head, it hit the trash can. Now, I hardly ever take my shirt off while running. Why? Not sure. But it is definitely a sign of duress.
We did the little loop on Friars and go the 2nd to last incline of the race. I wasn't able to get my legs moving and my HR was spiking as my pace dropped. It was getting tough. I was trying to force myself to just move. Andy obviously could tell I was struggling as he mentions that we are about done. We get up the hill and get our pace back to goal pace. We then head make the right turn on Pacific and head over the bridge. Again, I struggled up this last "hill". Andy gives encouragement again as I ask him if this is our last hill. Fortunately, he says yes.
By this time we have three miles left and I'm struggling. I hear Andy continuing to offer words of motivation as we continue to slow down. As we head through water stops, I buying everything they are selling in the water aisle. A couple cups go in my mouth a few cups go over my head. We now turn right and run in front of MCRD. I'm in worse shape. I can't focus. I can't make myself do anything other than keep running. I want to walk so bad, but know that I can't. Internally, I was able to tell myself that even if I slow a bit and run, it will be way faster than walking. We keeping going and turn left into MCRD. This sucks! Then Andy said the best thing. Only 1200 meters to go. That's less than 3 laps around the track. Even though I wasn't able to get myself going faster, it did help me me get to the end. He's now saying stuff about every 5-10 seconds trying to get me to pick up the speed and get moving. I see the banner at the end and still can't push myself any faster. Almost there. I see Wendy on the right snapping photos. Ok, almost done. I am finally able to push harder. I see the clock and see that 3:14:19 is quickly approaching. That forced me to kick it into high gear. Andy says, "there ya go" and we fly to the finish line. I believe we crossed at the exact time of my last race. I knew we started a couple seconds later than the race clock so I knew I just got my 2nd fastest marathon time. I feebly raise my hands for the victory. If you go to nbcsandiego, you can see us crossing the finish line. Drag the scroll bar until the clock time is right around our finish time.
All in all, I was happy with the performance, but there are a few outstanding questions. I will analyze the race performance in another blog in the next week or two. I want to thank Andy for all his help. Running a 3:14 was easy for him. At any point he could have easily picked it up and qualified for Boston. I'm confident that my finishing time would have been slower without his help. Thanks for all the help.
My finishing time of 3:14:14 was a course PR by 12 minutes. Last year I finish in 3:26, which was a 12 minute PR from when I ran it in 2003. Does that mean 3:02 next year?!? Umm, I think not. I finished in 249th position out of 16,731 finishers.
Congrats to all those Marc Fitters out there that did the race. Everyone did great. I don't envy anyone that was out there longer then I was. The temperatures definitely rose after I was done. It's must have made things tough. Special kudos go out to Dano for finishing in 3:41 having just completed Boston 6 weeks ago and competing the race while being sick. Very impressive (or maybe that's not the right word :-) ).
I'll touch more on this in my race analysis in another blog, but I usually get sick after most of my races. I usually have cramps and I'm nauseous. After this race, I felt good. I didn't feel like eating, but I felt good. As I was ready to leave, I opened up one of those 90 calorie snack packs and had 1 little piece of chip. That started the downfall and I felt like crap the next few hours. I got home and layed on the floor curled up in a ball in front of the fan. Fun times. I finally started feeling better and was able to east a little something 4 hours after the race. More on that later.
Here's a snapshot of the elevation, our pacing and my HR from the race.
Here are a link to some other race photos Wendy took.
http://flickr.com/photos/25745983@N04/sets/72157605422008404/
Mile Summaries
Food
As I had been mentioning over the past few weeks, I had not been getting the rest I needed, but I was putting in some good quality speed sessions during the taper period. This helped me to build my confidence come race day. I decided I was aiming for a 3:15 and if I was able to manage, I'd try to beat 3:14:19, which was my current 2nd fastest race to date. The goal was to head out at approximately 7:26 per mile and adjust at the half way point and/or mile 20 as my body allowed. Andy and I were starting together and planned on doing the race together to the end.
I woke up at 4:00 am and had my normal N-Large Weight Gainer shake with 8 oz skim milk. As I was tired, I also drank a cup of tea on my way to the race. I picked up Andy and on our way to the race Andy said he wanted to start out a bit quicker and bank some time. I wasn't too keen on the idea, but figured if I was running with him the whole time he could push (or pull) me to the end.
Along with the other 20,000 other people out there, I waited about 30 minutes in a line for a port-a-potty and by the time I got back to where the group was meeting, people were starting to head to their corrals. When Andy got back, we headed into corral number 1 and were ready to go. As we were waiting for the race to start, we saw a dude with a chick tattoo on his lower back. It was pretty funny looking.
Right from the gun we were running faster than goal pace. (see split times below) I felt fine for the first few miles but then started feeling like it was a bit fast and that I wasn't sure I could keep the pace the entire time. Even though there were hills, we were 55 seconds ahead of pace after the first file miles and I was feeling a bit tired. I was wanting to slow down a bit, but Andy want to keep the pace up. I decided I would just stay mentally focused and push myself the entire time. The rest of the way through downtown was pretty uneventful. We started going up hill a bit and our times started to slow a bit to right around goal race pace. As we started heading up the bigger incline going up 163, I started to feel better. Our pace kept up pretty good while going up hill. We slowed a bit as the hill got steep, but were still easily passing people. I've heard a lot of people say in the past that you should break a race up into 3 segments to help you focus. You do 2 10 milers and then a 10k. At this point, we just finished the first 10 miler and I was feeling a bit better. I told myself to stayed focused for the next 10 and we would pick up the pace around 18 or so if I was feeling good.
We now fly down the 163 hill and head around the corner by Fashion Valley Mall. This is where I planned on meeting my wife. Andy was only expecting to see Wendy as his wife and son were only going to make it to the finish line. Little did Andy know that my wife and his wife talked and planned on both being at the mall. Here's a couple pix of us seeing them and the surprise on his face.
That gave both of us an energy boost over the next mile. By the time we hit the half way point, I was feeling tired again. Around this time, another running friend, Denise caught up to us and ran with us a few miles. She said she had been trying to catch us since down town being right behind us the entire time. She just had her first child 8 months ago and was on pace for a sub 3:15 race. Incredible! We found out that her fastest RnR was right around mine. My prior course PR was 3:26 and hers was 3:27.
As we headed towards Mission Bay, I felt the pace drop a bit and picked it up at a water station. Denise fell behind a bit at the water stop and we didn't see her again until the end. Our pace was staying fairly consistent between low to mid 7:20s per mile. I was feeling more and more tired as we were going. We were still on pace for a 3:13 race and if we could pick it up, we could easily do at least 3:12. I could feel my mind start to go, but would force myself to pay attention saying the 2nd 10 miler was almost over. I was taking 2 water cups at every station and got most of it down nearly every time. I took a 150 calorie Cranksports goo pack every 45 minutes for needed energy.
Around mile 19 I decided we should pick it up a bit and try to drive down that finishing time. I knew we were less than an hour from the finish and just had to push myself a bit more for a little while. The next four miles were faster, but the 3rd mile really hurt me. Throughout the run Andy kept asking how I felt and I was giving him the updates that I've been writing here. After this third mile, I said "I'm tired. That one hurt."
We are now into the last 10 K of the race and going through the most boring part of the course. It's definitely the most mentally challenging as there are a few rollers and the heat is start to come up as the sun is coming out. I felt myself getting really hot and my mind was fading fast. I took my shirt off as I had been dumping water over my head and the shirt was not drying that fast. It was a bit heavy and annoying. I carried it for a bit, but it started getting heavy in my hands. It was my favorite race shirt and definitely the most expensive one I had. Notice the past tense. After a brief struggle in my head, it hit the trash can. Now, I hardly ever take my shirt off while running. Why? Not sure. But it is definitely a sign of duress.
We did the little loop on Friars and go the 2nd to last incline of the race. I wasn't able to get my legs moving and my HR was spiking as my pace dropped. It was getting tough. I was trying to force myself to just move. Andy obviously could tell I was struggling as he mentions that we are about done. We get up the hill and get our pace back to goal pace. We then head make the right turn on Pacific and head over the bridge. Again, I struggled up this last "hill". Andy gives encouragement again as I ask him if this is our last hill. Fortunately, he says yes.
By this time we have three miles left and I'm struggling. I hear Andy continuing to offer words of motivation as we continue to slow down. As we head through water stops, I buying everything they are selling in the water aisle. A couple cups go in my mouth a few cups go over my head. We now turn right and run in front of MCRD. I'm in worse shape. I can't focus. I can't make myself do anything other than keep running. I want to walk so bad, but know that I can't. Internally, I was able to tell myself that even if I slow a bit and run, it will be way faster than walking. We keeping going and turn left into MCRD. This sucks! Then Andy said the best thing. Only 1200 meters to go. That's less than 3 laps around the track. Even though I wasn't able to get myself going faster, it did help me me get to the end. He's now saying stuff about every 5-10 seconds trying to get me to pick up the speed and get moving. I see the banner at the end and still can't push myself any faster. Almost there. I see Wendy on the right snapping photos. Ok, almost done. I am finally able to push harder. I see the clock and see that 3:14:19 is quickly approaching. That forced me to kick it into high gear. Andy says, "there ya go" and we fly to the finish line. I believe we crossed at the exact time of my last race. I knew we started a couple seconds later than the race clock so I knew I just got my 2nd fastest marathon time. I feebly raise my hands for the victory. If you go to nbcsandiego, you can see us crossing the finish line. Drag the scroll bar until the clock time is right around our finish time.
All in all, I was happy with the performance, but there are a few outstanding questions. I will analyze the race performance in another blog in the next week or two. I want to thank Andy for all his help. Running a 3:14 was easy for him. At any point he could have easily picked it up and qualified for Boston. I'm confident that my finishing time would have been slower without his help. Thanks for all the help.
My finishing time of 3:14:14 was a course PR by 12 minutes. Last year I finish in 3:26, which was a 12 minute PR from when I ran it in 2003. Does that mean 3:02 next year?!? Umm, I think not. I finished in 249th position out of 16,731 finishers.
Congrats to all those Marc Fitters out there that did the race. Everyone did great. I don't envy anyone that was out there longer then I was. The temperatures definitely rose after I was done. It's must have made things tough. Special kudos go out to Dano for finishing in 3:41 having just completed Boston 6 weeks ago and competing the race while being sick. Very impressive (or maybe that's not the right word :-) ).
I'll touch more on this in my race analysis in another blog, but I usually get sick after most of my races. I usually have cramps and I'm nauseous. After this race, I felt good. I didn't feel like eating, but I felt good. As I was ready to leave, I opened up one of those 90 calorie snack packs and had 1 little piece of chip. That started the downfall and I felt like crap the next few hours. I got home and layed on the floor curled up in a ball in front of the fan. Fun times. I finally started feeling better and was able to east a little something 4 hours after the race. More on that later.
Here's a snapshot of the elevation, our pacing and my HR from the race.
Here are a link to some other race photos Wendy took.
http://flickr.com/photos/25745983@N04/sets/72157605422008404/
Mile Summaries
- 7:19.75, 156 bpm
- 7:22.75, 165 bpm
- 7:20.45, 163 bpm
- 6:57.80, 159 bpm
- 7:18.48, 162 bpm
- 7:28.87, 166 bpm
- 7:29.20, 167 bpm
- 7:29,25, 170 bpm
- 7:26.48, 169 bpm
- 7:41.44, 169 bpm
- 6:57.19, 159 bpm
- 7:21.46, 170 bpm
- 7:23.62, 162 bpm
- 7:25.30, 167 bpm
- 7:20.13, 167 bpm
- 7:23.45, 172 bpm
- 7:26.14, 171 bpm
- 7:22.35, 172 bpm
- 7:19.68, 174 bpm
- 7:22.67, 173 bpm
- 7:15.89, 175 bpm
- 7:19.77, 177 bpm
- 7:36.25, 179 bpm
- 7:39.03, 178 bpm
- 7:44.99, 178 bpm
- 7:50.35, 181 bpm
- 26.2 - 1:34.70 (7:01), 183 bpm
Food Journal
Food
- 2 Chocolate Chip Pop-Tarts
- Crackln Oat Bran Cereal
- Taco Bell (Big Taste Taco, Cheesy Double Beef Burrito, Cheesy Bean and Rice Burrito)
- Einstein Bros Bagels Chocolate Chip Cookie
- Pork Chips, Brown Rice, Green Beans
- Chips and Salso
- 97 oz Water
- 52 oz Coffee
- 12 oz Diet Dr. Pepper
- 12 oz Skim Milk
- 2 Sam Adams Lights
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
May Monthly Summary (and other stuff)
Recovery continues to be going very well. I woke up this morning with a tiny bit of soreness that quickly went away. I considered going for a little jog, but figured I should really give my legs some rest. So I went to the gym and did some light lifting to help myself get back into it. Even though I took it easy, I'm sure I'll be a bit sore the next couple days as I haven't lifted in a couple months.
My monthly totals for May were down this month. This is mostly due to the taper for the marathon, but was also due to all the extra work and studying I have been doing. I haven't run to/from work in over a month. That definitely cuts down on distance. As gas prices continue to go up and up, I will likely get back to it again and potentially get back to cycling to/from work again. For comparisons, see April totals.
I'm still on pace for my first 2000 mile year, but have fallen off the pace of averaging 200 miles per month. As my training for my next race will highly focus on quality speed sessions, I'm not yet sure what kind of monthly distances I'll be hitting.
Without really trying, I lost another pound again this month. Looking at the numbers, the majority of it looked to be muscle. I can definitely feel it too. I am very weak right now. My core is incredibly weak. I definitely need to get back to the gym to build some strength. As I don't plan on trying to gain weight before my next race and since I have a really hard time putting on muscle, I don't expect to pack on any additional weight. It should help me with strength and posture which will come in very handy during my next race.
Here's the yearly summaries so far for comparison. One thing that is very interesting to see is that my average sleep is down a bit, it's actually been down under 7 hours per night for the past 3 month now. I definitely need to work on this as my training intensity increases over the nexts few months. Unfortunately, that will not start until July.
The Cubs continue to be red hot. They have won 8 in a row and are ahead again tonight against the lowly Padres. They have the best record in the majors and continue to fight back from being down night after night. It's absolutely incredible to see this team hit this year. They are looking good right now.
Today was my second coaching stint of the season. I had 11 confirmed players up until 15 minutes before I had to leave for the game. Two plays canceled on me. That put us down to 9 players. We could potentially be ok with 9 players. Then, 1 of the women who confirmed she would be there did not show up without telling me she wouldn't be there. We ended up with only 8 players, two of who showed up way late. Instead of the normal 4 outfields, plus rover, we were playing with only 3 outfielders. Given the situation, our loss of 9-19 isn't so bad, but it was a disappointing day. We didn't hit that well.
I think I need to take a break in playing softball. These past few weeks of getting little sleep has greatly affected my playing in the field. I made some plays again today, but I missed a handful of routine plays that I don't usually miss. I'm not sure if I'm just not focusing enough or what the problem is. It's pretty annoying. I mean, my team is bad and I'm not sure that they'd be better off without me, but I'm thinking I should take a break and let someone else fill in to see how it goes. My hitting is staying OK during this struggle, so I'm at least helping the team out this way. Today I was 4 for 6 with 1 run scored, 1 double and 3 RBIs.
Season Stats
G - 6
AB - 26
R - 14
H - 18
2B - 4
3B - 4
HR - 3
RBI - 26
SF - 2
AVG - .692
SLG - 1.500
Foods
My monthly totals for May were down this month. This is mostly due to the taper for the marathon, but was also due to all the extra work and studying I have been doing. I haven't run to/from work in over a month. That definitely cuts down on distance. As gas prices continue to go up and up, I will likely get back to it again and potentially get back to cycling to/from work again. For comparisons, see April totals.
I'm still on pace for my first 2000 mile year, but have fallen off the pace of averaging 200 miles per month. As my training for my next race will highly focus on quality speed sessions, I'm not yet sure what kind of monthly distances I'll be hitting.
Without really trying, I lost another pound again this month. Looking at the numbers, the majority of it looked to be muscle. I can definitely feel it too. I am very weak right now. My core is incredibly weak. I definitely need to get back to the gym to build some strength. As I don't plan on trying to gain weight before my next race and since I have a really hard time putting on muscle, I don't expect to pack on any additional weight. It should help me with strength and posture which will come in very handy during my next race.
Here's the yearly summaries so far for comparison. One thing that is very interesting to see is that my average sleep is down a bit, it's actually been down under 7 hours per night for the past 3 month now. I definitely need to work on this as my training intensity increases over the nexts few months. Unfortunately, that will not start until July.
The Cubs continue to be red hot. They have won 8 in a row and are ahead again tonight against the lowly Padres. They have the best record in the majors and continue to fight back from being down night after night. It's absolutely incredible to see this team hit this year. They are looking good right now.
Today was my second coaching stint of the season. I had 11 confirmed players up until 15 minutes before I had to leave for the game. Two plays canceled on me. That put us down to 9 players. We could potentially be ok with 9 players. Then, 1 of the women who confirmed she would be there did not show up without telling me she wouldn't be there. We ended up with only 8 players, two of who showed up way late. Instead of the normal 4 outfields, plus rover, we were playing with only 3 outfielders. Given the situation, our loss of 9-19 isn't so bad, but it was a disappointing day. We didn't hit that well.
I think I need to take a break in playing softball. These past few weeks of getting little sleep has greatly affected my playing in the field. I made some plays again today, but I missed a handful of routine plays that I don't usually miss. I'm not sure if I'm just not focusing enough or what the problem is. It's pretty annoying. I mean, my team is bad and I'm not sure that they'd be better off without me, but I'm thinking I should take a break and let someone else fill in to see how it goes. My hitting is staying OK during this struggle, so I'm at least helping the team out this way. Today I was 4 for 6 with 1 run scored, 1 double and 3 RBIs.
Season Stats
G - 6
AB - 26
R - 14
H - 18
2B - 4
3B - 4
HR - 3
RBI - 26
SF - 2
AVG - .692
SLG - 1.500
Food Journal
Foods
- low-fat Cinnamon Swirl Coffee Cake (Starbucks)
- Powerbar
- Chicken Caesar Salad
- Cracklin Oat Bran Cereal
- Original Jamba Juice Coldbuster w/ Protein
- 140 oz Water
- 20 oz Coffee
- 12 oz Diet Dr. Pepper
- 12 oz Mountain Dew
Monday, June 2, 2008
A Good Recovery Day
I'm still working on the race report. It should be ready Tuesday or Wednesday. In the mean time, here is some other stuff.
I'm sure most of you have already seen this video, but I think it's funny. I didn't see anyone today that is recovering from the race, but I did yesterday after the race. Most people were moving just like this.
I'm sure most of you have already seen this video, but I think it's funny. I didn't see anyone today that is recovering from the race, but I did yesterday after the race. Most people were moving just like this.
Speaking of post race soreness. Let me tell you folks that didn't get the memo, the trick is the ice bath. I've been doing this things for a the last few years and they make all the difference. I'm still sore today, but it's not unbearable. I can go up and down stairs and get out of a chair (and the toilet) without a problem. For those that feel miserable after a race or a long run, try taking an ice bath for 20ish minutes. You may hate life for those 20 minutes, but you'll be much happier that day and the next. For those that think it's too hard or have tried and failed, the trick is to get in an empty bath tub, fill it with cold water (from the cold tap only) and then add the ice. I've never tried to fill a tub, add ice and then get in, but I'm sure I wouldn't be able to do it as I'm a pretty be wuss.
Usually when I finish a marathon my diet turns to complete crap as I eat anything and everything I want. As my training for my next race starts in only 2 weeks, I need to keep this to a minimum this time. I'm going to fire up the food journal again as documenting this helps me to keep quality and quantity under control. Of course, there will definitely be some bad stuff in the coming weeks, but I'll be fine as long as I don't get too carried away.
Food
Usually when I finish a marathon my diet turns to complete crap as I eat anything and everything I want. As my training for my next race starts in only 2 weeks, I need to keep this to a minimum this time. I'm going to fire up the food journal again as documenting this helps me to keep quality and quantity under control. Of course, there will definitely be some bad stuff in the coming weeks, but I'll be fine as long as I don't get too carried away.
Food Journal
Food
- English Muffin with Peanut Butter
- Original Jamba Juice Coldbuster with Protein
- 2 slices Pepperoni Pizza
- slice Chocolate Cake - stupid bday parties :(
- slice Cheese Cake - stupid bday parties :(
- 2 Chicken Tacos, Black Beans and Chips (Rubios)
- 4 Otter Pops
- 89 oz Water
- 34 oz Coffee
- 12 oz Diet Dr. Pepper
- 12 oz Skim Milk
Sunday, June 1, 2008
The Recovery Begins
Just a quick note today to say the race was a success, for the most part, and I achieved my goal time coming in at 3:14:14 for my 2nd fastest marathon time out of 10 so far. I will post my race report in the next couple days as time permits. For now, I'm exhausted having only slept around 4 1/2 hours last night and running 26.2 miles. It's time for some much needed sleep.
Saturday, May 31, 2008
The Night Before Race Day
Today was a very good taper day. I slept in and got 10 hours of sleep. I spent a couple hours outside today watching little league baseball playoffs and then inside playing cards for a couple hours. I've had a bottle of water in my hands drinking throughout the day. I had my normal pre-race dinner of chicken and rice. I also had some bread and some potatoes. I think I'm all carb'ed up. This was a very good rest day right before the big day. At this point, I'm not to nervous yet. I need to get up in 7.5 hours, but unfortunately, I'm not ready for bed yet.
The plan for the morning is to get up at 4 AM, drink my breakfast which will be 1/2 serving of N-large weight gainer with 8 oz of skim milk. I've done this before a lot of races and long runs and have had pretty good success. It's about 400 calories and 35 grams of protein. During the race, I plan on taking 1 Crank Sports gel every 45 minutes. These are 150 calories containers. I will take one right before a water stop and wash it down with a cup or two of water. The one thing that I will try changing tomorrow is my water consumption. I usually take one cup at every water stop and still feel quite dehydrated. The goo I'm taking in requires a bit more water too. So I'm going to aim for 2 cups of water at every water station tomorrow. We'll see how that goes.
Wish me luck. My number is 1337. The goal is to start around 7:30 per mile and then average 7:26 miles until 18-20. If by some odd chance, I'm feeling good, I will pick it up a bit. If not, I'll aim to maintain that pace to the end. That pace for a marathon will be 3:14:45 and it would be my 3rd fastest. If I can knock 30 seconds off that and beat 3:14:19, it will be my second fastest. I guess I'll know in less than 13 hours. Woohoo! I'm psyched for this one.
Stay tuned in the next day or so for my race report.
The plan for the morning is to get up at 4 AM, drink my breakfast which will be 1/2 serving of N-large weight gainer with 8 oz of skim milk. I've done this before a lot of races and long runs and have had pretty good success. It's about 400 calories and 35 grams of protein. During the race, I plan on taking 1 Crank Sports gel every 45 minutes. These are 150 calories containers. I will take one right before a water stop and wash it down with a cup or two of water. The one thing that I will try changing tomorrow is my water consumption. I usually take one cup at every water stop and still feel quite dehydrated. The goo I'm taking in requires a bit more water too. So I'm going to aim for 2 cups of water at every water station tomorrow. We'll see how that goes.
Wish me luck. My number is 1337. The goal is to start around 7:30 per mile and then average 7:26 miles until 18-20. If by some odd chance, I'm feeling good, I will pick it up a bit. If not, I'll aim to maintain that pace to the end. That pace for a marathon will be 3:14:45 and it would be my 3rd fastest. If I can knock 30 seconds off that and beat 3:14:19, it will be my second fastest. I guess I'll know in less than 13 hours. Woohoo! I'm psyched for this one.
Stay tuned in the next day or so for my race report.
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