Posts Tagged ‘Cleveland Marathon’

Even in a mild winter like this, running isn’t always easy. The lack of daylight makes it hard to be motivated; lunch runs at work aren’t as exciting as a couple of co-workers have dropped off with running and other has had an injury that set him back; and up and down temperatures make getting dressed a huge pain.

One of my favorite signs at one of the hotels in Virginia Beach two years ago.

Here I am, though, having one of the best running winters ever despite having several colds and a brief stomach bug. I’ve kept my eye on the prize — a return to Shamrock in Virginia Beach, which is now just four weeks away, and the Cleveland Marathon in May. I’m going to have something cool in between too that I’m not quite ready to reveal.

Today I did something I haven’t done in four previous Shamrock Half Marathon training sessions — my mileage went over the race distance. In my first Shamrock, I think I hit 10 miles once; in my second and third races I worked up to 10 miles, but also battled injuries and lack of sleep with my newborn son; two years ago it all changed when I moved back to Bedford, trained on hills, and ran multiple 10-milers with a friend.

Only one other time in my half marathon training have I even hit 13.1 miles — that was summer 2008 when I trained for the Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon and had a 13.2-mile run.

Today I ran 14 miles. Had I not signed up for the Cleveland Marathon, I’m pretty sure I still would have run 14 miles today. It’s just part of my always-evolving approach to running — more high quality miles, stronger miles, and more overall confidence.

Today’s run was also just under a 9-minute pace, which was kind of surprising after I started a bit sluggish. In a quick look back at my training over the past year, this is one of my top 5 fastest double-digit long runs and the second of this training cycle to come in under a 9-minute mile pace.

My approach to long runs since last summer and picking up the pace is paying off on shorter runs, as well as races. Two years ago, my friend and I never ran under a 9-minute pace on Bedford’s hills, but we went to that race full of confidence. The forced hill training, running in the snow and often crazy wind paid off with my still-standing PR of 1:42:52.

With my effort today, and knowing what transpired two years ago, I’m setting my “A” goal for Shamrock at 3 minutes faster than my PR. I have to put it on the line to go for a sub 1:40. That’s about a 14-second increase per mile, which scares me a bit, but if I’m running on average 20-30 seconds faster per mile for an easy pace than I was two years ago, there’s no reason this can’t translate to a sub 1:40 race day.

Halfway through training for the Shamrock Half Marathon, and the early stages of training for the Cleveland Marathon, this is one of those crucial weeks as I need a mental and physical boost for the next 5 weeks.

I could not afford to get sick like I did at the beginning of the week, so I fought back the best I could. Lots of fluids and lots of rest. As I briefly wrote about the other day, I managed to quickly get over my stomach bug. It seemed to have zero impact on how I felt running — in fact, that extra forced rest probably helped.

Today I had another moment to help me focus on what’s ahead — I decided last night to “sleep in” and do my long run whenever I woke up.

Just a week ago I was all about getting up early for my long and practicing what I would do for the Shamrock Half. With that race having a 7 a.m. start, I need all the dress rehearsals I can get. Last night, though, I was tired and I didn’t want an alarm waking me up.

This morning I woke up about 5:30 a.m. and had to use the restroom. After I got back in bed, I tossed and turned and thought about what happens on Shamrock morning — it’s usually a bit chilly and it’s dark for a while. No different than today. So I got up this morning and hit the road by 6:30 a.m. for an easy paced 12-mile run.

Training this winter has definitely been easier than most winters with the warmer temperatures, but it’s truly been a challenge for so many reasons. As I spend time thinking about things like I did today, I realize so much of it is mental. I feel like I’ve been mentally tough for a while, so it’s something I haven’t experienced in a while.

It impacts my training, my sleeping, and my ability to write anything worth reading, but I hope with my small victories this week that I can move on from these issues.

Image: Idea go / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

My training cycle for the Baltimore Marathon was definitely the best. Any issues I had were minor.

In these first couple of weeks of Shamrock Half training, and now Cleveland Marathon training, things haven’t started so well. While last week’s trail race was a ton of fun, the tumble I took really left me banged up and threw off my whole week. I still have scabs and bruises.

Instead of my first run coming Monday, it came Tuesday; I was planning to do my long run of 8 miles on Saturday, but I just didn’t feel up to it after I ran Thursday and Friday; I ended up just not feeling well at all Saturday, which led to waking up not feeling great Sunday; I actually debated on not running today, but after a nap I felt better and ended up doing a mid-afternoon run of 7 miles.

At the end of all this, I’m glad I pushed through it today. I’m disappointed in falling short of my planned distance today and for the week, but getting in an hour of running felt good. It was actually my first run of more than an hour in the winter in more than 2 years. Last year I didn’t run anything beyond 4 miles in the winter.

I won’t let some minor setbacks get me down, but I certainly hope I don’t have any other weird things come my way any time soon.

I signed up for the Cleveland Marathon on Friday, which drastically changes my approach to the whole year. I have been indecisive about what to do this spring for a couple of months now – while the Shamrock Half Marathon is my No. 1 priority, I believe that a spring marathon will only enhance my experience in Virginia Beach in March.

With doing some initial planning, the timing is perfect — Shamrock is 9 weeks before Cleveland; this summer I ran the Lynchburg Half Marathon 9 weeks before the Baltimore Marathon. My planned mileage and long runs before Shamrock really don’t change all that much by signing up for the marathon.

I have had a lot of thoughts wrapped up in my head about a spring marathon, and it’s relieving to finally have the chance to get them out. As I hinted yesterday, this hasn’t been an easy decision.

One of my favorite Dave Matthews Band songs is “Rhyme & Reason,” which has the lyrics “My head won’t leave my head alone.” That’s the way I have felt about choosing a race for next spring. I’ve hinted at a few things in a previous post, but that was only the beginning of some thoughts.

Here are things that have actually crossed my mind — in no real order — and why I have legitimately thought these things:

• Upgrading to the Shamrock Marathon
  At one time this was my most realistic next marathon. Then I went back and re-read a post from March when I missed the race due to my injury: “I’m going back to Virginia Beach next year for the Shamrock Half as a stronger runner, but perhaps more importantly a smarter runner. (Although is saying publicly that I want to break 1:40 being smart?)” The only thing that’s certain right now is that in 4 months I will toe the line of the Shamrock Half. That sub 1:40 goal? We’ll see.
• Charlottesville Marathon
  I’ve had this race in the back of my mind for a while. The timing of it actually would work well too. If I did this, the Shamrock Half would be the ceremonious ending to training as I tapered for this race, which is April 7. It definitely makes sense to choose this marathon, but the $90 price tag for a smaller marathon makes me hesitate a bit. However, it’s proximity to me offsets any travel costs.
• Marine Corps Marathon
  After I signed up for Baltimore and then had time to think about what I had done, I wished I had made the snap decision a month earlier and signed up for MCM. Hindsight is 20/20, though, so now I’m setting my sites on March 7 — the signup day for the 2012 Marine Corps Marathon. That, of course, is subject to change.
• Cleveland Marathon
  I had a realization on my recent Ohio trip — I use a lot of my vacation time visiting my in-laws. So why not turn a trip to Ohio into something more? How about a spring marathon (May 20) in Ohio? Right now this scenario has an edge over Charlottesville.
• Glass City Marathon
  It’s funny how things I’ve never heard of seem to make their appearance several times over a few days on my Twitter feed. Toledo is known as the Glass City? Never heard that. A marathon in Toledo? It turns out this is a pretty popular marathon in Ohio earlier in the spring (April 22). It also has a respectable price tag, but I’d have to say right now from a timing standpoint this is the least likely of the races I’d chose in the spring.
• Ragnar Relay
  I can’t even begin to explain my thoughts about this. I would love to participate in a Ragnar Relay. At this point, there are a lot of logistics I need to work out for any of them to become realistic. And if the stars aligned, most of these other things besides Shamrock won’t happen. Simply put, a Ragnar Relay would be THE highlight of 2012.
• Blue Ridge Marathon
  I’ve thought about this marathon, yes, but it’s nowhere near realistic thoughts. I’d really like to do the half again after missing it this year and seeing if I can beat my time from a couple of years ago when I didn’t really race it. This race is April 21, which would be a nice follow-up to the Shamrock Half, similar to what I did 2 years ago.
• Richmond Marathon
  As usual, Richmond has the temptation of a lower entry fee for next year through this Thursday. It’s my home away from home race course, and I would love to go back there for a third time and break 4 hours. My biggest hold up from taking advantage of the price is my desire to do the Marine Corps Marathon.

Image: Salvatore Vuono / FreeDigitalPhotos.net