Monthly Archives: September 2012
Racing to figure it out
For the second time in three years, I ran the Virginia 10 Miler on legs that weren’t really ready for racing. The major lesson learned today: how to really push myself.
That’s left me booming with confidence with 6 weeks to go to the Richmond Marathon.
Today I could have run another 16-or-so-mile long run for training — since I don’t “have to” do anything, I don’t know how many miles I missed with a “schedule.” I opted instead for a high quality long run in the 10 miler, an absolutely brutal hilly course.
My ultimate goal was to beat my previous best time of 1:22:49, which was 6 years ago. Two years ago, I ran this as part of my Richmond Marathon training and fell short of beating that time.
Today I ran the first 8 miles of this course right on target to hit or just break 1:20 — I was pleasantly surprised with each mile considering I haven’t hit big hills in a while.
When I got to the final 2 miles though, with a majority of that uphill, my legs reminded me that I ran 20 miles a week ago today.
While I didn’t really have a final kick and couldn’t finish as strong as I’d like, I crossed the finish line in 1:21:22, a nearly 90-second PR. More importantly than the PR, though, is how good I felt. I wanted to be faster today than marathon pace, but also leave the race feeling good about it.
Mission accomplished.
Now it’s on to the important final 6 weeks of Richmond Marathon training.
The Lost Files, Vol. IV
This weekend I’ll be running the Virginia 10 Miler in Lynchburg for the 3rd time. I’m not sure yet of my goals — my legs are recovering nicely from my weekend 20-miler, but much work remains to be fully ready for a harder effort at that distance.
I learned two years ago that a really long run the weekend before this hilly race and better fitness alone won’t generate what I think should be PR.
Before I settle on those goals I wanted to complete my initial look back at my lost myspace files that led to my first Virginia 10 Miler in 2006 — the first time truly racing a double-digit distance.
Vol. III left off with some confidence after a nagging knee injury in the final weeks of training. I headed into race day with a time of 1:30 in mind. Here’s what happened — a short and sweet race recap.
* * *
No "gun shows" back then, but the camera posing obviously started early in my races.
Sunday, September 17, 2006
You gotta work the hill… don’t let it work you.
Current mood: sore
After nearly three months of intense training, it all came down to one day. I don’t really have too much to say about the race right now. It’s tough to put into words.
I easily beat my 1:30 goal and finished the 10 miler in 1:23 finishing 150th out of 500-plus runners. To put it simply, I left it all on the course. There will be no marathon for me this year, but I don’t really care about that right now.
My goal at the beginning of this year was to do the 10 miler and I did it.
Depending on the condition of my knee, a marathon may never happen. I’m not giving up hope, but I’m not going to be stupid and hurt myself for the rest of my life either.
For now, I’m enjoying some off time from running, eating whatever I want for a couple of days and being thrilled at the accomplishment of running 10 miles in the time that I did.
I also wanted to thank all of you who have given me support, whether it be in an email, a note on myspace or verbally. It means a lot to me.
There’s something about running that brings out a side of me I didn’t know I had until two years ago and I hope to never lose touch of that. So expect to read future blogs about that …
Escape to the beach
One of the great things about living in Richmond is being a little more than a couple of hours away from Virginia Beach.
Oddly enough, my wife and I never took advantage of this when we lived here before.
This weekend, though, we finally acted on the thought of getting away for the weekend and hit up the beach. We left Friday after work, had a full day Saturday and was back in Richmond shortly after noon on Sunday.
It was a perfect weekend weather wise, and with it being in between bigger events going on there, hotel rates were perfect. The weather was just right, too, to spend some time playing in the sand Saturday.
My son loved it …
Duke got to see the ocean for the first time …
We saw dolphins …
And I got to see an awesome sun rise for my 20-mile run …
Needless to say, but we’ve got to do this more often.
3 things Thursday: Cookies, marathon, cookies
1. Cookies. I’m removing them from my diet until after the Richmond Marathon. I’ve been eating way too many lately.
2. Good runs deserve shout-outs. Yesterday I did an 8-mile run with a 4-mile tempo thrown in at an 8:19 pace. I could have easily gone farther at that pace and I could have easily lowered that pace. I didn’t look my watch for much of it.
With each run I’m growing more and more confident about what will happen at the Richmond Marathon on Nov. 10.
3. Speaking of cookies and the marathon, this training cycle has been one of the best when it comes to running and one of the worst with eating stupid stuff. It’s all kind of weird how that happens, but it’s time to change a few things.
I’m not going to make any drastic changes, but my two-plus-month soda free streak will continue and now cookies/cupcakes/brownies and the like are gone for a while. The sweet tooth has got to go.
Family miles
Can Pennsylvania handle this family?
I’ve hinted a few times that the Runner’s World Half Marathon weekend is going to be special for a number of reasons, but I haven’t had a chance to discuss why.
Yes, being there as part of #RunChat is going to be a great experience, but that weekend will also mark my wife’s first 5k.
My wife has been supportive of my running for nearly 9 years now — she’s gotten up early for races, she’s held onto my a change of clothes after a race, she’s been victim to my early morning wake-up calls … but the second half of this summer she’s been running a few times a week, making the commitment to do the 5k that weekend.
This will actually be my wife’s second race. Five years ago she ran a mile race. I thought that would be the hook, but I’ve stayed quiet, dropping hints for a few years that it would be fun for her to do a race.
To add to the family fun that weekend, my son will be running the short 1/4 mile run for kids 3 and under. That distance is kind of laughable as he’s been running a half mile or so with no trouble once or twice a week for a while now. Today alone he ran 3/4 of a mile.
He easily gets a quarter mile run doing laps around my apartment. He’s having fun going out on family walks/runs, which has become a nice tradition for us on the weekends and occasionally during the week.
I’m really looking forward to this weekend to have some family fun and to meet people who have been supportive of #RunChat in the past couple of years. It’s shaping up to be a great few days.
12 things: Training thoughts
Three months into being back in Richmond, I think I’ve fully settled down into the new “normal.” But what, really, is normal with an almost 4-year-old, training for my 4th marathon, working at an ad agency with a large client, and the hottest July on record?
I’ve neglected writing much about my training or things that have happened on runs, mainly because my blog was low on the priority list.
Today, though, is a good opportunity to talk about things that have happened with running over the past few months — some repeats from a few posts, some lessons learned or relearned, and some random thoughts along the way.
So now let me move out of the way of myself and bring you September’s 12 things, on time.
1. I now have 5 shoes in rotation: 3 original Saucony Mirages, 1 pair of Saucony Kinvara, and 1 pair of Saucony Mirage 2. I expect the Mirage 2 will be my marathon pair.
2. A friend of mine found a great song by Trampled by Turtles this past spring and recently their albums were featured on Amazon for $5. I downloaded two and put them into my rotation for the couple of times a week I run with music.
3. Cold showers > ice baths.
4. Magic Hat Circus Boy is back. It’s a great post long run beverage in the evenings.
5. Speed work is now a normal and expected thing to do. I actually look forward to it. I have really screwed that up in recent training cycles.
6. I’ve readjusted my marathon goal to be a range instead of a specific time. I’ve honed in on 3:40-3:45. Doing that has allowed me to feel a little more flexible when I’m doing marathon paced runs.
7. I am planning a full post on this sometime, but the Runner’s World weekend has become a family affair. That’s all I’m saying for now.
8. Here’s what 5:30 looked like on Sunday:
9. This past weekend’s 18-miler is the first long run of the season in which I have felt truly tired the day after. It’s definitely prime time for a recovery week.
10. I don’t regret my move to Richmond one bit, but I do miss my runs in Bedford where 99% of the people at least said “hi” back or at least acknowledged my existence. I will continue to say “hi,” though, or tip my cap, or give a wave.
11. Random thought I’ve had: I’ve been seeing a lot of people saying they’re a “real runner” now that they lost a toenail. No. It most likely means your shoes are still a half size too small.
12. To sum up my thoughts as the seasons begin to change, I must say that I am very happy with my state of running right now. By no means is it perfect, but I’m finding that my mind frame has changed a lot in the past month to focus on doing the best I can right now. That’s translated into happy running.
Recent Comments