Posts Tagged ‘1000 miles’

I passed 960 miles for 2010 today — the most since I started logging my runs by mileage in 2007. I doubt that I ran more from 2004-2006 when I ran by time. So after 3.1 mostly pain-free miles today, I am at 961.8 miles for the year.

I should be jumping for joy — don’t get me wrong, I am happy about this — but with knee issues and being sick this week, my focus remains on getting things right for next week’s Richmond Marathon. (A week from now, things will be just under way!)

With all these things going on, I haven’t lost sight of 1,000 miles either, but I know it’s not going to get here as quickly as I thought it would. At one time, I thought I’d hit the mark around this week or even during the marathon, but it looks like it’ll come later this month. I’ll be patient about it and make sure I run it healthy.

Yes, there are other marathons.

I could drop out now and then wonder “what if.”

I could drop out now and rest.

I could run the marathon and then take months to heal … or be completely fine.

But first …

I’m testing out a foam roller I bought today.

I’m icing.

I’m doing new stretches.

I’m resting a least two more days, if not more, before I run again.

You see, nearly a year ago I made this commitment to the Richmond Marathon and for most of that year I’ve had the best running of my life. If I stop now, it sort of becomes “what’s the point.” I’m this close (-) to the marathon and to my goal of 1,000 miles for the year, so I’m not going to throw in the towel yet. Not this week anyway.

I know there’s a lot at stake here. Could I save myself from a long-term injury by not running? Maybe. Who really knows. I do have experience on my side — before this blog ever began I had the same exact knee problems in my right knee. Exactly the same. Two weeks before the Virginia 10-Miler, I had pain so bad that I had to stop and limp my way a mile to my car. Two weeks later, after icing, stretching and resting, I ran that race with very few issues. I took some time off afterward, but was running just fine a month later.

Maybe this time around is different; maybe I can’t get over it so quickly; maybe I’ll start the marathon and have the worst pain of my life.

But I have to try things over the next week and a half first. If I continue to have major issues, then yes, I’ll back out. And if that happens … well, let me worry about that later if that happens.

So go ahead and accuse me of putting a lot on the line for my second marathon. I might not have this opportunity again for a while, so this is just something I have to do.

Image: m_bartosch / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

This month is ending horribly as knee problems having plagued me all weekend. This is coming off two pretty good runs earlier this week. It’s left me mad, sad, confused, frustrated … nine and half months of great running and now this?

I can’t hang my head too low. This month is the fourth straight month of 100-plus miles in a month and I’m now less than 50 miles from 1,000 miles for the year — those are big things and I’m thrilled at those numbers. But …

… with less than two weeks to go to the marathon, I’ve got to figure something out. Tape that seemed to work just fine mid-week didn’t work this weekend. I even took my first two-day break in several weeks. I’ve iced; I’ve stretched; I’ve walked extra at the beginning to get myself warmed up better.

All is not lost with the marathon. I can rest more; I can get another wrap or brace to try out; I can manage this.

Unlike mile 700 and mile 800, mile 900 had no signs. It was just me and my best running pal Duke.

And just like that, I have less than 100 miles to go to hit 1,000 miles for 2010. Unbelievable.

Tomorrow marks exactly a month until the Richmond Marathon. I’ve been thinking about this day since I signed up for it almost a year ago. I guess technically I’ve been thinking about it since I crossed the finish line of my one and only marathon nearly 3 years ago. It’s tough to put into words what’s going on in my head right now, and it’s one reason my blog posts have slowed a bit. I’m just trying to stay calm, focused and healthy. So that being said, here are some bullet items with things I’m thinking about right now:

* I will hit 900 miles for the year sometime this week. I’ve done some numbers crunching and it’s possible I’ll hit 1,000 miles before the marathon gets here. Some of it depends on my taper and how cutting back goes. Keep in mind that 1/5 of the final 100 miles will come on a long run and I still have a couple of weeks of what I consider high mileage. So … who knows. It’s awesome to know that hitting 1,000 miles is now a matter of “when” and not “if” it will happen.

* While I’m jazzed up about the mileage milestone, I have to admit that I completely forced a 5-plus mile run last night. It’s completely out of character for me to do that. Usually if I don’t feel like running I’ll take a rest day or just cut my run short and readjust for the week. But I didn’t. And, as odd as it sounds, I’m so glad that I moved forward with it. By getting out of my comfort zone on a normal run will only help a month from now.

* With the marathon a month away, I’m thinking a lot about my goals for my 26.2-mile journey. Three years ago I realized how unimportant a time goal was, but this time around I’m really wrapping my ahead around beating 4 hours. I’ve talked to a couple of running friends of mine who seem to think I’ll easily beat that based on race times from earlier this year and the fact that I train on crazy hills all the time when the marathon is considerably flatter. I sure hope they’re right.

Most of my training runs have been about 20 seconds faster or slower than that sub 4-hour goal, so I’m happy with that. Honestly, I need to get out and do my second 20-mile run to gain more confidence in setting a solid goal. I know that no matter what, I’m going to be thrilled to do this a second time.

An interesting thing happened this week on this great journey I’m having in 2010: my daily average hit 3 miles a day. On Thursday, the 251st day of the year, I ran 8 miles to get my yearly total to 753 miles, or averaging exactly 3 miles a day. Then I took Thursday and Friday off and completely messed up those perfect numbers, but after nearly 16 miles of running this weekend, my daily average is once again past 3 miles, at the very long-winded number I used for this blog post headline.

With this current pace, I am now on target for 1,100 miles for the year, well above my 1,000-mile goal. With just less than 9 weeks to go until the Richmond Marathon, and many more miles planned, the projected finish for the year will keep going up. I have no idea what will happen after the marathon, so it’s important that I just keep going and hit 1,000 miles whenever it happens.

Here is what I ran into at mile No. 700 for 2010:

Seriously … a stop sign. But there’s no stopping me now. I’m now less than 300 miles away from my 1,000-mile goal for this calendar year with more than four months to go. Despite still not feeling 100 percent today — I’d say I’m about 90 percent — hitting this milestone tonight feels awesome.

Less than two weeks ago, I surged past my running mileage from last year. On tonight’s 6.1-mile run, I passed my 2008 total and now stand at 644.8 running miles for 2010. I now have just a little more than 300 miles to pass my all-time total from 2007.

I’m now on pace for more than 1,050 miles for the year, with the mileage continuing to increase during marathon training. I have this …

I feel like I have been very fortunate this year to have so many things going right with my running. After what felt like so much up and down in the past two years, my confidence may be at an all-time high.

* With tonight’s 4.1-mile run, I now have more running miles than all of last year. I continue to be amazed at that number. Seven months into the year and I have passed my 2009 total. Now I’m just 35 miles away from my 2008 total. It will be a while before I hit my all-time high of 960 miles from 2007, but of course my main goal is that 1,000-mile mark.

* Awesome by August has been a great challenge to get me focused on eating better and doing something other than just running. At this point with starting to add more miles for training, I know that weight loss will be harder and harder. But I am happy to report this week that my weight is 184.2, the first time I have been on the other side of the 180s (under 185) in probably three years. So for the challenge, I’ve lost 3.4 pounds, or 1.8 percent in three weeks; this year I’m down a total of 13 pounds, or 6.6 percent; and I’m down 35.8 pounds, or 16.3 percent from my all-time high.

So during Awesome by August, I have restarted the 100 push-ups program and am now in the second week of it, and I have added sit-ups to my routine. It’s a nice addition to just running. I hope that I can do even more in the coming months.

* I have revamped my About Me page to detail my journey of weight loss and becoming a runner. As I have written before, I often shy away from discussing my weight, but if I had never lost weight, I never would have become a runner; I would not have become a runner if I didn’t need to lose weight. So in a roundabout way, this site is just as much about weight struggles as it is with what I do with running. I’ll continue to write about running more than anything else, but it’s crucial I keep reminding myself of what I don’t want to go back to.

Tonight’s 12-mile run was more than just another long run. It was the longest training run since sometime last summer. Sure I’ve done a couple of half marathons this year, but no other training run in 2010 has been more than 11 miles.

Tonight’s run got me to more than 90 miles for the month, giving me a big boost to the second half of the year. Will I hit triple digits for July by the end of Saturday? Maybe.

Tonight’s run got me to 601.1 miles for 2010, only 2.8 miles away from beating last year’s entire running mileage of 603.9 miles. I’m well on pace to easily pass 1,000 miles for the year.

It’s time to keep my head up and keep pushing. I feel like the best is yet to come.