Posts Tagged ‘goals’

My 11 things post on Saturday didn’t exactly reflect how things went on my 20-miler. Now that I’ve had a few days to let it sink in, as well as a short recovery run Sunday and a nice 8:30ish pace run today, I’m very pleased with how it went and how my body has reacted.

To say it was awesome or great is a drastic overstatement. It was good — while I had a moment or two that just felt weird, I also moments that I totally felt in the groove.

Today's route in Roanoke

I used the run to concentrate on not falling apart in the second half of the run; I felt like I took a lot of mental notes to apply for the next 20-miler next weekend, and a few things I can use in the Baltimore Marathon.

In looking back at the end of last year’s training cycle for the Richmond Marathon, I realize more and more how I just settled into the last month of training as “just running.” It was like I just let it fall into place without effort, which may have contributed to the injury. Now is the time to fine-tune things.

Today’s run, for example, was a solid run in some surprise heat. A year ago I would have slowed it down and settled for the mileage. If I’m going to get anywhere close to 3:45 in Baltimore, I have to do than just log miles.

For my next 20-miler I am pretty sure that I am going to go somewhere flatter and focus on getting the overall pace down just a tad. This past weekend’s run was 15 minutes faster than my two 20-milers last year; while that is awesome progress, I want some practice in my long run getting closer to marathon goal pace. I’ve had some faster, solid long runs this year, but I want one final dress rehearsal.

32 days to go …

One of the biggest lessons I learned from last year was to not get too caught up in the “most ever” or “best ever” moments. While they’re great and worth celebrating, it’s very easy to lose focus if I dwell on them too much.

Today is one of those moments to celebrate, but I also need to quickly move on. I’ll talk about it now and drink a Magic Hat or two to celebrate, but tomorrow is September and there are still 45 days until the Baltimore Marathon. FOCUS.

So … what’s the big deal?

Today’s tired feeling 3.3-mile run puts me at 134.5 miles for August. It’s the most miles in a month ever, edging out 133 miles in October 2007. I actually fell about 6 miles shy of my goal, as well as not getting to 40 miles last week, but I knew ahead of time those were big miles for me. The 40 will come soon enough though.

Similar to how I felt a month ago, how I got to that number is what is important.

• 7 runs out of 22 were under a 9-minute pace. That’s not quite as good as July, but this month I had a few more shorter and slower (and very important) recovery runs.
• A solid effort in the Lynchburg Half Marathon.
• Breaking 22 minutes in the Fab 5k.
• I ran a mountain.

Thanks to Irene for the extremely overcast, humid day today.

Hurricane Irene tried to make my run miserable today, but I was having none of it. I’m far enough inland to not get impacted by heavy rain or wind, but the humidity she’s brought with it and slapped on most of Virginia was brutal this morning.

Sorry, but the weather wasn’t winning today.

Percival's Island bridge from Lynchburg into Amherst County.

I headed to Lynchburg for my 18 miler for a change of scenery — the plan was to run about 6 miles by myself, meet my friend Scott I met via Daily Mile a few months ago for about 7 miles, then finish the run off by myself.

What I didn’t anticipate was how dark it was just before 6 a.m. — I was a bit scared to park where I planned on parking and it was too dark to get on Percival’s Island for about 30 minutes.

So I parked near the downtown market where people were setting up for their busy morning, ran about a mile on the streets then headed down to my planned run along the bike path on the island.

The first 7 miles by myself were weird. I started intentionally slow — a 9:52 first mile — but gradually picked it up. I had that feeling of a good run on my hands. When I met Scott I was already drenched; the humidity was nuts. Where was Irene’s breeze?

Fortunately as Scott and I took off, we caught a few breaks with the wind. Our conversation was good and all over the place, but we had a nice pace throughout. I was not feeling tired at all.

When we separated, I still had about 3 miles to go. With no music like the first third of the run and no one to talk to, it was all about focusing on my breathing, my form and finishing the run strong.

I had no idea what my overall pace was. I knew that I set out with a goal of a 9-minute mile pace today, and in my head the only thing I could figure out was 162 minutes — 2 hours, 42 minutes. (I did the math as 9 times 9, then doubled it.) I looked at my watch with about a mile and a half to go and realized I could probably walk and hit that mark.

Besides a few glances at my watch after the first mile, I had no idea what I was doing. It turns out I was having the fastest long run beyond a half marathon that I’ve ever had and a negative split that I couldn’t even imagine.

My first half splits were: 9:52, 9:18, 9:12, 8:51, 8:51, 9:11, 9:22, 9:08 and 8:14 for a total of 1:21:59.

My second half splits were: 8:12, 8:36, 8:19, 8:27, 8:09, 8:20, 8:26, 8:39, 8:29 for a total of 1:15:37.

Really? A 6-minute difference? An 8:45 pace overall?

It’s such a different way of training for me, but I can’t help but like the feeling of a negative split. While today was a bit flatter than usual, I was intentional about doing something different and doing it faster.

The weather didn’t win and my mind didn’t win. It may have been the best long run I’ve ever had, but my focus is what lies ahead for the next 7 weeks before the Baltimore Marathon. My immediate focus is on a short recovery run tomorrow and a recovery week next week to give myself a break.

And then … my first 20 miler. After today, it’s a run I can’t wait to get to.

I haven’t done a “Making the commitment” post in a while. The idea of having the theme throughout the year seemed to fizzle once I got things back on track. While I have failed to blog with the title as much as I had hoped, the theme lives on. Everything I have done has been about making a commitment to getting back to full health when it comes to running.

A couple of months ago I talked about how this training session for the Baltimore Marathon was going to be different. Now that I’m halfway through training I thought it would be a good time to do a check-up.

Core

I’ve been able to get in a solid core workout once a week at work and have done a relatively good job at getting a second workout in at home. We shifted things up at work and I’m actually working out with our personal trainer on Mondays. In the past couple of weeks he’s added some weight training with the core work.

I know I should do more, but something is better than nothing, and what I’ve done this summer is far and away a lot more than I was doing a year ago. I can tell a difference when I run; I can’t pin-point exactly what it is, but I can tell that I’m more balanced and stronger.

Being visual

I’ve posted many more maps of my runs, which really helps give me a quick reference to look at what I’ve done. I look at my runs on Garmin Connect a lot more too. I like to see where I slow down or how hard I hit a hill.

Wednesday's elevation map

I’ve kept up with my spreadsheet regularly. My “non-plan plan” actually got a little more solid after a couple of weeks as I set goals for my long runs and weekly mileage for the rest of training. I set the bar high, but have adjusted the mileage a couple of times to better fit what I’m doing.

I’ve also added a column in the spreadsheet for notes when I’ve made adjustments and I added a column with last year’s mileage from the same time frame. It’s definitely too wide to post on here for it to make any sense.

Overall perspective

Training through 8+ weeks has been amazing. Aside from feeling a bit under the weather a couple of weeks ago, I’ve remained as consistent as ever and feel stronger each week. I really look forward to the long runs each weekend.

I don’t like to compare things from last year too much, but I had a great training session then until the very end. I don’t want to take away from last year, but the lessons learned in the last 4 weeks are what set the tone for this summer.

Adding the core work, more progressive runs and what I feel is an overall better attitude is making this a great summer for running.

Image: renjith krishnan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Coming off Saturday’s Lynchburg Half Marathon, I’ve been very happy with how my body has reacted.

• I had a nice 2+ mile recovery run with Duke on Sunday morning. It was a good way to cap off a week in which I really pushed myself with four runs in three days mid-week and the race. At 33.2 miles, it was the highest mileage week of the year and just less than 2 miles off my training peak from last year.
• I had a great core session on Monday, which included increasing my reps of squats I’ve been doing. I was worried initially about making that push, but my legs felt great.
• Today I continued my “push” theme and ran 4.7 miles in an 8:30 pace, which included a comfortable 8:19 middle mile. I initially felt like I started too fast, but I was able to maintain a good pace. The second mile, which was the hilliest, was 8:40.

Yesterday marked the two-months-to-go mark until the Baltimore Marathon. Two months? Really? That’s all?

I’m very happy with where I am in my training and the progress I continue to make with distance, speed and less worrying about my knee. The thought is still there quite a bit, but I can’t let it be a big distraction.

Next up in the journey is a big week with a goal of 36 miles this week, which will include a 5k on Saturday — the Fab 5k in Salem, Va. It’s a cross country style race.

While it’s promised to be flat, I’m looking at it as a speed workout. I’m not going to set a specific goal for this one. My long run goal is 16 miles on Sunday.

As I enter the second half of my training, I’m really setting my sites on a “first ever” moment of hitting 40 miles in a few weeks. It’s a distance out there that I’ve never been able to hit.

My previous two marathon attempts had too many things happen, but as of right now I’ve put it on my plan to hit 40 or more a few times before the taper begins. This will be the year it finally happens.

Somewhere along the way this week I let my mind take over. It’s a big fear I think most runners have — losing mental toughness. On the way to the Lynchburg Half Marathon this morning, I realized (again) that I’ve been letting my mind take over and I didn’t like it. I used that half hour or so to refocus on today’s race.

I hit the start line — after warming up in a steady run — with these thoughts:

• Don’t let the hill win.
• Finish stronger than I start it, carrying the theme of my main goal for 2011.
• Don’t look at my watch — just run by feel.
• Don’t worry about my time goal.
• Be able to honestly answer this question: can I double my effort?

Funny thing about my time goal is I couldn’t remember what I wrote the other day. I had shifted my focus since that post that I really didn’t care what my overall time was. If I did these things, I would have a solid training race, not a race race. And if I did these things I should be happy with my day no matter what.

After a steady rain for my warm-up, I almost put my Garmin away. The only reason I kept it on was to see the massive hill in my data, and I wanted to see how I handled it. While I was happy with last year’s race, it was THE hill that stuck out in my mind.

So with a different mindset than just 12 hours earlier, I had my most solid long run ever that just happens to fall smack in the middle of all my half marathon times.

It may sound crazy, but I really didn’t look at my watch until the 8th mile. I glanced at it a couple of times to do a mileage check, but in the first half of the race I didn’t check my mile times or look at my pace. It was quite refreshing.

I finished today in 1:51:31, more than 4 minutes faster than a year ago. Had it not been so humid after some overnight rain and the shower before the race, I probably could have knocked a couple of minutes off this. I was very pleased to set a course record on the “new” course for this race, as well as setting out everything I really wanted to accomplish.

• I beat the hill. I did miles 4 and 5 in 9:07 and 9:15; those two miles had elevation gains of 153 and 160 feet. Not that there’s anything wrong with walking hills, I remember last year feeling defeated when I had to. Today that thought never crossed my mind.

Lynchburg Half Marathon elevation

• The second 6 full miles were more than 3:30 faster than the first 6 miles. I’m very happy with that negative split.
• I actually didn’t make up that much time when I came down the hill. The mile with the most elevation loss — between 9 and 10 — was 8:03, and wasn’t my fastest mile. The next one was at 8:02. I lost something between mile 11 and 12 (8:26), but finished strong in the final full mile at 8:04. The last tenth or so (I say “or so” because my Garmin measure a tenth of a mile long) was in a 7:30 pace.
• So … can I double this effort? I know I have a lot of work left to do, but at the half way point of my training I am very confident that I can double this effort for the Baltimore Marathon.

I apologize for the headline that seems like a bunch of mumbled, jumbled words … as well as for the rest of this post.

I’ve had a hard time writing this week — if it weren’t for my Twitter Q&A and my monthly 11 things posts, I probably wouldn’t have written anything else.

I thought it was writer’s block, but truth be told, it’s me avoiding setting a goal for this weekend’s Lynchburg Half Marathon — a race that I’m not approaching as a “big” race, but instead focus on it being a training race.

In the past I’ve called it a “non-race race,” but those aren’t the right words anymore. “Training race” has a better ring to it.

This race fits in perfectly with my training schedule for the Baltimore Marathon. It’s exactly at the halfway point of my training — it’s a big test of where I am fitness-wise for a speedier long run. It’s about putting enough on the line to “race” it without being sore for 3 days after and messing up next week that should be even higher mileage. There is a fine line here with how hard to run this race.

Ideally, I’d like to run this slightly faster than my marathon goal of 3:45. An 8:36 pace — a time of about 1:52 — for a half marathon seems too slow of a goal. I think — and I say think because I may change my mind as soon as I wake up — that a goal of 1:49 is realistic for this race.

Last year the one major hill in this race — probably about 3/4 of a mile long — zapped me coming down. Yes, down, but knowing the course better will help this year. The weather is also supposed to much nicer than a year ago and considerably cooler than the past few weeks.

One thing about this race is that I’m realizing how important it is for me to do this. Otherwise I feel like I could fall into this cycle of “just another long run.” I have to push myself to set the tone for the second half of training. I’ve had an unbelievable first 8 weeks of training and I want the next 8 to be even better.

I’m probably no more clear about this than I was went I first started this post. Honestly I’m eager to get out there and see what happens. And, more importantly, to have fun.

Image: Master isolated images / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

There it is. My goal for the Baltimore Marathon. 3 hours, 45 minutes.

That’s all I have to say about that … for now.

Before I jump the gun and call July 2011 the best running month ever, I want to get through this entire training cycle first. I was ready last night to call this month the best ever, but what if next month is even better?

There’s a lot of running to do between now and Oct. 15, so what I want to do is take a moment to reflect on this month and then keep my eyes on the big prize — the Baltimore Marathon. My goal is to not have “best ever” months, and I can certainly hand out the “best ever” awards later.

• I set two race PRs in the 5k and the 5 miler. I haven’t had two race PRs in a calendar month in four years.
• Overall, I’m a lot faster. Out of 22 runs, 12 of them were under a 9-minute mile pace. Last July I ran 20 times with just 5 of those runs under that pace. Up until the past few months, I haven’t paid much attention to my everyday pace from an overall perspective. Now that I’m paying attention to it, I want to go faster. I really like my new slow.
• One of those faster runs included a double-digit 10-mile training run in flat Ohio, definitely one of the best long runs I’ve ever had.
• I ran down a mountain.
• I did two doubles (running twice in a day).
• I ran 122.5 miles — the third highest mileage month ever, just 2.2 miles off September 2010. My highest mileage month was October 2007 when I ran 133 miles.

Looking ahead to August, I’ve established some mileage goals that I have never hit. Besides the mileage, I want to continue getting faster and stronger — it’s quality and quantity continuing to come together.

This week will be a cut-back week before what I am anticipating will be three very intense weeks. In two weeks I am running the Lynchburg Half Marathon. I will set a very specific goal for this race as I will treat it as a test of where I am physically. I am beginning to have some thoughts of what I want to do for Baltimore, but I need this race and the next several weeks to come together before I get specific about the marathon.

For the last full week of August I have written down a goal for something that I’ve never done — 40 miles. All told I have a goal of 140 miles for the month. How I get to that number is much more important than just hitting that number.

I am embracing what I have put in front of me, but as always I will change my goals if I have to.

Image: renjith krishnan / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

After Sunday’s wall-hitting run, I’ve taken the past few days to privately think about that moment and where I’ve been since last fall. It’s been a big wake-up call to focus on the work that remains and that I can’t get into a comfort zone of training that’s so easy to slip into.

It’s really hard to explain, but I’ve had a variety of thoughts this week that at first seem a bit jumbled, but they all fit together somehow.

• I’ve dusted of Matt Fitzgerald’s “RUN: The Mind-Body Method of Running by Feel” that I got for Christmas to find things that made sense then, but I never really grasped. I read much of that book at the lowest points of my running seven months ago. Once again, I feel like this book was made for me as it reaffirms so many of my approaches to running in the past couple of years. I need it now to get refocused. I hope by the end of summer to write an appropriate review.
• I read a good post this week over on Loving the Run about bucket lists, a term I’ve never really liked until now. I don’t have a bucket list; I’m afraid to make one. Right now it seems my thoughts are getting through the Baltimore Marathon uninjured, but is that the right frame of mind? I don’t really know, but if I’m questioning it, perhaps I should make my own bucket list.
• I’m getting very close to establishing a specific goal for the Lynchburg Half Marathon that is Aug. 13. The “non-race race” approach has worked in the past, but honestly this is a perfect time to test where I am both physically and mentally at a longer distance on a tough course. I’m not saying it will be a 100 percent all-out race, but I have a feeling it may be close. Blame the book or the wall-hitting or buckets on these thoughts, but I think the same approach as last year puts me back in this same-old same-old routine.
• Lastly, it’s worth mentioning that after Sunday’s run, I bounced back in the mid-day heat the next day for a lunch run of 4.1 miles. I treated it mentally as a recovery run with a co-worker; I felt like I complained the whole time, but we turned in a nice run at right about a 9-minute mile pace. I needed that run as much as I think I needed this wake-up call.

Now that I’ve put all this out there, it’s time to move on and make this the best week of training.