Losers Never Win??

Now I'm FINALLY in the midst of my first official marathon training program. I decided on Daniels for the quality workouts. Why is one of his quality workouts a 2.5 hour run?? But anyways, this past Saturday, I decided on race day to do this 10k race. This was the same 10k race that I did last year and had a major blowup. It was very hot... very humid... and very hilly!! In my opinion, anything 10k or less should be flat, unless its a XC race!!! I knew it was going to be a challenge going into it. I just had something to prove, that's all. The downside was, I did one of my quality sessions ( 5x1000 @ 4 min each with 3 min recovery) 3 days prior. I did a 6.5 MP run the next day, then did a 6 mile easy run the day before the meet. My legs were spent. But I had something to prove to myself... I wasnt going to let this course hover over my head forever with me saying "i wish this / that".

It was a cool day. It was raining all morning, but not too bad. Nothing near the torrential rain during my 25k!!!! It stopped raining by the time the start began. It was a combined 5k/10k. The 5k people do a turnaround at the halfway point, while we keep going out... heading for the hills. I started on the very first line. It was weird being there... never started there before. One thing I hate is "show-offs". There was this guy, I seen him at races before, acting like he was the stuff!! He lined up next to me. So the gun goes off!!!!! I take off, and the show-off takes off. He goes out like a bat outta hell. So I'm thinkin... "I'll ride him for a while and scare him into running faster than he anticipated". We get to the half mile point, I'm in 2nd overall place, and I look at my Garmin and its beeping outta control saying "Slow Down"... and my pace was 5:12 mpm!!! I was not winded at all. Then it struck me!!! I'm running a 10k... I THINK this guy is running the 5k, that's what he usually runs. So I intentionally slow down dramatically. Low and behold, he does the turn-around at the 5k marker. By this time, I had let several people pass me as I tried to slow even more, because I knew that hills were coming.

For some reason, I think I could have PR'd a 5k by a longslide the way I was feeling at the halfway point of the 5k... not winded the least!! But I was in the 10k and the worst was yet to come. Making it to our half way turnaround didn't seem too bad. I got there at 22 minutes flat. Perfect!! Just where I wanted to be, because I knew I had a long run tomorrow. I struggled for the last 2 miles!!! I felt like stopping for 30 seconds to catch my wind at the top of one of the hills, but remembered what happened last year here. This is where my better endurance came in. I just kept it steady... but I was SOO ready to end. Now after mile 5 we ran into the 5k walkers. They were like 5 abreast... I'm yelling "coming thru" and they act like they dont hear me. So I run between the groups and give a "gentle" bump as I pass. Some even had the audacity to be smoking while we trying to run. I hate that!! Go kill your lungs somewhere else... and dont come to me in the office talking about you have shortness of breath!! A couple of people passed me during the last mile... I had no intention on trying to catch them. I had to save that energy for tomorrow... the long run.

So I bring it in... I finish with a time of 44:50. Nothing near a PR, but I had no goal of such 2day. I just had to conquer the beast, but wanted under 45 minutes. Mission accomplished!!! Even though I didnt run all out, I was beat at the end!! Even to this day, I'm saying "I'm NEVER running THAT 10k again"!! So we enjoy the post race festivities... and they post the times and guess what?? I WON MY AGE GROUP!!! I'm so used to being a loser... this was a shock!! I actually won!! Now this is what my hundreds of miles of running is worth!!!! New found confidence, even for a slowpoke like me!! Now back to my regularly scheduled program... 12 miles in the morning!! And I run on...

Real Quick Update!!

Just wanted to post my OFFICIAL time for the Race 4 the Cure 5k. I came in at 20:33 and didnt even put in a full effort until the end. A 35 second adult PR. Hmmm... maybe I'll start doing the shorter stuff again, after I get to Boston of course!! Seriously considering doing a 10k this weekend to attempt a PR, but this is a hilly course!! I'll decide on raceday... and I run on...

I'm Faster, and Didnt Know It!!

Well, let me just give you the short and dirty. Ran the Race 4 The Cure in Detroit today. Haven't run a fast race since the Winter Blizzard 5k!! This race is a yearly tradition for me. But the prices are just rising and rising. If they raise it anymore, I wont be doing it. Plus its not even a chip race!! I understand its for a cause, but c'mon!! U make over a million dollars and cant get a cheap chip (at least at the finish)??

I got a sufficient warm-up. Didnt really feel in tip top shape. I did a VERY easy 4.5 miles yesterday at a tortoise 8:45 pace, because I hadnt run in 3 days. I didnt start at the front like I said I would, and of course the walkers were up there. I did some strides before the start just to see who was in the front line... kids ( I mean pre-teens ), fatboys, severe elderly, fuel-belters... WTH??? The start was very uneventful. I did the usual duck and dodge for the first half mile, but decided to run to the outside (slightly off the course, but a strait-a-way) to avoid the crowds. This course was flat as a pancake with a few turns. My goal was to run even splits, because I have a tendency to take off too fast, so I conciously kept it in check.

It was sorta windy, but no too much. I drafted a few people, but that's hard for me to do being 6'1". There were times where I wanted to just stride out and get lazy, but I kept saying "leg turnover leg turnover". I was told that I STILL looked like I was jogging out there. Hmm... here comes that recurring theme again... speedwork!!! I felt that the entire race was an even effort. Was a little winded, but not exhausted. Made the final turn and it was a sprint to the finish. I passed 3 people, got comfy, and then a guy crept from behind and passed me before I could react. He better not be the person to bump me from placing!! LOL. This race was a good confidence booster, as I have not PR'd in almost 2 years at this distance. My splits are as follows:

Mile 1 6:43
Mile 2 6:45
Mile 3 6:47
last 0.1 (forgot to stop Garmin)
Unofficial time of 20:54 per Garmin, so that's what I'm rolling with and a NEW PR!!!!!!!

1 PR down, 3 to go (10k, 10 mile, half) and I run on...

Just another week...

Nothing special this week. Had my 25k race and took a couple of days off. I'm so torn between what plan I'm going to do for my marathon and BQ attempt. I have the Daniel's book, but he doesnt give much detail... he kinda guides u to make your own plan. I want to do Pfitz and that's the most popular plan out there... but the 15 mile mid week run is going to be tough. Higdon is another, but I dont know much about his success... I hear that it is a lot of speedwork. That is what I need, but I dont want to sacrifice endurance. So its really between Pfitz and Daniels. After I run the Grand Rapids Marathon and if I dont BQ there, I'll follow the Higdon plan until the California International Marathon. If I dont BQ there, then it wasnt meant for me to BQ at this time. I gotta drop 15 minutes off of my marathon time to do this. Sounds doable, but i'm doubting myself running that fast in such a short period of time.

My runs this week have been sluggish again. I think I'm in a running rut or something. My leisure marathon pace runs of 6.5 miles seem like they are tempo runs. I did a long run today... I intentionally started off really slow and planned on it staying that way. Started with 8:13 first mile, then uphill x 2 miles 8:31 and 8:35. Honestly wanted to finish with a 8:15-8:30 avg pace for 13 miles. I hit a downslope for the next 3-4 miles or so, and my pace went down to 7:39 but I wasn't pushing it. I ran with a little caution around mile 8, this is where this 4 foot dog always start to chase me for whatever reason. He was not out today. I swear, I keep forgetting to buy some mase for this rascal!! Dont know why his owners wont keep a leash on him. Mile 10 I hit at 1:20:30. I am going a little too fast!! This is a long run, not a race or tempo!! Started back on an incline for 2 miles, then it leveled out for the last mile. I dont know what happened... but I got a burst of energy and I was SOOOO focused on that last mile, I dropped a 7:45 and felt like I could run forever... didnt want to stop.

My marathon training will officially start at the beginning of next month. I'm doing a 18 week cycle. With this, I hope to get a 5k PR and a half marathon PR in the mix, and I run on...

Runnin in Da Rain!!!

Today was my big day for my 25k race!! I have been waiting for this for soooo long!! I felt ready for it even though I haven't done much long running as of recent. I made sure EVERYTHING was in order. Got up in plenty of time, had BREAKFAST which did not include a muffin!! Just a protein bar and some yogurt. Tried for some coffee, but the cheap hotel (HoJo) had a broken coffee maker. I swear, this hotel was really GHETTO!! They had karyoke night and was blasting music til 2am... I'm on the second floor and hear everything. People drunk in the parking lot making loud noise. But it didn't let it faze me. What did faze me was the lightning and thunderstorms all night!!

I get to the race in enough time to get a sufficient warmup. The sun had started to break, but it was a little chilly... but I dont mind that. Come time for the 25k race... I line up at the 7:30/mile pace group. NO NO NO!! I'm going to start low and go slow!! So the gun starts. It was kinda weird, there was like 4 start mats and some didnt have any wires. Didnt know when to actually start my Garmin. But the start was SOOO crowded. I tried to go slow, but my pace was still around 7:30'ish. Then outta no where, the dark clouds came over and it started pouring rain... I mean POURING!! I could barely see 20 feet in front of me. I wore my Fastwitch 3 shoes (of course it always rain when I do and my feet got soaked by mile 3).

The course had some major flooding, so they had to divert the course a little to avoid it. That turned out to be horrible!! They detoured us to the "rolly-polly's". If Boston is anything like this course, then I am going to have second thoughts about running that!! All we did all day was go up down up down up down up down up down...... U die going up the hills, then recover during the downhill only to get wore out again going up!! These were not just simple hills, they lasted like half mile each!! There was one hill at mile 2-3 that was a killer... but we got to recover during mile 4-5. And I have run in the rain before, but this was rediculous!!!!! Puddles everywhere!! But I figured, if I had to do it, everybody else was doing it and feeling the same thing too.

I felt really good through most of the race. I now know that I MUST get in consistant speedwork and have to build my endurance more by doing longer runs if I'm going to compete at this long distance stuff. No more of these 6 mile runs here and there. I was planning on eventually catching up to the 7:30 group, but the pacer just disappeared. When we did the turnaround, I saw the 7:00 group and was looking for the 7:30 to guage how far behind I was, and he was not there... maybe I missed him. But it sucked, because I was using that to determine my ultimate place. I could have used him after mile 12, because from then to the end, I was like "Uh... when is it going to end?? I'm soooo ready for it to be over!!!" And during that stretch, I think this was part of the diversion, because it had so many turns, like every block, and we went thru a residential area. Just an aside... why do people SMOKE in the audience knowing that we need all the clean air we can get while running... RUDE!!

These are the Garmin splits... I'm sure they are off a little
Mile-1 7:31
Mile-2 7:23
Mile-3 7:59 (Oh this hill is killing me... the rain!! Where's an ark when u need 1)
Mile-4 7:39
Mile-5 7:02 (There IS a God, thank you for the downhill)
Mile-6 7:23 (Took a Gu... still raining hard, feeling an upchuck... nope not letting it happen again... fight it off, it mental strictly mental)
Mile-7 7:26 (Just more of the same rolly-polly)
Mile-8 7:32 (Run time is exactly 1hr and some change... another Gu... chocolate "yukk")
Mile-9 7:39
Mile-10 7:45 (Run time 1:15 and some change... Ok, I'm starting to feel it now... fun is over)
Mile-11 7:42 (More of the same)
Mile-12 7:36 (Wow, I ran that pace, sure did FEEL like it 2!!)
Mile-13 7:47 (Run time is 1:38:25, per Garmin... I'm really not liking how I'm feeling)
Mile-14 7:50 (Ok, wuzzup with all these turns... can I get a strait-a-way PLEASE??)
Mile-15 7:51 (Oops, I havent took a drink in like 5 miles... I am feeling dizzy, really dizzy)
Last 0.5'ish 8:07 (I bring it in, nearly collapse at finish, I NEED something to drink... I feel like i'm going to faint!!)

Ha, they get all nervous at the finish bringing me a wheelchair and stuff, I'm like "Bring me something 2 drink, not a wheelchair u clowns!!" Well, I did stumble into the fence, LOL, so they had to be a lil worried. My goal was to get under 2hrs and my final time was 1:59:39. When I turned the corner and saw the timer saying 2 hours, I was like "Shoot!!! Another letdown", but that was gun-time, not run-time. So that motivated my slothful tail to sprint the last 200 meters, dizzy and all.

I'm ok with the results... I'm not happy that I got 10th place!! I was in the Clyde Division and the "horses" showed up again!! Here is a link to the top 25... and Here is the link to my official time... hmm, can u say "U NEED ENDURANCE"?? It seems that the competition is just getting better... last year my time would have gotten like 6 or 7th place. Time to up my game. I'm going to start the Daniel's Marathon Training Plan, but take some time off just to rest and do short races until summer... and I run on...

My Pacifier!!

Well, today I had my 4 mile fun run. I have not run all week, mainly to let my body rest, but did do a easy 6.5 miler last night. This run was for the Lighthouse, a fundraiser to help the homeless and feed the poor. I dont mind entering / paying for stuff like this. This was to be a training run for me, as I have my 25k next Saturday. I thought, "why not just cruise the course two times", so I did. It was a relatively small run... the walkers trumped us by a landslide!! This was the first year that they had done the "run" part, but the walk has been going for 27 years. It was OBVIOUS that it was put on by non-runners. I ate a decent breakfast (cereal of course). Got to the race, they had all the goodies at the start... even... MUFFINS!!!!!! I'll pass thank you very much! LOL.

We start the race (no timer no chip... just "GO!!"), and were advised to run on the sidewalks. OK?? This race was on the Eastside of Pontiac... now U KNOW u can barely WALK on those sidewalks. The first 1/4 mile, I hit an uneven part of sidewalk and make a nasty spill!!! Scuffed up my hands, and gouged my shoulder!! People looking at me like a fish in a bowl from their houses, so I played it off and said "I meant to do that", but it was actually kinda painful... and I re-hurt my ankle AGAIN. lol. But I got up, licked my wounds, and kept on.

There was like NO competition. Good, because I did not feel like racing this. But there was one guy who made this into somewhat a race. He kept me honest at 8 minute miles for the first 2. Little did he know, that was marathon pace (and slower) for me. Then I notice that the pace was a lil faster... he had me at 7:40 pace for the next mile. (Oh yeah, I had a Garmin screwup... stopped it midrace and 4got to restart it). No problem. I could hear him breathing a lil bit!! Ha ha ha... Just to let him know what he was dealing with, I picked it up to 7:15 for half a mile... I started to lose him... so I slowed back down to run with this guy again. So we get like a quarter mile from the finish and I HAD to show out!! I put it in high gear and gallopped at 6:55 pace for the rest. He couldnt keep up. TWURP!!! I didnt break a sweat... how dare he try and test me??

So the fun-run is over. And to my surprise, I get the Top Male Award. I kinda didnt feel like I deserved it, because I just jogged the entire 4 miles, but I'll take it!! This kinda made up for my debacle last week, so now I'm out of my lil funk and heading back to the trenches to tune up for Boston!! But for now I have bragging rights!! Feels good to be a winner for a change... even if the competition stunk!!!!!!!

So this race has helped to pacify me from last week's letdown. I think I may give myself a cortisone shot in my ankle... now I'm dealing with a trochanteric bursitis in my left hip... so cortisone to that too... this 25k is going to be perfect for me, no letdowns. But until then, I'm the reigning champion awaiting next years challenger... and I run on...

The EGG!!

Well, it was bound to happen one day!! I was just having too much luck dodging bullets lately!! My half marathon turned into a disaster!! The whole week I was feeling kinda sluggish... I dont know why, even my easy runs were hard. Once again, my fueling was a major issue. These "away" runs always get me... I forget about breakfast when I pack my stuff the day before. So i woke up the day of the marathon in ample time. Decided to go downstairs to the giftshop to grab some niblets or whatnot... why was it closed?? Luckily I had a disgusting tasting Oatmeal bar stashed. Ate that around 7am (race at 8am). I definitely didnt want to have a midrace hunger spell like my last half. Started on a new type of energy drink... I need to just stick to my Ripit!! Was still kinda hungry, so I bought a blueberry muffin at a stand in the lobby of the hotel. Killed it in 2 minutes flat!!! We hopped on the bus to take us to the start in some city called Perrysburgh, OH. All seemed well to the start. I made sure I was at the front, to avoid the 1/4 mile walkers.

I set my Garmin on a different setting. I did a thing called Virtual Partner and set it for 1:38:00 for the half, which would be a PR. Only thing about that is it doesnt tell you how fast you are going, only if you are ahead of your pacer on the watch. My warmup was "ok". The start was very uneventful... I felt good, but REALLY sluggish. I intentionally left my headphones so I could concentrate on my breathing and form. Was a GREAT idea... I was doing well...

Mile 1 - 6:43 (whoa tiger, slow down!!!)
Mile 2 - 7:18 (thats a lil better, but u are still ahead of the pacer)
Mile 3 - 7:20 (Im not tired, but just am not feeling this race... something aint right)
Mile 4 - 7:19 (no change, but I'm WAY ahead of my pacer on Garmin)
Mile 5 - 7:34 (more like it... perfect split)
Mile 6 - 7:39 (more of the same, but now something REALLY aint right)

At this point, I'm around 43:50 near the 10k, this is a 10k PR and I aint even racing a 10k race. But all of a sudden, the stomach had a word with me!!! Something in there said "Let me out!!!!" Lo and behold, I had to run off the course and got sick!!! Stomach cramped, and oops, there goes the muffin too!!! It didnt help that it was HOT too... it was 80 degrees and all sun this day. Not to mention that we had snow drizzle earlier this week... no time for acclimation... what a way to get broken into summer!! After this brief stint on the sidelines, I began my journey again, but I never stopped my Garmin.

Mile 7 - 9:37

Ok, what is really going on?? This time its bad. Back to the sidelines again. This time for real!!! It was over, I was really feeling sick. Stopped and some gracious person in the crowd gave me a bottled water, so I gulped, regurged, gulped, regurged... so now its just time for me to walk, BUT WAIT... I'm 6 miles from the finish in the heat!!!

Mile 8 -18:04

No way... the longer I'm out here, the longer the ordeal is going to last. So I got a second wind, and I think most of my sickness was gone now. So I decide to get back into this thing!!

Mile 9 - 7:39 (why am I killing myself, there is no PR in site... just bring it in)
Mile 10 - 8:46 (chatting with other runners)
Mile 11 - 8:21 (uh, oh!! one more wretching episode... just walked thru the gatorade stop)
Mile 12 - 9:35 (did more walking and chatting... alot of ppl walking, it was getting hot)

My thought was to just walk it in, but some guy "egg'd" me on to finish this last mile... he said "Haven't you run a mile before? Get back in here!!" So we ran side by side until the finish. Just about mile 12.75 there was a lady passed out in the street likely from dehydration and the paramedics were all over her. I was just glad to see the end in site.

Mile 13 - 8:30 (Oh the finish could not come any sooner)
Final time - 1:56:26

I dropped a MAJOR egg this time. Im soooo upset because this was my PR run in the making... I hoped to drop like 2-3 minutes and was on pace for about a 1:36:00. I guess I'm a fool when it comes to fueling for these long races, and the heat didnt help. I'm such a LOSER!! Today I am unusually sore, like I ran my first marathon sore!! I am not doing ANY running this week, I'm giving my body some rest. This 4 miler is just a training run next saturday. I need everything to be perfect for this 25k, and its a tough course from what I hear. I'm going to be ready... and I rest on...