The Big Day

I did it! 26.2 miles, with no walking other than at the water stations, because really, you can't run and drink from those little cups without losing most of the liquid.

I did better and feel better than I thought. When I reached mile 20 I started thinking wow, this is now the longest distance I've run. But the training schedule paid off, and I finished feeling good.

Thanks to my awesome wife and lovely family for their support! Not just today but all year long. My running every day was a change to our schedule, but she handled it with grace and at some point must have decided that if she couldn't beat me, she should join me. And she looks great doing it!

I really enjoyed the race. Getting up early wasn't so much different from when I get up for work or for when I've been getting up for my long runs. The parking was a "bear," not that I want to overuse that term. Several people had mentioned to me that the course itself was very hilly and tough, but this year they changed the route and from what I understand it wasn't as bad as last year's. Training on the hills in our neighborhood and areas close by was definitely a help, and I didn't have any problems on the hills during the race.

I also don't feel like I ever hit a wall. I will say that the last mile was the longest of the race, because you feel like you're almost there when you get to mile 25 and you're thinking that what's left isn't so long compared to what you've just run, but sure enough, it's a real mile, plus a couple hundred yards thrown in for good measure. The weather was fantastic. There was one point at about mile 16 where we headed east about two miles, then turned and went back the same way. The way out on that also seemed like it went on forever, but once we made the turn it was nice to run past all the people who were behind me and hadn't made the turn yet.

I tried to keep a good, slow pace, and I was kind of worried about 4 miles in when I passed a couple of guys and they remarked they were doing about 9 minute miles, and I thought whoa, that's way too fast. I was shooting for somewhere in the 10-minute range, hoping to finish somewhere between 4:20 and 4:40. I thought that was a reasonable goal for my first marathon. At about mile 9 or 10 I picked up a pace group for a time of 4:10. I didn't join them but thought hey, I feel pretty good so maybe that's a reasonable time for me. I passed them at most water stops, but they usually passed me up again within a few minutes. At mile 20 I finally left them in the dust and didn't hear them again the rest of the way. There was a 2.5-mile uphill stretch at that point, and I passed a lot of people. I was kind of surprised at how many people stopped and walked (hill training pays off!). The official results aren't in yet, but I figure I came in somewhere between 4 hours and 4:10 (obviously).

Overall I had a lot of fun. Fun? Yeah, it was cool to be in a race with 6,000+ other people, about 1,000 who did the full marathon. When the half-marathon course split from ours at about mile 6 it suddenly seemed like nobody was running the full course. There's a lot of energy in such a big group of people, and hearing my family scream for me a couple of times was a big lift, too. People lined almost the whole length of the course, most all of them shouting encouragement, and I even got a few high-fives from kids watching from the sidewalks. I was crossing a bridge at about 24.5 miles and a guy was standing at the near end and clapped as I went by and said, "Looking good! Nice, tight stride this far in the race - you're looking great!" And of course I'm nodding and thinking to myself, you betcha!

I'm pretty sore from the waist down, mostly in the hips and calves, but not as bad as I'd expected. I'm taking a couple of weeks off from running to rest my poor aching body, so I'll probably hit the bicycle a few times before lacing up the shoes again.

That Turkey Trot in November will seem like a walk in the park after this!

Marathon Training is Over

After 554.25 miles in the past 18 weeks, including 5 today, all that's left is the 26.2 for the marathon on Saturday. I'll reflect on my training after the race, but right now all I can say is that I feel like I'm ready. The only kink in these last four months was a couple of weeks ago when I ran 9 instead of 15, but other than that I've adhered to the training plan. How Saturday goes will be the final word, I suppose. At least at this point the forecast for race day is showing a beautiful day with a lot of sunshine, lows in the lower 60's and a high of 78.

Tonight I waited until a front passed through so I wasn't running in the rain and any lightning that might be around, which worked to a degree. After 3.5 miles the rain came down again, and after another half mile there was a lightning stroke to the north. Far enough away to keep me from danger, but close enough to coax into getting home a little quicker.

And now for a couple of days of rest, and then the big day!

The Last Fartleks

What a beautiful day! Sunny, not too warm, just enough breeze to stay cool...wow, nothing to complain about!

Ran 5 miles around the neighborhood, doing 1-2-3-2-1 fartleks and enjoying the chance to stretch it and run fast. It made it easier knowing that it was the last time I'd be doing this before Saturday's race. Tomorrow will be the last run before the marathon, since I think having two days off before the long run will be beneficial.

The Last Week

This is it: the final few runs before the big one. Tonight it was very cool, in the low 60s, and a nice cool breeze that seemed to be in my face no matter which direction I turned. I ran 7 miles and it went down pretty smooth. This was my first chance to try out my new iPod Nano since I didn't take it out on Saturday when it was raining. It worked great, of course. God bless the iPod!

I forgot to mention that as of Saturday my training is complete. I ran down a new road still under construction. There was a Johnny-on-the-Spot by the side of the road (which was closed to traffic), so I jumped in, did my business, and hopped out again. I figured that was the last little detail I needed to practice before the actual race. Bring on the race!

Big Day for the Girls

It was rainy and dark this morning, but we all got up early and headed to a 5K race. Teri and the two older girls ran, in the rain, and finished the whole race without walking! I am so proud of my little wife! This is a huge deal for her, and I'm especially impressed that she did it in such rotten weather and never thought of backing out. And now she's talking about doing a Turkey Trot next month. Have we created a monster???

Once we arrived back home I dressed up and went for a nice, refreshing run in the rain myself. Funny how now I can run 11 miles and it feels like I'm just getting started. I really don't mind jogging in the rain since you're guaranteed to stay cool. Only three, maybe four, runs to go before the big one. This taper here at the end of my training is definitely helping. My body feels much better than it did a week ago. I'm not sure if I will take off the two days before the race or just one. I'm leaning toward two just to make sure my legs are as fresh as possible.

Prime Number Fartleks

7-5-3-2-1. Those are all prime numbers, right? That's what I did on my 6.5 mile run tonight. For some reason the thought that those are all primes came to me during the run. I can't explain why.

10 Days to Go

Tonight's easy 5.5 mile run was in lower 60's temperature-wise with a cool breeze coming out of the north. What a change from recent weeks. This past weekend it was even pushing 90, but it's starting to feel like fall. Let's begin the fun of looking at the weather for next Saturday. It's one day beyond the current 10-day forecast, but it looks like low-70's for the high and mid-50's for the low. Given my sometimes cynical nature, based on that forecast I'd say we should expect snow.

Recovery Tempo Run

First run back since Saturday's debacle, and all things considered it went pretty well. I ran to the auto shop to pick up my truck, and since it had been 80 hours (or so) since my last run, I compromised and did part recovery run and added in 15 minutes of a tempo run. The temperature was up today, so I was pretty much sucking wind by the end of that 15 minutes. It felt good to get out again, though, and I'm looking forward to tomorrow's run on the anniversary of 15 years with my wonderful lady. Wow, fifteen years. Who would have thought she could put up with me that long?

Biking Day

In the interest of giving my knees one more day off, I rode the bike today. I had to get my work ID from the truck, which is currently in the shop, so I jumped on the bicycle and had a nice 9-mile ride. I don't know what that translates to in running miles, but the equivalent is probably 3 to 4 miles. It was a beautiful day and I'm glad I was able to get out for a little bit.

I was thinking about Saturday's bad run, and I should probably be discouraged at having to cut the run short so close to race day, but I'm actually feeling pretty good. I had three 20-mile runs during my training, and four more that were 15.5 or longer. My eating has been good, so although I'm not super-confident, I feel like I can finish a 26.2 mile course. I sat in the bookstore last night and scanned a couple of books regardint the taper at the end of training, and so far, so good. Twelve days to go!

Absolutely Horrible Run

This was one of the worst runs I've ever had, and it started out with me wanting to turn around by the time I'd done a half mile. My knees, especially the left one, were both sore, and my left leg had that tired, dead feel all the way up to the hip. Really, I should have gone right back home, but instead I slogged through 9 miles, way short of the 15 I was supposed to do.

I'm not sure if it's because I ran yesterday whereas I usually take the day off before a long run. I'm trying not to be too discouraged, but it does make me think that the marathon, which is two weeks from today, is going to be tougher than I planned due to not getting all my miles in. If you go by weekly totals, this week wasn't too bad, but one more moderately long run would have been nice.

I did take my first ice bath when I got home, and my legs actually feel better after the run than before. That little trick may have just saved me from having to take extra days off. We'll see how I feel on Monday after resting a little.

A Friday Easy Run?

Yes, an actual sighting of a run on a Friday! I'm glad I took it easy last night since today I did 7 miles. Teri and I took the truck to get it serviced (100,000 miles!) and then ran back. It just wasn't her day so we did a little walking, and then I took the girls out for a 3.5 mile run. They did great and did it without stopping! I was proud of all of them. Next Saturday the girls run a 5K, and after today I'm confident they can all do it.

More Interval Avoidance

Seems like I'll do anything to cut intervals short. And this time bad math was involved. I'm planning on running tomorrow morning with the wife and kids, so I decided on my fourth interval that I didn't want to be worn out for that session, so instead of six intervals I did four. And somehow in my mind the warm-up and cooldown plus the intervals added up to 5 miles. Only when I was about done did I realize it all added up to 4.5, which is the first time in exactly six weeks that I've done less than 5. Today's lesson: don't try to do math when running, because apparently my brain can't handle both tasks at the same time.

Easy Seven Miles

I put the Old 97's on Teri's iPod and then went for a run - good running music. This was a good test for my knees since today my left knee - yes, it was my right one that was bugging me earlier this week - was tender. I ran the hills to Target and back along with a couple miles of another nice hill, and it seems everything turned out okay. The weather was perfect today, and after taking Jonathan to a Royals Open House and playing catch in the outfield with my son, the day itself couldn't have been much more perfect.

The Countdown Continues

I definitely like tempo runs more than I like intervals. Today I ran 6.5 miles, doing 24 minutes of it as a tempo run. I ran just slightly more than 3 miles in that time, meaning I was doing a sub-8 minute/mile pace. Amazing, especially since the second mile was against the wind. Ugh. That was tough, but I was thinking that race day could be windy just like that.

Yesterday was an unscheduled day off since my right knee was still tender from Saturday's run. The "experts" say to rest for a while after a race, and I figured since my long run was only 6 miles less than a race that I should probably take an extra day off. Then today for my tempo run I avoided hills and stayed on as much level ground as I could since I think it was the hills that caused my knee to feel that way in the first place. Tonight it feels okay, and I think I made the right choice in staying level. I almost stayed in and ran on the treadmill, but it doesn't give as good a workout as being outside does. And there's no wind to run against, either.