Recently in Run, Forrest, Run! Category

I was reading about Steve's adventure of running on snow-packed icy paths and sent along a note in response. In it, I rave for the new Ice Joggers I got for Christmas. Without a doubt, they are the best grips that I have ever tried. And I've tried two. These are my second. I've also worn yak-trax.

The Ice Joggers are better because of the carbide spikes. Instead of the yax-trax's springs, which only sit on top of the ice, the ice joggers' spikes actually penetrate the ice and hold form. I've run across glare ice without breaking stride. I can turn snow-packed corners without missing a beat, and speed across ice covered sidewalks with no fear.

If you live in an area with snow, freezing rain, or other cold-weather disasters, and you want to run outside, you need these.

One of my favorite distance sets is to increase your distances to a max and then work your way back down. It kind of looks like this:

Last night, I did this set, working the 300s & 500s hard, and maintaining a steady, moderate effort on the 400s & 600, while warming up and cooling down the 200s, respectively. Nothing too earth shattering, but I did like the results of the two 500s. With one week left before the Alumni meet and my annual swimming of the 500 against the JV, I was psyched to see some OK times. Because of the mountain, I didn't go my hardest, but I did concentrate on form and kicking. That lead to two 6:08s, which is just over 1:13 per 100. And then on the second 300, I went a 3:35, slightly slower than my T-pace average of 3:32, but again, I wasn't going all out and it was after 3000 other yards. This means I should hopefully be able to go under 5:40 next week, which is the main goal.

In other disciplines, Coach Will Smith has been keeping the bike training lively with all sorts of intervals, big gears, high rpms (120!), and long, grind it out type rides. I've been working my way through season 2 of The Wire for the shorter rides and look towards other action movies for longer rides. This weekend it's Hancock. I'm totally getting my money's worth in Netflix.

Running has been easier, but that's on purpose. The first few runs after the marathon were quite surprisingly grueling. Yet another reminder at just how tough a marathon is. So we started slow and short to get used to running again. I've worked myself up back to where I think I need to be. In fact, just this past Sunday, I covered 8.2 miles in 1:09. The best part is that my perceived level of effort matches years past, but the actually pace is faster. I owe all of that to the marathon training.

I should be getting my next training plan from Coach Will any day now, which will start my formal training for Ironman New Orleans 70.3. I can't wait to see what type of pain he has in store. Bring it!

First, many thanks to all my awesome family and friends that cheered for me on such a miserable day! You are awesome and I owe you so much for being there. I also appreciate the well wishes from those that couldn't be there in person. It makes a difference knowing you all care.

It's been several days now since the Twin Cities Marathon. The race and its aftermath have all sunk in, and I hope to capture the full range of emotions that I felt that day and since in the following paragraphs.

This is it. This weekend I'm running the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon. Sunday's race will be my 45th run in the last 16 weeks. It didn't start so well. In the first two weeks, I seriously doubted that I could do it. I wasn't making my intervals, struggling to meet the tempo paces and just frustrated about the whole thing. So I reworked my paces and found that I could work hard and meet the targets. I was on my way.

Of those previous 44 runs, four have been for twenty miles, several were 18 miles, and even more were 13 miles. In my last 13 miler, I extended it by a tenth to complete the half-marathon and finished nine seconds faster than my personal best set two years ago. Kris biked along with me for many of the long runs, serving up water, Gatorade, conversation and support. Each long run got faster, and some got harder. Some where in the heat of the summer, some were on hills. One was on both. (That one hurt.) But it all built to this weekend.

My limits were tested. There was big breakthrough learning that I could go fast, and I didn't need a watch to tell me so. I learned that what I expected to be easy, wasn't. Why should it be? I had to learn to train hard and recover. And do it all over again. Limits had to be broken.

The course scares me. It's billed as the most beautiful urban course. But they don't mention anything about the three miles of hills before the finish line. My cousin made a great observation that the race's halfway point is at mile 21, just before the hills hit. So that makes the halfway point of the race one mile beyond my furthest run.

I'm pushing my limits with a 3:30 goal. I know, I know, it's my first marathon, I should know better. First marathons never go as expected. But it's better to push yourself and learn from what happens than to set the bar low and not learn anything at all.

But this is it. As nervous as I am, I'm ready. I just need to keep my wits about me and I will have a great day. Should be fun.

I'm #3792. You can track me on-line on the race site on Sunday. See how it compares to my projected pace.

So it's been a bit since I've update. Most of my training has been for the Twin Cities Marathon. Work and vacations have taken up the rest of it. Along with the big Ironman Wisconsin weekend, I've had a breakthrough in my running. Simply put, too much information can be a hindrance.

My Garmin Forerunner can tell me everything I need to know while I'm running. Really, really cool. As a dork, I tend to obsess over the information while I'm running. But, that was distracting and my running suffered. So on Friday's 10-mile tempo run, I stopped looking at my watch, save for the mile splits. I had such a successful run then, I decided to see what I could do on this week's 15-mile long run. (Which I had to delay until this morning b/c of the IM WI festivities.) And wouldn't you know, I was able to average 10 seconds/mile better than I was schedule to. In fact, I broke my PR for a half-marathon distance (13.1 mi). Take a look at the table below to see the results.

Just one more 20 miler this weekend, then it's taper time! Now I need to start to figure out just how to pace myself through the full 26.2 miles.

To top it all off, it was really something to watch the City wake up around me. Starting at 5 AM in pitch black with very few others being active, I finished after dawn at 7 AM. Just something cool to witness.

After aquathon #3 was delayed twice due to blue-green algae blooms, aquathon #4 was upon us. My legs are tired from marathon training. The hamstrings are tight, my calf is on the verge of cramping, and my shins are a touch on the sore side. I notice Mark Harms, local triathlete extraordinaire, and instantly everyone's gunning for second. "At least I can draft off him (in the swim)," I say to myself.

SWIM
Right off the bat, and I'm behind. After a few lunges and it's me & Mark. Then it's just me. Then it's Mark & me again. Then just me. Mark was all over the place, hardly keeping a straight line. Oh well. I'll just swim by myself. I concentrate on my stroke as I tend to drop my head. Long strokes...breathe right once in a while...keep the head up...sight for the buoy..."Why isn't it getting closer?"...long strokes...so on and so forth. The wind carried the second buoy off course to make the course a touch long, and I notice (with my picked up head) the bubbles in front of me. I surge a bit to latch on Mark's wake and actually catch a draft to the turn. Then, he's gone. Way to the right. Sigh. I make my way to the transition and let some thoughts creep into my head that perhaps I'm in front? Nope. Mark comes in from the right and nips me by a few seconds.

RUN
Mark is out of transition first and I'm not too far behind. And then he's gone again. Not to the right, but right off the front. After the first turn, I couldn't see him. I commented to the volunteer at the turn, "Man, he's fast!" And she replied that he beat her to her spot. I was induced by his speed and went out too fast. At the first mile, it felt like I should be at the 2.5 mile mark. I blame the marathon training, but not necessarily unhappy with it. I laid back for the next mile, and then tried to build up the final mile. Coming down the final hill into finishing stretch, two guys pass me, but encourage me to finish with them. I pick it up, so do they. I hold my pace, they pull ahead. I finish just behind, collapsing to my knees on the timing mats.

Overall, not too bad given the lack of non-running training and crazy life this summer.Everyone concluded that the swim course was long. It was about a minute longer for me, so I was right at a PR if you take a minute off. I've got two more months before the marathon and hopefully can get all the house projects done by then.

I ran a whole twenty miles yesterday! I think that's my longest, continuously running effort ever. The legs are a bit stiff today, but not sore. A massage would really hit the spot right now.

BUT, I would be remiss to not thank my awesome wife, Kris, who was my magnificent sherpa. She woke up early just to bike next to me, carry extra water bottles and keep me company for the nearly 3-hour run. We've got a nice routine going every Sunday morning.

It was a perfect day with slight cloud cover, no wind and warming temps. I ended up seeing the same guy in three different locations each one further from the previous, with two different groups. He was old school; no shirt, no heart-rate monitor, no GPS, a simple watch, longer hair, and bushy, 70s-era mustache. He let out a loud "HI!" which grew louder with every successive pass. I loved it.

Here's the route if you're interested. Below is my pace and heart rate per mile for each mile in the run. I should've averaged 8:45 per mile, but I felt too good to slow down. Especially those middle miles, I don't know what got into me, but I was really cruising quite well. I'll have to remember to hold back in the race, though; can't be expending too much energy too early.

Unknown to me, it was 85° out with a dewpoint of 68. Good conditions for a interval run -- NOT! My body told me so about four-tenths of a mile into my second of three mile intervals.

I struggled through the first one and significantly missed my scheduled pace of 6:30/mile. Immediately starting the second I felt weak. I fought off the overwhelming need to stop for only so long. I caved at 0.51 miles and rested, fighting for any breath I could manage.

And then when I convinced myself to start up again, my legs didn't respond. Empty and weak, I fought to continue running, no matter what the pace. That's when I got a touch dizzy and felt my face get flush with heat. I stopped my watch and quit the workout and started walking home, overheated and frustrated.

After I cooled down and thought about what I was doing to myself, I looked again at the training paces and corresponding marathon goal pace and realized my mind was writing checks the body simply couldn't cash. Why did I ever think that a 3:23 marathon was possible? Some day maybe, just not now.

So I'm retooling and re-timing. With a new goal and set of paces, I'll be able to meet my training times (hopefully), which keeps from getting frustrated mentally, and best yet, allow my body to see another week. I should've done it after the first week, but I blamed the blisters and not the pace. Let's hope the next 11 weeks works out.

I've found that running intervals is a bit like taking cough syrup: It sucks to do, but it's good for you in the long term.

Above is my second interval workout as tracked by my watch. It was 4x800m at 6:14 pace. Note how that red line (my hear rate) creeps upward as the workout progresses. That means it hurt.

A while ago, I decided that it would be a good idea to run a marathon. It still is a good idea, don't get me wrong. The plan is to train using the FIRST "3plus2" method. The method concentrates on three key running sessions supported by two non-impact days. The three days include: intervals, tempo runs, and a long run. The paces are all dictated on your best 5K pace, which set me up for a relatively fast training pace. So fast, that I highly doubt I can sustain it race day, but I will do my best to meet the training goals, however difficult. And words are all fine and dandy, but with the rubber hits the pavement it's a whole other story.

My first workout in the program was 3x1mile intervals at a 6:47/mi pace.(!) Halfway through the second mile, I wimped out and stopped. It surprised me how fast it took my body to shut down after my mind said "I hurt. Please stop." in a matter of a few steps, I stopped running. I rested a bit, and finished it out. The same thing happened to the final interval, but about three-fourths of the way through. By the time I was done, I had serious doubts about the rest of training. That weeks tempo was replaced by the Auqathon and now it was time for a long run. Life pushed it from Saturday to Monday evening. It went well until the end when I took my socks off to find some really nice blisters, one was a really nice bloody one.

So this whole training thing really isn't getting off to the best start. I talked with Justin at Endurance House about the blisters and he suggested using the "runner's knot." I tried with the second week's tempo run, but still got some hot spots. Guh. Back to the Endurance House for some new shoes.

So that gets me back to the chart above and what is the second interval workout since I missed it last week. This time, as hard as it got, I didn't quit. Maybe it was because of the halves, but I had some mental fortitude to finish out each one without stopping. And it paid off, too. I split 3:10, 3:07, 3:07, 3:09 for the four intervals, right on target. I gave myself a congratulatory clap and warmed down.

I'm eager to get to the tempo run and test the shoes on the long run. Hopefully I'll find the time while we're ripping the siding off our house.