The Monthly Log 12/31/08

Number of Runs: 17
Total Distance: 151.22 miles
Total Time: 23:43:12
Longest Run: 20.04 miles
Avg Distance: 8.90 miles
Avg Time: 1:23:42
Avg Pace: 9:24/mile
Medical: Calves, right shin, sore nipples
Events: None

Another month comes to an end; my last full one before the big day. No races, but plenty of distance records, and despite some weather reschedules and some minor niggles, I only missed two short runs.

The month started with a 15 miler, a challenging run in the early morning cold. A minor calf strain resulted, but an extra day off seemed to do the trick and it hasn't flared up in a while now despite the continual building of mileage. The right shin has been iffy on and off, but any pain hasn't ever increased to a worrying level, so the "devil I know" is still just that and nothing more. I noted the sore nipples. At one point, they actually bled, so I finally took them seriously and bought some medical tape. The last few runs, including Sunday's 20 miler, I've taped them up and they're no longer an issue.

Ice and snow were intermittently factors, but in fact, I've been fairly lucky. All my major long runs are in the books except for one 13 miler this weekend (and early reports are that the weather will be fine then too).

In many ways, I'm struggling to come up with anything interesting to say, and in marathon training 'uneventful' is almost always good. My pace was solid, slightly faster than November, again despite longer average run distances. My shoes held up well. I learned that GU tastes way better in the heat of the run than it does as an impromptu dessert food. Not exactly riveting stuff eh? Good.

The highlight was probably the 20 mile run. 20 miles is something that requires concentration, application and a certain stubbornness. At the beginning, you feel good, but there's so much in front of you it's almost something you don't want to think about. About half way, there's the aspect of knowing that as far as you've already run, and with fatigue already somewhat of a factor, you still have that same distance ahead of you. Towards the end, the challenge is simply to keep going and try as best you can to ignore all the signals your body is sending you to stop. It's an episodic, phase-like progression, and one that I'd imagine closely replicates the marathon experience itself. For me, getting through it, and getting through it healthy was essential. Having run twice since without repercussions, things look good on that front, so now it's simply about staying on my feet and not doing anything stupid.

I think it was about mid-September the first time I really thought about doing the Arizona marathon. At that time, it was 110-120 days away. I knew I'd tried before and failed, and I knew that I was two years younger then even. I knew my shins were already slightly tender, and I knew I was too heavy. In other words, best intentions notwithstanding, I really had no idea if I'd make it to the start line. Now, that 110-120 days is down to 18 (and only 15 before I fly to Phoenix). I've done eight runs of 10+ miles (having done zero before then), and I'm virtually pain free. I've raised $705 for charity, with more expected. I've got my race number... this thing... it's really going to happen!

Happy New Year!

Please visit my 'Make Cures Happen' fundraising page and make a donation for research into leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. Also, check out my blog entry for more.

The Daily Log 12/31/08

Distance: 8.09 miles
Time: 1:10:30
Pace: 8:43/mile
Weight: 194lbs
Terrain: Rolling
Temperature: Cold and clear
Gear: Gobbler Grind Shirt, Adidas Long Running Pants over Adidas Running Shorts, Adidas Running Fleece (discarded after first 2 miles), Reebok Stocking Cap, iPod Shuffle, Nike Air Zoom Vomero Shoes
Hydration: Water
Fuel: None
Medical: Minor right shin
Recovery: Stretches, ice, Aleve
Shoe Mile Count: 276.15 miles
Days until Marathon: 18

I went to Garry Gribble's yesterday to see about some new shoes, but after inspecting my old ones and checking to see if I had any trouble with them, the guy said I'd probably be fine with the ones I have and since he's an expert and turned down an easy sale, I decided to trust him and go with it. At $125, I don't want to buy something I don't need yet.

So I laced up the old guys and headed out for my mid-week middle distance run of 8 miles. It was another great day for running. Much colder than yesterday, but no wind and sunny skies. After warming up I didn't even need the fleece and completed the last 6 miles without it.

My legs felt strong. Very minor right shin ache, but no worse than yesterday, and everything else felt stronger and more recovered from the weekend. My pace was fairly brisk, but I've stopped obsessing too much about that. As long as I don't feel totally spent afterwards, as far as I'm concerned I haven't overdone it, and I felt fine today.

So another month is over and I'm still mobile, healthy and strong, with just 18 days left until the payoff. Of course, tomorrow will also mark the first day of 2009. I'll give you one guess as to what my main New Year's resolution will be.

Please visit my 'Make Cures Happen' fundraising page and make a donation for research into leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. Also, check out my blog entry for more.

The Daily Log 12/30/08

Distance: 4.08 miles
Time: 45:16
Pace: 11:05/mile
Weight: 194lbs
Terrain: Mostly uphill first half, mostly downhill second half
Temperature: Warm and windy
Gear: Gobbler Grind Shirt, Adidas Running Shorts, Gobbler Grind Running Cap, iPod Shuffle, Nike Air Zoom Vomero Shoes
Hydration: None
Fuel: None
Medical: Minor right shin
Recovery: Stretches, ice, Aleve
Shoe Mile Count: 268.06 miles
Days until Marathon: 19

Jill's off work this week so she asked if I wanted to run with her today. As it was important I take this one easy, I thought this was an ideal way to keep my pace down. As an extra precaution, I also lined up a pretty soft music selection so I wouldn't get too pumped up and start sprinting off to some Slipknot or something. Really, it was a great recovery over the old Santa Fe trail. The weather was great, and although tired, my legs were basically fine except for some very minor right shin pain - I almost didn't even note it above, but I wouldn't want you to think this thing was too easy now, would I?

Please visit my 'Make Cures Happen' fundraising page and make a donation for research into leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. Also, check out my blog entry for more.

The Official Stamp

I received final confirmation yesterday from the marathon organizers. Most of what they sent was on their website, but the one thing new was that I received my race number. I am #5546. Nothing particularly dazzling about that, but I suppose it adds a certain official stamp to proceedings.

One thing I'd forgotten was that I'd put down 4:15:00 as my predicted finish time. If the race goes as well as some of my long training runs have, that should actually be quite conservative, but that's alright. I'll be lined up in a corral with a similar speed of runner, and that will hopefully curb any temptation to go out too strong. The 20 miler has given me a lot of confidence, but I still have no clue what it is to run further than that, and I've read many articles that claim that a marathon doesn't really start until mile 20. Yikes.

Going to try to get back out on the roads today. My legs are still plenty tired, but I think a slow 4-miler should be doable. The weather's way too nice to pass up.

Please visit my 'Make Cures Happen' fundraising page and make a donation for research into leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. Also, check out my blog entry for more.

The Shoe Reality

It seems almost unbelievable to me that a pair of shoes I wore for the first time a little over 2 months ago already have 260+ miles on them. If I complete my final training runs as planned, another 60 would go on them by the race. Opinion is divided as to how long a pair of running shoes should be worn... the weight of the owner, the economy of the person's stride and the quality of the shoes themselves are all factors. What seems clear however is that mine will have many more miles on them than is advisable for a race of 26.2 miles. After doing some research, although not everyone agrees on the optimum wear to have on a pair of race shoes, I haven't found a single one that said you should run a marathon with more than 150 miles on them, so I'm going to have to bite the bullet and buy a new pair.

Given how successful the current pair are, I intend getting the exact same ones again, and will wear them for my middle distance and long runs from now until the race, keeping my old ones for the shorter distances. That should break them in without wearing them down, and leave me in good shape. Pains me to spend the money, but it would pain me more if my legs were to break down at mile 15 because I'm running in worn out shoes.

Who was it said that running was a cheap hobby? Give me his address so I can T.P. his house.

Please visit my 'Make Cures Happen' fundraising page and make a donation for research into leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. Also, check out my blog entry for more.

The Daily Log 12/28/08

Distance: 20.04 miles
Time: 2:59:35
Pace: 8:58/mile
Weight: 194lbs
Terrain: Moderate inclines and declines over first half, gently rolling second half
Temperature: Cool, sunny and breezy
Gear: Adidas Long-Sleeved Climacool Shirt, Adidas Running Shorts, Gobbler Grind Running Cap, iPod, Nike Air Zoom Vomero Shoes
Hydration: Water, Gatorade
Fuel: Tri-Berry GU Energy Gel
Medical: None
Recovery: Stretches, ice, Aleve, menthol rub
Shoe Mile Count: 263.98 miles
Days until Marathon: 21

And so it's in the books. 20 miles.. the Mount Everest of the training portion. My legs are sore and I feel like I want to hibernate, but I got through it and now can start tapering for the race. The home stretch, if you will, is finally here. If my training were itself a marathon, I'd be at around mile 24. The hard work is done, now I just need to stay upright and I'll make it.

So, where to begin... I feel like I want to tell a big long story. After all, I just dedicated almost 3 hours of my life to the thing. These posts might be dry and repetitive, but so is training for a marathon (except when it rains). I suppose I will spare any random viewers from rambling on all night about it, but you know... give me a little rope, it's not every day you run 20 miles (thank God).

How about I confine it to some bullet points?

Weather: Perfect. Unlike the trying conditions for last week's 18 miler, it was relatively warm, the roads were clear, and although a little breezy, I really couldn't have asked for much better conditions in late December.
Course: Intermittently hilly over the first half, the second half was, by design, pretty gently rolling with only a couple of inclines. It certainly wasn't as flat as Arizona will be, but even Jill (who ran her first 10 miler today over a similar second half route) liked the course, which definitely should tell regular readers something about the terrain.
Injuries: None really. My shin was just a little sore for the first mile or so, but I didn't notice it after that. Little niggles cropped up here and there, but nothing that persisted, and although everything hurt at the end, early signs are that it's simply a result of my legs hitting hard ground God knows how many thousands of times. My primary goal for today was to make it through without getting injured and, knock on wood, I think I pulled it off.
Pace: 8:58/mile was certainly faster than I was aiming for, but when I finished, I knew if my life had depended on it, I probably could have muscled my way through another few miles, so I will take that to mean I didn't overdo it. I never felt like I was going too quickly. I wore an iPod today (until the batteries annoyingly went out about 45 minutes from the end), and was singing along with the tremendous songs I'd selected, so I clearly wasn't overly taxed.
Energy: Through about 15 miles, I felt fine, but by 18 I was definitely struggling. I waited too long to take my gel this time and although I finally did (at mile 18), it took about a mile to kick in, so the 19th mile was without question my slowest and hardest. It's possible I'd hit the infamous "wall", although I've always assumed that hitting the wall was like falling in love - if you're not sure, it hasn't happened. So maybe not. Anyway, once the fuel had taken effect, I was able to pick it back up again on the final mile, and a quick check of my watch revealed that a slight uptick in pace would get me in under 3 hours, so I went for it, and succeeded by 25 seconds.

The longest run remaining will be 13 miles next Sunday, and that will be the only remaining occasion between now and the race that I'll run more than 10 miles. Only just over a month ago I ran that distance for the first time ever, and now it's part of my "warm down". The ability of the human body to adapt, even one as doughy as mine, is really quite remarkable.

Special shout out to Jill. Her first 10 miler happened by accident today, thanks to her peerless lack of directional sense which led her to go a mile and a half off course, but she's naturally thrilled to have managed the distance, regardless of how it happened, and should now be well prepared for the Half.

3 more weeks!

Please visit my 'Make Cures Happen' fundraising page and make a donation for research into leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. Also, check out my blog entry for more.

The Devil I Know

How was your Christmas?

Mine was pretty good. Good food, some decent photos, and my favorite present, a pair of TempurPedic slippers. Billed as the most comfortable slippers in the world, they may just be. I've hardly taken them off since I got them. Great for aching feet which I seem to have a lot lately - go figure.

My right shin's actually been rather sore the last couple of days. Although I'd toyed with the idea of running yesterday, a combination of the injury, the slick roads, and Christmas spirit kept me inside. Today the decision was harder. The temperature inexplicably shot into the 60s, and it took all I had to resist wearing a short-sleeved shirt and shorts, and getting in my scheduled 5 miles, but when I failed the back yard test, good sense won out. The last thing I need is to risk exacerbating something now, particularly on a pretty meaningless short run. The shin is the devil I know, and experience tells me that caution must reign supreme with a huge Sunday just around the corner.

When I started this thing, there were several landmarks before the race that I had in my head that I felt like I had to get through successfully in order to make it to Arizona.

KC Marathon Relay -- I was already signed up for this, so it was the first thing on my to-do list. It also, obviously, was my first marathon experience, so it gave me a little insight into the atmosphere of such an event, and even into such minutiae as race etiquette.
10 mile run -- As well as being a "double-digit" run, this would also mark my longest ever distance covered, 9 being my previous record. Occurring on the same day as the New York Marathon, completing this was probably my second-proudest training accomplishment so far, behind the....
Half-Marathon -- I initially thought this would occur in training, but it of course ended up being an actual race, and so far has been the unquestioned highlight.
15 mile run -- First time I'd covered more than half the marathon distance. My early morning canter in the cold wasn't my most comfortable run, but coming when it did, in the middle of a stretch of nine weeks of double-digit long-runs (assuming the next two longies go according to plan), getting through it was all that was really important.
40 mile week -- This wasn't actually a goal starting out, but for whatever reason, many training plans call for the peak week to be 40 miles, so it's a notable distance. Although it sort of happened by accident, a result of rescheduling a couple of runs, I managed it twice, the second time getting as high as 48 miles.
100 mile month -- Fell just three and a bit miles short in November, but had no trouble surpassing it in December. In fact, I have a shot at ending the month with about 140 miles in the bank.

Only one still remains.

The infamous 20 mile run. Part of me is honestly amazed that I've even made it to this point, but now, here it is, my very next run, set for Sunday, only 40-odd hours from now. Yes, I've done 18, but is it just me, or does 20 sound like a lot more than that?

Please visit my 'Make Cures Happen' fundraising page and make a donation for research into leukemia, lymphoma and myeloma. Also, check out my blog entry for more.