Another good week

Last week ended up being a good week of marathon training. Not great, not horrible. I lived up to the title of my blog and did a race. Yes, I was able to keep my race a month streak alive.

It was the Steps Challenge 5K. I had a fun time at it. Not my best race time for a 5K but right where I expected to be. I guess everyone in my age group was at the Boston Marathon because I won my age group. Got to love small races, just under a 100 runners

Then, on Sunday I got in this weeks long run, 15 miles. Nothing spectacular to report. I met Rick at the Lilly Pond parking lot. Ran 15 miles, with a couple of pit stops. Tryed the chocalate hammer gel, no problems with it but not chocalate fanatic.

Update

I just did a 3 mile run today.. I cann't remember last time I ran that short. But due to time constraints lately and that looks like im going to be running 6 days this week instead of 5 I thought keeping it short was good idea. I'm signed up for a 5k race this Saturday, I did it for 2 reasons. First my cousin was talking about it and doing it has she is working out trying to lose something like 70 pounds. Plus it keeps my streak of a race a month alive. I believe it makes it 26 in a row. Go Me!

Amazing Grace

Sunday went for my long run, only 14 miles this weekend. After running 20 the weekend before 14 was seeming shorter. Hate to say it but the run last weekend went better then this weeks. I met Rick at the Lilly Pond with our plan to get in 14 miles. It did contain a few highlights, like doing a few loops around the track at Chaney High School and seeing the new water fountain installed by the Old Mill in Mill Creek Park.

But the oddest moment had to be while running up along Cohasset rd in the park. The road is closed but on other side of it is a church that was having service out doors. It was a nice of enough day for it and my friend Sue says she goes there and they always do it outside weather permitting. The strange occurance was they were singing "Amazing Grace." We were looking at each other. Are we that bad that we need saving? We need to have devine intervention? It was surreal. I have had run that could be considered spiritual (or I was badly dehydrated) but that was more then normal.

Long run

I got in my 20 miler today. It went well, better then the last one. I didn't totally crash like last time. Legs were sore when I got done but no worse then expected. I also discovered that tropical hammer gel isnt for me. No problems with the other flavors I have tryed so just going to avoid that one.

Earlier this week I finished Born to run. Yes, hard to believe I had never totally listened to the Bruce Springsteen classic to now. Ok just kidding I actually finished reading the book Born to Run by Chris Mcdougal. It was a good read, might like it even if you dont run. It's the book that got the barefoot running debate started. If you like to run barefoot great for you. I just dont see me trying it. I understood there concept that people are born to run without shoes. And did bring up some good points.

One point was that there wasnt all the injurys like there is today till they started running in running shoes. Ok but before the running boom of 70's there were lot less runners. With more runners, more likely there would be more injurys. Also today the shape and sizes of runners are much differnt then before. In the 60's and before most runners were skinny and built like distance runners. Now you have people like me doing marathons who back in the day would never have thought of lining up for a race or marathon.

Kenyans, built like you would want a runner to be built like were mentioned how they ran barefoot and didn't get injured has much. Of course alot of that running is on dirt trails. Alot of my running is on concrete roads. I do some trails, but usually at Mill Creek Park where its technical trails with lots of rocks and some road crossing.

The one point I did take from reading about barefoot running was form may be more important then just going out and doing what feels natural. Especially if you have been injured.

Take it for what its worth, but I reccomend the book, not for the barefoot running debate but for a good read.

Ups and downs

The past week has been up and down. I went for my first 20 miler in this training plan and did not go well. I had been fighting a cold and still coughing some. But I went in with high hopes of finishing. Well we stopped at 19.6, close enough but I hit the wall. It was a tough one the last 4 miles. I finished by walking/running it in. I had no gas left in the tank.

But after taking Monday off Tuesday's run felt good. Legs still sore but no more then expected. Actually better then expected. On Wednesday did speedwork. At least thats what im calling it. I did 4 1 mile repeats. Slower then I would of liked but fast enough to call it speed work for me.

Also on Monday my Hammer energy gels showed up. I ordered the variety pack, 9 different flavors to try to figure out which one I want to take with me for Cleveland Marathon. Monatana Huckleberry certainly sounds interesting. Also included were unflavored, orange, tropical, apple-cinnamon, chocalate, raspberry, vanilla, and banana. Also sent me a bunch of free samples like heed mix, enduralytes, recoverite, perpetum and a hammer energy bar. They must of known I was a brand new customer. Makes me want to go for a long run to test them out.

Good running.

http://essenceofrunning.blogspot.com/

Yesterday I was reading Kenleys blog, the essence of running(see link above) and he was discussing his log. I found out we both had a log on running2win.com. Then realized while obsessive about tracking my miles im also obsessed with running logs. I currently track it on running2win.com, dailymile.com, buckeyeoutdoors.com, garmin training center, occasionally on garmin.com and a written log.

Let me explain how this happened and my logging history. I started off with a simple log back in 2004 when I started running. I was one Runners World gave out free for subscribing. It would still be sufficient. Then decided to keep it online at Runnersworld.com. It seemed a natural place to have one. But shortly after that they quit having a online log. Why I dont know.

So I switched to coolrunning.com and kept the log there. I had it there for a few years and was happy with it till about 2 (?) years ago they did away with their online log also. In the mean time Runnersworld had restarted their online log. But was a little hesitant to go there again. Some reccomended to me running2win.com. Thanks to the guy running it everything logged on coolrunning was able to be transfered to there and I was set. Most of my lifetime running is posted there.

So thinking I was set with running2win.com wish I still like, my friend Greg reccomended to me that I start using dailymile.com. So I did, I think its got some good features and I do describe it has Facebook for runners. Lot more ability to interact with other runners then running2win. So suddenly I had 2 online logs I was keeping up with.

Then the now defunct podcast trilogy running started a podcast challenge on Buckeyeoutdoors.com. Being a running podcast fan I got in on it and started logging on their too. I was doing it daily but since its just for a monthly total needed for the podcast challenge I now only go post once every week or 2. Once the challenge is over im done with buckeyeoutdoors, its a fine site but is a little too much with all the others.

Then back in November I got a garmin. It came with a program to install to upload all my runnning data to the computer. Luckily its quick and easy and gives me all the data for the other logs. I recently discovered the garmin website has a great log with maps included. I only go there when I want to see the map of a recent run.

All along the way I have kept a written log. But after the first year it wasn't the little one given away free by runners world but a nice one I got at the book store each year. This years was made by Bob Glover author of the Competitive Runner's Handbook.

Now if you ask me to pick one, it would be............ you gotta be kidding.

cough drops and running

I got in 5 miles today. I was coughing less, I averaged fewer coughs per mile then the last couple running attempts. Sign im still sick was how high my average heart rate was for the pace I was going. Im supposed to run 20 miles on Sunday. That should be interesting.

Ugg

Last Sunday March 7th I ran the Mill Creek Distance Classic half marathon. I met a great new friend Dannielle, and then promptly got sick. I been sick all week since. Its really hard to run while your coughing. So last week was a horrible week for marathon training. Hoping next week will be better. And I will feel like blogging again.

Another fine mess

Today the milage started to get serious for the marathon training. This morning I met with Rick to get our 17 miler in. Bob and Todd were there at the start of it. Our plan was to loop Mill Creek park a great place to run. I had no goal pace in mind just get in the miles.

It was a good thing cause I really started hurting last 3 or 4 miles. Of course going a distance you haven't done in some time can cause some pain. Yep I guess 17 miles isnt a piece of cake. And speaking of food or fuel I need to figure out what to eat the night before a long run. Stomach was messed up during the later miles. I was trying out the power bar energy gels and may of ruled them out for future use.

Overall, the marathon training is a bit lacking. I have missed several runs so far but nothing too serious. I have gotten in the long runs and most of my speedwork or hill work I had planned. I still got 11 weeks to go so still time. I signed up for the Mill Creek Distance Classic Half marathon next Sunday, March 7th. It's a very hilly half, advertises 19 hills. Big selling point there. But worked in perfectly for training plan which calls for 12 miles. Hopefully it goes well, not expecting a good time but I have never had a good time running there. At least it keeps my streak alive of 1 or more races a month, February 2008 was last month without a race.