More miles to go...

2nd Marathon for the Marathon Icons.

2009-05-02T18:28:00.001-04:00

The marathon Icons have been up a month now, and I 3 weeks ago I ran my first Marathon for the Team In Training, raising money for the The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society,
Tomorrow I run the Flying Pig marathon in Cincinnati, for Team in Training. this will be #2 of the 3 marathons that I will be doing. However my main fundraising tool is the Marathon Icons.

Thanks to everyone who has purchased the Icons, or donated. Wish me luck.

If you want to help me out, you can pick up the Marathon Icons Here. http://mormegil.wincustomize.com/skins.aspx?skinid=1767&libid=2

Or make a donation of any size here.
http://pages.teamintraining.org/mi/anchor09/BoyerHatcher

Paul Boyer (Mormegil) and Stardock have joined forces with the Team in Training to help save lives!

2009-04-07T11:38:00.001-04:00

Since I began running 3 years ago I have been looking for a way to bring my two passions together; Icons and Running. This year I joined the “Team In Training” to help raise money for The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. I am running 5 marathons this year, including the Alaska Mayors Marathon, along with my wife, as a member of the “Team In Training.” We set a fundraising goal of $10,000 dollars between the two of us. This gave me my chance to finally bring my two addictions together. I’ve done this by creating the “Marathon” Icon suite.

In the Marathon Icon suite I tried to capture the scope of running a marathon by creating a uniquely colored IconPackage for each mile of the Marathon - 26 IconPacks for 26.2 miles. The result is an amazing variety and over 1200 icons that will complement any desktop. To top this all off I included three additional IconPacks, themed for the “Team in Training” so you can show your support to the world, making a total of 29 IconPackages. This, to my knowledge, the largest Icon suite ever.

Stardock has been generous enough to join in my efforts, and will donate all the profits from this pack as well, so 100% of the profits from this suite will go directly to the The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society to help save lives.

I hope you will join me in supporting this cause. As someone who has lost family to Leukemia, it is near and dear to my heart. On June 20th of 2009, my wife and I will be running across the finish line in Alaska, in memory of my Uncle, and in support of my brother-in-law. In the end it will be those of you who support me by purchasing the “Marathon” suite that will have made it possible.

For additional information about our story, or to donate directly to the cause, go here:

For additional information about The Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, go here:

If you don’t already have IconPackager, you can download try it out, get it here.

To help save lives, and get the full 29 pack suite, go here.

Las Vegas Marathon 2008 (King for a Day)

2009-01-15T21:43:00.001-05:00

Las Marathon, 2008.

Finish Time: 3:45:41, new PR.
Place: Overall 593/3525, Division 85, Sex 485.
Marathon #5, State #4 of 50.

Is been almost 6 week since I ran down the Vegas Strip, dressed as Elvis. When I was looking for a winter marathon, Vegas was one of the first I came across. While I was perusing the races web site, I found that they were looking to brake the world record of the most Elvi to run a marathon. Well I figured if I was going to do Vegas I should do it 100%.

The weekend was a whirlwind, and went something like this…

Saturday:
Flight from Detroit, had to wake up to early…
Walked from airport, 3 miles, sweaty…
Checked in to Excalibur, to expensive…
Walked to Del Taco, 1200 calories of bliss…
Walked to Expo, got packet, and stared at…
Karaoke Pasta dinner, 200 Elvi, 2000 people…
Drank half gallon of Gatorade…
Slept pretty well, woke up at 4:30am…

Sunday:
Dressed as Elvis, walked to race, ate muffin…
Got in starting coral with 200 other Elvi…
Miles 1-5 the strip, still dark, fireworks…
Miles 6-10 sunrise, run thru, wedding chapel…
Miles 11-18, up hill, boring, but steady pace…
Miles 19-24, down hill, 4th place Elvis…
Miles 25-26, called Kristin for the last mile…
Finish, Kristin across the finish on my iPhone…
Got picture with show girl, posted on Facebook…
Walked slowly to hotel, Long shower…
Del Taco again… bliss.
Walked to the Palms, saw movie, forgettable…
Cab to airport, wait 4 hours for flight…
Back in Detroit at 5AM, Very Tired…

I wish I had the words to express the surreal adventure that was this race, It was a great way to my 2008 running season, with a new PR, and people yelling “Go Elvis” for 26.1 miles.

Detroit Marathon, 2008, Best Run ever.

2008-11-29T20:41:00.001-05:00

Detroit Marathon, 2008:
Finish Time: 3:46:49.
Overall Place: 999 – 3551

I am righting this over a month after the actual race, mostly because I just don't know what to say. It was my best race to date in just about every way. I wanted to write something clever, and give a detail brake down of the entire race, since I have done my best to complain about how all the others went.

But the strange thing is, now that I have had a near perfect marathon, I just don't have the words. So with that said, I will do my best to sum up.

For the first time, I officially signed up with a pace group, since I had run the Milwaukee Marathon two weeks earlier at 3:49:50, I decided to sign up for the 3:50 group. This turned out great, with the help of the pace group, and the leader Pacer David. I was able to stay with in 30-45 seconds of the pace up to mile 24. At mile 24 after talking to the pace leader, I was able to leave the group behind, doing mile 24 at 8:00 and mile 26, at 7:10.

The last mile is were words failed me. I was so pumped up that I was smiling like a mad man, I quite literally bounced down final stretch, almost disqualifying myself by jumping right over the finish line.

Ironically, As I right this I am one week away from running the Las Vegas Marathon, dressed as Elvis, but it will always be Detroit 2008 were I first finished a marathon feeling like a King.

2008 Detroit Marathon, Seems like I've been here before.

2008-10-18T20:57:00.001-04:00

One year ago, I was writing almost the same blog as I am writing tonight.

Tomorrows morning I will be running my Second Detroit Freepress Marathon. This will not only be my second Detroit Marathon, it is my Second Marathon, this month. Two weeks ago I ran the Milwaukee Lakefront marathon, with a finish time of 3:49:56. Tomorrow I will be running with a pace group for the first time, and shooting for another 3:50 marathon. The only thing crazy about this race is the fac that I am trying doing it so soon after the last one.

My goal for this race is simple, run consistently. Two weeks ago in Wisconsin, I ran the first 24 miles at 8:30, and bonked in the last 2 miles. Losing almost 4 minutes in last mile. This I want to average 8:47 the entire race, and finish at almost the same time.

Tonight with 10 hours to go, I am feeling pretty confident, I am in much better shape then I was last year. I will however admit that I have already decided that I wont be trying to do any more back to back marathons for quite awhile.

My only goal is to get some sleep, and digest my pre-race spaghetti dinner.

The Third Marathons the Charm.

2008-10-11T18:55:00.001-04:00

Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon 2008.
Finish Time: 3:49:56, Pace 26.2 @ 8:46.

It took me a few days to decide just what to say about my experience at the 2008 Lakefront Marathon. What I would normally be my primary focus was my Time, which was a full 5 minutes ahead of my original goal of 3:55. This was great, and I am quite pleased. It feels food to be under 4 hours at last.

Perhaps more surprising was that setting a new Marathon P.R. was one of the least memorable aspects of this race. It was a triumphant 26 miles, full of lessons learned, with just a dash of disaster.

The most important lessons learned was that having a Pace Partner can make a Marathon a much more enjoyable experience. At a staring line of the Lakefront Marathon, I was lucky enough to meat up with two fellow runners, Michael and Gabe, both with more or less the same goal time as myself. After showing them my Garman Forerunner, and how the Virtual Running partner worked, Michael suggested that we run together. I was not to sure about this but did not object.

About a mile in, I realized that I had truly acquired a partner for the rest of the run. Michael and I clicked, and buy mile two we had exchanged running history's, and were planning out the next 24 miles. Around mile 4 we lost Gabe, but it was for the best because he was breathing pretty hard. I never did find out how he were he finished, but I am sure he did pretty well. I don't blame him, since we by than Michael and I had settled in at the a healthy 8:30 average pace, about 20 seconds faster per mile than the goal I was originally planning to run, this was the pace that we stayed locked to until about mile 23.

Somewhere around mile 23, I learned my the second Important lesson of the race. Don't skip aid stations, and GU, in the last few miles, just because your "Almost there". I learned this the hard way, when about half way though mile 25 I hit the wall like I have never hit it before. Michael tired to talk me thru it, but I just could not do it. I ended up walking for about 1/8th of a the last mile, costing me almost 4 minutes off my time. I finished with a respectable 3:49:56, Michael finished at 3:46:16. Even though we were in lockstep until the last mile.

Having survived the run, and beating my goal time, 5 minutes cant complain. As a mater of fact I have to say this was with out a drought my best marathon yet.

Most Ironic Running Blog Ever...

2008-10-03T20:37:00.001-04:00

As you may have noticed there was a 7 month gap in this blog. This was caused by my web host changing from Cpanel, to vDeck. Braking my FTP server. I finally gave up and moved the hosting over to blogspot. Luckily I was able to migrate everything over.

The Ironic thing is that in the missing 6 months I broke thru a "Wall". I went from "building back mile", and being content with 17 miles a week, to setting Personal Records in every race I ran, and averaging 50 to 60 mile weeks.

The finally of this exceptional summer arrives this Sunday, with the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon. Back in June when I decided to train for this, my only hope was to finish it in under 4 hours. My EZ pace has gone form 10:00 to 8:58, and my tempo runs have gone from 8:30 to 7:25. To top it all off, my final Long run of this training cycle was a full marathon, at 3:54.

In Less than 48 hours, I will be running the streets of Milwaukee, I'm still not quite sure what my official goal time is, somewhere between my original 3:55, and 3:45. Even if I finish at 3:55 this will still be my best Marathon yet.

As a start in getting this blog back up and running, I will be bloging this weekends adventure. So check back to find out the gruesome details.

Can you post to blogspot blogs with the iPhone?

2008-10-02T22:41:00.004-04:00

After quite a bit of wasted time trying to get my domain, hosted at ipowerweb to let me host my blogger running blog again, I have finaly given up. Luckly I was able to just change it over to moremilestogo.blogspot.com. It seams to have made the transtion smoothly. I even recovered a post I made back in March

Now that I can post again, I wanted to see if I can post from my iPhone. The answer seams to be yes. But I don't think I will be able easely post photos. There are however several Apps in the App store that say they will do just that. I will have to look into it. In the mean time just posting useing the website seams to work fine for text.

My Unofficial Howell Fitness Treadmill Marathon!

2008-10-02T22:19:00.001-04:00

This is a re-post of my JoeUser blog from September 15th 2008.

Since I started running almost 3 years ago, I have run 2 full marathons, as well as 3 half-marathons. Yesterday I ran my 3rd full marathon, and set a new personal record of 3:54. The sad thing is it doesn't even count.

My 1st marathon, L.A., March 2007, I trained very hard for, but had no idea what I was in for, and I burned myself out in the first 10 miles. I had a goal time of 3:30, but I finished with a time of 4:28. I was heartbroken, and it took me quite a while to be ready to try again.

The 2nd marathon, Detroit, October 2007, went better, but mostly because I had lower expectations, and I trained smarter rather than harder. I finished at a respectable 4:10, though I still missed my goal time of 3:55 by 15 minutes.

The end of 2007 brought with it the the biggest challenge of my short running carrier. I got a bad flu, and was working 18 hour days, not to mention that it was the worst winter weather I had seen since coming to Michigan. My mileage dropped from 30 to 40 miles a week to 5 to 10. By March 2008 I had gained 22 pounds back, and felt as if I was back to square one in running. This low point, not to mention the weight gain, made me realize just how much running had become a part of my life.

In March I decided to get my act together. I came up with a simple plan; build up my running and count calories. 6 months later I have lost the weight, and have set new personal records on every race I have run.

13 weeks ago I began training for my 3rd marathon. Yesterday was my last long run of this training cycle. I had planned on doing 24 miles outside, but the remains of hurricane Ike brought the gift of constant rain and wind. So I found myself at the gym. Running my long run on a treadmill. The problem was the treadmill only lets you do 99 minutes at a time, so I had to stop the treadmill twice, drag the belt to a stop and restart the machine. This cost me 20 seconds or so, but overall the treadmill was helpful, in that it helped me control my pace more than I have been able to in my past long runs.

This is not to say I did not have some adventures. My headphones cut out on me, and I had time to, while running, call my wife, and ask her to drive to the next town and pick me up another pair. She was able to bring me new ones, as well as some bottles of water, with and hour and a half to spare.

In the end this was the best long run / marathon I have ever done. I was able to nail my pace to 9:05 for the first 20.2 miles, and than speed up for the last 6 miles, finishing with a respectable 7:45 mile. I was even able to talk the poor lady on the treadmill in front of me to take a picture of me as I crossed the imaginary finish line. I finished with as best I can tell at 3:54:15, with average pace of 8:55. This was my best marathon to date, but I don't think I will be in a rush to do an indoor treadmill again.

3000 Miles Officially...

2008-10-02T22:15:00.001-04:00

This is a re-post of my Joe User blog from September 3rd 2008.

Last week I hit 3000 Miles on my Nike+ iPod. In fact I believe I hit 3000 miles of running about 3 months ago, but I don't have any proof. I started running in April of 2006, around 2 1/2 years ago, and did not get my Nike+ until July. I'm not sure how many miles In that intervening 3 1/2 months, but I guess around 200 miles. On top of that there have been many runs lost due to syncing errors, and user error. The most resent was my 23 mile run last last weekend. Which had it been recorded, would have put me over the 3000 mile line 3 days earlier. There have also been many runs that were the Nike+ recorded excess miles, a mile here and a mile there, I think the miles lost and the miles gained have washed out.

Next stop 4000 miles, If I keep the mileage up that I have been doing, I should be hitting it around next July or August.

Long Run, Slowly building back the miles.

2008-03-16T16:10:00.008-04:00

Planned: 6.5 Miles @ 10:00
Ran: 6 Miles @ 10:00 & 1 Mile @ 8:50

I am stating to feel better with my runs, I put off today's run until 1:30 in the afternoon, and I was pretty sure it was going to be a disaster. But much to my surprise, it went fine.

I ran on the treadmill at the gym again. Though I could have run outside today, for the first time in months. I was so comfortable that I decided to bust up the pace for my last mile. However I am looking forward to getting back to 9:00 being my EZ pace. Puts me at a respectable 17.1 Miles for this week. The plan is to add 10% each week until I am back up to 25 or so.

The Treadmill tried to kill me!

2008-03-14T07:02:00.003-04:00

EZ Run: 3mi @ 10:00
Ran: 3m @ 10:00

Today was supposed to be uneventful, a EZ 3 miles, the run itself was pretty much that. I did increase the incline .5 every half mile, ending at a 3% Grade. It's kind of amazing what a difference that makes. But over all it went well.

The Crazy part happened while I was warming up. We got to the gym around 5:20am and as is usual on Friday the it was a bit crowded, so all the "good" treadmills were taken. I went ahead and used a treadmill I had never used before. I stared out at a walk at 3:00, within a few second I was shocked when I touched the guard rail of the treadmill. Shortly I was shocked again. About half way through my .25mi warm up I reached down and touched the Heart Rate reader, and a giant ark of static shot from my finger into the sensor. And before I knew it the treadmill shot up to its maximum speed, and not gradually. I almost got thrown off the back of the thing. With a bit of effort I was able to slap the stop button before I went flying.

Needless to say I will not be using that treadmill again.

Tempo Run (4mi 2@8:30)

2008-03-13T07:30:00.003-04:00

Planned: 4mi - 2mi @ 8:30
Ran: 4mi - 2mi @ 8:27

This was the first time I have tried to step up the pace since I joined the gym. It went pretty well, but I have to admit the I the first mile was a bit difficult, at least mentally.

The only thing of note is that I had a hard time figuring out what pace to run for warm up and cool down, I never really settled, bouncing between 10:00 and 12:00. Oh well back to a simple EZ run tomorrow. I have to admit it is kind of nice not to be training for anything in particular for once.

The Winter of my Discontent.

2008-03-12T16:49:00.002-04:00

The few Friends and family who fallow this blog, are probably thinking i have dropped off the face of the Earth. Well not quite.

Things have been crazy at work, I have been splitting my time between 3 Different Games we have in development, as well as the art direction for the rest of the company. I have been working on several side projects, and to top it all off this has been the worse winter since I moved to Michigan. It has been difficult to say the least to run outside. Oh, and my treadmill is more or less dead.

Back in December, While I was still training for the Snowflake Run, which has come and gone, I got the flu, It took me off my feet for almost 2 weeks, and it took me another week to be able to run at all. Beside that I have been sick twice since then. I have tried to get back on the road ever since December, with mediocre results.

But winter is ending, and I have joined a gym, so its time to get back on the road. I am starting with a nice 10minute mile pace, I am going to use the rest of March to build back up to a 20plus Mile week.

So I am back to the blog, to get myself motivated. I still have allot of miles to go...

Snowflake Run (Week 2 - Day 1)

2007-12-04T07:53:00.000-05:00

EZ Run: 2miles @ 9:05
Planned: 2miles @ 9:10

One week seams to have gone along way to getting me back on my feet. Today's run was more the cake walk that I was expecting last Monday. Though I am now getting board by the treadmill alarmingly fast. I am going to have to set the TV back up before I go mad.

Snowflake Run (Week 1 - Day 4)

2007-12-04T07:44:00.000-05:00

Long Run: 6.6miles @ 9:05 - .5miles @ 6:57
Planned: 7Miles @ 9:10

How long dose it take to be board to tears on a treadmill, the answer seams to be 6.5 miles. I Can say that I am happy that I was able to do this run with no other problems then boredom. It seams my recovery plan is going well. I continued to have no further knee problems, and each run becomes easier, and more relaxing.

However I have to be careful not to fall into old bad habits ad start over running again. Slow an easy, is my motto for this winter. Slow and Easy.... sometimes equals boring.

Snowflake Run (Week 1 - Day 3)

2007-11-30T07:35:00.000-05:00

EZ Run: 2miles @ 9:05
Planned: 2miles @ 9:10

This run was more like what I was expecting of on Monday. Quick and easy, no discomfort at all.

The weather has turned cold, as in well below freezing, since the bulk of the next 6 weeks runs are short, I my end running the next six weeks on the treadmill.

Snowflake Run (Week 1 - Day 2)

2007-11-29T08:26:00.000-05:00

Speedwork: 5miles - 3x800m @ 3:26
Planned: 5miles - 3x800m @ 3:27

This was the first time in weeks that I ran any distance at any real speed. I was a bit concerned that It would be hard, or bring back my knee problems, but I am happy to say it smooth sailing.

I think this lighter program is going to work out well.

Snowflake Run (Week 1 - Day 1)

2007-11-27T07:04:00.001-05:00

EZ Run: 2miles @ 9:05
Planned: 2miles @ 9:10
It seams two weeks of not running have effected me more then I would have imagined. Bringing both positive and negative effects.

First the bad:,I have not run this slow "on purpose" in over a year, and yet it was not the cake walk I was expecting. I never felt like I needed to stop, but the fact that I felt any discomfort at all tells me I have fallen quite out of shape.
Also, I cant help but notice I have gained almost 10 pounds since the marathon, only 5 weeks ago. This is entirely my fault, but that wait dose not help my comfort Laval. I think It may be time to go back on a diet. I was hoping to avoid this, but what must be done, etc.

Ont the good side, I did not have any problems with my knees, sure it was a short slow run, but afterword I was able to go up the stairs without any hint of trouble. I think this lighter schedule is just what my knees asked for. I also have to admit that I kind of like being able to run in the morning without it taking a over a hour, 2 or 3 miles seams to be the sweet spot, for a morning run, if you want to finish it feeling awake and empowered, not beat up and exhausted.

Well, I'm back on track, or maybe I should say treadmill, the weather has already turned to full out winter outside, so it looks like most of this program will be done in the basement. Now the challenge is to push on through the winter.

Snowflake Run

2007-11-21T05:13:00.000-05:00

On Sunday I will not have run for 2 full weeks, this is the longest I have gone without running since I started running back in April of 06. I was have been having some problems with my knees, so I wanted to take a bit of a brake from doing long distances, so now with a few weeks off under my belt, I'm ready to start back up, and I'm going to force my self to take it easy for a while.

I spent some time looking around for a local 5k in January, a bit hard to fined in Michigan, and found the Flushing MI, Snowflake Run, on January 13th 08. This is a 5 and 10k races, but I have decided to stick with the 5, since the entire point is to cut my mileage for a bit. This only gives me 7 weeks to train, starting Monday. Once again I terned to RunnersWorlds SmartCoach for a plan.

I think this schedule is quite realistic, and should allow me to get back in the swing of things, and I should be able to use my race time as a baseline for a my next program, starting on the 21st of January, when I begin taring for the Cincinnati Marathon in May.

2000 Miles, some ups some downs...

2007-11-11T14:42:00.000-05:00

10Miles @ 10:00
Planned: 16 Miles @ 9:10

Well the good news first. This run Finlay put me over the 2000 mile mark on my Nilke +. My only complaint is that with the runs I have lost I should probably be more like 2200, but hey, I cant complain. I think I can officially say that the Nike + was worth the money. ;). I have know sure way to know, but I think I am at around 2500 hundred miles total since I started running back in April of 2005.

The bad news is less encouraging. I purposely was not blogging over the last 2 weeks because I was trying to decided if I was up to going to Vegas on December 2nd, to run the Las Vegas marathon. After Detroit I was feeling pretty positive, and wanting one last crack at a sub 4hour marathon in 2007. For some reason my knees are not to keen on this Idea.

It has been 3 weeks since the Marathon, I took 6 days off completely, and then tried to keep my miles down over the last 2 weeks. This seamed to be working well, but today's run went like poop. I think I am fighting off a cold, and perhaps losing, because I had to stop about 4 miles in because I thought I was going to puck. After a bit I realized I felt better if I just continued to run, and took it EZ. So I slowed my pace and cut my run down by 6 miles. Now that I have had a hour or so to think on It I think this problem was caused by not eating all morning, then downing some Gatorade and running out the door.

What this boils down to is I need a bit more recovery time before I start doing any kind of scheduled running. I am going to take next week almost completely off, and see what happens. The last thing I want to do is give myself some sort of serious knee enjoy, when a week or to of recovery should solve the problem.

So It looks like it will be 2008 before I get my sub 4 marathon. Currently I'm looking at Cincinnati, in may. But I can leave that decision for a while. Ill be back with more in a week or so.

Detroit 2007, The Race.

2007-10-21T19:18:00.000-04:00

Detroit Marathon: 26.2 Miles @ 9:34
Chip Time: 4:10:56
Place:
Overall: 1600 of 3819

Age group: 241 of 471.

Well, that's that.

While I missed my goal time, by 10 minutes, I am actually OK with the the race, over all.

I still hit the Wall, but allot later. I spent most of my effort keeping my pace controlled. Around 1 mile in I glued myself to a 3:55 pace group. And managed to stick with them, tell around mile 20. I crossed the 20 mile mark right on the schedule, at 3:00.

I noticed them pulling ahead but decided it was more important that I just kept running. So I let them go. The Wall did not truly hit my until around 23 miles. But when I hit it I hit it hard.

And to my shame I must admit, I walked, 3 times, the first time was just for a few seconds, right at the 23 mile mark. Then again around 24, for 200 or some meters. And last at the 25 mile mark. During these last 5 miles my pace went from a constant 8:58 to a dropping 10:00 to 12:00. I managed to pull it together for the final mile and finish with a respectable 9:30 or so. The crazy thing is that I lost 15 minutes off my time, all in the last 5 or 6 miles.

In the end I finished with a respectable 4:10:56. But feeling good, and over all happy with the results. The best part is I did not finish feeling like I messed up, or like I was just stupid. I felt like I acceded something, to be proud of, and walked away read for the next one.

Now its time for a nice rest, I will be back on the road in a week or so, and back on the blog around the same time.

PS. I seam to have lost my Ipod somewhere between Detroit and home, hopefully its just wedged in the car seat or the like. But I will be post the graph as soon as I found it.
(Found it, it somehow got clipped to the seat belt. ;)

10 Hours 29 minutes to go...

2007-10-20T20:39:00.000-04:00

Ok, tomorrow is the big day. And according to the website I have just over 10 hours of pain free life left.

I wanted to take this opportunity to sum up my Detroit 07 Training experience, as well do a few predictions based on what I have learned.

First off, training.

As some of you will know, last year when I trained for the LA Marathon, I was obsessive about staying on my training schedule. I am of the opinion I over trained, and it cost be, since thought I was in better shape then I was when race day came. I burned out in the first 10 miles, and rather then finishing at 3:30, I was lucky to come in at under 4:30.

This time I tried to relax my schedule, and my goals. I think this was a good plan. I am feeling allot more confident that I will be able to meat them. That said, I do think that perhaps I could have trained a bit smarter, and even a bit harder, this time. But my goal is not to run harder, its to run smarter. Over all I am content with my 16 week program, I only ended up missing 4 days total, and most of them Turing recovery weeks.

So, that said, here is my plan for tomorrow (with my reality hat on):

1 ) Run (No walking) the entire race, no stops.
2 ) Do not run to fast, If I ad more then 100ft each mile (About 10seconds) I will force myself to slow down.
3) Finish under 4 hours.

I based my training on running a 8:30 pace, this would give me a time of 3:42. However after all the trouble I had with the "Wall" I have decided to drop my goal pace down to 8:58. This will give me a finish time of 3:55. Giving me a 5 minute buffer, so even if I drop at the end I should still be able to come in sub 4:00. However, if by some miracle I feel good after 20 miles, I might try and pic things up and finish with 8:30, but that dose not seam to likely.

So wish me luck, I will post the results, tomorrow as soon as I can find my way home.

MIA (Detroit 07, Week 14, 15, and 16) Taper.

2007-10-20T16:09:00.000-04:00

I have not died, nor quit running. I am still running the marathon, I have just been VERY Busy, and blogging about my Taper weeks would have been about as interesting as watching paint dry.

I have several Large side projects, as well as a "crunch" going on at work, this translates into working 10-12 hour days at work, and 4 or so more hours each night. As well as most of the weekend. This has barely left me time to do my taper runs, and none to write about them.

So I will sum up the last 3 weeks. I ran to fast on the short runs, and had a hard time with the long runs. About the only thing worth mentioning is that my long run, the week after my above mentioned 20 miler, was horrid, I ran to fast, did not sleep or eat properly, and was in a bad mood to boot. The long run, last week was only 12 miles and it went very well, so in short. Some good runs, some bad runs.

Anyway. Back to work. Tomorrow is the Marathons, and I plan on doing a separate post later tonight about my game plan.

Much Better (Detroit 07, Week 13 Day 4)

2007-09-30T20:08:00.000-04:00

Long Run: 20Miles @ 8:53
Planned: 20Miles @ 9:00

I cant begin to say how much better I feel after this run. This was the first time I have every ran 20 miles under 9:00 without stopping or walking. This was my primary goal. I have run further in the past but not without walking.

I have been having such a hard time with the wall, for the last month. Today I pouched right through the Wall, and was able to run the last mile at at respectable 8:30, up hill. This week my entire goal was just not to walk, even if my pace dropped. Luckily since I had already decided to relax my pace back down to 9:00 for this run I was able to do this entire run without ever drooping behind my goal time.

I am going to treat this run as a kind of dress rehearsal for the marathon. I have officially decided to make my goal pace 9:00 instead of 8:30. This should allow me to keep on track and not burn out. And will still give me a planed finish time of 3:55, which will officially make me a Sub 4hour runner. Helping me secure better starting location in future races.

I don't know how much of the success of this run was due to my new shoes, but I can tell you for sure that they did not hurt the run at all. I think I my have found the right marathon running shoes. I will reserve final judgment until I have done a few weeks on them, but with 32 miles in them this week I am feeling pretty positive.

No Chart today since I had to restart my run at around 7 miles due to audiobook problems. And I ended up recording two. one 7 and one 13. Both were pretty accurate. But would just be confusing if I posted them.

Next week starts my taper. The hard part of training is over, lets just hope it was enough.

New Shoes (Detroit 2007, Week 13 Day 2 & 3)

2007-09-30T19:22:00.000-04:00

Wendsday (Day 2)
Pace Run: 6Miles @ 8:21
Planned: Tempo 6Miles - 4Miles @ 7:25

Since last week was kind of a unexpectedly bad time, I was a bit concerned about doing my speed work. So I decided to make some tweaks to this weeks schedule. So I replaced my speedwork with my Thursday Pace Run. And decided to do a EZ run Thursday.

I have been concerned that I need some more padded shoes. After doing some research I decided to try the Nike Air Pegasus. They are a nice neutral shoe, with more padding. Ironical they cost 10 bucks less then the Air Moires that I have been running in.

Thursday (Day 4)
EZ Run: 6Miles @ 8:34
Planned: 6Miles @ 8:30

This run went fine, the new shoes seam to be working out well. I am mostly trying to make sure that I am stretching, and letting my legs relax. Sunday's 20 Milers is about the only thing on my mind.

A bit Better (Detroit 07, Week 13 Day 1)

2007-09-25T07:55:00.000-04:00

EZ Run: 4miles @ 8:27
Planned: 4miles @ 8:45

I was worried about my run this morning, so for once I took some time to stretch before I went out. (Note... Well Da..) And it went much better. I did however run to fast. This I think is one of the underlying problems I have had with this training cycle.

Now that I think on it I think doing my pace runs at 8:30 my have been a mistake. The point of EZ runs is to build stamina without straining your body. I have only been doing one a week, instead of the 2 recommended by smart coach, and that one I have on average ran 15 seconds faster then I was supposed to.

Oh well, today I feel OK, so I am going to continue on as planned. But next time I will have alto to think about before I lock myself into a schedule.

Choppy Waters (Detroit 07, Week 12 Day 3 & 4)

2007-09-25T06:20:00.000-04:00

EZ Run: 6.09 miles @ 8:36
Planned: 6 miles @ 8:50

Apparently Finlay signing up for the Marathon was a invitation to trouble. This run went fine but left me feeling some pain in my knees, and with very stiff legs. I am not sure what this is but it certainly is not "Recovery".

Long Run: 10 Miles @ 8:46
Planned: 10 Miles @ 8:50

My legs did not really recover after my Thursday run, and I ween out on Sunday surprisingly stiff for a "Recovery" Week. I was in a funk the entire run, and my pace continued to drop thought. I would not have been under my planned pace if I had to took a break at 9miles and booked it the final miles (7:35).

I am still not sure what my problem was this week. But I am a bit concerned. I may have over ran the last 3 weeks, all of which ended with 20+ runs. If this is the case I may be in trouble.

Smooth Sailing (Detroit 07, Week 12 Day 3)

2007-09-20T21:11:00.000-04:00

EZ Run: 8miles @ 8:45
Planned: 8miles @ 8:50

As I had hoped this run was uneventful. I am feeling a bit more sour then I was expecting, considering this is a recovery week, but over all things went well. Next week may be different but for the moment I cant complain.

Oh, and I did Finlay officially sign up for the Marathon today, can't back out now.

Robert Jorden, I will miss you on my long runs.

2007-09-18T21:58:00.000-04:00

Sunday, the 16th or September 2007, James Oliver Rigney Jr., known to fans of his work as Robert Jordan, Passed away.

I know that this seems to have nothing to do with running, but it fact I dose. I have been running for a bit less then two years, I have run 1800 or so miles. I would not be surprised if at least 800 of those miles were run while listening to "The wheal of time" books, by Robert Jordan.

Many fans fantasy literature had problems with his work, saying it was two long, or two complicated. But these are the things that make the Wheal of Time a master Peace. About once a year I find my self starting the 11 book sires, and by the time I have finished I am so engrossed in the world he has created that It is seeping into my dreams. I don't know if any other writer will ever have the fortitude, or pull with the publishers to ever write anything of that scope again.

Sadly the wheel of time was left unfinished, He was trying to wrap things up in a final volume. Perhaps between his copious notes, and what progress he was able to make on book 12, the publishers will be able to have some one finish up. I hope they do. But I for one will always wonder what other stores could have been told.

The closest I ever came to Robert Jorden was in a elevator at Dragon*Con, in 2005. I did not say anything because I did not want to be just another fanboy, but now I wish I had. Just for the record, I will say what I should have then. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You.

Short Winded (Detroit 07, Week 12 Day 1)

2007-09-18T20:01:00.000-04:00

>EZ Run: 6miles @ 8:41
Planned: 6miles @ 8:50

I realize that my post have been getting log winded, and rambling. Today I will be brief, the run went fine. At the end I was hardly even sweating. This week is recovery so with luck this will be the case for the rest of the week.

Ups and Downs (Detroit 2007, Week 11 Day 4)

2007-09-17T20:25:00.000-04:00

Long Run: 20miles @ 8:54
planned: 20miles @ 8:50

Ups and downs, that pretty much describes this run to a tee. I was not feeling to to positive as I hit the road. But I managed to get out and moving while it was still cool. But after the first few miles I was feeling better. I decided to go on a new new route, I hit my first hill around 3.5 miles in, but since I was fresh I did not notice it to much. At mile 6.5 I hit a much bigger one. This one I defiantly noticed. But still I was above my pace.

Around mile 9 I was sure that this was going to be my best 20 miler yet. I knew that I was going to be able to finish without stopping. I was quite proud of myself for downing GU, and washing it down without stopping, or even losing time.

I continued to feel well, until around mile 11 when I hit yet another big hill, I felt seconds slipping away as I climbed it, and when I got to the top I decided I would book it down the other size. The crazy thing was, that I thought I was booking it but apparently I did speed up much at all. This is the point where I started to realize that I was losing a my momentum.

At the Half Marathon mark, I found myself overwhelmed with the urge to walk. It was only for a few minutes. I took off for another 3 miles, around mile 16 I hit the wall for real. I walked another 400m or so, and downed my last GU. With that I began the last 4 miles. Despite my best efforts I found myself walking after each of the remaining miles.

After I walked again at the end of mile 18, I decided to give what ever I had left up in the last mile. I walked around for a few minutes, stretched. Restarted my watch and hit it. Somehow I manage to finish the last mile in 7:21. This brought my average back up to a respectable 8:54.

The thing I want to know is this, If I had the energy to do a 7:21 mile after 19 miles. How come I could not manage to continue at a casual 9:00 or so with out taking walk brakes. I only have one more 20mile run before the race, and my only goal is to finish it without walking.

Chafing sucks (Detroit 07, Week 11 Day 3)

2007-09-14T21:22:00.000-04:00

Pace Run: 7miles @ 8:28
Planned: 7miles @ 8:30

After chocking on my speedwork on Thursday, I was not in to good of a mode. So on my way home I stopped to buy some new running gear, to lift my spirits. I got some new shorts and a shirt, as well as a new stick of Body Glide. This was because last weeks long run had given me quite the friction burn, in some sensitive places.

However I got started on my run a bit later then I had planned, I tried out my new shorts, and shirt, but forgot the Body Glide I realized this about 2 miles into my 7 miles. Needless to say I got to spend the rest of the day walking like a cowboy freshly of the range. Hopefully I will be recovered by Sunday. I can tell you what I wont be forgetting before I leave for that run.

Aside from all that the run went fine. I don't seam to have any problems with 8:30 in relatively short distances. I don't however, know how this would have gone had it been 17 miles instead of 7.

Count this as a skip. (Detroit 07, Week 11 Day 2)

2007-09-13T07:43:00.000-04:00

Speed work: 2 Miles - 1 @ 7:24
Planned: 7 Miles - 5 @ 7:30

This morning I got up feeling Sully, and late, I decided to force myself down to the treadmill and get my speedwork done.

I made it 2 miles. One mile warm up at 11:00 and one mile at my tempo pace at 7:24. The entire time I just wanted to stop. Since I have allot going on at work I wanted to get in at a decent hour, and I realized I was not going to make it if I continued the entire 7 miles. So I just called it.

I realize that this is a bad sign. Once again I am more convinced that I am over shooting again. The only thing worse then unrealistic goals. Is posting them on the Internet.

I'm going to go work and moan and do do my pace run tomorrow. And see.

Not so bad (Detroit 07, Week 11 Day 1)

2007-09-11T20:19:00.000-04:00

EZ Run: 4.31 Miles @ 8:38
Planned: 4Miles @ 8:50

Well, by the end of my run Sunday I was convinced that I would not be able to run for a week. I was convinced that I was going to be in at least as bad shape as I was after LA.

But to my surprise This morning I was feeling fine. For the first half mile or so I was a bit stiff, but by the time I hit mile one things had loosened up, I found myself ahead of pace. Since I was still feeling good, so I let myself continue to run a bit faster then planned. By the time I finessed I was was quite a bit ahead.

I am still convinced that I need re-think my goals. But I will wait to see how next weeks long run goes.

So Not Ready... (Detroit Week 10)

2007-09-09T17:21:00.001-04:00

OK, So like has been very busy this week so I have not been updating my running blog. So I am just going to do it in on fell swoop.

Wednesday:
EZ Run: 4 Miles @ 8:44
Planned: 4 Miles @ 8:50

Because of Dragon*Con I was not feeling up to running on Tuesday, so I moved my EZ run to Wednesday. All went well, as a matter of fact it went very easily, making me feel a bit less bad about missing the last 2 days of week 9.

Thursday:
Speedwork: 8miles - 4miles @ 6:58
Planned: 8miles - 4miles @ 7:00

I ran this on the treadmill, and it went pretty well, the last mile at speed was quite hard, but I did not feel unnaturally tired afterword. Over all was pretty happy with it.

Friday:
Pace Run: 4miles @ 8:27
Planned: 4miles @ 8:30

Once more I hit the treadmill for this run, mostly because it is getting light later. And I needed to get to work early. This also went well. I finished feeling quite positive.

Sunday:
Long Run: 22.5 Miles @ 9:04 (I think)
Planned: 24 Miles @ 8:50

This run brought me back to reality, and brought about the realization that I far from ready for the marathon. I still have 6 weeks, but half of that is taper.

This run was particulary anoying because, When I had my wife drop me off 24 miles from the house (So I could run back home), I found out my Garmin was not working. So I had to trust my Nike+iPod. This went ok but I am pritty sure it was quite a bit off. The entire run was more like 24.5 miles. But I walked around 1.5 to 2 miles. I am pritty sure I ran to fast for the first 10 miles

What I realized today was that I need change my way of thinking, about running. I realize now that I need to one of two things. Either, I need to either get more serous about training, or get back to enjoying running for itself. This had brought me to a few realizations, In short I am going to relax a bit. More on that later.

Dragon*Con Detour (Detroit 07, Week 9 Day 2)

2007-09-04T10:14:00.001-04:00

EZ Run: 6miles @ 8:44
Planned: 6miles @ 8:55
Weight: Don't remember.

I am writing this 5 days, late, and after missing day 3, and 4 of week nine.

Thursday, right after my morning run I got in my car and drove 700 miles to Atlanta, for Dragon*Con. For the few normal people who know me, Dragon*Con is the worlds biggest Sci-Fi Fantasy/ fan convention. It takes place in Atlanta Georgia and pretty much takes over the down town district. I have been going as a guest for the last 3 years, doing panels on working in the video game industry, and art & technology. It is quite fun, but is not really the best place to hit the road for a 10 mile run.

I did bring my shoes, and had planned on running on the hotel treadmill, but that lasted about as long as it took for me to do my first panel. The good thing is that I know I was going to have a hard time running while at the convention, this was one of the reasons I moved my recovery week back one, Hopefully the missing 16 miles will not bring my progress to a halt.

I'm going to try and get back on scheduler now, and will be doing my first week 10 run later today.

Needless to say, the 5 days of convention and driving did not help my diet much either.

Recovery (Detroit 07, Week 9 Day 1)

2007-08-28T08:32:00.000-04:00

EZ Run: 6miles @ 8:51
Planned: 6miles @ 8:55
Weight: 196

Today's run went surprisingly well. I was still a bit sour from Sundays 22miles, and had a hard time getting myself out of bed, so I was sure that I was in trouble. Not to mention my Gigantic blisters. However after the first half mile or so, my legs loosened up and I relaxed, and before I knew it I was on my way back home. I managed to keep my pace pretty regular, and finished a bit ahead of planned. I hardly even heard a pip form my blisters, this gives me hope that they will not be a long term issue.

Evan my Nike+ seamed to approve, coming in only .03 of a mile off.

Of blisters & Ice water (Detorit 07, Week 8 Day 4)

2007-08-26T22:23:00.000-04:00

Long 22Miles @ 8:52
Planned: 22Miles @ 8:55
Weight: 193.5

Today's long run, was the longest I have done since LA. I defiantly hit the wall, but I did it with some grace. Over all the run went well, though I did have some unfortunate adventures along the way.

As always I started off a bit faster then I should have, and all was going well, I started out around 7:30 am, and it was only 55f, but the humidity was a lovely 96%. Around 5 miles in I noticed that I was feeling some irritation on the inside of my right insole. I stopped of a moment or two to check for in my socks, but all was clear as I could tell. I ran another 400m or so and decided to check again. But still nothing in my socks. I realized that I was not wearing my fancy running socks, but some older new balance socks. I decided to just push on and hope the irritation went away.

Beside the socks, the first 14 mile went very well. At mile 12 I started down a trail that I had never been on. It was quite a nice, relatively flat, with a gravel, and dirt surface. Mostly through wetlands, and woods. At Mile 14miles I made a quick stop to have drink and do some GU. But got back on the track quickly. Around 16 miles in I hit the wall, but managed to keep it from stopping me in my tracks. At mile 17 I walked some 400m, and again at mile 19, and 21. After each brake, save the last my pace dropped.

The nice thing was that because I was .3 of a mile ahead around mile 15, I was able to average my goal pace, even with several of the last miles coming in over 9.

I finished my 22miles in the little town of Gregory, and here I made a mistake. I had run out of Gatorade around mile 17, and was quite thirsty by the time I stopped my reached my goal. Only a few hundred feet form a convenience store, I went in a bought a bottle of water. I tried to drink slowly, but despite my best efforts, I managed to make myself quite ill form drinking to much cold water to quickly. By the time my wife picked me up and got me home I was pretty sure I was not going to vomit. But it had been a close one.

The last lesson of the day, was revealed when I took of my shoes, the worst blisters I have ever had. Once of which is easily the size of a small egg. I cleaned them up and bandaged them up, all I can say is I am glad that next week is a recovery week.

Over all I cant complain to much, I however realize that I have along way to go, in the next 8 weeks.

Back on Pace (Detroit 2007, Week 8 Day 3)

2007-08-26T22:09:00.000-04:00

Pace Run: 4miles @ 8:21
Planned: 4miles @ 8:30
Weight: 196

This pace run went fine, though I am starting to think that once again I am being to optimistic with my marathon goal. I do not feel that I should be even remotely tired out by only 4 miles.

Sunday is the first 20+ long run I have done since LA. I am a bit nervous about it. At least it did not rain on me this morning, though with the humidity so high it might as well have.

Back on the Tredmill (Detroit 07, Week 8 Day 2)

2007-08-23T12:38:00.000-04:00

Tempo Run: 6miles - 4miles @ 7:26
Planned: 6miles - 4miles @ 7:30
Weight: 155.5

Today was the first time I have run on the treadmill since the winter. We had some crazy thunder showers last night, and I did not feel like getting covered with mud, so I found myself in the on my treadmill once again.

There are definitely some advantages to a tread mill, it is much easy to stay on pace, since you simple set it, and go. But it is also misleading because you dint have to mentally control your pace, so you don't truly learn what the pace feels like.

My the only down side is that I sweet like a pig, in my rec room, is starting to smell like a gym. I'm not happy about it. There is only so much scented candles can do.

Rescheduled (Detroit 07, Week 8 Day 1)

2007-08-22T08:04:00.000-04:00

EZ Run: 4miles @ 8:52
Planned: 4miles @ 8:55
Weight: (Forgot to check)

Doing the Run Thru Hell, and the Mellon Run, over the last two weeks really through off my schedule. So I have decided to re-adjust things a bit.

Since this week was supposed to be a recovery week, I have decide to push it to next week. This week I will instead do the runs I was supposed to do last week. I will then do the recovery week runs next week. This will work out well as I will be a DragonCon, and I do not want to have to do any long or difficult runs on a hotel treadmill.

I will continue thing form there, one week behind, until week 12, when I will start my taper runs as originally planned.

PS. The other plan messed up over the last two weeks was my diet. which I have been completely ignoring.

Mellon Run 10k (Detroit 07, Week 6 day 3)

2007-08-18T11:40:00.001-04:00

Mellon Run: 6.2miles (10k)@ 7:30

Finish Time: 46.33
Place: 45th over all, 3rd in age group.

Redemption, of a sort, I did not officially decide to do this race until about 4 hours before the race. But I managed to keep my spirits up, and decided to just go for it.

I left work a the early hour of 4:45pm and managed to get home around 5:30, with a quick change and was registered for the race by 6:15, the race itself started at 7:00pm. I kept it simple and did only a half mile or so warm up.

Because of the way the week had been going I tried to keep my goals pretty realistic. Last November I did a 47:11, and was very happy, with that at the time. I thought it was pretty safe to hope to do 47:07 (7:35mile), but I told myself I would be OK with 50:00.

My Garmin seamed to have some problems with the hills and trees, and it miss reported the run by .1 of a mile. The problem with this was that I was sure I was not going to make my goal. But as I ran up THE HILL that was the finish, and saw the clock still in the 46's I was quite surprised. In the end I managed to set a new 10k personal record, of 46:33.

I will probably take it easier on Sunday then I have scheduled, but I hope to be back on the official plan next week.

All messed up. (Detroit 07, Week 6 Day 2)

2007-08-18T10:05:00.000-04:00

EZ Run: 2miles @ 8:55
Planned: 5miles - 3x1600 @ 7:30
Weight: Forgot to check (don't want to know)

As I mentioned on Tuesday, I missed a day, and was not feeling very good, due to running a race on Saturday, and not sleeping on Monday night.

Since I was planning to run the a 10k race on Friday, I decided to skip my tempo run this week, and make the race my speedwork. This made it much more depressing when I went out planning on doing a easy 4 mile run, and barley making it through 2.

I guess I was just more messed up then I thought. I'm going to spend some quality time stretching and hope that I can still make it to the race tomorrow.

Missed a day (Detroit 07, Week 7 Day 1)

2007-08-15T16:49:00.000-04:00

EZ Run: none
Planned: 4miles @ 8:55
Weight: 196

Some times life gets complicated, screws up the best of plans. Tuesdays run did not seam to me to be a good idea, since I was still sour from the weekend, and only got One and half hours of sleep.

I was going to make up for it today, Wednesday, but I was sill pretty messed up this morning. So I will try and get back on the roads tomorrow morning. Of course I am still thinking I might try and do the Howell Mellon run on Friday night. But if I don't feel better by tomorrow I think I will just have to sit it out this year .

Screwd out of 14 miles (Detroit 07, week 6 day 4)

2007-08-12T13:30:00.000-04:00

Long Run: 12miles @ 8:56
Planned: 20miles @ 8:55
Weight: 194.5

I was not sure how far I would run today, since I did a unscheduled 10mile race yesterday. But when I woke up this morning I was feeling pretty good, so I decided I would go out and see how it went.

To keep my miles up for this week I only really needed to do 7 miles, but as I began my run I was just about convinced that If I took it easy I could do the 20miles that I had originally planned. About 5 Miles in I was still feeling pretty good, and decided that I would try and do 4x 5miles, with .5mile walk breaks between. I think the walk breaks were to long, because by the time I got to mile 9 I was coming down pretty hard. I walked a bit then, and then ran the last mile of my second repeat.

During my walk after mile 10 I realized I had just drank the last of my Gatorade, and I had 10 miles to go back to the house. The weather had grown warmer, and what I had thought was going to be rain, was just turning into humidity. I started off on my third repeat and only maid it 2 miles before I was ready to call it quites. Luckily I had my phone, and my wife was willing to come pick me up.

Normally a run like this would have been very depressing, but since I had just run a 10 mile, quite Hillie race yesterday, I was quite happy that I was able to do as well as I did. I still worry about my long runs, and feel I need to get to the point were I do not take any breaks, but I have 10 Weeks and 4 or 5 20mile+ runs left before the Marathon. Hopefully giving myself plenty of time to build up more endurance.

The worse thing about this run, was that I paused my Nike+ and never ended the workout. When I docked it It lost my run. I had 14 miles, between the running and the walking, and that is a big dent in my Goals and Challenges. Miles I have know legitimate way to catch up on. This is the second run I have lost in this 16 week program, leaving me almost 21 miles behind were I should be. Quite annoying.

Run Thru Hell 2007

2007-08-11T21:33:00.000-04:00

Race: 10miles @ 8:29
Place: 24 of 47, in age group, 457 / 2000-ish over all.
Finish Time: 1:24:43

This was my second "Run Thru Hell" Last year I had only been running a few months when I signed up for it, and was very disappointed with my time of 1:39:09. This year I am in much better shape, and have put over 1500 additional miles on, and I can now say I am amazed I survived this race last year.

This race is well know in Michigan, and what it is know for is Hills. I cant say if it is the hilliest run around, but I think it must be. Its not that the hills are so tall, I think the course only varies about 200 or 300 feet, but it is over short distances and often. I went into this race ready for the hills, I thought, but It turns out I was not ready for the hills to stop.

My dream time for this was 1:20. That would be averaging 8 minute miles, and I thought with the hills that might be optimistic. I was kind of right. I knew that the last steep hill was around 6 miles in, and spent all my time making sure I was had energy to make it. The good news is I did it, the bad news is that right around mile 7 I lost my will to live. I don't know if I rally hit the wall, or not, It was just that I had spent so much time worrying about the hills that When they were more or less over I came down from what ever rush was keeping me going.

At mile six I was still averaging sub 8:00 miles. Mile 7 brought me down to 9:00 and mile by mile eight, mostly due to walking some 800m or so I managed to almost hit 11:00. When I saw that I managed to pull my self together and finish in the lower 8's. The good news is because of my strong start I managed to come in just under my official goal time of 1:25. But I sure would have been much happier with the 1:20 that I was so close to getting before mile 7.

The strange thing is, I am sure I could have kept running all of mile 8, It goes to show that I have allot to learn, and most of it is mental. Here is the elevation and pace graph form my gamin, I was amazed how steady I was staying through the big hills. Then you can see me choke.

Tomorrow I am supposed to do 20miles for my Detroit training. My legs feel fine tonight, but I will adjust my plans in the morning should I find myself in to much discomfort.

Off the Schdule (Detroit 07, Week 6 Day 3)

2007-08-10T16:02:00.000-04:00

EZ Run: 3miles @ 8:51
Planned: 4miles @ 8:30
Weight: 196

I decided to do a basic short EZ run today, since since I will be doing a race tomorrow. I might have found it wiser to take the day off, but I wanted to keep my miles as close to the plan as possible.

Of course I will be doing a unscheduled 10 miles tomorrow. Te question is what will I be doing Sunday? I think I will find out when I crawl out of bed Sunday morning.

Fast, for me. (Detroit 07, Week 6 Day 4)

2007-08-09T19:53:00.000-04:00

Speedwork: 7miles - 3x1600m @ 7:02
Planned: 7miles - 3x1600m @ 7:05
Weight: 195

Today was pretty much the scheduled speedwork. It was quite hard, but that is the point of the speedwork. Once again I was annoyed, by the fact the 3x1600 with 800m jogs, and 1 mile warm up and 1 mile cool down, only adds up to 6.5 miles. But I went ahead and did the extra half mile jog just to keep my mileage numbers on tack.

Since I am planning on doing a race Saturday, I am going to take it EZ tomorrow and just do a 3 miles EZ run. But since I did 4 miles on Tuesday it should all balance out.

Soaked (Detroit 07, Week 6 Day 1)

2007-08-07T21:36:00.000-04:00

EZ Run: 4miles @ 8:48
Planned: 3miles @ 8:55
Weight: 197.5

Despite my ranting last week, I ended up running in the evening, so of course I ended up running in 96 Degrees and 100% Humidity. So by the end of my run, I looked like I had a bucket of water pored over my head. You know you are sweating when you take a 10 minute shower after you run and continue to sweat fir 10 more minutes after that.

I ran a mile further today then I had planned, because I have decided to move things around quite a bit, I have decided to go ahead do the "Run Thou Hell" on Saturday. Which is a 10 miles run through hills. This however is messing up my schedule. I think i will keep my speedwork the same, but the rest of the week is going to be tweaked as needed.

Sadly I have been badly cheating on my diet, I cant seam to get serous about it, It is hard to worry about 5 or 10 pounds when you get back from a 20 mile run.

"Longer" Run (Detroit 07, Week 5 Day 4)

2007-08-05T17:01:00.000-04:00

Long Run: 20miles @ 8:55*
Planned: 18miles @ 8:55
Weight: 194

This run should really read 18miles @ 8:50 and 2Miles @ 9:30. My main concern with training for the Detroit Marathon is to get my distance endurance up. I hit the wall hard in LA and do not want to ever go through that again. So with this in mind I decided to push this run up to 20 miles.

My only concern with this run was that I once again took a few walk brakes, about 400 or so meters. One at 10miles, One at 14, and one at 18. The first two were to drink some Gatorade and down a "GU". The last was to decide weather I wanted to run two more miles. I decided since my official workout was over to just run the last two at whatever pace felt comfortable. This turned out to be around 9:30. The nice thing was that by the time I averaged everything out I ended up averaging 8:55 over the entire 20 miles, and that is the EZ pace I am supposed to be doing.

After the last few long runs, I was concerned about heat and humidity. I went so far as to by a extra bottle for my "fuel belt", and some GU. I wanted very much to make sure that I was well hydrated. The funny thing was that today It rained on me the entire time, this made the run easier in some way, and harder in other. I was quite covered in mud by the time I got back home. But between the rain and the extra Gatorade I feel that I managed to finish up with out feeling like a dried out husk.

A bit above pace. (Detroit 07, Week 5 Day 3)

2007-08-04T14:36:00.000-04:00

Pace Run: 4miles @ 8:17
Planned: 4miles @ 8:30
Weight: 196

This run went well, I did run to fast, but since it was only 4 miles I am not to worried. I wish my diet was going as well.

Sunday is a 18 miler, I am not free to obsess about that. We shall see how it goes.

Tempo Run (Detroit 2007, Week 5 Day 1)

2007-08-02T09:40:00.000-04:00

>Tempo Run: 6.05miles - 4miles @ 7:28
Planned: 6miles - 4miles @ 7:30
Weight: 195

Miracle of Miracles, all went well today. I was quite nervous about any speedwork after my last tempo run, which for some reason was a tortures experience. But Last night I made sure I eat descent meal, and got enough sleep. So this morning I was able to get up at 6am and hit the road with a relatively positive attitude.

I made sure that I warmed up slow, 10:05, and spent a few minutes stretching before I kicked of the 4 miles at speed. This proved to be helpful, maintaining the pace outdoors with slight hills was a bit tough but I managed to keep it going, The run was as it should be "comfortably hard" and I feel quite good and pain free now, so I am not concerned that it was to fast.

One other thing of note accrued, last night I went to ad a book to my Ipod, and it started giving me sync errors. After messing around with it for a bit I decided just to reset it back to the factory defaults . This was fine, though I lost my playlist that I made when I first got it. But I had been listening to the same playlist for a year and 15 days, so I think it was time for a change.

The strange thing is that resetting the ipod killed my Calibration data, so I was sure that today's run would be extremely off, but to my surprise it was incredibly accurate. I think I will leave it as it is for a time and see how long that last.

Detroit 2007, Week 5 Day 1

2007-07-31T21:12:00.000-04:00

EZ Run: 4miles @ 8:52
Planned: 4miles @ 8:55
Weight: 196.5

First run with my new EZ pace of 8:55, since I have been running to fast for the last 4 weeks I should not be surprised that this was no problem. As a mater of fact I spent most of my efforts keeping the pace down.

What I am worried about is my tempo run this week. For some reason I am really having mental problems with speedwork. I am going to try my best to make sure I am in a good head space Thursday morning before I hit the road.

PS. I seam to be having problems getting to the Nike+ site today, I will add the graph once It is working again.

Detroit 2007, Week 4 Day 4

2007-07-29T11:51:00.000-04:00

EZ Run: 8miles @ 8:45
Planned: 8miles @ 9:00
Weight: 192.5

Today's run went surprisingly well considering how crappy most of last week went, not to mention that I when I started my run I was in a crappy mode, and assumed that a crappy run was to fallow.

I think what saved this run was a combination of things. I actually got some sleep the night before, and eat a nice spaghetti dinner, and most importantly I think, I got out relatively early before the heat and humidity was to high. Over all very happy with the run it's self, next week I start back on increasing mileage, as well as upping my pace 5 seconds, hopefully I am not pushing my self to hard, I will know soon enough.

PS. As far as weight goes I am sure this is mostly water loss, I will most likely be back to 195 or 194 by my next run.

Detroit 2007, Week 4 Day 3

2007-07-28T21:21:00.000-04:00

>EZ Run: 6miles @ 9:01
Planned: 6miles @ 9:00
Weight: 195.5

100% humidity and two beers make a for a pretty pathetic run.

I got invited to dinner with some friends, and since I once again was waiting for the afternoon to run, I thought I was going to have to miss my run. Perhaps that would have been for the best. But instead I got back from dinner around 7:45 and felt pretty good, so I decided to do my run after all. Problem was I had eaten ALLOT, and drank two beers, not to mention the fact that it was in the 70's with 100% humidity.

All this considered the first mile went well, though I ran to fast 8:24 I think, but I noticed that I was sweating quite a bit. By the end of mile 3 I looked like I had just got out of a shower, and was feeling I had already done 6 miles. I ended up doing a short walk after mile 3, 4, & 5. I am just lucky that I was able to finish.

The fact that I weighed in at 195.5 after this run is proof of how much water I lost, because after the dinner I had, defiantly not on my diet, I am sure I should have weighed in at 198 at least.

Lesson learned. Back to morning for me.

Detroit 2007, Week 4 Day 2

2007-07-28T20:31:00.000-04:00

>EZ Run: 6miles @ 8:51
Planned: 6miles @ 9:00
Weight: 195

I am writing this two days late, because I made the mistake of running in the afternoon. And have fallen behind. I will avoid this in the future, but for now I am just going to portend that I am writing it just after my run.

This run went fine, beside being waylaid by a stray dog, and having to get it turned around and headed home, costing me at least 20 seconds of my first mile. The humidity was quite high and I started to feel it toward the end of the run. I think we are coming into the "Run in the morning" part of summer.

Detroit 2007, Week 4 Day 1

2007-07-24T22:44:00.000-04:00

EZ Run: 4miles @ 8:55
Planned: 4miles @ 9:00
Weight: 196.5

All went well this morning, I did have the desire to stop and walk, but that was strictly physiological. I felt physically fine the entire run, and was no more tired at the end then I would expect.

Today's run start my first recovery week. I think I need it more then I should. If Things continue to feel tough next week I might consider keeping my training paces the same as the first month, until I am more confidant that I am not pushing it to far.

Sadly my first running day of my new diet seams to have see me half a Pound up. Lets hope this dose not become a trend.

The Other Plan.

2007-07-23T21:32:00.000-04:00

Its time to lose some weight.
Diet (Week 1 day 1): 196.

A year ago I started running as way to lose wait, In April of 06 I realized that I had let myself slip quite out of shape. By counting calories and running regularly I managed to go from 230 on my birthday in April, to 183.5 in November. My goal had been to get to 180, but I had put on so much muscle doing the running that I felt I had more then met my goal. I decided that that as long as I could stay around 190 I would be happy.

I have managed to keep to this, though I have twice now, after stressful weeks, found my self hitting 200. Both time I have just watched what I eat for a week or so, continued to run and gotten back to the low 190's.

However Of late I have been feeling out of shape, and noticing that that 10 pounds or so effects my running, and my attitude. So I have decided to get rid of it. I was never able to get to 180, I hit a wall around 185 and could never get past it. So In a attempt to force my self over that wall I have decided to combine my Detroit Marathon Training with a 12 week diet. Hoping this will help my body, heath and my race time.

My diet plan is this, I am going to keep my calorie count down, cutting out snacks and junk, and run. for the next 12 weeks of Training I will track my weight with my times, And will be equally obsessed with them. My main goal is to be 180 on the day after the Detroit Marathon (October 22, 2007). Wish me luck.

Detroit 2007, Week 3 Day 4

2007-07-22T12:12:00.000-04:00

Long Run: 16Miles @ 8:59
Planned: 16Miles @ 9:00

I don't really know what to say about today's run. I Was not in a very good mood as I hit the road. I was once more annoyed to find out my Ipod was dead. It seams that my computer had shut down, but the Ipod on its dock seamed to have stayed on, with no power coming up the USB cable. So I had to wait until it charged up to about half way. Never the less I hit the road about 8:30 with Harry Potter and some Gatorade strapped to my back.

I lucked out and my legs seamed fine, but after about 4 miles in I took a 200m walk brake, and took off again. I decided I would take another brake at 8, and 12, miles. I did this and a few shorter brakes as well. I was a bit upset that I did this, but it seamed to work out OK.

I am trying to keep myself from worrying about walking, but its hard, it makes me feel like I am blowing it. I need to work on getting my mental state to last through these things.

Detroit 2007, Week 3 Day 3

2007-07-21T06:42:00.001-04:00

Pace Run: 5miles @ 8:25
Planned: 5miles @ 8:30

Despite yesterdays painfully cool down, I seamed to have know problems today. I did wait until the evening to run. I of course started off to fast, and ended up running mile 3 a bit slower then I wanted. But over all I ended up feeling good with the run.

I am still a bit annoyed that my iPod batteries failed on my Wednesday, I lost 5 miles from my current challenges, and goals. But I am pleased that it looks like that was the only lasting damage done by my thursday speedwork.

Detroit 2007, Week 3 Day 2

2007-07-20T07:03:00.000-04:00

Tempo Run: 5.1miles - 3.1 @ 7:24
Planned: 5miles - 3 @ 7:35

This was one of those days when I cant help but feel I should not have run. It started off when I awoke feeling like a cranky old man. Forced myself to get up to run, and found that both my Garmin and my Ipod had dead batteries. After messing around with them for a half hour I just decided to wait and run in the evening.

I spent the rest of the day watching as the humidity built, and the temperature climbed. Buy the afternoon I was convinced that I would be running on the treadmill if at all. Thin the rain came. As it will do sometimes in Michigan it came came down in sheets, knocking down branches, signs, and gutters. But when it left the sky was blue, and the humidity was back to a livable level.

By the time I got home from work, changed and made it over to the local high school track (without my Ipod) it was beautiful, and I felt that I had done the right thing in waiting for the afternoon.

Then the strangest thing happened, I ran a mile warm up, and my calf's stated to tighten up uncomfortably. I was a bit concerned because I have not been having goof luck with my speed work the last few weeks. I decided to just "Push on through" and I took off on the tempo run. And to my surprise It went well. I averaged a bit faster then I should but over all I was content. But then I stopped, and ran my cool down mile.

It was Hell, about 200m in to my cool down my calf's turned to flesh colored tubs of pain. I kept going hoping to work it out, but it just continued. When I Finlay reach 1 mile, at a whopping 10:39. I was so messed up that I had to just sit in the grass and attempt to stretch for 10 minutes before I was able to get up and drive home.

That was last night, and I was sure that I would be in pain this morning, but to my surprise all seams well. I actually feel pretty good. Never the less I am going to push by pace run up to this evening, and at the first sign of pain I might skip it all together. I will find out tonight, one way or the other.

Detroit 2007, Week 3 Day 1

2007-07-17T12:37:00.000-04:00

EZ Run: 4miles @ 8:49
Planned: 4miles @ 9:00

Today's run was blessedly uneventfully. Perhaps I ran a bit faster then I should but I'm not complaining.

With today's run I am pretty convinced that I have recovered from my Week 1 shoe adventure. I will be curious to see how my Tempo Run on Wednesday.

Detroit 2007, Week 2 Day 4

2007-07-15T22:49:00.000-04:00

Long Run: 14miles @ 8:51
Planned: 14miles @ 9:00

Today's run was most notable for the fact that it was so much better then last weeks long run. I hit the road about 7am with a pretty good attitude, some Gatorade and a pack of Gue. Around 8 miles I walked for about 200m drank some Gatorade and downed my Gue. That got me another 5miles before I decided to polish off my Gatorade, and walked another 200m. For once these walk brakes did not seam to destroy my momentum. And I was able to pick up were I left off each time, and even maybe a bit better.

Over all I am happy, This is only week 2 of 16 and I have quite a few long runs to go. I wont start worrying until I get back to the 20's.

Detroit 2007, Week 2 Day 3

2007-07-13T07:51:00.000-04:00

Pace Run: 5miles @ 8:18
Planned: 5miles @ 8:30

I ran a bit fast again, and I think I need to be a bit more careful, The point of these pace runs is to get used to the pace, so it feels natural. However its is really hard for me not to try and gain a bit on my virtual partner as I run, and I always feel like I cant slow. I should leave the speed to my speed work. Oh well maybe I will get some control before I hurt myself.

This also marks 2 days of Almost dead on Nike+ Readings. .02 for both times. It is even more impressive because yesterday was Intervals and my Pace was all over the place. I am even more convinced the its the weather.

Back on my normal shoes I have not had any new pain, I still get a bit of a bite in my left knee when I hit a steep hill, but I think this is just the damage form last week, and it seems to be fading.

Detroit 2007, Week 2 Day 2

2007-07-12T15:42:00.000-04:00

Intervals: 5miles - 2x1600 @ 7:09
Planned: 5miles - 2x1600 @ 7:10

As I always seam to be saying lately. This was harder then I thought it would be. I did it, and without to much strain. I just felt like I was not going to make my time. I know that that is the point of Intervals, but still.

My legs were much better off again today. I felt a couple of twangs in my knees going up a hill while I was warming up, but I am pretty sure that they are just remits of my last weeks Shoe Adventure. If they persist past Sunday I will start to pay attention to them.

Detroit 2007, Week 2 Day 1

2007-07-10T12:29:00.000-04:00

EZ Run: 4miles @ 8:35
Planned: 4miles @ 9:00

Back in my new "old shoes" I am quite convinced that my problems were the Nike Air Equalons. This morning was only a EZ run, but it was done without any sharp pains. My left calf was a bit sour but that I blame on last weeks punishing. I even ran quite a bit faster then I was supposed to, and not on purpose, it just happened.

I was told once that if you find a shoe that works for you, stick with it. I know this to be true now, I guess I am just surprised that the first real running shoes I ever bought would turn out to be those shoes.

I will be even more interested to see how my speedwork goes. I will not quite say all is well, but hopefully by Sunday I will be sure.

Detroit 2007, Week 1 Day 4

2007-07-08T20:06:00.001-04:00

Long Run: 10miles @ 8:56
Planned: 12miles @ 9:00

Bad mode + Bad shoes = Bad run. This run was very disappointing, It took me a good part of the day, and a relatively enjoyable viewing of "Live Free or Die Hard" to pull myself out of my funk. More or less.. This run my not quite have been a disaster, but it was close. It started with a mile of annoying knee and shin pain, (Caused by my shoes I think). I stopped and almost turned back, but I decided to push on. This worked out, and by 2 miles things seamed OK. Around 5 miles I took a short pause, to drink some Gatorade. I think this was a mistake. Over the next 7 miles I paused 4 more times, I seam to have lost my will, and could not pull my self out of it. By the end of the run I had walked 2 of my 12 miles. Paused while I was walking so I was able to keep track of my actual run. And manage to squeeze in 10 miles at my long run pace.

I am afraid that after one week and 26 miles, I have to admit that my Nike Air Equalons are trying to kill me. I have never had as many annoying pains in my knees, my shins, and most ever other part of you legs you can hurt. The crazy thing is I bought them because I thought I needed more support. But apparently I have adapted to a lighter shoe. Next week I will be going back to Air Zoom Moire's. If by the end of the week I am not back to my more accustom "a bit sour" state I will be concerned. I hope that I have not done any lasting damage over the last week.

Perhaps the thing that bothers me most is that this is only the first week of my Detroit 2007 Training, and I am already having problems. I can only hope this is because of my shoes. I guess Ill will know by next week.

Detroit 2007, Week 1 Day 3

2007-07-06T11:32:00.000-04:00

>Pace Run: 4miles @ 8:24
Planned: 4miles @ 8:30

This run went fine, other then the face that I waited untill almost 10:00 to get to it. And I think I am officaly going to have to start watching the hummitity. I was quite soked by the time I got home.

I also started up a Runner+ account yesterday. It seams to be be a pritty cool site. It is nice to be able to make changes to the charts. I do wonder how they are going to be able to pay for the site, there is quite a bit of data and services on the site, and it cant be cheap to maintain.

Detroit 2007, Week 1 Day 2

2007-07-05T10:03:00.000-04:00

Tempo Run: 5.5 miles - 3miles @ 7:31
Planned: 5miles - 3miles @ 7:35

I am a bit disappointed with today's run, I have the day off so I slept in a bit. And by the time I got out the door it was 72 out with a relatively high humidity. On top of that I was feeling a bit under the weather. I am still hoping that I am not getting sick.

I did my warm up with no problems, 1 mile at 9:14. At the 1 mile mark I started my Nike+ and my Garmin and hit the run. Even before I got to 1 mile I was feeling a bit winded, and dripping sweat. To my shame I have to admit at 1.8 miles I was overcome with the urge to walk, and I have to admit I did. I paused my Garmin, and my Nike+, and walked some 400m or so. When I did start running again I was better off, and went a bit faster then I meant for the next mile.

When I reached the required 3 mile point I walked another 800m or so before running my final cool down mile, At something like 9:40. Over all I think all is well, and I am not over shooting my runs, It was just not my best day.

One other note, I did not record my Warm and Cool with my Nike+. I might make this a habit for my speedwork. It will end up messing up my Nike+ total mileage but It is allot more accurate if I only record the speedwork itself. Today it recorded 2.99 miles for my Garmins 3.0. That about as close I ever expect form it.

"The Plan" Detroit 2007

2007-07-03T10:39:00.000-04:00

I have put togeather a pretty realistic training schedule for the next 16 weeks. This plan is based on a goal pace of 8:30, and a finishing time of 3:42.51. I will be updating this image as the days progress.

This schedule was based a plan provided by Runners worlds Smart Coach. With a few tweaks based on adding Pace Runs, and what I learned training for LA.

Detroit 2007, Week 1 Day 1

2007-07-03T07:55:00.000-04:00

>EZ Run: 4miles @ 8:44
Planned: 4miles @ 9:00

This was the first day of my Detroit marathon training program. We are of course starting off with the basics. Once again I am wearing my new Equalons, I did not notice any problems. My calfs are sour, but I am not quite sure if that has anything to do with this run.

I have my Plan is all worked out, I'm will post a copy of it tonight. The only thing that I am still deciding what races I can do while in the middle of my training program. I have a feeling I will have to make those divisions as I go.

10 Miles in New Shoes.

2007-07-02T11:42:00.000-04:00

Long Run: 10Miles @ 8:46
Planned: 10Miles @ 9:00

After some 600 miles I decided to, retire the shoes I brought for the LA Marathon. After 1600 or so miles running on Air Zoom Moire's. Which are very light weight shoes, one step above running barefoot. I decided to try something with more support. Since I am going to be doing allot of Long Runs over the next four months. So I picked up a pair of Nike Air Equalons.

After 10 miles, I'm still not sure weather what I think of them. For the first mile or so I was wondering if it possible to have to much support. I had a bit of pain in my left knee, as I ran up a hill. I'm not sure if this was the shoes fault. I was feeling a bit sour before I even when out. However at the end of the run I was feeling quite good, I would even say better then normal. Once more not sure if this had to do with the shoes either.

I will be starting my Detroit Plan tomorrow, and will be upping my Miles continuously for the 16 weeks. I plan on giving the Equalons a good pounding, and by the next 500 miles I should know weather it has made a difference or not.

Cheaters Never Prosper!

2007-06-29T07:45:00.000-04:00

EZ Run: 4miles @ 8:54
Planned: 4miles @ 9:00

I am pissed!, I thought that my woes with the Nike+ inaccuracies were over with the cold. But for some crazy reason today's run was 1.6 miles off. It was a nice crisp 55f out, and I have not had any reel problems for the last month or so.

The thing that really chaps my hide, is that this misreported the first 3 miles so badly that I was bumped to 1st in the 5k challenge (16:58), I was quite happy with my legitimately earned 14th (22:00). So now I have to either delete my run, messing up my logs even more then 1.6 miles, or withdraw from the challenge. I think it is best if I just withdraw, I have no chance of even getting into the top 10 anyway.

Oh well, I wont be entering any more speed challenges as long as this remains a issue.

1500 Miles down.

2007-06-28T10:40:00.000-04:00

Pace Run: 7Miles @ 8:22
Planned: 7Miles @ 8:30

Today I was not quite sure what to do. I am still planning my training schedule for The Detroit Marathon. And it looks like I am going to shoot for a goal time of 3:45. This is 15 minutes slower then I had planned to do LA, but I want to be sure I have a realistic goal this time. This would require me to do maintain a average pace of 8:30.

This brought me to my run today, I wanted to do a run long enough that I could get used to the pace and learn what it felt like. The run went well, it was not quite a tempo run, not quite a EZ run. It felt good to know that I was running at "the pace". This reinforced my plans to ad a pace run to my schedule each week. I will give it a bit more thought first.

Between Plans

2007-06-26T08:22:00.000-04:00

EZ Run: 4miles @ 8:44
Planned: 4miles @ 9:00

Last week I was worried about the the Michigan Challenge 5k. Next week I start worrying about the Detroit Marathon. This week I got nothing to worry about. So I just went for a run. I was a bit worried that I would still be sour form Sunday, but It turns out that the nice thing about short runs is you recover allot faster. I Had no problem meeting my goal today and I could have done a few more miles had I had the time.

My only plan for this week is to come up with my training schedule for the next 16 weeks. I am going to use SmartCoach again, but I will be tweaking it a bit, to concentrate on the Long runs, and fit in a few races that I want to do this summer. I Will be posting it here once I have things worked out.

As for the rest of this week I'm just going to wing it. Not quite sure how that will work out. But Ill know soon enough.

5k of Grass and pain.

2007-06-25T06:54:00.000-04:00

Michigan Challenge 5k Chase:
22:00 - 5k @ 7:05
Planned: 21:46 - 5k @ 7:00
Place: 43rd, 2nd in Age group.

I Have to admit that this was my fastest official 5k to date. So I should be quite happy. Over all I am, but I am a bit annoyed by the fact that I did not hit my goal time. I kept telling myself that I would be happy with 21:59, and since I missed that by 1 second I am allowed to be put out.

The Crazy thing about this race, for me at least was that the bulk of it was on Grass. I have never run more then a 100m on grass before. It was kind of nice as far as saving my legs some pain. But I cant help but feel it slowed me down a bit. I will probably never know. At least I did not feel the pounding I did last week on my Intervals.

This was the first time I have ever placed in my age group. 2nd place 1.15 behind the guy ahead of me. Of course the winner of the next age group up did it in 16:40. I even got a nifty stone coaster for a award. Its kind of cheesy but Its a first so I am kind of proud of it.

The only other thing of note is that my Garmin was off by .02 miles, and my Nike + was off by .7 k It reported my at 4.93. This is not bad except that I am in a 5k Nike Challenge and my 22 minute run was not recorded. Which would have brought me for the bottom of the rankings to some ware in the top 20. Oh well. I guess Ill just have to do another race before august.

Round and Round.

2007-06-21T22:29:00.000-04:00

Intervals: 4.25miles with 3x800m @ 3:14
Planned: 4.25miles with 3x800m @ 3:20

I did not run in high shchool, except during PE and that was with no great joy. So today was the first time that I have ever done Intervals on a track.

Of course 20 years ago the track at my school was just dirt, if I recall. The track at our local high school is some sort of fancy rubberized stuff. I cant help but be amazed by the quality, I guess my property taxes are going to some were useful.

I am planning on running a 5k on Sunday, and this was my last run until then, and my second consecutive week of doing intervals for my speedwork. I cant say that I like them much. I know the point is to push back your limits, but I am always spent at the end, and to tired to feel any sort of accomplishment. After months of training for Marathons I think I prefer Tempo Runs for speed work, and am looking forward to getting back to them.

Over all the run went fine, I ran a bit faster then I was suppose to, 3:11, 317, & 3:15. I was trying to do 3:20, but it is amazing how much harder it is to cut 9 seconds of a 800m run then it is to cut 5 minutes of a Half Marathon. I don't know if I will ever be happy with my short run speeds. I think perhaps I just started running to late in life to ever get under 20 in a 5k. But I might as well give it a try.

EZ Run / Steam bath.

2007-06-19T08:01:00.000-04:00

EZ Run: 4.0miles @ 8:47
Planned: 4.0miles @ 9:00

Nothing of note today except that once more the humidity is getting worse. 100% this morning, got a few sprinkles, but mostly just warm wet air. Its was only 72f but it sure feels hotter.

Oh well, that's what Gatorade is for.

And the Humitity begins.

2007-06-17T16:33:00.001-04:00

10miles @ 8:51
Planned: 8miles @ 9:00

It is June, and I guess I have been kind of lucky to date, but today was a reminder that I am in Michigan. And summer in Michigan is Humid.

The Truth is it was not that bad today, I did get out early 7:00 but it was already a bit muggy. By mile 4 I was drenched in sweat and actually walked a 100m or so to drink some Gatorade. I have a bad habit of not drinking on my long runs, but I don't think this will be a problem as the humidity gets worse. Which I am sure it will.

Oh well I will be starting my training schedule for the Detroit Marathon next month, and the long runs will just get longer, and the humidity worse. Yet I keep running. ;)

4 miles is not the same as 8 miles.

2007-06-15T11:09:00.000-04:00

run: 8miles @ 8:57
Planned: 4miles @ 9:00

It was just way to nice this morning, and I was ceased by the desire to put in a few extra miles. I don't know if it was smart. But I did not have any problems and It seamed to have worked out well.

I still cant get the New Nike+ widgets to work in by blogger post. JamesB over at Gorilla Hunting has already got it working so I will have to take a peek at his HTML. I think since I am going to have to mess with the code I am going to try and come up with my own template as well. But we shall see what I come up with over the next few days, or weeks.

3x800m with warm and cool dose not equal 5 miles.

2007-06-15T10:29:00.001-04:00

Speedwork: 4.25miles (3x800m @ 3:17)
Planned: 5miles (3x800m @ 3:20)

As smart as smart coach is it always seams to lie to me about intervals. Yesterday I did my 3x800m @ 3:20. With 1 mile warm, and 1 mile cool. If you include the 400m jog
between repeats this comes to a total of 4.25 miles. Perhaps they want you to do 800m
jogs between but that is not what it says in the directions.

Beside that the run went well. I did 3:14, 3:16, and 3:22. I
don't mind missing by a few seconds on that last one because the lst 200m or so was up a hill.

Once more my Nike+ was close. Giving me a reading of 4.29. However the graph it
produces for intervals is pretty much useless. I am glad I have my garmin for these or I
would need a track or a treadmill to even have any Idea how I'm doing.

Nike has added Web widgets, Not sure how to use them yet. But I know it can be done, just need to mess with the default HTML that blogger kicks out.

Stupid Trees!

2007-06-12T08:03:00.000-04:00

EZ Run: 4mi @ 8:55 (ish)
Planned: 4mi @ 9:00

Today's run went fine, even though I did not want to get out of bed. I did however notice a bit of inconsistency in my Gamin. Which seamed to be proved by reviewing my run on Google Earth.

It seams that the beautiful thick spring foliage can mess up a GPS as bad as a brick building. Normally I would not mind much, but I was tyring to control my pace. The result was can not really trust my results. I think I was more in the 8:40 to 8:50 Range. Oh well I can avoid that stretch of road in the future. At least when the numbers are important.

Nice and Toastie.

2007-06-10T12:21:00.000-04:00

Long Run: 8.43 @ 8:54
Planned: 8.0 @ 9:02

Summer is near, and today I felt it. I decided to make the drive down to Kinsington Metro Park for my long run today. But before I committed to it I wasted 3 hours. So I did not even start my run until 9:45. This gave it just enough time to warm up. I was a beautiful day not even that humid. But After months of running in 20's - 50's it got a bit toasty. This would not be so bad except I managed to give myself a nice sun burn, and it none to comfortable. I will not be wearing shorts again for some time I think.

The run itself went well. I think maybe I should have kept it to 9:00 but I feel I need to start speeding up my long run pace just a smidgen. I might drop it to 8:55 or 8:50 in a week or so.

One other thing of note, My Nike+ was once again more or less accurate. Coming in at 8.32. I am going to just call that good enough. This goes to show all those who said that the problems I was having in the winter were not cold related. I think I have enough runs now to call it proof.

Recovery run, - Recovery.

2007-06-08T16:14:00.000-04:00

Recovery Run: 7.25mi @ 9:45
Planned: 4mi @ 9:02

It seams that my Tuesday calibration took a bit
better then I thought. At least I am back in the ballpark, today's run was recorded at 7.47 miles, just a bit less then .25 of a mile over. Since Nike and apple only claim +/- 10% accuracy I am content. I was running a bit slower then normal so It will be interesting to see how accurate it stays when I get back to my normal 9:00, or even when start up speed work again.

Since I ran a 1/2 Marathon on Sunday, and pretty much at a all out pace, I don't know if today's run was the wisest thing to do. I don't know if I gave myself enough time to recover. I though since I was running free form, not paying attention to my pace, It would be easy. However at around 5 miles I started to feel a bit of discomfort. I would not go as so far as to call it pain. But It might have been smarter to stick to my planed 4 miles.

Calibration Day

2007-06-06T12:39:00.001-04:00

After the Half Marathon last weekend, my Nike+ Ipod system reported 11.2 Miles. This was very annoying. Over the winter I was plagued with Nike+ problems, almost always It would recorder to fast for the first part of a run, then drop to a semi accurate state. Now that the weather has warmed up a bit I seam to be getting consistently slow feedback.

So this morning I decided to take advantage of my recovery week and recalibrate my Nike+. I Started by calibrating the walking time. I walked 1 mile, at something like 16:50. Then I calibrated to run, with 1 mile @ 9:12. Having completed this I decided to run back home (2 mile), and see how the calibration took.

As it turns out, It did not take well. I got to .71 miles by my Gamin, and when my Nike+ had done .5 of a mile. When I herd this I stooped, and decided to recalibrate. So I set up to run 1 more mile. After calibrating a 8:45 mile. I decided to run the rest of the way home. To see if it helped. It did not seam to help much, because in the .33 miles to the house my Nike+ returned .22.

I will try and calibrate with shorter distances next. Probably on Friday. The I only use the Nike+ to keep track of my over all miles these days. But I am not happy with it under reporting, messing up my averages, messing up my mileage goals.

13.1 Miles to go

2007-06-03T21:57:00.000-04:00

What a difference a Year makes.

One year ago, on the 6th of June I ran my first race. The 5k portion of Dexter Ann Arbor Run. I had no idea what to expect and had only started running about 6 weeks earlier. I managed to run a bit over half of it, and finished with a time of 38:37 (Average pace of 12:26).

This morning I Braved the rain to run the Dexter Ann Arbor Run for the second time, However after 1 year of running and a bit over 1500 mile, I decided to tackle the main event. The Half Marathon. I have to admit I fell short of my goal time, but I finished the 13.1 miles with a respectable time of 1:46:02. (Average pace of 8:06). I was shooting for 8:00.

This Race also kicks off my 2007 running season. So I am using it an excuse to start a new blog dedicated to running. With a little help from blogger, I have decided to host it myself, here at www.odyssey-3.com/running. I will be using this blog to keep myself motivated, and let my friends and family know how thing are progressing. So feel
free to comment. And thanks for visiting.