Detroit Marathon Training - Week 4 - Run #1

Felt like I had to makeup the missed distance from yesterday's aborted run, so I hit up the treadmill after work today and did the remaining 6.5 miles to complete my 12 mile long run. I started off at an 8:00/mile pace, with gradual increases over the last mile or so. I finished the run in 51:19 (7:53/mi).

The run went fairly well. Felt long though. The longer runs on the treadmill get extremely boring. But I feel pretty good now, 25 minutes after the fact. We'll see how I feel tomorrow. I plan to get my speed work in on Wednesday, and my tempo run on Friday.

Detroit Marathon Training - Week 3 - Run #2

Missed a run earlier this week because I was not feeling too well. I had hoped to have a strong comeback today with the week's long run. Unfortunately, the weather conditions had other plans for me.

I drove out to the park, actually somewhat looking forward to knocking out 12 miles. But it was hot. Really hot. It was in the low 90s, very sunny and very humid. I took a bottle of water with me, planning to fill up further along my way. But after a few miles, I knew that wasn't going to work out too well. My shirt was drenched after 2 miles, and my bottle was nearing empty.

After turning around at the 3 mile mark, I mixed in some walking with my running, because I was afraid of getting overheated. I saw only two other brave runners, and both appeared to be doing the same.

Subtracting out the walking parts, I'd say that I actually ran about 5 1/2 miles. My first mile was amazingly just under 8 minutes, but the later ones were more around 9 - 9 1/2. Disappointing that things could not have gone better, but I wanted to be careful and not get hurt, or something worse.

Weekly Total: 10.5 miles
Yearly Total: 470.1 miles

Detroit Marathon Training - Week 3 - Run #1

I went into today's speed run with a plan, and actually stuck to it for once. The plan was to do 4 repeats of 1200m (3/4 mi), and that is exactly what I did. I ran the first 1/4 mile at 8:41, and then sped up to a 6:58 pace for the remaining 3/4. I did this four times, though I started the fourth speed segment at 6:51 and ramped up from there. I think I finished the four miles in 30:33 (7:38/mi pace).

I then ran a fifth mile starting back at an 8:41 pace and gradually picking up over time, until I was around a 5:45 pace for a sprint to the finish. My time for the five miles was 37:25 (7:29 pace).

I was struggling a bit at first near the end of the speed segments, but I seemed to get stronger as I went along. And afterwards, I felt fine. Even now, a few hours later, there is no soreness in my legs at all. So of course I'm left wondering if I need to push myself harder, but I'm just glad that I was able to accomplish what I set out to do today. And my overall pace was faster than last week's speed run, so that is good I suppose, even though my speed segment pace was slower.

Detroit Marathon Training - Week 2 - Run #3

Today saw the return of the weekend long run. Since I ran a race last Saturday, the first long run of my training was not until today. I'm happy to report that the run went well, though I'm not looking forward to blocking out 2 - 3+ hours out of every weekend for the next four months.

I hit up the Towpath Trail in Brecksville today (which fortunately just reopened two days ago as they have fixed all the flood damage from nearly a month ago) for the first time in quite a while. I headed south and ran five miles down past Boston, and then back. I stopped in Boston on the way back for water, and boy did I need it. I had made this my lone planned water stop (well, I don't really have any other stops to choose from), and I really should have gotten more. I really needed a drink by the time I got there, and drank so much that I felt a little off the next two miles or so.

As for my pace, it was not as good as I would have hoped. I started off the first two miles at an 8:05/mile pace. From there it dropped to about 8:20 for the next two. At the end, my time for the ten miles was 1:23:26, which averages out to an 8:20 pace. Not bad, but considered I ran a half marathon nearly four month ago at a 7:55 pace, I was hoping to see better things.

Weekly Total: 21 miles
Yearly Total: 459.6 miles

Detroit Marathon Training - Week 2 - Run #2

Life has yet again interferred with my running, so I have been off from running the past few days. But I made my return today with a run after work in the gym on the handy old treadmill.

Today's run went pretty well. I pounded out an extra mile more than my treadmill usual, running a total of 6 miles in a time of 45:20, for a 7:33/mile pace. This was slightly faster than last week's tempo run pace. I ran about the first 2 miles at a 7:41/mi clip, before bumping it up to 7:35/mi for the middle two, and 7:30 for the 5th mile, and then increased gradually during the last mile, with a sprint to the finish.

I think 7:30 is going to be the pace that I aim to stay at with the tempo runs. I know I have no chance of doing that for a marathon distance, but I need to keep pushing myself.

Detroit Marathon Training - Week 2 - Run #1

Tried to get some speed work in today. I'm realizing that I might be pushing myself too hard, and I'm not sure if that is good or bad. With the last marathon, I really felt like I slacked off on my training, though everything turned out very good in the end. But now that I have seen progress, I'm hungrier than ever for good results. So I'm feeling more motivation this time around, and in turn am pushing myself harder.

Today I ran 5 miles. For the first three, I ran the first 1/2 mile at 8:34 pace, followed by the second 1/2 mile at a 6:31 pace. So I went with the 1/2 mi speedwork right off the bat, and at a faster pace than before. I had to ease up the last 2 miles, though I gradually pushed myself harder and harder the last mile, increasing my speed almost every 30 seconds. I ended up finishing the 5 miles in 38:18 (7:40/mi pace), just slightly faster than last week's tempo run.

I am sore, but hey, I did it and I didn't get hurt. I have noticed my breathing after I run has been fine. Not too long ago, I used to be really wheezy after a hard run, but lately I've been fine. The only problems I've had lately seem to be the gallons of water I sweat during my runs. But if that is the worst problem I have, I guess I'm pretty lucky.

Race Report: Winking Lizard "A Shot in the Dark" 4 miler

Even more post race festivities @ Winking Lizard - Cleveland, OH
Originally uploaded by thespacerace.

Last night I ran in the 3rd annual Winking Lizard "A Shot in the Dark" 4 mile race through downtown Cleveland, OH. Despite being only three years old, it has become a very popular race, likely due to being a short run downtown (and of course the affiliation with a bar, and post-race party in the street, including a "beer garden"). I heard many good things about it, so I decided to try it out this year.

The weather conditions were less than ideal. It was very humid and temperatures were in the upper 80s (despite the 7pm start time), and the setting sun was right in my eyes at times. The course was a pretty good one, starting off downtown in the Gateway District, over the Lorain Avenue bridge into Ohio City, and then back over the Detroit bridge and back towards the arena. The event was chip timed, which was nice.

The starting line was a mess, as they ended up changing it from where everyone was originally lined up, so people near the back ended up near the front. So I spent most of my first mile getting around slower runners, which wore me down. I think my first mile was a 7:14 or so. Mile 2 went a little more smoothly, especially since it was mostly flat. I reached the halfway point at 14:14. Mile 3 was the hardest of the run as it involved going over a second bridge which was more inclined than the first. I can't remember my split for that one, but it was not good. Try as I might, I was not able to really kick on the afterburners to the finish until the last 100 feet or so. I crossed the line in 28:38. I really feel like I could have met my goal of sub-28 were it not for the weather conditions.

Here are the numbers:

Time: 28:38
Pace: 7:10/mi
Overall: 107 of 1130
Division (Male 25-29): 20 of 112

While I had hoped to do a little better, this is my best showing statistically since I started running a little over a year ago. Top 10% overall, and top 20% for my division. Things are looking up. No more races scheduled for a while. I'm sure I'll run some more races this summer, but the next one I'm signed up for is the River Run 1/2 marathon in September.


Weekly Total: 17 miles
Yearly Total: 438.6 miles

a fairly easy run

Was still a bit sore today from yesterday's tough run, so I wanted to take it easy today yet still get a bit of a workout. So I aimed for an 8:30/mile pace. And that's exactly what I did for 4 miles, finishing in 33:57. The back of my left thigh was feeling a bit tight, but other than that I wasn't doing too bad. Taking tomorrow off, and then I have a 4 mile race in downtown Cleveland on Saturday evening. Hoping to keep it in the low 7s, even not better for that one.

Detroit Marathon Training - Week 1 - Run #2

Today was my try at a tempo run. I haven't really settled on what the pace for this should be. The plan I am (sort of) following suggest my 10K pace, which would be 7:32/mile. Others say like 10 seconds off your Projected Marathon Pace (PMP), which would be about 7:50/mi, since I'm (unofficially) aiming for an 8:00/mi pace. Today, I ran my first two miles at 7:47, bumped it up to 7:41 for mile 3, 7:35 for mile 4, and 7:30 for the start of mile 5, with increases every 1/4 mile.

I finished the 5 miles in 38:26, for a 7:41/mi average pace. I actually didn't feel too bad, though it was much easier to run with the treadmill flat than at a 1% incline, as I switched back and forth a couple of times. I'm not quite sure what is next. I may get an easy 3 in tomorrow since I'm going to Cedar Point on Friday, and Saturday evening is my 4 mile race downtown. We'll see.

Detroit Marathon Training - Week 1 - Run #1

I began my 16-week training plan for the Detroit Marathon today. I hit up the treadmill at work and did a little bit of speed work. I ran 800m @ 8:20, followed by 400m @ 6:44. I kept doing this and ended up doing about another 600m, and two 800m speed intervals. In all, I ran 4 miles in about 30:44 (a 7:41/mi pace). I felt pretty good and really kicked it up my last 400m, actually breaking under a 6:00/mi pace for about 150m. Not too bad. I don't want to push myself too hard because I have the Winking Lizard 4 mile run coming up this Saturday evening, which is likely going to be my last race for a while.

awesome weather

The heat and the humidity receeded for today, so I headed across the street from work to the park and had a very good six mile run. It was awesome weather for running (with the exception of a little too much sun, but I suppose that's good for the Vitamin D) and I did not end up getting super sweaty like I would have on the treadmill at work.

I ended up doing 6 miles in 45:12, which equates to a pretty good pace of 7:32/mile, which is the same pace I had for the 10K a little over a week ago. Not bad for not running in almost 5 days, not to mention the somewhat hilly course.

Since I am now registered for the Detroit Marathon, I am planning to start my good ol' 16-week marathon training program next week. So this is my last week to really do whatever I want, not that it's a big deal. I seem to do better in a structured program anyways. But I just don't feel as guilty missing a run when it's not on a schedule.

Weekly Total: 6 miles
Yearly Total: 421.6 miles