Five more miles of speed work

I had planned to do more of a tempo run today, but it sort of morphed into another speed workout, though with smaller variations between the half mile intervals.

Weekly Total: 9 miles
Yearly Total: 880.9 miles

Four more

Today I did a four mile run on the treadmill at the rec center after work. I've accredited my lack of improvement in my previous marathon (Detroit, that is) to be because of my very bland, repetitive training routines. So, I've been trying to do a lot of reading online to learn about different training techniques that I plan to incorporate in my running from now on. One of these techniques is speed work. I've done a little bit here and there in the past, by now it's time to get serious about it.

So today, for the first three miles, I alternated between an 8:00/mi pace for 1/2 mile, followed by a brisk 6:58/mi pace for the next 1/2 mile. It was pretty tough at times, but I stuck with it. I need more workouts like this if I want to improve and break through this plateau.

First post-marathon run

I went for my first since the marathon today. I actually felt really good this past week, much better than after any of my previous marathons. I could have started back up on Thursday, but I'm in no hurry as I don't have any races on the horizon, so I figured I'd just let my body rest a bit.

The weather outside was amazing today, mid 60's and sunny, which is well over 20 degrees above normal for Cleveland this time of year. So I headed outdoors and ran around the neighborhood. I actually took a different path than usual and ran through a bunch of subdivisions and it was very enjoyable. With the week off, my body was a little less than enthused about the run today. I was a little stiff and sore, but I made it through 6 miles at a reasonable pace.

Since I have nothing in the pipeline, except a likely run in the Columbus Distance Classic (1/2 marathon) in April, I'm just going to try and stick to 3 runs a week, around 15-20 miles or so, just so I don't lose my conditioning.

Weekly Total: 6 miles
Yearly Total: 871.9 miles

Marathon #4 - Philadelphia

Hey, Rocky!
Originally uploaded by thespacerace.

Yes, it's true. I snuck off to the east coast this past weekend and ran yet another marathon. Yes, the Detroit one was only 3 weeks ago. But I really wanted to get visit my friend who now lives in Delaware, so I figured running the Philadelphia Marathon was a good excuse for me to do so.

My girlfriend and I on left Friday morning for the roughly 6 1/2 hour trek out east, suffering for rain for most of the first half, along with mountains and semis going way too fast. But we finally made it there and quickly left again to head for Philly to catch the marathon expo and some dinner. Well, traffic had different plans as we spent about 45 minutes sitting in the same spot due to an apparent accident on the bridge ahead of us. So the expo plans were moved to Saturday, and we had some tasty Greek food after we made it to Philly, before checking out one of my favorite singers, Eric Bachmann, perform at a cool little place called the North Star Bar.

On Saturday morning, we headed back to Philly and picked up all the necessary race stuff (bib, chip, shirt, free stuff) at the expo and did a little bit of exploring of Philly which seems like a very cool city. After watching the big OSU/Michigan football game, we had a very tasty homemade pasta dinner before heading to bed early.

Sunday morning, I was up at 5:45 and we were back on the road to Philly at 6:30. We got there just in time to follow some others in hopping the curb and parking on some innercity baseball field just a few hundred feet from the marathon area. The weather was cool, though not as bad as Detroit was, and there was not much wind to speak of. So, I opted for the shorts instead of the tights, though I stuck with the long-sleeve shirt which turned out to be a pretty good idea.

The race started about 8:05, a little behind schedule. I managed to secure a pretty good spot in the crowd, though it still took me a little over 2 minutes to cross the starting line (thank goodness for chip timing). I managed to keep up a pace of about 8:05 per mile for about the first 8 miles or so. But during mile 9, we went up a good sized hill for about a half mile and I was hurting by the end of that and I don't think I ever fully recovered from that. The first half of the race was pretty awesome. Running mostly around the city and little neighborhoods, there was a lot of crowd support and interesting sights to be seen.

At the halfway point, we crossed back by the Art Museum where the race started and headed north. At the 14 mile mark, I was at 1:57:02, which is an 8:21 pace. I actually improved on my pace between mile 10 and 14 as my average pace at mile 10 was 8:32. Unfortunately, the second half of the race was not so great, both course-wise and performance-wise.

For the second half of the race, we ran north of the museum along the Schuylkill River. It was scenic if you're into the whole nature thing. I train a lot in the park and enjoy the nature scenery, but when it comes to marathons I like the more urban settings with fans. The fans along the second half of the marathon were pretty few and far between, with the exception of the turnaround point at mile 20 when we ran through Manayunk. The crowds there were the best of any along the course. I hit the 20 mile mark at 2:52:51, so my average pace had swelled to 8:38. If I had managed to maintain that, I would have set a personal record. But, I didn't.

The last 6.2 miles of the race took me almost exactly an hour, or an average pace of 9:41 per mile. I guess it's safe to say that I "hit the wall". The only positive that I came away from it with is that I did not walk at all during that last 6.2 miles, or any of the 26.2 miles overall, which is a first. I walked in Detroit a bit, only because I had some cramps. But in Philly, I had no cramps, and no walking. Just slowness.

I managed to pickup my pace a bit during the last half mile as we finally encountered crowds of people again. I officially crossed the line in 3:52:55. Not my best time, but a time I am content with. Running two marathons in three weeks is not something I recommend if you're looking to break personal records. But I'm glad I drove out there and did it. I visited a new state for the first time (Delaware), got to hang out with my friends, explored a new town, and got a bit of exercise. And having a four-day weekend was an added bonus too.

Chip Time: 3:52:55
Clock Time: 3:55:06
Pace: 8:58.1
Mile 10: 1:25:26
Mile 14: 2:00:51
Mile 20: 2:52:51
Age Division (Men 25-29): 254 of 495
Men: 1894 of 3997
Overall: 2412 of 6178


Weekly Total: 29.2 miles
Yearly Total: 865.9 miles

one last tuneup

Today was my last tuneup before this Sunday's Philadelphia Marathon (yes, I am officially registered now).

Just a 3 miler today at a decent pace of 8:17/mi. Since I was not going to get any other runs in this week, I wanted to get a decent workout in, and run at relatively the same pace I plan to for the marathon. So this was a way to get my body primed for that pace. The run went well. Hopefully it's a sign of good things to come on Sunday.

The big deciding "long run"

Today's run was planned as the last test before I make up my mind on whether or not I want to run next weekend's Philadelphia Marathon. And after today, I cannot think of any reason not to run it.

I actually ran 12 miles, though I spent the first mile calibrating my Nike+ iPod thing (though it tracked the other 11 miles as 11.34, so apparently I didn't do such a good job adjusting it). I actually felt really good. It was pretty cold outside and I wore my warmups pants that I had not planned to, but it went OK.

I did not push myself very hard, I just wanted to see if I had the mileage in my legs, and apparently I do. So I plan to register for the Philadelphia marathon in the next few days, and making it my 4th marathon.

Weekly Total: 23.2 miles
Yearly Total: 836.7 miles

A 5 miler via the treadmill

Went for a 5 mile run on the treadmill today after work, and managed to pull it off in a time of 39:10, for a 7:48/mi average pace. I was pretty happy with the results, except for the fact that I had to back off a bit on my pace for the 4th mile because I wasn't feeling it. But otherwise, things are looking pretty good.

A 10k on the treadmill

Today I hit up the treadmill after work and managed to knock out a 10km (6.2 mi) run. My iPod said it was actually 6.39 miles, but I'll go with the treadmill's readout on this one. I pushed the pace pretty hard to see if my legs had it in them, and was happy with the results. I figure that if I decide to run the marathon in Philly in a couple of weeks, I need to get any "hard" workouts out of the way ASAP.

A 10 miler

This afternoon I went out and ran a 10 miler, to see how my body was doing. I wasn't sure at first if I could make it that far, but I did. Unfortunately, I forgot to bring the receiver for my Nike iPod+ thing, so no graphs of today's run. I also stopped carrying my watch since I got that, so I had to resort to looking at the time on my cell phone which I carried in my Camelbak. I started the run at 3:44 and finished at 5:07. So 83 minutes to run 10 miles. That averages out to a nice 8:18 per mile average pace. Not bad being only 7 days removed from a full marathon.

So what does that mean? Barring any complications in the next week or so, I think I'm going to drive out to Philly in 2 weeks and participate in the Philadelphia Marathon. Yes, I realize that only taking 3 weeks between marathons is not the wisest thing I could do, but I feel that I can handle it. I'm in the best shape of my life, and I want to do the marathon thing one more time before I "hibernate" for winter. I'm going to try another long run next weekend, and that will be when I make my final decision. But for now at least, it looks like Philly is a go.

Weekly Total: 13.3 miles
Yearly Total: 813.5 miles

My first post-marathon run

Today I did my first post-marathon run. My legs felt pretty good on Monday, the day after the marathon. But come Tuesday morning, I was limping around a bit. My left calf was extremely tender and did not like being walked on. My right one was also sore and tender, but not nearly as bad. Things improved slightly on Wednesday, and by Thursday I felt about 80%. So I decided to do my first run on Friday.

Nothing too exciting. I just went to the treadmill after work, kept the pace pretty light, and went for a half hour. I actually ran about 3.3 miles, though my iPod said 3.4 miles. I actually did not feel too bad. It was also the first run in my new shoes, a pair of Brooks Dyad 3. Things went pretty well. No real complaints, besides my lungs not exactly feeling up to par. I was coughing quite a bit after the workout, which was surprising since I did not push myself that hard and did not ever really feel short of breath.

So 3.3 miles in 30 minutes, for an average pace of 9:05 per mile.

The Detroit Marathon! - Race report

My third marathon is now in the books. This past Sunday, I ran the Detroit Marathon. Overall it was a pretty fun race that took us into Canada for a few miles along with numerous little neighborhoods throughout Detroit.

On the drive up to Detroit on Saturday afternoon, things were not looking so great as 50+ mph winds were blowing the Vibe all over the highway, along with occasional downpours. But we made it there in the afternoon and met up with my friend Ryan who was running the half-marathon and was kind enough to put us up for the night. We went to the less-than-impressive marathon expo to pickup our required gear and then headed off to a big pasta dinner with some other friends before going to bed nice and early.

Race day started with a 6am wakeup to eat a bagel and an energy bar before driving downtown. The starting area was a sea of port-o-potties (well over 100) and long lines, though I managed to find one with almost no line. I then spent 5 minutes squeezing into the overcrowded starting coral for my pace about 10 minutes before the race started. Temperatures were only in the upper 30s so I decided to go with the leg tights under my shorts, long sleeve shirt, gloves and a knit hat. I also took along my iPod, which allowed me to track my run (see here).

The race started off well, as most of my runs do, with a first mile time of around 7:22. The first real challenge (course map) was during mile 4 when we crossed the Ambassador Bridge into Windsor, Canada. The bridge is super long and the first half was a pretty steep incline. The coolest part of the run was the run back to the States via the Detroit-Windsor underwater tunnel. My "underwater mile" time was 7:46, very good for mile 8. I then made it to the halfway point at 1:47:01, for an average pace of just under 8:10 a mile.

After that, things were pretty much downhill (in a figurative sense). The wind started picking up, and was really bad during the 3-mile run out to and around Belle Isle. During mile 18, I started getting cramps in my left calf muscle and had to stop to stretch a few times. The last few miles, which are always the worst part, was made even worse this time because of the wind. When we made the turn onto Lafayette Avenue for the last 3 miles, we started running into a headwind that was brutal. I ran my slowest mile in mile 24 with a time of 9:22, which is probably because of having to stop to stretch both calves which were now both cramping.

When we made the turn to head for Ford Field, I managed to pick things up, which was helped by a large crowd of fans that had been absent for most of the last 10 miles. We entered Ford Field through a big entryway that led into a downhill tunnel that led down to the playing field. I managed to sprint the last minute or so and finish strong, and finish in under 3 hours and 50 minutes, with an official time of 3:49:18, which is just under 3 minutes better than my personal best that I set back in Cincinnati in May. I had hoped to do a few minutes better, but given the conditions I should be happy that I did as good as I did.

After crossing the finish line, I crashed on the field for a bit. It was cool to be out on the football field with a bunch of fans in the stands, but I was too tired and dazed to really enjoy it. I felt pretty lightheaded, which I credit to dehydration and had to stop and sit down a number of times before grabbing some food and heading outside to my waiting friends.

Overall it was fun and I'm glad I ran it. I wish the weather had been a little better, but I guess I shouldn't have expected much better this late in the year. Next fall I'll try to run something earlier, if I do run one. I haven't decided what is next for my running career, but I don't plan to hang up my shoes quite yet. After all, I just bought a new pair on Monday.

Here are my numbers:

Underwater Mile: 7:46
1/2 Marathon Time: 1:47:01
Marathon (chip time): 3:49:18
Average Pace: 8:45/mi

Overall Rank: 1028 of 3881
Age Group (men 25-29): 119 of 306

And finally, my updated year-to-date stats:
Weekly Total: 33.6 miles
Yearly Total: 800.2 miles