Modesto Turkey Trot 5k

With such a rough end to my marathon I knew there had to be better running days ahead, just not sure when.  After my previous 2 marathons I took a nice long hiatus from running, and in return ended right back at my starting point when I finally decided to hit the road again.  I was determined for this time to be different.
I have always wanted to run a 5k and a Turkey Trot in my hometown just 2.5 weeks after my marathon worked out perfectly.  I still had some down time after my marathon for my legs to recover but still enough time to get out there and really go fast for a couple workouts.
Despite eating WAY too much Mexican food from El Rosal the night before I felt really good the morning of the race.  I was really hoping to go sub 20 minutes which works itself out to a 6:26/mile but I've never really run 3.1 miles balls out so I wasn't sure how I would do.

My college roomate Chad who I haven't seen for years until the Turkey Trot

The first mile started across grass in a park it was way crowded.  Runners were in the same proximity to me there as the NYC marathon and I did not like it.  For it being Modesto, there were a lot of runners.  I would say close to a 1000.  After dodging in and out of people I finally made it to the concrete path and found my groove.  Miles one and two both clocked in at 6:22/mile.  Things got a lot harder the 3rd mile (duh) but before I knew it the race was already near the end.  Around mile 2.8 I was back on the grass running past a playground where kids were playing and I did hear a girl say, "Mommy, look how red his face is."  I inwardly smiled but I was huffing and puffing too much for anything to show on my face.  As I neared the finish line I was going as fast as I could so never bothered to look at my watch.   Once I finally got a full view of the timer it said 19:33 and at that point I was just near the finish line.  I could not believe how fast I had run that last 1.1 miles and that I was easily going to go under 20 minutes.
Right after the race my wife came up to me and asked why I had spit going across my face.  I asked her what she was talking about and apparently I had a spit/drool thingy coming from the corner of my mouth making its way towards my ear.  I just laughed because I had no idea.  It was really nice to have her there at the end of the race, even if she was pointing out something like that. 
Officially my time was a 19:36:9 seconds which works out to a 6:18/mile.   I was 5th place in my age group of 30-39 year old males and I was only 13 seconds away from placing 3rd.   

NYC Marathon Race Report 2011

In getting ready to run in this marathon I have read so many other "race reports" from random people about their own experiences so I could better prepare myself for what lay ahead.  In short however, reading blogs could not fully make me comprehend the magnitude of this race and the enormity of people running next to you and also cheering you on.  At some points I felt like it was "sea of humanity" all joining together as one.  Other times I felt this is such a clusterf*ck of people and I wish they would all go home. 
There were really no problems with the logistics of getting to the race.  I hopped on the subway no problem.  Then it was time for the Staten Island Ferry.  After that it was a bus to the staging area to wait around before the race.  The one thing that I thought was so amazing was how many international runners there were.  On the subway I sat down next to a runner from Italy.  Another Italian woman later sat down across from us and they talked to each other in their native tongue the rest of the ride.  As I was waiting for my wave start I laid out my garbage bag next to a fence where I would sit for an hour or so waiting for my wave start.  I sat in between one guy from Denmark and another from Vancouver.  Maybe it was because most international runner indicated they were international by either a flag on their shirt or a flag painted on their face, but it made me wish I had an American flag because I did not see any of those throughout the day.  Both of the guys I was sitting down next to ran in wave one so they gave me their sleeping bags and foam pads they were sitting on.  I kind of felt like I was the king of the bums with all my stuff I had to keep me warm and comfortable while sitting on the ground waiting around.      
I was in the very start of wave 2 right in the front.  The race started promptly at 10:10 and there was maybe only 20 feet in between me and the start line with the horn blew.  I thought I was going to run relatively hassle free for the first 8 miles or so before all the other runners joined together.  Within about 1 minute of starting the race an older runner next to me was trampled by a woman.  I don't know how it started but I felt really bad for the guy.  Over the Verrazano Bridge was smooth sailing.  The weather was sunny and not cold so I shed my jacket somewhere in the first mile.  My plan was to run slow the first mile, around 10 minutes, then average out around 8:50 miles much of the rest of the way until mile 21 or so.  I also had a plan to take a gel starting at mile 4 and every 4th mile then on with water and Gatorade the other miles with along with salt tablets (so I don't cramp) every 4th mile starting at mile 6.   This plan quickly got lost as it was difficult to think straight among so many people.  I always felt boxed in while running and felt like I literally had to push my way through people at every mile in order to get fluids.  I would figure I was losing 10 seconds every stop.  A some point early on in the race I also lost my salt tablets that were in my pouch.  This I think was a big reason why I started to cramp around mile 22. 
Aside from all the issues surrounding getting fluids, going through Brooklyn was amazing!  This was by far my favorite part of the race.  The crowds were so lively and I loved the random people who set up their bands on the side of the roads, the DJ who was playing Vanilla Ice underneath an overpass and the church choir that was out there singing away. 
Early on I adjusted my time for both how long it was taking to get the fluids and also for the fact that each mile on the course was really 1.02 miles on my Garmin and I was hitting all of my splits.  I hit the 13.1 mile mark at 1:57:19 which was right where I was when I PR'd 4 years ago in the Rock n Roll Marathon in San Diego with 3:57:14.  I really wanted to beat that mark and at that point in felt 100% in my grasp.
A few miles later was the (supposedly) dreaded Queensborough Bridge.  I read all kinds of horror stories about this on people's blogs, but I did not find in that difficult at all.  The only hard part was the fact that so many people were walking at this point.  I cruised up and down and entered into Manhattan which was unreal with the amount of energy.  My dad was supposed to be waiting to cheer me on at the Starbucks on the corner of 75th Street.  Sadly there was about a million other people there too.  That did not stop me from running by yelling his name "Rod Taylor, Rod Taylor" trying to see if we could connect, even if it was for us to only exchange smiles.  I didn't see him so I kept moving along.
As we left Manhattan we crossed what the Willis Ave Bridge. This is around mile 19-20 and I start to cramp.  It feels like my hamstrings are knotted up the size of softballs.  I stop and quickly stretch, not wanting to lose too much time.  Here my splits go from under 9 minute miles to 9:16 and 9:35.  This was also the point where I hit the wall.  I put in so much time into my training I really did not want this to come as it had in my previous 2 marathons, but it as back.  In my mind I went from knowing I would not PR, to hoping to go sub 4 hours all the way to telling myself "just don't walk."
Around mile 22, Asics had a huge monitor where friends and family of runners could record messages and they would play on huge 40 foot screen over the course.  It was time activated by the chip runners were wearing as the crossed a certain point.  As I was running I looked up and Shelly is on the screen with Scooter cheering me on.  It was almost enough to make me cry... that or the chaffing, but I really don't want to get into that. 
Getting back into Manhattan was not as thrilling as I hoped it would be, mainly because I wanted to die.  I was running 11-12 minute miles at this point barely moving faster than the walkers.  As I hit one mile marker I accidentally stopped my a watch instead of hitting the split.  Everything at this point sucked. 
Despite the fact that I was creeping along, everything seems to be a blur now.  At mile 25 I did hear my dad call my name which was great.  I gave him a thumbs down sign with a smile to let him know that I was hurting but still in good spirits.  He had a big smile on his face which did make me feel great.  As I got closer to the finish line I thought, "I feel like crap, but I want to have a good finishing photo."  I made sure nobody was in front of me as I crossed the line and gave a good ole fist pump that was sure to catch the cameraman's attention.  I was not sure of my official time at that point, but my watch said I ran 26.1 miles in the time of 4:06:40.  My official time was 4:11:05.  I figure the course was more like 26.5 miles with all the turns and maneuvering around people. 
When the race was over I still had to walk about a mile to pick up my checked bag.  At the time this was the worst thing ever because I did not want to move at all. I honestly thought to myself "I would pay somebody $1000 to go pick up my bag and give it to me right now."  In the long run however it was great because if it wasn't for that long trudge I would have sat down and then my muscles probably would not have let me move again for a long time.
Despite the fact that I totally fell apart of the last 6 miles, this was quite an experience that I will never forget.   

it's finally here...

Today I leave to San Jose and I fly out to NYC in the morning! I can't believe after 18 weeks of training the race is finally about to arrive. Here are some brief thoughts...

1. The weather should be great. The high is 56 degrees and the low is 52, partly cloudy. No rain in the forecast. I did buy some old snow pants at Goodwill to wear prior to the race starting and just shed them right before the start buy I don't even know if I will need them.

2. I am still worried about my right foot. I tried to go for an 8 mile run last Sunday buy shut it down at 7 because it was starting to ache. Besides a planned 2 mile run either on Friday or Saturday I won't run at all this week. Just trying to give my foot as much time to heal as possible.

3. I started at 170 pounds hoping to get down to 160 by raceday. The first 2 months there was no weight loss, but right now I hover around 161-2 which I am really happy with.

4. I found a great website called mymarathonpace.com which has pace charts for all major marathons. Based on the elevation charts from the course the guy who owns the website has created an xcel spreadsheet where you can input your own information and plan out your pace mile by mile based on how much effort you want to put forth during the race. You can also account for how fast/slow you want to be going at the beginning and the end of the race. I am setting it for a slow start and a medium fade at the end. I am pacing myself for a 3:55 marathon which I feel is right about where I should be. For instance my first mile is all up over the Verrazano Bridge and is meant to be slow so it is roughly a 10 minute pace. The next mile which is going back down the bridge is much faster around 8:50ish. The overall pace for my marathon per mile I want to keep is an 8:58 mile. I printed it out and made my own pace band to wear around my wrist.

5. A tough part about being in NYC prior to running a race is my eating habits. I usually never shy away from eating a lot, especially when it's good food. I've told myself no fatty meals and no pigging out no matter how good something is. I don't want to feel lethargic prior to my race and I don't want to have to take an unplanned dump during it. I have made reservations for a nice steakhouse for after my race. The meals are pricey, but what isn't pricey in NYC? It will be something nice to look forward to.

That's about it! Make sure to look back sometime next week as I post a race report. Thanks for reading and thanks for your support in this endeavor!

homestretch

its almost like a second ankle

After my last 20 miler a few weeks ago I didn't write about my foot hurting because I didn't think it was that big of a deal.  I was wrong on that assessment.  I had to take about 5 days off of running during what should have been week 16 of my 18 week training plan.  Not the end of the world, but not ideal either.  I figured whatever it was would go away with some rest.  After it not seeming to get better I went to a podiatrist and he said that it is a specific muscle that in inflamed.  The muscles wraps over the top of my foot down to my toes.  When it really starts to get bothered my whole foot hurts.  The only remedy at this point is ice and ibuprofen since rest is not an option.  Honestly I don't feel it on my runs now, but the longest run I have done since my 20 miler has only been 4.66 miles.  When it first occurred it was mile 18.5.  At that point it felt like stabbing pains shooting up my leg.  I'm hoping this is not a problem on my marathon as I really want to run unhindered.  At least if it does hurt I know what it is and hopefully I can man up under the pain.  I really really want to beat my time from 4.5 years ago and I don't want this to be an excuse if I don't.      

last hard week of training

This is thankfully my last hard week of training before I begin my taper.  Following my training schedule is just proving to be more and more difficult as life keeps trying to get in the way.
A great example was this last weekend Shelly and I went to my hometown for a baby shower and also for my grandpa's 89th birthday.  On Sunday morning we planned to meet my mother, mother-in-law and grandmother for breakfast around 9:00.  The only problem is that I had to pack up the car with all of the baby stuff that we had received the day before, along with Scooter's crate and all of our luggage.  Of course that was after I had showered and gone my on 12 mile run.  I set my alarm for 5:30 and thought I had given myself enough time to squeeze it all in.  At around mile 8 I realized that there was no way I was going to be able to get in all of my 12 miles.  I am kind of sick of my long slow runs anyway so I wasn't heartbroken even though I want to stick as close to my plan as possible.  I was able to get in 10.4, but that extra 15 minutes I saved was the difference in us not being late.
The rest of the week has not been any easier.  Fall on the central coast of California is one of the most beautiful times of the year, especially because the fog seems to lift and we get really clear warm days.  I was expected to do some training in some warmer weather this time of year but this week it has been in the 90s!
Because of this I pushed my 10 mile run to 7 oclock on Tuesday night once the sun had gone down.  The bad part of this was that I was starving when I got home and ate bbq chicken and salad for dinner.  It's not that I pigged out, but just eating anything like that 2 hours before a run is going to make me feel sluggish.  That coupled with the weather and just being really stressed out over a lot of things led to one of my worst runs in a long time.  I "finished" it, which was a victory of some sorts, but I was just plodding along very listless.  Thankfully my wife decided to stay up (staying up for her these days is anything past 8PM) and make me a chocolate milk because she knew how stressed out I've been lately.  It's amazing how something like a glass of chocolate milk and my wife staying up until 8:45 can put me in such a better mood.

holy crap I'm sweaty

I knew the weather today would be no better than the previous days so I got up at 5AM to do my interval runs of 8x800 meters.  Besides having to stop halfway through to poop (this is my greatest fear in this marathon, seriously) it was a really good run.  Again the bad part is how hot it was outside, even for it being 5:30 by the time I stepped out the door.  As you can tell from my picture, if I look this sweaty after a run that early in the morning, it must be freaking hot out.  Overall it was quite different in terms of my pace and energy compared to the Tuesday run.  
Depending on weather my last 20 miler will either be on Saturday or Sunday morning.  Then hopefully it is easy street for a few weeks before the actual race itself. 

5 more weeks until race day

Another week is in the books and I have only 5 more until race day!  I don't feel like writing tons so I am going to write it in the style that my students love the most, bullet points.

• I found out I am in the very front of the 2nd wave of the marathon in corral 22.  I am on the blue track which means only the pro's are on the blue track ahead of me.  Long story short, when I start I won't have tens of thousands of people in front of me, only the few hundred that might be in front of me in my wave since the pros will be way ahead of me.
• The IT band is a nuisance, but manageable.  It hurts the most to walk up and down stairs.  
• I got a new pair of Zoot compression calf sleeves that I really like.  They are basically the same at my Zoot compression socks, but I can wear my toe socks with them.  
• I ran a 45 minute tempo run on Wednesday and peaked running at 7:08/mile for 1.25 miles.  I felt great and could have gone faster and longer if I needed to be.  This got me thinking about running a 5k and going for sub 20 minutes(which I've always wanted to do).  I've never ran a 5k competitively and if my body is up for it I want to run the Turket Trot in my hometown Thanksgiving morning. 
• What a difference it makes in my pacing while running by turning my Garmin watch from "pace" to "lap pace."  I would always feel like I was speeding up or slowing down trying to get my right pace.  Now after about a quarter mile I tend to be right about the pace I should be running and it does not make me feel like I always have to fluctuate my speed so much.
• I have now lost a total of about 6 pounds in all of my marathon training and weigh 164.  As I started my training I wanted to be around 160 for my race, which I might get to, but I am happy with where I am at and will be happy even if I don't lose anymore. 
• Since my race is a Sunday morning, I've been think about how I can check to see the injury report for my fantasy football players so I can change my lineup if need be.  I've come up with two solutions.  The first being, run an hour and a half faster than I originally planned and get back to my iPhone before the games start.  The problem with this plan is, well, it's impossible.  My second solution is to give my password to a friend and have him do it for me.  Probably the most feasible.  Maybe I'll tweet Matthew Berry for ESPN and see if he'll help me out.  

Thanks for reading!  

feeling better and my first 20 miler done!

After my last post I was about as discouraged as I could have been.  What a difference a week and a half makes.  The greatest pluses in terms of making my ITBS manageable I believe have been well timed rest, Motrin, ice... a lot of ice, and my big blue foam roller.
I am definitely a creature of habit and the foam roller is now a part of my daily routine.  I wake up, brush my teeth, start coffee, then I start rolling my butt and IT bands on the foam roller.  The first couple time I used the roller I could tell how much I needed it because of how bad it hurt.  Now I can roll my legs for a few minutes and there is little soreness.  To me that is a sign that things are getting better.  After I roll my legs in the morning I put it in my backpack to take it to work to do the same thing on my lunch break.  I always have to make sure the door to my classroom is locked during lunch because I can only imagine what my students would think if they walked in and I was using the roller on either one of my buttcheeks. Finally one more time before I get in bed and I am good to go.  On the days I go on runs I also roll my legs before and after. 
I took off 5 consecutive days from running last week and also helped a ton.  Since then here was how my week looked...

Sunday - 8 miles
Monday - 4 miles
Tuesday - 6 miles
Wednesday - 5 miles
Thursday - 7x800 meters intervals (Yasso repeats) w/ .25 miles rest in between.  Totaled 5 miles
Friday - off
Satuday(today) - 20 miles

After each run I put ice packs on my hips where it is an IT hotspot and I also rubdown my legs with ice that I freeze in a cup. 
Today my run was great, despite it raining/drizzling for the first 18 miles.  I ran at a pretty slow pace, which is actually what I am supposed to do on my long runs.   What I was happiest about the most was that I ran this route over some bigger hills and I felt great running my last mile at my race pace of 8:52/mile.  At mile 20 to have something left in my tank, no matter what the pace, I must be doing something right. 
Now I am just hoping that my body responds well in the time after, because usually it gets most sore about 24 hours after a run. 
Thanks to those of you who wrote me encouraging emails after my last post, I really appreciate it.  

IT Band issues

Last week I only ran 3 of the 6 days my schedule due to the tightness from my IT band.  After taking those days off I felt pretty good and was able to do my long run of 19 miles on Sunday morning.  I averaged a 9:45 mile which is 50 seconds slower than the 8:55/mile pace I hope to keep during the marathon.  I was pretty pooped at the end and I thought, "How in the world can I run 7 more miles at a much faster pace than what I just ran?"  I hate when self-doubt creeps in because it can really mess with my head.  I was done with that run though, and in my mind that is all that counted.  Post run was nice as I took an ice bath while eating fried eggs and a Coke that my wife brought me.  Yes, it sounds as odd as it probably looked.
The bad news is how my body, more specifically my legs, reacted afterwards.  I took the day off after the run and then tried to get out there again yesterday.  My plan called for 10 miles but all I could muster was 8.5.  The only way to describe the pain that I have in my upper quads and knees is debilitating.  After this last run I could hardly walk.  At night I could hardly sleep as my legs and knees ached.  As I moved my legs from a bent to an outstretched position it hurt like all hell.  When I walk down stairs my knees scream at me to stop. 
It seems that at this point all I can do is not run for a while.  This is hard because I have my first 20 mile run this weekend and I really don't want to miss it.  I need to balance the need to try and get better with the need to keep up my fitness.  I am stubborn and that doesn't help.  It does help that my wife is more than encouraging but also practical in the advice she gives me.  After work we are off to go find a foam roller to do some stretching.  Hopefully that, along with other stretches I have found on the internet combined with some time off things can get better.  If not I feel like all bets are off for my even running in the NYC Marathon, and that is the biggest blow in terms of self-doubt after 11 good and hard weeks of training.   

the good, the bad and the ugly

While my blogging hasn't been very consistent, keeping up on my training has...  for the most part.  The latter has proved to be more and more difficult in the last few weeks.  Let me break it down for you.

The Good:

1.  I am more than halfway done with marathon training.
2.  I have finally lost a few pounds... 3.5 to be exact.  Anything at this point is welcomed.
3.  I have had some awesome runs where I really kept a consistent "race pace" and felt good afterwards.

The Bad:

1.  Knee pain, especially in the last week or so.  This Friday I ran 9 miles at race pace and I could hardly move my left leg later that night.  The pain has persisted all weekend.  I think it is an IT problem because the pain goes up the outer upper thigh.  I am pretty concerned about this being a lingering problem at this point.  I don't know how to balance taking time of to heal (hopefully) while keeping up my training/fitness.
2.  Over the next 7 weekends I have one 19 mile run and three 20 mile runs.  If I felt healthy I wouldn't be as weary about this.  I felt great after a 17 mile run a week and a half ago, but that was before my knee problems.

The Ugly:

1.  My top of middle toe on my left foot.  No matter what shoes I wear or what I do I get a nasty blister.  You can thank me for no picture. 
2.  Me running in "hot" weather.  I have stated this before,  I don't do well in heat.  And since I live next to the coast where it is perpetually overcast this time of year, I classify anytime the sun is shining on a clear day as hot.  A few weeks ago it was one of those clear days and I was miserable.  As I was running my wife drove by on her way to the dentist.  Since she knows my disdain for running while its sunny out and the fact that I looked like crap, she made a point to look at the temperature gauge on the car.  It read 65 degrees.  Seriously, 65 degrees.  Most people would give anything to run in weather sunny and 65 but not me.  Am I the biggest wimp or what?
3.  I forgot band aids over my nips for an 8 mile run.  I had scabs the next day.  Enough said.

Hopefully it won't be another month until I update this blog again :-)

I hate hills

One of the things I like about this training plan that I am doing is that despite running 6 days a week, I always seem to feel fresh.  I had a hard run last week where I ran hill repeats of .23 miles x 4.  Even though this workout only lasted 19 minutes it was by far the hardest yet.  I just plain and simple don't like running up or down hills.  It is disappointing because I think trail races like the ones on www.pctrailruns.com by far look the coolest but once I look at the elevation gains and losses it makes me cringe.  I actually did one of these races in Montano de Oro a few years ago and here is the elevation chart...

Basically this race killed me and my quads.  I couldn't even walk down stairs for about 3 days without holding onto the rails.  Nevertheless, days after my hill repeats last week I could still feel the effects.  My butt and all the surrounding muscles (the ones I don't realize I have until they start to hurt) were really sore.  Once I got going on my subsequent runs I felt better and I knew at that point I needed to start adding more hilly routes to my regular running routines so I am ready for the Verrazano and Queensborough Bridges.
Today was the first of those hilly days and thanks to my new running watch I can upload the run like magic...

I think at the 3.5 mile mark I was all the way down to about 12:00/mile pace which was the top of the biggest hill.  I should have just walked at that point because I would not have been going any slower but it was more of a mental thing and wanting to push through.  I know in my first marathon I told myself "no walking" and I was glad I did because it really made me keep going.  In my second marathon I forgot how tough the marathon really was and I didn't tell myself "no walking" so of course I did.  That made for a long day and a lot of walking, because once you start it's really hard to start running again.  I'm hoping to be well enough prepared come November that walking doesn't even enter my mind. 

my shoes thanks to the Running Warehouse

Everybody has vices.  For my wife it is jeans.  After going in our closet to count she has a total of 21 pairs!  It is not like these are the $30 variety either.  I won’t write too much about this because I don’t want to get in trouble. 

This is normal, right?

My vice?  I like me some good running shoes.  Unfortunately I do not rival my wife in the overall number (compared to her jeans) nor time put forth shopping for them.  For her I believe it is all about the process of going shopping.  More often than not she goes shopping, buys something (which I call getting her fix), then decides she doesn’t like what she bought and returns it two weeks later.  I would say only one of two articles of clothing she ever buys makes the cut and is not returned.  Case and point, today she returned two pair of shorts to Motherhood Maternity.  Last week she returned a bra from the same purchase.  Only one tank top made the overall cut!

What costs more, these jeans or both of my pairs of running shoes?

We just found out we are having a little girl!

I, like most guys, are all about the hunt for the good bargain.  Normally this comes through purchases at the Running Warehouse.  Normally their prices are about 20% less than retail, but with their constant sales, it can be more than 50% off of retail.  Honestly I don’t know how they stay in business with this model, but they do.    

For the past 3 years or so my main pair of trainers has been the Mizuno Nirvana.  I guess I would have to equate this pair of shoes as driving in a nice Cadillac.  Because I am not rich and old I have never actually driven in a Cadillac.  Nevertheless, I know how they are supposed to drive.  They are big, fast and comfortable.  Hence the shoes are pretty big, 12.2 ounces, feel fast (even though I am not), and are just about as comfortable for a long run as I could hope for.  This is Mizuno’s top of the line shoe for support, which I can tell as I moderately pronate on my right foot.  When I run in these shoes I do not get “dead leg” which has happened when I have put a lot of miles on their next model down for support, the Inspire. 

Mizuno Nirvana 7

Without getting a deal these shoes are really expensive.  $140 bucks expensive.  Even a guy like me who loves to buy running shoes can’t justify that.  Right now the Running Warehouse has last years model on sale for $69.88.   If you are a Facebook fan of their store you can get an additional 15% off of all their sale merchandise by clicking on their promotion tab.  This lowers the cost of the shoes to $59.40 pretax to go along with free 2 day shipping.  This is a grand total of 58% off retail!  Best thing is you don’t have to go shopping at Ross to get brand names for less.  

Because Running Warehouse also price matches I found the current model for $99.99 on another website.  All I did was print it out and take it down to their store (their business is mostly online but I live in the same city as the retail store) and voilà, $99.99 plus tax!  Their customer service is the best.  Even without this deal the shoes still sell for $120, which is $20 cheaper than the retail price.  Not too shabby. 

The second pair of shoes that I am training in are the Saucony Kinvara.  This is almost the lightest shoe that I have ever worn at 7.7 ounces and feels like I am wearing socks instead of shoes.  They are a tad bit narrow for my feet but I was shown a new way to lace them up which makes them feel wider than they actually are.   They are quite different than my Nirvana because of such a small stature and them being closer to the ground which give me more of a feel for the road.   I have only put around 30 miles on this shoe so far but I am looking forward to taking them out on some longer runs to see how my legs and feet hold up.  This is the first truly neutral shoe I have run in for a really long time but so far so good. 

Saucony Kinvara

As for the deal part…  both last years and the current model retails for $90.  Since there is relatively no difference between models and last years was on sale, I went for that.  I can’t remember the numbers exactly, but I believe they were on sale for around $60.  With a monthly email I got an additional 20% off of the sale price.  I believe I paid around $55 total for these shoes.  That makes for 39% off of the retail price. 

All in all I love these both of these shoes right now and I love the Running Warehouse for making me not feel guilty for having the both of them.  If only they sold women’s jeans.      

finding my pace, bonking and Will Ferrell

One of the things I am unsure about as I prepare for my marathon is what pace I want to try and run during the race.  There are so many factors that go into this decision and I know I won’t have an accurate answer until much closer to race day.  However different runs throughout the week have me running different paces depending on how fast I predict to run the marathon on race day.   It is in my best interest to have a general idea of how fast I want to run.  My biggest problem now is how fast I think I should be able to run opposed to how fast I actually can run over the course of 26.2 miles.

One of the common “formulas” for calculating your potential marathon time is to double your ½ marathon time and add 10 minutes.  On the New York Road Runners website they said that since the course is not fast and conditions can vary it is safer to estimate 15 minutes using the same calculation. 

Using that method and taking my time from my last race, roughly 1 hour 42 minutes x 2 + 15 minutes = 3:39. That would be at an 8:21/mile and I would shave off a cool 18 minutes off of my PR.  A PR is an accomplishment all its own, but by 18 minutes in the greatest marathon on earth would be unreal.   

The thing I don’t really like about this calculation is, even though I should be able to run that fast, for that long, I don’t think I can.  After I ran both of my marathons with my buddy Dan I told him, “I’m never doing that again.”   My body ached and the last 9 miles of each race was torture. 

Some factors that lead to me being so miserable was that I never ran any 20 mile runs in training and I didn’t really have any hydration/nutrition plan.  This go around both of those issues will be addressed, and that makes me wonder just how I’ll do if I don’t bonk.  For those non-runner types who are unfamiliar with the term "bonk", click here, but not here.  The latter will just confuse you when you think about doing that during a marathon.  I guess it would be cooler to justify a poor marathon time using the that definition though.  "Yeah, I bonked around mile 18 and it just took longer than I expected." 

"I can run the marathon faster than Matt"

Another plus in running a sub 3:50 would be that I would beat Will Ferrell’s marathon best of 3:56:12.  I’m not going to lie, I was a little upset when I found out the guy who famously jiggled down the street streaking in Old School has a faster marathon time than I do.  And it’s not like he did it when he was 20.  He was training for the marathon when he was filming that movie in 2003.  Keeping all this in mind if I had to list my marathon goals as of right would now they would have to be…

1. Beat my previous PR of 3:57:14
2. Beat Will Ferrell’s PR of 3:56:12 (no streaking involved)
3. Run sub 3:50

And even if I don't end up beating Will Ferrell's time, I guess I can always come back to this picture down here, because at least he looks like a runner.  

being 32 years old

I've tweaked the training schedule to allow Thursday to be my day off instead of Friday.   Our Bible study is on Thursday, which does not give me enough time after work (once work starts back up) to run, eat and be out the door by 6:30.  Also this allows my long run to be on Saturday instead of Sunday.  This works perfectly because I am a HUGE fan of the NFL.  I am one of those guys who lives and dies by how the Denver Broncos play.  Lately it hasn't been too pretty.  I am also one of those guys who love to play fantasy football.  I honestly feel like I could write a whole blog on that topic.   I guess I don't because I know I would get a WTF look from my wife when I ask her if she's read my post on a strength of schedule analysis or bye week drafting.  It's much "cooler" to be writing about what I am writing about now.

a picture says a thousand words

I am in the middle of week 3 and the big miles have not started yet.  With that being said, I do feel fresh and strong right now.  The lower abdominal strain that has kept me out of my city basketball league has not really been noticeable after I get warmed up during the first .5 mile of each run.  I am going to the chiropractor for the first time in about 7 years to alleviate a crick in my neck today.  For some reason I always thought that I would be immune from all the little problems that happen once you get into your 30s.

The hardest part of being in my 30s is actually having to think about what I am eating and knowing that if I don’t I will start to put on weight.  Ever since high school I have consistently been 165 lbs.  When I lifted a lot of weights in my early 20s I got up to 170 lbs.  When I ran my first marathon in 2007 I got down to 155 lbs.  Within the last year or so I have said goodbye to 165 and the scale normally tips somewhere around 170, which is what I weighed the morning I started my training.  Ideally I would like to be around 160 lbs come November and so far I have gained half a pound!  Definitely not the end of the world, but I feel I have been “good” with what I have been eating.   I still have 15 weeks for the scale to start going in the right direction, and I think/hope it will, but right now I’m a tad disappointed with this one aspect of everything. 

the master plan

I am a week and a half into my 18 week plan to get me ready for NYC.  The plan is as listed below...

Week	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thur	Fri	Sat	Sun
1	3 m run	5 m run	3 m run	3 x hill	Rest	5 m pace	10
2	3 m run	5 m run	3 m run	30 tempo	Rest	5 m run	11
3	3 m run	6 m run	3 m run	4 x 800	Rest	6 m pace	8
4	3 m run	6 m run	3 m run	4 x hill	Rest	6 m pace	13
5	3 m run	7 m run	3 m run	35 tempo	Rest	7 m run	14
6	3 m run	7 m run	3 m run	5 x 800	Rest	7 m pace	10
7	3 m run	8 m run	4 m run	5 x hill	Rest	8 m pace	16
8	3 m run	8 m run	4 m run	40 tempo	Rest	8 m run	17
9	3 m run	9 m run	4 m run	6 x 800	Rest	Rest	Half Mar
10	3 m run	9 m run	4 m run	6 x hill	Rest	9 m pace	19
11	4 m run	10 m run	5 m run	45 tempo	Rest	10 m run	20
12	4 m run	6 m run	5 m run	7 x 800	Rest	6 m pace	12
13	4 m run	10 m run	5 m run	7 x hill	Rest	10 m pace	20
14	5 m run	6 m run	5 m run	45 tempo	Rest	6 m run	12
15	5 m run	10 m run	5 m run	8 x 800	Rest	10 m pace	20
16	5 m run	8 m run	5 m run	6 x hill	Rest	4 m pace	12
17	4 m run	6 m run	4 m run	30 tempo	Rest	4 m run	8
18	3 m run	4 x 400	2 m run	Rest	Rest	2 m run	Marathon

Right now things are pretty easy going as I am on summer break and all I have is time on my hands.  My routine is to roll out of bed anytime in between 7 and 8, and usually I am running about an hour after that.  I am pretty lucky to live in a coastal climate where most of my runs are an overcast 60 degrees or so.  If the sun is out and the temp gets about 70 degrees I swear I think I am going to die of the heat.  

Proof I don't like to run in the heat

After my runs an average day is pretty grueling.  Mostly it involves going to the beach or the dog park, barbecuing, watching TV, doing some yard work or hanging out with my wife and our friends.

I am however a little nervous once the school year starts back up in late August because that is the same time my mileage really starts to increase.  Right now I am right around 25-30 miles a week which I am really enjoying.  At the peak of my training I will be around 50-55 miles a week.  That coupled with work, football on TV almost every night and a pregnant wife to look after will make things pretty challenging.  
The main difference in between this marathon and the two previous ones that I have run in are that I am following a plan for training.  In my previous 2 marathons I never once did any 20 mile training runs.  This go around I will have 3.  I feel more than anything else these long slow runs will hopefully attribute to me running stronger than I have in the past.  
The physiology between these long slow runs is pretty basic so I wish I had taken the time to incorporate them before.  Basically if I can train my body to conserve its energy for longer periods of time the more fuel I will have in my tank at the end of the race.  You can read more about it and my training plan here.  Previously I thought if I ran a shorter distance faster, that would be the same as running the longer runs slower.  What I did was just teach my body that around mile 13-17 it was time to shut things down.  
So in a nutshell, this is going to be my life until November.  Hopefully I will be as enthusiastic about all this when I am a few months in.  

selected for NYC Marathon

Since I started running about 5 years ago, the idea of running in the NYC Marathon has always been in the back of my mind as the ultimate running experience. I think it was a combination of the city being so exciting, Central Park being so beautiful, and Jay Z pumping me up with his song Empire State of Mind.

I never thought I would actually have a chance to run it though. I knew I was way off in terms of automatically qualifying with my times. I also knew I didn't want to beg money from my friends, albeit the charities are a good cause. Lastly, the lottery was a long shot. On top of that I am what some might call cheap. The thought of paying a $200 entry fee, $500 for a plane ticket and however much a hotel room would cost for 3-4 nights really made me cringe. It was due to those factors that I never seriously thought about trying to get into the marathon.

As my wife and I were driving one day we got onto the topic of things we have always wanted to do. I don't think I had ever brought up the NYC Marathon with her before, but I just said in passing it has always been a dream of mine. She encouraged me to go for it, which really surprised me because the training is such a time commitment. She said that since we were going to start to try to have a baby soon something like this would just get harder as the years go by.

Even with my wife's encouragement to apply I still had to get past the lottery process. I knew the odds were about 15% that I would get selected, but I had my fingers crossed. As the selection day came I was checking my laptop at work as the numbers scrolled by. It seemed like forever, but finally as I was able to put in my number it said I had been selected! It was so great to walk next door to my wife's classroom (yes, we teach in classes next door to each other) and let her know I got selected. She gave me a big hug which felt great. Even though I hadn't really done anything yet, I still felt so proud at that moment.

Fast forward a few months and the training has begun! My goal is to stay on top of the training and also on top of this blog which will chronicle my experiences and life in getting ready for the race in November. Thanks for reading.