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Vegas '08

2008-08-25T07:21:00.003-04:00

Well folks... folk is probably more accurate at this point... it's about 15 weeks out from Vegas '08.

I just finished a 32 mile week, capped off by a 14 mile long run that I ran at an 8:32 pace. That's pretty slow for me now. Last week's 11-miler was run at a leisurely 7:50 pace. My easy runs are generally in the 7:40 range.

I was looking over my old posts from last year, and it struck me how bad my memory is. I was thinking that I was a little disappointed that I haven't gotten much faster since last year, but then I checked my times and realized I'm FLYING compared to 2007. I haven't done any speed workouts, as my running coach seems to be focusing more on high-mileage and tempo runs, but my overall pace has picked up quite a bit. I know that I'll be getting up into the 40+ range for weekly mileage, and if I can just tweak the diet a little it I'll be the leanest and fastest I've ever been in December.

My goal is still 3:30, as it eluded me last year. I think I could probably aim for faster, but I don't want to set myself up to overreach. If I run a 3:25, I'll be thrilled, but if I can just hit that damn 3:30, that's enough for me. I think that a December of 2010 Boston-Qualifying attempt might be in the cards. If I can maintain this volume of running for another 2 years... I think my body might just be able to push itself fast enough for the 3:10.

I will be doing at least one half-marathon in the next couple of months, so that will be a great gauge to see how I might do this December.

Wish me luck!

The Blog is BACK... who am I kidding?

2008-08-13T12:29:00.002-04:00

Not that anyone will see this post, but I feel like updating my blog. Here's what's happened since my last post:

I've been working with a running coach at the Boston Running Center. He's had me on a training program since January. I've been logging an average of 28 miles a week, with a high of 36 miles. My running has improved tremendously.

I ran a half-marathon in 1:45 on a VERY hot day... on a cool day I bet I could run a 1:40.

I ran a 5K in 21:04... also on a hot day. I can definitely break 21:00, and I'd love to run with a pacer to see how close to 20:00 I could get.

I ran a 5-mile race at a 7:09 pace... definitely my best race performance ever. I was passing people the entire race, including a lot of guys who looked like they had NO business being passed.

My running is actually fine... my nutrition is NOT. I'm toying with the idea of basically going healthy "cold turkey." I know that I'm addicted to food the way a junkie is addicted to smack... I want to quit, but as soon as I get hungry and there is crap to be had... I have it. I've also been very, very stressed with work lately, and I've developed a habit of having 1-2 beers or a glass of wine probably 4-5 nights a week. I definitely don't get drunk, but I have to admit that I've been using those drinks as a way to de-stress, which is a TERRIBLE idea. I've tried in the past to give myself rules about "1 glass of wine 2 nights a week" or "i can have dessert once every 2 days" or something insane like that, but I always cheat.

I really need some sort of weight over my head. Signing up for a marathon works for running, as does having a running coach I'm accountable to. For eating / boozing... what can I do? Maybe I can bribe myself. One month of no weekday boozing and healthy weekday eating would get me... what?

How about a new desk chair?

joey

The Blog is BACK!!!

2008-02-06T11:50:00.000-05:00

Life and other miscellaneous annoyances have caused me to fall out of touch with my beloved blog. I am going to attempt to get back into the habit of posting.

Where to start?

I have started working with a running coach at the Boston Running Center. The biggest change in my running so far is the fact that now I run 5 times a week, no cross-training, no treadmills. I have to say that running outside in the winter in Boston is one of the most character building activities a person can engage in. I can't wait for the temperature to crack 50 degrees and stop raining.

I logged 26 miles last week, and I'm on pace to log another 25-28 this week. I've NEVER run this many miles outside of a marathon training program, so I'm a little worried about burning out my legs, but my coach seems to think they'll adapt. Eventually he wants me to get up to 6 days of running a week, and probably 40-45 miles a week in total.

Why the massive increase in mileage? Weeelllll...

My long-term goal is to run a 3:10 marathon and qualify for Boston. Just how "long-term" this goal is hasn't really become apparent yet. I'm guessing that, at the bare minimum, it will take me 2 full years of hard training from this point on to get that fast. I could see it taking as much as 5 years, though I hope it doesn't.

In order to hit that goal, I need to train specifically for it. My running program that I'm developing with the coach is one that is geared towards one marathon a year in the winter. I will be running many 5K's, 10K's, and a couple of half-marathons throughout the year to push myself and gauge how I'm progressing, but the ultimate goal of each year-long training cycle is to run a marathon in the winter.

From what I've read and heard about from other runners, you need to have a pretty substantial base mileage to get your body in good enough shape to maintain that pace for that long. It doesn't help that I'm 5'6" and stocky either. It seems that most people who can run a 3:10 have a weekly mileage in the 40-50 miles per week range. That seems pretty absurd to me, as the most I've EVER run in one week was 35 miles, which was during a week which had a 20 mile long run. I'd need to average 8-10 miles per run to get that kind of mileage in one week.

So that's that. I've also started doing running drills, which are strange. I've done buttkicks, heelkicks, and striders so far. I'll get into that stuff in my next post. In the meantime, I hope everyone is well, and I promise it won't be a month before my next post.

Back on the Horse.

2007-12-12T10:38:00.000-05:00

I ran today for the first time since the marathon. Nothing fancy, just 3 miles at a leisurely pace on the treadmill. My legs aren't sore at all, but they're definitely still recovering. I ran about an 8:20 pace overall, and my legs started to tighten up so I stopped at that point and stretched. My lungs felt fine, but the legs were too tight and sleepy to go much more.

I contacted a local running club to see about joining. I think that the key to getting a faster marathon time is going to be improving my running in general, not just at long distances. Since I generally run by myself, I don't have the motivation to really go as fast as I can. If I could run with some people who are in much better shape and can kick my ass, maybe I'll get some of that speed from trying to keep up with them.

I'm still figuring out how I want to approach my next marathon, or even when that marathon will be, but I have decided to train for and run a 5K in the spring. I need to find one so I can sign up and have it hanging over my head. I'd like to try and run a 19 minute 5K, which would be about 6:00 min/mile over 3.1 miles. I know that I'd have to train pretty damn hard and get quite a bit faster to hold that pace for that long, so I figure it'll get my ass out of bed and onto a track in the mornings.

I'm also going to focus a little more on strength training. I did almost none whatsoever during this last marathon cycle, and I think that stronger core muscles (abs and back) would really help my running form hold up in the later miles of a long race.

I have lots of plans, lofty goals, and hopefully the free time to purse them. I'll post again once my plans start shaping up a little more.

Lessons Learned... Looking Ahead...

2007-12-06T09:34:00.000-05:00

Well, the marathon is done. Normally by this point I'm going through training withdrawal because the goal I have been planning my life around for 6 months has come and gone. This time, however, I feel great. I'm already looking forward to my next marathon, my next 10K, my next 5K, and my next PR.

I've had plenty of time to think about why I ran a 3:46 (not a bad time at all) instead of a 3:30. I think the reason is pretty damn simple, actually:

I'm dumb.

Allow me to clarify. The entire reason I was in Vegas was to run a marathon. All of the fun that exists to be had in that city was just a bonus for me. The problem I ran into was that I got very caught up in showing my little brother and the rest of my family all the cool stuff that Vegas has. The first day we were there, I'd guess that my brother and I walked about 6 miles. The day before the marathon, I probably walked another 6-8 miles.

When I went to bed Saturday night, my legs were sore and stiff from all of the walking. I knew I had screwed up, but I took some Ibuprofen, stretched out, and went to sleep.

I got up Sunday morning REALLY pumped up to go. I went through my rituals and got dressed for the race. My brother came up to my room and I pumped him up as best I could. My legs were still sore from all the walking, but the adrenaline was overriding the soreness at this point.

We made our way down to the starting line with my girlfriend and my parents. The weather was PERFECT, and the atmosphere was charged. Thousands of runners were crowding through the hotel to get to their corrals. I gave my brother a pat on the back and left him to head farther up the pack. A few minutes later, the gun went off and the race was on.

My strategy was to try and run the first 10 miles as easily and smoothly as possible. The ridiculous sights and sounds of Vegas made this a pretty simple task. I averaged a little bit slower than an 8:00/mile during this time.

At mile 10 I realized I wasn't going to run a 3:30. I didn't have any major problems, I just felt a slight stiffness to my legs. I knew, from past marathons, that even a tiny little ache in the early miles will just amplify and become huge by the end of a marathon. Mile 10 was WAAAAY too early to be feeling any discomfort. So, just like that, one silly mistake cost me time.

I had already made peace with the fact that a 3:30 would only happen for me under optimum conditions, so I was surprisingly OK with accepting a slower time. I just told myself to keep running at a pace that felt comfortable until I got to 16 miles.

I still managed to keep my pace in the 8:00-8:10 range through the 'teens. My legs started to feel like they might cramp up, and THAT scared me. I knew that I could keep moving as long as I didn't cramp. At mile 20, I took a 10 second walk break, and then kept moving. I told myself that I HAD to keep moving. Walking was fine, stopping was not. During the entire race, I did not stop moving forward one single time.

The last 6 miles were rough. I probably averaged a 9:30 or so. I would walk for 20-30 seconds at the start of each mile to keep my legs from cramping, and then tough it out until the next water station. It was painful, but seeing the hotels come back into view was enough motivation to keep the legs moving up and down.

I realized that I was going to kill my PR, and at that point it was enough for me. I knew that I had trashed my 3:30 attempt by using my legs too much the 2 days before the race, and I just wanted to run the best race I could given that fact.

I ran across the finish line in 3:46. My legs immediately made it clear to me that I'd be in pain later, but for now I was just ecstatic to be done and to have a new, very respectable PR.

I learned a bunch of lessons this time around, and I'm already plotting and scheming my next move. I'll be taking it easy this week, and next week I'll start doing some cross-training and weights to keep my fitness up. As you can see, I've changed the subtitle of the blog to reflect my new, over-arching goal. Maybe it's a bit premature to aim for qualifying considering I didn't even hit my 3:30, but I have a feeling it might take a while to hit 3:10... so I'll just throw it out there and see what happens.

On to the next race!

3:46... I'll take it!!!

2007-12-02T14:24:00.000-05:00

I ran a 3:46. I'll go into detail about it a little later, but I am THRILLED with that time even though it's not the 3:30 I was hoping for. It's still a new PR, and I am very, very excited to be well into the sub-4's now.

My little brother ran a 4:20, and looked AWESOME at the finish line.

Time to party.

Viva Las Vegas

2007-11-30T20:20:00.000-05:00

I'm in Vegas. I have my number. My next post will be after the marathon. Mandalay Bay is large. Slot machines are stupid.

T-3: This Is It!!!

2007-11-28T15:44:00.000-05:00

Oh man I have the friggin' jitters!!! The marathon is Sunday... this Sunday. I'm going to wake up tomorrow, pack my stuff, and go to Vegas for the marathon.

I did my last long run on Sunday... a measly 10 miles. I maintained a 7:58 pace with ease, even though I felt absolutely exhausted and more than a few pounds heavier. I stretched like crazy afterwards.

Yesterday, before flying back to Boston, I did my last speed workout. I think the point of this speed workout was just to keep the muscle memory active in my legs. I was supposed to do this:

10 minute warmup
5 x 400m @ 1:35
10 minute cooldown

I felt like I was possibly coming down with a cold, so after the 3rd lap I decided that I'd do one more and cut the workout one lap short. The damage I could do with one lap too many is far worse than the lack of fitness one lap too few will cause.

I decided that since this would be my last speed lap for a while, and I really wanted to know what I was made of, I'd just sprint the whole lap. The last time I did that I hit a 1:20 400m. This time, I pushed myself even harder, and was panting for air and doubled over at the end.

My time was a 1:13. That's by FAR the fastest I've ever run a lap... It's the pace I'd have to maintain to run a 4:52 mile, something I probably won't ever do, but at least I know what it feels like to run that fast.

So that was cool, and this morning I did a nice little bike cross-train. My legs feel pretty strong, even though there's a little residual tiredness from the 10K and the 10 miles. I know that by Friday my legs will be back to 90%, and by Sunday they should be damn near 100%. For the next few days my goal is to do everything possible to make Sunday the best possible scenario for a good time.

I've worked my ASS off for this. I'm not sure I've ever applied myself so diligently to anything before. I know that, no matter what happens on Sunday, I've definitely caught the running bug in a bad way, and this marathon is merely one of many more that I'll be running. I will definitely be aiming for that 3:10 as soon as I can get my legs to move a little quicker, and who knows? Maybe this time next year I'll be 10 pounds lighter, running 19 minute 5K's, and heading to Vegas to try and qualify for Boston. I no longer doubt that I have the capacity to do it, it's just a matter of kicking my ass a little more.

I'll probably post one more time before the big day. Thanks to everyone who has kept up with me thus far.

T-9: Thanksgiving Update

2007-11-24T00:00:00.001-05:00

So. Full. Of. Food.

I ran the 10K in 46:40, which ends up being a 7:46 pace. My first two miles were 8:30 and 8:00, so that means the last 4.2 miles were run at a 7:11 pace. It was a little bit more than the program called for, but it was definitely a nice way of reassuring myself that my legs work. My little bro ran an 8:00 pace, which is fantastic.

My friend Jason made me lift weights with him today, which was awful, but at least I burned off some of the estimated 3800 calories I ate last night. The problem is that after working out, we binged on Mexican food, so I probably still have about 3000 extra calories to burn off from this week. Tomorrow I'll do something to sweat a little, and then Sunday will be a nice 10 miler.

This is it, the home stretch.

Happy Thanksgiving all.

T-11: Strangest run of my life.

2007-11-20T11:40:00.000-05:00

I really wish I'd written this post as soon as I got home from my run. The memory would have been a little clearer, and already I'm started to wonder if I'm remembering this correctly.

I woke up at 6:00 am to do my speed workout, the last one I'll do in Boston before the marathon. It was just bitterly cold outside, so I bundled up and headed out the door. As I jogged down to the track, I said to myself, "I'm insane... the sun is barely out, it's 33 degrees, and I'm running outside in shorts."

I got to the track, and started my workout. Here was the plan:

10 minute warmup
5 x 1000m @ 4:03 pace
10 minute cooldown

That's a pretty easy workout for me these days, but the cold made it a little tricky. My legs took a while to warm up, and my lungs were burning from the cold, but my first repeat only took 3:53 to complete. My pace was essentially a 6:00 minute/mile.

The second repeat took 4:01... I got really tired at the end of this one for some reason.

The third repeat was 3:56. The fourth was 3:54.

I was consistently running a little slower than a 6:00 min/mile pace. This is pretty fast considering where I started with my speed workouts, but lately I've begun to have these crazy thoughts like, "I wonder if I could run a 19 minute 5K. I wonder if I could train to run a 5 minute mile."

These thoughts are dangerous, because I tend to be impatient when it comes to my running goals, and both of those goals would require some serious training, but I've started to get the speed bug, so my next conquest might be speed, not distance.

Anyway, I started my last 1000m, and after one and a half laps I suddenly realized that I was about to run my last lap on the MIT track for a while.

I know this is stupid, but for some reason that really resonated with me. That track has been the site of some epic training runs that have put me in the shape I'm in today. I knew I'd miss it out there over the next couple of months, so I decided to go out with a bang and sprint the last lap.

Up until the sprint, I was on pace to hit another 3:53 or so. I began to imagine what it'd be like at the end of the marathon to see that clock ticking down to 3:30 and me needing to sprint the final 400m. I hit the gas and started to fly around the track... and then something WEIRD happened.

This is where it's going to be tough to explain...

After about 20m of sprinting, I felt my body go almost completely numb, and I got tunnel vision. It freaked me out because I had a similar sensation a couple years ago when I almost passed out from heat stroke. This sensation, however, was a little different in that my vision didn't go dark around the edges, I just stopped paying attention to my periphery.

I became aware that I was in a dead sprint... probably running as fast as I've ever run in my life, and yet my legs didn't ache, my lungs didn't burn, and I really felt as though I could keep up the pace all day long. The sound of the wind kind of died down, though I still felt it blowing on me so I knew that my hearing had changed. About a quarter of the way around the track, I had the distinct impression that I was watching somebody run really fast... I can't really explain why it felt that way, but I definitely thought that I had stopped running, and someone else had taken over and was just watching now.

The last half-lap was just a movie for me. I couldn't hear anything, and I was just watching the interesting scene unfold before me... the ground just FLYING by. I had a little moment of panic like, "This is not normal... what's happening... am I in danger here?" The thing was I just felt so peaceful, and this was so easy so I just let who ever was doing the running at this point finish the lap.

When I got to the end of my run, the world started to fade back into existence, and my body came back under my control. I didn't feel tired, I felt AMAZING. My breathing was slow, as if I'd been walking, and my legs felt as fresh as when I'd started.

I didn't need to look at my watch to know I'd done something nuts... and when I looked....

3:46.

I'd have to guess I ran that last lap at a 5:20 min/mile pace... that's insanity. The nuttiest part was how easy it felt, although I still feel like I wasn't the one that ran it.

This probably sounds ridiculous, and I swear that I'm not making anything up. Maybe I just had a HUGE surge of adrenaline on the last lap and it made me feel funny. Maybe I had an out-of-the-body experience... maybe I had some spiritual revelation...

So that was the weirdest run of my life... I have never had anything even remotely like this happen to me, and I don't know if it was actually just a brain aneurysm or something equally sinister.

Oh well... I'm off to Texas tomorrow. Tapering is going well, I've been trying to keep up my carb intake, and I'm still pumped as hell for December 2.

T-12: All Downhill From Here...

2007-11-19T09:49:00.000-05:00

I ran 13 miles yesterday, marking the last time I'll run more than 10 miles until December 2nd. I just tried to run smoothly and easily, and at the end of the run my legs felt great and my GPS said 7:54 pace. The goal was an 8:00 pace, so I'm good to go.

I only have to work two more days and then it's time to relax and focus on the race. I'm starting to get those nervous pangs that make me think, "Have I built this up too high? Am I too cocky? What if it's windy again? What if I have a bad run?"

Tomorrow is a speed workout, 5 x 1000m. It'll be tough because it's freezing outside, but other than that it'll be no biggie. It's my last run that I'll be doing in Boston for a while, so I'll try to make it a good one. It's warmer in Texas, so I'll be a little more comfortable doing my LT run on Thursday at the annual Turkey Trot.

I've done all I can do training-wise. My fingers are now crossed!

T-14: I need SLEEEEP!!!

2007-11-17T10:51:00.000-05:00

I ran my LT run last night. I would have run it in the morning, but I didn't get to sleep until midnight the night before, so I slept in. I've had a pretty wacky week in terms of work, so I haven't been getting enough sleep, which worries me. I really need my legs to be 100% on the 2nd, and right now I'd say they're only 50%.

My LT run was fine, I ran 6 miles like this:

1 mile @ 8:20
4 miles @ 7:24
1 mile @ 7:14

The pace felt easy. My lungs were having no problem keeping up, my breathing was 3 in / 3 out the entire run, but my legs were protesting. They are certainly not over the beating they took last Sunday when I ran my last 20 miler. I think that I need to be very careful about pushing myself over the next 2 weeks. I need to sleep... alot. Luckily, I'm headed home to Texas for Thanksgiving, and then I pretty much go straight to Vegas for the race. I'll have plenty of time to relax, stretch, and sleep in the days leading up to the marathon.

13 miles tomorrow, and then my legs can really start to rest up.

T-17: Exploding Chest Part Deux

2007-11-14T09:33:00.000-05:00

Wow... this morning's speed workout was DEVASTATING. I was caught totally off guard.

Basically, after Sunday's performance I figured the next two weeks would be a breeze. When I checked my workout schedule last night, I was in for a little surprise:

10 minute warmup
8 x 800 @ 3:13
10 minute cooldown

Uhm... WHAT!? I just ran 20 miles, and now I'm supposed to run 6400m at my speed pace? AAAARRGGHH!! My legs were certainly not 100%, and I woke up an extra 20 minutes early at 5:40am to get this awfulness out of the way.

First of all, it was in the 30's when I got outside. There was ice on the ground. I was wearing shorts.

Second of all, my legs felt like they'd been shot up with Novocaine. They weren't really sore anymore from the long run, but they definitely hadn't recovered fully. It really takes about a week for me to feel 100% after a 20 miler.

Third, I decided to eat cheese ravioli last night... you know what that means.

So I jog down to the track, and usually by the time I get there I've warmed up and I'm ready to go. Not today. The cold air made my whole body stiff, and I had to jog a few laps around the track to get going. Finally I figured I was good to start the speed workout.

My first couple of 800's were fine, I ran them in 3:05 and 3:11. I didn't feel fast at all.

In the middle of the third 800, I found it REALLY hard to keep up the pace. My legs just wouldn't obey my brain's orders to RUN. I finished the third 800 in 3:12.

It's been quite some time since I've had trouble maintaining the pace in my speed workouts, so this was a little demoralizing. After four 800's, I felt the call of the ravioli.

Once that was taken care of, I had to face four more 800's. My legs were cold and shaky, and I really thought I might not finish the workout.

Somehow, I just zoned out and did the rest of the runs, making it just under 3:13 each time. I jogged home and just about collapsed.

I think that this workout will end up being one of the most important workouts of this whole training plan. I just ran 20 miles a few days ago, and I was still able to push myself to pretty insane levels of hurting and survive. I think that when I'm at mile 22 or 23 in a couple of weeks, and every cell in my body is screaming at me to STOP, I'll be able to dig down a little bit and keep my legs moving through it.

Friday will be an LT run of 6 miles... no biggie. Sunday will be a 13 mile long run at my marathon pace, but I'm not even a little worried about that. I'm already thinking ahead a few months, trying to figure out what I need to do next to reach my ultimate goal of qualifying for Boston. Training for a 3:30 has given me a pretty good idea of what it takes to get faster, and how much more potential I have than I ever thought possible.

My marathon pace for a 3:30 is 8:00 minutes per mile.
To qualify for Boston I need to run 7:15 minutes per mile.

What's 45 seconds?

T-19: I'm Tapering.

2007-11-12T09:56:00.000-05:00

The hard part is over. I've pushed myself harder than I ever have before, I've sacrificed a lot, I've given up partying and constant burrito-eating for this one goal, and now I've arrived at the end of my training. The next two weeks for me will involve some decent speedwork, some easier LT runs, and two long runs of 13 and 10 miles. I'll be going home for Thanksgiving the week before the race, which should be a perfect opportunity to relax and mentally prepare for December 2.

Saying that my final 20 miler went well would be a huge understatement.

I was actually looking forward to this run all week. That, by itself, is very strange. I normally DREAD the 20 miler, as I know that it is just a big mental and physical drain that will end in leg cramps and limping. However, lately I've been able to kind of zone out during these runs. I feel like I can basically set my legs on autopilot, start running, and then "check in" from time to time and make adjustments if I need to.

I have started thinking of my running in terms of driving. I can be running, and mentally checking different things about my body during the run. How do my legs feel? How is my breathing? How's my pace? Am I hydrated? Do I need carbs? Should I increase my stride length or turnover? It's similar to driving a car on the highway. You are constantly making little adjustments to the steering wheel, hitting the gas, braking a little, keeping an eye on the speedometer, checking the gas levels, etc... You do it almost unconsciously.

Yesterday my goal was simply to run 20 miles at a constant pace and feel good afterwards. The program called for an 8:15 pace, and I really did try to run at that speed, but after the first 6 miles I found that I had to work much harder to run that slow than I did to just run my "natural" pace, which seemed to be around 7:59.

I felt incredible up until mile 19, when the fast pace started to take its toll, but even at that point I was so focused that I maintained my crazy pace right up until the end. My average pace was 7:58.

I'm ready, I'd run this race tomorrow if I could. For now, I'm going to focus on eating right for the next 2 weeks (except Thanksgiving, that day is a free-for-all) and resting my legs up. In 19 days, I'll be on fire to run a marathon.

T-20: Short Update

2007-11-11T14:48:00.001-05:00

I'll post more on this in a bit, but I ran my last 20 miles at a 7:58 pace. That pretty much sums it up.

T-23: Lactic Shmactic

2007-11-08T13:12:00.000-05:00

This morning I was up at 5:30 in the morning to do 8 miles. I woke up, looked at the thermometer, saw a reading of 34 degrees, and decided that a treadmill seemed like the smart move. Off to the gym I went, trying to decide if I was at all worried about running this workout:

1 mile @ 8:30
7 miles @ 8:00

Clearly, the answer was no. This workout seemed like a breeze to me. So, in true Joey fashion, I decided to up it a little. I figured that since I was running on a treadmill I should go a little faster anyway. Here's what I ended up doing:

1 mile @ 8:20
6 miles @ 7:40
1 mile @ 7:30

I've been using the mantra, "Smooth and Steady," lately to keep my breathing under control. I ran the first 2 miles before I had even broken a sweat. The entire run felt like a nice, easy jog. I honestly have never had such an easy time maintaining this pace. Afterwards I stretched, and my legs feel just fine now.

I have to confess, that my performance lately has had me wondering if I should maybe think about adjusting my marathon pace to something a little faster. Maybe a 7:50 or so. I know that I shouldn't do this, and I won't... I'll stick to my plan, but I'm already looking forward to January when I can start building up the speed necessary to make a run at qualifying for the Boston Marathon.

23 days from now, I should be standing at the finish line in Vegas wearing a solar blanket... I can't friggin wait.

T-25: Still Gettin' Faster

2007-11-06T09:30:00.000-05:00

I wish the marathon was this weekend. After hearing about all the excitement of the NY Marathon, I'm just really fired up to do it. Every training run I do boosts my confidence a little more, and at this point the only things that worry me are the things I can't control, like the weather conditions on race day.

This morning was speed day. The program called for:

10 minute warmup
10 x 400m @ 1:35 (400m RI in between laps)
10 minute cooldown

I ran this workout pretty much perfectly. I jogged in between laps as opposed to stopping, except for three 1 minute water breaks after a few laps. My lap times were generally between 1:28 and 1:32. For the 10th lap I decided to go hard and ran a 1:20 lap. I think that once this marathon is over, I'd like to try and run a mile as fast as I can to see how well I do. I know I can easily bust 6:00, but I wonder if I could get close to 5:30 territory... I also think I might be able to run a sub-20 minute 5K (3.2 miles @ 6:26 min/mile).

Soooo... at this point, I'm really going to focus on running a perfect 20 miler this Sunday, and then start storing up my energy during the taper. The taper is always tough, because I want to keep pushing myself all the way up until the marathon, but I know that the proper thing to do is rest my legs. I will probably start to go crazy with pent up energy, but that's the idea. On race day, I'll take out my aggression on the clock.

Thursday is an LT run that, honestly, doesn't worry me in the slightest. My legs are just too damn fast now.

T-27: I See the Light at the End of the Tunnel

2007-11-04T13:45:00.000-05:00

First off, I'd like to give a shout out to my buddy Dara who is, at this very moment, running her first marathon. She's in New York about 3/4 of the way done, and she's kicking ass so far. I can't wait to talk to her afterwards to see how she feels.

Anyway, I'm going to run my own marathon in 27 days. WOW!!! It really snuck up on me. All of the sudden I'm 4 weeks out. The good news is that I'm as confident as ever that I'm going to destroy my PR of 3:57. Here's my training update:

After my 11 mile LT run Thursday, I went to work as usual. Around noon, I started to feel sick, like I was getting a cold. By the end of the day my nose was running like crazy and I was dizzy and clammy. I felt like shit. I thought that maybe I'd over trained, which worried the hell out of me. I decided to take Friday off from cross-training, and just rest. I took it very easy yesterday (except for last night when I played a rock show), and I drank lots of water and made sure I ate plenty. This morning I woke up with an extra hour of sleep in me, thanks to daylight savings, and I was ready for 15 miles.

The plan was to run an 8:10 pace. I felt good about this since it's pretty close to my marathon pace. I really wanted to make a conscious effort to keep my pace down today so I could run the 15 miles without burning out, and feel good for my last week of hard training before the taper.

Me and the girlfriend started off nice an slow, the first mile was 8:18. The second was 8:04.

Now, normally at this point I would have said, "8:04... that's great, let's stick with that." But, today I was smart, and we slowed down. We managed to run a pretty consistent pace, with a few 8:00's and a few 8:20's thrown in. I just tried to keep my legs moving at a pace that felt pretty easy for me. I wanted to feel like I was holding back on the throttle, and that I could just burst out at any moment.

The run was pretty easy, to be honest, and at the end I checked my GPS.

My overall pace was 8:08... almost exactly where it needed to be. I felt like I could have easily kept that pace up for a while.

This week is really it as far as the really tough training goes. Next Sunday is my last 20 miler, and then it's time to taper. Tapering isn't about relaxing and taking it easy, but it's more about maintaining the level of fitness I've built up over the past few months, and maybe losing another pound or two to make December 2nd as easy as it can be (which isn't all that easy.)

I can see the end of this thing now, and I'm running stronger than I've ever thought possible, so I'm REALLY curious to see what happens in 27 days.

T-30: 30 Days Left!!!

2007-11-01T09:20:00.000-04:00

30 days until I run another damn marathon! I'm really excited, I am definitely in the best running shape of my life, and I've still got a month to prepare physically and mentally for Vegas.

I got a comment the other day about my tendency to run my workouts way too fast, and it got me thinking. I understand the logic behind training at slower paces during long runs, and I've experienced first-hand what happens when I go out too fast. However, I also feel that this running thing is definitely a part of my life for the foreseeable future, and pushing myself a little hard this time will make my next marathon a little easier. I've also gotten caught up in the fact that I'm running faster and easier now than I ever have, and it's just plain FUN to run faster. I know it's stupid, and it might be hurting my training a little bit in the short run, but I really believe that to run fast, you have to train fast. My body will never adapt to run a 7:10 mile unless I'm kicking my ass pretty good. I'm planning on making a run at a Boston Qualifying time in the next couple of years, and I'll need to be in pretty ridiculous shape to do it, so why not start now?

So... with that said. Tuesday I ran 2 miles, back to back, in 12:20. That's a ridiculous number. I have never even come CLOSE to anything like that. I then ran another mile in 6:00. My speed workouts have definitely paid off, and I look back at my first speed workouts and laugh at how slow I used to be. I know damn well that I ran the workout way too fast, but I felt amazing and I was having a good time, so I just booked it.

This morning was an 11 mile LT run. The last time I tried this workout it was a disaster. This time... I killed it.

I was supposed to run a warmup mile, and then average an 8:00 mile for 10 miles. I started the run at 5:45 am, so it was dark for the first hour of the run. I couldn't see my GPS, so I didn't look at it until about 5 miles in. At that point I realized I had been running 7:45's.

Whoops. I know. No, seriously... I KNOW!!!

So I did slow it down a bit, but I kept creeping back into the 7:50's. The last couple of miles were tough, but not the devastating kind that I experienced 2 weeks ago on this same run. I finished the run with an 8:00 mile pace overall, including the warmup mile which was 8:20... so I averaged faster than an 8:00 mile for 10 miles.

I feel awesome. I can't believe the paces I'm able to keep up. My weight keeps dropping too, so I know that in a month I might be 2-3 pounds lighter and in even better shape. This is nice. I can't wait until 2009, when I should be running 6:40 LT miles and 3:10 marathons.

Log #53: Forgetting to knock on wood...

2007-10-29T13:44:00.000-04:00

Those damn running gods... They toy with me.

I decided to run my 20 miler on Saturday since Sunday was my girlfriend's birthday and I didn't want to inconvenience her on that day. I had a horrible week of sleeping, so I was expecting this run to be tough, but I was definitely overly optimistic

It was drizzling and cold when we left my house. By the time we finished, it was about 20 degrees warmer and drying off. I was completely drenched in sweat and dehydrated.

The goal was 20 miles at an 8:30 pace. Since my last 20 miler that I completed was done at that pace, I was confident it wouldn't be an issue. For the first 13 miles I was averaging an 8:15 pace. I felt light on my feet, I was happy, and life was good. I believe that I even said something to the effect of, "Wow, I feel great, this is easy."

So... stupid.

About a mile later I began to feel the effects of dehydration and sleep deprivation. I just ran out of gas, plain and simple. My legs filled up with concrete and felt like dumbbells, and my lungs just couldn't get enough air. We walked a LOT those last few miles, and I complained endlesssly. It was pathetic. When we got back to my house we has run 19.07 miles, and I called it at that. I turn my GPS off when I walk, so I actually did go the distance, but I walked a decent part of it, which makes me feel weak and silly.

Still, I feel like I got a good run in, and my legs are sore today as a reminder. The marathon is one month away, and I still feel pretty good about my chances of running a decent time. I have one more 20 miler in 2 weeks to redeem myself, so I'll be preparing until then. I'm ridiculously skinny now, and just had to buy new jeans since my old ones are about 4 sizes too big. I don't think I'll hit the 160 mark for Vegas, but I might be damn close.

My little brother is back on the horse, and ran 13 miles yesterday. I'm sure he'll have some choice words to say about it.

Log #52: Kickin' Ass

2007-10-26T11:12:00.001-04:00

First of all, I wish had more time lately to update the blog, but I don't think I've ever been this swamped with work. I've done more jobs lately than I have ever done in my career. I suppose it's a good thing in the long run, but free time is in very short supply.

Tuesday morning was a track workout. The program called for:

10 minute warmup
1000m @ 4:03
2000m @ 8:26
1000m @ 4:03
1000m @ 4:03
10 minute cooldown

Not much to report, felt pretty good the whole time, crushed the times by 5-10 seconds every split, and just felt peachy.

Yesterday was an LT run. I was dreading it.

1 mile @ 8:30
5 miles @ 7:29

I got up at 6:00am, bundled up because it was 40 degrees out, and went out to suffer. What happened next shocked me.

1 mile @ 8:22
1 mile @ 7:22
1 mile @ 7:29
1 mile @ 7:33
1 mile @ 7:20
1 mile @ 7:11

Another victory. Looking back at my earlier posts, I am quite sure that this run would have killed me a few months ago, but now I can complete it and feel pretty great afterwards. Every time I have a run like this it makes me feel pretty confident that my marathon time will be a PR... hopefully a huge PR. Tomorrow morning is a 20 miler... it will suck... but maybe it won't.

Log #51: Life slows down a little...

2007-10-22T09:51:00.000-04:00

Last week was insane. It was balls-to-the-wall for the entire week, and I couldn't find time to get even 5 hours of sleep a night. So, understandably, my running suffered.

Thursday morning I woke up to do the longest mid-week run I've ever done... 11 miles. The program called for this:

1 mile @ 8:30
10 miles @ 8:00

10 miles at my marathon pace shouldn't kill me at this point, but that's exactly what happened. I believe the the problem was not so much my fitness level, but the horrendous conditions I decided to run in.

I slept about 5 hours, got up at 5 am, stretched for MAAAYBE 5 minutes, drank a red bull, and went out the door to run in absolute pitch black. It was pretty cold, probably in the 40's, and there was a very thick fog covering the entire city. Needless to say, my spirits did not soar on this run. I managed to keep the pace for about 7 miles, and then I had to start taking walk breaks. I was just spent, I had no energy, my legs were heavy, and I felt like just lying down and taking a nap.

Whatever, I did 11 miles... that's good enough right?

Then, Saturday, I'm up in New Hampshire with the lady for a little vacation away from the madness of Boston. We decide to do the 15 mile long run Saturday morning so we don't have to worry about what we do that night. 15 miles shouldn't be that bad... 15 miles in the friggin' mountains is ridiculous.

The hills in the area we ran were very sneaky... they were gentle enough that you almost didn't notice them... until about 10 miles into the run. My legs felt like they had been skewered, and they weighed approximately 100 pounds each. By the time we made it back to the hotel I wanted to burn my running shoes. My body was racked with soreness.

So... a rough week, but probably one that needed to happen so that the next few weeks will be easier. I'm ramping up for a 20 miler this weekend, and there are only 40 days until the marathon. I'm still pumped!!!

Log #50: Rock Bottom

2007-10-16T09:29:00.000-04:00

Sunday was the worst day of the year in terms of running and life. I suppose it can only get better from here.

I woke up early with my girlfriend to do 20 miler #3. I was pumped up, I felt great. My girlfriend went outside to get something from her car. When she came back up, she said:

"Joey, we need to call the police. Your car was broken into."

AAAAARARRRGGGHH!!!!

We go down to check it out. My driver's side window is destroyed, glass is everywhere. My glove box, which was locked, has been ripped off of the dashboard and is hanging down on the floor of the car. My $500 GPS is gone. Nothing else was taken.

This immediately puts a huge gray cloud over the day. After calling the cops and dealing with that nonsense, we finally headed out for the run. I figured that a nice 20 miler would make me feel better about my car. I was SOOO pissed.

We ran a mile down to the river, and crossed over to the other side, at which point our progress was halted. Apparently, Sunday was the day of the Walk for Breast Cancer. There were probably 25,000 people walking around the river in a 5 mile loop. The path was so clogged that I couldn't even dodge in and out of people, and my girlfriend was on roller blades so she had nowhere else to go. We tried to get through the crowd, but it was useless, and we felt defeated. We ran home and decided to try again in a few hours.

Total Distance: 4 miles.

Around 3:00pm, after wrapping my driver's side door in saran wrap to protect my car in case of rain, we headed out for a second attempt. By now, my legs were cold and stiff, I was in a dark mood, and I really didn't feel like running. About a half-mile into the run, I crossed the street and a biker went by me. Apparently I had run out in front of her a little too close for her liking (I gave her about 20 feet.) She yelled out something like, "Why don't you just run out in front of me and get hit?!?"

Well, after the events of the day, I had lost my capacity to let stuff slide, so I immediately turned and screamed at her to "Shut the F--- up!!!"

She came back around and I screamed at her for a minute or two while she made stupid remarks and tried to be tough. I kept telling her she was being ridiculous and she was, clearly, not a very nice person. My girlfriend finally convinced me that this jerk wasn't worth my trouble so I turned around and jogged off. I haven't lost my shit on someone in years, so that should give everyone an idea of how awful my mood was Sunday.

After about 5 miles, my stomach went south, and 1 mile later our run was finished.

Total miles: 10 miles.

I am sooooo glad that shitty day is in the past now.

Fast forward to this morning. It's 45 degrees out, I am still bitter about the weekend. My training plan calls for the following:

10 minute warmup
3 x (2 x 1200m @ 4:55 with 2:00RI)
4:00RI in between sets
10 minute cooldown

So that works out to about 4.5 miles of hard running, my longest speed workout to date. Here's what I banged out:

4:55
4:50
4:48
4:50
4:50
4:48

So, I still got it. I feel better, and I'm still really pumped for the marathon. My fitness is clearly at an all time high, and even though I blew a 20 miler, I don't think it will hurt me too badly.

This Thursday is the worst goddamn LT run yet. Here it is:

1 mile warmup (8:30)
10 miles @ 8:00

So... 11 miles in the morning. CRAAAAP! I'm gonna need to wake up at 5:00 to do it. Kill me now.

Log #49: If At First You Don't Succeed...

2007-10-13T21:17:00.000-04:00

Another ridiculously busy week has left me exhausted and sleep deprived. Yesterday I woke up at 6 am to try and do my LT run. I decided to do it on a treadmill so I could just zone out and run. The plan was as follows:

1 mile @ 8:30
4 miles @ 7:30
1 mile @ 8:30

I ran the first mile, and despite being REALLY tired, I felt pretty good. Then, true to form, I set the treadmill WAAAAY too fast. 7:15 pace.

I ran one mile. I then set the treadmill to 7:12 pace.

Another mile. I'm gonna die... I walk for 2 minutes.

I run another mile, and then just stop. My stomach is pissed off, and my lungs are exploding. Apparently no sleep plus running too fast equals shitty performance.

So I ended up with 4 miles run. That sucks. I HATE screwing up workouts. So... what did I do?

I went back to the gym after work and did the workout all over again. I'm not sure I should have... in fact I am pretty sure I shouldn't have, but I felt like punishing myself. This time I was successful:

1 mile @ 8:00
1 mile @ 7:30
1 mile @ 7:25
2 miles @ 7:20
1 mile @ 8:00

So I ran 10 miles yesterday, and tomorrow I'm going for 20 miles at an 8:30 pace. We'll see if I've overdone it.

Two random notes: My brother has been dealing with a lot of stuff lately, and the running has suffered. If he can finish out the last bit of training, and get at least one 20 mile run in, I think he could still finish the race.

Also, I'd like to update you guys on the 2:36 runner dude. I had drinks with him and his girlfriend the other night, and I talked to him for a while about running. He did seem to know stuff about running, local running clubs, and certain types of running workouts that a non-serious runner wouldn't know. I'm beginning to think he may have actually run the 2:36. I'm going to try and run with him soon, and if he is really that fast then I'll get my ass handed to me.

So tomorrow is 20 miler #3. Wish me luck!

Log #48: Another PR...

2007-10-09T12:57:00.000-04:00

Looking back at where I started, it's pretty ridiculous to think about how much faster I've gotten. I've been doing runs lately that, six months ago, would have just leveled me.

I woke up this morning and opened up my training book to take a gander at what lovely speed workout I had in store:

1600m @ 6:41

Bah! Old hat... no biggie. What else?

3200m @ 13:42

What!? That's hogwash!!! I've never run 2 miles on a track at that speed... the best I've done is on a treadmill, which is not even close to the same thing. Oh well, I can probably do that and then limp home.... WAIT A SEC!!!

2 x 800m @ 3:13

Sooo.... 4 miles at a very, very fast pace. Fantastic. I thought I might die. I jogged to the track with my buddy Eric who happened to be in town for a few days. The mile jog to the track was his workout.

The first 1600m was... quite honestly... a joke. I ran a 6:27 and felt perfectly fine. It just felt natural and smooth to run at that pace. I began to get nervous about the 3200m I was about to try. Off I go!

The first 1600m were run in 6:40... actually a little fast for this distance, and I started to feel the effects of the speed. The next two laps went by, as laps do, and then came lap 7. This lap felt strange, almost like my muscles were on a delay. When I'd ask my leg to lift up, it would take a second to comply. I made it to the last lap,and then adrenaline kicked in and I tore through lap 8. My final time:

13:20. Booyeah. Back to back 6:40's. New PR for me.

The last 2 x 800m times were 3:07 and 3:11. I was pretty beat by the end.

I would love to try a 5K to see how my speed would hold up in a race. A 20 minute 5K would require a 6:26 pace for 3.1 miles... It's definitely fast for me, but I feel like the adrenaline I'd have in a race would make it a possibility for me.

Anyway, the marathon is only 8 weeks away, and I'm REALLY pumped to see if all this training will earn me a 3:30 time. I feel like it's almost inevitable that I PR in this race (my PR is 3:57.)

Log #47: Hahahah!!! I'm an idiot... (recurring theme)

2007-10-07T16:56:00.000-04:00

I'm a buffoon. A fool, an imbecile.

A dolt.

The only reason I'm even writing this in the blog is because I feel like I should commit to 100% disclosure on everything marathon related, so... here it is:

I made a mistake when I calculated the start date of my training program... I started one week late.

Now, in reality, this makes almost no difference at this point. I've been running very consistently for some time now, so being behind in my training by 1 week won't hurt me. I just finished up the training for week 10 (the book counts backwards, so week 10 = 10 weeks until the marathon.) Ironically, the little marathon countdown widget I put on the page is what alerted me to my error. Right now it says 55 days... that works out to 8 weeks... yet I'm on week 9 of the program.

Whoops.

So next week, instead of running an 18 mile long run, I go right into a 20 mile long run... 20 miler 3 of 5 to be exact.

I'm not worried about it, I just feel retarded.

So, Friday I was supposed to do a BRUTAL LT run. 8 miles... 1 mile warmup at about 8:30, and then 6 miles at 7:44, then 1 more at 8:30. Here's what happened:

8:16 (too fast)
7:28 (too fast)
7:26 (too fast)
7:30 (too fast)
7:35 (too fast)
7:54 (dying...)
7:58 (a quivering mess)
9:06 (HA!!!)

Just awful... truly a piss-poor performance. I had to walk in between miles 5 and 6, and then between 6 and 7. Mile 8 was half walk, half shuffle. It's funny how I've learned to look at a workout in which I ran too fast as a bad workout. Running smoothly and consistently is SOOOOO much more important. You'd think I'd have learned my lesson by now, but the urge to go fast is hard to kick.

Today was a 13 mile long run. It's hysterical to me that 13 miles seems like a joke to me now. I used to be intimidated by anything over 10 miles... now I think 15 is the cutoff. 13 is just an easy jog.

I was supposed to run the 13 miles at an 8:15 pace. I thought that the pace would feel pretty damn fast after last week's 20 miler at 8:30. I also haven't slept as much as I should have this week, and I had a wedding Friday night at which I got properly soused.

I wake up... it's gray and cloudy and 50 degrees outside. I suit up and get out there. It's goddamn cold. I start going. My legs feel stiff. The first mile feels slow. I look down at my GPS.

7:51

WHAT!? I tell my girlfriend that we just started out 25 seconds too fast. We gotta slow down. 1 mile later:

7:55

Apparently, like a freight train, I need some distance to slow myself down completely. Mile 3:

8:07

I felt like I was crawling at this point. My legs were stiff, but apparently I was cruising at a pretty decent clip. The next few miles went like this:

Mile 4 - 8:04
Mile 5 - 8:11
Mile 6 - 8:18
Mile 7 - 8:17
Mile 8 - 8:01
Mile 9 - 8:06
Mile 10 - 8:03

At this point, I figured that since I'd already destroyed my goal of an 8:15 pace, and I felt really strong, I should just go for a nasty time. (Nasty = Really Good)

I do this thing when I want to get a little boost of energy, where I imagine that I'm running the Vegas Marathon, I get to mile 23, and I realized that I'm a minute behind my goal pace, so I need to run the last 3 miles pretty quick. I know it's silly, but I've yet to find anything that works better. So I just make believe and have a pretend race... fun!

The last 3 miles were: 7:54, 7:53, 7:15

I felt GREAT at the end too... I could have kept going easily. It was a very nice change to finish a long run and not feel like curling up in a ball and going to sleep.

I am so pumped to run this damn marathon. Only 8 more weeks... just enough time to lose another few pounds, get a few more great runs in, and psyche myself up to beat my PR by 30 minutes... no big deal.

Log #46: Busy busy busy...

2007-10-04T09:37:00.001-04:00

Life is crazy at the moment, so this will be a short one.

Yesterday was speed day. I ran 6 x 800m. My goal was 3:14. Here were my times:

3:10
3:09
3:09
3:11
3:08
3:04

It was muggy as hell, and I was DYING on that last 800m, but I did it. This morning was a nice bike workout, and all is good. I'm losing weight very quickly now that I've been eating a healthier diet. My size 32 jeans, which have been pretty tight around the waist in the past, are now falling off of me. If I can keep up the healthiness until Dec. 2, I think I have a decent shot at being close to my 160 pound race-day goal. Weighing so little will be a huge advantage.

Tomorrow is LT day... ugh. Shoot me.

Log #45: Random Musings, Take 2.

2007-10-02T11:37:00.001-04:00

This morning I biked very hard for 50 minutes. Big whoop.

What I'd like to ramble about today is more nutrition stuff. This morning, I happened to walk past the cafeteria in the building I'm working at, and I smelled french fries. The physical reaction I experienced was absurd... I immediately NEEDED french fries and started drooling. The smell was intoxicating, and I could literally taste the damn fries.

Of course I didn't go buy french fries, and as soon as I was out of "nose-shot" of the smell, my urges went away completely and instantly. This is something that I've really been more aware of lately. Food urges are so powerful, but as soon as you remove the temptation, the urge just vanishes. What's even stranger, is that although I had a very real physical desire to eat french fries, as soon as the urge passes, I had no remorse for not eating them.

Another thing I'm doing right now is bringing my lunch to work every day. Normally, a menu gets passed around and we all order and buy whatever we want. Panera is a mainstay on the lunch schedule, and I LOVE Panera. I used to get the "healthy" stuff from Panera, like a turkey sandwich on wheat bread. The problem with even "healthy" foods from restaurants is that the portions are just gigantic. That turkey sandwich from Panera probably had 1000 calories. It also came with potato chips. So right there is a 1300 calorie lunch. What if I went ahead and got the grilled panini with spicy mustard sauce and provalone cheese? We're talking more than half of my daily calories in one lunch. No wonder I would go into a food coma every day around 2:30. The scary thing is that Panera was one of the healthier choices. Sometimes we'd get Pizzeria Uno's. I'd usually order this pasta with alfredo sauce dish that came with a huge cheesy breadstick... I can't even fathom the calories.

My lunch today was a yogurt, a peanut butter and jelly sandwich, a granola bar, and a plum, probably 800 calories or so in total, and much healthier than a 2-pound sandwich. The rest of the office ordered from the Ground Round... do I miss not having junk for lunch?

Actually... not even a little. It's that strange phenomenon I was talking about. At the exact second that I see or smell something yummy, I want it. If I don't eat it and just walk away, my body immediately forgets that it was even an option. I don't ever eat something healthy and then think, "Wow... I really wish I went with something tastier and junkier." I just don't... and I am FAR from a health food nut. I enjoy the occasional food orgy and beer marathon just as much as any other red blooded male. The difference is that I think I've realized that the choice to eat healthy can have absolutely NO bad consequences... not even a little remorse. When I go out to a bar and don't drink, and the next day all my friends talk about how hung over they are and how much fun that was... I NEVER feel bad that I didn't drink.

My whole point to this ramble is that those cravings you get when something tasty is around are fleeting at best... if you don't eat a donut from the box that someone brought in to work, you will NEVER look back and wish you'd eaten it. I promise.

Tomorrow is a ridiculous speed workout. In the book it's written like this:

2 x (6 x 400m @ 1:35, 1:00 RI) 2:30 RI

This translates to:

Run 400m in 1:35, rest for 1:00, then do it again.
Do this six times in a row.
Now rest for 2:30.
Now do that same nonsense again.

It should be an interesting morning. It's getting coooooold up here in the mornings... today I saw my breath when I walked out to my car at 6:30. Yikes!

Log #44: Huh... so THIS is what it's like!!!

2007-09-30T19:19:00.000-04:00

Well, it finally happened. I ran 20 miles like it was no big deal.

I woke up with one goal today: Run 20 miles at a consistent, slow pace. I know that my biggest problem with training so far has been that I run WAY too fast in the beginning of long runs and end up dying at the end. Well, I was mentally prepared for 20 miles at an 8:45 pace and no faster.

Of course, that didn't end up happening. I started out slow... my first mile was an 8:41. Perfect. I felt awesome, my legs were loose, the weather was phenomenal, and my girlfriend was tailing me with water in the CamelPak. I felt magic in the air... well not really.

The next one was 8:36. Get this... I told my girlfriend, "We need to slow down." THAT'S how committed I was to the 8:45 pace. Mile 3 was an 8:49... a good pace. After that, I quit looking at the GPS and just ran for a while at what felt like a nice, smooth pace. Miles 4-7 were all done around an 8:30 pace... OOOOOPS!!!

I slowed down for the next few miles. 8:43, 8:46, 8:47. I was just feeling so fantastic that I didn't even worry about the miles I had just run too quickly. I figured I'd just glide the rest of the way.

At this point I'd run 10 miles, and I felt perfect, so I decided to try for a negative split... running the second half of my run faster than the first. Mile 11 was an 8:37. I then followed with an 8:35, 8:40, and 8:31. I decided to just try and let my body dictate the right pace for me. After running for a while, you just get used to listening to the signs your body gives you as to how it's handling the stress. My breathing was fine, my heart rate felt ok, so I just kept running at my own pace.

Miles 15 and 16 were run at 8:38, then 8:22. By this point, I finally began to feel the miles in my legs. I had barely stopped at all by this point, and I realized that stopping made my legs ache. If I just kept moving, I actually felt better than when I stopped, so I just decided to keep my legs moving at all times. Even when I stopped at traffic lights, I'd jog around in circles.

With 4 miles left, I kept repeating the mantra, "Don't slow down." I wasn't in bad shape or anything, but after almost two and a half hours of running, your body just starts to protest a little. I kept chugging. 8:22, then 8:12.

My legs started to stiffen up, and my lungs were burning a tad. I knew that I needed to be able to run 20 miles and still feel like I could do 6 more if I had to, so I tried to let my body tell me how fast it could go. It told me 8:14.

The last mile wasn't so hard physically... I mean I was tired, and my legs hurt, but I wasn't as beat up as I've been on previous runs. The last mile of any workout is the hardest, it doesn't matter how long or short the run is. That last mile is just mentally trying, because all you can think about is a shower, food, and coffee. I was pushing myself to go all out on the last mile, and I ended up with an 8:00 mile... my marathon pace.

So... the first 10 miles took 1:26:30 to run, and the last 10 miles too 1:24:20... a negative split. I'm pretty sure my first ever on a 20 miler. My average pace was 8:32, a good 13 seconds per mile faster than what I needed to run today. I feel pretty good, too. Maybe the running Gods have finally decided to give me some love.

By the way, I'd like to take this opportunity to talk about the FIRST running method I'm using to train for this. I have never run this fast for this long, and I've been setting new PR's almost every week. The most incredible part is that I don't feel burned out, over trained, or even slightly injured. If anyone is thinking about trying FIRST... DO IT!!!

Log #43: About to burst...

2007-09-28T10:31:00.000-04:00

My LT run yesterday was grueling... and that is putting it VERY lightly. I don't know if it was my diet, my sleeping, or just a tough run.

Th program called for this:

1 mile @ 8:30
5 miles at 7:30

This is not really that bad for me. I've done it on a treadmill many, many times. However, the road is not a treadmill, and it's just not the same thing. There was a slight wind that made every step a little bit tougher, and the cumulative effect on my body was rough. Here are my splits, approximately:

8:33
7:16 (DAMNIT!!!)
7:33
7:30
7:29
7:38

So, overall, I'd say I did well. I was HURTING at the end, though. The thing about the LT run is that you're running fast enough to build up that icky, burning feeling in your chest. It's similar to the feeling I get when I do speed workouts, except I know that the speed workout is going to end in 7 minutes or less. This was a burning that just kept getting stronger and stronger until I felt like coke bottle that was all shaken up and about to explode. My breathing was 2-in / 2-out at the end of the run, and I was just pooped.

Sunday is a 20 miler, and I'm determined to make this one a good one. I'm not drinking ANY booze this weekend, I'm going to eat very well on Saturday, and I'll be getting lots of sleep. After my 20 miler I will be celebrating with burritos and beer.

Log #42: Something's Missing...

2007-09-26T11:04:00.001-04:00

Something has been missing from my life the past 2 days: The post-lunch crash. Generally I eat such a huge lunch that I enter a food-coma about an hour later. I would usually remedy this by drinking the post-food-coma coffee, which would cause a post-coffee crash a couple of hours after that.

So, apparently, eating decent foods and not binging on massive 1200 calorie lunches can increase energy levels. This is fantastic!

My calorie total for yesterday was about 2850. It's funny how I've already started to notice how little things can add up over the day to make a huge difference in calories. Choosing the regular granola bar over the one that is covered in chocolate... 100 calories. Wheat bread over white bread on a sandwich: 100 calories. A little less creamer in the coffee... 100 calories. Over the course of a day, 4-5 small decisions could add up to 400-500 calories, and over a week that could be the difference between losing or gaining a pound.

It's all common sense, too. However, I am constantly amazed at the tricks my brain will play on me when I'm hungry. Last night I couldn't eat dinner until 8:30, and my brain started rationalizing how it would be just fine to eat a huge meatball sub... just this once... since I was so hungry. Even McDonald's would be fine just to tide me over. Luckily, I have gotten wise to my brain's devious ways, so I knew it was just trying to derail my plans.

I think I'll count the calories for another week or so, and then see if I can manage to eat healthy without looking at the labels every time I eat.

This morning I rowed...

10 minute warmup, easy pace
1 minute hard, 1 minute easy
2 minutes hard, 1 minute easy
3 minutes hard, 1 minute easy
4 minutes hard, 1 minute easy
3 minutes hard, 1 minute easy
2 minutes hard, 1 minute easy
1 minute hard, 5 minutes easy

I kicked my butt, felt great... tomorrow is a horrible LT run. 1 mile at 8:30, then 5 miles in a row at 7:30... ugh.

Log #42: Joey - 1, Body - 0.

2007-09-25T12:43:00.000-04:00

I've turned over a new leaf... or rather, I've turned over a leaf that I had already turned over, and then ignored. Metaphors are dumb.

I've started my training this week with a renewed determination, mainly because of the pathetic performance I had on Sunday. For starters, I've started doing something I've NEVER done before... counting calories.

I hate counting calories... it's annoying and demoralizing. However, I realized that I had absolutely no idea how much I should be eating, or how much I was actually eating. I figure that I should be getting around 2500 calories a day, maybe 3000 on a tough running day. This number should keep my energy up, but still be low enough to lose some weight before the race. I'm not overweight, but I would like to be as lean as possible for the marathon.

The problem with food in this country is that portions are just gigantic. This morning, for example, I looked at the calories on a box of Cinnamon Life Cereal. 1 serving of this cereal is 160 calories. That's not very much at all. However, 1 serving is defined as 3/4 cup cereal, and 1/2 cup of skim milk. Just for giggles, I used a measuring cup to see how much that actually was. It's about half of what I would normally put in my bowl. I then decided to see what a bagel would have for calories. A serving of onion bagel is 160 calories... not bad!!!

But wait... 1 serving is half a bagel, so a whole bagel is 320 calories with nothing on it. I love me my cream cheese, so a serving of that is 100 calories... except that 1 serving is only 1 oz. I generally DOUSE that bagel in cream cheese, so let's say I use 2 oz... a very conservative estimate. We're talking 520 calories just in my bagel.

I also discovered that the creamer I put in my coffee every morning has 45 calories per tablespoon... I use at least 3-4 tablespoons a day, so there's another 180 calories mainlined into my body with a nice dose of caffeine.

Lunch was the next battle... I normally order lunch from somewhere near where I'm working. I'd estimate that the average sandwich you get from a Panera or pasta from Uno's will have about 1000 calories in it. The portions are just massive!!! The last 2 days I have brought my lunch, and it's funny how I feel full after eating a normal sized meal, even though I'm putting about 50% less food into my stomach. I've always had a problem leaving food on the plate, so by bringing less I just don't have to worry about that.

Dinner last night was chicken and potatoes, maybe 500-600 calories worth. I used my fist as a guide... If the amount of food you are eating is much bigger than your fist, it's probably too much.

I had a couple of snacks yesterday, an apple and a granola bar... and that was it. I felt full, I had energy, and I came in at about 2400 calories.

My goal is to get in the habit of eating the right amount and then I won't have to bother with the counting anymore, but it was definitely an eye opener to see exactly how much food you SHOULD be eating versus what restaurants and grocery stores make it seem like you should eat.

So, this morning was speed workout day. The 3:30 plan called for this:

10-20 minute warmup
1200 x 2 @ 4:55
800 x 4 @ 3:13
10 minute cooldown

and just for shits, the 3:20 was this:

10-20 minute warmup
1200 x 2 @ 4:40
800 x 4 @ 3:03
10 minute cooldown

I, being a fool, decided to just go for the 3:20 times...

1200 @ 4:34

Whoops!!! WAAAAAAY too fast... I knew as soon as I finished this split that I had screwed myself royally. I was panting very hard and felt dizzy and thought, "Why, oh why?"

Round 2.

1200 @ 4:48

Better, but still too fast, and at the end of this one my stomach started doing somersaults.

My 800's looked like this:

800 @ 3:14
800 @ 3:11
800 @ 3:08
800 @ 3:04

Thinking back, it's hard to really recall how painful those 800's were, but I definitely remember a few thoughts going through my head:

"I think I might finally make myself throw up during a run!!!"
"I'm going to faint."
"There is NO way I can do another one of these (after the 2nd 800m)"
"I wonder if my heart should be beating this fast."
"This pain is that martini from Saturday leaving my body."
"I wish I would throw up."

This was, without a doubt, one of the most grueling speed workouts yet. I ran the first split 23 seconds too fast... and over 3 laps that is a ridiculous increase in pace. It's basically the difference between a 6:30 mile and a 6:00 mile. I think I might also be adjusting slightly to eating a normal amount of food. Normally I just eat whatever I want all day long, so I never have a problem with energy on runs... but now my body may want to adjust a little bit.

Anyway, the workout was a success, the new diet seems to be a good thing, and I'm still feeling positive about the whole thing. Tomorrow is a nice, intense rowing day.

Log #41: I'm an idiot.

2007-09-23T16:06:00.000-04:00

Well today just about capped off the quick decline into running suckiness that has been my week. The only day I worked out was Tuesday, on which I had a decent speed workout. I blew off 2 cross-trains and an LT run because my schedule was insane, I was sleep deprived, and there were assorted weddings / shows / Jewish holidays to deal with.

That all helped contribute to today's spectacular failure, but the main cause is plain old stupidity. I've been eating garbage and boozing too much, and my body is finally letting me know that it's not going to get any faster until I change that.

My run today was supposed to be 18 miles at an 8:45 pace, without dehydration and severe calf cramps. I actually ran the opposite of that. I managed about 11 miles, actually at a decent pace, but with TONS of walking, very bad dehydration, and then to top it all off, excruciating calf cramps. I could barely walk by the end of the run, and then I had to stretch for a long time just to get my left leg to feel half-normal again. It was a mess.

I realized that I've started to take the training for granted, and just assumed that doing the workouts was enough. It's an easy trap to fall into, especially when you train so intensely for so long.

I'm starting fresh this week... it's like a new program. I'm not going to eat garbage, I'm cutting WAAAAY back on the booze, and I'm going to do this right. The marathon is not that far off, and if I sabotage my time by eating a few too many burritos, I will feel so stupid.

Bah!

Quick Update...

2007-09-22T00:15:00.001-04:00

Life has conspired against me, making me so friggin' busy that I couldn't do my LT run yesterday. I HATE missing runs, so I'm grumpy. I have 18 miles on Sunday that will feel my wrath.

That is all.

Log #40: Why Do I Run Marathons?

2007-09-19T11:02:00.000-04:00

As I was huffing and puffing my way around the track this morning, I ran past a guy wearing a shirt that said, "Never again... until the next one." It reminded me of something I told my girlfriend a few days after running the Boston Marathon back in April.

"I'm done with the marathon thing."

I lasted about 1 week before I started to get the itch again. Without a the threat of 26.2 miles hanging over my head like a piano, I can't maintain any sort of workout routine.

Allow me to get a little bit philosophical here.

Why in the world is it enjoyable to run a distance that literally causes your legs to begin self-destructing? Why, after being very sore for days after a race, would I decide to do it again?

The best way I can think to explain it is this: I wake up 5 days a week and go to work. My work involves sitting in front of a computer for 9 hours. It doesn't really matter what I'm DOING at the computer, but my job is the same as millions of other people in this country. We sit at a desk and use a computer for half of our waking hours. The human body isn't supposed to sit still like this. Look at the obesity rate in the U.S. It's ridiculous. Although I really do enjoy my job, the fact of the matter is that I spend at least 50 hours a week sitting in a chair staring at a computer screen.

When I first got into the workforce, I quit exercising. It wasn't an all-of-the-sudden thing, I just gradually stopped doing it because I was working all day and hanging out with my buddies at night. It wasn't until I gained about 30 pounds that I realized I felt like shit, I looked like shit, I had trouble sleeping, my back began having awful problems, and I was tired all the time.

I had several bouts of "I'm gonna get back in shape!!!" that would last from a few days to a couple of weeks, but never longer than that. The problem, I found, is that I am very good at rationalizing the decision to skip a workout, or eat a big junky meal, or sleep a little later. Without someone putting a gun to my head, I wasn't going to kick my ass the way it needed to be kicked. So, I signed up for a marathon.

All of the sudden, there was an anvil hanging precariously over my head. One way or another, I would have to propel myself 26.2 miles, and if I didn't train I would be in huge trouble. With the race looming, I had all kinds of motivation to train. In the first 3 months I dropped about 15 pounds, and I haven't looked back since.

So for me, the marathon is a reason to get up in the morning. It's something that makes damn sure I will be keeping in shape, because if I don't, the marathon will devastate me. It also has the added bonus of being a very cool notch on your belt, and a self-esteem boost like nothing else.

With all that said, my day off of training yesterday completely rejuvenated me. I got up, went out into the cold, ran to the track, and did this:

1600m @ 6:41
1600m @ 6:34
1600m @ 6:24

I feel like a champ. Sunday's 18 mile run will be my bitch.

Respite

2007-09-18T10:59:00.000-04:00

I think I'm deeming this week a recovery week. I've been really kicking my ass the past few months and I need to let my body recover. I'm toning it down a bit. I slept in this morning, and might just skip the cross-train today. Tomorrow I'll do the speed workout and see how that goes. I need to get back to 100% after that brutal 20 miler.

Log #39: The Running Gods Hate Me

2007-09-17T10:04:00.001-04:00

Ya know, I should have seen this coming. I've had some incredible runs lately, and reading through my past logs I can tell that I became cocky. I began to disobey the cardinal rule of marathon running: Respect the Distance. I decided to try and up my pace, I quit worrying so much about my diet, I would do cross-training exercises that technically I wasn't supposed to.

I got greedy.

Yesterday, the Running Gods put me in my place. Basically, I got my ass handed to me like a red-headed step child.

I woke up, got prepared for the task at hand, and then took pause. Did the watermelon sherbet I had last night contain any dairy in it? I went and checked the freezer.

Oh shit.

I figured that it might turn out to be a problem, but since I was friggin' Superman it wouldn't matter. I was going to kill this run. Since my girlfriend had an audition in the afternoon, she couldn't make the run with me so I carried my own water in my trusty belt pack. It didn't even occur to me that the extra weight could affect my times.

So what did I do next? Well, I just went ahead and started out my first mile at 8:12

The 3:30 marathon pace plan called for 9:00 miles, the 3:20 plan called for 8:40's. Keep this in mind.

My next 9 miles or so were at 8:00 or under... I was FLYING. I felt awesome, the tunes were rocking in my iPod, and everything was peachy.

And then.... mile 12. The first rumblings of sherbet in my stomach. I ignored the rumblings, and they stopped after a bit. My legs began to feel a little lacticish... if I may coin a term. They burned in my calves and hamstrings, and started to feel heavy.

By mile 14 I realized what was happening, but it was too late. I had gone out WAAAAY too fast in the beginning, and now I was going to pay for it. By the grace of God I was right next to a port-a-john when I felt the sherbet make a very convincing argument that I should not have eaten it the night before. Let me tell you... legs cramped, smelly port-a-john, sweating all over... ugh... so unpleasant.

The last 6 miles were a combination of pain, agony, and chafing. I cursed myself for being so dumb in the first part of the run. I made such a rookie mistake starting out too fast, and now I was 6 miles from home and miserable. The only thing that got me through it was the knowledge that the next time I did 20 miles I would be better prepared and know not to be cocky and think I can just DECIDE that I'm in good enough shape to run a minute per mile faster than my program says I should go.

Mile 20 was the longest mile. I ran it in 8:40, but it felt like it lasted about 20 minutes. The lactic acid in my legs made me feel like the lower-half of my body was about to explode, and my adrenaline had run out long ago. When I finished, I swore I'd learn my damn lesson and run smarter from now on.

This morning, I feel about as crappy as I thought I would. My legs are a mess, I feel tired and beat, and I know that tomorrow I will be cross-training, not doing a speed workout. Well, live and learn. What doesn't kill you makes you stronger. Respect the goddamn distance!!!

My little bro had issues as well this weekend, so go check out his blog. It's called "Run Fasterest," and it's linked over on the sidebar.

Log #38: Crazy? I was Crazy Once.

2007-09-14T09:41:00.000-04:00

Either I'm in really good shape, or I'm a lunatic... I'm really not sure which. I'm probably just dumb.

This week has been insane in terms of juggling work, concerts, Jewish holidays, and high school buddies. I was too tired to get up and cross-train yesterday, so I decided to do it after work. Of course, I had to work late, and I had plans that required me to be done working out at a certain time, so I only had 45 minutes to get to the gym, workout, stretch, and leave.

I FLEW to the gym as soon as I was done at work, and then hopped on a bike and started going. I decided to just go as fast as I could for as long as I could. As it turns out, I could go about 110 rpm for 40 minutes, with bursts of up to 130 rpm. Since I'm not a biker, I'm not sure if that's good or not, but it's way faster than I've gone on previous bike workouts and I felt amazing. I chalked it up to adrenaline.

Last night my buddy who I went to London with was in town. The thing about him is that he likes bourbon... nay... loves bourbon. I was hoping to keep the bourboning to a minimum last night, but my friend also has trouble with moderation. I managed to stay below the threshold of "drunk," but I definitely had a couple of glasses and stayed out until almost midnight. It was a fantastic, Guitar Hero filled time, but I knew it would throw off my run for this morning.

When I got home, I was reading through the Run Faster, Run Less book when I turned to the training program for a 3:20 marathon. If you've been following my exploits, you know that I have a tendency to run my speed workouts and long runs way too fast. It's hard for me to go as slow as the program tells me to. I noticed that my times are pretty close to the requirements to run a goddamn 3:20 marathon.

So I decided to try the LT run for that time today.

1 mile @ 8:12
4 miles @ 7:14
1 mile @ 8:12

I didn't even feel that gross when it was done. I only got 6 hours of sleep, drank bourbon last night, and have had the week from hell. Yet, I ran 4 miles at a pace that only a month and a half ago made me choke after 2 miles.

So, either I'm an idiot for pushing myself this hard, I'm crazy for thinking I can just decide to run a marathon in 3:20, or I'm in better shape than I thought. Strange, eh? I think I'll proceed with caution. Sunday is a 20 mile run at either 9:00 min/mile (3:30 training pace) or 8:40 (3:20 training pace.) Stay tuned.

Log #37: So my body is saying, "I HATE YOU!!!"

2007-09-11T11:46:00.000-04:00

Here is how I would sum up the way I feel right now: Ugh.

My glorious 17 mile run had the unfortunate side-effect of making my legs very angry for the next 2 days. Yesterday was the day I normally would have done my speed workout, but my legs were still sore and I didn't feel like overdoing it, so I went and cross-trained instead. I did 45 minutes on the elliptical machine, but I did it so hard that by the time I was done I was drenched in sweat, and had apparently burned 800 calories.

Then, last night, I went to a rock show. Before the rock show, I had a couple of vodka & cokes, and then a vodka tonic at the show. I was having a good time, the band was awesome, etc... When I got home around 11:00, I realized I was probably going to regret those drinks the following day.

Which brings me to this morning. Groggy, dehydrated, and surly, I woke up at 6:00am for the goddamn *#$*#! speed workout. The goal was this:

10-20 minute warmup
5 x 1000m @ 4:03
10 minute cooldown

1000m at a 4:03 pace works out to around a 6:40 mile, so the pace isn't anything I'm not used to. The problem was simply the state my body was in: Pissed.

I ran the first 1000m in 3:53. I thought, "Great! Maybe this won't be so bad."

The next one was 3:54... my stomach was gurgling by the end.

Then another 3:54. This time, my head started hurting on the last 400m. If my stomach could talk, it would have said, "I dare you to try that again."

Next, a 3:58. I was gasping for air by the end, and my legs felt very stiff, as though they had forgotten how to run. I was drinking some water and stretching when my stomach decided it was time for a nice stomach cramp. I nervously eyed the Port-a-john close by, but eventually the feeling passed. I was about to call it a day when I saw an older guy and his dog doing 5:30 miles around the track.

My last 1000m took 3:57, and I have never been so glad to be finished with a workout. It was torture. Towards the end of the last split, I felt like I was punishing myself for the drinks I had. I feel pretty gross right now, but I know I'd feel worse if I hadn't completed the workout.

So there it is. Another "successful" speed workout, and a pretty intense LT run on Friday to look forward to.

Oh yeah... and I'm running 20 miles on Sunday.

Log #36: Hmmm... that's odd.

2007-09-10T09:07:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure, but I think that if I'd woken up Sunday morning and run a full marathon, I would have set a PR. What's strange about this is not that I still have 12 weeks of training left, but the fact that I only got 5 1/2 hours of sleep and went out on a "booze cruise" Friday night.

My band had a show Saturday night, and it went late. I didn't get home until about 1:45, didn't sleep until 2:00, and then got up at 7:30 to run a ridiculous amount of miles. I looked outside and saw grey clouds threatening to make my run even more uncomfortable. After stretching, changing, and Red-Bull-ing myself, my girlfriend and I headed out for 17 shitty miles... so I thought.

The goal pace was a 9:00 mile for 17 miles. I have a huge problem running that slow, so I knew I'd probably be closer to 8:45. I also assumed that I'd burn out for the last 3-4 miles, as I was REALLY tired. I started the run pretty slowly, very close to a 9:00 pace. The second mile was 8:40, and I just kept feeling better and better. The 5th mile was a 7:40... oops! I slowed down, and ran the next 5 miles very close to my marathon pace, 8:00 per mile. The last 5 miles or so were run at about an 8:30 pace, with a 7:40 for mile 17. I decided to push myself on the last one to see how hard I could go with not much gas in the tank.

When I got home, I checked my GPS. My average pace was 8:20. What!?!? The stranger part was how great I felt. My legs were stiff, but I didn't feel gross or even especially tired anymore. I realized that my conditioning has been working so well that 17 miles don't really feel so hard anymore. The physical act of running the miles is no longer daunting. That doesn't mean that it isn't still difficult... the mental strain of keeping your body moving for that long is still tough on you... but I am definitely feeling a lot stronger on those last few miles than I've ever felt.

I also think that I'm improving my running economy immensely. Running economy essentially refers to the amount of running a person can do with a certain amount of oxygen. If you improve your running economy, you can run faster and farther using the same amount of energy. Getting in better shape helps, but improving your technique helps alot too, and I think that's what I'm doing. I've noticed that when I want to run faster, I can either speed up my turnover rate (the number of steps I take each second) or I can extend my stride so I cover more ground with each step. I used to think that keeping my turnover rate constant and just increasing my stride length would be easier, but this is definitely not the case for me. By keeping my stride length pretty consistent and just taking more steps, I can go much faster without using too much more energy.

Anyway, to continue the saga from my last post, I took the advice of a few of you and tried to find this guy's time online. I found out his last name and searched, and absolutely no results came up. My girlfriend laughed at me for going to so much trouble to see if this guy is lying or not. I still think he's full of shit.

Log #35: Note to Self...

2007-09-06T09:19:00.000-04:00

Note to self: Don't eat Macaroni and Cheese the night before an LT run. You'd think that after doing this for so long, I'd know better.

I have noticed that it's been getting much easier for me to wake up at 6:00am each morning. I've been doing it for months, so I think my body is finally on board with the idea. I get really tired by 10:30, and I'm usually in bed by 11:00 or so, and then I feel half-decent once I'm up.

I decided to do my run today on the treadmill to make it easy to hit my target pace. I've been running too fast lately, and I really wanted to have a consistent pace on this run. The target was this:

1 mile @ 8:30
5 miles @ 7:44
1 mile @ 8:30

This is what actually happened:

1 mile @ 8:30
3 miles @ 7:40
1.2 miles @ 7:30 (I felt good so I picked up the pace)
Tummy Ache, Pausing of Treadmill, Sweaty Bathroom Time
1 mile @ 8:30

So, unfortunately, I was .8 miles short of my LT goal. I felt awesome, and could have finished the workout no problem if it weren't for that damned delicious Kraft Mac 'n Cheese I ate last night. Sonofabitch.

On a side note, something odd happened last night, and I'd love some opinions.

My girlfriend and I met some of her friends at this bar across the street from us. One of her friends had brought her boyfriend. He was about my height (5'6") and looked to be a little pudgy, with a round face and no definition to speak of. He probably weighed a little less than me, but I have a stocky build and most of my weight is muscle (I think, hehe..)

Anyway, this guy mentioned that he was running the Disney World Marathon in January. When two marathon runners meet for the first time, it's obligatory to exchange stories, the number of marathons run, your PR, etc... We chatted about which races we'd done and all that, and then he asked me for my PR. I told him it was 3:57 at last year's Vegas, and I was training my ass off to run a 3:30 this year. His face said, "Meeehh.... not impressed." So I asked him what his PR was.

"2:36"

Now, I have met many marathon runners in my life. My good friend Chris ran a 2:50 marathon after training his ass off, and he is one of those genetically gifted people. He's also about 3 inches taller than me and 20 pounds lighter, and ran cross country in high school.

I was immediately suspicious of this guy, because he absolutely did NOT look like a 2:36 runner. A time like that would WIN many marathons. It's a 6:00 mile for 26.2 miles, and requires something a lot of people don't have (I include myself in this category). After we left the bar, I told my girlfriend I thought this dude was full of shit, but it's been bugging me. He was built like Samwise Gangi from the Lord of the Rings movies.

Anyway, what do you guys think? Shouldn't a guy who can run a 2:36 marathon LOOK like he can?

Log #34: Speedy McPoop-Pants... almost.

2007-09-04T20:46:00.000-04:00

Here's a math formula for you: Indian Food + 6 hour flight + 5 glasses of wine + Speed Workout = Ninja Turtle.

Actually, today's Ninja Turtle wasn't so bad. I was pretty tired considering I'd just gotten back in town, but I managed to make it down to the track for my speed workout. Today's workout was supposed to look like this:

10-20 minute warmup
1200m @ 4:55
1000m @ 4:03
800m @ 3:13
600m @ 2:24
400m @ 1:35
10 minute cool down

I jogged down to the track, so there's my 10 minute warmup. I then cranked up the devil music on my iPod and started hoofing. I did the first 1200m in 4:45. Not bad.

The next 1000m was a little tougher, but I still hit 3:54 for my time. On the 800m run, I got about 2/3 of the way through when that old familiar feeling hit my stomach. It was my intestines, screaming "STOP, OR WE'LL START MAKING THE WALK HOME VERY AWKWARD!!!:

I stopped for a minute, and the feeling passed. It's funny, but at moments like that I am very grateful for having some experience with marathon training. Like my brother, I am generally very stubborn and don't like quitting in the middle of something, but had I pushed my self I very likely would have had to find a bathroom to go be miserable in for a half-hour.

I walked back about 100m, and restarted the run, finishing the 800m in 3:10. I then did the 600m in 2:15, and then absolutely decided to see how fast I could run the 400m. I pretty much ran all out for one lap, getting REALLY tired towards the end. My 400m time was 1:20, the equivalent of a 5:20 mile pace. There is absolutely NO possibility of me running a 5:20 mile in the near future, but at least I know my legs are capable of going that fast.

So, all in all, a great workout. I am feeling really light on my feet, and my turnover rate has improved so much through these speed workouts. I'm also finding that I seem to have a better sense of how hard I can push my body. In the middle of the 1000m run today, I felt like I was going about 5 seconds per lap too fast, so I just made a little mental adjustment and my legs followed... I slowed down ever so slightly, but my perceived effort was decreased by quite a bit.

Training is going amazingly well so far, but I have 2 BRUTAL runs ahead of me this week. On Thursday, a 7 mile LT run with 5 miles at a 7:44 pace... I'm treadmilling that one... and a 17 mile long run. Good lord.

Log #33: Bloody Amazing Run!!!

2007-09-02T13:19:00.000-04:00

The title of this post does not refer to any blood that managed to come out during my run, but is in a fact an homage to London, where I did my 15 miler. I actually ran it yesterday, as today's schedule was pretty crazy and I didn't want to try to just "squeeze in" an enormous run like that.

I woke up at 5:00 am, drank my Red Bull from the minibar, got dressed and hit the hotel lobby. I got directions to the Thames River, only about .75 miles away. At first my GPS couldn't lock on to a signal since I was around a bunch of buildings, so I jogged a little bit and it finally started working. Here were some highlights of this ridiculous run.

1. Running along the Thames River
2. Seeing the sun rise over London
3. Running around the Tower of London
4. Crossing London Bridge
5. Running past the Parliament and Westminster Abbey
6. Absolutely perfect weather

My pace was supposed to be 8:45, but I felt so amazingly good that I ran an 8:30 pace. Booyeah.

The weather was perfect, the scenery was amazing, and I was feeling very motivated. I've been eating better this week, and getting sleep, which has definitely helped my performance. I'm down in the 160's weight-wise (2 years ago I was 194 pounds) and I'm hoping to drop another 5-6 pounds by December 2. My confidence is through the roof as far as running goes.

Today I walked about 6 miles from Arsenal Stadium back to the hotel, so I think that makes up for my missed cross-training on Wednesday. Friday my buddy who I am here with made me do some ridiculous weight-lifting workout that nearly destroyed me. I'm glad I have a friend who is also obsessed with working out, it makes the trip a healthier one.

I fly back to Boston tomorrow, and begin week 3 of training. I'm feeling great so far!!!

Log #32: Jet Lagged BIG TIME....

2007-08-30T11:43:00.000-04:00

I woke up around 5:30 am to go to work early, worked until about 2:30, ran over to my old apartment to get the last of my belongings out of there, did 100 other assorted chores, hopped on a plane at 7:00, drank several glasses of wine, flew to London, slept MAYBE 2 hours on the flight, arrived at 6:30am London time, ate a huge plate of eggs benedict, took a 2 hour nap, then decided to do my LT run.

Do these sound like ideal conditions?

It's not surprising that my run kind of sucked. I had no energy, even Red Bull couldn't wake me up. I managed 6 out of 7 miles I wanted to do, and I was definitely slower than I should have been. It's very hard to judge what my splits actually were, since the treadmill worked in kilometers, but I'd guess I did something like this for splits:

9:00
8:00
8:00
8:30
8:25
8:20

Considering how tired and crappy I felt, I think I actually got a decent workout. I didn't cross-train yesterday since it was such a hectic day, but I'll make up for it by cross-training Saturday, which is normally my day off. I'm excited to explore London, and on Sunday I'll be running all over this damn town. Limey Bastards!!! Bloody hell!!!

THANKS EVERYONE!!!

2007-08-28T22:46:00.000-04:00

I just needed to give a quick shout out to a few people:

Danny
Amy@runnerslounge.com
KelsaLynn
Tom
Betsy Wasser
Matteson
Oh 2 Run
Jake to the mutha f----n' B
My bro Adam
My girl Amy

The ones I know for real have been a huge help in this crazy endeavor. And to those of you out there who have written comments, words of encouragement, and advice....

THANK YOU!!!

This little running blog has been such a source of motivation before, during, and after my runs. I hope you guys know that the 2 minutes it takes to post a comment really brightens my day, and gives me one more reason to kick my ass.

I'll be blogging in London starting Thursday. Peace!!!

Joey

Log #31: I Hate Moving!!!

2007-08-28T09:52:00.000-04:00

Here is why I hate moving:

I stay up until 12:30 lugging all my belongings from one place to another, and then reassembling my life one piece of furniture at a time. I wake up at 6:00 am, but I'm so tired that my arm unconsciously shuts the alarm off without my brain knowing it. I wake up in a panic at 6:15 wondering if I overslept. I get dressed, then can't find my stopwatch because it's packed somewhere.
I also can't find my Nalgene bottle, so I have to resort to filling up an empty Poland Springs seltzer bottle with water. My iPod is about to die because I couldn't find the charger. By the time I'm out the door, it's 6:45 and I'm falling asleep on my feet.

Ahhhh.... moving.

Anyway, I jogged over to MIT's track near my new pad. This track is WAAAY nicer than the shit-storm near my old apartment. It's that nice bouncy, rubbery material and it's very clean and pretty. I didn't have my stopwatch, so I had to use my iPod's stopwatch feature which is a pain in the ass. Anyway, enough complaining. Here is what I was aiming for:

10 minute warmup
4 x 800m @ 3:13, 2 minutes rest in between
10 minute cooldown

Here's what I got:

10 minute warmup
800m @ 3:05
800m @ 3:02
800m @ 3:03
800m @ 3:04
10 minute cooldown

Except for the 4th interval, I only rested 2 minutes in between each round. I felt really strong today, and to be honest, I was looking forward to this workout. I feel like I'm not as intimidated by the speed workout anymore, and as I get more comfortable with the gross burning sensation in my chest that accompanies these workouts, my confidence will grow even more. I really liked the 800m distance, because it's short enough to allow me to really turn on the afterburners even when I'm feeling really tired. I know that, no matter what, it's only 2 laps.

I'm fired up. So far I'm killing my speed workouts, and they are the workouts I was really worried about before starting this program. I need to work on my stamina during long runs, but hopefully the weather will cooperate this weekend!

Log #30: Sweatiest... Run... Ever.

2007-08-27T19:30:00.000-04:00

Yesterday was my first long run of this marvelous training program. It was also about 88 degrees with 70% humidity. I knew I was in trouble after the second mile when the sweat was literally shooting out of my face. I decided to make the run a mental game. How long could I keep my legs moving without passing out?

I knew I'd be slower than I wanted, but having run in all kinds of weather, I knew I shouldn't push it. I think the best weather o run in is slightly cold weather with a breeze. After 10 minutes of running, I'm usually sweating regardless of how cold it is, so I'd rather have a nice breeze than blazing sun. My girlfriend, the best training partner EVER, roller-bladed alongside me with a CamelPak full of water.

Here are the splits, although I took a lot of breaks to cool down and drink water, so even these times are a little fast.

8:37
8:23
8:30
8:43
8:34
8:53
8:43
8:45
8:32
8:45
9:06
9:20
9:50

I just DIED at the end of the run. Ugh...

I'll be in London next weekend for my 15-miler, so I'm sure it will be cooler.

On the run, I was coming up on mile 8, and I saw my brother running the opposite way towards me. He was looking very strong. I think I might have some competition here!

Log #29: The Best Thing About Training

2007-08-23T10:25:00.000-04:00

Ooooohhhhhh yeah folks!!!! This morning was my LT workout, and I absolutely crushed it. Let me just start by proudly displaying my magnificent splits. In parentheses I've put the goal time for each split:

8:13 (8:30)
8:00 (8:30)
7:01 (7:14)
7:11 (7:14)
8:00 (8:30)
8:22 (8:30)

Hey, lactic acid.... SUCK IT!!! I don't know what the hell got into me, but I felt absolutely great the entire run. I walked for about 1 minute after the LT part, but then I was golden for the rest of the run. You can see that I was running a lot faster than I needed to, but I just felt great so I let my body dictate the pace.

The best thing about training like this is that almost every week, I find myself doing something that I have never been able to do. I have certainly never run 6 miles at these paces and felt this great, so I know that something is working. I'm REALLY psyched to keep pushing myself to see how fast I end up running on December 2nd.

My little brother seems to be dilligently busting his ass to try and get in shape. He's going for a 3:50, which is 7 minutes better than my PR. If he hits that, and I hit my 3:30, the after-party in Vegas will be EPIC!!!

Log #28: Rowing a damn boat!!!

2007-08-22T20:52:00.000-04:00

I'm gonna make this short and sweet, as the moving / painting / sanding routine I've been doing for the past 8 days is taking its toll. I rowed for about 20 minutes, biked for 10, and stretched real good. Tomorrow morning is LT day, and I'm feeling spry. YEAAAH!!

Read my brother's blog... it's way funnier today.

Log #27: And So It Begins!!!

2007-08-21T12:11:00.001-04:00

Well folks, today was workout #1 of my Vegas program. I know that the title of this post is "Log #27," but I feel like all those workouts were just warm-ups for the main event. I'm really excited about this maratahon, and I feel like I'm in the best running shape I've ever been in. I've trained for 6 marathons, yet I've never felt as good about my running as I do right now. I credit the difference to the speed workouts and LT workouts I've been doing. The intensity of my workouts has been ridiculous, but the cross-training has helped me avoid injury and over-training to this point.

Anyway, I did my speed workout today. I did it on the track near my house, which is possibly the worst track in Boston. It's made up of some grayish-brown gravel, it's completely lumpy and uneven, and the best part is that it is absolutely covered in goose shit. I mean it... every foot of that track has bird-turd on it, and I have to do this crazy dance to avoid stepping in it. I've also been redoing the wood floors in my new apartment all weekend, so I have been burning the candle at both ends for the past few days. The conditions were less than ideal.

BUT..... I did it. Here were my splits:

10 minute warmup
1600m @ 6:31
1600m @ 6:37
1600m @ 6:45

The first round was fine, as usual. The second round sucked sooooooo bad. By the third lap I thought I might throw up. I was seeing spots and flashes and really feeling like I was on some serious drugs. I decided that if I puked or passed out, that would be preferable to stopping, so I just made my legs move. When I finished my last lap, I was a mess. I had familiar thoughts of, "There is absolutely no f----ing way I will do one more mile that fast." And then.... weirdness. The third round was a whole lot easier than the second round, and I actually felt kinda good after it. How strange is that? This has happened to me before, too. I wish I could explain why the third mile is easier than the second.

So, my first real workout was a success, and now it's time to go work on the apartment some more. I'm feeling awesome, my legs feel fresh, and I think that the 3:30 marathon might just be my bitch this time.

My little brother also did his first workout today. How did he do? Well, I will not steal his thunder by telling you. He has started his own blog right here.

Run Fasterest

He is way funnier than me, so I think you guys will enjoy it. Go little bro!!!

It's that time...

2007-08-20T17:33:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow is workout #1 of my training program. It's been a crazy few months, and I think I'm in great shape to take a run at my 3:30. I ran 9 miles yesterday and my legs felt awesome. Wish me luck!!!

joey

Log #26: Sandbag-Legs

2007-08-16T23:59:00.001-04:00

Oh boy I'm beat. I think that 13 miles + Beach + PR speed workout + crazy bike workout + LT run - sleep = Dead Legs Joey.

Yesterday I did my favorite bike workout, which is:

10 minute warmup
4 minutes hard pedaling, 1 minute easy x 6
5 minutes cool down

My quads were burning by the end, but I felt great. 3 great workouts in a row is a pretty rare thing, so I was pumped.

Then I woke up this morning. I felt pretty good... a little tired, but not any more than usual. I started the LT run feeling good. I ran the first two miles pretty well, and then started that damned LT nonsense. The first mile was fine, but by the second mile my legs began to feel like they were covered in cement. Every time I had to lift my leg I felt like I was pulling tree stumps out of the ground. I just made myself keep moving and told myself I was almost done. I kept looking at the GPS to see how much farther I'd gone, and it was taunting me by telling me I'd barely moved since the last time I looked.

At the end of the LT part of the run, I was done. I walked for a while, ran some, and finally got some gas back for the last mile. All in all, it was a devastating workout. Here are the stats:

1 mile @ 8:30
1 mile @ 8:20
1 mile @ 7:10
1 mile @ 7:30
1 mile @ 9:00
1 mile @ 8:40

I'm gonna take the next 2 days off and see if my legs can get back to normal by Sunday.

Log #25: One of those days...

2007-08-14T13:10:00.000-04:00

Today was one of those days.

What I mean is, today was one of those days where all conditions are terrible and point to a shitty run, yet you bust out a new PR. I woke up today, and my body was just SO stiff and sore. The 13 miler on Sunday plus the running around on the beach created some very sore legs. Yesterday I was hobbling around, and this morning I wasn't that much better. I went to the gym with my girlfriend with the intention of cross-training, postponing the speed workout until tomorrow. As soon as I got to the gym, I just felt like a big weeny and decided to run through the soreness.

After stretching for about 10 minutes, I hopped on the treadmill, and ran for 10 minutes at an 8:30 pace. My legs slowly warmed up, and eventually the soreness was almost gone. I took a deep breath and cranked up the speed to 6:40 pace.

This is where it got weird. My breathing was 3 in / 3 out for the entire mile... it actually felt pretty easy. I had to check the treadmill to make sure it was set for the right speed. As I neared the end of the mile, a crazy though entered my head: "What if I just kept running and did the second mile without a break?"

Well, that's what I did. The first lap and a half of the 2nd mile felt pretty easy, and then I started to feel it. The last lap was tough, but it still wasn't kicking my ass the way I thought it should, so I cranked the treadmill up to a 6:30 pace. I ended up running 2 miles in about 13:18... my fastest 2 miles ever by about 40 seconds. I walked for a few minutes, and then cranked the treadmill back up for another half-mile, and then jogged a bit and called it a workout. Here are the stats:

10 minutes @ 8:30 pace
2 miles @ 13:20
3 minutes walking
.5 mile @ 6:40 pace
5 minutes jogging

My ass was sufficiently kicked, and I set a new PR for 2 miles. I have no idea why I was able to run this fast today with my legs feeling sore and my energy levels being so low this morning, yet that is the way running works. Sometimes your body is telling you one thing, but it's doing something totally contradictory. I'm really pumped about today, and I'm looking forward to starting training next week in the best shape I've ever been in at the start of a marathon program.

I'm meeting with my little bro today to discuss training. I might try to get him to write a blog entry or two on here so you guys can hear his thoughts on training for his first marathon. I remember my first one, and I know he's in for some highs and lows like he's never experienced.

Onward to Vegas!!!

Log #24: WHY ARE YOU WAVING AT ME!??!!? (Long-Run)

2007-08-12T09:13:00.000-04:00

Ahhhh Boston. You know, I've heard this town described as "Meantown," which is a play on the actual nickname of Boston, "Beantown." Coming from Texas, the epitome of southern hospitality, I have to say that "Meantown" has some truth to it. Recently I've come up with the idea of trying to make eye contact and wave hello to every runner I see on my runs. I've been doing it for a couple of weeks, and the results are interesting.

Most male runners will make eye contact, but only a small percentage will actually wave back to me. There also seems to be a correlation between how fit a runner someone is and how likely they are to wave back. The out of shape runners who looked like they were pissed to be running almost never waved, but the tall fast guys in Harvard Cross Country shirts always wave.

Girls are MUCH less likely to wave, and most don't even make eye contact. Maybe they're conditioned to suspect every guy they see, so they just didn't want to look me in the eye.

I also noticed that groups of runners never wave at solo runners... interesting.

I did this in Paris and the results were similar, although people do seem to smile more there.

I got the idea for this in Texas because EVERYONE says hello and waves at you there. It's beautiful. I'm trying to bring a little bit more of that over here.

Anyway, last night I did NOT hang out with my friends, I did NOT drink, I did NOT stay out late. My friends peer-pressured me and made fun of me for not coming out to the bars, but I was firm. As a runner you gotta sacrifice, and luckily I'm used to it by now so the pressure didn't faze me too much.

I got up at 5:30, sore as hell from the rock show my band played Friday night (my band's shows are complete insanity... here's out site in case you're curious: Monas Myspace. I drank my morning red bull, ate a granola bar, and set out to see how my body would hold up. I ran 13 miles... HELL YEAH!!!! Here are my splits.

(1) - 8:27
(2) - 8:01
(3) - 8:10
(4) - 8:09
(5) - 8:11
(6) - 8:10
(7) - 8:20
(8) - 8:23
(9) - 8:23
(10) - 8:30
(11) - 8:34
(12) - 8:29
(13) - 8:21

Once again my sense of pace is pretty terrible. I wanted to run consistent 8:30's, but I seem to have a hard time starting that slow. Oh well, I did my 13, I feel great, and now I'm going to the beach. Progress!!!

Log #23: Back in Boston

2007-08-10T13:53:00.000-04:00

Ahhh... life finally returns to normal... somewhat. I'm back in town, and it's time to get serious about the training. I just finished up a nice rowing machine workout which made me realize that I'm very glad I didn't try to row crew in college. It's HARD!!

I did my pyramid workout that I like so much... it goes like this:

5 minutes warmup
1 minute hard rowing
1 minute easy
2 minutes hard
1 minute easy
3 minutes hard
1 minute easy
4 minutes hard
1 minute easy
3 hard
1 easy
2 hard
1 easy
1 hard
1 easy
5 minutes cooldown

It's much harder than it sounds. Rowing uses muscles that, as runners, we don't even have names for. Tomorrow I'll be packing my apartment up for my move in a couple of weeks, and then Sunday I'll attempt, once more, to run 13 miles. If I can get at least 10 miles in then I'll feel good. I only have one more week before training officially starts, so I'm very anxious to put myself in as good a position as possible to complete the whole training regimen.

My brother gets back tonight, so maybe I'll drag him along on Sunday to see how he does. Vegas isn't that far away.

Log #22: 10K in Amsterdam

2007-08-08T11:11:00.001-04:00

Well, this whole training thing has gotten thrown off a little bit by my trip, but I don't feel like I've lost too much of my fitness. Today I hopped on a Dutch treadmill in my hotel, and decided that I'd bust out a 10K. I forgot to write down the KPH/MPH conversion, so I had to guess what my speed should be. I ended up running about an 8:10 pace I believe. Given the amount of wine and incredible food I've had in the last week, I was pretty happy with that. I seem to have maintained my weight, so I know that I should be able to keep training as I have and be ready for August 21... Day #1 of official training.

The REALLY tough part is going to be August 29-September 3. My buddy's family is going to London and invited me along, all expenses included, as long as I could fly there. How could I turn that down? My second long run (10 miles) will be in London.... I suppose that really won't be that bad... It'll probably be awesome. My Paris LT run was incredible.

My little brother should be home from his Army training in a couple of days, so I also get to whip his ass into shape. I'm curious to see how he responds to training for his first marathon.

Log #21: LT in Paris???

2007-08-05T08:43:00.000-04:00

I have been walking at least 10 miles every day since this vacation started. My legs are going to fall off. I'm not complaining though, because my hotel is a 5 minute walk from the Louvre, and exactly 2 miles from the Eiffel Tower. I know this because I did my LT run yesterday underneath the damn thing.

You want to talk about some scenery... WOW!!! I ran through the garden adjacent to the Louvre, then ran along the Seine river until I got to the tower. I ran underneath it to another garden which, as I found out, had a perimeter of about a mile. I did the LT portion of the run at this garden, circling under the tower twice. I then ran back to the Louvre where my girlfriend and I walked back to our hotel, and then found a cafe that gave us the best eggs I've ever had. Insanity!!!

I think my numbers were something like this:

1 mile @ 7:40
1 mile @ 7:50
1 mile @ 6:50
1 mile @ 7:14
2 miles @ 8:30-9:00

There was lots of walking and staring and jaw-dropping going on during this run, but I kicked my ass pretty good. That plus the fact that I had CLIMBED the Eiffel tower the night before made my legs extra gooey. Despite my binge eating of croissants, pastries, and other assorted treats I will probably lose weight on this trip. I'll leave you all with this. It's my girlfriend and I underneath the Eiffel tower around sunset. I highly recommend this town.

Log #20: The Last American Post

2007-08-01T09:25:00.000-04:00

Folks, I will be leaving for Europe in a few hours, so my next few posts might be written in French or Dutch, depending on which country I'm in when I run.

I'd like to start this post by saying that I have been REALLY stressed out the past 3 days, and it's definitely affected my sleep. Yesterday was a no-workout day, and then last night I was up until 12:30 packing and trying to calm myself down. It took forever to fall asleep, and when the alarm clock went off at 6:00am I thought long and hard about what to do next. I was exhausted, I hadn't slept well, my system is still recovering from the wedding... I basically felt like ass.

Whenever this happens, I know 2 things:

1. If I even TOUCH my bed again once I've gotten out of it to turn off my alarm clock, I will end up asleep in it. I've talked before about your mind conspiring against you to keep you from running, and it is never more persuasive than at 6:00am in the morning after you haven't slept.

2. Red Bull is my friend.

I Red Bull'd myself, got dressed, and jogged out to the track near my house. My legs felt stiff, I was still exhausted even with the sugary, caffeinated delicious Red Bull coursing through my veins. I got to the track and ran a mile at a nice slow pace. By the end of the mile I felt better, so I drank some water and began my run. Here's all I managed to pull off:

10 minute warmup
1600m @ 6:38
800m @ 3:20
400m @ 1:40
400m @ 1:25 (I decided to kick my ass for sucking so bad today)
10 minute cooldown

Now that I look at the workout, it's actually not too bad. My first mile actually felt pretty good, and I finished strong. The second mile was where my stamina failed, and I'd like to think it's a combination of sleep deprivation and wedding-related-shenannigans that caused it. When I run my speed workouts now, I've noticed that it feels a lot more natural to me. For the first 2 laps of the mile I completed, I was actually breathing 3 in / 3 out, which lets me know that I am definitely getting in better shape, I just didn't have the energy to keep up the pace today. I've been neglecting my body for the past few days, and it clearly has affected my workouts. Last week was a great running week, this one not so much.

I'll be running in kilometers until August 9... I'm REALLY pumped to try and get some runs in while I'm in Paris and Amsterdam. I'll be updating the blog from Europe. Au Revoir.

Log #19: I need a 36 hour day!!!

2007-07-31T09:23:00.000-04:00

24 hours is just not enough time. I'm serious. How can anyone be expected to get everything done in such a short amount of time?

First of all, let me talk about my long-run on Saturday. I was going to try for 13 miles @ 8:30. I ended up with 9 miles @ 8:30. Where did those 4 miles go? Well, let me explain:

I woke up at 5:15, got dressed, laced up the shoes, applied the nip protectors, chugged a red bull and ate a granola bar. I strapped on my GPS and went outside. Keep in mind that I live in Boston, and I'm used to cold weather, especially early in the morning. Saturday morning the humidity was nearly 100%, and it was already in the high 70's. The heat was my first problem. The 2nd problem was that the dense cloud cover made my GPS unable to get a lock, so I sat there for 10 minutes waiting for a signal lock that never came, so now my GPS was useless.

I decided I'd wasted enough time, so I started running. About 30 minutes into the run, I was DRENCHED with sweat. I've mentioned my proficiency at sweating before, so it should come as no surprise that running in 100% humidity would make me look like I'd been boiled. I drank as much water as I could, but it wasn't enough, plus I was tired from being up so #%^$# early, and I started fading fast around mile 6. Any runner can attest to how persuasive your mind can be at times like this.

"Come on Joey, just head back. 13 miles are too much, plus you still have to pack. Why not slow down a little and just relax, what's the hurry?"

I managed to keep my pace pretty consistent at least, but I did not hit my distance. By the time I got home I was disgusting, and the shower felt soooooo good. I didn't feel that bad about only getting 9 miles in...

... that is, until I was at the wedding, 6 drinks in and eating the best wedding cake I've ever had. I also, predictably, didn't sleep enough this weekend, which cascaded right into me not getting up this morning for my speed workout. I leave tomorrow for 8 days in Europe with my girlfriend, so I have a feeling it's not going to get any easier for me!!! I need to make a kilometers to miles chart to bring with me.

My plan is to do the speed workout tomorrow morning, and maybe get a cross-train in tonight if I have time. I think this might actually be the craziest my life has ever been, and of course I decide to train for a marathon in the middle of it all!

I also read "Ultramarathon Man" this weekend. It's by Dean Karnazes, a man who routinely runs races that are over 100 miles. The book really did a good job of making me feel like a pansy, hehe. I recommend it... it's always good to get some perspective. Now I feel like 26.2 miles is a pretty average distance.

Quick Update

2007-07-30T21:29:00.000-04:00

I'll write a full entry tomorrow, but my quick update is:

The long run did not go as planned (do they ever?). I just got back from a wedding in Detroit, and I'm going to try to get up tomorrow morning and do the speed workout on the track. I'll post a full update after that.

--- The Management

Long Run Math

2007-07-27T12:33:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow I will be going for a 13 mile long run. The tricky part is that I also have a 10:30 am plane to catch, so I need to figure out when I need to get up in order to run, clean up, and get to the airport in time. Here's how Long-Run-Math works:

My plane leaves at 10:30
That means I need to be at the airport by 9:30
So I have to leave my house by 9:10
So I should try to be back from the run around 8:15 so I can stretch, shower, eat something, get dressed, etc...

13 miles @ 8:30 pace is about 1 hour, 50 minutes. I have to factor in traffic lights, possible fatigue-induced-stoppage towards the end of the run, and just a general buffer for my run, so I'll add another 20 minutes to that total, for a grand total of 2 hours, 10 minutes

If I'm aiming to get back to my house by 8:15, I should leave my house by 6:00 to be totally safe.

I need 30 minutes to get up and be ready to run, so I'll be getting up at 5:30 am tomorrow morning.

I will go on the record now to say that this sucks... 5:30 am on a Saturday? Why? Well, If I don't do the run tomorrow morning before I fly to Detroit, there is a VERY strong chance that I just won't do a long run this weekend, and then I'll feel like garbage when I'm at my buddy's wedding and after-party.

Wish me luck folks.

Log #18: Lactastic!!!

2007-07-26T14:33:00.000-04:00

I just had an awesome workout. I feel like prancing about.

I actually managed to complete my LT workout. I did it on a treadmill so I could better gauge my pace, so take that into consideration. Here's what I did:

2 miles @ 8:30
2 miles @ 7:13
1 mile @ 8:30
1 mile @ 8:00 (I sped up just to push myself a little)

Since it was on a treadmill, it was definitely a bit easier. However, I definitely felt REALLY strong today, and during the LT portion I concentrated on my breathing and running form a lot. I didn't even get into the 2 in / 3 out breathing range until my second 7:13 mile. The last 2 miles were the hardest, because I kept waiting for my body to cool down and it never did. I was breathing pretty hard and felt tired even though I had slowed down a lot, but I just zoned out and eventually I was done.

I've read through some of my older posts about the LT run, and I am now very confident that this FIRST program is working. I've lost a considerable amount of body fat, dropped a few pounds, and my running feels stronger than ever. My long runs need some work, but my speed and LT runs have improved 1000%. I am pretty confident that I'll be ready to start training officially on August 21, and if the planets align I might even have a shot at my 3:30 marathon.

Yesterday was supposed to be a cross-train day, but I decided to do a "recovery run" since my legs felt a little stiff from the speed workout the day before. I did 3.5 miles at about an 8:30 pace. It felt good and pretty easy.

Ahhh.... PROGRESS!

Breathing While Running

2007-07-24T09:30:00.001-04:00

My last post got me thinking about something that a lot of runners don't think about. When you're running, there are a lot of ways to measure how "hard" you're running, but for me, the easiest way is to observe your breathing. There are different zones that runners get into during a workout, and these zones can be measured by your heart rate. In fact, a lot of runners do what is called "Heart Rate Based Training" where they will run NOT for a specified distance, but for a specified time with a specific heart rate range they must stay within. The benefit to this type of training is that you can clearly see improvement in your fitness by seeing how much farther you can run in the same amount of time with the same heart rate.

The method I use to count my breaths per stride. It's REALLY simple, and it works like this:

When you first start running, focus on inhaling for three strides, then exhaling for three strides. Run a mile like this, and if you feel like you have to breath more rapidly, slow down until you can run with the 3 in / 3 out breathing pattern. For me, this is an 8:00 min/mile pace.

The next step is 2 in / 3 out. For me this is an LT run, or at least SHOULD be how I breathe during LT runs. It's a little weird at first because you're counting 5 strides, which means you'll end up alternating which leg is forward while you breath in, but after a few minutes it will feel natural.

The next step is 2 in / 2 out. For me this is a speed workout. You should be booking it pretty fast if you're breathing like this.

I suppose if you just sprinted as hard as you could, you might hit 1 in / 2 out or even 1 in / 1 out, but as a marathon runner I never run this fast.

The benefits of breathing control are easier determination of your pace (although it clearly doesn't work that well for me), better running economy (you'll use energy more efficiently if you breathe correctly) and one more thing to focus on to take your mind off of the burning in your legs and chest.

Does anybody else do this? It works well for me, and I think I've read about it in Runner's World before.

Log #17: Hitting My Stride

2007-07-24T09:14:00.000-04:00

I think my body has finally accepted the fact that we are now "training" and it would be appropriate to act as such. For the past few weeks I've seen progress, albeit slowly, but I felt like my body was just responding at too sluggish a pace. Over the last week I've noticed a pretty huge spike in my energy levels, my clothes suddenly got really loose, and I've had 3 killer workouts in the last week. This morning was a speed workout. I decided to do it on a treadmill because I've noticed that my sense of pace is pretty unreliable, and I generally run too fast. The treadmill let's me just do my run and not think about the pace, and the whole time my legs are hopefully "learning" what it feels like to run at a certain pace.

I'll take this opportunity to talk about treadmill running vs. real running. I actually love treadmills because you literally HAVE to run at whatever speed it's set to or else you'll be flying off the treadmill onto your ass. It's easier to push yourself for longer periods of time because you can just zone out for a few minutes and your legs will do the rest. When you run for real, you have to constantly make sure you're maintaing the correct pace and fight the urge to slow down. Obviously a treadmill workout can't give you the same mental pressures as a real run, which is why I'm trying to do more "real" running for this marathon. Being in good physical shape is only 50% of being able to run a marathon... probably far less than 50% actually. If you're running on a treadmill, set the incline to 1.0 just to give you a little extra resistance to better simulate the effect of wind resistance when you run for real.

My workout this morning looked like this:

1.5 miles @ 8:30
1 mile @ 6:40, 2 minute walk
1 mile @ 6:40, 3 minute walk
1 mile @ 6:40, 2 minute walk
.5 mile @ 8:30

Here's the thing: My workout program calls for 1600M @ 6:41, and 1 mile is actually 1609 meters. This means that I'm normally running around a 6:45 pace during my speed workouts. Today I did 6:40's. I figured that I needed to make up for the fact that I was on a treadmill, and didn't have to push myself as hard mentally to keep running. That's not to say that the workout wasn't hard... it was REALLY hard. That last mile was brutal, and the "just quit, you've done enough" voice was VERY loud in my brain towards the end. I just focused on my breathing and kept repeating to myself, "It's just six minutes and forty seconds... two songs on the iPod..."

Now that the speed workout is out of the way, I can cross-train tomorrow, and then (oh joy!) do the LT run on Thursday. I haven't completed that workout yet, so let's hope that my energy surge can hold up throughout the week.

Log #16: Sweaty

2007-07-21T13:45:00.000-04:00

I have an amazing talent for sweating... I'm a prolific sweater.

Yesterday I busted out a NASTY 45 minute bike workout. It was probably the hardest cross-training workout I've done yet. Here's what I did:

10 minutes warm-up
4 minutes HARD, 1 minute easy - 6 times
5 minute cooldown

My legs were done, and sweat was just shooting out of me. My shirt and shorts were drenched, and it was great.

Then this morning, I decided to do my long run since tomorrow I'll be playing a rock show. I was going to go for 10 miles @ 8:30 min/mile, but apparantly my pacing is horrible. I managed 9 miles. Here are my splits:

8:04
7:55
8:12
8:08
8:12
8:19
8:34 (mile 7, I finally slow down to the correct pace)
8:44
8:48

Looking at the splits it's REALLY clear what my problem is. I need to work on running the correct pace CONSISTENTLY. Running those first six miles too fast burned me out, and I really started suffering the consequences around mile 8. My goal for the next week is going to be making sure I'm used to running an 8:30 pace. You'd think it'd be easier to run a little slower, but that's just not the case. My natural pace seems to be around an 8:00 mile, and I need to make a conscious effort to slow down and just relax a little more.

Two days off and I'll start my next training week off with the speed workout. I hope this time I do better.

Log #15: Lactarded

2007-07-19T09:42:00.000-04:00

Oh my GAWD those LT runs are tough.

I got up at 6:00 am tired as hell. I was up until midnight last night because Wednesday nights are practice with my band. I pounded a Red Bull and a granola bar (my pre-run routine) and laced up.

I knew very quickly into my run that it'd be an interesting workout. About .8 miles in, the shoe lace on my left shoe caught on my right foot sending me down HARD on the pavement. As I landed, I'm pretty sure I said, "ooh?" I scraped my hands up really good, and got the shocked look from a girl runner coming the other way. "Are you ok?" I told her I did it on purpose.

I've decided I hate shoelaces.

So I kept going, I got to my 2 mile mark where the LT portion is supposed to start, and lo' and behold I'm at the bottom of a hill. I made a series of mental calculations and decided I'd be stupid to start my LT run by going uphill, so I paused my GPS and kept my 8:30 pace over the hill. When I got to the bottom, I turned the GPS back on and took off.

In NASCAR races, there is a trick drivers do called "drafting." This is when a driver stays just behind another car, cutting down on wind resistance and enabling them to go just as fast as the guy in front of them without using as much power. In running, I'm not sure it works the same way, but what DOES happen is this: You'll run behind someone, and without thinking about it you'll end up lock-stepped with them, and in essence they pull you along behind them. It makes it easier to run. This guy was running ahead of me just as I started the LT, and he seemed to be going about the right pace, so I just stayed behind him. I felt MUCH stronger on this LT run, and actually managed to keep the pace pretty much the whole time, minus some stops for traffic lights during which I'd run in place.

After the LT section, I was once again a mess. I jogged for a half mile, then walked a bunch, jogged some, walked some more, and then pathetically jogged home. I hit my 6 miles, and here were my splits:

9:10 (keep in mind I fell on my face)
7:50 (Uhm... whoops?)
6:50 (Crap)
7:12 (That's better!)
8:22
8:21

Those last 2 miles are a little misleading... I was stopping and walking alot, and I'd turn off the GPS when I did that. When I was running, that was my pace.

As you can see the LT miles were a little fast, which actually makes me feel good. If I can learn how to run the correct pace, I should be able to nail this workout sooner or later (hopefully by August 21). I'm glad this workout is over, and I'm looking forward to a nice bike workout tomorrow. I may do my long run Saturday since my band has a show Sunday. 10 miles is the goal. If I can keep booze out of my system unti l then I should be golden!

On a related and pleasant note, my shorts are loose as hell on me now. I've lost about 5 pounds since I started this training buildup, and I've lost at least an inch on my waist.

Log #14: Row, Row, Row Your Boat

2007-07-18T09:22:00.000-04:00

This morning I got up and did a very tough rowing machine workout. It went like this:

5 minutes easy
1 minute hard
1 minute easy
2 minutes hard
1 minute easy
3 minutes hard
1 minute easy
4 minutes hard
1 minute easy
3 minutes hard
1 minute easy
2 minutes hard
1 minute easy
1 minute hard
3 minutes easy

TOTAL: 30 Minutes

Now, 30 minutes may not seem like a lot, but try doing it. The rowing machine seems to work a TON of muscles at the same time, so fatigue sets in really quickly. It feels more like a lactate threshold workout then a pure cardio workout. I guess it's similar to swimming in that it works these muscles that, as runners, we just don't ever use. I've noticed that since I started doing the rowing and bike workouts, my upper body has gotten a little more developed, and I feel a little more bounce in my step when I'm running fast.

Doing my workout this morning got me thinking about how important music is to runners. I'd wager that the vast majority of distance runners have an iPod or some equivalent to listen to music while they run. I know that, for me, the music is much more than just a distraction from the pain of running. I listen to very heavy, screamy music when I'm working out, and it really jacks me up and gets my adrenaline pumping. There have been more than a few workouts where I was about to quit, and then some song comes on that gives me a big surge of energy.

Tomorrow morning is lactate threshold time. Last week's LT run destroyed me. I'm hoping to have a better showing this time. Once again, the goal will be:

2 miles @ 8:30
2 miles @ 7:14
2 miles @8:30

I start officially training on August 21... only a month left really. I need to work on my diet a little and nail down my training plan. I'm considering adding one day of moderate running to the 3 running workouts I already do... I don't think it will necessarily help my running speed, but it would burn more calories. Either that, or I do my cross-training workouts MUCH harder.

Log #13: Ninja Turtles

2007-07-17T09:53:00.000-04:00

Last night I wanted to run 5 miles at around an 8:00 min/mile pace. It was not to be. Instead, I ended up with this:

1 mile @ 8:04
1 mile @ 7:40 (whoops!)
1 mile @ 8:07
.5 miles @ 4:00 after being attacked by ninja turtles

You're probably wondering what a ninja turtle is. Well, it's something that every runner will face sooner or later. Maybe you ate something you shouldn't have, maybe your stomach is a little acidic, maybe you're lactose intolerant and had dairy too close to the run... whatever the cause may be, a ninja turtle is a stomach malfunction that sneaks up on you and before you know it, you are hobbling home trying not to think about how bad you have to go. The "Ninja" part comes from the fact that these events usually sneak up on you, and the "Turtle" part... well I hope I dont' have to explain that part.

Last night's ninja turtle wasn't too bad because I sensed it sneaking up, so I cut my run short just in case. I ended up making it home ok, but in the past I've had REALLY close calls. I still think that my stomach is mad at me for pizza, steak and cheese, beer, and cajun fries that I ate on Saturday. I know that all of that garbage should be gone from my system by now, but I still feel a little gross.

This morning I tried to get up and do my usual speed workout. My legs were a little bit worn out since I had just run at 7:30 the night before, but I figured I needed the punishment. I managed this:

10 minute warm up
1 mile @ 6:39
400m @ 1:40
400m @ 1:30
400m @ 1:40
5 minute cooldown

I just didn't have the lungs today... I felt groggy and weak and just couldn't make my legs keep going. It was just one of those workouts. I made myself do a bunch of situps and pushups when I got home to try and compensate for my shitty performance.

Oh well, runners have bad workouts all the time. It's just part of the process. Even though I sucked today, I know that I got a good workout and I'm back on track a little. Tomorrow I'll cross-train. Hopefully I won't be attacked by any more ninja turtles

Off my game... and other random musings

2007-07-16T14:36:00.000-04:00

It's official. When I miss workout I am thrown off of my game. All day today I've felt like garbage, and not just physically. I feel like today is an "ADD" day, and I could use some Ritalin. I have noticed that on days I don't work out, I generally am more distracted and anxious than on days I run. I think it must be my body telling me I'm being lazy.

I've often wondered what it is about our brains that makes it so hard for people to stick to a plan. I have a specific goal, a specific plan that will let me achieve that goal, and yet I keep sabotaging it. For instance, right now I am absolutely 100% positive I will be running every remaining workout until December 2, getting to bed early, eating healthy during the week, limiting alcohol consumption, etc... I am SO fired up to get back on track. I know damn well that Friday night will come around, some of my friends will be going out to a bar or something, and I'll cave. I'll probably have a few beers and go to bed around 2:00 am.

I could just go out, drink water, hang out until around 11:30 or midnight and then go home and go to bed. I'd wake up Saturday morning feeling fine, I'd have the whole day to get stuff done. It seems like such a fantastic idea right now. Why, oh why does my brain conspire against me when temptation is put in front of me? Shouldn't it be easy for me to realize, "Drinking this beer will make it much harder for me to reach my goal of running a 3:30 on December 2" ?

I have total sympathy for people who can't stick to a diet and constantly gain and lose weight in a yo-yo fashion. It seems simple on the surface... just don't eat so much damn food! I know from experience that it's not so simple. Your mind rationalizes and makes deals with you to get that one bite... ok maybe just a little piece... maybe just a piece and a half of cake into your mouth. "It's fine, you'll just eat less for dinner. Don't worry, you'll work out tomorrow and it'll be gone." You can't trust your mind... it will betray you!

I've found a few little tricks that help me, although they all seem to work only temporarily. One trick is wearing something that constantly reminds me of my goal. I have one of those rubber bracelets that has all of my splits that I need to run in order to finish a marathon in 3:30. It's meant to be worn on race day so I can easily look down and see if I'm running too fast or slow. I wear it all the time, because it reminds me, "Order the 6-inch sub, you'll be happy later." Before that I was writing "3:30" on my arm every morning. Both of these methods work for a while, and then I get immune to them. I need to find some new tricks. Maybe another tattoo would do it.

I am clearly a rambling lunatic today. Anybody else have these issues?

Domino Effect

2007-07-16T09:27:00.000-04:00

I really don't even want to write this post, but the whole point of this blog is to make me feel accountable for my training, so here goes.

Saturday night I was up until almost 4:00 am. This caused me to sleep until 12:30 pm on Sunday, which caused me to skip my long run since I felt awful and had practice with my band at 4:00 pm. I was going to get up this morning and run, but my internal clock is thrown off by all of this nonsense, so I couldn't fall asleep until about 12:30 am, and when my alarm clock went off at 5:45 am I immediately turned it off and collapsed back into bed.

So now I haven't done my long run... it's too late to catch up on it. I totally blew a very important workout because I stayed up past my bed time. I know that I'm still technically in "pre-training" mode, but bad habits are very hard to kick which is why I've been training so hard up to this point.

I guess the lesson here is that you can definitely train for a marathon and have a social life, you can even party it up a little, but you HAVE to take care of your body before runs. If I go out Friday night, I don't have to run Saturday. I can be out pretty late, have a few drinks, and still be fine for my long run Sunday. I can't do that on Saturdays, so I need to just cut it out.

Ugh.

I'm going to try and get at least 5 miles in tonight... just something to burn some calories and get my legs moving. I feel like garbage. When I don't run for a few days I feel gross.

Son of a B****!!!!!

2007-07-15T13:17:00.000-04:00

Ugh, I was up until almost 4:00 am last night mixing my band's cd, and I happened to also have some pizza, a steak and cheese, some cajun fries, and a couple of donuts. I also drank coffee at midnight.

Sooooo.... long run anyone? I was going to aim for 10 miles, but now I think I'm going to attempt 8 on a treadmill. I slept until 12:30, but my body is still protesting.

I'll let you know how it goes. I predict massive failure with possible vomiting.

joey

Log #12: Bike Taint

2007-07-13T09:25:00.001-04:00

My bike taint is stronger than ever! Read back a few posts if you're not sure what I'm talking about.

Today I did a pretty tough bike workout, but it felt SOOO good after that awful lactate threshold run last night. That run was so hard I felt sick afterwards. Ugh.

Here's my stats today:

5 minutes warmup (around 90 rpm)
30 minutes hard pedaling (around 120 rpm)
5 minuntes cooldown (around 90 rpm)

I've become a huge fan of the excercise bike because I can just go on autopilot. I don't have to concentrate on anything, so I have been bringing a book to read while I pedal. I was "that guy" today, on a bike, listening to heavy metal on the iPod, and reading a Stephen King book.... at 6:30 in the morning. Dear Gaaawd.

I'll say it again. These cross-training workouts are EXCELLENT because they just let your legs recharge after a brutal running workout, yet you still burn a ton of calories and strengthen parts of your legs that you normally don't while running. I know that my quads seem to be getting much more defined since I started doing the bike, and that has helped my speed runs a lot.

Tomorrow is my day off, although I might grab a quick jog if I'm feeling it in the morning. Sunday I might go for 10 miles, just to see how my distance legs are feeling.

Log #11: 3-Speed Legs

2007-07-12T20:23:00.000-04:00

I learned something today: My legs have 3 speeds.

The first speed is KINDA SLOW, which is how I do my long runs. If I'm running an 8:00 - 8:15 mile, I feel like I'm just kinda jogging along, just keepin' it real.

The second speed is KINDA FAST, which is what a "lactate threshold" run is done at. For me it's between 7:10-7:45 minute miles.

The third speed is SLOW THE F*** DOWN!!!, which is what I do my speed workouts at.

By FAR... hands down... the hardest speed to run at is KINDA FAST. That might surprise you. The reason is thus:

When I'm running KINDA SLOW, even if it's for 20 miles, it's just jogging. I don't even really get out of breath running this speed.

When I'm running SLOW THE F*** DOWN speed, I know that I'm only running a mile, maybe a mile and a half at the most.

KINDA FAST, however, is reserved for the mid-distance runs (6-10 miles). Keeping up this kind of exhertion for that long really takes its toll on you mentally and physically.

I've completed the speed workout for the 3:30 training program, I know I can do the long run, but this lactate threshold run just slays me. Here's what I was supposed to do today:

2 miles @ 8:30
2 miles @ 7:14 (lactate threshold)
2 miles @ 8:30

Here's what I think I did... my GPS wasn't set right so I'm estimating here.

2 miles @ 8:30
2 miles @ around 7:20... maybe 7:30 counting the stops and water gulps at traffic lights
2 miles at 9:00-9:30 while complaining and grunting

Not so bad, but I definitely have found my weak spot. I need to train hard at this tempo so I can get good at running KINDA FAST. Tomorrow is a cross-training Friday followed by a Stephen King movie... it IS Friday the 13th tomorrow.

Legs still angry :(

2007-07-11T10:02:00.000-04:00

Woke up at 6:00. Legs still angry, still feel overtrained. Back to bed.

Try again tomorrow.

Warning Signs...

2007-07-10T09:17:00.000-04:00

Wow... it sure didn't take me long to overdo it.

I woke up this morning with the intention of doing my speed workout, but when I got out of bed to turn my alarm clock off, I noticed something felt off in my legs. I ran 5 miles on Sunday, only 2 days after getting over an awful stomach ailment, and I think I may have pushed my body a little too hard. Sunday night I couldn't fall alseep until close to 3 am, and last night I was up until about 12:30. I felt over anxious this morning, and my legs felt totally dead... classic overtraining.

At least I know what to call it. Overtraining is NOT some general set of symptoms that occur when you train too much. It is a VERY definite and specific response to pushing your body too hard, too fast. This happened to me last year when I decided to go from zero (Being about 30 pounds overweight, not running, drinking 3-4 times a week) to qualifying for Boston, and beating my PR by 50 minutes, in about 7 months of training. I learned my lesson the REALLY hard way.

Last June, I decided to try and run 5 miles at the Boston Marathon Qualifying pace for my age group, which happens to be a 7:10 mile. That is a very fast pace for me, just about my 10K (6.2 miles) pace NOW (20 pounds less and 2 marathons later). I did it on the treadmill because I knew that my legs wouldn't move that fast for that long on their own. I almost puked, but I survived the run. I remember that the next day, my body was just... different. My legs felt like I had cement blocks on my feet. I lost my appetite, I felt really anxious all day long, and could not fall asleep easily. My runs began to suck BAD. I went from long runs at about an 8:30-8:45 pace to almost 10 minute miles. My legs just wouldn't work, and my lungs burned out after a couple of miles. I had no idea what was wrong, and the word "overtrained" never occurred to me until I did some research and figured out that I was an idiot. I had these symptoms for about 2 weeks before stopping everything for one week. That one week off set my body back to normal, but had I caught it sooner I would have lost a lot less time (and sleep.)

It sucks to overtrain, and the only cure is to cut back on the training until your body returns to normal. I think trying to run so soon after being sick did it. This morning I decided to go to the gym, stretch a lot, and did a light cross-training workout instead. I'll see how I feel tomorrow, but I'm wise enough now to know what can happen if I don't listen to my legs. Your legs may argue with you, but trust them... they know what's best.

One born everyday!

2007-07-08T21:55:00.000-04:00

I've tried many times to get my friends to jump on the marathon bandwagon with me, and it's only worked once. One of my good friends from college actually trained with me and ran a 4:45 in the Bay State Marathon. Now, FINALLY, another sucker has joined the chase!!!

Ladies and gentleman, let me introduce my little brother Adam to the Marathon Club. Everyone give him a big round of applause. He just signed up for Vegas, and I'm going to whip him into shape. I'm not sure what sort of time I should expect out of him. He's in pretty good shape already since he's in the ROTC at Boston University. I'm guessing around a 3:45 or 4:00 for him. Who knows, maybe he'll kick my ass and make me feel bad.

Today I felt much better, I even tried to run a little 5'er out in the 90 degree weather. My legs felt like they weighed approximately 700 pounds, so apparently I'm not TOTALLY healed up, but hopefully by Tuesday I'll be good as new.

And thanks to everyone who's written and shown support! It means a lot to hear the kind words and such.

Recuperation

2007-07-06T12:52:00.000-04:00

What do you do when all of your planning and hardwork are derailed by one undercooked hamburger?

Well, luckily I am VERY early in my training, so I think that I'll probably be just fine and won't really lose too much speed from my bout of food poisoning / flu. I really want to get back to running ASAP, but I know that trying to push myself before I'm fully recovered will do a lot more harm than good. I can probably go for a very short jog on Sunday, and maybe try to pick up the training again on Tuesday. It really sucks to get sick becuase you end up having to backtrack in your training and catch up to where you were before.

At least this happened now and not the week of the marathon.

Food Poisoning

2007-07-05T15:20:00.001-04:00

Ugh... I woke up this morning with the worst stomach ache ever. I'll leave out the details, but I got food poisoning somehow and I just want to lie in bed and moan. Training is postponed for a few days. Ich.

Log #10: Inner Monologue

2007-07-03T09:10:00.000-04:00

I realized today that running is essentially nothing more than a conversation between your brain and your body. Allow me to pontificate:

Today's workout was supposed to look like this:

10-20 minute warmup
3 x 1600m @ 6:41 pace
10-20 minute cooldown

I felt like garbage yesterday because I overdid it Sunday with my long run followed by a metal show that was an hour drive away. I was POSITIVE that today would be a bad work out, and I resigned myself to miserably failing and feeling bad about it all day.

So... I ran to the track near my girlfriend's place (MIT's track in Cambridge, MA if you care) which satisfied my warm-up requirement. I then turned on the rage music on my iPod (today it was "The Bled") and hit start on my stopwatch.

On lap 4, I still felt pretty decent... strange, considering how sure I was that today would be awful. I passed the finish line at 6:36. I actually ran too fast. Oh well, there's definitely no way I can do THAT again.

I rested for a couple of minutes, and began round two. This time, after 2 laps, I started to hear the voice. Not LITERALLY a voice, but my body was definitely talking to me. It said, "Slow down, just a little... you'll feel much better and you'll still probably hit around 6:50 for your time."

My brain told my body "Nah, I think I'll just keep going at this pace if you don't mind.

My body was all, "Ok, but I think you might regret that decision."

So I focused on pumping my arms and making smooth strides and lo' and behold.... Another 6:36. At this point my chest is burning and I'm a sweaty mess, so I walk a lap around the track drinking lots of water. My body is saying, "Well I hope you're happy with yourself. Now there's NO way you're going to run another 1600m since you've already used up all of your energy."

At this point my brain is saying, "Yeah, you're probably right... but, then again, all I have to do is run for six minutes and forty-one seconds... that's only like 2 songs on the iPod."

Body: "Yeah, but you just wait and see. I'm going to make things very unpleasant."

I lined up, turned on the metal, and started going. My first lap felt fine, second lap felt fine.... wait a sec.... third lap felt fine.... uhm.... what the hell is going on here.... fourth lap a little tired but.... 6:34!!!!! WHAT JUST HAPPENED?

The lesson today is that sometimes your body has absolutely no idea what it's capable of doing, and when you ignore it long enough, sometimes it just shuts up and lets you do your thing. For the record, here is what I accomplished today.

10 minute warmup
1600m @ 6:36
1600m @ 6:36
1600m @ 6:34
15 minute cooldown

I feel like a champ, and the rest of the day is now a little bit brighter because I managed to complete the first speed workout necessary for me to pull off a 3:30 marathon time. It's a big step, and I can't wait to see what happens next.

Log #9: Going Long

2007-07-02T09:29:00.001-04:00

I did an 8 mile long run yesterday, and felt incredible. There's something about getting outside for an hour on a nice day that just works wonders for your mood. People always talk about the "runner's high," and I have to say it's definitely a real thing. When you sustain a certain level of exertion for a while, your body produces all these wonderful chemicals which leave you feeling relaxed and peaceful. Who needs alcohol or drugs?

I forgot to bring my GPS with me, but I felt like I was running between 8:15-8:30 miles. I made myself run the last half of my run faster than the first half. This is called running a "negative split." It's a good idea to try and do this on long runs because typically when you run a marathon the second half is much slower for people. Training your body to maintain a consistent pace even when it's really tired and cranky will make the marathon experience go a lot smoother.

I also ate like a damn HORSE yesterday. Those long runs burn a ton of calories, and you end up just starving right afterwards. Me and my girl hit up a nice brunch place for some home fries and eggs benedict. Oh yeah!

Today is my day off, which is so nice. Tomorrow is speed day again. Maybe this time I can actually hit all 3 miles at the 6:41 pace.

Booze (AKA The Devil)

2007-06-30T13:10:00.000-04:00

Booze is the worst possible thing you can put inside of your body when you're training. Booze is bad for your system, it diminishes the quality of your sleep, it makes you feel gross the next day, and the net result is that your workout suffers. Here's my "workout" from last night.

1 White Russian
1 Shot of Johnny Walker Blue Label
1 Sam Summer
1 Mojito
1 Shot of Vodka
1 Amstel Light
1 Shot of Vodka
1 Amstel Light
1 Red Bull and Vodka

A friend is in town from England, which is why I went out like a rockstar last night. Occasionally you just gotta go have a good time with your friends, however this type of drinking is going to derail my training if I keep doing it. Never mind the fact that typing out how much I drank last night makes me feel like a complete boozebag. Event though I feel fine today, I think the lesson is learned.

I am going to go the gym right now and punish myself. I might just hit that damn rowing machine until I puke.

Tomorrow is a long run, maybe 8 miles, so NO BOOZE TONIGHT!!!

Sleep... oh sweet sleep...

2007-06-29T09:38:00.001-04:00

Apparently I haven't slept enough this week. You wanna know how I figured that out?

This morning I got up At 6:00 AM and turned off my alarm clock. I yawned, and then turned my head to look back at my bed. As soon as I laid eyes on my pillow, I was instantly transported back to the bed, under the covers, with my alarm clock set to 7:45. Magic.

When you're training for a marathon, you actually NEED to be getting around 8 hours of sleep a night. That is, without a doubt, the hardest part of training. Wednesday night I was up until midnight, but I still managed to get up Thursday morning. However, I was a zombie all day yesterday and this morning I have no workout to show for it. Lack of sleep during the week just builds up, and by Friday your body begins to protest by acting sluggish and uncoordinated.

I might try to make up the cross-training tonight after work, but I might also just have 3-4 beers and sleep until noon tomorrow. Choices, choices.

Sunday is a long run day... I'm not sure how long it should be yet, but I'm leaning towards 8 miles at around an 8:30 pace.

Log #8: Pro... (wheeze).... gress!

2007-06-28T09:34:00.000-04:00

What is a tempo run?

I'm sure there are very complex, scientific ways of defining a "tempo" run, but it's basically a run where you're uncomfortable for 20-30 minutes. You're not going all-out or close to all-out like in a speed workout, but you're running way faster than a normal marathon pace. This type of running teaches your body to tolerate the pain caused when lactic acid builds up in your muscles, and also trains your body to accept more oxygen at once.

Today my workout ended up being this:

2 miles @ 8:30
2 miles @ 7:13
.5 miles @ 9:00

It's pretty clear that the tempo portion of the run killed me. I was supposed to run 2 more miles after the tempo, but I was just DYING. I've learned, from dealing with overtraining injuries, that I have to listen to my body when it says "Stop!" or else my training will suffer down the line. When you start training for something like a marathon, it's very easy to fall into the trap of pushing yourself too hard. You think that the harder you push, the better your gains will be. This is only true up to a certain point: You do need to feel uncomfortable in order to make your body adapt and become stronger, however you also need to make sure that you're not utterly destroying your legs to the point where recovery from a workout takes a week. I could have forced myself to finish the last 2 miles, but I would have A) Puked all over the treadmill, and B) Had sore legs for the next 3-4 days.

The limiting factor for me today was my lungs. My legs were burning a little, but I could have kept going if I had the wind in me. I was breathing very hard at the end of mile 4, and knew that 2 more miles would be pushing myself too hard for this early in training. Since i know that I have almost 7 more weeks before I HAVE to be able to run this workout, I have plenty of time to adapt. In the past I've never had the discipline to hold back on training runs, and I've almost always burned out too early in the training. By pacing myself now, I should be able to run this tempo workout in another 2-3 weeks, while losing 3-4 pounds in the process. All I have to do is show a little progress each week, and I'll know that something is working.

Tomorrow is Rowing Machine day.

Log #7: Bike = Friend

2007-06-27T12:57:00.000-04:00

The bike was my friend today. I did a pretty tough 45 minute workout and it wasn't nearly as uncomfortable as it has been. I like the bike because you can read, listen to music, watch TV, and basically zone out for the whole workout. It's a nice break from running which requires all of your attention.

I'm also trying to get in the habit of eating small meals in between the 3 big ones. Today I had a PB&J around 11:00. When I add in these little meals I tend to eat a lot less for lunch and dinner, and I also have more energy. Eating the 5 smaller meals also keeps your metabolism cranked all day long instead of having huge peaks and valleys like it does when you binge 3 times a day. It feels like I'm eating more, but I suspect I'm eating a little less than I would if I stuck with 3 meals.

Tomorrow is tempo run day. Here's the plan:

2 mile warmup @ 8:30
2 mile tempo @ 7:14
2 mile cooldown @ 8:30

I tried this in Texas last week and it was a disaster. I think I might actually do this workout on the treadmill, just to make my legs do it once so I know how it feels. Running on the treadmill is great to get a sense of what it's like to run at a certain pace, but out in the real world it's much harder to make your legs move when the ground doesn't move for you.

Log #6: Progress!!!

2007-06-26T13:16:00.000-04:00

This morning was round 2 of my speed workout attempt. Last week I only managed to do one 1600m repeat, and then two 800m repeats. Today I did this:

10 minute warmup
1600m @ 6:41
1600m @ 6:54
800m @ 3:20
10 minute cooldown

Again, the chest felt like it might explode, but overall that's a huge improvement. I definitely felt stronger on the first 1600. I finished it and felt like I could have gone a little farther if I wanted to. The second repeat was MUCH tougher, but I managed to maintain a pretty constant speed until about halfway through my 3rd lap, at which point I hit a wall and had to slow down a tad.

What I've noticed about these speed workouts is that they make my tempo and pace runs feel much slower, which is a good thing. I remember when I got on this marathon kick last year, and at the time I hadn't run very much for about 4 years. I remember running 5 miles @ 8:30 and just about keeling over. I got to the point where an 8:00 mile felt pretty easy, but then I didn't see any more increases in speed. Once I started doing speed workouts at the track, I found that I could hold the 8:00 min/mile pace for longer, and even run in the 7:45 range.

My goal pace for this marathon will be 8:00 min/mile. I have tried to keep this pace in 2 other marathons, and haven't been able to go past about 16 miles. I think it has a lot to do with the way I was training. My old routines involved running almost every day, which never gave my legs time to rest and gain strength. I would also do EVERY run at an 8:00 pace regardless of what type of run it was. My 5 mile tempos were at 8:00, and my long runs were around 8:00. Now I know that my tempos should be in the 7:10-7:30 range, and my long runs should be about 8:30.

Tomorrow is more cross-training. I definitely like that I have days off between running workout, it makes the whole process seem less demanding and time consuming, even though I probably burn more calories overall because I'm not bored so I push myself harder. Tomorrow is bike day.

Let's hope my grundle-callous is a little thicker. I'm not sure my prostate can handle too much more abuse.

Log #5: Life Intrudes

2007-06-25T15:57:00.000-04:00

Bah!

That's all I can say. Life has a way of subverting marathon training. This time the culprit was a trip to Texas. Don't get me wrong... I enjoyed it, but eating massive amounts of Tex-Mex and sleeping until noon do not a marathon runner make. My 6 mile tempo run was derailed when the 95 degree, 100% humidity weather made me and my little brother almost faint. It turned into a 4 mile run that still kicked my ass. I skipped the long run on Sunday because I was flying home. Bah indeed. You sacrifice so much by training for a marathon that occasionally you have to splurge or you go crazy. At leats that's how I work.

Tomorrow is attempt #2 at the speed workout that I have to be able to complete by August 14. Here it is again:

10-20 minute warmup
3 x 1600m @ 6:41 pace
10-15 minute cooldown

Last time I only made it through 1 repeat, and then half of my next 2. Wish me luck tomorrow.

Marathons and Skinnyfication

2007-06-20T13:00:00.001-04:00

First off, I did a cross-training workout this morning on the rowing machine. I did 5 minutes of easy rowing, then 10 hard, 5 easy, 10 hard, 5 easy. Just in one week I feel more comfortable on that damn machine. The worst thing about the rowing machine is that my headphones cord kept getting caught underneath the seat as I would slide backwards on the rails.

Anyway, the point of this post is to talk about eating and weight loss while training for a marathon. I have noticed in the past 2 weeks that my appetite has become ridiculous. I am pretty much hungry all the time. This will hopefully go away soon as my body becomes more efficient at using the fuel I put into it. Right now I'd guess I'm eating somewhere between 2000 and 2300 calories a day, and burning an average of 500 calories in my weekday workouts. During my long runs I'll burn anywhere from 1000 to 2000 calories. To make things simpler, let's say my "average daily calorie burnage from running" is 570. For reference, someone my height and weight needs around 2000 calories a day just to maintain weight and support normal bodily functions.

If my math is correct, that means I'm definitely in a calorie-deficient mode.

I eat 2300 calories a day
I use 2000 calories just by living
I burn 570 calories by excercising

So I'm down 270 calories a day, about 1900 calories a week. This also doesn't take into account the "Afterburner Effect" which refers to the increased speed your metabolism runs at for a few hours after excercising. Even if this effects gives me only 100 extra burned calories a day, I'm up to 2500 calories for the week that I'm burning off.

Burning off 2500 calories, as a general rule, equals 1 pound of fat. This doesn't strictly apply to me since I've lost a lot of fat already, but I definitely seem to lose around a pound each week as I train. My goal for this marathon is to get close to 155. I weigh 174 right now, and there are 24 weeks until the maratahon. I think my goal is attainable, but it will be VERY hard once I get into the lower 160's.

One trick I use is to only eat garbage on the weekends. I find that most diets fail because there is no "light at the end of the tunnel" as far as when the diet can end. The reality is that diets don't work because they are, by definiton, temporary measures. To ensure that the weight stays off you have to change the way you live your every day life, which is VERY hard to do. I've found that it's easier for me to eat pretty healthy stuff on the weekdays as long as I know that on the weekends I can eat pretty much whatever I want. This works partly because on Sundays I do my long run, which can burn thousands of calories. It also works because by the time the weekend rolls around, I'm not really that interested in pigging out anymore. I'll have a nice dinner or a few beers, but I don't go on binges that would sabotage the results of my discipline during the week. The "Weekend Rule" works for me, so that's what I'm sticking to.

So, if anyone wants a surefire way to lose a lot of weight, just run a marathon and only eat junk food on the weekends. It's that simple.

Random things about marathon training you probably don't know...

2007-06-19T11:22:00.000-04:00

1. You have to replace your shoes every ~~150-200~~ 300-400 miles you run. This is about 6-8 weeks for me, so I'll buy 3 pairs of shoes before I run this marathon. (Note: I tend to wear out shoes faster than 300-400 miles. I'm not sure why, but it could be my form, my weight, who knows? When the shoes lose their "bounce" they're dead so I replace them.

2. Your immune system gets mad at you. You'd think all this running would make you HEALTHIER, but no... I actually get a lot more colds when I train.

3. Overtraining is not what you think it is. Overtraining happens when you train too hard, too fast, without giving your body time to build up the endurance you need. I did this last year when training for this same marathon. I assumed overtraining would feel like my muscles being really sore, and a general "pooped" feeling. Actually, you feel ok but you just can NOT run for more than 5 minutes without getting out of breath. I also had incredible trouble sleeping, to the point where I thought I had insomnia. My mood also sucked. I finally did some research and figured out I was overtraining. I took 2 weeks off and was fine after that.

4. You have to eat all the time. I try to do the 5-6 small meals thing, but generally I'm just eating a million powerbars throughout the week in between meals. I still lost 25 pounds last year.

5. Your nipples can, and will bleed if you're not careful. Just put bandaids over them if you're running over 5 miles and you should be fine. If you don't do this... well then your nipples are gonna bleed. I warned you.

6. After a marathon you get "post-marathon depression." If you think about it, it makes sense. You dedicate months of your life to pursue this enormous goal, and then you do it, feel an amazing sense of accomplishment, and then there's an empty feeling like, "now what?" This is why I'm running another marathon. I think I'm addicted... it's awful.

7. You have to wear spandex... it's that simple. If you choose to go with looser fitting running shorts, I give you my word you will regret it. Two words: Chafed Taint. I won't mince any words here.

8. Red bull is your friend. (or at least my friend)

Log #4: Exploding Chest

2007-06-19T10:56:00.001-04:00

My first speed workout was excruciating. I didn't manage to finish all 3 of the 1600m splits I was supposed to. Here's what I managed:

20 minute warmup
1600m @ 6:40 (success!)
800m @ 3:20
800m @ 3:20
10 minute cooldown

There's always mental pressure to stop running once it gets uncomfortable, but I was ready for that so I pressed on. The problem was that I literally felt like my chest was going to pop. I might have been able to finish the 2nd split, but then I would have been lying on the ground on the verge of passing out and my legs would probably have cramped up very badly.

My hope is that by doing this workout once a week until the program officially starts will get me in shape to actually run all three 1600m splits in the goal time. Tomorrow is cross-training... the rowing machine. My legs need a break.

Log #3: Biking, and its effect on my grundle

2007-06-18T15:18:00.000-04:00

I got up this morning at 6:00 am (which sucks btw) and made it over to the gym. Mondays are technically a day off from training, but since I blew off doing any form of exercise this weekend (except for wiffle ball and drinking... at the same time) I figured I should do SOMETHING to burn a few calories. I ended up trying out a cross-training excercise recommended by the book I'm using. It was basically a moderate 45 minute workout on a stationary bike. I have never... I repeat, NEVER ridden a stationary bike for that long. My legs were only a little sore afterwards, but the grundle / taint / chode was very unhappy after the workout. Google the word "grundle" if you're not sure what it means. I wonder if a few more bike workouts will help me develop a thicker / less sensitive taint. Tomorrow will be my first speed workout, which should be interesting. I'm supposed to do this:

10-20 minute warmup
3 x 1600m @ 6:41 pace w/ 1 minute rest
10 minute cooldown

(Just FYI, 1609.3 meters is a mile, so running 1600m at 6:41 pace is about a 6:45 minute/mile.)

So that's, conservatively, a 50 minute workout. In reality it will take me an hour since I will DEFINITELY need more than 1 minute to rest after busting out a 6:41 mile. The odds of me hitting 6:41 three times in a row on my first try are very close to zero.

Wish me luck.

Log #2: Derailed... a little...

2007-06-17T14:59:00.001-04:00

I just got back from a bachelor party. I most certainly did not run on Friday, and I will not be doing the long run today. I don't feel that bad since I still have 8 weeks to train before my program even officially starts. I'm going to go do a cross-training workout today instead, maybe the ol' bicycle. As long as I sweat out the massive amounts of vodka I drank last night I'll be fine. I also won $80 playing craps... YEAH!

Log #1: Derailing is easy!

2007-06-15T16:04:00.001-04:00

Oh lordy. Well, so far week 1 has been pretty good training-wise, although I haven't started the FIRST program correctly. Here's what I've accomplished:

Tuesday: 4 miles, 8:15 pace
Wednesday: 6 miles, 8:05 pace
Thursday: Rowing Machine, 30 minutes at a very hard pace

Today is Friday, and I was out until midnight last night, so I didn't get up and run. The plan is to do another 6 miles tonight, but a friend from Colorado is in town, and on top of that I feel a little sick, and I'm really tired, so maybe it's in my best interest to just take the night off. Yeah, that makes sense. I'll just drink instead.

WRONG!!! You see how easy it is to just fall right off the wagon? I'm definitely doing 6 miles tonight, though I might cop out and do them on a treadmill.

My Training Program

2007-06-15T15:00:00.000-04:00

It's absolutely amazing to me the way the human mind works. For instance:

I ran the Boston Marathon a few months ago, and had the most painful marathon experience of my life. The weather was horrible, I had slacked off on my training towards the end, and mentally I just wasn't in the right spot to do well. I had never gotten leg cramps before, and when they hit me around mile 22 I was almost incapacitated. Standing up hurt like hell, and when I squatted down to rest my legs other runners shouted, "Don't do that! You'll freeze up and be stuck like that!" I ended up half-squatting untilt the cramps went away long enough to shuffle towards the finish. It was the most physically excruciating thing I'd ever done. The last 6 miles of the marathon were, in my mind, the last marathon miles I'd ever run. I'd done what I came to do and could call it quits. When I finished, my joy and pride at finishing were matched only by the relief that I was DONE and could just sit on the couch for the rest of my years.

That was April. It's now June and if you asked me what I remember about the Boston Marathon I would tell you that the pain wasn't so bad and it was so worth it and I can't wait to try and qualify at some point and run it again. Why do I do this to myself?

So the training has started, and right now I'm in the "Ramp-Up Phase." This isn't a scientific term, it's just what I'm calling the 9 weeks between now and the official start of my 16 week training program. I'm going to try out this program called the FIRST program. Here's how that works in a nutshell:

The typical marathon program involves 5 or 6 running days a week, with total weekly mileage getting up to around 45 miles at the peak of the program. Some people run less or (alot) more depending on their experience and physique. For me, 45 miles in a week was the absolute most I could tolerate. That would be a 5 mile fartlek on Tuesday, 4 miler on Wednesday, 8 miles on Thursday and Friday, and then a 20 mile Sunday run. That schedule was just killing my legs, I was overtraining and getting sick and burned out, and I had too much other stuff going on in my life to really put in the effort I should have been during my runs.

On a long run, the goal is not to run the distance fast, it's to run it at a consistent pace the entire time. Most programs suggest that you don't run the long runs at your marathon goal pace because it just burns you out, so the purpose of those runs is really to just acclimate your body to moving at a constant speed for hours on end. I was so burned out by all the running that I would try to race through parts of the long run, then take 5 minute water breaks, then jog a little, then run faster, etc... It was a 20 mile fartlek. I was doing it all wrong, and that is why I believe my times have not improved to where I think they should be.

This new program involves on 3 days of running a week, and cross training for 2 days. There's a lot of science to it, and I reccommend buying the book if you really want to learn it:

The basic idea is that running only 3 days a week enables you to run more intensely on those days, and let's you run 3 very specific types of runs that target different areas of improvement. The speed workouts improve your maximal oxygen consumption (How much oxygen your body can utilize.) The 5-10 milers at a fast pace improve lactic threshold (how long you can run fast before your legs burn out.) The long runs improve your aerobic metabolism and train your body to burn fat for energy as well as carbs.

I'm simplifying this a lot, but that's the gist. We'll see how it works. I'm excited.

In the beginning, there was Fartlek...

2007-06-15T14:51:00.000-04:00

I imagine that those of you came here based on the name "Wanna Fartlek" will know what Fartlek means, but for the non-running public, allow me to clarify:

Fartlek is a Swedish word which literally means, "Speed Play." It's a term that runners use to refer to a type of workout in which one alternates periods of slow running with periods of fast running. So, for example, if you decide to run 5 miles at an 8:30 minute per mile pace, but every last quarter of each mile you run a 7:30 min/mile pace... congratulations! You have just fartlek'd.

This blog is pretty much a way to hold myself accountable for the marathon training program I'm about to undertake. The plan is to see how fast I can run the Vegas Marathon on December 2 of this year. The goal is 3:30:00.

I've been chasing the 3:30 for a year now, and so far it has eluded me. Here's a little bit of background:

I'm 26, I've been running marathons since I was 20. This Vegas marathon will be my 7th marathon. My PR (personal record) is 3:57 at last year's Vegas marathon.

So that's it! I just wanted to make an online running log in the hopes that having one will force me to KEEP a running log (which I've never done) and to ramble on about life and running and the lunacy of thinking that a 5'6" Jewish kid from Texas has any business running marathons.