Tuesday, April 29, 2014

Stages of a Marathon

This is my take on the 10 stages of a marathon... If you've ever run a marathon you'll so get it... If you are considering running one, now you'll know what to expect!

Stage 1: Pre-start Anticipation
Standing (or sitting) in the Starting Corral. Sun is just peeking up over the horizon. Anticipation and excitement are high. It’s chilly, you are ready to go, and you are packed in with 1,000’s of fellow runners, all anxious to get this thing going. It’s a little boring. You’ve already been up for 3-4 hours. And you need to pee…

Stage 2: Miles 1-6, finally running
Slowly getting the kinks out, trying to warm up and not hurt anything. Lots of noise and cheering. Trying not to get too hyped up and blow energy. Gotta find a place to pee.

Stage 3: Miles 7-14, in the groove
Ok, this is what you’ve trained for. Cruising along, not too fast, trying to remember when and where to find some fuel or fluids. You are feeling pretty good. Everything is normal. Hey, this isn't so bad!

Stage 4: Miles 15-20, starting to feel kind of like work
More than half way done, less than half way to go. Keep her steady, remember fuel and fluids. You've trained for this. All good. But jeesh, this is beginning to feel like a haul.

Stage 5: Miles 20-24 – crossing the chasm
You are now running in the black hole. You’ve never run this far before (except for maybe your previous marathon…), and there is no telling what is going to happen. Training runs maxed out at 20 miles. Can you even run further than 20? Don’t think about it. Just run. You won’t get to the finish line if you don’t run. Just run. Gotta keep running. Do not stop.

Stage 6: Mile 24 – things hurt
Multiple body parts are complaining. Must keep running. Very tired. Feet say stop. Head says not yet. no way. Spectators yell “you are almost there!”, but you know that already, you just wish that it were true. Digging deep for the will to keep running. There is a vague mirage of a finish line somewhere ahead. Could it be? Gotta keep running.

Stage 7: Mile 25 – 1.2 miles to go
Oh me oh my – yes, there is a finish line up there somewhere, you can smell it, you can hear it. You are struggling, but can’t stop for nothing now. Anyone can run 1.2 miles. Anyone. C’mon baby, c’mon, dig deep.

Stage 8: Mile 26 – New Life
You can see the Finish Line… It is shimmering with all of the wonders of sweet relief and promises of untold wealth and happiness. New found strength floods your legs (where the heck was that back at mile 23?). Praise the gods, you are going to finish the marathon. Nothing short of a bolt of lightning is going to keep you from crossing that finish line. And yet those last 385 yards are like an impossible distance. Why is this not over yet? Why is there a hill here? Are you freaking kidding me? C’mon baby, c’mon!

Stage 9: Finish Line – Euphoria
Relief, disbelief, unbridled satisfaction, euphoria like you have never experienced before in your life, and so much more flood your body. It’s done. You did it. You did something that others won’t or couldn’t. You took yourself out to the edge and you brought yourself home. The feeling is indescribable. You will never be able to explain this feeling to anyone.

Stage 10: Later that day – Now what?
Ok cool – you did it. Your walking is a little stiff, but you feel good. Now what other seemingly insurmountable challenge can you conquer?

In the event of interest, here are links to my two marathons. They were hard, no stellar times, but they were great experiences:
Marine Corps Marathon 2013:  Marine Corps Marathon -2013
Chicago Marathon 2011:  Chicago Marathon - 2011

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Friday, April 25, 2014

Preparing for an 8K

I’m gearing up run an 8K (5M) event in a couple of weeks and I’m finding the process to be so much different than the training I’ve gone through for a HM or a marathon. Strictly speaking, a 5M race is like a 10K, it’s all about speed and endurance, but mostly speed. The trick is to be able to sustain the speed for entire distance. Assuming that I had some speed, I would be very serious about my training, but since I don’t I’m focused on meeting or beating an arbitrary goal that I’ve set, which is to finish in 44 minutes or less (very possible), with a stretch goal of 40 minutes (not likely). Anything in between will be a home run for me.

I’m pretty comfortable running 5 miles, so the distance is not an issue. What will be my challenge will be to do so quicker than usual. My 5 miles runs have ranged from as much as 48 minutes to just under 43.  

One of my many challenges has been my first mile: it seems to always be my “shake out” mile and almost always is close to a 10 min/mile pace. That first mile is where my body works out all of its kinks and my joints loosen up and my muscles warm up and so on... That slow start strategy has worked fine for HM and marathon events, but obviously not applicable to short distance events. Totally different situation for me.

The times that I’ve run a 5 mile route better than 44 minutes have all been when I’ve been able to do that first mile in the low 9 min/mile range. After that first mile I’ve been pretty good at paring down the next 4 splits, but when that first mile is 10 min/mile, wow, that’s a lot of time to win back. And I have not been able to pin down why I was able to run that first mile faster on those days.

Typical splits for 5 mile run might be:
Mile 1: 10 min
Mile 2: 9:30
Mile 3: 8:50
Mile 4: 8:30
Mile 5: 8:00
Which approaches a reasonable ~44:45 total time…  which is just "ok" …. On good days I can do the 4th mile at closer to 8:00 and the last mile under 8:00.

Obviously, if I can get through each of those first two miles at closer to a 9 min/mile pace I could be reaching into a 43:xx time…”.  So I’m working on that by warming up more prior to my 5-6 mile runs, and we’ll see what happens. On the day of the race I will probably jog a mile or so before the start to make sure that I'm loose and ready to run those first miles a little faster. I'm not worried about the distance - I'm pretty confident about my endurance - I'm more worried about sustaining the speed.

In the meantime, I managed to do something weird to my foot while doing speed intervals. Felt good running, but afterwards the top of my left foot is very sore and it hurts to walk. I skipped a running day, but did a slow 3 miles today. It hurts now, but not as bad as yesterday. Hmmm. What a pain in the ass…


The event is on May 10. It should be interesting!

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

Humid Humid Humid

Humidity has hit my neck of the woods (FL) and it is only mid April.  And there is no such thing as a cool morning run - it is humid even before the sun comes up. And then when it does rise over the trees, the solar heat just adds to the joy. It's amazing what shade does to make you feel cooler.

Interestingly enough, the humidity drops after the sun has been up for a bit. If I could delay my runs until the sun has been up for a couple of hours, I don't feel the affect of the humidity as much. But then I have to deal with the actual solar heat.  Aye, such a dilemma...  (truth be told, I'm just glad to be able to be running).

Over time I've learned a few things about humid running:
- run slower
- run shorter.

If running longer:
- take with or have access to plenty of water, Gatorade is nice but not mandatory,
- look for shade,
- it's ok to take walk breaks,
- lube up to prevent chaffing,
- keep an eye on HR, either by feel or with a monitor
- wear clothes that breathe and wick sweat away from my skin,
- if I start tasting salt on my lips, walk and take water liberally,
- if I start feeling hot, stop running. (this is a big judgement call that I'm not good at...)

Normally I like to run with a hat to protect my head and shield my eyes, but when it is humid it simply loads up with sweat so I wind up sticking it my waist band (where it does nothing other than to annoy me).  So I found a white skull cap that does a great job capturing the sweat on my bald noggin and gives my head a little bit of UV protection. More importantly, it feels much cooler than the cap. The only possible down side is that my wife thinks that I look ridiculous - but fortunately I don't care... :-)

As long as I follow my rules (above), I still get a great run, sweat out all the bad juju, and move on.  And a jump in a pool afterwards always feels good!

Saturday, April 12, 2014

Today I run

Today I run so that tomorrow I will be strong. So that I will be strong and resilient to the things that might hurt me.

Today I run so that I can eat well today and tomorrow. So that I can eat and not grow in places that I shouldn't.

Today I run because it sharpens my mind. It sharpens my mind and tones my senses. I am so much more aware of things now.

Today I run because I am scared shitless of getting old. Very scared.