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Well, it's official - I just received confirmation that I'm now registered for my first marathon!!!
From Active.com:
Important Information Regarding Your RegistrationThank you for registering for a Sixth Annual American Discovery Trail Marathon event.
Let the training begin!
Recently on a few blogs (Angie, Dawn and Warren) there's talk of tapering and obsessing for up and coming races. It's all very inspiring to me and I just wanted to wish everyone the best of luck on race day!
And of course, congrats on a job well done to some others like Hannah who have just recently finished a race!
Last Thursday morning, as I was trying to quickly catch my breath and stretch before my group headed out - I heard something mentioned about a training run on Saturday in which they would run the entire 10 mile course. My first thought was - I don't need to do that because I already did that last Saturday. But as the weekend drew nearer and as I thought about the long run I still needed to fit in this week - I realized why not run the course again. The best way to get good at something is to practice, not to mention what a beautiful place to run and the group would meet early which means I'd have time to get the run in without interfering with other plans already in place for Saturday.
With this in mind, I headed out quickly after work on Friday to pick up a fuel belt and some gels. I've been wanting to get a fuel belt for sometime now and thought this would be a perfect time as it's really starting to warm up and I need to start getting used drinking on my runs. I'm also starting to experiment with gels and so I bought some for me try out as well as a couple to pay my friend back as he's been gracious enough to offer me one on a couple of our recent long runs. I was planning on going to a running store that I hadn't been to before, it's actually located downtown but as I got off work and realized how much traffic I would have to contend with I quickly thought of another running store that I wanted to try. It was also much more on the way home than the first and so I gave them a quick call via 411 and they had what I was looking for. This ended up saving me a ton of time as I just stopped in quickly on my way home. I ended up buying the belt which holds 6 bottles and has a small pouch to hold a couple gels or what have you. I think 6 bottles might be a bit overkill for most of my current runs but with wanting to train for a marathon in the near future I figured it would be the best way to go. Besides, on shorter runs I could also use it without bringing all the bottles along just depending on how far I was going to be running.
So Saturday morning I got up early and drove across town (traffic was much better than during the week which was really nice) but when I arrived I had a hard time finding anyone else from the training runs. After a minute or two of driving around the parking lot where we were to meet I finally found a couple cars. There were only 6 people there (including me) and no one that I recognized. After some quick stretching I put on my garmin and my new fuel belt and went over to introduce myself. Three of the runners stated that they normally run around an 8:00/mi pace (I knew I wouldn't be running with them) and apparently one of the others there is the leader of one of the trail groups. He stated that he was going to take it easy and run a 9 or 10:00/mi pace. This is my goal pace for race day but I thought what the heck, I might as well try to hang with him as much as possible. The other runner was planning to run with him too and I got the feeling they've ran together before.
Anyway, so off we went - all together at first but then the faster group of 3 quickly started to pull away. We were running at a pace faster than that of what I'm used to but all in all it wasn't too bad. I thought about telling them that if I start to fall behind that they didn't need to feel that they had to wait for me - as I know the course and have done it before. But I held back telling them this - I thought I would bring it up later if needed but told myself at that time to just concentrate on keeping up the pace and staying with them for as long as possible.
As we hit the hills I had a hard time settling into my normal breathing - probably because we were going faster than I was used to. A trend I noticed was for the leader I mentioned to push hard on the hills leaving the two of us. The other runner was faster than me on the downhill but I was able to catch up to him and often pass him on the uphill portions. We'd all kind of get back together at the top of each hill and then proceed on. After several miles I noticed that I was starting to drift back (i.e. fall behind) on the downhill as they really seemed to be pushing it much harder than I was used to but I continued to catch up to the slower of the two on the uphill. It was interesting to see how much faster I was running while trying to keep up with them. I felt pretty good and after a while got some kind of normal breathing going even though my pace was faster than I'm used too. I felt a little tightness in my stomach as well but I also contribute this to the pace we were holding.
Speaking of, my mile splits came out looking like this... 9:41, 9:26, 10:05, 9:03, 9:14, 8:47, 9:39, 9:46, 10:17 and 9:37.
I also had two more at 11:41 and 11:56 on my way back to the jeep - I was totally wiped out by this point and felt like crawling or just laying down for a little while. But these were after what would have been the finish line on the race course.
I have never run so many sub 10 minute miles together, not to mention a sub 9 thrown in there too! Wow! That gets me pretty excited about the progress I'm making. This sub 9 minute mile was also the mile that I gu'ed which was a little tricky for me at first as I normally slow down (not speed up) to do this sort of thing so I guess that was good practice for race day.
Once we reached trading post (end of my sub 9 minute mile) we started the climb back up and at this point it was agreed that everyone would just continue back on their own if needed which would ensure that everyone (besides me) would also be getting a good workout. Though I didn't bring it up I thought it was a good idea as this is the part of the course represents a long climb and I didn't want anyone waiting on me. But as it turns out, I wasn't the one bring up the rear. The trail group leader heading off and I was able to keep him in sight for most of the first climb which lasted about a mile. During which time I was able to pass the other runner who openly admits the uphill portions are his weakness (he's very fast on the downhill though). I think he normally runs trails during the morning training runs but the group I'm in runs these hills every time and I've really been working hard and pushing myself on them which seems to be starting to paying off. By the time we climbed the first mile or so we were all alone, I never saw either of them again until the run was finished.
I kept pushing the up-hills as hard as I could and found that I wasn't able to push the down-hills as much as I had when I was trying to catch up and stay with them on the first half of the course. All in all I keep it moving pretty well though. I tried to make myself comfortable by breathing and drinking water from my new fuel belt (I only ended up drinking two of the four bottles I brought).
I must admit, I ran hard enough that I didn't notice much of the surrounding beauty though I'm sure it's all still there. I think a high point for me (no pun intended) was when I had finished pushing up the last hill (the highest point of the course) which is around mile 9 and I was roughly at 1:29:30 with less than one mile to go and it was literally all downhill from here. I knew even if I ran a 10 minute mile I would still beat my race day goal of an overall 10 minute mile pace. I pushed and tried to keep my legs moving on this downhill. My legs were feeling extremely spent at this point and it was about all I could to just to keep them landing out in front of me. I ended up down where the finish line would be with somewhere around an hour and 37 or 38 minutes. I don't recall right now as my garmin actually clocked mile 10 before the finish line and since I had to continue to run out of the park I just remember it was somewhere around there.
I was really excited as I had just beat my race pace goal on a training run. I guess maybe it wasn't as worthy a goal as I had once thought. So that leaves me with thoughts of a new goal, not really knowing what that should be since I really don't know how much more I could actually push on race day than I did on this run. Maybe I'll be surprised - who knows!
If I leave off the 2 mile run back to my jeep (for which it was 90% uphill and my legs were completely destroyed) then my overall pace for the 10 mile race course was 9:34/mi (if I recalculated my time correctly at 10 miles to be 1:35:41). That just amazes me!
For Thursday's training run in the garden I actually woke up on time, as opposed to Tuesday, and headed out even earlier than normal. As I drove across town I started thinking about getting in a warm-up by parking somewhere sort of close to where we all meet and then running in - this would also give me an opportunity for a cool-down following the training run. I've often thought of this as I near the park but have never had time to give it a try. So, since I was running early (pun intended) I thought I would park at the visitor's center and start from there.
Unfortunately, as I pulled into the parking lot it had a gate closing off the entrance. This was kind of a drag but I felt determined to give this a try. So I went back up the road (the way I came in) which is actually took me further away from where I needed to meet everyone. But I knew there was a pull off right by some good trails and paths to get me where I needed to go. I parked, got some things ready and stretched for a moment while my garmin acquired its signal and then off I went.
Remember, the whole idea was to get in a warm-up run before the normal training run started. Well, I'm not so sure that's what I got. In fact, I think maybe I should have had a warm-up run before my warm-up run!
Being that I didn't know how far away I was from the parking lot where we all meet up, nor did I know how long it would take me to get there, I ended up running pretty fast. As I ran towards the park, I starting getting a little concerned that I was going to be late (again) and not have any time to finish stretching or catch my breath before my group headed out. I was also noticing that the number of cars passing me on the way into the park had started to drop off considerably.
Well, I made it before they left but not by much. It turned out to be 1.6 miles from the pull off to the parking lot and I had run right in at around a 9:00/mi pace. The last .6 miles of which had been up a one significant hill and yet I was able to keep a strong constant pace. I didn't get much time to stretch but I was feeling good and warmed up by this point.
A moment later off we went and on menu was to practice running the first major hill of the race (most of which I had just done at a 9:00/mi pace). We ran down to the entrance of the park (which I had just came through moments before) turned around and started back uphill. I was feeling good and had already decided to run hard and run hard I did! We went back up the hill holding a very strong pace. We then continued at a very good pace down and around a portion of the actual race route. Once we reached the back side of the loop most of the group headed back towards the parking lot but not us! Those I were with were just shy of 5 miles at this point (I had my extra 1.6 miles from my warm-up run) so all 5 of us decided to start off down towards the trading post but planned turn to back at the top of the next hill a little ways off. At this point we headed back up to where we had split off from the group. Then Dean and I headed back out the way we came in, towards the front of the park, it's longer this way but it gives us an opportunity to practice the end of the course which include the last couple major hills.
The rest of the run went really well, we continued to run strong and made it back to the parking lot in no time. At this point I had originally planned to run back to my jeep for the cool-down portion of my run but I was already at 9 miles, not to mention it was getting late. With this in mind I called an end to a great workout and caught a ride back to my jeep with Dean.
So my plan of getting a warm-up and cool-down run in didn't really happen but it did turn out to be a great run. My miles splits ended up like:
9:05, 9:00, 9:37, 9:25, 9:09, 10:04, 10:17, 9:56 and 10:20.
Wow, I'm really starting to think that I can better my 10:00/mi pace goal for race day. I could change my goal but maybe it would be more fun to leave it where it is and then just see how much I can better it by.
Tuesday morning I woke up late for my training run in the garden. I'm not sure why but I don't seem to be hearing my alarm clock lately. Regardless, I was determined not to miss this run so I quickly put on my running clothes, gathered my stuff and ran out the door. Initially, I felt a bit stressed as it's a good half hour drive (at this point I had 20 minutes) and with the stop lights and the surprising amount of traffic already out and about it could take even longer. But then I realized, who cares if I'm late? I will still get a good run in (it’s a gorgeous morning) and I'll still get credit for the run (they take attendance and you get free stuff for making so many of the runs). And then I had a great idea, what if I used this as an opportunity for a speed workout by trying to catch my group. Well, now I was totally excited about getting a good speed workout and completely at ease with being late.
When I arrived at the entrance to the park I noticed my group already heading down the road. I continued up to the parking lot where we all meet, proceeded to put on my heart rate monitor and my garmin and then decided to stretch while my garmin was trying to acquire a gps signal. This seemed to take forever as I'm realizing that my group is at least 3 to 5 minutes ahead of me now. Finally, my garmin finished acquiring its signal and off I went...
My mile splits for the run turned out like this: 8:31, 9:04, 9:01, 9:33 and 9:36 (.93 mi)
Assuming that my group was probably running their normal route I just continued to press on. I tried to get a glimpse of them here or there as I could occasionally see a turn in the road up ahead or the road would crest over a hill in the distance. I might have spotted them once but it was hard to tell from so far away, also, it could have been one of the faster groups which gave me a little hope. As I made my way down towards the trading post I saw my friend Dean (who is normally at the front of our group ripping up the hills). He said he had just been hanging towards the back of the group today taking it easy and had needed to make a pit stop. I said I arrived late and was getting in a good speed workout while trying to catch up to the group. He was also up for the challenge so away we went. Our group has really improved since these training runs started so I know they’re also holding a pretty good pace. But with the pace we were doing, plus the fact that the group circles back at the top of each hill to pick up anyone that might have been dropped; I really thought we'd eventually see them. I did become less optimistic though as the run went on but I was getting a killer speed workout in on these hills. Then, as we approached the last hill before getting back to the parking lot Dean (who had been slowly pulling away from me at this point) shouted "there they are!" So, we continued to run strong, catching them on the last major hill.
Afterwards I was telling leader of our group that we had caught up to them and he stated that he has tried this very same thing in years past but with no success. This was also encouraging as it's not an easy thing to do. What might have been our saving grace was that before the trading post the group had ran down a little bit further to balanced rock and back, not that far really but it definitely would have added a couple of minutes which then could have helped us to catch them on that last hill. I was very pleased with some of the paces I was able to hold and it was a great run, hard, but great nonetheless.
I was definitely much more successful at playing catch up during this run that I have been with my blogging this week.
My first ever Parrot Predictor reading shows 4:19:52! I know it's just an estimate and maybe not even that good of one since it’s based on just one week with nothing to compare it too. But I'm still very stoked about the possibilities of being able to run a marathon anywhere in the neighborhood of 4:19!
I've been wanting to run a marathon for a while now and think I've found one that might be a good fit for my first - the American Discovery Trail Marathon. I know nothing of its prestige or how it would compare to other marathons around the country but I found it appealing for the following reasons.
I haven't registered yet but I plan to soon. My initial goals are 1) just to finish and 2) to finish somewhere around my Parrot prediction if things go well.
On Saturday I finished up the week by running the entire 10 mile course for the up and coming race in Garden of the Gods. Overall the run went great, the weather was perfect (even a little warm once out on the road yet comfortable), my legs felt fresh and my shins didn't hurt. A friend, Dean, who I met at the training runs, met me at 9 am. We dropped my jeep off at the visitors’ center (near the finish line) on our way up to the starting line. While parking, we made plans to meet up on race day at a set of flag polls close to the start.
We started off a little bit faster than I was thinking we should for a long training run like this but we were both feeling pretty good. But since we’ve never run the entire course we didn't really know what to expect. We also both have the same goal of a 10:00/mi (or under) pace for race day. I guess we kind of started out to challenge whether or not that is a worthy goal.
My mile splits ended up like this... 9:47, 9:26, 10:06, 9:45, 10:19, 10:15, 11:17, 11:10, 11:01 and 9:53.
The first two miles were mostly flat or slightly downhill but then the hills start, the first of which is steep and long. This is followed by miles of running uphill and down as you make your way through the park. The scenery was just beautiful! At around half way (mile 5.5) I took an extra gel (only my second time) that Dean had and was feeling good. In fact, when we got down by the trading post I started to think that maybe a 10:00/mi goal on race day might not be ambitious enough as we were at a 10:00/mi overall pace and this was only a training run.
Well, then begins the climb back up from the lowest point to the highest point of the course which takes us roughly from mile 6 to mile 9 (11:00+/mi splits). Dean actually ended up having some fueling challenges – he didn't feel good early on and then bonked about the time I was starting to feel like pushing it (gel from mile 5?). As we approached mile 8 I started to speed up and pushed hard all the way up through the last hill at mile 9. This last hill is a killer. I was feeling good and pushed it pretty hard though my splits don't necessarily show it - I was able to drop my pace and push all the way to the top of this hill which is a huge confidence boost. Once at the top it's finally all downhill to the finish line but after that last hill it seemed to take a while to get a good stride going again.
So, all in all it was a great run and I’d have to say that a 10:00/mi overall pace is still a worthy goal.
After yesterday's easy run that turned out to be, well, not so easy and today's workout in the garden my legs are completely shot. When trying to keep my pace on the hills this morning my legs just wouldn't respond. I'd push and nothing!
We actually started off fast this morning and the first hill felt great, I was able to maintain a good pace and stay at the front of the pack. But shortly after I found myself struggling to keep up, especially on the hills. I felt like I was going slow but some of my splits still ended up looking really good (1st, 2nd, 3rd and 6th respectively).
8:58, 9:35, 9:09, 10:41, 10:33, 9:59 and 11:37 for the last .75 mi.
I think it was a combination of going out too fast and my weekly mileage as I'm already over 25 miles for the week (in 4 runs). Lately, my mileage has been down a little as I've been concentrating more on quality runs. But this week looks to have both quantity and quality as I'm planning a 10 mile run through the garden for this Saturday morning (actual race course). That will put me at over 35 miles for the week. It's been a while since I've broken the 30 mile/week barrier. My shins were also bothering me a little bit today but I'm hoping with tomorrow's rest day my legs will be fresh and ready to go on Saturday.
I heard a riddle on tv tonight... well, I actually heard the answer and thought it might be fun to post it. Of course, posting it is a distraction from actually working on my take home final that's due tomorrow. It would go something like this.
Make 30 cents from any two coins, one of which is not a nickel.
Yesterday I was able to get in a quick speed workout where I alternated 1 min hard and 1 min easy running in between my warm-up and cool-down miles. I'd never tried this before but it seemed to give a good workout as I was able to push a pretty good pace with the easier min breaks. My mile splits were 10:27, 8:51, 9:31, 9:18, 9:27 and 10:20 (partial mile cool-down) with an overall pace of 9:33/mi. I did notice some pain in my left shin. It felt like a shin splint which I haven't had in a long time though it was manageable. Even though my mileage was a little less than normal last week I hammered it pretty hard on Saturday's 2 mile race.
Today we had our midterm for the Garden of the Gods training runs. It included running out of the park down by the trading post and then back in by way of Ridge Road. The hill was incredibly steep and seemed to just keep going and going. It has several places where it looks like it's going to flatten out but then just climbs right back up towards the vertical again. I ran it pretty hard and stayed close to the front of the pack. This was pretty much my overall goal for the day and for the most part it went well. My left shin did bother me a little bit until I was warmed up but once again it was manageable. We ran pretty hard today but it didn't really feel all that fast with all the hills though some of the mile splits tell a different story... 9:16, 8:59, 9:12, 10:55, 10:56, 8:41 and 9:59 (.78 mi) The last mile and a half, or so, are from a buddy and I going a little long after reaching the parking lot with the group. Overall the average pace comes out to 9:42/mi which I'm very happy with especially given the hills we ran today. Hopefully that equates to a passing grade on the midterm!
I actually remembered to bring my camera this morning so I could take a couple pictures but don't think I'm going to have time to post them, not right now anyway.
I now need to turn my attention to a final this afternoon, plus a take home final due tomorrow. Not to mention work, a flat tire and a sick family member! What am I doing blogging?
Today was my first running in the Nielson Challenge put on by the Pikes Peak Road Runners club. It's a pretty neat and as far as I know rather unique event. Essentially, you show up and race yourself and who ever beats themselves by the most is the winner. Once you establish a base time, as I did today, then you race against that time, plus (actually minus) the handicap that's computed to help keep things fair. It's held on the first Saturday of every month and looks to be a good way to judge your fitness as well as being another motivator for training. And besides all of that, it's FREE!
Having no idea how fast I can run 2 miles, how fast I should start out and things of that nature. I came up with a plan that went something like this. I know that I can get down into the low 9:00/mi range during training runs now and since this is only a 2 mile race I figured I'd shoot for an 8:00/mi pace. Then at 1 mile I could evaluate how I was feeling and start slowing the pace if needed, hang on to the current pace or possibly even speed up if at all possible. Well, this turned out to be a pretty good plan.
I showed up around 7:30 for a start time of 8am. There was only a couple people there and it was pretty cool and damp. I thought I'd do a little warm up run around the northern loop of the park while waiting for everyone to arrive and get set up. The warm-up was a good idea as my legs where pretty tight and I had some aches in several different places.
When I got back I felt pretty good and people were starting to form a line to get signed in and pick up their bibs. I jumped in line too and then spent some time socializing and stretching until it was time to start.
As the course was being explained and volunteers were being acknowledged I decided to move towards the back of the pack of 59 runners, not knowing how fast everyone else was going to start off and not wanting to be in everyone's way.
Once the race started I found myself in the middle of the pack as the pack quickly stretched out along the well groomed park trail. My garmin showed that I was doing around a 7:30/mi pace. Figuring I should stick with the plan I let myself drop the pace a little bit though I never let it climb all the way up 8:00/mi. At this point, though I was feeling pretty good my biggest concern was not knowing how long I could hold this pace. At the first 1/2 mile marker I still felt pretty good and had settled in at a pace of around 7:45/mi. My breathing was a little heavy but still for the most part under control. As I passed back by the start/finish line I heard 7:55 called out for the mile split. Not too bad I was thinking but I was starting to hurt and was unsure that I could keep this pace up for another mile.
Strangely, I actually ended up speeding up early into the second mile. I noticed that I was holding at several different sub 7:00/mi paces as I worked my way up to the next 1/2 mile marker. At this point, though I was impressed with my pace I was really starting to feel the pain. But, with only a half mile to go I just tried to hold on. My pace kept slowly slipping back up until I saw the bridge that comes just before the start/finish line. My friend had told me that when you see the bridge to turn it on. I'm not sure how much I turned it on but I gave a good effort and just tried to keep my legs turning over at a consistent pace.
Well, it turns out that overall I came in 24th and set a base time of 15:54. Which might end up being a tough time to beat in the future but it gives me something to shoot for and will definitely be a challenge. The race was a lot of fun and I look forward to seeing how I can better my time in the months to come.
For blogging or much of anything else for that matter. But, fortunately I have been able to get in two killer workouts this week.
The first, a tempo run with some of my fastest mileage ever. The mile splits looked like this...
9:58 - 149
9:24 - 156
8:54 - 174
9:20 - 172
9:36 - 168
6:45 - 172 (.66 mi, 10:11/mi)
With an average pace of 9:32/mi and heart rate of 165.
I've just recently started getting my pace down around a 10 minute mile so to be able to string together that many sub 10min miles in a row has me extremely pumped.
The second, another excellent training run in Garden of the Gods. I should probably start labeling these as hill workouts instead of just as training. Today we went a bit of a different route which gave us the opportunity to try some different hills as well as some of the same ones in a different order. I tried to keep the pace up on the way uphill as well as on the way back down. I'm trying to keep a good stride downhill while attempting to recover from the uphill. The mile splits look something like this...
9:22 - 153
10:01 - 162
9:10 - 159
9:44 - 162
9:24 - 160
8:34 - 160 (.80 mi, 10:41/mi)
With an average pace of 9:42/mi and heart rate of 159.
Once again, I'm very happy with pulling of so many sub 10min miles, especially on these hills. I wish I had the time to put something graphical together representing the elevation or grade of these hills. But I don't, I do however have my total ascent for both workouts, 480 and 748 ft, respectively.