Taper Madness? What is that you say? Well, if you've ever trained for weeks, or months for an event and then tapered off the the last couple of weeks to get rested up and ready, then you obviously know what I'm referring to. If not, let me explain.
Weeks and weeks of high intensity, high mileage training. Hours and hours on the road, in the gym, tempo runs, VO2 max runs, long runs, weights, core work, dieting, more running all while taking in tons and tons of calories. Then all of a sudden you start hitting the brakes. Backing off the mileage, backing off of the weights, hopefully backing off of the calories. The amount of time spent training is decreasing and all of a sudden you find yourself filling that time with all sorts of crazy thoughts. Did I train enough, am I using the right shoes, should I try a different electrolyte gel, do these shorts make my butt look fat? Okay, maybe not the last one, but you get the idea. It's mayhem between the ears. Weighing yourself two or three times a day, checking the 14 day weather forecast and contemplating clothing options for every 10 degree change. It's just crazy how it gets in your head.
You start feeling all sorts of aches and pains, everything is exaggerated. Slight aches and pains all of a sudden feel like debilitating injuries. Minor soreness? Is that a stress fracture, oh no, I've got a stress fracture. Bump your leg on a piece of furniture and the next thing you know you're flopping around on the floor writhing in pain with a broken leg. This can't be happening, I have a race to run and I just broke my leg.
And if it's not the thoughts of pain and injury getting to you, it's the urge to buy "stuff". Stuff you don't need. Stuff you won't use. Stuff you'll later pick up and just shake your head wondering "what in the world was I thinking".
Well, madness has set in here folks. Bad. It's not a spending madness, but the injury madness. As I've previously discussed, the hip has been an issue. Seeing the PT twice a week has me feeling better some days and others not so much. This past Monday I went ahead and decided to go with the cortisone shot in the left hip/glute area to see if that would help with the inflammation. That was gonna be it. The "magic" I needed to get me through this.
I must have been smokin' crack! I went out yesterday with a couple of training partners and did and easy 6.25 mile run and low and behold, my hip reminded me for the last 6.24 miles that it was not all healed up. What in the world? I thought that was going to take care of it? It bothered me running a 7:45/mile pace. How in the world am I going to run 6:18 and survive?
Well, there in lies the reason for the madness. Another 6+ mile run today and pretty much the same feeling. I honestly don't know what to do. I don't know if I'm going to go with my original goal and just run thru the pain and discomfort out or back off a bit and try to find some middle ground. Or better yet, do I back off a lot and just enjoy the run being sure to save enough for Big Sur?
If I wasn't so damn competitive that would be no brainer. Easy run both days, collect two finishers medals, challenge completed, thank you very much. See you next year. But it's not that easy. That's just not the way this boys brain operates. It's a legitimate competition. And if it's a competition, it's not for fun. And that doesn't mean that I won't have fun, it just means that I don't do it for fun. I am having a real problem grasping the concept of doing something for fun. I wish I could. I wish I could embrace and love it. But it ain't happening. At least not yet.
In the back of my head I know I did my last 20 miler with a fair amount of discomfort and pain at a pretty good clip. I've got that in my back pocket for confidence. If I run that pace for 26.2, I break 3 hours. But if I did that, can't I knock 10, 15, 20 or even 30 seconds per mile off? Maybe still get my goal? That's the dilemma right now. How long can my body hold up and allow me to carry that intensity? I'm pretty certain that I have a fairly high pain threshold so that doesn't concern me. But instead, I have that little part of me that wonders if parts will break or tear. Will the inflammation get so bad that I just have to shut it down? That's what I want to avoid. That's what I must avoid.
So as I sit here today, I am seriously thinking I will go out a bit slower than goal pace, maybe something in the 6:30 - 6:40 pace and see how that feels for the first 5-7 miles, maybe more. I think my body will communicate with me loud and clear how it feels and we'll just take it mile by mile after that.
While I really want to go as low as possible with my time, I have to be realistic. I'm not 100%, not close, and in all reality, I'll be pretty thrilled when I cross that finshline on Boylston Ave and my family is there to celebrate with me. I'm sure the sight of my wife and kids and crossing that line will bring a lot of emotion to me no matter what the clock says when I cross.
So let me get back to my madness, not to mention the madness of tax season thrown in there just to make it interesting. I plan on getting in maybe 50 miles of easy running over the next 10 days in effort to maintain some level of fitness in this taper mode. I'll be back before Boston to let you know what I have decided on for sure.......until I change my mind again of course.
And thanks again to those contributing to the Center and for all the support I've got on a daily basis. The interest level from so many friends has been overwhelming. I appreciate that very much!
Take Care!
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Is this April Fool's Day or what?
Well, I'm a little behind in my posting so I apologize for the delay, but I've been sulking a bit this week. I wish this was some horrible April Fool's Day joke being played on me, but unfortunately it doesn't look that way. Seems the hip/glute issue is not getting any better and may actually be worse today than it was last week. And the worst part is that it may be my own fault.
The crazy thing about it is that Sunday I went out for my last long run and had an absolutely awesome 20 mile training run. I started off just under 8 minutes for the first mile and worked my way down for 3 more until my 5th -20th mile were all sub 7 minute pace. I knocked out a 20 mile run in just over 2:16 with an average of 6:49 a mile. Cruising through it in pretty good shape all the while knowing that a taper for resting the legs and a huge crowd to get the adrenaline flowing would get me down into the sub 6:30 miles.
Monday's PT visit was a success as he tried something different and used some of his bodyweight and elbow in my glute area. Painful yes, but effective. By Monday afternoon I thought "this is it, I'm almost there". Then Tuesday morning found me at the track for a short workout including 4 800m intervals. That's when things went terribly wrong. After a 2:43 first split for the first, I felt some twinge in my left hip on the 2nd interval and then some pain that wasn't good. I finished the interval and shut it down. I probably shouldn't have done the intervals looking back, but that morning I was feeling pretty good and with all the pressure I was putting on myself to perform well, I wanted to stay sharp with my speed. Where's the rewind button on life when you need it?
So no running Wednesday, a PT visit this morning and a lot of icing, foam roller, stretching and ibuprofen in the meantime. I went out for a easy run this afternoon, but the discomfort was more than what I had hoped for so I turned around, headed back to the Y and jumped on an elliptical for an hour. Nothing like an hour on an elliptical for a little soul searching.
What did I figure out? Well, I decided I'm not running for the next week unless by some miracle I wake up one morning and have absolutely no discomfort in my hip. Until then, it will be continued self treatment, the PT and a lot of elliptical time along with the usual strength training and core work. My goal has all of a sudden gone from a healthy PR (personal record) to just getting there and finishing with a nice decent time and still being able to enjoy Big Sur 6 days later.
Of course a lot can happen in two weeks, but I have to live with the fact that these things happen and if I don't get to the starting line 100% this time, there's always the next race. Or in this case actually, the race after the next race. However, the important this is getting some recovery time for the hip/glute and still getting both marathons completed.
I still have a lot to work for and look forward to as I have this great Boston 2 Big Sur Challenge to complete on behalf of the the Rehab Center and I have about 15 or so friends that my family and I will be hooking up with in Boston that will be running as well. We've been talking about this for over a year and I don't want to miss it for anything. A double incentive to be abe to run the morning of April 19th.
Take care and have a great Easter weekend!
The crazy thing about it is that Sunday I went out for my last long run and had an absolutely awesome 20 mile training run. I started off just under 8 minutes for the first mile and worked my way down for 3 more until my 5th -20th mile were all sub 7 minute pace. I knocked out a 20 mile run in just over 2:16 with an average of 6:49 a mile. Cruising through it in pretty good shape all the while knowing that a taper for resting the legs and a huge crowd to get the adrenaline flowing would get me down into the sub 6:30 miles.
Monday's PT visit was a success as he tried something different and used some of his bodyweight and elbow in my glute area. Painful yes, but effective. By Monday afternoon I thought "this is it, I'm almost there". Then Tuesday morning found me at the track for a short workout including 4 800m intervals. That's when things went terribly wrong. After a 2:43 first split for the first, I felt some twinge in my left hip on the 2nd interval and then some pain that wasn't good. I finished the interval and shut it down. I probably shouldn't have done the intervals looking back, but that morning I was feeling pretty good and with all the pressure I was putting on myself to perform well, I wanted to stay sharp with my speed. Where's the rewind button on life when you need it?
So no running Wednesday, a PT visit this morning and a lot of icing, foam roller, stretching and ibuprofen in the meantime. I went out for a easy run this afternoon, but the discomfort was more than what I had hoped for so I turned around, headed back to the Y and jumped on an elliptical for an hour. Nothing like an hour on an elliptical for a little soul searching.
What did I figure out? Well, I decided I'm not running for the next week unless by some miracle I wake up one morning and have absolutely no discomfort in my hip. Until then, it will be continued self treatment, the PT and a lot of elliptical time along with the usual strength training and core work. My goal has all of a sudden gone from a healthy PR (personal record) to just getting there and finishing with a nice decent time and still being able to enjoy Big Sur 6 days later.
Of course a lot can happen in two weeks, but I have to live with the fact that these things happen and if I don't get to the starting line 100% this time, there's always the next race. Or in this case actually, the race after the next race. However, the important this is getting some recovery time for the hip/glute and still getting both marathons completed.
I still have a lot to work for and look forward to as I have this great Boston 2 Big Sur Challenge to complete on behalf of the the Rehab Center and I have about 15 or so friends that my family and I will be hooking up with in Boston that will be running as well. We've been talking about this for over a year and I don't want to miss it for anything. A double incentive to be abe to run the morning of April 19th.
Take care and have a great Easter weekend!
Monday, March 22, 2010
Are We There Yet?
Are we even close? How much longer? Questions I'm sure every parent has heard on more occasions than they can remember. Well, I'm starting to get that feeling. But in this case, it's not because I'm tired of the training or ready to be there, but because I'm just ready.
Last week's race brought a good scare to me as I've endured a very tender hip all week. Constant icing and ibuprofen has done not much more than mask the pain. All sorts of crazy thoughts going through my head this week about what could possibly be the problem. The worst being stress fracture and no running for several weeks. No way, this is not happening, or is it?
I took Monday off from running and then an easy 6 mile run on Tuesday to test it out. Pretty much discomfort the whole run and even more afterwards. Ugh. My stubbornness took me to the streets on Wednesday and Thursday for 10 mile runs on each day only to encounter more of the same. An early call Friday morning to my physical therapist was too late to get me in that day so I would have to wait until Monday morning. What to do in the meantime? Run, don't run, ice it, apply heat, cut it off? Well run it was so Friday and Saturday were easy runs of 6 miles each. Sunday I decided I would go forward with my planned long run and give it a shot.
It wasn't long into it and the discomfort kicked in pretty good in the hip/gluteus area on the left side. Not exactly sure why I continued other than I hate to quit so it was 20.5 miles at an overall 7:09 pace with miles 10-17 averaging 6:16. I was trying to hit goal marathon pace of about 6:20 but had a difficult time with the wind working against me, with me, and across me at times. By the time the run was over I couldn't decide if I was happy, hacked off or just indifferent about the whole run. After a little consideration, it was the later.
While I hit the goal miles pretty good and felt comfortable while running them, the wind and even more so, my hip were about to drive me to drinking........heavily. Why now, why does the wind blow and why was this hip acting up one month out from the biggest race of my life? The good thing was that I made it, I was still walking, albeit with a horrible pain and I was now pretty certain that it was a muscular injury and not a stress fracture.
Well, I didn't get an answer to the wind question and I really don't care since it's out of my control anyway, but this morning my PT gave me great news on the hip injury. Extreme tightness in my gluteus. The pain has been right at the top of my hip, but when he worked on it I could feel the tightness in my glute. After about 15 minutes of stretching and rubbing it out he gave me some stretching exercises to do multiple times a day. Key words.....foam roller. Let's just say my butt and my foam roller are about to get pretty acquainted with each other if they weren't already. He didn't seem the least bit concerned that we couldn't get this cleared up soon. To be on the safe side, I will most likely use him regularly through the remainder of my training to keep everything loose. Too much has gone into this to have something go wrong now.
Well back to the original question, are we there yet? No we're not, but very close. And with today's good news I'm starting to lick my chops. Two more weeks of hard training and then a two week taper and I should be ready to go for first of two big days.
This past weeks training was as follows:
2/15 - Rest
2/16 - 6 mile recovery run
2/17 - 10.2 mile medium long run
2/18 - 10 mile medium long run
2/19 - 6.2 mile recovery run
2/20 - 6 mile recovery run
2/21 - 20.49 mile long run
Total - 58.9 miles
Before checking out today, I want to thank those that have contributed to MCRC. The contributions as well as the moral support that I have received from friends is great. It certainly keeps me motivated to stay involved and make a difference in our community. I appreciate you guys! Also, I posted links to videos of both the Boston and Big Sur courses. Boston is a homemade You Tube video, but the Big Sur clip is a nicely narrated video. Really cool if you have any interest. Take care!
Last week's race brought a good scare to me as I've endured a very tender hip all week. Constant icing and ibuprofen has done not much more than mask the pain. All sorts of crazy thoughts going through my head this week about what could possibly be the problem. The worst being stress fracture and no running for several weeks. No way, this is not happening, or is it?
I took Monday off from running and then an easy 6 mile run on Tuesday to test it out. Pretty much discomfort the whole run and even more afterwards. Ugh. My stubbornness took me to the streets on Wednesday and Thursday for 10 mile runs on each day only to encounter more of the same. An early call Friday morning to my physical therapist was too late to get me in that day so I would have to wait until Monday morning. What to do in the meantime? Run, don't run, ice it, apply heat, cut it off? Well run it was so Friday and Saturday were easy runs of 6 miles each. Sunday I decided I would go forward with my planned long run and give it a shot.
It wasn't long into it and the discomfort kicked in pretty good in the hip/gluteus area on the left side. Not exactly sure why I continued other than I hate to quit so it was 20.5 miles at an overall 7:09 pace with miles 10-17 averaging 6:16. I was trying to hit goal marathon pace of about 6:20 but had a difficult time with the wind working against me, with me, and across me at times. By the time the run was over I couldn't decide if I was happy, hacked off or just indifferent about the whole run. After a little consideration, it was the later.
While I hit the goal miles pretty good and felt comfortable while running them, the wind and even more so, my hip were about to drive me to drinking........heavily. Why now, why does the wind blow and why was this hip acting up one month out from the biggest race of my life? The good thing was that I made it, I was still walking, albeit with a horrible pain and I was now pretty certain that it was a muscular injury and not a stress fracture.
Well, I didn't get an answer to the wind question and I really don't care since it's out of my control anyway, but this morning my PT gave me great news on the hip injury. Extreme tightness in my gluteus. The pain has been right at the top of my hip, but when he worked on it I could feel the tightness in my glute. After about 15 minutes of stretching and rubbing it out he gave me some stretching exercises to do multiple times a day. Key words.....foam roller. Let's just say my butt and my foam roller are about to get pretty acquainted with each other if they weren't already. He didn't seem the least bit concerned that we couldn't get this cleared up soon. To be on the safe side, I will most likely use him regularly through the remainder of my training to keep everything loose. Too much has gone into this to have something go wrong now.
Well back to the original question, are we there yet? No we're not, but very close. And with today's good news I'm starting to lick my chops. Two more weeks of hard training and then a two week taper and I should be ready to go for first of two big days.
This past weeks training was as follows:
2/15 - Rest
2/16 - 6 mile recovery run
2/17 - 10.2 mile medium long run
2/18 - 10 mile medium long run
2/19 - 6.2 mile recovery run
2/20 - 6 mile recovery run
2/21 - 20.49 mile long run
Total - 58.9 miles
Before checking out today, I want to thank those that have contributed to MCRC. The contributions as well as the moral support that I have received from friends is great. It certainly keeps me motivated to stay involved and make a difference in our community. I appreciate you guys! Also, I posted links to videos of both the Boston and Big Sur courses. Boston is a homemade You Tube video, but the Big Sur clip is a nicely narrated video. Really cool if you have any interest. Take care!
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Rock 'N' Roll Dallas Tune-up Race
I want to lead off by once again thanking those that have contributed to Midland Children's Rehabilitation Center on behalf of me and the Boston 2 BigSur Challenge. You guys are great!!! Check out the website for MCRC to see what they are all about.
This weekend I had the pleasure of staying with a running buddy and his family in Dallas for the weekend's race. By pure coincidence in relation to my fundraiser, he and his wife have 4 year old twins with autism. Absolutely wonderful boys. Saturday evening while dinner was being prepared we discussed several issues related to autism including the enormous cost that families of special needs children face. While we didn't discuss their needs specifically, it was obvious that it could be a huge burden on families of less means. Fortunately their boys are doing great for various reasons including the therapy that they have received, but I couldn't help but think that there must be numerous children that do not have the same success. Many families just simply can't afford the therapy services that those young boys have had the benefit of receiving. MCRC is there to serve exactly those families. They provide rehabilitation services to children in the Permian Basin with a neurological or orthopedic needs and to date the Center has never billed a child's family for services they have received.
On to the week of training. Being a racing week, there was a fair cutback in mileage to get ready for Sunday's 1/2 marathon in Dallas. Only about 35 miles total from Monday thru Saturday and I bunched up my two quality workouts on Monday and Tuesday to allow for some recovery days afterwards. Easy mileage.
The goal for Dallas Rock 'N' Roll 1/2 was to hit about 6:10 per mile up until through mile 8 which was a steady slight incline and then the course would begin its descent and I hoped to hit about 5:55 per mile the rest of the way in to the finish.
Nice size race, a lot of hoopla at the beginning, Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders, loud music and a few elite runners in the field. Pretty exciting and especially since I was starting from the front row of about 10,000 runners. A quick prayer and moment of silence to myself to think of my Grandfather that was buried on Friday. I asked that his strength be with me and that I make him proud.
Well the gun sounds and the 6:10 pace quickly goes out the window. While I tried to stay calm, the adrenaline was flowing and I hit mile marker 1 at 5:54. This pace if continued could be disastrous. Miles 2 and 3 came in at 6:07 and 6:14 respectively. Oh no, now I've slowed down too much. In actuality, mile 3 seemed to have a fairly good hill so that was okay.
I then got into a groove and hit 6:02, 6:06, 6:06, 6:07 and 6:07 for the next 5 miles and that got me right at the turning point where I knew it would be all downhill. Maybe a 1% decline or less, but nevertheless, downhill. At that point I was trying to calculate in my head where I stood and thought maybe about 30 seconds ahead of goal pace.
Once I got headed south and with a runner on my heels, I was able to press the pace and finished up with 5:49, 5:48, 5:46, 5:49, 5:46 and :51 for the last .16 miles for an official final time of 1:18:39. Good enough for 2nd in my age group (40-44) out of 537 and 21st overall out of 9,228 finishers.
The whole race was a picture perfect as I could have hoped for. No issues during the race, some strong competitors to push the pace, great weather with temperature at about 47 to start and not too much wind. I really don't know that I could have squeezed much more out of myself on that day. It was a huge confidence boost 5 weeks out from Boston. While I had previously set my goal at 2:49:59 for Boston, this race gives me hope that I may be able to go as low as 2:46:00 on a perfect day if the next 3 weeks of training and the 2 week taper go well. Feeling really optimistic right now.
I'll ramp the mileage back up for the next two weeks into the 60's and work on endurance while trying to keep the speed sharpened. Hoping to find just the right balance of training so as not to peak too early.
A special thanks to Nick, Sunny and the boys for having me in their home this weekend. I originally had reservations at the Adolphus and I can tell you that their home was every bit as much and more than what I would have expected from a 5 star hotel. Thanks guys! Congrats as well to Nick and my local running partner/coach Popcorn who had great days as well. You guys did awesome!
Finally, a fellow runner died Sunday just after crossing the finish line. 32yr old husband and father of two young girls, Mark Austry. My thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family and I ask that you take a moment to think of him as well. While I didn't know him, it certainly hits close to home with him being a friend of friends. Truly a sad note to an otherwise fine day.
This weekend I had the pleasure of staying with a running buddy and his family in Dallas for the weekend's race. By pure coincidence in relation to my fundraiser, he and his wife have 4 year old twins with autism. Absolutely wonderful boys. Saturday evening while dinner was being prepared we discussed several issues related to autism including the enormous cost that families of special needs children face. While we didn't discuss their needs specifically, it was obvious that it could be a huge burden on families of less means. Fortunately their boys are doing great for various reasons including the therapy that they have received, but I couldn't help but think that there must be numerous children that do not have the same success. Many families just simply can't afford the therapy services that those young boys have had the benefit of receiving. MCRC is there to serve exactly those families. They provide rehabilitation services to children in the Permian Basin with a neurological or orthopedic needs and to date the Center has never billed a child's family for services they have received.
On to the week of training. Being a racing week, there was a fair cutback in mileage to get ready for Sunday's 1/2 marathon in Dallas. Only about 35 miles total from Monday thru Saturday and I bunched up my two quality workouts on Monday and Tuesday to allow for some recovery days afterwards. Easy mileage.
The goal for Dallas Rock 'N' Roll 1/2 was to hit about 6:10 per mile up until through mile 8 which was a steady slight incline and then the course would begin its descent and I hoped to hit about 5:55 per mile the rest of the way in to the finish.
Nice size race, a lot of hoopla at the beginning, Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders, loud music and a few elite runners in the field. Pretty exciting and especially since I was starting from the front row of about 10,000 runners. A quick prayer and moment of silence to myself to think of my Grandfather that was buried on Friday. I asked that his strength be with me and that I make him proud.
Well the gun sounds and the 6:10 pace quickly goes out the window. While I tried to stay calm, the adrenaline was flowing and I hit mile marker 1 at 5:54. This pace if continued could be disastrous. Miles 2 and 3 came in at 6:07 and 6:14 respectively. Oh no, now I've slowed down too much. In actuality, mile 3 seemed to have a fairly good hill so that was okay.
I then got into a groove and hit 6:02, 6:06, 6:06, 6:07 and 6:07 for the next 5 miles and that got me right at the turning point where I knew it would be all downhill. Maybe a 1% decline or less, but nevertheless, downhill. At that point I was trying to calculate in my head where I stood and thought maybe about 30 seconds ahead of goal pace.
Once I got headed south and with a runner on my heels, I was able to press the pace and finished up with 5:49, 5:48, 5:46, 5:49, 5:46 and :51 for the last .16 miles for an official final time of 1:18:39. Good enough for 2nd in my age group (40-44) out of 537 and 21st overall out of 9,228 finishers.
The whole race was a picture perfect as I could have hoped for. No issues during the race, some strong competitors to push the pace, great weather with temperature at about 47 to start and not too much wind. I really don't know that I could have squeezed much more out of myself on that day. It was a huge confidence boost 5 weeks out from Boston. While I had previously set my goal at 2:49:59 for Boston, this race gives me hope that I may be able to go as low as 2:46:00 on a perfect day if the next 3 weeks of training and the 2 week taper go well. Feeling really optimistic right now.
I'll ramp the mileage back up for the next two weeks into the 60's and work on endurance while trying to keep the speed sharpened. Hoping to find just the right balance of training so as not to peak too early.
A special thanks to Nick, Sunny and the boys for having me in their home this weekend. I originally had reservations at the Adolphus and I can tell you that their home was every bit as much and more than what I would have expected from a 5 star hotel. Thanks guys! Congrats as well to Nick and my local running partner/coach Popcorn who had great days as well. You guys did awesome!
Finally, a fellow runner died Sunday just after crossing the finish line. 32yr old husband and father of two young girls, Mark Austry. My thoughts and prayers go out to him and his family and I ask that you take a moment to think of him as well. While I didn't know him, it certainly hits close to home with him being a friend of friends. Truly a sad note to an otherwise fine day.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
The Skinny on "Skinny".
I'm not sure if there's something in the air or what, but I can't tell you how many times this past week I've got to hear about how skinny I am or how much weight I've lost. And all without asking for any one's opinion. I guess it's fine to point out someones change in weight with somewhat of a look of concern, maybe even disgust on your face when the lb's are going down. Just don't mention it to someone with an expanding waistline in the same manner or you may end up getting hurt.
Actually, it doesn't really bother me as this is just one of many choices I have made in attempt to be more competitive in my racing. As my wife Gina explains it, I have brainwashed myself. No desserts, no fried food, no fast food, not drinks other than water, tea, coffee, skim milk, V8's and sports drinks. To be honest, the less "bad" food I eat, the more I thrive on it. This is my 3rd week of no Diet Coke. I quit cold turkey on 2/18 and haven't had a sip since. Before that I was drinking 6-7 cans a day.
It's rather crazy as I think about it as most of my life I have struggled to gain weight. Hours in the gym lifting weights, eating until I literally puked and then eating again. Protein powders, weight gainers, I've done it all. Not anymore. I religiously stand on the scale every morning to monitor my weight. Any fluctuation in the wrong direction gets me to think about what I ate the day before and how I will address my meal plan for the day. As of today I was 159lbs. About 16lbs down from where I was when I started my quest for Boston 2 years ago, but I've been in the 160-165 range the last year and just recently went under 160lbs. The scary thing is that I'm starting to look like a runner.
So what is the skinny on skinny and just how will it affect me? My goal time is 2:49:55 or better for Boston. Based on calculators I use from http://www.runningforfitness.com/, the following shows how a few pounds can affect my overall time. Getting down to 155 on race day without sacrificing strength could gain me 3:39, a huge difference in time.
Weight (lbs) Predicted time Time difference
155 lbs....2:46:16.....-3:39
156 lbs....2:47:11.....-2:44
157 lbs....2:48:06.....-1:49
158 lbs....2:49:00....-0:55
159 lbs....2:49:55.....0:00
160 lbs....2:50:49....0:54
161 lbs....2:51:44.....1:49
162 lbs....2:52:38....2:43
163 lbs....2:53:32....3:37
And by the way, where did "the skinny on" originate? Well a quick Google told me it means news, information, gossip. This use of the word is said to have originated in the armed forces in the 1940s and might be jocularly based on 'the naked truth' as in "getting down to the skin" of a story, beneath the flourishes and frippery. Now I know.
So there you have the skinny on "skinny". If you want to get me riled up, tell me I look like I've gained a few pounds the next time you see me.
On a personal note, my last living grandparent passed away this last Saturday. My grandfather on my Dad's side lived to be 100yrs old. His life was an ultramarathon and he ran it as well as anyone could. I'll be running the Dallas Rock 'N' Roll 1/2 Marathon this coming Sunday and I will dedicate this race to him and hope that the strength that carried him through life will be with me for 13.1 miles. This will be a cutback week in terms of mileage to taper for the race. Sunday's performance should give me a good idea of where I stand as far as fitness for Boston.
Last weeks workout:
2/1 - Rest
2/2 - 12.1 Miles MLR
2/3 - 12.4 Mile MLR
2/4 - 9 Mile tempo run on treadmill with 3-8 @ 6:04 pace, 3% decline
2/5 - 6.3 mile Recovery run
2/6 - 16.2 mile LR
2/7 - 6 mile Recovery run
62 Miles Total
Thanks for contributions this week for MCRC! Really appreciate all of you. Take care and have a great week!
Actually, it doesn't really bother me as this is just one of many choices I have made in attempt to be more competitive in my racing. As my wife Gina explains it, I have brainwashed myself. No desserts, no fried food, no fast food, not drinks other than water, tea, coffee, skim milk, V8's and sports drinks. To be honest, the less "bad" food I eat, the more I thrive on it. This is my 3rd week of no Diet Coke. I quit cold turkey on 2/18 and haven't had a sip since. Before that I was drinking 6-7 cans a day.
It's rather crazy as I think about it as most of my life I have struggled to gain weight. Hours in the gym lifting weights, eating until I literally puked and then eating again. Protein powders, weight gainers, I've done it all. Not anymore. I religiously stand on the scale every morning to monitor my weight. Any fluctuation in the wrong direction gets me to think about what I ate the day before and how I will address my meal plan for the day. As of today I was 159lbs. About 16lbs down from where I was when I started my quest for Boston 2 years ago, but I've been in the 160-165 range the last year and just recently went under 160lbs. The scary thing is that I'm starting to look like a runner.
So what is the skinny on skinny and just how will it affect me? My goal time is 2:49:55 or better for Boston. Based on calculators I use from http://www.runningforfitness.com/, the following shows how a few pounds can affect my overall time. Getting down to 155 on race day without sacrificing strength could gain me 3:39, a huge difference in time.
Weight (lbs) Predicted time Time difference
155 lbs....2:46:16.....-3:39
156 lbs....2:47:11.....-2:44
157 lbs....2:48:06.....-1:49
158 lbs....2:49:00....-0:55
159 lbs....2:49:55.....0:00
160 lbs....2:50:49....0:54
161 lbs....2:51:44.....1:49
162 lbs....2:52:38....2:43
163 lbs....2:53:32....3:37
And by the way, where did "the skinny on" originate? Well a quick Google told me it means news, information, gossip. This use of the word is said to have originated in the armed forces in the 1940s and might be jocularly based on 'the naked truth' as in "getting down to the skin" of a story, beneath the flourishes and frippery. Now I know.
So there you have the skinny on "skinny". If you want to get me riled up, tell me I look like I've gained a few pounds the next time you see me.
On a personal note, my last living grandparent passed away this last Saturday. My grandfather on my Dad's side lived to be 100yrs old. His life was an ultramarathon and he ran it as well as anyone could. I'll be running the Dallas Rock 'N' Roll 1/2 Marathon this coming Sunday and I will dedicate this race to him and hope that the strength that carried him through life will be with me for 13.1 miles. This will be a cutback week in terms of mileage to taper for the race. Sunday's performance should give me a good idea of where I stand as far as fitness for Boston.
Last weeks workout:
2/1 - Rest
2/2 - 12.1 Miles MLR
2/3 - 12.4 Mile MLR
2/4 - 9 Mile tempo run on treadmill with 3-8 @ 6:04 pace, 3% decline
2/5 - 6.3 mile Recovery run
2/6 - 16.2 mile LR
2/7 - 6 mile Recovery run
62 Miles Total
Thanks for contributions this week for MCRC! Really appreciate all of you. Take care and have a great week!
Monday, March 1, 2010
Another One Bites the Dust!
Here we are, March 1st already. Another week down, another month down, another one bites the dust. The time seems to be going by faster as we get closer to April. Either that or it just goes by faster as you get older? We celebrated the 5th birthday of our Princess at home this weekend and it's just unreal. At best, I think I've got 4-6 months before our oldest son Corbin is bigger than me at the age of 14.
I'm sort of in that period where I feel like I want to hurry up and be done with the training and get on with the race, but at the same time, I feel like I could use more time just to be safe. It's a feeling that I am more familiar with during each tax season. As big deadlines apporach, I think to myself, "only XX more weeks", but at the same time I'm thinking "only XX more weeks". Too much time, but not enough. This year I thought I would put a self imposed deadline of April 10th for tax filing purposes so as to not be working like mad right up until the day before we leave for Boston, but that may not happen. I'm sure I'll be hammering away up until the 15th.
On a similar note, I registered two weeks ago for the Chicago Marathon wich fall on 10/10/10 this year, 5 days before my biggest tax deadline of the year and even more stressful that April 15th. What in the world where the organizers of these two races thinking when they scheduled these?
A huge thanks goes out to everyone that has shown their support for me in the B2BS Challenge and on my FaceBook page. Some funds started rolling in last week as well and that is awesome. I can honestly tell you that you will all be in my thoughts in Boston and Big Sur pushing me through to the end, especially Big Sur when my body will be screaming at me to stop and my brain will be asking if we hadn't just done this six days ago.
As for this weeks training, here it is:
2/22 - Rest
2/23 - 11 mile Tempo run with 6 in the middle @ 6:31 pace
2/24 - 6.5 mile recovery on TM @ 9:15 pace
2/25 - 6.8 miles with 4/1200m intervals at 5:31 pace
2/25 - 4.8 TM run with hill repeats 10x10 secs @ 12mph @ 12% incline
2/26 - 6.0 easy @ 7:42 pace
2/27 - 20.91 Long run with miles 11-20 @ Goal marathon pace of 6:21
2/28 - 5.0 mile recovery on TM @ 8:48 pace
61.1 Total miles for the week and finished February with 248 miles.
Sunday's long run with the 10 GMP miles gave me some confidence 7 weeks out. The 6:21 was about 4 seconds a mile faster than goal, but I wasn't off by much. I'd rather miss this to the low side than high. They felt pretty good, a bit difficult, but great for my confidence to run those splits deep into the long run.
That's it for now, too much work to do. Take care and I hope everyone has a great week.
I'm sort of in that period where I feel like I want to hurry up and be done with the training and get on with the race, but at the same time, I feel like I could use more time just to be safe. It's a feeling that I am more familiar with during each tax season. As big deadlines apporach, I think to myself, "only XX more weeks", but at the same time I'm thinking "only XX more weeks". Too much time, but not enough. This year I thought I would put a self imposed deadline of April 10th for tax filing purposes so as to not be working like mad right up until the day before we leave for Boston, but that may not happen. I'm sure I'll be hammering away up until the 15th.
On a similar note, I registered two weeks ago for the Chicago Marathon wich fall on 10/10/10 this year, 5 days before my biggest tax deadline of the year and even more stressful that April 15th. What in the world where the organizers of these two races thinking when they scheduled these?
A huge thanks goes out to everyone that has shown their support for me in the B2BS Challenge and on my FaceBook page. Some funds started rolling in last week as well and that is awesome. I can honestly tell you that you will all be in my thoughts in Boston and Big Sur pushing me through to the end, especially Big Sur when my body will be screaming at me to stop and my brain will be asking if we hadn't just done this six days ago.
As for this weeks training, here it is:
2/22 - Rest
2/23 - 11 mile Tempo run with 6 in the middle @ 6:31 pace
2/24 - 6.5 mile recovery on TM @ 9:15 pace
2/25 - 6.8 miles with 4/1200m intervals at 5:31 pace
2/25 - 4.8 TM run with hill repeats 10x10 secs @ 12mph @ 12% incline
2/26 - 6.0 easy @ 7:42 pace
2/27 - 20.91 Long run with miles 11-20 @ Goal marathon pace of 6:21
2/28 - 5.0 mile recovery on TM @ 8:48 pace
61.1 Total miles for the week and finished February with 248 miles.
Sunday's long run with the 10 GMP miles gave me some confidence 7 weeks out. The 6:21 was about 4 seconds a mile faster than goal, but I wasn't off by much. I'd rather miss this to the low side than high. They felt pretty good, a bit difficult, but great for my confidence to run those splits deep into the long run.
That's it for now, too much work to do. Take care and I hope everyone has a great week.
Sunday, February 21, 2010
Boston 2 Big Sur Welcome
As this is my first post since publicizing that I am running the B2BS challenge on behalf of Midland Children's Rehab Center (MCRC), I thought I would give a warm welcome to anyone that finds themself here reading this post. I sincerely appreciate any support you give to me over the next nine weeks, whether it be in the financial or moral form.
The opportunity to take this challenge came up several months ago and I took the plunge along with 3 friends of mine that I will introduce at a later date. The 3 of them are all running to benefit the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation. I choose MCRC due to the great work that the center does for children here in our community of Midland, Texas and because of the children as well. I have been blessed with four healthy children, but not everyone is so lucky and their are many families out there that need the help of the center. Since my days of serving on the Board of High Sky Children's Ranch, I have had a place in my heart for organizations that benefit children and I truly appreciate the opportunity that MCRC is giving me to represent them in this endeavor.
On to the training. While it feels like I have been at it nonstop for some time due to the 3 marathons last year, I'm only 4 weeks along into this cycle for Boston at this point. I like to consider it a 12 week cycle for Boston, 5 days off and then no training for Big Sur. So far, all has held up pretty well for me physically. A slight scare a few weeks back, but found out it was nothing serious at all, but rather just some tightness in the calf muscles. For those of you that are unfamiliar with marathon training, encounterng injury during the training cycle is a much more common factor than I imagined before running my first. I don't know the numbers, but a good deal of people training for a marathon never make it to the starting line because of injury related issues. Right now, holding injury at bay while still training as hard as this body can take is my goal.
Fortunately for me, as I have gained experience, I've been better able to sense when things aren't "right" and back it off a bit if necessary. Currently, that's not the case and that's just fine with me. I'll keep the throttle open as much as possible, yet take advantage of some easy days as well and hopefully find a good enough balance of training to get me to the starting line healthy and in good position for a solid race. Uh, make that two solid races.
On to the training which I will try to post weekly. This past week's training has gone as follows:
2/15 - Rest
2/16 - 13 miles on treadmill with miles 3-10.5 @ 6:02
2/17 - 6.1 miles easy run @ 8:15 pace
2/18 - 8.6 miles total with 12x400m intervals @ 1:13 avg per 400m
2/19 - 7.6 miles @ 7:27 pace
2/20 - 10.15 miles @ 7:44 pace
2/21 - 20.05 miles @ 7:29 pace
Total Miles = 65.6
This is the last week of my "speed phase" so I will be moving away from shorter intervals on the track and will be replacing those workouts with lactate threshold runs as my primary hard days. Total mileage for each of the last 3 weeks has been between 60-65 and should be around 65 this coming week with a third weekend in a row to include a 20 miler. This will be my 4th of this cycle. I only did 2 for my entire Boston training cycle last year.
Three more weeks until my tune-up race which will be the Rock 'n' Roll Dallas 1/2 Marathon. That race being 5 weeks out from Boston should give me a good idea of were I stand with my fitness. I'm feeling pretty healthy so I have high hopes right now. I'll post more on my goal for that race as we get closer.
Okay, until next weekend, take care and I'll be back to post the weeks activities. Thanks again to anyone taking a peek here. Have a great week!
The opportunity to take this challenge came up several months ago and I took the plunge along with 3 friends of mine that I will introduce at a later date. The 3 of them are all running to benefit the Christopher & Dana Reeve Foundation. I choose MCRC due to the great work that the center does for children here in our community of Midland, Texas and because of the children as well. I have been blessed with four healthy children, but not everyone is so lucky and their are many families out there that need the help of the center. Since my days of serving on the Board of High Sky Children's Ranch, I have had a place in my heart for organizations that benefit children and I truly appreciate the opportunity that MCRC is giving me to represent them in this endeavor.
On to the training. While it feels like I have been at it nonstop for some time due to the 3 marathons last year, I'm only 4 weeks along into this cycle for Boston at this point. I like to consider it a 12 week cycle for Boston, 5 days off and then no training for Big Sur. So far, all has held up pretty well for me physically. A slight scare a few weeks back, but found out it was nothing serious at all, but rather just some tightness in the calf muscles. For those of you that are unfamiliar with marathon training, encounterng injury during the training cycle is a much more common factor than I imagined before running my first. I don't know the numbers, but a good deal of people training for a marathon never make it to the starting line because of injury related issues. Right now, holding injury at bay while still training as hard as this body can take is my goal.
Fortunately for me, as I have gained experience, I've been better able to sense when things aren't "right" and back it off a bit if necessary. Currently, that's not the case and that's just fine with me. I'll keep the throttle open as much as possible, yet take advantage of some easy days as well and hopefully find a good enough balance of training to get me to the starting line healthy and in good position for a solid race. Uh, make that two solid races.
On to the training which I will try to post weekly. This past week's training has gone as follows:
2/15 - Rest
2/16 - 13 miles on treadmill with miles 3-10.5 @ 6:02
2/17 - 6.1 miles easy run @ 8:15 pace
2/18 - 8.6 miles total with 12x400m intervals @ 1:13 avg per 400m
2/19 - 7.6 miles @ 7:27 pace
2/20 - 10.15 miles @ 7:44 pace
2/21 - 20.05 miles @ 7:29 pace
Total Miles = 65.6
This is the last week of my "speed phase" so I will be moving away from shorter intervals on the track and will be replacing those workouts with lactate threshold runs as my primary hard days. Total mileage for each of the last 3 weeks has been between 60-65 and should be around 65 this coming week with a third weekend in a row to include a 20 miler. This will be my 4th of this cycle. I only did 2 for my entire Boston training cycle last year.
Three more weeks until my tune-up race which will be the Rock 'n' Roll Dallas 1/2 Marathon. That race being 5 weeks out from Boston should give me a good idea of were I stand with my fitness. I'm feeling pretty healthy so I have high hopes right now. I'll post more on my goal for that race as we get closer.
Okay, until next weekend, take care and I'll be back to post the weeks activities. Thanks again to anyone taking a peek here. Have a great week!
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