Just Because I'm Slow...

doesn't mean I don't feel competitive once in awhile. They finally had pictures from my 15k race available online, and when I looked at them, I couldn't help but laugh. The last three pictures are from near the finish line and in them I look like I'm possessed. The reason behind the crazed look: I was running a reverse split and doing very well the second half of the race. From about the seven mile point on, not one runner had passed me, and I was picking off runners ahead of me one by one. At about the nine mile point, a guy in a red shirt had the nerve to pass me! I tried to pick up the pace at that point, but couldn't quite do it. After the final turn, I could see the finish line about 200 yards ahead, and about 30 yards ahead of me was Mr. Red Shirt Guy. Well there was no way he was going to make it to the finish line ahead of me, so I kicked in the afterburners and "sprinted" to the finish line and beat him. According to my heartrate monitor, my heartrate peaked at 177 bpm (using the standard 220-age to calculate maximum heartrate, that number is about 6 bpm faster than what my max heartrate is). Of course, the resultant pictures are not something that I am going to frame and put on my wall, but they did provide me with a good laugh.

This weeks training:

Sunday - Rest day

Monday - 5.2 miles on treadmill in 1:04 (It was 92 degrees in the hotel fitness room!)

Tuesday - 10.15 miles on treadmill in 1:58

Wednesday - Nothing

Thursday - Nothing

Friday - 10.05 miles on treadmill in 1:58

Saturday - 4.98 miles on hilly course around neighborhood in 54 minutes

Sunday - 14.4 miles on treadmill in 2:52

PR!!

Okay, its the first 15k race I've run so no matter what my time was, it was going to be a PR. But, I was very happy with my running. The Peachtree City Classic 15k is an awesome race and I plan on running it again in future years. The first 2-3 miles is on streets, but after the field spreads out, the rest of the course is on golf cart paths. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Peachtree City, its a planned community with 100's of miles of golf cart paths. So most of the race you are running in the woods, enjoying nature, kind of like a nice weekend run with 1500 friends. They limit the field to 1500 so it doesn't feel crowded at all. My goal was to run a 10:40 pace, but weather conditions were ideal (50 degrees and overcast skies) so I was able to run a 1:36:37. My split times were:
Miles 1 and 2 21:14 (I missed seeing the first mile marker)
Mile 3 10:24
Mile 4 10:55
Mile 5 10:38
Mile 6 10:18
Mile 7 10:22
Mile 8 10:05
Mile 9 9:53
Last .3 2:48

Training for the week:

Monday - 5.35 miles on treadmill in 1:02

Tuesday - Was a lazy bum

Wednesday - 9.83 miles on treadmill in 1:54

Thursday - 5.48 miles on treadmill in 1:02

Friday - 3.51 miles on treadmill in 40 minutes. 15 minutes were at 6.0 mph

Saturday - 9.3 miles in 1:36:37

Why am I training for a marathon?

Good question. This is actually the 3rd or 4th time I've started marathon training. I have yet to run a marathon. Previous attempts were interrupted by laziness, injury, or war. I have been an off and on runner for about 30 years. My first race was the inaugural Bolder Boulder in 1979. I've tried to find my time from back then, but so far I have been unsuccessful. It would be interesting to see how my time compares to my 30 year older self. I have never been a fast runner. The fastest pace for a timed run that I remember is 13:30 for a required 1.5 mile run when I was about 30 years old in the Air Force. Back to the original question. The idea of running a marathon has been in the back or front of my mind for a long time. The sense of accomplishment of training for, getting to the starting line healthy and trained, and then crossing the finish line must be incredible and I'd like to do that. I've seen other peoples' goals of doing things like 50 marathons before they are 50, etc...well my goal is to finish a marathon under 5 hours before I'm 50. Will I accomplish this goal? Stay tuned!

This weeks training:

Monday - 5.13 miles on treadmill in 1:00

Tuesday - 9.46 miles on treadmill in 1:50

Wednesday - 5.1 miles on treadmill in 1:00
included 6 1 minute runs @ 6.2 mph

Thursday - 9.45 miles on treadmill in 1:50

Friday - 5.27 miles on treadmill in 1:00

Saturday - 10 minutes recumbent bike, 20 minutes elliptical trainer (Treadmill at this hotel sucks, I've been on a campaign to get them to replace it for 6 months now.)

Sunday - 13.39 miles on treadmill in 2:40
What a difference a week makes. Last week I struggled the last 1.5 hours of my long run. This week, I felt like I could have gone for another 30 minutes. I think my idea of eating a few extra carbs the day before was a good one.

Next weeks training. Add 2 and 4 minutes to my short and medium runs. In place of my long run, I'm going to run a 15k race.

I Ran Outside - and I Liked It!!!

Almost all of my training is done on a treadmill. There are several reasons for this, no dogs chasing me, perfect weather conditions, I travel a lot and almost every hotel has a treadmill, I can watch Judge Judy, and most important, no hills! (I HATE hills) However, on Saturday, my schedule was such that I had to leave for work before the gym opened (they have shortened weekend hours) and I wouldn't be back in time to get in my run at the gym. Since I already had taken a day off for the week, that left me with one option.....run outside. I ran in the pre-dawn hours, a 1.1 mile loop around my neighborhood. The good news is, none of my neighbors let their dogs run loose, also, I didn't mind the hills as much as I did last year. I guess I'm just getting stronger.

My training for the week:

Note: all treadmill run mileages and times include a 5 minute walking warmup and 5 minute walking cooldown.

Monday - 4.94 miles on treadmill in 58 minutes
40 minutes of weight training

Tuesday - 9.15 miles on treadmill in 1:46

Wednesday - 5 miles on treadmill in 58 minutes

Thursday - 9.12 miles on treadmill in 1:46

Friday - Off day

Saturday - 4.41 miles in 48 minutes. Run around neighborhood, I'm calling this a hill workout!

Sunday - 12.37 miles on treadmill in 2:34

For some reason, I had a really tough time with my long run this week. Even though I was running 0.2 mph slower than on my medium run days, my heartrate was about 10 bpm faster. I even had to slow down to a 1 minute walk about 4 or 5 times the last hour of my run. My guess is that my body was low on carbs since I'm also trying to lose some weight. Next week I'll try adding a few more carbs the day before my long run. Not necessarily carb loading, but more like not restricting carbs.

Next weeks training plan:

I'm planning on adding 2, 4, and 6 minutes to my short, medium and long runs. The plan is to continue to do this until I get to 1 hour, 2 hour, and 3 hour runs. Then continue to add to my long run until I run one 20 mile run a couple of weeks before my first marathon.