The Mojo Returnith

So Boulder brought me back to the world of runners again. And just in time I would say. In a phone call on Memorial Day, I was reminded by Chooch that the Chicago Marathon, which is the next one I am scheduled to run, is 18 weeks out as of June 9th. Meaning that's the day that I have to start my training. I have selected the Hal Higdon Advanced II marathon training program for use in Chicago. I will not try to write my own stuff and decided on this one, more so than the Daniels or the Pfitz plans becuase of the marathon I am running. Hal and Chicago go together like a hot shower and a cold beer :-p. It is a proven plan that works for this marathon. I will probably run a few more miles than what is in the plan, but the workouts are what have drawn me to this particular one. Where it fits for me is that I have Fridays and Sundays off from work. Every Friday in this plan is a scheduled rest day, which means I can give my body the full day off. No work, no running, just playing with the dog and enjoying the sunshine. I will just have to resist the urge to spend the day drinking beer while I'm at it. Although I pretty much planning on going booze free for the summer as I head to Chicago. The other part of the plan I like is the back to back hard workouts that take place on the weekends. Thus the Friday off before hand. For example in week 10, after doing hills on Tuesday, that Saturday I am to run 9 miles at "pace" , (meaning marathon pace), which is quite the workout in intself, but then the next day, I have a 19 mile run to do the next day. Sounds fun, huh? Actually to me it does. I talked a little a couple blogs ago about how I felt like my mid week stuff, my non LR or speedwork runs were not very good as I trained for Colorado. I mixed long runs and pace runs together, thinking it would make me stronger, but it just cut the corner and allowed my mid week runs to just be miles instead of anything beneificial.

As we enter the month of June, I am embarking on the North v. South Challenge on RW as well as many others from the forums. The first 3 weeks of this plan, my miles will be a little higher than what's scheduled, as I will be logging quite a few miles for the North team. I am beginning the month tomorrow with my longest run since my marathon at the begining of last month, and if all goes well, will surpass the 100 mile mark at least once during the month, although I am hoping for twice, but I'm not going to risk my marathon over it. I figure around 350 for the month for me. And that still leaves me where my long runs for my plan are 13, 14, and 10 as we enter the first 3 weeks of July. I talked about being very business like when I ran Boulder at the beginning of this last week, well, that's the way this training is going to be.

I am still trying to get back into the routine of getting up early in the morning again. I so want to be an early morning runner, but am not there yet. By the 9th of June, I hope to be doing my running in the morning, then after work, I can head to the gym for 2 nights a week of light weight lifting, 2 nights a week of core work, 2 nights a week of swimming, and then still making Friday go to the gym and sit in the hot tub and resting day. It's hard to believe that it's almost time for me to start training again, yet here we go.

I plan to run the Bakers Dozen trail half marathon next Sunday and have a 5k scheduled the week after that. I will probably keep racing throughout the summer, just to keep me moving and motivated, while working it in with my training.

Happy last day of May folks...

Bolder Boulder

So I got back in action today for the first time since running the Colorado Marathon on May 4th and ran the Bolder Boulder for the 2nd consecutive year today. I've talked with a few people on this site in PM's and over email and phone calls, but I've been in a funk since the marathon went south for me earlier this month. I haven't been running much, I haven't been rising at 4 to go to the gym, I usually get up around 5:30 to play with the dog and make sure she gets exercise, then shower and off to work. I stepped foot in my gym for the first time in a week on Sunday, and then I just sat in the hot tub and relaxed. I needed a kick in the a/s/s and started by signing up for a trail half marathon in two weeks, but was hoping a good race today would go a long ways to getting me going again. I've never run a good race in Boulder. Last years BB 10k I ran a 46:32, and at the Colder Boulder invite in December, I ran a 21:56 for a 5k. This is was actually only my 3rd ever 10k, and my PR of 44:57 has stood for almost a year.One thing I can say about today is that I really like the 10k distance. I will probably try and do more of these.I think about 53000 people ran Boulder this year. It was a cooler day than last year, and rained for a lot of the morning before the race. I started in the AB wave for the 2nd straight year as well. Last year I showed up in Boulder with no IPOD because they are prohibited, and saw 90% of the people running wearing one. I didn't bring one again this year, it's only 10k and there's a buttload of entertainment on the course. I set my Garmin for 42:59 as the target finish time. 6:59 per mile is what it said I needed to run. And something in the 42:'s was what I was shooting for. As the waves moved forward and were being released, I stood back and waited for everyone in mine to go before I took off. I was hoping that the people would thin a little and I wouldn't get stuck behind people or hung up.

Mile 1. 6:39. A little quick, but didn't think too much about it knowing I could slow up a little and had lots of race to run.

Mile 2. 6:50. Settled in at a good pace, passed a kid I blogged about once who worked out at my old gym, he was struggling already and I offered some words of encouragement as I passed.

Mile 3. 6:58. I was pretty much right on the money with this mile. A couple things that took place during this mile. #1 I started to really struggle during this part last year, and recognized the stretch that I actually walked during this mile last year, but held tough today. #2. The guys with the slip and slide who were drinking beer at 7:30 in the morning, wearing straw cowboy hats and asking if we wanted to stop and party...If I had felt at this point in the race like I did last year, game on boys, but not today. It was kinda cool though.

Mile 4. 7:01. I was starting to feel it a little in my legs, as when you hit the mile 4 marker, its a pretty good uphill. I was watching my Forerunner, but instead of trying to run at 6:59 pace up the hill, I ran at 6:59 exertion, and picked the time up on the way back down the other side. As this mile ended, you start to enter the business districts again and know your getting close.

Mile 5. 6:52. Another good mile for me, was really starting to feel a little fatigue, but the coolest part was that instead of backing off, I pushed ahead, never really getting off pace. This was another section last year where I stopped and walked.Mile 6. 7:05.

Mile 6 is decieving in it's time because of the finish of the race. You hang the right onto Folsom Street, which begins to lead you to Folsom Field. It's a slight uphill that ends with a pretty good climb as you run the last 1000 meters or so. The part I really don't like is at 8.8 they start hanging banners that tell you your KM run. When I saw the first one from a distance, I remember last year seeing a 9k one, so I thought that was it and I was in great shape. Come to find out I was .2km off. So I picked up the pace a little, climbed the hill to the stadium, and crossed the finish line at 42:58:84, less than one second faster than my target I set on my Garmin. 1:59 seconds ahead of my 10k PR.I didn't run a really fast race today. I set a goal and acheived it. I refound a little dicipline today, and was almost scientific in the way I tried to hit my mile times. With the exception of getting out a little quick, I was pretty much right where I wanted to be for most of my miles. I was tired at the end, but wasn't hanging on for dear life. Like I said, I set a goal, and I acheived it.

I have talked recently about my lack of motivation, my not really wanting to run, or work out, or do much of anything except hide from life it seems. I got up this morning and ran. I wasn't hung over because I didn't go out and party after the race. I feel like I might be ready to return to normal, to fight on like I used to be able to. I think I'm ready to put all the outside distractions behind me and try to get back to what I enjoy doing. Running

A Year Gone By

Today is the Sunday before Memorial Day. That day last year was a biggie for me. Tomorrow morning I will get up and make my way down to Boulder to run the 10k down there for the 2nd year in a row. I think about all the racing I've done since last years race and how excited I am for this years. Boulder is the biggest event, at least by number of people, that I have ever done. I race a buttload, and most of the stuff is very small though. I did PF Chang in AZ and that was big, watched Chicago last year, and ran the half at the Denver Marathon, and those where the places I saw the most people. Last year 50,816 people laced it up to run the Bolder Boulder. This is its 30th year and I imagine it will be more like 52,000 this year. Luckily I get to start in the AB wave, which is like the 4th wave out so 99% of those people will start and finish behind me. It's just a 10k and when it's all said and done, probably not worth the 30 bucks in gas I'll spend to drive there, fight the traffic to find a parking space, and wait in the port o potty lines for half an hour before the race to run for 40 some minutes. The town is very cool though, a lot like Ft. Collins, although a little less laid back and a lot more political. I'm not huge into politics and a person can be as laid back as they want to be, so that stuff has no effect on me. I will probably take my camera tomorrow and get some pics, as it is a beautiful town.

This is a huge reflection weekend for me, as my life has changed a lot since Memorial Day last year. And it will be a day or two full of reflection for me. How things have changes, how some have stayed the same. How the decisions I've made in the last year have really affected my life. It's almost an anniversery of some kind. A time to look back and look forward. It's been a big weekend so far, with more to come.

Race report to come tomorrow...

Answers Found On The Road

It's been 2 weeks since the Colorado Marathon, and I was thinking about another one in Steamboat before cooler heads prevailed and I opted to just run the Bolder Boulder, and do some local 5 and 10K stuff as I headed into the summer and get ready for my next marathon training session to begin twords the middle July. One thing that was said to me when I thought about running Steamboat was that if I was serious about it, I needed to figure out what went wrong in Colorado, and while out for a 5 mile run yesterday, I found out just that.



I did all the miles necessary to run a complete marathon, probably more than needed, where I fell short was in the intensity of those workouts. As I tried to get ready for that first marathon, I lived by the motto that I only ran fast on the days I was supposed to. I felt like it kept me healthy, got me to the starting line in one piece. My speed workouts were always good, but the longer stuff, and even the non speed days were very easy. After having very good success with that at PF Chang, I went the same route for the Colorado Marathon, although at this point I believe that what I came up with was 1 speed workout per week, (or hills), one long run per week, and 4 days of junk miles. Just miles is all they were. I never really pushed myself as hard as I could, for fear of injury. And my body adjusted to the mileage, and only really got taxed for a couple workouts a week. Thus explaining how I could run borderline 70 miles per week average and show almost no signs of weight loss, my body physically not changing, ect. My diet was almost identical to the training I did for Phoenix, but obviously with much different results. My body was ready to run 26.2 miles. It just was not ready to run it at the pace I set out to do. The shitty part of that is, that I still probably could have run a 3:25 marathon, if I had run 7:20 miles instead of 7:00 minute ones instead. It wasn't the distance that got me, it was the speed in which I was trying to cover that distance in that cooked my goose. I recall the early days of my running last summer, where it seemed i couldn't get healthy, and a big part of that was that I would run as fast as I could on a daily basis, and my body wouldn't hold up to it. This round, I was hardly running fast at all, so there has to be some middle ground somewhere for me to find. Which I will I think during my down time over the next couple months.



The other thing that came to me on that run was about race goals. I mentioned that I would like to race Boulder in around 42:something. I did it in 46:something last year, but it was one of my worst races. That goal is probably one of the more realistic ones I've set in recent memory. I think about my 2 marathons, although I think that BQ'ing in Co was not that far of a stretch when I set it, when I was thinking BQ in AZ, since it was my first one, that may have been over the top a little. To PR the Horsetooth Half in April, which I missed by 29 seconds on one of the hardest couses I've ever done, may have been a stretch as well, due to the elevatiojn changes of the race. Anyways I got to thinking. How many times have I ever walked from a race and done what I set out to do. I ran my first 5k and finished it, that's one. I ran my second and finished faster than my first. That's two. I ran my third and was faster than my second, that's three, but also that got me in the 20:something range and every other 5k since except when I placed in my age group at the Cinco Cinco 5k and got a plaque for it, has been the sub 20 quest which I havent obtained. But we'll say 4 times on 5k's have I done what I wanted. Finishing races after my exprience in Boulder last year is no longer an accomplishment. I had no doubts that at the begining of any of my halfs, or even my two fulls that I would cross the finish line. For me that is not even something that crosses my mind. Although happy with my time at my first Horsetooth Half last year, I didn't make the time I wanted. Hell I didn't make the time I wanted last year, this year. Under 1:35 was last years goal, to PR was this years, and neither came true. The day in November last year when I did set my half PR, I did accomplish what I set out to do that day. So that's five times. And really that's it. I went through the 5k mark at the Turkey Trot in Denver in under 20 minutes, but they didn't do a 5k split, and I ran that in about 26 minutes, which for me was smoking fast, but I had no real goal. So there we go. I have raced 21 times since Super Bowl Sunday in 2007, and 5 times I have crossed the finish line not acheiving what I was looking for, and 3 of those were not even very specific. I'm left with a half marathon PR, and a plaque for a race that I coveted, although I think it only ranks #5 in my fastest 5k's.

So the question becomes: Does this drive me to race faster than I ever have, or does it begin to break me down? I have a little bit of a history when racing that I would run well for a race, then not so good the next one. Like I might over enjoy my sucesses until a failure knocked me on my ass again. A little taste of success in Boulder may be just what the doctor ordered.

But did I set a realistic goal time, lol...

Happy start to the week everyone.

Change of Heart

So, I sit here with a lot on my mind. I was thinking of doing another marathon on June 1 in Steamboat Springs after the disaster that was the Colorado Marathon here in Fort Collins. After discussing it with the 2 people who's opinions I think the most of when it comes to running and the RW forums, I have decided to forgo this marathon. It was further confirmed when today, after work, I attempted my second hard workout in a row for the first time since the marathon. After 5 miles on the hills of Horsetooth yesterday, I attempted 5 miles at 10k pace and crashed after 4 miles. Even with 2 weeks rest, the conclusion is that my body is not ready to run another marathon. And I was asked today, that if I couldn't BQ or PR the race, why run it. With the exception of a 5k I did on Fathers Day weekend last year, I have run every race ever to PR, and that one I didn't because I had finished a 10k for the same event just about 20 minutes before it started. Is going up and running a 3:20 or so going to make it all better? No. It might make me feel a little better, but I am probably better off using the fuel in my training for Chicago or NY. Also, I ran back to back hard workouts this weekend and at the end of the 2nd, I really struggled. My body won't be ready for another marathon in just 2+ weeks.

I plan to run the Bolder Boulder on Memorial Day, probably start to hit the abundance of 5k's here untill about the 4th of July, then I should know if its a October or November marathon for me, then I can start training accordingly. I have yet to run a good race at Boulder. I ran last years Bolder Boulder in 46:32. That's 23:16 per 5k. And I remember the run vividly, how lousy it went. I reappeared in Boulder for the Colder Boulder Invite in December, about a month before the PF Chang marathon in Phoenix. It's a 5k and I ran a blistering 21:56. I remember that race too. I led it for about a mile and half before I started to come apart. My PR for a 10k is 44:57, which was 3 weeks after the Bolder Boulder last year. I've only run two of them, but I expect my PR should fall on Memorial Day. I'm looking for something in the 42's. I think that would be ok. 21:30 per 5k should be doable. With that being said, I do love the Bolder Boulder. I get to start in the 3rd wave, so the 50000 people behind me are not a problem. I might have trouble liking this race if I had to start in the middle, or run the Open race. It should be fun, and hopefully the weather is nice.

Happy Friday all...

Change In Venue

So we are one week removed from the Colorado Marathon, and life has been very busy for me. I have started running again and feel very good actually, I think I should be near a regular running schedule again by Monday of next week. At the completion of last weekend, when all was said and done, I felt I had to make a change. I've been told that I never do anything half assed, and this was no exception. From time to time I mention Jasmine, my chocolate lab, who I love very much, but have been seperated from for quite a while now. I decided that on Tuesday of last week that I wasn't going to live this way anymore. I posted a quick listing on Craigslist that basically said that I was ready to move, I am almost never home, and have a dog that is coming with me. I got over a dozen responses that first day, and by the end of the night, I had a key to a new place, the price is awesome, and now some of that emptiness that I've had is filled. Plus, Jaz needs to be taken care of, and now she can be.

Fort Collins backs up against the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. I-25 runs north out of Denver and as you make your way twords the Wyoming border, Fort Collins sits on the west side between the foothills and the interstate. My new place is right off Overland Trail Road. The last, most western major street in town. When I walk outside my front door, this is what I see...

There is open space, all around. The road right across the way leads up to Horsetooth Resivior, and the start of the Horsetooth Half Marathon course is right there as well. (I guess I have no excuse to run anything under a 1:30 at the one next year) The drive in is only about a 1/4 mile away too. It's about 5 miles from where I work, so I may do some days where I run to work and back after Jaz gets settled in at the new place, but at the very least some bike to work days will be in order.

I was thinking last night after Jaz and I returned from a short run, that I almost feel like I've moved into a training facility. All the tools are here for me to have a summer that should make me into a much better runner as I prepare for my fall marathon. I have hills, miles of open space, trails, all good for running or biking. My gym has a pool, hot tub, and all the weights I need. This could be one of the best things I could have done for myself. From a personal standpoint without a doubt, but also from an athletic standpoint as well.

In the wake of last Sunday's marathon disaster, this may be exactly what I needed to kick start my running and my life.

Up next: Bolder Boulder 10k 5/26/08

Steamboat Springs Marathon 6/01/08

Chicago or NYC Marathon TBD

Plus lots of little races in between.

When Good Marathons Go Bad. My Race Report

I want to start this blog by saying a couple things. #1 is that I know that I finished above the top 25% of people in the matathon. I know a lot of people have said things along the lines that they would be happy with a 3:40 marathon, or "that's a great time", and things of that nature. And to that I say, with no disrespect intended to people, that you are way off base when you look at it that way. I would be happy with a 3:40 marathon, if I had been training for a 3:40 or a 3:45 or something in that time frame. But I had trained and expected a 3:05-3:08. Those who run 4 hour marathons, imagine going out and posting a 4:40 and tell me that you wouldn't be disappointed. #2 is that at this very moment, I still have no clue as to why this happened. Overtraining, under nourishment, distractions? None of those seem to be any better or worse than the marathon I did in Phoenix. I felt better and stronger throughout my training. 3 weeks ago, I ran a harder than hell half marathon that I came within 29 seconds of a PR. Logically, I have no reason as to why I could lose that much over that little amount of time. I'll think about it over the next few days, but right now, it's a mystery.

The race kicked off at 6:15 am. It was about 32 degrees at the start and the sun was coming up. I actaully was walking from the port a potty when the gun went off, but it was chip timed, so no biggie. Probably about 90% of the race participants started before I got to the starting line. The downhills on the first couple miles changed my starting pace some, but it actually felt very easy with the hills. I carried my own water and gels, and had recruited some help at mile 17 to take my water bottle and give me a G2 and another gel pack, so I was hoping not to have to mess with stations and just be able to run. By mile 7, I knew I was in trouble though. In my first marathon, the pace was easy to keep, untill about mile 20. This time, I was feeling it and having to work to try and keep the mile times around where I needed them. By mile 10, I was doing the math in my head. I figured that if I could hold the pace until I popped out of the canyon at 17.5 then I only had less than 9 miles to go. And I could let my mile times creep upwards of 8:20 because of the time I saved during the first couple of miles and the wiggle room I had given myself at the end. I knew I would be hurting and that the times would go up, but I never could have expected what came. Right before I came out of the canyon, my stomach cramped for a minute, it didn't stay, but it was long enough to break my rhythm. After getting my G2, and I'll say I put on a great show in front of my friend, even though I was dying, I straightened up and found the strength to at least not look like a train wreck in progress, I walked through the subsequent water station and drank all 20 ounces of it. Right around 19.5, my calves started to cramp up really bad, and that was it. It shut me down almost instantly. I stopped dead in my tracks and I still had a long ways to go. At this point it became a walk/run to the finish. With me having to stop and walk every 1/4 mile or so. I could hold a 9:30 pace or so while running, I just couldn't run very long. The course is designed so that I essentaly had to finish, or else I would have probably walked. If I had different people waiting for me at the finish line too. But for a couple of them, it was their first time to watch me race, and when the time clock said 3:10:59, they were going to be worried enough without me walking all the way in, or not showing up for a while.

I came across the finish line at 3:40:55, a far cry from the 3:07 I was looking for.

The mile times:
1. 7:53
2. 7:28
3. 7:20
4. 7:23
5: 6:55
6. 6:58
7. 7:03
8. 6:59
9. 7:04
10. 6:55
11. 7:11
12. 7:08
13. 7:14
14. 7:12
15. 7:19
16. 7:26
17. 7:36 Exit of the canyon and end of most of the downhill stuff
18. 7:44
19. 8:35
20. 9:03
21. 10:08
22. 11:20
23. 12:28
24. 10:22
25. 10:50
26. 11:45
.23 2:22

As I was coming in, I was pretty much alone, and the crowd support was very thin through most of the race, but the last .4 or so people were everywhere, and the entry to Old Town rivaled PF Chang in PHX with the number of people that lined the finish gates though. They announced my name and everything, and people cheered, but I felt disgust for what had happened and just wanted to get across the finish line and put this mess behind me.

So, I have been thinking today that I might recover from this for a few days, start with some light running later in the week and just try to maintain myself and stay fit. On Memorial Day, run the Bolder Boulder, then turn around the next weekend and run the Steamboat Marathon that is about an hour and a half drive away from me. I'm not 100% sold on that yet, but it's in my thought process.

Thanks for all the good thoughts and support people, I know it didn't go the way I wanted it to, but there's always another day.