Marathon Maniac

Am I a marathon maniac? Maybe not yet but I’m working on it.
http://www.marathonmaniacs.com/areyouamarathonmaniac.html

I feel I have an addiction to racing. I hate the thought of having to wait 1-2 months for the next race. I have my race calendar set for the next 2 years and I keep looking at MarathonGuide.com to see if I can fit in another race somewhere.

I’m a little concerned that I might be overdoing it a little but then I see people like the maniacs and I feel like a wimp (I only raced in 3 marathons this year). I don’t have the desire (or the money) to race every weekend like some of these people but since I’ve achieved my BQ goal I need new challenges. I’m in the middle of 3 marathons in 14 weeks but unfortunately that just misses qualifying me to be a maniac. I have to run 3 in 90 days. My 2009 schedule will get me closer 3 in 91 days. So I might have to put that off for another year to 2.

For 2009 I want to run at least 5 marathons and try bunching races closer together to see how I can handle it. I want to error on the cautious side (well maniac cautious) and not do too much too fast. My first test might come in January. I entered the Disney half early this year. Later this summer I decided to run the Rock’nRoll Arizona marathon instead which is a week later. I’m now entertaining the thought of running both. The temps on Disney weekend have ranged from 30 to 80 so I’ll let the weather decide my fate. If it’s below 45 I’ll run Disney. We have had a pretty cold fall this year so there is a pretty good chance it will be cold on Jan 10. If I end up running both and do well then ’ll feel better about running marathons 4 or even 3 weeks apart instead of 6-8 weeks now.

Philadelphia Marathon

Time: 3:30:20
Overall 1233 out of 7261

I FINALLY GOT MY BQ!!!!!

I wanted cooler temperatures and I finally got it. The starting temperature was 26 with the finish somewhere around 32. I was a little concerned that the sub freezing temps may be a little too cold but once the race started it felt pretty good.

For the number of runners (16000 for both half and full) the start was very smooth. There were a few crowded sections especially at the water stations but nothing that slowed me down. Overall the course had a great layout. It had a nice combination of urban and parks. There were a few more hills than I thought there would be but I didn’t struggle with any of them.

My plan was to hang with the 3:30 pace group and then, depending on what I had left, move ahead in the last few miles. An early pit stop and crowded water stops put me behind about 2 minutes but by mile 10 I was running with the group. In the second half I found myself falling behind a little but I did a good job of pulling within 30 seconds every time I fell back.

I felt good up until the 21-22 mile mark when I started to doubt myself. If it wasn’t for the BQ goal I probably would have let up a little but I kept focusing on the balloons (held by the pacer) and thinking Boston, Boston, Boston. Once I passed the 24 mile mark I knew that I had it. I just wanted to stay within 30 seconds of the pacer then give all that I had the last 1.2 to pass him. At 25.5 I had nothing left but knew that I was only 5-6 minutes away. There were some tight curves at the end and I lost sight of the balloons, which was all that I was looking at for the last mile, but I just focused straight ahead and kept repeating Boston, Boston, Boston.

My hands were so frozen it took me three times to stop my watch. Even with that delay, I had my time at 3:30:19 so I figured it was something like 3:30:14. It really didn’t matter much though, it was below 3:30:59 and I was a Boston Qualifier.

http://results.active.com/pages/searchform.jsp?rsID=73341

Chicago Marathon

Time: 3:53:25
Overall: 5097 out of 31000+

Another HOT marathon. I don't have any luck. Chicago had near record heat for a second straight year. Two days before or after would have been great weather to run in. Oh well, I still had a great time. This was my first "Big City" marathon that I should have done a long time ago but it was well worth the wait.

The course layout was great and the crowds were incredible. It was like taking the top spectator areas at Disney and stretching them over 60% of the course. There wasn't a spot on the course where there wasn't someone cheering you on.

Even though it was going to be a warm one, I still kept to my plan to run hard. I had a great pace for the first 15k (1:11:34) but the heat started catching up with me shortly after that. When the 3:30 pace group finally passed me by at mile 16 I knew it was over. I backed off my pace and even added in a little walking but by mile 22 I had nothing left.

Two days later I feel fine and ready to get back to training for Philadelphia.

16 weeks until Chicago

16 weeks until the Chicago Marathon. According to my running log, today I officially start my marathon training. In reality I’ve been doing it since my last one in January. Over the last few months my weekly average has been in the high 40’s with five weeks over 50 and two of those over 60. In contrast, my weekly average prior to my last marathon was in the mid to high 30’s and only two weeks were over 40. My upcoming schedule has weekly average in the high 50’s with my high weeks topping out in the mid 60’s. I know that I will run more miles than I’m scheduled to run but I’m not sure how much higher I will (or should) go. For now I’ll try to make an effort to keep it under 65 and see how things go.

Spring into Summer 5k

Time: 19:53
Overall: 21 out of 297
Age Group: 1 out of 9
race results


Another hot and humid Spring into Summer race. I’m not sure what the temp was this morning but it was very muggy. I learned my lesson from previous races and drank lots of water before the start. I also let up a little on my training runs this week which helped a lot also.

This is a well run race on a great course. I love running in Al Lopez Park and it was nice to run a race with a strong field. They didn’t have a clock at the finish line but did a really good job of reading the clock time as runners were approaching the finish line.

My goal this year (5k season) was to break 20 minutes. I have now done that is 3 of my last 4 races. Too bad this will be my last for a while but now it’s time to focus on of number one goal of qualifying for Boston.

Seminole Stampede 5k

Time: 19:47
Overall: 6 out of 100
Age Group: 1 out of 9
race results

I finally (officially) broke the 20 minute barrier. This is one of my favorite courses so I couldn’t have happened at a better place. My first mile was 5:58 which was my fastest first split. I knew I was running fast (for me) but I didn’t feel that I was pressing too hard. For the 2nd mile I tried to back off a little and was aiming for a 6:30 mile which I missed by 2 seconds. My second split was 12:30. I tried keep the 3rd mile at the same pace and ended up with a 3rd split of 19:05.
I replaced some of my longer runs this week with intervals and I think that really helped. I have two more 5ks in the next few weeks and I plan on using the same training strategy. If the weather cooperates I think I could finish under 19:30.

As for the race, it seemed a little disorganized this year. Apparently the person entering the runner info into the computer missed a lot of data because there were about 15-20 runners (including me) that were missing from the preliminary results. During the awards, the person reading the results didn’t have a clue. He was probably given the results pages out of order but he should have known that you hand out the overall awards first and then work up each age group. This guy starts at men 30-34 and then fits in the overall before the 50-54 age group. I didn’t want to watch the train wreck so after the overall got his award I took off.

Since this is my favorite 5k course I’ll be back next year.

Training 5/6/08

My Achilles tendons are feeling better. I’ve run 7+ miles the last 2 days with little pain. I think that taking the weekend off was a really good idea.

I have noticed that my joints get pretty stiff after sitting around a while. They will loosen up after I walk around for a couple of minutes. I’m not going to be too concerned about this though unless I start feeling some pain with the stiffness.

My plan is to keep it between 7-10 miles the rest of the week. But that might change depending on how the run is going.

Achilles tendon injury

Outside of tight hamstrings I have been running injury free for the last 3 years. I think my luck has finally run out. My achilles tendons have been tight in the morning for the last month but a simple stretch and they were fine the rest of the day. Toward the end of last week, my right tendon was feeling tender during and after runs. My 16 mile run on Sunday really did it in though. I tried to run through it on Tuesday but there was a lot of pain so I cut the run short and walked for a while. I’m a little concerned that if I push it then it will turn into something big.

This week was going to be a low mileage week anyway so I’m just going to play it safe and stick to walking of the stationary bike until early next week. Based on an article in Running Times I think my injury is in the paratenon which is a sheath around the tendon and not the tendon itself. Their suggestion was to stretch, ice down and rest it for a little while.
I hate not being able to run for a week but that sounds a lot better than not being able to run for a few months.

Harvey's 5k St Petersburg

Time: 20:21
Overall: 14 out of 292
Age Group: 3 out of 24

I was a little disappointed in my time for this race. I have increased my training the last few weeks and I think it is starting to catch up to me a little. My legs were so tired when I was warming up that I had no idea how I would do. By the time 8:30 came around it was getting warm and a little humid. There was a light breeze which helped a little though.

The course was great. The start was by Straub Park and stayed pretty close to the water the whole time. If they could eliminate the run through a parking lot early in the race, I would say this was the best 5k course I have run.

My only criticism is their choice of age group awards. A coffee mug? It was a mug with the same picture that was on the shirt. I feel sorry for the runner that was receiving their first age group award and they only get a coffee mug. If you are going to have age group awards then give an award.

My first 50 mile week

I’ve been increasing my mileage over the last couple months and have finally top 50 miles for a week.

It wasn’t a goal because I could have topped 50 miles long before this but I reached it this week without much effort. I’ve increased my frequency to 6 runs a week which made this easier to achieve.

The difference now is my ability to run 10+ miles on back to back days. I ran 15 miles this morning after running 10 miles yesterday and after the first mile or two I felt great. I was a little tired at 15 but I could have gone 20 and not been any worse off.

I’m not sure that I want my miles to get much higher right now but I would like to keep it in the 40-50 range until I start getting ready for my next marathon in October.

Brandon Shamrock Classic 5k

The weather was 75 and humid and a little windy but that didn't stop me from crushing my PR and finishing 2nd overall. I was in 2nd from the start. After the first 1/4 mile the lead runner started to pull away. I didn't look behind me until the half way point and I had a good 30-45 second lead on a pack of 3-4 runners behind me.

My first 2 splits were both 6:15 my 3rd was 6:05 which leads me to believe that the course was a little short. I thought my 3rd mile was more like 6:45.

The race winner finished in 18:18. I didn't see the time of the 3rd place runner but he looked to be about 1 minute behind.

This was my third race in four weeks. My next scheduled race is in four weeks.

Armadillo 5k

There wasn’t any rain and the temperature was in the mid 60’s which would have been perfect if it wasn’t for the 25-30 mph gusts of wind. I still managed to beat my PR by 1 second and finish 3rd overall in a very weak field.

I felt great throughout the race and really thought that I had a good chance to beat 20 minutes if it wasn’t for those head winds but I’ll get another chance next week in Brandon.

I was very impressed with how well the race was run. Especially when compared with the Bolt Run 5k that I ran 2 weeks ago. My only complaint was the trophies. There were more than enough to go around but my 3rd place overall trophy was one of the smaller ones given out. The forth place finisher won the Masters award which was 3x as big and even the 1st place age group trophies were twice as big. I guess it really doesn’t matter but if you are going to give out more than one overall award then make it seem like a good thing.

This will definitely be on my race calendar again next year.

If I knew then what I know now

I saw this question asked on another blog and it got me thinking. Approximately 25 years ago was the first that I started to take running seriously. By serious I mean racing. I have stopped and started back up so many times since then that I lost count. The first step is to look at why I’m a better runner now then I was 25 years ago.
 Healthy eating
 Stretch every day
 Schedule training and track previous runs
 Keep motivated by always having the next race scheduled

The following is a short list of some of the things I would do differently 25 years ago if I knew then what I know now.
1. Always have a scheduled race on the calendar
 When you only run for fitness it’s easy to skip a workout or two. It doesn’t take long to fall out of your routine and before you know it you have gone weeks without running.
 Since getting back into running 3 years ago, I’ve always had the next race (or races) that I was training for. I usually look forward to running but on those days that I would like to just skip the run I just think about how that will effect my performance in the next race and will usually end up running.
2. Don’t wait to run a marathon
 I thought about running a marathon for a long time but was intimidated by the distance. It took a few marathons before I knew how to prepare. It would have been nice to not have to learn those lessons the hard way.
3. Eat better
 Compared with the average person I’m a fairly healthy eater but I still could have eaten much better. Way too much fast food and beer in my earlier days. It’s amazing how much more energy you have when you eat right.
4. Stretch, stretch, stretch
 I never did much stretching early on and this lead to many injuries. Now, I never run without stretching before and after and I will even stretch on days that I don’t run.
5. Treadmill running
 It wasn’t always easy to find a good place to run or a good time to run. This made for an all too easy excuse to skip a run. Until 2 years ago I never considered running on a treadmill and now that’s where I do most of my running.
6. Pre-plan my training runs
 I’ve done a much better job of sticking to my training and mixing up the workouts when I plan them at least 1-2 weeks out.

Bolt Run 5k

Tampa Bay Lightning Bolt Run 5k

After training for a marathon and half marathons for the last 6 months I finally ran another 5k. My goal this year is to break 20 minutes so my 20:38 was a little bit of a disappointment but not totally unexpected. It’s a little hard to change the mindset from long and steady to hard sprint. It didn’t help that the course didn’t have mile markers so I could monitor my splits.

Overall though it was a good first race to build on. I placed 14th overall and 3rd in my age group. It looked like there were around 400 at the start (about the same as last year).

Words of Motivation

Occasionally I find something in an article or advertisement that really motivates me. When I’m training hard and question why I’m doing this, I look back at these words and remember why.

This first one I can think of was from a magazine ad for Adidas (I think). I hung it up on my refrigerator when I was training for my first marathon some 15 years ago. I wish I had kept the ad but it went something like this:

I used to think that guys who ran in the rain were nuts.
When I started doing that
I decided that guys who ran at dawn were nuts.
When I started doing that
I decided that guys who ran marathons were nuts.
So here I am getting up at 5am to train for a marathon and it’s snowing.


Another was from a Running Times article:

Boston Marathon qualifiers don’t sign sneaker deals. Coaches don’t push them through their workouts, and fans don’t line up for their autographs. They will never break a world record, or mug for the cameras, or take a victory lap.

Boston Marathon qualifiers aren’t great runners.

But they are very, very good.

The Olympic Trials and Boston are the only two races in the country that require a qualifying time. The top few runners aim for the Trials. Everyone else shoots for Boston. The runners who make it achieve a status somewhere between the Olympian and the weekend warrior. Somewhere between Superman and the everyman.

GPS

I was looking for a good heart rate monitor that I could run with. I was one made by Garmin that has a GPS device. I have now convinced myself that I need that. The thing I hate the most about running outside is I can't monitor my speed and can only guess how far I've run. Running with a GPS device will tell me not only my current pace but also how far I've run.

The only model that I can find in the stores is the forerunner 305 which is pretty bulky on to wear on your wrist. The new 405 model is out but I can't find it anywhere.

I know if I get the 305 now I won’t be happy with it so I will probably wait.

2008 Race Schedule

I plan to run in the following races this year. All are repeats from last year except the Chicago Marathon. I would like to find a couple more 5k races this spring but so far I haven’t seen too much out there that I would like to run.

2/23 – Bolt Run 5k (Tampa)
3/16 – St Pats 5k (Brandon)
4/12 – Seminole Stampede 5k or 10k
5/3 – May Classic 5k (Tampa)
6/7 – Spring into Summer 5k (Tampa)
10/12 – Chicago Marathon
12/6 – OUC Half-Marathon (Orlando)

New PR in Gasparilla Half

I just missed my goal of sub 1:36 but I still finished the Gasparilla half in a new PR of 1:37:15. I had something left at the end but I’m not sure it was enough to have run 1:15 faster. I still have a long way to go but when I set a PR after almost every race I know I’m doing something right.

Overall it was another well run race. The start temp was in the low 50’s which is about perfect for me. There was a little headwind when running north on Bayshore to the finish but it probably didn’t affect my time more than a few seconds.

It’s now time to start focusing on 5k’s for a few months.

Pre race training dilemma

I still struggle with how much training I should do the week before a race (half to full marathon). Prior to last month’s marathon, I ran a moderate 10.5 miles on Saturday (8 days before the race) and an easy 7 miles on Tuesday. That left 4 days off before the race. By race day my legs felt great and I had a great run.

This week I tried running a little harder mostly because I am only running a half but also I wanted to try a different approach.
Last Saturday I ran 12.5 miles (5 easy, 7.5 at race pace).
Monday I ran 4.5 miles most of it near 5k pace.
Tuesday I intended to take it easy but that turned into an 8 mile run (last 5 at race pace)
Thursday I ran an easy 5. I was still feeling the effects of Tuesdays run though.

I have two full days of rest before Sunday’s race so I will see then if my hard running was a good thing or bad.

I run alone

I am one of those people that likes to run alone. It’s my escape from the rest of the day where I can be alone with my thoughts. It allows me to run when I want, where I want and at what pace I want to run.

I am fairly self motivated and do not need someone else pushing me to run that day or to run father or harder.

But by not having running partners I miss out on the opportunity to talk about my training runs, my goals, lessons learned, my excitement for upcoming races. I miss out on starting a race with people I know or talking about details during the race with someone who shared the same or similar experience.

My partner, who does not run, will listen when I ramble on about a great race. But it’s really just a one-way conversation about something that I know he would have no interest in if it wasn’t for me talking.

I have realized that if I’m ever going to have an outlet then it will be online. I haven’t found much at this point outside of blogs like this where one person is sharing their thoughts. Ideally I would like to find an active message board with local competitive runners. If this doesn’t exist then maybe I need to be the one to get a site up and running.

Gasparilla Half

A few more days until my next big race. I didn't plan to run yesterday but I put in a strong 4.5 miles.
I'm a little torm between getting ready for Sunday's half and starting to train for 5k's. I don't think speedwork will hurt my race and even though yesterdays run was good I have a long way to go before I'm ready to break the 20 minute 5k barrier.
I will probably continue with my plan to run today and tomorrow. I need to make sure I take a few days off before the race though.

Great training run

I ran about 12.5 miles today. It was the first good run that I've had since the marathon. I feel good about my chances of a 1:36 half next Sunday. Hopefully the weather will coorporate.

I am so excited about the Chicago marathon that I regisered online this morning. When I regestered the site didn't request proof of time so I'll wait and see how that process works.

Chicago Marathon Registration Opens!

Registration for the Chicago marathon finally opened. I've had this race on my schedule since last summer. I was going to register this morning but my half marathon time is just shy of getting my in the B Corral. I need a 1:35:59 and my last half (12/1/2008) was 1:39:11. My marathon time was just short also (3:39:10 need a 3:35:59). I am racing the Gasparilla 1/2 marathon next Sunday so now I have a target time to shoot for. Either way I will register for Chicago the day after. It really isn't that big of a deal if I'm in the B or C start corrals. Either way I will still start ahead of the masses (registration caps at 45,000)

Start Corral A
Secure starting area set directly behind the Top 100 Start for all qualifying participants. Qualifications for Start Corral A for 2008 are as follows:
• Half Marathon time: <1:25:59
• Full Marathon time: <3:10:59
• Expected capacity: 1,500
• Avg. time to cross Start: 0:42 (seconds)

Start Corral B
Secure starting area set directly behind Start Corral A for all qualifying participants.
Qualifications for Start Corral B for 2008 are as follows:
• Half Marathon time: <1:35:59
• Full Marathon time: <3:35:59
• Expected capacity: 3,000
• Avg. time to cross Start: 1:58 (minutes)

Start Corral C
Secure starting area set directly behind the Start Corral B for all qualifying participants. Qualifications for Start Corral C for 2008 are as follows:
• Half Marathon time: <1:45:59
• Full Marathon time: <3:55:59
• Expected capacity: 4,000
• Avg. time to cross Start: 4:11 (minutes)

Start Corral D
Secure starting area set near the start line for all qualifying participants.
Qualifications for the Start Corral D for 2008 are as follows:
• Half Marathon time: <1:50:59
• Full Marathon time: <4:00:59
• Expected capacity: 4,000
• Avg. time to cross Start: 6:31 (minutes

Opening comments

If I'm going to have a blog I feel the need to express why it's needed. Below is a random list:
· source of motivation
· organize my current documentation
· document my thoughts to view at a later date
· provide an outlet to share my experience or lessons learned

My very first race was a 10k in 1981. I have been running and racing off and on ever since. I really have no idea how many races I've participated in but between running and triathlons it would have to be more than 100. After about a 5 year layoff I started running again in mid 2005 with the 2006 Disney World 1/2 marathon being my first race back. I realized how much I missed running and racing and vowed never to stop running again.

I ran the 2007 Disney World marathon. Anyone there knows that it was a hot and muggy day. It was a very bad race for me as I was forced to walk most of the last 5-6 miles. It was shortly after that when I made the decision train harder and see how good I could get. Nearly every race since has resulted in a PR.

I feel I have a good 5 years left where I can expect to improve on my PR's. So, I'm looking forward to see what I can achieve over that time.

My top goal right now is to qualify for the Boston Marathon. To qualify for my age group I need a time of 3:30 (actually 3:30:59). I fell a short at this years Disney Marathon finishing in 3:39:10. My next chance is in October at Chicago. If the weather cooperates I really feel I have a great chance.

Anyway, my intension for this blog is to document my training, my races and my general thoughts about running and racing. Thanks for reading and I look forward to any comments.