Marathon

I completed the Dallas White Rock Marathon on December 14, 2008. I had a great deal of family support and want to especially thank Paige and Allie for their understanding and sacrifice during my 6 months of marathon training. The Tenery's were also in full effect that day. Thank you Jim, Jane, Chad, Jami, Scott, Kelly, Greer, Karlie and Annie for all your support and encouragement. I'd also like to thank Darryl and Marisol for making the long trip from Mexico to see me cross the finish line. Thank you to my friends Eugene Anthony Hoppe IV and Ashley for being there. Y'all are awesome for braving the windy conditions to meet me along the course and offer encouragement, water, and food.

Most people know by now that the race did not go as planned. I trained for and expected to come close to a 3:30:00 finish. My actual finishing time was 4:02:00 - a disappointment to say the least. Here were my splits:

Mile 1 - 8:39 Mile 2 - 7:46 Mile 3 - 7:48 Mile 4 - 7:44 Mile 5 - 7:49

Mile 6 - 7:49 Mile 7 - 7:56 Mile 8 - 7:51 Mile 9 - 7:51 Mile 10 - 7:55

Mile 11 - 8:12 Mile 12 - 7:55 Mile 13 - 8:12 Mile 14 - 8:08

Mile 15 - 9:04 Mile 16 - 9:22 Mile 17 - 9:31 Mile 18 - 9:33

Mile 19 - 9:19 Mile 20 - 10:57 Mile 21 - 10:28 Mile 22 - 10:59

Mile 23 - 10: 23 Mile 24 - 12:20 Mile 25 - 13:20

Mile 26 - 10:22 Mile 26.58 - 13:05

Total - 4:04:41 (I walked around at the end for a few minutes before turning off my Garmin)

I began to slow at mile 15 and during the next 3-4 miles the wheels completely came off. During this time, I began experiencing numerous muscle cramps. These included both calves, left quadricepts, and right groin. The left calf and quad were by far the most severe. Each completely seized up on numerous occassions causing me to stop and massage until the cramp ceased.

There are a number of important lessons I learned about racing, training, and myself during this experience.

1. I like running marathons and plan to continue running. Marathons are long, and so is the time it takes to improve marathon performance. I plan to be conservative and not race another marathon until the fall/winter of 2009. Between now and then I'd like to increase mileage while introducing cross-training (weights and biking).

2. 60 degree temperatures and 25-35 mph wind is not optimal marathoning weather. Because this was my first marathon I never would have considered not running, but in the future I will consider sitting out and signing up for a different event so as not to waste the 6 months of training on a sub-par performance. Given that not running was not an option, I should have significantly changed my goals. To achieve my 3:30:00 goal, I needed to average 8:00 min/mile. Looking at my splits, I definitely went out way to fast - even if conditions had been perfect. In hindsight, I should have shot for 9:00 min/mile for at least the first half of the race.

3. Traveling out of town prior to the race is not a good idea. I spent 5 days in Washington, D.C. prior to the race. I spent too much time on my feet and ran few quality miles.

4. Keep training hard during the last month prior to the race. My peak weeks were behind me at this point so I began to relax mentally. This lead to more days off than I should have taken. Next time I plan to keep to my schedule much more closely during this important time.

5. Follow a detailed nutrition plan during the last week of training to ensure proper nutrition and hydration during the race. I simply winged it and feel that this is too important not to take seriously.

Achilles

Last Monday I stretched my left achilles tendon too strongly and strained it. Since Monday I've only run twice for a total of 6 miles. This is not good. I'm not overreacting, but I really don't want to end up dragging my left leg behind me for 26.2 miles - which I'll do if I have to.

It doesn't exactly hurt, but after about 4 miles it starts feeling pretty uncomfortable. I've really hesitant to try again. I am scheduled to run 12 miles tomorrow and hope it goes well. If not, I'm in trouble.

Two Oh

I ran my first twenty miler on Saturday (9-27-08). I finished in a little over 2:58:00, which was what I expected. I ran west on 3040 until it ended at Main St/1171. The part of the route that was more rural made for a nice change of pace. I remember feeling awesome through about 13 miles. After that, it became more like work. At about 18.5 miles my right achilles began to tighten up. It's still a little sore today, but hopefully it will not affect my 9 miler tomorrow.

Fortunately, my arch only ached a little and my knees held up real well. I also think my stomach is getting better at handling the gels I've been eating during the run. Drinking enough water is still difficult.

During the last 5 miles I kept thinking how much of a genious Pete Pfitzinger is. He's the author of the book and I'm using to train. While running 20 miles is never easy, I was amazed at how doable it was. Following the schedules outlined in Pfitz's book, Advanced Marathoning, has helped me know when, how far, and how fast I should run on a given day. All I have to do is get out of bed and get it done. Which is easier some days than others.

Surviving this run has given me a lot of confidence that I'll reach my goals at White Rock.

August - 196

I ran 196 miles in August. By far my most productive month. Just as in July, my only ailment is my right foot. It aches badly when I get up in the morning, but the pain subsides very quickly once I walk around. It hasn't hindered me at all while running. I keep telling myself the pain isn't caused by stress fractures b/c my assumption would be that pain associated with stress fractures wouldn't subside once I become active. I do not plan to go to a doctor until the pain is present when I run.

Other than running, life is going well. Work is difficult at times but Allie and Paige help me through it. Thank God for them.

July 2008

Despite it being hotter than hell this month, I was able to log 140 miles. This is the second most miles I've logged in a single month - January 2008 being the highest at 160. Given that I fell apart physically in February and March, I'm anxious to see how the next few weeks will go. I'm experiencing minor aches and pains, but nothing serious. Mostly, I'm dealing with a sore right arch on my foot and achy knees. Fortunately, my hips are holding up to the increased mileage.

Last night I decided to re-dedicate myself to slowly losing about 10 more pounds over the next 4 months. That'll put me at about 174 pounds on race day. If I happened to get any lower than that I might just start out running with the Kenyans and Ethopians up front. I created an Excel spreadsheet this morning to help with counting calories. This method should ensure that I don't eat too many or, just as importantly, too few calories.

I ended up purchasing about a year's worth of shoes this month. Generally, runners are very particular about their shoes, so when you find one you like its a good idea to buy in bulk. I found great deals online and purchased four pairs of New Balance 768s.

I also registered for the White Rock Marathon taking place on December 14 in Dallas. Jeff Christ planned to run Houston in January, but the event sold out quickly. I didn't want that to happen to me so I went ahead and paid the $107 to get registered.

Tagged

I was tagged by a fellow Runner's World Forumite to list 6 random things about myself.

1. I dream daily about taking a trip to Europe - I've never been.
2. My favorite color is green (Kelly Green to be exact).
3. I have two brothers that live in Ireland (they're awesome kids).
4. I played organized baseball from the time I was 5 years old all the way through high school.
5. I plan to run (and hopefully survive) the Dallas White Rock Marathon on December 14, 2008.
6. My favorite television show of all time is Curb Your Enthusiasm (HBO).

Marathon Prep

I'm set to begin marathon preparation at the end of June. I've got a day planner in which every run I'll be doing over the 24 weeks of training is written down . I enjoy having the ability to look at any given day and know exactly how far and fast (speed is relative of course) I'm supposed to run. The structure will keep me from making excuses and needlessly moving workouts around - which I do now when I don't want to get out of bed.

Every book, magazine, and website I've read states that first time marathoners should not worry about a time goal. For me, the time goal is a large motivational factor. With that being the case, I've set three seperate goals. One for the best case scenario - perfect weather, great night sleep beforehand, no nagging injuries - which is a 3:30 finish time. My fallback time goals are 3:45 and 4:00. 3:30 is a pretty lofty goal, especially given my history of minor nagging injuries (foot and hip) and lack of experience running 26.2 miles at one time.

I'm using the month of June to increase the consistency of my runs. Over the past few months I've only averaged about 25 miles a week and didn't always get in a decent long run. This month I've structured each week similar to the first week of the official training program. This should help me make it through the first few weeks of marathon training a little easier.