After I got done with last night's post, I found out that the Green Bay marathon had their Event Brochure available for download. I looked it over and found out that there are something like SIX parties along the marathon route.
At mile 11 the local chapter of the Parrotheads is having a Parrothead party. Buffet music and margaritas! I told Linda I might not go beyond mile 11. I'll just hang there for the day.
This whole marathon thing is going to be so much fun. I was really pumped after reading that event brochure. Then there were the emails I got from Anne and Nancy and Linda talking about the great feeling they got from finishing their first marathon, the Flying Pig in Cincinnati.
So today I went out and had a nice easy 5 mile run on the hills of West Washington Street. Even though the temperature was in the mid 70s, it was overcast and breezy so it didn't feel bad. My body decided to sweat heavily after I got back to the health club, but I was fine while I was moving.
Now I'm looking forward to Thursday's 3 mile run. Oh yeah!
Tuesday, May 6, 2008
Monday, May 5, 2008
Short Runs
I think it's been seven weeks since I went out for a 3-mile run. I know it's been a while since I had a run that short.
Funny, but it felt like I was warming up the whole time--like I never really got into rhythm before the run was over.
But maybe it's just this feeling I've been having lately that I really dislike running. That's odd, because I've always liked it. Going back to like junior high, when I would get into a certain level of conditioning, I always enjoyed jogging around for a while.
I liked running when I was training for Abe's Amble. I liked running when I was training for the Frostbite Festival. And I even liked running when I was in the early training for this marathon. Lately, though, I really just want it to be over.
Hoping that feeling goes away pretty soon after May 18.
Funny, but it felt like I was warming up the whole time--like I never really got into rhythm before the run was over.
But maybe it's just this feeling I've been having lately that I really dislike running. That's odd, because I've always liked it. Going back to like junior high, when I would get into a certain level of conditioning, I always enjoyed jogging around for a while.
I liked running when I was training for Abe's Amble. I liked running when I was training for the Frostbite Festival. And I even liked running when I was in the early training for this marathon. Lately, though, I really just want it to be over.
Hoping that feeling goes away pretty soon after May 18.
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Dull 12
I really did not want to get up this morning and run 12 miles. I really did not want to do it.
I was running on a Sunday instead of Saturday because we went to the St. Louis drag races yesterday. Also, yesterday morning was cold with a howling wind blowing--I didn't want to deal with those conditions on my first tapering weekend.
So that left Sunday. I had to run 12, but I didn't have a route. I could have used the same route I did a couple weeks ago in between the 20 mile runs. But that route goes out to a church and this is Sunday morning. I didn't want to deal with the possibility of a lot of cards on the narrow roads on this route.
I also did not want to have to carry a bottle of water with me to stash on the route or go out and stash a bottle somewhere on Saturday night (like that's ever going to happen). That left me planning a series of loops. I ran a 6-mile loop, then a 4.5 mile loop, and finally a 1.5-mile loop. I figured a stop for CarbBOOM and water at the end of the 6-mile loop would hold me for the run; that last shot of water before the 1.5-mile loop would be just the thing.
And everything worked fine from that aspect. I didn't have a drop in energy or have any cramping or anything like that. But the run was almost as boring and running 12 on a treadmill, and that was my fear. I was reall afraid that looping around to a specific spot three times would be dull.
It was.
And I had some tightness in my ankle off and on. It was never bad enough to affect my stride or pace or anything, but it was there. Kind of like something rattling around in the trunk of your car.
The redeeming aspect of it all was that this was the last time I have to get up at 4:20 for a banana and toast with peanut butter. Next Saturday is 8 miles, and I'm planning for a banana and Gatorade for breakfast. And I'll take along a bottle of Gatorade to drink and stash along the way.
Now I gotta look up what I'm supposed to do this week.
I was running on a Sunday instead of Saturday because we went to the St. Louis drag races yesterday. Also, yesterday morning was cold with a howling wind blowing--I didn't want to deal with those conditions on my first tapering weekend.
So that left Sunday. I had to run 12, but I didn't have a route. I could have used the same route I did a couple weeks ago in between the 20 mile runs. But that route goes out to a church and this is Sunday morning. I didn't want to deal with the possibility of a lot of cards on the narrow roads on this route.
I also did not want to have to carry a bottle of water with me to stash on the route or go out and stash a bottle somewhere on Saturday night (like that's ever going to happen). That left me planning a series of loops. I ran a 6-mile loop, then a 4.5 mile loop, and finally a 1.5-mile loop. I figured a stop for CarbBOOM and water at the end of the 6-mile loop would hold me for the run; that last shot of water before the 1.5-mile loop would be just the thing.
And everything worked fine from that aspect. I didn't have a drop in energy or have any cramping or anything like that. But the run was almost as boring and running 12 on a treadmill, and that was my fear. I was reall afraid that looping around to a specific spot three times would be dull.
It was.
And I had some tightness in my ankle off and on. It was never bad enough to affect my stride or pace or anything, but it was there. Kind of like something rattling around in the trunk of your car.
The redeeming aspect of it all was that this was the last time I have to get up at 4:20 for a banana and toast with peanut butter. Next Saturday is 8 miles, and I'm planning for a banana and Gatorade for breakfast. And I'll take along a bottle of Gatorade to drink and stash along the way.
Now I gotta look up what I'm supposed to do this week.
Thursday, May 1, 2008
Owie
It's been five days since my longest training run of 22 miles, but today my right ankle started to complain again.
I'm just more than a little bit bummed out about this. Five days?
That was worse than dealing with my first run of the year in 70-degree weather. It was worse than laboring because of all the beer I drank on the company bus trip to the Cardinal game yesterday.
Five days after a major run and I'm still having ankle pain. I don't like this. Tomorrow is the Nautilus workout that replaces the one I skipped yesterday. We'll see how that goes.
I'm just more than a little bit bummed out about this. Five days?
That was worse than dealing with my first run of the year in 70-degree weather. It was worse than laboring because of all the beer I drank on the company bus trip to the Cardinal game yesterday.
Five days after a major run and I'm still having ankle pain. I don't like this. Tomorrow is the Nautilus workout that replaces the one I skipped yesterday. We'll see how that goes.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Workouts--Running and Otherwise
Yesterday the ankles were still pretty stiff and sore, so I did not do the 5-mile run that was on the schedule. Instead, I did an aerobic machine workout.
I started out with the elliptical trainer, then went to the recumbent bike. Those two machines stretched out my ankles enough that I could do some running on the treadmill.
It felt like a pretty good workout.
So this morning I got up early and did my 8-mile run. I was concentrating on pushing just a little bit, and I think I came in around an hour and 20 minutes, also known as 80 minutes. That felt good.
I also skipped a real breakfast and sucked down a packet of CarbBOOM instead. I took some water along and drank that a little past the 4-mile mark. And I never felt like I bogged down. May have to try that again some time.
Oh, and tonight I mowed the lawn. Not that lawn mowing counts as exercise, but it was time on my feet. And it sometimes takes a toll on my ankles. They're feeling pretty good right now.
We'll see what tomorrow brings.
I started out with the elliptical trainer, then went to the recumbent bike. Those two machines stretched out my ankles enough that I could do some running on the treadmill.
It felt like a pretty good workout.
So this morning I got up early and did my 8-mile run. I was concentrating on pushing just a little bit, and I think I came in around an hour and 20 minutes, also known as 80 minutes. That felt good.
I also skipped a real breakfast and sucked down a packet of CarbBOOM instead. I took some water along and drank that a little past the 4-mile mark. And I never felt like I bogged down. May have to try that again some time.
Oh, and tonight I mowed the lawn. Not that lawn mowing counts as exercise, but it was time on my feet. And it sometimes takes a toll on my ankles. They're feeling pretty good right now.
We'll see what tomorrow brings.
Sunday, April 27, 2008
The Wall
Anyone who reads about the marathon will eventually read about, or hear about, The Wall. It's a point approximately 20 miles into the race when the body runs out of the glycogen it has been using as fuel and has to switch over to the alternate source, which is fat or cartilage or maybe brain cells.
There are some legendary stories of athletes hitting The Wall and suddenly losing all their energy and strength and stiffening up to the point where they can barely walk, let alone try to run. According to myth, they feel like they actually ran into a brick wall. Hence the name.
My encounter with The Wall was not of mythic proportions. I did, however, feel a distinct drop in my energy level soon after the 20-mile mark. Soon after that my calves felt like they were burning. They weren't cramping--I haven't had cramps in quite a long time--but they burned like muscles feel during intense weight training or speed training.
Then, soon after the 21-mile mark, my legs felt stiff from hip to toe. I stopped to walk for a minute or so and then ran--kinda ran--the rest of the way. According to USATF.org, I did just shy of 22.2 miles (I was going to link to my route, but apparently I did not save the thing. Sigh.).
The good news is that I did feel strong through 20 miles. I set a slow pace and walked every 20 minutes. I had no pain in the hips, knees or ankles, no hint of cramping, and at some intersections I had to pick it up, almost sprint, because drivers were waving me through.
I had a funny experience with a bottle of Gatorade that I bought at the Jiffi Stop in Chatham. I couldn't find the perforation in the plastic wrapper on the top. This thing had a fancy drinking top to it. I twisted the top off the bottle and discovered one of those paper-foil seals on the top of the bottle! So I had to remove that thing and screw the top back on just to get some drink. Sheesh.
It was a 24-ounce bottle, so I drank half of it and stashed the rest at the base of a lightpost north of the Route 4 intersection with Woodside. It was still there when I came back.
I sucked down two packets of CarbBOOM and tried to decide whether I needed to suck down another. I finally decided that I wanted to find out how far I could go on how little gel. I did gel around 5.5 miles and at 14 miles. Maybe, maybe another one would have helped.
And I started my day with oatmeal with peanut butter and a banana. That seems to be the best way to prepare for these runs.
I started running around 5:35 am and hit 22 miles at 9:50 on the dot. That's about 4 hours 15 minutes for 22 miles, which means I'd have to maintain an 11-minute pace for the remaining 4.2 miles to finish under 5 hours. In other words, I don't think I'm gonna come in under 5 hours. On the other hand, I won't be stopping at stores to buy Gatorade and water during the actual marathon, so who knows.
Now we taper. As people keep telling me, tapering is good.
There are some legendary stories of athletes hitting The Wall and suddenly losing all their energy and strength and stiffening up to the point where they can barely walk, let alone try to run. According to myth, they feel like they actually ran into a brick wall. Hence the name.
My encounter with The Wall was not of mythic proportions. I did, however, feel a distinct drop in my energy level soon after the 20-mile mark. Soon after that my calves felt like they were burning. They weren't cramping--I haven't had cramps in quite a long time--but they burned like muscles feel during intense weight training or speed training.
Then, soon after the 21-mile mark, my legs felt stiff from hip to toe. I stopped to walk for a minute or so and then ran--kinda ran--the rest of the way. According to USATF.org, I did just shy of 22.2 miles (I was going to link to my route, but apparently I did not save the thing. Sigh.).
The good news is that I did feel strong through 20 miles. I set a slow pace and walked every 20 minutes. I had no pain in the hips, knees or ankles, no hint of cramping, and at some intersections I had to pick it up, almost sprint, because drivers were waving me through.
I had a funny experience with a bottle of Gatorade that I bought at the Jiffi Stop in Chatham. I couldn't find the perforation in the plastic wrapper on the top. This thing had a fancy drinking top to it. I twisted the top off the bottle and discovered one of those paper-foil seals on the top of the bottle! So I had to remove that thing and screw the top back on just to get some drink. Sheesh.
It was a 24-ounce bottle, so I drank half of it and stashed the rest at the base of a lightpost north of the Route 4 intersection with Woodside. It was still there when I came back.
I sucked down two packets of CarbBOOM and tried to decide whether I needed to suck down another. I finally decided that I wanted to find out how far I could go on how little gel. I did gel around 5.5 miles and at 14 miles. Maybe, maybe another one would have helped.
And I started my day with oatmeal with peanut butter and a banana. That seems to be the best way to prepare for these runs.
I started running around 5:35 am and hit 22 miles at 9:50 on the dot. That's about 4 hours 15 minutes for 22 miles, which means I'd have to maintain an 11-minute pace for the remaining 4.2 miles to finish under 5 hours. In other words, I don't think I'm gonna come in under 5 hours. On the other hand, I won't be stopping at stores to buy Gatorade and water during the actual marathon, so who knows.
Now we taper. As people keep telling me, tapering is good.
Thursday, April 24, 2008
Early to Rise
I could seriously get back into this early morning running habit. I went early again today because thunderstorms were forecast beginning around noon and lasting the rest of the day.
I was up early, sucked down some Gatorade, dressed, and was on my way by 5:15. Since the schedule called for 5 miles, there was no need for solid food. My right ankle was a bit stiff, so I suffered with that for a while, but by the end of the first mile I was moving fairly well and felt good the rest of the way.
So tomorrow is a rest day and Saturday is 22 miles. At this point I'm actually looking forward to the 22 miler.
Oh, and the storms never showed up. I keep thinking how afraid our Schnauzer always was of storms.
I was up early, sucked down some Gatorade, dressed, and was on my way by 5:15. Since the schedule called for 5 miles, there was no need for solid food. My right ankle was a bit stiff, so I suffered with that for a while, but by the end of the first mile I was moving fairly well and felt good the rest of the way.
So tomorrow is a rest day and Saturday is 22 miles. At this point I'm actually looking forward to the 22 miler.
Oh, and the storms never showed up. I keep thinking how afraid our Schnauzer always was of storms.
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