Still Waiting...

The results from this weekend's Buzzard Duathlon still aren't posted yet, but one thing I was able to do was update my 2009 schedule again, adding the Race For Victims' Rights 5K tomorrow night. This race is put on by the Medina County Prosecutor's Office for Victims' Rights Week. It starts at 6:00 so it will be a little tight after work, but the best part is that it's FREE! What a nice word. It doesn't get used enough these days. That race will be followed the next day by the Schoolhouse Run 4 Fun 5K on Friday evening. I plan to go easy on Thursday and save myself for a PR attempt on Friday.

Last night Connie, Frank, and I were at the track doing 6 X 200 meter and 4 X 400 meter repeats. The 200's were sub 40 seconds and the 400's sub 90 seconds. It was a tough workout that when combined with my morning run has left me tired and sore. I hope it passes by Friday.

Waiting for Results

It's Tuesday morning and we're still waiting for the results to be posted from Sunday's Buzzard Duathlon. We did a decent job considering the temperature and the elevation gains on the course. Heather had 3 mile splits of 29-something and 31-something and I had a 50 minute split for the 15 mile bike portion. More details to follow once the official results are posted.

Last night I hit the weights for the first time in a while and I'm feeling it this morning. It's all good! It's been too long and I need to be more regular with the weight training. The strength training was to make room for some Dairy Queen later in the evening. We even walked there rather than driving. It's only a half mile each way. The place was packed! Even at 8:30! Heather and I split a Nut and Fudge Sundae in an edible bowl and Bailey just had a chocolate milkshake.

I was up early this morning to get a pre-dawn run in. I did a 5K distance with a short cool-down. The weather is still very nice, although it's supposed to change later today with rain and cooler temperatures arriving. That little headlamp puts out a decent amount of light. Thanks Ladd! I think I averaged 8-something miles. Nothing fast. I still felt sluggish from the weekend so I didn't want to push things too hard. Plus I still have speed work tonight. Unless it's cancelled due to lightning or something!

Too Hot to Run That Far

Today is April 25. I don't know what the average temperature is for April 25, but I know what isn't the average temperature: What we're having this weekend! I began my run at about 8:00 this morning. Right about the time that the Nashville Marathon was starting many miles away. (I heard it was hot there too!) It was already well into the 70's at that time. I was hoping to run about 23 to 24 miles today as my last long training run for Rite Aid.

I set out with four full bottles on my Fuel Belt from Bonnie Park in Strongsville. I headed east into North Royalton along the paved trail. I knew shortly after starting that today's run was going to be difficult. My original plan was to run 6 out and come back. But at mile 6 I saw the big hill that kicks my butt on the bike just around the bend and decided to run it. I was gasping and dripping by the time I reached the parking area at the top. I had a gel there and turned around. On the way back I knew I was going to have to modify my desired distance due to the heat.

I finished the 3 Gatorades and 1 water well before reaching the parking lot and drifted in on fumes. There I quickly refilled the bottles, had another gel, and hunted down a working water fountain where I doused my head. It felt good but didn't last nearly long enough once I was running again. As I headed towards Wallace Lake in Berea I ran into Krista who is training for the half at Rite Aid. We briefly agreed that it was too hot and went on to continue our runs.

Upon reaching Wallace Lake I was in bad shape again. I rested a couple minutes while I had my last gel. I found another water fountain to bathe my head in on the way back. Like before, it didn't last long enough.

I finally made it back to where I parked, covering 20.25 miles at an average pace of 7:56. All bottles were emptied once again so I hit the water fountain with a vengeance. My saving grace this morning was the strong wind gusts accompanying the heat. If not for the breeze to cool off with occasionally, I wouldn't have made it as far as I did.

So now the long runs are done and I can start to focus more on swimming and biking. I made it to the pool for a mile Friday afternoon after work and I'll be riding 15 miles in the Buzzard Duathlon tomorrow morning. This is turning out to be one busy weekend!

Trying to Get Caught Up

It has been brought to my attention that I have been neglecting my blogging duties. This is correct and I was aware of the problem. I will now try to get caught up.

Last Thursday I once again joined the Thursday night group for some mighty fine trail running in the Hinckley Metropark. We had a much smaller group this time with Roy, Shannon, Frank, and myself. Frank had to leave early and Shannon was running slower, so it was just Roy and me for most of the run. I found out that there are indeed coyotes in the park and that was probably what we heard the previous week. I had another great time thanks to wonderful spring weather and my new trail shoes. That's right, I couldn't bear running off road without the proper shoes so I'm now doing my trails in Brooks Cascadias. They're mighty fine! I was almost sad when I landed in that first muddy patch. Almost. It was great plowing through the mud and charging through creeks without worrying about how wet or dirty my shoes were getting. Thanks to Dan at Second Sole for helping me decide on the Brooks!

Saturday I was under the weather and not able to leave the house for the first part of the day. And that's all I'm going to go into on that. I was feeling better by the afternoon. Which was good because Bailey was having his birthday party at the Rec. Center. Pool party! Everything went well and the kids had fun.

Sunday I was all better and headed out to get a 12 to 15 mile run in. I stayed around town, heading through Reagan Park on my way south and into the hilly part. I went down the trail at the frisbee golf park and climbed my way into the Lexington Ridge development where I proceeded to climb to one of the higher points in Medina County. As it was mostly downhill from there, I maintained a nice pace all the way back home. 15 miles total for Sunday's run.

Monday I hit the pool again for a half Iron swim trial. I swam the full mile and a quarter in an hour and fifteen minutes. I felt strong at times and went too fast at times. But the most important thing I noticed was that I wasn't developing too much congestion in my lungs the way I did over the winter. Maybe my body is finally adapting to breathing with a little extra pressure pushing on it.

Last night saw the return of Tuesday night speed work. We had a huge turnout of 3 runners: Connie, JB, and myself. JB is a full Iron veteran and had some good advice for me. Some things I might not have thought of. We did 10 X 400 meter repeats with 200 meters rest between. Splits were as follows: 1:30 / 1:31 / 1:31 / 1:30 / 1:30 / 1:26 / 1:26 / 1:26 / 1:26 / and 1:17. Connie told me just to go and run the fastest 400 I could on that last one. Let me just say that I was spent afterward. I couldn't breathe as I was finishing the last 75 meters and my hands and feet were getting tingly the way they would when I ran track when I was younger. I Didn't like that feeling then and I don't like it now. But it sure feels good to stop. All told, 7 miles for the night.

In case you might not have noticed, there is a new race added to my 2009 race list on the right. Heather and I are going to race the Buzzard Duathlon as a team this Sunday. She's going to do the two 3 mile runs and I'm going to do the 15 mile bike leg. This race is unique in that it's all hills. There isn't a flat section anywhere on either the run or bike course. I would consider doing the entire duathlon solo, but the team will work out much better. Bailey can stand with whomever isn't competing at the time, plus I'm doing my last long marathon training run on Saturday and I won't be in any condition to be running hills. I'm afraid my bike time is going to be horrible as it is. At least I have some downhill coasting to look forward to!

Thirty-Six

This is a couple days late, but thirty-six is the number of miles I ran in two runs last week. Yeah, that's a little more than I'm used to. And only having one day of rest between didn't help much either.

Thursday night, Ladd and I joined up with the trail running crew in Hinckley for an evening trail running extravaganza. And except for some really muddy spots, it was tons of fun. I think this is the mid-week long run I've been looking to add into my routine. I hope to join them this week as the weather is supposed to be good, and I'm even planning on purchasing a pair of trail running shoes and some special socks so the water and mud won't bother me so much. We did about 15 miles, way more than expected, in a little over 2 hours. Let me just say that two hours of ups and downs, lefts and rights, rocks, roots, buzzards, creeks, mud, darkness, and a really long uphill section are enough to tire one out!

Saturday morning I ran down to Ladd and Marsha's house to meet up for a group long run. The course we ran gave us 12 plus the 9 mile trip down and back from their house gave me a nice 21 mile total in 2:51. We averaged a pace faster than I was hoping for, but it was a good workout. This will be my second last run at this distance before the marathon in May and I'm beginning to get some good vibes. All these miles are starting to have some benefit!

(Not really) Speed Work

Headed up to the track last night for speed work as usual, but was surprised to find it empty. I knew Ladd wouldn't be able to make it, but didn't expect to find no one there. Heather even drove separately because I would be there longer than she needed to be. Oh well. Time for plan B.

Plan B ended up being a 5K for time. I did a mile warm-up and got started. Not too fast, which was nice, a 7:04 mile 1. I picked things up a tad for mile 2 at 6:57. I was finally warmed up and sweating when I ran a 6:26 mile 3. The final 200 meters passed in 44 seconds to give me a time of 21:11. Not too shabby for being by myself. After that I did a little cool-down with Heather and Bailey and it was time to head home. So it was speed work, but not the usual kind.

I'm kind of glad no one else was there because I still felt a little tired from last weekend. That being said, I'm really looking forward to hitting the trails in Hinckley again tonight. I don't know how far we're going, but the weather is nice and it should be fun.

2009 Spring Classic Half Marathon

Going into this race I was confident about finishing with a decent time, or possibly a new PR. Saturday dawned dry, as opposed to the rain we had on Friday, but still windy. And at about 34 degrees, the wind chill was back. These weather conditions were less than ideal and had me doubting a PR attempt would be possible. I was pumped to run, just not setting high expectations for myself. Ladd and I were still planning on running together and just letting whatever would happen, happen.

Surprisingly, what happened was both of us had a pretty tremendous runs considering half the course had a headwind and the other half just had a less noticeable headwind. We both PR'd with room to spare. I broke my previous mark from Akron last year by 1 minute and 23 seconds with a time of 1:32:36. With a time like that, one would think I had a decent chance of placing within the top of the age group. I finished 5th in my AG and 14th overall. The 30 - 34 group showed up Saturday! Tough competition! I was lucky enough however, to win a running jacket in a random drawing, so that made my lack of a top 3 finish forgettable.

Bailey and Heather ran the 5K, which started after the half marathon. Ladd and I caught them before they finished and before we turned to begin our second lap. Bailey looked to be having a tough time, but doing better than the other two races he's done this year. Imagine my surprise to find out he finished second in his AG and earned a big trophy for his effort!

It ended up being a nice morning once the sun came out and we all had a chance to warm up. We also had a nice club showing with 9 members on hand. Even with the wind, I think I enjoyed the spring version of this race more than the fall. Fewer people, less congestion, and still a bit warmer.

Sunday I needed to get out for a ride. So I packed up the bike and headed back up to the same park we ran at on Saturday. From there I rode to Rocky River, turning around at the boat docks. It was a nice sunny day, but still breezy at times. And colder up by the lake. I had some numb toes to deal with. I was planning to do an even 40 miles but had to settle for 36 as I picked up a staple in my back tire which eventually gave me a flat. I just put that tube on and that was only the second ride on it. Fortunately I had less than a half mile to walk back to the car. I guess I'll have to be more careful next time.

It's snowing right now. We're supposed to have some accumulation too. Gotta' love spring in Cleveland! Maybe I'll head to the pool tonight. Snow outside makes me want to stay indoors!

More Crazy Marathon Dreams

And this one's pretty good, though not as long as the last one with the McDonald's play-land. I'm not sure what particular race this was supposed to be, just that it was one of the large marathons. I must have been racing out of town, as I was in need of transportation to the start line. Like if I were staying at a hotel or something. There were buses on the street, and lots of other runners, but not many bus drivers. So with my inclination to solve problems, I jump into the nearest bus, get behind the wheel, and prepare to shuttle a bus-load of runners to the start line. Now, I've never driven a bus before, the big kind like the RTA or Disney uses on property. But I've driven large trucks and they're automatics so it wasn't that bad. I also didn't know where I was going, so I just followed the bus in front of us. We arrived at the starting area just fine and everyone pours out from the buses. Here's where it gets weird. The marathon is a time trial start, with everyone lining up in order of their bib number. There's a long line and I end up being a ways back. I notice that there's water running down the side of the street, but it's not raining. Then I notice everyone is sitting on raft-like contraptions and floating their way to the start rather than standing. So I find a big plastic tub and float along in line with everyone else. As I get closer to the start line I can see that we're at the top of a large hill and we're starting by sliding down the hill like it was a big water slide. And that's when the alarm went off. I never got to find out how it finished.

Well speaking of rain, we're getting some today. It's supposed to pass by tonight and be dry for tomorrow. That's good because we're all running tomorrow morning. Heather and Bailey are doing the 5K and I'm running the Half Marathon with Ladd at the Spring Classic. Both of our half PR's are very close and we'd like to make some new ones tomorrow morning. If we can maintain around a 7 minute pace per mile, we should be just fine. I don't like going into races with specific goals in mind. I prefer to run as hard as possible and be pleasantly surprised by the results. Hopefully I can be pleasantly surprised tomorrow by sticking to a pace and achieving my goal time of at least 1:33:58 or lower. Preferably, lower.

April Fools Speed Work

April first or not, there was certainly no fooling around at the track last night. Having agreed to change things up a bit from 800 repeats, a ladder was in store for us at a slightly easier pace. I suppose that "slightly easier pace" part may have been fooling a bit, as we still pressed pretty hard. After a 2+ mile warm-up our splits were:

400m - 1:37
800m - 3:16
1200m - 4:57
1600m - 6:47
1200m - 4:36
800m - 3:08
400m - 1:30

All with a 400m recovery lap between and followed by a 1 mile cool-down for a total of 9 miles. A nice long speed work session at almost full effort. The part that's nice is the decrease in times from the first half to the second. No slouching at the end and no sandbagging at the beginning. Now I'm just hoping for my sore calf to recover in time for the Spring Classic Half Marathon this Saturday. Ladd and I are both hoping to set some new PR's.

3/31/09, Tuesday Night Track Work

Went to the track last night to enjoy some nice 57 degree weather. Frank was already there about 2 miles into his first 3 mile set when I joined him. As we were running though, all these kids began arriving. As it turns out, St. Francis' track team was meeting for a workout. It was a bit busy, but we all managed just fine.

I ended up doing nearly 5 before Heather and Bailey left for home. Just mile repeats at 7:30-ish pace but sometimes faster. Scott and Katie were there again this week and I joined them for two 800s after Frank left. After that I was off for a mile and a half run home in a light drizzle. It actually felt really good. I was hoping for around 10 total but it looks more like only 8. On the down side, I arrived home with a sore left calf and suffered from a horrible hamstring cramp last night in bed. Ouch!

Back to the track for speed work tonight. If this rain clears out it should be nice.