It's over. I'm done.

The marathon is now only 8 weeks away. I am smack dab in the middle of my training and to be honest, I have been miserable. The training has taken away from my fall race goals. It has worn me out and made me tired. It has been gnawing away at me for the past 2 months. I trained every day last week without rest. Wrapped up the week with three 8 mile runs a 10K race on Saturday and an 8K race on Sunday. It's getting dark at 4pm. It looks like midnight when I get home at 5pm. I'm forced to run on poorly lit sidewalks and wait an eternity at multiple intersections for a walk signal in which I must incorporate all my senses as to not get run over even though I have the right of way. The weather is getting colder and it's likely to rain on many of my upcoming runs. So It's over. I'm done.

I'm done being a mamby pamby jackwagon in need of a tissue. My crybaby mantra of "It's too hard", "I'm too tired", and "I'm bored" is over. It's time for me to man up. I set a goal and I'm going to go after it. I'm all in! I'm going to go after it with the same drive and determination I went after my weight loss. There are many distractions that I'm going to have to deal with and overcome. Poor food choices and inadequate sleep being the top two. My goal of 3:45 just became sub-3:45. I'm going to hit the gym and weight train on my cross training days. I'm going to cut soda and coffee completely out of my diet. I'm going to follow my training plan and run slow when I'm supposed to run slow, and fast when I'm supposed to run fast and rest when I need rest.

I know it's going to be hard. Losing weight was hard. Quitting smoking was hard. Eating healthier was hard. Thanksgiving is coming up. That's going to be hard. I'll be going out of town and need to find a place and time to log some miles. That will be hard. I am all about defeating HARD. I already know that overcoming things that are hard is massively rewarding. I love the opportunities that come up where I get to talk about beating my situations. Talk about paying dividends. Nothing is more rewarding to me than inspiring someone else to positive change. You are my drive, you are my motivation. So it's over; I'm done with the negative path.

Run strong my friends,

Bob

Marathon Training Update

This is training week 8 of 16 of my marathon training. The halfway point. Let me tell you, the training looks a lot easier on paper. I have 5 more weeks until the taper. Two 20 mile runs and a 22 mile run with a 12 and a 16 peppered in for my long runs. I've reached the point where my daily runs are no less than 8 miles.

I am tired. Even worse, I'm bored. 2 hours is just grueling right now. It's not fun, it's not enjoyable, it's barely even tolerable. The good news is: I knew this was coming. The bad news is: I should of prevented it and I didn't. It's not the training plan that got me, it was all the running up to the training plan. I never gave myself a break. I've had my foot on the accelerator since June and I haven't let up. As a result, I haven't really enjoyed the last few races and the performance has been very sub par. The longer training runs are really testing my mental endurance. I'm running dangerously close to burn-out. Which scares me. I love running.

There is hope. There is light at the end of the tunnel and I'm going to focus on it. I entered the marathon not to finish it, but to race it. I have a set an aggressive first marathon goal for myself 3:45 or bust. My training and previous races tell me I should be able to do it in 3:30, I've left myself some room for the unexpected, but I'm going to push hard to reach that goal. Second, I'm planning a nice break from running after the marathon. It will be a time of recovery and planning. I want to share my love of running with even more people. I want to teach people how to run. Get people running that never thought they could. I have plans and ideas that need to be worked out. Some time off will help me focus on that. I look forward to all of these things and I will remind myself the next time I falter during a long run that there are multiple goals now.

I'm really sorry for painting such a horrible picture of marathon training. It really is different for everyone. The training program for someone looking to finish a marathon is still some work, but not as torturous as what I'm putting myself through.

My wife should be blogging her experience. She is training for the same marathon as I am, but because of injury set-backs earlier this year she wasn't able to run the volume of miles that I have or race many of the longer races. I've had 3 half marathons and 2 10 mile races. She just finished her first half marathon last weekend, which in turn was the longest distance she ever ran. Previous to this training her longest run was 6.2 miles. She logged 85 miles for October and this weekend she's going to log a 15 miler. She has done amazingly well and will no doubt have a strong marathon in January. She is my current inspiration. If she can come so far in such a short amount of time; what's my excuse?

1,000 Miles of Action

Since my return to running in 2008 I have officially logged 1,000 miles. (Thanks for pointing that out Joel). 700 of those miles have been from this year alone. I got off to a pretty slow start with injuries early on in '08 and '09. Thankfully things have really come together in '10.

As much as I love running it's taken a lot of motivation and dedication to actually run those miles. Especially this marathon training ugh!! The love of the sport has lead me to read all kinds of running books, websites, articles and blogs. I've watched countless video's on the sport. I've learned about our bodies bio mechanics and physiology. I know all kinds of training regimen's for any distance you want to train for, and don't even get me started on all my nutritional knowledge! Yes, I am a running guru. Not a master guru by any means but a guru. Because not only do I have the knowledge, but I have the wisdom of actual experience to go with it.

So, recently I've been bitten by this action bug. The social network has been pretty annoying to me lately. With all the copy pasta this for 1 hour, or if you support, or 93% of you won't etc... Come on! It's great that you support some cause, but really. If you want to show support do something more than work your pinkie finger and forefinger to hit ctrl C, ctrl V and push the update status button. Find some way to take action or get involved. Use your God given time, treasure and talents.
Then there's the inspirational quotes. I do love those, but again. They are feel good, warm and fuzzy moments. That really don't do a thing for anyone. Don't get me wrong. The whole social scene isn't all bad. I do enjoy keeping up with friends family and acquaintances. I just think the world could use a little less rehashed thought and a lot more action.

I do have a point I'm going to get to. I just need to put a few more puzzle pieces in so you can understand the picture even if the puzzle isn't finished yet. Tying back into this social network thing and action is this post that my pastor put up on his blog that he read on another blog. You can follow the chain back to the original author from here: Field Notes Today but I really like what he highlighted. It fired me up in a way I haven't been fired up in a long time. Most people will admit to being Christian. Some will even admit to going to church pretty frequently. Myself included. And we usually don't fall asleep in church. And we have scripture memorized. And we know the Gospel. And we know right from wrong. And we know how to tell other people when they are wrong. We've heard all these great sermons. We have all this great knowledge but we don't have the miles...It's all about action. If I don't put in the miles. My knowledge will not get me to the finish line by itself.

I love that running is mentioned in the Bible. Paul, the author of many books in the New Testament, says we are in a race. I have the Bible, a pastor and a church. I have the knowledge. Now it's time to start running.

Life in the slow cooker

Ask any marathoner and they will tell you the hardest part of the marathon isn't the last 6 miles of the race. It's the 16 to 20 weeks of training you do prior to race day. There is no running microwave. There are no short cuts. There is just time and running. Lots of time and lots of running.

I'm wrapping up week 2 of my marathon training program. The entire program runs for 16 weeks and a total of 601 miles. It feels like I'm learning to run all over again. I am chomping at the bit to get to the super long training runs. I want to go run 20 miles tomorrow and I want to do it in less than 2 hours. Thankfully past experience is deeply ingrained in my head. You see, 2 years ago, when I returned from my 16 year hiatus from running, I wanted to get right back into running 3 miles non-stop and I wanted to be fast again. I had run in the past. Surely my body would remember, I'm not 90 years old and I'm not decrepit. Maybe a little overweight, but this should be easy. One or two runs and I'll be right back where I left off sophomore year... of highschool. I immediately signed up for a 10K (6.2 miles) that was about 12 weeks away and I sat on my butt until it was 3 weeks away and then started "training".

I somehow managed to finish the race without stopping in 1 hour and 7 minutes. It only cost me 2 stress fractures and a bout with shin splints that still haunt me to this day. I had to wait 8 weeks before I could start running again and when I did my shins hurt for days at a time after a single mile run. I would have to wait 3 sometimes 5 days after a run before I could again they hurt that bad. It was miserable. It was discouraging and it was depressing. It took 6 months and 30lbs of weight loss before I could run 2 consecutive days in a row without my shins hurting. 2 years later and they still hurt a little after a hard run. That lesson was hard learned and one I will never forget.

No. There is no microwave for running. It's a slow cooker. I take each training run for what it is. It's the ingredients in my award winning chili (I have my dusty ladle trophy to prove it) simmering to perfection. It cannot be rushed. That's not to say I don't train hard, or that I don't push myself. I do. I do when my training calls for it and when my body allows it.

Running is teaching me patience. It's helping me climb out of lifes microwave and into the slow cooker. I race around everyday. With a full schedule and limited time. I can't help to think about the injuries I've incurred in my life because of my microwave lifestyle. I'm sure I've suffered physically, emotionally and spiritually for it. It's time to slow down.

The marathon is 14 weeks away. My long run this weekend is 16 miles. I'm going to enjoy the journey. More importantly I'm going to climb in the slow cooker and just simmer.

Happy miles,
Bob

Marathon Training Begins

I'm T-minus 6 days from the start of my first Marathon training run. To say I'm a bit nervous is an understatement. The thought of running for almost 4 hours is intimidating. I've completed 2 half marathons now and after each one I could maybe squeak out 1 more mile in about 20 minutes if you bribed me with - I can't even think of anything you could bribe me with. If you held a gun to my head I would just tell you to shoot me. The thought of turning around and running back to the start line, nope, not happening. I've mapped it out. It's like running from Joliet to Seneca or Gardner. That's nearly a 30 min trip by car... on the highway... at 60 miles an hour... EEP!

I guess it's not so much the race itself as it is the training. I just downloaded my training program. It says I'm doing 20 mile runs on weeks 6,9,11 and 13. EEP! Marathon training is something you can't take lightly. You have to do it. You have to prepare your body as well as your mind for the task of pounding pavement for 4+ hours. I'm sure I'll gain confidence as I go. Right now though, I'm terrified. I currently run 5 times a week for a total of 20 - 25 miles. For marathon training I'm upping that distance to 30 and peaking at 49 miles running 4 days a week. The real fun begins when I try to pepper in my fall short race schedule with my training. I'm a 5K junkie and I love my fall races. Let's see how this plays out.

The journey begins next week!

Goodbye Summer; HELLO Fall!

It's hard to believe it's late August already. I don't think I'll get many arguments if I summarize summer as a hot sticky mess; that will be sorely missed come mid January. But before I get to the frozen waste months let me rewind a bit. I managed to skip over one of the most important seasons. That stretch between extremes where not only does the season change in nature but in our lives as well.

For those with kids the planning starts as early as the last week of July and as late as the second week of August. For me it's the last week of August. That's when I come to terms with my favorite season nearing it's end. I know that in the next few weeks the days are going to get noticeably shorter. In the morning I'll want to turn on the heat and by afternoon I'll want to switch on the A/C. Another week will pass and I'll need a jacket to go outside. It will look 75 degrees out but in reality it will be 50 with a cold stiff wind. Then the rain will show up. Cold brutal rain.

Okay, it's really not so bad. There is actually a lot of good to fall. It's a short little season between Labor Day and Halloween where everything feels new and fresh again. You get to bust out your fall attire and put away your over worn summer outfits. You go from nothing to wear to an entire new wardrobe almost overnight. With fall comes a change in dinner menu options. Fire up the oven for meatloaf and lasagna or load up the crock pot for some chili. For the sports fan it's the start of football season and the World Series for everyone else it's the season premieres of TV drama's. It's Homecoming and bonfires, it's Halloween parties and hay rides. For me it's running season. I'll load up the fall schedule of races and see how the summer training paid off.

I'm excited. I worked hard this summer. Got some great training in. I've enjoyed the heat and humidity as much as I could. I hate to see summer go, but I welcome fall in. I feel renewed and recharged. With my fall goals and todo list I'm going to enjoy the next 2 months as much as I can. Then continue training in winter for my first marathon in January.

Fall's the perfect time to take up running. Go check out the (couch to 5K(3.1 miles)) c25k plan and put it on your fall todo list! http://www.coolrunning.com/engine/2/2_3/181.shtml

Run on!

-Bob

Journal entry - Running Analytics

I love when I get to combine two things I love. In this case running and analysis are those two things. Running produces so many data points to analyze. I love to get lost in the spreadsheets and charts and graphs I can create from all those points. So many ways I can track my progress and improvements. One more year of data and I should be able to calculate at what point I will start to see diminishing returns that greatly out weigh the effort to achieve more speed.

Today I'll start with 2009 data. My first race last year I ran a 31:01. My fastest time in 2009 was 24:25 a 21% improvement. In that time I lost 25lbs or 12%. Looking at this I could say I should be 1 minute faster for every 3.84 pounds I lose. Let's compare them with this years numbers but lets assume the training has been consistent year over year. This year so far I've lost only 5 lbs. Which should equate to approx. 1 minute 30 seconds faster than my fastest time last year. My fastest time this year is 22:25 which is exactly 2 min faster than my best time last year. Here's the bummer. I've already put in 138% more miles than last year. Then the question is - does it take a 138% increase in miles for a 30 second gain? Thankfully there are so many factors to running that this isn't necessarily true; however, I do like looking at the correlation.

Of course this is all just my "funny math" and many of you astute scholars will probably want to pick it apart. Have at it, though I would appreciate more constructive criticism than just plain criticism. As it looks right now if I drop another 5 lbs and increase mileage by another 138% I should be able to run a 20:25 which would just make my year.

Here are my fall goals.

5K under 20:30

10K under 45:00

10 Miler 1:15:00

1/2 Marathon 1:42:00

Marathon 3:45:00

Keep the miles coming!

-Bob