The Hardest Part

I just put the finishing touches on the first of my five 30+ mile training weeks for the Marine Corps Marathon. Unfortunately I spoke too soon earlier this week when I wrote about how great my legs felt after my 16-mile run--later that day the IT band on my right leg was sore. I definitely felt it at the beginning of my four mile run the next morning, although yesterday's five miler was pain free. Unfortunately the pain returned on this morning's five mile run. I am now certain the toughest part of my marathon preparation is not going to be finding the time or willpower to get all the runs in, losing weight, or balancing work/family/training--it is simply going to be staying healthy. I DO have a "trump card" in my back pocket--I basically have an open invitation from the physical therapist I worked with to resolve my IT band issues early this year. Hopefully I will not have to use it; we'll see how I feel on Monday after a couple of rest days.

What A Difference A Week Makes

This morning I completed my weekly long run, 16 miles on the treadmill. It is striking to me how much better I feel right now than after last Tuesday's long run--my legs feel so much fresher and less beat up than they did a week ago. I attribute this to spacing my long runs out further, as well as dialing my pace back a bit (7:42 per mile, as compared to 7:30 last week). I also did a better job of making sure my new earphones were on correctly, so I was able to keep them on the entire time (I watched SportsCenter for the first hour, than listened to Pandora and MP3s on my iPhone the remaining time. Oh, and I also brought my old set with me as a backup). We will see how my legs feel tomorrow morning, but today was definitely a confidence booster as I begin the five most crucial weeks of my marathon training program.

Halfway Home

This morning I banged out five miles at 7:12 per mile pace to complete my eighth week of training for the Marine Corps Marathon. My training program is 16 weeks long, so in essence I am halfway home (to some extent I am more than halfway, as the last three weeks are my taper). Given the fact I am at the halfway mark, I thought I would share some of my thoughts and insights (assuming you care):

• I had forgotten how hard marathon training is on your body. I am still relatively healthy, but would be lying if I said I was 100%. The crazy thing is my marathon training program calls for significantly less mileage than many others; it is a miracle to me more people don't hurt themselves training for marathons.
• Training for this marathon has reminded me how "pure" running is, especially compared to doing triathlons. I have definitely picked up a few gadgets this year, but at the end of the day there is no "magic elixir" that makes you run faster--unlike swimming and biking, in which the right wetsuit/bicycle/aero wheelset can give you essentially free (well, paid for) speed.
• I am really starting to enjoy doing long runs on the treadmill. There is just something to be said for being in a controlled environment and having someone/something else control the pacing. I am just hoping my body does not get TOO used to it, but I think with all the somewhat hilly tempo runs I have been doing, I should be fine.
• My race is still almost two months away and I am already starting to get nervous. I thought about working a shorter race into my training program just to shake things up a bit, but decided if it did not go the way I hoped it would just stress me out. This is why I do not race more often--I just stress about it entirely too much.
• It amazes me how much running helps with weight loss/control. I am eating virtually whatever I want whenever I want, and am still below 180 pounds (and at times have gotten down to 175ish). I would love to be 175 or less for race day, but just as long as I can stay around 177-178 I'll be happy.

That is it for now--enjoy the long holiday weekend, and as always, thanks for reading!

Just Five To Go

This morning I did my 14-mile weekly long run on the treadmill at 7:30 per mile pace. I completed last week's long run (12 miles) on Friday, so I think I may have "bit off a bit more than I can chew" by doing another one just four days later--my legs are definitely more sore than they have been after my prior long runs. They do not feel too bad, but I am definitely looking forward to tomorrow's rest day. I also had problems withy my new headphones (my freakishly small ears strike again), and thus, had to run the last 10-11 miles sans any form of entertainment, which was brutal. Aside from that the run was fairly uneventful. Given my prior history, I am still in a state of shock at the fact I have literally completed every weekly long run on my marathon training schedule. I also find it really hard to believe I have just five double digit runs left (16, 16, 17, 18, and 20 miles) before the big day!

11 Down, 15 To Go

Yesterday morning I hit the treadmill for my weekly long run. I banged out 11 miles at 7:30 per mile pace, and just like last week definitely felt like I could have done a few more. I played music on my iPod nano the entire time, and for once actually brought a bottle of water with me, although I definitely did not drink enough (but it's a start, right?) Afterwards my legs actually felt pretty decent--my right knee was a bit stiff (for a change), but aside from that I was perfectly fine. I am actually starting to kind of enjoy my treadmill long runs, which is kind of a scary thought. Six straight weeks of hitting the long runs on my training schedule--who would have thunk it?

Double Digits

This has been my best training week since I began preparing for the Marine Corps Marathon. I was able to squeeze in a rare weekend "bonus run" on Sunday, allowing me to start off the training week strong. After five mile runs on Monday and Tuesday and a weightlifting session on Wednesday, I was all set for today's weekly long run--a ten miler, my first double digit mileage run since the New York City Marathon back in 2007. I opted to do it on the treadmill, as I still have not found many great places for long runs around my home.

This morning's run went really well! I basically just locked in a 7:30 per mile pace, put my headphones on, and banged through it. I had some technical difficulties with my iPod nano (for some reason the volume inexplicably became really low about halfway through), but that is really my only complaint. My legs felt good, my breathing was fine, and I felt really strong the entire way (I even picked up the pace the last couple of miles just to break the monotony). It seems crazy to me that I have just eight more double digit mileage long runs remaining on my training schedule--as well as the fact I have not missed a single scheduled long run yet!

Garmin Forerunner 210 Review

This morning I went running with my new Garmin Forerunner 210 GPS watch, and I just wanted to share my initial thoughts. So far I really like it. First off, it picked up a satellite signal in well less than a minute, which was a recurring problem with my 205. In addition, it appears to be extremely accurate. The 210 measured my 2.5 mile loop around Hoboken (per Gmaps Pedometer) to a couple of hundredths of a mile--which I consider to be virtually spot on. It is also very simple and user friendly. The 205 definitely has more features and is more customizable, but for just running I am more than happy with the 210. Plus it actually looks like a normal watch, unlike the 205, which makes you look like you are wearing a brick on your wrist. Man, posts two days in a row--don't get used to it!

Killing It

This morning I decided to switch things up a bit and get my long run for the week out of the way first thing. After a bit of internal deliberating I decided to hit the treadmill as opposed to running outdoors. I brought along my iPod nano, so instead of watching television as I usually do on the treadmill I listened to music. I then locked in a 7:30 per mile pace and banged out eight miles. I must say, I was super pumped after this run--it just flew by, and at the end I felt like knocking out a few more miles at that pace would have been no problem whatsoever!

My legs felt a little banged up afterwards, but nothing major. I was also shocked at how quickly my heart rate settled down afterwards--no fighting sweat for the next hour like I sometimes do after even shorter runs. All in all, it was definitely a success, and really boosted my confidence even more. On a somewhat related note I picked up a new toy today--a Garmin Forerunner 210 GPS watch to replace the POS 205 I have had for the last five and a half years. I will definitely report back later this week after I have had a chance to use it a few times. One thing I can already see is the 210 picks up satellite signals much faster, which was one of my primary (but not only) complaints with the 205.

Textbook

So I just completed a textbook training week and I am pretty pumped up about it. After not being able to workout on Monday I banged out five-, five-, seven-, and five-mile runs Tuesday through Friday. This morning I ran five miles at 7:08 pace, including a pretty substantial reverse split for the last 2.5 miles (although I must admit I did take a short bathroom break). So for the third straight week I pretty much stuck to my training program; in fact, I actually have done a few more miles than my program called for the last two (which is not saying all that much, as it is a very low mileage plan). I must say I am really pleased with how my training is going so far. I know that I still have 13 training weeks ahead of me, but if I can keep this up I am going to make that marathon my b-tch...

It's On!

So last week I started my formal 16-week training program for the Marine Corps Marathon on October 27th. After searching around I decided to go with a program from MarathonRookie.com, simply because all the other ones I found included WAY too much mileage (which I think is a fairly common issue in my experience). I am really just following the weekly long runs in the program; my other runs will be primarily based on how much time I have to train and listening to my body. So away we go...

Last week I was only able to get in three runs due to being on vacation. Two were five miles (which according to my program was my week 1 long run), and the other was three (which was scheduled to be five, but I had to cut short because of brutal heat and humidity). So far this week I got in five miles yesterday and six (my week 2 long run) today. Thus, I can at least say I stuck to the long runs in my training program for two weeks--so I have that going for me, which is nice. That is it for now--as always, thanks for reading!