Training Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 29:43
Pace: 7:25/mi

Comments: A shorter run but I didn't want to put any anything more with the long effort planned for tomorrow.

I wanted to put in six miles yesterday but I really felt out-of-sorts. In fact, I didn't feel so hot the day prior either. And when I got busy with stuff, I just decided to skip it. I won't have the big weekly miles I was shooting for but I want to be sure to get in the quality long run.

So I wasn't completely at ease going out this morning. (I also haven't been eating much and that's have a very noticeable effect on training.) But I got in the groove pretty well after the first mile and cranked it out pretty smoothly.

Training Run

Distance: 4 miles
Time: 29:40
Pace: 7:25/mi

Comments: I got kind of busy today so I just wedged the run in where I could this morning. As a result, it was a rushed effort and I wasn't mentally into it like I should have been.

Despite that, I felt pretty strong the whole way and had a nice pace throughout. It's clear I am a good bit stronger but I'm still concerned if I am strong enough to keep the pace I want for the race.

Training Run

Distance: 8 miles
Time: 63:09
Pace: 7:54/mi

Comments: A pretty good effort but I don't feel I was at my best today. Hard to tell if that is because I didn't eat really well yesterday or if I am battling fatigue.

Technically, the run went fine. I started out slow and warmed up to a comfortable pace which I held for most of the run. I could tell when I was getting fatigued and made it a point to focus on the mechanics of my stride to move through it.

But the run was kind of off-center. I wasn't really racing the clock but, since I realized a Boston qualifying time is realistic in January I have been focusing on the necessary pace in all my runs. This could be counter-productive.

In any case, it's a solid number of miles for a week I am trying to concentrate on distance.

Training Run

Distance: 6 miles
Time: 46:36
Pace: 7:46/mi

Comments: The day off seemed to be sufficient to restock the batteries. I felt really strong out there today and had to make a conscious effort to slow my pace down and treat it like a recovery run.

The weather has gotten noticeably chillier this week which is actually kind of nice for running. As long as it stays sunny, you can count me a happy man.

Marathon Training Summary: Week 7

Distance: 20.2 miles
Time: 2 hours 30 minutes

Comments: Well, the first race of the cycle is done. I have a much better sense of where I am at now and what I need to aim for over the next two months.

The 41:22 time indicates that a 3 hour 15 minute marathon is a very real possibility. That's Boston qualifying which, although I haven't mentioned it before because I wanted to stay focused on the task at hand, is actually my real goal of all this.

In any case, this was a good week to practice tapering and keeping myself on my toes mentally and physically while doing the miniumum amount of working out in order to keep myself rested for the race. There's a thin line there and I want to know exactly where it is for the week of the marathon.

The downside of all this was that it screwed my training schedule something horrid. It really is too close to the half-marathon on Dec. 3 making it tough to get the distance runs in I think I need. This week was, by far, the least I have run on any week since starting (except for the week I went to Brazil). That's a bitch for my momentum.

I knew this when I signed up for the race but I justified it due to the fact the New Times 10K was a larger event - almost 3,000 runners in the 10K alone - and it was be a good way to start acclimating myself to the raceday chaos that the marathon will bring.

The race Sunday finished up the first half of my training regimine for the marathon. Now begins the real push for the thing. Pretty much everything prior to this was building the base, now it is time to fine-tune for the race itself.

I need to rack up the serious long runs for endurance, the short runs for technique and one more race for experience. I need to be working on getting my strategy in place, my state of mind on track and eliminating all the irksome distractions.

Oh yeah, I'm also going to be doing everything humanly possible to avoid injury and illness as well.

This week will be pretty busy since it's my only 'normal' week in this month-long period of the training between races. I'm going to get the mileage back to the 45-mile range while including track and hill work.

2006 Phoenix New Times 10K

Race: Phoenix New Times 10K
Official Time: 41:52
Actual time: 41:57

My first race here in Arizona and it went quite well, in retrospect. I didn't hit my goal of breaking 40 minutes but I was well under the minimum limit of 45 minutes I set for myself.

Most importantly, I bested my last 10K time by almost five minutes.

Progress. There you have it.

I took my dad to the airport this morning and then went to the location of the race right after. I was almost two hours early so I took my time getting my gear in order and put down two energy bars while waiting.

I picked up a $3 long sleeve shirt at Albertsons during the week and it was perfect for the slightly chilly morning. I walked the mile-and-a-half to the race site - a distance I planned on as a way to get my warm-up started.

During the week, I had sucessfully kept the nervousness at bay but it kept popping up right before the race. I even had a moment of fear I was there on the wrong day before I saw someone else with a race number on.

I wandered around the event site and finally found the booth with the timing chips. I was a bit concerned about these since I've never used one but it was really no problem. I put it on my right ankle and completely forgot about it until the end of the race.

To stay warmed up I just slowly walked around while sipping on my bottle of Gatorade. At about the one-hour mark I started slowly jogging, little more than a walk. After ten minutes I turned it up to a 'real' warm up pace for five minutes.

I took a route near Sun Devil Stadium and, as I expected, there were random porta-potties scattered about the parking lot. I got my two cups of coffee drained from my bladder and zero waiting in line.

With about 40 minutes left I headed back to the race site and stretched out in the grassy area of the park. I left my long sleeve shirt on a bench. Hopefully a homeless guy found it. I did a few exaggerated strides for form and then wandered over to the starting area.

There were a good number of folks for the race - about 3,000 people ran the 10K - but there was really a nice vibe. Not a lot of heavy tension you get when top-heavy with running snobs but really laid-back.

About a half-dozen panjandrums had to talk before they let us start. We were all ready and they decided to do the national anthem as well. Nice touch but... um, how about having a flag there next time, guys.

I got in the mix about where I thought I should be starting. Turned out the timed areas were pretty useless. They hit the horn to get us going and I spent the first minute and a half wading through folks just-better-than-walkers.

As a result, I wasn't really happy hitting the first mile marker at something over 7:30. Worse, it was right in the middle of the biggest hill on the course so stepping up the pace had to wait.

I upped the pace a bit on the downhill and then started trying to find the groove. That was tough since the running situation was so different from what I am used to. Basically, I kept reeling in runners and trying not to get passed.

Since I wasn't going to be out there an hour I skipped all the water stations. But I took the tangent on every curve to save as much distance as possible. I don't know if these things will matter in the marathon, but it's good to practice decent running strategy anyway.

(At one point a guy in front of me dropped a $20 bill. I stopped, picked it up and sprinted back forward and handed it to him. He gave me this weird surprised look and then said "Oh!" when he realized what had happened.)

By mile four, I was around a group going my pace and I was focusing on one or two of them a bit faster than me to keep going. I wanted to start running on my toes at the four mile mark but held off since I knew it would take too much out of me.

The organizers put bands at most the corners to keep the energy up. I had to say, this is a better motivator than I expected. You hear them ahead of you and it gives you something to aim for. If, by chance, any of you guys that played read this - thanks a ton. It really mattered.

I pushed the tempo up on the last mile and, as I neared the finish area, I started exaggerating my stride in order to pick up a few seconds. I felt strong enough over that last stretch that it made me wonder if I shouldn't have started the kick even earlier.

My watch read 41:57 but my chip time came out half a minute faster. I'm not sure if that indicates innacuracy on my part or on the part of the timing device. Either way, I know the ballpark I am playing in now.

Conditions:

Start: 8:30 a.m.
Surface: concrete/asphalt
Weather: sunny
Temperature: 63 degrees
Humidity: 32 percent
Wind: 8 mph
Location: Tempe, Arizona
Shoes: Adrenaline GTS 6