HAPPY 2007!

2006!

Met Bill at 7 AM for an indoor run around the outside of the speed skating track.

We ran 8 miles a bit faster than our target marathon pace of 9:00/mi. I finished in 1:10:30. My legs felt great. I ran the last 1/2 lap fast.

A week from now, we'll have completed the 1/2 marathon and be resting up for the next morning's full marathon. Amazing.

Stay tuned!

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14 or Maybe 13

It's Saturday so it's a 14 miles day...well maybe 13 miles!

Met Bill and Paul for a few hours of running indoors around the outside of speed skating track. I was concerned it might be icy outdoors.

Started at 7 AM. Saw some Olympic skaters. Ran for 2 hours. Finished strong!

Goofy x3

Yesterday (Sunday) was the final long run prior to our Goofy runs.

The three of us Goofy guys got together at Bill's house for a 10 mile out and back. Fortunately no snow and mid-30 temps. We ran west and east from Bill's house. The photo shows my one-time lead!

Since I'd run 14 miles the prior day with Bill, this was a test of endurance. All in all not bad. I never hit the wall. Though I kept a slow pace around 9:40/mi. I was never struggling to stay alive or anything like that. I did kick in a few 9:00/mi and the final half mile was an 8:30/mi.

I can sense that a 4:15 marathon is possible the day after a 1:59:30 1/2 marathon. Now I just need to determine how to take minutes off that 4:15 with less-than 3-weeks to go!

Saturday 14

It's Saturday. It's time for 14 miles!

The Goofy 1/2 marathon is only 3-weeks away. The full marathon is only 3 weeks and a 1/2 day away. This is our final 14 mile run before our taper.

I set out with Bill at 6:30 AM. Ran west for 7 miles up hill a bit and then east for 7 miles. The temps were mid-30s. It was dark when we started. We ran on a paved trail outside since the foot of snow has mostly melted.

The pace was slow, but it was supposed to be. We're doing 20 miles tomorrow morning for a our final LONG run of 2006!

Twenty Four Indoor

As I focus on endurance, I found myself running along the speed skating track about 7 AM this morning. I was still running along the speed skating track at 8 AM and still at 9 AM. At 10 AM I was running along the speed skating track. 3 hours and 45 minutes after starting I was still running...I finished 37 seconds after that.

The rough calculation is 24 miles of laps on this indoor track along the ice. I was very happy to be done, but happy I did the run. Knees, feet, legs and head still intact.

During the last 45 minutes of my run, I listened to Black Eye Peas, Billy Squier, Boston, Pussycat Dolls, Journey, Streets, Big&Rich and Waltham as Bill was finishing faster than me.

All in all, a great workout. Getting closer to being ready for my next race!

After the run, I was chillin' so I took a pic with my Treo 650.

USA 14

After running 14 miles yesterday, I decided to do 14 miles again today as I get myself in shape for this upcoming marathon and Goofy-ness

I ran for 2 hours and 11 minutes around the outside of the speedskating track. I'm estimating 14 miles. It may have been a bit further.

I ran with my iPod Shuffle integrated with my Nike iPod shirt. I think my pace may have been faster than yesterday because of the tunes.

It was great running indoors even with it being cool along the ice track, but outside it wasn't even 20F.

Two days into the month of December. I have completed 28 miles!

Indoor 14

With a foot of snow on the ground, I was inside for my 14 miles Saturday run. Bill and I started at 7:15 AM running on a 1/5 mile indoor track.

Ran for 2 hours at a nice regular pace. Didn't measure it, but it was about 13 miles. At the two hour mark, I did one last measured mile at a 8:20/mi pace.

During the workout we saw speed skaters, little hockey players, some out of shape army guys and other runners.

Got some coffee through a drive-thru on the way home!

Pokey 20

My Treo 650 still has a dead battery so Pokey is filling in for me today.

My little wire-filled orange legs got a good workout this morning. Started my run (10 miles out and 10 miles back) with Bill (from his house) at 6:40 AM.

Technically I started out with a nice trot and then worked up to an easy canter or lope. Since this was 20 miles I'd be incorrect to state I ever actually worked up a gallop, but near the end it sure seemed that way even though my legs felt like plastic instead of rubber...a little rubbery once I was done.

The weather being about 40 was also helpful too. As you know rubber gets a little stiff in cold weather.

Considering that someone needs to hand bend my legs for each movement, the 3 hours 17 minutes and 29 seconds for our 20 mile run wasn't too bad.

Holiday 14

Post-Thanksgiving it was time for a 14 mile run to work off a bit of turkey and dressing.

A lovely temperature of 38 F with sun and no wind for my 7:36 AM start. Only one slight glitch was that my running partners set a 7 AM start and we're already down the trail. I was awake at 6 AM, but for some reason thought we were running at 7:30.

Since I knew the out and back route, I figured I'd meet up with them as they headed back. Legs were a little stiff the first few miles since I hadn't run since doing 18 on Sunday.

My pace bounced around from 8:43/mi to 9:14/mi through the first 6 miles until I met up with Bill and Jeff. They'd completed 8 miles by this time. Our next many miles our pace bounced from 9:48/mi down to 7:58/mi for mile 12 as they finished they're 14. I still needed 2 more miles so I continued on down the trail for a mile out and back. I finished the last two miles at 8:50/mi pace with a chocolate milk from Bill waiting RIGHT at mile 14!

Overall run was excellent. 2:07:06 for 14 miles for a 9:05/mi avg pace. This pace kept the 1/2 marathon distance under 2 hours which is the Disney World goal.

6 weeks from tomorrow is the 1/2 marathon race!

Not sure why my picture turned out so green (stuntman) ...maybe because my phone ran out of juice.

2x Long

Yesterday Bill and I completed 14 miles so this morning was the actual "long" run of 18 miles. We're doing back to back long runs since we're training up for Disney's Goofy Challenge in January.

The sun wasn't quite up when we started at 6:37 AM. The temp was around 32F again with a breeze. It felt a bit cold wearing shorts, but we had our ears covered and layers of shirts.

My legs were tired after running 14 miles yesterday, but they weren't hurting just tired. Greeted by a hill only 1/2 mile into the run, ok my legs were sore.

Our pace about 9:15/mi for the first 6 miles, but then slowed as we completed 14 miles in 2:13:00 compared to yesterday's 2:08:28. We finally realized that the breeze was actually a 12 MPH wind at 32F and high humidity. No wonder my face was numb.

We completed the 18 miles in 2:53:43 by visualizing the chocolate milk waiting for us at Bill's house.

A character building run today. I was done at 14, but we did 18!

...chocolate milk was delicious.

Nippy 14

It's Saturday so it's a 14 mile run day!

Bill and I headed up the local trail at 6:30 AM on the first of two longer runs this weekend. The temp was around 32 F, but no wind. Sun was starting to rise.

We did a 7 mile out and back. The first mile was at a 9:00/mi pace, but we slowed down to a 9:20/mi avg pace as we chatted through the first 12 miles. Kicked into an 8:10/mi pace for the final two miles to finish 14 miles in 2:08:28.

Yes that's frost on my hat!

Back to Black

Back to the Midwest and cooler temps than 97 F in Hollywood last week!

This evening was a track workout. I did three sets of 1/2 mile runs at a faster pace than I've been running.

1. I'm guessing my first 1/2 mile was 3:20, but user error operating my Garmin watch.
2. My second 1/2 was 3:30.
3. My third 1/2 was 3:47.

Overall I ran, jogged and walked around the track for 3.5 miles at an overall 9:11/pace.

Umm, yes it was dark out. Yes I had to climb the fence to get to the track. A different workout than normal. It was fun!

HOLLYWOOD!

Beverly Hills

After some nice runs in Monterey, CA, I was seen running through Beverly Hill last week.

Running in Monterey Bay

Saturday 14

It's Saturday so that means it's a 14 mile day!

I had a lovely 7 mile out and back (down and up) from Monterey to Pebble Beach. Temps in the 60s with a nice breeze. It would be easy to stay fit in weather like this.

I packed my fuel belt for this trip or a 2 hour+ run wouldn't be a good idea without some water. Though I never got hot, I drank the 20 oz by mile 12. Refillled for a few more gulps when I was done.

For lunch I drank two big ice teas and a qt of milk.

Monterey Run

Hadn't run since Sunday's 14 miles so it felt great to get back to running. I'm planning to run a bunch of days in a row while out in California.

Lovely weather today and a nice 7 1/2 mile run from Monterey to Pacific Grove and back along the water. A little mist in the air. Temps in the 60s. Awesome views!

Back to Goofy

Today I was a bit sore from running that 15k race yesterday. My shoulder and stomach muscles were even sore. Interesting, but not usual. Guess I've gotten myself out of shape.

WELL, I'm back at it!

Did my super 7 mile loop twice this afternoon. It was a homecoming of sorts. I haven't run this route in a while. It was nice to see how the season has changed. The corn is golden and the leaves are falling.

My first loop I kept slow. I've read about "trying" to do the long runs much slower than marathon pace. My first mile was right at 9:00/mi pace. Oops, that's my current marathon pace. Too fast. Next four miles were at 9:25/mi. That's pretty consistant and a nice comfortable pace. As mile six unfolded I was tired. Was going to write about the wind or the uneven surface, but I was just tired. Since I was on a loop that passes back by my house, I started to think about stopping after 7 miles. Mile 6 & 7 were a 10:00/mi pace. I could justify stopping somehow.

As I came back by the house, I grabbed some water I had placed outside. Chanted Goofy, Goofy, Goofy, back down the driveway for another 7 mile loop!

At a slower pace and a shot of Cliffbar in me, I kept moving. I don't remember mile 8. Mile nine seemed like it should be mile 10. Mile 10 seemed like it should be mile 15. The brain works in wonderful ways. Mile 11 was photo shoot time so I started to feel alive again. Give it the peace sign for lap #2.

The 1/2 marathon distance passed at an unimpressive (for me) 2 hours and 11 minutes, but I remembered then that I was actually TRYING to run much slower than marathon pace! Oh, I had forgotten that this pain was really what I was after! ha!

Done in 2:17:17 for about a 10:00/mi pace overall. I won't remember how slow it was when I look at the miles. I'd rather run this slow than have only completed 7 miles. I'm back on the build up for Goofy!

The world famous iRun podcast.

Trick or Drink

Hey I'm FINALLY not in a picture! Ha!

Decided that before the month was up, I should get back into the groove of running some miles with my eye on the next marathon in January; the big GOOFY Challenge with a 1/2 marathon and a full marathon two days in a row.

This morning I did a 15.1k race in the cool (and windy) Midwest fall weather. Since I haven't been running much in the last 4 weeks (other than a marathon), I decided to just run a nice pace. Nothing too hard. My pace bounced around randomly between 8:50 and 7:57 with no real reason other than a slow down up one long hill.

With a few miles remaining in the run, I decided to gulp down some water at what I thought was the last water stop. About choaked on a 1/2 cup of beer. The "water stop" was sponsored by one of the local brew pubs! Certainly not the best thing to drink while running, but I staggered on to finish just under 80 minutes for a roughly 8:30/mi pace. My watched read 1:19:38.

All and all a nice way kick off my next marathon training!

5k

After completing my 2nd marathon 13 days ago, I decided to participate in a local 5k benefit run before jumpin on a flight to Salt Lake. Didn't blaze any trails, but finished in 23:56.

There was a live band playing after the race. I bought their CD -- Sweet Jelly.

I didn't end up in that ambulance either!

Sub 4!

The Goofy Plan is paying off. Week #13 kicked in with a marathon. Only my second marathon ever...and it happened to be the second one this year!

Nice 50F sunny weather at start. I was fortunate to have Bill pace me for the first 19 miles as he ran a two person relay with his wife.

We strolled past the 1/2 marathon point at 1:55:42. I was excited to be that far at a sub-4 mile pace and feeling good. In my other marathon I crossed the 1/2 way point about 9 minutes slower...and not feeling as relaxed.

Through 19 miles I was still feeling strong and positive. As Bill stopped, I continued to run with Jeff who we kinda picked up around mile 4. He was running the same pace and taking short walk breaks with us.

Mile 20 came at 2:58:39. I realized 10:00/mi would get me in below 4 hours. Wow!

Mile 21, 22 came (and went) with little fanfare or problems. I still wasn't hitting the dreaded wall. I was just focusing forward. As we passed 23 miles and walked through the water stop, I tried to calculate what pace I needed to maintain a sub-4 hour finish. I wasn't figuring it out so I finally asked Jeff with about 2.5 miles remaining on the course.

Jeff said, "12 minute miles. You're gonna break 4!" We were still cruising along around 9:15/mi.

Chip time was 3:55:37. About 26 minutes faster than my January marathon. Maintained a 9:00/mi pace on a gorgeous morning.

Goofy here we come!

iRun podcast prior to the marathon.

Look Good & Smile

Even with a mid-month taper, I still had a record month of 140 miles.

As I finish out the month of Sept with today's 20 minute pre-marathon 2.2 mile run, I'm looking back over the past 3-months of training.

Overall it's been a great 3-months. 395 miles since July 1st. That about 4 1/4 miles per day. But I didn't run every day. I actually ran about every 3rd day. That bumps up the average miles per run to 10 miles. Wow, I hadn't realized this.

Only 12 hours until my 2nd marathon. I feel more prepared. I feel more prepared!

I'm still determining my race pace, but it will be somewhere between 9:00 & 9:15/mi. Significantly faster than my 1st marathon in January.

Stay on pace. Finish strong!


...look good & smile!! :)

Tic Toc

3 1/2 days until the marathon.

My Goofy Plan called for just 3-miles today. I went after work on a faster than marathon pace "short run". I wanted to run around a minute faster per mile than marathon pace just to get my legs moving. I was able to hold an 8:00/mi pace though I was 30 sec faster for the first mile so not an even pace.

My legs felt fine, but I was breathing hard. Pointed out the need for some track or speed workouts after the marathon. I'm slow because I haven't trained to be faster. I've focused my training on being able to run further at a steady pace. Not a bad thing at all, but some additional speed needs to be tweaked into the Goofy Plan after this marathon.

With the marathon on Sunday, I don't have any more runs scheduled until race time. I think I'll run 3 on Saturday just to keep the legs moving. I'd also like to roll past 140 miles for the month!

Warrior in Pink

Final long weekend run prior to the marathon. Ran 12-miles with Bill down along the lake.

Nice cool morning near the lake with only 14 miles in total last week. My legs were very rested. I felt great. FORGOT my GPS watch in the car. Bill's watch said it took us something around 1:43 to run the approximately 12-miles. That's 30-seconds a mile faster than I was planning to run, but it felt great.

Big surprise as we finished. A breast cancer cure walk/run was underway right where we were finishing. Had to run upstream for the last 1/4 mile.

It was nice that they supposed us with water and fashion!

Goofed

I goofed and missed my Wednesday run. I felt a bit like a turkey. (I got the hat in Turkey)

It's the first complete miss since starting the Goofy Plan in early July. Hopefully I picked a good time to miss. It's supposed to be taper time prior to next week's marathon.

Today I ran 7 miles run around the block. I wanted an easy 9:00/mi pace. It's in the fast range of my marathon path...or maybe in my dreams. Humidity was 95%. Started raining at the end of my run. Certainly not a hard run, but my legs felt tight. I'm was more warmed up after completing the run than when I was running.

Tomorrow is another day. Going to run the last 12-mile segement of the marathon course...or at least that's the plan.

Anything After Twenty

Some alterations to the Goofy Plan for this weekend.

Since I successfully completed 20 miles instead of 14 miles yesterday, I lowered today's miles to 7 miles (instead of 17). Doing anything the day following 20 miles is an accomplishment. Even walking. HA! On top of yesterday's workout the weather today is 80F with 62% humidity.

I decided to do my old 6.9 neighborhood loop. I haven't done this loop in a few months because of road work. With the weather being hot and yesterday's long run, I wanted just a nice solid run.

Wow, how soon I forget that it's much hard to run in hotter weather. I was still happy with my run. I felt good. My legs worked fine though they were tired. No knee, foot or ankle issues. Only thing that acted up with my GPS watch. It went in and out of sync a few times.

Completed the 6.9 miles in just under an hour.

Now that I'm thinking about it, that's pretty good! Just put myself in a better mood...And I was already in a fine mood!

Final Long

With a 5:55 AM start, I completed my final "long run" prior to my October marathon.

The Goofy Plan called for 14 miles today, but Bill invited me to run 20 miles with him. Since I had time in my morning schedule, I said "sure!"

We ran the bike trail north. Jeff and Paul showed up to run too.

I was able to keep a nice pace for the whole run though mile 16 to 17 seemed harder than the other miles.

At mile 18.5, I did a world famous iRun Podcast.

Completed the 20 miles in 3:05:00 for a 9:15/mi pace. For you treadmill folks that converts to 6.5 MPH for 20 miles.

Not sure that I could have maintained this pace for another 6.2 miles for a marathon, but it felt mostly good today.

Had some chocolate milk right after running. Mmmm.

Make Up

I missed my Goofy scheduled 12 miles on Wednesday, but was able to complete a make up run on Thursday after work.

Ran with Bill for the few 2-miles at an avg 8:11/mi pace. Bill was on a tempo run. I was headed out for my Goofy 12.

I slowed down with 30 second walk breaks for each the remaining miles. I think I skipped taking the last two breaks.

Completed the overall run with a 9:20/mi pace for 12 miles in 1:52:27. Finished out the last mile at a 8:45/mi pace. It felt good so I still had plenty left in me.

Tomorrow is my final long run before my next marathon!

Week 10 -- Long Run

The Goofy Plan called for a Sunday long run of 16 miles to start week #10.

Instead of 16 miles, I agreed to run with a group of marathon training friends that were doing 21 miles with the final task of climbing a "lookout" tower.

With a 6:15 AM start, we were off on our run. Temp was around 58F. Very overcast. Looked like it might rain at any moment.

Mile #1 was 9:07/mi pace
Mile #2 was 9:08/mi pace
Mile #3 was 8:43/mi pace
Mile #4 was 8:54/mi pace
Mile #5 was 8:45/mi pace
Mile #6 was 8:47/mi pace
Mile #7 was 10:27/mi pace (thought Bill might catch up)
Mile #8 was 9:23/mi pace
Mile #9 was 8:54/mi pace
Mile #10 was 9:16/mi pace
Mile #11 was 9:20/mi pace
Mile #12 was 9:06/mi pace
Mile #13 was 9:05/mi pace
Mile #14 was 9:17/mi pace
Mile #15 was 11:00/mi pace (refill water)
Mile #16 was 9:15/mi pace
Mile #17 was 9:09/mi pace
Mile #18 was 9:12/mi pace
Mile #19 was 9:55/mi pace (refill water)
Mile #20 was 9:03/mi pace
Mile #21 was 9:57/mi pace (big hill)
Mile #22 was 12:42/mi pace (bigger hill and tower climb)

Got to the very top of the tower 21.9 miles and 3:27:11 after starting. The final pace was 9:28/mi.

A very good training run. I felt good at the end. I was still "running" once I got up the big hill. I wasn't just shuffling along.

Nice cold chocolate milk at the end was fantastic!

Here We Go Again

Saturday morning, it's time for 14 miles.

Mid-50s and raining as I drive to the running trail -- I catch excuses (to not run) skipping through my brain. The task of 14 miles wins out over being a loser.

Since I'm scheduled for a much longer run tomorrow, I took it easy on this run. The first 7.1 miles took 1:07:45. Ran a negative split on the way back in 1:07:01. The total run took 2:14:47 which is ok for an easy 14.2 mile run.

For some reason I felt a bit achy. Maybe the perch I ate last night didn't provide me enough fuel. Maybe it's the 41 miles I've successful run this week!

I wrapped Goofy Week #9 up with a bow...and tied it. Done!

The world famous iRun Podcast is back today.

Goofy Twelve

My super duper Goofy Plan called for 12 miles today. I heard thunder and a down pour of rain 15 minutes prior to my pre-plan afterwork start time. Checked the radar and decided it was going to pass so the run was on!

Temp was in the lower 70s, but slightly humid since it had just rained.

Ran with Bill for the first 2 1/2 miles then continued on without him. Lots of wet spots on the trail, but kept my feet dry.

6 miles appeared on my GPS just after the new Taco Bell (it's not open yet). I ran another 1/10 of a mile for good health before turning around for my return run.

I did 30 second walk breaks every 5 1/2 minutes. Since I'm racking up some higher mileage, I think this extra precaution is a good idea. Though I was tired of running by mile 12, I was still in good shape. Was able to maintain a 9:09/mi pace to finish the 12.2 miles in 1:51:55.

I saw no other runners, just a few people walking dogs during the few hours I was out.

Kickin' In Week #9

After running a 20k (12.4 mile) race yesterday, I ran 15 miles this morning in the fog.

Most sane people would think it's unhealthy, dangerous or even insane for me to run this far after running 20k yesterday. It's common for people to make bold comments to me about how bad running is for my knees. The comments quickly turn inwards with them telling me how bad their knees are. I usually then ask, "Oh, you were a distance runner?" So far to date, not one single person that has commented to me about their knees was (or is) a runner. Go figure.

As part of my Goofy Plan, I had 15 miles on the schedule this morning. A nice cool (less than 60F) foggy morning. I was on the trail by 7:15 AM.

I was able to maintain a 9:10/mi pace for the first 7.1 miles even though I took a 40 second walk break every 5 1/2 minutes. I did this to help myself have a good workout without "over doing" it. I slowed down to a 9:40/mi pace coming back. Still doing the timed walk breaks. Amazingly I was faster today than last weekend even after running a race AND taking the timed walk breaks. I'm sure the cooler weather helped.

I tacked on 1 mile at the end of my run to get my 15 miles. Finished 15.2 miles in 2:23:01 which is about 9:25/mi overall.

The fog was so thick at times, my clothes were soaked as if I'd been running in the rain.