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.

20k Race

I've rolled into September still on track!

Completed Week #8 of the Goofy Plan. I give myself an A for sticking with it. Today was a 14 mile Saturday, just like every Saturday in this plan.

Went to a 20k race in place of a training run. Mike, Bill, Jeff, Paul and me all showed up and ran. They were each faster than me, but I was still able to keep an 8:33/mi pace completing the 12.4 miles in 1:46:15 according to my watch. The 68F temp helped as did the volunteers manning the water stops. I walked through most of the water stops.

Tacked on a cool down run with Jeff afterwards to get in my full 14 miles. :)

129 August

Opps, I missed posting my Wednesday run, but fortunately I DID my Wednesday run as scheduled.

10 miles run were scheduled so I ran 10 miles in my brand spankin' new ASICS® GT 2110 shoes. Was a good afterwork run with cooler temps around 70 F.

Ran a 9:13/mi pace which meant I was done in an hour and 32 minutes.

Completed the month of August with my longest total distance of running mileage. 129 miles in the month!

I'm setting out to break this record in September with a marathon exactly one month from today.

14 x Two

Back to back 14 mile days. Wow!

I took my Jeep to the bike/running trail this morning. Got a 7:40 AM start. After running 14 miles yesterday, I was back at it this morning in preparation for the 2007 Walt Disney World Goofy Challenge.

Yet another morning with very high humidity around 90%, but the temp was about 70F.

As I started, I hadn't really developed a pace strategy, but as the run progress I decided to see if I could run a negative split...run the second half faster than the first 7.1 miles.

• The first 7.1 miles were at a 9:33/mi pace
• The second 7.1 miles were at a 9:17/mi pace

Success!

Yes, I'm still able to walk. I can feel it in my quads, but other wise I'm fine. I've now racked up 119 miles for the month with one more run on Wed.

Fourteen Saturday

When I setup the Goofy Plan in early July, I had a simple concept of running 14 miles every Saturday for the second half of 2006. It was very easy to type 14 miles into a spreadsheet...a little harder to execute the plan!

Well, today is Saturday so it's a...14 mile day.

This morning the temp was about 75F with humidity of 91% when I set off for my run at 8 AM. The first 7.1 miles were at a 9:25 min/mi pace. I drank 16 oz of orange Gatorade. Couldn't get the pace faster because of the humidity. Very interesting how much harder it is to breath when the humidity is high. The running felt good even though a bit slow.

Saw some people walking dogs, but only a few runners. I told myself they were only running 3 miles in total. :)

The sun didn't break through the clouds during the whole run. But I got hotter as the miles rolled by. Shirt came off at 7.5 miles. It was soaking wet. Hat and shorts were soaking wet. I kept them on. I couldn't sustain the same pace. Slowed to a 9:49 min/mile pace for the last 7.1 miles. Finished in 2 hours and 17 minutes.

For the month I'm now at 105 miles. My second 100+ mile month in a row. Goofy plan calls for 14 miles again tomorrow!

No a Resting

With the temp around 80F and the humidity around 70%, I went for a 9 mile run this evening after work. I was on the Goofy Plan.

As I stepped outside, I realized I was waterless. Well, it's "only" 9 miles so I should be fine. Amazing how the mind works. I remember running 2.2 miles 4 years ago without water. Thought I was going to die.

This evening I ran the first 4.5 miles at a 8:34 min/mi pace. Ran the second 4.5 miles at a 8:51 min/mi pace. If I'd had some water, I could have done the second section faster. I was getting pretty hot.

Took this lovely photo with my Treo 650 once I was done running. If I'd had the height measure behind me, I'd been all set!

Total time for my run was a bit under an hour and 19 minutes. I'm gettin' Goofy!