December 30, 2013.......so......I thought it was bad that there were 2 months between the 1st and 2nd post on this blog.....well.....I guess it can be worse......let's try over 4 months between my 2nd and 3rd post! I am disappointed in myself that I basically haven't followed through with blogging about my Disney Half Marathon preparation. In blogging about my preparation for the Boston Marathon, I started 12 WEEKS before the race. Well.....today will be an attempt to start blogging about the Disney Half Marathon 12 DAYS before the race. I guess it's better late than never. Anyway, to quickly summarize the previous 10-11 weeks, I have averaged between 60 and 70 miles a week. There was one week where I ran around 45 miles rather lightly b/c of a setback where I fell over top of someone at the start of a race, and landed almost squarely on my hip/glute area. Although I finished the race, I could barely lift my left leg an inch off the ground after the race. I couldn't even do my cool down jog. (On a side note, I want to throw in that something is either wrong with this website and/or my computer b/c it will not let me hit 'enter' or start a new paragraph. Therefore, everything will be running together...sorry about that). Anyway, as I sit here 12 days before the race, I am VERY EXCITED FOR THE RACE. God has been so faithful. There have been times over the past 3 months where training has been less than ideal, and I simply felt like I was in a 'rut' where I wasn't improving much. In fact, I felt as if I was getting slower. Also during that time, I believe I was in a 'spiritual' rut as well. My heart's desire is still to run as a worship to God, to empty myself, and let Christ be lifted up through my running and my life. There have been times over the past 3 months where my heart has strayed from that desire. It's really a miserable place to be. Whenever I do this, I start to feel the pressure of performing to a certain standard, instead of just working hard, and surrendering myself and training to Him. I believe God wants us ALL to live our lives in surrender to Him b/c He wants His best for us; and His best might be different than what we think His best should be. He wants our hearts. He wants us to love Him with wreckless abandon. When we do this, it certainly does not mean life is perfect, but we are equipped to walk in His fullness and purpose; as well as being able to face any adversity that inevitably comes our way. My ultimate desire....and I know His desire for us is to walk in His fullness and purpose each and every day. This is also where I want to be when I toe the starting line 12 days from now. To Him be the glory.
Monday, December 30, 2013
Sunday, August 18, 2013
Ouch!
August 18, 2013.....WOW! It's been almost 2 months since my first post! Ouch! Speaking of ouch, that's what my hip is feeling a little bit right now. Since June, I had worked up to running between 50-60 miles a week. The good news......my foot keeps getting better!....Thank you Jesus! The not so great news.....last week my right hip area started bothering me. I continued to run for a few days hoping and praying it was something that would just go away. It hasn't. The pain is not excruciating, but I do not want it to get to that point. I had plans of running the 5K that coincides with the Charleston Distance Run 15-miler, but those plans are definitely in question now. I also had thoughts of running the Great Race 10K in Pittsburgh in late September.....hopefully this will still be possible. I am disappointed, but at peace. Again, this is the wonderful thing about my Ultimate Source being Christ. I know He has a plan, and it is GREATER than my plan. I just have to keep trusting. He is faithful. He is good.
Friday, June 21, 2013
Starting a New Journey
6/21/13 - With today being the first day of summer, it is also my first post in blogging about my next major running adventure. This time, the planned destination is the Magic Kingdom in Orlando, Fl for the Walt Disney World Half-Marathon on January 11, 2014.
Since the Boston Marathon, I have run very little. The nagging foot injury (plantar fasciitis) that hung around for almost 3 months heading into Boston, still has not gone completely away 2 months after Boston. I think it's gotten a tad better. However, at this point I feel at peace about starting back with some consistent running. I plan on treating the foot with ice, heat, massage, stretching, etc, then trusting God with the long-term result. During my devotion time this morning, I read a Scripture in 1 Peter that goes something like this: "...and the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you, and make you strong, firm, and steadfast." I believe that God is my ultimate healer. I want to trust Him with the journey ahead. I want it to be a journey where He is honored, glorified, and people are drawn to Him. Although I have goals heading into Disney (which I will discuss later), it is not about me. It's about Him. As I have said before, God can do with this immeasurably more than I could ever do on my own. I want to totally commit and surrender everything to Him.
For now, I plan to blog at least once a week.....maybe more often as we get into the Fall months. In the blog, I will include a brief synopsis of the week's training, and whatever else God lay's on my heart. Although I am not very vocal about it at times, in my heart of hearts, I just want people to experience the fulfillment, freedom, joy, and peace that comes with having a surrendered relationship with Christ. It's time to run to Him, then with Him.....and enjoy every minute of it!
Since the Boston Marathon, I have run very little. The nagging foot injury (plantar fasciitis) that hung around for almost 3 months heading into Boston, still has not gone completely away 2 months after Boston. I think it's gotten a tad better. However, at this point I feel at peace about starting back with some consistent running. I plan on treating the foot with ice, heat, massage, stretching, etc, then trusting God with the long-term result. During my devotion time this morning, I read a Scripture in 1 Peter that goes something like this: "...and the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ Jesus, after you have suffered a little while, will Himself restore you, and make you strong, firm, and steadfast." I believe that God is my ultimate healer. I want to trust Him with the journey ahead. I want it to be a journey where He is honored, glorified, and people are drawn to Him. Although I have goals heading into Disney (which I will discuss later), it is not about me. It's about Him. As I have said before, God can do with this immeasurably more than I could ever do on my own. I want to totally commit and surrender everything to Him.
For now, I plan to blog at least once a week.....maybe more often as we get into the Fall months. In the blog, I will include a brief synopsis of the week's training, and whatever else God lay's on my heart. Although I am not very vocal about it at times, in my heart of hearts, I just want people to experience the fulfillment, freedom, joy, and peace that comes with having a surrendered relationship with Christ. It's time to run to Him, then with Him.....and enjoy every minute of it!
Thursday, April 25, 2013
Race Day
April 15, 2013: Race Day - 26.2 miles - 2:29:49 - 80th place. Wow. What a day. A day of redemption. A day of jubilation. A day of tragedy. A day of heroics. My heart goes out to the victims of the bombings. Lives were unnecessarily lost, while others were severely injured. Two lost souls deceived into thinking that hurting and/or taking the lives of innocent people in the name of their religion somehow serves justice. Believe it or not, my heart also goes out to the 19-year old kid partially responsible for the entire debacle. He obviously deserves whatever our justice system sentences him to; whether it is costing him his freedom for a lifetime, or death. He reaps what he sows just like we all do. At the same time, I cannot help but realize the fact that Christ went to cross for his sin just like He did for all of our sins. I can't help but think about how the Apostle Paul oversaw the execution of numerous believers in Christ, and whose goal was to destroy the Christian faith; yet Christ chose him to become argubaly the most influential leader ever in the spread of the gospel. Although I am deeply saddened by the tragic events of the Boston Marathon, my prayer is that God uses this dark, sensless act to bring people to Him. I even pray that Christ reveals Himself to the surviving bomber and his family....that the truth of Christ's love, forgiveness, and salvation will push back the darkness and deception of their religion, and set their spirits free.
Now to a less important matter..... the race experience itself. On the way to the race, I was listening to an audio version of the Bible along with worship music. My heart was truly at peace. I was excited for the race, but not anxious or nervous. My goal was to head to the starting line in a place of total surrender to God. I wanted to not worry about logistics (such as being crammed into my corral and barely able to move) or even worry about the end result of the race. I wanted to run the race with wisdom, courage, and a worship to God.
It was obviously a beautiful day....sunny and temperatures in the mid-50's.....cannot ask for much better. There was a slight headwind, but nothing to drastically slow times down. Here is how the race played out:
Mile 1 - 5:46 (my watch said 5:54, but it took approximately 8 seconds for me to cross the starting line after the gun went off)
Mile 2 - 5:44
Mile 3 - 5:42
Mile 4 - 5:39
Mile 5 - 5:46
Mile 6 - 5:42
Mile 7 - 5:38
Mile 8 - 5:42
Mile 9 - 5:38
Mile 10 - 5:46
Mile 11 - 5:43
Mile 12 - 5:37
Miles 13-14 - 11:17 (for some reason I missed the 13 mile mark. I realized this after I had passed the half-marathon point (13.1 miles) and hadn't hit the split button on my watch. I decided to just wait until mile 14 to hit the button.
Mile 15 - 5:42
Mile 16 - 5:35
Mile 17 - 5:55
Mile 18 - 5:50
Mile 19 - 5:43
Mile 20 - 5:50
Mile 21 - 6:00 (this mile included the infamous heartbreak hill)
Mile 22 - 5:36
Mile 23 - 5:41
Mile 24 - 5:37
Mile 25 - 5:46
Mile 26 - 5:34
The final 385 yards - 67 seconds
Overall, the race itself was amazing. I sensed the presence of God, the crowds were awesome, and I felt pretty strong most of the way. After getting about 9 or 10 miles into the race, I found myself thanking God after each mile, then surrendering the next mile to Him. I asked God to do with this race only what He could do. This was a cool experience. It almost felt like the potential burden of running 26.2 miles was lifted as I surrendered each mile to Him. Once I got to about mile 18 or 19, I even found myself looking forward to heartbreak hill. Listening to the crowds cheering almost frantically at times helped push me along as well. I heard numerous people yell, "Team Run Free!" referring to the singlet I was wearing. I was hoping in some way that the right people would notice the cross on my jersey, and somehow God would use it to speak to people's hearts.....to point them to Jesus. One man yelled extremely loud and passionately, "The Cross!" Hearing him belt that out actually almost brought tears to my eyes. It's almost as if I was momentarily hit with the reality of the cross.....not the grueling death that Christ suffered on the cross....but the redemptive power of the cross. It began to hit me that what Jesus accomplished on the cross is for EVERYONE....that He loves ABOLUTELY EVERYONE regardless of who they are or what they have done. I got the sense that he absolutely wants to embrace our brokenness and lavish us with His wholeness (His peace, His joy, His love, His compassion, His grace) ....that we would be complete and satisfied in Him.
Besides the early parts of the race, I never really felt like I was passed by anyone (which was the opposite of what happened in 2008). In fact, after looking at the race results, I figured that I was never passed by anyone the 2nd half of the race (If I was, then I passed them back). I think I passed close to 60 people in the 2nd half (and probably at least 60 more throughout the first half of the race). I even passed 3 people on Boylston St. (the final stretch of the race) with 2 of them being right at the finish. As I crossed the finish line, I experienced the 'first class' nature of those associated with the marathon. They graciously pointed me in the right direction of where I needed to go, and I received dozens of 'congratulations' coupled with genuine, heartfelt smiles. I crossed the line at approximately 12:30 pm.....over 2 hours before the bombings. We ate lunch and walked around the city before heading out at about 2:30 when we rode the 'T' (Boston's subway/train system) to my sister's car. We didn't actually hear about the incident until we were in the car heading back to Candia, New Hampshire. As I heard the news, my first emotion was disbelief. How could the jubilant finish line area that I crossed over 2 hours ago now be a place of violence, fear, and chaos. It took me a little while to even process it. As we reached my sister's house and turned on the television, I watched in disbelief at the carnage. I felt nothing but peace deep inside my soul, but I also felt sadness for all of the people affected. I wondered about the people who were congratulating me at the finish line. I wondered about the people who my wife, sister, and nephew were standing with almost halfway in between the 2 explosions. Did people who they had conversation with get hurt? What was it like to go from anxiously awaiting a friend or loved one to cross the finish line to all of a sudden being in what must have felt like a war-zone. It's almost unthinkable. I still have a hard time processing it. I am thankful that I made it out of the city safely, but my heart certainly goes out to those who had to experience this tragedy first-hand.
Some people may ask, "Where was God during the bombings?" Why did He allow that to happen?" I don't exactly know the answer to that question. He obviously does not stop every evil plot that people choose to execute, and people get hurt and/or lose lives as a result. I do know that if the people responsible for this tragedy knew Jesus and loved Jesus even a fraction of how much He loves them, the story of the day would have been quite different.
For the good things that happened today....the race itself; the heroic actions of police, race volunteers, and citizens standing by.....I thank God for that. Through the atrocity, heroes arose and stood above fear and self-preservation to help their neighbors.
As far as the race itself, I want to give all the glory to Him. Even though people might say that God does not care about athletics, and/or how well a race/performance goes....I respectfully disagree with them. He cares for us so much that when we surrender 'anything' to Him, He shows up and does things in our lives that otherwise would not or could not be done. No matter how a race or performance of some kind goes, He does not change, and His love for us does not change. He remains constant and steadfast. However, I believe He rejoices with us in celebrations/victory, and He is there to pick us up in disappointment and/or defeat.
Now to a less important matter..... the race experience itself. On the way to the race, I was listening to an audio version of the Bible along with worship music. My heart was truly at peace. I was excited for the race, but not anxious or nervous. My goal was to head to the starting line in a place of total surrender to God. I wanted to not worry about logistics (such as being crammed into my corral and barely able to move) or even worry about the end result of the race. I wanted to run the race with wisdom, courage, and a worship to God.
It was obviously a beautiful day....sunny and temperatures in the mid-50's.....cannot ask for much better. There was a slight headwind, but nothing to drastically slow times down. Here is how the race played out:
Mile 1 - 5:46 (my watch said 5:54, but it took approximately 8 seconds for me to cross the starting line after the gun went off)
Mile 2 - 5:44
Mile 3 - 5:42
Mile 4 - 5:39
Mile 5 - 5:46
Mile 6 - 5:42
Mile 7 - 5:38
Mile 8 - 5:42
Mile 9 - 5:38
Mile 10 - 5:46
Mile 11 - 5:43
Mile 12 - 5:37
Miles 13-14 - 11:17 (for some reason I missed the 13 mile mark. I realized this after I had passed the half-marathon point (13.1 miles) and hadn't hit the split button on my watch. I decided to just wait until mile 14 to hit the button.
Mile 15 - 5:42
Mile 16 - 5:35
Mile 17 - 5:55
Mile 18 - 5:50
Mile 19 - 5:43
Mile 20 - 5:50
Mile 21 - 6:00 (this mile included the infamous heartbreak hill)
Mile 22 - 5:36
Mile 23 - 5:41
Mile 24 - 5:37
Mile 25 - 5:46
Mile 26 - 5:34
The final 385 yards - 67 seconds
Overall, the race itself was amazing. I sensed the presence of God, the crowds were awesome, and I felt pretty strong most of the way. After getting about 9 or 10 miles into the race, I found myself thanking God after each mile, then surrendering the next mile to Him. I asked God to do with this race only what He could do. This was a cool experience. It almost felt like the potential burden of running 26.2 miles was lifted as I surrendered each mile to Him. Once I got to about mile 18 or 19, I even found myself looking forward to heartbreak hill. Listening to the crowds cheering almost frantically at times helped push me along as well. I heard numerous people yell, "Team Run Free!" referring to the singlet I was wearing. I was hoping in some way that the right people would notice the cross on my jersey, and somehow God would use it to speak to people's hearts.....to point them to Jesus. One man yelled extremely loud and passionately, "The Cross!" Hearing him belt that out actually almost brought tears to my eyes. It's almost as if I was momentarily hit with the reality of the cross.....not the grueling death that Christ suffered on the cross....but the redemptive power of the cross. It began to hit me that what Jesus accomplished on the cross is for EVERYONE....that He loves ABOLUTELY EVERYONE regardless of who they are or what they have done. I got the sense that he absolutely wants to embrace our brokenness and lavish us with His wholeness (His peace, His joy, His love, His compassion, His grace) ....that we would be complete and satisfied in Him.
Besides the early parts of the race, I never really felt like I was passed by anyone (which was the opposite of what happened in 2008). In fact, after looking at the race results, I figured that I was never passed by anyone the 2nd half of the race (If I was, then I passed them back). I think I passed close to 60 people in the 2nd half (and probably at least 60 more throughout the first half of the race). I even passed 3 people on Boylston St. (the final stretch of the race) with 2 of them being right at the finish. As I crossed the finish line, I experienced the 'first class' nature of those associated with the marathon. They graciously pointed me in the right direction of where I needed to go, and I received dozens of 'congratulations' coupled with genuine, heartfelt smiles. I crossed the line at approximately 12:30 pm.....over 2 hours before the bombings. We ate lunch and walked around the city before heading out at about 2:30 when we rode the 'T' (Boston's subway/train system) to my sister's car. We didn't actually hear about the incident until we were in the car heading back to Candia, New Hampshire. As I heard the news, my first emotion was disbelief. How could the jubilant finish line area that I crossed over 2 hours ago now be a place of violence, fear, and chaos. It took me a little while to even process it. As we reached my sister's house and turned on the television, I watched in disbelief at the carnage. I felt nothing but peace deep inside my soul, but I also felt sadness for all of the people affected. I wondered about the people who were congratulating me at the finish line. I wondered about the people who my wife, sister, and nephew were standing with almost halfway in between the 2 explosions. Did people who they had conversation with get hurt? What was it like to go from anxiously awaiting a friend or loved one to cross the finish line to all of a sudden being in what must have felt like a war-zone. It's almost unthinkable. I still have a hard time processing it. I am thankful that I made it out of the city safely, but my heart certainly goes out to those who had to experience this tragedy first-hand.
Some people may ask, "Where was God during the bombings?" Why did He allow that to happen?" I don't exactly know the answer to that question. He obviously does not stop every evil plot that people choose to execute, and people get hurt and/or lose lives as a result. I do know that if the people responsible for this tragedy knew Jesus and loved Jesus even a fraction of how much He loves them, the story of the day would have been quite different.
For the good things that happened today....the race itself; the heroic actions of police, race volunteers, and citizens standing by.....I thank God for that. Through the atrocity, heroes arose and stood above fear and self-preservation to help their neighbors.
As far as the race itself, I want to give all the glory to Him. Even though people might say that God does not care about athletics, and/or how well a race/performance goes....I respectfully disagree with them. He cares for us so much that when we surrender 'anything' to Him, He shows up and does things in our lives that otherwise would not or could not be done. No matter how a race or performance of some kind goes, He does not change, and His love for us does not change. He remains constant and steadfast. However, I believe He rejoices with us in celebrations/victory, and He is there to pick us up in disappointment and/or defeat.
Sunday, April 14, 2013
3, 2, 1 and Counting.....
April 14, 2013: 1 and Counting..... 4-miles (29:40) - out/back - Merrill Rd/Route 27 (Candia, NH) - last run before the big day. However, I am wanting to always keep in mind that God is bigger than this day, this race. My continued prayer is to LOCK-IN on Him. It's not about me and my goals. It's about Him and His purposes. With this race and my life being about Him, it brings about a peace and a freedom in my soul. Any burdens of expectations of myself and others belong to Him. He chooses to carry those for me and allows me to run free....run for Him....run with the assurance that His immeasurable love for me does not change. His love is there through trials and triumphs. He is there to rejoice with me in victory, or pick me up in defeat. He is constant. He is my peace. Going back to goals that I am free from.....(top 100; sub 2:30).......He can do immeasurably more than this. NO MATTER WHAT.......HE IS MY STRENGTH AND MY SONG.....HE IS GOOD.
April 13, 2013: 5-miles (35:30) - out/back - Merrill Rd./Route 27 (Candia/Hooksett, NH) -. The highlight of the day was seeing my nephew and niece in their school talent show. Watching my niece (who is in the 3rd grade) play the guitar, sing, then do another beautiful dance to a song from Anastasia almost brought tears to my eyes. If I did not get to run the Boston Marathon on Monday, spending time with family and watching my niece do something that God has gifted her with makes the whole trip worth it. She was inspiring. What she did on stage was something that moves people. As she sang "Peace like a river", I truly experienced 'peace' like a river. As she most beautifully danced, it was almost as if her dance was a worship to God. I could almost sense God smiling down upon. I KNOW HE WAS SMILING DOWN ON HER. She is a young girl that is full of life, and full of talent that God has given. I thank Him for allowing me to experience this. He is good.
April 12, 2013: 3 and Counting.... 6-miles (44:50) - out/back - Shinnston Rail Trail. This 6-mile recovery run put my mileage at exactly 1,000 since January 1st. That may sound like a lot of miles, but to run a fast marathon, it would be considered pretty low mileage. With the marathon being 3 days away, I want to thank God for these 1,000 miles. I also want to give/surrender these miles to Him and may He do with these miles only what He can do. I run for Him and truly want Him to accomplish what He desires. I want my desires to be His desires. I want to run the race on Monday with His joy, His peace, His wisdom, His courage. I want to be emptied out and be filled with His Spirit. He is so good.
April 13, 2013: 5-miles (35:30) - out/back - Merrill Rd./Route 27 (Candia/Hooksett, NH) -. The highlight of the day was seeing my nephew and niece in their school talent show. Watching my niece (who is in the 3rd grade) play the guitar, sing, then do another beautiful dance to a song from Anastasia almost brought tears to my eyes. If I did not get to run the Boston Marathon on Monday, spending time with family and watching my niece do something that God has gifted her with makes the whole trip worth it. She was inspiring. What she did on stage was something that moves people. As she sang "Peace like a river", I truly experienced 'peace' like a river. As she most beautifully danced, it was almost as if her dance was a worship to God. I could almost sense God smiling down upon. I KNOW HE WAS SMILING DOWN ON HER. She is a young girl that is full of life, and full of talent that God has given. I thank Him for allowing me to experience this. He is good.
April 12, 2013: 3 and Counting.... 6-miles (44:50) - out/back - Shinnston Rail Trail. This 6-mile recovery run put my mileage at exactly 1,000 since January 1st. That may sound like a lot of miles, but to run a fast marathon, it would be considered pretty low mileage. With the marathon being 3 days away, I want to thank God for these 1,000 miles. I also want to give/surrender these miles to Him and may He do with these miles only what He can do. I run for Him and truly want Him to accomplish what He desires. I want my desires to be His desires. I want to run the race on Monday with His joy, His peace, His wisdom, His courage. I want to be emptied out and be filled with His Spirit. He is so good.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
4 and Counting.....
April 11, 2013: 4 and Counting..... 7-miles (3-mile warmup; 2-mile marathon tempo (11:23); 2-mile cooldown. This is truly the last faster running day until the marathon. From here on out, it's all recovery runs with some strides thrown in on Saturday. This marathon 'dress rehearsal' felt a little harder than I wanted it too. I hope it has to due with the fact that it was 80 degrees and there were a few rolling hills thrown in. My ultimate prayer over the next 4 days is that my heart is where God wants it to be heading into the race. I want to run free....run for Him.....run as a worship to Him. I want to totally surrender the race to Him.....to run free from any pressure to meet the top 100 and sub 2:30 goals. No matter what happens....'it is well'.
6, 5, and Counting....
April 10, 2013: 5 and Counting..... 7-miles (46:30) - out/back - Middleville Rd. - Today was a hot (84 degrees), windy day. Since I took Monday off, and ran easy yesterday, I wanted to get a moderate effort in today to avoid too many easy days in a row. This run reminded me of Sunday's as I had a friendly tailwind on the way out over Middleville's rolling hills.....but then on the way back I felt as if the wind was constantly pushing against me as if it didn't want me to get home. I am beginning to wonder if this wind is a sign of things to come (I certainly hope not). As I have looked at weather.com everyday to get the latest updates on Monday's forecast, I most recently noticed that they are predicting the wind to now come out of the South Southeast (SSE), which means it would mostly be a cross/head wind. Before this, the forecast kept predicting wind to come out of the Southwest (SW) or South Southwest (SSW), which would have been closer to a cross/tailwind (much nicer). I know ultimately it is up to God, but I certainly wouldn't complain if he told the winds to 'be still' on Monday OR to switch the wind back to the West to help carry everyone along. No matter what the weather though, I just want to surrender the race to Him, and run with the peace and joy that comes only from Him.
April 9, 2013: 6 and Counting..... 6-miles (43:20) - out/back - Shinnston Rail-Trail - I felt pretty decent today, but wanted to stick to the plan and run at 'recovery' effort. I am glad I will not be running anything hard on this rail-trail soon as the footing on the trail has deteriorated a bit with people riding their horses. I certainly realize that people have a right to ride their horses on the trail, but it does make it easier for runners to turn an ankle or something else due to the ruts that the horse hooves create. However, running slower makes it easier to concentrate on where I am placing my feet.
April 9, 2013: 6 and Counting..... 6-miles (43:20) - out/back - Shinnston Rail-Trail - I felt pretty decent today, but wanted to stick to the plan and run at 'recovery' effort. I am glad I will not be running anything hard on this rail-trail soon as the footing on the trail has deteriorated a bit with people riding their horses. I certainly realize that people have a right to ride their horses on the trail, but it does make it easier for runners to turn an ankle or something else due to the ruts that the horse hooves create. However, running slower makes it easier to concentrate on where I am placing my feet.
Monday, April 8, 2013
8, 7 and Counting....
April 8, 2013: 7 and Counting.... We are exactly 1 week away!......perfect time for a day off! :-P This is my last planned total rest day. From here on out there will be nothing longer than 7 miles with some strides thrown in, and a short marathon-paced tempo later on in the week. It's time to really lock-in on Jesus, eating well/hydrating, and getting plenty of sleep at night.
April 7, 2013: 8 and Counting.... 13-miles (82:48) - out/back - Mon River Rail Trail (Prickett's Fort). This run was very interesting. I wanted to stay true to the thought of maintaining intensity, while reducing volume. Therefore, I did not want to run easy, but also not go crazy fast. I started the run out feeling ok as I was cruising along with a 20 mph tailwind most of the way. Part of me couldn't help but think, "How is it going to feel on the way back?" Well.....for the most part, the way back was tough. It has been quite some time since I have run in winds this strong. Having not looked at my watch, I was predicting that I would finish the run in around 85:00....if things were going well, but possibly up to 88:00 as I felt like aqua-jogging back much of the time. That's how tough it was on the way back. I really felt like I was practically running in place at times. I scratched and clawed my way to the finish and felt like I had just completed an 18-20 miler instead of a 13 miler. To my surprise, my split on the way back was within seconds of my split on the way out. I know I said on Thursday that the 3 x 1600 workout was my last 'hard' day, but I will have to revise that and include this run in that category....at least being as mentally tough b/c of the headwind during the 2nd half of the run. Hopefully the conditions at Boston will be more like the first half of this run. :-)
April 7, 2013: 8 and Counting.... 13-miles (82:48) - out/back - Mon River Rail Trail (Prickett's Fort). This run was very interesting. I wanted to stay true to the thought of maintaining intensity, while reducing volume. Therefore, I did not want to run easy, but also not go crazy fast. I started the run out feeling ok as I was cruising along with a 20 mph tailwind most of the way. Part of me couldn't help but think, "How is it going to feel on the way back?" Well.....for the most part, the way back was tough. It has been quite some time since I have run in winds this strong. Having not looked at my watch, I was predicting that I would finish the run in around 85:00....if things were going well, but possibly up to 88:00 as I felt like aqua-jogging back much of the time. That's how tough it was on the way back. I really felt like I was practically running in place at times. I scratched and clawed my way to the finish and felt like I had just completed an 18-20 miler instead of a 13 miler. To my surprise, my split on the way back was within seconds of my split on the way out. I know I said on Thursday that the 3 x 1600 workout was my last 'hard' day, but I will have to revise that and include this run in that category....at least being as mentally tough b/c of the headwind during the 2nd half of the run. Hopefully the conditions at Boston will be more like the first half of this run. :-)
Saturday, April 6, 2013
9 and Counting.....
April 6, 2013: 9 and Counting..... 7-miles - out/back - Middleville Rd. (6-miles in 39:06; 1-mile w/8 x 100 meter strides) - Felt ok today. Another day where I did not look at my watch until I finished b/c I wanted to base the run on feel/effort...not race the watch. Here is something funny....at the end of the run, I decided to look back on my watch at my splits of this past Tuesday's run b/c I felt today's run was similar. I kid you not.......the 6-mile split of that run was.........39:06.19, while today's 6-mile run was 39:06.05.....crazy! I don't know if it's good, bad, or indifferent. Part of me thinks that this run should have felt easier than it did......that's ok though.....trusting God....looking forward to tomorrow's 13-miler on the rail-trail.
Friday, April 5, 2013
12, 11, 10, and Counting
April 5, 2013: 10 and Counting: 5-miles (37:24) - Recovery Run - Maple Lake. So, here we are...the countdown from 10....like a space shuttle getting ready to launch. :-P Going back to the introduction of this blog, I believe this is going to be a redemptive race. God is faithful, and I believe He cares....even about this race....He cares. As the race draws closer, I want to draw closer to God...not because of the Boston Marathon, but because there is no greater place to be than in the presence of God....to seek Him more....to know Him more.....there is nothing better! We were created to commune with God....to love Him, and to love people. I want to desire Him more than I desire anything else. My prayer over the next 10 days is that I will desire Him more than a good result in Boston; and that no matter what happens in Boston, my desire for Him will not wane. God is good.
April 4, 2013: 11 and Counting.....10-miles (3.5 mile warm-up with 8 x 100 meter strides; 3 x 1600 meters w/400 meter jog in between. My splits were: 4:50, 4:54, 4:51; 3-mile cool-down) The weather was next to perfect today....mid-50's and not too windy. Today was another day where I felt ok, but not great. With the way I was feeling, I was pleased with the results of the workout; especially the last 1600. I struggled a little on the 2nd one, and wasn't sure how the last one would go. Being the last one, I pushed a little harder the last 100 meters which helped my time. This is basically what I would call the last 'hard' workout before Boston. The rest of the way will be either recovery or 'tune-up' type runs.
April 3, 2013: 12 and Counting......6-miles (no watch) - Recovery run - out/back-Middleville Rd. The legs did not feel as good as I thought they would today. However I was happy to get it in and feel relatively healthy (not injured) as the taper is getting into full-swing.....trying to keep my eye on the prize.
April 4, 2013: 11 and Counting.....10-miles (3.5 mile warm-up with 8 x 100 meter strides; 3 x 1600 meters w/400 meter jog in between. My splits were: 4:50, 4:54, 4:51; 3-mile cool-down) The weather was next to perfect today....mid-50's and not too windy. Today was another day where I felt ok, but not great. With the way I was feeling, I was pleased with the results of the workout; especially the last 1600. I struggled a little on the 2nd one, and wasn't sure how the last one would go. Being the last one, I pushed a little harder the last 100 meters which helped my time. This is basically what I would call the last 'hard' workout before Boston. The rest of the way will be either recovery or 'tune-up' type runs.
April 3, 2013: 12 and Counting......6-miles (no watch) - Recovery run - out/back-Middleville Rd. The legs did not feel as good as I thought they would today. However I was happy to get it in and feel relatively healthy (not injured) as the taper is getting into full-swing.....trying to keep my eye on the prize.
Wednesday, April 3, 2013
17, 16, 15, 14, 13, and Counting
April 2, 2013: 13 and Counting..... 9-miles (8 miles in 51:45; 1-mile w/8 x 100 meter strides - no watch) - Out/Back - Middleville Rd. I felt pretty good overall. My right hamstring felt a little tight on the way back, so I backed off a little....foot and back felt pretty much the same as they have been. I can feel them there, but they are not slowing me down much. Even with the above mentioned ailments, I still feel pretty good and relatively healthy. Hopefully things will clear up even more as the taper progresses.
April 1, 2013: 14 and Counting..... DAY OFF. Again, had thoughts of running today, but decided on full rest day as far as running is concerned.
March 31, 2013: 15 and Counting....... 17-miles (1:44:30) - This was my last long run before Boston. I was very encouraged as I felt better as the run progressed, and ran the last 10-miles in under 60 minutes. From everything that I have read about tapering, it is important to keep the intensity up in select runs, but only reduce the mileage. I am thankful that I felt this strong today, even after running a race yesterday. God is good!! I jumped in the lake for about a 12-minute ice bath afterwards.
March 30, 2013: 16 and Counting..... 10-miles (3-mile warm-up; Webark 5K - 15:11; 4-mile cool-down); For March 30th, this was a cold race...about 29 degrees at the start. The course was a relatively flat, out/back course with a few turns. I had a goal heading in to break 15 minutes, but it wasn't to be today. I felt ok, but not great during the race. I know the results had me finish in 15:09, but I think the race timer might have started a couple seconds late as everyone was surprised when the gun when off....there were no verbal commands to start the race....only the sound of the gun, which caught people (and probably the timers) off-guard. Also, I jogged the course after the race with my GPS, and the course measured 3.08. The first mile-marker was at 0.98 according to Garmin, while the last 2.1 was pretty accurate. My splits were 4:47 (for the first 0.98); 5:03 (included 2 sharp turns plus the turnaround cone), and 5:21 (for the last 1.1; I didn't actually see the 3-mile marker, but I figured my 3rd mile was around 4:51). I am very blessed to come out of this with a solid race and pretty healthy.
March 29, 2013: 17 and Counting..... 6-miles (43:10) - recovery - Shinnston Rail-Trail. Legs felt decent, but not great. I just tried to get in a recovery run before a planned 5K race tomorrow. I didn't look at my watch until I finished the run. I thought maybe I averaged a shade under 7-minutes for most of the miles, but it turned out I averaged a shade over 7-minutes per mile (besides the first mile, which was around 7:40). I have a race tomorrow, and feel like it could turn out to be a good one. It will be my last tune-up race before Boston.
April 1, 2013: 14 and Counting..... DAY OFF. Again, had thoughts of running today, but decided on full rest day as far as running is concerned.
March 31, 2013: 15 and Counting....... 17-miles (1:44:30) - This was my last long run before Boston. I was very encouraged as I felt better as the run progressed, and ran the last 10-miles in under 60 minutes. From everything that I have read about tapering, it is important to keep the intensity up in select runs, but only reduce the mileage. I am thankful that I felt this strong today, even after running a race yesterday. God is good!! I jumped in the lake for about a 12-minute ice bath afterwards.
March 30, 2013: 16 and Counting..... 10-miles (3-mile warm-up; Webark 5K - 15:11; 4-mile cool-down); For March 30th, this was a cold race...about 29 degrees at the start. The course was a relatively flat, out/back course with a few turns. I had a goal heading in to break 15 minutes, but it wasn't to be today. I felt ok, but not great during the race. I know the results had me finish in 15:09, but I think the race timer might have started a couple seconds late as everyone was surprised when the gun when off....there were no verbal commands to start the race....only the sound of the gun, which caught people (and probably the timers) off-guard. Also, I jogged the course after the race with my GPS, and the course measured 3.08. The first mile-marker was at 0.98 according to Garmin, while the last 2.1 was pretty accurate. My splits were 4:47 (for the first 0.98); 5:03 (included 2 sharp turns plus the turnaround cone), and 5:21 (for the last 1.1; I didn't actually see the 3-mile marker, but I figured my 3rd mile was around 4:51). I am very blessed to come out of this with a solid race and pretty healthy.
March 29, 2013: 17 and Counting..... 6-miles (43:10) - recovery - Shinnston Rail-Trail. Legs felt decent, but not great. I just tried to get in a recovery run before a planned 5K race tomorrow. I didn't look at my watch until I finished the run. I thought maybe I averaged a shade under 7-minutes for most of the miles, but it turned out I averaged a shade over 7-minutes per mile (besides the first mile, which was around 7:40). I have a race tomorrow, and feel like it could turn out to be a good one. It will be my last tune-up race before Boston.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
20, 19, 18, and Counting......
March 28, 2013: 18 and Counting..... 6-miles (50:00) recovery - treadmill. Just took it really easy today. I was a little sore/tight from the last 2 days. I watched part of an episode of "The Bible" for the first time today while running the treadmill. It seems to be really well done....definitely the best movie/show I have seen about Jesus with the exception of "Passion of the Christ."
March 27, 2013: 19 and Counting..... 12-miles (73:40) - ran home from school today for the last time before the marathon. I didn't expect to feel this good or run this fast after yesterday's workout. I didn't look at the time on my watch until I got home. I wanted to run based on effort instead of time. I definitely wanted to put in a solid effort and work the hills.....extremely happy with the outcome. I took a 12-minute ice bath in the lake after this one......then soaked my legs in warm bath water afterwards.......the warm bath water was definitely more enjoyable. :-P
March 26, 2013: 20 and Counting...... 10 miles; 4-mile warm-up with strides; 5 x half-mile (at 12.5 mph or 4:48 per mile pace (2:24 per half mile)) on treadmill with 0.3 mile jog in between; 2-mile cool down. These felt pretty good aerobically. However, my hamstrings did tighten a bit in the middle of this workout. They did not get progressively worse, so I went ahead and finished the workout. Hamstrings felt better as the evening progressed......Praise God!!
March 27, 2013: 19 and Counting..... 12-miles (73:40) - ran home from school today for the last time before the marathon. I didn't expect to feel this good or run this fast after yesterday's workout. I didn't look at the time on my watch until I got home. I wanted to run based on effort instead of time. I definitely wanted to put in a solid effort and work the hills.....extremely happy with the outcome. I took a 12-minute ice bath in the lake after this one......then soaked my legs in warm bath water afterwards.......the warm bath water was definitely more enjoyable. :-P
March 26, 2013: 20 and Counting...... 10 miles; 4-mile warm-up with strides; 5 x half-mile (at 12.5 mph or 4:48 per mile pace (2:24 per half mile)) on treadmill with 0.3 mile jog in between; 2-mile cool down. These felt pretty good aerobically. However, my hamstrings did tighten a bit in the middle of this workout. They did not get progressively worse, so I went ahead and finished the workout. Hamstrings felt better as the evening progressed......Praise God!!
Monday, March 25, 2013
24, 23, 22, 21 and Counting.....
March 25, 2013: 21 and Counting......4-miles (34:20).....recovery run....treadmill. This is the first time I have run on a Monday in a few weeks. We had a snow day today, so I thought I would do an easy run just to get the blood flowing a little bit. Today starts the 3-week taper to Boston. Over the last 9 weeks, I have averaged 75 miles a week. I have had a few 70 mile weeks; a few 75 mile weeks; and a couple of 80 mile weeks. I plan on doing around 60-65 miles this week. Although my body does not feel perfect, I am pretty excited going into this taper. There have been times in the past (like this past summer) where I have pretty much gone into the taper injured, and I desperately needed to back off. I definitely feel like I am ready for the taper, but I do not have that injured and desperate feeling this time. I obviously do not know what is going to happen....and I want to praise God no matter the result of the race...but something inside of me says Boston is going to be good this year. Of course no matter how the race goes, it does not change who God is or how GREAT He is.
March 24, 2013: 22 and Counting.... 20-miles (2:05:45); Prickett's Fort Rail Trail; my last harder, longer run before Boston. I was debating whether to do this run in the hills around Bridgeport, or hit the rail-trail for a flatter, softer run. Although hills are what I will be facing in Boston, I want to get to Boston as healthy and fit as possible. With my body being a bit banged up, I felt more at peace about hitting the more forgiving surface of the rail-trail. I was definitely glad I chose the trail as I felt pretty fatigued through the first half of the run (66:12). My pace was gradually getting quicker, but I just felt like it would cap off probably around 6:10-6:15 pace. However, on the way back (with the help of a little tail wind most of the way), I ran the last 10 miles in 59:33. My last my mile was my fastest (5:49). This was truly a blessing b/c at the turnaround point, I made it a goal to run as close to 2:10 as possible.....breaking 2:06 NEVER crossed my mind until I hit the finish. God is good!
March 23, 2013: 23 and Counting.... 8-miles (no watch) - out/back - Middleville Rd. Ok, I am REALLY glad I did not wear a watch. This was definitely a SLOG (Slow Jog). I had a weird dream last night that I was trying to run down a straight stretch toward a finish line at Maple Lake. However, I didn't even have the strength to stand up in the dream. Therefore I crawled extremely slowly (like the slowest slow motion on your DVR or DVD player) to the finish line, then just collapsed completely on my belly when I crossed it. Well, I didn't quite feel that bad for this run, but it wasn't too far off. Just had trouble getting the legs to move. However, legs feel healthy! I praise God for that!!
March 22, 2013: 24 and Counting....10-miles (71:54) - Shinnston Rail Trail; My legs were definitely feeling the combination of Wednesday's workout and yesterday's long run home from school. However, happy to get this in and surive it.....the taper begins soon! :-)....God is faithful!
March 24, 2013: 22 and Counting.... 20-miles (2:05:45); Prickett's Fort Rail Trail; my last harder, longer run before Boston. I was debating whether to do this run in the hills around Bridgeport, or hit the rail-trail for a flatter, softer run. Although hills are what I will be facing in Boston, I want to get to Boston as healthy and fit as possible. With my body being a bit banged up, I felt more at peace about hitting the more forgiving surface of the rail-trail. I was definitely glad I chose the trail as I felt pretty fatigued through the first half of the run (66:12). My pace was gradually getting quicker, but I just felt like it would cap off probably around 6:10-6:15 pace. However, on the way back (with the help of a little tail wind most of the way), I ran the last 10 miles in 59:33. My last my mile was my fastest (5:49). This was truly a blessing b/c at the turnaround point, I made it a goal to run as close to 2:10 as possible.....breaking 2:06 NEVER crossed my mind until I hit the finish. God is good!
March 23, 2013: 23 and Counting.... 8-miles (no watch) - out/back - Middleville Rd. Ok, I am REALLY glad I did not wear a watch. This was definitely a SLOG (Slow Jog). I had a weird dream last night that I was trying to run down a straight stretch toward a finish line at Maple Lake. However, I didn't even have the strength to stand up in the dream. Therefore I crawled extremely slowly (like the slowest slow motion on your DVR or DVD player) to the finish line, then just collapsed completely on my belly when I crossed it. Well, I didn't quite feel that bad for this run, but it wasn't too far off. Just had trouble getting the legs to move. However, legs feel healthy! I praise God for that!!
March 22, 2013: 24 and Counting....10-miles (71:54) - Shinnston Rail Trail; My legs were definitely feeling the combination of Wednesday's workout and yesterday's long run home from school. However, happy to get this in and surive it.....the taper begins soon! :-)....God is faithful!
Thursday, March 21, 2013
25 and Counting
March 21, 2013: 25 and Counting..... 16 miles (98:30) - Ran home from school. This run surprised me. I didn't expect to run this fast because of the workout yesterday. I did feel some fatigue in my legs throughout, but still felt pretty strong and I had a tailwind for about 80% of the run. I will definitely take it easy for the next couple of days before my last long run before the taper starts. I would like to feel relatively fresh for Sunday's long run. All I can say is God is so faithful. My legs felt pretty dead all day at school and I expected them to feel similar for the run home. I told myself that it was ok to run easy...even if that meant running 7-minute pace or even slower. My legs did not feel fresh by any means but once I started running they did come alive a little bit. God continues to bless.....He continues to sustain me.
28, 27, 26 and Counting
March 20, 2013: 26 and Counting: 14 miles - treadmill - YMCA (4-mile warmup; 6 x 1 mile at 4:55 pace (12.2 mph on treadmill) w/0.35 mile jog in between); 2 mile coodown. On the training schedule was 6 x 1000 meters. I had planned to do this on the track, but with track season in full swing, I would not have been able to get on the track until after 5:00 pm. It's normally better for me to run right after work instead of going home, hanging out for awhile, then going back out. Plus it was extremely windy outside, so I went with the next best option of hopping on the YMCA treadmill. I am extremely pleased with the result of the workout. Heading to the Y, the plan was to do 5 x 1 mile, but I felt really good, so I decided to add 1 more in there. The day after the Grafton 5-miler, my heel was pretty sore, so I had my doubts about doing a speed workout this week. All I can say is that God continues to sustain me. By His grace I have been able to train through the aches and pains. My belief is that He will continue to sustain me. He is good.
March 19, 2013: 27 and Counting: 12-miles (84:00) - out/back - Maple Lake/Hinkle-Deagan Lake. I headed out at 4:30 am for this one b/c the afternoon winds were forcasted to be close to 30 mph with higher gusts. It was actually warmer and less windy in the morning. I felt so-so during this run. The goal was to stay comfortable, but not slow-jog either. After running around 16:00 for the first 2-miles, I eventually settled into the 6:35-7:00 min per mile range for most of the rest of the run (depending on the hills). My calves are a bit sore from the race Sunday, but didn't really affect the run much.
March 18, 2013: 28 and Counting: DAY OFF. It seems as if 'Monday's off' is now becoming the norm. I think I have said before that I leave Monday's as an optional day. Most of the time I have the intent to run, but end up talking my self into just resting instead. I don't think it will hurt me for the marathon.
March 19, 2013: 27 and Counting: 12-miles (84:00) - out/back - Maple Lake/Hinkle-Deagan Lake. I headed out at 4:30 am for this one b/c the afternoon winds were forcasted to be close to 30 mph with higher gusts. It was actually warmer and less windy in the morning. I felt so-so during this run. The goal was to stay comfortable, but not slow-jog either. After running around 16:00 for the first 2-miles, I eventually settled into the 6:35-7:00 min per mile range for most of the rest of the run (depending on the hills). My calves are a bit sore from the race Sunday, but didn't really affect the run much.
March 18, 2013: 28 and Counting: DAY OFF. It seems as if 'Monday's off' is now becoming the norm. I think I have said before that I leave Monday's as an optional day. Most of the time I have the intent to run, but end up talking my self into just resting instead. I don't think it will hurt me for the marathon.
Sunday, March 17, 2013
29 and Counting
March 17, 2013: 29 and Counting.....18 miles (3-mile warm-up (20:45); Grafton 5-mile Road Race (actually it is 4.93 according to GPS) - 24:47 - 1st place (mile splits: 4:57, 4:59, 4:57, 5:21 (mostly uphill), 4:28 (downhill/flat for 0.93 miles)) ; 10-mile post race run (67:40). Today was a great day! The weather was perfect for a race....about 38 degrees.....light winds.....cloudy. Even though this is not a legit 5-mile course, I was very pleased with my time considering the hills, and the fact that I have not done a real speed workout in over 2 weeks. Overall, my back felt pretty decent (Praise God!)....same with my heel. I'm still feeling tightness/soreness in both places, but again, by the grace of God, I have been able to run through it without either being debilitating. I am really starting to feel some excitement for Boston.
I truly feel like God is sustaining me and carrying me through the training......(Isaiah 46:4 says, "Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you. (NIV)
I truly feel like God is sustaining me and carrying me through the training......(Isaiah 46:4 says, "Even to your old age and gray hairs I am he, I am he who will sustain you. I have made you and I will carry you; I will sustain you and I will rescue you. (NIV)
Saturday, March 16, 2013
46, 45, 44, 43, 42, 41, 40, 39, 38, 37, 36, 35, 34, 33, 32, 31, 30, and Counting
Obviously, I have not posted in awhile. Part of the reason is that our computer caught a virus that locked it up for about a week. I have also been through some ups and downs with health. By God's grace, I have been able to pretty much train as planned, but I have struggled with heel pain (getting better....Praise God!) and upper left back pain (getting better....Praise God!) The mileage has stayed pretty close to planned, but probably a little slower overall than planned....of course, maybe God has something else planned.....and I know His plans are better than mine....His ways are above my ways.....His thoughts are above my thoughts. Overall, I have not had the best attitude over the last couple of weeks as I have complained and questioned the physical pain I have gone through. However, God is sooooooooooooo faithful......when I deserve to have the rug pulled out from under me, God catches me as I am falling.....there is no one like Him. So faithful; so loving; so merciful. I have comtemplated taking time off, backing off, and even not racing Boston. However, there is something inside me that says....."keep going....do not give up." In fact, this past Tuesday, March 12, my back was hurting so bad during my run that I said to myself....."Ok!! I give up! I will stop running! I will take time off!!" Later on during the run, my back felt somewhat better though not much. I said in my mind that if I complete the run in under 70 minutes, then I will continue training...but if I totally fade and finish over 70 minutes, then I'm done training for awhile. I finished in 69:47. My back has gradually gotten better over the past few days, and I have not missed a training run.......God is good!!!.....God is faithful!!! What is going to follow is what I have done over the last 17 days. I will little to NO commentary.....just what I did for the day.
March 16, 2013....30 and Counting..... 8-mile recovery (treadmill) - 64:30. Easy run....plan to run the Grafton 5-miler tomorrow.
March 15, 2013.....31 and Counting.....10 miles (69:42) - Shinnston Rail-Trail: 10 x 150 meter strides - 11 total miles
March 14, 2013......32 and Counting.....10 miles (63:40) - Lincoln High School to Clarksburg through Lumberport - extremely hilly.....very pleased with run
March 13, 2013......33 and Counting.....18 miles (1:51:00) - Shinnston Rail Trail....Legs felt good!....last 10 miles in around 59:00.
March 12, 2013.....34 and Counting....10 miles (69:47) - Oral Lake Loop....Possibly the turning point (see above commentary)
March 11, 2013......35 and Counting.....Day Off!
March 10, 2013......36 and Counting.....22 miles (2:22:34).....Prickett's Fort - Rail Trail - 72 degrees and sunny.....dehydrated toward's end.....very hot when my body is used to 20-40 degrees. Happy overall that I even finished.
March 9, 2013......37 and Counting....8-miles (no watch) - out/back - Middleville Rd.
March 8, 2013......38 and Counting.....13 miles (4 miles up; 7-mile tempo (39:45); 2-miles down); Ouch...this one hurt....legs felt great.....back was killing me....went much slower than planned/expected.
March 7, 2013.....39 and Counting.....11-miles (79:30) - out/back - Hinkle deagan Lake/Maple Lake - 4:30 am.
March 6, 2013.....40 and Counting....10-miles (72:55) - out/back - Middleville Rd.
March 5, 2013.....41 and Counting....16 miles (96:30) - Shinnston Rail-Trail; Legs felt awesome; ran sub 59 for the last 10 miles.
March 4, 2013.....42 and Counting....Day Off!
March 3, 2013.....43 and Counting.......(19 miles (2-mile warm-up; Mill Creek Distance Classic Half-Marathon Youngstown, OH - 1:13:56 - 2nd place (23 degrees; wind chill: 13 degrees) Course was very hilly. I ended up giving more than the planned marathon-paced effort, but the pace ended up being marathon pace anyway. 4-mile cool-down---mission accomplished......God is good!!
March 2, 2013.....44 and Counting.....8-miles - treadmill - recovery---no time recorded.
March 1, 2013......45 and Counting.....10 miles (63:40) - out/back - Wyatt/Peoria - felt pretty good.
February 28, 2013......46 and Counting.....16 miles (1:40:50) - Ran to work today.....originally planned to run home from work, but then learned we had parent/teacher conference and work was from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm.....better to run to work in the daylight instead of running home in the dark. :-P Didn't feel great when I first started, but felt better as the run progressed.
March 16, 2013....30 and Counting..... 8-mile recovery (treadmill) - 64:30. Easy run....plan to run the Grafton 5-miler tomorrow.
March 15, 2013.....31 and Counting.....10 miles (69:42) - Shinnston Rail-Trail: 10 x 150 meter strides - 11 total miles
March 14, 2013......32 and Counting.....10 miles (63:40) - Lincoln High School to Clarksburg through Lumberport - extremely hilly.....very pleased with run
March 13, 2013......33 and Counting.....18 miles (1:51:00) - Shinnston Rail Trail....Legs felt good!....last 10 miles in around 59:00.
March 12, 2013.....34 and Counting....10 miles (69:47) - Oral Lake Loop....Possibly the turning point (see above commentary)
March 11, 2013......35 and Counting.....Day Off!
March 10, 2013......36 and Counting.....22 miles (2:22:34).....Prickett's Fort - Rail Trail - 72 degrees and sunny.....dehydrated toward's end.....very hot when my body is used to 20-40 degrees. Happy overall that I even finished.
March 9, 2013......37 and Counting....8-miles (no watch) - out/back - Middleville Rd.
March 8, 2013......38 and Counting.....13 miles (4 miles up; 7-mile tempo (39:45); 2-miles down); Ouch...this one hurt....legs felt great.....back was killing me....went much slower than planned/expected.
March 7, 2013.....39 and Counting.....11-miles (79:30) - out/back - Hinkle deagan Lake/Maple Lake - 4:30 am.
March 6, 2013.....40 and Counting....10-miles (72:55) - out/back - Middleville Rd.
March 5, 2013.....41 and Counting....16 miles (96:30) - Shinnston Rail-Trail; Legs felt awesome; ran sub 59 for the last 10 miles.
March 4, 2013.....42 and Counting....Day Off!
March 3, 2013.....43 and Counting.......(19 miles (2-mile warm-up; Mill Creek Distance Classic Half-Marathon Youngstown, OH - 1:13:56 - 2nd place (23 degrees; wind chill: 13 degrees) Course was very hilly. I ended up giving more than the planned marathon-paced effort, but the pace ended up being marathon pace anyway. 4-mile cool-down---mission accomplished......God is good!!
March 2, 2013.....44 and Counting.....8-miles - treadmill - recovery---no time recorded.
March 1, 2013......45 and Counting.....10 miles (63:40) - out/back - Wyatt/Peoria - felt pretty good.
February 28, 2013......46 and Counting.....16 miles (1:40:50) - Ran to work today.....originally planned to run home from work, but then learned we had parent/teacher conference and work was from 10:00 am to 6:00 pm.....better to run to work in the daylight instead of running home in the dark. :-P Didn't feel great when I first started, but felt better as the run progressed.
Wednesday, February 27, 2013
49, 48, 47 and Counting
February 27, 2013: 47 and Countning..... 12-miles - YMCA Treadmill (4.5 mile warmup w/strides; 4 x 0.75 miles (4:55 per mile pace - treadmill on 12.2 mph); w/0.25 recovery jog in between at 7.7 mph; 1 x 1.2 miles at 4:55 per mile pace; 2 mile cooldown. Now that track season is in full swing, I am unable to get on the track after school. To get on the track, I will either have to wait until about 5:30 or 6:00 pm OR hit the track at about 4:00 am. It was cold and raining this morning, so I decided to head to the YMCA for a treadmill workout. I like the treadmills at the 'Y' b/c they can go up to 12.5 mph allowing for track workout type speed. Overall, I am pretty pleased with the workout. It was definitely a hard effort, but it felt good. This was encouraging as most of my runs lately have been a bit of a struggle. Speaking of 'struggle', the saying on my school calendar for the month of February is, "Without struggle, there is no progress." There has been plenty of struggle over the past week, so hopefully that means progress is being made. :-P It still all comes down to trusting God. I still believe His purposes will be accomplished through this entire journey; from each training session all the way to the race itself. I truly want to lock in on Him...giving everything to Him......my training, my heart, my mind, my focus.....I want to direct it to Him. I then desire to have Him flow out of me.....in my thoughts, words, actions, and running. There are so many distractions, and I fail everyday in several ways. I thank Him for His patience, mercy, and grace. He is pure. He is good.
February 26, 2013: 48 and Counting..... 10 miles (70:40) - treadmill. This run was ok, but not great. I eventually worked up to 9.2 mph and hung in there for about a mile, then had to knock it back down to 8.8. I felt the effort was too hard at 9.2 b/c I have a speed workout scheduled for tomorrow. I would like to have some bounce in my legs for the workout, so I didn't want to keep my heart rate too elevated for this run. I know I have said this before, but I am still amazed how my heart rate sky rockets at relatively lower speeds on my treadmill compared to the same speeds on the road, track, and even other treadmills. I'm not too worried about it since I don't feel this way running the same or even faster speeds on the road. I'm just glad the Boston Marathon will not be on my treadmill. :-P
February 25, 2013: 49 and Counting......Day off. I considered doing a 6-miler today, but since I had a little bit of a rough week last week, I thought it would be best to just let my body rest. This is sometimes hard to do when I have mileage goals. I was hoping to hit 80 miles this week, but since I took the day off, God-willing, I will max out at 75 miles this coming week.
February 26, 2013: 48 and Counting..... 10 miles (70:40) - treadmill. This run was ok, but not great. I eventually worked up to 9.2 mph and hung in there for about a mile, then had to knock it back down to 8.8. I felt the effort was too hard at 9.2 b/c I have a speed workout scheduled for tomorrow. I would like to have some bounce in my legs for the workout, so I didn't want to keep my heart rate too elevated for this run. I know I have said this before, but I am still amazed how my heart rate sky rockets at relatively lower speeds on my treadmill compared to the same speeds on the road, track, and even other treadmills. I'm not too worried about it since I don't feel this way running the same or even faster speeds on the road. I'm just glad the Boston Marathon will not be on my treadmill. :-P
February 25, 2013: 49 and Counting......Day off. I considered doing a 6-miler today, but since I had a little bit of a rough week last week, I thought it would be best to just let my body rest. This is sometimes hard to do when I have mileage goals. I was hoping to hit 80 miles this week, but since I took the day off, God-willing, I will max out at 75 miles this coming week.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
50 and Counting
February 24, 2013: 50 and Counting.....18-miles (1:59:50); Charleston - MaCorkle Ave./Kanawha Blvd./ Kanawha City. My legs again felt decent but definitely had some fatigue. A relaxed, flat, Charleston run with a good friend joining in during the 2nd half of the run was just what the doctor ordered. I plan on running relatively easy the next couple of days. Hopefully by Wednesday my legs will be back underneath me. God is good!
Saturday, February 23, 2013
52, 51 and Counting
February 23, 2013: 51 and Counting.....7-miles- recovery - treadmill (55:10) - did not feel wonderful today. The front part of my heel felt tight, and I just felt a little banged up in general. This actually surprised me after how great I felt yesterday. I am ok with it though. As long as there is tightness in the foot I will keep treating it. It felt better this evening after rolling it with a golf ball. I will keep trusting God that He has a plan....and it is good.
February 22, 2013: 52 and Counting.....11 - miles - BHS Track (4-mile warm-up w/8x100 meter strides; 4-mile tempo (21:08) My 1600 meter splits were: 5:15, 5:14, 5:16, and 5:12. I ran about an extra 50 meters after the 16 laps to get a true 4 miles in. I entered this workout on a high, which was none other than Christ. There was a talent show today at the high school where I teach. There were 17 acts, of which there was some pretty good talent. However, there was one that brought me to the verge of tears. Had I not held back my emotions, you might have been able to mop the floor with my tears. A student sang the song 'Redeemed.' It is a song that I have heard numerous times and sometimes do not even pay attention to it at times. This time I payed attention. To hear a student passionately sing a song worshipping God in a public school setting.....talk about powerful! The name 'Jesus' is actually mentioned only once at the end of the song; but just the mention of His Name just multiplied the goose bumps I already had. It was simply amazing. It was yet another confirmation that the presence, peace, grace, mercy, and most of all...love of God trumps anything and everything. There is no amount of wealth, fame, accomplishments, or anything else in all creation that is greater than experiencing a relationship with Christ.
Here is a link to the song 'Redeemed'. I cannot share the song as a post because I am posting from a mobile device. You can either go to YouTube and type the song title in or copy and paste the link below. Keep in mind....this song was sung by a student in a public school setting.....he even sounded just as good as the artist singing the song in the video.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDAGCow3dsg
February 22, 2013: 52 and Counting.....11 - miles - BHS Track (4-mile warm-up w/8x100 meter strides; 4-mile tempo (21:08) My 1600 meter splits were: 5:15, 5:14, 5:16, and 5:12. I ran about an extra 50 meters after the 16 laps to get a true 4 miles in. I entered this workout on a high, which was none other than Christ. There was a talent show today at the high school where I teach. There were 17 acts, of which there was some pretty good talent. However, there was one that brought me to the verge of tears. Had I not held back my emotions, you might have been able to mop the floor with my tears. A student sang the song 'Redeemed.' It is a song that I have heard numerous times and sometimes do not even pay attention to it at times. This time I payed attention. To hear a student passionately sing a song worshipping God in a public school setting.....talk about powerful! The name 'Jesus' is actually mentioned only once at the end of the song; but just the mention of His Name just multiplied the goose bumps I already had. It was simply amazing. It was yet another confirmation that the presence, peace, grace, mercy, and most of all...love of God trumps anything and everything. There is no amount of wealth, fame, accomplishments, or anything else in all creation that is greater than experiencing a relationship with Christ.
Here is a link to the song 'Redeemed'. I cannot share the song as a post because I am posting from a mobile device. You can either go to YouTube and type the song title in or copy and paste the link below. Keep in mind....this song was sung by a student in a public school setting.....he even sounded just as good as the artist singing the song in the video.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=ZDAGCow3dsg
Thursday, February 21, 2013
53 and Counting
February 21, 2013: 53 and Counting..... 8-mile recovery run - treadmill (66:50) - got up at 4:30 am for another recovery run/Sportcenter session. My legs definitely seem to function differently in the early morning hours. It takes much longer to work the speed up on the treadmill, and the lower speeds seem much faster. That's what recovery runs are for though. My goal for a recovery run should be to run as slow as I need to in an effort to facilitate recovery. If 7:30 pace is what feels easy, then I run 7:30....if I have to run 9:00 pace for the run to feel easy, then so be it. I certainly do not want to have to recover from a 'recovery' run. :-P
Wednesday, February 20, 2013
54 and Counting
February 20, 2013: 54 and Counting..... 15-miles (95:30) - ran home from work today. I felt ok, but not quite as chipper as I did last week. I was a little sore from pounding the steep downhills yesterday, plus I felt some general fatigue in my legs. Last week may be catching up with me a bit. Overall, I feel good about the run. I feel like I ran a pretty decent pace with a little fatigue in my legs, which I hope helps prepare me for the marathon. After the run, I hopped in the lake for a 12-minute soak. This was one of the more torturous ice baths as it was 25 degrees outside and I'm guessing the water temperature was somewhere between 35-40 degrees. I really didn't want to get in, but I chickened out yesterday; and with my legs feeling a little beat up, I thought it was necessary. I look forward to the time when the air temperature is about 50-60 degrees, and the water temperature is about 45-50 degrees. Those are ideal conditions for an ice bath....still uncomfortable at first, but easier to deal with, and it still does the trick. I will probably stay off the pavement for the next 2 or 3 days.
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Grace Flows Down by Christy Nockels/Passion band
When washing dishes over the past couple of days, I have listened to a 'worship' station on Pandora Radio. God's peace has been overwhelming. It made washing dishes a pleasure. :-P During this time, I was reminded how there is ABSOLUTELY NOTHING BETTER THAN HAVING A RELATIONSHIP WITH CHRIST....HE IS SOOOO GOOD, SOOOO PURE, SOOOO LOVING, SOOO MERCIFUL. HIS GRACE TRULY IS AMAZING. TO REST IN HIS GRACE AND HIS PEACE IS INDESCRIBABLE. My prayer is that you experience the PEACE and GRACE of God as you listen to this song. I encourage you to open your heart to His Presence.....there is NOTHING better.
57, 56, 55 and Counting
February 19, 2013: 55 and Counting...... 10-miles (67:40); 10 x 0.1 mile strides - 11 miles total; Two words describe the run today....hilly and windy (21 mph with gusts to 30 mph). I ran a new route today. I started at Lincoln High School; then ran into Lumberport past the middle school on Jack Run Rd. I made it to the Robinson Run Coal Mine and turned right. Once my GPS watch hit the 5 mile mark, I turned around and followed the same route back. I tell you what.....Jack Run Rd. has some beastly hills......steep and long. My goal today was to not jog, but stay relaxed and not worry about my time. This is not a run I would want to do often because the downhills were long and steep as well. I felt like my body took a pretty good pounding on the downward slopes. The strides at the end felt pretty decent. I did 5 against the wind, and 5 with a tail wind. If there were spectators, I bet I looked funny striding against the wind. At times I felt like I was running in place. :-P
February 18, 2013: 56 and Counting..... DAY OFF!! :-) Today is the start of a recovery week according to my training schedule. It probably comes at a pretty good time. I feel like last week was one of the best weeks of training I have had in a long time. It's tempting to just go with it and keep slugging away. However, it is probably best that I take it a little easier this week then try to come back with 4 strong weeks before the taper starts. The front of my heel has been fine when running, but a little tight and sore during the work day. It does seem to feel better when I roll it with a frozen water bottle, and when I roll a small, rubber bouncy ball underneath it. It hurts as I am using the rubber ball, but feels better afterward. I have also been trying to stretch my calves pretty consistently. When I start slacking on these things, I have noticed it hurts a little more. I need to keep treating it, and keep trusting God. I do not believe He will let this be a hindrance. He is good no matter what!!
February 17, 2013: 57 and Counting..... 18-miles (1:49:53).....one of my better 18-mile runs in a REALLY long time! I really can do nothing by thank God for this one. The run actually started out a little rough. Most of the first 5 miles was into a pretty stiff headwind. It was also snowing off and on (the fine little snowflakes that feel like needles hitting your face). I think I actually spent as much time with my eyes closed as I did open b/c of the needles falling from the sky. :-P As the run continued, I was amazed at how good I felt. I ended up running the last 10 miles in 58:30. My last 2 miles were 5:33 and 5:34. The only parts of the run that felt 'hard' were the 3 larger hills. I felt smooth on the rolling/flatter sections. I know I need to be careful to not run these longer runs too hard, but I really felt like the effort was where it needed to be. It definitely wasn't easy, but it didn't feel strained either. I do plan to back the intensity off next week as it is supposed to be a 'recovery' week. My confidence is building for Boston. However, I want my confidence to be in the Lord....not myself. I want to run in surrender to Him, and let the battle be His. He is my strength and my song. If my confidence is in myself...I can certainly fail....God NEVER fails.
February 18, 2013: 56 and Counting..... DAY OFF!! :-) Today is the start of a recovery week according to my training schedule. It probably comes at a pretty good time. I feel like last week was one of the best weeks of training I have had in a long time. It's tempting to just go with it and keep slugging away. However, it is probably best that I take it a little easier this week then try to come back with 4 strong weeks before the taper starts. The front of my heel has been fine when running, but a little tight and sore during the work day. It does seem to feel better when I roll it with a frozen water bottle, and when I roll a small, rubber bouncy ball underneath it. It hurts as I am using the rubber ball, but feels better afterward. I have also been trying to stretch my calves pretty consistently. When I start slacking on these things, I have noticed it hurts a little more. I need to keep treating it, and keep trusting God. I do not believe He will let this be a hindrance. He is good no matter what!!
February 17, 2013: 57 and Counting..... 18-miles (1:49:53).....one of my better 18-mile runs in a REALLY long time! I really can do nothing by thank God for this one. The run actually started out a little rough. Most of the first 5 miles was into a pretty stiff headwind. It was also snowing off and on (the fine little snowflakes that feel like needles hitting your face). I think I actually spent as much time with my eyes closed as I did open b/c of the needles falling from the sky. :-P As the run continued, I was amazed at how good I felt. I ended up running the last 10 miles in 58:30. My last 2 miles were 5:33 and 5:34. The only parts of the run that felt 'hard' were the 3 larger hills. I felt smooth on the rolling/flatter sections. I know I need to be careful to not run these longer runs too hard, but I really felt like the effort was where it needed to be. It definitely wasn't easy, but it didn't feel strained either. I do plan to back the intensity off next week as it is supposed to be a 'recovery' week. My confidence is building for Boston. However, I want my confidence to be in the Lord....not myself. I want to run in surrender to Him, and let the battle be His. He is my strength and my song. If my confidence is in myself...I can certainly fail....God NEVER fails.
Saturday, February 16, 2013
Kj52 - Dear Slim Pt.1 - 2
These are 2 cool songs that KJ-52 wrote as letters to Eminem (a popular rapper). KJ truly does have a heart for Eminem....in these songs he is speaking the truth in love....but straightforward....great songs!
58 and Counting
February 16, 2013: 58 and Counting..... 8-mile recovery run - treadmill - (60:00). I was back to being able to work up to 8.2 mph on the treadmill....definitely different that my recovery run 2 days ago. It felt easy like a recovery run is supposed to feel. During this one, I watched probably the most entertaining basketball team to watch in the state of West Virginia.....that would be the NCAA D2 3rd ranked, 25-1 West Liberty University Hilltoppers. They won at Fairmont State today 103-99. They average 105 points a game, shoot 40% from 3-point range (WVU shoots 40% from any range), are 86-2 in their last 88 home games, their coach (Clarksburg native Jim Crutchfield) is 234-44 in 9 seasons coaching West Lib.....that is the highest winning percentage of any NCAA basketball coach....ever.....ever! Anyway, they are fun to watch. They play smart, and score a ton of points. Even though I am an A-B and WVU graduate and love the Battlers and the Mountaineers, I have definitely become a West Liberty fan over the last few years. I admit, it's a bandwagon type deal. If they would start to decline the next few years, I wouldn't really care about them much. It is fun though to have a West Virginia team so successful.
60, 59, and Counting
February 15, 2013: 59 and Counting..... 13 miles (78:03) - ran home from work. I have 3 things to say: Thank you Jesus! Thank you Jesus! Thank you Jesus! I was truly shocked by today's run. I expected to feel residual fatigue from the last 5 days of training, but I felt amazing! This is the fastest I have ever run home from work on the 13-mile route. The last 10 miles were run in 59:00 with the last two miles dropping to marathon goal pace (5:38 and 5:34). I felt smooth and strong on this run. The only time I felt my heart rate really spike was after reaching the top of one of the hills. I tried to work the hills pretty hard by shortening my stride, increasing leg turnover, and concentrating on pumping my arms. Many of the hills I run around here are steeper than the hills in Boston, so I am hoping these runs will help take out or reduce the 'heartbreak' of Boston's 'heartbreak hill.' After the run, I put on a dry compression shirt, hat, gloves, swimming trunks, and water shoes. I then got into the lake a little over waist deep for a 12-minute ice bath. This was a battle in and of itself as it was about 35 degrees outside. My legs adjusted to the water temperature after about 4 or 5 minutes, but the part of my body out of the water was shivering pretty much the whole time. Sometimes I have to mentally approach these dips into the lake as hard, 12-minute races. I tell myself to 'man up', climb down the ladder as quickly as possibly, then endure to that 12-minute finish line. God is good! :-)
The song for this post is "On My Own" by Ashes Remain. It's a rockish song about how we are not meant to fight alone in this life....we are created to be connected to the one and only God.
P.S. I hope this isn't the 2nd time I've posted this song....:-P....if it is, just be encouraged by it
again! :-) This time, I'm going to try to post the song as an individual post.
February 14, 2013: 60 and Counting..... 8-mile recovery run on the treadmill (68:30). I got up at 4:30 am for this one. I had a chiropractic appointment after work, so I wanted to make sure I got this one in before work. I watched Sportscenter (silently b/c everyone else in the house was obviously still in bed). The highlights sufficed though. In fact, a West Virginia highlight made #4 on the Top 10 plays when Jabarie Hinds inbounded the ball off the back of a Baylor player, caught the ball, and slammed it home....pretty cool! :-)
As I was watching Sportscenter, I worked the treadmill up to 7.5 mph (8:00 per mile pace). However, after spending about a 1/2 mile at that pace, I dropped it down to 7.2 mph. On recovery runs, I want to keep my heart rate pretty relaxed. For whatever reason 7.5 mph felt a little labored.....7.2 mph did not. Usually on recovery runs I work the treadmill up to 8.0 or 8.2 mph(around 7:30 per mile) .....it just wasn't happening this morning though. I was just glad when the display screen hit 8.00 miles. :-P
Wednesday, February 13, 2013
61 and Counting
February 13, 2013: 61 and Counting..... 15-miles (92:30). I ran home from school today. The weather was near perfect to begin with....mid 40's, cloudy, light wind. It did get a little nasty the last 4 miles or so as the temperature dropped, a mix of rain and snow began to fall, and the wind seemed to pick up a little. I was definitely wet when I got home, but not drenched.
I am extremely happy with the way this one turned out. I wasn't sure what to expect coming off the marathon tempo on Sunday, then the Lactate Threshold tempo yesterday. I felt stronger as the run progressed, and my foot did not hurt during the run, and even up to a couple of hours after the run. When the run was over I gave thanks to God, and prayed that the way my foot felt that moment (no pain) would just stay that way. Well, it didn't quite happen. Within a couple of hours after the run, the tendons/muscles in front of my heel tightened up and feel inflamed even now. It's not excruciating....just nagging. I AM THANKFUL THAT I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO ACTUALLY RUN PAIN FREE. I am hoping with prayer and treatnment (ice massage (with a sock on this time), trigger point therapy, and stretching my calves), the heel will start to loosen up and not be an issue going forward.
I am getting excited as I feel like fitness is progressing overall, and I just believe God has a special race in store for April 15th. I don't know what it will look like, but I know it will be good. No matter what happens, it doesn't change who God is or how wonderful and merciful He is. I know His desire for all of us is that we would all reach a point where He is more than enough for us. Even if we lost everything dear to us, ultimately, His love, grace, and peace would be sufficient for us.
Here is today's song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8AldFxTyMM
God Bless! :-)
I am extremely happy with the way this one turned out. I wasn't sure what to expect coming off the marathon tempo on Sunday, then the Lactate Threshold tempo yesterday. I felt stronger as the run progressed, and my foot did not hurt during the run, and even up to a couple of hours after the run. When the run was over I gave thanks to God, and prayed that the way my foot felt that moment (no pain) would just stay that way. Well, it didn't quite happen. Within a couple of hours after the run, the tendons/muscles in front of my heel tightened up and feel inflamed even now. It's not excruciating....just nagging. I AM THANKFUL THAT I HAVE BEEN ABLE TO ACTUALLY RUN PAIN FREE. I am hoping with prayer and treatnment (ice massage (with a sock on this time), trigger point therapy, and stretching my calves), the heel will start to loosen up and not be an issue going forward.
I am getting excited as I feel like fitness is progressing overall, and I just believe God has a special race in store for April 15th. I don't know what it will look like, but I know it will be good. No matter what happens, it doesn't change who God is or how wonderful and merciful He is. I know His desire for all of us is that we would all reach a point where He is more than enough for us. Even if we lost everything dear to us, ultimately, His love, grace, and peace would be sufficient for us.
Here is today's song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8AldFxTyMM
God Bless! :-)
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
62 and Counting
February 12, 2013: 62 and Counting..... 12 miles - Bridgeport Track - 4 mile warm-up including 8 x 100 meter strides; 5-mile tempo (26:55); 3-mile cooldown. Here are my 1600 meter splits for the tempo: 5:21, 5:21, 5:21, 5:19, 5:18....I then ran about 60 meters beyond the 8K mark to make sure I got the 5-miles in. Overall, I feel it was a solid workout. I was hoping all of my 1600 meter splits would have been in the 5:15-5:17 range, but it just wasn't happening today. The temperature was perfect (about 50 degrees), but it was very windy. I think that slowed me down a little. I know one could say, 'you were running around a track, so you had as much tailwind as you did headwind.' That is true, but I think there is a law of physics somewhere that says the amount of work/force you have to put forth running into a headwind is greater than the 'push' that you get from the tailwind. In other words, although the tailwind certainly helps, I don't think it actually cancels out the work put forth running into the headwind. I probably could have gotten down to the 5:15 range, but it would have felt more like a race effort instead of a tempo effort.
God is good! I feel His still, small voice spoke to me today about remembering to enjoy and seize each moment in the journey to the destination instead of just focusing on the destination itself.
Here is the link to today's song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdjRmM0Q0qs
This song is a great reminder of how God is ALWAYS with us, and He truly desires to give us hope and life.
God is good! I feel His still, small voice spoke to me today about remembering to enjoy and seize each moment in the journey to the destination instead of just focusing on the destination itself.
Here is the link to today's song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CdjRmM0Q0qs
This song is a great reminder of how God is ALWAYS with us, and He truly desires to give us hope and life.
Monday, February 11, 2013
63 and Counting
February 11, 2013: 63 and Counting..... 6 miles - Middleville Rd. - out/back - no watch. I was going to do today's recovery run on the treadmill, but although the wind was howling, I could not resist sunny and 60 degrees. I actually felt pretty decent coming off yesterday's workout, but I made sure I kept my pace nice and easy in preparation for tomorrow's workout. The front of my right heel seems to be feeling better. I have iced it the last couple days by rolling a frozen soup can with my foot. The problem right now is I may have minor frostbite on that heel. The skin on the front part of my heel is definitely red and burning. I obviously should have put some kind of barrier between the can and my foot. The rolling of the frozen can made my foot feel so much better (I think it got the inflammation down)....I just carried it a little too far. It's a situation where I'm hoping the grace of God intervenes to cover a bad decision I made.....no matter what though....God is good :-)
The song today is by 'The David Crowder Band'. If you choose to click on the link and listen to the song, I pray you sense at least a taste of God's love for you.......oh how He loves us.
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?client=mv-google&v=GzfPHnoT0-0&rdm=mhvbxa529
You may have to copy and paste the address in your browser.
The song today is by 'The David Crowder Band'. If you choose to click on the link and listen to the song, I pray you sense at least a taste of God's love for you.......oh how He loves us.
http://m.youtube.com/#/watch?client=mv-google&v=GzfPHnoT0-0&rdm=mhvbxa529
You may have to copy and paste the address in your browser.
Sunday, February 10, 2013
64 and Counting
February 10, 2013: 64 and Counting..... 19 miles - Maple Lake (4-mile warm-up; 12 mile marathon-paced tempo run - 67:58; 3-mile cooldown); Here are the splits of the 12-mile tempo: 5:48, 5:41, 5:38, 5:37, 5:40, 5:43, 5:37, 5:34, 5:39, 5:40, 5:41, 5:34. Miles 1, 5, and 9 are identical as are 2, 6, and 10; 3, 7, and 11; and finally 4, 8, and 12. I ran 9 laps of a 1.33 mile loop.
Overall, I'm pretty happy the workout. This is the 3rd marathon-paced workout that I've done in the past 5 or 6 weeks (I did one before the 12-weeks started). At the 10-mile mark of this workout I was at 56:42, which is 17 seconds slower than the 10-mile tempo I did two weeks ago. Going into this workout, I wanted to be between 56:20-56:30 at the 10-mile mark. However, my legs felt a tad more fatigued in this workout than the last one. The weather was absolutely perfect.....54 degrees and cloudy with about a 7 MPH wind. The biggest difference today was that the rolling hill section of the loop felt a little more like rolling mountains. Although I felt pretty smooth on the flat sections, my heart rate definitely spiked heading up the 2 steeper hills. I still enjoyed the workout. I view these marathon-paced workouts as 'real' practice for Boston as I get a day where I'm grabbing water off of my Waste Management trash can as well as taking gels every 30 minutes or so. I wanted to take an ice bath in the lake afterwards, but the lake is still frozen over at our end. I was thinking of getting something to try to break it, but I pressed for time anyway as we had a family commitment.
Ok, now to the song of the day. It is of the hip-hop nature (Jesus style :-) ) I think even those that are not fans of hip-hop will find this tune pretty catchy. If you like hip-hop, I think you will really like it. This song is a wonderful reminder that our lives belong to Him, and all boasting and/or glory belongs to Him alone. I believe that God enjoys blessing us, and allows us to experience blessings of this life; but without Him it's all in vain. When you think about it, we exist because of the grace of God; each breath we take is a gift from God; all of our talents and abilities are gifts from Him; Every good and perfect gift comes from God (James 1:17).
Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ec7ofMOqVM
Overall, I'm pretty happy the workout. This is the 3rd marathon-paced workout that I've done in the past 5 or 6 weeks (I did one before the 12-weeks started). At the 10-mile mark of this workout I was at 56:42, which is 17 seconds slower than the 10-mile tempo I did two weeks ago. Going into this workout, I wanted to be between 56:20-56:30 at the 10-mile mark. However, my legs felt a tad more fatigued in this workout than the last one. The weather was absolutely perfect.....54 degrees and cloudy with about a 7 MPH wind. The biggest difference today was that the rolling hill section of the loop felt a little more like rolling mountains. Although I felt pretty smooth on the flat sections, my heart rate definitely spiked heading up the 2 steeper hills. I still enjoyed the workout. I view these marathon-paced workouts as 'real' practice for Boston as I get a day where I'm grabbing water off of my Waste Management trash can as well as taking gels every 30 minutes or so. I wanted to take an ice bath in the lake afterwards, but the lake is still frozen over at our end. I was thinking of getting something to try to break it, but I pressed for time anyway as we had a family commitment.
Ok, now to the song of the day. It is of the hip-hop nature (Jesus style :-) ) I think even those that are not fans of hip-hop will find this tune pretty catchy. If you like hip-hop, I think you will really like it. This song is a wonderful reminder that our lives belong to Him, and all boasting and/or glory belongs to Him alone. I believe that God enjoys blessing us, and allows us to experience blessings of this life; but without Him it's all in vain. When you think about it, we exist because of the grace of God; each breath we take is a gift from God; all of our talents and abilities are gifts from Him; Every good and perfect gift comes from God (James 1:17).
Here is the link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Ec7ofMOqVM
Saturday, February 9, 2013
65 and Counting
February 9, 2013: 65 and Counting.....7-miles (treadmill-recovery) - 59:00 - Wow! Just as this past Wednesday's run was a pleasant surprise, this run was surprisingly a disaster. The good news it was only a recovery run. What I couldn't quite figure out was why 8-minute pace felt so hard. I've mentioned in earlier posts that maybe my treadmill could be slightly mis-calibrated, but I was still surprised how tough this recovery run was. I even slowed to 8:30 pace...something that did not feel so laborious. During this run I was listening to the books of Philippians, Colossians, and 1 Thessalonians on a dramatized audio Bible. This was no doubt the highlight of the 59:00. One of the verses in Philippians said, "one thing I do....forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead. I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus. This is a run to forget, and tomorrow I press on. God is good! God is faithful!
On a side note: I feel like God laid something on my heart to add to each post. Starting today, I am going to try to add a link to a song that has inspired or inspires me. I hope to have a song for each post. They will likely be YouTube links. They could range from worship music to contemporary Christian music, Jesus hip-hop music, Jesus rock music, and possibly on occasional inspirational song that's not necessarily labeled as 'Christian'. My hope and prayer is that God uses these songs to bless, inspire, and help listeners experience His presence through the music. Here is the first one: it is a song about my 'Hero'.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kiXBVAJtj2k
On a side note: I feel like God laid something on my heart to add to each post. Starting today, I am going to try to add a link to a song that has inspired or inspires me. I hope to have a song for each post. They will likely be YouTube links. They could range from worship music to contemporary Christian music, Jesus hip-hop music, Jesus rock music, and possibly on occasional inspirational song that's not necessarily labeled as 'Christian'. My hope and prayer is that God uses these songs to bless, inspire, and help listeners experience His presence through the music. Here is the first one: it is a song about my 'Hero'.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=kiXBVAJtj2k
66 and Counting
February 8, 2013 - 66 and Counting.....13 miles (88:00) out/back - Shinnston/Wyatt/Cunningham Run Rd. - Ok.....this is my first entry using a mobile device...so far I like the computer much better. :-p.
My legs felt a little fatigued, but better than I thought they would. The run was very peaceful and seemed to go by fast for the most part. The largest part of the run was out on country roads, which I love. Sometimes the only downfall to these peaceful runs is an occasional interruption of peace....in the form of loose dogs. As I approached the 6.5 mile turnaround point I saw a dog in the distance running across a fenceless yard. My slightly heightened anxiety eased up immediately as I realized the dog was leashed up to a zip line between two trees. My heartrate did elevate again slightly when I turned around to head back. The dog was charging hard right toward me, but once it got within about 15 feet of me, the zip line came to an end, and the leash yanked the boxer back towards the yard. Although I knew the dog was tied up, I often can't help but think, 'what if he somehow breaks loose?' That thought quickly faded over the next half mile; even to the point where I pretty much ignored the next bark I heard. I could tell it was behind me somewhere, but far enough away that caused me no concern......until I heard another bark (still behind me, but slightly louder this time). After hearing a third bark at an even slightly higher volume, I turned around and saw a large, black dog (not sure what kind...I'm not a dog expert by any stretch of the imagination) bearing down on me. I immediately screamed 'Hey!' at the top of my lungs (which is not fun to do while running and trying to turn around at the same time) :-P. The dog stopped in its tracks. After a few more glances back, I realized the dog decided I was not worth chasing down anymore. Thankfully, I was dog-free the rest of the run!
My legs felt a little fatigued, but better than I thought they would. The run was very peaceful and seemed to go by fast for the most part. The largest part of the run was out on country roads, which I love. Sometimes the only downfall to these peaceful runs is an occasional interruption of peace....in the form of loose dogs. As I approached the 6.5 mile turnaround point I saw a dog in the distance running across a fenceless yard. My slightly heightened anxiety eased up immediately as I realized the dog was leashed up to a zip line between two trees. My heartrate did elevate again slightly when I turned around to head back. The dog was charging hard right toward me, but once it got within about 15 feet of me, the zip line came to an end, and the leash yanked the boxer back towards the yard. Although I knew the dog was tied up, I often can't help but think, 'what if he somehow breaks loose?' That thought quickly faded over the next half mile; even to the point where I pretty much ignored the next bark I heard. I could tell it was behind me somewhere, but far enough away that caused me no concern......until I heard another bark (still behind me, but slightly louder this time). After hearing a third bark at an even slightly higher volume, I turned around and saw a large, black dog (not sure what kind...I'm not a dog expert by any stretch of the imagination) bearing down on me. I immediately screamed 'Hey!' at the top of my lungs (which is not fun to do while running and trying to turn around at the same time) :-P. The dog stopped in its tracks. After a few more glances back, I realized the dog decided I was not worth chasing down anymore. Thankfully, I was dog-free the rest of the run!
Thursday, February 7, 2013
67 and Counting
February 7, 2013: 67 and Counting….. 8-miles recovery (treadmill) – 61:30. I’m still struggling a little with
sickness. I wasn’t so much feverish today,
but a persistent cough showed up, and has been bothersome. It was actually a pretty nice day today, but
I still chose the treadmill. I really
want to try to keep my recovery runs on softer, flatter surfaces for the most
part. The local rail trails are still
covered in snow and ice, so as of right now, the treadmill is still the best
option to ease up on the pounding. For
about the last week and a half, the front part of my right heel has been a bit
nagging. It’s not very painful….just
there. I’m attempting to do some
self-massage/trigger point therapy on my heel as well as the respective calf
muscle to hopefully loosen it up a little.
I do research on-line as to the best way to do this, and there are
differing views. Some say to ice to
reduce inflammation. Others say ‘do not
ice’ b/c it will cause the knots in the muscle to stay contracted, while the
point of trigger point therapy is to release the knots. Some say to avoid heat because it increases
inflammation, while others say heat is good because it relaxes the muscle and
encourages it to loosen up. As of right
now, I have just been massaging. It
doesn’t seem to be getting worse, but I’m not sure if it’s getting better
either. I will have to pray for
wisdom. God is the ultimate healer. He can heal it without any therapy. I have a 13-mile run on the schedule tomorrow. I definitely plan to run this 13 miler much
easier than the one on Wednesday. This
Sunday I have a marathon-paced run on the schedule, and I don’t want to go into
that too fatigued.
68 and Counting
February, 6, 2013: 68
and Counting….. 13 miles (ran home from school) – 79:00. Ok, I was pretty shocked by this one. I know I had a fever last night b/c I was
freezing as I headed to bed; took an ibuprofen, then woke up with my sheets
soaked from sweat. I thought twice about
running home from school, but I felt fine when I woke up in the morning, so I
still caught a ride with my co-worker, and decided I would probably just run
pretty easy. Well, as the day wore on, I
actually began to feel not-so-good again.
When I changed clothes after work, I actually had that cold feeling,
like I might have a fever again. I
decided that I would just push through and run as easy as I had to. As I started the run, I began to feel better
and better, and with a slight tailwind, was able run my fastest 13-mile time
home from school. Another run to really
praise God for. He took what I thought
could be a disaster, and turned it in to one of my best runs on this particular
route. I have to say after the run, I
was not feeling good. The chills
returned with a vengeance, and after a long, hot shower, I took a short nap;
downed a couple of ibuprofen, and felt better as my fever broke again, and my
body aches subsided. I hope to get a
good night’s rest, and feel better tomorrow.
69 and Counting
Februay 5, 2013: 69 and Counting…..
3rd Snow day in a row! (10-miles – Treadmill) – 68:20. I felt decent during the actual run. Again though, working down to around 6:20
pace on this treadmill felt harder than running 6:00 pace just 2 days ago on my
long run). After the run, I got the
chills, and felt very cold. I’m not sure
if it was dehydration or a slight fever.
Anyway, it was good effort-based run to get my legs going a bit after
the day off.
70 and Counting
February, 4, 2013: 70 and Counting…..
DAY OFF! I originally planned on
running a 6-mile recovery run. However,
it has been about 3 weeks since I’ve had a day off, so after the hard 20-miler
yesterday, I decided to just give my body a break today. In the past, more often than not, I will take
at least one day a week off. However, to
keep my mileage up a bit, I plan to take very few days off during this training
cycle. Today, though, I felt it was
time to take one off.
71 and Counting
February 3, 2013: 71 and Counting….. 20 miles (out/back rt. 119) –
2:02:51. As you can tell from the
previous information, I bailed on the race.
I drove the course and from my perspective the course conditions were
awful. In the past, I have made stupid
decisions during my marathon training.
Some of these include: playing hard in softball and/or basketball games
(both of which left me extremely sore compromising my training quite a bit),
and also running in races that I shouldn’t run in. No matter what decision I make today, there
is still no absolute guarantee that I will make it to the starting line on
April 15th 100% healthy.
However, I just have to trust God with it, and not do anything stupid to
mess it up. I didn’t want running in
this race today to be the ‘stupid’ thing that I did to mess up training for
Boston. Even though it’s possible that I
could have gotten through the race unscathed, and possibly the series champion,
it was just not worth the risk. The
alternative to running the snowy, icy roads in Kanawha City was running a
perfectly clear road (rt. 119), and having an AWESOME long run. I ran the first 10 miles in 63:04 with a
tailwind, and ran against the wind on the way back in 59:47! I absolutely praise God for this. He gave me enough wisdom to bow out of the
race; and honestly, this 20-mile run will probably help me for Boston more than
the race would have.
72 and Counting
February 2, 2013: 72 and Counting…..
8-miles (Charleston – out/back Garrison Avenue/ Rt. 119). – 53:30. The forecast is looking more and more grim
for good racing conditions. Therefore,
instead of doing the originally scheduled 6-mile recovery, I added a couple of
miles and picked the pace up a bit. I
have decided that after church tomorrow, I am going to drive the race
course. If it is in bad shape, I’m not
running the race. This will be a
somewhat difficult decision b/c the race is the 3rd and final race
of a Winter Series, and I am currently leading the series. Of course, if I do not run the race, I am out
of contention for winning the series.
However, I have to be smart and make a wise decision. Racing on snowy, icy roads is not worth
compromising training for Boston.
73 and Counting
February 1, 2013: 73 and Counting….. 8-miles (Treadmill) – SNOW
DAY! This was another recovery type
run. I’m heading down to Charleston today
to spend the weekend with family, then run the 10K on Sunday. There is snow forecasted for Charleston this
weekend, so I will play it by ear as to if I will run the race on Sunday. As long as the roads are in good shape, I
will run. If they are in bad shape, I
will probably scrap the race and hopefully find some clear roads to do a long
run on. We will soon see.
74 and Counting
January 31, 2013: 74 and Counting…..10 miles (Treadmill) – 71:30 – I
was originally going to do either a 6 or 8-mile recovery run as the training
schedule called for. However, I have
plans to run a 10K in Charleston on Sunday, so I thought I might switch some
runs around and get the longer stuff in earlier and cut my mileage a bit as I
got closer to the race. Since yesterday
was a little bit of an easy run, I felt pretty decent for this one. I
still wanted to keep it a relatively easy run.
However, I am convinced that my treadmill is off somehow on pacing. For example, when I run 6:20 pace on my
treadmill, it truly feels like closer to a 5:40 effort. I know that sounds crazy, but when I do my
marathon paced tempo runs, the effort feels very similar to the 6:20-25 on the
treadmill. I have no idea why….miscalibrated
maybe? Does my treadmill have a little
bit of an incline even when the incline is set to zero? Not sure, but when running on my treadmill, I
have to run effort-based instead of pace-based.
75 and Counting
January 30, 2013: 75
and Counting…. 12 miles (83:50) – Hinkle-Deagan Lake
out/back. The forecast for this
afternoon was rain and strong storms.
Therefore I got up at 4:00 am and was out the door by 4:30 for this
one. It was a balmy 60 degrees for this
January 30th morning run….amazing!
I used my headlamp (batteries are running low, so it’s not quite as
effective as it should be right now) more so cars could see me as opposed to me
being able to see. I ran relatively
easy….partly b/c I wanted to recover from yesterday’s workout and partly b/c I
couldn’t see very well in spots. I
typically run slower in the dark, even if I have a head lamp. I’ve heard that when running in the dark, you
have an illusion that you are running faster than you really are….I believe it.
76 and Counting
January 29, 2013: 76
and Counting…..
Wow! Just this time last week it was 15
degrees and windy. Today it was 68
degrees according to a bank thermometer I drove by heading to the track. It felt almost surreal as I stepped out onto
the track on a warm, sunny, breezy January day. Today’s workout was a 3-mile warm-up; 8 x
100 meter strides; a rust buster 400; a 400 jog; a 4-mile tempo run; then
finally a 3 mile cool down (11 miles total).
Overall, the workout went well. I
was expecting to run the rust buster in about 72 seconds. To my surprise the watched clicked over to 68
seconds as I completed the lap. I
haven’t done any type of speed work in about 4 weeks, so the 68 was a spirit
lifter right off the bat. I then proceeded
to jog a partially oxygen indebted lap, then immediately started into the
4-mile tempo. My goal going into this
tempo was to average somewhere between 5:15-5:20 per mile (hoping to get closer
to the 5:15). My 1600 meter splits went
something like this: 5:19, 5:17, 5:19, 5:15.
I know 16 laps is a little short of 4 miles, so my distance OCD kicked
in, and I ran about 50 meters passed the finish line to make sure I got four
in. So, for 6400 meters I ran right
around 21:10, and about 21:20 for the 6450, which is 14 meters longer than 4
miles. Therefore, after all of my
ridiculous distance analysis, I averaged approximately 5:19 or 5:20 per mile. I will definitely take it. God provided a gorgeous day for a workout…..I
do hope it’s cooler than this on April 15th though. J
77 and Counting
January 28, 2013: 77 and Counting…..
Ok…. The Boston Marathon website says that it is 76 days until the
race. I literally counted the days on
the calendar and from Monday, January 28th until Monday, April 15th,
it is 77 days, which makes sense. It is
exactly 11 weeks away; there are seven days in a week; and 11 x 7 = 77. Someone can correct my logic if it is wrong,
but if the BAA website continues it’s current countdown pattern, then on
Sunday, April 14th, it will say ‘Race Day’, instead of ‘1 Day’ until
the race.
Well, enough babbling about unimportant, trivial
matters, and on to today’s run. It was a
6-mile recovery run on the treadmill (47:30).
I kept the television off during this run, and turned the tunes on. Ninety-nine point nine percent of the music I
listen to is a variation of Christian music.
I enjoy Christian Hip-Hop, Rock, Contemporary, and Worship music as
well. Listening to this music helps keep
me focused on Christ, enriches my spirit, and even motivates me. Many years ago I used to listen to just
whatever was on the radio; but after being exposed to all of the sub-genres of
Christian music, I was hooked. Although
I do not like every Christian song out there, I have discovered that there is
as much music quality and diversity to Christian-based music as there is
secular music. There are still times when
I might listen to a regular rock or country tune (and I do still like some of
them), but for the most part, I’m going ‘Jesus’ music all the way. Christ offers inner peace, hope, joy, and
unconditional love. There isn’t much
music out there that can match that.
78 and Counting
January 27, 2013: 78 and Counting…..
4-mile warm-up; 10 miles at marathon goal pace (56:25); 3-mile cool down
(17 total miles). I do this tempo run
around a lake in my neighborhood. One
loop around the lake is 1.33 miles. One
side of the lake is mostly flat, while the other side is rolling. There are also 2 short, nasty hills at each
end of the lake…..just enough to slow you down and put you in a little bit of
oxygen debt. What’s nice about the loop
is that I can set cups of water out in front of my house, then throw the empty
cups into my in-law’s yard just down the street. Of course I pick them up and throw them away
once I’m finished. I also take a gel a
little over the 5 mile mark, just like I would in the marathon. I try to simulate the marathon as much as
possible (of course I wouldn’t warm-up 4 miles before a marathon, nor cool down
three miles, but at this point in my training I want to keep my mileage up).
I was extremely pleased with the way this tempo played
out. One of the main themes of the
‘Facing the Giants’ movie was this: “If
we win, we are going to praise God!.....If we lose…. we are going to praise
God!” Well, today’s workout was a
win!.....and I want to praise God. Going
into this workout, I wanted to average around 5:40 pace or even slightly
faster. The first mile was 5:50. I was a little disappointed b/c I did this
run exactly two weeks ago, and my first mile was 5:38 (and went on to finish in
56:30). My first thought after the mile
was, ‘I may not average 5:40, but let’s try to keep the miles under 5:50.’ I reasoned that maybe my legs were a little
more fatigued today b/c just two days ago I ran 11 miles at a pretty decent
effort, while 2 weeks ago I did two 8 mile recovery runs preceding this workout. Well, to my surprise, the next mile was 5:38. I proceeded to stay in the 5:34-5:39 range
the rest of the way, and ended up averaging 5:38 for the entire run. It would be a dream of mine to average this
on race day. However, it is something
that I want to totally surrender to God.
Putting pressure on myself to run a certain time usually does not bode
well. It reminds me of this scripture: “The horse is made ready for
the day of battle, but victory rests with the LORD.” (Psalm 21:31). I know it’s my job to prepare to the best of
my ability, but the results are in God’s hands.
God willing, when I toe the starting line (well, possibly several meters
behind the starting line. :-P), I want
to totally give myself and the race to Him.
Only He knows what the conditions will even be like. I would love for it to be about 45-50 degrees
with no wind or a tail wind. It could be
30 degrees with a headwind or even a sweltering 80 degrees. I can control none of that. All I can do is be ready to give God my best
on that day, and let Him take care of the rest.
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