Sidewalk Prophets - "Live Like That"

Great Song! Hopefully this is a desire of all of our hearts.

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.

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!

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

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

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.

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.

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. 

Ashes Remain - On My Own [HD Animated Lyrics!]

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

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! :-)

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.

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.

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

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

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!

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…..  3^rd 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 15^th 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 3^rd 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 30^th 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 15^th 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 28^th 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 14^th, 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.  

79 and Counting

January 26, 2013: 79 and Counting…..  6 – mile recovery run (Treadmill for the 3^rd day in a row :-P) – 46:30.  I contemplated heading outside, but the roads are still pretty dicey.  I watched overtime of the Villanova-Syracuse game, then the last 10 minutes of the first half of the WVU-Oklahoma State game.  It was nice seeing the ‘Eer’s play well for a little stretch.  It was enough to get me thinking “Maybe we can pull out a nice road win, and get this season turned around.”  Of course, it was futile thinking as they proceeded with their typical meltdown getting outscored by 27 the last 27 or so minutes of the game.  Anyway, tomorrow there is a 10-mile marathon simulation run planned.  Hopefully the roads will be clear.

80 and Counting

January 25, 2013: 80 and Counting…… 11-miles (Treadmill) – 74:30 – Felt pretty decent; While on the treadmill,  I started watching a movie called “Facing the Giants.”  It is a great movie….very inspirational.  The acting will not/did not win any academy awards, but the message/theme was encouraging, inspirational, and motivating.  It’s definitely pretty good considering this movie was made by a church in Albany, GA.  Anyway, one of the themes/messages was ‘Praise God NO MATTER WHAT.”  After many events/circumstances, the football coach came to a point where he told his team, “If we win, we praise God.  If we lose, we praise God!”  Their job was to give everything they had, and leave the results with God.  This is a theme I want to take with me when training for Boston.  When things are going great I want to praise God.  When things may not seem to be going as great, I want to praise God.  If do well at Boston, I want to praise God.  If the wheels come off at Boston, I want to praise God.  I must remember that my number one purpose in life is to love and honor Him with everything in me.  My second is to love my wife and kids as Christ loves the church.  My third is….whatever I do, work at it with all of my heart as working for the Lord and not for men (Colossians 3:23).  God is bigger than the Boston Marathon.  He is bigger than the day to day training.  I know He is with me through the entire journey, which makes it so much more thrilling and fulfilling.  I want to do this for the higher purpose of honoring Him and bringing glory to His name.  In my heart of hearts, I want people to know the same God that made me, saved me, and who loves me unconditionally.   If I run an amazing race in Boston, but do not keep Christ the center of it, then I have run in vain.

81 and Counting

January 24, 2013: 81 and Counting…..  6-mile recovery run (treadmill) – 47:30.  Snow day!    Roads were a bit messy, so just did an easy run on the treadmill.  Legs were a little fatigued, but enjoyed listening to Jesus Hip-Hop and Worship music while running.  There's nothing better than focusing on Christ while running.  He's my strength and my song.  My heart and soul are at rest and peace in His presence. When meditating on Him and listening to music that honors Him, His presence is felt.....and there is NOTHING BETTER than being in His presence.  It makes me wonder why I don't seek Him more often.

82 and Counting

January 23, 2013: 82 and Counting: 13 miles (82:00) – ran home from work today.  On the days I run home from work, I catch a ride with a co-worker that lives about 1.5 miles away.  I do this maybe once a week or once every 2 weeks.  Depending on which way I run home, it can easily be made a 12, 13, or 15 mile run.  I believe it’s a good Boston prep run.  The first mile is downhill.  Miles 2-7 are mostly gently rolling with the exception of 2 or 3 short lung busters.  Miles 8-12 are not so gently rolling, and mile 13 is gently rolling to flat.  If I do the 15 miler, miles 1-10 are the same as the 12 and 13 miler, while miles 11-12.5 are gently rolling.  Miles 12.5 – 14 include two major uphills, and the last mile is downhill.  I usually try to put forth a good effort on these medium long run days.  Today was very cold again….about 18 degrees with moderate wind.  My legs felt decent, but not great.  Typically when I do this run, I’ve had a recovery run the day before, but yesterday was definitely a few notches above a recovery run.  This could explain the bit of fatigue.  Overall, happy with the result.

83 and Counting

January 22, 2013: 83 and Counting:  10-miles (66:50) plus 10 x 0.1 mile strides) – 11 miles total.  Ok.. it was COLD today....15 degrees with the wind chill below zero.  However, I learned a saying from Norway: “There is no such thing as bad weather….just poor clothing.”   I wore cold weather compression gear with compression shorts, compression calf sleeves and long socks underneath as well as a dry-fit running jacket, mittens, and of course, a knit hat.  The folks in Norway hit the nail on the head with this one.  Besides my face at the beginning, I felt pretty warm throughout this run.  Even my face warmed up after about 4 miles.  I was a little hesitant to do strides after this one with the weather so cold, but after the 10 miles, I changed from my training shoes to racing flats, and the strides felt great.  The strides were the first ‘Fast’ running I have done since running an 8K race a little over two weeks ago.

84 and Counting

January 21, 2013: 84 and Counting:  84 days until Boston!  Today is a 6 mile recovery run on the treadmill.  You may be thinking…the first day of marathon training is a 6-mile recovery run…on the treadmill?  Well, the reality is that after running a marathon at the end of June (Midnight Sun Marathon – Tromso, Norway: 2:44:17…another disappointing race when I had sub-2:30 goals going into it), I took a 6-week break to heal from a nagging hip flexor injury.  Since mid-August, I have logged a little over 1,100 miles.  I have averaged about 65 miles a week over the last 5 weeks or so.  Therefore, a foundation has been laid before starting the 12-week journey to Boston.  I am not a mega-mileage marathoner by any stretch.  You will not see me logging 90-120 miles a week like many faster marathoners.  Over the next 12 weeks, God willing, I will be in the 70-80 miles a week range.  Like I said earlier, I am pretty much following a training plan laid out from Advanced Marathoning.  The fact is that just yesterday, I ran 18-miles, so today’s run is simply to recover from that.

Let's Get It Started!

12 Weeks until the Boston Marathon.  I am excited about the journey ahead.  I am hoping it is a journey of renewal and redemption.  I entered the Boston Marathon five years ago with a marathon personal best of 2:31:45.  However, with training not going as planned and nagging injuries slowing me down, I headed into the race just hoping to run under 2:40.  I was still excited though.  I had a running singlet (jersey) made that said, “All 4 Jesus” with a Cross on the front; and on the back it said, “He knows you.  He loves you.  Run free.”  I love Jesus with all of my heart, and one of my main goals heading into the race was spreading the message of Christ’s Freedom through wearing the jersey.    To make a long story short, I completely fell apart; ran around 2:55:36, and finished 758th. I started the race off a little too quickly and starting hitting the wall at the way too early 13 mile mark.  Hundreds of people proceeded to pass me through the rest of the race as I helplessly and a little despondently watched them go by.  One of those people was actually Lance Armstrong, who was taking his first, and it turns out, only shot so far at the Boston Marathon.    Looking at the bright side, out of the hundreds that passed me, maybe a few received the message that was on the back of my jersey.  I did receive a few words of encouragement from passing runners that commented on my gear, and several fans along the road gave words of encouragement such as “Onward Christian Soldier!” and simply yelling “Jesus!”

  Although Boston was a unique experience, and the crowds were wonderful, I had a difficult time enjoying it because the race itself went so poorly.   In fact, I hadn’t even realized that I had gone up heartbreak hill (around mile 21 of the race)…probably because most of the race was heartbreak, and I couldn’t tell the difference.   One awesome thing about God though is that even through disappointing experiences/performances, I still have an inner peace that is Him (Ephesians 2:14…..For He Himself is our peace…”).  It comes with having a relationship with Christ; and it’s something that I wouldn’t trade for anything in the world.   So as I crossed the finish line I felt a peaceful disappointment….a feeling that lasted for several days until I was ready to move on and train for the next race.   The peace is still there…that is Christ…who is always with me (“I will never leave you nor forsake you.” – Hebrews  13:5).  The disappointment on the other hand has pretty much faded.  Whenever I get asked questions such as “Have you ever run Boston?”; or if I ever think about the race, the disappointment creeps in a little, but is short-lived. 

       So, here we are five years later preparing for Boston for the 2^nd time.  My number one goal for this race is still to run for Him, honor Him, and lift His name up.  Our God is a God of redemption.  I know race times and how high one finishes are not the most important aspect.  However, I have to believe that the race this year will be different than the one in 2008.  I certainly do not know what my time and place will be, but I believe the experience will be good.  I believe I will walk away from this race with the same peace as I had four years ago, but the disappointment will be turned into joy (Psalm 30:11).  I want to give the next 12 weeks of training to God.  I want to give the 2013 Boston Marathon to God.  He can do more with it than I would ever be able to do. 

In the following will be entries from my day to day training.  Most of my training and/or training principles come from Pete Pfitzinger and Scott Douglas’s book Advanced Marathoning.  To me, their book is the next best thing to having a professional, personalized coach (which is not in the current budget).   So here we go:  Let the journey begin.