Hanover weather

Sunday, October 30, 2011

5 miles: Good run and about 2 in sprints later

I did the 5 mile run this morning to downtown and back. It went well. Pushed the pace and finished strong. It wasn't my fastest ever but it was solid.

Later I took the boy to the park and we ran and did sprints. I'm guessing it was about 2 miles worth of running (hoping it pays off at bedtime).

Saturday, October 29, 2011

6.2 miles: no motivation Saturday run

Short term lack of motivation. Short-run. Looking forward to pushing the 5 tomorrow.

Friday, October 28, 2011

7.3 Miles: Less is more?

Today I ran 7.3 miles. I had to work most of the day and so had less time to run. I'm not sure I would have run much more anyway. I'm feeling a bit tired all around.

I'm not a big fan of running in loops but I'm less of a fan of Friday afternoon traffic, especially with some rain and puddles around.

Wednesday, October 26, 2011

21.2 miles: dead tired


(Photo above from about mile 8 on the map below)

Today I ran 21.1 miles. It was 75 and partly sunny at the end of the run (3 liters water, 480 calories). It was a good 18 mile run followed by three hard miles. My legs are not recovered from the marathon it seems. This is good to know because I was considering a 10 day taper for the philly marathon (it's been 10 days since my marathon). Clearly that is not enough time to recover. My leg muscles are taxed after the run today. I guess that is good since this is training. I might do a down week next week and focus on running 12 miles twice faster rather than doing a 20 and a 12 as the long runs.




Sunday, October 23, 2011

5 mile free run

Good simple Sunday morning 5 mile run. Good pace for 4, great pace for last one. Nice chilly morning.

Saturday, October 22, 2011

10.3 miles


Today I ran 10.3 miles. It was a very average run. It ended sunny in the mid 60's (0.6 liters of water). I may have run too close to a pre-run snack. It wasn't a bad run, just nothing special. Traffic was worse than I thought it would be, I like midweek runs better. The traffic is actually lighter in the middle of the day during the week than on the weekend.

Friday, October 21, 2011

6.1 miles


I'm being good this week and staying low on the miles. I put off the 10-12 mile till tomorrow. Today's run was good and I had a nice pace for the entire run (0.3 Liters of water). Looking forward to doing a long run next week (15+).

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

6.5 miles: Wind, Cold, and rain = Great run


Today I ran 6.5 miles. It was 46 degrees and windy with light rain at the end of the run. It was a great run. I had to limit myself. I set out only to do 5 but felt good and did some more. My legs muscles are a bit sore but not bad and I have no pain from the marathon.

My pace was great. The marathon kicked my pace into a higher gear and it seems to have stuck. Running the 7 bridges marathon as a training run without going all out seems to have been a great idea at this point.

Good news/bad news: Good news work wise in that I have a great chance to pick up extra income doing more work from home for the next two months. Bad news is that it's likely to cut into my running time. Since the bank doesn't take running miles the job wins out. I'll make time to run but the miles might decrease. If that happens I will really work on pace which might be best anyway.

Friday: I'll try to stay below 10.

Sunday, October 16, 2011

7 Bridges Marathon race report


Photo: from around mile 25.8 (but running in the other direction). Taken the day before on a family walk.

Overview: Today I ran 26.2 miles in the 7 bridges Marathon in Chattanooga, TN. My unofficial time (my watch) was 4:43:48 (official time 4:43:41; updated 10/18/11). This is just about a minute faster than my last marathon time, thus that time was not random. My goal today was to run between 4:43 and 4:59. I determined at mile 16 I was on pace for the faster goal and somewhat backed off because I had some time to spare. I worked hard today but did not super push it since this was more of a training run for the Philly Marathon in November. I'm not suggesting I could have run much faster, just maybe by 3 or 4 minutes. My legs are tired and I will be sore.

Race report: This was great marathon. It was the first time it was being run. The start was a little disorganized but it didn't really matter since it was a small marathon (300 people for the full). There was no start sign and no gun. The fast runners just took off (someone must have said, not yelled, go). I was only about 10 yards back.

The course ran over 7 bridges and on some of the great water front trails in Chattanooga. It is a great outdoor town. There were plenty of aid stations staffed with very good volunteers and while more porta pots are always better there were plenty compared to a typical event. I ended up just using of the park bathrooms around mile 21 or so that was right on the path of the run and made one other break in a wooded area earlier.

I took in about 7 gels and an unknown amount of water/Powerade. I was trying to take in less fluid than I normally do and it didn't seem to effect me so I might stick with a lower level. The weather was great at the start (upper 40's?) and ended a bit warm and sunny (lower 70's?). The weather was a non-factory for 20 miles and only a slight factor for the last 6, overall the weather and shading was great.

Me: I had a poor night of sleep as our 4 years old was with us at the hotel. He woke up a bunch of times like normal. However, since this is normal, I'm somewhat use to it and train under the same poor sleeping conditions.

In the race I felt great for 13 miles or so, from mile 13 till the end I felt a bit off in my stomach. Likely the result of gels I normally do not take. I think I had a vanilla gel that didn't sit quite right. I had planned to take Hammer gels (my normal product) but forgot to grab them this morning. However, my stomach never got off enough that I would claim it slowed me down. It was right on that edge. My foot gave me a scare around mile 14 or so. I thought a major problem was coming in my right foot but it never did show and that scare past by mile 16 (about).

My best miles were probably miles 20-23 when I ran and talked with a pacer for a 4:40 finish. I think I probably could have stayed with him but it would have been pushing it more than I wanted to for this marathon. The pacers were a bit off in the first 6 miles (the 4:40 guy got passed by the 4:15 girl around mile 6). I didn't exactly trust them after that and just ran my own race. I think they finished on time. I heard them say my 4:40 guy finished with 30 seconds of that time.

Post run: there was a great set up of food and drinks. However, I didn't take anything as my stomach was still not great and I had to start the mile walk back to the hotel that gave us a late check-out.

overall: Great marathon and I had a good time. This marathon will stay on my radar to do again if it fits in the family/work/running schedule.

up next: A low mileage week this week and then build back to another 20 miler or two before tapering for the philly marathon. Goal for philly? Faster than my time today.




Friday, October 14, 2011

3 Easy miles

Well on to the unknown. This is the most confident I've felt going into a marathon about being able to go the distance. It's the least confident I've felt being able to predict a time. It's a new marathon, a new marathon for me, my weight is down, my speed seems down, and I'm a bit sick.

I have no idea. I plan to start slower than I have been starting marathons and maybe finish a bit better.

Wednesday, October 12, 2011

5 easy miles

I did the Starbucks run today at an easy pace. The taper is in full effect. I do not like it. I'm still feeling a bit sick so that helped me limit myself today.

Sunday, October 9, 2011

5 miles: Sick

Today I ran 5 miles. I just started with a good long run pace (not pushing it) and stuck with that pace for four miles. The last mile I picked it up a bit. Head cold and flu like chills. Hopefully getting them now means I'll be fine by next weekend.

Saturday, October 8, 2011

11.8 a bit sick


Today I ran 11.8 miles. It was sunny and 78 at the end (1.2 liters of water, 270 calories). I'm a bit sick, thanks to my kid's preschool germ fest 2011. Feeling maybe 70%. Head cold and flu like chills. My lungs are fine which is why I did run.

Considering the lack of sleep, tired legs (from fast 6 thursday), and sickness it was a decent run. Will take it easy on all remaining runs till marathon.


Thursday, October 6, 2011

faster 6 around the complex

Tonight I ran 6 miles around the 1 mile loop here in our complex. It was 73 at the end of the run (0.6 liters). I didn't take a GPS but took my watch. I ran each mile about 1:30 faster than my long run pace.

Rough taper plan: Friday: 0 miles, Saturday: 10-12, Sunday- 5, Mon/Tue- off, Wed: 5, Thur: off, Fri: 4, Sat: 0, Sunday: 26.2

7.8 (Wednesday)


I ran 7.8 miles yesterday. It was about 80 at the end of the run (0.6 liters of water). I had to drop off the car at a repair shop and I just ran until they called. The tapper for the first marathon is on. It's coming soon (10/16).

Sunday, October 2, 2011

Fast 5

Today I did the Starbucks free run (no gps). It was 41 degrees with 85% humidity at the end. It was likely the fastest five since my time in the Army. I was pushing it and sweating even with the temp at 41 and me in t-shirt and shorts.

Saturday, October 1, 2011

8.5 miles


Today I ran 8.5 miles. It took me a while to get into the run today but it ended well with me going at more of a 5k pace for the last mile and a half. It was sunny and 55 at the end of the run (0.6 liters of water, 0 calories).