Sickness: 0 miles

Went to the doctor the other day. No running till this Sunday and then "light" running for a few weeks. On some meds. Fun times.

11.3 Miles: Local loops

Today I went 11.3 miles. This was more of a walk/run since I'm not feeling great. I also kept close to home in case I started to feel worse.  I didn't feel great but running did not make me feel any worse.

(photo taken around the mile 10 marker on the map)

This was a low effort run by design.

6.6 miles: Decent run

Today I ran 6.6 miles around town. I ended up taking three days off. Two by design and one because I wasn't feeling 100%. I might be coming down with something, but maybe not, hard to tell. It figures I would take two days off and then start to feel sick. 

3 Miles: Higher pace

Today I ran 3 miles. It was a short run because of work and tired legs. I did this run at a higher pace than my last few runs since I knew it was going to be short.  Good run.

10.3 Miles: good run

Today I ran 10.3 miles around town. The plan was to run between 5 and 15 depending on my legs and work, and so I ended up right in the middle of that today.  Good running weather today, cooler and more clouds.

(photo above taken around mile 3.75 on the map below)

Up next: a run of 5-20 miles tomorrow and then two days off over the weekend as I will be on full time kid duty.

22.5 miles: Trail of Fears training

Today I ran 22.5 miles. It was a very fun run. Based on a suggestion from a fellow Franklin runner I checked out a new area for me today (miles 6-13 on the map above). I ran to hilly part of town and "found" a great trail there that really does go up a big hill (the loop at miles 9/10).

(photo taken around mile 12 on map above)

This run was a specific training run for the Trail of Fears run that is coming up soon. The idea today was just to cover the ground under a pace that would allow be to finish a lap during the course. This is was not a speed run by any stretch.  I took a lunch break (10 mins or so) and took some walking breaks. It was a great day to be out exploring some new ground for me.

(photo taken just beyond the photo above.)

It turns I have run 71.1 miles over the last 7 days. I'm not sure I've ever have gone over 60 before in a week. My legs are tired but not dead tired. Running is going well right now.

10.6: Why not

(Photo taken around mile 2.2 on map below)

Today I ran 10.6 miles. I wasn't planning on running today but work went faster than I thought it would so I thought why not run.  So I did.  It was a good run but HOT for December.

4.4 miles: Easy Sunday run

Today I ran 4.4 miles in the area around my house.  It got dark faster than I expected it to. It was going to be a short run anyway but not this short.  

Up next: Likely taking tomorrow off to get a bunch of work done and then this SHOULD be a good week for running.

13.3 miles: Exploring a bit

(New area for me taken around mile 5 on map below. Fine but nothing special.)

Today I ran 13.3 miles and it was warmer than I like. If I was just out walking at a park I would probably describe the weather as perfect but for running it was about 20 degrees warmer than I would prefer. If this weather happened in the middle of the summer, I'd likely be really happy with it. However, for December 1st it is too hot!

I also checked out a new running area for me (the two bottom loops around miles 3-4-5 on the map). I got chased by a small dog in the first loop and the second was fine but went nowhere. Sometimes exploring pays off, today I just crossed those two areas off.

Trail of Fears

Today I ran 0 miles but I signed up for the Trail of Fears run in December put on by the running club I'm in (RunItFast). It's a 4.3 mile course and you have an hour to finish each loop. So if you finish in 43 minutes, you have 17 to rest before the next loop starts. If you finish in 59 minutes, you have 1 minute to rest. If you don't finish in an hour - you are done.

Without knowing much about the course, my goal is to run most of the day. Because of work I can really only run all day Saturday, not into the night and maybe next day as the winner surely will. A rough goal is to make it more than the distance of the Strolling Jim (41.2 miles). It seems doable based on my pace in the Strolling Jim.

20.3 Miles: A long run

Today I ran 20.3 miles. It was a good run. I didn't push the pace but it was decent for a non-specific 20 mile run. It was good weather day is it was sunny but cool.  This is my favorite type of run. I set out to do a long run with no goal for distance, time or direction. I just go run for a few hours.

7.2 Lazy miles around town

Today I ran 7.2 miles around town. It was just an easy paced run with a few walking breaks to deal with work emails. The plan is to do a longer run tomorrow or over the weekend. I'll be adding pictures to the Florida run today.

5.8 Miles: Barefoot beach run. (Friday)

(Photo at the turn around point 3.4)

Yesterday I ran 5.8 miles barefoot on the beach. It was awesome. I ran right along the water's edge and at times in the water. I felt good and strong.  The distance was define by reaching the end of the barrier island. 

Running on the beach is harder but since I wasn't going that far and I'm in good running shape this run was no problem.

(Photo from around mile 1 looking North)

3.3 miles (Thursday): Florida run

Thursday I did my first run post marathon. My legs were fine (likely since I didn't really get to push them during the marathon). I would have run Wednesday but we were traveling to Florida for my wife's Marathon on Sunday.

This was a good short run. 

26.2 miles: Rookie mistake (11/18)

It turns out in a month's time, I have run my fastest marathon ever and my slowest ever (this one in 4:55). 

Sunday I went 26.2 miles in the Philly Marathon. The first 6 miles were fine and I was on track pace wise. However, from there my stomach started to hurt. It only slowed me a little bit at first but it got fairly bad by mile 16 or so. I had to walk at times during the last 8 and wait in a line for a porta-potty (that cost me a few minutes). I was slightly worried I would have to walk the last few miles. I was only able to run for tens of yards at a time before my stomach hurt too much and I was reduced to walking.

I'm not 100% sure of the cause but the leading candidate is the Gatorade I had during the race. It has caused me problems in the past but I just wasn't thinking in the race when I had some. I think I was thinking I just didn't like it, not that it would cause me problems. The rookie mistake was eating or drinking something new in a race that I didn't use in training. This is one of the first rules of running. It's possible the Gatorade was not the problem but I need a scapegoat and Gatorade is a good one.

 I'll likely run the Philly Marathon again, I'm not sure at this point it will be next year. 

2.5 miles: Last run before Marathon

Today I ran 2.5 miles.  Simple last run. The Philly Marathon forecast for now is a starting temperature in the lower 40's going up to the 50's with a small chance of rain. I'll take it.

Marathon goals:

1) Beating my time from last year- 4:40:52
2) Beating my time from 7 Bridges Marathon- 4:31:28

I should be able to beat the first goal assuming no problems, meaning from a fitness stand point I'm on track. The second goal will be a bit harder. I don't feel like I am in any better shape than I was in a month ago and that day I had a very good running day. Those are not always repeatable on demand. I'll be happy with goal 1 and thrilled with goal two.

So no slower than a 10:42 per mile pace down to about a 10:21 pace.

5 miles: Town and back

This morning I did the standard 5 mile into town and back run. Good run. I'll do around a 3 mile run tomorrow and then take Friday and Saturday off before running 26.2 on Sunday.

7.6 miles: HO HO HO

Today I ran 7.6 miles. I just had a fun run. I just went at a natural pace.  This was a bit longer than my normal taper plan would call for (4 miles) but I really don't care. I just wanted to run and so I did.

6.1 Miles

Well the slightly longer run got cut short. I forgot how early the sun goes down now. It went well.

9.8 miles: Last longer run

(Deer at mile 1 on map below)

Today I ran 9.8 miles. It was a good run. I didn't push it but didn't go slow either. This was the last longer run before the marathon. I may do a 7.5 on Sunday and then taper next week.

5 Miles (Monday and Wednesday)

Early this week I did a short 5 mile run on two different days. It's part taper but mainly I got backed up with work.

4.6: Friday fun run

Yesterday I ran 4.6 miles. This run was limited again by work. However, I should be cutting back a bit on miles away so I guess it was fine. It was a good run. I didn't push it since the last few runs have been in high gear.  Taking the weekend off, both to rest and because I'm on full time kid duty.

5 miles: Running is going well

Today I ran into town and back. The standard Starbuck's run. My running is going very well right now. I ran 20 yesterday and was stuck in 4th gear in today's fast run. My legs are feeling fine. I wish I had more time to run even more but maybe it's good that I don't right now.

20.4 Miles: Not so scary

Today I ran 20.4 miles. It was a good run. The weather is finally really good for running. You can tell the weather is good for running then it's sunny and you don't mind. The photo above was taken around mile 8 on the map below.

4.5 miles: Busy Boy

Today I did and easy short run. It was based on the limited time I had today for a run. The plan is for a long run (15+) tomorrow.

6.2 Miles: Water bill run

Today I did the water bill run. I saved a stamp by running over to the dropbox for them and then running home. It was just an easy run. I did not push it on purpose after running a good pace yesterday and it still being close to the last marathon. I felt good, legs a bit tired but about what is to be expected at this point.

10.5 miles: Great run

Today I ran 10.5 miles. I took off yesterday mainly because I was a bit behind in work. 

It was cool this morning and great pace run.

4 miles: Post marathon run

Today I ran 4 miles. My little pick up of speed from the marathon seems to have stuck. This was a good run. 
My legs were very sore on Monday, a bit sore yesterday and just a little bit sore today. Recovery seems to be on track. I will take off tomorrow to help with recovery. This weekend I'll start specifically training for the Philly Marathon.

7 Bridges Marathon update: The chip time (real time) was posted for the marathon. It was a few seconds faster than my Garmin time. I updated my blog to reflect that official chip time.

7 Bridges Marathon Chattanooga Race Report

Today I ran the 7 Bridges Marathon in Chattanooga. It turns out I ran my fastest marathon ever. I knew it was a recent years record but it turns out this was a PR. My time today was 4:31:28 (official chip time), my previous fastest was 4:34:23 in the 2005 Philly Marathon. I ran this marathon last year in 4:43:41.

Packet pickup: The shot above has the tent from the packet-pick up and the very first bridge we run over. Pickup was well organized. I was in and out in under a minute. The coolest thing is they had a sensor attached to a screen so you could see that the bar on the running bid number was working.  The x-large t-shirt fit. This is not always the case. Extra large for runners sometimes turns out to be just large size in real life.

Race start: I walked about 1.3 miles to the start from the hotel where my wife, kid and I stayed the night before. This was a worrying walk. My legs felt awful. I'm not sure what the issue was but it felt like I had run a marathon a day or two ago. Obviously, this turned out to be a non-issue.

The race start was a bit like last year in that I would say it was disorganized. It wasn't really a problem since it's a smaller (but not small) marathon.  They didn't start on time (about 15 minutes late) and had us line up on the wrong side of the start line at first. We all had to switch sides.  Improvements from last year: they had a starting gate and I heard the horn (or some noise maker) start the race.


Course: This is an amazing course. I really like it. The 7 bridges are fun to run over and break up the race. The last few miles are on the trail system next to the river. Chattanooga is a great outdoor town. Our 5 year old was sad to leave; he told the town on the way out he was going to miss it.  

There is a rather flat road section that goes on for a bit in the middle miles. However, I really liked the chance to just run in a grove for a few miles. It's not a flat course but I wouldn't say it was hilly either. It's in that sweet spot in-between where you can get some variations on your legs as you hammer them.

They could use some more course marking in the last few miles, paths split of the main path a few times and it wasn't fully clear which way to go. I knew from last year and someone ahead of me was from the area and said he knew the course well so it wasn't a problem for me. I can imagine a few likely took a wrong turn in this area.

There is a rather steep but short hill just as you come back into town. I was happy to power walk it as there was no way I would have run up it faster than that. 

Aid stations: Plenty and great and friendly people there to help us. Each one had water and a sports drink. A few (enough) had gels.

Pace: the plan going into this marathon was to keep an average pace of 10:30 per mile (about a 4:35 finish). This would allow me to beat my time from last year with some room to spare. I had said I was not going to run faster than a 10:20 per mile pace, since I have another marathon in about a month.

However, my natural pace today seemed to be hovering around 10:00 per mile during the first few miles. It seemed easier to go at that natural pace rather than slow down. I did actually slow down a few times on the flat road section as my pace was dropping into the 9:40 range. I was not going to go faster than 10; there was no I could hold a pace below it for the rest of the marathon.

I kept the 10 pace till around mile 19 at least (I was at an average of 10:03 per mile there).  I slowed a bit during the next 7 miles and ended with an overall pace of about 10:19 per mile.

Finish: The last half mile or so is down hill. Keeping with tradition I did not sprint at all. The savings of a few seconds are not worth the likely pain. I was way ahead time wise anyway. My wife and son where there to high-five me on the way in.

My 5 yr old thinks I won the race because I got the medal. I'll tell him later.

I hope to be back next year!

2.5 Miles (Thursday): last run before next Marathon

Yesterday I ran 2.5 miles. Good last run. Quick and not much to report.

5.5 miles: avoiding the dog

Today I ran 5.5 miles. I had planned on doing the standard 5 mile run into town and back but on the way back a large rogue dog was claiming the middle of the road. I let the dog "win" the road and went a longer way home.

3 mile complex run

I did a 3 mile good pace run tonight around the complex. A combination of tapering and work kept this run short. I'll do a 5-6 mile run tomorrow and then another short run on Thursday before taking Friday and Saturday off for the Sunday marathon.

7.2 miles: Good run

(Photo above taken around mile 2 on the map below)

Today I ran 7.2 miles. I wanted to run more but I'm trying to be good about tapering some for the marathon next week. Fun run.

4.2 Miles: Luck

Today I ran 4.2 miles after helping at a "fun run" at my kid's school. Short but good run. A bit sore from yesterday and somewhat tired legs.

Luck - A medium size tree branch came down right on behind me after I ran past that spot on a sidewalk downtown. It missed me by seconds. It would not have ended me but it would have hurt a lot.