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.

18 miles: Endurance not speed

Today I ran 18. It was a nice fall weather day and I felt good. I ran a loop around town. It's clear to me I have the endurance for a marathon, what I don't have is speed. The issue there is a lack of caring. I don't care enough to try to go faster. I'd rather just run and if I happen to get faster so be it.

My next marathon is in about 10 days. I'd might be a little too close to the marathon to be running 18 miles but it was a nice day and I had the time today to run.

5 Miles at night (Wednesday)

Last night I did a run around the complex after dark. It was a very good pace run.  Tomorrow, a long run.

One hour run: more loops

I ran over to the local park and ran loops again. Decent run. Looking forward to the long run on Thursday.

6.9 Miles: Good pace run (Saturday)

Yesterday I ran home from the park after spending some time there with the family. It was a cooler day and my pace was good. Nice run.

5.3: Loops

Today I did a quick 5.3 mile run. It was done during morning commute time so I skipped the roads and just ran around the park which I did have to myself. Good pace run.

20 Mile: the fog

(Photo above from around mile 10 on the map below).

This morning I ran 20 miles. The first part was done in some fog and the last half was done with a fog in my energy levels. It was a run of two parts. The first half was pretty good, the second half was a struggle.

7.9 Miles: Good overcast day

Today I ran 7.9 miles. It wasn't hot and it wasn't sunny. These are two keys factors for a good run. I had a good run.

One hour run

Today I did a 1 hr run in the rain. It was great! A little bit cool with the rain. Long run on tap for Wed or Thursday this week.