Merry Christmas Everyone! Happy Running!!!

Last weekend was a solid weekend. Kimi and I finished off a 70+ mile week with 5x1 mile repeats. After the way this year shaped up, something clicked in my mind making a mile simply start to feel short. I think it all happened during my training cycle for the Twin Cities Marathon. I remember a workout vividly that seemed to change the way I view some of the shorter workouts. It was a 10 mile tempo run followed by an additional 1 mile which I ran in 5:19. That was the day that seemed to have changed everything for my speed training. Going into this weekend's 5x1mile repeats, I realized that running a mile hard just doesn't seem to be as daunting a task as it used to be. Kimi and I started out with a mile in 5:38 which was okay. It wasn't great but the first one hardly ever is. The second and third repeats were much better as they were starting to approach the pace we wanted them to be at. They both clicked off right around 5:33.  I really wanted to get these repeats down to closer to 5:25 miles which I knew would be a true challenge as that starts to really reach a challenging pace for both of us. We started to gain confidence heading into the fourth and fifth repeats knowing that we had the speed in us and just had to go get it. The fourth mile was a 5:24 and our fifth was 5:23.  Our confidence was right where we needed it to be. We cooled down to the car which was just over a mile away and then quickly went home to shower so we could go watch people finish at the Run for the Ranch half marathon.

On Sunday, we added another 16 mile long run that was marathon specific meaning it had some 90 second pushes during the last 6 miles. This was an interesting long run style that we're trying out a bit.  This should help simulate the latter stages of the race helping us remain strong through the final 10k which is typically the hardest part of a marathon. This is even more critical for me as it is usually where I have my races blow up leaving me just shy of reaching my goals.

This week has been a tough one so far as I've been battling a bit of a tooth ache which is limiting my training a bit. I'm hoping to be back at it today so I can at least maintain my streak of 60+ mile weeks. We have a critical 20 mile workout this weekend that I really don't want to miss. It's a 5,4,3,2,1 mile workout with each segment getting faster as they get shorter. We shall see how it goes.

8 mile tempo success!

This week has been interesting so far and has great potential to get even better as the weekend is quickly approaching. Last week, Kimi and I had a 20 mile long run to complete. We were determined that this run was going to go much better than the 16 from the week before. It was a bit of a windy day and the wind was blowing out of the southeast so we decided to park all the way in Willard and then venture towards Springfield first. We also decided that we would simply run an extra out and back stretch in familiar territory between Springfield and Willard so that we would be able to better avoid fighting the wind without any covering.  The run wasn't anything incredibly special but it was definitely solid. 

Saturday afternoon, we were in for a real treat. My parents came over to visit for a few hours.  It was a lot of fun simply spending time with them without any specific plans.  We had to cut their visit a bit short so that we could go to Derek and Lindy's wedding that evening. It was a very nice ceremony and I'm extremely happy for the two of them.

Kimi and me at Derek and Lindy's reception

Me before the 8 mi tempo

Kimi before the 8 mi tempo

On Monday, I decided to cut the run short a bit because my legs were still not recovered from the 20 on Saturday and I knew we had an 8 mile tempo run scheduled for Tuesday afternoon that I really wanted to succeed in. Unfortunately, the wind early in the week was really strong.  This meant that Kimi and I had to get out there and fight the wind during the 8 mile tempo.  The first mile and the last mile were both directly into the wind which made keeping them on pace quite difficult. 

At no point during the run did either one of us actually feel all that great but we managed to keep every mile right on pace.  Our first mile clicked off just under 6 min @ 5:59 and then we kept all the rest between 5:52-5:56 until the final mile which crept back up to a 5:58. Following the tempo, we trotted for a half mile, stopped and prepared to start rolling again. We added an extra 1/2 mile in 2:48 which we were pleased with since the darkness had officially set in for this one.  

Smiling after our 8 mile tempo workout (12/15/2015 and we were wearing shorts and short sleeves)

Our goal for the rest of the week is to knock out some mile repeats on Saturday to start generating some more foot turnover followed by a 16 mile marathon specific long run on Sunday (details about this one will be in my next post).

Reindeer Run 5k - quite surprised actually

In preparation for our LA trip, we scheduled a few races strategically into our plan. The first one was to be the Reindeer Run 5k last Friday night. The week leading up to it was set to be a challenging one with a 7 mile tempo run on Tuesday just a few days before the race. We usually do workouts on Wednesday mornings but I made a change to have our workouts actually be on Tuesday afternoons so that we might be able to complete some of them with at least some daylight. Our tempo run was awesome. I think the fact that we were racing the darkness helped us keep the pace rolling. We started out with a 5:50 ish first mile and we were both concerned that we may have started a little fast. Fortunately, we were able to find a groove and just kept the pace rolling. I honestly thought that we'd have to run the last 3 miles in the dark, but we were actually able to get through about 5 of the miles before darkness set in. The remaining 2 miles were a real challenge. We had our headlamps on to light our way and then it was just up to pure determination. For those of you that haven't given it much thought or have much experience with running in the daylight vs darkness, it's much more difficult to run fast without daylight.

We were quite please with our tempo run effort but I was definitely unsure just how quickly we would bounce back for a race only a couple days later. On top of that, it was going to be a Friday race (usually our rest day) which means it would come after a long work week, and on top of that, it was scheduled for 7:00. Bring on the darkness! The weather on Friday was awesome. I was able to wear shorts, a tank, and arm warmers.  Kimi and I were both venturing out with our own race goal in mind. My goal was to break 17 minutes and Kimi's was to simply run as fast as she could.  The race was basically an out an back style course which means that at the half way point, you make a 180 degree about-face and head back the way you came. When I reached the turn around, I was quite surprised to see how many fast runners were still fairly close behind me. At two miles in, I made a quick glance over my shoulder to see what was happening right behind me. Unfortunately, I couldn't see that Kimi was almost right behind me. She must have been hidden behind another runner. That's when I decided that I thought I could still get 2nd place overall. I quickly turned up the pace. With a half mile to go, I had caught the 2nd place guy and pulled even with him. He was a younger runner than me and with that in mind, I figured I had better get a gap between us prior to the final straight away sprint or he'd probably be able to out kick  me. I really poured it on at this point and pulled away far enough that I felt like I had a comfortable lead. I never really let up the pace all the way to the finish and was able to run one of my fastest times for a road course ever. I've only run faster a couple other times actually. I crossed in 16:38.  It wasn't long and Kimi came strolling across the line. She crossed in 17:12 which is an awesome time for her as well.

We were both a bit shocked with how it turned out.  Our next race won't be until January. We intend to run the Cabin Fever Reliever 20k on January 16. We have a scheduled 10 mile tempo plus 1 all out mile scheduled for that day so we thought that this race would actually work out perfectly for us to do the workout during.

Got our Christmas Lights Up!

L.A. Training is Picking Up!

Training for L.A. is really starting to get fully underway now. We've started adding in a few tempo runs and our long run last week was 14 miles. Our 4 mile tempo run last week was just mediocre. We managed to average 6 min pace but it wasn't near as easy as they usually are. I think the main reason for this is that we just haven't done much speed or hard efforts since prior to the Bass Pro half so our bodies are just having to get back into a groove. Our long run was pretty solid though so that's definitely a good thing.

Two weeks ago, I met with Cassie Dimmick (dietitian) from Achieving Your Best to discuss how I can eat better to achieve my sub 6 minute pace marathon goal.  We decided that I might be better off on a Ketosis diet which will help me to sustain my energy levels better because I would primarily use fat to fuel rather than carbohydrates. When we talked, I had 14 weeks until the L.A. marathon. I knew this transition would be tough, but I didn't know just how difficult it was going to be. I was actually doing really well with my eating habits but my running was suffering extensively. This was an expected thing, but I just didn't realize how long and how badly I would suffer. I was having difficulty simply completing my runs.  After a week of doing the ketosis diet, I pulled the plug. I was too concerned that I wouldn't be able to get in shape in time for L.A. I'm not against trying the diet again after L.A. We discussed it and decided that I would have more time to adapt to the diet before the Grandma's Marathon so if I don't reach my goal in L.A. I'll give it another try.

This week should be an interesting one. We're scheduled to do a 7 mile tempo run Tuesday afternoon and then we're going to try and race the Reindeer Run 5k in Republic on Friday night. It should be interesting to see if we can manage to run some decent times since it will be after work, in the dark, and on what is usually our easy day.

Christmas came early! L.A. here we come!

Following our Bass Pro half, Kimi and I were gearing ourselves up for a loaded training cycle leading up to the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials to be held in L.A. on February 13th!  My intentions were to train with Kimi so that she wouldn't have to suffer in the cold and miserable temperatures all alone, but I didn't intend to actually run the L.A. marathon the day after hers.  The next thing I know, I was being told that for my Christmas gift this year, my in-laws wanted me to run in the L.A. marathon. Immediately, my focus changed and I started gearing myself up for what will be an exciting race! 

I took 5 days off following Bass Pro to simply have a mental and physical hiatus and I'm sure glad I did so. Now I am mentally ready to go!  Kimi is focused and now I'm focused completely as well which usually makes for a great training cycle. We're now under 14 weeks away from our next marathon adventure. For those of you that have run a marathon, you know that 14 weeks of preparation never seems like enough time to get into tip-top shape!  We've quickly added in strength training and started building mileage back up.  

Our goal is to get up near 90-100 miles per week for a few weeks so we can give it everything we have headed into what should be one of Kimi's lifetime achievement highlights!  She's running in the Olympic Trials for crying out loud! How sweet is that!  

I want to take this time now to set everyone straight for what Kimi's realistic chances of making the Olympics are.  There will be approximately 100-150 girls in her race. And of those girls, only the top 3 finishers make the Olympic Team!  Don't get me wrong, I think Kimi can still improve upon her prior best, but to make the team will be a slim opportunity.  However, with that in mind, that doesn't mean that you shouldn't encourage Kimi over the next 3 months!  Every chance you get to encourage her through this training cycle, I simply ask that you tell her to keep her focus and to do the best she can.  Most of all, encourage her by letting her know that you're excited that she's made it this far and that you're excited to see her improve some more over the next 3 months!  

I know that last paragraph may seem like a downer, but trust me, it's not!  I'm very proud of Kimi and her discipline and I am truly blessed and honored to be her spouse and training partner.  I do have to say one last thing, I just hope we both come home from L.A. with new personal bests and who knows, perhaps we will both finally reach our dream goals in the marathon!

Bass Pro Recap

The Bass Pro half marathon arrived and went. Kimi and I woke up Sunday morning at 4:45 so we could eat and get ourselves fully awake prior to toeing the line at 7:00. In an ideal situation, it would be nice to be awake for 3 hours before the start of the race but I wasn't about to get up at 4:00.  It was difficult enough to get up at 4:45 since my KC Royals were playing in the World Series the night before. Thankfully, it was daylight savings weekend.

Anyways, we made our way to the race around 6:00 so we could get a good parking spot and then wouldn't feel rushed getting ready.  We always start our warm up about 45 minutes before the start of the race. This helps us get any last minute restroom stops out of the way prior to the start as well. After the warm up, we changed our shoes and did a couple strides so we could start getting the go fast juices flowing. 

Then we walked across the street to the start for the the national anthem and then off we went. I always find it interesting how they do the start at this particular race. There is no gun sound, horn, or anything exciting for the start. They simply count down and say go.  

I quickly surveyed the guys at the start and thought I might have a shot at the top 3 until the gun went off. You just never can tell sometimes when people are just standing around. It was incredibly foggy this particular morning and by about 1.5 miles into the race, the leaders were already starting to fade into the fog ahead of us. I knew I didn't have a shot unless one of them came back to us at some point. With that knowledge, I decided to run the race with Kimi and help her finally push through this particular event with a great effort. It's a good thing I did too.  When we finished up, Kimi and I were about 5 minutes behind the 3rd place male and about 4 minutes ahead of the 5th place male (that means I was 4th male). Kimi ran awesome and was 1st Female with a time of 1:17:36!  Smoking!!

Next up for us is to start focusing all of our efforts on Kimi's Olympic Trials Marathon which is coming up quickly in February. The biggest challenges for Kimi's training will be the winter weather and lack of daylight.  Hopefully, we'll be able to figure something out so that we can continue to get her mileage completed and have her as fit or better than she was back in June.

Is it really Bass Pro weekend already?!

Seems like just a few days ago I was writing about my recovery from the Twin Cities Marathon. Now I'm writing about my next race.  It was an interesting 4 weeks as for the first time, I had to cram recovery time and training all into a short amount of time. I knew it would be difficult both physically and mentally but much to my surprise, the physical side actually has gone pretty well. Mentally, it's been a grind.  I've made it through for the most part. I wasn't able to stick to my plan 100% but pretty close. I just added in one extra rest day earlier this week.

Kimi and I crushed a 6 mile tempo run 2 weeks ago which really boosted my confidence to think I might have a legit shot at running fairly well this weekend in the Bass Pro half marathon.  This is the one race each fall that we pretty well don't miss. This race is where I have my P.R. for the half marathon. Everything just clicked together beautifully in 2012. The last few years, I'm still run my 2nd and 3rd fastest half marathon times at this race but each successive year has slowed slightly. I think the majority of the reason for that is that we have been running a June marathon each year which just seems to throw off summer and early fall training a bit.

I really think Kimi is ready for a great race this weekend. We're both running the same race but I'm not sure if we'll be running it together or not just yet. I like to compete for a top 3 spot if possible at this event. That means I'll have to wait and see how the competition shakes out before I determine if I will drop back and roll with Kimi or whether I leave her to do her own thing.  I'll probably give it a good 2-3 miles to determine how the race is going and see what happens. I'm just looking for this to be a good springboard race for her into her Olympic Trials training over the next few months.

As of now, the weather is looking extremely promising for Sunday morning which could allow a great race.

I just wanted to take a moment now to wish all of you out there that are running a race this weekend good luck! Remember one thing going into your races, HAVE FUN AND GREAT THINGS HAPPEN!

Twin Cities Marathon Recap

Over the weekend, we went up to Minneapolis for the Twin Cities Marathon. We left Thursday afternoon to drive up to Des Moines, and then finished up the travel on Friday. This is a great way to travel prior to a race in order to help with any fatigue or tightness that comes from being in a car for 9 hours. Friday, we stopped at an outlet mall and go figure, I would be the one to actually have the most fun while shopping. I found myself some sweet athletic pants and a running vest which I had been wanting for a while.

This trip was a blast. Kathy Carroll joined us on the trip which made the trip that much more interesting. She was in pursuit of a Boston Qualifier so that made for a lot of excitement and nervousness for race day. As we were planning the trip, Kimi received an email from the Twin Cities marathon stating that they had a block of tickets for the Twins vs Royals baseball game for Friday night. I couldn't believe it. We quickly purchased tickets to the game since the Royals are most definitely my favorite team. Plus, this was an opportunity to see them play in an opposing clubs ballpark!  I'd never been to another stadium so I was like a kid in a candy store for the entire night.

Kimi made a sign! Unfortunately, we sat a little too high I think! Second Row from the top!!

Saturday was meant to be a more relaxing day. We went to Kimi's professional athlete technical meeting for about an hour so she could get all of her race details. Then we went to the marathon expo to get my packet.  We finished off the day with a nice dinner at Olive Garden so we would be well nourished on race morning.  After that, we went back to the hotel to just chill for a few hours prior to bed.


Beep! Beep! Beep! Race morning!!!  4:30 came around all too quick. I didn't hesitate to jump out of bed however. Kimi had to be on the bus outside the hotel @ 5:00 to get transported over to the start of her race. She was running the USATF 10 mile Road Championships so we were in two completely different races.

I had to go pick up Kathy from her hotel about 4 miles away and bring her back to ours to catch the bus to our race. Fortunately, everything went off without any trouble. Kathy and I boarded the bus at about 6:30 or so and were at the starting area just about 7:00. We got our final restroom breaks completed, shoes changed, and gear checked. The rest was all about covering 26.2 miles in as quick a time as our little legs would let us do.

The weather was perfect this morning which gave me all the more confidence that I was going to have a great race. The starters counted down and off we went!  I was a little lost for the first mile in regards to pace as my Garmin was having difficulty getting strong signal. Fortunately, I can feel pace pretty well. I came through the first mile in about 6:00 and things were already starting to thin out some at the front. I found myself around mile 2 next to one other guy. I decided to ask him what his goal was and he said he was shooting for a 2:35. I knew this was a few minutes faster than my goal but I was hopeful that he would be able to help pull me through. For the majority of the race, I just kept rolling along with my new found running partner. I had a few thoughts that I might be running too fast early in the race, but it just felt so incredibly easy that I just went with it. We came through the half in 1:16:52 and I felt great. Over the next 7 miles however, I could slowly start to feel some fatigue setting in. It didn't stop me from rolling though. I came through 20 feeling pretty good still and was mentally preparing for the final 4 miles of the race since I knew they were the up hill miles of the race.

I made it to 22 and was still rolling 6:20's and was pleased with that because I had plenty of cushion built in.  That's when the wheels fell off. I just couldn't quite keep it going. I had to walk a bit, stretch some, and then force myself to get going again. It was mentally brutal as I watched the clock tick up and saw my sub 6 min marathon avg slip out of reach. Then I had to set my sights on keeping my time under 2:40. This was no small task as the muscles in my legs were starting to tighten significantly at this point. I put my head down, and started pushing forward. It was interesting that each time I stopped to gather myself, and then started running again, the crowd would open up with an encouraging roar of cheers for me. This helped keep me going.

I finally reached the finish line with mixed emotions. Some joy and some disappointment. I was happy to see that Kimi was able to get to me pretty quickly after the finish. She helped me walk along through the finish line festivities to get my gear and get dressed.

Then we walked up to the 26 mile mark to hang out and wait for Kathy to come rolling down the hill to the finish. When she came rolling by, you could see all the joy on her face as she was running the best marathon she's ever done! Kathy had a huge personal best today and qualified for the Boston Marathon by almost 25 minutes!!!  I was very impressed and happy for her as she crushed her goal.

On the way home, I had plenty of time to think about what had transpired during the race. It didn't take me long to set my mind towards going for my goal again next year. In fact, I've already signed up for the 40th anniversary of the Grandma's Marathon.  Perhaps the 4th time is the charm!

10 mile tempo run! Crushed it!

Just over 3 weeks to go until I get the opportunity to redeem myself from my prior attempt at a sub 2:37 marathon.  To be honest, I don't think I'll be at my absolute best in 3 weeks but if I can make it through without a side stitch slowing me down again, a sub 2:40 is still something I think I can make happen.

Last weekend I went out to the Frisco trail on Saturday to nail down one of the hardest tempo run workouts we ever do. I had a scheduled 10 mile tempo run with a 1 mile recovery and then 1 more hard mile. On top of that, the 10 mile portion was to include 4 miles at marathon pace, and then 1 at half marathon pace or close to it, and then repeat that for the second 5 miles as well. It was a hot morning but I was determined to not let it stop me from hitting my paces. We woke up at 5:45 and immediately got in the car to start taking out tables to the trail for the water bottles to sit on.  I usually use this type of workout to practice nutrition intake along with fluid consumption during the hard effort. Unfortunately, I thought Kimi had grabbed the Nutrilite Endurance cubes and she thought I had grabbed them so I was simply out of luck on that part of it. I still had the water which helped immensely.

Kimi and I were slated for different workouts on this particular day since we are training for drastically different races. However, we both started at the same spot but I just had to let her go since her pace was set to be faster than mine. It's been a long time since I've had to do tempo runs or workouts of any kind by myself so everything felt a little weird getting started. Fortunately I managed to get it going and started clipping off solid splits. My first 4 miles were all under 6 minute pace. Then the 5th mile started and I was to pick it up. I did exactly that. I went from about a 5:57 to a 5:47. The first mile back at marathon pace is always a difficult one because it's hard to slow the rhythm some but not completely ruin it.  I kept that mile around 5:57 and then started clipping them off again. During the 9th mile I decided I was going to make it the entire distance but that I didn't feel up to running the 1 extra mile. I was going to change the workout mid-stream and finish with a 10th mile that was around 5:40 and then just call it good.

I finished and thought I was done until Kimi came along having already finished up her workout and encouraged me to do the 1 more mile. I sure am glad she did. I rolled that mile in 5:19 and was flat shocked. I never saw it coming. I started out hard and thought I'd simply have fatigue enough to drop me back to a 5:30-35. Sure enough, I got to the quarter mile and was rolling around 5:15 and just kept working it. Half mile, and still @ 5:18. Then with a quarter to go, the pace had slowed just a bit to 5:20. Thankfully, Kimi jumped into the final quarter and helped me bring it home. I still had a 3 mile cool down to complete but after a workout of this magnitude, the cool down pace just doesn't matter. I trotted for 3 miles and called it a day.

This Saturday, I've got the last really long 'long-run' to complete. It's the 24 miler day. I intend to have a good one and I'm excited that the weather is supposed to be a lot cooler. That will help me out a bunch.

I'll be sure to let you all know how it went when I write my final post prior to the marathon!

Bring it on Twin Cities!

It's been a day or two since my last post. Okay, okay, more like a month and a half.  I left off my last post with a recap of our Grandma's marathon in June. Following that, we took about a week off of absolutely no running. Then we started slowly getting back into mileage. Recovering from a marathon effort like the one we had in June is no small task. I think I finally got to the cause of my side stitch problem. Turns out I was in the process of developing 'Shingles' and the inability to fully expand my rib cage must have been triggering the entire thing. I have since been able to return to a full running load. I'm finally hitting upper 50's for weekly mileage again and am on pace for the mid-60's this week.

Following the Grandma's marathon disappointment, I decided to sign up for the Twin Cities Marathon coming up on October 4. I hope I'll be ready for it. It is only 7 weeks away now and I've got a lot of fitness to gain between now and then.

We have yet to have any really good workouts. I personally blame the heat and humidity and our inability to be consistent with morning runs. That has all changed this week. We're back on our routine of running in the mornings to take advantage of being fully rested and having the cooler temperatures. Unfortunately, it takes time for the body to fully get rhythmic with performance. I suspect that by this time next week, I will have rolled a successful 10k effort on Saturday, and then a successful 20 mile long  run on Sunday.

I'm also going to start picking up some strength training next week. I've put it off for way too long and need to start that back up in order to gain my power back so I can be an explosive running athlete again.

Over the next 7 weeks, I'm going to be sure to keep all of you updated on my progress as I prepare for my 6th marathon.

Grandma's Marathon 2015 recap

Our trip started out with excitement and high hopes. We had put in the work and were feeling quite prepared. All of our workouts were phenomenal, our mileage solid, and our confidence at an all time high. We even had pre-race massages to help us be as ready as possible. With the race being set to take place on Saturday morning, we decided to head to Duluth, MN on Thursday.  Originally, we planned to leave Wednesday afternoon and drive about half way in order to break up the trip.  Unfortunately, this wasn't in the cards for us to do so we set out to make the 11 hour car trip all at once. We stopped just North of Saint Paul/Minneapolis to get an easy 2 mile shake-the-legs-out run completed. Unfortunately for me, I started feeling a little bit of a discomfort in my side mimicking a side-stitch during the easy 2 miles.  As you would guess, this made my mind a bit uneasy.  On Friday, we went to the trail that runs along the bay of Lake Superior for another easy 2 mile run and some strides. That's when the wheels started to come off. I couldn't manage to complete a 2 mile easy run without getting a side stitch again.  Now we were less than 24 hours from the race and I was truly starting to worry about how the race was going to go.

All day Friday, we were constantly checking the forecast for race morning. We were holding out hope that the rain that was headed our direction would go just South of us or simply arrive 3-4 hours later than projected. Of course, this didn't end up being the case. About 20 minutes prior to the start of the race, the clouds opened up and started dumping buckets on us. Temperatures were nearly perfect in the low-mid 50's but when you added the rain, it made conditions a bit cool. Not only that, the conditions made getting a proper warm-up difficult. Our warm up this morning consisted of a frantic jog from the bag check to the starting area and then jogging in place for about 2-3 minutes prior to the race. This was by no means an ideal warm up and I believe we paid for it for the first 10 miles.

The Race:

The gun sounded and off we went. Kimi and I were starting side by side for the first time since our first marathon together in 2010.  Our goal was to run 5:55-5:58 pace for as long as we could manage. We wanted to develop a small cushion for our finish goal of sub-2:37:00.  For the first 10 miles, our legs just didn't feel right. I'm not sure if it was the travel, the lack of sleep, lack of warm up, or all of the above, but we just didn't feel like our light, fast selves.  Fortunately, it wasn't showing on the clock as we came through 10 miles right on pace as planned. There was an odd moment in the race where Kimi and I both looked at our watches and had a moment of panic. It was like there was a gap in time that we lost somewhere. I'm not sure if the markers were off or if our garmins played tricks on us but somehow we got to the half marathon mark and were exactly at 6 minute pace. This was the first real moment where I think we both realized that breaking 2:37 just probably wasn't going to be in the cards for us on this day. We were still rolling in the 6:05-6:08 range so I knew that we were still on pace for a sub 2:40 marathon and fortunately for me, that pesky side stitch wasn't giving me any problems (yet anyways). 15-16-17-18-19 and then WHAM!!! There it was right around the 20 mile mark. Just like an ice pick in the side.  We had just gone through an water aid station so Kimi and I were separated slightly.  She kept rolling as I quickly came to a halting stop. I stretched out and watched Kimi stride away. She had no idea where I had gone. I saw her look over her shoulder a few times trying to find me but she never spotted me. At this point, thoughts of would I even be able to finish crossed my mind. I had a 10k to go and it was going to be a true battle of will if I wanted to finish and finish well at this point. I finally started back into the race after being passed by probably 20 or so other competitors. I knew my legs were strong and so long as the side stitch didn't stop me, I was going to work myself right back into a fast tempo and see if I couldn't just reel Kimi back in. My intent was to simply be there to witness her cross the line so we could celebrate together.  Much to my surprise, I was able to get the pace rolling at about a 5:52-5:55 clip for the next 5 miles. 21-22-23-24-and then WHAM!! AGAIN!!! Right at the 25 mile mark with only 1.2 miles to go, the dreadful side stitch returned. I checked my watch and knew at this point that I had about 8 minutes or slightly over to cover the remaining 1.2 miles in order to break 2:40.  I fought and I fought but it was to no avail. It just wasn't going to be my day.  I was extremely frustrated when I crossed the line, yet I was extremely happy for Kimi as well. I saw her waiting near the finish line as I approached. I was incredibly proud of her. She battled adversity all day and in my opinion, had dominated it.

 She informed me that she was the 8th overall finisher for women and also that she broke 2:39! I always knew that we hadn't tapped into her true potential just yet and this was simply confirmation. Kimi crossed the line with a time of 2:38:34 which is a 3:20 second P.R!

Our next adventures are going to be interesting. Coming up in September, October and November, we have multiple huge races that will truly test our ability to bounce back from this marathon mentally and physically. I might even jump in another marathon in October. I hear the Twin Cities Marathon is a good one, so I might just have to run it to try and redeem myself. The goal of the next few months is to figure out what's causing the side stitch issue, and put a stop to it.

Grandma's Marathon Results
Me - 2:40:19
Kimi - 2:38:34 **NEW PR!**

Race week is upon us! Grandma's here we come!

The long anticipated Grandma's marathon is finally almost here. It's been quite the journey getting to this point this year. I had to deal with some knee pain and tendinitis back in February and March. Then we went on to perform quite nicely at the Rock the Parkway half marathon in KC in mid-April. Following that, we ventured into some very high mileage for the two of us. We had 6+ weeks of 70+ miles and had 3 of those weeks in the 80's and one of them at 90.  Our long runs were solid, and our workouts were even better. The only major drawback in the last few weeks has been my hand incident during our 24 miler and of course having to battle the humid conditions.

Last weekend, we went out to the Willard track (first time going there), and completed our last major speed session. On the schedule, we were set to run twenty 400's.  We break it down into sets of 4 with a 200m jog recovery and then a 400m jog recovery between each set.  Each set was also slated to get faster and faster starting out with 78's and working down to 75's. When we started, it was already very hot and muggy so I wasn't completely sure how it would go. Much to my surprise and satisfaction, we ran the entire first set at 77.  Then we dropped it down to 76's, and then 75's for the final couple sets. We usually like to finish with a last one-fast one but I thought for sure we were going to be spent prior to our last one. The last one capped off a great workout with us solidly finishing in 72.

Many people ask me if I get nervous for races.  The simple answer is 'Yes'. I explain it mostly as being nervous that somehow things won't go as planned and that the entire focus of the last couple months might feel like it was a waste.  However, the more likely scenario is that the better trained you are, the better chance you have to actually reach your goals. I find that those that put in the work, typically get the results.  Having talent, but not putting in the training, doesn't get you anywhere.

This week is a laid back week for the most part. We have a small tune-up workout tomorrow and then it's just some really short runs and getting plenty of fluids and rest for the remainder of the week.

Kimi in Beast-mode @ Willard Track 

Finished our peak mileage! Now on to our taper!

We're finally in our peak mileage week. The last several weeks have contained mileage of 80, 86, and 85 miles.  This week, we're going for 90. But before we get to that, let me recap some of our workouts over the last week in a half or so.

Last week, we had a Fartlek-ish style workout that I have come to call a "new style" workout.  I don't imagine I'm the first person to come up with it but it's something that we had never done before until last year so it has been deemed new to us. This workout had to be completed in the evening last  Wednesday because we couldn't pry ourselves out of bed that particular morning. It might have been raining that morning, which is typically a good enough excuse for us to just keep on snoozing. The workout consists of a 6 minute press with 1 minute recovery, followed by 5 minutes press, and 2 minutes recovery working all the way down to where we end up doing 1 hard minute.  It's fairly easy to remember because you always add the press and the recovery and they equal 7 minutes. Much to our surprise, we came through the 3 mile mark under 6 minute average even with our recovery pace mixed in. All in all, we covered 12 miles that evening.

I was a little concerned with just how we would handle our workout Saturday since we were unable to keep all of our longer runs in the mornings during the week. Saturday's workout was scheduled to be a 10 mile tempo with an optional 2 mile recovery and then 1 more mile sub 5:45. The 10 mile tempo also was to include 4 miles at marathon pace and then 1 mile at half marathon pace, then 4 miles at marathon pace again, followed by 1 mile at half marathon pace. Our marathon goal pace is 5:58 and our half pace is about 5:50 miles. The morning started with us taking our tables out to the trail in order for us to have water to grab during the tempo. This also allows us to practice taking our Nutrilite Endurance Cubes while running a long fast effort (basically simulating how it will feel on race day).

We started the workout right on our marathon goal pace and it was feeling surprisingly easy.  For our fifth mile, we increased the pace to 5:50 just like planned. The hard part is settling back into marathon pace and not slowing too much. We were able to get things right back on track for the next 4 miles. There was one mile that the pace crept up over 6 min on but I think that was mostly due to it being the turn around mile and having to fight the wind all the way through Willard. (If you're not familiar, Willard always seems to be windy and often seems that way from both directions). All in all, we pretty much nailed this workout. We even managed to crush the optional 1 mile at the end.

--Skipping ahead a week now--

On Saturday, Kimi and I headed out to Frisco for our weekly long run. This one just happened to be our last really long one prior to our upcoming marathon. We set out to complete a 24 mile long run and that's precisely what we did. For our long runs over 13 miles, we will usually wear our water belts and take along our Nutrilite Endurance Cubes as well so we were definitely packing for this one. We established a plan to run out 9 and back 9, then drop one of our water belts, and go out 3 and back 3. Neither one of us enjoys wearing the belt so we typically alternate wearing the belt for the last bit. At a mere 5 miles into the run, we came to a place on the trail where the tree limbs were hanging low and made it narrow. Usually we will just go single file in order to get through these areas but for some particular reason, I decided last minute to just push the limb to the side. Who knew this would be a huge mistake. I received immediate pain in my left ring finger (specifically my proximal interphalangeal joint).  I could see a small puncture wound but nothing stuck in it. It immediately became difficult to bend the finger but there wasn't really any swelling just yet. I worked it out and continued the remaining 19 miles of the run just fine. Actually, it was quite stellar really.

The next day, we woke up and ran 9 miles and immediately following, my finger swelled up a bunch and I could feel my ring just holding fluid in the finger. The pressure was building. Finally, I decided to find someone that could cut the ring off thinking that with the release in pressure, the swelling would be able to go down and all would start to normalize. 2 days later and I'm still having a lot of stiffness, swelling, and pain in that finger. It is improving but not as quickly as I'd hoped. Of all the injuries I would have considered during a long run, having something like this to a finger, wouldn't have ever crossed my mind.

All in all, last week was a great week, we completed 90 miles (the most I've run since college, and the most Kimi has ever run in a week), one track workout, and crushed our final long run. Now if my finger could just get better, I wouldn't be so concerned with running over the next few weeks.

Busy 4 weeks!

The last several weeks have been some of the busiest weeks of our lives or so it seemed. We tiled the kitchen floor (3 weekends basically to get back fully functional), ran a few races, and completed a bunch of mileage and workouts. Oh yeah, and we cut down a few trees around the house. It's been very busy the last several weeks but with all that's been going on, we've been able to maintain our focus on our training and marathon preparation. We're now on our 4th straight week of miles above 70+. We're planning to maintain the high mileage streak for 2 more weeks topping out at 90 miles.  Looking back at the past few weeks, it's been quite the experience. I haven't run these kinds of miles since I was in college so it's quite empowering to reflect on what we're accomplishing right now on a daily and weekly basis.

Kimi and I are quickly approaching our goal marathon for this year. It's just over 5 weeks away so the nerves are slowly increasing.'Yes' even those of us that have run multiple marathons, and a lot of races throughout the years, still get nervous about races. The main reason the nerves start to creep in for a race like this is due to the amount of time and energy spent in preparation.  What I mean by that is that when you spend that much time training, you get nervous that something out of your control could happen and make it feel like it was all for nothing. Of course, typically when you put in the time and effort in regards to training, the results tend to simply follow suit.  I know we're putting in a solid effort in regards to our training this year so the race should go well.  The real question at that point is simply, 'how well'. This of course must wait the 5 more weeks to be revealed.

On the first weekend of May, Kimi and I went down to the Bradleyville 5k for what is usually a very competitive field. It didn't disappoint again this year. Kimi ran a new personal best for that particular course (she's run there 4 times now). This was my second year to give it a shot and boy was I in for a fight. I was racing a high school age guy who has greatly improved over the last couple years as he's learning how to pace and train consistently. He took out from the start and I didn't know for sure if I'd be able to reel him back in. For those that don't know the course, it's basically uphill for the first mile and then down to the turn around point, and then you retrace your steps. By the time we reached the first mile marker, I was in second place and was pretty sure that the race for first consisted of me vs him.  He was about 3-4 seconds ahead of me at the first mile (this was down from probably a good 30 meter gap at the half mile).  At the half way point, I was basically right on his heels. I intended to make him work hard up the half mile hill back to the 2 mile mark.  He was determined to hold me off though but I kept the pressure on. Any time he faltered a bit, I maintained my rhythm and tried to go around.  Then he would surge back to the front and I just kept consistent. Finally with about 3/4 of a mile to go, I made one final surge.  This time, I didn't want there to be any doubt that I was strong enough to take the pace to the end. I quickly went by and didn't want to look back. My main concern was that I didn't want to let him stay close enough to me that he might somehow get another energetic surge and out sprint me to the finish. I took it to the finish line in 16:49 and crossed in 1st place. Not too much later, Kimi came across the line in 17:26 or so. This was a great day for us.

Since then we have turned our focus primarily to our marathon. The mileage has increased substantially as I stated above. Our workouts have grown in length as well. Just this past weekend, we ran a workout that incorporated a 5k race for Kimi.  I wasn't quite up to racing because this race is usually out of my league though unfortunately, this would have been a good year for me to do it as Kimi ended up being the OVERALL winner (including men, and by about 3 minutes).  We went on to run two more 3 mile repeats while waiting for the awards to be presented following the race. Just yesterday, we completed a 6 mile tempo run at the Frisco trail and just smoked it. Goal was between 5:50-5:55 pace and we accomplished our goal.

Going forward, rest becomes a critical part of training. Any time you start covering high mileage (which is relative to each individual), you must increase the amount of rest (sleep, naps, etc) you get as well to maintain your energy and performance.  Nutrition also plays a huge role in marathon preparation. Fortunately for us, we had a great teacher (Cassie Dimmick, from Achieving Your Best, LLC) help us better master the art of training and racing nutrition.

I'll do my best to keep you all updated on how things are going over the next couple weeks as we do some pretty intense workouts and long runs.

Here's a couple photos of our kitchen remodel.  Keep in mind that final pictures will come soon.

Rock the Parkway! What a race!

Over the weekend, Kimi and I went up to Kansas City to run the Rock the Parkway half marathon. I'm going to give my view of how it went down but I'm sure if you want an even better take, you'll be able to check out my wife's blog over the next few days to see her viewpoint of her performance.

To start things off, we have to go back just a bit to the weekend before. Kimi and I went out to the 'Havin' a Crappie Day 5k' to officially bust off any rust in our legs from lack of racing. We hadn't run a single race since November.  We had definitely been crushing some workouts, but there's just something a little different about running hard in a workout vs. racing.  Racing something smaller gives you the chance to practice getting up early, eating a pre-race meal, and handling some of the nerves of standing at a starting line.  You just can't completely simulate these things in practice.  So we got to the race and did our warm-up, toed the line, and completed the 5k nearly stride for stride together (who knew that this would be a prelude to how we would run in a week).  We finished up the 5k in 17:25 and then followed it up with a set of 400's to make the effort of the day truly beneficial.

On Tuesday, we headed out to the Frisco trail to do our final Tune-up workout. We weren't sure how this was going to go since it was warmer than we had been accustomed to running in.  We warmed up 2 miles, toed the line, and off we went. In the past, when we've done this workout prior to a big race, we would run about 11:20 for the 2 mile tempo.  Something special took place today. We opened up with a 5:30 first mile, and then just kept cruising. We ended up completing the 2 mile tempo in 11:01.  We were both pleasantly surprised.  Then we jogged a half a mile and got ready to run our half mile press.  I didn't see this coming either. We crushed a 2:35 (on the trail!).

It was this point that I just had a great feeling about the coming weekend.

*Rock the Parkway*
We woke up at 5:20 and gathered ourselves off the bed to start getting ready for the race. The race was set to start at 7:30 so we wanted to arrive close to 6:30 so we wouldn't be rushed at all.  First thing we did was get up and split a bagel with peanut butter. Then we finished getting ready and headed out to the race.

Prior to the start, we did our usual warm up.  Neither of us felt great on the warm up. In fact, I was kind of wondering if the race would go well at all.  We did a couple strides and then I started to feel a bit better. I knew the weather was set up perfectly for a good race. Finally, the gun sounded and we were off!  About half a mile into the race, the front runners were already starting to separate into groups. Kimi was in my group.  I looked at my watch and we were running nearly 5:40 pace. Kimi looked over at me and said something to this effect, "are we going out too hard?" I turned and said directly back to her, "nah, we're good." By mile 1, our time had crept back up to a 5:56.  It's uphill for the second half mile.  We just kept trucking along side by side until about mile 3. Next thing I knew, Kimi started seriously attacking. She had pressed the pace down to 5:42, 5:46, and 5:47 for the next three miles. I have learned from our practices to just stay out of the way when Kimi starts rolling. I didn't want to tell her to ease it up or anything that might break her rhythm. I just went with it and kept right beside her helping keep the rhythm.  By mile 8 we had started to gain a little separation from the second place female (but not much).  I knew we needed to keep pressing.  That's exactly what we did.

Prior to the race, Kimi and I had looked at the elevation chart and knew that if we made it to the 10-10.5 mile area, the rest of the way was pretty much downhill. We were determined to make sure we had as much separation as possible prior to the downhill stretch because some people can run down hill extremely good and we didn't want there to be any doubt coming into the final stretch. At one point around mile 11, I turned to Kimi and told her that I thought we were on pace to break 1:17.  I knew we were rolling but hadn't been keeping track quite close enough to know exactly. I had intentions of staying with her all the way to the finish line and then I was going to step aside to allow her to break the tape without me being in the way.  This isn't exactly what ended up happening because with about a half mile to go, we were passed by a guy that we had passed about 1.5 miles back and I didn't want him to beat me. I asked for permission to race him from Kimi and she said go for it. I immediately turned on the after-burners and passed the guy back. I closed out the last mile in 5:29 and crossed the finish line in 1:16:20. This was 9 seconds faster than my best performance for this particular course.  Kimi was only a short 6 seconds behind me.

I was so proud of her for the way she ran. She set the pace and I just went along for the ride. Races like this are great springboard races to set you up for a great couple months of training prior to the Grandma's Marathon in June.

Weekend results -
Me- 8th overall - 1:16:20 - new course personal best
Kimi- 10th overall (1st place female) - 1:16:26

Racing Season Starting Up

It's been a long awaited 4 months with no racing for Kim and me. If I remember correctly, our last race was the Bass Pro Half Marathon back on the 1st weekend of November.  We're going to be racing this weekend and using it as a rust-buster type of race (as Kimi calls it).  We've already been doing speed work 2x per week but now get to lace up the shoes and toe the line with others to test our fitness levels for real. Any time you have an important race that you've been training for, (whether that's a half marathon, marathon, or even 10k), it is important to get yourself re-acclimated to the entire race environment by competing in a race shorter than the distance of your goal event.

Last week was a break through week for me. Since my knee issue started several weeks back, I've been unable to complete any significant long runs unless the miles were completed in a tempo run or workout setting. Going faster just seems to help my body feel better.  Over the weekend, I completed a 13 mile long run and didn't have any issues whatsoever. I'm still not 100% confident that I'm out of the woods yet, but I'm getting to probably 80% confidence.

Kimi and I also crushed some mile repeats over the weekend.  If things keep going the way they're going, I think I'll be back on track for some high mileage by mid-April.  It's critical that I get back to normal by then so I can have 2 solid months of training prior to the Grandma's marathon in June!

Last week recap
1 workout - 5x1mile repeats (missed out on the second one due to the terrible weather last week
13 mile long run
55 total miles!!!

Starting to get there again!

If you tuned in to my last blog post, you saw just how injuries can and do get to each and every one of us at some point. When you train hard, unfortunately, you are constantly walking the line between injury and health as you push the limits of training. The best thing you can do is to do your best preventative efforts to keep injuries at bay to the best of your ability. This includes things like stretching properly, strengthening adequately, proper nutrition, and training smart.  A part of training smart is to listen to your body. When you feel fatigued for multiple days in a row, it might be time to give yourself a rest day so that your body can complete the regeneration processes.  If you don't, the body will continue to break down and that's when injuries are destined to get you.  That's not the only way injuries can get you though. Sometimes, it's just a freak incident that is out of your control.

My injury occurred from having a lapse in good training judgement for just a few days. Sometimes, that's all it takes to have problems creep in. Fixing the issues takes longer than if you just keep them away from the beginning.

The good news is that over the last two weeks, my rehab has been going extremely well. I felt pretty darn good by Saturday and so I decided I would give the 10 mile tempo run a try. The plan was to do keep going so long as I was able to maintain a solid tempo run pace and so long as I didn't have any discomfort in my knee. Much to my liking, I started the tempo run and was able to hang on to Kimi for the entire way. We smoked the 10 mile tempo run under an hour. I was a bit shocked I was able to hold it together for the entire way.

Last week, I managed a total of 50 miles for the week. This is still much below where I'd hoped to be at this point, but it is much more reasonable than some of the prior weeks had been. Starting the year, I had a goal of 3000 miles.  If I'm going to get there, I'm going to have to start hitting some solid miles pretty soon since I have a lot of ground to make up.

This week's goal-
Keep my streak of consecutive days run alive,
2 hard workouts
2 weights days/rehab days
55+miles

Injuries can get us all. It's how we pick ourselves back up that matter most!

These last few weeks with the snow on the ground were frustrating. Just prior to that, Kimi and I had a stellar week.  I wrote my last blog about the time the snow nailed us good. I had plans to be hitting a lot of miles over the past couple weeks and I was determined to make it happen. The first Monday after the first dump truck of snow, Kimi and I ventured out to go for a run.  We cut it short after we decided that the snow was simply too deep to fight through and get any real benefit.  We jumped in the car and I took Kimi to the gym where she finished up her remaining mileage for the day.While she was doing that, I ventured back outside on the treacherous roads.  That's when everything started to fall apart a bit. With my lack of treadmill access, I will typically make it outdoors or not run at all. Since the snow lingered pretty much all week, I was unable to get outside and do much running whatsoever.  By the weekend, Kimi and I decided (against better judgement) to go to Wilson's Creek Battlefield to run Friday, Saturday, and Sunday because this seemed to be the only place we could find where the roads were completely clear. We ran an easy run Friday of 5 miles.  Then we backed it up Saturday with a smoking fast 6 mile tempo run. And then came Sunday; we were planning to do our long run there and after 1 loop around, I started to feel a tweak in my knee. I'm usually pretty cautious in these scenarios so I immediately called it quit with 5 miles.  Most of the time, these types of things are held at bay by simply not pushing through discomfort and making things worse but not always. I went back out for a run the next day and the knee was good until about 6-7 miles into the run. That's when I finally had to pull the plug and start analyzing exactly what was going on with me physically. I haven't been able to do a lot of running over the last 2 weeks due to the knee and my fear of making it worse by running on the snow and icy conditions.  In the mean time, I did a lot of indoor rehabilitation exercises to start stabilizing my hips and knees since the lack of working out definitely seemed to aggravate my condition. I went 4 straight days with no running (complete torture) and then started back into things last weekend.

Easy 4 mile run on Friday went fine. And much to my surprise, I hadn't lost too much of my fitness on Saturday when I decided to go for a tempo run with Kimi. The plan was to simply keep going as long as I felt good and could keep up. I made it the entire 8 miles at sub 6 pace. We were moving!

I think I'm definitely turning the corner and getting back on track. I don't know that I will be ready for Rock the Parkway in April (at least not how I'd hoped) but so long as I'm ready to roll in May and June, I'll be a happy man.

I wrote this blog to let you know that even when you do your best to take care of yourself, injuries can still occur.  As much as we'd love to completely eliminate them, even when you do preventative injury routines and exercises, injuries can still occur.  The entire philosophy behind injury prevention is to reduce the likelihood though it doesn't always work, it does reduce the frequency of injury. (This is my first limiting injury since 2008).

Quick recap!

It's been a while since I have written so let me catch you up really quickly. The main reason I haven't posted recently is because I haven't felt like there has been all that much to talk about.  That, however, has started to change. Over the last couple weeks, Kimi and I have been logging some pretty good miles. Just last week, we finally made it over the 60 mile/week amount for what should have been the beginning of a nice long string of 60+ mile weeks. We have started adding some acceleration runs and steady tempo runs into the mix so that we can start generating some faster strength before we add in multiple workouts each week. Since Kimi and I both don't really enjoy the cold weather, we are typically just trying to survive the winter with enough miles to be rocking and rolling by April and May.  With Kimi's Olympic Trials race a year away, we have been determined to prove to ourselves that we can reach our goals despite the cold weather. Things had been going extremely well prior to the snow fall that makes it nearly impossible to have quality runs outdoors in Springfield. If only I had the means to plow the trails in the area. I would have got it done the first day and then perhaps I wouldn't have ended up with the tragedy of a week that I had last week.  This week, we are focused on getting back on track.

Up to this point, we have completed a 3 mi, 4 mi, and 6 mi tempo run and they have all been quite impressive.  Last year in the early spring, we had several of our tempo runs where it was all we could do to hit 6 min pace or slightly under. So far this year, we've been cruising closer to 5:50-55 pace which is exactly what we're needing to do to truly be prepped for our April and June goals.

Our goal this week is to hit 70 miles with one acceleration run and one stellar ladder workout on Saturday. I'm pretty excited that I'm now able to start focusing more on my running and finishing up our house remodel now that my weekends won't be full of continuing education seminars for some time now. As much as I love learning new things, I also love my weekends!

This weeks goal - 70 miles
Result= in progress!