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!
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Thursday, August 13, 2015
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.
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.
Thursday, June 25, 2015
Grandma's Marathon 2015 recap
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.
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!**
Monday, June 15, 2015
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.
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 |
Tuesday, June 2, 2015
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.
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.
Thursday, May 14, 2015
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.
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.
Monday, April 13, 2015
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
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
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