October 2010 - Taper to Baystate

I will have less than 50 miles before Baystate. I think my body needed the extra rest. I have an old ankle injury that was really flaring up the last couple of weeks in September, so I took out a few runs to give it some extra healing time. I think it may have been my worn out shoes, so I've changed then out with a pair of ASICS Gel Fortitude 3's and did a marathon pace run in them. It felt great, and virtually no pain, just a little stiffness.

I'm not finding it difficult to taper for this marathon. I'm either ready or I'm not. I feel more ready for this marathon than I did for either of my first two. Mentally I'm ready and focused. I know I can push my body through it. Looking back at my training I can point out all the places that I COULD have done better. My focus is on what I did right. I think September was an Excellent training month, and I know I can do this. Now it's execution time.

My goals: Qualify for Boston (3:20), Just under 8:00 pace the first 5 miles, keep at a 7:30 pace through each of the next 15 miles, AND see what I'm made of the last 10K.

September 2010 - 178 miles

This was kind of a weird month, and I turned 42. I focused on building my base back up, but I knew I needed work on my 'speed'. I was NOT ready to complete 26.2 in 3 hours, 20 minutes and 59 seconds... NOT EVEN CLOSE!! I changed my training up a little bit to incorporate more speed work, and I think I have accomplished what I need to for October. I had a touch of a stomach/flu bug towards the end of the month. I was on pace for my first 200+ month, but I took out a couple of runs and shortened a couple because of the illness. Otherwise I think pretty good month! Great month considering what I did in August. My marathon pace runs were RIGHT ON TARGET, and it felt easy!

August 2010 - 58 miles

Say What?! 58 miles?! That's what I said when I got to September... We had my brother's George's wedding. Although this was a MUCH easier wedding, and a LOT less stressful, my wife got sick while we were down there. So... Travel to to Charleston, West Virginia + Sick Wife + being in another wedding. Not a lot of training, and this was a 2 week period! Yikes! I also blew my back out.... Very painful. I gave it enough rest to heal, I think. Although mentally a much better month, physically I felt destroyed. Not good when you are less than 8 weeks from your marathon!!!! If I don't qualify for Boston, I'm blaming my brothers for having weddings so close together. (JK, kind of) Doubts were creeping in, but keeping a positive attitude and doing what I can next month to accomplish my task of Qualifying for Boston.

July 2010 - 122 Miles

I got out of sync this month with my runs. My brother Tim had his wedding, and I had a difficult time getting out for runs with travel time to and from Philly along with family stuff since I was IN the wedding. The family stuff put a BIG time stress load on me and I had a hard time getting myself back into the training mode. We didn't get a lot of support from family while we were there which made it much more stressful than it needed to be. My girls needed a little more from me in the weeks to follow since our whole schedule had been blown up. I have 3 little girls who thrive on routine, so it was a TOUGH month mentally.

June 2010 - 195 miles

Just building the base mileage. I was really enjoying my runs this month. 22 miles was my long run for the month. Still keeping things in Heart Rate Range.

May 2010 Training - 169 miles

The Miles include the marathon since it really was a training run for Baystate. Started in earnest with my Heart Rate Training. Definitely saw an improvement in my pace at 75 - 80% of my max Heart Rate. I was definitely building a good base for Baystate.

Let the Taper Begin - 20 days to go!!!

I hadn't realized it had been so long since my last post. I may be the only one looking at this thing, but it's been a fun journey. My longest run was this last weekend. My average pace for the 24 miles was about 8:30. My mantra for the run was SLOW DOWN, SLLOOOOWWW DOOOWWWWN. I kept looking down at my GPS at I was going faster than marathon pace.

I met up with some friends after mile 17, so there was a little break there while we waited for them all to show up. I had a great run with them and hope to do a 5K with them at BSC on 10/31.

On this journey I wish I had done a little better with the speed work. I think getting the coach 1/2 way through for a few weeks really messed that up. It's a shame he never contacted me again. I am feeling pretty confident at this point though. Making the 7:37 pace for 26.2 miles WILL be tough, there is no doubt about that. I was having doubts about this, but at this point I feel that I CAN DO IT!

The concept of the taper will be interesting. I'll run my plan by my DailyMiler friends to see what they think and what input I get back on my 'plan'. I think I've done pretty good at this point following my own training plan and being my own coach. We'll see October 18th!

Still Going!

Runs are going fantastic. I was getting a little frustrated there for a bit, but things are going much better! Speeds are where I need them for my long runs.

This week I'll be running 4 miles at Half Marathon Pace. This will increase weekly. I also have my longest run (19 miles) coming Saturday. I'm really looking forward to it.

My Coach never got ahold of me, so I am on my own. I feel comfortable with that though. I'll have to push myself a little harder. I think I needed him to ensure I was getting pushed hard enough. I think I'm there now. I just missed my 40 mile week last week, but I will be well above that this week. I have a rest day today, so I can ensure I hit the speed I want to tomorrow. Sunday will be my next 'rest' day.

3 - 9 August, 2009

Great week of running. I'm loving the new Nike shoes. My distance for the week so far is 32 miles, but I'm going to run a 'recovery' run tomorrow.

My speed workout I didn't do exactly as planned, but I was just over 7 minute splits for the interval. My recovery run the next day I kept slow, but still put in 7 miles.

The Long run was FANTASTIC! Better than I had expected. This is also my longest run yet! Here are my Splits:

9:12

9:09

9:02

8:50

8:48

8:25

8:20

8:31

8:40

9:25

8:07

8:14

8:14

8:17

8:05

7:59

8:23

The 9:25 pace must have been when I stopped shortly for my GU, and drink, or shortly afterwards. I felt great and actually slowed myself down at times. Obviously not marathon pace, but it was meant to be slower.

I may have lost my coach! Hasn't responded to my emails. I'm hoping I haven't lost him, but I know he's heading overseas soon for a big race. Best of luck to him either way. So... On that note, I've got to dust off my old routine and get back to it. I hope that doesn't mess me up to bad. Nate's workout seemed a little more aggressive, so I may have to add a bit more 'spice' to my old workout plan.

It's been a while

It's been 2 weeks since I've posted anything, so I thought I'd catch you up! Training has been going great, just haven't posted a lot on here. My pace is a lot slower than I had hoped for, but I've been getting the miles in. I've also been getting a lot of good advice and input from runners on Dailymile.com. It's been great! My only complain are the blisters on the end of my toes. I sent and picked up "Nike Air Max Motto+ 6" shoes (size 11, 4E). I feel like these are the first running shoes I have ever worn that weren't tight anywhere or to loose. It's awesome! I'm hoping that helps. I picked them up from Marathon Sports in Norwell. It was a fantastic shopping experience there.

July I posted my post miles ever in a month, 130+ miles! Yeah for me! I did a 15 miler 2 weeks ago and have a 17 miler scheduled for this week. I can't wait to see how I do in my new shoes.

Tough Week

First of all, I'd like to say that I've just run my farthest yet, 14 miles! ...but it was TOUGH today, not sure why. Had to talk myself into finishing rather than going back to the house at about the 10th mile. I walked some of it, but I finished. Couldn't keep the pace from my new training plan, so we'll see where this takes me. I could feel my hamstrings getting tighter, but no issues there... ...yet.

The 12X1's workout was a disaster! I was no where close to the times I needed for the new training plan. I'm sure we'll make some adjustments and work on building my speed. I ended up running two days in a row instead. Not exactly what I was hoping to do..

Mechanically I feel great! No knee, back, leg, foot or any other pain. ...well, there is a toe issue, but that's because I kicked something REALLY hard in the middle of the night last week. It's purple now on the end of the toe under the nail, not broken, but it's sore. Not affecting my running though.

I think my issue is actual leg strength. Muscles just are not used to going that fast for so long. My legs are having less muscle twitching today than last week's long run, but that could be because I walked part of it and didn't push as hard... Pure speculation. I'm willing to listen to anyone's feedback on that one.

First Week of Nate Jenkins Training

Wow! What a week! I have never run that hard before for that long. I didn't do as well on the 7 X 1 miles. I only reached my goal times for the first 2 miles. I feel I should have / could have pushed myself a little harder, but I know I'm not used to running that fast.

My long run I feel I did pretty good! Stayed faster than my goal pace for 12 miles but ended up with an 8:10 pace overall after the last mile. I guess I can't complain to much about that! It took me half the day to recover from that run though. --discloser-- I did take an 8 1/2 minute pee break at about 9 1/2 miles into this... What a rookie!

My Revised Schedule

Below is my revised scheduled that I received from Nate Jenkins. I read from the Bay State site about the possible coaches I would have working with me, but didn't think about it to much until today. I just googled him... I can't believe I have this quality of a runner coaching me! I'm looking forward to working with the guy. Starting late as a runner, hopefully he'll be able to get me to the speeds I need to be at to qualify for Boston, or I'll know early on that I won't be able to make it.

What 40 year old qualifies for the Boston marathon on their first marathon anyways without any sort of running background?! Crazy old man!

Week 3 - It's ON!

I was beginning to think the 'coaches' for the Bay State Marathon were not going to contact me, but they finally did! Nate Jenkins sent me my first 3 weeks of training. He thinks my goal for the marathon is a little ambitious, so we will evaluate in the next couple of weeks based on how I do with the training plan he sent. MUCH more difficult than the plan I had laid out for myself from the one book I read. Today's run was tough. 7 X 1 mile runs at a 7:05 pace and 2:30 rest in between. I did great the first 2 miles, and then just couldn't get my legs to go any faster. I progressively got slower, but still was faster than 8:00 miles. I ended up doing 9 miles overall.

My goal for Saturday is 13 miles at 8:10 pace. I haven't run 13 miles since June of last year. My best 10K wasn't even than fast. Although my fitness has improved quite a bit, and I am faster now, this will be quite the challenge! Wish me luck!

Week 2 Completed

Great week! Loved my runs. I feel a little tired tonight, but that could be from the swimming we did this afternoon. I'm loving this GPS thing too. Took a new route and just followed my GPS, didn't have to think at all. I was able to just enjoy my music and have a nice pleasant run.

My 400M training was tough but I enjoyed them too. I had doubt a time or two on the speed I was trying to maintain, but was able to finish off pretty strong.

I am so addicted to running right now, I REALLY wanted to do more running this afternoon before we went swimming. Good thing I have my training plan, or I would be running way to much I'm sure!

I'm still using my Nike+ because it keeps me in touch with the running community I've used for support over the last year and a half.

Week 2 Begins

Had a nice 'jog' yesterday as part of my training. Supposed to keep it slow, but it was tough holding back sometimes. Today was cross training day, but I slept in. We'll see if I get around to something tonight. I have my 400M sprints tomorrow, so hopefully the rain holds back. I'm not looking forward to running in the rain, but I will if I have to.

Day Off

Enjoying my day off today. I may mow, but that's about it as far as exercise. Yesterday I had a great 'Long Run' day. Only 7 miles on my training plan, but it was a great run. My goal was to run 90 sec's to 2 minutes slower than my marathon pace. It was actually tough to slow down at times, but it was a very enjoyable run. My heart rate was actually up a couple of times, but there were some hills in this run.

Thursdays Jog

This link is to my run from Thursdays training. Supposed to be just a jog, did it a little faster, but felt good. Pretty cool little feature on there that let's you see my heart rate while I'm running (see Player).

Training Schedule

This first image is the description of training I have planned. Click on image to see in larger print

This second image is the actual schedule. The times listed are for an aggressive 7 minute pace, which I'm not at yet, but working towards. I only need 7:37 to qualify for the Boston Marathon.

And it Begins

• I just started training for my first marathon ever. I was 240 pounds about 2 years ago and decided I need to make some lifestyle changes.
• I've worked I'm my diet, but haven't gone 'crazy' with it. I still enjoy my wife's cooking!
• This is week one. I ran 6 x 400M sprints to work on my speed. I ran two other times this week at around 4 miles (jogs). My speed has increased considerably since a year and a half ago when I started adding running into this.
• I do have to thank Nike+ and my brother Tim for getting me started on that. I don't think I would have kept at this with out the two...
• I'm now using the Forerunner 305. A lot more accurate, but I've JUST started working with it this week... ...more to come on that.