Entries from October, 2010

Meh.  I know enough not to magnify minor aches and pains, but they are still annoying.  I try to avoid the disease cocktail that is the subway, but it’s a challenge as the buses are crazy crowded after work and I’m impatient.  While full on hypochondria has not overtaken me (yet), I do walk around with a bottle of Purell like it’s the magic potion.  I will say that I was more excited about the race a couple of days ago (I’m certain that it will come back).  I’m finding taper is not some otherworldly elixir… “then poof you feel great”.  Runner’s Kitchen posted an interesting article about tapering.  The point is that taper is more like rehab.  Beating up the body for 4 months requires a few weeks of repair before the big day.  Even though I’m about 50% thru the taper, I’ve given up on “feeling amazing”.  If it happens, great.  In reality, if I can avoid doing anything stupid in the remaining workouts, stretch and eat properly, then the physical is about is good as it’s going to get … which is all you can hope for come race day.  It’s 200% psychological now. Continue Reading

After surviving the capstone 22-miler (last 10 @ MP) last Sunday, last night represented another milestone workout on the road to the NYC marathon.  It’s a workout that I have yet to successfully execute with my teammates.  2 x 4mi (no recovery) with the first 4mi loop at MP and the second 4mi loop at HMP.  Big time progression.  Back when the CPTC road crew was prepping for the Boston Marathon, I completed a single loop and called it a night.  My second attempt was a solo effort when on vacation this past summer.  Last night, would be my shot at “glory”.  I had no excuses as it might have been the very best night to run I’d ever experienced … low 50’s and slight wind.  Anticipation among the team was at a high … big turnout, lots of focus.  NYCM is on the horizon!  A major litmus test for all of us. Continue Reading

We have completed the build up portion of the training program.  Woot.  Now the small bit of tapering properly and that thing on November 7th.  Since I have closed the major portion of the training cycle, I thought it might be interesting (to me at least) to dissect the build.  It seems like yesterday when I embarked on Pfitzinger’s 18 week / 70 mpw plan.  Ha.  After fumbling around thru much of July, I abandoned that madness … I’ll likely follow it for my 2nd marathon.  Instead, I lunged for the 55 mpw plan and it agreed with me (and my family).  Now, without further adieu, below is a brief snapshot.  If the info below is not sufficient to satiate or makes no sense, feel free to either leave a comment and I’ll respond. Continue Reading

I’ve used this phrase countless times during marathon training … generally as a response to a challenging workout.  Last night’s tempo was not itself excessively challenging – 4mi tempo @ HMP … we’ve been assigned the same workout plus 4mi @ MP as an appetizer.  This particular session brought out additional factors to juggle in addition to simply  executing a run: cold rain, wind, leaves just waiting for you to slip on, puddles with crevices begging for a fresh ankle to mangle, and of course, it was pitch black, save for an occasional flickering lamp along the outer loop of CP.  Even for a dedicated group of athletes as CPTC, the numbers venturing out in this mess were lower than usual ~ 20 folks. Continue Reading

I’ve been reading many Chicago marathon race reports.  Some brutally honest, others more introspective and some euphoric.  All informative.  Congratulations to all finishers, but especially to Eat, Drink Run (my CPTC teammate) and Training Hard, Hardly Training.  Terrific efforts under tough conditions. Continue Reading

With 26 days until NYCM, where am I? If I follow my calendar correctly, this week marks the last of the build-up. Taper begins after the 22 miler (last 10 at MP) this coming Sunday. Assuming all goes well, I will have put up four 20+ milers, a 19, two or three 18s, etc. Bottom line is that the endurance bit of this training business will be in the can. That in itself is a minor victory. I imagine that I will enjoy the taper. Rest and me tend to agree. I’ll focus heavily on speedwork (Tuesday nights), plus more striders at the end of easier runs. Also, I plan to take vacation days during marathon week, with my legs in the air (more on that in a later post). Continue Reading

Clearly, I have not been blogging.  Why?  Most likely because I’ve bored myself silly with posting the mundane facts of my training sessions and trying to stretch them into something newsworthy had become comical at best, and annoying, at worst.  How many different ways can I describe the joy of hill repeats, tempo runs, etc.?   Unlike much more interesting, hilarious and consistent bloggers, I blog only when I have something unique to offer.  Lately, I have not had anything compelling to share.  In a way, this is good.  Training continues rolling along (for the most part) without highs or lows.  Chopping the wood.  As such, I took a hiatus … not from the workouts (blasphemy), but from describing them.  Unless something truly noteworthy occurs, I’ll save you from the nuts and bolts of my daily regimen.  If you are paralyzingly bored interested in this aspect of marathon training, you can dig into the gory details of my training log (link below). Continue Reading