MARATHON FINISHER!

My finish time, despite my best efforts, did not hit the mark of 3:18:00. I finished with a chip time of 3:21:09 and a gun time of 3:21:19. I am happy to report that I set a new personal record in less than ideal marathon conditions!

To check out my official time at the Shamrock Marathon website, use the url below.
http://www.lin-mark.com/shammarfin07.txt

My prior best was 3:26:49 chip time / 3:27:40 gun time in the 2006 Phoenix Rock 'n' Roll marathon. My improvement over the four marathons I've run remains unhindered:

first marathon: 3:56
second marathon: 3:36
third marathon: 3:27
Shamrock (4th): 3:21

Here's a fill-in of my last week's activities:
I got to run 3 times when I was in Alaska for work during the week preceding the marathon. I drove down to VA Beach yesterday and picked up my race packet, bought an IPod Shuffle, and ate a good pasta dinner at Macaroni Grill. I loaded songs into the IPod late into the night and finally crashed at around 1 a.m. I had my alarm set and a wake up call from downstairs for 6 a.m. I woke up before either of 'em and was feelin' pumped! Ate a very good oatmeal breakfast where I was staying (Holiday Inn) and was on my way by 6:40. Since daylight savings is now shifted it was dark until after 7 a.m. It was hovering around 33-35 deg F and the wind was sustained at 15 to 20 mph. Gusts got up to 30. On the bright side, it was a beautiful and sunny day!

I'm pretty sure that on the flight out to Alaska last week, the airline or TSA lost my garmin GPS trainer, or they failed to put it back in my bag after pawing through it.. I had done all my workouts with it and it is a very good way of tracking my pace so I was pretty bummed not to have that with me. I did have a stop watch which would be good enough to get my mile-by-mile splits with but when I set it to the stopwatch mode while waiting for the start of the race the thing went blank on me! Ran out of batteries just when I needed it most! Sooo.. I was left to my devices of pacing myself using only the time displayed at miscellaneous mile markers. I had written down on a piece of paper what time I needed to pass all the markers at the 5 mile increments; 5, 10, 15, etc., and the half marathon point to run a consistent 7:33 per mile pace. I was ahead of the pace by almost a minute at the 8 mile point so I backed off a little. I was 30 seconds ahead at the half marathon point and feeling strong. I was supposed to be at 1:39:00 and I passed 13.1 miles at 1:38:30. I had run into a strong headwind for about 3 miles by that point so I was ready for that to end..

Unfortunately, there were about 3.5 more miles of nasty wind, when heading north that did give us all a good lickin'. I was doing well, keeping on pace until I was surprised to see the 2:20:00 pace group nip at my heals at about 17 miles. (In marathons, the organizers provide a pacer for various target finish times. If you are shooting for 2:20:00 you can run with the pacer and you're pretty much set. If you can keep up with 'em ;) ) . I pushed ahead of them for about 3/4 a mile and was still feeling strong. Then I chose to relieve my bladder, which I had been debating doing since about mile five. The 2:20 pace group passed by as I was peeing so I took to overtake them again. I was about 60 yards behind them when we passed mile 18 but I never did quite catch them. I was beginning to hit more of a psychological wall than a physical one at that point.

Anyone who has run a marathon can pretty much attest that the last 6 miles are pretty much a mind game. I had a lot of motivation to meet my goal! I think probably close to a thousand dollars in *bonus* donations were at stake. Alas, even with all that incentive I slowed in pace on the back 10 k (6.2 miles). I knew I was in trouble at the 23 mile point and by the 25 mile marker, the clock showed 3:11:40 when I was supposed to be there at 3:08:45. I floored it for that last 1.2 miles (at least it felt like I floored it... in reality my pace averaged about 7:45 per mile.) already knowing that I had lost that bonus money. I crossed the finish line about ready to pass out -- really. The staff looked at me with concern and asked if I needed to go to the medical area. I said I would be okay when I got some food and beer! Believe it or not, I did feel much better after downing a bunch of the handout grub and three beers =)

I thank everyone who pledged! I will send out instructions for payments shortly. You all definitely got me running as hard as I possibly could with those *bonus* pledge offers. I will let you know what your bonus offer was in my notices. If you still feel inspired to give those bonus amounts even though I didn't make my goal, many of those ex patriot refugees of North Korea will have a benefactor to thank that they otherwise wouldn't have. You will also have my gratitude, as I feel responsible for the charity not getting the maximum amount it could have through my efforts.

Friday Endurance

Today I did a 30 minute endurance exercise going back and forth between 15 reps of pushups (slow) and 4 reps of pullups. I alternated between each doing a set every minute, on the minute, for the half hour. My chest is feeling it the most! I then did the same routine but with shoulders and abs. I mixed up the actual exercises for each muscle group, so as not to get bored, and my abs are feelin' it too. I cut it off having done 12 sets of each of these, because I wanted to get back to the office in good time.

My legs are destroyed (sore) from yesterdays squats and running so I made sure NOT to run today ;)

Wednesday and Thursday Fun

Wednesday I went to the gym around four and did one set of 20 pullups, followed by some ab-work. I then got on the treadmill and spun it for 5 miles at an incline of one.. Oh yes, and I was on it ;) I finished that in 32:20 which is a 6:28 per mile pace.

Today, Thursday, I did 3 sets of 10 squats using the smith machine. Only had one 45 on each side but ouch! That was still enough to hurt my glutius maximus in a major way! I then did a couple one-arm come-downs for the one arm chinning training, followed by 3 sets of +35 pound pullups (5 reps each). Did one last exercise before running; 3 sets of that pulley machine "pull-to" exercise for your back. Got on the treadmill and did an easy run of 3 miles at a 7:30 per mile pace. The slope was set to 2. I was hurting on the run because the squats took a lot of juice out of me.

I've been getting donation commitments on paper from a lot of people. I'm pretty psyched about the marathon fast approaching! There's a lot of money on the line for Helping Hands if I finish in my target time of 3:18:00.

I just found out yesterday that I will be able to go on a work related trip to Alaska on Saturday, March 10th and returning Friday, March 16th. I probably won't be able to make any posts from out there, but I'll definitely do some maintenance runnin'!

Friday Lift and Monday Milage

Friday was another full-body workout day. Did a lot of legs and everything upper body but my back. I was almost moving between exercises fast enough to make the workout cardiovascular, but I think a few of my rests gave my heart rate time to settle. .

I had been planning on running for 3 hours on Sunday but ran instead into a serious need for sleep. Woke up around 2 PM and then HAD to watch my Duke Blue Devils play Carolina in B-ball (we lost :( ). The evening was already nailed down to plans.. My Mom flew into town Thursday night and my Fiance Robyn, my roommate Justin, and I are playing host! We've all been having great, awesome conversations til the wee hours of the morning. My Mom is visiting until Wednesday morning so I chose to take Monday off to spend time with her (She was in a full day course Friday, Saturday, and Sunday).

We ate an awesome lunch Monday at the place we chose for the wedding rehearsal dinner and then I started my 3 hour run when we got back (my last long run in prep for the marathon!). I drove out to Gravelly Point and started my run at 3:40 PM. I ran all the way to the southern outskirts of Olde Town Alexandria by way of the Mnt Vernon Trail. I had a tail wind the whole way which I didn't have a full appreciation for until I turned around! When I got back to my car at Gravelly point, I had likely done 9 miles (didn't have my GPS with me). I got some water out of the car and ate half a banana and trekked on North. I downed a 2x caffeine mocha-flavored goo just before crossing the Key Bridge into Bethesda. I then hooked along the canal tow path for a couple miles West. The wind was biting and very hard to run into -- I got really sore in my calves during that whole North and West leg. It was really neat to see a rather large beaver get into the canal ahead of me and swim off to the other bank with what looked like motivation.

I turned around just before Fletcher's Boathouse and finally had the wind at my back. Wouldn't you know it, but I'd swear that the wind actually died down significantly by that time (~6 PM) so I felt cheated out of the nice tail wind I thought I'd "worked" for. I got close to the beaver again and it did the same thing. He was swimming "with me" (same direction) so I got a good look at him. He looked comfortable. Not like me!

I really got to hurting when I got back over to Roslyn via the Key Bridge. Mostly, my calves and my over-all energy were flagging. I took a walking break between Memorial and 14th street bridge that lasted about 2 minutes. Plowed on to the last mile-marker before Gravelly Point and then warm-down walked the rest. I got to my car at 6:50 and not a moment too soon -- it was COLD.

I was ready to fall asleep in my car seat! Exhausted! I'd really like to run in better conditions down in VA Beach. March 18th and South of here should be a little better ;)

I'm going to do maintenance runs from here on out to marathon day. I'll probably also do one more day of speed work to keep nimble!

Thursday's Six

Did six miles today outside. Twas a little bit windy and overcast and the temperature was probably in the 50's. I took the canal tow path for about a mile leg (3 miles into the run) and chose to get back off it as soon as I could once I was sure that the whole thing was still covered with mud, ice, and slush. My pace would have been sub 7-minute miles which (what I was shooting for) but that mile in the muck slowed my pace down to 7:02 per mile for the run. On the bright side, it was a good workout for my ankles and calves to run through that shtuff and I had fun getting all messy.

Whippin' Wednesday

I stayed home sick yesterday with a nasty cough and sore throat that kinda snuck up on me. I slept a whole lot and felt a lot better in the evening. Today I went to the gym at 1:30 p.m. and started with one arm-chinning exercises. Did comedowns, pulley-assisted one-arms, and weighted two arm pull-ups. I then got on the treadmill, which is finally FIXED, and ran 30 minutes. I did a hill workout in which I averaged 7:30 minute-miles at an average slope of 4.5 . I ran a total of 4 miles and burned 700 calories. Felt a little beat at the end, but it was good to get my legs moving.

Friday Lift and Sunday Maintenance

Friday was a great full body workout. Did bi's, tri's, shoulders, abs, chest, and back. I did not run, as I was still sore from the lifting (and running) I did for my legs the day before.

Sunday evening I did almost 2:40 on the elliptical (weather was too bad for running -- very heavy snow and slick roads). According to the machine I burned 4300 calories and my distance was "8000" which I think is supposed to be in meters. If that's what it's supposed to be, I did an equivalent of 20 miles. I hit a wall only an hour in but recovered after drinking one of those carb-loaded goo's, which also had caffeine, kicked it in for the long haul. Was happy to see "The Departed" get best picture on the Oscars!

Next weekend, Saturday 3rd and 4th, is my last long run before the marathon. I will run for about 3 hours and then take the two weeks before the marathon relatively easy.

Fired-up Wednesday and Thursday

Wednesday started with more training for the one arm chinning. I was able to position the bar on the same axis as the pulley for both arms this time, so I got an even workout doing consecutive right and consecutive left arm "pulley-assisted" chin-ups. (See my earlier post if you need a better description of what this is.) I found out that my left arm/back is stronger which was a surprise considering I'm right handed. I also found that I need significant help (50-60 lb) to just do 3 reps with either arm, which means I have my work cut out for me!

I did three sets of five +30 pound two handed pull-ups after the pulley-assisted single arm ones. Tried to do some one arm come-downs after that but I was pretty much destroyed!

After all that good stuff I went out in the melting snow and ran 3 miles in mush. Went on the tow path and it literally was harder than sand running--a hard crust over wet melting snow. Got my feet soaked and ditched the tow path for the Billy Goat trail thinking that may be better. Think again! I put my whole foot in the water of the little creek that runs through the trail when I slipped off one of the rocks! Lucky for me it was in the 60s! Once I got back on pavement I was running strong again. Finished 3 miles in 24 minutes for average pace of 8 min/miles. Kinda slow but acceptable given the conditions.

Today I did a lot of leg work. Quad extensions, speed lunges, and leg-press. Went outside for my run and the gusts of wind were probably close to 40 mph, I kid you not! I was smart enough to stay on pavement today -- the slush is still lingering. Running into the wind was HARD, but running with the tail wind was fun! It was like being pushed forward and hardly having to work at all. Finished 4 miles in 26:25 for an avg. pace of 6:36 per mile. Not half bad considering the friggen' wind!!

Monday and Tuesday's Training

Monday I had off from work for Presidents Day (albeit, as a contractor I worked from home..) so I didn't have the regular gym routine to turn to. As mentioned in my last post I was planning on doing speed work on the treadmill at Fort Meyer. I did just that with an exercise I found in runners world. I did twenty 400 meter repeats at "10K pace" which actually turned out to be a little faster--about 9.7 mph pace. I gave myself just 30 seconds to recover between each repeat, so I was feelin' it good! I ran My last one "full out," as recommended, and had the pace all the way to 12 mph towards the end. My hamstrings are still a little sore from that performance ;)

Today, Tuesday, I was planning on going to the climbing gym with a bunch of people I met at a party over the weekend.. However, I got to work--and consequently left work--a little too late for that. So I jumped on the elliptical again for 32 min and "1000 calories". I still think that thing has to be off on the cals, but it's motivating to think I may have had that good a workout!

Tomorrow I'm planning on an actual outdoor run! It's been a while, with the crappy weather and all!

Welcome Abyss2Hope Readers

So I'm cutting in on Ethan's training log to welcome the Abyss2Hope readers who caught Marcella's post today about us. Thanks for coming!

North Korean refugees have been abused by their country, abandoned by international protection agencies, and forgotten by the world.

The more people who know, the better. Please link to Helping Hands Korea or Ethan's blog. If you see fit, donate to Ethan's effort (100% of proceeds go to Helping Hands).

Friday's exercise and Monday's plan

Friday I hit the gym and did some quick push-ups and ab workouts. I then jumped on the stationary bike for 35 minutes of peddling at a relatively high resistance. The machine told me I burned 600 calories. I was VERY sweaty when I got off -- had to wipe down the whole exercise bike with wet paper towels!

This weekend turned into a weekend of rest from a training standpoint. Taking the weekend off from a long-run sense probably was a good idea because peaking too early in your training is something to be avoided.

Today, (Monday) is a federal holiday, but I've been working from home to regain some work hours. I plan on hitting the Ft. Meyer Gym before it closes at 6 p.m. for some good treadmill speed-work.

Thursday Tune Up

Yesterday's workout was pretty inspired. Snow and ice kept me out of work and a workout on Wednesday (Valentine's day) -- but did not keep romance out! Thursday's weather and road conditions pretty much made running outside out of the question so I went for another cross-training workout in the gym.

I wasn't feeling too hot when I headed over to the gym around 2 PM, so I took that as cause to turn it around and leave the gym feeling great! I read more in the one arm chinning guide and hooked myself up to an overhead pulley using a lifting belt as a "swing". This is similar to doing the two arm assisted pullups on the machine that supports you from below by you standing or kneeling on a counter weighted platform because you don't have to lift your whole body weight. However, the pulley is better for one arm chinning because you are free to rotate and you get a better feel for the balance necessary.

Unfortunately, the workout was a little uneven for my right and left arms because the pulley was about 8 inches to the right of the bar's center line. I'll have to play around more with the set-up at the gym to see if I can fix that. I did some additional one arm "come downs" as well as weighted pull ups (holding a twenty pound dumbbell in my legs) to further my training for one arm chinning.

I also found the arm slings necessary to do three sets of "leg-ups" from a free hang. That's the ab exercise where you hold yourself vertical [hanging] while doing repetitions of lifting your legs up as high as you can to your chest and back down to vertical. I'm still sore this morning -- means it was effective!

For my cross-training of the day, I did 25 minutes on the erg machine (rowing) to cover an equivalent distance of 6.15 km. I could feel my glutes the most when I got off which will be good for running. Today I may try to brave the outdoors for a short trek.

This weekend I'll probably do a 2:45 run. If the weather sucks, I'll have to do in on a treadmill at Ft. Meyer which will not be the greatest..

Word

Tuesday's Tirade

Running out of unique words starting with a "T" =)

Today I went out at noon in the sleet and snow and ran seven miles along the tow-path. Had a nice solid run with about an inch or two of snow accumulation under foot. Actual snow is much better than what the rodes were like -- slushy / icy! It was a little like running in sand but not anywhere near as tough. I finished 7 miles in exactly 49:30 which is a hair above a 7:04 minute mile. Pretty good considering the conditions.

I saw a ton of cool birds during the run. First a blue jay, then a King Fisher -- first one ever (flycatcher variety bird with a big mohawk lookin thing) -- followed by a LARGE hawk (maybe eagle) that I still need to identify in my bird books, and lastly, a little warbler type dude that was small, compact and gold colored.

Work was let out early due to the weather so apparently the federal government is less tough that yours truly!

Monday Madness!!

I was up kind of late last night, likely due to my LATE sleep in Sunday. I decided to check out the crossfit.com journal that my brother (flying Cobras in Iraq right now) got me a subscription to for X-mas. Jumping around in the links I ran into the following workout: http://www.dragondoor.com/articler/mode3/232/

It's a regimen that you use to train for one-arm chin-ups. Definition from the link above: "A one-arm chin means to pull yourself from a dead hang, with one arm only, until the bottom of your chin is higher than a stationary bar. The free hand should not touch any part of the pulling arm or bar, but if you are skilled, it will be used to control your balance and prevent unwanted body twist."

Sounds like a new crazy thing to work for!! Yeah baby.. I will do a one-arm chin one of these days! ;)

Today was my first one-arm chin workout day! I went to the gym at 3 p.m. and got to work doing alternating one arm "comedowns" which are basically negatives of one-arm chins. I did not have much control and what is supposed to last 3 to 4 seconds was really about half a second! I did a bunch of exercises for lats, biceps, shoulders, and middle back to supplement the "comedowns". I also did some comedowns with "help," meaning I supported some of my weight on a bar below my feet. After such a hard workout I rewarded myself to a three mile run in the chilly outdoors in nothing but running shorts and short-sleeve shirt. Good fast little run got me breathin hard!

All in all, a very good workout today. I am motivated!

Sunday's Ellipse

I slept in late Sunday after having a pretty awesome Friday and Saturday. Won some good money playing poker Friday night and then did a lot of game-playing Saturday (chess, settlers of caton board-game, blockus board-game). Did a lot of winning all weekend! Also enjoyed a fair amount of beer between Friday and Saturday.

Sunday, I got up at 3 p.m.! I was dreaming hard until I woke up which means it was good REM sleep. I sat down to a bowl of cereal and a bunch of water. I started watching "Saw" from my netflix rentals while allowing some time to pass before starting my workout and got on the elliptical after about 45 minutes. Watched "Saw" the rest of the way thru (and got nice and pumped towards the end when all the intense stuff started happening -- ahh nothing like the wonderful ineptitude of the protagonists to get you moving!)

After Saw was done, I put in the first disc of Family Guy, Season four. That was awesome--extremely funny! Especially the opening of the first episode which had Stewie riding his power wheels thru all kinds of ridiculously funny scenes with the Dragnet music playing! Nearly fell off the elliptical laughing! I kept working out throughout 4 and a half episodes of Family Guy and finally got off the object of torture (jk) after 2 hours and 45 minutes of effort on it. The thing is definitely incorrect when it comes to calories burned. It told me I burned 4800 calories! There's no way! I would guess 3000 or less in reality..

Today I plan on doing an easy outdoor run during my lunch break.

Friday Trot

Just ran a nice 6:30/mile 5 mile run from the Clara Barton gate of Carderock down Clara Barton to its T-intersection with MacArther Blvd where I turned left. When I got to the parking lot across from Angler's Inn Restaurant, I crossed over the canal to run back to Carderock via the Tow Path. The canal was frozen over and there was a random old dude standing out in the middle of the canal taking a picture down the ice. Later there were ice skaters playing hockey and one guy who was just cruising around at high speed. That was cool. I'll have to get me some second hand hockey skates to take out there and do some cross-training!

Finished my run strong and had a good cool down jog. Just took some Motrin and plan on icing my shin if need be.

Thursday Workout

I was originally going to run 6 miles with a guy from work, but I think he called in sick. left to my own devices. It was in the low twenties, temperature-wise and the windchill probably got it close to zero.. I was about to go out on my own, but I found out when I got to the gym that I forgot to bring one article of clothing in particular that was essential for a long outdoor run. I'll just use the word "support" as a hint.. Another hint: I'm a "boxers", not a "briefs" man.

So I recalibrated to an indoor workout. Did 15 sets each of alternating push ups (20 reps per set) and pull ups (4 reps per set). This is a muscle endurance workout which basically keeps you doing a set of either push ups or pull ups on the minute, every minute, for half an hour. I was throwing in sit ups and other ab workouts in the free time between each "on the minute" set. Also did some more shin rehab work.

I then got on the stair climber for 25 minutes (treadmill still only goes 6 mph) and burned 300 calories. It was a decent workout, but I don't like that stair climber.. Unlike the "normal" ones where each leg is on an independent pedal that goes down when your weight is on it and only goes up when your weight is off it, this one had a cross-connect between the pedals so that standing on one made the other go up. In a way, this is less of a workout because your own weight is "assisting" getting your other leg up for the next down-stroke.

Today (Friday) is COLD outside. I did bring the missing article of clothing to work with me this time, so I will likely go on an outdoor run / "freeze"..

Tuesday and Wednesday Workouts

Yesterday, I worked straight thru the workday and didn't get home until 8 p.m. or so. Committed as I am to training right for this marathon, I was not going to fold on a workout! When I got home, my lady and I popped in a "Lost" DVD and I got on the new home elliptical again. I worked it for 45 minutes on the top resistance level and had a NICE burn in my quads by the time I stepped off.

My shin was in pain Monday and Tuesday, so I iced it a bunch both days and started doing rehab exercises and stretches I read about on the internet... going to nip this thing in the bud. It's feeling much better today and I plan on continuing the rehab stuff until the shin splints go away entirely.

Today I played racquetball with my roommate Justin, and felt good. My game was on, and my legs were fresh.

Tomorrow will be a six miler with a guy I met recently at work who I found out also runs along the Tow Path. It's going to be in the 20s or 30s so I'm going to have to bring the warm gear en force!

Sunday's Long Run

Not too bad a run yesterday. Logged 18 miles in 2:28. My left shin is pretty flared up and hurts again.. I ran all over the place and got turned around at one point. I was trying to run North towards the Potomac thru Roslyn but ended up going South on Wilson to get back to Glebe. It actually ended up being a fortuitous wrong turn, because Mt. Vernon Trail would have been 20 miles or more if I got to it..

Brought my water bottle belt (holds two water bottles) and ate a cliff bar along the way. Felt pretty good the whole way. Didn't really hit a wall.

It was pretty frigid but I'm glad Sunday's weather isn't like today's (Monday's). The high today is in the high 20s.

Taking it easy today and going to ice my shin!

Word.

(Yesterday's) Thursday Training

Yesterday was a pretty good intensity workout. I did leg press, backwards sit-ups (back exercise) and, hanging [abdominal] leg lifts in succession for four sets and then did some low weight high rep dumbbell bench pressing. After some stretching, I went outside in the COLD and ran 3 miles around the David Taylor Model basin (twice). My avg pace was 6:30-ish.

I'm taking today off and will be running Sunday for two and a half hours. Target start time is 10 a.m.!

Shin is feeling better.

Wednesday Cross-training

Today I did a number of upper body exercises that kicked my butt. I haven't done bicep curls in a LONG time and realized that they kinda hurt today! My game plan was to do higher reps and more endurance oriented training which I think I accomplished pretty well. When it came time to run, I was going to do an easy 3.5 on the treadmill, but now its max speed is only 6 mph which is a measly 10 minute mile! I guess in its broken state it gets progressively worse!

So, I did a half hour on a stationary bike. I burned about 440 calories on setting 12 out of 20 and went something like 8.8 miles. It was a surprisingly good workout and it again did me well to spare my shin which is still gimpy. I found out that I sweat like a maniac on the bike! I'm already quite a sweater when I run, but that biking left me really shwetty! I had to rinse my shirt and shorts in the shower. Not ready to do the big laundry thing yet, you see. They are made of the water wicking material so they aughta dry well even hanging in my locker (fingers crossed.. Please, no mildew tomorrow).

Tomorrow is a wild card. You'll find out soon after I do what I did ;)

Word.

Tuesday Tempo Run

Put in a nice clip 5-mile run today along the tow path. I work at Carderock on the MD side of the Potomac, just west of where the American Legion Bridge (495 bridge over Potomac on the west side of DC). For those of you not familiar with the DC area, there's a canal that follows the Potomac all the way from Georgetown to Harper's Fairy. I get to do a lot of running on that tow path because the canal is just about a quarter of a mile from the gate. There's also a nice trail that spurs on and off of the tow path that can make for high intensity hill workouts. It's called the Billy Goat Trail.

It's usually much nicer to run these paths in the summer, fall, or spring, but a cinder surface (tow path) or dirt path (billy goat trail) is much better for the knees than the road. It's also a good way to appease my shin which did act up a little. Shin's much better than it was before the weekend though!

The canal water level is very low in the winter b/c they drain it -- water in there was frozen for large lengths of the run. I averaged 6:36 per mile which is probably the best outdoor pace I've run on a five miler. And I wasn't even pushin it full out! I was wondering during the trek what must happen to all the turtles during the winter. Also, that path is loaded with Blue Herons that you will ALWAYS see in the warmer months. I think this was the first time I didn't see a single one. Must have been down on the River where they can actually still fish ;)

Tomorrow will be a strength workout and easy run on the T-mill.

Until then -- Rock on!

Sorry about the gap in posts. . I had a good strength workout on Thursday last week -- Did a number of leg exercises that kept me sore over the weekend and got a little upper body in too. I didn't get a workout or run in on Friday because I my left shin was still b0thering me and I want to make sure I didn't make it worse.

This weekend in Atlantic City was awesome. I went up and down a bunch in money, and ended up losing overall, but I had a good time doing it ;) I took 6th place overall in a 140 person no-limit hold'em tournament at the Taj.

I didn't have my "long run" workout until I was home and off of a phone call last night at 11 p.m. I did our new elliptical (Robyn, my fiance, bought one last week) for 2 hours and I think I ran an equivalent of about 15 miles. Burned 3200 calories according to the machine, but my guess is that's a pretty big overestimate. I watched the end of Battlestar Galactica and two episodes of lost on netflix while on that machine-o-pain and still had time to kill.. Finally got off a little after 1 a.m. and crawled into bed after a shower and shave.. Made for a late morning today. I gotta be a little better about not letting my workouts cut into my normal sleeping hours!

Next weekend's long run I'm going for 17.5 miles. I hope it's not snowing!

Cheers.

Easy run

I ran 6 miles on the treadmill today. The one treadmill we have at my work is a nice one (goes to 12 mph and has a built in fan) but it's been busted for the last week or so and only goes 6, 7, or 8 mph. I took 8 mph (a 7:30 min/mile pace) which is just 3 seconds faster than my target marathon pace. I was breathing easy the whole time and kind of wishing I could go faster, but now with the way my left shin is kind of gimpy (I fear the onset of shinsplints..), I'm glad I took it easy. Tomorrow will be a rest day from running (will lift tho), and I'm not all to sure about Friday's training. I'll probably bike or urg (rowing machine) to keep my shins happy.

Training is good, but I need to do some reading on how to prevent the shinsplints from becoming a problem.

Going to Atlantic City this weekend to get some poker in, so the long run may be on the beach!

Until next time.

Tuesday's Speed Workout

Ouch! I went outside for my noon run during my lunch break and the wind was fierce! I used my GPS trainer and did a speed workout I read about in Runners' World. 400 meter (quarter mile) repeats.. 12 of them with a thirty second rest between. My average pace of 5:50 per mile was a little slower than I was shooting for but I'll forgive myself. The cold wind is a good excuse ;)

I like this blogging thing... This is my first blog-- even if no one is reading it it's kind of motivating! Keeps me accountable for what I plan on doing and then gives me a place to acknowledge what I did afterwards.

You'll see another post tomorrow for my planned middle distance run.

Yesterday's Run

My long run yesterday was pretty far. Here's a quick intro to my running goals since this is my first post: I'm already well into my training for this Marathon because I have an aggressive goal. I finished my last one in Phoenix (January 06, PF Chang's Rock 'N Roll Marathon) in 3:26:40. My target for this one is 3:18:00 which is blazing! I'm working towards fulfilling my long standing goal of qualifying for the Boston Marathon, which for my age group is 3:10:00. I want to make my assault on that time at the Marine Corps Marathon in October 07.

I had a real breakthrough in my running about a month ago, when I got on a treadmill and told myself I would beat 40 minutes for a 10 K (6.2 miles). I've wanted to do that for 6 years, but the closest I ever got was still a minute and a half away. I put the grade at 1 (to offset the wind resistance advantage) and started out at a 9.4 mph pace. I had to repeat over and over that I would honor my word to do it!! My "inner voice" screamed for release, for compromise (run a shorter distance at a slightly faster pace and you'll be satisfied!), even demanded that my efforts were futile. I just kept saying, I'm going to honor my word and do this and it will be the best feeling in the world.

I finished in 39:38. It was!

Finally -- to the run!! Yesterday was the first REAL snow of the winter for us DC peeps. The snow, the fine crystally kind, was really coming down with a bit of a nip in the wind to boot. I put on three layers (top), running pants, gloves, a hat, and decided after last weekend's long run (ran out of gas hard at 12.5 miles) that I also needed to have water with me. I grabbed a camel back with a water bladder so I could rehydrate from during the run. I have one of those Garman GPS tracker duhickies that tells you your pace, your distance, time, etc. Brought that too, as my target was to run for 2 hours 15 minutes or 16 miles. A diversion from my usual practice, I brought a music player too -- thought it would keep my spirits up, which it did.

I ran down from my place through Old Town, VA to the Mt Vernon Trail. The wind was blowing the snow right into my eyes so I had to squint. Luckily the snow was still frozen so it wasn't too slick. It was compacting under my feet pretty good and made for decent grip. My original plan was to take the trail south toward Mt Vernon. But when I got to the outskirts of Old Town I discovered that the trail south was blocked off / closed. Must either be the Wilson Bridge construction or the snow.. So, I turned around and ran North instead!

I took the trail out past Washington National and doubled back just before getting to 14th St Bridge. The whole way out I kept on following this one guy's (or girl's) tracks and wondered if I'd ever catch 'em. They seemed fresh. Never did though.. Once I passed the airport going south, I headed down and under GW Parkway and came out onto Rout 1, which I took south past Patomac Yard / Del Rey. Around Del Rey I was straining pretty hard. All the gear I had on, plus the fact that the water in my Camel Back's hose had frozen a few miles back were starting to add up. I hooked west on Monroe and then back SW on Commonwealth. Got to King and headed west to join up with Janeys back to home. Last mile was pain!

I got inside and showered with such acute lactic acid build up it was difficult to keep my legs still. The pain was short lived though.

I took today as a recovery day and plan to do some speed work tomorrow. Until then, Cheers!