NERR 25K Marathon Tune Up
Early Chicago results are in. John finishes in 3:04 and Paul finishes in 3:10. This means both of them are now eligible for Boston (for their age, anything under 3:11 and their in). Looking at the clock, both of them really ran nice even races. John's first 13.1 miles were run in 1:32:44, meaning that he actually ran a faster second half (always impressive), and Paul came into the halfway mark at 1:34:30, meaning that there was only about a 1:30 difference between halves. That's what good training and smart strategy does - just lets you crank out those seemingly endless miles and make it look easy.
Now I may have to take a road trip to Boston this Spring.
Zeke also seems to have done well, just under 2:59 (I don't know what his goal time was) and Ryan who hung tough to finish in 4:48. Congrats to both.
As for me, I'll say again that it takes a village to train for a marathon. Was looking to go long (20+ miles) today, and figured I could find some company at the NE Roadrunners 25k (15.5 mile) Marathon Tune Up. This "tune up" starts at Lloyd Hall and unimaginatively takes you up Kelly Dr. and back down West River until you almost do a full loop, and then you turn around and retrace your steps. So its like a big out and back horseshoe. So running out there and back, with this 15.5, would give me about 21 or 22.
Its run like a race, but nobody really runs it at race pace. Most folks running it are using it to prep for their fall marathon. I was pretty much in that boat too. I met up with Duncan at the start and we agreed to run together at a 5:48 pace, which is on course for a 2:33 marathon time. Art Dicola takes off way ahead of us from the start, and Duncan and I work together to crank out steady 5:48s through about the first 10.5 miles. Its not so hard for us that we don't get some conversation in, but the effort definitely increases as the race goes on. After about 8 miles my stomach starts heading south and when a portapotty comes up at about 10.5 I took my leave of Duncan. I resume my running just as Rick McGarry, the fourth place runner, goes by and I hook up with him. I'd done some running with him when I was going up to Bryn Mawr, and we worked together at a more or less steady 5:55 pace. This was a much better pace for me for this race, but my stomach problems were making me feel queasy for my whole time with him. But I just tied a rope around him and hung on. In that position, and in a race like this, it would have been rude to hammer it at the end (and I don't know if I would have got him), so I finished a second behind him for fourth place. My "shit time" (not counting time spent in the porta potty) was 90:38, I missed my official time which will be posted here.
I really felt miserable afterwards, to the point where Kevin Matthews was nice enough to drive me back home and save me from running another three miles. Thanks Kevin, that made a huge difference. I just endured some teasing and had some chicken soup and think I'm feeling a bit better.
Debriefing:
Pace for the 25k averaged to 5:51. This is a bit fast to go out for the marathon, and reinforces my plan to go out at a 6 minute pace. This in itself is a valuable realization.
Find people to work with in the marathon. That made a big difference today as I could not have maintained a sub 6 pace if Rick weren't around.
I've almost definitely overtrained this week. I ran alot of miles hard this week and finished at 76 total miles, which is a bit less than what I was shooting for. But its more a drained feeling, an aching in the lower calves and achilles, and now these GI problems that are warning signs.
I'm not sure what to make of these GI "issues". Could be a problem or could be a non-issue. The three years I've run this I've had to stop each time. Looking back to yesterday and Friday, I pretty much grazed steady for a day and a half while at the conference on a variety of food and lots of M&Ms. Not the best pre-race diet. So watch what I eat in the days before CIM and have faith that my body will step up when the race comes. It always has.
I think the "tune up" today was mostly mental, running those last 5 or 6 miles while feeling miserable has got to help get ready for the marathon, where I will be guaranteed to feel miserable for one reason or another for the last miles. It is also, however, a depressing thought as this really wasn't a fun race. And maybe that is something to focus on as well. My training of late has been hard and intense, but it has not been fun. And I'm looking at 3 more weeks of this before I start winding things down.
But I'll figure that out some other time. Kevin Forde (who, for those of you who don't know, is my roomate now) got us hooked up with Direct TV and, although I can now no longer be an anti cable snob, we can waste perfectly good Sunday afternoons watching British Premiership soccer league games. The kids are over as well.
Yes it takes a village. Complete with a friend who teases when the running doesn't stop with the workout, but who I'm betting also realizes this weekend how villages help get you through all kinds of situations. Hang in there.
Now I may have to take a road trip to Boston this Spring.
Zeke also seems to have done well, just under 2:59 (I don't know what his goal time was) and Ryan who hung tough to finish in 4:48. Congrats to both.
As for me, I'll say again that it takes a village to train for a marathon. Was looking to go long (20+ miles) today, and figured I could find some company at the NE Roadrunners 25k (15.5 mile) Marathon Tune Up. This "tune up" starts at Lloyd Hall and unimaginatively takes you up Kelly Dr. and back down West River until you almost do a full loop, and then you turn around and retrace your steps. So its like a big out and back horseshoe. So running out there and back, with this 15.5, would give me about 21 or 22.
Its run like a race, but nobody really runs it at race pace. Most folks running it are using it to prep for their fall marathon. I was pretty much in that boat too. I met up with Duncan at the start and we agreed to run together at a 5:48 pace, which is on course for a 2:33 marathon time. Art Dicola takes off way ahead of us from the start, and Duncan and I work together to crank out steady 5:48s through about the first 10.5 miles. Its not so hard for us that we don't get some conversation in, but the effort definitely increases as the race goes on. After about 8 miles my stomach starts heading south and when a portapotty comes up at about 10.5 I took my leave of Duncan. I resume my running just as Rick McGarry, the fourth place runner, goes by and I hook up with him. I'd done some running with him when I was going up to Bryn Mawr, and we worked together at a more or less steady 5:55 pace. This was a much better pace for me for this race, but my stomach problems were making me feel queasy for my whole time with him. But I just tied a rope around him and hung on. In that position, and in a race like this, it would have been rude to hammer it at the end (and I don't know if I would have got him), so I finished a second behind him for fourth place. My "shit time" (not counting time spent in the porta potty) was 90:38, I missed my official time which will be posted here.
I really felt miserable afterwards, to the point where Kevin Matthews was nice enough to drive me back home and save me from running another three miles. Thanks Kevin, that made a huge difference. I just endured some teasing and had some chicken soup and think I'm feeling a bit better.
Debriefing:
Pace for the 25k averaged to 5:51. This is a bit fast to go out for the marathon, and reinforces my plan to go out at a 6 minute pace. This in itself is a valuable realization.
Find people to work with in the marathon. That made a big difference today as I could not have maintained a sub 6 pace if Rick weren't around.
I've almost definitely overtrained this week. I ran alot of miles hard this week and finished at 76 total miles, which is a bit less than what I was shooting for. But its more a drained feeling, an aching in the lower calves and achilles, and now these GI problems that are warning signs.
I'm not sure what to make of these GI "issues". Could be a problem or could be a non-issue. The three years I've run this I've had to stop each time. Looking back to yesterday and Friday, I pretty much grazed steady for a day and a half while at the conference on a variety of food and lots of M&Ms. Not the best pre-race diet. So watch what I eat in the days before CIM and have faith that my body will step up when the race comes. It always has.
I think the "tune up" today was mostly mental, running those last 5 or 6 miles while feeling miserable has got to help get ready for the marathon, where I will be guaranteed to feel miserable for one reason or another for the last miles. It is also, however, a depressing thought as this really wasn't a fun race. And maybe that is something to focus on as well. My training of late has been hard and intense, but it has not been fun. And I'm looking at 3 more weeks of this before I start winding things down.
But I'll figure that out some other time. Kevin Forde (who, for those of you who don't know, is my roomate now) got us hooked up with Direct TV and, although I can now no longer be an anti cable snob, we can waste perfectly good Sunday afternoons watching British Premiership soccer league games. The kids are over as well.
Yes it takes a village. Complete with a friend who teases when the running doesn't stop with the workout, but who I'm betting also realizes this weekend how villages help get you through all kinds of situations. Hang in there.
posted by seebo | 1:11 PM
1 Comments:
Steve,
I found your site via Duncan. I look forward to following your progress. Oh yeah, if you can, please throw some of Kevin Forde's workouts online. He spanked me by 8 seconds in the 800 this past July, so I'm looking for an edge for 2007!
Good Luck at CIM,
Paul
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