Reflection on 2011

Although Mike's Marathon Blog is long retired, I feel compelled to write a reflection post for 2011 like I did for 2010 (actually, the last blog post I wrote was exactly one year ago this week!)

Last year, my goals for 2011 were:

• Lose the weight. When I weighed in at the gym in January of 2011, the scale showed 182 pounds. I got that down to 166 pounds in early July and I'm now hovering in the 168-170 range. It is definitely progress - not back to the 160 pounds that I was 5 years ago...I'd love to get back to that number, but that would take some serious commitment!
• Stay healthy. In 2010 I suffered from three bouts of respiratory infections/inflammation which ceased my running for 3-4 weeks at a time. In 2011, I started working with a pulmonologist and later in the year an allergist to get to the bottom of the issues. I still had the incidents, but I have decreased the amount of time I'm on the shelf when it happens. For 2012, I will be trying allergy shots to see if I can desensitize my system to the triggers of these events so they don't happen in the first place!
• Run More. This is one goal that I fell short. My total mileage for the year is 552 miles - 21 miles LESS than 2010. Again, the main culprits were travel and health. Although I did have a few stretches of a few 20 mile weeks in a row. It's not marathon mileage, but it is definitely what I need to feel like a runner again.
• Schedule more races. Another goal where I fell short. I ran in two races this year - both low-key races from MCRRC. A 4 mile run on Memorial Day and a 8K run earlier this month. Both were PRs (since I had not raced those distances before!!). However, the pace of these were below my PRs for longer distances, so they're really only PRs by default.
• Schedule more time off from work. This is one where I excelled this year. I ended up teaching Israeli Dancing at a BBYO Leadership Camp for Teens for two weeks this summer, which got me away from my work responsibilities (and many other responsibilities) for about 17 days. I brought Sherry and the kids up for the first 8 days I was there - and it was great having some quality time with them.

Other highlights from 2011:

• My big birthday - I turned 40. I still can't believe it. At times I still feel like I'm 20 and just happen to have a 9 year old and 6 year old in the house (yes...I know the math doesn't make sense there!)
• My Israeli Dance group continues to grow! I am now getting between 40-50 dancers each week at the group and word of the group continues to spread. I actually just started a new blog for the Israeli Dance group at http://markidmike.wordpress.com and a Twitter account @MarkidMike
• My day job at Ericsson also continues to go well. I was extremely busy this year with a huge project in 1H2011 in East TX and a bunch of smaller projects in 2H2011 in Georgia, Mississippi and the Carolinas.

My goals for 2012 are pretty much the same as 2011. I would love to put the commitment in place to get back down to my ideal weight of 160 pounds (my doctor says 150-155 would be ideal for me, but I haven't seen numbers like that since I was 17 years old). I want to find a way to stay healthy - I'm hoping the allergy shots will help with this. If I can keep healthy, then I should be able to run more...I'm going to shoot for 750 miles for the year (14-15 miles per week if I can run every week...see not getting sick!). I would like to run a Half Marathon in the Spring and the Fall (see run more which depends on stay healthy!). Finally, I should be able to take more time from work - I will hit my 19th anniversary of working at Nortel (Ericsson bridged my service from Nortel when they purchased my division), so I will get an extra week of vacation.

One other goal - I want to try running with others more often this year. Running has been a solo venture for me most of the time, but I always enjoy when I run with other people. I'm going to try to run a race or two with my 9 year old son. I would love to run more with Sherry. I may also try to arrange some type of pub crawl / beer run with friends of mine. I don't think I'll ever be one to only run with a group, but I'm hoping more of my runs in 2012 will not be solo.

Happy New Year everyone!!!

Reflection on 2010

Although I officially retired the blog earlier this year, I did mention in my final post that I may still post updates to the blog.

As the end of 2010 draws near, I feel I should reflect on the past year and set some goals for the year ahead.

• In 2010 I ran fewer miles than in 2009, 2008 or 2007. You need to go back to 2006 - when I first started running seriously and trained for my first half marathon - to get a lower mileage total. Right now I have logged 573 miles for the year - and it is doubtful that I will get another run in during the next week as I'm battling a sinus infection.
• Ironically, although I have run fewer miles this year - I set PRs in the 10 mile (1:29:43) and half marathon (2:11:41).
• I travelled more for my job this year than ever before. My project for the first three quarters of the year was based in Souther California - and I spent one week of every month in Irvine. Since September, my projects have been based in East Texas and the group is based in Atlanta - so I have been traveling to Atlanta and Dallas. Traveling messes up any rhythm that I may have for the week (especially when trying to plan for runs). And being away from home has been hard on Sherry and the boys as well (so taking 1 night trips to Atlanta or Dallas - although more difficult on me - seems to be better for the family)
• With business travel comes business lunches, dinners and happy hours. Which means more food (and beer) than I would normally consume. Which is why I'm about 15 pounds heavier now than I was when I crossed the finish line of the NY Marathon in November 2009.
• Another contributor to the lower mileage is health. Luckily I had no running injuries during 2010. However, I have had three nasty sinus infections - all which have taken two rounds of antibiotics to treat. Once the congestion moves into my chest, it is not a good idea to run - so I have missed 3-4 week chunks of running...and then having to spend a few weeks to ramp back up again.
• In my other hobby, my Israeli Dance group has really grown in 2010 as well. I now get around 35 dancers every week and people stay later. As a result I'm out later every Tuesday night - which makes a morning run on Tuesday morning and Wednesday morning a lot more difficult.
• In 2010 I had some nice vacation time as well. Sherry and I got away for our 15th Anniversary - to a resort spa in the mountains of Pennsylvania for two nights. Then in October we all went on a Disney cruise with my parents and sister and her family. We also took some trips to visit family and friends for B'nai Mitzvahs and Weddings (two trips to Michigan, one to Connecticut and I extended a business trip to stay in Dallas)

As you can see, 2010 was definitely a year of great achievements coupled with some tough challenges.

I haven't set all of my goals for 2011 yet, however, here are a few main goals:

• Lose the weight. Gaining 15 pounds in one year is way too much...I have to get this back to where I was in 2009.
• Stay healthy. I'm going to get a CT scan of my sinuses in the next few weeks and I may go to an ENT. Three sinus infections in one year? That HAS to stop!
• Run more. This will definitely help goal #1 and I'll be able to do this if I achieve goal #2. I don't necessarily need to hit 1,000 miles next year - but somewhere around 750 would be nice.
• Schedule some races. I would like to schedule at least 2 half marathons and perhaps a fall full marathon (maybe Marine Corps??) I loved the 10 mile distance too. Perhaps with all the traveling I'm doing and not having as much time to run long, I should focus on running shorter races and develop more speed. Either way, I need to race a bit more in 2011 to keep my motivation up.
• Schedule more time off from work. With the exception of the two main vacation I took (one for 2 work days and one for 3 work days), I really did not take much vacation time to relax and spend quality time with my family. I need to do more of this (and run more while on vacation!)

I'm sure I'll think of more as the next week goes on, but these are the main goals.

2011 will be a big year for me with a milestone birthday (ends in a zero...). Let's hope my age isn't the only milestone I have to celebrate!

Finally A Morning Run!

As this week progressed, I have felt a lot better when waking up in the morning. It looks like this infection is finally behind me!

This morning I got up early and hit the gym for a run. It's been too long since I've been able to utter those words...and even though the clock had a 5 as the first number when I left the house, it felt wonderful!!

The run itself wasn't that wonderful. After running on the harder side on Monday and Wednesday, I felt I needed a controlled easy run. My Garmin was now working (yes...it was the USB port that I was using did not power it up properly), so I could monitor my heart rate.

I ended up having to keep my pace in the 11:30/mile range to keep my heart rate low enough to constitute an easy run. It's almost painful to go that slow, but I know it is best for me right now.

The good news about all of this - I have now run 3 times this week for a total of 9.5 miles. That's more than my totals for the last 3 weeks. And I'm planning to get one more run in some time this weekend.

Earlier this week I laid out some goals. Well, I have hit 2 out of the 3. I have run 3 times (and potentially 4 if I get a weekend run). I have started the Hundred Push-Ups program. I'm on Week 3, Column 3. I managed to do a total of 78 push-ups on Tuesday and 97 push-ups on Thursday. Again, I'll try to do one more set this weekend.

The one goal I did not get to is counting calories. I have watched what I have been eating to some extent, but I know that my portions are still way too big. At least I'm now doing something to burn off the extra calories I'm consuming. I'll see how my weight is on Monday...if it's going up still I'll probably start counting calories on Monday (yeah, right!)

I Need to Finally Get Things Started

February is almost over and I haven't even logged 100 miles for the year. Heck...I was logging 100-150 miles a month during marathon training and I have a measly 98 miles over the first seven weeks of 2010.

I don't want to take on more than I can chew, but this is the week I need to get things started again. I'm going to the doctor for bloodwork (i.e. my cholesterol checkup) in three weeks...so far in 2010 not only has my running been lacking, but my diet has gone out the window too.

So...starting this week I will try to: a) count calories again b) run at least 3 times (and hopefully 4 times) this week and c) start the 100 push up challenge (my initial test tonight was 31 push-ups...not too bad!)

Even if I can stick to one of the above three for more than two consecutive weeks, I should be in much better shape.

First Post Of 2010!

Last week I reflected on 2009 - and what a great year it was! I hope that 2010 can prove to be as successful as last year...but even if I accomplish half of what I did last year it will still be a wonderful year.

My final mileage count for 2009 was 1,047 miles. Of course I take a look at that and say to myself, "Why couldn't I just go for a short 3 miler on Dec 31 to get it to 1,050???"

Another accomplishment from 2009 came in the form of weight management. I started out the year at 172 pounds. On Jan 1 of 2010 I weighed in at 168. I'm still not where my doctor wants me to be (between 155 and 160), but it's nice to see the downward trend - especially AFTER the holidays are over!

I really have no motivation right now to get those last 10 pounds off. I know how to do it (I was very successful using this approach), it's just that I have no interest in counting calories right now. Anyone have some spare motivation for me out there????

Despite the yucky, cold, windy, icy conditions so far this year, I have been running. It's just that I have only been running inside so far. I have logged 16 miles in 2010 - a 4.5 miler on Jan 1, a 7.5 miler on Jan 2 (yes...7.5 miles on the treadmill - UGH!) and a 4 miler this morning. One of these days I'll toughen up and run outside...probably when the wind isn't gusting over 20 mph.

I still haven't set my goals for the new year yet. I'd like to log over 1,000 miles again, but with no full marathon I'm not sure I'll be able to do it. I'm going to have to be super consistent to get there. As soon as I get my goals together I will definitely share...

Reflecting On 2009

Most of the blogs I read have already done a "reflecting on the past year" post... 'Tis the season, right?

I took a look back at last year's entry on Dec 31. I had just finished quite an amazing year with many feats in running - both in conquering the marathon distance for the first time along with setting some new PRs. But as amazing as 2008 was, 2009 really blew it out of the water:

• I finally surpassed the 1,000 mile marker for the year. Last year I fell 30 miles short and couldn't make it up during December due to falling ill with bronchitis during the last two weeks.
• Actually, 2009 was quite a healthy year for me. No real injuries (some hamstring pain after the NY Marathon, but I dealt with that much better this year). I had a few colds, but nothing longer than a week.
• I ran my second marathon - the NY Marathon on November 1. I ran this as part of Team Run To Remember, in memory of my Nana. I raised close to $6,000 (there's still time to donate here so you can rack up those charitable donations and reduce your tax burden!!!) and met some really great people in the process.
• For the first time, I started running with other people on a more regular basis. I started by going up to New York for a few of the team runs and then found a few running friends in the area to do some long runs with. Although 80-90% of my runs are still solo, I do enjoy running with others when we can schedule it.
• I ran my first race with my wife Sherry - the Rockville Twilight 8K. Again, going with the running with other people theme, I hope to continue to run a few races with Sherry!
• I set new PRs in the marathon, half marathon and 10K (alright...maybe 6 miles), and during the 10K I also ran a faster 5K and mile splits than my previous PRs in those distances.
• In blogging, I have expanded my audience by linking my blog feed and my RunningAhead log to Facebook. I love having more people reading the blog and following my progress, however, sometimes it's a bit cumbersome to read comments in two places.
• At work, I launched my largest project to date and started another project that will last at least 4 to 5 months. Oh...my company filed for bankruptcy in January, my division was bought out in August and I am now working for a new company.

There may be other accomplishments in 2009 that I may not have mentioned...I guess I have a few more days to remember them and throw them in the blog :-)

I also need to start thinking about goals for 2010. There are two things that I'm pretty sure about: a) NO FULL MARATHON in 2010 and b) I will be running the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler as I received a spot in their lottery.

Back To The 20 Mile Week

My normal "base training" while not focusing on a particular race has been a 20 mile week. I usually run 4 times a week - 3 weekday runs of 3-5 miles and a longer weekend run in the 6-10 mile range.

Since the marathon, I haven't had a 20 mile week yet. First it was due to recovery and then it was due to time constraints.

This past week had its fair share of time constraint issues, but I was able to squeeze in runs where I could and I logged 21 miles over five runs. Hooray!

These runs included slipping out for a 4.5 mile run on Thanksgiving morning after the turkey was in the oven, meeting up with a friend that I went to high school and UofM with (neither of us were runners back then and we only reconnected when he searched for descriptions of the Turkey Chase and found my blog!), and a short Sunday morning run.

Sunday's run was chilly - about 31 degrees. It was my first sub-freezing run of the season. I wore running tights, a heavier long sleeve shirt and a beanie...winter is a-coming! I didn't want to run long because I traveled later that afternoon to Irvine, CA for work. I left my house at around 12:30pm Eastern and finally arrived at my hotel around 11:30pm Pacific - 14 hours door to door. Yuck.

However, when I walked out of my hotel this morning I saw how beautiful the weather was. I am so psyched to run out here!!!

BTW...if you take a look over on my training log, I have now logged 978.9 miles for the year. If I repeat last week's 21.1 miles, I will hit my 1,000 mile goal! Woo hoo!!!

800 Miles!

After today's tempo run, I now have hit 800 miles for the year! (801.1 to be exact...)

I'm about 35 miles ahead of pace for 1,000 miles for the year. Even with the upcoming taper and rest period after the marathon, I think I still may be able to achieve the goal this year that I was not able to hit last year...

18 Mile Long Run / Parks Half Marathon

For my 18 mile run today, I parked 5 miles from the start of the Parks Half Marathon, ran to the starting line and then ran the race.

My plan was to treat this as a marathon pace run. A little faster than a long run, but slower than I would normally run a Half Marathon. My target pace was 10:40/mile - which corresponds to a 4:40 marathon.

I set my alarm for 5:15am, but thanks to my younger son, I didn't need to rely on the alarm. He came into our room at 4:45am needing to go to the bathroom (which he can do on his own, but for some reason likes to wake us up in the middle of the night anyway...). I decided to get out of bed then and get an earlier start. I got into my running gear (including my UofM Alumni tech shirt - which was a great conversation piece during the run, especially after our big win over Notre Dame yesterday...GO BLUE!), made some instant coffee, went to the bathroom (the reason for the coffee, right?), ate a pre-run banana and headed out to my car. As I left my door, I saw a brightly shining moon and Orion up in the night sky....beautiful!

I parked at the Rio shopping center. As I was pulling into the Kohl's parking lot, I saw someone walking on the sidewalk in shorts and a t-shirt. Another crazy runner, I thought. However, I soon realized that this guy was actually heading home for the night - not heading out for the morning like me. Oy!

Since I was wanting to watch my pace today, I changed my Garmin main screen from 3 fields to 4 - adding average pace to my normal trio of elapsed time, current HR and distance. Later on I found out that by doing this, the elapsed time will only show HR:MIN and not HR:MIN:SEC when you go over 1 hour. It shouldn't really be that big of a deal, but I'm just so used to seeing the seconds on my elapsed time. If it continues to bother me, I may have to just leave average pace off the main screen and make myself hit the up button to see it on the next one. I'll need to make this decision in the next few weeks - I don't want to tinker with this during the NY Marathon.

I started my run - nice and easy. Average HR for the first three miles were 137, 138, 138 (the other two miles were 145 and 144, so they weren't so bad either). The Garmin showed an average pace over the 5 miles of 10:40...perfect! Except later on, when I downloaded my stats into RunningAhead, it shows my pace as 10:42/mile. Not such a biggie, but I'm started to get a bit frustrated about the accuracy of the Garmin....especially when I am using it to keep me on the right pace to reach my goal!

A few comments about the early run - it was definitely dark, and there were some areas that were not well lit (and one point where the sidewalk goes into the woods for a bit - woods where I know coyotes have been seen). I must say, I like running early in the morning, but I'm not such a fan of running in the dark alone.

The other thing is that although the coffee had it's desired affect before leaving home (and thus, not needing to use the port-a-john while on my run), it also gave me some pretty bad acid reflux. I was hoping this would go away at some point, but I was still feeling it towards the end of the half marathon as well.

I got to the starting line of the Parks HM about 25 minutes before the start. I bumped into a few people I knew - my running buddy from last week's 17 mile long run - HH - two "virtual" running buddies from RunningAhead who I knew would be at this race - Trent and Jellyfish - and my sister who was running her second half marathon.

I lined up with my sister and we left in the wave that was for the 10:00/mile and slower group, which started at 7:06am. I ran the first mile with my sister - hitting another 10:40 pace and average HR of 141. Mile 2 started to get downhill and I was trying to not get boxed in the crowd, so my pace was much faster - 9:50. After that, I made myself slow down and got into a rhythm.

I pretty much ran this race on feel - I was trying to watch my pace and HR, but didn't pay too much attention. At the half-way mark, my average pace was around 10:30/mile and my HR was in the high 150s. But I felt really good.

I actually felt so good, that around mile 9 or so, I was still chipper as ever while thanking the volunteers for volunteering for the race. One of the other runners made a comment that I was in way too good of a mood this far into the race! I ended up speaking to her for the next mile and a half - she was starting to get really tired and needed a little push to keep her going (or at least someone to speak to and keep her mind off of how much she likely wanted to stop...).

By the time we got to the last 2 miles - on the gravel Georgetown Branch Trail - I was still feeling really good. My average pace was at 10:39/mile - and even though I had already run 16 miles that morning, I felt that I had enough in the tank to put it into a higher gear and go. The Garmin shows that I ran the last two miles in 18:32, but it did lose the satellite while under the Air Rights tunnel so that may have messed up the distance part of the calculation (actually, it shows I did mile 13 in 8:04 - which I'm sure is not right). Either way, I was able to finish up strong with a chip time of 2:18:59.

Later on that morning (after showering and changing of course!) I met up with Trent and Jellyfish at the Silver Diner for brunch. It was nice to meet these folks in person and hear their running stories. Their take was that if I was able to run this course in less than 2:20 - and after running 5 miles already - that I should have no issues running a 4:40 in New York. The NY marathon is flatter and the weather will be cooler. However, I definitely need to ensure that I pace myself well - as it is in any longer distance race, if you go out too fast you are doomed at the end.

In summary - it was a great run capping off a week where my runs didn't feel so great. Still, I had my highest mileage week of the year - close to 37 miles - and I have two more really high mileage weeks before the marathon. I'm getting more confident that I will be able to reach my goals in New York - running a more balanced marathon and running it in 4:40.

8 Miles of Yasso 800s!

For my mid-week long-er run / speedwork session today, I decided on Yasso 800s.

Since the workout was 8 miles, I did 9 reps of these half-mile intervals on the treadmill. I set my recovery speed for 5.4 mph (about an 11:00/mile pace) and my run speed for 6.4 mph - a 9:22/mile pace which is equivalent to 4:41 for the half-mile (and in the theory of the Yasso 800 workout a 4:40 marathon).

It was a piece of cake!

It almost made me think that perhaps I'm setting my sites too low for a 4:40 time...should I aim for a better time?

On the other hand, a 4:40 would still be shaving 20 minutes off of my previous marathon time - almost 1 minute per mile off the average pace. That's a big improvement right there.

Also, I need to realize that I will have some great workouts and some not-so-great workouts. Don't rearrange my entire plan just because this workout was great (remember, I could barely run 7 miles during a long run three weeks ago...).

I'm not sure why I had such a great workout. It couldn't have been the weather (which I give credit for yesterday's great run) since I was running inside. Perhaps it was the music - Beethoven's 9th Symphony and then the beginning of Beethoven's 5th Symphony. Or perhaps my conditioning is just getting better as my miles ramp up.

While on the treadmill, my prospective running partner for this weekend's long run hopped on the treadmill next to me for a few minutes. Our plan - to run the Capital Crescent Trail from Bethesda into DC and back on Saturday morning. It looks to be a 16.5 mile run...if we're feeling good, perhaps we'll add an additional half mile on the streets of Bethesda to make 17 even!

Reflecting Back On A Very Successful Year!

OK...being that I still have this cold and never got out to run after I hit 970 miles for the year, I must say that I've been quite bummed out over the past week.  However, looking back on 2008 as a whole, I see that all around it was a very successful year.

On the running front, I ran my first marathon and set new personal bests for 1 mile, 5K and total miles run in one year.  On the work front, I have been managing my largest project ever and have received positive feedback about how I'm doing.  Things are also going really well with my family - we just returned from a trip to NY and NJ where we saw all of my first cousins and their kids which was really great.

Looking ahead, I'm still trying to formulate my goals - and running schedule - for 2009.  I don't think there's another full marathon in 2009 for me.  I'll likely focus on the Half Marathon distance - try to first do a sub-2:10 and then maybe stretch to a sub 2:00.  I was thinking of putting the National Half Marathon on March 21 on my calendar, but it's $70 ($85 if I sign up after tomorrow).  OUCH!  That's pricey!  So I may be looking out for less expensive options (I believe there is one in Annapolis around the same time which was about $50 last year).

Over the next week or so I'll try to get my goals figured out (and published in the blog, so that there's some accountability...).  In the meantime, I'll enjoy New Year's Eve!!!

Happy New Year's everyone!!!

Cold Settling In

My cold has lingered for a few days and it is now settling into my chest.  Grrrrrr.  Just what I needed - NOT!

Anyhow, if it is any consolation, I wasn't going to be getting a run in over the next few days anyhow.  We're heading up to the NY/NJ area to visit some family and I wasn't going to be bringing my running gear this time around.

However, this brings the number of non-running days to six in a row.  By the time I get a chance to run again it will be nine days off.

This also means that I will not be making my 1,000 mile goal for the year (unless I go for a 30 miler on Dec 31 - very doubtful).  I'm actually OK with not achieving this goal.  Last year I ran 600 miles for the year (my best ever) so hitting 970 definitely is nothing to cry about.  Plus, I didn't set the 1,000 mile goal until July.   Out of the 5 mid-year goals I set, I achieved 3 of them (5K PR of 25:17, ran 2 Half Marathons, enjoyed running).  I did not run a sub 2:11 half marathon (one of my HMs was more of a training run and the other was too humid for me to finish at that pace) and now I did not hit the 1,000 mile mark.

So...I think I know what two of my goals for next year will be!

I am also thinking about trying to train and run with either my son (he's 6 years old but has shown interest in running) or my dad (he's a 62 year old smoker who is in decent shape by playing golf and tennis...I'm kinda thinking that perhaps having him start with running will help him quit the smoking habit) for a 5K.  We'll see if I can convince either of them - or BOTH!

Giving Up On The Goal?

1,000 miles for the year is actually still in reach. I have 30 miles to go - that's a little more than 3 miles a day...no problem, right? (OK, we're heading to NY/NJ for a few days to visit family, so I most likely will not be able to run on those days...sweaty running gear doesn't travel well...).

Things at work have been uber hectic, so I have not been getting enough sleep. I felt really run down this weekend (yet still dragged myself to run 5 miles yesterday morning) and this morning I woke up with a scratchy throat. I know that I need to take it easy.

So, I'm not going to push myself to just get to the 1,000 mile goal right now. If I feel better tomorrow, then I might get back on the program - but for now, I need to rest.

I did get some good (and surprising) news this morning. Amid a week full of eating out, eating latkes and donuts, skipping a meal and then eating too much to compensate and tons of other weight-conscious no-no's, I thought my weight would have gone up again this week. Instead, it went down by the pound and a half that the scale showed I put on last week. I'm back to 168.5. Thanks goodness the 170 I saw last week was just a one-week spike.

Ten Mile Morning Run = 30 Mile Week = Rabbit Caught!!

I did a ten mile long run this morning - the loop from my neighborhood to Fallsgrove and back.  It was a cold run again - average temperature during the run was about 27 degrees with wind chills about 5 degrees colder.  BRRRRR.

10.53 miles.  1:52:37.  10:42/mile pace at 151 avg HR (again I had some early false readings, but these cleared up after a mile).

The run put me at 30 miles for the week.  I hadn't done that since marathon week in May - WOW!

Best of all, I caught up to the 1,000 pace bunny (I'm username "foxeygoblue").  Rabbit caught.  Now I just need to keep that critter in my rear view mirror.

It's Frickin' Cold Out There!

Yesterday's Net Calories:  1,985

After yesterday's predicament, I decided to do a longer long run - in the 12 to 14 mile range.  I decided that I hadn't done a really long run like this in a while and I should do it on a morning that wasn't rainy/snowy/icy.

Last night I checked the weather forecast.  Overnight low of 18 degrees.  BRRRRRRR.  I thought that it would probably be in the mid-20s when I first went out to run, so I laid out my Mizuno BreathThermo long sleeve top, running jacket, running tights, and since it would dark out when I started my run - my reflector vest and my day-glow yellow running gloves.  I also laid out my Amphipod water belt with a few packs of GU, some cash and my cell phone.

For some reason I didn't sleep too well last night.  I ended up waking up a few times and looking at the clock to see if it was time to go on my run yet.  Finally 5:30am rolled around and I got out of bed and ready for my run.

During the first few minutes of my run, I felt COLD.  Toes and fingers were freezing up a bit.  I thought that perhaps I should have worn one of my other pairs of running gloves that are a bit thicker and warmer.  However, after about 15 minutes my toes and fingers had warmed up - as usual.

On the route that I took, there were three different turns that I could turn which would make the run either 12.3, 13.5 or 13.8 miles.  As I was chugging up Great Seneca Highway - about 4 miles into my run - I decided to take the first turn and make this a 12.3 miler.  It was definitely cold outside and I remembered that the last time I had run 13 miles was during the Parks Half Marathon in September...and due to the humidity I did not run all 13 miles.  I wondered when the last time I actually had run this distance was (I just checked my running log - the last time I ran 13 miles was at the Riley's Rumble Half Marathon in July...I walked the big hills on that run, and before that was at the Frederick Marathon in May!)

It ended up being a good idea to only have done the 12.3 miler, as I was to find out...

I had started to drink water from one of the three water bottles on my water belt, and as the water level in that bottle went down, the water that was at the top started to freeze.  The ice at the top of the bottle made it tough to drink from.  I wonder what runners up North do to keep this from happening?  Put salt in the water?  Perhaps Gatorade has a lower freezing point than water?

However, the thing I was not prepared for was that about 7 miles into my run my fingers started getting cold again.  YIKES!  Normally, when I go for a run on a cold day my fingers will be cold initially but then they'll warm up and I'll be fine for the rest of the run.  I don't ever remember my fingers chilling up again.  I really thought I was going to get frostbite and again I wished I had worn my thicker, warmer gloves.  I kept alternating between wrapping my fingers around my thumbs to warm my thumbs and making a fist and closing my thumb over my fingers to warm up my fingers.  I had even considered calling Sherry to come and pick me up and drive me home...  Then I remembered a passage that I had read recently about the mental side of running - that we are capable of doing more than we think we can.  So, I was convinced that I could make it home - frostbitten hands or not.

At one point I looked at my hands - and saw the thumbholes at the end of the sleeves on my running jacket.  I never got the whole thumbhole thing.  I mean - it's my fingers that always get cold...what good will thumbholes do?  My fingers will still be exposed to the cold, right.  While I was looking at the thumbholes, though, the idea hit me - pull the sleeves of my jacket OVER your clenched fists.  I did this and within minutes my fingers started to warm up again.  HOORAY!!

By this time it was an hour and 45 minutes into my run already, and I realized that I had not consumed any of the GU I brought along.  I usually take one about an hour into my run, but I had forgotten at that point - and then I had to deal with freezing water and near frostbitten fingers.  I took a GU packet and put it in my hand (which was still in my sleeve) to try and warm the thing up.  After a few minutes I finally ate the GU - even with warming it up a bit, it still had a near-solid consistency.  It was very weird.

I went to wash the GU down with water.  The water in the water bottle I had already started drinking from had turned to ice.  I swapped it with one of the other water bottles and popped the top up.  No water came out.  UGH!!!  I stopped and unscrewed the top from the bottle - water had frozen at the top and blocked the pop top!

When I finally got home, I really wanted to know just how cold it was during my run.  The temperatures ranged from 17 to 19 degrees while I was out for my run.  Once again, BRRRRRRR.  No wonder I had so many issues!

Final stats:  12.27 miles, 2:15:45 - 11:04/mile pace.  155 bpm avg HR.

This now puts me only 5 miles behind the 1,000 mile pace bunny.  Watch out you rascally rabbit!

To Chase The Goal, Or Just To Enjoy???

Yesterday's Total Calorie Intake: 2,308

(Exercise Calories: 665)

Total Net Calories: 1,653

Today is a scheduled rest day and tomorrow will be my weekly long run.  However, I'm torn about how long I should run tomorrow.

The weather will be cold - but no rain and little wind - so I will be able to run outside, which means I can basically run as long as I want without getting bored out of my wits (I can only last about an hour on a treadmill - not much longer than that).  So weather will not be a limiting factor to how far I run.

Over the past few weeks I have had "long" runs of 7 miles, two weeks of no long run (bronchitis), 10 miles and 9 miles.  Conventional wisdom would tell me not to run longer than 10 miles for another week or two.  However, I'm thinking of running 12 to 14.

And I know why.  It's the darn 1,000 mile goal staring at me.

I'm currently 15 miles behind pace for 1,000 miles for the year.  (Tables showing mileage vs. the "pace bunny" can be found here...this is for people who are tracking their mileage on RunningAhead.com and who have subscribed to the User Forums for the Pace Groups...).

If I was far away from the goal, I wouldn't really push myself to get there.  But I'm so close.  I want to catch up.

So, I'm thinking of waking up a bit earlier tomorrow and heading in the direction of my 12 mile, and 14 mile loops - instead of the opposite direction for a 9 mile or 10 miler.

Should I chase the goal?  Or just go out and enjoy running during the last three weeks of the year and not stress about whether I'm going to hit 1,000???

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I also did my last set of push-ups for the week.  The plan calls for sets of 22, 30, 20, 20 and at least 28.  I did 22, 20, 20, 20 and 20.  It was 18 less than the plan called for, but it was still 102 push ups!  That's my first time over 100!!!!  So although I didn't do all of the push ups on the plan, it's hard to not get excited about doing over 100 for the first time.

Shabbat Morning Run - Back In The Groove

Total Net Calorie Intake:  ???

Before I get into running details, I gotta come clean on the calorie counting.  There was none over the past two days.  And I'm OK with that - it was Thanksgiving, right?  I actually don't think I fared too bad on Thursday.  I started out by burning 700 calories during the 10K (and probably 100 more doing 99 push-ups) and then didn't eat too much until the evening feast (where I surely made up for lost time).  Yesterday was the usual festive Shabbat dinner, Thanksgiving style :-)  I'm sure that the past two days threw me off a bit, but I'll go back to the calorie counting and everything will be fine.

This morning I went out for an easy Shabbat morning run.  The run was the longest I have done in a few weeks - 7.3 miles - but definitely not a "long run" by standards set earlier in the year.  I had contemplated going longer, but that would have meant leaving the house earlier (and thus getting out of bed earlier) and carrying water with me - two things I did not want to do today.  So I settled on the 7 miler instead of the 9 or 10.

I checked the weather this morning before leaving the house.  26 degrees.  BRRRRRR.  At least I didn't have to wait around for 45 minutes before running, like I did at Thursday morning's race.  There was virtually no wind, which made it bearable.  As usual, the first two miles were tough and cold, however, I was comfortable the rest of the way.  Also as usual, the cold weather made me run a bit faster than I wanted - I guess this is how my body responds as it wants to warm up faster.  My average HR was 156 over the 1:18:35.

The 7.3 miles brought my weekly total to 21.9 miles.  My yearly total is now 899 miles!  This is way more than I have ever run in a year - which is good news.  On the flip side, I have fallen behind the 1,000 mile "pace bunny" due to the week and a half I didn't run with bronchitis and the "ick-ies".  I'm about 13 miles behind pace to finish off with 1,000 miles, which means I'll have to average around 24 miles per week to get to the 1,000 mile goal by December 31.  It is definitely within my reach - I just need to really want it.

To get there, I will really need to make my weekend long runs longer - which means waking up earlier, wearing my water belt and running in the dark for a portion of my run.  I may also have to have some more flexibility due to the weather getting crappier by the day.  And some of these runs may have to be on the dreadmill.

As much as I would really like to reach this goal, if I don't make it I won't be depressed.  I believe that I'll be close to this mileage again in future years - especially in those where I'll run another marathon.  Plus, the main goal for me this year was to finish a 26.2 mile race - and that has been achieved!

So, I won't be pushing myself through sickness and fatigue to reach 1,000.  However, if I'm at 990 miles by December 30, you can bet I'll go out for a 10 miler on December 31!

Four Miles and What's Next???

This morning I finally got out the door at 7am for a run.  The neighborhood loop that I run I can do either 4 miles, 5.5 miles, 6.5 miles or 7.5 miles - depending on where I re-enter my neighborhood.  So I went out this morning and decided that I'll make the run as long or short as need be, depending on how I felt.  Well...I only did the 4 miles.  I didn't feel horrible - or injured (thank goodness) - however, I didn't feel great either.  It could have been the two pints of Hoegaarden during last night's dinner, or the fact that I'm not drinking enough water lately, or the fact that I didn't take a pre-run GU, or that I was just tired from not sleeping enough, or the fact that it was really humid - but I just didn't want to continue my run.  So I took the turn to make it a 4 miler and that was that.

As I was finishing my run, my thoughts turned to the fact that I don't have a definitive running goal right now.  I have a few races on my calendar - but I'm not really training for them, per se.  I'm going to mull over it during the next week as to what I want my goal to be.  Here are a few potential goals:

• Train for a sub-2:11 half marathon (2:11 is a 10min/mile pace and my race PR is 2:16)
• Train for a new 5K PR (my current 5K PR is 26:21, but I haven't run a sub-28min 5K in 2 years)
• Run 2 (or 3) half marathons between now and the end of the year 
• Hit 1,000 miles for the year
• Just run to enjoy it

I believe that if I choose either of the first three goals, I'll reach the fourth one.  I'm already on pace for 1,000 miles for the year, but the pace bunny is slowly creeping up behind me (I'm foxeygoblue - and only 26 miles ahead of Mr. Bunny on the 1,000 mile chart right now)

The 5K option wasn't even on the radar until I read an article in last month's Runner's World.  There is an 8 week program for a faster 5K that looked pretty interesting.  The nice thing about training for a 5K is that the mileage doesn't have to be so high.  And my community's 5K race is only 8 weeks away - hmmm....

What's Next???

I've gotten a few questions about what is next - from a running and blogging perspective.

Now that I have met my goal of finishing a marathon, it's time to re-evaluate and set new goals.  Perhaps I'll set goals around new PR times for shorter race distances - sub-25 min 5K?, sub-54 min 10K?, sub 2:10 half marathon?  Maybe I'll try to run with others more and make it more of a social hobby for me?  Perhaps it's a goal for yearly mileage (I'm on pace to reach 1,000 miles for the year...that would be pretty cool, eh?)

I'm not sure what I'll be doing yet.  However, I'm pretty sure there will be no more 2008 marathons for me :-)

I have a few half marathons on my radar:  Riley's Rumble (July 27) is one that I have run the last two years and I ran the Parks Half Marathon (September 14) last year.  Both of these are doable schedule wise.  Perhaps I'll try a larger one later in the year that coincides with a Marathon????  We'll see.

On the blogging side, there is also some uncertainty.  I'm pretty sure I'll keep the blog active and keep it focused on my running.  Again...we'll see.

Stay tuned!

Another Marathon?

Earlier this year, I had placed on my Outlook Calendar at work a note that registration for the Marine Corps Marathon opens today at noon.  This is the largest marathon in the DC area - it is held in October, but registration is now and normally fills up in a few hours.

In January, when I put this note on my calendar, I was thinking that perhaps I'll really be into my marathon training and I'll want to run TWO of them this year.  I didn't want to miss the boat on registering for this one.

As much as I have liked my marathon training - and I believe that this weekend's race will not be my last marathon - I don't think I'll be running another full marathon this calendar year.  I have found that marathon training takes TONS of focus and commitment (and time), and I'll need to get back to putting this focus, commitment and time back into my family and work.

So....I will not be signing up for the MCM later today, and I don't feel sad about it in the least.

Once this weekend is over, I will definitely re-evaluate my running goals for the end of the year, as my #1 goal of running a marathon will be checked off.  However, running marathon #2 will not be one of those goals for 2008.