Grandma's Marathon results...

Well, that was fun!
It's Monday, June 20th, and I've had a couple of days to reflect on this weekends marathon...and I have to admit, I'm still kind of on a high!
First, lets talk about the taper.  My Wed.-Fri. before the race went off without a hitch.  75 minutes on the bike on Wed, OFF on Thursday and a quick 4 mile run with strides on Friday...along with a lot of core/lifting and stretching over those 3 days.  Felt great and the feet/legs felt awesome...ready to rumble.


I wasn't able to drive up on Friday, instead I had to leave early Saturday morning, getting to Duluth around 6 a.m.  It actually worked out pretty well, and Mike was nice enough to pick up my race packet seeings how I missed the expo. 


Toeing the line with me on Saturday was Bill, John, Mike and Paul...all ready to rumble.  BANG, and we're off.  Needing to run 3:14:59, we needed to average 7:26 per mile.  Mile 1, 7:31, mile 2, 7:28...7:26, 7:25...and so on.  At 10 miles we were 2 seconds fast...right on plan.  At this point I'm questioning as to why I didn't race it...I felt amazing and the miles were clicking off fast and easy.  But, the plan is the plan.  (...and I have to admit, a lot of my motivation lately is coming from a clown posting on YouTube...it's amazing where one finds motivation...I'm currently being driven by hatred!)
Miles 11-18 are kind of a blur...all the miles were right on, and still pretty easy.  No pains, no aches, no laboring whatsoever....  By the time we hit mile 20, we were down to 3 of us, myself, Paul and Mike, and about 20 seconds slow of plan....time to make up some ground boyz!  Mile 21 we gained 6 seconds, mile 22, another 7 seconds...we ran plan on Lemon Drop and gained another few seconds on mile 24...still feeling great like I could go at any time, we upped the ante a bit and ran 7:06 on mile 25 and cruised in to finish in 3:14:02.  Paul was a few seconds behind us and John and Bill followed us soon after...a great run for all!  Everyone stuck to the plan and finished strong!  Another PR for John (by 5 minutes in 5 weeks), Paul got his 'sub 20' clocking for Boston, Mike ran a 40+ minute PR, and Bill and I beat the 'sub 10' clocking for Boston and also gained All-American status...on a training/pace run!  Post-race, I felt great, though I was really craving a Diet Pepsi :)
Here is my official time:  1:36:59 for the first half/1:37:03 for the second half.  
RESULTS


Sunday, I felt great...core, lifting, my PT workout and a solid stretch.  I feel GREAT!


D

I'm a blog-slacker...

I know, I know...it's been a week since I last posted... Relax people...remember, Rome wasn't built in a day.
I won't go over day by day how the training went over the past week+...my writing is boring enough, but I will touch on the highlights.

Week 3 ending June 4th: 40 miles of running / 4 hours of riding 
Weekly weight - 177.6

I feel like I'm ready to pace at Grandma's.  Again, to pace at 3:15, I need to be in 3:05 shape, and I feel like I am.  The feet are feeling amazing lately...I just need to keep with the PT...who knows what the season has in store for me.  It's exciting to finally start thinking about a race 'schedule' for myself.  Though I do, and always will, lack race specific training for any given period of time/race, but I'd like to run a 50 miler, a track mile, a fast marathon along with a solid CC season this fall...maybe head to CC Nationals with the Run N Fun Race Team? I know there is still a fast mile in there, maybe not another 4:09 or 4:14, but who knows. 

TCM this fall, which again is the Master's Marathon National Championships, is on the radar...but with SO many amazing marathons in the fall, who knows.  Any suggestions?

Highlights over the past week include:
Saturday June 4th:  We all have these runs...8 miles of ugly/slow running.  Ran the horse trails at the State Park where we were camping, in the heat of the day of course...trails were crap, bugs were awful, and it was hotter than poop... Just get 'er done, D!
Tuesday June 7th:  Holy crap was it hot...103!  A quick 6 miles at Lake Elmo...mile 1 in 6:34 (?) and then was able to settle in at 7:20ish pace...felt pretty easy, even after riding 2 hours yesterday.  But crap, it was hot...kind of like Grandma's in 2005, 2007 and 2009... :)
Thursday June 9th:  2 loops at Lake Elmo with David...1st 10K loop in 49:16, 2nd loop in 49:12.  ...and the only reason I mention this run is that it was completely pain free...for the first time in 2+ years!    

13 miles of tempo running with Bill later today...stay tuned :)

Coach D 

Where did that run come from?

My 5 week Grandma's Marathon 'cram' may be paying off...I'm half way through and still running pretty much pain free...surprising after everything my feet have been through over the past couple of years.
Let's first start with Monday...
Monday May 30th:  Still feeling a little sore/tuckered from Saturday's 20 miler, so I went to LifeTime and sat on the bike for an hour and 45 minutes...Z2 ride in aero for at least an hour.  Core and my 'Leslie' routine and a good stretch to finish the day. 
Tuesday May 31st:  If the 5 week 'cram' pays off, I'm going to look back to THIS run as the run that put me over the top.
The plan for the day, 13 miles of easy running at 7:54-8:04 pace on the trails at Lake Elmo Park Reserve...Mile 1, 7:12...Mile 2, 7:13...and so on...6 miles in 43:30 hitting the first 10K loop in 45:10 (7:15 average).  I started loop two hoping to step back a little, but the weather was perfect, music was pumping and I felt strong with a little spring to my step.  Loop 2 Mile 1, 7:02...Mile 3 was run in 6:42 and I hit 4 miles in 28:40...6 miles in 42:02 and finished the second loop in 43:34 (7:00 average)  When I was done, I ran into a buddy and we cooled down together to finish out 13. 
I carried water with me for this run...80 degrees out and super windy over parts of the course...PowerGel at the 10K mark...yummy!
Feet felt pretty good today, more importantly, 'I' felt awesome...and if I had had more time today, I would have done a third loop and upped the ante...maybe Thursday?
I think this sets me up nicely for Grandma's...  To pace at 3:14:59, I need to be in 3:04:59 shape...can that happen in 5 weeks?
Stretched good Tuesday night...and feeling like I'm ready to rumble :)

Coach D

Weekend training...

Here I sit, Monday morning, reflecting on the weekend of training, 3 weeks out of Grandma's...and still on a high from Saturday's 20+ miler.  As many of you know, I'm not a big long-run kind of guy, never have been.  Back in the day when we would rock-out 100+ mile weeks over and over, I never went beyond 16-18, opting for quality over the quantity, so for me to run 20+ miles...it's a big step.

Here is the weekend:

Saturday May 28th:  Decided to roll with the boys this morning as opposed to running solo at Elmo.  Mike took us down to the the River Road...though we weren't on the 'road' for long...when Mike said he found trails, he wasn't kidding.  Up and down, over and over...and mud, over the first 7+ miles before we jumped on a paved bike path.  At 10 we turned around and ran the trails back...most of it done at 7:50-8:00 pace, which felt really easy today.  When we got back we needed to add on 3 miles, so out and back on the bike trail we went, and the last mile was hot...clocking a hair under 6:20, and I could have gone further/faster...felt amazing today (and minimal AT pain!)  Daily total was 20.03 in 2:38:29, or 7:55 pace...a solid run considering the terrain and mud/yuck/obstacle type course...  20 miles, done...

Finished the run with a solid stretch and ice bath...brrrrr. 

Saturday night I also had a kettlebell workout and worked my core pretty hard...feeling good :)

Sunday May 29th:  Today was a scheduled OFF day, though I spent 45 minutes at LifeTime working my upper body, and did core again Sunday night.  3 weeks, baby :)

...now what shoes to wear at Grandma's...the adidas I was going to wear are a filthy mess after Saturday's training run through the mud...Run N Fun here I come!

Coach D

Pacing at Grandma's

What a great day...beautiful weather, an amazing run with Bill this evening...a frozen Jack's pizza for dinner while watching the Mav's...lose...and now I find out that I'll be pacing at Grandma's in a little over 4 weeks.
3:15 will be the time, which means 3:14:59.  Pacing John, which will qualify him for Boston, Bill and I will take turns pulling if windy...and at 3:15, Bill and I will both have the 15 minute "Boston' cushion.
Happy days!

Northern Lakes 30K

What a beautiful morning for a 30K! Nice to say that the race/training run went off without a hitch, hitting my splits pretty much the whole way, and feeling great all the way through...hoping this means good things will happen in Duluth in 3 weeks :)

Race started on time, not a large crowd, but a lot of older guys like myself including Paul Brown, Tom Prentice and Frank Campbell...all tuning up for Grandma's. Hooked up with a buddy Mike Wischmann and talked about working together in hopes of hitting 6:40's. The course was nice for the first 4.5 miles, but at that point we took a left heading North, right into the wind...holy shit. Mike and I took turns breaking the wind for the next couple of miles before he fell back a bit. We were running in 5th and 6th at the time...I passed a runner at 8, on an uphill buckin' the wind (?) and another at mile 10...then Tom and Frank came crankin' past me...wow they looked strong...and then the cat I passed at 8 came past me on a mission (he would go on to finish 3rd)...so there I was, 6th place...for the next 8 miles...all alone...Reiko was nice enough to ride with me some on her bike, but was that ever boring, and hilly, but the wind left us at 10-11 miles. Here are how my splits ended: (18.77 miles according to the Garmin)

1: 6:36

2: 6:37

3: 6:38

4: 6:37

5: 6:34

6: 6:35

7: 6:26

8: 6:39

9: 6:32

10: 6:34

11: 6:31

12: 6:29

13: 6:31

14: 6:47 (Uphill!)

15: 6:35

16: 6:39

17: 6:41

18: 6:32

18.77: 4:56...Finish time of 2:03:26...6th overall/3rd 40-49

OFFICIAL RESULTS

...damn right achilles a little sore post-run...ooops :(

I have a few pics to post as soon as I can figure how to add Flickr to the blog.

Congrats also to Mike, Chuck, Allison, Karl and Amy...nice running!

Derek

Welcome...

Thanks for taking a look at my updated blog. I've taken some time off dealing with a number of injuries, but I'm feeling good and really looking to get things back on track, with hopes of running well this fall...stay tuned. I am signed up for Grandma's Marathon, though with my lack of training over the past 9 months, I'm not sure what's gonna happen. I have set a realistic goal of 2:54:59 for the race, though I could end up finishing anywhere between 2:52 and 3:07. The training has been going well over the past 4-6 weeks, I just don't have a base to run any faster...but for those of you who know me, I'm sure I'll take it out hard...probably too hard, and pay for it on London Road. Grandma's is a USATF-MN team race again this year and I will be running for Run N Fun, though a 2:55 more than likely won't score for the Master's team this year. I will post a race schedule in a couple of days as well as a 'Goal-Post'...realistic and stretch goals for 2009 and beyond! Derek