7 miles in 1:07:33

Weight 221: 7 miles in 1:07:33. I ran with Larry and Bryce.  My PR was 1:05:44 done last year.  I was aiming for a sub 1:09:00 time so I made it.  The pace and speed (9:39 per mile at 6.22 mph) are not bad, considering I felt quite comfortable running this pace…it felt good.   I not tired after this, and my legs (especially my knees) felt good.  The weather was good (60s) and there was a light wind. 

Run breakdown: out and back course, out in 33:50, back in 33:43. Mile by mile (10:26, 9:19, 9:23, 10:07, 9:30, 10:15, 8:33). Last half mile in 3:57.  

 

5 miles in 45:43

Weight 222: 5 miles in 45:43. My PR was 43:44 done last year.  I was aiming for a sub 46:00 time so I made it.  The pace and speed (9:09 per mile at 6.56 mph) are exactly what I need to maintain in order to make a 2 hour half marathon.  I must say that I was very tired after this effort.  The weather was good at 55 degrees, and I was running against wind gusts of 20 on the way back. 

Run breakdown: out and back course, out in 23:29, back in 22:14. Mile by mile (9:36, 9:34, 8:47, 8:53, 8:53). Last half mile in 3:53.  

3 miles 26:34

Weight 222.5.  3 miles, 26:34, out in 12:55 back in 13:39. Mile by mile 8:26, 9:07, 9:01.  50 degrees, slight headwind.  I was disappointed; I was aiming for a sub-25 performance, but I just didn’t have the juice.  I put my iRiver MP3 player on my fast song and ran a high cadence (first half mile in 4:03), but I started to feel it before the first mile marker and while my cadence remained high, my stride length diminished.  Next run will be 5 miles easy tomorrow…aiming for 48 mins or so…

 

Race Report

5:15 marathon!  Okay, so I did not break the 5hr barrier but I did beat my previous marathon finish by nearly 20 minutes!  Larry did 4:55, and this was his first marathon.  Everyone else in the group (Glen, Maricruz, Randy, Fred, Steph) did half marathon…Steph finished in 1:41…wow that is fast.

 

It was windy and cold.  The marathon started on 40^th and went 6 miles south to Oceana blvd, so the wind was behind for the first 10K or so.  Then we turned around and WHHOOOSSSHHHH  we ran against the wind for the next 13 miles.  My IT band in my left leg gave out at mile 16, so I did a lot of walking from that point on…however, there were periods of about 5 to 6 minutes where I could run followed by 1 minute or 2 of walking.  I finished the race with a very strong sprint for the last 400 yards or so.

 

Next event is Chesapeake Bay 10K.  My official PR is 59:51 (Elizabeth River 2003), I figure my PR is probably 57 or so as I was finished a 7 miler in 65 minutes.   My goal her is to do 9 minute miles.  So what is that 55:48?  Yeah…55:48. is the goal.

Getting Ready

I Ran 3 miles today in 31:00. Purpose was just to get legs used to marathon running pace. Hopefully I can break the 5 hr “barrier” this time around, although I have not trained enough. I am a smarter person this time around though so I won’t be pushing to hard at the start

1 week before Marathon

I’ve been running a little.  13 miles on Sun 03/05 in2:24:00;  3 miles on Fri 03/10 in 27:07; 8.2 miles on Sun 03/12 in 1:22:39.  I plan on doing 3 miles on Tue 03/14 and another 3 on Thu.  Both of these run will be at expected marathon pace…so I am aiming for 32:00, which is 10:40 mile pace.  If we (Larry and I) can maintain that pace throughout the marathon we should be able to finish marathon in 5hrs or so.  I am going into this marathon a little bit smarter than I was for my first two.  No matter what, if I am behind pace because of overcrowding, I will still maintain slow pace until crowd thins out a bit.

 

 

Ran 3 miles on Wednesday...

3 Miles on Wednesday. Was supposed to do 5 - 7 today but didn't make it. I may do it tomorrow. I will be running 13 on Sunday, I guess I am trying to cram my mileage in before the Marathon.

Here are the upcoming events that I am looking at this year.

Shamrock Full (March 19)………..…..registered (Larry, I have a feeling that it is going to be cold and windy)

Virginia Duathlon (April 2)……………..Sorry Glenn and Fred…no can do.

Chesapeake Bay 10K (May 6)……….thinking about it Lisa

Independence Day 8K (July 4)………..not registered yet but definitely doing it

TC’s Buckner Farms Half (Aug 13)…..hey, it’s my run…gotta do it!! Rum Punch this year? Maybe J stay tuned!

Rock n Roll Half (September 3)……….registered

Neptune Festival 8K (September 30)….maybe

Richmond Full (November 11)………….ahhh….ummmm….I dunno…we’ll see. Any takers?

Any other events?

Oh yeah, Jennifer…Equi Kids 5k (June 10)….ahhh…maybe

Now about that Rock n’ Roll Half Marathon.

Jennifer, you and I have talked about breaking the 2:00 hr “barrier.”

Larry is all gung ho to do it (we did 2:04 in October on a 13 mile training run, add 1 more minute and that is a 2:05 half marathon!!).

Lisa, we did great together last year when we did 2:12 for Norfolk Half, and you are a faster runner now than you were then.

Randy, we talked about it when we were driving up to Marine Corp Marathon last year

So….LET’S DO IT! Let us commit to a time goal of 2:00 or better this year…we can train for it and do it!. I know with us living in different places we can’t always run together, but I figure we can meet once in a while at the trails and hammer out a few good miles together. Maybe we can do a couple runs after work since we all work in Norfolk…well…not Larry.

So what do you say?

Glenn and Mari, are you going for a time goal this year? You want to aim for 2:00? 6 months away…it is VERY possible.

Okay everyone, keep in touch.

3 mile timed trial...26:53

Weight: 225:  Mile by mile times…8:44, 9:05, 9:04. Out and back…13:19, 13:34. Did 24:30 on Nov 11, 2005.  Started out well, got winded at the turn around point, ended up walking for about 20 seconds after mile #2. Sprinted to the finish (last half mile in 3:42).  I am definitely not in my best shape, but if I can do some good runs over the next 30 days, along with some modifications to diet, it is realistic that I could lose 7 pounds or so.  So…let me go ahead and say it…March 11 is when I expect to weigh 218.

slowly getting back to shape?

Weight 221.  I have lost 2 pounds so far this year….slow, but progress nevertheless. I ran 5 miles on Friday 01/06, 5 miles on Friday 01/13, and 7miles (1:08:47on Tuesday 01/17.  My left knee feels a little sore.  I haven’t taken anything for it yet, but if it persists, then Advil here we come.          .

I have returned

Weight 223.  Well, I gained about 8 pounds of blubber between October 30 and now.  I surely did quite a lot of eating and not a lot 9if any) exercise.  I ran 3 miles on Tuesday 12/28 (Time 29:30 -- was sore for a few days since I hadn’t run in a while), 5 miles on Sunday 01/01 (Time 48:54 – no soreness, but I did need to stop twice to rest), and 3 miles today (time 28:37.  Feeling good.)  So far this year, I have signed up for the following

 

Norfolk Half Marathon………………………..Feb 4

Shamrock Full Marathon…………………….Mar 19

Virginia Beach Rock n Roll Half Marathon…Sep 3

 

I may sign up for Independence 8K in July

 

The marathon definitely has me worried…I am CLEARLY not ready for it. And 9 weeks is not long enough to do a lot of training.  I am not so worried about the half marathon, although it may be challenging to complete.

It has been a while

Weight 219.5.  I have not run in 4 weeks.   My excuse is that I can't seem to find the time, but deep down, I know I could make the time if I really wanted to.  So then, the questin is, why am I not making the time?  I don't know.  Anyway, I intend to run this coming week...

3 mile timed trial in 24:30

Weight 216 (did a lot of eating the past couple days). 3 miles in 24:30, which is faster than I have gone at that distance in a long time (I think i did 22: something a long time ago). Anyway, started pretty fast (for me) with 8:25 on first mile, kept pace for another 8:25 on the second mile, and finished up with 7:40 on the last mile!! I was really pushing at the finish, and was pleased that I had some "leg juice" left to push this big body at that pace. Want to break the 24 min barrier soon at this distance.

NEW 5 mile PR...43:44!!

I did 5 mile timed trial on Tuesday, 22:30 out and 21:14 back! I think that 21:14 back may have been my fastest 2.5 mile split.. Mile by mile breakdown (9:20, 9:00, 8:23, 8:57, 8:04). Weather was perfect at about 65 degrees and a very slight breeze. Felt strong throughout...one day (soon) I will break the 43 min "barrier" at this distance.

Getting back into it

Weight 215. Well, I spent last week just taking it easy and recovering from the lingering soreness. By end of week, i was feeling very good. Ran 7 miles on Sunday with LC in 1:18:05 or so...if you notice, this is considerably slower than we are used to running. We did run/walk after the half way point.