The big apple

I arrived last night here in the big apple. After a very bad sleeping experience in a terrible 240 dollar a night room, I am ready for a nap. I ran about 6 easy in the park 4 blocks from our hotel. It is hilly. Similar to what I thought it would be. The park was busy with runners and bikers. It isn't as big as I thought it would be. So the laps should go by quickly. I am thinking of adjusting my pace and possilby going out easier in hopes of really coming on in the end. Now that I am here I am feeling more and more like this is my sort of course for this situation. I am not running for time so this will be a good all out fight for us b guys. Times will be slower than prs that is for sure. There is one noteable hill on what I think is the very north end of the park. But you get to also ride down it. May or may not go down to the stock exchange. I am looking for a good solid nap today which may be the only priority.

Legs are slowly coming around. Today I just wanted to check out the course so my effort wasn't really an issue. I will attempt to get some good fast strides at the park tomorrow to wake the legs. So off to a shower and nap. I have internet access in my room so I will post each of the next two days. Keep the emails coming...I am bored.

6 miles in the dark

Depletion is going well. I haven't been this strict ever. We will see. I snatched a quick bite of a poptart this morning. Carrie grabbed the plate out of my hand and threw it away.

I sit here at my computer with tears streaming down my checks. I often wonder why me? I have had an overwelming amount of support here at home. It reminds me of the time I qualified last oct 22. As I walked away from the finish area I felt this sort of hop in my stride. Yeah even after 26.2 at 5:20 something pace. This was for me I kept saying to myself. This is all mine. I didn't turn my cell phone on until I was well out of chicago. This was for me. WOW was I wrong. This was for everyone who knows me. For a guy in Canada who knows someone in mantorville. For someone in California who read the Runners world article. And countless others who I will never meet. So here I sit after reading so many emails this morning. Way overwelmed by emotion. Thanks to the fellas for being there. I will be cruising through central park wishing you could feel what I have felt and what I will feeling. Thank you.

Depletion again

30 this morning and perfect. I started off running low 6s today. The second part of the depletion. My body is very hungry for any sort of carbs. No sugar yet. I had a small bite of ice cream and a small drink of gatorade. I haven't been this strict as far as depletions go. I have one day left. Mood was down and a bit unsettled coming off the run today. I felt terrible and didn't really push anything. I finished with 9 miles and most of it being at a relaxed pace. 79 miles for the week. Feels like I didn't even run. This is the first week in a long time I have been that low. I am feeling good about the race. The weather looks to be pretty good. upper 40s. I would like it a bit cooler but that will do. I will post one more prior to leaving for New York. I fly out at 1:40 on Tuesday. I hope to post daily when I am out there.

Depletion run

Today I did the first part of my depletion. It went very well. I was hoping for 16-18 miles at a pace not much faster than 6 minutes. I was out the door in flats and through the first mile in under 5:40. I had the kids all day and needed a serious break. To say the least I was ready to roll. I wore a gps that my wife bought me a few years ago. Needless to say the next few miles were very relaxed. I thought a few times that I should take it easy and run relaxed and get things back closer to 6 min pace. However I was feeling good so I just went with it. My thought was hey if I can't recover from this by saturday then I don't belong in the race. I covered 10 miles on a very hilly up and down route in 56:30 on the button. I then slowed a bit and ran in at 6:15 pace. A very good effort considering the wind and the hills. My legs are really starting to come around. Now they will have no or little fuel for the next few runs.

What I ate post run

I had a roast with some carrots in the croc.
It was not taken out soon enough. Things really got dry. I finished most of the carrots and dumped the roast. I also had some pumpkin seeds and a bowl of clam chowder. My wife and kids proceeded to go to cold stone and get ice cream to make things even worse.

My mood will slowly decline over the next few days. The next time I can have any sort of carb is post run tuesday right before I leave. Tomorrow I may just run 30 minutes as I feel and see how things go. I was planning on running marathon pace for 6 miles but I think things went well enough today to use this as a true depletion and just see how I feel sunday am.

I am increasingly feeling better and more optimistic about the race. I feel a 2:20 effort is in store if I manage to keep a focus and ease into things later in the race.

I can't wait to get to New York and get this stuff going. 6 days out.

Mantorville saloon-Byron Cross Country-Running

Wednesday I stopped in to speak with my boss at the saloon before the final journey to work. She handed me a wad of cash and said she was proud. Turned out to be a very nice chunk of change that will really help out east. It is amazing the support I am getting around here. Funny thing is I really haven't heard anything from another manager. Pretty frustrating. I don't understand what this man is about. Anyway to move on from there.

I ran easy thursday afternoon at the golf course where they were hosting the section 1 class a meet. Byron finally qualified for state. They looked good early but around the two mile mark looked dead in the water. They really faded the last mile but had enough in there tanks to hold off Lake city and PEM. What a great accomplishment.

As I said Thursday was a very easy 7-8 miles with some hills mixed in. Today I ran 10 with some medium hard strides. Tomorrow starts the depletion. I am not really sure how this came about but the general idea came from my dad. I have tweaked it a few times but here it is.

7 days out which is tomorrow. I will do a 16-18 mile run at between race pace and 6:30. I am thinking 6 ish. Most of the run will be done at this pace. Post run I will consume nothing but protein. So I start to mentally prepare to do this mid week as I know what is coming. The first few times I did this I really struggled. All or almost all protein will last through tuesday ams run. Sunday will be 6 miles at 5:20. Again the idea here is to flush my body of carbs. Flushing carbs out will hopefully prepare my body to eventually stock pile carbs post run tuesday-sat.

In the past this has been very tough mentally because I feel crumby by the end of the day on the second day and I still have a day plus left. I try to keep the foods non fat or low fat. I usually go for jerky, peanuts, cottage cheese, fish, ect. The worst part is feeling slow and without energy for the week before my race.
It is all about trust here and knowing things will come around 7:35 Nov 3. If you do it correctly it can really work. If not your mind leaves by the second day and you forget the entire depletion/load phases all together. Questions???

Not much going on

Yesterday I ran very easy. 10 miles on grass with a few gradual hills. I contemplated my future in running. I have been thinking about this for a long time. The thoughts drift from the hunger to keep at it to the feeling of not. I am 100 undecided on my future in competitive running.

Today was cool and windy. I had a 3-2-1 mile workout planned and with some hills. I used a nice long warm up to feel pretty good and ready. The first 3 miles felt easy and I realy attempted to relax through them. 16:31. After a short jog I started back for the next 2 miles past the Section 1 A cc course which will be tomorrow. 10:58. Just attempting to stay very relaxed. Final mile was 5:20 up a long gradual incline. Total 17 miles. A longer day. Tomorrow will be shorter 6-8 miles followed by a depletion run which I will do my best to explain.

Monday = Massage = pain

I ran with the pod. Yeah that is short for Ipod. Pretty cool. I think I will be a great rec runner when the time comes. Lots of walking and a some short bursts in there. Anyway the past few weeks I have been getting a massage. The first one was pretty bad. I stumbled out of the office wondering how the following runs would go. Today was my third one, it lasted one hour. I again stumbled out of there like a complete zombie. Normally they are so painful that I hold my breath through all the knots in my legs and lower back. Today things were much better.

If interested check out runners world.com and watch Josh Cox suffer in the ice bath. By the way we have the exact same entry time for the marathon.

Tapering is always very difficult mentally for me. I got about 9 in today very easy running on the IBM grass. The same for tomorrow. I may or may not post but for sure Wednesday. Thanks to all for the encouragement. It really helps ease my mind to have someone see what I am doing and tell me I am fit and ready to roll.

Sunday wrap

Last night I decided to change my workout for this morning. I went from 3 x 2 mile to 10 miles at mp pace. This decision was a very easy one. I was looking for some feedback on where I really am fitness wise. What level, what pace and generally where am I? I warmed up easy 25 minutes a few strides and I was off. The course is one that I have done in the past very up and down with a lot of little turns. Not fast at all. I felt good during the warm up so I was confident this would bring me back confidence wise. I cruised through the first few miles in 19/25/16. By now I was feeling good and very confident this would go well. The next two were 22 and 20. So at the turn I was 26:42. 2 seconds shy of goal pace. I was contemplating what to do now. Do I really hammer and see what I have in the tank or do I continue to run pace and finish strong and live another day knowing that I have some left. I decided with 13 days left I needed to cruise in and that is what I did. I finished with a 5:17 and a total of 26:39. So I was slow by 1 second for a total of 53:21. A real solid mind helper? Yes. I needed this. Two days of easy jogging followed by a easy marathon pace workout.

The taper. I will not change a whole lot on this taper. I have used basically the same approach in tapering than I have in all of my marathons. Drop the mileage a bit the week before the week. Or 2 weeks out. I hit 96 this week so that means mid to lower 80s this week. I will use the middle days as easy rest runs on grass if possible with the remaining days hard but very controlled efforts. Strides will also be more important and this is the time to sharpen and be ready to feel terrible and then great Nov 3.

Easy

The weather was rough today. I ran an easy 1 hour for nine miles. I am attempting to cut back a bit at the end of the week. Hopefully the legs will follow my lead and things will come around for Sundays last real workout. I have a few smaller less significant workouts scheduled for next week and the following week but basically I am tapering down. I am also attempting to heal my mind as things have really gone south. The ball started rolling south on Monday and really hit rock bottom after wednesdays workout. I have lost a little focus which I am not sure is really that bad. I have in a way forgot about the race the biggest race of my life and instead focused on how pissed I am that I think I am not in good shape. This back and forth between one side of my brain and the other side fighting over how fit I really am. This has been draining. So sunday will be my final tune up workout. I am hoping to do 3 x 2 mile sub 10 with 3-4 min rest. I am also hoping this will put a bandaid on things and I can get on the plane ready to race and not worry for the next 2 weeks about how I am not fit and I suck. Wow now that is an uplifting post.

Test 2 C-

Today was my final long Marathon pace workout. I came in hoping to be fresh and ready to rock. I felt pretty good doing 10 miles on saturday at just over marathon pace. Which was encouraging. Today was humid and a bit warm. 60 and 82 percent humidity. I started off with a 5.5 mile easy run to make sure I was ready to roll. I had planned this big time with a water bottle at 4.5 and a dry shirt at the end of the trail so I wouldn't freeze waiting for Carrie to pick me up.

Mile 1 5:16 felt easy downhill. 2-3 were hilly 11:01 not bad but not great. Mind was still fresh and legs felt ok. I was breathing very heavily though. 4-7 were a tad slow 5:20-5:32 and my legs were still feeling fine. The last 4+ didn't go well. I am such a weather runner that if it is even close to being humid I am done. I finished with a few easy miles waiting for my ride home. I am doing the little things to get there. Ice, hydrate, stretch ect. This was a huge let down all the way around. Bottom line. The weather will dictate if I run my best. I am fit. Very fit but days like monday and today are rough for the confidence. I am about a 4-5. Last wednesday I was a 9. I am going to rest up a bit now. 15 days left. Sunday will be 3 x 2 miles fast and then I am shutting things down a bit mileage wise. I hope to stay in the upper 90s and then drop next week to the low to mid 80s. I will post Saturday and for sure sunday. Keep the head up.

Weather

I am already worried about the weather for New York. I know I know nothing I can do about it. I have been watching the weather for the past week out there compared to here and it is very warm. Lows in the upper 50s with highs in the middle 70s. That is too hot for me. I know still about 2 1/2 weeks to go so things can go cooler. I will freak out about it until the week of the race and then realize finally that it will actually be cooler or the real truth that I can't really do anything about it.

I got out for an easy 12 with my Ipod today. I am getting used to it and its many functions. It really is nice to cruise along with it. I will not make this a habit. I really don't want to change things now before the race. I felt pretty easy and contemplated running a bit harder. I changed my mind as thoughts of Thursdays final test loom.

Thursday I have 12.5 miles at marathon pace. Total workout will be close to 22 miles. Looking forward to seeing how that goes. I am still pretty down about the workout yesterday. I need to keep things in perspective and move on. I have a few more workouts and then I will drop the miles but keep the intensity up. I am going into this race a bit different becuase it is all place, time will not really matter. I hope to place well and have a number in mind but will keep that to myself until later.

3 weeks out. Test failed

Today was a faster workout. Basically a test to see where my speed is. Test failed. F. I got out early am and felt ok during the warmup. 30+ minutes several decent strides and away I went. I have done all three sub 4:40 before. Today was not to be. 4:52. I felt somehow tight. Like I could go much faster but just couldn't. ??? Does that make sense. After 5 minutes of jogging I decided to attempt Number 2. 4:54. The hard way. Just no snap in the legs. I decided to call off the last one and make it a little longer day. I am definitely feeling down about it. Leading up to the race I was hoping for three fast ones. I know I am very fit but need to keep the positive momentum going. Thursday is a big one. Actually the biggest of this buildup. I may not post until after that. We will see how I am mentally.

Friday-Sunday

I attempted to send this and ended up losing it. That hurts I was almost finished. Well here goes. Running went well Friday through today. I had 14 split up into two runs friday. I ran 4 on the mill in the afternoon between attempting to have two kids nap and all the other dad things. Things went ok.

Saturday was workout time. I did 10 at 5:40s with a few faster. Sort of middle tempo. Not too slow and not mp pace. Felt easy but I was still working. I ran around 57 minutes and then finished at just over 1 hour. So a total of 10.5 or so. Felt good and the weather was great.

Sunday was 13 easy to close out a very good week of 104 with wednesdays workout things are coming around. I am ready to go. This week will be up over 100 and then I will taper 9-10 days out. Feeling confident with my race plans and things are falling into place. All the talk is very distracting though. Something I don't do well with is " hey you are the guy in runners world" I heard that twice at my b job on friday. I really just want to go in the back and hide. Anyway things are going well. I will post tomorrow post 3 x mile all out and another beat up session after my massage.

Rest day

I was up early after 5 hours of sleep for a 10 miler. My wife has school in the cities today. I felt very sluggish and about like I thought I would feel. I am going to get in another 6 this pm when she returns.

To top things off after yesterdays workout, I got a box of gear from adidas. Everything you can think of. Jackets, pants, shorts, shirts, a hat. Added up to a nice chunk of change. Looking forward to using some of it soon. Thanks adidas.

3 steps forward

Weather today was great. Cool and windy. I had 3 x 4 mile hill loop to tackle today. A staple workout that I really needed to smack. It went very well. I ran an easy 3 to 3 1/2 mile warmup and a few strides. Legs were feeling great. After the first mile I wasn't sure what I could really do. 5:5 ish. Now this is a very tough one into the wind and straight up a big hill. Next mile was just under 5:10 and I felt very relaxed. Third mile was close to 5:20 and I closed in 21:25. Almost 20 seconds faster than last time. Round 2 was even better as I closed in 21:17 and finally I ran 21:11 for the last 4 mile loop. All 1 mile sections have either a long gradual hill or two or a series of smaller hills except for the first one which has a long steep hill at the very end.

This is really what I needed. Legs felt great and I haven't run that well and that strong for a while. I am getting into form at the right time.

Next up are a few rest days and then some 400s on saturday. Next week is a big one and then the hay is in the barn.

Massage

Yesterday I got the first in a series of massages up until the race Nov 3. It really hurt. I went to a woman that a buddy had gone to a few times. Lets just say it was a long 45 minutes. I think after a few of these I will be feeling really good. She worked legs only and my calves were very sore and tight afterwards. She said what I allready know. "you need to stretch a lot more". The little things are what I am going to work on for the next few weeks. More sleep more stretching and focusing on workouts.

Today was 12 easy. I felt pretty good and ready to roll for tomorrows workout. 3 x 4 mile hill route with 3 min rest. I hope to start out fast and get faster each one. This is another of my final big workouts that I will need to run well. The weather looks good and things are starting to really cool down. Hopefully that means a 35 degree day in the big apple come 7:30 Nov 3.

77 posts

Today is number 78. Posts that is. I am not really sure if this is helping me. Training today went well. I had no soreness from yesterday. That was something short of a workout and in some aspects a wasted running day. Today I did 13 miles easy but really hilly miles. The week sets up so that I can get in a really quality workout wed and then back off thurs and friday to set up for some 400s on sat and easy sun run. I am hoping to get a massage this afternoon. I have developed some sort of foot toe issue that I really don't know about. It affects my stride and the whole opposite leg at times and gets worse after about an hour of running. I am going to drop the New Balance shoes and stick to the adidas for now through the trials.

TCM Metcalf

Not sure when I last checked in here. I really didn't look. The three marathons are over. St. George, Chicago and Twin Cities. More qualifiers came from St. George than the other two combined. That is a bit suprising. I was really hoping to get some more local fellas in. Didn't happen today. It seems the major marathons would want to change the dates for their marathons becuase this is getting to be brutal. Whether it is Boston or any of the other major marathons.

The plan for me today was helping Josh Metcalf through 13-15 at marathon qualifing pace 5:20. That was the plan until sat and we realized it wasn't going to be our day. We pulled back the reins and things felt relatively easy through the first few miles (as they should). I have run in the heat and humidity several times before. Not once has it gone well. I was hoping to help Josh through 13 but I realized early that wasn't going to be the case. We got to ten miles with a pack of two masters and our teammate Brad Wick in 55:something. Basically that was it for me. I am not sure what would have happened but I wasn't into it today. The heat was one thing but I couldn't get ready mentally and things weren't lining up to run well. I am pretty disappointed with that. I am looking forward to the next two and a half weeks to really jack up the training and get things going. I will focus on two workouts per week and make sure that I am rested and ready to roll for them. Looks like the weather will cooperate for the most point enough to get some quality stuff done.

Josh Metcalf. I have watched his last 3 marathons from the finish. Every time he comes past us I shake my head. Today I was shocked at how well he finished. I saw him come down the hill close to 26 miles and thought for sure he was close to 2:25 or so. Not to be today. He was on but it wasn't anyones day. He ran well. Makes me wonder how well he could have run with decent weather. 2:22 or under? Make you wonder. So that is it. 5 from Mn going to the trials. I am hoping the weather cools and things can slow down around our house so I can get focused and ready to roll. NOV 3 is right around the corner.

Thursday easy

Today I ran very easy. The weather was ok and with the quickly approaching TCM this weekend I will cut intensity and keep mileage the same. The weather for the race is looking a bit rough. I am very interested to see how things go on the mens side this year. The ten mile should be very exciting. A deep field. The best I have seen in any race here in Mn ever.

14 miles for the day and looking to have fresh legs this weekend. Hope to post something after the race this weekend.

2 days without a blog

I have been very busy the past few days. Here is a quick update. Tueday was a double with the weather not really cooperating. 5 easy am run felt ok after the workout monday. 10 on the mill at 5 pm. Felt ok. I was very bored and attempted to pull myself away several times. Even the TV couldn't bring me back to focus. Or should I say not focus on the clock.

Today I did about 8 miles and then worked some hills around our house. Basically running as I felt but pushing the ups and resting on the downs. I felt strong but not really fresh. I am hoping come sunday to get that feeling back again. I plan on taking the next few days really easy. I am also getting a massage on Friday to work on this sore or should I say weak hammy.

Weather for the weekend. It looks terrible. I mean upper 60s to low 70s at the start? Could be rough. And they are saying humid. I will stick to my plan and run through 13 at 5:20 but that might be it. I am looking for a way to not have to run the rest of the mileage on the course to the 20 mile marker. We will see. Earlier this week they were saying 37 for a low with mid 50s for a high, perfect.

baby steps

A little catch up. Saturday am run was 22 miles with a 3.5 mile loop of hills. I did that loop 3 times. It was cool, rainy, and windy. Just the conditions I seem to enjoy as this was one of my best runs. I felt strong the entire way and recovered nicely.

Sunday was 12 easy miles. I felt ok. Nothing special.

Today I did 3 x 2 miles with 3-4 min rest in between. It is humid but cool so things were wet on the trail. I began with the usual strides and pick ups and some brief stretches. I was hoping for all three under 10. I also decided to go up the trail and then turn and come right back becuase I wanted to get a water stop in after each interval. Number 1 went well. Out in 5:05 and back in 4:58 for 10:03. Not bad considering I am loosing some time with a completed stop and turn around and start. After a drink and s jog about 3:30 I started number 2. Up the trail in 03 and back in 4:57. Not bad. I was feeling beter on this one. Number 3. Out in 5:05 and back in 4:54 for a 9:59. So I am getting there. Really slowly.

It doesn't seem that I am recovering fully between workouts. As I told my friend Rich from Portland. I guess that is ok. I just need to put it together on race day. I am going to adjust for more recovery. Maybe two days instead of one from now until the race.

This weekend is the twin cities marathon. I am using this as a sort of race simulation for new york. I will be resting up almost the whole rest of the week. I have 10 x big hill on wednesday and some strides friday but my legs should really come around for the race sunday. I am hoping to cruise through 13-15 miles at 5:20 and feel like I could go through 22-24 miles at that pace.

New marathon record. 2:04:26 unbelievable.