Bryan's Weblog of Stuff

The Quiet Before The Storm

It’s 5:18 AM, and I’m in the middle of my pre-race routine—eating some toast with peanut butter and honey (what you were thinking…). The Cowtown Half Marathon is this morning, and as you all know, this is my first half marathon. I’m excited, and I’m nervous. Really, more than anything, I can’t wait to get this show on the road. Let’s just skip past the rest of the pre-race stuff, and start the dang race! I don’t need to mess with traffic, parking, the crowds, or freezing my you know what off waiting for the start. Let’s race!

I’ll leave you with a couple of things: my goals. (Yes, I have them.) This being my first half marathon, the ultimate goal is to finish the race in one piece, and maybe even enjoy the experience. That’s really it, just finish. Okay, I do have a time goal that I’ll share with you. When I first signed up for a half marathon, back in the spring of 2008 (for the San Antonio Rock’n’Roll Half Marathon), I put down an estimated finishing time of 2 hours and 20 minutes. Two years later, after a knee injury that kept me from running the SA R’n’Roll Half, and one year after knee surgery, I am shooting for sub 2 hours. I feel good about hitting this goal. In fact, my training indicates that I could do better, but I’m not sold. Time will tell, huh?

I’ll be back later in the day with an update. Follow me on Twitter for earlier results. (No, I won’t be tweeting and running.)

By Bryan at 6:32 AM , in Health and Fitness - Permalink
Comments (0) - TrackBack (0)

My Road To The 2010 Cowtown Half Marathon

At 7:30 AM, this coming Saturday morning, a gun will go off, signaling the start of the 2010 Cowtown Marathon, Half Marathon, Ultra Marathon, and 10K. A few minutes later, my corral should be released, and I’ll be starting the half marathon. It’s been a little over 72 hours since I finished the last key workout of my current training cycle, a 14 mile run (my second). In a little under 72 hours from now I will hopefully be finishing my first half marathon.

While running the Cowtown Half Marathon comes at the end of a 16 week training cycle, the road to the starting line began long before that. As some of you might recall, in March 2008, I registered for the inaugural San Antonio Rock ‘n’ Roll Half Marathon, which was held on November 16, 2008. Training for that race went well until week 10 of a 16 week training plan. In the middle of a 4 x 1 mile interval workout, my right knee started to hurt. Bad. We’re talking sharp, shooting pain. IT band, I thought. IT band, the doc thought. IT band, the PT guy thought. I went to PT appointment after PT appointment; I tried to keep running; I failed at continuing to run; I canceled the trip to San Antonio for the race; I rested completely; It still hurt.

After 12 PT appointments, a couple of follow-ups with the Doc, and the pain was still not any better, I went for an MRI. It showed a tear in the medial meniscus, as well as a ganglion cyst on the lateral aspect of the knee. Surgery was scheduled. Surgery was performed (February 3, 2009). No tear was found. Instead, a lot of loose cartilage and tissue on the outside of the knee was cleaned up. I began the recovery process.

By March, I started to ease myself back into running. By May, I hit my first post-op 100 mile month. In June, I ran my first post-op race—the xSIGHTment 5K, and set a PR. In July, I found myself needing to back off of the running some and began swimming. In August, I began ramping my mileage back up, and started a streak of 100+ mile months which is still going today. In October, I started to think about a race schedule for 2010, and put together a list, which included the Cowtown Half Marathon. I also ran my second post-op race—the Running Scared 5K, and set a PR. In November, I created a 16 week half marathon training program, along with a 6 week 5K program, using the Smart Coach tool at Runner’s World.

The two programs started off similarly enough that I used the 5K program (my first structured running in nearly a year) to get ready for a 5K race in early December, and then switched over the half marathon plan after that. The half marathon plan featured long runs and interval or tempo runs nearly every week. It also featured cut-back weeks every few weeks. As the plan progressed, the specified paces became faster, and the distances greater. Before I knew it, I was running 6 miles @ tempo pace, and 5 x 1 mile intervals, along with 13 and 14 mile long runs. This past Sunday’s long run marked the last of the key runs. All of the pre-race hard work is done. I am ready. There is not much more I can do over the next couple of days to gain fitness. The hay is in the barn.

By Bryan at 3:10 PM , in Health and Fitness - Permalink
Comments (0) - TrackBack (0)

10 Days Until The Cowtown Half Marathon

It’s 10 days and counting until I run my first half marathon, the Cowtown Half Marathon. This past weekend I ran 14 miles for the first time ever. It was miserable. The wind chill was in the 20s, and the winds were steady at 11 mph, gusting to 38 mph (I think mostly gusting). As tempted as I was to call it a day after the first half mile, or to do half of it outside and half of it on the treadmill, I stayed the course, and did it all outside. I figured it would be good practice in case we get another shot of cold, windy weather for the race.

Monday was a rest day from running, as well as from work, so I made it a total day off. Instead of training, I spent the day with Julie, just taking it easy, and running a few errands (like picking up Baby D’s crib, and paint for the nursery). Yesterday, it was back to running, with 6 miles easy. While my heart rate and pace were on target for an easy run, my legs weren’t onboard; they felt absolutely awful. This got me thinking: should I really be doing a 6 mile tempo run tomorrow, and: should I really be running another 14 miles this Sunday?

I know people taper for 2 to 3 weeks for a marathon, but what about a half marathon? So as I head down the homestretch of my half marathon training, I thought that I’d show you what training is left, according to my plan, and seek some feedback. Maybe the plan is fine, or perhaps I should scale back the remaining key workouts, reducing the quantity, not the quality. Let me know what you think.

Notes

The training plan has race day as a Sunday, when it’s actually on a Saturday. To account for this, I removed an easy run from Wednesday in week 16, and shifted the remaining workouts one day earlier. Alternatively, I could drop the rest day on Monday of that week, and run easy instead.

The questions I have are:

1. Is the 6 miles at tempo too much, just 9 days before the race?
2. Do I need to move my last long run from Sunday to Saturday, so that it is a week before the race?
3. Is a 14 mile long run too long, just 6 or 7 days before the race?

My half marathon training plan was generated using the SmartCoach training tool at Runner’s World.

By Bryan at 12:22 PM , in Health and Fitness - Permalink
Comments (0) - TrackBack (0)

Countdown To The Cowtown

Today, in preparation for the upcoming Cowtown Half Marathon, I ran the second of two scheduled 13 mile runs. The first 13 mile run (my first ever) was two weeks ago, and I was eager to see what it would be like the second time out.

Typically I struggle with a new long distance the first time out, and then do much better the second time around. However, with 13 miles, I didn’t really struggle the first time out, even though the last half was run into a 14 mph wind that was gusting to 22 mph. I was curious to see how the second time at 13 miles would shake out. Of course, the purpose of the long run is not to compete against previous long runs, so I was really just looking to see how it felt to cover the distance again.

My goal was to run comfortably for most of the run, sticking with the pace prescribed in my training plan. I succeeded for the most part, not pushing the pace until the final two miles, which I ran at the pace that my training plan says is my half marathon pace (I thought it was more like my 10K pace). I also ran the same route as the first 13 mile run, but in reverse. This meant more hills in the second half, when I’d likely be tiring. I did this because I’ve neglected hill running lately, and I knew it would force me to keep the pace honest. It worked.

So here I am on Sunday afternoon, relaxing, recovering, and feeling good about where my fitness is for the upcoming half marathon. I’m still not sure if I’ll be able to hit the pace from my training plan, and I’m not sure I want to try, since this is my first half. You know everyone always says that the goal for the first time out should be to finish and have a good time—no time goals. We’ll see about that.

I’ve got one more interval workout—the hardest to date (5 x 1 mile; half mile jog recovery; 10 miles total, including warm up and warm down). I have one more hard tempo run (6 miles at tempo pace, 8 miles total), plus a shorter tempo run the week before the race. I also have two 14 mile runs. Every other run over the next 20 days will be easy, and somewhere between 4 and 6 miles. So there is still some improved fitness to be had.

20 days to go; see you at the finish line.

By Bryan at 4:52 PM , in Health and Fitness - Permalink
Comments (1) - TrackBack (0)

Motivation Waning

I feel like my motivation to train has been waning over the last couple of weeks. I’m not really sure why. It isn’t that I don’t want to run, it’s that I don’t want to be bound to a training schedule. I don’t want to be required to do 6 miles at tempo pace, or 5 x 1 mile repeats. I just want to run. 3 miles, 4 miles, whatever—just don’t tell me how fast or how far.

In trying to pinpoint the exact point in time when I first felt this way, I’d have to say it was after I finished my 12 mile run at a pace that would have me finishing a half marathon in under 2 hours. It certainly didn’t help that a week later I did my first ever 13 mile run (tacked on an extra tenth to hit 13.1) at a pretty easy pace, in 18 mph winds that gusted to 33 mph, and finished in 2:04 and change. My goal has been to run a two hour half marathon, and it would seem that I’m currently capable of doing just that, given the right conditions. If this is the case, then can’t I just cruise through the next 3+ weeks until the race? Do I really need to keep pushing myself?

Yes. Wait, no. Yes. Oh, I don’t know. I guess so. I want to be as prepared as possible, and with 3+ weeks to go, I’ve still got 3 tempo runs (including a really short one the week of the race), an interval workout, and 3 long runs left. That’s plenty of time for those workouts to have an impact on my race. And even though this is my first half marathon, wouldn’t it be nice to actually race it, rather than just survive it?

Surely I’m not alone in feeling this way. This is something most other runners experience, right? Right?!?

By Bryan at 1:56 PM , in Health and Fitness - Permalink
Comments (2) - TrackBack (0)

January 2010 Running Recap

First, you should know that since it is now February 1st and I’ve not yet posted my 2009 Running Recap, there will be no “year in review” post. Sorry. I know you’re really disappointed, but you should also know that I’m not planning on making it up to you. That said, here’s my January 2010 Running Recap…

After coming off of my two highest mileage months ever, and having allowed myself quite a bit of running freedom in December, combined with the need to really start focusing on training for my first half marathon, January figured to be a bit of a drag. There would be no more “I’m just going to see how I feel and do ‘x’ or maybe ‘y’.” Instead, it would be “the training plan says to do ‘x’, so I’m doing ‘x’, even though I’d rather do ‘y’.” The training plan also called for fewer miles per week than what I’d been running. I’m like most runners in that I don’t like to scale back my mileage.

On top of all of this structure I had to deal with in January, it wasn’t even a week into the new month, and I was already faced with missing several days in a row. As with most other things, I’ve got no one to blame but myself. It was me, after all, who at the last minute talked my brother-in-law into going to see Texas vs. Alabama in the BCS National Championship Game. I’m in Fort Worth, the game was in Pasadena, California. We bought the tickets the afternoon before the game, and then started the long drive to California. From Wednesday afternoon through Saturday morning, we spent most of our time getting out there and back. As nice as it would’ve been to run along the way, there simply wasn’t any time, so I didn’t run Wednesday – Saturday of that week. Fortunately there was an extra week built into my training plan, though after going nearly 3 days without sleep, I really wasn’t feeling good on my runs for another week.

So that’s my story. Here are the numbers:

• Total Miles: 143.1
• Total Time: 22:15:03
• Average Pace: 9:20/mile

Additional Notes

Compared to December, I ran 7 fewer miles in 68 fewer minutes. I ran long twice—a 12 miler (9:07/mile), and my first 13 miler. The 13 miler ended a tenth of a mile from the house, so of course I ran the additional tenth of a mile to the house, to make the run 13.1 miles. January is the 6th 100+ mile month in a row, and the 8th in the last 9 months. January was also the second month in a row over 140 miles.

Here’s a closer look at how my runs broke down in December:

• Easy: 68.04 (12 runs)
• Hill: 8 (1 run)
• Tempo: 13 (2 runs)
• Interval: 13 (2 runs)
• Fartlek: 16 (3 runs)*
• Long Run: 25.1 (2 runs)
• Longest Run: 13.1
• Shortest Run: 4
• Best Paced Run: 8:50/mile (Fartlek)

One last note: Earlier in the post, I mentioned a half marathon—the Cowtown Half Marathon. I registered for this race, and barring any change of plans, it will be my first half marathon. It’s the 27th of February.

* Most of the fartlek runs were on the treadmill and involved tenth of a mile repeats, with a tenth of a mile recovery. The intervals were a mix of speed and hill intervals.

By Bryan at 12:38 PM , in Health and Fitness - Permalink
Comments (0) - TrackBack (0)