OK...another shameless plug for our iPhone application. We just released an upgrade to Watch It Change and renamed it Movie Maker. That's what is does. Makes stop motion movies. There are some very creative movies, made exclusively by our application on the iPhone, on our website. Check them out.
www.moviemakerzone.com
I expected to have a PR in the books after Columbus and thought I would be planning some 5K training to see if I could reach my adult PR before the end of the year. Obviously that didn't happen. I took two days off after Columbus to recover. I ran with my Wednesday morning group and surprisingly felt as if I hadn't even run a marathon. Same thing on Thursday. I am convinced I simply ran out of fuel in Columbus. No sore spots, blisters, pulled muscles, etc. Looking back I admit I did a horrible job with my diet the week before the run. No carbo loading....nothing. Just plain stupid. So....
Plan A - 2.0
I want to take advantage of my fitness and give it one more PR shot. I am going to mix the last 8 weeks of Columbus training with Pete Pfitzingers 8 week Multiple Marathons program and go for it again at the Dallas White Rock Marathon on December 14th. Columbus now feels like it was a good long run for me. Eight weeks is the perfect amount of time to cycle back into a program so Dallas works out well. I am looking forward to the challenge!
Everything was perfect for the Columbus Marathon today. Perfect weather outlook. Perfect training. All signs looked ideal to run a PR. We arrived in Columbus on Saturday a little later than I wanted due to a small 40 mile error in our drive. No big deal. Got to the convention center a little later than I wanted. No problem...just cut through the lines. Go out to eat a little later than expected. No biggie UNTIL.....my food arrived. I ordered the oriental pizza. Tasty. Into my second bite I feel something hard. My initial thought was that I bit into a tough piece of chicken. I lift the cheese and find a broken piece of knife. Yeah...I bit into a knife. Fortunately it didn't cut my mouth...but it did scrape it enough to keep the memory fresh for the rest of the night. Dinner was on the house for me, Jo, Maddie, my Mom and Dad. Headed back to the room for a good nights sleep. Woke up at 2:15am to the very loud sounds of a group of people yelling up and down the hall. I guess the bars closed at 2am. As the yelling turned to threats and fighting words, Jo decided to call security....but they quickly went away. Back to sleep. Woke up at 5:50am expecting my wake up call at 6am. Never came. Good thing I couldn't sleep. Now to run...
Again...perfect running conditions. Got off to a good start and felt like a million bucks. I was peeling off 6:05-6:14 miles the way a lonely fat guys peels off $1 dollar bills at a strip club...without effort or reservation. Felt amazing. Locked in with a runner doing the half. Had a very enjoyable first half. Went through the half in just over 1:22. Right on target. We were now approaching the new 2nd half of the course. Saw Andy R just after 15. Running smooth. Saw Chris F near 16. Felt on top of the world. Approached 17 and a funny thing happened. My legs seemed to gain 30 lbs each in the span of about 1 minute. I shook them out over the next mile by changing my stride, kicking up my heels, etc. I just couldn't pick them up. A little after 18 I started to get fatigue cramps. Nothing in one specific area, just tight and small cramp pings. From 18 to the finish I stopped running at each water station, drank a cup of Gatorade and a cup of water, knelt down to stretch, then continued along. I dropped like a stone from 18 to the end. At 20 I did a bad thing. I started doing the math. OK...remaining time divided by miles to figure out what I needed to average to get under 3 hrs. Six miles of math just sucks. Anyway I ended up with a 2:55:14. This put me as 2nd in the Men 45-49 age group.
So once again I chalk up another tough time. My plans to NOT run a Spring marathon also change. I will wait a few weeks then pick another target. Rest a few days then jump into 5K training for a few late Fall races.
Good job to those who met their goals, including Tony H, Denise Y, Jamie C, Sean M, Wyatt H, Jeff U, and anyone else I failed to mention.
Lastly a huge congrats to Tim Budic for his 4th place overall and a 2:26 effort. No science involved. Just ran. Very inspirational.
Monday, 10-13: Very easy 40 min
Tuesday, 10-14: 12x400 at a pace that is 8-10 sec/mile faster than marathon pace. Take an easy 400 jog between reps
Wednesday, 10-15: 1 hr easy with AM group. Hear that guys?
Thursday, 10-16: 50 min easy with 4-6 1-minute fartleks @ marathon pace
Friday, 10-17: Run - 1:05 hrs total with 20 min at marathon pace
Saturday, 10-18: 2 miles easy
Sunday, 10-19: Columbus Marathon
I am now one week away from Columbus. My training has been great so it is a matter of enjoying the day and running smart. The new course looks great and I can't wait to get going. Chris F will be jumping in with me at 16.5 miles and staying until around the 25 mile mark. I hope he has as much fun as I had pacing Matt Y last year.
T.V. Quote of the Week - "not much fruit in those looms." Great episode of the Office this week.
I recently read a good article that discussed peaking for a marathon versus tapering. The main difference between the two is that tapering generally calls for lower mileage at an easier pace. Peaking lowers the mileage but keeps the intensity intact for shorter periods of time. Look at my Tuesday workout. Mile repeats a week and a half out from a marathon was never in my vocabulary prior to this year.
(13) Monday, 10-6: 1 hr easy
(12) Tuesday, 10-7: 8x1 miles at a pace that is 8-10 sec/mile faster than marathon pace
(11) Wednesday, 10-8: 1:15 hrs easy
(10) Thursday, 10-9: 1:20 hr easy-moderate
(9) Friday, 10-10: 1 hr very easy
(8) Saturday, 10-11: off - recovery day
(7) Sunday, 10-12: 1:30 hrs total. 30 min easy. 30 min marathon pace. 30 min easy
Here is the recap of the Peak approach
14 days out - 14-16 miles with the last 4-6 miles @ marathon pace (Done - Sunday run 15 miles with group. Nilesh and I ran final 6 miles @ 6:12 pace)
12 days out - 6-8 x 1 mile @ 5K pace (I am older. Plan is half marathon pace)
10 days out - Three 4-6 min surges @ half marathon pace
7 days out - 12 miles with last 6 at goal marathon pace (look at my Sunday plan)
5 days out - Six 8-10 second surges @ 5K pace
3 days out - 5 x 3 mins @ 10K pace
I have my marathon plan figured out at this point. It is not too much different from what I actually did at Columbus in 2006. The good news is that my 5K time is about a minute faster right now than it was at this time in 2006.
I liked both of these shots taken by Jo. The dude is me at the Nat 5K finish. The other is Sara Slattery during the USATF Women's 8K Championship.
Three weeks to go. I am feeling pretty good about my training. No more extracurricular events in my way so the final training push should be solid. The course has been modified and I am looking forward to a less boring 2nd half. Here is the link to the course if anyone is interested.
http://www.usatf.org/routes/view.asp?rID=240687
Matt joined our Wednesday morning group today. I really like this group which includes Damon, Nilesh, and Rich. Joe, Mike, and Tony used to jump in as well. Maybe we can coax these guys back. We are very compatible as runners and I look forward to getting up at 4:20am and meeting these guys.
We have renamed our iPhone application from "Watch It Change" to just "Movie Maker". It seemed to make more sense since that is actually what it is. We are also moving the price to free. I imagine we will see a spike in activity because of this. The website will be changing as well. Here is the new dot com -> www.moviemakerzone.com
I had a great time with the Akron Marathon this past weekend. Very cool for Jo and I to assist the Women's 8K group and invited marathoners. Very nice people. They clearly deserve a tremendous amount of respect for their running resumes, but the reality is they are just very nice regular people. I hope we get to host another USATF event next year.
A very strange thing happened at the Akron Marathon expo. I walked by our booth and didn't recognize any of the three people sitting there. This means that either a) I don't know as many club members as I thought, b) we have recruited more new members than I am aware of, or c) we paid people to sit there while the club hosted the pasta dinner. Maybe all of the above!
Tonight Jo and I are going to see Lindsey Buckingham at the House of Blues. I saw him in Minneapolis around 1990. Man I am old...but so is he. Should be a good show.
My big toe nail on the right foot fell off the night before the Erie Half Marathon. It is coming back now. Just thought I would share.
My dog has a horrible yeast infection in his ears. He really stinks. Just thought I would share.
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