Gadgets

I found this on the Garmin Connect website. Very cool technology. There is no display on it. It wirelessly connects to my GPS watch or to my computer. Automatically transfers lots of data. A little pricey but at some point will be mine.

Here are the details

Speaking of data. I recently was reviewing some of my runs last year on the Garmin Connect site. Looking at my Burning River 100 information reminded me of how 5 miles out of 100 can deeply impact the overall results. Check out the splits for miles 43, 56, and 61. Miles 82 to 86 were the Perkins Trail at night.

Running Update
I am treading water between the National Marathon and Cleveland Marathon. Good news is that I am very fit and marathon paced miles come easy. The hard part of the training is the motivation. Good weather helps and it is getting lighter earlier each day. It just has been a long training period since December.

Chaney Events Update
We are finally getting into the season. Weekends are becoming busy....which is good news. I will be taking on more races than I originally planned. Look for a few cool and unique events this Fall and Winter.

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Round 2

Well things almost went as planned at the National Marathon. Jo and I had a very good trip. Got to see the sights. Got to rest. Got to meet up with a few great friends. Race morning was perfect. I felt amazingly fresh and good up to mile 18. For the first time ever I started to develop a cramp in my right foot.....between my arch and my toes. It felt like a sharp stabbing pain. I stopped at the next water station to try to stretch it out, which seemed to work for only a minute or so before the pain returned. I backed my pace down and did a combo of stop - stretch - run continuously until the end of the race. I wish I knew the cause. Shoes...maybe, gait...maybe, freakish issue...maybe. I do know that by the afternoon following the race my legs were still pretty fresh. I ran this morning before we left town and no issues seem to linger. I feel like I just did a standard long run workout....which is great news. I have put together an 8 week plan in prep for Cleveland and will give it a go there. I hate seeing opportunities go by but maybe this is a good thing.

I am also going to try to perform double run log duty with Running2Win and Daily Mile. R2W has been my base since 2004 and my running groups are there, so I won't give that up. Daily Mile can take my Garmin data directly so a once or twice a week update will probably happen.

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National Marathon Week

The National Marathon in Washington DC is this Saturday. The weather looks very favorable and I am really ready to go. Full race report in one week.

Mon: 5 miles

Tue: 2 easy + 2 @ marathon pace + 2 easy

Wed: 8 group miles

Thu: 4 easy miles

Fri: 2 easy miles

Sat: 26.2 National Marathon

Sun: off

Total = 52 miles

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Wacky Weekend + Training

Friday Maddie had a sleep over with 6 other girls. We did Laser Quest which was fun. I kind of wanted to smack one of the teenage boys there as he kept running into me. Next time for sure. After that we went back to the house for cake and pizza. The girls were very noisy but good for most of the night. I think they finally fell asleep at 4am. Unfortunately I had to wake up at 4:30am.

Next I timed the Green Jewel 50K. Standing outside from 5:30am until 2pm can take a toll. I would have been better off running. By the time I got home at 3:15pm...I was beat. At 8:30pm I was in bed until 8:30am on Sunday.

Sunday I ran the Shamrock 15K. My body was beat from the beginning. The first 4 miles were way too fast and the final 5 miles were way too slow. I will take away that it was a good workout on tired legs and mind. Fortunately I was still able to win my age group....but my time was far from what I had hoped to run.

The bib numbers for the National Marathon have been posted. I was assigned number 40. The good news is that I get to be up in the 1st corral with the elite runners. I have looked at my competition for the day and there are 10 of us, in the masters group, who have predicted our average pace between 5:30 and 6:30 per mile. I am trying to decide if I write these numbers down and have Jo keep me posted as to my position within the group. Maybe. Maybe not.

Training this week (less than 2 weeks to go before the marathon)
Mon: 10 miles with Matt
Tue: 4 x 1200 repeats
Wed: 8 group miles
Thu: 6 easy miles
Fri: 8 easy miles
Sat: 4 easy miles + timing a 5K
Sun: 10 easy miles with 2 @ marathon pace
Total = 53 miles

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Rockin' in the Free World

America Rules. Enough said.

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Summit Attempt

I am now in the final three weeks of my training for the marathon. With my last long run out of the way today (more on that in a moment) I am left with 3 speed sessions, 1 race, and a bunch of maintenance miles. It will be good to pull the miles back while maintaining the intensity of speed.

I "participated" in the Last Chance for Boston marathon in Columbus today. The goal was to work my 22 mile workout within the 26.2 mile event. If the conditions were perfect I would run the extra 4 miles and finish the race. If not...I would decide the distance on my own terms. I hit the segments of the 22 mile run faster than planned and felt great. I tacked on 2 more then called it a day.

I am 46 years old. I am trying to hit a Personal Record (PR) for the marathon distance. This is not an easy thing to do at my age. The window of running these things relatively fast is closing quickly. I have approached my training a little like a mountain climber trying to reach the summit. It takes days and weeks to move from base camp up the mountain. Each camp along the route is established. Days are spent acclimating to the environment before moving up closer to the top. If all goes well and the conditions are right...the successful climber will reach the summit after a few attempts. Reaching the summit doesn't always happen. Climbers have turned away literally tens of yards from the top due to unfavorable conditions, smartly retreating for another summit attempt on another day.

My run in Columbus today was like that. I stopped with two miles to go. I had accomplished what I came down to do and did not get greedy by going for it. I am saving that for Washington DC. Could I have pushed it? Sure. Would it jeopardize the National Marathon. Yes. As one of my good friends always tells me..."plan your work then work your plan". So far so good.

Training Week March 1st to 7th
Mon: Cross training. No running.
Tue: Kent State Track - 4 x 1200 meters
Wed: 13 group miles
Thu: 8 easy miles
Fri: 4 miles with striders
Sat: 4 miles with striders
Sun: Shamrock 15K race

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4 weeks to go

I am now inside of 4 weeks before the marathon. I actually feel really good about my progress and where things stand right now. I have my final 22 miler this Sunday. I had considered wrapping it inside of the Last Chance for Boston marathon in Columbus....but with a crazy $85 price tag (you get a high quality $4 shirt) I will just go solo again.

The Shamrock 15K will be the only race I run. I am pretty sure I am past my course PR days...but I hope to run the most complete race I have ever run there.

We had a nice club get together on Saturday. I am a little bummed that the club (and I) didn't take the opportunity to thank everyone who attended, promote our club by using all of the blank LCD's hanging on the wall, or at least make a few announcements and pass out race applications. Captive audiences are rare and you really have to take advantage when you can. Enough said.

Training Schedule 2/22 to 2/28
Mon: either off day or something easy
Tue: Repeats at Kent - 3 x 1 mile, 3 x 1000 meters, and 3 x 400 meters. All intense.
Wed: 13 group miles
Thu: 9 miles
Fri: 8 miles
Sat: 8 to 12 miles
Sun: 22 miles with 2 warm up + 4 marathon pace + 10 easy/medium + 4 marathon pace + 2 cool down

Total = 76 miles

Friday will also be Maddie's 12th birthday. She is having a sleep over party....so once again not much sleep that night.

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Enough is Enough

Winter please be over. There is a growing rumble within the running community that happens almost exactly at the same time each year. The drudgery of Winter running seems to reach it's peak around mid-February. I know that I am really tired of running in multiple layers of clothes in the dark. I am tired of wearing the same basic clothes each day. I am tired of doing the additional laundry necessary to keep the stink to a minimum.

I have tried to mix it up a bit by hitting the Kent State track on Tuesday nights. I have also done a few treadmill workouts. These are all temporary actions to avoid the simple truth that Winter running is a drag.

My only race prior to the National Marathon will be the Shamrock 15K - hosted by the Summit Athletic Running Club. It is a tough tough course where times really skewed because of the hills. I am looking to run close to my best time there. I won't be as fast in the beginning downhill sections, but I hope my hill strength can even things out a bit.

Here is my schedule for the current week. Things are going well.

Mon: 4 easy
Tue: 9 miles with 6 x 1000 meter repeats + strides
Wed: 13 miles
Thu: 9 miles
Fri: 3 easy miles
Sat: 13 miles
Sun: 24 miles with 6 easy/6 marathon pace/1 tempo/6 marathon pace/1 tempo/ 4 easy

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Training 02/08 to 02/14

A solid week of training behind me. 77 more miles in the bank. I had two confidence boost workouts this past week. Tuesday I was able to hit my marks with 3x1 mile repeats - 3x1000 meter repeats - 3x400 meter repeats. All good numbers. Sunday called for a 22 miler with 4 mile pace work at the beginning and end. The pace for those segments hovered around 6:10 for each with the final sub 6. I felt pretty fresh most of the way. It will be good to get out of the Winter gear for some of these runs.

Weekly Schedule
Mon: 5 miles easy
Tue: 2mE+4x(5minT+5minE+4minT+4minE+3minT+3minE+2minT+2minE)+2mi
Wed: 13 group run
Thu: 8 miles
Fri: 10 miles
Sat: 2mE+4mMP+10mE+4mMP+2mE
Sun: 12 miles
Total = 87

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Training Boost

National Marathon
I received an email today indicating that I will be placed in the elite group for the National Marathon in Washington DC on March 20th. This means that I will be given a low race number and will have access to the front of the starting area. During the online registration process I submitted my expected finish time (an honest estimate), and based on the results over the last few years my time predicts that I should be competing for the top 3 Masters spots. I really appreciated the gesture and will use it as a boost to my training and commitment to the race.

My friend Al let me borrow a book called "The Competitive Edge" by Richard Elliott. I have read several books that address the mental approach of racing, but this book is the first to really strike a chord with me. It contains a few gems that I will begin using in preparation for the marathon.

Workout Schedule
Mon: 8 easy
Tue: AM 4 easy. PM 2 mile warm up + 3x1 miles with 3 min recovery + 3x1000 meters with 2 min recovery + 3x400 meters with 1 min recovery + 2 mile cool down
Wed: 13 group run miles

Publish Post

Thu: 10 miles
Fri: 10 miles + striders
Sat: 5 miles easy
Sun: 2 miles easy + 4 miles tempo + 10 miles easy + 4 miles tempo + 2 miles easy

Chaney Event Management
I have added a few more races to the schedule and look to be busy this Summer. Next up is the Chase Your Shadow 5K....a new race in Portage Lakes State Park.

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Stress + Training

Stress
Until May of 2009 I had worked with the same group of people in the same industry for nearly 22 years. There is a lot to be said about being in a comfort zone for your profession and with the people you work with. Over the years, I know times bordered from comfort zone to taking things for granted. It's not until you are out of your comfort zone that you realize how stressful something new can be. While I am back in the industry (after an 8 month hiatus), it is with a new company and EVERYTHING falls solely on my shoulders this time. No margin of error here. Today is one of those days where little things that go wrong get MAGNIFIED and weigh on me like a ton of bricks. I know things will settle down over time. I just hope I recognize the tipping point.

Training
The miles are building and the marathon is not too far away. February promises to be a big month and will dictate my marathon success. Jo and I are in for the National Marathon. I want it to be my "one and done" marathon for 2010, but will hold the Cleveland Marathon as a backup if things don't look to be on target.

General
I revamped the www.copleycc.com website. I had a tough time deciding if I should bag the website and rely on Facebook, but in the end I think there is a place for both.

Maddie will be going to Ohio U for siblings weekend in February along with one of her friends. She will stay with the friends sister rather than with Logan. Hopefully he makes time to see her while she is there!

Wish I could find a way to make Chaney Event Management a full time gig.

Parents are in Aruba once again. I hope they have an uneventful and fun time.

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Training 01/04 to 01/10

A good solid week of running in the bank. I ended up at 91 miles which is pretty good for me. A few highlights included the New Years Day run and the Nakel Doughnut run. Temps have been pretty low and clearly Winter is here.

Mon 1/4: AM 8 easy miles
Tue 1/5: AM 2 mile warm up + 4x1 mile repeats + 4x400 meter repeats + 2 mile cool down
Wed 1/6: AM 13 with Damon / Matt / Rich / Nilesh / Ed
Thu 1/7: AM 8 easy miles
Fri 1/8: AM 10 miles
Sat 1/9: AM 20 miles
Sun 1/10: 14 miles
Total = 72 miles

My race schedule is starting to fall into place as well. I will do races each weekend for a month leading up to the marathon. Some will be marathon pace, some will be workouts, some will be all out. Here they are: Last Chance for Boston Half Marathon, Shamrock 15K, Malachi 5 miler, National Marathon.

Logan is back at OU for Winter Quarter. At the moment he has a single room. His roommate decided to move out. Hopefully he either keeps the large single or at least gets a good roommate.

Maddie starts back on Monday. I know it is going to take a few days to get back in the groove of things. Time to buckle down!

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