Coping With Covid 19

 It's been awhile since I've written. Having the marathon cancelled in the last days after posting  my weekly training took away my incentive to write anything. But I was asked to write an article for the NC Roadrunners newsletter so here is what I've been up to.

  Like many of you, I was preparing to race the Tobacco Road Marathon in mid March and had been detailing my training as I would be attempting to qualify for the Boston Marathon for the 1st time since 2016 with blog post and posting to social media.  I had been watching as many events begin cancelling in the weeks leading up to the race but was hoping that the race may go on before the big shutdown. Well, that didn't happen and although I searched I couldn't find any other races as one by one like dominoes falling, all events around the country were cancelled. All dressed up and no place to go. Sigh.

 Fortunately, one thing I have learned after many years in attendance at the school of hard knocks is that worrying over things that I have no control over is a big waste of time and energy. Time to move on. But what would that mean? Move on to where? Anyone that knows anything about me can tell that I am driven by making big audacious goals, some very long term, some short term and then putting a plan into action to achieve those goals. That of course under the circumstances is just an exercise in frustration as there is no way to look into the uncertain future to find any thing to target.

 So, what to do in the meantime?  Virtual runs have zero appeal to me so that was never an option. What I did decide to do was just have fun and just do workouts as much as I wanted,when I wanted.  A friend had began biking and so I decided after 11 years since I last rode while competing in triathlons that I would dust off and lube theold bike and take it out for a spin. I had so much fun that I was soon shopping for a new bike and splitting half my training time riding myself back into decent shape. And through it all I've continued to do my core workouts and yoga at least every other day. No one knows when racing can resume and as I write this more events for July and August are cancelling but until I can once again compete I'll keep in top shape and be ready to go. I still have some big dreams so stay tuned sports fans.

The Final week of training. Well actually tapering.

 What seemed so far away now seems too close. Race day is next Sunday the 15th so I'm either ready or I'm not. I'm going to be cautiously optimistic about this because overall the plan has gone quite well. I drew up a plan at the beginning of this and with only minor adjustments I've been able to stick with it. I'm not saying that I felt good on every run but all the key workouts were just about perfectly executed. The only thing I would do differently would be to have a couple of 20 -22 mile long runs but although I had them planned things just didn't work for me to make them happen. I just have to hope I have enough endurance and muscle memory in the aging bod to carry me through those lat 10 kilometers.
  This past week was mostly a recover and start the taper week but I did do my last hard 10x 800 yassos on Thursday. Here is what the week looked like.

Sun: rest
Mon: 3 slow and easy at home in 27:44
Tue: rest
Wed: 6 at marathon pace on the Neuse in 53:50
Thu: Track day 10 x 800 in 3:52-4:00 with the average about 3:54. Total of 8.5 miles with warm up, cool down and recoveries. 1:12:33.
Fri: rest
Sat: 8 miles on the turkey creek loop in Umstead in 1:14:59

 And whats up with the wind ! Everyday ! Windy!

 My upper arm/shoulder thingy is still painful but showing slight improvement so again I avoided and weights and calisthenics. I did manage two core workouts and two yin  yoga sessions. Hopefully I can improve on that after the race.

 Wish me luck !

Only two weeks to go ! How are things going?

  Well, after last weeks struggle in the Raleigh Half I was beginning to wonder. I rested a couple of days and decided to just run easy the remainder of the week, skipping a planned track session and hope for a bounce back at the Ellerbe half. It seemed to pay off with a strong effort on the hills. That was a much needed confidence boost. I'm resting today and going forward I have one more hard workout planned and other than that just some easy miles and nothing longer than maybe 10 next weekend. I'll call this the taper. Here is what I did. 33.2 miles.

Sun: rest
Mon: rest
Tue: 6 easy but strong Umstead miles in 53:52
Wed: 5 easy Neuse River miles on a warm humid day in 46:02
Thu: 5 miles easy at Salem Creek in 45:24
Fri: rest
Sat: 1 mile warmup, Ellerbe Half in 1:54:41, 3 mile cooldown.

Still doing some cross training. 2 yoga sessions and 3 core workouts. Only one dumbbell workout. My upper right arm is hurting too much right now so I'm just going to have to let it heal. IT even bothers me running which is not a good thing. It's so frustrating because the strength was really coming along nicely.

 Thanks for reading and stay tuned.

Three weeks until the Qualifier. Only time will tell.

I got some mixed signals from the past weeks training but overall it was positive. 42.2 miles for the week is pretty good and that included two half marathon distances. The real problem is the lack of the really long training runs which I was afraid of would happen. As race day approaches I'll just have to hope that the overall quality of my running over this past 2.5 months will be enough to overcome that. Here's what happened.

Sun: 13.1 miles in 1:56:55 on the Crabtree Greenway. A great day and confidence boost.
Mon: 5 miles easy  in 44:15 on Crabtree and felt good.
Tue: 5 more easy at Umstead in 45:59. Felt ok but skipped the big hills.
Wed: 6 miles on Smith Creek/Dunn Creek greenways in WF in 53:39. This was a little speed and strength workout I will sometimes do on race weeks. I call it the 444. It's 4 20 sec hill sprints , 4 x 440 at about 5k race pace and 4 x 20 sec strides with and easy warm up and cool down mile.
Thu: none
Fri: none.
Sat: 13.1 in 1:59:21. See the race report for the details.

Still a bit slack on the cross training but my attitude is improving towards that. It would sure help if the shoulder/upper arm thing would quit hurting so I could really do what I want with it. I did get in two bodyweight/calisthenics workouts and  two core workouts of 20 and 25 minutes. I fell off completely with the yoga. That's a bit unsettling because before I started this marathon thing I was doing 5 nights a week of 45 minutes to an hour. Must re-focus.

 I have the Ellerbe Half Marathon next Saturday. The long range weather forecast looks good. Hopefully I'll feel good and get in a few extra miles. Until then lets train !

That went well until it didn't. The Raleigh Half Marathon.

 A couple of weeks ago I was wondering why I entered this race and wishing that I hadn't. I had already been signed up for the Ellerbe Half which is next weekend and I really didn't need to be racing two weekends in a row this close to my marathon. Somewhat reluctantly, I made the decision to use this race as a workout rather than going all out but exactly what kind of workout I really didn't know until just before the  race started and by mile two I changed that plan.

 Since I wasn't racing and with the 22F starting temperature I didn't do my normal pre-race warmup and planned to just go easy the first two miles. Mile 2 is just over the summit of the big hill and at that point I would do 2 miles at race pace (8:15-8:20) with half mile recoveries at marathon BQ pace (9:00-9:07). Well, with a slight downhill start and getting caught in the flow of runners as we narrowed down onto the greenway at 1/4 mile, I went out faster than planned in 8:39 and even mile 2 up the hill was barely slower than I'd planned for the slow recoveries(9:11).

I took off then and began moving by people. I didn't feel all that good and somehow ran mile 3 in 8:03. Too fast. Already I was regretting wearing a jacket as I was sweating so I zipped it down to allow air flow and decided then to just alternate faster miles with MP miles, Hit mile 4 and failed at that too. Too fast that is in  8:49. Took off again and now I'm sure all the runners I was leapfrogging were probably thinking I was some sort of novice that didn't know jack about pacing ! Next sequence was another fail with mile 5 another 8:03 and mile 6 another 8:49.

 Despite running too fast in each segment I still wasn't feeling all that good. Mile 7 is probably overall the hardest one the course as it goes up to and around Anderson Point Park so I took another easy mile through there. The hills along with a pee break gave me a 9:27 which would have been just about right without the break. I took off again and started seeing runners behind me now on the out and back which is always fun. Saw quite a few friends over the next couple of miles. That mile 8 was 8:17, finally one on pace !  At this point I didn't want to run hard anymore so the plan now changed to just running BQ pace the last 5.

 That went ok for about a mile. 9 was an 8:54, still a tad fast so I backed it down slightly but then by 9.5 I started feeling some stomach pain. I didn't feel like I was going to throw up but the pain was similar. Mile 10 was a 9:21 and then I slowed way down to 9:49 for mile  for mile 11 and couldn't believe how hard it felt. I took a couple of short walk breaks and then walked all of the steep hill so it was a terribly slow  10:26. With  a little over half a mile to go I was passed by the 2 hour pace group and of course they were encouraging me to come along with them.  I wasn't much interested in time but just getting it done without feeling worse. Mile 13 was 9:58 and then finally I was done. That was a lot harder than I planned. I actually ran the course faster last Sunday on an easy training run.

 Looking at the results I was surprised I was still 4th of 11 in the 60-64 age group and even more surprising was there were no 65-69 runners and only 1 over 70 ! But I think that maybe that could be because they don't give awards to age groups? Anyway, they do a great job putting on this event and depending on whats going on next year maybe I'll come back ready to rumble.

Just one more month until marathon day.

 And with just 4 weeks to go I wish I could say what a great week of training was just completed but let's not try and fool anyone, especially myself. Not that it was bad but once again, no long run which is definitely what I need more than anything. I did have 31 miles for the week which isn't terrible and thankfully I felt good on all of them and my average pace is good, right at marathon goal pace. The weather overall continues to be pretty good for the training so no excuses there. Something is lacking in my motivation and I feel a big part of that is lack of training partners. But I press on.

Sun: 7 easy miles on the Neuse in 1:04:59
Mon:  6 easy on the Neuse in 53:39
Tue: 6 easy in Umstead. Really good day in 53:39
Wed: 6 miles on the track in 50:07. Felt great in a workout of 5 x 1K at 10k race pace.
Thu: rest
Fri: 6 easy on the Neuse in 53:48
Sat: Rest.

 This was my slackest week yet in cross training. I've been plagued by shoulder pain for a long time now and it was really bothering me a lot lately so I backed way off on the calisthenics and body weight stuff. Only 1 workout this week. I did two core sessions and only one yin yoga session.

 I'm heading out now for a medium long run if things go well as soon as I finish this. The rest of the week will be pretty easy as I have the Raleigh Half Marathon next Saturday.

Week 8, and then there were Five.

 Wow, time waits for no one. What seemed so far away is barely a month from now. Some days I feel I have this in the bag and others the doubts creep in and I wish there were more weeks to train. But you work with what you've got so I hope to take advantage of the remaining time and continue with some quality running.

This week was not a high mileage week mainly due to the fact that I decided that tomorrow(Sunday) would be better for me to attempt my long run. I still got in a decent 30.5 miles in 5 days. Early in the week my quads were a bit sore but on my track day Wed I could tell during the warmup that it was going to be good. And it was. A real confidence boost. Best of all it's all pain free running.

 So here is what I did.

Sun: 4 miles easy in 37:16 at Crabtree Mall to Shelley
Mon: 5 easy on a freaky 73F day in 46:31on the Neuse
Tue: 6 more easy in Umstead in 55:32
Wed: Yasso 800's on the track. Did 8 averaging about 3:53. Total 7.5 miles in 1:05:17
Thu: Rest after 7 days in a row.
Fri: 8 easy on the ATT in 1:15:02
Sat: Rest again.

 Another decent week of cross training even though both of my shoulders are painful which really puts a damper on the enthusiasm to workout. I pushed through and did four calisthenic/body weight sessions, two core workouts and two 40 minute sessions yin yoga.

 Wish me luck this coming week, especially on getting in a good long run tomorrow. The weather looks great for it. And heads up, I've got the Raleigh Half Marathon coming up in just two weeks now and the Ellerbe Half marathon the following week.

Marathon Training Week 7 update

 And now just 6 weeks to go. In a way I wish I had a couple of more weeks but on the other hand I'm getting excited to race and see what happens. I'm quite pleased with the way the past week has gone. Despite having sore quads from the long run in the Uwharrie mts I felt pretty good all week and ran some decent paces without pushing it. I got in 5 runs for a weekly total of 37.3 miles. Here is how it went.

Sun: Rest
Mon: 5 easy on the greenway in 44:56
Tue: 6 in Umstead in 54:46.
Wed: rest
Thu: 9 miles in 1:17:52. Included 3 x 2 miles at half marathon pace. 16:36, 16:22, 16:34.
Fri: 5 easy on Cary greenway in 45:14.
Sat: Medium long run of 12.3 miles in Umstead in 1:53:48.

 Cross training was ok with  2 bodyweight/calisthenics workouts, 2 core workouts and 4 yin yoga sessions of 40 min to an hour.

 The coming week calls for more work with a mid week yasso 800's planned and hopefully a good long run next weekend. Looks like a warm week ahead so we'll see how that goes. Stay tuned.

Week 6 and we are about halfway there.

 Yep, 7 more weeks to go until Marathon Day.

 This past week was a good one and a bit of a confidence boost. I had 39.2 miles for the week with only four days of running but that was mostly good quality stuff. As I've said before, one of the hardest things building back the mileage is mentally facing the long time alone running. Once you've been keeping runs between 60 to 90 minutes for a long time, it's easy to talk yourself out of staying out for 2 hours and more but it's coming back to me.
 Here is how the week looked.

Sun: 8 miles in 1:11:28. Solid run at BQ pace
Mon: none
Tue: none
Wed: 6 miles in 51:34. This was a great track workout as I started with the yasso 800's. 6x 800 in 3:53 to 3:55, which is about my lactate threshold pace now.
Thu: 6 easy along the Neuse in 54:29
Fri: none
Sat: 19.2 miles in 3:20:02. My longest run in 18 months and my initiation into The Fellowship of Idiots. Up to the top of Morrow Mountain and back. Ran well the whole way other than short walk breaks on the steepest parts of the hills.
Sun: none

 Another decent week of cross training also with 4 bodyweight/calisthenics strength workouts and  2 core workouts but I was slacker with the yoga. Not sure how that got away from me but I'll get back to work on that this coming week.

Week 5 of Marathon training. Back at it.

 I finally felt like I had recovered completely from the 25k race weeks ago with the zip returning to my legs. The week started off with temperatures well above normal and I ran my track workout shirtless but by Friday it was in the 40's again for highs. The weekly total was only 32 miles but I got in some quality miles and that number should grow over the next few weeks until I race again.

Sun: Rest
Mon: 6 miles in 54:30 along the Neuse
Tues: Rest
 Wed: Great workout of 5x1K at 10K race pace. 6 Miles total in 51:50
Thu: 4 easy at Smith Creek Greenway 36:18
 Fri: Strong 12 along the Neuse with a nice negative split. 1:48:49 (9:04 pace)
Sat: 4 easy from home in 35:37.

 Cross training was great this week with two body weight workouts, two core sessions, 1 weights and core workout at the gym. Got a little slack with the yoga with only two 40 minute sessions.

 Looking ahead if things go well I could have my biggest mileage week in a couple of years helped by doing the 19.7 mile Fellowship of the Idiots run next Saturday. Stay tuned for that one.

Week 4 of marathon training. Recovery.

 This was planned as a recovery week after last Saturdays 25K race which was my longest race and run in 18 months. The good news is that I had practically zero soreness and no aches and pains. The bad news is it seems to have worn me down more than I expected. I think a lot of that is due to the warm and humid conditions. Ended up with 26 miles for the week with no long run or workout. Hopefully I'll be feeling up to resuming the harder training in the coming week.

 Sun: Rest
 Mon: 4 easy in 36:23 along the Neuse.
 Tue: rest
 Wed: 6 easy in 54:54 along the Smith Creek Greenway
 Thu: 6 easy along the Neuse in 53:40. Finally felt a little zip.
 Fri: 5  easy in 46:13 from Mill Bridge Nature park. Sluggish.
 Sat: 5 miles in Umstead. Super slow and tired. 49:04.

 I did a decent job off keeping up the cross training this week with four body weight workouts, one core session and four 40 to 45 minute yin yoga sessions.

 Time to move along. BQ is waiting as long as I do the work.

week 3 of marathon training.

 This 3rd week was not so much a training week as a taper and race week, starting with a day off and ending with the Salem Lakeshore 25K. The race didn't go as planned. Not really sure why. I went out at a reasonable pace but just never felt right. Maybe the 100% humidity on an above average warm day was a factor. Anyway, I got in the miles and the longest run since August 2018 so I'll take that as a positive. Here is the weekly runs. No workout this week.

 Sun : Rest

 Mon: 5 easy 46:10
Tue: 6 easy in Umstead 54:30
 Wed: 4 easy 35:59
 Thur: 4 easy with strides 36:17
 Fri: rest
 Sat: 15.5 race 2:27:27.

 I kept the cross training light this week also with two 30 minute body weight sessions, no weights, one 20 minute core session and one 45 minute yin yoga.

 I'll take it easy a few days to recover from the race and hopefully resume normal training . See you next week.

2020, Here I come. Looking ahead.

 I am thankful and happy to be heading into the new year in good health and in decent shape and with confidence for some good performances. Once again, I have nothing really epic planned but there are several goals, a couple of which I had for last year but failed to achieve. The first big goal is to get a Boston Qualifier and until that is done I can't make a lot of plans for  beyond March right now but I can put a couple on the calendar. Goal #2 is to return to The Cotton Row Run 10k in Huntsville and improve on my 2018 time, hopefully with a sub 48 time or better and a podium would be nice. I had to cancel the attempt last year due to a  nagging calf injury. And the 3rd big goal is to go back to the Virginia 10 miler and run my fastest time there in about 20 years and finally make the top 3 in my age group.

 So here is what I'm looking at for the year so far. Mostly speculation at this point but I'll post an update sometime in the Spring when I know more. Could be some surprises if things go well in March.

Jan 4th: The Salem Lakeshore Frosty 25K
Jan 25th: The Fellowship of the Idiots. Not a race but an organized 19.7 mile run to the top of Morrow Mountain and back.

 Feb 29th: The Ellerbe Half Marathon. Hopefully a sub 1:50 on this hilly course and hang out with MTC friends

 Mar 15th: The Tobacco Road Marathon. This is my BQ attempt. Aiming for 3:55 but 4:00 should guarantee a spot in Boston. Until this is done I can't commit to too many other events but I'll post a few things Im definitely doing and a few others that are good possibilities.

 Apr: Depends on the marathon but if I come close but need another attempt I'll schedule one towards the end of the month. Otherwise I'll do a few shorter races this month.

 May: Cotton Row is on memorial Day.

June: ?

July: Maybe Grandfather Mountain Marathon. It's been several years. I've wanted to give the Senior Grandmasters title a shot since turning 60  but twice had to cancel due to injury and then last year I went to Boilermaker. Maybe this will be the year. I really wanted a sub 4 if I could have gone in 2016 but I don't know if I'll ever have that in me again.

 Aug: Maybe return to the High Country Half or just some 5k's

 Sept: Virginia 10 Miler is the last Sat of the month.

 Oct: Probably a half marathon or two. Maybe a 5k in the mix.

 Nov. I'm planning on a Fall marathon. Will either be Mid to late Nov or early early Dec but nothing picked out just yet.

2019. The year in review

 Overall not a bad year at all. Nothing really epic but some good results in most of the events I entered. First, lets look at the numbers. 1,330.1 miles in the best yearly total since the 1420 of 2016 and that puts me at 52,909 lifetime miles. Overall it was a year of good health with the only injury was a bit of a calf strain which was not caused by running but affected the run for a few weeks spread over parts of April in May. Those months only had 52 and 57 miles respectively making the yearly total that much more satisfying. As you should know , I  made a commitment to make the run top priority in my fitness regimen beginning in late July and the result was that each month from August through December were all better than any months in the previous 2 years. Now on to the details.

 Jan: The year started off well with a very good run at the Holden Beach Half. I was pleased with the 1:48:51 and 2nd place AG. Monthly total was 119.2

 Feb: no racing but some good quality training and 119.2 miles again !

 Mar: Got off to a good start with the Florence Forth 10k. I felt good, ran strong just creeping under 48 with a 47:59 and an age group win. 3 weeks later I ran the St. Paddys 4 miler again and although I was 30 seconds slower than last year in 30:27 it was still good enough for 1st Senior Grandmaster again. A week later I was at Sunset Beach for another half. Improved my time to 1:46:20 but had to settle for 3rd AG and was out-sprinted to the finish. Gotta work on that top end speed ! 112.3 miles for the month.

 Apr: Was a bit frustrating with the calf mystery issue coming in early and costing me about 2 weeks off. It seemed fine and I raced the Port to Fort 5k in Morehead City in 23:30 which was good enough for the AG win. But a few days later the calf flared up again. Only 52.3 miles for the month.

 May: Started off with a lot of zeros and 10 days off before I tested the calf again. It was ok and I eased the mileage back up but no racing and only 57.0 miles for the month. Sadly I cancelled a planned trip to return to the Cotton Row Run in Alabama that had been one of my goal races for the year.

 June: More frustration. the month started out ok and on the 15th I ran the Vertical mile Challenge which had been on my list for a few years. Considering no mountain training and practically no trail running in recent years I had a good day, ran consistent paced laps and was 2nd AG. Legs really took a beating and despite 5 days of rest and easing back into it I aggravated my left  upper glute and hip flexor. I was confident it was not the same thing that ruined me back in  2014 and 2015 but I was going to be careful. I could run but only did 3 or 4 miles every two or three days and it gradually healed and felt better each week over the next 3 weeks or so. Monthly miles were 84.0.

 July: Was not what I'd hope. The first two weeks were all short runs every few days with some slight improvement in the pain but at least I could run. I decided to go ahead with my trip to Utica NY for the Boilermaker 15k. Things went ok although slow for the first 7 miles but then I bonked and the hip flexor was really bothering me.  Over the next weeks it graduallyt began to improve and I was able to run but it was the 28th before I noted that it was about 90% back to normal.  83.3 for the month.

 Aug: August started off well with the pain seemingly behind me now. I raced the Running With the Law 5k  in Jacksonville but only because I wanted to visit my friend for the weekend. Luckily  I got through it ok, ran about the same as I did in April in 23:33 and another AG win. By now I was not going to hot yoga anymore and with no injury I was ready to get back to some serious training and goals. On the 24th I took a trip to Boone for the High Country Half,a tough race that shares the first 10.5 miles as the Grandfather Mountain marathon. I ran much stronger than I expected with the help of cool rain and just missed my fantasy goal of breaking 2 hours on this hard course with a 2:00:23. Some tough competition from the local mountaineers put me off the podium and 4th place. Finished the month with 134.3 miles, my best in about 2 years !

 Sept: Things were going great this month and I was getting in great training with 5 to 6 days a week of runs despite the lingering heat and humidity. My #1 goal of the year was to beat my last years time at the Virginia 10 Miler and make the podium for the first time in 21 years of racing there. Although things were going well due to the earlier injuries I was not at the level I wanted to be going into the Fall racing season. And then race morning turned out to be hot and humid. I did as well as I could but I was never on pace to be close to last years time and I struggled in the last few miles. Going back in 2020 hopefully better prepared and maybe mother nature will be kinder. Good month though with 137.8 miles

 Oct:  I think this is probably the only Oct. in the last 2 decades at least that I had no races scheduled. It was tempting but I knew I needed to be training. I had a marathon planned in November and I was already way behind the mileage goals I need and no long runs done. Ended up with my best month of the year and best in about 3 years with 147.1 miles but still no real long runs.

 Nov: Due to the lack of long runs I made the very wise decision to drop down to the half at the City of Oaks Marathon  on the 3rd with the goal of trying to beat my time from last year which would be a challenge because I ran pretty well on this  tough course last year. Ended up running well this year but only better by 6 seconds in 1:49:10 and that all came in the last 10th of a mile sprint ! Good enough for 2nd AG in this larger event. Good training continued through the month and I ended it with a 5K Cross country race at the Nike Southeast Regional event. 23:35 on the tough course in some muddy conditions was satisfactory and only 2 seconds slower than the flat road 5k in August. 142.9 for the month.

 Dec:  I only had one race planned to finish out the year before going back into a marathon training program. That was the Frosty Run 10k on the 7th in Wake Forest. I had done some specific workouts for it so it was a bit of a disappointment that at the last minute a course change caused the certified course to be shortened to about 5.7 miles. It turned out cold and windy but I ran well on this hilly route my 45:16 was equivalent to about 48:40 if it had been the full 10k. 2nd AG. Finished the month with 140.7 miles.

And that's it for 2019. I'll post a looking ahead post with some goals for the coming year soon. Right now I'm happy with the way things are going and confident 2020 will be a good one.



 

week two of marathon training and all is well

 I'm pleased to report that everything is going as planned and I'm feeling good. I finished up the week with 44 miles which is the best week in over two years and maybe longer ! I'm having no aches or pains (knock on wood) as I continue to closely monitor my body and allow for plenty of rest. Working part time now and with a flexible schedule allows me a lot of goofing off time and plenty of sleep which is always needed but especially for us old people !

 Here is what the week looked like.

 Sun: 14 miles at 9:07 pace which is 4:00 marathon pace.
 Mon:rest
 Tues:6 miles in 53:47
 Wed: 4 miles in 35:27
 Thur: Workout Day. Went to the track for tempo intervals. 5 x 1k in 4:50 to 4:47 with 200m recoveries. Total with warm up and cooldown of 6 miles in 51:38.
 Fri: 6 miles on the ATT in 54:23 getting re-familiar with the course.
 Sat: 8 miles in 1:17:35 on Umstead hills.

 Cross training for the week was a bit light once again. One body weight day, one gym weights session, two core workouts of 30  and 15 minutes and three 45 minute sessions of yin yoga.

 Looking ahead to next week, I plan to take it pretty easy and taper for the Salem Lake 25K race next Saturday which should be a good indicator of my current fitness.

 Stay tuned for more updates and a race report soon.

First week training update.

 I've just completed the first week of training for Tobacco Road and I have mixed feelings about it. Overall things went well. The paces have certainly been where I want them on my daily runs and the mid-week workout was perfection but as I suspected, the recovery time is going to be more of an issue at age 64 than it was just a few years ago. But, I am also being smarter about that than the younger me was and I have no problem taking rest days as needed or cutting things short like I did on  today's long run. The key is getting in the key workouts and a shift of a few days one way or another doesn't matter as long as they get done and I'll just do my planned 14 sometime over the next couple of days.

 Here is how the week looked.
 Sun: 4 easy in 36:14
 Mon: 4 easy in 36:24. Probably should have rested.
 Tues: Took that rest day.
 Wed: 9 miles in 1:18:03. Workout of 3 x 2 miles in 16:45, 16:47, 16:45, about my current half marathon race pace.
 Thurs: rest
 Fri: 5 miles easy in 44:43. Significant that this is the average pace I need for my goal pace in March :)
 Sat: 8 miles on Turkey Creek Loop in 1:18:47. Planned on 14 but the hills were too much for me today.

 In addition I had two 30 minute body weight sessions, 1 weights session at the gym for 35 minutes, 2 30 minute core sessions and two yin yoga sessions for 45 minutes each.

 Feeling excited and ready to  move on to next week. The plan is to make up the missing 14 miler early in the week, then I've got  a 5 x 1K at 10k pace planned for Thursday. Next weekends long run is just 12 again since I have the 25k race the following weekend.

Marathon Training officially begins

 Ok sports fans. It's time to get with the plan and be serious about preparing for Tobacco Road Marathon next march. I've used a running journal from day 1 of my running and it is set up like a calendar so my weeks start on Sunday.  This past week was a recovery week from racing the two previous weekends so it was all easy pace stuff.

 Sun: 5 miles easy in Rocky Mount on their greenway 45:02
 Mon: 5 miles easy on the Neuse Greenway 45:31
 Tues: 6 miles not so easy in Umstead. 59:37. I really needed a day off but I was working in Cary and I've been wanting to check out the Cedar Ridge re-route. Probably a bad idea. Felt tired, dead legs.
 Wed: Finally rested
 Thurs: 5 miles at Shelley Lake in 46:37. Still tired and heavy legs.
 Fri: more rest
 Sat: 12 miles along the Neuse in 1:48:16. This was the kick off of building the long runs. I was happy to feel fresh and stayed consistent and finished strong.
 Total of 33 miles.

 In addition to the running I am still doing lots of other workouts. This past week I did two body weight strength, one with weights at the gym,and three 30 minute core sessions. And although I no longer take yoga classes I still have a home practice although I was a bit slack with it this week. I do some yoga as part of my warmups in the strength sessions and at night I spend anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour doing yin yoga 4 or 5 days a week but this week I only did one.

 In the past going into a training plan like this I would usually schedule two speed or tempo type workouts each week but now that I've gotten into the mid 60's I have to face the reality that my recovery times aren't what they used to be and I have to be smarter and more careful. With that, I am only going to be doing one hard , faster quality workout each week and hopefully maximaize results with less chance of injury.

 One thing I have going for me right now is that my daily easy run pace is as fast as I need to run to get a guaranteed spot into Boston 2021. At my age I need 4:05 which is 9:21 pace. But to make sure I get in I want at least  a 5 minute cushion so 4:00 or less is the goal and that's 9:07 pace and my 12 miler was at 9:01. So I really don't need more speed. I just have to build the endurance to hold that for the full 26.2 miles !

 According to the pace charts, in theory I should be able to run about a 3:47 marathon but of course that is taking into consideration that I have put in the long runs. Let me say now, I have no intentions of trying to run that fast in March.  Maybe someday later but #1 priority now is just getting that BQ and once that is taken care of then maybe I will work on that 3:47 again which was my BQ time for the 2016 Boston.

 So for those wanting to follow along here is the coming weeks plan. Mid week is the pace workout.
 1 mile warm up, 3 x 2 miles at 25k race pace (8:30) with 1/2 mile recoveries, 1 mile cool down.
 Long run of 14 miles.
 3 or 4 days of easy runs from 4 to 6 miles.

 Let the fun begin !

Returning to the marathon.

 This post is just to give some of you followers a little background on my experience with the marathon.  I began running 42 years ago in 1977 and soon after decided I wanted to run a marathon. I finally felt I was ready and entered the Columbia (SC) Marathon in Mid February of 1981. A few days before I came down with the flu and wasn't able to race so I signed up for the Wilmington marathon 3 weeks later. Unfortunately I was still congested in the lungs and weakened and my experience in the race was not so good with cramping and walking the last few miles. I finished in 3:59:05 and was so sore afterwards I decided not to run another one for a few years.
  Then life decided it would be a lot longer. Fast forward to 2002 and  it was after running my first 50k in Feb before finally running another marathon. This was the beginning of my long distance era and over the next 13 years I ran over 80 ultras and 50 marathons before choosing to run shorter distances when I turned 60. From 2016 and my last time racing Boston my mileage had begun a steady decline and the once a year marathons  that I did run , I was woefully under-trained for and of course I haven't raced an ultra since Dec 2015.
 As a result of the lower mileage and little racing long distance over these past several years, any endurance and muscle memory for the marathon is long gone. This return will be like starting over with the exception that I do have the experience and know what is needed and how to do it.
 This will be a short marathon build up with only 13 weeks to train for the Tobacco Road Marathon which I've entered with the hopes of qualifying for Boston. I'm not too concerned with that though because since giving the run top priority in my training since July when I quit going to 5 or 6 yoga classes a week I have gotten my weekly average mileage up to the mid 30's per week and hit the low 40's a couple of times so I have a good base to build on.
 I've got my training plan in place and it will began with at least a 12 mile run this Saturday Dec.14th and go from there. I'll be posting weekly updates so stay tuned. Boston 2021, I'm coming for you.

Return to the Virginia 10 Miler.

 Will this be the year I finally make a podium spot? Well, let's look back at a little history of my favorite road race.

 The VA Miler is one of the premier races in the country and begun in 1974. In it's long history it has seen a virtual who's who of elite running including many Olympians like Lasse Viren, Frank Shorter, Rod Dixon and Grete Waitz.

 I first ran it in 1978, my first year of racing. My brother and I went under trained and not prepared for this very tough, hilly course.In those early years it was earlier in Sept and had a 10 am start time so it got up to 88F and we suffered through it. Despite the difficulty we signed up for the next year and so began my 15 year streak until 1992. The next several years after my divorce my running suffered as I tried balancing work and raising two boys.

  As the kids got older and I began running more, I finally returned in 1999 through 2002. After that I became an ultra runner and it would not be until 2016 that I would come back once again.

 The race had always been very competitive and after I turned 60 and having some success at age group racing I was thinking how cool would it would be to actually make the podium in my all time favorite race. Early results in 2016 showed that I had finished 3rd and I was elated as I made a premature FB post but later after the results were revised I had dropped to 6th ! Grrrrr.

 I was unable to return in 2017 but came back last year and moved up to 4th. I made a vow that day I would return and give it my best shot at running my fastest time since 1992 and get that podium spot. Unfortunately I'm not in shape to do that. No ones fault but mine. I just wasn't prioritizing the running like I needed until mid July. Things are going well but I could use another 4 weeks of focused training. As it is I can only go and give it my best shot and see what happens. It's going to be a hot one so fast isn't an option but at least my competitors have to race in the same conditions so I'm not ruling out placing just yet.

 Below I am listing all my previous results. To give you an idea just how tough this course is, my record here of 1:08:15 is nearly 4 minutes slower than my 10 mile pr set a year earlier !

1978 - 1:47:02
1979 - 1:18:55
1980 - 1:17:30
1981 - 1:09:36
1982 - 1:11:57
1983 - 1:13:23
1984 - 1:08;15
1985 - 1:09:18
1986 - 1:21:27
1987 - 1:11:35
1988 - 1:19:55
1989 - 1:19:09
1990 - 1:13:37
1991 - 1:16:49
1992 - 1:18:48
1999 - 1:25:47
2000 - 1:29:22
2001 - 1:24:03
2002 - 1:28:12
2016 - 1:23:07
2018 - 1:25:10

Preparing for a Classic in Utica

Tomorrow morning I will be running in the Utica Boilermaker 15k. Why you may ask? Well, when I decided to stop running ultra's and focus on the shorter distances 3 years ago when I turned 60 one thing I wanted to do was try and compete in some of the classic non marathon races that have been around since the time I began racing or earlier.
  In my younger days I ran the Virginia 10 miler in 1978. I met Bill Rodgers there and got an autograph and he just happened to be at the race expo today.( He won this one in 1983). I also ran the Cherry Blossom 10 miler a couple of times including my 10 mile pr run in 1983. The Maggie valley 5 miler used to draw a couple of thousand runners and was big on the elite circuit in the early 80's.
 But my big time racing ended soon after that and once I decided to start the second life as a racer I concentrated on ultras and marathons.

 Well a few years ago about the time I was doing some running and workouts with Laura, she went to Utica as an invited elite masters female and crushed it and came back raving about the race so I thought I'd give it a try. Only problem is it's always the weekend of Grandfather Mt Marathon. But two years ago I signed up but then had the stress fracture in my heel that kept me from running for  over 3 months so I cancelled that trip. And then last year I had big plans for GMM but lack of training ( no excuses I just didn't do the work) cancelled that.
 So this year not having anything big on the agenda for Summer I decided it was time to finally come to NY. Well, I'm not in racing shape but I'm going to toe the line in the morning and do what I can and try to have some fun.

 This is a big race with nearly 12,000 finishers last year and even more in a 5k for about 19,000 total !

 Last year I was able to knock off another big race, the Cotton Row 10k and I hope to race one or two of the other classics for as long as I can. But for now, wish me luck, I'm gonna need it.

 Here is the race website.