VT Dad’s fight vs. inertia & flab

Yesterday was the sports and fitness expo.  The highlight for me was that Bart Yasso was there.  He had written a new book chronicling his adventures around the world as a runner.  I bought and autographed copy.  I got my bib #118.  It was wonderful being at the expo, there was a palatable level of excitement in the room.

Today was the Y.A.M. scram, kids races of 1/2, 1, and 2 miles.  My youngest ran a 1/2 mile.  She did a nice job, found a pace that worked for her, and was able to sprint home at the finish.  It was a wonderful celebration for families and their children.

That’s all for now, as I anxiously await tomorrow.

The local Fox station did a feature about me and my goals for the VCM.  Here’s a link to their web coverage.
http://www.fox44.net/Global/story.asp?s=8374149
They did a nice job with the story, but I hate watching myself on TV.  I kept thinking about how much I am beginning to look like my dad.

I really enjoyed my last run prior to the marathon.  Again I had another picture perfect dawn for running.  47F, 8C clear and calm.  Nature cooperated with elegant beauty, as a low fog enveloped much of my route.  My time wasn’t special, today’s tempo splits were much slower than those of 2 days ago. What made this run special was that I was alone, and it gave me time to appreciate my journey.  I remembered my first race about 4 weeks into my running way back in late October, a 5K.  When I caught a middle school boy who was fading, his mind was wandering (they only run 3K for their middle school cross country).  I pointed out where the police lights were flashing at the base of the hill, and that the race had only ~600 meters left.  With that encouragement he perked up, and I found myself racing him to the finish.  I wasn’t going to lose to a middle school kid, and I didn’t.

I remembered all of the cold, snow, and darkness that I ran in during the winter.  How the alone time let me think and gain perspective.  I thought of my winter aerobic triathlon:  run, basketball, and cross country ski, all in the same day.  I thought about running in DC, March 15th, after my niece’s Bat Mitzvah, in shorts with temperatures in the 60s while it was still in the 30s in VT.  I thought about the times that I found my stride both while running and in life.  I thought about what a difference my friends here have made, helping and encouraging me when I felt down, sharing the good times along the way.  

48 Hours from now I’ll be headed to the starting line.  I’ll be sorting out millions of thoughts streaming into my head.  I’ll be excited and in the moment.  Appreciative of where I’ve come.  Enjoying my journey.

Today was another glorious day for a run.  The early morning temperatures were 43F, 6C when I got up.  Today was just a recovery run, so I decided bring Mookie with me to celebrate.  We went out to the field near my house, and went for a nice slow run.  It is wonderful to watch a creature that is full of exuberance when he runs.  Mookie had a blast as did I.  I had a wonderful time, enjoying the vibrant feeling as the dew soaked my running shoe.  21 minutes later I was home, refreshed, ready to start my day.

Today was my interval day.  Just 4 days out from the marathon it was a relatively light workout.  A 2K, mile, and 1K interval.  Including warm-up, cool down, and my cool down between intervals, I ran ~5 miles in all.  It was 43F, 6C this morning before my run started.  Again I dawned shorts, a long sleeved shirt, and a hat.  I had had a wonderful run yesterday, and was trying to recapture that same feeling, and those same mechanics today, because I felt as if I made a breakthrough yesterday.

I began with a relaxing mile.  My first interval, my 2K interval includes a ~1K hill.  During my previous efforts for this interval my splits were 11:06, 11:05, 11:04.  Today I was hoping to duplicate my form from yesterday and crack 11:00.  My split today was 10:02.   10:02, over one minute faster than my best.  I was amazed.  Eureka I thought, I  may just have found it.  I clocked a 9:19 for the downhill split, which included 90 seconds at my recovery pace.  

The rest of my run was good, but I still can’t believe that uphill split.  Only 4 days until the marathon, I’m so excited.

Today, is just 5 days prior to the VCM.  I went for a 6 mile base run.  I chose one of my favorite loops that takes me past my youngest’s elementary school.  It was 49F, 9 C, I chose to run with a hat and long sleeves.  6 weeks ago I would have run sans hat and only wearing a t-shirt.  I started out well, but not spectacular, churning of consecutive miles ~9:12 pace.  Somewhere during my 4th mile, something clicked.  I began to understand my proprioceptive cue of driving the thigh, while keeping floppy feet.  All of a sudden I was getting more power from each stride.  My 4th mile was ~8:50.  I focused and tried to concentrate.  I desperately wanted to repeat my form for the last 2 miles.  I felt fabulous during my 5th mile, a downhill mile.  My split was an 8:04.  Ecstatic I keep my concentration up, and kept focused on my last mile, and uphill mile.  Again I maintained my form, bounding up the last hill.  My last mile split was an 8:36.  I felt incredible.  I hope that I can recapture my form and cadence during the marathon, Sunday

One week, one week, I’ve got less than 1 week until the start of the marathon.  This week ran 5 of the 7 days, logging 39 miles.  The weather was fabulous, but too many of my runs were in the PM, because I didn’t get enough sleep or go to bed early enough this past week.  I’m excited about the race, Sunday. I’ve been registered to run in the VCM 8 years.  I’ve competed 1 prior year, running a 4:19.  I’ve been injured two other years, and suffered from a bad attitude the other 4 years.  This year I am happy with my preparations.  My head has been in a great place.  Since October 1st if run more than 970 miles, and have run for nearly 81 hours.  I ran outdoors throughout the winter, only surrendering twice to the conditions for an indoor workout.

I’ve already begun my race preparation.  Today and all of the coming week I’ll wear race t-shirts under my dress shirts.  This evening, my wife gave me an aerodynamic hair cut (my youngest was already in bed).  My schedule for the week is as follows:  
Monday: Off
Tuesday: 6 mile base run.  Drills: 2×20 seconds: running no arms & stiff legged running
Wednesday:  Intervals: 1 mile warmup and cool down, 2K@1/2 marathon pace (8:27 mile), 1 mile@ 10K pace (8:03), 1K @5K pace (4:48)
Thursday: 2 Mile Recovery Run
Friday: Tempo Run: 1 mile warmup and cool down, 2 miles@ 1/2 Marathon pace (8:27 miles)
Saturday: Off
Sunday: 26.2 miles VCM goal#1 3:50 (8:46 pace)  #2 sub 4:00 (9:07 pace)  #3 PR sub 4:19 (9:54 pace)

Again we were blessed with an awesome morning for running, 51F, 11C, clear and calm.  I got up with the sun, and headed on one of my favorite routes, a ~13 mile loop with three major uphills during the second, 7th, and last miles.  I really feel that I should be able to run this loop in under 2 hours, but the best I’ve ever done was ~2:07.  

I began running comfortably, and at my early checkpoints, I was ahead of any previous time that I had run this loop.  It was early enough that there were few cars out, just me and the pavement.  I’ve been eating shot blocks at the 45, and 1:35 minutes, and this morning I was ~2/10ths of a mile farther along this run at 45 minutes.  I continued with a solid pace, pushing up the hill at the half-way point, keeping my momentum with the transfer from the hill to the flats.  Even though I was running better, I knew at 1 hour and 20 minutes that I wasn’t going to get home in under 2 hours.  When I had the mental letdown, I ran well, but not with the same sense of urgency.  I lost a some of my focus.  I still managed to set a PR for that loop, but I could have been ~1 minute faster if I had maintained my focus.

I haven’t been too good lately getting to bed on time and waking up early enough to run.  My passion for basketball has had me watching the playoff games, and getting to bed to late.  Today I woke up around 6:30, but I had to have been on the road earlier than that, so I postponed my tempo run.  In the afternoon I had to take 2 kids to the doctors and run all sorts of errands after that.  To make a long story short, I started my run at 11:00 PM.  It was fabulous conditions for a run, 52F, 11C clear and calm.  I threw on a long sleeved top, some shorts, and my headlamp, and set out for my tempo run.

The route I chose was quiet and virtually car free.  It included 2 miles of dirt road during the first 4 miles, and 5 uphill sections, the shortest of which was ~2/10 of a mile, the longest was 6/10 of a mile.  The dirt road posed a problem in the dark, I struggled to find the line that was the smoothest.  The longest uphill is the last part of a 1.2 mile run that I have used as part of a 3K interval.  The first time I ran it I clocked a 11:06, the next time 11:05.  I was hoping to go sub11, but tonight I ran it in 11:04.  I should be happy, as I keep improving little by little.  I had an invigorating run.  Although I felt as if I pushed myself throughout, my HR never raced above 160.  I was happy with my run, and can’t wait to run again tomorrow (later today actually).

I took my interval run to the track today.  It was 56F, 13 C and raining when I started out.  I wasn’t phased by the rain, it felt great.  Today’s run was a 1 mile warm-up followed by a 2K, 1 mile, 1K and 800 meter intervals.  Each with a supposedly faster pace, and 90 seconds rest in between.  I enjoyed the workout, and felt that I could handle the 90 seconds rest fairly well, but my interval splits were not as fast as I would have have liked.  By the time my work out was completed, the sun was out and shining.  

My thoughts mirrored  today’s weather. I was blue about my splits being relatively slow, but I’m really thrilled with my experience training this time around.  I can’t wait for the race, although the marathon is 10 days away, it feels as if it should be tomorrow.