Peak week is done and now it's time to taper

I finished peak week running about 56 miles which is the farthest I have ever run in one week.  I've run almost 500 miles since I started training for the RocknRoll DC marathon on November 23rd.  I've been pretty healthy throughout training which has allowed me to consistently train.  In December and January I've run just over 160 miles and should do it again in February which would be my farthest mileage months ever.  For New York it was only near the end that I got to 130+ miles in the month and only one 20 miler.

Last week saw me run a 12 mile medium long run and a 20 mile long run in the same week, add in a couple of 5 milers and an 8 miler and I got to 56 miles.  The 12 miler was done entirely on my treadmill since it snowed and the streets were pretty icy.  The 20 miler was split between doing 13 miles on the BWI trail and 7 on the treadmill.  I didn't want to push too hard and do something stupid with 3 weeks left before the marathon, my 3rd marathon in less than 12 months.  I feel pretty good right now and am just trying to maintain my fitness through the taper period.

I've been doing a lot of my training on my own which can sometimes be a chore.  It's easier for me to run long and not give in if I'm running with someone else or a few people.  That being said, I'm pretty proud of myself for being self motivated to get the training done.  I've only really run into a few snags with a slight runners knee injury due to not replacing my shoes in a timely fashion.  It's much better now and continues to get better each week.

The next two weeks are taper weeks and I've never really been good at tapering and reducing mileage.  But if I follow the plan I should be OK.  I can't gain anymore fitness but I can sure screw up the marathon by trying to gain some fitness.  Hopefully I can control myself and not get stupid.

On March 6th I'll be heading to Salisbury to see my daughter at Salisbury University and to run the Tim Kennard 10 mile River Run while my daughter runs the 5K.  The idea will be to keep the pace easy and not try to set a PR or feel like I'm racing.

Thanks for reading and keep on running.

8 weeks down 8 weeks to go!!

8 weeks down 8 weeks to go until the RnR DC marathon on March 12th. It will be my 7th marathon since 2010.  So far it's been going pretty well.  I'm about 15 miles short of where I should be due to some long runs that either didn't happen or were run shorter than planned.  I'm slowly making them up and hope to be back on track or a little longer before taper time.

On January 1st I ran the Resolution Run 5K in Patterson Park that I've run since 2010.  This year I ran it in 25:53 which is a PR on this particular course.  It was too cold and the race is always well attended with runners and walkers.  The post run spread is held in an old Church.  They server chili and holiday cookies.  It's a great way to start the New Year.

My training in general has been much heavier than I usually run, but my goal of breaking 4:30 in the marathon is still in sight and I feel that I need to put in high slow mileage to get the strength and stamina to finish the marathon in less than 4:30.  I seem to really respond when the runs are slower than pace than if I run faster than marathon pace.  I also seem to respond to higher mileage.  I've gotten up as high as 16 miles and soon will be at 20 miles for the long run.

I hope to get one 22 mile run in 3 weeks before the marathon which would be the farthest I've run in training.  I also will have a 10 mile race a week before the marathon.  I can't believe there are only 8 more weeks of training and really 5 weeks of heavy training before a 3 week taper.  I'm trying to go into this marathon with less anxiety and not to panic if things are not where I think they should be.  I sometimes think I'm faster than I am or stronger than I am and start to "split watch", not taking into account terrain or weather.

I'm pretty happy with my training and hope to continue it for the next 8 weeks.  It will be fun no matter what.

Last few weeks of training

I'm now 5 of 16 weeks into this current marathon training block.  This is some of the most intense running I've really ever done.  Weeks 3, 4 and now 5 have seen my mileage go from 34 miles up to my week 5 mileage of 46 miles.

I'm looking forward to a small cutback week in week 6 where I will only run 42-43 miles.  I've continued to most of my training on the roads, trying as best as possible to forgo the treadmill.  Although due to the crazy mid-atlantic weather I had to do some of my midweek mini long runs on the treadmill due to the rain.

I'm also figuring out nutrition and that it's possible I'm not eating enough calories and carbing up enough before some of the long runs and I need to snack a little more than I am now and drink more water.  I continue to feel confident that the DC RnR marathon in March will be a good one.

This is the first time since starting running that I have broken 1,300 miles for the year and have run 100 miles or more for 9 of 12 months.  By the end of 2015 I will have also run over 6,000 miles since November 14, 2009 when I first started using dailymile.

Turkey Trot fun and marathon hijinx

This past week was week 1 of the 16 week 660 mile training plan I'm using to run the Rock n Roll DC marathon on March 12th, 2016.  I haven't gotten to heavy mileage quite yet and won't for quite a while.  The plan I'm using has me running 5 days a week with 1 cross training day and 1 rest/cross training day.  Those days are usually Thursdays and Sundays.  However, Thanksgiving was Thursday and my daughter (who was home from college) and I have a standing tradition of running the Towson Y! Turkey Trot 5K.  This year was a blast and just a bit warmer than last year.

For marathon training I took Monday and Tuesday off and ran Wednesday-Sunday.  The plan called for 29 miles but I only got in 24 miles which was OK.  I kept most everything easy and under control and even ran on the treadmill for a few miles.

Right before Black Friday I bought and new GPS watch, the Garmin Forerunner 220.  The nice thing about the watch is it locks on to GPS signals with in 10 seconds and it also can sync up your data to your phone instead of having to go to a computer.  Lastly it uses and accelerometer to count your steps per minute and also when the GPS is off it uses your steps to try and get your miles too.

I still want to qualify for Boston and we'll see if that happens but after a 5:15 in Pittsburgh and a 4:51 in NYC, I'll see if upping my mileage to around 41 to 42 miles per week will make a dent.

Next marathon is up

I've decided to run another marathon in the early spring.  I'm running the Rock n Roll DC marathon on March 12th.  I've run the RnR DC marathon a few years ago, it's a great run and a little bit hilly.  Training starts November 23rd.

The training plan I'm using will have me running 660 miles or more over 16 weeks.

I've started to feel better since the TCS NYC marathon on November 1st and I'm anxious to try and see if I can get this marathon thing right.

New York state of mind

I'm in a New York state of mind.  On February 15th,  I entered the 2015 TCS New York City Marathon lottery.  I had no expectations that I would actually get in since less than 20% of all entrants get in by the lottery.  On March 3rd the lottery took place.  I was checking my NYRR account and e-mail account all day.  I didn't know how long the lottery process would go on, but was starting to give up by 6 pm.  At 7:15 pm my wife yells out OMG and I ran into the room where the computer was and looked at the e-mail which said I had gotten in.  I was so excited and started dancing around the house.  This will be my first World Major Marathon and I'm very excited to be running it.

On to the present where I am training for the 2015 Dick's Sporting Goods Pittsburgh Marathon.  It has been a tough winter in Baltimore.  It has not been easy to run outside and the trails I would usually use for long runs have been snow and ice covered since the middle of January and probably won't be ready to run on until mid-April at this rate.  I have been doing some long treadmill runs and was able to get a few longer runs around my neighborhood, but with the cold and snow, it's been mostly too difficult to run on anything but the treadmill.

I did run the Tim Kennard 10 mile run in Salisbury, MD on March 1st.  The race started in snow flurries, which turned into snow showers, which turned into sleet and finally a cold rain.  Overall it was a great race in some tough conditions.  I even set a PR in the 10 mile distance. 

I'm hoping to get some decent mileage in this week so I can can get back on track.

2 months to Pittsburgh.

Keep on running.

Finally getting to the training for Pittsburgh

I'm finally getting to the training for the Pittsburgh Marathon and it's about time.  The weather has been cold, snowy, or icy so I've been hitting the treadmill a lot.  It's hard keeping my mind occupied for long runs on the treadmill.

I finally got to the high 20's this past week with 27 miles.  I'm hoping to continue the trend if the weather holds out.  I've figured out a loop that I can go as low as 3 miles or as high as 5 or 6 miles and then repeat however many times to get to the mileage I need.  The NCR trail that I run on for long runs is icy and will probably stay that way for a while.

I also found an app called rockmyrun which has modern music and you can download music sets between 30 minutes and 1 hour.  I use it sometimes when I'm on the treadmill to keep my mind occupied.  That and I start watching old 80's and 90's movies on demand.

So this week I have a 30 mile or so week planned.  We will see how it goes.

Thanks for reading and keep on running.