The Tuneless Experimentation

With just barely a week left until my marathon, I've been tapering my runs, but trying to keep up my speed and intensity.  The rationale being that I will be able to go into the marathon rested, but not soft.  Sounds good on paper but as in all things I do, it's a work in progress.  This Saturday, I'll finish up the week with a long run of 11-15 miles, and I'm thinking of doing it tuneless.  Before today, I couldn't tell you the last time that I did any run of long distance without my tunes, but I've been running without music for the last couple of training runs.  Today, I did 8 miles without my music.  I am definitely a believer in the motivating power of music, but I've been listening to my marathon playlist for so long that I'm afraid it's starting to get stale.  Hence the tuneless runs.  And I hate to admit it, but it's been kinda fun running without my music.  I was able to really pay attention to all the sights as I ran through Belmont.  I enjoyed it so much that I'm considering running without my music for the first half of the marathon.  The only problem is dealing with the headphones while on the run.  Do I put them in my pocket?  Do I wear them but not turn on my player?  Decisions, decisions, decisions. 

Just to make sure that you don't think that I've lost my geek cred, I'm only running tuneless.  I'm still otherwise technologically pimped out with my trusty Garmin 405.  At least it was until a few weeks ago before it started to lose power dramatically mid-run.  I've done a hard reset, and I'm hoping that resolves the issue.  However, it does make me wonder if I should sport my Forerunner 305 come marathon day.  Again....decisions, decisions, decisions.

End of the Week Recap 4/18/10

Hail my running brothers and sisters!  Another week down and now 6 days until my marathon.  This week I ran 30.68 mi at an average pace of 9:03/mi.  I did 1:20:00 of conditioning, and weighed in a bit high at 157.6 lbs.  Last night was the Spring Auction for my kids’ school and I’m afraid that I showed less restraint than I should have.

I got in 2 x 10 mi runs this week but my first 10 mi run, I did with a friend at a 10:36/pace.  I did get in a track workout this morning.  Nothing too strenuous, but it felt good to do a little speed work.  I did 2 x 1600 m, 2 x 800 m and 1 x 400 m at an average pace of 7:42/mi with 400 m recoveries in between.  It felt really good to be back on the track again.  Probably because I hadn’t been on the track in awhile, I went out a bit harder than I should have, but I kept the workout short in honor of taper week.

As I’m rolling into my final week, taper madness has taken full hold on my sensibilities.  I’m trying not to read too many magazines or training guides, because I don’t want to damage whatever fitness that I have left with some crazy training workout.  My anxiousness is at an all time high as I stare at my course map and fly through the miles in my head.  If I’m not doing that, then I’m checking the daily forecast for some hint of change in the weather (currently calling for highs of 81 with scattered showers) or reviewing my playlist for proper cadence and inspiration (by the way, we’re going full-on redneck running for the my hometown marathon.  It seemed appropriate to stick with all country music for the Country Music Marathon after all). 

This is the last week of taper.  I’m still running nearly every day, but I’m keeping my mileage low and my intensity high.  My thought is to not let my body slip into some non-running coma just as I’ve re-found my pace (about an 8 count-beat in my head), but by keeping the workouts short, I maximize my recovery.  All right, that’s it.  Next week I need to give props to my wife, family, and friends for marathon support.  Clearly without their understanding, patience, and encouragement, I would not have made it this far.  But, that as they say, is a topic for another evening (and another, and another).  Later kids!

The Alternate Reality

Hail my running brothers and sisters!  Unlike a roundhouse kick from Chuck Norris, I’m giving you, my dear readers, fair warning that this post will contain spoilers (not a lot) from this season of Lost.  I know, I know…what a presumptuous, self-important ass to think that I can compare my running to a Chuck Norris level show like Lost, but guess what?  I AM a presumptuous, self-important ass that thinks he can compare his running to Lost (Duh…I blog to see what witty and insightful thing I have to say.  It’s fascinating to see what comes out of my brain sometimes).

If you’ve been watching Lost (or just prefer to read spoiler synopsis instead), then you know that our favorite cast from Oceanic 815 are now existing in two (count ‘em: two!) realities!  In one reality (for our purposes, let’s call it the Present), the passengers crashed on the Lost island, and in the other reality (let’s call it the Other), Oceanic Flight 815 never crashed and the passengers are living different lives.  In the Present, the passengers are hunted by smoke monsters, die suddenly, and betray loved ones like they’re on an episode of The Real Housewives of Somewhere Lame.  In the Other, the passengers are moving on with their lives blissfully unaware of the Lost island, and allegedly more the happy for it (with a few    exceptions).  Except now, the realities are starting to converge, and the passengers in the Other are starting to recall things that happened in the Present.

Likewise, with my running, I have two goals.  One goal is to beat 3:30:00 in the marathon this year, and the other is to qualify for Boston.  Now I haven’t talked too much about a possible BQ for this marathon as I was afraid of jinxing myself or enraging the running gods for my hubris.  But after some thought, I said “Screw it.  If I want it, I have to own it.”  Ignoring the elephant in the room won’t make it loom any less on my horizon, or make it any less intimidating.  When I adopted this idea, the concept of anything less than a BQ was like the idea of swinging a pissed off rattlesnake around your arm.  Un-ac-cept-able.  So I’ve trained hard (harder than I ever have before, but not as hard as I could) and I’ve oriented my mind towards catching that BQ.  But like the Present in Lost, as the race gets closer, I have to admit that my first goal may be my actual reality/fate.  Despite my wife’s argument to the contrary, the numbers just don’t lie.  While I readily expect to PR this race (barring injury), I seriously doubt that I’ll make my goal for the year or catch that BQ at least with this race.  To that end, my running guru, Frank Z., and I have discussed race alternatives for the fall/winter.  I had originally considered running an ultra in the fall, but if I’m close to a BQ with this race, then my Running Guru says that I should be running another qualifying marathon instead.  And you know what, he’s right.  Does this mean that I don’t chase that BQ this time around?  No, absolutely not.  But like the Locke/smoke monster, the BQ is an intimidating force to be reckoned with, but it is a fight I relish and desire.  It may not be this time, but I’m chasing you, BQ.  Watch out.

Now for the hard numbers:  I did a tempo run of 5.29 mi. at a pace of 8:11/mi.  A little slow, but not totally unexpected with temps around 91 degrees.  Ugh.  And with that, cue the music!  Later kids!

End of the Week Recap 4/11/10

Hail my running brothers and sisters!  I did 37.25 miles this week at an average pace of 9:03/mi.  I only spent 12 minutes on cross-training and conditioning, but my weight this morning was at 156.0 lbs.  Not a huge week by any means and nothing truly notable.  No long run over 10 mi this week due to some life issues that crept up.  I’m trying not to let my lack of long mileage stress me out since I’m supposed to be tapering anyway.  I officially have 13 days left till my marathon.  I’ve decided to re-evaluate my fall/winter race schedule to accommodate more BQ races depending on how close I am at the Country Music.  I’m probably done with the Yasso 800’s until after the race.  I might try and squeeze in a short set of intervals next week just to keep my weight under control, but it's mostly base mileage, peppered with some tempo runs, until the marathon.  I definitely need to do more cross-training, but for some reason, I lose interest as I do more miles.

Now for the hard numbers:  Today was supposed to be a long run, but I got sidetracked.  I did manage 13 x .15 mi hill repeats with .15 mi recoveries in my neighborhood though at an average pace of 9:36/mi.  Per Garmin, I had an elevation change of 645 ft.  Not huge numbers, but the repeats were fairly consistent, if not a bit slow.  Later kids!

End of the Week Recap 3/21/10

Hail my running brothers and sisters!  This week I ran 26.73 miles at an average pace of 8:14/mile.  I managed to get in 30 minutes of cross-training/conditioning and topped the scales at 159 lbs even this morning.  Not exactly race weight but I can’t complain considering my less-than-spectacular mental crash on my long run yesterday.  The only two things significant about this week:  I did my first track workout and I couldn’t complete my long run.  The track workout went well and showed some promise for my marathon.  The long run was a complete disaster.  Fortunately for me, I still managed 26 miles this week.  So I’m chalking this week up to taper/rest/recovery, putting it behind me, and moving on to next week.

Next week is my official taper week for my 1/2 marathon in Knoxville.  I still need to get in my track workout, but otherwise I’ll just get in some easy base mileage before my race on Sunday.  I’ll be going up on Saturday, and I hope to catch a couple speakers at the expo.  If anyone in Knoxville wants to get together for some carbo-loading dinner, let me know and we’ll try to hook up.  All right that’s all I have, and if we don’t talk later, wish me luck!  Later kids!