Running For My Life

I love running on the treadmill in my basement on Monday mornings during the football season because I turn on ESPN and watch football highlights.  It’s the only time I watch TV while running…..unless I am in the mood for Star Trek re-runs.

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 10/26/2009
• Time: 05:00:00
• Total Time: 1:05:41.00
• Calories: 994
• Distance: 8 miles
• Average Pace: 8:12.48/mile

Long runs (15 miles or more) are usually my favorite runs.  However, when I am not training for a marathon, these runs can be rather tedious, like this morning’s 15-miler.  I have no trouble getting motivated to get out the door, but after about 8 or 10 miles I find myself getting anxious for the run to be over.  Looks like I need to start training for a marathon again!

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 10/24/2009
• Time: 06:30:00
• Total Time: 1:54:29.00
• Calories: 1882
• Distance: 15 miles
• Average Pace: 7:38.02/mile

I woke up this morning not feeling well, mostly exhausted.  I took my dog out and had a hard time even walking down my driveway I was so tired.  But I forged on, and somehow got myself downstairs to the treadmill, where I proceeded to run 8 miles at a decent 7:57 pace.  When I finished, I felt exhausted again, like I had before the run.  And now, 2 hours later, I still feel the same. But somehow, my energy level was fine during the 63 minutes I was on the treadmill this morning!  Sometimes I wonder if I even need sleep to run…..especially after running marathons on 3 hours of sleep or doing 20+ mile long runs after a long night of partying.  Maybe it will catch up to me someday……like now.

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 10/22/2009
• Time: 05:00:00
• Total Time: 1:03:33.00
• Calories: 1045
• Distance: 8 miles
• Average Pace: 7:56.82/mile

I took a week from running off to do some catch-up work that needed to be done on a race I am directing (the Icebreaker Indoor Marathon) and to take a weekend trip to Indiana for the Notre Dame-USC football game.  So what I thought would be a few days off turned out to be an 8-day break.  And boy did it feel good to get back to running this morning.

Even though I am a “take life one day at a time” kind of guy, I like to have a long-range plan when it comes to running, so that was on my mind during this morning’s run.  Right now I am going to do “maintenance mileage” the rest of the year….8 mile daily runs and 12-15 miles on Saturdays.  Then next year I am looking at doing the Sunburst Marathon again in June and maybe Chicago or Milwaukee in October.  Another thought: do the rugged Lake Geneva Marathon in May as a training run for the Sunburst.

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 10/21/2009
• Time: 05:00:00
• Total Time: 1:05:26.00
• Calories: 990
• Distance: 8 miles
• Average Pace: 8:10.46/mile

This is a quote in this morning’s Journal Sentinel “Off the Couch” blog from Jason Ryff, who finished 31st in the Chicago Marathon in 2:22 at age 38. I can relate to his comments with my most recent marathon.

“It’s basically all internal payoff that you get. You accomplished something.

“You set this goal a long time ago and you trained and changed your life around these things that you have to do, and you get to that day, and you reach your goal and you feel good about it.

“Whether it means anything to anybody else, you know it means a lot to you, and that’s what matters.”

AMEN!!!!

Now that it’s pitch black outside and there is nothing to look at while running other than car headlights, my mind begins wandering and thinking…..  This morning I began to get nostalgic about my most recent marathon training…..probably because this was my first run on my regular route since the marathon (the others were on the treadmill or elsewhere).  I got a little emotional thinking about all of the miles I put in over the summer; all of the hard work. 

Marathon training is a bit like having children; each training period takes on its own personality and character.  I have done 10 marathons and each has a distinct flavor.  I can remember the training periods of each and every one of them.  The training routes, the weather, the time of year, the long runs….I can remember them all.  This one was probably more meaningful than the others (with maybe the exception of my 1st and 3rd ones, which were during very difficult periods in my life, much like this one).  And each and every time, I emerge from my training not just a better runner, but a better person.  That’s my favorite thing about training for a marathon - the personal development.  There are a couple of reasons for this: 1) during the miles and miles of running you have plenty of time to sort out your thoughts and put your life into perspective, 2) the act of setting a goal and working hard to achieve it is beneficial to other areas of your life.

And when you reach one of your goals by just 2 seconds, you also realize that every mile I ran this summer counted.  In June I did a 3:07 marathon, and then ran about 900 miles over the next 4 months, and took 7 minutes off my time.  That comes out to about 1 second of improvement for every 2 miles of running.  So had I run just 4 miles less this summer, I may not have achieved my sub-3 hour goal.  Every mile counted.

So enough of this sentimental mush.  This morning’s run was great.  I ran free and easy, and still wound up going under 8 minute miles.  I am going to try to keep  my great shape through the winter and try a marathon next spring to see if I can stay under 3 hours.

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 10/13/2009
• Time: 05:30:00
• Total Time: 00:46:29.00
• Calories: 764
• Distance: 6 miles
• Average Pace: 7:45.12/mile

I hesitate to call this an official race.  Every year they do a Crop Walk in Burlington.  This is a charity walking event to raise funds for local food pantries.  This year they added a 5-mile run to the walk, and were able to recruit a grand total of 8 runners in addition to the 150+ walkers.  Since the race wasn’t scored, I am not going to consider it an official race.  If it were, I would have won since I was the first finisher.  The next runner was about 45 seconds behind me, and the third runner was a few minutes behind him.  I actually was not feeling well before, during and after the run, so I was not completely disappointed with my slow time.  At full-strength, I should be able to run 5 miles in the 30:00 to 30:30 range.  And this would have been the day to do it as the weather was perfect (mid 40s, no wind) and the course was fast (a point-to-point race on a soft gravel trail).  Bottom line is that we helped raise funds for a good cause and it was a nice day to run.

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 10/11/2009
• Time: 14:00:00
• Total Time: 00:32:46.00
• Calories: 646
• Distance: 5 miles
• Average Pace: 6:33.01/mile

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 10/11/2009
• Time: 13:00:00
• Total Time: 00:16:39.00
• Calories: 252
• Distance: 2 miles
• Average Pace: 8:19.31/mile

Not much to write about this one. Just four easy miles on the treadmill for no reason other than to run. Tomorrow should be interesting…..a 5 mile race on a trail that I’ve never run. It’s a first-year run; in previous years it was just a walk. I’m not sure how it will be scored or if many decent runners will show up. I am the president of the board of directors for a non-profit organization that is planning the event and also benefitting from it. I guess I’ll just show up and try to run fast.

Workout:

• Type: Run
• Date: 10/10/2009
• Time: 07:00:00
• Total Time: 00:32:40.00
• Calories: 494
• Distance: 4 miles
• Average Pace: 8:09.8/mile

Here’s one of me (times three) crossing the finish line!