Filed under: 2008 NYC Marathon Training | Tags: Fuel, Hydration, Miles, New York City, New York Marathon
Down to the final 4 weeks and feeling pretty good. Last week was ridiculous, I ran the prior weeks long run on Monday so all told I completed 55 miles from Monday to Sunday (I don’t think I’ve ever run that much in one week). Yesterday’s long run was good, 22 miles and I kept moving around all day until I finally crashed out on the couch watching Dexter. It was surprising that I wasn’t completely spent after 3 hours and 40 minutes of straight running, but I did several things right for this long run; first, I ran 6.7 miles on Saturday which helped tire me out and forced me to pace myself for Sunday; second, hydration was perfect with about 11 water stops throughout; third, didn’t party too much during the weekend; fourth, a couple of PowerBar Gel packs (carbohydrate fuel & double caffeine) allowed me to sustain my energy levels and finally, the weather was just too perfect (cool, mid 60’s and sunny). I ate a huge breakfast afterwords, cleaned up the apartment and had a few cocktails to celebrate 
Last Thursday I was up at the butt crack of dawn (5:30 am) to do my typical mid-week 10.2 miler. There’s just something about hitting the streets of gritty steel town on a crisp fall morning that puts things into a perfect perspective. It gives me time to strategize on all the challenges of the day and at the same time calms my soul. Half way through the sun rose, the streets filled up and the engines of the Iron City kicked into gear…
The ”NYC Marathon Handbook” arrived last week as well. Tons of good information on preparing for the race, the actual race day & recovery tips. It also provided a better course map with specific streets and turns.
Planning for the weekend is now in full swing and I’ll actually be in Philadelphia the Friday night before the marathon for a wedding. As a die hard NY Mets fan, Philly is not on the top of my list of places to visit. Although I’ve never really been there so as long as the conversation steers clear of baseball, we’ll be alright. I figure I’ll head up to NYC Saturday morning, pick up my packet and then relax before race day. My folks are hosting a BBQ after the race on Sunday where I plan on rewarding my acheivement with beer.
Ran Pittsburgh’s 10k Great Race yesterday and logged a new PR with a 42:38 chip time. I beat my previous best by over 2 minutes but feel like I can bring it down even further. Overall it was a great run, my fastest mile was about 6:35 and my slowest just over 7 minutes. I definitely want to run more of these short runs (5 and 10ks) and will be looking at a local Race Calendar to line some things up.
Total mileage was lower than planned last week because I held off on the long run to save myself for the 10k. I’ll be making up 16 miles tonight in preparation for this weeks build up.
Filed under: 2008 NYC Marathon Training | Tags: Hydration, Miles, Pace, Pittsburgh
Down to the final 6 weeks of training and feeling pretty good!
It’s been awhile since I last posted and the past 3 weeks have been up and down. Was finally able to update the training log (had some issues with Google docs) and you can see that I had one good week, one bonk and then last week was pretty solid. In terms of long runs (which I base the success or failure of a week on), I completed 18 miles of a scheduled 18, 13 miles of 20 and then 21 miles of 22 just this past Sunday. There is no question that running the 21 miler with my buddy Jeff Babich made it a success. Having someone else to talk to when you’re running over 3 hours straight is HUGE and once again he took the trouble to map out the route. Thanks again Mr. Babich and good luck with the Columbus Marathon!
The week prior my sister came to the burgh, we partied & I bonked. I didn’t sleep enough and underestimated my need for hydration leading up to the long run. Having a Guinness or two on a Friday isn’t a big deal, but 4 or 5 Sapphire & Tonics the Saturday night before at Mardi Gras (a Pittsburgh dive notorious for stiff beverages) was just plain dumb. I did bounce back 2 days later though with a quick 5.9 miler. Got it done in 45:33 (7:11 pace) and wasn’t really going for it.
So, this is a step back week (16 miles for the long run), then 2 weeks of building (22 & 24 miles) and I’ll finish it all off with a 2 week taper. I signed up for a couple of races last night, Pittsburgh’s Great Race and the 2008 Tecumseh Trail Marathon. Why am I doing another 26.2 only 5 weeks after New York, I’m not really sure, but my old college buddy and fellow endurance freak, Chris Cahee talked me into it. I’ve never done anything this long off road (especially in the beginning of December) but somehow I’m pumped up for it.
To wrap this up, I bought some new Asics GT-2130’s last night, and plan to run at least NYC and Tecumseh in them. I really like the Asics, they just seem to fit better than any other running shoe and there’s plenty of room up front for when my toes swell.
Filed under: 2008 NYC Marathon Training | Tags: Miles, New York City, New York Marathon, Pittsburgh, Yoga
Started my first Fantasy Football league this week with some buddies from work. My team’s name is Aluminum Curtain, cause I live in Pittsburgh, love dem Stillers and don’t think I have a chance in hell winning this low stakes competition. I’ve got Peyton Manning (would rather have Eli), Anquan Boldin, Brian Westbrook (who should be a gamer), Nate Kaeding (kicker out of San Diego, one of my new favorite cities) and the Arizona defense (got Dallas defense as well). No idea how it will go, definitely more of a Mets Baseball fan, but game on
Tried out a new route today through the following Pittsburgh neighborhoods; Polish Hill, Bloomfield, Lawrenceville, Northside (along the Alleghany River, starting at the 40th Street Bridge), down to PNC Park and back up through the Strip. 10.2 miles, and feeling pretty decent… I’m going to work this route through the rest of the training because it’s got a steeper, longer climb than I’ll face over the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge at the start of the NYC Marathon. I finished up the run with just over a 9-minute mile pace, a little off pace target but got it done. That leaves 5 or 6 miles tomorrow early morning, a round of golf at Lindenwood Golf Club with those buddies from work (which is Bank of New York Mellon) and an 18 miler on Sunday to finish up the week.
Not totally syked about last weeks results, only 18 of 33 total miles (and skipped the long run!! BUMMER), but I was traveling and my right knee really did benefit from the extra recovery time. My damn hamstrings are too tight and I think that it’s causing a little “runners knee”; which according to the September issue of Runner’s World is often confused with “Iliotibial Band Syndrome”;
“THE DIFFERENCE The iliotibial band (ITB) is connective tissue that runs from your hip to your knee. “A tight IT band can cause friction along the outside of your knee, which is why it feels like a knee problem,”… If it’s ITB syndrome, then running downhill, lengthening your stride, and keeping your knee in a bent position for extended periods will exacerbate your symptoms. Stretching to loosen the band can help resolve the problem”…Describes what’s going on in my right knee to a tee. On the last long run, the downhills were killing me and in general, I sit in front of a computer, geeking our for hours everyday. I mentioned it before but the yoga is definitely helping.
The traveling I mentioned was back home to New York City for Labor Day. Had a chance to spend time with family, friends and saw 3 of 5 boroughs. Caught a quick 4.5 miler through Forest Park, Kew Gardens & it rocked.
Difficult run today (5.6 Miles), my right foot fell asleep after the first mile straight through until the last half! I finally had to stretch out my legs for a minute and then the foot was fine for the remainder of the run. My stomach was bothering me as well and I had some difficulty getting into a good rhythm, but the pain in my right knee from my last long run wasn’t a problem.
Despite these annoyances, the weather was great. In fact the weather has been incredible basically ALL summer long here in Pittsburgh, perfect temperatures for running (mid 60’s to 70’s) and usually nice cool breezes. The routes I’ve been doing along the rivers are very scenic and usually packed with people. This particular run passes by Red Fin Blues, a cool bar on Washington’s Landing (good place for a bite and beer), and you get close enough to downtown to see PNC Park, the Convention Center and the great Pittsburgh skyline.
Filed under: 2008 NYC Marathon Training | Tags: Cross Training, Heart Rate, Miles, New York Marathon
Today’s long run can be summed up in one word, ‘bonk’. My right knee started acting up an hour into the run and proceeded to nag me for the next hour until I called it quits. It was especially bad on the downhills. Again, my buddy Jeff hooked it up with a great route through the South Side & East End of Pittsburgh, but I ended up completing only 14 miles of 20. Not a great run, but the simple fact that I was up at 7 on a Sunday and pushed myself for 2 hours is a good sign.
I’ve been reading that for the long runs, you shouldn’t exceed 80% of the race day goal, which was definitely not the case on Sunday. I was out of the gate maintaining an 8 minute mile pace and then continued to push it with Jeff. In retrospect, here’s what went wrong last week; I missed a short run (3 miles, but important nonetheless), I took 3 days off before attempting the long run (never again!), I only did limited stretching (no yoga either) and partied a bit much on Friday night. Finally, I’m simply not keeping up with the core training. Lessons learned… Also, the battery went dead on my heart rate monitor so there was some lost data there (not a big deal though).
On a positive note, I ran almost 30 miles so the week wasn’t a total wash. Also, Wendy and I caught a sweet 13 mile bike ride on Saturday so I was able to get some cross training completed.
I had a chance to review the course for NYC’s Marathon and it gave me some ideas about how I should approach the training strategically. The Marathon starts on the Verrazano Bridge with about a 1 mile climb up 150 feet. Training in Pittsburgh definitely has it’s benefits in this sense as the hills are plentiful and typically higher and steeper than what Verrazano will throw at me. Also, there are some hills at the end of the race in Central Park, so I need to focus on crushing it for the last 2-4 miles of every long run. Really want to finish this race strong and recover quickly.
Filed under: 2008 NYC Marathon Training | Tags: Heart Rate, Miles, Pittsburgh
Finished up another week with a solid long run last Sunday, 18 milesalongside the rivers of Pittsburgh with my good friend Jeff Babich. I met up with Jeff right about mile 4 on the South Side and we completed the run together (he was only looking to do about 14). It was slow going at first, legs felt like jelly, but half-way through I got a second wind and was able to muscle through it. Thanks for mapping out the run and making it happen Jeff!
So I finished up with 37.5 miles for the week (a mile and a half over the goal of 36) and had a great 15 mile bike ride with my lovely lady friend Wendy that filled my cross-training quota for the week. I was also able to catch 3 baseball games at PNC Park in the New York Mets vs. Pittsburgh Pirates series. This is not a Mets baseball blog, so I won’t go off on too much of a tangent, but suffice to say the Met’s looked great in 3 of 4 games. Once again it was the wobbly bull pen that gave up a 2 run lead late in the fourth game on Monday and that led to the only loss, but after a 6 game winning streak, I can’t complain.
One of my new favorite aspects of PNC Park this year is the Water Taxi. For 6 bucks you get a round trip ticket from my apartment building right to the game. Here’s a pic of the inside with some fellow Mets fans…
For this week it’s 40 miles with a long run of 20 on Sunday. I feel as if I’m not being challenged enough though and may push it further. In the past I may have over-trained so I want to avoid that, but so far, I’ve run further than I had planned for 2 weeks in a row…
I’ve been tracking my heart rate with all of my runs and my recovery times have been improving. I’ll typically end my runs with a HR of 180 or so, and within 2 minutes it will drop about 40 bpm (beats per minute). When I started building a base back in March, the recovery would be roughly 20-25 bpm. In general I’m maintaining an average heart rate of about 170. Still researching what my target heart rate should be for race day, so more to come on this topic.
Filed under: 2008 NYC Marathon Training | Tags: Endurance, Fuel, Hydration, Miles, Pace, Pittsburgh, Yoga
Overall great week! Went a mile over the goal of 34 total miles and feeling pretty healthy. This week I’m looking at 36 miles, capping it off with a long run of 18 miles on Sunday. The New York Mets are coming to Pittsburgh on Friday, so I’ll be laying low (no travel) and should be able to have another productive week… Figure with all the beers and dogs I’ll be eating at the games, I should be good fuel-wise
Last weeks long run was just under 17 miles (going roughly 9 minute pace). The conditions were incredible, beautiful sunny day, cool breeze whipping through, tons of people out on Pittsburgh’s rivers and I was able to manage my hydration perfectly. Actually saw a good buddy who I ran my first marathon with, Dr. Glenn Updike. Great guy, runs a fast 26.2 but apparently never stretches… Not me, I stretch like a mainiac. In fact I’ve been trying to do yoga once a week to keep the muscles even more flexible. There is a place called School House Yoga just down the street from my apartment that hooks it up.
The long run took me past the South Side Works where I was able to catch a pretty good concert the night before; American Eagle Outfitters and Anthony Kiedis pulled together Gnarls Barkley, Spoon, The Racoteurs & Bob Dylan. Missed Mr. Gnarls, but the rest of the show was decent.
An old college buddy and fellow endurance freak Chris Cahee, recently turned me onto athlinks.com which is a pretty cool site that digs up all of your past race results and provides access to tons of other athletes. There’s a really good search feature for local events as well, definitely worth a look.
Filed under: 2008 NYC Marathon Training | Tags: Cross Training, Miles, Pace
Ran 5.6 miles this morning at a pace just under 8 minutes. Labored through it, but good to get it out of the way before work…
I’ll be tracking my runs through an xls spreadsheet that I’ve published through google docs. For the rest of the week I’m looking at some cross training, the Brookline Breeze 5k on Saturday (8/09) and a 16 miler on Sunday (8/10). Target is 34 miles for the week…
Rock!
