Lehigh Valley Marathon

by

How many pair of shoes does it take to get to a marathon?

I love my running shoes.

I wear Saucony Fastwitch 5 and they are the one shoe that has gotten me through my achilles problem and allowed me to keep running.  Saturday I put on my old Kinvara’s and after 2 miles was in a moderate amount of pain.  So I went by the house and switched to my Fastwitch and felt much better and finished my run.

All that to say, I just bought 4 pair of Fastwitch 5’s from Running Warehouse. Being more of a built up racing flat, I can only get 200 – 300 miles out of them and my current pair feel like they are getting worn.  So I did the math and 4 pair will get me through my marathon in September.  I wanted to make sure I got them so that I would not be having to use a different shoe by the time of the marathon.  They were $38 a piece at Running Warehouse (after discount)  so all in all I got 4 pair of shoes for $150 and they are sent 2nd day air for free!  Tomorrow will be like Christmas!

As I pondered getting all those shoes it makes my marathon become more and more a reality.  It is like I am on a path to Pennsylvania and it is a straight path, an unalterable path.

Last night TJ said he really believes that I can run the Lehigh Valley Marathon and qualify for Boston.  That was the first time I can remember him saying that to me so directly.  I have  also had  bloggers say the same thing, like Runningtoherdreams said yesterday, “I have no doubt you will rock the Lehigh Valley Marathon!”.  I am going to print that statement out and put it on the wall of my office so that I look at it everyday!  Many other bloggers have given me encouragement as well over the past few months.

Each day I wake up, work, run, see the family, eat dinner and go to bed.  Some of this has gotten a bit tiring to be honest.  But I have a goal.  I have to do all within the power that God gives me to make it to my goal!  Now that I have 4 new pair of shoes, it has become more real.

This week is a little break in my training.  I am cutting back 25% on my mileage to give my body a break.  TJ has helped me with my plan and I am thankful as I couldn’t figure this out on my own.  So now I am running 5.25 miles a day rather than 7.  That will be nice.  And this week is supposed to be cooler than last week.

Gotta run (literally).  Have a GREAT day!!!

by

Marathon training – renewed inspiration

I had a revelation Yesterday.

Marathon training is a lot like running a marathon.  If this is true then I am at the 20 mile mark of my training. I have hit a wall.

I realized yesterday as I was watching “Spirit of the Marathon II” that my training has gotten to me.  Of course if you read any of the past couple of weeks of my blog you could probably have told me without me having to see a movie.  The movie was great and inspiring and really made me think.  Running a marathon isn’t easy and neither is marathon training; especially running in 100 degree heat in the summer.

I am inspired.  I am going to do this.

I plan on methodically carrying out my plan.  I will stop if I need to, but I also don’t want to give up too early on my dream of qualifying this year for Boston.  If I run the Lehigh Valley Marathon in September and finish, that will be huge.  If I run and qualify for Boston, then that will be another mountain climbed and conquered.  Either way, I win.

So I resolve, with the inspiration of watching 7 people training and running the Rome Marathon in this movie, to run and to finish.  It will be hot.  It will be hard at times and I will tell all here on this blog. I will do it.

I recommend this movie; it helped inspire me.  Unfortunately it was only in theaters yesterday, but if you can watch at home sometime, do!

Me, I’ll be running.  Because of the heat, maybe slower, maybe not as many miles, but I will be running.

Maybe one day I’ll be in “Spirit of the Marathon III”.  Hopefully it will take place in Boston! 🙂

by

50 mile week and I felt it yesterday!

They say that the way you feel in your run isn’t the total miles of that run, but the sum of the past three days of running.  This is because of the time it takes to recover from a run.  Well if that is true, then I know what happened yesterday to the end of my run.

The sum of my last three runs (including yesterday’s run) was 27 miles.

It was my long run day and I was feeling pretty good as I began.  I needed 13 miles for the day, which put me at 50 (PB) for the week!  Here is a quick summary or my run:

Miles 1-4: Felt pretty good, surprisingly good in fact.
Miles 5-9: Getting tired and hot, especially toward the later miles.  Ran past the house to get some Gatorade.
Miles 10 – 13: I hit the wall and never recovered.  I slowed down to about an 11:00 pace – seemed like I was barely running. My legs were shot and I did everything I could just to finish.

My Lovely Wife eventually sent TJ to search for me since I was taking so long to get home.  It was nice to see a friendly face driving up beside me as I had 1/2 mile to go.

My philosophy, as I have stated before, is to not worry about speed this summer.  I am training for a September marathon and the speed will come, but my body has to get used to the miles.  So as I run I do what I can, but if I have to run slow to get my miles in, that is what I will do.

We are at 13 weeks before the Lehigh Valley Marathon in Altoona Pennsylvania.  This week the temps get up near 100 and I have another 50 mile week to put in.  Next week I will taper down about 25% so that will be really nice to get a break.

I just have to keep my eye on the prize.  In some ways (forgive me ladies) I feel like I am 6 months pregnant.  I am doing all I can do each day to get by, but I know that it will all be over in 3 months, then I can relax.  Okay, not a good analogy, but it is the best I can think of at the moment.

Off day today. 🙂 Yay!

by

Qualifying for Boston, making the impossible possible.

I really had no idea how much time running and preparing for a marathon would take out of my life.

As many of you know, I plan on running the Lehigh Valley Marathon in September and I hope to qualify for the Boston Marathon at that event!  It would be a major accomplishment as I have only been running for 14 months (as of now) and have never run more than a half marathon.  Also, 2 years ago I weighed 278 lbs and now I hope to qualify for Boston.

I must be crazy.

I admit this drives me probably more than it should.  I look on it not only a challenge, but also the chance of accomplishing something beyond my own ability.

As a 16 year old, I wanted to become a DJ.  In order to get on the radio you had to get a license and in order to get that license you had to pass a grueling exam. Everyone I talked to said I had no chance at passing the first time.  My sister knew two people who took the test 3 times and failed each time and they were in college.  It became a challenge.  I spent the whole summer studying and memorizing the material.  It wasn’t anything I knew or understood, but I learned.  One day my dad asked me what page of my textbook talked about radio towers (or something in that vein).  I gave him the page number from memory. We looked it up and I was correct.   I went to DC and took the test with 30 people much older than myself and passed the first time.  Understand, my dad once said that I was the first of his children (the youngest of 4) that he was relieved when I brought home a “C” in a class.  Getting this license was way above my ability, but after I passed I felt like I could accomplish anything.

You may be able to understand the parallels between getting my radio license and running a marathon, but just to spell it out…

Qualifying for the Boston Marathon is way beyond my ability.  In fact just running a marathon is beyond my comprehension.  I not only have to run it, but I have to run it under 3 and a half hours.  I have to keep at least an 8 minute pace for 26.2 miles.  I feel like I did going into that exam room with everything against me.  I questioned myself if I had prepared enough.  I questioned everything.  I was nervous and anxious.  I passed.  I want to pass this test also.  I want to, in just over 2 years, go from obesity to qualifying for Boston.  For me, it is making the impossible, possible.  If I can do this, I can do anything.

So I run.  I run 6 days a week and walk the 7th.  I ran 9 miles yesterday, my longest mid-week run ever.  I need to get to 50 miles this week and then into the 60s by next month sometime. My speed is way down, but I don’t think that matters right now.  I feel that miles matter more than the speed.  It is hot and humid and that makes it hard to run fast.  Yesterday I ran a trail for a couple of miles which made the run more enjoyable, but was also harder than running on pavement.

I guess I never finished the opening thought.  Running takes so much time that I really only have time at night to write my post.  I really don’t have time to read other blogs or twitter much anymore.  Even emails go unread for days sometimes.  Right now my life consists of working, running and family.  I say this to say thank you to all you bloggers who read my blog each day and those who comment and like my posts.  Please don’t take it the wrong way that I haven’t been on yours for a while.  I do read them when I can, but until September 8th, it may not be often.  I appreciate the effort it takes to blog and one day I will catch up on my reading, but for now…

I run.

by

Running in the heat… A blessing and not a curse

Hot and tired.  That seems to be the theme of my runs this Spring (not even summer yet).

Yesterday was National Running Day (http://lifetimerun.com/Sub_Social/NRD) and even though I was going to run anyway, it was pretty cool to be a part of something bigger than just my neighborhood :).

I went out after work and got some pickles.  Pickle juice is supposed to be good for the heat because of the sodium and other ingredients including vinegar.  TJ sent me an article that says that you only need to consume 2 oz of pickle juice before a run to keep the cramps away. So I figured I’d give it a try.

I didn’t cramp.  But the run was still hard.  I ran my 7 miles and then sat outside with the Dog and TJ and soaked my foot in ice water and drank my Gatorade.

I really want to figure out the “key” to running in the heat.  I run, but it isn’t fun at all.  Most of yesterday I was hoping for the storms to come so I could cut my run short.  Not because I couldn’t do it, but I didn’t want to do it.  Just being real.  If it weren’t for the Lehigh Valley Marathon in 14 weeks, I wouldn’t be running this much right now.  But the marathon cometh and I have to run whether I want to or not.

One benefit to running in the heat is my metabolism has seemed to kick in again.  I have been hovering around 182 for several months now, but for the past three days I have steadily been losing weight.  Of course everyone is probably thinking it is water weight, but I drink a gallon of water a day and eat salty pickles and I am still losing weight.  As of this morning I weighed 178.9 which is 2 oz short of my best weight.  So, wether it is water weight or just my body grabbing what it can for me to keep running, I’ll take what I can get. To be honest, I would really like to be in the 160’s by the marathon.  I don’t think I can get there without dieting and it is hard to diet and run, let alone diet and train for a marathon.  So, perhaps the hot weather is a blessing and not a curse.  Time will tell.

Today I will try for my 9 mile run I have to run this week.  If I can get that out of the way, then the rest of the week I can coast on my 7 mile runs until my 13 mile run on Sunday.

Happy National Running Day – one day late!!!