Mike's Marathon Training Blog

3 miles and 200 push ups and sit ups

Easier Speed workout at track, getting ready for Ragnar

Ragnar Relay.  Wow!  Great race and I did better than expected!

Medium pace, race recovery, felt great

5 miles on 88Crime course with Laszlo

3 miles and 200 push ups and situps with Blue Pants Racing at night

1.25 to the track, 1 mile warm up 10x 400m @ 76-78 seconds .25 mile cool down 1.25 miles home(night running) 

3.1 mile warm up, 4.7 mile 2 minute moderatedly fast, 1 minute fast with Jeff, 2.2 mile cooldown brought in Shay nice and easy

14.05 miles!  10-11 with Laszlo, the rest on my own. Felt great. Aroud a 7:30 pace. I definately could have done more, but thats what next weeks long run is for.  I have a busy week coming fast at me.  I have to be a groomsmen tonight in a wedding and then I fly to San Diego in the morning and will be back on Friday.  I fly everyday so I am hoping I have some good places to run nearby.  Anyone that knows good places to get in good runs in SD let me know!

Flew in to San Diego. Set up my room, in les than 30 minutes, I was out and running in balboa Park.  I got in a quick 3.5 miles...tough to gauge perfectly....  It was a very nice run, SD is beautiful.  Its really HiLly too!!!!  It was a beautiful day, and i also found they have premade running routes at the front desk, so I need to check on that  I plan on getting in a good 30-40 miles this week.  I did drink a few beers tonight, but it was a good time.

Tried a 5 Mile urban route from the hotel.  It wasnt too bad, other than stopping eery 10 seconds for traffic lights.  Once I got to the Harbor trail it was nicer, but then it wasn't eactly clear where to go.  I took a few long cuts and eventually made it.  I am estimating and additional mile.  I took a nice loop out to a park and back to the Harbor Trail.

Overall not too bad, but wish it went smoother as I was trying to squeeze in 6.6 -9 depending on time...

AWESOME RUN!!! Wow, San Diego is beautiful and the running is great!  Im still getting used to the urban running thing, but its coming along.  I am figuring out the routes which makes it a lot easier too. My run today was 2 different routes offered by the hotel, a 5 mile and 4 mile.  I joined them together and got in a great 9!  Balboa park is gorgeous and its so cool with some great scenery, all around.  I saw an awesome dog park, its really cool, I wish my "kids" aka dogs could be here to enjoy it.  I think I will make some trips out here once in a while, now that I have a fuel efficient vehicle...

Yet another fantastic run in SD!  Today I split up my run a little bit. I ran the first 3.5 to the Aerospace Museum.  Its FREE entry for active duty military, so I had to take advantage while I could.  I stopped and soaked in the sights, read a little bit of history and checked out some old planes.  It was fun and its great to see the history of aviation, which I take to heart since I fly for a living.

The second half of my run was good, but I will have to get out earlier tomorrow.  Too many people on the streets at lunch time and I had to stop quite a few times to wait for a clear spot in the sidewalk. 

All in all it was another great 10.5 miles.  Tomorrow I think I will try to hit some of the trails if I can figure out how to get on them....

A quick 4 before the flight home...I will miss the running in San Diego, but I WILL be back...

8 miles on Seven Falls Trail, pretty fast since I was alone and we had to get to the Arizona Distance Classic... .4 in here and there mileage through parking lots and to trail heads...

7.6 miles slighty slower pace on Sabino Trail.  Those Goretex shoes are nice for the water crossings, but I can feel the weight difference.

Overall, good day, but I needed to eat more, I was feeling it in my stomach pretty early, around 10-ish miles.  All the traveling and miles this week contributed some I think.  Also this was day 8 in a row of running, even though there were a few short days I should probably rest some.  I can't tomorrow as I am a Pacer for the Arizona Distance Classic, but maybe Monday or Tuesday? I could use a massage soon too!

6 weeks to my marathon...

Today was the ADC, Valley of Gold Half Marathon.  Blue Pants Racing provided 7 pace groups for the event and we all did great.  All but one was within 30 seconds!  I paced the 1:40 since we had noone else and I did run 16 miles yesterday that were pretty hard...

Pacing is a blast, I highly recommend it to any of you who have never done it.  My group was scattered and few in between, but in the end David and I crossed the line setting his PR and his first ever sub 1:40.  We also led in Nick and a couple of others that where right there around 1:40.  Many runners told me that they just kept me in sight and it was extrememly helpful.  I enjoy helping others and providing my public service.  I did not realize just how many were with me until about 10 people approached me after the race to thank me.  Its gratifying to know that I was a help.  I was happy enough just to get David his PR and in on time, but its even better to know I helped more than a handful.

I had a nice little warm up run with Jeff and Atilla of .7 miles. As for the race, it was semi-hilly, not too bad and overall a pretty nice course.  John "The Penguin" Bingham has a solid company and puts on a good race.  He is a pretty nice guy too. It was cold today and mildly windy, but not bad. 

Overall it was a GREAT time! BPR had 7 pacers, two support runners/tent watchers and an additonal 5-10 runners in race on their own.  Good showing, you should be able to see the pictures soon on www.bluepantsracing.com

Easy recovery...with a pit stop.  I ate like crap today since I had to fly unexpectedly.  Bad move on the food.  I usually have stuff there, but I haven't been around for over a month with ym last 2 trips and my vacation time in between.... I paid for it and I learned my lesson.

Felt GOOD!  Tonight I went early to the BPR workout and I did our police substation route 4.7 at Tempo Pace.  I ran 6:29.  I felt great and very comfortable at the pace.  I actually went a bit faster because twice I had to stop and tie my shoe :(  It would have been about a 6:22 pace without the shoe lace issues.  I was warm and sweaty, but could maintain that pace for a half marathon for sure. That make me happy since my goal is to break a 1:25 and that would be close. 

My last 3 easy miles were with the team at a very easy pace.  We did our normal Tuesday night 5X40 Pushups and Situps for a total of 200 each plus our 3 miles.

As I am nearing my marathon I am debating on my pace to run.  I think I will shoot for about 6:45 which is a 2:56 and some change.  It will be suffice and meet all my goals while not pushing too hard.  The other plus sides are 1. If I feel really good at 20 or so I can bump up the pace easily. 2. If its too fast I can slow it down, but I know it won't be TOO fast and I shouldn't have to slow down too much and my goal of 3:10 for Boston should be there, but I may lose out on my sub 3hr marathon.

Lastly 10 days straight of running and I know I need to take a day off, but I don't want to.  Tomrrow is perfect though because I am flying at night and will miss the BPR workout regardless.  I may try to get a massage in the morning, but my normal therapist is not working :(.  I will also try to get the dogs out for a hike or walk.

Took my day off from running.  I took the dogs on a walk and then went and got a 90 minute sports massage.  The girl did ok, but I will stick to regular gal from here on...

AM;

1 mile w/ each dog. 

Will try to get in 4.7 easy and 4.7 Tempo tonight...

PM:

5.85 Interval run.  2 minutes hard/ 2 minutes conversational pace

37:29 total for an overall 6:25 pace.  I felt grrrrrreat!  It was a nice hard pace and still decent on recovery.  I ran with Jeff and Atilla, Scott was on for a while but was dehydrated and dropped off some.  I felt wonderful and could have hung on a lot longer.  My body is feeling awesome and I can't wait for marathon day to come and its still 43 days out.

Additional .15 easy to clean up 6 for the night with Jeff

I did not run my additional miles tonight because I am going to do an easy 10 with my new boss in the morning...

Nice easy 10.3 miles with the new boss.  Its a nice loop around the airfield and back to work.

Today I ran 3.7 on my own before the group showed up.  I ran it in a 7:28 pace.  nice warm up for the rest to come.

With the group I ran 2.7 5miles with Laszlo and Scott, then Scott and I branched off tot he west and hit "A" Mountain, we did 3 loops around the top and headed back down to the Santa Cruz River trail.  We finished the normal out and back course for a total of 14.5.  We had a pretty good pace while moving on the flats, but we took our time climbing up to the peak of A mtn.  We paced out at 8:30 miles in the end, but we were cruising ok and lost a lot of time on A mtn.  We talked the entire run too which helps. Overall for an 18.2 I felt great, even on the hills and my confidence is good for the marathon in 42 days... :)  Next weeks 20 miler will be a bit more interesting since I am camping and will be at 5400 ft elevation, a bit higher than Tucsons 2100ish.

On the way back I was being nice and informed a nice lady that had her dog off leash of a stray dog ahead.  She asked a question and I strayed off path a bit and ran over a pricker bush....Below is the pic of my legs as they are now....

8 mile tempo run.  Paced out at about 6:40/mile.  Nice run, although the 8 mile loop from my house out, around Reid Park and back is not near as beautiful as San Diego was.  Its still not a bad loop and I also had the pleasure of seeing who I believe was the USAT Olympic team.

  I saw the group of ladies first, cruising along the path on Alvernon, then about a mile and a half later around the corner of Country Club and 22nd I ran right through the middle of an oncoming group of around 15-20 guys.  They were actually pretty nice, one of the guys up front noticed me and had the team make an opening for me.  I passed through with a Whats up guys? and Thanks and most of them actually responded.

Both groups of them where going pretty fast and since Laslzo said he saw them last week in the gym, I know they are in town. They were somewhat uniform, not exact colors, but it was very obvious they are a team of some sort.

2 more easier miles 1 per dog.

AM
Quick 2 dog miles, 1 per dog.  On my way to work before 9am and got home at 2am...love the new office job :(

PM

3 Miles easy with LnL and it was nice, followed by our Tues night 3 miles 200 push ups, 200 sit ups.  A couple miles were fast because Jeff's hernia hurts if hes going slow.

AM

EZ 6 miles on base with Tam'Ra

PM

1 mile with 2 dogs.  I will go back to 2 miles,1 with each.  Plus an Aussie Shepard that was loose came and attacked my Pitbull :(  They are ok, but it was not cool.

1.25 to the track EZ, 1 Mile warm up, 1 Mile Time Trial (see below) .5 cooldown, 1.25 home.

Time Trial

1 mile in 5:34.  As you can see above I had already put in 9.25 miles and it did not help with being fast.  I also only ran with Robert who was 1 minute behind.  Jeff was late due to work and he ran a 5:14.  It would have helped if we ran together, or at least close.  Some sort of gauge/competition helps with speed.

Overall I am satisfied, but glad I decided to level out my mileage around 65 this week instead of jumping up to 70 or so.

3 miles alone fast around Reid Park.  Around a 6:20 pace.  5 miles, most with Laszlo, 2 minutes easy 4 minutes fast.  6:50ish pace overall.

My legs are getting a little tight, I will take it nice and easy with a few strides tomorrow to get my legs loosened up a bit.

1.3 to PT, 1.4 at PT, plush push ups and situps, etc..

1.3 back to work.

17 miles on the way to the 5K.  LnL + Natalie went and registered us for the 5K and came back and picked me up and took me to the race. 

I started my 17 miler 2 minutes late at 5:17am, but I made up some time on my pace.  I started pretty close to on pace/slightly fast, but after 4 miles or so I needed to hit a bathroom badly.  Luckily around 6.5 miles I found a starbucks and ran in there.  Came out, felt great and light.  I was about 5secs/mile faster than my planned 7:40 at that point, but the rest of the run went great.

I was feeling good and going by my mile markers on my little sheet of paper with just my splits and some emergency contact numbers since I did not have my cell phone.  I was getting better and faster each mile...and it wasn't the easiest or flatest course out there.  I ran a mild uphill on the way there and had a light headwind.  Over 17 miles I ran a net elevation gain of 539 feet.  Not bad, but there were a couple of small hills that made me work.  I ended up getting picked up 4 minutes ahead of schedule with a pace of 7:27 overall.

THE RACE

I lined up for the 5K, I could tell there were a couple of quick guys, but not many.  I thought I had a chance of taking overall.  The HS and my main two competitors took off quick and I settled in to a nice comfy 6 minute pace.  I passed the slowing HS'ers except for one by mile 1.  That left me in fourth.  I pased the next couple of guys and by mile 2.5 I was in second.  I ran a 6:10, 5:55 for my first two. Not sure they were exact.  I turned it up slighlty, but first was out of reach about 30-40 seconds ahead with only .5 to go.  I pushed and finished second in a pace of about 6:06. 18:58! First loser by 39 seconds.  Not bad at the end of 20.1 miles for the day.  Definately feeling ready for the marathon, but I am not getting over confident, that last 10K can break even the most experienced runners.

Blue Pants Racing had a good showing once again.  In addition to my placing: Lisa, Lauren and Natalie took first-third for O'all females respectively.  Lauren and Natalie took AG 1st and Lisa 1st O'all Female!  Great Job team!!!

Overall for the day I paced out at 7:14! Thats pretty good for training. Only 10K more and I would qualify for Boston.  I am still shooting to break 3 hrs and this was a good sign!

Vail 5k

2 Dog miles easy, 1 dog at a time.

3 miles at Marathon Pace (6:50ish)

5 miles just aroud a 7:05 pace with Laszlo..it was supposed to be a bit easier...oops :)

AM

3.3 to the workout. MP 6:50

Easy 3 miles and 160 Pushups and Situps

Emergency porta-potty stop, skipped last 40/40 and did not do 200 today

Easy 3.7 home 7:40 pace

PM

2 Dog miles, 1 mile per dog, easy.  They are geting a little better.

AM

1.25  Marathon Pace to the Track

800m Warmup, High Knees, Butt Kickers, Squats and 6 lengths of Strides

4x1 mile 5:53, 5:47, 5:48, 5:46 (2 minutes rest between) within 5-10 seconds of Jeff on each mile.

800m Cooldown with Jeff

1.25 Home

PM

2 Dog miles, 1 per dog.  They are doing better each day.  Moose was about 90% good today adn GG was around 80% good.

5:15 AM 1.5 miles to the group run start. 6:28 pace

8.05 mile Tempo Run with Jeff. 6:22.1 pace.  Overall I felt really good and could have maintained that pace for longer.  Jeff and I talked some on the first 4 miles while we had a tail wind and slight decline.  On the last 4 we had a headwind, slight incline and Jeff was getting tired towards the end.

1.5 at a nice relaxed pace of 7:22 on the way home.

Tempo Run route (one way) http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1754898

 8:50 AM 2 dog miles.  Both dogs for two miles.  I started out with both on 4 ft leashes,  but remembered I had a training collar for GG.  I took them back in and put on her collar. Today she was 98% good! Moose was still around 90%, so I am thinking of making a trip over to Petsmart to get him one also.  They hung in for 2 miles and did great!

3.5 easy miles with the dogs.  They did pretty good, but not great. About 90-95%  Other dogs were out and about and made it a bit more of a challenge tonight.

5AM

7 miles out to the river path past Brandi Fenton Park and back. About 7:15 pace, very comfortable. 

1 mile with both dogs.

Left for El Paso. Decided to go for the 22 miler Sun morning due to timing with leaving for work :(

PM

Got in, set up, hit the sweet fitness center to use the Dreadmill.  I put on my IPod and went to it.  I logged 4.25 miles.  First mile was 6:52, ended at 5:27 which is as fast as the thing would go (11mph) average for 4 miles was 6:05.5/mile and the last .25 was a cooldown. It wasnt too bad, but its not running outside. I need to do some good research tonight for a good route for the AM.

6AM

Woke up to my alarm that was going off for 15 mins :(

Got up, ate some granola bars, drank a little water and got on the road.  This is the longest run I have done since my first marathon in Apr 2002.  The elevation here in El Paso is about 1500 feet higher than Tucson and it was quite evident when I started running.  My route had to change a bit due to overpasses, etc I could not get on and did not notice when mapping my route online. I ended up with a bit extra mileage I think, but not more than .5 or so.   The route was also hilly and had some crazy winds.  thy had to have been up to 25-30knots when I got to the mountainous area. 

At mile 6 I was wandering if I was going to make it 22.  I saw a gas station at mile 7 and figured from my 11 mile turn around I could hit it on the way home if needed around mile 15.  I ended up making it through the tough winds and climbs mixed with higher alititude and made it to mile 11.  About .25 mile  from the turn there was a gas station.  I stopped and got som water for $2!!! I learned that next time I need to bring my debit card, not cash. I was not going to carry around .93 bouncing in my pocket for 10.75 miles.  In hind sight I could have at least kept a quarter or two.

After some water, a bathroom break and I was off again.  I was crusing home a bit quicker and then I hit th mountainous area  again.  The winds were even worse for about 2 miles :( I toughed through it, although it was a difficult challenge mentally. I got on the backside and got a tailwind and some nice downhills, I picked it back up and knew I would be fine.  I did look at stopping at mile 15 for a banana and water, but I only had $1 left :(  I pushed through and got back to the hotel in 2:49:45 abour a 7:43 pace, a lot faster in the end than i expected as I was dragging for a while.  Those last 3 miles being on a slight climb were not fun at all!

In the end...I made it, I know conditions were not ideal, especially the added stressors of having a meeting for work at 10am and waking up late. But it was a success.  I was shoting for 7:30 miles, but with conditions and the course I am pleased.  I should have had more water and a snack, so next time I will take my debit card.  Oh and eating at Cattlemans like a pig last night I am sure did not help, nor did being my 7th day running in a row, or mile idiotic dreadmill run yesterday evening. Excuses for days :)

Tomorrow I will run a few easy miles to shake my legs out and maybe Tuesday take a rest day.

4 miles at 7:15 pace on the Dreadmill.

Felt good n easy, legs a litle sore from yesterdays 22.  Mostly my calves, but some in my quads.

Rest Day

10.2 miles at Marathon Pace or close to it 6:55/mile.  Felt great!

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/?r=1775126

Dreadmill 7.25 miles, tempo run. Pace was about 6:30/mile 

I am getting better at using the treadmill. Of course today the sustained winds of 32 gusting to 50 helped me stay inside.  I think its healthier than breathing in all that blowing dust/dirt.  I also needed to do laundry and i had to squeeze that in during my workout.

10.2 @ 6:48 pace. Felt grrrreeeeeaaat! I wore my GTX model shoes and I can tell my other shoes are wearing out.  Luckily I have 2 brand new pairs waiting at home for me.

I decided to take an additional rest day, its the first day i have "missed" a scheduled day to run in a long time and since I had to drive home from El Paso, turn in the rental, move stuff and the dogs to my buddies house and then babysit, that I would rest instead. 

2-12 mile loops on Davis-Monthan AFB.  Started at 5:01am. 1st loop, i went at a comfy pace I figured I would hold for 24.  I was looking for 7:15-7:30.  I ended up at 7:10, 1:26 minutes, or just under.

At mile 12, I took 3 sips of water and started once again.  This loop was 1:24!

2:50 total for 24 miles, on 3 sips of water with no issues and no competition.  I will be just fine at breaking 3 hrs in my marathon! May 4th.  I have two more "long runs" planned in to my taper. I am looking for about 70-75 miles this week, Next Sun will be an 18 miler, starting a week of 60-65 miles followed by 14 miler on Sunday the 27th, leading out a 50-55 mile week to race on Sunday May 4th!!!! Sub 3:00 and Boston bound!

2.4 to PT, PT plus 4.5 miles, 1.8 back to house,  1.2 with dogs. All easy 7-7:30ish pace.

6 easy miles with Cody

1.2 miles at 7min/mile with both dogs

12 mile loop around the base. 6:52 pace. WINDY! I had a head wind for a good portion, but I survived and maintained pace.  Felt great! Especially for 4.5 hours of sleep...

4.5 at 6:40 at PT, felt great

5 miles easier around 7:15 w/ both dogs

4.75 at 6:33 pace during a break from setting up for the Kids Try-Athlon we hosted this AM.

Finished up the Try-Athlon and watched all the kids have a blast.

3 Miles around 7:15 with the dogs

I took of Sunday due to a head cold.

I mostly count this as a day off too.  I just ran 1 mile at 7 mins with both dogs.  I still am all gunked up and figured my body could use more rest than exercise right now. Better to rest than to worsen the symptoms.

Still should be fairly easy to get all my miles this week. 13 days to  my marathon...

5.5 beach miles...nice, but tough, loose sand is not fast

8.44 miles, in the heat and sun. 6:22/mile on first 4.22 a little easier at 6:37 on the way back for overall 6:30ish pace.  This is at Sea Level and I can tell, I had one overpass to conquer on the way out n back, but flat and fast run overall.

Woke up for a 10.55, ate an oatmeal bar, got out the door a few mins late.

I took a few strides and my lower abs/pelvic area that has been tight was actually painful :(  I walked/ran for a while, went up some steps, nothing hurt except running.  The pain is tolerable, but I think its smarter to relax and rest it rather than aggravate it more.  After work I will get in the hot tub and try a run later...:(

2 easy miles, felt good.  No Pain, although I was a bit paranoid and thought i felt it a few times.  I will not push it today, just going to the beach for some light swimming and sight seeing, then tomorrow morning I will go for an 8 miler...nice n easy, if it feels good, Sat I will go longer and get back to my routine.

7 miles with Blue Pants, nice and easy with some small talk

1 mile with both dogs.

Lots to do today...

Pain was not there!

1 Easy mile running here and there for the 8K for 88Crime.

7 laps of 1.5 miles.  4 before PT at 11min down to 10 min then calistenics and stretching followed by 3 more laps around a 7 min pace.  Not bad and hte wind was bad this am 20-30 knots.

1 Dog mile, both dogs.

The pain came back in my groin area, but only slightly, hoping it holds off for the race....It was only bothering me a little bit about half way through my last mile of the day.

1.5 miles in 10:05 to test my groin pain.  It was there, but I can run with/through it and it seems to go away or not bother me.

4.75 miles easy with The Team. 100 pushups.  No situps or lunges due to my race being Sunday!!!!!!!!!

PM

2 Easy Dog miles, again mild pain in the groin in the beginning and went away in first 200 meters.  It was HOT around 93 degrees.

PM-2

2.6 Miles on "A" Mountain with Cynthia.  Its been too long since I did hills, but I felt ok and I can get through the hills in my marathon and pain free too.

1.25 at 7 min pace to the track

800 warm up with BPR folks

4X 1 Mile at 5:47, 5:42, 5:53 and 5:54.  Last two slower based on Laszlo's input to slow back to 6, I was closer but still fast.  These repeats felt GREAT! I am ready for sure.

800 Cool down withe BPR

1.25 home at 7:45ish pace.

Once I get all the software and stuff set up I will see what I can do with the Garmin Forerunner 205 I recieved as a gift.  Lots of thanks to that special someone who went out of the way to get it for me.

1 easy dog mile both dogs. 7:30 pace

2 easy miles with the dogs at 7:35  Feeling good.  2 days of rest, maybe 2 easy miles on Sat....

Pre-race trip and nutrition:

Well getting in to PHL at midnight was a bad idea that turned for the worse when we had an engine malfunction in -flight on the way from Dallas. We returned to Dallas and were informed we would be going to a hotel and leaving in the AM. 30 minutes later, we were boarding a new airplane and going to Philly.  We eventually landed at 3am and after baggage claim and getting picked up by  my parents, we made it to their house around 4am.  I came in and got some more sleep, but probably not ideal with only one more night to rest before I ran 26.2

After a nap I got up and ate a late breakfast.

5 slices of wheat french toast with syrup.

Lunch/snack was a granola bar and special K bar.

Dinner was a Tuna Melt on Rye with Swiss cheese and tomato.  Also appeteasers was 2 asian chicken wings and a couple of chips with artichoke spinach dip.

Plenty of water, but not too much and lemonade as i watched the Flyers clinch a round 3 playoff spot.

Pre-race nutrition. Banana and peanut butter granola bar with a few sips of powerade and a few sips of water.

Great race, good time.  I felt good.  I don't have my splits yet due to laptop issues with my gps, but I was pretty even all day.  I know I had one fast mile on the downhill around a 6:30, other than that just chopped away mostly even.  I was at 1:28:39 at the half, so the second half was 1:30:01.  Pretty even considering the course.  The only challenging hills were in the second half.

About 2-3 miles from the finish I did have some pain in my chest, upper left side....easy breathing took it away but it came back here and there until the end.  Overall, I felt pretty good, but after the finish and I drank some water and had oranges, my legs were spasming pretty good. I had to sit a few times waiting in line for the massage table.  The nice young lady gave me a great massage and I was feeling much better.

I hung around for a bit and eventually found out I was 1st in my AG and got my award!  Great Day, Boston Qualled, broke 3 hours and did well!

Easy 2.4 miles, marathon recovery 8 min pace.

Legs felt ok, no pain, just soreness and tight.  Felt much better and looser after the run. :)

2.1 miles easy.  Left Quad still pretty sore, but loosens up with about a half mile of running.  Feel good overall, walking, talking and happy!  Ready to get out and run some good miles again, hopefully some races too.

3 easy miles at the kids camp.

5:30am

4.9 total miles, 2.5 fast with Jeff. THe rest with others from the team. It was nice to run a little bit with everyone, but it was nice to see Laszlo out running again too. I also did 100 pushups, situps and lunges.

7am

1 easy mile with both dogs. Wow, did they need to get in a run, with me being gone for a week and a half, they were eager to get back out there.

530am

800 warm up, High Knnes, Butt Kickers, Lunges, Strides

1x's-2000 at 5:38 pace, 1600 @ 5:34, 1200 @ 5:32 pace, 800 @ 5:23 pace, 400 @ 5:20 pace, 300 @ 5:05 pace, 200 @ 4:56 pace, 100 @ 3:52 pace

3x 200, 39 sec, 37, 35.

800 cool down.

Great running today, Teamed up with Jeff and Dustin for the workout except Dustin bailed on last 3X200.  Good job by all. Lauren and Amanda looked great and fast today too and worked together well. 

Way faster and better than I thought being just a week and 2 days after my marathon!

7am

1 easy mile with both dogs.

7am. 1.1miles with the dogs at 7:30 pace.

Had to cut it short due to stray dogs down the street.  I went out to run them down and help catch them, but they were gone.

.4 doing that.

Last nights going away BBQ was nice but I was short on sleep for this AM's run.

I ran with everyone for 2 miles, then the new guy Mike went back.  Then at mile 4 Dan stripped off to get his 8 in.  Laszlo, Robert and I continued 2 more miles and turned around at mile 6 for 12 total.

Nice and easy for me with lots of talk, especially for Robert for his marathon strategy and the challenges of facing 26.2 for the first time. 

Mile Splits:

• 8:31
• 8:23
• 8:12
• 7:55
• 7:46
• 7:48
• 8:15
• 8:14
• 8:16
• 8:18
• 8:29
• 8:21

This was basically a good long Tempo Run for Robert as he is shooting for 2 goals, first to finish his marathon and second, to break 4 hrs.  9:09 pace is doable for him and is a good secondary goal.

Overall, it felt good for me, I was fine with the long run again, by far my longest since my marathon.

1.5 miles while running around taking pictures of the BPR team members today who ran the Tucson 5000.  Great job by all and it was a very fun time.  Followed by breakfast at Laverna's! MMmmm MMmmmm Good.

4.8 miles with the group.  160 Push ups, 240 Situps and Lunges.

Felt pretty good but a bloody nose hindered some push ups and overall performance today.

Great Track Workout....last one before I leave for a few months!

800 warm up and cool down

4X    1st       2nd      3rd      4th       Cool down

600   121     117     117      113       200 meters

400    79       80        78       75        100 meters

300    55       54        55       53        100 meters

200    38       36        37       35         50 meters

100    15       15        15       15         2:00 mins

3X                                                     

200    35       35        33                    100 meters

Just got in to my overseas location will start running soon!  AF Marathon 2:49 in 17 weeks.

3 miles in 19:28 on the treadmill. .25 cooldown

maybe more tonight when its cooler outside

Well I stayed up until midnight or so and ended up wide awake at 4am.  I finally decided to get moving around 5am and I went out for a run.  I was glad to find that with my GPS watch the miles I was running last year are pretty close to what I thought they were.

First outdoor run here in Iraq for this trip. I started with a half mile warm up at 7 min pace and ran 5.5 at 6:13-6:32 pace  Miles were: 6:28, 6:13, 6:14, 6:31, 6:32 and the last half mile was on pace.  The first half of my run I had the wind at the back and wind in my face on the way back, enough to make me work harder and slow me down.

I am going to run a sub 2:50 about two weeks after I get back from my deployment so I am picking up my pace to train for that.  I would like to shoot for a 2:47 but a 2:49"59 is acceptable.  My speed work will all be around 5- 5:30 pace, Tempos 5:50-6:10  Base mileage 6:15-6:45 and easy 7-7:30.

Slept like a ROCK!

6 Miles at my new EASY pace. felt good, I had to keep telling myself to slow down.

7: 10 - 6:59 - 7:00 - 7:00 - 6:55 - 7:00

Not a bad run this AM, I will be on the day schedule for about 3 weeks, so its nice to already be in a routine....

1 Mile warmup

5 miles of 1/4 mi intervals.

Fast at 6:00 pace +/- 15 seconds

Slow at 6:40 pace +/- 10 seconds

Felt good, but felt a little slow on the fast ones this AM.  it was warm and dusty!

8 miles easy,  1 at 7:19 the rest between 6:43 and 6:55.  Final avg was 6:55 for 8 miles.  Felt great.  Good things happening here at work too!

6 miles,

7:01, 6:41, 6:39, 6:31, 6:28, 6:29

Felt great! 

Congrats and Good job to the BPR runners who finished the SD Rock n Roll yesterday!!!

HILL WORK OUT

4 miles of "hills" on the treadmill.

easy 7:40 ish pace overall, on setting 10 of 20 on the hill difficulty. Not too bad, it got up to 7.8 incline

6 miles, avg of 6:40/mile

I figured out that I have to resubmit my blog entry after the day changes in the USA to get my mileage correct. I am guessing that its to prevent people from loggoing miles before they can really run them??  But being 7-10 hrs ahead of the US messes me up...

6 Miles, half Tempo pace 6:29 avg overall

6:44, 6:10, 6:04, 6:14, 6:55, 6:45

Felt good, tough to get in thouse fast miles consistently, but it will come with time.  I need to build my base to get my speed up for longer miles.

I found another road to run yesterday, so I explored it today.  It was .45 long, so I can get an extra .9 out of it, and if I hit it on the way out and back on my run I can get an extra 1.8, so its not bad at all.

6.2 miles, 6:55 avg

7:13, 6:51, 6:47, 6:48, 6:54, 6:53

Well well well, todays weather is not very nice.  We are having a Shamal (Big Dust Storm) and it is just brown outside. You can see maybe 200 meters at times. Winds are sustainde around 20 knots.

Obviously all the dust in the air is not good for running so I opted to run to the big Army gym, 1 mile down the road, did 4 miles on setting 11 on the treadmill and then 1 mile home.  The incline got up to 8.5 today and I stayed at 8 or 8.1 miles per hour. 

Felt good, but I sweated more than I have in a long time.  The entire front of my shirt is soaked.  Of course wearing AF PT gear doesn't help since its not moisture wicking fabric.

6 miles, then a quick launch for work... Run was good, flight was eeeehhh not so good.

Lots of wind on the way back in.  The Shamal is still around but not as bad.

The Storm is back and its worse!  About 100 meters of visibillity and winds up to 40 knots.

I went for another hill workout, 1 mile to th Army Gym, 4 miles at 7:30 on setting 12, 1 mile home.

Yesterday was a day off to relax due to some crap that happened on Monday.

6 Easy miles, 7:18 pace average.  It was dry and dustya nd I got a mild nose bleed  miles in. :(

3 miles around 7 min avg Woke up late...will try to hit the treadmil later

Easy 8.85 with an old friend that I havent seen in about 3 years.

6.85 total

1 mile warmup at 7:09 followed by a comfortable paced run.

Miles were:  6:44, 6:41, 6:43, 6:43, 6:44, 5:39(6:38 pace for last .85) 

Felt great, but I did have a little bit of a weird feeling in my left ankle for the first mile or so.

3 hill miles on the treadmill.  The weather was horrible today, less than 100 meter visibility. 

7.5 miles at a comfy pace, 6:43 overall average

6.1 miles at about a 7:10 avg.  I did not really feel like getting up this AM, but I did and I am glad.

8.25 Easy Miles.  I am switching from day to night shift over here so I slept in this AM to help me stay up later tonight.  I ran at night and it was still hot!  Around 100 degrees still.  I was ok running, but switching to a night run after eating all day, flying for an hour or so and sitting on alert in the heat in the afternoon messed with me physiologically. 

I had to stop twice for the bathroom, the second time was not good and I decided to head back in and cut my planned run .75 miles short. Not bad, but I was looking for my longest run here yet.

No running today, but I hit the gym and did, push ups, Lat pulldowns and situps.  Felt good, but it was extrememly hot in there.  I was cooler outside at 110 degrees.

Long night with transitioning to night shift and on top of it we flew 4.3 hours for literally nothing (operation cancelled).  Luckily I got a 2 hour nap when we returned from our flight.  I was woken up to retrive my gear at the end of our Alert Duty period and decided to skip a morning run and opted to go to bed! 

I woke up feeling good and hit the treadmill for 6.5 miles on random.  I avg'd around 6:45/mile.  I plan to run in the morning, outside if I am back and its not too hot, otherwise I might stick with the pre-work treadmill run.

3 quick miles.  I am feeling better and getting on track with the night schedule here.  I hope to run in the morning today!

Still adjusting to Nights, yesterday I had a stomach virus and I am still messed up with sleep.  I am hoping to finally sleep well today.  I stayed up all night plus I ran a bit with some of hte guys when we got done work at 5am.  We went and ran over and back 5 times on a Hardened Aircraft Shelter (HAS).  I have no clue what the distance was, but it was about 20 minutes total, so I posted 2 miles.

Im kind of lacking in motivation, I miss my running group and competition...

I am away from my deployed base, to another one.  I am somewhat settled and I got to run this AM and got in 6 miles.  I will run when done work in the AM also, but I think more traveling is in order :(  I gotta get back in gear, but a few extra rest days were kind of nice.

5.25 easy miles. 1 Emergency pitstop in a porta potty.  Felt good otherwise.

I am back to running, I think.  I felt good.  My motivation has been lacking lately, but I am getting it back.  The moving around place to place here in Iraq has not helped, only hindered.

I got in 3.25 miles this morning, I dont want to over do it and I followed with some Lat Pulldowns and Situps in the gym.  I need to keep cross training in my scope, I lost it for a little while.

.35 to meet up with my friends

12 miles at 7:43 avg with two other guys

.3 back

Felt really well and finished strong, last mile was 7 min flat.

1 mile warm up nice and easy  7:36

4 X 400 Fast, 400 Easy, 800 Fast

400s   1:28, 1:26, 1:22, 1:25

800s    3:00, 2:58, 3:01, 3:03

.65 cooldown

Overall, not bad, especially since it was my first speed workout in a while.

Bad night of sleep.  In and out all night.  I swam 800 meters.  Felt decent for not being in the pool for a while!

5 Mile MP run with a 1 mile warm up and .25 cooldown

Miles: 7:35, 6:26, 6:30, 6:27, 6:27, 6:17, 2:01(.25)

I felt good and I am on track.  I find out in about 2 weeks if I got picked up by my command for the Air Force Marathon!  I can't wait. I also saw and am applying for the "Preffered Starters" groups, you had to run sub 3:10 to qualify for men or 3:45 for women.

Should be a good time.

.6 Warm up to meet with some friends/runners

6 miles of Progressive Pacing.  It was actually a great workout. Miles:

7:56, 7:28, 7:07, 6:56, 6:37, 6:35   7:07 Avg. 

.3 Cool down on the way back

4.15 nice and easy miles.

7:23, 7:19, 7:36, 7:31

6 miles at 6:55 avg.  Its hot at 7am!

6.5 easy miles 7:22 avg.  Some stomach cramping at the end.  Did not feel good for about 1.5 hours.

6.1 miles, 7:04avg.  just went out and ran... looked at the watch/pace about 4 times, much better than usual.

Rest Day

8.5 Treadmill Hill miles.  Avg 7:45/mile  Hill Setting on 10, went for a bit over an hour.  Good mental workout.  Toughens me up because I want to quit.  Felt pretty good and followed up with 3 sets of Abs and Pushups

Great Run!!!...for being in Iraq...and while carrying a 4lb radio!  I think I found a solution to run with a smaller motorola, so I will try that one out soon!

6 miles of base/warmup. 7:06avg first mile was 7:22, the rest were all right around 7 +- 10 seconds.

3 X's 400 Fast, 400 Easy, 800 Fast, 1-2 min rest between each 1600.

1         1:32                      3:01

2         1:31                      2:47 (perfect timing, pushed my friend Chris helps to have someone there with you!)

3         1:31                       2:56

1.1 Cooldown @ 7:22

8.1 at 6:54/avg  Nice and comfortable, did not feel like I was pushing the pace at all, just went out and ran...  I had a mild stomach cramp around 6 miles, but it went away within .5 mile   Slowest mile was my 1st at 7:13, Fastest was 6:44 which was mile 7.  Felt good and pretty strong.  Good week of running so far.

Also, I fixed the radio issue, I used a smaller one today and it was much nicer, although it will be nice when I can run without one again. :D But....what doesn't kill you, only makes you stronger :D

1 mile of warm up on the track, plus some high knees and butt kickers. 5K (just short of) 5:48 avg! Not bad at all since I haven't run much speedwork. 5:49, 5:53, 5:41 I took off a bit quick to get decent positioning, but not too fast. It was a track start and lots of Army guys love to sprint and be rabbits. I held off from joining the rabbits, and settled in as we hit the road. Had a few guys jostling for position on the sidewalk, but soon they all faded. At the half mile mark I was in 6th.at 1.3 I was in 4th. At 2 miles I took 2nd and was closing in on the lead. I hung in there and did not push too much. I let him hang on the lead for a half mile before I pushed my pace (even though I was already closing in). I took the lead at 2.67 and lead in to the end. A little confusion at the finish line, so I might have been slightly faster, but no biggie. I got on track and finished strong. 1st Overall....And they say Army Strong... Just a quick Stab, I know Army Runner and Little Bad Legs would prove me wrong, but today was my day to Aim High! I felt great and I probably could have gone a bit faster.

I am kind of wishing I would have raced the Tucson 5000 before I deployed. Its all good though. I am training for the AF Marathon Sept 20th. After today I feel much better about racing at 6:22-6:28 pace. Today it was a bit windy (note mile 2 was a bit slower and all in to the wind).  It was also around 95 degrees at 0530am. 

Oh and I did get a nice piece of coinery for the win! I wll try to attach pics later. :D  Im out...maybe for a 2 mile cooldown...

2.06 miles at 7:25 nice and easy, in the hot sun!

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10 miles at 7:30. Slowest was mile 5 at 7:42, Fastest was mile 9 at 7:17.  Felt good even with it getting warm at the end.

.5 mile warm up

 20 X's 2 min Marathon Pace, 1 min easy

.5 mile cool down

Overall avg of 6:47. MP 6:27ish, EZ Pace 7:20ish

Felt a little tired, might take my day of rest tomorrow, but I kinda want to run again...we'll see

Good news.  Another 5K next Sunday the 27th!

Better news. Rock n Roll Half Marathon Aug 31st!  Unclear whether is related to Elite Racings Rock n Roll or not.  More to follow. 

Lastly,  this week sometime they announce my Major Command Marathon Team! Lets hope I made it!

Nice easy 8.25 @ 7:17 avg.  Slowest mile 7:28, fastest 7:01

6 Easy miles, 7:31 avg, 7:39 slowest, 7:22 fastest.

Long night, started later than normal. It was hot. I plan on 1 tomrrow and 6 Sat, then 5K Race on Sunday!

First thing: I was selected for the Air Combat Command USAF Marathon Team!  I had hopes, but now its settled.  That will save me a lot of money and I will proudly race for my Command. Also I had two other runners from Tucson get selected, Cristina Luis and Lisa Firestone!

The run:

.3 to meet up with Matt

6 Miles at 7:32 avg.  Comfortable conversational pace.  We talked the entire time.

6 more miles at 7:01 avg.  Some minor cramps here and there, but overall, not bad.  12.3 total.

Going for a nice easy 6 tomorrow, maybe a few nice strides in there, and a 5K on Sunday!

6 easy miles around 7:20 pace

5K tomorrow!

5K, Windy (WX Advisory for winds 25 MPH, gusts to 35), Blowing Dust, badly.  Visiblity 100 meters, 200 in the best spots.

Not a lot of rabbits today, so I had the lead fairly early, around .5 mile.  I had on guy trying to hold the lead, and would pass me, then drop, until about 1.6 miles.  At the major turn around (2 mile point) I put on the speed and left him in the dust.  Finished in 18:29.  Won by almost 1 minute!

Miles: 1 mile warm up at 6:51, plus some high knees and butt kickers

6:01, 6:06 (mostly into head wind), 5:49, 31 seconds for last .1

Felt good, but the dust was no fun, left a little burn in the throat.

Gonna hit the treadmill for a couple cooldown miles now.

10.1 Easy miles, 7:31 avg pace.  Felt pretty darn good.  Yesterday was a rest day, I just felt I needed it a day early...

10.3  @ 7:06 avg pace.  Was not pushing, just comfortable pace, about moderate.

3 miles, under 7 min, warm up mile was 7:24

Felt good, and I am getting excited for the "Satellite Race" Virginia Beach Rock and Roll Half Marathon, Joint Base Balad  on Aug 31st!  Trying to figure out what my pace should be.  I am shooting for 6:28 in my marathon 3 weeks later, so I am thinking about 6:20 would be good.  I can always speed up if I feel good.  I really want to get under 1:25 , it will be a huge confidence boost for the AF Marathon.

10.15 miles @7:24 avg.  I started in the dark today. Got off work early because I will be moving to a different location for a week and a half or so.  It should be nice, I hear they have a nice cross country style 10K course and some other good runs, which will be awesome to have a change!  Anyway the first few miles were a little slower due to finding my feet on firm ground taking precedence over faster miles.  Felt great!

Before run 3x 20 Pushups, Situps and 10 Lat Pulldowns

After run 2 x 20 Pushups, Situps and 10 Lat Pulldowns

Here we go again....I got about 3 miles in and had some tightness in my left hip/glute.  I felt it some last night at work, but figured it would warm up and feel well.  Not so much.  It wasn't horrible, but I did get some pain and minor shooting pains and i decided to stop my run early.

This is the second day wearing my highest mileage shoes, so I am hoping it is them.  I have noticed they are fairly worn.  I did some good stretching and I will do some more later this AM and again tomorrow.

Oh and I did not get to move to another base last night due to weather, which was also a factor in todays run.  Lots of dust and 30mph winds.

Still ended with 7.4 @ 7:40 avg.

Try again tonight to leave, then I will have my newer shoes unpacked and be running elsewhere...if not I am still going to pull out my shoes.

Yesterday I took a rest day because of my sore hip.  I stretched it well and pulled out my newer shoes.

Today I ran 8.6 @ 7:25 pace nice and easy, really comfortable and an enjoyable run.  No pain, no issues.

Tonight, I should be leaving to go elsewhere...once again... The running there is not too bad. I have been there before, but it is not as good as it would have been at the other location I was supposed to go to.

Nice and easy around Mosul Air Base.

Nice and easy around Mosul.

a couple of crazy days in between, including some 24 hour work periods.

Nice and easy 3, hill work in Al Asad AB.

Finally back at Balad.  A couple weks on the road and long work hours messed up my running some.  Getting back to routine now.  11 days till the 13.1 and  month to the day for my next marathon....

My sleep schedule is still all messed up and I am busy with work and my classes.  The good news is that I should be home in a couple of weeks!

Today I ran 4.5 on the treadmill.  I plan on running after work, in the morning, so I did not want to over do it.

8 Treadmill, Hill work out miles. Nice and easy at 7:45ish pace.  Things have been pretty chaotic around here lately.  I am busy but working to get in some miles.  I know they are crucial.  I have a half marathon in one week and a marathon in just under a month.  I plan on having a very little taper period and I would like to get in at least 2-- 18-24 mile runs before my marathon.

9.6 treadmill miles, just under 7min/mile

As long as I am not busy tonight at work I am going to try to make it to a 5K in the morning.

1 mile warm up 400 fast 400 easy 800 fast x 2

400 fast, 1.o5 cooldown.  I know its not a big speed work out. but I wanted to get some in before the 13.1 in a few days...

I am thinking of going to Portland to run th Marathon and do the RRCA Coaching clinic in Oct...Any thoughts?  Oh its 2 weks after the AF Marathon.

6.1 Easy Miles, Nice and relaxed pace, 7:30

Tomorrow is the Half marathon here in Iraq!!!

My goal is 1:25 or better, but I will be plent happy with a PR which is Sub 1:28:39

Joint Base Balad, Iraq. Satellite race of the Virginia Beach Rock n Roll Half Marathon.

Temp: 95 at the start, About 102 when I finished; Winds, 10-15 mph; Minor blowing dust

Got the T-Shirt and Medal...very nice! And a nice plaque for 3rd place.

3rd Overall in  1:25:47  Beat by a Ungandan and an Army guy...yeah yeah I know Little Bad Legs...

Not too bad overall, my time was where I wanted it, a bit slower, but I set a PR!  The course was a tad short, so I may have ended up closer to 1:27, which is still a PR.

My training was not up to par and I did not feel great.  I missed a lot of workouts and miles and I felt it.  I will be on top of my game now as I do have a Marathon in 20 days!

I was followed by an AF Communications truck for about a mile and a half, they took video and lots of pictures of me for being the first AF runner and they did an interview at the end of the race.  I asked them to email it to me, so hopefully I get it.

3.25 treadmill miles

Track work out in Qatar.  It was humid!  Plus 3.35 on the treadmill after some racquetball

Treadmill in Qatar, 3 mins at 7:50-8 pace. 3 minutes 6:15 pace for an hour, plus 5 min cooldown

ON plane all day, finally back in Arizona!

1 mile with both dogs, 1 mile easy on my own.  Trying to settle back in to being home.  I can't wait until my first run again with Blue Pants!

8.2, very nice, took it at what I felt was pretty easy at 7:10's  Faster than expected just getting back to 2500 ft in altitude.  The river run was nice, the new section opened up and its pretty popular.  Got lots of good mornings and hellos, that was a nice change :D  I even saw Laszlo in the back yard on my way back in.

1 mile with both dogs, nice and easy.

1.1 with the dogs

1.4 to the track

.55 warmup

800, 1600, 3200, 1600, 800 @ 6:00 pace with Jeff...he is in much better shape than I at the moment.  Iraq was not great for my running.

.55 cooldown

Overall not bad for the first BPR workout being back here.

Trip down to Bisbee with Laszlo, we will be directing the Bisbee 1000!

Recruit training, Lots of Push ups situps and lunges, another 1.75 miles, probably really about 2 or so, but I know 1.75 for sure.

To Reid Park as a warm up, wow I haven't been this sore in a long time! Thanks for all the lunges last night at Recruit Training Lauren. 3.5 miles

4.75 with BPR, Me, Jeff, LnL and Prithi.  Plus 20 push ups and situps at 6 stops.  Although on two I cut it short to 10 and 15.  Too many push ups and sit ups last night at the Recruit Training.

Ran home, 3.35. Actually felt alright going home, but my legs still feel like bricks!

1.5 miles each way to and from the BPR Tempo run.

10.6 Tempo/MP run with Jeff sandbagging to hang with me.  6:56 pace. 

My legs, more specificly my quads/thighs still feel like bricks, so overall being back in Tucson at 2500ft for less than a week and putting in the most mileage in a week in quite some time, I felt pretty good. 

The AF Marathon is just a week and 2 days away.  I put in a bit more miles and tougher workouts, but I still did not put in any really long runs.  I think Sunday I will go for a 18-20 miler, just to get a bit more towards my race miles.  I am actually anxious to see if the lower mileage and fewer long runs will still have me ready to run Sub-3.  If not, I will be paying for it and will be ready to run the Tucson Marathon in Dec with Jeff.

I think realistically we can run about a 2:45, maybe next year shoot for a 2:37.

We'll have to see how training goes now that I am back though.

Evening--Recruit Training with 2 miles mixed in there.

The toughest 3.1 I have run in a long time, maybe ever.

I did the chalking of the course for tomorrows Run Down Crime 5K. I ran the entire way pushing that thing! Its not too bad on the fairways, but the rough, the soft wet spots and the hills...whew. Its short, wabbly and I am covered in chalk, but I marked the entire course with three and a half bags of chalk in about an hour, hour and a half.

Sabino Canyon, man what a beautiful run.  7.35 miles, I actually felt really good for not being around hills much.  It is quite a climb going up, about 1100 feet or so.  My stomach was not so great, so I cut my run in half, well a little more than half, but I felt better than expected running hills, so I am happy.

Time to knock out some papers for school....

1.25 to the track, .55 mile warm up with Jeff, High Knees, But-kickers, Mt climbers, strides

5x 1 Mile w/ Jeff-- 5:57, 5:57, 5:57, 5:56, 5:46

.6 mile cooldown with Jeff, Phil, and Allison

 Got a ride home with Laszlo and talked about some team stuff. 

Felt really good all day, no issues. I actually feel pretty good about the marathon.

PM--3 miles, plus 50 push ups and sit ups for recruit training

Nice BPR workout this morning with myself, Jeff, Robert (good to see him out) and Prithi, who was a bit later than usual but caught us by going the opposite direction around the park. We stayed together the whole way.

4.85 easy miles. No push ups or situps for me as my marathon is just a few days away and I don't want to be sore at all going in to it.

Early flight to Dayton.  Met with most of the team at the airport, went to dinner wih a couple of the guys from the team.  We actually did quite a bit of walking, more than I hoped for, but its ok.

Good sleep, important to two days before a marathon!

2.1 miles, mostly easy, with a few strides to open it up a litle bit.

Dynamic stretching for 10-15 minutes.

Met Bart Yasso and heard him speak at our dinner, what a character!  He is hilarious and I would LOVE to do his job!  I thought mine took me cool places....

Also I look forward to cheering on Capt Ivan Castro, a blind Iraq War Vet, severely injured in battle.  He has a great heart and a good head on his shoulders.  Even a sense of humor! 

Woke up a bit early, 4 am, for a 6am departure for the race. Ate a peanut butter granola bar and drank some Propel Gatorade.

I decided to try to set a PR based on the course based on the fact that if you don't try to, you never will. Fairly stupid since my longest training run was 15.6 miles in one day.

At the starting line I met Bill, looking to run a 2:55, sounded reasonable and we ran together for quite a bit. I had to put the reigns on him often as he kept naturally going fast.  The first two miles included a 200ft climb so we did them nice and easy as a good warm up, mile 3 was a 6:24...too fast.  Slowed back to aound 6:40 and kept it there for a while.  We had a decent group of about 6 guys for a while.  We hit 1:28:10 at the half and I was feeling better than expected.

Bill and a couple others dropped off the group around mile 17 at a water stop. It left just myself and two nice guys, Jeff and Cody. We mainted sub 7's until mile 21 and we had a long slow climb, not steep, but enough to slow you down when you are tired.  At this point I began to fall apart.  Miles 21-26 were: 7:08, 7:41, 7:24, 8:07, 8:11 and a whopping 9:36.  As you can tell I was fading fast.  I had to focus to run straight, especially the  last few miles, in which I barely made it to the finish.  I should have stopped and walked, but I was to stubborn and proud.  I will cover the finish in a minute...

Another issue incurred at mile 21 was that we joined the Half Marathoners, but we joined the course with the group running about 2 hrs.  We were passing them left and right and in and out, it was pretty ridiculous.  Runners were not giving way to the faster Marathoners and many were wearing iPods and could not hear us calling out our passing of them, so they did not move.  The water stops were not prepared for the masses and the halfers were stopping dead to drink, right in front of us.  There was also a stop or two without water ready for us.

Back to the end of the race...I was wobbly and all over the place, I was disappointed to see that the run would actually go long.  I was so ready to be done!  At this point I was slowed to almost a 10 minute mile, but I kept moving my feet.  I was getting passed and not feeling well at all.  I finally made the last turn to the finish and I crossed the first chip mat, not realizing it was another 20 meters to the finish line chip mat.  A nice girl tried to help me across the line and I shrugged her off as I was worried that I would be DQ'd for accepting assitance.  I got the assitance nonetheless as I just about collapsed after the first mat and the medics basically carried me across the line. The time was around 3:07, pretty bad since I was at 3:03 at 26!

The medics took me directly to the med tent, admistered an IV, took my blood pressure, pulse, etc and then smothered me with ice.  I didn't think it was too hot out, I think I just over exerted myself.  My feet did feel extremely hot around mile 23 though and I heard some others comment on the heat of their feet too....just weird.  So after a bit of icing and a second bag of IV fluid, I convinced the nurse to re-assess me before sending me to the ER as they originally wanted to do.  I threw up about 5 times and was in the care of the medics for about an hour total.  They eventually called our Major Command team organizers over and they went and got me some water, bananas and chips...really nice of them.  Once the second IV was done I was released and I went and got some more gatorade, chips, etc.  I felt much better and went and sat at our SUV's with our team.  Everyone was very supportive and awesome!

My main lessons learned from this are: 1. Don't try to set a PR when you know your training was sub-par. 2. Be smarter than stubborn and walk if you can't even run straight.  It's just a marathon... 3. Having a good team and support network is awesome! 4. I better train my butt off for the Tucson Marathon in Dec. No shortcuts this time....

 Update: I am on the results now, 3:07:30, 43 O'all and 9th in AG, not too shabby.  Next year I will be much better!

One mile warm up at the track, Dynamic stretching (logging .25) for all of those.

5x 1000 We ran about 6:40-7:15 pace, I ran with Stacey. First time I met her, very nice girl and pretty quick.  We kept our conversation most of the night. As for the run, I am still recovering from my marathon and I feel pretty good.

.25 cooldown and went back and talked to Laszlo about some of the team stuff.

BPR workout at Reid Park.  4.85 miles with Jeff, plus 5 sets of 40 Pushups and Situps.  They got tough, I need to get better on them.

8.1 Miles with Jeff along the River Path. We ran the first 3/4 mile with everyone, Amanda, Joe and Lauren.  Our first mile was 8:21 we maintained sub 7's for a bit, then backed down since I am still recovering from the marathon. Jeff had an emergency pit-stop around 3.5 miles, then caught back up with me.  We finished fairly strong, but slower due to the winds and the darkness. It was dark for the last 2 miles.  All in all, I felt great, legs were a little more tired than a normal 8 miler, which shows my recovery is not done.  Overall pace was 7:21/mile.  Not bad at all especially with an 8:21 first mile.

Nice hour long hike with the dogs. 36th St. Park

.5 runnig around at the catalina trail race.  Did timing with Laszlo

4 miles on the bike to and from LnL's

13 miles on the bike. Round trip to work

.6 warm up plus lots of dynamic stretching

5 x 100, 200, 400,   800

      13     34    74     2:44

      15     37    80     2:47 

      15     38    78     2:45

      16      37    79    2:47

      15     37     78    2:45

.25 cooldown

about 20 miles of riding my bike today.

10 miles on the bike

5 miles around Reid Park, great group of BPR folks last night.

160 push ups and sit ups---I missed one set of 40 each when I went back to get Kat.

1 mile warm up

4 miles Tempo 6:12, 6:30, 6:02, 6:04

1.6 miles cooldown

All with Jeff, felt pretty good. Slower mile 3 because of the two large turns up and over Craycroft and back down.

13 miles roundtrip to work plus 3 more during the day.

13 miles round trip to work on the bike

Some running for work PT.

A very nice run, very slow and easy for me, but it was 8 miles with Andrea and after mile 2 when Laszlo turned around, Lauren joined us for the last 6.  We did a bit of talking and catching up. 

Our Rancho Vistoso course is pretty nice, but hilly with about 500 or so feet of climbing, not too bad, but makes you work.

Good run overall, trying to get a good massage this afternoon.