Week 8 of my training for Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon:

Week 8, almost at the halfway point.
At almost the halfway point I am feeling good about my training and I feel like I will be ready to run my race. My only worry now is my speed, I am not as fast at I need to be, I want to run a sub five hour marathon. Now sub –five isn’t fast by any means but it’s a goal I should be able to reach.
So this week I have the following runs planed:
Tues 4 miles
Wed 7 miles
Thur 4 miles
Sat 7 miles
Sun 15 miles
My Sunday long run of 15 will be broken into two loops, this way I can stop back and reload my water and nutrition.

Things I need to do:
1) Stretch more, my mussels are getting sore and tight.
2) Drink more water.
3) Get more sleep

So that’s my week, I got a 7 miler tonight, note sure if I will run in the tread or on the street, either way I can’t get going until 08:00 pm.

Keep the rubber side down,

-b

Week 7 of marathon training is in the books:

Man this was a huge week for me. I ran 43.5 miles, and my feet feel like flapjacks.
All kidding aside this was probable the most miles I ever run in a week, and it felt good. Today, Sunday was a 14 miler, so I planned a double loop so I could stop back at the house and reload my water bottles.

Today I tried to match race conditions as closely as I could. I followed my planned nutrition, I ate one banana in the morning and two Rolaids, washed it down with about 8 ounces of water. Then on the road, I drank 4 large bottles of 75% Gatorade 25% water drinking every four minutes or so, this way my stomach can handle the calories, and if my stomach started to shutdown I would know it sooner than later. I also had three GU brand gels, I had `espresso love` with caffeine, boy do I love the taste, but more importantly my body loves it too. I also ate another banana when I stopped back at the house.

My pace was very consistent mile to mile so I felt pretty good about that. The only thing I was somewhat unhappy with was my per mile pace, I only managed to average 12:23, and at that rate I would run a 5:24 marathon. I got to get this down a bunch. I feel that I can get this down to 11:15/30, so I need to take a minute off this. Pulling a minute off this pace, I must be crazy, I am and I freely admit it, but I held back a little, I wasn’t sure I could make the distance, so I padded it. Next week I have to run 15 miles for my long run, and I am going to hit it a little harder and really work on the pace. I also plan on taking better care of my self this week, this means betting to bed earlier, eating better, stretching more, and watching what I eat, I think I can lose two pounds this week and get a little lighter. I got to ramp up the water and green tea intake this week and really flush out the body. And it can only get cooler out, right…. The warm weather has got to be taking 15 seconds from me, I know it is.

So my run was cool, I felt good, just minor soreness, my Achilles pain was all but gone. The weather was pretty good, somewhere around 75-80 degrees and humid, but that’s loads better then the 85-90 it has been. I choose a loop that I really hadn’t run much so it felt new. My two loops shared the same roads for about 3 miles, but when I ran the common mileage, I ran them in different directions. The fist loop was a little hilly, it had one long grade then went on for about 1.5 miles, and I should of run it the other direction, and worked on running downhill. That sounds funny, working on my descents, but running downhill is my weakness, I run them too slow, and the load on my legs kills, I know should be able to make some time on them. The actual marathon course does have some hills, mostly rollers, so I need to get better on the hills. The rest of the run was quite, the flats were flat, and it was overcast, so the sun was not an issue. My nutrition was good, and my stomach was fine the entire way.

I had some good tunes on the iPod, I downloaded some real good music from the bands Drunks Don’t Lie, AC/DC, Beastie Boys, Tom Petty and so on, so I rocked the whole way. Please don't judge, but I love to run to some a$$ kicking tunes. I wonder of anyone has done a study on music and running, I am sure someone has, but I wonder of they measured performance and volume. For me volume has lots to do with my running, crank it up tunes, and the legs crank up. I am going to have to do some research.

So in a nutshell, I had a real nice week, I made all my miles and then some, and it can only get cooler out right?

-Brian

P.s.: I signed up for Masters swimming, and Monday night is my first night. More to come on that Tuesday morning.

Goals and the Master Plan:

I have some current goals, and I need some new ones.
My goal that’s on the horizon is the Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon in northwest Georgia, Saturday November 10th this is my next `A` race. This my first marathon and I am about a third of the way though my training, and loving every minute of it, even the running on a tread, and even though I bitch and moan about it, I’m still loving it. So this marathon thing that I am doing, its part of my master plan. My new love is triathlon, I have done two this season, and if I could manage the time I would of done one every weekend. The marathon is doing many good things for me, I am getting in better shape, I’m learning mental toughness, I am losing a few lbs, and every step that I take is getting me closer to my stretch goal.

Stretch Goals:
Ok, its time for Show ‘n Tell, my next mid-range goal, my `A` race if you will for next season, is to train for and compete / complete a Half Ironman, yeah I said it, a Half Ironman. I’ve been doing so good, eating right, training right, sleeping enough, taking days off, working my nutrition, and I don’t want to regress, I need a that next goal. This is going to be my dangling carrot, this is going to drive me all off-season, and my marathon is just the foundation for my next journey.

Need to do:
I need to pick a race, I have a few options.
NA Sports puts on the Florida Half Ironman 70.3, this looks like a flat and fast course, registration is still open, and its at Walt Disney World, so I could take the family and spend a few days having fun, this is if I can walk afterwards.
Georgia Multisports Productions puts on The Coliseum Health System's Rock 'N RollMan Half Iron Triathlon, in Macon Georgia in early June. I did the sprint this year, and they put on a great race.
I have also found http://www.trifind.com/iron-h.html to be a good resource to locate races.

So in the next few weeks I got to pick a race and signup.

Almost forgot to add, I signed up for a Master swimming program. The pool that I have been training at just started the program. I signed up last night and I got to talk to the coach and he said that so far everyone who signed up was training for triathlon. So I am happy about that, can’t wait for Monday.

-B

My wife asked me, why do you run?
After about a minute of pondering the question, I said, because I feel like a superhero when I run. The 6 year-old in me blurted out the answer before the much older man that I am now got a chance, but the more I think about my answer the more I really think its the truth.

I can remember a sunny day running around in the backyard just zooming with my hands held out, leaning into the turns, jumping over obstacles and running just as fast as I could. I was a superhero. It’s funny, but I can still see my Mom looking at the through the window at me, I can still smell the flowers and the heat of the day, and I can still hear the music that was on the radio. The movie that plays in my head is now somewhat overexposed, bleached out at the edges and with every year that goes by it gets fainter and fainter. But when I run, I am that 6 year-old boy running around in the backyard, I get a warm feeling, and every once in awhile I will put my arms out and soar, because I am still that superhero.

-b

Marathon training update:
I am in week 7 of 18 of my training for the Chickamauga Marathon.
So far things are going fine, I have had the some soreness but for the most part it has been temporary. My biggest threat has been my Achilles tendons, I have had soreness on both down where it attaches to the heel bone. So I have been stretching and massaging it and doing long warm-ups before I run.

The mileage is ramping up this week to a total of 36, so my week looks like:
Monday Cross, but I ran to make up for last week, ran 5.2
Tuesday Should be 4, but I ran 5.5 to make up for last week.
Wednesday 7, I’m going to run this tonight, should be fun.
Thursday 4
Friday OFF
Saturday 7
Sunday 14

Lately the heat has been a real problem, we are 10-15 degrees above our normal temperature and it’s been killing my runs. This is my second summer in GA, and the heat is kicking my butt and m window for running outside is small, and much of my runs have been in the dark of night. In New England it can get very hot during the days, but it would always cool down over night. Here in GA, the AM temp has been just about 80 and real humid.

Ok, ok enough of my rant about the heat, I figure am going to be a much stronger runner for all miles and the heat fatigue. Give me a 65 degree day, and I know I’m going to be a much faster runner for the pain of this summer.

I can remember pouring hot water into my water bottle before a run in the frosty New England winter and hoping for a 100 degree day, so I got my wish.

-b

Emily and her first TRI, Iron Kids.

Emily and her first TRI, Iron Kids:
(Picture to come)
Wow, My Daughter Emily 8yrs competes in her first TRI.
August 19, 2007 was a great day, full of trepidation, smiles and esteem building that will last a lifetime.
I am so happy for her, because today she learned she can do anything, and that’s a life lesson that she will use over and over again.

Emily has been watching me train and race and said to me more than once that she would like to race. I thought how cool is that, my Daughter wants to race, and then I started to think to myself, why. Does she really want to race or does she want to please me. I really didn’t want her to race for the wrong reasons, she should race for herself and not for anyone else.
I found IronKids.com, Sara Lee sponsors 6 kids’ triathlons a season and it just so happens one of the races is just 20 minutes from the house. I talked to the family about it and Emily said she wanted to do it.

Emily’s Training:
Over the summer Emily has been taking swimming lessons at our local YMCA and she has been doing fine. We also have a 25 meter pool in out neighborhood so she is no stranger to water. Now that does not mean she can swim 100 meters freestyle easily, she mostly mixes it up swimming underwater, backstroke, and anything else that would get her to the end. We practices a few time in the pool, very low key, I did not want to put her in the position of having to please me. After a few times swimming 100 meters, I knew she could make the distance, so that was it.
Her bike was fine, we rode a few times and I knew the distance wasn’t an issue.
Emily’s running is good, we have done a few kids races so I knew she could do it.

Emily’s Race:
The day started like most race mornings, got to Transition and got set up. Iron Kids really did a great job on this, on the bike rack they placed a duplicate race number (bib) on the rack so you knew exactly where your bike went. We set up and I went over with her how to lay it out and in what order she needed to get things done in. You could see that many of the kids racing had parents that raced, chalk marks in the pavement at the end of the bike racks, tidy gear, it was cool. Ok T is set up off to the pool, this was the hard part. The pool was 6 lanes and the kid were to start 2 per lane, but for some reason they were starting them on per. First went the older kids (Seniors) ages 11-14, they had to swim 200 meters. This took a long time, and on top of that every so often they would take a break to let the racers on the cycle leg finish so the bike leg would be safer, and I am all for it. The swim started at 08:00 starting with the older kids and going down to the younger kids. Emily didn’t get into the pool until 10:45, but at this point the kids were swimming 2 per lane so it was going faster. It was hard for the kids to wait so long, and for the younger siblings to wait, it was getting hot. The swim was fine, on her last lap I ran out of the pool area and got into position just outside the transition area and waited. Here she comes! Some of the older kids that had already finished lined up on either side of the path to the transition and joined hands to make a human tunnel and when a racer came down the screamed and yelled to “Good job!”, “Go!”, “You can do it!” and it was just awesome. I cried when I saw my Emily run threw the tunnel of well wishers, I might be making more of it than it was, but it was true sport, and it was good hearted kids showing true sportsmanship.
So, into T1, this is where Iron Kids was real good, transition was laid out with number on the bike racks and they had staff that would see the kid’s number marking and lead the kids to their bike. Emily hit T1 fast, got out in the bike in about 2-3 minutes, not bad for a newbie kid. She road her three laps quickly and by the look on her face she was having fun. Back to transition for T2, and she was lead to her rack, she racked her bike and out the other end for the run. Now this was cool, the run mat was at the end of the transition and they had a water stop next to the mat. Emily blasted out of T2 grabs a water, drinks half and pours the other half over her head chucks the cup all while running, I though to myself wow she looks like a pro. I ran around to catch up with her on the run, and she was past the halfway point and running up a long grade and I could see that she had a side stitch. This is where I could see the lack of real training and heat where taking a toll on her, but this is part of triathlon, getting past the pain and pushing yourself. I though to myself this is what she needed, she need to fight through something hard and see that she can do it. She saw me as I stood their cheering her on, and I could see a smile take the place of the pain, and I could see that walk turn to a run. It was a downhill run to the finish, and finish she did, she is my hero.

Thoughts:
This is my opinion, so take it or leave it, but I believe triathlon builds kids both physically and mentally.
It worth the effort to expose your kids to as many things as you can, and let them decide if they like it or not.
Please do not mandate that your child do anything but get good grades and eat their vegetables.
Let them decide if they want to race or not.
And if nothing else, let then know you love them.

A proud dad,

-B

P.s.: I can not believe I forgot to add that we got to see the awesome Sara Mclarty.

Sara helped run the Iron Kids Atlanta/Dacula Georgia and did a great job. I heard many kids say that they wanted to be Sara including mine.

Sara is going on a world tour to train and race for an Olympic spot, and we wish her the best of luck!

Please check out Sara's blog at http://www.saramclarty.blogspot.com/

Go Sara!

-B

New shoes:

I bought a new pair of Brooks Radius 7s, and I love them.

Now the cool part, I’ve been running for a few years now, and I have bought many pairs of running shoes. I’ve had most major brands, but I have bought them on recommendations of fellow runners. And I bought them because of something I’ve read, and I even bought a pair because the looked cool, what a joke.
Now that I have started marathon training it is so important to stay injury free, I knew what I had to do. I needed to get a professional opinion and so many people recommended the

Big Peach Running Company (BPRC). (Note: that is not me on the tread) I don’t get into the city (Atlanta) much unless I am with the wife and kids, and we are usually going to the Zoo or to see a show, so a 90 minutes stop to a running store is out of the question. And I knew I needed to go to the BPRC by myself, I did not want distractions, enough said. So, I needed to have my oil changed in the car, so I packed my bike and dropped the car off, and off on the bike I went.

First impressions of the store were:
I found a place that has everything I needed to run. No more having to buy things unseen off the net, or settling for something that is sub par, or some junk that the Big Box stores sell because theirs more profit in it. I found my place for running gear.
So I road down maybe 5 miles and it was hot outside 100 degrees out, no kidding 100. I showed up to the store sweating and with my bike. They let me bring my bike in the store so it would be safe, thank you. I got inside and started looking around, I saw they had plenty of nutrition to choose from. I like GU brand gels and they are hard to find, and they have them, so already I was pleased. They had lots of hydration belts, they had lots of cool shiny object, and they had stuff that took batteries. All kidding aside they have the stuff you need.

Ok, to the main event, my new shoes.
After browsing a bit, and cooling down, I was still dripping sweat. I told the sales person that I wanted to get fitted for a pair of new running shoes. So we started talking about what kind of running I was doing, and I said I was training to run a marathon and I had just started adding some miles to my running. At the same time the sales person had me stand on a measuring device that pressure sensitive and connected to a plasma monitor. Now this thing was worth the trip to the store alone. On the display is showed my shoe size, my width, my arch height and it showed is color where I was putting my weight, the display looked like a thermal image of the bottom of my foot. So we continued of conversation about my running and I told the fitter that I had some Achilles tendonitis down around my heel and I thought it was because ill fitting shoes and my running style (style, not sure what to call what I do). So with this knowledge the fitter put me in a very neutral shoe and had me get on a treadmill and while I was running he captured it on video. After a few moments he stopped me and then he analyzed the video frame by frame. At the same time he was showing me what was going on and explained to me in easy to understand language in what categories I fell into. So with all of my information in hand he went into the back storage room and came out with 4 options for me to try. I tried a Nike, Mizuno, Asics and a pair of Brooks. After a few minutes in each I would record my thoughts mentally and tried on the next pair. With each pair the fitter would tell how they should fit and technically each pair would do for me. I am a super geek I wanted to hear it all. In all the Brooks felt the best, and after a few days and just 14 miles I can say I got a good pair.

I paid the same price I would have paid at a Big Box store, but the service I received was so much better. So, please go buy a pair of shoes from a trained fitter and support your local running shop.

Alright, what a love fest. I do not gain any financially benefit from this post. This just my opinion and I hope you gain some knowledge from it. Now, I do not want to discourage any financially benefits….

So checkout the Big Peach Running Store, and get professionally fitted.

-B

iPod and the Nike+ Plus gadget:

Ok, I confess I am a geek, if you can plug it in or it takes batteries I want it.
I just purchased the Nike+ iPod gizmo and man is it cool. I had to play around with the calibration a bit, but so far (7 or 8 miles) it been pretty accurate. I love toys, and I love running so put them together and man its like PB&J, it’s like bacon and pancakes, pancakes, I love pancakes.

So far this week I got all miles in and I am feeling pretty good. I have been making a real effort to stretch out each morning and during the day. I’ve been watching what I put in my mouth and taking in some high quality carbs and protein post workout. Everything I have been reading and listening too suggests eating as soon as you can or within the first 20 minutes to aid recovery. Recover, I am just now understanding what this really means, and how important it really is.

So this is my mission, to find some Yoga videos and few books on nutrition and research ways I can maximize my recovery. And get more sleep.

-Brian