August Totals

August - 285.6K
YTD - 2376.2K

Two races, 90K at the Dirty Girls and 21.1 Bayshore Half

Treadmill - 10 Runs
Outdoors - 10 Runs
Total - 20 Runs

Lunch Run and so much more ...

Tried to run yesterday but it just wasn't to be. It was awkward and well I just didn't feel like it, I tried and gave up. I should have rested on Monday after Sundays 1/2 but I did a Trail Run instead. Probably would have been better to rest a couple of days but I didn't and I should know better because I have done this before. Tonight at lunch it started a little rough but it qucikly became fluid and natural so I managed a 5K mostly at a 5:00 pace....good enough for the last run of August 2011 ... and now on to the totals!

Recovery Trail

I didn't think I would be running today after yesterdays half but I wasn't feeling too bad so I decided to take it to the trail! Did an easy 11.2K run averaging a 7:10 pace.

Bayshore 1/2

Just finished my my 4th 1/2 Marathon and it was a very successfully day, a little over 5 minutes better then last year.

The weather couldn't have been better for an August race. Temps in the high teens , a strong N NW Breeze and some lite thin cloud were a welcome relief. It was confident that I would beat last years 1hr45minXX time but wasn't sure by how much, stretch goal was to get it under 1hr40min. Didn't seed myself at the start very well and got caught up in traffic so it was a bit of a slow start. The race plan was to go out at around or slightly under a 5:00 pace banking a little time before the 2K long hill climbing somewhere between 80 and 100 meters. Going into the hill at 8K my avg pace was 4:50 which was around where I wanted to be. I didn't look at the Garmin while climbing concentrating on my breathing and stride to make it to the top without the wheels falling off. At 11K I checked and I had dropped to an avg 4:56 pace so I was in a much better position then last year and was feeling quite ready to run faster again. With 10K to go I tried to run the remaining race like it was well a 10K race. After the long climb we headed along the top of the escarpment running a relatively flat 4K. I was averaging around 4:38.K in this section and the avg pace was slowly counting down. The wind was at our back when I picked up the pace and the sun was shining a little brighter then before and I could feel the heat coming on. Passing the 15K mark we turned into the wind and a small climb. The breeze was brisk and it really helped to cool things down and I was able to more or less maintain the same pace. 6K to go I was confident that I would be under 1:45 and was really beginning to think that breaking 1:40 would be a real possibility. This helped me to keep pushing and K after K that went by I was doing the math and I knew that I just had to maintain as close to a 4:30 K as I could. 16, 17 , 18 and 19 ks were done in 4:38, 4:45, 4:43, and 4:45. The changes in pace were primarily due to some ups and downs but with 2K to go I felt confident that breaking 1:40 was still a possibility. The 2nd last K was on a n old railway line , gentle downhill all the way to the bay... a gift for sure. Pushed hard the final K but it wasn't agreeing with me. I was beginning to rethink not drinking anything or doing any gels but I stuck with my race plan and pushed on. I saw the clock with a few hundred meters to go 1:39:40 I gave it an honest effort but crossed a few seconds after the 1:40. Just prior to crossing the timing Matt I stated to dry heave , once across I was down on all 4s dry heaved for 30 seconds or so then I was fine! I forgot to turn the Garmin off and it ticked away for 59 seconds after I stopped!!!!! Last 857 meters were done in 3min38secs.

My chip time was 1hr40min03 seconds finishing 25th out of 118 participants, 22nd out of 59 men and 3rd out of 8 in the 50-59 ag. Avg race pace for the 21.1 was 4min45sec/K.

Marathon Quest-Week 9

Week #9
I much appreciate the weekly Marathon Quest Emails. I am not following a program instead running a series of Ultras from 50K to 100miles. It works well for the mind set and endurance but I don't do as well as I could in the speed department. I am trying to incorporate a bit of the program into my weekly running. I have been doing the long one , the tempo runs and generally a pretty decent volume. The one thing I have been missing is the intervals but I think that the rolling hills that I am constantly running make up for that short fall.

Last year’s STWM and Marathon Quest were my ticket to my first Boston and I really want to BQ again. I have been blogging every run since 2007 and I often look back on what I was doing l right or wrong to try to recreate those magical days. Last year I injured my left Knee at ITT mid August. It was a sharp pain that would come on 5-10 minutes into a run. At first I thought it was just something that I could run through but it was persistent, painful and darn right scary. I figured that I really messed something up and it wasn’t going to go away without intervention. It’s funny but the very thing I was afraid of was the leading contributor to my SWTM BQ. Looking back at 2010 my volume dropped off big time in the weeks leading up to STWM. Two weeks before the race I did 50 Miles at Haliburton. Got to the half way point Ok but coming back the pain came on every downhill and I ended up walking all the hills and there were allot of them. My 10 hour goal quickly became trying to get it done in under 12 hours. With STWM looming the goal of running Boston the year I turned 50 seem like a pipe dream.

Last year was STWM magical from start to finish. Being a part of the Marathon Quest was a big factor in my BQ that day. I remember running into a rough patch and thinking to myself that as a “Quester” I didn’t wasn’t to be the poster child “ how not to prepare for Marathon”.

So once again I will be looking for a little magic in “Hog Town” in October. Originally I was thinking of racing the Toad but now I have decided it will be my last LSD Run. I will do a few shorter runs at my race pace leading up to the STWM and make sure I am rested and ready for the big day. Will my plan work or will I blow up? I will just have to wait for race day and if I am not successful , no big deal, Road to Hope is only a couple of weeks away!

Oh yeah , the knee… dropped the LSDs in Nov/Dec had Bronchitis in Jan and didn’t run for a month. Knee was OK after that ...PHEW!

Last lunch run before the Bayshore 1/2

Going to take Friday and Saturday off Running in prep for Sundays 1/2. The 5:00 cruise is set and I am hoping to shave that down in the 2nd half of the race.....

5K done today at my 5:00 pace.

Lunch again....

5K the usual way!