Find a Positive.. well maybe..

Today's long run, once again covering the Montgomery Half Marathon course, was less that positive. After running it twice over the last couple of weeks, with positive results, today's run was just a matter of survival! Temps were in high 70's and humidity was 95% @ 6:30 AM.

James and I had a fellow runner named Chris run the course with us today.. I knew when I saw him get out of his car that he was gonna be a good runner. Just had that body frame ...every bit of 130 lbs. and just made like an efficient distance runner... my instincts were right. We all ran together at a nice crusin pace of around 8:30/mi. Then Chris and James took off after about 8 miles. For me the heat and humidity was just to much to overcome and it just killed me. I DO NOT do well with heat/humidity conditions. So, I just let them go to the races and do what they wanted. I dropped back and slogged through the remaining miles... I really need a cold front on race day!!  I think my sweat soaked shirt/shorts/shoes weighed 5 or 6 lbs when I finished.

Today I just couldn't keep up with these two guys. Chris is in our age group and from what we saw today he has a good chance to take our age group on race day.. James will do well also...  I am just not in the shape that I need to be, to be competitive with my fellow age groupers. I will get there but I am looking long term and not expecting to be back to my former self until this time next year.. I'm also trying not to put to much pressure on myself or to make excuses,  but I know what I am capable of running when I am in top form..  I am not there now.. I just need to be patient and work my way back up.

I did my first ice bath after the run today.. it was COLD but I think my legs don't feel spent and fatigued like they would normally be after a run of this length.

College football on the tube today.. been raining so much this week I don't know when the grass will be dry enough to cut....

It's a Distance Runner Thing

OK.. I know this isn't that is normal, even for a distance runner, but I have three black toenails ... One that is mature and two that are trying to grow up be like their older twin. It think the last one I got was sometime in 2007 and that was only one. The main cause for black toenails is your toes rubbing or hitting the top of your shoe. To the most part that comes from shoes that are to small. I have been running in the same brand/style/size of shoe for the past 7 years and this just confuses me.  They did change the style a little this year but one of the first things I noticed about the new style was the roomy toe box.. Thus my confusion.. or maybe that is the problem..  I've read a couple of web site articles and there are a some other reasons that might be a cause. One is having too loose a running shoes... on each foot fall your foot slippage could cause my foot to slip up the toe box and press up against the end of the shoe. The top of my right foot was hurting so I loosened up my Yankz laces... so this could also have lead to the demise of my once three healthy nails. Well.. that is enough on that..

This is a new training week

I started the week off with a 7 miler. Just a nice paced run. I will run 7 mile runs Mon - Wed - Fri and then the half marathon course again on Saturday. I'll update you more this week...

Second Verse Same As the First

Well.. not really.. But I did run the Montgomery Half course again today. That makes twice this week... Hmm if I add up both times for the two halfs... that makes a 3:24 full marathon.. Well a guy can dream can't he? :-)

Today's run through the course was with my Saturday training partner. His name is also James, and for someone that has only run for three years he can sure put the hammer down on a long run. Usually we run about 10 miles on Saturday's and the first five miles are at my pace then after that we run at his pace. The way he puts it.. "I really don't get warmed up until after five miles.. and like clock work, when we hit five miles he finds his grove and it's off to the races! Ha!!

A nice group of runners meet today at the race start area and since no one was committing to run the entire 13.1 James and I went on ahead and started. There was a nice breeze this morning, the humidity was down (around 89%) the temp was about 75 with overcast skies.. so conditions were pretty good! The first half of the course was marked with white spray painted Hyundai icons. They had marked the turns real well (I don't know if they will last the three weeks till race day). The second half isn't marked yet, and we made a early turn on one street to soon, but this didn't effect the distance of the run.. Again, this run was a pleasant run through the quite streets of Montgomery and again I have to say how impressed I am with this course. This is a real "Chamber of Commerce course" it has sections that are not just great for a race but just as good for a leisure weekend run.

I really hope that the residents along the race course will be aware that there is a race going on and will be on their front lawns with their coffee to watch and cheer on the harriers! It is really amazing the uplift we get to have a total stranger cheer you on.

Plans are to return next Saturday and run the course again... Yes.. it is THAT good of a course.

Looking for a training partner?

Have you ever wished that you had a training partner that would run when and where YOU wanted to run? They would run with you no matter the time of day or night.. no matter the weather! They would be ready without a moments notice and without the first complaint! They will always be content with your pace! You can't be to fast or to slow! This training partner wouldn't ask you questions and expect you to answer, as you ran up that killer hill! Where do you find such a training partner? Well you find them on the computer... and you download them to your iPod (or mp3 player, if the podcast is in mp3 format) in the form of a running podcast... or as some call a runcast.

What is this podcast, you ask? Well.. the best way to answer this is to go here >> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Podcast

Well, now that you know what podcast is, lets get back to that training partner I was telling you about earlier. There are numerous podcast hosted by runners of all fitness levels and interests. You may do like I have done and download a few of the podcast by one host and after listening decide that it isn't for you or your interest.. no problem there are many to choose from.

A great location for find a number of quality running podcast you can start here >> http://www.runningpodcasts.org/

I'm will list a few of the ones that I listen too and can highly recommend them to you.

dirt dawgs rambling diatribe: A father, husband and ultrarunner running down a 100 miler http://www.runningpodcasts.org/podcast-directory/dirt-dawgs-rambling-diatribe-podcast/

Former Marine One Helo pilot that runs the mall of our nations capital and educates us at the same time
http://www.runningpodcasts.org/podcast-directory/run-digger-run/

Training, lifestyle, veganism, being a Mom and Wife and fitting it all in
http://www.runningpodcasts.org/podcast-directory/run-vegan-run/

The podcast for runners, wannabe runners and mid-packers of all shapes and sizes who just want to strap on their favorite pair of shoes and get out there!
http://www.runningpodcasts.org/podcast-directory/runrunlive-podcast/

Listen to Gordon training for the Disney Marathon in 2010.
http://www.runningpodcasts.org/podcast-directory/running-to-disney/

The Extra Mile Podcast follows the progress of runners training for 5k, 10k, half and full marathons across the globe. You can send Kevin an mp3 file about your training (like I do) and he'll post it to the podcast!
http://www.runningpodcasts.org/podcast-directory/the-extra-mile-podcast/

There are MANY others that are great quality and I'll say that you just need to listen to some yourself and I can almost guarantee that you will enjoy their company and learn a lot about running.. and like me you will find some great friends. Most are on twitter and invite you to follow there tweets...

Hyundai Half is almost here!

I must say that when I heard that Montgomery was going to host a half marathon, I was a little skeptical. But then I heard that this race would have the same race directors that were in charge of the Birmingham Mercedes Marathon, I got excited. Then, when it was announced that Hyundai was going to be the major sponsor.. Well, I knew then that this was going to be a winning event for the River Region and the runners in this area!! I am sure that this event will be just as successful as other races in the state.. and I am glad to be a part of the inaugural event!

Well, since this race wasn't really on my calendar until recently I had no plan to peak on the Oct 3rd race day. I was looking to merely be a part of the event and approach it as a training run as I prepared for the Vulcan 10k in Birmingham. However, I have a weakness for being to competitive for my own good and will now consider this a race, and in such, I will give it my best. I'm not in the shape that I need to be to run at the best of my potential, but I will do my best on race day to compete against those others in my age group.. You see I quit trying to compete against anyone younger than me.. that is just to much pressure on the 49 year old body.. :-)

So, Let's talk about the race course. I thought that I needed to make a test run over the course before race day and Labor Day seemed to be a good day to plan the recon. I drove my car over the course, a did so to the best of my ability, using the mapmyrun directions on the web. I had to make some detours because of closed gates and got somewhat turned around at one point.. but I think I knew the course enough to go ahead and get my recon run completed.

As I walked to what will be the starting line area, I was asked by a fellow on a bike (Larry) if I was going to run the 1/2 course.. he also asked if he could ride along side as I ran. He was supposed to meet a couple of runners he coached and do the same for them... but they were a no-shows. So, after some introductions I agreed that if he didn't have anything else better to do, it was OK with me. :-)

As it turned out, I was VERY happy to have Coach Larry around!! He knew the course and neighborhoods very well and did a great job of navigating us through all the turns. We even had a little time to reminisce about the old days of racing in the 70's. He was great company and I don't think I would have pushed the pace like I was able if he had not been there. I appreciate his company and positive words he had while I was running.

So.. If you are planning to run the race, here is the skinny on the course!

Like you will always hear.. Take it easy "coming out of the blocks". The first couple of miles consist of an upward incline to takes you out of downtown. You WILL NOT win the race in these first two miles but you can certainly loose any ability to make the next 11 anything more than agony. Save yourself and the lactic acid buildup by taking it slow. There is plenty of miles to make it up.. trust me on this.

From Mile 3 to 11 you will be treated to parks, neighborhood streets and the campus of two of Montgomery's University's. The miles will go by fast as you travel what is mostly flat and roads that actually have mostly a declining profile.

Now the "flat land party" is over and you will then have some hills to negotiate as you head back to downtown. Hopefully you have saved some endurance in your tank to make the S. Perry hill and then Hull street. The reward.. you head down Dexter Ave for a half mile of downhill striding.. and the finish line it is almost in sight!! You can just visualize that person in front of you that you just have to pass!!

• I recommend that you either run the course before the race or at least run it in parts as you train for this event.
• Don't worry that your training is "not enough" my first half mara in 2001 was accomplished by training miles that didn't exceed 6 miles at one time. You can do it!
• Read the newspaper articles in the Montgomery Advertiser by Kym Klass for some great running tips and instructions.

Here are my mile splits from the recon run this morning:

7:50; 7:54; 7:35; 7:26; 7:49; 7:42; 7:50; 7:42; 7:45; 8:09; 7:55; 8:27; 7:25

I have to catch you up!

I feel bad about my lack of attention to updating my running blog... Ok.. here goes..

I am in week 9 of my training plan for the Vulcan 10k. As I have 10 weeks of training until the race I am very unsure of my current readiness. I have to realize that I am NOT going to set PR's every time I run a "big" race and that I am still in a phase of training that is designed to get me back in shape for the 2010 race season.. not 2009. So, let's get on with the training update!

August was a low mileage month. I had the unscheduled race (Wallahachee Woodlands 5k) that I talked about in the last blog blog entry.. it WAS hot so I did opt for the 5k instead of the 10k and was pretty glad I did. Race time was 22:02.. Not my fastest but I was happy about the consistent mile splits of 6:55; 7:09; 7:03. I came in 2nd in age group.. a little disappointed in that.. the 1st place was just a few seconds ahead and I really should have pushed myself to get the 1st place.. but I didn't lose any sleep and since I really didn't see this as a goal race.. I'm ok with it... I know I can do better.. but I didn't prove it at that race..

The past week I missed most of the week's training due to sickness. I never ran a temperature.. or felt anything really other than I was just dead tired. I think I started feeling it on my Saturday run and on Tuesday I just kept feeling worse as the day went on.. So, I laid out of going to work on Wed and Thur and by Friday I was good enough to go back to work (are u bored yet?) but still laid out on Sat... I Ran 7.6 this AM and besides thinking that I ran a mile to long it was a good run. So back to the training plan starting tomorrow.. but as Chris Russell ( http://runrunlive.com/ ) said the other day.. 'If you miss a week of training, don't double up thinking that this will get you back on track, it will more than likely set you back. Just pick up where you left off." So that is what I will do.

Before I run the Vulcan I do have a half marathon http://www.hyundaihalf.com/ on the schedule.But as I have said this is going to be a more of a training run than a race. But I'd still like to do well!

I have enjoyed providing some entries to the extra mile podcast ( http://theextramilepodcast.blogspot.com/ ) during the past couple of months. The design of this podcast is to provide a place for runners to send mp3 recordings of their training updates. Kevin then puts them together and posts it on iTunes for download. Kevin has had some good things to say about my submissions and I have really enjoy sending them in. Yeah,, it's kind of strange to be running down the road talking to "myself" but at 3:30 in the morning.. there is really no one there to see me or hear me doing it anyway.. and besides I'm not really talking to myself, I'm talking to all the people that will listen to the podcast.. I just hope that what I have to say is of some interest to the listeners.

For this blog... I would really like to tell some stories of my present and past running.. I will do that soon.. maybe there will be some enjoyment to the reader...

So.. Why not?

Well, I know I said it... after the Peach run in Clanton I told myself that I wasn't going to run another race this Summer... I was just so depressing an effort.. But, I really need to take my 'training temperature" to see how I am doing up to this point in my 10K training. This is a race that I have run before (Woodlands Wallahachee 5 and 10K). I have, up to this point, always run the 10K... but this year I will use the 5K to judge my training. It is an out and back course and I have always felt a little jealous when the 5K racers would be turning around at their halfway point while the 10K runners continued on to our turnaround point. This year I will join that group this year!

Training has been going fair. A couple weeks ago my hip started hurting so I lowered my mileage for a week and began some strength exercises that were on the Running Times podcast.. They were very timely and beneficial to me. I have tried to be diligent to the exercises and I believe that this has helped to get me back on track fast. Last week I had my first 40 mile week in a long time..

I will limit and taper my training this week and prepare for the race. I will update again post race