Sunday, August 12, 2012

Half Marathon Training Run

Yesterday we went to the movies, which is a pretty rare occasion these days.  We went to the matinee in the early afternoon, and did a little shopping afterwards.  We arrived home in the late afternoon enabling me to get my five mile run in before dinner.  It was a slow run down the typical running paths.  The temperature was pleasant, and the run was just fine. I wanted to get my run completed in the morning because I needed to run a half marathon on Sunday.  The temperature was suppose to be in the 90's in Lebanon on Sunday afternoon, so I should have completed my five mile run in the morning as well.  Maybe I should have listened to my wife and just skipped the five mile run!


Today I went to the Lebanon to run the Run Away Pumpkin Half Marathon course from last year.  I arrived around 9:30am, and I had my water, energy gel, and music ready to go.  My goal was to beat my time from from the Corvallis Half since this course is flat.  I set my pace for 6:46 min/mi, and within the first few miles I knew it was too fast.  Around mile 3 I had to stop to let my heart rate recover a bit, and to drink some water.  I acknowledged that this training run was going to be a walk / run 13 mile adventure.

The course is beautiful once you get out of town.  It runs along Berlin road, to Waterloo, and then back to the start along River road.  It was annoying having to stop and rest every mile or two, but I am to stubborn to reset the workout!  I figured that I would treat it as a long interval training run to get my body use to the pace, muscle memory.

Around mile 8 a little deja vu came over me as was the same spot that I struggled through during the race last October.  I tried to tap into using Shawna and Christina as motivation.  I thought of the U.S. men in the 4x400 relay and the U.S. women in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays.  I thought of Mohamed Farah of Great Britain and Galen Rupp of the U.S. in the 5k and 10k.  None of it really helped keep me running, time for another rest and more water.

I hit Waterloo, and started up River road.  Only about four miles left and my pace was slowing to about 7:00 miles.  I rested at the dam for a few minutes, and then prepared for the last two miles.  Start, stop, start, stop! So annoying! I finally got to the finish. My time was 1:32:34, but the elasped time was 1:56: 54!  I didn't think I rested that much!  It was a tough training run, and in the future I plan to listen take my wife's advice and take the day off before these training races!




Please consider donating for my effort to raise $2,012 to support Christina during my run of the Portland Marathon in 2012.
http://gogetfunding.com/project/running-against-tnbc-portland-2012

Wednesday, August 8, 2012

Slow 12 Mile Run

Today's run was a slow 12 mile recovery / long slow distance run.  Again I found it difficult to map out a route that wasn't so familiar for two reasons: (1) it is boring; (2) knowing the exact route enables my mind to know when I am approaching the finish so I can take my foot off the gas! So I do have a GPS watch that tells me when I am close to the end of my workout, however I can choose to not look at my watch!  For this run I choose to run on some familiar segments, but branched out to south of town hitting the trails at Willamette Park.  I have only ran on these trails once because I don't like running on S. 3rd St.  Today I made an exception, and I am glad I did.

The run out to S. 3rd was predictable and boring.  The miles clipped off, and I hit the park around mile four. The temperature was in the mid 60's, and the sunny was out.  It wasn't too hot, the shade on the trails was nice.  Halfway through the trails I was getting a bit hungry, but I forgot to buy any cliff shots or energy gu.  Luckily there were ripe blackberries throughout the trail! I picked and ate a couple of handfuls, drank some water, and continued on the path.

The scenery on the trail was beautiful!  The Willamette river was running on the left surrounded by farm land and trees. I kept running down the path until hitting Riverside Dr, and then I ran from Riverside back to 3rd and back to the boring bike path! I ran behind the Corvallis Country Club on SW Brooklance Dr. I was about 1:20 minutes into my run, and needed more fuel.  I found some more blackberries, and ate probably four or five handfuls this time. Later I found that Safeway sells about one half a hand full for about $6!  I hit the gold mind I guess.  I was about ten miles in at this point, and I was a bit spent.  Include those ten miles I had run over forty miles in four days.  I thought about walking it in, but I had motivation to keep pushing.

Going over the next couple of hills was tough, and I had to take a water break a few times.  I made it past the hills, and coasted the rest of the way to the end of the course, 12.54 miles.  I was relieved, and I felt good that I finished the course.

Tomorrow will be fairly easy, three miles at a brisk pack (6:58 - 7:18 min/mi) along with a one mile warm up and cool down.


Please consider donating for my effort to raise $2,012 to support Christina during my run of the Portland Marathon in 2012.
http://gogetfunding.com/project/running-against-tnbc-portland-2012


Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Hills x 14

Today  the Garmin Calendar lists "Hills x 14." For my hill workouts I run on NW Withnam Hill Dr between NW Grant and NW Circle Blvd.  It has about a 5% - 6% grade, which is ideal for longer hill intervals.  The workout consists of a mile warm up, running up the hill for two minutes at 5k effort, jogging down for 3 minutes, repeating fourteen times, and then a mile cool down.

I decided to run from our house to the hill, which ended up being a 3 mile warm up, but it was relatively cool so I though it would be okay.  As I started the repeats I quickly remembered why I dislike this hill so much; it starts off steep, levels off, the grade increases and stays the same for about 50 yards, and then it increase a bit more until it crests at the top.  The last 20 - 30 yards are painful! After 4 or 5 repeats I was calling on a high power!  I thought about Christina and Shawna, and how this is nothing compared to what they go through mentally and physically.  I thought about the Olympic athletes and what many had to do to get the gold.  Okay, I know that I have never been and will never be competing at the Olympic level, but it is still a good motivation tool while I am training.  By the 6th repeat I counting down, "Just 7 more after this one, just six more after this one...."  After I think the 12th I saw a couple of deer that I took a picture of, nice distraction and an excuse for an extra rest period.


After the intervals I ran about a mile for recovery, finding and eating some blackberries along the way.  I decided after that too walk the rest of the way home.  The entire workout without the walk ended up being over ten miles!



 Tomorrow will be a slow 12 mile run, see you then!

Please consider donating for my effort to raise $2,012 to support Christina during my run of the Portland Marathon in 2012.
http://gogetfunding.com/project/running-against-tnbc-portland-2012

Long time no post!

It has been a number of months since my last blog post. Life can be overwhelming at times, and some things just fell to the wayside as life continued. I apologize for those that follow this blog, and are wondering what happened. First off, please visit Christina's blog to follow to get an update on her status and ways to help us fund her treatment.  Next let me give you an update on the races I completed since my last post.

Our world changed in July 7th, 2011 when Christina was diagnosed with breast cancer. One of the remarkable and unimaginable phenomenons is the outreach and support from not only friends and family members, but perfect strangers impacted by this disease.  Strangers that become friend and  allies against this disease.  Scott is one of those friends, and wife is battling colon cancer - read more on her blog Loving on Shawna.  They set up a 10k  fundraiser to offset her medical bills Shufflin-for-shawna-10k.

I signed up for the race, and the day of the race (Saturday March 24th, 2012) I asked my sixteen year old son Cole if he wanted to run with me in the race.  Cole did run cross country a couple of years ago, but had not did any running other than condition for basketball in some time.  He said, "Sure." Easy for a sixteen year old to just go out and run a 6.2 mile race without training, must be nice!

Christina, Cole, Jackson and I head to the race.  Prior to the race we met up with Scott and Shawna, and we also were introduced to their family members, and other volunteers that setup the race.  Christina volunteered to help with the timing, and Jackson was there to cheer us on.  Cole was a bit nervous being that he didn't train, but the start was about to happen... On your marks, set, go!

The race was of modest size with an estimated total of 100 runners and walkers.  Cole took off with the leaders while I hung back running my pace of about 6:30 to 6:45 minutes per mile. Cole started slowing down around mile 4, and I started gaining on him.  Near the top of the hill on Walnut near MLK park I was about 20 - 30 yards behind Cole as he started to walk/run.  My plan to run up beside him and give him some encouragement to finish strong with less than half a mile to the finish was thwarted when he looked back!  Seeing his Dad coming up behind he was enough encouragement as he started running again creating some more separation.  Game on!   About 100 yards from the up hill finish I was gaining on Cole, and he didn't know that I was gaining on him.  Jackson was near the finish and yelled, "Go Dad, you can beat him!", or something like that.  Cole swiveled his head ahead around and saw his Dad within a few yard of him. His eyes widened, and started sprinting to the finish.  Cole finished 3rd, and I finished 4th behind him.

Shawna & Christina at the Shufflin' for Shawna 10k


Garmin Connect link to my run at the Shuffin' For Shawna 10k


The next race I completed was the Corvallis Half Marathon on Sunday, April 15th 2012.  While training for this race, I discovered quite a few of my friends from work, old high school friends, and local acquaintances were running or walking in the race!  Some I discovered after the race as I was very focused at kept to myself for the most part prior to the start of the race. During training I have ran the full course at least once, and parts of the course numerous times.  The winner of the race this year (Craig Leon)  was interviewed and said that it was a nice course and pretty flat!  I guess for the most part that was true, however there is a gradual incline from mile 3.5 to 5.5 beside Bald Hill, and another tougher hill at mile 7 to mile 8.25 up Walnut Blvd.  It was a tough section, but my training on those hills helped me power through them.

Around mile 10 I hit the wall; my heart rate started rising, I was dehydrated, and my legs felt like lead.  I hit both water stations on Tyler at mile 10 and I think 11.  After the second, I felt the water in the stomach gosling around.  That second stop was probably a mistake! It was tough haulin' for the next couple of miles. According to my watch I was right about on target to finish below 1:30:00.

Towards the finish I spotted a target, a slower runner that I was gaining on.  I picked up the pace enough to pass that runner, and then spotted another target as we headed towards the stadium.  I didn't have much left in the tank, but I always seemed to be able to sprint the last ~ 200 yards to the finish line.  I sprinted and tried to pass my target, but he sensed I was coming and pushed to the finish as well.  After the race in the beer garden I met up with him, Kelly, who works for HP out of Vancouver.  He thanked me for pushing him in the finish.  I ended up finishing 55th of 1,640 overall,  50/581 of male runners, and 7/76 of M4044, and a time of 1:30: 34.  Dang, just 35 seconds faster and to get under 1:30:00! My watch let me down here as it had my pace a bit quicker.   I did beat my PR nearly eight minutes. All in all a good race.


My Finish at the Corvallis Half Marathon 2012

After the Corvallis Half Marathon, I met up with a high school classmate Chris McCammon.  He also works at HP, and we chatted in the HP fitness center about race and running in general. Chris had started training for the Lebanon Strawberry Festival 5k.  I had ran that race in high school, and again in 2002 or 2003.  After the Corvallis Half, I signed up for the Portland Marathon in October.  My marathon training schedule does include some speed work, so I added this race to my schedule.  I only had a few weeks to train for this 5k, and I didn't want to alter my marathon training activities too much. I did make an effort to hit all my speed workouts at or above target a little bit.

The day of the race the temperature was nice, in the 60's.  Before the race I saw some high school classmates, my track and cross country coach (Marty Dannen), and some HP friends.  The course is a flat out and back along Main and South Main in downtown Lebanon.  My goal was to get under 20:00, which is under 6:26 min/mi. Now that I know my watch tracks my pace I bit quicker than reality, I set the watch to keep my pace between 6:10 and 6:15.  The 5k felt more like a sprint after running in the half, and training for the full marathon!  I kept my pace between the targets, but hitting toward the high end.  My family wasn't at the event, but I did hear a few calls of my name during the race.  Around the 1 mile mark, my shoe came untied, so I had to stop and retie my shoe. At the end of the race I saw a man probably about 50 yard in front of me, and I knew I could catch him.  My heart rate was well into the 200's, but I sprinted hard... spectators were saying, "You can catch him! GO! GO! GO!"  I caught him right before the finishing chute! Time, 19: 29 - 6:16 min/mil!

After the race I chatted with coach Dannen.  There were several former students talking to coach Dannen including the winner that was 18 years old and ran a 16:31 @ 5:18.  Coach Dannen congratulated me on my time, and as we chatted he told me he often used told a story to he former track runners.  I was the only runner that every false started in the 3,000!  That wasn't exactly the form of legacy that I wanted to be remember for, however that did trigger a memory of how much I despised that race in high school.. and that I probably false started on purpose.  Marty though so too.





Sunday, August 5, 2012

Slow 20M ~ Long slow run

Today on my Garmin training center calendar it listed "Slow 20M." That simple description makes it seem easy, just run for 20 miles at a slow pace.  I completed my longest run of 19 miles last weekend, so tacking on just on more miles should have been a piece of cake right?  Well, I guess it was fairly easy the first 14 or 15 miles, but after that my legs felt a little dead.  I hurt the top of my left foot during the 19 mile run in the Mac forest, and I could feel it a bit during the run. It wasn't painful just there if you know what I mean; my left shoe felt tighter.  After showering I noticed it was a bit swollen.  The hardest part of the run, at least the most time consuming, wasn't the run at all.. it was the preparation.

There are miles of bike paths and lanes in Corvallis, however after running here for nearly a year I have followed many of the same routes for longer runs.  Many of the loops consist of the bike path along Philomath Blvd connecting to 53rd and to the waterfront, the path around Bald hill, and the path up Walnut by MLK Park and then down to HP.  I also run south of town down Bellfountain to Airport, and go east and west dependent on the miles required for the run.  My trip to the Mac forest via Oak Creek last weekend was a first, and the hills were not my favorite for a long run.  So for the 20 mile run I spent hours trying to map out a new course that was fairly flat, off of the roads as much as possible, and someplace that I hadn't ran 50 times! In the end I gave up and just extended my Philomath / Corvallis loop.

About 7 miles into the run on a part of West Hills road that I hadn't ran before, and man was coming down a gravel driveway I was about to cross.  He looked at me at his right, looked to his left, and then started coming out just as I cross the front of his 1980's K car.  I held both hands out as to try bring the car to a stop, warning the driver he as about to hit a pedestrian, or brace myself for a stop-get-dropped-and-rolll of the top of this guys car!  He stopped and looked very annoyed that I didn't yield him the right of way! Maybe they are use to seeing runners out in the country!

Only 13 miles to go after that incident.  Now I am back on my regular training routes, and heading around Bald Hill and up Walnut.  My pace is fine, hydration is good, and heart rate in check.  As I round from Circle to Hwy 20 (mile 14-15) I started dragging a bit.  I stopped just short of the HP entrance on Hwy 20 under some trees to get some water and let my heart rate get back to recovery levels.  I then pushed it in the last 4-5 miles.