Four Months to Marathon

It’s now the beginning of August and I need to start concentrating on my Marathon training. As I mentioned in my last post I had an issue with not being able to get in long runs on the weekend because of my work schedule. Although that has been fixed, I now feel like I am behind in getting ready for the Marathon. Although it is still four months out, I have this feeling I should be further along.

This past week I only did 30 miles, I had hoped be doing more at this point. So the key to increasing my mileage will be the progressively long runs.

August 17 will be the second of the two Dreher Park Dash 5K races or the"Night & Day 10K" as they call it. If you race in both they will combine the two for points or something for a series winners in addition to each individual race. The first was run in the morning and the second will be in the afternoon. In October I will do the Wellington 10 miler as a preparation for the Marathon.

I also mentioned something in the previous post to the effect of not doing any more or reducing speed training, I decided to continue with speed training and tempo runs. I can also tell my fitness level is going up as my breathing is not labored at the longer distances I have run, but I am keeping my heart rate around 130 to 135 BPM level for the most part.

And I’ll be seriously happy when the temperatures start to cool down!

Another 5K Race Done

Another 5K race is behind me as of Saturday and I think I did Ok. I predicted a 22 minute time and I finished it in 22:53. This gave me a second place finish in my age group of 55 to 59, there are some fast runners out there in the same age group that would have pushed me out if they had showed for the race. This race was the Dreher Park morning run of their two part series.

The second race will be August 17 I believe and will be run in the afternoon. I must say it was hot and humid and many people may have run faster if it was cold or at least cooler.

As long as my times steadily drop as my training progresses I’ll be happy. My goal is to eventually get down to the 19 minute range for the 5K. That I hope will happen by this time next year, but who knows what may happen between now and then. In reality it may take longer and I hope I can stay injury free.

As far as my training has been going for the marathon, I have been missing out on the long runs during the weekends due to my work schedule. The work issue has to do with my part time job at Home Depot. They keep scheduling me too early on Saturday and Sunday mornings to run early and I can only fit in a shorter run in the afternoon because I also have other chores to take care of.

But, I have finally worked that out, during September, October and November they will not schedule me until after 11:00 AM so I should have time to get in those increasingly long runs.

On the issue of long runs, I really need to work on my base by increasing my mileage running at a slower pace to build up my aerobic capacity. I have been using Wednesday as my speed day doing mile or ¼ mile repeats hoping to get faster for the 5K but I think it may be too soon to run those. But I think I will keep it up for another couple weeks until the next 5K then back off.

I have an old Heart Rate Monitor I got back in the later 1980’ that I have been using again. I put new batteries in the thing and its working just great. This will help me keep my pace down so I can keep in the fat burning mode while doing my slower or longer runs. I posted the video from the finish line of the Dreher Park race where you can see all the finishers crossing the finish line.

 

   

 

Is It safe To Run With A Cold?

What to do when you have a cold and want to keep running? I have been fighting a head cold for the last week but I did continue to run some. Apparently it is OK to exercise as long as the cold stays above the shoulders.  I ran the first two days and I actually felt better, then I went home from work early because I felt completely worn out and slept a really long time. I took a couple days off from running to play it safe after that.

Check online if you have not to read about colds and running. If you’re cold works its way into your chest don’t run. Give it time to pass or exercise lightly so it does not escalate into something worse. Even with my cold being just above the neck it did have an effect on me.

I am feeling better now and will be running in a 5K on the 20^th so have gone back to some running so I am not too far out of shape. Remember that as you get older it is more difficult to keep your fitness level up as it was when young.

Getting Into My Marathon Training

So here I am trying to ramp up my training/miles easy enough so I hopefully avoid some injuries. My though was to take it easy at this with a long term point of view. Since I have never run a Marathon I have spent some time researching different training plans geared towards the beginner or intermediate runners. I have to remember that even though I have been running and racing for many years, I have been off for six so I probably should think beginner, but I want to do more. So I am just going to compromise between beginner and intermediate.

As of this writing I am doing about 30 miles per week with the longest run being 12 miles. The problem now is it is just so hot and humid it has been taking a toll on me. I’m thinking I will gradually step up the miles and in August (still hot) and start my actual Marathon focused training. It will start to get a bit more comfortable by September.

Some of the tools I am using are a Heart Rate Monitor I bought back in 1989. This has the watch and chest strap wireless function that works great even now. I monitor my heart rate when doing tempo runs and long runs then sometimes during my other runs so I keep my self under control. I am carrying a smart phone on my arm using the Map My Run application. This way I can keep track of my miles, I use those little ear buds so I can hear the miles and pace.

One thing that may be good for me is I am working one full time job and a part time job. What’s good is that I usually work both jobs on Tuesdays and Thursdays (sometimes only one of those days) so I do not have time to run. The benefit is that I am forced to take those days off from running and it gives me some time to recuperate. For cross training I will ride a bike either on the road or on the wind trainer. Wednesdays are my speed training days, I will do ¼ mile repeats, sometimes one mile repeats, even more occasionally a 5K run (not race) to measure my progress.

Hopefully this will get me pointed in the right direction and make some good progress towards finishing this marathon. By the way I do plan to do two or three 5K races and one 10 miler between now and then.

My First Half Marathon

I finally did my Half Marathon on April 27, 2013; it was the Singer Island Half Marathon. I actually was worried I would not do it because I again had some knee problem that cropped up a few days before race day. I did not run for the three days leading up to the race to give the knee issue time to resolve itself. On race day it did not bother me at all.

Like the 5K race, I started to the rear of the group so I would be sure to start out slow. This race for me was pretty much to get a feel for the distance and get used to racing. Even though the Marathon I want to do is not until December, this race would give me some idea of what I may expect.

My time was 1:54:42, about what I expected. I told my wife and son to expect me to finish in 1:50 so estimated pretty close. Average pace was 8:45. Having to go over and back on the bridge twice slowed down a lot of people, me included. Below is a short video my son made of me at the race. Race Results
 

First Race

Wanting to do a 5K race before my Half Marathon I searched our area for one that would be close to home and would be considered a smaller race. I did not want to race with hundreds of other people in this race that would be my first in about 7 years. I felt running in a smaller race would allow me just to run at my own pace or race my own race without getting caught up with the big crowd.

I found one just a couple weeks out that was close to home (Standown House 254th Transportation Battalion 5k Run/Walk) and the money went towards a cause I was for. I signed up on line and was committed and I had already signed up for the Half Marathon

At this point I have really done no speed work, maybe just some faster tempo mixed in with my regular runs and a couple days running the bridge on the Half Marathon course. My longest run was 8 miles. The half marathon was 4 weeks out from here and I planned to do at least one 10 mile run before then. So in reality this 5K would be a speed workout for me. So the bottom line is I had four weeks till half marathon and two weeks till the 5K.

A couple days before the 5K my right knee started to hurt, felt like it was just below the knee cap area, my first injury since I started running in December. Great, my first race in a couple days and this happens. Well I did not run at all till the morning of the race. I got up extra early and did an easy test run to see how it felt and it appeared to be OK.

So what the heck, I went to the race with the thought that I’ll start the run and if it hurt I’d just stop. I lined up at the back of the group at the starting line so I would not be caught up in the initial rush and go out too fast. Ran slow and the knee felt fine so I gradually speed up at each mile and finished with a time of 24:13 if I remember correctly. That was much better than I anticipated. I actually got 3^rd place in the Grandmaster Division.

 

Looking back I could have finished faster but this was a test race and I did not want to push it, especially worrying about my knee. For someone looking for a PR in a 5K this course would be great. It’s flat and easy to run.

My First Races in 6 Years

So I have started running again, I’ve been back at it since December 2012. Not wanting to overdo it at first, I just started off walking, then walking and jogging till I progressed to the running only stage. I took my time as I am looking long term and wish to put off any injuries if possible.

From December till now (6/4/13) I have lost 18 pounds of useless weight and feel so much better. I am trying to eat good but still fall for the junk food now and again but overall am doing good with the diet. When I say diet I am not trying to lose weight, I am eating the same amount if not more; it’s the exercise that has burned off the extra weight.

Here in South Florida all the good races are in the cooler months and I wanted to get in at least one race before it got too hot. I found the Singer Island Half Marathon coming up on April 27 and this would probably be the last long race before summer in my area so decided to sign up.

I figured I would not be completely prepared but would use it for practice so I can get the feel for races again – also it would be the longest race I have run.

But soon after signing up decided that maybe I should try a 5K tune up race first to be better prepared for this supposed practice Half Marathon. More on that later…