My running in 2015 is now complete. I missed 1 of 2 goals (missed the 2,015 mile mark) but I did run at least 1 mile every single day of 2015. Total mileage on the year: 1,934.58. Very pleased with the end result on the year. I ran 191 more miles than I did all of 2014. I PR'd in the marathon (3:29:44) and I ran my 2nd and 3rd fastest 5k ever (18:35 and 18:36) this year. I had two great XC races and surprised myself in the first one this year.
Running 365 consecutive days was difficult. Not physically difficult but mentally difficult. I have run at 4 am. I have run on lunch breaks. I have run at 11:30 pm. I've run a mile in a parking lot. I've run after several beers. I've run hungover. I ran the morning I knew my wife and I were putting our dog down. I've run in -10 degree weather and when it was 99 degrees. No matter what I ran at least 1 mile every single day.
I don't remember every mile or every step that I ran. I don't remember every loop or course I've run. I don't remember how I felt on every run. However, I do know that I am thankful that I have been able to run. I've had my ups and downs in training and on this streak. I've had my ups and downs in life. But one thing is constant - I have the roads ahead of me to go on.
I didn't learn anything new about my body or running during this year. I don't do this for anyone but myself and I could care less what anyone thinks. I'm going to continue to run as long as I can. I'll run during good times and bad times. I'll run during snow storms and heat waves. I'll run when it's 1 am or 11:40 pm. I won't apologize. I'll train harder. I'll be better.
365 days was great but I'm not done.
Thursday, December 31, 2015
Saturday, August 1, 2015
7 months down and 5 to go
I've run every day of 2015 so far. There have been great days and weeks and there have been blah days and weeks. I have yet to have a totally crap day. Sure there have been days where I don't feel like running but I still squeeze in that mile.
A couple things I have noticed so far. First of all, I've had another disappointing month of training for the month of June (149.05 miles). I can blame this on two things: 1) the heat and humidity have crushed my soul and 2) I've been working a lot more hours than expected. It's tough to have consistent training when you're working 50+ hours a week with a couple of really long days of work in there. By the time I get home I'm exhausted and I can only muster the strength to do 1 or 2 miles. Another issue I have encountered is I have been trying to front load my mileage. The days I have off I do try to run as many miles as I can and I think it is wearing me out.
On to the month of August. I've figured that I need to run an average of at least 6 miles a day to hit my goal of 2015 miles. I'm really going to need to step up my game - this shouldn't be too hard. I need to start extending those days I can only muster 1 or 2 miles to 3 or 5 miles. If I am to do another marathon this year, which is the game plan, I really need to up the mileage as it is. I also need to start doing a few workouts a month. I haven't actually done a workout and gotten out of my comfort zone in quite a while. This needs to change. I've become too comfortable during my training.
I know that I am going to hit 365 consecutive days of running. But what I don't know is, will I actually get to train the way I would like to? We'll see what these next 5 months brings.
A couple things I have noticed so far. First of all, I've had another disappointing month of training for the month of June (149.05 miles). I can blame this on two things: 1) the heat and humidity have crushed my soul and 2) I've been working a lot more hours than expected. It's tough to have consistent training when you're working 50+ hours a week with a couple of really long days of work in there. By the time I get home I'm exhausted and I can only muster the strength to do 1 or 2 miles. Another issue I have encountered is I have been trying to front load my mileage. The days I have off I do try to run as many miles as I can and I think it is wearing me out.
On to the month of August. I've figured that I need to run an average of at least 6 miles a day to hit my goal of 2015 miles. I'm really going to need to step up my game - this shouldn't be too hard. I need to start extending those days I can only muster 1 or 2 miles to 3 or 5 miles. If I am to do another marathon this year, which is the game plan, I really need to up the mileage as it is. I also need to start doing a few workouts a month. I haven't actually done a workout and gotten out of my comfort zone in quite a while. This needs to change. I've become too comfortable during my training.
I know that I am going to hit 365 consecutive days of running. But what I don't know is, will I actually get to train the way I would like to? We'll see what these next 5 months brings.
Wednesday, May 6, 2015
Streaking and Marathon #3
As I've pointed out in my previous post, my goal this year is to run at least 1 mile everyday of the year. So far so good! However, this past weekend I ran my third marathon (Cox Providence, RI marathon). I was almost certain that the streak was going to end on Monday. But with a couple of beers in me and some motivation from some friends I was able to drag my ass out for 1 mile.
Enough with the streak. Recap of the marathon. I did not have a public nor private goal in mind for this one. The last two marathons I have blown up fairly early in the race and I knew this one I really did not want to be in that kind of pain for more than 6 miles. This marathon meant a little bit to me. I wanted a respectable showing (meaning I needed a PR) and it was on my 26th birthday. I had to run smart. You might think it's crazy but I did not wear my GPS, rather, I wore a silly old TimeX stop watch. This means I have no idea what my mile splits were like. And you know what? I think it actually helped!
I made a few rookie mistakes. I didn't really study the course. I looked at the map a handful of times and didn't bother looking at the elevation. I believed the race director and course explanation that it was "mostly flat." That wasn't the case. There was a few more long(er) hills than I was expecting (miles 7, 9, 14, 16, 22, 23) and the last 5k was all uphill. The 2 last big hills I had to walk up (and down) because my legs were shot. That last 5k was unfair!
The start of the race was perfect - 48 degrees and overcast. I did look at the weather for the day and realized it was going to get warm in a hurry. I was really nervous that the sun was going to come out sooner than later and it was going to bake me. Luckily I was prepared enough and the heat didn't effect me too much. I did turn into a lobster, though.
I knew I needed to be patient at the start of the race. This was tough since I didn't have my GPS. I did take a peek at my watch after mile 1 and saw a 7:42 and I immediately backed off. I settled in nicely and found a few people to chat with, some of which ended dropping back at the end. We crossed the half in 1:39:XX and I was feeling great. Realizing it was halftime I grabbed some water and Gatorade, and focused on the next half.
Around mile 17 I took my last Cliff Shot and it gave me the boost I needed. Surprisingly I wasn't cramping yet but I knew not to get too excited. At mile 18 I knew I had a PR in the bag so I made a little bit of a move. This move might have cost me a few minutes because at mile 21 those cramps hit me. I felt them coming around mile 20 and took a quick stop to stretch the calfs real quick. That seemed to help because they weren't the cramps I experienced in Buffalo or Rehoboth. With 4 miles to go I knew I had to keep pushing. A few times I stopped to rub the cramp or stretch real quick but it wasn't too bad.
The last 5k was completely unfair. What I didn't realize was the last 5k was the same as the first 5k. This wasn't a good thing. The first 5k was mostly downhill (gradual). This means the last 5k was a gradual uphill (except the one nasty hill at mile 23 that I walked up). I was sort of angry but every time I glanced at my watch I knew I had less that 30 minutes to go. At this point of the race I was trying to do mental math and run by time not how many miles are left. It seemed to work.
Just before mile 26 we run over a little bridge maybe 50 meters long. It wasn't too hard because I saw that mile marker and knew I was home. As I heard the crowd around the corner I dug a little deeper. With 200 meters to go and hundreds of people cheering I felt great! I was looking for my wife and when I saw her it put a big smile on my face. As I looked at the clock, the gun time said 3:29:55. I knew I broke 3:30 and I was pumped. Time to find beer and take those shoes off!
With the official time of 3:29:44 I can proudly say I ran a 16 minute PR. Good things happen when you stay patient early. I still have quite a ways to go but I think I'm finally figuring out this marathon...well, sort of.
Enough with the streak. Recap of the marathon. I did not have a public nor private goal in mind for this one. The last two marathons I have blown up fairly early in the race and I knew this one I really did not want to be in that kind of pain for more than 6 miles. This marathon meant a little bit to me. I wanted a respectable showing (meaning I needed a PR) and it was on my 26th birthday. I had to run smart. You might think it's crazy but I did not wear my GPS, rather, I wore a silly old TimeX stop watch. This means I have no idea what my mile splits were like. And you know what? I think it actually helped!
I made a few rookie mistakes. I didn't really study the course. I looked at the map a handful of times and didn't bother looking at the elevation. I believed the race director and course explanation that it was "mostly flat." That wasn't the case. There was a few more long(er) hills than I was expecting (miles 7, 9, 14, 16, 22, 23) and the last 5k was all uphill. The 2 last big hills I had to walk up (and down) because my legs were shot. That last 5k was unfair!
The start of the race was perfect - 48 degrees and overcast. I did look at the weather for the day and realized it was going to get warm in a hurry. I was really nervous that the sun was going to come out sooner than later and it was going to bake me. Luckily I was prepared enough and the heat didn't effect me too much. I did turn into a lobster, though.
I knew I needed to be patient at the start of the race. This was tough since I didn't have my GPS. I did take a peek at my watch after mile 1 and saw a 7:42 and I immediately backed off. I settled in nicely and found a few people to chat with, some of which ended dropping back at the end. We crossed the half in 1:39:XX and I was feeling great. Realizing it was halftime I grabbed some water and Gatorade, and focused on the next half.
Around mile 17 I took my last Cliff Shot and it gave me the boost I needed. Surprisingly I wasn't cramping yet but I knew not to get too excited. At mile 18 I knew I had a PR in the bag so I made a little bit of a move. This move might have cost me a few minutes because at mile 21 those cramps hit me. I felt them coming around mile 20 and took a quick stop to stretch the calfs real quick. That seemed to help because they weren't the cramps I experienced in Buffalo or Rehoboth. With 4 miles to go I knew I had to keep pushing. A few times I stopped to rub the cramp or stretch real quick but it wasn't too bad.
The last 5k was completely unfair. What I didn't realize was the last 5k was the same as the first 5k. This wasn't a good thing. The first 5k was mostly downhill (gradual). This means the last 5k was a gradual uphill (except the one nasty hill at mile 23 that I walked up). I was sort of angry but every time I glanced at my watch I knew I had less that 30 minutes to go. At this point of the race I was trying to do mental math and run by time not how many miles are left. It seemed to work.
Just before mile 26 we run over a little bridge maybe 50 meters long. It wasn't too hard because I saw that mile marker and knew I was home. As I heard the crowd around the corner I dug a little deeper. With 200 meters to go and hundreds of people cheering I felt great! I was looking for my wife and when I saw her it put a big smile on my face. As I looked at the clock, the gun time said 3:29:55. I knew I broke 3:30 and I was pumped. Time to find beer and take those shoes off!
With the official time of 3:29:44 I can proudly say I ran a 16 minute PR. Good things happen when you stay patient early. I still have quite a ways to go but I think I'm finally figuring out this marathon...well, sort of.
Saturday, February 14, 2015
Cold, colder, coldest.
Living in the Northeast has it's positives - like a beautiful spring and a not too hot summer. It also has it's negatives - a fucking miserable winter that seems never ending. This winter has been quite peculiar as in it hasn't snowed a shit ton but it has been cold as fuck. With the temperatures being so cold it has made this spring marathon training quite crappy.
In today's lesson I've learned that sometimes you just have to suck it up. Actually, this whole week as been a whole "man up" kind of week. I did manage 40 mile week even though I was aiming more for 50... Thursday was so cold that it had a windchill of -17 degrees. That's not normal. And I highly recommend never running in temperatures that low.
Even today's run was cold. Not as cold but just as miserable. I refuse to succumb to the dreadmill. I'd rather be crazy and suffer the cold and shitty roads than only run 4 miles on the mill.
In short, dress warm and don't bitch. Except tomorrow. Tomorrow I can be a bitch and run on the mill.
In today's lesson I've learned that sometimes you just have to suck it up. Actually, this whole week as been a whole "man up" kind of week. I did manage 40 mile week even though I was aiming more for 50... Thursday was so cold that it had a windchill of -17 degrees. That's not normal. And I highly recommend never running in temperatures that low.
Even today's run was cold. Not as cold but just as miserable. I refuse to succumb to the dreadmill. I'd rather be crazy and suffer the cold and shitty roads than only run 4 miles on the mill.
In short, dress warm and don't bitch. Except tomorrow. Tomorrow I can be a bitch and run on the mill.
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Hiatus after Hiatus
Every once in a while I remember I started a blog about my running. And every once in a while I tell myself that I will keep it up this time. I suppose I'll give it another shot. It should be a little easier this time since I have started and attempting to streak run the entire year. The stipulations for this streak are as followed: 1) Run at least 1 mile every day and 2) the mile has to be under 11 minutes. Pretty easy, right? Well so far so good! I have currently completed day 41 with a whopping total of 197 total miles so far.
The tricky part of this streak will be the whole training aspect. I'm not too sure how this will affect my marathon training. What I have learned from the marathon though, is that I need to learn to run on tired legs. One would think that after 41 straight days of running my legs would be fairly tired. However, they feel pretty good right now.
I've been putting in anywhere from 24-40 miles so far. This week I'm attempting 50 miles which won't be too bad. The last week I hit anywhere close to 50 was back in October. That might explain why I shit the bed in December's marathon.
At least training has been consistent as of late. This is the first time I have rotated shoes and I think it is really working out nicely. I have a little over 150 miles on both pairs of shoes and they both look brand new. I do have a few goals for 2015 other than the streak. Firstly, I need to lower this marathon time. I'd really like to BQ and I am obviously going for it but for now I need to run a marathon without blowing up too bad. I would also like to break my 5k pr (18:34) which I know is very doable. I think with the higher mileage I should be in decent shape to lower that standard.
Now to my drinking - what really matters. I've had the opportunity to try several more beers. I can't remember which ones specifically I have tried. Just the other night I did go to a fairly new local brewery and I enjoyed their brews. They had a real good scotch ale and I'm sure if I had a few more of them I would probably fall on my ass. I have been using the app "Untappd" more and have a total of 53 distinct beers. Unfortunately, some of the smaller breweries are not on their list so I'm not sure what I'm actually up to. Let's just say a total of 60.
The tricky part of this streak will be the whole training aspect. I'm not too sure how this will affect my marathon training. What I have learned from the marathon though, is that I need to learn to run on tired legs. One would think that after 41 straight days of running my legs would be fairly tired. However, they feel pretty good right now.
I've been putting in anywhere from 24-40 miles so far. This week I'm attempting 50 miles which won't be too bad. The last week I hit anywhere close to 50 was back in October. That might explain why I shit the bed in December's marathon.
At least training has been consistent as of late. This is the first time I have rotated shoes and I think it is really working out nicely. I have a little over 150 miles on both pairs of shoes and they both look brand new. I do have a few goals for 2015 other than the streak. Firstly, I need to lower this marathon time. I'd really like to BQ and I am obviously going for it but for now I need to run a marathon without blowing up too bad. I would also like to break my 5k pr (18:34) which I know is very doable. I think with the higher mileage I should be in decent shape to lower that standard.
Now to my drinking - what really matters. I've had the opportunity to try several more beers. I can't remember which ones specifically I have tried. Just the other night I did go to a fairly new local brewery and I enjoyed their brews. They had a real good scotch ale and I'm sure if I had a few more of them I would probably fall on my ass. I have been using the app "Untappd" more and have a total of 53 distinct beers. Unfortunately, some of the smaller breweries are not on their list so I'm not sure what I'm actually up to. Let's just say a total of 60.
Saturday, December 7, 2013
Week 1 down!
The start of marathon training was a success. I was scheduled to run 25 miles (nice and easy start) and I finished with 26.2 miles with a total time of 3 hours and 21 minutes. With taking two days off, the legs feel great. Although my runs have been a bit faster than my training goal pace, I won't complain. I expected that since the runs are fairly short and I am in pretty good shape. The crazy thing about my total time for this week: I want to run the marathon faster than a 3:21!
This first week featured a myriad of paces and weather! Five of the three runs, totaling 16.01 miles, were with my good friend, Ben. Ben isn't exactly training for anything but he enjoys staying in shape. I am very thankful to have him go on runs with me, especially in the evenings when it is quite dark and cold. A few of the runs were in the mid 30's but the surprise came Thursday when it was a balmy 55 and I was able to wear shorts in December! It was awesome.
Overall, there wasn't anything too exciting about this week's training. I've made a pretty conscience effort to stretch a bit more and start drinking more water. I wish it were more beer! I've discussed with several friends and other runners about my training plan. They have all said I should follow my weekly mileage plan but I could do a mile or two over what I have planned. I should be able to hold up pretty well since it's not an overly tough training plan.
This next week I am scheduled to hit 30 for the week. I'm planning on attacking it the same way as this past week - run five of seven days and at least twice with Ben. Tomorrow (Sunday), is the start of the week and I have officially designated that my run with the Bagel Bunch Lite Group. Typically, the BB Lite Group runs 6 on Sunday's and later in my training cycle I'll add extra miles to that run.
Hopefully there are some good runs to talk about this coming week! If not, maybe I'll try a beer that I haven't had before and talk about that.
This first week featured a myriad of paces and weather! Five of the three runs, totaling 16.01 miles, were with my good friend, Ben. Ben isn't exactly training for anything but he enjoys staying in shape. I am very thankful to have him go on runs with me, especially in the evenings when it is quite dark and cold. A few of the runs were in the mid 30's but the surprise came Thursday when it was a balmy 55 and I was able to wear shorts in December! It was awesome.
Overall, there wasn't anything too exciting about this week's training. I've made a pretty conscience effort to stretch a bit more and start drinking more water. I wish it were more beer! I've discussed with several friends and other runners about my training plan. They have all said I should follow my weekly mileage plan but I could do a mile or two over what I have planned. I should be able to hold up pretty well since it's not an overly tough training plan.
This next week I am scheduled to hit 30 for the week. I'm planning on attacking it the same way as this past week - run five of seven days and at least twice with Ben. Tomorrow (Sunday), is the start of the week and I have officially designated that my run with the Bagel Bunch Lite Group. Typically, the BB Lite Group runs 6 on Sunday's and later in my training cycle I'll add extra miles to that run.
Hopefully there are some good runs to talk about this coming week! If not, maybe I'll try a beer that I haven't had before and talk about that.
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Day 1
So it begins. Today marked the first day of training. I couldn't think of a better way to start training than a nice easy 6 mile run with the Bagel Bunch group. Below is a picture of me for the start of training. I'm assuming that smile won't stay around come February and March!
I know the marathon is still quite a ways off but it never hurts to get the training going. For now it's just adding to my base. The first two weeks are fairly easy, just 25 miles a piece. I'll be running every other day for right now to avoid injury.
Today's run was pleasant. It was finally pretty nice out for the first day of December. It is looking like this week will be in the mid to lower 30s which beats the teens of last week! There wasn't anything too exciting on today's run to report. The first three miles were fairly quick and were mostly into the wind. The pace kind of hurt me for the last mile but I survived.
There is always a little extra motivation in the last few miles when you know you're going to go in and get warm and drink coffee! Around the table we told stories of Black Friday shopping and the general thought is people are insane!
For the rest of the day, it's just time to relax and finish off my Saranac Christmas Ale!
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I know the marathon is still quite a ways off but it never hurts to get the training going. For now it's just adding to my base. The first two weeks are fairly easy, just 25 miles a piece. I'll be running every other day for right now to avoid injury.
Today's run was pleasant. It was finally pretty nice out for the first day of December. It is looking like this week will be in the mid to lower 30s which beats the teens of last week! There wasn't anything too exciting on today's run to report. The first three miles were fairly quick and were mostly into the wind. The pace kind of hurt me for the last mile but I survived.
There is always a little extra motivation in the last few miles when you know you're going to go in and get warm and drink coffee! Around the table we told stories of Black Friday shopping and the general thought is people are insane!
For the rest of the day, it's just time to relax and finish off my Saranac Christmas Ale!
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