If I can do it, you can too -- 20 mile milestone....
So in the midst of this training for the fall marathon I am doing to raise
money for Type 1 diabetes (click here to donate), we have "birthMONTH+". Well, it was only supposed to be birthMONTH because it is one of those milestone birthdays, but then I decided to make a summer corn chowder (from Eric Ripert's 'Avec Eric' cookbook) and inadvertently caused some "issues". Marc had purchased me for a little tool that allows me to get the corn off the cob in a more efficient way as one of my birthday gifts, and even though we were a couple of weeks away from birthMONTH, he decided that I should have the instrument. Oops! But it did help a lot and the soup was darned good.
Anyway the onslaught of restaurants has commenced for the month, and Marc is concerned about surviving what is planned for the next 4 weeks. I told him not to worry and that he should hit Crossfit more. Meanwhile I am thankful that I am training for the marathon so the increased calorie consumption can be offset by mid-week speedwork/tempo runs and long weekend runs. That said, we do have a pretty good line-up of restaurants on tap so I am very excited. Plus I have a feeling that the arsenal of cookbooks will be getting some use with the upcoming social activities at the house.
Last night, we were finally able to celebrate the summer fun and achievements of "Team Surf and Turf Squared" at one of the best restaurants in Seattle - Crush. Tricia, Don (T's husband) and PNak joined Marc and I, and we had some laughs, including finding out some new facts about Tricia that will eventually come up on one of our future runs. Don is a huge baseball fan, particularly in the history of the game so I always enjoy learning from him.
Tricia and PNak have been a huge part of the running chapter of my life, and they have moved from "running buddies that I am friendly with" to "friends that I run with". They both are not training for anything for the time being, yet they both continue to show their support for my 1st full marathon by taking time out of their free time to provide support to me. I was telling my Dad about them this morning and his response was "it says a lot about those people." I told him that I couldn't agree more.
Last week, Tricia rode her Vespa alongside of me for 2 1/2 hours (plus travel time). This week, PNak ran and then provided roadside assistance for 3 hours (plus travel time, etc.). Last week, I didn't set a goal for my 17 mile run in terms of time. I just wanted to finish it. But after seeing that I finished the 17 miles in at 2 hours and 30 minutes, I decided that I wanted to get 20 miles in under 3 hours. I know - given my typical pace, it doesn't seem like it would be a problem but you never know how fatigue is going to set in the later stages of such a long run.
I caught a break in that the morning was supposed to be much cooler than it has been on my previous couple of long runs. When we met in Redmond at 7am, it was 49 degrees. You're talking a 15 degree temperature swing from the past couple of weeks and it felt great. I also changed my pre-long run fueling strategy. Those two things made a huge difference in yesterday's run.
The 1st 9 miles of the run had some hills, and PNak said it was to keep me honest. I felt good and maintained a decent pace. PNak wasn't going to run 20 with me, but she said she would run the 1st half and then periodically check on me in the 2nd half. I left a cooler in her car at the halfway point and that also worked out well for me to swap out empty liquid bottles for full ones.
The 2nd half was pretty flat and on a trail. I didn't reverse split as she predicted as I was trying to stay within zone 2 of my heart rates, but I did feel pretty strong in the last quarter of the run. My heart rate did creep into zone 3 in that last quarter but I felt steady and relaxed, so I didn't really care. Sometimes the numbers don't correlate with how you feel and you need to just go with it, which I did.
In mile 16, I started to ache a bit on my right side. I just decided to push through it and ensure that my form stayed solid. This is where injuries can get you, so it's important to be smart. My right foot is a bit sore today so I may get it checked out on Tuesday just as a precaution since we're now in crunch time. The other bonus was that I had a pretty tough workout at Crossfit the day before, and I didn't feel it during my run.
In last week's run, I was counting down 1/10th's of a mile because I was so tired and, most likely, dehydrated. Yesterday was just completely different. If PNak told me that I had to run another mile to see her, I could have. Granted I was happy to be done, but my litmus test on these long runs is when I feel like I can run another mile or two without much difficulty. Last week, I didn't pass the test.
When I first announced I was doing a full marathon for JDRF in mid-April, I made a mention about PNak and 20-milers (see 3rd paragraph). It's funny that she was an integral part of my 1st 20-miler given that mention almost 5 months ago. I definitely hit my goal for the run and came in at 2 hours and 55 minutes. The run went as good as I could have hoped and for that, I am grateful.
money for Type 1 diabetes (click here to donate), we have "birthMONTH+". Well, it was only supposed to be birthMONTH because it is one of those milestone birthdays, but then I decided to make a summer corn chowder (from Eric Ripert's 'Avec Eric' cookbook) and inadvertently caused some "issues". Marc had purchased me for a little tool that allows me to get the corn off the cob in a more efficient way as one of my birthday gifts, and even though we were a couple of weeks away from birthMONTH, he decided that I should have the instrument. Oops! But it did help a lot and the soup was darned good.
Anyway the onslaught of restaurants has commenced for the month, and Marc is concerned about surviving what is planned for the next 4 weeks. I told him not to worry and that he should hit Crossfit more. Meanwhile I am thankful that I am training for the marathon so the increased calorie consumption can be offset by mid-week speedwork/tempo runs and long weekend runs. That said, we do have a pretty good line-up of restaurants on tap so I am very excited. Plus I have a feeling that the arsenal of cookbooks will be getting some use with the upcoming social activities at the house.
Last night, we were finally able to celebrate the summer fun and achievements of "Team Surf and Turf Squared" at one of the best restaurants in Seattle - Crush. Tricia, Don (T's husband) and PNak joined Marc and I, and we had some laughs, including finding out some new facts about Tricia that will eventually come up on one of our future runs. Don is a huge baseball fan, particularly in the history of the game so I always enjoy learning from him.
Tricia and PNak have been a huge part of the running chapter of my life, and they have moved from "running buddies that I am friendly with" to "friends that I run with". They both are not training for anything for the time being, yet they both continue to show their support for my 1st full marathon by taking time out of their free time to provide support to me. I was telling my Dad about them this morning and his response was "it says a lot about those people." I told him that I couldn't agree more.
Last week, Tricia rode her Vespa alongside of me for 2 1/2 hours (plus travel time). This week, PNak ran and then provided roadside assistance for 3 hours (plus travel time, etc.). Last week, I didn't set a goal for my 17 mile run in terms of time. I just wanted to finish it. But after seeing that I finished the 17 miles in at 2 hours and 30 minutes, I decided that I wanted to get 20 miles in under 3 hours. I know - given my typical pace, it doesn't seem like it would be a problem but you never know how fatigue is going to set in the later stages of such a long run.
I caught a break in that the morning was supposed to be much cooler than it has been on my previous couple of long runs. When we met in Redmond at 7am, it was 49 degrees. You're talking a 15 degree temperature swing from the past couple of weeks and it felt great. I also changed my pre-long run fueling strategy. Those two things made a huge difference in yesterday's run.
The 1st 9 miles of the run had some hills, and PNak said it was to keep me honest. I felt good and maintained a decent pace. PNak wasn't going to run 20 with me, but she said she would run the 1st half and then periodically check on me in the 2nd half. I left a cooler in her car at the halfway point and that also worked out well for me to swap out empty liquid bottles for full ones.
The 2nd half was pretty flat and on a trail. I didn't reverse split as she predicted as I was trying to stay within zone 2 of my heart rates, but I did feel pretty strong in the last quarter of the run. My heart rate did creep into zone 3 in that last quarter but I felt steady and relaxed, so I didn't really care. Sometimes the numbers don't correlate with how you feel and you need to just go with it, which I did.
In mile 16, I started to ache a bit on my right side. I just decided to push through it and ensure that my form stayed solid. This is where injuries can get you, so it's important to be smart. My right foot is a bit sore today so I may get it checked out on Tuesday just as a precaution since we're now in crunch time. The other bonus was that I had a pretty tough workout at Crossfit the day before, and I didn't feel it during my run.
In last week's run, I was counting down 1/10th's of a mile because I was so tired and, most likely, dehydrated. Yesterday was just completely different. If PNak told me that I had to run another mile to see her, I could have. Granted I was happy to be done, but my litmus test on these long runs is when I feel like I can run another mile or two without much difficulty. Last week, I didn't pass the test.
When I first announced I was doing a full marathon for JDRF in mid-April, I made a mention about PNak and 20-milers (see 3rd paragraph). It's funny that she was an integral part of my 1st 20-miler given that mention almost 5 months ago. I definitely hit my goal for the run and came in at 2 hours and 55 minutes. The run went as good as I could have hoped and for that, I am grateful.