I'm taking my training up a notch for the Kansas City Marathon, running five days a week instead of just three, like I did for the Oklahoma City Marathon. Needless to say, staying motivated when the alarm goes off at 5AM is a struggle. To help keep me focused on my goal I got out and rode the marathon course on my bike wearing my Garmin Forerunner 305 and then edited the elevation graph to be my desktop background at work and at home. Hard telling if it will help.  I'll tell you next October!

(See attached image)

Today was supposed to be a 10-mile run, but I ended up running 12 miles.  There is no question now about whether I can run in the Topeka half-marathon next Saturday.

Coach Valdez was giving a pre-run talk on Five Things Elite Runners do that Everyday Runners Don’t, and since today’s run was just a few blocks from my house I walked over early to hear it.  The talk was interesting and included the lesson I learned accidentally about the importance of starting out slowly on endurance runs.  I look forward to reading it in detail in next week’s email from Coach.

While Eladio was talking I noticed that DaShaun Carter was there today.  Afterwards, DaShaun and I visited a bit, and then we made our way over to where Frenchy was forming the 11:40/mile pace group.

Julie was there again, this time in her Ironman finisher warm-up, a real badge of honor I must say, along with Leslie, Carl’s wife. I told Leslie my story about bonking Carl on the head with a medicine ball in boot camp when we stood back-to-back passing the ball over our heads and between our legs.  Apparently I hadn’t accounted for how tall he is when I passed the ball over the first time.

As we started out I was very chilly and I worried about being cold on the run. The temperature was 21 degrees and there was a pretty stiff breeze.  I had on several layers, topped-off with my NikeFIT LiveStrong hoodie.   Under my hoodie I wore the 180’s ear warmers my brother Don and his wife Geri gave me for Christmas.  I cannot say enough good things about my 180’s.  I also had on a running hat with a bill.   

Three miles into the run I had warmed up so much that sweat was dripping from the bill of my hat.  Soon I noticed several icicles attached to my hat.  DaShaun saw that condensation from my breath was freezing to my beard.  As the run progressed my hoodie became stiff as the moisture in it froze too.

Around the 4-mile marker we started asking what distances others were running.  Julie said she was running 12 miles.  Leslie said she had wanted to get in a 12-mile run this season, and since this was the last Saturday of the winter session, Leslie decided to go for it.  That left DaShaun and me… no pressure!

I glanced at DaShaun, who just shrugged, so I replied “Ah, what the Heck.  We’re in too.”  That was a pretty crazy call considering that I had just jumped from 5 to 8-miles last week, and DaShaun would be jumping from 5 to 12-miles. It all worked out in the end though.

We continued on what was now our 12-mile run in freezing temperatures.  The route took us on parts of the Overland Park trail system I’ve never seen before.  It led us behind St. Andrews Golf Course and past Deanna Rose Farmstead.  Overland Park has done a great job building its trail system.

After Frenchy turned back, Leslie and I used our Garmin Forerunners to keep us close to the 11:40 pace.  The course got pretty hilly behind the golf course and I was really feeling fatigued around 8-miles, but like last week, the short walk at each mile marker allowed my body to recover and we kept going on pace.

The return trip was into the wind, so we took turns leading, Leslie and Julie, then DaShaun and I.  Being the eloquent speaker that I am, I had suggested that we could take turns breaking wind.  That got a chuckle.

The last few miles went by surprisingly fast, and before I knew it we were back on the Indian Creek Tail for the last mile. DaShaun and I picked-up the pace as we headed down the home stretch.  We rolled in with a total elapsed time of 2:39:00, or an average pace of 13:12/mile (counting walks and aid stations).  That is a faster pace than I did last week on the 8-mile run.

When it was all said and done I convinced DaShaun to join me next week for the Auburn to Topeka Half-Marathon.  Let’s just hope it is not quite as cold.

It was the perfect day for a run today, 45 degrees and cloudy.  One hundred plus runners gathered at Loiret Blvd & 95th Street in Lenexa, Kansas for The Runners Edge run. I completed 8-miles.

When I ran my half-marathon in 2005 it took me two months to work up to 8-miles and it seemed like a major ordeal at the time.  This year I went from 3-miles to 8-miles in a month and it was easy (once I gave up trying to maintain a 9:30/mile pace).  

This week I decided to see if I could be ready for the Topeka to Auburn Half-marathon, January 17. By running 8-miles today and 10-miles next Saturday I can follow the last two weeks of the pre-taper training schedule for Topeka.  That would not leave a full-week to taper, so it’s a bit late to go down this road.  I’ll just play it by ear depending on the following: (1) how my 10-mile run goes next Saturday; and (2) how the weather looks January 17.

It was a big jump from 5-miles to 8-miles, so ran with Frenchy’s 11:40 pace group instead of Terry’s 11:00 pace group.  Frenchy had a big smile on her face as she herded the ten runners in our group down the road.  Frenchy was pacing the group using a Garmin Forerunner 305 that she got for Christmas.  It sounded like it took a year of hints to her husband before she got one.  She and I, and another woman at the front of the group chatted non-stop for the first three miles.

At the three-mile mark all but four of us turned back.  Christie, Jan, Julie and I ran continued on for our 8-mile run.  The three of them are trying to put a team together for the Women’s Nike in Chicago.  As we ran I learned that Christie’s first marathon was the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon and that you could run in memory of one of the victims.  She ran in memory of a woman from Kansas City.  You wear their name on your back and there is a banner for a victim every mile where the victims’ families sometimes gather.  It turns out that Christie’s birthday is the same day as mine and that her present this year was also a Garmin.

Jan runs and bikes.  She has run marathons in some exciting locations, like Greenland.  She was trying to decide between a big cycling trip and an adventure marathon for 2009.

Julie was the youngest of the four of us and is training for a half Ironman: 1.2 mile swim, 56 mile bike, 13.1 mile run.  She has done one full Ironman.  Julie told Jan that the full Ironman took her over 16 hours to complete.  I can’t even imagine doing that.

I used my Garmin to keep us on the 11:40/mile pace after Frenchy turned back, but since we walked at every mile marker our average time was quite low.  The total elapsed time for 8-miles was 1:48:32, or 13:25/mile.  I’m not bothered by that time since I know that we kept our pace around 11:40/mile while we were running.

I was curious about everyone's marathon time since 11:40 seems to be my natural pace right now. Christie said her time is usually in the high 4-hour range. They all repeated what Coach Valdez said, not to worry about pace for my first marathon, just focus on finishing.

Except for a bit of fatigue in mile five I felt great.  If fact, most of my pace corrections were to slow us down because we were running under an 11:00/mile pace.   As we passed the McDonalds for the final mile of the run I ran out ahead a little and focused on keeping up my 11:40/mile pace.  It was surprising how good I felt considering it was mile seven and the longest I had run since 2005 was five miles.  It was great to finish strong on two long runs in a row.  Let’s hope I can repeat this on my 10-mile run next week.

My plan for the Topeka to Auburn Half-marathon is a follows:

• Sat, Jan 3 – 8-miles (complete <grin>)

• Mon, Jan 5 – 3-miles

• Tue, Jan 6 – 6-miles

• Thu, Jan 8 – 5-miles

• Sat, Jan 10 – 10-miles

• Mon, Jan 12 – 3-miles

• Tue, Jan 13 – 5-miles

• Thu, Jan 15 – 4-miles

• Sat, Jan 17 – 13-1 miles, Topeka to Auburn Half-marathon