Steve Mitchell's First Marathon Journal : Tags : long_run

22-mile Training Run

Posted by Steve Mitchell Sep 4, 2009

I’ve been remiss this summer blogging about my preparation for the Kansas City Marathon, October 17, perhaps because things seem more routine the second time around. The big change this summer was the addition of speed sessions with The Runners Edge. Those are kicking my butt.

The speed session group includes about 70 people and we meet for twelve Tuesday evenings. Each week we alternate between a hill/road workout and a track workout. I’ve yet to complete an entire speed session, mostly due to the heat. I tend to last from 6:30 – 8:00 or 8:15 PM. To do everything I that I am supposed to do would take at least until 9:00. Looking back at my Garmin logs I see that my heart rate steadily climbs during each successive activity. Once my heart rate gets over 180 BPM, that is about the time the wheels fall off.

Heat and humidity have been a constant problem this summer, even though it has been relatively mild. With my high sweat rate the heat and humidity are my number one running impediment. The last two weekends have been cooler, which has been a real Godsend.

Last week was my first 22-mile training run. My longest training runs for the Oklahoma City Marathon were two 20-mile runs, both of which were a real challenge. I remember barely making it up the final hill of my last 20-mile run and wondering how I could make it six more miles in a marathon.

By contrast, last Saturday’s 22-mile run wasn’t that bad. I ran with our pace group leader who is recovering from an injury so we took it pretty easy. The strategy for all our long runs is to run a mile, and then walk a minute. We managed to keep our running pace between 10:00 and 11:00/mile most of the way. My legs felt rubbery after about 12 miles, as usual, and I felt fatigued, but most importantly I felt like I had more in me when we were done. That was a very nice feeling to have at the end of my longest training run.

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Olathe Marathon Canceled Due to Snowstorm

Posted by Steve Mitchell Mar 27, 2009

The The 2009 Olathe Marathon has been canceled due to the approaching snowstorm.

Marathon runners were given three options:

Run in the 2010 Olathe Marathon.
Run in the Olathe Half Marathon (rescheduled for next week).
Take your participant medal and go home.

I opted to run in the half marathon next week. That still gives me time to taper for The Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon a month from now.

I'm not really that disappointed. Oklahoma City was going to be my "main marathon event" anyway. The Olathe Marathon was just a warm-up event that would have allowed for my family to see me finish. My only disappointment is that my family won't be in OKC to cheer me on. This is probably going to work out better for my shin splints though.

My training schedule is screwed up now since I ran my last 20-mile run three weeks ago. I'm going to head out for a seven mile run tonight before the weather turns bad. If the snowstorm has not begun by 7:00 AM I'll probably join The Runners Edge on its Saturday morning run too. I wish there was a way for me to work in a 20-mile run this weekend. That can't happen without a road trip.

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One Week Until Olathe Marathon

Posted by Steve Mitchell Mar 21, 2009

I almost didn't run with The Runners Edge today since I only had an 8-mile run scheduled and today's run was on the other side of town. It was only at the last minute that I decided to go, and I'm glad I did.

Everybody seemed to be in an exceptionally good mood today. Pre-race excitement filled the air, that and general relief that spring is finally here. This is an exciting time of year for many runners because this is the start of the spring race season. Most of the gang I run with were doing the last 20-mile run on the Oklahoma City Marathon training schedule. That included DaShaun, Julie, Christie, and Mark, to name a few. Dan and Becky, also training for Oklahoma City, were running 24-miles today because they are crazy (Dan's has been running a ton of miles every week).

Not everyone is doing Oklahoma City. Christie is getting ready for the Big Sur Marathon. I saw Leslie at the Gary Gribble store after the run, and she and Carl are running the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler in Washington, D.C. A lot of people are running the Olathe half or full marathon next week, as I am.

Lisa, the 11:20 pace group leader who injured an abdominal muscle in a fall, is doing much better. Before the fall Lisa had been running over 40 miles a week, but has not been able to run more than a 5-mile run for weeks. Today she was cautiously trying a longer run. I hope it went well. Her doctor says she should be able to run in Oklahoma City.

On my return trip I met Chris and Kelly, two women training for the Olathe Half Marathon. This will be Chris' first half marathon. She started running after joining the board of The Pumpkin Run, a memorial run for Jared and Jayne Coones, a mother and son who died a year apart from breast cancel and leukemia. Kelly is studying to become a nurse practitioner and Olathe will be her second half marathon, Lincoln was her first.

I'm happy to report that my shin splints seem to be healed, with nothing remaining but a little tenderness. I ran slowly out to the 4-mile turn-around, then tested my planned race pace, about 11:00/mile, on the return leg. Coach Valdez encouraged those running in the Olathe Marathon to run with one of the pace groups. Eladio organized the pace groups following his

marathon pacing strategy. I looked at the available pace groups after the run and have decided to run with 4:50 pace group. I will be happy just to finish my first marathon, but I would like to do it in under 5 hours. Based on how my two 20-mile runs went I think I could finish in 4:40, but Olathe is just a warm-up for Oklahoma City, so I don't want to push it. I'll try to finish in 4:50 next week, and if that goes well I can try for a 4:40 in Oklahoma City. That could just be a novice pipe dream though.

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Final 20-mile run before 1st Marathon

Posted by Steve Mitchell Feb 28, 2009

I ran my last 20-mile run Saturday and now I begin to taper for the Olathe Marathon, March 28. I honestly don't know how I would have made it this far without Coach Valdez and The Runners Edge. Nor do I know how I would have stood all these hours of running without the wonderful companionship of the people in my pace group -- they make the hours and miles fly by.

It was already in the 60's when the run began Saturday, making it possible to wear shorts and a short sleeve shirt for a change. The heat began working against me as the run progressed though. In the final four miles I was really huffing and puffing. Lisa, the pace group leader, is still injured, so I ran with Dan and Becky most of the way, though I kept falling behind the last few miles, catching up briefly at the mile markers. I really enjoy running with Dan "Mr. Motivator" and Becky. I was off my "name game" Saturday, so I didn't get the names of some of the others running with us out to mile-8, or the woman who ran with us out to mile-9.

I have to confess that my two twenty-mile runs have been hard on me. My shins stay sore all week, I've bruised a nerve on the ball of my foot, and my legs are "tore up." As I fought my way up the final hill in mile-19 I wondered how on earth I would be able to run an additional 6.2 miles on race day. It is going to be tough.

Honestly, though, I have no room to complain compared to so many others I met on this wonderful journey. For instance, last week I visited with Tami Martin. Tami has run 54 marathons, including a marathon in all 50 states. In February Tami went down to Huntsville, TX for the Rocky Raccoon 100 Mile Trail Run. Tami ran 50-miles, and her friends, who were attempting 100-miles, ran 75-miles. I cannot even comprehend what it would be like to run 50 or 75 miles. And, on my first 20-mile run, two weeks ago, as we were on the final leg of the run we ran into some people training for an ultramarathon on the way back out for their 32-mile training run. My pair of 20-mile runs are just a warm-up to those people!

Next week I plan on running the Olathe half-marathon route for my last long run before the marathon. Looking at the 0lathe Marathon course map I noticed that the half-marathon is a loop from which the full-marathon route does an out-and-back before rejoining the loop. Since I had a 12-mile training run scheduled anyway, it just made since for me to run a half-marathon on the Olathe course to get familiar with the route.

Three weeks to Marathon day!

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My 1st 20-mile run! Breaking my Endurance Barrier

Posted by Steve Mitchell Feb 21, 2009

Something has changed, fundamentally changed, that made it possible to run 20-miles in the time that I did today at the Runner's Edge Saturday run. Looking at running logs from my first ½ marathon in 2005 shows that my speed remained flat throughout my training. Contrast that with this year and there is something remarkable, to me anyway, as my distance increased, so did my speed.

Breaking my endurance barrier – that's the only way I can describe it – means being less timid about running. I used to be afraid of not being able to finish long runs, so I held back, running a safe, slow speed. Now, I've learned that if I push hard up a hill, or run hard to catch-up with someone, I can recover while running. Breaking my endurance barrier means gaining the confidence to do these things, as well having the physical stamina to do them.

It was after my two hardest runs, the Topeka half and my 16-mile run a week later, that I noticed the change. That is when I started adding hill workouts. For the first time that I can remember I was able to dig-in and cruise up hills. The hills on my route aren't monstrous, but they are long steady grades--enough to be a challenge. I was also able to add “hard miles” to my workout where I run faster than usual.

Shaking my “fear of fatigue” also gives me a more relaxed running style. I've gone from what can best be described as a rigid shuffle to, well..., actual running. My legs are looser and my arms swing more freely. I'm still a bit tight in the shoulders, but my form is evolving. I'm now free to experiment with stride length, rate of turnover, and amount of spring. Oh yeah, spring, I never had any of that before .

Today's 20-mile run was more-or-less routine. There was some drama when Lisa, the pace leader, had to slow down and fall behind when an injury to her abdominal muscle, from a fall two weeks ago, started to bother her. By then, somewhere around mile 13, there were only four of us left, and there was a lot of debate about what to do. In the end, Dan lent Lisa his cell phone and, at Lisa's insistence, we went on.

Dan and his wife, Becky, were the one's promoting Gu Roctane and Succeed S!caps last week. I gave both a try this week and I did pretty well. Dan has done 11 marathons. Becky is training for her first. I learned that they got married at the Chicago Marathon last October, the day before. Becky was the race horse today on our return leg. She kept lowering the pace under 10:00/mile. I noticed several times we were running a 9:40 pace. That eventually caught up with me. I was really huffing and puffing the last few miles. Our elapsed time was 4:29, after deciding what to do about Lisa, waiting for port-a-potties, and what not, but our time in motion was only 3:53:46. That's an average moving pace of 11:39, including walks.

Dan and Becky were a real source of inspiration coming back. I said several times that I was going to drop off to run at a slower pace, but they refused to let that happen on my first 20-mile run. They cheered me on and kept encouraging me. I really appreciate what they did.

Here is how my speed improved over the last couple of months as my distance increased:

Distance / Time in Motion / Minutes per Mile:

12.10 miles / 2:28:04 / 12:14

13.34 miles / 2:41:14 / 12:05 (Topeka half)

16.26 miles / 3:29:43 / 12:53 (snow/ice)

18.25 miles / 3:31:26 / 11:35

20.05 miles / 3:53:46 / 11:39

Basically, I've shaved about 30 – 40 seconds/mile off my average pace, while increasing my distance. I've got to be happy with that. I would like to see if I can improve on that a little more on my final 20-mile training run in two weeks.

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Celebrate your Training Milestones

Posted by Steve Mitchell Feb 8, 2009

DaShaun and I enjoyed the beautiful weather yesterday during our long run. DaShaun was supposed to run 16 miles, but ran 17 miles, and I ran 18 miles, which was a very special milestone for me. If my legs weren't so sore I'd be doing my happy dance right now.

Running your first marathon is all about the journey. After all, it's not crossing the finish line that makes you a marathoner, but rather it is the months of hard work and little victories that along the way that get you there. Since you only get one first marathon you should savor it by celebrating personal milestones during training.

Seek out things to celebrate anywhere that you can find them: longest run, fastest run, most miles in week, first run in rain, completing every scheduled training run in a month, your new pants with the smaller waist size--just about anything will do. These training milestones, large and small, are what keep me motivated.

I started psyching myself up for this 18-mile run two weeks ago. It is my longest run, which is reason enough to be excited, but that wasn't what made it a special milestone. This run ties a 20-year old record for the longest distance that I have traveled on foot, though the first time did not involve running.

The previous record was an 18-mile hike from Bear Lake in Estes Park, over Flattop Mountain, across the Continental Divide, down to Grand Lake. My hiking companions were Betsy Chalendar (now Thamert) and her friend, Pat O'Gormon. Betsy and Pat were veteran hikers. I was more of a tag along greenhorn. Betsy and her husband, Andy, are still dear friends of mine. Pat O'Gormon past away just a couple years after that hike after losing his battle with lymphoma. I'm grateful that I got to share that hike with Pat before he got sick.

The first few miles of the hike out of Bear Lake are steep, and I worried about what I had gotten myself into. I'm sure I worried Betsy and Pat too. Luckily, it's a much easier hike once you hit Bighorn Flats and cross the Continental Divide. In fact, the last 14 miles are all down hill. That part of hike was gorgeous, passing mountain lakes, hillsides covered with wild flowers, and then following a wooded mountain stream down to Grand Lake.

My last blog post, Drawing Inspiration from Others, was about people with the will to do amazing things. Betsy is definitely one of those people. She set out to climb all the 14,000 feet peaks in Colorado (there are 54 14ers in Colorado). Life got in the way of climbing them all, but Betsy did manage to climb well over 30 14ers. I've only climbed two: Longs Peak, with Doug Fields, and Huron Peak, with Betsy, and I'm here to say that climbing over 30 14ers is an incredible feat.

Out of my handful of endurance achievements, I would have to say that climbing Longs Peak was my toughest challenge. That's another story for another time, suffice it to say I discovered that knees have their limits. The next hardest were my two century bike rides (because I was under trained). My hike over Flattop mountain was the easiest of these activities, but surpasses the others when it comes to scenic beauty. I expect that my marathon(s) will top Longs Peak, especially when you factor in all the training. My 18-mile run yesterday already comes close to beating Longs.

I was surprised how well my legs held out yesterday. Sure, it was tough to start running again at the aids stations after mile 10, and yes, my legs felt rubbery after 14 miles, but overall I felt good. I didn't bonk, like I did in Topeka, or on my 16-mile run two weeks ago. I finished strong, running under an 11:00/mile pace much of the last few miles. My total time for 18.22 miles was 3:51:55, 12:42/mile, and my “time in motion” was 3:31:29, or 11:35/mile (See Garmin Log).

The run a mile, walk a minute running strategy makes all the difference. My focus was always on reaching the next mile marker, not on running 18 miles. Though, at mile 12 I did quip to DaShaun

Okay, now that our warm-up is over, are you ready for our six mile run?

a reference to the fact that we both run 6-mile weekday training runs. DaShaun wasn't very amused, because by that time his stomach had started bothering him.

Something different this time was that I took a Gu Energy Gel every 45 minutes. I can't help but wonder if that wasn't what kept me from bonking at the end. The pace leader, Lisa, and her friends, Dan and Becky, both swear by Gu Roctane and Succeed! S!Caps. Their strategy is to alternate between an Roctane and a S!Cap every 2-miles. S!Caps capsules are an alternative to Gadorade for electrolyte replacement, and also include sodium, potassium, and phosphate. I'll see if I can find Roctane and Succeed! before my 20-mile run.

Next week I have a 10-mile recovery run, followed by a my first 20-mile run in two weeks. That gives me two weeks to work on my next happy dance!

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