Jive SBS Syndication Feed

Challenging Weather for Last Long Run

Steve Mitchell — Sun, 21 Mar 2010 16:13:16 GMT

How many people in the Midwest suffered through the lousy weather for their last long run yesterday? My long run did not turn out as planned, but it was good enough given the circumstances. That was 3-hours of cold and wet (punctuated by a little trespassing) that I don't care to repeat anytime soon.

I'm visiting family in Springfield, Missouri this weekend, so I was forced to run my first solo, unsupported long run, scheduled to be 20-miles. The route I chose was the Galloway Creek Greenway that connects into the James River Greenway. In hindsight, I should have run on the Southcreek Greenway because it is longer, and most importantly, isn't closed due to road construction.

When I awoke it was 34 degrees and raining heavily. The first problem I ran into, besides the weather, was the discovery that my Camelbak lumbar pack was full of mold and had to be left behind. I stuffed a twenty-dollar bill into my pocket and prayed I would find convenience stores along the trail.

By the time I got out the door the rain had subsided to drizzle, but eventually turned into a light, steady rain. There were many more runners on the trail than I thought there might be and I wondered how many of them were also doing their last long training runs for the St. Louis Marathon. Why else would they be out here in the cold rain?

I found a convenience store just two miles into the run and I picked up a 24oz bottle of sports drink to carry with me. I walked briefly at then end of each mile to take a drink, and it lasted through mile-seven. Carrying a drink while running is not ideal, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

At mile four the trail was closed for bridge construction on the James River Parkway. I considered doing multiple out-and-backs on the open section of trail, but since my last 20-mile run was four loops I didn’t want to do that again. I opted for a ¼ mile of muddy trespassing across the construction site to where the trail resumed on the other side.

The Galloway Creek Greenway became the James River Greenway, also closed for construction on the other side of Hwy 65. I was diverted to a spur trail that ended 5.5 miles into my run at an old iron bridge crossing the James River. Passed the bridge was a long, very steep climb up River Road and County Road 181 along side large hillside mansions overlooking the James River.

My search for the next convenience store took me east to the Highland Springs Country Club. The road stopped at highway 60, and through the rain I could make out a Conoco station in the distance. At that point I began trail running as I got off of the street and ran in the grass between Hwy 60 and the golf course. That eventually gave way to a decrepit frontage road that led to the Conoco.

There I was, 8.2 miles into my run, cold, wet, and out in the middle of nowhere (no offense to the residents of Rogersville) along a highway. I decided to make that my turnaround and not do a full twenty miles, reasoning that the cold rain, trail running, and long climb up from the river were worth extra credit.

I picked up another sports drink for my return trip, donned a garbage bag I had stashed away to protect me from the rain, which was now falling more heavily, and began the return leg of my abbreviated 16.5 mile run. I still saw a few hearty souls running in the rain on my return trip. I'm sure they thought I looked like a total dweebe running in my knee length garbage bag skirt. Oh, well. I'll never see them again. Let’s just hope that my shortened run was long enough as I count down the last three weeks to the Go! St. Louis Marathon.

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The Power is Returning, and Just in Time

Steve Mitchell — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 13:14:49 GMT

The Go! St. Louis marathon will be my third, so I'm getting used to the training routine. What frustrated me this go-round was that it was taking forever to get into gear. I felt like a car with a broken clutch that was stuck in third gear. It was so hard to get going.

That finally began to change last week when I finally had some good strong runs. The only exception being Saturday. I had twelve miles scheduled, so I ran eight miles with The Runner's Edge, and then I ran in the Westport St. Patrick's Day 4-Mile Race, finishing in the bottom third of my age group. Maybe that eight miles wasn't a great idea.

Last night I ran eight miles on a gorgeous evening. I started out slow the first two miles, especially up the 1/2 mile long hill by the Overland Park Golf Course, but then then running came easy. There is a huge difference between running to survive, and running with confidence. I don't know what it is called, but I know what it feels like. I got into a groove running at a minute-plus faster pace than I was a month a go. It felt great.

Just three weeks until the marathon.

The Church of Running

Steve Mitchell — Sun, 14 Feb 2010 03:38:11 GMT

How is a running group like a church? There are many common characteristics. Every religious group shares some of these traits. Just substitute the terms for your faith.

Congregation – An assembly of members with a shared belief, in this case, physical fitness or personal challenge.
Congregation Leader – Instead of a preacher, we have a coach. The best part is that the sermons only last about 10 minutes at the start of each run.
Devote Followers – Devote runners follow their training schedule religiously. They show up for every Saturday long run, and get in their weekday runs even if that means getting up at 5:00 AM to run an a sub-zero wind chill.
Deacons – I used to be a deacon and prepared communion. Now I’m an aid station coordinator and set-up an aid station every week.
Elders – These are either the elite runners or the veteran runners who have done it all—including Boston.
Communion – Instead of bread and grape juice, we gather around the aid stations for Gatorade and pretzels.
Bible Study – A weeknight gathering once a month to hear the coach interpret the information about running.
Offerings – Instead of giving to the church to then give to charitable causes, we just pay race entry fees to just about every charity known to man.
Joys and Concerns – Most services have time set aside to share joys and concerns. This is where a running group has church beat hands down. During those one to four-hour Saturday runs people do a lot of sharing—heavy stuff too, from caring for an ailing spouse, serious family illness, financial problems, long term unemployment, you hear it all. You also hear many joys.
Spiritual Rejuvenation – Churchgoers seek spiritual rejuvenation to get them through the week. Runners return from the long Saturday run physically and mentally energized—a high that can get them through the week until the next long run.

Seriously though, this thought came to me today as I was heading to my car after the group run. I stopped to chat with friends, one of whom is nursing a hip injury. I thought about how much I enjoy seeing these new friends of mine, this new family of mine, and how “religious” I have become about running. There is definitely a spiritual aspect to what we do.

Now I could end this with all kinds of tongue-in-check uses of soul instead of sole, but I’ll spare you my corny humor. Tell you what, on your next run you can think of some good, corny phrases of your own.

10-miles in Snow

Steve Mitchell — Sun, 31 Jan 2010 16:42:55 GMT

It is said that running in snow is good for your stabilizer muscles. All I know is that it really kicked me in the butt. I was concerned about cold temperatures, but it was the measly half inch of fresh power that turned out to be my nemesis. I've run in snow many times before, but yesterday I really felt it.

Coach Valdez gave our running group the usual precautionary advice before the run:

slow down,
shorten your stride,
be extra careful around cars, and
consider cutting back your distance since 10-miles in snow feels like 12-miles.

That last point was an understatement for me. It was nice to read that others in the Active Communitiy have the same experience when running in snow. My training schedule for the Go! St. Louis Marathon called for a 10- mile run yesterday. By the time that I reached the turn around I was having trouble keeping up with the others. By then there were only five remaining in our pace group. Three went on to run 12 miles, and I turned back with the other remaining member. After a couple of miles I told her to run ahead as I was fading fast. I really hoped that when I uploaded the data from my Garmin I would see that I had run some miles faster than I should have and that was why I was fading, but that turned out not to be the case. It was just that little bit of snow and slush on the roads making my muscles work harder that was wearing me out.

The forecast calls for more snow on Monday, but daytimes highs above freezing during the week should quickly melt that away. I'm ramping up to four weekday runs from now until April. I'm sure there will be plenty of other opportunities to run in snow in February and March. Let's hope my body becomes conditioned to snow and running in snow gets a little easier.

Ramping up weekly miles

Steve Mitchell — Thu, 28 Jan 2010 02:53:58 GMT

With my unscheduled winter break behind me I'm playing catch-up. There are only 10-weeks left until the Go! St.Louis Marathon, April 11, and I'm two weeks behind in my training. I commented to Coach Valdez about jumping into a five day a week routine to catch-up and he advised me not to, of course. So I'm running 3-days this week, 4-days next week, and then 5-days as much as can until the race.

Tonight was the last warm night before the cold front arrives so I ran a couple of extra miles. I do enjoying running this time of year through the woods with the bare tree branches backlit by the twilight sky. This is the time of year I start to hear the owls during mating season, so I've always got my eyes on the trees for the silhouette of a Great Horned Owl. I only saw one last winter. Perhaps I'll have better luck this year.

My Old Friend Pain (or is it fiend?)

Steve Mitchell — Sat, 23 Jan 2010 16:23:28 GMT

I am no fan of pain. On the scale of wuss-to-masochist, I fall pretty close to the wuss end of the spectrum. Some people live by the creed "no pain, no gain." I live by the creed "no pain, no pain."

So, knowing how I feel about pain, it seems out of character for me to refer to "my old friend pain." My winter break included an unplanned leave of absence from running. Last Saturday was my first run in a month, and only my second in six weeks. I decided that I would take a break after the Kansas City Marathon, but that was more than I had in mind. I have to confess though, I really enjoyed sleeping in during the week and having my Saturday mornings back. I filled the time that I should have spent running with all kinds of useful activities. It was pretty easy to imagine returning to the life of a non-runner.

Today, was the start of The Runners Edge of Kansas City spring session. Since today was the first day of the session we divided up into pace groups for introductions. My pace group had 39 runners this session. So many, in fact, that we had to break into two groups lest we raise the ire of local police department on our run. Hopefully enough of the group will do the late start time that we can have a single group most Saturdays. The maximum is twenty runners per pace group.

It was a cold, drizzly day and a band of rain was forecast to arrive at 8:30, so many people were running short runs today--easing back into the swing of things, and trying not to get soaked. Several of us decided to run 8-miles. Like last week, I really felt my loss of conditioning. Every hill seemed to kick my butt today. On the return trip I ran with Mark Bertison, who is on a 1,200 calorie/day diet, so both of us felt like our tanks were empty. As we ran we talked about how even a short 8-mile run can help condition our mind for the longer runs to come. Being out of shape it was a struggle to keep up our pace, and forcing ourselves to keep going when our bodies said "stop" is part of that mental conditioning. Having made ourselves keep going despite the discomfort feels like such a reward at the finish. I realized that I've missed that feeling of accomplishment.

My muscles are definitely weaker. Getting out of the car when I got home felt like it has on my 18 - 22 mile runs in the past. I was sore and stiff. Again, the pain felt strangely rewarding knowing that I had gone out there on a cold and raining morning and put in a good effort. I never thought I would miss pain, but I can honestly say that I have.

Now if I can only learn to push myself when the real discomfort comes after mile 20 of my marathons. That is a deamon I have not yet concurred. I will never call what I feel after mile 20 my friend, if fact, I would call it my enemy. Making friends with a little pain on my training runs however, may help me tame that beast waiting for me on the tail ends of my marathons. The St Louis Marathon is April 10, not far away. Let's see if I can be less wuss, and a little more masochistic, and take on that bad boy.

2010 Running Season - Driven to Mediocrity!

Steve Mitchell — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 22:47:30 GMT

I ran my first two marathons in 2009. Well, kind of, the first one was a real disaster, but I crossed the finish line. Yesterday marked the beginning of my 2010 training season with my eye on marathons three and four:

Go! St. Louis Marathon, April 10, 2010 - Registered.
Chicago Marathon, October 10, 2010 - Will try to get in when registration opens February 1.

Simply put: my goal this year is to suck less. I don't like being in the bottom percentiles! My target is to achieve mediocrity, or at least to be in the middle third. The average time of the Kansas City Marathon was 4:21:13. That is a bit out of my reach. My 2010 goals are ambitious for me, but I believe they are within my capability if I am dedicated to my training.

Distance	Current PR	2010 Goal
5K	27:11	25:00
Half-Marathon	2:26:47	2:10
Full-Marathon	5:09:31	4:35

2010 Goals

Yesterday turned into a nice run. I love running with The Runners Edge of Kansas City. The 2010 spring session actually starts next week. Saturday was a make-up day after two sessions of the 2009 winter session were canceled due to frigid temperatures and snow. It's always nice to see the gang in my pace group. We ran a street route because of the snow and ice on the trails. I was talking so much I hardly noticed the lack of trail scenery. Kansas City was blanketed with freezing fog, so some spots were icy, but everyone managed to stay on their feet. I overdressed for the temperature, so I was actually hot. This time of year I prefer that to being cold. Several of us decided to only run 6-miles due the the limited amount of running we've done lately. It's been over a year since I've run less than 8-miles on a Saturday run, nevertheless I was feeling fatigued when we got to mile five. My extended break was more than enough time to begin losing muscle mass and endurance. I vow not to repeat that mistake for as long I decide to continue running marathons.

My one disappointment was that the inflamed nerve in my foot did not heal during my winter time off. I still have a swollen spot in the middle of the ball of my right foot. It may be time for visit to the podiatrist. It's either that or hope that my next pair of running shoes helps.

Tonight I'll work on my weekly training schedule and then get cracking. 4:35... here I come.

K.C. Marathon Race Report

Steve Mitchell — Sun, 18 Oct 2009 00:01:49 GMT

This is my last post to my "First Marathon" blog. If you've followed my blog you'll know that technically this is my second marathon, but I took a Mulligan on the Oklahoma City Marathon because it went so badly for me. So here I was today, 6 months later, lining up for my second first marathon.

It took me 12 months of training to get here. I had not been a regular runner before last October. This was supposed to be a one-time "turning 50" goal, but I discovered that I loved running (because of my new friends in The Runners Edge), so I'm sticking with it.

Below are the statistics of what I did to make it to the starting line. These numbers are really low compared to what a serious runner would do.

Total training runs: 139
Total miles run/raced: 963
Total hours running/racing: 180
Half marathons: 3
Full marathons: 1
5K runs: 3
Running injuries: broken wrist, shin splints, Morton's neuroma, bloody nipples (ouch), and one toe nail lost, all of which are healed, except for the neuroma.

A total of 8,050 runners lined up for the full marathon, half marathon, 5k and relay, about 1,800 of which were doing the full marathon. The starting corral was completely packed. I don't know when I've been so excited and nervous about something as I was for this race. The people next to me were very friendly. There was a woman from Atlanta running her 11th marathon, and a man running his first 1/2 marathon.

I'm not going to give the blow by blow on my race. The first half was very enjoyable. My split was 2:22:24. It was great seeing spectators I knew along the route: Lisa Flemming, Julie Hurley, Ron Honeyman, Coach Valdez, to name a few. My wife and daughters met me at mile 18. The big surprise was seeing my sister-in-law and niece at mile 21: Lauri, Lane, Evan, and Grace Williams, and Sarah and Chris Green. They had driven in from Fort Scott and Topeka for the race. Seeing them and their home made support signs could not have come at a better time for me.

At mile 4 I found myself with a three minute deficit, and knowing the course was downhill or flat from miles 4- 12, I decided to try to make up the deficit. I ran five of the next six miles below goal pace. In hindsight this was probably not a very smart thing to do. The funny thing was that I never made up those 3 minutes. I guess I was too slow in the aid stations and offset my gains. All I know is that I paid for that transgression after mile 12.

My humorus memory from the race was that there was another runner there from The Runner's Edge who I passed at mile 3. He was running at a very even pace, and I running at an uneven pace. He never noticed passing me at the aid stations, but I always said hi when I passed him after the aid stations. At one point he exclaimed "How are you doing that?!" I think I was driving him a bit nuts. I must have passed him half a dozen times. It was funny.

My best moment of the race was passing through Westport where a band was playing. I don't recall the song, but I synchronized my pace to the beat. I was feeling strong and was practically bounding to stay in time with the music. It was fun. I stayed on that runners high down Roanoak Parkway to 47th street. I opened up my stride on the descent and was running effortlessly. I felt like I could run forever, but that definitely was not the case.

The second half didn't go as planned. I began losing speed with every mile. By mile 20 I was really dragging. My worst mile was 22, when I walked the hill from Gilham to Paseo Blvd. Beyond that I adopted the run a mile, walk a minute strategy and just tried to get the finish line one mile at a time, finishing in 5:09:28. Not what I wanted, but I'll take it. I'll have to wait until next year to break five hours. It will give me something to work towards!

Struggling to Pick a Marathon Goal Pace

Steve Mitchell — Sun, 11 Oct 2009 19:16:37 GMT

I'm second guessing my choice of a pace for the Kansas City Marathon next week. Saturday was my last 8-mile run before the race. I ran part of the way with Beth Rogers, who just returned from setting a PR in the Twin Cities marathon last week. Beth and I are pretty evenly matched, except for the fact that she is younger. We both ran our last 5K race in about 27 minutes, and we run in the same Saturday pace group. Beth's PR in the Twin Cities Marathon was 4:25.

The goal pace I had chosen for the Kansas City Marathon was 4:45. I arrived at that pace using a chart that Coach Valdez created back in July for The Runners Edge speed session group. Based on a 2-mile time trail that I did that I did in July, it predicted a 5K time between a 27:30 and a 28:00, and a marathon pace of 4:40 - 4:45. That was a pretty accurate prediction of The Race for the Cure 5K which I ran a month later in 28:14; however, that was a hot day and I knew I could do better. A month after that I ran the Labor Day 5K in Leawood, KS in 27:11. That improvement was due to cooler temperatures, a flatter course, plus another month of speed session workouts. The next row up in Coach Valdez's speed session document predicted a 5K time is 26:14 -27:15, which covers my performance in the Labor Day 5K, and a marathon time of 4:32 - 4:38.

There are a number of Marathon Pace Calculators on-line. These are just a few that I found:

http://www.marathon-calculator.com/default.asp --> 27:11 = 4:21
http://runningtimes.com/Article.aspx?ArticleID=6765 --> 27:11 = 4:25:46
http://www.runnersworld.co.uk/news/article.asp?UAN=1681 --> 27:11 = 4:20.27
http://www.runaiken.com/predictor/pacer.html --> 27:11 = 4:23:48

All those on-line calculators point to a sub-4:30 pace. That does not take into account the fact that the Kansas City Marathon has three large climbs. Working in my favor is the temperature, which is forecast to be in the thirties or forties. Additionally, my week day runs have been getting faster. I clocked my fastest 4-mile hill workout a week ago with an average pace of 9:28 -- I typically run that training route about a minute/mile slower.

If I just wanted to get a decent marathon under my belt I would leave my goal pace at 4:45. If I wanted to be aggressive I would shoot for 4:30. The difference is an average pace of 10:18 vs 10:52/mile. The prediction chart on the Kansas City Marathon web site predicts a time of 4:36 based on a 27:11 5K. I would tend to trust it more than a generic marathon prediction calculator because it factors in the course elevation. As much as I want to shoot for a 4:30 pace, it would appear that the prudent thing to do is run with the 4:35 pace group. I will try to keep up with that pace group through mile 20, and then I can decide if I want to pick it up the last 6 miles. Knowing me, it is highly unlikely that I will have the energy to pull ahead at that point in the race.

My Race Strategy for The Kansas City Marathon

Steve Mitchell — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 04:10:27 GMT

The Runners Edge gave a presentation of marathon tips last night at the Garry Gribble store on Ward Parkway. As Coach Eladio Valdez explained his approach to running a marathon it occurred to me that almost everything he said not to do, or that could go wrong, described my experience at Oklahoma City last April.

Eladio promotes what he calls the “smart pace” strategy, where you start out slow to warm up, and take some strategic walks in first half of the race, particularly at the first aid stations. You also back off on steep hills to avoid over heating. Some say a marathon can be divided into two “halves:” the first 20-miles, and the last 6.2 miles. The smart pace strategy is a conservative approach to the first 20 miles so that you don’t hit the wall in the last 6.2 miles.

The main point of the smart pace is to start out slow and warm up for the first mile or two. The hardest part of that strategy is forcing yourself to actually slow down, especially with all the race day excitement and everyone blazing past you. Trust me, I know. I tried and failed to start out slow at two half marathons and a marathon this year, and two of those races turned out very, very badly.

Eladio emphasized taking extra time at the first few aid stations to hydrate. As he put it, your body will use every ounce of fluid that you drink at the first aid stations, but only a portion of what you drink at the last one. By then it is too late.

Strategic walks allow your body to release built up heat. The length of the walks depends on your time goal. With a time goal of 4:45, I can walk briskly for 45 seconds while passing through the aid stations, or alternatively, I can save that walk for an upcoming steep hill. The time lost walking is made up by a slightly faster pace between aid stations, thus preserving your overall goal pace.

My plan for The Kansas City Marathon is to take it very slow the first mile and a half, up to the crest of the hill at Barney Allis Plaza. I’ll open it up a little bit going downhill between Barney Allis Plaza and Union Station, but still slower than my overall goal pace of 10:53/mile. There, at mile three, are the steepest hills of the race. The biggest of these is on Kessler Street. It’s a half-mile climb from Union Station up to the Liberty Memorial. I will run that conservatively and may even walk 45-seconds in the middle. I’ll also take it slow on Trinity Hill, just past the Liberty Memory. You can see the hills on this elevation chart that I made last summer after riding the route on my bike.

By the time you get over Trinity Hill you are four miles into the race and ready for a nice long descent through Westport and down to Country Club Plaza at mile seven. That stretch only has a few short uphill sections. It will be my first opportunity to run at race pace, or slightly better on the steeper declines.

There is a relatively flat stretch through Country Club Plaza and past UMKC, followed by the second steepest hill on the course, Sunset Drive, leading up to Loose Park. We ran that part of the course on our last 22-mile training run. It didn’t seem that bad at the time, but nevertheless I plan a 45-second walk in the middle of it too, just like at the Liberty Memorial.

Once past Loose Park there is a slow climb from mile 12 ½ - 15 ½, finishing with a short, steep rise at 75^th Street and Summit Road (aptly named). There is no need for a walk at Summit Road since the climb is short and is followed by a long downhill stretch.

Miles 16 – 21 are an enjoyable descent passing Waldo and Brookside on the way back down to Country Club Plaza and the UMKC campus. This is another chance to pick-up the pace and make up some time.

The biggest challenge of the race will be in miles 21 – 24. Just as people are starting to hit the wall there is a climb from Brush Creek up to the intersection of Linwood and Paseo Blvd. The steepest part of the climb is on Harrison Street between Gillham Road and Armour Road. There is supposed to be an aid station with Gu Energy Gel at mile 21 just before the climb begins. I’ll probably take my time at that aid station rather than walking on Harrison. That’s easy to say now, but who knows how I’ll be feeling at mile 21 on race day.

Once you get to Linwood and Paseo Blvd it is downhill to 18^th Street and Vine and then most of the way to finish line. This is where I hope to be reaping the benefits from running a smart race. I would like to still have enough gas left in the tank as I crest Linwood to open it up again on the descent to 18^th and Vine. The elevation chart is deceiving/wrong. I remember it as pretty flat from 18th and Vine to the finish where there is a slight hill at the end.

I can’t wait to see how it turns out!

Running the fall... with Skunks

Steve Mitchell — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 02:22:10 GMT

I love the fall. Running in cool weather is so much easier than running in the summer. I don't handle the heat well. Now that it's cooler I'm having some of my best runs of the year.

Monday the temperature was in the fifties and I had a great 4-mile training run with my neighbor, Duane Gentlemen. We ran up Quivira Road on the west side of the Overland Park Golf Course. Those of you familiar with the area recognize that as a decent hill workout with a half mile gentle climb. Despite the climb we took a full minute off the average pace of our recent runs. I was able to stretch out my stride and go into cruise mode.

Duane commented afterwards that if you do your marathon training correctly you should feel an abundance of energy once you start cutting back on your miles. I have to say that I do feel stronger, but I give most of the credit to the cooler temperatures. Speed sessions are helping too.

Skunks must like the cool weather because I've seen three in the span of a week. A week ago Monday, Duane and I saw one in a front yard in the next neighborhood, then on Tuesday I saw one wandering out of the woods at Leawood Park after the speed session, and yesterday we almost ran into one.

We came across the skunk just a few blocks from the start of our run, about the same spot we saw one last Monday. I was talking and not watching where we were going when I heard Duane say “skunk.” I glanced up, expecting to see it in someone's yard, and then realized it was crossing the street right in front of us. By the time I saw the skunk it had crossed over to the curb and was about to duck into the storm drain as I passed within spitting distance, or should I say spraying distance! That's way too close for me.

22-mile Training Run

Steve Mitchell — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 20:54:18 GMT

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.

New 5K PR in Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure

Steve Mitchell — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 18:46:02 GMT

Over 29,000 participants came out today for the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure in downtown Kansas City, and I was one of them. There was a timed 5K, an un-timed 5K, a 5K walk, and a 1 mile walk. I carpooled downtown with the neighbor that I run with during the week. Since I got into running later in life just to run a marathon, I never got into running 5K races. In fact, I've only run a few 5K races in my life: a couple with my daughters, and one when I got into running for the first time about five years ago. I won't embarrass myself with my actual times. Suffice it to say I have never finished a 5K race in less than 30 minutes... until today.

This summer I signed up for Speed Sessions with The Runners Edge, so I was anxious to see what I could do. My running partner, Duane, won the Nashville Marathon back in the early 80's with a 2:42, and should be way out of my league, except that bad knees hold him back now. His goal was a time around 25 minutes. That is faster than I can run, but I decided to start out with Duane anyway to see how long I could hang on. It turns out that was not very long.

Duane and I waded into the croud just behind the front pack of super competitive runners. I would have been more comfortable starting near the back, but when you have won a bunch of races in the past, like Duane has, I guess it is natural to want to start near the front. When the race began we took off at very aggressive pace. After a couple of blocks I glanced down at my Garmin and saw Duane's pace was 7:00/mile. I immediately told Duane that I was backing off. I knew that I would blow-up completely if I kept up that pace. Duane went on to run a 25:42:80, or 8:17/mile.

The temperature was in the mid-80's and the course was hilly. This was not a good day or course to attempt a PR. Coach Valdez said he expected people to run 30 seconds slower than our normal 5K pace. Since I haven't establish a 5K pace yet, I just wanted to do the best I could. In my initial time trial for Speed Sessions I ran two miles at an 8:45 pace. I figured I would probably slow to a 9:00/mile pace for a 5K, and that was close to what happened. Here are my mile splits for the race:

Mile 1 - 8:31/mile

Mile 2 - 9:01/mile

Mile 3 - 9:19/mile

Full 5K - 28:14:45 - 9:06/mile

My Garmin recorded my run as 3.16 miles in 28:14, a 8:55/mile average. Either way, my pace was around a nine minute pace, as expected.

The good news is that I climbed out of cellar. In every race that I've run in the last five years I've finished near the bottom 10 percent. I'm happy to say that today I made it into the 43 percentile of my sex/age group (45 out of 79), and 62 percentile of all runners (881 out of 2324). That is still a grade of F... but it's almost a low D now! I know, I've got more work to do.

Fighting your Running Demons

Steve Mitchell — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 18:41:02 GMT

Still being somewhat new to running, I have just now begun to realize how rare it is to be able to run without a challenge of some sort. What I wouldn’t give for a long stretch of healthy running. After my first half marathon it was a pulled groin muscle that derailed my running, and discouraged me from running for a few years. This spring, during preparation for my first marathon, it was shin splints that challenged me. Now I’m dealing with an apparent Morton’s Neuroma.

Even if you are not dealing with chronic issues, there are the inevitable ups and down from run to run. Saturday was definitely one of my down days. Having missed my scheduled 18-mile group run while on vacation, I tried to get in a long run on my own. It turned out not to be my day. My feet felt like lead, and I gave in to post-vacation fatigue after only 9 miles.

Running, beyond the obvious physical challenge, is a test of will, whether fighting a snooze alarm at 5:00 AM, or toughing out an extra mile. Running also requires common sense, listening to your body, and knowing when to compromise. Perhaps I am a little too skilled at compromise.

This summer, as my training for the Kansas City Marathon gets into full swing, I hope to find the will to push myself a little farther and a little faster, while still being smart about my health. I’ve signed-up for 12 weeks of speed sessions with The Runners Edge. My goal is get below an average pace of 8:00/mile on a two mile run, and ultimately to finish a marathon in under five hours.

Last week I missed the group time trials for the speed sessions. I was on vacation and had to do my time trail on my own. Since I was in St. Louis, I did it around the Gateway Arch. I warmed up for about 10 minutes before starting my two mile hard run. I started out at a pace below 8:00/mile, but eventually slowed down. I finished with an average of 8:46/mile. Not as fast as I wanted, but faster than I’ve ever run for that distance. I don’t know if it is possible to shave off 45 seconds in just 12 weeks, but I’ll try. Where there’s a will, there’s a way, or at least so I hope.

Elevation Chart as Desktop Background for Motivation

Steve Mitchell — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:26:09 GMT

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)