A bigger challenge

Many think running a marathon is a challenge that only a few could ever do. I can tell you from experience that running a marathon may be challenging but it can be accomplished by many. I find it more challenging to find the time to train than the actual running the thing. It takes commitment and discipline to make it.

A far greater challenge that lies before me now is the battle of the bulge. I am fat. Experts say I am obese but I don’t see myself at that point. There is no doubt that I need to lose weight. The battle is on.

A little over four years ago I went into this very same battle. At that time I weighed 226 and change. I waged a good fight in that battle. I didn’t reach my goal but I did lose just a bit over 33 pounds in that battle. I sort of lost sight of the goal because I felt comfortable in the low 190’s and lost my focus. I kind of called it a truce at that point.

Over the next couple of years the pounds have ever so gently crept back just above the waist line. Not all of it but 20 pounds or so. The bottom line is 213 and change. Despite the fact that I knew it was coming back and I didn’t want it back I just couldn’t find the desire to stop it. Oh I would give a fight for a couple of days but that’s all I could muster just a couple of days. Therefore I am going to embark on a challenge that I think is much tougher than running a marathon.

As I did years back I swallowed my pride and went to Weight Watchers (WW). I have to face the fact that I am weak. I need outside help to conquer this challenge. I needed it four years ago and it was successful. There comes a time when one needs to look in the mirror and say “man you need to do something about that”. It’s my time.

In addition to WW keeping me accountable, I will post my struggles here as well. Knowing that everyone who follows my blog (about 3 or 4 I think) will be checking on me should help me stay focused. Surely I do not want to post that I gained 5 pounds in one week. I certainly would appreciate some feed back once in awhile and anyone who wants to join me in losing some poundage certainly can post their results as a comment. The good thing is you can do it anonymously. The challenge is set, I am ready.

For the record my goal by the way is 189. I hope to achieve that goal by June 1, 2009. Following that I hope to lose another 3 to 5 pounds to allow myself some room to fluctuate in the 180’s.

Challenge accepted!

Hamptons Bay Marathon Report

My first running of The Hamptons Bay Marathon is in the books. I say the first because there will be more. It was a great experience.

On Thursday my wife and I arrived in New York. My niece’s (Patti’s), husband (David) picked us up at the airport. He was doing the marathon with me. During the drive to my sister in law’s (Pat’s) where we would be staying for the weekend we decided that we should drive the course.

We drove out to East Hampton with map in hand. Met up with sister in laws husband (Jim) right at the start line, he just happened to be working in that area and knew the area pretty good. Went over the map a bit and off we went. Pretty much from the get go I knew this was going to be a run that I would like. It was laid out through country roads carved through beautiful forests and a section that stretched out along the coast of Long Island. It was a delight to drive it and I was going to be able to run it.

The race started at 8:00 in the Morning and was about an hour’s drive. Jim, David and I left at 6:00 and we arrived at about 6:45. It’s still kind of dark at that time. I was quite excited. As people came towards us I would say Good Morning or some other type of friendly greeting. The response was kind of mixed. David said Tim people don’t do that here in New York. I paid no attention and continued on greeting people despite the advice from David. He commented “If you keep doing that I won’t walk with you”. Heck we were at the staging area anyways so I relented and just kept my giddiness to myself. It was now just a bit after 7:00 so we just moseyed about till 10 minutes before race time.

Prior to getting into the race I need to digress just a bit and get into the weather details. When we got that there it wasn’t raining which was better than we expected. However our expectations did come to fruition about 20 minutes prior to the start time. It rained, not hard but steady for about the first 3 miles or so I think. Then it stopped. Not bad one would think. But then it started up again at about mile 16 to 17. A steady and just a bit harder rain than earlier. The rain continued on pretty much until mile 20 I think. From there it was pretty much rain free. Of course along with the rain it was a bit humid. The temp was in the low sixties and the wind was pretty much a non factor except for one small stretch. David said most New Yorkers would say it was miserable, my thought hey no big deal just run.

We started pretty much right on time. The beginning was downhill for a little bit. Just a bit before mile 2 we started to go up significantly. Once we hit the crest of that hill the course terrain was gently rolling hills for about 5 miles or so. Between mile 7 and 8 we descended down to the flat part of the course. It stayed flat for the next 9 miles. Starting right at about 17 we encountered the second significant incline of the route. This incline was also followed by some gentle rolling hills before descending at about mile 21. From there it was predominantly flat with an occasional bump here and there. It was a nice way to finish a long run.

I was able to run more during this marathon than my previous 6. I basically ran at a pace that felt very comfortable. I think for 95% of the race I felt in total control and mentally I was doing quite well. There was one small section in the flats when I was heading directly into the wind that I felt oh oh I am going to be able to get through this in under 5:00. Once I turned the corner and had the wind at my back it was nothing but positive. At mile 16 I checked my time and I was in much better shape than I thought. I had a chance at finishing in under 4:40. It was a slim chance but a chance. It gave me a big boost. At this point I did start a run/walk routine. I ran for about 9 minutes and than walked for a minute. I also walked the water stations. At mile 25 I still had a shot at finishing in under 4:40 but it would have required a pace of under 10:00 and I as hard as I could try that was not going to happen. What was going to happen was that this marathon would be my second best finish. I walked for 30 seconds and than put into the highest gear I could, managed a 10:35 pace, to finish at 4:41:04. It was an awesome run.

I had help in making this marathon a wonderful experience. David ran with me and that was a great motivator. I had family there to cheer me on. And boy did they cheer. They not only gave me a big boost, they gave another runner a boost too. They were screaming, hollering and shaking cow bells like there was no tomorrow. A guy next to me said “wow thanks I needed that, I am pumped too”. The second time around my wonderful wife had a dry shirt ready for me. A quick change and I was on my way. Too bad the rain started up again about 10 minutes after that. And of course I knew my entourage would be there at the finish line to cheer me on home.

This marathon was without a doubt a very special moment. Between mile 25 and 26 it wasn’t raining from the sky but it was a bit watery if you know what I mean. In addition to my family there have been so many people who have supported me along the way. That’s all of you who have followed my blog and chatted with me on running threads. I thank you and I used you along the way as well. I look forward to the next time.

October Surprise

I may be a crazy conspiracy nut but maybe not. If I am not you saw it here first.

It seems Mr Biden is all over the map lately with off the wall statements. Well not really he has been known to say some dumb stuff on occasion. They just seem to be coming a bit more routine lately.

You wonder where I am going with this don’t you?

Here's the conspiracy.

Biden continues to make his usual (dumb) comments. The democrats start rumbling and get upsetwith the continued idiotic comments from Joe Biden. A huge outcry goes out for Hillary to save the day. Obama gets on hands and knees to beg Michelle (no doubt she rules the roost) for permission to approve dumping Biden and bring in Hillary. Hillary comes riding in on the white horse, nope she’s just on Bill’s back and that’s his white hair I see.

Gotcha thinking now don’t I?

There’s your October surprise.

Because I am concerned for your well being: A Public Service Announcement:

If you get an e-mail with 'Nude Photos of Sarah Palin' in the subject line, do not open it. It might contain a virus.

If you get an e-mail with 'Nude Photos of Hillary Clinton', in the subject line, do not open it. It might contain nude photos of Hillary Clinton.

You have been warned.

Ready or not here I come

I feel like I am ready. I have run short, medium and long. I have run flats, hills, in the wind, in the heat and occasionally in the rain. Now it’s pretty down to waiting for the gun to go off at 8:00 am on Saturday the 27th of September.

I ran my last long run for this marathon training. Probably one of the toughest if not the toughest LSD I have done. I checked the elevations again on the race and there are two good sized hills to climb. Each followed by some rolling hills for a couple of miles. Therefore I chose to run the hilly part of my town tonight. With only a small section of about a mile it was 12 miles of pretty much nothing but ups and downs. So the long runs are in the book which only leaves some short runs on Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday to complete my training for Saturday’s marathon.

All in all I think it has gone pretty good. It took awhile for me to handle training in the heat. That was probably the toughest part of getting ready for the fall marathon. It is most likely why I doubt I will do another fall marathon. There werr a few aches and pains too. None of the aches and pains ever caused me to be concerned as I knew they were minor. The step back weeks allowed me to recover nicely after those tough long mileage weeks. So yes I am ready.

The early forecast doesn’t look to be too bad. Looking at temps in the 50’s most likely at the start. Later the temps should not be much more than the mid 60’s by the time I cross the line. No predictions on humidity or wind as of yet. The weather is pretty much out of my control so I plan on showing up and I will deal with whatever it is.

There is no online tracking available for the event. From what I was told is that cell phone coverage is spotty so the splits cannot be tracked. The final results I guess will be posted a short time after the race is complete which should be about 2:00. www.hamptonsmarathon.com

Stay tuned for a race report

Mo back on my side

Last night I ran my last long run as part of my training for the Hampton Marathon. The run was based upon time, 3 hours, rather than distance however I did hope that I would get to 17 miles. I completed 17.5 miles and felt like I could have done many more. Definitely has put momentum back on my side.

Overall the run went extremely well. I was a bit nervous and anxious during the day with knowing that I was going to run that night. I knew that for my mental attitude towards the event next week I needed a good run. At the start of the run I felt a bit stiff but that went by the way side after about half mile or so. I settled in and basically went along for the ride from that point. I carried my Gatorade which I drank every 2.5 miles. There would be an occasional ache or discomfort zone once in awhile although nothing ever lasted very long. I am quite pleased with how it went and how I feel today.

Now with that behind me I need to try and stay loose. Of course today I will rest. Friday and Saturday I will run short runs of 3 to 5 miles maybe. Most likely I’ll do 12 or 13 on Sunday which will be followed by a rest day on Monday. Short runs will be in order for Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday is when I travel to NY so I do not plan on running Thursday. Friday I’ll run maybe 2 or 3 miles real slow. My body will pretty much determine the pace of the runs. The only goal of these runs is to stay relaxed.

Thoughts of what my pace will be going through my head. I will have a plan one day and a different one the next day. Than on race day all plans will be forgotten and I will run whatever the conditions allow me to run. The pace will be the best I can do for that day.

Cruise Control

At his point of my training I am now on cruise control. There will be no speed workouts, no hill workouts or trail running. I will run on routes that I am familar with and hazard free. They will include hills and flats however the pace will be pretty consistent at what I hope to be my marathon pace. It's going to be just cruising along and enjoying the ride.

This weeks training schedule was interrupted by weather. I chose not to run in the rain on Saturday. After having two off days in a row I chose to change up the schedule and postpone my last long run until Wednesday. Today’s run would have been 16 miles, so that is what I will do on Wednesday.

I am working on my training plan for the remaining days following my Wednesday LSD. At the moment I plan on Thursday as an off day. I will follow with 2, 6, & 12 miles the Friday to Sunday. Monday will be an off day. Two short runs than on Tuesday and Wednesday. Thursday will be travel and an off day. I will most likely run a quick 2 miles on Friday just to loosen up the legs a bit. Basically the only item that I think might change is I may run up to 16 again this Sunday.

I feel that I am ready for this marathon and confident that I will be able to complete it comfortably. The weather is basically my only concern.

Looking forward to showtime.

Pitbull

I have to admit that I am quite amused by Democrats trauma over the Sarah Palin VP nomination. Reminds of me of the story about chicken little. I see all these characters running around claiming “the sky is falling, the sky is falling”. Can’t help but sit back and watch the spin with a big smirk.

For goodness sake the Republicans nominate a woman to the presidential ticket. How dare they? Its just not fair according to those wacky girls on the View and even Oprah doesn’t want any piece of Mrs. Palin. The Republicans just aren’t playing fair. Democrats are the party that supports the minorities. I find it kind of comical how the rug was pulled out from those dems.

The response so far has been trying to dig up some dirt on this woman. No way can she be qualified according to the dems. The democ(rats) and supporters (media) are scurrying about looking and trying to drum up or dig up something on this fine woman. So far it’s like watching the squirrels in the park going around trying to find places to their nuts. Reminds of the old saying when you’re up to your neck stop digging but do they listen, nope. Keep digging boys and girls.

What was looking like a boring presidential election has now been spiced up a little bit. Certainly made it interesting. No doubt in my mind that it will still be close and most likely neither candidate will have a significant majority. No doubt in my mind where the problem with this country lies and it will stay there. That where it lies is Congress. Once it’s over we will all go back about our business and the politicians in Washington will start campaigning for the next election.

Caught wiht my pants down!

When the gun went off to signal the start of the 25K that I ran today I was in the biffy. I had entered the line to the row of biffys just a bit more than 20 minutes prior to the start of the race. They could have used a few more. Quite a number of people were in the same predicament as I was. I sure was glad when I came out I had no resemblance to a white tailed deer.

I was about 30 seconds behind the gun time when I crossed the start line for the City of Lakes 25K. This course is run around 2 of the many lakes that are part of Minneapolis. It’s a very scenic run the first time around. The second time around wasn’t too bad either. A very gentle course that is mostly flat just a few minor hills.

Weather wise it was pretty much perfect. Right around 50 degrees and just a slight breeze that was quite cool along on one side of the lakes. A little bit of sunshine early and pretty much cloudy when I crossed the finish line. I ran the whole thing in long sleeves rather comfortably.

The pace I ran was much better than anticipated or could have expected. If someone said I could run better than 9:30 pace for 15.5 miles I would have bet them otherwise. Today I would have lost that bet. I ran 2:27:27 which translates to an overall pace of 9:26. In my world that’s smokin!

Upon reviewing the mile splits per my Garmin I was pretty consistent for the most part. My slowest mile was the first mile which was my only mile over 10:00 minutes, a 10:04. A few of the mile splits surprised me which was miles 9, 12, and 15, I ran those at 9:12, 9:17 & 9:16 respectively. Mile 2 split was my best at 8:56.

Everything was aligned today, the weather, the legs, the breathing and the mind. With out a doubt today’s run was my best ever.

I am now down to 20 days to go. I will probably run about the same miles this week as I did last week. I will than begin the taper part of my training. The countdown begins tomorrow.

After today’s run I felt like I could say “To infinity and beyond”

See ya next week.

To do what I do

This week was the highest mileage week of my training for the Hamptons Marathon on September 27th. Nearly 50 miles was the goal for the week. A week that I certainly went into with plenty of apprehension.

My goal for the LSD that I ran today was 4 hours or 24 miles whichever came first. As I expected the 4 hours came first however I wasn’t to far from 24. I ended the run at 23.2 miles and the time was 3:54:20. That would be just a shade under 10:30 pace.

For the week I am quite pleased and confident with my progress. I believe I have a very good shot at getting close to or even doing better than my PR of 4:37. At this point I am really looking forward to the marathon.

In addition to the run going so well it was also very scenic. I even thought of titling my entry as “Mutaul of Omaha’s Wild Kingdom”. Yesterday’s run there were 3 deer that bounded onto the trail I was running and than quickly disappeared into the woods. Today I saw two trophy bucks just off to the side of the trail I was running. Also today there were three wild turkey hens with their brood on the trail. Being a country boy I savored the sightings for the entire run and certainly shared what I saw with my family.

The marathon is 5 weeks away. This next week I will take it easy and keep things slow and simple. Than the following week I will get the mileage up again to near 40 miles one last time. That week will be followed but what is called taper time. Those last 3 weeks a runner winds down a bit and allows the body to recover. So for now it’s going to be one week at a time and that will be doing my best to focus on sticking close to the schedule.

During my run today I listened to a song on my I pod that gives me inspiration. It’s a song by Alan Jackson and that is the reason for today’s title “To do what I do”. I relate it to my running. It’s basically about him going through rough times and becoming a singer. It’s near the end of the song that I change the lyrics a bit to fit into how I feel about my running. Here is my version:

So I hope the critics and skeptics alike
All came down to the finish line on this day
And they’ll see firsthand that I have survived
And what doesn’t kill you makes you more alive
And I am one of the fortunate few
To do what I do

There’s so much joy that running can bring
So I count my blessings when I step up to the line
Cause they’re so many people who would give anything
To do what I do.

Have a wonderful week.

Calm before the storm

This last week went along with not much fanfare at all. The runs were pleasant. The runs were quite realxed, very calming.

I stepped the mileage back to just over 30 miles for the week. That should have allowed my body to recover from the prior couple of weeks that were a bit more difficult as I increased my mileage into the 40’s. Basically kept things simple.

Now this week will be a very big week for me. I will run my longest run since I ran Grandmas Marathon back in June. I hope to get a minimum of a 22 miles LSD run on Saturday or Sunday. I really would like to stretch that 24 if I feel like I can without much difficulty. If all goes well it will certainly make those nagging little concerns a whole lot less nagging.

Until next week, enjoy the days

Good Good Good Vibrations

Going into this week I felt I needed to have a good week to be able to build momentum and boost morale. I got exactly what I wanted. It was a very good week.

My midweek run was scheduled to be 9 miles. I felt so good when I got the 9miles I stretched it to 10. I gave the last mile everything I could. The mile split was 8:51 which for in my world is excellent. In my world 9:30 is a good split so a sub 9:00 is a feat I rarely have seen. Since have this little superstition thing that I like to end my runs to include the last tenths of the run I am training for I continued on to end the run at 10.2.

Today was a day that I looked forward to and to be honest there was some concern. The schedule called for a 20 mile run. When I did 18 awhile back I struggled to get to the 18. When I did I stopped. I wasn’t sure if the run was going to be like my midweek run a few days back or the 18 miler a few weeks back. Happy to write that today was also very good.

My run pretty much went flawlessly through the entire run. I woke up on time. I wasn’t rushed at all. The weather was pretty much perfect, just maybe a touch on the warm side. I didn’t need to make any nature stops. I never once had the feeling of why the heck am I out here doing this.

The route I ran was probably the best training route I have ever done. The route had everything from easy to difficult stretches and everything in between. The first 5 miles was pretty much flat a few minor ups and downs. Just after mile 6 there was a fairly steep uphill and than a gradual incline before leveling off at which point I took a road that looped back to the top of the steep hill. Than it was down the steep hill. After that the next 4 miles were pretty much flat. The next 5 miles was ups and downs. I knew going in this was going to be the most difficult part of the route. There wasn’t a level spot to be found over the 5 miles and there were more ups than downs. The final 2.5 miles was flat flat flat. I certainly enjoyed the route that’s for sure.

Finally I ran a very comfortable pace and was very pleased to see it was a bit better than 10:00 pace overall. At mile 15 was 2 ½ minutes ahead of a 10 minute pace and feeling very good. At mile 17 I knew I could get the run done under the 10:00 minute pace of 3:20 even if I backed done a bit. I chose to take a drink break at 17 and would do so again at miles 18 & 19. I made it 20 in good form. Than like the other day I slowed the pace down to cool down a bit and get to that .2 number. I never felt overly fatigued throughout the run.

So all in all it was a good good good week. I’ll step back just a bit on my long run at the end of the week. In two weeks I’ll try to extend out a bit farther by going for somewhere around 22 to 24 miles. Without a doubt mo is on my side.

Have a great week.

The beat goes on

This year my running just keeps going on and on. I have been preparing for events from the 1st of the year and will continue on until the end of September. Back in January I was preparing for what is called the Frozen Half Marathon in St. Paul, Mn. Shortly after that I prepared for Grandmas marathon in Duluth, MN. After a week layoff following Grandmas I began training for the Hamptons Marathon which is in New York on Long Island. After the Hamptons Marathon there will be a bit a layoff.

For the week training went just fine. This week was a step back week so I kept it simple and backed down on the miles a bit.

Rather than talk about my training I have something else this week. During the last week I supposedly became wiser because I aged a year. I received a gift that I want to share because it pretty much sums up why I do run as much as I do. The gift was from my daughter in law and I appreciate it very much. She added some words to a piece that she saw on the internet while looking for some running stuff for me.

I Run Because

I love not just the finish line but:
The trip along the way-it makes me feel free- Sometimes I’ve
got energy to burn and sometimes I need energy- Because
stopping would hurt so much more than a blister or broken
toenail- Because walking takes too long and I have things I
need to get done- My personal best is just that: mine-
Because it’s a good kind of sore- There’s no better way to
explore a city or enjoy the spring flowers, the fall leaves and
the winter’s snow- “I just felt like runnin”- Because there’s
no drug like adrenaline- Because the pavement doesn’t
complain when you pound it- Because I know I’m only
competing against myself- Because I have set goals and
will continue to work hard to accomplish them- Because
I know I can face whatever road lies ahead- Because I am
not satisfied with status quo- My true self shines through
when I run- Because I know I can and will- Because it
allows me to wind down- Because it’s great exercise- Because
I feel a sense of pride when I finish- Because I have an
awesome support team- Because of Debbie, Andy, Denise,
Kara, Anand, Mira, Sean and Kyle- Because it’s inspiring-
Because while others can’t, I can

And Because I’ll never know how far I can go unless I try.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I’ll be running, see you next week.

Just not the same

Will the day ever come when people say enough is enough and stop paying attention to sports? Will there ever be loyalty to a team or fan base ever again? Will a family ever be able to go to a sporting event that costs (4 tickets, hot dog, coke, cotton candy and parking) less than a weeks a pay?

Brett Favre and Manny Ramierz are the latest individuals to further erode the opinion that loyalty to teams, fans and the game matter. When I was a youth 90% of the players on the local teams (Vikings, Twins, North Stars) were on the team from when I was 6 until I was 16. There were no such things as free agents in those days. Players and fans gave their hearts and souls to each other. Now it’s pretty much just individuals playing for them and the fan is pretty much just as it says in the dictionary, a spectator.

I am not that naive to say the problem is just the players. The owners have certainly shown there greed is insatiable as well. Owners hold cities hostage in order to get nice new stadiums. Some owners in order to satisfy their ego pay asinine salaries to individuals to win championships. The owners have certainly played a major role in destroying the integrity of sports being abut team spirit and loyalty.

It’s too bad that things cannot be as there once were. That can be said pretty much about everything these days. So I guess I should accept that sports have deteriorated. I just wish I didn’t have too.

The day the music died

For those who are old you will remember those lyrics. You young whipper snappers oh well the title just doesn't mean as much.

Well the music might not have died but my Ipod did. While running on Thursday there was this sharp crackle sound in my ear piece. That was followed by a couple of soft static crackles. I reached back to make sure the Ipod wasn’t on fire. It wasn't but the little thing was caput.

My thoughts on the culprit for taking it out were water dripping down from hat. You see due to the heat when I come upon a sprinkler I soak my hat and put it on my head and the water cools me down. I think some water might have got to the Ipod which I clip to the neck band of my shirt. I have the Ipod that is no bigger than a postage stamp. This Ipod had survived being put through the wash twice before so I thought maybe it might come back. I waited a day and plugged into the computer hoping for the best. Unfortunately it’s the worst, silent. The music has died.

Overall this week of training went every well. My runs were comfortable and well within a pace that I feel is consistent with my past history. I hope to pick up the pace just a bit and with 9 weeks to go I think that is completely possible. I am very happy with my condition at this time.

I had running partners for a few of my runs this week. I did a 4 miler with the manager of the local “Running Room Store” on Wednesday. They have group runs every Wednesday but I was the only one to show this week. On Saturday I pushed my #2 grandson for 4 miles. Both runs were quite enjoyable.

Today my LSD was exactly that. It was Long, Slow and a considerable Distance. I completed my scheduled goal of 18 miles. The first 14 I will say went as well as I had hoped for. The last four was pretty much an exercise in survival. In fact the last 3 was a run/walk program to enable me to get to the 18. When it was all done my tank was pretty much on fumes.

If you want sunshine and warm temperatures for an event give me a call. I will come and do my LSD in your area. The last couple of my LSD’s started out cloudy only to quite quickly clear and heat up. I have noticed though that I am getting more used to the temps and humidity.

Next week I will be stepping back just a bit. My weekday runs will be pretty much. The LSD at the end of the week will decrease. Looking at running between 13 to 14 next weekend. That should give this old body a bit of recovery time and be better prepared for a 20 miler the next week.

As far as the Ipod goes, my birthday is coming up in a week. You can bet it is known the family is aware the music has died. I am pretty sure the music will be back before too long.

Till next week do you best to give runners a brake when you see them.

First and Ten

The first long, slow, distance run (LSD) leading up to my next marathon is completed. I have 10 weeks of training to go.

This morning I was awake before the alarm woke me. Wish I could say it was because I was so excited to get up and go on a training run. It was due to a robin who chose to nest on the support beam under our deck and the cool evening. The cool evening allowed us to shut the A/C off and open the windows. Our bedroom is not too far from our deck. Mother robin must be that early bird who gets the worm because they were a chirpin this morning. Don’t worry I didn’t evict them but I did think about it. Since I was up I figured I might as will stay up and go for a run.

I am not a camel so I always have to have a plan on how and where I am going to put my Gatorade so I can hydrate periodically during my LSD runs. I have placed bags in ditches, left coolers in ditches, placed Gatorade in mailboxes and have left Gatorade in the back of my pick up. I figure where the best locations might be and than plan my route. There is a web site called mapmyrun.com that works well for this. For today’s run I had the luxury of using my mailbox. My daughter’s mailbox and my son’s mailbox. With the help of mapmyrun.com I was able to plan out 3.5 mile loops that took me to the mailboxes. At about every 3.5 miles I was able to get a drink and carry on.

The LSD run went extremely well. I cruised pretty much through the entire 16.2 miles I ran today. My pace was a good pace for my level, that being weight and age. I managed a 10:05 pace over the entire 16 miles. All miles except one that did not include a stop for a drink was at least 10 seconds better than a 10:00 pace. My best mile was mile 15 to 16. Today was a big confidence boost.

I did make a change this week to try and help pick me up a little bit. My pace seemed to have slowed in my shorter runs despite the feeling that I was moving at a good pace. So I decided to change things up by using my Ipod again. I had stopped using the Ipod because at Grandmas Marathon you are not allowed to run with Ipods. I had stopped wearing my Ipod 2 weeks prior to the marathon. I found my runs without the Ipod were enjoyable and kind of spiritual so I continued running without the Ipod as I began my training for my second marathon. As I said my run pace seemed to have slowed and I thought a change would help. My last three runs have all shown improvement in my pace. Change is good.

Moving forward into next week I will increase my short runs just a bit and add a longer midweek run in there somewhere. I will end the week with another LSD of somewhere around 18 miles. Following next week a little step back week that will see the LSD go down to about 14. That will be followed by week that should end with a 20+ mile LSD. It’s just getting good at this point.

Thanks again for checking up on me. Feel free to join me next time you’re in the Twin Cities area.