Week 1 Complete! I give it a 6.5.

While I did not blog much this week, I did get quite a bit of running in just a different fashion then my usual, running. I was supposed to do 5 miles on Wednesday, 6 miles on Thursday and then 8 miles today.

I ended up with 5 games IHSA varsity games during the week which gave me about 12 miles total and then popped out 9 U-10's yesterday at a tournament each one is about a mile of running, then I did an older U-17 to top off roughly 12.5 miles.

I am giving the Jacobs vs Huntley varsity game where I did quite a bit of up and down the sidelines in a very fast and competitive game, the data is slightly off because when the game was over I glanced down and noticed I neglected to start the watch for the second half, but it was more of the same so I guesstimated the mileage.

Next week I have 2 IHSA games on Tuesday and Thursday and 2 club (USSF) games on Saturday. Both IHSA games I am in center and should get between 3-3.5 miles in. Plus they are on grass fields so its always heavy going after all the rain.

As well as a programmed run on Wednesday of 4 miles, 6 miles on Friday and 10 miles on Sunday.

The look of the Half Marathon.

Marathon Training Program starts next Monday

Been going through my rest period following the half marathon. Mostly shortish jogs and refereeing, yesterday I did the Zion-Benton vs Lake Zurich JV game which was a rout, and I barely moved at all, 2 miles versus the usual 3 in a JV game. I am looking forward to getting my engine going forward to the Marathon in September.

Return to Running

So I refereed a JV game yesterday, and felt very very good, three days after the race, no residual soreness or pain, so I am very pleased. By the way Lake Zurich won 3-0.

Race Report: The Trailbreaker Half Marathon

Well I ran it, in 3:07:59 (Garmin time) finishing last in my age bracket and 2nd last among men. The wind was not that bad as it turns out, and it barely rained at all so that was all good. Had a few glitches along the way and before the start but otherwise smooth sailing.

My glitches:

• My Bluetooth headset for music would not pair with my phone, so at the last minute no music for the race, which was frustrating, no idea what was wrong with it.
• I was overdressed, had to much on and was hot most of the race until I saw my daughter and gave her some of my stuff. Felt better immediately
• My Garmin worked fine all race but for some reason would not recognize and download here at home, after about 100 downloads with no issue, the one download I really want, no go! I was able to copy the splits from the watch, but no map of the race route for me.
• My fueling plan went awry when I ate a Cliff Bar at mile 4.5 which proceeded to give me GI distress until mile 7.5 when I found a rest room. I would estimate this little snafu cost me 15 minutes.

My positives:

• I was calm at the start plus I felt properly fueled, my hydration was fine, and it remained so throughout the race.
• At no time during the race did I think about quitting, although the GI distress made me very uncomfortable for about 20% of the race.
• My first six miles were 12:04, 12:30, 14:00, 14:23, 13:09, and 13:56. A little faster then I would have liked, but I was very comfortable.
• Mile 12 was 14:07 so I still had something left in the tank.
• I am writing this about 12-14 hours after the race (insomnia) and while my legs are tight, I have no other issues physically.

 The Trailbreaker  

• Getting numbers and chip was a breeze, the start was well organized.
• Race runs the first 2-3 miles and last 2-3 miles on sidewalks in the business section of  Waukesha, which was awkward at times.
• The trails we ran on were nicely paved and clear so that was fine.
• I would personally would have liked to see a few more aid stations, there were only 3 for a total of 5 on the out and back race course.

Future plans

• I start the Fox Valley marathon training on the 22nd of this month, with a slightly different program, three runs a week, Wednesday, Friday and the long run on Sunday. With some weight training in between.
• Two intermediate goals are out there, the Highland Park Half marathon (June 2), and the run portion of the Wacounda triathlon (July 28th)

Race Day! Half Marathon Style

Well my 15 week beginners half marathon program is coming to a head this morning with my first half marathon. I have trained quite regularly for the race with about 4-5 runs a week, and over the 15 weeks I have missed maybe 3 of the scheduled workouts for one reason or the other.

My training times suggest I can do somewhere between 2:50 to 3:00 hours, I would be quite pleased with that, however my main goal is to finish, and get a medal, and get that cool sticker saying 13.1 for my car, and be able to walk tomorrow!.

24 hours to go and 23 mile an hour winds in store for me.

So I made my decision to do the Trailbreaker race on Saturday morning, a couple of days ago and then the moment I registered (non-refundable) the forecast changed to what you see in the picture.

The temperature is fine, the rain is okay, but what really is annoying is the wind S at 23 mph. The race is slightly south west going out and then comes West near the turn around point, then it will be behind me the whole way back. So its a mixed bag. I need to find a slow fat guy to draft off of. Oh wait thats me!