Some Pictures from the Warrior Dash

Warrior Dash-- Johnson Creek Wisconsin!

Proof I leave the ground when I run.

Week 8-- Very good week!

I think I have finally turned the corner and felt strong all week, all culminating in a PR 5K, on the running leg of the Wauconda Sprint Triathlon today. We finished 5th in the coed team division.

I blasted through my 5K position for the sprint in 31:49 besting my old time of 34:12 by 2 minutes and 23 seconds. To say the least I am very pleased.

However there was more good things happening as well, my Thursday run was a 10K test and I got a PR in that as well 1:15:35 in a training run, which was not expected, that one was about 3 minutes better then my old PR.  I also did a solid 10 miles with my neighbor on Saturday morning.

Overall it was a very good week, 2 PR's! Next week I am doing a Warrior Dash with my daughter and her boy friend in Wisconsin. Plus next week is a big week, 9, 6, 4 and 14 for 33 total.

Having a good week!

This has been a good week, nailed my weightlifting, on Tuesday and Friday, and then got the runs on Wednesday and Thursday done with some ease. Tomorrow 10 miles, then on Sunday I am doing the Wauconda Co-ed Team Sprint Triathlon. I am doing the run, portion, and I intend to go very hard. Would like to get an unofficial PR for the 5K, if I can get an accurate start location for the 5K out of transition area, maybe sub 30 minutes?

Win some wine, donate to a good cause!

In October I will be running in the Chicago Marathon. Rather then running for me, I have decided to run for a charity I hold near and dear - the Ronald McDonald House Charities. What they do is amazing and rewarding and I am humbled by their work. They are all the things you want in a charity -  organized, proactive and financially responsible.

I am attempting to raise money for them as part of my commitment to the race team, so I had an idea for a raffle to kick off my fundraising efforts.

I am in possession of a $65 (according to my Vivino wine app) bottle of wine which I bought as part of an "instant wine cellar" at a silent auction for another charity.  Looking through the collection I found a bottle of Russian River Valley Cuvee De Trois Pinot Noir from 2011 (link to the rating of the wine is here).

So here is what I am doing as an incentive for this great cause, for every dollar you donate to RMHC via this link, I will give you one entry in a raffle for the above bottle of wine. The raffle will end on July 31st.

Week 7-- Humidity cuts into my mileage!

The goal was 35, the actual result was 28, I reduced my 10 miler of Saturday to 8 miles, and today's 15 miles to 10. So why did I do this? 85% humidity at 5:00 am, made discretion the better part of valor.

The week was very good however. Wednesday I ran 5 miles with my neighbor who wanted to push and push we did, each mile being faster then the last, mile splits of 12:26, 11:41, 11:39, 11:39, 11:27, and the last 1/4 mile we did in 8:00 minute mile pace. So that was a good one.

Thursday was a speed work day, which was marginal, my legs felt the day before to be honest. I did 800 repeats with a long warmup and cool down. This workout was on the treadmill as well.

Saturday was hot and humid and my neighbor and I were out the door at 5am, she wanted to join me for 6 miles so we looped back to the house at 6 miles, but by that time she was good to go more, as was I, so we did 2 more, but in that space of time, it got much hotter and my thought process was don't push it, and 2 more miles would have done that. I walked a slow mile while drinking water as a cool down. The mile splits were 11:57, 11:46, 11:55, 11:38, 12:22, 13:23, 12:33, 12:16, much slower second half.

Sunday, was supposed to be 15 miles, but after a mile walking warmup loop, for which I forgot to start my Garmin, I ran 4 miles out via South Valley Lakes, to the Millennium Trail, and then to the Frisbee Golf course (see picture). When I got back to the house having done 8 miles I drank and did a slow jog walk cool down for about a mile. I thought about doing another 5, since it did not seem that bad, but when I checked my weather.com app, I saw 80% humidity, I decided that was enough.

As a side note to the Sunday run, running through the woods on the trail, is mosquito central! I did not do the walk/run in the woods, hard running only, not a bad plan.

Week 6 Report-- 30 Miles for the first time in this training program

Got two ten milers done on Saturday and Sunday thanks to my neighbors and friends. and finished with my first 30 mile week in this training plan. I will be above 30 miles 7 more times in the next 14 weeks, for comparison, the build up to the Wisconsin Marathon only got me over 30 miles 3 times.

• So today's 10 miler, when you back out warmups and cool-downs was the following in terms of minutes per mile my times were 13:18, 13:06, 13:08, 12:52, 13:31, 12:14, 12:40, 11:52 
  Negative Splits! Miles 1-4 52:32 and miles 5-8 50:20 also an average time of 12:50 per mile.
• The two midweek runs were decent but not great, the speed work was fine until I was ejected backwards from the treadmill, when I decided to stop before the treadmill did. Not the smartest or safest thing I have ever done.
• My nutrition plan seems to be working, I feel like I have quite a bit of power, during my runs, and my recovery from 10 milers, seems minimal, Sunday evening 12 hours later zero soreness, in fact I could probably go do it again. Not a bad feeling to have.

Next week I have a bigger week, planned, 8, 7, 10 and 15, the jump from 30 in a week to 40 in a week might be to much, so I may reduce the midweek mileage, by 3, and the long runs by 2, and bring my mileage in at 35, which would keep with my rule of only increasing mileage 15%

Week 5 report-- Not bad, with an MIA long run.

So the week went very well, right up until Sunday morning and waking up with an ear ache. It was actually the third or fourth day of it, Sunday's was worse however. In fact I tried to run, but I was wobbly and I did not get to far (about a mile) before walking back to house. I took some ibuprofen to reduce the swelling, which is VERY unusual for me since I never take anything other then some vitamins and my blood pressure meds. It worked by noon and as I write this (Monday) there is limited to almost no ear discomfort right now. I suspect I had a mild infection since my lower jaw hurts almost like a toothache, hopefully I am on the downside of that.

So to recap rather then 29 miles for the week, I got 20. I am not terribly upset about it, still have 15 weeks or so to go until race day.

This week I have 8, 5, 7 and 15 miles. The 5 will be speed work, I am repeating a workout I have done twice before 7 x 1,000m at race pace less 60 seconds, I can compare and contrast the workouts.

Am I creating a monster? A food-like blog post no less!

So my July 1 goal is to eat better, although I have been eating well before, I am really focusing on the ratio of nutrients/macros I eat on my nutrition plan. I have posted about this a few days ago and since then I have been monitoring my ratios every day and then recording them into my giant spreadsheet I keep.

So below is the table I am keeping of the ratios, I backtracked my nutrition for the last 10 days of June to give me a sense of where I was. I marked the days where I came within 10% of my goal in bold. In those 10 test days I had 4 successes, and 26 others. More depressingly only once did I come within 8% of my fat goal, most of the time I was double my goal percentage (Carbs are 50%, Protein is 30% and Fat is 20%) at this moment.

Since I started paying much closer attention (July 1) to the ratios I had 5 successes out of 15 days. In fact one day I was nearly perfect, all within 4% of the goal, I would qualify hitting the goal as 5% by the way, so certainly better performance.

Recognizing my fat needs to come down if I want to see how the 50-30-20 process works for me I focused on reducing my fat intake. In the process I have gone a little over the top with carbs, hitting percentages of 77% and 65% and reducing my fat the last few days to 10% and 8%

C50	P30	F20
43%	21%	36%
31%	26%	43%
35%	35%	29%
36%	20%	44%
33%	24%	43%
55%	16%	28%
34%	18%	48%
48%	17%	35%
39%	19%	42%
39%	24%	37%
26%	24%	49%
37%	21%	42%
48%	29%	24%
77%	14%	10%
65%	26%	8%

So I have very much focused on meal planning today, I have mapped out my exact breakfast for the next few days, as well as the exact lunch, and weighed and packaged it. Hopefully if I can avoid the stuff that pops up at work, I can manage to spend a week on the plan, at the right ratios and see how I feel.

So the picture above was today's lunch, it was a premade crust from Archer Farms a whole wheat thin pizza crust, half a cup of tomato sauce, a cup of diced shredded cheese, some mushrooms, diced onions and some Italian seasoning. According to MyFitnessPal its 681 calories, 116 grams of carbs, 27 of protein and 16 of fat. A little bit on the high side for the carbs, but my breakfast was 59, 42, 36, so my day is 60%, 22% and 18% after lunch. I happen to know I having some brats and coleslaw for dinner plus some BBQ sauce. So my ratio would be 52%, 23% and 25%, almost there! Plus I come in at 2,300 calories for the day.

Neighborly Goodness

I ran 7 miles with two of my neighbors today starting with a quick car trip to the Volo Village Hall at 5:30am to get on the trail. One of my neighbors is running the Rock and Roll marathon in a few weeks in Chicago. So she needed the miles, I was happy to oblige. Always good to run with someone and in this case two someones. Had a good time on this route, since I went 10 miles on it last week, as well. Hills, paved and gravel roads, all are on this route so its a good test.

Week 4-- Much much better!

This was supposed to be a low key week in terms of mileage and intensity, and it was. However I felt good on all my runs and surprisingly fast.

There were only three runs this week, since one of my training plans tenets is to do at least one of my long runs on fresh legs every month. In this case since my long runs are on Sunday, and I generally run on Saturday as well. It means dropping the Saturday run, which works perfectly into my cut back (recovery) weeks. I simply don't run on Saturday.

So Tuesday's leg workout went very well, I am slowly increasing my weights, I handle, and leg day is certainly paying off in terms of my running, the lunges, calf raises and most of all squats (smith, goblet and leg machine versions) all are making my legs feel strong when I run.

Wednesday was a day out at Ray Lake, after work I drove there and ran 2 laps of the Forest preserve trail (2.33 mile loop), Only problem here is I was supposed to run 6, and had run out of water, and while it was in the mid 70's, it was also about 70% humidity, and I was feeling it, so I cut it short. Went for a 2 mile walk with the wife about 2 hours later, so my guilt was removed about the lack of distance.

Thursday was speed-work, its was supposed to be at the track, but there was a monsoon dumping water all over us so I went to the gym and did it on the treadmill. I actually struggled during the warmup and the cool down portions of the run, but did 6 x 800 repeats with 90 second of rest, right in my goal time of 5:15. Felt awful warming up, and felt miserable during the cool down for some reason. I think I was irritated about being indoors.

Friday was upper body weights, and I did that just fine, the workouts I have are about 45-55 minutes long and I can feel progress and the "burn" in both the leg and upper body versions.

Saturday was a day of rest from my normal run, although I did the upper body workout a second time, just to have something to do at club, and figured it would not do anything adverse to my legs.

Sunday was long run day...I was up and ready to go (5:30am), before the gate at the Grant Forest Preserve I wanted to run at was even open, and rather then wait I went to the Volo village hall parked and ran a hilly 10 miler on an out and back course, that I felt fine with the whole time. The goal of the run was to run a few miles at better then race pace. So I decided mile 4-6  and mile 8 and 10 would be those and I would try to push each one slightly faster. I actually remembered to run those miles faster if you see my (bold type) splits below, but forgot that I wanted to go progressively faster.

12:16 12:02 12:06 11:25 11:35 10:45 12:38 11:01 12:27 11:49

So overall a good week hit my mileage goals (minus the one run) and my legs felt good throughout and 6 hours post run, can barely tell I ran today.

Next week is a step up week with runs of 8, 5 (speed work) 7 and 12 for a total of 32 miles. The next three weeks before my step down week consist of 32, 35 and 40 miles. So its an exciting few weeks ahead of me.

Nutrition for performance and weight loss? Can I do it?

The reason I started my entire fitness program, with the long range goal of running a marathon back in January of 2014, was to lose weight. I weighed 256 back then, and today I am right around 220 depending on the time of day. My weight loss has been steady and reasonably consistent in the last 18 months, and I am quite pleased with it.

To recap here are some of the thing I did to get to this point.

• Spent the first 4 months on the Atkins diet which basically got the first 15-20 pounds off me. I also walked during this phase quite a bit as well as refereeing soccer.
• I then started a consistent 3-4 days a week weight training program, focusing on overall body tone and developing actual muscles. I continue this program, although with changes, to this day.
• I started training for the Madison Half Marathon with a 16 week program in the late summer, and then a 20 week program for the Wisconsin Marathon in December. Right now I am in week 3 of a 20 week program for the Chicago Marathon.
• I use MyFitnesssPal to record everything I eat, in fact I have only missed recording one day in the last 18 months. (My birthday, when I was on a cruise on a sea day, and out of wireless range). This has helped me make better decisions about calories and keeping my weight loss moving in the right direction.
• I have set goals for weight loss, which I have generally hit. I wanted to be under 220 for Wisconsin and I was, barely, and I want to be close to 200 for Chicago.

Which brings me to where I am now. I am hovering around 220-221 as I start to ramp up my program for Chicago. All my reading tells me that I can do better in terms of nutrition.

Studying my 18 month eating history via MyFitnesssPal.com  has been quite educational. I appear to be averaging about 2,300 to 2,400 calories consumed a day and I have been averaging right around 3,000 total calories burned a day which is roughly correct in terms of how much weight I have lost. Basically my goal is a 500 calorie deficit every day, (more like 400 in my case) with a pound of fat being 4,500 calories its taking me about 10 days to drop a  pound, and that's right around where I am in terms of weight loss.

During most of that time my ratio of carbs, protein and fat (macros) has been 36% carbs, 23% protein, 40% fat. As I have read a variety of books about performance eating and eating for weight loss. I have pretty much deduced a few things about my diet:

• I need to eat better.
• My recording of portion sizes might be a little bit flawed, as in under counting calories.
• My macro ratio of 36%, 23%, 40% is not optimal.

So starting in July I am going to do the following:

• Eat better
• Dial in on measuring what I eat to keep my goal calorie intake around 2,100 per day.
• Change my macro ratio to 50% carbs, 30% protein, and 20% fat.

While running is seemingly my focus, in reality it is a means to an end, the end being fitter and trimmer. My ultimate goal would be 190, if I can get there, I am thinking my focus will then move to running faster times. At the moment weight loss plus increased fitness is leading to faster times but once I hit my ultimate weight goal, I am going to see what I can do in terms of training for faster race times.

Week 3 Highlights--- If you can call them that.

So it really wasn't a good week, was not feeling good all week which cut into my mileage by about 9 of my planned 29, leaving me with 20 for the week total. I am not terribly concerned because the "not feeling good" issue has been fixed.

The highlight of the week was the speed work I did on Saturday as I was feeling better. The workout had a one mile warmup, followed by 12 x 400m at 10:30 mile pace, with 90 second rest intervals, the mile pace is about 90 seconds faster then my hopeful marathon pace for this fall. Then there is 1.5 miles of cool down. For a grand total of 5.5 miles.

I thought the workout would be tough, but in reality it was not, maybe a moderate effort at best. The Garmin data from the run showed my heart rate rarely getting above 120. Which is hardly pushing it for me. The recovery was quick and dropped into the 80's almost immediately during the rest intervals.

Overall I am pleased with the workout, I am not so sure what the ease of completion means in the overall context of the training plan, I feel I could have run at a 9:30 minute mile pace and been challenged, which is way faster then I thought I could do, I may dial up the pace in this weeks speed training to test that hypothesis out.

So week 17 is done, and on to week 16, which is a bit of a step down week, although given this last week, not so much. Mileage is 6, 5 and 12, with the 5 being speed work.

Week 2 is complete...not the best but not the worst

So week 2 is over, I did 22.5 miles, when I was supposed to do 25, two things impacted that. First the speed work I did on Wednesday, mile repeats at 60 seconds faster then marathon pace, took something out of me for the the next run. Although I felt really good, during the second thing, the impromptu, trail race I ran on Saturday, I did a little less distance on Sunday because I did a little more distance then I was supposed to on Saturday. If that makes sense.

The weight training appears to be working as well. While its still very early, in the program (been doing it for 3 weeks), I can feel a springiness in my step from the leg days, and I can tell I am getting slightly more tone in the upper body, so its all on course right now.

Next week I am on schedule for 29 miles, two runs of 6 miles during the week, 6 miles of speed work on Saturday and then an 11 miler on Sunday. The work week is not super intense after Monday, so I should be okay with getting in the "following the schedule" groove, which I have not been the first two weeks as well as I would like to think.

Bonus!!! RACE REPORT-- the Coureurs de Bois Trail Race

So I decided at the last minute to run the Coureurs de Bois Trail Race in Kenosha Petrified Springs Park. It was advertised in laps of 4 miles, apiece, so you could run 8, 12, or 16 miles. Most opted for 8 it seemed. I have always wanted to do a trail run, so when I saw this race I was like why not!

Anyway I had never done a race like this so I opted for 8 miles, since it seemed like the best option given what I read about starting running trail races. That was the right decision because of the second thing I learned about 100 feet into the trail portion of the race. Racing flats are not designed for muddy slick trails, trails shoes are! if I do this again, I am running with trail shoes. I went down at least 3 times with significant splats, and had at least 4-5 times I went down to at least one hand on ground.

The good thing about crossing the Pike River 3-4 times per lap was the ability to clean up, but even then, 10 minutes in the shower, barely got it all off me.

Fortunately for me all the really good runners went 12 or 16, so I think I also finished in the top 15 in my race, but we shall see when results are up. What I do know is that I won my age group, which is not something I have ever done before, very pleased with that! The other thing I discovered is that the laps were closer to 3.5 miles, although my Garmin had some issues with the signal in the deep woods. I am guessing the 7 miles is correct since I was not running 1:51 for 8 miles, that was way to fast for me in that mud, although I am super pleased with my time. See the details below from Garmin.

My 20 week marathon program.

So here it is, my 20 week program, I love me some spreadsheet as you can tell. This is usually displayed in a 11 x 17 format but for some reason it imports here in 8.5 x 11 format. I wrote about the plan a few days ago (here). The abbreviations are as follows LB is lower body, WT is weight training, LSD is long slow distance, UB is upper body, SW is speed work and MM is Jeff Galloway's magic mile.

I also color code any run over 13 miles, and I use the color yellow in the weekly column to denote the hard week in my cycles, which are generally those over 35 weekly miles. Red is race day, and as you can see I have two half marathons scheduled for August. I have three weeks in late August & early September that concern me with 3 "yellow" weeks with mileage of 36, 40 and 42, before I start to cut back for the Marathon itself. I am sure if I follow my program, and more importantly handle the program, I can do those weeks.

Week 1 Report-- One word for it-- Blah!

So I had runs of 4, 6, 6 and 8 scheduled this week, for a week 1 mileage total of 24. Actual miles 4, 0, 5 and 8 for a total 17 miles. I did however do all my weightlifting workouts in a very positive fashion.

So whats up? I would guess that it was last Sunday's half marathon took something out of me, even today when I ran the full 8 my legs felt heavy and jello like. Two days off from running on Monday and Tuesday should see me fully recovered (past history tells me that).

The weight training this week was quite successful. Handled all the weights that I had set up as starter weights for the weight training portion of my 20 week. I think the 4 legs weight training days I did leading up the Northshore Half Marathon gave me quite a bit of leg strength, specifically the squats. I felt very strong in the second half of the run.

I am going to be much more focused on the weight training part of this 20 week program, since I think some of the cramping issues I had at mile 20 in the Wisconsin Marathon had something to do with lack of muscle strength, since I passed on quite a few weight training sessions during the Wisconsin program.

20 Weeks until the Chicago Marathon, starts now!

This week is week 1 of my 20 week training cycle to the October 11th Chicago Marathon. I am running as part of Team Ronald McDonald Charities (feel free to donate by following this link). I am using a similar plan that I designed for the Wisconsin Marathon, that involves 4 runs a week and 3 weight training sessions. This worked as best as I could have expected given my work schedule and my home schedule for Wisconsin so its a go again.

The plan basics are as follows, runs on Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday. I have a rest day on Monday, and I do weight training on Tuesday and Friday. On Saturday after my run I have a series of body weight exercises I will do.

I developed the running plan with an eye towards Matt Fitzgerald's excellent book "80/20 Training". The concept of 80/20 is referring to the ratio of slow to high-intensity training. Research is starting to show that even for amateur athletes who train much less than elites, 80/20 training will better improve race performances than high intensity training alone. How slow is slow? Scientists recommend staying below your aerobic threshold, or just below the point where you can no longer talk comfortably while exercising. Which is easy to do for me!

So the plan I have taped to the door to our pantry has the following concepts ingrained in it, (as best as I could make it).

• 3 weeks of increasing mileage then a drop back week for recovery.
• Sunday long runs are never more then 40% of weeks total mileage.
• Once every three weeks I will run my long run on a day where I have a longer then average time frame for recovery.
• I have calculated the 80/20 ratio for each week and average about 82% for the 20 week program.
• The 20% portion of the program, the high intensity stuff, speed work and tempo runs will take place on Thursdays.
• No week will increase by more then 10% in mileage from week to week, obviously excluding the recovery weeks.

So the other things you see, other then my obsession with color coding things, is a total of 655 total miles, 2 half marathons in August as tune ups, and hopefully some major increases in fitness.

• Weeks 7, 11, 14 and 15 I crest 40 miles a week, with a high of 42 for the 20 week cycle.
• Average weekly mileage is 35, (Wisconsin Marathon training program averaged 28).

The Tuesday and Friday weight training sessions are focused on legs, upper body and the core. Key components that appear on all 3 days are planks, pull ups, dips and some flexibility exercises that are running specific. The Saturday workout will be all body weight, mostly focused on the core and stabilizer muscles.

I am going to focus on a few things with a little bit more intensity this training cycle.

• Diet-- I weigh 220 this morning, and I would like to weigh 200-205 in October, which given my past history is doable. However I not obsessed with that, I think that will be a natural result of the above plan. My intent is to eat higher quality food when possible.
• Mileage-- My body handled an average of 28 miles a week for Wisconsin with little issues, but the step up to an average of 35 miles per week is something I need to be aware of and monitor. Since I am 55 years old, and pushing my body to a place it has not been since age 22 or so.
• Resting heart rate-- I monitored that constantly during the last 6-8 months and its interesting to see it slowly drop as I got fitter. My heart rate has always been reasonably low, and my resting rate when I started would average out to about 52-53 first thing in the morning back in October of last year, and slowly it dropped as my training got me fitter, until it was 46 the last week in April. I average the readings for a week to get these numbers. I do watch for large fluctuations which are indicators of impending illness and or over training. Usually a 8-9 beat jump is an indicator of that.

So this is quite a bit of stuff here, but hopefully it will get me to the Chicago Marathon start line in good shape and ready to go.

RACE REPORT: Northshore Half Marathon

So a very windy and cold day for late May, wait make that early February, or so it seemed this morning in Highland Park Illinois. Temps were in the low 40's and winds were off the lake at 15-20 mph, plus the course was a wee bit hilly (Profile here). So everything was primed to have a crap day, well not so fast, why? Because I was startlingly fast, breaking my Madison Half Marathon PR of 2:50 by 19 minutes. I finished at 2:31:19 on my Garmin, and 2 seconds faster on the race timer from the timing people (cool video of the finish is here).

So I got to the race site in plenty of time, and hid in my car until 15 minutes before the race started, which since they sent us off in waves, so in reality I stood in the cold for 30 minutes, which was miserable. Once I got started I went out pretty well, the first 5 miles passed quite easily, with no discomfort, as the blood returned to my extremities. I ran the first mile a little faster then I wanted to , but it was mostly downhill and I needed my body to heat up.

At mile 6 I had a 90 second pit stop in a porta-potty that was being buffeted by the wind, I was petrified that it was going over, with me in it. I had no contingency plan for that occurrence!

I deliberately did not pay much attention to my pace, I knew I was going well, but was unsure of where I stood, but when I hit the half way point I was at 1:15:52 and was very pleased with that. Knowing that I usually slow in the second half, I was still very happy with a potential finish in the 2:35 range, little did I know I would be accelerating to the finish. Which is exactly what I did finishing the second half in 1:14:27.

1 week taper to the Northshore Half

So next Sunday I am running my third half marathon, the Northshore Half Marathon in Highland Park. Its 29 days post marathon, and I have been feeling good, so I am excited to see if I can push my half marathon PR (currently 2:50 set 7 months ago) even lower. Many of my training runs and in fact the first 13.1 of the marathon have been well under 2:50, and my unofficial PR is 2:37 set during a long run in the buildup to the Wisconsin Marathon.

So my goal is to be under 2:37 if I can, but will be happy with a sub 2:40. After all is said and done dropping your PR by 10 minutes is not a bad thing. The 10 day outlook for race days says, 50-60 and partly cloudy, although that was the same forecast for race day in Kenosha, where it ended up 75-80 and sunny.

My schedule this week, was a 7 miler yesterday, a 4 miler today, 3 miles of speed work on Wednesday and 5 miles on Thursday, and then 2 days of rest, before race day. The only potential change to this would be if I get assigned a IHSA Sectional game, but I am guessing I will not.

My recovery for the Northshore Half coincides with the kick off of my 20 week program to the Chicago marathon, which I will write about in more detail soon.

Refereed 2 IHSA State Playoff games last night.

Had a good time in rainy cold conditions at Carmel High School who hosted two regional games last night. I was in the Center for Carmel vs North Chicago and was an AR for the Grayslake Central vs Wauconda game. I made no mistakes in either game (gauged by decibel level of coaches complaints generally) or self recrimination (not often).

From an exercise perspective I got in 6.5 miles of wind sprints, side to side running and running backwards. Which is not a bad thing. The second game where I was the linesman had more sprinting up and down, and given that Carmel has an old artificial turf field was somewhat hard on my feet. Plus wearing wet clothing for 4 hours is not pleasant.

National Physical Fitness and Sport Month Survey

So a few weeks ago I was asked to fill out a survey about my fitness habits and I was asked the following questions to contribute to this survey. Being an egomaniac of course I love to share my opinion with as many people as possible, so this was right up my alley!

Here are the questions with my answers:

1. What is your favorite way to stay active? Running? HIIT? Weight training? Sports?
   I enjoy running although it can be dull, so I sprinkle in a liberal amount of speed work, its always fun to go fast. I also weight train to keep toned.
2. How many times a week to you strive to workout?
   Generally I run 4 times a week, with 2 days of weight training, Saturday is combo day so I have two days off after my sunday long run.
3. Is there a pre/post workout routine you would like to share?
   I really do nothing before or after, I generally warm up for the run by walking the first 1/2 mile or so.
4. Do you have any tips on injury prevention?Knock on wood I have never had a serious injury, I attribute that to good genes, but I also weight train which I am a firm believer in for injury prevention.
5. How does nutrition play into your fitness regimen?
   Hardly at all, but it should and its something I am starting to explore.
6. What health benefits do you find most attractive about staying active? (Physical, psychological, or both!)
   Mental mostly, I like the way I look certainly, but it allows me to manage stress, and to be healthier which is great for the overall mental attitude.
7. What do you do to stay motivated when you are exhausted/under the weather/etc.?
   Well it depends on why I am in that state, but generally rest, I have never been afraid of taking a couple of days off to recharge.
8. How has your fitness routine/goals changed throughout the years? Why?
   I have changed from more competitive sports to more fitness based sports, for the physical/mental improvement process, while I am still competitive, its more with myself then in a team environment.

Here is some information about the surveyors. BHG360° conducted an informal survey of a variety of health and fitness bloggers (like me!), from active mothers like Mackenzie McKee to certified trainers like Leslie Ann Quillen. They asked them to share their tips and advice about working out and staying in shape—and how to keep up the motivation. As you can see from this snapshot of health-minded individuals, those of us interested in living well tend to use many different strategies and regimens to complement our lifestyle and reach our fitness goals. In the spirit of National Physical Fitness and Sport Month, we invite you to share these and other tips.

Sleep and Recovery

So I read an article a few months ago about recovery after a marathon. The central point was that for every mile, you need a day of recovery. I scoffed at that. 26 days to recover? How could that be? Well while I am still not sure about that today is 11 days post marathon and I feel pretty good.  I have noticed one thing that is quite interesting.

I track all sorts of bio-data with a Basis watch, so I know my resting heart rate, sleep time, type and quality as well as body temperature. My sleep which has averaged about 380 to 400 minutes a night in the 17 week intensive phase of training (about normal for me) jumped to 420-430 minutes during the taper as I focused on extra sleep, and getting up later.

So now post marathon I have been letting sleep do what it will. The last 11 days have all averaged over 450 minutes, with significant chunks of time spent in what Basis calls "deep sleep" where you body refreshes and renews muscles and boosts your immune system. I have averaged about 20% of my sleep time in this phase in the past. In the last 11 nights, I have been over 30% consistently. By the way 15-30% of your total sleep time is considered normal.

So one can infer that I am still recovering, even though my morning waking up heart rate has returned to its normal pre-marathon range days ago and I feel zero residual soreness (that was gone within 4 days) my inner workings are still repairing themselves.

Next Race is 22 days away! The Northshore Classic Half Marathon

So this morning I registered for the Northshore Classic a half marathon run in Highland Park. Oddly this will be the first of my three long races that I have run in Illinois all the others have been in Wisconsin (Trail-breaker Half, Madison Half and the the Wisconsin Marathon). My PR for the half is 2:50:56 at the Madison Half last November. My time for the half in the Wisconsin Marathon was approximately 2:40 and change. I have run numerous half's during my long runs leading up to the marathon and have always been lower then 2:50 (times of 2:37, 2:42, and 2:47).

So I need to figure out a goal for this race which I think should be in the 2:38 to 2:30 range, but I need to make sure the pace is realistic for the lower time goal of 2:30. I also need to watch myself because the marathon will only be 28 days in the rear view mirror and I want to make sure I am fully recovered. I feel good today (7 days later) but all the literature I have read says it takes about a day for every mile you ran. So some of my quickie training for the this half will fall into the recovery zone.

My tentative plan (starting week of May 11) for the Northshore Half is as follows:

Week 3-- Runs of 3, 5, 7 for 15 miles total
Week 2-- Runs of  3, 5, 3, 9 for 20 total miles
Week 1--  Runs of 3, 5 and then 13.1 on race day for 21 miles.

Follow up from the Marathon

So its Wednesday, and its the 4th day since the marathon. I am feeling some residual soreness in my calves this morning. However the thighs are not feeling anything this morning, they had been sore for a couple of days. Everything else is fine.

I am quite happy with my physical condition, I think the training was the key. I do realize that my body is still recovering even though I may not be seeing or feeling it so I am taking it easy, with some light jogging tomorrow and then some more on  the weekend.

I am going to run the Northshore Half on May 31 in Highland Park. I like the level of fitness I am at so with just a couple of medium length runs the 10 days before the half I am going to try to improve on my 2:50 PR, my half time was 2:40 in the marathon, so I would like to push a little bit harder and get a 2:35.

Wisconsin Marathon: Race Report

So after 16 months, a loss of 37 pounds, a significant improvement in fitness, it was finally race day. In the lead up to the race I was reasonably calm, although the last 24 hours I was questioning everything. Long story short I was going along a wee bit faster then my goal pace until mile 16 and then I started to cramp in my calves, which ended any semblance of hitting my goal pace. I finished a handful of second under 6 hours (although the results say 5 minutes higher, it is my Garmin that disagrees, and I it took me at least that long to get to the start line).

The Good
I had a good parking space so lining up for the race was not traumatic and the start was easy, it took me about 5 minutes to get to the start line. Other then a trip to the bathroom at mile 11, and a stop to say hi to a friend at mile 14, all my miles were right in my comfort zone in the 12 minute range. I used the first mile as a warmup, basically not using the walks in the walk/run process, and felt fine.

In fact for the entire race I never felt tired and or winded, I always felt like I had the energy to go forward....its just that this happened.

The Bad and the Ugly
So at mile 17, my right calf cramped so badly, that there was about a 2 inch square 1/2 inch deep indentation right on the inside of it. Not to be out done the left one joined in a mile or so later. So from the knees up I felt fine. I was gratified to have the medical person on the bike, say she had never seen anything like that, so at least I was boundary pushing!

The reality of this was it moved my times into the 15 minute per mile pace for the rest of the race. I had the energy to run forward, but my calves would not let me push off, without starting to cramp or actually cramping from mile 17 until mile 23, when the banana I had at mile 22 and the gels I got at mile 18.5 and 19.5 kicked in, plus the gels I was carrying. As I write this (24 hours later) my calves are lightly bruised from the intensity of the cramping.

My daughter joined me at mile 23 and encouraged me to the finish line, which I am grateful for and my legs responded to that and were able to generate a couple of 14 minute miles, but the cramping was more severe the last two miles and I regressed to 15 minute miles.

Not really on the radar here, but I got two blisters on my arches by mile 6, which in the grand scheme of things were annoying, but did not affect me in any way shape or form.

The Funny
So in the start corral a nice gentlemen came up to me and asked me are you Lord_Selfie on Instagram? I said yes, and he introduced himself as a follower (I am of him as well) then I was recognized by another follower out on the course. I also saw a co-worker on the course, who I knew was a runner, and a fast one (finished 13th in Mens Marathon) and was able to blurt "hey I know you" to him before he went past me like a low flying jet.

I also saw a tragedy, someone dropped an entire box of donuts holes in the middle of the race fortunately a police officer nearby told me the perpetrator was taken into custody. That's like a war crime in Wisconsin! I did wonder to myself if the 5 second rule applied during a marathon.

The Course
Was very flat, with only a few ups and downs mostly in the first 10 miles, the worst part was the road from 5-6 and then back again for 9-10 along the shore, was just a mess, and it hurt my feet. After the half marathoners turned for home I still had a long way to go, and it got much quieter, although the support was great out there. I could have done without the dirt roads, but that's a minor quibble. Overall it was a great race.

I saw my friend Dave at the aid station at mile 18.5 and 19.5 which was a blessing given what was happening, he cheered me up quite a bit. I also saw another friend who was running, who finished 10 minutes ahead of me twice.

The Data:
2:40 first half, 3:19 second half 5:59 finish
10:54, 12:22, 12:08, 12:14, 11:32
12:09, 12:26, 12:25, 12:36, 12:20
13:01, 12:37, 12:45, 12:48, 13:11
13:37, 15:20, 15:09, 15:27, 15:05
15:33, 15:18, 14:06, 14:12, 15:45
15:50

48 Hours To Go!

Super edgy, up until yesterday I was okay with everything. Not today. Woke up all ready to go. This evening I am going to do my final 5 miles of my training cycle.

I missed 1 run and 7 weight training days during my 20 week marathon program. I ran 441 miles total, for an average of 22 miles a week, with a high week of 35 miles. I did 5 runs of over 15 miles. Which are the 5 longest runs of my entire life.

Even though I have yet to complete my first marathon, I have already signed up for my second, Chicago, for this fall. But more on that later!

Week 18-- Vacation, lots of walking, plus some amazing runs!

So we were in Phoenix, the Grand Canyon, and Gallup, New Mexico for a week on vacation. I got all my runs in, however two stood out, one was my long run last Sunday right outside our rental in the Deem Hills, which ended up curtailed by the fact that trails were and up and down were much different then running on flats to my legs. So the first run below was supposed to be 10 miles but ended up being 6.5 since the last mile and a half was on trails. Which I enjoyed immensely but can see the need for appropriate trail oriented shoes for trail running.

The next run was along the south rim of the Grand Canyon at dawn. There is not much else I can say about this run other then it was along the south rim of the Grand Canyon at dawn, and spectacular. My Garmin was being a little flaky and recording me running straight out into the canyon on air. This was an amazing run. From the running perspective I ran on paved trails, with lots of little sharp ups and downs, and I must confess I stopped more then once to take pictures and selfies. The run was also at 6,500 feet and I felt limited distress from that and the 25 degree weather, which I strongly suspect is not correct, more like 40, since I ran in shorts and a tech shirt, with limited discomfort.



I had two other runs of 6 and 4 miles that were unremarkable, the only one of interest was in Gallup at 6,600 feet of altitude.

My daughter and I did a hike up to the top of Mount Sunrise outside Scottsdale on Saturday morning, with a gain in 1,300 feet over 2 miles to the summit which clearly counts as hill training. Fantastic
views and great company.

So on Saturday morning I woke up and realized that the marathon is 7 days away and I finally started to feel some nerves, I have been antsy and edgy wanting to run, which from my reading is normal while you are tapering. Never thought I would see the day I would be dying to run!

I ate as well as I could while on vacation and maintained my weight as of this morning back in Round Lake. This week I am going to focus on hydration and eating as cleanly as I can so I am ready to roll next Saturday.

Week 17-- A tapering we shall go!

So after 16 weeks of training culminated in my big 20 miler last Sunday. Week 17 brought a downsizing in mileage from the mid 30's of the last few weeks to the mid 20's this week and next.  The theory behind a taper is your body rests and recovers while your reduced training base holds your fitness in place, so on race day you are primed, rested and fit enough for a big effort.

It is interesting to note that one of the symptoms of tapering that you have to fight is the urge to go out and run, seeking the runners high, so to speak, which oddly enough despite being under the weather most of the week, I have had.

The residue of the long run was pretty much gone by Wednesday, with some significant soreness in the front, lower thighs from the hills at independence grove gone in 2-3 days.

So for the next week I will be training at altitude in Arizona on a vacation to visit the desert and most specifically the Grand Canyon, we are staying in a lodge right off the south rim of the Grand Canyon which I am looking froward to! So there will not be as much blogging from there.

I have a 10 miler Sunday in Phoenix and a few scattered 6-8 miles runs next week and then I return for the final push to the Wisconsin Marathon.

Help me, help Ronald McDonald House Charities this fall.

So even though I have yet to run my first marathon, I am already planning for my second one this fall. So on October 11, 2015, I will be representing Ronald McDonald House Charities (RMHC) at the Bank of America Chicago Marathon! As a member of Team RMHC, I will be training, fundraising and ultimately running 26.2 miles to help keep families close when they need it most.

My daughter and her bestie Dana turned me onto the great work this organization does for families through their college sorority where RMHC was their charity of choice. I have committed to raising a $1,000 for the RMHC, which given my ability to raise money for other causes hopefully will not be to hard to achieve.

I am going to seed the account with a few of my game checks from refereeing, probably the ones where the coaches think I stink, and are shouting at me about that the precise manner of my stench, and I while I am glaring at him from the field, thinking I am not doing this for the money you chump, that's the game I am donating from. Given my performances recently that might be every game!

But more to the point did you know RMHC helps nearly 9 million families stay close and connected to their children who are battling a life-threatening illness or injury each year? It costs approximately $60 to keep a family close by their sick child. Together, by reaching our goal, we can help over 21,650 children heal and cope better with their families by their sides. It’s incredible what we can accomplish together!

I am asking for your support to help me reach my fundraising goal and more importantly, to help more than 21,650 children and families stay close. Be a part of the RMHC network of HOPE, STRENGTH and SUPPORT. No gift is too small. Your donation, of any amount, will not only help me achieve my goal, but will make a difference to those who need it the most. Together, we can make a difference!

Click here to visit my personal page.
Thank you for your gift, together and with 26.2 miles we can accomplish great things!

Its all down hill from here! Week 16 is done!

So this week culminated with my final long run a 20 miler today, I was going to go do it at a special event in Kenosha, but since it was Greek Easter today I ended up doing it at Independence Grove. I felt great until about mile 18 where the sharp hills in the NW corner of the route finished off my thighs, with some cramping, I was able to walk it off, but deliberately did not push at all to the finish.

Overall I am very pleased with the run, the fueling went well, the clothes I wore were fine, I need to tighten up my heart monitor a wee bit since it slipped a few times so I am not sure of my actual HR during the run. I did Clif Shot Bloks throughout and had zero stomach distress. so after 20 miles I do know something, and that is I can finish a marathon! It would be brutal if I was cramping from mile 18 to the finish line but I could stagger home from there. In addition I got a PR for a half marathon today by 13 minutes no less.

Overall my week was 32 miles, and now I am in my taper!

So here are my mile splits:
11:00, 11:55, 12:44, 11:43, 11:55, 11:59, 12:03, 12:01, 11:46, 11:45, 12:07, 12:11, 12:01, 12:02, 12:20, 12:35, 12:47, 12:35, 13:39, 13:04

Mile 1-5-- 59:17
Mile 6-10-- 1:00:00
Mile 11-15-- 1:00:00
Mile 16-20-- 1:04:40
13.1-- 2:37:00
Total time 4:06:40

Local Races on local races!

So I became aware of this new site called localraces.com they do some nice things listing races and resources for, wait for it, local races!

They appear to aggregate upcoming race event information from 3rd party registration engines like Active.com and others. They also have some area trails, running clubs, and cycling clubs, Plus content and event management software, and secure online event and membership registration capabilities.

Chicago area runners can:

• Search and sign up for upcoming Chicago area race events across all major registration engines
• Find Chicago area running and cycling clubs and even register online for club membership
• Discover group runs, rides, and social activities
• Browse and learn about local trails
• Explore a community resource directory of running retailers, bike shops, and more
• Manage their activities, including their race itinerary, race results, event photos, personal records, and goals.

I would suggest you check it out, the more traffic and information this site has the better it will become.

My time for Wisconsin? You heard it here first!

So today at lunch, I plotted out my fitness curve, my times in training, and in races as well as road work. I have been using my own variant of the Galloway Run Walk, running for .35 miles and walking for .15 miles. Rather then using a time equation it made it easier to calculate my mile splits.

However it works out to about 3 minutes and 30 seconds of running and 2 minutes and 25 seconds of walking with a few seconds variance in the walking portion and a 10-15 variance.

So extrapolating my training times I am able to run at the 10:40 mile with reasonable ease for the run portion and the 16:00 minute mile walk is brisk but well within myself.  I used a handy web calculator to come up with my pacing for the 10:40/16:00 pace and it came up with 5:21. I would be very happy with this time. To be candid I would be happy with anything up to about 5:45 in terms of time.

I jotted the pacing numbers down and they are pictured above, I am going to be able to evaluate this number a little bit better after the long 20 mile run on Sunday morning.

Week 15 is done! With a 15 Mile easter egg hunt!

So after this mornings 15 miler I have one big week left and then I start my taper after next Sunday's 20 miler. I ended up doing my run today on the treadmill because I wanted to focus on going slow. Which I was able to do, although I kept itching to dial up the speed, the whole time. Next week outdoors on pavement without fail!

The goal was to keep my heart rate low and to exercise below my ventilatory threshold which I was able to do for about 90% of the run. I felt good throughout, however I was feeling a little bit hungry near the 13 mile mark, so I might think about including a small snack about 60 minutes before race time, or carrying some extra Clif Shot Bloks on me (I am very partial to Citrus) and adding a few more calories to my fuel stops or perhaps both strategies can be incorporated. I need to decide before next Sunday for my dress rehearsal for the marathon.

Coupled with the Yasso 800 workout from Friday mentioned in the last post, and the running I did via refereeing and other scheduled runs this weekend, I hit 35 miles for the week, my highest ever! Next week is 39 miles and then I taper until race day.

Crushed the Yasso 800 workout

The theory behind Yasso 800s is that your time in minutes and seconds for a workout of 10 times 800 meters (two laps of the track) with equal recovery time is the same as the hours and minutes of your marathon time. For example, if you can run 10 times 800 meters in three minutes and 20 seconds with three minutes and 20 seconds recovery, then this predicts that you can run three hours and 20 minutes for your marathon. Run 2:40 for the 800s and you can run 2:40 for the marathon. For more information go here.

So while you are supposed to do them about 3 weeks beforehand I was unable to do mine in that time frame given my personal schedule. So today was the day and I could not have been more pleased. I had to do them on a treadmill which was not ideal, but I had no access to a track today with most local schools in session.

I did a one mile warmup and then ran these 4:53, 4:46, 5:01, 4:50, 4;53, 4:46, 4:52, 4:47, 4:52, 4:54 AVG Pace 4:51 with a 2 minute rest between the intervals. Considering my goal for the Wisconsin Marathon has always been 5:15 to 5:30, hitting a 4:51 average pace is very exciting. I am not changing my marathon time goal, but this workout showed me that my goal time and the finish line are within my reach.

So while I have 29 days to go to the marathon, I only have 3 significant runs left, a 15 miler this Sunday, a 20 milers the week after, and a 10 miler the week after that, as I taper my way to the start line all my other runs are less then 10 miles.

Very pleased but while the Yasso 800 says a 4:51 marathon is within reach, I am targeting a 5:15 to 5:30 one. I will leave the sub 5 hour marathon until Chicago this fall.

Week 15 Report-- The Home Stretch!

So I am about to kick off the last quarter of my 20 week training program, and using a horse racing analogy is apt. Since my marathon race is on the "First Saturday in May", "The Run for the Roses", "The most exciting 2 minutes in sports" or the Kentucky Derby day! I am coming down the homestretch so to speak.

Have 6 games this week, plus a 5, 8, 6 (Yasso 800's) and a 15 miler to do, then the next week I have another big effort for 6, 8 and 20 miles, with 3 games thrown in the mix.

My mileage figures for the last few weeks have been pretty close to what I wanted, although somewhat lower, generally. The last few weeks counting backwards have been 24, 19 (3 games of about 2.5 miles per game), and 29 miles.

The soccer refereeing is disruptive, although I enjoy it. I am not sure I am going to continue in the fall, since I am targeting the Chicago Marathon and will need to be very focused on that, since I want to make a significant move forward in fitness over the summer. I have been reading some excellent books by Matt Fitzgerald on racing weight and training methodology, that have given me some definitive ideas on what I want to do in my next marathon in terms of nutrition and training.

Since this the dawning of a new month as well,  a report on my mileage figures for the month have seems appropriate, its been climbing as well, counting backwards, with months of 110, 91, 72 and 46 miles. Surprisingly other then a few blisters on my feet in the same spot on each foot, no physical ills at all.

By the way the picture I got off the Wisconsin Marathon Facebook page and is the numbers for the various races taking place that day, so now I have to coordinate with my colors with black, not a problem.

Race Report: Shamrock Shuffle

So yesterday I ran the 2015 Shamrock Shuffle, on a windy gray day, interestingly the Garmin had me looking like I was spider man. If you look closely at the map below you see I took some direct paths to certain spots on the course. Mostly through sky scrapers, there was no breaking and entering, since I also got 3,061 feet of elevation gain as well so I was clearly swinging from place to place. By the way, Chicago is flat, my guess the high point of this race was about 100 feet higher then the start, so much for GPS in high rises!

As for the race I did very well, felt strong throughout, focused on mimicking my marathon start process, which is to run a slow mile to warm up which I did at 13:43. Then my Shamrock race plan kicked in and I tried to hold a good solid steady pace for the middle 3 miles (11:17, 11:20, 11:25) and then run as strong and fast as I could to the finish line (9:43) so I was able to accomplish all my goals, plus I got the sense of the start of a big city Marathon for one of my long range goals this fall.

I had a small blister on my left foot start around mile 4, which I attribute to wearing a pair of socks that protected my ankles rather then my feet because I was afraid of the cold. Lesson learned there! Did not eat at all during race, had a bagel about 3 hours before race time, and a nice large lasagna the night before. So all in all a great time!

This week also went well with 24 miles of good solid running, I elected to pass on a 4 miler on Thursday so I would be a little fresher for the 11 miles on Saturday and then the race on Sunday and I think that paid off quite well!

Hardest workout? Or hardest workout ever?

So on Wednesday afternoon when I got home from work I did an 8 mile tempo run with a half mile warmup and cool down factored into the distance so 7 miles at my goal pace which was 15-30 seconds faster then my goal marathon pace. I wanted to do the first 2 miles at 30 seconds faster and the next two about marathon pace and then the next two at 15 seconds faster then marathon pace, then one mile at my marathon pace. I was able to do the entire run at the goal paces (treadmill speeds tend to be different for some reason) and felt solid throughout the run. You can see the data on from Garmin Connect below.

As far as a workout goes in this 20 week program its was in the top 5 for difficulty but not excessively hard or over the top. Yet two days later my legs are still feeling it! So much so that I did not run the 4 miler I had scheduled for Thursday. This is the first significant soreness I have had during this whole program. Not sure exactly what it means, but I am taking it seriously and my two runs this weekend are going to be at a relaxed pace for sure. My resting heart rate is not changing (I use a BASIS watch to monitor my heart rate and it gives me my waking heart rate every day) in fact it trending downwards.

Coincidentally or not I have also lost 2 pounds this week, from 221 to 219, I tend to hover at a weight for a few weeks then drop 2-3 and then hover again. sort of like stair steps. So that's a positive. But I would guess dropping weight would not lead to soreness in my legs, unless the 2 pounds I loss were cushioning my legs.

THE 2014 NEW YORK CITY MARATHON by The Ginger Runner

I love this guys videos, this is one of my favorites, he is genuine and enthusiastic about what he does! If I ever get good at this marathon thing, his ultra-running videos will likely inspire me to do an ultra marathon some day. Because naturally if you can do a marathon, why not do more?

Week 12 was not as bad as it seemed

So with refereeing kicking off and my weeks running schedule seemingly in chaos, it actually will turn out okay. I have been able to get my mileage in, this is a lower mileage week (22) in any event. After Wednesday's slow stationary game I did a center between Lakes HS and Evanston HS and was quite energetic getting in close to 4 miles (Garmin Forerunner 10 lost signal at some point during first half so not entirely sure). Think speed training when you think of refereeing, lots of wind sprints.

Overview of the program so far

I was looking at my wall calendar and noticing that I seem to miss Fridays' weightlifting quite a bit, (4 times in 12 weeks) which I am okay with, since the weightlifting was more general fitness related then marathon training related.

My sense is that I am doing okay with the training, while initially dreading the long runs. I have been able to do three of 15, 17, and 14 without to much difficulty, averaging a 12:30 per mile pace which I am happy with. On the horizon I have three more significant ones 12, 15 and 20, then I taper down. There is no dread with the long runs now, just a question to myself, since they have all been on a treadmill of how to keep my concentration up, since its oh so boring!

I am very happy with the 12:30 minute per mile pace I appear to be able to sustain, that equates to a 5:30 marathon which I would be very happy with. My pace for the Madison Half last November was 13:01, and I have to say my fitness has improved quite a bit since then, I am 4 pounds lighter, but visually more trimmer throughout the legs, arms and waist. This improved fitness I think translates into the ability to shave 30 seconds off my regular pace. Having said that I would be happy to sustain a 13 minute pace for the marathon as well!

In two of my long runs I was able to check my half marathon time as a split, and got a 2:47 and then a 2:42, and while both are unofficial, my official best is a 2:50, that's a nice feeling!

Refereeing injects chaos into the my running!

So this week I started refereeing high school, and of course once I started that, my well thought out marathon training plans went to crap. I had a JV game on Tuesday, which is generally anywhere between 2.5 to 3 miles of running. This game was so one sided, I basically stood in the same spot for the entire game, getting less then 2 miles of actual movement (could barely count as running) in during the 2, 35 minute halves.

Wednesday I had another game where I got the miles in, I think, but my other Garmin (Forerunner 10) decided that sun spots would not allow it to link to GPS satellites and stop midway through the game, and refuse to engage, fortunately I always wear two watches when I referee.

So today is Friday and I am off, but I have a game Saturday morning with 10 mile training run scheduled as well, so I am likely to do that in the afternoon, then I have an all day clinic for USSF refereeing on Sunday and need to do 5 x 1 mile speed work that day, and have no idea where I will be able to slot that in, given those clinics go on forever.