Coming Back Soon

Welcome to the FitArlington Running blog! This blog is currently on hiatus, but stay tuned - we hope to be back soon.

Perfect Day for a 10K

A bit late in posting the results of the 10k, but had lots of company and the election to work on and YES WE CAN and YES WE DID!
In thinking back to the 10k I must say that the entire day was perfect. The weather, the course, the participants and the organizers. No one can put on a better race than the United States Marine Corps. I enjoyed every step of it.
I did fine. Came in 6th in my age and gender, which proves that if you live long enough and keep running you move higher up in the ranks. I hope to run again next year and do some races in between, including the annual Turkey Trot in Alexandria on Thanksgiving Day.
Thank you Arlington County for sponsoring me and others. Thank you for your efforts to have a healthy populace and thanks to all the other runners who inspire me to keep putting one foot in front of the other.
Peace.

Thanks FitArlington

One 10K down- many more races to go!
I enjoyed my first ever race and can't wait to improve on my time. I have definitely caught the running bug.
Thanks FitArlington for the entry. I don't think I would have had the nerve to register for the race if I wasn't offered the chance through the group.
Here's to staying healthy, fit, and happy!

Amazement and PERFECT conditions!

I was extremely happy with the weather on Sunday. Saturday had been terrible- cold and rainy. Today isn't that much better. But Sunday was a jewel among ruins; we runners could not have asked for better!

Two and a half years ago, I had PR'ed at the LA Marathon with 3:40:58. The five marathons I ran after that did not shatter that PR, so I was hoping that I might be able to once again reach 3:40 at yesterday's MCM. Well, I did that, and then some. I totally shattered my record and created a new PR of 3:33:06.

I was really surprised that I did not hit a wall anywhere, that I kept on running steadily throughout the race, and that I had it in my to go all out right at the end. So I re-qualified for Boston and now the question is, can I go there in April without going broke? I think that since I've done Boston once, albeit in terrible weather, the major excitement is gone, but I'd still like to go. The whole trip is just really expensive. Enough about me.

Congrats to all the FitArlington participants and especially the first-timers! This was a truly beautiful course to run but I have to ask, weren't the post-race refreshments a bit lacking? Did anyone see any bagels or oranges?

Disappointment

Last week I concentrated on tapering off and staying well. Monday I felt the beginnings of a cold coming on, but I rested and by Wednesday I felt normal again and relieved that I got the illness out of the way well before race day.

But ... Friday morning the cold came back. I rested, and drank lots of fluids. I picked up my race packet at the Armory, and tried to visualize success. I also went to Target and stocked up on vitamins and immune-system boosters.

It didn't work. Saturday I felt terrible (my parents had to come babysit while I slept most of the day). Saturday night I had to make the call about the race. I thought about my fever, my runny nose, my hacking cough and my total exhaustion, and admitted that, even if I felt a little better Sunday, I was not going to race.

I'm so disappointed, after five months of training -- starting from scratch! -- that I didn't get to race.

On the other hand, I'm proud that I went from barely being able to run a mile to running 5-6 miles without too much trouble.

I'm setting my sights on a new goal -- the Cherry Blossom 10 Mile race in April. I'm trying to talk my runner friends into joining me. Will any FitArlington folks be there?

I hope everyone else feels proud of their accomplishment, whatever that may be!

Beautiful Weather, Ugly Time

Well, I finished. But the two weeks of down time five weeks ago (due to an plantar fasciitis) came back to haunt me around mile 14. I was on pace to go under 3:30 and still had sights on a low 3:20s, through the halfway point. I had been able to run in recent weeks, but only went 12 miles in training, and that was the point I felt my energy slipping away (plus some cramping issues in both quadriceps).

Still, the 3:50 was my second fastest 26.2 time. I'll take it, chalk it up to experience and look forward to my next race (after I give my foot a chance to heal). And I was very thankful that the race was Sunday, with sunny skies, and not in Saturday's down pour.

Hope you other Arlingtonians fared better in your reaching your goals.

T minus Five days

Can someone please do something about the weather? Conditions will be perfect all week (clear, calm, in the 50s) but now the forecast is for rain all weekend. Sucks.

I'm mostly ready. My foot still hurts, but I can run on it. I did a final 12-miler on Sunday, including the last five at race pace. All systems go. My biggiest concern now is that the two weeks of idle time I had last month will haunt me around mile 21. The dreaded Wall looms large. I only did one 20-miler in training and that will have been five weeks before race day. History tells us that often the distance of your longest training run is the spot in race where you crash. We'll see.

One last thing: anyone know if there will be a FitArlington get together after the race? What happens once thing is over? Does this blog disappear?

One Week to Stay Healthy

The marathon is less than one week away! Although I've done all of the trianing I'm starting to get nervous that I won't be able to do it. Hopefully that feeling goes away. I don't know about anyone else's work spaces but it is definitely cold season in our office. A lot of people are out with either hacking colds or funky stomach viruses. Even my roomate is coughing. So far I've been feeling okay but it would be perfectly ironic for me to be healthy for the 4 months of training and then get sick in the final week!

My gameplan this week is to take it easy, drink a ton of water, and eat safe foods. I hope everyone else is excited to finally do their runs!

Remiss in posting, but (mostly) not in running ...

Last time I posted, I was talking about my training plan.

Since that post I had two nasty stomach bugs and a college reunion weekend. (I -- rather optimistically -- signed up to run the alumni 5k that reunion weekend, but at 8:30a.m. I was nowhere near the cross country trails. I was dragging myself out of bed and down to the Comfort Inn complimentary breakfast after a late night.)

Thankfully, I am running the 10K, not the marathon, so even with a lot of downtime, it has not been too hard to get back on track. I did about 10K last Sunday, to give myself confidence that I can do it again on race day. Not only did I do it, but I achieved my goal -- 6.2 miles in under an hour! 59:56, to be exact. That felt great and now I am not so worried about race day. Even if I don't match my time, I will surely finish.

I did 4 miles today, pretty slowly since I was pushing my son in the stroller. Tomorrow I'll do about 5 without him, take a couple short runs early in the week, then rest up. I can't believe race day is almost here!

Waiting for October 26

Training has been challenging, exhausting, and thrilling. I can't wait for my first race. Good luck everyone!

10 more days!

Well folks, it's down to the wire now. 10 more days till the Marine Corps Marathon! I did my last long run two weekends ago (or was it three?) of 23 miles. And I felt great, absolutely wonderful! This past weekend I did a sprint triathlon, so there was a 5K run in that. This coming weekend, I'll probably do a ~14-mile run, maybe less.

I'm so excited and I know that everyone else here must be as well! If it's your first time running this marathon, watch out for the last 0.2 miles- it's very, VERY steeply uphill.

Back to work... gosh, I don't like this whole tapering bit. I want to keep working out like normal but I have to rest up.

Running thru pain

My foot pain has been diagnosed as plantar faciitis, basically an inflamation of the tendons connected to the heal caused by stress (running, in my case). Normally the cure is to take a few weeks off from running, but I don't have that kind of time. I rested/iced/medicated for a few days, then did a 12-mile test run on Saturday and had good results. Constant low-level pain, but it didn't get any worse as the miles went on. And the pain stopped the second I quit running. After two more days rest, I've run on it for four days now, with the pain being a little less each day (with more ice and ibuprofen after each run). It looks like I'll be able to salvage a run for race day. Not an ideal situation (nearly two weeks of missed training) but I'll start the race, and see how it goes.

What Can I Say

Hello to all the FitArlington Dedicated Marathon Participants, this is your colleague who has to inform you that I am out of the race. If you will look at my previous posts, you will see where I mentioned a right knee injury on July 7, 2008. In later post, I told you folks how it was coming along, and then recently, I mentioned that it was still bothering me (I mentioned that I was breaking down and going to the doctor). Would you believe that I got the report yesterday, that I have a torn meniscus and was told that there would be no marathons in the near future. Now I know why I shedded that tear when I was first notified that I had been selected. I am truly upset about this. I was so looking forward to this race. I am truly ready and know I would have been able to complete the entire race. I am scheduled for outpatient surgery on Oct. 28, 2008. It has been a wonderful opportunity and experience. I truly enjoyed the various meeting locations and scenery. Much success and fun when you folks run the race. I am debating if I am going to come and support you folks simply because I know I will have the urge to run/walk the race anyways.

Injuries Can Really Take the Fun Out of Running

A day after being on a high, having completed a 20 miler with the last five miles under race pace, I was quickly brought back down to Earth. At first, I thought the bruise on my right foot was annoying, but nothing to be concerned about. My feet hurt a little all the time during training, so this was nothing new. Then again, the pain was in a new spot, back in the arch of my right foot, not across the ball as usual. Three days later, while running 5:30am 400m intervals, the pain became intense at split number 9 and I had to stop (I was supposed to do 12). I jogged home easy and figured I'd be fine. It only hurt bad during the high-intensity of the sprints. A few days of only bike riding and I'd be fine for my weekend 15-miler.

Sunday came and the pain was mostly gone. I set out to just log the miles slow and easy, nothing to strenuous. I had my last 20-miler coming a week later and then the taper for the race. I didn't want miss a long run at this critical juncture. I only made it a mile and a half before the steadily increasing pain caused me pull up lame. Determined to get some benefit from the day, I turned the 15-mile run into a 10-mile walk. This was a mistake. My forced walk/limp produced an unusual gait and was something new for my legs. The 2.5 hour trek resulted not only in a more-bruised foot, but also an extremely tight hamstring on Monday morning.

I'm taking the entire week off from running and will see how things are again this weekend. I am extremely discouraged at this point. Last spring, a very similar series of minor injuries kept forcing me to put off workouts until I had missed nearly two weeks of training a month before my scheduled race. I tried to come back too fast, got hurt worse, and dropped out. This particular feeling of deja vu is horrible. Stupid feet.

Jelly Beans

I finished my longest run that I will be doing besides the actual marathon this weekend. I run with Arlington Road Runners and our loop went around Hains Point and then up Crescent Trail. It was a beautiful run and I felt pretty good considering the 22 mile distance. The only down side came from some wet socks which proved to be excellent blister magnets.

I've been experimenting with food on my long runs. They recommend that you bring some supplement so that you have enough energy to make it through the run. I stupidly tried one of my long runs without eating breakfast or a food supplement and had to stop before the end because I was feeling light-headed and dizzy. The sport jelly beans are my favorites. Currently the red and orange are my favorite flavors. My food routine now consists of a banana for breakfast and some beans for the run.

Only one more month until the marathon! I hope everyone's training is going well.

20+ miles and onward!

It has been a very long time since I last posted, and I chalk that all up to my new transition from work to school. I've been running on my own the past few weeks and because of my school schedule, have not been able to get to the Tuesday night track workouts. I've been doing my own long runs as well because I just find them more enjoyable than running the same course every week.

This past Saturday I ran for 3 1/2 hours, and it was well over 20 miles, but the majority after Mile 4 was flat. I think that, because I was running alone, I probably slowed down, which isn't good. That's the benefit of the group workout- it pushes me to keep going at a strong and steady pace.

Less that four weeks to go till the marathon, and I really, REALLY want to break my PR of 3:40:58. (As an aside, the Boston-qualifying time is 3:40:59. Yeah, THAT's how close I was, but I made it!)

20 miles and running

I hit two milestones this week: 20-mile training runs and 45 years on the planet. The first one was especially gratifying because I negative split the last five miles, averaging a 7:29 pace. This is a good way to test your readiness for a marathon. Some coaching sites say that whatever pace you can hold on the last five miles of a 20-miler is about what you can do on race day for the full marathon. We'll see. I'll do another 20-miler in two weeks and then begin tapering (reducing the length of the long runs) for race day.
The second milestone also brought some change. I learned that the Boston qualifying time for 45-yr-old men is 3:30. Since I had been training to run a 3:20, this initially seemed like good news. It's a perfect invitation to ease up. But on futher reflection, pride will not let me. I still want to be able to run like a 44-yr-old and get in with the 3:20. It's good to have the cushion, but I don't plan to use it.
Onward!

Working up to 6.2

I've been following Jim Galloway's 10K training plan, as I posted last time. I liked it because it was a lighter schedule than other training plans I saw, but I did worry that it wouldn't be enough training.

During the week I have two shorter runs. This week they are supposed to be 30-45 minutes long. I've been doing about 40+ minutes in and around my neighborhood, just exploring new streets and then finding my way back home. I don't always know how far I've gone, but I think I'm doing about a 10-minute mile pace.

On the weekend I have one long run. This last week it was, for the first time, five miles. I've been using the wonderful W&OD trail for these slightly longer runs. On Saturday I parked in my usual spot, about 2.5 miles in (those mile markers sure are handy), and ran out-and-back to the beginning of the trail. It was a less woodsy, less scenic part of the trail -- much of it along Four Mile Run -- and perhaps for that reason was a little less crowded. But I mostly ignored the scenery and tried to pick up the pace a bit. I kept up about a 9:30-minute mile for most of the course, which made me very happy!

I'm also really good at my one rest day each week.

If there's any part of the plan I'm having trouble with, it's the "cross training" days. For three days I'm supposed to be walking, cycling, doing aerobics, or something. Sometimes I end up walking a little (usually with my son in the stroller) but most days I do nothing at all. I need to come up with a concrete plan so I can make the most of those days in the five weeks before the race.

Still in the Running

Hello Everyone, just an FYI that I am still in the running. I haven't met up with the MCP's lately but, I have been working out. I am still having a slight problem with my right knee. I will more then likely break down this upcoming week and go to the doctor. I'm at a stand still regarding weight loss. It seems as though I'm gaining. How can this be? I guess the more weekly miles I complete, the more I want to eat. I did try Danni's chicken recipe, it was very tasty. MCP had an 18 mile run this past Saturday however, I did not go due to the rain. I see that Henry made it out - what a way to break in new sneakers - hope your foot is better. One thing about MCP come rain or shine you can count on them being at the designated location. I know a few other groups who cancelled their Saturday run due to the weather. I do plan to go this Saturday on the 12 mile run back at Belle Haven Trail (this time with my shorts of ole). P.S. I did print out the information with my Bib number (27304) and the Packet Pick-up hours. Until next time - Peace.

New Shoes and Soggy Socks

Getting new running shoes always has sort of a Christmas feel for me, but there are some down sides. I've always been leary about gettting new shoes two close to a race date. No matter how good they feel in the store, flaws inevitably turn up on long runs. These usually show up in the form of blisters. The other negative is I don't like the shiney glean they give off on the trail. Makes me feel self conscious, that I look like some kind of raw dude who decided to become a runner and has to have the latest hi-tech whiz-bang set of foam rubber and mesh out of Beaverton, Ore. They scream "this guy never runs, he just likes the shoe!" For me, the sooner I can get them muddy, the better.

Which brings me to last Saturday. I had my new Saucony's on, I had worn them three times for runs of 8, 12, and 13 miles. So far, so good, except for the small blister on my left achilles, which happened during the Abebe Bikila Half marathon. This time, I'd wear better socks. I did, but too little avail. They got soaked in the rain and standing puddles that quickly formed. The low-top socks eventually slid below the top of the shoe, exposing the blister. It soon burst and began to bleed. I didn't know this because I was soaked head to toe (or head to blister, I should say). When I completed the 18-miler, I pulled of the sock to wring it out, and the rain water ran red.

Little did I know the blood was sufficient enough to stain the top of my shoe. That's the left one, on the right. That's my silver lining from a miserable run. This stained shoe will be worn as a badge of honor.