Marathons are in the air

The temperature is getting cooler, the leaves are starting to fall and the smell of marathons are in the air.

This weekend is the New York City Marathon and I have a hankering to run another marathon.

This will be the 3rd year since 1999 that I haven't run in a marathon. I didn't run in 2002 because I took it off to prepare for the birth of Seth. I didn't run in 2005 because Chase was just born and having a newbord and training for a marathon just didn't mix. And, I took off this year because truthfully I thought I was done running marathons.

But, I'm missing it and I know that is news Shelley doesn't want to here. But as each month passes by, the memory of how it hurts get fainter. But, despite all the aches and pains associated with it, there is an incredible rush of finishing.

I've never had a formal press conference announcing my retirement even though in this post I hinted at it.

We'll see what next year brings..

Marathon Results

Ouch, I am sore. Well, my results were mixed. First and foremost, I finished which is always an accomplishment but I fell well short of my goals. Before the marathon started, I had decided not to shoot for a Boston qualifying time so I decided to try for a 3:30 time. I ran with the 3:30 pace group all the way to the 13 mile point but started experiencing knee pain that and developing a blister on my foot that reduced my smooth stride to more of a hobble.

I slowly started losing time and finishing became my only goal. I finished with a final time of 3:56:28. Finishing under 4 hours was nice considering the pain I was in but also very disappointing. I trained harder for this marathon than any other and this was only my 4th best time out of 6 marathons.

I am anticipating announcing my retirement from running marathons and possibly just cut back to half-marathons. The joy wasn't there when I ran this one. I just have to find something new to challenge myself.

Marathon Update

It is now less than two weeks until the marathon and I am officially in what is called "the taper". I am now running fewer miles and trying to have my body heal and recover. My goal of running a Boston Marathon qualifying time seems to be a little unrealistic based on my most recent runs. I am going to go out and make sure I finish but try and shoot for at least a personal best.

I'm Tired

I am in the middle of the hardest part of my marathon training and I am tired. I ran the half marathon on Sunday, 3 miles yesterday and another 13 miles this morning. Getting up at 4 am and running 13 miles before work is getting old. I have another two weeks of this and then I get to start what all marathoners look forward to and that is the "taper".

Marathon Training Update

I ran the Dallas White Rock Half Marathon today and my results were mixed. My time was 1 hour 43 minutes and 57 seconds which is one of my best half marathon times but not good enough to indicate that I will be able to run a Boston qualifying time at the marathon. I was 57th in my age group and 372 overall out of 3069 finishers.

I still have a few weeks of training so I am not giving up hope on qualifying for Boston but I will probably have to have a perfect race to do so.

Marathon Training Update

Another 2 weeks of training are behind me and the marathon is just 62 days away. I ran in a 15 K race this weekend and had a pretty good time. My time was 1 hour 12 minutes which is about a 7 minute 48 sec pace which is almost my goal marathon pace. But, I am nowhere near running that pace for 26 miles but I still have 2 months of training.

Marathon Training Update

I just completed my fifth week of training and I have eleven more to go. This week was very hard because I have been very tired and I haven't felt well all week. This training I am doing is considerably harder than I have ever done and I just hope I can make it through it. This is all in attempt to try and qualify for the Boston Marathon. As an example, in the first 5 weeks of one of my previous training sessions, I ran 114 miles. I have run 146 miles during these first five weeks or the equivalent of an entire extra week. Next week I am scheduled to run 40 miles so things aren't going to get any easier.

Marathon Training Update

I have finished my first 2 weeks of my marathon training and am fairly pleased with my progress so far. Last week I ran 27 miles and this week I ran 30 miles with my longest run so far being 10 miles. This morning I ran my first training race, The Breakfast Bash 5 Mile. I finished the race in 39 minutes and 19 seconds which is a 7 minute 51 second mile pace. My goal marathon pace is 7 minutes 38 seconds so I was close to running my marathon goal pace but it was just 5 miles. So, along with increasing my endurance I need to increase my speed as well.

Marathon Training

Tomorrow I start my training for my 6th marathon. It will be 16 weeks of the hardest training I've done. I've set a personal goal to try and qualify for the Boston Marathon which will require me to run a time of 3 hours and 20 minutes or better. Just for the record, my best time so far has been 3 hours and 37 minutes so I have set quite a lofty goal.

I will be posting updates of my progress.