Walk Away or Run Through...February 28, 2017

Sometimes despite our efforts, things don't go according to plan.  My training plan called for a fartlek run of 5 minutes fast (5K pace) followed by 5 minutes recovery run; 4 minutes fast, 4 minute recovery; 3 minutes fast...and so on to one minute.  Not an extremely difficult workout but a challenging one.

I use Runkeeper, an app on my phone, to program the workouts.  That way the app tells me when to begin the fast intervals and when to begin the recovery intervals.  It allows me to focus on the run as opposed to constantly watching the watch.

This morning, things didn't go according to plan.  All started well; I completed a good warm up and worked through the first interval (5 minutes fast) at a 6:05 pace.  I savored the recovery time and again took off for the 4 minute interval.  However, after running almost a full mile (and I am NOT a 4 minute miler) I knew something was wrong.

I had programmed the ap for 4 MILES instead of 4 minutes.  I at the app, the stupid humidity, my shoes (which I usually love) and everything else. But I finally had to come to terms with my situation.  There was nothing to be gained by being angry.  I messed up.  I checked the program several times but still missed that one small detail.  I could throw my hands in the air and walk away (less effective) or deal with the situation and run through it.

I checked the elapsed time on my watch and began to count down the minutes through the following intervals.  It was more of pain than I hoped but I completed the workout.

Running presents many life lessons.  When things don't go as planned, you can walk away or deal with what you have.  Learning to deal with the situation and make the most of it is an integral part of chasing unicorns.

While I don't have the individual split times, I covered 4.87 miles:
1...10:47 (Warm up)
2...7:06
3. ..6:57
4...8.28
  ...9:21 (cool down)

A Victory for the Day: February 23, 2017

Quitting may not be an option but sometimes I entertain the thought.  That happened this morning.  After a late night I dragged my sleepy butt out of bed at 4:30AM for a tempo run.  Yuck.  Mornings are tough. Tempo runs are tough.  Tempo runs in the morning are simply dreadful.

I hoped to work out the kinks in my tired legs during the five minute warm up...t'was not meant to be.
When Runkeeper cheerfully (don't you hate happy voices when your tired in the morning?!) informed me that the warm up was complete and it was time to pick up the pace, my mind simply rejected the thought.

But I didn't quit.

I compromised.  If not a 7:00 minute mile, I justified an 8:30 mile was better than nothing.
I finished the first mile in 10:30 (including the warm up).
By the end of mile two I was running an 8:02 and feeling better.

It took about 4 miles to get warmed up and into the swing of things (note to self for race day).

Mile 1: 10:30
Mile 2:  8:02
Mile 3:  7:45
Mile 4:  7:31
Mile 5:  7:20
Mile 6:  7:17
Mile 7:  7:13
Mile 8:  7:01

My tempo run should be done at a steady 7:00 minute mile.  Yeah, I was way off.  But I didn't quit on and on a day like today, I'm calling that a victory.

Molecule by Molecule--February 22, 2017

Some days, we chase the unicorn like a bat out of Hades at full speed ahead, holding nothing back.  Other day, however, it's important to get back to the basics and just move to feel motion of the Earth underneath you.  Today was one of those days.  After feeling thoroughly beat up from the last few workouts, a 60 minute easy run was just what I needed.

I ran with Mindi this morning.  I love running with her because it gives us time to talk without being interrupted or overly distracted.

Mindi is a health coach.  She helps people achieve weight loss goals using a special food that facilitates weight loss.  But that's not really her job.  The food and meal schedule help people lose weight.  Mindi teaches her clients to prepare, cook and eat the healthy foods that will allow them to maintain the weightless after it comes off.  She teaches her clients healthy habits.

In his book, "Once A Runner," John L. Parker writes about Quinton Cassidy, a college track runner who excels.

“What was the secret, they wanted to know; in a thousand different ways they wanted to know The Secret. And not one of them was prepared, truly prepared to believe that it had not so much to do with chemicals and zippy mental tricks as with that most unprofound and sometimes heart-rending process of removing, molecule by molecule, the very tough rubber that comprised the bottoms of his training shoes. The Trial of Miles; Miles of Trials.”

People love and perpetually seek "the secret".  Whether its running, dieting, studying or hacky-sack we all want to know "the secret".  What makes the successful people successful?  What is the secret will open the same doorway of success to me?  But as Mr. Parker so tactfully put it, the secret is less profound and more heart-rending than most of us are willing to experience.  In the case of Quinton Cassidy, the secret was miles of trials.  For others, the secret may be consistently choosing to eat healthy, and proportional servings of food. For others, it may be placing family over devices by leaving your iPhone locked up in the room while you dedicate uninterrupted time to your children.

Molecule by molecule we remove the unnecessary impurities from our lives to become the men and women we want to be.  Fat becomes muscle, idleness become productivity, depression becomes joy, and so on and so forth.  There is no secret; only dedication and consistency to a worthy cause.

So I chased the unicorn this morning.  Not at top speed but in order to run at top steed occasionally it's necessary to pull back and coast for day.  This gives the body time to recover from the hard workouts and allows the muscles to rebuild and prepare for the next all out effort (which will be tomorrow).  

Voices and Demons: February 21, 2017

Today was interval day...800 meters (half mile) at a sprint pace followed by a two minute jog, repeated (in this case) 7 times.  It was harder than I anticipated.  Whether because I didn't get enough sleep the last few nights, possibly fighting off illness, still tired from the last few workouts...or a combination of all, I don't know.  But I know it felt more difficult than I thought it should and I felt the post workout trauma for several hours into the day (which is very uncommon for a week day workout).

1. 6:50
2. 6:17
3. 6:06
4. 6:32
5. 6:22 (Here's where the wheels started to come off)
6. 7:07
7. 6:42

Total miles: 5.63 (3.5 miles at sprinting pace, 5 min warm up and 5 min cool down, 2 min jog between intervals).

Except for feeling particularly wiped out after the workout it wasn't too bad but when I went to check the splits, Runkeeper lead me to see other friend's recent workouts...some of which are significantly faster than I.

And I know, you should never compare yourself to someone else...but............................

It's a demon everyone faces, I think.  Comparing the best in others to the worst in ourselves.  I like running as a concept for the very reason that it encourages you to compete with yourself.  Sure we race against others, it helps bring out the best in each other but other runners will come and go.  They'll be there for some races and absent for others, but my one true nemesis (that fat turd in the mirror) will always be there.  That nagging voice in my ear saying, "Just take it easy.  Eat a cookie.  You can sleep in today," and so forth will always be challenge me to silence him by proving that I am stronger than the doubt, weakness and cravings.

So yeah, the workout was tough and the day was long.  But I did it.  And I'll do it again tomorrow (although thankfully tomorrow is an easy day).  Because the only way to catch a unicorn, is to chase it. 

Work out: Feb 16th, 2017

I had a great workout last night.  I used the previous weeks workout for Thursday because I felt a little beat up.  It called for 2 miles at half marathon pace followed by a 2 min rest repeated 3 times.  My results:

   Warm up: 5 min; 11:44 pace

   2 min slow; 9:44 pace

   2 miles; 7:02 pace

   2 min slow; 13:19 pace 

   2 miles; 7:03 pace

   2 min slow; 14:05 pace

   2 miles; 6:51 pace

   5 min cool down; 12:01 pace

Total miles 7.36; ave pace 7:53 min/mile

I tried to hold right on 7 min/ miles for the 2 mile intervals and drop to 6:50 min/miles for the last set.  During the slow intervals, I jogged and stopped to drink some water.

Tuning Up

The whole idea that I could chase the unicorn developed at the beginning of the year.  Last year, I attempted to run a 50 mile race and ended up being pulled from the course after 38 miles.  I have completed 50 milers before but when the temperature climbed to over 105 degrees, the wheels fell off and nothing stayed down (I literally spent 7-8 hours vomiting).  

This year, I swore revenge.  I will not attempt the 50 mile distance at this race (at least not this year) but I will do the 50K (about 31 miles) distance...and I'm going to CRUSH it.

To do so, I need speed work.  And while doing speed work, I decided to throw in a 5K, just to see how it would go--kind of like a test of the training program so far.

The Miracle Match Marathon (MMM) is held annually in Waco Texas (close to my home).  It is a wonderfully organized race and raises funds and awareness for bone marrow donors--a cause I can totally support.  I have never run the marathon, however, because it is always held on a Sunday.  I don’t race on Sunday’s because that’s the Sabbath Day (see Exodus 20:8 from the Bible).  I try not be be too preachy about my belief; to each his/her own, right?  And I don’t judge anyone who does race on Sundays...I’m sure there are many people who feel closer to God while running a marathon than any other time but my choice is to not race Sundays.  

But, the MMM also offers a 5K the Saturday before the big race.  Nancy, the race director of MMM, who in some ways is a hero of mine, had previously given me a hard time about not supporting her race.  I wanted to support MMM, Nancy and bone marrow donor awareness.  So 5K it was.

I finished the race in 19:04...certainly not an Olympic time but one second faster than I had ever run a 5K before...which meant that the training was working and maybe it was time to once again chase the unicorn. That averaged out to a 6:40 mile...just about right in line with what I need to BQ. 

Beginning The Chase

My fastest marathon time to date is 3:38.  To qualify for Boston and catch the elusive unicorn, I need to run a 26.2 mile certified course in 3:10 (3 hours, 10 minutes).  But, as with most lofty goals, good enough isn't quite good enough.  Because Boston is such a desired marathon (and more so after the Boston Bombing), so many people have been entering to run the race and the course can only accept a certain number of participants.  So even those who run a qualifying time may not get to run the actual Boston Marathon because entrants are accepted based on fastest qualifying times.  On average, runners need to be about 2-3 minutes faster than the qualifying standard if they hope to get into Boston.  I'd like to make it with some time to spare, so my target time is 3:05.

So to run a 3:05 marathon, I need to average about 7 minutes per mile (for 26.2 miles).

Here's the tricky part--how do I do that?

I can run a 7 minute mile...but 26 in row is a totally different race.  So my main goal in this training program is to build speed and endurance.  But that is easier typed than done.  While learning to run fast and teaching my lungs, heart and muscles to hold that 7 minute mile for 26 miles straight, I also need to avoid my nemesis--injury.  Distance running puts great strain on various systems in the body (cardio, muscle, skeletal) but at the same time, it creates endorphins (happy chemicals) in the brain.  The result of which is that distance runners often over exert themselves and don't even realize they have a major injury until it is too late.  It can take weeks--sometimes even months to recover from these injuries, during which time the runner can't run.  And no run time means you're not getting faster.  The only way to catch the unicorn is to stay healthy and consistently train.

So that's my plan...and I'm not afraid to admit that I'm nervous about the whole thing.  Laying it all on the line like this somehow makes the concept of defeat much heavier.  I know that an effort like this will take all I have at my very best.  Any one of an infinite number of factors could ruin the day...wind, rain, injury, illness, heat, blisters, untied shoe lace...the list goes on but you get the idea.  There is no room for error here.  My very best pace on my very best day is 7:00 minute per mile (I can go about 6:30 for one mile...7:00 is my best sustained pace) and that will barely cut it.  A couple 2 minute bathroom breaks, and I just pooped out of my qualifier.

But at the same time, I hope that laying it all on the line will keep me honest in my training.  Consistency is a big part of getting there.  I know I'm not in shape to qualify today...but I think (and hope) that by training consistently and intelligently over the next several months, my body will condition itself to hold the 7:00 minute pace for over 3 hours.  And if that happens, the unicorn will be mine.

Chasing The Unicorn

Unicorn: A one horned mythical creature that possess mystical powers.  Honestly, I'm not really into unicorns.  At least I wasn't until about two years ago when one particular unicorn got under my skin.  This is not a story about mythical creatures...it is about the chase.  My chase, to be precise.  My moonshot chase of the mythical, magical and (so far) elusive Boston Marathon.

Perhaps not by coincidence, the mascot of the Boston Athletic Association is none other than a unicorn.

When I began running seriously, I had two ultimate goals I wanted to accomplish: (1) complete a 100 mile race and (2) qualify for the Boston Marathon.

In 2014, I finished the Rocky Raccoon 100 mile trail run.  It was one of the hardest things I had ever done.  Never had my body and soul known such fatigue...yet I finished and it has always been a pillar of my self confidence that I ran 100 miles.  

The Boston Marathon is prestigious for two reasons (really for many reasons, but I’ll focus on two).  First, it is one of the oldest marathons in the country, having been held annually since 1897.  Second, unlike most races, runners cannot simply sign up to run Boston--they must qualify.  To qualify, a runner must complete a certified marathon in under a given time (based on age and gender).  What happens when you tell someone they can’t participate in an event?  They want it even more!  Boston is special because not everyone gets to compete.

In October of 2014, I attempted to qualify for the Boston Marathon.  I trained and ran my heart out but finished in 3:38...28 minutes too slow for the coveted BQ (Boston Qualifier).  I don’t know what was more discouraging, the fact that I missed the qualifier by more than a minute per mile (which in a marathon is a lot), or the fact that I gave it my all and still missed it.  By the time I finished that race, I had multiple stress fractures and had to spend months recovering.  I was convinced that I could not have run any faster and that I simply did not have the speed to qualify.

But unicorns are always around, whether or not we chose to chase them and after ignoring this particular unicorn for so long, it’s allure began to call my name again.  Maybe a different course, maybe a better training program...Maybe I should try again.

So it's come to this...a blog about chasing unicorns.