Marathon Training Update: Week of January 19th

What a difference a week makes. Saturday, I posted that week's pity party, where I talked about possibly self-sabotaging my goal of running a marathon. I think that on some level, I was not taking my training seriously, because deep down, I want to go into the marathon and have to gut it out. In the past, I've been the type of person that could roll out of bed and run a half-marathon with little to no training. Deep down, I want to still be that guy. Even at 57 years old. I realize - on the surface at least - that I'm not that young, bullet proof guy anymore, but deep down I want to be. Don't we all? 

I've been doing a lot of self-analysis lately. Partly because that's the sort of thing I naturally do with my clients. I analyze their times, training, mindset, etc as we go. It helps me understand them and look for signs that we need to step back, leap ahead or look for signs of overtraining. Since I'm coaching myself to this Marathon, why treat myself any different? 

I was also getting certified as a life coach. I started after Thanksgiving and I am happy to say, that I finished the course and am now a certified Life Coach. I figured I'd do the exercises on my self during the course. It was very insightful and made me come to terms with things I wasn't easily aware of or things I was aware of but was avoiding. It's easier to avoid pain and seek pleasure than to deal with crap! 

How Did This Week Go?

On Sunday of this week, I went out for my long run and had the best run I've had since I've started. I was a little pressed for time, plus I've been needing to cut back on the long run before progressing farther so I planned to just go out for 8 miles. Around mile 7, I decided I was going for 9 miles instead. Dropping back from 14.5 to 9 also sounded better than going all the way back down to 8 miles. 

Here's the thing though! I felt so good! My legs felt good the whole time. No shin issues, no heavy legs, just relaxed and comfortable running. Two weeks ago, I was super excited to have run my long run at a 13:59 pace! I hadn't broke 14 in my long runs so it was awesome. Well, get this....my long run Sunday was at a 13:19 pace!! I didn't even feel like I was pushing it that hard. I was definitely trying to push myself a little, but I certainly didn't expect 40 seconds faster per mile for 9 miles!!

On Monday, I took a rest day from running. 

On Tuesday, I missed running, but I did do a total body workout at home with my dumbbells and resistance cables. I think in past posts, I've called them resistance bands out of habit. They are really more like cables. Technically, they're surgical tubing, just FYI. I also stretched. A lot! I had stretched a lot on Saturday night, and I'm just curious to know if that's why Sunday's run felt so good. 

On Wednesday, I missed my run again. 

On Thursday, I missed my run...again...but I did do a total body workout at home. Again, with the dumbbells and resistance cables. 

On Friday, I got my act together and went out for a short, hard run. I ran 3.07 miles in 36:10! That's an 11:47!! I had no idea I could break 12 minute pace for any distance so I was super stoked!!

On Saturday, I went on a hike with my wife. It was only about 2 miles but it felt good to be in the woods. 

Saturday marked just 7 weeks left in my training. It seems to be coming so fast now. All in all, despite the missed runs, I'm feeling pretty good. 26.2 seems daunting, but that's the point isn't it? 

Marathon Training Update: Week of January 12th

Despite not running the prior week other than a long run on the beginning Sunday, I was able to go out and do my long run. I did feel like I hadn't run in awhile. My shins were very stiff and I had to walk briefly two different times in the first 3 miles. However, after that, I ran the whole way. I went my farthest yet in training - and my longest run EVER - 14.5 miles! I was planning on just doing a half-marathon distance, but I felt really good once I got past 3 miles so I figured I'd aim for my longest run. I had run 14 just before Hurricane Helene hit. Then the election kicked into high gear and lost a lot of progress. But now, I feel good about being where I left off, even though I still hate that missed so much time. I should be farther along, but I knew starting to train for a marathon in a Presidential Election year was a crazy idea. 

Overall, I was slower than I've been running, but even with the two walk breaks, I was still below the required pace to finish the full marathon in 6.5 hours. To me, that's a HUGE win!

On Monday, I took a rest. 

I missed workouts on Tuesday, Wednesday & Thursday. I have no excuse. I should have run in the morning, but it was cold or it was after work and it was dark. All just excuses!!

On Friday, I tried to run 3 miles but it turned into a run/walk session. I had tried out my Altras with a pair of Dr. Scholls plantar fasciitis inserts. They felt good for the first mile, but by 1.5 miles my arches were hurting. I had to walk. I tried to run again, but the pain came back and then the tops of my feet started hurting. Not sure what that was about. Long story, short, I took my shoes off and ran home fully barefoot and was fine - other than the sharp rocks that kept poking me, but that was few and far between. But it still hurt like hell when I found one. Moral of the story, stick with what works. My barefoot style shoes have been great. My desire to change at this point is just BS. I feel like I could run faster with traditional shoes, but I'm not out to run fast. I'm out to finish. A marathon! The barefoot shoes are working so why mess with it? 

Today, Saturday the 18th is 8 weeks until the Marathon!! Do I feel ready? No. Am I freaking out? Actually, no. I feel OK. I took a hike around Lake Powhatan today which is under two miles, but I was with my wife and we saw a Great Blue Heron. A beautiful bird that we don't often see around here. Tonight, before writing this, I did a total body workout using my dumbbells and resistance bands. I also did some stretching. I did a couple to hamstring stretches, the butterfly stretch, the Miss America which is good for the IT Band and modified Hurdler's stretch. I should have been doing these from the beginning, but I didn't. I was totally relying on the wall stretch, calf stretch variations and some dynamic stretches like leg swings. With 8 weeks to go, I'm breaking out all my tricks. 

Time to get serious. 

Today my wife asked "what if you're not ready? Just 'if'." I told her my pride wouldn't let me drop out and I'd follow through no matter what. I had considered having a backup marathon - Grandma's in Duluth, MN in June as a back up. It's actually my dream race. But it's sold out already, so Asheville Marathon, here I come!! At first it didn't bother me that she asked that. Seemed like a reasonable questions given my lackluster training. But the more I think about it, the more I realize that I haven't taken this serious. I haven't been consistent. I'm letting myself down. Worse, I feel like I'm letting her down. She's been so supportive of me doing this and here I am complaining about the cold or the dark. WTF John?? Get with it!!

I've been taking a Life Coach course. It's very similar and a lot of the same information from various Tony Robbins' books and tapes that I have. But it has made me realize that I'm probably afraid of failing. So if I sabotage, slack off, and don't train, then when I fail to finish in time, I can blame it on work, weather, hurricanes, etc. All excuses!! Some valid for a day or two - but not this whole time. 

Marathon Training Update: Week of January 5th

Since the last post, I had family come into town so that put a damper on the training. Way more than I anticipated. Honestly, this is most likely just an excuse. I could have run but I felt like I was taking time away from them visiting. It was also very very cold with windchills in the single digits all week. Again...probably just excuses. 

The week started off great! On Sunday, I went out with the intent to run 12 miles and that's exactly what I did. And I felt great before, during and after. I never had the feeling of I want to quit during the first two miles like I usually have. Best of all, the next day, I had no pain at all so I was absolutely ecstatic! I ran my usual route for my long run in the River Arts District but I went a little further down than I usually go. Turned around and on the way back, did a little bit onto the Hominy Creek trail just past the campground off Amboy Rd. If you know Asheville, you know what I'm talking about. 

All in all, it was a really great run and I wanted to run farther but I was trying to be good and stick to the plan. My plan. I find that when I let my ego run my brain, I get hurt and suffer setbacks so I put myself in the role of the client/runner and listed to my coach for once (me). There were times I felt really good so I picked up the pace a little just to test the waters and I definitely pushed my self the last two miles. I ended up running the 12 miles in 2:47:43. I was watching each mile and I was ticking them off at 14 minute pace the whole way. I can't remember the last time I was that consistent the whole way on a run. Usually, my times are all over the place. Miles 9 and 10 I did slow down a tiny bit, but as I mentioned, I picked up the pace the last two miles and got myself back to the average of 14 per mile.

Monday was my assigned rest day to recover from the 12 miler. 

On Tuesday, I was supposed to run but it was crazy cold with "Feels Like" temps in the single digits. I figured I'd be smart and just do my planned workout at home. I did my upper body workout and then decided to do the lower body workout as well. I figured a Tuesday/Thursday split would be good this week with family in town. The workout was great and I really like the set of resistance bands that I got for Christmas. The come in a range of "weights" that go up to 75 lbs. Overall, I was feeling great about the week!

Wednesday was really cold again. Single digit "feels like" temps. I wimped out thinking "it's too cold". 

Thursday, Friday were the same. I could have run, but I wussed out because of the cold. 

Today, Saturday, Jan. 11th, family left but it was once again in the single digits "feels like" and I was just so exhausted I couldn't find the motivation to run. I did manage to do my total body workout. So that's something. I almost didn't even do that but parked my butt in my office and made myself go through it. The interesting thing was that once I started - got past the Shoulder Presses, Dumbbell Rows  - I was committed. I was actually looking forward to the Curls and Triceps Kickbacks and even the front and side raises. On my lower body workout, I realized/noticed something really cool too. I didn't lose balance on my split squats. On either side!! I typically having to catch myself from falling to one side or the other. So my balance has clearly improved as well as my strength. I usually feel spent after split squats but I felt pretty good tonight. Might need to add some light weight next time to see how it goes. 

Tomorrow is my long run and I can't let that go by without running. I don't know that I'll run 12 plus since I didn't run this week at all, but I want to do at least 8. We'll see how I feel. I was hoping to go 13 or 14 originally but I'm afraid that'll be too much having took the whole week off. 

I have to be better. No more excuses. I'm running out of time. 

Marathon Training Update: Week of December 29th, 2024

10 WEEKS UNTIL THE MARATHON!!!

I mentioned last week, I had a nice surprise at the start of this week on Sunday, Dec. 29th. I went out for a planned eight mile run. I was determined to cover the distance even if I had to run/walk it. Well, I felt really good and it turned into 10 miles. 

Two weeks prior I had run 10 miles in 2:27:43 and felt pretty good. A little pain that night, but was ok the next day. On the this day however, I ran 10 miles on a very similar course (more up hills toward the end), ran the whole way and ran it in 2:21:23 - a whole 6:20 faster.

On Monday, Dec. 30th, I woke up and took a 30 minute walk. That night, I did an upper body workout at the gym and walked a mile on the treadmill at 17:15 pace. I also played around to see just how fast I could walk before I had to start running to keep up. It was around 15 minutes and I couldn't keep it up for very long. LOL

On Tuesday, Dec. 31st, New Year's Eve, I took a rest day. 

January 1st, 2025, (Wednesday), I went for 4.04 mile run and did an upper body workout. My run took me 54:05 to complete which I was pretty happy with. That's a 13:23 mile 

On Thursday I did a lower body workout at home. 

On Friday, I did another 4.04 mile run. The funny thing was that I wanted to quit almost immediately. I told myself to just make it the first mile. Then I still felt bad but convinced myself to just make it to 1.5 and then I could turn around. At 1.5, I did want to turn around but I told myself that I would continue on and try to make it to two miles. I did, and when I looked at my watch, I was shocked to see that I was much faster - almost a while minute - than I was on the first. Maybe that's why the run felt so bad. I didn't feel like I was running faster. At this point, something clicked and I said I'd run back (as planned) for as long as I could. I finished my run in 52:26 which was a 12:59! I was so excited!! I know these are shorter runs but to me, it finally is showing that I'm getting better. I really felt slow so it was amazing to see that I was that much faster than my usual 14:30+ pace. 

Today, Saturday, Jan. 4th, I will be taking a rest day. As I've mentioned, being well over 50 - it's good for me to alternate running days. My legs just get so heavy and my ankles get really stiff, which is so weird. Once I get moving, they loosen up, but it's still strange to me. Getting old is not for the weak, that's for sure. 

Stay turned and see how the next week goes. 

Happy Trails!

Marathon Training Update: Week of December 22nd

 Crazy week! So unproductive, but also a big surprise going into the Week of December 29th. let me explain. 

I was supposed to do a long run on December 22nd, but did not. I was running around doing last minute Christmas stuff. Weren't we all? 

On Monday, Dec. 23rd, I did do an upper body workout consisting of 3 sets/10 reps each of Shoulder Press, Dumbbell Rows, Arm Curls, Triceps Kickbacks, Front and Side Raises. I did not run.

On Tuesday, I did a lower body workout consisting of 3 sets/10 reps each of Dumbbell Deadlifts, Step Ups, Lunges and Calf Raises. I did not run on Christmas Eve.

On Wednesday, Christmas Day, I didn't do anything but eat and open presents. Never planned to do anything but this. 

On Thursday, I realized what an unproductive week it had been and so I got up, got dressed and went for a run. Well...sort of. I ran walked for 3 miles. I ran a mile out and then had to walk about a quarter of a mile. I then ran again but had to stop another time before running it back in. My time was 41:42 which was a 13:46 pace. This was a faster pace than many of my recent runs despite walking a little. So that was weird, but encouraging. I did not however, do my upper body workout that I had scheduled. 

Friday,. Dec. 27th, I took a break as I was sore from Thursday's run/walk. I did not do my lower body workout as planned. 

Saturday,. Dec. 28th, I hiked 2.5 miles with my wife.

So, as you can see, not a great week, but it was the holidays and I had a small win in there. 

The surprise came on Sunday, Dec. 29th when I decided I was getting back into it and went out for an eight mile run. It turned into 10 because for the first time in a long time, I wasn't feeling any pain. Two weeks prior I ran 10 miles in 2:27:43 and felt pretty good. A little pain that night, but was ok the next day. On the this day however, I ran 10 miles on a very similar course (more up hills toward the end), ran the whole way and ran it in 2:21:23 - a whole 6:20 faster. Go figure. Maybe my body just needed the rest. I can tell you that all during the week of the 22nd, I was really struggling with motivation, so maybe my body was trying to tell me that I was overtraining - despite the very low mileage. I'll also add that all my running routes have been affected by Hurricane Helene. A lot of the greenway is blocked off or inaccessible. A large part of the Arboretum trails are closed. Bent Creek seems to be improving fast so that may be an option soon.

The Marathon as of today, seems almost unachievable. It's hard to imagine running another 16.2 miles, but I guess that's the point, right? To do something that seems so challenging? 

Until next week, Happy Trails. 

Marathon Training Update: Week of December 15th

This was another great week until today. I have been feeling pretty optimistic all this week but then today was just garbage. I think it was more psychological than anything, but I'll get to today in a moment. 

I started out the week with a long run of 10 miles. I ran the whole way, felt good and felt like I could have run more. However, I stuck to my plan and didn't push it, especially since the week's prior plantar fasciitis coming back. While I did have some foot sensitivity after the run, it was nothing at all like before and the next morning, I felt fine. 

On Monday and Tuesday I had to travel for work. Monday should have been a break from running, but I was bored so I did 2 miles on an elliptical in the hotel gym along with an upper body workout. I stuck with my typical 3 x 10 Shoulder Press, Dumbbell Rows, Arm Curls, Triceps Kickbacks, Front and Side Raises. Tuesday morning I woke up, hit the gym and did 2.5 miles on the elliptical and tried to do my typical lower body workout. However, after lunges and deadlifts, my hamstring was acting very weird and felt like it was going to pop, so I finished with some Calf Raises and called it a day. 

Wednesday was a rest day. My hamstring felt fine so that was good. Whatever twinge I had in the hotel gym seemed to have gone away. However, my Achilles was very sore and it hurt to walk.  

On Thursday, I did my upper body workout at home but my Achilles was still very sore and I was limping all day so I did not run. 

Friday was not any better. My Achilles still hurt to walk, but I powered through my typical home lower body workout which is 3 x 10 Deadlifts, Split Squats, Lunges, Step Ups and Calf Raises. 

Today, Saturday I was not looking forward to running. The "feels like" temp was in the teens but I sucked it up, but on layers and went out for a run. I didn't even make it a mile and I had to stop. My legs felt like solid steel. It was so much effort to pick them up it was crazy. I was only wearing leggings - no sweat pants - so I'm not sure why they felt so heavy but I just couldn't run. I wasn't even going that fast. Tomorrow is my long run, so we'll see what happens then. I don't think it's supposed to be any warmer tomorrow but I will suck it up. With the hat, gloves, gaiter and sweatshirt all up top, I was actually not cold. I felt very big...like the little kid in A Christmas Story that falls and can't get up from the snow. 

I mentioned I felt like today was more mental than physical. I have been back up in the 190's again, having got my weight down to 177 so that has really affected me. I see myself as "fat" again, as a big lumbering blob and it's definitely impacting my motivation. I think that, combined with the extreme cold (for my area) really did a number on me today.

Wish me luck. 

Marathon Training Update: Week of December 8th

I felt really good today looking back at this week. That's a first in a quite awhile. As I mentioned in my last post, I started the week off with a long run. On Sunday, December, 8th, I ran 8.93 miles. I had planned to run 8, but then I thought, 8.75 is basically 1/3 of a marathon. The trail I was on ended up being closed so I had to backtrack and ended up running the 8.93. There's so much storm damage on the greenway in Asheville along the RAD section that it's hard to believe they'll be able to run the Marathon in March. I think we'll be on the roads a lot more than we will on the Greenway as was originally planned. My time was slower than before. I ran this distance in 2:07:38, which is a 14:18 pace. Faster than the 14:37 I need to maintain to finish the marathon in the 6.5 hour cutoff time, but still not great. I had been running in the mid to high 13 minute range. I want that cushion. 

The rest of the week, I stayed on it in one way or another. Monday, I was having some heel pain from the day before so I took a rest day, which was actually already planned. I did however do an upper body workout at home with my dumbbells. I did 3 sets of 10 reps of each exercise: Shoulder Press, Bent-over Rows, Arm Curls, Triceps Kickbacks, Front Raise and Side Raise. 

Tuesday I was in the gym. It was super cold out so rather than run I did the following for about 45 minutes. 2 miles on the Elliptical, 2 miles on a recumbent elliptical (for lack of a better description) and 2 miles on a stationary bike. I then did 3 x 15 with Squats w/100 lbs, Calf Raises w/100 lbs., and Leg Curls with 50 lbs. 

Wednesday was a full rest day, but Tuesday I did a 1.73 Fartlek run. I didn't have a watch with me so I just pushed it as much as I could at times. I also did an upper body workout like I did on Monday. 

On Friday, I took a rest day from running but I did a lower body workout at home with dumbbells. I did 3 sets of 10 reps for Dumbbell Deadlifts, Squats, Step Ups, Lunges and Calf Raises. 

Today, Saturday, December 14th, I was traveling and shopping so I had planned a rest day again. Tomorrow is my long run so I want my legs to be fresh. 

Like I said. I feel really good about this past week. I would have liked to have run more, but with the cold and a lot of time constraints, I was happy I got out there and exercised as much as I did.