Jacksonville Bank Marathon
December 19th, 2010 @ 7AM
26.2 Miles need to be covered in under 3 hours 15 minutes 59 seconds.
That's running, on average, at least 7:28/mile or faster.
Course
The course is described as flat, fast, and very scenic with 85% shade. That's 22 miles of shade to take advantage of, if the sun decides to pop it's ugly head out. I'm a notoriously horrible hot weather runner, and coming from Michigan's weather in late mid-December to Florida's historical mid 50s with 88% humidity in the morning I'm going to need all the help I can get. I concede some of these problems are self-induced psychosomatic, but they are problems none-the-less. I'm hoping that arriving two days ahead of time will help in some LARGE way. I'm also crossing my fingers for record low temps on December 19th. I don't really drink orange juice anyways...so let it be 32 degrees, if only for 3 hours and 16 minutes. Not too many people will be affected by damaged crops, right?
All joking aside, I've put in the mileage and feel I'm prepared to run somewhere between 7:14 and 7:28 per mile over the course set out. No "I'm feeling strong I can hold this pace and hold back the fade through 26..." I've tried that before, didn't work out so well.
The Plan(s)
1. The first half (13.1 miles) I need to come through in 1:37:30 or very close to that. That would be 7:27 per mile. Pick it up to 7:25 pace for the second half and come in satisfied with a Boston Qualifier (BQ).
2. Go out in 7:25 for the first 20 miles and gradually pick it up (one or two seconds per mile) and see what I can do on that last mile.
3. Put my watch on "PACE" and just make sure I stay close to 7:28 per mile.
4. Don't overthink it.
Now let's hope this chest congestion I've had for three weeks clears up and everything else stays on track.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
December 2010 update
I am such a slacker. There, I said it, let's move on.
This has been a strange year. I told myself I wasn't going to run another marathon until I was ready, had dropped enough weight, and was ready to ROLL. Life gets in the way, things and minds change...and now I'm less than three weeks away from running a marathon. Bear with me as I work through this year's running events.
Martian Half Marathon (4/10): 1:44:24 (see previous post for detail)
Glass City Marathon (Support for JeffMac, ran just about 24 miles that day)
Cinco de Mayo 5K: 21:16 with my son in the jogging stroller on a windy day.
Cleveland Half Marathon (5/16): 1:33:50..... nice hilly course, will do it again some day.
Dexter Ann Arbor Half Marathon (6/6): 1:31:33 nice hilly course, ran with Katherine Kyle most of the way, then gassed out with two miles to go. Tough run, not to be run hard on the front end.
Anchor Bay Triathlon (7/11): 1:21:07 Had NO IDEA how to "manage" my energy output, nor how to survive the gladiator pit known as the swim...definitely going to work on a repeat performance. Training for this event improved my overall running shape. (1/2 Mile swim, 12 mile bike, 3 mile run)
Chicago Rock and Roll Half (8/1): 1:31:41 VERY HOT. Out too fast. Last three miles felt like I was running in a bowl of my own stupidity.
Kayla O'Mara 10K (8/7): 41:13 nice challenging course. Sufficiently hilly to keep you honest. Great performance considering the self-induced beating I gave myself 6 days previous.
Milford 30K Cyclocross (9/4): 1:06:10 Most important detail...bring the right tires! Slipping and sliding all over the place. Could have rocked this event if I wasn't spinning in place once we went offroad. Only saving grace were the 4 or 5 miles on pavement. Definitely will be clipping in next time as well. Rookie mistake. Took 4th overall for my first cyclocross event.
Somewhere after Chicago's Half Marathon and just after Milford's 30K I suffered from some serious ITB issues. I had had the plan to make it all the way from 12/25/09 to 12/25/2010 without missing a day of running. I could barely run. That's when I realized that a trip to Kyle Ormsbee was necessary, the sooner the better (yes, it took a little prodding from a few friends). If you suffer from ITBS, and need it to go away FAST, see someone who can ACTIVELY release your tightness. It's NOT for the faint of heart, it's not for those with a low threshold for pain. It's going to hurt, you're going to come close to passing out and you'll break such a sweat you'll think you were hanging out with Bikram Choudhury. It's all worth it. The pain goes away, AND you come back BETTER THAN BEFORE. Flexibility you had long long ago comes back, your fast-twitched muscles will fire like they used to, it'll feel like you're just going through the motions when you're training at your "usual pace". After my Ormsbee treatment (it gets progressively stronger over a few sessions) I signed up for the Brooksie Half Marathon. My expectations were low. I basically had three weeks of garbage runs, and thought maybe I'd not have anything inside to be able to handle 13.1 miles of some really tough hills. It was the hardest course of the year, by far, when you factor in the weather (Milford's 30K is no laughing matter).
Brooksie Way Half Marathon (10/3): 1:30:22 Hard Course, smartest move to run conservatively through 10 and take off with the last 3.1 being mostly downhill. PR for the year. 23 seconds away from my personal goal of breaking 1:30 in the half.
That WILL happen.
Took a break from racing to go shoot from the Finish Line Photobridge at the New York City Marathon. My favorite photo from that day:
Shalane Flanagan
Roseville's Big Bird 10K (11/14): 41:33 (6:42/mile pace), nice flat course mostly, mile markers aren't exactly in the right places, but overall you end up running 10K...so no biggie. Probably shouldn't have run that fast. Was trying to help out a friend run sub 40 minutes, but it was just too cold and windy that day to make it happen.
Thanksgiving morning was spent managing the Finish Line for the Detroit Turkey Trot.
Or being the Captain, or Chief, or (___________) whatever. Titles aren't important. What is important is that 17K+ runners/walkers got through the finish line in the right chute, and without congestion. Thanks to all the volunteers that helped make that happen.
This has been a strange year. I told myself I wasn't going to run another marathon until I was ready, had dropped enough weight, and was ready to ROLL. Life gets in the way, things and minds change...and now I'm less than three weeks away from running a marathon. Bear with me as I work through this year's running events.
Martian Half Marathon (4/10): 1:44:24 (see previous post for detail)
Glass City Marathon (Support for JeffMac, ran just about 24 miles that day)
Cinco de Mayo 5K: 21:16 with my son in the jogging stroller on a windy day.
Cleveland Half Marathon (5/16): 1:33:50..... nice hilly course, will do it again some day.
Dexter Ann Arbor Half Marathon (6/6): 1:31:33 nice hilly course, ran with Katherine Kyle most of the way, then gassed out with two miles to go. Tough run, not to be run hard on the front end.
Anchor Bay Triathlon (7/11): 1:21:07 Had NO IDEA how to "manage" my energy output, nor how to survive the gladiator pit known as the swim...definitely going to work on a repeat performance. Training for this event improved my overall running shape. (1/2 Mile swim, 12 mile bike, 3 mile run)
Chicago Rock and Roll Half (8/1): 1:31:41 VERY HOT. Out too fast. Last three miles felt like I was running in a bowl of my own stupidity.
Kayla O'Mara 10K (8/7): 41:13 nice challenging course. Sufficiently hilly to keep you honest. Great performance considering the self-induced beating I gave myself 6 days previous.
Milford 30K Cyclocross (9/4): 1:06:10 Most important detail...bring the right tires! Slipping and sliding all over the place. Could have rocked this event if I wasn't spinning in place once we went offroad. Only saving grace were the 4 or 5 miles on pavement. Definitely will be clipping in next time as well. Rookie mistake. Took 4th overall for my first cyclocross event.
Somewhere after Chicago's Half Marathon and just after Milford's 30K I suffered from some serious ITB issues. I had had the plan to make it all the way from 12/25/09 to 12/25/2010 without missing a day of running. I could barely run. That's when I realized that a trip to Kyle Ormsbee was necessary, the sooner the better (yes, it took a little prodding from a few friends). If you suffer from ITBS, and need it to go away FAST, see someone who can ACTIVELY release your tightness. It's NOT for the faint of heart, it's not for those with a low threshold for pain. It's going to hurt, you're going to come close to passing out and you'll break such a sweat you'll think you were hanging out with Bikram Choudhury. It's all worth it. The pain goes away, AND you come back BETTER THAN BEFORE. Flexibility you had long long ago comes back, your fast-twitched muscles will fire like they used to, it'll feel like you're just going through the motions when you're training at your "usual pace". After my Ormsbee treatment (it gets progressively stronger over a few sessions) I signed up for the Brooksie Half Marathon. My expectations were low. I basically had three weeks of garbage runs, and thought maybe I'd not have anything inside to be able to handle 13.1 miles of some really tough hills. It was the hardest course of the year, by far, when you factor in the weather (Milford's 30K is no laughing matter).
Brooksie Way Half Marathon (10/3): 1:30:22 Hard Course, smartest move to run conservatively through 10 and take off with the last 3.1 being mostly downhill. PR for the year. 23 seconds away from my personal goal of breaking 1:30 in the half.
That WILL happen.
Took a break from racing to go shoot from the Finish Line Photobridge at the New York City Marathon. My favorite photo from that day:
Shalane Flanagan
Roseville's Big Bird 10K (11/14): 41:33 (6:42/mile pace), nice flat course mostly, mile markers aren't exactly in the right places, but overall you end up running 10K...so no biggie. Probably shouldn't have run that fast. Was trying to help out a friend run sub 40 minutes, but it was just too cold and windy that day to make it happen.
Thanksgiving morning was spent managing the Finish Line for the Detroit Turkey Trot.
Or being the Captain, or Chief, or (___________) whatever. Titles aren't important. What is important is that 17K+ runners/walkers got through the finish line in the right chute, and without congestion. Thanks to all the volunteers that helped make that happen.
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