Monday, November 24, 2008
Monday, May 5, 2008
Victory!
I finished the flying pig! 
My time of 4:01:47 was close enough to my goal of breaking 4 hours that I can declare Victory! I may even have broken the 4 hour mark... there is some controversy that the course is longer than 26.2. There was a house fire just before the marathon and they had to quickly figure out a detour, which added somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 mile to the course. Regardless, I am really happy with my time.
Thanks to everyone who has supported me with their well wishes, prayers and donations. Special thanks to my wife who put up with what seemed like endless training runs all winter long. Also thanks to my wife, daughter and friends who shouted encouragement from various places along the course! That kept me going for sure.
So... this takes us back to the quote that started this whole blog! "Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." Keep the faith!
My time of 4:01:47 was close enough to my goal of breaking 4 hours that I can declare Victory! I may even have broken the 4 hour mark... there is some controversy that the course is longer than 26.2. There was a house fire just before the marathon and they had to quickly figure out a detour, which added somewhere between 1/4 and 1/2 mile to the course. Regardless, I am really happy with my time.
Thanks to everyone who has supported me with their well wishes, prayers and donations. Special thanks to my wife who put up with what seemed like endless training runs all winter long. Also thanks to my wife, daughter and friends who shouted encouragement from various places along the course! That kept me going for sure.
So... this takes us back to the quote that started this whole blog! "Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." Keep the faith!
Friday, May 2, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
One week to go!
Unbelievably, this was the final 'long run' of my 2008 Flying Pig Marathon training! It's been quite a ride.
Today we were at the Red River Gorge. My running partner, Domingo, actually left his home in Cincinnati at around 4:15 am in order to run with me at 7 am. He showed up right on time, and we headed to my car. We drove to the pull-off for Rock Bridge road on KY715 and decided to run from there. It's about a 3 mile gravel road, and a 1.75 mile trail down to Rock Bridge, then of course 3 miles back to the car.
It was a beautiful day for a 'short' run. 60 degrees, no wind, no rain. The Rock Bridge trail was amazingly beautiful. Getting back up the trail to the road was pretty tough... but today was supposed to be a relatively easy day so we didn't push it.
All in all it was a beautiful run. A nice wind-down from previous weeks. And, importantly, nothing hurts! Bring on The Pig!
Keep the faith.
Today we were at the Red River Gorge. My running partner, Domingo, actually left his home in Cincinnati at around 4:15 am in order to run with me at 7 am. He showed up right on time, and we headed to my car. We drove to the pull-off for Rock Bridge road on KY715 and decided to run from there. It's about a 3 mile gravel road, and a 1.75 mile trail down to Rock Bridge, then of course 3 miles back to the car.
It was a beautiful day for a 'short' run. 60 degrees, no wind, no rain. The Rock Bridge trail was amazingly beautiful. Getting back up the trail to the road was pretty tough... but today was supposed to be a relatively easy day so we didn't push it.
All in all it was a beautiful run. A nice wind-down from previous weeks. And, importantly, nothing hurts! Bring on The Pig!
Keep the faith.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Two weeks til 'Pig Time'
This week I ran my final long run prior to the Pig. It was another attempt at 20 miles. Same course as last week, two loops of the bike trail with extra miles of the inner loops. I ran with my friend Domingo this week, which made the time pass more quickly.
I only made it 19 miles, and hit the infamous 'wall', and walked the final mile home. Regardless, everything felt good. I'm confident I'll be able to finish the marathon. I'm not so sure about making the goal of 4:00 hours, but we'll see. The next two weeks will be devoted to tapering down. Next week's long run will be only around 10 miles. The long range forecast calls for Marathon day to be 81... a far cry from the 20's, 30's and 40's I've been running in! I'll do some short runs in warmer temps over the next two weeks and hope to get used to the heat as much as I can. I've done what I can. It's in His hands now.
Keep the faith!
I only made it 19 miles, and hit the infamous 'wall', and walked the final mile home. Regardless, everything felt good. I'm confident I'll be able to finish the marathon. I'm not so sure about making the goal of 4:00 hours, but we'll see. The next two weeks will be devoted to tapering down. Next week's long run will be only around 10 miles. The long range forecast calls for Marathon day to be 81... a far cry from the 20's, 30's and 40's I've been running in! I'll do some short runs in warmer temps over the next two weeks and hope to get used to the heat as much as I can. I've done what I can. It's in His hands now.
Keep the faith!
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Attempt at 20 miles, 3 weeks to go
If I'm going to survive the Pig I need to get back a couple more high mileage runs. This week is supposed to mark the longest training run, 20 miles, and then I'm supposed to taper off every week until the race.
After the 'success' (i.e., the ability to even run a few miles without pain) of my midweek run I decided to try for the full 20. I ran the bike trail from my home again. I got up at 5 a.m. (my body's still on Germany time... so not a big deal) and got out by 5:30. I planned for two laps of the bike trail, each with an extra lap of the inner loop. That would give me 19.8 miles... close enough.
Listen
The theme that seemed to go through this week's run was 'Listen'.
The first lap was great. I was still able to run without pain, and at a nice pace of about 8:30-9:00 min/mile. 'I'm back!' I kept saying to myself.
Spring has come since I ran last. I ran with one earphone on, to listen to my 'podrunner' and keep a steady pace, and the other earphone off to listen to the world coming to life. Even though it was only about 45F, the spring peepers were peeping, and the birds were starting to sing / coming to life. What a change in just a couple of weeks! Running in springtime is so nice.
About an hour into the run and still dark outside, I noticed for the first time that the music I've been listening to for months has a soundbite layered into it that is a quote from the bible on 'let there be light'. I never noticed it before. The amazing thing was that it was starting to become noticeably lighter out at that very moment. Amazing timing... which gets one thinking, especially on long runs when there is nothing else to do. Was God sending me a signal to listen more attentively?
This reminded me the movie 'I am legend' that I watched on the plane. There's a section there where one of the survivors tries to explain to Will Smith how she knows what she knows. She said that as the world got quieter it got easier to hear what God was saying. Sometimes you just have to listen.
I couldn't agree more. I thought about how devoting this race to Amazing Grace Church was the perfect thing to do. By devoting the race to Amazing Grace I am in effect devoting it to the glory of God. The ankle injury and quick recovery was just a wake-up call to me to put this back into perspective. Thank you, Lord, for reminding me of who's in charge.
Needless to say, I had plenty to keep my mind occupied for the next several more miles.
The second lap around the bike trail was also going smoothly. The sun came up to a vivid sunrise, and more and more creatures came to life. As it got lighter several other runners appeared on the trail.
It didn't end perfectly, though. About mile 17 I listened one more time. With just 3 miles to go my ankle started to 'spaz' on me a bit, and I decided to listen to it. Instead of continuing to run and risking re-injuring it, I started walking. I was close to the road so I called home and asked my wife to come get me, which she did. Nice to have a ground crew!
So... I have not finished my '20 miler' in preparation for the Pig. We'll see what happens in the coming week. My legs muscles are quite sore... reminding me that it's not a good idea to take 3 weeks off and then try to run far. At least it's just muscle soreness, which will go away in a couple days. However, I am very happy with the quick recovery. Oh well, enough for now.
Keep the faith, remember who's in charge!
After the 'success' (i.e., the ability to even run a few miles without pain) of my midweek run I decided to try for the full 20. I ran the bike trail from my home again. I got up at 5 a.m. (my body's still on Germany time... so not a big deal) and got out by 5:30. I planned for two laps of the bike trail, each with an extra lap of the inner loop. That would give me 19.8 miles... close enough.
Listen
The theme that seemed to go through this week's run was 'Listen'.
The first lap was great. I was still able to run without pain, and at a nice pace of about 8:30-9:00 min/mile. 'I'm back!' I kept saying to myself.
Spring has come since I ran last. I ran with one earphone on, to listen to my 'podrunner' and keep a steady pace, and the other earphone off to listen to the world coming to life. Even though it was only about 45F, the spring peepers were peeping, and the birds were starting to sing / coming to life. What a change in just a couple of weeks! Running in springtime is so nice.
About an hour into the run and still dark outside, I noticed for the first time that the music I've been listening to for months has a soundbite layered into it that is a quote from the bible on 'let there be light'. I never noticed it before. The amazing thing was that it was starting to become noticeably lighter out at that very moment. Amazing timing... which gets one thinking, especially on long runs when there is nothing else to do. Was God sending me a signal to listen more attentively?
This reminded me the movie 'I am legend' that I watched on the plane. There's a section there where one of the survivors tries to explain to Will Smith how she knows what she knows. She said that as the world got quieter it got easier to hear what God was saying. Sometimes you just have to listen.
I couldn't agree more. I thought about how devoting this race to Amazing Grace Church was the perfect thing to do. By devoting the race to Amazing Grace I am in effect devoting it to the glory of God. The ankle injury and quick recovery was just a wake-up call to me to put this back into perspective. Thank you, Lord, for reminding me of who's in charge.
Needless to say, I had plenty to keep my mind occupied for the next several more miles.
The second lap around the bike trail was also going smoothly. The sun came up to a vivid sunrise, and more and more creatures came to life. As it got lighter several other runners appeared on the trail.
It didn't end perfectly, though. About mile 17 I listened one more time. With just 3 miles to go my ankle started to 'spaz' on me a bit, and I decided to listen to it. Instead of continuing to run and risking re-injuring it, I started walking. I was close to the road so I called home and asked my wife to come get me, which she did. Nice to have a ground crew!
So... I have not finished my '20 miler' in preparation for the Pig. We'll see what happens in the coming week. My legs muscles are quite sore... reminding me that it's not a good idea to take 3 weeks off and then try to run far. At least it's just muscle soreness, which will go away in a couple days. However, I am very happy with the quick recovery. Oh well, enough for now.
Keep the faith, remember who's in charge!
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Mid week
I've been on a business trip all week. My ankle's been feeling perfectly fine, so I decided to take a run... and add a new place to my 'running list'. I'm in Bad Soden, Germany, near Frankfurt.
I left my hotel about 6:00 a.m., still dark, and started running up the road. It was a steep hill for about 2 miles (800 foot rise in elevation), then turned onto a gravel road into the forest. It was just beginning to get light and I felt like I was doing a Hansel unt Gretl. I considered leaving bread crumbs... but didn't have any.
Luckily I found my way back to the road after about 1.5 miles in the woods, and managed a 5.2 mile run without much trouble. My time was quite slow, mostly because the hill was so steep, and I didn't want to push it coming back down.
I left my hotel about 6:00 a.m., still dark, and started running up the road. It was a steep hill for about 2 miles (800 foot rise in elevation), then turned onto a gravel road into the forest. It was just beginning to get light and I felt like I was doing a Hansel unt Gretl. I considered leaving bread crumbs... but didn't have any.
Luckily I found my way back to the road after about 1.5 miles in the woods, and managed a 5.2 mile run without much trouble. My time was quite slow, mostly because the hill was so steep, and I didn't want to push it coming back down.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
