- Current plan: San Francisco Marathon – 2nd Half Training Plan
- Today’s session: Post-race, rest day
- Comments: Rest day…that included a visit to my doctor about my knee and the taking of some X-rays. We will see… He didn’t take me off running/cycling, since I am taking it easier than I was a month ago, so i will continue to pull back on intensity and listen to my knee when it complains…
Archives For November 30, 1999
I punched number fourteen on my half marathon card this morning: The San Francisco Marathon – 2nd Half!
Unofficial time is 2:04:15 @ 9:29 pace. My goal was 2:18, based on my right knee’s behavior on the last few runs and sticking with the 4:1 run/walk ratio. So, I am a happy runner! It ended up being a great race, with minimal knee issues. I stuck with the 4:1 ratio until the final 1.1 and let it all out.
The second medal I’m holding is for completing the Half It All Challenge this year: 1st half Marathon last year, 2nd half this year.
Full report later this week.
Happy Father’s Day to all you dads.
Training Journal – 6/16/13:
- Current plan: San Francisco Marathon – 2nd Half Training Plan
- Today’s session: Race Day!!!
- Comments: See above…more deets later this week
- Weekly mileage: Running: 30.01 / Bicycling: 0
- Current plan: San Francisco Marathon – 2nd Half Training Plan
- Today’s session: Some chores, rest, and carb-load day two.
- Comments: I didn’t plan to run today, but did a 2-mile shake-out run to see if my Hoka EVOs were easier on the knee. I think they are and I’ll wear them tomorrow even though they are trail shoes. The key tomorrow will be taking it slower than i normally do…which was even a challenge today…and having a fun run.
I hit the San Francisco Marathon Expo today and picked up my bib for Sunday’s San Francisco Marathon – 2nd half – plus a bag load of SWAG!
Knowing that race day was also Father’s Day, a while back, I had a special bib made at races2remember.com. I think they did an awesome job!
So, I will be wearing two bibs on Sunday:
Today is also my dad’s birthday – he’s the guy on the right. I miss him terribly and hope he’d be proud of me. I’m thankful that my dad-in-law (on the left) got to see how much I love running, though he missed my first marathon by just 11 days.
Training Journal – 6/14/13:
- Current plan: San Francisco Marathon – 2nd Half Training Plan
- Today’s session: Rest and carb-load day one.
- Comments: There was some great swag at the expo and I also hit the KT Tape booth and got my knee taped. (Kinda weird not having hair on the front of my upper right leg. Maybe I’ll shave the rest…?!?!)
I’m looking forward with some nervousness to Sunday. I’m not really nervous from a race standpoint, mostly from a “knee” standpoint. Still, it will be a great day…
Training Journal – 6/13/13:
- Current plan: San Francisco Marathon – 2nd Half Training Plan
- Today’s session: 4-mile easy run
- Comments: I ended up cutting my run to 3.3 miles. My knee just wasn’t feeling it and I didn’t want to aggravate it any further. Part of that was my fault – I wore my Saucony Type A5s, which ARE NOT the best shoe selection for an achy knee. I realized my poor choice at about mile 2… My plan is to rest the next two days and hope for the best that day – my goal being to finish and have a great time. OK, I do have a time goal, but it’s practical and attainable, based on my current condition. I went ahead and made a doctor appointment for next Monday to get further diagnosis…(tear)
What is a weed? A plant whose virtues have never been discovered. – Ralph Waldo Emerson
Being the creature of habit that I am, my run routes vary little day-to-day. Typically, the first 2.25 miles are the same. After that, I can turn right for a 4-miler, go straight and make subsequent right turns at other points for 5, 6, 7, or 8-mile loops, or not turn for 10 to 20-mile out and backs. I love it!
As I’ve shared before, and for as long as I can remember, at mile 1.8 I pass a barley-like foxtail weed that has grown in a crack on the side of the road. It started out as a small plant; but, along with the others near it, has steadily grown to about waist height. That weed has become part of my run…my day:
✓ Wake up
✓ Bathroom
✓ Gear up
✓ Stretch while Garmin locates GPS
✓ GO!
✓ At mile 1.8, do ritualistic, glance/touch of weed
_ …
Anyway, I was on my run this morning, nearing the mile-1.8, weed-glancing, check-that-off-the-list spot and BOOM:
it’s gone
My weed is gone! All nearby weeds were gone!
Apparently, the city removed weeds from that section of road yesterday after 2+ years of their being an integral part of my morning run! How dare they!
So, alas, I find myself looking for an alternative, ritualistic, glance/touch object now…
Training Journal – 6/12/13:
- Current plan: San Francisco Marathon – 2nd Half Training Plan
- Today’s session: 5-mile easy run
- Comments: I did 5.13 at a 10:04 min/mi pace using a 4:1 run-walk ratio. Knee status: meh… At 4.75 miles, it was bugging me so I switched to a 2m:30sec ratio for the final stretch.
I’ve been experimenting with KT Tape the last two days. Actually, only this morning, since the stuff didn’t stick for my run yesterday. We’ll see if that provides any help/relief. I really do hope the knee returns to its old self at some point…soon.
- Current plan: San Francisco Marathon – 2nd Half Training Plan
- Today’s session: 6-mile easy run
- Comments: I did 6.25 at a 9:25 min/mi pace using a 4:1 run-walk ratio. My knee felt ok, probably closer to a “meh” – still not perfect. I started too fast and tired by the end of the run too…
With my knee not yet at 100% (I actually don’t know how to rank it right now) and wanting to gradually return to running at an easy pace after 10 days off, I tried the Jeff Galloway, run-walk-run method on this morning’s long run – thus the Galloweee. I started out with a 4 min run to 40 second walk ratio – totally arbitrary decision. After about 4 miles, my knee was bugging me a bit (though not unbearable), so I adjusted to a 4:00/1:00 ratio. I think the additional 20 seconds made it a bit more bearable on my knee. After the change, I averaged about a 10:09/mile pace. Tough, when I think about my pre-injury pacing, but decent still.
I felt OK when I finished the run, having some soreness. I iced the knee while I ate breakfast and wore my knee wrap when we went to church. This afternoon, the knee actually feels pretty good…
Looking forward to next week’s running of the San Francisco Marathon – 2nd half, the 4:00/1:00 ratio & 10:09/mile pace would equate to about a 2:12:35 – given no pacing or knee issues. I’m good with that – especially since the course time limit is 3.5 hours – and my goal is to finish and get the bling. I’ll work on the run-walk-run thing during my runs this week, but I think that ratio it doable.
Giddy-up!
Training Journal – 6/9/13:
- Current plan: San Francisco Marathon – 2nd Half Training Plan
- Today’s session: 10-mile long run
- Comments: I did 10.67 at a 9:53 min/mi pace.
- Weekly mileage: Running: 16.06 / Bicycling: 0
May was quite a month…
The intent was to leverage my Big Sur Marathon training and run the Horseshoe Lake 50K – which were separated by three weeks. That started out fine, but a tweaked knee on a 5/12 trail run and then getting a stomach virus that knocked me out of commission for fours days cut into my training/mileage. Still, it was a decent month, as you can see below. Since the 50K was on trails, road running dipped to 23%, trail running ended up at 49%, and bicycling at 28%.
After the 50K, I really dropped training and rested a bit more than I usually do – though that mostly had to do with my knee flaring up, visiting the doctor, and then being put on 10-days of complete rest from running and cycling. I did have one “first” this month: I did a “brick” workout: 8.25-mile ride + 3.43-mile run. It was interesting and, once I return to better conditioning, I may work those in occasionally. No business travel this month, so that was nice.
- HIGH: I ran a 50K! I’m an ultramarathoner!
- LOW: My knee issues
As far as new equipment, one this month:
- I picked up a Garmin 910XT. I had been thinking about getting one of these for a while and saw that they were $100 off at Road Runner Sports…so I jumped! I really like it and, violating the “no new equipment on races” rule, wore it for the first time on the 50K. It went great and I am still getting familiar with it.
With that, here are the stats for the month that was May 2013:
After 10 days of mandatory rest because of my knee (no running or cycling), I did my “observance” of June 5th’s National Running Day this morning…
It wasn’t pretty, but it was a run and it felt good to get out on the road again.
OK, it was mostly a run. After 2.6 miles at an easy pace (9:30), I switched to a “run-walk-run” pattern since my knee was a little sensitive and I was generally stiff from 10 days of rest. I did about 2 minutes of running and 20-40 seconds of fast walking for an average pace of 10:35. Neither pace is what I am used to, but it was what felt comfortable and, even more important, smart, given my overall condition.
I will rest Saturday and then run again on Sunday. I still may follow-up with my doctor, depending upon how I feel.
With the San Francisco Marathon – 2nd Half a week away plus how I felt this morning (during and after the run), I will probably practice a “run-walk-run” pattern on Sunday’s long run. The “2nd Half” is a MUST DO for me, since it will qualify me for the “Half It All” medal. Participation is essential and “finishing” is the goal (rather than a specific time…other than the 3.5-hour course llimit for the 2nd Half, of course!) I GOT MY EYE ON THE PRIZE!
With that, here are two great and encouraging runner “reads” I saw recently:
- A Message To Non-Runners, by Mark Kennedy
- A Champion: By Definition, by John “the Penguin” Bingham
Have a great weekend and if you are running a race this weekend (which many of my fellow Run It Fast Club members are), have an amazing run weekend!
‘Training’ Journal – 6/7/13:
- Current plan: San Francisco Marathon – 2nd Half Training Plan
- Today’s session: 5 mile easy run
- Comments: I did 5.38 @ 10:11 avg pace
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