Sunday, November 28, 2010

Taper Week

Six days out from running the St Jude's marathon in Memphis, TN. Had a great run today. Everything is feeling good right now. Looking forward to a nice, relaxing taper week. Hoping my Thanksgiving feast didn't put too much of a damper on my distance running. :) It was good food though. Looking like we'll skip the hotel in Memphis and just get up early and drive to the race. They advise being there by 6:30 am, so as to get a parking space and make your way to the starting line at 4th and Beale Streets. Hoping to set a new PR in this race. It is calling for rain that day so, hopeful it holds off as well. Will post pics and time after the race.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

WIND!!!!

Ok, this wind is getting ridiculous. Almost a week straight of high winds. Hoping it dies down a bit on Thanksgiving so I can get a decent run in. I figure, if I can get in a good run before dinner, I can justify the kind of meal I plan on having. I haven't run since Sunday. I know I'm in taper mode but, I think I really need to quit being lazy. Once I complete St. Jude's, that will give me six marathons (one being an ultra) in my quest for 50. I know, long way to go but, at least I'm on my way. St. Jude's will also qualify me for the Marathon Maniacs club as well. Would love to follow St. Jude's up with either the Mississippi Blues Marathon in Jackson, MS (Jan), or the Mercedes Marathon in Birmingham, AL (Feb). Guess we'll see. Happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

Monday, November 22, 2010

St Jude's

Twelve days out from the St jude's marathon, in Memphis, TN. Still battling some minor cramping in my right calf. During my long run, yesterday, it started cramping on me as I went up and over the railroad tracks. Not even a full mile into my run. Started thinking to myself, "This sucks!" But, was able to finish the full 12 miles in just over 1 hr and 41 minutes. I'm happy with that. All my other runs during the week were pretty face paced. It was nice to be able to slow down a bit. However, I think the wind played a huge part in my slowing down as well. We had steady 12 mph winds, with 18 mph gusts out of the South. And come on, this is November!!! What's with the 65+ degrees and humidity??

Everyone all together now, "No wind on Dec 4th please. And temps in the 30s to low 40s as well". That's not asking for much is it??

Thursday, November 18, 2010

2011

Ok, my buddy Barrett has me talked into running the Andrew Jackson Marathon, in Jackson, TN, with him in April. I'm redirecting my goal from running 50 marathons in 50 states (Not giving up on it) to running 50 marathons before my 51st birthday. My plans are to run the local circuit to help me achieve that goal. This consists of the MidSouth marathon here in Wynne, St Jude's marathon in Memphis, Tupelo marathon in Tupelo, MS, and repeat. Little Rock is an option but, Barrett and I have committed to running the relay with our fellow Muckas and continue to defend our first place title in the Law Enforcement/Military division.

My goal for the Andrew Jackson marathon is to come in under 3 hrs and 50 minutes. Keep chipping away, little by little, at that Boston Qualifying time. I have noticed one thing. My marathon times continue to go down. However, my half marathon times have gone up. I'm still under 1 hr and 50 minutes on them but, just barely. Guess I need to learn to do more speed work.

Colder weather coming, makes for better running. Everyone enjoy your runs and stay warm! :)

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Recovery Week

This week has been a decent one. Got in several runs with Deb, and she helped keep me motivated. Was supposed to have a Muckas Run this morning but, the rain and opening day of deer season put a damper on the group run. Deb got in a great bike ride at home. I waited until around 4pm to get my run in. About 54 degrees outside, little to no wind, and partly cloudy skies. Had some trouble getting my left calf to loosen up but, it finally did around my fourth mile. Fifth and sixth miles were at 7:48 and 7:33. Still have some tightness in my left calf but, that's to be expected considering I just completed my second marathon in less than three weeks last weekend. St Jude's marathon now three weeks out. Let's get it on. :)

Sunday, November 7, 2010

MidSouth Kid's Marathon




This was really cool. They had a Kid's Marathon this year. Each child who takes part, builds up 25 miles leading up to this day. Then, they run the last 1.2 miles and finish in the football stadium. The same finish line the adults come into when they finish the half and full. Our youngest, Amy, took part in this. She wasn't feeling the greatest, as she had just received her flu shot the day before. But, she toughed it out, with Deb by her side. Like I mentioned in my other post, it was about 29 degrees when we all started. Off they went and she was doing great. Poor girl, her shoe came out of a double knot and tripped her up. But, she got up and finished strong. So very proud of her for doing this. Especially in this day and age of video games. She got her medal and it was well deserved. GREAT JOB AMY!!! :)

MidSouth Done!




It was a cold start (29 degrees) but, we couldn't have asked for better weather. I don't think the field was as large as it was last year but, we still had a good showing. Barrett and I stayed together for the first half of the race. I started having some knee pain before we hit the turn around point but, nothing major. Once we passed the turn around point for the halfers, it got pretty quiet. We passed several runners as we entered the hills of Bay Road. They weren't major hills but, they just never seemed to stop coming. And, if you're going uphill on an out and back course, you would think it would be downhill on the way back. I don't know where the downhills went but, I don't recall seeing any. Once we hit 13.1 (right around 1hr 45 minutes) we fueled up on gels and pressed on. I started slowing down a bit and Barrett stayed with me for about another mile. After that, he started pulling away. I kept him in sight for quite a while but, lost him around mile 20. At mile 21, my right calf started cramping up again. Not sure why. I was hydrated, took salt tabs and what I thought was all the right things. But, still caught a cramp. I was still making better time than I thought I would with being just under three weeks out from running Columbus, Got through the last two hills and it was all downhill from there. Crossed the finish line with 3:53:50 on my watch. I was 19 seconds slower than my PR time in Columbus. I'm happy with that. Had several folks from our Muckas Running Club running as well. Everyone did a great job.