Marathon Tapering

Marathon tapering occurs in the final 3 weeks before the marathon in which you gradually decrease your miles run each week in preparation for the marathon, just as you slowly increase your mileage when you start your training program. A lot of wacky things go on with runners during this "taper" period, both mentally and physically. A couple of my friends from RA, Jennifer (On Your Left), and Marion (Shut it and Run), are either in or will be going into their taper weeks in their training for their upcoming marathons and I found this article, "Taper Traps", from an old Runner's World and I thought they might get a thing or two out of the article to combat the "tapering madness" that many runners experience. I know I will be relying heavily on any support leading up to my first marathon. Good luck ladies!

Reflecting

I was paid a most high compliment by my running friend, Marion, over at her blog, Shut it and Run, in her Monday, January 14th post. She was saying what a great job I had done in the 10 mile race I had run the day before which was cool and everything, but the comment I appreciated the most was at the end of her post when she said, "Pop over to his blog. He's really a great inspiration for anyone, runner or not. Makes ya wanna be a better person all around, not just on the running trail:)" It brought tears to my eyes. You see, my life goal is to become more Christ-like everyday and to be a servant and encourager to others as He is to us... there is no greater goal or model for me to conform to. I want to reflect His character to those around me and Mar's comment provided me with some affirmation that I am on the right path so, thanks SO much Mar! I read this from 1 Corinthians 10:23&24 this morning where the apostle Paul says, "'Everything is permissible' - but not everything is beneficial. 'Everything is permissible' - but not everything is constructive. Nobody should seek his own good, but the good of others." It is fallen human nature to be selfish and self-serving. It is my prayer this morning that God continues to change the nature of who I am to speak and to act for the good of others and reflect His character and not my own. Amen.

Is It Spring Already?

While I was out doing inspections for work today, I heard a familiar bird song from the back yard of the home I was inspecting. I was pretty sure I knew what it was, but it didn't make any sense that I was hearing it in the dead of winter. Sure enough, there were a whole bunch of Robins in an oak tree in the people's back yard. I came around front and found this one in a small tree all puffed up trying to stay warm. I always get excited seeing the first Robins in late February or early March as a sign that spring is right around the corner. I think we have a ways to go yet though. Talked to Dad today and he said it's been too cold to play volleyball in the pool down in southern Texas. It's only supposed to be in the mid-60's this week. Poor retirees...

Seven Snowy Miles of Joy

Yesterday I took off as a day of rest after unsuccessfully chasing after a bunch of much faster runners the day before! GAH! I felt good when I got up yesterday, but then I went to sit down at my desk and got this stabbing pain in my right low back just above my hip. Fortunately I already had a chiro appointment with the awesome Dr. Daryl Lajiness at Lifestyle Chiropratic who tuned me up that afternoon. No more zingers since then. Yea!




We had a light snow this morning that I headed out in for a 7 miler. I simply went out and back on Temperance Road reveling in the beauty of the morning, the falling snow, the new clean blanketing of my surroundings, the serenity. I was a little sore from the race, but I just had a cool peace about me on the run and was filled with joy. I love runs like that. Was thinking about you a lot too, Cassy. Gonna need some of your determination for this marathon girl! Oh, I finished my run down the dead end of our snow covered street, which was a good packing snow. By the time I got to the end of my run I was like 6'4" from the snow build up on the soles of my shoes!

Dave's 10 Mile Shoe Run Race Report

It's all fun and games at the start until you've run your second Ohio Turnpike overpass in the race at mile 4.5 out of the 4 overpass crossings in the race with the last being at mile 8.5! Ok, individually the race went well and I exceeded my expectations for myself. As far as me in relation to the rest of the field of runners... let's just say 79.07% I only saw from the rear by the time I finished. These Toledo RoadRunners really take their running seriously and... are seriously fast! We left for Delta, Ohio about 12:15, after Tammy pulled her homemade apple pie out of the oven. Lindsey and Tammy accompanied me, which I was SO grateful for! I ate a PB&J on the drive there and downed a bottle of water. Got to Delta about 1:00ish. The race setup was great in that we were able to use the Pike-Delta-York High School cafeteria for a staging area and there were several available restrooms in adjacent halls (which I frequented like 3 times before the race!) and we had access to the locker rooms off the gym. I did a warm up jog and stretched and decided on what I would run in clothing-wise. It was about 39 and light drizzle, perfect for running a race. The race started on time at 2:00 p.m. There were like 172 runners, 135 of which pulled away from me immediately! My intentions for this race was to go out at like a 9:00 min/mile pace for the first couple of miles and then ramp it up to about 8:30/mile for the remainder if possible, but NOOOOO.... the other runners just had to be so freakin' fast that they made me go out at 8:30/mile. Through the first couple of miles I just focused on holding that pace and getting into a comfortable (yea right) stride at it. People were passing me periodically, although there weren't too many folks left behind me other than those running the race with walkers! We went over the Ohio Turnpike a total of 4 times. The first time was only about a mile into the race. Not so bad. The second time was starting at about 4.25 miles. I started getting a pretty bad sub-sternal pain at this point which then moved to my right upper quad in my abdomen. GAH! I NEVER get stitches like this! It was so bad that once I crested the overpass and started on my way down, I was considering bailing on the race. WOULD NOT! Thankfully there was a water station at mile 5 which saved my life AND my race. I walked through the station and slowly drank the cup of water to make sure I didn't upset any contents to air ratio in my tummy which would cause me to lose my PB&J and water. I started back up again and tried pacing 8:30 - 8:45 for the rest of the race. I was tired, but getting increasingly optimistic after getting through that race hiccup at mile 4 - 5. When I got to 7, I felt pretty good and was actually picking up my pacing and passed a few of the fine folks that had been showing me their bums for most of the race. Mile 9 to the finish was tough, and seemed long, but I just focused on finishing strong at this point. I passed one or two other runners and then saw Tammy at about 9.75 miles and started hammering it home as best as I could with what would lamely be called "my kick" telling her "I need help!". Lindsey was right at the finish cheering me through and taking my pic - the one in the sidebar at the right, which is in stark contrast to the one above! I finished in 1:26:23, about an 8:39 min/mile pace and better than my goal time of 1:30:00. I was happy with my effort, but astonished at the speed out there in the field today. I finished 136/172 runners and probably last in my age group, but that was a long and fast race for me and I don't think I could have run it any faster. They had some great eats, ham and turkey sammiches, chicken noodle soup, and apples afterward and we chatted with the Calhoun family (the girls all ran and kicked MY butt - and many others' too though - Kate 1:08 something, Kelsey 1:16 something, Errin 1:20 something), I changed into dry clothes and we headed back home. Thanks Tammy and Lindsey for going with me... it meant the world to me! I love you guys!

"I Believe in You"

This was the title of the message Pastor Mark gave today at CrossRoads Community Church. It was a great message. Too often I am critical of my wife and kids and those around me and too quick to point out the negatives. Do I tell them enough though that "I believe in you"? If I don't, I am sorry and I will work at doing a better job of being an encourager. I know that is something that I desire, to know that my family and those closest to me believe in me so, in knowing this desire of myself, I should certainly work harder at letting those closest to me know that I believe in them. Bottom line is, God believes in all of us, He wouldn't have sent his son for us if He didn't. But, we're still human, and even though I know this of my heavenly father, I still need to know it from my earthly father and those close to me. It's important to me. So, Tammy, Chelsea, Lindsey, and everyone else close to me.... I DO believe in you, am proud of you just for being you, and am so thankful for all of you in my life. "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Ephesians 4:29 (NIV) I have a race to go get ready for now... wish me luck.

Toledo Jazz Orchestra's Tribute to Maynard Ferguson

This doesn't have a lot to do with running, but I went to the Toledo Jazz Orchestra's Tribute to Maynard Ferguson featuring Patrick Hession and Ric Wolkins with my pals from CrossRoads Community Church's worship band brass, Jeremy, Leo, and Vicki. It was phenomenal! Brought back a lot of memories of high school when we listened to the album Chameleon perpetually, the Interlochen concert, and camping road trips with Mom and Dad and Vicky listening to the album, Carnival, over and over and over again. The screaming trumpets last night courtesy of Mr. Hession and Mr. Wolkins definitely jacked me up for today's race so, I guess this does have a bit to do with running. My trumpeting pal, Leo, has run 6 marathons in his now ended running career including the Toledo, Columbus, and Boston. I've been gleaning some tips from him. My other band-pal, Vicki, is also a marathoner having done one in her college days. Dad, wish you coulda gone to the concert with us, you would have loved it!

Today's 5 Miler and Training Schedule

Here's the new running shoes that Tammy and I got at Dave's a couple of days ago - post first run! I had a directive comment from someone that we can't get new shoes and not post a pic of them. Tammy's are the purty ones on the right, mine the ugly red and black ones on the left. We both just tried them out on a beautiful morning today on a 5 mile run. The consensus opinion from both of us... ahhhhhh. They felt really good, cushioned and supportive. We also wore our new running socks which make a huge difference as well. It was an awesome morning, very pretty, and it was great to be running with my honey! I just love spending time like that with her. We had good conversations and I just like being with her. She's such a blessing to me! On the training schedule note, I put a link to the plan I am following in the right side bar. I don't follow it exactly in that you have to move the days up one as I do my long runs on Saturdays and not Sundays, and, I don't necessarily follow the mileage amounts as I often do more (I have to stay ahead of Marion's totals!) or will often do easy runs on days I am to be off. Oh, and I am not doing any cross-training, nor cross-dressing. Tomorrow is a race day, Dave's 10 Mile Shoe Run. I'm not sure yet what my "strategy" is for the race in terms of run it hard like a race, run it hard like a tempo run, or run it easier just to build my mileage base. In any case, I'll post about that tomorrow. Hopefully, I'll have a couple of pics to add as well... we'll see. Um, I guess that's it for now. I need to have a good meal now, go to a jazz concert at Lourde's College with some friends from the worship brass at church, and get to bed for some rest for tomorrow's race after church. The race doesn't start until 2:00 p.m. Oh, apparently I have to shorten my posts up here... Lindsey says they are too long! She gave me quite a tribute here http://lindsissweet.blogspot.com/. She's such an awesome young lady with a gigundous heart... she makes me cry.

Another RA Inspiration

This is yet another of the inspirational people on RunningAHEAD.com (RA) and running friend, Marion. She's been leaving kind comments and words of encouragement on my blog here, which I appreciate a ton! She's also the one that pestered, err, encouraged me to get my own blog going. Created a monster now, didn't you Marion?!? Mar's an amazing story as well. Since April of 2005 she has lost like a gazillion pounds after embarking on her weight loss and fitness journey! Ok, that was a slight exaggeration. In reality, she has only lost 100+ pounds! That's like a whole person people! During the course of her 2 1/2 year weight loss odyssey she sustained an ankle fracture running in '06 and then a stress fracture early in '07, so swam every day to stay active, and after her recovery trained for and ran a half marathon (13.1 miles) in October in under two hours with the last 3.1 miles (5K) a full 2 minutes faster than my fastest 5K without having ran 10 miles preceeding the 3.1! Marion is now training for the Bi-Lo Marathon in Myrtle Beach (sounds a bit better than Toledo, OH) on February 16, 2008. She just ran an 18 mile training run today. Whew! You can track her training progress here http://www.shutitandrun.blogspot.com/ and leave her words of encouragement! On top of all her running and weight loss accomplishments, she is an awesome wife and mom to an adorable little girl and boy, knits, sews, designs skyscrapers, is a nuclear physicist, expert culinary chef, and accomplished juggler. Ok, so a couple of those are writer's embellishments, but she is very gifted and does a ton! Oh, and she has a couple cats and a pooch too. Marion you rock and have been an inspiration to me! Stay healthy!

Running Friends from RunningAHEAD.com

Much of the inspiration I had to even think about running this marathon, other than my oldest running daughter, Chelsea, friend, Dianna, fellow firefighter, Kathy, and those that can't like Cassy, has come from many fine folks who log and post on the above site. There are truly some amazing people on that site that never cease to inspire and encourage me. One of those is Sara, an awesome young woman and attorney from the St. Louis area who had already run a couple of half marathons. To tell you how special a person she is would be an understatement. Case in point, on November 11, 2007 (my birthday), Sara was scheduled to run The St. Louis Track Club & Special Olympics Half Marathon (HM). Her mom was bringing her cousin's 3 year old daughter at the time (I think she may be 4 now), Anna, who has severe spina-bifida and is paralyzed from the chest down, to the race to see Sara and do her own 1/2 Mile Youth Run as part of the race festivities that day. Sara's HM race started at 8:00 a.m. and the 1/2 Mile Youth Race, Anna's race, started at 8:45 a.m. While Sara is an awesome runner, there is no way she could finish a HM in 45 minutes to make it to Anna's race so she selflessly traded in her HM race bib for a 5K race bib, ran the 5K at 8:00 a.m., and then after running a 3.1 mile race, sprinted to the start of Anna's race to be there to "run" it with Anna. The first thing you have to realize is the countless hours of running that Sara had to do to train for the marathon. And, to set aside her goal of a more glamorous HM race that she had trained for to run a 5K so she could get to the start of Anna's race is simply the epitome of being unselfish.

Sara is now training for her first marathon, The St. Louis Marathon on April 6, 2008. True to her nature, she is not undertaking this race out of simple selfish ambition but has partnered with Team in Training and has committed herself to raising $2,500.00 through Team in Training to benefit The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and is running in honor of Ryan Brown, the son of her high school friends, who at 5 years of age, lost his battle to cancer on July 10, 2005. You can partner with Sara, as Tammy and I have, in pledging toward her race in meeting her Team in Training fundraising goal by clicking on her link here http://www.active.com/donate/tntgmo/saraholtsman. Even if you can't donate to her, I do encourage you to at least read her Team in Training site as it's an awesome story and her blog, Running Lawyer, to leave her encouraging words in her unselfish training toward her first marathon. Sara, you are an inspiration my running friend! May the Lord bless your efforts.