It’s the day after my first marathon and my first day at my new job. I’m sitting at a card table waiting on deliveries as today is the first official day of business. I’m without internet but other than that things are very similar to the past 10 months sitting at home typing on my computer. I am somewhat grateful for the similarities at the moment, as they provide me both an opportunity to rest and recover as well as a slow transition from the world of the unemployed to the world of the working. As exciting as my new job may be, I am sure that a recap of my marathon experience is more fitting for this particular blog entry.

I set three alarms in order to make sure that I would wake up by 4am yesterday because I was terrified of oversleeping and missing the race, turns out I didn’t need any of them. I woke up at 3:45 and was surprised to find myself alone in bed. My wife had trouble falling asleep and ended up passing out on the couch, after getting her into bed for an extra 45 minutes of sleep I started getting ready for the race. I ate a couple frozen waffles, a banana, and drank a big glass of water. I didn’t want a lack of carbs or dehydration to ruin my day, but I wanted to eat as early as possible so that I wouldn’t get sick. I woke Carolyn up at 4:30, got a shower and started to got myself dressed. I made sure to put on sunblock and body glide even though I was sure that the sun would not show up at all and I have not had much in the way of chaffing issues in the past, I was so nervous that I wanted to have all of my bases covered.

Before I knew it it was 5:30, Heather and Rye got to our house and it was time to get downtown so we could park before they closed all of the streets off. We found a space in the same parking lot that we used last year for the half-marathon and hung around to wait for our friends who were also running. I ran into my buddy Ned by chance as he parked about 20 feet from us, he was running his first half-marathon and was a bit nervous about how well he’d do. Time started to fly at that point, next thing I knew we met up with Jason, Steph, and Bethany and watched the walkers start at 6:30. After a bit of BSing I realized that it was after 7 and I had still not checked my gear bag. I said my goodbyes and goodlucks to my friends on the relay team and took off in search of the FedEx gear check station. It was literally at the complete other end of the starting chute and by the time I checked my bag it was 20 after 7. By this point there was a mass of humanity between me and the place I wanted to start from (I was hoping to run between 9:45 and 10min miles, so i was looking for the 4hr 20min pace group), I made it as far as the 4hr 45min group and was stopped cold by the crowds. Not much to be done about it so I stood and waited for the start.

The start of a race with 16,000 runners is an interesting thing. When the gun goes off the people at the front get to start running immediately, those of us further back have to stand there and wait for the crowd ahed to get moving. This leads to a series of false starts and stops, causing us to walk, jog, and stand still for what seems like forever after the gun goes off. It took me almost 8 minutes to reach the start line, and because I was stuck with a slower pace group I spent the first mile and a half weaving in between slower runners in order to reach those who ran a similar pace to me. Two miles in I was so excited to finally be in the midst of the marathon that I barely noticed the rain starting to fall. I saw a group of purple clad runners and one was wearing a green bandana that I recognized. It was my good friend Chrisie who was and continues to be one of my biggest inspirations when it comes to running. She is heavily involved in a few charities and the purple shirts are characteristic of Team in Training (they raise money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society through marathons, triathlons, and other various races around the country). It was good to see her as a phone call from her on Saturday really helped calm my nerves about the big race. I told her about the pace I was looking to run and she suggested that I stick with her and her teammates for a bit to make sure that I didn’t run the first half of the race too quickly. This was the first time I had the opportunity to see Chrisie in full “mentor” mode, it was really humbling to watch her spend the majority of her time and energy looking out for her teammates. She spent the next 8 miles drumming up conversations with me and others in what I know recognize was as much an attempt to keep our minds off of the difficulty ahead as it was a genuine desire to talk about this or that. After 8 miles with the TNT crew I figured that it was about time to pick up my pace, so at the 10th mile marker I said my goodbyes and goodlucks again and took off up ahead.

As nice as it was to have someone to talk to over the first hour and a half, I have spent the majority of my time as a runner on my own and a felt comfortable keeping to myself for the rest of the race. I figured that if I didn’t have anyone to complain to about aches and pains that I might be able to ignore them more easily. Once I was away from Chrisie and her group of TNT runners I realized that it had been raining the entire time and I was completely soaked. The biggest fear I had in regards to the rain was the health of my feet, stories of bloody shoes, oodles of blisters, and toenails falling off kept me up at night and as I passed mile 11 I was sure that I could feel a blister brewing on my left foot between my toes. Shortly after that realization I reached the only significant hill in the entire course. It started at the base of the Birmingham bridge and continued up into Oakland and the campus of The University of Pittsburgh. On Friday we took a drive up this hill in order to show Heather that it wasn’t too scary, turns out that we were wrong. The hill was infinitely steeper than it had seemed when we drove up it, but I pushed through and once I crested the top I was greeted by the 13.1 mile sign… halfway home.

My recollection of the second half of the race is much foggier than the first, it’s not that I forget any big periods of time I just only retained bits and pieces of the whole thing. After the halfway point I zoned out as I ran through Pitt’s campus and up onto Fifth Avenue, there were loads of people on the streets but i can;t remember a single thing about them. I clearly remember running down Walnut Street in Shadyside and seeing all of the employees of the Apple Store cheering us on. I also remember the sharp pain in my shin as I made a right turn onto S. Highland Street right before mile 16. I started to get excited at that point because I knew that my Mom, Dad, Cousin Bill, and his wife Tracy would be at mile 17 cheering me on. As I ran down Penn Avenue I couldn’t see them at first but then I picked my dad out because he was wearing a bright yellow rain poncho. I quickly moved to the side of the road and gave them all high fives, they were holding signs but for the life of me I cannot remember what they said (my dad informed me that at least one sign read “Mickey es en fuego!”). Seeing them gave me a nice burst of energy that took me for the next two miles, at mile 19 I had my first problem.

The blister I was talking about earlier had only grown over the past 9 miles, as I ran down Frankstown Avenue through Homewood I took a step and felt that badboy burst. At first it just felt a little weird but a second later pain shot through my foot, as I changed the way I was running to compensate for the pain everything else started to hurt all at once. My hips, knees, and ankles all screamed for me to go back to what I had been doing for 19 miles. I quickly decided that I would rather have to deal with just the pain in my foot than pain everywhere else. I sucked up the pain from the blister but everything else kept a dull ache for the remainder of the race. As I passed mile 20 I knew that I was only a 10K away from finishing and even though my feet were soaked, my legs were sore, and I wanted nothing more than to lay down and go to sleep I knew that i could run a 10K with my eyes closed. If 6.2 miles was all that was standing in the way of me and completing a marathon, there was no way I was going to stop. In between miles 21 and 22 I got a quick glimpse of my friend Halley standing on her porch and then saw Stephers getting a Banana at the final relay exchange. Seeing people I knew energized me once again as I turned onto Liberty Avenue for the home stretch.

Everyone tells me that I looked pretty good towards the end, considering how I felt I really wish that I could have seen the people who weren’t looking good. I was concerned about the last 3 miles because they were downhill, I was sure that each step would make my knees feel as if they were going to explode. Turns out that my knees felt like they were going to explode well before that final downhill portion so there was no discernible difference in the pain. I honestly do not remember a single thing between hearing people yelling about free beer at mile 24 and looking over to some random guy next to me at mile 25 and saying “How about we finish this thing”, but the last mile is as clear as day.

Everyone on the sidelines was yelling that we were almost done but it didn’t really sink in until I started to hear the finish line announcer, once I heard his voice I was sure that I was going to finish. I turned one of the last corners onto Smallman Street and heard my wife call my name, I gave her a quick wave and pushed on towards the end. I’m not going to lie, I started to tear up a little bit at that point but a quick burst of pain from my knee shocked me out of it. I wish that I had been able to see the finish line from a ways off but it was around a corner and it only popped up at the last second. As soon as I saw it I tried to straighten up and look good for my picture but I’m not quite sure if I did or if I ended up looking like some weirdo. As I crossed the line I found the strength to throw my arms up in the air. I had finished a marathon, holy shit, someone tell fat Mickey that he will never be welcome here again.

The guy I talked to at mile 25 tapped me on the shoulder and congratulated me and I returned the favor. I collected my medal, posed for a picture, and stuffed my face with a bagel and a smiley cookie (I HATE SMILEY COOKIES). After collecting my gear bag I sat down inside of the convention center and peeled off my shoes and socks, my feet were stark white and wrinkled… so gross. I changed socks and shoes and made my way back to the car where Carolyn, Heather, and Rye were waiting for me. Once I got home I spent the rest of the day laying around, soaking in a cold bath, and eating pizza just waiting till it was late enough to go to bed.

Congrats to all of my friends who ran and to everyone else who participated today.

So here I am, still sore, still tired sitting at my new job a newly minted marathoner. I still find it hard to believe that less than 2 years ago I was over 100 pounds heavier and walking up the two flights of stairs to my apartment was the most exercise I got in a day.

Now if I could just learn to swim well in the next 3 months I can add a Triathlon to the list of things I’ve done before 30, but for right now I’m gonna rest I think I earned it.

The marathon starts in 12 hours and I’m finally getting over being nervous about it. I’ve spent the last four months training for it so I guess I’m ready. This last week was the hardest one to get through, my mileage was way down and I found myself going out for long walks just so I could calm my nerves. Finally it was a few good friends who assured me that I would be fine, gradually I’ve come to terms with everything.

I’ll post tomorrow night to let everyone know what happened. I want to thank everyone who has been following my blog over the past 4 months and ask you to keep reading as I have plans for many more races in the near future.

Finally I wanted mention everyone I know who is going to be a part of the race tomorrow.

Marathon Relay:

Team Impossimpible: Bethany, Carolyn (my lovely wife), Heather, Stephers, and Jason 

also my fellow Tumblogger Terra will be running the relay as well

Marathon:

Chrisie will be running for Team in Training, raising money for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society 

Half Marathon:

Robin will be running her second Half-Marathon, Ned (first time) and Amy will also be running.

Volunteers:

Last, but not least my cousin Bill will be working the medical aid station at mile 17 and Chrisie’s mom and dad will be working the fluid station at mile 11.

Good luck to everyone, and if I forgot to mention someone I apologize.

Here goes nothin’

So I have not posted in more than two weeks and I feel terrible about that, but it has been very busy lately and things just slipped my mind. Here is a bit of an update on what has been happening:

Last time I wrote about running I had just completed the “Just a Short Run” 30K and it had seriously kicked my ass. It’s been almost three weeks since that race and I’m now in the middle of tapering for the marathon. The week after the 30K didn’t bring anything crazy, my long run was 18 miles and I had used the previous week as recovery from the race. The following week was the big test, a 20 mile run and my last long run before the marathon. 

If you remember my story of the 16 mile run that almost killed me you’ll know that I learned a lot about hydration and eating while on long runs that day. With that in mind I purchased a ten dollar water bottle belt for my 18 and 20 mile long runs. It is awkward, a little heavy, and makes me look like a jackass with a fanny pack but it also allowed me to keep plenty of water and GU chomps on hand so that I don’t spend the hours following my run dry heaving and experiencing flu like symptoms.

Here is the route for my 20 mile run: *ROUTE*

It took a lot of creative thinking to map out this route and I am pretty sure I covered almost every neighborhood in Pittsburgh’s east end, but I wound up with a run that allowed me to refill water and have bathrooms available every 5 miles or so. The first 15 miles or so was pretty easy as my body has been pushing these distances almost two months by now. Mile 15 brought a short hill that I struggled to get up, if you look on the elevation chart it looks like a blip compared to the two larger hills I had hit before but for some reason my legs were not having it at that point. Immediately following the short hill I had a long straightaway that took me all the way to mile 18. I couple of friends saw me at this point and I was told that I “looked pretty beat” by one and that I was “looking very strong” by another. I know that I felt like I had been scraped off of the pavement by the time I hit the 18th mile so I’m leaning towards “pretty beat” being the truth. I finished strong though, running uphill for the last quarter mile.

Afterwards I experienced some things that I had never experienced before, even after the 30K. My hips were revolting and were not interested in moving the correct direction forcing me to waddle side to side for a few hours afterwards.  Also my feet did not want to push off when I walked, it was not that they hurt it was that they just didn’t want to move. I spent the rest of the day lifting my feet straight up and putting them down a few inches forward reminiscent of Frankenstein’s monster. Other than that I had no other ill effects from the run, and it left me feeling pretty confidant about the marathon.

So two weeks after the longest run of my life, I’m tapering. my mileage has been reduced severely but I’ve taken up cycling on my off days to keep me from bouncing off the walls. I ended up purchasing the Felt F95 bike that I wrote about in my previous post and I’ve been loving it.

The last new development comes on the employment front. I was offered a job as the Production Manager for a large format digital imaging company and I accepted the offer. My days of being unemployed are quickly coming to an end. After 10 months of looking for a good job I finally found one, and I start…. the day after the marathon.

That should be fun.

So, if you have been talking to me lately you know that after the Marathon I have intentions of doing a Triathlon. It is all part of my master plan to do both before my 30th birthday in August. I’m planning on buying a new bike on Friday and I am having trouble deciding which one to go with. Maybe everyone reading can help me out.

#1

Felt F95 Team Garmin

I like just about everything about this bike. It’s a pretty slick looking bike and the components aren’t bad for an entry level racer. When I took it for a ride I found it to be fast, responsive, and shifted well. My only reservation is that it is set up for a race posture which will take some getting used to on my part.

#2

Felt Z100

Everything about this bike feels like it is a step below the F95. It is not as attractive graphically and while the components are similar the shifters are different. On my ride I found it to be a little more sluggish. The shifters were not as responsive and it felt like a slower bike. It was much more comfortable to ride than the F95 with the frame allowing for a more upright riding position. The other advantage it has is in price, coming in around 50 dollars less than the F95.

So now I want to know what you think. Just for some background, I plan on riding 10-20 miles once or twice a week unless I am training for a race. So I don;t need something built for heavy mileage.

Which bike should I buy?

I am waaaaay behind so I’m just going to recap my experience at “Just a Short Run”

March, 27th 2010:

I woke up at 6am in order to have a chance to eat breakfast and get myself ready for the 8:30 race. Sitting here now on a 70 degree spring night I can’t believe that it was 25 degrees that morning. I had laid out my clothes the night before but after looking them over I wasn’t sure that they were appropriate. Sure it was 25 degrees now but once the sun came out I would be in a whole lot of trouble if I was dressed too warm. I put together something that I was happy with and Carolyn drove me to North Park. Once I got out of the car I was able to realize how cold it really was, I spent the time between 7:30 and 8:30 shivering and trying to do some warm up runs to get my blood pumping. Shortly before the race started I ran into my friend Chrisie and found a place in the starting pack near her and her Team in Training friends.

The race started about 15 minutes late and was unforgiving from the get go. The first half a mile was directly uphill and after a short downhill it led directly to a second steep uphill that was twice as big as the first. Once those two hills were over with the course was basically flat for the next 16 miles. I spent a majority of my time counting down the miles until I would be done, between that and scarfing down whatever water, gatorade, or energy gel they were handing out at the water stops I never had a dull moment.

The first 8 miles of the race went by without any real surprises, although I was running much slower than I had hoped. I think that your body has an idea what kind of distance you have in mind for it and adjusts itself accordingly, because I was averaging 10min miles after 8 during the race but I can easily break 9min miles when I am only running 8 at home. I wasn’t too concerned about time though, I was more worried about the 10 miles I still had in store.

Over the next 5 miles I sped it up a bit and had my average under 10min miles but at the half marathon distance I was starting to hurt a bit. I got another mile down the road and my legs started to give up a bit. I never stopped but I started slowing down to a crawl for periods of time only to realize it and kick myself back into gear for a bit before slowing down yet again. I became somewhat obsessed with counting down the miles, each mile closer to the finish my body was more broken but I was getting happier to be complete.

I hit mile 17 and decided that I was going to finish strong, I gave it all I had and did not move any faster, it felt like I was running in place. So I continued to chug along until I got to the sign that marked 1/10th of a mile form the finish. At that point something inside of me clicked and I was finally able to turn on the jets. Now I do’t know how fast I was running and I’m sure I looked awful no matter what but I gave it every bit to cross that finish line. Then I was there, 18.6 miles later getting a medal placed over my head and being offered one of those weird mylar blankets. A quick high five from my wife and I was able to stop and eat a banana.

I hung around to watch Chrisie and her friends cross the finish a few minutes behind me. They were singing the whole way in… jerks, I thought I was going to die and these ladies are singing “American Pie” at the top of their lungs.

So, that’s 18.6 down and I’m running another 18 tomorrow. I am just over 4 weeks away from M-Day and I’m still terrified. I hope that  make it.

I’m running a 30K tomorrow morning, that’s 18.6 miles in case you couldn’t work it out. Is there something wrong with me for doing this to myself?

It’s a couple of days since my last long run and I’m just now recovered from it. This week’s lesson is going to be on preparation.

Tuesday, March 16th:
Nothing incredibly special today just my standard 6 mile run along my old route.

Thursday, March 18th:
Spent the morning walking around the neighborhood breaking in my race day shoes. I like to put a few miles on the walking before I try them out for a short run so the walk to and from Shadyside was a nice way to get those miles in. I had a 9 mile run that evening and it went pretty well, I have become really comfortable in the 8 to 10 mile range and I think I’ll keep this distance as my normal long run when I’m not training.

Saturday, March 20th:
After breaking in my race day shoes on Thursday and Friday I was ready to give them their first test on a run. Normal Saturday distance is about 4.5 miles and it went by pretty easily. I felt like I was all warmed up for my long run the next day… 16 miles.

Sunday, March 21st:
After my 14 mile run last week I was filled with a whole bunch of confidence for this week’s 16 mile jaunt. Turns out that I may have been a bit too cocky about it. I should have known that i was in for a bad run when 2 miles in I was thinking to myself how awesome it was going and how I was going to describe how easy 16 miles was for me to run here in my blog. Truthfully, it was going pretty great until I had my first hiccup about 5 miles in. I am normally able to keep my bathroom trips at bay while running but I was forced to use a port-a-potty on the side of the road early on this time. Stopping like that tends to tighten up my legs but in no time I was doing alright again. I stopped at my parent’s house right past the halfway point and had some water and tried to eat a chocolate brownie goo energy gel. The water was fine but the GU made me gag so I on swallowed about a third of it and gave up. I figured that I made it through my 14 mile run last week without a GU so I’d be okay without any additional calories this time. I got back on the road pretty quickly and besides a short stomach ache from the GU I felt pretty good and was even making good time, around the 13th mile all of that changed. I stopped at a corner to wait for a red light and knew that I had to find a bathroom for the second time. Luckily I was only a half a block away from a gas station and I made it there just in time. While I was in there I figured I would buy a bottle of water, i got stuck waiting in line for 5 minutes but I thought nothing of it. When I got back out on the road something did not feel right, my legs were very tight and I felt a bit… off. I was less than 3 miles form the end so I figured that I could push through it and my legs would loosen up and then I would be home before I knew it. What followed were the toughest 3 miles that I have run in almost 2 years. By the time I got to the end of the run I had absolutely nothing left and I immediately broke into tears. I dragged myself back to my house and spent the next 3 hours sitting on the couch, half in tears, downing bottles of water, and feeling like I was going to throw up. I need to make sure I get more calories next time I run this distance.

16 miles - 2:34:12  *ROUTE*

18 miles coming on Saturday… Just a Short Run my ass.

Yesterday I was sitting in my living room, my legs were sore and stiff from Sunday’s long run and I was dreading the concept of running six miles later on in the evening. I started talking to my friend Chrisie on Gchat and asked her “Why am I doing this to myself?” and she replied “Because you can’t not do it” and she’s right. No matter how many miles I run, how sore my legs get, or how tired I am I would feel 100 times worse if I weren’t running.

Tuesday, March 9th:
With the snow finally gone I returned to my old standby 6 mile run. It was kind of like bumping into an old friend, this *ROUTE* accounts for more of my miles than all of the others combined.

Thursday, March 11th:
Planned a nice 8 mile through the Strip but towards the end I was feeling so good and making such good time that I added about a mile to the end of it.

Saturday, March 13th:
I’ve found that I have my best runs when I am not feeling so well. Friday night me and my brother made some delicious food and along the way I filled up on beers and finished with a huge piece of chocolate cake. I slept like crap then got up early Saturday morning to do laundry, get a haircut, and go for my run. I didn’t have high hopes for the 4 mile run but to my surprise I ran some 8 minute miles and felt fantastic afterwards… crazy.

Sunday, March 14th:
14 miles today, 0.9 miles further than I have run in my life. I was pretty terrified to say the least and the fact that the news was calling for rain all day didn’t make things any better. Luckily there was a 3 hour window in the middle of the day with a low chance for rain so that is when I made my move.

I only set up one water stop this week because last week I didn’t really need the second and ended up just drinking it because I had asked a friend to leave it there. So I swung by my parent’s house 8 miles in and things were going pretty well at that point. After that quick pit stop I headed up through Regent Square and Frick Park, I was feeling good and I stopped paying attention to what I was doing. I was coming up on the bridge that crosses the Frick Park ravine and I was focused on a woman who was running way faster than I was as well as a couple people walking dogs up ahead that I was worried about passing on the narrow bridge sidewalk when all of a sudden my toe caught a piece of raised sidewalk and my legs both stopped dead. the top of my body was not interested in stopping and flung itself forward and down towards the ground. I am so glad that I wore my gloves because I threw my hands out in front of me, as they hit and skidded to a stop I barely felt the dirt and rough surface of the concrete touch the bare palms of my hands.

When I finally came to a stop I stood up and dusted my hands off, noting the holes in the palms of my gloves and the slight pain in my left hip. I took it easy for the next few minutes but the pain in my hip subsided and I was able to continue, now I just can’t make fun of my friend Jason for falling when he runs.

All in all the scary 14 mile run turned out to feel just like a 13 mile run but 10 minutes longer. Next week is 16, only 10 shy of marathon distance.

14 miles - 2:14:01  *ROUTE*

The sun came back to Pittsburgh this week and I was able to run in shorts… fantastic.

I am starting to find that my long runs are more interesting (at least to me) than my shorter runs, so I’ll be concentrating on them more than the others. I’ll still talk about anything noteworthy that happens during my short runs though.

Tuesday, March 2nd:
6 Mile run today, the weather looked to be starting to break. A few glimpses of sunshine and clean sidewalks made this recovery run fairly routine.

Thursday, March 4th:
8 Mile run and it had me excited about the prospect of a warm weekend. Today was the first time I had run without a pair of compression tights on since December. I had been wearing my old shoes because of the crappy conditions, with the sidewalks clearing and the sun coming out it looked like I might be able to retire them finally.

Saturday, March 6th:
Easy 4 mile today, just a bit of a warm up to get ready for tomorrow. I got back into my new shoes for the first time since Snowpocolypse.

Sunday, March 7th:
Today is the big day. Last May I ran the Pittsburgh Half-Marathon and today I will match that distance for the first time since. 13 miles, it shouldn’t be as big of a deal as it is considering that I ran 12 last weekend but… It’s the furthest I’ve ever run and next week I have 14 miles scheduled so every week is a new personal distance record for me.

I planned out the best 13 mile route I could find that took me past both my parent’s house and my friend Jason’s apartment because I wanted to have some access to water and/or a bathroom if I needed it. It took a lot of tweaking but I finally came up with something I was comfortable with. It was 45 degrees and sunny at noon when I made my way out so I was able to wear shorts instead of pants for the first time in a while.

A little bit more than a mile in I was running down Penn Ave. in Garfield and I started to hear a man yelling at the top of his lungs. It didn’t take me long to realize that it was someone using a microphone and seconds later I knew it was a preacher in one of those storefront churches, it was Sunday after all. I heard him from two blocks away yelling about immortal souls and sinners being cast down… religion is scary stuff man.

The first 5+ miles were a series of shallow undulating hills and I was taking it fairly easy but keeping pretty good time. I’ve found that unlike last year I can run at a 9:30 pace without too much effort and it works well for 6-8 mile training runs. I was keeping this up as i got to my parents house and had a quick drink. After I took off again things blurred together a bit as I started to run through Frick Park. I was in some kind of a zone as I sped through Squirrel Hill’s business district. I snapped out of it when I almost ran over a group of people standing in front of Pamela’s.

The run down from Squirrel Hill is something I got very used to last year while I was training for the Half and I made sure to not take the large downhill too fast in order to save my knees from the pain it caused last year. Outside of Oakland Catholic High School I ran into an old friend I have not seen in years, stopped for a brief rest/chat and was back on my way. Once I got into Oakland I was home free, 3 miles to go and I was feeling pretty great.

That held up till the very end… for some stupid reason I planned my last quarter mile uphill. By the time I got to the end I was dying and to be honest I am surprised that I made it to the end because my legs died the moment they saw the incline. I made it though and only about two minutes slower than I ran the Half Marathon last year.

13 Miles - 2:01:42   *ROUTE*

When I got home my wife greeted me with Pizza, I proceeded to eat half or a large Pizza for lunch. I almost finished the Pizza for dinner later on that evening but I only had two slices and forced myself to eat a bowl of broccoli instead of the last two in the fridge.

I have not posted lately but I’m still training among other things…

Tuesday, February 23rd:  According to my training plan this week the mileage starts to add up. Today was 6 miles with at least 8 minutes of total uphill time sprinkled in. I’ve found a nice route with clear sidewalks to try out today, running through the Strip District. The run down Penn provides a nice gentle downhill to start out and coming back home up Liberty Ave. gives me at least my 8 minutes of uphill time.

Thursday, February 25th: Another big jump in mileage today, 8 miles. I modified the Strip District route from Tuesday to get the extra miles in. Every once in a while it blows my mind that I’m running 8 miles as a mid week training run, I remember not being able to get through 1.

Saturday, February 27th: Today was just a warm up for the long run on Sunday, 4 miles around the hospital with some aerobic intervals mixed in. Big miles tomorrow…

Sunday, February 28th: Long run day, bunches of fun. 12 miles on the schedule today and I was not feeling up to it. I was out last night and didn’t get much sleep so my body was not really excited to run for 2 hours. It was all so easy to plan out when I was running 3 miles… even 6 - 8 miles, mapping out a 12 mile route is ridiculous. This is what I came up with:

*ROUTE*

After figuring out where I was going to run and memorizing it I had to get myself out the door. I’ve been so used to freezing temperatures lately so I dressed for the cold and realized about a mile in that it was almost 40 degrees and sunny… whoops. All of the training prior to today has done something because I definitely feel stronger while I’m out. I got into a bit of a zone due to the long straightaways I had planned out, so the run mostly flew by. I had a bit of a problem at the end and had to cut the run short by about a quarter mile. Let’s just say I had to get home immediately.

Total mileage for the week was 32 miles and it’s only going up from here.

I’m still trying to get back into posting more often, hopefully this week we can get back there.