Maybe I'm not cut out for marathons

Maybe ten marathons is enough.

Maybe I don't want to do a spring marathon badly enough to train on long solo runs through the depths of winter.

I'm generally not a happy camper after ten miles anyway. My 50-year-old feet and knees hurt. Not just uncomfortable, mind you, they are PAINFUL.

I'm tired of NEEDING construction site porta-potties or sections of quiet woods from frequent digestive upsets on long runs. Even when pre-emptive Imodium is in place. That gets real old.

This is what happened to my planned 14-to-16 mile run today:

Yeah, that included some extended stops (see above) and turned into trudging back to the car before Mile 7.

Fortunately in both the B&A Marathon and the Wirefly National Marathon in March I can drop down to the half marathon.

I like half marathons. It's a nice distance. A friendly distance.

Final longer pre-marathon run

I'm up early for my last longer run before Marine Corps Marathon in 2 weeks. What a contrast to one week ago! Last week - 75-80*F and 99-100% humidity. Today - 46*F and a mere 81% humidity. The plan is to do 10 miles easy and then 5 miles hard. Hopefully I'll get some better ideas about where to dial in my race pace in a couple of weeks.

Hmm, where have my cotton running gloves gone?

Updates later. . . .

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WOOOO HOOOOO!!! 15.5 miles done today at an 11:07 min/mile moving pace, in nearly perfect weather, finishing at 59*F and 44% humidity. If I could achieve that on race day, that would get me a 4:52 marathon! BUT I'm quite sure I can't hold that pace for another 10.7 miles, nor hit that pace if I count in some walking at the water stops. But on a perfect day, a sub-5:00 may still be within reach!!! And even on a not-so-perfect day, somewhere in the low 5:xxs is definitely probable. Details from Garmin to follow after a hot bath (nooooo no ice baths for me!)

And here are the charts and numbers that I know you've all been waiting for:

Starting before dawn:

The aid station:

A fine finish!!!!

My training buddy David completed a FULL marathon today in training in 4:37, including about 12 miles running under his usual pace with me. Well done!!! Too many miles for me to risk it two weeks out from the marathon - I'm nursing along a painful little toe and some plantar fascitis that I don't want to aggravate unless it's for the Big Race!!

Race day simulation

That's what's on the agenda for tomorrow morning. The last long pre-marathon training run.

I've got the rear of the minivan filled up with bottles and a gallon jug of water, Clif Bloks, gels, Endurolytes, and clean washcloths for mopping up sweat.

I'll probably throw some cookies in there as well in the morning!

Twilight begins at 6:38, with sunrise at 7:05. I'm going to try to be running by 6:45. Temps will be 67-75*F, humidity 85-97% (whew!).

My goal is to finish 20 miles (nearly 9 of my usual loops), running with my heart rate in the 155-165 range for at least the first 10, 165-175 for the 2nd 10 miles. We'll see how fast that gets me (I'm not counting time stopped at the minivan in my pace, just running time).

My training buddy David is supposed to come out there about 8AM. That will help pass the time, because this is going to be a 4.5 to 5 hour session.

That's more like it

It's getting down to the last few major training runs before the Marine Corps Marathon on October 28th. Today's five miler was a little more encouraging than my last run two days ago. It was about 75-77*F today. I did a 5-miler (because that's all I had time for) and tried to keep my heart rate right at 165 bpm. I hit the average right on the nose, although I had to slow down a lot toward the end to keep my heart rate down when I was running in the full sun.

Today's pace averaged 11:03 min/mile. That's only equivalent to about a 5:26 marathon, but it's still more encouraging for a training day than the 5:41-equivalent that I ran two days ago.

Higher temperatures wreak havoc on this Athena. It's that darned surface area to volume problem again. Once this body mass heats up, I'm cooked. The second half of today's run was an 11:33 min/mile pace at an average heart rate of 169 bpm - that part is not so encouraging - it shows that I had to slow down a lot to keep my heart rate down once I started getting warm. Keep those fingers and toes crossed for a cool, calm, dry race day!

My job for this weekend's last major long run is twofold: a) Cover 20-21 miles on foot (8 to 9 of my regular training loops), however I can get it done; and b) get a semi-final check on a race pace by seeing what pace and heart rate I can maintain for that distance.

Right now I'm thinking of maintaining under 165 bpm or ~11:15 min/mile, whichever is slower, for the first half of the marathon, but that still needs some reality-checking on the road in training and with the weather on race day.

I can go a little faster on race day when I'm paced by my training buddy and feeling psyched than a solo training day, so I'll compensate for that by counting only the running pace, and not counting the time that I'm standing still at my minivan hydrating and electrolyting and chowing down.