October 30, 2005
Week No. 3
REASON NO. 24 FOR RUNNING A MARATHON
Because I Can!!!
While sitting in a medical office waiting room earlier this week, I watched a friend of ours enter the room. She is in her early forties, and has advanced M.S. She can walk only with the assistance of a walker. Watching the determination on her face, as she worked to get from the car to her desk really hit home. This lady would most likely give everything she owns to be able to put on a pair of running shoes and run across the block. She is racked with pain every day, and every move she makes has to calculated and orchestrated to make sure she does not either fall or get injured.
Most of us, on the other hand, have no real medical issues to deal with. We are healthy (other than being overweight and too lazy to get off the couch). There is nothing that prevents the vast majority of us from strapping on those running shoes and getting in shape, other that our laziness, and our societal values that place a $5000 Flat Screen TV in higher regard than being physically fit. I personally would much rather be able to actually compete in a sport, rather than just sit and watch it on a television that cost more that the down payment on my first house!!!
Training Week Number 3 went well for me. A rest day on Monday, followed by a ½ mile swim and 3 mile run on Tuesday, weights and a 3 mile hill workout on Wednesday. Thursday was a rest day, other than a 30-minute walk at lunch. Knowing that we are going to be all wrapped up in a Halloween party (meaning decorating all day Saturday, and not worth much on Sunday) I opted to rest Thursday, and do my long run Friday after work.
My long run this week was in Paradise – I’m trying to alternate every second or third week in the hills, to make sure I’m ready for the undulations of the Napa Valley. I started at the new City Parking lot at Pearson and Black Olive, and went up to the top of Town (Pentz Road). This is about an 800 foot elevation gain, over about 4.1 miles one way.
When I started it was around 55 degrees, and just a light mist – perfect running weather. About two miles into it, it changed to a pretty steady light rain. It continued to rain all the way to the top (4.1 miles) and back (another 4.1 miles). About 6 miles into the run I realized that I had forgotten to use body glide on some of the important areas, as they were starting to chaff. Oh well, I guess that will help me remember next time.
Run went really well, for being in the hills. No significant pain or soreness, downed 24 ounces of water and two gels on the run. On the way back through Chico I had a Gatorade and Cliff bar, and then stopped and ordered an Arby’s Roast Beef Sandwich.
Then for dinner I had two slices of pizza. Did I mention that long runs make me really hungry???
Saturday was just a short 3-mile run/walk with my wife, and then off to the party.
Sunday was I took an extra rest day, as I had some ankle pain issues Saturday night. My total mileage for the week was a little over 18 miles. Next week I start ramping up, to around 25 miles.
Posted by Dennis at 08:15 AM | Comments (2)
October 22, 2005
Week No. 2
REASON NO. 25 FOR RUNNING A MARATHON
Running a marathon is on my list of "things to do" during my life.
Most of my adult life, I have had a list of "things to do" running in the back of my mind. From taking a ride in a jet fighter plane, to travel to exotic locations, to physical challenges. As I am approaching (or slamming into) the dreaded "middle age", I am starting to realize that time moves very quickly, and if I do not start crossing some of these things off my list, they may very well not get done.
It is very easy to get caught up in the daily routine - work, family, and community stuff. Then, the next thing you know ten years have slipped by, and your list is still there, with no new entries, and nothing "checked off".
This completes my second week of training. Tuesday was a gym workout, with a 1/2 mile swim to warm up, then 3 miles on the treadmill at a 10 minute/mile pace. Wednesday was an early morning (meaning Dark)3 mile run around the orchards in Durham. Thursday was another gym workout, with some light weights and ab work, 30 minutes on the spinning bike, then a 3 mile treadmill run.
Friday was a planned rest day - Thank God. My feet and legs were really sore on Thursday and Friday. Even though I have been running almost 4 years, I usually have a rest day in between runs. All the training plans I have been reviewing require running on three consecutive days - I'm sure to provide additional "toughness" for your body.
I have adopted a new training plan - from Hal Higdon's website www.halhigdon.com I have taken the novice marathoner's plan, and somewhat tweaked it a little - to lengthen out the wednesday runs, and to add in cross training. One of my biggest challenges will be to try to maintain my other sports (biking and swimming) while cranking up the mileage for the marathon.
Saturday I had planned a long run - but given that I was still pretty sore, I pushed this back to Sunday. I'm almost finshed with Hal's book, and he constantly reinforces how important it is to listen to your body, and not force the runs if you are in pain. Doing so is a certain recipe for injury, especially for us "seasoned" runners.
Finally, the long run. The long run is the culmination of my workout
week, and a good run leaves me physically and physologically ready to tackle the next week. A bad run, however, does just the opposite. I was a little apprehensive about this one, given that I had pretty quickly ramped up my mileage these last few weeks. After reviewing my plan, I decided upon a simple 8 mile run - to make sure that I did not push myself too far, this early in the program. I plotted out the run using an internet program called map-24 www.us.map24.com This is an incredible program, it is free, and allows me to point and click to determine the distance between any points that I may want to run.
I plotted out a run from my house, north to several miles north of Durham. I took a freezer bottle 2/3 full with ice, and topped it off with the new Endurance Gatarade, and took a chocolate power bar and two gels with me.
The run started out a little squirrly, as I had the usual aches and pains the first couple of miles. Around mile 4 my knees started hurting just a bit, so a walked for a minute at the turn around point. Took off again, and suddenly everything clicked and felt good. The back 4 miles were over before I knew it. This is what I had wanted for my last run of the week. Even though this was less than a third of the distance I will run during the race, todays run gave me a great level of confidence that I will be able to finish 26.2 miles come race day.
Total time running was one hour and 27 minutes, which works out to about a 10.8 minute mile. Not speedy by any stretch, but these training runs are not necessarily supposed to be fast.
After a quick shower, we went into Chico for a large Jamba Juice and a sourdough Pretzle. One huge reward of running is that I can now eat just about anything (within reason) and not worry about weight gain.
Posted by Dennis at 08:35 AM | Comments (2)
October 15, 2005
Week No. 1
REASON NO. 26 FOR RUNNING A MARATHON
"THE CHALLENGE"
Most everyone, given a reasonable amount of training, can complete a 5k, 10k, or maybe even a 1/2 marathon. But 26.2 miles of continous running??? This will be the most difficult challenge that I have tried to acomplish in my entire life. It is a challenge that only those that truly are dedicated to the sport, and that have a certain amount of tenacity, stand any hope of completing the race in the same day that they started.
Well, this is the end of my first week of training for my marathon. This actually is an unofficial week, as my formal training plan does not begin until Monday, October 17th. However, I have been pushing the running mileage these last couple of weeks, to try to get my running base up to around 20-25 mile per week. This should prepare me for the twenty week training program I have decided upon.
This week consisted of running two mile repeats on the treadmill (6'44" and 6'40") on Sunday. Tuesday was the treadmill hill program, 24 minutes, plus 2.75 miles at 1%grade, plus working out on the weights (primarily upper body and ab's).
Thursday was 30 minutes on the spinning bike, and the 3.50 miles running at 6 mph (trying to keep my heartrate under 150). Right now, my fastest sustaininable speed at 150 mhr is going to be around a 10 minute mile. Hopefully, that will improve as my training progresses.
Friday was hill running in Paradise - from the new parking lot at Black Olive/Pearson, up the trailway to above Bille Road - turning around and coming back. Lots of people using the trail, even a few runners. It was a good run, I would have liked to have kept going. Ended up being about 5 miles.
Sunday was my long run - and it was somewhat humbling. I ran 8 miles, from Durham east to Butte Creek, and then headed north on the gravel levee road. Followed it to Oro-Quincy highway, then circled back down the bike path, to Jones Avenue, then back to Durham. The first 4 or 5 miles felt really good - but the last four or so I really started to notice my knees (as in they didn't really feel that good). There wasn't any real pain, it just felt like they wanted me to stop running now!!!! Since I was out in the provobial middle of nowhere, that was not happening, so I just kept going.
About mile 7 it started getting dark, and the rest of the run was pretty uneventful. I had an energy bar about an hour before the run, then a powerbar about 15 minutes before - took a Gel (I using Accel products now) at 25 minutes and at 45 minutes, and drank about 24 ounces of Gaterade Endurance/Water mix (25/75 mix).
Absolutly no stomach or other issues - my previous training with triathlons has really taught my stomach how to handle fueling and hydrating while I run. This will be important during the marathon, as I will likly burn on the order of 4,000 calories, and will need to intake about 2,000 calories to keep for running out of steam.
This was a "LSD" Run - which means Long, Slow Distance. It took me one hour and 16 minute to complete, which is just slightly under a ten minute mile. This is probably the pace that I will use for most of my long runs (and the actual race).
This puts me at 25 miles for the week, I will drop back a little next week (a quasi recovery week) and then start ramping up both my total mileage and the long run mileage.
I just bought a new book today - Hal Higdons "Marathon - The Ultimate Training Guide". I hope to get a chance over the next week or two to read it. I'm still just a little uncomfortable with the training plan I have set up, and I'm hoping that Hal will have some insight for me.
Posted by Dennis at 01:30 PM | Comments (0)
My Introduction
Please allow me to introduce myself. My name is Dennis, and I am about to embark upon the most difficult journey in my life – the running of a marathon. What is a marathon, you ask? Most people describe it as a life-changing event. It consists of running, walking and/or crawling 26.2 miles. My plan with this blog is to discuss the details of my training for the event, and then describe in painful detail the actual running of the marathon. Most of you will ask, “Why would someone want to run a marathon?� I will, over the course of the next 20 plus weeks, give you 26.2 reasons why I am doing this event.
I may frequently use the term “we� during this blog. The “we� part of this is my brother, David, who is planning on running the marathon with me. It will be the first marathon for both of us, and having the company for some of the longer training runs will be really great. I am a triathlete as well as a runner, he is a runner only. We are very, very competitive with each other, and have the whole “triathlete vs the runner� thing going. So far the score is “triathlete� three wins, the “runner� two wins.
The marathon we will be running is the Napa Valley Marathon, on March 5, 2006. We picked this event mostly because it is relatively close, and the date fits well with our training schedules (Dave is a farmer, and has more time to train in the winter, and my triathlon training schedule is lighter during the winter also).
www.napa-marathon.com
Posted by Dennis at 10:38 AM | Comments (4)
From Couch Potato to Athlete
It all started four years ago, on September 16, 2002. It was my 42nd birthday, and my wife and I had gone to the wine country for the weekend with a group of friends to celebrate. We came back on the 16th, road weary and just a little “partied out�.
After we had gotten unpacked, my wife wanted to go to the gym and workout. She was really, really insistent that she wanted to go work out, and she wanted me to go with her. This was about the last thing I wanted to do, but I reluctantly agreed. I had not been to a gym for probably 15 years, and I could not understand why it was so damned important to go that day.
Once we arrived at the gym, of course I didn’t really have any idea what to do. I had done some jogging in college, and a few times in the 1980’s did a couple of brief stints with weight lifting, but had never really taken fitness seriously. I did a few warm-up type of exercises, and then saw a weird stair-climbing type of machine. This one actually had a set of rotating stairs, that you vary the speed and such to match your ability. I decided that these would be a good way to see how good of shape I was still in.
I took off, and starting climbing stairs. As I was climbing the stairs, I started thinking about the guys that climbed up Tower 1 and Tower 2 of the World Trade Center just a year ago – and how it must have felt, climbing up those stairs, with 50 pounds of gear, going up into something that they had to know was going to be the most horrible scene they had ever witnessed. You have to remember that this was just a few days after the one-year anniversary of 9/11. September 11, 2001 had a profound effect on me – being in public works, we many times are on the front lines (in a support role) of emergencies – and I could not imagine how difficult it would have been to work through this event. I had also just finished reading the book “Report From Ground Zero�, by Dennis Smith, of Engine Company 42. He did a great job of documenting the firefighters journey into Tower No. 1 and 2, and the resulting death and chaos as both the towers pancaked down.
I started thinking, now if I had to climb those stairs, could I do it? So I worked on that machine for about 25 minutes, and climbed like 35 flights of stairs. When I was completely exhausted, couldn’t go any further, I stopped and thought to myself – If I had been in that building, I probably could not have been able to get out, because I was in such poor physical fitness.
That day was a turning point in my life…………………
Ever since that life-changing day at the gym in 2002, I have been embarked upon a journey to attempt to regain some of my youthful fitness. What follows in my story, of how I went from a couch potato, to an athlete. My hope is that some of you “non-athletes� out there will see how “easy� it is to make small changes in your lifestyle, that will pay huge dividends over time.
I started out on the fateful day, tipping the scales at a cool 190 pounds – exactly 40 pounds heavier than I was when I graduated high school. With lots of evening meetings, a full time job, a family and lots of other demands on my time, I had managed to get myself into a pretty sad routine of limited or no exercise, fast food, and eating pretty poorly.
After four years, of training two or three times a week (sometimes more) I now tip the scales at 165 pounds. I should note that I have not once “dieted� in order to lose these 25 pounds. I routinely run sub 7-minute miles, and have set a goal for 2006 to break into a 6-minute mile. I have completed lots of 5k races, three 10k races, two half marathons, five sprint distance and one Olympic distance triathlons. Training has become an integral part of my life, and I can not imagine a week that I do not work out.
Posted by Dennis at 10:37 AM | Comments (0)
My Running Story
Once I “discovered� the concept of getting in shape, I found myself intrigued with the concept of running, and I set out with the goal of being able to run a mile non-stop. My first runs were pretty pathetic, as I had no idea how to train, and was in very bad physical condition. I distinctly remember my first mile attempt, how I would run for 30 seconds, then walk for 4 minutes – and thought I was going to puke by the time I finally finished the mile in about 13 minutes. Somehow, by pure luck, I made it through the first few months without permanently injuring myself.
It took about 6 months to get to where I could run an entire mile nonstop. Once I successfully completed the mile, I set my sites on 2 miles. Another six months, and I was able to run (albeit very slowly) two miles without stopping.
My first ever race was the Almond Blossom in Durham, in February of 2003. We walked the 5k course, in a blistering 54 minutes. The next year, after 52 weeks of running once or twice per week, I had managed to run the entire 5k route, with a time of 27 minutes. I started competing in two or three 5k races a year, still training only twice per week. The next year I was able to reduce my 5k time down to 25 minutes. My fastest time to date is 22 minutes and 50 seconds. While I probably will not be going to the Olympics with that time, I feel that it is pretty darned good for a middle-aged guy that sits at a desk most of the day.
Posted by Dennis at 10:36 AM | Comments (0)
My Triathlon Story
In June 2003, I talked two of my friends into doing a triathlon with me, at In Motion Health Club. We were going to do it as a relay team, with one person swimming, one biking, and then I was planning on doing the running portion. Only problem is, both of my friends cancelled the night before the race. I had never been in a lap pool before, and hadn’t been on a bike for at least two years. Again, in a dramatic show of German stubbornness, I decided to do the whole triathlon myself, rather than not race at all. I was last out of the pool, last on the bike, and nearly the last runner (one other guy got lost). But I finished, and crossing that finish line was one of the most incredible feelings of accomplishment I have ever had.
From that moment forward, I was hooked on triathlons. I found that training for three events gave me a much better overall fitness level than just running. I have done the In Motion Triathlon three years running, the Lake Oroville Triathlon last year, the Whiskeyman Offroad Triathlon last year, and just last month completed my biggest challenge – the Lake Tahoe Olympic distance Triathlon. This consisted of a .9-mile swim in balmy Lake Tahoe (water temperature around 66 degrees, air temperature of 36 degrees), a 24-mile bike ride from Lake Tahoe to Truckee and back (2600 vertical feet) and then a 6-mile run. I finished this event is just over 4 hours, and fourth in my age group. Again, the feeling when you cross that finish line, knowing that you have completed the biggest challenge of your life – is indescribable.
Posted by Dennis at 10:33 AM | Comments (0)