jokach's marathon training blog

The title of this post sounds like a bad movie, eh?

As I've been writing, I've drastically cut back on my running since the Marine Corps Marathon back in late October. I hope to get myself back into training mode in a few weeks once things settle down. But there is a reason why I wrote a post titled like I did .. my body is killing me!

I wrote last week that my back was hurting, when I didn't do anything ... and now my knees are starting to hurt too, when I didn't do anything. Could this be the results of running 10 marathons in 2 years time? Its possible. Ever since I cut my miles back, my body is killing me, I think because its had time to start recovering from the stress I've put it under, I hope I can overcome it. My knee isn't too bad, but its sore and achey after a run and even when i'm resting!

I've made the commitment to get serious about eating right, and ensuring i'm getting SOME exercise until I complete my move to the beautiful Lehigh Valley... at least it'll be warmer in the spring down here.

I probably didn't write that I am moving from Northeastern Pa to the Lehigh Valley area in early December. I wrote after the Lehigh Valley Marathon how beautiful the running trails and all are, now they are in my backyard (well, almost). Its a chance to get pumped up again about running, and hopefully we'll get through it all and back into training before we know it ..

Enough for now, gotta go take some ibuprofen ... :)

Its been two rough weeks, mostly without running unfortunately.. I've logged maybe 25 miles in the last two weeks, mostly because my back was out this past week. I'm not sure what happened except for the fact that I was raking/picking up a TON of leaves over the weekend. When I was riding to work on Monday morning, my back starting feel strange and then all day on Monday it was bothering me. I woke up Tuesday morning and I was crooked and in pain, it lasted all day .. Finally Wednesday it felt a little better and I got a workout on the elliptical here in the hotel. I headed out for a mile or so yesterday which felt okay and then overslept today (alarm didn't go off!)

So running isn't my priority, but i'll be back! I expect to get back into the post-season training by Christmas-time. We're planning to move between the second and third weeks of December, depending on how things go, so i'll be able to get back on a normal training schedule. I've been living in hotels and commuting a long distance to my new job for the past couple reason, hence the reason I can't get my early runs in anymore, but that all should change.

I don't have a schedule for next year yet, and it will take me some effort to get back in shape since i've been eating 'not so good', and not really working out as consistent and as hard as I was, but its a challenge we'll overcome!

Thanks to all my visitors and emails of support, i'll be back, just don't have anything interesting to write about with running right now, since i'm not really running right now. At least my back is feeling better now, so we're on the right course..

Its been over a week since my last update ... life has suddenly taken quite a different direction with the new job and everything. Running has kind of taken a second place right now, and at the right time I think until I can get it back into my schedule. I haven't stopped running completely, just really cut the miles and days back, at least for another month or two and we'll pick it back up again.

I'm struggling to keep the weight off, although its hard. Its amazing how fast the weight goes on when you stop exercising really hard. Its a challenge i'll have to work on, but I'm sure i'll be okay with it.

Once things pick up again, I'll start posting more regularly, because there isn't much more to say at this moment .. I'll be back though ..

I've returned from my experience at the Marine Corps Marathon to report that my day was certainly a rough one. I kind of knew going in that it was going to be a hard run, mainly because after completing my 3 mile refresher run on Saturday, I just didn't feel great. My chip time was 4:03, yep, 4:03 .. I didn't even come in under 4 hours, so i'm quite disappointed... so lets come up with excuses why I didn't do well (lol)..

First, I know that I am slightly undertrained .. as I wrote during Steamtown, my focus over the last 3-4 weeks has not been training, so in addition to that, I think mentally I wasn't there either. It was hard to travel in the rain on Saturday (long ride), the hotel experience wasn't the best, lots of hustle and bustle at the beginning, that I just didn't get into it like I probably should have, and I think that hurt me...

Second, I know I went out way too fast, again running the first few miles at around an 8:15 pace, which is too fast for me at this stage however at such a huge event its hard to not get caught up in the hoopla.. I told myself at around mile 5 that I need to get control of my pace and struggled from miles 5-10 getting into a comfortable pace, but it was hard because there were some hills I had to deal with .. finally at around mile 12 or so, I started to think that this race was going to be difficult to finish.. I had a hollow feeling in my solo flexes from mile 2 to at least mile 18 when I really slowed down, so that really bothered me, i'm not sure if its because I went out too fast or not, but I really felt 'out of breath' and like someone punched me in the stomach (maybe you know the feeling)...

I got to mile 19 and felt myself dying out .. it was quite warm believe it or not, and although I hydrated pretty good, I took in too much Powerade instead of water because the water stops were not marked real good (plus they were crowded) .. I hit the wall at mile 20 and did what I should not have done and started to walk for a few seconds in each mile .. and slowly as I went on, I started walking more. It was sad, and difficult with the amount of people cheering in Crystal City to just 'walk through' .. it was demoralizing ..

Regardless, I finished, and thats the important thing ... i'm wrapping up the season here as I focus on some other things .. I should be able to get to the Diamond Run without issue, but no more marathons until I can focus again on training, I once again write (like I did after the Ocean Drive marathon), that being trained properly is critical in the success of running marathons, and I just wasn't ready and I won't be ready for anymore this season ..

I've thought about next year and am not sure what the plan is, however I know one thing for sure, i'm going to stick with the smaller marathons .. 30000 people is ALOT of people and alot of confusion. What sucked the most was the mile walk from the Runners Village to the start line, running 26.2 miles, then walking another mile after the race through the finish area (to get your medal, coin, meal, etc)...

One thing to note though, that out of 30000 people, only 18000 or so finished, so over 1/3 of the field did not finish, that's weird! I also finished around 4500th or so, which puts my in the top 25-30% of finishers, even with a bad time, not sure how that works out, but makes me feel better ...

The last comment I have to make thats bugged me to no end is that I generally like to get a polo shirt from every race i run ... however the cost was $99 for a polo with the MCM logo on it .. SORRY! Thats too much for me .. I felt bad in Delaware spending $42 on a polo shirt, but it was at least manageable I guess ...

So its on to rest and to start the next chapter in the big book of life ... not sure how running will fit in, but we'll figure it out ..

This could be my last post prior to the Marine Corps Marathon tomorrow as i'm packing up my stuff to drive out (in the rain). I'll get 2-3 quick miles in when i'm done here just to get the legs warmed up then call it a day .. I'm getting psyched about the race and the whole experience .. I have heard that this is one of the best marathons to run, the course isn't terribly difficult, and its a great scenic tour of our nations capital.. The weather is supposed to be perfect for a marathon, but I am still planning to bring contingency clothes (as I call them) just in case things take a turn for the worst. I figure that i'll run with my normal Hind wicked-shirt underneath a long-sleeve throwaway. The temps at the start are supposed to be near 50, so it will be a race-time decision to wear it or not...

I printed out my pace band, and am striving for a 3:52 finish tomorrow .. I know the field is quite large, so the first few miles will probably be a challenge to keep any sort of pace, but we'll do the best we can. I'm figuring that it'll take an hour after the race to get through the finish area, on the shuttle and back to the car, so i'm not expecting to get back to Allentown until almost suppertime if things go well (its about 3 1/2 hours back) .. then early to bed and off to work Monday morning, it will certainly be a challenge this weekend and into the new week.

So if I stick to the plan that I did for Steamtown, which is to 1) just keep my pace, 2) take it one mile at a time, and 3) ENJOY MYSELF, it should be a good day .. I did find that when I don't worry about killing myself to get an excellent time, I enjoy it so much more. I know for a fact that i'm not trained up enough to have an excellent time, I just want to feel good until close to the end (like Steamtown). The best part is that this course is mostly flat with no major hills at the end like Steamtown, so I hope to not die out as bad as I did at Steamtown...

Maybe i'll write later, we'll see how things go .... otherwise, the next update will come post-marathon.. ON TO THE MARINE CORPS!