jokach's marathon training blog

Its been a busy, but restful couple of days ... but its been a few days since I've had time to write anything. I spent the weekend in Groton, CT, where the weather was a bit cooler than it is here in southeastern Pennsylvania. That didn't stop me from getting out to wrap up my recovery week after the Ocean Drive marathon and kick off the training for the Flying Pig. It was kind of nice because I ran different courses on HILLY terrain .. I always forget that Connecticut is much more hilly then where I am now. The explanation of why i have to run when i'm visiting family started on Friday night, and you know, non-runners just don't understand..

I'm happy to say that I've snapped myself back into better nutrition now, and its funny how it only takes a few days of clean eating to realize that what I was eating previously was just wrong, and the massive portions I was consuming were even worse. Getting on the scale last week may have helped motivate me too .... anyway, I cut back on my consumption of breakfast cereal and made sure i'm eating the "right" breakfast cereals when I do and not those sugar filled cereals .. I tend to eat nothing but breakfast cereal at a certain point of my training, which isn't good.

So i've been working hard on getting the right combination of protein, carbs and fats and have started using "the daily plate" from livestrong to track my calories. As of this moment today, I'm at 20%, 20% and 60%, with 60% being carbs.. not too bad, I remember how to do this, i really do. I'm hoping that getting this under control helps me train better and slims me down a little bit. Its really a good feeling to know you're eating better (maybe its all the veggies that are giving me that great feeling).

I figure I have 2 real weeks of training to work out the rough points in my running performance and slim down a bit, which started yesterday .. I have (2) 22 milers scheduled over the next 2 weekends, along with adding an extra hill day eacg week and forcing the pace on my speed work Thursdays. The Emmaus 4-mile classic is this coming Sunday as well, so that will act as an extra speed work day for me. I have to prepare a bit for the warmer temperatures though too .. i'm too used to running in the cold, its hard to get me to shed layers until I have to, that could be a critical mistake if I don't manage that too.

I've also added some weight training and core exercises to my routine, I haven't been able to commit much more time at this moment, so these are pretty quick and simple and will hopefully get my upper body to help burn some calories. I never thought that my bottom half is in such great shape .. but my upper half is not, hopefully this will clear it up. I've started the 100 pushups program also .. at a level two, and let me tell you that it sucks, but i'll do it. I'm just so out of shape on my upper half which is what is making it so bad... another week or so and i'll be good to go (imagine me after 6 weeks, eh?)

So the emails from the Flying Pig folks have started to trickle in, and its really getting me pumped up for the race. The whole weekend looks like fun, so at least i'll have something to do on the Saturday before the race. My family most likely won't be traveling with me that weekend, so i'll be bored really fast by myself before the race .. I've never been to Cincinnati, so i'm looking forward to taking in the sights (if there are any), or just hanging out with other runners ..

I guess the summary for the day is that I hope i'm on the right track now to push the pace again in just 4 short weeks. I feel good and rested, and positive that i've got the right combination to do better, but only time will tell..

With the first marathon of the season down, its time to set my sights on the Flying Pig marathon in Cincinnati on May 2nd. I managed to get my training put together for the next few weeks as I continue to recover from the Ocean Drive marathon through the weekend. We're traveling to Connecticut for the upcoming holiday weekend, so i'll get to run on some new (well, different) terrain.

I had not taken a look at the Flying Pig course since I registered a few months back, and figured that I have a few keys to succeeding on May 2nd.. first, like I wrote a few weeks ago, I have to get my eating under control. I've been doing much better for the last few days after stepping on the scale and after having stomach issues last week. I really think the indigestion, bloated and upset stomach I was getting was related to the garbage I had been eating for so many weeks. Its funny how I somehow make the connection that "I can eat whatever I want, regardless of what it is just because i'm training". That is so wrong .. trust me. Now its a matter of eating the right things .. I was eating fats and carbs and proteins, but not GOOD fats, carbs and proteins and I wasn't watching my portions. Plus the worst thing was I was falling victim to the candy dish at work ... one of the ladies has a dish of M&M's that I just couldn't resist every time I walked by it (i know Lindsay will appreciate my closet M&M addiction).. it always had M&M's in it, and never seemed to go empty.

So I've dedicated myself to hopefully dropping a couple pounds over the next few weeks as one of my keys to succeeding..

The second key is to add in the hillwork again .. in reviewing the course, there are some decent hills in the first 10 miles that will need to be climbed, so back to the hardcore hillwork.

The third key is to add some sort of crosstraining in .. I read some good articles on different types of crosstraining I can do at home or pretty easily, including a great article on spinning. I have some guys at work trying to get me to goto the gym and do a spin class with them, guess I just have to get the guts up to go and try it, i'm sure i'll love it. The biggest issue here is the inability to dedicate anymore time to training during the day .. I just don't have enough hours. I've got to try to find a way to integrate it in using the hours I already have, not sure how to do it.

Then the last key is to push myself in this marathon. I do think I can increase my marathon finish time if I actually try a little harder. I think I have this real fear of failing and then having to deal with the struggles of having a terrible race (like at LVHNM last year)... I thought I was SO ready for that race as I worked up to it, but I so wasn't, I bombed totally and don't even really know why except I went out too fast .. and then ever since, i've been afraid to really push it and have stayed conservative in my effort. I have to find a way to get over that fear.

So I have just under 5 weeks to get all these keys together, not a lot of time, but enough time to do it. I'm actually somewhat excited about the next race already, not sure why, just something different. For the last 2 marathons (Philly and OD), i've worried about cold weather, and this one I don't think I need to be specifically concerned, which is a good feeling.

Well, off to rest .. training starts up again in a few days.

So today is my recovery day from the Ocean Drive marathon, and although i'm kind of sore today, i'm not as bad as I had been from other races, maybe its that there weren't many hills or maybe i'm just in better shape than I think I am. Thanks to everyone who supported me either by commenting, emailing or tweeting this past weekend as I did the final prep for the race. It really helps to know that other runners are out there lending their support, it certainly is appreciated.

Its funny but the post-race comments so far from my mini-post yesterday seem about the same from everyone, that the wind was unpredictable and a big factor in the race. I'm anxious to see the results because I want to see what the overall and average finish times were ..

Anyway, here is my post-race summary of the Ocean Drive marathon yesterday ..

To start off, my stomach had been acting up since around Tuesday or so, I woke up each morning with indigestion which then turned into an upset stomach, then it would pass. Later on in the day, it would come back again and my stomach even got real tight on Thursday afternoon and I didn't know what was going on. Of course I was freaking out because I didn't know if something was really, really wrong, or if it was a temporary thing, but with the marathon just a few days away, it put me into a real panic (something I didn't need at this point).

So despite the intermittent stomach issues, the whole family headed down to the Cape May/Wildwood area on Friday morning to enjoy some vacation time prior to the race. There is really something unique about being in a resort town in the off-season, that kind of peacefulness that you don't get in the summertime just makes it so comforting .. we were able to walk the boardwalk, swim (indoors), walk the beach and even had pizza at Sam's Pizza Palace on Friday night and then stopped to play video games in the boardwalk arcade on the way back to the hotel. Pretty cool stuff... I ate pretty clean all day Friday (foods easy on the stomach) and figured eating pizza on Friday night wouldn't kill me for the race since my stomach was feeling pretty good at this point.

On Saturday, it seemed like my stomach bug had gone away since I had no recurrence of indigestion or upset stomach. Although we continued to 'vacation', I took it kind of easy knowing I was less than 24 hours away from the race, and even easier for most of the day knowing my stomach could flair up at anytime. I hit the pasta party buffet on Saturday night and stuffed myself with spaghetti and meatballs .. they also had this awesome rigatoni in a cheese sauce of some kind, which was REAL heavy (not to mention filling), so much so that I actually had to stop myself from eating it because I knew it probably wasn't the best thing to eat before the race.

Then it was early to bed on Saturday and I actually got a decent nights sleecp despite the fact I was in a hotel, but ended up waking up with a little bit of an unsettled stomach on Sunday morning. This race is odd in that the start time is 9am, which is actually late for me to run .. i'm used of being up and out the door by like 7am, so I was up by 6:30am to catch the shuttle which left my hotel at 7:30am. I was surprised that it actually showed up before 7:30am (we were on the road at 7:25am) and they were NOT school buses, they were charter buses. A few years back I remember taking COLD school buses with no heat to the start, so this was a welcome change. It was nice getting an early bus because I was able to get a place to sit inside at the Congress Hall hotel in Cape May where the race started... I had a LONG time to wait, so I hung out for about 45 minutes until heading out to the port-a-potty line .. I was thankful that my stomach had calmed down somewhat and I didn't have that sick feeling (for now at least).

I then had to decide what the final outfit would be for the day .. I had on shorts, with 2 wicking shirts on, then a throw-away sweatshirt on top of that. It was quite warm for that at the start (note the sun was out, very mild winds) .. so I got rid of the sweatshirt, put on my skull cap and gloves and headed for the start...

Miles 1-10:
The first few miles were really uneventful until we came up to around mile 3 and the first area of open-area running as we left Cape May... and the first feel of that wind. It was forecast to be coming from the ESE, but at certain times it was almost swirling, just really unpredictable. It felt like it was coming from the north for a good few miles, but I guess I really didn't know.

As we actually got on to Ocean Drive and headed east to the Wildwoods, the sun was replaced by clouds and we were running directly into the wind. With nothing but swamps around us, there was nothing to stop the wind (I equate it to running through the farmers fields where I am).

I kept a pretty decent pace for the first 10 miles, averaging a 9:05/mile, which was right on target (although I think mile 2 and 3 were marked wrong, because there is NO way I ran a 5:18 mile). I ran by my family at mile 10 but took time to stop to hug and kiss my daughter (my #1 fan) as I passed through .. its always motivating to have those moments, it really did help. I took a moment after passing them to take my first gel since in my training, it was about an hour and half in when I would fuel up.. it went down pretty good (surprisingly).

Miles 11-18:
Since the 10-miler race had ended now, the field of people running was cut back significantly and was just marathoners now.. I recall the drop off of people from the last time I ran it. It does get lonely out there at this point. I kept with it though, but slowly worked to slow my pace to be more at the pace I expected at around a 9:20/mile. I did this purposely because I knew at this point I was ahead of the goal finish time and didn't want to wear myself out too early (save it for later if anything).

The wind didn't seem to stop as we passed into Stone Harbor via the Hereford Inlet .. again through open marshes and over another bridge through open ocean. Once we got into Stone Harbor, this was actually one of the more difficult parts of the course. This was basically a straightaway for the next 6 miles.. it kind of hit me knowing that I was passing by 120th street and we had to get all the way to 7th street to cross over into Sea Isle City. One would think that running straight for 6 miles is easy, but its really a challenge to the mind in my opinion, kind of like running on a treadmill is, just going the same direction for mile after mile after mile with nothing too exciting to look at.

I decided at around mile 18 to take my second gel since I was starting to feel depleted. Up until this point, I was taking water at every stop (at least one cup, some i took two at) and this was the point that my stomach decided to starting playing games and take a turn on me.

Mile 19-22:

As we headed for the end of the Avalon section of the run (prior to crossing into Sea Isle City), I felt myself start to work real hard to keep down any fluids I was trying to take in. My stomach was kind of unsettled almost to the point of throwing up, and i'm not sure if it was related to the gel I took or not .. I then started to limit the amount of water I was taking in. So instead of drinking all of it, I was just putting water in my mouth and spitting it out to keep my mouth wet .. and taking a small sip if I could.

I passed a couple at this area of the race that were running with their daughter in a stroller. I'm always fascinated by those that can do that .. I have enough trouble with running the race WITHOUT a stroller and the added stress, but I said to myself, at least they don't need a babysitter when they run..

So with every mile that passed at this point, I was slowly getting even colder from the wind (i was soaked through all my layers and chilled to the bone) but was also starting to fight with dehydration. It didn't help that it started to rain slightly for about 10 minutes, just to keep us on our toes.. the rain, the wind, the cold feeling, my stomach and dehydration were all ganging up on me as I headed to Townsends Inlet for the final three miles of the race ..

Mile 23-Finish:

I was at what I consider the turning point of the race for me .. despite the struggles in the last few miles with my stomach (and the weather), i still managed to keep a decent pace consistent with my finish time (approx 9:30/mile). I passed mile marker 23 just as I approached Townsends Inlet, which is a double-whammy, an uphill bridge (at mile 23) and open ocean on both sides .. it was cold as cold could be, you can see the caps of the waves below when i had to stop and walk to the top, just couldn't make it in this condition. Thankfully I got myself moving on the downhill as we entered Sea Isle City..

At this point, my pace started to fall off, my worst miles were the last 3 miles where I lost almost 6 minutes off my goal pace .. I felt myself starting to really feel out of gas at around mile 24 when I attempted to take another gel, and my stomach decided that it just wasn't happening, and I just about lost it. Thankfully there was a water stop just ahead and I was able to sip down a bit of water, and wash my mouth out to get rid of the gel taste so i wouldn't throw up. I felt bad for the lady who handed me the water though, she r was so nice in asking me if I wanted some Gatorade as well as the wateand I said "no, i'll just throw it anyway" .. she gave me a strange look and I realized it wasn't a nice response, she was only trying to help ... its unfortunate that i can't apologize to her.

It was at this point that we hit the last turn on to the promenade in Sea Isle City and I can see the banner for the finish line in the distance. At this point I was totally dehydrated, totally out of gas from dehydration and lack of fuel, wet, cold, tired .. it sucked, but I kept on going because I was not going to make excuses at this point. The wind coming off the ocean didn't help anything because it caused us to have to run through sand that was blowing up on to the promenade .. you couldn't even LOOK at the beach without getting sand in your eyes, it was an amazing site.

I kept looking ahead for that finish banner, and it just seemed like it wasn't getting any closer. If you've ever seen the Monty Python "Holy Grail" movie, its like the scene where the group keeps seeing the army coming towards them, but they never seem to get any closer, then suddenly they appear, thats what this was like .. suddenly after looking and looking, I was at the finish line, relieved that I was done, I made it, in under my goal time despite the struggles I had .. I was thrilled.

Overall I can't say it was a bad race, I think I ran a smart race for most of the time, realizing my pace and adjusting accordingly. I worked hard to keep fueled and hydrated, but the late stomach issues kind of creeped up on me, thankfully it happened later in the race and believe it or not, it actually stayed with me for the rest of the day on Sunday. I didn't eat anything until almost 2 hours after the race .. and I could barely keep fluids down (had to sip slowly). My first real meal was about 7pm last night, and it wasn't even much .. but I am feeling better now.

So for a not so fast marathon runner, I was happy with my time and with the race overall. I managed to conquer the Ocean Drive marathon a second time .. this time I beat the course, and it didn't beat me like a few years back. My finish time in 2007 was a 4:25, so I knocked off 16 minutes from that time, which is a lot in my opinion, and I have no regrets. If I didn't have the stomach problems, I probably could've run a 4:03 (which is where I was at when my pace started falling off).. but hey, i'm still happy with the effort

I did meet a lot of great people along the way, some from Oklahoma and others from Michigan, and several other states and local regions .. we shared stories of training the brutal winter we just came out of for this race, and patted each other on the back for getting through it all to make it here for this race.

So its time now to recover for a week and plan for the Flying Pig marathon in just 5 short weeks .. I always consider the first marathon of the season to be the 'eye-opener', which helps me to better focus on running the next one. Sometimes you forget the struggles of pushing past that 20-22 mile training run, but its fresh in my head now, so it will help motivate me to do better.

My goal in the next 5 weeks is to get some crosstraining in, along with eating MUCH better .. I got on the scale today and it was scary, its time to cut out the crap and get serious and EAT like a marathon runner (and stop the excuses that i'm running a ton of miles). I have to start pushing myself too .. I know I can run better if I focus harder on my training and eating right ..

Well, on to rest ....

I'm not up to writing the full race report tonight, i'll look to get it done tomorrow since I took the day off from work ... The most I can say is that the Ocean Drive Marathon never lets me down as it was just as challenging as it was 3 years ago when I last ran it. One might think that by looking at the course that its an easy marathon, but you never think about the conditions you have to run in .. we had sun, then wind, then clouds, then wind, some rain, more wind and then it ended with wind and sun. Notice my emphasis on the wind ... the issue today was that the wind came out of the east primarily and although it was not as bad as it coming from the north, it was bad enough after 4 hours. I feel my head all stuffed up from the run and am hoping I don't end up with a head cold, although it could be because i'm tired (plus I had to drive 2 1/2 hours home after the race)..

My finish time? Well, I planned for a 4:10, and did a 4:09 .. and I'm happy with it. I had some stomach issues starting about mile 19 which helped me to run out of gas by around mile 23 crossing Townsends Inlet, it just sucked the last bit of life out of me .. but i'll share more tomorrow. Hopefully we'll have official results tomorrow .. this marathon is unique because it actually doesnt' use a timing chip (which i'm surprised at), so my watch time is about as good as I have, I just want to see what the overall results were.

stay tuned ...

Its strange not spending ALL my time running, which is one of the good things about tapering .. I can actually live a somewhat normal life (if you call it normal). The problem is, I still go to bed just as early and can't seem to sleep past 5am .. I've just been trying use the time to do other things I haven't had time for over the last bunch of weeks. The biggest struggle is watching how much I eat right now because I don't have my miles very high like i'm used to, that and just being safe to not try anything new or out of the ordinary until after the race.

So with all this time on my hands, I've had some thoughts about how I think I can kick up my training a notch this summer and get back to running better ... (maybe even achieve a PR). I had two thoughts on how to approach it, first, I've been contemplating the lack of cross training in my training plans, which in the past has always helped me run better when i could get it in. The biggest challenge with it now though is that I just have no access to anything but running at this point. Years back I had an on-site gym at work that gave me access to equipment, but these days i've found that I'm just not a gym guy (as I've written about before). So no gym, and no bike as of yet and then adding in the fact that I'm a terrible swimmer (i'd probably drowned) it really limits what I can do .. I figure that not having a bike can be easily corrected because after talking to a friend that bikes, they have inexpensive bikes just for this purpose that are less expensive locally here just to get a day or two of easy riding in at least to get a start. I've looked at some pricing on bikes and I just can't spend a large sum of money on a bike I probably won't use very heavily..

The second way I thought about how to kick it up a notch is to start eating better. As a runner (and pseudo-athlete), I just don't eat right anymore .. I mean I watch my calories and limit my fat intake, i'm just not eating the right stuff and I think its because I have to FIND the right stuff again.. I've struggled with my weight for about a year and a half now and I think both the combination of cross-training and eating better will do it. Its not that i'm fat, I just have a belly on me .. and I really think I can cut my times in racing if I can get rid of some pounds.

So i've tried hard to not look ahead at the weekend weather for the race, but for some reason I can't stay away ... looks like it might be a bit chilly overnight this weekend at the shore. Well, I've been there before with the cold and with a 9am race start Sunday morning and sunshine in the forecast for the day, I think we'll be okay as long as the wind stays out of the south (NOT THE NORTH!!)

Less than 96 hours until the race, and countdown is on ..