jokach's marathon training blog

I'm happy to report that i've returned from Swanzey, NH and running the Swanzey Covered Bridges Half Marathon (SCBHM). As I thought, it rained, thankfully not for the whole time though, but enough to make it a mess to run in. My initial thought was that there were going to be downpours, and really, it only downpoured once during the run (but did shower and rain steady for a bit).

It was a decent course and well managed. The water stations were well staffed and placed, traffic control was decent, although I did see a few dangerous situations with runners on both sides of the street with traffic coming. I think if the rules were laid out that everybody stays to their left or right, it could be safer ... The people were real nice in New Hampshire, including the fire people at the BBQ afterward, good food. Theres nothing like a long run, then a BBQ.

Regardless, I almost broke my PR time from Allentown, however I feel if it wasn't raining (which wasn't anybodys fault), I could've broke it. I think I was carrying a few extra pounds of water by the time I was done, but I did finish in 1:49:26, missing my PR by less than a minute, here are my split times, with some details on it .. I finished in 117th place ...

Mile 1 - 7:37 - Ran this way too fast, just the excitement I guess. I realized it though and did adjust
Mile 2 - 8:29 - Ran this mile pretty good, we entered the abandoned rail-bed, which was rough to run on in the rain, plus it was quite narrow.
Mile 3 - 7:59 - still on the rail-bed, heading for the road. got off my pace though
Mile 4 - 7:57 - Still off my pace, I was wearing myself out, I did realize it, and slowed my pace
Mile 5 - 8:16 - a better mile
Mile 6 - 8:26
Mile 7 - 8:46 - The last mile featured a decent hill, hence the slowness, I also had to stop and tie my shoe-lace!
Mile 8 - 8:31 - great mile
Mile 9 - 8:23 - great mile, getting tired
Mile 10 - 8:35 - good pace
Mile 11 - 8:26 - good pace, see a trend here?
Mile 12 - 8:48 - big hill at the end here
Mile 13 - 9:01 (includes the .1)

Things I enjoyed in this race, were the people, they really were a great bunch of happy runners ... you couldn't ask for more. I ran beside a cool woman who insisted on constantly spitting over and over again. Here I was again looking at a decent looking, middle-class woman who spits ... cool. I also got the experience of seeing someone run the half-marathon with NO SHOES ON. Whats with that? This course must have been rough for him (since about 2 miles were on rails to trails). I also saw part of a tree fall down, right on the road, as I passed down, it was frightening! I also had to STOP and TIE MY SHOE just after mile 7, I lost a few seconds there. This never happened before ......... I made my usual character judgements of who was good, and who wasn't, who was smart and who wasn't (i just have to remember too-much-cotton-soaking-wet-can't-keep-my-pace-boy .... nuff said.

I did learn some things in this race, and i'll write it now to look back on prior to running Steamtown .... RUN THE PACE I TRAINED FOR, according to the above splits, I ran it faster than I wanted to, and I was dying by mile 11. If I'm going to finish the marathon, I have to keep my pace of just over 9:00/mile to stay in the race. I worked on not getting caught up in being passed by others .. hey, we're all there for a different reason. I'm there to finish the marathon, I have to remember that, I don't care what place, how fast, etc.... just finish it. I also looked at too many people who were running above their ability. I don't want to be one of them that goes above my ability ... for example, there was a dude in mile 3 who was racing me, and all out of breath and everything, why? I mean, with 10 miles to go, if you're out of breath, you need to adjust. These are the priceless lessons that I learned.

Anyway, the next race is Steamtown.... I've done the training races now, I think my mind is set. My body is a little sore, the back pain went away, and my right groin is a little sore again .... we'll see what this week holds as I have 2 more 20+ milers left in training...

Well, it seems that it will be nothing but rain on this Labor Day weekend upcoming. Worst part is to have to travel to New Hampshire to run a half-marathon in the rain, run it in the rain, and come home in the rain .... its going to be a long weekend. I guess it could be worse, it could be cold (i better keep my mouth shut!)

I've had a decent week of recovery I feel, i'm hoping to catch up on my sleep tonight a little bit and even tomorrow night. My legs feel pretty good, although I do have a little sharp pain every now and again (and during running) in my right knee. It might finally be giving out. Hopefully I can struggle through it for the next two tough weeks coming up before i start the taper.

I have had some odd pain in my back last night ... i didn't do anything to it, and it is up kind of high (in the flank region). It just came on like nothing. It subsided a bit overnight, and went away this morning and didn't bother me during my 5-miler today, so I don't know what to make of it. My boss suggested that it could be a kidney issue, but in checking more into that, I would know it if I had a stone, or an infection, which I don't have. I think its just something tweaking that I did ... we'll keep an eye on it. I'm gettin' quite beat up here, its rough doing 18-weeks of training, i've never gone this long .........

I'm not sure if I'll check in and post before my trip on Saturday to NH, so the results of the race will be up next. I just hope its not a total washout, the whole family was planning on attending along with the BBQ and all for Labor Day, oh well, guess we'll make the best of it whatever way we can ...

Since it appears that the upcoming Swanzey Covered Bridge Half-Marathon is going to be visited by 'Ernesto', I figured I would start putting together some thoughts on how to run in the rain. I am just searching around at this point and will put everything I find here.

Overall, since its in early September, most have indicated that running it in the rain will actually be refreshing. The problem will come in with blisters and chafing on my feet. Here is what I found (the list will be ongoing):

1. lubricate your feet to reduce the risk of wet socks chafing or producing a blister. Vaseline on your feet works well. (guess I'll invest in some vaseline)

2. Wear a poncho before the race starts. A large trash bag with a hole cut out for your head, also for your arms if you prefer, works good. It works well because you can tear it off and discard it when the race starts.

3. Moderate your pace for the conditions. Shorten your stride and stay relaxed.

4. Don’t wear cotton t-shirts in the rain. These tops cling, rub and weigh a gazillion pounds. Choose wicking Cool-Max tops instead. They're a little softer and don’t hoard rain drops.

5. Most wet cotton socks are blister instigators. They bunch, wrinkle, crease and give your toes a wedgie. Pick an acrylic or polypropylene blend.

6. A cap with some type of beak keeps the worst of the spritz off your face.

7. Dry your shoes by removing the innards and stuffing the body with newspapers to wick the moisture out of your gear.

Edit- after the race!
Surprisingly, all the above worked for me in the rain, as I had about as a decent experience as I could in the rain. I really just understood at one point that I was wet, I was going to stay wet, and there was no way around it. Once you accept that, it makes the run easier.

I greatly enjoyed the time off yesterday from running, I only rode the bike for 20 minutes and lifted weights. My legs are tired, so the recovery week came at the right time, the only problem is that its RAINING outside today, so looks like a treadmill day for me. My big concern though is that this Tropical Storm Ernesto is supposed to head up the coast this weekend, meaning that it could be raining for the half-marathon on Sunday morning. That will suck. I can handle rain, but not torrential downpours! Oh well, maybe i'm jumping the gun.

In looking at my schedule, i've completed 12 weeks already, with 6 weeks to go until the big race. I really only have 3 more hard weeks left, well, this week isn't really hard, but only 3 weeks until taper time. I've found though that I haven't been eating quite as good as I was, and although i don't feel i've put weight on, I feel much more full than I used to. But then there are times when i'm not so full .... I just don't know.

Either way, I've got 5 scheduled (on the treadmill apparently) for today, should be a decent light run to get the legs warmed up. I guess its a different workout for me to do the treadmill, so its not a bad thing, I just hate the boredom of being inside.

Wow, I did it, I completed by first 20+ miler and 30+ miles for the weekend. I somehow thought I couldn't do it, but the feeling of satisfaction I got when I was in the last quarter mile of todays run was unbelievable. I actually did it!

My Saturday route of 20 miles got messed up because I was following a google map that wasn't correct. I was supposed to travel up route 11 to 'lower road', however 'lower road' was a path through the woods, not an actual road. I didn't realize it until after I went the wrong way up another road to turn out at a dead end. Well, I then got back on track by just backtracking and then when I got to west pittston, I turned one block too early .... either way, I got 20.7 miles in, and although my body was sore, I wasn't totally wiped out. I felt confident through the whole thing, and took my breaks and worked my hydration however I could.

I then headed out this morning for my 10 mile pace run ... what a dreary, crappy day outside, but I beat the rain. I managed to pull things together at an under 9 minute mile, which is better than my goal pace. I actually got faster towards the end!

Thankfully I head into a recovery week, followed by the Swanzey Covered Bridge Half Marathon next Sunday (labor day weekend). It'll be a nice break to cut the miles back a bit, and let my legs rest before heading out for 2 more weeks of pain on my legs ... but i did make it to the pivotal point of the training, the longest run.