jokach's marathon training blog

It was funny that the other day I was complaining about the earphones I run with for two different reasons ... the first reason is that they are so uncomfortable after running the first 3-5 miles and getting all sweated up. They never seem to stay in my ears properly and I am constantly adjusting them because they slip all over the place (and believe it or not I have the clip-on type that latch behind your ear). The second reason I was complaining was beause I constantly have to buy the little adapter for my clip-on type earphones that allows me use it with a 3G Ipod shuffle (you know, the control mechanism). I burnt through another one of them out the other day after I found that I was no longer able to control the volume or advance the playlist. These little adapters just don't hold up for whatever reason with custom headphones (and they run like $19 a shot).

Thankfully, on the same day I was complaining and about ready to trash my mp3 player and earphones, I was contacted by the good people at yurbuds.com about a product they have called "Earbud Enhancers", and was offered to try them out to see what I think.

After receiving my yurbuds, I found that they are unique in that it fits over existing Ipod earbuds, so there is no need to have to use custom clips along with an adapter or anything in order to have earbuds that say in your ear. I was not convinced at first because i've never had success with any ear buds while running because they just don't ever stay in place, which is why I usually have to get the clip-on ones. I thought, there is no way these will stay in my ears with yurbuds, and I was SO WRONG!

Once I got them setup and ready to go, I was able to run 21 miles on Sunday morning using the yurbuds Earbud Enhancers and it didn't even feel like I had earphones on. In addition to them not ever slipping out of my ears for over 3 hours of vigorous running (even with the sweat, the turning of my head, etc), the sound that they provide is unbelievable. Since the earbud enhancer is directing the sounds direcly into your ear canal, its crisp, clean and you can actually feel the music. I did have an issue where I had the volume too high at one point, but that was my issue and in no way related to the product. I have a tendency to like to listen to music loud, just not this loud when its directed right in your ear ...

I would highly recommend the yurbuds Earbud Enhancers if you struggle with finding comfortable earphones that stay in place when you're running. Getting the right size for your ear doesn't appear to be an issue, just a quick picture of an earbud in your ears sent to them with your order and they size you right up. I'm not sure how they do it, but mine fit perfectly..

For a limited time, you can get a special discount on your first set of yurbuds if you just send me your email address using the "Contact" link at the top of my blog, you won't be disappointed.

The only thing I can say is that I LOVE running with music again thanks to yurbuds, I never thought I'd find the answer, but I have..

I never took the time to understand why most training plans have shorter races as part of the regular training, but I think I get it now.. As I wrote earlier in the week, I decided to mix it up a bit by running a 5K yesterday and switching my long run to today, and i'm happy I did. Its been such a long time since I actually ran just a 5K, we're talking almost 4 years? Most of my shorter races in that time have been either 3,4 or 5 milers, so this was a welcome change.

I found myself up early, even though I didn't get home until late on Friday night from Virginia, and I was actually pumped up for the race. Well, I think I was pumped up to run and the race was just a convenient way to get the adrenalin out .. I ran an easy 6 miler on Thursday and didn't do ANY training on Friday (no running and no cycling)... so based on the intensity I've been training at, I really needed to run. I headed out at 7:30 and made my way over to the little town of Rochester marathon being about 10-12 miles of trails. This was something I wasn't planning for with it being a marathon in a decent sized city. This prompted me to get some long run time on trails, which took me to the Lehigh Canal Park trails which took me from Allentown to Bethlehem (which I actually got off the trails for a bit) and then to Freemansburg and beyond before I turned around and headed back. I did 2 loops through the city of Bethlehem and got a free tour to Musikfest, although there was nobody there except empty stands and an empty stage ... oh well.

Anyway, I worked to slowly increase my pace as the run went on, and I did a pretty good job at it, except that I didn't know what my pace was at certain times due to my Garmin having no signal. I always seem to forget that the only fatal flaw in the Garmin trainer watch is that it needs a clear view to the sky in order to track the distance, and the trails that I was running on were covered mostly with trees. It didn't slow me down though, I still think I did excellent with my splits despite that one issue.. the best part is that I was able to stop at the park on Sand Island (Bethlehem) and get a drink on the way up, then stop to get a drink on the way back down and fill up my water bottle, it worked out real good.

I have another challenging week coming up, this time I have to drive to Connecticut on Friday to visit family, which means I have another long run coming up very early Friday. I figured that its better to do a long run on my home turf on Friday monring instead of when i'm traveling and in a strange place. I'd say that I skip it for the weekend, but i'm at the point of the training when I really need to get these runs in now. Believe it or not i'm just 4 short weeks away from the first marathon of the season...

The last comment I have (that i'll elaborate more on in another post tomorrow or Tuesday) was that I used these amazing earbud enhancers from Yurbuds this morning on my run. I've never had such a good experience with my mp3 player before while running (especially a long run) ... they made the run so much easier not having to worry about them falling out of my ears, but more tomorrow on them...

I generally do a pretty good job when i'm traveling to ensure I have all my running gear with me. I thought I did a good job yesterday when I packed things up and left for Virginia. Its strange but I can actually admit that I generally put more of a priority on packing my running stuff than on packing anything else, but I guess thats part of the running psychosis I live with.. Anyway, I found out this morning at 5:30am when I was getting ready to head out for my run that somehow I managed to pack two left shoes (one from my new pair and one from my old pair).. you couldn't imagine the surprise on my face when the shoe didn't fit. It was actually funny at the time although I found myself feeling really stupid. Thankfully I have an OLD OLD pair of shoes in the trunk of my car, which I always keep around in case I'm somewhere and can get a chance to get a run in with a group of people or something... i've never actually used them until now and I found out that they're pretty beat, but its better than running with two left shoes or running barefoot (yes, I thought about doing that) ... it was not a good way to start my day.

Running in a new place when traveling is pretty cool, its an opportunity to see new places and run different courses. There is one thing I don't like about traveling though and that is that its so difficult to keep eating clean .. temptation is all over the place (especially in the area i'm in)! I can say that i've done fairly well so far for being two days in, my only big splurge was to go to the Ben and Jerry's ice cream shop across the street, i'm just a sucker for ice cream. The weather is a little warmer here in northern Virginia than it is back home but not totally unbearable. I actually didn't feel like I was going to pass out this morning from the humidity trying to get in my speed workout.

Its time to get some much needed rest though, as I said, I finished a speed workout today, so its into a recovery run tomorrow, then off on Friday and then a short race on Saturday before kicking it back up again. I'm in the race prep stage of training right now, so I get hard weeks and then easy weeks and believe it or not i'm just over 4 weeks until the Rochester marathon, its going to be crazy!

I was fortunate enough to talk to a woman today who will be running her first marathon in the fall, she feared the infamous "First 20 miler" this weekend. We've all been there, it seems like such a long distance when you've never done it before, but now it just comes naturally .. I reassured her that she just needs to trust her training, keep her pace and stay fueled and hydrated and you'll be fine. I feel like such an old-timer with running marathons ... i'll be doing my 16th marathon in September, thats crazy!

I guess its time to get back to the reason i'm traveling ... maybe another update tomorrow ...

I just completed my second hardest week so far in my training, here are my numbers:

Miles: 70.25
Hours/Minutes Running:10 hours 16 minutes
Total Calories burned: 11544

That doesn't include my bike ride this morning, I got 14.5 miles in. I cut the bike ride a little short since my legs are burning right now and I have another speed workout scheduled for tomorrow. Thankfully in looking ahead to the week, I have some recovery time on Thursday and Friday, of course I that is after completing my 15 miler Tuesday morning ..

I gave up searching for a race for when i'm in Connecticut and will settle for another local 5K the last weekend of the month at the Lehigh County Zoo .. At least its a race, right? These tune-up races are supposed to be 8-15K, and i'm missing the mark, but figure that by racing 5K and then doing a 3-4 mile recovery, i'm about as close as I can be (but only because its a lack of options for other races).

I'm excited about my new site layout, I found a great template to use and felt it was time for a change, its been almost a year and half since the last real layout update. I expect to slowly tweak it as the days and weeks go on, there are lots of cool features on it.

I really have to hand it to the training program i'm on because I completed yet another 20+ miler today and feel great afterwards. I managed to get 15 miles of the 21 at marathon pace like I had planned. This week seems to be the week when things are starting to come together with my training .. earlier this week I ran a 14 mile mid-long run and it was easy. I did my double session on Thursday, and it was easy.

There certainly is no time to celebrate yet, i've got 5 more weeks until the Rochester marathon, so there is still lots of time to screw it up. I have a 5K scheduled for next weekend and am unable to find a longer-than-5k distance for the following weekend when i'm in Connecticut. Its probably not appropriate if I leave my in-laws for 2-3 hours to drive to a far away race, but I still may try to pull it off. This is the time when I jumble up the training because i'll be out of town all this week, and then with the race on Saturday, i'll actually take Friday off from running, so the race Saturday, then a long run on Sunday. We'll see how that goes.

This mornings run actually started out kind of cool, I was concerned that it wasn't going to warm up enough, but eventually it did. I had my fuel belt, a few GU's and some change to stop at the local supermarket to fill up my water bottles. Its amazing how fast the long run goes by when you're at marathon pace compared to doing the normal 10-20% slower than your pace. The only bad part of the run today were due to a car show going on just down the road from me..

ok, time to vent:

To the moron with the so-called 'muscle car' who felt the need to make a lot of noise and speed about 50 MPH down a 25MPH road through the center of town and almost HIT me, I hope you get a flat tire. You should realize that pedestrians and RUNNERS don't appreciate almost getting hit by your natural immaturity and need to show off something that is so material.. i'm really not impressed by your car, my beemer can beat your hunk of junk old car anytime on the long course.

Ok, venting is over, back to my post.

I guess they're holding this Das Awkscht Fescht down the road, which meant the roads around it were just crowded with car people, which made it difficult to run. Once I got past it, the rest of the run was fairly easy. I didn't even see the sun until around mile 14 due to clouds, which kept the run kind of cool.

After pulling my splits off my Garmin, I actually ran faster in the last 4 miles than anywhere else in the run. It felt good on the home stretch, it seems like I could've kept going for several more miles (which of course is a good thing since i'm marathon training).

Enough about the long run, I have a challenging week of being in Virginia for work and not eating as good as I should. The problem with being on the road is that I just can't get those real good-for-you foods like I can at home, so it'll be a challenge. This week I head into Mesocycle 3 on Pfitzs training plan, which is called "race prep", I guess it kind of brings all the components together now and the good part is that I feel i'm ready for it.

Tomorrow I have a bike ride scheduled with a friend .. its my first time riding with someone else since I got my bike, so i'm not sure how i'll do. We expect to get 15-20 miles .. it'll be a nice change from running, so i'm looking forward to it..