Ooh-rah

Survived the MCM.  3:45:25 finish time.  Didn't hit my goal time, but not for lack of trying.  9 minute PR, so no complaints here.  Recap coming soon.  Stomach then quad decided to make it interesting for the last 8 miles.  Stomach was so screwy I couldn't even enjoy my post-race celebration beverage on race day.  However, in the spirit of finishing what I started, I'm 'refueling' properly tonight:

Congrats to all that ran the MCM, and a huge thanks to all the volunteers and spectators on a very chilly Sunday in DC.

Big thank-you to all the support I got and continue to get via twitter, Facebook, etc.  The running community it truly a remarkable support group.  You've all made a great experience even better.

Happy Halloween .... and Cheers!

Clear Eyes. Full Heart. Can't Lose.

The time has come.  Three short days until my only race of the year – the Marine Corps Marathon.  I’ve been officially training for this one for 36 weeks now.  I managed to stay healthy through the bulk of those weeks, yet I find myself dealing with a calf/shin issue in my left leg that is forcing me to skip my final training run today.  Lots of ice massage and ibuprofen these last few days hoping for the pain to let up a bit.  I don’t think it’s anything serious, but it’s seriously annoying and will be seriously trying my nerves on Sunday morning.  Not going to let it rain on my parade, however.  Come Sunday AM I will be drinking in the energy and setting out to try and lay down another marathon PR.  If you’re going to do it, you may as well try and do it a little better every time.

As soon as I finished my first marathon last year I knew I’d be doing more than one, and I knew that sometime along the way I’d be running the MCM.  I spent the bulk of my youth in Northern Virginia just a short drive from the start of this race.  My father was in the Navy, so the military draw is strong.  Something about this race just speaks to me.  I don’t like crowds, yet I can’t wait to get swallowed up by the thousands of runners moving from the same point A to the same point B.  Bring it on.

Lots has transpired in those 36 weeks, some good, some bad … such is life.  The constant has been running, and it never fails to focus my mind and improve my mood.  No matter how warm that bed may have been, or how ugly the weather may be, I always feel better after a run.  Better about life, and better about myself.

I know there are an abundance of fellow bloggers who will be in DC running this race as well, and I’m hoping to stumble upon and meet some of them on Saturday at the Expo, or Sunday before/during/after the race.  Even if I don’t, I’ll draw energy from just knowing they’re out there gutting it out with me.  We’ve all put in the time, and we all understand the lure of the marathon.  I hope I have my wits about me enough around mile 22 to spot the recently-engaged Morgan cheering us on.  The story of her proposal is guaranteed to brighten your day.  After all her struggles with running injuries she still goes and cheers for others to chase their running dreams.  Her spirit is inspiring.  She is a better runner, and a better person, than I.

For those keeping score at home, I’ll be wearing bib# 11782.  I’ll also be wearing a frighteningly bright green tech shirt during the race.  I brought my daughter along with me to buy my latest pair of running shoes, and asked her to pick out a shirt for me for the race.  Probably should have narrowed down the color choices before I set her loose.  The truth is, it could be pink mesh with sequins and I’d still wear it if my daughter picked it out for me.  Fully wrapped around her finger … guilty as charged.

Good luck to everyone racing this weekend in any race, at any distance.  I'll be cheering for you with every shared step.

Fortnight to Semper Fi

Two short weeks until the Marine Corps Marathon.  14 days left for fine-tuning and incessantly checking weather.com.  14 days to figure out where I’m supposed to go and when I’m supposed to be there.  2 weeks to prepare myself for more than 15 times as many runners as I’ve ever run a marathon with.

This morning was 14 miles of hilly trails, and it wasn’t pretty.  Not especially bad, but my legs were very heavy and dull.  Had this been race day, it wouldn’t have been very enjoyable.  I’ve had a mild calf strain for a couple months now, and for some reason it really flared up this week.  I was concerned about this morning’s run, but the one upside to the run was my calf felt much better than expected.  Not great – but better than I thought it would.

I think this morning’s run proved that although my mind isn’t crazy about it, my body may just need a nice taper to be ready to go on 10/30.  It was a beautiful morning, perfect temps, beautiful sunrise … but my body was having none of it.  Sometimes you’re the windshield …..

On the professional front, after completing my sixth interview (my company is nothing if not thorough) I was offered a new position in my company on Tuesday.  Haven’t let anyone other than my current boss know at this point, but I’m very excited to head in a new direction in my career.  Major departure from what I’ve done for the last 20 years.  A chance to switch back into learning mode rather than continuing to apply the same knowledge over and over again.  Old dog …. meet new tricks.

Checked on the MCM website to try and start working out race day logistics, and discovered in the FAQ, contrary to what I had been told, that iPods are in fact allowed during the race, but not encouraged.  Now I have a decision to make – go with the tunes or soak in the crowds sans music.  I think I may bring it along with me in case I need a little jolt later in the race, but try to go without for the bulk of the race.  Depends on the weather as well – don’t want to fry another one during a downpour.  That was an expensive lesson to learn.

I think the most important thing for me to do in the next two weeks may be getting some sleep.  Still not getting enough for my mind and body to recover every day.  I don’t seem to be applying this lesson-learned very well.

The End is Near

2011 has been a roller coaster year for me and my family.  Turmoil in areas we least expected, and calm seas where trouble has historically emerged.  Health issues, job issues, etc., we’ve been burning stress for fuel far more that ever wanted or expected.  In the last couple months we’ve taken some steps to try and get back in control, and we may be at the tipping point for the better.  Professionally my wife and I are both proactively working to change our situations.  Health-wise, a string of bad news has been followed by relative quiet, and no health news is good health news right now.  As for running, after running my first 2 marathons in 2010, the only race on my schedule for 2011 is the Marine Corps Marathon, which I’ll be running 23 short days from now.  2011 has been a long road figuratively and literally, but hopefully by the time I cross the finish line in DC at the end of the month we will have crossed the finish line in other areas of our lives as well.

After starting off the year bonding with my orthopedist and therapist again, and spending most of January and February on the sidelines trying to get healthy enough for training, I got started on 36 week plan to build a solid base back up, and then train hard to try and cut another 20 minutes off my marathon time.  I’m in the 33^rd week of that journey, and although you never know what race day is going to have in store for you, I’ve done everything I intended to do in that plan to get me ready to race.  There have been pains and setbacks along the way, but I’ve managed them with as much common sense as I can muster, and kept them all from forcing me to shut things down.  Unfortunately I lost my training partner along the way – he’s still alive, and I didn’t actually lose him … I know where he is – but he developed a calf issue and had to defer his entry.  After adding tempo/speed work to my training for marathon 2, I’ve embraced hills and trails for this one, and actually enjoy the hilly long runs now more than the flat ones.  Go figure.

July, August, and September were strong training months.  Hot …. but strong.  21 runs in July for 143.38 miles, 19 runs in August for 146.11 miles, and 19 runs in September for 131.79 miles.  Not as much speed work as I would have liked, but more hill work than I had planned.  I’m hoping the hills are building more quad strength for me, which in turn will stabilize my knees more so I’m not running this race with any braces.  So far so good.

I’m starting to get excited for the MCM.  I’m not a huge fan of crowds, so this should be a pretty wild experience, as I’ll be surrounded by a crowd for hours and hours, all heading for the same place.  This is one of a very short list of marathons that have specific meaning for me and are ones I want to do before I find another pursuit to rob me of sleep and beat my body into submission.  Just need to stay healthy for 3 more weeks.  The end is near …

Still Plugging Away

How has it been so long since I’ve posted to the blog?  Perhaps my ‘surfacing’ claims were a bit premature.  Despite continuing to try and fit 10 pounds of life into a 5-pound capacity calendar, I’ve stuck like glue to my training plan.  Midway through week 11 of the plan, with 6 weeks to go until the Marine Corps Marathon.  Crossed over 750 miles running for the year this week, and I’m mostly still holding together.  My right knee is giving me some attitude, which wouldn’t be overly alarming except that’s the knee that unraveled 2 weeks out from my last marathon, so I’m paying very close attention to what it’s trying to tell me.

Knocked out a great 21-mile training run this past Sunday.  Decided to really test my fitness, and ran it on the path used for the Umstead Ultra, which is a 12.5-mile loop that the runners do either 4 times for the 50-miler, or 8 times for the 100.  This is a path known for hills, both the long gradual rolling kind, and the steep, abrupt, bikers-stop-to-walk kind.  My long-run training partner is on IR with a calf injury, so I was going this one alone.  I ended up falling in step with a guy for about 7 of the middle miles, who I learned was training for his 5^th 100-miler.  Very interesting talking to him about his path from non-runner to ultra-runner.  Have to admit I’m intrigued by the notion of an Ultra, but I’m staying 100% focused on MCM and trying everything I can think of to stay healthy – or at least my version of healthy.

Another cool development that came out of the drunken fiasco that was our Fantasy Football draft is that one of my best friends growing up, and the best man from my wedding, is going to meet me at mile 20 of the marathon and run with me to the finish.  He ran his one and only marathon at the MCM about 8 years ago, and still does some running and shorter racing.  Should be a good time, and we may have to sample an adult beverage or two for proper recovery.

Hoping to get back into more frequent blog updates as we move into the Fall.  I’m way out of the loop as far as blog reading goes, but eagerly looking forward to catching up.

Surfacing

Ascending slowly from the depths of this Summer’s ocean of stress.  This past week was the notification week for the layoffs at my job.  Fortunately my job was not impacted.  Doesn’t lessen my workload, and actually increases it based on the reduced headcount, but considering the alternative I have no complaints.  One less thing to worry about in the short term.

Running has been going well for the most part, but my lack of sleep and pace of work has caught up with me, and I’m seeing it in my training.  I’m getting the miles done, but seeing little to no improvement in pacing, etc.  I know I’m shortchanging my body in terms of recovery, and I’m trying to make rest a priority moving forward.  I like sleep … sleep is my friend … and I miss my friend.

After a disappointing 16-mile run last Sunday, I decided to challenge my legs with an 18-miler on a hilly local trail.  It was hot, it was challenging, and it was just what I needed.  Didn’t worry about pacing, just focused on attacking the hills.  Mission accomplished.  The best part of the run was around the 10 mile mark, when my legs were getting angry and my brain was trying to convince me the humidity wasn’t the equivalent of running underwater.  A bike passes me on the left, followed by another right behind it.  Nothing unusual with all the bikes on this course, but right behind the bikes, moving just as fast, comes a woman who may be the picture accompanying the definition of runner in the dictionary.  She moved past me like I was running backwards, a blur of compression socks, ponytails, and effortless speed.  I’ve made a (brief) career of getting chicked on a regular and prolific basis, but this took things to a whole new level.  It was an amazing thing to behold.  Sadly the inspiration didn’t make the next 8 miles any less hilly, but it was inspiring nonetheless.

I’m weeks behind on blog reading, and pretty out of the loop with running in general, but hoping to catch up soon.  I can only assume we’ve progressed beyond barefoot running, but I’m a little scared to find out what body part we’re now supposed to use for running.

And Still I Run

This has not been a ‘Summer to remember’ in the Evolving family world.  Abundant stress and pressure in our professional lives has spilled over into our personal lives, and it’s just not much fun.  Just do a Google search on ‘Biggest layoffs IT’, and you’ll see the main source of stress.  I’m averaging about 4 hours of sleep a night, and my family is going on our beach vacation next week without me.  And still … I run.

Training is going very well ... a nice oasis of something I can control in a boiling sea of things which largely force me to react.  My usual repertoire of injuries is mostly contained, and I’m in a nice groove where I’m disappointed and antsy when the plan tells me not to run.  Currently in the middle of week 3, and week 4 kicks off with a 14-mile long run that I’ll be tackling at my new hilly running destination that I’ve come to love/hate.  Looking forward to sweating out some worry.

I’ve been horribly out of the loop with blogging, both in terms of reading and posting, so I hope all is going well with all my virtual friends.  Hopefully some sanity will creep back into my world soon.  Until then, I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep, and miles to go before I sleep.