Week 14

Well here we are, starting the second half of the marathon training program. I initially weighed in at 191 lbs, which hasn’t changed. A lot of my warmup routine and cross training workouts are for the purpose of injury prevention. So I’m grateful to see that there haven’t been any injuries. I also haven’t lost any toenails like last summer. So physically, things are going well.

It seems like a lot of the first half was spent trying to figure things out. Mainly, trying to determine the best way to gauge workout intensity (heart rate, effort, pace, etc.). But I think I’ve finally found something that’s both enjoyable and effective. There’s a lot of work still left to be done. Let’s get going!

Day 1

My legs are still feeling sore and heavy this morning. So I’m not shooting for any particular pace. Instead, I’ll go at an easy pace, however slow that may be. 55 minutes at the track, like usual.

All done. It started slow and progressively sped up, but never got anywhere close to fast. Average pace was 11:21/mile. It was easy, which was the goal.

Today is a very significant day. 19 years ago, Jennifer and were married. Where did the time go? I’ll never forget when we met. I had just come through a very difficult and dark period of my life. Meeting her was like a breath of fresh air. Once I realized I was crazy about her, I was as nervous and awkward as a young teenage boy. It took a lot of time and prayer before I could get up the courage to ask her out. But thankfully she said yes. And when I asked her to marry me several months later, she also said yes!

We celebrated by going to the Rodeo Goat for dinner. It was a little noisy. So afterward, we went to a local coffee shop called Roots. It was really nice to just sit and talk for a while. It was a great time to sit a reflect on how truly blessed I am. If I had it to do over, I would marry her again in a heartbeat.

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Day 2

Man, is it already time to wake up? I was sleeping so well! Alright, let’s not waste any time. Today’s workout is warmup plus 50 minutes. I’m making this a fast finish run. Easy for the first 38 minutes and closer to marathon pace for the last 12.

All done! That was great. Very controlled this time. It never felt like I was pushing too hard.

I managed to fit in a 20 minute heat acclimation run before going to the gym. That’s about it for Tuesday.

Day 3

I slept a little later than planned and am short on time. I’m cutting the recovery run to 20 minutes this morning so that I’m not late to work.

Day 4

Here we go again! Warmup plus 65 minutes. I’ll be running 35 minutes easy with three separate 10 minute segments closer to marathon pace.

All done! Turned out great, just like Tuesday. Effort level was just right and never felt like I was pushing too hard.

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Day 5

What would I do without rest days? I know there are reputable training plans with 7 days of running per week. But I really appreciate this one day off. It makes such a difference.

Day 6

20 miles. To keep this one easy, I’m thinking it will take around 4 hours. Maybe a little longer. So I’m starting nice and early. Also, I’m parking at a local park just off the Cotton Belt Trail. That way, I can run a respectable distance in either direction and not lose my mind running the same neighborhood loop over and over again! Plus, there are a couple of easily accessible bathrooms as well as water fountains. Here we go…

By the way, I’m carrying mace this time. Jennifer wasn’t thrilled about me starting my run so early, so I’m doing this more for her peace of mind. But this also means I don’t have any pockets up front to carry my phone. So no sunrise picture today. 😦

Before mile 1, I almost stepped on a frog. They love to hang out on the trail when it’s still dark. Finished with mile 1. That was easy. I just need to do this 19 more times.

Coming to the end of mile 2 and I still think I’m the only person out here. People should start showing up soon. It’s around 5AM and I’m starting to see a few people. Fast forward a while and there are lot of cyclist, runners, and walkers out today. I just saw one of the tallest cyclists I’ve ever seen. He looked like he was about 7′ 6″, or 2.286 meters for any metric folks reading this. I’ve never seen a bicycle seat that was so high. It was seriously extended up to my shoulder level. Then, he was sitting completely upright while riding. So he was towering far above the rest of us mortals at ground level.

Judging by the number of times I’m having to pull over and use the bathroom, I may have gone a bit overboard with my hydration. This is something I’ll need to work on. When I’m alone on the trail with nobody in sight, I can just pull over and get away with it. But I’m thinking this wouldn’t go over so well at the actual race.

Halfway there and still feeling great. Legs still feel fresh.

I always find it fascinating to see the varying degrees of friendliness among people you pass on the trail. I try to acknowledge everyone and say “good morning”. Some people will make eye contact and respond. Others keep staring straight ahead with no acknowledgment whatsoever. Nothing personal, just an observation.

It’s mile 18 and my legs are starting to feel heavy. I’m surprised it took this long to get to this point physically. Mentally, it’s starting to seem like I’ll never finish. But it’s just 2 more miles.

Mile 19. OK, that’s more like it. Just one mile to go. How bad can that be?

Mile 20. All done! 4 hours and 10 seconds, which is really close to my prediction. I was also able to run the second half a little faster than the first half. Let’s not forget to keep walking for another half mile or so and stretch out a bit. I’m really hungry now and ready to eat a big breakfast.

After lying down for about 45 minutes and making a drive across town, I could barely walk. I don’t think my legs have ever been so sore. Once I realized this, I did everything I could to keep moving. I would walk several steps, jog several steps, and keep repeating. It just took a few minutes before everything was feeling much better. For the rest of the day, other than a short afternoon nap, I kept my legs moving as much as possible.

Day 7

A little sore this morning, but not as bad as expected. Easy 30 minute recovery run. Feeling great now!

Final Thoughts

This was a great week. I seriously don’t think there’s anything I would change. Even the 20 mile run was enjoyable. So I guess that’s it for this week. 14 weeks down and only 12 to go!