Bonking on a 10-mile run

In the two and half years I've been a father, I think I've done a pretty good job of not letting life interfere with my running. Outside of Noah's first week on this planet, I've not missed a run for any reason that had to do with me being a dad.

But I do find myself missing many meals when its my turn to keep Noah - its hard to cook for yourself and entertain a two-year-old at the same time. Often, I find myself eating before or after I have Noah. That kind of eating habit caught up to me on my Sunday run.

I had Noah from 10 am to 2. Before I picked him up, I had a cup of coffee from Starbucks and a cranberry scone. When I dropped him off, I bought groceries and had a Cliff Bar. At 4:30, having had less than 500 calories the entire day, I went out for a 10-mile run.

Two blocks into the run, I was like, "What am I doing?" I rallied somewhat as my body used up the final sources of carbs I had in me, but by Mile 5, I was pre-bonking, and by Mile 6, I was officially bonking. Maintaining an 8:30 min/mile was all the sudden very hard to do, and I was flirting with 9:00 min/mile pace for much of the last three miles.

I think two things were at play here. 1) I was in a calorie deficit before the run began. 2) The night before I had a cheesy lasagna from Macaroni Grill. (I think my sluggishness had more to do with the dairy than the lack of calories - but in combination, my legs never had a chance.)

I know from past runs that me and dairy do not get along. So, before my 4:30 run Sunday, I hadnt eaten anything tangible in 18 hours and what I had eaten was dairy. During the run, I never felt stressed cardio-vascularwise (is that a word?), but I felt very sluggish, especially mentally. It's like my mind would not recruit enough muscle fibers to run like I'm used to running. I wasn't breathing hard, I just didn't feel like running. At. All.

Today's splits:

1 -9:34
2 - 8:17
3 - 8:08
4 - 7:54
5 - 8:43
6 - 8:16
7 - 8:36
8 - 8:54
9 - 8:35
10 - 8:57
10.3 - 3:04

Easy running until Valentine's Day

I've run twice since the 3M half marathon last Sunday: 7 miles Wednesday and 8 miles Thursday. Both times around Austin's Town Lake, and both times I stayed right around 8:00 min/mile pace. No need in getting crazy because I've got another half marathon coming up on February 14, the Austin Half Marathon, which will be on a much more challenging course.

 

Tomorrow (Saturday morning) a group of us are running the Austin Half marathon course. I like having an idea of all the ins and outs of a course before I run it, so I am definitely looking forward to that run.

 

Health-wise, I'd say I'm about 90 percent. I twisted my knee a week before 3M and it is still a little crazy, especially when I run downhill. Yet it held up at 3M, which was mostly a downhill course.

 

I don't really have a goal for this next half marathon. I need 1:30 to qualify for the New York Marathon, though I don't think I will try for a 1:30 just yet, unless, of course, I'm at Mile 10 and things are going beyond my wildest dreams, then I'd go for it.

 

Instead, I think I'll try to run somewhere around 1:33 or better, then maybe run a half marathon in the late spring and try to nail New York then.

3M Half Marathon Splits

Official time: 1:31:39

Mile Splits

1- 7:13
2- 7:13
3- 7:24 (shin cramp. Stopped to rub it out)
4- 7:13 (shin still hurting)
5- 6:34 (felt better and tried to makeup time.)
6- 7:02
7- 7:02
8- 7:06
9- 6:49
10- 6:50
11- 6:52
12- 6:50
13- 6:31
.18 - 1:04

Austin 3M Half Marathon race report

Time: 1:31:39
Pace: 6:59.9

This is a PR by 4:22. I started out slow to make sure I would not blow
up at the end. I think I averaged 7:10 or so the first half. I was
also slow in the beginning because my shin started cramping up at Mile
2. There were a few miles in the 7:20s because my leg hurt so bad. At
one point I stopped to retie my shoe and try to rub the cramp out.

(by the way, I've had this shin cramp thing early in races before,
but not since last April. Also, I think my legs just weren't ready in
the first mile because we had to stand huddled up at the start line
for an hour while Austin PD tried to secure the course. Seems the wind
was blowing over barricades and cars were driving through the course.)

Anyway, my legs finally warmed up around Mile 5 and I just made it my
goal to average a sub 7:00 pace after the halfway point. According to
the race website, I averaged 6:50 over the last 6.9 miles.

Even though it was a PR, I feel like I left some time on the course,
especially early in the race as I battled shun problems. Nevertheless,
I'm proud of today's time and I am happy about how the day turned out.

I have no doubt that I will run that sub 1:30 in a half marathon this year.

So, you say you wanna buy a house....

This is one of the files on my desk:

*A guy who speaks little English and already owned one house qualified
for another mortgage loan over $250,000 despite his monthly income
being only about $2,500.

Finding the fraud in this mortgage transaction will be easy. The trick
is determining whether it's first party fraud (fraud committed by the
loan originator, the appraiser, or the broker) or third party fraud
(where the borrower is the only person being deceitful.)

Too bad I was not wearing a race bib

Went out Saturday for a 14-mile run with Team Rogue. Hadn't run since Tuesday and so I was feeling very very fresh. Goal was to stay between 7:30 and 8:00 min/mile pace the first half and then let my legs do what they want to do the second half.

Most of the first half of the run was uphill. And since it was an out and back, the second half was mostly flat or slightly downhill.

First half pace: 7:37
Second half pace: 6:59

That is 14 miles in1:42:21, a pace of 7:19 min/mile. If it were a half marathon race, I would have had a PR, which is 1:36, set Jan. 31, 2009 at the Benbrook (Fort Worth) Lake half marathon.

This, of course, bodes well for me next weekend, as I am signed up to run the Austin 3M Half Marathon, which is mostly flat or downhill.

Back to Saturday's training run... I felt very very very fine cardiovascular-wise. Never pushed past my comfort level until the last 2 or 3 miles, and that's because my right knee was beginning to stiffen up because the last few miles take you through downtown Austin and there is a lot of stopping and starting as you wait for the lights.

And something else. When I took water (twice during the run, at Miles 5 and 8.5) I felt worse for a half mile afterwards. Of course, by now, from my training that lead up to White Rock and the marathon itself, water is not really my friend. Over the last seven miles Saturday, six were 7:00 min/mile or faster. The "slow" mile? From 8 to 9, when I stopped for water. (I turned hit the "stop" button on my Garmin, so the slower mile split was not because I stopped).

I don't know -- I just get sluggish when I have water, though I know it is probably good for me and keeps dehydration at bay.

Hello, again...

I promised that I would take a month off after running a 3:36 marathon on December 13, and it also meant a month off from blogging.

And so, the month is up.

First, a review of 2009.  I ran 2,160 miles, which amounts to about 41.5 miles per week. Both are personal bests. I posted at least 240 miles in June, July, and August, and though it didn't equate to a great marathon time in October, I feel like I was so fit that I was able to run my personal best marathon in December, despite cramping from Mile 14 on.

Speaking of marathons, I ran 3 in the 2009 calendar year, but technically, I ran 4 marathons in 365 days if you count the 2008 White Rock Marathon I ran on December 14, 2008, the Cowtown Marathon on February 28, 2009, the Portland Marathon on October 4, 2009, and the White Rock Marathon on December 13, 2009.

Needless to say, I was pretty tired of running come December.

I think I feel much better now and am just now beginning to plan some races/goals for this year.

I've already signed up for two races this year: The 3M Half Marathon in Austin on January 27, and the Texas Independence Relay with a bunch of my Fort Worth friends the first weekend in March.

I also plan on signing up for the Austin Half Marathon on Valentine's Day.

My goals this year:

1) Run two marathons, one in the Spring and the Fall and hope to finally, finally, finally run that 3:20 to qualify for Boston.

2) Run a sub 19-minute 5K. I ran 19:08 on Thanksgiving Day in Fort Worth on a moderately hilly course. My last mile (5:55) was my fastest mile.

3) Run a sub 1:30 half marathon. My PR is 1:36 in January 2009, before I'd ever run more than 200 miles in one month. To run a 1:30, I'd have to average 6:50 min/mile. Cardiovascular-wise, 6:50 is doable. I just don't know if my legs can handle it.