Sotally Tober is Runnin' to the Finish Line

Where in the world have I been?

noreply@blogger.com (Sotally Tober) — Sun, 24 Oct 2010 22:48:00 +0000

So much updating to do. Since mid-August, my running life has been painful and a source of a lot of aggravation. But the Chicago Marathon is over (I dragged myself in, in 4:00:08). I was happy and disappointed. Injury, illness and a lack of sufficient training over the final 7 weeks made it tough. And there, in a nutshell, is the source of the aggravation.

But the nice thing now is I get to wipe the slate clean, and start fresh. And that is what I'll do.

When I get a chance, and am in a mood to rehash August - October, I will. And once I purge all of that onto here, that'll be it. Officially.

Not a great past 4 weeks

noreply@blogger.com (Sotally Tober) — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 02:19:00 +0000

Training is going so-so. The heat we've had over the past few weeks has really been killing me. It saps not just my energy, but any desire to go run at all. And when I don't run, I eat. And the more I eat, and the less I run, the more I like it.

But I'm still plugging away as best I can until this God-awful heat breaks. Come Sunday, I'm 9 weeks out.

The other issue I'm dealing with for the first time since I started running, I'm getting really bored with my running routes. It doesn't help that I never stray too far from home, running 2, 3, and 4 mile loops over & over again, so I can double back to the house and refill my water bottle. Out where I live, there are no parks with fountains, no stores really close by where I can buy water and just keep running away from home. So I'm stuck with short loops. I'm going to start driving to nearby neighborhoods for some of my longer runs, where I can stop in a store and buy what I need, when I need it.

I've also been "investigating" vegetarianism, sorta. I'm looking through cookbooks, reading, etc. But my family (i.e. wife) isn't interested in being vegetarian. I'm not sure I am, for that matter. At least, not entirely. I'm considering being "vegetarian" until 6PM, since breakfast & lunch is usually me fending for myself. Then for dinner, since I'm the cook in the house, make whatever I want. Sometimes, preparing a vegetarian meal. My wife wouldn't mind the occassional veggie meal, just not everyday.

As for upcoming races, there's a trail run at the end of the month, and then in mid-September, I'll be running USAF half, and night trail race. Then...Chicago.

But right now, I'm trying to shake some boredom and lack of motivation/mental toughness.

Training update

noreply@blogger.com (Sotally Tober) — Tue, 06 Jul 2010 03:13:00 +0000

With the exception of Sunday, very happy with this past week. 63.07 miles. Had to get the majority of my miles done M-Th so I could mini-taper on Friday & Saturday, so I could run my Sunday 5K hard. Probably cost me a bit on race day.

So, my 4th week in summary was:

Su - 0, unexpected/unplanned off day. Just simply got lazy, and couldn't motivate myself to go run.
M - 8.01
Tu - 16.02
W - 10.01
Th - 7.02 (morning), 7.0 (afternoon)
F - 9.01
Sa - 6.0

Week 5 is another 63-mile week, that started with a 5K race on Sunday, July 4th (held off my speedwork session from the previous week to this race day). The biggest issue is the weather forecast for the week. HOT, HOT, HOT!

My quality workouts for this week:
Q1 = 2 miles EASY + 2 x 10-12 min TEMPO (6:51/m) w/ 2 min rests + 1 hour EASY
Q2 = 2 miles EASY + Sets of 5 min HARD (6:14/m) with 3-5 min recovery jogs, total 5 miles

So like I said, yesterday I took my first crack at running a sub-19 5K. Here's my report:

Warmup - Way too short. My own fault for forgetting my shoes. Who in the hell forgets their running shoes before a race?!? Me, I guess. LOL. So had to race home and get them. I wish I'd had 20-25 minutes to warmup properly, instead of the 5 minutes I ended up having. I was not happy about this. But like I said, my fault.

Race - A good race, but not great. Finished 4th overall, 1st in my age group, with a time of 19:19. I should say it was not a big race. Only about 120 men, maybe 80 or so women. Warm & muggy 8:30 start (80*, 83% humidity). First mile, I was OK with a split of 5:44. I'd actually hoped to be closer to 5:30, so that was my first indication that I might have a tough time hitting my goal. At just after the halfway point of the race, I really started to feel it in my legs. From there on out, I knew I was going to be fighting the rest of the way. At that point, the runner who finished second had caught me, and I just focused on running with him as long as possible. I hit the 2-mile mark at 12:02. Again, not where I was looking to be at, at that point. With about 1/3-mile left, the 3rd place finisher caught me, and I knew there was retaking that spot either. But I knew no one else was close enough to me to push me to 5th. I don't remember what my split was at 3-miles, or I simply wasn't listening. I just tried to get to the finish. We were on the high school track, and as I rounded the turn into the straightaway, I saw the clock and knew 19:00 was not happening.

19:19 is a PR (by 1m 8s), but I am slightly disappointed that I didn't manage to get under 19 minutes. Still, after 63 miles of training, over the prior 6 days, I really can't complain. I'm absolutely certain I can go sub-19, I just need to put it all together (diet, rest, race conditions). The big thing will be doing a better job of resting a little more beforehand. But my marathon training is always the priority for me, so that will always make running a true, personal "best" difficult. But I'll take a few more cracks at it, maybe find a race on a "down week" in the plan when I can get that much needed, extra rest.

A takeaway from this race is that a 19:19 result puts me at a VDOT value of 52, under Daniels' running formula. This sounds about right as of right now. I was in better shape in March, and my eating habits were better, when I was on pace to run just under 19:00, which would have been the VDOT of 53 that I'd mentioned earlier, and was so concerned about. So I am going to move up to at least 51, maybe 52, starting this week, and see how I feel. In fact, when I look at my training thus far, I've been around 52 already.

Still a long, hot summer ahead, but I'm without a doubt having a better time training this summer than I did last summer.

End of June update

noreply@blogger.com (Sotally Tober) — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 12:58:00 +0000

I continue to train for the Chicago Marathon. Training has gone fairly well, with the possible exception of last week. It was a low-mileage week (49). I made it an even lower mileage week (39.5), plus I ate like shit. So any hope of being at race weight by the end of this month...won't happen. Fine. Not gonna get bent out of shape over that, no pun intended. As for the running itself, I often find I have this issue when I get an easy week. Extra time on my hands = getting comfortable = getting lazy. So I'm happy that the week is over and I can get back to running some more significant miles.

On June 6th, I ran a local 5K. It was going to be my first attempt to break 19:00 at the 5K distance. But a late night out with friends the night before, alcohol included, prevented me from really going all out. I felt OK, just not like I was peaked for cranking out 100%. So I turned it into my speed workout for the week, and ran it as a 5K tempo run. Finished comfortably in 21:27 (6:45/m). No idea what place I finished in.

On June 13th, I ran my first trail race. It was a 3.4 mile run at French Park, here in Cincinnati. It was not an easy run. It's remarkable how much harder these races are, but I had a lot of fun. Course consisted of two, alternating downhill/uphill sections, and 5 creek crossings. Ridiculously humid that morning. Only disturbing thing was during my warmup, I had a sudden pain in my left knee that wouldn't seem to go away as I continued preparing for the race. So I dialed it down a notch during the race, but not much. Finished in 28:08, good enough for 30/134 overall, 27/87 among the men. No complaints for my first time running one of these. Not a fast average pace, but there was no doubt that I was working hard. I was huffing & puffing pretty good at the end, which ended with a big uphill as we came out of the forest and hit the 200 yard straightaway to the finish.

One of the things that has hurt my training is the World Cup. I'm a soccer fanatic, and so getting up early to run hasn't been happening because I've been waking up early to watch soccer. And with group play going from 7:30AM to 4:30 PM, I've been squeezing in my running either from noon-2:30 b/w games 2 and 3, or at night. And all that time on the couch watching TV leads to eating. And that's why I won't be at race weight by June. Well, that and my wife's and my recent quest to find the best burger in Cincinnati. =)

The actual plan I'm following, I really like. The flexibility has been great, and that's exactly what I was hoping for. First few weeks, there haven't been any real "long runs", just a lot of 7-15 milers, with some tempo and interval runs thrown into the mix. The longer runs will be coming up soon though. I'm actually looking forward to them.

What's next? July heat, about 271 miles of running, a week's vacation in N. Myrtle Beach the last week of July, at least one 5K (7/4) and another trail race (7/18). Sounds like fun to me.

My training plan for Chicago (Dr. Jack Daniels - Plan A)

noreply@blogger.com (Sotally Tober) — Wed, 09 Jun 2010 02:00:00 +0000

Ok, let's get my fears out of the way first. The bulk of the training will be in the heat of summer. So one of two things will happen. I'll either become much more mentally tough, have a great training season, and have a great race, or I'll slack b/c I can't stand the heat and have a mediocre race day. I honestly think they're both equally likely right now. The thought of these long runs in July and August make me want to quit right now.

Because of how the plan is set up, I think it's something anyone can use. Reason being, you first determine the max number of miles you can/want to cover in your max week, and it then uses percentages of that max to set the weekly mileage totals for all the other weeks. In fact, if this goes well, I may use it from now on. I love the flexibility in the schedule.

I'm using his Training Plan A, with a max weekly mileage of 70, and training paces based on a VDOT of 50. My recent race times, for different distances, suggest VDOTs ranging from 41-53. JD says to use the highest value, but I just don't think I can maintain a full training season at a 53. The 41 is my Nashville time in April, when I got beat up by the weather a bit. Everything from half-marathon and shorter, my times yield a VDOT no lower than 47. So I compromised and will use a 50. Then after a few weeks, I'll reevaluate and adjust if necessary.

VDOT 50:
Easy - 8:32/m
Marathon pace - 7:17/m
Tempo - 1:42/400m, 4:15/1000m, 6:51/m
Interval - 1:33/400m, 3:55/1000m, 4:41/1200m
Repetition - :43/200m, 87/400m

Every one of these training paces I'm comfortable with...except that marathon pace. Whew, that's motoring. I have absolutely no reason to believe I can run at a 7:17/m clip. But I'll train at VDOT 50 and see how it goes. I believe in the science behind his tables. For me, it's actually an endurance issue. The shorter the race, the higher VDOT I'm at. My February half-marathon puts me at 47, my 5K at 53. So speed is not my issue, endurance is. Which is exactly backward of how I view myself. But I'll do what JD tells me to do, and see how it goes.

I'm of the mindset right now that I want to push myself hard in Chicago. Courses don't get any flatter, crowd support doesn't get any better, and there is no other marathon I want to run better than I do Chicago. Not Boston. Not New York. I just want to run those. Chicago is the one I want to excel at. So I'm already praying for partly sunny, no wind, 40*.

The reason I'm using Daniels' plan this time is that I like how I need only focus on the 2 "quality workouts" per week. The other days, I simply run enough mileage, at easy pace, to hit my target total for that week, with 6-8 strides after 2 of those runs. I like that flexibility, especially in the summer.

Also, I want to drop about 6 pounds and be at 155-156. I've been comfortably maintaining 161-162, without a ton of diligence on my diet. My goal is to be at 155 by the end of June and then maintain it. I don't want to be worrying about getting to race weight in September and early October.

Based on previous training, I think (no, I know) I need to do a better job of balancing training hard, but not so hard that I'm leaving some of my race on the training roads. I'm absolutely guilty of this b/c I love going for a run, even when I don't need to go. Or I run harder than I should b/c it just feels so good. Three years of running, and I'm still trying to learn some of the most basic lessons.

A little more explanation on how I decided to train at VDOT 50....

JD says to use your highest VDOT, based on a race performance. And for me, that's my 5K. If I do run sub-19 this summer as planned, my VDOT would be indicated at 53, not the 50 I am currently planning to train at. In March, I ran a 5K that would have put me right at that sub-19, but the race was unexpectedly short (the cop on the bike accidentally turned around too soon). It measured out at 2.83 miles, I ran that in 17:18, and I had a kick left to give if I wanted to. But once I realized the course got messed up, I just ran steady through the end. So, I'm 99.9% confident I have an 18:xx in me for this summer.

At 53, training paces look like this:
Easy = 8:09/m
Tempo = 6:32/m, 4:04/1,000m, 1:37/400m
Marathon Pace = 6:56/m

I could maintain that easy pace w/o a ton of trouble. But my heart rate would be higher than is to be targeted for an easy run, especially in the summer heat. My easy runs, I've learned to try to base more on my HR than pace.

If I feel good with my training at VDOT 50, I'll go to 51. And I'll go down if I'm not getting it done. He suggests sticking at a training level for 3-4 weeks before moving up. And then perhaps again 3-4 weeks after that.

As for his longest runs in the plan, some he describes as X miles, or Y hours, whichever is less. His longest in Marathon Plan A is 22 miles, or 2.5 hours. But he has many others where he combines easy/long runs with tempos or marathon pace runs, the longest MP run being 15 miles. I spent the time up front going through each quality workout, and estimating the mileage based on the paces for VDOT 50. In the middle of the plan, I go 11 straight weeks of running anywhere from 17-20.5 miles during one quality session, and 11 weeks of covering 11-14 miles during the speed quality workout. So while there are no strict 22-26 mile runs, these workouts seem quite challenging. Especially when done week after week for 11 weeks. This is one of those areas where I say to myself "just do what you're told, b/c he knows far more than you do". One thing I have considered is taking the week 15 "22 miles or 2.5 hours" and just doing the 22 miles.

First 6 weeks of the plan it's interval work, from there on out it's tempo. It's probably easier to understand seeing it than having me try to explain them.

Here are the quality workouts for the 17 weeks of training...excluding the 6 weeks of "base building" before beginning the program, and excluding "race week", week 18. Anytime it says "this OR that", it means whichever is less.

Week 2, Q1, I currently plan to do 40 minutes of ADJ TEMPO (7:05/m), not 20 minutes of TEMPO (6:51/m).

Week 1 - 56 total miles
Q1 - 14 miles or 2 hours
Q2 - Sets of 4 min HARD with 3 min recovery jogs, total 4.5 miles

Week 2 - 56 total miles
Q1 - 20 min EASY + 20 min TEMPO (or 40 min ADJ TEMPO) + 20 min EASY
Q2 - Sets of 4 min HARD with 3 min recovery jogs, total 4.5 miles

Week 3 - 49 total miles
Q1 - 2 miles EASY + 5 x 5-6 min TEMPO w/ 1 min rests + 1 hour EASY
Q2 - Sets of 1000m, 1200m, or 1600m INTERVAL pace w/ 3,4,5 min recovery jogs, total 2.9 miles

Week 4 - 63 total miles
Q1 - 15.75 miles or 2.5 hrs
Q2 - Sets of 1000m, 1200m, or 1600m INTERVAL pace w/ 3,4,5 min recovery jogs, total 3.8 miles

Week 5 - 63 total miles
Q1 - 2 miles EASY + 2 x 10-12 min TEMPO w/ 2 min rests + 1 hour EASY
Q2 - 2 miles EASY + Sets of 5 min HARD with 3-5 min recovery jogs, total 5 miles

Week 6 - 49 total miles
Q1 - 2 miles EASY + 6 x 5-6 min TEMPO w/ 1 min rests + 2 miles EASY
Q2 - Sets of 1000m, 1200m, or 1600m INTERVAL pace w/ 3,4,5 min recovery jogs, total 3.9 miles

Week 7 - 70 total miles
Q1 - 17.5 miles or 2.5 hrs
Q2 - 2 miles EASY + 4 x 10-12 min TEMPO w/ 2 min rests + 2 miles EASY

Week 8 - 63 total miles
Q1 - 2 miles EASY + 4 x 5-6 min TEMPO w/ 1 min rests + 1 hour EASY + 15-20 min TEMPO + 2 miles EASY
Q2 - 2 miles EASY + 4 x 1-mile TEMPO w/ 1-min rests + 5 min. EASY + 3 x 1-mile TEMPO w/ 1-min rests + 2 miles EASY

Week 9 - 56 total miles
Q1 - 2 miles EASY + 12-13 miles or 100 min MARATHON + 2 miles EASY
Q2 - 2 miles EASY + 2 x 15-20 min TEMPO w/ 3-min rests + 10-12 min TEMPO + 2 miles EASY

Week 10 - 70 total miles
Q1 - 17.5 miles or 2.5 hrs
Q2 - 2 miles EASY + 20 min TEMPO + 10 min EASY + 20 min TEMPO + 2 miles EASY

Week 11 - 63 total miles
Q1 - 2 miles EASY + 2 x 10-12 min TEMPO w/ 2 min rests + 10 miles or 80 min EASY + 15-20 min TEMPO + 2 miles EASY
Q2 - 2 miles EASY + 8 x 5-6 min TEMPO w/ 30 sec rests + 2 miles EASY

Week 12 - 49 total miles
Q1 - 2 miles EASY + 2 hours or 15 miles MARATHON + 2 miles EASY
Q2 - 2 miles EASY + 4 x 10-12 min TEMPO w/ 2 min rests + 2 miles EASY

Week 13 - 70 total miles
Q1 - 22 miles or 2.5 hours
Q2 - 2 x (20 min EASY + 20 min TEMPO) + 2 miles EASY

Week 14 - 63 total miles
Q1 - 2 miles EASY + 4 x 5-6 min TEMPO w/ 1 min rests + 10 miles or 80 min EASY + 4 x 5-6 min TEMPO w/ 1-min rests + 2 miles EASY
Q2 - 1 hour EASY + 6 x 5-6 min TEMPO + 15 min EASY

Week 15 - 49 total miles
Q1 - 22 miles or 2.5 hours
Q2 - 2 x (35-40 min EASY + 15-20 min TEMPO) + 2 miles EASY

Week 16 - 49 total miles
Q1 - 2 miles EASY + 15 miles or 2.5 hours MARATHON + 2 miles EASY
Q2 - 2 x (20 min EASY + 15-20 min TEMPO) + 2 miles EASY

Week 17 - 42 total miles
Q1 - 2 miles EASY + 2 x 10-15 min TEMPO w/ 3 min rests + 30-45 EASY
Q2 - 2 x (35-40 min EASY + 15-20 min TEMPO) + 2 miles EASY

Week 18 - RACE WEEK

The biggest challenge in this plan for me might be learning how to program the workouts into my Garmin, b/c there is no way I'm going to be able to remember them (e.g. 2 miles EASY + 4 x 5-6 min TEMPO w/ 1 min rests + 10 miles or 80 min EASY + 4 x 5-6 min TEMPO w/ 1-min rests + 2 miles EASY) I'll be delirious from the heat after that first set of tempo runs. LOL.

OK, that's about it. Let the games begin!

Time to post again, been too long

noreply@blogger.com (Sotally Tober) — Fri, 21 May 2010 18:27:00 +0000

OK, now that my post-marathon break is essentially over, I think it's time to get back to blogging too. So let's see...what has happened since then?

1) My family & I volunteered at the finish line of the Flying Pig. Kevin, host of The Extra Mile podcast is in charge of a volunteer crew, and since we'd run the week before, we decided it'd be fun to volunteer. And was it ever. Great expereience. Plus, I got to meet Kevin as well as a few others guys in a "tweet up" before the race. Gordon, host of the Running to Disney marathon, Ed Marathon, Mark "Bama Runner", Doug "SweetDaddyD69", and Kevin "just_finish". We met at their hotel the night before the race, had a beer, and just had a great time getting to know each other. Great group of guys. At the race, we handed out finishing medals. It's a wonderful experience getting to see the joy on so many faces. Kinda puts your own running accomplishments into perspective.

2) The two weeks after Nashville, I ran a total of 4 times for 20 miles. Just couldn't get motivated to run. The rest was feeling good. Perhaps a little too good. Last week, I managed to get about 37 miles in, and I felt a lot better about that. This week will be in the 40-45 range, as I ramp it up again to prepare for Chicago. Training officially starts June 6th.

3) Susan is now signed up to run her next half, in Columbus, the week after I run Chicago. While I think she's a little nervous about already being signed up to run another one, I think she's also anxious to improve on her Nashville performance. But right now, she's more anxious to improve on her 5K times from last summer. We're running one on Memorial Day, with her 11-year old daughter Melanie, so no PR's there. But the following weekend, we're both running another, and will both be looking to PR.

4) I'm signed up for a variety of races over the summer. 5K's, trail races, might even compete in the "take-all-comers" track meet a local running store runs in June and July.

5) Cross-training has begun in earnest. Biking twice a week, strength training twice a week. Eh, it's not my favorite thing to do, but I know it's important. Gotta try and stick with it.

6) Trying to lose a few pounds. Not many. I ran Nashville at around 162. That's also what I weighed this morning. I want to run Chicago at something closer to 155-156. But unlike when I ran Cincinnati's Flying Pig last year, I don't want to lose weight as I approach race day. My plan right now is to be at race weight by the end of June, and maintain it. That's probably the tricky part. Losing the actual weight is the easy part for me. If I were really strict with myself, I could be at 155 in 3 weeks, no problem. But given it's summertime and it's just so easy to eat out, grill, drink beer on the back deck with friends, etc. I'm going to give myself until the end of June. Perhaps that's too much of a "free pass", but I'll try it. If I don't have it accomplished by June 30th, I'll go into uber-strict mode and just get myself there, no excuses.

Probably a lot of things I'm forgetting right now, but for the time being, that's a enough.

More to come...

Country Music Marathon - Race report

noreply@blogger.com (Sotally Tober) — Thu, 29 Apr 2010 15:57:00 +0000

The Nashville Country Music Marathon was held on Saturday, April 24th. The weather all week didn't look good. Rain was in the forecast, starting about a week before race day. As the race approached, the forecast for mere rain turned into strong thunderstorms and the potential for tornadoes to suddenly “pop up”. Great. Even better. And those tornadoes were popping up earlier that week, west of Nashville, and most notably, in Mississippi. But as we got closer to Saturday, there did appear to be a window of dry weather that would allow much of the race to be run under decent conditions. But once the weather did roll in, it was predicted to be bad. Very bad. Nashville, it turned out, wound up being under a tornado watch until 2AM Sunday morning. With this being the case, the organizers decided the day before the race that anyone not on pace to finish the marathon in 4:30 or less were going to have run the half. You had until the 11.2 mile mark, the marathon/half-marathon split point, to be on that 4:30 pace. While I wasn't worried about that, barring injury, I was worried that conditions could worsen and they could tighten that criteria up, or just cancel the marathon altogether. Nothing I could do about it though. Out of my control, so I tried to just relax, get my sleep, and be ready for anything on race day.

In my two past marathons, I have experienced calf spasms. Once at 14 miles, that left me with a DNF at mile 22. The other at mile 23 that forced me to struggle the last 3.2 miles. I had come to the conclusion that it was a hydration/nutrition issue. I began training with Endurolyte capsules, and had good success with them. So my plan is to take 4 capsules every hour. In addition, I have a few Advil, if necessary, and my “secret weapon”...an extra dose of Flexall muscle rub, in a Ziploc bag. More on that later.

I woke up at 4am, fixed myself 2 peanut butter sandwiches, and a banana for breakfast. At 5am, I went down to the lobby for some coffee. I quickly get dressed, get my gear in order, rub some Flexall on my calves and quads and I'm ready to go. At 5:30am, my wife and I met up with the group we came with and we headed to the start to get our gear bag checked in before it got crazy. Susan ran her first half, another buddy of mine ran his first half, and his wife was looking to run her first full, if she could stay ahead of that 4:30 pace limit. Temp was around 65 degrees, with humidity in the low 80% range. Ugh. Since our hotel was about 4-5 blocks from the start, we decided to walk back to use the bathrooms in our rooms instead of the porta-pottys. Plus, the walk would serve as a gentle warmup before I spent 5-10 minutes running a few striders right before the start. We finish up at the hotel and we start the walk back to the start line. And then...BOOM! The starting gun goes off! What?!? I look at my watch. They're early. Apparently, the organizers announced via bullhorn (at 6:15am) that they were going to get things underway 15 minutes early. We were in our hotel at the time, and didn't hear this. Crap. I was scheduled to start in the third corral, so I was now late! I instinctively take off running for the start line. I was pissed. As soon as I took off, I realized I didn't get a chance to wish my friends luck, or kiss my wife, wish her the best, and give her some encouragement that she really would finish her first half. Now I'm doubly annoyed. By the time I get to the start area, the first three corrals have taken off already. I manage to get into the 4th corral, which takes off as soon as I get past the worker checking people's bib numbers to be sure they are in the right corral. As usual, they are far too lax in this department, and I take off with plenty of people who are supposed be about 20 corrals behind. No matter. I figure I won't be around them for long.

My race is now underway. My adrenaline is absolutely pumping, and I'm kinda pissed about it. Sprinting to the start line, my mind racing, was not how I wanted to start. Within the first mile, I realize how dumb this was to do. That's what chip timing is for, right?!? I just didn't want to be too far back in the corrals and get have trouble navigating into some open space to run freely. In hindsight, I should have taken my time getting to the line and dealt with any possible crowding.

I fly through my first mile too fast, 7:39. My heart is racing we're going downhill, and I'm still irritated by the early start. This split is a stupid mistake on my part. I start slowing myself down, and focus on keeping my effort level steady through this first uphill section of the course. 7:56, 8:09, 8:12, 8:16. I know that first five miles are the hilliest portion of the course, so I need to balance pushing my pace and not giving away too much time with not going overboard and gassing myself. At this point, I'm at the highest point on the course.

I feel like I'm now where I want to be, in about the time I wanted to be there, and now I want to settle into a steady pace. I do still have two somewhat meaningful rises, from mile 6.5 to mile 8, and miles 11 to 13, but I'm not overly concerned about them. What I am concerned with is that at around mile four I began to notice that my legs might not have the pep in them that I'd like. Primarily, my hips felt a little tight. But I put it out of my mind for now, push on, and I decide to reassess once I get to the halfway point. I get through miles 6-13 in 7:59, 8:00, 8:07, 7:53, 7:45, 7:58, 7:53, 8:12. My goal was to hit the halfway mark in 1:45-1:46, 1:47 at the absolute slowest. I get there in 1:45:36. I'm happy with that. It puts me right on target and it's time to reassess how I feel. Uh-oh. I don't like my answer. My hips are definitely getting tighter, and I'm confident that I'll be working harder than I want to in the second half of this race. This tightness is not going to go away. In addition, you could feel the weather starting to change. The sky was becoming darker, the day was warming up a bit, and the wind was definitely picking up, with some strong gusting.

So the question now becomes, how hard do I work right now in order to get the finish as quickly as possible, and hopefully, without pain and calf cramps? Thankfully, my calves are just fine at this point. In fact, everything seems fine except for my hips. I swear to myself, first thing I'm getting when I get back to Cincinnati is a foam roller, and that I'm going to use it religiously. For the record, I've already bought, I'm already using it, and I think it's going to be really helpful.

Backing up for a moment, when I hit the split at 11.2 miles, I quickly became aware of how lonely the second half of the course was going to be, and I was right. I'd heard this was common at Rock n' Roll races, so I was somewhat prepared for it. After reaching the midway point, I finished my 14th mile in 8:14. And then I hit a low point.

I was mentally battling the warm morning & humidity, the tightness in my hips, and the boredom of the course through this section. It was here where I decided I was going to add some periodic walk breaks. I didn't need to walk at this point, but I wanted to be sure that my hips didn't get worse this far from the finish. That's what I told myself, anyway. Now, I realize that I was also bored, a little depressed by it, and just didn't want to work as hard. Mental weakness on my part. That angers me now. My splits for miles 15-18 are 8:40, 8:44, 8:58, and 9:55. That 18th mile, I don't know what happened. I just got really lazy and walked too long early in the mile, without realizing it. This section, miles 13-17.5, we ran completely alone, through this park area near the river. No fans, no vehicle access, no support. I hated it and it had a direct impact on my “weak” attitude. But at around 17.6, we'd headed back for downtown again and out of the park area. We were back on the stretch of 8th Ave that we'd run north on and back at the folks a few miles behind us on the marathon course. At this point, seeing the other runners, I felt like I was “back in the race”, mentally. After finishing that very slow 18th mile, I ran mile 19 in 8:37. Not great, but better. But more importantly, my mind was in a better place. And then I lost all my momentum and was back to being in a poor mental state.

The 20th mile is where the marathoners met back up with the halfers again, who were finishing their race. The marathon course starts about 2 miles west of downtown. You run into town, then head south/southwest for a few miles before heading back into the city. Then you run north, turn around, and back into the city again. This is where I was at this point, the 20-mile point. Then you run east to Shelby Park, and finally back into town again. So you keep coming into the city, near the finish, only to head back out again.

I didn't mind it until this point. I immediately begin to think about how nice it would be to be finishing now, and that sort of depresses me. I try to forget about that as quickly as possible. The mental aspect was the worst of it though. Because of the halfers reaching the end of their race, the road was PACKED, and the halfers paid absolutely no attention to the fact that they were supposed to be using the right half of the street while the marathoners were to run on the left, on their way out to Shelby Park. And there seemed to be no volunteers or police to enforce this split. I had a lady cut me off badly, and I had to come to a dead stop to keep from running her over. She had no idea I was there. Argh. I had to do a lot of bobbing & weaving here. This destroyed any momentum, rhythm, and good feelings I'd regained in that 19th mile. Mile 20 came in at 9:43, and I was NOT happy about it. At the end of the 20th mile, I turned left and headed out to Shelby Park, and was again free to run in a straight line, without congestion. Albeit, it's straight into the wind.

Mile 21 is technically my slowest, 10:33. But that's misleading. When I arrived at the aid station during this mile, I was due to take my 4 Endurolyte capsules, but I also decided that I was going to reapply the Flexall to my calves. I'd yet to find my rhythm again, so this seemed as good a time as any to do this. While my calves felt OK, I figured I might as well apply it now. I had it, I was thinking about it, and I didn't want to wait until the last minute. I had the stuff in a Ziploc bag. I'd heard this idea on a podcast. Put the rub in a Ziploc, and when you want to apply it during the race, you can just turn it inside out, apply it, and not get it all over your hands. Worked like a charm. Between the Flexall and the Endurolytes, this was easily a 90-120 second stop. So I didn't get too bent out of shape at this split time. I told myself that taking the time to apply this little bit of “insurance” on my calves was more than worth it if it saved me the many minutes I'd lose if they locked up again.

I'm now approaching Shelby Park. Mile 22, 9:17. Mile 23, 9:15. Mile 24, 9:24. Too conservative, but at the time, I don't really realize it. I'm just moving along, hoping to beat the weather that has rolled in. It was right at mile 24 that a police officer in a vehicle drove down the road telling us that the serious weather was arriving and that we “might want to consider finding shelter”. He wasn't kidding. Dark skies, rain, wind, fork-shaped lightning. But where in the hell am I going to find shelter at mile 24?!? So I obviously just keep running. The rain really starts coming down. I'm not sure I'm ready to pick up the pace quite yet, so I just keep moving along at the pace I've been going at. Again, too conservative. At one point during this mile, I accidentally step on the edge of an uneven section of road along the shoulder, and mildly turn my ankle. I immediately start walking, and take about 30 seconds to assess it. Seems fine, I start running again. Mile 25, 9:27.

Mile 26, I realize I feel strong enough to pick up the pace. I should have done this about 3-4 miles earlier. I'm not trying to run all out, just running comfortably while not being “lazy”. I run mile 26 in 8:19. I actually have plenty of energy at the end. That's good and bad. Good that I feel good, bad that I could have gone harder in those last few miles. I'm supposed to hit the finish with nothing left, right? Oh, well. I officially came in at 3:46:23. My legs feel good, my hips feel no worse than they did at the halfway mark, my feet are fine, and I'm not cardiovascularly gassed. I left a lot in the tank. Did I have enough to run the 3:30 I was hoping to run? No. My legs weren't that fresh this day. 3:40? Yeah, I could have done that. With better mental toughness and awareness in the second half, I probably had a 3:36-3:38 in me. On a scale of 1-10, I'd give my performance a solid 7. But that's OK. I'm still learning. This is only my third marathon, and second finish. I'll get better at in-race strategy and assessments. In the meantime, 3:46:23 is perfectly good by me. That turns out to be a PR by 21 minutes and 30 seconds. My third PR of the year. Now I only have 5K and 10K PR's to set this year to accomplish my goal of PR'ing at every distance I'd previously run.

Now, I'll spend the next 2-3 weeks recovering with some easy, short runs, bike & elliptical at the gym, foam rolling and stretching, and rededicating myself to doing necessary strength training. Now is the time to get myself in that habit. Plan is to run 3-4X per week, cross-train 2-3X per week, and still get at least 1 rest day in there. Two would be better. I just hope I don't fall into the trap I always do, which is I'd rather just run.

Troy's Trip to Cincinnati

noreply@blogger.com (Sotally Tober) — Sun, 18 Apr 2010 23:28:00 +0000

So the weekend after I went to Kenosha, Troy came to Cincinnati. He had no idea what he was in for.

My wife and I picked him at the airport and promptly took to Hofbrauhaus, in Newport. There, we had a couple of good German beers, along with some pretzels with cheese. From there, we left for the Montgomery Inn Boathouse, where we had a 6:30 reservation. But before that, I wanted to take him up to the bar. It was a really, really nice night, and the view of the Ohio River is very nice. When we get up there, Susan notices that out on the deck is someone she thinks might be Oscar Robertson. Entirely possible. So I walk to where I have a view of him, and sure enough, it's him. Troy immediately becomes fascinated with him, and thinks about walking up to him and just starting a conversation. LOL. In the end though, we leave Oscar alone, and head downstairs for dinner.

Dinner was great, as usual when you go to the Boathouse. BBQ ribs are a must, and I think he really enjoyed them. Some people think the sauce is too sweet and lacks any smokiness. It is sweet, and not smoky, but I've always liked it. All in all, a very good night.

Saturday morning comes, and we head downtown to run our 20-miler. I plan to have us run a good portion of the race route of the Flying Pig Marathon. We'll skip the section in Kentucky, and avoid running on Columbia Pkwy. We start at Fountain Square downtown, and head immediately up to Eden Park. Troy was NOT prepared for the hills he was about to encounter. The first 3 miles or so, are all uphill, but he manages really well. From there, we head to Hyde Park Square, and out to Mariemont. We stop there to use the restroom, and head back out. From here, we head down the Murray bike trail. Now, instead of turning at Waterson, we head back to Erie Ave in order to catch Delta, to head south and pick up Riverside from there. On our way to Delta, we stop at a convenience store to buy some Gatorade (for him)and Vitamin Water (for me) to refill out water bottles. Troy's very happy to run down Delta. All downhill. Finally, we hit Riverside and head back for downtown. At this point, we're about 16 miles into our run. The week before, Troy really started to tire at around mile 18. I'm curious how he'll do today. We cruise right by the 18-mile mark, he's doing great. He makes it to the 20-mile mark in great shape, and is happy, thinking he's done. Only problem...we parked somewhere different than I had planned so Troy could hit up the restroom before we started, and we are still about 1.2-1.3 miles from the car. So I tell him to just run however much he could. He ran 20 miles the previous week, and was gassed. This weekend, he ran 20 and was pretty solid. We make it another 0.6 miles, and he sees the uphill we need to go to get from US Bank Arena to Fountain Square and he says, “OK, that's it. I'm done.”. Could he have kept running? Yeah. He just didn't want to go uphill again. Ha! Fair enough. Besides, he had no idea what he was in for the next day!

We felt great after the run. We head home, shower, change, and head back out the door. On the agenda? Lunch at Skyline Chili, a trip to Jungle Jim's International Market, then back downtown for Beerfest 2010. We spent about 2 hours there, and headed to Terry's Turf Club for some food. Between Beerfest, and Terry's, we drank a fair share of alcohol. Not so much that we were unable to drive home, but enough to know that when we wake up the next morning at 5:30AM in order to prepare for the 15K race, we weren't going to be functioning at optimum levels. Especially on this course.

Now, if you don't know Troy, he's a bit of nut. Very outgoing, very energetic, and he loves to get reactions from folks. And so, in order to do that at the race, he ran the race in a kilt. Yes, a Utilikilt, to be exact. Good stuff.

We arrive downtown and head to the Westin Hotel, where the Cincinnati Runner's Club has reserved 2 rooms for members to be able to use pre and post race. We use the facilities and head down to prepare to run. Race starts at 8AM. I'm not exactly sure how well I can run, given the previous night's festivities.

We get lined up, and before we know it, the race is off and running. I push just a little, and know immediately that I am not going to “race” today. I slow down, and within a few seconds, Troy is up with me, and we run together. I'm actually really glad we did. We had a pretty good time. Or, that is to say, I had a really good time. Troy was mildly cursing Cincinnati, Columbia Parkway, and perhaps me. He was learning that when I said there wasn't a flat spot along the entire 15K course, I wasn't kidding. He couldn't believe it. He said he hadn't run anywhere near as many hills as he had these past 2 days. And I believe him. Cincinnati can be a tough place to run, if you're not prepared for it. But he did great. He even made it up and down the hill at Torrence without too much complaint.

With about 1.6 miles to go, I ask him if he has one last push in him to the finish. He said he didn't really want to push any harder than he was, but that if I wanted to, I should go ahead. I decided I wanted to just blow my legs out at the end, since the following day was a rest day for me. So I picked up my pace to about an 80% effort level, and held that steady to the finish. It allowed me to finish with a sub 8-minute pace. I came in at 1:13:53 (7:57/mile). Troy came in at 1:16:02 (8:11/mile). This was a PR for me, although not nearly the best I could have done. But, no matter. A PR all the same. So I have now PR'd two of the distances I want to this year, half and 15K. I still have the 5K, 10K and marathon distance to go. Right on schedule.

Afterward, we headed home, cleaned up, and went out to get a much deserved meal. We were spent! Shortly thereafter, I took him to the airport, headed home, and slept. Very well. Very, very well.

It was a great weekend, and I hope we can do something similar again. It definitely makes a tough time during a training session, when you're starting to burn out a bit, a lot more enjoyable. And it helped keep me on track. Since I'm normally a solo-runner, having a partner for 2 weekends was great. Makes me want to run with others more.

So that's my report. THANKS TROY. And good luck in Kenosha on May 2nd.

My Trip to Kenosha

noreply@blogger.com (Sotally Tober) — Fri, 02 Apr 2010 15:38:00 +0000

On Friday, March 21st I boarded a plane to fly to Milwaukee, where my friend Troy would pick me up. The idea behind the trip was that we would swap training weekends. I would go up there and run with him, he would come to Cincinnati and run with me. So back in January, we looked at our calendars and planned the dates. I would travel up there on the weekend of his first 20-miler, he would come to Cincinnati the following weekend.

Troy is training for his first marathon, on May 2nd, the Kenosha Marathon. He took Friday as a rest day and we planned to run 20 on Saturday, 6-8 on Sunday. When I arrived in Milwaukee International Airport, it was sunny and 60 degrees. A perfect day. But the weather report said something very different for the next day. More on that in a minute.

We get to Troy's home in Pleasant Prairie, I meet his wife (Barb) and kids, get settled in and we prepare to leave for a nice Italian dinner. Downtown Kenosha is actually quite nice, and would be great if so many businesses didn't seem to have close up shop. A result of the current economy, no doubt. After dinner, we go to a local bar to watch some March Madness. Now, I've always known that beer is serious business in Wisconsin. Beer & cheese. But when we got to the bar, I realized just HOW seriously. This place, from the outside, didn't look like anything unusual. A small home that had been converted into a local hang-out place. When I walked in, I couldn't believe a) how nice it was, b) how many beers were available. 250+ beers, with about 50-60 available on tap! Wowza! This place was awesome. So we sit down, have a beer, talk and watch the ballgame. Barb's brother joins us a little later and we drink a little more. Shortly after that, Barb and her brother are ready to leave so he gives her a lift home. Troy and I stick around for about another hour or so, and call it a night.

The next morning, we wake up to 4+ inches of wet, heavy, sloppy snow. Ugh. So, do we slog through 20 miles, or hope tomorrow is better? We learn that tomorrow is supposed to be better, so we go into Kenosha again to have breakfast. And in Kenosha, there's one place you have to go. Frank's Diner. http://www.franksdinerkenosha.com Featured on Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives, with Guy Fieri. We have a short (20 minutes) wait, before finally getting seated with another couple, visiting Kenosha from Chicago. Turned out the husband started running 2 years ago, and their son is a pretty serious marathoner. We have a great time meeting them. And breakfast was great. I had to order the garbage plate. It's their specialty. And it 100% lives up to the name. 5 eggs, with anything and everything you want thrown into it. Onions, peppers, jalapenos, hash browns, sausage, bacon, and cheese is what was in mine. Stupid good.

After breakfast, we go run 8 miles, in wet & windy conditions. We ran into the wind for the first 4 and the wind-driven rain felt like shards of glass on my face! But we managed to get through it. Troy even had his brother, an amateur photographer, take pictures of us running. LOL. With his buddy driving him to stay in front of us, he must have taken 100+ pictures of us over the last 4 miles. It felt like a photo shoot for a magazine or something.

That night, we hit up a bar where a bunch of his friends were going to for a campout they do every year. We weren't camping, but went for the festivities. A few beers, and Makers & Diet Cokes later, we went home.

Next morning we woke up, waited for the day to warm up a bit, and headed out for 20 miles. It was awesome. Sunny & cool, running alongside Lake Michigan. Everything was going great until we got to about 13 miles, when Troy's stomach started to feel a bit “sour”. We hit our turnaround point, and he was still feeling the effects. But now we were going downwind, and after a Chocolate #9, he seemed to pick up a bit. He got to the 18-mile mark OK, and then started to slow slightly. But he managed to tough it out, and he made it to 20. Really proud and happy for him. His first 20-miler.

At this point, he was done, but my schedule called for 2 more miles. So he drove up to a coffee shop back in town where I would proceed to run to and meet him. When I arrived, he was waiting, and feeling much better.

Sadly, at this point in the day, I had just enough time to get home, shower, change, and get to the airport to return to Cincinnati. But that was OK since the following weekend he'd be flying to Cincy. That report will come shortly. We punished ourselves that weekend. :)

The 5K PR...that wasn't

noreply@blogger.com (Sotally Tober) — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 02:06:00 +0000

Ran a 5K yesterday. Well, it was supposed to be a 5K. It was an out-and-back, and apparently the cop who was responsible for telling us to turn around, had us turn around too soon.

I went into the day thinking I didn't want to run hard (I had a long run to do later in the day). I thought I'd run it about 24 minutes, enjoy the run, and be done. But the day was cold, wet & windy, so I decided I wanted to get this thing over with. So I went out early and tried to run hard, without going all out. About an 8.5, or 9.0, on a scale of 1-10. No redlining. I was successful at that, regardless of the actual distance we ran.

I hit the 1-mile mark in 6:03. OK, about what I expected. Just gliding along. I'm literally looking around, just having fun.

When we got turned around by the cop, it didn't feel like I'd gone 0.55 miles past the 1 mile mark (I wasn't wearing my Garmin for this, just my Nike watch). When I got to the guy at the 2-mile mark calling out splits, the guy calls out "10:30!" 10:30?!? WTF?!? Now I knew something was wrong. So I decided to stick with my plan and just run at the same level I had been.

I got to the finish in 17:18, I just didn't know how far I'd run. I learned that the course wound up being 2.8 miles. At that pace, I'd have finished in 19:09 for a PR by a 1:18. That would have been nice, but it was not to be. It does tell me what my goal 5K time for 2010 is...18:30. Good gawd, I can't believe I just posted that. But that's what I'm shooting for. On a wet, nasty, windy day, I could have gone sub-19, no doubt, had I chosen to. And had they actually marked the course correctly.

The race had 231 men, 296 women. I finished 4th overall, 2nd in my age group. I don't care what the distance was, I'll take 4th overall any day.

But since I ran considerably harder than I had planned to, my 18-20 miler later that day turned into a 15-miler, in pouring rain. Dinner tasted very, very good that night.

An unbelievable day for me

noreply@blogger.com (Sotally Tober) — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 00:55:00 +0000

Today I ran the Last Chance for Boston half-marathon, in Dublin, OH. I was hoping to accomplish a few things:

1) Set a new PR My current PR is 1:47:38, set in Chicago in 2008. This PR has bugged me ever since I ran it. You can read below about their mistake in measuring the official course. It was also the last time I ran a half-marathon, healthy. I was nursing a sore groin when I ran San Antonio, in November 2008, and at mile 8, I knew my day was essentially over.
2) Establish a time that qualifies me for start corral C, in this year's Chicago Marathon.
3) Get a clearer picture of my current fitness level.

Went up to Columbus on Friday night to relax, away from home, with my wife. She also ran today, the 10K, in preparation of her half-marathon in Nashville. It was a nice weekend. We haven't had much time together, just us, lately.

Today, I woke up at 4AM in order to have breakfast. Went back to bed, got up at 6:15AM, and prepped for the race. I was feeling quite good, and best of all, I had no lingering soreness, or nagging injuries. I was definitely ready to go.

My goal was to run a 1:42 (7:47/m), but hoped that perhaps I could run 1:40 (7:38/m) if I ran perfectly, and felt good at the end. So I set my target, overall race pace at 7:45/m. The race course is a flat, 1-mile loop. I ran this race in 2008, so I knew exactly what to expect. While running laps doesn't sound like fun, it's actually not bad when in a race environment. If it were for training purposes, multiple times per week, I couldn't do it. For one race? No problem. The half-marathon runners and 5K'ers, they set up 0.1 miles behind the start/finish line, have you run outside the finish setup your first time by, in order to avoid the timing chip mats, and then you run the loop as normal. So one nice thing about the setup is you get mile splits when they post results.

For a 7:45/m pace, my plan was to run the first 0.1 miles in 45-50 seconds, the first full mile at 8:10-8:15/m, the second mile at 7:55-8:00/m, and be at 7:45/m race pace to start my 3rd loop. I'd run that pace until I had 2 laps/miles to go and then let loose, if I had anything left to give. If all went well, I'd make up the time I gave up during the first two laps.

Good day to run, but not great. At the start, it was 30 degrees, overcast, with a 10 mph wind blowing. Once the race got started, I got through my first 0.1 miles in 42 seconds. Fine. Now I have thirteen, one-mile laps to run.

First full lap, I ran in 7:42 (8:24). Too fast. So now I'm really focusing on keeping it nice & easy. I don't want to run hard, at all.

Second lap, 7:44 (16:07). OK, not the end of the world. It felt like a good pace, I was very relaxed, breathing easily, running easily. So let's just keep it there, if we can.

Third lap, 7:43 (23:50). Good. But wait a minute. I'm honestly thinking this is TOO easy. One thing I've noticed in my training is that my lactate threshold pace seems to be considerably lower than my current plan called for. It just so happens, my training plan LT pace is b/w 7:38-7:48, very similar to what I want to run today. But I've thought during training runs that that pace doesn't actually feel like an LT run. I've had to run them harder than that to really get the effect I'm looking for. Closer to 7:15/m. And this is exactly the thought I'm having right after my 3rd mile.

Fourth lap, 7:37 (31:26). Yup. I think I've underestimated my race pace. I may pay for this at then end, but I'm going for it. I plan to continue running strong & steady, but just a bit faster than I have been.

Fifth lap, 7:30 (38:56).
Sixth lap, 7:22 (46:17).
Seventh lap, 7:25 (53:42).
Eighth lap, 7:27 (1:01:08).

I'm really gaining confidence now. I'm feeling great, I'm running well, and it seems to be coming almost effortlessly. By how much did I underestimate?!?, I'm beginning to wonder.

Ninth lap, 7:23 (1:08:30).
Tenth lap, 7:22 (1:15:51).

3 miles to go. Start turning up the heat now, or wait? I decide to wait one more mile.

Eleventh lap, 7:22 (1:23:13).

OK, let's pick it up a little and see what happens.

Twelfth lap, 7:08 (1:30:20).

YES! Bell lap, and I think I have a little juice left. I start the final mile with a big push. I look at my Garmin, and see that I'm at 5:50/m pace. But before I hit the 1/4-mile mark of the lap, I know I can't keep this up. I bring it down a notch and just try to hold steady until the 1/2-mile to go mark. When I get there, I start to gradually pick it up again. Before I know it, I'm 1/4-mile from the finish and I keep pushing. I make the final left turn, see the clock, and push as HARD AS I CAN. I throw my body through the finish line.

Thirteenth, and final lap, 6:35 (1:36:55).

Final time: 1:36:55 (7:24/m). Wow! I can't believe it. A new PR by 10 minutes, 43 seconds. That put me 26th out of 159 overall, 8th out of 30 in my age group.

I accomplished all 3 goals I'd set for this race, and I learned a lot too. My suspicion that I am in better condition than I give myself credit for, is true. This is especially true of my lactate threshold level. I felt like I could have just kept cranking out miles in the 7:30-7:35/m range without compromising my form or risking crashing into the wall.

I probably left a little bit of time on the course today, specifically during the first 3.1 miles. Not sure how much. Had I run 1:35:59, or better, I could have gotten into corral B for Chicago. That's the best I could hope for this year. So, did I leave 56 seconds out there by NOT running at my appropriate pace the first 3 laps? Maybe. Maybe not quite. It would have been really close. But I'm not going to worry about it. I'm beyond happy with my performance.

One PR taken care of. Next on the list...15K, 4 weeks from today. Then, full marathon in Nashville, 8 weeks away. BRING IT!

A goal of mine for 2010 is to PR in every distance I run this year

noreply@blogger.com (Sotally Tober) — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 01:35:00 +0000

Ambitious? Perhaps.

So that means I am looking to PR in: 5K, 10K 15K, Half-Marathon, Marathon.

My current PR's:

5K: 20:27 (July 2009) - Had been battling a sore right foot/ankle for a few weeks, but I was still very happy with this when I finished. I've only run this distance 4 times, one as a fun run (Jingle Bell Run, 2009)

10K: 51:19 (Nov 2009) - I've only run one of these (Thanksgiving Day 10K in Cincinnati), and it was with a friend as a fun run, so running a PR should be easy.

15K: 1:17:52 (March 2008) - I've only run this distance once. Ran as a training run, after only about a year of running to that point. This one would normally be a fairly easy PR, but this year it won't be the best I could possibly post b/c I am running 20 miles the day before with Troy, and I don't think the course has a flat spot on it. Still, should be fun. Troy's running this too. We plan to run it best we can.

Half-Marathon: 1:47:38 (August 2008) - I expect to PR this distance in 10 days at The Last Chance for Boston, in Columbus, OH. Funny part about this PR...I ran this at the Chicago Distance Classic. After the race they sent an e-mail saying the course had been certified incorrectly and the course was LONG by .1668 miles. And it was right where they made the mistake (around the 7-mile mark) that I then made my mistake of thinking I'd suddenly slowed down drastically. Of course, at that moment, I couldn't know it was miscalculated and was long. I just thought that somehow, I'd run a ridiculously slow 8th mile. My goal was 8 min/mile. At that pace, .1668 miles is 1m 20s. So I see the clock set up at mile 8 ,and I panic. Now I'm thinking I have only 5 miles to make up that time. Clearly, I thought I'd blown my chance at a sub-1:45 that day but I decided to kick up the pace hard and try to make up the time. I'll either do it, or crash. I crashed. I had some GI issues late in the race too that didn't help at all. But nonetheless, 1:47:38 is my official time. So long as the weather isn't brutal in February 28th, I should be good.

Marathon: 4:07:53 (Nov 2009) - My one (completed) marathon to date. After my Flying Pig fiasco, I decided I'd run Indy with no other purpose than to finish. So I ran at a normal long run pace, and not any faster. At mile 23, my calf cramps jumped up again and bit me, but I was able to suffer into the finish slowly. I've trained harder than ever since, and am ready to take my first crack at Nashville, on April 24th. The other marathon already on the schedule is Chicago on 10-10-10.

I actually hope to do more racing this year than I did last year, so I'll have plenty of shots at these PR's, with the exception of the 15K. Not many of those around here.

We'll see what happens, but I think I have a real shot at a PR in every one of these distances.

How often do you have a chance to do that? I'm thinking not very often, so I'll give it my best. I will not cheat myself this year.

Sometimes you just have to stop hating

noreply@blogger.com (Sotally Tober) — Thu, 11 Feb 2010 15:41:00 +0000

Actually, I suppose you should never start hating in the first place. And there are few things in this world that I can say I truly hate. Fortunately, most of them are inanimate objects (olives, mushrooms, bleu cheese), or concepts (e.g. racism). But there is one object that I just don't have anything good to say about, at all.

The treadmill.

And I'm sure I'm not alone. As many runners will tell you, once you get outdoors and start throwing down the miles, you just don't want to spend time on a spinning belt anymore. You don't go anywhere, you don't see anything, you don't get the satisfaction of running into that headwind at the start of your run, knowing how much you'll enjoy heading downwind on the way back. There's any number of things that simply trump the convenience of a treadmill. And if you're like me, and you don't have your own treadmill, it's not even that convenient. You have to get in your car, go to the gym, hope the gym isn't packed so you can hog a 'mill for 2 hours, run, then drive home. Walking out the front door and taking off immediately is far more convenient. Additionally, for me anyway, I tend to blister and/or callous the balls of my feet (specifically the ball of my big toe) and it can be rather painful. I swear the heat that eminates from the belt literally softens the skin of my feet, as if cooking them. As for the TVs' they have on the machines, to entertain you as you workout...if you run, you can't watch it. It makes you nauseous.

So I've been a firm opponent of running on the 'mill. If there is any way for me to run outside, any way at all, I will. That being said, the weather has been less than cooperative the past few days in a lot of areas around the country. Here, it isn't so much the temperatures, and it isn't even so much the amount of snow. But we've had freezing rain, high winds that have caused drifting snow and poor visibility (for drivers). This past Saturday I managed to get out, after being forced to run indoors on Friday (more on that in a bit), and the roads were very wet & slushy. That's miserable too. Thankfully, it was only for 5 miles. Then we got blasted again on Sunday, and back indoors I go.

On that Friday, I was scheduled to run 12 miles. I knew running them outside was going to be impossible. So I went to the gym...slowly, and vowed to make an honest effort at completing the run on the damn 'mill. Normally, I get on the 'mill, run for about 3 miles, and want to jab a steak knife in my eye. I become a mental midget, unable to focus on running, instead focusing on how excruciatingly bored I am. This day, I was hellbent on going the full 12. Since the 'mill only allows me an hour at a time, I was forced to think of it as two 6-milers. That helped some. So I started running, and to my surprise I was at 3 miles before I knew it. Then 6. Stop the 'mill, restart it immediately, and prepare for 6 more. That's when....wait, what?!? That's when I proceeded to run the final 6 and actually ENJOYED it?!? How did that happen? Nonetheless, I did, and I was thrilled. I should have been thankful. Instead, I mentally gave the 'mill the finger, and stalked off, the conqueror. Rich 1, Treadmill 0.

Sunday I was driven back by the weather. This time I was there to run 18. I made it to 10 before the previously mentioned treadmill cook setting did a number on my feet. They were burning up. The soles of my shoes were on fire. The 'mill got its revenge. All tied up.

Monday, I return again, but only to run an easy 5. While I got through it w/o issue, and easily enough, it really wasn't a long enough, or tough enough run to claim victory, so we'll call it a push. Still all tied up.

Tuesday, 8 miles at general aerobic pace. I crushed it. Felt great. A clear win. The 'mill did officially give me a blister though. I think of that as a bad, late tackle, from behind, boot up, in a match that is already decided. The 'mill got a red card on that one. I'm up 2-1.

Yesterday, 12 miles scheduled again. I prepare for the worst, but hope for the best. I get some moleskin to protect the balls of my feet. And to my astonishment, another good run. A little GI issues from the dinner I ate beforehand, but not a big deal. That was my fault. I finish my run, and while my stomach isn't tip-top, I'm very pleased that I have managed to complete my run, on the 'mill, again. I take the win, and lead 3-1. But I also realized something else. The 'mill and I have come to have an understanding, and I can even say, it has rejuvenated my motivation.

The past few days, I've logged more miles on the 'mill than I did in all of '08 & '09 combined. And I've found that I kinda enjoyed it. One of the reasons...I'm enjoying running in shorts and short sleeved shirts. It's nice to break them out after a few months. Sounds silly, I'm sure, but for some reason, I think it's helped me. And now, I'm definitely ready to start logging my miles outdoors again, and looking forward to getting out there.

The other nice thing...I think I've conquered my HATRED for the 'mill. Oh, we're still not friends, per se, but we're no longer enemies either. The 'mill respects my desire to run outdoors, and I have come to respect the 'mill's ability to keep me on track w/o boring me to death anymore. Weird. Never thought I'd say that.

Training update, new shoes & Fall Marathon (Chicago!!!!) scheduled

noreply@blogger.com (Sotally Tober) — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 11:02:00 +0000

Training Update

January is over, and as such, so is 1/4 of my training for Nashville. All in all, I'm very happy with my progress so far. I've had a couple of tough days, dealing with fatigue or drop in motivation to get out and get my workout done, but that's pretty normal in this phase. I never had 2 of these days in a row, so that makes me happy. I've managed to get myself back on track immediately after a bad day. The end tally for January...4 weeks of training, 219.44 miles of running.

Now comes February, and that will put me exactly halfway through my training. It's a 252 mile month. Wait a minute. A what?!? OMG. That's...yeah. A lot of miles. But I knew what I was getting into when I chose this plan, so it's time to get after it. I'll finish the month with my first half-marathon since San Antonio in Nov. 2008. I'll be participating in The last Chance for Boston Half-Marathon, in Dublin, OH, on 2/28. Initially, this was simply meant as a tune-up race, to evaluate my fitness level halfway through training. Now, it's more important than that. More on that in a minute.

New Shoes

Last week I got myself a pair of the Brooks Launch. Very lightweight, very comfortable, very colorful. Obnoxiously colorful! But that's cool with me. Nothing wrong with a little splash of color.

I've put 3 runs in so far. When I first put them on, they slid on really nicely and had an extremely comfortable fit around the ankle. The toebox is plenty big. My first impression was that there was going to be nothing to worry about. But when I started walking in them, I noticed that the top mesh of the toebox rubbed oddly against the top of my foot. But once I started running, I didn't notice it anymoew. And now, I don't notice it at all, even when I'm walking in them.

The shoes are a very stable ride. A little softer than I'm used to, but not obscenely so. The lacing midway up is a little different too. The laces almost run directly sideways, as opposed to diagonally. Seems to be a nice spot for a little extra snugness.

I give these a solid thumbs up. And at $90, a fairly decent price.

Fall Marathon - Chicago, 10/10/10

I'm going to fulfill one of my dreams...to run a marathon in the GREATEST CITY IN THE WORLD. I am an official entrant in the Bank of America Chicago Marathon, scheduled for October 10, 2010. Oh yeah, baby! This is a race I would consider a "bucket list" type of event. I don't have many running, bucket list items yet (Chicago, NYC, Boston, an international marathon, and a 50-miler), but Chicago is probably my #1 item on that list. Now, I'm committed to run, and they're committed to giving me a bib number.

I'm hoping to qualify for one of the non-open start corrals. The race is open to 45,000 runners. They have 4 non-elite corrals for roughly the fastest 12,000 runners, but you have to qualify for them with a recent half or full marathon time. Here are the qualifications...

Start Corral A
Half Marathon time:          <1:25:59
Full Marathon time:           <3:10:59
Expected capacity:             1,500

Start Corral B
Half Marathon time:           <1:35:59
Full Marathon time:            <3:35:59
Expected capacity:               3,000

Start Corral C
Half Marathon time:            <1:45:59
Full Marathon time:             <3:55:59
Expected capacity:               4,000

Start Corral D
Half Marathon time:            <1:50:59
Full Marathon time:             <4:00:59
Expected capacity:               4,000

I already have a time to qualify me for no worse than Corral D. I am very confident that I can run well enough in Dublin to get into C. I'm mildly curious if I can get into B. My initial thought is no. I don't think I have a 1:36 half in me (yet).

I'm sure I'll have a lot more on Chicago in the future, so I'll just leave it here for now.

Lastly, looks like I'm going to get some mild weather this week for training. That'll be nice given the bitter cold and winds we've had recently.

OK February, I'm ready. Bring it.

Training schedule for Nashville

noreply@blogger.com (Sotally Tober) — Wed, 20 Jan 2010 02:53:00 +0000

Occurs to me that I meant to post this. I've just started week 3 of training for the Nashville Country Music Marathon. I play indoor soccer once a week (that's my Monday XT), I strength train 1-2X/week. Here's the running schedule to get me there.

PHASE I - ENDURANCE
01/04/10 XT
01/05/10 LT – 9 miles w/ 4 miles @ 15K-Half race pace
01/06/10 MLR – 11 miles
01/07/10 Recovery – 5 miles
01/08/10 General Aerobic – 9 miles
01/09/10 Recovery – 5 miles
01/10/10 MLR – 15 miles
Weekly Total 54 miles

01/11/10 XT
01/12/10 General Aerobic & Speed – 8 miles w/ 10x100 strides
01/13/10 MLR – 12 miles
01/14/10 Recovery – 5 miles
01/15/10 General Aerobic – 9 miles
01/16/10 Recovery – 5 miles
01/17/10 MP Run – 16 miles w/ 8 miles @ MP
Weekly Total 55 miles

01/18/10 XT
01/19/10 MLR – 11 miles
01/20/10 MLR – 13 miles
01/21/10 Recovery – 5 miles
01/22/10 LT – 9 miles w/ 4 miles @ 15K-Half race pace
01/23/10 Recovery – 5 miles
01/24/10 MLR – 15 miles
Weekly Total 58 miles

01/25/10 XT
01/26/10 General Aerobic & Speed – 9 miles w/ 10x100 strides
01/27/10 MLR – 14 miles
01/28/10 Recovery – 5 miles
01/29/10 MLR – 11 miles
01/30/10 Recovery – 5 miles
01/31/10 Long Run – 18 miles
Weekly Total 62 miles

02/01/10 XT
02/02/10 LT – 9 miles w/ 5 miles @ 15K-Half race pace
02/03/10 MLR – 14 miles
02/04/10 Recovery – 5 miles
02/05/10 MLR – 12 miles
02/06/10 Recovery – 5 miles
02/07/10 MP Run – 18 miles w/ 10 miles @ MP
Weekly Total 63 miles

02/08/10 XT
02/09/10 General Aerobic & Speed – 8 miles w/ 10x100 strides
02/10/10 MLR – 12 miles
02/11/10 Recovery – 5 miles
02/12/10 General Aerobic – 10 miles
02/13/10 Recovery – 5 miles
02/14/10 MLR – 15 miles
Weekly Total 55 miles

PHASE II - LACTATE THRESHOLD & ENDURANCE
02/15/10 XT
02/16/10 LT – 10 miles w/ 5 miles @ 15K-Half race pace
02/17/10 MLR – 14 miles
02/18/10 Recovery – 5 miles
02/19/10 MLR – 11 miles
02/20/10 General Aerobic & Speed – 7 miles w/ 10x100 strides
02/21/10 Long Run – 21 miles
Weekly Total 68 miles

02/22/10 XT
02/23/10 Recovery – 6 miles (AM), 4 miles (PM)
02/24/10 MLR – 14 miles
02/25/10 Recovery – 5 miles
02/26/10 LT – 11 miles w/ 6 miles @ 15K-Half race pace
02/27/10 Recovery – 6 miles
02/28/10 Tune-Up Race, Last Chance for Boston Half-Marathon, 20 miles total
Weekly Total 66 miles

03/01/10 XT
03/02/10 Recovery – 6 miles (AM), 4 miles (PM)
03/03/10 MLR – 15 miles
03/04/10 Recovery – 6 miles
03/05/10 MLR – 13 miles
03/06/10 Recovery & Speed – 7 miles w 6x100 strides
03/07/10 MP Run – 16 miles w/ 12 miles @ MP
Weekly Total 67 miles

03/08/10 XT
03/09/10 General Aerobic – 9 miles
03/10/10 VO2 max – 9 miles w/ 6x800 @ 5K race pace, jog 50-90% interval time between
03/11/10 Recovery – 6 miles
03/12/10 MLR – 11 miles
03/13/10 General Aerobic & Speed – 8 miles w/ 10x100 strides
03/14/10 MLR – 15 miles
Weekly Total 58 miles

03/15/10 XT
03/16/10 Recovery – 6 miles (AM), 4 miles (PM)
03/17/10 MLR – 15 miles
03/18/10 Recovery – 6 miles
03/19/10 LT – 12 miles w/ 7 miles @ 15K-Half race pace
03/20/10 Recovery – 5 miles
03/21/10 Long Run – 22 miles
Weekly Total 70 miles

PHASE III - RACE PREPARATION
03/22/10 XT
03/23/10 VO2 max – 9 miles w/ 5x600 @ 5K race pace, jog 50-90% interval time between
03/24/10 MLR – 15 miles
03/25/10 Recovery & Speed – 7 miles w 6x100 strides
03/26/10 Recovery – 6 miles
03/27/10 Long Run – 18 miles
03/28/10 Tune-up race, Mercy Heart Mini-Marathon 15K, 9-13 miles total
Weekly Total 64-68 miles

03/29/10 XT
03/30/10 Recovery – 6 miles (AM), 4 miles (PM)
03/31/10 VO2 max – 11 miles w/ 6x1000 @ 5K race pace, jog 50-90% interval time between
04/01/10 MLR – 15 miles
04/02/10 General Aerobic – 8 miles
04/03/10 Recovery – 6 miles
04/04/10 Long Run – 20 miles
Weekly Total 70 miles

04/05/10 REST
04/06/10 VO2 max – 8 miles w/ 5x600 @ 5K race pace, jog 50-90% interval time between
04/07/10 MLR – 12 miles
04/08/10 Recovery & Speed – 6 miles w 6x100 strides
04/09/10 Recovery – 5 miles
04/10/10 8-10K tune-up race, 9-11 miles total
04/11/10 Long Run – 17 miles
Weekly Total 57-59 miles

PHASE IV - TAPER
04/12/10 REST
04/13/10 General Aerobic & Speed – 8 miles w/ 10x100 strides
04/14/10 Recovery – 4 miles
04/15/10 VO2 max – 8 miles w/ 3x1600 @ 5K race pace, jog 50-90% interval time between
04/16/10 Recovery – 5 miles
04/17/10 Recovery & Speed – 6 miles w 10x100 strides
04/18/10 MLR – 13 miles
Weekly Total 44 miles

04/19/10 REST
04/20/10 Dress Rehearsal – 7 miles with 2 miles @ MP
04/21/10 Recovery – 5 miles
04/22/10 Recovery – 4 miles
04/23/10 REST
04/24/10 NASHVILLE COUNTRY MUSIC MARATHON
04/25/10 REST, DRINK, EAT & CELEBRATE!!!!!

Weekend trip to train

noreply@blogger.com (Sotally Tober) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 19:01:00 +0000

So I've got this friend up in Wisconsin, and he's training for his first marathon this spring. He says I got him motivated to do it, but I'm not buying that. His wife is a triathlete, and I suspect seeing her compete had much more to do with his wanting to compete in endurance events than I did. In any case, he and I are a part of an actuarial discussion forum (Yeah, fascinating. I know) that has a "Health & Fitness" section where I said I'd be posting my training plan for Nashville. He came up with the great idea of traveling to each others' homes for a weekend to train together. That sounded awesome to me. Downright brilliant!

So on the weekend of March 19-21 I'll be in the Milwaukee area, running with Troy. I can't wait. I've never spent any time in the Milwaukee area. Just been there for a couple of Bucks games, so I'm looking forward to it. Plus, to have a good friend to get through these training sessions will be a big help. I remember last year sort of hitting a "training wall" about 12 weeks in. Not a fatigue wall, but more of a "I wish training was over and it was race day" wall. I was finding it tougher & tougher to get out the door. So these trips couldn't come at a better time in the schedule.

Then, he'll be coming to Cincy the following weekend, where we'll not only be training, but running a tune-up race. The Mercy Heart Mini-Marathon 15K. We'll actually be racing the day AFTER a 20-mile training run. That worried me slightly at first, but now, I think that's OK. My original training plan actually had an 8-15K tune-up race for Saturday, followed by an 18-miler the following day. Flipping that around, running 20 miles with Troy instead of 18, THEN racing will (instead of giving me an evaluation of my current fitness level) give me a lower bound of my current fitness level. I think I might prefer that. That should help me maintain a conservative approach. Add to that, he's never been to Cincy. So Susan & I are already thinking of things to do, places to eat, that are uniquely Cincinnati. Gotta think Skyline may be involved!

He booked his flight a few days ago, I did last night. It's official! I'm ready to go! I'm thinking the next time we do this should be a weekend trip somewhere we'd both love to run, and "the queens" in our lives would love to visit.

Essential gear for winter running

noreply@blogger.com (Sotally Tober) — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 02:53:00 +0000

IMO, I think training for my spring marathon is THE BEST. Living in Cincinnati, I get my share of winter weather. Freezing rain is the typically biggest problem. We seem to be right in that spot where too often it's snow an hour north of us, and rain an hour south. But we also get our fair share of days in the 20's with gusting winds. Personally, I love running in the cold, and wind, and snow. Hate driving in the snow, but I love running while it snows. Something really peaceful about it. Freezing rain? Can't think of a damn good thing to say about it.

The worst, and best, days are those when it's stupid-cold and crazy-windy. Especially when it's on your scheduled long run day. But you have to get out there, and get that run in. At least, I do. Sometimes, to make myself feel tough, I'll think of the scene in the move "Forrest Gump" when Lt. Dan is on the mast of the ship, with the storm raging all around him, and he yells at God, "Is that all you got?!?" and then shrieks like a madman, and I'll think that's me today. Is that all you got, God?!? Because if it is, it's not enough to keep me from finishing this run! And then I swear under my breath, look at my Garmin to see how much further I have to go, and wonder how I became so stupid as to be out there running! LOL.

Anyway, some of my friends have asked me at times what I consider as "essential gear" for training in the winter. Let me start by saying, get the right gear, and you too can love running when the mercury drop below 32.

Here's my bare essential list:

1) "Coldgear" tops to wear as a base layer. On top of that, a technical shirt or jacket. If it's REALLY cold, you might double up on the shirt/jacket.
2) Lined running pants. I even have one pair that is fleece lined, by Champion, for the coldest of days. They're a bit heavy, and you definitely run slower, but nothing gets through those. I try to get most of my running pants at TJMaxx, on the cheap.
3) Optional - 1-2 pair of running tights, for cold but not freezing days, or to wear under a light pair of pants that aren't warm enough by themselves
4) Wind briefs for long runs on windy days. For guys, this is REALLY important, trust me. Nothing worse than feeling like you can't run b/c your ballz are frozen and the wind is making it infinitely worse (I recommend the ones from Brooks, but there are several brands out there that you can find online. Running stores often carry them this time of year too.)
5) Smartwool socks
6) Fleece hats & gloves (more than one of each). You'll want to be able to put on DRY hates & gloves to start every run. Do not underestimate the importance of these. For me, nothing makes a run more miserable than ice-cold hands or freezing ears.
7) Sunglasses, not b/c the sun or the glare from the snow is so bright, but to keep your eyes from watering when running into a stiff headwind.
8) More than one pair of running shoes, so you can alternate b/w them. This is especially important if you often find your shoes are wet after a run.
9) Balaclava (not entirely necessary, but I'm a big fan of them now for those really windy days)

That's it, you're ready to run in the coldest of weather and ENJOY it.

Chocolate #9

noreply@blogger.com (Sotally Tober) — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 00:39:00 +0000

I had heard a lot about this product. All of it good. But when I was first made aware of Chocolate #9 I was already in the midst of my training for Indy. So I followed the advice that any runner would give...don't go trying something new. Stick with what you know. So I waited.

A few days ago, I bought the "trial pack". 3 packets for $4.99, delivered to my house. It arrived lickity-split and so I was able to test it on my long-run today.

I got one word to describe it...AWESOME. You want me to use two words? Alright. FREAKIN' AWESOME! And here's the kick, I'm not even that big of a chocolate fan. But this stuff tastes great, and seemed to work pretty well. Great consistency, great flavor. It's actually so good, I would take one in the middle of the afternoon as a pick-me-up snack. Forget 5-hour energy drinks, Monster, Red Bull, etc. I'd rather have a #9 packet.

If you haven't heard of the product, you can find it here. http://www.chocolateenergygel.com/

Seriously, try it.

The end of 2009 is upon us

noreply@blogger.com (Sotally Tober) — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 22:32:00 +0000

And I'm enjoying it with rest (from running), and will be enjoying it A LOT with friends tonight. Woo-hoo!

This past month I didn't do a lot of running. 22 runs, 135.86 miles. Ran in two 5K's, no runs were longer than 10 miles, and I haven't run since the 27th. A great run, by the way. Felt great. But I've decided that this week is going to be a week of total rest. No running. At all. I can't remember the last time I took a full week off. But I'm going to rest, refresh, and be ready on Monday to get after it again. Marathon training will begin in earnest. And none to soon. As much as I love "just running", I love having a schedule to follow, and a goal to hit every day, even more. I know that isn't always a healthy approach, but it's how I tick. If I were to get injured, I know I can step back and accept taking the time off, and be OK mentally. But when I'm healthy, I want set a path, understand what needs to be done, and get there. So now the next question...

Which marathon? Not sure. I'm leaning pretty heavily towards the Country Music Marathon, in Nashville, TN, on April 24th. It's 16 weeks out from this upcoming Monday. It's the earliest of the races I'm considering. There are several others out there in that general time period, but I have a little time to decide. Currently, I'm not planning to run the Flying Pig this year b/c there's a chance I might be going to the Kentucky Derby (same weekend) with friends who might find a way to get some tickets. I'd love to go to that!!! The Derby is one of those things that every sports fan should attend once, and I have yet to be there. And I love going to the track. I've never had a horse, I've never even ridden a horse, but I think they are one of the most beautiful animals there is. I love going to the track and seeing them. Strong, agile, lightning fast. Kinda like how I wish I was. I'm currently 0-for-3 there, but I like to think I'm still a work in progress. :) So I plan to keep that weekend free, in case they can score some tickets. I've looked at what other races are out there b/w late April and the end of May, and none of them really scream out to me more than Nashville.

What appeals to me about Nashville:
1) I know the atmosphere will be fabulous, b/c it's a RnR race.
2) It'll likely be my wife's first half-marathon too, and that kind of excitement would be a lot of fun for her.
3) It's within driving distance
4) I've never been to Nashville

So I'm about 80% sure that's where I'll be heading. Sounds like fun. After that, I'll throw my name in the hat for the Chicago lottery and see if I can get in. If not, will do the same with NYC. If I get shutout of both, we'll see. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it.

My 2009 totals: 293 runs, one marathon, one half-marathon, one 10K, five 5K's, one marathon DNF, 1,924.28 miles run. This far exceeded what I thought I'd accomplish this year.

This year...this year...2009...

Now that I think about it, I have to say, I've had enough of 2009. More than enough. If there were any more of it, you could have it, I don't think I'd want it. Goodbye 2009! A new year awaits. What will happen? I have no idea, but I'm ready for it. Very ready. Ready to make 2009 a distant memory. But not too distant. Not so distant that I completely forget it, b/c I was reminded just how things can change in a hurry and make you re-evaluate everything you thought was good, or safe, or sure. In the end, nothing is truly certain. I learned that very valuable lesson this year, and I have 2009 to thank. But I'm on to bigger & better things in 2010. I'm ready to enjoy it, take every day as it comes to me, and be thankful of what I have and what I can do. I want to motivate the people around me to live healthy lives. I want my family to feel more loved by me than they ever have. I want to feel like I'm becoming a better person, and a better runner.

And I want a million dollars.

Have a wonderful (and safe) New Year's Eve, and I hope 2010 is as good for you as I hope it is for me.

It's Too Cold to Run?!?

noreply@blogger.com (Sotally Tober) — Sat, 12 Dec 2009 18:06:00 +0000

"Shut up, lace them up, and run damnit!"

This was what I had to tell myself earlier this week when Cincy was hit with it's first true cold snap. Temp was 21 degrees, but it was the wind that was making it tough. Wind chill was 7 degrees. Certainly not unbearable, especially compared to many other areas of the country. But it was cold enough to make me question whether I really wanted to run in it. Ultimately, grudgingly, I decided that I did.

So I went upstairs and started digging my gear out:

Wind briefs, running tights, and fleece lined running pants.
Wicking socks and Smartwool socks.
Nike Coldgear baselayer, Mizuno 1/2-zip jacket, and a nice, heavy fleece.
Two pairs of gloves, fleece hat, fleece headband, and balaclava.
Sunglasses to keep eyes from watering b/c of the high winds.

That oughta do it. Lace up my shoes, grab my iPod, Blackberry, & Garmin, and out the door I go.

My body warmed up within the first 1/2 mile. My hands finally warmed up at around 2 miles, enough so that I peeled off my outer pair. I made sure to run into the wind to start so I could have it at my back to finish. Ultimately, it turned into a very nice 7-mile run.

But here's the point of this post. What I got out of this run was more important than any physical benefit I got from actually running. The conditions sucked. My attitude wasn't very good, and I could easily have packed it in and stayed home. No one would have questioned me. The battle was far more MENTAL than it was going to be physical. But it gave me a chance to remind myself that once I get out there, I love being out there. And when I finished, I re-confirmed something I've always known...I'm can be as mentally tough as I like to think I am. So the next time I think to myself, "Eh, just stay in. The weather is so lousy. You don't need to run today.", I'll remember that it won't be as bad as I think it will be, and I'll likely end up enjoying it, and even be proud of myself for doing it.

Get out there and run, folks. You'll be glad you did.

The Year in Review

noreply@blogger.com (Sotally Tober) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 17:04:00 +0000

I know it's not yet the end of 2009, but I got to thinking about how this year has gone for me. Some goals, I met. Others, I didn't. Still others, I didn't start the year with, but then wondered if I could reach them or not.

For example, I didn't start off the year with a goal regarding how much running I'd do, except to say I expected to run more this year than last year. And given that I planned to train for both a spring & fall marathon, this wasn't going to be too tough to accomplish, barring injury. I finished 2008 with 1,118.0 miles. How far might I run in 2009? I wasn't sure.I simply trained for the events I wanted to run, and let the miles add up. But then I started getting to the point that I thought I might be able to reach 2,000 miles run for the year. That blew me away. I hadn't realized I had a shot at 2,000 miles until around late September. At that point, I kinda, sorta thought that might be a goal. I finished October at 1,684.0 and thought I had a real shot at it. But I did a very minimal amount of running in November, as I recovered from my marathon on 11/7. And as a result, at the end of November I was at a total of 1,788.4. So 2,000 is out of reach. Eh, that's OK.

I put in 31 miles this past week, and hope to put in another 135-140 or so by year's end, as I start to ramp my mileage back up in preparation for whatever spring marathon I decide to run. So that'll put me just short of 2,000. Still, a good year, IMO. Especially since (knock on wood) I should end the year injury-free! Aside from general aches & pains, of course. On this note, my left knee which I was beginning to worry about if I'd torn something...I'm now of the opinion that I didn't. The pain I was feeling, I haven't felt in weeks. It still aches sometimes, but both knees do that. Nature of the beast when you pound the pavement, right?

Some other goals I had in 2009?

Two marathons. Didn't happen. DNF in the spring. I've come to grips with it, and have put it well behind me. Doesn't bug me anymore b/c I got my marathon in this fall. I don't even really want to consider it a PR, although of course it is, being my first completed 26.2. I think of it more as my baseline marathon, a time simply there to be improved upon. And it will be improved upon! My fall training was short (8-9 weeks, since I decided late which race to run), very casual (nothing but base building, with absolutely no speedwork), and I paid far less attention to my diet than I normally would have. Why did I take this approach? Because this time, I insisted on really wanting to focus on just running the event. I didn't want to get hung up on all the other things I did before the Flying Pig. My diet was going to have to be "good enough". My speed, I didn't care. All the extra hours of sleep I'd get by getting to bed early every night? Nope. Not this time. I was just gonna live my life as if I wasn't running a marathon, and then on race day, run comfortably with no expectations. The benefit of this approach was I put no pressure on myself this time. And because I knew my training was no where near what I did in the spring, I knew I wouldn't get greedy for time on race day. I'd simply run comfortably, for as long as I could. If I had gas in the tank to kick at the end, fine. If I didn't, that was fine too. Turns out I didn't. No big deal. I didn't care how fast I crossed the line. I simply wanted to cross it. Next year...I'll care. My baseline has been set, and now it's time to focus on improvement. Even if it's a slow, gradual improvement.

Other goals?

Run a few 5K's, some for fun, some for time. I ran two for time and set PR's each time. 20:27. Will shoot for a sub-20 next year. The rest, I've run for fun. And I really am having fun with them. I have one more this year.

Start a running podcast. I've got the recorder and mic. I've "practiced" a few times, listened to them, taken notes on what I want to improve on to make it easier to listen to, and I hope to have my first episode out at the start of 2010. I'm a bit self-conscious about how I come across, but I'll get over it. If the episode is honest, open to others, and opinionated, and I feel supports this running community, I'll be very pleased.

Inspire others to start running and living better, healthier lifestyles? I don't know if I've done this or not, because I think the desire to take to the roads is an internal one. I can offer advice. I can give tips & ideas. I can cheer them on, run beside them, or any number of other things. So at best, let's just say I've tried to ENCOURAGE others. I'll support their decisions to the fullest. Ask me for help or to join you on a run, I'll do my best to be there. But inspire? I'm not the person to ask.

Lastly, to continue to learn. Through podcasts, magazines, books, social networks like Twitter & Facebook, and my own experiences, to name just a few sources. Learning more encourages me to run more, and to run better. To take each run a find something in it that I didn't know about myself before. Or to find something that is challenging and overcome it. Not every run can be personal best. But every run should help you to be your best.

That's my 2009 in a nutshell.

2010? Here I come!

Four runners, three PR's - Jingle Bell Run 2009

noreply@blogger.com (Sotally Tober) — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 01:54:00 +0000

This past Saturday, my wife Susan, my 10-year old step-daughter Melanie, and my buddy Jason, joined me for the Jingle Bell Run 5K. Race started at 10AM. Weather was clear, crisp and and cool 36 degrees. Absolutely perfect, in my opinion. We arrived at the race, and quickly met up with Jason. Everybody seemed ready to go. I was going to run alongside Jason, Susan was going to run with Mel.

Jason and I took off, and settled into our pace pretty quickly. I told him to make sure that HE set the pace he was comfortable at, and not let me lead. I would run whatever pace he wanted. He seemed to be doing quite well. We were running comfortably and talking, and really enjoying ourselves. The only somewhat tough part of the course is the C.W. Bailey Bridge. Is it a huge, steep hill? No. Can it look a bit daunting to a beginning runner? Yes. There's some definite slope there. In any case, we ran a really nice race, and finished in 31:54. That's Jason's PR, since it's his first 5K. =) The first of many, I hope.

Melanie and Susan seemed to have had a nice race too. This was Mel's first 5K also. She'd never run a race longer than 1.5 miles, and never run more than 2 miles (twice, this week, with me). But I had no doubt she could handle it. While Sue & Mel did have to walk a little, they finished in about the amount of time I expected. Right at the end, Susan told Mel to take off for the finish. So technically, Mel beat her mom. 41:27 to 41:32. This was also a PR for Susan. The best part of it for her I think was that she felt so much better after this one than she did in her 2 5K's this summer. She felt strong at the finish. She could run the distance w/o walking, but sticking with Mel was a priority. I think Susan's got a sub-40 in her right now, and I think she thinks so too. I suspect she'd like to run another race soon and see. But it won't be the Egg Nog Jog on the 19th. That's in Mt. Adams, which means there might not be a flat section of longer than 0.1 miles throughout the entire race course. It's all hills out there. I will be running it. I mean, free egg nog after the race, at The Wine Cellar. How can you turn that down? You can't. I'm hoping it's "fully loaded" egg nog too. But soon, we'll get Susan into a race she can run and set a new PR.

So three PR's. Can't complain about that. That's a good, good day.

Saran Wrap on my feet?

noreply@blogger.com (Sotally Tober) — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 16:44:00 +0000

Yeah, I actually tried this the other night. It was raining here in Cincinnati, at times pretty hard, but I really wanted to get out and put in a few miles. Well, a night or two before that my wife asked me if I'd ever wrapped my feet in Saran Wrap in order to help keep them dry. Apparently she's read this somewhere. I thought it was kinda silly to even consider when she first asked me. But now I was wanting to run, the rain was coming down, and it didn't seem like it was going to stop anytime soon. Maybe I need to consider this a little more seriously. Hmmmm......

I learned that wrapping your feet isn't all that easy, but I managed. I made sure to wrap beyond my toes, so I could fold the extra over, in order to help keep water from seeping in that way. I grabbed some old running shoes, and I slipped my foot into it. It kinda felt like I'd ripped through it. I took it out, looked it over, and realized I hadn't. Just a strange feeling.

I went out and tried to run through every puddle I could find. If I was going to test this, I might as well do it right. When you go through the puddle, you get this weird cold sensation from the water. But surprisingly, my foot didn't seem to be getting wet. Very cool! I ran 6 miles that night, and my shoes were soaked. But at no point could I feel any water squishing b/w my toes. When I got home, the Saran Wrap was still wrapped around my foot, and my socks were no more wet than normal. The real tell-tale sign for me was my skin. It didn't have the cold, wet, clammy feel to it. I actually think this worked. Well enough that I'll certainly do it again.

So that led me to wonder...why hasn't anyone invented "Saran Wrap booties" for runners to wear over their socks in rain & snow? I'm picturing a sock shaped baggie, with a piece of tape, like on baby diapers, at the top, to cinch around the lower leg to help keep water from coming in at the top. Or does such a product exist? Seems like it would. I can't possibly be creative enough to invent anything.

100th Thanksgiving 10K Turkey Trot

noreply@blogger.com (Sotally Tober) — Tue, 01 Dec 2009 17:31:00 +0000

This past Thursday I ran in the 100th 10K Turkey Trot, in Cincinnati, Ohio. The biggest holiday 10K in the world...according to the organizers. There were over 17,000 runners registered, and it was a beautiful day to run. Sun was out, temps were in the 40's, and only a little bit of a breeze.

I'd gotten a message from my friend Lance, who lives down in Birmingham, Alabama, but has a wife who's from Cincy. He said that he'd be running it, and wanted to know if I wanted to run too. Sounded like a great idea to me, so we made plans to meet up and we'd have a nice run together. He's about to run the St. Jude Memphis Marathon on 12/5, so he wasn't looking to race this 10K, which was A-OK by me. I'm still not 100% recovered from running the marathon in Indy. I have good days, and I have days where my legs still fell fatigued. Thankfully, on this day, my legs felt very good. We planned to cruise around in around 8:30/mile, his planned marathon pace.

First mile was a little on the slow side, but not bad. The rest were all right about on pace. He asked if I wanted to kick it up a bit on the final mile or so, and I said whatever he wanted to run, I'd run right along side of him. I didn't have to worry about a marathon the following week. So we picked up the pace after mile 5. Felt good to stride out a bit and get that turnover. No sprinting, just a nice pickup. Effort level at around 7.5/10. Our splits were...

1...8:41
2...8:18
3...8:21
4...8:25
5...8:21
6...7:14

Finished in a time of 51:19 (8:18/mile). Had a great, great time. Lance picked my brain about what worked and didn't work at my marathon 2.5 weeks earlier, and I was happy to share. We talked about mutual friends, and family, and about how much we were looking forward to the rest of the day. I'd love to run this every year. It's so nice to get up early, get out in those crisp temperatures, and get a nice run in before going and eating like an idiot...which I totally did, and LOVED! =)

He we were at the finish. Happy as could be.

I normally race, and almost exclusively train, alone. And that's fine. I like it that way. I like getting out there to run, and being able to think and reflect on whatever I want to. But to go out for a friendly run, with friends, on a beautiful day, and share that experience is something I very much enjoy too. I hope to do this more often than I do. Matter of fact, this weekend is the Jingle Bell 5K Run. My wife is going to run with Melanie, her 10-year old daughter, and I'm going to run with a past co-worker who has recently taken running back up. He ran 3 consecutive miles for the first time last weekend, and I twisted his arm into signing up for the race. I'll be running alongside him. Can't wait.

2 weeks post marathon

noreply@blogger.com (Sotally Tober) — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 14:44:00 +0000

Not a great 2 weeks. Haven't run much, which is probably good. 17-18 miles the first week, 20-21 this past week. This week I'd like to get in the 30-35 range, especially considering all the food I plan to eat. =)

Knees have ached a fair amount since the race. I expected perhaps the left one would, but even my right one has. Sometimes more than the left! That's part of the reason I've been trying to take it easy.

Upcoming races include the 100th Annual Cincinnati 10K Turkey Trot, and perhaps a 5K the week after. Depends on whether my wife and step-daughter decide to run.

On a non-running related note, I now have my real estate license back. We'll see how that goes. Not the best time to try to get back into the game, but it beats sitting at home, day after day, tooling around the house, goofing around on the computer all day, and trying to decide when to get off my ass to go run. And it certainly beats endlessly searching for jobs on websites, sending resumes all over the place, wondering if anyone will actually look at it, let alone consider me for a position.

Gonna be an interesting holiday season at the Davey household. Very interesting indeed.