A Run to Remember

Today I ran in the 8th Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon. It was a fun race, a good course, and with plenty of aid stations and crowd support. Weather wasn't bad, except for the 20 mph north wind.

Although I enjoyed the experience, I was a little disappointed with my race. I had hoped to finish in 3:50 or better, but could only manage a 3:59. My legs felt tight and tired right from the very start of the race, especially my calves. I kept thinking the muscles would loosen up and things would get better, but they never did. For about the last eight miles I had cramping in my calves. I tried to ignore it the best I could, but it really hurt my time. Also, I had a little intestinal distress beginning at about mile 8 that caused me to stop in a couple of port-a-potties, losing about 5 minutes. Oh well ,this just wasn't my day. Still, a 3:59 isn't bad; I just expected better.

On the other hand, my friend and sometimes running partner, Brian Hoover, had the race of his life. He passed me about 4 miles into the race, and in the process passed a big milestone, going under 3:30 for the first time. His time, 3:27 beat his previous PR by 10 minutes. I'm not sure what he does to train when he's not running with me, but whatever it is, it's working.

A Week of Running

Monday: 4 miles on treadmill in Jonesboro, Arkansas. 1/4 mile warmup + 3 mi @ mp + 1/2 mi @ 8 min/mi + 1/4 mile cooldown. avg pace 8:45

Tuesday: 6 miles with Brian and John. John was blazing fast and went on ahead in the last 2-3 miles. avg pace 8:40

Wednesday: took the day off from running. I am tapering after all!

Thursday: 5 miles with Toby. avg pace 8:56

Friday: 3.3 miles at noon. avg pace 8:52

Saturday: 12 miles. First 3.5 were with the RW group, from 68th & Riverside to Turkey Mountain & back, including the red loop. Next 5 were along the River, 3 of which were at marathon pace or faster. I was going to stop, but then my daughter, Becky, showed up. I did the 3.5 mile loop up to Turkey with her. It was a fun morning of running, about double what I had planned, but they were mostly easy miles.

Total miles for week = 30.3

I won't be running with the group next week. Probably will do 3-4 at lunch on Monday and Tuesday, and then no more running until the marathon on Sunday.

Saturday Medium Long Run

Slept late today and didn't get started with mt run until about 10 am. Started at 68th & Riverside and ran north. Passed Joe, Greg, and Larry after about a mile and a half. They were just finishing their long run. The wind was pretty fierce from the northwest. I'd say about 20 mph. At the pedestrian bridge, I took the Midland Valley trail, then went up Boston to 10th Street. From there I headed to Southwest Boulevard and took the path on the west bank of the river. Here are my splits:

Mile 1: 9:01
Mile 2: 8:45
Mile 3: 8:54
Mile 4: 9:02
Miles 5-7: 28:47 (a little more than 3 miles, avg pace about 9:20)
Mile 8: 8:21
Mile 9: 8:23
1/2 mile or so: 5:07
Mile 10: 8:24
Mile 11: 8:38
Mile 12: 8:25
Mile 13: 9:04
Total time = 2:00:51
Distance approx. 13.7 miles
Avg pace = 8:50

Felt pretty good the whole way. The first half of the run was into the wind. Second half was mostly with the wind, but in mile 11 the wind was kind of gusty and swirling. It was almost harder than running into the wind, which explains why I slowed down about 10 seconds in that mile. Last mile was a cool down.

Well, the major work of preparing for the marathon is over. From here on out, I will be doing shorter runs, and I won't be doing any 2 a days. I will probably do some marathon pace runs, trying to keep at 8:30-8:35 per mile, and next Saturday will be an easy 8 miles.

Hooray! It's Taper Time

I had my last long run yesterday. No other marathoners showed up, so I ran alone. I'm not sure where everyone else was. Brian, the head tatur, was in the Eisenhower Marathon setting a new PR of 3:37:31! Tatur uno was with him. Trail zombie was in bed fast asleep, but he is running the Hogeye Marathon today. Pretty much everyone else deserves a spanking from Coach Kathy when she gets back!

My run yesterday went pretty well. I ran north from 68th & Riverside to the 21st Street bridge and crossed over to the west bank. Then I kept heading north on the trail to Southwest Boulevard, crossed the river again, and headed up to 7th Street. While crossing the river I passed a bunch of runners doing the Osteopathic Scrub Run. Once on 7th, I headed through downtown to Boston, south on Boston to 18th, and then caught the Midland Valley Trail. Went south from the pedestrian bridge back to the starting point in time to catch Bobby, Susan, and Kristin before they left. I think they ran something like 8 miles. From there I headed south and ran on the Creek Turnpike trail to the 11 mile marker and back. Total of 24 miles.

It's been a pretty good last four weeks, and my legs are ready for a rest. Average mileage for the last four weeks is 48.7. Last week's mileage was 53.7. I think I will be ready for OKC.

Tomorrow's the Last Long Run

Tomorrow I'm scheduled to do 22 or maybe 24 miles. It will be the last long run before I start tapering for the Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon. The past week of running has been pretty good, but I am sort of looking forward to the taper. Last Saturday was a 22 miler with a four mile fast finish, which I described in my last blog entry. Tomorrow I will probably go slow the whole way.

Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday I did 4 mile runs at noon. They were pretty close to marathon pace, but felt very easy. Wednesday I did a 4 mile very easy run at noon, 9:45 pace. I needed the rest from Tuesday evening's run. Tuesday evening I did an 8 mile tempo run with Jeff and Toby. We started against a pretty strong wind. Here are the mile splits:

Against the wind: 8:03, 8:21, 8:13, 8:18
With the wind: 7:43, 7:50, 7:47, 7:16

Average pace was 7:57. I was pretty tired after the run and slept well that night.

Thursday evening I started out doing 6 miles at marathon pace. I got 4 miles of running in, but on the way back I passed Sarah, a 13 year old girl who runs with our group. She was beginning to feel a little lightheaded, probably from being overheated in the high humidity, and I walked the 2 miles back to the store with her and Stefanie. I didn't mind at all taking the break from the running. Sarah is going to be a great runner. She is planning on racing a half marathon in the fall, and is already up to 5 miles in her training runs. I can't wait to cheer her on!

Turnout for the long run may be light tomorrow. I have some friends, led by Coach Kathy, in the Paris Marathon, and Brian and others are going to the Eisenhower Marathon. If weather cooperates, he should have a good time, I'm guessing close to a 3:45, but we'll see.