My New Goal Race

On August 16th, I started training for the Boston Athletic Association’s Half Marathon. The trouble is that only gave me 8 weeks to prepare. I started diligently training the race but am nervous I am not giving myself enough time to properly train for the distance. Up to this point, I was simply doing maintenance work outs. In the past, I have typically used a 12 week training program for a half marathon. This makes me feel a little nervous about how I will do in this race. I am not worried about finishing, I am simply wondering if I will be able to run a good race or burn out along the way.

My training program will consist of Sunday long runs with the longest being 14 miles in Week 5. On Mondays I will do alternating recovery runs of 6 or 8 miles. Tuesdays will be reserved for my speed work which will consist of mile repeats. My day off will be Wednesday. Thursdays will be reserved for tempo runs at my goal pace of 8:00 per mile. Friday will be a recovery run day of between 6 and 7 miles. Finally, Saturday will be a medium long run at a comfortable pace. My biggest mileage week will be 50 miles.

The question is whether or not 8 weeks will be enough time to properly prepare for a half marathon. I have been averaging over 30 miles per week since running the Boston Marathon. I have consistently logged 2 runs of 10 miles each week. This makes me feel that if I can get in both the speed work and tempo runs with out any problem I will be ready when the time comes. I am certainly not a couch potato so there should be no issues with my training as long I a stay in tune with my body and don’t push it if I am feeling tired or sore. I want to make sure that I avoid any injury, over-training or unnecessary fatigue. As you know, these situations could force me to stop running which will result in a negative impact on my overall fitness and my race.

This leads me to my goals for the next 8 weeks. First, I will be consistent. I will do my scheduled work outs diligently. Second, I will use the solid base of miles I have been running to build up my long run mileage without the risk of injury. Third, I will do the speed work and tempo runs necessary to become a better runner and be able to feel my goal pace rather than have to look at my Garmin. And, finally, having learned the proper pacing that will allow me to try to achieve a PR; I will strive to always finish stronger than when I started my run.

Wish me luck. This will be the shortest period of preparation I have ever tried prior to running a race of this distance or longer. I will just have to keep in mind that I am doing this for fun not glory. The key to running is to have fun and enjoy the experience despite what may happen on race day.

Here are may totals since my last post:

Aug. 8 – 10.10 miles (1:30:15, 8:56 pace)
Aug. 9 – 6.20 miles (56:46, 9:10 pace)
Aug. 13 – 6.00 miles (53:07, 8:51 pace)
Aug. 16 – 6.20 miles (53:14, 8:35 pace)
Aug. 17 – 3.00 miles (23:18, 7:46 pace) – Speed work, 5K pace
Aug. 18 – 6.10 miles (49:11, 8:05 pace) – Tempo Run
Aug. 20 – 6.10 miles (55:26, 9:06 pace)
Aug. 21 – 7.10 miles (1:07:22, 9:37 pace)
Aug. 22 – 10.10 miles (1:37:49, 9:37 pace)
Aug. 23 – 6.20 miles (56:20, 9:05 pace)
Aug. 25 – 5.80 miles (49:14, 8:29 pace) – Speed work, Mile Repeats
Aug. 26 – 6.10 miles (48:38, 7:59 pace) – Tempo Run
Aug. 27 – 6.10 miles (54:47, 8:59 pace)
Aug. 28 – 8.20 miles (1:12:11, 8:48 pace)

Total Miles: 93.30 miles
2010 YTD Miles: 1,133.30 miles

Letting go...

I have been trying to come up with a blog post for the past two weeks. But, it has been really difficult to focus on running topics. You see this week my wife and I are taking our son Nathan to New Orleans to start college at Tulane University. Needless to say this has been top of mind as we prepare ourselves for a new phase in our life together. Our family dynamic will forever change.

It made me think about my trip to college for my freshman year. There I was thirty-one years ago sitting on a plane on my way to Dallas/Fort Worth for my first year of college. My parents had driven me to the San Diego airport with my trunk and suitcase and gave me a bug hug before putting me on the plane. As I sat there thinking about what was ahead, I felt like I was now an adult. I was emancipated from my parents and I was going to be responsible for making all my own decisions. A friend of our family picked me up at the airport for the drive over to TCU. We pulled up in front of Brachman Hall and the next thing I knew I was truly on my own in a strange place and I didn’t know anyone.

What a difference moving into college is today. Instead of dropping your child off at the airport and saying, “See you at winter break”; Bev, Mara, and I are all going down to New Orleans to be there to help Nathan move into his dorm. On Sunday we will go to receptions at various places around the Tulane Campus allowing us to see what lies ahead for our son. We will have a chance to see where he is going to live. We will meet his roommate. We will get to see where he will be going for High Holiday services. My parents did not see any of these things until they came out for Parents Weekend a full 5 or 6 weeks after I had arrived on campus. I am not sure if the move in events are more for the students or the parents.

As I reflected on leaving home and embarking on the next phase of my life, I remember how scared and excited I was at the same time. I would be able to make all of my own decisions. I could stay up as late as I wanted. I could do anything I wanted and suffer the consequences for my actions. I am not sure how my parents felt that day when they sent me off to TCU. I don’t recall either of them being particularly emotional as we said good-bye. They could have been hiding it from me so that I wouldn’t feel any trepidation about leaving. I have never asked them. But, I do know that I am a bit emotional about my son leaving home. I will do my best to not show it when we say that final good-bye on Sunday evening.

I am sure that Nathan is feeling many of the same feelings I felt those many years ago. The big difference is that I am looking at it from the other side this time. I am having to let Nathan go. I know that he will not only get a great education at Tulane but he will also have many new adventures during his four years there. My hope is that we raised him well and that any trouble he gets into will be minor. I also hope that he will meet some great people and gain lifelong friends like I did during my years at TCU. I really do enjoy seeing the excitement on his face when he talks about living in New Orleans and going away to school. It makes me believe that when I see him next, he will be more mature and have started to find his own niche in the world.

My other hope is that even though Nathan is not going to be part of the Tulane Cross Country or Track Team that he keeps running. When I was his age, I really didn’t like to run at all. It wasn’t until I moved back to Fort Worth from Las Vegas in 1986 that I took up running in hopes of trying to stay in shape. Little did I know that it would become a life long passion. Nathan does love running and I know that he will continue to run while at Tulane. He may even join the school’s running club. It is probably selfish of me to want him to stick to it. The main reason is that I really want to run a marathon with him some day. He always says that he is a sprinter and would never be able to run a marathon. I felt the same way when I signed up for my first marathon. I know that if he puts his mind to it, he can finish a marathon and in a much faster time than his old man. What will make it special for me regardless of how much faster he is will be the fact that we conquered the distance together.

Nathan and I had some great adventures over the past 19 years. I really appreciated the fact that he was willing to share all of his Scouting years with me. It is now time to let him go off and have his own adventures. It will be my job now to sit back and enjoy hearing his stories. What I need to do now is recognize who he has become and find solace in the fact that Bev and I helped him become the man he is today. I will admit here that when we do leave him on Sunday I may shed a few tears. But, I need to remember to celebrate the moment and the successful young man we are leaving behind. My mother is really fond of our Native American culture. There is a Navajo proverb that says: "We raise our children to leave us." What we have to understand is that the penultimate moment of parenting is when your child sets off on his own in a confident manner. He couldn’t have done it without our guidance. I will miss him. But, at the same time, I wouldn’t want it any other way.

A few Zs Are Good For You

For those who have been reading this blog for a while know, in addition to running, I spend a lot of my free time performing with various community theater groups near and in my home town of Westborough. As you can imagine most rehearsals are in the evenings after work and I don’t usually get home until well after 10 p.m. This means that many times when the alarm clock goes off at 5:00 am for me to get up and out for my morning training run, I am not as well rested as I should be. It made me wonder whether or not sleep deprivation interfered with my running performance.

When I went back and looked through my running log, I noticed that as long as I had at least 6 hours of sleep the night prior to a training run, I was able to finish the run at the pace I had set out in my training schedule. However, if I didn’t get the requisite 6 hours, my runs did suffer. But, only when I had less than 6 hours of sleep for 2 or more nights in a row. It dawned on me that I need to have a consistent sleep pattern, not just a set amount of sleep on any given night.

I have read several articles over the years that discuss the "optimal" amount of sleep needed to perform at your peak level. The consensus is that there is no “optimal” amount. It varies from runner to runner. What I do know is that I don’t have the luxury of being able to sleep 8, 10 or 12 hours a night like my teenage children. This is due mostly to the various daily activities I have to do each day. The key then is to figure out how to get enough sleep to allow me to be able to complete the workouts I need to enable me to get to the starting line well prepared for future races.

Since I know I will not be able to get more than 6 maybe 7 hours of sleep on any given night, I try to get in a couple of naps on the weekend after my long runs. I have found that a short 15-20 minute nap in the afternoon always provides me with a fresh burst energy. I am not a big caffeine drinker as I don’t like coffee and rarely drink tea. Most of my caffeine comes from soda. Since I am a runner and have lost the weight I wanted to lose, I have tried to really limit the number of sodas I drink during the week. Not only that soda is simply not good for you and is just a bunch of empty calories.

If you are having issues completing your training runs or having trouble during a particular work out, you may want to go back and assess how much rest and sleep you are getting each night. I suspect you will find that you are a bit sleep deprived. If so, you need to either increase your hours of sleep each night or plan a few naps. A planned nap is simply taking a nap before you actually get sleepy. This is what I do when I know that you will be up later than usual and I have a particularly tough work out the next day. The only thing you need to keep in mind is that if you nap too late in the day, it might affect your nighttime sleep making it difficult to fall asleep when you go to bed that night. Since I run in the early mornings, I typically will take a nap before lunch.

By now you are probably thinking, what does this really have to do with running. I can only tell you that from personal experience getting enough sleep is a key factor in being able to perform at your highest level. But, if you can't get those needed hours of sleep at night, a nap is a great way in improve your mental and physical capabilities. Try it some time, you may find you like it. I know I do.

July 25 – 10.00 miles (1:34:00, 9:24 pace)
July 26 – 6.10 miles (53:21, 8:45 pace)
July 27 – 3.50 miles (29:15, 8:22 pace) – Speed work, Mile Repeats
July 29 – 6.10 miles (49:07, 8:03 pace) – Tempo Run
July 31 – 9.10 miles (1:19:53, 8:46 pace)
Aug. 1 – 10.10 miles (1:32:19, 9:09 pace)
Aug. 2 – 6.00 miles (54:13, 9:02 pace)
Aug. 3 – 4.00 miles (34:10, 8:33 pace) – Speed work, Yasso 800s
Aug. 5 – 6.10 miles (48:49, 8:00 pace) – Tempo Run
Aug. 6 – 6.10 miles (56:40, 9:18 pace)
Aug. 7 – 10.10 miles (1:29:12, 8:55 pace)

Total Miles: 77.20 miles
2010 YTD Miles: 1,040.00 miles