Swedish Fish Instead of GU Gel

Yesterday's run: Linear Trail: Temperature 54 degrees; Splits 9:05; 9:01; 9:02; 9:17; 9:05; 8:53; 54:23 total for 6 miles; 9:03 per mile pace.

Tuesday's Run: Road: Temperature: 63 degrees; 5.1 miles; 45:40; 8:57 per mile pace. Splits: 9:02; 9:14; 9:10; 8:59; 8:31; .44.

Yesterday I was a desperate man. I was out of GU Gel (my order arrives today), and I wanted something to have while running. Enter Swedish Fish. I decided that they would be a suitable substitute since they met my minimum requirements: 1) Easy to chew and suck on; 2) Have 36 grams of carbs; and 3) easily fit in my pocket. I loaded my pockets with about ten of them (Hey, they're small), and drove to the linear trail. It was cold. Cold enough to wear a shirt over my technical running shirt. Not cold enough to stop me from wearing shorts, however. My goal was to run 6 miles at a 9 minute pace. I didn't. It was a "blah" run. I never really felt like I got into a rhythm. I felt some minor pain in my left heel, which hasn't bothered me in a while. My splits were consistent at least, except for mile 4, but that's due to me slowing down and turning around on the trail at mile 3. The Swedish Fish didn't help me either. Now that I think about it, they probably did more harm than good. Oh well.
Tuesday's run was also a "Ho Hum" run. Nothing exciting, just 5.1 miles on the road. I had decided to take it easy since I had run the 17 miler 3 days earlier, and am in a taper period. After 4 miles, I was 25 seconds over a 9 minute per mile pace, and decided that was unacceptable. So I picked up my pace, ran a 9:15 last 1.1 miles, and finished averaging an 8:57 per mile pace.
Last night I was one click away from entering the Hartford Marathon. It was the last day to enter before fees went up another $10. So with only 9 days to go, I'm still not entered. I'm procrastinating for a few reasons. First, it's going to be a training run for me for the NY City Marathon. My Jeff Galloway Run-walk-run marathon training schedule has me scheduled to run-walk-run a 28 miler the day after the Hartford Marathon. I already know that won't happen unless I enter the Hartford Marathon. I will find every excuse in the world to either cut the run short, or not do it at all. I don't have the desire or motivation to run that long and that far by myself. It's a pain worrying about carrying nutrition and water, and as I've whined about before, I hate running long distances by myself. That being said, the Hartford Marathon would take care of all that. Second, I'm competitive, and not sure how well I can refrain from over doing it if I enter the Hartford Marathon. Ideally I should complete it in about 4:45-5 hours. Realistically, my pride and ego are standing in my way. Do I want to tell people it took me that long to finish it, and then go into the disclaimer that it's a training run for NY? I'm so anal about this that I'm actually thinking about having a shirt made and wearing it with a disclaimer on it to the effect of: "I'm walking and running for a reason, and this is just a training run for the NY City Marathon so my time doesn't matter and I just want to complete this marathon without dying or injuring myself." But I think all that's too much to put on a shirt. My third and last reason for not yet entering is the weather. I'm keeping an eye on the extended forecast. If it's supposed to rain heavily, then I probably won't enter. Yeah I know-what a wimp. But I'm off from work for that Saturday, Sunday, and Monday, so I could always run another day instead. (Which is bull, as I explained in my "First" above.)
AUTISM SPEAKS FUNDRAISING UPDATE: $300 to go, 16 days to go!! It's not too late to donate. Click on the link to the right if you are able to donate some money. Thanks!!

So Long, Doubt!

Today's run-walk-run: Temperature: 63 degrees; 17 miles; 2:59:03; 10:31 per mile pace. Splits: 9:59; 10:15; 10:06; 10:15; 10:27; 10:22; 10:24; 10:43; 10:30; 10:22; 10:18; 10:29; 10:06; 14:15 (stopped home and refueled); 9:46; 10:27; 10:19.

I'm satisfied with today's run of 17 miles. I'm satisfied with a total of 52.1 miles run for the week. I NEVER run close to that many miles for the week. I finished about three hours ago, and the aches and pains are minimal. Even purple toes are happy. Left brain wasn't a factor. I shut him right down. It was cooler and windy, and near the end of my run I felt under dressed. That's Connecticut weather. Within the course of my 3 hour run, the wind increased and the temperature decreased. AS much as I would have liked to run 20 or more miles, I decided to stop at 17 because of the weather and because I wasn't hydrated enough. I didn't wear my hydration belt, and from mile 9 on I was craving water. At one point I almost stopped at a cemetery, filled and drank from a watering can I saw there, but decided that wouldn't be a smart move. So as I arrived home st mile 13.6, I headed right for our water cooler. After chugging a few glasses of water, I was back on the road. It didn't help that I am out of energy gels also. My order from Road Runner Sports won't arrive until Thursday. Poor planning on my part. So my strategy had been to run without my hydration belt, since it was cool outside and the belt weighs me down; plus carry a Creamy Citrus PowerBar and break off pieces as needed. Dumb move on my part, since the PowerBar wasn't a good substitute for a gel (too think and chewy), and it made me even more thirsty. So as I said, after chugging some water, I was back on the road, and it then felt cold outside since duh, I had left my warm home. Also, as I ran, I suddenly started having "cotton mouth syndrome." My mouth was drier than it's ever been. Go figure. I stop and drink water, begin running again, and now my mouth and body craved even more water. I've never had my mouth be as dry as it was then. At that point I decided not to take any unnecessary chances by attempting 20 plus miles. I looped back towards home, and completed my 17 miles with enough distance left to have a nice slow cooldown walk before going inside. As I crunch some numbers, If I take 4 minutes off of the 14:15 mile 14 split that is inflated due to my stop home, my adjusted time of 2:55:03 would average out to a 4:29:58 marathon, take or give a little. Considering I ran-walk-ran at a 4 minute run and a 1 minute walk pace. I'm OK with the time. I must say though, as I've said before, I do not like to run long distances by myself. Yes, I had music to listen to, but nothing beats running in a race and taking advantage of the water and gel stops. Even more important, running with other people in a race definitely motivates me to do better. It's too easy to dog it when I do the solo run, although that wasn't the case today. Had I not had the hydration issue, I think I could have run 20 plus miles...maybe even a marathon. But, I know I made the right decision to stop. Better I stop today so I can run another day! P.S. I've become a Facebook addict! If any of you want to add me as a friend, scroll down and click on my link near the bottom right.

I Wish...

WARNING: Whiney baby post ahead!
I wish I had a running buddy to run with today. I want to do a long run; I NEED to do a long run of 15 or more miles. Lurking in the back of my mind is "doubt." Doubt that I still have the capability to even run-walk-run 15 or more miles without "falling apart." Doubt that I should run the Hartford Marathon in two weeks as a practice run for the NY City Marathon on November 1st (5 weeks, 1 day to go). By not successfully run-walk-running this past Sunday's scheduled 26 miler, I cannot lie: Doubt remains in my mind. My next scheduled long run is 28 miles, a run-walk-run the day after the Hartford Marathon. I want to defeat doubt. I want to nail a 15 miler or longer today and permanently erase doubt from my mind. I think left brain has teamed-up with doubt to do this. I hate left brain; I hate doubt; and I hate running long distances by myself. I was going to run a half marathon race tomorrow, but the weather forecast calls for thunderstorms. So today's the day I have to run. This sucks...

Confidence Restored

Today's run: Linear Trail: Temperature 78 degrees; Splits 8:56; 8:35; 9:00; 8:52; 8:47; 9:09; 8:48; 8:49; 8:46; 8:51; 1:28:33 total for 10 miles; 8:51 per mile pace.

Yesterday's Run: Road: Temperature 80 degrees. Splits 8:40; 8:55; 8:32; 8:26; :47: 35:20 for 4.1 miles; 8:37 per mile pace.

I'm feeling good again. The past two day's runs have been successful, and my times are where I want them to be. Yesterday's road run was a short one, but I purposely did that so I could run the 10 miler today. Overall I averaged an 8:37 per mile pace, well below my goal of 9 minutes or better. I'm encouraged by the last two miles being run in 8:32 and 8:26. I guess knowing that it was a scheduled short, easy run is one trick to build up my confidence.
Today's run was better than I expected it to be. Running the linear trail on a fall day, with the leaves changing color, the temperature cooler, the humidity less, and the smell of fallen leaves made it all worthwhile. So did seeing my blogging buddy Carlee at the 2 1/4 mile point of my run. She was running the opposite direction, and I didn't realize until the last second that it was her speeding by. We exchanged a few words of encouragement, and kept going our separate ways. I wish I had known it was her earlier so I could have thanked her in person for being so supportive. I thought about turning around and trying to catch up with her after we passed, but didn't want her to think I was stalking her. Besides, she's faster than me, so I would have never caught up to her anyhow! So far I've run 35.1 miles this week. I'm still deciding what to do the next three days. I will probably use tomorrow as a rest day, or if I'm ambitious I'll run 5 miles. Same plan for Saturday. I'll probably skip the half marathon on Sunday. It's supposed to rain when it's being run, and I'm still thinking that I need to do one last 20 plus mile run. So if I do it, Sunday would be the day. Unfortunately I'd probably have to miss the NY Giants football game in order to have time to do the run. That's not good. Oh the sacrifices we must make as a runner. Yup, the Hartford Marathon, if I run it, and the New York City Marathon as I've said all along will be my last. This 53 year old man wants some of his family time and fun time back.
FUNDRAISING UPDATE: $2200 raised, $400 to go! I still have 23 days left to raise the money...

A Fun Idea to Help all of Us Be Motivated

As some of you know, I had my cell phone with me this past Sunday for my (semi-successful) long run. It was both fun and motivating to receive encouraging text messages from Carlee as I ran. It was also nice to know that some of you would have also text me had you known about it. Here's a thought. Talk to all your blogging friends who run, and offer to text them during their next long run. I'm not familiar with Twitter, but if that can be done via cell phone while they run, offer that option also. I'm not sure if this is feasible for most people as they run, but I just thought I'd throw it out there to the blogging world of running. OK, stop reading, and go offer to text/tweet our fellow runners!

SUCCESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Linear Trail: Temperature 72 degrees; Splits 9:02; 8:56; 9:04; 8:53; 8:55; 44:50 total for 5 miles; 8:58 per mile pace. (Planned pace was 9:00 or better).

Thank-you! Thank-you to the 8 of you who wouldn't allow me to wallow in self pity after my last post. An additional thank-you to Carlee, who valiantly attempted to text me to success on Sunday. None of you accepted the invitation to my pity party. I needed that. After taking yesterday off to recover mentally and physically, I was back to what I love to do: running the Farmington Canal Trail. Yup, I took the easy way back, but so what? I ran 5 miles, and it felt good. Sorry, but I don't have anything exciting to report about the run.
Decision making time this week. Decision 1: Do I run the Niantic Bay Half Marathon this Sunday? I ran it last year, and I like the race and the course. BUT, if I'm running the Hartford Marathon on October 10th (Which is decision #2), Sunday would be the first day of my two week marathon taper. I want to think I'll be ready to run the Hartford Marathon. Since August 1st, my runs longer than 10 miles have been 20 miles (run-walk-run)on August 8th; 23 miles (run-walk-run) on September 5th; 12.4 miles on September 7th; and the 16 miles (run-walk-run) I did this past Sunday. I really would like to get more more run of over 20 miles in before the Hartford Marathon. My only chance would be this Sunday, instead of running the half marathon race. So I'm stuck as far as what to do. I'll probably skip the half marathon and attempt another 20 plus mile walk-run-walk this Sunday. If successful, then I would feel as if I was better prepared for the Hartford Marathon, and would register for it. My only fear is that I psych myself out and bomb again on my long run Sunday. I am not good at running long distances by myself. The boredom drives me crazy, and having to wear my hydration belt weighs me down, especially after I refill the water bottles halfway through my run. Now I know how racehorses feel. After I stopped home and refilled my water bottles Sunday, it felt impossible for me to regain my running legs. I think that the added weight along with not running slower splits caught up with me and wore me down. Attending a 50th birthday party the day before and drinking beer and eating cake certainly didn't help either. All that being said, my goal this week is to run about 35 miles total and get in one last long run.

FAILURE

Attempted 26.2, made it about 15, walked home the last mile plus. Just not a good day-my legs ran out of energy. How humiliating...