Chicago Marathon (How Not To Marathon)

Run a perfect 15 miles... Get tripped... Fall.. and walk the rest. That is the whole story.

Day One Return to Base

Nice easy 11 miles at a nice pace. My hamstring issue is still there, but I am going to see if I can work it out with a fair amount of easy mileage. I am starting 10 weeks of base building the old Lydiard style. Going to build up to 75-80 miles if the weather and my body cooperates. After the base phase I will decide what Spring event I am going to sign up for and as I enter phase 2 adjust my training to fit that goal. Pretty much not much to talk about here for the next 10 weeks baring injury and or bad weather.

Recovery

Recovery after a marathon can be difficult. I have a 21 day recovery plan that I am going to take full advantage of. After this long, hot, past year nothing feels better than just stretching and being on the bike for a little bit. I took the first 5 days off completely, and started my active recovery on my bicycle on day 6. Yoga, foam roller, biking 1 hour at a sub 110 hr just to get the blood moving. Took yesterday off (trying to beat this cold), will bike for 1/2 hour, roll, stretch and take a short easy 2 mile jog this evening. Week two will introduce a little jogging back into my life 3 times a week.. Pretty easy, and when I feel that my body is fully recovered I am going to start my base training for my spring event. Moving into Fall and Winter makes me nervous. The Midwest can be cold and dark for many months. I am going to take full advantage of any and all days between now and January to rack up a new base. I feel that I can (in the cold and dark) hit 75 miles a couple times before I move into the hill/strength/speed and MP phase of my winter training. I feel that I am 90% recovered from my last couple months of training and my accident that happened at Chicago. I am going to start running again while in NY next weekend, but not start any real training until the 3rd of November.

Chicago

I have finished packing for Chicago. After I pick up my son from school we are hitting the highway for a quick ride to the other side of lake Michigan for my first Chicago marathon and the final event of my 2012 running season. It has been a wonderful year filled with many early mornings, hours of countless miles, track workouts, blisteringly hot temperatures, humidity, snow, ice, a close call with a head injury, and a strong desire to transform myself into a marathoner. Marathon training will change you. Being a runner changes who you are, being a marathoner changes what you are. After a year of almost 3000 miles on the roads in preparation for one 26.2 mile race, I am more than I was last October. I have shed a skin or two, and am a beast warrior who has no fear of the final battle of 2012. I know I sound cheesy making it sound like there has been a war going on for the last 52 weeks or so, but I have battled many demons on the road to Chicago, and I am proud to say I have won. On Sunday I will take the first step towards my goal of qualifying for the Boston Marathon as a masters runner. I knew going into this year that qualifying for Boston would be a long term goal hashed out over a couple of well thought out and executed training cycles. I turn 40 1 year and 7 days from the 2012 Chicago Marathon. This 7 day extra window enables me to squeeze in one more Chicago marathon in 2013 as a 39 year old and hit my goal in 2014. I feel that by the fall of my 40th year I will have given myself enough time to get myself into the best shape of my life and truly be competitive again. I love to take the long, slow and difficult path in life. Sunday, I will lay down my first time trial and re adjust my goals from there. Victory is sweet when you are stronger than your demons think you are. As for a prediction. I am if all things go as planned and my body holds itself together for one more run planning on a 3:18 finish time. This would put me in the top 2000 or so and make me very happy. To be honest anything under 3:20 will make me happy. Endurance is something that is built up over time. Time is something I have to give. One of the reasons I love this sport so much is that you get out of it what you put into it. I am ready to give it my all.

Just Go For It

I am injured but will not give up. 26.2 miles to go until I can successfully end this season. Come on body.. One more run, one more please.

Injured

After all of this training I am not looking for any excuse for a poor performance on Sunday. I did everything right. I have been healthy for an entire year and now I have a hamstring thing. I have 3 days to stretch and stretch and stretch and try to work this thing out a little bit. Last night I warmed up and ran at marathon pace and found that my left leg would not cooperate. I am going to the line on Sunday no matter what. I am going to hit my pace and see if I loosen up as I warm up. If not, I will try to remember that things like this happen and that while marathon training you walk a thin line between being healthy and being injured everyday. For some reason my body has decided that it wanted to go on the other side of the line. Not happy at all. I keep on telling myself that all I need is to run 26.2 miles and then I can rest for a month. A month. I hope my body is listening. Okay Chicago, we will have to see.

40s

Weather predictions for Sunday are looking pretty good. Anything under 55 degrees is perfect for me and we are going to get weather in the 40s. How amazing is that? All summer we training in record heat, and to get a break on race day is a true blessing. Finishing up this taper and getting ready to roll. My race plan will be to start off for the first 10 miles at a pace 5 seconds under my planned finish time. 10 miles @ mp pace and then try my best to negative split with the last 10k. The final 3 miles of Chicago is one long straight away and I am looking forward to letting my legs run for one last aggressive 5k. If all goes well the 100,000 cheering Chicago folk will give me the boost I need to get it done. I have done the work, now its time to let myself run my race.