Erie Marathon Recap

     On Sunday I ran the Erie half marathon. It was my first time running this race and this is my recap of the race. I arrived at packet pick up which was located on Presque Isle, Erie.  It was held at the Rotary Pavilion.  I really liked this because everything was there. You picked up your packet and then could browse the few vendors that were there.  Also I liked that the expo was held outside and you had room to move around unlike a lot of the other expo's that are inside and very crowded.  Another nice thing I noticed was if you purchased tickets for the pasta dinner on Saturday it was right there inside the pavilion.  I did not partake in the pasta dinner since I carb. loaded Friday night.

     The packet included your normal swag. A long sleeve t-shirt, some coupons and flyers, a 13.1 sticker, a bumper sticker, a bandanna that was a map of the Isle, and your number and timing chip.  

      I started to get prepared for the race all day Saturday. Starting around 2:00 pm I would sip some coconut water every hour. I made sure not to over eat even though I didn't eat the best meal.  Once in my hotel room I took a hot shower and did some stretching as soon as I got out.  I wore my Zensah Compression socks to bed to help with any pains I had in my legs.   I honestly had one of the worst nights of sleep. I kept waking up every hour on the hour looking at the clock. At 4:30 am the alarm finally went off and I jumped out of bed like it was Christmas morning.  Before getting dressed I ate my Power Bar and had a glass of water. The morning was cold so I was wearing my fleece pants and hoodie over my outfit. We left the hotel around 5 and headed over to the start which was at the same place as packet pick up.  One thing that sucked was how dark it was out. Walking from the car to the starting area was a task in itself.  I ran into some other runners and we managed to find our way. Once in the starting area I waited for my friend Abby so we could warm up together. It was still early and I made the smart decision to use the port-o-potty early before the lines got long.  It was nice not waiting but it was still so dark you couldn't see what you were doing.  I kept thinking to myself this has some kind of accident written all over it.  Luckily I managed to do my business with no mishaps.  

     The full marathon started at 7:00 am so I walked over to watch the start.  After the runners took off I made the smart decision to use the restroom one more time.  This time the lines were a little longer and there were rolls of toilet paper sitting out in front of each unit. I heard someone say "make sure you take in toilet paper because most of them are out."  Thank god I did not need to use the toilet paper.  After relieving myself me and Abby walked to the starting line for the 7:30 half start.  They had people holding signs that said what mile splits so you knew where to stand.  I had no real goal for the race so I started between the 8 and 9 minute per mile sign.  

     

     Like I said earlier I had no time goal for the race, but I did want to run a smart race. My plan was to watch my water intake and just run a comfortable race and see how I felt.  I took some advice from Kristy who said take water every mile even if it is just a sip to stay hydrated.

  

Mile 1- 8:06  I felt good and felt like this was a nice pace to go at. 

Mile 2- 7:55 My shins were hurting, but it wasn't anything to worry about i figured.

Mile 3- 7:53 Still felt really good and my pain in my shins were starting to go away.

Mile 4- 7:45 This was the first time I took some GU. I normally don't take it this early in a race, but I knew that there was some at mile 8 so I figured break the race down into 3 parts. 

Mile 5- 7:46 When I started the race I wore my arm sleeves, at this point I started to get hot and wanted to loose them.  Luckily at mile 5.8 you passed the start and I was able to throw them to Amanda who was watching from the side

Mile 6- 7:35 Seeing people always makes me speed up and I picked up the speed since my adrenaline kicked in.

Mile 7- Somewhere around here is when I noticed my Garmin was not on with the mile markers set up for the race. It was dead on for the first 6 miles then it seemed to be off a bit.  8:21- I know I slowed down because I ran into another runner and broke open my hand held water bottle.  I stopped to make sure it wasn't in the way of any other runners.

Mile 8- 7:54 I was still feeling good, I knew if I wanted to pick up the pace I could, but I honestly wasn't worried about the time. I was still doing everything the way I planned.

Mile 9- 8:01 This mile has the only uphill on the course.  It is a small hill compared to most hills I am used to, so it didn't really phase me.

Mile 10- 8:31 I decided to slow down a bit from here on out. I knew as long as ran under 9 minute miles my time would be respectful. I want to go to Columbus with confidence and this race was giving me just what I needed.

Mile 11- 8:45 

Mile 12- 8:34

Mile 13 and 13.1- 9:34  If you add the times it does not add up with what my official time was.  I finished with a time of 1:46:34        169th overall and 14th in my age group.     

I am very happy with how I did in this race. I set out to execute a smart race plan and I succeeded.  I felt really good and know I could of went faster. This was a great race to build my confidence.

THE MEDAL:

 After getting my medal I got to watch my friend Abby finish. She ran one of her best times and I am very proud of her. 

Overall this was one of my favorite races. The course is super flat and shaded.  Even though we got perfect weather on race day I feel like if it was sunny the trees would of gave us great cover. The expo was small but good and it was really organized.  The race was organized and except for some small things like the toilet paper had no big problems.   If you want a race that isn't too crowded and are shooting for a good time this one is for you.

5 Weeks Until Columbus

      The nights are getting darker earlier. The leaves have begun falling from trees. The weather is starting to change.  Fall looks like it wanted to show up a bit earlier than it should, but with all that also comes the Columbus Marathon.  We are now 5 weeks out and this week was going to be a great gauge of where I was at in my training.

MONDAY: I ran 7 miles at a 9 minute pace.  Followed by doing some pull ups at the park.  This Saturday is the Gladiator Rock n' Run and I still want to make sure that I am ready for the obstacles that will take strength.  Overall I felt pretty good, but I kept asking myself how will I be able to run 9 miles and do obstacles in 2 weeks when I tackle the Battle Frog Race.  I would be lying to you if I told you I wasn't nervous.

TUESDAY: I went to the gym and did a complete body workout. Normally I would focus on one body part a day, but I need to put my body through some torture so I am ready for the obstacle courses. I came home and felt like I was the piece of meat Rocky Balboa beat up on.

WEDNESDAY: I got out of work a bit early so I decided this would be a good day to do a little longer run than normal.  I did a nice 10 miler at 8:40 pace.  I felt good for most of the run except my shins were a bit sore early in the run.  Luckily the pain dissipated and it didn't have any lasting effect on my run.  When I got home I did some push ups and crunches.

THURSDAY:  I decided to use this day as a gym day again. Normally I would run Thursday and Friday, but I figured with a half marathon on Sunday I would only run one of them.  Once again I did a full body workout.  I felt better than I did on Tuesday, but I was still beat.  The one good thing though is strength with help with my running.

FRIDAY:  I wanted to make sure I was on point with keeping my pace, so I just did 4 miles, but the point was to hit exactly 8 minute miles.  I did really well and was only off by a second or 2 for most miles. One thing I noticed was my hips were sore when I was running.

SATURDAY:  Since we weren't heading to Erie until around 3 I decided to wake up and head to the gym.  I did a very light workout mainly focusing on my hips with some core workouts thrown in.

SUNDAY:  I ran the Erie Half Marathon in the time of 1:46:34.  I will write a full recap of the race later this week.  I felt really good most of the race and only had some shin pains early in the race.  I did not set out with a time to finish this in.  I figured with Columbus being in 5 weeks my goal was to just run a smart race. I basically did everything I set out to do, and I am confident in what I can do for Columbus.

This week I am going to work on getting more long runs in and worry less about the gym.  I will still do some lifting and things, but it will be done mostly at home after my runs.  Like I said before these obstacle races are a different thing to do and I am excited to try them, but Columbus is the main goal.

When and how far is your next race?

6 Weeks Till Columbus

This week is the start of my fall "big" races.  On Sunday the 14th I will be up in Erie Pa. to run a half marathon.  I am going into this race with 2 goals: 1. Run about 90 percent of my marathon pace and see where my body is.  I have done the long runs and I feel good after my long runs, but as a lot of us know when you get into a race your adrenaline will take over and you go faster than you practiced for.  2. I am going to work on the hydration aspect of the race.  I am going to act like I am running a full marathon and make sure I take water more often than not.  I have no set time I am looking to get, I am just focusing on running a smart, good race.

MONDAY:  I ran 10 miles with a break at about mile 4.  I ran my first 4 miles to a near by park and once I was there I did some obstacle training. Monkey bars, climbing a rope, and pull ups.  Then I ran another 6 miles to finish up the run.  I have to say I am overly excited for these obstacle races coming up in the next 3 weeks. I still need to do as much upper body training as I can though.  I can see this is going to be harder than I thought.

TUESDAY:  Went to the gym and did a 4 mile tempo run... I ran my first mile at 8:30 pace on the treadmill then dropped to a 8:00 pace for mile 2 and 3. I finished the fourth mile with a 8:30 pace.  I felt really good for running a treadmill which normally gives my shins problems.  I ended the gym with a back and shoulder workout that beat the shit out of me.

WEDNESDAY:  I planned on a 8 mile run at race pace.  Everything was going great until I got to mile 3 when I ran by a friends house and she saw me. She stopped me and asked if I would look at her lawn mower for her. "Sure why not, it's not like I am doing anything at this moment." So I spent about a half hour fixing a mower mid run. Once I get out of my mind set for running it is hard to get back in it, so I came home and went to the gym and lifted for about an hour.

THURSDAY:  I was super excited because football season finally started this day.  I came home from work and quickly got changed and headed out for a 7 mile run. I ran probably one of my fastest 7 mile training runs all year.  I honestly think it was because I wanted to get home and be showered before the start of kickoff.  I felt great though after the run and I am starting to get more confidence in myself.

FRIDAY: I used this day as a rest day and just did some stretching. Even if I am going to take a rest day I still want to stay loose for all these races coming up.  Plus at the ripe age of 35 I know my body isn't what it use to be and doing obstacles are going to be a challenge if I am not in some type of shape.

SATURDAY: LONG SLOW RUN:  That is exactly what it was a nice long slow run.  I finished just short of 20 miles. My legs were sore a bit, but for the most part I felt good.  I didn't want to push it to hard since I have that half this week, but I wanted to still log some miles.  I dropped my pace down to around 10 minutes to make sure I didn't overwork myself.

SUNDAY: TODAY:  I plan on watching the Steeler game. So if your a Browns fan today, I dislike you.  Once the game is over I am taking the dog to the park that has one of those old style obstacle courses.  You know that ones that are numbered and you are supposed to run to each one and then do the workout.  I figure anyway that will help me gain some strength is a good thing.

This week I plan on doing most of my runs early in the week then tapering off a few days before the race. I also plan on hitting the gym hard again this week.

Have you ever had someone stop you mid run to talk or ask you something?  Does it annoy you as much as it does for me?

A MIXED BAG OF TRAINING

     Let's just call this week training for a mixed bag of races.  The Erie Half Marathon is 2 weeks away. The Battle Frog Race is 4 weeks away, and the Columbus Marathon is 7 weeks away.  Luckily while training for Columbus I basically was training for Erie. In fact the Erie race will be a nice little gauge of where I am just a few weeks out.  The Battle Frog Race is something new to me and I just found out I would be doing it on Wednesday so I have just begun my training for that, which in this post you will see I am out of my element as of right now.

MONDAY:  So if you read my post on last Sunday, you know I was nursing a shoulder/neck injury.  When I woke up Monday I felt pretty good and decided running after work would be my true test to see how I really felt.  I wanted to push it a little hard and see how it felt so I did 10 miles at a medium pace.  I finished just a bit over 1 hour and 30 minutes on a course that can be challenging.  I felt good mentally and physically. My neck and shoulder help up for the most part, there was times when it would get sore.  This actually helped because I would focus on that and forget about running all together and it made the time go by quickly.

TUESDAY: One thing I noticed during my 10 mile run was my hips were a bit sore when I was finished so I wanted to do some cross training and work on them.  I did a leg workout at the gym, followed by an Ab workout.

WEDNESDAY:  This was an exciting day for me. I was contacted by the Battle Frog Race Series and it was confirmed that I will be running their 15K Obstacle Race September 27th.  It is a day before the Great Race so it looks like I will be selling my entry.  Normally I would be pissed about missing a race but I get to do the BattleFrog for free and have the perks of media. Pays to blog people.  Now I know I can run 9 miles no problem but the obstacles will be the challenge for me.  I have made it known that I will not deviate from Columbus training so on this day I did a 7 mile tempo run.  My legs were sore from the workout yesterday but I pushed through and still managed to get a decent time.
I am still pushing for someone, anyone to do this race with me.  It may be a little pricey but the medal is nice, and all funds go to a great cause.

THURSDAY:  The more I thought about the Battle Frog race the more I started to question the physical aspect of the race.  Now I am ready for Erie so that is not even a concern, but Columbus means a lot to me.  I redesigned my training program and will throw in 2 days of cross training instead of 1.  I will just make my runs more productive from here on out.  No more junk miles as people would call them.  I headed to the gym again and did a arm workout followed by a core workout.

FRIDAY:  With Erie only 2 weeks away I wanted to get in at least one more really good speed workout.  I headed to the track and did an hour of all different things.  200's, 400's, 100's, 1600's, and I even did some speed work on a hill.  I felt really good, and I even walked away thinking the old Shaun is starting to come back.  I am now excited to see what I can do in Erie.

SATURDAY:  Lets just call this day an eye opening experience.  I woke up and set out on a 18 mile run.  The weather was perfect, overcast and a nice little breeze.  I felt really good for most of the run and I was really paying attention to when I take water.  My lungs felt really good and I had no trouble breathing through out the run. My legs did start to ache towards the end and once again my hips seem to be at the center of the pain.  When I got home all I wanted to do was lay down, but after talking to my cousin Chris my plans changed.  Chris informed me he and his wife would be taking their daughter to the park.  Normally I would make fun of him for going to the park, but on this day I invited myself to go.  I figured what does a park have that I need? The answer my friends is monkey bars. I mean if I am going to train for an obstacle race why not train on things that will be on the course. So if you drive by a park and see a 35 year old man playing with kids, don't call the cops that's just me training.   Anyway, as I am at the park my cousin is coaching me along this climbing/hanging thingy we will call it.   Now let me first say, I always was the athletic type. I have played sports probably from the time I could walk, so I just assumed I still have it.  Ya, I was wrong.  As I am hanging from this thing trying to get across (which I did) this little girl comes over and goes across this thing like it was easy as can be.  This is the point I realized I am out of my element.  So I am going to still train my normal way for Columbus, but I will throw some after run activities in to help build strength.  Like I said I live for a challenge and this is just what I need, plus this will actually benefit me for Columbus.  A stronger, leaner body will only help.

SUNDAY:  Normally I would call this my rest day, but with all these races I have decided to skip the rest day once in a while.  I headed to the gym early and did some shoulder and back workouts. Once again this helps for all the races.  The rest of this day will be spend doing Fantasy Football Drafts.  I have 2 today.  One live one and one online.  I look forward to this day like it's Christmas.

All these races have me very excited, but I have my eyes set on Columbus.  The other 2 races are ways to help me along the way..

Do you have any fall races coming up, and how is the training going for you?