The time is rapidly approaching for my Marathon. I am under 2 weeks and I only have one more "long" run before then. Even that run won't be long by most standards as it will only be 10 miles. I am nervous but at the same time, I think I have done all that I can do. It is odd to feel nervous about a competition where my only competition is myself. Yes, there will be other runners but as I will be nowhere near the front, this will be a race against only my expectations. It will be odd to see how I judge myself. Mere completion should be enough for a "victory" but will I allow that emotion if I don't reach my time goal?
We are just outside of the 10 day window that weather.com provides a forecast for. Based on earlier in the week and historical temperatures it should be in the low 40's at the start of the race and into the upper 50's by the end. 60 degrees is ideal but I'll take cooler over warmer EVERY time.
In my last real training run on Saturday I ran 14.1 miles in 1:57:58. That is about 8:22 per mile. If I could run that pace on race day I would far exceed my goal of a 4 hour marathon. Anything faster than 9:05 per mile will get me in under 4 hours. Of my 7 training runs over 18 miles, only one was slower than that pace and that was the first one that I wrote about where it was into the high 80's and I got dehydrated badly. Shouldn't be a problem running in the 40's...
I still haven't reached my fundraising goal of $1000 for Diabetes Action, but there is still time and still some "pledged" donations out there... It will be close. For those of you who "have been meaning to make a donation" now is the time. Follow the link on the right...
My 15 day moving average for my weight puts me at 186.8-187.4 depending on which of the two tools you believe that I use. I most certainly won't make the 183 which would give me a BMI under 25 but 185 is not out of the question... but still unlikely. Either way, I am more than happy with the 13-14 lbs I have lost since last year's half marathon. It is certainly harder to loose weight the closer I get to my ideal weight.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Monday, October 20, 2008
3 Week Countdown
What once felt like forever away is rapidly approaching. No, I am not talking about election day 2008. Although, that is the same week... I am less than 3 weeks away from my marathon on November 8th. I am a little nervous but when I’m nervous I reflect back on where I have been and that generally brings a feeling of empowerment. It is almost surrealistic to see pictures of me now compared to pictures of me in 2001-2003.
The months of preparation now wind down in what runners call the taper. It is a gradual reduction of weekly mileage leading up to the race. My long runs the next two weekends will be 14 and 10 miles respectively which will come as a nice rest. I have six runs in excess of 18 miles under my belt, three of them over 20. I’ve run over 1100 miles in the last 14 months. My 15 day moving weight average is 187.7 which is roughly 87 lbs below my all time high and about the weight I was as I left to South Africa as a 19 year old. At my peak I wore 42" waist pants, now my 32" pants require a belt and I need to move to at least a 31" if not a 30". Just two years ago I completed my first 5k and celebrated the fact that I broke 30 minutes during that run (by 10 seconds), I now complete the distance in 21 minutes. No pun intended, I have come a long way.
Thank you to all those who have supported my running and my fundraising. I am always humbled when I get an email notifying me that a donation has been made in my name. My fundraising is at $615 right now with a handful of others who have "pledged" donations. I am still hopeful to reach my $1000 goal, which is just amazing to me!
The whole experience has also reinforced the notion that anything is possible with enough work and sweat put in. I hope many of you have been inspired to set your own goals and work towards them. If you have, let me know how I can support your effort like you have supported mine. Until then, keep me in your prayers… please. I need them more now than ever.
The months of preparation now wind down in what runners call the taper. It is a gradual reduction of weekly mileage leading up to the race. My long runs the next two weekends will be 14 and 10 miles respectively which will come as a nice rest. I have six runs in excess of 18 miles under my belt, three of them over 20. I’ve run over 1100 miles in the last 14 months. My 15 day moving weight average is 187.7 which is roughly 87 lbs below my all time high and about the weight I was as I left to South Africa as a 19 year old. At my peak I wore 42" waist pants, now my 32" pants require a belt and I need to move to at least a 31" if not a 30". Just two years ago I completed my first 5k and celebrated the fact that I broke 30 minutes during that run (by 10 seconds), I now complete the distance in 21 minutes. No pun intended, I have come a long way.
Thank you to all those who have supported my running and my fundraising. I am always humbled when I get an email notifying me that a donation has been made in my name. My fundraising is at $615 right now with a handful of others who have "pledged" donations. I am still hopeful to reach my $1000 goal, which is just amazing to me!
The whole experience has also reinforced the notion that anything is possible with enough work and sweat put in. I hope many of you have been inspired to set your own goals and work towards them. If you have, let me know how I can support your effort like you have supported mine. Until then, keep me in your prayers… please. I need them more now than ever.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Shadow Dance
Well, we have expanded the John household once again. This time Jamie didn’t have to suffer through 9 months of discomfort to do it. We have added a dog to the mix much to the delight of all of my kids. Here he is, Shadow. He appears to be a Weimaraner/Labrador mix. He is a bit too dark for a Weimaraner but is distinctly gray/silver which is really unheard of for pure Labs.
Last Friday shortly after I arrived at work one of my coworkers came inside and asked if I had seen the puppies. Going out to investigate we found two puppies roughly 3-4 months old had been abandoned in our parking lot. One of the two puppies was very friendly and immediately made a connection with me. I called Jamie to let her know. She wasn’t 100% onboard until I sent the picture, then it was a done deal. A coworker took the other puppy.
To say we are happy with this dog so far is an understatement. So we have had a few accidents two days into house breaking, other than that he has been Wonderdog! He travels well just laying still the entire time in the car. He shows no aggression towards the kids at all. And with a 3-year-old pulling your tail, ears, jowls, and tormenting that dog just about every way you can think of… his mellow demeanor has been put to the test. He was friendly to visitors we had Saturday afternoon without hesitation. When Jamie came home Saturday night he barked twice when the front door opened and calmed immediately when he saw it was Jamie. He has slept in his crate with very minimal crying each night and without having an "accident". The kids are learning the value of picking up their toys, shoes, etc. if they don’t want him to carry it off. We should have tried this a while back!
I’m sure it won’t all be fun and games, we have the food and the vet bills, the housebreaking and the shoe chewing, the "what to do with him when we travel" discussion and general cleanliness of our house issues. But hey, I couldn’t ask for a better personality in a dog and at least for now the kids are gah-gah for him. And yes, I am REALLY looking forward to having a running buddy at 5 am.
Monday, October 06, 2008
Rant, September, Weight, Race, Donations
Maybe this should have been 5 posts instead of 1, oh well. First of all, is my blog still active? I know they haven’t been provocative or page-turners but 1 comment for the last 3 posts combined? Really? Has my running become that mundane to the rest of you?
Anyway, as for the update. Here is my monthly running chart you have seen periodically for a while now:
Each month I am surprised that it continues to climb but this time I think I can safely say it has peaked. During the month of October my running will taper off as I approach my Marathon in early November. It would also be very difficult to do better then September given that I have already doubled the number of running days missed in that month. September 3rd was the only non-Sunday that I didn’t run all month long. Due to a funeral in Ohio, I have already missed two days in October.
My weight plateaued for a LONG time at 196 but about 2 months ago it started a slow decline. I have weighed in below 190 lbs every day for a week now and my 15 day moving average is sitting right at 190. I think it is realistic to be in the 180's on race day, I won't make it to the 183 before then that had been my goal a year ago after I made it to 200, but it is definitely harder to loose weight when you are training so much, the apatite is insatiable!
The other element I wanted to mention was my race on Saturday. I ran my first 5k in over a year. I ran the Stonemill Race for Autism. The Stonemill 5k was the last 5k I ran as well so it was a great measure to see apples to apples how much better I have become with a 1000 miles logged between races. I knew I had improved, just not how much.
When I ran this race in late August last year my time was 23:50. This year, 21:00 flat, a pace of 6:46 per mile. The organizers were smart and asked everyone that ran under an 8 minute pace to step forward first. Due to this, I found myself in the front row for the first time. As luck would have it, I was on the right hand side of the road as well. The course turns 90 degrees to the right 100 ft from the start. When the race started I won the sprint to the corner and found myself leading a race for the first time ever. I cannot tell you how odd it is to look up and see nothing but a police car and pace bike in front of me.
I knew it wouldn’t last but it was a great feeling while it did. I lead down the first hill to the next turn. I lead up the next incline leading us through a parking lot. In all I lead for just over 2 minutes, the first third of a mile. I guess I should have focused on the last third, not the first third. A group of 7 runners passed me over the next third of a mile. I fell to as low as 8th but I still felt strong. By the two-mile mark I would climb back up to 6th only to be passed again by one of runners and finish 7th overall, out of a field of 190.
The fun part was that I made the podium for my age group. I was awarded 2nd place for the 30-39 year old males. It is the first time I have placed in any group in any race. I just got a certificate, but man it felt good. Now I just need to cut another 20 seconds per mile off and get under 20 minutes, THAT, would be something!
Well, I am now down to less than 5 weeks of training until the big day. As for my Diabetes Action Team fundraising, I have officially logged donations of $290, have another check in hand for $250, and a handful of people who have told me that they have either mailed in a donation or intend to do so. At this point it looks like my $1000 goal is still a bit of a stretch, but not out of reach. Thank you to those who have donated, those who are still planning to donate, and those who are donating your prayers and good wishes. I am humbled by each and every one.
Anyway, as for the update. Here is my monthly running chart you have seen periodically for a while now:
Each month I am surprised that it continues to climb but this time I think I can safely say it has peaked. During the month of October my running will taper off as I approach my Marathon in early November. It would also be very difficult to do better then September given that I have already doubled the number of running days missed in that month. September 3rd was the only non-Sunday that I didn’t run all month long. Due to a funeral in Ohio, I have already missed two days in October.
My weight plateaued for a LONG time at 196 but about 2 months ago it started a slow decline. I have weighed in below 190 lbs every day for a week now and my 15 day moving average is sitting right at 190. I think it is realistic to be in the 180's on race day, I won't make it to the 183 before then that had been my goal a year ago after I made it to 200, but it is definitely harder to loose weight when you are training so much, the apatite is insatiable!
The other element I wanted to mention was my race on Saturday. I ran my first 5k in over a year. I ran the Stonemill Race for Autism. The Stonemill 5k was the last 5k I ran as well so it was a great measure to see apples to apples how much better I have become with a 1000 miles logged between races. I knew I had improved, just not how much.
When I ran this race in late August last year my time was 23:50. This year, 21:00 flat, a pace of 6:46 per mile. The organizers were smart and asked everyone that ran under an 8 minute pace to step forward first. Due to this, I found myself in the front row for the first time. As luck would have it, I was on the right hand side of the road as well. The course turns 90 degrees to the right 100 ft from the start. When the race started I won the sprint to the corner and found myself leading a race for the first time ever. I cannot tell you how odd it is to look up and see nothing but a police car and pace bike in front of me.
I knew it wouldn’t last but it was a great feeling while it did. I lead down the first hill to the next turn. I lead up the next incline leading us through a parking lot. In all I lead for just over 2 minutes, the first third of a mile. I guess I should have focused on the last third, not the first third. A group of 7 runners passed me over the next third of a mile. I fell to as low as 8th but I still felt strong. By the two-mile mark I would climb back up to 6th only to be passed again by one of runners and finish 7th overall, out of a field of 190.
The fun part was that I made the podium for my age group. I was awarded 2nd place for the 30-39 year old males. It is the first time I have placed in any group in any race. I just got a certificate, but man it felt good. Now I just need to cut another 20 seconds per mile off and get under 20 minutes, THAT, would be something!
Well, I am now down to less than 5 weeks of training until the big day. As for my Diabetes Action Team fundraising, I have officially logged donations of $290, have another check in hand for $250, and a handful of people who have told me that they have either mailed in a donation or intend to do so. At this point it looks like my $1000 goal is still a bit of a stretch, but not out of reach. Thank you to those who have donated, those who are still planning to donate, and those who are donating your prayers and good wishes. I am humbled by each and every one.
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