Sunday: 7.30.2023 (Day 8 of 112): Easy Run (Long Run)
Week 2 kicked off with an 8-mile easy run that ended up being just that, easy. I planned the route to go through town in order to provide three different options for restrooms and water points. Turns out I needed at least one of them.
I really wasn’t sure how this run was going to go. It’s been hot and humid and basically miserable the last 10 days. Last weeks 7-miler was a little harder than anticipated. I’ve been hydrating and eating clean leading up to this run. I even ate some chicken fettuccini on Friday evening. After keeping my carbs low for the past week, I felt good after the meal.
Running with friends is always better and many of the runners in the club are training for a fall race, so it was only natural to post an open invite to everyone. We started with 6 runners at the beginning and crossed paths with Anthony around mile 6, who decided to finish out with us. It’s always great to cross paths with other runners while out on the route.
As with my last training cycle for the City of Oaks Marathon, Dave was there to run with me. I can’t express enough how grateful I am for the insights, experience and guidance he has given me over the past couple of years. On the run was another friend Keith, who has over 20 ultra-marathons under his belt along with Anthony who may be one of the strongest runners in the club if not one of the most influential. It’s always great to hear their perspectives on training and racing.
Overall the entire run felt easy and at no point did I feel overextended or pushing my limits. I was sweating but not excessively nor did I feel dehydrated at any point. There were only a few minor hills, that really were just inclines that didn’t really have an impact on my running. It felt good to be on mile seven and knowing that another mile was just easy.
Coach Brown programmed this easy run for a pace of 10’33” to 11’34” and 4 of the 6 in the group agreed that would be feasible. With an understanding of the route and distance we stepped off for what would turn into a great run through town.
L-R: Daniela, Dave, Keith, DJ, Chrissy and myself.
8.03 Miles | Avg Pace: 10’57” | Avg HR: 138 | Best Mile: 10’36” | Feeling: Hydrated
Monday: 7.31.2023 (Day 9 of 112): Cross Training
To be a stronger runner, you’ve got to be strong and being strong is never wrong. For those reasons I went to the gym to work on my strength and continue to build going for November. Walking into the gym I ran across two friends from the club, they must have the same mentality I do.
My time was somewhat limited so I put in 30 minutes of work on the Olympic bar followed by 15 minutes of non-stop abs. In order to run long distances without changing your gait when fatigue sets in, you must have a strong core and back. It was a good 45 minutes in the gym moving steel and doing what must be done to meet my goals.
45 minutes | Back & Shoulders| Avg HR: 98 | Best Lift: Deadlift | Feeling: Weak
Tuesday: 8.1.2023 (Day 10 of 112): Quality Run on the Track.
Naturally waking up at 4am, I had plenty of time to get ready and be out the door by 4:45am. I was having flashbacks of my time as a Platoon Sergeant, where I’d wake up at 4am and in the gym by 4:30am. It was a good routine for a few years, and here I am back at it on Tuesday’s and Friday’s. It all felt familiar.
I arrived at the track at 4:55am and wasn’t the first person there. My friend Dwayne was already in the parking lot and walking down to the track. Dwayne, a man who has dialed in his running in the past 18 months has really become a strong runner and is looking at taking on the 400m in the Master’s track event here in North Carolina.
Tuesday Quality Run:
1.5mi Warmup ~ 6x 400m at 7’50” + 2min Recovery Jog ~ 1.5mi Cooldown.
I was worried about getting around the track in 1’55” for 6x, but with the cooler weather this morning I felt it was a real possibility. While humidity was still hovering around 90%, the temperature was 68F and it felt great as it hasn’t been below 70F for a while now. This could be the morning I get it dialed in.
The track continued to fill up with Becca, Jan, Carla and Mike. Overall we had 6 runners on the track ready to put in the work before the day starts. Regardless of what program we’re doing on the track, it feels good to pass and be passed by others with words of encouragement.
Stepping off on the 1.5mi warmup I knew this was going to be a good run. I felt good, hydrated and mother nature was cooperating with cool temperatures. The warmup laps felt easy and smooth and I was just slightly apprehensive about the upcoming 6x400m efforts. Yet, like most things in life, once I got started the laps felt good and my times were consistent.
1.5mi warmup: 9’55”
6x400m Efforts:
Lap 1: 1:51, Lap 2: 1:49, Lap 3: 1:50, Lap 4: 1:50, Lap 5: 1:50, Lap 6: 1:51
1.5mi cooldown: 10’12”
The 400m efforts were a fast run and not a sprint. It’s been a long time since I was close to puking on a run and I wasn’t even close on these. Overall it was a good morning on the track for running then I finished up with some burpees and planks with the rest of the crew.
5.36 Miles | Avg Pace: 9’57” | Avg HR: 140 | Best Lap: 7’21” | Feeling: Accomplished
Wednesday: 8.2.2023 (Day 11 of 112): 5K Easy Run: Goal of Sub 30min.
Getting through the mid-week hump with a casual 5K run with the club is always something I look forward to. It’s become a habit, nay a necessity in my life. I get to do something I love with people I genuinely like. So when I woke up on Wednesday, I was already looking forward to the evening run. Even more so because I got to be the bearer of good news and gifts for some of our runners. More on that later.
I’m doing my best to dial in my health to the best I can be in my life. For this Marathon training I decided to get some bloodwork done to ensure my hormone levels are appropriate and the rest of internal fitness is functioning properly to facilitate the best Marathon I can do.
The results came in. It was a mix of good news and bad news. On with the bad news first. My A1C was elevated and I am on the verge of being diabetic. This is really disheartening. My grandmother was diabetic and I remember watching her with all her struggles. My uncle is diabetic and I hate it. I don’t want to have to take daily shots, etc to maintain life. I’m basically to the point where the sugar and processed foods I’m eating is killing me. There really is no choice but to remove these processed foods and sugars from my life, for life. Of course this is a complete emotional eruption because I absolutely love croissants, breads, cookies, cakes, oreos, cupcakes, etc. Yet, I love life more. I suppose I have no choice.
My cholesterol came back elevated but not something of major concern right now. On the good side all of my hormone levels are within the normal range, especially testosterone. On the best news of the report, I have ZERO indication of prostate cancer. Something that runs in the family and something I’m sure I’ll have to deal with before I take that eternal dirt nap.
Arriving at the Wednesday run was exciting as I was arriving with a box of swag to give out to include cookies and pickles. The club received a package of swag from the BAM (Big Ass Medal) Race Series along the NC Coast. After a discussion with the board, we decided to give the goods to some runners who have had an impact on the club.
Anthony was recognized for being a cornerstone of the club and overall great person and runner. He consistently provides encouragement to all of our runners from those just starting out to our faster runners pushing for that sub 40min-5miler. If you’ve ever run with the club, then you’ve ran with Anthony at some point and you’re a better runner for it.
Rebecca was recognized with a BAM series beach towel for her efforts in leading the summer track training. I had to step away from leading that up this summer and she jumped right in. Planning, preparing and leading the morning track sessions every Tuesday and Wednesday at 5:15am.
L-R: Anthony and Becca
Robert was recognized with a BAM series running hat for his efforts in club activities ranging from organizing and spearheading the CAR participation in our local Clayton 5K and his efforts with the Run Club Takeover series. He has become a familiar face during our weekly runs and is a great ambassador for the club by welcoming new runners and getting them engaged.
Robert
After recognizing some great runners and greeting a new runner it was time to step off. The weather felt great, a decent amount of humidity but not oppressive and with temperatures in the low 80’s it felt just right. I was going for a sub 30-min 5K.
I think I may have violated the Coach-Runner agreement. Coach Brown programmed this run as an “easy run” with a pace of 10’33”-11’34”. However I felt the need to step it out a bit and I kind of had a personal goal of making all of my 5K runs in August under 30min. Sorry Coach.
We had a new runner show up, Wes, and we do our best not to let new runners go solo on their first time out. I informed him that I was aiming for a sub 30-minute mile and he said he’d do his best to keep up. With that said, Jon, Robert, Wes and myself stepped off for the 30-minute run.
I felt good stepping it out and we logged an 8’41” pace on the first mile. I could have gone faster. While this pace is good, it’s still intimidating that my goal Marathon pace is 8’30”. Still haven’t hit that pace yet for over a mile! That’s fucking intimidating.
It was clear after the first mile that Wes wasn’t ready for this pace so I decided to slow down with him while Robert and Jon continued on with their journey. Wes continued to push hard and between breaths managed to tell me he just had back surgery in July! What the fuck!? Now he’s out here running with me. My thought was, well he’s an adult and made this choice, here we go!
It was a close one, but we finished in under 30-minutes! It felt good to cut loose a little but the last mile was back down in my Easy Pace at 10’29”.
Afterwards I felt like I could have maintained or at least picked up the pace beyond that first mile at 8’41”. After reflecting on it I feel good at only 11 days in and I think there is hope I’ll hit that 3:45 Marathon in November.
3.11 Miles | Avg Pace: 9’35” | Avg HR: 149 | Best Mile: 9’30"” | Feeling: Front Heavy
Thursday: 8.3.2023 (Day 12 of 112): Cross Training - The next 30minutes matters.
The next 30 minutes matters in the choices I’ll make for food, in how my lifting will be with effort and intensity and how my runs will go with pace and distance. We all have choices, make decisions and live with the consequences and the next 30 minutes matters.
My day became increasingly busy and I was unable to get in a workout earlier in the day like I wanted. Sometimes life and work comes at you like a freight train and you’ve got to react and just take the brunt of it head on. That was my day and lifting weights just took a backseat until about 8pm.
I finally made it to the garage at 8:15pm and got in a good 30 minutes of weightlifting. Something is better than nothing, and the next 30 minutes matters. That’s the time I had, might as well make the best of it.
While today wasn’t a perfect day with training, it wasn’t a total loss. I kept my eating in check which is the hardest part of my day.
Friday: 8.4.2023 (Day 13 of 112): Quality Run on the Track with friends.
Damnit! I messed up. Serves me right for not double checking. I felt proud of my run this morning, until I realized where I messed up and cut myself short.
What was supposed to happen: (So I thought):
1 mile Warmup
2 miles at 8’50” Pace.
1 mile Cooldown.
What really happened:
1 mile Warmup at 10’31”
1st Mile at 8’51”
2nd mile at 8’49”
1 mile Cooldown at 11’29”
What was REALLY supposed to happen:
1.5 mile Warmup
2.5 miles at 8’55”
1 mile Cooldown
No, I wasn’t slacking off or cutting the course short. I certainly wasn’t trying to deviate away from Coach Brown’s plan. I felt good going into this run, so how did this get messed up?
I run with a COROS Pace 2 and the COROS training hub is a great tool to use. I can program my runs into my watch and it alerts me to when I need to change from warmups to efforts to cooldowns and keeps me in my pace range. My memory isn’t the greatest and I’ve found this to be the most effective way to staying on task.
My coach uses V.02 to program my runs and share them with me. Well, V.02 doesn’t synch with COROS, so I have to manually create the workouts in COROS based on what is in V.02. Needless to say, my coach updated the Quality Run today to add an additional mile, but I failed to notice that and failed to update my COROS training calendrer. Thus, I failed to meet the requisite miles.
This type of mistake isn’t one to derail my efforts, motivation or discipline going forward. I’m upset at myself for not double checking the workout but still happy that I hit the mark with what I thought was planned. Training for a Marathon is not always a smooth process.
I arrived at the track around 5am and was the first one there. It’s always a calming time to be up before the birds and before the world around us gets moving. While standing on the track, taking in the quiet, Jeffrey and his daughter Isabella showed up to get in some work with us. It was clear that both of them were a level above the rest of us, but it was great to be on the track with them! As they ran past, it provided some momentary motivation to pick up the pace. If you want to be a better runner, you’ve got to run with people who are better at it than you. You’ve got to get uncomfortable and keep going. It was good to have them on the track this morning, pushing the pace.
It is always a good morning to see my friends before the start of the day, especially when they are of the same mindset of doing the work, the hard things early in the morning.
4.0 Miles | Avg Pace: 9’55” | Avg HR: 142 | Best Mile: 8’49” | Feeling: Like Syrup.
Discipline over desire. Delayed gratification over immediate satiety.
Cuban Sandwich, Ham Croquettes and Chocolate Drizzled Churros from Aroma de Cuba in the Old North State Food Hall, Selma, NC.
I’ve been using the Lose-It app for the last 12 days straight, logging every single bite and exercise induced calorie burn. Since receiving my blood and hormone panel back from the lab, I’ve severely cut out all processed sugars, starches and other foods that are high on the Glycemic Index. I’ve never been one to drink sodas, but I do enjoy a sweet tea every now and then, but I’ve cut all of that out. I’ve also cut out fried foods and increased ground beef, salmon, steak and chicken along with vegetables and some fruits.
I really started trying to lose weight after the July 4th holiday. Mostly because I had a tooth extracted and was limited on what I could eat. I then had a crown-prep that went wrong, followed by a root canal. From July 3rd-23rd I was limited on what I could eat. I figured that’d be a good time to start losing weight leading into my Marathon training starting on July 23rd.
For the first two weeks of training my “long runs” are scheduled for Sunday mornings. For this reason, I’ve made my official weigh in day on Friday morning followed by my one cheat meal a week. Today is Friday, so here we go!
Weight Tracking:
4JULY: 233.0
15JULY: 234.0 (+1.0 Gain) Failed at reducing calories.
22JULY: 232.0 (Start of Marathon Training)
28JULY: 225.6 (-6.4 lbs)
4AUG: 223.3 (-2.3 lbs) - Down 10lbs in 30days.
After my weigh in and Friday Quality Run on the track, I knew I was going to get Cuban food for lunch, it was an impromptu lunch date with my wife.
The picture above is my wife’s sandwich. I decided to avoid the bread and opted for the white rice, which I only at 1/3 of as it’s high on the GI chart at 72. I did however eat the ham croquettes and half of the churros. They were good! After tracking all of my foods it was a damn 1,063cal lunch! To be clear, I could have kept eating. I still wasn’t full.
Discipline! On the way home we stopped at CiCi’s pizza and picked up pizza for my son, it’s a common theme around here, “Pizza Friday”. I did not eat 1-damn slice. Then we also had a box of brownies. Not one! Then, because my memory sucks and I made a bet with my wife, and of course lost, I was tasked with getting her a milk-shake. Did I get one or take a sip, NO! FUCKING DISCIPLINE!
Discipline led to action and good choices. Those choices had consequences, losing 10lbs. Those results motivated me to maintain discipline and not give in to the sugary goodness calling to me. I think I may have jumped onto the course of repeating cycle.
Saturday: 8.5.2023 (Day 14 of 112): Easy Run for 3miles.
Is it weird I feel like I’m cheating on my Brooks Ghost’s? Their branding and propaganda have worked on me. I’ve been running in the Ghosts for the past 8 years or so and have grown comfortable with them. I’ve found myself in the “Comfort Zone” and well, comfort is a lie.
The Red HOKA’s really landed in my lap by happenstance. On Wednesday the club had a shoe-donation where we take old, worn out shoes and donate them for money for the club. Someone donated these brand new pair of Hoka’s! Of course everyone noticed them, they were the only new ones in the pile. I figured someone was just being nice and put them in there.
As my friend Anthony was looking them over, I made a comment about if they were a size 10, I’d like to try them out or snatch them up. Turns out they were a size 10! Of course I felt bad taking from the donation pile so I was extremely hesitant. Then my friend Jan walks over and explains the situation. Long story short, she ordered a pair, received these, which were NOT what she ordered. In the exchange/return process she was able to keep the Carbon X2’s and the pair she originally wanted. I offered to pay for them as they are $180 shoes, but she insisted that it’d be better if someone in the club used them instead of going to donation. This reduced my anxiety from acquiring from the donation pile, and here we are!
Today was the day I was going to put the HOKA’s to the test and see how they felt on a short 3-mile run. Coach Brown programmed an easy run of 3-miles at a 10’33”-11’34” pace. I linked up with a few friends on a familiar course downtown and went to work. I logged my first 1.5 miles with Jeremy who is new to the club and the pace was just right and the conversation even better.
The run itself felt easy and the pace was relaxed, this was evident in my average heart rate staying around 132bpm which is rather low for me. It must be a combination of carbon plated shoes, dropping 10lbs and getting stronger.
L-R: Jeremy, Carrie, Jill, Daniela, Lama and myself.
3.0 Miles | Avg Pace: 10’45” | Avg HR: 132 | Best Mile: 10’41” | Feeling: Laid Back
Congratulations to my coach, Coach Brown for racing in a 5K this morning, defending her masters title and placing 3rd Overall (female) with a time of 19’08”!
This makes me think and ponder future possibilities. Is it possible I could set a new lifetime PR in my 40’s? My fastest 5K ever is around 20’44”. Could I go faster in my 40’s than my 20’s? Should I dream of such grandeur and possibilities? Is it beyond my reach? If not, what would it take to get there?
