Chapter 6: False Fall and Friends.
The weather was cool, the people were cooler.
This was the first week that I actually felt strong and good for all the workouts. It only took SIX weeks of training, but I never actually felt like crap on any of these runs! In all honesty, I contribute that to the cold front that made camp over North Carolina. It really helped out.
In addition to great weather, were great friends. I logged most of my miles with friends and having that company and surrounded by like minded people really helps mentally and emotionally. Marathon training is persistent and intense, it can get lonely and apathy for training can set it. Both of those are offset by running with people who are goal-oriented and have the propensity for success.
I had a work meeting this week where it was confirmed I will have to drop out of my planned City of Oaks Marathon on November 3rd. The good news is, I will be back in time to run the Richmond Marathon again on November 16th. This gives me an additional two weeks of training, which I will need. I ran RVA last November and enjoyed the course and the community support. I look forward to doing it again.
I stumbled upon a Generative A.I for creating captions on pictures. I was curious how this would work, so I entered the phrase “Running is Natural. Running a Marathon is not normal.”
Here’s what the machine produced.
Running is a fundamental human activity, deeply ingrained in our evolutionary history. It serves as both a means of survival and a basic form of exercise, requiring no special equipment or training. However, running a marathon—covering a distance of 26.2 miles—transcends the typical scope of natural human movement. It's a feat that demands rigorous training, mental fortitude, and exceptional physical conditioning. While running in itself is natural and accessible to most, completing a marathon is an extraordinary accomplishment that pushes the limits of human endurance and resilience. This distinction highlights the remarkable capabilities of the human body and spirit when faced with extraordinary challenges.
In all honestly, it sounds pretty good. So despite the machine never understanding the human experience, I still thought it captured The Marathon very well and decided to share.
Monday: 8.19.2024 (Day 36 of 118): The Benefits of an Empty Trail
I don’t wear tank tops. Never have. It’s really a downer because they make a bunch of awesome tank tops that that look great for running, but I’ve never had the build to wear one. Nah, I’ve never had the mind to wear one. The same goes with running without a shirt on. It’s something I’ve only done a handful of times in my life as I’ve always carried enough bodyfat with me to survive the next ice age or a five day hike through the woods without food.
Yet, I found myself on an empty trail knocking out 5-miles on a humid August Monday afternoon and decided the conditions were right to run without a shirt. Honestly, the slight breeze without the restrictive barrier of cotton was pretty damn good.
Thankfully nobody else was on trail to witness this 220lb Jell-O mold jiggling down the trail.
Today’s run was an easy five miles to shake out the legs after the 13.1 miles yesterday. Honestly I felt pretty good and it feels like I’m building length strength and endurance. It feels good to know that after five weeks of training, results are starting to be actualized.
5.00 Miles | Avg Pace: 10’00” | Avg HR: 130 | Best Mile: 9’38” | Feeling: Stronger
Tuesday: 8.20.204 (Day 37 of 118): Two-a-Day
“This is good training for the Tuna 200.”
That’s what I was telling myself as I woke up at 4:30am to start running by 5am. There are brief moments of panic, a flash-in-the-pan eye opening realization that within 30 minutes of sleeping I will be running. Many times in the morning I’m on auto-pilot and I wonder if what I’m doing is now just a reaction, an involuntary natural movement to go run or it is actually discipline driving action.
Regardless of the reason for taking action at 4:30am, I was at the Track at 5am with Andrew, waiting for the track to be unlocked. I had to get in just over 4-miles in work which means I’d start at 5am instead of 5:15am. Unfortunately the track was locked up tighter than Fort Knox, so we shifted our training to the local park where they have a 0.23 sidewalk circle. Andrew, Jan and I made our way to the track, set up the cones to mark a 0.25mi distance and got to work.
The Rx:
0.5 mi Warmup
8x 400m in 1m55s + 3min Recovery Jog
0.5 mi Cool Down.
I felt strong on my 1/4 mile efforts and pushed hard. I always have a difficult time dialing in the pace, thus my first effort was a little off.
2:08 | 1:57 | 1:53 | 1:54 | 1:54 | 1:53 | 1:53 | 1:50 ~ Last One’s The Fast One.
Including the warmup and cooldown this run resulted in 4.22 miles.
Tuna 200 Training: Logging Multiple Runs within 12hrs of each other.
My first run of the day finished up at 6:15am at the park and my second run of the day is starting at 6:30pm. Just about 12-hours separated these efforts, something similar to the Tuna 200 coming up in October where I will have to run three legs in the course of 36hours.
While the vast majority of the club was logging a 5K for our evening run, I decided to round out my daily total of 6-miles by getting in an easy 2-miles. I linked up with a new runner who was running with the club for the first time and ensured he was familiar with the route and club. He was not new to running and has previously completed an Ironman Triathlon along with multiple Ultra Marathons, so when he said he wanted to run at a 9’30” pace, I could oblige.
At this point in Marathon training, 2-miles seemed so incredibly short and I was done before I even fell into a rhythm.
We are experiencing an unfamiliar August Cooldown with a cold front that has stopped over top of us. It feels absolutely incredible and is a small glimpse of what Fall will feel like in about 45 days. Deep down we all know, Second Summer is coming and soon enough we’ll be in the 90’s with high humidity again.
2.11 Miles | Avg Pace: 9’44” | Avg HR: 134 | Best Mile: 9’22” | Feeling: Consistent
Wednesday: 8.21.2024 (Day 38 of 118): 3 Efforts for 8-miles.
With 8-miles on the day and a full work load, I simply didn’t have the time to step away from the house for an 80 minute run. I decided to split these miles up into three separate efforts throughout the day and get my daily mileage in despite not hitting the Rx on target.
It started with three early miles at the park with a short stint past the lake. The cold front finally settled in and the cool morning made for easy miles. It was an odd feeling to get past a mile and not even break a sweat. I finally started breaking a sweat around 1.5 miles and the last stint was easy.
3.02 Miles | Avg Pace: 9’33” | Avg HR: 122 | Best Mile: 9’01” | Feeling: Thankful
To complete my last five miles I doubled down my efforts at Run Club with 2-miles early and than another 5K with the club. This is becoming a common practice now that Marathon training is ramping up amongst club runners. The clubs weekly runs of 5K’s and 5-miles just aren’t enough, so we’re adding to it. I was joined Chrissy, Jon and Robert for these easy miles. All four of us are Marathon runners with Chrissy, Jon and Myself training for a November Marathon.
2.07 Miles | Avg Pace: 10’03” | Avg HR: 131 | Best Mile: 9’43” | Feeling: Determined
With just a 5K to go, the day was rounding out nicely and it was going to end well with big showing for the club run. We are experiencing a false-fall and the cool air is bringing out the runners and resulting in great efforts on the trail.
One of those runners was Sophie. Her first run with the club was on Monday and I met her for the first time on our Wednesday run. I really try my best not to let new runners go solo on their first club run, especially if they don’t know anyone or know the route. So I decided to get in the 5K with Sophie.
She had a goal of finishing the 5K in under 40 minutes, a goal I think was absolutely attainable. During the first couple of miles I talked about the club, where we meet and what to expect at our weekly runs. She had to walk a few times and at times would apologize for going so slow, which always surprises when I hear those comment. My views on life and fitness is that life is short and fragile, any movement outdoors is great for the body, mind and soul. The more you can do outdoors in the elements the better. Going “slow” has no impact on how I view or treat people. Effort is appreciated, not pace.
You can read more about my philosophy and views on effort on my Jan 3rd, 2024: Effort is Respected.
Thursday: 8.22.2024 (Day 39 of 118): Rest Day
Thursday is supposed to be a ZERO day, but when I’m feeling this good, I simply can’t stay off my feet! At Week 6 the habits of lacing up and hitting the trail are becoming ingrained into my daily routines. There is now a natural, internal calling to hit the trail and get in some miles, so off to the Thursday run I go.
We had a good group of runners show up and the weather was absolutely amazing. I found myself running with Sophie again and a few other new runners to the club to ensure they knew the route and didn’t get disoriented in our small little town.
Both distances on Thursdays contain multiple hills and is the most difficult run of the week. So when we stepped off for a 5K, I knew it was going to be an easy day. The first two miles were very easy at 13:38 and 13:14. Great paces for a new runner who was building up to her first mile in a run / walk combo. Once they were familiar with the route, Sophie and I took off to complete this 5K in under 40 minutes.
We finished the last mile at 11’38” and met Sophie’s goal of finishing under 40 min!
3.01 Miles | Avg Pace: 12’51” | Avg HR: 120 | Best Mile: 11’37” | Feeling: Helpful
Friday: 8.23.2024 (Day 40 of 118): Solo Run Along the River
The cool weather has stalled out over us and it’s a welcome respite from the otherwise hot and humid August evenings we’re all used to. This morning I had an 8-mile “Quality Session” that was going to take some serious effort.
The Rx:
2-Mile Warmup
2x 2-miles at 8’50” + 5min Recovery
1.5-Mile Cool Down.
This run was mentally tough. I KNOW I can meet these training goals and I know I’ve well surpassed these times in the past, so doing it now ought to be relatively easy.
The 2-mile warmup run was completed at a very easy 10’41” pace and I felt great going into my first 2-mile effort. I finished the first 2-mile effort with an average pace of 8’41” and met the goal. The following 5-minute recovery was a walk where I covered another 0.25miles before stepping off gain for 2-miles at pace.
The next 2-miles were completed in 9’15”! It was a sledgehammer to the grey matter. How in the hell could I not complete 4-miles in under 9’00”, when less than a year ago I completed the Richmond Marathon running a sub 9 through Mile 15. This run turned incredibly frustrating!
I finished up the cool down and realized this was a humbling moment that proves I have a long way to go despite the improvements over the past 5 weeks.
8.02 Miles | Avg Pace: 10’28” | Avg HR: 124 | Best Mile: 8’31” | Feeling: Frustrated
Saturday: 8.24.2024 (Day 41 of 118): The group carried me further.
It was an easy extension to bump this easy 4-mile run up to 5 miles, simply because of the people I was running with. Everyone else in the group was going for a 10K, but with my 14-miles on schedule for tomorrow, I really wanted to keep it close to 4-miles.
After a short discussion, we decided to let Anthony lead this run on a route none of us have ever done before. The best part, as we started he stated “I really don’t know how far this is, we’ll see” and with Anthony that really means nothing under 4 miles and could get up to 10-miles or beyond. This was going to be an adventure.
The route took us on some portions of the greenway that we didn’t even know existed. A few rolling hills but nothing intimidating with most of it in the shade. The pace was comfortable and the conversation easy. Before I knew it, three miles were done and we were heading back in the general direction of my vehicle.
We made it back to the starting location where I tapped out with 5-miles completed and the rest took off to finish up their 10K. Thanks to AI driven Photos, it was easy for the group to cut me out of the picture and only capture the 10K finishers.
Sunday: 8.25.2024 (Day 42 of 118): The Long Run.
After the half marathon distance last weekend, I was feeling good about completing this 14 miler along the river. The weather pattern continued with a cool morning start with increased heat as the day went along. Mentally I was ready to get this run over with because the following week is a Cut-Back week while I go on a short vacation.
Jon committed to getting in the 14-miles with me before we continued on for another three miles to reach his goal of 17-miles. Andrew was in for the first 3.5 miles as a shakeout run. Funny enough, Jon, Andrew and Myself all have used or currently have Coach Amy Brown as our Marathon coach. It was good to get in a run with a few other men who can talk about the training and terminology with Run with Your Heart.
It’s taken six weeks and a great turn in weather, but I’m at a point where running a pace of 10’15”-11’15” takes discipline mental effort to slow down my pace. In the first few miles I found myself wanting to naturally run around a 9’50” pace while holding an easy conversation with my friends. My pace kept creeping into the 9’s without paying any attention to my pace or effort. It felt natural to be in that range.
With 14 miles on the schedule, I relied back on discipline to reel it back and stay within the prescribed paces. This discipline paid off later in the run because we experienced a 15deg temperature change in just two hours.
The run started at 57F and we finished around 72F. In addition to the heat increase, the last mile was all uphill. I did it on purpose, to finish this long run uphill. Partly because Comfort is a Damn lie, but mostly because my friend Chrissy called me out on my bullshit for being weak and avoiding the hill. I mean, once a friend does that, I can’t bitch out. Hell, even at the start of the run Jon was surprised my initial plan was to skip the hill on the return trip.
The run was easy and the temperatures were nice. Conversations flowed and we saw many friends on the trail either running or cycling. At the turn around I was hydrated and felt strong. I felt the return trip would be a cake walk.
The temperature kept increasing on the return trip so the pace slowed slightly, but overall felt great. I was extremely thankful that Jon showed up to get this run in with me because nobody else was committed to 14 miles on a Sunday. I am also grateful for Andrew showing up for the first few miles and helping us keep pace. If you want to be a better runner, go run with better runners. It’s that simple.
Here’s my Mile Breakdowns. The slower ones include walking to eat GU and Drink Water.
10’22”|10’11”|10’41”|10’32”|10’15”|10’22”|10’03”|11’10”|10’02”|10’11”|10’04”|10’53”|10’37”
Last MILE up the hill: (What Hill?!?): 10’56”.
14.02 Miles | Avg Pace: 10’27” | Avg HR: 127 | Best Mile: 9’52”| Feeling: Accomplished
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Another great write-up my friend. Good job not bitching out in the hill.