4/25/2011
I will summarize my 2011 Cowtown Half Marathon experience for you: the hardest race I’ve ever done. In hindsight, it is mostly my own doing, with a good mix of physical and mental challenges that I wasn’t able to overcome. Since almost two months have passed since this race, I’m going to post wrote in my running log:
In the days leading up to today's race, I came up with an A, B, and C goal. Truth be told, I also had an A+ goal, that would've been my A goal under better weather conditions. For some reason, I started today's race as if the A+ goal was realistic. Here were my goals:
- A+: Hang with the 1:50 pace group through the finish.
- A: Half Marathon PR (current PR is 1:54:57, set at the 2010 Cowtown).
- B: Beat my time from the Denver Rock 'n' Roll Half (1:58:07, but at a mile elevation).
- C: Come in under 2 hours.
Now, I've put in the training, I think, and I really did want to push myself, so I was stubborn and started with the 1:50 pace group. My goal this morning was simply to hang with them as long as could...hopefully to the bottom of the monster hill at the start of mile 10. Instead, I lost touch with them somewhere past the 10K mark (new 10K PR of 51:31—a 3:50 PR!). By mile 8 I was dying. I didn't want to run anymore, even though we were running downhill at that time. [note: into a 15 mph headwind]
I sucked it up, and kept going, though I eventually gave back all of the time I had built up in the first 10K, coming in 31 seconds off of my PR.
The weather was the biggest culprit. The last temperature reading I saw before the start was 65F, with 90%+ humidity, and 10 mph winds (gusting to 25 mph).
I will tell you, it doesn't matter what the conditions are like, when you bust your ass like I felt like mine had been busted, and then come close, yet short of a PR, it stings. I'll get over it.
I’m still a bit torn on how to feel about this race, and it all comes down to the primary goal…
If my primary goal was 1:50, then I gave it my best, and failed—there’s no shame in going for it and failing. The only shame in the race is how easily I gave in to the voices in my head that told me it was okay to ease up.
If my primary goal was to set a PR, regardless of time, then I failed all the way around. I failed to adapt my race day plan to the conditions. Had I not been so stubborn, and backed off for the first half, there’s no question in my mind that I would’ve come in with a PR of a couple of minutes.
by Bryan at 1:19:00 PM | 
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The shortest month of the year, and one of the “lightest” running months in a while. February started off with a couple of severe winter storms, featuring ice, snow, and record low temperatures, which meant quite a bit of treadmill running. The month ended with unseasonably warm weather. Unfortunately my race was at the end of the month (more on that in a separate post). Despite the winter weather early in the month, I was able to get in most of my key workouts, and the ones I missed on were typically due to a busy schedule, not the weather.
Here are the stats:
- Total Miles: 151.4
- Total Time: 22:59:27
- Average Pace: 9:07/mile
Additional Notes
Reviewing my training log, the month looks pretty good, and I ran consistently. I even had a string of running 7 days in a row, which hadn’t happened in some time. If anything, I didn’t run easy enough, or take the time to rest and recover properly.
- Easy: 11
- Tempo: 2
- Intervals: 3
- Long: 3
- Race: 1
- Shortest Run: 4 miles
- Longest Run: 14 miles
You might notice that I didn’t do any hill workouts in February. That probably wasn’t the wisest move, given the hilly Cowtown Half Marathon course. Live and learn. Anyway, this month was the 19th consecutive month over 100 miles, and the 7th consecutive over 150 miles—barely.
by Bryan at 12:25:00 PM | Health and Fitness | Permalink
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Yes, I know this is seriously late—late to the point of why even bother. Yet, for some reason, I am going to bother, if only so that I have it for later.
As you may or may not recall, December was a trying month, with a stomach bug that made the rounds early in the month, and IT band/knee issues in the middle of the month. You might also recall that while the IT band/knee issue eventually got better, I was no longer comfortable continuing to train for a marathon, when I might be teetering on the brink of injury, so I switched my registration from the Cowtown Marathon to the Cowtown Half Marathon.
So now that I’ve jarred your memory, let’s talk about January.
Here are the stats:
- Total Miles: 176.2
- Total Time: 27:31:14
- Average Pace: 9:23/mile
Additional Notes
I ran 18 out of 31 days during the month. Doesn’t seem like much, does it? However, I obviously ran a lot, as the 176.2 total miles indicate. Three of my long runs were 16 miles each. I also did the longest tempo run I’ve ever attempted—8 miles at tempo pace, plus warm up and warm down. That was a tough run! I also added in some hills, working on both uphill and downhill running. Here are the number of times I did each type of run, as well as the shortest and longest run in the month:
- Easy: 7
- Tempo: 2
- Intervals: 2
- Hills: 2
- Long: 5
- Shortest Run: 3 miles
- Longest Run: 16 miles (3x)
January marked the 4th time I’ve gone over 170 miles, and the 176.2 total miles is the second most for one month. January is also the 18th consecutive month of running 100+ miles, and the 6th straight over 150 miles.
Next up: February 2011 Running Recap, which includes the Cowtown Half Marathon…
by Bryan at 12:04:00 PM | Health and Fitness | Permalink
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1/7/2011
Whew! Another month of training is in the books! Going into the month, I thought it would be an awesome month for marathon training. I had 3+ weeks of vacation scheduled, which meant plenty of time for running. I should’ve known it wouldn’t be quite that simple…
Early in the month, our household had the pleasure of dealing with a stomach bug that Sam brought home from daycare. He got it, Julie got it, and then I got it. The bug derailed training for 3 days, though it did lighten the load a bit (not a recommended way of dropping weight, by the way). As if that wasn’t bad enough, once I started feeling better, and resumed training, I got a sharp pain on the outside of my left knee, towards the end of a 9 mile run.
For those of you keeping score at home, my left knee is my good knee. This also happened to be the first run of my 3+ week long vacation. So much for running to my heart’s content! As it turned out, the pain was caused by a tight IT band, which I immediately began to rehab, spending lots of time with the foam roller, and within a week I was able to run a 12 mile long run before experiencing anymore pain. A week after that, I made it 15.5 miles before feeling any pain, and the following week I hit 16 miles with no pain or discomfort whatsoever.
As December neared its end, the IT band seemed to be on the mend. Unfortunately, during the 2 weeks that it took to rehab, I missed an 18 mile run and a 20 mile run, and I still didn’t know if I’d be able to make it back to 16 miles (the 16 mile run came on January 2nd) without pain. This was causing me to seriously reconsider running The Cowtown Marathon at the end of February. To further press the issue, The Cowtown organizers would begin charging a $20 race change fee after December 31st. I had a decision to make!
On New Year’s Eve, after considerable deliberation, I decided that it was in my best interest to forgo the marathon for now, and changed my registration to the half marathon. While I’m disappointed at not doing the marathon, I know that there will be more opportunities, and my ultimate goal isn’t to run a marathon, it’s to run for life. To achieve this goal, I need to run smart, and remain healthy. On the bright side, I’ve already put in several long runs beyond the half marathon distance, and I’ve run already run 2 tempo runs that matched the longest tempo runs of previous half marathon training, as well as another tempo run that exceeded those. I’ve got a great base to build on over the next 7+ weeks of training!
Now that I’ve thoroughly bored you, let me bore you some more with stats from December:
- Total Miles: 175.5
- Total Time: 27:26:03
- Average Pace: 9:23/mile
Additional Notes
Even with the illness and injury, I was able to run 20 out of 31 days (keep in mind that my marathon training plan only calls for 4 days of running per week). I also ran my longest tempo run ever—7 miles (that’s not counting warm up and cool down miles), and even did 11 and 12 mile “easy” runs during the week. Thank goodness for that vacation time!
In the past, I’ve broken down the monthly mileage by the type of run, but since I don’t always separate out my warm up or cool down miles from tempo or interval miles, the numbers can be a bit skewed, and inconsistent. Instead, I am just going to list the number of times I did each type of run:
- Easy: 14 runs (did a double on 12/31)
- Tempo: 2
- Intervals: 1
- Hills: 2
- Long: 2
- Shortest Run: 4 miles
- Longest Run: 15.5 miles
December marks the 3rd time I’ve gone over 170 miles in a month (3 of the last 4 months), and the 175.5 miles is the 2nd most miles I’ve ever run in a month. December is also the 17th consecutive month of running 100 or more miles, and the 5th straight month over 150 miles.
by Bryan at 11:00:00 AM | Health and Fitness | Permalink
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12/5/2010
Well, another month has come and gone. With November’s passing, so too does my Movember mustache. Losing it was almost like losing a friend…almost. Other notables for the month: I started training for my next major race, though I didn’t register for it until December 1st. I also logged my first 16 mile run, which for now is my longest run by 1 mile, and by just under 8 minutes.
Let’s get on with the stats:
- Total Miles: 172.1
- Total Time: 27:00:26
- Average Pace: 9:25/mile
Additional Notes
In November, I ran 22 out of 31 days. Yes, that’s 9 days of not running, which is a bit high, but it’s what my current training calls for. Oh, regarding that training—it’s for The Cowtown Marathon. That’s right, I’m training for my first marathon! The training plan has me running 4 days a week, with 2 easy runs (currently 8 or 9 miles each), a tempo or interval run (again, the total mileage is at least 8 miles), and a long run. That’s definitely a lot of running/day, and I’ve been tempted to spread the easy runs out over two days. I am now 4 weeks into the 16 week plan, and it will be interesting to see how the training plays out.
Now on with the specifics of November’s training:
- Easy: 80.1
- Tempo: 21
- Intervals: 12
- Fartleks: 9
- Long: 50
- Shortest Run: 4
- Longest Run: 16
November is the 16th consecutive month of running 100+ miles, the 4th straight month over 150 miles, and the 2nd time over 170 miles (2 of the last 3 months).
by Bryan at 11:53:00 PM | Health and Fitness | Permalink
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