Excitment going up!

Excitement and expectation are building up for 10/10/10! My training has been solid and am healthy for the most part. I have a sore lower back but it’s getting better by the day. I am logging a lot of weekly miles and my body is feeling it. I feel great otherwise. The weather is much better so my legs are fresh. I actually think that training in a very hot and humid weather made me substantially stronger. My endurance is very good and my speed is coming back to where it was before running in Traverse City. The Chicago Marathon is in 6+ weeks and a lot of things can still happen until then but, if I keep training like this, am going to be very strong and fast. I use my daily runs to imagine how I want to run the Chicago course turn by turn, mile by mile, step by step. I have done that course two times but this one is going to be different because I am a different runner. For many years, I trained to finish races or, better said, to survive races. I enjoyed finishing marathons, it was nice to have the medal. Yet I recently discovered that I enjoy them much more when I run in front of the massive pack of runners. I enjoy them much more when my body responds smoothly when I ask for more. So I now train to run in front. The mental barrier that prevented me from running faster times doesn’t exist anymore. I know I can go fast and I train, physically and mentally, to go fast.

I did 61 miles last week. The best part of it was a very solid 8x5 min. tempo run on Wednesday and a lot of base, easy miles on Mo, Tu, Th, and Fr. Saturday’s run wasn’t easy. I did a combo of tempo+10 miles+tempo (17 miles total). My times on Sat. were good, but I had to dig deep to finish the workout. This is the first time in my running life that I run 60+ miles in two consecutive weeks. Hopefully this is going to make 3 in a row. I have done 10.75 and 9 miles on Mo and Tu respectively. This is going to be a difficult week but I see the finish line in Grant Park waiting for me. If someone offers me a settlement for a sub 3:10 marathon right now, I wouldn’t take! I think am in much better shape than that and I hope to continue traveling in this line until October 10th.

Less than 8 weeks

Believe or not is less than 8 weeks to the Chicago Marathon. I have had 4 very strong weeks of hard training. My legs feel much better and, overall, am very strong. Training in high heat and humidity has helped me to get stronger. I peaked at 62.75 miles last week. My long run was a 19 miler in very humid conditions. I owed myself a workout like that one. It was strong and very consistent. The last three miles were fast and I truly enjoyed that. It gave me confidence and a good boost to continue training. In addition, the mid-week tempo run was good, a 2x20 mins. tempo (10 mins. recovery) for a total of 10.5 miles.

Ahead are 4 weeks of heavy mileage for me: 60, 64, 67-69, and 70+ miles respectively. I have never done more than 65 miles in a week but am healthy and ready to try it. The weather is better and my recovery is faster. I need to work on my speed a bit more. It’s not bad but I know it can get better so I am going to incorporate some speed workouts and hill runs in my plan. I have nothing to lose in Chicago, I already qualified for Boston and am going to run and enjoy as much as possible. I want to fly!

Time for an update

First of all, I would like to express my apologies for not updating the blog. It’s been a hectic August for me and things don’t seem to get better any time soon. My choice is between blogging or running and, needless to say, I prefer running. It keeps me sane and energized. Seriously, I get much more productive after a good workout. If you don’t believe me, just try it!

Well, it’s been a busy time at work and training. The weather doesn’t get better, it’s still steamy hot. Yet my workouts have been pretty good. I am getting used to running in the blazing hot weather. My legs, lungs, heart and mind are adapted to heat and humidity and, as a consequence, my runs are good. This week has been particularly good. I am well on my way to peak at 60+ miles with 2 quality workouts. I ran 9 miles on Monday, 7.5 Tuesday and 10.5 yesterday. Yesterday’s workout included a 2x3 mile tempo. I didn’t push the pace too much because the humidity was very high and I wanted to conserve energy as much as possible. I never felt wasted in the run and I had a pretty decent run this AM (I ran 9.5 miles). Looks like my running legs and instincts are coming back right in time for the Chicago marathon. Ahead are 8 difficult weeks of training but am very motivated and, fortunately, healthy. Hopefully, I will stay like this until 10/10/10.

I will do my best to keep you updated more often. In the mean time, the gym is waiting for me! Cheers!

Nice weather: Please come back soon!

It’s still very hot and humid. Since I can’t entirely avoid running in these conditions, am better off acclimating to it. I just get out and survive this weather to the best of my abilities. On October 10th, when the marathon comes, it’s either going to be in equally horrible weather in which case I’ll be damned glad I spent time acclimating, or it’ll be in much nicer conditions in which case I will feel like a million bucks due to my preparation.
I am in the second week of intensive training for Chicago, so far am surviving the weather. My speed is not where I want it to be but I can feel the effort every time I run a quality workout so my speed should come back when the weather gets better. I ran 49 miles last week. I did 16 miles on Saturday. It was raining and then became very humid. I met four random guys while running mile 1. They invited me to join their group and I did it. It was nice to run more than half of my long run with those guys. I put together a very nice run, running with other people invites me to test my limits and run faster. I felt great for the most part of the run. I struggled a bit in the last 2 miles mainly because I didn’t hydrate well and my muscles became tired.
This week has been good too. I ran 8 and 6 miles on Mo and Tu respectively. Yesterday (Wednesday) I did a tempo run: 7x5 minutes with 1 min rest in between for a total of 8.5 miles. The weather got the best of me and my times got worse by the minute. I am really looking forward to running in nice conditions. Today, am going out with Scott for an easy 8 miler. It’s hot but not humid… It should be fine. My right knee keeps bothering me a bit and I hope it gets better soon.
When am struggling in the heat, I visualize myself running fresh in the corner of Ashland Ave. and 18th Street in Chicago (yeah, in Pilsen). That’s where the 19th mile marker is…and that’s where am planning to push the pace to the high 6’s or low 7’s for the first time in the marathon. In other words, that’s where am going to push my pace up and attack until mile 26. The key is to stay focused and believe that I can run my fastest marathon in less than three months.

Hot and Humid Summer

Travel and work prevented me from blogging in the last month. The recovery period after running in Traverse City was longer than expected but I already have four and a half weeks of decent training under my belt. I also lacked motivation and took it very easy for the first 3 weeks after the marathon. I then had four weeks of easy training, to build base. In that period I had an unexpected trip to Irapuato where I took advantage of some altitude training. On July 4^th, I ran the Leon-Comanja half-marathon and am pleased with the result. I ran the most of it in the mid 7’s, not bad considering it’s uphill all the way. We went from 5,500 to 7,020 feet of altitude. The course is very difficult but nothing beats the views and the pleasure of running in direct contact with nature. I then had two more weeks of training in Irapuato. I ran 45 and 43 miles respectively.

This is my first serious week of training for the Chicago Marathon. I have done three runs in very hot and humid conditions. I usually hate these conditions because I get very sluggish. However, this hasn’t been the case this time around so am actually enjoying the heat. My legs are fresh and am not really feeling the humidity that much.  I know that training in this weather could help me a lot in the long run. I ran the first LTR this morning: 12 minutes warm-up, 4x10 minutes (@ 7:04, 09, 12, 14 ) with 2 mins. recovery and a very easy cool down. I felt strong but not as fast as I wanted. I will settle for 51-53 miles this week. I feel much better than expected and ready to continue training.

Hot and Humid Summer

Race recap

I am not going to lie: I went to Traverse City with high expectations. My training was flawless, my morale was high and my body was 100% healthy. I had never trained better for a marathon and I knew I had a serious shot at Boston! Serious runners always dream about going to Boston and I always dreamed about it too. But running a BQ time is not easy, it requires a lot of hard work, discipline and mental toughness. Some people are naturally gifted and run a BQ time in their first attempt, others never qualify. I am not naturally gifted, but I know how to work hard in order to accomplish my goals.

The hard work paid off in Traverse City: I qualified for Boston in my first serious attempt. I shattered my personal best for more than 13 minutes!!! I am now enjoying some free days after the effort and will resume my workouts as soon as my body is ready to go back to training. If am healthy, I am going for a sub-3:10 in Chicago.

The marathon in Traverse City wasn’t easy. Heat and humidity are, perhaps, the worst enemies of marathon runners. Well, I found those enemies in North Michigan. The temperature at 7 am was 55 degrees with 80% humidity. It quickly rose into the high 60’s (75% humidity) by mid-race and am almost sure that it was in the 70’s when I finished Knowing that I tend to struggle with humidity, I decided to run a very conservative first half. I consistently ran 7:20-7:25 miles. I picked the pace up a little bit for 7-8 miles. My strategy was to feel as relaxed as possible until mile 20 and then put the hammer down in the last six miles. But I couldn’t run fast in miles 22-25. My heart rate was great but my muscles were already feeling the effects of the heat and the rolling hills course. So I used my survival instincts to the best of my ability. I did the math and figured that I needed to run the next 5 miles in 7:40 avg. Despite the relatively slow pace, I passed several runners that were also slowing down. In mile 25, I knew I had done enough to qualify for Boston and just enjoyed the last 1.2 miles. My official time was 3 hrs. 15 mins and 13 seconds, just enough to enter the field of 25,000 in Boston.

I am very happy with the result. I know I can run faster than that if the conditions are right and the course is flat. So I look forward to running in Chicago. My mentality is completely different now. I am becoming an experienced marathon runner who knows how to listen to his body and who adjusts to different race conditions. I really like this feeling!

My partials in Traverse City were: 7:22, 26, 25, 21, 26, 30, 29, 20, 21, 21, 22, 24, 16, 13, 20, 19, 17, 30, 23, 14, 19, 23, 47, 45, 52, 47. Very consistent!!!