Next Up: 26.2 miles

"If you are going to win any battle, you have to do one thing.

You have to make the mind run the body.

Never let the body tell the mind what to do."

--General George Patton

I'm revisiting this quote that I originally posted at Christmas time, because it's been by far my favorite little motivational tidbit I've come across in all these weeks and months of training. The physical part is done: the marathon training. Now comes the mental aspect: the marathon itself.

The miles have been logged. The shoes have been worn down and replaced. The injuries have been rehabbed and recovered. The carbs have been loaded. And the countdown is about to be over. The next time I post, I will have accomplished the goal I've been writing about on this blog: running my first marathon.

Tomorrow, I head downtown to attend the Running Expo to pick up my packet and timing chip, and I'm spending the day in Chicago and the night in a hotel in the city. Come Sunday morning, I'll bein Grant Park with 40,000 or so fellow runners, ready to embark on this 26.2 mile journey. I wouldn't say I'm nervous. I'm just anxious to get started.

I've done the long runs, the tempo runs, the interval workouts, cross-trained, cut out pop and alcohol, learned to love veggies, refused to give up cookies (my Achilles' heel), got hooked on Gatorade, tapered, and become educated in the ways of Garmin, Saucony, Brooks, Nike, while frequenting Runners World's magazines and Web site.

This week it's been a grind not running as much. I did a two-mile "jog" today way below race pace. I will allow myself to say I went "jogging" -- even though as a runner I don't like to use that term -- because the slow pace drove me bonkers. The tapering is finally over now -- I can start looking ahead to Sunday.

I've received a lot of notes this week from well-wishers and I'm grateful for them all, and appreciated of everyone who has been supportive along the way, tolerating my drinking only water while everyone's having brews, or asking me how my runs are going, even if they really might not be all that interested.

I have a great support system, which is awesome -- it helps keep you in check and helps you maintain your focus. Part of the reason it's been easy to stay so dedicated to this is because I don't want to have someone ask how the training going and me not to have an answer, or a good one at that.

Obviously, I haven't crossed the finish line yet. But, if I do, a big thanks is owed to my lovely wife, who has put up with all this craziness. Kell has stayed at home waiting for me to return from long runs, had carb-friendly dinners waiting for me, tagged along to running stores, joined me on a few jaunts, and even went driving around looking for me once to make sure I was OK during a rain storm. Talk about dedicated.

Kelly will be with me tomorrow and on Sunday, along with some family, rooting me on and waiting for me to finish so we can all go feast at one of my favorite restaurants in the city -- Flat Top Grill. I can only imagine how great it's going to feel to cross that finish line, and have family there to congratulate me -- after this past year of training.

I'm not an elite runner by any means, and to balance my work schedule with this training program has been trying at times. It's been a delicate juggling act, and I've managed to stay on course for most of these months of running. Hopefully come Sunday, it'll be a beautiful day -- not too hot -- and everything will go as I've pictured.

To be continued...

Closing In

"Only those who will risk going too far

can possibly find out how far they can go."

--T.S. ELIOT

I'm currently sitting around in the airport in Cleveland, killing time during a lenghty morning layover in my quest to reach Baltimore. And, I'm a little peeved, because the unfortunate travel/work schedule I have today might erase any window for me to squeeze in my planned three-mile easy run.

If I miss out on running today, though, it won't be the end of the world. After all, I'm tapering now, gradually decreasing my workout pace in the days before the Oct. 12 marathon. There is just a little more than two weeks left until the big day, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that my playoff work schedule can help me out.

See, I'm down to follow the Mighty Tampa Bay Rays in the first round, and they could potentially meet up with the Chicago White Sox in Division Series. The South Siders blew it this week by being swept by the Twins, who now reside in first place in the Central. I'm hoping the Sox can take the division, so I can travel between St. Pete and Chi in the week before the race.

We'll see if the teams play along with my hopes. In a perfect world, it's be Rays-Sox in round one, with the series ending in Chicago, so I can hang out until the marathon. At least it looks like I won't be needing to fly between Tampa and L.A. this coming week. The last thing I need is jetlag disrupting my sleep as I prep for 26.2.

Anyway, things have been going well on the running front of late. This past Sunday, I woke at 5 a.m. and did 22 miles before heading to work. Besides a nasty blister, and some cramping, I did all right, averaging 8:20 per mile -- not including the few stops I took. It didn't go as well as my previous 18-miler, but it was the longest run of my life and it wasn't too far off my goal pace.

This week, during an 8-mile speed workout, I ran one mile in 5:56 -- topping my previous best mile of the last year by 1 second. That made me laugh some when I was scrolling through my splits on my handy-dandy Garmin. My other two fast miles during that run were 6:01 and 6:10. It's getting to the point where running a 7:30-45 mile seems easy.

With that in mind, I'm hoping that the adrenaline that comes with being in a race with 45,000 people in a big city with large crowds cheering us all on will help me hold the 8 minute pace I'd like to achieve in Chicago. I guess with this being my first marathon and all, I should just be happy when I cross the finish line -- no matter my time.

But, I know myself, and I've always had an ultra competitive side. It's rare that I walk away from something thinking I couldn't have done better. I remember back in my baseball days, I'd come home and my mom or dad would be proud of the two or three hits I got, and I'd be stewing over the one out I made.

That's how I've always been, but I'm trying to coach myself mentally to, not necessarily be satisfied by how I do, but to take pride in the achievement I'm about to complete. It's taken a lot of work to get to this point, there have been a few injuries, I've had to exercise will power more than any other time in my life, and it's all about to pay off.

I have the feeling, though, that when I cross the finish line, my family and friends will all be excited, and I'll see my time and immediately want to best it. I guess there are worse hobbies than running marathons. And, I know after finishing my first, I'll probably want to take on another soon with the newfound knowledge I have in hand.

Only a few more miles to go...

A Great Week

This was probably my best week of running since I decided I was going to run the marathon. And that's saying something, considering I'm just coming off a really frustrating left foot injury. The foot issue is gone and this week I put up some of the best splits since my high-school cross country days.

During a 7-mile speed workout on Thursday, I ran one of the miles in 5:57. That's my first sub-six-minute mile since high school, and I weighed 30 pounds less back then. For the entire speed workout, I averaged 8:11 per mile. Then, funny enough, I ran five miles normal the next day and also averaged exactly 8:11 per mile.

To top it off, I nearly duplicated that pace during an 18-mile run on Sunday night. I was only down to run 16, but I felt so good for the first eight miles that I decided tacking on another two wouldn't hurt. Besides a nasty cramp in my side around mile 15, my legs and body felt fantastic for the entire run.

Here were my splits for the 18 miles:

7:55/8:16/8:16/8:16/8:12/8:05/8:11/8:05/8:06 (short water break)
8:15/8:16/8:21/8:20/8:24/8:15 (cramped up)
8:54 (ran through cramp)
8:06/7:39

My goal of every run is to make my last mile my fastest. That way, I learn to push hard, but still leave enough in the tank to push even harder through the finish. Once the cramp died down, I was able to post two of my best splits in the last two miles. That was especially satisfying.

The whole run was in 2 hours, 28 minutes, 2 seconds, or 8:13 per mile. If I maintain that type of pace on marathon day, I'll finish in around 3 hours, 35 minutes. In a perfect world, my goal is to run the 26.2 in 3:30, so I'm on the right track. When I ran 20 miles a few weekends ago, I did so around 9:00/mile, so this run went much better.

My weekly mileage was 36, which is the most I've ever run in one week during this training. I'm off today, and this will be an easier week for me. I'm down to run 27 miles with no run more than 7 miles, but I might up my Sunday run to 10 to make up some for the two weeks I didn't run at all. Then, two Sundays from now, I'm scheduled to run 20 on my birthday.

Stay tuned for more...

Trial run

Got me some new kicks. That's what the new shoes look like there to the right, though I'm rolling in the silver and black (the awesome Green and White Michigan State edition wasn't in stock).

As per the advice of the doctor who examined my ailing left foot, I purchased the Saucony Hurricane 10 for my next two months of training. I took them out for a trial run today and I can immediate tell a difference, as I should -- my Brooks had over 400 miles on them.

I ran three miles on Monday in my Brooks at a 7:30/miles pace and had some minor discomfort afterward. Today was a speedwork day and I decided it was an opportune time to try out the Hurricanes. I tried to get up at 5 am, but that wasn't happening. After hitting the snooze a bunch of times, I was out the door at roughly 7:30.

I planned on running 8 miles outside this morning, but even at that hour it was too stinkin' hot and humid to stay out there long. For what it's worth, I did log six along the St. Petersburg waterfront and then finished up with two on a treadmill indoors. Outside, my splits were 9:10/6:34/11:07/7:13/11:12/7:07. Inside, I did half-mile splits of about 4:15/3:15 for two miles.

Immediately after the run, I felt a tiny bit of discomfort in my left foot, but not enough to say running today was a bad idea. During the run, I felt fantastic -- minus the heat -- and sitting here after being done for a while, my foot is presenting no issues. The big test will be to see how it feels later tonight and when I wake up tomorrow.

Stay tuned...

My Left Foot

Things have unfortunately slowed down for the past two weeks, thanks to a stinkin' foot injury. I've been having some discomfort in my left ped ever since I ran my first-ever 20 miler two Sundays ago.

The run went well, though. While in Traverse City, Michigan, visiting some old college friends for the weekend, I got up early and logged a cool 20. Did so in almost nine minutes per mile on the nose, including a few stops along the way. So running-wise I managed probably around 8:40ish pace, which is strong.

But, my feet were killing me the next day and, two days later, I could barely put any weight on the left one. It died down over the first week, but I tried running in Boston and had to stop after one mile. That was more than a week ago. I ran three miles this past Friday and it felt fine during the run.

Some pain kicked up about an hour after that, though, so I decided it would probably be advisable to see a foot specialist. The good news was I didn't have a stress fracture. But, he did say I had peroneal tendinitis. I can still run short distances and keep up the cardio on the bike.

That's what I've been doing. The week after the run, I ran that one terrible mile, and did an hour (20 miles each time) on the bike a few days. This past week, I did an hour on the bike (22 miles) on Tuesday, 45 minutes (17 miles) Wednesday, ran three (6:55/8:15/6:38 splits) on Friday and then on Sunday I tried to mimick a long run, going for two hours on the bike, logging 41 miles in that time.

Today, I'm catching a flight to Florida for the Jays' series against the Rays. I'm going to buy some new running shoes -- the ones I bought in March have 400+ miles on them now -- for training and maybe a raceday pair as well. Not sure what I'll attempt running wise. I was supposed to log 20 this Sunday, but I can't dive right back into that distance after two weeks off.

So, things could be worse. I could have a broken foot and not be able to run the marathon. I just need to nip this in the bud now and get back on target here. I have to try hard not to overdo it. My lovely wife stopped me from going to the gym to try running earlier in the week and good for her. Someone's got to keep me in check.

That's it for now. Let's hope this foot heals quick...

Plugging along

It's been way too long since my last post, but that just means I've been busy, which isn't a bad thing. I've also posted less because I started keeping a running journal in a little notebook. So I write in there every day -- kind of taking away from the blog.

But, things are going great. I'm entering Week 8 of the 18-week program I outlined leading up to the marathon. I mix in easy/recovery runs, tempo runs, progression runs, speed workouts and long runs on a four on/three off schedule. Runs on Tuesdays, Thursdays, Fridays and long runs on Sundays.

Last night, I actually completed my first 16-mile run, doing it in around 8:25 per mile. If I can keep that pace for 26.2, I'll be right around my goal of finishing the whole dang thing in around 3:45 (under four hours is really what I'm shooting for). I logged the 16 along the Toronto lakefront.

It started off fine, but then it started raining decently hard. I wasn't going to let a little rain stop my workout, or the nasty blister on my right second toe that was killing me with every step, either. I stopped halfway to tend to the blister and did the ol' mind over matter deal and plugged along.

Kelly actually drove up alongside me and honked about 11 miles in, because she said it was raining hard downtown and she wanted to make sure I was OK. What a great wife, huh? I told her I was fine, even though it was REALLY tempting to hop in the car and call it quits.

When it was all said and done, my left groin was killing me, my right foot felt numb by this point and the cold I've ben fighting had me feeling more than a little fatigued. Still, no excuses -- I got the long run done and I'll be better for it (even if I'm aching all over this morning).

I've had some quality runs over the past few weeks, too. Running along the lakefront in Milwaukee was surprisingly enjoyable a few weeks back. Getting in some runs along the waterfront in St. Pete, Florida was awesome, even if the heat was almost unbearable. Seattle? Got 10 miles in running from downtown, through a beautiful forested area and coming out at the U of Washington campus. Gorgeous. Also ran along the waterfront in Seattle -- another beautiful spot.

I also had the chance to run along that same trail I did before in Anaheim again -- right before getting some homemade enchiladas at my Aunt Linda's house. Awesome. I've been forced to the treadmill a few times, and forced to get up at 4-5 am a couple other times, but with the exception of one day, I haven't strayed from my program.

I've also cut out pop altogether and I stopped drinking any beer on the road. I was only drinking diet pepsi for the past two years or so, but I figured I should just stick to water, juice and gatorade. The result? Well I quickly dropped under 160 pounds for the first time since my sophomore year of high school! I did sneak in a cigar one night in St. Pete, but was punished two days later with a sore throat.

The running journal has been a good addition, too. I log how much sleep I get, I scribble down every single thing I eat and I log all my runs, obviously. I'll jot down notes after the run -- what hurt, what was improved, etc; -- and it's helped me keep a constant focus on this training. It's one thing to just go out and run. It's another to make this a sort of lifestyle.

On that note, I'll leave you all with a few quotes. I get little motivation quotes e-mailed to me daily from runnersworld.com (I know, sounds dumb right?), and there's a few I've received that I have really enjoyed. Here's a couple:

"What counts in battle is what you do once the pain sets in."
--John Short, South African Coach

"You only ever grow as a human being if you're outside your comfort zone."
--Percy Cerutty

"Everyone is an athlete. The only difference is that some of us are in training, and some are not."
--Dr. George Sheehan

"To describe the agony of the marathon to someone who's never run it is like trying to explain color to someone who was born blind."
--Jerome Drayton

Ain't that the truth...

~JB

Uncharted waters

How are things on the West Coast?
I hear you're movin' real fine.
You wear those shoes like a dove.

Those were the lyrics that came pumping through the earbuds of my ipod as I legged out the final few yards of my 14-mile run on Saturday out in Anaheim. Funny huh? It's the opening three lines from an Interpol song and it was certainly fitting after I just completed the longest run of my life.

Thus the title of my post. Since my last entry, I have steadily increased my weekly long runs, putting in distances I've never done before now. Going back to the week of my last post, when running in Boston inspired me to get my butt back in gear, that week I put in 20 miles, including a 9-mile run (no biggie) along the Toronto lakefront on May 3.

The next week, my long run day fell on May 10, when I was in Cleveland for the Jays-Indians series. Unfamiliar with where to run in Cleveland, I headed down to the lakefront and ran laps around Browns Stadium until I reached 10 miles. That brought my weekly mileage up to 24 for that week.

The following Saturday (May 17), my long run just so happened to be the same day I was supposed to stand up in my brother-in-law's wedding back home in Chicago. Undeterred, I got up early and put in 12 miles that morning around Thornton, setting a new personal record, and then did the whole wedding thing. My left knee was barking that night, but no issues since.

Back in Toronto the next week, I upped it to 13 miles on Saturday, logging 23 miles for the week. I once again ran along the lakefront, running from near our condo to nearly where Kelly works. I had a kink in my neck after that run, probably from looking at the great views of the skyline from 6 miles down the lakefront, and I cramped up really bad for the last two miles.

That brings us to this past week. I was out in Anaheim for the Jays-Angels series and the Jays' strength and conditioning guy pointed me toward a great bike trail near the stadium that the players use for jogging when they're out in Cali. I put in 14 miles, finishing in almost exactly 2 hours with a break halfway. So, a little under 9 minutes per, I think.

But, my 14th mile clocked in at 7:30. So, needless to say, I had PLENTY left in the tank. I cramped up again in the 13th mile, but the fact that it happened toward the end of my run two weeks in a row makes me think the cramps come from my mind relaying to my body that I was near the finish. This time, I sped up as soon as I felt it coming on, and it went away quickly.

I'm in New York right now and got in a cool 4 miles on the treadmill this evening. It wasn't a fun 4 miles, though, but I think sitting on a plane all day from Cali to the Apple will sap your energy. I'll be back in Toronto on Saturday and I'll aim to get in 15 miles. It was really encouraging that I felt so great on my last run and I've finally gone beyond a half marathon.

I'm not worrying about times right now. If I do the marathon at 9 minutes per, I'd finish under 4 hours. I want to be around 3:30-45, though. Once I get up to 19-20 miles on a run, I plan to back off for a while in terms of long runs and then, when I begin building up again, the second time through I want to focus more on my speed.

Anyway, just thought I'd toss an update on here. I visited some family out in the L.A. area last night and my aunt pointed out that I hadn't updated this in a while. Well, things are going swimmingly right now. I feel like I'm in the best shape of my life and logging these 12, 13, 14 mile runs has really revealed how intimidating running a marathon is.