So you see the training that I have left to do for the marathon. I didn't put any pace amount there because I am going to try to push them… hopefully my workout recap will catch all that schtuff.

Today, I swam 960 meters, with the first 400 being at 8:30. I really tried to concentrate on technique so that I can maximize my stroke efficiency. I have started lifting weights again, at least once a week and that will help with my speed. After the marathon, I will bring my bike to work and get some bike time in preparations for the Trideltathon, but that's for a later date.

Tomorrow is Interval training that I swapped with Mondays so that I don't kill myself after the long runs. I know that Beer Boy is going to join me tomorrow at Tom Black Track for a speed session. Also, don't forget, tomorrow is VoicePost Wednesday! Also, it's a new month which means…January Monthly Recap.

Upcoming Races:
02/18 18th Annual Strawplain's 1/2 Marathon (Strawberry Plains, TN) Goal Time 1:57:45
03/26 Covenant Health 2nd Annual Knoxville Marathon (Knoxville, TN) Goal Time 4:15:00
04/23 Trideltathon Sprint Triathlon (400m, 6 miles, 3 miles)(Knoxville, TN)Goal Time:NYD
(indicates potential Personal Record for distance)

Here is the training schedule that I have been promising:

How to read this:
Speed Days (x*y) where x is the number of intervals, y is the interval distance in meters, z is the recovery interval in meters (unless followed by 's', then the recovery run is in time not distance).
e.g. (4×400) would translate to 400 meter run followed by 200m recovery run completed 4 times or visually (400, 200, 400, 200, 400, 200, 400, 200)

swim swim(y) where y is distance in meters. e.g. swim(800) would translate to me swimming 800 meters or about 1/2 mile

I forgot to update you on the Cadbury Egg Status… More Easterly colors will prevail when I take the time to get the Color Codes…

Upcoming Races:
02/18 18th Annual Strawplain's 1/2 Marathon (Strawberry Plains, TN) Goal Time 1:57:45
03/26 Covenant Health 2nd Annual Knoxville Marathon (Knoxville, TN) Goal Time 4:15:00
04/23 Trideltathon Sprint Triathlon (400m, 6 miles, 3 miles)(Knoxville, TN)Goal Time:NYD
(indicates potential Personal Record for distance)

Okay… I was going to post my training for the Knoxville Marathon but realized that after Calhoun's 10 miler that I should swap my Mon and Wed runs. That is my speed work should be midweek and not as close to my long run (or race). I came to this conclusion because I was pretty sore all day Sunday… ugh. So, I will have to redo those days and then post it.

So, Today was a nice Recovery, easy run. I leisurely wandering through the Fort Sander's area near campus. I have included a map of what I ran and then put in the marathon course that I will run March 26th. Today's run was at a 8:50 pace which felt faster but that was just my legs cleansing themselves.

It was rather cold in the wee hours of the morning. Although most of you were cozy in bed, I was stressing out on how many layers and of what fabric composition I was going to wear for the race. Too cold and I wouldn’t be efficient, too hot and I would expire like a match. I had to find the Goldilocks Interval where my clothing layers would be in the “green zone” for the amount of exertion I was anticipating for the race. I ended up doing a 2 layer LS Coolmax shirts, cotton compression shorts, Umbro shorts and wore a jacket and sweatpants as “just in case” layers.

The night before I had laid out my clothes (ref: Phedippidations Episode #28) and was ready to go. I had my Peanut butter bagel for breakfast, when to the bathroom and then grabbed my stuff and headed out. During the 30 minute drive to the race start, I listened to Phedippidations #029 which was about Emil Zatopek. I’ll try to post more about Emil in a future post. He was a VERY accomplished runner in the late 40s and early 50s. He won the “Triple Crown of the Olympics” where he won gold in the 5k, 10k and marathon! This would help me around mile 7 of the race.

I was at the race a whole hour before the start time. This uncommon event allowed me to warm up for about 2 miles before I headed back to the car to ditch my extra layers and grab a swig of gatorade before heading over to the starting line. While at the car, Solange passed me and said hello during her warmup and sure enough, there was Marty aka Beer Boy was doing a warmup run. So, I ended up catching up with him and worked out a little bit more before we headed to the race start.

Before every race, we play the National Anthem. Now it’s usually just a recording, but this time we had a live singer of the national anthem and it was awesomely performed! I was still worried that I wasn’t going to have enough clothes on for the race as I was still pretty cold. It was supposed to warm up a few degrees so I stopped worrying about it and just took off. The plan that Marty and I had developed was that I would run with Marty until I couldn’t stay at that pace and then he would go ahead and finish. So basically, I was his pacer for the race. We planned out that we would run the first mile slow, a 9:00 min pace and then pick up the pace to a 8:30 pace and see how that worked.

Calhoun’s 10 miler in known for 3 things:

1) It has a BIG ASS hill at mile 1 (which also means one a mile 9)
2) Its a pretty course
3) Post race Continental Breakfast

There was a group of 5-6 of us that knew each other, one way or another… and were actually being rather obnoxious. At the crest of hill at Mile 1, I commented as saying “Good thing we don’t have to run back up this hill”. I also gave warning to all the 10 milers around on “How NOT to run a 10 miler” (ref: Chickamauga 10 18 miler). So here’s the deal with the “Calhoun’s Moral Buster”:
When you approach it, the hill is a 12% grade, but it’s rather short at 637 feet. On the way back… at mile 9, it’s an average 5.5% grade over 0.3 miles and the last 400 feet is 6.5% grade! Also, they made it very convenient for the runner… at the top of the hill is a cemetery for when the hill kills you… runners of past Calhoun’s race that didn’t make it are buried there. Everywhere else on the course is either “gently” rolling or semi-flat (There is a difference here in East Tennessee).

Just before we started up the hill, I had a bad sign - in fact it’s a sign of running doom… hunger. And just not hunger in the belly, but wanting to talk about eating… that’s the catch. In marathons, when you start talking about food and what you are going to eat afterwards then you take focus away from your running and that’s one of the first signs of getting close to The Wall. Talking about the big rack of ribs, or the chocolate cake, or the huge helping of ice cream that you are going to eat as an reward for this endeavor leads to the realization that you are hungry and can lead into thinking about all the things that are starting to go wrong. So, on the hill, I tell Marty that I am ready for cake!

We ended up having a faster 2nd mile, mainly due to the long downhill. Mile 3 had the waterstop in it, so I decided to take the one Clif Shot gel that I brought with me. That helped out, a lot, and I never felt hungry after that. Mile 4, we both felt pretty strong and consistent. It helped that this was the flatest part of the course. At the mile 5 turn around, my split time… if I ran even splits, was on PR pace. My faster unofficial on a certified distance PR time at that! We stopped to stretch just after mile 5 at the water station. By mile 6, I could feel the first signs that my tanks were starting to run dry. At mile 7, my hamstrings were very uncomfortable and I knew that I wouldn’t have enough for the hills at miles 8 and 9, maybe not even get there. So I thought… What would Emil Do? So, I ended up changing my stride and in about 50 feet, my hamstrings were no longer a problem. I had changed my stride (lengthened a little) so that my hamstrings did less work and gave them a break. That right there bought me another 1.5 miles. By Mile 8, Marty had left me and I was running by myself. I had to walk up most of the hill to mile 9, I felt that conserving my precious energy now, would help me on the flat area for the last 3/4 mile. I stretched at the top of the hill. I was so worn out in the last 3/4 mile that I was walking again by the 1/2 mile mark. A runner behind me gave me some encouragement and in a few seconds, I caught up with him. I told him that I was going to borrow some of his aura.

Well, it worked. In a move to avoid traffic, I surged ahead and rounded into the parking lot for the last 0.2 of a mile. As I was getting closer, there were runners on either side encouraging us as we headed home. I saw a runner (Arvel Debty) in front of me and I was judging that he was right on the borderline of me being able to pass him. Had I had more gas, I would have gone for it, but I didn’t. Just after decision, a spectator told me that I had a someone closing fast on me. No way jose, this is a “race” and not a “run”… so, I picked up the pace as best as I could and sprinted toward the finish line. I almost caught Arvel before me, but in the last 15 feet, I eased up, coming in 2 second after him. The guy behind me, finished 1 second behind me. In the chute handing our racing tags, the guy behind me(Matt Matzek)congratulated me on the kick at the end. I complimented him likewise… the spectator who warned me about him gave me enough motivation to give it all at the end. The best thing about beating him was that he’s in my age group! The guy whose aura I borrowed and allowed me to have a strong finish wasn’t too far behind. His name was Keith Hall and I thanked him profusely for helping me back out on the course. Had he not given me those words of encouragement… I wouldn’t have finished as strongly.

Calhoun’s is one of the races were you KNOW you want to stay after the race. Typically, on these longer races, I just leave because I know that I am not getting any hardware at the awards, so I just get in the car and go. Well, I was staying for the food though! A while back, I wrote about 5 weird things about me and #5 was that while running… anything is fair game in terms of food. Case in point… I got myself an Onion bagel, honey flavored cream cheese, granola and a little orange juice and decaf coffee. How I would eat the bagel is I would dip it in the cream cheese and then dip it into the granola. Kind of strange, I guess, but delicious!

Here is a picture of Marty (aka Beer Boy) in Blue and myself in Yellow. If you notice, I am hovering over the ground:

photo surreptitiously aquired from the fine KTC photographer M. DeLisle

Today has actually been busy. I have actually had substantial office work to do. Unfortunately it hasn't been anything very exciting or requiring some super statistical crunching, but oh well. Now that all that is over, it's time to get to some real work such as planning tomorrow's race, drafting a script for a race report I will submit to Runcast Weekly and put in my interval training in my Knoxville Marathon Training so that I have something to follow.

For tomorrow's race, I need to go get the weather so that I can plan my garb accordingly. Too much and you overheat and too little the cold is a distraction. So, I need to get all that stuff and figure out what I am going to wear and lay it out so that I am not running around the house tomorrow going crazy. Looks like it is going to 38 degrees at race start which means that I will wear shorts, and 2 LS shirt (probably both coolmax). Unfortunately, it's going to be around 33(Same As It Ever Was) degrees when I get there, so I will need sweatpants, gloves and a hat while I warmup. And it looks like it will be around 44 degrees when I finish, so I won't have to worry about shedding clothes during the race.

As you know from past posts, I have contributed to the Phedippidations podcast. Tomorrow, I am going to submit my Calhoun's Race Report to Runcast Weekly, another very fine running podcast. I am not sure when it will be added, but I am pretty sure that it will be. I will also add a voice post here tomorrow after the race, with basic details. Split times, any pictures, and a lengthier narrative will follow on Monday when the results will be available.

I am finishing up Week 8 of a 16-week training program that I created. The first 8 weeks… you could just flush down the toilet…. WHOOOOOOOOOOOOSH! So, I have to concentrate hard on these last 8 weeks so that I can finish the marathon without being disappointed. Historically, I know that I could “finish” the marathon right now. I know enough about my ability to make sure that I could finish the marathon, but that's not really good enough. Just finishing is like at Mardi Gras Marathon 2002… I had the opportunity to run it, so I did. So what if I only had 40 miles the previous 6 weeks and 13.1 of them had been the week before. This is my home turf… I'm a local. I'm supposed to use words like “Y'all” and “Y'uns” and “what you know good” but I don't… But this is where I train… these are MY hills (We have hills in these there parts)… if you can't make it up Lake Loudon, then you just need to suck air, sucka!

So I need to do well, in fact, it may be the only time that I run the Knoxville Marathon. WHAT? That's right… I'm pretty sure that I will give up running the Knoxville Marathon in the future!!! Scared? Nah… I'd much rather give up my running shoes for a reflective vest and get out on the course during the marathon and protect the runners that are running on my turf. So, I'll volunteer for the marathon… because there would be “Darkness and Chaos without Volunteers” After all… that's what we do here in Tennessee (GO VOLS!)

On another note… one of my fellow tennessee blogger that has a running problem, Rae, is running the ING Miami Marathon this weekend. Good luck to her and the whole entourage with her.

and before I forget:
Cadbury Creme Egg Count
Eggs purchase to date: 12
Eggs consumed to date: 8

Upcoming Races:
01/28 15th Annual Calhoun's 10 miler (Lenoir City, TN) Goal Time 1:27:00
02/18 18th Annual Strawplain's 1/2 Marathon (Strawberry Plains, TN) Goal Time 1:57:45
03/26 Covenant Health 2nd Annual Knoxville Marathon (Knoxville, TN) Goal Time 4:15:00
04/23 Trideltathon Sprint Triathlon(400m, 6 miles, 3 miles)(Knoxville, TN)Goal Time:NYD
(indicates potential Personal Record for distance)

I had a great swim today. I broke it up into two sections. The first part was a 400m “time trial” of sorts to gage how I am doing for the Trideltathon in April. It consisted of 9 laps of the pool and I was able to do it consistently without resting (that's the part I like the best). The second have of the workout was more just for fun relaxing type swimming. I practice my free style form, I did the breast stroke and even tried to see how far I could swim underwater. Today I only made it 2/3 of the way across. I have made it all the way across in the past. Also, I practice breathing from the other side. That is in the freestyle, there are a few different ways that you can breathe while swimming. Probably the most common way is to breathe everytime your stroke is on that side of the body.

For Example, I breathe on the right side of the body… so everytime my right arm comes out of the water, I breathe. Easy enough? Some people can breathe from both side on each stroke. And there are the people that can breathe every other stroke. I think there is some hydrodynamic advantage there, but not exactly sure. So, I am sure that I looked goofy while swimming. Especially next to some young swimmer chick who had to have been on a swim team somewhere. I'd start and she'd pass me like 10 times in a lap… okay not that much.

I ended up going 800 meters for today and tomorrow will be a rest day in preparations for Calhoun's on Saturday.

I made an anatomically correct extension cord last night. With the right female part in hand, I was able to wire up the cord and create a working powercord! WOO HOO and just to show you that I used the correct female part… here is a picture (safe for work):

And for the Cadbury Creme Egg count

Eggs purchase to date: 8
Eggs consumed to date: 7

It was a beautiful day in the neighborhood for an easy run for Beer Boy and Math Boy. I met up with Marty out by his vehicle and we took off from there. It was a very pace as we were able to talk the entire time. We discussed the upcoming Calhoun's 10 miler and discussed marathon tactics. It's his goal to complete Knoxville under 4 hours. I know that I can't do that without selling my soul. I do know that I can post a decent time especially if I keep with my new training schedule (I'll post that soon)… so I think the plan will be that I will pace him as long as I can and then let him bring it home. We'll have to work at the actual split times of course.

Here is a map of our route: