The Rowe Family Blog

On Friday 9/28 I ran the inaugural Geneseo Homecoming 5k.  I ran as part of the team “The Lost Gladiators.”  My team consisted of Me, John, Mike, Julie, and Mary.  We had extra support from Ada and Cassie.

The course was … interesting.  The first two miles were very downhill and the last mile was very uphill.  There was about 200 ft to climb in the last mile!  The was a lot of scenery on the course and I’m not talking about campus although the campus was nice looking too.  The course had a lot of narrow and very tight turns (90 degrees or less).  It made it hard to not cut people off and to not get cut off.  You also lose a lot of speed in sharp turns like that.  A couple sections of the course were run on grass which also slowed people down.  I hope that they will alter the course a bit next year.

I did very well, a new PR!  It was only the second 5k I’ve ever run and I wasn’t a runner for the first one.  I finished in 22:40, a 7:19 pace.  I didn’t expect to do that well on that course.  I wonder what I’d be capable of on a flatter course?  John finished in about 25 minutes, Julie in 29:12, Mike in 30:24, and Mary in about 52 minutes.  Mary carried Cassie on her chest and pushed Ada for the entire course.  Well, actually, Mary didn’t get to finish with Ada for the last .2 miles of the race (or so) because her parent’s snatched her away!

After the race we all went for subs at Aunt Cookies.  Delicious!

Show on map

Monday night (9/24) I hit the road for an 8.3 (ish) mile run.  I’ve been itching to put in some longer runs since the marathon but I also wanted to give my body a rest.  On Monday I felt comfortable to do a mid-length run.

I ran at a comfortable pace.  It was sunny out when I started and comfortably warm.  I was out simply to have fun and did not feel compelled to break any speed records.  Besides, I have a 5k coming up and I’d like to at least be injury free for that.

I was surprised at how quickly it gets dark these days.  Once the sun starts to set there’s little time before it’s quite dark out.  It was a little odd wearing sunglasses and having my LED pack flashing!

Along the way I was honked at (in a good way!).  I smiled at waived as they passed.  I live for that stuff.

I ended up running the 8.3 miles at an average pace of 8:36.   That kind of blew me away since I was not trying to run fast in any way.

I didn’t run the Boston Marathon much less qualify for it but I did run in Boston this week. I was in town for 3 days for a conference. I stayed at the Westin. When I asked the concierge where a good place to run would be I was surprised when they handed me a map. They had Runner’s World map out two courses, one three miles, and one five miles.

Both of the courses were loops around a section of the Charles river. I ran the five mile route on both occasions. On Wednesday 9/19 I set out at about 8 PM. It was getting dark already and I was slightly concerned about running in the dark in an unknown city on a route that I wasn’t familiar with. It turned out to be fine as there were TONS of people out running. I must have seen 60 runners in 5 miles. I didn’t set my stopwatch correctly so I wasn’t able to record a time for this run. I’m pretty sure that I ran it rather fast as it felt like I was flying. Ironically the distraction of all of the sights probably helped speed things up too.

On Thursday 9/20 I ran the 5 ish mile loop again this time when it was light out. I wasn’t able to run very fast as my shins were bothering me. That’s not much of a surprise since I ran five miles less than 24 hours prior. My legs still aren’t terribly strong and I need a decent break time between runs. Still, it was a good run. I ran it in about 44 minutes. Since the route is a little over five miles the average pace was 8:19.

Running in Boston was great. One thing I liked a lot about running a loop around the Charles river was that I could see how far I went.  When I returned to the side of the river that I started on after running around 4 miles I could see clearly how far I had run on the other side of the river.  I could see very clearly the distance between the two bridges that I crossed.

I’d love to go back to Boston.  I’ll bring my running shoes along for sure if I do!

Show on map

On September 16th, 2007 everything fell into place. The weather was nearly perfect, I had trained well, I ate well, I slept well, and I was mentally ready for my second 26.2 mile run. The race was excellent and I far exceeded both my official and my unofficial goal times. My official goal was to break 4:15 thus beating my first marathon time by about 3 minutes. My unofficial goal, which I didn’t really tell people about, was to break 4 hours. I kept that (mostly) to myself because I knew there was a good chance that I would not achieve that. I did. By a large margin. Read the rest of this entry »

I’m ready. Well, not really. I still have some music to rip and I want to ice my shins and eat some snacks before I go to sleep but other than that I am ready. I’ve trained, and I’ve trained well. I’ve eaten well this week loading in more carbs than normal while not neglecting veggies and protein. I slept great last night. Thanks to Mary and Cassie I got 10.5 hours of excellent sleep. Right now I’m tired so there’s a decent chance that I’ll get some good sleep tonight.

I will get out of bed at 4:30 to shower and brush my teeth. At 5:30 I will eat my race bagel. At 6:00 we will leave for Frontier Field. I will get my chip and then shiver waiting for the gun to fire at 7:30. At 7:30 I will be running my second marathon. I’ll run for 26.2 miles and it will take me somewhere between 4 and 4.5 hours. The weather will be nearly ideal for running so it’s possible that I could break 4 hours but I’m not betting on it. As long as I finish in 4:15 or better I will be satisfied.

I’m nervous but it’s nothing like my first marathon. I’m in better shape, I’m at my own home, I’m well prepared, and the weather isn’t supposed to be in the 80s with high humidity! I also have the benefit of knowing what a marathon feels like, though I fully expect it to feel differently tomorrow. Tomorrow will be easier but not easy. I may even be able to run it with no walking. No matter what it will be fun just like the first time.

John will be running his first full marathon. I’m wondering how he’s feeling right now. I know he’s going to do well and I’m looking forward to cheering him through the finish (that’s assuming that I finish ahead of him of course). Mark will be running the half and he’ll finally feel confident to run a full.

Tonight Mary, Cassie, and I went to pick up my race packet.  The expo wasn’t bad.  It’s certainly an improvement over last year.  It reminded me of Disney just on a smaller scale.  I was surprised and somewhat impressed with amount of stuff they give you in the goodie bag.  In comparison to Disney Rochester wins that contest.

I’m very tired.  I was tired starting this afternoon.  I’m hoping that I’m not sick but I think it’s more likely due to lack of sleep.  I wasn’t able to make it to bed until about midnight last night.

My shin muscles burn right now.  They’ve been burning since about the time I felt tired.  I don’t think this is a problem and I don’t think I’m sick.  I think I’m blowing things out of proportion due to stress about the event.

To do:

• load new music onto mp3 player
• cut straw to length
• clean sunglasses
• get out tear-away clothing
• prep my gels (pre-cut them and get out pins for them)
• buy a bagel and a banana
• stop worrying because I am prepared

Tonight was the end of my training. I have no more runs and I’m not going to do any weight training until after the race. During my easy three miler I was thinking about finishing my first marathon. There’s no better way to say it than in the words of the great Dee Snider (of Twisted Sister)

“How long I have wanted
This dream to come true
And as it approaches
I can’t believe I’m through”

Of course this song has nothing to do with running marathons but that’s the beauty of song lyrics; everyone twists them to mean whatever they want them to mean. When I finished my first marathon this past January I wasn’t elated but disappointed. I was sad that it was over because it was such a huge challenge. The feeling passed as I realized that it would still be a challenge to run another marathon.

Here I am, with 3 days to go… Will I feel disappointed at the finish line again?

p.s. I finished the 3.2 miles in 28:17, an 8:51 pace. I tried very hard to go easy and I still broke a 9!

Tonight I ran a tempo run.  My training schedule called for 5 miles but, out of convenience, I put in 5.25 miles.  Once again I used my bright yellow new sneakers.  They felt good but the muscles in my legs (my shins actually) had a tired/sore feeling.  It might not have been the shoes but it was a little uncomfortable.

It felt great running tonight.  Once I hit four miles I felt like I had warmed up.  The music was great and I got a runner’s high.  When I finished the loop once again I couldn’t believe what I saw on my watch — 40:26!  I beat the previous weeks tempo run by 2 minutes!  That’s an average pace of 7:42.  I can’t complain about that time for that distance.  It was cool and overcast tonight (62 degrees) which certainly helped.  The weather for Sunday is supposed to be near that temperature.  Everything is coming into place!

I have a few things left to do before Sunday:

• Get a straw from Wendy’s to cut to size
• Prepare my gel packs (cut the notches)
• Put new music on my mp3 player
• Buy a bagel and a banana from Wegmans

There are just 5 days left.  Tonight I went to the gym and did a light chest and ab workout.  I also did shoulder shrugs.  For all exercises I used decreased weight and I did fewer sets than normal.  I did this because tapering isn’t just about tapering your running.  I didn’t want to expend a ton of energy at the gym.  Tomorrow, when I run a 5 mile tempo run, it’s going to be hard to not over-do it!

Just six more days!  I’m getting a little nervous but I know in my head that I’m well prepared for the race.

Today my Razz Cliff Shot gels arrived.  Rei.com gave me a great price although it did take a while to ship them.  Still, I have them and I’ll order from REI again — they have excellent pricing.

I ran in my bright yellow Mizuno’s again.  Like yesterday they felt great again.  I’m leaning towards using these for the marathon.  It’s unlikely that I’ll wear my old sneakers.

Today an easy 3 mile run was scheduled.  I ran the 3.2 mile loop in 26:46.  I tried to go slow but that’s actually an 8:22 average pace!  Sheesh!  I didn’t even feel very good during the run.  I don’t think things would have gone well had I done a long run today.

I have a few things to do before Sunday.  I need to change the music on my mp3 player and cut a straw to the proper length for the run.  I tested the straw technique at the Madd Dash and it worked very well except that the straw was a little too short.