2008 Marine Corps. Marathon

Before the Race

It was a dark and stormy morning.  John, Mark, and I squeezed into my little car with all of our running gear, an insane amount of food, and a handful of electronic gadgets (we’re geeks after all).  The day started to go bad when I kept saying “I think we should have turned already.”  Eventually we realized that we really should have turned already but by that point it was way too late to turn around.  We let the GPS system re-route us and we continued on.  That snafu along with fog that reduced visibility to a less than a tenth of a mile added an hour to our drive on our quest to the 2008 Marine Corps. Marathon.

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As I write this there are less than 5 days, and 20 hours until the start of the 2008 Marine Corps Marathon.  Looking back through my training log I can see that I started training for this race in early May.  That’s pretty close to 6 months of training and a mile or two shy of 1000 miles.  I’m nervous because I’ve put in so much effort.  I want to do the best I can and I don’t want anything stupid to prevent me from doing my best (like forgetting my sneakers or getting lost or any number of things).

The nerves and the extra energy from the taper are making me a bit cranky.  I snapped at Mary yesterday for no good reason. A nice strong cocktail helped calm me down but I’m not going to have any more alcohol this week.  Alcohol messes up my sleeping patterns.  So to all who come in contact with me this week: I’m sorry I’m nervous and irritable and if when I’m a jerk it’s not you.

My “long” run yesterday was really good with the exception that it was 31.2 degrees out.  At that temperature even water doesn’t want to move.  I wore 4 layers of clothing and was surprisingly comfortable.  This week is supposed to be cold.  I hope I don’t acclimate to this weather!  The weather in DC is currently predicted to be a high of 70 with rain.  Since the race is run in the morning I expect it to be much cooler than 70.  If it rains I hope it doesn’t happen until after the race starts.  All things considered this could be very good weather for me since I prefer warmer weather.  Still, I think I perform best in the mid 50s.  I can’t worry about the weather because it is not in my control but I can worry about preparing for the weather with proper clothing.

I’m going to plan for the trip using the time that I’m NOT spending running.  I have only 3 runs planned between now and the marathon for a total of 13 miles.

Yesterday marked the end of my true training for the 2008 Marine Corps. Marathon.  The long run is the most important type of run for a marathon and my training plan this time around had 4 20 mile training runs.  Yesterday was my last 20 miler and marked the beginning of the 3 week taper period.  My longest run up to race day is only 12 miles!

Yesterday’s run went well. Read the rest of this entry »

The other day I was very sad.  My foot has been bothering me a lot since the race on Sunday.  I have plantar fasciitis in my left foot.  So far it’s not been that bad — I could easily run with it.  Recently I started to worry that it might affect my training and, more importantly, possibly keep me from running Marine Corps. or keep me from running my best.

Like many runners I’m a slave to my training plan.  I know it’s stupid but I feel compelled to do at least what the training plan calls for.  I don’t modify it very much.  So, being a stupid runner, I ran 11 miles on a painful foot.  Read the rest of this entry »

I often see strange things while running though I’m rarely in any sort of danger.  One run stands out in my mind as being packed full of notable events.  I was running along the Erie Canal Trail as I often do.  Unfortunately I was alone for this run, abandoned by friends and coworkers.  They missed out on an eventful run and also don’t believe all of my stories.

The run started out normal until I saw a what I initially thought was a large snake swimming in the canal directly towards me.  Read the rest of this entry »

The most important type of run while training for a marathon is, not surprisingly, the long run.  The goal is to get out and run for very long distance so that your body can adapt to the distances and running for such a long period of time.  Nearly all marathon training plans will have you run a long run once per week.  The training plan I’m following for the 2008 Marine Corps. Marathon calls for four 20 mile runs.  Those are the longest runs in the plan.  I prefer to get some runs in before the race at 22-24 miles in length.  When the plan calls for a 20 mile run I plan to do a minimum of 20 and hope that I feel good enough at the end of the run that I can add a couple of miles.  This weekend was one of those runs!

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I haven’t been posting much about running.  I’ve been running.  A lot.  I’ve been roughly following my training plan since returning from vacation.  This year has been fantastic.  During my runs my effort hasn’t increased but my times keep dropping.   That’s not to say that training is easy for me.  It takes up a lot of time, is tiring, and makes me incredibly hungry.  The time I spend running is time that I almost always enjoy…except maybe the last few miles of 20 mile runs!  It’s tiring but that helps me to sleep well.  I’m hungry and eating like crazy but not gaining any weight.  For many people that’s a dream come true (if that’s your dream then just start running!).

My most important runs while training for a marathon the long runs.  Read the rest of this entry »

Today was the first scheduled day of my training for the 2008 Marine Corps Marathon!  I’m already deviating from the schedule.  Last week I was running and had to stop a few times from the pain. Read the rest of this entry »

Today, just before noon, I registered for the 33rd Annual Marine Corps Marathon. Even better is that both John and Mark were able to register too. Assuming we can all stay injury free we’ll all be running in Washington DC on October 26th, 2008!

I will use my finish time from the Grand Island 1/2 Marathon to create a training plan using the Smart Coach. Training will start in June.