The Rowe Family Blog

As I mentioned briefly in my race report for the 2009 Las Vegas Marathon I ended up spending a night in the hospital following the race.  I feel obligated to post a few things about that event.  I don’t want anyone that comes across this blog to be discouraged by what happened.  After you read this post I hope you’ll agree that it was just a big misunderstanding and that I didn’t really need to be hospitalized (but I blame no one for what happened).

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I’m having a lot of trouble starting this race report. I have so much I’d like to say and so much I could say but that would be too long and boring for everyone but me. This race wasn’t just a race. It was the bookend of a long and difficult but fulfilling chapter in my life.

The race is less than 1 week away. Training is over. All that I can do now is try to rest my body as much as I can to be in the best condition I can be for Sunday. Almost every other variable is out of my control now. As hard as it is I have to give in and accept that I can’t control everything. I’ve trained hard and endured a lot on the road and off the road. What I’ve endured this year is worse than what I’ll endure on Sunday. I have no doubt about that. Read the rest of this entry »

It’s been a long time since I’ve written anything.  Training for this marathon has been a real challenge.  The mileage hasn’t been much of an issue but it turns out that I managed to end up with “iron depletion.” Read the rest of this entry »

People say the only constant is change.  I’ll add to that to say that things change in cycles.  A few months ago I was super excited about working my butt off to qualify for the Boston Marathon.  But things happen.  Things change.  I haven’t given up on this goal but I was close.  Some things changed in my life that not only made running a lower priority but also made it less enjoyable for me.  Running became a chore when it had been something that caused me extreme joy.  I don’t think I’ll ever forget running the Miami Half Marathon in January of 2009.  I felt pure ecstasy during that race and I continue to run searching out another high like that one. Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday I started my official training for the 2009 Las Vegas Marathon.  The first day of the training plan called for a rest day!  For previous marathons I’ve roughly followed training plans generated from the Smart Coach.  This time I’m going to follow a modified version of the Pfitzinger 70/18 plan.  It’s a plan that spans 18 weeks and peaks at 70 miles per week.  The first week is 54 miles which is about the mileage I’ve been putting in lately anyhow.  I’m going to modify the plan slightly to work around my life and to change the focus of the plan slightly.

It was a busy weekend.  One that didn’t allow me to do my typical Sunday morning long run.  Sometimes life gets in the way of running.  I had trouble running most of the previous week primarily due to sore calves that I earned at the 2009 Utica Boilermaker.  Like a small child I was grumpy because my routine was thrown off.  To top it off it started to pour rain while I got ready to head out.  I wasn’t heading out for just any run, this was a 20 mile run.  This would be the longest I’d run since October of 2008.  I didn’t want to go.

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The course for the 2009 Rock and Roll Las Vegas Marathon was announced yesterday.  I’m pretty blown away by this course.  The entire half marathon route is on the strip!  That means that the strip will be closed to traffic for about 5 hours.  I’m really surprised, but excited, that the race coordinators were able to get the necessary permits to do this.  I applaud Clark County (the strip isn’t actually in Las Vegas) for allowing such a prominate course. Read the rest of this entry »

About a week ago I ran the Grand Island Half Marathon and exceeded my expectations.  I’ve been saying for quite some time that my short term goal is to break 20 minutes in a 5k and my long term goal is to qualify to run the Boston Marathon.  I haven’t run a 5k recently to prove it but I’m pretty sure I can break 20 minutes now.  I ran a 20:13 for the final 5k of the GI Half!  Read the rest of this entry »