MichaelV

I love your attitude about the process of training for the race. I think the race is the icing on the cake and the training is the cake. Sure icing can be awesome, but cake is pretty good too and you get to eat a lot more of it. The conditions -weather, etc. - make it so that there's no guarantee that the icing will be all that great anyway. I really enjoy following your training on Strava. I'm in awe of the work you put in on a daily basis.

Wow - that is some serious dedication to purchasing a dress! It must be worth it. I guess it was so difficult to find because JC Penny is essentially going out of business at this point. That might explain why their inventory systems aren't very sophisticated. Warmer weather finally seems to be here, but it's still been so dang windy (and rainy) that it doesn't feel very nice out.

What a great long run! Glad you're getting back to feeling it again.

I'm actually kind of self conscious about every one of my Strava routes looking exactly the same. The road outside of my neighborhood is not safe for running, so I either have to drive somewhere or do the laps. Driving just adds more time to something that already takes a bunch of time. After the marathon, I'll go back to Saturday runs with the group, though, so there will be a few new routes.

This is why I don't run with a heart rate monitor. It would make my heart rate go up just looking at it.

Inspired by all the recent posts, I thought I'd do a quick write-up about my Snowbuster "Race". I'm at work and basically buried in looming deadlines, but what the heck?!! The only other time I did the Snowbuster was 2017. I did that one as part of a 14 mile run that was primarily with my running group. Two years ago, I was routinely running longer than most of them, so the first half was with the group and eventually I was alone toward the end. I just made a point of noting my 13.1 time. I didn't really do it as a race. I didn't this year either. My plan called for a 20 mile run easy with the last two at between 5k and 10K pace. I'm in the home stretch of training for the Carmel Marathon on March 30. It will be my second marathon. The last one was Marshall in November. I was going to do Carmel last year, but ended up with Achilles tendinitis right around the start of February. I've made it a month longer this time (fingers crossed) and I've got about 100 more miles in the books at this point than I did for Marshall. With the crazy weather this year, I've had to adjust my long run each weekend to avoid the typical upper 30 degree steady rain we seem to get each weekend. The weekend before, I set another new distance PR on the treadmill - 16 miles. I don't think I can do much farther than that. It's too repetitive for my legs. So Saturday was supposed to be kind of decent. 30 degrees in the morning warming to maybe the low 40s by the afternoon. The forecast for Sunday was a winter weather advisory. Easy choice! I'm not really a morning runner anyway, so I decided to shoot for early afternoon. My Kentucky Wildcats were playing a big basketball game at 2PM, so since I was going to be running about 3 hours, I figured I could start a little before tip-off, listen to pre-game, game and post-game to get me through. More on that later. Spent the morning doing chores around the house, hydrating, eating lunch early at 10:30 and doing my PT stretches that I continue to do after the Achilles thing last year. Got my stuff together and headed out at 1:30. I was wearing shorts, long sleeve running shirt with a short sleeve shirt over it, gloves and a buff on my head. I promptly went back inside, lost the short sleeve and replaced it with a light jacket. Plan was to run with my handheld bottle around my neighborhood (for those on Strava, I'm sure you think I'm a wacko for doing so many miles in a small neighborhood. You might be right). I was going to sip Tailwind at each mile for the first hour or so and then stop at my house for a quick gel, electrolyte tab and a splash of Powerade (that's what they have at the Carmel water stations so I'm getting used to it) every 45 minutes after that. I started out with the pace around 9:15 or so in the beginning doing the neighborhood laps and listening to the game. I'd slow to a walk for a few steps at the start of each mile and take a sip. I can't drink while I'm running and it only slows you down for a second or two that you can make right up. I was kind of in a groove and wasn't going through the tailwind very fast and I actually just kept going without stopping back at the house for 13.5 miles or so. The pace crept a little faster as I went along, but I did a good job of keeping it just above 9:00. Took the quick pit stop at 13.5 and headed back out. The basketball game was going badly.....very badly. I stopped again at a little over 17 for a splash and go and clicked my mp3 player from radio to my music. I figured I could use the uptempo stuff for my final 2 quick miles. At mile 18, I picked up the pace. I managed to get that one done pretty close to my target. It was 7:28. If you've never tried to do a couple of fast-for-you miles at the end of a long run, you should give it a try. I think it will help at the end of the marathon. I ended up backing off a little bit on the second mile. I had the lungs, energy, etc., but my hamstring felt really tight like it might cramp. I'd back off a touch and then speed back up until it felt like it was going to cramp again. That one came in at 7:55. A little disappointing, but over all that was probably my best 20 miler in terms of how I felt. I've only done 5 or 6 of them, so I don't have a lot to compare to, though. Here's a link to the run on Strava. If you want, you can zoom in real close and see just how many laps I really did. Or maybe don't so you don't start suspecting I'm insane. https://www.strava.com/activities/2186981359 Took a picture/selfie before I started, but it looks dumb so I'm not posting it. Do we get bonus Snowbuster points for actually blogging about it?

You need to be careful with that achilles (I know from experience). Have you considered you might be compensating - even subconsciously - for the left knee to the detriment of the right achilles? Might be time to throw a little stretching and strengthening into the mix. Maybe pick some stuff out of the Myrtle Routine. Don't let some slower pace runs get you down. If they aren't a tempo or interval workout, they are supposed to be slow.

Very creative! I won't even do a farmer's blow in front of a house when I'm outside. I wait until an empty lot or an area with no houses.

Awesome that you've taken the time to decide what you REALLY want to do. Not everyone either does that or can actually figure it out. And I'm with you on the easy, trail stuff and even Ultras. After this next marathon, I'm going to target a fall 50K on a course with tough terrain and give up focusing so much on weekly mileage. It gets to be a grind after awhile.

I'm going to try for 20, but they will be mostly easy. Will probably do them Saturday and then ironically it's supposed to snow on Sunday.

Great post. I loved reading it.

I agree with you on the game. A good, low scoring defensive contest can be exciting. Most people just want to see points, I guess. I thought the commercials were the worst crop yet and the halftime show was boring/lame, etc. I think the best non-game part for me was the singing of "America the Beautiful". That sister duo could really sing.

I've kind of been a wimp lately about the weather. I ran 18 miles a little over a week ago on a Sunday where the feels like temp was 28 and there was a little misting rain at times. When I finished, I was so cold that I huddled under an electric blanket for over an hour and the thumb and first finger on each hand were numb for almost that whole time as well. I didn't think the weather was that cold, so maybe I under dressed, but since then I've done every run on the treadmill except one. That's 35 miles of treadmill running in 8 days. I honestly don't think it's that bad. Mentally I can handle it - especially if I watch a movie or some TV programs which is something I don't get to do when I run outside. I could probably do a 20 miler mentally. I think it presents some physical challenges, though. I don't think there's enough variation - uneven terrain, varying paces, going around turns or curves, etc. that repetitive injuries are a concern. You can vary the speed and incline, but that only goes so far. It's also typically humid in the gym - especially when it's crowded - and that leads to me sweating enough that if I go much above 10 miles, the treadmill is kind of a wet mess. On days when nobody is there, it's significantly better. Anyway, not really trying to talk you out of it like you asked. I think it has its place. We're getting a bit warmer today, so I'll probably back inside.

I know people who have done and are doing both of those races. They all love them both so you should have a lot of fun. Both are kind of close to where I am - especially the Derby race - and I'll likely do one or both someday.

Sounds like some really ambitious goals!