The four of us...

9.26.2011

MCM Weeks 10 & 11

The fundraising challenge is almost coming to an end, if anyone is still interested in joing in!

For weeks 10 & 11 I had some travel time heading home and back to Missouri, so some of my runs were slightly jeapordized, but definitely not derailed.

Week 10 - 9/12/2011
Wed - 4.6mi @ 43:56 Speed work
Thurs - 1mi warmup before my weight workout @ 8:35
Sat - 12.10 @ 1:57:09 Long run *this run was done back home in AL
Totals: 17.7miles @ 2:49:52

Week 11 - 9/19/2011
Thurs - 7.1mi @ 1:05:36 Speed work
Sat - 5mi @ 46:45 easy
Sun - 18mi @ 3:03:05 long run
Totals: 30.13mi @4:55:26

That 18mi was the longest run I've ever done and I have to say, I felt pretty good. I went out to the local "rails to trail" road and took out. I went from Columbia to McBaine and back. Amazing at how with 2mi to go, I started hitting the wall. But, I did it.

4 more weeks!!

9.25.2011

Long run

Longest. Run. Ever.

18mi in 3:03:05... whew.

9.24.2011

Dinner part 1

On the grill - 2 talapia, 2 chickens, 2 pork chops, 1 fillet, 1 sirloin, zuchinni, squash, onions, and peppers.

The 7 of us ate very well.

Dinner part 2

On the table - corn dip, 2 chicken and 2 steak kabobs, and raw veggies...

9.17.2011

Asleep

Someone is asleep... now its time for football :)

9.13.2011

A day in Kansas City

Since we've been living in hotels since August, it's pretty typical to find something for the weekend that will get us outside and away from the hotels. In this case, we found some inexpensive tickets to a Kansas City Chiefs football game. So, Sunday, we spent the day enjoying the football scene.

We left Columbia, Mo heading west to Kansas City, which is an easy 1.5hr drive, for the matchup, some tailgating, and some traditional KC bbq. We showed up to the stadium a couple hours early to get the tailgating part down.

It's almost amazing what you can fit in the back of a Nissan Versa...

Usually the NFL does a pretty good job when they are working on their "remembering" shows for the random events going on around the country. For the 9/11 memorial, it was no different. The pregame had the massive American flag, the singing of the anthem, the star-spangled banner, and a thank you to the many fire/police/ems responders that were lost 10years ago.

It was followed up with 4 A-10 warthogs as the flyover...

And a nice tribute on the video boards...

The game went on like most football games do, except in this case, the Chiefs didn't really show up to play and the Bills took every advantage. It seemed the Bills just went crazy and after every touchdown, a small percentage of fans left the stadium. At kickoff, we had a packed house of crazed football fans...

Going into the 4th quarter as the Bills were still beating on KC, the fans really emptied...

Turns out, the Bills actually had somewhat of a fan base that traveled for the game!

After the game, we took the advice of the locals and went to a very good BBQ house - Gates & Sons BBQ there in KC. Highly recommended. We indulged in splitting ribs and sides and just enjoyed the day away.

Definitely a good time!

MCM Week 8 & 9

Week 8 - week of 8/29
Wed - 7mi speed work - 1:08:08
Friday - 5.10mi easy - 46:40
Other workouts for the week:
Thurs - 3000yrd swim.

Other notes: I flew home to AL for the quick weekend. While home, I went to do a solo 15mi but the torrential rain from Tropical Storm Lee derailed that plan. And I didn't get it in.

Totals: 12.1miles - 1:54:48

Week 9 - week of 9/5
Tues - 8.5mi speed work - 1:20:07
Thurs - morning run: 4.3mi - 41:03, afternoon: 3.05mi - 26:34
Saturday - RACE HALF MARATHON - 1.0mi warmup: 9:14, race: 13.1mi - 2:09:01

Totals: 29.96mi - 4:45:58

Other notes: I've been working on strength training lately. For the last week I've been going to the gym and focusing on weight lifting, losing weight, and getting stronger. Hopefully it will pay off when the October marathon rolls around.

Now, about that race on Saturday...

It definitely wasn't my best race and it didn't help with the confidence going into the Marine Corps Marathon, but it was definitely something to learn from.

Pre Race:

Woke at 0530 for the 0745 race. Ate 1 CLIF granola bar at 0700. Sipped on G2 and water leading up to the race. Took a GU at 0735.

Warmup:

Easy 1mi run along Flat Branch. Threw in some strides and high knees to get ready.

Race:

I was holding a phenomanal pace at mile 3 and wasn't working too hard. I felt good and was wondering how long I could hold that pace. I knew it wouldn't be for the whole 13.1, but I was feeling good.

I hit a huge hill at mile 5 that slowed me down, but regained. I can definitely tell that I haven't gotten a good bit of hill training in like I needed.

I watered up at mile 6 and was starting to slow a bit. I walked through the water stop taking in water and trying to calm down.

Through mile 8 I was holding my actual planned marathon pace and felt pretty good. The only downfall was that we were running along the sidewalks and there wasn't much shade. Oh well.

I hit mile 9 water stop and THEY RAN OUT OF WATER. The crew was picking cups off the ground and reusing them. I got about 1" worth of water in a very large 8oz solo cup. Not what I was counting on.

The lack of water was a blow to my mental state and the lack of water was affecting my running and I knew it.

At mile 10 I was working to keep it sub 10.

At mile 11-12, I was done. I was in survival mode of run/walk and even then it wasn't pretty. I dipped into a smaller park off course just to get a drink from a fountain.

At mile 12 we popped out of the trail and I could hear the crowd. Then, just as we saw them, we turned right - away from the crowd and had to do a very large loop around the campus. That didn't help.

At 12.5 or so, we turned downhill and I just went with what I had.

I finished in 2:09:01.

Sadly, there was a minor triage area setup for people to get IVs after finishing. Lots of people were laying around with ice on them under the trees. Several with IVs under the medical tent.