Indy Mini

Last Saturday was the 2016 Indy Mini Marathon.  While this was the 40th running of the event, it was the 11th time that I have participated (I had to miss the 2010 race due to injury).  This is usually my goal race each year - the jewel that I aim for.  This year's goal was to finish in the top 500 overall and get that second medal.  Going into my taper week, the Sunday prior I got an easy 10 mile run in and I felt really confident that my training was in a pretty good spot.

And then the wheels came off.  Wednesday morning, my throat was a little scratchy and by the end of the day my sinuses were donezo.  A cold had settled in.  Thursday night, Jess and I went to the expo and got my packet and I couldn't breathe through my nose.  We stopped for dinner at Scotty's Brewhouse on the way home and I ate super spicy foods which helped temporarily, but by Friday morning it was back to congestion-ville.  I ran by Walgreen's and got about as much over the counter medicine as I could without being suspicious of being a meth-head and I took everything I could for the rest of the day.

Saturday morning I woke up at 4:30 and realized I had actually slept decently (or however decent a person can sleep on just under 6 hours of sleep).  It was in the mid 50s out and a little breezy at race start.  I purposely held back - instead of shooting for top 500 I decided to take aim on running consistent 7:15-20 pace.

Through the first 5k, I was right on track with an average pace of 7:22.  Things felt pretty well - my body felt rested, I could breathe, and life was good.  I decided to take my gel around mile 6 which is a little early for me, but I found a water station and figured time-wise I needed it.  I cut some time off between the 5k and the Brickyard by averaging 7:18 pace.  However, that's when the wheels came off.

As I was going around the track, the clouds picked up and the winds came back and shortly after, my nose closed off.  My head felt stopped up and again I couldn't breathe well.  Between Brickyard and 11M marker I average 7:34 per mile.  It took all I could to push to the finish but my lungs were on fire.  I finished in 1:38:12 - good enough for 778th place overall.

I was left wondering what could have happened had I not been hit with the cold bug.  I feel that top 500 would have been pretty easy.  Oh well - next year.

However, Meb was the main attraction this year.  He started the waves and then after the last walkers started, he and his crew took off running to see how many he could pass.  While technically he did stop and take selfies with other runners, his finishing time was 1:41:18.  Yep - I beat Meb.  It's official.  It's on the internet so it must be true.  We did catch up post race to meet him and he is as genuine of a guy as there is - you can't not like him!

Another big name ran the race - Tony Kanaan.  Tony is an Indycar driver and won the Indy 500 back in 2013.  He ran the mini in 1:43:29 and after the race we spent some time talking to him, his wife, and their son.  All of them are world-class individuals as well!

On to the next round of training and racing...
Left, right, repeat!

Selection Sunday and Running Ramblings

Today is a big day if you like college basketball - we are about 4 hours away from Selection Sunday announcements.  Being a fan of the Indiana Hoosiers, I am keeping my fingers crossed that we get a 4 seed in the Midwest, but time will tell.  All I can say is that this year's tournament is going to be a blast.  There are a couple teams right now playing as well as anyone, but really there are 15-20 teams that have a chance of winning it all.  I believe my brackets will be toast by the evening games on Thursday.

Jess has been creating a revolution with LA Fitness to get Sunday kids club hours at our location (if you are a LA Fitness member, please call the Noblesville, IN location at 317-774-0900 and tell them you want Sunday kids club hours!).  It would be nice to be able to do some of the classes on Sundays, but having children makes that difficult.  Today we split up the morning - I got to the gym right as it opened at 8 am and got 10 miles in on the treadmill, and Jess brought the girls at 9:30 to trade off so she could go to a Pilates class.  It worked, but that lost hour from the time change last night is really taking its toll on me as the day goes on.  My foot felt weak early on, but after ten minutes of running it felt fine and the rest of the run was no problem.  Think I may have to be a little more proactive with my foot stretching and warming up.

Anyway, after today I have now logged roughly 54 miles for the month.  In January and February I averaged around 83 miles per month, so I am way ahead of where I was the first two months of the year and all I can see is a big ole' "100 miles" waiting ahead.  I am also now 24 miles ahead of my pace for 1000 for the year.  I figured as the weather turned nicer, and once I started getting longer weekend runs, that the mileage would increase.  Still gotta keep the focus, understanding that I am very lazy in November and December, so I have to rack up the miles while I can before then.

Left, right, repeat

February Blues?

After two months, my training log is consistent workouts but lower miles than I would like to have at this moment.  In January, I had 14 run entries covering 88 miles.  After my run tonight, I ended February with 16 runs covering 83 miles.  That puts me at 171 miles YTD, which means I am currently 7 miles ahead of pace to break 1,000 miles for the year.

That last sentence makes me happy.  My goal from day one has been to top the century mark for the year.  Last year, I finished somewhere around 750 miles and felt that 1,000 was a pretty good leap but something within reason.  It's nice to be on pace for it, but I also fear the fact that my November and December months typically suck pretty badly when it comes to mileage.

While I am happy to be ahead of pace, I'm also kind of disappointed right now.  Had you told me on January 1st that through two months I would have 30 runs I would have figured it would have totaled somewhere closer to 200 miles.  My runs have been consistently in the 5-7 mile range each time out, but I really don't have any distance to speak of yet.  Hopefully over the next couple weekends I can log a 10 miler.

Yesterday was a first for me, and one that I will remember for a long time.  It was probably my best 2 mile run ever.  With the weather being nice (although extremely windy), Jess and I planned to run a couple easy miles while the girls (ages 8 and 5) rode their bikes next to us.  I figured it would be a slow go, especially with the wind, but we did 2 miles at about a 11:55 / mile average pace!  Granted, we had to have a stop at the playground, but with that being Annabell's first bike ride on a "big girl's bike" I was extremely surprised and happy that we managed that distance at that pace.  I foresee that type of activity happening a few more times over the summer.

My legs feel like jelly tonight.  Feeling rested, I decided to nail some Yasso 800's this evening on the treadmill.  After my warm up, I clocked 5 x half miler at 8.5 mph with a short recovery jog between each set.  That was my first speed workout in a while, and couple that with the gym being roughly the temperature of the sun's surface, I was exhausted afterwards.  But it's done, in the books, and I'm happy about it.

I have an easy run planned for tomorrow, then volleyball game at 9:30 (yikes), then some miles Thursday, Friday, and Saturday this week.  March hopefully will have a spike in miles.

Left, right, repeat!

Countdown to the Indy Mini

The Indy Mini (indymini.com) is MY race.  I first ran it in 2005, and to be honest, I sucked.  Years before, I could run a race of any distance without much thought, and do it well.  However, as college and first few years of post-college went by, things had changed.  That race is when I realized that I was completely out of shape and a little hefty.  And that started my push to lose weight and get back to what I was capable of doing.

Since then, I have been hooked on running and specifically, this race.  I have only missed the Indy Mini one year since then, and that was due to an injury.  It's the race that I have marked on my calendar every year as the one I absolutely must perform well.

My training this year has been solid - as of right now, I have 135 miles YTD and I am 4 miles behind my pace of running 1,000 miles for the year.  My times on speed and tempo and have been spot on, and I have had some consistent longer runs as well.  Compared to years past, I should be happy with where I am at in mid February.  However, this morning I find myself scared.

I just realized - the Indy Mini is 76 days 22 hours and 49 minutes from now.  That seems like a long ways away, but for training purposes, it's really not.  The countdown is officially on; the training must kick into action over the next 10 weeks.  It's almost here....

Left, right, repeat!

So.... It's been awhile

I admit it - I have become lazy on this whole blogging thing. My wife reminds me (constantly) that I have not blogged in 6 weeks. This blog was intended to simply hush her up (since she will read it) but now as I type this, I feel like I have a lot to talk about. So what all is new running-wise over the last 6 weeks? Well...

1) How about those Olympic Trials this past Saturday? Jess and I watched the entire three hours of it, and were completely inspired by what we saw. Rupp, Meb, and Ward leading the way for the men and Cragg, Desi Linden, and Shalane (a favorite of Jess and mine) for the women. People think we are crazy because we enjoy watching people run 26.2 miles on TV - but how could you not think Saturday was great for the sport? Given the weather conditions, those six as well as everyone else who finished were awesome.  Check out this section of the USA Track & Field website and you can see all their mile and split times.  I would love to run just one segment similar to what these guys do for an entire race.

2) Speaking of Meb, he's coming to the Indy Mini! OK, so Shalane is a favorite of ours - but Meb is Meb! It was like Christmas for me when I found out last month that Meb was coming to town to be part of a race that I am an ambassador. For more, check this out!

3) Keeping with the running theme and the Indy Mini, two weeks ago Jess and I ran the 3 miler - the first leg of the three race training series. I came in 28th overall (out of 1,441) and Jess set yet another PR! Sooooo proud of her, since she did this completely on her own and she owned that race! Her training is paying off and she will be under 30 minutes easily this year.

4) Speaking of races, as I laced up my gear this past Sunday to go outside and run in 19 degree weather that felt like 7 degrees, Ella told me she wants to do another family race. I have another runner in the making there. Guess Jess and I will have to do some research and find a 5k that the four of us can do sometime.

5) And to round out all this running conversation, I checked out my Strava account this evening.  My goal January 1st was to run 1000 miles this year.  I had something like 770 miles last year.  As of right now, after doing 5 miles today, I am right on pace for 1000.  I feel like that is an accomplishment as after 6 weeks I have kept it up, however I also understand that I need to get some major miles banked up between now and the fall.  Historically speaking, my November and December miles simply suck.  Like, big time.  So I must get as many miles as possible between now and October to be safe.

I probably left some stuff out, but that's all I can think of right now, plus my Indiana Hoosiers are getting ready to tip off.

Left, right, repeat!

Welcome to 2016's Goals

Happy New Years! It's difficult to believe that 2016 is already here. My wife and I were talking tonight how quickly the last month has gone, but in reality, the entire year has been a blur. 2015 was simply a great year. From a family standpoint, we made so many memories throughout the year that we all will remember. From a running perspective, it was also a fantastic year. I ran three half marathons in one month, ran a few 5k's (one with all of my family and others helping my wife to her PR), and finished another marathon. Benjamin Franklin said "If you fail to plan then plan to fail". Or at least I think it was Franklin. Maybe he said "Don't always believe what you read on the internet". Regardless of who said it, the statement is true. So with that mind, I have come up with some goals for my running: 1) The year's Indy Mini (#indymini) will be my fastest one yet. Not fastest half marathon, but fastest Indy Mini. I think due to the crowd, and the excitement, it just takes longer to dodge people compared to smaller half marathons that I have done. So, my goal for the Indy Mini is to be under 1:36:42. 2) Help my wife get under 30 minutes for a 5k. She has cut close to 2 minutes off each of her last two races and if she does that again, she has this goal. I think with her training using hills and speed, that this goal will be crossed off early in the year and an even faster goal made for the second part of the year. 3) Run another family 5k. No PR here - well maybe Ella and Jess can go after a PR for Ella, but Annabell and I will just want to finish. 4) A Boston Marathon qualifying time in December for me. I am looking at the St Jude's marathon in Memphis. If my calculations are correct, that would be a time frame for the 2018 marathon at which time I would be 40 years old. The qualifying time for a 40 year old is 3:15:00. I think on the right course with the proper training, I should be able to do that. I had the training down for West Palm a couple years ago - just got to keep the focus in October and early November! That's it - for now. We'll revisit the goals in a couple months to see how they are coming along. Until then, it's just left, right, repeat!