Just Checking In

Good morning folks! I just wanted to take a moment and check in. I'm crafting my Surf City Race Report (should be up by tomorrow morning). Good news is no ER time was spent, and although I PR'd, (2:07:38), it was still a little disappointing. I was expecting more out of myself.

I suppose I shouldn't be too disappointed since it was really more like a 13 mile tempo run on my training schedule. In fact, the race wrapped up another decent training week:

• Run: Tuesday, Thursday, Sunday for a total of 28.75 miles
• Row: Monday, Wednesday for a total of 15 kilometers (9.3 miles)
• Total: 38 miles

I'm moving pretty slow today, but I'll be back on the rowing machine tonight:

• Monday: Erg 5 km. Stretch and core workout.
• Tuesday: 10 mile general aerobic run.
• Wednesday: Row 10 km
• Thursday: Hill workout - 2 mile warm up, 7 hill repeats, 1 mile warm down for a total of 6.5 miles
• Friday: Rest
• Saturday: 16 mile long run
• Sunday: 8 mile pace
• Total: 49.8 miles. (I'll find an extra .2 somewhere)

Six more weeks until we get to grace the streets of Los Angeles!

Final Preparations for Surf City

So, I'm wrapping things up at this late hour for tomorrow's little Half Marathon with about 20,000 of my close friends.

Speaking of close friends, we had a little dinner tonight with some of my Runner' World Forum friends:

And some of my Twitter friends:

(Hey! Who let that old guy in on the right?)

The dinner was to raise funds for Operation Jack. If you haven't already checked out Operation Jack , please do. My pal Sam Felsenfeld is running 60 marathons this year to bring attention in the fight against Autism.

As I mentioned earlier today, I needed to fill out my Half Marthon playlist. Here it is in all it's glory. Don't judge me. I'm trying to match music to the race strategy that I published earlier today:

Classical Gas - Mason Williams
Oh Yeah - Yello (from Ferris Beuller's Day Off)
Bitter Sweet Symphony -The Verve
Psycho Killer - Talking Heads
Take Me to the River - Talking Heads
Once In a Lifetime - Talking Heads
The Real Me - The Who
Gut Feeling/Slap Your Mammy - Devo
Just Dance - Lady Gaga
Lovegame - Lady Gaga
Paparazzi - Lady Gaaa
Love Shack - B52s
Private Idaho - B52s
53 Miles West of Venus - B52s
Who Was In My Room Last Night - Butthole Surfers
Goofy's Concern - Butthole Surfers
The Annoying Song - Butthole Surfers
Redneck Rampage - Mojo Nixon
I Can't Surf - Reverend Horton Heat
Right Here, Right Now - Fatboy Slim
The Rockafeller Skank - Fatboy Slim
Hey Boys, Hey Girls - Chemical Brothers
Do It Again - Chemical Brothers
Galvanize - Chemical Brothers
Aero Dynamik - Kraftwerk
Tick Tick Boom - The Hives
Walk Idiot Walk - The Hives
8675309 - Tommy Tutone
Get Crazy - LMFAO
I'm in Miami Bitch - LMFAO
Robot Rock - Daft Punk
Aerodynamic - Daft Punk

Finally, it's time to turn in. I want to thank everyone for all the nice words and kind wishes. Everything's ready to go except the apple fritter and cup of coffee!


PR or ER!!!!!!

Half Marathon Strategy Revisited

Wow. I was looking back through my race log last night. Has it really been 9 months since my lst Half? May 3, 2009 - the PCRF Cinco de Mayo Half. Hmm. It might do me some good to review how to run a Half Marathon before I do my usual - go out too fast and blow up at mile 10.

I have two books on my shelf that I (should) refer to when I have running questions. One of them, Advanced Marathoning by Pete Pfizinger is a bible when it comes to the technical aspects of running - what pace to run, what heart rate to hit, why I am running a specific workout on a specific day. The second is the Competitive Runner's Handbook by Bob Glover. What Glover misses on the technical side of things he more than makes up for in discussion of strategies. Here are some of his words of wisdom for a Half Marathon:

• "The key is to run slightly below your lactate threshold (LT) so you don’t fatigue an hour or so into the race due to lactic acid accumulation. Push the pace above your LT (about 85-90% of maximum heart rate) at the start or along the way and you’ll regret that." Interpretation: Must keep my heart rate in Zone 3.5 to 3.8. Watch the Garmin!
• "The first mile or two sets the tone for your effort. Going out too fast sets you up for failure. If you go out a bit too slow, you have adequate time to make up for it. So it’s better to err on the side of caution." Interpretation: 9:15 to 9:20 for the first couple or three miles.
• "To achieve your goal time you need to push the effort over the second half like you do in the middle miles in the 10K." Interpretation: See #1 and #2 above. Then push once past mile 6. Find a group running at my pace and glomp on to them.
• "Move from runner to runner to help maintain a good pace, or hitch a ride when a competitor goes by you. Don’t be satisfied with just holding your place. Most likely many of the runners around you are slowing down. This presents a mirage. You think you’re on pace but you may not be if you’re slowing with them." Interpretation: Keep on pushing. If the group slows down, let them go.
• "The first 10 miles are for pacing, the final 5K for racing. Reel in runners. Use runners up ahead as targets. Increase the effort slightly to gain ground on your competition and to keep from slowing from your goal pace. But don’t surge too much. That could push you over the threshold. The goal here is a steady push at your limit." Interpretation: When I see the mile 10 marker, the racing starts. Make sure I have enough in the tank (unlike my last HM).
• "Fight off fatigue by relaxing and focusing on good running form and controlled breathing." Interpretation: This guy' s a comedian too.
• "Position yourself to change into your final gear over the last quarter-mile. That’s just a lap of the track. Even though you’ve been running for well over an hour, you can muster the energy to push for another 2 minutes or so." Interpretation: Suck it up. When I see the mile 13 marker push push push. What's the worst that can happen? Does an IV hurt?

So there you go. Nothing left but the playlist!

P.S. - If you want to see the Glover's entire strategy on the Half Marathon, New York Road Runners has publshed it on their web here. Great reading!