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Monthly Archive for: ‘March, 2012’

Quest for 3:15 is Over…Quest for Boston Begins

With my 2-year “Quest for 3:15” completed at NOLA on Sunday, today begins a new challenge and a new “Quest.” This time the focus is solely on one thing….BOSTON!

Officially that means a 3:10 (or 3:09:59) to qualify, which is 2min 29sec faster than my NOLA finish. However, with the new staggered registration process the actual time to get into Boston could end up being a few minutes faster. Also, it would not be outside the realm of possibility for the B.A.A. to bring the times down even lower. Finally, I’m only three years away from turning 40 which will hopefully bring an expanded qualifying time (currently 3:15). Since the qualifying time could be a moving target, this quest will not be centered on time, but on actually qualifying for and running the Boston Marathon.

For the remainder of 2012 I plan to run 3 or 4 additional marathons. One of these will be as the 4-hour pacer for the Country Music Marathon in April, so that will obviously not be an attempt at qualifying. The other race I’m registered for is the Milwaukee Lakefront Marathon in October which will be my next point of focus. After that, I’m in the lottery for NYC again, and thinking about the Chickamauga Battlefield Marathon as a backup option.

I know it’s going to take a lot of work, and lots of help from my family and friends, but I’m very much looking forward to the challenge.

Beast Mode…ON!

Rock n’ Roll New Orleans Marathon (Race Review)

My thoughts on the 2012 Rock n’ Roll New Orleans Marathon…

Rock n’ Roll New Orleans Marathon
March 4, 2012
runrocknroll.competitor.com/new-orleans

My Run:

Overall, the Rock n’ Roll New Orleans Marathon (NOLA) was my 11th full marathon, and first since setting my current PR of 3:18:44 at the Rocket City Marathon last December. For NOLA I had been very public about my goal of breaking 3:15 for the first time (i.e. my “Quest for 3:15”).” My training leading up to the race had been fantastic, having only missed 4 scheduled runs due to two stomach bugs and a flare-up of my Small Fiber Sensory Neuropathy in January.

The weather for NOLA was just about as good as anybody could have hoped. The temperatures were right around 50 degrees at the start, with low humidity, clear skies, and a light breeze. By the end of the race the temps were just over 60 degrees. Can’t ask for much better than that in New Orleans in March.

For this race I tweaked my preparation schedule and nutrition plan slightly. This included:

  • For the second time in my 11 marathons, I only did a two-week taper as opposed to three. The other was before Rocket City last December.
  • I ran 3.5-miles the day prior to the race. I normally don’t run the day before.
  • I ate a peanut butter PowerBar, a banana, a Honey Stinger Waffle, and a bagel 3-hours prior to the race.
  • I drank a full cup of caffeinated coffee 1.5-hours prior to the race.
  • I took a 2x caffeine Gu 1-hour prior to the race, and another 15-minutes prior.
  • I took 6 more Gu packs during the race at 30-minute intervals. I only washed these down with water, taking Gatorade occasionally between Gu packs during the first half of the race. The first of these six was a 2x caffeine, the next two were 1x caffeine, and the final three did not have caffeine.
  • Starting 1-hour prior to the race, I did a 12 minute warmup run followed by 4 x 100m stride outs 15-minutes prior to the race.

All during the warmup my legs felt good with no unusual aches, pains, or stiffness. My strategy for this race was to start off fairly conservative and then slowly work my way down to goal pace (7:26). I wanted to try and delay “the Wall” as long as possible, and knew that starting off too fast would bring it on a whole lot sooner.

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Quest for 3:15 – THANK YOU FITBLRs and RUNBLRs!

A HUGE thanks to all of you who have offered so much support and encouragement throughout my “Quest for 3:15.” It has been and continues to be greatly appreciated. Below is just a sampling of the awesome shout outs I got after my 3:12 yesterday at the NOLA Marathon (Any my wife’s PR in her first half marathon after injury). THANK YOU!

davidsgoals said: Fantastic news Tim! Congrats to you both

beautifulday4running said: Congrats!!

runtastic said: So fantastic!! Many, many congratulations to both!

losingitall said: Congratulations to you both! 3:12 thats within the mens qualifying time for the Virgin London Marathon here, amazing time!! Well done.

lagirlontherun said: Congrats!!!! You killed it!!! Revel in your success 🙂

runslikeapenguin said: Congratulations!!

livelongtrainhard said: Awesome job!! Congrats to you both.

runrunningrunner said: Congrats – to the both of you – that’s awesome!

catchthemontherun said: Man that’s incredible!!! So proud of someone I barely know, haha. Great job!!

Quest for 3:15 – Arrived Safely in NOLA

Olivia and I arrived safely in NOLA this morning just after 9am along with 10 other members of our group.

After checking in to the hotel we enjoyed a ridiculously good lunch at Pat O’ Brian’s before heading out to the expo. We are now waiting on the rest of our group to finish up at the expo before heading back to the hotel.

It is nice to be in NOLA, but we’re worried about our kids, family, and friends back in Tennessee with the impending severe storms. Everybody be safe!!

Beast Mode…ON!

Quest for 3:15 – Final Tune Up for NOLA

Tonight was our weekly track workout with the Jim Spivey Running Club (JSRC) at Vanderbilt University. Since the NOLA Marathon is on Sunday, I did something a little different than the planned session. After a 3-mile warmup, I ran 3 continuous miles with Dan at goal Marathon pace. The idea was to get in one last practice at maintaining consistent pace.

I came out of tonight feeling confident. 7:26 pace felt very comfortable, and I was able to have a nice conversation with Dan during the run. Other than a planned 2-mile shakeout run on Saturday morning, this will be my last tune-up before NOLA.

So, tonight I need to finish up my packing and then we fly out at 8am tomorrow morning with several members from our group. Thanks to everyone for your support and encouragement. The next time I post will most likely be from NOLA!

Beast Mode….ON! 

P.S. – I haven’t said much about this, but the NOLA 1/2 Marathon will be my wife Olivia’s first race back since being diagnosed with bilateral tibial stress fractures last summer. Major props to her for working so hard to get back! Hope she has a great and fun race. I am very much looking forward to spending the weekend together (with no kids)!

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