2013 Rock n’ Roll New Orleans Marathon

Well, tonight Olivia and I officially decided on the 2013 Rock n’ Roll New Orleans Marathon as the race for my marathon comeback. I wanted to wait to register until I got through the Chickamauga Half Marathon last weekend to make sure my leg held up ok. Since that race turned out waaaaay better than I expected, we signed up tonight (Olivia signed up for the half).

My only hesitation in picking this race was that I’ve done it before, and it will not be contributing to my goal of doing marathons in all 50 states. Other than that, it seems like the perfect place for marathon #13. Time to work out a training schedule, and get to work. Almost feels like old times again!

Quest for Boston – It’s Slowly Coming Back

Slowly, but surely, my speed and endurance are coming back. Tonight’s run was by far the best since coming back from the injury, and was a BIG confidence boost for the future.

The conditions were pretty nasty (45º and raining), but I still felt FANTASTIC. My heart rate is coming down, and my pace is picking up. The totals for tonight were 7.9-miles completed in just over 1-hour. This comes out to a 7:39 average pace with 56:20 of actual running and 4-minutes of walk breaks. My average pace for the running segments was 7:23 per mile.

This Saturday I’m scheduled to run the Chickamauga Battlefield Half Marathon (transferred from the full after my injury), with my doctor’s permission, even though tonight’s 7.9-mile effort was my longest in 10 weeks. I’m still not sure how I’m going to get through a half marathon, but right now I’m thinking about doing a 10/1 run-walk ratio. Regardless of what I decide, the goal will mostly be to just get through the race without injury, and give my training a jumpstart toward a successful spring racing season.

Beast Mode….ON!!

Quest for Boston – Step 7 Complete

Today was a glorious day for running or doing just about anything outside. For the first time in 10 weeks, I met up with our group for part of their Saturday run. I was also joined by Brian who has just moved to Bellevue with his family, and has been attending our church. Brian and I ran just under 4-miles out Old Natchez with the group before heading back while they continued. Our running pace was between the 8:20s and 8:30s, which felt very comfortable, and overall it was quite an enjoyable run.

This run marked the end of Step 7 in my “return to running program” after completing similar runs on Wednesday and Friday (did a track workout on Thursday).

  1. 4 min run / 2 min walk x 4
  2. 5 min run / 2 min walk x 4
  3. 10 min run / 1 min walk x 3
  4. 15 min run / 1 min walk x 3
  5. 20 min run / 1 min walk / 15 min run / 1 min walk / 10 min run / 1 min walk
  6. 25 min run / 1 min walk / 15 min run / 1 min walk / 10 min run / 1 min walk 
  7. 30 min run / 1 min walk / 15 min run / 1 min walk / 10 min run / 1 min walk
From this point forward, my instructions are to increase the length of my longest running segment by 5-minutes every 3 to 4 days, with one day rest in-between. However, I’m now free to begin doing more speed work, and to begin adding hills back to my training. This means I’ll be able to start running in Percy Warner Park Again….YEAH!!!

Even though there has been some frustrations along the way, overall my return to running has gone extremely well. I ended up completing 97.8-miles for the month of October, and 33-miles last week. Not quite where I was before, but way ahead of where I thought I’d be starting November. Thanks to everyone for your continued support.

Beast Mode…ON!

Quest for Boston – An Emotional Night

Tonight, for the first time in 10 weeks, I returned to track with the Jim Spivey Running Club (JSRC), and it was a whirlwind of emotions. My last time at track was one of the best workouts I’ve ever had, and then the next day my running came to a halt for six weeks, taking with it my hopes of running a BQ this fall.

Overall I’ve tried to maintain a positive mindset throughout the injury and recovery, but tonight things kind of overwhelmed me. First of all I was nervous for a number of reasons. Also, I was reminded of how high a fitness level I had reached through the summer, and how far the injury has set me back. It brought doubts about whether or not I can ever get to that level again without injury. I realize that all of this is incredibly minor in the grand scheme of life, but it is also hard to express to others how important running is to me.

However, I tried to push those emotions and doubts aside and just focus on having a good workout. I tried to remember that this is important milestone in my recovery, and how well things have been going so far. It helped that Paxton arrived as I was warming up, and it was great catching up with him.

Tonight’s workout was very simple, 2 Sets of 3 x 600m, which seemed to be perfect for my first night back. I quickly realized that I had very little feel for my pace, but somehow I still reeled off somewhat consistent intervals. After an initial repeat of 2:32, where I was still trying to get loose, my next five intervals were 2:22, 2:22, 2:18, 2:22, and 2:18. While this was not quite up to my prior standards, I’m pleased with the consistency, and pleasantly surprised at how good I felt.

It’s good to have reached a new milestone in my recovery, and I look forward to continuing to work hard and reach even greater heights in the future.

Beast Mode…ON!

Quest for Boston – Step 6 Completed

This morning’s run with Nathan marked the completion of my modified Step 6 of the “return to running” program provided by my doctor. Steps 5 to 7 originally only included a single 20, 25, or 30-minute run, which never made sense to me because Step 4 included 45-minutes of actual running. I ended up altering these steps by adding an additional 15-min and 10-min running interval to the end with 1-minute walking segments in-between…

  1. 4 min run / 2 min walk x 4
  2. 5 min run / 2 min walk x 4
  3. 10 min run / 1 min walk x 3
  4. 15 min run / 1 min walk x 3
  5. 20 min run / 1 min walk / 15 min run / 1 min walk / 10 min run / 1 min walk
  6. 25 min run / 1 min walk / 15 min run / 1 min walk / 10 min run / 1 min walk 
  7. 30 min run / 1 min walk / 15 min run / 1 min walk / 10 min run / 1 min walk

After a less-than-steller Step 5, which was hampered by post-Disney fatigue, Step 6 turned out to be fantastic. This was especially true of the run yesterday in which I completed all of the running segments at sub-8min pace. Today’s run with Nathan was also quite enjoyable, though it was pretty chilly. This was the first run since last winter/spring where I had to wear tights.

Also, last week I was able to finish just over 31-miles, and am just over 90-miles for the month. Both of these are well ahead of my expectations, especially considering I’m still on the “return to running” program.

Tomorrow will be a rest day, and then hopefully I can start Step 7 on Wednesday. If everything goes well I should be able to begin incorporating speed work and hills into my training once I get past this step. I’m even considering making a return appearance at track with the JSRC this Thursday evening.

Beast Mode…ON!

@davidsgoals

davidsgoals replied to your photo: Princess Merida & Minnie Mouse at Bellevue Church…

What’s “trunk or treat”?

David….it is something a lot of churches around here do at Halloween. The idea is that the members all park their cars in a line, decorate their trunks, and then hand out candy as the kids move from car to car. Every year we get about 1,000 parents and kids from the community, so it has turned into quite an event.

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