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Even though I’m pretty much a Saucony guy all the way, I’ll have to admit the upcoming Nike Flyknit line looks extremely intriguing. Having a material that will provide a “sock-like” fit without the need for overlays sounds pretty cool. Remains to be seen how this will effect things like durability, breathability, etc. The weight of the trainer version is going to be extremely close to the Saucony Kinvara at 7.7 oz for a men’s size 9. The racer version will be over 2 oz less at 5.6 oz. This shoe was worn by several individuals competing in the US Olympic Marathon trials in January. Might be a possible alternative to the Kinvara for me if Saucony ever ruins the design.

Click here for today’s preview of the Nike Flyknit Racer & Trainer from Running Warehouse. 

Nike’s Flyknit website…

What do you think?

Today I finished my final 20-miler before the Rock N’ Roll New Orleans Marathon (NOLA), and felt fantastic. Having come off of a hard effort at the Cedars Frostbite Half Marathon last weekend and another 50+ mile week this week, I wasn’t sure how I would feel this morning. While I could definitely feel some fatigue in my legs, the run was smooth and a consistent 8:15 pace throughout. It was fun to run with the Nashville Striders for the first 15 miles. Also great to run with Marc and Jenny for 8 of those miles.

I thought about going farther than 20 since I still had gas in the tank, but Sean from our group talked me out of it. He said that with only two weeks to go before NOLA there was nothing to be gained from going farther than 20 miles but the possibility of injury. This made a lot of sense.

Anyway, it was encouraging to have a great 20 miler after the awful 20-miler two weeks ago when I was coming off a stomach virus. Now I start my two-week taper leading up to NOLA. This will only be the second time that I’ve done a two-week taper leading up to a full marathon. The other time was before the Rocket City Marathon in Huntsville last December when I set my current PR. Before that I always did a three-week taper.

I’m not looking forward to having all of that nervous energy that comes with tapering, but I am going to take advantage of the opportunity to get some extra rest before NOLA.

Can us “Halfers” say hello too? 🙂

You bet my friend!

Just found out that I was officially accepted onto the 2012 St. Jude Country Music Marathon (“CMM”) Pace Team as the 4 hour pacer for the full marathon. I’m totally stoked about this opportunity! I have run with pacers for 3 of my 10 marathon finishes, and really wanted to be able to help someone else with finishing their first marathon, meeting their goal, qualifying for Boston, etc.

Anybody else out there running the CMM in Nashville? If so come by and say hello before the race, or run with us if your goal is to break 4 hours.

This morning I went out for a leisurely 6-mile recovery run on a couple of different cross-country fields in Percy and Edwin Warner Parks. As I was rounding a clump of trees about midway through the run I noticed a man standing about 100m away coiling up what looked like a rope. I then noticed a medium sized dog right in front of him and realized it was a leash.

As soon as the dog saw me, he took off toward me in a full sprint. He left the ground a few feet in front of me and hit just at the top of my quads. Thankfully this did not knock me down (or hurt me), but the dog continued to jump up and claw at me frantically. Needless to say this scared the daylight out of me, but my fear quickly turned to anger when the owner came over trying to calm him down.

Instead of trying get control of his dog, he started fussing at me!

“If you stop moving around so much he’ll calm down”

Ummm…running generally requires “moving around”

“We never see runners out in the morning”

Really? On a cross-country course? Never see runners?

Anyway, he finally came over retrieved his dog. I simply said “thank you” and continued my run. Other than being really dirty and having a few scratches, I came out unscathed. It amazes me that the guy never apologized, but I guess that really shouldn’t surprise me these days.

Oh well…got in the run anyway and generally felt good after the hard effort on Saturday.

In 3 weeks I’m running the Rock N’ Roll New Orleans Marathon. Olivia and I will be traveling to NOLA with approximately 20 members of our running group and the group will be sporting matching shirts for the race. The guys will be sporting gold colored Asics shirts with purple screen printing (Mardi Gras colors):

While this is cool, all of my current race shoes are solid red with black trim, which will clash horribly. No way I’m running in anything but a Saucony Kinvara, but unfortunately the Kinvara doesn’t come in any color right now that fits in with NOLA colors.

With that in mind, these are the options that I have:

Option A: Yellow / Black / Orange

Pros – The yellow is almost the same as the Asics shirt, and overall this is a very cool looking shoe.

Cons – While orange is a complimentary color to purple, it’s not exactly a NOLA or Mardi Gras color.

Option B: Black / Citron

Pros – The is my favorite Kinvara color combination that I don’t already own.

Cons – While green is one of the primary Mardi Gras colors, “Citron” doesn’t exactly qualify as Mardis Gras Green.

Option C: Black / Grey

Pros – Would pretty much go with anything but Navy Blue

Cons – Fairly boring

Option D: White / Black / Grey

Pros – Would pretty much go with anything but Navy Blue

Cons – Very boring

Well…would love your opinion. What do you think?

If we did all the things we are capable of, we would literally astound ourselves.

No full-blown race recap / review since this was more of a tempo run than a race for me, but did want to give a brief update.

Big NOLA confidence boost today!

As I said in my post last night, this race was a NOLA tune-up. I was not going to race at full half-marathon speed, but shooting for an average pace of 7:16 (Just under goal marathon pace). The weather conditions were tough with 25+ mph wind gusts and a “feels-like” temp of less than 15 degrees at race start.

I knew the course was going to be hilly, but it was actually a little more challenging than I expected. There was a nasty hill right at start, and at least some elevation gain in every mile with several long inclines throughout the course. I was a little worried about the three-mile gravel segment, but this turned out to be a great surface. The ruts in the road were more like packed dirt than gravel which felt fantastic. It was a bit of a shock moving back to asphalt.

I felt great during my warmup, though it was tough to keep my toes from going numb. Even though I knew 7:16 was my goal today, I really just wanted to run at a pace that was within myself and felt comfortable. After finishing the first mile in 7:14, I ended up settling in around 7:05 pace. I felt strong up most of the hills, and smooth on the flats and downhills. I generally resisted the temptation to go crazy on the downhills.

Tomorrow I’m registered to run the Cedar’s Frostbite Half Marathon in my hometown of Lebanon, TN. Probably not going to race at full half-marathon speed as the intention is for this to be a tune-up for the Rock n’ Roll New Orleans Marathon in three weeks. My goal marathon pace for NOLA is 7:26, but I’m thinking about trying to run tomorrow with a 7:16 average pace. This would be my BQ pace for a full marathon (which is my goal for the year), and I want to get used to how that feels. I also would love to make 7:26 feel even that much slower when it comes to race day in NOLA.

It looks like the name of tomorrow’s race is going to be appropriate since the predicted “feels like” temperature for the start is a whopping 14 Degrees!!! Of all the races I’ve done, this is going to be the coldest and most likely the first one where I will wear tights. Gonna be interesting!

Beast Mode….On!

After getting derailed from my planned 60-mile week by a stomach bug, I was able to get back on the horse on Saturday morning with our group. My plan called for a 22-miler, but I was very luck to get in 20 in what was one of the most difficult training runs I’ve ever completed.

Our group had a 19-miler planned using an out-and-back route that covered a lot of great places in Nashville. We started out in the Belmont University area, ran through downtown, crossed the river into east Nashville, and finished the outward half in Shelby Park and the Shelby Bottoms Greenway. The temperatures were great, but it started raining pretty steady about 7 or 8 miles into the run. Since I had not eaten much at all on Thursday or Friday, I started running out of fuel around mile 14, and then completely ran out during mile 17. It was like hitting the wall in a marathon. On top of this I was still dealing with nausea and stomach cramps that popped back up on the inward half. I don’t ever remember feeling that bad during a training run.  

One of my favorite things about running with our group on Saturday is having breakfast with everyone after the run. However, on Saturday I felt so bad at the end that I just changed my shirt, wrapped a towel around me, and drove straight home. I’m glad that I got the miles in, but it was not a pleasant experience. Even with missing my Thursday and Friday runs, I still got in 45 miles for the week.

After taking Sunday off, Paxton and I hit the sloppy trails this morning in Percy Warner Park. Though the trails were nasty from all of the rain this weekend, the temps were perfect, the conversation was engaging, and the run was one of the more enjoyable ones I’ve experienced recently. Nice change from the difficult effort on Saturday.

Beast Mode…ON!

Well….two days ago I posted that if I made all of my planned runs I would complete a 60-mile week. The very next morning I came down with a nasty stomach bug and haven’t run since. I’m really hoping to feel better by tomorrow so I can get in my planned 22-miler, but as of now that is very much in question.

After a hard 12+ mile effort last night, this morning called for an easy 6-mile recovery run. Nathan and I had planned to meet at the Edwin Warner Nature Center, but due to lightening we were forced to move indoors to the dreadmill. It was great to have good company, but I HATE running on a dreadmill. I told Nathan that if the dreadmill were my only option, there is no way I would be a runner.

Regardless of those feelings, it was good to get in the miles this morning. IF I am able to get in all of my planned miles this week, I should hit exactly 60 which would be my second biggest week ever. 

Beast Mode….ON!

Last Tuesday I posted about my frustration with pace on recent tempo runs. Well, today everything finally felt right. I would always prefer my tempo runs to be around goal marathon pace (7:26), and today I completed 12.25 miles with an overall average pace of….7:26….and it felt smooth and under control the whole time. This average included two slower miles at the start as I was still warming up (8:51, 8:10). After mile 4, every mile was well under goal pace, with 2 miles under 7:00.

When I finished I easily felt like I could have gone further and faster. This is the best I have felt on a run in quite a while, and it is a HUGE confidence boost heading into NOLA. It didn’t hurt that the temps were in the low 60s, but I’ll take it!

Beast Mode….ON!

January Recap

Even though I had a bad cold that has now turned into a sinus infection (yuck), and have struggled with Small Fiber Sensory Neuropathy symptoms for the past couple of weeks, I only missed two scheduled training runs and finished January with my most mileage ever for a single month – 210. I did have a bit of a lull in the middle of the month where runs were more of a struggle, but over the past week or so things have really been coming together.

February will hold a few more challenges in NOLA training. I have a 22-miler scheduled for Saturday, followed by a tune-up half marathon the following weekend. Two weekends out from NOLA, I hope to complete my final long run of 24-miles before beginning my taper.

Runner’s love a challenge. Their sport requires an internal drive foreign to most ‘normal’ people. They not only push through pain, but welcome it. They live to test their limits, and if a gauntlet is thrown down, they embrace the chance to test their mettle.

Beast Mode “ON”

Think this needs to be my running mantra for 2012!

Found this graphic on the “Running the Edge” Facebook page. Their comment – “Turn on your ‘beast mode’ today and go hard! Nothing feels better than pushing yourself a little harder; a little further. Calm the beast for the rest of the day by letting it out on your run!”

Today was another great marathon workout put together by the illustrious Dan Ashmead. These bi-weekly workouts have become a staple of our group, and have really kicked my training up a few notches over the past 2+ years. We switch between interval marathon workouts and long easy runs on alternating weekends.

Today’s workout was in Percy Warner Park, and featured plenty of hills. As with my workouts earlier this year, I tried to push them much faster than goal marathon pace (7:26) in my never-ending quest to increase overall speed. The workout contained approximately 8-miles of marathon pace (or sub) intervals with hill repeats directly in the middle. The hill repeats are designed to rapidly tire out your legs, simulating the feeling at the end of a marathon for the remainder of the workout. The following is what we did today along with my splits:

• 15-minute warmup
• 2-miles at goal marathon pace (13:57)
• 1-mile under goal marathon pace (6:38)
• 1-mile under goal marathon pace (6:41)
• 4 x 30 sec hill repeats
• 2-miles at goal marathon pace (13:59)
• 1.9-miles at goal marathon pace (13:15 – 6:58 pace)
• 1.75-mile cooldown

Earlier this week I posted about my frustration with recent tempo runs not exactly being up to pace. Well today everything felt like it came together. All of my intervals were completed at sub 7:00 min pace, and I was able to maintain my consistency through to the end. All morning I felt like I had an extra gear that had been missing the last couple of weeks.

This morning also featured a humorous barrage of “constructive” criticism thrown my direction. During our second interval (1-mile), I heard the following within a few seconds of each other:

• Dan Ashmead – “Tim, you’re starting this one off too fast.”
• Marc Dedman – “Tim, you need to work harder on running the tangents.”
• Paul Scalisi – “Tim, you need to get up on your toes more.”

Feeling like this clearly wasn’t enough, I asked John Thorpe if he had anything else to offer. He smiled and responded with “You look really silly in those clothes.”

We all had a good laugh about this later in the run. I really love our group!

Even though I’m still in the midst of my worst Small Fiber Sensory Neuropathy flare-up in several years, and in spite of a heavy downpour, tonight’s track workout was fantastic. The neuropathy causes some strange and uncomfortable sensations in my legs and feet, but overall I felt very strong tonight. 

I don’t remember ever doing a workout exactly like this before, but I really enjoyed it, and was able run hard and consistent throughout. Here are the details.

• ~3-Mile Warmup (including 6 x 100m strides)
• 4 x 250m (150m) – Continuous [400m recovery]
• 800m (400m recovery)
• 4 x 200m (100m) – Continuous [400m recovery]
• 800m (400m recovery)
• 4 x 200m (50m) – Continuous [~1 mile cool down)

Total was 8.2-miles

After my mediocre tempo runs the past couple of weeks, it is reassuring to get in a good track workout tonight. Little confidence boost towards NOLA training.

The battles that count aren’t the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself – the invisible, inevitable battles inside all of us – that’s where it’s at.

What’s your weekly mileage like? I went through something similar during RCM training. My easy pace alone dropped over a minute per mile. I was clearly getting stronger, but it took my body a few weeks to catch back up. Good luck with NOLA training!

Thanks so much! I’m hitting between 50 and 55 miles per week, and I’m sure you’re right. Also getting a cold last week did not help, which I was not thinking about when I made the post. We have another marathon workout this weekend, so I should get a good sense of where I stand.

Medals for 2012 Rock N’ Roll New Orleans Marathon, Half Marathon, & Relay

Pretty sweet…Glad they stuck with the beads. Hope to have the marathon medal around my neck come March 4th! I know there are LOTS of Tumblr’s running NOLA. What do you think?