Today's Run, July 19

Battling heat and humidity, we luckily avoided the rain by a few hours on either side and had a pretty good run:

Time: 1:41:30
Distance: 10.06 miles
Average Pace: 10:06 minutes/mile
Calories burned: 1378

I'm really encouraged that most of the group finished together. We're getting used to running together as a group that is very important on marathon day. Being surrounded by friends makes running--and finishing--much easier.

This week, continue to keep up on your "homework." As I've said before, if you can stick to the training schedule, great, but if not try to drag yourself out for at least 20 minutes of good running (followed by a 3-5 minute cooldown) on the treadmill.

Today's Run, July 12

We had a nice, (mostly) easy run in the heat today and did a good job of sticking together. Here are the numbers:

Time: 1:37:11
Distance: 9.62 miles
Average Pace: 10:06 minute/mile
Calories Burned: 1324

That's pretty good, considering the heat. We also did well sharing the trail with other runners, walkers, and bikers. All in all, it was a good run.

The next month is crucial for our training. This is where getting training in during the week will really start to pay off. Simply put, running 26.2 miles in 4:15 is something that's entirely doable, but it takes some work. Unless you are a genetic freak, you're going to need to build up your cardio level and leg muscles so that they can handle more than four hours of running. The only way to do this is by running more. Follow the training schedule on the LViM website if you can. If you can't, get out of the road (heat and safety permitting) or on a treadmill for at least 25 minutes five times a week. That's probably the bare minimum of work you can put in and have any chance of having a good race in December.

I'll put it to you this way. A month from today, we'll be running 12 miles. Since we did almost ten today, that's easily within the reach of eveyrone in the group. Two months from today, we're running 17 miles. That might seem like a lot, but if you keep up with the training schedule, it won't be hard.

Three months from today, we will have finished our longest training run (22 miles), and four months from this very day, we will have finished our marathon.

My point is that none of this is going to be possible without some work--hard work, even--during the week. If this was impossible, none of us would be trying it, but if it was easy, you'd see a lot more people running marathons. I can't guaranteee easy, but I can guarantee fun and fulfilling, as long as we all stay in shape and do our homework during the week.

This was a great run--even though our pace was a little slower, we had higher temps to deal with and we probably had more fun sticking together. Next week, we'll do about ten miles. I know the schedule says 9, but we've been running about that for two weeks now, and I think we would benefit from the shared confidence of breaking that double-digit barrier a week earlier.

See you on Sunday morning before 5:30. If you have any training tips, questions, or comments, email me or post them here. Have a great week.

Today's Run, July 5

As you could tell from the heat this morning, summer's here. But not to worry--we're going to be running a half hour earlier starting next week. This week's run was run slouch though. Here are the raw numbers:

Time: 1:28:46
Distance: 8.92 miles
Average Pace (including stops): 9:57 minute/mile
Calories Burned: 1222

As you can see, we're doing really well. The most important thing at this stage is to get used to running with the group, and to stick with the group. You'll be amazed at how much help it will be during the marathon to have a familiar bunch of people around you. So over the next couple of weeks, focus on staying with the group. If you have a tendency to race ahead, cool down a little bit and enjoy the leisurely pace. You'll only finish a few seconds ahead of everyone else but it will seem like a much longer run without the camaraderie of your peers. If you find yourself falling behind, the same holds true: you aren't really running that much less strenuously, but it will feel like a more difficult run. So, unless you have a mechanical breakdown or are in pain, stick with the group.

I think that 99% of the problems people have staying on pace are psychological rather than physical. Case in point: no matter how far we run--if it's 5 miles or 20--people tend to drop off in the last mile or so. This is often because runners convince themselves that they can't keep up and they've got to slow down. Sometimes, slowing down really is a good idea, but usually you'd be better served by sticking to your pace. Once we get into the longer distances, you'll see that running 18 miles isn't that much harder than running 8, as long as you pick a pace and keep to it.

Next Sunday, we're starting our run at 5:30, so get there bright and early. I should be moving this blog over to the LV in Motion site by then, so stay tuned!