Day 83

Race day tomorrow!! Worked til 9 pm, already started raining and there's a 100% chance of rain during the race. Hoping its a light rain...race starts at 6:30 am.

Breakfast: Usual-515 cals

Lunch: Pizza slice, protein shake-535 cals

Dinner: Usual breakfast plus a homemade toquito w/ bacon, 2 eggs and cheese-1023 cals

Snacks: Peanut butter (3 oz), popcorn-673 cals

Totals: 2746 cals, 166g protein

Good luck man, stay calm, remember your pacing and go smash it!

Forecast went from bad to worse...light rain turned into fairly heavy rain. It's gonna be extremely wet from start to finish ugh!

Ugh that sucks from an enjoyment point of view. At least it'll keep you a bit cooler though. I have no idea whether heavy rain will affect your performance at all, but my guess is that it wouldn't as long as the running surface isn't affected. In any case, you're not made of sugar so get out there and nail it!

Made it!! Rained from start to finish but never crazy hard and at times it was just a drizzle. It was raining pretty good at the start so I had soaked socks, shoes and clothes the whole race. I think that may have slowed me down a bit. Finished with an unofficial time of 2:20:11...I'll have go get the official results tomorrow, didn't feel like hanging around for abother hour. Full TR later...about to sleep!!

Great work man. Looking forward to a full race report!

Day 84

Race day finally! I didn't sleep as much as I wanted to but woke up feeling good. I started out pretty fast and had to really watch the pace the first mile. It was raining pretty good and I quickly got soaked but at least it wasn't cold. There was a decent hill at the end of mile 2 then the next few miles were dead into a 12-15 mph wind. I had to stop and pee during mile 4 but thankfully we were running along an area with lots of bushes and trees so I was able to just quickly duck off and not waste much time.

At just about the halfway point the full marathon course split off and I started cranking out 10:30's. I noticed my GPS was off compared to the mile markers and it only got worse as the race went on. Had to stop and pee again during mile 8 so I knew I was properly hydrated. The biggest hill came at the beginning of mile 9 but it wasn't as bad as I thought it'd be.

The rain slacked up a bit and I really started to enjoy the race and was feeling great. There was another hill at the end of mile 10 as we went up an overpass. Mile 11 ended up being my second fastest of the race...it started out straight downhill on the overpass and there was another gentle downhill stretch. Mile 12 was mostly uphill and the slowest of the race. Despite the rain there were lots of people out cheering us on which was very motivating!!

Mile 13 started out downhill and I was still going at a good pace even though my legs started to feel like jelly. A few turns downtown and I could hear the crowd and the music from the finish line!! I mustered everything I could and finished strong...ended up running the whole way, only stopped the two times to relieve myself.

My GPS ended up showing 13.36 miles so it was pretty far off. My official time was 2:20:10 which is a 10:42 pace, slower than I was hoping for but I'm very happy with how I did. Finished 34/65 in the 40-44 age group and 433/878 overall. Should hopefully only get faster going forward. My goal is next year to run the full marathon at this race, so 364 days and counting!!

Breakfast: Post race spread...Chocolate milk, boiled shrimp, 2 mini donuts-809 cals

Lunch: Cereal, protein shake-498 cals

Dinner: Baked chicken, rice a roni, peas-641 cals

Snacks: Protein bar, Skinny cow-320 cals

Totals: 2267 cals, 154g protein

Running:
Mile 1 10:11
Mile 2 10:29
Mile 3 10:17
Mile 4 10:36
Mile 5 10:31
Mile 6 10:29
Mile 7 10:31
Mile 8 10:38
Mile 9 10:35
Mile 10 10:40
Mile 11 10:12
Mile 12 10:54
Mile 13 10:21

That's awesome, good work. I'm sure the conditions will have affected your time, and the hills will also affect it to some degree. I'm not sure how big they actually are, but any hill will slow you down at least a little. The main thing is that you set a goal, made a plan, stuck to it and achieved the goal, and that's ****ing awesome.

What's next? In my experience, both personal and from knowing other people that have done similar to you, you really need to set another goal asap. So many people will achieve their first goal (your HM) and then say "oh i'll start training again in a week or two" but then never get round to it. My advice for you is to think of a goal, and start planning your training now - just give yourself however long you need to recover, and start the next block of training slow - but make sure you plan it.

A cool goal now that you know you've got the HM in your legs is to work on your speed and set a target for a 5k time.

I've always worried about needing a pee on longer races but I've managed to avoid it so far, even in 3hr+ races. My body just tends to shut down everything except what it needs to run.

Thanks Ron!! I'm definitely gonna keep pushing...the race season is just getting started here. There's another half marathon in 4 weeks and I'm seriously considering just jumping right back in. Do you think this schedule is feisable or am I trying to bite off too much?

12/5 Half marathon
1/16 Half marathon
2/13 15K
3/5 10K
3/19 Half marathon
4/12 Half marathon
5/7 10K

If you feel up for it just go for it imo. Just make sure you don't overdo things as 3 HMs in 3 months when you're new to the distance could end up being a heavy toll on your body.

My legs are a little sore this morning but I feel like I could do an easy 4 miles right now if I had to. Taking the day off though lol. I think the key is to not over-train for these races. Always having one close on the calendar is extremely motivating for me so I'm gonna go for it!!

Monday morning weigh in:

236.2

Week 1 -5.4 lbs
Week 2 -1.0 lbs
Week 3 -3.4 lbs
Week 4 -1.6 lbs
Month 1 -11.4 lbs
Week 5 -.4 lbs
Week 6 -1.8 lbs
Week 7 -3.2 lbs
Week 8 -2.2 lbs
Month 2 -7.6 lbs
Week 9 -2.0 lbs
Week 10 +1.6 lbs
Week 11 -4.0 lbs
Week 12 -1.0 lbs
Month 3 -5.4 lbs

Total -24.4 lbs

Total mileage:
Week 1 17.2
Week 2 20.1
Week 3 22.2
Week 4 25.3
Week 5 16.1
Week 6 21.1
Week 7 25.0
Week 8 23.2
Week 9 30.5
Week 10 13.0
Week 11 31.0
Week 12 27.1

You may feel fine, but everything will be worn down and tired. I would def have a couple days off, then just do a few easy short runs over the next week, then get back into proper training after that.

gratz on properly finishing and keeping the pace (quite) constant.
did you use a pace group?
you should always use manual lap-function if you want proper mile splits in a race. it's completely normal do see quite large discrepancies between your "watch-distance" and the race-distance. two main reasons:
a) you don't run the ideal tangent line and you swerve to pass people. that's the main factor.
b) gps is just not really a precise technology in consumer products. under IDEAL conditions, it's +- 3m accuracy. under average race conditions (often partly inside a city with over- and underpasses and skyscrapers and trees and clouds and rain etc) it's a lot less precise. this can lead to longer or shorter measurements (normally it ends up being longer).

future race plans: i'm not a fan of it. when i pick a goal race, i really want to race it all out. i want to peak for the race and be in the best possible condition. if you race once a month, this is not possible. you spend nearly two thirds of the month either recovering from the last race or tapering for the next race. and never really have time to just "train normally".
of course, it's a huge difference between running a 5k and a HM. you can run a 5k race every week ("taper" one day before, then recovery one day afterwards, done), no problem at all. but you can't do the same with a HM. personally, I would cut the december and march HM and instead really focus on nailing the two remaining HMs. and switch the 15k to a 5k instead. so it would look like:
december: 5k
1/16 Half marathon
february: 5k
3/5 10K
4/12 Half marathon
5/7 10K

btw: imho, focus on "speed work" the next few weeks imho during your "fast workout" of the week. do either shorter intervals (400m or 800m repeats or a mix of them; and with longish breaks in between so you can really attack every single one of the repeats hard). or do hill repeats (again, long recovery between them). the reason for that: you now have a solid endurance foundation that you can slowly expand. but you lack speed. your "fast pace" should be a lot faster than your slow pace.
as an example, compare yourself to ron. he runs sub4min pace (per km) in a 5k, but often does easy runs at ~6min pace. sure, it's maybe somewhat hillier and on a trail, but still, his easy pace is 50% slower than his fast pace. so based on your 11:15 min mile pace that you ~average on your long runs (as a guess), your "fast pace" should be somewhere around 7:30 mile pace (while in reality it's closer to 9:30). now, this is of course not really a useful direct comparison and it has no clear direct implications. but i just want to show that normally, the difference between "really fast" and "really easy" is quite large. for you, it's very close together. to change that:
1) again, run your easy runs slower. it's just not physically possible to do an easy run (for lets say 5-8 miles) at the same pace as your HM pace. if this were your real easy pace, you'd be able to run (a lot) faster during a race. so either: you don't go all-out during a race, but i'd be VERY surprised by this. therefore the most likely explanation is, that you run your easy runs too fast.
2) focus on speed work in training. as always: don't overdo it and take it easy in the beginning. DON'T pick workouts that mostly focus on the endurance aspect (aka long runs with short breaks in between), instead focus on the opposite. do shorter intervals (400m - 800m) and pick recovery times that allow you to nearly completely recover. the idea of the training is to work your speed, not your recovery capacity.
3) start doing strides at least once a week. http://strengthrunning.com/2012/10/what-are-strides/ here is an explanation of them. do them towards the end of an easy run. focus on fast turnover and good form. stay relaxed. this is NOT a sprint workout. you should never feel tired doint it. recover for AT LEAST a minute after every stride and you should feel 100% recovered before you start the next one. again: this is just to improve your running economy and ergonomy. and as always: start out easy!
4) incorporate more 5k races into your calendar (see proposal above).

and +1 to the last post ron just wrote about the HM recovery. TAKE IT EASY!

Tron,

They didn't have pace groups for the half marathon, just the full marathon. The marathon course veered away at about the 6 mile mark so I did start with the 4:30 marathon group. They seemed to be going faster than that though so I stuck to my pace and fell back. I got behind a father and son doing the half who were running at my pace and stayed with them for a few miles but lost them the second time I stopped to pee. This was the first time by the way I ever had to stop and relieve myself during a race.

As far as the race schedule I figured it was a little too ambitious. I don't mind skipping the December HM but I really wanna do the 15K in February...it's a really fun race and it's a big reason I started running in the first place. About 6 years ago I used to work for AT&T and early one Saturday morning I was driving to work, crossing over the Pensacola Bay bridge. One lane was closed for the race and as I went by all of the runners I thought to myself "One day that's gonna be me running across the bridge." I was probably 340 lbs at the time. I started running again in June 2013 and in February 2014 it was me running across that bridge. I have to say it was a pretty emotional moment. Unfortunately I wasn't in good enough shape to do it this year, completely my fault but I'm doing it again next February.

I also wanna do the March HM. It's the same one I did in 2014 that sent me to the ER but it's a really flat course that winds around the Naval Air Station. Even though I may not be in peak form I want another shot at it. I'll skip the HM in April instead.

Regarding my training pace I find it really difficult to run at a pace slower than 11:30. Next easy run I'll really try to slow it down and see if I can get closer to 12:00. For the intervals what would be a good target time for half mile splits? I did one interval session a few weeks ago and did 4 half mile splits, 4:44, 4:38, 4:28 & 4:31.

Thanks again for all the feedback and advice!!

makes sense, well done,

race schedule: sure, sounds good! and cool bridge anecdote. (honestly)
what's the more important race for you, the 15k or the march HM?

and how did you feel about HM pace during the race? you don't really focus on this in your race report. do you feel like you should have started faster or slower? how tough were the last few miles? how easy (or not) were the first few?

i don't think it's correct to force something and to slow down more than comfortable. just make sure that the pace feels really easy. if this is really 11:00, so be it. (but i suspect it's probably more like 11:30). and start your runs slower, your body needs to warm up first. i feel like you often have the fastest pace during the first 3 miles. (but too lazy to really look it up, hehe).

interval: it's hard to give pace advice here. go by feel. but as a starting point:
normal warm-up, then do 2-3 strides do get your body used to intensity. then relax and "recover" so that you start the first rep completely fresh. do the first half mile in 4:20 and aim for even pacing (don't start them too fast). do you do them on a track? that makes pacing much easier by having a clear "time check point" every 100 or 200m.
then recover for 5-6minutes. don't stand around, just walk or jog slowly. maybe you need less time, maybe even slightly more. you should feel nearly fully recovered, that's important. the idea of this workout is NOT to accumulate a lot of fatigue by having not long enough recovery breaks and therefore increasing the intensity for each rep. but instead your body should simply get used to running faster. so make sure to start each interval in a nearly fully fresh state. every break should be AT LEAST as long as the repetition took you to run.
if the first rep felt too easy, increase pace (to maybe 4:10). or vice versa. every rep should feel hard by itself. but not extremly hard (so no lying down because you're completely destroyed, hehe). do 4 or 5 reps in total. then cool down run (very easy).

maybe my starting pace (4:20) is too fast, but i don't think so. your last half mile workout was 5 weeks ago, you're a lot lighter and a lot fitter.

ps: don't do this workout before you are fully recovered from the HM. so definitely not in the next 3-4 days. this is a hard workout and your body needs to be at 100% for it, otherwise it's a lot less useful. (and now we're full circle and back to the whole easy / hard binary training stuff).

Tron,

The first 3 miles or so felt great...I know I could've gone faster but didn't wanna break too fast and be in trouble later. Miles 4-6 were much more difficult as we were directly into the wind, which of course made the rain feel even more uncomfortable. I tried to pick up the pace the next few miles and did well but those included the two biggest hills. The last few miles I felt fine, aside from the jelly legs the last mile or so. I did notice my left knee tweaking slightly at one point but it went away and wasn't an issue. At no time did I feel like I had to stop due to fatigue, not even close. If the race took place under ideal conditions, i.e. low 50s with no wind or rain, I'm confident I would've finished much closer to 2:15.

The 15K in February is definitely more important to me but I really, really wanna do both lol. I did both in 2014 but they were a little further apart. The 15K was on February 1st and I finished in 1:37:33 (10:42 pace). The HM was March 29th and I finished in 2:18:50 (10:36 pace). The first race I was almost the exact same weight I am now, the HM I was probably 10 lbs lighter.

The interval stuff sounds great...the first time I did it was on a very flat paved running trail but I think I can find a local track to use.

Have you ever done any trail running? Getting off the road and into some nice countryside, along a coastal route, through some woods, up a hill or whatever just makes things more interesting imo and helps to keep interest, even if you only do it once a week or so.

Yeah I've done 4 trail races the last two years but haven't done much training off the pavement. My last trail run was a 10-miler in late March this year. It started out easy enough, the first 3 miles on a fairly wide fire trail with very few impediments. Miles 4-8 were brutal though, several decent hills, 2 washouts that forced you to stop and kinda climb your way up and several "foot bridges" over wet areas that were nothing more than a couple of 2x4's laid together. No running over those suckers, it was hard enough walking at a decent pace without taking a tumble into the marsh. By far the most challenging run I've ever done!!

Day 85

Rest day...my legs were still pretty sore but I feel good otherwise. I'm definitely gonna have an easy week, less than 15 miles.

Breakfast: Usual-506 cals

Lunch: Baked chicken thighs, rice a roni-857 cals

Dinner: Baked chicken breast, rice a roni-499 cals

Snacks: Protein bar, pudding-230 cals

Totals: 2091 cals, 131g protein

Day 86

Woke up feeling really good...did an easy 3 miles. My calves are a little sore but nothing too bad.

Breakfast: Usual-497 cals

Lunch: Wendy's spicy chicken sandwich (hold the mayo add Asiago cheese), baked potato, butter-941 cals

Dinner: 2 soft tacos w/ cheese-420 cals

Snacks: Popcorn-283 cals

Totals: 2142 cals, 107g protein

Running:
Mile 1 11:26
Mile 2 11:23
Mile 3 11:18

vegetables, wtf. do you never log them or never eat them?

Don't eat them....trust me I've tried 'em many times.

lol, forgot I posted that. drunk posting ftw

and to continue the theme with some hungover posting - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scurvy

Day 87

Another easy 3 mile run today...feeling better every day. Probably gonna do a 5K race on November 21st, aiming for a sub 29:00 time.

Breakfast: Usual-522 cals

Lunch: Omelette w/ 3 eggs and cheese, grits, Pam spray-508 cals

Dinner: Philly cheesesteak at work, cool ranch Doritos-763 cals

Snacks: Rice a roni, granola bar, protein shake-551 cals

Totals: 2343 cals, 128g protein

Running:
Mile 1 11:12
Mile 2 11:27
Mile 3 11:17