Race couldn't have gone better! Started out fast then settled into a good pace and maintained it the whole way. Unofficial time of 1:27:09, 9:22 pace! Full report later...

congratz!

Awesome, well done buddy. Looking forward to reading about this one.

Day 182

Race day!! It started early at 7 am...I had to be at the beach by 6 to catch the last shuttle bus to the starting line. The forecast was low 40s with a north wind 10-15 mph which made it feel quite chilly early on, especially at the beach.

Got to the baseball stadium where the starting line was and it was a madhouse! They do a corral start for this race so I lined up with the 9:00 pace group which would be the third group to start. The start was super fast, down a little hill out of the stadium parking lot and onto the flat streets of downtown Pensacola.

I had to really watch my pace early but still ended up with a first mile of 9:03. After that I settled into a nice pace...mile 2 was mostly into the wind but when we hit the first bridge it was straight downwind. We hit the first 5K mark on the bridge and I was around 28:30. I slowed down a little going over the big hump but it wasn't nearly as bad as the first time I did this race 2 years ago. Honestly the hill training really paid off!!

After the first bridge we hit the town of Gulf Breeze and passed the starting line for the 5K. Most of the runners were lined up on the street cheering us on which is very motivating!! I finished the second 5K in around 28:40 and was feeling great. During mile 8 we went up the overpass on our way to the beach...it's a tough little uphill stretch where the road is tilted fairly sharply from left to right. I tried to pick the flattest line and was still able to maintain my pace.

We hit the second bridge which was shorter but much steeper...the end of mile 8 was going up the bridge so it ended up being my slowest of the race. Once again it wasn't as tough getting to the top and I made up lots of time on the way down. From there it was just under a mile to the finish line! Once we hit the finishing chute there was tons of spectators cheering us on...I had enough left in the tank to finish strong and sprint to the finish line! I ended up with an unofficial time of 1:27:09 which is a 9:22 pace. My GPS app showed 9.41 miles, 9:16 pace.

It was definitely the best race I've done so far...next up is the Rock n Fly half marathon at the Naval Air Station in Pensacola on March 19th! I was gonna do a 10K on March 5th but I'm going to see my daughter do her first beauty pageant instead.

Breakfast: Waffle House after the race-1253 cals

Lunch: Leftover baked chicken thighs, rice-642 cals

Dinner: Loaded potato soup-397 cals

Snacks: Protein bar, granola bar-340 cals

Totals: 2631 cals, 112 protein

Mile 1 9:03
Mile 2 9:20
Mile 3 9:14
Mile 4 9:10
Mile 5 9:15
Mile 6 9:11
Mile 7 9:20
Mile 8 9:34
Mile 9 9:22
Mile 9.3 9:04

Day 183

Woke up feeling great...very little soreness at all. Wasn't sure if I would run or not but after going outside and seeing another perfect day I had to. Just did a very easy paced 3 miles and felt fine after.

Official results from Saturday...I finished in 1:27:09 which placed me 1085/3231 overall and 96/200 in the 40-44 age group. I couldn't be happier with how it went and I'm anxious to see how much better I'll be next year!

Breakfast: Bacon, egg & cheese on toast, grits-775 cals

Lunch: Fried fish, steak fries (1/2 order at work)-643 cals

Dinner: Usual breakfast, 2 granola bars-745 cals

Snacks: Protein bar-250 cals

Totals: 2413 cals, 133g protein

Mile 1 11:06
Mile 2 11:19
Mile 3 11:07

Day 184

Little more sore than I was Sunday but not bad. Did an easy 4 miles...gonna take Tuesday off then start getting ready for the HM in 5 weeks.

Breakfast: Bacon, egg & cheese on toast, grits-712 cals

Lunch: Usual breakfast-506 cals

Dinner: Angus burger w/ bacon & swiss, kettle chips-855 cals

Snacks: Protein bar-250 cals

Totals: 2323 cals, 147g protein

Mile 1 11:08
Mile 2 11:15
Mile 3 10:56
Mile 4 10:49

nice race report and congratz again on the new pr!

didn't you eat before the race? or just protein / granola bar?
take it easy for a few more days (running is fine, just nothing too intense). what is the plan for after the HM?

Tron,

Thanks! I ate a protein bar before the race...I never eat much at all before. Got a few options after the HM: a 10-mile trail run on April 2nd, another HM near the beach on April 16th and a 10K downtown on April 30th.

I'd like to do all 3 but I know that's not a great idea...I'm definitely doing the 10K, it's a great course and It's the oldest race in this area. I've done it the last 2 years and I even ran it when I was around 12 years old. I also did the 10-mile trail run last year, it was a pretty tough course and by far the most difficult race I've ever done. I'm leaning towards doing that one and skipping the HM on April 16th

eating before a race: for 10k and shorter distances: doesn't matter, do what you want.
for longer distances: proper nutrition before the race becomes increasingly more important as you increase the distance... well, as long as it works for you, there's no reason to change it. did you do the same during your HM? do you drink / eat anything during the race?

and after those next 2/3 races? do you have a racing break over the summer because it gets too hot? or is it a year-round thing? is the november marathon still your A goal? i'm expanding more on all those questions (or the reason for them) on the next post.

Tron,

I did the same thing before the HM...ate a protein bar and drank about half a bottle of water. During the race I drank water at every water station and ate one goo packet about 7 miles in. Hydration wasn't an issue because of the rainy, cool weather. The first HM I did two years ago was a different story and I ended up in the ER after the race.

After the April races there's a 4-mile trail run in May...it's all 5K's during the summer though because of the heat. I think there's one in June and July that I'll probably do, two in August then the longer races kick back up in September.

My "A" goal is still the Pensacola Marathon in early November.

Day 185

Took the day off from running...although when I stepped outside and saw the perfect weather I was really tempted to go anyway.

Breakfast: Usual-569 cals

Lunch: Local pizza place-750 cals

Dinner: 3 soft tacos w/ chesse-630 cals

Snacks: Granola bar, popcorn-463 cals

Totals: 2413 cals, 113g protein

nutrition: ok, but i think you're cutting it unnecessarily close in a HM. a 2 hour race will use 1400-2000 Cals (maybe even a little more with your weight). your body saves 1500-2000cals (or less) of glycogen in your muscles. this value is generally lower in the morning after waking up (because you've been fasting for ~12 hour at this point). a gu energy gel has 100cal. of course, you're not using 100% glycogen as energy. but the percentage is still high in a HM.
anyway, it seems to work, so i wouldn't change it right now for the next HM. but for the marathon & the preparation long runs, you definitely need to eat beforehand and get used to eat during (long) runs.

my recommendation for the rest of 2016: keep up or slightly increase the volume over the next few months (but i wouldn't go above ~35 mpw average). keep the general schedule (1 long run, 1 work out, rest easy / recovery runs ; do weekly strides). do most / all of your mentioned races, just don't overtaper for them. just train normally around them and do a 1-3 day taper / recovery. but you can use the regular racing as a way to increase general training intensity without changing the regular schedule. do regular cut-back / recovery weeks. do a 2 week long cutback after the HM (anytime between then and middle of june) to completely recover (you had a hard last few month, even though maybe it doesn't feel like it).
then at the beginning of july, start a suitable 18 week marathon training plan and rock pensacola.

Day 186

Another perfect weather day...mid 50's with no humidity. I did an easy 5 miles including five 100-meter strides in the last mile. Didn't eat my first meal until past noon then napped in the afternoon for several hours. Made the Asian glazed chicken thighs again and ended up just skipping a meal.

Breakfast: Skipped

Lunch: Grilled cheese sandwich w/ bacon & fried egg-531 cals

Dinner: Baked Asian glaze chicken thighs, rice, green beans-863 cals

Snacks: Protein bar, skinny cow-400 cals

Totals: 1795 cals, 119g protein

Mile 1 10:51
Mile 2 11:02
Mile 3 11:00
Mile 4 10:48
Mile 5 10:55

Tron,

How much should I eat before a super long run? How much and how often during the run? What would your weekly schedule look like for 35 miles? Four 6-mile days with a long run of 10-12 miles or five 5-mile days with a 10-12 mile long run?

eat:
IF you should eat beforehand is something very individual.
for me: i definitely eat "properly" before the run for everything longer than ~1h30 (so just my long run atm) and for hard workouts (intervals or longer tempo runs).
what i eat: depends on the time of the run. assuming i plan my long run "directly" after waking up... then i wake up, eat some bread (100-125g) with a little butter or jam or something on it. then i need ~1 hour minimum break to avoid an upset stomach during the run. (and i try to take a dump in the meantime, hehe). towards the end of the break, i eat the banana and if i still feel hungry a joghurt. then i'm good to go. (so maybe 1h15min after eating the bread).

i'm often experimenting and trying out what works and what doesn't. above is just my current "go to" solution. and i nearly always have bread & bananas in my house, hehe.

if i run later in the day, it's normally no problem. eat a few hours before hand (or if i plan my run directly before dinner i just make sure to eat something small 1-2 hours before running).

other runs: i often run fasted. sometimes i eat a banana beforehand. it doesn't seem to matter performancewise. but yeah, for me, 1h30 is around the point where i start feeling bad towards the end of runs if i run fasted. it's far from bonking, but the hunger becomes annoying and performance is slightly lower.
if the run is very intense, this point comes a little earlier.

during the run: in general, i never eat something. exceptions are long runs atm where i'm trying to get used to choking down gels while running

now for you: again, you need to try out what works for you and what doesn't. but for the marathon, it's absolutely mandatory to think a lot about your nutrition strategy. and trying it out exactly as planned during your long runs. but i wouldn't think too much about this now. just keep doing what you're doing. the last HM worked great, no reason to change something fundamentally. anything shorter is no problem anyway.

eating during the run: the most popular choice are gels (gu gel or powergel etc). each has ~100 Cals. some people eat solid food, but that's often difficult if intensity is very high. gels are nice because you can tuck them in the shorts.
i'm personally not a big gel fan and prefer real food, but atm i'm getting used to powerbar powergel.
as a general guideline for eating during the run.
- eat something after ~30 minutes
- eat ~200cals per hour after that.

(of course all this only applies on the really long runs, as discussed).

schedule questions: it mostly depends on your plans for the marathon. personally, i would stay on the cautios side (always afraid of injuries) and be rather conservative with mileage and not push it too much.
now IF you say that you want to really go all out for the marathon and increase mileage drastically, then you should already start doing that.

therefore the scheduling depends on your marathon plans. a few month ago you said that you really want to push yourself. if that is still (really) the case, there's no reason why you shouldn't be able to make a big step. upgrade mileage to 50mpw until the summer and then do for example pfitzingers 18/70 marathon plan (aka 18 weeks and your plan peaks at 70 miles per week; average mileage is ~55-60 mpw).
you have built a solid nice base.
but still, that's obviously a huge step. and this carries a significant injury risk (and burn out risk). but i want to still "present" it as a "realistic" option.

you can also do the contrary, chose something very conservative and pick a marathon plan that focusses much more on "just" finishing. absolutely nothing wrong with it either. it's your first marathon and a big step anyway.

as often, i think the best pick lies in the middle. i already talked about this in the last post, so no reason to repeat myself. build up volume slightly but to a constant 35mpw.
then for the marathon, i would for example pick pfitzingers 18/55 plan (so 55 mpw peak week, average close to 45mpw). still tough, but a lot more realistic. and if i had to guess your marathon time in november (after doing this plan), 3h30 - 3h50.
that's all assuming that you keep up the weight loss. without weight loss, i think "even" the 18/55 is too aggressive.

so the question how to schedule your next months also depends on what you want to do afterwards. are you happy running 6x a week regularly?

ps: i just picked pfitzinger twice because they have catchy "names" and are well known. there are many good options available.

Day 187

Stretched out my run to 5.6 miles...feeling great, no soreness at all.

Breakfast: Usual plus protein bar-788 cals

Lunch: Leftover chicken thighs, rice-743 cals

Dinner: Local Mexican place...Chicken quesadilla, beef enchilada-811 cals

Snacks: Granola bar, skinny cow-240 cals

Totals: 2582 cals, 145g protein

Mile 1 10:46
Mile 2 10:56
Mile 3 10:57
Mile 4 10:49
Mile 5 10:46
Mile 5.6 10:58/pace

Friday morning weigh in

230.8

Week 1 -2.0 lbs
Week 2 -1.4 lbs
Week 3 -1.6 lbs
Week 4 -1.0 lbs
January -6.8 lbs
Week 5 -1.2 lbs
Week 6 -.2 lbs
Week 7 -.6 lbs

Total -8/50 (16%)

Total mileage:
Week 1 26.0
Week 2 28.5
Week 3 27.5
Week 4 34.0
January 126.0
Week 5 28.0
Week 6 24.0
Week 7 27.0

Total 195/1300 (15%)

Day 188

Easy 5 miles...not getting bored or burned out at all! Most days I literally can't wait to get outside. I'm sure the perfect weather we've had lately is a big part of it.

Breakfast: Usual plus protein bar-780 cals

Lunch: Angus burger w/ swiss and bacon, steak fries-908 cals

Dinner: Chicken & sausage gumbo, rice, club crackers-466 cals

Snacks: Granola bar, skinny cow, popcorn-382 cals

Totals: 2535 cals, 146g protein

Mile 1 10:40
Mile 2 10:50
Mile 3 10:41
Mile 4 11:03
Mile 5 10:41

Day 189

Easy 5 miles...I'm gonna have to shift my long run to Monday for awhile. My schedule at work changed and I'm starting much earlier on Sunday now. I'll take Sunday off and probably do 10 miles or so Monday.

Breakfast: Usual plus protein bar-788 cals

Lunch: Grilled pork chops, rice pilaf, green beans-879 cals

Dinner: Loaded potato soup, club crackers-467 cals

Snacks: Popcorn-142 cals

Totals: 2275 cals, 139g protein

Mile 1 10:44
Mile 2 10:52
Mile 3 10:58
Mile 4 10:54
Mile 5 10:35

Day 190

Worked til just past midnight Saturday then had a 10 am start Sunday morning so had to take Sunday off from running...long run on Monday!

Breakfast: Breakfast burrito w/ sausage, egg & cheese, grits-805 cals

Lunch: Grilled chicken sandwich, chips-764 cals

Dinner: Arby's Max roast beef-560 cals

Snacks: Popcorn, skinny cow-292 cals

Totals: 2421 cals, 132g protein

This is awesome. Imo it shows you're doing things properly. You'll find that motivation naturally comes in peaks and troughs, so I find it good to try and remember these times of high motivation. Try to think about why you are feeling so motivated and what's getting you going, then carry those feelings and actions over to the times of lower motivation.

Tron,

I've been fine going six days a week the few times I've done it so far. I like the less aggressive marathon plan...70 mpw sounds awfully tough! So I'll just keep slowly building up the mileage, ease back a few weeks in June then start the 18 week program in July!

Day 191

Got out around 10:30 and did my long run. Felt great the whole way...weather was a little warmer, around 70 and a little humid but felt pretty good.

Breakfast: Usual plus protein bar-786 cals

Lunch: 3 egg omelette w/ cheese-405 cals

Dinner: Shrimp Alfredo w/ penne pasta-898 cals

Snacks: Skinny cow-150 cals

Totals: 2239 cals, 153g protein

Mile 1 10:54
Mile 2 10:52
Mile 3 11:01
Mile 4 10:51
Mile 5 10:56
Mile 6 10:50
Mile 7 11:03
Mile 8 11:01
Mile 9 11:01
Mile 10 11:01

Day 192

Easy 5 miles...gonna do a tempo run Wednesday.

Breakfast: Usual plus protein bar-695 cals

Lunch: Shrimp Alfredo w/ penne pasta-884 cals

Dinner: 2 soft tacos w/ cheese-420 cals

Snacks: Popcorn, 2 granola bars

Totals: 2321 cals, 131g protein

Mile 1 10:56
Mile 2 11:07
Mile 3 11:08
Mile 4 10:52
Mile 5 10:58

Day 193

I got up early and did a tempo run...was planning on a warm up mile, 2 miles @ 5K pace then a cool down mile. I felt so good after my warm up mile I decided to do a full 5K as fast as I could go.

I ended up with splits of 8:46, 8:44 & 8:49 with a 5K time of 27:09!! My last 5K race on December 5th was a PB of 27:51. I think during race conditions I could be under 26:45. It's very motivating to see constant improvement like this! I finished the rest of mile 5 at a nice slow pace and felt great after.

Breakfast: Usual plus protein bar-752 cals

Lunch: McDouble-342 cals

Dinner: Pulled pork, smoked sausage, baked chicken wings, baked beans-941 cals

Snacks: Popcorn, red velvet cake-573 cals

Totals: 2608 cals, 154g protein

Mile 1 10:43
Mile 2 8:46
Mile 3 8:44
Mile 4 8:49
Mile 5 11:01