Louisville Exploration Run + Sweet New Running Stuff

This morning's run was an 8 mile semi-planned jaunt through the the industrial areas of Smoketown and Butchertown. My purpose was twofold: to see parts of the city I haven't seen yet, and to try and find places for my running club to meet and run from (we have some silly traditions that involve loud singing that isn't acceptable in most residential areas). So that explains all the offshoots from the main course, as shown below:

There is a lot of land out there just fenced up and going un-used. I hope it gets re-developed in the future...there's no need for urban sprawl when we have all that open space right near downtown.

The other big news today is that I got my running singlet and arm bands from North Shore Animal League! Check it out:

I will totally be rocking the bracelet wherever I go now, and the singlet will get LOTS of use even before race day. I hope the printing makes it through all the washing I'll be doing to it.

And finally, to go with the other awesome new stuff today, I replaced my worn out Mizuno Wave Precision shoes with the brand new model. Behold them in their post-run glory:

Selling my body to the Internet

So it has come to this. With about six weeks left to go before the fundraising deadline, I have been forced to sell my body to the Internet. Well, kind of.

Since hauling my body 26.2 miles through the streets of New York City will be a full-body activity, I am selling sponsorship of each of my major body parts! You can sponsor my upper back for $25, or both feet for $50. In fact, here is a guide I made for specific body-part sponsorship:

If you'd like help my reach my $3,000 fundraising requirement in this way, simply include in the information line which body part(s) you are sponsoring when you donate.

PS: All body parts not offered for sponsorship are already being sponsored by my wife ;)

16 Miles of Unexpected Ups and Downs

After taking a much needed rest day yesterday (forced upon me due to my running watch having dead batteries), I got up at 5am this morning to beat the heat and run the longest distance yet in my training: 16 miles. The plan was to run out to Iroquois Park ~5 miles south of the house, run 3 miles of the loop, then reverse course and run home. There is a water fountain out there, and I figured on my way back I could stop in a corner store and get more water. Also, I expected a nice smooth uphill climb out, then downhill on the way home. Much like this elevation chart produced by MapMyRun.com:

Instead, here is the actual elevation chart as recorded by my GPS watch:

Not smooth at all. I suppose this is what I get for not having driven the course first, but hey, I'm still getting used to this city. And as such, I had no idea that most corner stores did not open until 9am at the earliest. So on the 5 miles back home I was really struggling for some water, or Gatorade, or even a soda. But nothing was open! I finally came upon a water fountain near UofL, and wouldn't you know it, it didn't work. I did eventually make it back home, very hot and dehydrated, and proceeded to drink and entire gallon of Gatorade. I'll likely spend the rest of my day with my legs propped up to prevent swelling and a constant supply of ice water to drink.

But, at least its done. And next week's long run is only one more mile than this. With better planning, I think that one will be quite manageable.

Athletes...athletes everywhere.

This morning's run was 8 miles at projected marathon race pace, which isn't too bad because I did 10 miles last week below race pace. But I'm following this with 16 miles (gulp) tomorrow, so I wanted to make sure I didn't overdo it.

My plan was to run down to the Ohio River, then east along the river trail until I hit 4 miles, then double back. Well, as I neared the water I started seeing athletes. They were running, or biking on very nice bikes, and some of them were walking in their swimsuits still dripping water. It all became clear to me when I got the the waterfront park: thousands of triathletes were prepping for Ironman Louisville tomorrow. I took a picture of some of them getting used to swimming in the Ohio. Apparently, its a lot cleaner than it used to be.

Usually when I go run down by the river, I see 3-5 other runners out. This time, I must have seen hundreds. All kinds of triathletes doing the last runs of their taper period so they can be loose for tomorrow's Ironman race. All in all, it was really motivating. Tomorrow they will swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles, and THEN run a full marathon. I'm nervous enough about just doing the marathon, much less all that before it! But it was definitely good energy for my run and tomorrow I'll be thinking about them while I'm doing my 16 miles. They will still be swimming or biking while I'm running as those two events will take up their entire morning, but after my run in the morning I think I'll walk a few blocks over to the marathon course and cheer them on some.

Mile 21 Dedication for Priscilla's Parents

Priscilla, my mother in law, grew up in Maine with a house and barnyard full of animals. She is dedicating mile 21 to her parents, who helped instill in her the same love of animals that Priscilla has passed along to my wife.

From Priscilla:
My donation is for Mile #21 in memory of my parents, Russell and Dorothy Sherburne.  They were huge animal lovers.  We always had dogs, cats and horses growing up.  Mom was always donating to the local humane society, and "receiving donations" from the Human Society in the form of various strays that she took home all the time.  Both of my parents would have been so supportive of this marathon run to support the North Shore Animal League!


Read more about my marathon for the pets here!

Mile 1 Dedication: Kate's horse, Prometeo

To help reach my required (and daunting) goal of $3,000, I'm letting donors dedicate a mile to an animal or person who has meant a lot to them. First up is my lovely wife, Kate, who is dedicating mile 1 to her horse Prometeo.

Prometeo aka Pro has been in my life since I met Kate and I've learned that he can do some really impressive things...when he puts his mind to it! He would get jitters before shows and sometimes get distracted, much like I'm sure I'll be doing at the race. So I'll be thinking of how to be like Pro when he had great performances and try to keep my mind in a good spot as I run the first mile.

From Kate: "Pro taught me about a lot of things, but most of all he taught me about patience. As you start the marathon, you will need patience to pace yourself and finish strong! You can channel his Arabian endurance to sustain yourself for the remaining 25.2 miles."

5 Miles by the River

Today's run was a quick five miles down to the river and back. Our house in Old Louisville is about 2 miles from the Ohio River so I ran a little east then north to the river, along the river, then straight south back to home. Pretty good weather this morning, it felt like the low 60s though I'm not sure exactly what it was. Where is this miserable Kentucky heat people told me about? NC was way worse!

Here's a picture of the waterfalls at Louisville Waterfront Park:

Crossfit, ya'll.

Since moving to Louisville is taking me away from my beloved bootcamp class at the YMCA, I am considering Crossfit as an alternative to ensure I get some quality cross training in on my way to the marathon. Cross training is crucial: running is a full body movement which involves having a strong stable form and straight back. Lack of cross training leads to increased injuries as the core and hips become fatigued, form suffers, and what should be a nice floating gait turns into a pounding march that destroys joints and muscles.

So this week I decided to check out Crossfit the 'Ville, a Crossfit gym in downtown Louisville. Crossfit itself is a franchise based on a style of working out that encourages short bursts of a wide variety of exercises to develop strength in all muscle groups. Some routines last only 10 minutes, though classes are generally an hour long and involve stretching and warm up/cool down.

Yesterday and today I had my "elements" classes which go through how to do all the kinds of exercises I might encounter in a class. While some things like burpees were already known to me, I had no idea how to do the olympic weight lifting. Thankfully, my instructor Kelly was patient while I learned proper form. In the end, she was very pleased and said I was coming in with a high level of strength and fitness that should only get better. So cheers to my bootcamp instructor and colleagues: we really can hang with the Crossfit crew!

First long run in Louisville!

I'm up to 14 miles and it feels pretty good! I had to delay my long run until yesterday because of moving to Louisville over the weekend. With the drive on Saturday and the unpacking on Sunday, I went to bed at 8:30 on Sunday night and was up bright and early at 5am Monday to do my run. I first went to the 24 hour grocery store to get some energy gels because I was out. Then I ran through Cherokee Park here in Lousiville which is incredibly confusing. All the roads and trails loop back on themselves and there is maybe one map posted anywhere in the park. Had it not been for my smartphone I may not have made it out! I finished up my run by heading down to the waterfront (Ohio River) before coming back up to Old Louisville where my house is. Longest long run to date! The next one will be a step back to 10 so I can prepare to launch up to 16 in two weeks. Getting within striking distance of the monster 20 mile training runs seems possible now.

Here's a map of my run yesterday:

Slowly Ramping Up

This week's long run was 12 miles, a distance which I haven't run in some time now. This is, for me, when things start to get serious. Including the long run, last week I ran for a total of 32 miles. I haven't done 30+ miles per week since I can't remember, so that's kind of a milestone for me. So far my body seems to be handling it fine. I'm seeing a chiropractor who specializes in active release therapy which has been successful in working out some old injuries to my left calf and right hip flexor. After ART, they haven't been a problem since.

So, yesterday I did 12 miles out on the southern section of the American Tobacco Trail in Morrisville/Apex, NC. I didn't realize why the first 6 miles were such a slog until I turned around and felt the wind in my face. Sometimes it appears still but the wind is blowing with you just enough that you get no breeze and it feels like running in place. That was the worst, especially considering the humidity! Anyways, I made sure this time to drink lots of water and took a few energy gels along the way. Energy gels are magic when you're starting to fade!

Here's a picture of me finishing up my most-mileage training week in years. Notice the sweat dripping off the bottom of my shorts...everything I was wearing was completely soaked in sweat, including my shoes. This is what summer training in NC looks like!

Race Pace Run

My training is roughly following the Intermediate 2 plan created by Hal Higdon. Higdon has been coaching and writing since 1966 and his plans are pretty solid for anyone wanting to run a marathon. One of the signature methods he uses is a race pace run followed the next day by a long run of twice the distance. For me, my goal finish time for the marathon is 3:50 making my race pace around 8:45/mile. Since last week's long run was 12 miles, the race pace run was 6 miles. The picture below is me after finishing it...none to happy with the heat, but glad it was done!