Like A Mouse on a Wheel

Day 101

Boston Qualifying Training. Sleeping in two days in a row. With Jay traveling it was decided we would hit our tempo run during the lunch hour. The goal was to hit the Greenway, however it has been raining non-stop for the past 12 hours. The closer we get to lunch time, the more I know that the Greenway is out. It is now my hope that we can hit a quick loop around LTF, anything but the treadmill. The hours pass, the rain does not. By lunch it is raining harder than anytime this week. Treadmill.

I think the treadmill has a great place in fitness, I also know my greatest increase in speed was the winter I did speed training on the treadmill, but with marathon training I find it both physically and mentally challenging. Today’s tempo is 7:14 for 3 miles with a 2 mile warm-up and 1 mile cool down.

As I travel the stairs to the rows of treadmills, I take one more hopeful glance outside. It is pouring and I see a guy in the parking lot building a large boat and gathering animals two by two. I give up hope of an outside run and steel myself for what will be a challenging run.

The 2 mile warm up does not go quickly and I determine that there is nothing on the 20 TV’s in front of me that will keep my attention of distract me during this run. The only option I find interesting is ESPN, but it is 15 yards away and I can not reasonably run with my neck craned 90 degrees. I decide at that point to get the most of what I have in front of me. I know this will be boring, I know it is be mentally tough and physically challenging as the treadmill pace never wavers. I embrace the challenge. I think to myself, this is the last few miles of the Marathon.

The tempo miles begin, the pace quickens and I adjust my stride to meet the accelerated pace of the treadmill. My breathing rate is high and so is my heart rate. I focus on the miles and watch them tick away. The sweat pouring from my body is now as steady as the rain outside, I embrace it, I finally start to feel good, I have found a rhythm. It is not easy and I still have to focus, there is no let down. I have passed halfway and the time starts to go by more quickly.

I glance over at Jay, his ipod on he is gliding, a little less of a struggle than myself but I am used to this. Again I think to myself, at some point during the marathon I am going to feel bad, I need to recall these mentally challenging days to pull through and keep moving forward. With that thought, the miles seem just slightly less challenging.

I know that though the miles are short, but work was done and I am better after running this tempo run than before.

Showering off I am happy the workout is done and it went well. I hop on the scale, I expect it to be 177-179. To my great surprise I am 175! Witnessed too, Jeff was walking by and I had him look at the scale. In hindsight, I am certain Jeff had no interest in looking at me standing on the scale naked to verify my weight. Clearly a good friend.

When I started this training, my goal was to hit 175. I figured if it were to happen it would happen on the last 20 mile run, or perhaps the last 13 mile run, it did not, those days were 176 and 177 respectively. I was a little down that I did not hit my goal weight at that time and decided to not worry about it after all I believe it hurt me during my last marathon that I was dieting the last two weeks trying to loose weight, (something I knew better than to do).

Why so hung up on 175. I believe that 175 is a great weight for me, I wrestled in college at 165 and 158 and my natural weight at that time was about 172-175. To consider the fact that I am at near college weight is great. Obviously there was a lot more muscle mass at that time and my waste was 32 inches where today I am at 34, still I take this as one more victory on the road to this the Marathon. Another goal achieved, with 4 more runs to go, I hope to knock off another goal. A few days after that I hope to complete my main goal.

Weight 175!

...97, ...98, ...99, ...100!

Day 100

Boston Qualifying Training. One hundred days. Wow, time flies. Day 100 comes on the first of December. Last night I decide that my body needs rest, I made a decision to sleep in and hit the pool at lunch. The sleep feels good. Waking I dress head down stairs.

During the night the Christmas Elves made their appearance. Jack is in the know, but Wil, he is beaming with joy and enthusiasm. Wil knows the Dad can not stand the antics of those mischievous Elves. I fake a big scene about the darn Elves making a mess, Wil laughs even more. Who knows what they’ll do tonight.

Kim and I get the boys off for a day of higher education and I make the trip down one more flight of stairs to my office. The day is busy with work and lunch time comes quickly.

Heading to the gym, I stand on the deck of the pool. I hate the pool. I know I’ve said it before, but swimming is not an area where I find any love. However I do know that it is helping me with my conditioning. With less than two week to go, I only see myself in the pool 2 more times after today.

On the plate for today, 300 warm up, 100 drills, 100 breast; followed by 4 x 200 and 4 x 300 and a 100 cool down. 2600 meters, and it goes by fast. As easy as it would be to skip, I am happy that I made the time to get the workout in and feel better for doing so.

Back home the day is filled with business calls, email and trying to close a few deals. Tomorrow is tempo, 2 EZ, 3 at a 7:14 pace and 1 cool down. Jay and I will hit the greenway at lunch and follow the run with some stretching. I enjoy the running conversation with Jay and we both have challenged one another these past 4 months.

Weight 177, I’d like to stay at this weight between now and race day, though with the decrease in exercise it will likely go up. Need to not worry about it and focus on the next few days knowing that I am race ready.

What's That Smell... Childhood

Day 99

Boston Qualifying Training. Track Day! I wake the first time at 2:45 AM and roll over with hours top sleep. I wake the next time and I still have 45 minutes to go. I am like a kid on Christmas Eve, after all it is TRACK DAY. My alarm goes off and I am out of bed in a flash. Dress and ready to go I head downstairs. The Christmas tree smells great, it brings back a hundred memories of growing up as a kid and I smile as I leave the house.

Stepping outside I immediately know I am over dressed. It is warm, like 50 degrees warm. I am happy for the good weather. We certainly paid for this good weather early in the training with more training runs in the rain then I had ever experienced before.

Running from LTF, we talk about our jobs and business, we talk about the T-Day run our friends had, they all had rocking times. Arriving at the track we do our warm up lap and set up our markers.

With the splits written on my hand, I take the first 1K, with the goal of 4:03 and the first 200 meters is targeted at 0:49. I start us off slow, we hit 0:52, followed by a 2 second decrease per 200, we end at 4:00 even, 3 seconds fast. Good. Jay is next, we are fast out of the gate and end with a 3:54, 9 seconds too fast, but reasonable. I hit 4:00 even again and Jay is better on his next one with a 3:57. The last 1K, I am dead on the first lap, 0:49. I drop a second every 200 and on the last 200 we speed it up just for fun. A cool down lap and we are back to LTF. All too easy. A good confidence builder.

Jay and I run into Ann Marie while stretching, she is giddy about her new bike and rightfully so an all carbon fiber bike, she and others hit a 38 mile ride on Saturday, the bike sounds fast and smooth. I think about my steel bike held together with duct tape and think, maybe next season.

She shares the great race everyone had on Thanksgiving, clearly we are all peaking at the right time.

Swim tomorrow will be 2600 meters and done. I will not over do swim these last two weeks. I may hit some easy weights, core and stretching at lunch but nothing insane. This will be more a mental workout than physical.

I am home in time to put Wil on the bus and spend time talking with Jack before he leaves for school. Kim and I share a few moments together before we both head our separate ways for the day. Work will keep me busy. I am happy for such a great family, they have been so supportive of my training. I am a very lucky guy.

Weight, 178. Not bad considering my last meaningful workout was Thursday. I’ll be smart about my food intake and try to keep myself active today.

Tall, Lean and Glistening Green - Smells Good Too!

Day 98

Boston Qualifying Training. The days are slipping away with less than two weeks until race day, I focus on my diet and being smart about my training. I have a reasonable breakfast rather than my big 3 egg omelet as I usually do on Sunday morning.

There is not much football talk at Mel’s this morning. Though the Giants beat the Falcons and we joked about that game, the Gmen were beat soundly in Denver and we all know they just do not have the team this year.

Back at home I hear the rake calling me, but it will need to wait. Jack wants to go play football with the neighbors kids and parents. I to want to play also, but I take a chair and my laptop. Today I am a spectator, while also getting some work done.

Jack has a blast and I'd like to jump out there and play, but with three and a half months invested, I will stay a spectator.

Back home, I pull out the rake and leaf blower and go at it. I have several piles built up and decide to take a break and get something to drink. Coming back to the yard, Wil is spying the freshly raked piles. I know what he is thinking. I decide to redirect his energy and hand he and Jack garbage pails. Get to work boys. They do. They are both hard workers and not afraid to work along with dad. While we are taking care of the back yard, Kim is planting tulips bulbs in the front.

Afternoon comes quick and we finish our yard work and head to pick out a Christmas tree. I am an adult, I am supposed to make grown up decisions. But the fact is I am a child when it comes to picking out Christmas trees. I love them, and I like them to be BIG. With 9 foot ceilings, our tree is typically 8 feet 11 inches. I do not think twice to spending $100 bucks on a tree.

Back home I once again find that the tree is too tall. I opt for my second tree stand. It is lower to the ground while still massively sturdy, weighing about 35 pounds. The second stand works and sure enough, 8’11”. This tree is narrow compared to previous trees I have bought, but it has great personality and great fragrance. Kim will spend hours putting on the lights, wrapping each individual branch. We’ll have over 600 – 700 lights on the tree. The main tree will be decorated with special, meaningful ornaments. We have a few trees we’ll put up, but the others will have themed decorations, Kids, Giants, Dalmatians, etc.

With the tree up, chores done, we settle down for an easy evening. A few emails to catch up for work and the winter flag football season. I spend the rest of the day watching football with Kim, Jack and Wil.

At dinner the "Marinich of the Week Award" is handed out to Jack and Wil for all the great help they provided Kim and I this week. They proudly split the days of the week and decide who keeps it in their room first.

Tomorrow starts Week 15. I will watch my diet carefully over the next 12 days and have decided to not make any Christmas cookies or Chex Mix until after December 12th.

T Minus Two Weeks... Let The Count Down Begin

Day 97

Boston Qualifying Training. The last workout of Week 14, tempo. It is an easy workout as we taper for the race. The run; 1 mile EZ followed by 5 miles at 7:29 pace. I calculate the splits, 1:52, on the quarters and 0:56 on the 200’s.

I run at the track as it is the best way for me to keep pace. I have struggled by going too fast when running alone. By hitting the track I eliminate that possibility. I wake early and head to the August Butler Bulldogs High School. This is the same High School Kim attended, how many years ago..?

When I arrive it is dark and cold, 34 degrees. The track is gated. I see a gap in the fence and surprisingly, I fit through. I warm up though with the cold weather it takes bit longer than usual. After a mile I am ready to go. I set my watch and I’m off. 20 laps, @ 1:52.

The laps go by quickly. I feel good the whole time, though I am running the inside lane on the first 2 miles, I decide to hit lane 3 on the last three miles. I was looking at my times and hitting each quarter too fast based on my calculation. I figured the inside lap was short. I switched to the outside lane and did add a second or two to each lap, but well under my time by 4-5 seconds every quarter.

Back at the house, I see that the inside lap was right on… .25 of a mile. The fact, I was hitting the mile at about 7:09 or better. The thing is it did not feel that bad. I’ll take it.

Back at the in-laws, we all head to Waffle House. I eat well, blueberry waffle, hash browns, and bacon, chased down with a chocolate milk. Yeah me, well deserved.

The remaining day is spent playing football, practicing guitar and helping Kim and her parents with a few chores. Wow am I relaxing.

We head home, but not before we pick up some great pork barbecue for tomorrows dinner. Once home we meet friends for pizza and a beer. We’ll turn in early tonight.

Week 14 is done. Today marks two weeks to go!

The Turkey Was Stuffed... Not Me!

Day 96

Boston Qualifying Training. Well I did not over eat yesterday, but the Giants left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

Ugh. The damn Giants. I did not yell or scream… they are just bad. Bad plays make me crazy, bad teams, you just shake your head.

I up wake and drive to Bo Jangles, man I love a spicy chicken biscuit. If we had one of these in Alpharetta I would weigh 200 pounds.

I spend the day with the boys. We hang out play football and do a lot of nothing. I worked on the Mustang trunk lid, it looks better than I thought. I did a pretty good job. I learned a ton from Kim’s dad. He’s painted enough cars that I was able to pull from that experience.

I am looking forward to restoring the Mustang after the Marathon… after I paint our bedroom… after I re-tile the master bedroom shower and floor. One thing at a time, Huntsville first.

Happy Thanksgiving

Day 95

Boston Qualifying Training. Happy Thanksgiving. This is how great my wife is… She knew I wanted to get this run in with Jay. She knew how important it was for me to have a good run for my confidence. Rather than leaving for Augusta to be with her family last night, we leave today after the run.

I wake up at 5:08 and drop of the bottles for the run. Meeting Jay at the gym, we are off. It is a good run. We hold back and spend the first 9 miles really reserved, we are within a few seconds of the goal time 7:57. Good for us.

The conversation is good and we talk about the plans for Thanksgiving. We also talk about what a great job we have done with this workout schedule. We have now run 407 training miles since we started 14 weeks ago. One more step to building confidence for the race.

By the time we hit mile 12, we have picked it up and gained 45 seconds. We are almost to the end of the 13 miles run, one more mile. Jay decides he wants to show some speed. We end the last mile with a 7:15 mile. We finish 1:24 ahead of our goal time. We both feel good. Pace 7:53.

I step on the scale 176. Yeah baby!

A quick shower and I am home, car packed we hit I-20 east. While driving I talk to all my brothers and sisters. I miss seeing my family and the big Thanksgiving meals we had all together. I talk to each of them for 10 minutes of so. Life goes by too quick. Hanging up from my last sibling, I hear from Corey. Everyone had a great race. Good stuff!

Arriving at Augusta, we enjoy the time with family, throw the football around and generally just do nothing. That is not something I do often, but today, it feels good. I am relaxed. Kim's Dad and I jam on guitars, he's good. Me, I'm learning, but having fun.

Though Thanksgiving is typically reserved for football, there is bad news, their cable is broken and we do not get to watch the first two games. The good news, we will see the Giants game.

Go Giants!

Swim, Weights and Pasta

Day 94

Boston Qualifying Training. I wake up and head to LTF. The boys had been up until 2:30. Not me, though I did not go to bed until 1:00 AM. I do sleep in, well sort of… I wake at 7:00 and I’m off.

On the pool deck I talk to a girl who is in lane 1. She is wearing an iPod shuffle that is water proof. Coooool. I want one of those. Santa are you listening, er... a reading!

Yesterday the guys (and gals) swam about 3,600 meters. I will not be doing all that, though I will get work done. I warm up with 300 meters, followed by 4 x 300 at 6:00 and 4 x 100 at 1:55. I end with an easy 100. Enough I head up stairs to meet Jay. We hit the iron, though lightly, not wanting to do too much this late in the training schedule.

Back home, I am busy and the day flies by. The evening is reserved for football. That’s right, it’s back! Flag football, this is the Winter League. I have a great group of boys on the team. We practice for an hour and I am back home quickly.

The morning will be a 13 mile run at marathon pace. My plan, stuff some pasta in my belly and go to bed. That is exactly what I do. The morning will be here soon.

Short... it's short! No.....!

Day 93

Boston Qualifying Training. Tuesday morning. Typically I would be standing on the pool deck getting ready for a mile plus swim in lane 2. Not today. Today I have a family meeting. I still wake at 5:00 AM, but only because I have to be at meeting southwest of Atlanta at 8:00 AM. I drive early to avoid traffic.

The meeting goes well and I feel good knowing I am taking a good step towards taking greater care of my family.

The day… It is my day off. Back home I take care of chores and by the time the boys are home from school we decide that this would be a good evening to have Jacks sleep over and Laser Tag party. Laser tag is a blast. The boys have a good time, I think I had an even better time. After wearing ourselves out running around in the dark blasting each other, we head home.

Pizza for dinner we head to the game room. It is decided that a Madden 10 tournament is in order. After setting a bracket, the games begin. The battles are fierce, one by one, we watch as one advances and another sits down. Miraculously, I am in the finals, but not just the finals but the number on seed.

The final pits me against a neighbor with a strong set of thumbs and more hours in front of Madden 10 than anyone should consider. It goes into three overtimes. I drive the ball all the way down to the 13 yard line. Against better judgment I kick a field goal rather than trying to get closer. I figure with 13 yards to go, I’m good. I hit the button, full power, perfect, I kick…. And … its… No GOOD!!!! Somehow it falls short, I curse John Madden and call the programmers names that 12 year old boys should not hear. The next series, a tackle is missed and I lose. Not happy.

I go to bed, knowing I want to make up my swim in the morning.

Giants Win... Finally

Day 91

Boston Qualifying Training. Will they win… it is desperation time for the Giants. With picks in had, we enter Mel’s for breakfast. Adorning our reserved table are banners and Falcon’s gear.

The workers are rubbing it in… Falcon’s versus Giants today at 1:00. Next week's breakfast will be fun, more so if the Gmen win.

After a few more errands, I drop the family off at home and head to the gym. Plan, swim and lift. The swim is good not great and I only do 1200 meters. Next stop weights… I forgot my sneakers and my shorts! Disappointed, I shower and head to the car.

Sitting in the car, it hits me, I still need my “race shoes”. Off to Dick’s to pick up a new pair. Nothing better than a new pair of running shoes! My old pair had nearly 400 miles on them and they are nearly done. As long as it is dry tomorrow, I will start breaking in the new shoes.

Back home it is emails and work as I watch the Giants. Though they try their very best to lose the game, the manage to hold on and win the game in overtime. I’ll take the victory, but clearly the Giants have issues and even if they manage to make the play-off’s, it would be tough to see them going far. But you never know.

I listen to the winning OT field goal in the car, sitting outside the Roswell Whirlyball center. Jack and his team have their team party. It is a blast, everyone has a good time.

We end the day watching the How the Grinch Stole Christmas… a classic.

Tomorrow starts Week 14, 8 x 800 at 3:12. I am ready. I am a little over weight from the over eating the past few days. Need to be more diligent. Weight 180 !!!!!!