Half Marathon training run is what she told me

Yup, for those who follow this blog know I don't do races to train ...and yes this is my first half marathon I ever did because Natalia had the wisdom to sign me up then put this event into my training calendar, under training run.

Well after some grumbling and waking up at 4am this past Sunday we headed down to Miami. I find myself amongst 11,000 plus runners ready to do my first half... This is a lot different from my 100 or so ultra running buddies at the starting line - lol

When the gun went off it took me 7 mins to get to the actual start line, then I start weaving in and out of runners and was soaked by mile 4 on a very humid morning . It was weird running with so many people, at mile 6 someone was lying on the ground bleeding after it looks like he took a hard spill and at mile 9 another runner was sitting on the side of the road yelling "water, I need water" I was like WTF is going on here?

At times I had people next to me breathing/gasping so hard I had to speed up to get away from them because of fear they would take all of my oxygen - lol also it was very annoying. Around mile 11 I heard this lady crying very hard behind me, I glanced back as she continued to run with a limp, her friends seemed supportive. All I was thinking was "Honey if your in that much pain walk it out for a bit, your in 4,000 plus place".

Geesh, it was a lot of drama for 13 miles huh, (well my Garmin said I ran 13.52 miles--extra half mile bonus for weaving I guess) hmmm I think this may be my first and last half marathon, not really my thing. I will stick to running with the sane/normal folks that do the 100 milers :-)

and Good news, the winner of the full marathon was Michael Wardian, an awesome ultra runner ...Congrats Michael!!

Steppin' Up and Forward,

Bob

action shot at the 10k marker :-)

lol checking my garmin... middle of pic-










Back in Stride!

Natalia closes strong at the finish and splits between two dudes.

Look at the persons face below on her left... Nat's checking out her time and said to him
"I win" -- hehe

(inside joke - when we run together we always sprint at the end and winner says "I win", anyways, it was funny she did it to these two guys who she never met - lmaoo )

He did eventually smile!

They are left with hands on head in defeat...

(click on pic to enlarge)

I am happy with my time and felt good the whole run.













Nat did great considering she just got back into her training 2 weeks ago for Boston in April. Her half PR is 1:40:12

Legs Feelin' Good!

With less than 2 months to go when you minus out the taper to Umstead, I so feel a sense of urgency to get the miles in thus keeping me busy.

My legs are feeling good and I am very excited to get back to consistent trainings finally, seems like it's been a long time. Natalia has helped me put together my training calendar, peaking out at a 65 mile week. This will be the most I have done but ramping up smart (avg.48 ish) should make this easy to do and not trash or risk injury by logging to many miles at once.

The missing factor on race day has always been my feet, how trashed will they get??. I just have to make sure I address them EARLY and OFTEN.

My trashed feet after my first 100 mile finish... One ugly ass choo choo train!

In the past I didn't know how to FIX them on the spot, which I have now learned! Back then I was too lazy, miserable or tired (all of the above to stop) and just grinded the miles out till blood came through the shoes, not smart (sadface)



For some reason I didn't stop when a BLISTER was BIGGER than my Big TOE... (geesh) WTF Bob! Great video reminder of what NOT to do!


LAST 8 seconds of "My BIG TOE BLISTER" video with Dusty my pacer in the background, commentating -- Take 8 secs to enjoy my pain.


My toenail PR is 8 out of 10 toenails...LOL yupper some very sad feet in the past huh, this is one PR I hope never to get close to again. Full sad post here

ALL good lessons for future races right?! RIGHT!! Okay so this is a very selfish post, a reminder to me on what NOT to do for my next ultra event.

Here's to the next 100 miler, happy feet and toes for me, myself and I as WE cross the finish line :-)

Bob

Time to get my chittt together for 2010'

Happy New Year fellow bloggers,

I hope you all had a good Holiday Season and are ready for 2010'. I was up North for most of December visiting family and friends on a whirlwind tour, it was a blast and flew bye but now it's time to get ready for the 2010' Ultra Running Season. I have 2 months ISH to train for my first 100 of the year (Umstead 100 on March 27th) plenty of time, right?! Yes, Right!!

Below are some pictures of the Holidays, AC Trip, and Snow Trail runs.

I wish you all a very Healthy, Happy and prosperous New Year and look forward to stopping by your blogs and catching up with you all.

Bob
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Getting back on da SLOWerr Road

After two months of on and mostly OFF the road, I am back to running! The behind knee pain is still around but I have succumbed to the fact that it might just be like that for a while. I am not training for any 100 at this time I am just trying to maintain my fitness.

Past 4 days I averaged 5 - 6 miles per run at a 10 - 12 min pace. This is manageable and by running again it helps keep my sanity - lol and keeps my weight steady for the upcoming HOLIDAY Season. (Yes that was a pillow under the shirt from my Halloween pic but if I don't run and continue eating Mini- Wafers like the

Cookie Monster this could be a reality very, very soon - lol)

Hopefully the shorter slow runs (umm I think it's actually called Jogging-LOL) will still give my leg a chance to heal up some more so I can go on longer treks but for now I am HAPPY to be on the road and treadmill again.

I missed it!

Bob