I've been trying to take it easy the last week or so and recovery from my rough day at the Rochester Marathon. I've been going to the gym and lifting weights. I haven't run much, but I've used the elliptical and stationary bikes.
Today I drove out to Newark to run with my friend that ran the Greenlakes 50k and the Rochester Marathon with me. The plan was a nice and slow 8.5 miles with a few small hills.
The run was very uneventful. We kept it slow and chatted. Around mile five my knee started getting uncomfortable, but not bad. We plugged along until about mile 7.5 and started to walk as a cooldown. The run was slow, but it felt good to do a few miles. I'm going to take a few more days off before getting into training again.
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
2010 Rochester Marathon - Proves The Need For Recovery
Yesterday I got up bright and early and drove to Frontier Field for the 2010 Rochester Marathon. The weather was absolutely perfect with temperatures in the 50s and a very light mist in the air. It looked to be a good day.
As you know, I hadn't planned on running the marathon but a friend of mine requested that I run it with her. She ran the Green Lakes 50k with me two weeks ago. I hesitently agreed to run the marathon.
The first half of the race went pretty well. We had planned on going slowly and finishing around 5 hours. We hit the halfway mark at about 2:15. Well ahead of pace, but certainly not breaking any records. Shortly after this I started having some issues. The outside of my knee started to really hurt. Bad.
I continued to plug along before telling my friend several times to take off without me. As expected she refused. Around mile 20 I told her to take off because I was going to pull myself at the medical tent near mile 21. She said she'd run that far with me and I told her that was silly, no sense slowing down on my account. She took off and I slowed considerably.
I didn't pull out of the race. It didn't hurt bad enough to quit, but I was certainly hobbled. Around mile 24 I came accross a volunteer that I've talked to at numerous races. When he asked "what are you doing way back here?" I could only answer "hurting."
I kept trucking along and eventually made it to the finish line. I didn't even bother looking at my time as I knew it was horrendous. But I finished. Now I need to figure out what is up with my leg.
As you know, I hadn't planned on running the marathon but a friend of mine requested that I run it with her. She ran the Green Lakes 50k with me two weeks ago. I hesitently agreed to run the marathon.
The first half of the race went pretty well. We had planned on going slowly and finishing around 5 hours. We hit the halfway mark at about 2:15. Well ahead of pace, but certainly not breaking any records. Shortly after this I started having some issues. The outside of my knee started to really hurt. Bad.
I continued to plug along before telling my friend several times to take off without me. As expected she refused. Around mile 20 I told her to take off because I was going to pull myself at the medical tent near mile 21. She said she'd run that far with me and I told her that was silly, no sense slowing down on my account. She took off and I slowed considerably.
I didn't pull out of the race. It didn't hurt bad enough to quit, but I was certainly hobbled. Around mile 24 I came accross a volunteer that I've talked to at numerous races. When he asked "what are you doing way back here?" I could only answer "hurting."
I kept trucking along and eventually made it to the finish line. I didn't even bother looking at my time as I knew it was horrendous. But I finished. Now I need to figure out what is up with my leg.
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Registered for the 2010 Rochester Marathon
I have a feeling that this is going to be a mistake, but I just registered for the Rochester Marathon on this coming Sunday. I'm not all that concerned about the distance, I'm sure I can complete it. I'm mainly concerned about whether or not I am fully recovered from the 50k less than two weeks ago.
Why did I sign up for the race? Because a friend asked me to run with her. Someday I'll learn how to say "no" but it won't be today.
Why did I sign up for the race? Because a friend asked me to run with her. Someday I'll learn how to say "no" but it won't be today.
Saturday, September 4, 2010
Summerfest 12k - Mendon Ponds
I have only done a few short, slow runs since running the Green Lakes Endurance Runs 50k last week. I've been focusing on recovering. Today was going to be my first longer, faster run. A friend of mine from the Runners World Forums was participating in the Summerfest 12k and I enjoy running at Mendon Ponds so I figured I'd run it as well.
When I got to the park I realized that this was a race on the roads at Mendon Ponds, not a trail race. I was a little disappointed but life goes on. I decided I'd line up at the back of the pack and run pretty slowly. I struck up a conversation with a gentleman about my age and we took off at a comfortable pace. After about a half mile the guy next to me asks "is this the fastest back of the pack you've ever been in?" The funny thing is, I was thinking the exact same thing. My pace felt like I should be in the middle, but I was very close to the rear.
I wasn't really planning on "racing" this race. I just wanted to run comfortably hard to get the legs and heart pumping again. I figured a 10:00 mile would be good. Of course I didn't wear a watch and I left my Garmin in the car so I had no idea what my real pace was. I kept trucking along trying to keep a consistent pace. I spoke with a few people along the way. I was feeling good enough to speak conversationally.
Around the 8k mark I started passing some people despite not picking up the pace. I think a lot of people took off at their 5k pace and were starting to pay the price. By 10k there were a lot of walkers. I was startign to feel sore and tired but not too bad. I attributed it more to residual fatigue from the 50k than to today's effort.
In the end I finished the Summerfest 12k in 1:10:20, for a pace of 9:26 per mile. It was a bit faster than I planned, but not too bad. The run served it's purpose. I was tired, but was able to run at a fairly reasonable speed.
When I got to the park I realized that this was a race on the roads at Mendon Ponds, not a trail race. I was a little disappointed but life goes on. I decided I'd line up at the back of the pack and run pretty slowly. I struck up a conversation with a gentleman about my age and we took off at a comfortable pace. After about a half mile the guy next to me asks "is this the fastest back of the pack you've ever been in?" The funny thing is, I was thinking the exact same thing. My pace felt like I should be in the middle, but I was very close to the rear.
I wasn't really planning on "racing" this race. I just wanted to run comfortably hard to get the legs and heart pumping again. I figured a 10:00 mile would be good. Of course I didn't wear a watch and I left my Garmin in the car so I had no idea what my real pace was. I kept trucking along trying to keep a consistent pace. I spoke with a few people along the way. I was feeling good enough to speak conversationally.
Around the 8k mark I started passing some people despite not picking up the pace. I think a lot of people took off at their 5k pace and were starting to pay the price. By 10k there were a lot of walkers. I was startign to feel sore and tired but not too bad. I attributed it more to residual fatigue from the 50k than to today's effort.
In the end I finished the Summerfest 12k in 1:10:20, for a pace of 9:26 per mile. It was a bit faster than I planned, but not too bad. The run served it's purpose. I was tired, but was able to run at a fairly reasonable speed.
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