Pop Quiz

This has been the longest training cycle I've ever undertaken. I have had some fluctuations throughout and as such early on I had planned to have a couple of test before "A" day. That is the A race, the Carmel Marathon is on April 20th.

The Goal
This was the Sam Costa half marathon, a similar course to the Carmel Marathon with lots of turns and some quote, unquote rolling hills. My goal for Carmel is a 3:35 marathon. What I wanted to accomplish in the Sam Costa was to maintain an 8minute mile pace throughout. But I wanted to do this and not have to push hard to get it done. I knew it wouldn't be an easy pace, but I didn't want to feel as though I was out of control and giving everything I had to accomplish this. I also wanted to make sure I could keep an even pace, not going out to fast and possibly even or negative split this thing.

Why?
My thinking is this, if I can maintain an 8 minute pace and have that pace be controlled for a half marathon then the likely hood that I can maintain an 8:12 pace for the full a month away would be greater.
Granted it's only 12 seconds off over 26 miles, but I wanted this to be a test, or a pop quiz. I guess the real test is April 20th. 

The first 7
The first seven miles was good, I felt controlled I settled into a rhythm and found my group to run with. 

Although we did have some instances where we had to run with some traffic it was a nice steady seven. Most of the turns come after the half way point as you can see.

Splits:
7:28 oh, a little too fast
7:56 better, settle in
8:03
7:59
8:00 nailed it
7:59
8:03

Official 7 mile time 55:45 in 184th place.

Finishing the half
So far so good, everything was feeling fine I felt really good. I powered through mile 8 which had the second biggest climb of the day in it.  I began to pass people and or shed people from my group. I always find it best to think of the groups as mine. It gives me ownership and internal power, even though it's only perceived. :)

Splits:
7:55
7:42
8:15 got clogged at the water station
7:49
8:04
7:56 + the point one.
overall 1:44:02 official time NEW PR!

I finished in 143rd place passing over 40 people the second half and negative split this race. I will say the finishing stretch was a bear as you head up an S turn hill into the finishing shoot, not cool. But it worked out well.

Recap

I'm pleased with my performance and look forward to the true test on April 20th. The nutrition went well as did my stomach, no issues!

Now get out there and run.

That's me in the red, on a side note look at all the heal strikers.

Lemons make good.

When the world gives you lemons, make lemonade. Isn't that how the old saying goes?

Well this past week I had some lemons. Mainly it was more congestion, runny nose, soreish throat etc... However it was scheduled to be a big week for my running. It should have been a total of 50 miles this past week. Being a guy (most guys are bad patients when they're sick and want to be coddled) I just wanted Tammy to take care of me. I went to work because that's what I do but was wiped out by the time I got home. I ended up with only 10 miles this week and although I'm feeling a little better now I'm glad I made the decision to adjust my schedule and use last week as a recovery week. This means that I will now have a five week build before the next rest week. That rest week just happens to be the start of taper madness.

I'd be lying if I said this didn't make me a little nervous but I shall make this final push and rely on the taper to rebuild the damage I'm about ready to do. The weather seems as though it might be starting to make a little adjustment to the not so terrible side. This will make it easier to get out for the long runs when it's not showing a negative wind chill. I'm really crossing my fingers for some good weather for the Carmel Marathon!!

This week also saw the first group run for the Hendricks County Runners. It was great to meet some of the others for a run and get to have actual conversations instead of virtual ones. I have big hopes for the group as it sounds like others do as well!

Now get out there and run!

PLAYLIST ADDITIONS:
1. Welcome to the Black Parade by My Chemical Romance
2. Echo by Foxes
3. C'Mon Let Me Ride by Skylar Grey and Eminem
4. Whip It by Devo
5. Timeless by The Airborne Toxic Event

Crazy Schedule Calls for Crazy Training

I know some of you that read this have a crazy schedule as well, so this is for you. If you have a quote unquote normal schedule then this is for you to have empathy for those of us that don't. :)

I work retail. You know the kind of retail that requires odd shifts, a couple of nights a week. As well as days off in the middle of the week. I don't get every weekend off, in fact I work more weekends in a month than I have off. Although after switching jobs in the middle of last year to a different retailer my schedule is better, but it's still retail. Don't mistake this for complaining, I chose this profession for myself, or maybe it chose me. I'm not sure who chose who but here I am.

This schedule provides unique conflicts when it comes to training for marathons, or any running for that matter. A normal opening shift has me crawling out of bed at 5am, leaving the house at 6 and to work by 7am. As a manager I can't be late so I routinely get there a little bit early. A normal morning shift starts that same process at 11am. I get home at either 5pm or 10:45pm depending. Many times I close then open which besides being tired doesn't give much time for a run.

In my current training schedule thus far I've tried to stay consistent with the days that I run. However, I've come to the realization that this isn't feasible. So now I find myself half way through my training schedule and the mileage is really getting up there as well as the time I must allocate to this training. So I've decided to adjust my schedule depending on my work schedule. This means that sometimes I may not be able to get a long run in followed by a rest day. Instead I'll have to let my work schedule dictate the training schedule. It may sound worse than it is. I've completed two marathon training plans this way and have gotten faster at each. This time I will be even faster due to the work I've put in not the constraints of my schedule.

I'm interested to hear how you adjust your training routines based on your schedule, so leave a comment below and maybe I can learn from your experience.

Now get out there and run!

New Songs added to play list:
I love listening to music, so I figured I'd start to share some of the songs I've recently added to my playlist. With each post I'll now add the last 5 songs I've added to my playlist. If you have any good songs let me know, my music taste know no bounds.

1. LOW by Cracker
2. Come on Eileen by Dexys Midnight Runners
3. Sex and Candy by Marcy Playground
4. Do You Love Me by Amanda Jenssen
5. Beam Me Up (Kill Mode) by Cazzette