Planting Seeds for Good Thoughts

That was the theme and the goal for today's run. We put in 11 miles this morning and started at the Shriner's Children's Hospital. We then ran past St. Thomas and down Summit Avenue to Dale Street. This is the final stretch of the marathon course and for us it was important to run this stretch while feeling good. The idea is to have good thoughts tucked away for marathon day. Numerous people have told us that the 50% pf the marathon is the final 6 miles and 385 yards. Summit Avenue is in that final push. The temperature was good and I think we accomplished what we set out to do this morning.

For me, it was the easiest 10+ run that we have had to this point. I can't say the say for Kelly. Her IT band and knees were pretty sore today. Hopefully things improve to make the marathon more enjoyable.

I am looking forward to this week as we take it easy. It will be a week to get some time back for ourselves that was normally dedicated to training. One of the big keys will be to eat healthy, stay off of our feet, and load up on carbs. The other key will be to get a lot of sleep, which shouldn't be a problem for either of us

Scaling Back Nicely

We have dialed back the distance in our training runs leading up to race day. The big key now is to get some workouts in and stay healthy. This past Saturday, Kelly and I put in a nice and easy 10-mile run. We took our time, enjoyed the nice morning and got it done.

It is amazing how easy it is to now prepare mentally for a 10 mile run after running 20 miles in one shot. It is still a chore for me to do 10 miles, but in my head it isn't as daunting as it once was.

Here are some words of wisdon. If you use a fuel belt and fill the bottles with Powerade, make sure to not leave it on the floor after you run. It turns out dogs like the taste of Powerade and may chew holes in your water bottles. Those bottles are $14 each to replace. Pretty sweet.

I have also been taking Duke, my hunting partner, on some runs during the week. My pace isn't quite as fast as he would like, but he should be in pretty good shape come pheasant opener.

Through Rain and Sweat

Mission accomplished. Our first (and only?) twenty-mile training run is in the books. We signed up for and completed the Bear Water Run this past Saturday. The run took us around White Bear Lake two times, with a good mixture of hills. It was a touch muggy and rained for a portion of the run, but for the most part, the weather conditions were optimal for running.

In regards to the run, it was the same story as most of my other long training runs. Everything hurt at one time or another and it was another game of mind over matter. This will be the farthest we run until the marathon and I am excited to scale back the training runs until the big day.

Up until Saturday morning, I was convinced that I wasn't going to be able to finish the run. My left knee had been in pain all week and didn't seem to get much better. I went to visit a chiropractor and she taught me about muscles in my legs that I didn't know existed. She almost saw a grown man cry but my legs were very, very loose after our session. I have to say it did wonders. I had some dull knee pain through mile 12, but after that, it felt better than it had all week. I can't explain it and it doesn't make any sense why it would feel better AFTER 12 miles of running, but it did. There has been zero pain following the run and I am pretty pumped about that.

I wrote earlier that I expect to be catered to following long races. The folks that set up the Bear Water Run know what they are doing. Once you cross the finish line, there is water and Gatorade within steps. They also had a nice spread of bagels, fruit, and coffee. I also tried a jalapeno pickle-sickle (jalalpeno-pickle flavored Icee) which was as bad as one would assume.

My favorite quote from the run was produced by my wife. We were around mile 18 and the dialogue went something like this:

Steve: "Do you want to chat?"
Kelly: "Not really."
Steve: "Do you mind if just talk, you can listen?"
Kelly: "I am too tired to listen." She was serious.

Thanks to Dennis and Jean for showing up and supporting us. I will make sure to add those photos to my modeling portfolio....Nothing hotter than rain and sweat-soaked clothes clinging to this girlish figure.

Three weeks until show time.

Running is 90% Mental, the Other Half is Physical

My knees are killing me, plain and simple. I am on day 2 of recovery from our 18-miler on Saturday and I feel like I need crutches. I need to start taking my own advice from my last post and start taking care of myself with ice and stretching. I did some icing and made sure to stretch more than normal, but it obviously wasn't enough. I even tried to make myself use the foam roller to stretch out my IT band. This week will be different. I will ice daily and I will stretch daily. My running partner is going to have to keep me accountable.

So the run on Saturday started out great. If you were in the state on Saturday, you know the weather was about as perfect as it gets in Minnesota. For running, it simply doesn't get any better, especially for the burly type. The lakes area in Minneapolis is a great place to run early in the morning. There isn't a ton of people traffic and there is something serene about running around the water. I am sorry to get all duckies and bunnies on the bit, but I enjoy that area.

This run was the most challenging physically and mentally than any other I have done. Eighteen miles is the farthest we have run, but I had high hopes from how I felt after last weeks 16-miler. Only two extra miles, right? At some point or another, every part of my legs was in pain. From my hips, quads, knees, calves, shins, ankles and feet, something always hurt. That is part of it and you need to run through it. So many people have told me that running a marathon was more of a mental challenge than anything and now I feel I understand why. It truly is mind over matter and Kelly and I both accomplished our longest training run ever.

So what does a guy do after running 18 miles? Rest? Nope, drive to Le Sueur to play a round of golf with some old football buddies and drink some beers. My kind of training program! To top it off, I ate about 4,000 calories in ribs that night too. I am sure a personal trainer would approve of my post-run diet regimen.

Next Saturday we are running the Bear Water Run in White Bear Lake. It is a 20-mile race and it will be the farthest run before the actual marathon. Kelly and I ran the 10-mile race last year and it is a nice run. Again, around water, we will be running around White Bear Lake twice.