Thursday, April 23, 2009

Good luck Sis!

This weekend, my sister Joja Jogger is running her very first ultramarathon. Turns out she wanted to do something "special" for her 50th birthday.

She'll be running the Lake Waramaug Ultra Marathon 50K in New Preston, CT.

I think she has what it takes to do this.

Good luck Sis!


I'm going to post a picture here, as I've accomplished one of my goals in preparing for Grandma's. I really like how it feels to have less body weight (except when running into the wind).

Saturday, April 18, 2009

Just a Training Run??

Today, Mary and I ran the Earth Day races in St. Cloud, MN.
Mary chose the Half marathon and I ran the 20 miler.
I went into this planning to run as a fast finish long run.
The goal simply was to run the first 10 miles at 7:20 pace and then at mile 10 I would try to stay under goal marathon pace (6:52/mile) and then finish strong.
The weather was great. About 52F and a good breeze out of the ENE.
I started out and had a little trouble finding my pace, but soon settled in. I ran alongside a steady runner named Rod and he was running a similar pace. I visited with him quite a bit and we drafted each other when the breeze got a little too strong. The miles went by in a hurry.
Here are the splits:
7:26, 7:13, 7:07, 7:12, 7:15, 7:05, 7:15, 7:19, 7:12, and 7:17.
So, the 10 mile split was an average of 7:14/mile - not too far off the original plan.
I said goodbye to Rod and wished him a strong finish as we parted ways at mile 10.
I found it quite easy to get onto marathon pace and it was uplifting to start to pass runners as I really enjoyed the faster pace.
I found myself moving a little too fast, but was still feeling very comfortable, so I stayed with it.
Passing other runners was kind of a game now, as I would always look for a strong runner way ahead of me and just try to close the gap.
Soon it was mile 18 and time to see if there was anything left in the tank. I pushed a little harder and worked really hard the last mile.
Finished in 2:18:34 for 12th place overall and 2nd place in the M45-49 age group.
The last splits were:
6:44, 6:44, 6:38, 6:45, 6:45, 6:36, 6:44, 6:38, 6:29, and 6:10.
That comes out to be an average of 6:37 for the final 10 miles.
This run was a great confidence booster - maybe the sub-3 marathon really is possible!?!?
Mary finished in 1:58:26, just missing her PR by 22 seconds!!
Yea, it was a good day!
John

Saturday, April 11, 2009

Thinking of Zumbro

I was just thinking about the runners that are at Zumbro right now. Matt P is running the 100K and maybe he has finished already. I think he will do great - can't wait to hear from him.
Steve Q is running the 100M option. I really worry about Steve and how many times he falls while running. I saw him last year at Afton after falling. He's one tough competitor! Please stay upright, Steve!
I just finished my FFLR and it was a success. 12 miles at 7:55 and then 7 more miles.
6:51, 6:46, 6:50, 6:43, 6:43, 6:44 and 6:31.
It went well.
Next Saturday, Mary and I go to St. Cloud for the Earth Day runs. Mary will run the 1/2 and I will run the 20 miler as a fast finish training run.