Friday, August 17, 2012

A new post?

Been forever since I posted something, so why not!
I had knee surgery in Jan, for a tear in my minicus and it's been a long road back.
I have kick started my quasi marathon training in hopes to do both the Marine Corp & Philadelphia Marathons this fall. If I still have pain/ issues, I will bail. I won't risk long term pain just to run a marathon.
I have a bunch of 1/2's on the schedule starting with the Wild 1/2 in a week.  I can't resist a race in Wildwood during the summer!
I am also registered for the Philly RnR in Sept. and Trenton has a 1/2 in Nov.
Well enough for now.. We'll see where this leads me.

Thursday, February 17, 2011

Been a long time since I blogged, but not ran!

Yes, I have been very laxed in updating my blog, but I have been putting the miles in.
Last fall I did do both the NY & Philadelphia Marathons!
I had a blast doing both. Two marathons in two weeks was tough!
I had my brushes with fame in NY. I ran with Survivor winner Ethan Zohn for a few blocks in Brooklyn, and ran up on, and got some tv time passing Chilean miner Edison Pena.
My goal for NY, was to enjoy the marathon, and not race it, and I did just that. I finished in 4:14:10, and beat P.Diddy's time, so I was pleased.
For Philly, the goal was 3:40, but that was before I got into NY. My goal for the day was see how I felt, and shoot for 3:45-3:50.
I started out strong, and held a 3:45 pace for the majority of the marathon. I was in cruise control, knocking off 8:33-8:36 miles like nobody's business. When I hit the turn around point at mile 20, I was in control and on my way to the 3:45!
As I got back on Kelly Dr, around 23, the legs died. NY caught up to me, and I struggled the rest of the way. I finished in 3:55:54. While I was disappointed with that time, I know, if I had not done NY 2 weeks earlier, I would have killed that race. While it was my slowest of the 3 Philadelphia Marathons I have run, it was my most consistant race, one that left me with much confidence that I can get to a 340 or better.

There's a quick recap of my fall marathons.
So far in 2011, I am running outside, never on a treadmill, avg about 25-28 miles/week, getting ready for the spring race season!

Tuesday, August 24, 2010

Vacation + Running = AWESOME!

We are downashore thru Sunday, so that means plenty of Beach, Beer, and of course RUNNING!
I went out and ran 14 miles on Sunday, from our place in Wildwood to Cape May and back!
While the temps were very nice (low 70's @ 6:00pm), the humidity was a KILLER (95%)!
I felt pretty good, and when I reviewed my times, I avg. 9:20's for the 14, so I was pleased with those figures. I did have 2 nice bridges to cross, so the hill work was welcomed.
Monday was a quick 3 mile recovery run, and today, Tuesday was 7, and I pushed the pace, and avg around 8min/miles, and felt pretty darn good!
So it's off to have a Landshark, and get ready for a night on the Wildwood boards!

Sunday, August 15, 2010

2 weeks and 2 races!

The past 2 Saturday's, on my way to our Wildwood place, to do the "flip"; renter's in, renter's out, I found races to run!
The 1st was a 5 miler in Cape May, Coombs Douglass 5 miler. My goal was to beat my pr of 39:03, and I thought I would have a good shot at it, based on the weather and my marathon training. I did track work the Thursday before, and was hoping it would help, rather than drain me.
I started out as usual, FAST, for me with around a 7min mile. I slowed it down to 7:30ish and was cruising, until my right heel started to get numb. At the turn around at 2.5, it was bothering my so much, I stopped to loosen my laces. That did the trick, but the stop cost me about a min in time.. an eternity in a 5 mile race.
Funny thing, when I crossed the finish, I had equaled my PR.
This past Saturday, I ran a 5k in Ocean City, Guts & Glory 5k. I did this race last year, and for a 5k, it has big race amenities! They get approx 1200 runners/walkers for this event.
I ran with some friends I made at the 5miler the week before, and wanted to do this around 22mins. My training plan had me running 6 miles, so I ran 3 before the race.
When the horn sounded, I was off with a 7:06 & 7:08 first 2 miles, and with a mile + left, I could feel the tank emptying. I did 4x 300meter hill repeats on Thursday, and they were tough! Mile 3 was 7:24, and I finished at 22:26, 89Th out of about 1200.
The amazing thing about running the past 2 races down the shore, is how competitive the 50+ age groups are. Those guys are HARDCORE! One of the friends I made was 54, and ran 6:30 min/miles in both races! I can only hope to get that fast in 10yrs!
I did get out today, and ran 13.5, my longest run since the Long Branch 1/2 back in May, and felt really good, surprisingly. I ran 8:45's, and it was nice to not run in the heat & humidity!
Week 5 of marathon training has intervals on the schedule. Hard to believe I'm 5 weeks into my 18 week plan.. time is flying by!
Also, I registered for the ING PDR Rock & Roll Philly 1/2, or whatever name they are calling it, and I will get my sub 1:40 that day!

Friday, August 6, 2010

Track Work.. UGH !

Last nite, for the 1st time in ages, I did track work.
My schedule called for 4 x 800's, with 2-3min recovery.
I got to our local HS track, and started with a mile warm up. It was disgustingly hot & humid at 5:30pm here, but good news and bad news.. there was a breeze! Good news.. breeze felt good... bad news.. breeze made it tough running!
I started with an easy mile warm up, making sure I was warmed up enough, I didn't want to pull a hammy!
The 800's went by really quickly. I wanted to do them around 3:40, like Yasso's. They were tough, especially the 2nd lap of them.
  1. 3:18
  2. 3:19
  3. 3:24
  4. 3:30

After the last 800, I did a mile cool down, and was wiped out! I was really surprised at how hard they were, but I was glad I did them.
I am running a 5 miler on Sat, in Cape May, so hopefully the speed work will help. My schedule says to run 6 @ MP, but I'm going to shoot for a PR. Weather should be good, and Cape May is flat, so we'll see !

Sunday, August 1, 2010

2 Weeks down, 14/16 to go !

The first 2 weeks of my fall marathon training are in the books! It has been 2 hot & humid weeks here in NJ! I was lucky enough to be in Wildwood last week, but even still, it was hot & humid the first few days. It's amazing, when you get out to run at 6:00am, and it's 85deg F and 99% humidity!
I still am not sure how I am going to run NYC. I really want the 3:40 in Philly, so I am thinking my plan for NYC, might be to run it leisurely, and try and leave something in the tank for Philly 2 weeks later. Only problem with that is I don't know if I could handle P Diddy or Oprah having a better finishing time than me!


One last thing, thanks for those who have donated to help me raise the $2500.00. I need to run NYC! It is very humbling to have running friends willing to help me achieve my goal.

Friday, July 23, 2010

NYC MARATHON 2010 !!

Guess who's going to NYC to run a little race on the 1st Sunday in Nov ??

The good people at ANRF have asked, and I have stepped up to the plate, and will run the NYC MARATHON for their charity.
I need to raise $2500.00 for the foundation, and while I am not one to ask for money, I would be honored if anyone who reads this blog, or has a family member, friend, or child who has arthritis, would help me reach my goal !
The best thing about ANRF, is that 91cents out of every dollar goes toward research. I don't know of another charity that gives back that much!

Here's the link to donate if you would like.

http://www.active.com/donate/nycmarathon4cure/billscannon

Now I really have to buckle down and run! I am 2 weeks behind, training for NY, and have no idea about a goal time yet, and I have Philly 2 weeks later!