PHILADELHIA MARATHON 2009

It's official, I have registered for the Philadelphia Marathon. I know I have said I am going to run it again this year, but now I am registered!

I am looking forward to getting my time down, and I am even looking forward to the training.

While everything was new and exciting last year, I have a better idea of what to expect (especially after 21-22 miles)!

I am going to follow the same basic plan as last year, with a few modifications. I'll post my plan up here in July.

One thing I am going to do, is continue to hit the hills. I truly believe that running on the trails, with the Trailgroup has really helped me conquer running up and down hill. I was never good at them, dreaded a course with them, and know I look to them as a point during a race where I could pick off a runner or 2.

So there you have it, look out Philly, only 144 days, and I'm coming to kick some asphalt again!
(hopefully it is asphalt, and not ice like last year!)

4 consecutive days of running

For the 1st time in quite awhile, I have run 4 days in a row.

While they haven't been long mileage runs, it is nice to get out and just run.

Saturday was a trail/bike path warm up for the Run for Dad 5k.

Sunday was the Run for Dad 5k.

Monday, 4.2 miles on the boards in Wildwood! More on that in a bit..

Tuesday, and out and back down 5.2 mile run.

I had to head down to Wildwood Sunday nite, to get our place ready for the wife and kids, since we had renters in last week. SO, what do you do when you get up on Monday? Go for a run on the boardwalk! Nothing better than running at the shore. There were a few runners out and about, which is a nice site. I took it pretty easy, running the 4.2 miles in 36:13, a 8:37 avg.

Today's run, I felt good when I started, but faded in the end. I think it was the lack of fluids. I didn't drink any water in the afternoon, and it was warm out, my guess is high 70's and you could feel the humidity building, around 5:30pm, when I went for my run. With the weather warming, I need to remember to hydrate myself during the day. Again, what I need to do, is start slower, and negative split my runs. I am too much of a rabbit. Luckily, when I ran the Philly Marathon, and Long Branch 1/2, I was smart enough to start out slow! Hopefully I can make that the norm for all of my runs.

5.2 miles 44:21 (8:32avg)

1. 8:12
2. 8:06
3. 8:30
4. 8:45
5. 8:54

The last .20 was 1:51

I checked my stats out for the year and here's where I am at:

86 runs for the year

548.93 total miles

80:21:46 hh:mm:ss

75,292 calories burned

Total for June: 65.47miles

Gotta love the info from the Garmin!

Here's a few more interesting stats. My totals since I got my Garmin at the end of last July:

1,185.34 miles

176:12:25 hh:mm:ss

160,438 calories burned

That's pretty cool !

Looks like I won't hit 100 for the month, but that will change shortly, as my fall marathon training will start in at the end of July.

I think I'll take Wednesday off, and get back out there on Thursday.

Run For Dad 5K

Today was the 7Th annual Run For Dad 5k, in Mercer County Park. The weather here in NJ has been more like Seattle, which is getting quite old. Enough of the rain already! I woke to slight rain and nice comfortable temps in the high 60's.

The boys enjoy doing the kid's run, and it was questionable whether to bring them, since it was a messy morning. Honestly, if my oldest didn't look forward to this race, and if I didn't pre-register them, I probably would have gone alone.

The race started at 9:00am, and we got to the park about 8:30ish, and got all of the swag. I headed off to the start, and did get in the longer warm up I have been trying to do before the 5k races. I did manage to run to the start, so I did maybe a 1/4 mile.
A bunch of the gang from the Trailruns group where here, since I guess you could call this a "home race". I met them at the start, and wished them all good luck, and moved a bit closer to the front. This is a nice size 5k, there were 482 finishers!

When the gun went off, I tried to find a group of runners, my equal, so I wouldn't go out too fast.

I happened upon Bill Y., from the group, and figured if I stayed behind him, I know I would not be pushing it. WRONG! I clicked off the 1st mile in 6:44. Yikes! I have done it again. I wanted to be around the 7 min pace, and in the excitement of the start, I went out to fast again! When will I ever learn! I did a much better job of that the last 2 5k's I ran.

Well, as the 2nd mile fell into the record books, I knew a PR was out of the question, as I did that in 7:16, almost a 1/2 minute slower than the 1st mile, so I knew what to expect for mile 3. Just past the 2nd mile, my wife and the boys were there, trying to stay dry under a tree. She got a couple of pictures of Bill Y & myself. I was hurting, and I did my best motivational speaking to Bill to keep us afloat for the last mile.

I look like the hunchback of Notre Dame. Note to self.. stand up straight!

Mile 3, and the last .10 seemed like an eternity. The garmin had me at 7:19 for the 3rd mile. As I saw the finish line, I did my best to kick it in, as the seconds ticked by. I thought I had a shot at a sub 22, but crossed at 22:03. Bill was right behind me at 22:13.

On a positive note, I dropped 2 mins off of last year's time, and I double knotted my shoes, so I had no flat tire issues this year!

My son did the kid's run, and the weather really put a cramp into the turnout. It was just him and another girl, in their age group. He did great, he told me he let her take the lead, and passed her close to the finish. What a gentleman! Here's a great shot of his back after the race.

It was a mud mess in the grass, perfect for kids!

All in all, I enjoyed the race, I think I prefer the longer distance races, because I just can't get the pace right in these 5K's. I know of maybe 2 more this summer I want to run, so I still have a chance to get it right!

Here's the group, post race.

Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there!

Guess who's back!

Here's Blogging!
It's been a busy time round these parts. Lots of baseball, karate, and parties lately. We might have a 7yr old all-star, so baseball might be front and center until the end of July! We'll know if he made it Wednesday. For 7yr old all-stars, you have 2 practices a week, and games Sat & Sun, every weekend thru July! That'll keep ya jumpin! Couple that with the Saturday trips to Wildwood with the summer rental season, and it's going to be a busy time.


OK, as far as the running goes, I have managed to run about 4 times a week.
I got away from the Sunday long runs, with all the local 5k's I had been doing in place of them. I did get out the past 2 Sunday's and do runs of 13.6 & 9.5 . Both were tough runs, with the temps creeping up around here, and the fact I haven't run that long in over a month. Not great confidence boosters, but I was glad I did them. FYI... wait an hour or so after dinner to run 9.5 miles, not a few minutes!


I did get out with the TrailRuns group the past 3 Saturday's. We did a hard ladder repeats on the hills in Clayton Park the 1st week, and muddy trails in Mercer & Clayton the last 2 weeks.

My weekday runs have only been between 4-6 miles in length. That is partially by design. I want to stay fresh and injury free, leading up to my marathon training at the end of July.

We have the annual Run For Dad 5k this Sunday, which I am looking forward to. It's a great time, because it gets my boys involved in running. For $10.00ea, they get a Run for Dad tee, a bib#, and a finisher's ribbon. They absolutely love it,and they look like us crazy runners. They have been training on the front lawn for the last week or so. They set up a "track" and race each other. It's fun to watch them race,and of course sometimes they get the wife & I out there to race them. One thing I can promise is that I will warm-up a bit before the race, and make sure my shoe laces are double knotted, so I don't have to run the last 1+ with a flat tire like last year.

While I haven't had as much time to post lately, I can promise you I am not going anywhere. We have had a few great bloggers retire recently, but I enjoy blogging, and I feel it helps me with my running. It keeps me honest in my training.

I'll try and get out and run Wednesday & Thursday, weather permitting. Sounds like more rain for our area is on the way. Saturday, I believe the trail group will run in Mercer County Park, since a lot of us are doing the 5k there on Sunday.

***UPDATE***

We do have a 7yr old all-star, so 6 more weeks of BASEBALL !!

I'm still standing ... and running!

It's been crazy busy round these parts lately, and I haven't had the chance to sit down and write about my runs.
Trust me, I have been running.... long, short & trails.

I'll try and sit down tonite, and catch everyone up on my adventures.