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!

Monday, July 19, 2010

Back in the Saddle again!

Today starts my 18 week journey to my 3rd PhiladelphiaMarathon !

The past 2 years, I have done a Liberman plan, and while it has been effective, I think it is time to change things up a bit.
My goal is a fall 2011 attempt at a BQ time. This year I would need to run a 3:20 marathon, and that's just not going to happen. Next year, I move up to the 45-49 age group, and would need a 3:30. So, the plan this year is to knock 10mins off my time, and hit a 3:40, so next fall I would only be 10mins away. I think it's asking too much to drop 20mins at once.

SO with a 2011 BQ my goal, I have done some research, and have chosen Uncle Hal, and his AdvancedI plan! He spells out everyday a plan/goal to accomplish, and I like the added hills & speed work. I think that will be a huge benefit come Nov. The past 2 years, I have logged miles, and not much else.

The only thing that might throw a monkey wrench into my 3:40 or bust plan, is this little race held in NYC on the 1st Sunday in Nov. I still have a shot at running it, with a charity. I have tried to raise awareness & money for ANRF, and was asked to go to NYC with them to the opening of NASDAQ.
While I was there, one of the board members was asking me to run the marathon for the foundation. While I am all for running it, $2500.00 is a lot of money to raise. I'll know more in the next week or so, if I am in or not. If I do run it, that will be 2 marathons in less than 16 days, and would make me MarathonManiac eligible!


So day one is in the books, and 18 more weeks to go!

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

2010 EASTERN CONFERENCE CHAMPS!!


HOCKEY IN JUNE !!! Doesn't get any better!!

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

I'm still around.... and RUNNING !!

While I have not updated lately.. well, actually it's been months... I am still running.
Here's a quick capsule of what I have been up to ...
Chilly Cheeks trail race.... A trail race in Jan... wearing shorts... it was anything but Chilly !
Ugly Mudder trail race... A trail race in Feb... wearing shorts... it was chilly, oh and did I mention that if you got out of the one lane of trail, you fell into snow knee deep!! I bought a pair of YaksTrax the day before, smartest move ever! They are a must for ice & snow!
Ran a local 5k in March.. again weather played a major role.. at about the 1.5 mile mark, it started to hail, and eventually pour on us!
Ocean Drive 10 miler! perfect weather, winds were challenging as usual, running at the shore in March, but set a 10 mile pr 1:18:xx !
Ran the 1st of 2 1/2 marathons.. Rutgers Unite 13.1. Started out with a hall of fame blogger, TED, with plans of running a sub 1:40, but Ted was too strong, and after trying to keep up with his 7:20 pace, I faded to a 1:45:xx. I have #2 this weekend at the Long Branch 1/2 !
I have one more 1/2 to go, my buddy Shoreturtle talked me into teaming up with him, to run the Superhero 1/2 marathon, as a relay team ! This should be fun. While we are on the same team, I have no doubt that we will be trying to outdo the other one's time for the 6.55 mile legs.

On the marathon front, I entered the lottery for NYC, and did not get picked. No biggie, it just adds fuel to the dislike of NY, from this Philly fan! So, I did the next best thing.. I signed up for another go at the PHILADELPHIA MARATHON ! They say the 3rd time's a charm. I'll let you know come Nov. if that's true.
Here's my marathon goal... I'll be 44 in July, and I want to drop my time to a 3:40. I am going with a new plan, Higdon Advanced I, in hopes of doing this. Next year, at 45, the BQ time is a 3:30, so the plan is to find a flat fast BQ marathon in the early fall, and do it !

So there you have it... I am still running, avg, a little over 100 miles/month.
I will try and finish my 2009 2nd half review and get that posted, and try to keep my blog on the active list!