Balance in Life and Running

Today I'm headed to Rehoboth Beach for the Marathon.  I felt good as I sat and reviewed my running for the past three months coming into this race.  Everything was balanced for a change.  Work schedule, family life, running time, and most importantly, time for my spiritual life; all seemed right for me.  I don't have a time goal or expectation other than finishing the distance.  But given the balance that has been in my life, I am hopeful that it will all pay off as I take to the starting line tomorrow.

Stay tuned; the result will be posted... sometime after tomorrow.  God Bless!

Making Commitments

I know it isn't January 1, but then I'm not making a New Year Commitment.  After all, most New Year Commitments are over by January 2.  I know...I've made many of them.  But over the years, I've learned that making a Commitment is about dedicating yourself to the truth of who you are and working at it daily.  I've also learned much about "Grace" in the process.  After all, we love baseball players who have batting averages over .300.  In other words, we like people who try and may only get it right 30% of the time...but I think it's not the getting it right that we want...but the fact is they keep trying.

So I'm going to keep on trying and help the process...I'm going to make it public...or as public as this Blog page.  I intend to run a marathon in all 50 States by 2015...and I get to count the ones already done.  So I'm currently standing at 8 states, VA, PA, MD, MS, LA, TX, OH, and CA.  Can't count DC because it's not a State.  So I'll pick up Deleware in December, which gets me to 9 States. Thus from 2013 to 2015, I'm making the commitment to do 41 marathons in 36 months.  Okay...I guess it's time to pull out the map book and the racing calendar and figure out how to make this all happen.  Oh, and for you who are also interested...there is actually a club for this...50 States Marathon Club.  I know it's an original name, but you must have completed 10 states before joining.  Here is their link http://www.50statesmarathonclub.com/.  No, I don't know if there is a cure for this kind of illness, but I'll keep running until they figure out how to cure it.

Pittsburgh Marathon - Its the shoes...my fault.

I was prepared to run what I thought would be one of my best races in the last few years, but unfortunately that was not the case. I ran a "Okay" race but not a great one...and that's alright. One of the things that I have learned through all of my races is that somedays you are on and some days...its just not there. Sunday...it just wasn't there. I ran my plan, but at about mile 4, my shoes didn't feel right and by mile 8 my feet were in total pain. I actually thought around 23 miles that I had broken my right foot because of the pain...but the reality was "new shoes."

Okay...remember this rule and keep it. Don't change shoes in the last few weeks before your big race.

Right after the National Marathon, I was developing soreness in my right ankle and I also realized that my racing shoes, that I ran with on the treadmill were breaking down. So I a few weeks ago I went out and replaced them with a new pair of shoes. I thought I broke them in by running a few easy miles on the treadmill...but...on Sunday as I was running on the roads around Pittsburgh, I realize that the shoes were a piece of junk. Yea...the problem was the shoes. Wrong...the problem was me. I changed shoes and didn't run with them on the open road before hand. Had I tested them out, I most likely would have worn my training shoes, but I didn't do it. So again, like at that National...No excuses...just didn't perform the way that I wanted to. Yet...I did finish and I now have 26 Marathons to my name.

As for the race itself. I ran pretty much like I wanted to, but because of the shoes, I slowed down at the end. Can't say that I hit a wall...but my last 8 miles were in the 12 minute/mile range. As for the course. It was great...and I can't wait to run it again next year...yea...I'm going back...and I won't change shoes during the last two weeks again.

Tapering for Pittsburgh Marathon

Okay...I'm ready...now lets get to the starting line. I'm starting to get that racer anxiety...that comes when you know you've done everything right. My milage has been right on for what I'm wanting to do, I've averaged about 35 miles a week for the past 10 weeks. I've gotten in three runs over over 20 miles, and I've done seven runs over 15 miles. So I know mentally, I'm as prepared as I could be.

Now this week, I've been resting. I ran 2 miles on Monday, 5 miles on Tuesday, 2 miles on Wednesday, rested Yesterday, and today another 2. Tomorrow, I'll not run with the traveling to Pittsburgh and Sunday morning...I run. That is only 11 miles for the week, but perfect when you think about tapering for the race. Everyone is different on how much they taper, but this works for me. Back when I did my 4:10 at the Air Force Marathon in 2008, that taper was identical with this one.

When I taper well like this, I find myself anxious to get out there to run. I'm not sure what causes that desire, but it is a strange feeling. So...let me get there and lets get this run done. More later.

7 Days

I'm not a Biblical Literalist! Yes, I believe that God created the Heavens and the Earths, but not in literally 7 days, more like 7 of God's days...or a few million years or so. But that's not my point in this blog. No, I'm thinking of 7 days as in one week before the next test..."Pittsburgh." Next Sunday is the Pittsburgh Marathon, and I'll be there for the second time.

Back in 2001, I ran the race...and a few months later...Bin Laden launched his attack on the United States, that changed my life dramatically. Over the past 10 years, I have spent over 700 days in the Middle East and Southwest Asia. Now this year the idea hit me that again, my life could be very different. I’m nearing retirement from the Air Force in the next few months or years. And I’ve wondered will this “Pittsburgh Marathon” once again mark a major shift in my life and my work? My gut tells me that it just might. Bin Laden is dead, and I think this is shifting our worldview again. The economy is not in the best shape and will be challenging for the next several years. So it is inevitable that the times they are a changing.

So in 7 days, how different will my life be? Will I have finished my 26th marathon? Will I be looking at a world that might once again be attacked by fanatics? Will I be one step closer to retirement from the Air Force? Will life be once again, a scary place?

But then I think…of that passage in Genesis…you know where God creates the world in seven days…but my attention is drawn towards those little words at the end of each day… “And God saw that it was good.” Yea…life might be scary and always changing…but God sees that it is “Good.”

Suntrust National Marathon

What can I say. It was a day for no excuses...and I have none. My goal was to be in the 4:30-4:35 time zone, so I'll take my 4:30:35. So no excuses from me...just a unbelievable filling of accomplishment, given that this is the first race of my "season."

The weather forecast had been calling for cold and rain showers, so I was mentally preparing myself for a hard run. I've run a cold and wet marathon before, actually back at the 1994 Marine Corps Marathon. If you remember that was the year Oprah decided to run. The rain soaked everything and the temperature was in the 50s...making it feel like 30. But today we just had the challenge of cold temperatures. We started the race a little after 7 am with temps in the lower 30's and finished just after 11 with the temp at 40 degrees, combine with a nice north wind, it felt like 34. But the sun was out and that made a big difference.

I was also very happy with my run plan. My plan going in to the race was to hold 10:00 to 10:30 mile paces for the first 20 miles and then try to push the pace at the end. But because of the hill between 4 and 5, I actually had a 11:30 mile through that section. So I ended up going through the half way point at 4:17 which was about 2 minutes slower then I was looking for. I kept reminding myself not to panic and keep those 10:00 miles coming. Because I was using Jeff Galloway's Run/Walk method at a (4 minute to 1 minute ratio) I was running around the 4:30 pace group. But at the 19 mile mark, I was not able to catch up with the group and they opened a huge lead on me going down towards the US Coast Guard Building around the 20 mile mark. Again my fear that I had miss something hit me and I wanted to run faster.

So I did some self talk at that point saying to myself if I was really slowing down and the watch was off, then I needed to relax. Getting upset and worried about the pace would only slow me down, so I closed my eyes for a few feet during my next walk and took a few deep breaths. Then I started back. As we crossed the bridge over the river at 21 miles, I had caught back up with the 4:30 group. The lead melted away. (When I looked at my splits for that time they were 10:23, 10:21, 10:29 but then when I caught them again it was 10:10.) So at the 23 mile marker I started to pick up the pace. But 24 to 25 was a hill and I could only pull up it at 10:50/mile, then 25 to 26 was 9:06/mile and the final 2/10 to the finish was at 8:32/mile place. My final half marathon was 2:13, giving me the 4:30:35 finish. And the 4:30 pace group...I don't know where they finished but it wasn't 4:30, because they never got back in front of me.

What this marathon taught me..."Don't Panic." Keep to your plan and trust that your training and prep did its job. Also...pray helps a lot. Thanks for the great weather God!

National Marathon

Well, I'm signed up for the National Marathon. I ran the Half-Marathon this past year, but like in all these combined races with Half and Full Marathons...I'm always wishing I had done the full. So this coming year...I'm going after the Full Marathon. So now back to training.

Marine Corps Marathon 2010

My eldest daughter completed her first marathon. I helped her train and then paced her through the race. I was totally blown away. She ran a perfect marathon. Her first half and second half of the race was totally even. She never hit the wall and she managed to keep a sub 5 hour pace. After our 20 mile run back a few weeks ago, she shared that she wanted to finish under 5 hours...and she did. She ran a 4:55.

As we were headed out of Crystal City at about the 24 mile marker, I noticed that she was tearing up. Worried I asked her what was wrong. My fear was that she had finally hit the wall. But no, she responded. "I'm going to finish this in under 5 hours...I can't believe it."

The key to her success was Jeff Galloway's run/walk cycle. She nailed it.

Tomorrow...waiting for race day.

Here I am just hours away from my #1 daughter's first marathon and I feel more like its my first marathon instead. There are the typical questions...have we done the right training? Well we get to the right pace and hold that for the distance? How will we handle the wall?

If I was running this by myself, it would be like any marathon before. But this is her first marathon. And the questions...are there. I know the stuff she is made of. She will excel like with everything she has tried. That I have no doubt. But...she is still my daughter...and she has trusted me to help her get to the starting line. Now...the question is how will we get to the finish line. Knowing her...we will do well.

Gearing Up for Next Months' Races

Saturday's Marathon was the start of my season for running. I've played with this idea of creating my own person race season for a few years. I did it back in 1987-89 with my race season starting in October and going through the first week of April, but because life is what is happening while you are making plans and because I started to move all over the world started; this season idea was placed on hold. It's hard to plan to race several times in a given period when you might be deployed before the next race. So because my current job gives me a little more stability on when I'm away from home, I'm going to try to do the "race season" idea again.

This summer I've worked to build a solid base for my running. The Air Force Marathon was my first test to see where I was in terms of having any real speed left in this 53-year-old body of mine. What I discovered was the desire is there if not the ability...so test done and passed. Now my next full speed race test is the Baltimore Half Marathon in October. My goal is to get right up there to the 2-hour mark, a minute or two ether side of that mark and I'll be happy. Then of course I have the Marine Corp Marathon on the 31 of October. This will actually be a fun run with my oldest daughter as she tries to complete her first marathon.

I'm looking around the local area for a Marathon in November and leaning towards the Philadelphia Marathon, then try a few Half Marathons in January and February to refine my speed. Then...the goal race and final race for my season...the Pittsburgh Marathon. I ran the race in 2001 and I lived in Pittsburgh back in the 1980's so I am very familiar with the course. So it makes sense to make that a goal race.

A quick note on goal races; every running season should have a purpose, be it a Conference Championship, or a new distance, or an attempt at a personal record. But it should always be done on a course you are familiar and have run before hand. If you try to run a personal record on a new course you decrease the likelihood of accomplishing your goal. Familiarity is critical to having a relaxed attitude. Also some of us like certain elements or places and those things have a tendency to inspire the best in us.

Air Force Marathon 2010

Well, I finished the Air Force Marathon in 4:31. Not a record and slower then I had hoped to run but... Given that last week was extremely busy and I had a headcold...I'll just be thankful that I finished the run,

I also changed my strategy the day before the race....not a good thing to do. I'd been training to do 5 minute cycles of 4 minutes of running and 1 minute of walking. But because of the headcold, and not being very motivated to run by myself, I decided to run with the 4:20 pace group. To be honest it was fun to run with several people, but I could tell about the 15 mile mark, my breathing was getting harder, but I was already committed to make it with the group.

I was right on pace with the group until the 20 mile mark and then my sinuses and headache from the cold kind of jumped on my back. Also by that time in the morning the temperature was well on its way to nearly 80+ degrees. So I'll start focusing on my next test. The Baltimore Half Marathon. My goal for that race is to break the 2 hour mark.

Long Runs

The key to running the marathon is the long run. You don't have to be fancy about how you do it. You just need to do it.

Jeff Galloway's book, "Running: A Year Found Plan", is a great read. He shares this insight into the purpose of the long run:

"The long run builds endurance by gradually extending slow long runs, you train muscle cells to expand their capacity to utilize oxygen efficiently, sustain energy production , and in general, increase capacity to go farther.... Even when running very slowly, with liberal walk breaks, you build endurance by gradually increasing the distance of a regularly schedule long run. Start with the length of your current long one, and increase by 0.5 to 1 mile per week...."

Personally, I've substituted time as the measuring stick over against a defined mile marker. I increase my long runs by 10 minutes every week rather then a mile. The reason I made the shift is simple, because of weather. I've run a lot of my marathons in the Fall, which means Summer tends to be the time I'm building my distance. Also because I've spent a lot of my summers in nice warm places with temperatures near 100 degrees by 9 am...I felt a need to shift to time. My reasoning was some days the heat and humidity drained me faster and if I was focused on a distance, I would feel bad when I had to abandon the distance just because I was trying to keep a certain pace for the distance. I read an article that argued that time allowed you to focus on going for a period of time with a known end point after which you were finished. If you covered a set difference good, but if you didn't that was still good. It was about moving your body for that time and building on it. I made the shift last summer while in Kuwait and it made a huge difference. I never struggled to finish the run like I had when it was a set distance.

So today as my daughter and I ran, we used Galloway's cycle of run/walk and easily completed the time of two hours. We'll go further next week just because we'll add 10 minutes...and that will eventually get us to the finish line on the 31st of October.

Marine Corp Marathon

Yes, I am running the race again with my daughter #1. I’ve been disappointed with it the last two time I ran the race in 2007 and 2009, but…hope springs eternal and spending the time with my daughter is part of the reason for doing it again. When I did my PR on the course in 1988, I fell in love with the people and race…so I only hope that the organization gets back to that kind of quality.


So we are trying once again to run this thing together. We tried to do it last year but my daughter training was hampered and she did the smart thing and pulled out. One the key things you must learn to run a successful marathon is know with to run and when not to run. So with me living the local area, I’m hoping that I can be more of an aid to her this time and help her to train for this one. More to come.

National Marathon

Okay...I'm signing up for the National Marathon...not because I'm in shape to run it but because I need to get in shape.  I did 6 miles on Saturday and then walked about another 6 miles in DC that afternoon.  But knowing me...I can get in shape and run it.  The real reason:  I need a reason to get myself going.  I need a goal to reach out and touch...and this will give me that challenge.

So here we go....

Okay...side note just to update, I've decided due to the snow to just run the 1/2 marathon.  I know I could do it but the snow fall here has been a record amount and I don't want an injury.

Up and Running Again

Well, I am almost done moving into my new home. Still have a few more boxes to get unpacked and then finish setting up the house...but I'm taking a break for the moving this weekend to run the Marine Corp Marathon. This will be my seventh time running in the event...and it is one of my favorites. If you have never run a marathon before...this is the one you want. The support throughout the course is the best and the crowds along the road are wonderful. You can't go wrong making this your first marathon. Well back to the boxes. More later.

Running...In Memoriam

Tomorrow, I will toe the line with a few thousand fellow runners at the Surf City Marathon. Many of us will be there for different reasons but with one goal of finishing 26.2 miles. As we struggle along the Pacific Coast Highway at Huntington Beach, we will each make the journey in our own ways. Yes, each one of us will be placing one foot in front of the others, but some will be in wheelchairs, and some will run on artificial leg or legs. But the distance is the same. The test is not only physical…but more so a test of our mental and spiritual abilities.

For most first time marathon runners and many non-runners, they see the marathon as only a physical task. But those of us who have accomplished the task before know that in the final measure of the race, is it’s the spiritual side of the equation that tips the scale from not finishing to finishing the distance.

In October 1977, I ran my first marathon. At mile 23, I was beaten. I was on the verge of quitting. Snow flurries swirled around me. As I broke the crest of the hill walking, there before me were a handful of people clapping and yelling encouragement…still I wanted to stop…but one elderly man setting in a wheelchair on the side of the road caught my attention. He was clapping and yelling for us to finish. On his lap was a list from the local newspaper with the name and number of each runner. He looked at the paper then at me. I was walking at the time. And I heard him call my name. “Don…you can finish this.”

With tears in my eyes, my body tired beyond belief, I found myself running. In those final three miles, every time I wanted to quite and walk…I remembered that man in the wheelchair…and I kept going…for him. That connection for just a quick moment on that cold October morning got me to the finish line.

This marathon tomorrow will be my first since my father died. My dad saw a few of my High School races, but he never saw me run a marathon. But I think, as I run tomorrow…he will be there by my side. As I make each stride, as my body fatigues from the distance and effort, and as I fight back the desire to quit, I will remember him. And that will give me the toughness to carry me to the finish line. So this race tomorrow is for my father…my mentor and friend.

Keep a health perspective on life

With everything going on in my life, it seems the last thing I want to do this weekend is run another marathon. My training has been awful for the past two months. So why bother? Because it is there and I love the challenge.

To be truthful, this run is not about time. My goals are simply to enjoy the day, the fellowship of other runners and complete the distance. A final reason is that this will be the last marathon I run for a while. My work requires me to put on hold my goal to run a sub 4 hour marathon until next year. In fact my updating this blog site over the next several months will be difficult.

What I would like you to take away from this rambling today is that life needs to be lived. Do the things that you can...but don't get upset if your plans have to be placed on hold. As it says in Ecclesiastes, "For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven, a time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted; a time to kill and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up; a time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance; a time to throw away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing; a time to seek, and a time to lose; a time to keep and a time to throw away; a time to tear, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak; a time to love and a time to hate; a time for war, and a time for peace."

Yea...it’s an old passage that you might have heard before like in the 1960's when it was a hit song. But...the truth remains. There are seasons in our lives, just like there are seasons in the year. So this Sunday, I'll be there in Huntington Beach to run the Surf City Marathon...and the weeks following...I'll be off to the other side of the world to take care of our wonderful sailors, soldiers and airmen serving in the Middle East.

Rule 9 - Rest before the Race

This rule is one of the fun rules and reminds me to take it easy, the hard work is over. Unlike cramming for the final exam...there is no such thing in running...you bring what you have in you and nothing more to the test. So the key is to relax and rest.

I always tapper the last week before a marathon even if it is a training run. A marathon I use for a training run the taper will be the last four days prior to the event. During those four days, I may at most run 9 miles total. For my major race effort, that tapper will actually be the last 10 to 14 days.

I only started tapering for races back in 1994, but I noticed a big difference in my races. I discovered that I could postpone the wall for an additional 2 or 3 miles. In 1994, I ran the Mardi Gras Marathon in January and then the Marine Corp in October. My times at both events were identical 3:45. But in New Orleans, I actually ran the first 17 miles almost 5 minutes faster then the Marine Corp. My training was almost identical for both race but the only difference was I ran a few seconds slower per mile in the Marine Corp and I had tapered for the 10 days coming into the run. At the Marine Corp, the only wall, I found was the one I sat on when I changed out my shoes at the end. So now I'm a fan of tapering before the race. If it’s not doing something physical for you, I know it is doing something mental for you.

Rule #8 - Train the mind

"The longest and most strenuous mental and physical exertions all come at the start; get on with it at once and you will soon be through the worst." Tim Noakes writes. He continues: "Stamina seems to me to be just as much a mental attribute as a physical one."

When I started running, I found myself daydreaming that I was running against the world's greatest runners...okay...America's greatest runners. I would race in my mind Steve Prefontaine, Marti Liquori, Frank Shorter, Jeff Galloway, Bill Rodgers and a host of others. As I ran down the long road near my home, and turned the corner on to my street, that last quarter of a mile was me running full speed with them nipping at my heels. True... in 1977, I did get the chance to run against Bill Rodgers at the Waynesburg Marathon, and got blown away. And true again I did run with Jeff Galloway for a part of the Big Sur Marathon this past April. But as a kid, I always won, in my sprint towards the finish line at my mailbox.

Later in my life as I studied counseling, I discovered this was called disassociation. Disassociation is the process the mind uses to tolerate something that is painful. There is good disassociation and there is bad...but here we are talking about the good kind. I didn't know it at the time but I was training my mind. Even today as I run, I play games to keep myself motivated. I also believe that 90% of running a marathon is mental...but like training the body...you have to train the mind.

Jeff Galloway in his book, Marathon, you can do it! has three chapters on the subject. The first is chapter 11 on visualization of the marathon, the second, chapter 12 is on word games to play in your mind...and my favorite is chapter 13 on dirty tricks to play on your mind. They really work.

Are Marathons Dangerous?

I got my copy of December's edition of Runner's World today in the mail. It has a great article on the question of people dying while running, and running marathons. Amby Burfoot does a great job and it is an article worth reading. The truth is yes, people die while running marathons. Three different studies place it at 1 per 75,000, 1 per 89,000 and 1 per 126,000 runners. Those numbers are scary...but...think about this...1 in 6,535 die in car accident every year. So the way I look at it...driving to the marathon is more of a risk then running the marathon.