Hard Work

Hard work pays off. Been running good mileage so far this week. Tuesday I ran an 8.5 miles easy, then Wednesday I ran 13.5 miles, and today an out and back 14 miler on MacArthur Blvd. Already up to 46 miles mid-week. It has been humid here and it gets a little annoying sweating so much. I'm tired, yet I feel strong at the same time. I keep taking naps during my lunchbreak at work. This week will probably be the highest mileage I have run all year(perhaps in a very long time). Hoping to hit 90. Next week I will take it down a tad and then the last week before the 1/2 race the mileage will be less as well.

Less mileage last week, more again this week

After my workout last wed, I spent the rest of the week running less in order to recover and prepare for some harder weeks ahead. I lowered the mileage last week down to 50 after going 70, 74 consecutively. This week will be higher again. On Monday I ran 10 miles over some hilly roads off MacArthur Blvd.

Turning Up the Intensity

Today I did my first Marathon/Half Marathon Workout for the fall. After running short and easy for Monday and Tuesday(5 mile runs), I did 8.5 miles today with 7+ at 2:28 Marathon Pace. I felt pretty relaxed and felt good to turn up the intensity a bit. It really didn't feel that hard at all, just new. I feel like I am going to get very very fit really quickly. My legs are feeling stronger and I am getting hungry for workouts. This week's mileage will probably be a bit less than the last week. While my prime goal is the Marine Corps Marathon on Oct, I am gearing up for the Va Beach Rock N Roll Half Marathon in 3.5 weeks. This fall season could really be a big breakthrough for me. We will have to wait and see. Happy training!

Difficult Run and 74 miles for the week

Today I met up with Max, Chuck Moeser, and Justin for a run through the beautiful trails of Difficult Run. Moeser owns a 2:24 in the Marathon to his credit and is still very fast for his age now(he's in his late 50's). I was delighted to meet him. I have never been on these trails before and it made my long run quite enjoyable. Difficult Run flows through Fairfax County, Virginia to the Great Falls Park, on the Virginia side of the Potomac River. The Run has been characterized as "a miniature Mather Gorge and Great Falls. We did the hilly loop of 11+ miles and then I ran more on my own since no one wanted to run longer. I estimate that I ended up doing about 19 miles total. I finished in 2:09:30. I'm glad I got the long run in early today, it was getting pretty hot by the time I finished. Still, it doesn't nearly feel as hot as it was down in NC last week.

Mileage Aug 3-9:

Mon- 12 miles
Tues- 9 miles
Wed- 9 miles
Thurs- 10 miles
Fri- 10 miles
Sat- 5 miles
Sun- 19 miles

Total: 74 miles

It feels good to not be racing and just training for a while. 4 weeks until the half marathon. All of these runs have been solid distance runs. I feel very fit, although I will need to do some fast paced workouts soon to really get my legs ready to run a fast half. The goal is 1:11:00.

July 27- Aug 2- 70 Miles

Well the Outer Banks was a great vacation, although running there kinda sucked. There is no shade and you either turn right or left onto Duck Road. It was hotter down there, so I ran pretty slow most of my runs. Ran 70 miles total for the week. Body feels good overall. I'd really like to try to get up in the mid 80's next week. Here is a breakdown of the week:

Mon: 10 miles
Tues: 12.5 miles
Wed: 6.5 miles AM, 5 miles on the beach PM
Thurs: 12 miles
Fri: 5.5 miles
Sat: 7.5 miles
Sun: 11 miles

Just getting in solid training now, and higher mileage as well. It feels good not to race. August is all training, no races. 5 weeks until the half marathon. 12 weeks until the marathon.

Pushing through to the next stage

Ok, I'm tired, I thought, as I crossed the line of the Crystal City Twilighter-the last of the string of summer races I ran between May and July. For some reason, when driving to the race, I made a wrong turn and drove to Alexandria and had to turn around. I guess that's why I left so early. Thankfully Nate steered me in the right direction and got to the start just in time to pick up my packet and warm up with the GRC team. Right before the start, thunder clouds started rolling in. Uh oh, I thought, Nate cheerfully said "This is going to be fun!" on the warm-up. It ended up raining lightly before the race which actually cooled off the heat a little bit. The Crystal City Twilighter was quite competitive, dozens of guys sprinted in front of me from the start. I paced myself to a 4:57 first mile, just about where I wanted to be, then fell off pace quite a bit. I'm not gonna lie- I was dissapointed to slow down to 10:24 at the 2mile split. I was hoping to run 15:55 but I knew that wasn't going to happen at the rate I was going. I tried to focus and just ran what I could, I split 15:55 for the 3rd mile, and finished up in 16:31. My best time out of the three 5ks I've run this summer, but not what I was hoping for. I hate the 5K, honestly, I have never ever had a good race in the 5K. But I ran it for a reason. After the race, I ran a 20 min cooldown with some of the guys, had a good conversation with Dickson about Marathon training, and found Beth who was waiting very patiently for me. Getting out of the parking lot was a hassle, and it took a long time since Crystal Drive was still closed. As we neared toward home, for some unknown reason 270/495 came to a halt. Apparently something was seriously going wrong, and later would find out the ALL of 270 was CLOSED. There was no sign indicating this as we were merging to 270, so it was one big waste of time. Good thing Beth suggested to go on 495 and loop around, because that's when we saw everyone trying to merge away from 270. Of course, when I finally got home, the power was out. Greaaat.. All right, enough of that..


I think it all hit me at once, all 7 races I did between May and July. I did this for a reason though. We all know I am not a 5k runner. I am a Marathoner. I did this to toughen me up. To get my legs bulletproof. All of these races are geared towards one goal: getting stronger in the Marathon. The results from May-July are below:


May 16-Germantown 5M: 28:02
June 7-Capital Crescent 5K- 16:42
June 13-Lawyers Have Heart 10K- 34:58
June 20-Baltimore 10.2 Miler- 58:02(56:53 10 Mile)
July 4-Autism Speaks 5K- 16:48
July 18-Rockville Twilighter 8K- 26:52
July 25-Crystal City 5K- 16:31


Overall I am happy with the results and my training and fitness are progressing in the right direction. Now I am glad to take off a much needed vacation from racing as well as work. I am going to the Outer Banks to get in a strong week of mileage this week. It will be hot, but again, will get me stronger. I am not racing anymore until September. This will be good, 6 solid weeks of training, then a real good test of fitness at the VA Beach Rock N Roll Half Marathon on Sept 6.

Wednesday-16 Mile Med-Long Run

On Wednesday I drove to the Old Angler's Inn Lock, but ran on MacArthur Blvd towards DC. I ran slow the whole time for 1:53:00. I ran until I got to the top of the hill past Maryland Ave, then turned around. It was a nice run, although I was tired afterwards. I'll do some short stuff Thurs and Fri to prepare for the 5K Saturday.