Surprise on 18 miler

Today I had 18 miles on the schedule - done!  My running buddy and I went out to the Paint Creek Trail(see post couple days ago) and ran from Rochester to Lake Orion and back.  18 miles on the trail was perfect plus it's crushed limestone so it's really nice on the legs.  Legs feel really good right now.

I figured why not go out and run something that was flat.  I mean, we have been putting in some good miles at Stoney Creek and it's not exactly flat.  It would be a nice change of pace.  The funny thing is when I got home and plugged in the Garmin, the elevation was far from flat but it sure felt flat running it.  Take a look at the elevation for the run:

Surprise!!!!  Not a flat run at all.  I suppose because it was spread over about 9 miles, it did not seem like there was an elevation but it was deceiving us!

We actually finished the run at a pretty decent pace as seen below:

Just about my marathon goal pace.

Here's a couple of "bird's eye view" pictures of the run we did as well.

Start at the park!

A nice little pond we ran past twice!

Nice run past the Wyndgate Golf Course(private!)

The turnaround in Lake Orion

And there you have it.  How I spend my Saturday morning.  We started at 7:30am so there was really nobody out there on the way out except maybe a person or two but on the way back we saw many people.  We saw a guy training for the Boston Marathon too.  I'm glad we did an out and back run today since the marathon in May is an out and back so it gives you a flavor for it.  One thing on this run is that there is not many turns so you can see for miles in front of you and mile in back of you.  That makes the run a little harder since you see how far you still need to run but it was still nice to have different route to run.

Question of the day:  What is the surface you like to run on most?  Cement, Asphalt, crushed limestone, trail, heavy trail? I like the crushed limeston - still harder but better on the legs.

Have a great day and......Keep Running!!!!!

Nasty comment....

No running today!  Rest day!!

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So I'm dedicating this blog post to the person who left a fairly nasty comment about Detroit in another blog.  The very unfortunate part is that we really have a lot to offer people who live here, but many who have never been here, just think of this as a car city with lots of crime.  While that is true, there is many other things to be thankful for in this city of ours.

Some of you in this country probably think Detroit is just this desolate, decaying old auto town and you are right about some parts of it but then most large cities have area of blight.  It's an unfortunate fact of a large city.  Anyway, I decided to put a list together of many of the great things that Detroit does offer:

- Motor City capital of the WORLD
- We have some great museums including Motown Museum, Detroit Science Center, Detroit Institute of Art, Henry Ford Museum and Meadowbrook Hall.
- Belle Isle Park.  A wonderful park in the City of Detroit and a great place to run and see the skyline of Detroit.  In fact, some of my best running has been in the City.
- Hart Plaza, a great place for summer concerts and/or to watch the fireworks.
- The only international marathon in the world with a run over a bridge and back through a tunnel underwater.
- Home of the Detroit Tigers, Detroit Lions, Detroit Red Wings, Detroit Pistons
-  We have one of the wealthiest counties in the Country, Oakland County
- We have Somerset Mall, one of the largest and nicest malls in the area
- We have some of the largest companies headquartered here including GM, Ford, Chrysler, Compuware
- We have one of the largest populations of Arabic people outside of the Middle East with incredible restaurants
- We have some of the best engineers and best doctors in the country living here
- We have what every State wishes they had - to be surrounded by fresh water!  We have hundreds of lakes and golf courses.
- We have quick access to Canada since it's just across the water.
- We have some of the best Universities in the country here including Michigan, Michigan State, Oakland University
- We have some of the best parks in the area
- We have a very affordable cost of living and while I think there are many other states that are beautiful, my home would probably be three to ten times the price.
- We have access to an incredible northern woods area called Northern Michigan that has some incredible areas as well, many of which could not survive without tourists from other States visiting.
- We have an incredible zoo!
- We have Vernor's and Sanders.
- We have some incredible historic homes in Detroit
- We have Mexican Town with awesome restaurants
- We have some of the best Coney dogs in the country

So, there you have it.  While we have our issues, it's certainly far from being a cesspool that many people think it is.

Ok, rant over!  Here's a few pictures to go along with my list.

Have a great day and.......Keep Running!!!!

Warmer today...

Good run today.  8 miles on the schedule and finished feeling pretty good overall.  Next week is a cut back week.  I'm ready! :)  Rest day tomorrow too!

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Today, I got about 3 miles into my run when I saw something really strange.  This has been an early week for me.  I've been up at 4:30am this whole week so I'm basically out there by 5am running.  So, I get about three miles into my run, when I see this shadow coming towards me.  It keeps getting bigger and bigger and then I saw him.  It was another runner!  Haha!  I think it's safe for me to say that I have not seen another runner running outside since October.  Let me qualify that.  I have not seen any other runner during the week in the morning.  I have been finishing a little after 6am this week and it's rare to see someone that early but even when I'm later than that, I still do not see anyone out there.

Maybe most  people in my area run after work?  Maybe they run at the gym?  Maybe they go to the Metropark every morning?  All I know is that I don't see people in the morning often so it gives you a little boost when you see someone else out in the dark and cold working out.  Actually, it was a little warmer today(in the mid 30's) so perhaps that is why and I'll start seeing more runners.  However, even in the mid summer when it's 70 degrees outside in the morning, it's still rare to see anyone else out there running.

Saturday I have an 18 miler planned and the weather is supposed to be perfect.  High of 50 so that means it will probably be around 40 degrees when I run.  I'm really looking forward to it.  I'm even saying this as I just finished today's run so that is saying a lot about how I'm feeling.  I really need a change of scenery.  I'm not sure I want to run three loops again at Stoney Creek even though I do love it out there.  My alternative for that long is to run the Paint Creek Trail not much further than Stoney Creek.  Here's a little information about it.  Hopefully you also take advantage of the trails and parks you have in your area.

From their website at www.paintcreektrail.org

Owned and managed by the Paint Creek Trailways Commission (PCTC), the Paint Creek Trail is an 8.9 mile linear park, located in northeast Oakland County. It was the first Rail-to-Trail in the State of Michigan, as it was converted to a trail from the former Penn Central Railroad. Open to the public since 1983, the Paint Creek Trail receives over 100,000 visitors annually. The non-motorized Trail is 8 feet wide, and traverses through Rochester, Rochester Hills, Oakland Township, Orion Township and the Village of Lake Orion.


Here's a look at the map and a few pictures of the trail:

Trail map - 8.9 out and 8.9 back

Trail map sign

Trail bridge

Trail

Mounted police on trail

Wetlands

Not that I want this!

Here a breakdown of the mileage on the trail.  Just about perfect for an 18 miler:

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Question of the day?  Do you mix up your weekly run or is it same old, same old?




Have a great day and.....Keep Running!!!!!

Test

5 miles today on the schedule.....Done!  Another early morning 4:30am. Long drive to work today for some training so I had to start early.  Today's run was much better since there was no wind.  It felt really easy today.

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I want to thank all the new followers....174 people.  That's awesome!! I hope most of you really are following.

I have been thinking about fueling for the marathon and need some opinions on what YOU do.  I know it might not work for me but I need to start trying out some things.  After my last long run, I know I was fine without any food beforehand.  Usually for the half, I have a half banana and a granola bar.  It seems to work really well for me.  While I have tried GU, I don't particularly like it and one time I took one for a half marathon and felt sick for two miles so I am resisting these.  I also don't want to drink gatorade until AFTER the race.  I like gatorade but not during the race so I stick to just water.  I was actually thinking of trying gummy bears - a nice small treat that you can chew on.  Perhaps I should try the GU Chomp?  Anyone try these?

What else have you tried that you like?  I like to re-fuel after the race and keep thing minimal during the race but I'm not sure I can do that for the marathon.

My favorite brand gummy bears!

How about these?

My running buddy doesn't like to drink water while running.  Can you believe that?  He goes the full half marathon without any water!!! Amazing!  He says that it makes him shut down because he's not used to taking water in during running but he's going to try running with a small bottle for the marathon.

I run with a Nathan 22 oz. water bottle.  Most people think it's crazy to run with this for so long but I'm so used to it, I don't even notice its there.  I also have a 10 oz. fuel belt water bottle and I'm going to let him use it during the marathon.  It's actually really good for a short run or a marathon since you can re-fill at the water stations.  I don't like that much weight on my waist so I carry it and just use my spibelt for other things.

Just bought myself another black Nathan!

I have the black Fuelbelt holder with red top!

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Question of the day?  How many of you are Daily Milers too?




Have a great day and.....Keep Running!!!!!

Tough Run today

Ran 8 miles today.  This was a really tough run due to the high winds - 20-30 mph.  Jeez, it was bad.  That had to be one of the toughest runs I have done.  It helps build my confidence in case the weather at my marathon is not good.  There is a fair chance it could be windy that day - hopefully not 20-30 mph though!!

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I don't have much to share today.  Frankly, I'm exhausted!  I got up at 4:30am this morning.  4:30 just does not agree with me.  Even as I sip my second cup of coffee, I just cannot wake up!  The kids are off school this week for spring break so everyone is sleeping in.  I think everyone should have spring break - I should have been a teacher!!!  I could use a day off.

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Question of the day?  Paper, plastic or recycle bags?




Have a great day and......Keep Running!!!!!!

Marathon training and weight loss

10 mile recovery bike ride today.  This was a really tough one.  It was difficult to get myself out of bed.  It was difficult to workout with the weights today.  It was difficult to keep the pace on the bike.  Overall, a very difficult workout.  I guess I'm getting a glimpse of what I'll feel like after a marathon.  Of course, I won't be doing anything the day after my marathon.  I also plan to run a 5 mile run tonight.  Why?  Because I need to chance my long run to Saturday and I want to have Friday off of running before my long run.  I just feel better going into the long run rested up.  Fortunately, that will also give me Sunday off as well and then back on schedule again.  Unfortunately that means 5 tonight and then 8 tomorrow morning!

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I have read many articles and blogs about weight loss and training for a marathon.  I'm not advocating it.  My issue is that I seem to gain weight after a heavy workout.  For example, I did my long run yesterday and from that I gained over a pound this morning.  Now I know a pound does not seem like much and it could be muscle building.  Heck, the scale changes that daily but almost every time I have a hard workout, my weight goes up.  I don't worry about it because overall my body feels strong and I'm in good shape but it's just very strange.  What are your thoughts?  What happens to you after a tough workout?

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I think I have decided on my September Marathon.  It's called the Capital City River Run Half Marathon in Lansing, Michigan - our state Capital.  Check it out at http://ccriverrun.org  It runs through part of Michigan State University, Downtown Lansing, and much of it is on the Lansing River trail(paved).  Anyone run this half before?  It sounds like an incredible run and I can't wait for it.  This rounds out my season too.  I've got all my races finally picked out for the year.  I big jump for me in the running area.  I did many races last year but this year half of the distances are 10 miles or more.  I'm doing one marathon, four half marathons, a 10 mile run, a 10k(possibly 2), two 5k's(possibly 3) including a mud run, Warrior Dash.

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Question of the day:  Are you religious with your training plan or flexible?  I'm usually pretty religious with it and stay on pace.



Have a great day and......Keep Running!!!!!

Confidence is the name of the game!

Yowza!  18 miles for my long run today.  The great thing about this is that when I finished, I didn't feel too bad.  Yes, my legs are a little sore but, hey, I just ran 18 miles so they should be sore.  This is the longest I have ever run.  I did have a little issue at mile 2 when my foot started having some pain and I had to stop and massage it and loosen my shoe but other than that, it went really well.  Here are my splits:

Fairly consistent.  The one thing that this run has given me --- Confidence.  As all of you know, this is really what we all need because it's all a mind game out there when running.  Overall, I was really happy with the pace as well.  It gives me confidence that I can finish the marathon under 4 hours - just under!  I know that last 8 are going to be killer but I want not even pushing too hard today.  My thought is to not stop running because I'm not sure I'd be able to start again once I stop.  Haha!!

Question of the day?  Who loves Costco?  I love that store but you just can't leave without buying anything!



Have a great day and.....Keep Running!!!!

Trust your training....

8 miles on schedule today and finished 8 miles.  My legs have felt surprisingly good this week even with the added mileage.  I have a rest day tomorrow but I'm feeling strong even just after my run so I'm looking forward to my long run on Sunday.  All running this week was outside!  Yeah!  What I have learned from this process so far.....Trust your training.  The training plan I have followed has really helped me excel.  It's good to have a plan and stick to the plan.

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Here's my re-cap for the month of March:

Running:  135 miles of running - my longest distance yet!

Biking:  only 30 miles of biking - (missed one 10 mile workout due to resting after half marathon)

Weights:  7 weight workout with Bowflex(missed one due to resting after half marathon)

Stretching/foam rolling:  about 20 hours; this has made a huge difference in my recovery after running!

Year to date:  351 miles of running and 81 miles of biking.  My goal for the year is 1,000 miles of running.

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Question of the day?  For you coffee drinkers, do you put your coffee in the night before and set the timer on the machine?  If so, does the coffee still taste good after sitting out all night?



Have a great day and.....Keep Running!