Maybe, Possibly, Perhaps: Training for Marine Corps Marathon Week 1

Oh it looks like something has come up! I was in the middle of writing lesson plans on Wednesday, when I went on to Facebook for a little break. I saw that my friend, Chris Lamperski, had posted something asking about the Marine Corps Marathon, and was asking about it's location as a DC marathon. Being the troll that I am, I replied, "a race that starts and finishes in VA, is not considered a DC marathon". HARF HARF HARF

Then some back and forth went on between Chris and I. And the prospect of actually running the race came up. Weeeeeeeeeelllllllll I wouldn't consider myself in tip top shape. I actually don't think I'm probably in quality running shape at all. But Chris said he would see if I could get a free entry. On Friday night I got the confirmation that I was able to get a free entry. At first I was pleased, but then it got me thinking. Does getting a free entry into a race, where tons of people can't get in and have to try for a lottery, turn me into  ME FIRST GLORY BOY RUNNER? I'm not sure, but I really think that my street creed as a blue collar gritty runner is seriously under attack.

So for the next ten weeks (probably not accurate), this will be my documentation of my training to run a fun pace (2:45) for the marathon. I last ran a marathon in May at 2:41, and since then I had to take two weeks off for a stress reaction, and then after that got better and I was going to dive into some serious training, my hamstring blew (can you say that word when talking about a marathon?) up and I had to take a week off and then humbly ran workouts since then.

Before we get started on this week, let's go to how I was feeling on Saturday August 23rd. Actually I think this picture is how I felt:

Yep. That's about right. That's how I felt during the entire day. What did I do during that time: prepped my classroom, helped out with other classrooms, cleaned my apartment, and apparently wore a bright orange long sleeve shirt and plaid shorts. I don't remember thinking clearly when I got dressed.

Now onto the GLORI BOY TRAINING LOG

Monday:
AM: 4 miles 29:34 Welp it was the first day of school and I was extremely anxious for the day to start. Here's a bright idea, I'll get up at 4:30 run nine miles and then get to school early to prep some more. Here is what actually happened. I was super super anxious and probably had a panic attack while I was running, and going out two miles was going to be enough for me, because I could/was not (going to-if you select was) calm down.

PM: 9 miles 64:37 I ran after work and it was probably an interesting run. Maybe? I can't really remember that much about it. Was the weather bad? I'm not sure. I then did four strides at the end. Oh about the first day of school? It was fine. Like always

Total 13 miles I worked more hours than miles I ran.

Tuesday
AM: 4 miles 29:02 I woke up and ran. I don't remember much about this run.

PM: 7.5 miles: workout 12 x 400 with 1 minute recovery Interesting start to this run. I was turning left onto Piney Branch Park and I kinda had, but not really, the protection to cross the street. Ok there was a timer counting it down, but it did have the flashing hand. I decided, what is the worst that could happen. The worst is getting hit by a car and dying. I went. So did a car. This woman honked her horn at me. I continued to run. About a quarter mile up the road, this woman had stopped her car, and yelled at me for running in the road and that I was gonna get hit. I did the most mature thing and pretended to juggle with invisible balls. She was not amused and honked her horn. This is the time I bet someone is going to be like BRO RUNNERS DON'T GET RESPECT! WE CAN RUN ON THE ROADS IF WE GOT THE PROTECTION! BRO THAT IS HOW IT SHOULD BE! And that's fine, but that's something that requires a lot of energy and really doesn't do much to the situation. Just letting it go and troll on is what I say.
Splits from the workout: 79, 78, 78, 82, 75, 75, 80, 81, 78, 78, 79, 82.

Look at that all my splits were all over the place. I knew that I was feeling good, but it was hard to find a groove and get ready to actually run the pace that I thought I should. What did I think my pace should be for a quarter? Maybe 79. Possibly 78. Perhaps 80.

Total 11.5 miles

Wednesday
PM: 12 miles 85:14 I was planning on doing this run in the morning. Had my alarm set at 4:40 and got up. Went to my living room, turned my computer on, and was like NOOOOOOOOOOPPPPPPPEEEEEEEE.  Went back to sleep and knew that I had to run this distance and then work on lesson plans. Over/under on when I would get to sleep was set at midnight. I remember this run being really hot and that I stopped after six miles and had to mentally prep myself to get ready to run back. After I got home I ordered a pizza and got a soft drink, which I rarely drink, because I knew I was going to be up late and needed some energy. I was up till 11:30 writing plans and was not finished.

Total 12 miles

Thursday
PM: 10 miles: workout 3 mile tempo in 17:38 I woke up in the morning and was not going to run a shake out run. I was tired and exhausted. I was tired and exhausted coming into school. I was also hungry. My goal was really...weeellll...let's go back to a couple of weeks when I tried to do this exact workout. It was really hot, so I knew my sensitive lungs wouldn't handle the poor air and did it on a treadmill. I tried to run 5:55 pace and it was something that was tough. After a mile I moved down to 5:49 and that was impossible. I stopped after two miles extremely defeated.

Fast forward to Thursday. I went through the first mile feeling really calm and fresh. I hit 5:53. I knew that what has been getting me was the second part of a workout. At Rock Creek this section has some hills and you probably have to stop for traffic, unless you want to juggle invisible balls! The second mile was 5:53. And then I remembered why this type of workout was one I disliked running in the park. Oh hello wind! What's that you're at 10-20 mph? Why that sounds awesome. Oh and you will blow on the last mile of the workout! Brilliant! And that's what I had to deal with for the last mile, which was actually my fastest mile at 5:52. I was pleased that I ran this pace, but know that a couple months ago I could do this without even thinking.

Total 10 miles

Friday
PM: 9 miles 65:31 I woke up in the morning and really wasn't having any motivation to run in the morning. I was thinking maybe even taking the day off. But after I got done with work, I was feeling ok to go out there and run some miles in the park. It really wasn't that bad of a run.

Total 9 miles

Saturday
AM: 12 miles 86:20 This was my trail run going OFF ROAD in Rock Creek Park. I saw a couple of African runners on the same trail. Did they look smooth? Yes. But as smooth as I was twisting their bodies over one of the downed trees? Probably even more smooth. I enjoyed this run. It wasn't that hot and it wasn't humid at all.

PM: 4 miles 28:48 After spending most of the afternoon watching FAUTBAW and watching NC State strung-a-ling against some scrub team, I went out for a run around 4pm. It looked like it was going to rain, but it never did. I really think that we need it to rain, because the leaves are already falling and that's not a good thing to occur before Labor Day. (Note: Not a scientist)

Total: 16 miles

Sunday
AM: 14 miles 95:10 I woke up at 5:45 this morning. NOOOOOOOOOOPPPPPPEEEE. Not waking up that early to run. Went back to sleep and woke up at 7:10am. I knew that today was suppose to be hot and humid and that the run I was going to do, would be oh so painful. I really wanted to quit this run at two, but I hung around. The trick is saying to yourself that move on from how the outside elements are and just focus on the simple task of putting one foot in front of the other at a fast pace. I did that. I was thinking about something else as I climbed the hills on Beach Drive. I hit the first seven in 49:08 and then did the last seven in 46:02. Now granted that last seven were for the most part downhill. But I was working, but not pushing it. A familiar feeling came. My socks were totally soaked and I could hear the squishes from them hitting my shoes. I wore my hiking socks so they really didn't help out with my shoes, it felt like I was sliding out of my soles. I finished my run. Some guy in the alley was impressed. I looked like I jumped in a pool.

I had stopped twice, a little after four miles and a little before ten, to get some water. I even let the water fountain cool my body, but placing my inner wrist on the stream. It really works on cooling the body down (Note: I am not licensed to give medical advice)

Total: 14 miles

Weekly total: 85.5 Maaaaan I didn't even realize I ran that much until now.

A weekly segment of me giving advice to people getting into running: Run, don't walk.

A weekly segment of me giving my opinion on a drink: This week the drink is WATER.
Some people say water is free (probably Communists). You can get water from the ground, though it might be a bit earthy if you drink it straight up. Water is made of two hydrogen atoms, the stuff they put in balloons to fill up with air, and one atom of oxygen, the stuff you need to keep plants alive. Water can be boiled, frozen, thrown on people (as a distraction to get people to not talk about what is happening in Ferguson, MO. WHAT YOU DON'T WANT TO TALK ABOUT FINDING A CURE???!!!  WHAT TYPE OF MONSTER ARE YOU????), and it can be consumed (how it can be consumed is up to the reader).

Water can be cold and it can be hot. People use water to do a lot of things. Scientists think that water is going to one day swallow up the Earth due to global warming, but having seen the movie Waterworld, that claim can be refuted, because there was land even though it was said that there was not any.

Water can be bought at the store in 12 packs and 24 packs. Never before has someone said "Hey I just got a 12 pack of water. Party's starting!"  Announcements of buying water is something that goes unsaid, due to a long standing tradition from the Depression, where people would not announce they had water, in hopes of getting traveling hordes of the hobo army to leave their land.

Water is usually clear, but not clear like Crystal Clear Pepsi. Water is a drink most people need.

Picture of water:

Note: I majored in History and never really took any Science classes.

And for the last weekly segment: What will Lamperski be the most mad at? The fact that I only have a bed and no couch or not running 2:45?

No couch!

Predicted pace: 2:55

Race Recap: Welcome Back Sweet Prince (Vermont City Marathon)

...it's been a while and it's been a week since the race. Let's just take it from there.

There was a feeling after I ran Thunder Road in 2011, where it was a PR and it was kinda a breakthrough. I was thinking that there wasn't really a difference in how I felt running a time like that (2:44:50). I was still the same person, I felt as if I was the same runner. Not much had changed. That's kinda how I felt after this race. It was a much much much (let me add another one) much better race in the marathon. In fact, this is probably the second time that I have ever felt good running a marathon.

I was thinking back to that other good feeling after a marathon. One that I ran back in 2006. I went from running a 3:03 marathon to 2:49. One time I when my training wasn't so great, I wanted to see what was the secret to that success to run that time. I found my old training log and looked at it over, and was amazed to see what I was running that fall. There were a couple weeks where my IT Band acted up, and I ran a total of 30 miles. I didn't really run that much. I probably averaged somewhere in the high sixties. I also didn't do that many long runs. I think my longest run was somewhere in the 18 range.  But it was that overall belief, that TRUE GRIT that got me to that race and was able to get me to run that time. And honestly that's what happened in Vermont.

It was about 5:45 in the morning on the day of the race. I was bored and was going to take a shower soon, but wanted to look at my log from the last time I ran this race. I was so confident during that time, that I was going to run a PR. I looked back at my log and was amazed. I looked at my mileage and the (lack of) workouts that I did. I wasn't in that great of shape, and had been fooling myself that I was going to run well. I was thinking that morning, I know that I have done a better job of training. Or had I...


TRAINING
I did an 18 week build up. It started in mid January. During that winter, it was cold. Like Really cold.

BRO YOU AREN'T GOING TO RUN IN THE POLAR VORTEX? GONNA GO ON A
TREADMILL BRO?

Yeah Bro I am a wus.

There were many morning where I would wake up, look at the weather, and go nope. Or I would go on a treadmill in my building.* And then it would snow. Like all the time. And when it snowed, the snow would last for days. So my ability to do workouts on Rock Creek became a no go. Even if 80% of the trail was cleared, that left 20% of ice. And I wasn't going to risk running a workout on ice and snow. So there were at least three weeks were I was unable to do a workout.

*One amusing treadmill story. The workout room in my apartment is on the top floor. To get on you need access to a key fob. I went to the room at 5:45am. It was dark and cold. I am not really expecting to see anyone in the community/fitness room. I go to the community room and wake up some dude. I am really scared. Oh man am I going to get robbed! (And am I saying that because of his race and that makes me raaaaaacist, maybe?). This guy asks me (please don't kill me!) to let him on the sixth floor. (Oh man!) I let him to the sixth floor and nothing happens. End of story.

Then I would run races. And man did I suck. I got beat by a guy running with his dog. Really I did. I ran a race where at about 100 meters, I knew this was not a good idea. I ran an ok ten miler, but then I ran Cherry Blossom, and that turned into a total bummer. I was hoping to run under 56 and ran just over 57. After that my hamstring was strained and I did easy running that week. And then I went to Charlotte for Spring Break. And that was it. I was going to defer to next year. Training over.

And for the next three weeks I trained for a 10k. That's what I did at the end of training for a marathon. Oh that 10k. It was teeerrrrribbbble. I knew at 2 miles, that I was going to have to grind it out. (SUCH TRUE GRIT). Confidence wasn't so high.

But during Spring Break, I was like "Man I'm feeling good. You know what? I'll train for a 10k, then shift up to the marathon, and see what happens".

/does not realize Spring Break is not working at all

My long runs were:

A) 22 miles that were terrible. It was raining hard, it was cold. I did not enjoy it at all.

B) 20 miles that were so defeating. It was about three weeks before the race. I should not have ran more than 4 miles, but determined to do this. I got to 10 and stopped at a water fountain. I looked at a map, and was wondering if I continued in the direction I was going would I make it back to my apartment in under 20? Nope! I ran back. I stopped to get water at 12. I stopped to cool myself off at the waterfront at 14. It was not fun. But at no point did I flat out stop and walk. I kinda felt, this is like the race. Man up, dawg!

For the entire month of May, let's just say once a weekend...I really took it up another notch in the terms of enjoying myself. Which would leave to wonderful morning runs of feeling like death. Workouts on the weekend. OH I DOUBT IT.

With that all being said, I figured that I could run anywhere from 2:35 to 2:45.

/THAT'S SOME TRUE GRIT CONFIDENCE

I had done a lot of tempo runs at 6 to 6:10 pace. Mile repeats with 1 minute rest at 5:45 to 6 minutes. Yep that's what I had.

THE TRIP
My little friends that I teach, did not behave themselves during art class when I was away, so I left the school in a sour mood. I walked to my apartment to get my stuff, then go to the airport. As I am walking in the hall, I see a woman laying down on the ground. Not passed out. Not saying anything. Just laying down. She was in scrubs or daycare scrubs. Ok, I say to myself. I get my stuff and go. She is now laying down, going to sleep. Like this is something that happens all the time. PETWORTH FTW.  Over the trip I am worried about my apartment being broken in.

I get to Reagan with no problems. Check in. No problems. Get some warm yogurt and granola, no problem. Wait for my plane. The plane I am on is one of those tiny 13 row plane. We have to take a bus to get to our plane. I get to my seat and this woman that was sitting next to me, leaves. Oh yeah I get the back to myself and can stretch out. But someone else comes and I have to share my row.

Get to Vermont and take a taxi to my hotel. Check in and find that I am in the club level. KING OF THE CASTLE! I go to my room and go to the club lounge and eat the finger foods for dinner. I make small talk with the woman that is working there, and am thinking...well...no...save it for the race dawg!

I watch Tower Heist and go to bed.

I wake up early on Saturday, and try to remember the greenway that Jordan and I ran on the last time I was here. I ended up getting kinda lost, but find it. I'm having a good time and I think Joan Benoit Samuleson was running ahead of me there, I'm not sure. I really didn't care all that much. I did 2 miles out and go back to the hotel.

I eat a BIG BREAKFAST at the club level and then come back to my room and work on lesson plans. TRUE WORKING CLASS GRIT. After getting my stuff at the expo and buying some chop blocks, I look to see what I could get for lunch. Without a car, I walk to the nearest supermarket. I pass a Trader Joe's on my walk and go in. **  I walk around and immediately realize this is to smug and not how I roll. I leave. I walk a bit more to Hannifords, buy a sandwich, get some stuff for breakfast and walk back to my hotel.

**When I was in Charlotte when the Trader Joe's first opened near McMullen, I went into it after running on the trail. I wanted to buy a sports drink. I walked around for some time, then yelled out loud WHERE IS THE REGULAR FOOD. Then left and got something at CVS. I do not have a sophisticated palate.

I eat lunch and watch the Champions League final. Went to the club lounge to get some finger foods. I watched the local news. NOT UP TO MY LOFTY ELITE DC STANDARDS. I ordered room service, and ate a good burger and fries. Watched some basketball and went to bed around 9:30.

On Sunday I woke up before my alarm at 5:25. I forgot about Vermont in the morning. It's literally daylight at 5:15. Oh did I oversleep? No I did not. But this is freaking me out.

I eat my bagel and drink some water. Eat a little bar, and get on the shuttle bus around 6:30. Who comes right after that is Aaron. We had talked about running together. Anything from 6:10 to 6:15. We talk about maybe low 6's. Uh not where I am. 6:10-6:15 sounds good for me.

It's probably 7:35 and I go to the bathroom. I see that the lines are about a mile long (est. not 100% accurate). I now have told my internal system that it's a cold brown, so I have to go. I see that it's 7:40, 7:45. Not good. At 7:48 (maybe) I get to the bathroom, and take my time. I get done, rapidly check my bad, and do my warm up to get to the start line. I feel good. I have my chomp blocks, and now get to the start line. I see Aaron and it's go time.

The Race
As we start, I have the overwhelming confidence that I am going to run well. But I am going to run my race. So as Aaron and Meagan run ahead, I check my garmin and see 6:10 pace. That sounds good, it feels good. Now during the first part of the first mile, I think do I want to go run with the lead female pack. I can do that, but I would be spending a lot of energy to get there. It would be great to run with someone during the race. But I don't feel like doing that. I click off 6:10 and then for the second mile is 6:07.

My plan for the chomp blocks was to take 1 every 4 miles. I broke it down that I would take 6. Drink water or gatorade before or after taking the block. Take the race in 4 mile intervals and I would be good to go.

We run back into Main Street, I see Jordan call me out and give him a thumbs up. I am feeling fine. We then run onto the desolate road where there are hardly any fans. I end up running with some guys at this point. We talk about what we want to run. I say 6:10 pace sounds good. They say the same thing. Then they talk about how humid it is. Now these guys were from upstate New York (Syracuse?) or Vermont.   Now I'm from the South and live in DC. I thought the day was a great day for late May. Usually late May was Summer. And the humidity these guys were talking about. Ok, there might be some, but I couldn't tell. I chid them. SOUTHERN HILLBILLY MOCKS YANKEE RUNNERS

After getting some water, we start to slow down and I make the decision to pick it up. We were going like 6:15. Those guys don't stay with me. At the turnaround, I see Aaron and Meagan passing me. I give out encouragements. I go through the 10k at 38:55. About 50 seconds slower than last time. But that race I stopped to do my business twice.

It's at mile 8 where I don't feel good. I'm running into the wind and I'm not feeling great. Uhhh. Is what I'm thinking, I have 18 more miles to go. I feel like I do at mile 18. My other plan was to run a 20 mile warm up and then go the last 10k. But right now the feeling is not great. I'm thinking that it might be a good decision to drop out. Yep. That's right.

I get back to the city and here we run through the little open mall/restaurant area. I then think back to the song that I have been playing to pump me up. "I still believe" by Frank Turner. I sing the parts of the song that I know. And in that moment it changed. The entire race changed. I felt a lot better. I come up to mile 10 and I realize that man, I really don't feel tired at all. I feel really good. I feel fine. I start to realize that I shouldn't be holding back that much. It's time to go. I run with a guy, but he doesn't hang with me. Then I start to think, I'm that guy in the race who comes by and is barreling. I am the person that is running strong and smart.

I start running like this and it's at this point that I see Aaron. I figured that I would catch up to his group at 20, but then realize that it's probably going to be 15. The only hiccup in the race came when my shoe became untied, and I stopped to tie it. That was my slowest mile at 6:20. I hit the half at 1:21 something I am rolling and we get to a little path that goes by the lake, and I realize that I am going to pass Aaron. Maybe talk some trash, but when I get a clear view of his stride, I realize ummm I think positive encouragement are needed.

I then know what is ahead of me. The big hill is coming. I run up the hill and see the second place woman. I also see Jordan about to take a picture. Well this would be a perfect time to photo bomb. I come up on the side, because I was going to pass and try to flash the west side. But I totally do a terrible job. Earning the title of whitest man in America.

After that hill, I wasn't tired and in fact was rolling. At 18 I drop a 5:59 my fastest mile. I tell myself to slow down, and maybe that was a mistake. But I was worried that I get to 20 and the bottom drops. It's at this point where we are running on a straight road, and it's hard to maintain focus, because this is boring, but I power on. I give high fives, smiles when to volunteers. I get to bike path and see a guy and the first place female. To go on the bike path there is a small downhill. I could charge it and pass both, but take it easy. Do I really want to blow up my quads here? No I don't.

At 20 I didn't feel bad, but I could tell that things could be coming, but I could hold it off. On the bike path, it really reminded me of McMullen. But the last part of the park, which isn't that exciting and really boring. I pass the first place female at 22, and I tell her "good job" and she says "ok". I realize she doesn't speak English. She then starts to pace off me. NO FREE RIDES MISS. I drop her and pass two other guys. At 24 I take my last block. I was planning on holding the bag and then throwing it in the crowd when I finish. But I soon realize that I want this race to be over. I'm not really enjoying the race. I'm still on 6:05 pace, but I'm still to be done. I run and I see that the course is straight. I can see forever. I'm about what a half mile to the finish and someone blazes by me. Oh great. I really eased up? It was a relay runner. There was one point where I thought, if I run a sub 18 last 5k I can maybe break 2:40. That's not going to happen. I get to mile 26 and am smiling. I make the last turn and run on the grass. I'm not going to sprint, because I'll be under 2:42 with ease. I am happy. This is great. I finish with a time of 2:41:30. I have no idea what place I was in.

Then this happens:

GUY: How old are you?

Me: 31.

GUY: Oh I thought you were a Master's runner.

I get my medal, plastic thing, and some water. I drink the water, but it taste like metal. I probably am not feeling good. I talk to Meagan. I ask her how she did, even though she dropped out. I didn't want to go, yeah I say you walking cause you dropped out hahahahaha. I'm more polite.

I don't feel that great and go to the bathroom, and that's when I realize I don't feel great. I walk around and go to the bathroom again. And that's when I decide to not be a hero and get a ride back to the medical tent. I feel like death and look like it. I get something in my arm that makes me feel better. I drink some gatorade and eat some oranges. I feel a lot better. A volunteer got my bags and check on my phone to see how I did. 14th overall. Wow!

I feel better. Leave the medical tent and go on a bus back to the hotel.

The night ended with me going out and not drinking that much

AFTERMATH

Well let's look at the stats:
1/2 Marathon 28th place
20 Miles 18th place
Finish: 14th place

Got faster as the race went on. First 10k- 38:55. Final 10k- 38:05

I couldn't fall asleep during the day. It was weird. I didn't feel all that great, but I couldn't sleep. This wasn't my best race, but it was my smartest race. I felt good, but at the same time wasn't so sure if I want to run another marathon again. Like ever. I know what I need to do to go into that extra gear to run fast. But is that something I want to do? If I were to run another one, it would have to fit into my work schedule. To be honest, I'm not going to miss a day of school to run a race. Running isn't that important to me, to miss a day of work.

On Monday, I ran the same trail I did on Saturday. After the run I was looking at the Green Mountains that were in the distance. I was thinking this, you know this is probably the last time I am up here.