Oct. 25 - Nice 'n Easy

Ran 4 nice and easy Fri afternoon.  It was really windy; I was running through swirls of leaves at times.  I really held myself back after the quick 6 yesterday.  I am getting really excited for next Sun.  It's going to be a tough week--though an important one.  Getting my diet and sleep schedule on track could pay some big dividends on race day.  

I saw on Facebook that Danny Boy Bent, the organizer of One Run for Boston, is running the NYC marathon and that the Girls Gone Miles team is trying to meet up with him.  That would be a fun reunion.  Maybe too much fun before the race!  I will be trying to coordinate with Becky and Steve and Brian Mora as well in the upcoming days.  I hope I get a chance to see the Race4Chase crew in between all the madness of marathon weekend.  At least everyone will know where I am between 9:40am and 1:40pm next Sunday!

By the way, I checked the current total for pledges and donations via 10004Chase--donations are up to $12,928 and pledges are at $13,188.  Incredible.  Thanks all.

Yesterday's Line:

Date

DoW

ToD

Distance

Time

Min/Mile

Notes

Effort

Total Miles

10/25

F

3:40p

4.0

32:28:00

8:07:00

0

0

1219.3

Oct. 24 - Running Scared

Put two more runs in the book...4.1 on Tu and 6 on Th.  I took the Tu run very easy, trying to stay at my probable marathon pace, 8:30/mi.  I have felt pretty sluggish all week so I was happy to take my foot off the gas.  The pace was very comfortable and I was able to picture myself logging a lot of miles at that pace.  That was basically my goal for the run.

I took Wed off as part of my tapering, and with more nervous energy built up, I decided (against better judgment) to see what a barely comfortable pace was for my run on Th.  I didn't sleep well Wed night (again) so I was pretty tired going into the run, but things clicked at the start and I ripped off 6 miles at 7:14/mi.  I normally would be very happy with a run like this, but during a taper it concerns me a little.  I probably should dial the pace back quite a bit right now.  I think my lack of really hard training has me running a little scared and looking for runs that build confidence going into the marathon.  At some point it runs like these will actually impair performance on race day.  I should probably stay over 8 min/mi the rest of the way.

As for sponsors for the big race, let's give it up for Len Gutman!  Len has traveled from NYC to many Race4Chase events in CT, and sponsored a large chunk of my 1,000 miles.  He has now donated another 3 miles (he'll share miles 22-24) and also fulfilled his pledge to sponsor 32 miles after completing his walk around Manhattan (yes, he finished all 32 miles, in less than 10 hours).  And he continues to support me and Race4Chase as you can see from his recent email:

Hi Kevin,

I've completed the 32 ml walk around Manhattan on the 28th in 9 hrs 46 mins which was below my goal of 10 hrs. Thus I will be sponsoring another 32 miles as I stated before.
I likely will be not able to cheer you up in person at NY Marathon onNov 3 as I will in Milan but I will do a 3 mile run there on Nov 3 in solidarity with NY marathon and your effort.

All the best

LG

Thanks Len!

Recent Lines:

Date

DoW

ToD

Distance

Time

Min/Mile

Notes

Effort

Total Miles

10/22	Tu	3:40p	4.1	34:27:00	8:27:52	0	0	1209.3
10/23	W	0	0.0	0:00:00	0:00:00	0	0	1209.3
10/24	Th	1:35p	6.0	43:24:00	7:14:00	0	0	1215.3

Oct. 21 - Regaining the Mental Edge

Sorry for the Tony Robbins-esque title, but it accurately describes the impact of my run on Sat Oct 19.  Since my last blog entry, I had a very easy 4.4 mile run Th morning, an inspiring 13.1 mile run on Sat and a light 4.1 mile jog on Mon.  Two weeks out from the marathon, I limited my long run to a half marathon, and decided to run at a challenging but not debilitating pace.  I ran the Colchester Half Marathon course which as I've noted before is very hilly.  I felt strong the entire run, coming in at 7:45/mi, well ahead of my 8:00/mi goal.  The best mile was #13, up hill, in 7:39.

The challenging part now is to use this run correctly on race day.  The run definitely mitigates the 18.7 mile downer from Fri Oct 11 (I bonked badly).  However, like most marathoners, my trouble zone is the last file miles of the race (21-26) and a strong 13 mile run doesn't tell you much about how prepared you are for that part of the race.  I would love to target 8 min/mi for the marathon, and the half on Sat temps me to think about that pace, but a better barometer was the 21 miler I did on Sun Sept 29 (8:44/mi).  I ran very comfortably on a hilly course and finished with gas in the tank.  That leads me to believe 8:30/mi is a fair target pace.  This would equate to a 3:42 marathon finish.

For those who just navigated the last two paragraphs, congratulations on surviving the rant of runner during the two-week taper before the race.  With the race this close, and now dialing back on miles, I am left with a lot of nervous energy about the big day, which in my case has me constantly thinking about the right pace.  Ellie may demand that I put a dollar in the jar every time I say "minutes per mile".

To refocus on the more important matter for a moment, here's the update on sponsors:

Mile 1: Linda Krosky-Molfetta
Mile 2: Betty Dillon
Miles 3-7: Amy Shelin Primorac
Miles 8-17: Terry Quinn
Mile 18: Kelly O'Hara Cota
Miles 19-21: Vicki Pernek
Mile 22-23: Vin Lyon-Callo/Len Gutman
Mile 24: Jennifer Iaccarino/Len Gutman
Miles 25-26: Juli Giampaolo Soracin

total raised $280 + my $260 match = $540

Thanks everyone!

Recent Lines:

Date

DoW

ToD

Distance

Time

Min/Mile

Notes

Effort

Total Miles

10/17	Th	7:30a	4.4	38:39:00	8:50:40	0	0	1188.0
10/18	F	0	0.0	0:00:00	0:00:00	0	0	1188.0
10/19	Sa	9:45a	13.1	1:41:50	7:45:21	0	0	1201.1
10/20	Su	0	0.0	0:00:00	0:00:00	0	0	1201.1
10/21	M	3:50p	4.1	31:06:00	7:38:29	0	0	1205.2

Oct. 16 - Two Rights Make a Wrong?

The hectic pace of life became readily apparent to me on Wed when I reached in my gym bag for my running shoes and found two different shoes.  This wouldn't have been enough to cancel my run but for the fact that they were both right foot shoes.  (And I still contemplated getting the run in for a minute or two).

I have been meaning to buy new shoes in time to break them in for the NYC marathon, but haven't found time over the last few weeks (see first sentence).  The double right shoe incident finally pushed me over the edge.  I guess I just didn't want to retire the shoes that carried me over a 1,000 very special miles this year.

I broke the new shoes in with a 4.6 mile run which started at dusk and ended in the dark (see first sentence).  I had to introduce the new puppies to the Day Pond Loop!

Today's (Wed) Line:

Date

DoW

ToD

Distance

Time

Min/Mile

Notes

Effort

Total Miles

10/16

W

6:30p

4.6

36:46:00

8:04:50

0

0

1183.6

Tough to run on two right shoes! 

Thanks for 1,000+ great miles

Ready to take on the next 1,000

Oct. 15 - Comeback Trail

I took Sat off after the Fri long-run debacle.  Sunday was a challenge as I had Jets tickets and met up with some pretty experienced tailgaters who were not interested in any food on a runner's training table.  I was able to sneak in a 3.2 mile run down and back up Turkey Roost Road in Monroe where I stayed Sat night.  It was a pretty slow run (8:14 min/mi.) but I was happy to be back out on the road with glycogen back in my system.

I took Monday off to recover from tailgate-related system shock.  Badly in need of a confidence-boosting run, I went out Tue morning feeling pretty strong.  I ran fairly hard and was able to put in a good 8 miles at 7:39, which was good enough to feel like I have recovered from Fri and am back on track.  I am tempted to put in a strong long run this weekend but I have to resist the impulse as anything over 15 miles could impact me on race day.  I'm thinking 13 max.

I saw Becky and Steve and the Race4Chase crew at the Newtown Pumpkin Festival Sat. night.  The team had the R4C tent set up and was very active in organizing raffles, events, etc.  Chris Portolese did a great job moving the Mums, even if strong-arm tactics were necessary.  Dawn Evanko did a great job taking photos and Juli G ran the sack race.  The Orzo's handled multiple activities as well as overall planning.  I'm sure I'm leaving out a lot of people who dedicated their day to the event--it was another great showing by the R4C team.  I left feeling a little guilty because all I did was look at the pumpkins, keep an eye on my daughter Shea and eventually cave when Chris offered me the deal of a lifetime on a Mum.

Recent Lines:

Date

DoW

ToD

Distance

Time

Min/Mile

Notes

Effort

Total Miles

10/13	Su	7:15a	3.2	26:43:00	8:14:45	0	0	1171.1
10/14	M	0	0.0	0:00:00	0:00:00	0	0	1171.1
10/15	Tu	7:15a	8.0	1:01:10	7:38:45	0	0	1179.1

Oct. 11 - Uh Oh! Long Run Bonk at the Wrong Time!

I was fired up today for a 21.5 mile run from my office in Glastonbury to my house in Colchester.  I mapped out back roads that mostly paralleled Rt. 2, put in for a half day, got dropped off at work by Ellie and hoped for clear skies.  The first six miles were a breeze, but the next three were up some pretty challenging hills in So. Glastonbury.  Despite the hills, I kept it together until about the 16.5 mile mark in Colchester when I hit another doozy.  From there it was survival mode, and unfortunately I was totally spent at 18.6 miles and decided to cut my losses there.  Not the inspiring final long run I was looking for before the big race.  Still, I am encouraged by a few things.  First, I had a very strong 21 mile run two Sundays ago; I am still bouncing back from a cold that knocked me out for three days last week; and most importantly, I'll be running for Chase on the big day.

It's been a tough evening but I am finally booting back up after the tough run.  Though I'll be tapering over the next few weeks hopefully I'll have a few strong runs to get the mental piece where it belongs.

Also inspiring is the response to my request on Facebook for $10 sponsors for each marathon mile.  The following people have stepped up right away:

Linda Krosky Molfetta - $20 - Miles 1 & 2
Betty Dillon - $10 - Mile 3
Juli Giampaolo Soracin - $20 - Miles 25 & 26 (because she wants to own the painful miles--nice!)
Amy Primorac - $50 - Miles 4-8
Terry Quinn - $100 - Miles 9-18
Vicki Pernek - $30 - Mies 19-21

What a response!  Only miles 22-24 are left--we may have to double up!

Today's Line:

Date

DoW

ToD

Distance

Time

Min/Mile

Notes

Effort

Total Miles

10/11

F

2:15p

18.7

2:49:34

9:05:14

0

0

1167.8

Oct. 11 - The Baton Has Been Passed - Way To Go Alexis!

Alexis Garrity, the 11-year-old girl who asked her Mom to take her from the 1,000 mile finale at Chalk Hill to Bethel High to retrieve the Race4Chase baton, has completed her race in Florida.  Congrats Alexis.  This was Alexis's first race, as she describes in the following comment she posted to the blog yesterday:

My name is Alexis Garrity. I found the baton at Bethel High School and completed my first 5k and have passed on the baton. I did the Disney Haunted 5k Trail run at Disneyworld in Florida. This was the first time I ever did a race and it was harder than I thought. The biggest challenge was that part of the race was on dirt and grass so I had to actually walk some of it. After the race we went back to our hotel and I went looking for someone to give the baton to. I could not find anyone that me or my mom thought we should give it to. So my mom suggested we take it back home to St. Augustine and give it to someone we knew. I gave it to a lady named Rachel Delaney. She was very happy to have it. Thank you for doing the baton I had alot of fun doing the race. I never would have done the race if it was not for the baton. Alexis Garrity

Being inspired by Chase to run her first race--this is what Race4Chase is all about!  The whole Race4Chase team is proud of you Alexis--you took charge and got the baton, ran your first race, and then passed it on to let Chase's spirit touch a family friend.  We couldn't ask for a better way to start the baton's journey.  Next time you are in Connecticut, maybe you can swing by Camp Tepee to see if there is another baton waiting for a kind soul like you???  :)

I squeezed in a 4 mile run late in the afternoon.  I have one more long run to go before I start to taper, and it may be overly ambitious, but today's plan is for Ellie to drop me off for work in Glastonbury and for me to run home starting about 2pm.  The course I've mapped out covers 21.5 miles.  I thought I might have an out as the weather (as of yesterday) forecast called for a lot of rain, but this morning I hear that the storm is bypassing CT and taking one of my excuses with it.  We'll see if I come up with another decent one in the next few hours!

Yesterday's Line:

Date

DoW

ToD

Distance

Time

Min/Mile

Notes

Effort

Total Miles

10/10

Th

3:15p

4.0

31:09:00

7:47:15

0

0

1149.2

Alexis Garrity finishing her first 5K 

Oct. 10 - Catching Up!

Life has presented some real challenges in keeping up with running and blogging this month, but I believe I am at least on track to finish the NYC Marathon on Nov. 3.  Work and family demands have really made the running window pretty tight, and then last week I got a cold that knocked me out for four days.  Nonetheless, I put a 21-miler in two Sunday's ago, and only had to compromise last week's 12 miler into 8.  I plan to put in a final long run of 23 miles this weekend (though the schedule looks tight yet again!).  If I can get this run in, I'm looking at a 12 miler next weekend and then a taper for two weeks to power up for the big day.

When I trained for the Cox Marathon in Providence in May of 2012, I had the time to put in some decent speed and hill work, and went out looking for a somewhat far-fetched time of 3:15 (about 7:27 min/mi).  I was on pace at the 20 mile mark but fell apart over the last 6 miles, finishing in just over 3:30.  I have been completing my long runs in the mid to high 8's, so I think a fair expectation for NYC is 8:45-9 min/mi., which would bring me in around 3:45-3:55.  I wish I could gear up and try to qualify for Boston at 3:25 but the training hasn't been there this time.  However, I am really looking forward to the experience and, because I'm running for Chase, my motivation will be sky-high.

I have been a little skittish about seeking more donations after the Race4Chase team's incredible generosity during the 1,000 miles for Chase.  I think I'll send out something on Facebook seeking $10 sponsors for each mile with a matching pledge.  That way we can put another $500+ in the Race4Chase coiffeurs.  I just hope people understand how appreciative I am of their support during the 1,000 mile journey and that I understand the difficulty of reaching back into cookie jar (unless there are cookies in it).

I would also like to proudly report that Alexis Pernek has completed her run at Disney in Florida and has passed the Race4Chase baton off to a friend.  I've asked Vicki Pernek if Alexis is willing to share her story here on the blog so look out for a baton update soon.  Mystery still surrounds the baton left at Camp Tepee--no word on its whereabouts yet.

Running Log Update:

Date

DoW

ToD

Distance

Time

Min/Mile

Notes

Effort

Total Miles

9/23	M	2:00p	4.0	31:00:00	7:45:00	0	0	1083.2
9/24	Tu	1:45p	4.0	29:29:00	7:22:15	0	0	1087.2
9/25	W	7:10a	8.0	1:01:59	7:44:52	0	0	1095.2
9/26	Th	0	0.0	0:00:00	0:00:00	0	0	1095.2
9/27	F	6:35p	4.5	36:14:00	8:06:21	0	0	1099.7
9/28	Sa	0	0.0	0:00:00	0:00:00	0	0	1099.7
9/29	Su	10:00a	21.0	3:03:33	8:44:26	0	0	1120.7
9/30	M	0	0.0	0:00:00	0:00:00	0	0	1120.7
10/1	Tu	6:30p	4.0	29:02:00	7:15:30	0	0	1124.7
10/2	W	2:00p	4.0	33:15:00	8:18:45	0	0	1128.7
10/3	Th	0	0.0	0:00:00	0:00:00	0	0	1128.7
10/4	F	0	0.0	0:00:00	0:00:00	0	0	1128.7
10/5	Sa	0	0.0	0:00:00	0:00:00	0	0	1128.7
10/6	Su	11:40a	4.5	34:24:00	7:37:39	0	0	1133.2
10/7	M	0	0.0	0:00:00	0:00:00	0	0	1133.2
10/8	Tu	7:00a	8.0	1:07:02	8:22:45	0	0	1141.2
10/9	W	2:15p	4.0	29:51:00	7:27:45	0	0	1145.2