Monday, October 24, 2011

Race Plan

The Crackhead has asked those of us running R&R to write a race plan and submit it to him. I thought I'd like to put mine up in my blog so I'll have it to review down the road. I'll share it.

“Our mindset in the moment creates our experience.”
A Race Plan, by Thomas Armbruster

The week of the race coincides with “Month End”, which is a labor intensive, stressful period of time at my job. In order to offset this process and not allow it to overly affect my race week, I will devote a large amount of time on the 1st & 2nd of November to finishing as much as possible before leaving on Thursday the 3rd. When I leave the office to head to Savannah, I will completely check out and leave all of my work at work. I will also use the previous weekend to relax and catch up on any lost sleep. I have been getting 8+ hours as of late and do not feel that lack of sleep will be a factor.

While on taper, my nutritional focus will remain on the healthy side. Good carbs, lean proteins & minimal fats. I am keeping in mind that now that I am tapering, I will not require as many calories. I don’t want to continue eating like I am running 40+ mile weeks when I am NOT running 40+ mile weeks. The week of the race, I intend on “topping off” the carb levels, but not gorging. A little extra good carbs each day, whole wheat pastas, brown rice & quinoa.

I have had my race splits printed out and posted on my cube wall so I see the times and am very familiar with the timing breakdown. I also plan on either making a “timing bracelet” or writing certain splits on my hand for race day.

We will arrive in Savannah on Thursday, we will be staying with my mother in law for the night. 8 hours of sleep.

Friday, before checking into the Westin, I will review the race map and try to drive as much of the course as possible, running the tangents in my mind. I will eat small healthy meals throughout the day, knowing that anything I consume up to 12 hours before the race will be of no use to me. I will get my packet at the expo and lay low for the remainder of the day. I’ve already told my wife I would like to eat dinner early & turn in 9pm at the latest. She may spend some time with friends…I’ll be going to bed.

RACE DAY!
I plan on getting up between 4:30 & 5 am. 16oz of water immediately.
I’ll either get coffee from the lobby or make it in my room, depending on hotel service. ( I will know the answer to this by Friday) This is a pre run ritual. 8-12 oz of coffee with breakfast to “get things moving” Breakfast will be a whole wheat & egg Sammy. Quiet time in the morning to center my thoughts. Review the race map and timing splits. Visualize the course. Run the tangents. Stay centered and “in” each mile.

Shower & prepare to get to the ferry, I will have my race gear laid out the night before. Shorts & short sleeve shirt. Visor. Sunglasses(?) BIB. Do not forget bib. Garmin & HR monitor. Gu’s (2 reg, 2 Rocktane) & a water bottle to drink pre-race.

I would like to leave the island by 6am, I’ll be close enough to the water ferry that I can monitor the lines and decide if I need to cue up early or not. Depending on the weather I may have throw away clothes to wear before the run.

Getting to the staging areas, I will find my corral but not enter. I don’t want to be penned in too early, knowing once I enter I may not be able to leave. Finding out this info will be helpful. This early time is when I will meet up with others and chat. Ideally, I will run a warm up mile with Tom around 7:00am. Follow it up with a few striders to feel the effort, but not too hard. Finish w/u by 7:15 and move into the corral. This is when the focus begins. Visualize the race. Run the tangents. Know there will be times when it hurts and I will want to quit. Make the decision ahead of time that when it happens, I will NOT give in to the pain. Run each mile, one at a time. Remember that “everything changes, the next mile may be different” “Relax & Move” When it gets hard, focus on form. “Relentless Forward Progress.”

Grab a water at every stop. No need to drink entire cup, drink when thirsty.

Just before the race I will say the Serenity prayer and ask for guidance & strength and for everyone to run a safe race within their ability.

Go Time.

Easy, comfortable. Don’t get caught up in the moment and try to jockey for too much position. I can’t win the race in the first mile, but I can blow my race. Remember I have a slow start built into my pacing. 8:19 for the 1st mile, 8:17 & then 8:16. By the time I get to mile 3 I should have plenty of room to run.

Grab a water at every stop. No need to drink entire cup, drink when thirsty.

25 minute 5k. Relax.

Mile 5 – 41:20. Take a GU

Mile 7, 57:42, heading into downtown, enjoy the crowds, smile. Feel the positive energy. Use it to my advantage.

Mile 10 – 1:22:04. Take 2nd GU

Mile 11 1:30:08…full splits from ½’s. I shouldn’t be hurting at this point but will be jealous that all of those people get to go that way and I have to get on the Truman and run all the way the fu@k to Pearl’s Elegant Pelican. It will get lonely. Stay in each mile. Get off the Truman & enjoy running through Daffin Park. Enjoy the crowd. Smile. Positive energy.

Mile 15 2:02:10. Take 1st Roctane. This is the 1st sub 8 mile. We are working now. Relax

Run past SSU. Stay focused. Remember the countless speed sessions you ran with the Hammer at the track. Cuss him out for not being there.(j/k) Stay positive.

Mile 18 2:25:57. Say goodbye to the Marsh. We get to go back into town now. We are still holding in the 7:50’s. Relax and move.

Mile 20 2:41:41 Last Gu. Time to HTFU. This is what we’ve worked for all summer. 40+ mile weeks. Double speed sessions. 160 miles in September. You are ready. Let’s work. One mile at a time.

2:49:30 5 miles left. We will get to see Jim & Stewart’s band. Hopefully this will give a adrenaline push. 40 minutes left.

Remember Hal Higdon’s quote “Concentrate! You can't reach your potential if you drift through your races”

2:57:18 4 miles left - This is going to hurt. We are going under 7:50. HTFU. Fast is sexy.

3:05:05 Less that 30 minutes left.

3:12:50. We get to get off the Truman. 2 miles

3:20:34. Last chance for glory. Leave it all on the course. Feed off the crowd. Pass 5 runners before the turn to the park.

Make a right and leave it out there.

3:29:56

Thursday, October 20, 2011

It's not you, it's me....

I'm going to have to talk with my "other lady" this evening. I need a little space, some time away. A break.

It's not her fault, she is always there for me. Never judging me for what I wear, how I smell, or how much I may sweat on her during our time together. Even though she is constantly causing me pain, I always come out the other side stronger.

I do love her.

However, we've been seeing each other a lot lately. A LOT! Twice a week. More than an hour at a time, sometimes close to two hours. I need a little time to recover.





So, today I make my last trip to the track. Yasso's. 10 x 800 @ 3:28.

Then I break the news. I'm torn. Should I tell her before or after? One last go around for old times sake? Or just tell her and leave, a clean break?

Rock & Roll in 15 days. Bib # 2081; corral # 2!

Let's do this!

Friday, October 7, 2011

Odds & Ends

R&R Savannah is less than a month away! Training is starting to wind down, or maybe I should say it's in full swing??? I still have several key workouts left on the schedule. This weekend I will be running back to back half marathons. Saturday I will run the pacing for the 2nd half of the marathon (goal time 1:42:53) and Sunday I will run the 1st half pacing (goal time 1:47:06). It is still a little wierd to see it on paper. Let's consider a few things: My half marathon PR is 1:48:xx, which I set in March of this year. Soooo, my 2 half mary tests this weekend will be faster than my existing PR. Granted, I know I am currently in better shape, lighter & faster than I was in March, but still! The crackhead has some interesting training ideas.

We will follow up this weekends half mary's with another 3 hour LSR next weekend. The following weekend I will run an 18 mile pace run, following the pacing for the marathon. Then TAPER! At this point we will assess all of the data and decide what my chances are of running a 3:29:59 in Savannah. I'm a little nervous. This is becoming very real. Crunching the data, looking at pacing & HR info - I am real comfortable at a 8:20-8:40 pace. My HR stays real constant in a high Z1, low Z2. An 8:20 doesnt get me sub 3:30. My fitness at 8:00 m/m is rapidly improving, two weeks ago, I ran my last 8:00 min pace run of 10 miles. Avg HR was 146, low to mid Z2. So, it's getting there, the question is will it get there in time?


I had my first running dream last night. Well the first one I can remember in a long time. Seems I was running the Pinhoti 100 miler, which I actually do intend on running in 2012. Well I got to the top of Bald Rock, about 40 miles into the race. At the aid station, we had a cooking challenge! Turns out you had to prepare a dish and present it to the celebrity guest judge before you could continue on. Gordon Ramsey was the guest judge. I prepared a delishious oven roasted Chilean Seabass with a sweet potato puree. I think I also sauteed some squash or cauliflower. It's a little fuzzy. Anyways, Gordon seemed pleased with my offering and gave me 3.5 out of 5?!?! Enough to allow me to continue on with the race. To tie it all together for you, dear reader, I think the key to staying ahead of the sweepers at Pinhoti is to get through Bald Rock before the sun goes down. Going through "Blue Hell" in the dark is incredibly slow. So I think this is why I dreamt about that. Several of my friends will be toeing the line at Pinhoti the same morning I will be toeing the line at R&R. I guess we know where my thoughts are these days.