Brice's Race

South Park, felt good, went hard

This run hurt

REST (Felt very run down today)

Ran at South Park and felt great.  total time was 45:30 and the pace was hard but I do feel I could have definitly pushed it more

Ran an easy 4 miles today and felt really good.  I have been trying to adjust my diet, adding more proteins, fruits and veggies. Can anyone recommend a good muscle recovery drink or supplement?  I used to take Endurox but am open to new things.  Now I know I am not pilling on the miles yet but I do plan on getting there and want to get into a good healthy routine as soon as possible.

Ran a new loop around my house, kinda hilly but a pretty nice run.  Felt good the whole way though.  

No running today, to busy and could not squeeze it in : (

Had the rare opportunity to get out of school early today so decided to take advantage of the extra time and great weather and go for an easy 6 miles, or at least that was the intention.  I felt great at the end of the 6 so decided to go an extra 2 to make it an even 8.  I was a little worried that this may be to much to soon but 2 hours later, I feel completely fine, as if I ran the easy 6 as intended.

Did a super easy 6 miles with the jogging stroller tonight. Felt fine but the run was a bit stressful.  Ivy, my daughter hasn't been in the jogger all winter and it seems it may take some time for her to learn to like it again.  The entire run (including stops to pick up shoes and give snacks) took a little over 54 minutes.  

Ran an easy 2 1/2 to a local high school and felt really good so decided to see what I could do on the track so I ran 2 quick miles with a 400 in between.  The first mile was 6:32 and the second 6:53.  I then jogged home.  All in all felt pretty good.  Total time out was 55:18

Went for my long run today and wasn't sure what to exspect since I have not run this distance in a long time.  My goal was to go out easy and just see how I felt.  I tried to stay between 7:30 - 8:00 MPM again because I wasn't sure what I was capable of.  The first few miles went by in a breeze and I felt better after running them then I did before.  I decided to pick the pace up just a little and was able to stay around the 7:30 mark for the next few miles.  No idea what happened mile 7, I think I may have subconciously been taking it easy to prepare for the last 3 miles.  Mile 8 felt good and I decided to try and finish strong and was very surprised by the times.  I felt fast but not that fast.  I even went back in my head to make sure I didn't mess up some where with my watch.  The course I run is competly flat however.  Anyway good run overall, great confidence booster for me too.

Mile 1 - 7:46
Mile 2 - 15:41 (7:54)
Mile 3 - 23:59 (8:17)
Mile 4 - 32:05 (8:06)
Mile 5 - 39:24 (7:19)
Mile 6 - 46:57 (7:32)
Mile 7 - 55:02 (8:04)
Mile 8 - 1:02:48 (7:46)
Mile 9 - 1:09:44 (6:56)
Mile 10 - 1:16:37 (6:53)

Sneaked out of school during our last period to try and get my miles in today.  Ran 6, wanted to stay at 7:30 for the entire run but the track team came out half way through the run so I ran with them.  They were really pushing my pace and I guess my pride got in the way so my moderately easy run turned into a nice tempo run.  Total time for the 6 was 45:08

7:31

7:24

8:59 (Ran with track kids for a warm up)

7:18

7:16

6:47
 

Ran a slow and easy 6 today with my daughter in the jogger.  I felt fine and definitly could have pushed the pace but thought I was due for a slow paced run. I actually really enjoyed the too, it was a beautiful spring Pittsburgh day and it was great being outside.  After the run we went to the playground and then walked over and saw some horse's.  Good times.  total time for the 6 was 50:05. 

Ran a nice 6 miles today around my house.  I felt great, probably the best I have felt in a very long time.  My legs felt loose, my strides long, my upper body strong and my breathing comfortable.  And I have made it half way through this crazy busy week and haven't missed a day of running.  Tomorrow and Friday are going to be tricky but I think I should be all right.  Total time for the 6, (47:05)

Easy 6, no watch but i am guessing under an hour.

Quick and easy 6.  Played basketball later that night and think I got a deep tissue contusion in my upper thigh : (

Leg is still really hurting, tried to run a little but leg just was not cooperating, today was supposed to be my long run of 10.

Jogged 2 miles on the track.  My thigh was still hurting and I didn't want to push it.  I think I should be back on track by tomorrow.

Ran 6 miles on the track.  Leg is feeling better but I am still a little paranoid about aggravating it more.  It felt fine and I iced it after the run.  Total time for the run 47:05.  I should be on pace to get my 40 miles this week.

Had a nice run today.  Wanted to run 7 miles and got in a little more then that.  It was a great night for running, light cool rain.  It was one of those runs that seemed to fly by, despite it taking 1:04:40.  My leg is feeling 100% back to normal.  I am still trying to keep it easy just in case.  

Ran an easy 6 with the jogging stroller, total time 50:54.

Ran the same route I ran on Wednesday, I really like this run, it has some nice hills and seems to feel slot shorter then it is.  I slowed down a little however from earlier this week.  Total time 1:05:33.  Body felt fine the entire run.

Did a flat 11 miles, took it easy since this is the longest I have run in awhile.  Felt great the entire time and had seemingly no problems recovering.  Total time was 1:31:56. 

My usual slightly longer run and did the 7.68 in just under 1 hour took me (59:30). I had to drop my car off to get inspected later in the evening and decided to run home from the shop, just a little over a mile.

Quick 6, same old route, felt fine.  total time 45:54

This was a great run, not because of the time or the distance but because of the night.  It was one of those rare, cool yet sunny Pittsburgh spring evenings where the sun just seem to hang in the sky for ever.  I was going to try and keep the pace quick tonight but instead just ran and enjoyed the time.  I still managed to run the 7.68 in 1:01:48.

Ran 6 on the track before work.  Took it easy, the first 5 miles were almost exactly 8:00 min each, I did pick it up a little the last mile and finished in in just over 7:00 min.

Because of the holiday weekend I was forced to do my long run today, it actually worked out better this way, I found a new route near where I work and felt great running.  I was actually hoping to get in 12 miles today but was unable to because of time, this run got me in trouble for taking to long as it was.  anyhow, did the run in 1:27:14 on an almost entirely flat course minus some city steps I had to climb.

Super easy 6 miles today, felt fine but wanted to do a recovery run so I made myself go easy.  Total time 53:51.

Ran this evening in the hot, humid, summer weather that is Pittsburgh.  I felt strong and pushed the pace a little, total time 58:30 with the first half split at 29:55 and the second at 28:35.  I need to find the exact miles for this run.

 GO PENS
 

Same old course, felt fine but took it easy and enjoyed the evening. Total time1:05:35.

an easy / stressful 6 miles with the jogging stroller.  My daughter was not feeling this run tonight and screamed for the last 2 miles : (  Total time 48:45. 

Easy 6, felt very sluggish tonight, total time 49:25

Ran this morning, took it easy because I am still feeling sluggish and am going with my school to are Kennywood day (amusement park in western PA) and will be walking all day long.

This run sucked :(  It was kind of my own fault though.  I chose to go during my daughters nap, which is at 1:00 PM.  It was cool and rainy when I made the decission to run at that time and of course, when I left my house the sun decided to pop out and heat up all of that morning rainy into a humid hot and hazy mess.  On top of that I underestimated the length and steepness of the hills on the course I plotted.  Needless to say it wasn't a pretty run.  I actually felt fine despite all of the above for the first 8 miles, it was that last 4 that almost killed me.  I did complete the run but would have liked to have a better outing.  I know physically I am capable of much more under better circumstances.  Better luck to me next week : )

This is my week to increase my milage.  I was going to try and get 50 in this week but I think I may plug away another 45 mile week.  Last week I felt sluggish all week and my recovery seemed a little slower then usual.  So I think I may keep it where I have it for another week and focus on getting more sleep and simply taking better care of myself.  

 With that said, I did my normal 7.68 route in 1:01:10, with the last mile in 6:15.  I felt much better today than I have.
 

Ran tonight in the rain.  I love running in the rain.  I know I said yesterday that I was going to take this week to get more sleep and take better care of myself but those darn PENS in their triple overtime win last night messed that up.  Hopefully the Pens can win game 6 tonight in a little quicker fashion. 

 Anyway, total time 48:37 with the last mile in 5:49 (Last mile is slightly downhill most of the way).  Felt great tonight but must get some sleep : )
 

Easy 6 miles again in the hazy, hot, and humid days of Pittsburgh.  total time 50:46

Had the best intentions on running tonight after my wife came home from work but her schedule was messed up and she ended up staying until very late.  Since its not a good idea to leave your baby home alone and since I was pretty much useless at 11:50 when she got home I had to put up a big old Goose Egg today.  This is the first day I have missed since I started running again and have used this blog, I am kind of disappointed, I was being very consistent to this point.  Such is life I guess, at least I was planning on keeping it easy this week.

Ran this morning on the track at the high school I work at.  Did 6 miles and tried to push the pace a little since I missed yesterday and felt rested.  Here are my splits:

Mile1: 7:55

Mile 2: 7:33

Mile3: 7:25

Mile4: 6:48

Mile5: 7:43 (Not sure what happened here)

Mile6: 6:11

Not the fastest times in the world but they felt good and minus the humidity (it was 82 degrees at 5:45 this morning) it was an absolutly stunning morning.  The fog on the football field and the sun rising over the city, made me wonder why I don't get up early more often.
 

I think I ran 6 miles today, I was away rafting on the New River Gorge in West Virgina. I didn't really have a course mapped out so I ran for 50 minutes, I figured that had to be about 6 miles.  If any one is over this way and looking for something fun you should check this place out.

Same as yesterday

Ran my normal 6 easy because it is a million degrees in Pittsburgh, (Record highs today) and I am a big baby when it comes to heat.  Total time 48:51.

Tough getting out to run again this week between my wife's birthday, vacation, and finishing the school year.  Next week I am done with school and should be able to get back into my routine.  Not sure of my time, I ran on the school track and had forgot my watch.

Away on vacation so the next weeks entries are late and somewhat accurate :)

Away on vacation so the next weeks entries are late and somewhat accurate :)

Away on vacation so the next weeks entries are late and somewhat accurate :)

Away on vacation so the next weeks entries are late and somewhat accurate :)

Away on vacation so the next weeks entries are late and somewhat accurate :)

Back home and trying to get back on a normal routine 

Back home and trying to get back on a normal routine

 Total time 48:02
 

Ran this morning and felt pretty good.  I am going to try and become a morning runner now that school is out and I have a little more flexability with my schedule. 

Total time: 50:54

6 miles in the hot humid Pittsburgh air, good times : )

Total time 47:58

Ran again this morning I am still not loving the morning runs but I do love how much it opens my days up for other things. 

 Total time 1:05-ish (Watch is up in bedroom and my wife is asleep)
 

Ran my long run this morning and have to say it felt really good.  I took it easy because I have not run a good long run in a few weeks but could have picked the pace up if I wanted to. 

Total time 1:37:04  (My goal was 1:36) 

Ran 8 flat miles at South Park this morning and felt really good.  No official time, left watch at home because I was rushing to get out the door.

5.5 with the jogging stroller on a fairly hilly course.  This run felt like a lot longer then it actually was, that jogger makes those hills a lot less friendly.

Nice run tonight, went my normal route and added a little onto the end.  I wanted to do just 8 but it turned out the road I used to turn around at was a bit farther.  felt really good tonight.  Total time 1:04:44. 

Wanted to run 8 today but when I woke up my legs were very tight and I had small tweaks of pain right below my knees.  I waited to run later this evening and ended up only doing 6 easy. Total time was 56:13.  The pains in my knees kind of went away during the run as well as the tightness. 

Wow, I forgot how it feels to run "fast". With all of this distance training the past few weeks it was nice to go out and race a shorter faster race. With that said I am kind of disappointed in my not so fast time. I was really hoping to be closer to the 19 minute mark but am happy I was able to get under 20. My first mile was in 6:22 and felt slower then that because the strating line was a little hecktic. Mile two was 6:37 and this is when I started to feel the humidity. I did not see a mile marker for the third mile but finished the last leg in 6:54. That last mile I think shows that I need to run a few more races or find some people in my area to push me a little more during training runs so I can get used to running at a quicker pace.

I also ran a mile warm up and a mile cool down with 4-ish easy miles later this evening to round out my mileage for today.

Not sure of places yet, I didn't stick around after the race to long to see them and they haven't been posted online yet.

Did my long run this morning, same 12 mile course I ran last Saturday.  I think this week of higher miles and faster pace caught up with me, my total time was 1:44:27.  I feel I had a great week of training and am hoping to be able to keep this pace up for the next few weeks.  I also have confirmed the marathon I am going to do.  It will be the Columbus Ohio marathon on October 19th.  Any suggestions on training from now until then would be greatly welcome. 

Ran 8 in 1:08:09 this morning and then walked 18 holes of golf.  fun day : )

ran a quick 6 miles this morning.

So today ended up being my long run, kind of by accident too. So I have been looking for a group to run with lately and the only group I found with my quick google search that didn't meet on a day that my wife works was today. A group from a local running shoe store who do tempo work at a local track. I wasn't sure what they did and wanted to make sure I was still able to get my miles in for the day so I ran the 3 miles easy to the track. Once there I met some great guys who are very active runners and we proceeded to do 16, 400's with a 20 second break between reps and a 400 easy jog after each 4. After a mile warm up I got in with the top group and our splits went something like this,

1:24 - 1:27 - 1:29 - 1:28 = mile one: 5:48

1:28 - 1:29 - 1:31 - 1:28 = mile two: 5:56

1:24 - 1:29 - 1:25 - 1:28 = mile three: 5:46

1:30 - 1:31 - 1:31 - 1:25 = mile four: 5:56

I then cooled down with the 3 mile run back to my house. Tough day but it did really feel good to run with people and to run fast.

took today off and am going to run Sunday in its place.  I am planing on doing 8 on Saturday and Sunday which should round out my week at 50 miles : )

Ran my basic 8 mile route

Ran a flat 8 miles today at South Park in the middle of the days heat.  I did it in 1:01:05.

Pretty easy 8 miles, time was 1:09:42

Ran the course I usually run but added a little to the end to up the miles, total time 1:15:35 with a 7:06 mile on mile number 8 because I was feeling really good.

ran 3miles to the local track today with the intent to just jog a few miles on the flat track and then run home.  I ended up doing 2 quicker miles on the track and felt great doing them.  below are the times:

miles1-3:    -   25:50

mile 4:   -   6:34

mile 5:   -   8:55 (jogged as a cool down)

mile 6:   -   6:18

miles 7-9:    -    24:17 

Total time:    -  1:10:54

I ran with the running group in my neighborhood again tonight and we did repeat 800's with 400 recovery laps in between.  I did a 1 mile warm up and a 2 mile cool down as well.

Times:

#1     -    2:43

#2     -    2:43

#3     -    2:44

#4     -    2:47

#5     -    2:48

#6     -    2:51

Felt pretty good trough out the workout.

Easy 8 mile run

This is the longest run I have done in at least 10 years. I felt really good considering it was 95 degrees out.

Total time: 2:22:36 

easy jog today, busy weekend and tough run yesterday so I am taking it easy.

1000 repeats:

#1   -   3:37

#2   -   3:42

#3   -   3:37

#4   -   3:35

#5   -   3:31

total 55:14

6 on track, total time 41:55

800 repeats:

#1 - 2:56

#2 - 3:10

#3 - 2:43

#4 - 2:53

#5 - 2:59

#6 - 3:04

total time 1:13:00

easy run tonight total time 46:06

total time 2:12:59 which is 9 minutes faster then the last time I ran this course.  I am hurting a bit now.

2 mile warm up and 2 mile cool down,

 800's on track with 400 recovery

#1   -   2:45

#2   -   2:45

#3   -   2:46

#4   -   2:41

#5   -   2:51

#6   -   2:49

total time 57:09

Best time for this course by almost 2 minutes : ) 

total time 46.53

total time   -   2:55.33   -   longest run to date, felt pretty good considering the distance.  Took a powerbar gel think at about mile13, 1:40 minutes-ish.

On vacation again so miles will probably be down this week.  Ran 2 miles on the tredmil tonight and swam for about 15 minutes Michael Phelps style.

ran 10 on vacation during our daughters nap

easy run today

morning run on the track before school.  45:55

8 miles slow tonight, think I may be getting sick :(

forgot watch but took it easy

Ran with a female friend and we finished the somewhat hilly course in

2:53: and some change.  Felt good the entire time but had some knee (IT

Band) pains when I finished.  Probably from my sporadic training as of

late.  Doesn't feel like it is serious, going to take some extra time

to stretch and maybe cut miles a tad on Monday to feel it out. 

Marathon only 3 weeks away : )

Still had a little IT pains so took it easy on the track.  Got a new pair of racing flats, the Nike Lunarlite's and wanted to test them out too.  Nice shoes.

6 on track

6 on track

6 on track, still babying the IT band 

easy on track, just wanted to see how the IT band is holding out, so far so good, looks like I will be ready for race this weekend :)

So I did it, my first marathon total time (3:21:14).  It was everything I thought it would be too, exciting, exhilarating, adventurous, painful and rewarding.  So here are the details for those of you who wish to read.

The Day before:

We arrived in Columbus the day before the race and checked into our hotel room, it was myself, my wife, our 2 year old daughter and my wife's sister who was running the half marathon.  We went up with a group of friends who were also staying in the same hotel as us.  To make a long story short there were a total of 8 adults and 9 children under the age of 5.  This made for a stressful day before, especially when we all tried to do diner together.  The positive in all of this was that it wore me out enough that I had no problem sleeping that night.

The Race:

The race started at 7:30 on a chilly Ohio morning, 45 degrees.  The start was one of my favorite parts, just the sheer number of people, the pre-race excitement, and the music set a great tone for the day.  It seemed to go by to quickly and before long we were off.  After much debate I decided to run with the 3:20 pace group and for the first 2 miles I thought I may have made a bad decision because the pace seemed very quick.  After those first two however I was able to calm myself down and get into a nice groove.  The people I ran with were great and I got to chat with allot of different people for a good 6 to 8 miles.  The first hour seemed to fly by.  I felt great, I was planning on staying with the pace group until at least the half way point and then if I felt good try and pick up the pace a little.  I felt great at mile 10 and when I got pushed ahead of the pace group trying to grab a drink I decided to stay there.  This may have been a mistake in the long run.  The next ten miles went by very well and I was able to pick almost 2:00 minutes on the pace group.  At around mile 20 I started to feel some soreness in my calves, not pain, just soreness.  I pushed on.  Around mile 22 I felt 2 blisters form on the bottom of my feet near my big toes.  Again I pushed on.  At mile 24 I felt like I wanted to die.  I have never wanted to quit anything more in my life then I did at this point, luckily I was able to get it together and again, I pushed on.  I finished a little behind my pace group, but with a time I am happy with.  I truly feel that I did the best I could have given the training I did.  Looking back and critiquing the race the only thing I would have liked to have done differently was to have stuck with my plan of staying with the pace group until the half way point.  I think if I would have done this I could have finished under 3:20.  Oh well, live and learn.

All in all it was a tremendous first experience and one I will remember always.  I thank all of you on this site who have supported me with training advice, injury help, and moral support.  I look foreword to posting more marathon reports on this site as I continue to run.

Official report:

None today, legs still pretty sore and I have a pesky blister under my big toe.

No running again today, legs feel much better but this pesky blister under my big toe is really making it hard to move around.  

still blistered :(

today is the first day that I think I could run on my blisters but my wife is working late so can't get out.  Maybe tomorrow 

Went out to run 6 and at about the 2.5 mile mark my IT area started to hurt so I walked it in.

tried running again but leg (IT band) was acting up. I am going to make a massage appointment later this week. It really helped last time.

I am 30 today :)

5 miles easy on track, IT band still an issue

2.5 easy on track, IT band hurt a lot this morning 

So I am back running again, well sort of, our 2nd child is do next week so I am guessing after he arrives I will be out for a little while again : )

 Anyhow, did an 8 mile trail race yesterday at South Park in the snow and bitter cold.  Total time 1:31:14

 Ran with some friends trainning for an ultra and had a great time.

NB 100 (11miles)

ran 2 miles with wrestling team around the school.

NB 100 (13miles)

Ran on track tonight 

(NB 100, 18 miles)

8 miles on some muddy and snowy trails :)

(NB 100, 26 miles)

ran 6 on the snow covered track in about an hour (watch is lost).  Only one out there so it was very cool making lap after lap of footprints.

 (NB 100, 32 miles)