Clearly I have been AWOL...

So, although it has been a little over 5 months since my last post but it has not been 5 months since I last ran!

Although I had my usual hiatus after the San Diego Marathon I actually got back into action pretty quickly. As a surprise for my birthday my wife planned a trip to New York and the timing was great for a favorite race of mine; the New York Half Marathon.

I had run this race its first 2 years and enjoyed it immensely. The course is exciting; a lap of Central Park and then a chance to run through Times Square. Having been a NYC runner for several years on congested sidewalks, the opportunity to run through Times Square is too good to turn down.

Signing up for the race last minute had its own challenges; I went from pretty minor training to running 10 miles nearly overnight! I had no expectations to perform too well of course, aside from the lack of training we'd also be travelling across the country with a sick 1 yr old and NYC was enjoying some of its famous humidity!

That said, the race was a blast. I ran the first 6 miles or so with my old NYC running buddy Tim. Unfortunately he had a chest infection and dropped off the strong pace we'd started at so the second half of the course was just me and my thoughts!

The NYC crowds at races are fantastic, they really energize the runners. Despite all the factors against me I actually managed to finish in 1h42m16s which was only 26 seconds slower than my best half marathon performance! Tim was able to push through despite having breathing difficulties and finished just a couple of minutes behind me.

Since returning to NYC I have started training for the Phoenix Marathon on Jan 17th 2010. I am now 7 weeks into my 18 week schedule and am feeling strong thus far. Mileage is already racking up; my long run this weekend is 16 miles.

I now have several running partners in Phoenix. Baby Ava joins me for tempo runs, our dog Violet for speed workouts and then two guys from my community for the longer runs (when they are available).

I am excited for this race. That we won't have to travel for the race will be a great benefit. I am confident that with good training that I can beat my time in San Diego. The real golden egg will always be Boston, my qualification requirement for that is 3h15m59s which is a stretch from San Diego but I am confident of chipping more time off and getting nearer to that goal.

San Diego Marathon

What a race! Not the course itself, that was pretty poor in comparison to NYC but my time is what counts; 3h33m20s! I managed to blow away my previous time by over 21 1/2 minutes, more than I could have hoped for.

Conditions for the day were perfect; overcast with a slight wind and 65f. Despite an early start of 6.30am it was very clement and I was comfortable in the staging area in just my running outfit, no sweater etc needed. Our hotel the night before was 1 mile from the start so I got dropped off 30 minutes before the start, a luxury compared to NYC; I had to set off 4hrs before the start !

I had planned on a 8m20 pace for the race, or better. That would put me in at 3h40m, and I joined that pace team at the start. I quickly left them behind however with most of my opening miles at a sub 8m pace, that would put me in at 3h30m!

The course in San Diego starts in the downtown area. There is little residential buildings so the first few miles were sparsely watched as a result. At mile 8 however I had a nice boost with my girls cheering me on. I think I confused the hell out of Ava when I suddenly appeared to say hello and left just as quick!

After leaving Downtown we head along some freeways towards Mission Bay and then Sea World. Nicole and Ava where rushing to meet me at mile 22 so I knuckled down and concentrated on the task at hand.

Despite 'trying' to slow my pace I was still comfortably running at a 8m/mile and had the 3hr30m pace team in my sights. The crowds picked up as the race went along as we got into more residential areas. Many people were handing out fuels for the runners from orange quarters to ice pops to bananas. Any runner will tell you how helpful this is.

As I headed into the high teens on miles I started becoming my own trainer. Previously in the NYC marathon I had hit the wall at mile 18; my knees started giving in and the last 8 miles were hell. This time I knew it would be different, I had trained for it.

Even still, I constantly talked to myself in my head, setting goals "the girls are at mile 22, don't even think about stopping until then..." "you can run 8 miles in under an hour, no problem!".

Unfortunately, Nicole and Ava had problems and were not able to get to mile 22 on time, I had my phone with me for the race so knew in advance and had prepared myself not to be disappointed. At around 22 1/2 miles I took my only break and walked through a water stop. The idea being that if I could drink a good amount of fluid it would see me through the remainder of the race.

By now I was determined to finish with stopping. Hell, I only had 4 miles to go! This was never in doubt once I got a added adrenalin boost at mile 24, my girls had made it! I had no idea they were there until I saw Nicole running towards me with Ava in her arms! They ran alongside me for a few yards and although not as talkative as when I saw them 16 miles earlier, I was delighted to see them.

The race finished in the Marine Barracks. By this time my pace had slowed to around 8m30s a mile however with the strong running at the start of the race I was still way ahead of my hoped time.

As I crossed the finish line the announcer gave me the final (and most welcome!) shout of "Run Cookie... Run!". I already knew how well I had done of course however when stopping my watch and realizing I had knocked 21 minutes off of my NYC time I was stunned.

Overall I came in 834th out of some 20,000 runners, and 120th in my age division. You can watch me cross the finish line on this link, my race number was 3618. I cross the line around 30s after the video starts; http://elite.competitor.com/webcast/sd/archive.html

No, I am resting. Three days later I still have sore calves but I am walking well again. I will be taking things easy for the summer before getting ready for either New York in November (if I qualify through the lottery) or Phoenix in January 2010.

I can already hear Nicole groan...

The Taper

Well, I've made it to the final week of my training (wait for it...) uninjured! This is the first 'long' race I have trained for since moving to the US in which I am going into final preparations not carrying an injury. I've probably completely jinxed myself with that comment.

These last two weeks went well. I actually eased off the schedule a little last week. I had some aching muscles after a 15 miler and so decided to skip the following weeks short runs. It had the desired effect; the following weekends runs were very strong and I have continued that through to the final week.

Despite temperatures reaching 100f daily I am comfortably running running a 7m30s mile pace on a regular basis, and for high mileage. I know I cannot complete the marathon at that pace but it does give me high hopes of beating my New York 08 time of 3h55m. For that race my average pace averaged at just under a 9 minute pace so, I should have it well beaten!

I fell short of running a full 20 miles as planned during my training but did cover 15+ miles multiple times, running 18 miles on one occasion. For the race I am going to link up with the 3h30m pace team which is an 8 minute pace. It's possibly a little aggressive but I will try and stick with it. Anything above a 3h40m time is the goal.

The key this time is to not stop. For New York I hit the wall around mile 18 and stopped multiple times over the final stages. That caused my average pace for the whole race to fall dramatically.

If I can complete the race without stopping I will be delighted. Training this time has gone well and was almost exclusively run on pavement. As a result my legs are in their best condition ever for 26.2 miles of pounding!

Wish me luck; "Run Cookie Run!

The downward spiral...

For all of you worried about my training for the last weeks I am pleased to say that despite procrastinating on my blog, the running continued.

I am now 3 weeks away from the race day and am beginning the taper. Yesterday was my final 'long' run of 15 miles and it's downhill from here. I am feeling pretty good, some soreness on my hamstrings but nothing too bad; some stretching and massaging over the next few days will sort that out.

The training has gone well. Aside from the unintentional vacation from running when in the UK I have managed to meet most of my goals and have actually run 368 miles so far in preparing for the race. By the actual race day I will have over 425 miles under my belt in training for a 26.2 mile race! Craziness.

This last week was actually my strongest in regards to distance. Over 5 days I covered 43 miles which included an 8m and 10m at around 7m30s pace and a 15 mile run at just over 8min pace. My times in comparison to the training for the NY Marathon are incomparable, if I can just manage to maintain a sub 8m15s pace per mile over the course of the race I will comfortably beat my previous time.

It's good timing that my mileage is declining as it's hit 100f daily now. As an added bonus, snakes are starting to appear on my runs! In the last week I have seen 2. I actually ran over 1 of them with the jogging stroller (Ava is my new short distance running partner!). I kind of cut it in half; does the same rule apply to snakes as with worms? Cut one in half and it becomes 2 snakes? Guess not; no head...

Back from vacation

When I take a vacation, I really take a vacation. After my fantastic week hitting all my mileage goals we set off to the UK visiting family and despite fully intending to run 7 times during the trip I managed to run just the once! It was a nice run though, in central London alongside Hyde Park! I hadn't run in the city for many years and it bought back fond memories of a 'OOCL' lunchtime running group I had been a member of.

Since returning from the trip however I have quickly got back on track. Although not as many miles as due per my training schedule I managed to total 28 miles this week with my long run being 12 miles. The long run was very strong, with an average pace of 7m37s for the mile.

Rather than jumping back into my full schedule I felt it was better to ease into it to hopefully avoid injury. I will build up next weekend again and then slip back into the schedule thereafter. I am now reaching the heavy mileage stage of the training, my longer runs are 20 miles hereon. We're under 8 weeks away from the marathon now and, assuming I stay healthy I am very confident of beating my previous time.

My Sunday running partner Trevor completed his Ironman today beating his goal by 5 minutes which is a fantastic achievement. Trevor hopes to continue to join me on my long runs at least through to early May which would be a great help. 20 miles with just your mind for company can be taxing!

For a more humourus (but rather outdated) take on this blog visit readcookieread.blogspot.com

That's more like it!

Wow, what a week. It's been a long time since I hit all my mileage and this was a strong one; 40 miles covered which was a staggering 24 miles more than covered last week!

After the recent disappointing weeks with runs missed to due work or sickness I was determined to get a full week of training behind me. Despite starting the week with a tight right calf muscle I pushed through and set some strong times throughout including an 8 mile run at 7m30s pace which is dead on 1 hour. That was an anomaly, we're getting into the serious mileage now so I need be careful. My long run this week was 16 miles which is not something you can afford to mess with!

The 'Norterra Running Club' is started to gain some steam; we are now three! I am delighted to say that 'Brett' is our newest member, we met yesterday at a community event.

A Trade Show for local residents was held on Saturday in which residents displayed a variety of home businesses and services. My wife in fact debuted her new business Lemonade Events and had some positive feedback which is exciting. Whilst my wife worked the stand I walked between the other displays with our daughter and right opposite was a stand for a local race which I naturally made a bee line for...

TriPhx is run by a Brett and Kristin, a Connecticut family who moved to the area around 1 year ago. They set up the company as a side business and are organizing an adventure trail run within our community.

Brett is a serious athlete; he has completed over 40 triathlon, 5 marathons (including an Ultra) and many shorter races. Although currently on the recovery stage after the Ragnar Relay in which he ran 33 miles of a 200 mile relay he joined us for a period of today's long run. Ironically, whist out on our long run two weeks ago Trevor and I caught the tail end of this race but had no idea what it is! I am hopeful that Brett and Trevor will continue to meet up for long runs in the next two weeks whilst my family and I are visiting the UK.

My training is going to be challenging these next two weeks. We travel to London on Thursday, and stay for 10 days. I have some serious mileage scheduled during the trip. Naturally I will aim to do as much as possible but it's obvious I will miss runs. That's another reason why hitting my mileage this week was so important!

The last 3 weeks

Those who know me well will not be surprised to hear that I am starting to have some aches and pains. As of writing, I have a sprain on my right calf. Not too severe however it's annoying. This is the same injury that caused me to worry about the 2007 New York Half Marathon however, history shows how it didn't bother me!

More annoying however is the cold I have had for the last 2-3 weeks. I just can't shake it. I've had various moments of hot/cold flushes, nights of waking bathed in sweat, aching bones and joints, sore throats and the latest is a runny nose. All this together has made the last 3 weeks a challenge!

I have kept up with my training to a degree however am starting to miss important runs. This last week I will have missed my two 7 miles runs and only complete my long run of 10 miles and two short runs of 3 miles. That means I am 14 miles down on my weekly goal. The previous two weeks run similar stories; 3 miles missed here and there, and one long run being cut short due to an inability to breathe easy with the cold.

Aside from the calf strain I am physically feeling OK which is good. My long runs are mostly going well. This upcoming week will however be a challenge as all my midweek runs increase mileage and my long run is 16 miles.

My long run partner Trevor is getting close to his event (a half Ironman in California) and this will be last time we run together before then. His race is actually in three weeks however I am travelling with the family to the UK and will have two long runs scheduled whilst over there.

There is still a long way to go, 11 weeks to be precise, so these little set backs in the last 3 weeks are not of concern. Being strong here on out is the key!