Today’s Numberz: 6 days to race day

Posted on May 14, 2012 by

With starting another taper week just two weeks after I started my first one, feels a little bit like deja vu. This race I may actually end up running though. Becky had already planned on running the Rockford Half Marathon coming up on May 20. And now I am too.

Rockford Marathon logoThis is a great race. And not just because it’s where I nailed my current PR last year. It’s a great mix of city streets, neighborhoods, park paths, river views, free close parking, race day packet pickup, and a great downhill bridge finish with lots of food and giveaways.

When my father-in-law passed away on Wednesday, May 2, I knew immediately that I wouldn’t be running the Great Western Half Marathon on May 6. Our family needed the time to celebrate his life and grieve. Getting a combined 20 hours of sleep over 5 nights wouldn’t have been the safest way to race either.

Knowing that the Great Western was capped at 1,200 participants, and knowing I wouldn’t be one of them, I actually drove over to the onsite packet pickup on the morning of the race. I picked up my tshirt (really nice one, by the way), returned my chip, and asked if they’d be able to give my bib and chip to a late registrant. I didn’t want to waste a slot in a capped race. Turns out it’s so much more of a hassle for them to switch people at the last minute that they simply don’t allow it at all. I checked the results later and only 838 runners out of 1,200 participated. Knowing that, I didn’t feel as bad being a DNS (Did Not Start).

May 6 turned out to be a beautiful day for racing, however. And I thought about the runners all morning. When we joined up with my sister’s family at their hotel so our kids could swim in the pool, we spotted one of the runners in the elevator and probably scared the hell out of her with all my congratulations and questions.

In the last week, I have managed to get in some miles again. And speedy ones at that. I was definitely going a little bonkers mentally and emotionally first because it was a taper week, and then because of the funeral and family, and then trying to get back into a rhythm at work. So it’s been good to just hit the pavement and burn off some frustration this past week with some fast miles…

Week 13 Half Marathon Training Recap
Monday: 5 miles at 8:30 min/mile pace
Tuesday: 7 miles at 7:34 min/mile pace
Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: Rest
Friday: 5 miles at 8:00 min/mile pace
Saturday: 12 miles at 7:40 min/mile pace 
Sunday: Rest
Total: 29 miles

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Charles Metcalfe crosses the finish line of life

Posted on May 4, 2012 by

My 65-year old father-in-law passed instantly, and unexpectedly, on Wednesday morning after running a mile down to his health club to meet up with his running buddies.

Charles Metcalfe
August 9, 1946-May 2, 2012

He ran more than 50 marathons, qualified for Boston but never had a chance to run it, and coached and paced hundreds of runners through their first races and to PRs. He got my wife to start running, and she eventually inspired me to start running two years ago. He ran with her through her first 4-miler, first half marathon, and first marathon in November 2010…plus hundreds of miles of training runs over the past 3.5 years. It had always been on his bucket list to run a marathon with someone in the family. And just like nearly everything else on that list, he made it happen.

Chuck - Illinois Half Marathon

Pacing Becky through her first half marathon in Champaign in 2010.

Becky at the finish line

Becky crossing the finish line of her first half marathon with Chuck just a step behind so she could finish first.

At the starting line of Becky's first marathon

At the starting line of Becky’s first marathon when Chuck paced her through training and the whole race…something that had been on his bucket list for years.

We'll miss the headbands

We’ll miss the headbands, Chuck. And we’ll miss you. We already do.

Posted in half marathon, marathon, racing, run, runner, training | Tagged , , , , | 10 Comments

Today’s Numberz: Celebrating my 2-year runniversary!

Posted on May 1, 2012 by

I’m flying high this morning. Had a blast cheering on my wife as she ran her second marathon down in Champaign, IL on Saturday. I came back and ran my fastest-ever 8-miler on Sunday with a 7:33 min/mile pace (which I’m hoping doesn’t come back to haunt me since it was supposed to be an easy taper week…). And today is officially my two-year runniversary.

Two year runniversaryTwo years ago, I was just a spectator cheering on Becky as she ran her first half marathon down in Champaign, IL. All that energy and adrenaline from all the runners got to me. So after driving back home that afternoon, I headed to the gym and hopped on the treadmill to run 6 miles for the first time since I was something like 11 years old. The following two posts detail how it all began for me…

So here I am…two marathons later, four half marathons later (and one to come next Sunday), and two Turkey Trot 4-milers later…far healthier than I could ever hope for…sharing my passion for being active with others (including my two boys)…and having lots of fun along the way.

In true Numberz Runner fashion, a quick recap of the last two years:
Number of runs: 316 (143 outside, 173 on treadmill)
Miles: 2,130 (or an average of 2.9 miles per day)
Time: 297 hours (or a total of 12.5 days)
Calories: 252,775!!

My weekly recaps from the last two weeks…
Week 10 Half Marathon Training Recap
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: 5 miles at 8:30 min/mile pace
Thursday: 8 miles at 8:30 min/mile pace
Friday: 7 miles at 8:30 min/mile pace
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: 15 miles at 7:58 min/mile pace (Rocking!)
Total: 35 miles 

Week 11 Half Marathon Training Recap
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: 5 miles at 8:30 min/mile pace
Thursday: 7 miles at 8:30 min/mile pace
Friday: 5 miles at 7:54 min/mile pace
Saturday: Rest
Sunday: 8 miles at 7:33 min/mile pace (Holy cow! And not exactly the way to take it easy on a taper week…)
Total: 25 miles 

Posted in half marathon, marathon, training, Uncategorized, Weekly recap | Tagged , , , , , | 7 Comments

Today’s Numberz: Cheering for my #1 for 26.2

Posted on April 30, 2012 by

Illinois MarathonThis past Saturday, Becky ran her second marathon down in Champaign, IL. Two years ago, she ran her first half marathon there, and now she was back to tackle the full Illinois Marathon that winds through the campus of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign where she and I both went–and where we met.

I got to be both a spectator and leader of a three-person cheering squad as I was also wrangling our two boys throughout the race. They ate their way through the marathon: munchkins, Pringles, granola bars, yogurt, cheese sticks, etc. (I’d finish the list, but I don’t want it used against me by DCFS in court…)

We drove down Friday afternoon to hit packet pickup and grab dinner before the pasta-craving masses were turned loose on the city. Then we had enough time to show our boys around campus as well. Visited my old residence hall (that has been completely renovated and rebuilt since I graduated), stopped in at the ice rink (where I played hockey for four years and Becky ran the skating program), visited the undergrad library since it’s underground and my son loves tunnels, and showed the boys the Quad. The tour worked. They both want to go to school there now…Go Illini!

University of Illinois ice arena

Becky and I spent a LOT of time at the ice arena in college. I played hockey and she ran the skating program and coached. But we never crossed paths until I was in grad school and playing out my final semester of eligibility...

University of Illinois ice arena with my boys

Showing my boys the "Big Pond" at the University of Illinois ice arena. (Who knew the iPhone doesn't have an optical zoom?)

The University of Illinois quad with my boys

The University of Illinois quad with my boys. They loved campus. They already want Illinois sweatshirts!

After wearing the boys out walking around campus, we knocked off early so Becky could get some sleep. Becky and I were already up at 5:15 in advance of the 7:00 am start. I looked out the windows and saw that it was pouring rain. Fortunately, it stopped raining right as we hopped in the car at 6:15 and it never rained again…phew. And it was perfect racing weather…about 40-45 degrees throughout, but probably a little more windy than the runners would have preferred.

Getting ready to start at the Illinois Marathon

Getting ready to start at the Illinois Marathon, and Becky staying warm with the old garbage bag trick... (Click the pics for larger versions...)

Made it across campus and to the Assembly Hall parking lots in record time, had enough time for good luck hugs and bio-break, and with that Becky disappeared into the numbered masses to find her corral. The boys and I heard the wheelchair racers start and then hustled back to the car to drive over to our first of SIX viewing spots. It definitely helped knowing the area from five years of undergrad and grad school. We were able to shuttle around while also avoiding race-related traffic bottlenecks.

We got to mile 4 just as the 3:15 pace group came through. Those runners are how I envision myself running. When the 4-hour pace group came through, my jaw dropped a little with disappointment as I realized what I actually look like while running. Not judging. Just saying.

We ended up bouncing around the course and seeing Becky at miles 4, 7, 15, 16, 18, 23 and then at the finish too. We got some great pictures along the way, and lots of comments on our sign (especially since a lot of the same people kept seeing us in so many places). The kids got to play at a couple different playgrounds, and we picked some good spots where we could hear music from some of the local radio stations that came out and were blasting tunes. The finish line is pretty cool too as you run into the football stadium and finish at the 50-yard line while you’re projected up on the big screen.

Mile 18

Mile 18

The family sign

The family sign that's been to more races than I could ever count... (and my son stuffing his face with Pringles)

My son with the family sign

Mr. Grumpy doesn't quite match the mood of the sign. (Thankfully he wasn't like this all day during the race.)

Mr. Smiley with the family sign

But Mr. Smiley sure matched the sign.

Mile 23

Mile 23 and looking strong!

Finishing on the jumbotron

That's Becky crossing the finish line of the 50-yard line on the jumbotron.

Finish line in Memorial Stadium

A wave from the victorious runner.

Celebration time

Celebrating the completion of 18 weeks of training and 26.2 miles.

All in all, it turned out to be a great day and Becky was thrilled to have completed her second marathon. Number three will be in a location to be determined later…

Posted in marathon, Photos, racing, Uncategorized | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Today’s Numberz: The grind of week nine and three to go…

Posted on April 16, 2012 by

What a week. And not in a good way. Three different times I bailed on either waking up and running or getting my run in at night. Knowing it was a cutback week wasn’t helping with the motivation. And deliberately trying to ease off my pace and harder runs after a couple great weeks didn’t help much either. Oh, the power of having a goal, or even a mini-goal…but not really having a goal for a week of training…urg.

My Tuesday 5-miler and Wednesday 7-miler both almost became 2-milers. By the time Saturday rolled around, I was tight and just had to struggle through a mere 5. Then Sunday really kicked my butt.

Sometimes I like to stack the odds against me just so I have a challenge and will feel even better after powering through. But perhaps I’m overdoing it a bit… I had been up past midnight watching the Blackhawks win game 2 in OT. Then I skipped my carb load (it hurts my pride to take it for any training runs less than 15). I wasn’t hydrated nearly enough. And when I headed out at 12:15 after Becky wrapped up her 22-miler(!!), I was already hungry. Knowing I had two hours ahead of me, heading out the door hungry wasn’t smart. The humidity was 70+, the heat was 65+, and there were 28 mph winds from approaching storms. Altogether, not the best way to tackle a 13-miler, but definitely a fitting way to finish off an incredibly tough training week. And it was a grind.

With the ferocious winds, I was sore Sunday night in all kinds of places I haven’t been sore at in a while. Like my shoulders, back, and arms. I must have been just throwing my body forward into the headwinds instead of keeping my form. And everything on my legs feels tight and sore all at the same time.

At least it wasn’t a race day. Running hills AND fighting that wind would have been madness.

Week 9 Half Marathon Training Recap
Nine weeks down. Three to go…
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 5 miles at 8:30 min/mile pace
Wednesday: 7 miles at 8:30 min/mile pace
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 5 miles at 7:52 min/mile pace
Sunday: 13 miles at 8:20 min/mile pace
Total: 30 miles 

Posted in half marathon, racing, running, training, Weekly recap | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Today’s Numberz: 2 little boys signed up for 26.2 (but not all at once)

Posted on April 14, 2012 by

The Fox Valley Marathon is once again offering a kid’s marathon as part of its racing lineup on September 15 and 16 this year. After talking about it all winter with my 9- and 7-year old boys, they finally signed up today.

For a low $10 fee, they get a tech shirt like all of the marathon, half marathon, and 20-mile racers. They also get a little more time to complete their race. Over the course of the summer, they have to run a cumulative total of 25 miles. Could be a mile at a time. Or two at a time. Then they run the last 1.2 miles on Saturday, September 15, which is the day before the full marathon. They even get a racing chip and get to cross a real finish line before receiving their finisher’s medals.

They’re so excited. They’ve run The Fox and The Turkey Thanksgiving Day 1-miler each of the last two years, and now they’re looking forward to an even bigger challenge. I’ll provide some updates throughout the summer…

My little turkeys.

My little turkeys getting ready for the kid's 1-mile race of The Fox and The Turkey Thanksgiving races.

Posted in marathon, racing, running | Tagged , , , | 4 Comments

Today’s Numberz: Flying high after an Easter 15-miler

Posted on April 9, 2012 by

Most weeks, Sunday mornings are reserved for Becky’s long runs in advance of the Illinois Marathon at the end of April. Since she ran the Egg Shell Shuffle Half Marathon on Saturday as part of her training, that meant Easter morning was all mine this week. No treadmill. No waiting until the afternoon (or sunset). And I’d been looking forward to it all week.

Our boys were so geeked up for Easter that they were up, dressed, and standing at the foot of our bed at 6am to go down for the hunt. Once they had chomped down enough chocolate to boost Nestle’s stock price, I was out the door by 7am.

Powered by my first dose of carb load since back in September, I was feeling pumped up. The low 40-degree weather was almost too chilly for the first couple of miles as the sun hadn’t quite heated up yet. I was just in shorts and t-shirt, but kept passing people with gloves, hats, running pants, polar jackets and more.

A fellow runner had mentioned on Facebook that some of the public water fountains had recently been turned on, so I decided to venture a little farther from home on this run. Had two gels with me and headed down to the Fox River Trail. As I powered through the first six miles, I realized I was right in the 8:00-8:10 min/mile range and I didn’t feel like I was pushing too hard at all. When I stopped for water and my first gel at mile 6, I saw signs that said the park with one of my regular summer water stops was going to be under construction all the way through November. Urg. Not sure how that will play out and have to look that up later. Plus, it will mess with a bunch of my routes as well.

As I headed back down the river trail, I was deliberately taking the west side because it was fully bathed in sunlight by this point and was a bit warmer than the tree-covered east side. Then after getting gassed on the Wilson Street hill in downtown a few days earlier, I kept looping back and ended up running it three times over the course of this run. Stopped at the police station for water around 9.5 miles before turning for home. Ended up walking through my front door right at 12 miles and was still feeling great. In fact, my mile splits were actually dropping closer to 8 versus 8:10.

With a splash of Gatorade and a final gel, I headed back out the door for the last three. I checked my watch right at 13.1 miles and realized I had essentially matched my PR for a half marathon and knew I had more in the tank. If Easter had been race day for me, my old PR would have been history.

The confidence-building runs of the past couple of weeks have been piling up, so now I need to make sure I don’t peak too early. May back off for the next week to rest up a bit with four weeks to go. When I circled back towards home and my watch beeped to signal 15 miles, it read 2:00:00 exactly. An overall pace of 8:00 min/miles on the nose. I love it when the numbers line up so perfectly…

Splits for April 8, 2012

A wonderful Easter morning run four weeks out from my first half marathon of the season.

Let’s hope it gets hot for a couple of weeks and then gets cold again right around the time Becky runs her 26.2 at the end of April and I run my 13.1 on May 6. If the weather is anything like it was on Easter, I’ll take it. Seems like taking carb load again after 7 months didn’t mess up my system at all and I could definitely feel the positive difference it made. The only downside of the day: another episode of bleeding nipples. It’s been so long since I’ve been running these distances that I didn’t cover up before heading out. Ouch.

Easter run

The post-run smile. I'm also starting to realize I only pull out my camera when I have my green racing shirt on. Almost every picture of me on this blog has this shirt...

Week 8 Half Marathon Training Recap
Eight weeks down. Four to go…
Monday: Rest
Tuesday: 5 miles at 8:30 min/mile pace
Wednesday: 7 miles at 7:34 min/mile pace
Thursday: Rest
Friday: Rest
Saturday: 6 miles at 8:30 min/mile pace
Sunday: 15 miles at 8:00 min/mile pace (which would have been a half marathon PR…)
Total: 33 miles 

Posted in half marathon, Photos, racing, running, training, Uncategorized, Weekly recap | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments