Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Plugging Away

Gents. So the ADK 1/2 is just over two weeks away. I've been plugging away at my weekday training runs, and started feeling some of the work pay off in the last week. The longer weekend runs have been uneven and therefore not encouraging. I am aiming to go for 10 this weekend (Labor Day) and am strongly considering an out and back on the last five miles of the race course. (VTR, that would mean I park where we started out on the bikes last weekend, run the last five miles of the course backwards, then turn around and run the last five miles again, just as I'll experience them during the race.) I feel very calm about the race, though I'm not confident of a steady, consistent performance. My goals are to 1) finish; 2) finish without hurting myself; 3) stay in motion the whole distance; 4) experience the ADKs in a new way. The last is not insignificant, I am looking forward to participating in an ADK event.

I had a beaut of a run in the Park on Monday evening. The weather was dynamite, clear temps in the 70s and breezy. LOTS of runners were out there, soaking it up.

And THANK YOU to VTR for driving through the Valley to join me for a reconnoiter of the ADK half marathon course. The full course would make this marathon a significant accomplishment for any runner, I think. There were hills after hills in the first 1/2, and I was sucking wind on the bike after the first few. The second half of the course (the 1/2 marathon portion) is flat for the first 8 miles, then mildly hilly. It runs right along the lake for about the first six miles, too. It is doable, I think, and VTRs positive attitude and learned recommendations were super encouraging.

Running tonight and Friday before the long weekend run. Will update again then.

Peace, fellas.

3 comments:

Agricola said...

Dude, go for it. Ten is just under two laps of the park.
if your goal is to stay in motion and finish then you'll crush it! shoulda had my idea about driving down and running long with you earlier. I thought we had more time. Looking forward to the ten mile post, that should be a new record for you! good luck, have fun, this is the best running season of the year!

Steve DiMattia said...

Yah, the race is Sept 20. Labor Day is fuggedaboudit, so the only weekend to run together is Set 12-13, and Ms. FA has some stuff going on so I'm tied to the city that weekend. So, we'll get it in on the next race.

I had two fantastic runs this week in CP, 35 and 45 minutes, respectively, finishing with enough in the tank for more both times. To return to an earlier blog topic, I think that the cool temps and drop in humidity (especially) are major factors in the improvement. Maybe all that slogging through heavy, damp air in July and Aug was good training after all.

VT Runner said...

the good thing with training is that no one can undo the hours/miles once they're done, no matter how you feel at the time or what happens after. So, yes, the slogging was the perfect training. Glad that you are getting to experience the payoff.

Nice.