Marathon Brothers Blog

Chris: Tecumseh Acres of Fun 5k

My second 5k of the year was an improvement over the first.  I am realizing though that running the 5k’s may be fun but are not helping the marathon effort.  They are good for my self-esteem because you cross the finish line to cheers and clapping, plus just finishing is good, but the distance is better for a recovery run and in reality should be run at a slower pace during training.  That was probably a run-on sentence, my apologies.

The best part of the 5ks is that they support great causes.  Yesterday’s 5k supported the Tecumseh Acres Elementary PTO in their effort to build a $10,000 playground/jungle gym.  They have been raising money for 3 years and yesterday reached their goal.  The week before the 5k supported the Humane Society.  The bottom line is I like that the money I pay for these events support good causes.

What I may have to do is stay true to my training but also start volunteering at these events.  They can always use help and it will keep me in the loop because I love the running community in Lenawee County.

I have talked in the past of how I read about running technique and have tried different training programs.  Yesterday at Barnes and Noble I picked a book by Dave Kuehls called Four Months to a Four-hour Marathon.  For the record any links to purchase the book in my posts makes me no cash at all, I’m just pointing you to a place you could buy it.  What I liked about Dave’s book is that it is really down to earth.  A lot books could be called “fad” books that preach a new way of doing things but Dave sticks to the basics and does it well.  The book is small, not very long but has a section that makes it very valuable.  Dave takes you through mile-by-mile of the marathon, what you will feel, where you should be and it is very fascinating.  The best part of the book is his 16-week program that is explained very well and seems very doable.  The problem is that it calls for a 7-mile long run in the first week and my reality is that I am a good two weeks from a 7-miler.  We’ll see how it goes.

Today is a rest day and tomorrow I will be at the gym for some cross training in the morning and then a light jog in the evening.

April 25

Well it’s saturday and I didn’t run today. I did run yesterday however. Friday I ran 5.8 miles in 54 minutes and I felt that it was pretty good. Thursday I run 3 miles. With 7.7 miles on Wednesday that gives me 24.8 miles for the week. I feel like thats pretty good. By the way big kudos’ to chris for running the 5K!

April 23

Well yesterday I got up and ran eight miles. I felt pretty good my time was not fantastic some where around an hour and fifteen minuets or so. More over I felt pretty good at the end of my 8th mile. I think saturday I should be able to run 9 miles or more. This gives me the entire month of may to get better at running 10 miles or so. I have discovered that around mile 6 or so I need replenishment. My body seems to tank out and and I begin to need water. So far I haven’t been drinking on any of these runs. I guess i think that if I can do 10 mile with out drinking that WITH drinking I should do considerably better. Well heres to hoping. Thing in my personal life are certainly getting interesting we may be moving here in the next couple of months. We’ve been looking for a church and only one option has presented itself. The good news is that its closer to chicago… Well the plan for running stays the same. I’m going to start my training plan in May or mid may or so and see how that gets me. My weight loss plan is infuriating me. April 1st I weighted 186 with well over 50 miles under my belt I’m down to 181.2 and its fluxuating back and forth. I’m about to take some drastic measures to loose the weight. I wanted to be down to 170 already!!! its frustrating. Well Perhaps tonight I’ll do 2/3 miles and Saturday i’ll crank out 8/9 miles that’s the hope any way. C U buddy

april 20th

I can’t believe it’s april 20th already’!!! i’m running out of time!! well my last week has been going along great Wednesday I ran 7.75 miles which felt pretty good I took thursday off but friday I found out I had drill so I decided to run after lunch … what a mistake… I ran 5.2 miles in like 50 minutes … yikes suckoooo any way saturday I decided to try again since my time was so slow and I ran 4.4 miles in 40:20 minuets and that felt a little better. I got up and only ran 3 miles this morning in the rain. but I did it. Im just plugging away. I hope to do 8 or more miles on Wednesday and see how that little doo hicky goes.. we’ll see. Well man Im glad to hear about your 5k that’s not a bad time. Great Job! keep plugging away and don’t quit I look forward to october and see you again. good luck on the foot and I’m glad it’s feeling better.

Chris: Lenawee Human Society 5k-9 Run

The 2009 Lenawee County Humane Society 5k-9 race was a blast!  I ran with co-worker and our pace was nice and steady.  The Human Society brought several adoptable dogs and they were are very well behaved.  Kelly fell in love with a beagle named Cookie.  It looks Hershey (our Chocolate Lab) will be getting a new friend soon.  ;) 

Today was my first race of the year and I am happy with my 28:43 time.  That is a 9:14 mile.  I had a little bit of pain in my foot but most of that went away by the end of the race.  As I said our pace was nice and steady.  Our first mile was a 9:15, the second was 9:40 and we finished hard with a final 1.125 of 9:48.

The best part, and this goes for all races, is that I finished.  Special kudos to Andrew and Sean Timkouch-Camp, a couple of young guys (under 14) that both fell on the course but got back up and finished strong.

I joined Planet Fitness this week because the YMCA just doesn’t have the facilities I would prefer and they charge more than Plant Fitness.  Planet Fitness is very impressive and I am psyched to give their 30-minute Circuit workout area a try.

Chris: Feeling Great

I got another 4 miler in today and it felt much better than the first.  It was also faster.  I chopped off 3 whole minutes from Tuesday’s run.  It wasn’t nearly as miserable and my body is responding very well.  I feel great!  I had a bad day today so I went for the run as soon as I got home.  The run did the trick.  I also went to see the movie Knowing by myself tonight and to all three people that read this save your money.  I love Nicolas Cage but that movie was a disaster.

I’m thinking about running again tomorrow and then taking Saturday off before the race on Sunday.  We’ll see how my foot is doing tomorrow.  So far, no post run pain.

april 15

Iran 7.75 miles on wednesday. it felt pretty good. I was a little rubbery near the end but I think I need to start drinking more during my runs. Its not good to run without water for so long. I felt pretty good about it. don’t get discouraged chris the run returns if you keep hacking away at it. you can do it man!!!

Chris: Finally Back!

I won’t lie, last nights run was miserable.  I hadn’t run in 16 days thanks to Plantar Fasciitis and a sinus infection and it showed.  The upside is that I got 4 miles in using the run/walk method that I talked about before.  I ran 3 minutes, walked 1 minute.  The run went fairly well but about 3 miles in the foot started hurting so I went off-road and it got better.  The asphalt is not nice on the foot.  I plan on another 4 mile run/walk tomorrow.

This weekend is my first 5K of the year and I’m really looking forward to it.  I’m not looking for a PR, I’m just looking to finish strong.

Mike: april 14

things are going well. I’ve added a new person I’m running with. My assistant pastor is now running with me he wants to hike the rockies. So I’m running with him as well. Last week I only got 11 miles in and I wasn’t on the internet this weekend.
Monday I ran three miles and wednesday I’ll try and run 5-7 miles or so. at least thats the plan

Chris: Almost there

Well my foot is doing much better and a minor sinus infection is beginning to clear up.  I haven’t walked like I said I would but that was a precaution because the pain was still there earlier in the week.  I am hoping to run on Tuesday as long as the sinus infection is cleared up and if that goes well I’m going to pick up where I left off.

It looks like I will have a busy summer.  I’m coaching baseball and softball again so fitness shouldn’t be a problem.  In fact, every practice I do a drill where the players line up on the third base line.  I drop the ball and they have to pick it up and make a quick throw to first base.  The key to the drill is to never pull the first basemen off of the bag.  The throw can be in the dirt but it can’t pull the first baseman off of the bag.  If it does, we all do 5 push-ups including me.  Last year, we had a practice where we got up to 30 push-ups .  That has nothing to do with running but a good story nonetheless.