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| 2009 Kansas City Marathon |
Sunday ... 22 miles @ 8:05 pace
"Throw up your RAWKFIST if you feel it when I drop this!"
(Still don't know what that means, do ya? Neither do I!) I'm so stoked about these runs ... and now I can't wait until the back-to-back marathons!!! Usually my last long run before a marathon gives me a pretty good indicator where I'm at for the race. After yesterday and today, I feel pretty great about these two!
Ya know how sometimes when you run you feel like you're just maintaining, and not really improving much. Well I really felt like I grew as a runner this weekend. And 46 miles in two days with a negative split from yesterday to today felt AWESOME! Yesterday's run was nice and smooth. I felt like I could have easily ran another 10-12 miles at that pace. It was the less hilly of the two with about 948 ft of elevation gain. And today wasn't too bad either for less than 24 hours after the first run. I had to focus a lot more, but I never really had to push it too much to keep pace. It was a little hillier with 916 ft of elevation gain with two less miles than the day before. Plus, I ran "The Jack" at mile 6 ... my hill training course with about 150 ft of rise in about 1 mile. But mostly I think I learned quite a bit about the whole back-to-back upcoming experience.
I really tried to simulate what's gonna happen in two weeks when I run the Kansas City Marathon (my second time running this one) on Saturday, and the Des Moines Marathon the next day on Sunday. I prepped the same way. I refueled the same way. And I ran a fairly similar pace. I know tons of people run back-to-back marathons all the time, but this is my first attempt. So it's all kind of new to me. Plus, as always, I have a certain time I'm shooting for on both of them ... but the first priority is simply to make it through without killing myself. I want to run sub 3:30 in the second on, but I absolutely WILL NOT be disappointed if it doesn't happen.
I think the biggest factor in such a great second run for me was how I refueled yesterday. Here's what I did ...
Post Run Refuel ...
- Used Roller Pad immediately after run (like about 10 minutes after)
- Light Stretching
- 32oz bottle of G2 Gatorade
- Banana
- Smoothie (based on the recommendation of Jason at CookTrainEatRace) made from banana, plain Greek yogurt, whey protein, orange juice, a couple of drops of honey, strawberries, blue berries, peaches, and 2 packets of dry oatmeal
- Full stretching with roller pad again about 45 minutes after run
Lunch (about 1-1/2 hour later) ...
- Subway 6" Turkey on Wheat
- 3 oatmeal & raisin cookies (sorry, sue me)
- 2 bags of apple slices
- Blue berry Vitamin water
Afternoon Snack
- Banana
- All natural Builders protein bar
Dinner
- Chicken & Pepperoni Pizza - about 6 slices
- 32 oz bottle of G2 Gatorade
- Full stretching with roller pad
Also, I wore the CEP sleeves on my calves almost all day and they really seemed to do the trick. I'm not a big fan of "recovery tools" like this - I would always prefer to let my body recover on it's own. But I'm really growing fond of these and have them on as I write this. They seem to work fairly well.
But back to today. Today's workout also marked a couple of milestones for the year. Today's run was the 20th time this year I've ran at least 20 miles or more, and I also passed 2,300 miles for the year!!! (I really want to get to 3,000 ... if for no other reason than just to say that I did it. I think I need like 52 per week from here on out ... which should be doable.)
I run so many miles during training that sometimes I don't get as excited anymore with just an "everyday run". But this weekend really invigorated me as a runner. It made me feel like I'm making huge progress with some really great things to come. We'll see! Have a great week!
... be great today!
Woo-hoo! First to comment! That's an epic weekend and you should indeed be excited about your races in two weeks. I can't wait to read about them. Running in the fall is just the best! And you earned with those humid ones all summer.
ReplyDeleteWow great job on the runs and the rocking fast times!
ReplyDeleteLove it! Way to go on a strong strong strong couple of back-to-back runs! Always nice to get a little mental boost after. You are golden for your back-to-backs!
ReplyDeleteNice job Jim. I'd be dead....seriously. Haha! Also, I always foam roll the minute I walk in the door from a run.
ReplyDeleteYour going to do awesome with back to back marathons. Your training is awesome. Your getting so speedy. Now Jim dont wait at the finish line for me when you do the IMT DSM Marthon. By the time I get to the finish line, you could probably be half way home. HA Ha.
ReplyDeleteI cannot imagine those two distances back to back at such a fast pace. Amazing. No wonder you are stoked.
ReplyDeleteWow! That is great Jim! You are da man!
ReplyDeletesuper weekend of training. I think you will be READY for your back to back challenge. I will be running Mt. Desert Island 26.2 on that Sunday. I will be thinking of you as you are running your 2nd of the wknd.
ReplyDeleteWow! What a couple of amazing runs for you! You'll have two great marathons in your back to back weekend.
ReplyDeletePerfecto!!! What a spectacular weekend, indeed! Very impressed, you are on your way to two very strong back-to-back marathons!! :)
ReplyDeleteLoved hearing what you ate post runs!
Great training runs - Now that you have the miles down - seems to me the biggest challenge would be to get to packet pick-up/ Expo for the second marathon.
ReplyDeleteSeems like a long time to be sitting in a car or flying after a marathon and being able to get to the next Expo in time.
Hopefully, you have a desginated driver.
I will be watching for your times and post marathon(s) blog.
Holy S^%*!
ReplyDeleteWow! You amaze me!
ReplyDeleteThat. Is. Incredible! I am so impressed.
ReplyDeleteYour smoothie sounds really good. I've never added oatmeal before, I'm going to give that a shot.
Way to go on your runs.
Outstanding! What a weekend for you. I really like the back-back strong runs.
ReplyDeleteDefinition of your quote:
Rawkfist is the combination and bastardization of Rock Fist, which is the term used for Throwin Metal which is your forfinger straight up your pinky straight up and your other fingers down, with your thumb over them.
Oh my goodness! You are so inspiring Jim. Good luck with your races!
ReplyDeleteWhat an amazing weekend you had!!! Great job on the 2 runs!
ReplyDeleteUm seriously? How am I just seeing this post. You freaking got this. Wow very impressive.
ReplyDeleteLike Rachelle, I'm just seeing this post, too, and am so impressed. I cannot imagine running that many miles at that speed. Your love for running comes through in every post, and it is seriously motivating to me! Simply amazing!
ReplyDelete