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Showing posts with label marathon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label marathon. Show all posts

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Rocket City Fail




Since the Country Music Marathon, I have been focused completely on running under the Olympic Marathon Trials standard of 2:19. Originally, my plan was to attack the standard at the Chicago Marathon. The Chicago Marathon is one of the most competitive marathons in the world and word on the street was that there were a tons of guys going for the time there. My summer training didn't go completely according to plan and once school and cross country practice started, I was too mentally exhausted and pushed for time to get in the necessary training. I had a really positive experience at the Rocket City Marathon in 2010, so I figured that I would make my assault on sub 2:19 there.

Since the Rocket City Marathon was about two months after Chicago, I had to adjust my training a good bit so I could time my peak perfectly and not arrive on the starting line too stale. I backed off training for a bit and then did a short speed phase to get my motor to where it needed to be before starting my eight week marathon cycle to build the necessary fitness to make my assault.


My first marathon workout went very well. A little over a week later, I ran 66:54 in the half marathon, which was only a few seconds away from the Tennessee State Record. That time pointed towards being in around 2:21 marathon shape, which was really motivating because I felt I was far from peak shape. I then got in several 110+ mile weeks and three weeks after the half marathon, broke the 10 mile state record by a very large margin, running 50:09. I used that race as a training run being it was the 7th day of a 120+ mile week and ran with a controlled steadiness. I had a ton left in the tank and felt like I could have run under 49:00 if I really went after it. With exactly four weeks to go, I knew I was very close to, if not under 2:19 shape. The race was rapidly approaching and I was really looking forward to it. Before Huntsville last year, I was terrified of the marathon distance. At the Country Music Marathon, I didn't really have a strategy until the gun went off and wasn't sure if I would even race that hard. However for this marathon, I was very hungry and ready to attack.


With two weeks to go, I began my taper. My normal taper is about a 20% reduction in volume two weeks out and then I reduce the volume about 40% for the last week. It's a very generic taper but it has worked very well for me in my prior marathons. With exactly a week to go, I ran my last "quality" workout, which was a few seconds per mile faster than my other marathon workouts, despite running much more relaxed. I knew my body was rested and ready to go.

Before a major race, I'm always paranoid about becoming sick. Deep down inside, I thought I had nothing to worry about because I'll catch something about once a year and because I came down with something a couple of months ago, I figured I had paid my dues. Despite that, I was doing my best to play it safe. At church that Sunday, there was an overly coughy guy behind me, so I got up, went to the bathroom, and washed my hands.

At school, I never use hand sanitizer but the week of the race, I would use it every few minutes. I also usually get a kid to fill up my water bottle for me a couple of times a day. Traditionally, I will pick a girl because I figure they pick their nose less and are less "germy." Since I was not taking any chances this week, I even made them wash their hands before touching my bottle. On one occasion, one of my "water girls" coughed while carrying my bottle towards the cafeteria, so I called her back, washed the bottle and then chose someone else. With all of these precautions, I felt I would be perfectly safe.

Wednesday night, I started to feel a trickle in my nose. A couple of hours later, that turned into a constant drip and I knew things were about to get much worse. Mary tried to reassure me but I knew that a sickness was beginning and it would probably reach it's peak on Saturday...the day of my race. As time wore on Thursday, I felt progressively worse. Later that night, I had a fever and stayed up pretty late because I figured I wouldn't be able to race. However, I planned to still see what happened and on Friday morning, I was Huntsville bound with Mary, Chris Herren and my own personal fuel man, Vance Pounders.


When we got finally arrived, I tried to lay down for a bit. I wasn't really sleepy or anything, I just wanted a temporary escape from reality. Later on, I went on a short shakeout run with Chris and Vance, in which I felt really weak. I still planned to toe the line but was debating between still attacking 2:19 or running a controlled 2:25 or so, to get the third place prize money and then try another marathon a couple of months later. Deep down inside, I didn't think I'd have a shot at 2:19, or even be able finish in third place, but I figured I'd attempt it anyway.

After hearing about my friend and running partner, Doug Boomer's pasta primavera gone wrong experience, I decided to shy away from the pre-race pasta party and made my own dinner. I attempted to eat some pasta but had no appetite at all. I forced down a few bites and ate some Bojangles fries, which are never too difficult to force down. After tossing and turning for a couple of hours, I was able to finally fall asleep.

When I woke up that morning, I had a terrible migraine headache. I don't get bad ones very often but when I do, life is not very fun at all. A side effect of them is that I have a lot of nausea and can't eat anything. Because the marathon requires every ounce of energy you have and more, I knew I had to force down some food. I was able to eat half of a Clif Bar but couldn't eat anything more. A few minutes after eating, my nausea became much worse and shortly after that, I went to the bathroom and lost my Clif Bar and much more. Because I lost all of my morning calories, as well as my fluids, I knew I was in no condition to race, or even finish a marathon. I was really depressed but that's how life treats you sometimes.

Because Chris wanted us to help him out with some fuel support, we went out to watch the start of the race. At this point, I was mad and not in very good spirits but when the race started and I saw everyone run by, I lost it and had to walk away for a few minutes. Being on that starting line and taking my shot at the standard was my journey that I worked for and deserved. Knowing that the opportunity was literally running away from me without even be allowed a shot felt completely unfair. I don't mind falling on my face and failing but not even getting a shot to chase the time after putting in so much work and being very fit was gut wrenching and unfair.

That ended my bid for the 2012 Olympic Marathon Trials. In both of my marathons, I felt like I overachieved based off what my training told me I was capable of. For this race, I KNEW I was in at least 2:19 shape, which made things very hard for me. But for now, I won't get a chance to qualify for the Trials until the window opens up again in a couple of years. I expect to take a shot at it again but a lot can happen in two years and age is not on my side.


However, I did not want all of my hard work to go to waste, so I had to find a new marathon. I knew the Jacksonville Marathon was the next weekend and like Rocket City, it was flat and fast. I also felt like I would be able to some decent money and Tom Dolan and Boomer even volunteered to come down with me. But I wasn't sure how recovered I'd be and knew I would have a hard time getting amped up for a race a week later when I was in such a mental low.

I also thought about the Mercedes Marathon in February but I didn't want to continue to train hard for that much longer and because the Chicago Marathon was my original plan, felt like I could become stale by then. After looking around online, the Mississippi Blues Marathon struck my interest. It was exactly four weeks away, which gave me time to recover and get in a couple hard weeks of training. I emailed them and was able to get into the race, as well as a hotel for a couple of nights. The race also is pretty competitive, which makes things more tactical and fun. With Rocket City, I was focused on racing the stopwatch and looked at it as a time trial. Those type of races aren't particular fun, so I welcomed the idea of some good old fashioned head-to-head racing.

Unfortunately, the race is very, very hilly and much more hilly than the Country Music Marathon. To make matters worse, I'm a pretty bad hill runner. However, I have enough time to sprinkle in some small changes into my training to become a little more efficient over the hills. Running well there won't give me a chance to run in the Olympic Trials but hopefully with a good race, I can end this never-ending training cycle on a positive note.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

Man vs. Wild

With a little over a week until the Rocket City Marathon, I headed to Moss Wright Park to do my last hardish workout. I was going to run the first two miles of the Team Nashville 10 Mile course as a warm-up and then run the last eight miles at marathon pace and then add in a mile cool-down at the end. I anticipated the workout to be tough but didn't expect to struggle very much.

By the time I got Kate and dropped her off with Mary, I would have just enough time to finish before darkness fully settled in. I hid my keys at the top of my wheel and headed out for the first mile of the course, which was a loop around the park. After the first mile, you head out into Indian Hills, so i stopped by my car to drop off my long sleeve shirt. Normally, I forget which tire I place my keys on, so it's a guessing game until I find them. However, after checking all of my tires, my keys were nowhere to be found. I then looked under the car and under each wheel because sometimes I place them there but still, they were nowhere to be found.

At this point, I started to become a little frustrated and then noticed my car was unlocked. I was pretty certain I locked the car but thought there was an off-chance that I forgot to lock-up and left the keys inside the ignition. Again, the keys were nowhere to be found. I then looked in every nook-and-cranny and moved around everything in the car. I still couldn't find them and after losing about ten minutes of daylight, I decided that I needed to hurry up and start my workout.

After shutting the car door, I thought I heard a jingle in the distance. I looked over my shoulder and saw a squirrel about 50 feet away with my keys in his mouth. I couldn't believe what I saw and then charged after him. He must had been toying with my because I chased him around a tree several times and when he made a move to climb up the tree, the keys fell out of his mouth. For a second, we stared each other down, sizing each other up.

When it comes down to dogs, normally I'm not scared of them and if one chases me, I will charge it or throw stuff at it and nine times out of ten, it will run away. But squirrels are crazy and you never know what is running through their mind and in that brief moment where I debated what to do, he charged towards the keys, grabbed them with his mouth and he was up the tree. To make his ownage of me even more complete, he somehow set off the car alarm.

I spent the next few minutes throwing sticks at him in the tree while he alternated running around the tree and chowing down on my key chain. After a few minutes, he jumped to another tree beside it and the chunking of sticks continued for the next few minutes. He set off the car alarm again before jumping onto the roof of a building beside the tree.

At this point, I wasn't sure if I would ever get my keys back (well, technically Mary's). I picked up the frequency of my stick throwing and then he ran over to the side side of the roof. I sprinted around and must have had a moneyshot throw because the keys fell out of his mouth, slid down the roof, and onto the ground. I froze for a second, not knowing what to do. Just like earlier, we stared each other down for a second or two and then I made a mad dash for the keys, while fearing he would jump on the back of my head and start biting me in the neck. Luckily, I got the keys unscathed and was on my way. Unfortunately, he had the last laugh because all of the buttons on the keyless entry were chewed off and to make matters worse, I had to bail on the workout because my first two marathon pace miles were several seconds too slow. If only I got this on video, I would be telling this on the Ellen show and not typing it a couple weeks late in here.

Monday, June 20, 2011

Speed Phase

With my base phase in the bag, it's time for my most grueling phase of all, the speed phase. My base phase went ok, but it could have gone better. I finished with a week just over 100 miles and got to the point where I could be pretty relaxed at sub 6:00 pace. However, I had trouble finishing up my medium progression runs at the pace I wanted. I debated extending it another week but I felt I met most of my objectives, so I decided to move on.

In the speed phase, I try to build up my engine as much as I can and get in very good 10k-half marathon shape. At the end of the phase, I hope to be in sub 67 half marathon shape and have the speed to run close to 30:00 for 10k. Joe Rubio said it best when he said the point of this phase is to turn into a Porsche, while in the marathon specific phase, you take that Porsche and turn it into a hybrid. While I'd prefer it to last 8-10 weeks, I think I'll only have time for eight weeks.

I'll run a variety of speeds in my workouts, race a good bit and also increase my mileage. The key is to attack the body with a variety of stimuli to help it develop in different areas. While I can't yet know how my body will respond to the training, I'd like to be over 100 miles for most of the weeks in this phase and get in a couple 110-115 mile weeks. While in the marathon specific phase, it's very important to be fresh enough to hit your workout times and I'll delay a workout if it's not going well, in this phase, I'll run my harder workouts tired and will stick with them, even if I'm running too slowly or am running slower than planned. I expect to hit some rough training patches and have many days where I feel like a zombie.

During my Rocket City speed phase, the focus was more-so on building half-marathon fitness. I did a lot of long intervals, 6-7 mile tempo runs, finished up some of my long runs with some hard running and did a weekly run at 90% of my marathon pace. I only raced a couple of times and placed most of my emphasis on workouts that would give me a good gas tank.

During my Country Music speed phase, I focused more on speed. I raced about every two weeks, did a lot of fartleks, and really didn't get in any longer tempos or long, steady runs. It really wasn't the best training for the marathon but I wanted to have some fun and get in some fast running and workouts, which I hadn't done in years. I also needed to get used to running under 5:00 pace, which will help my efficiency for this fall.

This go-around, I'll probably do a combination of the two. I'm racing 3-4 times in July, with a race or two in August. Every other long run, I'll include some fast running or run most of it at 90% of marathon pace. These long, fast runs will be something new for me, but as a result, it will hopefully help me breakthrough to the next level. My body wasn't strong enough to do those kinds of runs so frequently last year, but with a year of solid training under my belt, I feel that I am ready. And as boring as it sounds, I'm going to do the majority of my tempo runs and all of my intervals on the track. It will help me regulate my speed and work on more efficient pacing. A two week period might look something like this:

Monday: Easy running
Tuesday: 10x10 second hill sprints with 2:00 jog recovery
Wednesday: Workout around half-marathon race pace
Thursday: Easy running
Friday: Workout at around 3k-10k race pace or a controlled long progression over hills (if I'm racing on the weekend, I'll make this another day of easy running)
Saturday: Easy running
Sunday: Easy long run with every other long run including most of it at 90% at current marathon race pace

I'm both looking forward to and dreading this phase. Luckily, I can knock out six weeks of it during summer break, which gives me enough time to get in some good sessions (rather than having them be rushed during my lunch break) and also give me a chance to get enough sleep.

Monday, May 9, 2011

Back in Training (sort of)

With Kate now in the world, the move complete and Country Music Marathon a few weeks in the past, it's time to start slowly training for the Chicago Marathon on October 9th. After CMM, I took eight days completely off and got in a little over 30 miles last week. I would have preferred to take off at least two weeks and have a longer build-up but life is about dealing with the cards you're dealt.

I divide my marathon training into three phases: the base phase, the speed phase and the marathon specific phase. For the Rocket City Marathon, I had nearly an eight month build-up. That enabled me to take my time with each phase and slowly transition to the next one, while allowing time for some down weeks. This past spring, I didn't worry so much about my marathon but spent more time building up my "engine" and becoming more relaxed at 5:00ish mile pace. I didn't take much rest after Rocket City, jumped right into progression runs and tempos and raced a ton, while I barely raced at all during my Rocket City Training. That training wasn't ideal for racing a marathon but if I want to be able to have a shot at running 26.2 miles at 5:18 a mile, I needed to get a little more speed in my legs.

My base phase this time will last about six weeks. It will mainly include a lot of easier running, which will give my body a break, let me charge my batteries back up some and build a little bit of basic aerobic endurance. I will also include 6-8 mile "medium runs" (about 90% of marathon pace) and work up to 9-10 mile progression runs. My long runs will only max out at 15 miles but I'll still try to work up to around 100 miles a week by the end of the phase.

I'll also run weekly all-out 10 second hill sprints with a lot of recovery to help with my strength/power, muscle fiber recruitment and stroke volume.

To be honest, this is my least favorite phase. You start out feeling rusty, do a lot of easier running without much of a time/pace goal and don't get in any races. However, you can't always train hard and expect to run at your best. The body needs time to repair itself and build a foundation for the harder training to come.

Saturday, April 30, 2011

Country Music Marathon Review

The Country Music Marathon was the last race of my "spring season." It was my second marathon and I took a more laid-back approach to it. With teaching, coaching and life in general, I knew I would not have the time to get in the marathon-specific workouts I needed. I was able to get in seven weeks of 95 miles or more, with two of those being right at 110 miles but I was only able to get in a few "real" marathon workouts. I knew I was very fit half-marathon wise but with the lack of marathon workouts, I knew there was a very strong chance I would crash hard if I didn't race smart. My main goal was to not put much pressure on myself and try and finish as the first Davidson County runner. I knew the course would be a lot more hilly than Rocket City (and I hate hills) but if I raced patiently, I thought I could have a shot at sub 2:30.


The days leading up to the race were incredibly busy. Thursday, I was on the go from 6am until after 5:30pm and when I got home, I had to mow the lawn and then do some unpacking. On Friday, I was able to sleep in for a bit because I took a personal day from work but then had to do a ton of errands and then spent the rest of the afternoon/early evening at a track meet. Stadium food is less than ideal the night before a marathon but you just have to make do. Not to mention "carbo-loading" is mainly hype. It was a mentally draining last two days when I just wanted to relax before my race.


I've heard horror stories about how early you have to wake-up and leave to get to the marathon in time. With over 30,000 people in the race, logistics has to be a nightmare. Luckily my friend Scott Bennett, lived a little over a mile from the start of the race. This was a HUGE relief to me because that meant I could sleep in for an 1.5 hours and not have to worry about battling traffic.

When I went to bed, I felt like absolute crap. The track meet wreaked havoc on my allergies, my head was killing me, my eyes hurt and I just wanted to go to bed. I went to bed over an hour earlier than planned and Scott gave me a Claritin Liqui-Gel, which I've never used before. When I woke up, I felt like a million bucks. I ate my regular breakfast of Mom's Best Toasted Cinnamon Squares, and added an apple cinnamon pop-tart and a Lemonzest Luna Bar. Instead of my token coffee, took a 200mg caffeine pill about an hour before the race (to help speed the body's ability to burn fats for fuel, saving carbohydrates in the process).

Race-time weather conditions were almost perfect. There was barely any wind and the temperature was just over 50 degrees with it climbing a little over 60 by the race's end. Scott jogged with me to the start and I checked in my gear bag and hung around until it was time to head to the line. Luckily my race number gave me a spot right on the starting line. The amount of people there was insane. I looked over my shoulder and the street was packed for as far as I could see.

Unlike the shorter races, the marathon requires the racer to take-in fuel during the race. During half-marathons or less, my body easily has enough carbohydrates to get me to the finish line, so I don't need to worry about taking any gels or other forms of fuel. Just as Scott hooked me up with a place to stay, I had some friends helping me out with my fueling during the race. During the marathon, I like to take 4-5 GU packs mixed in empty Tummie-Yummie bottles. Scott was handing me a bottle at around four and nine miles, Ted Towse was handing me one a little past halfway and Doug Boomer was hooking me up at around 17 and 20 miles. Having people help me out during the race was a huge stress reliever and enabled me to place all of my focus on the race. It also gave me something to look forward to and helped me divide the first 20 miles into five different sections.


When the gun went off, Edwin Romero, from Colombia shot off. He was hoping to run under 2:15, so I just let him go. I was seeded 6th and I thought with a patient race, I could have a shot at third. I was hoping to not only be the first Davidson County runner but the first Tennessee runner as well (an additional $500). There was a Kenyan guy who now lives in Chattanooga battling me for that money, so I knew I had to step up my game a little more than planned. I was in a pack with a few others guys and tried to relax because I had a long journey ahead of me.


I missed the first mile marker but a guy I was running with said it was right around 5:20. This made me a little nervous because my pre-race plan was to run around 5:40-5:45 a mile for the first half of the race. However, I felt relaxed and knew the first two miles were gradually downhill before starting the uphill climbs, so it was no big deal. The second mile was even faster, with a 5:10 mile split. I was still in a pack a good bit behind Edwin, so I just tried to tuck in and be as patient as possible. In the next mile, David Kellum (eventual winner) took off and I let him go. I broke away with Brent Martin, who had a 2:23 PR and Giovanny Amador, who had a 2:22 PR, followed us for a bit before falling back. Brent was running a little faster than me but I was still clicking off sub 5:20s, so I didn't fret about it. I knew I was running too fast and the faster you run, the more carbohydrates your body burns, so I made myself run behind him. He slowly increased his lead over the next few miles but I had a feeling I would run in to him again.

I went through the first 10 miles in 53:18. Shortly after that, Giovanny passed me. I debated going with him but I knew the pace was still too fast, so I let him go. I figured he would beat me anyway, so I didn't worry about it. Brent was about 10-15 seconds ahead of me at this point and I really wanted to chase him down but I was worried about what needed to be done 10 miles down the road, not seek instant gratification. I saw Jeff Edmonds on the side of the course and he ran with me for a minute or so. This served as a good motivator and mental refresher.

Shortly before halfway, I saw Giovanny stop and grab his calf. I went by him and figured it was just the beginning of the end for him. I hit halfway at 70:10, which was a 27 second half marathon personal best. I was still feeling really good and was done with most of the hard hills, so I was really pleased. The 14th mile included a long, boring stretch with a headwind most of the way and a pretty steep hill. I only split 5:53 this mile but made up several seconds on Brent, so I figured it was now time to go for the pass. I caught him within a couple of minutes and I guess I got a little too excited because I split 5:17 for that mile.

Once I passed him, it was a long, lonely road for quite a while. I couldn't see Edwin or David at all and shortly after I passed him, Brent dropped out. I was pretty certain I had third place locked up and I was way ahead of my planned pace, so I decided to relax a little a bit so I wouldn't blow up too badly later. In the 17th mile, you run across the pedestrian bridge and run right by the eventual finish line. There was a ton of crowd support there, so it served as a great temporary motivator. After running past the stadium, it was time to head out towards Shelby Bottoms. I had a really bad race at the Tom King Half Marathon, which went down pretty much the same route, so I was hoping I wouldn't have a repeat performance.

In the 18th mile, I could tell I was running a little low on gas. I was still running pretty decent mile splits but my legs started to feel a little drained. I also started getting a little bit of a side stitch, so I decided to relax a bit. Boomer met me at just under 20 miles for my last GU of the race. I drunk a couple of sips and felt like I was going to get sick, so I just threw it down and kept on running. I hit 1:48:21 for my 20 mile split, which was a huge motivator. If I could just run 5:45s, I would break 2:24. Since I averaged 5:25 a mile up to this point, I thought I had it in the bag. I decided I would run the next four miles under 5:40 and then hammer my last two miles and see if I could run under 2:23. 2:22 something sounds a lot better than almost 2:24. My next two miles were 5:37 and 5:41, so I was on target. However, my legs were getting even more drained and I felt like I was almost running on empty. I only had a little over four miles left at this point but I had a feeling I might be about to run into that "wall" I've heard so much about.


At this point, I've been running completely alone for nearly 10 miles. However, I did have one of my Hendersonville Running Club buddies, Skip Alcorn, out there on the bike as a course guide. We really didn't talk or anything because my mind needed to stay focused on the task at hand but having him there really helped me out because it gave me a since of familiarity and I didn't feel so alone. Just when I felt like I was about to completely shut down, I noticed Edwin in the distance. I used my watch to estimate how far ahead he was of me and when I hit the 23rd mile, he had about 75 seconds on me. That's a pretty huge chunk of time but he had went out insanely fast and was finding out how cruel glycogen depletion can be. I wasn't going to attack the pace or anything, but I definitely had him in my sights.


A little before 24 miles, I could tell I was cutting down on his lead. I ran down a short downhill and noticed my quads were pretty shot. I looked at my watch again and saw his lead was down to almost thirty seconds. I then knew I could at least catch him. How he would respond when I pulled up to him was somewhat of an unknown but I knew I would at least find out.

I was quickly cutting down on the lead and he was only about 15 seconds ahead of me with the 25 mile marker in sight. When I made my final push to catch him, my stomach got a little mad at me and I had several dry heaves. When they stopped, I tried to push again and that's when things got ugly. I started throwing up and had visions of Bob Kempanien in my head. I knew puking while running would give me some serious street cred but the worst part was that it was in front of a bunch of high school cheerleaders. When I was getting sick, my legs just wanted me to stop and walk but I was so close to Edwin and since I ain't no punk, I decided I had to catch him.

I finally caught him a little past the 25 mile marker and then tried to continue to push the pace. He didn't try to fight at all and I noticed he was falling back more and more. I then knew I had second place locked up and when I hit the 26 mile marker, it read 2:23:00. I really hate running a low "minute" in the marathon. If you run 2:23:59.99, everyone will call you a 2:23 marathoner. However, if you run 2:24:00, everyone will call you a 2:24 marathoner. Just a millisecond can totally change your identity and I didn't want to run just over 2:24 and be called a 2:24 guy, so I tried to sprint. It felt like I was flying and I had a feeling I was going to be a 2:23 guy. When I turned the final corner and saw the clock already at 2:24, I knew my fate had been sealed.

I crossed the line at 2:24:10 (my final "sprint" was at 6:00 pace) and immediately laid on the ground. I stood up and tried to find Mary but my legs were hurting so badly. I sat down on the ground beside her and talked to Trent Rosenbloom (the famed Flying Monkey Marathon man) and he made sure I wasn't going to die. I decided to walk to the medical tent to see if they could give me a massage or something but I just laid there for about ten minutes before getting bored and gimping back to Mary.

I was totally pumped about my race but I felt like death. This easily surpassed last year's R.C. Cola Moon Pie 10 Mile Race as the most dead I've been after a race. What made things worse was that the place to get my gear bag was over 1/4 of a mile away and it took me quite a while to limp over there.

The next day was even worse (except for winning trivia night at Cabana's) and my legs were insanely sore until Tuesday with all soreness being gone by Friday.

After it's all said and done, I'm really happy with this race. I gave myself about a 50/50 shot of breaking 2:30 and I feel like this time is worth 2:22 or under on the Rocket City course I ran 2:27:08 4.5 months prior. Finshing in 2nd place overall and being the first Tennessee and Davidson County runner also will help with the baby bills.

It's now time to chill out before making an assault on the Olympic Marathon Trials standard of 2:19:00 at the Chicago Marathon on October 9th. I'm not sure how realistic it is but I'll find out. I might even go to bed earlier and cut down on the junk food...

Mile Marker: Mile Split-Overall Time

1: 5:20-5:20
2: 5:10-10:30
3: 5:22-15:52
4: 5:22-21:14
5: 5:25-26:39
6: 5:12-31:51
7: 5:18-37:09
8: 5:24-42:34
9: 5:18-47:52
10: 5:20-53:12
11: 5:20-58:32
12: 5:33-1:04:05
13: 5:35-1:09:35
14: 5:28-1:15:03
15: 5:53-1:20:56
16: 5:17-1:26:13
17: 5:29-1:31:42
18: 5:37-1:37:19
19: 5:37-1:42:56
20: 5:25-1:48:21
21: 5:37-1:53:58
22: 5:41-1:59:39
23: 5:46-2:05:25
24: 5:50-2:11:15
25: 5:45-2:17:00
26: 6:00-2:23:00
26.2: 1:10- 2:24:10