Thor's Running Journal

There is a little incline at mile 3 of the Glass City Marathon and a turn into a boisterous cheering crowd. It happened for me about 22 minutes into the race.  Today the chill of the morning and perfect light made this moment the one where I teared up inside, and a little outside. It's been a long winter. It's been a long past 4 weeks. But in that moment I remembered the joy of participating in an endurance race. It might not have been the 26.2 I wanted or planned, but the overwhelming sense of accomplishment against the challenges surfaced as the crowd rang cowbells, held signs with silly phrases, and yelled words of encouragement. I didn't know a single person on the sidelines today, but it didn't matter to them and it didn't matter to me.  Over the course of this training cycle I've experienced a slew of emotions. I learned to feel the feels no matter how they came: Wonder Hope Disappointment Discouragement Resolve Satisfaction Pride Optimism Frustration Wear...

I am in a constant state of framing and reframing just what my next move is for this weekend. Strikes against the marathon: 1. Diminished fitness  2. Calf niggles continue 3. Facial fractures 4. Poor practice with nutrition And yet it's tough to to leave it on the line at this point.  The race organizers say I can downgrade (perhaps "modify my registration" or "Transfer" are gentler words) to the half marathon until the close of the expose (Saturday afternoon) So if i scratch the marathon what do I have left.  A 3 month masters class in endurance to draw from sometime down the road? A plaque that says, "love the process?" I'm not at the point of resignation yet, but I'm getting there with some reflection. Perhaps I rushed signing up for a marathon when a half-marathon would have be suffient with aims as Chicago in 2026 and the Boston in 2027. Its interesting how on track I was 4 weeks ago and how quickly things unraveled.  Alright so I run the ...

 5 easy effort miles to start the day at 2:56am and then back to bed just like old times. 

Easter morning (yesterday) the sun started coming up just as I was waking. I made it out the door in time to go for a beautiful run. I didn't care that it took 10 minutes to go a mile as I recovered from not only a marathon pace practice the day before, but also the Easter vigil which meant a 1:30am bed time. I might have been dragging my body along for the ride, but my spirits were high.  Then this morning, it rained. I don't mind running in the rain, but starting to run while it is raining is mentally a bit more challenging. But I started. And the rain let up after a few miles in. I won't go so far as to say I liked it, but it gave me some sense of order. Today is the Boston Marathon.  Some of the runners did great and others didn't do as well as they wanted. Even the professionals.  It made think about the scalability of running and the shared drama no matter the level or athletic ability. My disappointments are as real as the disappointment of a pro who cramps up at...

It's tough navigating the thin line between giving time for recovery and readiness for action.  Last week, before my bike accident, I set some interim goals to help give some semblance of structure  to my marathon training as the wheels started to come off. 1.) Practice the nutrition and 2.) test out new gear.  There is a mantra in the running world that says, "nothing new or race day" There is good wisdom in this because a new pair of shorts or shirt or socks might rub the wrong way and create an added layer of discomfort over the 26.2 mile course. With this in mind. I decided to dress for success with a new singlet and shorts that arrived a few weeks ago. I decided to leave my new race shoes at home today and go with a tried and true pair so I wasn't making too many changes all at once as I worked to get back up to speed.  Today it is a blistering 50 degrees out making the new outfit idea for the conditions. It is wild to think over the course of this training cycl...

Well it finally happened. After all the miles on my feet it turned out that the bike would be the culprit that sent me to the emergency department. Just when I was starting to try and heal from my calf strain and keep my fitness up by riding my bike. I guess they don't call it endurance for nothing. On my way back home riding through the neighborhood faster than I should have I wasn't paying close enough attention to the parked car that took me out. It all happened so fast that I can't really say exactly what happened other than knowing that I landed flat on the curb with my face ( Yes, I did have a helmet on and pretty sure it saved the rest of my skull).   The homeowner came out of the home pretty upset that some blinking guy in the street was by her car “what the __ are you doing?” she yelled from her front stoop because it was 4:30am and dark. When she approached, I politely explained in my pain that I had hit her car. Her tone changed immediately the minute she put two...

I'm clawing my way out of the "can't run blues" by cycling early in the morning. It's been colder than I would like, but tolerable. Barely tolerable, but I guess this is what makes me an endurance athlete. I endure the elements. Riding through a little misty drizzle is nothing after sloshing through puddles on some of my longer runs. I am digging into that mindset of "I did X so Y is possible" . The formula of how many miles on a bike is equivalent to running is trickier. The computer says around 2.5miles on a bike is equal to 1 mile on my feet. I'm not sure I completely buy it, but at least I am getting time outside.  I am starting to sense a difference and feel like the rest is taking hold as my body heals. Is it going to heal fast enough? Two weeks away from marathon day and although I am feeling underprepared as the days tick by I am also feeling more settled into the mindset of what will be will be and I just have to keep giving my best effort. ...

 After running through thunderstorms and snowstorms biking through a bit of a drizzle this morning felt like a cake walk. I resisted the urge to put any miles on my feet and opted to bundle up my fingers and toes for a few miles on the wheels. Nice and smooth. Enough just to take away the 3:30am jitters and keep some semblance of order.  Not running and waking up and not sure if I'll be running because is disorienting. Before the injury my week looked like this.  Monday: Easy Effort Tuesday: Speed/Strength Wednesday: Rest Thursday: Marathon Practice Friday: Easy Effort Saturday: Easy Effort Sunday: Long Run The past two weeks have looked like this hmm... should I run? Maybe.  Ok I'll try 2 miles. or Nope. Don't do it. hop on the bike or Run 1 mile and bail or What harm going 9 miles do with new shoes or I can't go to back to sleep. Is there a Strava activity called tossing-and-turning? The downtime leaves room for the three Ds Doubt. Disappointment. Discouragement (D...

 I woke up 3am and again just didn't feel quite ready to push the legs. I got as far as dressed in my cold weather gear because of course it is still 24 degrees out, but turned back for another day of rest. Everyday that goes by is one more reason not follow through on this race. So far it's mostly just time I've put in. There's the race fee, but I wouldn't in cure the lodging or other travel costs if I pull out now. The whole point of the race was to have a shot at Boston and that is slipping by each day I'm off my feet. Its wild how I can go 700 miles in 14 weeks and then loose all the confidence in the mater of 10 days. sheesh.  Or Run the race. See how I do maybe qualify for Chicago then put my feet up for the rest of the year and do some smaller 10k or 1/2 races.  Or Run the race and then do the last chance Boston race in September 7 (sign up in july) Winning is fun. Hitting goals is fun. Not running is not fun. Missing the mark is not fun. Perhaps I would ...

 I've been trying to figure what's next. One leg feels fine then the other acts up. 9mile mod tempo long run over the weekend. Didn't feel terrible, didn't feel good enough to do 10. Shorts and tshirt 27 degrees tomorrow morning again.  Still likely able to heal up by marathon day, but doubtful Im going to get the performance I wanted. There will just be other problems if I quit this cycle and aim for something in the Fall. At least I made it 14 weeks.  Hoped to resume normal schedule today, but out of routine from afternoon runs.  I'll know immediately when I step out of bed at 3am in the morning  if I'm going to do any running tomorrow. Maybe easy effort tomorrow then give marathon pace a try on Thursday? Sort of no man's land at this stage. Being repaired is priority,  but not having the juice seems to be the inevitable tradeoff. I think even if I were to make Boston I wouldn't run it. Training in the winter is awful and it's literally been winter...

 I tried getting the gears going again this morning, but felt off kilter enough not to bother pushing the limits and just did a half mile around the neighborhood. It's tough to resist the urge to try and run off the discomfort. Better to wait another day...maybe another day... I'd have to look to be certain, but I think that the past 4 days have been the longest bit without running (other than post marathon) over the past year and a half. I'm still waking at 1:30-2:30am so I've needed to manage what to do with those moments. An injured rest is much different than a rest day. A rest day feels great. A injured rest feels anxious as though I should be out there in the dark cold hours of the morning clicking off the miles. I still have some things that need to happen this cycle 1. Fueling: I should have started this sooner, but with waterbottles freezing and hardly being able to feel my fingers, it made it tough. In all likelihood I'll be ok on this front as long as I d...