Finishing out the Season

So... how did it go in Richmond? Even though I didn't break my goal of running under three hours, I would have to still say it went great! My good friend Hunter French and I hit the road Friday afternoon to meet up with JJ White at the event check-in and packet pic-up. Once we arrived, we roamed around and checked some of the booths of interest to get what freebies we could before heading out to fuel up for the Marathon. After a great meal and feeling the need to go to bed at 7:30 we all finally retired for the evening and BOOM faster than I fell asleep, it was time to get up and get ready.

After getting everything set up including my Hammer Nutrition supplements, Runwell gear, and visiting the bathroom a few times, we hit the road. It was supposed to be only a 20% chance of rain, but we quickly figured out that was definitely not the case. We made our way to the Marriott to meet up with the Fleet Feet Roanoke crew and cheer them on and then it was go time!

Well... as if the rain wasn't all ready enough, right off the bat it started off crazy. I go to find bag check and am told its four blocks away and I have four minutes to go before the start! Great!! So now I am doing my best football dodging moves to find the bag check and make it back. After getting to the check in and heading back to the start line I realize I am not going to make the official gun time so I just relax and take my time to move in with the crowd to go over the start line and activate my chip. I hit the line and now I am officially running the Richmond Marathon for time. Even with the rain I feel pretty good clipping off 6:40 pace miles with ease all the way to the river. As I start making my way through mile ten, I get hit with a major urge to attack the first Port-O-Potty I can find. The problem is there isn't one in sight and I am getting desperate! As I begin fearing that some unsuspecting neighbor is about to get a very bad surprise, I finally see a row of green heaven and break into an almost full on sprint to the first open door I can find.

Two plus minutes later, I am happy again but now my legs are not in agreement with my request to run and getting back up to speed takes a bit. I manage to push forward at a pretty good clip until about mile seventeen where now my hips are beginning to rebel. Between miles eighteen through twenty-three both hips are aching just as they did in training and all I kept telling myself is "Do not stop to rest... its a trap!" I knew that if I listened to my legs request any chance I had of going under three would be finished for sure so I pushed on at a now much slower 7:30 pace. Just as last year, once I started making my way back into the city any pain that I thought I was having began to take a back seat to the feelings of accomplishment I was being overwhelmed with. As I topped the hill and headed down to the finish line I high-fived anyone in the crowd that was willing and cheered the whole way down. I was so glad to be done no matter what my time was I wanted to celebrate! An official time of 3:04:05 was not the goal I set for myself but it was still a PR and a damn good time so I was pleased with my effort in spite of the obstacles.

Richmond Marathon Week = Nerves and Excitement.

Well... it's almost time. Time to intentionally hurt myself for what will hopefully be less than three hours. I can honestly say I am totally nervous about doing this. There is no way I will be near the leaders for this one, but what makes this such an anxious event for me is this is the first time I will be running a Marathon with a goal time in mind. 

Anything can happen while running a Marathon but I am confident that I will achieve a Personal Best time on Saturday, even if I hit "The Wall" after mile 20. My fitness is there and the training was done... that combined with my current PR time means I will do that. But I have set the bar very high this time for myself. I will be going for something I have never done or attempted before thus the nerves and self-questioning. As my friend Colin has told me over and over this year... no matter what I say, I have to consider myself a runner at the paces I am getting to. Even with all of the joy I have experienced this year running, training, and developing new friendships it doesn't make doing a Marathon like this any easier!

You can track my progress by clicking on the picture.

Saturday will be a huge test for me, physically and mentally, but I’m as ready as I can be to do battle with myself to achieve my goal. I am Anxious to get started and Excited to get it over with! The good news is this has been something in the making over time. I have done the Richmond Marathon three other times and the course has hardly changed so I know what to expect. I have had a ton of people cheering me on all season and that has been truly appreciated more than you all will ever know. I have also become a part of a great organization in Runwell that supports a cause I believe in and been invited to be a part of the Roanoke Valley Elite Track and Field Club which is a huge honor. So like a sleeping volcano, here I sit trying to appear unassuming and calm while underneath the emotions and energy of it all are building within me waiting to be unleashed. I am ready to stare myself down and prove to those voices of doubt that I can do this. I will do this.

#DoWok in October for November Goals

Well I was really hoping to get to Duathon Nationals in October, but that was just not in the cards this year so I decided to turn all of my attention towards running.  After several second and third place finishes this season, I started off the month by getting my first running win at the Johnny CASA 5 Miler even while battling through a cold. I followed that up with a third place finish in the Mountain Junkies "Into the Darkness 4 Miler" the next weekend which I did despite the objection from my running coach, Finn Pincus. Why did he object? Because I was in the midst of training to do a personal best at the Sports Backers Richmond Marathon and his concern was I could get injured. Lucky for me that did not happen!


I have continued to up my mileage each week in October as well and train with RV Elite teammates Steve Crowder, Ali Kassens, and Andrew Parkins. They have helped keep me focused and motivated to push myself towards my Marathon goal. Steve has helped pace me through some of my long runs and give me advice. Ali is training for the Philly Marathon which occurs the very next day so we have been pushing each other on the speed workouts... good luck Ali! And Andrew just did the Chicago Marathon in a blazing fast 2 hours and 39 minutes! I am very grateful to God to be surrounded by great team members. And I have to say thank you to Hammer Nutrition for providing me with the proper nutritional supplements designed to help me work towards my ongoing pursuit of achieving optimum performance.

Now it is the beginning of November so the taper has begun and the reality of it all is starting to set in that I am actually going to push myself as hard as I can in a Marathon! Yes, I have done Marathons in the past but never to the brink of breakdown so I am starting to get very anxious and yet excited all at once. I am just ready to get it going and I am sure next week I will be even more wound up... so I have to say thank you to my lovely wife for dealing with me as I begin to act like a kid before Christmas wondering if he will get what he asked from Santa. It will all be over soon and then I can relax a little bit before I begin gearing up to do it all over again next year. In the meantime, I just hope my Marathon goes a little better than the stages below. And for all of you out there that are doing one or have done one, I am sure you can relate.