The girls are in Chicago!

I was up at 5:00am this morning, got Annette out the door and we picked up Brenda and Kim for the plane ride to Chicago. I was more than happy to provide the transportation as they are the ones that will be racing. It was my gift to them I guess you could say. I think I am about as excited as they are. The weather is not going to be the best there, calling for up to 88 degrees on Sunday with moderate humidity. Everyone was hoping it would be cool so the times would be better but the thing is, they have all trained in the heat so they are prepared for it. I know they will all do great!

Here is a picture of Annette, Brenda and Kim as they are getting ready to go in the Airport.




Annette had some really cool running shirts made up for the girls running. Each one had their name at the top in bold. Pretty cool!


I did get my run in last night, part of it in the dark. I only ended up with 3.7 miles but it was faster than my other runs this week. I think my first mile was like a 9:34. Ended up with about a 10:27 overall pace. At about mile 3 I ran into Kevin, one of my neighbors that was out running so we walked and talked for a few. Probably would have had a better overall if not for that but thats ok.

Saturday my schedule calls for 18 miles. Whew, its going to be warm too. I am starting at 6:20am and getting about 2.2 plus miles in before hooking up with the group at 7 for the rest. I am planning on setting my garmin up and using the virtual partner program to pace me. I'll probably set somewhere between 11:25 and 11:50 just to see how it works out. I know I will be running some of the miles much faster than that though, but 11:25 is my marathon pace goal or pie in the sky goal anyway. That gets me done around 4:59:00 which would be awesome. We shall see how it works out. Hopefully I can get to bed early tonight and get some sleep. Late night last night and up very early today so I am running short.

A few Marathon Inspiration Quotes

I tell our runners to divide the race into thirds. Run the first part with your head, the middle part with your personality, and the last part with your heart. - Mike Fanelli

The marathon’s about being in contention over the last 10K. That’s when it’s about what you have in your core. You have run all the strength, all the superficial fitness out of yourself, and it really comes down to what’s left inside you. To be able to draw deep and pull something out of yourself is one of the most tremendous things about the marathon - Rob de Castella

Courage is being scared to death, but saddling up anyway. - John Wayne

Energy multiplies when you set a desired goal and resolve to work towards that goal - David Schwartz

Good things come slow - especially in distance running. - Bill Dellinger

Running is a big question mark that’s there each and every day. It asks you, ‘Are you going to be a wimp or are you going to be strong today?’ - Peter Maher, Irish-Canadian Olympian

The body does not want you to do this. As you run, it tells you to stop but the mind must be strong. You always go too far for your body. You must handle the pain with strategy…It is not age; it is not diet. It is the will to succeed. - Jacqueline Gareau, 1980 Boston Marathon champ

Marathons are 90% mental toughness, the rest is in your head!

If you think life is tough, try running a marathon. If you still think life is tough, run the next one faster.

This is what it will be like to finish Chicago

Click on this to see what the finish is like

Chicago marathon finish

Chicago - D Day - 3

Ok, it's official, I'm not even running Chicago but I think I am as much a basket case at this point as Annette. I really wish now that I had made arrangements to go just to take pictures but I know that would be hard too. I'm just so excited that Annette, Brenda, Kim, Michelle and some others I know are running this. This is one of the BIGGEST marathons out there. It just boggles my mind that there will be 40,000 people running this and my girls will be part of it!! Good luck ladies! I will be thinking about all of you.

Wednesday Night Run

Annette and I had plans to run this morning with Kim and Jane but rainy weather at 5:00am canceled that. I had told Annette that if it was raining, I didn't think she should take a chance running in the rain and getting sick 4 days before the Chicago Marathon. It wasn't a case that she had to have the miles. I was kind of happy that it was raining really. I had got to bed late around 10:45 and then about 1:30am I got paged out with the FD for an "unknown" type of fire on Toniville Rd. Lucky for me it ended up being a trash fire and we were canceled en-route. Sometimes those "unknowns" can be something big, but usually they are just BS.

One of the hardest things to do is go back to sleep after running out to a fire call. Usually you are hot, sometimes the adrenalin is still going. I wasn't sleeping good anyway so this was one of those nights so I wasn't mad about not getting to run at 5:30.

Annette and I did get a nice run in after work. I logged 4.25 miles. It was still pretty warm outside, I think more so because of the humidity. I had an average pace of 10:45, should have done better but honestly I was just being lazy and not pushing it. I did show the first mile at a 9:34 pace. I'll probably try to get another 4-5 miles in tomorrow after work. I don't have a plan yet for my 18+ on Saturday but I hope to tomorrow.

"If you think you can or if you think you can't, your right!"

The tittle of this post says it all. This not only relates to running, but life in general. Last night I attended a school inspection class as part of my regular fire department training. The instructor was a Regional Fire Academy Instructor and also the Fire Chief from Cane Creek. He did his presentation and then at the end he talked about why training is so important. To be a qualified firefighter in the State of Arkansas one has to complete 3 basic courses, Introduction to Firefighting, Protective Equipment and Wildland Fire Suppression. Firefighters also have to have 24 hours per year of ongoing certifiable training otherwise their department will loose tax dollars. This is just the bare minimum to be covered under workers comp in most places.

The story went on about how he himself had been in a very bad car accident several years back and could no longer actually do firefighting as he couldn't crawl around on the floor due to a replacement knee. That was why they made him Chief, so he could handle all the admin work. He also started being an instructor to help others.

At one of his Intro/Protective Equipment classes that was being held for a small volunteer department, he said the chief came to him and asked for his help. He told him that he needed to get his best driver/pump operator certified but there was a problem. The guy only had one arm! The instructor knew the requirements of passing the basic courses. Two of the main things were that to pass the course, a firefighter would have to be able to put on turnout gear (pants,jacket,hood, helmet,boots) in one minute or less. The other requirement was putting on an air pack and be breathing air, fully turned out in less than one minute. These two things can be a challenge for even someone in perfect physical shape but a guy with one arm? How in the world would he be able to do it?

The instructor contacted the Fire Academy and asked them about it and they said that as long as he could do it within the time limitations, they could certify him. So the instructor worked with him, and after his second try, he was able to get his turnouts on within 58 seconds. After his 4th try, he was able to pass the air pack test with about a 54 second time. Unbelievable with one arm!

The guy passed his tests and was now able to be certified for workers comp purposes. It wasn't that he would ever go into a burning building as he was only going to be a driver/pump operator, but he still had to get certified to be covered under insurance. The instructor said he himself would no longer say he couldn't do anything again because of his handicaps

I guess the moral of this story is that if you want to do something bad enough you can. It may take some extra work, and it may be the hardest thing you have ever done, but anything is possible if its something you believe in. So for all those doing Marathons, just remember, "you can do it!"

A new month

Well today started a new month and new training goals. I am 100% dedicated to my marathon now. No other events will be scheduled unless its just an easy bike ride somewhere. No racing!!

Yesterday I got in 3.1 miles with the Cruisers and then we did liter clean up along Hwy 89. I could tell I was still tired, not so much my legs but just overall. It didn't help any that it was 88 degrees when we started running. Needless to say I welcomed the walk breaks and took more than normal. Mile 1 was a 10:23, 2 a 10:33 and 3 was a 11:34. You can see the pattern. We had some Mexican food with the Cruisers afterwards for sort of a going away party for a couple girls that were moving.

I figured I would start my October training off right tonight with a 4 miler. I left the house at 6:30 and it was still pretty hot. The temp was just above 80 degrees and the humidity was high around 85%. I ran my regular 5K route to Freds and back figuring I would add on some at the end. I could tell I was still somewhat tired, though my legs really were not sore. I did the run one mile, walk 30 second deal for the first couple miles, not counting having to stop once for a car. The last two I walked twice each, I figured why kill myself as I was still recovering some from Saturday. I finished the 4 miles in 43:54 with a 10:58 average. My splits were 1-10:37, 2-10:21, 3-11:23, 4-11:23. At least they were consistent but not near as fast as I have been used to but the humidity and still not being fully recovered showed. I don't think I was fully hydrated today till I got home from work.

Lucky for me Tuesday will be a rest day as I have a Fire Department class to attend on school inspections. That should give me a good rest going into Wednesday. Plus I really wasn't looking forward to speed work this week. Coach Dennis had us scheduled to do a warm up then run a mile at lactate pace threshold, rest 5 minutes then run 800 meters at lactate pace. The speed work has been hurting my heel lately but I may do the workout later in the week on my own. I have 18 miles scheduled for my long run this weekend and will probably do that on Saturday.