March 17th: Rough Draft Is Due in Three Weeks

I'm starting to get a little nervous. I hit the wall at 15 miles on Saturday -- at least 2 or 3 short of where I need to be at this point.

In hindsight, a few things were working against me:

• I took the dog along for a good portion of the run, and I think that actually sucks more energy than you realize at the time. 
• Although I had some Chia Fresca when I dropped the dog off at home (around 9.75 miles), I didn't use any energy gels.
• I'm probably still not quite at 100 percent after not feeling well mid-week.
• I wore a sweatshirt early on, because it was a bit cool. I should have shed it when I dropped off the dog, but I was afraid I'd get a chill because I was sweating underneath it.
• It was hella windy, and trying to run into the headwind on tired legs was just impossible.
• I still need to learn to slow down.

That all said, the 26.2 I need to cover 40 days from now don't accept excuses. The marathon organizers are not going to push back the date just because I've had a few hiccups in my training. I really have just three weeks left before I start tapering, so it's seriously go time right now. I have a plan for this week; more on that later.

Looking out over Raritan Bay toward Perth Amboy and the Driscoll Bridge

Before I started tiring, it was actually a pleasant run around Cliffwood Beach. As I mentioned, I brought Lily with me; actually, I decided to run closer to home specifically so she could come along. She just hasn't gotten much exercise this winter, and I felt bad. We hit a bunch of our usual spots, and I got a couple of nice shots.

Keyport in mid-morning

I felt good after dropping Lily off and cleared 10 miles no sweat. Then I headed for Keyport and the Henry Hudson Trail. Crossing Matawan Creek -- right where the real Jaws struck 98 years ago -- I saw this really neat little boat that I assume is owned by the marina. I'd imagine they use it as a mini-tug to move small boats around as needed. Not long after, I saw one of those pedal-powered reclining bubble thingies. I didn't get a good shot of that, because it was headed in the other direction, but it just goes to show that every outdoor run is an adventure.

Here's that tiny tugboat.

Around 12 miles, I started really tiring. I was headed into the wind on the HHT, toward the trailhead so that I could turn back and log my miles without getting into too much trouble. Cleared the half-marathon point not long after the turnaround, and I was bushed -- but I was going with the wind at that point, so it wasn't quite as bad. However, I realized that once I cleared NJ 35, I'd be running away from home again -- meaning the last leg would be back into the wind. I turned back at the Keyport-Union Beach town line, managed to get to 15 miles (15.06 according to MMR), and then just had to stop. I did something I haven't done over the entire course of this adventure -- I called Jackie to come get me.

I'll get to my plan going forward in a little bit, but first, I did have a little pick-me-up later Saturday. I finally persuaded Jackie to go to Roadrunner Sports to get proper running shoes. I am a kid in a candy store there. We got her a nice pair of Brooks Ravenna 5s, plus some other goodies: a 13.1 magnet for my car, some GU gels for my next long, a new armband for my phone and a roller stick for working out muscle issues.


Unfortunately, the other issue with this weekend was that Saturday night, I hung out with my good friend Nick and let beer beat Gatorade. That put the kibosh on strength training Sunday. That has to be the last time that happens between now and April 27th.

Here's the deal: I have 6 weeks to go until the race. The final 3 are the taper, so that leaves me with 3 weeks until my rough draft is due. There are no extensions. And really, who's handing out the grades? Me.

So it's time to leave the Higdon plan behind in favor of the Richter plan. The plan has gotten me to a point that I couldn't even imagine a year ago, or even nine months ago. But now I have to get the work in, period.

I started the 3-week Richter plan this morning with 5.25 on the belt. Monday is normally a rest day, but that's not going to be the case again until the taper. This week, my goal is to log as many miles as I can, without regard for intervals, pace, tempo, etc. I kept the pace on the belt manageable (9:19 average), and that's going to be my MO all week. I'm aiming to have a full marathon's worth of miles this week before I hit my long. I'm going to rest on Friday and run long on Saturday, and do everything I can to try to optimize my performance. The weather should be OK, so I won't need to bundle up. I'll have the GUs in my pocket. I won't have the dog. Hopefully the wind won't be awful. And I should be as close to 100 percent physically as I've been in a while. I won't pre-determine how far I'm going, but it'll definitely be more than 15.

Tomorrow on the Richter plan is 6 or so, probably on the belt. Wednesday I'm shooting for 10, and then Thursday is a junk 5 or 6. Friday rest and Saturday long as I described.

Total miles since starting the blog 442.3