Here I come Burlington!

Wednesday, January 04, 2012 · Mike Davis

Vermont City Marathon (VCM) Training Journal

A month ago I got an email from our neighbor/friend (Scott), telling me that he’s running the Vermont City Marathon and that my wife told him I was considering running as well. Unless I was talking in my sleep, I don’t know where she came up with that idea! Anyhow, I thought about the idea of running a marathon, but not until the fall if at all. However I am a pushover when it comes to peer pressure for such things as running. I thought about it for a week, I looked at my current training and I decided to think on it some more. My fear lay in my right hip and the memory of how it has made training from 15 miles on really difficult and I have had to hobble to the finish of two marathons. Would training/ running another marathon expose a bad hip again?

A couple more weeks passed and while my fears remained, I started forming a training plan based on my improved knowledge and understanding what it takes. I have worked with some great people to help strengthen my hip and I continue to do the exercises that will give me the greatest chance of success. Instead of backing off the miles, I have a plan to increase the miles (slowly) and build a strong base to work from. My mind was made up and I decided that I will go to Burlington Vermont healthy and strong!

After discussing the idea with my partner, we thought it would be a great idea to blog daily while I’m training for VCM. Some might find it helpful for future marathon consideration, others might learn something and hopefully everyone will enjoy my journey to overcome and get to Burlington. Feel free to comment and give me suggestions along the way. I am scared, but the challenge ahead of me is one that I fully embrace. I hope you enjoy the journey!

Sundays will continue to be my weekly blog, so no fear that will not go away.

January 2, 2012

I have completed 2 weeks of my training for VCM and today I started week 3. The first 2 weeks were great; I ran 36 mile the first week and 39 miles last week. Both are high for me and I felt pretty good about the amount I was able to do. My goal is to go into each Saturday having run around 30 miles and increasing my long run about a mile each week. Saturday I ran nearly 9 miles, bringing my total up to 39 for the week! Sunday was a rest day.

Today (Monday), was a holiday so I was able to sleep a bit later and take my time getting out the door. I got up around 7:00, had some coffee, cereal and around 30 ounces of water. Did some reading and enjoyed my coffee. At 9:00 I hit the road for 6.5 miles. Normally I run a loop around Dover, going through town, but today I decided to go left out of our cul-de-sac and do an out back. I get so use to my normal Dover route that it’s nice to change it up. My legs and butt were sore from the walking all the walking around we did in Boston on New Year’s Eve and day. The weather was perfect allowing me to wear shorts and I was even able to take off my gloves and headband.

The run itself was okay; I ended up running 6.82 miles (Garmin exact) in just over an hour. Probably a bit faster pace than I should be going for an easy run. Overall my pace was 9:02 and I really should be around 9:25. I finished, got home and did some strength training for about 25 minutes.

Off to a pretty good start for the week, but I need to slow my pace down some and resist the desire to go faster. I was a bit sore, but overall okay. Tomorrow I will have to figure out how to get my miles in while meeting with my trainees for a track workout.

Tuesday, Jan 3

Today I had a scheduled interval training session with the group I’m currently coaching. They did 4- 1200 intervals with a 400 recovery in between. Because of scheduling I started with a group at 4:00 and had another at 5:00. Altogether I ran a total of 9.25 miles as I ran with the groups most the time. Normally I run 6.5 miles each week day, so this total was way on the high side. It will be interesting to see how tomorrows run goes. Tonight was cold as heck and my hands would not have lasted 5 more minutes. I had 2 layers of gloves on, but man it was cold. Toward the end my lips and mouth were not functioning well either. Thank goodness I wasn’t by myself, I’m not sure I would have hung in there.

I got home and made a protein shake consisting of skim milk, whey powder, organic peanut butter and a scoop of nestle quick. What a great drink, flavorful and full of protein. I stretched some as my butt was a bit sore, but didn’t stretch long enough as I was interrupted by a call. I really need to get more disciplined with my stretching. Tomorrow I’m going to Planet Fitness and run on the treadmill. The weather looks frigid, but I’ve decided that I will break up my training with a weekly treadmill run. Wednesdays will normally be that day. My wife has indicated that she may join me, so that would be nice. I am interested as to how my body will hold up after the lengthy run today.

Well that’s it. See you tomorrow!