I cannot believe that the Chicago Marathon is less than 40 days away now. August was a big mileage month for me and probably the most I’ve run in one month. I almost ran every run on the schedule except for a Friday 10 miler due to illness. Here are the highlights of training for August. Sleep and Priorities are Important I missed a 10 mile run because I
August 15th, 2017
Chicago Marathon Mid Training Update
This is the third training cycle I’ve done for a marathon, and by far, it has been the best one up to this point. With the exception of running with the Outer Banks group for one of the weeks, I have run all of my runs solo. I think that mentally, it is tougher to do that. The time may go by a little slower than when running with
August 8th, 2017
Headphones Review – Bose Soundsport Wireless Headphones
UPDATE 9/18/17: Unfortunately the second pair of headphones also resulted in death by sweat. I’m now on my second replacement set, third pair total. Based on the unreliability thus far, I had to change my rating of these headphones to 2.75 out of 5 stars. I usually listen to music when I run, especially on longer runs. I had a pair of wireless headphones that were about $40 and
July 10th, 2017
Chicago Marathon Training – First 3 Weeks Report
The first 3 weeks of training have gone pretty well. Of course these are some of the easiest weeks of the training cycle but glad to pass through these past few weeks feeling pretty good and no potential injuries. My runs in general have been hilly with an easy pace, while I try to drop my weight (more on that below). I had 22, 25, and 29 miles for the
June 21st, 2017
Chicago Marathon Training -Weight Loss
I have a goal for the 2017 Chicago Marathon to be the lowest weight I’ve ever been for a race. I do not really have a “runner’s build” and weigh between 215 -220 lbs, but it fluctuates out of that range at different times of the year. For the first Chicago Marathon that I ran, I got down to about 202 lbs. and for Marine Corps Marathon, it was around
February 17th, 2017
2017 Races and Goals
2016 was a “meh” year for me with running. It wasn’t horrible, but I didn’t run as much as previous years. I ran 645 miles in 2016, but I ran 910 in 2015. Still, I ran 3 Half Marathons in 2016: Frederick Half Marathon Bird-in-Hand Half Marathon Norfolk Half Marathon Most months I only ran around 50 miles, with a couple 100 miler months thrown in. 2016 was very
November 24th, 2016
2016 Norfolk Half Marathon Review
It was a last minute decision to run the Norfolk Half Marathon. After the last race I did (Bird-In-Hand), which was a torturous race (see review), I thought I could use a better experience like I’m used to having at races. Plus a couple friends also seemed interested in running it, so I signed up. Though my friends ultimately were unable to go, I had a great day at a
September 16th, 2016
Bird-In-Hand Half Marathon- Review
In 2015 I said I might be back for this race, and sure enough, I did return. Overall the race was the same except for a couple differences. One is that the course changed slightly from last year so that now the runners run through an Amish farm! That happens towards the end of the race, and that was very cool. The other key difference was the weather. Last year
July 30th, 2016
How to Survive Marathon Training
First off, I am someone that did not always like running. In fact, during baseball and soccer practices in high school, I always dreaded the “run some laps” part and was always happy when we didn’t have to. So to think I would become a dedicated runner (for about 5 years now) and eventually run two marathons would be crazy. Never say never is all I can tell you. Having
May 21st, 2016
Frederick Running Festival – Review
After taking more of an off-season than I’ve done previously, I was feeling like May would be the earliest I’d be ready for a race. My mileage was way down during January – March 2016, with April being a 100+ mile month. So feeling slightly less than ready for a race, I ventured out Mother’s Day weekend (oops, didn’t realize that when I signed up!) to Frederick, MD, just about