Keep Moving Forward: A Training Log (Comments Welcome)

ACK! You got this rockstar! If the Cards can nab the Division, you can... well... take care of your foot so you can run your marathon! Or something. ;)
 
Oh no! I hope your foot feels better quickly.
I sometimes think how much I can obsess over random pains is worse than the pain itself. Hopefully the new shoes work!

Thanks! Feeling a bit better today. I’m hopeful I addressed it before it became a bigger problem.

ACK! You got this rockstar! If the Cards can nab the Division, you can... well... take care of your foot so you can run your marathon! Or something. ;)

#TimeToFly!!!
 
Rare mid-week update:

I picked up a new pair of Hoka Bondi 6s on Sunday and took off the rest of Sunday and Monday. Today, I decided to test things out by going for what I had planned to be an easy four mile run. I slapped on the new shoes and went out at a light pace, though I ended up going a bit faster than intended (I had work I had to squeeze in this evening, so that probably factored in.)

Anyway, as expected, the Bondis felt much springier than the Cliftons I had tried out during the duration of this training period. I didn't feel anything in my foot for the first half mile. A half mile in I took a left corner (putting pressure on the outside of my left foot, where the pain had been) and felt a little twinge in my foot, but nothing serious and certainly nothing that hampered me. I don't think I'd be wanting to do 400s in this and leaning hard on that foot on the turns, but that's not something I have to worry about.

So, the foot largely felt okay. I did cut the run short (3.4 miles) because my shorts were super loose and kept slipping off my backside. I got annoyed and called it quits a little early. Tomorrow, I'll go out for a full six (with better shorts) and see how that goes.

After my run I had to mow and that means walking around for a while in my blown out Keens, which wasn't super ideal. I shouldn't have to do any more mowing until Friday, which is good. Once mowing was done, I went home and cooked dinner, walking around barefoot in the house. I've felt the pain/pressure in my foot the most when barefoot and I didn't notice much tonight. I also did a brief jump test, which seemed to go fine.

So, fingers crossed, knock on wood ... I'm cautiously optimistic. I'll get 6 in tomorrow, 4 or 5 on Friday and then head to Milwaukee Saturday morning. I'm going to wave all the way from Madison to West Allis because I know @DopeyBadger and @rteez are around there somewhere. Wave back fellas. Hey Billy, we met before this race in 2017.

The weather is looking promising for Sunday. Partly sunny, high of 63 and a low of 47. 45 is my ideal starting temperature, so anything close to that will be fantastic. I'm looking forward to another 26.2 mile stroll through Wisconsin.
 
I'm going to wave all the way from Madison to West Allis because I know @DopeyBadger and @rteez are around there somewhere. Wave back fellas. Hey Billy, we met before this race in 2017.

You might drive right by me on I-94 if you take that route from Iowa to Milwaukee. I'm in Cottage Grove, the exit right after Madison. I remember meeting prior to Lakefront in 2017. Man, how time flies!
 


You might drive right by me on I-94 if you take that route from Iowa to Milwaukee. I'm in Cottage Grove, the exit right after Madison. I remember meeting prior to Lakefront in 2017. Man, how time flies!

Two years ago today! Beautiful day for a race.

I’ll blast the horn when I go by Cottage Grove, so listen up! I’ve run two Warrior Dashes down the road in Johnson Creek, too.
 
1. I didn't see any way to track you on the Lakefront Marathon website -- boo.

2. Are you gonna wear any Cardinals gear? Like salt to those Wisconsin wounds?
 
1. I didn't see any way to track you on the Lakefront Marathon website -- boo.

2. Are you gonna wear any Cardinals gear? Like salt to those Wisconsin wounds?

1. Use the RaceJoy app, if you’d like. This is my first time using it, so ... 🤷‍♂️

2. That’s tempting!
 


1. Use the RaceJoy app, if you’d like. This is my first time using it, so ... 🤷‍♂️

2. That’s tempting!

Usually they also offer a text message based system using just the timing mats if you don't plan to carry your phone. I think they'll have more info at the expo.
 
Usually they also offer a text message based system using just the timing mats if you don't plan to carry your phone. I think they'll have more info at the expo.

Yeah, I know they had timing mats in 2017. They were a bit unreliable toward the end. Or maybe I was just so slow they assumed I died.
 
Good Luck on your race! I would say good luck to your team... but since I am a Braves fan... nah. Actually I will be at the game tomorrow afternoon.
 
Hey, I ran a marathon Sunday!

But ... let's back up a little bit.

When I last left things on this training log, I had just run a few miles in my new Hoka Bondis. The next day, I felt the slightest little bit of pressure on my let foot where I had been having issues. Incidentally, I also felt a little bit of pain in my right foot. I have a little knot or something right in the sole of my foot that is tender to the touch. But, since my run was pain-free, I figured I was going to try to make it through the marathon.

I got in another run on Friday. It was supposed to be 5, but somehow cam in at 4.98. Whatever. That run felt fine, too, as far as I can recall.

So, I woke up pretty early on Saturday, double (triple) checked that I was packed and picked up my friends Jake and Emily to head to Milwaukee. They're married, Jake is one of my best friends and Emily was signed up for the Lakefront Marathon, as well. We made it to MKE with no incidents and picked up our stuff at the expo, which was at the UWM campus.

After bib pick up, we headed to downtown/third ward MKE and wound up at the Milwaukee Ale House, where we had some food and beers (the first of MANY that weekend). While we are at the Ale House, my cousin, Ryan, and our friends Mitch and Molly - who were coming over from Madison - joined us. We ate and drank and had a good time.

From there, we got checked into our AirBnB and then had a distillery tour. At the end of hour-long tour, we sampled roughly 8 different kinds of liquor and then went up to the bar to have another drink. Standard pre-race activities. After that, we went and had some dinner. I had a BLT pizza, which is also standard before a race.

After dinner, we headed back to the AirBnB. I had a pull out couch to sleep on, but did not get much sleep that night. There were people screaming outside my window until after midnight and even after that, I still had a hard time sleeping. Race jitters, maybe?

So, because of that I was out of bed by 4:15 and getting ready. Emily - who also didn't sleep well - was out of bed by 4:45. We got dressed and packed for the trip and left the AirBnB by 5:15. After a short drive, we were at the Summerfest grounds, where we parked and hopped on a bus, which took us 26 miles north of MKE to Grafton High School, where the race started from.

Emily and I spent about an hour at Grafton High School just BSing, streching and waiting for the race to start. As the sun was coming up, they called us to the starting area. Emily and I took a quick selfie, then headed to our respective starting areas based on anticipated finish times. There are no corrals, but there were pace groups. I fell in between 4 hours and 4:30 and Emily went back to the 5 hour area.

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And in no time, it was time to roll. I should mention quickly that the weather was PERFECT. It was probably just under 50 degrees at start time, sunny, just a bit of a breeze.

The first few miles through Grafton and the Wisconsin countryside were calm, beautiful and gorgeous. A few miles in, I ran past a guy playing "Beer Barrel Polka" on the accordion and I've decided that I want an accordion player accompany me for all of my races from here on out. That dude rocked.

The first half of the marathon were very, very good and smooth. I talked with a woman from central Wisconsin for a few miles, which made them go by very quickly in terms of perception and effort. I ended up falling in line with with the 3:55 pace group for much of the first half, which felt very comfortable.

Around the half marathon mark, I pulled a bit ahead of the 3:55 group. I figured I was biting off more than I could chew, but part of me thought that maybe a sub-4 was possible. So, I just decided to keep up what I could and go for it.

So, at some point just past the half marathon mark I felt it. A sharp pain in my left foot - exactly where I had a stress fracture 3.5 years ago. I was able to keep on and eventually the pain subsided, but I knew I'd probably done something to my foot. Fortunately, the brand new Hokas did their job and provided me a lot of cushion, which helped a ton.

The second half of the marathon was largely downhill and, despite the foot issue, felt really great. As each mile went by, I knew that a sub-4 was possible. A PR was unlikely, but as I ticked off the miles, I knew I wanted to hit that mark.

Around mile 20 or so, I started to feel a little fatigue in my legs. My cardio was good, my breathing was fine, but my legs were wearing out. I kept plugging through the suburbs, Whitefish Bay and some really nice houses. The crowd support throughout the race was incredible and the latter half of the race was no exception.

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I also need to mention that Emily's husband and two our our friends came out to cheer us on throughout the race. I saw them around mile 14 and again at mile 24 or so. They had signs and were such a boost out on the course.

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As I passed mile 20, I knew I was wearing down. I started doing the mental math on what I would need to do, pace-wise, to hit a sub-4. Honestly, that's easier said than done you're three hours into a marathon, but I managed. I kept the legs pumping, my feet were kind enough to not absolutely die and the miles passed by.

Finally, during mile 24, along Lake Michigan, I had to walk. I had been pounding pavement for as long as I could, but needed a short break.

I walked a short distance, but trudged my way through mile 24. Mile 25 presented another challenge. With all the rain this month, the running path along the lake was flooded over. And not just a little bit. Fairly deep water. So, as I was running through that, my feet got absolutely soaked. I stopped to walk again because I was beat and the 3:55 pace group caught up with me. I knew at that point I still had a sub-4 in me and just need to push it to the finish.

Right at mile 26 I saw two of my cousins, their wives and kids. They cheered me on and it was a nice little boost to the finish. I was struggling, but once I saw the chute to the finish and the clock ticking away, I had just enough energy to push. With nothing left in the gas tank, I crossed the finish line at 3:54:59, my second sub-4 and just 6 minutes off of my PR.

The rest of the day was pretty crazy. I slammed a water, a gatorade and A LOT of beer at the after party. The band playing there (at the Summerfest grounds) was awesome, too - a great mix of classic and current tunes.

Emily finished a little after 5 hours and joined in the festivities. She had an awesome race.

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After the race, we got cleaned up and drank our way across Milwaukee, but that's a story for another time...

As I'm writing this a few days later (Thursday night), both feet are in somewhat rough shape. Not terrible. I can walk and I've mowed, but there is definite pain.

Obviously, Marathon Weekend is about 90 days out. That doesn't leave me a ton of recovery time. I had planned on a week off from running, but it may turn into two. I'll take it day by day. Being able to run at any pace in January is much better than not being able to run at all (I'm also stubborn enough that I'll run on crutches if I have to).

So, that's the current situation. Fingers crossed everything heals quickly!
 
Where on campus? I had no idea it was on campus.

I am here for story time!

In all seriousness I think I need to run this some day. I had a friend who was the 6:30 pacer.

Expo was inside the student union. We were going to find a place around there to eat, but ended up down at MKE Ale House. We did Great Lakes Distillery that day, too.

Post race activities included the after party (free beer!), beers at the Airbnb, build-a-burger, MKE brewing company tour and two or three more bars. We ended the night at Safehouse.

I highly recommend Lakefront if you ever want to do a non-Disney marathon. It’s local, cheap, well organized and a beautiful course. I’ll 100 percent do it again.
 
Expo was inside the student union. We were going to find a place around there to eat, but ended up down at MKE Ale House. We did Great Lakes Distillery that day, too.

Post race activities included the after party (free beer!), beers at the Airbnb, build-a-burger, MKE brewing company tour and two or three more bars. We ended the night at Safehouse.

I highly recommend Lakefront if you ever want to do a non-Disney marathon. It’s local, cheap, well organized and a beautiful course. I’ll 100 percent do it again.
Cool, honestly don’t know any place around the campus worth a decent meal so you were probably better off with where you went anyways.
 

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