The Story Behind Running for Cru

This blog has now been around for about 13 months. It looks like there are lot of new visitors coming here on a regular basis, so I think it's time to give a refresher on how and why this started.

Back in early 2008, I had decided that if I was going to run the Chicago Marathon for a fifth time, I was going to run for charity. As June approached, I still had not selected a charity to support. Early in June, my friend and co-worker Ken Fanaro and his wife Michelle's baby boy Cruciano was diagnosed with SMA Type 1. SMA is spinal muscular atrophy and is a devastating motor neuron disease that affects about 1 in 6,000 babies. It's not uncommon for children that have SMA Type 1 to not make it to the age of two. It became obvious that I would do something to support Cru and the Fanaro's battle with SMA.

I then chose to fundraise for FSMA - Families of Spinal Muscular. FSMA is the largest private funder of SMA research. They raise funds to help find a cure for Spinal Muscular Atrophy. Shortly after that, I started this blog titled "Running for Cru" to detail my 2008 Chicago Marathon training.

The fundraising went better than I could have ever imagined. We eclipsed the $3,00o mark within the first 24 hours on July 1st. By July 4th, we had surpassed $16,500. By the time the fundraising was completed in October shortly after the marathon, I was able to help raise $33,550 for FSMA with the help and support of hundreds of people.

Cru's battle with SMA was courageous. He fought a great fight and had the love and support of hundreds of people. His life ended incredibly too short on September 7th, 2008, just two days short of being five months old. He was only with us a short amount of time, but he touched the lives and hearts of so many. You can see pictures of him in the right margin near the top of the page. He will forever be missed and will always be in our hearts.

Livin' the Dream

Kevin Wills, one of my best friends, will undoubtedly tell you that he's living the dream when you ask him how he's doing. And even though things may not always be going his way at that point in time, it never stops him from telling you. I have occasionally taken to telling people that I am living the dream when they ask how I am doing. I strongly encourage you to try it. Most people seemingly go through their days asking people how they're doing and it almost becomes a habit of saying "Good, how are you?" Throw something out there like I am suggesting and I'll bet that 9 out of 10 times you'll at least get a smile with your response.

My point to that seemingly pointless story is that you can do what you want with your life. Go for a walk. Go for a run. Go to the park, a beach, a bike ride, a car ride with the windows down, whatever. Ruby Johnson, the wife of another one of my best friends (Tim), had a great blog post about this the other day. People often ask me how I can run like I do and say "I could never run a marathon." Do you think I came out of my mom's womb with running shoes on? I ran sporadically up until 2003. I decided I'd like to try to run a marathon that year (I was 26 years old then), so I signed up for the 2004 Chicago Marathon. I followed a very basic plan, and think I ran 15 miles in Week 1 and peaked somewhere in the mid- to upper 30's with my mileage. I always tell people that if someone has the desire to run a marathon, than they can do it. It may not be the best time of their life, but with some hard work and determination, I really think that anyone can cross the finish line.

It definitely helps having someone cheering for you along the way. I am forever grateful to my wife Tiffany for supporting me through my first 7 marathons and several half marathons. I have had my family, her family, friends, friends of friends and even people I don't know come out and cheer for me on race day. If I could bottle up that feeling of thousands of people cheering for you as you push yourself to to you limits, I would.

As I have gotten older, I have an even greater desire to not be around people who say they can't do something. I guess the same can be said for the people who are constantly negative. If you don't like your situation, do something about it. Move. Get a new job. Make some new friends. Get off of your ass. Your situation isn't going to magically get better unless you take control of it. It's like waiting for that winning lottery ticket. Chances are really good that it's not coming.

All right. Soapbox is put away. Sorry for the topic bouncing. On to running.
***
Last Week:
Monday- 12 MLR @ 8:26 pace, 136 AHR
Tuesday - 5 Recovery @ 9:15 pace, 115 AHR
Wednesday -9 LT, w/middle 5 @ 6:50 pace, 173 AHR
Thursday - 14 MLR @8:23, 148 AHR
Friday- 5.1 Recovery @ 9:14, 125 AHR
Saturday - Rest
Sunday-18.5 Mile LR, with last 10 miles at 7:11. AHR for the 10 Marathon pace miles was 165.
This was a very good run. I didn't know how I'd react to 10 at goal marathon pace at this point in the training cycle. I had a hard time hitting 7:15 on the dot, but here is a breakdown of the 10 miles: 7:22, 7:21, 7:25, 7:04, 7:24, 7:13, 7:07, 7:07, 7:09 and a 6:33 to close 'er out. Throughout the cycle, I will simulate a 25th or 26th mile where I see if I can go sub 7 for the last mile or two in case that will be necessary on race day to hit my time goal. Easier said than done and probably easier done in training at mile 18 or 20 than at mile 25 or 26 in the real deal.
64 Miles total

This Week:
Cutback Week!
Monday- 5 Recovery
Tuesday - 8GA w/10x100 strides
Wednesday - 12 MLR
Thursday - 5 Recovery
Friday- 10 GA
Saturday - Rest
Sunday-15 Mile LR
55 Miles total

4 Down, 14 To Go

Unfortunately there were no celebrity (or look-a-likes) around this week on my runs. No Osama, no Obama, no Jeff Tweedy and not even a Rod Blagojevich sighting. Hot Rod and his fancy hair helmet actually live less than a mile from us. The ex-gov supposedly puts up 8:00 miles. I am not sure if I'd try to tackle him or run with him for a bit if I ever saw him.

I finished up last week with 62 miles. Here's how it shook down:

Monday- 5.7 Recovery @9:35 pace, 120 AHR
Tuesday - 11 MLR @8:15 pace, 146 AHR
Wednesday - 5.3 Recovery@ 9:14 pace, 125 AHR
Thursday - 9.16 GA Miles w/10x100m strides; 8:21 pace, 144 AHR
Friday- 18.05 Mile LR @ 8:06 pace, 150 AHR. I ran this with Walter and Amy, two of my running friends from the Runners World 3:20 thread. It's definitely nice to have some company on 18 miles as opposed to headphones.
Saturday - Rest
Sunday-11 Miles @ 7:49, 150 AHR. This was a true progression run where each mile was faster than the previous mile. The last three were at marathon pace. Here's what the splits looked like:
8:46, 8:34, 8:24, 7:58, 7:49, 7:45, 7:36, 7:23, 7:17, 7:15, 7:14. I then tacked on a extra 1.75 miles later in the day with Tiffany and Isla in the jogging stroller.

Overall I am feeling good. Maybe just a little tight or sore from the unplanned marathon paced miles at the end of yesterday's run, but nothing terrible by any stretch. Here's how the upcoming week looks:
(I should note that I have been pretty fluid with my schedule. I use this as the outline and adjust when when needed. The main goal is to hit the weekly mileage total and make sure I accomplish the key runs. I have been moving days around quite regularly.)

Monday- 5 Recovery
Tuesday - 9 LT, w/5 @ 6:52 (Half Marathon Pace)
Wednesday - 14 MLR
Thursday - 5 Recovery
Friday- 12 MLR
Saturday - Rest
Sunday-18 Mile LR, with 10 miles at 7:15(Goal Marathon Pace)
63 Miles total


It looks like there are a couple tougher runs in there. The 9 Lactate Threshold with 5 at Half Marathon Pace should be a good test. And Sunday's 18 with 10 at Goal Marathon Pace is rough. I haven't yet decided if I will "Hudson-ize" that run or not. By Hudsonize, I mean break it into two, three or four segments to make it a little more manageable. It actually may depend on the weather. If it's really hot and humid, I most likely will break up the MP miles. If we had the same temps of this past weekend, I think I'd go for it.

Next week is a cutback week (55 Miles) and the end of the first training Mesocycle. The second Mesocycle, which is 5 weeks long, features some 20+ mile runs, some doubles and some longer Lactate Threshold runs and my first ever 70 mile week. Sounds fantastic.

Albany Park, Hello!

Tiffany and I have lived on the Northwest side of the city in Albany Park for over two years. Our neighborhood is one of the most ethnically diverse in the US. There a very nice bike/running path that runs along the Chicago River through our neighborhood, the next neighborhood (North Park) and then continues north into Lincolnwood and Skokie. I'd say 75% of my runs are on this path. It's pretty normal to see other runners and bikers on a daily basis. It's not uncommon to see people walking, pushing their strollers, walking their dogs or anything that you would see on a normal path. Last Saturday, I saw something else.

I think I was in North Park at that point, but that's not that important. I was coming up on a water fountain and I saw a man "using" it. His back was to me, but the path curved a bit. I was really hoping to get a drink because I was about to start my 4 miles at a 6:50 pace. As I approached the water fountain, I saw the man appear to completely washing his arms and hands in the water fountain. And he looked strikingly similar to this:

No bullshitting. Complete with the beard, clothes and headwear. This guy at the fountain's beard was a little more gray though. As I got to within 20 feet of the fountain. I had stopped my run and Garmin and stopped to see what this guy was doing. Sure enough, he was washing his arms, hands and face in the drinking fountain. He then turned and looked at me. Then he turned around and started to catch the water in his cupped hands and throw it around the fountain, almost in a pattern.

At that point, I turned around and started my four 6:50 miles and have yet to drink from that fountain again.
***
Last Week
I promise not to compare this year year to last year too much, but I think it's appropriate after last week. Last year was the first year of my marathon training that I kept detailed notes on my training log. I still have some old plans from previous years, but not what I actually ran. Anyway, I ran a 16 week plan last year, so I would have just completed my first week. Last year's total Week 1 mileage(16 weeks to go): 30. Yep, that's right, 30. This year's 16 weeks to go mileage: 58.7. And I feel better now than I did when I peaked at 54 miles last year. Here's the breakdown of last week:

Monday- 5.3 Recovery @9:33, 130 AHR
Tuesday - 11 MLR @8:19, 154 AHR
Wednesday - 5 Recovery @ 9:36, 129 AHR
Thursday - 13 MLR @ 8:24, 160 AHR (Hot and Humid conditions made for a very high AHR)
Friday - Rest
Saturday - 8.3, w/4 @ 6:51 pace. 159 total AHR, with the lactate threshold miles at 172.
Sunday - 16 MLR @ 8:11, 148AHR

This Week
Completed:
Monday- 5.7 Recovery @9:35 pace, 120 AHR
Tuesday - 11 MLR @8:15 pace, 146 AHR
Remaining:
Wednesday - 5 Recovery
Thursday - 9 GA Miles w/10x100m strides
Friday- 18 Mile LR
Saturday - Rest
Sunday-14 Mile MLR
62 Miles total

I also set a new personal record for miles in a month with 220 in June. The previous high was last August with 198.2. Because almost every week and month is a new personal record, I feel like this classic scene in Bull Durham after Ebby Calvin "Nook" Laloosh took the mound for the first time. Here's the manager and pitching coach discussing Nook's performance after the game:
Manager: He walked 18.
Pitching Coach: New league record!
Manager: Struck out 18.
Pitching Coach: Another new league record! In addition he hit the sportswriter, the public address announcer, the bull mascot twice...
[Manager laughs]
Pitching Coach: Also new league records! But, Joe, this guy's got some serious shit.

***
So, I am headed into July feeling good and looking to continue the momentum of the first three weeks of training. Thanks for reading and I hope you have a great holiday!

Historic Event

Strike Up the Band?
This is the 100th post on this blog. Where's the marching band? The parade? The trophy? Oh well, maybe they are waiting until I walk out of work today to fire up. Before I start yammering about running, I'd like to thank anyone who has ever read the blog over the past year. I hope you continue to read and share the blog with your friends and family members. The original intent was and still is to raise awareness of SMA. I am lucky enough to have a forum where 50 or more people come every week and read about my running and nonsensical stories.

Which, by the way, I will try to make sure I sprinkle in as they occur. It's only a matter of time before someone else says I "have a belly" on me, "don't look like a runner," or shares explicit details of the time they ran their 10K marathon. For the record, I weighed in at 175.5 pounds on June 1st. Seeing as how almost every week is a new life-time high for me in terms of miles, I anticipate dropping down down around 165 pound by late September. I think I ended up in the low 170s after training last year, after weighing 185 (maybe 190) at the start.

So again, thanks for reading and I hope you come by to visit once or twice a week and enjoy the remaining 16 weeks of the beast that is marathon training. I am hoping to have some FSMA fundraising details very soon.

The Week That Was
I ended up running 55.1 miles last week. Here's how it looked:
M- 5.33 @ 9:31 pace, 121 AHR
T- 8.05 @ 8:10 pace, 151 AHR
W- 12.16 @ 8:02 pace, 153 AHR
R- 5.25 @ 9:14 pace, 127 AHR
F- 8.25 @ 8:24 pace, 152 AHR
Sa- Rest
Su-16.01 @ 7:58 overall pace, 162 AHR ; I mixed in 8 miles at Goal Marathon Pace (7:15).
Here are their splits:
Miles 5.1 to 8.1 = 7:13, 7:10, 7:21
Miles 9.4 to 12.4 = 7:18, 7:25, 7:25
Miles 14-16 = 7:13, 7:20

I backed it down in the second set because my HR was getting too high. It was pretty humid and my body is definitely still adjusting to the warmer temps. Overall I was pretty pleased seeing as how this was only the second week of an 18 week training program.

The Week That Is
Here's the schedule:
Monday- 5 Recovery (DONE)
Tuesday - 11 MLR (DONE)
Wednesday - 13 MLR
Thursday - Rest or 5 Recovery*
Friday - 9Mi w/ 4 @ 6:53ish
Saturday - Rest or 5 Recovery*
Sunday - 15 MLR
*I'll take either Thursday or Saturday off.
58 total

1 Down, 17 to Go

In case you were wondering, 1/18th is about 5.6%. That puts in pretty good perspective. I always chuckle when I hear someone refer to something like the baseball season being a marathon. So is marathon training the real marathon? I understand the analogy, but the baseball season or things of that ilk are much more forgiving the a marathon. If you don't feel 100% on the day of the marathon, you're pretty much screwed. It's very unusual to be able to suddenly turn things on if things aren't going your way for the first 10 or 15 miles of a marathon. If you don't feel 100% on game day in baseball, you still can piece things together and if things don't work out, you still have 161 other games spread across 6 months.

I ended up finishing week 1 with 55 miles, a new career high in a calendar week for me. I took Thursday off and ran the following on Friday, Saturday and Sunday:
Fri- 9.3Miles, 8:07 pace, 150 AHR
Sat- 5.02 Recovery Miles, 9:44 pace, 129 AHR
Sun- 15.4 Miles, 8:14 pace, 152 AHR

I feel great with how things went last week. My calves are a little tight, but that is more likely attributed to my lack of stretching. I am making much more of an effort to stretch more and have added in some core work a few nights a week as well. I think of how I felt after I peaked at 54 miles last year and I was beat up. There's definitely something to these recovery runs and training smarter. I know there's plenty of time to feel otherwise, but the base-building in the months leading up to training seem to have made a great impact as well.

Here's the week ahead:

• Monday - 5 Recovery
• Tuesday - 8 General Aerobic Miles with 10 x 100m strides
• Wednesday - 12 Miles
• Thursday - Rest/XC
• Friday - 9 General Aerobic Miles
• Saturday - 5 Recovery
• Sunday - 16 Miles, with the second 8 miles at goal marathon pace.
  
• 55 Miles total
  

I am not sure if running 8 miles at GMP right now is either a good idea or doable at this point, so I am going to do it as close to that as I can as long as I keep my heart range in the area it is supposed to be in.

Week 1 Schedule

Normally, I'll post the upcoming week's schedule on Sundays or Mondays. In the Pete Pfitzinger 18 week/70 mile plan I am using, Monday is normally the scheduled Rest/Cross train day. I will move it around from time to time and felt like doing so this first week, coming off of an 8 and 14 miler over the weekend. Here is what this week was scheduled to look like:

Mon- Rest/XT
Tues- Lactate Threshold Run - 9 Miles, with 4 at 6:53 pace
Wed- 11 Miles Medium Long Run
Thurs - 5 Miles Recovery
Friday- 9 Miles General Aerobic
Saturday - 5 Miles Recovery
Sunday- 15 Mile Medium Long Run
54 Miles total

I know I have some readers who are runners and some who aren't, so I'll try to explain or link some things when necessary. If you aren't familiar with some terminology and wish to learn more, let me know. You'll see most of these terms regularly throughout the 18 week training cycle. Each run has will have a specific pace and/or heart rate to target, so I will add the results in the end of the week recap.

Here's what's in the books so far:
Monday-5.2 Miles @ 9:34 pace, 127 AHR (Average Heart Rate)
Tuesday-9 Miles, 4LT miles @6:50 pace, 176 AHR for those four miles
Wednesday- 11 Miles, 8:10 pace, 150 AHR