The 2009 Akron Marathon

The weekend began Friday when Marsha, Janet, Jeannine and I went to the Spagetti Warehouse for lunch and then to the Expo to get our race packets. I was hoping to try and get a good nights sleep as it hasn't been happening lately, I closed my eyes at 10pm and was wide awake and up for good by 2:30 am. Out of bed and dressed before 3 and on Facebook posting a picture of my bib 4 hours before the start, what is wrong with that. Jeannine arrives by 5 and we pick Janet up and arrive nice and early and get a good parking spot. We were meeting at 6:30 for a group picture but had time on our hands so we got to visit the Polski building which is a nice little secret we know about thanks to the blue line training run, it is a building very close that has nice bathrooms and is open really early and none of us had to use those port-a-potties. We met at the Home of the Akron Marathon sign and had a nice group picture with 14 of us there and a few missing that didn't make it. 7:00 am the race begins, Rachel and I were pacing Jeannine for her 1st marathon. Frank and Dan ran with us til mile 3 where Frank turned off to hit the relay shuttle and Dan took off to run marathon pace for the last 10 miles off the half. It was pretty crowded so the first few miles were pretty slow but we were right on pace through the most of the first half. I think we had some bad water on the course as later we found out many people had issues including Marsha that ran the half in 1:55 but got very sick in the middle. Jeannine ended up getting a bad stomach ache and was in some pain for alot of the 2nd half but she toughed it out. As we approached Stan Hewitt we walked the hill and while in Stan Hewitt saw Janet and Roseann. As we were leaving the road right in front of Stan Hewitt I dug out a piece of the wall (it was the Niagara wall, a very thoughtful gift Jeannine gave me to help out at my next marathon)and gave it to Jeannine to leave as were we on our home stretch and some nice downhill on the way. We ran into Marsha about mile 24 and Cliff somewhere after mile 25. It was not where we expected to be but still an excellent 1st time marathon time of 4:22. Later that evening a bunch of us met up at Legends and had a nice evening, it was a great day overall and I hated to see it end. While eating dinner Dan D. tells me he is running 20 miles in the morning and the thoughts ran through my head." I could do that if we go easy, then no that's to many miles after a marathon, then wait that would be a good training run for next weekend" I went and we ran 20 miles in 2:48 at a 8:38 pace then I went home for a short time and then ran 2 more with Jeannine and Janet for a total of 22 today and 26.2 yesterday and somehow I'm feeling pretty good for a 48.2 mile two day total. It makes me think I may have a good first attempt at an ultra next weekend at the NorthCoast 24. Then what could be next, could be interesting

Akron Marathon Taper Week

The time has arrived, 1 year ago today I had never run a marathon and tomorrow I will run number 5. Again I fought an injury almost right up to the week before this race, last year the nagging IT injury and this year the tendon in my left leg but my ever so helpful running Doc. Joe has come through again and I feel 100% as of 1 week ago. What timing, I feel so lucky. My taper was of a bit lower mileage than normal but at a higher intensity than of late because of the injury. I ran to Jeannines Monday night at a pretty good pace then did 3 more miles with them. I was working 12 hour shifts most of the week so I was forced to run a couple times after 7 in the dark. I like running in the dark and was more energized than I thought I would be after a long day at work. Wednesday evening I ran 4 miles in 28:50 which was a bit fast but I felt so good at a 7:11 pace then Thursday night ran3 more miles and tried to run at mine and Jeannines scheduled marathon pace but ended up a little fast on that also at 24:53 (8:17 Pace). Today Jeannine , Janet, Marsha and I went to the Spaghetti Warehouse and had a nice luch then to the Expo where we ran into quite a few runners we knew. Now my biggest goal is to get to bed soon so I can possibly get 6 hours of sleep cause I know I will be up for good most likely before by 3 am with all the anticipation of a big run not letting me sleep these days. 3:59 is the goal for tomorrow and next Saturday is the Northcoast 24.

Great Weekend for Running

I know Ladd already talked about the race he ran so I want to talk about other running in the Clifford family....

Saturday, September 19th Kyle ran in a cross country meet in Galion Ohio. He did so great! His PR before this was 21:40+-. He was told that he would most likely PR at this race and most of the boys did, but I would bet none PR'd by as much as Kyle. Kyle passed the 1 mile mark at 6:28, then 2 miles at 13:00 so he was definately holding his pace.... but wait... he actually went faster in the last 1.1 miles with a final time of 19:33! WOW Kyle Great going!! You should have seen his face! He really couldn't believe he did it! I was crying, he just amazed me so much!!! I am so proud of him!

On Sunday Charles Elkins and I ran 22 miles on the Tow Path. This is the first time I have done a run like this. Ladd dropped us off in Akron at Sand Run and we ran on the path all the way to Independence where Tara picked us up after 22 miles of running! It was great! Just a different experience to run Point to Point! My Garmin link for the run is attached. We did not stop our garmins at all during the run (ooh except when we had to wait for a large group of horses to pass us) counted all our breaks in the time and got a 9:26 pace overall which makes me think we will be able to achieve our goal in Niagara Falls on October 25th of running the marathon in under 4 hours (barring any extreme wind or stomach ailments (which we are both prone to). We will make our goals!

Akron Marathon Countdown

I have been fighting this leg problem for over a month but this weekend I think I finally kicked it. I ran 11 miles Saturday morning. 10 of it with Jeannine, Janet and Roseann at 5:30 am again. This time though I finished and no leg pain. Sunday was the Race for Grace 5k that is part of the Subway Challenge series that Marsha and I signed up for a month ago and Marsha ended up doing a 22 miler instead but I went to run. I promised to take it easy because I still had this worry that the leg thing would come right back like it did last weekend. BUT it didn't. I got to the race about 45 minutes before the start so Frank, Dan H., Bob, Connie and I could run the course as our warm up. I was well warmed up and Dan and I went out and a nice pace and hit mile 1 right at 7 minutes and mile 2 at 13:30, finishing this race in 20:38 on a hilly course but feeling better than I normally do. Explain that and with a good time, finished in 20th out of well more than 400 runners and 3rd in my age group. We all ran the course for a 3rd time for our cool down and people just seemed amazed that we would do that, it's nice to have made all these great friends through running and it seems that their bug has infected me. 9.3 miles in the morning then another 4 in the afternoon, 1/2 with Jeannine and Janet again for a total of 13.3 for the day with 5 + days til the Akron Marathon where I will be pacing Jeannine for the whole 26.2 miles in under 4:11. Then 1 week to go til the Biggest running event for me so far. One other quick note, Saturday night was the first night of our mixed couples bowling league and Frank and Jill Dwyer have joined our team this year and what a show off I got to be. Game one of the season turned out to be almost perfection with a 299 to start and a 770 series and a unmakeable average of 257 in 2 weeks.

2 Weeks to Go

The Akron Marathon is less than 2 weeks out and it's time for lots of people to start tapering. This has been my favorite training for any marathon yet as we have been running with a great group of people and many are doing their first marathon at Akron. It's been great to be some help in getting someone to be ready for their first marathon. Yesterday I met Jeannine, Janet and Roseann at 5:30 am to go for a 13 mile run. Marsha was planning on a long run Sunday with Charles so she declined but also would never want to start that early given a choice. I did my normal and woke up about 3 and just couldn't sleep so I got up and got ready. The 4 of us ran 13 miles on the south side of Medina and I thought my leg pain was finally gone but minutes after Jeannine left Janet's house it began to get sore just like after the last half marathon. I had a visit with Joe later that morning and he got to see how it's been after my runs. He worked on it for a bit and said to keep running easy on it and come back next week. It was a bit sore but I had the chance to go to the last training run at the site of the NorthCoast 24 so I was going, even if I only did a few miles I wanted to see the course once before October 3. I got up again at 3 am , picked up Frank and Dan and arrived at Edgewater at 5. Frank and I did 15 miles and Dan 17. It was a cool 53 degrees and a great morning for a run til the sun came out and we were bombarded with millions of insect for about an hour and had thousands of birds flocking to our path when someone fed them bags of bread. I finished this run with no problem but still the same soreness that keeps coming back after running, hopefully I can get this taken care of before Akron and the other 2 big events coming up. Saturday Marsha and I spent the afternoon at Kyle's cross country meet in Tiffin where he had another great PR of 21:15.

The Blue Line Training Run 9/05/09

It felt like a race morning, maybe knowing I was going to try for 31 miles didn't help, we were to meet and leave Medina at 5:30 am, so I could get up just before 5 but I was up around 3, then 3:30 and finally up for good around 4. We had quite a large turn out from the Medina area, maybe somewhere in the range of 15 people, our group picture did not include everyone as some people arrived later. We took off just a little after 6:30 in a group of I'd say well over 100 people. One minute into this run someone says my name and I don't recognize her with her hat and sunglasses but it was Marshas friend from work Jen. I ran with her the first 2 miles then pulled ahead to catch up with Frank, then ended up talking to a guy that remembered following Dan H, Rachel and I at the Heart and Sole 2 weeks earlier and he was telling me how he stayed with us for quite awhile but then we disappeared around mile 6, I thought that was quite funny because that is right about where Rachel turned on the speed in that race. Then I left to try and catch up with Frank again, we ended up fight behind Marsha and group and she was quite surprised that I was still behind her as she thought I was way out in front. We ran ahead and Chuck had dropped back to find me as we were to pick up the pace a little after 4-5 miles. Our groups were spread out pretty good, Chuck, Tom Wolke, Frank and I ran together mostly after mile 4 splitting for a short while then Frank and Tom caught back up. We were nearing the last 2 miles and it was somewhat down hill so Tom and I picked up the pace considerably nearing 7 minute miles the last 2 which I now regret as the leg got sore right after heading back out to attempt our 31 for the day. Nearing the very end of the 19+ miles I see Dan H. and Dan D. so I kept speeding ahead to catch them right near the end of the run. We took a 5-10 minute break for fluids and a quick shoe change and we (Frank, Chuck and I) headed back out going through a bad section of town looking for the new bridge over water that I had seen in the Beacon Journal last week. We found it, took a few pictures and headed back but my leg was very sore so I decided to end my run with Frank and let Chuck go on for our goal of 31 w/o me. Frank and I kept going all the way down to the end of the Blue line right at the back door of Canal Park and then back up the hill to hit our full 26.2 miles for the day. Chuck made it to 31. Good job on the longest training run ever Chuck.