Sunday, March 17, 2013
Two marathons
Today I woke up at 4:15 am and traveled to Atlanta for my second marathon in two weeks . Previously I haven't ran a marathon in 8 years and about to run two in two weeks . I wanted to see if I can recover fast enough for a second marathon and see how well these AdvoCare supplements work . Past two weeks I've been loading up on post workout recovery drinks and nighttime recovery . After my first marathon in Albany I was back up and running in two days and legs was nearly 100% . I couldn't really do anything really long cause I wanted to rest up for Publix Marathon and I knew the course was gonna be a killer . We started out at 5:25 first mile and knew I had to ease up to 5:45 pace . My plan was 5:50 due to the hills . I went out through first half in 1:15:30ish and was a little too fast for my goal of 2:34 . Then the hills hit hard around 18 on up . Every corner I turn there the hills kept going up and up . I was cussing those streets . They really beat my legs up . I slowed to a 6:30 pace and managed a 7:00 mile once due to the fact I slowed to hurl bit all was good after 24 where I picked up to a 6:20 pace . I just wanted to finish . Didn't really care about the time cause I knew 2:34 was not happening . Plus I ran solo nearly the whole thing and that sucks . . Finished with a 2:37:43 and was content with that after a marathon two weeks ago and the monster hills that left me crying inside . My good friend Malcolm Campbell won in 2:26 at the age of 42 . I always try to compare myself to that guy but dang he is tough. I can't seem to hold a candle next to him . He is really excited that I'll be joining their ATC masters team at the end of the year and so am I . Now it's time for a break and slow down for awhile until 40 comes around . I don't wanna start getting burned out early before that . The past year I've reconnected with my desire to really compete again at a so called higher level . I think it's the fact that I'm about to turn 40 . I know what I need to do is turn in some high mileage . Higher than what I've been running lately . 70 miles a week is about all I was doing in preparation of the marathon and I like to reach 90+ next go around . Thanks to the help of my mother in law watching our youngest daughter I'm able to train at what i do now . If I'm going to at least make an impression at 40 I need to get those weeks up . Until then I'm gonna enjoy me some turkey hunting and hopefully have my truck painted by next month . My other hobbies I enjoy .
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Albany Marathon
Finally I've gotten a marathon in after all the training throughout the summer , fall and winter . New York Marathon was suppose to be the main one for me but we all know what the outcome of that was . My wife and three girls came with me to watch me run which I'm very thankful for cause without them I wouldn't be as strong as I am today . I want to let my girls see what hard work can do if you put your mind to it and I want to impress them in any way possible . It was very cold and windy that morning so Julie and the kids dropped me off at the start and they decided to go back to hotel and watch me finish due to the weather .
I did a half mile warmup and tried to stay warm as much as possible .Took in my O2 Gold and muscle fuel which I was afraid I was gonna forget about. We line up and I'm ready to start running just because I'm tired of shaking to death . I think I burned over 100 calories from shivering . Finally the cannon goes off and three Kenyans and some other guy take off in front . I stayed about 50 yards behind them coming to the first mile . They went out in 5:30 while I came through in 5:43 . Felt easy . I thought the lead pack was gonna take off but they slowed to figure each other out and it took me nearly 8 miles to pull in beside them . I could have easily pulled in with them earlier but I wanted to stay patient . . One fella name Chris kept running on the shoulder of the road everytime there was an opportunity . I asked him after the race if he was nursing an injury or just saving his feet . He said yes he was saving his feet for the final miles . I figured running on grass would slow ya some but he took second overall with a 2:21:38.
Throughout the race I started taking in gels and fluids every chance I could . As we hit the halfway in just under 1:15:00 all 4 guys took off leaving me running solo . I think they dropped a 5:00 pace the second half . I had a feeling they was gonna do that .They looked too comfortable early on . So I'm running by myself in which I was afraid of . Coming up on mile 17 a grabbed a bottle of muscle fuel I set aside on the course that morning . I put a paper bag over it so no one would tamper with it . Still hitting 5:45 miles and all of the sudden I need to take a quick break for the port-a-John . :30 gone there and I got back going and near 20 I saw one of the Kenyans in sight . Well I figured he knew he wasn't in for the money so he slowed and took it in easy . Right when I was about to pass him at 22 I had to stop and vomit all the water I took in . I was feeling ruff between miles 20-22 and I had to get that stuff out of me . That knocked me off about :45 . My goal that day was either sub 2:30 or at least break the old age group state record of 2:32:18 .
I passed the fella and knew my 2:30 was out the door and I started to slow to 6:20 miles the remainder but was feeling rather good . My last mile coming in was close to 5:55 . Even though I've only ran 6 marathons prior that was the best I've felt coming in to the finish . I finished pretty strong with a 2:32:58 .l Forty seconds from state record . Only of I didn't take in those liquids . I should have known since it wasn't a warm day but fear from previous marathons of energy depletion . But best part of day is my girls yelling "Go Daddy !!" at the finish . i was looking for them as I was coming and couldn't but could hear them . I know I'm capable of a 2:28 or better . I just gotta put in the miles , train and race a little smarter . That's my goal for Boston14 .
I did a half mile warmup and tried to stay warm as much as possible .Took in my O2 Gold and muscle fuel which I was afraid I was gonna forget about. We line up and I'm ready to start running just because I'm tired of shaking to death . I think I burned over 100 calories from shivering . Finally the cannon goes off and three Kenyans and some other guy take off in front . I stayed about 50 yards behind them coming to the first mile . They went out in 5:30 while I came through in 5:43 . Felt easy . I thought the lead pack was gonna take off but they slowed to figure each other out and it took me nearly 8 miles to pull in beside them . I could have easily pulled in with them earlier but I wanted to stay patient . . One fella name Chris kept running on the shoulder of the road everytime there was an opportunity . I asked him after the race if he was nursing an injury or just saving his feet . He said yes he was saving his feet for the final miles . I figured running on grass would slow ya some but he took second overall with a 2:21:38.
Throughout the race I started taking in gels and fluids every chance I could . As we hit the halfway in just under 1:15:00 all 4 guys took off leaving me running solo . I think they dropped a 5:00 pace the second half . I had a feeling they was gonna do that .They looked too comfortable early on . So I'm running by myself in which I was afraid of . Coming up on mile 17 a grabbed a bottle of muscle fuel I set aside on the course that morning . I put a paper bag over it so no one would tamper with it . Still hitting 5:45 miles and all of the sudden I need to take a quick break for the port-a-John . :30 gone there and I got back going and near 20 I saw one of the Kenyans in sight . Well I figured he knew he wasn't in for the money so he slowed and took it in easy . Right when I was about to pass him at 22 I had to stop and vomit all the water I took in . I was feeling ruff between miles 20-22 and I had to get that stuff out of me . That knocked me off about :45 . My goal that day was either sub 2:30 or at least break the old age group state record of 2:32:18 .
I passed the fella and knew my 2:30 was out the door and I started to slow to 6:20 miles the remainder but was feeling rather good . My last mile coming in was close to 5:55 . Even though I've only ran 6 marathons prior that was the best I've felt coming in to the finish . I finished pretty strong with a 2:32:58 .l Forty seconds from state record . Only of I didn't take in those liquids . I should have known since it wasn't a warm day but fear from previous marathons of energy depletion . But best part of day is my girls yelling "Go Daddy !!" at the finish . i was looking for them as I was coming and couldn't but could hear them . I know I'm capable of a 2:28 or better . I just gotta put in the miles , train and race a little smarter . That's my goal for Boston14 .
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
Gracie's Run
For the past few days Gracie been bugging me alittle about going running . So today I told her I was gonna take her running up the dirt rd. but it was gonna be almost dark before I can take her if momma doesn't come home anytime soon . She got upset about that and was afraid she wasn't gonna run any . Well my niece's mom showed up early to pick her up . The reason why we couldn't go . So Gracie was happy and we headed out the door with Emma on her bike to ride along beside us . Our goal was to see how far she could go without stopping and mark that spot and beat it the next time we run . I was expecting Gracie to run nearly half mile and stop like she was doing last year . Well half mile came and she was still going . Then a mile . I was really surprised and she wasn't laboring hard and talking to me like we was on a long run together . She made it 1.5 miles and really think she could have made it longer if it wasn't for it getting dark . We had to hurry back home . We walked and jogged some the way back . Now we have a starting point , I can't wait till our next run together . Really proud of her effort . Hope it was our first of many miles together .
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Today's 20
Today's 20 miler I believe has put me in a funk . I woke up this morning with my three girls and had to spend alittle time with them before I dropped them off at grandma's before my long run . Everyday it's been the same routine . Wake up to get girls ready for school , go back to bed , wake back up with Callie, get her ready for grandma's , go run , get ready for work . Same routine over and over and over . My heart wasn't in for a long run today. I wanted to do 22 but was running short on time so had to cut it to 20 . My legs wasn't feeling it plus my heart wasn't also. I just didn't wanna be out there . I got to many things piling up to do at home . I need to start on my 77 ford , finish my workout room , stuff around the yard and mainly of all spend a little more time with my girls . Running has seem to become more like a job instead of a hobby . Once that thought starts settling in then its no longer enjoyable . I think what I need to do is get this marathon out of the way and take some time off . Not sure how long but enough to start to realize how much it's important to me . I have a big year ahead of me next year and want to make sure my head is in the correct place before I start that journey . Don't get me wrong I love running and racing put my life doesn't need to revolve around my running . It should be the other way around .
Monday, December 31, 2012
TarBaby Part 4
The course record was 31:36 and the more and more I got to thinking the more confident I had faith in myself . The following year David Matherne showed up again and I beat him once more . I had a good year that year but wasn't all into it . But I recall the following year I just got engaged to my girlfriend Julie which I met at the Farmers and Merchants bank . Same bank which puts on the race . Ever since I settled down my times have been improving . I gotten in deep on learning how and when to train. Putting in tempo runs and longer intervals into my routine . The year 2000 I ran the TarBaby solo and won again in a time of 32:35 . Dad kept hounding me about that record telling me he'd give me $300 if I broke it . I wasn't wanting any money . Doing it for any other reason would make the effort worthless . 2001 comes around and I've been running great . With my first child on the way , getting married , and new career it was turning out to be a great year . Some sub 15:00 5k's in my book and sub 31:00 10k's . But racing on this course can get yeah. It has it all . The 3 H's . Heat , Hills , and Humidity . And did I mention hills . The fastest miles on this course is 1 and 5 . Mile 1 you had to come back up to the finish . Others are nothing hills . Not rolling but just long hills . I marked the course every 1/2 mile to know where I had to be if I wanted to break this record. Just to break down the course in 1/2 splits . I knew how fast to start off due to the fast first mile and challenging second mile with two hills in the mix . A few days before , dad and I came up with this idea to record the entire race . An idea I got from running in the Charles Harris 10k where the recorded the race from the back of a truck and the runners was able to watch the race on TV during the awards presentation . We got with the race director and lead pace car and they said it was ok .
That morning there was no one I recognized that would give me any competition so I had to do it alone . My brother was also running great the past few years . He has been running low 17 5k's . Nervous as always and I do my race day prayer from the script Hebrew 12:1 . Look it up if you don't know . We start out with dad in front on back of the truck and I go through the first mile in 4:53 due the fast mile . I didn't want to go out 4:45 mile like I have done in previous years . I need a 5:05 pace to break record .Second mile 10:03 after the double hills and then mile 3 in 15:08 , mile 4 in 20:21 then I pass the Church St with the crowd roaring . Everyone knew what I was going for . I believe my mom was he loudest of them all . Mile 5 I hit 25:26. Right on pace . Then the last hill I had to hammer this thing . It's a monster of a climb . Nearly 400 meter climb . I hit 6 in 30:34 and I have slowed alittle but I needed a kick to break the record. I threw down the hammer and floored it with my signature kick .I've won a quit a bit of races with my kick. I take my kick with a lot of pride and arrogant with . I was one of the fastest guys in school in short events when we would race against each other in school for fun . Once I crossed the finish line it was over . 31:26 !!!!. I but on a :52 second 1/4 mile. Tears from my eyes come out . My pregnant Julie waiting on me at the finish shoot . I try to hug her but she hardly wants any part of it due to the sweat coming from me . She is not a big fan of sweat . Then I go to dad after he gets out of the truck from recording me and give him a hug cause I know how much he wanted me to get that record . Along with my mom . Still today she tells me how much she is proud of me . It's was one of the best races I've ever ran and most rememberable one . As we sit back and wait for the second runner to come in , guess who shows up in second place. No one other than my brother Ken . He had been battling for second with another runner name Rob Blaszkiewicz . He finished in 36:20. We went 1 and 2. A great day for the Black family . And we got it all on tape .
I tried the next year to break my record again but at mile 6 I stopped and hurled I was on pace but that dang last hill got me . In 2005 Michael Greene came up and handed my butt . He is a real great runner but I wasn't prepared . I ran a crappy race . I wouldn't say I would have beaten him but if I was in great shape like 2001 it would have been a great race. Some years I've gotten injured and I've won it a few more times . I've had everyone from my aunts to friends I've never seen throughout the year come watch me run .I can remember on my grandmother came once before she past away . Today I can recall what she said to me one day " You might have some skinny legs but they sure get you around fast ". I'll continue to run it as long as I can walk .
Hopefully my hard work and desire will be pass on to my kids in which I have three girls now . Now they run the 1mile fun run every year at the Tar Baby. Just a few good words. What good are goals and you dont tryto achieve them . Always believe in yourself no matter what the situation . It's not how many time you fall , it's how many times you get back up . Hope you enjoyed this and can get a little bit of understanding my background . God Bless and see you on the roads
That morning there was no one I recognized that would give me any competition so I had to do it alone . My brother was also running great the past few years . He has been running low 17 5k's . Nervous as always and I do my race day prayer from the script Hebrew 12:1 . Look it up if you don't know . We start out with dad in front on back of the truck and I go through the first mile in 4:53 due the fast mile . I didn't want to go out 4:45 mile like I have done in previous years . I need a 5:05 pace to break record .Second mile 10:03 after the double hills and then mile 3 in 15:08 , mile 4 in 20:21 then I pass the Church St with the crowd roaring . Everyone knew what I was going for . I believe my mom was he loudest of them all . Mile 5 I hit 25:26. Right on pace . Then the last hill I had to hammer this thing . It's a monster of a climb . Nearly 400 meter climb . I hit 6 in 30:34 and I have slowed alittle but I needed a kick to break the record. I threw down the hammer and floored it with my signature kick .I've won a quit a bit of races with my kick. I take my kick with a lot of pride and arrogant with . I was one of the fastest guys in school in short events when we would race against each other in school for fun . Once I crossed the finish line it was over . 31:26 !!!!. I but on a :52 second 1/4 mile. Tears from my eyes come out . My pregnant Julie waiting on me at the finish shoot . I try to hug her but she hardly wants any part of it due to the sweat coming from me . She is not a big fan of sweat . Then I go to dad after he gets out of the truck from recording me and give him a hug cause I know how much he wanted me to get that record . Along with my mom . Still today she tells me how much she is proud of me . It's was one of the best races I've ever ran and most rememberable one . As we sit back and wait for the second runner to come in , guess who shows up in second place. No one other than my brother Ken . He had been battling for second with another runner name Rob Blaszkiewicz . He finished in 36:20. We went 1 and 2. A great day for the Black family . And we got it all on tape .
I tried the next year to break my record again but at mile 6 I stopped and hurled I was on pace but that dang last hill got me . In 2005 Michael Greene came up and handed my butt . He is a real great runner but I wasn't prepared . I ran a crappy race . I wouldn't say I would have beaten him but if I was in great shape like 2001 it would have been a great race. Some years I've gotten injured and I've won it a few more times . I've had everyone from my aunts to friends I've never seen throughout the year come watch me run .I can remember on my grandmother came once before she past away . Today I can recall what she said to me one day " You might have some skinny legs but they sure get you around fast ". I'll continue to run it as long as I can walk .
Hopefully my hard work and desire will be pass on to my kids in which I have three girls now . Now they run the 1mile fun run every year at the Tar Baby. Just a few good words. What good are goals and you dont tryto achieve them . Always believe in yourself no matter what the situation . It's not how many time you fall , it's how many times you get back up . Hope you enjoyed this and can get a little bit of understanding my background . God Bless and see you on the roads
Sunday, December 30, 2012
TarBaby . Part 3
As we was about to start the race I try to visualize what I wanna do through each mile . No one knows this course better than I do . I've trained on this course nearly every week . I lived right off the course about half a mile from the 5 mile mark . Growing up I can recall days I wake up ready to go to the Dairy Festival and looking out the door was runners passing by . I knew there was some sort of event but didnt have a clue of what .as we start out the race we go stride for stride . Just me and David . I remember after about the 2 1/2 mile he puts on this kick and jumped out in front of me about :10 seconds ahead of me . Just enough to keep me pushing . He lead like that for a good while . I couldn't gain nothing on him . We pass the crowd with my family and locals cheering for me . I cant recall how many times people have asked me if I was gonna win it this year . I reply as always "Heck yeah ". Coming to mile 5 his led continues to grow and when we come to the last brutal hill past the bank to the finish that's when I realized I wasnt gonna win . David finished in 32:30 the same time as Ken did the year before . I finished slower than last year with a 32:48 . I wasnt happy .Very disappointed . I thought I put in the training . Maybe again to many races . I won 23 that year . I think I raced in 35 that year . Way too many for a serious runner . But I didnt know that then . I coached myself . Thats all I had .. After the race was over David introduced me into joining the Atlanta Track Club Competitive team and I have been a member since I think .
Through the year I continue to race and train and in 1998 the usually preparation for the race . I heard David was coming back to defend his title and on top of that Ken McLeod was coming to . Just great !!! That left me one thing to do was to train harder . I wrote David's name on my mirror to remind me why I need to do that extra mile , interval , hill repeat . I heard Ken wasn't in his best shape at time but would be nice to beat both . For sure that morning both were there and we lined up . From the start we was neck and neck again . Not sure where Ken was but wasn't with us . But here we go again . I remembered what he did last year to me and I was waiting for him to do the same . I told myself if he is plan on doing that little sprint like he did last year I was plan on going with him . We come up on the 2 1/2 mile again where he did his move and I be dang if he didn't try it again this year . I said heck no . Not this time . I went with him . He wasn't shake me that easily . We are battling mile after mile . Coming back to Church St. with the crowd he has a :05 or so lead on me .Crowd yelling like crazy for me to hang on . I had a plan to just sit back and let him think he has me . After mile 5 he has a :10 second lead on me . I can tell this by counting off seconds from land markings . At this point I'm laboring to hang on but still behind him . coming up on 5 1/2 I'm pulling up behind him on the dreadful hill . Soon as we top the hill I'm on him , then 1/4 mile to go I told myself " Feet don't fail me know "!!! I but on this sprint to the finish and I never looked back . Final after the years of hard work and trying to figure out this sport I have finally won my hometown race . Crowd at finish goes wild . Dad and mom has tears in their eyes from seeing their little 130 lb son be the center of attention throughout the day . I finished in 32:12 and David finished 32:30 . An :18 second margin exactly by which he beat me the previous year .I never been congratulated by so many people in my life as I walk around the festival through town with my stain glass award . My family threw an party for me at their house to celebrate . The paper had just about a whole page dedicated to me . As things calmed down for me the past few weeks I got to thinking that I wanted to do more with this race . I wanted the course record set by Jeff Milliman from mid 1980's .I think it was in 84 .
To be continued ......
Through the year I continue to race and train and in 1998 the usually preparation for the race . I heard David was coming back to defend his title and on top of that Ken McLeod was coming to . Just great !!! That left me one thing to do was to train harder . I wrote David's name on my mirror to remind me why I need to do that extra mile , interval , hill repeat . I heard Ken wasn't in his best shape at time but would be nice to beat both . For sure that morning both were there and we lined up . From the start we was neck and neck again . Not sure where Ken was but wasn't with us . But here we go again . I remembered what he did last year to me and I was waiting for him to do the same . I told myself if he is plan on doing that little sprint like he did last year I was plan on going with him . We come up on the 2 1/2 mile again where he did his move and I be dang if he didn't try it again this year . I said heck no . Not this time . I went with him . He wasn't shake me that easily . We are battling mile after mile . Coming back to Church St. with the crowd he has a :05 or so lead on me .Crowd yelling like crazy for me to hang on . I had a plan to just sit back and let him think he has me . After mile 5 he has a :10 second lead on me . I can tell this by counting off seconds from land markings . At this point I'm laboring to hang on but still behind him . coming up on 5 1/2 I'm pulling up behind him on the dreadful hill . Soon as we top the hill I'm on him , then 1/4 mile to go I told myself " Feet don't fail me know "!!! I but on this sprint to the finish and I never looked back . Final after the years of hard work and trying to figure out this sport I have finally won my hometown race . Crowd at finish goes wild . Dad and mom has tears in their eyes from seeing their little 130 lb son be the center of attention throughout the day . I finished in 32:12 and David finished 32:30 . An :18 second margin exactly by which he beat me the previous year .I never been congratulated by so many people in my life as I walk around the festival through town with my stain glass award . My family threw an party for me at their house to celebrate . The paper had just about a whole page dedicated to me . As things calmed down for me the past few weeks I got to thinking that I wanted to do more with this race . I wanted the course record set by Jeff Milliman from mid 1980's .I think it was in 84 .
To be continued ......
TarBaby 10k . Part 2
With some races I've been traveling to I started to pack on a lot of wins . I've ran my first sub 16 5k and winning 11 road races in 1995 . I started reading a lot of books and magazines on training and workouts . I met this one guy who guided me into doing speedwork on the track . His name was Eddie Carriolli . He was and good runner but a nut . Collected scrap metal for a living and all he wanted to do is smoke weed . I think is in jail now for armed robbery but if anyone from the day ran races in the area they would know who I'm talking about. A real character . 1996 Tar Baby rolls around . Ready has I have ever been and nervous as ever . I think I hurled before the race due to nerves. At the start I recognized Ken McLeod . A local elite from Macon . I've run against him some and he dusted me quite a bit . I knew I had to run my best race to beat him . The race starts and we went 4:45 for first mile cause of the elevation drop at the first mile but whatever goes down usually has to come back up . We ran neck and neck the whole race . After 4 miles we come back to where the start of the race was and make a run by the crowd waiting at the finish . I never seen so many people on that side of the street and most of them was cheering for me . Adrenaline kicks in and I just try to pull away from him going up Church St. I couldn't shake him . Well coming back up that hill we ran 4:45 on I tend to struggle but i was on him like a tick on a dog . Coming up to the 6 mile I'm hurting and no kick what so ever . He beat me by :03 seconds . I was happy and dissappointed at the same time . Just a weird feeling I suppose . I was happy about that I ran a PR of 32:33 but the losing part you can understand . With the local paper coming out that week I saw my picture in it running side by side with Ken that gotten me excited and more pumped up for next year . I finished out with 14 road race wins that year but not the one I wanted . 1997 came around and running races nearly ever weekend . But my times wasn't getting any better . Was it too much racing and not enough training?? I look back now and say Yes . And then again TarBay comes around. My yearly World Championship . My nerves all gone once again . And I be dang if I notice this one runner with an Atlanta Track Club singlet on . Those guys were known for fast competitive running . I had no idea who he was at the time but David Matherne was his name . An elite from Cartersville , Ga.
To be continued ......
To be continued ......
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