Time for an update

Well I made it through Milan, Florence and Venice on my way to the Rome marathon, but while in Venice my sinuses started to act up and by the time I got to Rome I had a full blown sinus infection going. Arrived in Rome on March 18 and made it to the marathon expo to pick up my race packet. It was very well organized and getting my packet with bib number and chip was a breeze. I been taking sudafed for a few days to try and kill the sinus flare up but to no avail.

Race day I woke up and the sinus pressure was gone but the draining had started and I was now sporting a fever. I'm guessing my temp was about 100.5 as my joints had just a bit of an ache in them. I had come all this way and I had never missed a start before so I put on my game face and headed to the start.

The race winds its way all around Rome and many of the streets were to be closed. We opted to grab a taxi and he got us as close to the start as possible. At that point there were lots of runners making their way so I just followed them and quickly got to the start. I found my left luggage truck and checked my back pack in and then found my way to my starting corral to await the start of the race.

The theme of the Rome Marathon is " It's Amore" yet it surprised me to hear Dean Martin belting out " It's Amore" instead of the Italian National anthem. It's a very infectious tune and soon the whole crowd was singing along. Next came the shot of the starting gun and we were off.

As I crossed the starting line I felt pretty good but I'm sure that had a lot to do with the adrenaline that was cruising through my veins. I just settled in and made my way through the pack of runners at an easy pace. After the first mile the crowd thinned out and I picked up the pace to about 8:45 - 9:00 min / mile. I pretty much maintained that pace through through mile 16.

The fever had me sweating very much and I pretty much was drinking water and gatorade the whole race to replenish my fluids along with an energy gel every hour. The next 10 miles I was running between 9:30 to 11:10 min / miles. The cobble stones were taking a toll on my feet and lower legs and by mile 22 it was no longer any fun. I just wanted it to be over with.

With only 4 miles to go, I was focused on keeping that DNF from appearing after my name. Tunnel vision was starting to set in and I had serious doubts I was going to make it. I guess I'm just a stubborn mule and not a quitter. I managed to cross the finish line at 4:13:08  ( 9:30 min / mi. pace) which I was happy with. My previous best was 3:55:20 so all in all not to shabby for being sick.

After I crossed the finish line and got my finishers medal, I found myself on very shaky legs and wobbling through the crowd of finishers. Some water and a banana didn't seem to help much. I found a place to sit and stretch some before going to get my back pack. After retrieving my B-pack I needed to get to my meeting spot to meet my wife and her friend. I found them and after another 10 minutes of walking we found a cab and went back to the hotel where I stood in the shower for a very long time to get all the salt that was caked on me off. My running clothes were streaked with white from all the salt I lost. I laid down to take a nap but was to wired to sleep so I just rested for about 40 minutes and then got up and went to find my wife on the hotel's rooftop terrace to just bask in the sunshine.

Physical Exam

I had my first in years today. I needed a health release form from a doctor to run the Rome Marathon. I haven't a clue why but all foreign competitors must have one or IAAF or IPC  race card. I knew I was healthy but this confirmed it. After my 7 mile group run this morning I had my exam and My blood pressure was 118 over  70 and it got better from there.


Any how I have my form and I scanned into a PDF and have emailed it to the race directors and now should be good to go.


The bad news for the day is my run today started with a tight right calf and at about 6-1/2 miles it cramoed up pretty bad to where I was hobbling in . I'm icing it and will be foam rolling it and hoping to get it back on track quickly. I don't need to be sidelined for this now.

Next stop Rome

Italy that is. When I first signed up, it was just with the intention of finishing and having a good time. Still a marathon is a marathon and I needed to bump up the training plan to be prepared. Fortunately I have kept a good running base going all winter and could pretty much skip over the early weeks of a marathon training plan

So as it was back on Jan29th I had a nice 15 mile run on the TM logging a 2:08:00 for a 8:32 / mile pace.
Last Saturday I went to the Pettit Ice Center and ran on the indoor track and put in a solid 20 mile run at 2:51:20 for a 8:33 / mile pace. I was taking it easy and this run felt really good. I think I'm right on target for the March 18th marathon.

January has come and gone.

Exciting year up ahead and January found me catching up on this blog that I let slip. Back on the training track with Monday morning Tri swim workouts and Thursday morning group runs at Westwood  Health and Fitness.

Tracking all my miles on "The Daily Mile" website if you want to follow all my workouts.

http://www.dailymile.com/people/BrianL11#ref=tophd

I have a full race schedule this year leading up to Ironman WI that is very similar to last years race schedule.
It was to start again with the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon which I'm shooting for a qualifying time for Boston but in the last week things arose that changed all that.

A two week trip to Italy in March suddenly happened which is right in the middle of my Marathon training schedule. I got online to find some interesting places to run while over there and maybe some groups to run with also. Well, the days we will be in Rome happen to be the running of the Rome marathon, hmmm. I found the race website and there were still openings and the next thing I know ....I'm entered. Now I needed to fast forward bump up the long runs before I go.

Not looking to PR in Rome but just to have some fun and enjoy the run. Take it easy and get it done in 4-1/2 hours or so.

Dousman Duathlon Recap

1st run, I almost quit within the first 100 yards as my left quad acted up again. Severe sharp pain shot through my thigh at first and was about to call it quits when I changed my foot strike to heel first and the muscle relaxed and the pain disappeared for the most part . I posted first mile at 6:31. Went on to have a nice run at finishing at 14:18
T-1 1:34 , slow but added a shirt for the bike.

Bike went well even though I could feel my thigh warning me " Carefull, CAREFULL!" Seemed like the wind never got behind us on the ride at all but gave it my best effort and posted 1:02:35 for a 20.13 mph ave.

T-2 1:50 My god I hope no one was watching as I circled the bike rack twice trying to find my transition spot so I blew the T2 also.

2nd run I was not as strong as the first but my thigh was feeling better but I got a bit winded just after mile 1. finished 14.58

Total finish time was 1:35:13 ( which BTW matched my watch to the second)
109/601 overall... 7/34 50-54 AG... 90/335 Mens division.
Overall I'm happy with it considering I was not 100% and the good news is I localized the pain and it's not the IT band as I suspected but the muscle lying right next to it. That gives me a bit of peace of mind

Bright Angel Trail, Grand Canyon

July 26 th

Did the Bright Angel trail down to Plateau Point A six mile 3100 ft descent in the rain. Decided to attempt a trail run back up. Did the first 3 miles in 45 minutes and then things got tough. Next 3 miles kicked my butt and took 01:20:00  and ended up at 02:25:00 for the 6 miles through the rain and very steep ascent

Total round trip from top to bottom and back up was 12 miles. I'm going for a helicopter ride tomorrow to see the rest of the canyon.

The Tough Mudder

July 23 2011

After a summer full of races, my training buddies and I needed a break and what better break than the "Tough Mudder" an adventure / obstacle race. Ten miles and 25 obstacles spread out through Devil's Head  ski and golf resort. It sounded like fun back in January and believe it or not it was. Thirty three of my Westwood  and TnT performance buddies formed our team and went for it.

http://www.jsonline.com/multimedia/video/?bcpid=13960334001&bckey=AQ~~%2CAAAAAGgk8Us~%2CdLqgruaIT6qax7DY_kjdAMdXZHYCM8zP&bctid=1076929774001