JohnK

3 easy.

4 mile easy. Felt good.

6 miles consisting of 2 easy warm-up, 3200 on the track in 13:15 (almost right on goal marathon pace) and 2 cool-down. Felt fine, no concerns until later in the day when my right hamstring start to hurt and feel very tight.

4 miles easy. Felt good but the right hamstring isn't so great. Not sure what set this off.

No running. Flew to Las Vegas and drove to St. George, arriving around 7:30 p.m. local time. Bluffs Inns and Suites is not a first-class establishment but it will do. Am feeling good although the right hamstring is noticeable at times. I need to avoid over-stretching it and must also avoid worrying too much about it!

Up early because I'm still on eastern time. Just before daylight I drove to the St. George finish area and then ran about 1.5 miles back on the course then turned around and headed in. Feeling pretty good. The right hamstring is still a worry, however. Went to the expo at mid-morning after breakfast and also listened to Dick Beardsley's first talk which was quite good. Drove the course in the early afternoon and then spent a lot of time resting and watching TV. A lot of rain today but things should clear out nicely for tomorrow's race.

Went in aiming to run 2:55 and felt great during the early miles. Great marathoning conditions.

1 - 6:28

2 - 13:12 (6:44)

3 - 19:38 (6:26)

4 - 26:04 (6:26)

5 - 32:33 (6:29)

6 - 38:56 (6:23)

7 - 45:26 (6:30)

The next 4 were considerably slower (being uphill to rolling with no significant downhill). But after mile 8 (during which I noticed the altitude a bit with somewhat labored breathing) I was okay.

8 - 52:44 (7:18)

9 - 59:50 (7:06)

10 - 1:06.48 (6:58)

11 - 1:13.51 (7:03)

Took a gel at 11 and noticed a boost within 2 miles.

12 - 1:20.43 (6:52)

13 - 1:27.28 (6:45)

So all was well at the half; didn't catch my time but I estimate 1:28:12.

14 - 1:34.14 (6:46)

15 - 1:40.54 (6:40)

During mile 15 I realized my quads were really beginning to hurt from all the downhill plus I noticed that a number of people were passing me, although I really didn't want to be going any faster than 6:40.

16 - 1:47.37 (6:43)

17 - 1:54.28 (6:51)

18 - 2:01.20 (6:52)

Miles 17 and 18 worried me because I was slowing and hurting more.

19 - 2:08.26 (7:06)

It actually felt good to gain some elevation during mile 19. Took a gel during mile 19 but only consumed about 2/3 of it.

20 - 2:15.27 (7:01)

Off goal pace but still felt sub-3:00 was possible at 20.

21 - 2:22.35 (7:08)

22 - 2:30.00 (7:25)

It was really steep downhill between about 19.5 and 21 and again from about 22.0 to 22.5. I was really in distress by now with very bad quad pain. Otherwise I wasn't in terrible shape but it was hard to focus and remain determined to keep running.

23 - 2:37.27 (7:27)

24 - 2:45:08 (7:41)

After completing mile 24 I ran another 100m or so and then walked for about :30.

After that it was slow jogging mixed in with short walking breaks to the finish.

25 - 2:53.38 (8:30)

26 - 3:02.35 (8:57)

26.2 - 3:04.15 (1:40)

So the last 2.2 miles took me a little over 19 minutes! I've never, ever, had quad pain like this in a marathon. I wasn't in bad shape otherwise and feel I could have at least finished close to my 2:55 goal had I not had the terribly sore quads. And I'm quite sure I didn't drink enough during the race and may not have eaten enough yesterday. Plus, 2-3 aspirins 30 minutes prior to the start might have helped. Anyway, I loved St. George Marathon otherwise and hope to return in 2007.

Flew back to Georgia Saturday night arriving in Atlanta at 5:45 a.m. and home to Athens a little before 9:00. Took a few very short walks today and the quad pain is bad!

Rest. Very sore quads. Walked a little. Did I mention that my quads are sore?

More rest, more quad pain. Two 15 minute walks.

Feeling just a little better today but not close to being able to run. Two 15 minute walks.

Still not able to run but I'm thinking about trying it tomorrow. Two short 15 minute walks.

Ran and walked for a total of 4 miles. It did not go well -- I could not run downhill and toward the end could only run on my toes the pain was getting so bad! Never have I had a post-marathon experience like this.

Walked an hour (4 miles) in the early morning and felt pretty good, but I knew I needed another day without running. Noticed a little knee pain (right leg) later in the day.

4 miles easy. Quads somewhat better but far from 100%.

5 miles easy. Slight improvement but the quads are still sore. Didn't worsen during the run, however.

Easy 7 miles. Quads much better -- still a little sore but coming along now.

9 miles easy. Quads continue to improve although it's not 100% yet.

7 mile light fartlek run. Decided the quads were ready for and might even benefit from a little faster paced stuff. Felt okay. Hope to get in a 12-14 miler on Saturday if my legs are up to it.

8 miles mostly relaxed, with about 3 of it on grass and trails. A bit of soreness above right kneecap and lingering quad soreness from St. George.

2 mile warm-up then 5,000m on UGA track in 20:00 followed by 2 cool-down. Just wanting to run ~half-marathon pace (a little slower than that, actually) and see how the legs would feel. They were heavy and I felt the opposite of smooth! But I'm s-l-o-w-l-y getting back to normal after St. George. Quess another week of fairly light running and I'll be feeling good.

Easy 10 miler (~75:00). Quads still a little heavy but coming along.

7 mile fartlek, not too tough but a decent workout and the best I've felt since St. George. It's nice to be getting back to normal. Hope to get in something more substantial Wed. or Thurs.

10 miles with several 1 minute build-ups and a few sustained ~400m efforts. Nothing too tough but a way to break up the run with a little quality and work toward harder workouts in the coming weeks when fully recovered from St. George. Chilly this a.m. -- 34 degrees, which is unusual for October in Georgia -- but just about ideal in my view.

Easy 7 miler. Felt really good -- like the low 30s for early morning running. Quads almost back to normal.

11 miles with first 7 a fartlek run that included about 2 miles total near 5K race pace in 1:00 to 2:00 sections, then 3000 on UGA track in 11:26 (just a bit faster than I hope to average for a 15K road race on Nov. 18th -- am aiming for 3:50 per K in that), and 2 miles cool-down. Felt good, the 3000 was okay and certainly far from all-out although I thought it would feel a little easier even after the fartlek. Not sure I'll be ready for 57:30 in the 15K but it's a reasonable goal since I ran 57:39 last year.

6 miles easy in the rain. Felt good. Nice to have weather as an excuse to take is extra easy and short, but actually I didn't mind the rain as it wasn't cold (about 52 degrees).

4 mile warm-up then 10,000m solo on UGA track in 39:05 and 4 mile cool-down. Was hoping to run 38:20 which is goal pace (3:50 per K = 57:30) for a 15K race in three weeks. It was very windy and I didn't feel 100%, so after being on pace thru 4K I started slipping a bit. 5Ks were 19:16 + 19:49. I'm not really all that disappointed and believe I will be in much better form in 3 weeks.

9 miles fairly relaxed (@66:00). Felt better than expected considering yesterday.

8 mile fartlek, with first 3 miles as warm-up then 2 x 2:00, 3 x 1:30, 4 x 1:00 and 4 x :30 with equal recoveries and short cool-down.

A.M.: 14 mile out-and-back in 1:38.30. Went easy first the 7 (52:15) and ~marathon pace coming back (46:15 = 6:36 pace). Felt good, strong effort over the last 7 as I started at ~6:45 and very gradually sped up, really pushing the last two miles.

P.M.: Had an hour in late afternoon with nothing to do so decided to go out for a few miles and ended up doing 6 easy. Felt good.