August 7th, 2005 (7-weeks to Adirondack Marathon)

The past two months have been brutally hot and humid. It's been awful weather for running. Last week, as I attempted to run 12 miles I ended up walking the last 2-1/2 miles with a touch of heat exhaustion that seemed to last up until Race the Train two days later.

I'm running 20+ mile long runs every other week, taking 1-2 rest days before and after those runs, and I've been feeling pretty good. Last week I started weekly hill training as part of my over all fitness plan to run 2 marathons back-to-back.

Race the Train was a great challenge for me. I felt very strong going up all hills, and I kept my pace fast on the down sides. I was proud about my 8:47 minute miles on a very hilly, 8.4 mile dirt road course. Now its time to head down the final stretch of training for my back-to-back marathons...

August 17th, 2005 (5-weeks to Adirondack Marathon)

I'm having a problem. I've lost my motivation to run. My legs feel like huge watermelons. I think it's a combination of running in very hot/humid weather for 2 months, becoming bored with my mid week running courses, and a little too much hill climbing.

For now, I'm giving myself a break. I'm planning to run 1-3 miles for a couple of days and then run the Adirondack Marathon course around Schroon Lake on Sunday with Long Shots. My goal for running 26 miles this weekend is to enhance my endurance as I prepare for back-to-back marathons in the fall. I'm hoping my recovery between marathons will be quicker with this type of training.

August 21st, 2005 (Practice Run: Adirondack Marathon)

Today, Long Shots and I ran the Adirondack Marathon loop around Schroon Lake for distance training. It stormed all night, and stopped minutes before we hit the road at 5:50 AM. It began as a warm and very muggy run that transitioned into muggier and hotter weather!

The night before the run we strategically placed water bottles around the course. Although we took meticulous notes to find our H2O caches the following day, we couldn't find two of them between miles 4 and 11. This was an awful error because it covered the most difficult leg of the course - two huge, long hills that sandwiched less punishing (but still difficult) contiguous ascents and descents.

The last 10 miles were uncompromisingly difficult due to the heat and humidity. Our pace shifted from 10 minute miles to something between 11 and 13 minutes. We completed the run in 4:55 - just under our 5-hour goal.

The Garmin GPS functioned poorly due to tree coverage and cloudy weather early in the morning. At about mile 13, according to blue painted mile markers on the road, the Garmin was off by 1/2 mile. At mile 16 it was consistently one mile short of the total distance run... unbelievably, 5-feet short of each consecutive painted mile marker

Now that it's over, I can say it was a "good" run - although, I was wiped out for the rest of the day. Aside from feeling a little sore, I finished this marathon loop in better physical shape then my first marathon last May. In two weeks, Long Shots and I run 20 miles - twice around Friend's Lake. Bring on the back-to-back marathons! I'm ready!

At work the next day, Long Shots gathered their coworkers into the file room and presented "g" with a trophy. A spectacular, beautiful, hand made, one of a kind, commemorative Saratoga Harness Track Beer Stein. "Yesterday, it was quite an accomplishment for Gary to complete the run around Schroon Lake..." announced Long Shots, "...even though he screwed up on the water cache thing (TWICE), causing us to narrowly escape heat exhaustion!"

August 28th, 2005 (4-weeks until Adirondack Marathon)

OK. I'm in the marathon recovery groove. It's been one week since Long Shots and I ran the Adirondack Marathon loop around Schroon Lake for distance training, and I've recovered almost immediately. 3 days after running the loop (Wed.) I ran a very fast 6-miles, the following day (Thurs.) I ran 14 miles, yesterday (Sat.) I ran an easy 4.5 miles, and today I ran 12-miles at a 10 minute mile pace. My worries about inadequate recovery between back-to-back marathons in September and October are behind me. Yahoo! Bring on the marathons!

September 4th, 2005 (3-weeks until Adirondack Marathon)

It's been a disturbing marathon training/recovery learning curve. After posting the above journal note, I fell into "I don't want to run anymore" mode. I ran 8-miles last Tuesday and then didn't run until Long Shots and I ran 20-miles yesterday (Saturday: 3:29:33; 10:43 minute miles) - a very hilly course around Friends Lake (twice). I think I ran too much after the marathon loop 2 weeks ago, and my body crashed the following week. OK. Now it's marathon taper time. No long runs until the Adirondack Distance Marathon on 9/25/05! Bring on the marathons! I'll be ready!

P.S. Yesterday I purchased two, Marine Corps Marathon commemorative T-shirts (technical fabric). I know... a little premature... but, I'm in marathon mode!