Week 18- Mission Confirmed

Ok y’all! This is it! For those of you reading this that are getting amped up for the Savannah Rock N Roll Marathon, I am going to keep this thing positive and keep it on running. We plan on doing the Trick N Trot 10 K next Saturday (one week from toeing the line) just to let it fly.

Couple things I wanted to share about “my formula” and some thoughts that most runners probably already thought.

I have some intense metabolism that keeps me eating like a pig without quenching the hunger. My main plan after this marathon is to grill and eat for the rest of the holiday season. I have been playing with different combinations of breakfast foods, pre-run drinks, running drinks, and post run dishes. Jessie has been keeping up with the post run dishes on http://yourveganpapillion.blogspot.com  so I won’t double dip.

What I have established for my “ritual” (it’s new so hence not really) is my obligatory cup of coffee (x2 or 3 depending) and my all time favorite Peanut Butter and Jelly sandwich. I told y’all earlier that there is nothing more fun about running than that of being a kid again! I finish that off with a glass of water because the coffee was starting to come around for seconds in the past couple of runs and I needed to dilute the acidic taste. For the in-run beverage I have figured out a ratio that gives me the water, sugar, and minerals that I need to beat the heat. I have noticed hyperglycemia starts to really kick in at mile 5 and keeps letting you know your low on sugar for the rest of the run. To keep that in check I have adding more jelly to my breakfast. The in-run beverage is a mixture of one packet or scoop of Cytomax, a quarter of apple juice, and the rest water poured into a 32OZ Gatorade bottle.

At the six mile mark I take down a GU gel with some fresh water. That carries me pretty well for a while but I notice I need more and more as the miles mount. Somewhere between mile 10 and 12 I take down another GU gel. I have been drinking small amounts of water every ½ mile during the run. I really didn’t like the Sport Beans at first but I have found they do the best for me around mile 15 when I start to need the extra fuel. Plus they keep me occupied for a moment while I try to choke them down. So all in all I guess it isn’t anything fancy but it took me 20 weeks to hone down so ha, there. Take it or leave it.

What I want to show y’all is some of the course that we’ll get to run and some of the course that I wish we could run. When we get around the 16 or 17 mile mark we will descend a bit towards the marsh near our neighborhood. This is a beautiful area near the water and I wish we could run our normal route and really get to show off how beautiful the area is. I really would prefer that we cut out west Savannah and add Isle of Hope but I guess I don’t have that much sway, oh well. That just leaves some nice private tours for after the race.  So as we turn down LaRoache we will be coming towards Herb River Bend Creek, a tributary of the Intercoastal Waterway. I wanted to throw in a couple of pictures. This really is a gorgeous part of the route, probably the best section for inspiration, and should give us a good boost in the butt because of the familiarity of the course.



Marshfront around mile 17



$2.4 M gets you the 5,000sqft historic home as well!

I wish we ran through Isle of Hope. I plan on submitting another article to Runners World in the nearish future for the Rave Run section. If you hit this at sunrise the sun comes up over the water and gives you the best mix of sun and shade with ancient oaks and amzing architecture.


Isle of Hope Marina in late October



This just makes a run fun! Big up to IOH Marina for their small store and available bathrooms!

I hope to give a brief Trick or Trot blog and I plan on running with my camera, however in case we cross paths in the SAV and you are actually following this blog. I have my pic after a twenty miler. I was craving mackeral pasta with capers and boiled eggs. My girlfiend is a vegan so I took down the pot and washed it down with a Guiness. Next time i start a 20 week training program I am brewing a big fat brew and I might even lager it. I think a nice home brewed custom made beer sounds like a fitting end to a long hard run road. Yeah that is my Savannah Craft Beer Festival volunteer shirt, woop woop Savannah Brewers League!!! Next up is Savannah Striders Running Club!!

Ticking clocks City blocks and the taper

We are moving into the final phases of our training for the Savannah Rock N Roll Marathon. It happens to be the same day as the NYC ING marathon so we are racing more than just the 23,000 people registered for Savannah.

I know I have complained about the weather through much of this, but I have to say, the weather has really been the one factor in training that we really couldn't prepare for. I mean for crying out loud hot is hot and humid in Savannah is just two points from raining. Which, I will lovingly explain later. For now I have to get on the soap box of deadly drivers and segway into the rain.

Our first 20 miler came and went without much fanfare and nothing to blog about. I felt like it was over, I did it, check it off, next week is an easy 12, get over it. Everyone else training for a marathon this season is going through the sane thing, suck it up and do something worth mentioning. So after a couple of iibuprofen we headed off to the park for Jazz Fest to listen to some music, enjoy some spirits, and wind down to a nice evening where laying flat was the best idea since, well you get the point. Halfway through the music the storms started and we were soaked in less time than it takes running the first mile. And I LOVED IT.

So back to the drivers, I have a theory that goes like this. The IQ and capability of Savannah drivers is directly correlated with the barometric pressure. The possiblity of an accident increase 1000 fold in the first ten minutes of a rain event. Ok so not very scientific but empirical, i think.

A mile and a half into our middle distance run of a 13 miler, between our twenty milers, we were crossing the intersection of a gas station. A woman in a white Toyota Camry was making a left hand turn into the parking lot. I was in front setting the pace and locked onto the car immediately. I was thinking that this wasn't the typical right hand turn, not looking scenario so I would be in her line of sight and be safe keeping my stride and not breaking pace to let her go by. I know- NIAVE. When she gunned the gas pedal the Camry sped at me and I saw the driver looking way down the road in the opposite direction. I knew she didn't even look and I had the instinct to stop and pivot. By the time she saw me I had already read tomorrow's headlines, estimated the damage to the hood and glass, noticed she just came from the car wash, and was thinking about how red the white would be in a few seconds.

When she finally registered what was going on she panicked. She meant to hit the brake and smashed the gas pedal so hard the front of the car lifted up. I was at the Toyota emblem when I jumped and watched the water drops from the car wash on the plastic headlight cover pass under my shoe as I jumped over the hood of the car. I really didn't do anything except react, I still think to this day she believes she hit me. All she saw was a body jumping over the hood of her car. And they try to blame Toyota for a sticky pedal? Only in America could a bunch a pathetic drivers who should have their licenses revoked sue a car manufacturer for a operator error.

So I cannot wait for the police escorts (who I thank at every race and every intersection) and road blocks. The cranky Savannahians who all of the sudden have somewhere to be that day be damned- you will give us our day!

K- got that off my chest. So we are lucky- well i am anyway- the rest of you still have to deal with me. It has finally cooled out and we have the chance to run in 75-80 F weather. On our second 20 miler Saturday we were blasted with a beautiful drizzle at mile 10 and the temperature dropped for the duration of the run. It really is nice to not be completely soaked in your own sweat for three and a half hours.

I have found that I am combining Cytomax with apple juice to keep my blood sugar even. I have been getting tunnel vision at mile 17 and I couldn't remember if green was stop or go (kinda got confused there for a second)- hell it doesn't matter here anyway, you still have to look both ways even on a one way street.  i also tried the GU Chomps for the first time along with sports beans. Not bad but I can't get used to the texture. 

We are going to be dialing back the miles in the next weeks and I know I'll like having some time to work on my projects. We have our 20 miles down to 3 hours and 20 minutes so I think we are close to ready.

Pasta dreams - peace!