Training for the 1:08 half marathon

Getting ready for Thanksgiving

2008-11-24T15:26:55Z

This week didn't have that many crazy events, the highlight of my training was this weekend. About 2 miles from where I live, there was a 5k/half/full marathon going on so of course, I was going to watch it and run a little bit of it. So Saturday I get up and run to the place and it was a ghost town. I knew I had done something wrong, so I just made an 8 mile loop and found out the race was actually the next day.

This still worked out because I was meeting with a buddy that morning and we ran there and this time saw all the runners. We ran with them for a bit, and I probably got in somewhere around 11ish for the run. A couple hours later, I got a text from another group of runners I know to do a long run and of course I accepted. It was a really cool run in downtown Kansas. I saw a pirate and probably got around 25 miles in for the day.

I was pretty tired and called it an early night. Getting ready for this Thanksgiving 5k.

Update time

2008-11-19T19:43:13Z

Its been a while since I've posted and thats because I've been pretty busy. For those who didn't know, I'm getting married in 17 days so there are a lot of little things I have needed to do here and there. I'm going to try to catch up with my posting here and there and start with two weekends ago.

It started off with me flying down to Florida because it was time for me to help my fiancee move all her stuff up here. We rented a small SUV and jammed that thing to the max. After being crammed in a car for 15 hours, we finally made it to STL where we stayed the night at her grandparents house. After waking up bright and early, we did the last 4 hours of the trip and had quite the workout moving everything up 3 flights of stairs.

The rest of the week I did mostly singles of about an hour long. Andrea biked in the cold with me a couple times which was really nice because I was able to have some funny convos. I also started to break in a new pair of Adidas Boston Classics. I believe it is my 14th pair of them, but who knows, I've had so many I'm losing count.

This current week I'm back to 2-a-days. I'm getting pretty tired of these afternoon runs where it gets dark 10 minutes into them but what can you do I guess. Thanksgiving morning I'm doing a 5k hosted by Sprint. I mean, I kind of have to, support my company and all. I'm actually really excited about it, hopefully I can make my employees proud. I'm planning on continuing the 2-a-days this week and I'll back off a little before the race.

Joffroi vs. Deer... Round One

2008-11-11T14:45:02Z

I've had a pretty exciting week so I'm just going to pick a point and start talking about it. Last Thursday I flew to Florida to go pick up my fiancee and get our marriage license. Friday Andrea had to work her last day of work so while she was there, I went ahead and got a solid 11 miler. The weather in Orlando was just amazing. That night we went to Howl at the Moon with a bunch of her friends and it was an awesome time.

Bright and early we got up at 6am and started the drive from Orlando to St. Louis where Andrea has some grandparents that we were going to stay at. 15 hours and 4 double cheeseburgers later, we finally made it to STL. After getting some awesome grandma's cooking, we headed to bed and then took off again and drove the last 4 hours to get to Kansas City. We quickly unpacked and then I took a much needed 2 hour nap.

Monday I went ahead and got a great 8ish miler in. Felt good to get the legs moving again. This morning was an interesting run. I was doing a typical 8 mile loop in the cold morning. I was still in the "waking up" phase and I just hit this trail portion of my loop. The sun was just barely rising so it was still dark and then all of a sudden I run into something furry. This deer on the trail shot his head up and then suddenly took off. I couldn't believe what just happened and I think the deer I ran into was just as scared as I was. The rest of my run went well and this definitely made for a great story.

Tuesday of ups and downs

2008-11-05T19:33:51Z

Tuesday was a really solid day for my training. I got up and did around an 8 miler and then in the afternoon I accidentally did a 10 miler. I was doing this loop that I thought was only 8 but then I realized I was completely wrong. Just like all my other afternoon runs since the day light savings time, it got dark about 20 minutes after I started. I'm not really used to doing this "night running" thing so my pace tends to increase a little.

I got done with my 10 miler in a little over an hour and did the usuals around the apartment. I cleaned up some and got my trash bag ready to take out and went out to the dumpster. When I got back to my door, I heard my cat meowing. I tried to go in my room and realized the door was locked. My cat jumped up and turned the bolt lock on me. Yes, it can do that. I had to call my emergency maintenance hot line to get back it. Silly cat.

Found my next road race

2008-11-04T15:33:39Z

The weather has been pretty good here this week and so I've been doing my average 2 a days at a decent pace. I've been kind of out of it running wise but I just got an email today that is going to get me back in the game.

Sprint (my employer) is having their annual 5k for Thanksgiving. The last time Sprint hosted a 5k it was employee only and I won by 3 minutes (15:30). It was a lot of fun haha. This 5k seems to be a little more popular. The winner was a 15:26 so there is definitely going to be more competition. This is great news for me. While sitting here in my office I have a huge burst to get my training back in the game. I can't let my co-workers down! 19 days to train.

This week's blog post

2008-10-31T14:01:18Z

I have been pretty slow about posted here for the week because my training hasn't really been that exciting. I've had all sort of different events going on that have made me unnecessarily stressed and worried over things that has also just lazy. But on Monday and Tuesday I just did singles of an OK distance, probably around 8 miles. Tuesday was cool because I found another group of runners here in Kansas City of guys that are pretty quick. So that day we did a nice solid run. I didn't run those mornings because it was only in the high 20s. I didn't like that so I hibernated.

Lets see, Wednesday it heated up some and I ran 6 in the morning and then another 8 in the afternoon. The afternoon run was tricky just because when I started, it was 67 degree so I ran without a shirt. By the time I was done, the sun set and it was only 50 degrees. Needless to say, I was a little chilly.

Thursday I was the most lazy I have ever been in my life. I didn't run. I was just kinda there all day and I just cleaned my apartment and played, "All by myself" while doing laundry. I also watched the Office and it was awesome.

Friday is going better already. The weather got a lot warmer and it was 60 degrees this morning. I did an 8 miler and the entire time I tried to think of a great costume. I thought about maybe going in a racing singlet but I concluded that that would just be inappropriate.

This afternoon my buddies are coming in town for my bachelor party tomorrow which is going to be awesome. Most of them run so we will go for a little guy this afternoon and probably a long run tomorrow morning for a long. I'm looking forward to the awesome weekend.

The weekend that was

2008-10-27T18:38:41Z

I drove back to rolla this weekend to watch the conference race. It was a lot of fun, it was a fun race and it was good to hang out with all by buddies again. Running wise I got up Saturday and ran a couple miles. After that it was time to watch the race where I ran from point A to point B the entire time and enjoyed the show. The same kid who beat me when I came back for the home course did the same thing and out kicked everyone with a mile to go.

The afternoon was spent hanging out on-top of runner's house roof and then learning some judo. The following morning I did a 90 minute run with the team and then concluded the weekend with the drive back to Kansas.

Where to begin

2008-10-24T18:30:44Z

Well, its been the week after the half marathon I did last week (that went a lot better then I thought) and my legs are back to feeling like nothing happened. I have been doing ok with training this week overall. Double to get around 16 on monday, then 8-10 on Tuesday, Crap on Wednesday, around 14 double on Thursday, and then around 6 today. I'm planning on doing a long run some day this weekend, haven't decided which day though.

My legs probably went to 100% on thursday. Weather has really sucked this week and work has been really busy. I think these are two of the reasons my mileage is so low this week. But anyway, after work today I'm driving back to Rolla to watch the conference CC meet. It should be a really good race and awesome to watch. I"m also looking forward to hanging out with all my college buddies.

Thats it for now.

Peace

Monday monday

2008-10-20T22:16:00Z

Where do I begin.... it was the start of a new week. I got up in the morning and did about 8 miles on one of my typical loops. I felt pretty good, but my calves were really sore from the weekend half marathon. I wanted to get a decent run this morning because a long storm is suppose to roll in and my schedule is pretty much, "run when I can".

After a really busy day of work, I got home and it was that really cool, "a storm is coming cloudy weather" that is really neat to run in so I did another 8. My calves were really feeling it now and I was kind of hitting myself for not running a shorter loop. But I got done with that and then enjoyed some little ceaser's pizza and miller high life. yum

The Kansas City Half Marathon

2008-10-19T12:15:45Z

It is Sunday morning, the day after the Kansas City Half Marathon. It is 7 am when I am typing this, what sleeping late is when you are used to waking up at 6 everyday to run. Following is a recap of my successful race yesterday.

Friday night I drove downtown to the expo to pick up my race packet. I spent a little time walking around and of course gave into buying a pair of discounted running shorts. After that I drove to some friends house to hang out for a little bit. They asked if I was ready to go and I said, "Yes! I'll be ready for that gun to go off at 8am!". Thankfully, they informed me that the race actually started at 7 instead. I set my alarm for 4:45 on my phone and then headed back to my place after hanging out at the bar for a little bit.

I got to bed around 10 pm and for some reason got up naturally a little after 4. I at a little piece of a bagel with peanut butter and then around 5 I went ahead and started the drive to the course. Around 5:30 I got there and just decided to walk around for a bit. It was still dark out and about 42 degrees. About an hour before I jogged around a bit and did the typical warm-up cycle. Before I knew it, it was race time.

I was at the front of the line, wearing my signlet and sporting the Adizero PRs (I think). The racing flats that weigh about 4.2 oz each. I was a little concerned that they were to light but didn't think about it to much because I really didn't have any other options.

Finally the gun went off! Immediately, the two kenyans in the field took off. A couple other guys also went and it seemed like there were a couple groups of 2-3 runners in the lead. I was in the back, following one of the latter groups. The first mile was a cradual climb and we were just cruising along. No real changes happened until around the 2 mile mark, when there is a real steep quick hill. I used this to leave the two I was following catch up to a solo running ahead. I stayed behind him for about the next mile until the next real steep climb. The only problem with this was the only runners ahead of me now were about 100m away. Making sure I stayed a smooth pace, I slowly tried to real them in. After about 3 miles of rollin hills, I finally caught up to the two guys ahead of me. This was around the 6 mile mark. I also knew that every extra ounce of energy I used to do this was worth it because behind right behind them made sitting on the pace so much easier and much more comfortable. At this marker I also had my little fan club cheer for me so that was cool.

I stayed right behind the two guys for the next 2 miles, just concentrating on the back of their singlet. Before I knew it, we were around mile 8 and one of the guys began to fade off. So it was just me and Daniel (I learned his name after and for some reason, isn't in the results). For the next couple miles, I just cruised behind him. I was getting to the point where I was just tired and wanted to get done. We were battling for third place too so it was pretty intense. Now, I don't know if this was because I was tired, but I felt like Daniel was really changing the pace to drop be and it almost worked. I was hurting good but we finally hit the 12 mile mark so I just thought how I just needed to survive another mile. I also thought that there was no way in hell I would double this distance and do a marathon now.

Daniel and I noticed that were also catching the second place runner. Unfortunately, he was about 20 seconds ahead and there was just no room or energy in either of us to really real him in. We finally hit that 13 mile mark and I just used all I had left to try to secure a third place. My little surge ahead worked and I finished with a 1:10.02, a new PR for me which really shocked me. On a hilly course like that, I didn't think I was going to be able to do that.

After I met up with Daniel and did a cool down. Surpringly enough, I felt pretty good the rest of the day, legs and all. I met back up with my friends for a while then crashed back home. I got up this morning and walked around. My calves are sore, time to take the day off.

    1   7446 RICHARD      KANDIE         23 1:08:57 1:08:58  5:16 
    2   7643 JACOB        KENDAGOR       24 1:09:48 1:09:48  5:20 
    3   6101 JOFFROI      HOLCOMBE       22 1:10:01 1:10:02  5:21

ALUMNI!!

2008-10-15T18:33:19Z

Today was the last organized run with the runner Alumni from the college I went too. Only 3 of use showed up (including me) but it was still a fun time. Traffic was very forgiving to me and I got there about 20 minutes early so I went ahead and ran three miles on this little 800m loop they have near the parking lot we meet at. The weather was really nice, sunny but starting to get pretty cool... around 55 degrees. On my last 800 I decided to pick it up a little for fun and I was able to get a 2:20 without breathing to hard. I'm pretty excited about this because its giving me a good bit of confidence for my half this weekend. I'm getting really excited about it. Hopefully, everything goes well.

Tuesday Flu Shot

2008-10-14T14:28:51Z

It is suppose to rain all day today but when I got up this morning it was just nice and cool. It was about 50 degrees and I bolted out to get in about an hour run before any storms come through. I got back still dry and cooked some breakfast and headed to work. I then got my flu shot so hopefully that cuts back on any colds that I might have gotten this winter. If the weather is still nice I'll go for another afternoon run.

Recov day

2008-10-13T14:26:16Z

I got up Monday morning feeling a little dead in the legs and I thought about the fact that I didn't get my standard day off this week so decided to just do a solo of about 5-6 miles. It felt pretty good. I'm getting really pumped about this weekend

Pumpkin Patch 5k

2008-10-12T02:06:58Z

I got up this morning nice and early because I decided to go run a little local 5k a couple miles from my house. I had to stop by an ATM to get money so I could actually register and luckily for me there was one on the way. I got 20 bucks and headed off to the "battle field". I got there and was immediately shocked about how well it was organized. They had one of those cool balloon arches at the starting line, tents everywhere, and all sorts of other things. I got my number and chip and then started doing a little jogging. As the race time approached, more people came and there were millions upon millions of kids. I think the total of race participants was actually 2,900... 1,400 being kids.

Eventually it was time to race and the weather was perfect for it. The gun went off and I zipped through the initial maze of elementary school kids and was in the lead. I followed the 5 lead motorcycles and went into cruise mode. I hit the first mile at 5:03 and noticed that I already had a pretty solid lead. I continued to just maintain and hit the 2 mile at 10:03. The third mile had some pretty good inclines, different more up then down but I finally got on that last straightaway to the balloon arches. I felt really great and I was kicking like I have never kicked before. I crossed the line somewhere between 15:30-15:34. Second place was about a minute behind. The course record holder (15:08) got third in the race unfortunately because he has had some ankle problems. Hopefully that gets fixed up for him and he can get in the swing of things again quickly.

After the race and I ran the course backwards with the record holder and chatted about local running here and things like that. Overall, it was a very cool road race and I'm really happy that it felt pretty "easy". I'm looking forward to my half next weekend.

Sorry guys

2008-10-09T20:44:41Z

I want to apologize for being so bad at keeping this blog up recently. I've been so swamped with work that when I get home (and when I'm at work) I don't really feel like looking at a computer and typing away. I've also backed off some on the training. The 120 mile 6 day week I did last week is really starting to effect me so yesterday I just did an afternoon run of about 9, Today I ran this morning around 8 miles and I'll do a little jog in the afternoon then hopefully dominate some co-workers at poker.

They call me Joffroi Moneymaker