Week 15: Goals in sight, minor obstacles, runner tracking, 'This Ain't Easy' and Isaiah 40:31 vids ...

Just a little more than a week to the Bank of America Chicago Marathon ... By this time next week, I'll be in the Chicago area hanging with Orly and Eunice Bisquera and family (this will be Orly's first marathon, more on that below) carbo loading and trying to stay calm ... and praying all will go reasonably well on race day.

While I had made note of my goals at the beginning of the training period, I guess now is as good a time to review them. In order:

1. Raise $2,300 for Gawad Kalinga to build a home for one family. Almost there! As of today, Thursday, Oct. 2, we're at $1,880. To reach our goal, I'm praying for 17 people to donate $25 each to get us over that. The deadline is Oct. 13, the day after the marathon. The deadline also allows GK enough time to close its books for the year, since there are a lot of us running for the cause. Click here to donate online; drop me a note at alan.llavore@gmail.com to donate by check. And, please pass along the links to the fundraising page and the blog.
   
2. Finish the race on Oct. 12
3. Target goal: to run a personal record (PR). Anything under 4 hours, 6 minutes and 38 seconds
4. Give-it-all-you-got goal: a marathon under 4 hours
5. God-totally-carried-me goal: a Boston qualifying time of 3 hours, 30 minutes or faster :-)
   

One reason why marathoners dread the taper period: Aside from being antsy, little things start to crop up.

Like two years ago in June 2006, I was battling a minor cold before the San Diego Rock n' Roll Marathon. Two weeks out from Oct. 12, I caught the bug that everyone seems to be dealing with: sore throat, congestion, just the blahs. So I spent Monday resting at home. Lots of fluids, especially orange juice, and a large Coldbuster from Jamba Juice, double on the immunity boost, pretty much everyday since Sunday. No workout until yesterday, Wednesday, and that was easy 6 miler that was OK time wise, but I just felt out of sorts.

Also, I have some soreness in my left Achilles' tendon, which I have had from time to time, but not until this point in this training cycle. So I'm icing it, stretching it, going easy and taking over-the-counter anti-inflammatory (ibuprofen). Running on it is a little uncomfortable and the soreness tends to go away after I warm up, but it still pays to be a little more cautious this close to race day.

A couple of videos: one to give you more insight on what it takes to prepare for a marathon, and Josh Cox' testimony based on Isaiah 40:31.

"This Ain't Easy"
From the ChasingKimbia project
Runner: Stephen Baba Kiogora of Kenya
Coach: Dieter Spricht
Training in Boulder Colorado, October 2007
Workout: 30K run (18.6 miles)



chasingKIMBIA.com is a blogumentary documenting the lifestyle and training of some of the world's best marathon runners. Season One provided an unprecedented vantage point of the highs and lows of professional running as seven athletes prepared for the Chicago and New York City marathons. Season Two brings even more excitement and deeper coverage to the sport as we travel to the training camp in Iten, Kenya, where the athletes are preparing for the Boston, London, and Rotterdam marathons. This is your backstage pass. Follow the journey at www.chasingkimbia.com.

Josh Cox and the 50 Mile Miracle
October 18, 1997. The day my faith became fact. For the full story go to joshcox.thefinalsprint.com. God did a miracle and my buddies had my camera! Race highlights and testimony.



About Josh (from his ministry page at GodTube.com):
Some might say that running 120-160 miles a week is unusual. But Josh was never an ordinary Christian.

Josh Cox qualified for his first Olympic Marathon Trials in 1999 at the tender age of 23 making him the youngest qualifier for the 2000 U.S. Olympic Trials. Later that year he ran 2:13 and placed 10th at the Chicago Marathon. Highlights of his career include being the Top American at the World Track & Field Championships. He's earned big sponsors, been on the cover of numerous magazines and even been on reality TV.

But his faith is really his greatest accomplishment. Many athletes are afraid to express their convictions and faith, but anyone who meets Josh knows he is not one of them.

Runner tracking:

Since all the runners and walkers will have a timing chip attached to their shoes to record their race times, the BOA Chicago Marathon has a way for people to track runners. All you need is their full name and to sign up for the service. You can opt to get e-mail reports or text messages to your cell phone (be aware of your service provider's charges). To get set up, click here.

My hosts:

This is Orly and Eunice, who are also from my hometown of San Diego, and were (and sort of still are) members of my church, Corona International Christian Fellowship. They were instrumental in getting the young adult ministry up and running, as well as the youth ministry and the young adult worship team. This will be Orly's first marathon, and he's running in memory of their son, Jayden Timothy, and for Children's Memorial Hospital. To view his fundraising page (and donate, too!) click here.

Special edition blog: World record in the marathon!

Blog update, special edition! :-)

Unless you're a running geek, like me, you may have missed it on Sunday. Haile Gebrselassie of Ethiopia smashed his own world record in the marathon at 2 hours 3 minutes 59 seconds at the real Berlin Marathon; the previous record was 2:04:26 a year ago, also in Berlin. To put it in perspective, that's running almost 13 mph for just over two hours! And to take 33 seconds off one's time at the elite level is huge, comparable to Usain Bolt's records in the 100 and 200 meters at the Beijing Olympics in August ... maybe even bigger than that!

Video, and other related items, here of the race (yeah it goes pretty fast for a marathon):
http://www.universalsports.com/SportSelect.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=23000&SPID=13048&SPSID=105671

There is the entire race version, for those of you who have long attention spans (the British commentary is informative as well as entertaining), and the highlight version.

Also at the same race, the women's winner, Irina Mikitenko of Germany became the fourth fastest women runner ever at the distance with 2:19:19.

In related news, Rosa Arevalo, a good friend and also a donor like many of you, also ran in Berlin. I think I saw her time at 4 hours and 30-something minutes. Way to go, Rosa!

The last few minutes of the race (in German!); on YouTube



Blog analysis of Geb's sub 2:04 marathon on Sept. 29 ... more info than you maybe want, but for you running geeks who can't get enough ... :-)
http://www.sportsscientists.com/2008/09/haile-gebrselassie.html

If you just want to read about the race:
http://www.iaaf.org/LRR08/news/newsid=47859.html

One strategy that even beginner to novice, as well as intermediate and advanced, runners can latch onto this this:

For anyone who doubts the wisdom of running even and negative splits (the first half is slower than the second, finishing half of a race), consider Gebrselassie’s Berlin first half of 62:04, followed by a 61:55 second half. Enroute to his 2007 Berlin WR of 2:04:26, Gebrselassie ran 62:29 for the first half and came back in 61:57. When Kenya’s Paul Tergat ran his WR 2:04:55, also in Berlin five years ago, he passed halfway in what seems now an almost pedestrian 63:05 and came home in 61:50, fighting an epic battle with countryman Sammy Korir, who finished one second back.

More on Gebrelassie, who may be the best distance runner ever (from 5,000 meters on up to the marathon):

Haile Gebrselassie Revealed, CNN program that chronicled his preparation for the 2007 Berlin Marathon, his first marathon world record.

Part 1



Part 2



Part 3 (the 2007 record-breaking effort at Berlin)