Where To Stay For The GCM

     With the Mercy Health Glass City Marathon rapidly approaching, I thought I would share a little info for those of you coming in from out of town.  Toledo may not be the biggest city in Ohio, but with its rich history and wonderful attractions, it sure does offer some great things for tourists to do.  for driving directions to get to the starting line on race day: CLICK HERE

 

     Probably the most important thing is where you are going to stay while you are in town.  Well the Mercy Health Glass City Marathon team are pleased to welcome Radisson Hotel at The University of Toledo as this year's host hotel. The Radisson Hotel is located on Glendale Ave. and is minutes from the University of Toledo Campus.  Below is a list of the top hotels that are relatively close to the starting and finish lines.  If you would like more info about these hotels CLICK HERE.

 

Radisson Hotel at The University of Toledo

3100 Glendale Avenue Toledo, OH, 43614

 

Park Inn by Radisson Hotel Toledo, OH

101 N Summit St Toledo, OH, 43604

 

 

Park Inn by Radisson Hotel Toledo, OH

101 N Summit St Toledo, OH, 43604

 

Fairfield Inn & Suites Toledo Maumee

521 West Dussel Drive Maumee, OH, 43537

 

 

Country Inn & Suites By Carlson, Toledo South, OH

9790 Clark Drive Rossford, OH, 43460

 

 

Quality Inn Toledo Airport

1401 E Mall Dr Holland, OH, 43528

 

 

Courtyard by Marriott Toledo Airport Holland

1435 E Mall Dr Holland, OH, 43528

 

 

Quality Inn Toledo

3560 Secor Rd Toledo, OH, 43606

 

It's Time To Train

     Today marks 16 weeks till the Mercy Health Glass City Marathon.  If you haven't started your marathon training yet, you probably should look to start NOW.  Looking for that right plan to follow, well I can say with 100 percent certainty that there is no one plan that works for everyone.  Whether you are a first time marathoner or this is your 100th time toeing the line, everyone requires a different way of doing it.  Having said that, at the end of the day it is all about getting enough miles in that your body will be prepared for the stress a marathon can put on you.  Assuming everything goes well, I will finally be running the Mercy Health Glass City Marathon this year.  For my training plan, I am literally starting today, which is a couple weeks behind where I wanted to be.  It was my fault as this year I am using a modified Hal Higdon intermediate #2 plan for the mileage, but I am using a customized heart rate training program from Alisha at Elite Physical Therapy to handle my pace zones.   

     First, as I said before, if you are taking on the Mercy Health Glass City Marathon you should be starting now.  This year the Mercy Health Glass City Marathon staff are offering perks for those that choose this race for their first marathon experience.  So if you are thinking of going after 26.2 then this is the place and the year to do it. If you don't have a plan to follow, here is a few of the more popular ones out there.

Hal Higdon - arguably the most popular plan out there.  He offers plans for the complete novice to the most advanced runners out there.  I used a slightly modified version of his intermediate plan when I trained for my first marathon and I am using a modified version of his intermediate #2 plan for this year.

Jeff Galloway Training - To be honest I am not familiar with his plan and never used it myself, but I have heard his name mentioned quite a lot when it came to training plans for beginners so I thought I would list it.

CoolRunnings.com - Just another free online program to look at.

Hansons Marathon Method - This is a strategy that I would only recommend to someone who has at least one if not two marathons under their belt and has been running for some time.  I purchased their book and read it cover to cover and was fascinated by their approach.  They buck the trend of conventional wisdom when it comes to the long run we have heard so much about.  To be honest, I have yet to try this method, but I want to attempt it at some point.  The link is to their free basic plan, but I want to caution you, if you want to do their plan, read the book!

For those of you taking on the Owens Corning GCM Half Marathon or the Medical Mutual 5K, your training will start soon, so get out there now and get a few miles under your belt in preparation for your training.  Most of the training programs I have listed have half marathon plans and a couple have 5k plans, but any of these plans can be modified for your specific situation.

The Wagon Ran Me Over

   

     The holidays are over and all my excuses are used up so it's time to get off my ass and reverse the trend.  I had fallen off the maintain wagon a few months back, but surprising I have been maintaining my weight almost the entire time.  It started with forgetting to track every thing I ate, followed by larger portions at meals, followed by more and more "cheat days" and then the holidays.  It started with one cookie here and a chocolate treat there, till I was in all out binge at every chance I got using the excuse "its the holidays"over and over.

     To be honest I was really afraid of stepping on the scale for fear of what I would see.  When I finally got the guts to do it, I was shocked it wasn't worse than it turned out to be.  I was only three pounds away from getting back into my acceptable 10 pound range.  Now, the goal isn't to just lose those 3 pounds, its to get back to my goal weight and then some.  My goal is 170 pounds which means I am working towards a 13 pound loss.  My plan moving forwards is to decide on what my caloric intake should be, track everything I stuff my face with and stick to my workout routine.   So look for the return of Wednesday Weigh In as soon as next week!

Running In Place

     Running in place is exactly how I feel right now in life and literally with the new addition to my training arsenal.  First just to get it out of the way, I feel this way because I have some big changes that are on the horizon for Mandy and myself, but I cannot say anything or move forward till a few things happen that are out of my control.  I am not a fan of feeling like I don't have control of my situation, but I'll just sit on top of this rocket and wait for the launch button to be pressed.

     Now to the real reason for this post.  I have been stressing about my training for the Mercy Health Glass City Marathon and how I am gonna get it done.  I'll admit it, I don't like running when its cold, but I am more than willing to do it if I have to.  Due to my life and work schedule the best time for me to run is very early in the morning, and running in the dark when its cold with ice and snow worries me.  Sense I don't want to risk a slip and fall injury and the last time I ran on the banked corner track at the gym I had major IT Band issues, so I was left with one option, a treadmill.  

     In my search for the perfect treadmill I asked for suggestion on Facebook and Instagram, while I got a couple credible suggestions I still had to do a bunch of my own research.  I really didn't want to spend more than $700 on one, however during my research I found that that price only works if you want to walk or lightly jog.  The more I read it looked like $1200 would be the low end to get what I was looking for.  I wanted a mill that had a wide and long running surface, quick access to incline and speed controls and a super quiet motor.  While there were three that fit the bill with really high customer and critic ratings, I eventually decided to go with the Sole F80 for all the reasons I listed, the availability and sale price.

     So far I have had three runs and I performed a heart rate test for my running coach so she can set up my heart rate zones for my marathon training plan.  I have been very impressed with it to this point.  It is whisper quiet and the built in speakers work nicely while watching Netflix on my iPad.  The incline is very smooth when in motion andthe quick access buttons on the hand rails makes changing speed and/or incline so easy.

Mercy Health GCM GIVEAWAY!!!

     One of, if not the best part of my duties as a race ambassador is when I help two lucky people get to enjoy the Glass City race day experience FREE of charge.  That's right, it is my pleasure to offer two people a wonderful opportunity to run your choice of the The Mercy Health Glass City Marathon, The Owens Corning Half-Marathon, or the Medical Mutual Glass City 5k for FREE. (Please note this raffle does not include an individual entry for the Yark 5-Person Relay Marathon or Davie's Kid's Marathon.) CLICK HERE to visit the Mercy Health Glass City Marathon web site to learn more about this great event!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

Turkey Chase Race Recap

     Now that the zombie apocalypse of a weekend commonly known as black Friday weekend is coming to an end, I had a little free time to recap the Dave's Running Thanksgiving Day Turkey Chase 5K.  I woke up to mild temperatures and wet conditions from the rain that fell overnight.  Once I got dressed and ate a little breakfast I made my way downtown to get a decent parking spot and meet my fellow Mercy Health Glass City Marathon Ambassadors for a group picture.  I had to laugh when Jen, a fellow ambassador showed up in the turkey costume because I had no idea she was the turkey for everyone to chase. 

     After our group picture we all were talking about what times we were trying to hit, I really hadn't thought about it because it was my long run day, so my plan was to run the race and then go run another 7 miles when I got home.  I wished everyone luck and took off to do a little warm up jog.  This is when I noticed that I had forgot my earbuds.  I absolutely hate running without music, but this time I had no choice.  When I got done, our conversation about what time we all were trying for was bugging me so I looked up my 5k PR and remembered that was the day I won the Run the Res 5k last year.  I finished that race in 22:20 and after a little waffling I figured what the hell I'll give it a shot to try and beat it.  I made my way to the front of the pack to ensure I could get a good start with a few minutes before the start. 

     Once the horn sounded I went out like I was shot out of a cannon and feeling pretty good.  Now the weather never was a factor, but there was so much moisture in the air that it was misting the entire run.  The mist made it difficult to see as it built up on my glasses and the roads got slippery where they used tar to patch up the cracks.  When I hit the mile and a half mark, my breathing became a little labored and I noticed my heart rate was pegged close to my max.  I thought about shutting it down, but decided to keep going till I couldn't breath anymore.

     Coming down to the final stretch my breathing, even though was labored, had stayed pretty even.  I used the short downhill to help my legs kick into one more gear for the remaining tenth of a mile.  To be honest when I crossed the finish line I had no idea if I PRd this thing, but I didn't care, all I wanted to do is catch my breathe.  Now that I was breathing easier, I took a look and was stunned that I PRd by 20 seconds, which was made official later in the day when the official results were published.

     When I set that PR last year, I felt like I was in really good running shape vs now when I am 10 pounds over my goal weight and still coming back from my hip surgery.  Needless to say I was proud of myself, but knew I still had some work to do with my conditioning.  After I got home, I hit the road for the rest of the miles I wanted to get in, but I cut it down to five due to how hard I pushed running the other three.

KEEP AN EYE OUT, TOMORROW

MY MERCY HEALTH GCM

GIVEAWAY BEGINS

The Hoka Experiment

     Just as the title implies, I decided to take the plunge and see what all the fuss is about with this brand of shoe with the funny name.  For the last couple of years I have jumped on the Altra shoe bandwagon and was hooked.  I loved the whole premise of the shoes, with the larger foot shaped toe box, zero drop natural foot position and the cushioning options available.  Altra shoes have been a rock star for off road trail runners and has been picking up steam on the road scene, but no where as fast has Hoka One One.  I figured if I was going to jump ship and join the Hoka camp, now would be a good time since I am not officially training for a race for another couple of months.

     

     Hoka One One is known for its tall soles with a plush ride that can, at times, feel like you are running on a bed of marshmallows in a light weight package.  There are several models to choose from, and after a little research I decided to give the new Clifton 3s a try.  I headed over to one of my local running stores to try them on.  In my research, one of the big complaints about the Clifton 2s was how narrow they felt, but all the 3s reviews were saying they rectified the problem, so I figured I was good to go.  I slipped on the shoes and right away they felt tight, especially on the outside edge of my feet.  I tried going up a half size, which helped, but they still felt more snug then my Altras.  In full disclosure, I have short wide feet and usually require a shoe that come in wide widths, however this was not the case for my Altras.  At the time of this write up I did not see any wide width options from Hoka, but I could have missed it on their website.   I hopped on the treadmill and right away I was hooked!  I loved the feel and the cushioning was so absorbent, it truly felt like I was running on a bed of marshmallows.  With a thirty day money back guarantee I figured they were totally worth the time to put some miles on them.

    After only 20ish miles and one 10k PR I am going to return them.  Why you ask?  Well for me its the fit that concerns me.  I really think it is just a matter of the width of my foot and the lack of width in the shoe, because if this shoe came in a wide version, I would be keeping it.  I was noticing that the top of the toe box would rub the top of my two outer toes with every stride.  With the longest single run of 6.2 miles in these shoes, the rubbing never became an issue, but I am envisioning what will happen when I am out for a 20 mile long run.  I really want to minimize any issues during my marathon training and the potential for blisters or worse can be controlled with the right fitting shoes.  I decided to give my Altras a quick try again, just to be sure I wasn't over reacting, and while there was a slight touch, it was nowhere near as bad as it was with the Hokas.

     So in conclusion, if they offered this shoe in a wide and it fit with no toe box rubbing, I would make the switch, I loved them that much.  I didn't feel like the shoe was to tall, and while the super soft ride felt great, I never felt like I was sacrificing performance.  At the end of the day, you need to be comfortable in your shoes regardless of brand or style.  Even thought things didn't work out with the Clifton 3s, I'll keep my eye on Hoka, and maybe down the road they will accommodate those of us with wide feet, but until then, I'll stick with my Altras.