Marathon Training Week 15? - You're Not Wasting Your Time
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Run and Drum

Running and drumming are two things that I am very passionate about and they feed off of each other.
Drumming is physical and running is rhythmic. In this blog, I explore the connection between the two.


My last long run of the marathon training cycle was a couple weekends ago now. This was the run I was waiting on before I made a decision on signing up for a race. I wanted to feel good after hitting a 20 mile run and then I would feel good about signing up for a marathon with 3 weeks to taper. I made it about 8 miles in before I realized my body was not - and is not - ready for a marathon. My legs were cooked. The problems on this run were largely to do with the fact that


Marathon Training Weeks 10 and 11 - The Time Involved In Training for 26.2 Miles
(I think those week numbers are right.) The most consistently difficult thing about marathon training, that I've found, is the time that it takes. Even having dropped back to only running four days a week, I'm logging somewhere on the order of 7-8 hours weekly. That's not even taking into account warming up, cooling off, the extra time it takes to get out of bed the day after running 18 miles, meal planning, meal prepping, and the list goes on. Any kind of exercise is a com


Marathon Training Week 9 - Putting DIY Hydration Solution To The Test
My homemade hydration mix got its first intense field test this past weekend due to me forgetting that I was out of Gatorade powder and not wanting to buy it anywhere but Costco (it's a much better deal, ok?). Fortunately, my prep paid off: my 17 mile run went great and I felt like my concoction kept my hydration at a good level. I stopped for a top off at a water fountain that is beautifully located about halfway down my long-run-route, but hell, in this humidity I probabl


Marathon Training Week 8 - Get Salty
Staying hydrated is an ongoing struggle. Particularly, as I noted in my last post, since I sweat a lot even when running isn't part of the equation. Add in running, the heat and humidity of a summer in the southeastern US, and the miles that I'm logging and my hydration situation can actually be a health concern if I'm not careful. I noticed after my long run this past weekend that I had salt build up on my upper arms - it was probably other places as well, but my brain was


Marathon Training Week 7 - Picking Up Where I Left Off
This past Friday was the first day in months that I went out for a run and the weather felt legitimately cool. Cool, in this context, is certainly relative. Stacked up against running in 80+ degree weather with humidity about 95%, my definition of cool weather is biased. Regardless, those 4 miles felt wonderful. There's an incredible difference between feeling close to death by the end of a run and feeling refreshed and even if I'm only marginally less sweaty in the latter


Changing Up Training To Prevent Physical and Mental Burnout
As logical as the situation may seem, it took me literally months to come to the conclusion that trying to run my first marathon in June or July was not a great idea. Despite the fact that there are - rightfully - not many marathons in those months, I was still trying to make it happen until I eventually came to the conclusion that my high sweat rate and proclivity for running in the middle of the day do not mix well with 14+ mile training runs this time of year. After many


Marathon Training - Week ?
About half way through training for my first marathon, I've stalled. Only the first attempt, though. After clicking along well for 7 weeks, I had three weeks of my training going progressively off the rails. I muddled through the 15 miler in week 8 despite torrential rain about halfway through and generally not feeling great through the run. The next week was supposed to be lighter, tapering down with a couple days of rest before having a simulated half marathon race. I w


Marathon Training - Week 4
Four weeks into the training schedule for my first marathon and the magnitude of the run that I'm preparing for begins to set in. Less than a quarter of the way into training and my long runs on the weekend are pushing up into the longer runs I've ever done. As the weekly miles start to increase, I remember how hard it can be on my body. In week 7 of the 18 week program, I have a 14 miler which beats my half marathons for the longest runs I've experienced. That alone is a b


Grinding Out Marathon Training With Accountability
As the first two months of 2016 march swiftly on, I've started to feel nagging anxiety about my goal to complete a marathon this year. I had grand delusions that I would take two weeks off after the half I ran this past Thanksgiving and then dive headfirst into the 18 week Hal Higdon plan for a marathon. Somewhere in the first week of training, after more than the planned time off and amidst the holiday season, I got knocked off course. And around two months later, I'm only
Run and Drum's Second New Year Post!
Last year was the first time I was pretty amped for the New Year, even still I was a bit curmudgeonly when it came to New Year's resolutions - still am, to a point, but they have their place when used properly. This year, I was even more stoked to dive into a new calendar year, particularly since it closely coincides with my birthday so I feel like there's a definite "new year" attitude that comes to me. I don't have resolutions, as such, but I do have some goals. My bigges
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