RACE DAY

Weekly Mileage: 34

Workout

1 mile shakeout

13.1 mile race

Breakdown

I started to get sick about 2-3 days before the race, which was just terrible timing. On race morning (woke up at 4:30), I took some medicine for the cold symptoms and some pain medicine to take the focus off how much my throat hurt and then just tried to focus on the race. I got really lucky when I was moving up through the corrals at the start and ran into an old friend of mine from Rochester, Steve Rosinski. Steve and I used to race against each other back in our high school days. He is a semi-professional tri-athlete now and was just running the race to get his long run in, so he agreed to run the whole thing with me. It was monumental in keeping me composed throughout the race, because I will be honest and say I really didn’t feel well.

The goal was to go out in 7:10 for the first mile and hopefully feel well enough to hang on to that for the whole time, if not get better. I figured, even without being sick, I was realistically going to be lucky to run 1:32:30 at best, and more likely 1:34-1:35 based on my workouts.

We went out in 6:58 and stayed between 6:48-7:02 all the way to the 10.5 mile mark, which I am still surprised by. From 10.7-12 miles it was nearly all uphill, and it really crushed me. We logged a 7:30-something for the 11th mile and a 7:40 for the 12th mile (that last hill was brutal), which really slowed me down from where I was at 10.5 miles, but still left me way ahead of my goals. The last mile was mostly downhill and flat. I was moving about as fast as I could go the last mile and Steve was running a couple steps in front of me yelling at me the whole way, which really helped. As we got closer to the line, I realized that finishing under 1:32 was a possibility and we kicked through the line in 1:31:50 (7:00 per mile average).

After all the results got sorted out, including a couple late additions Monday, I ended up 193rd overall out of 12,135 finishers. My goal all along was to finish in the top 250 overall, so I am really pleased with that performance. Who knows if I could have ended up a little better if I wasn’t sick, but all things considered, I couldn’t be happier.

After the race, I was greeted by Bri and her family and the awesome sign that they made for me (which will be hanging in my office soon). I was so happy to have them there at the finish line Sunday, a gesture that was really not necessary but just shows how amazing that family is. Bri has been such an inspiration to me, and so many others.

Best Parts of the Race

Other than having Steve to run with, the race was just an amazing experience. I wish I physically felt better and could have enjoyed it more (I was suffering pretty good that day), but the thousands of people lining the course, from bands and cheerleaders to massive groups, it was awesome. It's just one of the reasons I love the city of Pittsburgh so much. Also, huge shoutout to all the volunteers that make a race like this possible. You were all amazing.

More than Just a Race

We ended up raising $1,769 for the Mario Lemieux Foundation, which is just amazing. Thank you so much from the bottom of my heart to everyone that donated. This has truly been a life changing experience for me. If there is ever anything I can do for you, please don’t hesitate to ask.

Final Thoughts

 On January 1 I weighed 206 pounds and hadn't run a serious step in nearly four years. On May 6, I weighed 167 pounds and averaged 7:00 per mile for 13.1 miles. I would say by any stretch of the imagination, this whole thing has been a huge personal success. But, it doesn't stop here. This has made me miss the old me, the guy that ran twice a day and lifted and wanted to be faster all the time. I'm not 21 anymore, but I still have a few years left to get a little faster, so as soon as this sickness passes, we're going to hit the ground running towards trying to get back in the range of my PRs. (No, I probably will never run an 800 in the 1:50s again, but we can shoot for 16 minute 5ks again). Going to chat with some coaches and work on a plan for what's next, whether that is attacking the 5k distance and building strength and speed, or shooting for a late fall marathon. Who knows? All I know, is that the 200 pound fatty is gone and is never coming back! Thanks for all the support. This has been life changing. Onward.

Thursday of Race Week

Weekly Mileage: 17 (4 days)

Workout
Easy 4 mile run at 7:10 pace
4x100m strides

Breakdown
Well, there is no other way to say it other than that I am sick. Scratchy and sore throat and my body is just tired and weak. This is the worst possible timing in the world. I slept in today and only went to work for a few hours before coming home and sleeping most of the afternoon. After dinner, I waited until it wasn't so painfully hot out to get my run in.

Surprisingly, I didn't feel as bad as I thought I would on the run. I felt weak the first half mile or so but settled into a rhythm and didn't have any issues the rest of the run, except for not being able to breathe very well.

I have been taking Airborne and other vitamins and drinking so much water I feel like I have to pee every 15 minutes, so hopefully by the time I wake up at 4:30 in the morning Sunday, I am at least feeling well enough to get through the race.

Expectations
Well, my original goal of finishing in the top-250, which was probably lofty to begin with, is still going to be the goal. But, I will be honest and say that if I feel like I do today on race day, the chances of running this thing in 7:00 pace are probably pretty slim.

I have had a few friends call me the last couple days and point out that it really doesn't matter where I finish, because this wasn't really about how fast I could run. This whole thing was about raising some money and awareness for a great organization in the Mario Lemieux Foundation and showing some support for a great friend in Bri Dishong.

We have raised a ton of money for the foundation, and I am super excited that Bri and her family are going to come down to see the race on Sunday.

No matter what happens, I won't come away from this with my head down. I busted my ass for the last 3 months and the bottom line is that a ton of good has come from all of this. I finally feel like me again. I will never ever let myself get to where I was before. Looking back, I still can't believe I weighed 206 pounds when all of this started. This is honestly just the beginning of taking my life back. I have a solid 6-8 years or so before my ability to build speed starts to disappear, so why not try to get fast again?

Next Up
Off day Friday. My legs feel fine, but no use in putting in extra work at this point. Easy 2-3 miles in the morning on Saturday. Race day Sunday.

Wednesday of Race Week

Weekly Mileage: 13 (3 days)

Workout
6 mile run
4x100m strides
Core

Breakdown
Went out to Moraine State Park with Becky to get a run in. I ran the first 3.5 miles with her at around 7:45 pace or so and then picked it up to around 7:05 pace for the last 2.5 miles.

It was really hot. I have been slamming water, and I stopped sweating after like 4 miles, which is not good. Easily the hottest run of the year so far. I would be ok with the hot weather holding off another week, because if it is like this on race day, I will be in trouble. My body has always reacted poorly to heat, and its not any different now.

Overall, I felt pretty good today. Legs were alright and aerobically I am fit.

I am however, getting sick. I've been feeling a scratchy/sore throat coming all day and tonight, it is definitely noticeable. I am smashing vitamins, fluids and taking Airborne in desperate hopes of fighting the worst of this cold off until after Sunday, but if it keeps progressing it is going to make Sunday a really miserable experience. Fingers crossed, but I seem to have the worst luck so I guess I am not optimistic. Its unreal that with the weather going up and down all spring, I managed to stay in perfect health, and now just three or four days out from the biggest goal of my life in the last four years, and my body is considering shutting down.

I will fight through the race no matter what. There is nothing that will keep from the finish line Sunday, but I really wanted to run well, not just finish. I hope this is still possible and this cold goes away before Sunday.

Donations
Wow, donations are up to $1,640 and we are still third among all Mario Lemieux runners in the race, which is amazing. Donations will be accepted until the race at the same link: http://www.active.com/donate/mariolemieuxfdn/jonholtz

Thank you so much to everyone that has supported this. I will do my best on Sunday. Fingers crossed my body decides to be as strong as my mind that day!

Jersey
Almost forgot! No one would screen my jersey for me because I only wanted one done and heaven forbid they wouldn't make a huge profit off me, so I had to improvise. I got some paint and downloaded a stencil font, printed a stencil off and hand cut all the letters with an exacto knife (it was not fun). Then I rolled fabric paint over the stencil onto the jersey. End result is pretty good for being homemade I think! The front is below. There is a big 4 on the back, in honor of my girl Bri. #4swag

Next Up
Easy 4-5 miles tomorrow, off Friday, up early for an easy 2-3 miles Saturday then down to Pitt. Going to the Expo to get my packet and check out some running stuff, then dinner with Becky, Allie and their families and then crashing at Dave and Pat's house for the night. 4:30 wake up for breakfast and a 5:30 arrival at the parking lot before killing time till the start at 7:30.

Tuesday of Race Week

Weekly Mileage: 7 (2 days)

Workout
Easy 4 mile run
4x100m strides
Core

Breakdown
Really hot out today, especially compared to the last few weeks. I noticed the heat immediately. Felt alright for the four miler. Averaged around 7:05 pace. Slammed a Gatorade afterwards because I sweat A TON today.

Foot is still bothering me. My body feels weak right now. I definitely feel like I am getting sick. All of this things are really putting a damper on my mood heading into the race. I really felt like I was going to be ready to run fast Sunday, but at this rate I am not confident of hitting my pace goals at all.

I feel out of shape all of a sudden. Like I busted my ass for three months to find some running form, and I lost it all in two weeks. I know a taper is supposed to be good for you, but I have put weight back on, not run nearly as many miles and all in all just don't feel nearly as good. I don't like this.

Shoes
Asics Kayano 18

Next Up
Easy six miles tomorrow and I better feel really good doing it, because I am starting to get frustrated with myself.

Positive Note
As angry as I am with the way my training has gone the last two weeks and the way my body feels, the donations have climbed higher than I imagined. We're closing in on $1,600 for the Mario Lemieux Foundation, and that is just amazing. For my fundraising efforts, the foundation sent me an autographed Mario Lemieux jersey and giant poster, both with certificates of authenticity identifying the date and location the items were signed. That is unbelievable. One of the greatest hockey players of all time and one of my biggest sports idols ever. I was literally shaking when I opened the package.

I have to thank everyone that has got behind this over the last couple months. I was definitely not doing this for any prizes or any individual glory. I hope I don't let anyone down this weekend.

Monday of Race Week

Weekly Mileage: 3 (1 day)

Workout
Easy 3 mile run
4x100m strides
Core

Breakdown
Going to string a few days of back to back runs together here, and since I went a decently paced 8 miles yesterday, going to just get an easy three mile in today. Felt a little tired and the legs are not at all where I hoped they would be. The weight isn't where I wanted it either. I have been eating more as the mileage went up and really didn't eat well with the taper the last two weeks, so it is looking like I will go into race day heavier than I hoped. I'm floating in the 167-168 range right now, which is still down nearly 40 pounds since Jan. 1, but I was hoping to dip below 165 for the race.

My left foot is bothering me. Every time I put pressure on my toes I feel something shift on the bottom of my foot. It doesn't really hurt, but it isn't comfortable. Not going to get it looked at until next week. I can deal with it through the race if something is really wrong.

Starting to feel a little sick too, which is crazy because I have managed to stay healthy all spring with the crazy weather and increased mileage. If this keeps up, expectations are going to have to go down for the race, which will really make me upset after how hard I worked the last three months. No matter what though, I am going to push hard that day and leave it all on the road.

Shoes
Asics Kayano 18

Next Up
Easy 4 tomorrow, 6 Wednesday, 4-5 Thursday, off Friday, easy 2-3 Saturday and race Sunday.

April 29 - Last longish run

I did a terrible job of posting last week. Things were crazy at work and I just didn't do it.

I ran 5 miles pretty hard Tuesday, then a simple speedworkout Wednesday that was a 2 mile warmup, 3x300-200-100 with 100 jog between... 400 job between each set and a mile cooldown after. It didn't feel nearly as easy as I hoped, but I guess that's good that I'm tapering for another week plus. I ran another moderate 5 miles Thursday and ended up taking Friday and Saturday off because I didn't have time Friday and was too wrapped up in Senior Day Saturday. All in all, probably a few miles shorter than where I should have been but trying to balance seeing everyone before they leave in a couple weeks and training like this has been really hard. Emotionally, I am really going to miss so many people graduating this year and I really just needed to be with a lot of those people last week. Hard work is already done and for the most part, I'm not going to get into any better shape than I am already. I wish I had another month of solid serious training under my legs, but we're going to attack the race next weekend and see what happens.

Sunday, I got a good eight miles in at 6:58 pace and I actually felt really good, considering the performance of the night before where I had a couple too many beers and not enough waters.

This week will be easy runs all week, 4-5 miles each day with a 6 miler on Wednesday. Probably 1-2 off days depending on feel, with an easy 3 miles Saturday before the race Sunday.

Game plan for this week: Be better about updating the running log.

Mon. April 23 - Off Day and Milestone Hit

Today is going to be an off day from running, even though I took many of them last week. I ran a decently hard 10 miler yesterday and at this point in the game, there is no point in hurting myself by overdoing it with 13 days left till race day.

Plan for the week looks like this: Core, abs, pushups today. Easy six miles tomorrow. Easy speed day Wednesday on the track. Easy six miles Thursday. Easy four miles Friday. Off Saturday. Easy 8 miles Sunday.

Milestone Hit
I reached $1,500 in my fundraising for the Mario Lemieux Foundation last night with a donation from Kim Maxwell, who was the captain of the track and field team at Army when I was there. Thanks Kim! With 13 days left till the race, I am the third-highest fundraiser of all runners running for the foundation, and that is very humbling.

Thanks to everyone that has donated and made this such a life changing experience. There is still time to donate, so feel free to share the link below! Thanks again!

http://www.active.com/donate/mariolemieuxfdn/jonholtz