Pete Tanguay

Nice 8 mile run with 5 others.  I am very amazed at how well I am feeling while out running now.  We set out to keep the run at an 8:30 pace but we get clicking along and taking and before you know it someone is saying, “this is not an 8:30 pace”.  We finish up and sure enough, it was an 8:03 pace.  In perspective, an 8:03 pace for a marathon is a 3:30:55.  I could not keep this up for a marathon but I finish these runs feeling extremely good, plus we are talking while we are running. 

I learned this morning that three of the people I’ve been running with are going to run with the 3:45 pacer who is a friend of ours who does ultras.  He is awesome. So, I’m going to run with them and see how long I can hang.  This is an 8:35 pace.  I don’t expect to keep it up but the fact that I will be running with my running friends could make a lot of difference.  I do all of my runs in groups, talking and running.  I’ve learned to recover mid-run/race and so if I can’t keep up with them I will reset my race and finish the best I can.  No pressure for any time, just going out to have a great day, running with friends and running for Mavia.

It’s amazing how comfortable you can feel after taking 2 days off of running and getting a good nights sleep.  That’s what I experienced today out running with 4 others.  After the first mile warming up I was feeling very comfortable, wanting to keep slowly picking up the pace.  The four runners I were running with are all faster runners than I am.  We picked it up a bit and ran at a nice pace and I felt so comfortable with this pace.  Had a nice kick at the end and finished up feeling awesome.  Maybe it was also because I was wearing my new NF Endurance singlet and am so excited to run for NF?!!

Out of nowhere I had the urge to join the NF Endurance Team and add a fundraising dimension to my Little Rock Marathon experience.  Wow, has this been awesome.  I now have a whole new family in my life, people that seem to be such nice people and I haven’t even met them yet.  I set up a fundraising page and started raising money to help find a cure for NF.  If you are reading this, please stop right now and check out this page.  I challenge you to be able to read it and not become a member of my team.  I think that is about as possible as eating just one Lay’s potato chip.  Let me know if you are able to do it. 

Here is my introductory note to Mavia, my NF hero, in her online guestbook. 

I’ve decided to run for a reason at the Little Rock Marathon. Here is my fundraising site - and copied here so it will be here forever after Active.com takes it down when the event is over.  If you are reading this before March 7, 2010, please join the team by clicking on either of the images below.

Last year I had the privilege to help crew for a friend from Northern California who was racing (not just riding) his bike across the country in this race called Race Across America (RAAM). I witnessed an unbelievable demonstration of will, determination, strength, teamwork and achievement. Oceanside to Annapolis in 11 days. It was a riveting experience that I’ll never forget.

Through RAAM, I made some lifelong friendships, and not only with the others on the crew I was racing with. I also met Lesley and Connie Oslica, who were crewing for one of the NF Endurance teams. I had never hear of RAAM, NF or the NF endurance team. Now I know them all very well.

NF stands for Neurofibromatosis, a genetic disorder usually diagnosed in childhood that causes tumors to grow on nerves throughout the body. The NF endurance team is focused on raising awareness for this disease through running, biking, swimming or whatever it takes to pull together the ultimate team who will find a cure for NF. A cure for children like Katie Oslica and over 2 million others around the world.

I am running for the NF endurance team at the Little Rock marathon on March 7th. I hope you will run with me through your donation to support our team as we raise funds to support research to find a cure for NF. At dinner tonight with Lesley and Connie I learned that an initial research grant of $25,000 often grows to over $100,000 as the researchers continue their research through additional funding in hopes of finding a cure for NF.

You can watch the short video below to learn some facts about NF and how your donation provides hope for those living with NF. I would like to raise $2500 through 100 supporters with an average donation of $25. Although some of you may choose to give more, I believe in the power of numbers to raise awareness and make a significant contribution.

If you don’t step up I may not get my 100 supporters so you might say I am counting on you to finish the race. Please join me if you can. I’ve done the training and will run the 26.2. Knowing I have your support will make a difference to me and hopefully to millions of others.

I expected it to be a little warmer than it was today.  Wind was up at about 8 – 10 mph, not too bad but noticeable.  Had a nice comfortable run and really surprised to see the pace on the watch when we finished.  Tim, Curt and I run together a lot now and they are making me faster.  With just Curt and I he was more likely to run at my pace but with the three of us if I’m slower they will keep up and I’ll lag behind.  My comfortable pace is getting faster.  Today was just a short run to get one in with no real tempo goals or anything. 

While running toward the end I was working on turnover and changed my stride and it felt just like when you are on a bike and go to a higher gear and feel yourself going faster with the same turnover.  Nice. 

Had a great run today, again with 3 runners who are faster than I am.  I hung with them for the first three miles and then fell behind.  Mile 5 we did a good hill which is good to do mid-run.  The last mile I felt like I was running a 9 minute mile and I’m surprised to see it was much faster.  My focus was holding my form when I was fatigued.  It is so good for me to run with these faster runners.  Even when I fall behind I get to focus on how smooth they are running (as they edge ahead!) and on my form and relaxation.  Beginning the taper phase of marathon training, this week will be a light week and next week will be a resting week.  Starting to develop my race plan in my head.  It is so nice not to have the sub-4 pressure.  I’ve done it before, I’ve done it when I couldn’t keep up with the 4 hour pacers mid-race and whether I get sub-4 or not it doesn’t matter.  With that said, I feel like I could do a 3:55 if I have a good race.  This is a hilly marathon so that may not be possible, but we’ll see.  For now, today was a good run to start the week.

Accidentally clicked on the running folder in my Garmin software and saw my total mileage and calories burned since I started using it in late February 2008.  Kind of mind boggling.  This device is a testimonial to the truth – “Know the Score, Report the Score and the Score will Improve”. 

I had a great run yesterday.  Problem is I set out to do a 12 mile run and stopped after 6 because I was a bit fatigued and we ran a little harder than I had planned.  All day yesterday I had this “I should have run 12″ in my head.  Other runners had done 12 – 23 miles and were either not running today or running 5-6 miles at a recovery pace.  I just couldn’t start my taper feeling like I skipped my last 12 mile run.  Fortunately someone else wanted to do 12 and we got out at 6 and got it done.  Goal was to do around an 8:30 pace and with an added hill in mile 11 we ended up with an 8:37 pace for the 12 which is about 30 seconds faster than my goal race pace if I want to be sub-4 again.  Now I can taper and get ready to put the hurt on the hilly Little Rock Marathon course.

I know physically the 12 miles doesn’t make that much difference.  There is nothing I can put in the bank for the marathon at this point but the mental and confidence value of getting this run in is huge for me. 

Set out to do a 12 mile run with a couple other guys.  Started at 6 and there were 26 runners leaving the parking lot together.  We ended up with a group that had started at 5 and were doing their second 6 mile loop.  It was a little faster pace than I had planned but I hung with them for awhile and then slowed a little.  Kicked the last mile and when we got back to the parking lot and were getting ready to head out for our next six I made the executive decision that having coffee with the group that started at 5 was better than running another 6 with the group that I started with.  I wasn’t wanting to keep their pace anyway as they finished the first six ahead of me.  Still a good run and will see about getting 12 in tomorrow.  Still a Saturday morning that started with a good run and coffee with friends and another week finished with 35 miles, I’m happy with that!

Ran the same route as I did on Wednesday except we added a hill in mile 4 which made the run 8.5.  Just three of us and one was someone I had not run with before and we kept a good pace.  I wore different shoes, an older pair that are lighter than my normal running shoes and I’m thinking this might of had something to do with how I was feeling.  Felt really good the entire run.  I am getting a mental picture of my two strides; my slower stride and my quicker stride.  The quicker one is actually easier but it feels like it is taking more energy and so I worry that I’ll “run out of gas”.  However, the longer I learn to hold it the better.  Today our slowest mile was 8:23 and that had some hills in it.  I feel really good, even a little surprised, about being able to run a 8:06 pace 8 1/2 mile run.  Starting to think that I may run a good race at the Little Rock marathon in a couple of weeks.