Marathon Me

I had a really good run in Boston this year, running a 3:01 for my fastest Boston and my 5^th fastest marathon ever, so I felt like I was in good shape in April.  However we took a 8 day boat trip where I was unable to do any running and when I came back I wasn’t feeling in top shape.  Compounding on this, my wife and I attended a Gala event at the New York Public Library where I carbo-loaded with enthusiasm.  These two things did not combine for the best marathon experience.

 

I was hoping to run a sub 3 hour marathon after missing it in Boston.  However come race day I felt like a 3:05 would be all I would be capable of, but since I had already “called my shot” with our group of friends I left it out there.

 

The buses for the race left the finish area at 6am.  For a race that started at 8am, this was unacceptable for me.  What am I? Paul Williams?  I convinced Big Jeff to ride with us and we left around 7am and then arrived at the start around 7:20.  So much for any traffic or road problems.  I was wondering what to do with that wasted 40 minutes but we were able to find our friends and hang out.  Although I was slightly irritated, as this was a race you could have shown up 5 minutes before the start and still been fine.

 

 

The announcer introduces the starter and then we are off.  No “on your mark, get set, go.”  Just a “Here is Jenny and she is the starter [air horn]”.  Strange.  I know the course is rolling hills for the first half and then a huge drop over the last 13.  The net drop is around 1500 ft.  The Ship of Fools drove the course the day before and said to be careful of the back half.  I decided to try my usual Fly and Die strategy and shoot for a 1:27 first half, which would allow me a 1:32ish second half and still break 3 hours, or a 1:47ish and still make a BQ time.

 

The first few miles are not too bad.

 

0-1: 6:47

1-2: 6:45

2-3: 6:38

 

By the time I am at mile 3, the first place guy is 5 minutes ahead of me.  5 minutes?  Really?  That’s just mean.

 

This stretch is an out and back and I am able to see Michelle, Jeff, Al, Sandy, and Tonya.  I want to stay under 7 minute miles for the first half and then hope to hold on.

 

3-4: 6:55

 

Almost lost it on mile 4, so I pick it up a little bit.

 

4-5: 6:47

5-6: 6:41

6-7: 6:43

7-8: 6:42

 

I’m staying right within my desired pace but I am looking for the first big downhill.

 

8-9: 6:14

 

Ahh, hello hill.  Any chance you could meet me again for the last 6 miles?

 

9-10: 6:33

10-11: 6:35

11-12: 6:41

12-13: 6:51

 

I come thru the half in 1:27 and change and am pretty happy, but Friday night’s debauchery is catching up with me and I begin looking for the blue cabinet of miracles.

 

 

 

13-14: 6:58

 

That first over 7 minute mile sure feels like it is coming soon.  My legs are getting pretty heavy and I begin to think sub 3 isn’t going to happen.  I console myself with the fact that 8:30 miles should still get me a BQ.

 

14-15: 6:50

15-16: 6:36

 

Finally I see the blue cabinet of miracles and dash inside.  Two and a half minutes later I emerge victorious and ready to run again.  I keep a solid pace for the next couple of miles but then my energy runs out.

 

16-17: 8:58 (2:31)

17-18: 6:51

18-19: 7:06

 

The first over seven minute (running) mile has happened.  I check my watch and see that I need to run sub 7 minute miles from here on in to break 3 hours.  Knowing that my body (and my mind) aren’t ready to do that, I relax a little bit.

 

19-20: 7:11

20-21: 7:22

21-22: 7:27

 

I am now tired of running.  My calves feel like over stuffed sausages and I am glad for my pippy-longstockings.  I am beginning to question the wisdom of running the triple next month.  I’ll be surprised if I can walk normally tomorrow.

 

22-23: 7:39

23-24: 7:39

24-25: 7:34

25-26: 7:40

 

Mile 26 sure seemed to take a long time to arrive.  I enter the cinder track and hope that it is 100 meters to go, but alas, we have to run almost the entire way around.  Ugh.  I see my wife in the stands and slap a smile on my face and scamper into the finish.

 

 

26.2: 1:28

——–

3:04:27

 

Running 3:04 is a weird feeling for me now.  It was one of my top 10 fastest times, but it hurt more than it should.  I also felt like I was capable of breaking 3 hours, but just couldn’t deliver.  I once again learn that breaking 3 hours is very hard and I can’t count on it happening.  I am thrilled that I can run a sub 3:05 on the training I do but really want to break 3 hours a couple more times.  I’m setting my sights on St. George in October and plan to put in some real training and not run a marathon for at least 4-6 weeks before it.

 

This was a great race for all ship members.  Michelle Ryan completed slapped the course in the face and notched an 11 minute PR.  Al and Sandy and POJ qualified for Boston (again), Jeff continues to get faster (and looks good in those white socks), Jack managed to win the 5k duel with Linda and Tonya had a solid performance.

 

After the race we all headed to a brew pub for some good beer and good friends.  Tanya was super sneaky and we appreciate it.

 

Marathon #108 is in the book.  Up next the triple.

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Tags: Marathons, Race Reports // 5 Comments »

This race came on my calendar in January. I was working upstairs and my wife started searching marathonguide.com (gotta love her). She calls out “Hey I found something that looks kinda stupid, you probably want to do this” and she sends me the link to the Bigfoot Snow Shoe Marathon. I’ve never run in snow shoes, in fact have never even seen a snow shoe in person, but figure how hard can this be? After some back and forth where I wasn’t sure if I wanted to do it we finally commit during the weekend of the Houston Marathon. I got some advice from various members of the Hill Country Trail Runners and figured I was committed.

We fly into Salt Lake City the day before the race and have an uneventful drive to the host hotel. We actually attend a pasta dinner for once so that I could get some much needed information about the race from the race Director (who it turns out has not only run marathons on all seven continents but has logged over 180 marathons as well. Makes me feel like a piker).

We meet some nice guys: Roger, Paul and Brian, all of whom live near the area and are regular snow shoers. After talking up the snow they convince me I need some wool socks or my feet will freeze off. So I figure they must know what they are talking about and they direct me to a running store where I pick up some wool socks. This would prove to be a bad decision an hour or so into the race. I broke the cardinal rule, never do something new in a marathon.

The next morning we wake up and head to Park City for the race and the car thermometer reads 5 degrees. Good Lawd that’s cold.

We find the start area and go inside to get our snow shoes. A super cool thing is the race sponsor provided snow shoes if you, were say from Texas, and didn’t own any shoes. I put them on and go take a 100 meter jog and back. They are loud, it sounds like clap, clap, clap with every step. You hear the crunch of the snow followed by the top of the snow shoe hitting the bottom of your shoe.

I grab a quick photo with Bigfoot before the race.

The gun goes off and we take off. I have no idea how to pace myself for this thing but figure I will go with my usual “fly and die”. It is super cold right now, I have to keep taking the fingers out of my glove and holding them against my palm while I switch hands with my water bottle. After about 5 miles my hands have either gone numb or warmed up, can’t really tell the difference at this point.

The race consists of a 10k and a 5k loop. The 10k loop is groomed snowmobile track and maybe 8 feet wide, the 5k loop I single track trail with about 20 inches of snow on either side. If you come out of the track you tumble. The single track is about 2 inches wider than both my snow shoes next to each other, so there is a little margin for error. The plug side is that the first 2 miles of this loop are straight up hill so you aren’t going fast enough to really worry about getting out of the trail.  Both laps have similar elevation gain, but the 10k gives you twice as long to climb it.

Running on snow shoes isn’t really that much different that running in regular shoes, they are just a lot louder and heavier. The difference is that you never know when the snow will be solid enough to support your weight or when you will drop 18 inches down. I think this is less of a problem for the women as they probably only fall 6-12 inches due to less weight. This is not a good race to be a Clydesdale. A couple miles in my shoes are sliding all around. I stop to try and tighten the strap holding them on, but it has frozen stiff. It takes me about 90 seconds to unhook it and about the same time to get it back synched tight. What a waste of time, but at least I got to catch my breath.

I finish the first lap in 2nd place in the marathon division. The course record was 6:43:30. I seem no possible way that any marathon can take me that long to finish. I did Pikes Peak in 5:50 or so and that has to be harder. So I was hoping for a sub 5:30 finish, a course record and the win. I would get 2 of the 3.

After the first lap I am only about 3 minutes behind the leader as we start going up!

I feel like the Jamaican bobsled team at this point, a fish out of water, a person from Texas running uphill in the snow. Very slow going. It is super beautiful here now. Snow is everywhere, the trees are covered in snow and there are lots of switch backs. I bet this is a gorgeous place to run in the spring. After cresting the hill and finally getting to run downhill I see the leader going the wrong way. He has taken the easy way up the mountain and decides to just run it backwards to get the same difference. I decide at this point I will not let him pass me as I don’t want to lose to him and then feel bitter about him making the course easier. I manage to succeed in this but I would get passed by someone else much later in the race.

I’m starting to blister on both my heels now and it doesn’t feel awesome. Hopefully they will calm down and not get too much worse. I finish lap two in first place, but as I head out I see the second place runner, first female (who her buddy told me is a sub-3 hour marathoner) only 2 minutes behind. Since I outweigh her by a good 80 pounds, I figure I am in trouble. I decide to push it for as long as I can to try and hold her off.

I start the second 10k loop, which has an additional 2k section to get to the full marathon distance, and it is getting rough on my feet. I have to make like the Pope and dart off into the woods and take care of some business. Back on the course I am starting to get tired and am not looking forward to reclimbing that hill. As I come to the start the second 5k loop my feet are raw hamburger. This sucks. I was hoping the snow would make them numb so I could forget about it, but no such luck. I trudge up the 5k loop again in an ungainly shuffle walk both because my feet hurt and this hill is damned steep.

The first 5k loop I finished in 45:31 the second on takes me over 3 minutes longer. 48 minutes for a 5k is pretty ridiculous. Running down the hill I try to stay head of the wayward runner and the first female but they are both closing fast. I am running flat out and fall 3 times coming down the hill. Overall I think I fell 12-15 times, but since it was on snow it didn’t hurt too much, but was kind of embarrassing. I finish the damned 5k loop and am so happy I won’t have to run that again, but I am barely a minute ahead of second place and she is moving. I now know it is only a matter of time and that I am fighting for second place.

She passes me with about 5 miles to go. It is over I know I have no chance. I tell her she is in first place and wish her good luck. We are both pretty beat up and as we start the final climbs both of us are walking, but she is walking faster. I see her pull away and am powerless to keep up. My feet are on fire and even my walking looks pathetic. I just want to make it to the top of the hill and then I know I’ll finish. I crest the hill and can see her off in the distance, I look back and see 3rd place a minute behind me. I decide to push it to make sure he can’t catch me. I go faster hoping not for the win, but just to end the misery.

I cross the finish line having broken the course record by about a hour and 28 minutes.

I feel pretty good about that, but the actual winner broke it 90 minutes. So I wind up winning the first overall male trophy and taking second place. I offer her both trophies since she won but she doesn’t want it. The race director lets me stand in the picture with the actual winner of the race.

Afterwards there is a nice spread of soup and hot chocolate that I guzzle down. I don’t want to look at my feet and so I don’t until an hour later when we are in the car heading home. It is not a pretty sight.

Afterwards Shelley and I have a nice dinner at a little Italian place in Salt Lake City and then go to bed. I am unable to sleep as the drink on the course was 180 degree energy drink. I had 6 or 7 water bottles of the stuff which must equal close to 10 cans of it. I am wired beyond wired. I am a little shaky and even Tylenol PM can’t compete with this energy drink. Somehow a few hours later I actually do fall asleep and then Shelley and I spend 7 hours in the SLC airport trying to catch an earlier flight home which no success.

Overall a fun experience, but it took two weeks for my heels to heal up enough to run again. The Austin Marathon is going to be interesting to say the least.

After cleaning up my feet they looked like this: Yuck

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Tags: Marathons, Race Reports // 9 Comments »

Shelley and I will be hitting the road heading to Salt Lake City. From there it is a short 90 minute drive past Orem to the Kahtoola Big Foot Snowshoe Festival. This will be the first time I have ever worn snow shoes (and to be perfectly honest will be the first time I have ever seen them in person). So I figure why not start out your first time by running a marathon. How hard can it be? Famous last words? Probably. The race starts at 5700 feet and then climbs to 6700 over multiple loops.

I’ve heard running uphill is easy, but downhill is quite hard with the snow shoes.

I’ll report back in a few days if I survive.

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Tags: Marathons, On the road again... // 1 Comment »

I recently finished my 101st marathon or longer race in Houston this month. I am now elligble to join the 100+ marathon club. My brother-in-law has less than 10 states to complete the 50 states. As he approaches that milestone, I would like to join him for as many of these races as possible to watch his complete his goal.

This got me thinking about my collection of states, and so I updated my spreadsheet, and of the 101 marathons, I’ve managed to pick up at least a second marathon in 13 states. So I could join the club again, but it shows that I have a high concentration of repeats.

Here are my repeated states:

State	Total # Of Marathons+
Texas	24
Massachusetts	6
California	5
Idaho	3
New York	3
Oklahoma	3
Delaware	2
Florida	2
Indiana	2
Nevada	2
Oregon	2
South Dakota	2
Utah	2

Texas makes a lot of sense, since it is where I live. I was surprised to see Massachusetts ahead of California as it felt like I have done more races there. This summer I am looking to do a triple-marathon involving Idaho, Utah and Colorado. Sadly this will only give me one “new” state towards completing the 50 States for the second time.But it will put me at 9 states towards going around 3 times. Haha.

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New research from Cambridge University shows that running makes you smarter.

Now researchers think they have the answer. Neuroscientists at Cambridge University have shown that running stimulates the brain to grow fresh grey matter and it has a big impact on mental ability.

A few days of running led to the growth of hundreds of thousands of new brain cells that improved the ability to recall memories without confusing them, a skill that is crucial for learning and other cognitive tasks, researchers said.

And it allows me to eat lots of candy. Good news, good news.

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