Race Report
Sat, Mar 27/10
Yakima River Canyon Marathon
Yakima, WA
Marathon # 328
3:47:45 – 1 AG
I didn’t expect to write this report for another week or more but have access to a computer so might as well write it up while it is still fresh in my memory. After turning 66 last week I can’t be sure how long the old mind can retain memories any more. Heck I can’t even remember where I leave my keys most of the time?
As I mentioned in my last report I was trying to ‘key’ on this race since the course was reported to be a fast downhill course. I ran into a wee glitch the week before the race when Morton’s Neuroma flared up again in my left foot. Luckily a few days rest and another few days of cross training provided enough ‘rest’ time for the pain to subside and we left Florida on my birthday.
We arrived in Seattle late Thu night and stayed with our son Chris and he drove us across the Cascade Mtns on Fri to Yakima, WA. An ‘old’ (dating back to our early careers in Canada) friend living in Selah, WA- Mike Howell and his partner Beverley- invited us to stay with them.
As we approached Yakima we exited I 90 and drove the actual marathon course on Hwy 821 between Ellensburg and Selah, WA. The course follows the Yakima River through the Yakima Canyon and is very scenic with the river always on the right side and majestic hills and cliffs on both sides of the narrow road. The course is point-to-point and drops 300 ft from start to finish. However there was a slight catch – one small hill in the first Half and four hills in the 2nd Half – and two of them qualified as BAH (Bad Ass Hill)! When we climbed (drove) the 1st BAH at mile 14 I knew it would be tough – but the 2nd and BAH at mile 22 was a bitch! But at least I knew what to expect.
We arrived at Mike’s, unpacked and headed straight to the Civic Center in Selah to pick up my race packet and attend a reunion of the 100 Marathon Club, NA. Bob and Lenore Dolphin organized and manage the North American chapter of the 100 Marathon Club. They are also the race directors of the Yakima Marathon. All the volunteer work (plus Bob still runs marathons) must keep them in good shape because they are both in their young 80s? Bob & Lenore have been inviting me to run their race for years but there always seemed to be an international race to conflict with their date. Last year I committed to run their race and even bought airline tickets – but you know what happened – I suffered that strange/mystery injury and had to cancel. But I had finally made it to Yakima!
I met several old friends and members of the 100 Marathon Club that I hadn’t seen in years and even Mike enjoyed the war stories. The members introduced themselves and gave a short biography of their accomplishments and at the end one member tallied that the 40 members present had run a total of 8800 Marathons and Ultras! Yep – it was a room full of fanatics and nuts! But we all understood each other’s obsession/addiction!
I skipped a pasta dinner organized by the Club for dinner with our hosts so we could reminisce about the good old days and brag about our grand kids. On Sat morning my son and regular Sports Manager slept in while Mike drove me to the start line and cheered me at the start. The weather was great – a chilly 35 F at 8 am, low humidity and a light breeze. It was sunny but the course was blocked from the sun for the first few hours so I wore a throw-away T-shirt until the sun broke over the mountains around 10 am.
I planned to go out at an 8:15 pace and hold that pace as long as possible to see if I could break 3:45 – maybe even 3:40? The first 4 miles were flat or a slight downhill so I passed mile 1 in 7:58 and then slowed the pace down to 8:10s. The only uphill in the first Half at mile 5 slowed my split down to 8:26 but then I was back down to 8:15s. I passed mile 10 in 1:22:50 and reached the Half in 1:49:10. I was on pace to break 3:40 but knew that the 2nd half would not be that fast because of the hills and especially the BAHs! The first BAH climbed about 150 ft from mile 14 to mile 15 and slowed my split down to 9:49. That shocked me and I tried to make up some of that time over the next few miles and in hindsight that probably cost me my sub 3:45 target! After another (up)hill at mile 17 my splits slowed to 8:40s until I started to climb the BAH – or Dam Hill as it is called - at mile 22. That Dam Hill climbs 300 ft over 1 1/3 miles! I figured the best/smartest strategy was to climb it smoothly and methodically rather than charge up it. I wanted to have energy left over at the top since the final 5K dropped 300 ft to the finish line! Unfortunately that methodical climb resulted in an excruciatingly slow 10:57 split and that really cost me my sub 3:45 goal!
I tried to lower the hammer and make up for that loss of time on the final downhill and the final mile was my fastest split (7:56) of the race but not good enough to break 3:45. I sprinted across the finish line in 3:47:45. I was disappointed in my time but not my effort. I left absolutely nothing on that course! I might have run a wee bit smarter but I had given it everything I had on that day! Thankfully my time was at least good enough to win 1st place in my Age Group so I will have to live with that!
After the race our hosts gave us a tour of the Yakima area including a visit to a brew pub and a winery for tasting. The Yakima Valley is an agricultural region with fruit, hops and vineyards. Add a great dinner with lots of wine and my legs weren’t feeling any pain when I went to bed? On Sun morning Chris drove back to Seattle by himself while we waited for our other son Jason and our precious granddaughter Priya to pick us up. Mike and I attended a breakfast with runners and members of the 100 Marathon Club so I could say my farewells and a special thanks to Bob and Lenore. It is a great race and a great event. I recommend the race to all runners!
Later that morning Jason and Priya picked us up to continue our journey to Hermiston, OR. Jason is working a remote (one-week) shift in Hermiston for his Radiology Partners. Since his wife Ami is pregnant again (our 2nd grandchild) and working all week in Portland we agreed to join Jason for the week to babysit our precious granddaughter while he works. What a blast!
The Radiology Partners rent a beautiful house situated on a cliff overlooking the Columbia River with views for miles! There is a great dirt trail below the cliffs and along the river. Priya and I enjoyed a pleasant 8-mile run along the Columbia River on our first day and we will explore that trail in every direction before we leave. She loves to run with her Pappy! Life doesn’t get much better!
At the end of the week we return to Portland with Jason and Priya to visit Ami and then head back to Seattle by train to spend a few more days with Chris before returning home.
These long easy runs with Priya should be good for my new race/running strategy and my next race in 3 weeks. Remember – I am going to run for fun – just like the fun I am having on the morning runs with my precious Priya!
Stay tuned!
Monday, March 29, 2010
Monday, March 15, 2010
RR - Live Oak, FL
Race Report
Sun, Mar 14/10
Florida Sheriff’s Youth Ranch Marathon
Live Oak, FL
Marathon #327
3:47:15 – 2nd OA
I didn’t have a race planned for mid- March since my hometown marathon got cancelled. I was actually planning to key on the Sarasota Marathon to regain my AG title but that plan vanished with the cancellation. I boycotted the Half-marathon because of the exorbitant fee ($75) and looked for another race. I found a small inaugural marathon being run in Live Oak, FL to support the Florida Sheriff’s Youth Ranch. We had driven by Live Oak many times but had never explored the area so we decided to make a weekend trip and run the new race.
It was a longer-than-expected 4-hr drive north to Live Oak. We explored the small town (6500 residents) and then found the Florida Sheriff’s Youth Ranch – a ranch for troubled and neglected boys. It is a large ranch located on the Suwannee River in the boonies of North Florida – only 15 miles from the Georgia State Line. I had been informed that there would be a small turnout for the race but I was surprised that only 25 runners had registered for the races – only 8 runners in the marathon! I had a quick look at the course – a 6.55 mile loop on paved roads through and around the Ranch. There were at least 8 short hills – ‘gentle’ rolling hills in the loop –but we had to run 4 loops so you can do the math for total number of hills in the marathon! None qualified as BAH (Bad Ass Hill) but on the fourth and final loop those ’gentle’ hills didn’t feel so gentle anymore?
The race start had been moved to 7:30 am because of Daylight Savings Time and there were no street lights on the Ranch. The race started at an arena/corral in a field so we had to run a wee bit of cross country on each loop – and be careful where we stepped!
Pasta dinner was a disappointment as was the town of Live Oak. The only Italian restaurant in town was a Pizza Hut? And there wasn’t much entertainment either so we got lots of sleep before the race.
It was a chilly 43 F at 7 am as I drove back to the ranch in the dark. However the sun rose just before the start and the temps warmed up to a pleasant 60F by the end of the race. The humidity was low with a light breeze – i.e. perfect weather for running!
As mentioned the course was a 6.55 mile loop that was actually a trio of loops. This configuration made the race more exciting and challenging because you saw the small number of runners/competitors more often and could gauge your position in the race. I started out with a lead group of 5 runners and by the time we completed the 1st loop I figured the pecking order/positions for the race had been established.
A male runner in his 40s took the lead from the start – followed by another male runner in his 50s- followed by a young male runner in his 20s – then Maddog followed by a female runner in her 30s. At the end of the 1st loop (56:21 split for me) those 5 runners were all within 1/2 mile of each other with the rest of the runners spread along the course. By mile 9 or half-way through the 2nd loop I had determined that the very young male runner about 200 ft in front of me was the leader in the Half and I was not concerned about him. I mistakenly assumed that the female runner about 200ft behind me was also in the Half but I kept wondering why she wasn’t pushing harder to catch the male leader and win the Half? I could have easily pushed harder and passed the young male leader to win the Half?
When I completed the 2nd loop and the Half in 1:52:26 our positions had not changed. By then the leader had a 1-mile lead on me and the 2nd place male had increased his lead to ½ mile and I was pretty sure that would be the finish order unless one of those runners crashed – or broke a leg? Nevertheless I decided to continue to push the pace though the 3rd loop to run at least a fast 20-mile tempo run and then hang on as necessary for the 4th loop?
However as I climbed a series of rolling hills near 16 miles I was surprised to see that the 2nd place male had started to fade and I had closed the lead to about ¼ mile. I was even more shocked when I made a turn- around at 16 M in 2:17:27 to find the young female runner still riding my ass and only about 800 ft behind me? Obviously she was running the marathon. I was shocked – Maddog was scared shitless!
Maddog now had a double dose of motivation:
1) He could smell blood and a 2nd place Overall if he could pass the male runner who was fading
2) There was a female chasing his ass and about to pass him.
Now most of my readers know that Maddog is an old relic – a male, chauvinistic pig! In the good old days he would never- ever- let a female runner pass him or beat him. In the good old days he could do something to prevent that. However in the past few years he has had to eat a lot of humble pie and accept the fact that good old days are gone as he watches pretty young ladies pass his ass often and he cannot respond. Oh SHIT! I knew what was coming and I knew I could not stop it!
Maddog took over the race. He was determined – No – OBSESSED – that Hell would freeze over and he would run my tired OLD ass six feet into the ground before he would let that female pass him! There was no point arguing with him – I decided it was best to just relax and go along for the ride. Maddog lowered the hammer and dropped the pace to 8:30s. We caught and passed the 2nd place male near Mile 19. He asked me how old I was – he was 57! I made another turn and noted that I had increased my lead on the female runner. I completed the 3rd loop and reached Mile 20 in 2:52:16. I had hoped to ease back on the pace at Mile 20 and cruise the final loop but that was no longer an option since I was no longer in control of the race! Maddog kept pushing the pace. When I climbed the series of short hills and made the turn near 22 miles I noted that the female runner had also passed the 2nd place male – and had closed the gap down to about 500 ft! Damn that woman! Was she trying to kill me?
For I knew what was going to happen! Maddog was possessed and dug deeper and demanded that my old bod find some energy reserves to push the pace harder. I just kept my mouth shut and tried to shut down my brain so it could block/ignore the pain and agony that was sure to follow! When I made the final turn-around and passed mile 25 in 3:36:32 I was happy to see that my lead over the woman had increased again to about 1000 ft. I figured that lead should be safe because it would be very difficult to make up that distance in the final mile. But not Maddog! He wasn’t willing to risk a dramatic/heroic last-minute challenge and have that woman pass his ass in the last mile so he dug even deeper and screamed at my old bod to give one more jolt of adrenaline and somehow/somewhere found a small reserve of energy to push the pace even harder! Only when I made a final turn near 26 miles and stole a peek over my shoulder to discover that she had not closed the lead did Maddog ease back a little and let me cruise across the finish line in 3:47:15 – and 2nd place Overall. The young lady (38 years old) finished 90 secs behind me. I congratulated her on a great race and thanked her for riding my ass for 26 miles and making me push the pace. I also talked to the winner who strangely/coincidentally happened to be a Canuck from London, Ont?
I was very happy with both my time and performance on that hilly course. It should be great training for my next race in Washington State in 2 weeks. The Yakima Marathon is a fast downhill course with rolling hills and a couple of BAHs so hopefully this was a good training marathon?
And Yakima will be the last marathon I key on this season. Yes – you read that right and I ask all my readers to remind me of that statement/pledge. Thanks to smarter training I have remained injury-free since recovering from those mystery back injuries and I have no intention of going down that path again. Thus I need to ease back on my training and racing after Yakima. I am finally going to follow the wise advice of my good friend and mentor Wally Herman and ‘run for fun’ during the summer race season.
Wally will be very happy to hear this news!
Stay tuned!
Sun, Mar 14/10
Florida Sheriff’s Youth Ranch Marathon
Live Oak, FL
Marathon #327
3:47:15 – 2nd OA
I didn’t have a race planned for mid- March since my hometown marathon got cancelled. I was actually planning to key on the Sarasota Marathon to regain my AG title but that plan vanished with the cancellation. I boycotted the Half-marathon because of the exorbitant fee ($75) and looked for another race. I found a small inaugural marathon being run in Live Oak, FL to support the Florida Sheriff’s Youth Ranch. We had driven by Live Oak many times but had never explored the area so we decided to make a weekend trip and run the new race.
It was a longer-than-expected 4-hr drive north to Live Oak. We explored the small town (6500 residents) and then found the Florida Sheriff’s Youth Ranch – a ranch for troubled and neglected boys. It is a large ranch located on the Suwannee River in the boonies of North Florida – only 15 miles from the Georgia State Line. I had been informed that there would be a small turnout for the race but I was surprised that only 25 runners had registered for the races – only 8 runners in the marathon! I had a quick look at the course – a 6.55 mile loop on paved roads through and around the Ranch. There were at least 8 short hills – ‘gentle’ rolling hills in the loop –but we had to run 4 loops so you can do the math for total number of hills in the marathon! None qualified as BAH (Bad Ass Hill) but on the fourth and final loop those ’gentle’ hills didn’t feel so gentle anymore?
The race start had been moved to 7:30 am because of Daylight Savings Time and there were no street lights on the Ranch. The race started at an arena/corral in a field so we had to run a wee bit of cross country on each loop – and be careful where we stepped!
Pasta dinner was a disappointment as was the town of Live Oak. The only Italian restaurant in town was a Pizza Hut? And there wasn’t much entertainment either so we got lots of sleep before the race.
It was a chilly 43 F at 7 am as I drove back to the ranch in the dark. However the sun rose just before the start and the temps warmed up to a pleasant 60F by the end of the race. The humidity was low with a light breeze – i.e. perfect weather for running!
As mentioned the course was a 6.55 mile loop that was actually a trio of loops. This configuration made the race more exciting and challenging because you saw the small number of runners/competitors more often and could gauge your position in the race. I started out with a lead group of 5 runners and by the time we completed the 1st loop I figured the pecking order/positions for the race had been established.
A male runner in his 40s took the lead from the start – followed by another male runner in his 50s- followed by a young male runner in his 20s – then Maddog followed by a female runner in her 30s. At the end of the 1st loop (56:21 split for me) those 5 runners were all within 1/2 mile of each other with the rest of the runners spread along the course. By mile 9 or half-way through the 2nd loop I had determined that the very young male runner about 200 ft in front of me was the leader in the Half and I was not concerned about him. I mistakenly assumed that the female runner about 200ft behind me was also in the Half but I kept wondering why she wasn’t pushing harder to catch the male leader and win the Half? I could have easily pushed harder and passed the young male leader to win the Half?
When I completed the 2nd loop and the Half in 1:52:26 our positions had not changed. By then the leader had a 1-mile lead on me and the 2nd place male had increased his lead to ½ mile and I was pretty sure that would be the finish order unless one of those runners crashed – or broke a leg? Nevertheless I decided to continue to push the pace though the 3rd loop to run at least a fast 20-mile tempo run and then hang on as necessary for the 4th loop?
However as I climbed a series of rolling hills near 16 miles I was surprised to see that the 2nd place male had started to fade and I had closed the lead to about ¼ mile. I was even more shocked when I made a turn- around at 16 M in 2:17:27 to find the young female runner still riding my ass and only about 800 ft behind me? Obviously she was running the marathon. I was shocked – Maddog was scared shitless!
Maddog now had a double dose of motivation:
1) He could smell blood and a 2nd place Overall if he could pass the male runner who was fading
2) There was a female chasing his ass and about to pass him.
Now most of my readers know that Maddog is an old relic – a male, chauvinistic pig! In the good old days he would never- ever- let a female runner pass him or beat him. In the good old days he could do something to prevent that. However in the past few years he has had to eat a lot of humble pie and accept the fact that good old days are gone as he watches pretty young ladies pass his ass often and he cannot respond. Oh SHIT! I knew what was coming and I knew I could not stop it!
Maddog took over the race. He was determined – No – OBSESSED – that Hell would freeze over and he would run my tired OLD ass six feet into the ground before he would let that female pass him! There was no point arguing with him – I decided it was best to just relax and go along for the ride. Maddog lowered the hammer and dropped the pace to 8:30s. We caught and passed the 2nd place male near Mile 19. He asked me how old I was – he was 57! I made another turn and noted that I had increased my lead on the female runner. I completed the 3rd loop and reached Mile 20 in 2:52:16. I had hoped to ease back on the pace at Mile 20 and cruise the final loop but that was no longer an option since I was no longer in control of the race! Maddog kept pushing the pace. When I climbed the series of short hills and made the turn near 22 miles I noted that the female runner had also passed the 2nd place male – and had closed the gap down to about 500 ft! Damn that woman! Was she trying to kill me?
For I knew what was going to happen! Maddog was possessed and dug deeper and demanded that my old bod find some energy reserves to push the pace harder. I just kept my mouth shut and tried to shut down my brain so it could block/ignore the pain and agony that was sure to follow! When I made the final turn-around and passed mile 25 in 3:36:32 I was happy to see that my lead over the woman had increased again to about 1000 ft. I figured that lead should be safe because it would be very difficult to make up that distance in the final mile. But not Maddog! He wasn’t willing to risk a dramatic/heroic last-minute challenge and have that woman pass his ass in the last mile so he dug even deeper and screamed at my old bod to give one more jolt of adrenaline and somehow/somewhere found a small reserve of energy to push the pace even harder! Only when I made a final turn near 26 miles and stole a peek over my shoulder to discover that she had not closed the lead did Maddog ease back a little and let me cruise across the finish line in 3:47:15 – and 2nd place Overall. The young lady (38 years old) finished 90 secs behind me. I congratulated her on a great race and thanked her for riding my ass for 26 miles and making me push the pace. I also talked to the winner who strangely/coincidentally happened to be a Canuck from London, Ont?
I was very happy with both my time and performance on that hilly course. It should be great training for my next race in Washington State in 2 weeks. The Yakima Marathon is a fast downhill course with rolling hills and a couple of BAHs so hopefully this was a good training marathon?
And Yakima will be the last marathon I key on this season. Yes – you read that right and I ask all my readers to remind me of that statement/pledge. Thanks to smarter training I have remained injury-free since recovering from those mystery back injuries and I have no intention of going down that path again. Thus I need to ease back on my training and racing after Yakima. I am finally going to follow the wise advice of my good friend and mentor Wally Herman and ‘run for fun’ during the summer race season.
Wally will be very happy to hear this news!
Stay tuned!
Monday, March 01, 2010
RR Tampa
Race Report
Sun, Feb 28/10
Gasparilla Marathon
Tampa, FL
Marathon # 326
3:48:53 – 1 AG
Several months ago I selected the Gasparilla Marathon as a race to run for two reasons:
1) It was billed as the ‘final voyage’ of the Gasparilla Distance Classic Races because the marathon is being discontinued after this year.
2) I wanted to ‘key’ on this race for a fast time because the course is fast and flat and times can be good if the weather cooperates.
However reason #2 started to fall apart when fate and circumstances didn’t seem to fall in my favor? First there were the disappointing races in Jan followed by the week of ‘Gluttony & Sloth’ on the cruise followed by a week of illness (cold and congestion). After the Bahamas Marathon I was only able to complete a few LSD (Long Slow Distance) runs before I suffered another setback with a minor stomach virus. Thus I did not have much confidence or motivation going into this ‘key’ race!
A number of friends and fellow runners from our local Club planned to run the race also and on Fri I accompanied a few lovely young ladies to Tampa to pick up our race packets and buy a few items of gear at the race expo. We all agreed that we preferred to stay at home and drive into Tampa early on race day so we met at 4am on Sun morning and I drove three lovely ladies into Tampa. When we arrived at the Tampa Convention Centre near the race start at 5 am the weather was perfect for racing - a temp of 45 F, dry and a light breeze. During the race the weather became sunny and the temps never rose above the mid 50s!
My good friend Linda and I had decided to run together. I had researched the winning time for my AG last year (3:50) but did not have any confidence that I could run a sub 3:50 race to be competitive? Thus I volunteered to pace Linda to a sub 4-hr finish so she could qualify for Boston. However she declined stating that she didn’t want to put any stress/pressure on herself because it messed with her mind. Instead we decided to go out at an 8:45 pace, do a gut check at 5 miles to see if we could hold that pace and just let the chips fall? However we made a slight tactical error by waiting too long in the Convention Centre to avoid the ‘brisk’, cool temps outside and when we finally tried to get to the start line we had to fight/elbow our way through 20,000+ runners (in the Marathon & Half). We ended up about 500 ft from the start line and it took three minutes to reach the start line after the race started. Then we were completely boxed in and that cost us a 10:12 split for the 1st mile! Fortunately the course opened up at that point and mile #2 was an 8:38 split. Linda then lowered the hammer and dropped the pace to sub 8:30s and I was just tried to hang on? When she passed mile 5 in 44:35 and a split of 8:16 I shouted that she needed (read- I needed) to slow the pace down! Although my legs felt good/fresh I knew I couldn’t hold an 8:15 pace for another 21 miles so I decided to slow my pace down to 8:30s and just try to keep Linda in sight. I managed to keep her in sight through 10 miles (1:27:29 and a split of 8:23). At that point the course looped back and she had about a 500-ft lead on me. I shouted to her that “she was doing great and to run her own pace and not to worry about me”. I kept her in sight until the marathon course rejoined the half course (11M in the Marathon and 8M in the Half) where the course became a mass of humanity – many Half participants walking and marathoners trying to pass them. I lost sight of Linda and never saw her again?
I passed the Half in 1:53:51 and a split of 8:41. I did another gut check and my legs still felt amazingly fresh so I decided to push the pace down to sub 8:30s to see if I could get sight of Linda again? I expected to suffer my usual energy ‘lull’ or low around 16 miles but it didn’t happen so I continued to push the pace. Still no Linda? Around 18 miles the course has a 2-mile loop around a residential area and a park before it loops back on Bayshore Blvd along Tampa Bay to finish in downtown Tampa. I was hoping I wouldn’t meet her on the return leg because that would mean she had a 2-mile lead on me? Nope - no Linda! I passed mile 20 in 2:54:04 and a split of 8:51. My final gut check- the legs still felt good! I calculated that if I could hold a sub 9-min pace for the final 10K I could finish under 3:50! I decided to push the pace and go for it! I managed to lower the next mile split to 8:42 but then the course emerged from the residential area at mile 21 and dumped onto Bayshore Blvd. I knew what to expect at that point and I was not surprised! The final 5 miles on Bayshore are along Tampa Bay and there is no shelter from a wind that always seems to be there and blowing from the North – which means it is a headwind!
Fortunately I still felt strong and was cruising – unfortunately I was passing many runners and there was nobody to hide behind and draft. I started to whine and moan and feel sorry for myself until Maddog handed me a dose of reality. He reminded me that EVERY runner had to face the same course – the same wind – the same obstacles – and to get over it – suck it up and push on to the finish line. He was right of course (it is nice to have a Maddog riding along to provide support when needed) so I lowered my head, tucked in my shoulders and arms to reduce wind resistance – sucked it up, dug deeper and increased my effort to maintain a sub 9-min pace into that friggin headwind! As I approached mile 24 in 3:29:31 and a split of 8:56 I thought I saw Linda up ahead – about 500ft in front of me? I dug deeper, pushed harder and caught the female runner at mile 25 – but alas it was not Linda! However I decided to hold the faster pace until I crossed the finish line in 3:48:53.
Still no Linda? I figured she had either whupped my ass or had stopped for a potty break and I had missed her? About 30 minutes later the group finally met up again at our designated spot and I learned that Linda had indeed whupped my ass – by 1 minute! She finished in 3:47:39 – a PR and a BQ time – a fantastic performance and time! We decided to wander over to the awards ceremony to check the results and our standings. I thought that Linda must surely have won or placed in her AG? I wasn’t so sure about my time because I figured that some of the ‘top dogs’ in my AG would have shown up since it was the ‘final voyage’? Surprisingly it was the opposite? Linda’s great performance and time was only good enough for 5th place but my time won 1st place (21 runners) in my AG!
Needless to say I was pleased with both my performance and time! Both were much better than I expected and I never experienced any problems during the entire race. I have regained confidence in my conditioning and once again have the motivation needed to continue training hard to key on one final race for the Spring season – in late March in Washington State.
Stay tuned!
Sun, Feb 28/10
Gasparilla Marathon
Tampa, FL
Marathon # 326
3:48:53 – 1 AG
Several months ago I selected the Gasparilla Marathon as a race to run for two reasons:
1) It was billed as the ‘final voyage’ of the Gasparilla Distance Classic Races because the marathon is being discontinued after this year.
2) I wanted to ‘key’ on this race for a fast time because the course is fast and flat and times can be good if the weather cooperates.
However reason #2 started to fall apart when fate and circumstances didn’t seem to fall in my favor? First there were the disappointing races in Jan followed by the week of ‘Gluttony & Sloth’ on the cruise followed by a week of illness (cold and congestion). After the Bahamas Marathon I was only able to complete a few LSD (Long Slow Distance) runs before I suffered another setback with a minor stomach virus. Thus I did not have much confidence or motivation going into this ‘key’ race!
A number of friends and fellow runners from our local Club planned to run the race also and on Fri I accompanied a few lovely young ladies to Tampa to pick up our race packets and buy a few items of gear at the race expo. We all agreed that we preferred to stay at home and drive into Tampa early on race day so we met at 4am on Sun morning and I drove three lovely ladies into Tampa. When we arrived at the Tampa Convention Centre near the race start at 5 am the weather was perfect for racing - a temp of 45 F, dry and a light breeze. During the race the weather became sunny and the temps never rose above the mid 50s!
My good friend Linda and I had decided to run together. I had researched the winning time for my AG last year (3:50) but did not have any confidence that I could run a sub 3:50 race to be competitive? Thus I volunteered to pace Linda to a sub 4-hr finish so she could qualify for Boston. However she declined stating that she didn’t want to put any stress/pressure on herself because it messed with her mind. Instead we decided to go out at an 8:45 pace, do a gut check at 5 miles to see if we could hold that pace and just let the chips fall? However we made a slight tactical error by waiting too long in the Convention Centre to avoid the ‘brisk’, cool temps outside and when we finally tried to get to the start line we had to fight/elbow our way through 20,000+ runners (in the Marathon & Half). We ended up about 500 ft from the start line and it took three minutes to reach the start line after the race started. Then we were completely boxed in and that cost us a 10:12 split for the 1st mile! Fortunately the course opened up at that point and mile #2 was an 8:38 split. Linda then lowered the hammer and dropped the pace to sub 8:30s and I was just tried to hang on? When she passed mile 5 in 44:35 and a split of 8:16 I shouted that she needed (read- I needed) to slow the pace down! Although my legs felt good/fresh I knew I couldn’t hold an 8:15 pace for another 21 miles so I decided to slow my pace down to 8:30s and just try to keep Linda in sight. I managed to keep her in sight through 10 miles (1:27:29 and a split of 8:23). At that point the course looped back and she had about a 500-ft lead on me. I shouted to her that “she was doing great and to run her own pace and not to worry about me”. I kept her in sight until the marathon course rejoined the half course (11M in the Marathon and 8M in the Half) where the course became a mass of humanity – many Half participants walking and marathoners trying to pass them. I lost sight of Linda and never saw her again?
I passed the Half in 1:53:51 and a split of 8:41. I did another gut check and my legs still felt amazingly fresh so I decided to push the pace down to sub 8:30s to see if I could get sight of Linda again? I expected to suffer my usual energy ‘lull’ or low around 16 miles but it didn’t happen so I continued to push the pace. Still no Linda? Around 18 miles the course has a 2-mile loop around a residential area and a park before it loops back on Bayshore Blvd along Tampa Bay to finish in downtown Tampa. I was hoping I wouldn’t meet her on the return leg because that would mean she had a 2-mile lead on me? Nope - no Linda! I passed mile 20 in 2:54:04 and a split of 8:51. My final gut check- the legs still felt good! I calculated that if I could hold a sub 9-min pace for the final 10K I could finish under 3:50! I decided to push the pace and go for it! I managed to lower the next mile split to 8:42 but then the course emerged from the residential area at mile 21 and dumped onto Bayshore Blvd. I knew what to expect at that point and I was not surprised! The final 5 miles on Bayshore are along Tampa Bay and there is no shelter from a wind that always seems to be there and blowing from the North – which means it is a headwind!
Fortunately I still felt strong and was cruising – unfortunately I was passing many runners and there was nobody to hide behind and draft. I started to whine and moan and feel sorry for myself until Maddog handed me a dose of reality. He reminded me that EVERY runner had to face the same course – the same wind – the same obstacles – and to get over it – suck it up and push on to the finish line. He was right of course (it is nice to have a Maddog riding along to provide support when needed) so I lowered my head, tucked in my shoulders and arms to reduce wind resistance – sucked it up, dug deeper and increased my effort to maintain a sub 9-min pace into that friggin headwind! As I approached mile 24 in 3:29:31 and a split of 8:56 I thought I saw Linda up ahead – about 500ft in front of me? I dug deeper, pushed harder and caught the female runner at mile 25 – but alas it was not Linda! However I decided to hold the faster pace until I crossed the finish line in 3:48:53.
Still no Linda? I figured she had either whupped my ass or had stopped for a potty break and I had missed her? About 30 minutes later the group finally met up again at our designated spot and I learned that Linda had indeed whupped my ass – by 1 minute! She finished in 3:47:39 – a PR and a BQ time – a fantastic performance and time! We decided to wander over to the awards ceremony to check the results and our standings. I thought that Linda must surely have won or placed in her AG? I wasn’t so sure about my time because I figured that some of the ‘top dogs’ in my AG would have shown up since it was the ‘final voyage’? Surprisingly it was the opposite? Linda’s great performance and time was only good enough for 5th place but my time won 1st place (21 runners) in my AG!
Needless to say I was pleased with both my performance and time! Both were much better than I expected and I never experienced any problems during the entire race. I have regained confidence in my conditioning and once again have the motivation needed to continue training hard to key on one final race for the Spring season – in late March in Washington State.
Stay tuned!
Monday, February 15, 2010
RR Bahamas
Race Report
Sun, Feb 14/10
Bahamas Marathon
Nassau, Bahamas
Marathon #325 – Country # 102
4:14:04 – 1AG
This is the report that all my ’couch potato’ readers - you know who you are – the ones following the ‘Gluttony & Sloth’ program – have been waiting for!
Since I am writing it I obviously survived – but barely! And it wasn’t the ‘Gluttony & Sloth’ program I followed for one week on the cruise that almost did me in – it was the friggin,nasty cold and sinus/chest congestion that some kind bugger gave me during the cruise!
A few days after we returned home from the Caribbean cruise both the Sports Manager and I started sniffling and sneezing. I managed to get a few 10-mile runs in those first few days and my legs felt lazy and sluggish due to the ‘G & S’ program. Then the cold hit me full force and knocked me on my ass! My sinus’ were congested and Thu I spent most of the day in bed suffering from hot & cold sweats, high fever and flashes of vivid hallucinations! I was worried that I would never be able to get out of bed on Fri morning to catch my flight to the Bahamas? Thankfully the fever peaked and broke in the wee hours of Fri morning and I actually felt not too bad when I left for the airport.
I met up with my friend Edson at the hotel in downtown Nassau on Fri afternoon. Edson is from NYC and is a fellow Country Club member and longtime friend going back to the days when we were both completing the 50 States circuit for the 1st time. We agreed to share a room for the race since hotels are ridiculously expensive in the Bahamas. On Fri night we attended the reception for the race at the Atlantis Resort and picked up our race packets. After a shaky start the race organization was spending big bucks to make this inaugural race a success. We had great difficulty getting info on the race and I wrote the race director a strong letter complaining about the lack of info, etc. They made some changes quickly to better the race but were too late to make it the ‘big’ race they hoped for. However I think they will do much better in 2011.
There were lots of exhibitors at the race expo and free food was provided – the only pasta we enjoyed during our visit! The race director had reserved Bib # 102 for me to represent Country #102. Edson was completing Country #69. Since we were both tired we retired early. Up to that time I had felt OK but then the coughing started –and I coughed and hacked all night! I felt sorry for Edson but either he is a sound sleeper or a good friend because he didn’t complain that I kept him awake all night with my hacking. As soon as the stores opened on Sat morning I found a pharmacy and bought enough drugs- cough syrup. sinus spray, etc – to keep me drugged up and to control the coughing and ease the congestion!
For the rest of Sat we did a walking tour of downtown Nassau. Since it was my 3rd visit to the Bahamas I acted as tour guide as we toured around and bought a mandatory Bahamas rum cake to bring home as a souvenir. We scouted around for an Italian restaurant and quickly realized that we might not enjoy a traditional pasta dinner before the race. Downtown Nassau closes up at 6 pm when the cruise passengers return to the ships so there are few restaurants and shops open after 6 pm. There are two fancy Italian restaurants in downtown Nassau but it was Valentine’s Day/eve and both were booked solid and would not accept a reservation. We asked the concierge to find us an Italian restaurant but the only option he could find required a $20 taxi ride to the other end of the island so we decided to try our luck at finding a small local diner with pasta downtown. No luck! We ended up eating noodles at a Chinese restaurant – one of the very few restaurants open. I was concerned about breaking a long. long tradition but there was no alternative and besides it was only one more minor glitch on a screwed-up week of preparation for the race! Then it was time to retire early and I drugged up on cough syrup, etc so we could get a decent night of sleep.
Sun was ‘M’ day. I felt much better in the morning as we drove to the start line with a local runner who had offered us a lift. The weather was a pleasant 60F at 6 am with a light breeze that made it feel cooler. (This was not normal weather – the Bahamas was experiencing the same cold front that moved through the Eastern US). There were about 300 runners – 100 in the marathon and the rest in the Half and relay. The race started at Fort Mantague on East Bay St, ran across the West Bridge to Paradise Island and back across the East bridge before proceeding through downtown Nassau and along West bay St and the ocean to Old Fort Bay where it looped back to finish at Arawak Cay. I had no idea what to expect from my body. After a week of ‘G & S’ followed by a week of illness – I had absolutely no idea what to expect – except that it probably wouldn’t be good?
It didn’t take long to get an answer! By the time I reached the West Bridge at mile 1, I was already sucking desperately for air. I felt like I was running at 10,000 ft in the Rock Mtns! I realized how badly congested my lungs were – they could not suck in enough air to keep the legs moving! As I struggled over the West Bridge I wisely decided that I would just listen to my body and let it dictate the pace.
I passed mile 4 in 38:34 and a split of 9:45 and decided that was probably the best pace I could do on that day? If I could hold that pace I would finish under 4:15 for a BQ (Boston Qualifying) time which would just have to be good enough for Maddog! I wasn’t willing to push my sick old bod any harder! For the next 5 miles I tried a few tests /experiments and noted some strange results. If I tried to run faster than 9:45 I would start sucking desperately for air so I figured that was the lower limit of my pace for that day. Then I tried to push harder to raise my heart rate to its normal race levels. I noted that my heart rate was at 135bpm instead of the normal race level of 145bpm? No matter how hard I tried I could not get my heart rate up to 145bpm – the congestion became the limiting factor and I would start sucking for air and have to back off? I passed mile 10 in 1:35:07 and a split of 9:35 and my legs felt fresh and full of energy and I seemed to be breathing easier so I decided to try to push the pace again. I managed to get the pace down to 9:20s and my heart rate up to a blazing 143 bpm but that was the limit for both and I could only hold that pace and heart rate for about 5 miles.
I passed the half in 2:04:35 and once again naively thought that since I was running so slow and easy I should be able to hold that pace and finish under 4:10? Wrong! After the course looped back at Old Fort Bay the wheels started to fall off as the lungs started to plug up again? I started sucking for air again and the pace started slowing until I passed mile 20 in 3:10:33 and a split of 10:11. If I could hold a 10-min pace I would be close to my target of 4:15. I had passed one local runner around 10 miles that appeared to be in my Age Group and confirmed before the turn-around that there were no other AG competitors in front of me so there was not much motivation or reason to hurt myself or accept a lot of pain.
From the turn-around point to 23 miles I ran all alone which didn’t help but finally I started to overtake runners/walkers and that provided a boost. I managed to keep the old legs churning and crossed the finish line in 4:14:04.
I waited for Edson to finish in 4:52:58 so we could take a finish line photo and walk back to our hotel together. After a quick shower we headed to the airport where we enjoyed a quick lunch and parted ways.
Considering the circumstances and conditions going into this race I can’t say that I am disappointed or frustrated (or happy) about my time or performance! I am disappointed that I wasn’t able to show up healthy and in peak shape because the course is flat and fast and I believe I could have achieved a good time if I had been healthy. One upside to running so slow is that my legs were not the slightest bit sore after the race and hopefully I can begin some intense training soon to get ready for my next race in two weeks.
And remember the BIGGEST and BEST news of all! I survived a marathon after following the Gluttony & Sloth’ program – and even threw in a severe cold for an added handicap! That means that all you ‘couch potatoes’ and ‘G & S’ followers are pre-eminently qualified to run a marathon!
Of course I must add the flowing caveat or disclaimer “Don’t try this stunt at home”!
Stay tuned!
Sun, Feb 14/10
Bahamas Marathon
Nassau, Bahamas
Marathon #325 – Country # 102
4:14:04 – 1AG
This is the report that all my ’couch potato’ readers - you know who you are – the ones following the ‘Gluttony & Sloth’ program – have been waiting for!
Since I am writing it I obviously survived – but barely! And it wasn’t the ‘Gluttony & Sloth’ program I followed for one week on the cruise that almost did me in – it was the friggin,nasty cold and sinus/chest congestion that some kind bugger gave me during the cruise!
A few days after we returned home from the Caribbean cruise both the Sports Manager and I started sniffling and sneezing. I managed to get a few 10-mile runs in those first few days and my legs felt lazy and sluggish due to the ‘G & S’ program. Then the cold hit me full force and knocked me on my ass! My sinus’ were congested and Thu I spent most of the day in bed suffering from hot & cold sweats, high fever and flashes of vivid hallucinations! I was worried that I would never be able to get out of bed on Fri morning to catch my flight to the Bahamas? Thankfully the fever peaked and broke in the wee hours of Fri morning and I actually felt not too bad when I left for the airport.
I met up with my friend Edson at the hotel in downtown Nassau on Fri afternoon. Edson is from NYC and is a fellow Country Club member and longtime friend going back to the days when we were both completing the 50 States circuit for the 1st time. We agreed to share a room for the race since hotels are ridiculously expensive in the Bahamas. On Fri night we attended the reception for the race at the Atlantis Resort and picked up our race packets. After a shaky start the race organization was spending big bucks to make this inaugural race a success. We had great difficulty getting info on the race and I wrote the race director a strong letter complaining about the lack of info, etc. They made some changes quickly to better the race but were too late to make it the ‘big’ race they hoped for. However I think they will do much better in 2011.
There were lots of exhibitors at the race expo and free food was provided – the only pasta we enjoyed during our visit! The race director had reserved Bib # 102 for me to represent Country #102. Edson was completing Country #69. Since we were both tired we retired early. Up to that time I had felt OK but then the coughing started –and I coughed and hacked all night! I felt sorry for Edson but either he is a sound sleeper or a good friend because he didn’t complain that I kept him awake all night with my hacking. As soon as the stores opened on Sat morning I found a pharmacy and bought enough drugs- cough syrup. sinus spray, etc – to keep me drugged up and to control the coughing and ease the congestion!
For the rest of Sat we did a walking tour of downtown Nassau. Since it was my 3rd visit to the Bahamas I acted as tour guide as we toured around and bought a mandatory Bahamas rum cake to bring home as a souvenir. We scouted around for an Italian restaurant and quickly realized that we might not enjoy a traditional pasta dinner before the race. Downtown Nassau closes up at 6 pm when the cruise passengers return to the ships so there are few restaurants and shops open after 6 pm. There are two fancy Italian restaurants in downtown Nassau but it was Valentine’s Day/eve and both were booked solid and would not accept a reservation. We asked the concierge to find us an Italian restaurant but the only option he could find required a $20 taxi ride to the other end of the island so we decided to try our luck at finding a small local diner with pasta downtown. No luck! We ended up eating noodles at a Chinese restaurant – one of the very few restaurants open. I was concerned about breaking a long. long tradition but there was no alternative and besides it was only one more minor glitch on a screwed-up week of preparation for the race! Then it was time to retire early and I drugged up on cough syrup, etc so we could get a decent night of sleep.
Sun was ‘M’ day. I felt much better in the morning as we drove to the start line with a local runner who had offered us a lift. The weather was a pleasant 60F at 6 am with a light breeze that made it feel cooler. (This was not normal weather – the Bahamas was experiencing the same cold front that moved through the Eastern US). There were about 300 runners – 100 in the marathon and the rest in the Half and relay. The race started at Fort Mantague on East Bay St, ran across the West Bridge to Paradise Island and back across the East bridge before proceeding through downtown Nassau and along West bay St and the ocean to Old Fort Bay where it looped back to finish at Arawak Cay. I had no idea what to expect from my body. After a week of ‘G & S’ followed by a week of illness – I had absolutely no idea what to expect – except that it probably wouldn’t be good?
It didn’t take long to get an answer! By the time I reached the West Bridge at mile 1, I was already sucking desperately for air. I felt like I was running at 10,000 ft in the Rock Mtns! I realized how badly congested my lungs were – they could not suck in enough air to keep the legs moving! As I struggled over the West Bridge I wisely decided that I would just listen to my body and let it dictate the pace.
I passed mile 4 in 38:34 and a split of 9:45 and decided that was probably the best pace I could do on that day? If I could hold that pace I would finish under 4:15 for a BQ (Boston Qualifying) time which would just have to be good enough for Maddog! I wasn’t willing to push my sick old bod any harder! For the next 5 miles I tried a few tests /experiments and noted some strange results. If I tried to run faster than 9:45 I would start sucking desperately for air so I figured that was the lower limit of my pace for that day. Then I tried to push harder to raise my heart rate to its normal race levels. I noted that my heart rate was at 135bpm instead of the normal race level of 145bpm? No matter how hard I tried I could not get my heart rate up to 145bpm – the congestion became the limiting factor and I would start sucking for air and have to back off? I passed mile 10 in 1:35:07 and a split of 9:35 and my legs felt fresh and full of energy and I seemed to be breathing easier so I decided to try to push the pace again. I managed to get the pace down to 9:20s and my heart rate up to a blazing 143 bpm but that was the limit for both and I could only hold that pace and heart rate for about 5 miles.
I passed the half in 2:04:35 and once again naively thought that since I was running so slow and easy I should be able to hold that pace and finish under 4:10? Wrong! After the course looped back at Old Fort Bay the wheels started to fall off as the lungs started to plug up again? I started sucking for air again and the pace started slowing until I passed mile 20 in 3:10:33 and a split of 10:11. If I could hold a 10-min pace I would be close to my target of 4:15. I had passed one local runner around 10 miles that appeared to be in my Age Group and confirmed before the turn-around that there were no other AG competitors in front of me so there was not much motivation or reason to hurt myself or accept a lot of pain.
From the turn-around point to 23 miles I ran all alone which didn’t help but finally I started to overtake runners/walkers and that provided a boost. I managed to keep the old legs churning and crossed the finish line in 4:14:04.
I waited for Edson to finish in 4:52:58 so we could take a finish line photo and walk back to our hotel together. After a quick shower we headed to the airport where we enjoyed a quick lunch and parted ways.
Considering the circumstances and conditions going into this race I can’t say that I am disappointed or frustrated (or happy) about my time or performance! I am disappointed that I wasn’t able to show up healthy and in peak shape because the course is flat and fast and I believe I could have achieved a good time if I had been healthy. One upside to running so slow is that my legs were not the slightest bit sore after the race and hopefully I can begin some intense training soon to get ready for my next race in two weeks.
And remember the BIGGEST and BEST news of all! I survived a marathon after following the Gluttony & Sloth’ program – and even threw in a severe cold for an added handicap! That means that all you ‘couch potatoes’ and ‘G & S’ followers are pre-eminently qualified to run a marathon!
Of course I must add the flowing caveat or disclaimer “Don’t try this stunt at home”!
Stay tuned!
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
RR - Miami 2010
Race Report
Sun, Jan 31/10
Miami Marathon
Marathon # 324
3:58:07 – 4AG
This will be a short and quick report. I wasn’t supposed to run this race and I was very disappointed and frustrated with my time and performance.
I had promised myself during the final 5K of the race last year (see RR Miami 01-09) that I wouldn’t run the race again in 2010. However when the Sports Manager and I decided to take a cruise that started in Miami on race day it only made sense to run this race rather than run in another city/state and fly into Miami on Sun for the cruise.
I had trained hard the whole month of Jan and even went on the wagon (no booze) in an effort to lose an extra 5 lbs and get down to competitive race weight. I had high expectations – to run a sub 3:45 or better – if the weather was good!
Unfortunately it didn’t happen as planned/hoped! On sat we drove down to Miami to pick up my race package and join Joe and Brenda Treige for pasta dinner. The Treige’s are old friends going back to our early career days in Ottawa, Canada and were joining us for a one-week cruise of the Western Caribbean after the race.
The weather was hot on Sat and forecast to be warm again on Sun. Not good news! Sadly the weather was warm (72 F) and humid at the 6 am start on Sun. The only good news was that it was overcast and cloudy so the temps never warmed up much above the mid 70s. I was assigned to the 3rd coral with about 1000 runners in front of me (a total of 18,000 runners in the marathon and half). It took 2 min just to reach the start line and I was boxed in for the 1st mile across the Macarthur Causeway. I passed mile 1 in a slow 9:06 (chip time) and mile 3 in 26:33. I was already behind my target pace for a sub 3:45 – and my legs were not moving smooth and easy? When I passed mile 10 in 1:26:46 and a split time of 8:45 I knew that I would not achieve my target! I passed the Half in 1:54:38. I naively thought that I might be able to hold that ‘slow’ pace to finish with a sub 3:50 but that dream/fantasy also disappeared when I passed mile 20 in 2:57:47 and a split of 9:50. I was fading and now it became a struggle and took lots of willpower just to hold a sub 10-min pace so I could cross the finish line in 3:58:07.
I was very disappointed/unhappy/frustrated with my time and performance. I had tried to key on this race and felt that I was in good shape and ready to run sub-3:45 and maybe even close to 3:30? I can’t explain why I fell apart except for the weather? I was even more discouraged when I researched the ‘unofficial’ results online to learn the top three in my Age Group finished under 3:15. Damn – the weather never affected them!!! However the ‘official’ results later indicated that the winner finished in 3:48 – I would have won my AG if I could have achieved my target!
No sense crying over spilt milk – it was time to begin our one-week cruise to celebrate the Sport Manager’s birthday – and also begin a special training program called “Gluttony & Sloth”. Since I trained so hard all month and sacrificed booze for the whole month I felt I deserved a week of “Gluttony and Sloth” – not caring about what I ate or drank or if I exercised!
We met the Treige’s on the ship – the Carnival Valor – and enjoyed a wonderful week exploring Cayman Islands, Honduras, Belize and Cozumel, Mexico. And we ate and drank and partied without concern.
It was a fun week. And as I mentioned in a pre-race report I sacrificed my body for the betterment of all my readers. After one week of “Gluttony and Sloth” I returned home with an additional 7 lbs and a head cold thanks to some butthead on the cruise. And I have to run another (international) marathon next weekend!
This race will definitely be a test of the “Gluttony & Sloth” program. If I finish the race successfully – and alive – it will be Good News for many of my readers who are quite familiar with the program because it will mean that they are pre-eminently qualified to run a marathon?
Stay tuned!
Sun, Jan 31/10
Miami Marathon
Marathon # 324
3:58:07 – 4AG
This will be a short and quick report. I wasn’t supposed to run this race and I was very disappointed and frustrated with my time and performance.
I had promised myself during the final 5K of the race last year (see RR Miami 01-09) that I wouldn’t run the race again in 2010. However when the Sports Manager and I decided to take a cruise that started in Miami on race day it only made sense to run this race rather than run in another city/state and fly into Miami on Sun for the cruise.
I had trained hard the whole month of Jan and even went on the wagon (no booze) in an effort to lose an extra 5 lbs and get down to competitive race weight. I had high expectations – to run a sub 3:45 or better – if the weather was good!
Unfortunately it didn’t happen as planned/hoped! On sat we drove down to Miami to pick up my race package and join Joe and Brenda Treige for pasta dinner. The Treige’s are old friends going back to our early career days in Ottawa, Canada and were joining us for a one-week cruise of the Western Caribbean after the race.
The weather was hot on Sat and forecast to be warm again on Sun. Not good news! Sadly the weather was warm (72 F) and humid at the 6 am start on Sun. The only good news was that it was overcast and cloudy so the temps never warmed up much above the mid 70s. I was assigned to the 3rd coral with about 1000 runners in front of me (a total of 18,000 runners in the marathon and half). It took 2 min just to reach the start line and I was boxed in for the 1st mile across the Macarthur Causeway. I passed mile 1 in a slow 9:06 (chip time) and mile 3 in 26:33. I was already behind my target pace for a sub 3:45 – and my legs were not moving smooth and easy? When I passed mile 10 in 1:26:46 and a split time of 8:45 I knew that I would not achieve my target! I passed the Half in 1:54:38. I naively thought that I might be able to hold that ‘slow’ pace to finish with a sub 3:50 but that dream/fantasy also disappeared when I passed mile 20 in 2:57:47 and a split of 9:50. I was fading and now it became a struggle and took lots of willpower just to hold a sub 10-min pace so I could cross the finish line in 3:58:07.
I was very disappointed/unhappy/frustrated with my time and performance. I had tried to key on this race and felt that I was in good shape and ready to run sub-3:45 and maybe even close to 3:30? I can’t explain why I fell apart except for the weather? I was even more discouraged when I researched the ‘unofficial’ results online to learn the top three in my Age Group finished under 3:15. Damn – the weather never affected them!!! However the ‘official’ results later indicated that the winner finished in 3:48 – I would have won my AG if I could have achieved my target!
No sense crying over spilt milk – it was time to begin our one-week cruise to celebrate the Sport Manager’s birthday – and also begin a special training program called “Gluttony & Sloth”. Since I trained so hard all month and sacrificed booze for the whole month I felt I deserved a week of “Gluttony and Sloth” – not caring about what I ate or drank or if I exercised!
We met the Treige’s on the ship – the Carnival Valor – and enjoyed a wonderful week exploring Cayman Islands, Honduras, Belize and Cozumel, Mexico. And we ate and drank and partied without concern.
It was a fun week. And as I mentioned in a pre-race report I sacrificed my body for the betterment of all my readers. After one week of “Gluttony and Sloth” I returned home with an additional 7 lbs and a head cold thanks to some butthead on the cruise. And I have to run another (international) marathon next weekend!
This race will definitely be a test of the “Gluttony & Sloth” program. If I finish the race successfully – and alive – it will be Good News for many of my readers who are quite familiar with the program because it will mean that they are pre-eminently qualified to run a marathon?
Stay tuned!
Monday, January 11, 2010
RR - Disney Marathon
Race Report
Sun, Jan 10/10
Disney Marathon
Orlando, FL
Marathon #323
3:57:53 - 6AG
Not a great race for a number of reasons!
I added this marathon to my race schedule under duress a few months back. What do I mean – under duress? I hate this race for two reasons:
1) It is overpriced – registration is now $125! It is well organized but that entry fee is ridiculous.
2) The logistics of the race suck! The race starts at Epcot and runs around and through Epcot and Disney World. In order to get the race finished by noon so they can open the Park to regular guests Disney starts the race at 5:35am. Thus runners must be parked at Epcot by 4am, check their warm-up clothes by 4:30am and start walking .6M to the start line in the dark! Most years it is Cold while you wait for the race to start.
If I had known just how COLD it would be this year I would never have registered for the race! However when I checked race calendars it was the only race in FL that weekend and thus it was my cheapest option to run a race. Otherwise I would have to fly out of state, etc and that would greatly increase my costs. (And in hindsight it would have been even colder in nearby states!).
An added benefit was that a good friend and fellow Country Club member, Edson Sanches, would be running the marathon. Edson is one of about 30 runners who have run all previous 16 Disney Marathons and I knew he would not miss this one. We agreed to share a room.
As most of my readers know Canada and USA (and many other parts of the world) have been experiencing one of the coldest winters in history. Florida has broken cold temp records going back 140 years! The weather forecast for race day was not good (sub-freezing temps) and that would mean a cold race and a really miserable wait at the start! One good thing about running so many races was that I knew what to expect and how to prepare for the race. I pulled out my cold-weather running gear – polypro tights and top that trap body heat but allow sweat to wick away and for the COLD wait at the start I purchased a cheap sleeping bag at Walmart.
I met Edson at the hotel and we picked up our race packets. It was cold on Sat afternoon and we complained and worried about how cold it would be on Sun. I convinced Edson to buy some additional warm-up/race clothes because he had only brought shorts and a T-shirt!!! That evening we were joined by another old friend who lives in Orlando. Marty used to run with us back in the ‘good old’ days when all three of us were running our 1st circuit of the 50 States. We called ourselves the ‘tres amigos’ and competed fiercely (but friendly) against each other at races. Marty and his family joined us for dinner and we enjoyed a very nice evening and pasta dinner reminiscing about the old days.
Sun was “M’Day and I don’t believe there was one runner out of the 18,000 entered that was looking forward to the race? Even the Canucks and runners from the North were bitching about the cold! I felt sorry for them because they had booked this race to escape the Cold! It was 26F when I parked my car at Epcot at 4am. It was bitterly cold as I removed my warm-up clothes and made my final race preparations before checking my gear at the baggage tent at 4:30am. I used my sleeping bag like a cocoon as I walked to the start line. Most runners had blankets, garbage bags, etc to try to stay warm. I felt sorry for the few that had only race shorts and a singlet??? Everyone envied my sleeping bag – I had many offers to buy the bag. It wasn’t for sale – even for the $100 I was offered! I was as snug as a bug in a rug! I arrived at Coral A in the Red Wave and sat down in my warm cocoon to wait for the start of the race. There were two starts or waves – a Red and Blue- with several corals in each to handle the 18,000 runners. I lined up about 20 feet behind the start line and the elite athletes.
After the great race I enjoyed at Jacksonville three weeks ago I had hoped to set a target of sub 3:40 because I had completed some good speed work in the past few weeks. However I figured the cold temps and conditions were going to make it tough and I didn’t know what to expect? A few minutes before the start I had to reluctantly shed my cocoon - Damn! – it was cold even though I was still wearing 4 layers – a polypro top and T-shirt covered with a throw-away sweat shirt and garbage bag! My hands and feet froze before the gun went off to start the race!
Everyone was cold and stiff and started slowly. I shed the garbage bag at mile 2 and the sweatshirt and toque at mile 3 because I was starting to sweat. My hands and feet however were still frozen! We were boxed in until we completed the first loop of Epcot and the two waves merged at 3.4 miles. At the 2nd water station at 4 miles the volunteers shouted warnings to the runners to watch for ice on the road! Water that was sloshed and spilled from the cups had frozen on the road and it was like an ice rink. Runners had to be very careful while they attempted to break off a light crust of ice on the water in the cup to drink it. The water was definitely COLD! When I reached Mile 5 in 45:06 and an 8:47 split my legs were still tight and stiff. They couldn’t seem to warm or loosen up. It was taking much greater effort and energy than normal to make them move and I realized right then that it was not going to be a fast or easy race and I decided I would just try to hold a sub-9 min pace and finish under 4 hrs!
I passed mile 10 in 1:29:42 and through Cinderella Castle in the Magic Kingdom. My hands were still cold! I had to remove my fingers from the gloves and bundle them into a fist to warm them up. My feet must have been warm - I couldn’t feel them? I passed the Half in the Animal kingdom in 1:57:43 and a split of 8:35. The sun was coming up. I had big hopes that maybe I would start to warm up and could run a negative split in the 2nd half? Didn’t happen! The only time I felt warm was when the course ran east into the sun and when the course was sheltered from the wind in one of the Theme Parks. When the course was on the service roads and overpasses around the parks and open to the wind my hands would freeze (again) and it was miserable! I don’t know what the wind chill temp was – except friggin COLD!Each water station continued to be an ice rink until the end of the race and I still had to break ice off the water in my cup to drink it!
I reached Mile 20 in 3:00:26 and a split of 9:21. I realized that I needed to lower the pace back to a 9:00 min pace if I wanted to finish under 4 hrs. I didn’t care how miserable it was or how cold it was – I was determined to finish under 4 hrs to salvage some respectability! I managed to get the pace down to 9:05s and as I reached Mile 23 in 3:28:35 I passed a young male runner who was struggling. I shouted at him to stay with me and we would finish under 4 hrs! He responded by staying with me and we crossed the finish line together in 3:57:53! He thanked me profusely and stated that he had given up and was about to walk when I shouted. He gutted it out to the finish line by convincing himself that he should be able to keep up with an ‘old man’! I considered his thanks a compliment!
After a quick finish line photo I retreated hastily back to the car. The temp was 33F as I drove back to the hotel. I filled the tub with the hottest water I could stand and submerged my frozen body until it thawed out. Edson arrived 1 hour later. He had suffered a bad day and race and finished exactly 1 hr behind me.
I checked the race results online later that day and was not surprised to learn that I had not placed well in my AG – 6th out of 25 runners. Even if I had finished in sub 3:40 that would not have placed me in the top 3! The top 2 finished under 3:30 so not all Old Farts had suffered the same problems as me!
I am a bit disappointed/ discouraged with my performance and time. I feel that I am in much better shape than a 3:57? If I don’t see any improvement in my next race (Miami in 3 weeks) I am going to become really discouraged and lose motivation to accept more pain and speed work to continue to improve! Maybe it is time to follow the advice of my good friend and mentor Wally Herman and just run for fun?
Stay tuned!
Sun, Jan 10/10
Disney Marathon
Orlando, FL
Marathon #323
3:57:53 - 6AG
Not a great race for a number of reasons!
I added this marathon to my race schedule under duress a few months back. What do I mean – under duress? I hate this race for two reasons:
1) It is overpriced – registration is now $125! It is well organized but that entry fee is ridiculous.
2) The logistics of the race suck! The race starts at Epcot and runs around and through Epcot and Disney World. In order to get the race finished by noon so they can open the Park to regular guests Disney starts the race at 5:35am. Thus runners must be parked at Epcot by 4am, check their warm-up clothes by 4:30am and start walking .6M to the start line in the dark! Most years it is Cold while you wait for the race to start.
If I had known just how COLD it would be this year I would never have registered for the race! However when I checked race calendars it was the only race in FL that weekend and thus it was my cheapest option to run a race. Otherwise I would have to fly out of state, etc and that would greatly increase my costs. (And in hindsight it would have been even colder in nearby states!).
An added benefit was that a good friend and fellow Country Club member, Edson Sanches, would be running the marathon. Edson is one of about 30 runners who have run all previous 16 Disney Marathons and I knew he would not miss this one. We agreed to share a room.
As most of my readers know Canada and USA (and many other parts of the world) have been experiencing one of the coldest winters in history. Florida has broken cold temp records going back 140 years! The weather forecast for race day was not good (sub-freezing temps) and that would mean a cold race and a really miserable wait at the start! One good thing about running so many races was that I knew what to expect and how to prepare for the race. I pulled out my cold-weather running gear – polypro tights and top that trap body heat but allow sweat to wick away and for the COLD wait at the start I purchased a cheap sleeping bag at Walmart.
I met Edson at the hotel and we picked up our race packets. It was cold on Sat afternoon and we complained and worried about how cold it would be on Sun. I convinced Edson to buy some additional warm-up/race clothes because he had only brought shorts and a T-shirt!!! That evening we were joined by another old friend who lives in Orlando. Marty used to run with us back in the ‘good old’ days when all three of us were running our 1st circuit of the 50 States. We called ourselves the ‘tres amigos’ and competed fiercely (but friendly) against each other at races. Marty and his family joined us for dinner and we enjoyed a very nice evening and pasta dinner reminiscing about the old days.
Sun was “M’Day and I don’t believe there was one runner out of the 18,000 entered that was looking forward to the race? Even the Canucks and runners from the North were bitching about the cold! I felt sorry for them because they had booked this race to escape the Cold! It was 26F when I parked my car at Epcot at 4am. It was bitterly cold as I removed my warm-up clothes and made my final race preparations before checking my gear at the baggage tent at 4:30am. I used my sleeping bag like a cocoon as I walked to the start line. Most runners had blankets, garbage bags, etc to try to stay warm. I felt sorry for the few that had only race shorts and a singlet??? Everyone envied my sleeping bag – I had many offers to buy the bag. It wasn’t for sale – even for the $100 I was offered! I was as snug as a bug in a rug! I arrived at Coral A in the Red Wave and sat down in my warm cocoon to wait for the start of the race. There were two starts or waves – a Red and Blue- with several corals in each to handle the 18,000 runners. I lined up about 20 feet behind the start line and the elite athletes.
After the great race I enjoyed at Jacksonville three weeks ago I had hoped to set a target of sub 3:40 because I had completed some good speed work in the past few weeks. However I figured the cold temps and conditions were going to make it tough and I didn’t know what to expect? A few minutes before the start I had to reluctantly shed my cocoon - Damn! – it was cold even though I was still wearing 4 layers – a polypro top and T-shirt covered with a throw-away sweat shirt and garbage bag! My hands and feet froze before the gun went off to start the race!
Everyone was cold and stiff and started slowly. I shed the garbage bag at mile 2 and the sweatshirt and toque at mile 3 because I was starting to sweat. My hands and feet however were still frozen! We were boxed in until we completed the first loop of Epcot and the two waves merged at 3.4 miles. At the 2nd water station at 4 miles the volunteers shouted warnings to the runners to watch for ice on the road! Water that was sloshed and spilled from the cups had frozen on the road and it was like an ice rink. Runners had to be very careful while they attempted to break off a light crust of ice on the water in the cup to drink it. The water was definitely COLD! When I reached Mile 5 in 45:06 and an 8:47 split my legs were still tight and stiff. They couldn’t seem to warm or loosen up. It was taking much greater effort and energy than normal to make them move and I realized right then that it was not going to be a fast or easy race and I decided I would just try to hold a sub-9 min pace and finish under 4 hrs!
I passed mile 10 in 1:29:42 and through Cinderella Castle in the Magic Kingdom. My hands were still cold! I had to remove my fingers from the gloves and bundle them into a fist to warm them up. My feet must have been warm - I couldn’t feel them? I passed the Half in the Animal kingdom in 1:57:43 and a split of 8:35. The sun was coming up. I had big hopes that maybe I would start to warm up and could run a negative split in the 2nd half? Didn’t happen! The only time I felt warm was when the course ran east into the sun and when the course was sheltered from the wind in one of the Theme Parks. When the course was on the service roads and overpasses around the parks and open to the wind my hands would freeze (again) and it was miserable! I don’t know what the wind chill temp was – except friggin COLD!Each water station continued to be an ice rink until the end of the race and I still had to break ice off the water in my cup to drink it!
I reached Mile 20 in 3:00:26 and a split of 9:21. I realized that I needed to lower the pace back to a 9:00 min pace if I wanted to finish under 4 hrs. I didn’t care how miserable it was or how cold it was – I was determined to finish under 4 hrs to salvage some respectability! I managed to get the pace down to 9:05s and as I reached Mile 23 in 3:28:35 I passed a young male runner who was struggling. I shouted at him to stay with me and we would finish under 4 hrs! He responded by staying with me and we crossed the finish line together in 3:57:53! He thanked me profusely and stated that he had given up and was about to walk when I shouted. He gutted it out to the finish line by convincing himself that he should be able to keep up with an ‘old man’! I considered his thanks a compliment!
After a quick finish line photo I retreated hastily back to the car. The temp was 33F as I drove back to the hotel. I filled the tub with the hottest water I could stand and submerged my frozen body until it thawed out. Edson arrived 1 hour later. He had suffered a bad day and race and finished exactly 1 hr behind me.
I checked the race results online later that day and was not surprised to learn that I had not placed well in my AG – 6th out of 25 runners. Even if I had finished in sub 3:40 that would not have placed me in the top 3! The top 2 finished under 3:30 so not all Old Farts had suffered the same problems as me!
I am a bit disappointed/ discouraged with my performance and time. I feel that I am in much better shape than a 3:57? If I don’t see any improvement in my next race (Miami in 3 weeks) I am going to become really discouraged and lose motivation to accept more pain and speed work to continue to improve! Maybe it is time to follow the advice of my good friend and mentor Wally Herman and just run for fun?
Stay tuned!
Saturday, January 02, 2010
Country Club List
Country Club List. (Dec 10/10)
A list of members who have completed a marathon or ultra in a minimum of 30 different countries.
Note: A country may only be counted ONCE and a marathon that passes through more than one country (such as Monaco) may only count for ONE country. All members in the top five rating must verify their stats.
Runner Country # Countries
John Wallace USA 106
Wally Herman Canada 99
Edson Sanches USA 71
William Govi Italy 64
Tad Lancucki UK 57
Jaap Van de Berg Netherlands 56
Stefan Schlett Germany 55
Horst Preisler Germany 54
Roger Biggs UK 46
Peter Maier Germany 46
Don Lang USA 41
Dieter Elster Germany 37
Sudyong Toprasert Thailand 36
KG Nystrom Sweden 32
Helmut Lizbichler Austria 31
Antonius Steinberg Germany 30
Karsten Koehler Germany 30
Andy Kotulski USA 75*
Hajime Nishi Japan 72*
(* - stats not verified)
A list of members who have completed a marathon or ultra in a minimum of 30 different countries.
Note: A country may only be counted ONCE and a marathon that passes through more than one country (such as Monaco) may only count for ONE country. All members in the top five rating must verify their stats.
Runner Country # Countries
John Wallace USA 106
Wally Herman Canada 99
Edson Sanches USA 71
William Govi Italy 64
Tad Lancucki UK 57
Jaap Van de Berg Netherlands 56
Stefan Schlett Germany 55
Horst Preisler Germany 54
Roger Biggs UK 46
Peter Maier Germany 46
Don Lang USA 41
Dieter Elster Germany 37
Sudyong Toprasert Thailand 36
KG Nystrom Sweden 32
Helmut Lizbichler Austria 31
Antonius Steinberg Germany 30
Karsten Koehler Germany 30
Andy Kotulski USA 75*
Hajime Nishi Japan 72*
(* - stats not verified)
Monday, December 21, 2009
RR Jacksonville
Race Report
Sun, Dec 20/09
Jacksonville Marathon
Jacksonville, FL
Marathon #322
3:43:32 – 2AG
Oh – what a difference two weeks and forty degrees in temperature can make – exactly One Hour!
I had added this race to my calendar as a ‘required’ fast training run because I figured Singapore would be a long, slow run. However when Singapore turned out to be such a disaster it really shook my confidence. I wondered/worried if Singapore was just an exceptionally bad day or was my training program and conditioning also bad? Thus I was lacking a lot of confidence and motivation as I made the 5-hr drive up to Jacksonville on Sat.
I picked up my race packet and as I was checking into the host hotel I met a group of runners whom I knew from the Bradenton Running Club (neighboring city to Sarasota). They invited me to join them for pasta dinner which turned out to be a blessing since it was an enjoyable meal with great company and provided a distraction from my concerns.
Sun was M- day! The weather forecast called for COLD temps and high winds. It was fairly accurate. The skies were cloudy with a temp of 40 F and gusty winds at the 7 am start. It was very chilly with the wind so I wore a throw-away shirt and garbage bag over my race T-shirt and shorts to stay warm at the start of the race. It never warmed above 50 F during the race. On the bus ride over to the Bolles School where the race started I kept thinking “What am I doing here – I don’t feel like running a marathon”? I had little confidence and no motivation! But then I reminded myself that I had faced similar situations and feelings many times before and in most cases ended up running great races.
I decided to stick to my original plan/strategy to run a fast training run. I would go out at an 8:30 pace and hold it as long as possible. If I crashed – I crashed – but at least I would have an answer to my concerns/questions! I lined up at the start line with 2500 other runners (1000 in the Full and 1500 in the Half). As I lined up a few rows from the start line I found myself (coincidentally) lined up with the 3:45 pace group. I asked myself “Why don’t I just stay with that pace group”? They would prevent me from going out too fast and were running the pace I wanted. I don’t normally like to run with a pace group because my old bod experiences several ‘highs’ and ‘lows’ in energy during a race and typically I like to let my body go with the flow and my pace may vary by 10 to 15 secs/mile as my body goes through these cycles whereas a pace group will run a consistent split/pace.
The pace group pulled me through Mile 3 in 25:21 and a split of 8:21 and I removed my garbage bag. When we passed Mile 5 in 42:13 and a split of 8:21 I removed the throw-away shirt since I had finally warmed up. There were a few times when I experienced ‘highs’ and wanted to surge ahead and a few times when I experienced ‘lows’ and struggled to stay with the pace group. But I forced myself to be patient and stay with the group. Another benefit was that I was able to tuck in and draft behind the group when the winds got nasty! I followed the pace group through the Half in 1:51:30 – slightly ahead of pace! The good news was that I felt good and found the pace very comfortable so I decided to stay with the pace group till at least 20 miles and then re-evaluate!
When we passed Mile 16 in 2:16:01 and a split of 8:27 I was concerned that over the next four miles I would face some difficulty with a severe ‘low’ that I usually experience during that section of every marathon? Sure enough, when we reached Mile 18 in 2:32:51 the group had lowered the pace to 8:20s and I started to suffer a ‘low’. I started to fall back but then resolved that I would stay with the group till 20 miles and I forced the old bod to catch up! We passed Mile 20 in 2:49:46 and the pace group started to slow down and break up. As most marathoners know/understand it was crunch time and the race was just starting! And luckily the old bod gave me a shot of adrenaline and a burst of energy and another ‘high’. Maddog wanted to surge ahead but I wisely told him to be patient and stay with the group. When we reached Mile 22 in 3:07:09 the split had slowed to 8:42 and the pace group (including the pacer) started to slow down and fall apart? At that point three of us surged ahead together and fed off each other until we reached Mile 24 in 3:24:29. I knew right then that a sub-3:45 was in the bag and that gave me a boost of confidence and energy and I finally let Maddog surge ahead and left the other two members of the group to cross the finish line on the school track in 3:43:32!
Needless to say I was very happy with both my time and performance. I had run consistently even splits throughout the entire race and other than a few normal ‘lows’ never experienced any serious problems/troubles! I had exceeded my expectations and regained confidence in my training program and conditioning! I stuck around the finish area long enough for a finish line photo and to check the preliminary results. The initial results only showed finish times to 3:35. I naively figured that the best anyone in my AG could finish would be just under 3:30 so I checked the results down to 3:25. Nada? Maybe I did win my AG?
Since I was in a hurry to get back home to attend a Christmas party with our running friends I rushed back to the hotel for a quick shower and then made the trip home in 4 hrs. When I arrived home I quickly searched the race website to see if results had been posted? I was surprised to discover that my time was only good enough for 2nd place in my AG. I was shocked to learn that the winner finished in 3:16! Damn - I could never catch that guy. No matter how much I trained there ain’t no 3:16 left in this old bod! I didn’t recognize the name but I tip my hat off to him because he is a World-class runner – definitely way out of my league!
Although disappointed in a 2nd place finish I am still happy with my time and performance. I will continue my training program with confidence and motivation and lower my target to sub 3:40 for my next race in three weeks.
Stay tuned!
Sun, Dec 20/09
Jacksonville Marathon
Jacksonville, FL
Marathon #322
3:43:32 – 2AG
Oh – what a difference two weeks and forty degrees in temperature can make – exactly One Hour!
I had added this race to my calendar as a ‘required’ fast training run because I figured Singapore would be a long, slow run. However when Singapore turned out to be such a disaster it really shook my confidence. I wondered/worried if Singapore was just an exceptionally bad day or was my training program and conditioning also bad? Thus I was lacking a lot of confidence and motivation as I made the 5-hr drive up to Jacksonville on Sat.
I picked up my race packet and as I was checking into the host hotel I met a group of runners whom I knew from the Bradenton Running Club (neighboring city to Sarasota). They invited me to join them for pasta dinner which turned out to be a blessing since it was an enjoyable meal with great company and provided a distraction from my concerns.
Sun was M- day! The weather forecast called for COLD temps and high winds. It was fairly accurate. The skies were cloudy with a temp of 40 F and gusty winds at the 7 am start. It was very chilly with the wind so I wore a throw-away shirt and garbage bag over my race T-shirt and shorts to stay warm at the start of the race. It never warmed above 50 F during the race. On the bus ride over to the Bolles School where the race started I kept thinking “What am I doing here – I don’t feel like running a marathon”? I had little confidence and no motivation! But then I reminded myself that I had faced similar situations and feelings many times before and in most cases ended up running great races.
I decided to stick to my original plan/strategy to run a fast training run. I would go out at an 8:30 pace and hold it as long as possible. If I crashed – I crashed – but at least I would have an answer to my concerns/questions! I lined up at the start line with 2500 other runners (1000 in the Full and 1500 in the Half). As I lined up a few rows from the start line I found myself (coincidentally) lined up with the 3:45 pace group. I asked myself “Why don’t I just stay with that pace group”? They would prevent me from going out too fast and were running the pace I wanted. I don’t normally like to run with a pace group because my old bod experiences several ‘highs’ and ‘lows’ in energy during a race and typically I like to let my body go with the flow and my pace may vary by 10 to 15 secs/mile as my body goes through these cycles whereas a pace group will run a consistent split/pace.
The pace group pulled me through Mile 3 in 25:21 and a split of 8:21 and I removed my garbage bag. When we passed Mile 5 in 42:13 and a split of 8:21 I removed the throw-away shirt since I had finally warmed up. There were a few times when I experienced ‘highs’ and wanted to surge ahead and a few times when I experienced ‘lows’ and struggled to stay with the pace group. But I forced myself to be patient and stay with the group. Another benefit was that I was able to tuck in and draft behind the group when the winds got nasty! I followed the pace group through the Half in 1:51:30 – slightly ahead of pace! The good news was that I felt good and found the pace very comfortable so I decided to stay with the pace group till at least 20 miles and then re-evaluate!
When we passed Mile 16 in 2:16:01 and a split of 8:27 I was concerned that over the next four miles I would face some difficulty with a severe ‘low’ that I usually experience during that section of every marathon? Sure enough, when we reached Mile 18 in 2:32:51 the group had lowered the pace to 8:20s and I started to suffer a ‘low’. I started to fall back but then resolved that I would stay with the group till 20 miles and I forced the old bod to catch up! We passed Mile 20 in 2:49:46 and the pace group started to slow down and break up. As most marathoners know/understand it was crunch time and the race was just starting! And luckily the old bod gave me a shot of adrenaline and a burst of energy and another ‘high’. Maddog wanted to surge ahead but I wisely told him to be patient and stay with the group. When we reached Mile 22 in 3:07:09 the split had slowed to 8:42 and the pace group (including the pacer) started to slow down and fall apart? At that point three of us surged ahead together and fed off each other until we reached Mile 24 in 3:24:29. I knew right then that a sub-3:45 was in the bag and that gave me a boost of confidence and energy and I finally let Maddog surge ahead and left the other two members of the group to cross the finish line on the school track in 3:43:32!
Needless to say I was very happy with both my time and performance. I had run consistently even splits throughout the entire race and other than a few normal ‘lows’ never experienced any serious problems/troubles! I had exceeded my expectations and regained confidence in my training program and conditioning! I stuck around the finish area long enough for a finish line photo and to check the preliminary results. The initial results only showed finish times to 3:35. I naively figured that the best anyone in my AG could finish would be just under 3:30 so I checked the results down to 3:25. Nada? Maybe I did win my AG?
Since I was in a hurry to get back home to attend a Christmas party with our running friends I rushed back to the hotel for a quick shower and then made the trip home in 4 hrs. When I arrived home I quickly searched the race website to see if results had been posted? I was surprised to discover that my time was only good enough for 2nd place in my AG. I was shocked to learn that the winner finished in 3:16! Damn - I could never catch that guy. No matter how much I trained there ain’t no 3:16 left in this old bod! I didn’t recognize the name but I tip my hat off to him because he is a World-class runner – definitely way out of my league!
Although disappointed in a 2nd place finish I am still happy with my time and performance. I will continue my training program with confidence and motivation and lower my target to sub 3:40 for my next race in three weeks.
Stay tuned!
Wednesday, December 09, 2009
TR - Singapore
Sun, Dec 6/09
Singapore Marathon
Singapore
Marathon # 321 - Country #101 (new World Record)
4:43:41- 3 AG
I can’t say that I was looking forward to this marathon except that I would finally move off the century mark and complete Country #101. I visited Singapore five years ago and knew that the weather would be brutally hot and humid! The Sports Manager did not want to go since she had visited Singapore many times and was still recovering from her hip surgery.
Thus I made the long, 30-hr journey by myself. The journey was extended a few hours and I arrived at my hotel at 3am on Fri morning. When I exited the taxi it was hot and humid at 3am – I was already NOT looking forward to the race! I let the poor old bod sleep as late as possible and then proceeded to the race expo to pick up my race packet. There were 50,000 runners registered in four events – about 18,000 in the marathon.
I was not pleased with the race organization even before I left home. They had been very inflexible, uninterested and non-caring to assist me in obtaining bib #101 for the race. If you are not an elite athlete who can win the race they are not interested in helping you! When I tried to check the age group results for past years I learned that not only were there no age group awards for the race but they didn’t even post results for age groups! Thus my evaluation or rating for the race is LOW! Do not run this race if you are hoping for a PR (weather) or if it is a special milestone like race #100, etc! They could care less!
Packet pick up was well organized but the expo was pathetic! For a race that size there were only two booths selling running gear – the rest were hawking medical services and nutritional items? Fortunately the race booklet was good because there was very little info available at the expo!
Since I had toured the city/country on a previous trip I decided to buy a ticket on the hop on/hop off tour bus on Sat to visit a few interesting sites such as the Merlion (the city symbol) at Esplanade Park, the Singapore Flyer (new) and to check out the logistics at the start/finish area. The race started on the Esplanade Bridge and finished in front of City Hall. Once I was familiar with the area I was free to enjoy the rest of the city, enjoy an early dinner and go to bed early.
Sun was M-day! The marathon was the first race to start at 5:30am. It was HOT (high 70s) and humid (80%) at 5:30am as I lined up with 18,000 runners. There were only 3 race pens – sub 4 hrs, sub 5 hrs and 5 hrs+ with no controls. Thus I lined up a few rows behind the Kenyans and elite athletes to avoid getting boxed in. Because of the expected heat/humidity and no age groups or incentive to race I had decided to run ‘slow & easy’. I figured that I could run an easy 9-min pace for the 1st Half to take advantage of the ‘cooler’ weather and then slow to a 10-min pace in the 2nd Half. I ran the first 3 Km faster than wanted (15:55) because I was boxed in with fast runners. However at that point the course opened up and I was able to slow down. I passed 10Km in 55:30 but was already overheating? I slowed the pace to 9:30s in an effort to cool my body down.
However when I reached 15Km in 1:26:08 and a split of 6:08/km (9:45/mile) I knew that I was in trouble already. My body was burning up and I couldn’t cool off? I decided to let my old bod dictate the pace till the Half and started to stop at each water station located every 2 Km. I would drink one cup of water and dump two on me in an attempt to hydrate and stay cool. I passed the Half in 2:07:15. But the sun was up by then and the temps were in the 80s and I knew the 2nd Half would get ugly! When I passed 25km in 2:33:59 and a split of 6:36/km (10:33/mile) I knew I was in big trouble. My legs felt OK but I just couldn’t increase the pace – my body would not cool down and I had not yet made or had a need for a pit stop. I increased my water intake to two cups at each stop and dumped 3 or 4 cups on my body to try to cool off. I could barely run (jog) to the next water station w/o walking? It became a matter of survival. Run – or shuffle – for 2 Km, then stop for water in and on and repeat the cycle!
Around 37Km the marathon and Half merged to share the final 5Km and the course was clogged with walkers from the Half. Now I had to weave around thousands of walkers and that only exasperated the situation and the agony! I dearly wanted to join them in walking but needed to end the agony as quickly as possible. I continued to shuffle between each water station – then stop/walk - pour two in and 4 on- in a desperate attempt to stay cool and hydrated and finally crossed the finish line in 4:43:41.
I was so frustrated and disappointed with my performance and inability to recover and ‘run’ the race that I didn’t bother to stick around for any after-race festivities. I took a finish-line photo and returned to the hotel for a COLD shower just to cool off. I had planned to spend the afternoon exploring the city and taking a river cruise but the streets were so crowded with Sun/Xmas shoppers that I retreated to my hotel room to watch college football games from the USA and rest for the 30-hr return trip home on Mon.
The nice thing about ‘running’ so slow I have discovered is that my legs were not sore or tired after the run. I should be able to resume speed work in my training program sooner than expected to prepare for one more race in 2009. I decided to run a marathon in FL in two weeks. Hopefully I can run a faster race?
Stay tuned!
Singapore Marathon
Singapore
Marathon # 321 - Country #101 (new World Record)
4:43:41- 3 AG
I can’t say that I was looking forward to this marathon except that I would finally move off the century mark and complete Country #101. I visited Singapore five years ago and knew that the weather would be brutally hot and humid! The Sports Manager did not want to go since she had visited Singapore many times and was still recovering from her hip surgery.
Thus I made the long, 30-hr journey by myself. The journey was extended a few hours and I arrived at my hotel at 3am on Fri morning. When I exited the taxi it was hot and humid at 3am – I was already NOT looking forward to the race! I let the poor old bod sleep as late as possible and then proceeded to the race expo to pick up my race packet. There were 50,000 runners registered in four events – about 18,000 in the marathon.
I was not pleased with the race organization even before I left home. They had been very inflexible, uninterested and non-caring to assist me in obtaining bib #101 for the race. If you are not an elite athlete who can win the race they are not interested in helping you! When I tried to check the age group results for past years I learned that not only were there no age group awards for the race but they didn’t even post results for age groups! Thus my evaluation or rating for the race is LOW! Do not run this race if you are hoping for a PR (weather) or if it is a special milestone like race #100, etc! They could care less!
Packet pick up was well organized but the expo was pathetic! For a race that size there were only two booths selling running gear – the rest were hawking medical services and nutritional items? Fortunately the race booklet was good because there was very little info available at the expo!
Since I had toured the city/country on a previous trip I decided to buy a ticket on the hop on/hop off tour bus on Sat to visit a few interesting sites such as the Merlion (the city symbol) at Esplanade Park, the Singapore Flyer (new) and to check out the logistics at the start/finish area. The race started on the Esplanade Bridge and finished in front of City Hall. Once I was familiar with the area I was free to enjoy the rest of the city, enjoy an early dinner and go to bed early.
Sun was M-day! The marathon was the first race to start at 5:30am. It was HOT (high 70s) and humid (80%) at 5:30am as I lined up with 18,000 runners. There were only 3 race pens – sub 4 hrs, sub 5 hrs and 5 hrs+ with no controls. Thus I lined up a few rows behind the Kenyans and elite athletes to avoid getting boxed in. Because of the expected heat/humidity and no age groups or incentive to race I had decided to run ‘slow & easy’. I figured that I could run an easy 9-min pace for the 1st Half to take advantage of the ‘cooler’ weather and then slow to a 10-min pace in the 2nd Half. I ran the first 3 Km faster than wanted (15:55) because I was boxed in with fast runners. However at that point the course opened up and I was able to slow down. I passed 10Km in 55:30 but was already overheating? I slowed the pace to 9:30s in an effort to cool my body down.
However when I reached 15Km in 1:26:08 and a split of 6:08/km (9:45/mile) I knew that I was in trouble already. My body was burning up and I couldn’t cool off? I decided to let my old bod dictate the pace till the Half and started to stop at each water station located every 2 Km. I would drink one cup of water and dump two on me in an attempt to hydrate and stay cool. I passed the Half in 2:07:15. But the sun was up by then and the temps were in the 80s and I knew the 2nd Half would get ugly! When I passed 25km in 2:33:59 and a split of 6:36/km (10:33/mile) I knew I was in big trouble. My legs felt OK but I just couldn’t increase the pace – my body would not cool down and I had not yet made or had a need for a pit stop. I increased my water intake to two cups at each stop and dumped 3 or 4 cups on my body to try to cool off. I could barely run (jog) to the next water station w/o walking? It became a matter of survival. Run – or shuffle – for 2 Km, then stop for water in and on and repeat the cycle!
Around 37Km the marathon and Half merged to share the final 5Km and the course was clogged with walkers from the Half. Now I had to weave around thousands of walkers and that only exasperated the situation and the agony! I dearly wanted to join them in walking but needed to end the agony as quickly as possible. I continued to shuffle between each water station – then stop/walk - pour two in and 4 on- in a desperate attempt to stay cool and hydrated and finally crossed the finish line in 4:43:41.
I was so frustrated and disappointed with my performance and inability to recover and ‘run’ the race that I didn’t bother to stick around for any after-race festivities. I took a finish-line photo and returned to the hotel for a COLD shower just to cool off. I had planned to spend the afternoon exploring the city and taking a river cruise but the streets were so crowded with Sun/Xmas shoppers that I retreated to my hotel room to watch college football games from the USA and rest for the 30-hr return trip home on Mon.
The nice thing about ‘running’ so slow I have discovered is that my legs were not sore or tired after the run. I should be able to resume speed work in my training program sooner than expected to prepare for one more race in 2009. I decided to run a marathon in FL in two weeks. Hopefully I can run a faster race?
Stay tuned!
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