kayry - running engineer

2012 Houston Marathon

2012-01-18T21:58:00.000-08:00

2012 Houston Marathon and closing out the books on 2011:

After 3 DNSs in a row at Houston – 2 of which I’d earned a local elite slot in the race – I finally get to run my hometown marathon again. 4th time running it with the first three 2006 (4:28), 2007 (3:10) and 2008 (2:40). In 2008 I was the dark-horse – unknown runner in the area that dropped a surprising race and actually won the Masters division (>40). Now 2012 – 4 years older – maybe even a bit faster – I didn’t expect any master title today – even an age group award seemed a longshot knowing the fast masters in the area now and also knowing THIS 40th running of the race coupled with the Olympic Trials would attract other marathon enthusiasts to the city unlike a typical year and some of those enthusiasts would be fast.

Race goals:
A+ Sub6 mpm(2:37:17)
A PR(2:38:55)
A- Sub2:40
B+ Course Record(2:40:46)

- whatever the time I was hoping I’d come away with at least an AG Award even though there were 3 guys in my age group that had been beating me at races all year and who knows what out of towners would show up.
- I formed a team of running friends with the name “The Competitive Jerks” and I was talking up our team to win and even had Shirts made up that proclaimed “2012 Team Challenge Winners” so I certainly wanted those words to come true.

In my pre-race dreamland I had already started the A+ race report – it went something like this – “16 year old kid after a PE fitness test is called over by the track coach after running a sub6 minute mile….fast forward 28 years and 44 year old has now strung 26.2 of them in a row” – ok it needs work – but I guess I’ll save that opening for another day.

At the very last opportunity I won an elite slot into the race (in a 30k race in December) – 3rd time I’ve earned it – first time I get to actually run with it and I was going to savor every bit of it. Pardon me while I indulge in describing the great treatment in some detail:

- A low bib number – “46” – in a race with 13,000 signed up I had bib number 46 - actually that bib was only on my back – on the front my bib just said “HILL” with no number with a distinguishing color to signify “I am elite”.
- Free meals served at the Hilton – breakfast, lunch and dinner on Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Monday morning – I only had Saturday Dinner – lots of good carb choices.
- Pre-race elite area on the 2nd floor of the George R Brown with our own private stock of most anything away from all the crowds down on the 1st floor with our own flush toilets – no wait.
- Escort to the front of the race where we had a bunch of portacans to ourselves – no wait even up to the last minute. Also baggage check at the last minute for any last minute items.
- I elected for forgo use of the 2:07 and 2:10 pacers in the race – nice of them to offer but I figured I’d just pace myself.
- Bottle placement onto 8 tables along the course – I had a gu taped to a waterbottle at 5 of them. They put them in order of bib numbers and since I wasn’t so fast as most of the elites by the time I got to the table my bottle was VERY easy to spot sitting almost alone.
- Post race directed back again to the elite area on 2nd floor to get most anything to eat/drink and get the bag from the startline.

Training for this averaged around 60 mpw for the back ½ of the year. First half of the year I had medical issues for the first quarter (diagnosed with Ankylosing Spondilitis - AS) wasn’t actually sure I could run for a while. Once I found how to keep the inflammation away with Meds (an ibuprofen equivalent) I found I could in fact run or bike or anything really at its current progression so I kinda decided I was going to do all I can while I can and I continued training and finishing an Ironman for the first ½ of the year. Then switched back to running again with Houston being the goal race. Summer basebuilding ended with a 50 mile Ultramarathon in September. After a couple weeks I started mixing in some quality workouts to sharpening up my fitness again to race a good marathon. I was hoping to up the mileage into the 80+ range but kept hitting physical restraints so had to settle with somewhat lower mileage. A very strong PR 5k at the end of October was followed by a rocky November nursing a pulled groin injury the resulted shortly after that 5k – I managed to pull out a pretty good almost 10k PR by Thanksgiving but seemed to regret it physically when I went for speed so I spent the rest of December/January limiting the top end of my speed around the 10M race pace kinda area – I didn’t run very many real long runs but my benchmarking kinda runs still gave me hope I had a good shot to be somewhere in my “A” ranges of times. The AS seems to be very under control although I get knocked out at random from running for a few days seems like about once a month and when it knocks me out I can’t even run around the block – once it made me miss a race and as it happens just 3 days before the marathon I started feeling the AS creep in and I had some fears I was done for but by raceday it had disappeared again so all was good again – sometimes a little biking seems to make the aches go away and I was biking around the streets on Saturday watching the trials which I suspect did the trick.

Trials were great fun – I could probably say a lot more but I think I’ll just leave it at that.

Race strategy was to start off at my A+ goal pace for the first mile then let the HR guide me if I could sustain that or had to slow down. I was going to keep track of any of the local masters out ahead of me but I was not going to try to stay with anyone – just run my own race.

The race: - I got off pretty strong – very little traffic – I had some side stitches first few miles but I pushed through and they went away. I was banking some time under 6mpm for a while but I wasn’t watching pace at all – just trying to keep HR in the zone and eventually that zone was a bit slower than 6’s – and even still felt a little hot for so early in the race. At mile 5 I got my first bottle off the elite table where I had a chololate gu – which I’d never tried before but they didn’t have my first choice – vanilla – for my first bottle so I picked something else. That flavor proved a mistake as I felt like throwing it up for the next mile or so (yuck). All the other bottles had Mocha flavor Gu’s which I’ve always loved with that caffeine boost in a race. I make it to the ½ way seeing a split just off ½ my PR and I feel like I’ve worked the first half just a tad too hard so a negative split seemed very unlikely. I had a few miles here and there where I felt really good over the next 10k or so – I think the caffeine boost was working – but by 20 I was laboring. I worked hard to maintain effort for that last 10k and for the most part I think I succeeded. In normal painful delirium I run that final stretch – pick out my wife in the crowd waiving like crazy and give her a few high 5s then finish up to score a 7 second course record.

Here’s the official splits along with the HR data off my Garmin:

Split Diff Pace AHR MaxHR Place/Split's Rank
5k 18:23 5:55 157.1 162 35th/35th
10 19:08 6:09 159.3 162 55th/82nd
15 18:59 6:06 158.9 161 59th/80th
20 19:01 6:07 158.7 161 63rd/68th

13.1 1:19:38 6:04 158.5 162 64th

25 18:53 6:05 159.9 162 62nd/61st
30 19:24 6:14 160.1 163 64th/66th
35 18:52 6:04 161.6 164 61st/48th
40 19:34 6:17 163.6 167 63rd/48th
26.2 8:25 6:08 167.6 171 60th/42nd

2nd 13.1 1:21:01 6:11 162.1 171 xx/51st

26.2 2:40:39 6:07 160.3 171 60th

I think the 30k marker was a little long and 40k had some hills plus I was getting kinda tired :).

I was trying to hold a 160 HR which felt a little aggressive the first 10k but I went with it – started feeling too hard for so early so I kinda backed it off a hair the 2nd 10k then started feeling OK again the 3rd 10k and just too darn slow for the last 10k. Turns out my HR was drifting up even though my speed didn’t change all that much which I suspect is because I was getting dehydrated – that was kinda unexpected from a marathon run in the 40s but when I looked closer at the weather while I was running it kinda starts making some sense. Weather (from 4 different weather stations near the course with points shown for when I was closest to the corresponding weather station). I raced from 7am to 9:40am:

This is a rather unusual weather pattern actually – more typical is the Dew Point (DP) stays the same such that as the temperatures heat up the humidity drops – but for this race some moist air happened to roll in at the same time as the temperature was rising in the morning so the result was the humidity for this race appears to have stayed high for the entire race. Not such a huge factor as when it’s 60 or 70 because there is still a significant amount of convection cooling in the 40s but without any evaporation the sweat rate will be much higher – so with that the heartrate data make a bit more sense – I WAS getting dehydrated – and knowing how sensitive I am to the heat it seems pretty likely to me this high humidity cost me at least the A- goal – quite possibly the A goal – but the A+ goal was not available to me today.

After I finish up I see the Elite Coordinator and he confirms what I already knew – only ONE other local elite 40+ was ahead of me – and since he was 45+ I thought just maybe I’m in the AG award area. It felt awesome to knock off 3 of the local rivals who’d been beating me all year. The 45+ guy (Wilmer) I didn’t really feel like I had much chance at beating although as it turns out he finished just a few seconds off my A+ goal – I thought he’d be much farther ahead. I’m jazzed – I ran all I had – no matter what’s on the clock all I can do is run all I’ve got and I felt like I stepped up and delivered it – and just maybe I’m in the running for an award. I get back to the elite area and John Yoder is up there and pays me a huge complement by kinda shaking his head in disbelief that I beat him after he has so dominated me (by much more than a little) in at least 4 races this year – the “Competitive Jerk” in me just flying on cloud nine. I head back up to the hotel (a few steps away as we were in the host hotel) to meet up with my wife and puppies (we had two in the hotel room) and I was eager to find out both how I ended up in the Age Group standings and how the team “The Competitive Jerks” ended up doing in the team competition. I find out I’m 6th AG which I initially disbelieve – after all I beat everyone I knew in my age group – how could there be 5 guys I didn’t know about – finally I give in to paying the $6 internet fee and log my computer in and sure enough – I’m 6th. Even a local “dark horse” I’d never heard of before who had an amazing PR race – sound familiar? - yeah that was me in 2008 – what comes around goes around. Ok – no individual award – how about the team – I look up how my teammates did and find we’ve got a 1st (Wow Corina!) 2nd (Tim) 3rd (Dee) 6th(Me) 7th(Gio) 13th(Ilana) place in different age groups. Since only top three scores count my 6th won’t count so I didn’t weigh the team down (nor did I help it). Two other teams I was worried would be competing with us I looked up and we totally dominated them. I figured it unlikely there were any dark-horse teams out there that slipped past my research so it looked to me like we not only got the win in the Marathon division – we got the overall win too!

Celebrations continue all day – I had great fun meeting lots of people I only know through facebook/online land and also seeing many I only see at races too. Heard lots of good racing stories including the good, the bad and the ugly – as there always is after such a race.

Later I look a bit closer at the teams and yep – there WAS a dark-horse out there – a ladies team in the ½ marathon that dominated very large age groups and ladies ½ marathon age groups are the biggest age groups of any of the three races run that day so winning there gets more credit than the age groups where we won. IF I had moved up to 3rd in my age group – which is also a very large age group very comparable – we would have won – as it turns out that would have only taken 21 seconds to move from 6th to 3rd – but quite frankly – I didn’t have 21 more seconds in me in that race – I delivered all I had – and no other team mate had the opportunity to close the gap to them so in the end there are no excuses – we got all we could get – we did win the Marathon Division so the T-Shirts are still right:). Here’s our team picture – the Marathon Division WINNERS:

Corina, Ilana, Dee, Neil and Me. Also on the team were Tim and Gio. Congrats Marathon Winners!!!

Final results:
60th Place out of 7675
53rd Male out of 4856 (chick’d by 7)
9th Master beat by both a 41F(master chick’d) and a 55M (gueezer’d).
6th Age Group out of 814
3rd Local Master
2nd Local in 40-44 Age Group (who is this Brian Haskett? Congrats on a great race!!!)

Team (by my own unofficial accounting – awards ceremony in February):
Team Impala – ½ marathon:
F43 1st/789 = 1.3
F43 2nd/789 = 2.5
F32 6th/999 = 6.0

Total 9.8.

Team Competitive Jerks – Marathon
F45 1st/351 = 2.8
M47 2nd/678 = 2.9
F 41 3rd/492 = 6.1

Total 11.9.

I was M44 6th/810 = 7.4. 22 seconds faster I’d be 3rd for 3.7 which would have won :(. No other runners on the team had a realistic chance to close the gap.

2nd Overall out of many
1st Marathon Division out of many

Email from Houston Marathon:

Dear Corina, John, DeeAnn, Giovanni, Ilana, and Tim,

Congratulations! The Competitive Jerks is the winner for the ABB Team Challenge: Marathon Team.

We hope to see you at our ABB Team Challenge Awards Dinner. It will be held on Thursday, February 9th, at 5:30 PM in the Cadillac Bar.

Again, congratulations on a job well done!

Houston Marathon Committee, Inc.

In the end I don’t really care about the awards although they are fun little trinkets that come along with a little luck – I love to run and I loved knocking out another good strong all-out marathon and hope I can keep being a Competitive Jerk for many years to come – it’s just fun:).

Sugar Land 30k

2011-12-12T12:31:00.001-08:00

Summary: YESS!!!! I am Local Elite for Houston Marathon. 3rd year I've earned this award and 3rd time will be the charm - as I missed the first 2 injured.

Drove out race morning for a 6:30 start time. Tried a normal marathon routine for morning and race fueling which included a 400 cal drink at 3:30am, another 400 cal drink at 4:30am - some coffee at about 6 and some gatorade at 6:25. In the future I'm going to bail on this last bit of Gatorade - stomach cramps every time I do it - maybe now I've finally learned to give it up. At the startline I find out who the competition is - two fast local masters - one of the unbeatable, the other would be neck-n-neck - but both already have their local elite slot so nothing is gained by beating only one of them. Only one other local was on my watch list as able to run a qualifying 6:19 pace for the race and he didn't show up so I could see from the start I wasn't going to get drawn into a competitive race - I could run a good MP workout as planned and get the local elite slot. I was worried about this muscle pull that messed up last weekends workouts - it always seemed to start getting sore around 10-12 miles and I didn't really know how it would be to push through that as I was reluctant to push it on the workouts.

I ran with a buddy the first mile - he was a contender for the win but wanted to start "slow" 6ish pace then run MP miles to the end - I planned to run 6 mpm for the first mile then see based on my heartrate if the heat boost run from Friday was working - in the past a 15 sec/mile improvement from Tuesday's 6:15 benchmark run was a pretty normal improvement - but after the 1 mile marker when the HR came up on the Garmin - it was clear I needed to slow it down - so I dropped the pace to get the HR back where I was targetting - the pace felt easy - but then mile 2 of a marathon is supposed to feel easy so I went with the strategy.

Here's the splits:
6:10 Avg 1-6: 5:59(150) 6:14(160) 6:14(158) 6:09(160) 6:09(159) 6:17(159)
6:12 Avg 7-12: 6:08(159) 6:15(158) 6:17(158) 6:15(159) 6:07(159) 6:12(159)
6:11 Avg 13-18: 6:11(159) 6:26(159) 6:13(159) 6:07(159) 6:05(161) 6:07(160)
5:49(164) for the last 0.75 miles (per Garmin).

6:13 average for official race distance (18.6).

After the first 12 I recall feeling how great I felt with only a little over 6 miles to go - from this I concluded I was probably below MP effort on this first part - I think for the marathon I'm going to be going for 160 HR. I thought about picking up the pace for the last 6 but then the muscle pull I was fearing started to bother so then I was just hoping I'd make it to the finish. I kinda just monitored for a mile or so then I altered my stride to land on my heal and roll to the toe for a while (you can see the efficiency drop in mile 14 split) and that seemed to do the trick - I was able to switch back to normal and all seemed OK - nice to know I can work through this particular pain and get to the otherside OK.

12 overall, 3rd Master, 2nd AG .... and beat the qualifying time for a Houston Elite spot by a couple minutes with no other Masters in front of me that didn't already have their slots ---- I'm in!!! I've never done any race as an elite before - and I know Houston treats the elites right - I'm looking forward to it!!

Overall lessons - forget heat-treating run - it doesn't work for me anymore with my current NSAIDs treatments, I think 160 HR is about the right target - since this race averaged just under this I'm thinking my MP pace is about 6:10 - I'd like to notch that down a little before Houston - 5 weeks to go - but getting to 6:00 seems pretty far fetched at this point - but sub2:40 maybe still within reach - barely with perfect execution - we'll see.

TXU Turkey Trot

2011-11-24T11:29:00.000-08:00

Turkey Trot 10k:
Splits: 5:36,5:34,5:38,5:42,5:43,5:40,5:13pace for last 0.31(per garmin)
Time: 35:27
Place: 1st Master, 10th overall out of ~3000 (7th to the line but I guess a couple chip vs gun times lowered me down a bit - not sure why 3 fast dudes start 20-50 seconds late).

I was pretty excited to see a cool forecast for this race after a couple warm races recently and was pretty excited all week to run the race. I planned to try to hold 5:35 pace which seemed very doable and I kept it there through the turnaround at 1/2 way - but then into a little breeze I couldn't seem to hold it coming back and lost time on the 2nd half. I was pretty much alone from about 2 mile in and at the turnaround the next guy seemed a world away ahead and a pretty good gap to the guy behind too so no chance for a wind block for the return trip. For the last mile a kid caught up to me and traded off with me a couple times. Finally once when he passed and going into the wind I decided to tuck behind him for a bit then with about 1/4 mile to go I dropped the hammer and sprinted it in leaving him a few seconds behind (but he kinda got the last laugh holding a 21 second chip/gun time delta).

I was surprized to see the clock ticking away greater than my PR (35:11) as I approached the finish - I thought even with the wind I was at least sub35. Later looking at the Garmin distance I'm fairly certain there was an extra 20-30 seconds on this race being a little long so I'm feeling like I got the PR - and maybe even the sub35 unofficially. Not much master's competition in this race - main competitors were split between three main races around the city and I seemed to be the only one within a couple minutes at this race. After some reflection I'm feeling pretty good (not jumping off the walls great but pretty good) about the race although initially I was pretty bummed to not have crushed - or even edged out a PR from the race. I didn't stick around for the awards as I wanted to be home not so much past when the house got moving for the holiday so no idea what I actually won - guess I'll wait to get surprized in the mail - my expectation are very low.

Update - expectation exceded - Prize was a new Kindle - pretty cool!

Metric Marathon

2011-11-13T11:33:00.001-08:00

Metric Marathon:

Splits: 5:53,5:53,6:03,6:12,6:08,6:16,6:17,6:15,6:19,6:15,6:29,6:16,6:23,7:18,7:19,7:02,1:54(6:16 pace last 0.3)

I was on track for 13 miles at 6:12 average pace with just a 5k or so to go and I'd have the local elite spot at Houston Marathon (requires a sub1:41:54 - 6:16 pace) - but I just couldn't hold it together and took a couple walk breaks and ran a few 7:xx miles to let it get away. if only..... oh well - still a fun time despite the heat. My head was just not there for this race - after a week off with a pulled groin muscle and this week I'd call pretty tame/low quality - I just didn't have the confidence going into this race and add to that the heat - 65°F Dew Point - and this race just wasn't great - still a good workout and likely a quick recovery from it for some good training next week so I guess it's all good - I was worried about all sorts of niggles and I felt good that nothing seemed to get worse in the race. I forgot my Garmin/HRM (data above from my blackberry's GPSlogger) so I was running kinda blind on my effort level - seems I just pushed it too hard and blew up with the heat. Or perhaps more likely I just wimped out at the end.

Goblin Gallop 5k

2011-11-02T10:23:00.000-07:00

Background – 2011 so far has been venturing off into other frontiers – first half of the year was mostly Ironman focused – through the summer was Ultramarathon focused – both were great experiences but certainly not great races. In fact my last good race with good conditions was the CIM marathon last December. This 5k I wanted something more from a race. Conditions were perfect in the 40s. I had a PR that it seemed like I should be able to knock out but historically the shorter distances I’ve just had problems with. Some recent workouts suggested sub16:55 – my PR set in 2008 – was within reach. After the ½ marathon last Sunday that I ran on a hard week of workouts with tired legs – I set up my week to have fresh legs at the 5k – I really wanted my best. Besides the PR I knew one of my local rivals would be there – W – who has beat me in every race we’ve ever raced except for one – ’08 San Antonio Marathon – where I managed to snag the 1st place Master’s title from him on a technicality (I had the faster gun time – he had a much faster chip time starting the race 15 minutes late). W and I ran this 5k race for Shell in a corporate challenge so I knew he’d be there (as I invited him) so we’d both represent the team.

Race plan was to just stick with W – I told him before the race I was just going to try to stick with him so he could lead me to a PR – I wanted to try to hold 5:20’s per mile and was hoping he’d be right about that pace.

We’re off – after a few 100 yards I glanced at the Garmin and it showed about 5mpm pace so I tried to ease off just a little – there were a few ahead of me and as I eased off W came on by so I tucked in right behind him. The pace feels just a little hot but I was going with it. My watch shows the auto mile 1 split at 5:15 – just short of the milemaker. I stick tucked behind W but after another ¼ mile I glance down at the watch and see we are holding 5:35 pace – too slow – so I pick it up and go on by him. In my mind I’m thinking of the story he just told me at the startline about the ½ marathon last weekend where he let J go by about mile 11 then sprinted by him at the end to beat him by 1 second at the finishline to take fastest Master (besides Sean Wade). By about another ¼ mile my split pace is back to 5:25 for the 2nd mile and with a few turns in the next ½ mile the overall split for the 2nd mile ends up 5:21 by auto recorded laps on my watch. One final turn and the last mile is a straight shot to the finishline. A heavy breather comes by me near the beginning of that – not W – but I still figured he was back there somewhere. I’m holding on with all I’ve got – the words “pain is good” or many variants of that keeps ringing through my head – that finishline so far up ahead I just kept willing towards me with all I had. With the sun behind us pretty low I could see any shadows of someone coming up from behind and I kept expecting a charging W to come by but he never came. Finally mile 3 clicks off at 5:23 and just a short 0.1 miles to go. I’m trying to muster up a sprint but could only manage a small pace increase and I take that into the finish – 5:08 pace for the last 0.12 miles by my watch – and I see the clock clicking through the 16:3X seconds and I finish right at 16:40 4th place overall and 1st place Master – a 15 second PR – and beyond all expectations – I somehow beat W – who ends up finishing 5th place about 25 seconds back.

Summary (Garmin):

1 5:15 152 (163 max)
2 5:21 168 (172 max)
3 5:24 173 (175 max)
0.12 5:08 175 (176 max)

Total 16:40 (5:23 pace per official race distance)

Gotta love the award picture at the top - a picture of a competitive jerk pushing 2nd place out of the way to break the ribbon - Love it!

That was the most awesomest finishline feeling I’ve had all year – one of those big loud “YES!!” moments.

Official Results

Houston Half

2011-10-23T11:39:00.000-07:00

Here's my half marathon week - too much fast stuff for a good race I think:

M 7(6:53) with strides
T 6(8:00)//4(7:30)
W 12 progressive miles from 7:20 down to 5:30....that was the fastest I've ever gone down to on a progressive which gave me great hopes for the upcoming 1/2 marathon....very nice cool and low humidity morning run.
Th 4 (7:00)
F 5 (6:37)//5(7:12)
S 11.3 (6:53) in 1:17:11 (time on legs run - hoping to go shorter time next day).
S 13.1 in 1:20:50* - 3rd AG (for which I received what I believe to be the worst AG award ever - a Certificate of Achievement)

Total 70.6 (with a few missing puppy jogs above).

*Felt like I should have been able to run it faster. With Master's gone (Sean Wade) and 1st and 2nd AG a couple minutes ahead along with the Houston Marathon Elite Entry Prize (to 2nd AG) and a PR out the window perhaps I didn't fight hard? Don't know - the heartrate was the lowest I've ever done for a 1/2 marathon yet for a warm race it should have been higher which suggests I had another gear but I sure couldn't find that gear out there. Really looking forward to cool racing vs this - 68°F w/ 63°F Dew Point (86% Humidity).

Overall a pretty good week although I thought I'd do that 1/2 marathon a lot faster. Guess I should know better than to expect things on the clock on a hot/humid day. Good news is now 4 of the fast guys around already have their Houston Marathon Local Elite status - with two more races shots left and only one guy I think is competitive with me I've still maybe got a good shot to get it. 26.2k in 3 weeks will be my next shot. Another bright spot is these warmer races don't take near so much time to recover from so I'm thinking I don't need to alter my schedule for next week much. I'll have to juggle around a little to swap out a long tempo run on my schedule for Wednesday with something else - with a 5k race on Saturday and longrun on Sunday on tired legs - maybe I'll plan another progressive run midweek.

oh and by the way - I will NOT be trying that bean/rice buritto pre-race dinner again....I swear it added 3 lbs to my race weight without any "fiber-induced blow out - first thing on race morning"...

Just checked and found 44 fricken ° for Saturday's 5k forecast - I'm excited!!!

10 4 Texas

2011-10-09T11:36:00.000-07:00

I did my 10 miler on Saturday - first "real" race of the year back in my own element. Ironman/Ultra first time racing certainly wasn't my element. The weather was bad with Dew Points over 70°F which sapped some motivation so I kinda decided to take it to about 1/2 way controlled then decide if I was going to go race effort the back half or just get a good work-out out of the race. Last year I won Masters with a sub59 climbing from ~7th to 2nd OA over the last half of the race. This time I kept the first 5 controlled by capping the HR at 172 (cold weather average for last year's race was 170 but with the heat I knew I could do a little more) which started fast enough but slow down as the heat effect set in with splits of 5:51,5:54,6:09,6:25,6:30 - at that point still kinda tipping between workout or race I decided one more mile with the HR cap and did 6:36. Then at 13th place I decided I was going to bring it home and started trying to pull guys in - a bit of a headwind for the last 4 miles but the HR show the effort jump a bit more - pulled in one guy with a 6:20/175 7th mile then a guy caught me from behind which I found a little discouraging since I though I was upping it a little - 8th and 9th I didn't make progress on anyone and just lost that one place - 6:36/174, 6:30/173 - last mile gives me some finishline magnetic motivation and I pull in two guys with a final 6:13/176 mile to finish the race in 11th place to finish 1:03:17

I didn't recognize any of the typical fast masters among those out ahead of me but I've finished races in 11th place OA without even ending top 3 AG so as I looked at the results I was kinda self-talking myself to be grateful with anything - turns out the 1st place Masters was the next guy 9 seconds ahead of me and I scored the 1st AG award. He turned out to be a local good tri-guy which explains why I hadn't heard of him (as a Competitive Jerk I of course keep tabs on who in my AG is my competition:)). 4 minutes slower than a year before but knowing I'm typically a bit more slowed in the heat than others I gauged my race performance more by how it felt than the time and it felt like I gave it near all - yeah I'm certain I could have squeezed out another 9 seconds but that's spilt milk - I'm pretty happy pulling out the AG win on such a disadvantaged day to me with the heat. Nice to be out kinda back in my (road racing) element again. A great kick-off to my training to Houston....

Sierra Nevada 50 Mile UltraMarathon

2011-09-28T12:59:00.000-07:00

there and back again – a runner’s tale.........

Background:

I picked this race as I looked at the rather large gap between Ironman Texas (May) and Houston Marathon (January) thinking I needed something to fill this void. I’d knocked the Ironman off my bucket list why not progress towards another. Western States 100 is a race that goes from Squaw Valley to Auburn in June and is difficult to get into but it’s on my bucket list too. To get in requires some skill but mostly a lot of luck. For the skill part of it I needed a sub11 hr 50 miler to get a Western States Qualifier (WSQ) to enter the lottery – for the luck part I must win a lottery that majorly disadvantages the newbie held each December for the following year’s race. Last year’s race the lottery chances for a newbie entry was about 10% (218 wins out of 2,113 names) - and those odds only get worse each year as an ever growing number of 2x or 3x or more “losers” trying to get into the race get extra entries into the hat increased odds by the number of consecutive times they’ve tried to get into the race. I think that maybe within 4-5 years I might have around even odds of getting in if they don’t change the entry system again. I’m kinda hoping a way is figured out to increase the field size of this race to increase the odds of getting in sooner.

Other than to get the WSQ – I picked this race also because it gives a good opportunity to go to California and visit with my Dad and Step-Mom who live in Auburn. Auburn also has the finishline to the Western States race and this course happens to have a few of the final miles of that race within it. I’d run this small portion of the trail one time visiting my Dad and I’d spent many days boating around on the lake adjacent to the trail growing up in Sacramento so it all just had that home like draw to it. The end of September timing worked well with my training as before was mostly low-medium base-building mileage through the summer with the real training for my goal race (Houston Marathon on 1/15) starting in October so this seemed early enough to recover from and still train OK.

We (Susan and I) flew out Friday Morning and my Dad drove us around to see a few of the spots around the course. Two variables that caused me some anxt was the major overgrowth of thistles everywhere as I imagined socks and shoes full of them poking into my feet after a few miles – and the dust level which tends to send me into asthmatic misery – I found myself wheezing a little just from the driving around to a few of the trail heads so I got a little worried how I’d be after many hours out on the trails. My daughter flew out as well and we all drove out to get her from the airport in the evening. I put her in charge of tracking me through the race on her iPhone and giving everyone updates of where I was which she seemed to enjoy doing and she did quite well. I carried my cellphone on the run and had an app on it that would send her a google maps link with my gps coordinates every 30 minutes so she could compare with a course map and see my progress. As I mentioned a portion of the course is at the end of the Western States run and we happened across this sign along the way:

Training:

Although I'd never taken a step beyond 26.2 miles ever and I've never run hilly trails of any significance - Sub11 hours did not seem much of a challenge so I didn’t do much special to prepare for this race. Through the heat of Houston summer I ran mostly on the treadmill at no grade since the Ironman in May. Around the beginning of September the temperatures were sometimes not so bad so I switched most of my running to outside. For the last couple weeks I tried to avoid the pavement as much as possible and opted for trails near the house as much as possible. Flat easy non-technical trails are about all I’ve got without a lot of effort and that’s pretty much all I did. Mileage averaged about 65 mpw for the last few months with a few weeks in the 80s while I was on the treadmill in August. Mostly what I’d consider basebuilding type speeds – relatively slow and relaxed – which is my view of an ultramarathon so I figured that worked OK. My goal race is the Houston Marathon in January – this race is more or less a tune-up race after the basebuilding phase on the road to Houston. I practiced fueling strategies up to about 3 hours of running or cycling. I got a fueling strategy from an accomplished ultrarunner and tried to copy it – seemed to work OK on my training runs.

Pre-Race Strategy:

Fueling/Hydrating/Electrolytes Plan:
- Target 24 oz/hr and ~250 cal/hr and 375 mg/hr Sodium.
- Carry one 24 oz bottle and powdered mix for refills. Each fill had a heaping scoop of HEED and Sustain (Hammer Products) (~250 cal) and I also broke open and mixed in 1 SaltStick tablet into the powder so I wouldn’t have to carry the tablets separate. I also carried a few Caffinated Gels I planned to take with water at aid stations.
- Estimating about 3:45 in each direction I planned for 3 bottles (1 at the start, 1.5 I carried mix and 1 given to me by my crew about 3 miles from the turnaround which I’d drink ½ each way to the turnaround and ½ way back) and two Gels in each direction.
- My watch was set at 15 minute intervals to give a vibration alarm and I’d empty a ¼ of the bottle at each alarm.

Pacing Plan:
- Try to keep the HR below 150 (I average about 160 for a Marathon and 170 for a half marathon so I'm figuring each doubling of distance I should knock down 10) which I figured would probably give me 7:30-8:00 pace. I was kinda figuring to stay in the low 140s would be 8-8:30 pace. Although these paces seemed not so hard relative to my training I was certainly aware the course record is only 8:00 pace so these are certainly not fast trails. I wasn’t going to try to stick with the leaders or anything – run my own race - but I was expecting to not be far from them.
- Try to keep the effort even – fully OK to walk up the hills if the HR goes high jogging up them.
- Don’t burn myself out unless there’s something to be gained (like a win or something) – stay relative comfortable, get the WS Qualifier and keep the legs able to recover for good 4th quarter training/racing.
- First half weather would likely be dry-60s (heaven compared to the humid weather I’d been training in in Houston) but the 2nd half would be into the 80s and maybe 90s for a good portion so I figured I’d be running a slower 2nd half if just for that factor alone.

Gear Plan:
I’m not at all used to running with stuff so I tried to go as minimal as I could. What I brought with me:
- 24oz Gatorade bottle with ¼ turn sports top I’d carry in one hand.
- Garmin 310XT + HRM with display only showing HR and distance and an alarm set every 15 minutes for fueling. AutoLap every mile. Vibration alerts only so I wasn’t beeping – I really like that feature as in prior racing with the 305 I had way too much watch beeping going on – kinda annoying to me and to others.
- Injinji socks (toe socks) with a coating of hydropel all over the foot before I put them on to prevent blisters.
- DeSoto Skin Cooler top with ice pockets down the spine for cooling down when it got hot.
- I used a bib belt for clipping stuff to around my waist. Attached to the belt I had 2 pouches and a cellphone holder. In one pouch I had 2 ziplocks of powder – 1 for a full bottle and 1 for ½ a bottle – that filled up the pouch. I planned to try to get the powder into the bottle before the aid station without stopping by biting off a corner of the bag and stuffing it into the bottle – I hadn’t actually tried that in training but thought I’d give it a try anyway rather than stopping for several minutes pouring powder into the bottle. In the other pouch I had 3 GU. I could put the pouches on either hip and found in test runs it didn’t bounce much. I decided last minute to add an old cellphone holder to carry my cellphone (in a plastic bag) vs what I’d planned and tested of putting the phone in the bottom shirt ice pocket because it ends up bouncing around a lot back there – I thought it might be better on the belt.
- iPod Shuffle clipped to the bib belt and earphones – although I don’t race with music typically I figured for such a long race somewhere within the many hours a little motivational music might be nice as a little pick me up.
- My normal training shoes – Brooks Adrenaline with ~200 miles on them.
With my crew at mile 21/28 I had spare shoes (~350 miles on them)/socks a first aid kit and refills to all my pouches – ziplocks of mixed powders, gels and I had them mix up a new cold bottle for each direction I passed them. I also had my Dad bring an albuterol inhaler in case I get asthma from the dust. Also for the finishline my wife had instructions to get a beer in my hand as quickly as possible :).

The Course:
- An out and back run along trails that parallel the Folsom lake and on up to the North Fork/American River ending in Auburn with the turnaround at No Hands Bridge – one of the aid stations for the Western States run.
- First and last 18-19 miles is a single track trail regularly used for horses and some joggers –continual rolling <100’ kinda hills. Much of the trail is pretty technical with rocky sections to climb or jump down pretty regular along.
- One big hill to climb ~1000 ft into Auburn starting around 18 that takes about a mile at 16% grade then decent back down to the river at the turnaround at a somewhat gentler 8-10% grade then turnaround and do them both the other way.
- At the top of the hill and for couple miles each way get a flat trail along a little few foot wide canal.

Pre-Race:
- Taper plan was same as I’d done with marathons recently. 3 day out run in sweats which normally drops my HR a few beats on raceday for the same pace, 3 day carbload, lots of hydrating and salty foods day before.
- Morning pre-load with a bottle of UltraFuel 3 hrs pre-race and another 2 hrs pre-race.
- Usually I’d also take a couple of electrolyte pills and 12 oz of Gatorade just before the race but I didn’t this race as I was going to be taking lots in the race.
- A new variable that I’m now wonder its impact was I was about 1 week into a 10 day prescription of antibiotics (Sulfameth) as a precaution against infection my Doctor gave me for a boil. I see diarrhea as a side effect and I’m now wondering if it played a role in my getting dehydrated during the race.
- 6:30 am start and my Dad, wife and daughter all joined me to the start leaving the house about 5:15.
- I tried to take in my first UltraMarathon and looked at those around the start and all the different gear they had. It sure made my stuff loop pretty skimpy – people really carry a lot on these races and they have pretty efficient ways to carry it too. Also some fancy bandana kinda things over the shoes I imagine keeps the rocks out. The calf compression socks I thought would be pretty cool to not get scratched from the thistles.
- ½ mile walk out to the startline with everyone – it was really great to have my send-off party there at the start. I start my phone app to send signals to Kaylee and head over to the front for the race start.

The Race:

The Garmin Data: LINK

- Easy jog it out – I forcing myself to keep it cool and not take the lead – I end up running 2nd for most of the first part. We are instructed to follow the pink ribbons that are hung along the trail and at every twist and turn so we know we are on the right trail. At one point we are all confused which way to go and we stop to decide whether right or left – after 5-6 guys stack up someone sees the pink ribbon and we are off again.

- A couple of early gear issues – the cellphone holder on the bib-belt turned to have way too much bounce to it so I moved the cellphone to the shirt’s icepocket – it bounced a little but it was secure and I got used to it. The iPod Headphones proved to not be secured and kept coming out and dangling down past my knees – I kept trying to wind them around things on my belt while I was running but they kept bouncing free and I’d wind them again.

- First miles click away and I’m running around 8s and feeling pretty relaxed but I’m a bit concerned my HR is running so high – mid150 and sometimes even more – I was expecting for this pace to be low 140s – maybe even lower with the good heat run I’d done a few days before. Something screwy was going on because the HR was just running way too high. I decided not to pace adjust for it – breathing seemed OK and the pace felt pretty effortless so I’ll just monitor the HR and hope it starts to fall off after a few miles.

- The HR does fall off but it took a full 10 miles before it got within what I was hoping would be my max for the race of around 150. A little worried about it I’m tending toward slowing a little and let a few go by.

- At the aid stations I’m re-filling my bottle as needed. I’m somehow able to get the powder into the bottle without slowing down so just a brief stop for the volunteer to fill the bottle and I’m off again. I’m pretty much on plan with everything fueling/hydrating.

- I’m taking the ups slow – walked a couple steeper ones – and I’m having fun kind doing a two step jump down the more technical rocky hills (pick a spot – jump down to it, pick next spot and jump down to it) moving pretty good. I’m thinking I’m a pretty good downhill runner although I don’t practice much – the words from the DipSea movie On the Edge about running downhill by faith give me some confidence to just put my foot out there quickly and have faith I can figure out how to make it land OK and move on.

- My Dad and Step Mom mentioned as they go for hours long walks on beautiful trails around the country how they kinda pitty the trail runners who can only focus on the dirt ahead while they are walking and can look up and appreciate the beauty around. I think of this as a beautiful sunrise over Folsom Lake comes up to my right – but I cannot dare look at or I’d twist my ankle on a rock. But it was all still nice in the peripheral view anyway :).

- The big 1000’ hill at mile 20 was as expected – a walk. A girl with pink ribbons in her hands who has been marking the trail gives some caution that the markings aren’t perfect – but just keep going up – if there’s an option to cut across or go up – go up.

- I get to the top of the hill and there’s a canal that crosses the trail with an option to go across the canal and keep going up a little more hill – or run along the trail with the canal – with not pick ribbons in sight and the lady’s instruction in my head I march on up – and in the distance I see a couple others up there so must be right.

- So a ½ mile or so of no pink ribbons and I’m starting to think I’m not on the right trail. I decide to pull out my phone and pull up a GoogleMap of where I’m at and see what I find. After a couple minutes I determine the trail I’m on is going generally the right direction so I stick with it hoping things will somehow workout. I get to a street and happen to see a pink ribbon on a trailhead down the road so I jog over there and find the RIGHT trail which happens to be going along the canal.

- Another mile or so and I get to the Auburn Dam Overlook – recently renamed the American River Canyon Overlook – apparently after decades have gone by since it was planned to build this dam – and construction never began – they finally gave up on the name. Although there was no Dam to overlook – this being the highest point of the race that I had to climb nearly 1000’ in either direction – in my mind grinding away up the hill it became the goal to get to that Dam - or actually DAMN Overlook :).

- As I run through the aid station at mile 21 at the Dam Overlook my crew spots me coming in and I get lots of cheers and encouragement and a new cold bottle of fuel and I’m told I’m in 5th place overall. It turns out 2 of those are running the marathon so actually I’m in 3rd place for the 50M. I’m feeling perfect – big grins and waves and looking forward to a good long decent down to the river before the turnaround to come back. My pre-race optimistic pacing plan had me through this aid station at 9:30 and 10:30 and I was coming through the first time at 9:38 – things are clicking pretty good.

- Down the hill go for a bit and find a big uphill too steep to jog so I’m walking up the hill. Top of the hill turns out to be Robie Point – mile 99 of the Western States 100. Over the point and now I’m on the course going down to no-hands bridge. This particular couple mile section of the course was a key part of the women’s race to the finish in 2011 because a Momma Bear and her cub blocked the 2nd place woman for a good 10+ minutes making catching 1st place impossible.

- The bouncing down the hill is going OK but by the second 15 minute alarm to drink more of my bottle – the thought of it just grosses me out completely. I get to the bottom at the turnaround and instead opt to drink some flat coke.

- I’ve passed two runners on the way down coming back the other way and find out a 3rd runner who had been 1st place decided to switch to the Marathon and finish up after taking a wrong turn and loosing the lead (I think he was the guy I followed the wrong way back at the canal). First place was within a mile ahead I think.

- I start back up the hill – jog the flatter parts and walk the up hills but after a mile so the nausea starts to catch up and as seems to be my calling card on these long races – first the Ironman – now the UltraMarathon – yeah you know how it goes:

- I walk a little farther feeling weak then I decide to sit for a minute on the side and let this nausea feeling pass a little.

- Along comes Eric – A very kind experienced UltraRunner who has probably seen this a thousand times before and knows exactly what to do. He tells me to get up walk and he walks with me up the hill asking my symptoms. His plane water in his bottles looks so good I ask him for a little and take a swig. He quickly concludes I’m low on electrolytes and dehydrated. We continue to walk our way up the hill. He tries feeding me a cracker but before it even hits the stomach I was losing all the water I drank. I recall a podcast saying when helping another runner in an ultrarace – always stand to the side – and I could see he was the professional knowing where NOT to be :).

- Eric is so cool he walks me the rest of the way over Robie Point, down the other side and much of the way back to the Damn aid station at to top of the hill. In the process he shares all the rest of his water in both bottles and tells me what I need to do to recover and continue on including – get in the canal - no more sweets as the stomach is shutdone to them – get electrolyte pills at the aid stations – water only to drink – and eat bland foods from the aid stations. What a cool guy to sacrifice time in the race to help me out. He told me a little about running Western States last year and it was pretty clear he knew what he was doing.

- I get to the aid station at the Damn Overlook – mouth completely dry as I’d finished off all the water maybe ½ mile down the trail. My wife and daughter are there and try to hand me another bottle of my mixed stuff (which at the thought of that just grossed me out) and I have her get some bottles filled with water only. Eric had jogged ahead and warned the aid station workers I was coming and might need some help and one of the guys notices I’ve stopped sweating – a sure sign of dehydration. I get a few electrolyte pills a the aid station and have the couple bottles filled with water and the aid volunteer takes me over to the canal where I take my shoes off and climb in and submerge myself in the cool water. My Dad and Momma Sue come over to make sure I’m OK and I give them a fatigued smile – “are you planning to stop” – “no, no – I just need to recover a bit then I’ll be on my way” – The look back from Momma Sue was priceless – now completely convinced of my insanity:).

- After ~15 minutes changing shoes and socks, dealing with a blister on my right big toe (draining, bandaging then duct taping the big toe) and emptying more than a bottle of water – I’m feeling much better. I head back to the aid table and eat a couple bland things – potatoe dipped in salt was pretty good. Watermelon too.

- I’m off – two 24 oz water bottles in hand – I recalculate my estimate finish time figuring I’ll take maybe 4 hours to cover what I covered in 3 hour trip to get to the Damn Overlook before – I tell Susie/Kaylee I’d probably want my beer around 4:30 ish at the finish.

- I think the dip in the canal screwed up the HR Monitor because the data was all screwy after that but I wasn’t using that anymore anyway.

- Lots of time to get back and still get my WSQ – I’m pretty sure I could even walk the whole way and still get it but I start jogging out of there and back onto the trail by the canal.

- I stop a couple times and dip my hat into the canal and pour water on my head as it's really starting to warm up. With the delay it looks like I’m doing this back half in the heat of the day.

- I don’t think I’m moving all that fast but for whatever reason there’s no one passing me and I’m actually catching up to the next runner. In hindsight I think I actually made it back to the Damn Overlook around 5th place and lost another 6 places while I was messing around in the canal recovering so I guess I was around 11th.

- The other runner stops to jump in the creek and cool off so I pass by her and make the turn to descend the 1000’ or so down to the lake. It’s pretty steep so gotta go pretty slow.

- Get to the bottom and another aid station – more watermelon – more electrolyte pills – fill both my hand bottles with water – and ice as I could but the Gatorade bottle lid was hard to get the ice into so limited success here - and had the volenteer add ice to all the pockets in my shirt and fill my hat too so it will keep me cool as it melts off over several miles. This became my routine at each aid station and I’d leave each aid station with a slosh slosh noise as the ice would bounce up and down in my shirt pockets. This really worked well to keep me cool.

- After 10 miles or so I felt the need to pee so I stopped and pee’d the darkest yellow I’ve ever seen – but this is a very good sign the dehydration levels are dropping a lot – I keep my focus on downing more and more water.

- All the uphills of any significance were walks – I tried to jog along the flats and downs as I could and did for most of them. I few more runners came back to me as I was going along and we’d chat for a while as we worked our way down the trail. Lots of yo-yo’ing as I’d catch up to someone – stick with them for a bit then feel like walking and they’d move ahead etc so I’d see the same person for miles at times. We were all pretty well spaced out and at the aid stations where we all stopped for a few minutes to re-fill stuff there would usually be 2-3 of us.

- Pretty much it’s all grinding out the miles all about the same with the occasional frozen back and head as I’d pick up more ice – such a wonderful feeling.

- Somewhere maybe 10 miles to go I lost concentration for a second and wobbled up the slope into thistles – caught myself that overcompensated and almost wobbled off the trail down the hill – but caught myself again and ran straight – not sure what I did in that wobbling – I think I kicked a rock – but my other left big toe now hurt from whatever I hit. Not a lot but there was something there. I could still put pressure on it so I didn’t worry about it much. At the end I found the whole big toe toenail blistered from that so I’ll be losing that toenail – never lost that one before.

- That last aid station before the finish had a long gap before it – 6.3 miles didn’t seem too far the other direction but in the heat and going 13 mpm instead of 8 mpm – that’s a long distance apart – all my ice had melted off and both my bottles were nearly empty by the time I finally got to it. I got there with two other runners – guy and a gal – I didn’t really car if the gal beat me – I don’t race the gals – but I didn’t want the guy to beat me. I quickly finish up at the aid station – I get ice, refill the bottles – only 2.7 miles to go and I’m first to leave the aid station.

- Walking the uphills still – the gal catches up and passes me – we chat a bit – she’s 2nd lady and trying to hold off 3rd who I saw a while back but has been struggling with nausea much of the race. But she’s keeping a steady pace while I’m walking/jogging/walking – I end up kind bungy cording her for a while – she’d go on ahead then I’d jog and catch up then walk and she’d go on ahead etc.

- Then the guy catch up and starts to pass so I match his speed an chitchat with him a while. His first every UltraMarathon too – has only done one Marathon even – pretty impressive – we confirm we are in different age groups so I’m kinda happy I don’t have to race him for that. He’s jogging the uphills and moving away but then I roll down the downhills and more than make-up for it – after a while and knowing the finish isn’t much more than a mile to go I kinda let one of the downhills get me going fast and I just try to hold it – I still walked a little uphill gain but then sped back up and ran it into the finish opening up a couple minutes on the guy and giving me a nice fast feeling again to the finish.

- Susan and Kaylee are cheering big as I come running around the corner to the finishline ---- and not more than a few steps later ---- my beer is in hand – it took a little more time to find the bottle cap opener but a beer never tasted so good.

- As the race is called the Sierra Nevada Endurance Run – the beer had to be a Sierra Nevada beer.

- Before I made it to the bottom of the first beer I was handed the 3rd place Age Group Award for the race and I got my WSQ with a time of 9 hours 46 minutes.

- Good shower/massage and company around the finishline. Had another beer.

- Found Eric (actually he found me) and thanked him profusely for his help out there and shared stories with him for a little while. He was a bit surprised I made it to the finish after how bad I looked but I told him I followed his advice to the letter and it got me home. He assures me what he did is pretty darn business as normal in an ultra race – people just take care of each other out there – which is pretty darn cool! He ended up making the race a fun run on the back half stopping at aid stations for long times chewing the fat with aid workers etc. He still finished ahead of me but maybe not by much – would have been kinda cool to catch up with him on the trail and hang for some miles. As it turns out he appears to have done me another favor too – I’m guessing to keep good finishing time statistics he apparently didn’t cross the finishline as he doesn’t show up in the results – only on the registered runners list – since he’s in my age group too he also apparently gave me his 3rd AG award too – I certainly owe Eric a lot from this race!

What went well:
- AutoText Messages to Kaylee and Kaylee keeping everyone informed – worked like a charm.
- DeSoto shirt and hat for stashing ice to stay cool.
- Crew at the Damn Overlook – perfect placement for help and encouragement.
- Pacing for the first half seemed OK – think I ran the hilly trails with a good balance of caution and aggression.
- Steady effort 1st half slowing and speeding up with the grade.
- Recoverying from a bad patch – adjusting the plan (to the great advice of Eric) and finding something that worked to finish up. Having bad patches I’m told are fully expected in such long races – and especially on up to farther distances. How you bounce back from them and adapt on the fly says more than whether or not you have them and I think I bounced back and adapted pretty well with the help of others.
- Eric giving me some water to make it to the Damn Overlook – I may have made it up there anyway but without the water my dehydration level may have made this day a DNF.
- Got to experience a little of the WS100 Trail – and with the bad patch I had just so happening to lineup with what would be about mile 97-99 of that race – I feel like I kinda got to experience is as I would feel after that many miles.
- Thistles only lightly brushed past the legs on a couple overgrown narrow trails - otherwise no issue.
- No asthma.
- Stomach was great after the race. 2 Beers and 4 slices of Pizza before I left then a big Prime Rib Dinner a couple hours later – no way I’ve ever been in a condition to do that after a marathon.
- Ice Bath and Massage – DOMS pretty much gone within a couple days – although going down steps was wobbly for a while - I was able to run 5 on Monday and 10 on Tuesday (along the beautiful beaches in La Jolla) without much problem.

What didn’t go well:
- Getting dehydrated – clearly I need more electrolytes for the conditions but I’m still a bit surprised after only 4 hours I got so dehydrated. Longer training runs would have helped me understand my limits here better and mitigate the risks of dehydration. I still wonder if the antibiotics somehow played a role in this – don’t know. If not I’m wondering if my limit on these longer races is how well I can stay hydrated. It could be I an aerobically handle going faster but I sweat too fast and can’t replace enough of it at these speeds and I just need to slow down to maintain the water balance. Again – can only figure this out bit experimenting in training and I didn’t have those kinda training runs.
- iPod – useless and headphones in the way – leave it at home next time. I tried the music once just before Eric came along to try to motivate – waste of time.
- More than 2 things on the BibBelt no work – I can keep a pouch on either side from bouncing around but as soon as I add a 3rd in the middle – too much bouncing.
- 24 oz Gatorade bottles – hand gets tired holding a bottle – need a hand wrap – also need a wider opening so aid workers can get ice into the bottle – use regular water bottles next time.
- Blister – I think the Injinji socks and hydropel did OK – but the blister formed under a callus on the big toe and I think if I had filed it down before the race I wouldn’t have got the blister. All the rocks and things hitting the toebox in different angles I think just had too much go push on with the callus – a smoothed hydropel’d surface I think would have been fine.
- ToeNail – I’ve heard dehydration makes you more prone to lost toenails and blisters so that may have been a factor but mostly I think I just need to keep my eye on the trail – probably will come from running more trails. To only have this once minor incident along such a long technical trail off no training on similar is pretty good I think. But I would need to get many of these type of trail runs in to be able to focus better.
- Didn’t get a good picture of my crew --- Thanks Dad, Momma Sue, Kaylee and especially my Darling Wife Susan!!! Also thanks to Pam and John for trying to come see me at the Damn overlook on the way back – sorry I was so late getting there I missed you but glad we caught up for dinner.

Next up – Houston Marathon is the goal race – a few tune-up races along the way including a 10 miler on October 8th if the legs are up for it.

Some more miscellaneous pictures:

Who could argue with this:

Before it all – you can kinda see my gear set-up. I brought a light just in case it was too dark at 6:30 am but it was just light enough I didn’t need it:

Mile 19 first time through the Damn Overlook:

Second time through the Damn Overlook – I’m not feeling quite so energetic:

The magic of Duct Tape – amazing all the uses for it.

Apparently I almost had to crawl under the finishline but they got the airpump restarted before I got there a few minutes later.

There I am “flying” my way to the finish:

Now finally achieving that out of body experience us UltraRunners (I can call myself one now) are striving for:

Me and Eric’s – I mean my Age Group award. It’s a really cool coffee mug too.

With this written on it:

These shoes have seen enough miles – into the trash – I kept the first pair which looked about the same until I cleaned them off in the ocean.

No UltraMarathon Race Report is complete without an addition to the black toenail hall of fame:

Now that’s a way to finish off a report!
Cheers…..John.

IRONMAN TEXAS - Race Report Take 2

2011-05-23T16:02:00.000-07:00

Some of the other experiences along the way:

This Ironman thing is a richman's sport. Chatting with a few experienced Ironman athletes around the Expo I find the routine for many is to go to the site of the ironman a couple weeks in advance, have the bike shipped out, acclimate to the new environment and train along the course. Multi-thousands of gear - especially the bike. Massages, club memberships, large entry fees - on and on and on. The lady I happenned to be behind in line at the packet pickup happened to be a very good age grouper who has qualified for Kona on a number of occasions but doesn't ever go because to her it's not worth the $15k bill. This gives me some pause - two kids coming out of High School - college bills starting up this year - I can't go dropping $15k to go runs some race - sure I could do it on the cheap and cut that down but still. I'm not sure I want that choice even should all the stars align perfect.

As we tread water like bait in the Pacu infested waters of Lake Woodlands (seriously one was caught here just a couple weeks ago) this 7am day of May 21st a few questions are thought but not asked:

- Who will make it to the end before the 6pm Rapture?
- Will these Pacu infested waters let all of us out alive?
- Can I swim to the left of the bouy's where it's not likely to be so crowded - will those Kayak'rs really stop me?
- Is it rude to be holding onto the bouy instead of giving up my spot for a Purple Hat Lady?
- Where does that canon ball land after it's fired?
- This kayak'r is pretty cool letting 20-30 swimmers grab a hand around his boat but I wander how smart that is - might they flip him over by accident?
- Where's my hand under the water 3" away - I can't see it.
- Should I have shaved all this body hair off like so many others around here?
- What's the point with putting on all that suntain lotion a 7am before an hour in the water - can it really last that long?
- Was it a smart thing to line up at the front of this race when I expect to be in the lower half at the end?
- Those poor people who didn't get into the water in time - I could easily be one of them - I was just coming over to the start to see the pros start and noticed everyone was getting in the water so I tagged along - blind luck I guess.
- Saw in someone elses volenteering race report siting of a couple water snakes swimming across the water a few minutes pre-race - I'm sure 2000+ swimmers scared them off pretty good.

The cannon fires and all I know is the ball didn't land anywhere near me - thousands and thousand move it out. Despite stories of abuse on the waters - I actually found others to be quite tolerant as I slammed my hands into them and they slammed there's into me. I didn't hear a single foul word - even heard several appologies - these are good people just put into violent sport. Clawing pushing knocking breathing taking strokes in whatever means was available I finally get enough clear space after 15-20 minutes to get in a groove.

Drafting - yeah I'm supposed to do that - but each time I try I seem to get into this foot tickling routine with the person in front. At least once my foot comes into contact with something a bit hard and not flesh - probably goggles - sorry about that. That happens once to me too so I suppose comes around goes around.

I'm no swimmer - I'm a runner - most runners I know don't swim - don't like to swim even and I'm kinda like that guy but I want the Ironman T-Shirt and I'm going to get it - I can tolerate 90 minutes of this because the rest of the day will be divine.

Cool - I can walk in the canal - would I be DQ'd if I just ran along the bottom - I seriously considered this strategy:).

Out of the water to transition.

How are all these people changing outside the tent? I guess they don't change their shorts.

In the tent I go with my bag - I guess I should have got away from the door - I hope I didn't flash any ladies going by out there.

The arms are just too short to pull the back down on the shirt bound up at the neck.

How do people get 5 minute transitions anyway - there's just too much to do here - I suppose maybe practicing more than zero times might have helped a little:).

Off I go on the bike right according to plan - plan was to let most everyone get ahead of me so I can pass them all back in the bike run - that's the way to boost the ego:). These riders are just dang slow - I'm cruzzing by them by the dozens - what a blast.

Age 41 dude - "Why do you have a calculator on the back of your seat" - I don't ask but wonder - no matter - he's in my age group he's going down - onward.

Poor guys along the side of the road changing tires. One apparent fall around an hour in - actually the only one I saw evidence of the whole day - that's pretty amazing actually.

Calculator guy passes me back - whatever - we're cruzing by everyone else.

I pass calculator guy again....he passes me back.....I pass him.

All these rules to follow - no drafting, after being passed must drop back 4 bike lengths, all passing must be done within 20 second - Pass only on the left - although I never saw any inforcement at all of these rules - I was rather amazed most actually made some efforts to do them - much of the time the 4 bike lengths was impractical with the density of riders but for the most part things were followed.

Here comes calculator guy again......I'm asking myself higher math questions about how many oz/hr or cal/hr or mg/hr I've had trying to forecast what time each bottle is supposed to be empty - man do I wish I had a calculator - how many bottles of this stuff have I had - what kinda flavor is that anyway - Mango maybe - interesting.

Sitting on a 1" plank crouched over across the bike for many hours - what happens - sore butt and back maybe? You betcha. I cross the 70 milemarker and I'm 1/2 way to the the finish - hurray. I cross the 70 milemarker and I've still got 70 miles to go - crap!

How did this lady clearly more than 50 lbs over weight take 70 miles to pass - was my swim really THAT bad?

Wow that ~5 miles stretch of road - if you were there you know what I'm talking about - I don't recall a rougher road ever - anywhere - I think they might have just stripped it down making it ready for the asphault trucks to come.

A story I heard from others - apparently a good guy cop trying to help with all the congestion all the cars were facing decided to take it apon himself to help things out a little and direct traffic. He was pretty quick to figure out the real problem with all this traffic was all these bikes charging into the intersection without regard for the rules so he's stop them and wave the cars along to clear out the traffic - several lost many minutes waiting for this good guy to straighten them out.

These long long lines of cars at many interstions I'm so sure were filled with people thinking to themselves - "Go Ironman - push it to the finish!" - yeah - that's what they're thinking.

Hey - I caught calculator guy again - is it me yo-yo'ing or him?

Cross mile 100 at 5:05 - darn-it - I think a 5 hr centry would have been pretty darn cool. I am now riding farther than I've EVER ridden before - at least as far as I can remember. After so much headwind this last many miles it was a very nice respite for a few miles to turn north near this mile marker - what a perfect place for a tailwind.

I haven't seen calculator guy for a while - seems I haven't seen several of the people I was yo-yo'ing for a while - and I'm hardly passing anyone anymore - just on occasional biker coming by me - guess I'm slowing down.

We ride by about mile 4 of the run and I glance over and sure enough - there's a few runners out there - man they are way far ahead.

I must say all the way through the ride - these are a talented group of volenteers! This was not just a group of people that show up on race days - it was clear every one of them was trained to do what they did and do it with a smile and encouraging word - what a pleasure it was at every point of contact.

The final miles - ready for a good transition - Loosen the shoes - it must have taken a while because there's 3 pictures on the website capturing me loosening the right shoe - a magical moment I'm so glad they captured in triplicate.

Off to transition again - what a pleasant surprize I don't even need to take my bike to the rack - a volenteer jumps right out and takes care of it - cool stuff.

Ok - a hot/humid marathon - this is going to something!

Run:

- I didn't expect a run/walk strategy going in but it did create opportunity to chitctat with other racers and hear stories along the way. The most interesting was one guy I walked with for a while was conserving his energy because he wanted to finish fresh - huh? - turns out he had a big proposal planned ~100m before the finishline to catch his girlfriend totally off guard - now that's pretty cool!

- The Woodlands canal system is very cool - I'd never been down the trails around the canal before and its beautiful. The crowd support all around it was incredible too. Seems like the locals really embrassed this event and came out in force to chear everyone on.

- This certainly didn't feel like a race - all were wearing a number and all but there was more walking then running - and of the running there was much more suffling than jogging - even of the joggers there was almost no real running by my thinking of it. 1st place lady came by me at one point and I looked at how fast she was moving and figured maybe 7:45 pace - of course that was still faster than I was moving at the time so good on her!

- At mile 21 I look down at my watch and see it's exactly 6pm - I turn to the jogger next to me and say looks like the world isn't going to end - guess we'll have to finish this thing - she gave me a wierd look like what are you talking about - get away from me wierdo - so I jog on ahead :).

- Incredible aid stations - again every volenteer appeared to be well trained, enthusiastic, empathetic, helpful in every way possible. I've never seen a better run aid station in any marathon and every aid station at every mile was the same.

- Ironman aid stations are very well prepared for the heat! Lots of ice, cold drinks, cold sponges, chicken broth, different kind of real foods, drinks - everything needed to deal with a hot day.

I think someday I'll need to do another one of these things. Probably I could take what I learned from this race and put together an effort around 10.5 on the next - but I'm just not feeling it. I really don't like to swim - it's a very expensive sport - and I'd need about double the training time. Maybe in a few years when college expenses are forecasted to drop off - we'll see.

I'm finding the words "I'm an Ironman" a bit awkward - I felt similar about "I'm a Marathoner" until I felt I'd actually done the race right which wasn't until my 3rd Marathon. I guess technically I can say I am - but I won't really feel it until I've done it right.

John.

IRONMAN TEXAS - To Infinity - and Beyond!

2011-05-22T08:05:00.000-07:00

140.6 miles is like forever - nearly infinity - it just keeps going and going - kinda like this report :).

This was my first Ironman - 2nd triathlon after a Sprint Distance (~1 hr race) in April. A saying common in the runners world is after you can't go faster - go farther - referring to the inevitable slow down with age. I kinda felt like I was pretty close to tapping out the Marathon speed after a couple sub2:40 marathons - figured I might try the go farther approach - two avenues open for that - the Ironman or Ultramarathons. Also the go farther by all accounts seems to actually be a bit easier on the body since the intensity level isn't so high and after a couple long injury outages going after fast marathons being a bit easier seemed the right direction to be going. I may try the ultramarathons someday but after having a year off running in 2009 due to injury - I'd picked up some very basic swimming skills from a book called Total Immersion and obtained some of the gear for biking so I kinda had a slant towards the Ironman. I didn't really have the patience for doing a bunch of triathlons building up to the distance and really figured the endurance part of an Ironman isn't so much different from a marathon - my simplistic view of ultra events is you basically just go slower so you can go longer - not so complicated.

My training plan really was no plan at all. Mostly just working on what I needed to work on with the time I had available - there was no shortage of things to work on with 3 sports and most of the time I felt I wasn't doing enough. In all 12 marathons I'd done to date I had only once or twice spent more than 10 hours in a single week working out - and that many hours was hard to fit into my life working full time with a wife and two teenagers. In the race program for IMTX there's a section called The "Average" Ironman Athlete which I fall far below the average in all categories of training leading to this race yet I spent more hours per week than any marathon I'd ever trained for averaging YTD what I'd only done one or two weeks prior:

Average hours/week devoted to training - 18-30+ [I averaged 10 YTD]
Miles per week swimming - 7 [I averaged 2]
Miles per week biking - 225 [I averaged 100]
Miles per week running - 48 [I averaged 21 but 2 months of zero knocks down the average]

But I think I did the best I could with the time I had available. Generally my strategy was to do enough to get by on the swim - it's the smallest percentage of the race at typically ~15% of the time so the effort/benefit ratio is pretty low - plus I don't enjoy the sport. For the bike I did 2-3 spin classes per week which got some of the higher intensity into the training and I did 1-2 rides per week usually on the weekend as could fit into the day. I never had the time for the very long rides and in fact the longest training ride I did was 90 miles along the course of the Ironman. For the run I had a good foundation coming off the 2:38 marathon in December but I also had a couple months of no running I discovered in January investigating some pains in the SI joints that I've got what appears to be a very mild case of a chronic disorder called Anklyosing Spondilitis which is basically an autoimmune disease that goes after joints in the spine. Now that I know about this I take a daily NSAID that keeps the inflammation away and its become a non-issue with pain levels most always at zero to 1. But figuring all that out took running away for Jan-Feb which in a way was helpful to developing some basic bike and swim fitness but it eroded some of my running base. Mar-May I was able to get much of the base back but certainly not near PR levels of run fitness.

Jan-April I was focused on fitness - two brand new sports I had no adaptation for and then building back some basic level of run fitness took most all my focus. About the end of April I started shifting focus to race day execution. My first priority was getting heat acclimated as a mid-May Houston afternoon Marathon promised to be brutal so for all my running and spin classes and bike rides I added depending on the weather long sleeves and/or jackets and/or sweat pants to get heat acclimated.

Then the last couple weeks I started planning out the actual race execution - in the race planning I hit a couple Oh Crap! moments. I created a spreadsheet incorporating what I found for hydrating and nutrition rates that can be fed into the body - I knew it is not physically possible to replace as much fluid or calories in what I drink and eat as I loose during a race - but I didn't actually realize how much of a deficit I'd get too. First crunching of the numbers and I could not get anywhere near my target time without being very much beyond dehydrated and beyond empty in calories. Must be a mistake in the numbers so I searched around looking for how others can possible hydrate and fuel for an Ironman and discover I am a pretty exceptionally high sweater - I guess I kinda knew this by the size of the puddle under my spin bike compared to others at spin class - and I also discovered the faster Ironman athletes somehow consume far more that the 250-280 cal/hr that I'd read as the most theoretically possible. Also I found they do a lot of practicing this fueling strategy in the training to figure out what works and doesn't work with their stomach. Then there's all these other things they seem to figure out through trial and error or lab experiments like how to keep electrolyte balance - a very individual things based on how fast the electrolytes are lost in sweating. So here I am sitting a week to got to IMTX and I'm feeling very clueless - I felt reasonably OK about the training level and how to pace myself OK - but how does a heavy sweater stay hydrated when the physical limits to consume liquids cannot be exceeded and what combination of fueling will get me to the finishline before I run out of gas.

I set to work on the issues and come up with a plan of sorts. To prevent dehydration the key seemed to be to sweat less. I ended up with Skin Cooler Long Sleeve Top off the suggestion of someone on a Triathlete forum at Runners World. For the fueling I got various input from another triathlete forum at slowtwich where I went for some "fine-tuning" of fueling strategy only to find it needed a major overhaul. One of the guys there (sciguy) helped me through PM's and pointed me to what one of the elite athlete's does and I ended up kinda cobbling together a plan from that and using this to approximate the calorie burn. I wasn't ready to give up a success strategy despite many saying the typical things people say to first timers about take it slow - just go for finish - don't try to push it - add hours to your expectations - all that typical stuff I might tell to a first timer marathoner - but any who know me know I'm way to competitive to try for anything but a top rate performance so although my calorie/hr along the bike plan was risky to backfire being untested in training - I was convinced by calculating out the numbers that there was no way to have enough fuel to finish a good run without it so I went for it fully aware of the risks.

May 21st - Race Day

Pre-race - alarm went off at 3am at which time I grabbed a 16 oz bottle of UltraFuel and guzzled it down and laid back down for another 30 minutes or so then got up and guzzled down the second bottle. Gathered my last things together - Susie got up to wish me luck - we'd scouted out the finish area the day before so she could come out and cheer for the run part of the race. Out of the house around 3:45 for the 1 hour drive to the race and I drink my 3rd bottle of Ultrafuel on the drive out. Visit my bike which was dropped off day before and add a few things for the ride then go chill out in my car until ~5:30. Walk ~1 mile to the swim start and do the normal portajohn line a couple times, drop off my special needs bags that are available mid-race for the bike and run - then around 6:45 I get in line to get into the water.

Swim:

Training - mostly in the pool, 3 full length swims (2.4 miles) with 2 of those open water. 2 swims with other people - one just 500m in a sprint tri and one 2.4 mile practice swim at the lake where the Ironman was held with a couple hundred others. There were a few glimmers of satisfaction within the swims as I learned enough technique and built enough endurance to last for that long but overall I didn't get much from the swimming. 25m pools get repetitive and boring - open water opportunities are 1 hour+ away and not very appealing - I imagine I could grow to like it with nice outdoor lakes around but I developed no love for the sport in the training I did and was aiming for no more than what I could get by with.

Race Day - This is an in water start meaning 2000+ people are treading water before the startline until the canon goes off at 7:00. I'm in the water about 10 minutes early and I find a spot near one of the startline buoy where I can hang on with one hand. I wanted to conserve energy so I try to keep movement to a minimum. As 7:00 approaches there's still hundreds of people trying to get into the water being funneled through a timing mat that reads the chip strapped to the ankle to record starting the swim. The race started on time so we in the water just got a little head start on all those still getting into the water. Swim is an out and back followed by a swim down a 50' wide canal to the transition area - I think of it in thirds - out, back, canal.

Out: Total chaos - can't take two strokes without one landing on someone - I'm getting bumped into in every direction - there's just no way to get a rhythm. After the last open water swim I figured I needed to swim taking breaths in both directions so I could site those on either side vs most of my swimming was breathing left so I practiced that in a pool a couple times and thought I had a decent chance to do that but it felt unnatural. I keep dropping into random strokes - back strokes for a few strokes until I hit somebody, side stroke for a while, breast stroke - back to freestyle - can this please just be over - my dislike for this swimming sport is strengthening. I survey my options - I have only one - gotta keep moving forward - the way out is ahead - so after maybe 1000m I put my head down and start cranking it out - go back to the stroke I'm comfortable with breathing left - I'm not hitting people near so often and I'm not letting it mess me up so much - start pounding it out. Then we come to the first turn and I'm hitting people left and right again - getting crowded but there's no way out but moving forward. For several minutes around the corner I'm locked in right left front back and I gotta keep pace. Seems a randomness about the direction each swimmer is taking but the continual bumping directs everyone into the shortest path around the corner. A slight spreading out for the next 100 yards or so then another turn to start the swim back.

Back: I pretty much stay in a rhythm for the long swim back. I get my goggles kicked off once and stop and take the time to put them back. I'm getting decent at spotting where I'm going and swimming straight towards it. The occasional swimmer going 30° off straight knocks me off here and there but overall a pretty straight shot back. A pinch at the turn into the canal but the turn is more gradual so not quite so crowded.

Canal: As I start the canal my right calf muscle totally goes rock hard and locks up on me. No surprize as this has happen in every one of my 3 full distance swims in training - I stop kicking on that side and wait it out and it goes away after a minute or so - like it did every other time before. I couldn't remember how long the canal was - I was thinking it was about 1/3rd of the race but I wasn't sure. I decide to stay right - stay on the canal wall so I only have one side to worry about getting whacked from. Works pretty well but it gets very shallow at one point and I'm hitting the bottom with my hands. I put my feet down and take two steps to propel me forward then back to swimming - a nice little break from the swimming. I really want to see the bridge because I know that's just before the transition area so I keep peaking ahead for it. I recalled from the map there would be a gradual turn to the left then I should see it - moving around the turn and there it is - my heart lights up in delight - the end is not so far off. I'm pretty sure it's only a short distance from there - minutes go by - after the bridge I think I see white tents in the distance - could that be the transition area - I'm excited - I recall exit is left so I start moving off my right side wall and move into the pack. Closer and closer - then I spy one final red buoy we must all go around then straight to the stairs so another compacting of swimmers before the final small distance to the stairs. As I climb the stairs I'm thinking - I never have to do that ever again - after that swim I'm certain I'm a one-and-done'r on this Ironman thing. After the open water swim a couple weeks back I'd added 10 minutes from 80 to 90 minutes for my swim time projection due to the bumper car effect - I look up at the clock as I run over the mat and it says 1:42:xx - man that's slow but I don't care - it's over - the high point of the whole day right there - I survived the swim - what a feeling of euphoria. I found out the next day the clocks at the transition were set by the pro's start 10 minutes ahead of the field so actually my time was 1:32:xx.

T1: Swim to Bike - I jog up to the transition area - there's a large tent with a partition down the middle with men on one side and women on the other. I grab my transition bag and dart into the men's side and make haste. I change into the bike cloths with particular difficulty with that long sleeve DeSoto shirt on my wet skin - after some effort I got it all pulled down and straight. Socks, shorts, shirt, helmet, shoes, gloves, HR monitor, bib holder strap, a little targeted body gliding and I'm off to my bike. First step in my cooling strategy is to dump water all over my shirt as it works to cool when its wet so I dump out a bottle of water I had in the transition bag over my back and arms as I'm trotting along. Get to the bike and pull a couple fig newton packages I'd planned to shove into my pocket and discover I'd put my shirt on inside out. My whole cooling strategy relied on using those pockets - I had to have them on the outside so I take off the a few things, strip the shirt off and progress again to put it back on - of course the shirt is wet since I just dumped a bunch of water on it so it is again a challenge to put on but I finally get it on straight and buckle everything up again and I'm off to start the bike. T1 time - 11:28.

Bike:

Bike Set-up: Fueling was to be all liquid - I had 77 oz of UltraFuel on me then I figured the rest would be from Ironman Preform given at the aid stations every 10 miles. I've got 2x30 oz bottles behind me and 20 oz between the aerobars. I left one holder on the frame empty for the Preform bottles and I also had elastic bands between the aerobars I could stuff another bottle into should the need arise. In a little bag on top of the frame I had a couple tic-tack jars full of electrolyte pills, a couple tools for changing a flat and a couple fig newtons as a back-up supply for extra calories. Garmin is strapped next to the bottle in front showing cadence, HR and time - no speed because I didn't want to feel rushed if I fell behind plus I put it in indoor mode turning off the GPS to conserve battery for the run so there was no speed anyway. Also strapped to the back was a spare tire I tied under the seat. I set this all up Thursday and gave it a test drive for 1/2 hour and lost one of my 2-24oz bottles I'd planned to use and I didn't have any others but I got a couple give-away 30oz bottles at the expo so I decided to use those since they were slightly bigger so wouldn't be so likely to fall out and the extra 12 oz sounded like a plus - I also slanted the back bottle holder up just a tad also to avoid loosing a bottle. Bike gets dropped off to the transition area Friday night.

Fueling strategy numbers:
72 oz Ultrafuel
107 oz Ironman Preform
13 Endurolytes

28 oz/hr of water (some of the ultrafuel volume is the powder so I subtracted that out)
2351 calories 391/hr
3280 mg sodium 546/hr
650 Ca 108/hr
415 Mag 69/hr
819 Potas 137/hr

I was thinking that sodium level was probably too high but I wanted all those other electrolytes too and the Endurolytes were a lot lower in sodium than then my other electrolyte pill option I had - SaltSticks - so in my plan I stuck with the Endurolytes for the bike and SaltSticks for the run where I'd be sweating a lot more.

Bike gets underway. Weather is nicely overcast with wind from the south that would be a tailwind for the first half and a headwind for the 2nd half. My effort target is 140bpm and 90 rpm for cadence - I'm not getting a cadence number and I look down and see the meter on the bike is bent a little - I don't want to take the time to stop and fix it and 90 rpm is pretty programmed in anyway - I know what it feels like - so I decide to not stop for this - if I stop for some other reason I'll fix it. For the first 10 miles I'm working down the 16 oz of Ultrafuel in the front figuring it should be gone at 35 minutes to maintain 28 oz/hr. I'm probably passing 10 for each that passes me. Although I feel like I'm going fast enough and putting in enough effort the HR is staying lower than I'd planned and I felt OK with that - didn't want to push it up - making good time - lower HR meant more fat burning which means more fuel left for the run. Pass the first 10 mile marker and I hit the lap button and find I'm making good time. Shortly after the first aid station I grab a Preform and throw it in the empty frame holder then grab a 24 oz water bottle (cold :) ) and proceed to spray the contents all over my shirt to get the cooling thing going again. Generally a tailwind most of the first 50 miles or so which was great for the speed but also reduced the wind's cooling effect so I wanted to dump that cold water on me as much as possible. I had no drinking water in the plan so all I grabbed was for dumping on me and I got a bottle every aid station.

After a while I've got my system down every 5 minutes take a swig - two times from the front (Preform) then on the quarter hour from the back (Ultrafuel). I figured I'd start taking an electrolyte pill every 30 minutes with the Ultrafuel on the 15 and 45. I discovered I put the wrong tic-tack jar in the bag - I only had saltstick pills - no Endurolyte - I kinda shrug it off and stick with the plan with SaltStick pills instead of endurolytes - I knew they were more sodium but somehow in the mental math of it all mid race I just ignored that little factor. Also I stopped really watching the total volumes consumed just trying to take around 2+ oz each swig each 5 minutes. In the final tally because of my lack of portion control and taking the wrong type of electrolyte pills I ended up drinking a full 6x20oz bottles of Preform and all but ~10 oz of Ultrafuel + 12 capsules of SaltStick pills before all was done in 5:47:

186 oz or 32 oz/hr
2695 cal 449/hr
5896 mg sodium 983/hr

That's way way way too much of everything! The last hour of the bike I can't say things were feeling great in the stomach but I was kinda blaming that on the fact I had not gone beyond 90 miles on a bikeride in training so I was just at that stretching the fitness part of the ride - and I was still able to keep up the every 5 minute drink routine to the end.

I grabbed a water bottle at every stop and had the bright idea on the 5th aid station to keep the bottle to keep spraying my back and head between the stops. The elastic bands between my handlebars became my holder for the water bottle which worked out well and I was pouring water on my back and head every few miles then on out.

Ride itself was lots and lots of passing through around 1/2 way then I kept going back and forth with a few riders for the last part - on net passing people but only a rider here and there - not so continual. I switched the Garmin to Outdoor mode about halfway thinking it could last through the marathon from there with the GPS on. No stops for the entire 5:47:35. A couple brief misses or lapses in concentration that could have resulted in a wipe-out but I managed to recover OK. And I got my 4 character text message out to my wife saying 3:45 I'd be around the finishline for first loop. A couple bike pics:

10 mile splits:
Mile mph HR
10 21.9 132
20 21.0 136
30 21.4 134
40 20.4 133
50 20.1 132
60 19.5 131
70 18.5 132
80 19.3 132
90 18.1 130
100 17.0 128
112 17.4 130

T2: Give the bike to a volunteer who takes it to the rack - I forgot to transfer the Garmin to my arm before I stopped so I wasted some time unstrapping it from the bike and onto my arm then the volunteer takes the bike away. I did accomplish the flying dismount keeping the shoes clipped on the bike then proceeded to jog through the then muddy grass in my socks to get my running transition bag and change into the running gear. Fortunately I had a change of socks in the bag. I change into running shorts, training shoes (I considered the racing flats but decided against), socks dumping the gloves, helmet and other stuff in the bag. I grabbed the 16 oz Ultrafuel bottle I planned for the first part of the run but I was already thinking how totally yucky it was going to be. Dropped the bag off and hit a portajohn real quick - urine color wasn't as clear as I would have liked for just getting ready to start a marathon so I was concerned about the dehydration factor later in the marathon but I'd have to deal with that when I get there. Trot out to the run - get lotioned up on the exposed spots and off I go. Sky cover had cleared so the LSO (life sucking orb) in the sky was shining bright and stayed that way off and on with passing clouds through the run.

Run: I hate swim, I like bike, I love run - showtime! Legs feel good - don't feel too tired - kept the HR low the whole bikeride - I can do this.

Nutrition Plan - By my pre-race math - to do an 11 hour Ironman with 1.5 hr swim, 6 hr bike and 3.5 hr run I was going to burn around:

8800 calories total to be burnt in all three activities together
-2500 in the body from carb loading
-3300 from fat assuming 140HR for the swim/bike and 150HR for the run (fat burning goes up with lower HR)
-2351 planned to be consumed during the bike
------
640 calories to be consumed on the run in 3.5 hours. I figured I'd come up a few hundred calories short on the bike as 400/hr was pretty aggressive so I was planning for ~1000 calories or ~300/hr. I planned to get that from 16 oz Ultrafuel at the start of the run and 80 oz of Preform along the run or ~3 oz per aid station every mile.

In hindsight with the extra 350 calories consumed on the bike and the lower HR which should have saved 2-300 calories by fatburning - I really needed very little calories at all to finish the run but I didn't realize this - I thought I was going to run out of gas if I didn't figure out how to get some in me.

Lap 1 - Off I go - I glance down after a few hundred yards and see mid 6 mpm - too fast - I ratchet it back and settle somewhere around 7 mpm until the first aid station then I'm focused on cooling. I have them fill all the pockets down my spine with cold sponges and pour some cold water on the front of the shirt - feels cool - I jog out of there and take the smallest sip from the Ultrafuel bottle just to see if I could handle it - yuck!! Things are feeling off - before mile 2 I give into walking a little. Just a short walk then I get going again but the trend starting this early for walk breaks was very concerning. I get going again - things aren't feeling right - I have the good sense to ditch the bottle of Ultrafuel at the second aid station. I get my pockets refilled and off I go. Pattern continues I pass through the next aid station without grabbing any calories - just focused on cooling. Get to the 4th aid station and decide I'm going to try some Preform - one small taste of it and it tastes so gross - I take a few steps and lean a little towards the grass across from the aid stations and out flows all the contents of my stomach in 3 geysers. On the 3rd comes also 4 undigested SaltStick pills. That's 2 hours worth of SaltStick pills taken on the bike so they'd been undigested in the stomach for some time. I kinda sleek out of there trying not to make eye contact with any of the volunteers that saw me. One guy I see point me out to an a lady in the med center and the thought crosses my mind she could pull me out of the race so I kinda just ignore them and move along before they could say anything. I get a little ice down the back and walk out of there. I start feeling much better after that and I jog and a decent pace to the next aid station. I'm really feeling much much better and I keep going. Around mile 5 I try a gel I had in my back pocket - Mocha flavor - seems to go down OK with water and I'm encouraged I can get some calories into me. I decide to just stick with my standard marathon fueling strategy of a gel at 5,10,15,20 and see how that goes. I'm moving along - an occasional walk break but mostly moving along. I'm amazed how many walkers are around me - seems like everyone is going in very slow motion. Anytime I was jogging I was passing like crazy and even when I was walking not many were passing by. Some major struggling going on.

Continues on until mile 8 where I get my special needs bag where I put the hat I'd forgotten to get into my run bag on Friday - so nice to have a hat - from here on out every aid station was scooping up ice and water with the hat - dumping/trapping it on my head under the hat and having a volunteer fill all three of my spine pockets full with ice then grabbing a couple cups of ice water and pouring it down my front. When I jogged you could hear the ice bouncing around on the back. I pass by near the finishline for the finish of the first loop on the 3 loop course where I was expecting to see my wife and a couple friends that drove out with her to spectate but I didn't see them. Disappointed I keep jogging along - generally feeling pretty good. I check the time and notice it's 4pm instead of the 3:45 I texted so I'm not too far off - she should be around. I hope maybe I'll see them the next lap in another 8.5 miles. I grabbed some peanut M&Ms from my SN bag to give to my wife as seen in the first photo - I ended up throwing it to a kid.

Then after I'd given up on them - out she shoots from the sideline mega excited to see me and I'm mega excited to see her too - a couple poses for the camera and a big hug and off I go - sorry Susan - no M&Ms for you :).

(btw - A huge thanks to Jim and Moni for coming all the way out to The Woodlands to cheer me along and snap a few pictures and keep Susan company!!!)

Lap 2 - I'm puzzled by the time - 4:00 at the finish of lap 1 was on schedule - I can't be on schedule - maybe my Garmin clock is off so I ask someone the time and sure enough - its right. Somewhere in the math of adding up all the times I was off 10 minutes or so and I didn't have a clue how that happened (of course it was the Pro start vs when I started). I've got two laps to go or 17-18 miles to go and I'm 9 hours into this race. 1 hour per laps was 11 hours - forget that - but I'm feeling OK so maybe I could be somewhere in the low 11s. I jog along for a while. But as I jogged along the stomach had a kinda worse and worse feeling - like I was shaking up a carbonated soda or something and I'd stop to reverse the trend - things would settle then I'd start running again and this cycle continued on. I took another Gel at mile 10 with some water and kept the pattern going. I was getting pretty good with getting all the volunteers to fill all my pockets with ice and dipping my hat to get water and ice on the head and on I go - so refreshing. I tried to jog between the rest stops but seems more often than not I'd have another walk break or two between the aid stations. On and on - once in a while I take an endurolyte pill from the tic-tack jar I was carrying. At 15 I grab one of the PowerBar Gel's a volunteer had as I'd used up the two Cliff gel's I had in my pocket - it was vanilla flavored - I didn't like it - I don't think it helped settle the stomach at all. Pattern just keeps going on - jog/walk/jog/load up on ice and on. I see my neighbor friends out on the trails for a little encouragement - get another picture - I tell them it's going to be a long last lap.

I finish 2nd lap - missed my wife for the second lap but I knew she'd be there at the finishline.

3rd lap - I'm working the math out - sub4 hr seems doable - just need to keep moving much more than not - all more of the same but some of the walk breaks got pretty long - at one point I think I hit the a lap button and saw 14 minutes.

Sub4 was out the window so the next milestone was sub12 hr Ironman - walking wasn't going to get it - I needed to do more running - I finally cut a deal with myself around mile 23 to go 3 minutes jog, 1 minute walk - that gave me focus and I was able to stick to it - I skipped the rest of the aid stations and just stuck to the plan - time to get this thing over. At mile 25 I decide to just jog it in - no more stopping - at 25.25 I decide to take a 1 minute walk break - then I decide to finish it up - this time my resolve sticks to the end. I find my wife about 100m from the end and stop for a big smooch - I move on to the finish - I hear my name called - I hear "first Ironman" by the announcer and I hear "YOU are an IRONMAN". I have no strength to raise the hands in victory but I'm delighted.

Nutrition summary:
- small sip of Ultrafuel, small sip of Preform
- 2 Cliff Gels
- 1 Powerbar Gel
- 1/4 slice of banana
- 4 orange slices
- 4 pretzels
- 2 potato chips
- 3 Endurolyte Pills
- ~2 oz of water at ~20 aid stations

Total - ~400 calories, 200 mg Sodium, ~10 oz/hr fluids

Splits:
1 7:30 134
2 8:07 137
3 9:54 126
4 11:21 125
5 8:22 134
6 10:43 121
7 10:42 123
8 8:12 134
9 9:18 132
10 9:07 137
11 8:06 142
12 8:33 138
13 8:08 141
14 9:18 135
15 10:31 128
16 11:00 119
17 10:28 125
18 8:06 135
19 10:05 127
20 9:23 127
21 11:41 116
22 14:02 106
23 11:00 112
24 9:49 121
25 9:06 129
26.2 8:31 141 (7:05 pace)

I walk it out - a volunteer takes my arm to be sure I'm OK and walks me the whole way to the exit talking to me - stomach isn't feeling good but I'm finished - it will probably get better after a while. I meet up with my wife

I sit for a while - look at the buffet of food for the finishers and nothing sounds good at all. After a while I realize I need to lean over a trash can and have a few dry heaves - not much comes out - someone sees me and wants to take me over to medical and we start walking over there but 1/2 way there I'm feeling much much better so we stop our journey - in fact I'm feeling hungry now so I grab a burrito and a 7-up and slowly start eating it - and I'm feeling good for the first time in hours.

My first words post race to those that asked how it went were "Great to finish but I hate swimming" - and I really do - especially that swim - bad swimming experience. I'm absolutely certain I will never be doing another of these Ironman races - I've punched my ticket - I'm ready to move on to something else.

In the after days this feeling had evolved into also a certain sense of unfinished business - feeling a bit more like the conquered than the conqueror - I know I can conquer this beast - but still don't have any plans to try that anytime soon - but I've moved "never" out of the picture - it certainly won't be for a while. I don't have the time nor desire to try to do this right right now and don't expect to for some time.

The after days are a little sore - not quite so much as after a fast marathon - recovery seems like it should be pretty quick.

Results from website:
John Hill 1736 44 Kingwood TX USA Engineer

TOTAL SWIM 2.4 mi. (1:32:08) 2:25/100m 1428 274
T1: SWIM-TO-BIKE 11:28
TOTAL BIKE 112 mi (5:47:35) 19.33 mi/h 902 181 [passed 526 on the bike]
T2: BIKE-TO-RUN 9:26
TOTAL RUN 26.2 mi (4:11:09) 9:35/mi 429 78 [Passed 473 on the run]
TOTAL11:51:46 429 78 [~2200 Starters, 2000 Finishers]

Next adventure ...... TBD.

IRONMAN TEXAS - 4 Days Away

2011-05-17T06:10:00.000-07:00

and today's daily weather obsessing forecast for Ironman Texas is about right in line with what you'd expect here this time of year:

7am (swim start) 74°F with 93% Humidity (dewpoint temp 72°F) with a 7 mph wind from the south and 77% sky cover.
3pm (run start) 90°F (Heat Index 97°F) with 52% Humidity (dewpoint temp 70°F) with a 13 mph wind from the south and 43% sky cover.
6pm (finish) 88°F with 57% Humidity (dewpoint temp 71°F) with a 13 mph wind from the SSE and 43% sky cover.

As it happens - this forecast if it holds would be the 2nd hottest average Hi/Lo of the year so far.

Many ironman races have extra challenges because going 140.6 miles just isn't hard enough for this insane group of competitors. Some have hills, some have waves through ocean swims - IMTX has heat - quite possible this race will go into the record books as the greatest ironman challenge of all times (what the hell do I know - it could be). As quoted from one of my favorite kids movies The Monsters: "Now is officially the time to PANIC!!!!".

-----------------------------
I've got about ever symptom of taper madness I've ever felt from the last 12 marathons wrapped all together in one. One in particular I recall before Boston 2007 with forecasts of icy rain and strong headwind - nerveous yes - but fired me up for my first Boston Marathon - to not just run my first Boston - but to run one that would go into the history books as the epic Boston - year of the NorEaster was like a battle cry that jazzed me up. This hot ironman has a similar excitement about it.

On the other hand I'm terrified - I have recently come to the conclusion I don't have a clue what I'm doing. I've been so focussed on learning two new sports I didn't know how to do all that well that I completely took for granted perhaps the most important sporting event of all - the pigging out event. As I just now started hanging out on a triathlon forum (slowtwitch) I'm finding I am so clueless. I'm copying all I can from the fast guys I'm finding over there into a race strategy but so much of it must be untested and new on raceday that there is major risk. But I can't go with what I've tested because frankly - I haven't tested much of anything in the pigging out while riding or running department - so I'll be going based on the experience of those who have and hope for the best.

This is going to be one majorly HARD event - and I'm excited as hell - come on lucky marathon number 13.

3rd time's a charm - Lonestar Sprint Triathlon

2011-04-09T18:40:00.000-07:00

3rd Triathlon I've paid to enter - 1st I've made it to the startline - and finish too:

First ever triathlon - needs work!

15 wave start jumping off a dock then waiting for the signal to "GO" for each wave about 4 minutes apart - waves were by age groups and I was in the 4th wave (M40-49).

Swim - 149th place/556 - 11:29 - pretty slow - lots of bumping - a bit of claustrophobia with low underwater visibility - very different from the pool - flipped on my back for a few strokes a couple times to get extra breating - from about 100m on really just wanting it to be over - found it difficult to get a rhythm but finally did about 3-400m in.

T1 - Improve 9 places to 140th - 3:01 - not optimized and a bit clumbsy - I'm surprized I passed people on this.

Bike - Improve to 86th place - 19.6 mph/12.5 miles (~10 mph winds not quite crosswind) - Somehow I passed 62 people and 6 passed me - but in my division I passed ONE and 3 passed me so I actually lost a couple places in the division. Overall I think I need to learn how to push the bike more - too easy to kinda put in some effort but then get distracted and kinda coast. I haven't seen if I picked up any 2min penalties - I know I earned at least one but I don't know if I got caught - I passed someone in a "no pass" zone as he was going very slow and I lost patience.

T2 - Improved to 84th place - 1:16 - I think I did this one pretty well - I had my feet out of my bike shoes before I stopped and left them clipped on the peddles- ran in my socks to my rack and slipped my running shoes on - pretty clean.

Run - Improved to 44th place - 17:59/5k - Fastest master and actually the 4th fastest in this leg overall. Great run - great fun passing people - moved up 6 spots in my age group.

The humbling moment -- missed one guy at the end with a 41 on his calf - tried to run him down but started just a little too late. I'm wondering if just maybe I got 2nd - I'd looked up the prior years results and figured my time wasn't too far from the top. Last year Philip Vinal won with 56:24 for bike/run - swim was cancelled due to wind - I got 57:31 for the same which would have been 3rd last year - surely a minute or two on the swim didn't drop me down that much.....I get my results card --- 13th - I'm not used to scoring that far down the charts in a race - there are some fast Tri-dudes.

Overall 1:12 flat - 13th/55 in my division, 44th/556 overall.

Things to work on:
- getting comfortable swimming in open water without visibility.
- pushing harder/staying focussed on the bike.
- T1 could get better - need a Tri-Suit and a bib-belt

In summary - I suck at swimming, I hold my own at bike, and I kick butt at the run. Ironman Texas coming up May 21st. Kinda dreading the swim a little but looking forward to 26.2 miles of roadkills.

Dockland Dash 4k

2011-03-14T06:31:00.000-07:00

Thought I'd write-up a little mini-report...

So while travelling in Australia I just had to find a race somewhere - I was hoping for a 1/2 marathon or something but the ONLY race I could find that worked somewhat with my schedule was a little 4k race in Melbourne. A long day - I flew from Sydney to Melbourne first flight 6am from Sydney - drove to where I worked and worked all day then drove to the race at 7pm then quick to the airport for a 9pm flight back to Sydney. This was my first experience ever driving on the left and I didn't suck at it too bad.

I show up at the race and it's a pretty small thing - my bib was 2xx - I don't think I saw any bibs in the 3xx so I guess <300 participants. I sat thinking sometimes these smaller races have winning times pretty slow - who knows - wouldn't it be cool to win a race abroad. I'm not in prime running shape after 2 months off and about a month back running pretty low mileage - but I figured I could at least do sub6mpm (MP pace a few months ago) - no idea how much sub - I don't think I've run a single sub6 mile since CIM so I really have not clue what to expect.

I jog the whole course before the race in a light rain. A few U turns, slippery wood and stones from the rain to watch out for but pretty straight forward.

Strange pre-race customs here - a fitness instructor get's in front of the 2-300 people and has us all doing warm-ups about 10 minutes before the start - OK - whatever. We're off - within a few steps the whole concept of winning this little race goes out the window as a bunch of kids take off. I'm pulled along with them and after 1/4 mile or so glance at my garmin showing 4:xx mpm pace - oops - I back down the pace a bit and by the 1k marker I'm around 5:30 pace - better but I don't think I'm that good - a guy asks me the pace at the marker but all I can say is I don't know - I don't do kilometers and mpm would be useless to him - he moved on ahead - and I think he was the first older dude to be up ahead of me. Anyway the rest of the race was more fading form a too hot start and I ended up 14:55 - 10th place 2nd AG. I didn't stick around for anything afterwords - just grabbed a few snacks out for the finishers and jogged on to my car to get onto the airport.

Fun to race in a foriegn land - whatever the distance.

2010 in Review

2010-12-31T18:20:00.001-08:00

2010 Races:

- Austin-Boston Challenge - MS150 from Houston to Austin on Sat/Sun, Boston Marathon on Mon.

- Race for the Penant 5k

- USCAA Regional Track & Field 3k, 1600m, 800m (scores two first place team medals)

- Mayor's Anchorage 1/2 marathon (1st AG)

- Run the Woodlands 5k

- Beneezy 10k (Overall Win)

- XC Relay 2M (3rd Master Team)

- 10 4 Texas 10M (Masters Win - PR)

- Houston Half (2nd AG)

- HMSA 25k (2nd Master)

- Kingwood Park HS Band 10k (2nd Overall)

- California International Marathon (2nd AG - PR)

Tally up for the year:

Running
14 races - 2 Mar, 1 25k, 2 1/2Mar, 1 10M, 2 10k, 2 5k, 1 2M, 1 3k, 1 1600m, 1 800m
10 Awards including 1 OA win, 1 2nd, 1 Masters win, 1 AG win, 3 AG 2nd and 3 from relays.
1968 running miles (one more than my birth year)
2 PRs 59:09 10M and 2:38:55 Marathon

Biking
5 Ride Events 46, 48, 54, 66, 172 (MS150)
2137 biking miles

Swimming
18 swim miles

Total: 391 hours of exersize - a PR of sorts by 35 hours - and beating my 1/1/2010 goal of 1 hour per day of whatever.

CIM - The Great Race

2010-12-10T03:32:00.001-08:00

I wasn't really sure what to title this race report - A few approaches I was thinking and why:

What a difference a year makes - story of a comeback after a year off starting pretty much from scratch December of last year. For the whole of 2009 I averaged close to 10 miles of running per MONTH. Almost no cross training the 2nd half of the year except a few Kayaking rides. I'd gained 25 lbs from the year's PR conditions back November 2008. My injury location (Sacrum Stress Fracture) still seemed to have some not quite right feelings when I tried to run. I recall specifically around mid December giving a little HSE topic about staying fit and resolving to do that myself. The journey back to fitness began - a few highlights:

December-February - Worked my way into cycling fitness going ~500 miles per month.
March-mid April - Continuing the cycling training and slowly starting to run again and ramp the longest run per week distance up more and more.

April 19th - my 43rd birthday - Riding a MS150 from Houston to Austin then flying out to Boston and running the Boston Marathon the next day - Much faster than I thought possible (3:16).

May-June - Continuing Biking/Running and also trying to pick up swimming to tackle my first ever triathlon - BSLT half ironman - but falling on the bike and hurting a rib 2 weeks before. Running a 1/2 marathon instead in Anchorage (1:25).

July-August - Sign-up for a training plan through Kenyan Way. Drop the biking/swimming and focusing only on running with CIM marathon as the finishline goal. Ramp up the weekly mileage over the summer - almost all on a treadmill to avoid the Houston heat - watched the entire LOST series running those miles:). Focused on weight loss and got all the way back to PR weight (155) by the start of September where I figured the "serious" training started (loosing weight once the real training seems near impossible).

September-December - Kept up the training - did several tune-up races to redevelop some racing grit - training worked well but was not without setbacks. Several 1-2 day kinda injury outages as I ramped up the mileage. My body didn't seem to respond well to longruns or higher mileage (70-80 miles/week) so for the last couple months I ended up cutting short the longruns and keeping the mileage in the 50-60 range. My weekly mileage(long run) for the 12 weeks leading up to the marathon counting backwards was:

31 pre mar(12), 54(12), 59(11), 65(16), 42(12), 56(20), 67(15), 80(22), 56(13), 77(22), 80(19), 80(18).

With prior running more typically in the 70-80 up until last couple weeks and long runs at least 18+ most every week - this was a much tamer running level than in the past. But results were still being delivered as evident by my tune-up racing:

Date Distance Time Pace
August .....3.1 ..... 18:19 5:54
September 6.2 ..... 37:18 6:00
October .... 10 ..... 59:09 5:54
October .....13.1 .1:20:59 6:13
November 15.5 ...1:33:50 6:03

And with that last race actually run at a marathon effort - I started to believe it just might be possible to get another sub2:40 at CIM. That had always been my goal looking ahead at CIM - but up to and including race day - I wasn't really a true believer I could do it - it took me 3 years of training to get to that level last time around - to do it in one training cycle really seemed unrealistic - but I liked the stretch goal.

Hometown Marathon was another title I considered. I grew up from 5th through 12th grade in Sacramento just a fraction of a mile off Fair Oaks Blvd. Fair Oaks is a very long street and actually had more than 1/2 the total marathon run along it - and I knew much of that road from riding and running on it growing up. My Dad and Mom still live pretty close up in Auburn California and I knew they would come out and be a great support. Also my sister lives up north in Red Bluff and they also would provide some great cheering. I also knew a great group of friends that I've been acquainted with through a couple Internet forums (facebook, runningtimes forum) - most of whom I've never met face to face but I knew were good people - these are my imaginary friends :). The marathon is nearly always perfect weather in the cool December month - it's a net downhill a few hundred feet with almost exactly balances out the slowdown effect of the rollers mixed into the first 3/4 s of the race making it about flat equivalent. With family, friends, childhood memories around every corner - it really felt like a hometown marathon.

The visits with friends and family were great. My Dad and Mom pick Susan and I from the airport and we head up to Auburn where we hang out for a little bit. They have the most beautiful home looking out over the foothills into the mountains. After a little bit we make our way back to downtown going the long way covering the marathon route along the way to give me a feel for it and get more visiting time with them.

As we approach the startline - a vision that nearly brings tears of joy to most any marathoner:

Well done CIM race director!

We continue the ride from the start to the end - somehow the marathon distance seems much much farther when it takes you over an hour to drive it. Other than a few landmarks remembered from childhood there was really nothing remarkable about the course visually - typical suburban or commercial streets - colored leaves were pretty cool - than about mile 20 or so city starts to look pretty cool. Trees extending over the streets all full of fall colors. Nice houses very clean - and that really cool feel look really extends all the way to downtown where my folks drop us off with about 0.7 miles to go to the finishline at the Residence Inn. We'd kinda scouted out some spots along the way and I kinda knew where to expect the cheering squad along the course. I gave them an assignment at each sighting to hand me a 16 oz bottle of plain water - I wouldn't drink it all but a few gulps that would definitely made it into my mouth vs the dixie cups that is hit or miss - mostly miss - was really a help. I ended up getting 3 bottles from them around 8, 13 and 20 let me run through many water stops. And also gave me ammo - including the initial bottle I started the race with - I had 4 "grenades" I could use to take out my competitors when I was done drinking them - but I'm a pretty poor aim and ended up getting 0 for 4 as they ended up harmlessly flying to the side of the road.

After getting dropped at the hotel I met up with my imaginary friends for a final challenge to work through a bowl of Pasta. Susan I think took pride in being the only one not actually running the marathon the next day at the table who could guiltlessly drink alcohol.

On the Left - John, Julie, Elisa, Susan (trying to hid in the back:))
On the Right from the back - Me (with the evil eyes), Dan, Charlie (Julie's Husband), Jeff and Laurant.
Missing in the picture - Pam, Robyn and Stephanie - you'll just have to imagine them.

I get my packet from Dan who kindly grabbed it at the expo for me (Thanks Dan). Dan and John were going for bigger goals than I expected to be able to do so I didn't form firm plans to start with them as I figured they might burn me out - but our time goals were in the same ballpark so figured we'd see each other along the course - if not from a distance.

After dinner Susan and I attempt to walk to the finishline before heading to the hotel - but about 1/2 way there the kinda cool rain with us not really dressed for it made us turn around and head back so I spend the rest of the evening trying to get a little organized for the finishline. I packed up at home in a bit of a rush and needed a little time to organize it all.

On my 12 marathon the routine is pretty darn fixed. I did my last hard workout 3 days before - I described this workout to someone and I liked his paraphrase "So you are telling me that you crank up the heat in the house throw on some Rocky clothes...get on the treadmill and throttled yourself 3 days before the marathon? Am I missing something here?" Yep - that's pretty much what I do - followed by a couple very easy 4-5 mile runs on Friday/Saturday. Carb loading for Thursday/Friday/Saturday - major hydrating and electrolyte loading on Saturday. 4am (3 hours before the race) the alarm goes off and I decided to take a little jog with my first 16 oz of UltraFuel. I jog the .7 miles to the finishline and back and down that first bottle - then get back to the hotel and down the 2nd bottle - all fueled up and ready to go.

From here to the startline I'm a bit of a blundering fool

- I forget to pack 2 little trash bags (they are on my checklist so I'm not sure how I missed them) - these are used to keep the race shoes dry while standing around the start-line - especially important at a race like Boston where it's muddy. After jogging outside seeing the streets wet - I decide first to wear my training shoes to the start and put my race shoes in the bag - but then half way to the elevator I realize my bag is just overstuffed so I go back and change into my race shoes and head to the elevator.

- I get off the elevator to a bunch of anxious eyes of several who agreed to meet up to ride the bus to the startline together. Although I'm actually on-time - I'm the last one there and clearly this was one of those occasions where 10 minutes early is really on-time. We miss the first bus load but are first to load onto the 2nd bus - all is good although those that waited an extra 10-15 minutes were forced to be standing in the middle which would have been no fun at all.

- I have a great time chit-chatting with Dan the whole ride up along with Charlie and Julie across the aisle. He's got major potential to be faster but with a few weeks of being sick not too long ago he ended up showing up not quite as good as he thinks is his potential - but still strong. I realize I had yet to program in a race-plan into my garmin so I think up a plan real quick and start programming - the program ended up being Lap 1: 2 miles long 5:55 - 6:05 pace, Lap 2: 11 miles long 160-164 heartrate, Lap 3: 14 miles long 157-162 heartrate. I figured first couple miles were net downhill so I should be able to bank a little time on them a little faster than my 2:40 (6:06 pace) target then the heartrate would be flatten out and I could use it from there to guide me on speed.

- After we get to the start and walk down the portapotty line a ways until there was no line - we find a place to camp out and I work though my final pre-race preps. Change my warm socks to my race socks. Select my race shirt - definitely don't need the long sleeve shirt or the arm warmers. I find an empty 24 oz Gatorade bottle I intended to stop somewhere to get some poweraid to fill (can't take liquid through luggage) but forgot. Rummage for my S-cap pills and somehow drop and lose one of the two of them I usually take before the race. Ok I've got some scrounging to do.

- Jeff, Dan and I head toward the start-line. I drop my bag along the way (they have a good system for this - just throw my bag on a truck with my bib number on it - and they sort them all out and have them waiting at the finish. Then I scan around for some Gatorade to fill my bottle.

- I get separated from Jeff and Dan to go hunt for Gatorade - I spot a guy taking a small amount from a 32 oz orange Gatorade and tossing the rest of the bottle - I go dumpster diving for it like it's orange gold - I get it and fill my bottle.

- Then I realize I didn't put glide on my nipples - they will certainly be hurting by the finish - after vainly looking around hoping to spot someone with some - I glance at my shirt and figure - good thing I wore red.

- After all my scrounging I walk back and forth across the finishline looking for Dan and John but they must have decided to start a little back or maybe they were warming up or something - I couldn't find them. I end up getting as close as I could to the front - when they dropped the dividing line to the elites I kinda squeezed my way up ahead of the ladies but a row or so back from the very front. I down about 1/2 my orange Gatorade and I'm ready to race.

- I think the typical average for this day of the year is at least 10F lower. The forecast even as early as 2 hours before the gun (when I last checked ) was maybe 5F lower, 10F lower for the finish. Rain, tailwind, crosswind, near freezing - all were in the forecast for the raceday at some point in the week leading up to the race - but it ended up nearly perfect - just a little cooler would have made it perfect - ok a tailwind might have been kinda cool too.

There were other titles considered - But of course you saw at the top what I ended up with

CIM - The Great Race:

Great race on so many levels for me. Coming back from Injury, having friends running and family cheering, pre-race worries about some pains that turned into nothing once the gun went off, fighting through side stitch for first many miles certain this was going to be an off day but giving it a go regardless with whatever I've got, sticking like glue through the miles to my race strategy - miles and miles of fleeting thoughts to ease up or even walk - but not. Doubts of not running enough in recent training and few longruns.

But it all worked out. I thought I had a longshot at getting to sub2:40 but I was going to get whatever I had out of myself whether faster or slower - and I think I got it - and huge delight it was not just faster - but ever a PR by almost 30 seconds to boot. What a high. Here's the splits - perfect weather - 51 at start, 58 end - no wind at all - checked 4 different weather stations along the course and they all read calm the whole race:

1 5:59 153 (lost 14 seconds re-tying my shoe that came unlaced at ~0.5 - I guess I was going out too fast anyway) I pop up from shoe tie and there's John and Dan - awesome - I found them.
2 6:11 161 I fall back from them figuring they'd likely be a bit hot for me.
3 5:55 162
4 6:01 160
5 6:03 162
6 6:06 162

After the first several miles searching for my rhythm for this race that stopped the HR alarms from going off all the time - note that I'm not used to running hills at all and this thing had constant rollers the first 25-30k and it was really throwing me off to be pace adjusting continually - I finally figured out at around the turn to Fair Oaks Blvd ~6 miles in I just needed to pass people like crazy on the downhills, let a few of them get me back on the uphills, then pass like crazy again next downhill - worked like a charm. I suspect my up to down speed difference is naturally a bit different than most because I don't run hills. Those that run hills a lot are probably a bit more adapted to it and don't have to slow so much on the uphills to have even effort. Dan had moved up ahead most of this first stretch. John and I kept alternating who was ahead as I was "searching" for my rythm - I kinda appoligized as I passed him what seemed like to 10th time in a few miles and he called my racing a bit like a "Yo-Yo" - made me smile.

You'll note this picture taken by my cheering squad around mile 8ish of the lead pack - if you look way way in the back behind all those runners - zoom in if you have to......OK you still won't be seeing me. This intersection happens to be the closest intersection to the house I grew up in - just 2 streets down.

7 5:59 161 Cheering Squad gives me a Water Bottle (Thanks Dad!)

8 6:01 163 move up to Dan via a down hill speed up, up hill slow down cycle - John must have come up with me because at one point the three of us are running side by side - Dan says we really need a picture - that shot would be priceless. Then my alarm goes off so I speed up a little. Shortly after this a picture is taken that get's put on the Sacramento Bee website:

Ok - we're not all side by side - missed the money shot - but at least we are all in the same shot although I'm hidden by Trevor - guy in Blue - I'll get him back - more on that later.

9 6:09 161
10 5:56 160
11 5:53 159 Dan meets back up with me at the top of a hill - but me going downill running by HR means I speed up a lot - I move on ahead again. There's one stretch in here with ~1/2 mile ~4% grade downhill I go flying down - great fun.
12 6:04 158
13 5:57 160
14 5:55 160
15 6:01 161
16 5:57 161 - On to where I have not been before. I kept this pace up for 25k just 3 weeks ago in a marathon paced race effort - now the test to see if I can keep it for another 10 miles.
17 5:55 158
18 6:01 160
19 6:00 161
20 6:02 161 As I approach what I recall to be the prettier portion of the course from the drive - I recall thinking as I looked up at the beautiful trees, etc - I really couldn't care less - there is no beauty at that point that compares to a finishline.
21 6:06 162
22 6:10 162 Dan comes up by me as we go over a bridge into the city - I give him an "All right Dan!!" - we run for a little bit then he moves on ahead.
23 6:07 162
24 6:18 164 (I didn't remember fading this much - This split still bugs me a very very small bit - I mean the HR was higher than the last - the pace should not be slower - but I cannot come up with a reason for it - I've studied the elevation profile, weather station wind data - just can't find and a reason - I guess I just lost a little focus here)
25 6:10 165
26 6:06 166

Ok - here's Trever again - just before the last two turns. From the back there's a little thinning that makes me think -- could be a 40+'er - so I didn't want him to knock me down a rung in the Master's race - so I accelerate and take him down to finish just ahead of him. Thanks Trever - probably the reason for me getting sub2:39.

26.31 5:33 169 (pace)

Final 2:38:55 Splits 1:19:08/1:19:47 - since first half has 70% of the elevation drop - that's about as even effort as I can get.

First race I've had the heartrate drift up at the final miles like that - but it didn't feel like I had to slow down so I kept it in strong to the end - felt great (ok not really until after finish). I think that's because of the weather - mid 50s and 100% humidity is actually the warmest I've ever run one of these things - but I still held on so its all good.

5th Master Overall including 1 Female (ah - Wow), 4th Male Master (money to top 3) but since 2 were in the 45-49 AG I got 2nd AG 40-44 (very cool!).

I truly thought my PR days were in the past - 2 years older since I was in racing shape alone is supposed to cost some time - then add the loss of the accumulated fitness from prior - I'm about as surprized by what was accomplished as I can be. I wouldn't have taken 20-1 odds on a PR for me a few months ago.

At official splits I was 106th at ~6 mile mark, 88th at the 1/2, 79th at 20 and 65th at the end. Only ONE guy in the whole race that was behind me at the half and/or at the 20 beat me to the finish - that would be Dan. I like to think I help pull him up a few extra seconds - awesome dude..

Some amazing performances by many out there:

- Dan - 2:38:45 - nearly a 9 minute PR.

- John - 2:42:02 - for 2nd fastest marathon ever - how many 53 year olds can do that.

- Jeff - 2:57:58 - a PR by a couple minutes - and first "Real" sub3 (he know's what I mean)

- Elisa - 3:00:04 - goal was 3:05 - 14 minute PR

- Julie - 3:05:47 - on a major off day almost 15 minutes off her goal :(. She's OTQ material and will bounce back quick I know.

- Pam - 3:11:14 - I think that's a 7 minute PR

- Robyn - ??

- Charlie - 4:2X - 2nd marathon ever and a PR

- Stephanie - XXX - ran first part as a workout - recovering from a broken toe.

After the race there was lots of huge congrats to all around. What a glowing time. I join my cheering squad for a beer and snacks after the race and most of the group above for a final close-out toast to another marathon in the books and enjoy the rest of the day relaxing in Auburn with the cheering squad - what a great time!

One other title considered:

A Late Kiss - This was my 12 marathon completed. In the majority of those marathons my #1 fan wife has very faithfully travelled hours and hours to these silly little races, stood for hours in sometimes very crowded, borderline hostile finishlines in crowds like Boston and New York City - waiting for the "Moment" - sometimes a little behind schedule - sometimes beautifully ahead of schedule when I come tearing toward the finishline. We make eye contact - I swoop in for a high fives and on a couple occasions a big old sweaty kiss before I dash across the finish. This time she did all the right things - but I screwed up royal and MISSED THE KISS! I could make excuses - I was chasing down Trevor with a mad dash to the finish, the final stretch was extremely short with a couple quick turns just before the finish so there was little opportunity to scan the finishline crowd to pick her out, I was perhaps just a little tired at the time, I was a bit distracted after the final turn to look up and see the clock ticking away the 2:38:5x's and with lazor focus not wanting to see it click to 2:39 (I knew I had the sub2:40 - but I didn't know I had the PR until that final turn to see the clock).......but those are all terrible excuses - I screwed up royal and deserve the dog house. After crossing the finish she came from across to the fense nearest me and screemed in joy for me - and I turned around at her voice - ran full speed (that would actually be a bit of a hobbling walk but it felt fast) to her and stole my kiss anyway.

A few more Pictures:

Dan and I at the finish - man are we happy that's done.

Jeff, John and I debriefing at the finish.

Cheering Squad - Grandma Sue, Nieces Judy and Cady

Cheering Squad - Wife Susan, Dad, Sister Terri and her daughters Judy and Cady

More Cheering Squad - Dad, Stepbrother Randy and his wife Kim.

Susan and I at the Capital Tree

Susie and I at the Capital Steps

That's all for now ---- What a Great Race!!!

Racing Summary

2010-12-09T16:55:00.000-08:00

Ok - I'll get to a report out on CIM eventually - but I thought this race summary was kinda cool. My goal from about the start of the training program was to move up the distances but keep the pace about the same as fitness level progressed - see how I did:

Date Distance Time Pace
August .....3.1 ..... 18:19 5:54
September 6.2 ..... 37:18 6:00
October .... 10 ..... 59:09 5:54
October .....13.1 .1:20:59 6:13
November 15.5 ...1:33:50 6:03
December 26.2 ...2:38:55 6:03

Clearly I have one speed for all distances .

Test Lab Results

2010-11-22T04:18:00.000-08:00

Went up to TWU today were a grad student (Eric) offered to run a bunch of running tests on me hooked up to his machines at the university. I wish I'd taken a picture - Hooked up to an ECG via 10 probes spread around my chest (which now looks like a checkerboard from the shaved spots btw), a helmet that holds the snorkle I keep in my mouth and running on a treadmill while every 10 minutes getting pricks to my finger for blood - good times!

I love all the data - if I ever do this again I'm wearing my Garmin HRM and footpod to get cadence and a full HR trend instead of just at a few spots.

Test Description - After a baselining period taking readings at rest and a slow walk - the test goes 8 min at each speed, each row has the readings at the end of this 8 minutes, 2 minute rest then start next speed. At the end there were 1 minute intervals harder and harder until I was done to get to VO2max.

Min...Road Eq..vo2 ...HR ....Lactate... Breath/min...Notes
0................... 5.0 .... 47 .....0.9.... 25
8/2....9:55.... 29.7 .... 85 .....1.2.... 33.........50% mile Pace
8/2....8:20.... 36.2 .... 122 ....1.1.... 35.........60% mile Pace
8/2....7:11.... 44.2 .... 140 ....1.4.... 39.........70% mile Pace
8/2....6:20.... 49.8 .... 153 ....2.6.... 46.........80% mile Pace
8/2....5:58.... 54.2 .... 160 ....3.8.... 48.........85% mile Pace
8/2....5:38.... 59.4 .... 169 ....6.6.... 50.........90% mile Pace
1......5:58.... 42.6 .... 160 ........... 51
1......5:37.... 56.3 .... 167 ........... 51
1......5:19.... 62.4 .... 171 ........... 51
1......5:04.... 64.8 .... 174 ....9.3.... 55..........VO2max

My initial thoughts looking at it:
- VO2max ~65 seems about right - looking up my last (and only other) VO2max test (9/2007) my VO2max was measured to be 64 - max VE 126.7 l/m in 2007 vs 128.7 today so 1.5% more O2.

- 2:2 breathing pattern would be 45 breaths/minute assuming 90 cadence - that would sure be running slow - don't think I'll be using that as a speed indicator in racing. I find it interesting the breaths/minute changes very slight between 6:20 and 5:58 pace - not so precise an indicator at all.

- Using some benchmarks from Daniels Running Formula for Threshold speed:
Threshold Lactate ~4.0 = 5:56.
88% VO2max - 57 VO2 = 5:47.

- MP lactate I understand from Eric is typically in the 2.5 to 3.0 range which makes 6:12-6:21 mpm range for me (2:42.5-2:46.5) - short of my goal 2:40 marathon pace of 6:06.

- Heartrate data doesn't seem to correlate to my training heartrates. Big disconnects. The HR in the lab showed around what I see at Marathon Pace for what appears to be Threshold and what I use at Threshold (170ish) is far above Lactate 4.0. Guess I'm discounting the heartrate data as useful until I can find some explanation that makes sense why it is so different from what I see on the road.

- As I happenned to have the Daniels Running Formula open I'm noting "individuals show vast variation from this 4.0 threshold value. One runner might maintain a steady blood lactate concentration of 2.8 and feel same degre of stress as another runner who has a steady 7.2." So I'll take it all with a grain of salt. Still interesting stuff..

Error Analysis

Weight:
- On scale after the ECG cable was hooked up - adds ~1 lb - so actual weight closer to 157 vs 158.
- On treadmill probably supporting 1/2 the ECG cable as well as a helmet tube holder - total together ~1 lbs extra weight.

Impact - pretty small - typically 1 lb ~ 2 sec/mile so MP potential 6:10-6:19. Also VO2max would be ~0.5 higher.

Temperature:
- Lab temperature was recorded on the test results to be 72°F. Per runworks/calculator (6th option down) at colder than 60°F the equivalent marathon speed would drop 6 sec/mile - so MP potential at less than 60°F would be 6:04-6:13.

Time-Lag:
- Each segment was 8 minutes. Looking at my most recent training run at ~Threshold pace (3x3 miles at ~170 bpm with 5 min rest between on 11/26) - the heartrate flattens out after about 1.5 miles or 7 minutes, about 1/4 mile quicker for the 2nd and 3rd intervals. Conclusion: taking the HR readings 8 minutes into a constant pace should be pretty representative.

- Another time-lag issue I heard discussed while I was on the treadmill - there is a 2 minute lag between lactate levels from the muscles to lactate levels in the finger where the blood is drawn - I think this explains the very last Lactate datapoint - although taken after VO2max - the lactate level probably corresponds to a couple minutes earlier or 2 data points to the left - then it kinda lines up with the rest of the curve.

Still the HR levels are a mystery. I can hold 170 HR for 10-13 miles in races so that heartrate should be around threshhold pace (by the 1 hour race pace definition approximation of threshhold pace) - but this test shows 7+ lactate at that HR and the 4.0 lactate points is far lower than this - closer to 160 HR. Makes the heartrate data suspect - but I don't know how to get better HR data than an ECG. It could be that I run my marathon pace with lactate levels in the 3.5-4.0 range - that would be a bit of an outlier but not unheard of - as mentioned above Daniels has seen 7.2 for Lactate Threshold - could be I'm THAT guy.

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Eric's anaysis:

I went back and looked at your data, and the only thing I can think of why the data was off is that possibly the machines were not properly calibrated. The information just doesn't make sense to me. I have attached your VO2/CO2 data and the cross over point is known as your ventilatory threshold. This with lactates can give a good estimate on lactate threshold. But your lactates correlated with the metabolic data so I don't know why they seemed so low. The treadmill also has a calibration which we did not do prior to testing but found out later. VO2 max was found similar to your previous testing so I am confident that we got that correct.

Based on the lactates I would have predicted from 2.5-3.0mM for marathon pace. That had you at around 6:40ish pace. What I found interesting, knowing the at least the VO2 data was correct, was that your cross over data of fuel usage was on the low end for an experienced endurance runner. Maybe heat stress you do improves CHO metabolism? I don't know. But the information tells that you were using less fats as fuel at lower and higher intensities. This seemed to correlate well with the metabolic data and lactate samples. I have included someone that is an average female runner. Highly trained runners show a cross over point shift further to the right.

My only other explanation is that that you were not fully recovered from any previous training. I do think you must have done really well with carbo-loading and fueling during the marathon to keep pace with the increase in carbohydrates at the 6 min pace. Someone did tell me that the CIM course is downhill, do you think that it's that much of an aided course?

If you are in the area and want to get tested again let me know and we can set something up.

HMSA Classical 25k

2010-11-14T19:55:00.000-08:00

First time running the event and with only 3 weeks to go to my goal marathon I didn't want to burn myself out in it. Coach (Sean Wade) said to think twice about doing it as the prior week I was struggling with a few minor injuries - but by race day the pain seemed to have left completely so I thought I'd give it a go. I planned to run a workout in much the same way I planned the marathon in 3 weeks - keep the effort right about the same and just finish the marathon effort run after 15.5 miles instead of 26.2. At the same time I had my eye on a particular prize - local elite status at the Houston Marathon. This prize goes to the fastest in 10 year age groups in each of the HARRA warm-up series to the races. Since many of the fast guys already had their entries (Sean, Gerardo, Wilmer, Jon) I figured the probables for getting it were Tommy or Andrew or me and in a head to head all out race I figured any one of us could get it. So in an workout effort I figure I've got no shot but I'll keep an eye on these guys and if they give it to me - I'll take it.

I'd tested my marathon effort pace about a week ago at 6:13 mpm (ran 10 miles maintaining 164 HR and that was the average pace). I figured if I did my hot sweats run (12 miles in sweats) a few days before the race I just might be able to knock that down maybe 5-10 sec/mile or more if it works but I'm not always confident it will work. Figured at least if it didn't work I could maintain the marathon pace effort and at 6:13 mpm that was just enough to get a qualifying time then if I got very very lucky (like Tommy and Andrew no-show) it was mine.

Before the race I run into Tommy and mention I was just running an MP run - gotta marathon in 3 weeks - probably around 6:13 pace - which is really what I was making myself expect, the 5-10 sec/mile improvement was more of a hope but not an expectation.

Course is an out-n-back x3 going pretty much East-West and as it turns out the wind ended up be a pretty steady ENE around 5 mph. As Houston streets go this one had some hills on it - rollers. Temps were perfect right around 50F. I set the watch up to record laps base on when I pushed the lap button and I planned to push it at each turnaround which was about 2.65 miles each - also had alarms set at 160 and 164 bpm to stay in marathon pace zone:

Lap 1 West - 6:01 pace/157 AHR tailwind. A bit faster than I expected but feeling good, HR staying in check, Tommy up ahead of me as expected.

Lap 1 East - 6:14 pace/162 AHR headwind. According to the timing mat Tommy's about 6 seconds ahead. Little did I know these two were stalking me from behind - Francisco on the left and Andrew (guy who beat me by 6 seconds at the 1/2 marathon 3 weeks ago) on the right. Francisco passes me just before the timing mat. I cross the mat in 17th place overall.

So - we've got a race - Tommy 6 seconds ahead of us, and the three of us here who all record within a couple seconds at the mat - and all four of us are after the local elite status....there can be only one....I'm a bit amazed I'm even in this race as I'm just running a workout.

Lap 2 West - tailwind again. 6:03 average 160 AHR - right on my target HR or even a little low. Tommy is moving off into the distance - I'm figuring he's gone. Andrew has passed by me near the start of this Lap and went on ahead of Francisco - not that I was keeping track of him - I didn't even know who he was I just putting it together from hindsight. I'm back about 20 yards from Francisco.

Lap 2 East - headwind. 6:06/161AHR After counting to myself 26 ~seconds between Tommy and I passing a mark in the road - I get this bright idea after about a 1/4 mile of headwind - why not close the gap to Francisco and let him do the work against the wind. I do that (with high alarm chirping at me until I silence it) - close the gap and sit right on him. He's a little short to be a great windshield but much better than going it alone. He's trying to drop me by different tactics, weaving, speeding up - but to no avail - I'm sticking right behind him drafting and the lap goes much better than the last I did on my own. As he's trying to shake me with speed - he closes the entire gap on Tommy who is himself leading a pack of three guys into the wind and working hard doing it - Francisco powers me right by the whole pack of them. That appears to break Tommy as he falls back a whole minute by the time we get to the next turnaround. Towards the end of the lap there's a downhill and I figure I'm ready to move on ahead so I pass by Francisco. Here's the shot just near the end of that lap - and look who's just ahead. I'm pretty sure Andrew got there without any drafting so he's gotta be hurt'n - I'm feeling good and fresh - still just a workout for me:

Cross the mat in 14th place and on to the last lap.

Lap 3 West - Tailwind. 5:57/160AHR. The blue shirt guy is going about my pace so I stick with him. I figure he'd be real convenient to draft behind on the East side of the loop so I kinda keep him just in front of me. As we pass an aid station someone yells out - "Go Andrew" and I finally know who the this guy is - he's the guy that was in front of me for 5k of the last half marathon I ran and takes the 1st AG award, he's a contender for the local elite status - with Tommy and Francisco out and now I know THIS is Andrew - and I'm still only at a workout level of effort - he's going down and I'm taking the golden ticket.

Lap 3 East Part 1 - Headwind. 5:52/161AHR - first 1.2 miles. Just as planned - I'm letting Andrew do the work. He tries to shake me a couple times - even slows way down at one point but I'm not ready to take the lead so I stay behind and keep drafting. Figuring I'm fresh and he's gotta be feeling like 80% of the way into a race - I'm just trying to pick my place to make a move. Finally a little after the 14 mile marker I sprint by Andrew so he's got no chance to link on and I start making some space.

Part 2 - 5:43/165AHR - final 1.5 miles. Redemption for that 1/2 marathon - something very sweet about being at my limits with a guy one race then 3 weeks later just running away from him. I race it in hard - no idea how far back Andrew is. With all the slower runners getting lapped looking back was useless to spot him so I just kept charging it in. Got over the last hill and charged down the last hill to the finishline where Susie's there taking pictures and clapping up a storm. Gerardo (1st Master) points me out to the guy taking names and numbers for the local elite and with a shacky hand - I fill in my info for him.

Everything and more than I could ask for in this "workout".

Final results:
11th Overall out of 1241 with a time of 1:33:55, 2nd Masters ($75 prize) (Andrew +40 sec, Fransisco 3:31, Tommy +5:50) and a cool looking award:

After the race as I explain my race tactics to my wife - she riddles me with questions aimed at determining if I was cheating. No - drafting is not cheating in road racing - it is in triathelons but not road racing - a normal race tactic. I do feel a little bad telling Tommy I'd be doing 6:13s and actually ending up 6:03s - 6:13s really was all I let myself expect so I wasn't lying but as I passed by him I kinda felt like he might think I was lying - I suppose pre race lying is a race tactic too but I didn't actually intend that. As for the drafting - that's just the kinda thing competitive jerks like me do. It's all good racing.

Houston Half Marathon

2010-10-24T16:36:00.000-07:00

A hot run today - weather underground showed downtown conditions were 75F with a 70F Dew Point (Very Humid) - that just sucks for racing. I forgot about the clock and I was just hoping to run for place. I figured Gerardo had Masters pretty well locked up, Tommy King seemed the favorite for 1st AG but not so out of reach I couldn't get him if I had a great race - he was ~20 seconds faster in the warmer USA 10 miler than I had at 10 for Texas 2 weeks ago so I'd have to speed up ~30-45 seconds equivalent to catch him - beating him became the stretch goal. Then there were a number of 40-44 I figured I should be able to beat but not comfortably so - within a minute in the 10 milers race - fending all them off was the "B" goal. So I figured I was racing for 1st or 2nd AG. At the start I learned Wilmer was also there but since he is in 45-49 - as long as Gerardo beat him (so he'd get Master's and not be in my AG) he didn't count for the AG award - and Gerardo's been beating him lately but Wilmer is a wildcard with major potential when he's good.

A couple experiments I'm doing for this race to improve my potential vs the 10 miler a couple weeks ago:

1) Thursday I did a heat acclimation run - 12 miles in sweats - I do this run before cold marathons too and it seems to give me an extra boost on race day - I wasn't sure what it would do for a hot run but figured some heat acclimation could only be a good thing.

2) MaxATP suppliment 1.5 hours before the race - never tried that before but thought for a B priority race I'd give it a try. A guy at work gave me some samples of the stuff - probably does nothing but what the heck.

Race plan was run ~6 mpm first mile then just stick like glue at 170 bpm until last ~5 miles then see if I can pick a few off speeding up if I can. This seemed like it would be a little conservative first 9, 170 bpm is only 1bpm more than I've done for 1/2 marathons in the past without the heat - the heat I figured I should be able to go a little higher HR. Course overall is pretty flat with some rollers here and there and there was a little wind first mile otherwise mostly cross wind.

Gun goes off - I really have a tough time guaging my speed off the start line - need to work on that - I was hoping to keep 6 mpm first mile - Garmin was worthless for pacing with tall buildings first mile - pace seemed suspect as I was ahead of Gerardo for a while - but the pace felt easy - I realized I was going fast about 3/4 through the mile and backed off but turns out mile one ended 5:50. (actually watch said 5:37 but when I fixed the GPS points because of the tall buildings it wasn't so fast).

Althouth that sounds fast - when I passed milemarker and the watch switched to showing HR's I was only at 162 HR so actually I sped back up and pulled through the 2nd mile about the same speed - 5:45/169 AHR - heat hadn't started working on me yet.

All I was watching was for constant HR and I tried to block out what was going on around me. I think several went by me by I was forcing myself to run my race and ignore them. Miles went
3 5:59/171
4 6:10/171
5 6:16/170
6 6:21/170
7 6:15/170 (According to split I was in 21st place across the ~midrace mat - Tommy was a few place up and to me he represented 1st AG)
8 6:23/170

Time to start moving up - I did a gatorade swish at an aid station and started feeling some energy - I start reeling people in - Tommy's 3 places ahead:
9 6:15/170
10 6:05/172 (Pass by Tommy - gotta keep him behind me for a few miles to secure 1st AG - once I pass Tommy I'm more in a maintain position mindset - a guy was ahead a bit but I wasn't pushing to catch him - just maintaining what I thought was 1st AG).
11 6:08/171
12 6:19/171
13 6:11/172
13.19 1:01/173

Finish 1:20:59 (Tommy ends up about a minute back although I felt like I was pushing the last 5k fending him off - sometimes the pressure from behind - real or imaginary - is enough to keep pushing).

Thinking for a long time I've got 1st AG and celebrating that - that was my stretch goal after all - once the results were posted I see a new name from Houston that was not on my radar at all as a threat for the AG competion - and he was the guy in front of me for the last 5k ending only 7 seconds ahead. Never heard of the guy. Turns out he was in the 10 mile race results from a couple weeks ago - almost even with me (6 seconds slower in USA 10) but he was 39 in that race....problem with those 39 year olds is sometimes they have birthdays - so he edges me out - happy birthday Andrew. Had I known that next guy was my competion I just may have run him down. Oh well. The AG medals all looked the same anyway (kinda big - cool):

I did a compare between the 10 mile races and this race - since the time is worthless as a benchmark because of the heat. I managed to edge out 3 guys that had faster times in the 10 mile races and one guy (the 39 yr old) I was faster than (by 6 seconds) beat me by 7 seconds. So I beat all but one of the guys behind me a couple weeks ago and 3 of the guys ahead of me I outraced. I'm good with that. And for the new guy in my AG - these are the kinda things rivals come from - I'll be watching for him in future races (once I figure out what he looks like:)).

For my experiments - I was very happy how fast the first few miles were before the heat effect settled in. Much faster for same HR than I was going just 2 weeks ago in cool weather so the hot run and maybe that MaxATP helped (I'm less convinced the latter did anything). I'm thinking on a cold day I just might have been sustaining 5:50ish for the half - definately good enough for a PR and a good indication I just may have a shot at the 2:40 marathon in 6 weeks - at least I'm hoping so. Note first few miles comparing the two races - definately had some extra speed today at a lower heartrate even with the heat until the heat effect caught up:

..half(75°F)...10 4 TX 2 wks ago(53°F)
1 5:50/153 5:54/xxx
2 5:45/169 5:56/170
3 5:59/171 6:06/170
4 6:08/171 5:59/170 <---heat effect greater than the speed improvement here on out.
5 6:16/170 6:00/171
6 6:21/170 5:49/172
7 6:15/170 5:48/172
...

Great race - I think the HR strategy protected me well from going for too much in the heat. I'm actually thinking running first few miles faster before the heat effect settled in might be a good strategy for hot races - as long as I slow down as the impact settles in. Final Results: 1:20:59, 5th Master including 1st Master, 1st in 40-44, 45-49 and 50-54 leaving 2nd in the 40-44 for me. 18th overall out of ~3000 (Results on the web incorrectly show the wheelchair winner as the Master's winner which knocks me down to 3rd AG - I'm ignoring that error I'm sure they will fix eventually). Great race....next up the 25k in 3 weeks - probably a workout as that's 3 weeks before the CIM Marathon.

Ten for Texas

2010-10-09T09:58:00.000-07:00

Up at 4:15 for the 1 hour drive to The Woodlands. Stopped in a parking lot before I got far just to see if I could even run - a sore bum last couple days was worrying me a little and I woke up feeling it - some kinda deep muscle strain or something. The test run went OK but not great - decided to continue on to the race. At the race before paying my entry I did another test run just to be sure - seems OK - I'll give it a go - pay my entry and get my packet - a cool packet by the way including a sports bag backpack kinda packet useful for the gym, a light weight running hat and a long sleeve tech shirt - already feel like I got most of my money's worth from the race and haven't even run it yet. I kept checking the weather on my blackberry - such a perfect 53°F no wind.

Near the start I keep asking officials how the first few turns will go and I had to ask several before I got a straight answer - "just follow the crowd" I didn't find a good answer.

The Race plan - follow the alarms programmed into the Garmin which were:
First mile 5:50-6:05
2-9 168-172
10 no alarms - just empty the tank
I thought my 1 hour heartrate was around 170-171 from racing a couple years ago and workouts earlier in the week equated 170 to just under 6 mpm - adding the garmin effect (~1% slower) I figured I was just on the edge of 60 minute capable.

# Split HR
1 5:54 163 - Take off at the gun and don't really feel like I'm going fast but turn out to lead the first few turns (glad I found someone that told me what they were). Spend the first 1/2 mile slowing myself down to get into the alarm zone then I stick in there. About 5 ahead of me.
2 5:56 170 - I pass one and one passes me - still 6th. I feel a fleeting twinge in my bum and I'm feeling pretty sure I'm not making it 10 miles - but it goes away so I continue on thinking a good possibility I'm walking the last 1/2.
3 6:06 170 - running alone but drilling a hole in the back of the guy in front of me staring at it 100 yards away or so. Just staying in the zone - trying to keep my mind in the mile which didn't feel too bad at all as it shouldn't so early in the race - trying not to dread what was coming ahead. Had another bum twinge but it went away pretty quick.
4 6:00 170 - move up to pass and move into 5th. As I passed he didn't seem to make any effort to hang on.
5 6:00 171 - Just staying in the zone - I hear mile splits at the milemarkers but they are so far off the actual miles I can see on my watch I'm not really sure how fast I'm running but it seems I've banked very very little on the sub1hour goal. 4th is a good distance but not moving farther - maybe closer - not footsteps from behind...running my own race.
6 5:50 172 - John Walk comes up on a bike (a reporter in the pack of bikers at the lead of the race) and let's me know the guy behind me is a Master - I'm not too worried about him as he seemed to be going backwards but that did give me a little pressure to not let up - from the split it appears I actually pushed a little faster actually. It didn't feel like I needed to stay in the alarm HR zones so I went ahead and pushed the higher limits a bit.
7 5:49 172 - 4th seems to be getting closer and closer - I hook a line into his back and reel him in slowly - by end of the mile I'm easing by him and he's also not making a move to stay with me. 2nd and 3rd are about the same distance ahead as 4th was a mile before but they seem to be closer.
8 5:49 174 - About the same as last mile I hooked the two kids in 2nd and 3rd and reeled them in - took a while but as I came up on them I had a decision - hook onto them and "rest" a bit with them doing some of the work or ease on by them. I didn't much feel like slowing down to latch on so I just kept up my speed and eased on by them. They didn't seem to make a move but I didn't look around so I wasn't sure how far back they were.
9 5:42 175 - feeling like they could be right behind me I kept pushing. I listenned carefully as people cheered for me how long before the cheered for someone behind me and it seemed to be getting longer - but I kept pushing because it felt like I could.
10 5:41 177 - last mile - gotta empty the tank - 1st place is no where to be seen. Seem no one is behind me - but I want to pour it all out so I keep pushing counting off the minutes to the finish that seemed at times to tick away very slowly.
10.07 5:07 179 - see the finish and grab that little extra sprint in.

Total 59:09 5:55 pace

A PR by over a minute. Converts to 80.8% AG. 2nd overall which has no such award but I get 1st Masters anyway (which I could I got going a lot slower but that's OK). I get the heaviest award I've ever received - a full 3 lb granite award with the Texas Star and "First Male Master" on an engravement plate - plus about $100 in swag including free entry for next year. And I got a picture with the race maskot - an Armadillo. Post race party is excellent with full breakfast, band, the works.

Great race - really starting to feel like I've got my old speed nearly back again. I guess the HR is a little different - seems 170ish was a little low for this race - might be a good target for the 1/2 marathon. Hoping to keep the sub6 mpm trend going for the next race - Houston Half Marathon in 2 weeks - if weather is good.

Article

Results

btw - the bum at the end really didn't feel any worse than at the start - sometimes it goes that way - I'll keep the stretching/icing/rolling going to try and clear out the twing over the next week.

Cheers....John.

2010 HARRA Cross Country Relay

2010-09-25T19:24:00.000-07:00

4x2 miles per leg along the bayou. A cross country course relatively flat on the first mile but very hilly with even some very steep parts on the second mile. A fun event with all the local talent I haven't seen in a while with some new talent that wasn't around back a couple years ago when I was racing local last. I raced this a couple years ago. Last time out I managed splits of 5:26/5:44 for a 11:10 total. This time I managed splits of 5:33/5:58 for a total 11:29 - 2.8% slower. Not bad although I didn't feel like I was really pushing my hardest 2nd mile so maybe a little more fuel in the tank.

I had anchor leg and pretty much just held my position from start to finish. There wasn't anyone to chase down except those getting lapped - but I still pushed it pretty well. In the end we got 3rd place Masters with a time of 49:45. 1st and 2nd were only 4 seconds apart around 47:xx. Nice to know me and 3 clones would have got the Masters title and 3rd overall - appears I'm still reasonably competitive among the Masters of today - although there sure seem to be several fast ones around.

Results - we were Hs Mens Master - (Hs=Houston Striders)

California International Marathon - December 5th - Hometown Marathon

2010-09-19T18:26:00.000-07:00

Reviewing the course:

Start - Folsom-Auburn Rd - road though there on my bike in high school many many times. The branch to the Folsom Dam Rd. just up the road was called "That Dam Road" several times as I'd drop into the lowest gear and slowly climb to the dam.

Mile 5 - Turn onto Fair Oaks Blvd - Fair Oaks was the city name on my return address from 5th grade through 12th.

Mile 8 - cross Madison Ave and past the library I'd sneak off to to skip Sunday School - then pass the Church we went to(or skipped as the case may be) growing up.

Mile 9 - just crossed Sunset Ave on Fair Oaks Blvd - 2 streets over was my house growing up near Sunrise Blvd and Sunset Ave intersection.

Mile 11 - just crossed Sunrise Blvd and climbed the little hill up to the RiverRat where several rafts were rented to go down the river (I became an expert at Donkey Kong at that riverrat as a friend figured out how to play that game for free). Also crossed Pennsylvania Avenue which is used to get down to the river - this was my high school coaches favorate place to have a hard hill workout - that was one steep hill.

Mile 12 - cross San Juan Ave - the end of that street was San Juan rapids - a favorite hang-out by the river.

Mile 21 - Will Fair Oaks Blvd never end....finally does - passed Arden Way, Watt Ave, Fulton Ave, Howe - familiar street names.

Mile 26.2 - right to the California Capital Building.

Purple Monkey 10k - My first road race win!

2010-09-04T20:02:00.000-07:00

I was not planning on any racing until the 10 miler race in mid October - but lately I've been nailing some great workouts and was feeling antsy to run a race and see how things are going - so I looked around for a labor day weekend race - preferrably 10k - and happened to find the Purple Monkey 5k/10k in Alvin, TX - seemed to be a small race although the winning times last few years were pretty competitive (34-35 min). The course is 2 loop 5k each with start and finishlne at the same place. I was excited by a weather forecast that showed a fairly good drop in humidity Saturday morning - so I set my course to go for it.

Since most of my working out has been either on a treadmill or in the heat - I didn't have any good benchmarks on my fitness level but Friday I had the great fortune to be albe to run in the rain negating the heat/humidity effect - so I went out to a track and tested out different speeds vs heartrate and concluded my cool 1 hour race pace was around 5:50-6:00 - figuring race conditions would be slowed by the heat - I figured that was about the pace I could hold for the forcasted conditions (Forcast said 76* with 67* Dew Point).

After the warm-up jog before the race I should have realized the humidity was not so low like I thought it was going to be from the forecast - but somehow I convinced myself it was low humidity even though I felt pretty muggy based just on the 1.5 mile warm-up jog.

Per results - there were 126 10k finishers and 272 5k finishers so about 400 participants.

I line up at the front and plan to keep the pace around 6 mpm the first loop the see where I can go from there. I haven't run but one race in the last 1.5 years so I must say I'm a little rusty. What I re-learned a bit today was how the race "feels" as the miles go by...

Mile 1 - feels too slow but the pace was right on target so I hold back going faster. Initially about a dozen people race off ahead but towards the end of the first mile - all but 2 have faded back behind me - I didn't change pace - stayed pretty steady and came through the first mile at 5:58.

The 2 in front were clearly a couple high school kids and they were running together - before mile 2 one of them dropped back and I eased by him, the other slowed a little and I moved up to him - one guy eased up from behind and asked me if I was running the 10k or the 5k - I told him 10 and he was running 10 too. We both eased by the other HS kid then I decided to just stick on his sholder for a while. Mile two was also pretty steady around 5:55.

Knowing this other guy was in my race and we were 1,2 - I just stuck on his shoulder or just behind him the whole next mile - decided to run the race tactical for a while as long as it wasn't too far off my pace target - then around 3 he started to fade - as I moved even with him I could tell by his breathing he was struggling more than me - at this point I'm still keeping a steady pace at just under 6 mpm. I move on past him maintaining my pace and start creating a gap on him. We finish up to the 5k finishline where there is a turnaround point for the 10k runners to repeat the course again. As I turn around I see the HS kid finish up his race and win the 5k and see the small gap to the #2 guy in my race - Mile 3 6:02, first half 18:35.

I'm feeling good at this point - felt like I had held back the first half and I should be able to negative split this race - that feeling doesn't last too long. I make it alone to the 4 mile point and feel that tweener part of the race - that part where the finish is pretty far away and the fatigue of the first part of the race is approaching about the limit of where training typically goes. Seems the worst part of every race is somewhere between 2/3rds and 3/4 done - after that the finish line is close enough to be thinking about the final push then rest - before that and still feeling somewhat fresh - then there is the tweener part of the race. I manage to get through mile 4 without much slowing (6:00) - a couple peaks back to see how much gap I'm creating with 2nd. Before getting to mile 5 I start lapping people still on the 1st lap so glancing back to see 2nd didn't work anymore so I was always sure he was gaining back ground on me. Right after the mile 5 marker (6:06) I'm hitting a tough patch - I step off the gas and slow all the way down to near 7 mpm pace - certain the 2nd place guy is coming to get me - this rough patch lasts about 1/4 mile.

With about a mile to go in the race - I reached for something more - I thought it would be neat to win a race - especially on my daughter's birthday - that just seemed like a neat thing to do - I managed to speed back up and actually averaged sub6 mpm for the last mile and including closer to 5 mpm for the last 1/4 mile or so to the finish - 2nd half was 18:43 - and I won!

I was so tired - I could barely walk after crossing the finishline - I found a grassy spot and laid down for a couple minutes to catch my breath. I never saw 2nd come in mixed in with all the 5k'ers. I had a tough time taking in food for a while - kept feeling the urge to throw up - but I didn't and eventually things returned back to normal again.

Final time 37:18 - 6:00.2 mpm pace. Temps ended up warmer than I expected at about 77* and 73* dew point - very humid.

2nd place guy turned out to be over a minute behind me - an amazing runner in his 50s.

My first win in a road race - and unofficially I won both the 5k and 10k races as I was first to the 5k point too. Results

Fun race and about where I figured I was considering the temps. I'm hoping to keep about that pace or faster as temperatures drop and fitness improves in each of the tune-up races planned before my goal marathon race in December. The line-up is 10 miler October 10th, 1/2 marathon at the end of October, 25k in early November - then the goal race - California International Marathon in Sacramento on 12/5 - I'd like to see 3 out of 4 PR's in those races - not likely at the marathon but the other three seem doable if conditions are right (I don't even have a 25k PR so that one is easy).

Splits: 5:58/168 5:55/175 6:02/176 6:00/179 6:06/179 6:21/179 +0.2 at 5:09/179 pace to sprint it in. or 18:35/18:43 5k's. I'm not sure the HR data was any good - very strange that the HR stayed so steady 179 for the whole second half - didn't even go down when I slowed to 7 mpm pace or go up when I sprinted it in at 5 mpm pace - just stayed steady clicking up or down a point or two around 179 the whole way - very strange.

Cheers.....John.

The Rocky IV Treadmill Run

2010-07-24T12:13:00.000-07:00

15 miles on the treadmill while watching Rocky IV. I was only planning to run a constant 8.5 - but then the inspiring music comes along....40 minutes in getting up to 10.5, 2nd at around 55 minutes in --- I couldn't go fast enough as Rocky ran to the top of the mountain - maxed the treadmill out at 12 --- 1:15 in the fight starts - gets a few round in - the pace is up into 11+ and --- blow a circuit. Trip breaker and get going again - fast forward to the final fight and get going but its about done so I go back to the mountain climbing scene - 12 wasn't fast enough - had to add a 3% incline and maxed the HR up to 181 - pretty darn close to Max HR....cooled down back at 8.5 for last mile or so......what a awesome workout:

Anchorage/Yakutat 2010 - Half Marathon and Fishing Report

2010-06-24T22:42:00.000-07:00

This would be my 8th trip (I think) up to the big state to fish the streams and waterways - 1st trip for my son - Ryan. I tacked on a 1/2 marathon that happenned to work out just before the trip much as I tacked the full marathon in Anchorage 2 years ago on my last trip to Yakutat.

I've been training since Boston Marathon to compete in the Buffalo Springs 1/2 ironman and was having some great success learning how to swim, getting some running fitness back again, dropping a few pounds and changing how I bike to incorporate things like aerobars to go faster. I wasn't following any structured program just pretty much tried to spread my available workout time among the sports as I could.

On my last long bikeride planned before heading up to the Alaska fishing trip I was practicing the transitions. I started in the backyard pool for 10 minutes swimming very short laps, transitioned quickly to the bike then road ~50 miles and as I was finishing up the bike I practiced the preparation for the transition to running. On the last turn before the house I reached down to loosen the shoes (not normal tri shoes with just two velcro straps but cycling shoes with 3 velcro straps and a slip-tightening strap which is a bit more complicated to loosen). While making the turn, fussing with the slip strap and focussed on avoiding a car that happenned to be making a turn also - I neglected to notice a bump in the road and after hitting said bump I couldn't maintain control with only the one hand on the bars - so I went down. Crash Results - Roadrash on knee, shoulder (no big deal) and a few days later I discover a likely cracked rib (bigger deal). After a little googling it's clear swimming is not going to happen on a cracked rib although I was pleased to discover many example of the other two sports largely unimpacted by such an injury - as guided by pain. Buffalo Springs in cancelled and I switch around my plans to be sure to instead run the Anchorage 1/2 marathon (made a couple flight changes that I was on the fence about making).

With focus shifted to the 1/2 marathon - I start really looking forward to a nice cool 1/2 marathon as I'd been living in the tripple H's (Houston Humid Heat) for months.

After the normal travel hassels - my son and I get to Anchorage Startline:

I didn't really know what to expect I was capable of but I was hoping the 3000m I did the prior weekend in heat would provide some indication. A 10:12 3000m in hot conditions suggested something faster than 1:20 half marathon in cool conditions. I couldn't use a heart rate monitor as it bugged my rib so my race plan was to try out something around 6 mpm pace and see how it felt then adjust from there in the race. As it turns out that was an aggressive plan.

After a few miles it started felt pretty darn fast especially as the hills came along. The race started with a 5 mile race for the first few miles and after they broke off I could count into the distance the runners ahead of me and by that count I was figuring to be around 7th (I didn't know three mega fast dudes were way out ahead so really I was around 10th). Through 6 I lost a couple spots and traded back and forth with one guy until finally I passed him for good. Another guy came from behind just after this and I watched him ahead for some time. A couple of the mile splits in the middle were slowed by some trail running I wasn't expecting. Apparently they changed the course vs what is shown on the website and the new course cuts across trails to a bike path instead of going a simple out n back by the airport runway (yes I got my runway running in - sorta). Somewhere around 10 a pack of high schoolers eased by me and all of a sudden I dropped 5 places as they were moving just a little too fast for me. As they passed the other guy that passed me earlier I was able to catch him and from there to the end I pretty much stayed in the same place within a reasonably good gap. I was really hoping to AG win in this race but with the pace dropping I figured someone ahead must be older - although the guys that did pass me seemed pretty young - so just maybe a possibility. The final mile has a big cruel hill in it and I somehow pushed up it without much slowing emptying the tank then finished strong. I was a bit surprized to see the 1:24's click away as I sprinted to the line as I was figuring closer to 1:22-1:23 and later realized the course was long. No big deal but I couldn't quite out-sprint the "5" from showing up and ended up with a final time of 1:25:01.

# Split Elev. chg
1 5:50 -41
2 5:59 -14
3 6:04 +57
4 6:20 +8
5 6:37 +33
6 6:17 -30
7 6:29 -38 (trails)
8 6:29 -9 (trails)
9 6:42 +63
10 6:27 -58
11 6:24 -25
12 6:28 -7
13 6:31 +63
13.38 5:50 (pace) 0

Ryan takes on the Photographer role at the finish:

After the race I'm thinking a 1:25 is not going to be good enough to do it - just maybe I won't even get a top 3 AG award. I replayed the 4th place I got a few weeks prior at the Astro's Penant in my mind and thought that scenario was a possibility again here. Awards are posted ----- I didn't get 4th place - in fact I WON the Age Group - in fact I was the fastest of the >40 year olds too - although they don't give out a Master's award in this race if they had I'd get that. What a great surprise that THAT time was good enough to do it.

On reflection trying to figure how a 1:25 could get an AG win in my age group - I'm supposing the middle age Alaskan male has many obsticles to overcome to be a competitive runner with 6 months of darkness and bears/moose to avoid on the trails - I guess not many overcome the obsticles. I'm certain in Houston the biggest 1/2 marathon of the year for the city would not have put me in contention. Regardless - I'm delighted to get the bragging rights of the AG win.

So I get my award and we finish up in Anchorage and fly down to Yakutat for the fishing trip. As I've been there many times before for me the experience was more to watch it through my son's eyes new to it all. A few pictures of it all:

Deep Sea Fishing for Halibut - Very much like MY last experience doing this - Ryan got a bit sea-sick and didn't have fun with this at all:

My Dad pulling in a Skank (get's thrown back) on the trip:

As it happens I ended up with the only big'ish halibut on the trip with a ~110-120 lb'r and another guy catches a few smaller ones - unusually light total take for the day's excursion with only 60-70 lbs of meat after processing.

Next my Brother pilot's a small boat with Ryan, Dad and I down a river as we hunt for more fishing holes.

Ryan is getting pretty good at the fishing part - the catching - not so much:

Our group decides to try to fly to another river none of us had ever fished before:

One of the 10 of us has success catching a couple big King Salmon but the rest of us spent the rainy 9 hours on the river just getting cold and a little frustrated. Here's Ryan with on of the guy's fish (the smaller one).

A great group of guys to hang out with, fish and play poker into the night:

Last fishing day - Ryan is finally experiencing the catching part of fishing:

And we both have a ton of success once we and a few others in the group got a good fishing hole dialed in:

A good day's fishing:

Overall Tally at the end of it all was around 500 lbs of fish split about half-n-half Salmon/Halibut with a some smaller quantities of Lincod, Rockfish and Seabass. A pretty good take. Ryan seemed to have a ball which was really fun to watch.

USCAA Reginal Track and Field Championship - 2010

2010-06-13T08:22:00.000-07:00

Rice University - Corporate Competition - 4rd time I've participated on the Shell team - 3rd time in this event (other time was Nationals in San Diego) - last year I participated- 2008 - we JUST edged out our typical rival at this event - Exxon.

I ran three events:

1) 3000m 86°F 70% humid 8mph wind
Splt AHR MHR
1:17 151 164
1:22 167 170
1:22 172 173
1:24 173 174
1:25 175 177
1:23 177 178
1:22 179 180
0:38 180 182

10:12 (2nd place, teammate Wilmer Bustillos got 1st but our team actually ended up 3rd once top 5 runners are counted - medals to the top 2 so we got nada).

2) Distance Relay - 5 runners for a total of ~4 miles - we had a dream team with over a minute lead by the end - I had the anchor leg with no pressure at all but tried my best anyway.

1600m 91°F 58% humid 8 mph wind
Splt AHR MHR
1:13 153 165
1:20 170 172
1:24 174 176
1:16 178 180

5:13 (1st place team gold medal)

3)Master's Relay (800/400/800). I had the lead off and secured a dominant lead that held up very well. Although only 1.25 miles we ended up with almost a minute lead in this event too. My leg:

800m 93°F 53% humid 9mph wind
Splt AHR MHR
1:11 151 164
1:15 169 172

2:26 (1st place team gold medal)

Overall a great event - I figured based on the 5k 2 weeks ago I was good for ~10:30 3k so it was nice to beat that mark suggesting some improvement even in just the 2 weeks since.

Unfortunately Exxon won this year and we had to settle for 2nd :(.

It was great hanging out with Wilmer B. too - not too often I'm around that caliber runner.

Next race - Anchorage Half Marathon next Saturday - not planning race effort - more like MP effort to save for the Buffalo Creek Half Ironman in two weeks.

Astros Race for the Pennant 5k

2010-05-29T20:02:00.001-07:00

Last weekend I had a particulary great workout that seemed a bit too good to be true. As a result I decided to test out my fitness to see if it could possibly be true with a 5k. I was running 10.4 (5:46) on the Treadmill at 163 HR and 9.0 (6:40 mpm) at 150 HR which is right where I was 2 years ago - note the graph here from almost exactly 2 years ago.

I've kinda grown up in this adult athlete phase on using the HRM for training/racing - for 10/11 marathons - and I'm always looking for why the HR behaves one way or another day to day or week to week to find an edge. Anyway as I've been biking a lot this year I noticed a currious pattern in my HR - for the next couple/few days after a long bikeride my HR runs 6-8 bpm lower - or rather I can maintain a faster running pace for the same HR (effort seemed higher but hard to tell as I've been doing mostly slow running). I was wondering if I could indeed run faster after the long bikeride - I seemed to be able in a workout last weekend where my HR vs pace was about what it was a couple years ago pre-injury.

I even started a thread on it over on letsrun

So the race was a test to see if I could deliver the extra speed in a race. After a 46 mile bikeride in the heat on Friday with a little running right after - I raced a 5k today. I did find a lower HR in the race - max'd out at 176 vs 184 a couple years ago - so now I'm thinking the maxHR is what is lower in this post biking state and I'm not actually faster in this state (or at least not much faster) but rather my HR just runs lower - no easy tricks here to be faster as far as I can tell - I just need to keep training and knock off a dozen pounds to get to where I've been. But it was an interesting experiment regardless - and this being my first real race in 1.5+ years - it was a blast to be out there pushing again.

Results:
Pennant 5k '08 vs '10:
Splits '08: 5:19(163),5:32(176),5:40(180),0:34(184) total 17:06 (5:31 mpm) 59.7 VDOT
Splits '10: 5:35(158),6:11(171),6:02(173),0:34(176) total 18:24 (5:56 mpm) 54.9 VDOT

Weather '08 78°F/77% Humid
Weather '10 78°F/83% Humid (yeah 6% makes a difference - but not that much)

Weight: '08 ~152, '10 ~165 (some of the extra is muscle for bike/swim but not that much)
Weight Adjusted VDOT - 54.9 * 165/152 = 59.6 - same as '08 race so O2max is about the same just takes more energy to move the extra dozen pounds...

Award '08 1st AG - won new shoes,
Award '10 4th AG - nada - missed 3rd by 3 seconds (grrrrrr - always hate the ones that get away).

So - current fitness - 54.9 VDOT (temp adjustment - 56.6 VDOT). If that is true than my training paces should be around:

MP - 6:33, LT - 6:11, VO2max - 5:43

This still doesn't quite makes sense with last Sunday's treadmill workout:

5 miles at 5:46 mpm (6:00 equivalent Outdoor),
6.5 miles at 6:40 (6:57 EQ),
1.5 miles at 5:30 (5:44)

.....so I'm estimating my current fitness closer to 57-58ish (2:50 marathoner range) - not bad for only running since February on currently ~30-35 miles/week (+ crosstraining).

...and apparently I need to take off a few bpm from my training HR targets after a long bikeride.

------------------------------
5/30 - 15 mile treadmill to test out my new pace targets (in the cold room - chilled into the 60s for the morning workout) - 6:40TM~7:00 outside, 6:15TM~6:30 MP Pace:

1 6:40 145
2 6:40 146
3 6:40 147
4 6:40 148
5 6:40 148
6 6:40 150
7 6:40 149
8 6:40 149
9 6:40 149
10 6:40 150
11 6:15 155
12 6:15 157
13 6:15 157
14 6:15 157
15 6:15 159

The 6:15 felt like MP - like I could sustain it - unlike last weeks 5:45s where I found it very tough to sustain for 5 miles. So it appears my MP Heartrate for training need revision - 2008 162ish, 2010 157ish - at least after a long bikeride anyway. Good to know where I'm at - glad I did the race to confirm in fact - it WAS to good to be true.

Next up....

2010-05-13T07:05:00.001-07:00

My first Tri:

SWIM:
· 1.2 mile open water lake swim. Wave starts (approximately 100 per wave), rectangular course counter clockwise, entry at beach area and exit on cement boat dock area, within 20 yards of the transition area. Swim cutoff time is 75 minutes.
· Note: The water temperature in Buffalo Springs Lake, on the average, is 70-74 degrees (even during the 113 degree day of 1994 the water temperature was never over 74 degrees). It is a spring fed lake so it stays cool.

BIKE:
· 56 miles, modified out and back, out of town farm to market roads, limited traffic, flat with 8 challenging hills, ranging from 2.9% - 8.9% grade and a quarter of a mile to 1.2 miles in length. These are good asphalt roads with some shoulders.

RUN:
· 13.1 miles, asphalt, flat with 3 challenging hills, ranging from 6.4% - 7.6%(not the same hills as found on the bike course) grade. The hills are approximately 300 yards to 880 yards in length. Partially shaded, tough, scenic course.

The Austin-Boston Challenge...Report

2010-04-21T19:10:00.000-07:00

Starts and Finishes - Starts and Finishes - that's pretty much what life is about and my report has several of each.

This current adventure Starts 17 months ago at a finishline. The finish was the end of a 2 year journey to be as good as I could be at the marathon and I got pretty darn close with a masters (>40) win and PR at the San Antonio Marathon 11/16/2008. That was the Finish of that quest for the best - and the Start of an injury outage. It's quite a transition from being near my potential to be forced to give it up as any who have gone though it understands. That transition is hard and denial ran pretty strong as I hoped in vain for rapid recovery. Repeated attempts to run only prolonged the outage to the point that what might have been just a few month outage was aggravated enough to need timeframes more like 6 month or more - and that recovery time clock kept resetting at zero when reagrevated. After what seemed like more than enough time off everything - not even crosstraining - I started some walk-run type exercises and was encouraged enough to sign up for Boston in November just before the race filled - I planned to wait until after Christmas but with the race filling up I forced to decide earlier. By Christmas the running was set-back again and I started thinking of a back-up plan - MS150 was an event that gets a lot of buzz around Houston and I wanted to do it - I was hoping there was separation between it and Boston so that on the off chance I could run Boston - but when I saw they were the same weekend - I pretty well figured probably Boston was off and I'd just do the MS150 - the prospect of doing both crossed my dreamy mind - but the logistical challenges, let alone the physical ones seemed impossible.

MS150 Challenge - although I did take up biking for a couple month early in the year and picked up the necessary gear and learned some technique - on one occasion when I tried to run I re-injured myself and was beginning to believe the biking was keeping me from healing - taking no chances I stopped biking and really had done little since March. Starting pretty much from fitness scratch in mid-December - I started hitting the road - got a trainer for the inside so I could ride even when outside wasn't an option and pretty quickly started logging the kind of hours I logged in full marathon training mode and the body didn't complain - no injuries developed. January/February I logged about 500 miles each month and I could feel the fitness returning - felt great. Now I did not rule out Boston completely - and in fact started to investigate some of the logistical challenges and found solutions that made it doable. But as of mid-February although my fitness was returning - I still had not even run my first mile. I set a milestone - if by March 1st I wasn't running unrestricted - forget Boston - those close to me tried not to be too vocal in their doubts - I figured it was pretty unlikely too - but if unrestricted I was sure I could ramp up to marathon distance in 6 weeks - I'd done nearly that in my very first marathon with no fitness to start with so surely the bike fitness counted for something. One day in Mid-February after arriving to a hotel late I thought I'd give it a try - I got my shorts on and jogged at around midnight One Mile - no walk-jog walk-jog like I was doing last go around of trying to come back - just a straight 1 mile jog - and everything felt OK. A couple days later I upped to 1.5 miles - still OK. A couple days later I went until it felt uncomfortable ~3 miles. A couple days later same routine and at 5 I still wasn't uncomfortable but figured I shouldn't tempt fate so stopped. I kept on this routine of every other day a little bit more until by March 1st - my milestone - I had run my first double digit run in well over a year - and felt OK - you can imagine my surprise and delight - I love to run and really hated not being able to. That day was born the Austin-Boston Challenge (ABC for short) - I figured I could keep ramping up little by little over the next 6 weeks and by April 19th I surely could finish the race - even if with some walking.

By the ABC weekend I had logged nearly 1500 miles on the bike and a little over 200 on the shoes. Included in that was a 102 mile bikeride (torturous) and two 20 mile runs (also torturous) - so I felt READY - what 6 weeks prior seemed impossible by ABC weekend seemed probable.

Now let me just stop to say the family has been incredibly patient through this year off. For my Darling Wife the anxiety of watching me frustrated for a whole year was high. I think she found herself torn between wanting me to pursue my dreams yet don't fall into this extended frustration time again. I found that news of the ABC becoming a real possibility brought mixed feelings. Vision of another finishline followed by another year of frustration was not easy to dismiss. But at the same time she backs me up in my pursuits especially once she sees what it really means to me. And when I shared what a finisher's medal at the Boston Marathon would mean to me - more precious than its weight in gold - a symbol of closure on a frustrating year - she got on board and I love her for it. She wouldn't miss being there at THAT finishline and worked things out so she (and Kaylee) could join me in Boston as my cheering squad.

Taper Week - April 11-16 - typical worries and phantom pains that made sure at times and just cause doubts other times that I could not make it through ABC. Lots of checking the weather which always looked great for both events.

MS150 - a big event around Houston and I really didn't know how big. A huge fundraiser that has many many other similar events all across the states but none as big as in Houston. They don't report numbers of riders that I could find - focus is all on $s rose for MS but I gather there are around 7,000 riders. The MS focus was interesting and educational and sobering as I really knew close to nothing about the disease. Most riders are on Teams and teams are released at the start I think based on their historical team fundraising totals. I'm on the Shell Team which consolidated relatively recently as a single team and had a pretty large presence considering this. I rarely had much contact with the team except during a required safety course and happening across riders on routes on my side of the city - most team events were too far away to be practical for me. This is the first major bike event I've participated in and I was impressed with its organization and efficiency. It was geared to be recreational and certainly NOT competitive which created the unfortunate issue of slower and faster riders always mixed from the first mile to the last. Not a major problem but as I am somewhat competitive :) I was the guy always looking for the opportunity to pass requiring extra vigilance and awareness in the ride. For me this was not a recreational ride but rather an endurance event to test my limits.

First day - ride starts from 3 different locations depending on where your team starts. For Team Shell we start ~100 miles from LaGrange - the midpoint campout location - others had 80 miles to go that first day. As I said before teams seemed to be released by the past fundraising abilities and Team Shell was released around 7:20 am after 5-6 other large teams were released (I'm guessing we were 7th based on they ran out of bullets and had to just say "Bang" to get us started). To keep enough spacing there were a few minutes between team starts. After our team (~400 riders?) gets the "bang" we are underway. After a couple mile I could work around to find a few in the front that wanted to ride (I'll call our little group the Shell Peloton). The ride was near perfect - occasional showers of course made the pavement wet and had to avoid the spray off the wheel in front of me - we all got a little taste of Texas roadway as you couldn't completely avoid the spray. We quickly closed the gap to the next group’s slower riders and worked our way around them as there was space and when we had good clear space we made some pretty good time with a slight tailwind to help. This went on for about 30-35 miles and we were book'n 23-24 mph average. I set up my fueling routine to try to replenish the maximum I could so I'd have as much for the following days as possible. I had 2x24 oz waterbottles filled with UltraFuel (1200 calories total), a couple protein bars, Endurolyte (electrolyte) Capsules and a Camelback hydration pack on my back full of water. Routine was 1/4th bottle of UltraFuel(150 calories) every 10 miles, Protein bar after each bottle (40 miles) and an electrolyte capsule with water between the bottle drinks - and drink water often. Routine worked well with no pitstops, no cramps and energy available to the end of both days. After the first 30-35 miles I get a loud pop from my back wheel - broken spoke - I pull out of the Shell Peloton to assess the situation. I end up bandaging the bike (used a Band-Aid to tie the loose spoke to another) and loosening the brake way out so it wasn't rubbing on the warped rim and ride to the next breakpoint to find a very professionally outfitted bike repair test servicing bikes. Because I had my MS150 sticker on the bike (from a free bike inspection at the local bike store a couple weeks prior) they fixed the bike free of charge in about 15 minutes and I was on my way (ok - I guess I DID have one pitshop while I was waiting). Biking on my own mostly - occasionally I'd hook up with a faster rider or two - the pace wasn't as impressive but the effort was pretty high - I got to the midpoint and stopped debating whether to stop for the organize lunch or keep going - decided I'd have lunch at the finish and kept going. The rest is a blur - all more of the same - lots of slow riders to pass - more so because of the mechanical break - plus merging with those from other startlines than had 20 less miles to go. I get to less than a mile from the day's finish and I get that pop sound again from my back wheel - yep - another broken spoke - so close I just let the brake out again without stopping and ride through the finish and straight to another Bike Repair Tent to get it fixed again (guess I need new rims). Check-in at my team tent at 12:20 and my Garmin said I averaged just over 20 mph for just under 100 miles. Much much easier than the 102 miler I'd done in training - I pretty much had no fueling routine for that training ride and that makes a world of difference.

The rest of the day was in a camp. I had turned in luggage on Friday for the overnight that my team organizers had delivered. I pitched a tent that went inside one of my team's large (football field kinda large) tents - stuffed my face with as much food as I could grab quick, set the Garmin to recharge, grabbed my change of clothes and headed for the showers - shower lines weren't too bad - 5-10 minute wait - they got much longer a couple hours later. Man that shower felt good! Get my bike out of the repair tent (free again because of the sticker) and head back to my little tent for a nap. Rest of the day was listening to a talk about MS, lazing around - read a book - Duel in the Sun - about the 1982 Boston Marathon battle to the finish between the two top American marathoners of that time - figured that might be a good one to read - I picked it up and didn't put it down until the race was done (ok - I skipped a few character development chapters - I really just wanted the race) - great book. Dinner, chit/chats with co-workers - try to get what seemed the right balance of Carbs, Protein, Electrolytes and Water to replace.

2nd day start is 7am so I'm up around 5, down some ultrafuel and check out the morning - it's raining - very hard - and I didn't bring raingear (actually I've not gotten around to getting any). It's only water - and rain in the 60s isn't so bad. I'm a little antsy about getting the 77 miles (according to the map) over with on time so I can get to the airport and get to Boston. There are two course options for day to - a 77 miler and a 60 miler - I consider the shorter route briefly but longer is really the only way to go. Today's release is at 7am - I pack up my stuff and put it on the truck and head out to the start about 6:30 and even after skipping past half the line I'd guess there were still a couple thousand riders packed together at the start ready to go. Start is a slow release of a section of riders at a time and by 7:45 I'm finally on the road. The rain stopped just before I lined up and pretty much stayed away the rest of the day - talk about good fortunes. Similar to the day before with thousands ahead on my course plus the shorter course merging about mile 46 again the slower runners were always there from beginning to end to navigate around. After a bunch of miles there was an unexpected choice - through "the park" or straight - I didn't see this option on the course maps - of course I was going to take the hardest route and all I'd heard about the day before was the hills in "the park" - I just didn't realize there was two course options up there and so my course map with distances no longer was correct and I figured I was adding some unknown distance to what was shown on the map to go through the park. Off I go - the park was great fun - steep hills to climb, windy roads good downhills with speed. Done with the park and merge with another stream of riders - presumably the ones that took the non-park route. Keep going trying to figure out where the 46 mile lunch break stop is - pass a couple break points and I'm showing up to 60+ and I'm still convinced I haven't seen the lunch stop so my 77 mile planned is 90+ and I'm dreading this - my right knee is bugging me on low cadence or uphills and I wonder how that will translate to running tomorrow. I get to the next breakpoint convinced it was the mile 46 lunch stop now well over 60 showing on my Garmin and I had 30 miles to go....then I look a little closer and compare to my map to the discover - Great Joy - only 15 miles or so to go. I stop and let my finishline squad to expect me around noon. Every one of those last miles was counted off one by one in my mind with just forcing me not to stop. Finally I pull into Austin - rid a little through UT then a few last turns and I'm at the finishline - high fives to DW, Kaylee and Ryan and cross the finish. As weak as I was at the end I can't imagine how another 15 milers that I thought I had to go would have felt. In the end my Garmin shows 74 for the day.

Let the reloading begin - remaining ultrafuel from my bottles, another protein bar, water, a few other things they handed me after crossing. Quick shower and off to the airport. DW, Kaylee and I get dropped off and Ryan drives the car with the bike back to Houston. His first drive on his own very far from home and he's got 3 hours to drive - so Homer shows him the way home. I bought a GPS and while I was bikeriding evidently Kaylee found a Homer Simpson's voice to download into it that they all seem to get a kick out of so now we call the GPS - Homer. Homer got Ryan home safe and sound and we fill up on airport food - I mix up all the UltraFuel I need for the next morning - get my Garmin all re-programmed for the run - I want nothing to do once I get to the hotel but go to sleep. All goes as planned - hop on the flight and off to Boston and taxi to the hotel - pretty uneventful just took a long time. In the hotel about 10pm and Tim had my packet waiting for me in the lobby - I've got what I need to race. Get settled in the room and in bed around 10:30. I'm trying to get my head around it all - I'm actually going to run the Boston Marathon tomorrow - maybe. I still had not since Tuesday proved I could in fact run - the soreness from Tuesday's run seemed to be gone but it might come back with a little bit of running. The right knee bugged me all the way to the end of the ride, my left knee occasionally flared up on me in runs last few weeks - I half expected after 1/2 mile I'd find I just can't run. Also I didn't know what strategy to run the race. My two 20 milers 2-3 weeks before did get finished but ended with 9 mpm difficult miles at the end. I knew using heartrate was going to be useless - I'd discovered the day prior that b2b endurance events drop the HR a ton the second day - I'd also seen this in the training cycle a couple times as I frequently did long rides or long rides/runs both Saturday/Sunday and always the second day the HR was running lower or I'd go faster for same HR. My typical race strategy is to run 160 HR and ignore my pace - but I had a real feeling if I did that I'd be running way too fast - maybe a possible speed for me from an aerobic point of view but the fitness is mostly biking fitness - the tendons, muscles and skeletal was not trained to that - and the endurance has not proved to be there as evident by the slow pace at the end of my longruns. Finally I decided I was just going to run by my breathing patterns 2-2 = marathon pace, keep an eye on the HR, hope for the best and just maybe I could pull in a sub3:21 (Boston Qualifier for 2011 - i.e. BQ) - 7:40 pace real, 7:35 by Garmin with about 5 seconds/mile faster first half since the 2nd half is a couple minutes slower overall. But mostly have fun and just see what happens. Finally with all this set - I start to fall asleep.

Morning up about 20 minutes late - set my alarm for PM instead of AM but fortunately woke up - a moment of horror until I saw the time - I had plenty of time to spare so I'm OK. UltraFuel, Shower, Kiss my wife goodby and walk to the bus. My planned time here would have had little lines but I end up waiting 4-5 bus cycles before getting loaded up for the 1-1.5 hour journey to the start village. It's amazing logistics to move 20,000+ people across the city and get them to the startline ontime. Get to the village around 8:30 for a 10:00 start - time to visit and take care of business then off to the start.

The Boston Marathon #3 (also ran 2007, 2008):
The Airforce Jets rocket across the sky - I give a huge arm pumping YEAH! The fun begins (actually continues). Gun goes off and I'm just taking it all in. Weather is perfect with even a little tailwind.

1-5

Crowds are pretty thick - I think corral 2 was a mistake as people are easing by me pretty continual - I'm thinking from my few training (I had little data to draw on having run so little and pretty slow stuff) that I might be able to be in the low 7 mpm pace at 160 HR (MP) and after a couple miles I'm seeing pretty close to 7 mpm at low-mid 140s - I was ecstatic to be banking time to a BQ without putting in much effort - I was pretty sure basis my 20 milers I'd be slowing significant on the back end so ok to keep it nice and easy. I really don't know if I could have maintained 160 - that would have been nearly 40 sec/mile faster - I suspect aerobically I could but the risks on the my unadapted body were too high I think - so I had the best of all worlds going on - run relaxed to enjoy Boston and yet run faster than my A++ goal with fun along the way. Boston course just felt so familiar - I've run it two other times and studied the heck out of the elevation profile in the prior races and dreamed so much about the race both recently and before the prior races - it was just like running through a Disneyland for runners.

6-10

More of the same - it starts to flatten out so not as much downhill benefit in the splits but still a little downward decline. I really don't remember much of anything these miles except continued glee at seeing such a low heartrate and still banking more and more time to 7:30 halfway split - I don't feel much pressure to push it - I think I even relaxed a bit - I was still very certain once I get to 18+ miles the HR was going to rise up and the pace was going to slow and most likely I wasn't going to get the BQ. But no matter - even 4:xx I was going to be ecstatic with - all I really wanted was the finishing medal to close out the 2009 marathon drought.

11-15

Wellesley - what can I say - seems everything I do say get's me into trouble with DW. What the hell - I decide before the scream tunnel I was not going to stop - I was afraid if I broke my stride the wheels would fall off on this dream run so I jogged through. The first half dozen high 5s were actually little kids. Then the signs - the many many many signs. The first I recall said "Kiss me - we're on TV" next to a camera man - that image of me kissing this co-ed on TV played in my head a little and I couldn't help a grin. Moving on "Kiss me - I'm Texan", "Kiss me - I'm Latino", "Kiss me - I'm Asian", and on and on and on it went with the co-ed's hanging over the railing holding their signs. I found it hilarious - and I just couldn't stop smiling at it all. Of course there is the token guy also holding a Kiss Me sign. What a trip - but no stops - just ran on through and gave probably 100 high fives and felt my spirits somehow lifted. On another 1/2 mile or so just past the 1/2 marathon mats I have a cousin an family who live just a couple blocks off the course and have a family tradition to come out and watch the race. I let them know I'd be running by and to have a water bottle (disqualifying me from prize money I know) ready and sure enough they were all out yelling, cheering, smiling - I stopped and chatted for a minute - even got a full hug by Mary (doesn't she know how gross and sweaty I am) and tried to get my cousin Doug to run a little bit to no avail - I'd apparently outstayed my welcome after a minute as they collectively waved away - but I got my water bottle that allowed me to skip the next several aid stations - and the wheels didn't fall off after a stop after all. Finishing up these miles pretty well finishes up the pre-race - anyone who has run Boston knows the race begins at 16.

16-finish

First hill of 4 - I attacked it much faster than pace I planned for hills. Race plan had been to go to whatever felt ok after 16 miles and no longer be restrained I was pushing it to next level.

2nd hill was attacked much as the first - I passed A LOT of people on the hills (This Houston boy CAN run hills).

Attacked hill 3 then on to heartbreak hill.

Again attacked the hill passed a bunch of people with a big headwind.

From the top going down. The mental battles were intense. Finally what won out mostly was "this is the BOSTON MARATHON!!" with that no half efforts for any stretch allowed. After crossing that mental milestone - I stopped looking at the watch - and pushed with all I had. I didn't dare look at the watch as knowing my HR could only make me want to slow down. I downed the last gu and a few gulps of water and ran by all the remaining water stations. My legs burned but all felt healthy. I kept plowing on.

There's the CITGO sign!! Meaning 2 miles to go. Keep on keeping on. Most all around me are slowing and I am passing people like crazy here. By the time I got to CITGO sign I had found the practice of closing my eyes very tempting - they felt so comfortable closed. I forced them open to look for my cheerers. Found them and managed a hearty smile and wave - it was great to have them here - and also know only ONE mile to go.

This was a tough mile but I didn't let up and kept on passing people and enjoying the brief shuteyes.

Around a couple corners and I'm running on the right side looking for Susie and the kids on the final stretch. Still pushing but did not want to miss the moment to see them - they have been SO supportive thru all the miles to get here and that moment to the finish was as much theirs as it is mine. I got and gave a big cheer when I saw them.

There is the finish line less than a quarter mile away. I couldn't muster the all out sprint this time but pushed in with a very fast run still passing a few more. I managed to do the last ½ mile at 6 minute mile pace.

I CAN STOP NOW!!!!

There was so much emotion at this point I nearly had to stop and cry in happiness.

--------

Ok - that's not how it really happen - that was excerpts from my 2007 Boston Marathon Race Report from 16 on - but that recount captured what was going through my head in memory as I ran the course - That race really formed my love for marathoning - although my 3rd marathon completed - that one kinda sealed the deal for me - up to then it was just a passing fad. Back to the present:

I climb through the 4 Newton Hills to the top of Heartbreak Hill slowing down on the inclines and speeding back up on the flats and downhill sections. Nothing too crazy about it except that my expectations were not met. I was not significantly slowing - I was still jogging - HR was staying steady and very low - if anything I was taking it too easy - I was trying for 2-2 breathing but it was a pretty shallow 2-2 breathing. At each milemarker I'd do a little calculation of what pace it would take to get a Boston Qualifier time - I was going sub 8s pretty consistent even through the hills and my mental calculations kept sounding easier and easier - 8:30 mpm, 9+ mpm to the finish.... I wasn't slowing nearly what I expected. I absolutely love marathons where I am surprised my fitness is better than I expected - typically I've got it pretty well dialed in what I can do before the race but there have been a couple races I've really surprised myself on and this race was starting to join that short list of surprising races. I stopped anticipating I'd be fading - I just needed to finish this thing up and enjoy every moment.

Heartbreak to the Finish - the final 5 miles.

Ringing through my head is the memory of 2007's charge down into Boston, the Duel in the Sun with the two runners pounding everything they could into the final 5. My general feeling of not being especially taxed by the first 21 miles of the race so knowing I could choose to run a fast 8k to empty the tank to the finish. I had lots of cushion on my stretch goal of sub3:21 Boston Qualifier time. How am I going to run this last part of the race? First things first - where's the beer - looking for the Boston College Beer I've heard so many talk about (but somehow always seem to miss) - I really wanted a beer - I looked and looked - so a pack of screaming guys/girls with Boston College on their cloths so figured it must be close - I never saw it - First time to this point of this race where my stomach is not in knots from running so fast that I think I could have actually enjoyed a beer - I was so disappointed. Pretty much the next mile goes by before I get my head back to the question of how do I want to finish up this last 4 miles. I decide to kick it up a gear and go for it a little. I go a mile or so like this and somehow my mind goes back to really enjoying myself and the crowds screaming and just being in the Boston Marathon and I start to notice I'm back to more of a jogging pace again. CITGO Sign appears in the distance - A completely new strategy forms in my head - I've got lots of cushion now - I could probably WALK from the CITGO sign to the finish (~1 mile) and still get it - maybe I should really take in that enjoy that last mile slow - or maybe I should squeeze out everything I've got and go for it that last mile - walk....race hard....walk....race hard - what to do - I do nothing - I just maintain my pace and enjoy. Up from the underpass and approach Hertford - so many great Boston Moments coming around the last two turns and down the finishing stretch. TV images of Dire Tune in her fight for the win in 2008 - similar images in 2009 in the women's race - I can only imagine what it was like in 1982's Duel in the Sun.....I make my last couple turns and see the finish line down Boylston Street. I'm just soaking it all in. I get to within 1/4 mile of the finish and scan the crowd for my girl and find her - she didn't have "Kiss Me" sign - but I gave her one anyway - I'd been looking forward to doing that for miles. On to the finish - I actually stop a few seconds on that painted "Finish" on the ground that can be seen from satellite images - then walk across the finishing mats. The feeling was very much similar to that 2007 race a few years prior.

The meet-'n-greets - although the bus took too long I did still get 1/2 hour or so to hang out at the wall with a bunch of my "invisible friend". And raised several glasses of beers after. They even all sang to me when the waiter brought over (my daughter let it leak it was my birthday) a desert with a cherry on top - I'd mentioned to several how Boston was really the cherry on top and MS150 was the ice cream Sunday - although in truth it's probably obvious by now that Boston was the main event in my mind. Runners are some awesome people!
L-R: Tim (Tim), Melissa(Rio), Me(kayry), Carolyn(mogulgirl)[front], Cathy (Blazer85)[back], Bruce (The Beast) [back], Pam (vidadolce), Tommy (Butters) [ran 2:28].

The Numbers:

Pre-Training
4 MRIs, 1 Xray, 1 BodyScan, Specialists including Primary Care Physician, Massage Therapist, Chiropractor, 2xOrthopedics, Podiatrist, Physical Therapist - Those specialists with any knowledge of a running related Sacrum Stress Fracture...zero. 6 failed attempts to run over 14 months, 150 miles total for 2009, new sports - 3 - swimming, biking and Kayaking. Peak Fitness score (according to Sportstracks - my training software) in 2008 - 140 - Fitness low in December 2009 - 11, Fitness high in April 2010 148.

Training:
Biking begins - 12/19/2009 - First 65 miler 1/23, First 100 miler 3/13, Running - First mile 2/10, First 10 Miler 2/27 (458 days since prior 10 miler), First 20 Miler 3/28. Totals (including ABC) Biking 1812 Miles in 97 hours, Running 250 Miles in 35.8 hours.

ABC:
Fuel - 11 servings of UltraFuel (400 calories each), ~15 Enduralyte Captsules, 3 Protein Bars, Camelback nearly emptied of water on 2 rides, 3 days Carb Loading before (target >75% calories from carbs), ~3-4000 calories targeted between days to refill the tank, 1 serving of UltraFuel for breakfast before each bike day and 3 servings before the Marathon, in marathon 24 oz Gatorade - about 1/2 just before the start and the other 1/2 over first 5 miles, Gel at 5,10,15,20 with as much water as I could grab (I put much greater focus on electrolyte/hydrate for this than typical to minimize cramp potential late in the race). Don't think I'd change anything - all worked pretty well.

Supporters - many, Naysayers - many (including myself actually - I really didn't think I could do it until ~end of March).

Houston to LaGrange
98.4 miles, average Moving speed 20.2 mph, average Heartrate 151, 69F average equivalent 2.5 mph tailwind with a few brief showers - 2 mechanicals (broke rear spoke twice) 592 ft uphill, 299 ft downhill - average 278 Watts. Ride Time 4:51, Stops 3, Stopped Time 31 minutes, Total Time 5:21. Crashes 0, near misses 0.

Distance mph HR Watts
5 17.2 135 221
10 20.5 140 273
15 19.3 141 251
20 25.1 154 449
25 24.2 153 415
30 26.2 154 513
35 24.3 147 404
40 21.1 143 308
45 21.5 157 320
50 19.3 155 274
55 20.5 152 294
60 19.9 157 268
65 18.7 156 220
70 18.4 156 227
75 19.5 153 213
80 17.3 156 206
85 20.8 153 264
90 18 153 214
95 18.2 151 167
98.15 20.4 152 229

Time 4:50:58

LaGrange to Austin
74.2 Miles, averaged 18.2 mph, Average Heartrate 136, 62F average equivalent 2.1 mph headwind with a brief light rain - 0 Mechanical 825 ft uphill 826 ft downhill - average 208 Watts. Ride Time 4:05, Stops 1, Stopped Time 8 minutes, Total Time 4:13. Crashes 0, Near Misses 1*.

Distance mph HR Watts
5 18.2 125 209
10 20.3 142 275
15 20.8 139 272
20 19.7 142 266
25 18.5 134 227
30 16.9 138 197
35 16.7 136 189
40 19.3 131 201
45 17.9 133 181
50 18.1 135 197
55 18.9 136 208
60 20 143 235
65 18.5 138 208
70 15.6 138 155
74.23 15.2 133 138

Time 4:04:41

Boston Marathon
26.2 Miles (Garmin), 7:30 mpm, Average Heartrate 147, 52F, average equivalent 3.3 mph tailwind, sunny. 595 ft uphill, 966 ft downhill. 3 Stops (quick visit with cousins at 13, Smooch with Wife 26, Finishline 5 feet from the timing mat), Total Stopped Time 1:10. Falls 0, Near Misses 1**.

1 7:01 150
2 6:59 149
3 7:05 148
4 7:09 146
5 7:17 148
6 7:11 147
7 7:10 146
8 7:20 145
9 7:17 143
10 7:18 144
11 7:26 144
12 7:16 143
13 7:17 144
14 7:42 144
15 7:29 147
16 7:14 145
17 7:51 147
18 7:56 146
19 7:39 144
20 7:56 146
21 8:21 146
22 7:50 142
23 7:31 146
24 7:16 151
25 7:23 151
26 7:24 153
26.44 7:32 155

Time 3:16:39

From BAA website:
Bib 1202 Hill, John 43 M Kingwood TX USA - Half 1:35:15 Finish 3:16:34 (+6:04 split) average 7:30/mile. 3887th Place Overall 658th among 40-44 Men, 135th Texan, 5th Kingwood, 2nd over 40 in kingwood (I just can't find a splice of the data that gets me on top).

* Inches from major accident. In Shell Team's mandatory safety training we were told pace lines are optimum up to around 8-10 riders - longer lines increase crash potential. I was thinking about this as I linked into the middle of a very long paceline - maybe 30+ riders I'm guessing with me about 15 or so back from the lead. My alerts were high but I didn't want to give up the speed advantage and drop out of it. At some point moving 20+ mph 3-4 riders in front of me a rider went down (probably tires rubbed between riders) - a pile-up formed quickly of the riders in front of me - I had just enough time to react and swerve away from the back/head of the rider in front of me and get clear - at least one rider behind me got caught in the pile-up. I didn't stop in the crowds of riders to get the injury magnitude - hopefully just roadrash. Ride Marshalls cycling and many motorcycles were monitoring all the riders and help was impressively quick as these things are somewhat expected in biking.

** Just past the Startline the guy in front of me I guess get's his foot stepped on and falls and I make a quick evasive move to avoid falling over him. He gets back up behind me and seems to be fine and keeps going. To state the obvious - running accidents are much less traumatic than cycling accidents.

Everyone seems to ask how it's possible to do both races in a weekend - so here's my logistics plan I had to revise and revise a few times before I could convince myself it could actually work. I could not have worked without the help of several others and as another marathoner out there said - I takes a Village (don't worry about it if that doesn't make sense - it would take too long to explain and this is long enough). So many links in the chain could have broke and the whole think would have fallen apart - it's really something that it all worked and big shout-outs to the help I got to make it work.

Logistics Plan [including J(me)S(Darling Wife)RK(Kids)&M(the Dog) - and Tim]:
Pre
- Get Taxes Done
- GPS (Homer) Program for SRK's drive to Austin (Congress and 16th) Parking, Finish 1201 San Jacinto Boulevard Austin, TX 78701
- Packet Pickup Arrangement - sign confirmation card and mail to someone to get packet to hotel (Thanks Tim!).
- Arrange Travel to Manchester Post Race
- Set-up Text Messaging - Boston
- New HRM battery
- Drop Bag at Shell Luggage Truck Friday 9-5 Woodcreek Visitors Parking Lot
- Change bike tires
- Shop for fuel for ride/race
- Pack for LaGrange
- Pack for Boston
- Drop car at Houston airport - Friday
Saturday 4/17:
- SRKM and J --- Depart house ~4:30 am – get dropped off at start-line at Woodcreek (Dairy Ashford and Highway 10).
- SRKM --- goes home – home by 7:30am.
- J – Ride to LaGrange – 7am thru 1pm – spend the night camped out in LaGrange.
Sunday 4/18:
- SRKM --- Depart house at 7:30am and drive to Austin – Drop M at Kennel – arrive at Austin 11am.
- J – Ride from LaGrange to Austin – arrives at 11am.
- SKJR – Lunch and hangout in Austin then to airport by 3pm
- SKJ – Plane from Austin to Boston 4:30-8:30 pm (9:30 local time with the timechange).
- R – Drive back to Houston with Bike.
- SKJ – Taxi to downtown hotel by 10:30 (feels like 9:30 in Houston).
Monday 4/19:
- J – up for 6am busride to start
- J – 10-2pm – run Boston Marathon.
- SK – 12-2pm – Head to finish and watch for J.
- J - 4:30pm - get Rental Car
- JSK - 6pm - meet with friends - J drink celebration beers!
Tuesday 4/20:
- SKJ – Leave 4am to Manchester airport.
- SKJ – Manchester to Houston 6:20 am to 11:05 am (stop at Baltimore).
- SKJ – Drive to get M – 12:30pm.
- SKJ – Home 1 pm.

So.....life is full of Starts and Finishes.....my weekend had a Start-End, Start-End, Start-End and an End...and a Start....this puts an end (with an exclamation point) on a very long year off and Starts.....I don't know what yet ---TBD...

MS 150 photos

Boston Marathon Photos

John.

Training's about done.......ABC is coming

2010-04-02T18:03:00.000-07:00

With this being the last hard weekend of training, I'm reflecting on a great training cycle - much more than I could possibly have expected. Starting with pretty much no fitness I got my first bike ride in 12/17 and my first real mile of running on 2/15......and now I'm feeling the task at hand has changed from impossible to possible....

ABC.....Austin-Boston Challenge as easy as 1) 100 miles Day 1, 2) 75 miles Day 2, 3) 26.2 miles Day 3.

Mileage Summary:
......Bike...Run
Dec....132....11
Jan....506.....1
Feb....504....39
Mar....368...125

Tot..1,510...176
Long...102...20.5

Hours...80....25

The Austin-Boston Challenge...

2010-02-27T19:40:00.000-08:00

Austin - after about 100 miles on April 17th, 80 miles on April 18th in the MS150 on the bike.
Boston - after 26.2 miles in the greatest marathon in the world on April 19th (by birthday) on foot.

That's the Austin-Boston Challenge - possibly never done before - who would know :).

I have never riden the MS150 or anything like it. I've been an injured runner for over a year now and around about Christmas time a couple months ago I decided I'd give it a try. I was already also signed up for the Boston Marathon (if filled up in November so I signed up hoping I'd be ready to run it) but the progress of my recovery by December seemed to be going too slow to have much possibility to make it.

Setting a fitness goal for 2010 to average 1 hour a day of some kinda exersize the mission started to get some biking fitness riding mostly on the weekends and some during the week as I had time.

Mid February I did a couple test runs to see if I could run and surprizingly - I could. Moved up from 1 to 2 to 3 to 6 to today I did 10 miles over a couple weeks and it seems that finally this injury may just maybe be behind me - maybe. Today's 10 miler was the first double digit run I've done in 458 days and gave me a glimmer of hope that just maybe I can complete the Boston Marathon - I will continue to progress up the run in small steps and hopefully I can go farther. So to add to this charity event I've set the target to continue the mileage ramp-up on running as well as the biking ramp up and try to do what perhaps has never been done before (probably has but who knows) - ride the MS150 AND run the Boston Marathon in 3 consecutive days collecting both Austin and Boston finishing medals......

.....That is the Austin-Boston Challenge.......totaling around 200 miles between the two...
And it is done for a GREAT Charity....(yes this is where I start the required fundraising):

Multiple sclerosis is a progressive neurological disease that affects people in many different ways. It could be paralysis one day, loss of vision the next or impaired memory the day after that. Living with MS means living with uncertainty.

Why I Ride/Run

I've registered for BP MS 150 and Boston Marathon to fulfill a personal challenge, and to help the National MS Society fund research, advocate for change, and help people with MS and their families lead powerful lives. I believe in the work they do and want to be an active part of it.
Please help me in supporting a great cause and donate.

John Hill

Click the link below to:
Support me

Boston 2010

2009-11-12T06:23:00.000-08:00

Call me crazy (ok - I'll do it - your crazy) but with the Marathon looking like it's going to fill up within a few more days and my Boston qualifier race ready to expire (no good for 2011) - I signed up (it so happens to fall this year right on my 43rd Birthday).

5 months away - I am optomistic about my odds to finish - but it most definately will not be a race - to have fun and cross a finishline is all I want at this point.

Prior to signing up I did go get another MRI - my 4th of the year:
1st - 1/2009 - indicated a stress fracture
2nd - 4/2009 - indicated I'd aggrevated the stress fracture adding a crack trying to come back too soon (at the time I could barely walk for a week and feared not just my running carreer but perhaps my walking carreer was over)....advise was to expect 3-6 months to heal.
3rd - 7/2009 - indicated significant improvement (I'd hope so as I'd done nothing at all exersizing since the prior)....but not perfect.
4th - 11/2009 - no indication of any problem whatsoever (Yahoo!!!!).

This doesn't mean I'm ready to go out and run miles and miles and in fact I am only very very slowly pregressing back this time. My schedule which I copied from Kate recovering from the same injury with what appears excellent PT guidance on such things has been something like this:

3 weeks - ~10 miles total split up thru the week - 4 minutes walking, 30 seconds jogging - max ~3 miles at once.
3 weeks - ~12 miles total split up thru the week - 4 minutes walking, 60 seconds jogging - max ~4 miles at once.

I've just finished the above and now I'm moving on to 90 second jogging and a little more mileage.

Add to that a local PT has given me a bunch of strength training to do ~25 minutes per day that I've been doing about a week.

With this there is some soreness in the hip and buttock but with the MRI clear I'm more convinced it is soft tissue stuff that can be rolled out and deminished with the PT.

Its going to be a long road to get to Boston but I'm looking forward to it.

This is getting really old........

2009-09-17T09:53:00.000-07:00

Rehashing my history again....

Last "Real" run.....11/16/2008 - San Antonio Marathon

Rest Breaks and attempts to come back:

1st - 12/28 - 2 weeks off
2nd - 2/2 - 4 weeks off (some swimming) - attempt up to 3 miles then uncomfortable so stopped
3rd - 3/18 - 5.5 weeks since 2nd (lots of biking some swimming) - attempt up to 5 miles - re-sfx'd worse than ever before - clock starts over.
4th - 7/11 - 15 weeks since 3rd (no biking or swimming) - very short (.6 mile) test runs - slight soreness next day.
5th - 8/1 - 18 weeks since 3rd (some swimming) - still counting from 3rd as 4th I don't think really re-aggravated......slowly progressed thru the month totalling ~60 miles for the month maxing out at 7 miles with a walk break in the middle. A little sourness but seemed to be getting better but then seemed to be getting worse so stopped again 9/2...

..pain initially wasn't quite in the right place - lower in the glut - maybe at SI or piriphormis......but after some days the soreness started again back higher where the SFX was. I tried a weekend of biking (30,55 milers) then it seemed sore again for a few days. I recently switched to pool running ~20-30 minutes a day but now that seems to be making the soreness increase too so I guess I'll stop doing that......I'd really like to get some fitness back but it seems whatever I try is just going to extend my outage.....

Still looking for something that can get me some general fitness - not sure what to try next.

Now the question at hand - when to plan for Attempt #6 ... 18 weeks last time wasn't enough but I don't think I'm as bad off as I was at the end of March - do I count from my last run, my biking or my pool running - I guess since I'm as sore now as I was at my last run I should count from now so 9/17 + 18 weeks = makes January 14th - yikes that a long time away ... this is really really getting old :<.

Guess I'll go do another round with the doctors to see if they can give me other options..

Update - Return to Running - Attempt # 5.

2009-08-13T21:53:00.000-07:00

Started running as I started vacation last week. Vacation was a weekend in NYC followed by a week in mid-upper New York (Corinth to be exact) followed by a week on the beach in Cape May New Jersey.

8/1 - 1 mile
8/4 - 1 mile
8/6 - 1.5 miles
8/8 - 2 miles
8/9 - 2 miles
8/10 - 3 miles (barefoot)
8/11 - 5 miles
8/13 - 4.5 miles (barefoot) ---a little soreness at the end
8/17 - 2.0 miles (barefoot)
8/18 - 3.0 miles (barefoot)
8/20 - 3.0 miles (barefoot) - sore feet from the vibrums on gravel
8/22 - 1.5 miles
8/23 - 3.8 miles
8/24 - 3.0
8/25 - 3.0
8/26 - 3.0
8/27 - 3.2
8/28 - 7.0 miles with a walk break in the middle - no soreness at all
8/29 - 3.0 miles (barefoot)
8/30 - 4.0 miles
*9/1 - 4.4 miles - felt a little sore, 3 mile walk in the PM - felt more sore.
9/2 - 0.4 miles barefoot on grass - soreness not deminishing - bail..

* This one seemed to be the turning point to bad - prior to this the slight soreness I sometimes felt seemed to be deminishing day by day .... maybe because after a day off I was a little tighter? don't know but the double (counting the walk) I think was too much. Soreness wasn't quite in the right place so I wasn't convinced SFX was involved but just thought I needed to get rid of the soreness feeling.

Started doing some strengthening exersizes most days with the thinking to try to strengthen the Glut's to take pressure off the piriformis while running.

9/6 - 35 miles bike ride
9/7 - 55 miles bike ride

noticed a little soreness next couple days around the sfx site so stopped biking.

9/11-9/15 - pool running building up from 10 minutes to about 25 minutes in the last one.

9/16 - a little soreness at sfx site
9/17 - soreness is stronger - even limping a little - at the sfx site as well as lower :-(....

..attempt #5 is over

Return to Running.......Attempt #5....on hold

2009-07-27T04:46:00.000-07:00

Was planning to take two weeks off and try again - which would have been this last weekend....figured why not make it 3 instead so I'll try next week. I'm kinda reluctant to try as its failed so many times now what I thought I was done with this but I guess I've gotta get out there sometime.

This thing as been very de-masculating.....I used to pride myself at pushing to the limits thru the little and sometimes not so little pains of running and went 3 years solid without more than maybe a week off due to injury. Now going on 9 months off for something that has barely even been very painful (the word "pain" is a gross exageration) for much of any of it (except for a week in April). Now the very slightest hint of maybe kinda sorta something and I'm heading for the couch.....I so much preferred the prior near indestructable self image...

Nope - not yet

2009-07-12T08:16:00.000-07:00

Very slight bit of soreness at the sfx site as I awoke this morning - I wasn't even positive I might be imagining it but after about 10 steps into starting a run and still feeling - well - I'm going to follow a 2 week off protocol and try again.

kinda feels like I got to eat two chips out of the bag and now I have to stop ... better that than start another 3 months off like last time ...... I just want to run - this is taking FOREVER :( ....

New Beginnings

2009-07-11T17:34:00.001-07:00

Day 2 of running. Yesterday and today I ran around the block (0.7 miles). A glorious run - longest (actually only runs) I've had in over 3 months. No pains whatsoever.....

7/2 MRI results (received yesterday):
"This examination was compared with the patient's previous study performed on 4/13/09. Mild marrow edema is seen in the right side of the sacral ala. This is significantly less pronounced when compared to the patient's previous MRI."

Dr's response - was - ok to try to run a little - let pain be guide - or alternatively to be absolutely sure all healed wait another 4-6 weeks. Decided to give plan "A" a try.

One Metric Marathon Years Old - 26.2 = 42.2k = my age on 6/28/09

2009-06-28T07:21:00.000-07:00

Highest swim day yet was today at exactly 42.2 laps which happens to equal my age today.

The last couple as I pushed off the wall at 40 I thought - that was the finish of the first Boston Marathon at 40 yrs old. Pushing off the other end was NYC marathon at about 40.5 yrs old passing two other marathons including Houston before pushing off again at the other side at 41 with another Boston Marathon - Anchorage in the middle somewhere then pushing off 41.5 at the San Antonio Marathon at 41.5 yrs old. Finish that lap then stop just short of midway for the Metric Marathon of swimming - 42.2 laps.

A Shout-out to IRUNFORBEER

2009-04-21T15:13:00.000-07:00

A huge congratulations at WINNING your age group at the Boston Marathon (2:43 50-54)....An unfricken believable accomplishment....I'm totally speechless....well not totally :).

Back in 2007 John (Irunforbeer) and I had a common quest to break the 3 hour barrier at the San Diego Rock n Roll Marathon - with the common name and both fans of Dean Karnasas who was referred as Team Dean (a one man team) in some 200+ mile relay race he did all by himself --- we dubbed ourselves "Team John". Team John Failed that sub3 attempt as we both were not quite ready to bust thru but we have each chalked up our own victories and now the other half (Mr. Irunforbeer) has hit the pinnacle - I am so incredibly excited for your victory John.......Go Team John. (Of course I taught him everything he knows :) )...

How to get a Stress Fracture in your Sacrum

2009-04-11T13:15:00.000-07:00

7/6 Edits Leg Length Measurement and MRI

5/4 Edits blood tests clear..

4/18 Edits (add Stats, leg length info and conclusion revision).

In the interested of clearing this white board in my office where I've diagramed and timelined and built a fault tree diagram to try and figure out what happen - I'm going to copy it all down here.

Stats:In a study of running related stressfractures (1978) 55% Tibia, 23% metatarsals (toe bones), 14% fibula (small calf bone), 6% femur (thigh bone) 1% ankle bones, 1% pubic arch bone and 0.1% sacrum. (Noakes - Lore of Running). (I suspect it was underreported back then with fewer means to detect - but still).

Not too common of a place to get a SFX but somewhat common for a high end distance runner from what I've found in my studies on it.........

Root Cause Analysis – Stress Fracture in the Sacrum.

Problem Statement – Injury in the area of my Right Buttock after the San Antonio Marathon caused an inability to race or even run for many months.

Timeline (blogger style – newest first – I wrote this chronological then decided to flip it around so I could add new stuff at the top as things progress – if anyone actually reads this it might be helpful to start at the bottom and go up - might flow better):

7/6 - CT Scan to measure leg lengths - waiting results but I got a copy of the data - by my measurement the the legs are very very close to each other - within a couple millimeters - we'll see what the doc says. Still waiting MRI results.

7/2 - MRI today - waiting results. Tech's words were getting better - not as good as all better but at least better than no change.

5/4 - received blood tests for samples taken 4/14. Apparently Vitamin D takes a while - not done local. Results came back all within normal limits. But just in case I've been religious about taking Ultra-bone vitamins I got at the supermarket for the last few weeks. All pain is gone and I'm walking normal with no limp. Still holding off any exersizing - I'm probably being a bit over cautious in cutting out the crosstraining I was doing but I don't really understand why 3 months between MRI's and the bone doesn't look better - doc seems to think it was the running but there was so little of that - just doesn't make sense to me - I'm thinking perhaps the crosstraining was a part of the slow healing so I'm holding off on that too.

4/15 - Dr. Visit to review MRI result and drill him with questions :). Made me feel much better about having some pain - most comforting words were a broken bone hurts for 4-6 weeks - I was very concerned that with each movement I made that had a little pain I was making the break worse and had lots of bad scenario's ringing around my head - very nice to hear some pain is just normal. Walking is so much easier today - still limping but not nearly so much - feels like the corner is turned :). The thought of a few months off gives me not the slightest disappointment (ok maybe slight) as long as it all heals up normal.

Currious thing - I was convinced leg lengths were the same but my wife assisted me in measuring up to the hip bone on each side and found a full centemeter difference with the right leg shorter - that could explain it all and so easy to fix with a shoe insert. I know someone else who had this same injury and she found the same difference in leg length. Doc's going to do a CT Scan to get an accurate measurement before I start running again.

4/14 - MRI Results - a crack (small line on right side of Sacrum) - treatment - 3 months rest - high likelihood will fix - no repetitive exersize - let the pain guide what's ok shortterm around mobility - maybe bike/swim after 6 weeks or so - depends - take new MRI after 3 months to be sure all is gone then can start running again. Prescribed to get bloodwork to be sure no underlying issue preventing healing. Checking if electrical stimulation makes sense (low expectations - expensive with questionable value and unlikely to be approved for something like this - still pursuing just in case might be helpful), Screw/pin - rarely used in this area - high risk - bone graph would be next option in the unlikely event just rest didn't fix. No mention of sports hernia on the report - I'm hoping this was a false diagnosis related to the abductor pain I had felt a few times only for about 1 week prior to the MRI - perhaps just a mild thing that needed a little healing time.

I was just happy he stopped using words like catastrophic making the healing process seem pretty normal. Although I thought I was being pretty cautious with this SFX over last few months - I can see looking back over this log I was not cautious enough - bone is a very different animal than soft tissue injuries - the slightest extra pushing can be very bad on bones. Seems most likely the crack came from running 3/28.

4/11 – Get another MRI…..awaiting results – bracing for a “crack” result – no idea what would be done for something that he says doesn’t heal – maybe a screw or a pin – who knows but it doesn’t sound like just wait “X” months……..We’ll see – I’m a little worried….

4/10 – progression is getting worse – buy crutches as now I’m limping most every step – the words of the doctor “Cracks in Stress Fractures don’t heal” are ringing thru my head.

4/9 – Visit a different doctor (orthopedic) – much more helpful than the last – goes thru the prior MRI with me and explains the injury better - I had somehow thought the SFX was a very small crack and I had squinted at that MRI trying to see it – he pointed out a whole section of the bone that was swollen from what he described as an extended period of over stress/micro fracture/heal – not like a single crack – guess that is what a SFX is and not a single crack – he explained SFX’s heal slower than a clean break – typically prescribes 3 months of no impact type sports (i.e. no running – biking and swimming are fine since they don’t impact). It’s nice to have a more helpful doctor. He was consistent with the other doctor in downplaying the significance of “Sports Hernia” impression from the radiologists on the last MRI – hope they are right. But he kept using words like “catastrophic” when we looked at the MRI and talking about the difference between a “crack” and a SFX – a crack in a SFX apparently will not heal.

3/29-4/11 – no exercise – initially no pain but progressively each day is a little worse than the prior from normal activity.

3/28 5.0 Ended quite disappointed that the pain in the butt was back and was definitely a building pain that was not going to go away with more miles. Time to stop running again – hopefully I didn’t re-injured by this run.

3/18 1.0/1.7,3/19 1.0, 3/20 0, 3/21 0.56 (after a bike ride – man that’s a tough transition), 3/22 2.6, 3/24 3.0, 3/25 4.6 – All these with minimal discomfort – I considered normal aches and pains of starting run after a time off although I didn’t like that that discomfort was in the area of the injury (clue?).

Running (5.5 weeks since the 5k, 10 weeks from prior “last” run)

3/21 56 (flying fast 21 mph average), 3/22 47

3/15-20 – skiing all week – no problems – a few short bike rides as well.

2/21 55 miles, 2/28 47, 3/1 36, 3/6 16, 3/7 33, 3/8 46

Biking (no pain from this activity around injuries)

2/9,2/16 – swimming lots of laps – much improved.

2/2-8 – 4 weeks off since last run – try to gingerly run (treadmill) – M 0.5, T 1.0, W 1.5, Th 2.0, F .57, S 3.1 (a local 5k I jogged very very slow – noted pain in the butt after 2.5 miles –should have walked the rest but didn’t).

1/26,2/2 weeks – learning swim strokes in the pool (Total Immersion).

Swimming (no pain from this activity around injuries)

1/19 week – nada

1/12 week – nada

1/9 – get MRI results – SFX in Sacrum Ala and Sports Hernia “impressions” (Doctor – orthopedic - unhelpful with any input whatsoever – just says to take time off – not even guidance on how long – so I go google)

1/2 – MRI

1/1 – 2.1, 1/2 – 4.8(upper thigh abductor pain), 1/4 – 5.6(upper thigh abductor pain), 1/6 – 4.25 (upper thigh abductor pain)

12/28 20 miles for prior week – Christmas Day up to 5-6 miles – No more pain in the butt but the upper thigh pain starts again then comes abductor pain shooting down the leg towards end of the run – walk home.

12/21 – no running – XRAY shows all clear – appointment for MRI keeps getting delayed thru holidays.

12/14 – no running

12/7 – 18 miles total – 5 mile max at once – expert massage – also using tennis ball for massaging – someone got me thinking toward piriphormis syndrome that seemed to fit the symptoms so I was self treating for this.

11/30 – 22 miles total for past week – pushed to 10/8 miles on a couple runs – still noted back of hip joint pain then upper thigh pain.

11/23 – tried a run on my own – ended up 13 miles with walk breaks every few miles I notice – I note symptoms of – back of hip joint pain than after a while upper thigh pain.

11/22 – Club run – 10 miles – first few pretty slow then 5 up to ~7mpm pace then dropped off pace of the others and walked much of the last couple miles back to the start as they went on a few more miles – I don’t recall the issues. When I got to the start I asked the club massage therapist for a massage (I’d never done that before) – I recall noted to focus on sore calves and SI joint area.

11/17-21 – M 5, T 0, W 7, Th 0, F 9 – all very slow running guided by – enjoy the run of whatever distance feel good – these post race runs after a marathon for me are much driven by the euphoria of the race and a reliving of dream kinda thing – no pressure to go farther or push any limits. No recollection of any issue abnormal on these runs.

11/16 – S - San Antonio Marathon – Don’t recall anything in the race. I did start the race with 2 IBP so it could be any pain I should have been feeling was masked. Finished race with lots of euphoria so perhaps wasn’t noticing any pain.

11/10 – bailed on a workout – noted in the log “hip pain”.
9/2008 – PT noted I have a weak right hip by having me lay flat and raise right and left leg as he pushed them back down . Along with this I had issues when not running balancing on left foot and raising right foot with pain around the hip.

2/2008 – Groin Pain following a 5k race a couple weeks after the Houston Marathon (right leg abductor pain). Impacted running for a few weeks – I found I could after a slow and cautious warm-up I could run any distance or speed I wanted without impact. (Perhaps the Genesis of a Sports Hernia??)

Causes/Preventions for Next Time
Stress Fracture in the Sacrum causes (and preventions) from my studies are several – I don’t know my exact cause but have lots of risk factors that likely added up to the injury.

Typical Causes:
Quick ramp up in intensity – bones not stressed and strengthened to the new intensity level and vulnerable to SFX due to this low strength:

My Risk Factor on this – Only the San Antonio Race itself lends itself to this description of a quick ramp-up in intensity. In training I had 3x20 mile runs - fastest 6:40 average then going to 26.2 at 6:05 pace on race day (10% faster and 30% longer than anything in training) - perhaps too big a jump at once - perhaps should have had harder workouts in training to prepare the body/strengthen the bones for the raceday stress. Training in general was slower prior to this race than any other of the year due to the heat of the training months prior to the race. Race Day was accelerated over training speeds by the combination of a very cold day for the race and the extra benefit from what I’ve called the turbodrive routine I did prior to the race to give me a little extra race day speed.

Imbalances in running form – Leg length differences have been seen to cause this injury, also running on a slanted road, also an abducted foot (slanted out).

My Risk Factor on this – I run a large variety of running surfaces so the slanted road doesn’t seem to make sense for me. Haven't done the leg length measurement correctly yet but by home-measurements I do find my left hip bone is about 1 cm higher than my right. Also off the MRI laying on my back I found the top of my left femur to be 9 mm higher than my right on the film - need to get that measured right and consider a shoe insert.

An exagerated visual of the impact of leg length difference - extra forces transfered to the point of my stress fracture seems to make visually make sense:

Also I do notice on video footage I happen to have I do have an abducted right toe – I found a perfect scene in 2008 Boston video to see I’m running along the yellow line in the middle of the street where my left foot lands exactly parallel with the line but my right foot is slanted with my toe about an inch outward off center from my heel. I even have a certain whole body sway I see in all video’s I can find that seems to highlight a right side imbalance. I’m also noting nearly all my running injuries have been on the right side so I’m thinking this is root cause of lots of stuff. I do get the impression this is not hard to fix this with shoes and certain strength exercises now that I know to go fix it.

Mineral Issues – Low Calcium – This was apparently what happen to Deena Kastor who suffered a broken bone in her foot a few miles into the Olympic Marathon “I was doing a long run in Colorado while there for the Boulder Bolder, and drank out of a stream. Most mountain girls would know better, but I thought I was at a high enough elevation to quench my 15 mile thirst. I was really sick for 3 weeks (one of those weeks in which I ran the NY Mini 10K) until I finally took medication. In that time I lost 5 pounds that was difficult to put back on in marathon training. My blood was depleted of minerals so it grabbed the nutrients from my bones."

My Risk Factor on this – although I drink lots of milk I don’t focus much on vitamin intake and have never focused on taking Calcium but I do find listed as a preventative for stress fracture to take Calcium and Vitamin D – This is now and will continue to be a focus I will do once I get running again.

Weak Abdomen/Core – Stronger abdomen/core helps to stabilize the pelvis and put less stress on the bones.

My Risk Factor on this – I never did core work – definitely will be a focus area once I get running again and before.

Conclusion:

I don't really know what happen specifically but I did have enough risk factors that I was unaware of that in the end I think I was destine for something like this as I got faster - with speed comes harder pounding and with harder pounding comes higher stresses and a weak point is revealed. I suspect the a heal insert to even out the leg length delta, maybe fixing the gait issues (running form) as well as some core strength building and focus on vitamins could have prevented this - I got away with it at slower speeds but at some point I got fast enough that these weaknesses became important. Lesson learned for next time. One of the hazard of not being coached is I'm having to figure it all out myself where a coach probably would have pointed out some of these things that now seem somewhat obvious.

In hindsight recovery has been done all wrong - needed a solid several months off without impact sports and still haven't had it yet. All prior injuries were couple days off or run through and it gets better eventually kinda things - this was was clearly a different animal although it took a while to realize. Better listening to signals and responding could have made this so much less an issue.....probably most important lesson of all - and one I hope to never have to relearn ever.

John.

ps - been thinking of a new handle for my next running life - I'm hoping the comebackkid or some variant might work...

kayry - signing off

2009-03-26T20:00:00.000-07:00

Some rambles of the past few years: 6942 miles in over 2005-2009 (nearly the diameter of the planet) with 2939 miles in this last year - about 18 pairs of shoes, 1 racing flat and 1 spikes and one I call the alligator shoes - two treadmills with over 500 miles on each. 7x 5k's, 2x 8ks, 4x 10ks, 2x 10M, 7x 1/2 marathons, 3x 30ks, and 10 Marathons + 2 relays and 3 track meets (one win over Exxon and one Loss) with at least one T-Shirt for each race. Two Pedometers, One Nike Triax with HRM, One Garmin 305 with HRM - two strap replacements. Tracking Computer Programs by Forerunner, MotionBased, Topofusion and Sportstracks (my favorite and my "official" log). Spreadsheet studies on Speed vs Heartrate, changes over time, changes day to day and trying to identify every possible variable that controls it (heat, sickness, coffee, hydration level, road vs trail vs treadmill, wind, am vs pm, time since a meal, how recovered from prior workout - I've studied and correlated every possible variable :) ). Lab result said 64 VO2max (2:35 marathoner for VDOT) when my best marathon was 3:01 - I nearly got my VDOT to match that lab result since then - 4-5 minutes to go. Other spreadsheets to size up the competition - tracking local Masters and how they do in races - rank ordering them and seeing where I rank - watching for the once just ahead of me when I get to races. Family support along the way including my daughter (and sometimes my son too) riding her bike next to nearly every mile I ran leading up to my first marathon. Cheering squads at races nearly always including my wife and kids but also with some extraordinarily extra effort by my sister and nieces cheering me at two Bostons, NYC and Houston and my brother at NYC and San Diego and my Dad at San Diego and Boston and some extended family also coming out to Boston. The race of great embarrassment to me at my first San Diego with my wife, two kids, brother and wife, parents and even inlaws all out to San Diego with my Marathon cornerstone event of the trip - and I get a DNF because of a stomach bug (I think that gave me a major kick in the butt to be better). Some incredible running experiences along the way - wildlife discoveries (Banana spiders make thick webs, possum can be snuck up on at night by accident, bats like to swoop down into my headlight at night, deer are always a pleasant thing to come across, a full grown Moose will let you run right in front of its nose and doesn't charge, its a creepy feeling to run the back trails in Alaska and see all the evidence of Bears and Moose - got me a little nervous) - best running surfaces - Golf Courses (until you get kicked off) and 1-2" of freshly fallen snow. Best running time - after everyone has gone to sleep at night - very peaceful. Running while travelling - Alaska, Maui, Lake Tahoe, Anacortes-WA, Auburn-CA (along the trails of Western States Race), Seattle thru U of W out to Greenlake and back (where I grew up thru elementry school), San Diego thru my college (UCSD), Denver, Central Park, Times Square, Wellseley College - Boston, Contra Costa-CA, Near Seattle Airport, New Orleans, Hot Springs Arkansas (Where I had to get my VO2max workout in and drove all around looking for a highschool at about midnight - found one and snuck onto the track and had what seemed to the the hardest and most fabulous VO2max workout ever). Sad runs thru destruction's of Lake Tahoe Fires - charred homes. Local running including many miles of fallen trees and damaged houses following the destruction of Hurricane Ike. Hot, humid, winds up to tropical storm strength (no I didn't get out for a Hurricane Ike run although I kinda wanted to), downpours of rain (I got excited to run in the rain - heavier the better), thunderstorms, thru muddy and flooded areas. Wonderfully shaded trails that network all around my house, East End Park a couple miles away with a few miles of dirt trails (great fun in the rain but had to bring old shoes), the local middle school at 4 am with no lights - recall many interval worksouts on a crisp morning looking up to a full moon - once I was surprised to catch an unexpected eclipse on one of those. Setbacks along the way with runner knee early on, Plantar Fasccitis hanging with me for 6 months or so - both feet for some of that time, Achilles soreness (curiously still a bit tender even though I haven't run in months), pulled abductor muscles. Many lost toe-nails - always the mortors toe - btw my toes look pretty nice now all grown back :). Races with mountain top experiences and agony of poor performances - First Boston was the experience of a lifetime - can never be topped I think although many other moments came much closer than I thought could be possible - the surprising unexpected massive 16 minute PR in Houston last year still floors me - Anchorage all on my own running thru hills in a beautiful place I'd never been to before with perfect weather and perfect pacing to leave me with power to the end, San Antonio - finally getting my sub 2:40 I felt was within for the prior 4 races but just couldn't get on the clock - what a perfect weather day and the perfect finishing photo and quickest time from finishline to beer (gotta love VIP). Friends along the way too many to count from online running forums that gave virtual "kin" when I knew no runners to the Local running clubs to fellow relayers in team competitions to other runners at my work to runner commodore among competitors when I see them at races to bloggers to people I don't know me but somehow know me - "oh that hypertechnical blogger guy". The non-runners that really have no interest in my running and hear only blah blah blah with anything I say about it but pretend to be interested - and the ones that actually are interested. The very interesting discussion along the way - debates about using heartrate or perceived effort for racing. The fine tuning of all variables to make the perfect marathon - never really cared about any other distance except as tune up races for the real race - discoveries along the way - Turbo Charge - which I have yet to find any serious runner do more than shake there head and roll there eyes at me about (but I swear - it works!!!).

I'm incredibly proud of what I've accomplished in 2008 and will cherish several claims to fame including:

Three of the best four marathon times for a Master Texan on Active.com in 2008*.
2 Masters Wins at semi-major marathons (Houston, San Antonio).
2nd and 4th place at a couple smaller races (Seabrook, Anchorage).
Fastest time for a Master Texan at the Boston Marathon for this last decade (where I beat Lance Armstrong by a mile).
A whole page article in the Inside Texas Running Magazine
Youngest winner of the Moose Mug Challenge with sub 2 hr + Age.

*Yeah - I know my co-worker Wilmer should be #1 not #3 - San Antonio adjusted his CHIP time out of the money due to his late start - an outrageous thing to do imo. But at least I get to have some fun with him at work for beating him even though he has me so outclassed its not even close (First marathon ever a 2:37 then a follow up 2:32 in Houston - an incredible master runner).

What a year it was, what a few years it was and I just love this image at the end of it all - a high flying moment.

BUT.........

Now its time to step away......I thought I was on my way back from injury - ran a few times then tried for 5 miles yesterday. As has been true for the last 3-4 months in running - as I get above 2-3 miles - a pain in the butt develops kinda like a piriformis syndrome which I've come to associated with the stress fracture in the Sacrum (ala) that showed up on an MRI back in January. About 7 weeks ago on my last run over 3 miles I felt it, 5 weeks prior to that before I got my MRI I had similar things going on. So - well - its apparently NOT healed up yet again and in fact I fear I've aggravated it in that run yesterday possibly restarting the healing clock yet again. Very frustrating to say the least.

I just can't run and haven't been able to for 4+ months. My running fitness is gone - and I've got to let this damn stress fracture heal which now after that run feels worse than it ever did even when not running. Once it does heal up then I'm still not a runner yet as I have to test out some running to see if I need to do anything about the other ailment from my MRI - the Sports Hernia - which may need to be fixed by one of two doctors in the country by operation which I'm certainly not going to do until I know I have. Unfortunately I can't know if I have to until I'm actually running again to see the extent of discomfort/pain from it.

So - I feel like I just need to close this chapter down - I'm frankly not a runner any more for a while - no longer kayry - running engineer. I'm dropping that handle. When I pick the sport back up for my 3rd running life - whenever that might be - 2, 4, 6 months away or more - I'll choose a new handle and start over.

In the mean time I am enjoying cycling (well - I will again once the pain in the butt stops) - although I don't see how to make that into more than a weekend recreational kinda thing. It's not practical to ride during the week with a job (guess I could get a trainer). Also not very portable for travelling like running. But I enjoy the long bike rides especially with the local cycling group so I'll keep doing that. I really don't think that is aggravating my SFX as there is no pain with it.

I'm most definitely NOT enjoying swimming although I do think I've gotten a lot better. Open water I think I could probably enjoy but this back and forth in a pool and smelling like chlorine all day is for the birds.

Anyway - signing off for now - looking forward to the next chapter whenever it might be.

CHEERS

..........kayry (no more)

John.

Sports Hernia Investigations...

2009-03-25T19:14:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd post this for the benefit of those who are thinking they've got what I've got (but probably don't) or just like to read lots of boring details about such things. Here was a letter to the leader in the country for dealing with Sports Hernia which details my history in the hopes of confirming the diagnosis I got from an MRI. It's got all the variables I could think of that seemed important for his input....

To:
Dr William Meyers
245 N 15th St, MS 413
NCB, Suite 7150 7th floor
Philadelphia, PA 19102

From:
John Hill

Date – 2/6/2009

Please fine enclosed:
MRI Images CD
Radiology Report

Dear Dr. Meyers,

As you can see from the attached radiology report I have been diagnosed with Sports Hernia. I have not been able to locate anyone local that can provide any confirmation of this diagnosis nor to give me any input of what I should do about it. Thru googling I’ve found your name as the one with the most experience in treating this injury so I was hoping get your opinion on the MRI to confirm (or not) the diagnosis and recommend treatment options.

Background on me:

I’m 41 years old. I’ve become a fairly competitive marathoner over the last few years starting running at age 38 after 20 years off from high school. I ran around 60-80 miles per week in training last year including 5 marathons between 2:39 and 2:47. Looking back I’d say there may have been symptoms worth mentioning going back to August/September timeframe:

August/September/October – right hip pains – especially when doing things like getting dressed where I would have to get on one foot for putting on socks or pants. Location of the pain I think was on the front about ½ way between the hip and the groin. There was not typically much pain from this while running or walking except occasionally with some random twist. Heavy lifting seemed to be an aggravator. A physical therapist at my running club did a test on me back in September and noted my right leg is much weaker than my left when I lay flat and try to lift it.

November – Ran my last marathon (PR’d it @ 2:39) – I don’t recall anything particularly of issue in the race – the mild hip pain on twists required a little gingerly treatment but having aches and pains post marathon is normal.

1 week after marathon – I had been jogging a few miles each day but on Saturday 6 days after I tried for 13 and may have done them a little fast – not really that fast but maybe on tight muscles from the marathon it was too fast – ended up walking towards the end although I don’t recall why. Also got a massage right after this run – I’ve wondered if he did something wrong.

For the next few days I could only get a few miles into a run then had pain in the butt, which I came to believe was Piriformus Syndrom.

Went thru the rest of November and December trying resting a few days then running easy but never got more than 6 miles at a time before building up pain got me to stop. Eventually thru massaging and chiropractor help the pain in the butt stopped but as I ran I would start to get a dull pain in the upper thigh and then a sharper pain down the inside of my right leg – after the sharper pain started I would stop running and head home – on a few occasions the sharper pain started again always around 4-5 miles into the run at which point I would stop running.

Once I got the MRI results I connected the piriformis symptoms to the stress fracture in the Scrum - I’ve found few runners in google searches that first thought they had piriformis syndrome then found a stress fracture in the sacrum so that seems to fit. I suspect the stress fracture is related to an abducted toe when I run (right toe goes out about an inch while left stays plum) which I am noting now as I look back on video’s of myself running – that and likely just plain overuse. Not sure if it the fracture happen at the race or in the run the following weekend.

I connected the pain down the right inner leg and the dull upper thigh pain to the Sportsman hernia – really not sure if those symptoms connect to that or not. The inner thigh pain I’ve actually felt once before exactly the same – after a fast, short 5k race back in February – for a couple weeks I had to be quite gingerly about warming up as the pain was a concern – but after warm-up of a mile or so the pain was gone and I could run whatever speed or distance without bother for it.

Stress fracture repair is easy – just rest a couple months and back to 100% - but the sports hernia is a question for which I come to you.

I’ve not run at all during January and all pain seems to be declining including the pain associated with getting on one foot when I get dressed. I did seem to re-aggravate that particular pain lifting something heavy last weekend and for the last several days that same pain when I get on one foot is back again on the right side – that seems to be diminishing. Now I’m wondering if THAT is the symptom associated with the Sports hernia and not that pain down the right leg – or maybe both are associated with it.

Anyway – the pain is not at all debilitating however as the stress fracture should now be about healed I’d like to get back in shape for racing again and I don’t know what to expect from the Sport Hernia.

From what I’ve read it appears my symptoms are mild however I get the impression the injury only gets worse – not better. Since I haven’t tried to run yet I don’t know if it limits my running but I suspect strongly it will.

Looking forward to your input.

John.

------------------------------------------------

Response from Dr. Meyer's office - can't confirm diagnosis - need to fly to Phily for an MRI specific for sports hernia (muscle or other tissue pulls away from the pubic bone) - depending on what's found can have operation same visit. Recovery I've heard from 2-weeks to 2 months. Noted was there does seem a correlation between sports hernia and hip issues.

The operation - Two options - 1) Meyers: Through an inch-long incision, he sews up the tears in a way that tightens some abdominal wall attachments to the bone, and loosens others to restore stability. His patients play again by six weeks. 2) Cattey (in Milwaukee) , operating through quarter-inch incisions, covered the damaged area with an index card-sized piece of mesh that he screwed into the pelvic bone. Scar tissue grows into the netting, strengthening the spot to prevent future tears. Option 1 from my research has been done thousands of times and Option 2 hundreds of times and the success rate appears higher with Option 1 so that's what I'm pursuing.

I'm working thru the insurance issues - clearly not a doctor in my HMO network - but then there is no such doctor since there are only two in the country so it should count as in network anyway as I'm told - but I'm still working on convincing the insurance company this is a necessary thing.

Once I convince them then I just need to convice myself :).

There it all is - all the details.....

Cycling Update

2009-03-23T09:34:00.000-07:00

Things are coming along in cycling - seeing some good improvement as seen in a little table below of my longer rides:

Date Miles Speed HR Wind Group/Alone
22-Mar 47.1 17.8 149 5.8 Alone
21-Mar 56.5 20.9 153 4.5 Group
8-Mar 46.4 18.4 158 4.6 Alone
1-Mar 36.4 15.7 155 19.6 Alone
28-Feb 47.6 16.4 XXX 18.7 Group
21-Feb 54.6 16.0 164 10.4 Alone

Nice to see the average HR dropping while the speed is increasing. I think last Saturday's 21 mph ride might have had some extra benefits from altitude training as I ski'd, biked and even ran a little in Colorado Rockies most of last week.

For Running - I've just started gingerly back into that - up to 2.6 miles before the bikeride yesterday - hopefully injury is in the past. Lots of little aches and pains as I get started again that I expect will die away after a couple weeks. I tried a to go around the block after the bikeride on Saturday too - that running after a bike ride thing is going to take some getting used to - the legs don't like that - gave up on that pretty quickly - I'll have to work on that transition...

Next up - Lone Star 1/4 Ironman April 5th -- more just to go thru the motions of it all than to "race". This will probably be my first open water swim....somehow have to get the images of jelly fish and sharks out of my head :).

Let the biking begin :-)

2009-02-27T04:21:00.000-08:00

Ok - so I'm starting the biking thing now.

My write-up from last Sunday:

We are all about pushing the limits - seeing where they are - traditionally for me this has been to see how fit I can get and how fast I can go at that fitness. Well today was a little different. Today was a test of how hard can I push myself totally unfit - haven't had a good workout routine in 3 months - the aerobic engine is in a bad state right now - a minimal amount of swimming helps a little but still. The "race" was a biking fundraiser with course options of 4, 20, 46.5 and 55 miles (which one do you think I picked). Now I did about 1 week of biking 5 days that week back about new years. I intended to get in some spin classes this week to prep the legs a little but that didn't work out - so I figure - what the heck - I'll do the bike race anyway and see what happens.

Goal - sub 3 hrs for 55 miles - double marathon distance - surely I can go twice as fast riding as running.

After looking long and hard I discovered I was NOT the only one at the race with a Schwinn Bike - I found 2 others among the thousands of Treks and Cannonballs(oops - Cannondales) and Giants ....... And there were even a couple others out there with toe clips and regular shoes too.

Off we go - no gun - no starting line - just kinda a slow wavish kinda star. I'm feeling good and a little impatient among all the 10 mph bikers so I move my way up - after a while I find there is a certain protocall for passing - a "on your left" shout-out to the biker being passes - also I was told in no uncertain terms I should NEVER pass on the right. The miles click off for a while - then 20 miles or so in there is a big headwind. I learn to draft - much simpler than pushing thru the wind myself - when a group of bikers would come by I'd try to jump on the back end of them and get pulled along - conserving energy - after a few miles of this I find the group I was behind at the time is too darn fast for me - I drop off and I'm stranded with no one to draft behind - that is some tough mileage into the wind.

After several miles of this wind we come on a rest stop about 1/2 way thru the race.....bikers actually do rest at rest stops - not like in a marathon - swoop in - grab a cup and go - they stop, get off bikes, chow down cookies and drinks - socialize - I badly needed a rest stop - biker style and I took full advantage - in fact I lied down for a good 10 minutes trying to get my heart rate down. Interesting thing on heartrate - I was kinda expecting ~150ish since I run marathons 160ish and I've always heard biking heartrate is slower - but a sign of how out of shape I am - I was riding nearly the whole first half in the mid to higher 170s. At one time I even went higher than what I thought was my max heartrate. I badly needed that 10 minute break - truth be known - I wanted to quit right there but I had the small problem of being 25 miles from my car.

I move off that nap-time break and start riding again - all mojo was gone and I could barely maintain a crawl - after 5-6 miles of this I see the covetted words I'd longed to see "Starbucks" - I pull out of the race and go in to get an extra large ice water and call and wine to my wife for a while as I drink it down (slowly). She provide playful mocking words to my torments. Time to go - as it turns out in a 1/4 mile there was another rest stop with bikers all milling around - I skipped it and kept going. Somewhat rejuvinated I'm able to ride a steady pace to the next rest stop where I get off do the biker style rest stop - I'm kinda getting used to this. 15 miles to go - I'm just trying to keep moving. A biker told me a secret trick at these rest stops - eat pickles - who am I to argue - I did - I felt so much better after that rest stop.

Off I go - in pain for the last stretch of the ride - it felt no different to me than miles 20-26.2 of the marathon - just plugging along - in pain.

So I finished - didn't get sub3 - but I did get sub4. Finished in 3:25 minutes of riding time and 30 minutes of stopping time - but I finished - felt good to push thru poor fitness.....next time I think I'd like to be a little trained for it..

Time to Gear Up

Ok - time to go SHOPPING!!! Found some biking stores and I'm starting to gear up - got the gel gloves, the shoes/pedals - searched around for a used bike and got an incredible deal on an awesome barely used bike. And now I get to post it ----- bike porn:

A Giant TCR2 road bike (Carbon fiber seat post and forks) with less than 200 miles on it with computer that I picked up for a song (about 1/3rd the price of new).....I'm off to get it all adjusted to me at the bike shop today - looking forward to giving it a spin this weekend....

Houston Marathon '09 - DNS - the non-racing Race Report

2009-01-18T15:04:00.000-08:00

Background

Houston Marathons over the last few years to me have marked the beginning and the end of the year. Typically Jan 1 is 90% done with a training cycle so it was not a logical finishing of the year - so the Marathon was the finish of MY year.

2007 Started with a 3:10 and ended with a 2:40 Houston Marathon. I had a stretch 2008 goal in the back of my mind to earn a spot as a local elite in the 2009 Houston Marathon. Right off the bat a surprise master's winner at the '08 Houston Marathon earned me the spot - I just love being on that list forever - true that it was among the slowest winning master's time in the last 30 years - but it was a lightning fast race for me.

2008 Started at that 2:40 - had some truly amazing running and racing that thrills me to reflect on ending with San Antonio Marathon in November. The Cherry on the Cake plan/dream had been to come back to Houston in the best fitness ever for another step change in performance (I was planning sub2:35 fitness and I think I had a good plan to get there although weather likely would have slowed a little)- but that was spoiled by injury.

To make the best of this - I elected to make the Houston Marathon 2009 everything it could be without the race......and it was awesome - let me tell you about it:

Pre-Race

Plan had been my Sister and Niece (my biggest fans besides my wife/kids - both have travelled to 2 Bostons and NYC marathon races of mine to cheer) were flying in for my big race and I put them in the 5k Houston race along with my son to give them something "fun" to do while I was off racing. No change in the 5k plans but my plans got modified :-).

I figured I'd soak up all the Local Elite Perks I could - even if I can't run. Thursday night I went to a free dinner :-) and got to socialize with a few of the other local elites - even had them all sign my ITR magazine article that had a little bio on each of us that Jon Walk put together as a souvenir. I also got to spend a little time with the Course Director - Stan - who I run with occasionally up in Kingwood. Fun evening and that Greek Lasagna was good...

Friday I get my sister/niece from the airport and really enjoy hanging out with them for a while - we hit her with a surprise birthday party as it happened to be her last couple days of the 3X'er so we had to throw a bunch of over the hill embarrassment at her :-) and planned out 5k race plans and spectating plans - after all - I knew 20+ runners and was eager to live the run vicariously thru them.

Stan give me a call and invites me to be a part of the volunteer work supporting the marathon as he needs someone to ride in the lead police car ahead of the marathon. At first I was tentative about it - I really wanted to see them finish the 5k - but then after I mentioned to the family it became clear it was such an excellent way to kinda experience the race even though I couldn't run it - I couldn't pass it up - and my Wife/Daughter (designated spectators) promised to take pictures/videos. In fact this was very exciting way to experience the marathon.

Saturday we head down to the expo to grab the 5k packets and I figure since I'm there I'd go ahead and pick up my race packet too. I had to go to a special Elite Hospitality Suite to get it where the family raided the food spread they had layed out and I got to chat with a couple of the volunteers. The Race Packet was very cool - I got a special long sleeve shirt that has embroidered "Local Elite Athlete" and was felt really special when I saw my bib number --- NUMBER ONE!!!!! --- Pretty Cool. While down there I try to hook up with Stan by phone to find out my assignment and he turns around and invites me and all I have with me to lunch - we were all hungry and looking to go for lunch anyway so sounded like a fit. After some confusion getting to the restaurant we find ourself at a pretty fancy Mexican Food Restaurant with what seemed to be the Marathon Committee. We had a great time visiting with the Race Director, Brant, and other organizers of the marathon. I got a major ego boost when the Race Director comes up to me and says - "are you the 4:40 to 2:40 marathoner" - I guess Stan had been bragging on me [being the engineer I felt compelled to correct the numbers - 4:30 to 2:40 :-)]. That mega impressed my wife and sister that some stranger who is head of the Houston Marathon would know something about a me. Absolutely awesome company to visit with for lunch - everyone had a great time. And they even picked up our check and expensed it to the marathon - I really wasn't expecting a free lunch in addition to all the great fellowship - how totally cool!!

I learn my assignment for the Marathon - in the unlikely event the marathon route should be blocked for whatever reason - my responsibility was kinda the last line of defence should all other preparations fail - to make up a new work-around course on the fly that does not make the marathon route shorter - longer is ok but not shorter. Of course this translates to - in the likely event things go as planned - I sit in the back of a car and have no responsibilities whatsoever. Images of having to use this responsibility and leading the race into a dead-end street somewhere filled my mind - that would play interesting on the news :-). To get to the police car I would have to use my elite bib, #1 btw :), to get with the elites and get escorted with them a special route around the crowds to the front of the race.

Night before the race played similar to marathon night-befores. I checked the weather - worried about the temperatures/humidities (sympathy taper madness for those running). To bed early but slept poorly, up in the early hours a couple times. During one of these I noticed I could set up alerts on the website so I set up for more than 20 runners I wanted to keep tabs on during the race to get text updates on my phone. On my own I would have moved the leaving the house up probably an hour but with 3 kids/wife/sister - 5:15 departure was as early as I could reasonably ask.

The Race Weather mid50s and Humid with a mild breeze. Seemed to cool and get drier a little at first but by end of 3 hrs it was low 60s.

Out the door 5:15 - get to VIP parking at 6:10 and need to rush a bit to get to the elite area as they were getting escorted at 6:20. I make it just in the nick of time seeing the elites coming out of the elite area and heading for the startline and I jump in line - since I had my bib I fit right in. I kinda walk next to Sell and Ritz (1st and 3rd American at the Beijing Olympic Marathon) and listen to them talk about their pacing strategies hearing lots of 4:xx mile this and 4:xx mile that. I notice Magdalena who I've been a fan of since I saw her at Boston lead by a ton for most of the Olympic Trials Woman's Marathon. Pretty neat to just walk next to these marathon legends. I only regret a little not getting up to the elite area 30 minutes earlier to hang with them instead of just walking out to the startline - but that's OK - sometimes great things are best in a sample size - although a bit larger helping would have been nice.

Get to the Startline area - I walk over across the front of the startline to see if I knew anyone lined up in the front - I saw one of my running club ladies and chatted with her a little - went back and found my Police car I'd be riding in for the race then just kinda stood around and watched the elite marathoners do their warm-ups. As the race time approached I load up in the back of the cop car (like a criminal). The guys up front were all business so there was little chit-chat thru the wall of plexiglass that separates the back seat which was fine with me - I wanted to just look around and soak it all in - cleaner windows sure would have been nice :-).

Gun goes off - I start my watch and we start rolling. Our car was the leader of the pack. Co-pilot in the front passenger seat maintained radio contact to all the other drivers in the parade of vehicles in front of the race and guided them all with descriptions of what to expect as we approached things on the course. He pointed out water stops, pinch points, turns, people that needed to be moved out of the way, which he had the motorcycle cops deal with, and other stuff like that. Behind us was 4-5 motorcycle cops and a couple Press Trucks. There was too much distance and vehicles to see the front runners most all the race except occasionally I could see the front runners off in the distance. A continual sea of eager spectators lined the streets. I was able to keep contact with what was going on with all the runners I was interested in with the text messages coming in for 10k, 1/2M, 30k, Finish splits. I could see the front group of 3-4 runners, then it was 2 runners by the 1/2 (I recall seeing 62:xx for the half and knew the course record was going down as expected) - then by 30k I could only see one runner running alone. The people lining the marathon route from beginning to end yet again impressed me - this marathon rivels Boston / New York in my mind for crowd support (ok not really to that extent - but not that far off either). By mile 24 we speed up to the finish and the job is done - I bid farewell to the front seat couple and make it to the finishline in time to see Merga finish up the race in 2:07:52 shattering the course record.

Meet up with the family and hear excited stories about the 5k race. My son dogged the first couple miles to stay with my sister/niece but then took off for the last mile running what he believes to be his fastest mile ever (~7 minute) to finish-up the race. My niece was excited to have run the entire 5k without walking and my sister was just happy to have the quality time running with her daughter the whole way. Get some cool video and pictures of their finish - Mom is VERY proud of Ryan taking off and putting down a good last mile (and so am I).

Now I get to play spectator - I had a whole bunch of text messages coming in and had some idea when to expect several of the runners I was watching for. We have some time so we move on away from the hussle/bussle finishline and find some open space around the 26 milemarker and wait for people we knew. Except for the Olympic Trials at Boston - this is the first marathon I've been spectator for so I was kinda looking forward to this different kinda experience of the race.

I almost miss the first guy I was watching for - Wilmer Bustillios - he killed my chip time in San Antonio but lost to my gun time so didn't take the Master's Check because of a late start. He most definately would have made roadkill out of me no matter what kind of dream race I might have run with a 2:32 marathon - his 2nd ever marathon I think - incredible - looks to me like he scored a cool $1900 from 3 different prizes - good for him as the late start in San Antonio probably cost him almost that much in prize money there. The 2nd place local master was Gerardo Mora who came in 2:43. There were a couple surprize out of towner masters in the race that came in 2:39 and 2:41. I suspect a good race out of me I might have got 2nd even considering likely a couple minutes slowdown from the wind/heat .... maybe - I will never know but I like to think so.

I continued watching people come in. I was tracking 3-4 competitors, 8-10 from my running clubs, 4-5 from the running times forum and 3-4 co-workers and got to see many of them come by and give them big cheers. A mix of everything in the results from first time marathon awesome races (2:51 from one guy, 3:07 from another) to a co-worker who came out for just a work-out with Austin being the goal race and surprized himself to get a huge PR and almost qualify to go to Boston (missed by 39 seconds :( ). The good, the bad and the ugly - it was all there. What a way to experience the marathon and I thuroughly enjoyed every minute.

Got home and watched the recorded version. Saw the US dominate the 1/2 - Meb 1st, Ritz 2nd, Magdalena 1st for the Half. Saw the course records go down both male and female in the full. And saw a bunch of people I knew in the recording too.

Great race and lots of fun with my out of town guests.

That's all for now - I'll probably add some pictures later.

Thanks for reading......John.

Fueling for a Marathon

2009-01-14T14:25:00.001-08:00

Ok - I've had this question 3 times now so I figured I'd just write down my answer to make it easier to reply next time :-).

How do I fuel for a marathon.

I've tweaked my fueling strategy with each marathon but actually for Marathon #10 (San Antonio) I've got no new things I thought of to do better so I would plan to do exactly the same thing at the next race:

Pre-race plan...

Cut all Caffeine for 7 days (to increase the impact of it on raceday - also helps sleeping).
Turbo Charge Run Three days Out (skip to the bottom of this if interested on what I did for this - probably not a good idea to try something you haven't tested in training).
Minimum Protein/Fat for Th/F/Sat - targetting >75% calories from Carbs. Short easy runs on F/S with meal right after - best time to load the muscles - right after exercise.
Hydrate - target clear urine on race day - but don't over do it as too much washes away electrolytes.
Pretzels - carry a bag around on Saturday to munch on to help increase electrolytes.
Dinner - finish 14 hours before race start-time - pasta dinner is my typical.
Keep hydrating until bed.
Awake 3 hours from start-time - 5 minute slow jog (optional) followed by 2x16 oz Ultra Fuel (200g Carb, 800 Calories) - I used to do 4 hours and more Ultrafuel but I've cut to this for last two races without regrets so I'll stick with it.
Airborne - to try to pre-empt the tendency to get sick after a race.
45-60 minutes pre-race - cup of coffee.
10 minutes pre-race - 12 oz PowerAid with 2 S-Caps (I tried 16 oz at Anchorage and had some minor cramps first couple miles, 12 oz at San Antonio and no problems)...
Mile 5 - GU
Mile 10,15,20 - Caffenated GU
Hit all aid stations - drink energy drink if mouth is not sweet (from the GU) and hit water if it is - I get what I can without slowing - much ends up spilt.
Finish - 2xEnsure waiting for me in the bag I checked - down them when I get the bag to help recovery.....get in warm cloths quick...

That is all - fwiw....

Good luck out there guys!!!

Good Luck Houston Marathoners - I'll be cheering from the sideline...

2009-01-09T19:58:00.000-08:00

As some of you know - I'm sidelined for the Houston Marathon this year :(. I'm more than a little bummed about this.

Within a week after San Antonio it was clear I could not run - I misdiagnosed for a while trying all the wrong things to get better until finally around New Years with MRI results the diagnosing became Sacrum Ala Stress Fracture (top right of diagram) and a Athletic pubalgia. Quickly I could do the math - 6 weeks out of shape already, 8-12 weeks out with SFX (I've heard the Sacrum heals a little slower than other SFX) and unknowns around extent/severity/importance of the other thing that may not be improved with the rest (I'm exploring the under the knife options but can't see going that way without knowing I have to and I won't know that until I'm actually running again).....The course ahead on running is uncertain with the second thing but at the minimum for the sfx I'm out 2-3 months healing, 2 months build up and 4 months training = 8-9 months before I'm ready to do another race.

First time being injured (really) since I started this marathoning venture a few years ago ....guess I was over-due to experience this side of the sport too...but it will pass....

Again - for those racing next weekend - I'll be rooting for you!!!

Important things I'm learning about Ironman Training

2009-01-08T12:38:00.000-08:00

In my new quest (maybe) - I've discovered one of the most important things of this new venture:

how to brag

[I found this online and thought it was too hilarious not to share]

Before I started to train an Ironman, I bought a training plan; I read books on hydration and fuel replacement, I listened to endless hours of advice from elite and pro triathletes. This information did help me finish, but it did not teach me how to correctly brag about being an Ironman.

My friends and I came up with a six phase program which will aid you in bragging about your Ironman . Use this plan from the moment you register until well after the race is complete for the most bang for your bragging buck.

Sign Up Phase: For most Ironman events, you have to register up to one year in advance. This gives you plenty of time to brag about doing an Ironman. During this phase, you must let all of your non-Ironman friends know you can't hang out with them anymore, because you just signed up for an Ironman. If you don't have any Ironman friends, then go to a place where runners or bikers hang out. Look for the Ironman symbol (M Dot) on their training clothes. An Ironman would never be caught running or biking without their Ironman stuff.

Training Phase: Training for an Ironman can be compared to having a part time job. You must let everyone you meet know this. This can be accomplished by sighing loudly at work, mumbling how tired you are because you just biked 100 miles, because you are in training for an Ironman. You can also skillfully steer the conversation with your neighbors and co-workers to your Ironman training. Here is an example:

Neighbor: "Did you hear what President Bush said this week?" Lee: "Were you aware that President Bush is a biker? I just biked 100 miles today. I am training for an Ironman."

Co worker: Lee, are you working late tonight? Lee: No, I have to get up early to do a 20 mile run.

I even once rang my neighbor's door and when he answered, I said "Sorry Bob, can't talk to you now, I am training for an Ironman."

One Week before the Race Phase: You need to let your neighbors and co-workers know you will be gone for a little while, competing in an Ironman. Once again, you can steer the conversation to your Ironman race.

Neighbor: "Wow Lee your lawn looks great!" Lee: "My lawn is going to look bad this next week; I will be competing in an Ironman."

Race Expo Phase: You must buy as much Ironman merchandise as possible. For years we saved our money to send both of my boys to private college, but sacrifices must be made. Both Derick and Ty will be going to junior college now. You must buy enough Ironman clothes to cover every day at work and training. You must also buy plenty of shirts for your spouse and children. They will also spread the word that you just finished an Ironman.

The Race Phase: At http://www.ironmanlive.com you can setup automatic emails and cell phone message notifications of your Ironman timing splits. You can use all of the entries in your email and cell phone address book. Include everyone regardless of whether they remember you are or not. It just does not matter, because you are an Ironman.

Post Race Phase: The finisher medal can be worn for one day per the number of miles raced and everyone knows that an Ironman is 140.6 miles. So wear that medal for 141 days (always round up as opposed to rounding down your finishing time). Your children must be trained to say, "My daddy is an Ironman. He gave me this shirt. He's an Ironman." This must be emphasized over and over with your children. I did not do this after I ran the Boston marathon, and Derick, my oldest boy, told everyone at his day care that his grandma ran the marathon. Your spouse must memorize all of your splits (swim, bike and run). You must also include both transition splits as well. Instead of wearing a shirt which states, "I am with Dummy", your spouse will wear a shirt which says, "I am with a stud Ironman". All conversations must be steered to your Ironman race.

Co-Worker: "Did you hear about the new work policy?" Lee: "Nope, I did not; I was racing in an Ironman."

For at least one month you can say, "Well, I 'm only going to run easy today, I just did an Ironman." When someone brings up a subject of hardships suffered, you need to remind them that you also have suffered through hardships while training and racing in your Ironman.
You can also use these ideas to brag about other races, but please only brag about races which are longer than 13.1 miles.

1. it's a joke, folks.

2. kind of.

2009 look ahead - a new direction

2009-01-05T08:53:00.001-08:00

Time for a new frontier - marathoning has been my goal/quest for 3 years now. Time for something new.

The next Quest --- I want to finish a strong ironman - possibly this year (if I can get into one) or at least be conditioned ready this year.

No clue whatsoever how to achieve the goal but that's what I want to do next so I'm going to figure it out.

This last week I've collected some baseline data on my abilities - I've got a long way to go. Appears my steady state paces for the two sports I need to go learn are:

Swimming - ~60-70 seconds per 50 meter
Biking - ~17-18 mph (on my son's schwinn - I guess I need to go get a bike).

Looking at what it takes to get a KQ (Qualifying time to Hawaii) looks like I need closer to 21-22 mph on the bike (for 112 miles) and 60-70 seconds per 100 meter swim (for 2.4 miles)....I've got some major work to do....looking forward to the new journey...

2008 - Closing the Books

2008-12-31T06:54:00.000-08:00

Wall to wall year in review on TV this morning - thought I'd do my own:

This was the year of the marathons for me...my first and last race of the year was a marathon and both were my fastest equivalent race of any distance (best VDOT)...what an great year to reflect on.

Rave Runs of 2008......

- Houston Marathon - 16 minute PR in 2 months to a 2:40.....Master's Win
- Boston Marathon - good but not great.
- Sub 5 minute mile at a track meet.
- 20 mile treadmill run where I PR'd every distance from a 5k up to 30k in the one run (finally figured out how to turn on the turbo-charge at will).
- Anchorage Marathon - by myself for ~20 miles of it - everything just worked out for this quick layover - and met a moose at mile 22.
- Yakutat, Alaska Training runs - never been so scared running trails - thought there might be a bear around every corner - perhaps not rave but memorable.
- San Antonio Marathon - sub2:40 and an awesome finishing photo....another Master's Win (kinda).

The Awards:

2008 Finishing Medals and Awards:

Most Cherished (and useful):

vs 2007

The Improvements:

- Best Equivalent Race (VDOT) - 2008 - San Antonio Marathon 61.7, 2007 Turkey Trot 10k 58 - 3.7 Improvement over 2007.
- Marathon - 2:39:26 - 17:11 Improvement over 2007
- 1/2 Marathon - 1:18:11 - 4:34 Improvement
- 10M - 1:00:17 - 4:37 Improvement
- 10k - 35:10 - 1:01 Improvement
- 8k - 28:57 - 2:12 Improvement
- 5k - 16:54 - 0:34 Improvement
- 1 mile - 4:53 - 0:11 Improvement.

The Totals

- Marathon 5 -2 PRs
- 1/2 2 - 1 PR
- 10M 1 PR
- 10k 1PR
- 8k 1PR
- 5k 4 - 2PRs
- 1M 1 PR
- Plus 3 Relay Races

Total 15 races, 3 relays, 9 PRs including a PR in every distance raced for the year.

Mileage

- Total - 2905 at an average 7:17 pace per mile, average heartrate 149 - 354 hours of running.
- Max Month 324 miles (September)
- Max Week 83 miles
- Max Day - a 5 way tie at 26.2

Summary

For this year it was about both the destination and the journey. Many special moments in training runs and races along the way as well as some incredible highs at some pretty high peaks.....it will be tough year to top.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-22T10:56:00.001-08:00

Snow in Houston

2008-12-10T19:13:00.000-08:00

1st time we've been able to make a snowman in our 8 years here..... :-) (Tyler - the dog - blinked).

Very Nice Momentos

2008-12-05T13:33:00.000-08:00

A couple very nice honors as a result of my run at the San Antonio Marathon:

The 2+Age Marathon Moose Mug Challenge by Ray (rbbmoose) on the Running Times Forum THANKS RAY !!

ps - It took me several beers to finally get this picture to my satisfaction but rest assured - no beer was wasted in the making of this photo :).

Houston Striders Award (apparently also a Master's Club Record) - THANKS Striders!!

San Antonio Marathon Race Report - Marathon #10

2008-11-17T06:43:00.000-08:00

I love this finishing photo - you much click on the picture to see - has the family in the background - Susan - white hat and Ryan wearing my brown HighHopes hat, Kaylee is hidden by Mom. Combined with the time, the burst of excitement at finishing and knocking out sub2:40 and flying across the finishline. Love it! What a race - where to start - let's see - I was born..........a poor black child.............OK maybe that's not it (and who remembers "The Jerk" anyway).

For those who want to just skip it all and go to the results - Here You go. Results.

Brief version is I was 2nd for my age group but won the Master's race anyway on a technicality.

Guess I'll start with Saturday - we head out for the 3.5 hour drive around 10:30 am, my darling wife Susan, Kids Ryan and Kaylee and our dog Tyler (couldn't find a pet-sitter). After typical road stops we arrive at the Alamodome with a couple hours to spare to do my packet/bib-number pick-up. I leave the family in the SUV hoping for a quick pick-up - but with only a couple hours to spare - who am I kidding. I manage to navigate the crowds and get back to the family - they were definitely eager to get to the hotel. A volunteer made me feel pretty special as I traded a tear-off from my bib number for a T-Shirt with "Oh - my first Black bib - I think I'll save it" - now I understand there were only about a dozen of these bib's as they represented the Texas Showdown competition within the race. We get a ridiculously expensive hotel downtown for the extra perk of the family being able to walk to the finishline. Nice accommodations and almost worth the money - easy walk to the riverwalk and easy to find a restaurant for dinner - all was OK except for about 30 minutes of the alarms sounding and sounding and sounding in the middle of the night - man that thing was loud. Before and after the alarm it was a pretty good nights sleep.

Up 3 hrs early at 4:30 am to start my last carb-loading. Sometimes I like to do a little 5 minute jog at this time but the mid-30s persuaded me to skip this little ritual. Get my shower, Carbs and coffee, take the dog out for a little walk - then off to the shuttle for the ride to the Start. I get to the start line and all is OK - I'm ready to race - a few Pet Peeves about the race - but I'll keep those separate to not taint the race itself as the race itself was great.

The race - Perfect Weather - starts as a combined half and full marathon with dozens or so corrals holding nearly 25,000 runners that are released a couple corrals at a time. I'm in 1st corral so I'm released at the gun along with the elites.

Race strategy - 6:00-6:15 first mile then HR=164 thru mile 4, drop 1 bpm off the target per each 4 miles to the end - should give me even effort based on study of my previous races.

mile Split HR (per Garmin which typically runs 3-4 seconds fast per mile - can also be looked at on Motionbased if you prefer just the numbers without the rambles)

1 6:04 xxx I had targeted between 6:00 and 6:15 mile - I run with Chris Bittinger first mile as he's targeting 1:20 half which matches up with my 2:40 full target.

2 5:42 xxx Sam Rodreguiz runs by - I'd planned to run by HR at this point but because it was so cold - my heartrate monitor was still giving me bad data (I wasn't sweating enough to get a good connection) so I decided to stick with Sam - he tells me he's aiming for a 1:18 1/2 marathon so I figured 6 mpm pace could be a possibility today - I'd stick near him and give it a chance.

3 5:40 163 HRM is finally working - target at this point was 164 so it appears I'm at about the right pace - maybe a little slow - I end up passing Sam to stick to my target.

4 5:56 164 Right on target but I notice from mile splits I've got a fair amount of time banked already on a 6 mpm pace - the turbo-charge heat treatment run most definitely is working as I was ~20 seconds or so slower earlier in the week for this heartrate.

5 6:18 162 Target drops to 163 - An uphill on this mile - a very friendly and encouraging black bib eases by me as I slow on the uphill - seems to know me and it's bugging me that I can't place him.

6 5:48 159 Downhill I pass this black bib again - again he gives me encouraging words - I just say thanks and try to get back my speed back up to my HR target.

7 5:58 161 I notice I'm still banking time even though I'm not hitting my HR target so I kinda settle for 6 mpm splits as good enough and don't push the pace to get back on target - a hazard of seeing the time at each milemarker - without that info I think I would have pushed the pace harder to keep on target.

8 5:53 158 Target drops to 162 - but I'm not getting close to it - but still banking time or at least not using the time banked - so I don't push it.

9 5:55 160 Still not hitting target - but rolling with it - thinking about Anchorage Marathon where I backed off the 2nd 10k and was able to push harder on the final 10k so figuring I'm set up for a good final push with this energy reserve not pushing to the target (yes - I'm rationalizing running slower).

10 5:59 158 Exorcising demons was much more in this race than any other I've run - I just didn't seem to have the mojo/the hunger to really push it all out and kept having to battle thoughts of taking a walk break or turning off with the 1/2 marathoners. Although I wasn't getting on target - I count victory in not letting these thoughts slow me down.

11 6:05 157 Half marathoners have split off - I can now see who ahead of me is actually in MY race - much more spread out between runners.

12 5:59 158 Target drops to 161. Still not hitting my target - maintaining position in the race - occasionally getting passed and occasionally passing - but not really changing in position.

13 5:55 157 I don't realize at the time but I am able to maintain pace on these miles for less effort (lower heartrate) thru 20 because there is a slight decline and I think a slight tailwind.

14 6:02 157

15 5:55 158

16 6:02 157 Target drops to 160 Mental demon's seem to reverse - all of a sudden I feel all powerful - feel like sprinting but control that urge - perhaps that caffeine GU I took at Mile 15. I remember thinking this was where I eased off the gas at Houston Marathon - no feeling like doing that today.

17 6:07 156 I catch an Elite runner around here somewhere - I'm thinking he looks like a Kenyan - ok he was walk/jogging and holding his leg in apparent pain - recalling the Saturday night live joke I think to myself - "See John McCain - it is possible to beat a Kenyan in a race" :-).

18 5:55 158

19 6:05 158

20 6:08 158 Target drops to 159. 23rd place - Hit near the bottom of the gentle grade fall and come back for the final 10k back to the finish. Now I get the reverse of the benefit from 13 - now a gentle uphill, a couple rolling steeper hills, and a slight headwind - also temps into 50s instead of 30s,40s up to here might have caused slightly slower. I notice my 20 mile split is 2:00:41 - only 41 seconds to make up to get a 6 mpm pace - knowing I had banked some energy running a lower heartrates - it seems within reach. From here to the end I'm knocking out runners one by one.

21 6:10 157 I'm not getting the mile splits I want - now 51 seconds to make up - not going to happen in only 5 miles - start working out what is required to assure sub 2:40 - must hang on to that milestone at all costs.

22 6:12 158 Slipped a little more time - even giving up banked time on a 2:40 pace.

23 6:13 160 This mile I'm just struggling for a thought to embrace to get me to the next mile marker - for this one I chose Susan (My darling wife) to take me there - focuses in on the excitement she has at finishlines for me - works - gets me there staying on target - even a bit ahead of target on heartrate. Although I'm slipping on pace - not sure why.

24 6:17 161 19th place - Now I switch my inner voice cheerleader to my son Ryan - the cool acting but still very proud Ryan - come on Ryan - get me to 24 - he does - far ahead of my heartrate target - but I'm still loosing seconds.

25 6:13 162 Target drops to 158 - Now I switch my inner voice cheerleader to my daughter Kaylee - the rational, sometimes bratty (in a fun way) and never easily impressed - she gets me there - even stronger effort - but I'm still loosing more seconds.

26 6:12 163 Last mile - This one is mine - this is my race - no pulling back.

26.45 2:39 166 (5:53 pace) - 2 final turns to get to the finish - I come across a much slowed struggling elite woman - I kinda feel bad passing her but there was still a good amount of race left and I wanted to finish strong. Before the last turn there is a brutal uphill that is killing my legs but I'm pushing thru it with all I've got. Round the last corner and head for the finishline - scan the crowd for my cheering squad and finally see them just before the finishline - swoop in for high fives at full speed then cross the finishline - let out a big cheer for knocking out the 2:40 milestone -

Man that just felt so awesome!!

All the pre-race plans worked like a charm - fueling, hydrating, training, turbo-charge - all worked great. Race execution itself was a just little lacking as I let myself fall off target for much of the race - probably gave up a couple minutes but I didn't have the "fight for it" spirit to grab that last bit of potential I believe is available to me - that's OK - I knew pre-race I had started other races with more mojo and I was a bit untrusting of myself - but I didn't give-in - and finished the race strong - feeling very good about the effort I got out of myself. Still wondering who is that nice black bib. Need to figure out how to get that greater desire I had in earlier marathons with the better training I have now to really deliver it all.

That's about all I've got for now - thanks for reading - here's the Results. Thanks for reading - John. A little video with a few seconds of me at the end crossing the finish....

San Antonio Marathon Pet Peeves List

2008-11-17T05:17:00.000-08:00

Before I get to my race report - I had to dump my rants about the race - so here they are:

Inaugural event of 33,000 signed up (~24,500 finishers) - expect a few things to not be quite perfect - overall I think they did a GOOD job pulling it off but there are definitely opportunities for improvement for next time - a few that come to mind for me:

Pre-Race:

Website didn't have all the information - had to look at both website and emails to piece it all together - should have updated website to incorporate the later information sent out on email. For example - there was nothing on the website about live tracking however I do now see it was in an email - I told a couple people there was only Start and Finish time recorded as that was all that was indicated on the website that I could find. Another example - no mention on the website about prize breakdown that I can find although it also was in an email - that particular email had proofreading issues - for example it listed Masters 1st - $500 - with a comment next to it "Do we need this" - creating questions in my mind now if there even is a Master's prize.

Expo - I went 2 hours before close - a little late so I was expecting it to be crowded - but it was a bit overly so in the packet pick-up area - had to keep us in a holding area before getting into the pick-up area for a while before we could get into individual corral lines.

"Calling Texas Bests" for the Texas Showdown - this was listed on the website as "We invite athletes who have run under 2:47 (male) and 3:15 (female) for the marathon & 1:15:30 (male) 1:26:30 (female) for the half to submit their resume for consideration of elite athlete status." So I thought I was in with "elite athlete status" - from other races I've had an invitation this included VIP benefits (Twin City Marathon-2008 which I didn't end up running, Houston 2009 coming up in January) - for this race it was only a black bib number - ok I also got free entry because I also qualified for complementary entry with a sub 2:43 prior marathon. The VIP thing really was not that important to me - but it would have been nice and I think they should have done it for the ~10-15 runners that entered the program.
Shuttle to the start - worked perfect for me leaving at 5:30 - no waiting at all - I heard some pretty bad experiences from those who thought showing up for a 6:30 shuttle was plenty of time to make a 7:30 race start.
BagCheck - when I got there there were many UPS buses not there yet and the ones that were there didn't know which letter bag they were collecting. I recognized a couple glitches in the system I heard very quickly and decided I was going to be first to check in my bag to avoid the glitches. 1st glitch was the buses were being loaded by last name alphabet - I was hoping by corral number since the 1st corral would likely have a shorter check in line. 2nd - the UPS trucks were arranged similar to the New York Marathon fiasco last year with the a line of trucks on both sides of a narrow road forcing all the runners down the center to line up in a congested center that could become a huge mess. After recognizing check-in was not going to be a smooth quick operation I decided to go ahead and get out of my warm gear and load up my bag and check it in a first opportunity. Once the rest of the UPS trucks arrived and they started marking them with the last names that would load - I projected which truck would be mine and ended up 3rd in line about 1 hour before start with only a trash bag to keep me warm - but better to shiver than be caught in what I was expecting to be a fiasco given another 30 minutes or so.
Start - excellent - went off without a hitch (ok it was 15 minutes late for some reason - but that's ok).
Race - good aid stations, enthusiastic volunteers, clocks on every milemarker (I would have rather not had that but that's just me - I prefer to fly blind), clearly marked course, good separation of 1/2 marathon from marathon last 2 miles.
Finish - don't know - they pulled me into VIP thinking I was 3rd Texan (1st ran so fast they missed him whizzing by) so I didn't get to go thru the normal post race stuff - missed my finishing photo but that was more than made up for by a free beer :).
Family Meeting - very clear.
Baggage Pick-up - a brutal long line - a regret of mixing 1/2 marathon and marathon together is near all the 1/2 marathoners finish ahead of me and I must wait with them to get my bag - I kinda wish the marathoners could be more separated but there's probably no better way to do this - just a hazard of running half/full marathon races.

Again - overall these issues were minor for me - but I do think there are opportunities for improvements. Considering their self proclaimation this was the largest inaugural race ever anywhere - I think they did a GOOD (but not excellent) job.

San Antonio Marathon Results

2008-11-17T01:17:00.000-08:00

I'll come back and make a race report but for now - just the results:

Time 2:39:23 (PR by 1:23) (VDOT 61.7 - also a PR of any distance)
Pace 6:05 minutes per mile
Place 17th/7526
Gender Place 14/4015
Age Grade 81% (Nationally Rated)
Division Place 2nd

Prizes -
1st Place Master $500 (based on gun time - would have been 2nd $250 if based on chip time)*
Texas Showdown Place 4th (prizes stop at 3rd by the guy in 16th place 1 minute ahead of me who collected the $500)
6th USA (prizes stop at 5th also by that 16th place guy who collects $200)

Awards -
2nd Place Age Group (based on chip time)

* A bit of a hollow victory here - I won this on a technicality as it goes by gun time. Wilmer Bustillos actually beat me by 3 minutes Chip Time through a ton of traffic apparently starting the race 15 minutes after me and weaving thru crowds of people - very impressive as a Master on what appears to be his debut marathon - at least the first marathon I can find on record - he's been beating me quite handily in shorter races and I kinda hoped he wouldn't move up to the marathon.

I happened to notice Wilmer is signed up for Houston although the website doesn't say which race - if the marathon - there is high probability of him making roadkill out of me.

So I get a free race - very cool - as the $500 about equals the hotel and other travel expenses.

Health Check

2008-11-06T08:31:00.000-08:00

Cholesterol check at work today - indicates one of the many nice byproducts of being physically active:

.....................Mar 06 May 08 Nov 08...Norm..Optimal
Good Cholesterol(HDL)...52......64......72....>40......>60
Bad Cholesterol(LDL)...151.....105......71....<129.....<100
Total Cholesterol......229.....180.....157....<200

Triglycerides..........129......61......72....<150

Diet has still not much improved as I live off still about 1/2 my meal eating out - with much of that fast food.

Weather Obsessing - San Antonio Marathon

2008-11-04T12:23:00.000-08:00

11/16 Actual Weather from Weather Underground History for race:

Race time 7:45-10:25

Time----temp---Dew pt-hum-wind---------sky
6:53 AM 35.1 °F 19.9 °F 54% NW 3.5 mph Clear
7:53 AM 37.9 °F 23.0 °F 55% WNW 5.8 mph Clear
8:53 AM 48.9 °F 21.0 °F 33%Calm Calm -----Clear
9:53 AM 52.0 °F 21.0 °F 30%SSW 6.9 mph Clear
10:53 AM 55.9 °F 21.0 °F 26%SW 5.8 mph Clear

In a word PERFECT

11/14 Saturday Night Low 36°F E@6mph Sunday High 73°F S@8mph
Hourly
Dew Point ~30
7am 41 wsw 6
8am 51 sw 6
9am 62 ssw 7
10am 67 ssw 8

11/13 Saturday Night Low 42°F E@9mph Sunday High 70°F S@10mph
11/12 Saturday Night Low 42°F E@9mph Sunday High 70°F S@10mph
11/11 Saturday Night Low 42°F N@9mph Sunday High 70°F N@10mph <--less wind please 11/10 Saturday Night Low 36°F N@11mph Sunday High 62°F N@12mph <--I'd like to lock in 11/9 Saturday Night Low 44°F N@ mph Sunday High 70°F N@ mph
11/8 Saturday Night Low 51°F N@ mph Sunday High 70°F N@ mph
11/7 Saturday Night Low 51°F N@ mph Sunday High 72°F N@ mph
11/6 Saturday Night Low 40°F N@ 8mph Sunday High 68°F N@ 14mph
11/5 Saturday Night Low 46°F N@ 5mph Sunday High 78°F N@ 5mph
11/4 Saturday Night Low 41°F N@ 6mph Sunday High 74°F N@ 4mph(So much nicer forecast than yesterday)
11/3 Saturday Night Low 57°F

above Per Accuweather 11/15 Saturday Night Low, 11/16 Sunday High

Turbo-Charging

2008-10-28T13:52:00.000-07:00

What the heck is a Turbo-Charge?

This is my little tapering trick that I have come to find gives me about an extra ~20 seconds per mile of extra speed on race day.

Someone asked me what's the best way to do this turbo-charge routine. I spent a little time on the response back giving the background and than my current strategy - here it is - I'm interested in any other data points so if you happen to try and find success or no success - please share the experience:

Background

I can't say for certain duration/intensity that returns the best results so I'm planning the easiest workout that I've seen deliver the results for my pre-marathon.

To chose from I've got 7 times creating this effect including Houston and Seabrook Marathons, the "Wow what a work-out" link in the race report, 3 treadmill runs pre Anchorage (One, Two of these 3 runs) and this 1/2 marathon on Sunday. Details of each of these is burried within each of these posts if you wish to look - the one that probably summarizes the best is the "Wow what a work-out" if you want to see what got me onto this thinking - but to summarize:

Houston I have no idea how it happen and was a total surprize - I had too many variables I was tweaking in that particular tapering and I paid not attention to pre-race weather conditions that seemed to just happen to give me something extra. Looking at the weather motionbased for the runs prior it seemed the warm stuff was the prior weekend but then I did so much goofy stuff that week including the end of 10 days of depleting carbs and short MP runs every day that its too many variables to isolate just the heat treatment impact. I was convinced at the time the turbo-drive came from the 10 day depletion although I don't think so any more.

That "Wow" workout - which got me onto this line of thought - was after a very hard Tempo workout (5T+5min+4T+4min+3T+3min+2T) in hot conditions.

Seabrook - I ran in sweats T, W, Th workouts for a Saturday race – each about 10 miles with T/Th easy runs and W an attempted Tempo workout. The data showing the improvement is a bit cloudy by the fact the marathon was on trails vs street so my pace improvement was actually slight but the trail vs road impact was eliminated - typically ~10-15 sec/mile impact I've seen from other runs on same surface.

Boston I attempted but didn't achieve and later learned a critical variable to make it work is extra focus on hydration after the run and until the race. I messed up both hydration and fueling for this race in my looking back on it.

The two treadmill runs pre Anchorage were both after hard outside hot race days 1 or 2 days prior to a longrun on the treadmill.

The last treadmill test run pre Anchorage - after seeing I could achieve in one day from the prior two treadmills experiences was a planned experiment where I ran outside for 12 miles in the hot/humid (no sweats required) measured 6 lbs sweat loss (about 50% more than what I see on the treadmill with the house cooled to 70°F) at a medium effort that felt like a long run effort although the heartrate ran a little higher.

I attempted the same procedure 2 days pre-Anchorage without sweats thinking it was hot/humid enough but it wasn't - only lost 4 lbs and even trying to make up next day with a 5 miler slow in full sweats - didn't get the boost at the race. I've come to know that I must be seeing at least 1 mpm slowdown in my pace vs Heartrate to know the workout is effective. I was only just barely getting this on this last Friday's workout and almost came inside to finish on the treadmill in the warmer house a couple times but the pace was slowed just enough that I stuck with it outside.

Haven't been able to do any experiments over the summer as once I got heat acclimated to Houston I figured the benefit wasn't there anymore.

Last couple weeks I've avoided the heat since a 10 miler race to try to de-acclimate - mostly that meant running early as the weather cooporated but a couple times I had to jump on the treadmill - then I did the 12 miler in sweats on Friday loosing 5.6 lbs - Saturday's easy 8 miler now that I look back on it - showed the 10 second or so improvement on HR - and of course so did Race day Sunday - so did today's morning run too btw so I'm thinking of shifting this workout back one more day for fresher legs. The surge still being there today somewhat surprized a little - on the prior times after one long workout/race - the surge was gone next day - but I guess since a 1/2 marathon is not really that long it didn't deplete the plasma volume enough to make the surge go away.

The Plan

So there it is.......my plan for San Antonio is to do a 12 miler targetting 6 lbs sweat loss by whatever means (extra layers, inside) and do it 3 days prior to the race.....assuming the forecast gives me hope for a cool race.

The Execution of the Plan

11/13
Todays cloths for this 60*F 95% humid day was:Shoes, Socks, Shorts, Two pairs of sweats pants with cotton inner layer, 2007 black cotton longsleeve boston marathon shirt, 2008 boston marathon jacket, Winter cotton hat, Running gloves.

One of the hardest 12 miles I've run all year - averaged 8:35 mpm and lost almost 6.5 lbs sweating

I was just trying to keep moving at an easy pace (in mile 10 I had to walk a few minutes) - looks like heartrate worked its way up to just below what it is during the marathon for much of the run. Usually I bring a 16 oz bottle with me but I forgot - around 10 miles in I happenned across a sprinkler that was broken off and spouting up a couple feet - I had to stop and take a swallow.

The Results

My slow runs on 11/14 and 11/15 didn't yield any performance improvement - in fact the mileage splits would plot above the pink line below which concerned me a little (~7:30/140). Could just be the humidity on those runs but I thought maybe it could be too low electrolytes so I munched on pretzels all day Saturday along with the hydration focus. Don't know if that mattered or not.

Results of the Turbo-Charge at San Antonio - worked like a charm:

For much of the middle miles I kind comprimized mentally - I was seeing 6 mpm splits at the lower HR so I didn't push it although I think I could have (always easy to say what I could have done).

In training - Tempo was typically 5:50-6:00 and MP was typically 6:10-6:20 pace - on the rare occasions it was cool - most of the time it was slower than that with some heat and/or humidity. In the race the pace was more like my Tempo although the heartrate was a little lower than my MP levels.......I like running with the turbo-charge....I just feel lightning fast!!!

Koala Houston Half Marathon

2008-10-26T16:46:00.000-07:00

Race Summary – Good pace for first half – I planned a negative split so was dogging the first half a little at a 168 heartrate target vs 170 which I believe to be what I can average for a race (minus first mile). After a pitstop mid race loosing over a minute I lost my racing momentum and adjusted to run the back half not so hard since I no longer had a shot at winning my Age Group or even getting an award - really I just wanted an excuse to slow down I think - actually as it turns out with a full effort back half I think I could have scored 2nd if I really fought for it - so anyway - for whatever reason - I ran the back half at a marathon pace heartrate. I must say I just enjoy the marathon pace MUCH more than the faster pace – seems like I can hold that pace forever’ish.

The Learning – don’t have late (finished at 9ish) night dinner before early (7am) race – not the first time I’ve learned this – after my last mistake like this I made a rule - 14 hours pre-gun no solid food – just liquid carbs – but I broke my rule last night under the illusion "It's only a HALF marathon".

The race – Start 54 F Finish 63 F average 57 F @ 90% humidity with ZERO wind. 2076 Finishers

Per Garmin:
1 5:47 152 (Max 166)
2 5:39 169
3 5:50 168 Some underpass hills – I tend to speed up down hills and slow uphill – Gerardo and Brett ribbed me a little after as looked to them like I was doing fartleks mid-race.
4 5:54 168
5 5:46 168
6 5:46 168 Mile 2-6 average 5:47/168 – Projecting 170 pace 5:41 (My theoretical best pace I could have maintained for the day).
7 6:13 165 Pit Stop – stopped watch for 66 seconds
8 5:56 165
9 6:09 163
10 6:04 163
11 6:10 162
12 6:03 161
13 6:04 163 Mile 8-13 average 6:04/163 – Marathon Pace
13.26 1:31 169 Ran it in to just get under 1:20.

Total 1:19:58
Place 19th
AG 4th. (really 6th with Sean taking Win, Wilmer taking Masters and Gerardo, Francisco and Adam taking top 3).

Although the race itself wasn’t all that good – I do like the fitness indication I got from it. From it I’m thinking a 2:40 marathon is likely, a Sub 6mpm pace is a stretch at San Antonio (Assuming good conditions) although if I could get another 10F cooler than today maybe I could nail the Sub6mpm.

I tried my “turbo-drive” taper for this race which involves running a medium run with as much cloths as I can stand to sweat as much as possible - did this on Friday morning – 12 miles 7:44 pace with heartrate 150-158 (would typically be ~6:30-6:45 at this heartrate). It seems to have helped as on a pace test prior on Thursday in similar conditions (57F) at 170 bpm for 3 miles, the last two miles averaged 5:51 vs the 5:41 from miles 2-6 today – so appears the “turbo-drive” workout gave me ~10 sec/mile - past times I've got as much as 20 sec/mile so didn't quite capture all the potential. I think that turbodrive workout would have been more effective if it wasn’t so cold outside when I was running in sweats (45-50F) – the chill in the air made its way thru my sweats to cool a little and I didn’t sweat quite as much as I have in the past on these “turbo-drive” runs (yes I weigh myself before/after these workouts to see how effective they were). Definitely planning to keep this workout in the plan pre San Antonio and maybe I'll add an extra layer if it's cold out. Here is the results graphically

3 weeks to go then time to ROCK that Rock n Roll Marathon in San Antonio…

Thanks for reading - JOHN.

Space City 10 Miler

2008-10-12T12:22:00.000-07:00

On a whim I jumped into a 10 mile race today. I was planning to run 10 for Texas next week but then noticed Friday on the website this race was postponed until mid-November. Unfortunately I noticed this AFTER my hard 18 mile with Tempo run on Friday and I was committed to a club run on Saturday for another 13 miles so I was on anything but "fresh" legs. Also the weather report made me also want to skip it with mid-60s and muggy - same weather as when I raced it the prior year and scored my personal worst race of the year (1:04:51 with walking) - but I felt the need to push myself a little so I went ahead and raced it.

Race Plan - Mile 1 - 5:45-5:55 pace, Mile 2-3 - 172 HR, Mile 4-5 - 170 HR (I wanted to go for negative split so back off a little these miles), Mile 6-10 - 172 HR - overall I was expecting 57-58 minutes out of this strategy.

Race Morning - Arrived about 6:15 for a 7 am start time - felt a little flat - not my normal jazzed up race ready self. Get my bib and get all my gear set and find my race plan screwed up by a dead battery on my Garmin - must have been left on all night and drained.....grrrrrr.....I am no good running by feel whatsoever - every race I've tried that has been a disappointment. No choice today - I go ahead and line up and just try to "feel" my way thru the race.

Race Conditions - 71°F, 68°F-Dew Point (91% humidity) (I thought it felt a bit better than last year but now that I look at the weather history - it looks a bit warmer).

705 Finishers.

Gun fires - although the pace "felt" relaxed - apparently I was knocking out 5:30 miles for the first two miles according to Gerardo (apparently I dragged him out a little too fast too) - I didn't know this and still felt a little relaxed. After 3 I ratchetted back the effort a little according to my "plan" and got to the 5 mile marker at 29:10'ish (this was the only time check on the course). Race plan was to pick it up but I just didn't want to - I maintained pace feeling like I should and could go faster but just not pulling it up - a couple guys ease by me without much resistance on my part. Around 8.5 I hear more steps coming up from behind and decide not to get passed anymore so kick in another gear. By the end I pass one guy then around the corner for the last 0.4 mile dash to the finish I hit high speed to go fast by another guy (to give him no chance to fight back) - he makes a move as I pass like he might fight then seemed to figure it was futile and lets me go - I push it in the last 1/4 mile worried he'd reconsider - apparently he didn't and I had a pretty good gap on him by the finish . Iwatch the clock count up thru the 1:00:0X's until I could cross.

First 5 - 29:18 (19th place)
Second 5 30:58 (23rd place)
Total - 1:00:17 (19th place) (PR by 4:34) (VDOT 58 - a 6 month Personal Worse).

Overall I get 5th for my age group - I stuck around for awards thinking I'd scored 3rd AG award since the 1st place for my AG (Sean Wade) got 2nd Overall and 2nd place would then take the Masters leaving me 3rd - but - unlike other races apparently this race allows runners to double-up so Sean took both 2nd Overall and the Masters prizes leaving me the spot one guy refers to as leader of the loosers - 4th place AG :-). Gerardo faded less than me and at least scored 2nd AG (congrats Gerardo - watch-out for me in the 1/2 marathon). A pretty poor race overall proving to myself once again - I just don't race well running by "feel" - although truthfully I may not have known the exact pace, it "felt" closer to marathon pace than 10M pace for those middle miles - I knew I wasn't pushing it hard enough. Without the HR/Pace data to do a proper post-mordom I really can't say what it says about my current fitness. Recent training runs in cold weather - especially in California this last week make me think I'm as fast as I've ever been - I just need some nice cool weather to see if I can deliever on race day.

Next Up - Koala 1/2 Marathon - 10/26 for a last tune-up race then on to San Antonio 11/16 for the 30,000 runner big race.

2008 HARRA Cross Country Relay

2008-09-28T19:11:00.000-07:00

The race - 4x2 miles run thru a hilly park in downtown Houston (yes apparently there are actually hills in Houston). 89 teams finished. We made it a family event made easy with its 5pm start time Saturday afternoon. My wife and kids were pretty impressed with people coming up telling them I was a pretty good runner - I'll pay you guys later - I promise.

I got the lead off leg which I was pleased to get. Just before the race my teammates jog me out to show me the harder hills on the course - one guy described one hill as "A rope to help climb would sure be helpful" - I could see what he means - brutal. Race starts with an uphill then runs relatively flat out to the mile marker then turns around and does a series of ups and down back to the finish - some quite steep.

I stuck to my typical ammo on hills - relax the uphills and attack the downhills. There is a quote from a movie I love called "On the Edge" about the Dipsea Trail race - somewhere in that movie the coach described how to run in this trail race downhill - "you run by faith - you put your foot out and believe when it lands you'll figure out how to not loose control". He had a good line for uphill running too but I don't remember it.

5:26 Mile 1 - Out of the blocks I take it a little relaxed on the initial uphill and get to the top with about a dozen people in front of me. As it flattens out I steadily take guys down and move my way up to 7th by the turnaround. I checked my watch a couple times and was hoping for a split around 5:20-5:30 and made a couple pace adjustments to get it - crossed the milemarker at 5:26.

5:44 Mile 2 - The hilly mile. A guy was pretty far ahead and I really was not making any moves on him but he seemed to slowly come back to me. I charged the downhills and with each one got a little closer - uphills I just got up them without pushing too hard and burning myself out. After the rope-climbing hill (it had reasonable footing actually - almost like stairs) he did a backglance at me so I figured he was worried I'd take him but I held off a little longer and he seemed energized at one point to break away but that didn't last long. I got a little closer to the guy ahead then finally took him on a downhill where he was braking and I was flying - I love getting roadkill on downhills - I don't know why people think they should brake on a downhill - just makes wiping out more probable imo. By this time we were within a ~200 yards of the hand-off and the next guy turned out to only be 20 or so yards away - the perfect motivation to sprint it in which I did and passed him with seemingly no fight and did the handoff - finished about 5th for my leg.

Total Split time 11:10
Team Time 50:12 Good enough to score 3rd Master's Team and keep my 2008 Texas Awards Streak Alive (12 for 12 races in 2008 including 3 relays). 2nd was about 1.5 minutes ahead and 1st had us beat handily with a 47:31.83 (11:53 average per runner).

Myself and 3 clones would have scored 3rd place overall.

Fun race - I got to see a bunch from the running community that I haven't seen since Spring Racing and share a couple beers after.

I just love a race where I'm moving forward from beginning to end without anyone passing me - finish with no regrets of "the one that got away".

Next race 10 for Texas - 10/18 (I think).