ARA 20 Miler [Entered 1/8/07]

Well, Sunday it was time to revisit the course of the Moe's Better Half Marathon, the site of some really bad races for me in the past. That course, plus some additional miles cleverly added, made up the ARA 20 Miler, the longest race in the Distance Challenge. The terrain was challenging but not awful, sort of a milder form of the Decker course, stretched out a bit. Weather was bright, sunny, and cool enough for good racing. Yeah, we got the traditional north wind towards the end of the race, but it was only a big issue in the last mile and change, so there's not much there to complain about, either. So, good conditions, a fair race course, good on-course support, and some fellow Gazelles to pace along with...how did I do?

Since the race was down in San Marcos, it made sense for me to drop by Casa Varela on the way to carpool with Frank. I found his house without any wrong turns, and we got to the race site 15 minutes early for the warmup festivities. Conversation was light, as we both sort of had our game faces on, or at least we had gotten the game faces out of the running locker, ready to put on soon. I've laughed about how casually we've all treated this race, but it's not quite so funny when you get within an hour of starting it. :-)

The pre-race facilities were sort of tucked behind the outlet mall, so we were able to visit them without any sort of wait as we got ready for the warmup. A pretty good mob of Gazelles met up at the finish line right on time, and we were off on our gentle 2 mile warmup by 7:05. That bit of course reconnaissance showed a nice downhill to the finish line, maybe as much as .4 miles, but a long steady uphill climb to that last hill crest, so it would be interesting at the finish! It was really pretty out as we warmed up, with the sun peeking up over the eastern horizon and the moon still high in the western sky. Our two mile warmup was knocked out at a robust 10:45/mile pace, so at least we did the warmup properly. After that, the group scattered to the four corners of the outlet mall, in search of places to drop extra clothing, pin on race numbers, take care of any remaining personal business, and maybe even take on last minute nutrition or fluids. I did just a few drills, and then Frank and I went back to the truck to get ready to race. After checking out the weather in person, I ditched the gloves and warm hat, and went with the regular running cap instead.

With my pants pockets loaded down with GU and Enervitene, I trundled back to the starting area to meet up with my pace buddies. The plan, of course, was to go out for 5 miles nice and relaxed, and then run 15 miles at MGP, which I had planned at 8:30-8:35/mile. Amy, Jennifer, Leslie, Sue, Colleen and Steve eventually found their way together with me in the back middle of the starting pack, so I was hopeful that we'd have a good crew for at least the first 5 miles. The usual recorded National Anthem was anthemed, and we were off.

Our first 3 miles were pretty much on easier pace, but by the fourth mile, Amy, Leslie and Sue had pushed on ahead at a new and improved pace, Colleen had shifted to her pace, and Steve, Jennifer and I had fallen somewhere in between. We had already found our way to MGP, as the mile 4 split revealed. And, despite our attempts to dial it back, we failed miserably, and I just figured we'd proceed with that pace. In the back of my mind, I decided that if necessary, I could just back off at mile 19 so that I'd come up with 5 easier miles to go with 15 MGP miles in between. We'd see about that. The terrain for the first 5 miles was the typical rolling stuff, with some long steady hills and long declines as well. Rolling stuff. At a pace that's more long run style, that wasn't as big of a deal as it can be in shorter, faster races, but it was certainly a tester. I grabbed water or powerade at each water stop, which were about every 2 miles, at least a sip or two, and did my GU's at every 4 miles, as I will at the marathon. Through 5 miles, we were on our way, and so far, so good.

Splits miles 1-5: 9:26, 8:58, 8:57, 8:27, 8:37. Overall, 8:53/mile pace.

The next chunk of the course took us to the rougher pavement that the middle section would feature, and I must admit that it was somewhat distracting to fight the camber of the road in places. Still, it was pleasant running. We turned and ran by the concrete/chemical plant that I remembered from the Moe's course while we were on the out and back section of the course, so I was on familiar ground. It was pretty fun to see the faster runners zoom past us on their way back, and at that point, around mile 7 or 8, Gilbert "only" had a 3 mile lead on us. It was cool to see our fellow Gazelles and other familiar faces as they came by, as well. There was a certain amount of relief to finally reach the turnaround point, and finally we were able to run back into the rising sun and see those folks who were trailing us. Mile 10 came while we were still heading back to the new part of the course, and we were still doing okay. I think the mile markers may have been a little mixed up in there, but it certainly wasn't a big problem. Halfway done, so now it was time to put on our serious running masks for the second part of the race.

Splits miles 6-10: 8:31, 8:41, 8:37, 8:37, 8:40. Overall pace 8:45/mile. We were dancing around MGP, and close enough to the planned pace that I felt okay with it.

We finally turned off the Moe's course in there somewhere, and hit a nice stretch that went through a more heavily wooded area. We got our water and Powerade at the mile 12 water stop, and then stepped on the 20K timing mat. I took my first Enervitene at mile 12. Steve had pointed out Emily and Monique ahead of us about 20 yards about that time. By the time we reached the mile 13 marker, catching Emily and Monique, I noticed that Jennifer and I had dropped Steve. I don't like to look back during a race, so I didn't know if Steve was just a few steps back or 20 yards back, but he was gone at that point. The four of us made up a new pacing quartet, and clicked off another couple of miles as a group. The water stop people at about mile 13 were nice enough to tell us that the next water was at mile 16, so that you wouldn't get caught short. Good idea! Mile 15 dumped us out of the woods and onto the long rolling straightaway that led back to the final corner of the race. I wasn't feeling great, and Jennifer had pulled in front of me, but I was in that mode where I needed to prove something to myself, and it was time to show some inner strength on a not-great running day.

Splits miles 11-15: 8:35, 8:25, 8:44, 8:35, 8:41. Still doing okay, pacewise, overall pace down to 8:42/mile. Using my "middle 15" MGP race idea, I only had 3 more MGP miles. Okey dokey.

Mile 16 had a tester of a hill right at the start of it, but I did okay with that. I felt sluggish, sort of heavy-legged, but just kept putting one foot in front of the other. How else was I going to get back to the Outlet Mall? Some training group's people were running along behind us with a chatterbox of a leader, and that got a little annoying, with her telling her people every step of the race ("Okay, here's an uphill, shorten your strides!...Here's a downhill, don't go too fast, we've still got 4 miles to go! ... and so on and so forth...). I grumbled something that Emily caught, and she just laughed, because she and Monique had been listening to her for quite a while before I started running with them. :-) Jennifer and Emily slowly pulled away from me during miles 17 and 18, but I was staying in touch with Emily, at least visually. Each little hilly bump seemed to further sap my mental reserves, but I was mainly trying not to walk, so keeping a sort of survival shuffle was the new game plan at that point. Finally, I realized that I was coming up on the 30K timing mat, and I made a deal to myself to keep running at least to 30K, and then we'd see how we were doing. I stepped on 30K at about 2:43:00 (timing mat, but I don't think it was turned on), which would be a PR if I counted such "en route" PR's. Another little uphill bump, cross the street, and it was the homestretch!

With the turn to the homestretch, however, came a pretty nasty headwind. Oh, well. :-) It seemed to be picking up as the day went on, so I worried for those runners behind me. It was lonely running on that stretch of road, since the pack had spread out quite a bit. I'm sure Monique was behind me somewhere, able to pick out my red running shirt from quite a ways back, but I had eyes only for the finish line. Steve Sisson, the Rogue running coach, was at the mile 19 marker, cheering on his troops, exhorting them to run hard to the finish and be willing to hurt a little bit. As I came up on his position, he recognized me as a familiar face, and with all my Gazelles gear on, he said "I know you know how to hurt!" I agreed that I was indeed familiar with the concept, especially right then. Or words to that effect. :-) That last long climb seemed interminable, but finally I crested the hill, and was greeted with the full glory of the headwind as a tasty reward. Well, at least I had gravity helping pull me to the finish, right? Frank was standing on the side of the road in there, and gave me some encouragement. I think he told me to pass the guy in front of me some 20 yards. So, just in case that's what he had asked me to do, I dug deep, and ran past that guy, at least, finishing with a little honor. God, I'm glad I was done!

Splits miles 16-20: 9:01, 8:49, 8:57, 9:33 (ouch!), and 9:16. Not a distinguished finish, but it was okay, I guess. Overall time 2:56:07, 8:48 overall pace, and a 40 second PR over last year's race. Woo hoo! My "middle 15" miles from mile 4 to mile 18 averaged 8:40/mile, so I missed my MGP goal for the day. What to make of that?

The overriding emotion on everyone's face was relief that it was over. I chatted for a bit with the troops at the Gazelles tent, and then Frank and I labored over to the truck to get our post-run gear on. While putting on my long pants and then putting my shoes back on, both of my calves cramped up as I pointed my toes downward. I worked out those cramps pretty quickly, but it was a sign of how depleted I was. Frank went off to shop at the Adidas store, and I went back to the Gazelles tent to see if anyone wanted to labor through some cooldown mileage. Alex decided that laps around a tree in the traffic island would be enough cooldown for him, but Jennifer, Colleen, Amy, and I think Monique, Emily and Sue joined us as we went off gently to work out some of the junk in our legs. Our pace was quite slow, but with each step, it seemed to help my legs feel a little better. Pretty soon, just Jennifer, Colleen and I remained together, and we gently continued our little efforts for a big mile of cooldown. That cooldown was at a whopping 12:41/mile pace! Still, I guess we have to realize that that pace was as fast or faster than a good number of the runners in the race today. We are blessed to be at even our current level of fitness, by comparison!

A little more conversation at the tent, some modest stretching, and it was time to get going home. Frank treated me to a big Dr. Pepper as we stopped at Wendy's for his post-run snack (I guess by now, it was after 12:00, so it actually was lunchtime!), and the trip back was spent rehashing the race and trading funny stories from it. Those shall have to remain privileged information, of course. :-)

The rest of my day was spent (after the nice hot shower) playing guitar with some of my classical guitar compatriots, so I didn't have time for the ice bath that I had planned. Constant snacking all afternoon long, and then some nice thick crust pizza at dinner, and I felt pretty good by bedtime.

The verdict for the day's efforts? I'm a little disappointed that I wasn't able to better sustain my MGP, so I may have to reconsider my race goal a bit for AT&T. 3:50 is still a solid race goal, based on today's data, and who knows...with a proper taper and good weather, maybe 3:45 is still a possibility? I'm glad that I didn't stop and walk, and I guess I did fight through a case of the "quits," so there's good things to take from the race. I'll score this a "B-minus," take it easy Monday and Tuesday, get a massage on Wednesday, and move on. My streak of great races ended at 3 (Scenic 10 miler, Motive Half, Decker 20K), but I can't complain about that. I've got to focus on the next six weeks and the AT&T marathon. The 3M Half Marathon will be a fun race, where I can run gently fast, if that makes any sense. It won't be a time to go all out, but I think on that downhill course, I can consider a PR attempt anyway. After all, my current half marathon PR is on the Motive course, which isn't exactly designed for PR's. :-)

For the week, 47 miles, a new peak for this training season. The next three weeks will be the biggest mileage period of the training, and then the taper to AT&T. Let the countdown to the marathon begin!!