This morning, I met up with Brian, Alex and Frank for a really easy 7 mile loop of Town Lake. The day was overcast and muggy, but it was still a fun run. These relaxed runs with friends are just the best. No pressure, no worries, we just hang out, run along, and shoot the breeze. Today's topics included love and marriage, women, cars, food, drink and hair dye. We laughed a lot, and I think that we're starting to feel the effects of the marathon fading away.
We chatted with Rachel after we were done, and then did a handful of striders. Those didn't feel all that smooth to me, but then again, that's the first speedwork of any sort that I've done in a few weeks.
We ended up just south of 7 miles for the day, at a 9:43/mile pace including the water stop at Mopac. Actual running was around 9:25/mile. The numbers are only numbers, though, as the important thing is just to let the legs come back slowly...sort of a working vacation.
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Tuesday, February 27, 2007
Cycle and Gym [entered 2/28/07]
Tuesday featured a quick visit to Gold's for cycling (40 minutes this time), stretching (20 minutes), core exercises and upper body weights. The details are not that important, but I did get there to continue the workouts, and I felt better after having visited. It's all about the journey, after all. :-)
Saturday, February 24, 2007
Return to the Herd - EZ 7 Miles
The first post-marathon run is always an amusing little event. Depending on how the race went, how soon after the race it is, and what you did in the meantime, it can be either a fun jaunt or an achy death march. Since I was a pretty good boy this week, I had worked out a lot of the junk left over from the 26.2 mile journey through Austin last Sunday. So, I was looking forward to seeing everyone today.
It was warm and muggy, of course, which reminded me how lucky we were with the weather last weekend. A really large group of folks gathered at 7:00 for 5-7 miles of easy running, and most were pretty happy to be there. After Gilbert gave us a pep talk, we set out for our loop of Town Lake. It was good to see Richard back with us as he slowly builds his running mileage, and we chatted during the first couple of miles of the run. A nice water stop at Mopac, and then we were off again. I ran the second part of the run with Colleen, Amy, and Brad, and we had some fun talks on the road. Except for some mild quad stiffness as we came down the hill on Riverside, my legs felt really great. I was pretty surprised, actually.
Anyway, we skipped striders today (I know my legs aren't quite ready for those yet), and met up for the full stretching routine. The difference in how people were doing mentally today as opposed to last Saturday is quite dramatic, but that goes under the "Duh" category of psychological analysis. :-)
We talked about our various race results, of course, and everyone is mapping out their spring racing plans already. After I stopped and chatted with the Boston girls (Renee and Rachel) for a bit, it was time to head on home. Tonight is the big Gazelles post-marathon bash, so that should be big fun!
For the day, 7.05 miles, 9:39/mile pace including the water stop. Nice!
It was warm and muggy, of course, which reminded me how lucky we were with the weather last weekend. A really large group of folks gathered at 7:00 for 5-7 miles of easy running, and most were pretty happy to be there. After Gilbert gave us a pep talk, we set out for our loop of Town Lake. It was good to see Richard back with us as he slowly builds his running mileage, and we chatted during the first couple of miles of the run. A nice water stop at Mopac, and then we were off again. I ran the second part of the run with Colleen, Amy, and Brad, and we had some fun talks on the road. Except for some mild quad stiffness as we came down the hill on Riverside, my legs felt really great. I was pretty surprised, actually.
Anyway, we skipped striders today (I know my legs aren't quite ready for those yet), and met up for the full stretching routine. The difference in how people were doing mentally today as opposed to last Saturday is quite dramatic, but that goes under the "Duh" category of psychological analysis. :-)
We talked about our various race results, of course, and everyone is mapping out their spring racing plans already. After I stopped and chatted with the Boston girls (Renee and Rachel) for a bit, it was time to head on home. Tonight is the big Gazelles post-marathon bash, so that should be big fun!
For the day, 7.05 miles, 9:39/mile pace including the water stop. Nice!
Friday, February 23, 2007
GymStuff [Entered 2/24/07]
Friday, I made a visit to Gold's for more easy cycling (35 minutes) to spin up the legs. A good stretching session of about 20 minutes followed. Then, I did the core/upper body workout, this time getting back to two sets on everything. I actually feel really good today. I have very little remaining stiffness or soreness left over from the marathon, so I guess I'm doing the right things in this first post-marathon week.
Easy 7 miles tomorrow with the gang, and then next week I'll return to a Monday/Wednesday/Thursday running pattern, with no more than 45 minutes of easy running on the longest of those runs. It should be a fun week.
Easy 7 miles tomorrow with the gang, and then next week I'll return to a Monday/Wednesday/Thursday running pattern, with no more than 45 minutes of easy running on the longest of those runs. It should be a fun week.
Wednesday, February 21, 2007
Return to the Gym [Entered 2/22]
Wednesday, I took my carcass up to Gold's to take those first post-marathon steps towards the spring running season. No running yet, but I figured I'd do some super low-resistance indoor cycling, some stretching, and then some core and upper body weights. And I did. 30 easy minutes spinning away on the cycle, enjoying the fact that my legs could do that at all, and I felt pretty darned good. I took considerable time after that, at least 20 minutes, to do most of the full stretching routine. Gently, mind you, but I eased into each new stretch, and let my legs tell me "when." By the end of the stretching, my legs felt even better. But that's all for them.
I did pretty much all the different core exercises, but only single sets of everything. After that, I did a complete upper body workout, too, doing the usual two sets of all exercises. I've decided that I need to get more focused about the gym, which really won't require that much more time. I just have to get out of my house and into the gym to accomplish this modest goal.
Having finished the last tricep extension, it was time to end the workout day. It was a nice first step.
I did pretty much all the different core exercises, but only single sets of everything. After that, I did a complete upper body workout, too, doing the usual two sets of all exercises. I've decided that I need to get more focused about the gym, which really won't require that much more time. I just have to get out of my house and into the gym to accomplish this modest goal.
Having finished the last tricep extension, it was time to end the workout day. It was a nice first step.
Tuesday, February 20, 2007
Another Day After...
I'm not too bad today, really. My quads are pretty stiff, but I don't really hurt anywhere. Just my pride. :-) I'm walking like an 80-year old man, but it will all pass soon enough. Tomorrow to the gym for easy stuff. It was great to get that race report done! Now, I shall reach for the guitar...
Monday, February 19, 2007
The Day After...
Well, yesterday didn't go quite according to my plan, but at least today I feel pretty good. Am I sore? Sure. Am I a little stiff and awkward when walking from time to time? Yup. Stairs a challenge? Not too much, but I feel the quads anyway. Weight? Still down two pounds from yesterday's pre-race weight. I'll catch back up by Wednesday.
Today's post-marathon massage? Not too bad, really. Ron took it a little easier on me since the long race was just 24 hours ago, but he worked out most of the junk in my quads and calves, plus the fun stuff in my shin muscles. He gave me some tips about what to do (and not to do) this week as my body gets over Sunday's journey around Austin, so I have a full plan for the week.
Tomorrow, I'll go out for a nice walk and then do some light stretching. Wednesday, it'll be time to go to the gym to start the Great Core Strengthening Project and to do some light cycling just to get the legs spun up a bit. Some stretching on Wednesday as well, but no foam rollers. Not this week! Much the same until Saturday, when I hope to meet up with my pals down at Town Lake for a super-easy 5-7 mile jog to reacquaint ourselves with running. Next week is plenty soon to ease back into every other day running. No leg weight work for two weeks, though. Looks like March will be the return time for that and the speedy Gazelles workouts.
I'm already thinking about future marathon plans, but the soonest I'll run one is in the fall of 2007. I don't want to jump back into marathon training for a while. This spring will be all about 5k/10k/half marathon training and building speed. I need to get rid of those very old 5K and 10K PR's, after all! :-)
Today's post-marathon massage? Not too bad, really. Ron took it a little easier on me since the long race was just 24 hours ago, but he worked out most of the junk in my quads and calves, plus the fun stuff in my shin muscles. He gave me some tips about what to do (and not to do) this week as my body gets over Sunday's journey around Austin, so I have a full plan for the week.
Tomorrow, I'll go out for a nice walk and then do some light stretching. Wednesday, it'll be time to go to the gym to start the Great Core Strengthening Project and to do some light cycling just to get the legs spun up a bit. Some stretching on Wednesday as well, but no foam rollers. Not this week! Much the same until Saturday, when I hope to meet up with my pals down at Town Lake for a super-easy 5-7 mile jog to reacquaint ourselves with running. Next week is plenty soon to ease back into every other day running. No leg weight work for two weeks, though. Looks like March will be the return time for that and the speedy Gazelles workouts.
I'm already thinking about future marathon plans, but the soonest I'll run one is in the fall of 2007. I don't want to jump back into marathon training for a while. This spring will be all about 5k/10k/half marathon training and building speed. I need to get rid of those very old 5K and 10K PR's, after all! :-)
Sunday, February 18, 2007
AT&T Marathon Race Report [Entered 2/20/07]
Intro:
Ah, yes, the post-mortem. Marathons are tricky and occasionally frustrating beasts. I love all the long training runs with the Gazelles, the nifty schedule that looks so logical and exact (12 miler, 14 miler, easy week, 16 miler, etc.), and the general lifestyle of the endurance athlete. I even like the way that most of my non-running friends treat me when they ask about the latest training run or race, and I can say stuff like "Aw, we just ran 15 on Saturday." By that point in the training, it really does feel like a ho-hum thing, but it certainly is not to most of our friends and neighbors. Still, when Race Day arrives, some 5 to 6 months after starting your marathon specific training, it is with some trepidation that we toe the line. There's so much at stake, and unlike most race distances, you can't just do another one in a couple of weeks if this one doesn't work out for reasons under our control (bad pacing, bad diet, wearing brand new shoes) or not (weather, illness, getting trampled by a deer in the starting corral). So, after all this preamble, you're saying, "Get on with it! Just tell us what happened so we can go back to watching American Idol!" :-)
Sunday dawned clear and cold, exactly as Weather.com predicted. 35 glorious degrees when I peeked at the temp on weather TV. I got out of bed at 4:45am after a fairly sleepless night on Saturday, and pulled on my lucky PR racing clothing (gray BOA shorts, Gazelles singlet underneath, and red long-sleeved Gazelles shirt on top), plus other warmup type stuff for the time being. My properly broken-in Fila Providence III shoes (just 75 miles on them as of Race Morning) went on next, and I headed for the kitchen. I grabbed a bagel and a banana, some Powerade, a 12 ounce Accelerade, and my post-race Endurox, and headed for the door. The only warning sign at that point was that my weight was a pound lower than it was on Saturday morning. That's not what you want to see in the midst of carbo- and hydro-loading.
Despite my restless night of mostly non-sleep, I felt pretty wide awake on the drive down to the starting area. As I had thought, the traffic control folks had blocked the First Street exit way before the promised 6:00am closing time, so I went ahead with my driving plan and went south of the river to catch Barton Springs Road for my journey to parking. There were some lane narrowing issues, but I was able to get to the corner of Barton Springs and S. First without incident. From there, though, it appeared that there were serious traffic cone blockage issues to prevent me from going pretty much anywhere I wanted to park. I fooled them by driving through gaps in the cones (hey, it was 5:30am!), cutting through the One Texas Centre parking lot, and then skirting around the building to the side entrance to the parking deck, which neatly avoided the dude blocking the main parking deck entrance. I did take the precaution of parking in a spot that didn't have a number so that I was in less danger of being towed, but the garage was virtually empty.
Parking done, I finished off half of the bagel and the banana, and drank the rest of the Powerade. I took the Endurox and Accelerade, grabbed my gear bag, and headed for RunTex to meet up with the peeps. It was a nice walk, but I was getting keyed up a bit about the upcoming ordeal. I know that I appear to be fairly calm and low-key most of the time, but this was not one of those occasions. :-) The gang was gathering when I arrived, and it was nice to see my running friends. Alex looked really happy, but I'd say that pretty much everyone else had that look of guarded focus peculiar to the endurance athlete. Gilbert took a pretty big part of the crew off on a warmup jog, but a handful of us wanted to get our stuff to baggage claim way ahead of time instead, so we walked up to the starting area. Alex, Frank, Colleen, and Amy joined me in this mission. I was drinking my Accelerade a little at a time, to top off the tanks. We took advantage of some short facility lines, and then we pretty much got separated as we went from there to drop off our baggage way up at 3rd and Congress.
The pre-race organization was pretty good, really, but time starts doing weird things to you before a marathon, so I wasn't sure if I was moving quickly through all this pre-race hoo-hah or not. I found the DC baggage drop, and took a few minutes to strip off my warmup stuff, pin on my number, put on my lovely trashbag vest, load up my GU and Enervitene, and then I dropped off my bag. Free of all non-essential encumbrances, it was time to make my way to the starting crowds. I had the last little bit of my Accelerade on the way down to the bridge, and as I got there, the sun popped up. It was really a pretty morning, but it was soon going to be time to run, and we didn't have long to admire the sunrise.
I didn't see the 3:45 pace sign right away, so I camped out in the crowd probably 50 yards or more from the starting line, right by the 3:30 and 3:40 pace leaders. I figured the 3:45 peeps would find their way down pretty soon. I was standing around with Monique, Emily H., and Laura. Jennifer was apparently lined up with the 3:40 pace group, but I couldn't see her. By the way, thanks again for the great pre-race idea, Frank! :-) The 3:45 people settled in about 10 feet ahead of me, so I had my target sighted. Anyway, the fireworks went off behind us, which was pretty cool, and without an audible National Anthem or horn or anything else, we were moving. The race had started. Some walking, some stopping, some more walking, and finally we toed the starting mat. I clicked the Garmin, and we were off. I was some 3 minutes off the Gun Clock.
Early race:
It was seriously crowded as we headed down and then up S. Congress. I lost the 3:45 pacers in the crowd, but I kept them in sight at least ahead of me. I figured I'd just calmly get through that first big hill on S. Congress, and slowly catch up to the 3:45 folks over the easier miles that would follow. As usual, there were tons of folks who were massively out of touch with race etiquette, so I had to weave through mobs of walkers and much slower runners at the start. I guess they'll just never get a system here that takes care of that problem. Anyway, my first mile was fine, but I was pretty far behind the bobbing 3:45 sign up ahead. I sped up during mile 2, finding some clearer running room, maybe too fast, but by mile 2, I had caught up with the 3:45 pacers. I ditched the trash bag on S. First as we started downhill. There were lots of early music groups, but I didn't catch much of what they were doing in those first couple of miles. I took Powerade at the mile 2 water stop.
The first band I really heard was at Barton Springs and S. First. They broke into Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away" as I passed them, which was pretty cool. I was doing that yo-yo thing a bit with the 3:45 people, but stayed within 30-40 feet of the sign. They did a subtle pace adjustment at the water stops, which was interesting to observe from behind them. Turn onto Lamar, down and up the underpass, and then into totally blinding sun on Fifth Street as we went east to Guadalupe. Even with a cap and sunglasses, I couldn't see anything. Finally, we turned onto Guadalupe with tons of spectators screaming at us going by. I felt pretty good, and just kept rolling along down Cesar Chavez. I took my first GU on schedule around mile 4, and I continued that alternating thing for most of the race. Powerade alone, and then 2 miles later, water and a GU. Rinse, repeat.
The course diverted from what I thought was the route slightly at Austin High School, but it wasn't a big deal, just interesting. There was a solo singer/guitarist at AHS singing a story song that involved a policeman, a guy, and either a picture of an old girlfriend or the actual girlfriend. I kinda wanted to know what happened, but I had a marathon to run. Bernard was standing just after the 6 mile mark handing out the Gazelles "Elite" bottles of Accelerade, which was really cool. I passed on that, but it was still pretty cool. Up the nasty little hill at Veterans, and then some more easy running down Lake Austin Blvd. So far, so good, all the way to Enfield. A rock band was playing "Breakdown" on Lake Austin. Was this foreshadowing?
Splits miles 1-7: 9:06, 8:19 (!), 8:27, 8:44, 8:27, 8:25, 8:42. Average pace 8:36, right on target.
The Hills:
Enfield commenced the rolling stuff and the seemingly relentless climb to the 18 mile point. We had some more sun issues on Enfield, but I stayed near the 3:45 group throughout this rolling part of the course. In the weird brain fog that I was in, it seemed that the hills had changed on Enfield from our training runs, but that was just a trick of the low sun and the tons of runners around me. Carrie was there for a second, but then she shifted to hang with her man. Once we turned onto Exposition, it got tougher. The half marathoners peeled off around mile 9.5 or so, and shortly thereafter, I think a priest blessed me with Holy Water from a tall ladder in the middle of Exposition. At least that's what I think he/she was doing. I didn't focus on who was doing the holy work, as I had my own work to do. With the crowds thinned just a little, I stayed in sight of the 3:45 group until mile 10 or so, but already I was a little out of sorts. Dennis passed me on one of the last hills. By the time I rolled up and over the Mopac bridge, I had lost the 3:45 folks for good.
I tried to find a good gear once the course levelled out on Jackson and Bull Creek, but it was sort of ominous already. Brian pulled up with me late in mile 13, and I sort of let him know, quietly, maybe telepathically, that I wasn't up to keeping up with him. By the time we had rolled down and up to Shoal Creek, he was gone ahead of me. The 3:50 people may have caught me by then, too, but I'm not sure. I had shifted to a new gear on Shoal Creek, and started calculating the pace necessary to repeat last year's 3:56:07, starting from where I was. It seemed to be a logical and makeable goal. At the time. Going backwards from the old marathon route, you got a real appreciation for how downhill the old course was. The new course was fair, but it was tougher than the old course(s). Oh, well. There was an unexpected sight at the water stop just before 2222 crossed Shoal Creek, when I saw the familiar Gazelles logo. Apparently, the Gazelles pitched in to cover two water stops, as I found out later. I got myself up White Rock to Great Northern, and commenced the first of three long straight stretches of road.
Splits miles 8-14: 8:35, 8:42, 8:48, 8:43, 8:58, 8:44, 8:56. Still okay, but it wasn't going as smoothly as I had planned. Average pace 8:41. Still on target for 3:50 or so, so I tried to hang in there.
The Abyss:
I was walking through the water stops by now, and at the second Gazelles water stop around mile 15, I loved the boost as they called out to me by name, but I was a little embarassed to be strolling by them. Yes, the internal psychological drama was starting to happen. I started heating up, so I busied myself with getting the safety pins ready to transfer the number to my singlet. Thought I'd give my shirt and gloves to Mary Anne and the kids if they were spectating at Northcross Mall as they had planned. The bagpipers were on Great Northern, and a band at the Gazelles water stop. I think he was just strumming his electric guitar when I went by. Lots of spectators again on the stretch behind Northcross, but no family. Oh, well. I held it together until I got past all those people, and then the urge to stop and walk overcame me. At the 17 mile marker, I started walking, and changed out of my long sleeved shirt, wrapping it in a neat tube and putting it around my waist. The gloves came off then, too, as my hands were really too warm by then. Bright sun, and in a singlet, at least, it was still perfect running weather. I just wasn't up to taking advantage of the conditions.
The long, straight stretch up Foster proved to be the toughest part of the whole race, mentally. For a mile or so, I mostly jogged gamely, with some walking, to the corner and the highest point on the race course. That long stretch was where I went through most of the list of stages of dealing with disappointment (anger, denial, acceptance, etc.), and I fought through some lumps in the throat and some burning in the eyes as well. Laura passed me on that street. I was totally bummed, and thought a lot about just stepping off the course and quitting the thing. I felt a lot of embarassment about letting down Gilbert and my fellow Gazelles, especially dressed in all my team clothes. I hated whatever weakness inside me that was causing this meltdown, but I didn't have enough energy to push through it. Finally, we reached the corner at Woodward and started a nice stretch that was built for gentle downhill running. However, I couldn't get going enough to enjoy it too much. I did some jogging interspersed with the walking, but it was slow going. I stopped taking GU at the mile 16/17 water stop, as it seemed silly to keep taking in carbs for what was becoming a nice recovery walk. I was done, and I had miles to go.
Splits miles 15-18: 9:28, 9:15, 10:17 (changing clothes), 9:37. Yuck. Average pace now 8:54. Maybe I could still salvage a sub 4:00?
Trudgery:
The 4:00 group passed me like I was standing still on the North Loop hills, and that pretty much ended my day. I couldn't accelerate enough to stay with them, and at that point, I broke for good. From that point on, it was a walk with some (very little) bits and stretches of jogging as I worked my way home. I wondered if I pulled off near Amy's house if I could find her house key and get Mary Anne to come and get me. That thought went away, but it did happen. The ClifShot Zone was sort of a grumpy blur. Leslie came by, happy and cruising, and tried to get me to go with her, but I just waved her on. She really tried, and I appreciate it, but it just wasn't happening today. I was in that mode of jogging the downhills and walking the uphills.
Avenue H was fun, if I had been running. There were lots of neighbors out to cheer us on. There was a graphic poster at one house that startled me, comparing running to, uh, something I hadn't considered comparing running to, which made me laugh. Across the street, there was a boombox playing "Chariots of Fire," which I haven't heard in a while. At least I laughed about it with some spectators when I muttered that the Chariots song was perfect because I was moving in slow motion just like that sequence in the movie. They got a good laugh about that. Just doing what I could to entertain the crowd. This was about when I started contemplating skipping this race next year (I've done 5 in a row, now), and thinking about attending next year's event as either on-course entertainment or some other volunteer/cheerleader role. I had plenty of time, so I started working up a list of songs and song types that I'd like to hear on the run.
Red River came soon enough, and I was in serious countdown mode. I started calculating, and I figured I had a good shot at 4:10 if I maintained my current pace. At least I had a goal now. There were familiar faces cheering along Red River closer to 38th, but I was sort of trying to become invisible. I'm sure I was a vision...shoulders slumped, pride visibly wounded. I started noticing, though, that I wasn't the only one reduced to this shuffle. That started reviving me a little, and as we passed mile 23, I thought maybe I could suck it up a little for "just 5K."
Splits miles 19-23: 10:07, 11:19, 11:38, 11:39, 12:02. Thank God I'm a pretty fast walker! Average pace slipping, slipping, slipping into the ugly...to 9:26.
Angels and Friends:
The nasty little down and up on 38th wasn't a huge bit of fun, but I was jogging a little more now, since I was getting closer to being finished with this long day. After getting up the hill to Duval, I started doing some better and more organized jogging interspersed with walks, aiming to be more mobile when I passed by the water stop at mile 24 where Sean would be working. As I eased back into a walk at the water stop to get my last fluids for the big finish, Sean spotted me. I was going to wave him off, but he wasn't going to listen to me. He was on a mission. He literally dropped his water cups that he was supposed to be handing out, and ran slowly along with me, matching my meager strides, in his full volunteer regalia, reflective vest and all. Debbie, Jorge, Patrick, and Liliana were yelling for me like I was one of the lead Kenyans. I got all verklempt. Patrick offered to call Mary Anne for me after I asked, but we couldn't get her phone to answer. Thanks anyway, Patrick! Sean ran with me for a while, talking to me and getting my mind off my unhappiness. He even gave me five reasons in answer to my question "Why do we do these things?" God bless him and my Gazelles friends! He finally peeled off at the UT campus, and I was surprised to find that I ran maybe a half mile with his help. Awesome, really, considering how things had been going. I jogged a little while longer, and then had to walk again. At least in those last miles, I was trying to do a little more running.
Miles 24 and 25: 10:52, 10:50. Time for whatever would pass for a big finish! Average slumped to 9:33.
The Big Finish:
I tried to figure out just what the 40K sign meant to me, in terms of remaining distance, but I just wasn't up to it. I guessed it was about 2K to go. That hill going up to the Bob Bullock museum wasn't too bad, really, and I kinda got it going up to the Capitol. If Gilbert was going to be out on the course, it was going to be sometime soon, and I really wanted to be running when I went by him. Even at my survival shuffle pace, I was passing people, which helped my mental state a bit. I passed up the Harriers beer stop, but I was tempted.
Gilbert was concerned for us, I think, as his face was in deep concentration as I went by. He was telling his photographer who to take pictures of as we came up to the Capitol. I'm thankful that I was running the whole time Gilbert saw me! I may have said something to him like, "I'm okay, but it's been a tough day," but I'm not sure exactly if that was just in my head or if I actually said it. Late-Marathon Psychosis, perhaps. Anyway, it was sort of lonely around the Capitol and down that steep drive, but as soon as I hit Congress, it was massive wall-to-wall spectators for those 7 blocks to the finish. It was a lot like when you come off the Queensboro Bridge in NYC, and you make a couple of turns in silence, and suddenly you pop out on First Avenue (or is it Fifth?) in Manhattan and the sound of the crowds is like a jet engine.
Anyway, I started counting down blocks to the finish line. Right at the top at 11th, seven blocks to go. Some ladies/girls were struggling ahead of me, and as I passed them, I told them, "six blocks to go," and they said, "Are you sure?" After you get lied to so often on the course ("It's all downhill from here" is my favorite), you have trouble believing anyone, even fellow runners. 10th Street, 6 blocks to go. Ninth Street, and I could sort of make out the finish structure way ahead. The gap in the street for the runners seemed to be narrowing, as spectators crowded along the sides and screamed. Surreal. Eighth Street, 4 blocks to go. Seventh Street, I looked up to the SFA Hotel to see if I could spot Mary Anne and the kids, and found them pretty quickly. They saw me, too, which was lucky because I'm sure they were looking for the promised red shirt. That boosted my spirits, and probably calmed down Sarah, who was worried about her Daddy. Right in there, I saw Stephanie Stanford, walking up the course, and that was fun.
Then, suddenly out of nowhere, Richard appeared beside me, jogging along, and just told me something like "You're looking good!" and then, more clearly in my memory, he pointed to the three people nearest and ahead of me, and shouted "Go pass them!" Dammit, now I had to run harder! Okay, Richard, here I go! Sixth Street, 2 blocks to go. I caught and passed two of the people, and was running down the next. Rumbling, stumbling... Fifth Street. One thin block to go. I saw the Mile 13 marker for the Half Marathon. I caught one more person, then one more in the stretch, and finally...Fourth Street, the finish line, and I was finished with this thing! Sheepishly, I put up my arms, and after a few steps, I punched the stop button on the watch. 4:10 and change.
Splits last 1.22 miles: 11:40 (9:34/mile pace for my "killer sprint"). 4:10:28. 9:35/mile.
Post-race:
I got my medal, and once again, the Austin medals are really nice, polished, heavy slabs of nickel or some such metal. First class medals, for sure. I started sucking down that first bottle of water, and kept moving through the finishing chute.
I saw Lisa right away, and she was terrific. She was there after running Laura in, I think, or Emily H. I forget now. But she really took care of me, and sort of aimed me towards Venus after I got my baggage. Saw Leslie, found Venus and settled down with her. She was getting her bearings back after a tough day for her as well. I was just tired of being on my feet. I got my food stuff first and then I sat down carefully, and started putting clothes on to keep from getting chilled, and drank down my Endurox. I saw Monique and Emily H., who both did better than I did. Emily qualified for Boston (of course), and I found out that Jennifer had run under 3:50 again. Those women are tough! I hung out there for a while and drank the Endurox while I waited for Venus to stop spinning (inside. She wasn't doing a whirling dervish thing.). I called Mary Anne finally, and told her I'd meet them at the DC room in a while.
After I got my nice red DC finishers shirt, I gathered up Venus, and we headed out of the hubbub. We spotted Ron, our massage guy, and he helped me sort of babble about the post-mortem of a bad run. Getting out of the runners area was very difficult. The spectators were crammed around the exit, which didn't leave anywhere for us to go trying to get out of the finisher's paddock. Finally, a stout volunteer realized what was happening, and started shouting at the specators to back up and leave us room to leave. Ron, Venus and Lisa laughed and said it was like being Rock Stars getting through the papparazzi. Venus and I headed up for a nice walk up to the SFA to visit the DC party and to get our DC finishers' swag. Since I had had so long to think about the day during the run, I was pretty much over any sadness or anger, and the walk up to the SFA was actually very pleasant.
I saw a bunch of folks at the DC room. Teri, one of my ex-Galloway peeps, was sort of the hall monitor at the first landing of the stairs. That was fun to see her. The DC setup was nice. Plenty of food that I didn't want, but the bartender hooked me up with a Dr. Pepper, and that was awesome. My family was relieved to see me when I finally got up there, and we spent some time chatting and reassuring them that I was disappointed but okay, physically. I hung out and chatted with the DC folks that I knew, and did a tiny bit of stretching as I sat on the floor. Mary Anne and the kids left after a while, and I left about 15 minutes after them. Venus stayed there to chill out a little longer, so I took another nice walk down to One Texas Centre to get the car, and I was done with the day.
The DC Finisher's stuff was pretty nice, by the way. Another backpack contained stuff from the sponsors of all the other DC races, including a cap from ARA (the 20 miler), a water bottle, and a nice little fleece blanket from 3M. Plus, I could cram my remaining post-race baggage into it for the walk to the car. Nice!
Mangia:
After a long practice with the classical guitar ensemble, I shook loose to meet Brad, Alex, and Frank at Mangia. We kept one eye on the Daytona 500, and offered up our stories of the day. It was nice to finish decompressing about the race with my Gazelles buddies. The pizza was deep dish Carnivore as usual, and it was great. The Live Oak Big Bark beer was quite tasty. After quite a stay there, we happily drifted out to head home, and the long long day was done.
What Happened?
Well, it's probably a combination of a bunch of things, but right now, I know that I messed up with my pre-race hydration and carbo-loading. It's time to do some serious work on that process, so that I don't find myself running out of gas on these longest races. I'm sure that a lot of other things were a problem, too. I won't make any pronouncements that I'm going to try to lose 20 pounds, increase my weekly mileage to 70, or start going to the gym 5 days a week, but I do need to make slight adjustments to almost everything in the running chain of causation. This running life is all about the Journey, and to get to the goals that are out there for me, I have to make sure that days like Sunday don't derail me from enjoying that journey. Running is supposed to be fun, among other things, and as long as I keep that uppermost in my mind, all the rest of the stuff will work itself out. I have a great coach, a great team of running partners, a supportive and loving family, and I'm not injured. Time to let this day pass into memory and look ahead, not backwards.
Ah, yes, the post-mortem. Marathons are tricky and occasionally frustrating beasts. I love all the long training runs with the Gazelles, the nifty schedule that looks so logical and exact (12 miler, 14 miler, easy week, 16 miler, etc.), and the general lifestyle of the endurance athlete. I even like the way that most of my non-running friends treat me when they ask about the latest training run or race, and I can say stuff like "Aw, we just ran 15 on Saturday." By that point in the training, it really does feel like a ho-hum thing, but it certainly is not to most of our friends and neighbors. Still, when Race Day arrives, some 5 to 6 months after starting your marathon specific training, it is with some trepidation that we toe the line. There's so much at stake, and unlike most race distances, you can't just do another one in a couple of weeks if this one doesn't work out for reasons under our control (bad pacing, bad diet, wearing brand new shoes) or not (weather, illness, getting trampled by a deer in the starting corral). So, after all this preamble, you're saying, "Get on with it! Just tell us what happened so we can go back to watching American Idol!" :-)
Sunday dawned clear and cold, exactly as Weather.com predicted. 35 glorious degrees when I peeked at the temp on weather TV. I got out of bed at 4:45am after a fairly sleepless night on Saturday, and pulled on my lucky PR racing clothing (gray BOA shorts, Gazelles singlet underneath, and red long-sleeved Gazelles shirt on top), plus other warmup type stuff for the time being. My properly broken-in Fila Providence III shoes (just 75 miles on them as of Race Morning) went on next, and I headed for the kitchen. I grabbed a bagel and a banana, some Powerade, a 12 ounce Accelerade, and my post-race Endurox, and headed for the door. The only warning sign at that point was that my weight was a pound lower than it was on Saturday morning. That's not what you want to see in the midst of carbo- and hydro-loading.
Despite my restless night of mostly non-sleep, I felt pretty wide awake on the drive down to the starting area. As I had thought, the traffic control folks had blocked the First Street exit way before the promised 6:00am closing time, so I went ahead with my driving plan and went south of the river to catch Barton Springs Road for my journey to parking. There were some lane narrowing issues, but I was able to get to the corner of Barton Springs and S. First without incident. From there, though, it appeared that there were serious traffic cone blockage issues to prevent me from going pretty much anywhere I wanted to park. I fooled them by driving through gaps in the cones (hey, it was 5:30am!), cutting through the One Texas Centre parking lot, and then skirting around the building to the side entrance to the parking deck, which neatly avoided the dude blocking the main parking deck entrance. I did take the precaution of parking in a spot that didn't have a number so that I was in less danger of being towed, but the garage was virtually empty.
Parking done, I finished off half of the bagel and the banana, and drank the rest of the Powerade. I took the Endurox and Accelerade, grabbed my gear bag, and headed for RunTex to meet up with the peeps. It was a nice walk, but I was getting keyed up a bit about the upcoming ordeal. I know that I appear to be fairly calm and low-key most of the time, but this was not one of those occasions. :-) The gang was gathering when I arrived, and it was nice to see my running friends. Alex looked really happy, but I'd say that pretty much everyone else had that look of guarded focus peculiar to the endurance athlete. Gilbert took a pretty big part of the crew off on a warmup jog, but a handful of us wanted to get our stuff to baggage claim way ahead of time instead, so we walked up to the starting area. Alex, Frank, Colleen, and Amy joined me in this mission. I was drinking my Accelerade a little at a time, to top off the tanks. We took advantage of some short facility lines, and then we pretty much got separated as we went from there to drop off our baggage way up at 3rd and Congress.
The pre-race organization was pretty good, really, but time starts doing weird things to you before a marathon, so I wasn't sure if I was moving quickly through all this pre-race hoo-hah or not. I found the DC baggage drop, and took a few minutes to strip off my warmup stuff, pin on my number, put on my lovely trashbag vest, load up my GU and Enervitene, and then I dropped off my bag. Free of all non-essential encumbrances, it was time to make my way to the starting crowds. I had the last little bit of my Accelerade on the way down to the bridge, and as I got there, the sun popped up. It was really a pretty morning, but it was soon going to be time to run, and we didn't have long to admire the sunrise.
I didn't see the 3:45 pace sign right away, so I camped out in the crowd probably 50 yards or more from the starting line, right by the 3:30 and 3:40 pace leaders. I figured the 3:45 peeps would find their way down pretty soon. I was standing around with Monique, Emily H., and Laura. Jennifer was apparently lined up with the 3:40 pace group, but I couldn't see her. By the way, thanks again for the great pre-race idea, Frank! :-) The 3:45 people settled in about 10 feet ahead of me, so I had my target sighted. Anyway, the fireworks went off behind us, which was pretty cool, and without an audible National Anthem or horn or anything else, we were moving. The race had started. Some walking, some stopping, some more walking, and finally we toed the starting mat. I clicked the Garmin, and we were off. I was some 3 minutes off the Gun Clock.
Early race:
It was seriously crowded as we headed down and then up S. Congress. I lost the 3:45 pacers in the crowd, but I kept them in sight at least ahead of me. I figured I'd just calmly get through that first big hill on S. Congress, and slowly catch up to the 3:45 folks over the easier miles that would follow. As usual, there were tons of folks who were massively out of touch with race etiquette, so I had to weave through mobs of walkers and much slower runners at the start. I guess they'll just never get a system here that takes care of that problem. Anyway, my first mile was fine, but I was pretty far behind the bobbing 3:45 sign up ahead. I sped up during mile 2, finding some clearer running room, maybe too fast, but by mile 2, I had caught up with the 3:45 pacers. I ditched the trash bag on S. First as we started downhill. There were lots of early music groups, but I didn't catch much of what they were doing in those first couple of miles. I took Powerade at the mile 2 water stop.
The first band I really heard was at Barton Springs and S. First. They broke into Buddy Holly's "Not Fade Away" as I passed them, which was pretty cool. I was doing that yo-yo thing a bit with the 3:45 people, but stayed within 30-40 feet of the sign. They did a subtle pace adjustment at the water stops, which was interesting to observe from behind them. Turn onto Lamar, down and up the underpass, and then into totally blinding sun on Fifth Street as we went east to Guadalupe. Even with a cap and sunglasses, I couldn't see anything. Finally, we turned onto Guadalupe with tons of spectators screaming at us going by. I felt pretty good, and just kept rolling along down Cesar Chavez. I took my first GU on schedule around mile 4, and I continued that alternating thing for most of the race. Powerade alone, and then 2 miles later, water and a GU. Rinse, repeat.
The course diverted from what I thought was the route slightly at Austin High School, but it wasn't a big deal, just interesting. There was a solo singer/guitarist at AHS singing a story song that involved a policeman, a guy, and either a picture of an old girlfriend or the actual girlfriend. I kinda wanted to know what happened, but I had a marathon to run. Bernard was standing just after the 6 mile mark handing out the Gazelles "Elite" bottles of Accelerade, which was really cool. I passed on that, but it was still pretty cool. Up the nasty little hill at Veterans, and then some more easy running down Lake Austin Blvd. So far, so good, all the way to Enfield. A rock band was playing "Breakdown" on Lake Austin. Was this foreshadowing?
Splits miles 1-7: 9:06, 8:19 (!), 8:27, 8:44, 8:27, 8:25, 8:42. Average pace 8:36, right on target.
The Hills:
Enfield commenced the rolling stuff and the seemingly relentless climb to the 18 mile point. We had some more sun issues on Enfield, but I stayed near the 3:45 group throughout this rolling part of the course. In the weird brain fog that I was in, it seemed that the hills had changed on Enfield from our training runs, but that was just a trick of the low sun and the tons of runners around me. Carrie was there for a second, but then she shifted to hang with her man. Once we turned onto Exposition, it got tougher. The half marathoners peeled off around mile 9.5 or so, and shortly thereafter, I think a priest blessed me with Holy Water from a tall ladder in the middle of Exposition. At least that's what I think he/she was doing. I didn't focus on who was doing the holy work, as I had my own work to do. With the crowds thinned just a little, I stayed in sight of the 3:45 group until mile 10 or so, but already I was a little out of sorts. Dennis passed me on one of the last hills. By the time I rolled up and over the Mopac bridge, I had lost the 3:45 folks for good.
I tried to find a good gear once the course levelled out on Jackson and Bull Creek, but it was sort of ominous already. Brian pulled up with me late in mile 13, and I sort of let him know, quietly, maybe telepathically, that I wasn't up to keeping up with him. By the time we had rolled down and up to Shoal Creek, he was gone ahead of me. The 3:50 people may have caught me by then, too, but I'm not sure. I had shifted to a new gear on Shoal Creek, and started calculating the pace necessary to repeat last year's 3:56:07, starting from where I was. It seemed to be a logical and makeable goal. At the time. Going backwards from the old marathon route, you got a real appreciation for how downhill the old course was. The new course was fair, but it was tougher than the old course(s). Oh, well. There was an unexpected sight at the water stop just before 2222 crossed Shoal Creek, when I saw the familiar Gazelles logo. Apparently, the Gazelles pitched in to cover two water stops, as I found out later. I got myself up White Rock to Great Northern, and commenced the first of three long straight stretches of road.
Splits miles 8-14: 8:35, 8:42, 8:48, 8:43, 8:58, 8:44, 8:56. Still okay, but it wasn't going as smoothly as I had planned. Average pace 8:41. Still on target for 3:50 or so, so I tried to hang in there.
The Abyss:
I was walking through the water stops by now, and at the second Gazelles water stop around mile 15, I loved the boost as they called out to me by name, but I was a little embarassed to be strolling by them. Yes, the internal psychological drama was starting to happen. I started heating up, so I busied myself with getting the safety pins ready to transfer the number to my singlet. Thought I'd give my shirt and gloves to Mary Anne and the kids if they were spectating at Northcross Mall as they had planned. The bagpipers were on Great Northern, and a band at the Gazelles water stop. I think he was just strumming his electric guitar when I went by. Lots of spectators again on the stretch behind Northcross, but no family. Oh, well. I held it together until I got past all those people, and then the urge to stop and walk overcame me. At the 17 mile marker, I started walking, and changed out of my long sleeved shirt, wrapping it in a neat tube and putting it around my waist. The gloves came off then, too, as my hands were really too warm by then. Bright sun, and in a singlet, at least, it was still perfect running weather. I just wasn't up to taking advantage of the conditions.
The long, straight stretch up Foster proved to be the toughest part of the whole race, mentally. For a mile or so, I mostly jogged gamely, with some walking, to the corner and the highest point on the race course. That long stretch was where I went through most of the list of stages of dealing with disappointment (anger, denial, acceptance, etc.), and I fought through some lumps in the throat and some burning in the eyes as well. Laura passed me on that street. I was totally bummed, and thought a lot about just stepping off the course and quitting the thing. I felt a lot of embarassment about letting down Gilbert and my fellow Gazelles, especially dressed in all my team clothes. I hated whatever weakness inside me that was causing this meltdown, but I didn't have enough energy to push through it. Finally, we reached the corner at Woodward and started a nice stretch that was built for gentle downhill running. However, I couldn't get going enough to enjoy it too much. I did some jogging interspersed with the walking, but it was slow going. I stopped taking GU at the mile 16/17 water stop, as it seemed silly to keep taking in carbs for what was becoming a nice recovery walk. I was done, and I had miles to go.
Splits miles 15-18: 9:28, 9:15, 10:17 (changing clothes), 9:37. Yuck. Average pace now 8:54. Maybe I could still salvage a sub 4:00?
Trudgery:
The 4:00 group passed me like I was standing still on the North Loop hills, and that pretty much ended my day. I couldn't accelerate enough to stay with them, and at that point, I broke for good. From that point on, it was a walk with some (very little) bits and stretches of jogging as I worked my way home. I wondered if I pulled off near Amy's house if I could find her house key and get Mary Anne to come and get me. That thought went away, but it did happen. The ClifShot Zone was sort of a grumpy blur. Leslie came by, happy and cruising, and tried to get me to go with her, but I just waved her on. She really tried, and I appreciate it, but it just wasn't happening today. I was in that mode of jogging the downhills and walking the uphills.
Avenue H was fun, if I had been running. There were lots of neighbors out to cheer us on. There was a graphic poster at one house that startled me, comparing running to, uh, something I hadn't considered comparing running to, which made me laugh. Across the street, there was a boombox playing "Chariots of Fire," which I haven't heard in a while. At least I laughed about it with some spectators when I muttered that the Chariots song was perfect because I was moving in slow motion just like that sequence in the movie. They got a good laugh about that. Just doing what I could to entertain the crowd. This was about when I started contemplating skipping this race next year (I've done 5 in a row, now), and thinking about attending next year's event as either on-course entertainment or some other volunteer/cheerleader role. I had plenty of time, so I started working up a list of songs and song types that I'd like to hear on the run.
Red River came soon enough, and I was in serious countdown mode. I started calculating, and I figured I had a good shot at 4:10 if I maintained my current pace. At least I had a goal now. There were familiar faces cheering along Red River closer to 38th, but I was sort of trying to become invisible. I'm sure I was a vision...shoulders slumped, pride visibly wounded. I started noticing, though, that I wasn't the only one reduced to this shuffle. That started reviving me a little, and as we passed mile 23, I thought maybe I could suck it up a little for "just 5K."
Splits miles 19-23: 10:07, 11:19, 11:38, 11:39, 12:02. Thank God I'm a pretty fast walker! Average pace slipping, slipping, slipping into the ugly...to 9:26.
Angels and Friends:
The nasty little down and up on 38th wasn't a huge bit of fun, but I was jogging a little more now, since I was getting closer to being finished with this long day. After getting up the hill to Duval, I started doing some better and more organized jogging interspersed with walks, aiming to be more mobile when I passed by the water stop at mile 24 where Sean would be working. As I eased back into a walk at the water stop to get my last fluids for the big finish, Sean spotted me. I was going to wave him off, but he wasn't going to listen to me. He was on a mission. He literally dropped his water cups that he was supposed to be handing out, and ran slowly along with me, matching my meager strides, in his full volunteer regalia, reflective vest and all. Debbie, Jorge, Patrick, and Liliana were yelling for me like I was one of the lead Kenyans. I got all verklempt. Patrick offered to call Mary Anne for me after I asked, but we couldn't get her phone to answer. Thanks anyway, Patrick! Sean ran with me for a while, talking to me and getting my mind off my unhappiness. He even gave me five reasons in answer to my question "Why do we do these things?" God bless him and my Gazelles friends! He finally peeled off at the UT campus, and I was surprised to find that I ran maybe a half mile with his help. Awesome, really, considering how things had been going. I jogged a little while longer, and then had to walk again. At least in those last miles, I was trying to do a little more running.
Miles 24 and 25: 10:52, 10:50. Time for whatever would pass for a big finish! Average slumped to 9:33.
The Big Finish:
I tried to figure out just what the 40K sign meant to me, in terms of remaining distance, but I just wasn't up to it. I guessed it was about 2K to go. That hill going up to the Bob Bullock museum wasn't too bad, really, and I kinda got it going up to the Capitol. If Gilbert was going to be out on the course, it was going to be sometime soon, and I really wanted to be running when I went by him. Even at my survival shuffle pace, I was passing people, which helped my mental state a bit. I passed up the Harriers beer stop, but I was tempted.
Gilbert was concerned for us, I think, as his face was in deep concentration as I went by. He was telling his photographer who to take pictures of as we came up to the Capitol. I'm thankful that I was running the whole time Gilbert saw me! I may have said something to him like, "I'm okay, but it's been a tough day," but I'm not sure exactly if that was just in my head or if I actually said it. Late-Marathon Psychosis, perhaps. Anyway, it was sort of lonely around the Capitol and down that steep drive, but as soon as I hit Congress, it was massive wall-to-wall spectators for those 7 blocks to the finish. It was a lot like when you come off the Queensboro Bridge in NYC, and you make a couple of turns in silence, and suddenly you pop out on First Avenue (or is it Fifth?) in Manhattan and the sound of the crowds is like a jet engine.
Anyway, I started counting down blocks to the finish line. Right at the top at 11th, seven blocks to go. Some ladies/girls were struggling ahead of me, and as I passed them, I told them, "six blocks to go," and they said, "Are you sure?" After you get lied to so often on the course ("It's all downhill from here" is my favorite), you have trouble believing anyone, even fellow runners. 10th Street, 6 blocks to go. Ninth Street, and I could sort of make out the finish structure way ahead. The gap in the street for the runners seemed to be narrowing, as spectators crowded along the sides and screamed. Surreal. Eighth Street, 4 blocks to go. Seventh Street, I looked up to the SFA Hotel to see if I could spot Mary Anne and the kids, and found them pretty quickly. They saw me, too, which was lucky because I'm sure they were looking for the promised red shirt. That boosted my spirits, and probably calmed down Sarah, who was worried about her Daddy. Right in there, I saw Stephanie Stanford, walking up the course, and that was fun.
Then, suddenly out of nowhere, Richard appeared beside me, jogging along, and just told me something like "You're looking good!" and then, more clearly in my memory, he pointed to the three people nearest and ahead of me, and shouted "Go pass them!" Dammit, now I had to run harder! Okay, Richard, here I go! Sixth Street, 2 blocks to go. I caught and passed two of the people, and was running down the next. Rumbling, stumbling... Fifth Street. One thin block to go. I saw the Mile 13 marker for the Half Marathon. I caught one more person, then one more in the stretch, and finally...Fourth Street, the finish line, and I was finished with this thing! Sheepishly, I put up my arms, and after a few steps, I punched the stop button on the watch. 4:10 and change.
Splits last 1.22 miles: 11:40 (9:34/mile pace for my "killer sprint"). 4:10:28. 9:35/mile.
Post-race:
I got my medal, and once again, the Austin medals are really nice, polished, heavy slabs of nickel or some such metal. First class medals, for sure. I started sucking down that first bottle of water, and kept moving through the finishing chute.
I saw Lisa right away, and she was terrific. She was there after running Laura in, I think, or Emily H. I forget now. But she really took care of me, and sort of aimed me towards Venus after I got my baggage. Saw Leslie, found Venus and settled down with her. She was getting her bearings back after a tough day for her as well. I was just tired of being on my feet. I got my food stuff first and then I sat down carefully, and started putting clothes on to keep from getting chilled, and drank down my Endurox. I saw Monique and Emily H., who both did better than I did. Emily qualified for Boston (of course), and I found out that Jennifer had run under 3:50 again. Those women are tough! I hung out there for a while and drank the Endurox while I waited for Venus to stop spinning (inside. She wasn't doing a whirling dervish thing.). I called Mary Anne finally, and told her I'd meet them at the DC room in a while.
After I got my nice red DC finishers shirt, I gathered up Venus, and we headed out of the hubbub. We spotted Ron, our massage guy, and he helped me sort of babble about the post-mortem of a bad run. Getting out of the runners area was very difficult. The spectators were crammed around the exit, which didn't leave anywhere for us to go trying to get out of the finisher's paddock. Finally, a stout volunteer realized what was happening, and started shouting at the specators to back up and leave us room to leave. Ron, Venus and Lisa laughed and said it was like being Rock Stars getting through the papparazzi. Venus and I headed up for a nice walk up to the SFA to visit the DC party and to get our DC finishers' swag. Since I had had so long to think about the day during the run, I was pretty much over any sadness or anger, and the walk up to the SFA was actually very pleasant.
I saw a bunch of folks at the DC room. Teri, one of my ex-Galloway peeps, was sort of the hall monitor at the first landing of the stairs. That was fun to see her. The DC setup was nice. Plenty of food that I didn't want, but the bartender hooked me up with a Dr. Pepper, and that was awesome. My family was relieved to see me when I finally got up there, and we spent some time chatting and reassuring them that I was disappointed but okay, physically. I hung out and chatted with the DC folks that I knew, and did a tiny bit of stretching as I sat on the floor. Mary Anne and the kids left after a while, and I left about 15 minutes after them. Venus stayed there to chill out a little longer, so I took another nice walk down to One Texas Centre to get the car, and I was done with the day.
The DC Finisher's stuff was pretty nice, by the way. Another backpack contained stuff from the sponsors of all the other DC races, including a cap from ARA (the 20 miler), a water bottle, and a nice little fleece blanket from 3M. Plus, I could cram my remaining post-race baggage into it for the walk to the car. Nice!
Mangia:
After a long practice with the classical guitar ensemble, I shook loose to meet Brad, Alex, and Frank at Mangia. We kept one eye on the Daytona 500, and offered up our stories of the day. It was nice to finish decompressing about the race with my Gazelles buddies. The pizza was deep dish Carnivore as usual, and it was great. The Live Oak Big Bark beer was quite tasty. After quite a stay there, we happily drifted out to head home, and the long long day was done.
What Happened?
Well, it's probably a combination of a bunch of things, but right now, I know that I messed up with my pre-race hydration and carbo-loading. It's time to do some serious work on that process, so that I don't find myself running out of gas on these longest races. I'm sure that a lot of other things were a problem, too. I won't make any pronouncements that I'm going to try to lose 20 pounds, increase my weekly mileage to 70, or start going to the gym 5 days a week, but I do need to make slight adjustments to almost everything in the running chain of causation. This running life is all about the Journey, and to get to the goals that are out there for me, I have to make sure that days like Sunday don't derail me from enjoying that journey. Running is supposed to be fun, among other things, and as long as I keep that uppermost in my mind, all the rest of the stuff will work itself out. I have a great coach, a great team of running partners, a supportive and loving family, and I'm not injured. Time to let this day pass into memory and look ahead, not backwards.
Saturday, February 17, 2007
AT&T Goals
Okay, here's the whole goal thing. We're going to have great weather tomorrow, it looks like, so that's one less thing to be concerned with. Awesome!
I'm going to run with the 3:45 pace group tomorrow. My Distance Challenge times tell me that I should theoretically be able to run 3:35-3:37, but I'm allowing a cushion for the marathon. In the past, I've usually made the mistake of going out too hard, where even 10 seconds per mile early can be a really bad thing later in the race. So, I'm giving up my pacing issues to the pace group tomorrow. Given that I seem to thrive on the group strength in training, why not see if that works in the race?
3:45 would be an 11 minute marathon PR, which would not be too shabby. If I'm feeling great, then I might try to push it late in the race. I certainly know the course very well, so once we get to Red River (mile 22) will be the time to figure out if I'm going to stick with the pace group or not. This is assuming I'm still with them at that point, for good or bad.
My major race goal is to finish strong. I've only had a solid finish to a marathon a couple of times in 14 previous attempts, and as I recall, it's a lot more fun to be passing people in those last miles than to be the guy shuffling along and getting dusted by dozens of people late.
So, I'm giving up the Distance Challenge corral privilege for tomorrow, lining up with the 3:45 pace banner, and taking a shot at yet another PR this racing season (I've set PR's at every race starting with Motive, so it would be nice to continue that streak). As we go through the hills, I may let the elastic band stretch a bit on the inclines, especially if the group seems to be powering up the hilly bits early. I know there's plenty of downhills and flatter stretches where I can catch back up, gently. The main thing I want to avoid with the pace groups is having to chop my steps or otherwise change my running stride to accomodate the group. Hopefully, that won't be an issue.
I've got my GU, my Enervitene, my racing shoes (Fila Providence III), my post-race gear bag, my trash bag pre-race vest, gloves, hat, and my lucky racing outfit (although I'm not superstitious). I've done the training, I'm rested and sharp, and basically I'm just ready to get this thing going. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, and hopefully, I'll actually get some sleep tonight.
Race report to be posted once I finish stuffing my face with post-race Mangia!
I'm going to run with the 3:45 pace group tomorrow. My Distance Challenge times tell me that I should theoretically be able to run 3:35-3:37, but I'm allowing a cushion for the marathon. In the past, I've usually made the mistake of going out too hard, where even 10 seconds per mile early can be a really bad thing later in the race. So, I'm giving up my pacing issues to the pace group tomorrow. Given that I seem to thrive on the group strength in training, why not see if that works in the race?
3:45 would be an 11 minute marathon PR, which would not be too shabby. If I'm feeling great, then I might try to push it late in the race. I certainly know the course very well, so once we get to Red River (mile 22) will be the time to figure out if I'm going to stick with the pace group or not. This is assuming I'm still with them at that point, for good or bad.
My major race goal is to finish strong. I've only had a solid finish to a marathon a couple of times in 14 previous attempts, and as I recall, it's a lot more fun to be passing people in those last miles than to be the guy shuffling along and getting dusted by dozens of people late.
So, I'm giving up the Distance Challenge corral privilege for tomorrow, lining up with the 3:45 pace banner, and taking a shot at yet another PR this racing season (I've set PR's at every race starting with Motive, so it would be nice to continue that streak). As we go through the hills, I may let the elastic band stretch a bit on the inclines, especially if the group seems to be powering up the hilly bits early. I know there's plenty of downhills and flatter stretches where I can catch back up, gently. The main thing I want to avoid with the pace groups is having to chop my steps or otherwise change my running stride to accomodate the group. Hopefully, that won't be an issue.
I've got my GU, my Enervitene, my racing shoes (Fila Providence III), my post-race gear bag, my trash bag pre-race vest, gloves, hat, and my lucky racing outfit (although I'm not superstitious). I've done the training, I'm rested and sharp, and basically I'm just ready to get this thing going. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, and hopefully, I'll actually get some sleep tonight.
Race report to be posted once I finish stuffing my face with post-race Mangia!
EZ Running, Some Stretching, etc.
Today was the usual pre-race deal. We got to sleep in, and a sizeable group was there for 30 minutes of easy running on the trail. We got just over 3 miles, and I had no aches or pains, so I was happy about that. Pete sort of talked us into doing the drills instead of just a bunch of striders, and that felt just fine. The weather was really great, so we're all pretty excited about tomorrow's big race.
Stretching featured a whole lot of folks as we sprawled over our grassy corner near Palmer Auditorium. It was a light-hearted gathering, and the marathoners are really goofy right now. For some reason, a photographer that we did not know appeared and circled through the crowd snapping photos. That was weird!
Anyway, now we really don't have anything left to do besides waking up and running a marathon. I know that's a bigger deal than it sounds written like that, but after months of training, I'm just ready to run the race and be done with it for a while. Let the party get started!
Stretching featured a whole lot of folks as we sprawled over our grassy corner near Palmer Auditorium. It was a light-hearted gathering, and the marathoners are really goofy right now. For some reason, a photographer that we did not know appeared and circled through the crowd snapping photos. That was weird!
Anyway, now we really don't have anything left to do besides waking up and running a marathon. I know that's a bigger deal than it sounds written like that, but after months of training, I'm just ready to run the race and be done with it for a while. Let the party get started!
Friday, February 16, 2007
AT&T Expo
Today, I went to the marathon Expo to get all that over with so that Saturday can be as restful as possible. I waited until 3:15 or so to walk in (I know, that's only 15 minutes after it opened, but at least I didn't push my way in with the people who were standing right outside the doors 10 minutes before they opened!). Packet pickup was very smooth in the Distance Challenge pickup lanes, and then I found Frank.
We did some shopping at the RunTex central area, taking advantage of a coupon deal in the Participants magazine, saw a bunch of fellow Gazelles, and generally had a nice time of checking out things there. We caught up with Alex about halfway through the exhibitors, and both of them seemed very calm about Sunday. For a change, I might be the most keyed up of the three of us. Go figure.
I chatted with the folks at the pace group booth, and I feel even more certain that I will do better to travel with them this year. What the heck...I've tried 14 previous marathons pacing myself, so why not let someone else do the driving on Sunday? :-)
Tomorrow, we get to sleep in, and do the super easy 30 minutes and stretching ritual starting at 7:45. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone for one last time before the race kicks off on Sunday. Just 36 hours and counting!
We did some shopping at the RunTex central area, taking advantage of a coupon deal in the Participants magazine, saw a bunch of fellow Gazelles, and generally had a nice time of checking out things there. We caught up with Alex about halfway through the exhibitors, and both of them seemed very calm about Sunday. For a change, I might be the most keyed up of the three of us. Go figure.
I chatted with the folks at the pace group booth, and I feel even more certain that I will do better to travel with them this year. What the heck...I've tried 14 previous marathons pacing myself, so why not let someone else do the driving on Sunday? :-)
Tomorrow, we get to sleep in, and do the super easy 30 minutes and stretching ritual starting at 7:45. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone for one last time before the race kicks off on Sunday. Just 36 hours and counting!
Thursday, February 15, 2007
Pre-race Massage [Entered 2/16/07]
Thursday, I went to see Ron for my pre-race massage tuneup. There were a couple of spots in my hamstring that needed working out, but besides that, I seem to be in pretty good shape. I've started imagining that every tweak or twitch in my legs is a harbinger of some sort of pull or strain, which makes me a little more goofy than usual. I know...it's Taper Madness, but still...
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Valentine's Running [Entered 2/16/07]
Wednesday, I sneaked out in the 'Hood in the middle of the day for the last tuneup run before AT&T, 10 x 1:00 of fartlek accelerations. I set up the Garmin with all the necessary beepers, and went out sans iPod so I could hear those prompts. It was nice and cool, but lonely without the Gazelles around me.
15 minutes of easy running led into 10 x 1:00 of accelerations, with 1:00 easy jogging between. I didn't push as hard as usual, just touching around 8:00/mile during the faster bits, which was sufficient to get some turnover going with my legs. I finished off with just 6 minutes of easy jogging before calling it a day.
I scored some 5.5 miles total, with the fartlek portion averaging about 8:30/mile. It did the job, I guess, but I'm restless. I just want to get this marathon started! I did a pretty good stretching routine afterwards, and that was it.
So far, the Dr. Pepper fast isn't too bad, and I'm being much better about what I eat this week. It's all about Sunday, after all. There will be plenty of time for sugar-laden soft drinks and fried food after the race is run. :-)
15 minutes of easy running led into 10 x 1:00 of accelerations, with 1:00 easy jogging between. I didn't push as hard as usual, just touching around 8:00/mile during the faster bits, which was sufficient to get some turnover going with my legs. I finished off with just 6 minutes of easy jogging before calling it a day.
I scored some 5.5 miles total, with the fartlek portion averaging about 8:30/mile. It did the job, I guess, but I'm restless. I just want to get this marathon started! I did a pretty good stretching routine afterwards, and that was it.
So far, the Dr. Pepper fast isn't too bad, and I'm being much better about what I eat this week. It's all about Sunday, after all. There will be plenty of time for sugar-laden soft drinks and fried food after the race is run. :-)
Monday, February 12, 2007
Sharpening the Spear
Today, on a drizzly, misty morning, we gathered up nervously for 4000m at somewhere just south of MGP, on the Zilker soccer field course. Gilbert gave us some encouraging words and laid out the entire week for us, and with that, we were off to Zilker. I was amused to find that I was in the lead group going over to Zilker today, whereas on Thursday, with that bunch, I was in the very last group getting to AHS. Different groups, for sure! :-)
There was a lot of nervous talk about the marathon, about our strategies for nutrition this week, for pacing during the race, and everything in between. So far, the long-range weather forecast is looking very good, but that could change in an instant here in Texas.
We did the drills, and as is somewhat traditional, they got shortened in distance again this week of the marathon. No one declares anything, it just always happens this way. Kenny met us at the top of the course, gave us the details, and pretty soon, we were off. The non-AT&T people were doing faster 1000m repeats (and more of them). We did two loops of the 2000m course, aiming for MGP or something just faster than that.
I ran with Jennifer and Colleen, and we naturally went out slightly too fast. We got it figured out for the rest of the morning, though, and ended up with about 2.4 miles at 8:22/mile. Snappy enough to get the legs to turn over, but not so fast that we used up too much of our reserves. I ran back to RunTex with Frank and Alex, among others, and we had more fun talk on the way. 6 striders at Auditorium Shores later, and we were done. I counted about 5.8 miles of total running, including all the pre- and post-game festivities.
I stuck around and did some stretching, and there were a good number of folks hanging around for that.
We are all a little twitchy nowadays, and every ache or twinge causes us to do a mild freakout, but I know that's mostly Taper Madness setting in. We're all reporting feeling a little bit of the heavy leg syndrome, where our legs are just reacting to their dramatically reduced workload.
I don't get to do Gazelles the rest of the week, until Saturday's little 30 minute jog and stretching, so it was oddly tough for me to say goodbye to everyone today. We've put so much time into this thing, as a group, and we've come to know each other so much better on all those long runs and workouts...it's exciting to be at the edge of the big race, but at the same time, it's a little sad that our little running family will change after Sunday. There will be some folks that decide that this was enough marathoning for them, and they'll go back to training on their own, while some may switch training groups or focus on triathlons. There will be plenty of people sticking around for the Spring 5K/10K/Half marathon semester of Gazelles, but we'll be saying goodbye to people, that's for sure.
There was a lot of nervous talk about the marathon, about our strategies for nutrition this week, for pacing during the race, and everything in between. So far, the long-range weather forecast is looking very good, but that could change in an instant here in Texas.
We did the drills, and as is somewhat traditional, they got shortened in distance again this week of the marathon. No one declares anything, it just always happens this way. Kenny met us at the top of the course, gave us the details, and pretty soon, we were off. The non-AT&T people were doing faster 1000m repeats (and more of them). We did two loops of the 2000m course, aiming for MGP or something just faster than that.
I ran with Jennifer and Colleen, and we naturally went out slightly too fast. We got it figured out for the rest of the morning, though, and ended up with about 2.4 miles at 8:22/mile. Snappy enough to get the legs to turn over, but not so fast that we used up too much of our reserves. I ran back to RunTex with Frank and Alex, among others, and we had more fun talk on the way. 6 striders at Auditorium Shores later, and we were done. I counted about 5.8 miles of total running, including all the pre- and post-game festivities.
I stuck around and did some stretching, and there were a good number of folks hanging around for that.
We are all a little twitchy nowadays, and every ache or twinge causes us to do a mild freakout, but I know that's mostly Taper Madness setting in. We're all reporting feeling a little bit of the heavy leg syndrome, where our legs are just reacting to their dramatically reduced workload.
I don't get to do Gazelles the rest of the week, until Saturday's little 30 minute jog and stretching, so it was oddly tough for me to say goodbye to everyone today. We've put so much time into this thing, as a group, and we've come to know each other so much better on all those long runs and workouts...it's exciting to be at the edge of the big race, but at the same time, it's a little sad that our little running family will change after Sunday. There will be some folks that decide that this was enough marathoning for them, and they'll go back to training on their own, while some may switch training groups or focus on triathlons. There will be plenty of people sticking around for the Spring 5K/10K/Half marathon semester of Gazelles, but we'll be saying goodbye to people, that's for sure.
Saturday, February 10, 2007
The Last Long Run (before the marathon...)
Today, we met for the Last Long(ish) Run before next Sunday's AT&T Marathon. We gathered up at 6:30am for 7-10 miles, incorporating all of the first 7 miles of the course, maybe even the first 8 miles. Most of my pace pals were in attendance, and we ended up with Frank as a Guest Runner, too. It was a fairly spirited run, and we had some good fun today. Without traffic controls, it was a little spooky running down Lamar, but after that, it wasn't too bad. There were a lot of construction vehicles and such along the route. Of course, that won't be the case next Sunday.
We got water/Powerade from Kenny's stop at Austin Tricyclist, and then made our second stop at the Rock under Mopac. From there, it was a modest fast finish back to Auditorium Shores. If it sounds like it was sort of a ho-hum run, you might be right. I think that a combination of nerves about next weekend's big race had a lot to do with it. We were anxious, and were extra careful about stepping up and down off of curbs and such. As Alex says, it's time to put ourselves in bubble wrap for the next week, to prevent damage before the race even starts.
The pace was quicker than usual today, as might be expected on this nice, cool morning (40 degrees, more or less), and we ended up with 9.12 miles at 8:49/mile running pace. With our two brief water stops included, the pace drifted up to 9:07/mile. My own fast finish for the last 2.2 miles was just under 8:00/mile pace. Sue, Jennifer and I cruised in at that pace, and for me, at least, it didn't feel all that much faster than we'd been going. I'll take that as a good sign.
6 striders later, we were done with the running portion of the day. I scored 9.4 miles for the day with the strides. A full stretching session later, in the chilly post-run time slot, and we were done. I'd say that everyone is ready for the marathon to get here already. All this training, and now we have to endure Taper Madness for another week!
We got water/Powerade from Kenny's stop at Austin Tricyclist, and then made our second stop at the Rock under Mopac. From there, it was a modest fast finish back to Auditorium Shores. If it sounds like it was sort of a ho-hum run, you might be right. I think that a combination of nerves about next weekend's big race had a lot to do with it. We were anxious, and were extra careful about stepping up and down off of curbs and such. As Alex says, it's time to put ourselves in bubble wrap for the next week, to prevent damage before the race even starts.
The pace was quicker than usual today, as might be expected on this nice, cool morning (40 degrees, more or less), and we ended up with 9.12 miles at 8:49/mile running pace. With our two brief water stops included, the pace drifted up to 9:07/mile. My own fast finish for the last 2.2 miles was just under 8:00/mile pace. Sue, Jennifer and I cruised in at that pace, and for me, at least, it didn't feel all that much faster than we'd been going. I'll take that as a good sign.
6 striders later, we were done with the running portion of the day. I scored 9.4 miles for the day with the strides. A full stretching session later, in the chilly post-run time slot, and we were done. I'd say that everyone is ready for the marathon to get here already. All this training, and now we have to endure Taper Madness for another week!
Thursday, February 08, 2007
Yasso 800's
Thursday, I was able to rejoin the Gazelles for the Yasso 8-10 x 800m workout. We were to run our 800m repeats at a pace that follows the Yasso theory, so that my 3:40 marathon goal time (3:40-3:45, but who's counting for this purpose), equated to a 3:40 average 800m repeat. That pace would be a lot easier than we usually run 800's, but still snappy.
There were lots of Gazelles in attendance this morning, probably around 30. Weather was drizzly and cool enough (55 degrees), but not the most fun conditions we've had. I trailed the pack on the warmup, running along with Leslie, Alex, Renee and Rachel, among others. We had fun, even though we got to the AHS track after the faster Gazelles (i.e. everyone else) had started the drills. We fell right in with them, though, and only skipped the first drill. No biggie. Rogue was there with a good number of folks, so we all had to cooperate to make the track work for all of us.
Gilbert started calling out pace ranges and letting the groups assemble, sending them out as they were called. When he finally got to "3:30," no one stood in, so he was a little frustrated with us until I told him we were thinking about shooting for 3:35-3:40. He went along with that, and we ended up with 7 people in our group. The coolest thing about today's workout was that I didn't have to lead a single lap! Renee and Leslie, along with help from Rachel, drove the pace bus today, and they did a good job with it. We were just cruising along, finishing up lap 7, when Gilbert told us that 8 would be plenty. So, we picked it up a bit on the eighth repeat, but it felt easy. We wobbled a little on pace, but on balance, the group did a good job of staying within our stated range.
I felt a slight tweak in my hip flexor/groin area at first, which worried me, but it went away, so I'll ascribe it to "Taper Madness." :-)
The laps: 3:41, 3:37, 3:39, 3:36, 3:39, 3:39, 3:36, and a "run how you feel" last lap of 3:27. Average was 3:37/800m, or 7:16/mile. For a last tuneup workout, I'm pleased with it.
The cooldown run was with most of the same folks, and we had fun conversations on the way back. I was pretty quiet on the warmup...hard to believe, I know! :-) I stuck around for stretching with Liliana afterwards, and we felt the cold front come in as we stretched.
Now, one last longish run on Saturday, a little 2 x 2000m MGP type run on Monday, a bunch of off days, and a fartlek workout, and it's time to run that 26 miles, 385 yards next Sunday. Where did all the time go? It seems like it was just last week that we had a couple of months to go!
For the day, 7.9 miles.
There were lots of Gazelles in attendance this morning, probably around 30. Weather was drizzly and cool enough (55 degrees), but not the most fun conditions we've had. I trailed the pack on the warmup, running along with Leslie, Alex, Renee and Rachel, among others. We had fun, even though we got to the AHS track after the faster Gazelles (i.e. everyone else) had started the drills. We fell right in with them, though, and only skipped the first drill. No biggie. Rogue was there with a good number of folks, so we all had to cooperate to make the track work for all of us.
Gilbert started calling out pace ranges and letting the groups assemble, sending them out as they were called. When he finally got to "3:30," no one stood in, so he was a little frustrated with us until I told him we were thinking about shooting for 3:35-3:40. He went along with that, and we ended up with 7 people in our group. The coolest thing about today's workout was that I didn't have to lead a single lap! Renee and Leslie, along with help from Rachel, drove the pace bus today, and they did a good job with it. We were just cruising along, finishing up lap 7, when Gilbert told us that 8 would be plenty. So, we picked it up a bit on the eighth repeat, but it felt easy. We wobbled a little on pace, but on balance, the group did a good job of staying within our stated range.
I felt a slight tweak in my hip flexor/groin area at first, which worried me, but it went away, so I'll ascribe it to "Taper Madness." :-)
The laps: 3:41, 3:37, 3:39, 3:36, 3:39, 3:39, 3:36, and a "run how you feel" last lap of 3:27. Average was 3:37/800m, or 7:16/mile. For a last tuneup workout, I'm pleased with it.
The cooldown run was with most of the same folks, and we had fun conversations on the way back. I was pretty quiet on the warmup...hard to believe, I know! :-) I stuck around for stretching with Liliana afterwards, and we felt the cold front come in as we stretched.
Now, one last longish run on Saturday, a little 2 x 2000m MGP type run on Monday, a bunch of off days, and a fartlek workout, and it's time to run that 26 miles, 385 yards next Sunday. Where did all the time go? It seems like it was just last week that we had a couple of months to go!
For the day, 7.9 miles.
Wednesday, February 07, 2007
EZ Runnin' [Entered 2/8/07]
Today was a little 45 minute run in the 'Hood, nice and easy. All systems go, 4.8 miles. Nothing wrong, and I'm ready to go for tomorrow's 800m repeat workout, which is really the last hard workout until AT&T. Should be fun to go fast for the last time...
Tuesday, February 06, 2007
Cycling and Gym [Entered 2/8/7]
Tuesday, I went out to Gold's for a 35 minute indoor cycle and the usual recovery day core and leg weight workout. No really earth-shattering stuff, but I wanted to get in a workout. My legs felt fine after yesterday's W-W-Wilke, and I spent some good time doing stretching and using the foam roller. Mostly, this was a rehab assignment.
12 days till AT&T...
12 days till AT&T...
Monday, February 05, 2007
W-W-W-W-Wilke!!!
Today, we got to do Wilke one last time prior to the much more moderately hilly AT&T marathon (compared to the Wilke hill). One of our number asked for Wilke, and so Gilbert granted that request. For a change, I wasn't all that geeked up about the Big W today. I guess I'm becoming somewhat accustomed to that workout, although I still get a little twinge inside thinking about those last couple of repeats. It was a nice day for running, with temps right at 40 degrees.
We all did the long warmup/cooldown version of Wilke today, which is my favorite way of doing it. There was a very small group today, and again, that's typical when W-W-W-Wilke is on the posted schedule. Gilbert said we needed a minimum of 5 repeats, up to a maximum of 7, with 3 backwards Wilkes after that. That sounded okay to me, so after a few more words of encouragement, we were off. About 5 of us cut a bit off of the warmup run, sort of unintentionally, but we ended up getting there at about the same time, it seemed. A handful of folks had left earlier so that they could get all the Wilke goodness done in time for them to get to work, and they were hard at work when we arrived.
We did the drills, but we had a moment of amusement when a neighbor walked through us with her three little white dogs (terriers of some sort, I think). That wasn't so funny, but she had two on leashes and was carrying one dog in her arms. It was a strange sight at 6:15am.
Kenny gave us the instructions one more time, and we got started. I figured I'd do 5 for sure, and then I'd see how I felt about doing the extra one or two that were available. For some reason, I was feeling okay about the hill today, and I found the appropriate climbing gear early. I hooked up with Brian about 3 repeats into the festivities, and we helped each other push through the rest of the day. After the "minimum" of 5 repeats, we both were sort of looking to the other to suggest doing one more repeat, and came to the mutual decision to do the sixth. That was enough, though. We were strong all the way through 6 repeats, kept our pace up, and didn't slow to a walk, so I scored this as a good Wilke day. The three backwards repeats went better than usual, too, and I didn't crumple to a walk on the third like I have in the past. Thumbs up!
After all that, we gathered at the bottom of the hill with Frank, Colleen and Rachel, and started the cooldown run back to RunTex. The conversation turned saucy pretty quickly, which made the run back a lot of fun. Trail Confidenciality Rules prevent further details from being published, of course. :-)
Once we were done, I got in some stretching and chatted with Gilbert again about goals for AT&T. After contemplation (and some help from Frank), Gilbert decided that my stated plan of running with the 3:45 pace group sounds like a good one on this course. I promised to pick a more friendly course for a more serious time-based attempt on the marathon soon, perhaps Fall 2007?
For the day, I came up with about 7.5 miles. My schedule is a little goofed up this week, so I'll have two recovery type days in a row (Tues/Wed) with 5 mile easy runs and gym visits, and 10x800m on Thursday morning with that Gazelles crew. Gilbert said that we'll do those 800's a little slower than usual, but not much slower. This year, we're doing different stuff these last two weeks compared to previous pre-marathon taper times, but it should all work out about the same. Except for a faster finish time for me, of course! :-)
We all did the long warmup/cooldown version of Wilke today, which is my favorite way of doing it. There was a very small group today, and again, that's typical when W-W-W-Wilke is on the posted schedule. Gilbert said we needed a minimum of 5 repeats, up to a maximum of 7, with 3 backwards Wilkes after that. That sounded okay to me, so after a few more words of encouragement, we were off. About 5 of us cut a bit off of the warmup run, sort of unintentionally, but we ended up getting there at about the same time, it seemed. A handful of folks had left earlier so that they could get all the Wilke goodness done in time for them to get to work, and they were hard at work when we arrived.
We did the drills, but we had a moment of amusement when a neighbor walked through us with her three little white dogs (terriers of some sort, I think). That wasn't so funny, but she had two on leashes and was carrying one dog in her arms. It was a strange sight at 6:15am.
Kenny gave us the instructions one more time, and we got started. I figured I'd do 5 for sure, and then I'd see how I felt about doing the extra one or two that were available. For some reason, I was feeling okay about the hill today, and I found the appropriate climbing gear early. I hooked up with Brian about 3 repeats into the festivities, and we helped each other push through the rest of the day. After the "minimum" of 5 repeats, we both were sort of looking to the other to suggest doing one more repeat, and came to the mutual decision to do the sixth. That was enough, though. We were strong all the way through 6 repeats, kept our pace up, and didn't slow to a walk, so I scored this as a good Wilke day. The three backwards repeats went better than usual, too, and I didn't crumple to a walk on the third like I have in the past. Thumbs up!
After all that, we gathered at the bottom of the hill with Frank, Colleen and Rachel, and started the cooldown run back to RunTex. The conversation turned saucy pretty quickly, which made the run back a lot of fun. Trail Confidenciality Rules prevent further details from being published, of course. :-)
Once we were done, I got in some stretching and chatted with Gilbert again about goals for AT&T. After contemplation (and some help from Frank), Gilbert decided that my stated plan of running with the 3:45 pace group sounds like a good one on this course. I promised to pick a more friendly course for a more serious time-based attempt on the marathon soon, perhaps Fall 2007?
For the day, I came up with about 7.5 miles. My schedule is a little goofed up this week, so I'll have two recovery type days in a row (Tues/Wed) with 5 mile easy runs and gym visits, and 10x800m on Thursday morning with that Gazelles crew. Gilbert said that we'll do those 800's a little slower than usual, but not much slower. This year, we're doing different stuff these last two weeks compared to previous pre-marathon taper times, but it should all work out about the same. Except for a faster finish time for me, of course! :-)
Saturday, February 03, 2007
Tour d'Lufkin [Entered 2/5/7]
Saturday, after a full day off on Friday, I woke up in Lufkin (I knew that was going to happen...it wasn't like I woke up and found myself mysteriously in another city or anything like that...), and got myself together for a solo 15 miler through the streets of my old hometown. Since I wasn't tied into a schedule to meet anyone for the run, I slept in and didn't get going until just before 8:00am. I still ran in long pants and wore my running vest, since it was in the lower 30's when I took off, but it was bright clear sunshine, and it warmed up by the end of the run to right at 40 degrees. Very nice running weather.
With the iPod set on "shake and bake," I headed out from my childhood home and started my counterclockwise 15 mile loop of Lufkin that I've run before in one form or the other. My legs felt pretty great on the long run, and except for feeling just a touch of fatigue in them from time to time, it was merely a nice long run. It was a welcome change after a week of leg crankiness!
The first 4 miles or so were on more rural roads, and as I crossed over highway 59, I took my first GU/Powerade stop. I guess without fellow runners to move the process along, I sort of got lackadaisical about making a quick stop, and I ended up with a 2:43 stop there. In my defense, it was sure nice standing there in the sun, sipping my Powerade. :-)
The next chunk of the course finished up the larger roads on my tour, and I encountered my only dog charge of the morning. The dog gave up pretty quickly, so no harm done there. I went by the Lowe's, across the loop, and up Chestnut, turning on Denman and a trip through the grounds of the old high school, which is now the middle school in Lufkin. I believe that they only have one middle school, but I'm not totally sure of that. I took my second stop back by the track, which is now surrounded by a locked fence. The cinder surface is gone, too, and the darned thing is probably 400 meters now instead of 440 yards. Progress, I suppose.
That second stop was also pretty long (just over 7:00!), as I took off one of my shirts and stashed it away in the back pocket of the running vest. Oh, well. From the high school, it was time for the journey downtown. Past law offices, office supply stores, the courthouse (a particularly grand building for such a small town), First Baptist Church, the civic center, then back towards home. Downtown was as deserted as usual, but they've done a nice job of bricking over the sidewalks on First Street, so when more businesses come to downtown, it will look pretty good. After wheeling by Dad's office, I went by the old Junior High (used to be 8th and 9th grades), down Pershing, and stopped for my last GU/Powerade stop just across the railroad tracks. That stop was a spiffy 1:40, so I was ready to be done, I guess.
I hadn't been looking at my watch along the way, mainly because with the iPod, I didn't hear the mile chimes from the Garmin. I felt like I was dragging a little, really, but just kept chugging along down Southwood, thinking about picking it up a little so that I'd at least be at MGP for the end of the run. I only got delayed a few seconds crossing the loop the last time into the old 'Hood, and from there it was only a mile and a half or so back to my parents' house. Done.
I was pretty surprised when I totalled up the numbers later. Running alone, I had gone quicker than usual for pretty much the whole run, and so most of the run was at or near MGP. It didn't seem that quick, so I'll take that as a good sign. I ended up with 14.6 miles at 8:41/mile running pace. With the extreme break time included, it slowed to an overall 9:31/mile. Pretty good for a solo run.
I did a few strides around the driveway, did some stretching inside, and called it a day. Good stuff. And now it's just two weeks until AT&T! Scary...
With the iPod set on "shake and bake," I headed out from my childhood home and started my counterclockwise 15 mile loop of Lufkin that I've run before in one form or the other. My legs felt pretty great on the long run, and except for feeling just a touch of fatigue in them from time to time, it was merely a nice long run. It was a welcome change after a week of leg crankiness!
The first 4 miles or so were on more rural roads, and as I crossed over highway 59, I took my first GU/Powerade stop. I guess without fellow runners to move the process along, I sort of got lackadaisical about making a quick stop, and I ended up with a 2:43 stop there. In my defense, it was sure nice standing there in the sun, sipping my Powerade. :-)
The next chunk of the course finished up the larger roads on my tour, and I encountered my only dog charge of the morning. The dog gave up pretty quickly, so no harm done there. I went by the Lowe's, across the loop, and up Chestnut, turning on Denman and a trip through the grounds of the old high school, which is now the middle school in Lufkin. I believe that they only have one middle school, but I'm not totally sure of that. I took my second stop back by the track, which is now surrounded by a locked fence. The cinder surface is gone, too, and the darned thing is probably 400 meters now instead of 440 yards. Progress, I suppose.
That second stop was also pretty long (just over 7:00!), as I took off one of my shirts and stashed it away in the back pocket of the running vest. Oh, well. From the high school, it was time for the journey downtown. Past law offices, office supply stores, the courthouse (a particularly grand building for such a small town), First Baptist Church, the civic center, then back towards home. Downtown was as deserted as usual, but they've done a nice job of bricking over the sidewalks on First Street, so when more businesses come to downtown, it will look pretty good. After wheeling by Dad's office, I went by the old Junior High (used to be 8th and 9th grades), down Pershing, and stopped for my last GU/Powerade stop just across the railroad tracks. That stop was a spiffy 1:40, so I was ready to be done, I guess.
I hadn't been looking at my watch along the way, mainly because with the iPod, I didn't hear the mile chimes from the Garmin. I felt like I was dragging a little, really, but just kept chugging along down Southwood, thinking about picking it up a little so that I'd at least be at MGP for the end of the run. I only got delayed a few seconds crossing the loop the last time into the old 'Hood, and from there it was only a mile and a half or so back to my parents' house. Done.
I was pretty surprised when I totalled up the numbers later. Running alone, I had gone quicker than usual for pretty much the whole run, and so most of the run was at or near MGP. It didn't seem that quick, so I'll take that as a good sign. I ended up with 14.6 miles at 8:41/mile running pace. With the extreme break time included, it slowed to an overall 9:31/mile. Pretty good for a solo run.
I did a few strides around the driveway, did some stretching inside, and called it a day. Good stuff. And now it's just two weeks until AT&T! Scary...
Thursday, February 01, 2007
More Alternative Training [Entered 2/5/7]
Thursday, I eschewed a recovery run (ooh, vocabulary word!), in lieu of another visit to the gym for indoor cycling (35 minutes) and a weight workout (core and legs). I was still pretty sore and stiff on Thursday, and I figured more non-impactful exercise would serve me just as well as easy miles.
I still can't get over how much 3M beat my legs up! I felt great after every other DC race this year, even the 20 miler, but 3M has left me pretty destroyed. I'm not injured or anything like that, but it's been quite an extended recovery. I suppose it's a combination of the downhll nature of the course (it's my quads that seem to have taken most of the beating) and my little finishing sprint over the last 3 downhill miles. Whatever it is, it's been slow going away.
I did good stretching after the cycling, some foam roller action to further knock out the knots in my quads, and then was careful but thorough on the leg weights. I can tell that I'm getting better and better, but soreness and stiffness is still hanging on for the time being. Whew!
I still can't get over how much 3M beat my legs up! I felt great after every other DC race this year, even the 20 miler, but 3M has left me pretty destroyed. I'm not injured or anything like that, but it's been quite an extended recovery. I suppose it's a combination of the downhll nature of the course (it's my quads that seem to have taken most of the beating) and my little finishing sprint over the last 3 downhill miles. Whatever it is, it's been slow going away.
I did good stretching after the cycling, some foam roller action to further knock out the knots in my quads, and then was careful but thorough on the leg weights. I can tell that I'm getting better and better, but soreness and stiffness is still hanging on for the time being. Whew!
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