TRY RUNNING

Great Start

2011-01-02T20:43:00.000-08:00

I hurt my back doing something. Not sure what. That's not the way I planned on starting the new year. I woke up late last week and couldn't roll over. If you can't roll over, you can't run very well at all. Its been a couple days, but I don't anticipate running until tuesday or wednesday.

Guess those goals will have to wait a couple more minutes.

Did I mention that my wife got some vibram 5 fingers for Christmas?

Did I mention that I tried on a pair of those last week, at an REI, and that they are kinda neat?

Did I mention that after not blogging for 5 months, posting twice within one week is a pretty big deal? How many people do you think are starting new blogs and/or trying to start posting again after a long layoff? I bet a few million.

Thinking up something good to type is harder than getting out for a run most days, even with a hurt back.

2011

2010-12-30T23:10:00.000-08:00

6 or less weeks till mountain running time

2010-07-11T19:47:00.000-07:00

We've got less than 6 weeks til the Leadville 100 (well, til streakrun's Leadville. Maybe I'll run it a couple years from now, once I get through this pacing thang) and that means it's time to focus.

< 6 weeks to train. Not even a full 6 weeks to get some serious miles in while carrying a backpack full of Gatorade and fruit snacks. A few days less than 6 weeks to study the trail and map out the plan. We need a plan to keep Ace motivated for hours, and it's not going to be easy.

What should I do? Probably go for a 20+mile run on a hilly course, wearing the backpack and clothes that I plan on wearing for the race.

When should I do this? Probably in 3 weeks, after I do a 10mile version if that 2 weeks from now.

I'll hike a 14er this weekend, so that's a start...I'll make the backpack extra heavy to make up for the fact that we will be walking. And stopping for frequent picture taking.

That's it. That's as detailed as the plan gets for now. No interruptions. Strait ahead.
Did I mention that Ace is nuts? The only question I really want answered is:

What will he do after this?

A real week of running...and a brand new US 5k record to start the summer

2010-06-06T19:02:00.000-07:00

Well, it's not summer yet, but when it's 90+ degrees I call it summer. That's what we call "hot" here in Colorado. Maybe in other places, 90 is a reprieve from the 100's and 110's and 120% humidity, but oh well. It's that time of year where it's best to put a towel by the front door before I head out on any run, so I can dry off when I get back.

Point being, I ran 22 miles last week, and that is definitely a 2010 Week of the Year so far. After the BolderBoulder, I ran a couple of 3 milers, one with a few 1/4mile repeats at around 1:20 each, and the other I called a tempo run, in about 22 min.
I finished the week with a 9 mile run that had quite a few hills in it, and that took around 1:16:00. When you go for too long without consistent running, you have to re-set your "E" pace. It's a sad thing.

As a side note, Bernard Lagat broke 12:55 in the 5k in Oslo to set a new US outdoor 5k record, which broke the 9ish month old record by Dathan Ritzenhein by about 1.5 seconds. Chris Solinsky was close behind with a 12:56 high PR, so that is 4 Americans under 13 min in the last year.
I just summed up every article written about it, so there's no need for a link. If you would like a link, here's one to Universal Sports highlights of the race. And feel free to check out the obnoxious comments on a video at Flotrack, where people will yammer on about Lagat "not being an American cause he ran for Kenya in the 2000 Olympics." Genius.

That being said, It's time to write out some training plans that I have little intention of following. I'm a pretty big fan of track and field, but I'm an even bigger fan of making training plans.

BolderBoulder 2010k

2010-06-01T13:44:00.000-07:00

I ran my fourth 10k ever yesterday, and it turned out to be a good day. I ran with my wife and she ran well (in spite of less than ideal training the past couple months). It was a turning point for her, since she decided to sign up for the Denver Marathon. It was the 10 dollar discount (if you signed up at the expo tent) that helped the decision process.

I didn't sign up. I never planned to, since it's fun to be a spectator every once in a while, especially for someone's first marathon.

I think I will get my act together, though. I ran a trail run on mother's day and that was enjoyable. About 4-5 miles if I remember correctly. With yesterday's race over with, it makes you want to train and race a bit more. That's not news to most runners, but seeing as how I race infrequently, I enjoy that post-race motivation a little more than those that run a race every other weekend.

After running the race with 54,000 others, the elite runners were fun to watch. I wore adequate sunscreen, so I didn't get burned while sitting in the CU football stadium under direct sunlight for a couple hours. The women's elite winner ran away from the field (she was the defending BolderBoulder champ) with the second fastest course time ever. On the men's side the 3 Ethiopian team members beat the rest of the field by 40 seconds, and they finished the last 200m holding hands so that they crossed the finish line at the same time (give or take a few hundreths of a second, according to the official results). the next finished was Brent Vaughn, former CU cross country and track runner, as well as a Smoky Hill high school stand out. He has only been running professionally for about 2 years now, so it was a good finish, for sure.

Solinsky 10k

2010-05-05T21:42:00.000-07:00

6 miles yesterday. 4 miles today.

It's amazing what a couple days off in a row will do for your running. That and some motivation from watching Chris Solinsky set a new American record in the 10k.

When you start running 4:20 per mile, and you get 25 minutes in and think "Well, I better start winding down," so you finish with a 1:56 final 800 meters... that's when you know you have a knack for this running thang.
You may have wondered before "Am I cut out for this?" "Do I have what it takes?" "Should I just go back to school and get an Engineering degree and a steady 40hr/wk job?"
But once you race like that, you can be confident you chose the correct career.

Time to keep running. Warm weather = no excuses

3-a-days

2010-04-13T23:03:00.000-07:00

3 miles in 25ish
3 miles in 23:50

Just cruising through a couple short runs. But they ALL COUNT!

It's so important to get the short runs in, cause they give you the reason you need to get out for the longer runs. You can't justify the 10 miler if you don't string together the 3's and 4's.
I will be (mostly) sticking with the shorter runs through the end of May. If I can squeeze in some fantastic tempo runs (3-4 miles at 6-6:15 pace) that would be terrific.
We'll see.

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence

2010-04-10T20:41:00.000-07:00

"Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence.
Talent will not; Nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent.
Genius will not; Unrewarded genius is almost a proverb.
Education will not; The world is full of educated derelicts.
Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.
The slogan press on has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race."

-Calvin Coolidge

First official core work of the decade!

2010-04-07T11:40:00.000-07:00

Hopefully it's not the last. With my track record (not-very-cool pun intended), it just might be.

A few seconds worth of "6 inches" type ab work. Some modified crunches. A few sets of pushups. I need the upper body strength in order to carry Ace's mini fridge for 20+ miles. I might just put it in a wagon and wheel it all over the mountains, I'm not sure just yet.

That's all for now.

Oops. Consistently inconsistent. But I'm volunteering!

2010-04-05T20:46:00.000-07:00

Struggling to run most days, but that's ok, cause I ran today, and will have (almost) no excuse not to run over the next 3 days.
5 miles in 39:45

We'...uh oh.
I better wait to post, since the NCAA men's basketball championship is on right now. I don't want people to see me posting and think that I am not watching. I'm not watching, but still.

Running is always better when the weather is cool, breezeless, and the sun is out later in the evening. Ben Franklin, or whoever started this Daylight Saving Time business must have been a distance runner.

Check out the video of Chelsey Sviensson setting the new Texas High School women's 2 mile record of 10:07. (I spent 20 minutes learning about SEO, and I'm a big fan of www.flotrack.org, so I linked appropriately. I think.
In honor of her accomplishment, let's all run a 10:07 2-miler tomorrow.

I volunteered to help pass out fliers (or something like that) for the Bolder Boulder in exchange for a free race entry. Since the price is a lot more than your average 10k race, and the post-race massages are alone worth the entry fee, I figure that it's a good deal. We'll find out.
I'm still not sure what qualifying wave I'll be in for the staggered start. I'll be using my marathon time (ridiculous. A marathon time 7 months ago is a fantastic predictor of your current 10k fitness), but will get put in a wave after my volunteering is done, so who knows how that might look.

Do you LIKE Running: The Test

2010-03-30T21:44:00.000-07:00

8.5 in 1:09:10

It's always great to finish a run. Right before, and during, it's not nearly as much fun, but afterward, great.
I have a small confession:

I've probably had a "fun run" 3-4 times ever. The fun has always been in the accomplishment of running a long distance, or fast, or just in being in shape, etc.

I'm sure some people include these things as part of running, but there is a big difference. Some people actually like the running part. The feel of the earth as it passes beneath their feet. The burn in the quads as they bulldoze up a steep trail. I can't relate. Sometimes the view at the top of the mountain trail run is great, but if it wasn't for the training plan, I'd rather drive.

Which of these do you find yourself saying more often:

"That was a great run!" or "It was great to get that run in today!"

I think it makes all the difference.

The most wonderful time of the year

2010-03-23T21:17:00.000-07:00

Well, it usually is.
Spring is the best time for running. Followed closely by fall. Then summer. Then winter.

But Colorado has its own way of doing things, so today's spring run included a mile or so of running with one eye closed to keep out the snow.

3 in 19:40

I have plans to run the BolderBoulder 10k. Hopefully I get signed up early for the volunteer thing (help the day before and get a free race entry, or something like that. I've never done it).

I've been pretty lazy with the running. Not so much that I haven't run at all, but as I've mentioned a million times on this blog, I'm not a big fan of running in bad weather. And our apartment complex has been renovating the fitness center off and on since november, so no treadmill. (I sound like my son after he sees me holding his bottle, but I'm still across the room so he has to wait 3.4 seconds before he get his little hands on it... waaaaaaa!!) Oh well. Today's run was an informal test. So I've still got some fitness (and plenty of complaining) left in me.

Lesson from all this is: After working really hard and running your first marathon, you better have some serious motivation for the 5 months after.
Ace knows what I'm saying. He just goes from 5k to 100 mile trail run in 2 years. Speaking of, I better get running, cause it doesn't look like he's bailing on the leadville thang...I was hoping he would get cold feet and opt for the leadville 14 mile fun run, and I could pace him through the last 800 meters or so.

Birthday run...sounded good on paper

2010-01-25T17:45:00.000-08:00

Not my Birthday, but my wife's on Saturday. Being born on 1/23, she thought that a birthday run of 123 minutes would be a terrific way to end one age and enter the next. Precisely at the moment of birth. So that meant a 123 minute run at 6:30am.

Cold. Too early. Too long (considering the amount of running I have been doing lately). But fortunately for me, we had babysitter Grandma watch the young man, and I was free to be there for all 123 glorious minutes.

The GPS lost the satelite around 3 miles in, so no official distance, but probably somewhere in the 11.5 mile range.

I've been running more than just this though. I haven't been as diligent with my record keeping. I think I mentioned the mile time trial we did on New Year's Day. That seems like a good tradition to start. I planned on doing more of those. Perhaps once a month, but we'll see. I need to get signed back up for the RMRR, but in the meantime, I'll just keep watching more episodes of Man vs. Wild on Netflix (instant streaming for the first 3 seasons). Never know when I might get stuck out in the Rocky Mountains, lost, cold, in the wee hours of the morning and need to know what raw anomal parts are good to eat.

New Balance signed Jenny Barringer, the awesome runner that went to CU and went to school in Boulder and got her degree at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Let's take this moment to remember a few of the awesome distance runners to come through CU:

-Kara Goucher
-Adam Goucher
- Alan Culpepper
-Shayne Culpepper
-Steve Slattery
-Sara Slattery
-Jorge Torres
-Edwardo Torres
-Dathan Ritzenhein
-Brent Vaughn
-Tera Moody
-Allie McLaughlin (well, will be soon. The true freshman took 5th at NCAA cross 2 months ago)
-Billy Nelson

That's all I can think of off the top of my head, but still a good list...

All of this reminded me to be excited about runners running fast times this year, since it isn't a championship year. Hopefully we get some new American records and /or build on last year's success.

Alright. New year. New goals. Time to make it happen!

2010-01-11T21:48:00.001-08:00

Here are a few runs I have done recently

10 miles easy.
2.5 easy
3 mile tempo.

I printed out some calendars and starting writing some potential running plans and workouts. So many things to do. And when you don't want to spend any money on anything other than food, rent and insurance, it's hard to narrow down your list of races to just a couple. Renewing my RMRR membership would allow me to run their monthly races for free, so I might do that. We'll see.

I'll be starting a build up of mileage now through May. This will be prep for a fall marathon training schedule. I don't want to be one of those people who ran one marathon and never ran one again.

It's been a good break from training. I'm ready to up the mileage and get stronger and really fit.

Still getting in a few miles sometimes...

2009-12-01T13:42:00.000-08:00

5 miles today!
It's deceptive when all you tell someone is that you ran 5 miles today. 5 miles could mean anything. I could be tapering for that half marathon I mentioned a while back, having built upon the training I did since March. Nope.
I could be really out of shape, having not run at all since the marthon 6 weeks ago, but 5 miles makes it sound like I am "still running." Nope.
I could be somewhere in between that. Yes.
I've ran about 65 miles since the marathon. Not a great weekly average, but enough to still be running and still have a shot at sustaining fitness through the winter. That's what I am hoping for right now.

So I have ran quite a few workouts with some element of speed. 400m repeats. An 800 or mile thrown in the middle of an easy run. Those kinds of things. I't nice to do some of that. I still haven't run anything longer than 8.5 miles since October, so hopefully I can schedule a long run in before the end of 2009. Weather permitting.

First Real Run, Jogging Stroller

2009-11-07T13:25:00.000-08:00

2 miles in ?
6.5 miles 47ish
3 miles in 25:30

I have nothing against 2 and 3 mile runs, but when you are in marathon shape, they just don't feel as grand.

I think it has been a good thing to take some time off and relax (or spend a lot of time at work). It's one of those things, where when it comes to running injuries, you have to celebrate your lack of injuries whenever possible. It's easy to forget about hurt knees/feet/back (I am confident that Ace will be back soon with something even more ridiculous than the streak he had been carrying on) etc. when you don't have them, and when you are feeling good.
It's just difficult to take notes and figure out what you are doing right and wrong. Is the post marathon rest helping me avoid injury? Maybe. It's hard to tell, but is isn't hurting me. Point being, I'll count the 2 week post-marathon rest as a positive part of training.

My most recent run was a 3 miler with my son in our jogging stroller. I'm sure he would tell you it was a bumpy ride, if he could talk and if he wasn't sleeping the entire time. The stroller worked alright, but it wasn't something I imagine using for anything longer than 6 or 7 miles. My wrists get tired trying to steer (ours has a fixed front wheel) and it's heavier than I thought it would be when running up any sort of incline.

Well, I'm not really preparing for that half marathon I mentioned. Only 4 weekish left, so we'll see. I still want to run it, but only if I have time to get some long runs in. Work is slow next week, so I'm thinking 35-40miles should be reasonable.

U.S. wins in NYC.

2009-11-01T15:36:00.000-08:00

One of the best parts of distance running as that because so much can go wrong (or well) at each stage of the race, anyone can do well. Anyone can have a great day. Guys with incredible P.R.'s can have really off days. It's not just a 100m sprint where you are focused on a good start from the blocks and then holding your form for 10 seconds. Way more variables in distance running.

Good to see the USA putting up good performances. 6 in the top 10 for the men's race. Congrats to Meb.

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

Hopefully Ryan Hall can put the pieces together sometime soon.

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

Snow, NYC, Daylight Savings Time, and a little running

2009-10-31T13:51:00.000-07:00

3.5 in 27:00
2 in Did Not Time

Well, we got some snow this past week.

I don't know when this picture was taken, but things looked about like this. It's melting now, but that's Colorado for ya.

CHSAA postponed the state Xcountry meet, cause the course had over 18 inches of snow on it.
I'm sure more than one sporting event was moved around because of the weather. Like my running.
I definitely set my own record low (Sorry) when it comes to weekly mileage. Oh well. "Still recovering" from the marathon, so a 5.5 mile week will have to be ok.

New York City...tomorrow! Not that I'm running it, but I enjoy watching running and reading running news about as much as I like running itself, so it should be an exciting time. All the big names. Hall, Keflezighi, Sell, Torres, Abdi, Gilmore etc. etc.

And of course, 4x Boston winner Robert Cheruiyot.

Oh, and then also there will be the 10th and 3rd fastest marathoners ever. Jaouad Gharib, and James Kwambai (2:04:27)

And the 2 time NYC winner, Marilson Gomes dos Santos.

Should be fun.

Does anyone else get a bit frustrated at every article that keeps getting written saying "Hall could win this one..."
I am a huge Ryan Hall fan, I'm just saying, until the US starts running some 2:04 marathons, we shouldn't be getting our hopes up everytime these marathons come up...
(By writing this, I hope to jinx Hall, so that now he has a breakout race and wins)

We should all be running in New York tomorrow, because with daylight savings time setting the clocks back, we'd get that extra hour of sleep. Oh well. Next time.

First post-Marathon run

2009-10-26T21:11:00.000-07:00

4 miles 32:15

Wow. That was not very much fun...I waited 4 days, and when I finally got out for a run, it made me want to wait another 4 days...

I felt ok for the first couple miles. I walk a lot at work, so I figured my legs were recovering fine, but by the end of my 4 miles, my calves felt worse than at the end of the marathon. So tight and sore.

I'm cutting myself some serious slack when it comes to running right now. I didn't think I would rest this much, but now it's been 8 days, and I think I'll be ok coming back tomorrow or in a couple days. Probably sorter runs for this week. I had my eye on a cheap half-marathon in pueblo this december, but we'll see.

Anyone else familiar with the post marathon running pain? probably not that 50 marathons in 50 days guy...

Top 6 Keys to Running Your Best Marathon Ever

2009-10-23T17:11:00.000-07:00

One of the greatest parts about running any distance for the first time is the P.R...meaning any "keys" I write will be correct, cause sunday was the best, worst, in between, everything...

Most of this post will be for my own record keeping. (Hopefully) breaking down my training/race enough to learn from successes and failures and apply that to future races.
It will most likely contain information that I/you already know, but still needs to be written down/remembered.

All to say: It might not be too interesting unless you are me.

1. Discipline in Training: I knew from day one (back in March, but then again in May, when I registered for the marathon) that a key factor in my training had to be consistency. Day in and day out, getting outside and running. No excuses. No "oops, I accidentally went 4 days without running because (insert any excuse/legitimate reason)." If I was going to ramp up my weekly mileage from 0 miles/wk to an acceptable volume, I had to run 5-6 times/wk. or more in order to spread out the workload.

-I ran an unofficial total of 165 times over 33 weeks, so I averaged exactly 5 runs/week. With more than a few 6-day weeks, it means that there were an equal number of 4 day weeks. Not what I wanted. The numbers are a bit skewed cause I am including the taper. Either way, I didn't do too bad when in comes to consistency.

-Discipline in training also meant getting in as many long runs as possible. I got in 3 20milers, a 22, and a 24 miler. Definitely good for one extended training cycle, but hopefully I can get in a full year of regular long runs, being disciplined enough to stay in "long run" shape, even through the winter.

Room 4 improvement = Some.

2. Discipline on Race Day: Discipline meant staying with the pace I planned to hold, regardless of how good I felt/ how exciting it was at the beginning. This assumes that I felt great and that race day was exciting. If it turned out to be otherwise, then adjusting appropriately (running slower) would have been paramount. I didn't run the first miles right on pace (33:09 for the first 5 miles. 8 sec/mile faster than eventual avg pace) but all things considered, that is pretty close. I didn't see mile markers 1-4, so given that, not too bad. Whenever I reach my L.P.R. (Lifetime P.R., meaning the race where I sadly peak for the best and final time), it will hopefully be a race where I run exactly even miles. Every one of them. Completely fulfilling potential.

***SECRET WEAPON***I ran with my iPod, and the first song on the play list I made was Iron and Wine's cover of Such Great Heights. If you can't start on pace with this cranked in your headphones, then a successful marathon is not in your near future.

- My fastest mile was mile 22 in 6:34, my slowest was mile 25 in 7:07. A 33 second swing. Still, not bad for the first marathon, but not even close to ideal.

Discipline on Race Day also meant taking in water and Gatorade every chance I could (within reason... I wasn't going to gulp Gatorade if I was literally vomiting Gatorade on myself as I passed the aid station). Fortunately, over several long runs on hot days, I felt the effects of not being hydrated very well. I learned how long 20+ miles is and how long it takes to get through it and that if you don't have enough water etc, there is no point in doing it, because you fall apart. It makes me nervous when I read others' posts concerning race day GI issues, because I don't know how I would respond mid-race if my stomach is revolting. Would I keep shoving down the gels and Gatorade? Would I stop completely? If it was a super hot day, and I was having issues early in the race, would I have to DNF if I was unable to keep anything down? Don't know. I should have a plan though.

Room 4 Improvement = Not Much.

3. Running Volume: Everything I have read indicates that if you want to run a good marathon, you need to run a lot of miles. Maybe I should question this more than I do. I guess it's just hard to question something that makes SO MUCH SENSE. Book after book, coach after coach, article after article...most people agree that (while not always easy. And never easy to fit into your schedule) you've got to run high volume to run a marathon well. In Run Faster, Hudson has several charts and tables, and his version of a beginning runner training for a marathon is them running 50+ miles/wk. Even non-competitive runners he has running upwards of 70 miles/wk...and if you want to race a marathon? 100 should be a weekly total, for sure. All of this makes sense when Paula Radcliff is running world records and running 160-170/wk. Brian Sell does similar numbers. Somehow I think we all find it too easy to hope PR's will show up out of some magical place. Anyways. I don't have time/I won't make the time to run much more than 50/week for my marathon training, but in the future, I hope to. When it comes time to make that push for a L.P.R., putting all the eggs in one basket and training like crazy for a year, I hope to push 100/wk, at least. I won't be able to run those Master's races without regret unless I at some point see what I times I can run when training at an acceptable volume.

Room 4 Improvement = 2 / Quite a Bit

4. Race Pace Running: As I have said multiple times, I wanted to follow Run Faster's plan for this first marathon attempt, so I had to get in a significant amount of marathon pace or faster running. I couldn't set high goals and then expect to get anywhere near them by running my easy pace every single day. It was a challenge in the earlier part of training, because I didn't know what my pace should be. I still don't know how to set a goal pace 20+ weeks away from race day when you have never run a marathon before. Whatever the case, I adjusted it as training progressed, and I think that that was a smart move.

-In the last 4 weeks leading up to the marathon, 35% of my miles were run at race pace or faster. 46 out of 132. It makes sense that the percentage should be high, since during the final weeks, I made the shift from quantity, to quality, running fewer miles, but running them closer and closer to race pace. "Sharpening." Was it too much? Too little? I don't know either. Most likely somewhere in the middle. Those miles were split between 2 key workouts and then several smaller runs. I ran the 16 mile Fitness Test, and the Yasso 800's. So that right there accounts for 21 of the miles. And the rest were in 3-5 mile runs (1 mile warm up, 3-5 at race pace, one mile cool down).

Room 4 Improvement = Not Much

5. Race Specific Training: In a way, this is an extention of the previous Key. But, even on purely a psychological level, I believe it was beneficial to run a lot of my miles on relatively flat, asphalt/concrete surfaces, at altitude, since that is what the Denver Marathon course had in store. Except for a few of my long runs, a time trial, and a handful of runs on this very hilly section near our apartment, I ran mostly on just that. And of course, all of them were at altitude, because I didn't travel. I think it is important to develop this kind of specific fitness. Of course there is a need for hill training. And for giving your feet a break by running on softer surfaces, especially when building up base mileage. But I never wanted to get too comfortable and soft, and then show up on race day and not be able to handle the stress/pounding. It is easy to remember to get in a bunch of hill training before a tough, hilly course, but I think people tend to forget to get in the opposite, when the course is flat.

Room 4 Improvement = Barely Any

6. Core/Cross Training: Hmmm. I fell off the wagon completely here. I think the last time I did a sit up was back in June. Not good. At least according to popular opinion. I just don't like spending the extra 2 minutes a day. I know that for a marathon, running form/stride/efficiency are difficult to maintain late in the race unless you have strong core muscles. Definitely an area where significant time improvements can be seen if one takes the time and builds that strong core. Abs. Lower back. etc. I would like to have that strength for the final 10k and the ability to stay mechanically sharp until the very end, instead of sacrificing minutes and seconds because of a rapidly degenerating running form.

Room 4 Improvement = An Enormous Amount

This record keeping is taking a long time. Several days of thinking through the race, writing bits when I get a chance (Hmmm. I think I just stated, very obviously, exactly what blogging entails). I want to remember everything. I think this post's title started out as Top100...but this will have to do for now. I didn't touch on nutrition throughout training, but it's safe to say that that was not something I took pride in this time around. Hopefully next time...

Between this post and my runnersworld.com log, I should be able to construct a decent, well-thought out training/race plan next time around.

*"Room 4 Improvement" Scale:

0--An Enormous Amount---2---Quite a Bit---4---Some---6---Not Much---8---Barely Any---10

Denver Marathon - race report

2009-10-19T07:35:00.000-07:00

It definitely happened. I woke up this morning and saw the finishers medal sitting on the coffee table...yesterday evening, I kept thinking that I would wake up from a dream and it would be 4:30am Sunday again, but nope.

There are a lot of things I can do right now, but the one thing I CAN'T do:

Complain.

To sum it up, the race went really well.

I'll be blabbering on about a lot of different things, many of which I think attributed to the success of the race, but it was really all of these small things in combination that made the race a good one.

PRE-RACE

The night before I was in bed early, but couldn't sleep. Probably got about 5 1/2 hours total, which might be good for some people, but not for me. Oh well, I was up early enough to watch some post game interviews from CU's win against Kansas.

We left on time and had everything we needed and got to the race about an hour early. Nothing to do except wait. It was chilly but not too bad, considering the high for the day was over 80. I knew it would warm up, so I started without any peripherals. No warm weather ones, anyway. I still had my iPod holder, which worked just fine.

Now I know...you have to get in line for the bathrooms, like, an hour before, otherwise you aren't getting anywhere. I tried to get in line with about 18min til the start...

Went by a tree...too bad there is no place to hide when you are at a large event like this...

Got to the start squeezed my way to the front after the wheelchair start. Finally. Relieved to be at the start, everything I needed. 2 minutes to relax.

START

The only thing I was determined to do was to start slow. By slow, I mean, at a reasonable pace. Everyone knows that they can't start out really fast and still have a good race. Everyone knows that with all the race day excitement and adrenaline, it is REALLY EASY to start to fast, cause what feels super slow is actually still too fast (I'm sure that at least 5 million people can confirm this).

From what I saw (and maybe a lot of the people I saw were relay runners) but a lot of people started way too fast. There must have been 100 people who ran that first mile in 6:30 or less and based on the race results, not many of them maintained that for the next 25 miles. It was a little unnerving to watch and then to feel slow and mentally to try and stay at the right pace.

Well, I must have been blinded by the excitement, cause I didn't see a mile marker til mile 5. Seriously. And I am obsessed with knowing my exact times and pacing, so I was looking for the markers...

It's hard to judge if you are going too fast for the first couple miles when you don't see the markers. I was really getting nervous. I even asked someone around mile 3 what the markers looked like, cause I hadn't seen any. He said they were written on the street with chalk or something. They weren't. Don't know what happened. I saw every one of them from mile 5 on (except 8. again. must have been really distracted).

Point being, I went out only a little faster than I would have liked. Not much. Then from mile 5 through mile 18 I was able to monitor my speed and stay pretty consistent. I had family (including wife and son) run to several spots around the course. Not an easy thing to do for a city marathon with lots of road closures. The cheering is helpful and it gave me something to look forward too.

I took in water and gatorade at every opportunity. Well, once I didn't take gatorade, cause I had a GU in my hand. There were times when I felt full and like I did not want any more, but I grabbed the cups and kept drinking at every chance. Fortunately I finished before it got to hot, but regardless, I think it turned out to be a good decision. At the expo on Saturday, they had several high profile runners give presentations, and we watched Alan Culpepper. He talked about race plans and preparation and mentioned the need to take in fluids and electrolytes. But his point was that you have to do it based on what you know, not on how you feel during the race, so even when you are burping up the last aid station's gatorade, if you know what you need to do, then you just drink/eat the right things regardless of how you feel or what "sounds good" mid-race.

I did that, and I never once felt thirsty. Never once felt like hydration or electrolytes or calories or lack thereof were an issue.

The course was a fun one. I never run in the city and it was strange to be on the roads and to pass police officers at every intersection who were directing traffic. By the last miles, when there are few spectators because everyone is at the finish or at some earlier mile marker, it wasn't as fun. But at least by then, the race was almost over.

To avoid rambling on too much more:

Things just fell into place. I stayed consistent with my pacing. No injuries or abnormal pains set in (plenty of normal pains, but that goes without saying).

Didn't have to go to the bathroom mid-race, or anything. The closest thing I got to a mishap was dropping my GU packet. I picked it up and almost cut someone off. But that was it.

I kept expecting fatigue to set in. I spent miles 5 through 16 wondering when I would break down. It didn't happen. Miles 16 - 21 were the most fun, because it began to sink in that I could hold the pace. I was significantly under 3hour pace, and by mile 22, baring a complete breakdown, I was going to be fine.

I didn't kill myself sprinting over the last mile, but just stayed at about 6:50pace for the last 1.2 and was glad to be done.

26.2 in 2:57:15 (net time)

16th overall. 2nd in the 18-24 age group.

Told ya. I can't complain at all.

The worst part was stopping at the end! Did I miss this part, or have people said this 100 times? I expected the stopping part to be the best but instead I crossed the finish line and my muscles instantly felt tight, sore, beat up, everything. Worse than at any point in the race. No wonder everyone looks awful at the end of a marathon.

Whatever the case, I got my medal and made my way through to the main area, so I could eat and sit and relax and stretch.

I'll save my analysis of training/ results for later, but I am glad that the race turned out like it did. Definitely won't be my last marathon. I hope to relax for a while and then stay in shape with a medium amount of running over the winter. And we'll go from there.

one-hundred forty eighth (Marathon tomorrow...)

2009-10-17T19:02:00.000-07:00

1 mile. 8 min.

Some walking and stretching and a day at the expo. I love the free samples and the bib number and the everything. Can't wait. Still nervous. Especially about my last minute, duct tape and money clip homemade iPod holder. It looks like it should work just fine.

We'll I'll check back in once it's all over. Should be a good time.

To say it for the last time, "I have never run a marathon."

one-hundred forty seventh

2009-10-16T20:33:00.000-07:00

4 miles in 30:50

Good run. The rest/days off have been helpful. Hard to run slow.

I tested out my new shirt. Clearance from RunnersRoost. No problems.

Short sentences reflect how I am going down a checklist before the marathon. Don't want to forget anything. So far, so good.

I have run about 50 miles on my shoes. I bought them a little later than I wanted to because they didn't have them when I went into the store at the end of September and they shipped in a pair from a store across town. And I just mentioned my new shirt, so I'm definitely living marathoning life on the edge. Not only that...but I am buying a new pair of headphones tomorrow...Could it get any worse? Anything could go wrong. Chaffing. awkward fitting headphones. foot pain.

Probably not though. Hopefully not. My plan was to introduce these things so that when I get too tired, I can have excuses for the race not going well. On a serious note, I don't really know how long most people like to have their shoes before racing in them. I thought 50 miles was enough, but really, I have no idea. It was a round number.

one-hundred forty fifth, one-hundred forty sixth

2009-10-14T21:44:00.000-07:00

7 in 50:30

10 in 1:16:45

Ya. The 10 miles may have been a bit much, but I have been taking it easy on the other days (meaning, no running) I may go for a few miles tomorrow. The race is coming up fast. Ready to go.

I keep thinking through every aspect of my training and trying to figure out exactly how to run the race. Looking for clues in every workout to determine my precise level of fitness, so I can run even splits, down to the 1/4 mile. I'm not finding the answer. Not yet anyway.

Here is my latest plan: (again, when you share goals on blogs, it is without restraint)

Maybe the first half, shooting for 1:30:00. Then trying to run the next 9 miles in an hour. And then, assuming I make it through those first two steps, holding on for the last 4.1 is as fast as possible, which may mean a slow, slow last 4.1.

I don't know. I ran a 9 mile race a year ago, and I couldn't even run that in an hour. I ran a half marathon a couple years ago, and I was nowhere near an hour and a half.

But I like moving the numbers/paces around to try and see what adds up to both a seemingly possible speed and an acceptable finish time. This plan doesn't come as close as I would like to the "seemingly possible speed" cause I don't think I can actually run that pace, but oh well. My plan will change tomorrow, I'm sure.

one-hundred fortieth through one-hundred forty-fifth

2009-10-10T16:33:00.000-07:00

Recap. (* indicates run with some M pace running)

6 in 49:45 (after that fitness test, I was ready to take it slow)
*6 in 43:50
10 in 1:13:44 (This was the "Yasso 800's" I averaged about 2:51 for the 10 800's. Ya. It was a tough workout, and a nice idea, but I don't think it is a realistic predictor of marathon fitness. I think it indicates that I can run 10 800's in about 2:50ish a piece if I run/jog for 2-3min between them. That's all.)A warm up mile and cooldown 1.5 miles (with a slow 1/4mile between the 800's) made the workout about 10 miles.

*5 in 35:40
*6.1 in 42:45 (had to make my 2009 training log have an even number of miles. Don't know how I let myself accumulate a .9)
7 in 54:40

These last weeks have been the toughest so far. It is just not easy, with work and weather and so much to do. Can't get in nearly as much running as I wanted too. Not that I knew how much to do during the taper, but somehow I don't think it is anyone's plan to just cut your mileage in half, or less.

7 days. 1 week left til race day. Weather predictions: breezy, high of 65. 60% chance of precipitation.

Just waiting. I just want to get it over with. Not looking forward to miles 5-18. During those, it will feel like I have done a lot of running, but I'll still have a lot left. I think mile 18 has to be the worst. At the exact moment I hit the 18 mile mark, I'll be thinking, wow, over 8 miles left.

At least we have the Chicago marathon to watch tomorrow. Well, watch and/or look at the results afterwards. Sammy Wanjiru is running. I am older than he is. He has run 4 marathons, and his slowest was his debut marathon: 2:06:39...