Buffet Mandatory, Marathon Optional
So the Las Vegas Rock n' Roll Marathon was the final marathon for the year. I always love going to Vegas to eat. I wanted to try out two sushi buffets, Sushi Mon and Hikari. Even though I kept telling myself that the marathon was optional, I knew that I wanted to run it to see the condition of my right Achilles. I had not run a step since the Malibu Marathon 3 weeks prior. I was even beginning to think that I had forgotten how to run. The Achilles was healing up really nicely. I had full range of motion and it was looking a lot more like the good left one. It was relatively pain/niggle free when I walk. Oddly enough just 2-3 days before the race, the Achilles was feeling a bit sore whenever I walked longer distances. In hindsight maybe it was telling me not to run the marathon. :)
Day 1 - Getting to the Expo
I decided last minute to take a personal day on Friday and headed out Friday morning. I was able to book a pretty nice place just off of the Strip for $50. I got into Primm in about 3 hours for my usual restroom break. Boy it was cold! Stupid me, I was wearing shorts. I got into Vegas shortly thereafter. I headed over to park at Luxor. I wanted to walk around a little bit to see how the Achilles felt. I got to the expo before it opened. I talked to one of the competitor group girls at the booth about the ultra with Dean Karnazes at the RnR Arizona. They were setting up outside of the convention hall and it looked quite hectic since it was not planned that way. There was a cowboy convention just next door to the marathon expo and that really added to the crowd. I met Meb Keflezghi, the winner of this year's NYC Marathon, at the Nissan booth. That was really cool. He was a very humble down-to-earth guy. He signed my bib and a postcard of him celebrating after the win at NYC.
I zipped through the rest of the expo with absolutely no intention of signing up for another race. I was however scouting for calf sleeves. All I saw were 2xu. Since I was getting hungry I decided that I would check those out the next day. Then I waited in the registration line to do a last minute sign-up for my friend. After I was done with that, I met up with my Bay Area friends, Cat and Aimee at the food court. I then bumped into Mae on my way to get my car to go check into my hotel and eat at Sushi Mon. I checked into my huge room at the Tuscany Suites. Then I finally headed out to eat a very late lunch or a very early supper at Sushi Mon. It was about 3pm and I was so hungry I could hardly think straight. I love almost all Japanese food and I stuffed myself to the point that I almost had to hurl. I then went back to my hotel to rest my stomach.
Day 2
I woke up the next day pretty early around 5am and read part of Dick Beardley's book, Staying the Course. I checked out at around 9:30ish and went back to the expo to look at the 2xu calf guards and meet up with a few other RWOL folks... Jake, James, Howard, Ingrid, and Marcia. I tried on the sleeves and they felt ok. I was told they were too tight for running by other runners, but I thought I'd give them a try. I bought a pair to use during the race. After saying goodbye to my friends, I stopped by a CVS to buy some sunflower kernels to snack on and OJ for race day. I then checked into the Bluegreen Club 36 resort. This was a really nice place with everything... a kitchen, washer and dryer, and a handicap access bathroom. I could actually sit down and take a shower. I swear the signs were all there. James and Howard joined me for sushi buffet number 2 at Hikari for dinner at 5pm. I tried not to eat too much. It was great eating with friends at Hikari versus eating solo at Sushi Mon. I wished them both a good race and headed back to my hotel. Back in my room, I popped in my Spirit of the Marathon dvd to get some motivation. I really did not want to run a marathon the next day. Jeanette stopped by to pick up her race packet. If you thought that I ran too many races... it's all kid's stuff compared to the amount she ran this year! Ever since I bumped into her at Montaña de Oro, I almost always expect to see her at every single marathon that I run. She's one of my maniac idols! :)
Pre-race
I got ready and checked out by 3:30am to park on the other side of the Strip. The instructions stated that the Strip was going to be closed at 4am. Lies! It was already closed. So I drove further south and was able to cut across onto the street that led to the Mandalay Bay and Luxor parking lots. I didn't want to deal with crowds so I headed for Luxor. I walked over to the Mandalay Bay and hung out at the food court eating my Powerbar. As it was getting close to the start, I headed over to exit and found Jeanette sitting in a corner. I hung out with her since we were in the same corral. Eventually we had to go out into the cold, check our bags, and run a marathon. I wore my Pearl Izumi visor, Worldvision shirt, Sugoi arm-warmers, Asics gloves, Mizuno shorts, 2xu calf sleeves, and Nike shoes. As you can see, no brand loyalty. Man it was cold... freeze warning cold! We hopped into our corral and after some fireworks we were off.
First Half
I started off very slow. When I eventually sped up, it was only up to about a 9:00 - 9:15 pace... a very comfortable pace. I even starting to think that maybe all is well and I would have a decent race. Well, that lasted all for about 3 miles. At that point I started to notice that I wasn't getting much of a push off of my right leg. It just got progressively weaker and weaker. As with my last several marathons, my left leg was again dragging the right leg. I eventually had to slow the pace way down just to avoid injuring my left good leg. The slower I went, the more miserable and demoralized I felt. The legs felt extremely heavy at mile 12 probably due to me not running for 3 weeks.
1: 8:51
2: 9:49
3: 9:01
4: 9:45
5: 8:55
6: 9:12
7: 9:43
8-9: 19:17
10: 10:32
11: 10:05
12: 12:07
13: 12:39
Second Half
Maniac No. 1382 asked me for my maniac number when we bumped into each other at around mile 15 and 16... right about when my race turned into a piss-a-thon. I kept getting the urge to pee. I tried to drink less, but then my legs started cramping. So I had to pick the lesser of the two evils and kept visiting the portapotties at almost every single mile. Even after the race I had to keep going. I saw James when he was around mile 21 and headed back while I was still heading out. He said he was having a bad day and he even turned around to walk with me a little. Apparently he had caught the flu. Later on when I stepped out of the potty of my many potty breaks somewhere around mile 22, I bumped into Jeanette. She had just ran a marathon the day before and she was in better condition than I was. She really helped me out at that point. But after hitting yet another potty, I ran pretty fast up the last hill just to catch her. But hills and a bad Achilles don't mix, so I had to let her go. Besides my legs were starting to lock up, so I couldn't even keep up if I wanted to go with her. I saw my friend Ingrid around mile 25. I think she said that I made her wait an extra hour. Once I saw the 26th mile marker, I just ran with whatever I had left to the finish line bad Achilles and all. I don't know why, but what always lights a fire under my butt for the last .2 is when I tell myself that it's only a short par 4 to the finish.
14: 12:00
15: 12:26
16: 15:56
17: 15:19
18: 15:07
19: 14:52
20: 12:35
21: 15:27
22: 13:50
23: 15:02
24: 13:30
25: 12:26
26: 14:30
26.2: 1:56
Finish: 5:15:05
Post-race
I met up with my RWOL friends (Joe, Cat, Kristy, Mae) and Aimee at the House of Blues. I must say that Guinness is my new favorite post race beer. My former go-to beer, Newcastle, did not taste good at all for some reason. I had the "Cobb salad of defeat" and boy did I feel defeated! I really finished out the year with a whimper.
The greatest strength of a typical marathon maniac is the "never quit" attitude. Sad to say, it is also the greatest weakness. A normal sane non-maniac with my injuries would've drop out at mile 3 or maybe even at the 10k mark. It would be safe to say that it takes quite a bit to bring down a maniac. It's literally the finish line or bust.
The 2xu calf guards felt great throughout the race. They did not feel too tight. I actually prefer the feel of 2xu over Zensah. They both work well though. The last few races that I've worn calf sleeves, the calves were never sore or were the first body part to recover.
In case you were wondering which sushi buffet was better... the quality of the sakana (fish) and food art was definitely better at Sushi Mon. Hikari was ok with a few other items on the menu, but the quality just wasn't as good. Sushi Mon wins my vote.
The Future
Obviously the Achilles did not pass the test. So I will not be signing up for anymore races in 2010. I will only run the races in which I've already paid. In fact, I'm seriously considering downgrading a few of the earlier races in 2010 to half marathons or skipping them altogether. Right now Carlsbad is pretty much a DNS. We'll see... I have about a month and a half to recover.
Monday, December 7, 2009
Monday, November 16, 2009
Malibu Marathon
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
I almost had a tragic Benjamin Button moment. Out of everything that needed to happen for an accident to happen almost happened. I had planned the day before to leave the house around 8am so that I could get to Zuma Beach at around 9am right when the expo started. But that morning, I was feeling lazy so I changed my mind and left around 10am so I could hit the expo and then lunch. I usually take the 10 because the 60 is the worst freeway ever... EVER! So I was driving down the 60 freeway to connect to the 10. We were all zipping along around 80 when the cars in front of me broke rather suddenly. I engaged my brakes and stopped in plenty of time, but I heard a bunch of tire screeching. Looking in the rear-view mirror I see a small white Geo Metro type car with smoke coming from its tires. I thought, "oh crap, she's going to kill me!" Then at the very last second she swerved over to the next lane. Obviously she had not been paying attention. Man if she had slammed into me at that speed, I wouldn't have had to wrestle with the decision of whether to attempt the marathon with 1 bad Achilles. I'm pretty sure if I had left earlier, there would've been less cars on the freeway and the near accident would've never happened. After that near miss, the rest of the trip was boring. I guess I could've taken that as a sign that running the race on Sunday was a bad idea. But everything was paid for already and I was also going there to meet up with an old friend that I've known since grade school.
Expo
I got to Zuma Beach and parked at the Trancas parking lot. Apparently you can park along the side of the street, but I saw a cop car and a bunch of tow trucks towing several cars away. Turns out they were parked in a designated no parking anytime zone. The expo was very small. I picked up my race packet and started through the expo. I talked to my friend at the Worldvision table. Then I visited the Pasadena Marathon table. Then I checked out the DetermiNation program for the American Cancer Society. It would seem that almost every charity out there is getting into endurance sports. Then I talked to a lady at the EFX booth. She noticed that my calf looked really tight and of course it was my bad leg with the bad Achilles. She told me that the EFX was essentially an upgrade from the Power Balance. The inventor of the Power Balance had to jump ship and start a new line. We talked about Dick Beardsley, Alberto Salazar, the NYC Marathon, and she also recommended how I can take care of my Achilles. Apparently she's a fitness instructor. I told her that I would buy an EFX bracelet at the next expo when I have money.
The Last Meal
As I was walking back to my car, I noticed that the Achilles felt an awful a lot like it did before the Marine Corps Marathon. I drove up to my hotel in Calabassas. I passed by the entrance for Malibu Creek State Park... fun memories there. Before checking in, I stopped into Albertson's to buy my usually water and orange juice. Then I ate lunch at McDonald's. I have not eaten there in ages. I found that the menu has gotten rather complicated. Then I checked into a no-frills Good Nite Inn. It was ok, all I heard the entire time were very loud Harleys and the faint sound of cars driving along the nearby freeway.
The first thing I did when I got into my room was ice my Achilles while watching Mr. & Mrs. Smith. I ate dinner with my friend at a sushi restaurant next door. When I returned to my room I ended up finishing the book, Duel in the Sun. I really couldn't put that book down.
Pre-race
I started getting ready around 3am. I checked out at around 4:15am and drove down to Zuma Beach. I got there a little before 5am. I had to ask the girls at the tent for directions on where to park. I had to drive about another mile back where I came from just to enter the beach parking lots. I got my stuff together and boarded the bus. As the bus almost reached its capacity, I realized that I had forgotten my gels. So I scrambled off of the bus... went back to my car... picked up my gels and headed back for the bus. One of the volunteers told me that my bus was leaving. I said that's fine, I'll just take the next one. So I got on the next bus and headed for the back of the bus. I tried to take a little nap but this bus was too cold. When we got to the Camarillo airport, it was just after the crack of dawn. I saw Danica and her "Malibu Barbie" friends exiting the bus. Apparently we were on the same bus. It was rather chilly but I knew it would warm up later in the day. I saw a lot of Marathon Maniacs at the starting area. They all treat me as if I'm one of their own. But this day I was a solo purple Team in Training runner! The starting line felt almost like a big family reunion.
1st Half
I didn't have much out there from the very beginning. I started off slow and slowly sped up. I followed PasadenaRunner for about the first 3 miles and got dropped like a rock. My Achilles felt worse than it did at Marine Corps. So I slowed way down. I was jogging along between 10-10:30 pace and it felt hard! I wanted to drop out, but it didn't seem like it was possible since we were running through some farm land. So I tried to relax and run as comfortably as I could. I figured if the discomfort doesn't get any worse that would be a good sign. Eventually it felt tolerable. We ran by celery and manure... two things I would never put in my mouth. Apparently the farm land section was the easy part. Once we got on the PCH, we had to deal with the wind. Most of the time it was a very stiff headwind with lots of dust swirling around while trying to power up a hill with 1 very sore Achilles tendon. The cambered road did not help one bit. Please shoot me now.
1: 9:25
2: 9:04
3: 8:58
4: 10:05
5: 10:09
6: 10:24
7: 11:25
8: 10:42
9: 10:42
10: 10:47
11: 11:29
12: 11:58
13: 11:13
2nd Half
I mismanaged my fluids. I thought I had enough to last me until the next aid station. I did not. I ran about 2 miles without a sip of my Nuun laced water. So when I finally got to the next aid station and got filled up... I had to start taking extended walking breaks for the next several miles while chugging my nice tasting cola flavored Nuun water since I could feel the cramps starting to set in. Once I got through that bad patch, I could start jogging again. But every time I started back up, the Achilles would hurt. But walking it in would probably take me about 7 hours to finish, so I had to keep moving as fast as I could. Then there were these hills. The elevation chart showed 3 major climbs with the last one ending at mile 24. When I saw that the finish line was close, I had to open up my stride. It felt ok, but definitely not something I could hold together for more than a few hundred yards.
14: 11:12
15: 12:31
16: 11:06
17: 14:42
18: 16:02
19: 14:00
20: 14:29
21: 16:29
22: 17:20
23: 15:12
24: 14:33
25: 13:23
26: 13:20
26.2: 1:53
Finish: 5:22:44
Post-race
That was one horrific mind screw from start to finish. I wouldn't say that the course was super hard. But it definitely was not easy. Most of the time I was just focused on managing the pain in my Achilles and convincing myself that this was a good idea... anything to just get me to that finish line. Anyways I got my medal and went to say hi to Danica as she and her "Barbie" friends were being interviewed. Then I realized that I didn't return my J-chip so I headed back to the finish line. Then one of the volunteers took my chip and gave me a pretty cool lunch bag with a bunch of treats. But since I took my sweet ass time to finish, they had already ran out of the finisher's beach towels that they were handing out. I sat down at a nearby chair and ate a banana as I waited for some of my friends to finish. I had so much salt on my arms, I looked like a margarita glass... thank goodness for Nuun. I go through about 5 - 7 Nuun tablets each marathon just to prevent cramps.
From the way that I felt during this race, I am considering a scratch on the Las Vegas Marathon. I will definitely be there to eat my obligatory buffets, but I would very much like to rest my right Achilles and re-evaluate in January. The swelling hasn't gone down much yet but it doesn't hurt this time. It's just a little uncomfortable when I go up or down stairs. In all honesty I shouldn't have ran Long Beach, Marine Corps, New York, Fresno, or Malibu. That's 5 marathons' worth of gimping around. Thank goodness it felt good at New York until after the race. I couldn't believe that I completed Fresno and Malibu just so I would obtain a 4 star status with the Marathon Maniacs. I am so glad 2009 is finally coming to an end.
I almost had a tragic Benjamin Button moment. Out of everything that needed to happen for an accident to happen almost happened. I had planned the day before to leave the house around 8am so that I could get to Zuma Beach at around 9am right when the expo started. But that morning, I was feeling lazy so I changed my mind and left around 10am so I could hit the expo and then lunch. I usually take the 10 because the 60 is the worst freeway ever... EVER! So I was driving down the 60 freeway to connect to the 10. We were all zipping along around 80 when the cars in front of me broke rather suddenly. I engaged my brakes and stopped in plenty of time, but I heard a bunch of tire screeching. Looking in the rear-view mirror I see a small white Geo Metro type car with smoke coming from its tires. I thought, "oh crap, she's going to kill me!" Then at the very last second she swerved over to the next lane. Obviously she had not been paying attention. Man if she had slammed into me at that speed, I wouldn't have had to wrestle with the decision of whether to attempt the marathon with 1 bad Achilles. I'm pretty sure if I had left earlier, there would've been less cars on the freeway and the near accident would've never happened. After that near miss, the rest of the trip was boring. I guess I could've taken that as a sign that running the race on Sunday was a bad idea. But everything was paid for already and I was also going there to meet up with an old friend that I've known since grade school.
Expo
I got to Zuma Beach and parked at the Trancas parking lot. Apparently you can park along the side of the street, but I saw a cop car and a bunch of tow trucks towing several cars away. Turns out they were parked in a designated no parking anytime zone. The expo was very small. I picked up my race packet and started through the expo. I talked to my friend at the Worldvision table. Then I visited the Pasadena Marathon table. Then I checked out the DetermiNation program for the American Cancer Society. It would seem that almost every charity out there is getting into endurance sports. Then I talked to a lady at the EFX booth. She noticed that my calf looked really tight and of course it was my bad leg with the bad Achilles. She told me that the EFX was essentially an upgrade from the Power Balance. The inventor of the Power Balance had to jump ship and start a new line. We talked about Dick Beardsley, Alberto Salazar, the NYC Marathon, and she also recommended how I can take care of my Achilles. Apparently she's a fitness instructor. I told her that I would buy an EFX bracelet at the next expo when I have money.
The Last Meal
As I was walking back to my car, I noticed that the Achilles felt an awful a lot like it did before the Marine Corps Marathon. I drove up to my hotel in Calabassas. I passed by the entrance for Malibu Creek State Park... fun memories there. Before checking in, I stopped into Albertson's to buy my usually water and orange juice. Then I ate lunch at McDonald's. I have not eaten there in ages. I found that the menu has gotten rather complicated. Then I checked into a no-frills Good Nite Inn. It was ok, all I heard the entire time were very loud Harleys and the faint sound of cars driving along the nearby freeway.
The first thing I did when I got into my room was ice my Achilles while watching Mr. & Mrs. Smith. I ate dinner with my friend at a sushi restaurant next door. When I returned to my room I ended up finishing the book, Duel in the Sun. I really couldn't put that book down.
Pre-race
I started getting ready around 3am. I checked out at around 4:15am and drove down to Zuma Beach. I got there a little before 5am. I had to ask the girls at the tent for directions on where to park. I had to drive about another mile back where I came from just to enter the beach parking lots. I got my stuff together and boarded the bus. As the bus almost reached its capacity, I realized that I had forgotten my gels. So I scrambled off of the bus... went back to my car... picked up my gels and headed back for the bus. One of the volunteers told me that my bus was leaving. I said that's fine, I'll just take the next one. So I got on the next bus and headed for the back of the bus. I tried to take a little nap but this bus was too cold. When we got to the Camarillo airport, it was just after the crack of dawn. I saw Danica and her "Malibu Barbie" friends exiting the bus. Apparently we were on the same bus. It was rather chilly but I knew it would warm up later in the day. I saw a lot of Marathon Maniacs at the starting area. They all treat me as if I'm one of their own. But this day I was a solo purple Team in Training runner! The starting line felt almost like a big family reunion.
1st Half
I didn't have much out there from the very beginning. I started off slow and slowly sped up. I followed PasadenaRunner for about the first 3 miles and got dropped like a rock. My Achilles felt worse than it did at Marine Corps. So I slowed way down. I was jogging along between 10-10:30 pace and it felt hard! I wanted to drop out, but it didn't seem like it was possible since we were running through some farm land. So I tried to relax and run as comfortably as I could. I figured if the discomfort doesn't get any worse that would be a good sign. Eventually it felt tolerable. We ran by celery and manure... two things I would never put in my mouth. Apparently the farm land section was the easy part. Once we got on the PCH, we had to deal with the wind. Most of the time it was a very stiff headwind with lots of dust swirling around while trying to power up a hill with 1 very sore Achilles tendon. The cambered road did not help one bit. Please shoot me now.
1: 9:25
2: 9:04
3: 8:58
4: 10:05
5: 10:09
6: 10:24
7: 11:25
8: 10:42
9: 10:42
10: 10:47
11: 11:29
12: 11:58
13: 11:13
2nd Half
I mismanaged my fluids. I thought I had enough to last me until the next aid station. I did not. I ran about 2 miles without a sip of my Nuun laced water. So when I finally got to the next aid station and got filled up... I had to start taking extended walking breaks for the next several miles while chugging my nice tasting cola flavored Nuun water since I could feel the cramps starting to set in. Once I got through that bad patch, I could start jogging again. But every time I started back up, the Achilles would hurt. But walking it in would probably take me about 7 hours to finish, so I had to keep moving as fast as I could. Then there were these hills. The elevation chart showed 3 major climbs with the last one ending at mile 24. When I saw that the finish line was close, I had to open up my stride. It felt ok, but definitely not something I could hold together for more than a few hundred yards.
14: 11:12
15: 12:31
16: 11:06
17: 14:42
18: 16:02
19: 14:00
20: 14:29
21: 16:29
22: 17:20
23: 15:12
24: 14:33
25: 13:23
26: 13:20
26.2: 1:53
Finish: 5:22:44
Post-race
That was one horrific mind screw from start to finish. I wouldn't say that the course was super hard. But it definitely was not easy. Most of the time I was just focused on managing the pain in my Achilles and convincing myself that this was a good idea... anything to just get me to that finish line. Anyways I got my medal and went to say hi to Danica as she and her "Barbie" friends were being interviewed. Then I realized that I didn't return my J-chip so I headed back to the finish line. Then one of the volunteers took my chip and gave me a pretty cool lunch bag with a bunch of treats. But since I took my sweet ass time to finish, they had already ran out of the finisher's beach towels that they were handing out. I sat down at a nearby chair and ate a banana as I waited for some of my friends to finish. I had so much salt on my arms, I looked like a margarita glass... thank goodness for Nuun. I go through about 5 - 7 Nuun tablets each marathon just to prevent cramps.
From the way that I felt during this race, I am considering a scratch on the Las Vegas Marathon. I will definitely be there to eat my obligatory buffets, but I would very much like to rest my right Achilles and re-evaluate in January. The swelling hasn't gone down much yet but it doesn't hurt this time. It's just a little uncomfortable when I go up or down stairs. In all honesty I shouldn't have ran Long Beach, Marine Corps, New York, Fresno, or Malibu. That's 5 marathons' worth of gimping around. Thank goodness it felt good at New York until after the race. I couldn't believe that I completed Fresno and Malibu just so I would obtain a 4 star status with the Marathon Maniacs. I am so glad 2009 is finally coming to an end.
Monday, November 9, 2009
Eye-Q Two Cities Marathon
The Morning Drive
After dropping off some clothes at the Goodwill bin, I took off for Fresno. I was making pretty good time despite seeing lots of Highway Patrol Cars. They caught most of the super reckless drivers. I kept it to 80 tops and usually hung with a pack of cars. I had a pit stop at a Starbucks in Bakersfield and I arrived at my hotel in about 4 hours. I had thought about taking the free event shuttle to the expo, but I wanted to buy supplies and go eat lunch somewhere after the expo so I decided to drive there.
The Expo and Stuff
I picked up my race packet and ticket for the pasta dinner. I then walked through the small expo and fortunately saw nothing to buy. I then waited to hear Dick Beardsley speak. I talked to him beforehand, had him sign my bib, and snapped a photo. He is a very good speaker. It was fun to listen to his stories about his life and running. He was signing autographs and selling stuff afterward. I bought both of his books (Duel in the Sun and Staying the Course: A Runner's Toughest Race) and a shirt. My marathon maniac friend, Mitch spotted me while I was listening to Dick. By coincidence we were both staying at the Holiday Inn Express, so we decided to meet up later and go to the pasta dinner together. Good thing because we would have a hard time finding the place.
I first drove to a Walgreens to buy some water and orange juice. I then drove to a Japanese restaurant on Ness called Sakura Chaya. I ate their lunch special which had California rolls, tempura, chicken terikyaki, and unagi don. It was okay but very Americanized, but that's to be expected since I was in Fresno. I then headed back to my hotel to rest. I watched a little bit of Underworld 2 and surfed the web on my ancient laptop with the free hotel internet. Then it was time to go to the pasta dinner. Mitch and I took the shuttle back to the expo. Along with a bunch of other people, we all had a hard time finding the location. Well we finally found it and ate the somewhat mediocre pasta. They didn't even have spaghetti. All they had was penne, one of my least favorite pasta. But it was still worth it since we got to listen to Dick Beardsley speak again. They showed a clip of the 1982 Boston Marathon, the duel in the sun between him and Alberto Salazar. After all of that was over, we hopped on the shuttle back to our hotel. When I got to my room, I had started to watch The Spirit of the Marathon dvd but fell asleep sometime around 7:30. I had originally planned on watching The Dark Knight on HBO but I was knocked-out.
Pre Race
I got up at around 4am to get ready. Ate my Powerbar and drank my juice. I packed up all of my stuff and put them in my car. When it was time to go, I checked out and met up with Mitch in the hotel's free breakfast area. We took the shuttle for a quick ride over to the starting area. We waited around and watched the half marathoners take off at 7am. Mitch went to check his bag at the Cintas trucks while I went to use the potty. As I jogged over to the Cintas trucks to meet up with Mitch, I knew it was going to be a difficult day. The right Achilles was tight. It did not hurt or give me trouble when I walked so I figured I'll give it shot. Worse thing I'll do is drop out at the first relay station. We proceeded to our starting corral... corral C.
1st Half
I started off slow. Mitch was going to run with the 4 hour pace group so I made sure I never got close to him. I could not find a comfortable gait/pace until about 2 miles in. The course took us on the Clovis Old Town Trail. At around mile 5 I was actually starting to feel pretty good and I started closing in on the 4 hour pace group. I think the pacer was a little bit slow but still I made sure I did not catch the group. Mile 10 was a pain having to run into a headwind. Coming back up the Clovis Old Town Trail was really hurting my Achilles from having to go down and up through several underpass tunnels. I was struggling on each uphill part. One thought kept running through my head: I cannot believe that I was attempting to finish this race just for a nice finisher's sweatshirt. I was ready for the race to be over when I reached the halfway mark. I was thinking how great it would have been to be a relay runner and just have someone else finish the race.
1: 9:35
2: 9:04
3: 9:11
4: 9:26
5: 8:50
6: 9:03
7: 9:53
8: 9:24
9: 9:16
10: 10:10
11: 10:38
12: 10:23
13: 10:59
13.1: 2:07:05
2nd Half
Mile 15 was more pain running into more headwind. I was really tired at around mile 18, so I started taking longer walking breaks. There was somewhat of a climb at around mile 23 so I had to walk a bit to rest the Achilles. Because I wanted the race to be over sooner rather than later, I managed a decent stride and ran most of the final mile passing some of the people that I had been leapfrogging for the past 20 or so miles. The announcer, whom I had met at the expo, gave me a shout out. He told the crowd that this was my 3rd marathon in 3 weeks and that it was my 17th this year. I heard a comment from one of the volunteers, "woah, that's crazy!"
14: 10:09
15: 11:05
16: 12:04
17: 11:27
18: 12:08
19: 16:11
20: 16:48
21: 12:57
22: 11:40
23: 14:26
24: 13:57
25: 13:54
26: 12:43
26.2: 1:56
Finish: 4:57:30
Post Race
I walked over to pick up my medal and the nice zippered sweatshirt. I had to work quite hard for it. I then picked up a plate of breakfast: some scrambled eggs, spicy potatoes, and sausages. They were really good. I thought about getting seconds, but that will slow me down on my quest to reach 130. Then I made my way to the beer garden to look for my friend Mitch. He was there with his mom listening to the band. The band was pretty good. I gave one of my two beers to Mitch since I was going to be driving home soon. I said goodbye to Mitch and went to find a shuttle back to the hotel to pick up my car. Most likely I will see him again in Malibu since maniacs run every weekend.
Just as with the NYC Marathon, my Achilles felt fine for the rest of the day after the race. But it swelled up overnight and it's now rather uncomfortable walking up or down stairs. But it is no worse today than it was the day after MCM or NYC. The trip would've been worth it just to meet Dick Beardsley. This race was one of the best managed races that I've run in. I would recommend this race to anyone looking for a small town cozy marathon where they treat their runners really well. I just might be back in the future to see how I'd do with 2 working Achilles.
After dropping off some clothes at the Goodwill bin, I took off for Fresno. I was making pretty good time despite seeing lots of Highway Patrol Cars. They caught most of the super reckless drivers. I kept it to 80 tops and usually hung with a pack of cars. I had a pit stop at a Starbucks in Bakersfield and I arrived at my hotel in about 4 hours. I had thought about taking the free event shuttle to the expo, but I wanted to buy supplies and go eat lunch somewhere after the expo so I decided to drive there.
The Expo and Stuff
I picked up my race packet and ticket for the pasta dinner. I then walked through the small expo and fortunately saw nothing to buy. I then waited to hear Dick Beardsley speak. I talked to him beforehand, had him sign my bib, and snapped a photo. He is a very good speaker. It was fun to listen to his stories about his life and running. He was signing autographs and selling stuff afterward. I bought both of his books (Duel in the Sun and Staying the Course: A Runner's Toughest Race) and a shirt. My marathon maniac friend, Mitch spotted me while I was listening to Dick. By coincidence we were both staying at the Holiday Inn Express, so we decided to meet up later and go to the pasta dinner together. Good thing because we would have a hard time finding the place.
I first drove to a Walgreens to buy some water and orange juice. I then drove to a Japanese restaurant on Ness called Sakura Chaya. I ate their lunch special which had California rolls, tempura, chicken terikyaki, and unagi don. It was okay but very Americanized, but that's to be expected since I was in Fresno. I then headed back to my hotel to rest. I watched a little bit of Underworld 2 and surfed the web on my ancient laptop with the free hotel internet. Then it was time to go to the pasta dinner. Mitch and I took the shuttle back to the expo. Along with a bunch of other people, we all had a hard time finding the location. Well we finally found it and ate the somewhat mediocre pasta. They didn't even have spaghetti. All they had was penne, one of my least favorite pasta. But it was still worth it since we got to listen to Dick Beardsley speak again. They showed a clip of the 1982 Boston Marathon, the duel in the sun between him and Alberto Salazar. After all of that was over, we hopped on the shuttle back to our hotel. When I got to my room, I had started to watch The Spirit of the Marathon dvd but fell asleep sometime around 7:30. I had originally planned on watching The Dark Knight on HBO but I was knocked-out.
Pre Race
I got up at around 4am to get ready. Ate my Powerbar and drank my juice. I packed up all of my stuff and put them in my car. When it was time to go, I checked out and met up with Mitch in the hotel's free breakfast area. We took the shuttle for a quick ride over to the starting area. We waited around and watched the half marathoners take off at 7am. Mitch went to check his bag at the Cintas trucks while I went to use the potty. As I jogged over to the Cintas trucks to meet up with Mitch, I knew it was going to be a difficult day. The right Achilles was tight. It did not hurt or give me trouble when I walked so I figured I'll give it shot. Worse thing I'll do is drop out at the first relay station. We proceeded to our starting corral... corral C.
1st Half
I started off slow. Mitch was going to run with the 4 hour pace group so I made sure I never got close to him. I could not find a comfortable gait/pace until about 2 miles in. The course took us on the Clovis Old Town Trail. At around mile 5 I was actually starting to feel pretty good and I started closing in on the 4 hour pace group. I think the pacer was a little bit slow but still I made sure I did not catch the group. Mile 10 was a pain having to run into a headwind. Coming back up the Clovis Old Town Trail was really hurting my Achilles from having to go down and up through several underpass tunnels. I was struggling on each uphill part. One thought kept running through my head: I cannot believe that I was attempting to finish this race just for a nice finisher's sweatshirt. I was ready for the race to be over when I reached the halfway mark. I was thinking how great it would have been to be a relay runner and just have someone else finish the race.
1: 9:35
2: 9:04
3: 9:11
4: 9:26
5: 8:50
6: 9:03
7: 9:53
8: 9:24
9: 9:16
10: 10:10
11: 10:38
12: 10:23
13: 10:59
13.1: 2:07:05
2nd Half
Mile 15 was more pain running into more headwind. I was really tired at around mile 18, so I started taking longer walking breaks. There was somewhat of a climb at around mile 23 so I had to walk a bit to rest the Achilles. Because I wanted the race to be over sooner rather than later, I managed a decent stride and ran most of the final mile passing some of the people that I had been leapfrogging for the past 20 or so miles. The announcer, whom I had met at the expo, gave me a shout out. He told the crowd that this was my 3rd marathon in 3 weeks and that it was my 17th this year. I heard a comment from one of the volunteers, "woah, that's crazy!"
14: 10:09
15: 11:05
16: 12:04
17: 11:27
18: 12:08
19: 16:11
20: 16:48
21: 12:57
22: 11:40
23: 14:26
24: 13:57
25: 13:54
26: 12:43
26.2: 1:56
Finish: 4:57:30
Post Race
I walked over to pick up my medal and the nice zippered sweatshirt. I had to work quite hard for it. I then picked up a plate of breakfast: some scrambled eggs, spicy potatoes, and sausages. They were really good. I thought about getting seconds, but that will slow me down on my quest to reach 130. Then I made my way to the beer garden to look for my friend Mitch. He was there with his mom listening to the band. The band was pretty good. I gave one of my two beers to Mitch since I was going to be driving home soon. I said goodbye to Mitch and went to find a shuttle back to the hotel to pick up my car. Most likely I will see him again in Malibu since maniacs run every weekend.
Just as with the NYC Marathon, my Achilles felt fine for the rest of the day after the race. But it swelled up overnight and it's now rather uncomfortable walking up or down stairs. But it is no worse today than it was the day after MCM or NYC. The trip would've been worth it just to meet Dick Beardsley. This race was one of the best managed races that I've run in. I would recommend this race to anyone looking for a small town cozy marathon where they treat their runners really well. I just might be back in the future to see how I'd do with 2 working Achilles.
Monday, November 2, 2009
The New York City Marathon
Travel Stuff
I took a red eye flight out of LAX on Friday evening. While I was waiting for my flight, I ate some ridiculously expensive fish tacos at a seafood restaurant near my gate. At least they were good. I flew on Virgin America. It's nice to be able to watch TV on a long flight. It's cool if it's there, but I don't mind reading a book instead. I arrived at JFK very early Saturday morning. I hopped on the Airtrain to take the subway from the Jamaica Station. I got into Manhattan before the sun came out. I walked over to my Hotel and waited in the lobby for the sunrise. Check-in time was 2pm so it was too early for me to check in. Amongst all of my planning I had forgotten to plan for breakfast. I checked out the breakfast over at the Sheraton and the Hilton, but they were a tad too pricey. I ended up eating corned beef hash with eggs and toast at a cafe. I then made my way over to the free bus pickup for the expo. The traffic was pretty bad... yeah, welcome to New York.
Expo part 1
The expo was huge. It was held at the Jacob Javits Convention Center. It was very well organized. I guess they have to when there's over 40,000 runners and their families coming to pick up their race packet and buy souvenirs. After picking up my race packet and long sleeve shirt, I made my way through the official merchandise. I bought a NYC Marathon singlet and blue gloves that had the 5 boroughs on the 5 fingers. I tried on some Moeben arm sleeves, but didn't buy them because I already have 2 pairs of sleeves. I made my way to the Competitor Group table to sign up for the Country Music Marathon and of course the girl there recognized me. Right next to that table was Sarah Reinertsen. I bought her book which looks like a good read. When I walked past the Adidas area, I saw a sign that said the great Grete Waitz was going to be there signing at 1pm. I had a few hours to kill.
NYC tour
I walked over to 38th and 8th to eat some good Japanese kare (curry). I only had enough cash left on me to order the walk (small) size chicken curry. The next time I'm back here, I'm going to order the Grand Slam. That meal looked huge. After I was done I walked over to the Empire State Building. It was going to cost me $20 to go up to the 86th floor observation deck so I just settled for some pictures from the ground floor. I had wanted to visit ground zero and the crown of the Statue of Liberty, but I just didn't have enough time. Plus on my walk back to the expo I was already starting to feel as if I've been on my feet walking around too much.
Expo part 2
I met the legendary Grete Waitz, a 9 time NYC Marathon Champion. I couldn't believe that I was 3rd person in line to meet her. If only the other expo attendees realized how dominating she was in her day. She signed a small Adidas poster for me and my bib. I was pooped so I got in line for the free bus service back to my hotel.
Last minute details
When I checked in, the clerk said he was going to upgrade me to a suite for no extra charge because I was staying for 2 nights. Suite? Sweet! The last time I was in NYC I stayed in a nice hotel but the room was the size of a walk-in closet. There was enough room for 3 families to stay comfortably in this suite. I never used the living room area while I was there. After settling in, I went back out to eat ramen. I bought the usual water and orange juice and headed back to my suite to relax. I pinned the bib on my Marine Corps Marathon singlet, loaded up my Nuun tablets and gels, and laid everything out. It's GO time!
Getting to the Starting Line
I woke up around 4am, drank my orange juice and got ready. I rode the Subway down to the South Ferry Terminal. Met 2 girls while waiting for the ferry to Staten Island. One was from Norway and the other from Canada. The Norwegian had a later starting time than the two of us, so I rode the ferry with Michelle from Canada to Staten Island. After a short bus ride to Fort Wadsworth we then bid each other a great race and headed to our separate colored starting area. Mine was blue, hers was green. Remember to bring your own TP if you plan on taking care of business right before the race. I'm guessing about 99% of the portapotties were already out of TP by the time people in the 2nd wave showed up. I was in the 2nd wave which started at 10am. I checked my gear at the UPS trucks and made my way into the corrals about 30 minutes before the start. The corrals were packed very tight. We were like sardines in a can!
1st Half
It was a surreal experience for me hearing the howitzer go off and running across the Verrazano-Narrows bridge. I could not believe that I was finally running the NYC Marathon! Since I had not run a single step since the Marine Corps Marathon, I made sure I went out slow. My right Achilles was feeling tight as soon as I ran that second mile coming off of the bridge. So I immediately backed off to a pace that didn't cause any pain. It was one big running party. It was weird taking my usual walking breaks because every time I did, it felt as if I was going to be trampled over. I'm sure my Achilles appreciated the rest. Just as the crowd of runners were loosening up, we joined with the green and orange runners at about mile 8. I was happy to have reached the half in a little over 2 hours. The legs did not feel as tired as they did last weekend. I was optimistic that I had a chance at lowering my PR.
1: 9:47
2: 8:17
3: 8:48
4: 9:35
5: 8:53
6: 9:02
7: 9:34
8: 9:21
9: 10:20
10: 9:10
11: 9:40
12: 9:32
13: 10:22
13.1: 2:03:39
2nd Half
It was fun crossing all of these bridges! I got to cross the Pulaski Bridge near the halfway point. But I think I spent too much energy crossing the Queensboro Bridge. Soon after, I hit the wall somewhere near mile 17. Too bad it happened when I was on 1st Ave. There was a ton of people out cheering on 1st Ave. It took me about 2 miles to recover. We crossed over the Willis Ave Bridge for a short visit in the Bronx. Then we crossed over the Madison Ave Bridge into Harlem. We headed down 5th Ave towards Central Park. It was really fun running through Central Park. It was somewhat hilly, but I was definitely feeding off of the energy from the crowd. I still took some walking breaks to rest my Achilles. When I saw the Columbus Circle, I knew it was almost over. They had signs telling you how much you have left to run which was very nice. I picked up the pace once I saw the lovely finish line which I have seen many times on TV. Wow! That was the most fun that I've had on a 26.2 mile run!
14: 10:18
15: 10:45
16: 10:27
17: 12:12
18: 14:01
19: 14:05
20: 11:39
21: 12:18
22: 11:31
23: 12:47
24: 13:42
25: 10:39
26: 10:51
26.2: 1:46
5k: 27:49
10k: 56:23
15k: 1:26:34
20k: 1:56:20
25k: 2:29:23
30k: 3:08:57
35k: 3:57:20
40k: 4:25:14
Finish: 4:39:32
Post race
Even though we crossed the finish line around 66th St, we were herded like cattle to the UPS trucks to pick up our baggage. I didn't exit the park until around 82nd St. I had thought about taking the subway but decided to walk back to my hotel. The streets were very crowded and I don't think my Achilles liked the extra walking. Next time I'll hop on the subway. After I cleaned up, relaxed, and watched a little TV, I went back out for some ramen. Then I fell asleep watching the World Series. My right Achilles didn't swell up and hurt until the next morning. The rest of my body was fine, didn't even feel like I ran a marathon.
I will sign up for this race every year! It has dethroned the Honolulu Marathon as my favorite marathon. Hopefully I won't have to wait another 4 years before I run it again. I will need to start training for speed. Then I can qualify for NYC by time instead of the lottery.
I took a red eye flight out of LAX on Friday evening. While I was waiting for my flight, I ate some ridiculously expensive fish tacos at a seafood restaurant near my gate. At least they were good. I flew on Virgin America. It's nice to be able to watch TV on a long flight. It's cool if it's there, but I don't mind reading a book instead. I arrived at JFK very early Saturday morning. I hopped on the Airtrain to take the subway from the Jamaica Station. I got into Manhattan before the sun came out. I walked over to my Hotel and waited in the lobby for the sunrise. Check-in time was 2pm so it was too early for me to check in. Amongst all of my planning I had forgotten to plan for breakfast. I checked out the breakfast over at the Sheraton and the Hilton, but they were a tad too pricey. I ended up eating corned beef hash with eggs and toast at a cafe. I then made my way over to the free bus pickup for the expo. The traffic was pretty bad... yeah, welcome to New York.
Expo part 1
The expo was huge. It was held at the Jacob Javits Convention Center. It was very well organized. I guess they have to when there's over 40,000 runners and their families coming to pick up their race packet and buy souvenirs. After picking up my race packet and long sleeve shirt, I made my way through the official merchandise. I bought a NYC Marathon singlet and blue gloves that had the 5 boroughs on the 5 fingers. I tried on some Moeben arm sleeves, but didn't buy them because I already have 2 pairs of sleeves. I made my way to the Competitor Group table to sign up for the Country Music Marathon and of course the girl there recognized me. Right next to that table was Sarah Reinertsen. I bought her book which looks like a good read. When I walked past the Adidas area, I saw a sign that said the great Grete Waitz was going to be there signing at 1pm. I had a few hours to kill.
NYC tour
I walked over to 38th and 8th to eat some good Japanese kare (curry). I only had enough cash left on me to order the walk (small) size chicken curry. The next time I'm back here, I'm going to order the Grand Slam. That meal looked huge. After I was done I walked over to the Empire State Building. It was going to cost me $20 to go up to the 86th floor observation deck so I just settled for some pictures from the ground floor. I had wanted to visit ground zero and the crown of the Statue of Liberty, but I just didn't have enough time. Plus on my walk back to the expo I was already starting to feel as if I've been on my feet walking around too much.
Expo part 2
I met the legendary Grete Waitz, a 9 time NYC Marathon Champion. I couldn't believe that I was 3rd person in line to meet her. If only the other expo attendees realized how dominating she was in her day. She signed a small Adidas poster for me and my bib. I was pooped so I got in line for the free bus service back to my hotel.
Last minute details
When I checked in, the clerk said he was going to upgrade me to a suite for no extra charge because I was staying for 2 nights. Suite? Sweet! The last time I was in NYC I stayed in a nice hotel but the room was the size of a walk-in closet. There was enough room for 3 families to stay comfortably in this suite. I never used the living room area while I was there. After settling in, I went back out to eat ramen. I bought the usual water and orange juice and headed back to my suite to relax. I pinned the bib on my Marine Corps Marathon singlet, loaded up my Nuun tablets and gels, and laid everything out. It's GO time!
Getting to the Starting Line
I woke up around 4am, drank my orange juice and got ready. I rode the Subway down to the South Ferry Terminal. Met 2 girls while waiting for the ferry to Staten Island. One was from Norway and the other from Canada. The Norwegian had a later starting time than the two of us, so I rode the ferry with Michelle from Canada to Staten Island. After a short bus ride to Fort Wadsworth we then bid each other a great race and headed to our separate colored starting area. Mine was blue, hers was green. Remember to bring your own TP if you plan on taking care of business right before the race. I'm guessing about 99% of the portapotties were already out of TP by the time people in the 2nd wave showed up. I was in the 2nd wave which started at 10am. I checked my gear at the UPS trucks and made my way into the corrals about 30 minutes before the start. The corrals were packed very tight. We were like sardines in a can!
1st Half
It was a surreal experience for me hearing the howitzer go off and running across the Verrazano-Narrows bridge. I could not believe that I was finally running the NYC Marathon! Since I had not run a single step since the Marine Corps Marathon, I made sure I went out slow. My right Achilles was feeling tight as soon as I ran that second mile coming off of the bridge. So I immediately backed off to a pace that didn't cause any pain. It was one big running party. It was weird taking my usual walking breaks because every time I did, it felt as if I was going to be trampled over. I'm sure my Achilles appreciated the rest. Just as the crowd of runners were loosening up, we joined with the green and orange runners at about mile 8. I was happy to have reached the half in a little over 2 hours. The legs did not feel as tired as they did last weekend. I was optimistic that I had a chance at lowering my PR.
1: 9:47
2: 8:17
3: 8:48
4: 9:35
5: 8:53
6: 9:02
7: 9:34
8: 9:21
9: 10:20
10: 9:10
11: 9:40
12: 9:32
13: 10:22
13.1: 2:03:39
2nd Half
It was fun crossing all of these bridges! I got to cross the Pulaski Bridge near the halfway point. But I think I spent too much energy crossing the Queensboro Bridge. Soon after, I hit the wall somewhere near mile 17. Too bad it happened when I was on 1st Ave. There was a ton of people out cheering on 1st Ave. It took me about 2 miles to recover. We crossed over the Willis Ave Bridge for a short visit in the Bronx. Then we crossed over the Madison Ave Bridge into Harlem. We headed down 5th Ave towards Central Park. It was really fun running through Central Park. It was somewhat hilly, but I was definitely feeding off of the energy from the crowd. I still took some walking breaks to rest my Achilles. When I saw the Columbus Circle, I knew it was almost over. They had signs telling you how much you have left to run which was very nice. I picked up the pace once I saw the lovely finish line which I have seen many times on TV. Wow! That was the most fun that I've had on a 26.2 mile run!
14: 10:18
15: 10:45
16: 10:27
17: 12:12
18: 14:01
19: 14:05
20: 11:39
21: 12:18
22: 11:31
23: 12:47
24: 13:42
25: 10:39
26: 10:51
26.2: 1:46
5k: 27:49
10k: 56:23
15k: 1:26:34
20k: 1:56:20
25k: 2:29:23
30k: 3:08:57
35k: 3:57:20
40k: 4:25:14
Finish: 4:39:32
Post race
Even though we crossed the finish line around 66th St, we were herded like cattle to the UPS trucks to pick up our baggage. I didn't exit the park until around 82nd St. I had thought about taking the subway but decided to walk back to my hotel. The streets were very crowded and I don't think my Achilles liked the extra walking. Next time I'll hop on the subway. After I cleaned up, relaxed, and watched a little TV, I went back out for some ramen. Then I fell asleep watching the World Series. My right Achilles didn't swell up and hurt until the next morning. The rest of my body was fine, didn't even feel like I ran a marathon.
I will sign up for this race every year! It has dethroned the Honolulu Marathon as my favorite marathon. Hopefully I won't have to wait another 4 years before I run it again. I will need to start training for speed. Then I can qualify for NYC by time instead of the lottery.
Wednesday, October 28, 2009
The Marine Corps Marathon
Holy smokes, that was one crazy but fun marathon! The race had excellent course support and it was a very scenic route. I'd definitely run this again in the future preferably without a sore Achilles. It would be fun to run this race hard instead of just trying to survive.
Travel/Expo/The Last Dinner
When I was buying my plane ticket for this race, I knew I had very little wiggle room. I was stressed out the whole day hoping that there was no flight delays. I even hopped on an earlier flight at my layover in DFW. But when we arrived at the Reagan National Airport around 3:25pm, it was foggy and rainy. We circled the airport several times but the pilot was unable to land eventually running low on fuel. He flew us down to Richmond to fuel up. We waited in Richmond until the weather cleared up in DCA. By the time we flew back up to DCA and landed, it was already 6pm. I needed to get to the expo by 7pm! I took the Metro yellow line straight to the Convention Center. I got there around 6:30pm and walked as fast as I could to expo. My Achilles was already very sore at this point which was a really bad sign. I was able to pick up my bib on time. But when I went to go pick up my goodie bag, all I got was an empty bag. Then when I went to pick up my long sleeve shirt, it was one size fits all... all they had left were XL shirts. I went up and down as many of the rows as fast as I could. Many of the booths were already being torn down. I said hi to Dane. I bought a nice MCM singlet and then headed over across the street to check into my hotel. As soon as I checked in, I got a bucket of ice and iced my ankle and Achilles. Then I walked over to eat at the Kanlaya Thai Restaurant in Chinatown. They have pretty good spicy duck curry with basil. I'm salivating just from typing that. Too bad I was flying solo, but I'll have to remember that this place is a good date place. I stopped by a convenient store to buy water and orange juice.
Pre race
I couldn't really fall asleep but eventually I got in a few hours. I awoke before all of my alarms and got ready. I ate my Powerbar and drank my orange juice. Then waited until it was time to head to the starting line. I took the Metro over to the Pentagon and walked about a mile to the baggage drop area. After hitting the line for the pottapotties, I jogged over to the starting line. There was a lot of people out there! I tried to make my way into the 4 hour area, but somehow I ended up in the 3:30 area. But it was so packed, no one was going to be able to run 8 min miles from the start. I kept reminding myself not to chase anybody because my Achilles would probably snap... and that's no joke! My strategy was to finish the first half in around 2 hours and see what I have left from there.
First Half
The first 3 miles were mostly uphill and I sort of just ran with the flow. Then the next 3 were downhill. Then we had the last major climb of the race starting at mile 6 ending at mile 8. During this climb, my right Achilles was very sore so I had to really slow down. I knew at that point I was not going to make it to the half under 2 hours. The whole time I was repeating in my head, "New York City", to get my mind off of the pain as well as to remind myself to keep the pace slow so that I could run New York the following week. When I got to the halfway mark at a little over 2:08, I knew I would have to begin taking my walking breaks for the 2nd half.
1: 9:20
2: 9:02
3: 8:31
4: 8:22
5: 8:47
6: 9:19
7-8: 19:39
9: 10:07
10: 10:45
11: 10:11
12: 10:33
13: 11:41
13.1: 2:08:07
Second Half
I would walk for about 2 minutes and run to the next mile marker. After about 3 miles this proved to be even too much for my sore Achilles, so I increased it to about 4 minutes of walking. I just wanted to keeps things under the pain threshold. I don't remember much of the 2nd half even though we ran by several of the major monuments. I just remember lots of people out there cheering. I was happy when I got to the bridge cutoff at mile 20. From the beginning I just kept telling myself to get to mile 20 and it'll all be over. I got in line for the portapotties at mile 22. It was a steady climb to the finish line from here on out. I veered off the course at mile 24 to use the potties again. My legs were starting to cramp so I had to keep drinking Nuun to get the electrolytes back in my body. I thought I was going to snap my Achilles at the last hill for the final .2 miles. I walked it a little and all I kept hearing from the crowds was, "you're almost there!" So I had to appease the crowd and ran it in.
14: 12:01
15: 12:04
16: 12:29
17-18: 28:04
19: 14:16
20: 15:36
21: 14:37
22: 17:03
23: 13:21
24: 15:14
25: 14:37
26.2: 17:44
For those that prefer measurements in 5k increments:
5k: 27:19
10k: 55:18
15k: 1:26:13
20k: 1:59:32
25k: 2:37:00
30k: 3:20:22
35k: 4:06:15
40k: 4:54:05
Finish: 5:13:34
Post race
Then they herded all of the cattle to pick up their finisher's medal and food. I picked up my finisher's coin while walking over towards the Rosslyn Metro Station. When I saw how packed it was, I turned around and walked towards the Arlington Station. A handful of people had the same idea. There was no wait at Arlington and you got to see and cheer on those that were still heading towards the finish line. Once I got back to my hotel room, I cleaned up and got a foot long Subway sandwich. Then I just relaxed, took a nap, and woke up to watch the Yankees/Angels game.
The next day I tried to sleep in, but couldn't. I'm too much of a morning person. I checked out of the hotel around 10am and went on a tour of DC. My Achilles was still very sore... so I got to sit on a lot of benches during my tour. I saw the White House, the Washington Monument, the WWII memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, and the US Capitol Building. It actually felt okay to walk around. I was glad that I ran the race semi-injured because I got to tour DC for just the second time since high school.
Travel/Expo/The Last Dinner
When I was buying my plane ticket for this race, I knew I had very little wiggle room. I was stressed out the whole day hoping that there was no flight delays. I even hopped on an earlier flight at my layover in DFW. But when we arrived at the Reagan National Airport around 3:25pm, it was foggy and rainy. We circled the airport several times but the pilot was unable to land eventually running low on fuel. He flew us down to Richmond to fuel up. We waited in Richmond until the weather cleared up in DCA. By the time we flew back up to DCA and landed, it was already 6pm. I needed to get to the expo by 7pm! I took the Metro yellow line straight to the Convention Center. I got there around 6:30pm and walked as fast as I could to expo. My Achilles was already very sore at this point which was a really bad sign. I was able to pick up my bib on time. But when I went to go pick up my goodie bag, all I got was an empty bag. Then when I went to pick up my long sleeve shirt, it was one size fits all... all they had left were XL shirts. I went up and down as many of the rows as fast as I could. Many of the booths were already being torn down. I said hi to Dane. I bought a nice MCM singlet and then headed over across the street to check into my hotel. As soon as I checked in, I got a bucket of ice and iced my ankle and Achilles. Then I walked over to eat at the Kanlaya Thai Restaurant in Chinatown. They have pretty good spicy duck curry with basil. I'm salivating just from typing that. Too bad I was flying solo, but I'll have to remember that this place is a good date place. I stopped by a convenient store to buy water and orange juice.
Pre race
I couldn't really fall asleep but eventually I got in a few hours. I awoke before all of my alarms and got ready. I ate my Powerbar and drank my orange juice. Then waited until it was time to head to the starting line. I took the Metro over to the Pentagon and walked about a mile to the baggage drop area. After hitting the line for the pottapotties, I jogged over to the starting line. There was a lot of people out there! I tried to make my way into the 4 hour area, but somehow I ended up in the 3:30 area. But it was so packed, no one was going to be able to run 8 min miles from the start. I kept reminding myself not to chase anybody because my Achilles would probably snap... and that's no joke! My strategy was to finish the first half in around 2 hours and see what I have left from there.
First Half
The first 3 miles were mostly uphill and I sort of just ran with the flow. Then the next 3 were downhill. Then we had the last major climb of the race starting at mile 6 ending at mile 8. During this climb, my right Achilles was very sore so I had to really slow down. I knew at that point I was not going to make it to the half under 2 hours. The whole time I was repeating in my head, "New York City", to get my mind off of the pain as well as to remind myself to keep the pace slow so that I could run New York the following week. When I got to the halfway mark at a little over 2:08, I knew I would have to begin taking my walking breaks for the 2nd half.
1: 9:20
2: 9:02
3: 8:31
4: 8:22
5: 8:47
6: 9:19
7-8: 19:39
9: 10:07
10: 10:45
11: 10:11
12: 10:33
13: 11:41
13.1: 2:08:07
Second Half
I would walk for about 2 minutes and run to the next mile marker. After about 3 miles this proved to be even too much for my sore Achilles, so I increased it to about 4 minutes of walking. I just wanted to keeps things under the pain threshold. I don't remember much of the 2nd half even though we ran by several of the major monuments. I just remember lots of people out there cheering. I was happy when I got to the bridge cutoff at mile 20. From the beginning I just kept telling myself to get to mile 20 and it'll all be over. I got in line for the portapotties at mile 22. It was a steady climb to the finish line from here on out. I veered off the course at mile 24 to use the potties again. My legs were starting to cramp so I had to keep drinking Nuun to get the electrolytes back in my body. I thought I was going to snap my Achilles at the last hill for the final .2 miles. I walked it a little and all I kept hearing from the crowds was, "you're almost there!" So I had to appease the crowd and ran it in.
14: 12:01
15: 12:04
16: 12:29
17-18: 28:04
19: 14:16
20: 15:36
21: 14:37
22: 17:03
23: 13:21
24: 15:14
25: 14:37
26.2: 17:44
For those that prefer measurements in 5k increments:
5k: 27:19
10k: 55:18
15k: 1:26:13
20k: 1:59:32
25k: 2:37:00
30k: 3:20:22
35k: 4:06:15
40k: 4:54:05
Finish: 5:13:34
Post race
Then they herded all of the cattle to pick up their finisher's medal and food. I picked up my finisher's coin while walking over towards the Rosslyn Metro Station. When I saw how packed it was, I turned around and walked towards the Arlington Station. A handful of people had the same idea. There was no wait at Arlington and you got to see and cheer on those that were still heading towards the finish line. Once I got back to my hotel room, I cleaned up and got a foot long Subway sandwich. Then I just relaxed, took a nap, and woke up to watch the Yankees/Angels game.
The next day I tried to sleep in, but couldn't. I'm too much of a morning person. I checked out of the hotel around 10am and went on a tour of DC. My Achilles was still very sore... so I got to sit on a lot of benches during my tour. I saw the White House, the Washington Monument, the WWII memorial, the Lincoln Memorial, the Jefferson Memorial, and the US Capitol Building. It actually felt okay to walk around. I was glad that I ran the race semi-injured because I got to tour DC for just the second time since high school.
Thursday, October 22, 2009
The Accidental Birth of a Marathon Maniac
How I ended up on the Maniac Bus
I have been hampered by a bad right hip, chronic lower back aches, and occasionally ITBS. They were mostly aches and pains that I got from playing tennis and skiing. After I got my body well enough to finally run my first sub 5 hours marathon in San Diego, I wanted to start training and improving so that I can qualify for the Boston Marathon. But first I thought maybe it would be a good idea to qualify for the Marathon Maniacs. So I decided to qualify at the lowest level by running Long Beach, Pasadena, and Honolulu. I got destroyed in Long Beach (see last year's post below) and Pasadena was canceled due to poor air quality caused by nearby fires. That delayed my plan. I finished Honolulu with a then PR but had to deal with lower back aches all week leading up to the race. Then I figured I would qualify for MM by running the Carlsbad Marathon and the Surf City Marathon on back to back weekends.
Step 1: Back to back marathons
So my first race for the new year was the Carlsbad Marathon. I wanted to improve to a 4:15 marathon, so I ran with the pace group. It was surprisingly more difficult to run at a 9:40 pace vs a 8:40 pace. The right leg quit on me before I even got to the half. I struggled to a 4:59 finish. Around mile 15 of that race, I really wanted to quit running marathons for good. But a lot happens during 11 miles of suffering. I got the idea that quitting is not good. So I decided to abandon my plan of running quality marathons. I decided to go for quantity instead and see if I could stay relatively healthy while running 3 marathons in 1 month.
The following weekend I ran Surf City. I didn't want to repeat what happened in Carlsbad, so I ran with the 4:30 pace group. I ditched the pace group very early and just ran at whatever pace my body felt like running. My legs seemed to like that better. I finished in 4:38. Was actually on pace for about 4:20 until I started cramping late in the race. I was surprised that I actually ran faster. It was at the race expo that I met Dane Rauschenberg where I bought his book documenting his quest/adventure of running 52 marathons in 52 weeks.
Step 2: Filling in the gaps with marathons
So I had ran a marathon in December, January, and February. Pasadena was rescheduled to March which I ran a PR in 4:21. My goal for 3 marathons in 1 month was in May. So I needed a marathon in April to keep the streak going. Here's where I got the idea to run at least 1 marathon per month for the rest of 2009 hopefully all of them at sub 5 hours.
Step 3: 3 marathons in 1 month
I ran Palos Verdes in 4:51 while suffering severe cramps. I went out to destroy the PR that I got in Pasadena, but it was too hot and I hadn't figured out my electrolyte problem yet. I then ran Los Angeles in 4:24 feeling pretty super. The following weekend I ran San Diego in 4:27 wondering how my body is holding up. I still remembered when I could not for the life of me finish a marathon under 5 hours.
Step 4: Continuing the streak while gaining weight
I gained about 15 pounds because of overeating and lifting weights. I overate because of stress and I lifted weights because I couldn't run as much as I would like. In June I ran Seattle in 4:50. It was fun but I had a hard time dealing with the heat. In July I ran San Francisco in 4:55. I had too much beer with friends the night before and was surprised I even broke 5 hours. Then the lack of discipline caught up to me when I ran the difficult but fun ET Midnight Marathon in 5:28. I was becoming more and more out of running shape since I was in the weight room more than I was running.
Step 5: Sign up for a hard 50k
I was not ready for the Montaña de Oro 50k. It was about a week before my birthday and I thought I could just hike it if I was tired. Boy I underestimated the distance and the course. I DNF'd while only covering 33k. About 5k of that was just getting my useless body off of the mountain when I reached a point where I could not continue. This was sort of the wake up call that I needed to get back on track in preparing myself to become a Boston qualifier. I had to give up my distractions: bowling, lifting weights for upper body mass, succumbing to work/life stress. I will be back to MdO next year to have my revenge!
Step 6: Let's go for some altitude training!
Since my streak of sub 5 hours was broken, I thought I'd go run a fun marathon in Big Bear. I was sort of traumatized by MdO in that I couldn't run this race the way that I normally do. Anyways I was destroyed by the hot weather, altitude, and poor electrolyte replacement. I didn't bring enough salt caps. I cramped my way to a 5:53.
Step 7: 3 in 3 consecutive weekends
I was really unhappy with myself at the Big Bear race which led me to sign up for the Lake Tahoe Marathon at almost the very last minute. I brought more salt caps this time and I ran as hard as my legs would let me. The views were definitely worth the long drive, but next time I'll be flying. I finished in 5:08.
I could feel the difference in the elevation when I ran the Sacramento Cowtown Marathon. 8:20 pace was feeling like 9:30 pace from last weekend. This was the first time trying out Nuun. I got really sick when I ran out of Nuun/water late in the race, but I was able to recover and finish in 4:48. Nothing new on race day is still the smart thing to do! Kind of hurt my ankle in this race.
My ankle/AT was sore going into the Long Beach Marathon... my dreaded nemesis. Truth be told, I always go out at a pace that would get me a sub 4. By the 10k mark, I make my adjustment and again at the half way mark. In this race, I considered a DNF when I reached 10k. My ankle/AT was just not feeling good at all. I had to jog/walk the 2nd half and finished to 4:49. Using Nuun during a road race was quite hectic.
Step 8: 4 in 4 consecutive weekends
Now comes my final challenge for the year. I'll be running the Marine Corps Marathon this weekend, followed by the New York City Marathon, followed by the Fresno Marathon, and ending with the Malibu Marathon.
Step 9: 5 in 5 consecutive weekends???
I might run the Santa Monica Mountains 50k. I should be fine now that I've started using Nuun. But first I will need to get past step 8.
Hopefully I will be physically able to enjoy the Las Vegas Marathon in December!
I will end the year with about 20 marathons. I still marvel at the fact that Dane finished his 52 uninjured while holding a full time job with nobody sponsoring him!
I have been hampered by a bad right hip, chronic lower back aches, and occasionally ITBS. They were mostly aches and pains that I got from playing tennis and skiing. After I got my body well enough to finally run my first sub 5 hours marathon in San Diego, I wanted to start training and improving so that I can qualify for the Boston Marathon. But first I thought maybe it would be a good idea to qualify for the Marathon Maniacs. So I decided to qualify at the lowest level by running Long Beach, Pasadena, and Honolulu. I got destroyed in Long Beach (see last year's post below) and Pasadena was canceled due to poor air quality caused by nearby fires. That delayed my plan. I finished Honolulu with a then PR but had to deal with lower back aches all week leading up to the race. Then I figured I would qualify for MM by running the Carlsbad Marathon and the Surf City Marathon on back to back weekends.
Step 1: Back to back marathons
So my first race for the new year was the Carlsbad Marathon. I wanted to improve to a 4:15 marathon, so I ran with the pace group. It was surprisingly more difficult to run at a 9:40 pace vs a 8:40 pace. The right leg quit on me before I even got to the half. I struggled to a 4:59 finish. Around mile 15 of that race, I really wanted to quit running marathons for good. But a lot happens during 11 miles of suffering. I got the idea that quitting is not good. So I decided to abandon my plan of running quality marathons. I decided to go for quantity instead and see if I could stay relatively healthy while running 3 marathons in 1 month.
The following weekend I ran Surf City. I didn't want to repeat what happened in Carlsbad, so I ran with the 4:30 pace group. I ditched the pace group very early and just ran at whatever pace my body felt like running. My legs seemed to like that better. I finished in 4:38. Was actually on pace for about 4:20 until I started cramping late in the race. I was surprised that I actually ran faster. It was at the race expo that I met Dane Rauschenberg where I bought his book documenting his quest/adventure of running 52 marathons in 52 weeks.
Step 2: Filling in the gaps with marathons
So I had ran a marathon in December, January, and February. Pasadena was rescheduled to March which I ran a PR in 4:21. My goal for 3 marathons in 1 month was in May. So I needed a marathon in April to keep the streak going. Here's where I got the idea to run at least 1 marathon per month for the rest of 2009 hopefully all of them at sub 5 hours.
Step 3: 3 marathons in 1 month
I ran Palos Verdes in 4:51 while suffering severe cramps. I went out to destroy the PR that I got in Pasadena, but it was too hot and I hadn't figured out my electrolyte problem yet. I then ran Los Angeles in 4:24 feeling pretty super. The following weekend I ran San Diego in 4:27 wondering how my body is holding up. I still remembered when I could not for the life of me finish a marathon under 5 hours.
Step 4: Continuing the streak while gaining weight
I gained about 15 pounds because of overeating and lifting weights. I overate because of stress and I lifted weights because I couldn't run as much as I would like. In June I ran Seattle in 4:50. It was fun but I had a hard time dealing with the heat. In July I ran San Francisco in 4:55. I had too much beer with friends the night before and was surprised I even broke 5 hours. Then the lack of discipline caught up to me when I ran the difficult but fun ET Midnight Marathon in 5:28. I was becoming more and more out of running shape since I was in the weight room more than I was running.
Step 5: Sign up for a hard 50k
I was not ready for the Montaña de Oro 50k. It was about a week before my birthday and I thought I could just hike it if I was tired. Boy I underestimated the distance and the course. I DNF'd while only covering 33k. About 5k of that was just getting my useless body off of the mountain when I reached a point where I could not continue. This was sort of the wake up call that I needed to get back on track in preparing myself to become a Boston qualifier. I had to give up my distractions: bowling, lifting weights for upper body mass, succumbing to work/life stress. I will be back to MdO next year to have my revenge!
Step 6: Let's go for some altitude training!
Since my streak of sub 5 hours was broken, I thought I'd go run a fun marathon in Big Bear. I was sort of traumatized by MdO in that I couldn't run this race the way that I normally do. Anyways I was destroyed by the hot weather, altitude, and poor electrolyte replacement. I didn't bring enough salt caps. I cramped my way to a 5:53.
Step 7: 3 in 3 consecutive weekends
I was really unhappy with myself at the Big Bear race which led me to sign up for the Lake Tahoe Marathon at almost the very last minute. I brought more salt caps this time and I ran as hard as my legs would let me. The views were definitely worth the long drive, but next time I'll be flying. I finished in 5:08.
I could feel the difference in the elevation when I ran the Sacramento Cowtown Marathon. 8:20 pace was feeling like 9:30 pace from last weekend. This was the first time trying out Nuun. I got really sick when I ran out of Nuun/water late in the race, but I was able to recover and finish in 4:48. Nothing new on race day is still the smart thing to do! Kind of hurt my ankle in this race.
My ankle/AT was sore going into the Long Beach Marathon... my dreaded nemesis. Truth be told, I always go out at a pace that would get me a sub 4. By the 10k mark, I make my adjustment and again at the half way mark. In this race, I considered a DNF when I reached 10k. My ankle/AT was just not feeling good at all. I had to jog/walk the 2nd half and finished to 4:49. Using Nuun during a road race was quite hectic.
Step 8: 4 in 4 consecutive weekends
Now comes my final challenge for the year. I'll be running the Marine Corps Marathon this weekend, followed by the New York City Marathon, followed by the Fresno Marathon, and ending with the Malibu Marathon.
Step 9: 5 in 5 consecutive weekends???
I might run the Santa Monica Mountains 50k. I should be fine now that I've started using Nuun. But first I will need to get past step 8.
Hopefully I will be physically able to enjoy the Las Vegas Marathon in December!
I will end the year with about 20 marathons. I still marvel at the fact that Dane finished his 52 uninjured while holding a full time job with nobody sponsoring him!
Friday, October 16, 2009
Long Beach Marathon 2008
I dug up this report from the Runner's World forum. This was where I became the bus bench inspector! I can't believe I came back for more!
I survived... barely. Looks like Slow-Mo, my alter ego, made an appearance today! My right foot has been bothering me lately so I haven't been putting in the miles since the Disneyland race. My plan was to run around a 2hr first half and go from there.
1 - 9:22
2 - 8:57
3 - 8:55
4 - 9:32
5 - 9:35
6 - 9:12
7 - 9:07
8 - 9:14
9 - 9:38
10 - 9:36 Both ankles felt sore, most likely due to running on concrete. Right foot felt sore too so I decided to slow down the pace earlier than originally planned.
11 - 10:24
12 - 9:59
13 - 10:15
I reached the halfway point around 2:08. At this point I knew that I was in for a long day.
14 - 10:37
15 - 11:16
16 - 11:15
17 - 12:21
18 - 17:31 Wheels came off, everything started falling apart.
19 - 23:53 Everything cramped up. I could barely walk at this point. Sat down at the curb a few times to massage my legs. If this was a horse race, they would've shot this horse to put him out of his misery. =) But thank goodness to the people at the aid station they gave me a bottle of Gatorade and sprayed my legs with analgesic spray.
20 - 17:26
21 - 14:33 Was able to start running a little bit. I made a mental note to work on replenishing my electrolytes for my future races.
22 - 15:22
23 - 12:15
24 - 14:23
25 - 17:57
26 - 21:59 Everything cramped up again. Every time I sat down at a bus bench, people asked if I was waiting for the bus
26.2 - 4:01 Could not even run to the finish line. Usually I can summon up some energy to at least trot across but this time I had to limp across the finish line. Both calves were knotted up and my right groin was cramped up. It was definitely not a pretty ending.
Finish: 5:28:42
I'm starting to think it was a bad idea to join the marathon maniac club. Hopefully I'll do a little bit better on my next race. But I will still need to run conservatively if I want to show up to Hawaii in one piece.
I survived... barely. Looks like Slow-Mo, my alter ego, made an appearance today! My right foot has been bothering me lately so I haven't been putting in the miles since the Disneyland race. My plan was to run around a 2hr first half and go from there.
1 - 9:22
2 - 8:57
3 - 8:55
4 - 9:32
5 - 9:35
6 - 9:12
7 - 9:07
8 - 9:14
9 - 9:38
10 - 9:36 Both ankles felt sore, most likely due to running on concrete. Right foot felt sore too so I decided to slow down the pace earlier than originally planned.
11 - 10:24
12 - 9:59
13 - 10:15
I reached the halfway point around 2:08. At this point I knew that I was in for a long day.
14 - 10:37
15 - 11:16
16 - 11:15
17 - 12:21
18 - 17:31 Wheels came off, everything started falling apart.
19 - 23:53 Everything cramped up. I could barely walk at this point. Sat down at the curb a few times to massage my legs. If this was a horse race, they would've shot this horse to put him out of his misery. =) But thank goodness to the people at the aid station they gave me a bottle of Gatorade and sprayed my legs with analgesic spray.
20 - 17:26
21 - 14:33 Was able to start running a little bit. I made a mental note to work on replenishing my electrolytes for my future races.
22 - 15:22
23 - 12:15
24 - 14:23
25 - 17:57
26 - 21:59 Everything cramped up again. Every time I sat down at a bus bench, people asked if I was waiting for the bus
26.2 - 4:01 Could not even run to the finish line. Usually I can summon up some energy to at least trot across but this time I had to limp across the finish line. Both calves were knotted up and my right groin was cramped up. It was definitely not a pretty ending.
Finish: 5:28:42
I'm starting to think it was a bad idea to join the marathon maniac club. Hopefully I'll do a little bit better on my next race. But I will still need to run conservatively if I want to show up to Hawaii in one piece.
Monday, October 12, 2009
Long Beach Marathon
Packet pickup/Expo
I left work early on Friday to pickup my race packet and attend the expo. I first went to Costa Mesa to eat some ramen. Then I made my way up to Long Beach. I parked at the meters for 75 cents... good for only 30 mins so I knew I had to hurry. I used about 10-15 minutes just from walking to and from the expo. I picked up my bib and t-shirt and then proceeded to rush through the expo. I picked up a wristband for Train4Austism. I'll be wearing it at all of my future races. I said hi to the girls at the Rock n' Roll booth, Dane signing/selling his book, and Dennis at the Surf City booth. Then I hiked back to my car. The meter had just expired as I got back to my car.
FE at Nino's
I kind of wanted to control my diet so I had a solo dinner at Shinsengumi in Fountain Valley. That place is over-hyped and over-rated. The ramen was good, but not even close to being the best. Then I made my way to Nino's for the FE. At the FE were Vixen (+1), Ingrid, Charlie, Kevin, James, Mae*, Roccco, Renee, Cindy (+1), Kwikkchik. I believe I got everybody. It was fun chatting with folks about running that can appreciate the sport.
*I knew I was missing somebody! Sorry Mae!
Pre-race
I pre-paid for parking this year which was something new. It was painless getting to my designated parking structure. I got in a quick nap listening to Snoop Dogg, quite fitting since the guy came out of Long Beach. When it came close to the start, I jogged out to the starting area. My right Achilles felt sore. I headed for the portapotties and was immediately spotted by James. Yes, I was wearing my orange Worldvision shirt. Then when I came out of the potty, I was spotted by Howard. Again the shirt made me stand out like a brightly lit Christmas tree in the middle of summer.
James and I headed to the starting area to catch the start of wave 1. We wished Howard a good race since he wanted to run with the 4:15 pace group in wave 2. While waiting for the start in wave 1, Sam and Tiffany spots me. It seems that all of us were planning to run in the neighborhood of 3:40. We spotted Dane Rauschenberg, a fantastic runner. He started with us to provide some comedic relief for about 200 meters and then took off to run his race. He would go on to run a 3:06 while claiming to be out of shape.
1st Half
I ran behind James for the first couple of miles. Then somehow I lost him and ended up in front of him. Then he zoomed by on a downhill. Later I saw my friend Lori up ahead, so I chased her down to say hi. I ran with her for a little bit but I realized that we were right behind the 3:20 pace group. So I wished her a good race and dropped back. I reached the 10k mark at exactly my 8:30 target pace, but my Achilles was not feeling good at all. If I pushed on, I would probably end up causing real damage. I considered a DNF, but I decided to slow down and try to get to the halfway mark in one piece. It was weird filling up my handheld and putting in Nuun on a road race. It felt like everybody was in a hurry to get somewhere. Mile markers for 7 and 9 were definitely off. I felt like hell after getting off of the concrete bike path. Concrete 3 Me 0. I was able to see James, Sam, and Tiffany as I was heading towards the mile 13 turnaround. Then shortly after the mile 13 turnaround I saw Chicrunner. She would catch up to me and pass me later. I got to the half in about 1:59:30, but I was toast.
1: 8:24
2: 8:15
3: 8:13
4: 8:56
5: 8:32
6: 8:42
7: 10:37
8: 9:44
9: 7:15
10: 9:37
11: 9:48
12: 9:21
13: 10:54
2nd Half
It was like driving a car with a flat tire. And what do you do when you have a flat? Pull over, slap on the donut and drive 35 mph to the nearest garage. Since I'm not a car, I jogged as much as I could at maybe 4 mph trying to get back to my parking garage before the 5 hour mark. I had to rest the Achilles with lots of walking especially when going uphill. I got to see Dane and Lori heading home while I was still going out to visit Cal State Long Beach. Howard and the 4:15 pace group passes me. At around mile 24 all I heard was a loud speaker playing domoarigato mister roboto! There was a guy dressed like a Hotdog on a Stick employee. Yes, he was wearing a cap that was red, blue, and yellow along with a matching outfit. I was for sure that Howard would hang on to the pace group and finish at 4:15, but around mile 25 I caught up to him. We walked together a little bit and he took off. I continued to jog here and there. Walked to and fro... but I didn't open up my stride until I saw the 26th mile marker. It was one of those crisis control marathons, but I was glad that I didn't have to literally crawl across the finish line like I did the 2 previous times that I've ran this race.
14-15: 21:31
16: 12:12
17: 12:38
18: 13:28
19: 12:12
20: 12:29
21: 13:18
22: 13:23
23: 15:44
24: 13:42
25: 14:27
26: 13:58
26.2: 1:50
Finish: 4:49:21
Post-race
I am through with Long Beach. I've consistently had horrible racing experiences at this marathon. It might just be coincidence, but this will probably be my last time running this race. Nuun prevented the cramps again but since I was only jogging the 2nd half, I had to keep using the portapotties. It was really cool to have people you know cheer for you... thanks Billy, Renee, and Ingrid! Now I have to go fix my flat tire before the MCM, NYC, Fresno, and Malibu fiasco... 4 marathons in 4 consecutive weekends. This race pretty much sealed the deal and decided for me that there will be no Death Valley-Las Vegas double marathon this year. I aggravated the same tendon earlier this year around the time that I ran the Malibu Creek trail run.
I left work early on Friday to pickup my race packet and attend the expo. I first went to Costa Mesa to eat some ramen. Then I made my way up to Long Beach. I parked at the meters for 75 cents... good for only 30 mins so I knew I had to hurry. I used about 10-15 minutes just from walking to and from the expo. I picked up my bib and t-shirt and then proceeded to rush through the expo. I picked up a wristband for Train4Austism. I'll be wearing it at all of my future races. I said hi to the girls at the Rock n' Roll booth, Dane signing/selling his book, and Dennis at the Surf City booth. Then I hiked back to my car. The meter had just expired as I got back to my car.
FE at Nino's
I kind of wanted to control my diet so I had a solo dinner at Shinsengumi in Fountain Valley. That place is over-hyped and over-rated. The ramen was good, but not even close to being the best. Then I made my way to Nino's for the FE. At the FE were Vixen (+1), Ingrid, Charlie, Kevin, James, Mae*, Roccco, Renee, Cindy (+1), Kwikkchik. I believe I got everybody. It was fun chatting with folks about running that can appreciate the sport.
*I knew I was missing somebody! Sorry Mae!
Pre-race
I pre-paid for parking this year which was something new. It was painless getting to my designated parking structure. I got in a quick nap listening to Snoop Dogg, quite fitting since the guy came out of Long Beach. When it came close to the start, I jogged out to the starting area. My right Achilles felt sore. I headed for the portapotties and was immediately spotted by James. Yes, I was wearing my orange Worldvision shirt. Then when I came out of the potty, I was spotted by Howard. Again the shirt made me stand out like a brightly lit Christmas tree in the middle of summer.
James and I headed to the starting area to catch the start of wave 1. We wished Howard a good race since he wanted to run with the 4:15 pace group in wave 2. While waiting for the start in wave 1, Sam and Tiffany spots me. It seems that all of us were planning to run in the neighborhood of 3:40. We spotted Dane Rauschenberg, a fantastic runner. He started with us to provide some comedic relief for about 200 meters and then took off to run his race. He would go on to run a 3:06 while claiming to be out of shape.
1st Half
I ran behind James for the first couple of miles. Then somehow I lost him and ended up in front of him. Then he zoomed by on a downhill. Later I saw my friend Lori up ahead, so I chased her down to say hi. I ran with her for a little bit but I realized that we were right behind the 3:20 pace group. So I wished her a good race and dropped back. I reached the 10k mark at exactly my 8:30 target pace, but my Achilles was not feeling good at all. If I pushed on, I would probably end up causing real damage. I considered a DNF, but I decided to slow down and try to get to the halfway mark in one piece. It was weird filling up my handheld and putting in Nuun on a road race. It felt like everybody was in a hurry to get somewhere. Mile markers for 7 and 9 were definitely off. I felt like hell after getting off of the concrete bike path. Concrete 3 Me 0. I was able to see James, Sam, and Tiffany as I was heading towards the mile 13 turnaround. Then shortly after the mile 13 turnaround I saw Chicrunner. She would catch up to me and pass me later. I got to the half in about 1:59:30, but I was toast.
1: 8:24
2: 8:15
3: 8:13
4: 8:56
5: 8:32
6: 8:42
7: 10:37
8: 9:44
9: 7:15
10: 9:37
11: 9:48
12: 9:21
13: 10:54
2nd Half
It was like driving a car with a flat tire. And what do you do when you have a flat? Pull over, slap on the donut and drive 35 mph to the nearest garage. Since I'm not a car, I jogged as much as I could at maybe 4 mph trying to get back to my parking garage before the 5 hour mark. I had to rest the Achilles with lots of walking especially when going uphill. I got to see Dane and Lori heading home while I was still going out to visit Cal State Long Beach. Howard and the 4:15 pace group passes me. At around mile 24 all I heard was a loud speaker playing domoarigato mister roboto! There was a guy dressed like a Hotdog on a Stick employee. Yes, he was wearing a cap that was red, blue, and yellow along with a matching outfit. I was for sure that Howard would hang on to the pace group and finish at 4:15, but around mile 25 I caught up to him. We walked together a little bit and he took off. I continued to jog here and there. Walked to and fro... but I didn't open up my stride until I saw the 26th mile marker. It was one of those crisis control marathons, but I was glad that I didn't have to literally crawl across the finish line like I did the 2 previous times that I've ran this race.
14-15: 21:31
16: 12:12
17: 12:38
18: 13:28
19: 12:12
20: 12:29
21: 13:18
22: 13:23
23: 15:44
24: 13:42
25: 14:27
26: 13:58
26.2: 1:50
Finish: 4:49:21
Post-race
I am through with Long Beach. I've consistently had horrible racing experiences at this marathon. It might just be coincidence, but this will probably be my last time running this race. Nuun prevented the cramps again but since I was only jogging the 2nd half, I had to keep using the portapotties. It was really cool to have people you know cheer for you... thanks Billy, Renee, and Ingrid! Now I have to go fix my flat tire before the MCM, NYC, Fresno, and Malibu fiasco... 4 marathons in 4 consecutive weekends. This race pretty much sealed the deal and decided for me that there will be no Death Valley-Las Vegas double marathon this year. I aggravated the same tendon earlier this year around the time that I ran the Malibu Creek trail run.
Monday, October 5, 2009
Sacramento Cowtown Marathon
Packet Pickup
This was a fun well-organized race. I love the Cowtown Marathon! It was a good size race... not too big, not too small. There was no "expo". Just a race packet/shirt pickup. No frills. I was out of there in about 3 minutes.
Pre Race
I bought some water, juice, and spicy garlic shrimp crackers at Raley's. Then I ate lunch at a Japanese restaurant called Akebono. I had the katsudon and ika geso. Good stuff. If I'm in the area, I'll probably stop by again.
Later that night I revisited Futami and ate their teishoku, beef teriyaki and sashimi. Good stuff. The waitresses kept speaking Japanese to me. I had to force out some phrases and words that I learned about 13 years ago! The younger waitress told me that I could come back and practice Japanese with her. Yeah, too bad I only live 400 miles away. I went back to my hotel to rest. I ended up watching How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and The Mummy: Tomb of The Dragon Emperor.
First Half
I lined up between the 8 and 9 min/mile corrals. The ~8:30 pace that I was running felt comfortable. The miles flew by. I ran with a girl from TNT for a few miles. She said that she had been sick and was planning to run between 2 and 2:05. I told her that at the pace we were going, she was going to hit at worse a 1:55. I think she finished around 1:53. By mile 9 I knew I was going to be under 2 hrs for the first half so I started to cruise.
1: 8:56
2: 8:18
3: 8:20
4: 8:52
5: 8:24
6: 8:15
7: 8:41
8: 9:07
9: 8:46
10: 9:29
11: 9:25
12: 9:22
13: 9:35
Second Half
I was feeling like I was going to have a shot at lowering my PR until my right ankle and Achilles started feeling weak at around mile 17. Then I started taking longer walking breaks at 19 and 20. Then the wheels really came off when I ran out of fluids and started feeling dizzy, nauseous, and borderline wanting to pass out at miles 22 and 23. When I finally reached the aid station and took in some more Nuun + water and a gel, I felt better. While I was zoning in and out of consciousness the word, scree, kept popping in my head. The last 2 miles was pretty fun, to go from such a low point to rallying and finishing with a semi-strong stride to the finish line.
14: 9:59
15: 10:01
16: 10:21
17: 12:20
18: 11:27
19: 14:15
20: 14:01
21: 12:47
22: 15:29
23: 18:24
24: 19:08
25: 12:00
26: 10:22
26.2: 1:52
Finish: 4:48:08
Post Race
I'm thinking I should just carry 2 handhelds with me during my marathons. I'll just be a trail/ultra-runner doing speed work on a road race. Nuun worked great... when I had it available to drink. But I must have skipped an aid station fill-up because I thought that I had enough to reach the next station.
I had unexpectedly bought 2 gallons of water. I only drank 1 during the weekend. So after the race I was looking to give away the 2nd gallon. Near the start/end of the Cowtown marathon, I found an old couple sitting at a golf course bench eating sandwiches. I asked if they could use a gallon of water and the old guy thanked me and prayed for me. When I was leaving, he told me that he'll see me in heaven. I guess it must have been a divine appointment. God sent me to Cowtown to run a marathon and deliver water to this couple.
Since my flight home was delayed, I ate a salad at the airport... my celebratory "white wine spritzer". I couldn't have possibly eaten a steak with that kind of a performance.
This was a fun well-organized race. I love the Cowtown Marathon! It was a good size race... not too big, not too small. There was no "expo". Just a race packet/shirt pickup. No frills. I was out of there in about 3 minutes.
Pre Race
I bought some water, juice, and spicy garlic shrimp crackers at Raley's. Then I ate lunch at a Japanese restaurant called Akebono. I had the katsudon and ika geso. Good stuff. If I'm in the area, I'll probably stop by again.
Later that night I revisited Futami and ate their teishoku, beef teriyaki and sashimi. Good stuff. The waitresses kept speaking Japanese to me. I had to force out some phrases and words that I learned about 13 years ago! The younger waitress told me that I could come back and practice Japanese with her. Yeah, too bad I only live 400 miles away. I went back to my hotel to rest. I ended up watching How to Lose a Guy in 10 Days and The Mummy: Tomb of The Dragon Emperor.
First Half
I lined up between the 8 and 9 min/mile corrals. The ~8:30 pace that I was running felt comfortable. The miles flew by. I ran with a girl from TNT for a few miles. She said that she had been sick and was planning to run between 2 and 2:05. I told her that at the pace we were going, she was going to hit at worse a 1:55. I think she finished around 1:53. By mile 9 I knew I was going to be under 2 hrs for the first half so I started to cruise.
1: 8:56
2: 8:18
3: 8:20
4: 8:52
5: 8:24
6: 8:15
7: 8:41
8: 9:07
9: 8:46
10: 9:29
11: 9:25
12: 9:22
13: 9:35
Second Half
I was feeling like I was going to have a shot at lowering my PR until my right ankle and Achilles started feeling weak at around mile 17. Then I started taking longer walking breaks at 19 and 20. Then the wheels really came off when I ran out of fluids and started feeling dizzy, nauseous, and borderline wanting to pass out at miles 22 and 23. When I finally reached the aid station and took in some more Nuun + water and a gel, I felt better. While I was zoning in and out of consciousness the word, scree, kept popping in my head. The last 2 miles was pretty fun, to go from such a low point to rallying and finishing with a semi-strong stride to the finish line.
14: 9:59
15: 10:01
16: 10:21
17: 12:20
18: 11:27
19: 14:15
20: 14:01
21: 12:47
22: 15:29
23: 18:24
24: 19:08
25: 12:00
26: 10:22
26.2: 1:52
Finish: 4:48:08
Post Race
I'm thinking I should just carry 2 handhelds with me during my marathons. I'll just be a trail/ultra-runner doing speed work on a road race. Nuun worked great... when I had it available to drink. But I must have skipped an aid station fill-up because I thought that I had enough to reach the next station.
I had unexpectedly bought 2 gallons of water. I only drank 1 during the weekend. So after the race I was looking to give away the 2nd gallon. Near the start/end of the Cowtown marathon, I found an old couple sitting at a golf course bench eating sandwiches. I asked if they could use a gallon of water and the old guy thanked me and prayed for me. When I was leaving, he told me that he'll see me in heaven. I guess it must have been a divine appointment. God sent me to Cowtown to run a marathon and deliver water to this couple.
Since my flight home was delayed, I ate a salad at the airport... my celebratory "white wine spritzer". I couldn't have possibly eaten a steak with that kind of a performance.
Monday, September 28, 2009
Lake Tahoe Marathon
Pre-race
Ever since I got humbled at Montaña de Oro and Big Bear with severe cramps, I wanted to run another difficult marathon asap and see if I can figure out my salt intake. So I decided to run this race at the very last minute. Plane tickets had gone up so I decided to just drive it. I even mapped out a Japanese restaurant (Futami) that I could eat at in Sacramento. When I got to the restaurant on the way up for lunch, I found out that it didn't open until 5pm on weekends so I decided that I would stop by on the way home. Instead I ate a six dollar burger combo at Carl's Jr. By the time I had gotten into South Lake Tahoe, I had practically lost my mind. I was pooped... the lights were on but nobody was home!
Packet Pickup/Expo
The bib was weird. The number was smaller than usual with a picture of Inspiration Point next to it. We got a wind breaker instead of the usual t-shirt. I'm glad because I have way too many race shirts. I have donated so many to Goodwill.
I bought the Power Balance bracelet. The little 15 second demonstration convinced me that it works. The Phiten necklace did not have the same effect. They were going to give it to me for free in exchange for my Phiten. But I gave them money instead since they said that they would just throw away the Phiten.
FE
It was nice hanging out with Loosh. We ate at a sushi restaurant called Naked Fish. I love seafood more than I love steaks! That's a lot of love since I really do love steaks. It was hard reading the menu because my brain was still fuzzy from the long drive. Runners tend to be the coolest people on Earth. It was the first time meeting in person, but it was as if we had been friends for a long time. I love having small FE's.
First Half
On the bus ride up to the starting area, I sat next to Marty, who was running the Tahoe Triple. Those people are nuts! Once I get a handle on the cramping, I'm going to do the triple. I was practically paced by Loosh for the first 6 miles. The first half was the much easier half, so my plan was to run the first 10k at around 9 min/mile pace and just cruise until I get to that "little hill" in the second half.
1: 8:54
2: 9:02
3: 8:46
4: 9:26
5: 9:03
6: 9:09
7: 9:49
8: 9:44
9: 9:40
10: 10:13
11: 10:05
12: 10:27
13: 10:46
Second Half
The fun started when the hill from Hell began around mile 16. That "hill" lasted a couple of miles. I walked with Erin, a half marathoner, for a while. She was having side stitches. Once that got better she took off. She used to be a heptathlete. Her best event was the hurdles. I would see her again around mile 24 when she was dealing with foot cramps. There was a lot of rollers in the 2nd half and it got quite toasty. I was taking a salt cap every 30 minutes and drinking water like it was going out of style. This staved off the cramps. I did a lot of walking because my right Achilles was still feeling weak, my stamina still sucked, and I still have many marathons to run in the weeks ahead. There was a lady crewing for someone that was playing lots of country music. I've seen her drive by several times during the race. I told her that she was the best crew member out there.
14: 12:06
15: 9:49
16: 17:39
17: 18:27
18: 16:03
19: 12:09
20: 15:51
21: 10:35
22: 14:09
23: 12:47
24: 13:47
25: 13:52
26: 13:45
26.2: 1:56
Finish: 5:08:10
Post-race
I had always thought that the shotbloks were adequate, but apparently they were not. In this race I used a combination of either shotbloks or gels with salt caps. This prevented the cramps that would normally kick my butt on this kind of a difficult course plus warm temperatures. I'm going to try Nuun at my next race. If this solves my ongoing problem with cramps then I'm going to start kicking some butt and run harder because my mind is getting tired of these jog-a-thons. If there is a next time, I'm going to fly regardless of the airfare. The drive back home was much harder than the drive there.
In case you're wondering, I ate yosenabe at Futami when I got into Sacramento on my way home. The lady spoke nothing but Japanese to me. Good thing I knew enough to know what she was saying.
Ever since I got humbled at Montaña de Oro and Big Bear with severe cramps, I wanted to run another difficult marathon asap and see if I can figure out my salt intake. So I decided to run this race at the very last minute. Plane tickets had gone up so I decided to just drive it. I even mapped out a Japanese restaurant (Futami) that I could eat at in Sacramento. When I got to the restaurant on the way up for lunch, I found out that it didn't open until 5pm on weekends so I decided that I would stop by on the way home. Instead I ate a six dollar burger combo at Carl's Jr. By the time I had gotten into South Lake Tahoe, I had practically lost my mind. I was pooped... the lights were on but nobody was home!
Packet Pickup/Expo
The bib was weird. The number was smaller than usual with a picture of Inspiration Point next to it. We got a wind breaker instead of the usual t-shirt. I'm glad because I have way too many race shirts. I have donated so many to Goodwill.
I bought the Power Balance bracelet. The little 15 second demonstration convinced me that it works. The Phiten necklace did not have the same effect. They were going to give it to me for free in exchange for my Phiten. But I gave them money instead since they said that they would just throw away the Phiten.
FE
It was nice hanging out with Loosh. We ate at a sushi restaurant called Naked Fish. I love seafood more than I love steaks! That's a lot of love since I really do love steaks. It was hard reading the menu because my brain was still fuzzy from the long drive. Runners tend to be the coolest people on Earth. It was the first time meeting in person, but it was as if we had been friends for a long time. I love having small FE's.
First Half
On the bus ride up to the starting area, I sat next to Marty, who was running the Tahoe Triple. Those people are nuts! Once I get a handle on the cramping, I'm going to do the triple. I was practically paced by Loosh for the first 6 miles. The first half was the much easier half, so my plan was to run the first 10k at around 9 min/mile pace and just cruise until I get to that "little hill" in the second half.
1: 8:54
2: 9:02
3: 8:46
4: 9:26
5: 9:03
6: 9:09
7: 9:49
8: 9:44
9: 9:40
10: 10:13
11: 10:05
12: 10:27
13: 10:46
Second Half
The fun started when the hill from Hell began around mile 16. That "hill" lasted a couple of miles. I walked with Erin, a half marathoner, for a while. She was having side stitches. Once that got better she took off. She used to be a heptathlete. Her best event was the hurdles. I would see her again around mile 24 when she was dealing with foot cramps. There was a lot of rollers in the 2nd half and it got quite toasty. I was taking a salt cap every 30 minutes and drinking water like it was going out of style. This staved off the cramps. I did a lot of walking because my right Achilles was still feeling weak, my stamina still sucked, and I still have many marathons to run in the weeks ahead. There was a lady crewing for someone that was playing lots of country music. I've seen her drive by several times during the race. I told her that she was the best crew member out there.
14: 12:06
15: 9:49
16: 17:39
17: 18:27
18: 16:03
19: 12:09
20: 15:51
21: 10:35
22: 14:09
23: 12:47
24: 13:47
25: 13:52
26: 13:45
26.2: 1:56
Finish: 5:08:10
Post-race
I had always thought that the shotbloks were adequate, but apparently they were not. In this race I used a combination of either shotbloks or gels with salt caps. This prevented the cramps that would normally kick my butt on this kind of a difficult course plus warm temperatures. I'm going to try Nuun at my next race. If this solves my ongoing problem with cramps then I'm going to start kicking some butt and run harder because my mind is getting tired of these jog-a-thons. If there is a next time, I'm going to fly regardless of the airfare. The drive back home was much harder than the drive there.
In case you're wondering, I ate yosenabe at Futami when I got into Sacramento on my way home. The lady spoke nothing but Japanese to me. Good thing I knew enough to know what she was saying.
Monday, September 21, 2009
HIMYM Marathon
When I first watched an episode of How I Met Your Mother, I didn't think it was very funny. But between then and now, I've since gone back and watched it from the very beginning. The jokes are very clever and funny although sometimes very crude. Now you may be wondering how is this a marathon? In the span of a week, I've gone through almost 4 seasons' worth of episodes. I have 10 more episodes that I'll try to watch before tonight's season premiere episode.
This video is freaking hilarious: Robin Sparkles
This marathon came at a pretty convenient time since I've been waking up anywhere from 1:30 to 4:00am in the morning without the aid of my alarm. There's nothing but crap and depressing news early in the morning, so a sitcom is perfect for the situation. The alarm now serves to tell me when I need to stop watching so I can get ready for work... SUIT UP!
It may be an awesome show. But all truth be told, I would like to cut into this marathon and go out to run in the dark but my right ankle has been feeling somewhat weak during my runs this weekend. So TV it is!
Saturday's run: ~11.8 miles with lots and lots of hills at ~9:17 pace
Sunday's run: ~3.4 miles at ~8:40 pace (easy)
This video is freaking hilarious: Robin Sparkles
This marathon came at a pretty convenient time since I've been waking up anywhere from 1:30 to 4:00am in the morning without the aid of my alarm. There's nothing but crap and depressing news early in the morning, so a sitcom is perfect for the situation. The alarm now serves to tell me when I need to stop watching so I can get ready for work... SUIT UP!
It may be an awesome show. But all truth be told, I would like to cut into this marathon and go out to run in the dark but my right ankle has been feeling somewhat weak during my runs this weekend. So TV it is!
Saturday's run: ~11.8 miles with lots and lots of hills at ~9:17 pace
Sunday's run: ~3.4 miles at ~8:40 pace (easy)
Sunday, September 13, 2009
Big Bear Lake Marathon
In a nutshell
Holy Snikes! That did not go very well. The course time limit was 6hrs, I used 5:53:55.
Pre-race
The best part of the race was driving up to Big Bear Lake. I left the house at around 4:15 and got there around 6am. It was fun taking those corners in the Mini Cooper. It was kind of chilly when I went to pick up my race packet, but that changed really quickly as the sun came out and warmed everything up. I waited in the car listening to my tunes on my iPod. It was nice and toasty already when I left the car to head for the starting line.
First half
Here's a video of the start: link. It's not too hard to spot me! I went out running as comfortably as I could. There was a big downhill at mile 2 followed by a bit of a climb at mile 4, but I was still feeling ok. But by mile 6 I had to start taking walk breaks just to catch my breath. I knew I could've pressed through it, but mentally I just wasn't there. The course kept rolling up and down. I was taking 1 Endurolyte salt cap every hour along with the shotbloks that I normally take. I just wanted to finish this marathon without any trouble. It took me longer to get to the halfway mark than I had planned, but everything was still feeling manageable. I got to see Vixen from RWOL twice as she was close to finishing her half and I was turning around for my second half.
1: 9:39
2: 8:44
3: 9:37
4: 10:57
5: 9:37
6: 10:20
7: 10:27
8: 10:54
9: 11:16
10: 11:33
11: 11:26
12: 12:09
13: 11:30
13.1: 2:21:16
Second half
I took my last salt cap around mile 15, but apparently I wasn't replacing the electrolytes fast enough because the legs were beginning to cramp at every hill that I climbed. After about mile 19, I kept cramping when I tried to run or jog. At this point, I was out of salt caps and my brain was fried, so I just called it a day and walked the rest of the way. This was pretty much déjà vu from Montaña de Oro. I was just trying my best not to have both legs lock up on me like last time. Tony from Pasadena caught up to me around mile 22 and decided to walk with me. He could've ran it in but he decided to call it a day as well. On the very last corner, I finally convinced him to run it in and that I would see him at the finish line. That turned out to be a lie since I could barely force a jog and went straight for a chair as I hobbled across the finish line. The ladies from the medical tent came by and treated me for my leg cramps. I think I've figured out the cramps, but man I just ran out of salt caps since I clearly underestimated the heat, elevation, and the time that it would take for me to finish. I should just carry a whole bottle with me next time until I figure out how many I need to prevent the cramps.
14-15: 27:11
16: 16:04
17-18: 30:08
19: 15:57
20: 17:12
21: 18:23
22: 17:35
23: 17:51
24: 16:48
25: 17:41
26: 17:19
26.2: 3:25
2nd half: 3:32:38
Finish: 5:53:55
Post race thoughts
I love the medal and the shirt. I really had to work hard for them. I must say that the aid stations were fantastic! The volunteers wore vests that said what they're handing out, so there was no guesswork in what they were offering. Anyways I need to train harder. Guts and determination is not getting me very far anymore. My fitness is barely good enough for a half marathon right now. I should not have been messing around with a marathon at elevation on a sunny day.
Holy Snikes! That did not go very well. The course time limit was 6hrs, I used 5:53:55.
Pre-race
The best part of the race was driving up to Big Bear Lake. I left the house at around 4:15 and got there around 6am. It was fun taking those corners in the Mini Cooper. It was kind of chilly when I went to pick up my race packet, but that changed really quickly as the sun came out and warmed everything up. I waited in the car listening to my tunes on my iPod. It was nice and toasty already when I left the car to head for the starting line.
First half
Here's a video of the start: link. It's not too hard to spot me! I went out running as comfortably as I could. There was a big downhill at mile 2 followed by a bit of a climb at mile 4, but I was still feeling ok. But by mile 6 I had to start taking walk breaks just to catch my breath. I knew I could've pressed through it, but mentally I just wasn't there. The course kept rolling up and down. I was taking 1 Endurolyte salt cap every hour along with the shotbloks that I normally take. I just wanted to finish this marathon without any trouble. It took me longer to get to the halfway mark than I had planned, but everything was still feeling manageable. I got to see Vixen from RWOL twice as she was close to finishing her half and I was turning around for my second half.
1: 9:39
2: 8:44
3: 9:37
4: 10:57
5: 9:37
6: 10:20
7: 10:27
8: 10:54
9: 11:16
10: 11:33
11: 11:26
12: 12:09
13: 11:30
13.1: 2:21:16
Second half
I took my last salt cap around mile 15, but apparently I wasn't replacing the electrolytes fast enough because the legs were beginning to cramp at every hill that I climbed. After about mile 19, I kept cramping when I tried to run or jog. At this point, I was out of salt caps and my brain was fried, so I just called it a day and walked the rest of the way. This was pretty much déjà vu from Montaña de Oro. I was just trying my best not to have both legs lock up on me like last time. Tony from Pasadena caught up to me around mile 22 and decided to walk with me. He could've ran it in but he decided to call it a day as well. On the very last corner, I finally convinced him to run it in and that I would see him at the finish line. That turned out to be a lie since I could barely force a jog and went straight for a chair as I hobbled across the finish line. The ladies from the medical tent came by and treated me for my leg cramps. I think I've figured out the cramps, but man I just ran out of salt caps since I clearly underestimated the heat, elevation, and the time that it would take for me to finish. I should just carry a whole bottle with me next time until I figure out how many I need to prevent the cramps.
14-15: 27:11
16: 16:04
17-18: 30:08
19: 15:57
20: 17:12
21: 18:23
22: 17:35
23: 17:51
24: 16:48
25: 17:41
26: 17:19
26.2: 3:25
2nd half: 3:32:38
Finish: 5:53:55
Post race thoughts
I love the medal and the shirt. I really had to work hard for them. I must say that the aid stations were fantastic! The volunteers wore vests that said what they're handing out, so there was no guesswork in what they were offering. Anyways I need to train harder. Guts and determination is not getting me very far anymore. My fitness is barely good enough for a half marathon right now. I should not have been messing around with a marathon at elevation on a sunny day.
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Disneyland Half Marathon
Expo/Packet Pickup
The expo/packet pickup was somewhat confusing. It seems as if they were trying to address the crowding issue from the prior years, so they moved the bib pickup to the underground parking structure. Then you walk back up to the expo floor to pick up your shirt and goodie bag. It was standing in one line after another. But I suppose we were at Disneyland... lines are to be expected. I did a quick sweep through the aisles and stopped by the Competitor/Elite Racing table to say hi. One of the girls that I see all the time introduced herself and told me her name. We shared a few good laughs and we'll see each other again in Vegas. I had to let her go back to work.
Pre-race
I am not where I should be with my fitness. The only recent run I have done was my 5 mile run on Monday. The run left both of my calves very sore for the next couple of days because the route was hilly and I attacked it. But with a bad half marathon at AFC and a DNF at Montaña de Oro, I really didn't know what to expect out of this race and to make things interesting my lower back has been sore. Given the circumstances I knew one thing and that was that I still love running this super expensive race because I am a big time Disney fan! My goals were still the same.
Goal A: sub 1:50
Goal B: sub 1:55
Goal C: sub 2:00
I carbed up with karamiso ramen on Friday and with pho and spring rolls on Saturday. Those foods always work for me. I tried to sleep early, but I ended up watching Tyson. Love him or hate him... believe him or not... it was a good intriguing movie.
Race day
I got to the parking lot at 4am where I relaxed and ate my Powerbar while listening to my tunes on my iPod. The parking fee had inched its way up to $12. There is no recession when it comes to Disney. Around 5am I stripped down to my race clothes and headed out to the starting area.
I went out conservatively making sure I did not overtake the 1:40 pace group. They stayed about 5 secs ahead of me and eventually pulled away from me. I think more races should emulate Disney and place people in corrals based on previous race results. Even though it was crowded during the first mile, it was good enough that I didn't have to keep adjusting my stride and not once did I pass a walker that had no business being in the front. The pace that I wanted to hold was 8:30 min/mile. The first 5k was easy as most of it was inside the 2 parks.
1: 8:38
2: 8:25
3: 8:20
5k: 26:23
I still stuck to my run/walk plan. I would take a 1 minute walk break for every 30 minutes of running. I used to do that to prevent injury, but now I think it's more for me to take a mental break. Here we ran through the streets of Anaheim. I was feeling ok after 10k.
4: 9:00
5: 8:19
6: 8:31
10k: 53:05
I tried to pick up the pace after a slow mile 8, but I knew that I was getting close to my limit. There was a small series of short climbs. I took my Hammer gel at the 1 hour mark.
7: 8:52
8: 9:17
9: 8:23
15k: 1:20:41
Going through Angel stadium was ok. This time we ran on the "warning track" in front of the dugouts and the home plate. I was starting to fade and could not get the legs to turn over any faster. The cheerleaders right before the tunnel were loud and the energy was much needed. I tried to muster up a faster pace for the final mile, but I was gassed and unmotivated since I knew the PR was out the window after 3 consecutive slow miles.
10: 9:01
11: 9:15
12: 9:11
13: 8:35
13.1: 0:48
Finish: 1:54:40
Post-race
It was so great to see a lot of my friends at this race. I was actually surprised to get a 1:54 out of my legs this weekend... only 23 seconds off of my PR. I was expecting something bad to happen. I really need to get off of the marathon maniacing so that I can start training for quality races. If I get healthy and start putting in the miles, I should easily be in the 1:40s. But that'll have to wait because it's on to the next race, the Big Bear Marathon on Saturday!
The expo/packet pickup was somewhat confusing. It seems as if they were trying to address the crowding issue from the prior years, so they moved the bib pickup to the underground parking structure. Then you walk back up to the expo floor to pick up your shirt and goodie bag. It was standing in one line after another. But I suppose we were at Disneyland... lines are to be expected. I did a quick sweep through the aisles and stopped by the Competitor/Elite Racing table to say hi. One of the girls that I see all the time introduced herself and told me her name. We shared a few good laughs and we'll see each other again in Vegas. I had to let her go back to work.
Pre-race
I am not where I should be with my fitness. The only recent run I have done was my 5 mile run on Monday. The run left both of my calves very sore for the next couple of days because the route was hilly and I attacked it. But with a bad half marathon at AFC and a DNF at Montaña de Oro, I really didn't know what to expect out of this race and to make things interesting my lower back has been sore. Given the circumstances I knew one thing and that was that I still love running this super expensive race because I am a big time Disney fan! My goals were still the same.
Goal A: sub 1:50
Goal B: sub 1:55
Goal C: sub 2:00
I carbed up with karamiso ramen on Friday and with pho and spring rolls on Saturday. Those foods always work for me. I tried to sleep early, but I ended up watching Tyson. Love him or hate him... believe him or not... it was a good intriguing movie.
Race day
I got to the parking lot at 4am where I relaxed and ate my Powerbar while listening to my tunes on my iPod. The parking fee had inched its way up to $12. There is no recession when it comes to Disney. Around 5am I stripped down to my race clothes and headed out to the starting area.
I went out conservatively making sure I did not overtake the 1:40 pace group. They stayed about 5 secs ahead of me and eventually pulled away from me. I think more races should emulate Disney and place people in corrals based on previous race results. Even though it was crowded during the first mile, it was good enough that I didn't have to keep adjusting my stride and not once did I pass a walker that had no business being in the front. The pace that I wanted to hold was 8:30 min/mile. The first 5k was easy as most of it was inside the 2 parks.
1: 8:38
2: 8:25
3: 8:20
5k: 26:23
I still stuck to my run/walk plan. I would take a 1 minute walk break for every 30 minutes of running. I used to do that to prevent injury, but now I think it's more for me to take a mental break. Here we ran through the streets of Anaheim. I was feeling ok after 10k.
4: 9:00
5: 8:19
6: 8:31
10k: 53:05
I tried to pick up the pace after a slow mile 8, but I knew that I was getting close to my limit. There was a small series of short climbs. I took my Hammer gel at the 1 hour mark.
7: 8:52
8: 9:17
9: 8:23
15k: 1:20:41
Going through Angel stadium was ok. This time we ran on the "warning track" in front of the dugouts and the home plate. I was starting to fade and could not get the legs to turn over any faster. The cheerleaders right before the tunnel were loud and the energy was much needed. I tried to muster up a faster pace for the final mile, but I was gassed and unmotivated since I knew the PR was out the window after 3 consecutive slow miles.
10: 9:01
11: 9:15
12: 9:11
13: 8:35
13.1: 0:48
Finish: 1:54:40
Post-race
It was so great to see a lot of my friends at this race. I was actually surprised to get a 1:54 out of my legs this weekend... only 23 seconds off of my PR. I was expecting something bad to happen. I really need to get off of the marathon maniacing so that I can start training for quality races. If I get healthy and start putting in the miles, I should easily be in the 1:40s. But that'll have to wait because it's on to the next race, the Big Bear Marathon on Saturday!
Monday, August 24, 2009
Montaña de Oro 50k
Pre-race thoughts
Going into this race, my confidence in finishing the race was extremely low. After a horrible race in the AFC half marathon my plan was to take it easy, go slow, and if necessary use all of the 9 hrs that they give you. I knew the course was hard, but I'm never known to pick the easiest race. I picked it because it was close to my birthday and I wanted a good challenge. But in the end the timing of the race was bad. I caught the flu a few weeks out, ran horrible marathons at SF and ET shortly thereafter. Follow that up with a lousy half marathon and I just knew it wasn't going to be smooth sailing for my first 50k.
FE/Carbo-load
I drove up on Saturday morning around 9am. When I got to around Santa Barbara, it started to rain and when there's a few drops in sunny California, accidents were sure to follow. I passed about 3 accidents before stopping off in Santa Maria to carbo-load at an Olive Garden. I met up with my friends there. I ate a little bit too much and I felt like barfing. I think from now on, I'm going to stick to ramen or pho. I stayed at the Travelodge in Morro Bay. It was a pretty run down motel. I was probably better off staying at a Motel 6. I didn't really want to eat dinner because my stomach wasn't entirely emptied of Olive Garden. But I went anyways to The Galley, which was highly recommended by everyone. I had the sea bass and 2 beers (Firestone Double Barrel Ale and Reissdorf Kölsch). I was carded for the beer... are you serious? I can count on 1 hand how many times I've been carded in my life. Anyways it turns out that the restaurant owner was also running the Montaña de Oro as his first 50k.
The 50k race was 4 loops: run the 25k route twice: 12k + 13k + 12k + 13k.
1 - 1:39 12k
This first loop wasn't too bad. You get to see a lot of the ocean at the beginning. I was very disciplined and didn't pass anybody unless they were walking. The only bad part was going up to Valencia Peak because there was a lot of loose rocks making your footing pretty bad. Oh yeah and it was a steep climb. Coming down from the peak was fun. I love downhills but I knew I was overworking my quads. During the loop, I kind of made a mental note of where the 8k loop breaks off from 12k loop. I guess I was just being prepared for the worst for when I get to cover the same loop again.
2 - 2:12 13k
There was a lot of steady climbing in this loop. By this point the course was pretty open since most of the people ran the 8k or the 12k. I was getting extremely fatigued because it was just non-stop climbing. When I got to flatter sections, it was very hard to convince myself to run. I was taking my shot bloks and gels every 30 minutes, but my legs were feeling way too exhausted to go another round! But mentally I felt pretty good when I came into the aid station so I thought I might as well give it a shot. If something horrible happens, I'll just bail out and run the 8k.
3 - 2:10 8k
I walked the entire beginning flat section just to give my legs some rest. It was here that I was passed by Larry Macon, now that's a true maniac! I went to the bathroom right before the climb started. The straw that finally broke the camel's back was probably when I ran when I got to the first downhill section. My quads were toast. Then as the climbing resumed, all of the leg muscles slowly cramped up, rigor mortis was setting in. Here's where the fun began. It got so bad that all I could do was stand. I took in whatever gels I had left on me. I limped around but it was too painful to climb. I kept looking around for people or something to lean up against but I was all alone. Eventually those behind me caught up and checked up on me. One nice lady gave me 2 salt capsules and massaged my legs. But in between my grunts from the pain, I was shooing them away. I didn't want to keep them from finishing their race. I was extremely dejected because I knew my day was over. Time to drop out. Montaña de Oro 1, Emil 0. Then I started to wonder, "how in the heck am I going to get my butt off of this mountain?" I couldn't sit down because there was nothing to sit on. I found a small little ditch and sort of sat in there for a while. But I just wanted off so I got up and started to climb again. The 2 girls that had stopped by earlier yells back to me that the turn off for the 8k was pretty close. Pretty close was all relative... it took me a while to get there. I knew I needed to park myself somewhere and wait for the salt to kick in. When I finally reached the top and saw the turnoff, lo and behold a most welcomed sight: a picnic table! But as soon as I planted my butt on the bench, the muscles cramped up so badly that it was almost unbearable. When they finally subsided, I just sat there not wanting to move. But eventually I got up and started walking down the 8k loop. Here's where I got the chance to roll on the ground because everything seized up again. I looked at my muscles, they were all knotted up or twitching like mad. But I got back up and forced my legs to keep on moving. The salt finally kicked in where I was able to walk down and end the misery. The legs were actually good enough to run, but I didn't care much for that at that point.
DNF - 6:01 33k
Post-race thoughts
... and that folks is my pathetic "race" report. Good game, thank you, come again. My first thought afterward was that I should just stick to road racing. It is rather unlikely that I'll give the 50k another shot, but I had just been completely and thoroughly humbled by Montaña de Oro suffering my first ever DNF, so who knows if I might change my mind later when I forget the agony that I went through. I really wanted that dang coaster, but it was impossible. Even if I had completed that 3rd loop, I would still have to cover the 4th loop. I will definitely have to go back to the drawing board and adjust my electrolyte replacement for hot/humid weather and hilly terrains. I've gone back and looked at all of the races where I suffered severe cramps and they were all hot, humid, and hilly. I will continue to cut back on the racing so I can let my body heal up. I will go from 18 marathons to about 10 in 2010. Then in 2011, I will further cut down to 5: Pasadena, Seattle, LA, SD, NYC/Honolulu.
Going into this race, my confidence in finishing the race was extremely low. After a horrible race in the AFC half marathon my plan was to take it easy, go slow, and if necessary use all of the 9 hrs that they give you. I knew the course was hard, but I'm never known to pick the easiest race. I picked it because it was close to my birthday and I wanted a good challenge. But in the end the timing of the race was bad. I caught the flu a few weeks out, ran horrible marathons at SF and ET shortly thereafter. Follow that up with a lousy half marathon and I just knew it wasn't going to be smooth sailing for my first 50k.
FE/Carbo-load
I drove up on Saturday morning around 9am. When I got to around Santa Barbara, it started to rain and when there's a few drops in sunny California, accidents were sure to follow. I passed about 3 accidents before stopping off in Santa Maria to carbo-load at an Olive Garden. I met up with my friends there. I ate a little bit too much and I felt like barfing. I think from now on, I'm going to stick to ramen or pho. I stayed at the Travelodge in Morro Bay. It was a pretty run down motel. I was probably better off staying at a Motel 6. I didn't really want to eat dinner because my stomach wasn't entirely emptied of Olive Garden. But I went anyways to The Galley, which was highly recommended by everyone. I had the sea bass and 2 beers (Firestone Double Barrel Ale and Reissdorf Kölsch). I was carded for the beer... are you serious? I can count on 1 hand how many times I've been carded in my life. Anyways it turns out that the restaurant owner was also running the Montaña de Oro as his first 50k.
The 50k race was 4 loops: run the 25k route twice: 12k + 13k + 12k + 13k.
1 - 1:39 12k
This first loop wasn't too bad. You get to see a lot of the ocean at the beginning. I was very disciplined and didn't pass anybody unless they were walking. The only bad part was going up to Valencia Peak because there was a lot of loose rocks making your footing pretty bad. Oh yeah and it was a steep climb. Coming down from the peak was fun. I love downhills but I knew I was overworking my quads. During the loop, I kind of made a mental note of where the 8k loop breaks off from 12k loop. I guess I was just being prepared for the worst for when I get to cover the same loop again.
2 - 2:12 13k
There was a lot of steady climbing in this loop. By this point the course was pretty open since most of the people ran the 8k or the 12k. I was getting extremely fatigued because it was just non-stop climbing. When I got to flatter sections, it was very hard to convince myself to run. I was taking my shot bloks and gels every 30 minutes, but my legs were feeling way too exhausted to go another round! But mentally I felt pretty good when I came into the aid station so I thought I might as well give it a shot. If something horrible happens, I'll just bail out and run the 8k.
3 - 2:10 8k
I walked the entire beginning flat section just to give my legs some rest. It was here that I was passed by Larry Macon, now that's a true maniac! I went to the bathroom right before the climb started. The straw that finally broke the camel's back was probably when I ran when I got to the first downhill section. My quads were toast. Then as the climbing resumed, all of the leg muscles slowly cramped up, rigor mortis was setting in. Here's where the fun began. It got so bad that all I could do was stand. I took in whatever gels I had left on me. I limped around but it was too painful to climb. I kept looking around for people or something to lean up against but I was all alone. Eventually those behind me caught up and checked up on me. One nice lady gave me 2 salt capsules and massaged my legs. But in between my grunts from the pain, I was shooing them away. I didn't want to keep them from finishing their race. I was extremely dejected because I knew my day was over. Time to drop out. Montaña de Oro 1, Emil 0. Then I started to wonder, "how in the heck am I going to get my butt off of this mountain?" I couldn't sit down because there was nothing to sit on. I found a small little ditch and sort of sat in there for a while. But I just wanted off so I got up and started to climb again. The 2 girls that had stopped by earlier yells back to me that the turn off for the 8k was pretty close. Pretty close was all relative... it took me a while to get there. I knew I needed to park myself somewhere and wait for the salt to kick in. When I finally reached the top and saw the turnoff, lo and behold a most welcomed sight: a picnic table! But as soon as I planted my butt on the bench, the muscles cramped up so badly that it was almost unbearable. When they finally subsided, I just sat there not wanting to move. But eventually I got up and started walking down the 8k loop. Here's where I got the chance to roll on the ground because everything seized up again. I looked at my muscles, they were all knotted up or twitching like mad. But I got back up and forced my legs to keep on moving. The salt finally kicked in where I was able to walk down and end the misery. The legs were actually good enough to run, but I didn't care much for that at that point.
DNF - 6:01 33k
Post-race thoughts
... and that folks is my pathetic "race" report. Good game, thank you, come again. My first thought afterward was that I should just stick to road racing. It is rather unlikely that I'll give the 50k another shot, but I had just been completely and thoroughly humbled by Montaña de Oro suffering my first ever DNF, so who knows if I might change my mind later when I forget the agony that I went through. I really wanted that dang coaster, but it was impossible. Even if I had completed that 3rd loop, I would still have to cover the 4th loop. I will definitely have to go back to the drawing board and adjust my electrolyte replacement for hot/humid weather and hilly terrains. I've gone back and looked at all of the races where I suffered severe cramps and they were all hot, humid, and hilly. I will continue to cut back on the racing so I can let my body heal up. I will go from 18 marathons to about 10 in 2010. Then in 2011, I will further cut down to 5: Pasadena, Seattle, LA, SD, NYC/Honolulu.
Sunday, August 16, 2009
America's Finest City Half Marathon
A recipe for disaster
I pulled into the parking lot at about 5:20 am. It was a little tighter than I had originally planned since the final bus takes off at 6 am. I was watching the IAAF Worlds and sort of lost track of time. I was able to find my friends in the starting area which was nice. I wore my old Asics DS Trainer 11, m
y "peppermint shoes". I wanted to log at least a sub 2 hr half marathon in those shoes before I retire them. Well I kind of knew before the gun went off that today was going to be a hard day. I had run a hard marathon last weekend and my breathing was labored in my shakeout run the day before. But that didn't stop me from going out hard from the start which ultimately led to a rather painful grind for most of the race.
My Goals:
A: sub 1:50
B: sub 1:55
C: sub 2:00
First 10k
I ran out as hard as I could with the idea of trying to maintain a 8 min/mile pace which is faster than what I normally run. That was ok for the first 3 miles. But the huge downhill on mile 4 really done me in. My right hamstring started tightening up. Apparently it had not recover from last weekend's romp on the Extraterrestrial highway. Since I have my birthday 50k run coming up next weekend, I backed off on the pace. Periodically I would speed up to test it, but the hamstring said no. No means no and thus began the slow grind. Even though things were coming apart pretty early in the race, I'm glad that I'm still able to run some sub 8 min miles.
1 - 7:44
2 - 8:01
3 - 7:52
4 - 7:29
5 - 8:57
6 - 8:49
6.2 - 50:51
The rest
I was losing my legs really fast. I tried to regroup and speed up, but the only thing that happened was my left hip started to give out on me. It became increasingly harder for me to put weight on that leg, so once again I backed off on the pace. I did some quick math to make sure I get in under 2 hrs. I never had to work so hard just to come in under 2 hrs. After I climbed the 6th avenue hill, I saw my friend Ryan. I was able to muster up a faster pace and ran for the finish line. Good thing my left hip and right hammie allowed me to finish strong.
7 - 9:01
8 - 9:32
9 - 9:25
10 - 9:39
11 - 9:58
12 - 10:36
13.1 - 10:15 (9:19 pace)
13.1 - 1:57:25
Post race thoughts
Wow, that was not fun. Well... being at a race and seeing my friends was fun. The grind from mile 5 to the finish was rather demoralizing... definitely a "gun-to-the-head" experience. I felt like I was giving a piggyback ride to a small child. I need to be a little more wise on when I decide to run an aggressive race. I was begging for an injury running faster than I've ran in a while as well as coming off of a hard marathon. I really thought that I might have had to drop out when my left hip was dying on me. Oh well, I hope I saved enough of my legs for next week's 50k romp through the mountain of gold!
I pulled into the parking lot at about 5:20 am. It was a little tighter than I had originally planned since the final bus takes off at 6 am. I was watching the IAAF Worlds and sort of lost track of time. I was able to find my friends in the starting area which was nice. I wore my old Asics DS Trainer 11, m
y "peppermint shoes". I wanted to log at least a sub 2 hr half marathon in those shoes before I retire them. Well I kind of knew before the gun went off that today was going to be a hard day. I had run a hard marathon last weekend and my breathing was labored in my shakeout run the day before. But that didn't stop me from going out hard from the start which ultimately led to a rather painful grind for most of the race.My Goals:
A: sub 1:50
B: sub 1:55
C: sub 2:00
First 10k
I ran out as hard as I could with the idea of trying to maintain a 8 min/mile pace which is faster than what I normally run. That was ok for the first 3 miles. But the huge downhill on mile 4 really done me in. My right hamstring started tightening up. Apparently it had not recover from last weekend's romp on the Extraterrestrial highway. Since I have my birthday 50k run coming up next weekend, I backed off on the pace. Periodically I would speed up to test it, but the hamstring said no. No means no and thus began the slow grind. Even though things were coming apart pretty early in the race, I'm glad that I'm still able to run some sub 8 min miles.
1 - 7:44
2 - 8:01
3 - 7:52
4 - 7:29
5 - 8:57
6 - 8:49
6.2 - 50:51
The rest
I was losing my legs really fast. I tried to regroup and speed up, but the only thing that happened was my left hip started to give out on me. It became increasingly harder for me to put weight on that leg, so once again I backed off on the pace. I did some quick math to make sure I get in under 2 hrs. I never had to work so hard just to come in under 2 hrs. After I climbed the 6th avenue hill, I saw my friend Ryan. I was able to muster up a faster pace and ran for the finish line. Good thing my left hip and right hammie allowed me to finish strong.
7 - 9:01
8 - 9:32
9 - 9:25
10 - 9:39
11 - 9:58
12 - 10:36
13.1 - 10:15 (9:19 pace)
13.1 - 1:57:25
Post race thoughts
Wow, that was not fun. Well... being at a race and seeing my friends was fun. The grind from mile 5 to the finish was rather demoralizing... definitely a "gun-to-the-head" experience. I felt like I was giving a piggyback ride to a small child. I need to be a little more wise on when I decide to run an aggressive race. I was begging for an injury running faster than I've ran in a while as well as coming off of a hard marathon. I really thought that I might have had to drop out when my left hip was dying on me. Oh well, I hope I saved enough of my legs for next week's 50k romp through the mountain of gold!
Monday, August 10, 2009
ET Full Moon Midnight Marathon
In a nutshell
It was more than I had bargained for... the marathon itself was very challenging and difficult especially for this morning person. My body was thoroughly confused starting with a big meal at 8 in the morning and the fact that I was asking it to run a marathon when it was ready to go to sleep. I did like the atmosphere and the sheer craziness of this event. During the race I got to see lots of shooting stars, but sorry... no aliens! It was pretty much for the most part a very surreal experience. Most of the time I was running alone... just me, my thoughts, and the darkness.
It was a race of several firsts. It was my first time...
I left for Vegas at around 4:30 am. There was little traffic at that hour. I made a little pitstop in Primm and arrived at the Rio Carnival World Buffet at a little past 8am. I ate about 4 plates. My favorite item was the Peking duck. So weird to be eating so much so early in the morning. I made my way over to my hotel to see if I could check-in early, but the rooms weren't ready. So I walked across the street to a CVS and bought water and OJ. I waited in the lobby reading my book and eventually took a nap. The guy at the front desk then woke me up saying that my room was ready if I didn't mind being on the first floor. Of course I didn't mind. I got my stuff from the car and went to my room. The room was pretty huge. I could've fit about 5 Ryans comfortably in this one. I took everything that I needed for the race and laid them all out. I took a nap for a few hours and woke up to watch some TV.
Packet pickup
I went to pickup my packet at about 4:30 pm. The race director sent us an email telling us not to wait until the last minute and it looks like everybody was there at the same time. I was in and out of there in about 5 minutes. There was a long line of people buying reflective tape for $3. But since I was going to run with a headlamp and wearing my orange shirt, I bypassed the line and went back to my room.
Last minute stuff
I attached the bib to my shirt and the timing chip to my shoe and resumed the TV watching. After lounging around for about 2 hours, I got ready and went out to board the bus at about 8:15 pm. It was a 2.5 hr uneventful bus ride out to the "black mailbox" on the ET highway. I was greeted by somewhat cool temperature and plenty of wind when I got off the bus. They gave everyone a glow necklace. As I was in line for the portapotty, I was spotted by my marathon maniac friend Mitch. He said that it's always easy to spot me because of my orange shirt. I'm becoming a permanent fixture at marathons. I kept going back to the potty because I was a little anxious to get going. We lined up at the stop sign, which was the starting line and right at midnight we were off.
First Half
I had taken a peak at the course and elevation profile before the race and realized that the first half would be a steady climb, but I thought it would be good practice for the AFC half marathon next week. Boy was I surprised! I definitely was not prepared to run that uphill section into a very stiff headwind. The sustained wind gusts blew me all over the place and made my mouth really dry. I tried to stay behind a couple of guys and a girl, but it barely helped. After I hit my first walk break, I was sad to see my windshields go. I was surprised to only see a few people pass me during my break. I realized that even though my pace was slow, I was going too fast for the conditions and my current level of fitness. My right hip would remind me to slow down when I was around mile 10. Also I was having GI issues. It felt as if my guts were doing somersaults and back-flips. I kept thinking that I need to use the next portapotty or find a spot to do my business, but the urge would subside. I think it was the spicy shrimp I ate at the buffet, most likely a poor choice for carbo-loading. I made it to the half right where I wanted to be in order to give myself a chance at finishing a tad under 5 hrs.
1 - 8:07
2 - 9:21
3 - 9:25
4 - 10:11
5 - 9:26
6 - 10:15
7 - 11:27
8 - 10:20
9 - 11:33
10 - 12:05
11 - 12:53
12 - 12:40
13 - 13:06
Second Half
I was pooped by the time I got to the Coyote Summit, the highest point of the race. It was all downhill from this point, but I had to walk a lot more than I had planned. The GI issues was pretty much taken care of when I ran out of my Gatorade and switched to Heed. I'll have to look into that. As I reached the town of Rachel, I started to feel the onset of the leg cramps. I took a potty break when I reached mile 20. This was where the half marathoners turn left and finish at the Little A'le'Inn restaurant. It's somewhat demoralizing to see the finish line and then have to cover another 6.2 miles before you see it again. My legs were locking up at this point, so I decided to walk the next mile. That's when Mitch caught me. He said that he had trouble breathing in the first half due to the altitude. I guess that was another thing that was working against me. We were running at an altitude between 4000 and almost 6000 feet. The recovery walk alleviated the leg cramps. Anyways, the turnaround point was at around mile 23. During this stretch, a girl with knee high white most likely compression socks kept leapfrogging me. She must have been using my orange shirt as a target. Anyways I kept alternating between walking and running until I was about half a mile from the finish. I took off as fast as I could and crossed the finish line just at the break of dawn. I could not eat any of the breakfast spread after having sucked down Gatorade, Shot Bloks, Heed, and GU for the past 5.5 hrs.
14 - 13:10
15 - 12:21
16 - 12:03
17 - 12:31
18 - 14:47
19 - 13:21
20 - 15:18
21 - 19:25
22 - 15:13
23 - 13:35
24 - 13:55
25 - 13:52
26 - 14:05
26.2 - 1:54
Total: 5:26:33
Post race
After I cleaned off my face, it was another 2.5 hr bus ride back into Vegas. Once I got back to the hotel I took a shower, packed up, checked out, and headed back to the Rio Carnival World Buffet for round 2. This time I had about 6 plates. I was really craving the duck. Next time I'm back in town, I'm going to have to look for a new buffet restaurant. From this race, I discovered that I like Heed. It's not as sweet as Gatorade and if I can avoid GI issues, that would be swell. I like visiting Las Vegas. It's a fun place even if you're not there to enjoy its vices. There are a lot of running destinations in the surrounding areas. You come across lots of different walks of life since it's a tourist town. But next time I'll probably fly instead. The car ride home was not fun: little sleep + marathon + post-race buffet... you do the math. :D I pulled over at Primm just to get a bottle of Coke. I might come back to run this again next year, but I want to run some of Calico Racing's other events... in particular, The Running with the Devil.
It was more than I had bargained for... the marathon itself was very challenging and difficult especially for this morning person. My body was thoroughly confused starting with a big meal at 8 in the morning and the fact that I was asking it to run a marathon when it was ready to go to sleep. I did like the atmosphere and the sheer craziness of this event. During the race I got to see lots of shooting stars, but sorry... no aliens! It was pretty much for the most part a very surreal experience. Most of the time I was running alone... just me, my thoughts, and the darkness.
It was a race of several firsts. It was my first time...
- eating a buffet at 8 am. I love the Rio Carnival World Buffet, but the quality has gone down a lot since I've last eaten there.
- running a Calico Racing event.
- running a marathon at midnight.
- running with a headlamp.
- running with my hand-held.
- practicing drinking from my hand-held while running. I'm so done with drinking from cups.
- not gambling at all while in Vegas. I usually would at least drop a few coins in the slots.
I left for Vegas at around 4:30 am. There was little traffic at that hour. I made a little pitstop in Primm and arrived at the Rio Carnival World Buffet at a little past 8am. I ate about 4 plates. My favorite item was the Peking duck. So weird to be eating so much so early in the morning. I made my way over to my hotel to see if I could check-in early, but the rooms weren't ready. So I walked across the street to a CVS and bought water and OJ. I waited in the lobby reading my book and eventually took a nap. The guy at the front desk then woke me up saying that my room was ready if I didn't mind being on the first floor. Of course I didn't mind. I got my stuff from the car and went to my room. The room was pretty huge. I could've fit about 5 Ryans comfortably in this one. I took everything that I needed for the race and laid them all out. I took a nap for a few hours and woke up to watch some TV.
Packet pickup
I went to pickup my packet at about 4:30 pm. The race director sent us an email telling us not to wait until the last minute and it looks like everybody was there at the same time. I was in and out of there in about 5 minutes. There was a long line of people buying reflective tape for $3. But since I was going to run with a headlamp and wearing my orange shirt, I bypassed the line and went back to my room.
Last minute stuff
I attached the bib to my shirt and the timing chip to my shoe and resumed the TV watching. After lounging around for about 2 hours, I got ready and went out to board the bus at about 8:15 pm. It was a 2.5 hr uneventful bus ride out to the "black mailbox" on the ET highway. I was greeted by somewhat cool temperature and plenty of wind when I got off the bus. They gave everyone a glow necklace. As I was in line for the portapotty, I was spotted by my marathon maniac friend Mitch. He said that it's always easy to spot me because of my orange shirt. I'm becoming a permanent fixture at marathons. I kept going back to the potty because I was a little anxious to get going. We lined up at the stop sign, which was the starting line and right at midnight we were off.First Half
I had taken a peak at the course and elevation profile before the race and realized that the first half would be a steady climb, but I thought it would be good practice for the AFC half marathon next week. Boy was I surprised! I definitely was not prepared to run that uphill section into a very stiff headwind. The sustained wind gusts blew me all over the place and made my mouth really dry. I tried to stay behind a couple of guys and a girl, but it barely helped. After I hit my first walk break, I was sad to see my windshields go. I was surprised to only see a few people pass me during my break. I realized that even though my pace was slow, I was going too fast for the conditions and my current level of fitness. My right hip would remind me to slow down when I was around mile 10. Also I was having GI issues. It felt as if my guts were doing somersaults and back-flips. I kept thinking that I need to use the next portapotty or find a spot to do my business, but the urge would subside. I think it was the spicy shrimp I ate at the buffet, most likely a poor choice for carbo-loading. I made it to the half right where I wanted to be in order to give myself a chance at finishing a tad under 5 hrs.
1 - 8:07
2 - 9:21
3 - 9:25
4 - 10:11
5 - 9:26
6 - 10:15
7 - 11:27
8 - 10:20
9 - 11:33
10 - 12:05
11 - 12:53
12 - 12:40
13 - 13:06
Second Half
I was pooped by the time I got to the Coyote Summit, the highest point of the race. It was all downhill from this point, but I had to walk a lot more than I had planned. The GI issues was pretty much taken care of when I ran out of my Gatorade and switched to Heed. I'll have to look into that. As I reached the town of Rachel, I started to feel the onset of the leg cramps. I took a potty break when I reached mile 20. This was where the half marathoners turn left and finish at the Little A'le'Inn restaurant. It's somewhat demoralizing to see the finish line and then have to cover another 6.2 miles before you see it again. My legs were locking up at this point, so I decided to walk the next mile. That's when Mitch caught me. He said that he had trouble breathing in the first half due to the altitude. I guess that was another thing that was working against me. We were running at an altitude between 4000 and almost 6000 feet. The recovery walk alleviated the leg cramps. Anyways, the turnaround point was at around mile 23. During this stretch, a girl with knee high white most likely compression socks kept leapfrogging me. She must have been using my orange shirt as a target. Anyways I kept alternating between walking and running until I was about half a mile from the finish. I took off as fast as I could and crossed the finish line just at the break of dawn. I could not eat any of the breakfast spread after having sucked down Gatorade, Shot Bloks, Heed, and GU for the past 5.5 hrs.
14 - 13:10
15 - 12:21
16 - 12:03
17 - 12:31
18 - 14:47
19 - 13:21
20 - 15:18
21 - 19:25
22 - 15:13
23 - 13:35
24 - 13:55
25 - 13:52
26 - 14:05
26.2 - 1:54
Total: 5:26:33
Post race
After I cleaned off my face, it was another 2.5 hr bus ride back into Vegas. Once I got back to the hotel I took a shower, packed up, checked out, and headed back to the Rio Carnival World Buffet for round 2. This time I had about 6 plates. I was really craving the duck. Next time I'm back in town, I'm going to have to look for a new buffet restaurant. From this race, I discovered that I like Heed. It's not as sweet as Gatorade and if I can avoid GI issues, that would be swell. I like visiting Las Vegas. It's a fun place even if you're not there to enjoy its vices. There are a lot of running destinations in the surrounding areas. You come across lots of different walks of life since it's a tourist town. But next time I'll probably fly instead. The car ride home was not fun: little sleep + marathon + post-race buffet... you do the math. :D I pulled over at Primm just to get a bottle of Coke. I might come back to run this again next year, but I want to run some of Calico Racing's other events... in particular, The Running with the Devil.
Saturday, August 1, 2009
San Francisco Marathon
The deck was stacked against me!
My only goal for this marathon was to run a sub5. I needed to finish no later than that or I would have missed my plane to St. Louis. My lower back had been bothering me for awhile so I ran less and less since the Seattle Marathon to give the back a rest. And to make things interesting, I caught the flu 2 weeks before the race. Also I was unable to take that week off from work... definitely no rest for the weary. In the aftermath of the flu, I was sporting a nice lingering cough. I went for a shakeout run on Friday. It was no good. My legs felt retarded and filled with lead. Breathing was still labored. Of course, I had the usual people question my decision to go ahead and run the race. The trip was already paid for and I've ran in worse conditions. So why not?
I flew out of John Wayne on Saturday morning. First time flying out of there and first time flying with Virgin America. The flight was delayed due to fog in SF. After kicking around the terminal for about an hour, we were finally allowed to board the plane. The cabin was illuminated like a nightclub with purple lights. Everything was very modern looking. There was a screen in front of every seat where you can listen to music, watch TV, or text other passengers. I played with it for a little bit but ended up reading my book. Once we landed, I rode the BART to my hotel. Thank you for not going on strike!
The Expo
I tried to check into the hotel early, but my room wasn't ready. While I was figuring out where to meet up with my friends, the guy at the front desk tells me that the room is ready. After dropping my stuff off in my room, I hoofed it over to the Hyatt to wait for the bus. It was a short ride to the expo. I could've walked over, but I figured I'll do plenty of that on Sunday. The expo was a zoo. Very crowded. I picked up my race packet and t-shirt and met up with Ryan. I said hello to Dane Rauschenberg since he's at almost every marathon that I run. We left right away since we wanted to try and tackle the Pho Challenge before the FE at Fuzio.
The Pho Challenge
Here's the link to their website: Pho Garden. The Pho Challenge is: finish 2 lbs of noodle and 2 lbs of meat within an hour. Long story short, when we got there, we were unable to take the challenge because they have people already lined up for it. You have to reserve a spot since they only have 4 of those huge bowls available. Since we were already there after a long bus ride, we took the unofficial mini challenge by eating an extra large bowl of pho. I've read from reviews that the challenge is about 3-4 times the size of the extra large bowl. That's a lot of pho!
The FE at Fuzio
After the disappointment, we vowed to come back next year and headed over to the FE at Fuzio. It was good to see the bay area folks and some new people from the forum! Since I already ate pho, I decided to have a few drinks instead. I stuck to the plan and cut myself off at 3 drinks: Anchor Steam, Guinness, and an Irish coffee for the cough.
Too much pre-race fun!
Robert, Ryan, Cat, and I headed back to our hotel and the BART, but somehow we ended up at Murphy's Pub. I ended up having a Black Butte Porter, Murphy's Stout, and Racer 5 IPA. That's 3 more beers that I didn't intend to have the night before a marathon! I must admit, they were good and hit the spot! I made sure I drank my water before going to sleep.
Race day
I slept pretty well. Woke up, drank my orange juice and ate my two chocolate Powerbars. ***TMI alert!*** Everything was going just as planned, but it looks like the "running" started a bit early. It must have been the alcohol, but I was definitely not feeling good. I got ready anyways and we were off. Ryan had to catch an earlier wave so he gave me his drop-off bag and jogged to the start. I jogged a little bit slower and had to duck into the Hyatt to use their bathroom. Good thing I stopped at the Hyatt, because that portapotty line at the starting area was long! I dropped off Ryan's bag and headed for the wave 4 corral. I sat down at the curb feeling exhausted and I hadn't even ran a mile yet!
First half
After waiting a few minutes, they released our corral. I made sure I didn't run out too fast. I was kind of worried that I couldn't get a single mile under 9 minutes. I knew I was in for a hard day since I was having to labor hard to maintain a slow pace. I was feeling a bit nauseous for about the first 5 miles. I had the taste of pho and beer in my mouth. But after 5 miles and getting the Gatorade into my system, everything started to feel better just in time for the Golden Gate crossing. While I was going out on the bridge, I got to see my friends Billy, Danica, and Jerry. On my return trip across the bridge, I came up to NYCParkrunner (Joe). Even though I passed him, I would see him later. When I came up to the half and full marathon split, I was very tempted to turn left and head for the 1st half finish line.
1: 9:26
2: 9:03
3: 9:28
4: 9:23
5: 9:05
6-11: 59:02
12: 11:02
13: 11:00
13.1: 2:08:36
Second half
I really do not like marathons that have to share the course with half marathoners. But it was really cool to see the elite runners for the 2nd half. I was spotted by Gundy around mile 17. He was pacing a friend. From viewing the elevation chart before the race, I thought the uphills would be over after reaching mile 18. But as the course continued to roll, I got really demoralized and started to stroll through the park. This was not a good idea, as I was passed by everyone. "Stampede in the gorge! Simba's down there!" I felt as if I was going to be trampled as the course was really narrow. As I left the park, I continued to take two more recovery miles. I saw Billy somewhere around here taking pictures of course. Later I spotted Joe again, so I ran up to talk to him. I had to let him go since I could not keep up. I stuck to my jog/walk method and just wanted to push hard enough to come in under 5hrs. As I was coming up to mile 26, I saw Danica on the side cheering. I was so dead by then. I was able to muster up a fast trot. Bart Yasso gave me a high five and told the crowd about my orange Worldvision shirt, the charity that Ryan Hall supports.
14: 10:21
15: 11:32
16: 13:06
17: 11:48
18: 11:37
19: 15:42
20-21: 27:19
22: 12:49
23: 12:49
24: 12:30
25: 13:34
26: 13:15
26.2: 1:47
Finish: 4:55:46
Post race thoughts
I need to come back and have a do over on this race. I was very surprised that I was able to meet my goal and get on the plane to St. Louis in time for work. Even though I probably drank a tad too much before a race, I think it is good to let loose and have fun once in awhile. Oh and I have to go back to take on the Pho Challenge!
My only goal for this marathon was to run a sub5. I needed to finish no later than that or I would have missed my plane to St. Louis. My lower back had been bothering me for awhile so I ran less and less since the Seattle Marathon to give the back a rest. And to make things interesting, I caught the flu 2 weeks before the race. Also I was unable to take that week off from work... definitely no rest for the weary. In the aftermath of the flu, I was sporting a nice lingering cough. I went for a shakeout run on Friday. It was no good. My legs felt retarded and filled with lead. Breathing was still labored. Of course, I had the usual people question my decision to go ahead and run the race. The trip was already paid for and I've ran in worse conditions. So why not?
I flew out of John Wayne on Saturday morning. First time flying out of there and first time flying with Virgin America. The flight was delayed due to fog in SF. After kicking around the terminal for about an hour, we were finally allowed to board the plane. The cabin was illuminated like a nightclub with purple lights. Everything was very modern looking. There was a screen in front of every seat where you can listen to music, watch TV, or text other passengers. I played with it for a little bit but ended up reading my book. Once we landed, I rode the BART to my hotel. Thank you for not going on strike!
The Expo
I tried to check into the hotel early, but my room wasn't ready. While I was figuring out where to meet up with my friends, the guy at the front desk tells me that the room is ready. After dropping my stuff off in my room, I hoofed it over to the Hyatt to wait for the bus. It was a short ride to the expo. I could've walked over, but I figured I'll do plenty of that on Sunday. The expo was a zoo. Very crowded. I picked up my race packet and t-shirt and met up with Ryan. I said hello to Dane Rauschenberg since he's at almost every marathon that I run. We left right away since we wanted to try and tackle the Pho Challenge before the FE at Fuzio.
The Pho Challenge
Here's the link to their website: Pho Garden. The Pho Challenge is: finish 2 lbs of noodle and 2 lbs of meat within an hour. Long story short, when we got there, we were unable to take the challenge because they have people already lined up for it. You have to reserve a spot since they only have 4 of those huge bowls available. Since we were already there after a long bus ride, we took the unofficial mini challenge by eating an extra large bowl of pho. I've read from reviews that the challenge is about 3-4 times the size of the extra large bowl. That's a lot of pho!
The FE at Fuzio
After the disappointment, we vowed to come back next year and headed over to the FE at Fuzio. It was good to see the bay area folks and some new people from the forum! Since I already ate pho, I decided to have a few drinks instead. I stuck to the plan and cut myself off at 3 drinks: Anchor Steam, Guinness, and an Irish coffee for the cough.
Too much pre-race fun!
Robert, Ryan, Cat, and I headed back to our hotel and the BART, but somehow we ended up at Murphy's Pub. I ended up having a Black Butte Porter, Murphy's Stout, and Racer 5 IPA. That's 3 more beers that I didn't intend to have the night before a marathon! I must admit, they were good and hit the spot! I made sure I drank my water before going to sleep.
Race day
I slept pretty well. Woke up, drank my orange juice and ate my two chocolate Powerbars. ***TMI alert!*** Everything was going just as planned, but it looks like the "running" started a bit early. It must have been the alcohol, but I was definitely not feeling good. I got ready anyways and we were off. Ryan had to catch an earlier wave so he gave me his drop-off bag and jogged to the start. I jogged a little bit slower and had to duck into the Hyatt to use their bathroom. Good thing I stopped at the Hyatt, because that portapotty line at the starting area was long! I dropped off Ryan's bag and headed for the wave 4 corral. I sat down at the curb feeling exhausted and I hadn't even ran a mile yet!
First half
After waiting a few minutes, they released our corral. I made sure I didn't run out too fast. I was kind of worried that I couldn't get a single mile under 9 minutes. I knew I was in for a hard day since I was having to labor hard to maintain a slow pace. I was feeling a bit nauseous for about the first 5 miles. I had the taste of pho and beer in my mouth. But after 5 miles and getting the Gatorade into my system, everything started to feel better just in time for the Golden Gate crossing. While I was going out on the bridge, I got to see my friends Billy, Danica, and Jerry. On my return trip across the bridge, I came up to NYCParkrunner (Joe). Even though I passed him, I would see him later. When I came up to the half and full marathon split, I was very tempted to turn left and head for the 1st half finish line.
1: 9:26
2: 9:03
3: 9:28
4: 9:23
5: 9:05
6-11: 59:02
12: 11:02
13: 11:00
13.1: 2:08:36
Second half
I really do not like marathons that have to share the course with half marathoners. But it was really cool to see the elite runners for the 2nd half. I was spotted by Gundy around mile 17. He was pacing a friend. From viewing the elevation chart before the race, I thought the uphills would be over after reaching mile 18. But as the course continued to roll, I got really demoralized and started to stroll through the park. This was not a good idea, as I was passed by everyone. "Stampede in the gorge! Simba's down there!" I felt as if I was going to be trampled as the course was really narrow. As I left the park, I continued to take two more recovery miles. I saw Billy somewhere around here taking pictures of course. Later I spotted Joe again, so I ran up to talk to him. I had to let him go since I could not keep up. I stuck to my jog/walk method and just wanted to push hard enough to come in under 5hrs. As I was coming up to mile 26, I saw Danica on the side cheering. I was so dead by then. I was able to muster up a fast trot. Bart Yasso gave me a high five and told the crowd about my orange Worldvision shirt, the charity that Ryan Hall supports.
14: 10:21
15: 11:32
16: 13:06
17: 11:48
18: 11:37
19: 15:42
20-21: 27:19
22: 12:49
23: 12:49
24: 12:30
25: 13:34
26: 13:15
26.2: 1:47
Finish: 4:55:46
Post race thoughts
I need to come back and have a do over on this race. I was very surprised that I was able to meet my goal and get on the plane to St. Louis in time for work. Even though I probably drank a tad too much before a race, I think it is good to let loose and have fun once in awhile. Oh and I have to go back to take on the Pho Challenge!
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