I ran the Philly Marathon Half Marathon this morning. I finished in 1:24:30, which is a new PR for me, by around a minute.
I also placed 4th in my age group. This is unprecedented.
The time is around what I expected. "Around" - I printed up a wristband last night, and had it exactly at 1:24:30, but I had no idea that I'd hit that to the second. And to be honest, I'm not sure I did – kinda think it was 2-3 seconds slower, but whatever. I'm pleased with the time. It was what I expected, given my training this season.
It's not what I was hoping for when I signed up for the race, but given my conditioning, I was pleased with the race – with the time, with my effort, with my approach.
My previous PR was at last year's PDR – a half-marathon only race that many people, including me then, use as a warm-up for the full marathon. I had a 1:25:42, or something like that (forty-something). I knew I left a few minutes on the course that day, since I was taking it easy to prioritize marathon training, and hadn't tapered.
This season, I wasn't up for another full Marathon; I was hoping to go back and pick up those minutes I'd left on the course, though. Turns out it wasn't so easy.
I was putting in similar miles to last year, but just wasn't quite as fast – reps were just a few seconds slower. I wasn't concerned about endurance, having run the Bluse Cruise, but I was concerned about speed. The half-marathon is a good hybrid, it's certainly endurance but you need to run it fast if you want to do well.
Although I arrived at my wristband's exact time, race didn't quite go by plan. Was thinking easy first 3 miles, pick it up through mile 10, then lay down the hammer. Instead, I went out faster than I planned, kept it up for a while, then dropped back a bit at around miles 9-10. Still managed to speed up for the last 3.
Like I said, it's not what I was hoping for when I signed up. I felt like I had a 1:22-1:23 in me. But today – this season – I didn't.
That said, I'm pretty excited about my AG placing. I never imagined I'd place in my AG in such a big race. And I was 82nd overall. I'm a top 5% guy usually; but this is top 1%. Unprecedented.
Easy to make caveats: a lot of people doing the full were going faster than me. It's the Philly Marathon; that's the main event. And yes, I've always been a bit skeptical of AG awards. But in a race this big, that matters less. It's still gratifying.
And thus ends racing season. Don't know what's next on the docket... Ugly Mudder? Some spring 10Ks? We'll see.
Showing posts with label racing. Show all posts
Showing posts with label racing. Show all posts
Monday, November 22, 2010
Monday, October 4, 2010
Reflections on the Blues Cruise 50k
Yesterday, I ran the Blues Cruise 50k. It was my first real foray into "ultra" marathons – a category that includes anything longer than a marathon, from 50ks to 50-milers to 100-milers and up.
My main impressions:
-It was a beautiful day, a perfect day, really, blue skies and sunlight but cool and breezy.
-The course itself was beautiful, along a lake, trails that were usually runnable
-The support was great
-Toenails, though small, can cause an enormous amount of pain
-I'm happy with my finishing time
-Ultra running just isn't for me.
50k translates to 31 miles, which makes sense, since a 5k is 3.1 miles. This course may have been only 30 miles, though, which translated to around 48.3k; Bob Reynolds also ran this with me, wearing his gps, and that was what he had.
"Only 30 miles" – it was still a long, long way to run.
The race started out well. It's an out and back, on trails that are often nice, frequently beautiful, at times breathtaking. Most of the trails were runable; there were a fair amount of short and really steep hills, which were a challenge (both up and down), but they were never too long. the one real significant hill was at around mile 10 (and then 21, seeing as it's an out-and-back), but that was not quite as steep, a hill that would have been more Wissahickon-like.
I started off a bit fast – first mile around 7:30, no way that was sustainable – and then settled into what seemed like a good pace. I hit the turnaround at around 2:02. I knew at that point that I was going to positive split the race, but was hoping for something around 4:10-4:15. Running that far, even on trails, beats me up, so equal effort = positive splitting.
I hadn't prepared for the excruciating pain that I was going to have to go through in the second half. I first noticed it going up the big hill at around mile 21. I'd felt something similar the Saturday before, on my weekly long run, and chalked it up to poor sock choice. I tried to run through it, but it would keep getting worse. I took off my shoe and rearranged my sock, which helped for a bit – I'd wind up doing that 3-4 times during the race. At a late rest stop (mile 25) I managed to get some ibuprofen, which also helped for a bit. But nothing that helped lasted. I think that at the last rest stop – maybe 3.5 miles out? - if I'd known how much I'd hurt during those last few miles, I'd have DNFed. Lots of grimacing, yelling, deep breathing till the pain subsided, then starting up with the first ginger steps, till up to running pace, then I'd land wrong and the pain would begin again.
That said, I'm glad I finished. Now I've done it – I've run at least one ultra. And my time was good – 4:32. A pretty pathetic 2nd half, but an overall good time. That was good for 19th place out of around 200 runners. I'm usually in the top 5%, but I expected to be somewhere around top 10% for my first ultra. And it was around the time I'd been guessing I'd get.
But I don't think that this is for me. I can't blame the venue, can't blame the weather, because I couldn't ask for anything more. I don't know that I can blame my toes - I mean, I can, but I suspect that during most ultras I'd have some issue or another. But 30 miles, 31 miles, even 26 miles – it's just a long way to run. While running that long has the advantage of letting you see a lot of beautiful scenery, and taking this a bit easier, you don't need a race for that.
My main impressions:
-It was a beautiful day, a perfect day, really, blue skies and sunlight but cool and breezy.
-The course itself was beautiful, along a lake, trails that were usually runnable
-The support was great
-Toenails, though small, can cause an enormous amount of pain
-I'm happy with my finishing time
-Ultra running just isn't for me.
50k translates to 31 miles, which makes sense, since a 5k is 3.1 miles. This course may have been only 30 miles, though, which translated to around 48.3k; Bob Reynolds also ran this with me, wearing his gps, and that was what he had.
"Only 30 miles" – it was still a long, long way to run.
The race started out well. It's an out and back, on trails that are often nice, frequently beautiful, at times breathtaking. Most of the trails were runable; there were a fair amount of short and really steep hills, which were a challenge (both up and down), but they were never too long. the one real significant hill was at around mile 10 (and then 21, seeing as it's an out-and-back), but that was not quite as steep, a hill that would have been more Wissahickon-like.
I started off a bit fast – first mile around 7:30, no way that was sustainable – and then settled into what seemed like a good pace. I hit the turnaround at around 2:02. I knew at that point that I was going to positive split the race, but was hoping for something around 4:10-4:15. Running that far, even on trails, beats me up, so equal effort = positive splitting.
I hadn't prepared for the excruciating pain that I was going to have to go through in the second half. I first noticed it going up the big hill at around mile 21. I'd felt something similar the Saturday before, on my weekly long run, and chalked it up to poor sock choice. I tried to run through it, but it would keep getting worse. I took off my shoe and rearranged my sock, which helped for a bit – I'd wind up doing that 3-4 times during the race. At a late rest stop (mile 25) I managed to get some ibuprofen, which also helped for a bit. But nothing that helped lasted. I think that at the last rest stop – maybe 3.5 miles out? - if I'd known how much I'd hurt during those last few miles, I'd have DNFed. Lots of grimacing, yelling, deep breathing till the pain subsided, then starting up with the first ginger steps, till up to running pace, then I'd land wrong and the pain would begin again.
That said, I'm glad I finished. Now I've done it – I've run at least one ultra. And my time was good – 4:32. A pretty pathetic 2nd half, but an overall good time. That was good for 19th place out of around 200 runners. I'm usually in the top 5%, but I expected to be somewhere around top 10% for my first ultra. And it was around the time I'd been guessing I'd get.
But I don't think that this is for me. I can't blame the venue, can't blame the weather, because I couldn't ask for anything more. I don't know that I can blame my toes - I mean, I can, but I suspect that during most ultras I'd have some issue or another. But 30 miles, 31 miles, even 26 miles – it's just a long way to run. While running that long has the advantage of letting you see a lot of beautiful scenery, and taking this a bit easier, you don't need a race for that.
Friday, October 1, 2010
Ready or not...
This weekend represents my first entry into the world of ultrarunning.
I'm signed up for the Blues Cruise 50k.
50k.
That's 31 miles... significantly more running than I've ever done. And, perhaps, significantly more running than I ever should have planned on doing. I might be up to this; I probably am ready; but I'm really not sure.
My running mileage has been in the 50s lately, I think – maybe high 40s. I don't usually add it up. My sense is that's a little light for a 50k, but maybe not excessively so. The biking will help. I have two 20+ runs, one the 26.8 mile Trail Dawgs Quasi-marathon. And yeah, that one didn't go so well. At least the fourth hour didn't.
I do have hopes that the last miles of the Blues Cruise will go better than the last miles of the Quasi-Marathon. That one I didn't taper for, didn't eat right for, basically tried to train through. I also ran it in running shoes that had long since lost any padding. For Blues Cruise, I'm tapering (probably not enough, but I am tapering), going a few days without booze, and trying to generally get ready for it. I also have my new, new trail running shoes – although there, too, I'm not without concerns. They'll only have around 40 miles on them, if that; the longest run was 19 miles, a run that was supposed to be 22 but which I cut short. I blame the socks I was wearing that day, but still – it'd be nice to know more about how I like the shoes. But then, I ran in my old Cascadias today, and they're done.
At least it's rained. The ground shouldn't be that hard.
I'm also planning on not going out that hard. It's tough, though – with such a long race, even going fast, you'll be out there way longer than is necessary. Go out to slow, you're looking at more than 5 hours running. That, I may not be up for.
I'm signed up for the Blues Cruise 50k.
50k.
That's 31 miles... significantly more running than I've ever done. And, perhaps, significantly more running than I ever should have planned on doing. I might be up to this; I probably am ready; but I'm really not sure.
My running mileage has been in the 50s lately, I think – maybe high 40s. I don't usually add it up. My sense is that's a little light for a 50k, but maybe not excessively so. The biking will help. I have two 20+ runs, one the 26.8 mile Trail Dawgs Quasi-marathon. And yeah, that one didn't go so well. At least the fourth hour didn't.
I do have hopes that the last miles of the Blues Cruise will go better than the last miles of the Quasi-Marathon. That one I didn't taper for, didn't eat right for, basically tried to train through. I also ran it in running shoes that had long since lost any padding. For Blues Cruise, I'm tapering (probably not enough, but I am tapering), going a few days without booze, and trying to generally get ready for it. I also have my new, new trail running shoes – although there, too, I'm not without concerns. They'll only have around 40 miles on them, if that; the longest run was 19 miles, a run that was supposed to be 22 but which I cut short. I blame the socks I was wearing that day, but still – it'd be nice to know more about how I like the shoes. But then, I ran in my old Cascadias today, and they're done.
At least it's rained. The ground shouldn't be that hard.
I'm also planning on not going out that hard. It's tough, though – with such a long race, even going fast, you'll be out there way longer than is necessary. Go out to slow, you're looking at more than 5 hours running. That, I may not be up for.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
A Quasi-Marathon, and some thoughts on strategy
I ran in the Trail Dawgs' Stumpy's Marathon this morning – a no-frills affair through some nice woods outside of Newark, Delaware.
I didn't fully race it, and it's not fully a race. It's a supported run, with no real clock, no sign-up, and no guarantees. It's a free race and, while they like pointing out that you get what you pay for, it's a pretty good event. They had a bunch of rest stops, and did a decent job of marking a pretty complicated course. Bob R drove down with me, and I ran with him for the first 20+ miles. He wore a GPS, and had the route at 26.6 miles. Or maybe 26.8 – I forget.
It took me just under 4 hours. I break down the race like this: first two hours were fun; the third was difficult; the fourth hour was a brutal death-march. I didn't walk (with the exception of some steep climbs, where it was a good choice), but was really feeling the pain.
For the first three hours, I'd tried to run with Bob, even though I know that he does a lot more long-distance training than I do. Seemed more pleasant to run with someone, and it was good to have help finding the mile markers. For the first two hours that was easy enough. The third was a struggle. By hour 4, he left me in the dust.
It made me think more about the races I've done recently: Double Trouble, Half Wit, and this quasi-race. I'm ok with all of my results. The one that most disappointed me was half-wit. That was the only one where I'd made a conscious choice to negative split. The thing is, though – even if it cost me some time, it was the one event where I really felt like I finished strong.
Positive Split, Negative Split... there's a lot that makes sense about positive splitting a trail race. I'm not sure that my positive splitting cost me any time in Double Trouble or today (or that I should care much about the time today). But it's hard to deny that it makes me enjoy the running less.
My next race – a real race – is the Blues Cruise 50k. That'll be the farthest I've ever run. I'm thinking I should start off slower.
I didn't fully race it, and it's not fully a race. It's a supported run, with no real clock, no sign-up, and no guarantees. It's a free race and, while they like pointing out that you get what you pay for, it's a pretty good event. They had a bunch of rest stops, and did a decent job of marking a pretty complicated course. Bob R drove down with me, and I ran with him for the first 20+ miles. He wore a GPS, and had the route at 26.6 miles. Or maybe 26.8 – I forget.
It took me just under 4 hours. I break down the race like this: first two hours were fun; the third was difficult; the fourth hour was a brutal death-march. I didn't walk (with the exception of some steep climbs, where it was a good choice), but was really feeling the pain.
For the first three hours, I'd tried to run with Bob, even though I know that he does a lot more long-distance training than I do. Seemed more pleasant to run with someone, and it was good to have help finding the mile markers. For the first two hours that was easy enough. The third was a struggle. By hour 4, he left me in the dust.
It made me think more about the races I've done recently: Double Trouble, Half Wit, and this quasi-race. I'm ok with all of my results. The one that most disappointed me was half-wit. That was the only one where I'd made a conscious choice to negative split. The thing is, though – even if it cost me some time, it was the one event where I really felt like I finished strong.
Positive Split, Negative Split... there's a lot that makes sense about positive splitting a trail race. I'm not sure that my positive splitting cost me any time in Double Trouble or today (or that I should care much about the time today). But it's hard to deny that it makes me enjoy the running less.
My next race – a real race – is the Blues Cruise 50k. That'll be the farthest I've ever run. I'm thinking I should start off slower.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
So THAT'S What It Looks Like
Tomorrow is the Half-Wit Half Marathon.
In the past I have criticized this race some, but really, this is one of my favorite races, one that I look forward to a lot, one that Helen and I plan around.
My main criticisms in the past came from going off course the first two times I ran it - for reasons that I thought were avoidable by better signs and better volunteer placement. Nor does the RD make the course available ahead of time. It's a trail half marathon, and while I do think it's pretty close to the distance, it's not like these things are USATF certified. I'm not sure that an official map exists.
Last year was the first year I was able to run the race and not go off course. I paid attention, tried to remember what I could. I also got lucky some. But as this race was approaching this year, Helen suggested I look on-line, that maybe someone had posted a GPS file of the course.
She was right! A few people had, and I was able to look over the course some. And my main reaction?
I had no idea, none, that it looked like that.
It's a really long, narrow course. Who knew?
Running in the Wissahickon can be disorienting, but I know its boundaries. And it's got the creek running right down the middle. Without knowing the roads around the half-wit course, I just had no sense at all.
Will this new-found knowledge help? I'll find out tomorrow.
In the past I have criticized this race some, but really, this is one of my favorite races, one that I look forward to a lot, one that Helen and I plan around.
My main criticisms in the past came from going off course the first two times I ran it - for reasons that I thought were avoidable by better signs and better volunteer placement. Nor does the RD make the course available ahead of time. It's a trail half marathon, and while I do think it's pretty close to the distance, it's not like these things are USATF certified. I'm not sure that an official map exists.
Last year was the first year I was able to run the race and not go off course. I paid attention, tried to remember what I could. I also got lucky some. But as this race was approaching this year, Helen suggested I look on-line, that maybe someone had posted a GPS file of the course.
She was right! A few people had, and I was able to look over the course some. And my main reaction?
I had no idea, none, that it looked like that.
It's a really long, narrow course. Who knew?
Running in the Wissahickon can be disorienting, but I know its boundaries. And it's got the creek running right down the middle. Without knowing the roads around the half-wit course, I just had no sense at all.
Will this new-found knowledge help? I'll find out tomorrow.
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Noah 1, Double Trouble 1; but Helen wins 2-0!
Helen and I - along with a bunch of fellow wanderers – headed out to run the double trouble trail race today.
The course is a 15k loop (9.3 miles) through French Creek State Park. You can either do the single trouble (15k), which is one loop – and what we ran last year – or you can be really really dumb and do the 'double,' making it a 30k, aka 18.6 miles of trails. And heat. Trails and heat. Rocky trails, at that.
Last year, Helen had been kind of leaning toward doing the double, and I talked her out of it – so it made sense for us to go back and do it this year. She won the 15k going away last year, and I was pretty sure she could have won the 15k and the 30k. (It's a weird race that way, where you can double dip for the awards, if – like Helen – you're fast enough).
Since we were in for the long haul, Helen and I ran the first loop together. Until she started to peel away in the last mile or so. I crossed the finish right after her (you go through the chute then back out). We didn't know it then, but she was the 3rd woman through the chute, and the second to head out onto the 30k. We stayed together for the first mile or two of the second loop as well. At that point, I was feeling really good. We ran pretty conservatively on the first lap, and I felt like I was in good shape.
The trails themselves are pretty tricky. It's not quite as steep as the Wissahickon, but the hills are as big, if more gradual. But it's the rocks there that are tough. I don't know if it's rockier than the Wissahickon, but the rocks are somehow more jagged, tougher to land on and to avoid. We both twisted our ankles last year and while we managed to avoid that this year, it took some effort.
That said, yeah, I felt really good early in the second lap. I started off on my own to take advantage of the extra energy. To me, it felt like a normal trail run – just me, out on the trails, relaxed, keeping up a good pace. My plan was to be conservative for the first half of loop 2, and then speed up in the second half.
But when it came time to speed up, I just didn't have it.
I'm not sure what it was exactly – the heat, the build up of the attention to footing, the dehydration – but I started having trouble. The first thing that hit me was that I was screwing up my footing. In trail running, even on normal trails, that's a problem – so it was a worse problem with the rocky trails. I ate some more gels, I tried to focus better, but it kept happening. That last four miles or so were tough. I think I was around 1:18 for the first loop; the second loop was around 9 minutes slower.
One more mile, and Helen would have caught me. Maybe even sooner than that. She finished in the chute right after me – in first place! And *much* more refreshed than I was.
So, congrats to Helen for bringing home some more hardware. I brought some home, too - 2nd in my AG on the 30k. I don't think I've ever been 2nd in my AG, so I'm pretty psyched about that.
The course is a 15k loop (9.3 miles) through French Creek State Park. You can either do the single trouble (15k), which is one loop – and what we ran last year – or you can be really really dumb and do the 'double,' making it a 30k, aka 18.6 miles of trails. And heat. Trails and heat. Rocky trails, at that.
Last year, Helen had been kind of leaning toward doing the double, and I talked her out of it – so it made sense for us to go back and do it this year. She won the 15k going away last year, and I was pretty sure she could have won the 15k and the 30k. (It's a weird race that way, where you can double dip for the awards, if – like Helen – you're fast enough).
Since we were in for the long haul, Helen and I ran the first loop together. Until she started to peel away in the last mile or so. I crossed the finish right after her (you go through the chute then back out). We didn't know it then, but she was the 3rd woman through the chute, and the second to head out onto the 30k. We stayed together for the first mile or two of the second loop as well. At that point, I was feeling really good. We ran pretty conservatively on the first lap, and I felt like I was in good shape.
The trails themselves are pretty tricky. It's not quite as steep as the Wissahickon, but the hills are as big, if more gradual. But it's the rocks there that are tough. I don't know if it's rockier than the Wissahickon, but the rocks are somehow more jagged, tougher to land on and to avoid. We both twisted our ankles last year and while we managed to avoid that this year, it took some effort.
That said, yeah, I felt really good early in the second lap. I started off on my own to take advantage of the extra energy. To me, it felt like a normal trail run – just me, out on the trails, relaxed, keeping up a good pace. My plan was to be conservative for the first half of loop 2, and then speed up in the second half.
But when it came time to speed up, I just didn't have it.
I'm not sure what it was exactly – the heat, the build up of the attention to footing, the dehydration – but I started having trouble. The first thing that hit me was that I was screwing up my footing. In trail running, even on normal trails, that's a problem – so it was a worse problem with the rocky trails. I ate some more gels, I tried to focus better, but it kept happening. That last four miles or so were tough. I think I was around 1:18 for the first loop; the second loop was around 9 minutes slower.
One more mile, and Helen would have caught me. Maybe even sooner than that. She finished in the chute right after me – in first place! And *much* more refreshed than I was.
So, congrats to Helen for bringing home some more hardware. I brought some home, too - 2nd in my AG on the 30k. I don't think I've ever been 2nd in my AG, so I'm pretty psyched about that.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
2:57:44
Today I ran the Philadelphia Marathon.
I'd had this marathon on my radar for a while. I'd decided over a year ago that I'd do the 09 Philly marathon. And I'd decided that I'd try to finish it in less than three hours.
Someday things will come crushing down on me. Someday I'll set myself a goal and not reach it. Someday my streak of a PR at every race will end. So far, I've been lucky. But on the eve of the marathon, I was worried – worried that my feet would bother me, worried that my shoes would be too uncomfortable. Mostly, though, I was worried about my stomach. It was kind of bugging me.
But things worked out. Thanks, pepto-bismol.
I went into the race with two plans. On my right wrist I had a wrist band with the mile goals for a 3-hour marathon, with even times for each mile. On my left wrist, I had a more aggressive, Philly-specific wristband, designed for a 2:56:30 marathon. With secret plans of trying to break 2:55. But I always knew that was a pipe dream. The plan was to run a 1:28 first half and then see from there.
The race started out easy enough. I was worried about congestion at the start, but that was not a problem. I was able to settle into a pace pretty well. It was never that easy a pace, but I concentrated on keeping calm and keeping my shoulders relaxed. I was able to get a little time cushion in front of even my more optimistic left-arm wristband.
The first 7 miles were fun, and fairly easy. The only down point was not seeing Helen at mile 6, where I expected her. She saw me and called my name – but here's the thing. My bib said "Noah" on it. People were yelling "go Noah" and "good job Noah" the whole race.
So it threw me a little, not seeing her, but I knew it was tough to see people in the crowd. I just tried to keep going. I started pacing off of this group of three guys with "runner's alley" shirts on – they were going just a little faster than I would have, so it helped keep me focused. Having run all of the route before in training helped a lot psychologically. I did pretty well going through the west park, generally keeping pace with my left arm wristband. I knew that somewhere behind me was a 3 hour pace-group, so I wouldn't panic unless I saw them.
This approach got me through the first half. I was able to get past one of my worries, by not going through the half marathon finish line. Soon, I was back on the main route, ready to start the second half.
Helen joined me at that point, and kept me company from mile 14 to mile 18. These were relatively easy miles. The three guys slowed down, so I ran past them. I was impressed that Helen could keep up, since she'd just run the four corners the day before, but she didn't even seem to be struggling.
Helen stopped off at mile 18, at the Wanderers' water stop. Afterwards was a low point. I'd counted on getting gels at that water stop, but there weren't any. This was a major blow to my strategy, which basically involved eating a lot of gels.
That low point wouldn't last. Running through Manayunk was fun. My sister and my nephews were there to cheer me on, which was a huge boost. There was a spot to get gels, saving my strategy. The crowd there was good. And there was even one spot where they were playing Eye of the Tiger.
At around 20 miles, you make a 180 degree turn and start heading back to the Art Museum. I'd told myself that if I felt good at this point, I could speed up a bit. By this time I was a little behind my left arm wristband, but still well ahead of my right arm wristband. I didn't really have it in me to speed up, though. So I concentrated on keeping a good pace and staying relaxed. I was starting to get sore, but optimistic about a strong finish. That optimism lasted through the return trip to the Wanderers water stop. Not much longer, though.
Somewhere around mile 22-23, the pounding started really adding up. My shoes felt too hard, my legs too sore. I stopped looking at my wrist bands. The three-hour pace group hadn't caught up to me, so I knew I wasn't fading too fast. I started timing miles. I kept my focus on staying loose, but that wasn't easy. My legs were hurting. I tried to pass more people than passed me, but a bunch of people passed me. I had to let them go. I missed having Helen run with me in the last stretch, like she had at National. One of my miles was around 7 minutes, which was slower than I was going for. 2:55 was gone. That was ok. That was always a pipe dream. I still wanted to break 3 hours, though. The math was on my side - I knew I had a little bit of a cushion. But I also started to feel my calf start to cramp up. It was like a cramp-breeze blowing across my calf – it started to seize up and then went away. But I knew that I had to monitor that.
The last 3.2 weren't fun. I was just hoping on surviving, hoping my calf woudn't cramp up. I did and it didn't. I managed to get a little kick in the last quarter mile. I ran past the finish line in 2:57:44.
Now, I'm recovering. In other words, I'm really, really sore. And I'm in no rush to run another marathon – or at least, to race another marathon. For now, I'm looking forward to some time off, and then to getting back into running on the trails, and riding my bike some more. I don't know if I've got many more marathons in me.
I'd had this marathon on my radar for a while. I'd decided over a year ago that I'd do the 09 Philly marathon. And I'd decided that I'd try to finish it in less than three hours.
Someday things will come crushing down on me. Someday I'll set myself a goal and not reach it. Someday my streak of a PR at every race will end. So far, I've been lucky. But on the eve of the marathon, I was worried – worried that my feet would bother me, worried that my shoes would be too uncomfortable. Mostly, though, I was worried about my stomach. It was kind of bugging me.
But things worked out. Thanks, pepto-bismol.
I went into the race with two plans. On my right wrist I had a wrist band with the mile goals for a 3-hour marathon, with even times for each mile. On my left wrist, I had a more aggressive, Philly-specific wristband, designed for a 2:56:30 marathon. With secret plans of trying to break 2:55. But I always knew that was a pipe dream. The plan was to run a 1:28 first half and then see from there.
The race started out easy enough. I was worried about congestion at the start, but that was not a problem. I was able to settle into a pace pretty well. It was never that easy a pace, but I concentrated on keeping calm and keeping my shoulders relaxed. I was able to get a little time cushion in front of even my more optimistic left-arm wristband.
The first 7 miles were fun, and fairly easy. The only down point was not seeing Helen at mile 6, where I expected her. She saw me and called my name – but here's the thing. My bib said "Noah" on it. People were yelling "go Noah" and "good job Noah" the whole race.
So it threw me a little, not seeing her, but I knew it was tough to see people in the crowd. I just tried to keep going. I started pacing off of this group of three guys with "runner's alley" shirts on – they were going just a little faster than I would have, so it helped keep me focused. Having run all of the route before in training helped a lot psychologically. I did pretty well going through the west park, generally keeping pace with my left arm wristband. I knew that somewhere behind me was a 3 hour pace-group, so I wouldn't panic unless I saw them.
This approach got me through the first half. I was able to get past one of my worries, by not going through the half marathon finish line. Soon, I was back on the main route, ready to start the second half.
Helen joined me at that point, and kept me company from mile 14 to mile 18. These were relatively easy miles. The three guys slowed down, so I ran past them. I was impressed that Helen could keep up, since she'd just run the four corners the day before, but she didn't even seem to be struggling.
Helen stopped off at mile 18, at the Wanderers' water stop. Afterwards was a low point. I'd counted on getting gels at that water stop, but there weren't any. This was a major blow to my strategy, which basically involved eating a lot of gels.
That low point wouldn't last. Running through Manayunk was fun. My sister and my nephews were there to cheer me on, which was a huge boost. There was a spot to get gels, saving my strategy. The crowd there was good. And there was even one spot where they were playing Eye of the Tiger.
At around 20 miles, you make a 180 degree turn and start heading back to the Art Museum. I'd told myself that if I felt good at this point, I could speed up a bit. By this time I was a little behind my left arm wristband, but still well ahead of my right arm wristband. I didn't really have it in me to speed up, though. So I concentrated on keeping a good pace and staying relaxed. I was starting to get sore, but optimistic about a strong finish. That optimism lasted through the return trip to the Wanderers water stop. Not much longer, though.
Somewhere around mile 22-23, the pounding started really adding up. My shoes felt too hard, my legs too sore. I stopped looking at my wrist bands. The three-hour pace group hadn't caught up to me, so I knew I wasn't fading too fast. I started timing miles. I kept my focus on staying loose, but that wasn't easy. My legs were hurting. I tried to pass more people than passed me, but a bunch of people passed me. I had to let them go. I missed having Helen run with me in the last stretch, like she had at National. One of my miles was around 7 minutes, which was slower than I was going for. 2:55 was gone. That was ok. That was always a pipe dream. I still wanted to break 3 hours, though. The math was on my side - I knew I had a little bit of a cushion. But I also started to feel my calf start to cramp up. It was like a cramp-breeze blowing across my calf – it started to seize up and then went away. But I knew that I had to monitor that.
The last 3.2 weren't fun. I was just hoping on surviving, hoping my calf woudn't cramp up. I did and it didn't. I managed to get a little kick in the last quarter mile. I ran past the finish line in 2:57:44.
Now, I'm recovering. In other words, I'm really, really sore. And I'm in no rush to run another marathon – or at least, to race another marathon. For now, I'm looking forward to some time off, and then to getting back into running on the trails, and riding my bike some more. I don't know if I've got many more marathons in me.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
One More Day!
Ok. The taper madness wasn't as bad as it could have been.
It wasn't easy, but I didn't buy anything particularly silly this time. And it's almost over!
It's now one day from the Philly Marathon. As I write this, I'm around 23 hours from starting. And I'm nervous.
It's not the big things that worry me. I've done a lot of training. And yes, I think I've tapered too much and that I've lost all my fitness, but I know that's how I'm supposed to feel.
And, contrary to my expectations, I have not contracted swine flu during the taper period.
On the other hand, I'm kind of worried about my feet. I'm still wandering around lost in the sea of running shoes, ever since Mizuno changed the wave riders. I've got a new pair of new balances, which I'm going to wear, but they're a lot harder than I'm used to. Plan is to have a back up pair of running shoes at mile 18. Just in case. Meanwhile, the weird little callous/corn/unidentified growth I've got under the ball of my right foot... well, the taper period hasn't turned out well. It seems to have taken the opportunity to grow a bit more. So, the conundrum: leave as is, or risk last minute changes? Ugh.
So, that's what I'm worried about. I'm hoping that, in the excitement of the day, all this won't matter. I'm also hoping that I can do well tomorrow. We'll know soon.
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Half-Wit Half - The Long Belated Race Report
A bit late, but some notes on Helen's and my race last week at the annual Half-Wit Half.
It was our third time at this race, and Helen and I both managed to pull off some milestones.
Helen was able to defend her crown; and for the first time, I was able to run the race without going off course.
For all of my frustration last year with the race, we actually both like the race a lot. It's a hard race, but it's also a good scene. Lots of fun hanging out afterwards, and it's always a good wanderers turnout. And this year was pretty close to ideal weather. It was hot, yes, but it was also August, and we couldn't have expected much better.
It's hard to give many of the details, and there's not a lot of point in doing so anyway. I tried to start off a little slower than last year, in the hopes of having something of a kick at the end. The course itself is odd – it's a big loop, with an add-on lollipop. Any my goal was to stay on course. I was pretty focused on just racing my race – from early on I'd found a pace I liked, and if people passed me they passed me. Not a lot did, though – even though I took it easy at a lot of spots, walked some uphills, etc., I think I spent the second half of the race in roughly the same place I wound up finishing in.
In the end, I think I came in 20th overall, which I'm quite pleased with. I finished in 1:51 something, which is far faster than either of my other times, but since I got lost the other times, it's not really apples-to-apples. But I'm still pleased with the time, pleased with the overall place, pleased with my race, pleased with my navigation, pleased with my composure. I have a hard time taking my award that seriously - 7th place in my age group? Seems like a stretch – but that doesn't take away from my overall satisfaction with my performance.
As for Helen's race – she won't me like writing this, but she was dominant. (And if she doesn't want me writing this, well, *she* can write the race report!) She won by over five minutes. And she won a pair of shoes! Courtesy of La Sportiva. She says she only butt-slid down one hill, and I belive her.
So congrats to Helen. And congrats to all the wanderers who were out there – and really, to everyone who finished. It is not. an. easy. course. to. run. Between the hills, the rocks, the decrepit staircase, and the more hills, it's among the hardest half-marathons out there. But it's also one of the most fun.
It was our third time at this race, and Helen and I both managed to pull off some milestones.
Helen was able to defend her crown; and for the first time, I was able to run the race without going off course.
For all of my frustration last year with the race, we actually both like the race a lot. It's a hard race, but it's also a good scene. Lots of fun hanging out afterwards, and it's always a good wanderers turnout. And this year was pretty close to ideal weather. It was hot, yes, but it was also August, and we couldn't have expected much better.
It's hard to give many of the details, and there's not a lot of point in doing so anyway. I tried to start off a little slower than last year, in the hopes of having something of a kick at the end. The course itself is odd – it's a big loop, with an add-on lollipop. Any my goal was to stay on course. I was pretty focused on just racing my race – from early on I'd found a pace I liked, and if people passed me they passed me. Not a lot did, though – even though I took it easy at a lot of spots, walked some uphills, etc., I think I spent the second half of the race in roughly the same place I wound up finishing in.
In the end, I think I came in 20th overall, which I'm quite pleased with. I finished in 1:51 something, which is far faster than either of my other times, but since I got lost the other times, it's not really apples-to-apples. But I'm still pleased with the time, pleased with the overall place, pleased with my race, pleased with my navigation, pleased with my composure. I have a hard time taking my award that seriously - 7th place in my age group? Seems like a stretch – but that doesn't take away from my overall satisfaction with my performance.
As for Helen's race – she won't me like writing this, but she was dominant. (And if she doesn't want me writing this, well, *she* can write the race report!) She won by over five minutes. And she won a pair of shoes! Courtesy of La Sportiva. She says she only butt-slid down one hill, and I belive her.
So congrats to Helen. And congrats to all the wanderers who were out there – and really, to everyone who finished. It is not. an. easy. course. to. run. Between the hills, the rocks, the decrepit staircase, and the more hills, it's among the hardest half-marathons out there. But it's also one of the most fun.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Wanderers Represent!
Wissahickon Wanderers showed up in force at Sunday's Half-Wit Half Marathon!
Eighteen in all, I believe. (There's at least one not in the photo).
Six even brought back some hardware:
I'm in the second photo because I managed to win the much-coveted 7th place M30-39 award.
(Oh, and Helen won. More on that later...)
Thanks to Polly for the pics.
Eighteen in all, I believe. (There's at least one not in the photo).
Six even brought back some hardware:
I'm in the second photo because I managed to win the much-coveted 7th place M30-39 award.
(Oh, and Helen won. More on that later...)
Thanks to Polly for the pics.
Monday, June 29, 2009
If By Win, You Mean Dominate
This weekend, Helen and I participated in our first Double Trouble – another in the Pretzel City family of trail races. The terrain wasn't as hard as Half-Wit (or Ugly Mudder, which is the same terrain as Half-Wit, just in the other direction), probably not as hard as the Wissahickon Trail Classic, either - but significantly harder than Tyler.
It's an odd race. The course is a 15k (aka 9.3 mile) loop. You can race it once, you can race it twice, depending on if you want to go 15k (single trouble) or 30k (double trouble).
To be honest, I'd like to do a 30k trail race, but a two loop version of the race we just did didn't really appeal to me. It did appeal to Helen, but I kind of talked her out of it, which I feel kind of bad about now. Because the guy who won the men's 15k race finished 2nd in the 30k, and the guy who finished 3rd in the 15k won the 30k. Helen could've one-upped them, though. I'm sure she could have won both.
Obviously, this wasn’t the first race Helen won. But I can't remember her dominating a race like this one. The second woman didn't finish until four and half minutes after Helen.
I was generally pleased with my own race. I spent most of it alone - I finished 14th overall (although it's kind of complicated – for reasons I won't go into, some of the 30k racers who finished ahead of me count in the 15k rankings and some don't). I was around a minute behind the 13th place guy, and half a minute in front of the 15th place guy. My main goal in the second half was to not get lost. Mission accomplished! I really tried to keep my focus. I don't want to jinx myself, but I've now gone four straight trail races without getting lost. Amazingly, the races I've not gotten lost in now outnumber the races where I have gotten lost.
And Helen wasn't alone in bringing home some hardware. I managed to bring home the heavily coveted 5th place M 30-39 award. Maybe this whole turning-forty thing isn't so bad.
It's an odd race. The course is a 15k (aka 9.3 mile) loop. You can race it once, you can race it twice, depending on if you want to go 15k (single trouble) or 30k (double trouble).
To be honest, I'd like to do a 30k trail race, but a two loop version of the race we just did didn't really appeal to me. It did appeal to Helen, but I kind of talked her out of it, which I feel kind of bad about now. Because the guy who won the men's 15k race finished 2nd in the 30k, and the guy who finished 3rd in the 15k won the 30k. Helen could've one-upped them, though. I'm sure she could have won both.
Obviously, this wasn’t the first race Helen won. But I can't remember her dominating a race like this one. The second woman didn't finish until four and half minutes after Helen.
I was generally pleased with my own race. I spent most of it alone - I finished 14th overall (although it's kind of complicated – for reasons I won't go into, some of the 30k racers who finished ahead of me count in the 15k rankings and some don't). I was around a minute behind the 13th place guy, and half a minute in front of the 15th place guy. My main goal in the second half was to not get lost. Mission accomplished! I really tried to keep my focus. I don't want to jinx myself, but I've now gone four straight trail races without getting lost. Amazingly, the races I've not gotten lost in now outnumber the races where I have gotten lost.
And Helen wasn't alone in bringing home some hardware. I managed to bring home the heavily coveted 5th place M 30-39 award. Maybe this whole turning-forty thing isn't so bad.
Monday, June 8, 2009
Our game faces, apparently
I looked like I was suffering, but I was enjoying the race very much at that very moment.
Sunday, June 7, 2009
Helen Wins! Helen Wins!
Congrats to Helen, who won yesterday's Wissahickon Trail Classic!
She did so in impressive fashion, dominating the field on a beautiful (if muddy) day down by Valley Green.
She did so in impressive fashion, dominating the field on a beautiful (if muddy) day down by Valley Green.
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
A decade of Broad Street Run (illustrated)
Apparently, I counted wrong. I have run 10 straight Broad Streets, including this year. Looking back, I have really changed. The first time I ran the race, I treated it as the ultimate endurance event and aimed merely to finish. Now I don't dare go into the race unless I've done a couple of runs over 10 miles long.
I compiled a little summary of results and the race photos that came out:
2000: 1:56:07
2001: 1:25:35
2002: 1:18:57
2003: 1:13:16
2004: 1:12:57
2005: 1:13:15
2006: 1:18:48
2007: 1:05:43
2008: 1:02:32
2009: 1:05:59
I compiled a little summary of results and the race photos that came out:
2000: 1:56:072001: 1:25:35
2002: 1:18:57
2003: 1:13:16
2004: 1:12:57
2005: 1:13:15
2006: 1:18:48
2007: 1:05:43
2008: 1:02:32
2009: 1:05:59
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Layoff, Schmayoff
Saturday was Helen's long-awaited return to racing.
After her injury last fall, and her months of rehab, she rejoined the ranks of local racers at a 10-K race at Tyler Arboretum.
After her injury last fall, and her months of rehab, she rejoined the ranks of local racers at a 10-K race at Tyler Arboretum.
It's a nice race – 6.2 miles of rolling hills out in the woods. A trail race, but not nearly as technical as the other trail races we've done (or as the Wissahickon, for that matter). 300 or so runners. Helen did this race last year, and came in 3rd – behind fellow wanderer Sharon, and some other woman that we didn't know.
We weren't sure what to expect with the race. Helen was worried about running hard, after so much time off from racing. I tried to explain to Helen that she might not need to run hard, if she was going to win anyway! Maybe I was overly optimistic, though... No, alas, Helen did not come in first in the race.
She did come in 2nd, though. Not too shabby! Especially for the first race of the season! And the time was within a minute or so of her time last year, which bodes well for her overall fitness.
For me, this was the first time doing the race. I came to cheer Helen on last year, but it came one week after my marathon, so no way I was going to try running it. I liked the race, though. Boy, is it ever rolling! I was around 3-4 miles in when I realized just how rolling it was. The hills were never that steep, never that long, but they were pretty relentless.I was pleased with my own race. I finished 18th overall. 43:35, I think, which is my new 10-K pr. (The streak lives!) I was hoping for some sort of age group award, but it wasn't meant to be. (The organizers, who did an awesome job otherwise, did manage to screw up the handing out of awards, but that didn't change anything for me. I think I was 7th in my age group or something? Prizes three deep. And next year, things don't get any easier for 40-year-old Noah either). But I don't think I could have run much better than I did.
Next up for Helen? Maybe Clean Air, maybe not. Then on to Broad Street.
For me? Not sure. Maybe I'll actually run one of these 10-Ks on the road some day.
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Caesar Rodney LBRR – The Streak Remains Intact
There's something I still don't get about racing. When I was playing team sports, the feeling was that if you practice slow, you play slow. In racing, you're supposed to go much slower in training runs, and then speed up when you race. I'm not sure where that speed comes from, though. I'd been doing some tempo runs when training for the Caesar Rodney Half-Marathon. Typically, I'd drive down to Valley Green, run a warm-up mile or so on Forbidden, then speed up for 2-3 miles, ending by going hard up the hill on Valley Green Drive until the top of that hill, by Chestnut Hill Academy. In the parts of the run on Forbidden, I'd been averaging somewhere in the 6:35-6:40 range. But that was hard. Really, hard, actually. No way, I though, could I do a half-marathon at that pace.
So I had to adjust my goals for Caesar Rodney. When I signed up, my very ambitious goal was to run it in 1:25. As it approached, I'd lowered my goals; I was still hoping to beat last year's time, and keep my streak intact. But the night before the race, when I wrote up my pace chart, I settled on a 6:45 pace, which means a total time or 1:28 and change. My thought was to stick with that for the first ten miles and then open up if I had the energy.
The race started out well. The first mile is downhill and really fast. I managed to bank around 20-25 seconds, which was around what I was hoping for. Things flatten out for the next few miles, as the course winds around Wilmington's little waterfront area. My goal was to keep those seconds banked until things started to climb in miles 4-8. I was able to do that quite comfortably. At that point in the race I was running pretty smoothly and easily, or at least that's how it felt. I wasn't running with anyone in particular – Chris Verry was heading off at a faster pace, which I knew would tire me out – but there was a good crowd of people around me.
Somewhere after mile 4, or really after mile 5 I guess, things start to climb. People think of it as a very hilly course, and I guess most courses are flatter, but it's not hilly compared to our neighborhood, and it's certainly not hilly compared to running in the Wissahickon, so I felt pretty good going up the long climb that winds through some park and ends out on a road sometime in the ninth mile of the race. And really, I felt good on the climb. At the start of the climb Helen was there to cheer me on, which gave me a lot of energy and just generally lifted my spirits. By the top of the climb I realized that I'd actually managed to hold on to the time I'd banked, and was still ahead of the schedule. At the ten mile mark I was able to open things enough. Yes, a girl did pass me at that point, but I still felt like I was running pretty well. Some guy in the crowd told me I was 84th, which was lower than I thought, since this part of the course was an out-and-back and there were plenty of people I'd seen going back when I was still going out.
The other nice thing about opening it up at mile 10 is that things are downhill for most of that. I'd stopped paying so much attention to my watch, but I was able to keep up a pretty good clip for the last three miles, and pass a bunch of people. I knew that the last section was the hardest part of the course, but I knew that I'd prepped for it and expected it to be ok. Same as last year, there's a hill that makes up the last 600 yards or so of the course that's pretty brutal. But this year, when I turned to go up it, not only was there no headwind, but I knew that it was exactly what I'd been training for with all those tempo-to-hill runs. I tried to remember all the different parts of the hill up from Valley Green, to make the Wilmington hill seem smaller.
That didn't quite work. But I did managed to go up the hill quicker than anyone else I saw around me. I heard Helen cheer me on. She said it looked like I was doing well, but I didn't even have it in me to look for her and wave. I felt kind of nauseous at that point, but I was able to keep going and even to pass a few more people before the finish line. My final time was 1:26 something. The pace on my 'gun time' (oh, yeah, there was a really loud gun at the start that set off a car alarm) was 6:37. I managed to keep that up for 13.1 miles. Still not sure how that works. I was in 72nd place, so I passed 10-12 people in the final three miles. Not bad.
Overall, I'm really pleased with my race. I could have trained harder, sure; but given the training I did, I'm not sure I could have run it any faster. And I think that this is a good distance for me. It's a good mix of relying on endurance and long-run training without being too grueling, and it doesn't have the 20-mile 'weekend-buster' long runs. And I'm hoping that the recovery is much faster than the marathon recovery, too.
So I had to adjust my goals for Caesar Rodney. When I signed up, my very ambitious goal was to run it in 1:25. As it approached, I'd lowered my goals; I was still hoping to beat last year's time, and keep my streak intact. But the night before the race, when I wrote up my pace chart, I settled on a 6:45 pace, which means a total time or 1:28 and change. My thought was to stick with that for the first ten miles and then open up if I had the energy.
The race started out well. The first mile is downhill and really fast. I managed to bank around 20-25 seconds, which was around what I was hoping for. Things flatten out for the next few miles, as the course winds around Wilmington's little waterfront area. My goal was to keep those seconds banked until things started to climb in miles 4-8. I was able to do that quite comfortably. At that point in the race I was running pretty smoothly and easily, or at least that's how it felt. I wasn't running with anyone in particular – Chris Verry was heading off at a faster pace, which I knew would tire me out – but there was a good crowd of people around me.
Somewhere after mile 4, or really after mile 5 I guess, things start to climb. People think of it as a very hilly course, and I guess most courses are flatter, but it's not hilly compared to our neighborhood, and it's certainly not hilly compared to running in the Wissahickon, so I felt pretty good going up the long climb that winds through some park and ends out on a road sometime in the ninth mile of the race. And really, I felt good on the climb. At the start of the climb Helen was there to cheer me on, which gave me a lot of energy and just generally lifted my spirits. By the top of the climb I realized that I'd actually managed to hold on to the time I'd banked, and was still ahead of the schedule. At the ten mile mark I was able to open things enough. Yes, a girl did pass me at that point, but I still felt like I was running pretty well. Some guy in the crowd told me I was 84th, which was lower than I thought, since this part of the course was an out-and-back and there were plenty of people I'd seen going back when I was still going out.
The other nice thing about opening it up at mile 10 is that things are downhill for most of that. I'd stopped paying so much attention to my watch, but I was able to keep up a pretty good clip for the last three miles, and pass a bunch of people. I knew that the last section was the hardest part of the course, but I knew that I'd prepped for it and expected it to be ok. Same as last year, there's a hill that makes up the last 600 yards or so of the course that's pretty brutal. But this year, when I turned to go up it, not only was there no headwind, but I knew that it was exactly what I'd been training for with all those tempo-to-hill runs. I tried to remember all the different parts of the hill up from Valley Green, to make the Wilmington hill seem smaller.
That didn't quite work. But I did managed to go up the hill quicker than anyone else I saw around me. I heard Helen cheer me on. She said it looked like I was doing well, but I didn't even have it in me to look for her and wave. I felt kind of nauseous at that point, but I was able to keep going and even to pass a few more people before the finish line. My final time was 1:26 something. The pace on my 'gun time' (oh, yeah, there was a really loud gun at the start that set off a car alarm) was 6:37. I managed to keep that up for 13.1 miles. Still not sure how that works. I was in 72nd place, so I passed 10-12 people in the final three miles. Not bad.
Overall, I'm really pleased with my race. I could have trained harder, sure; but given the training I did, I'm not sure I could have run it any faster. And I think that this is a good distance for me. It's a good mix of relying on endurance and long-run training without being too grueling, and it doesn't have the 20-mile 'weekend-buster' long runs. And I'm hoping that the recovery is much faster than the marathon recovery, too.
Friday, March 13, 2009
Caesar Rodney - Putting My Streak on the Line
I've got a little streak I've been building up over the last few years.
Every race I've run, I've established some sort of record or PR. In the trail races, that just means breaking my time on that same route, since the times there vary so much. But in road races, I've actually gotten a PR at every race I've done, at every distance. Ever. From some perspectives, that's quite a streak.
Of course, there are some tricks to maintaining a streak like that. Staying (relatively) healthy, training consistently, etc. But that's not what makes the streak possible. Really, what makes the streak possible is that I didn't start racing until I was 35, and I race infrequently. I've never done a stand-alone (i.e. non-triathlon) 5K. My only 10K was the Wissahickon Trail Classic, so even that's a PR, even though the course was way long and super hilly. I've done one ten-mile race, so I got a PR there. I've done two marathons, and the second was faster. And I've done one half marathon, so I got a PR at that one. But I'm doing a second half marathon this weekend. So the streak's on the line. And at this point, it's going to be tight.
I did this race last year, too. It's a hilly course (but of course it was just as hilly last year). My preparation was very different, though. On the one hand, it wasn't my A race. I was busy training for the National Marathon, I didn't really taper for Caesar Rodney, and I raced very conservatively for the first ten miles. On the other hand, because I was training for the marathon, I'd been doing a ton of miles in training. I came into the half marathon with a bunch of 18-20 mile runs behind me. And I was just more structured in my training then.
My times in track/tempo workouts have been similar, if shorter and less structured. When I signed up for this, I was hoping to knock 5 minutes off of last years time of just under 1:30. I can't see that happening, though. 1:27-1:28, that seems doable. But it's going to be tight.
Every race I've run, I've established some sort of record or PR. In the trail races, that just means breaking my time on that same route, since the times there vary so much. But in road races, I've actually gotten a PR at every race I've done, at every distance. Ever. From some perspectives, that's quite a streak.
Of course, there are some tricks to maintaining a streak like that. Staying (relatively) healthy, training consistently, etc. But that's not what makes the streak possible. Really, what makes the streak possible is that I didn't start racing until I was 35, and I race infrequently. I've never done a stand-alone (i.e. non-triathlon) 5K. My only 10K was the Wissahickon Trail Classic, so even that's a PR, even though the course was way long and super hilly. I've done one ten-mile race, so I got a PR there. I've done two marathons, and the second was faster. And I've done one half marathon, so I got a PR at that one. But I'm doing a second half marathon this weekend. So the streak's on the line. And at this point, it's going to be tight.
I did this race last year, too. It's a hilly course (but of course it was just as hilly last year). My preparation was very different, though. On the one hand, it wasn't my A race. I was busy training for the National Marathon, I didn't really taper for Caesar Rodney, and I raced very conservatively for the first ten miles. On the other hand, because I was training for the marathon, I'd been doing a ton of miles in training. I came into the half marathon with a bunch of 18-20 mile runs behind me. And I was just more structured in my training then.
My times in track/tempo workouts have been similar, if shorter and less structured. When I signed up for this, I was hoping to knock 5 minutes off of last years time of just under 1:30. I can't see that happening, though. 1:27-1:28, that seems doable. But it's going to be tight.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Ugly Mudder LBRR
This weekend, I managed to achieve two of my trail-running goals: I finished a trail race outside of the Wissahickon without going off-course; and I managed to keep my cool. I'm pretty sure that those two are related.
I've had a horrible record in this regard. I'd done four trail races – the Wissahickon Trail Classic, Charlie-Horse Half-Marathon, and Half-Wit Half-Marathon (twice). In all three half-marathons I'd gone off course. In the Wissahickon race I managed to stay on course, but I'd also been going over that course for several weeks going into the race. So staying on course in the Ugly Mudder was something of an accomplishment.
The race itself – well, it's ok. It overlaps a lot with Half-Wit, but without some of the latter's more memorable moments; it's a Ron Horn race, and at this point I'm a little tired of Ron Horn races. I don't blame him – basically, I'd like them more if I could do more non-Ron trail races. This one is just over 7 miles, with maybe as much as a mile on road (probably a bit less). There's less climbing than there is at Half-Wit, but it's still a fair bit. A lot of the downhill is gentle enough of a slope that you're still running, as opposed to just letting go. Some pretty rocky footing – and a lot of downed trees. There was a very slight snow, which made visibility harder, not because everything was white but just because it would get in my eyes. Since in races like this you need to pay attention to footing on just about every step, that makes things much more challenging!
I do like the end of this race, it's quite clever. You scurry up to the parking lot from the road; I'm horrible at this sort of estimate, but it's maybe a 30 yard climb that feels more like a cliff than a hill. You scurry up it, using all four limbs, grabbing branches, rocks, etc.
I've written before about the issue I have with trail races: I'm a natural negative splitter, but in trail racing positioning is important, so it makes more sense to go out hard. This is particularly the case in the Ugly Mudder: it starts with a half-mile on the road, then there's a half-mile on single-track. So I wanted to get position for that first bunch of trail. In retrospect, that wasn't all that important. I'd have had room to pass. Thing was, I didn't fell like I had a full tank of gas while running. I knew that after the first mile or so, I'd have some recovering to do, and I was ok with that. I figured that I'd be able to get back down into a nice recovery pace and then be able to pretty much reset. But there was a pattern that developed over the course of the race: I'd be going along at recovery pace, start feeling fine, and decide to open it up a bit. Each time I did that, I promptly wound up feeling completely spent within 10-20 seconds, and I'd have to settle back down to the recovery pace. By the end of the race, I was running very conservatively, walking up the steeper hills and even some of the only slightly steep parts. I also had to take it easy whenever there was a wall to climb over or a log to go over. This helped me to not completely bonk, but it also made things less fun than if I was just bustling with energy, hopping logs and passing folks on the uphill.
I'm overall fine with my results, even though I don't feel like I ran a great race. I didn't prep for it specifically, and the night before Helen and I had gone out to dinner, eaten lots of tasty food (much of it not carbs) and drank wine and I definitely was feeling that during the race. I still managed to finish in just under an hour, which I felt good about. There were around 700 people, and the results have me at 42nd pace, which doesn't get me an AG spot, but it's nothing to scoff at. That said, I'm pretty sure that I placed in the 60s, not the 40s! I'm expecting there to be some sort of correction this week. Either way, I'm ok with it.
I've had a horrible record in this regard. I'd done four trail races – the Wissahickon Trail Classic, Charlie-Horse Half-Marathon, and Half-Wit Half-Marathon (twice). In all three half-marathons I'd gone off course. In the Wissahickon race I managed to stay on course, but I'd also been going over that course for several weeks going into the race. So staying on course in the Ugly Mudder was something of an accomplishment.
The race itself – well, it's ok. It overlaps a lot with Half-Wit, but without some of the latter's more memorable moments; it's a Ron Horn race, and at this point I'm a little tired of Ron Horn races. I don't blame him – basically, I'd like them more if I could do more non-Ron trail races. This one is just over 7 miles, with maybe as much as a mile on road (probably a bit less). There's less climbing than there is at Half-Wit, but it's still a fair bit. A lot of the downhill is gentle enough of a slope that you're still running, as opposed to just letting go. Some pretty rocky footing – and a lot of downed trees. There was a very slight snow, which made visibility harder, not because everything was white but just because it would get in my eyes. Since in races like this you need to pay attention to footing on just about every step, that makes things much more challenging!
I do like the end of this race, it's quite clever. You scurry up to the parking lot from the road; I'm horrible at this sort of estimate, but it's maybe a 30 yard climb that feels more like a cliff than a hill. You scurry up it, using all four limbs, grabbing branches, rocks, etc.
I've written before about the issue I have with trail races: I'm a natural negative splitter, but in trail racing positioning is important, so it makes more sense to go out hard. This is particularly the case in the Ugly Mudder: it starts with a half-mile on the road, then there's a half-mile on single-track. So I wanted to get position for that first bunch of trail. In retrospect, that wasn't all that important. I'd have had room to pass. Thing was, I didn't fell like I had a full tank of gas while running. I knew that after the first mile or so, I'd have some recovering to do, and I was ok with that. I figured that I'd be able to get back down into a nice recovery pace and then be able to pretty much reset. But there was a pattern that developed over the course of the race: I'd be going along at recovery pace, start feeling fine, and decide to open it up a bit. Each time I did that, I promptly wound up feeling completely spent within 10-20 seconds, and I'd have to settle back down to the recovery pace. By the end of the race, I was running very conservatively, walking up the steeper hills and even some of the only slightly steep parts. I also had to take it easy whenever there was a wall to climb over or a log to go over. This helped me to not completely bonk, but it also made things less fun than if I was just bustling with energy, hopping logs and passing folks on the uphill.
I'm overall fine with my results, even though I don't feel like I ran a great race. I didn't prep for it specifically, and the night before Helen and I had gone out to dinner, eaten lots of tasty food (much of it not carbs) and drank wine and I definitely was feeling that during the race. I still managed to finish in just under an hour, which I felt good about. There were around 700 people, and the results have me at 42nd pace, which doesn't get me an AG spot, but it's nothing to scoff at. That said, I'm pretty sure that I placed in the 60s, not the 40s! I'm expecting there to be some sort of correction this week. Either way, I'm ok with it.
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
CharlieHorse Trail Half-Marathon: LBRR
I already included some notes on my own performance, but Helen insists that a whole Race Report is in order, so here goes.
As I'd been thinking about trail half-marathons, I'd figured out a couple of things.
One, I think I'm better at trail running than road running. Second, I think that the half-marathon is a good distance for me. Third, unlike Helen, I'm really more of a negative-split guy. And fourth, I think that trail running, more than road running, favors positive splits.
So the first two really make the trail half-marathon my best event. The last two, not so much. The reason I say that positive splitting is important in trail running is because positioning can be so important. You can have something in a trail race like a downed log that takes 5 seconds to cross, but that only one person at a time can go over. So you can get to that log 10 seconds behind another runner, but 5 places behind them. By the time you're on the other side of the log, you're the same 5 places back, but now you're 30 seconds behind them.
Or maybe it's not a downed log. Maybe it's a river crossing. Or two, right at the start of the race. That's what they had on Sunday at Charliehorse.
And actually, when they gave the description of the course, I realized that I could take a more conservative approach than might be in order at Half-Wit. There's the two quick river crossings (one more a bottleneck than the other), then there's a bunch of trail, then miles 9 through 12 were actually an up and down three miles of road. So I picked my strategy: go hard through the water crossings; conservative until the road. Then I'd pass a lot of people running up the hill that started at mile 11.5.
I still think that this is a good strategy. And I stuck with it for more than the first half of the race. I was probably in around 12th-15th place through the first 8 miles or so. I was doing pretty well, too. I was tired, and kinda sore, but overall comfortable. I also realized that compared to some of the other runners I was near, I was more comfortable on the trails, especially on the downhills.
The problem came when, sometime after mile 8, I went off course. My reasons for doing this: first, I was following the guys ahead of me, and trusting them; when we did go off course, it was because we went onto the road, at approximately the right time to have gone onto the road; third, while it wasn't a super confusing spot in the race, there were far less confusing points that had volunteers telling people which way to go. And that's my biggest gripe: a race has to be consistent about the degree of difficulty in determining which direction to go, and the amount of instruction.
So onto the road I went, with 4-5 other guys in front of me. Finally, one guy turned back, realized that we weren't going in the right direction. I didn't know what to do. I think I did 3 180s during this time. Finally, I went back up, found where we'd gotten off, and got back in. Soon I was back on marked trails. But I was beaten. I just didn't have it anymore.
I lost around 3-4 minutes during this time. Ironically, I think that I placed higher than I would have otherwise; there were probably only 2-3 guys in front of me that had times slower than I would have had had I stayed on course, which was fewer than the number of guys who went further off course than I did.
I wound up finishing 11th, which, when I think about it, is pretty impressive. I also got 3rd place in my age group. I'm much more excited about the 11th place overall, though. I guess the real message is to be more ready for adversity; I've done two trail races and gone off course in both, and both times it really got to me. The first time it made me angry; the second was more disheartening, and that's what I've gotta be able to get past.
Sunday, May 25, 2008
Helen: Les Palmarès Croissent
Helen won today's charliehorse trail half-marathon – and decisively, too! 1:39, which is pretty good for any half-marathon, really.
This adds to a very impressive season for Helen, with her win at Clean Air, 3rd place at
The race was good, for the most part. Kind of a strange race, actually – part cinder trails, part single track, around 3 miles on-road (half straight down, half straight up). Oh, and 2 creek crossings in the first mile (one almost waist deep). It's hot, it's cold… who knows what shoes to wear?
Frustrating race for me, as I missed a turn and wound up losing around 3-4 minutes. In trail races, I’ve now done two and gone off course in both – and both times, following people in front of me. Hoping that the third time's the charm. Although that third time will be on home turf - the wissahickon trail classic, coming up in a few weeks, which we'll both be doing.
Meanwhile, congrats to Helen - her first overall victory in a trail race or a half-marathon!
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