Let me tell you – 18 miles is a long way to run. Even longer when it’s run as slow as I run. I can only imagine what 26.2 miles is going to feel like. But I also know that it will be different, given the excitement of the event itself and the crowds, but still… For this run I averaged a 9:34 min/mile pace and got it done in 2:52:15. Ok by me… I was wanting to do better than a 10:00 m/m average and I succeeded there, so there is a little bit of hope for me.
Given my previous experiences with the 16 mile runs, I tried to plan and prep appropriately. I made sure that I did the right things before the run (i.e. carbo loading, stretching, etc.), and that I had what I needed nutrition-wise for the run itself.
I wanted to make this run more-or-less a dress rehearsal for the Milford 30K (18.5M) event that is in 3 weeks. The Milford 30K event is targeted towards being a training run for various fall marathons, so my 18 miler was like doing a dress-rehearsal for a full-dress-rehearsal for the actual marathon (does that kind of make sense?). In light of that, instead of carrying my fluids with me, I positioned my truck at the end of my driveway, provisioned with fluids to act as my “water station” as I would expect on the actual event course. In reality, the water stations during events are more like 2M apart, but I couldn’t get a clean 2M route set up, so I just made do with running an extra half-mile to get to my fluids. I then ran a series of seven 2.5M laps around my neighborhood (I had to add a quarter-mile to two of the laps to make it an even 18M).
Based on what I had learned during my 16M runs, I setup my in-run nutrition to include ShockBloks, two different kinds of goo, and Gatorade. My goal was to consume approximately 50g of carbs (or 220 calories) per hour. This was to make sure that I had enough energy to finish the run. In the mix, I also had to manage appropriate levels of sodium. This pretty much depended on how hot and humid things were during the run. The more that I sweat, the more sodium I need to ingest. So the trick was to make a judgment call on the “sweat and humidity” factor.
To manage my sodium intake, I found both goo and ShockBlok products that had varying levels of Sodium. So depending on what I thought the “sweat and humidity” factor was, I would take either a “Sodium+” or “regular” nutrient. But to complicate this a bit, I learned that it’s not a good idea to ingest any of this without a fluid chaser (e.g. water or Gatorade). That meant that I had to time my nutrients to just before I got to my water station.
To back up a bit, it may help if I explain what I’ve learned about nutrition and the affect of sodium and potassium. I may not have totally understood it, but in general:
The act of running is possible by the contraction of muscles and depends upon an electrical charge that is caused by potassium inside your cells switching places with sodium outside your cells. As you run potassium builds up outside of your cells, which diminishes the ability of your cells to create that electrical charge. When this happens, experts say that you begin to get “tired”. But this is also thought to be a cause of cramping, thus the need to constantly replenish the supply of sodium and potassium. Since I found that I tend to cramp up, this is key for me. In addition, sodium helps encourage fluid movement in your body, essentially helping to keep everything well “greased” and lubricated.
As you run, your muscles build up lactic acid which breaks down into hydrogen ions and lactate. Lactate is used by the muscle cells to produce additional energy in the form of ATP. But as the hydrogen ions build up, so does the acidity of your blood. All of this tends to make your legs feel stiff. Protein and amino acids help break down the lactic acid and neutralize the hydrogen ion build up, but these are hard to ingest and absorb during a run and are typically post-run recovery supplements (I drink a protein/amino acid/banana/milk shake after every long run).
With regards to raw energy to run, your leg muscles want to burn glycogen. But the problem is that the body can only store a limited amount, like about 2 hours worth. Guys like me that don’t run very fast need a lot more than that and/or may not have built up a full 2 hours store of the stuff. To that end, it is necessary to consume carbs during the event. Carbs break down into usable glycogen. Fat is also an energy source, but stored fat doesn’t convert to usable energy fast enough to sustain running. But it is important to know that it is unlikely that you can consume and store carbohydrates (which in turn becomes usable glycogen) as fast you are burning them. The trick is to slow the rate of glycogen depletion so that you can complete the event before you bonk (“hit the wall”). That is why it is critical to stay ahead of the curve and start consuming nutrients before you even need them.
Back to the run itself: I gave myself a 40 to 60 second walking break at the truck on every lap, allowing me to consume at least 6 oz of Gatorade. For the Marathon itself, I’m already planning on walking through every water station to make sure that I get at least 6 oz of fluid in me every 2 miles or so. I also set up a schedule of sucking on a ShockBlok every lap just before I got to the truck. The only exceptions were on mile 8 and 13 where I sucked on goo instead. From a nutrition and cramp-prevention perspective, it all worked. I had enough energy to run all 18 miles, and I did not cramp up. That alone was a huge win for me.
I did have a little problem with my right hamstring getting tight on me and I found myself literally pounding my fist on the back of my thigh every now and again to loosen it up. I’d also try stomping my foot on the ground to shake up the muscle. I really don’t know what is going on there. But it made it through.
The last 2.5 mile lap was hard – very hard. No doubt about it: I was tired. And I had to force myself to drag my sorry, tired ass all the way around. I slowed my pace down a lot for that last couple of miles, down to around a 10:30 m/m pace, but I did it. I actually ran a total of 18.2 miles, and I could have technically stopped running when my GPS told me that I had gotten to mile 18, but rather than walking the last .2 miles, I forced myself to go all the way. And I feel better about having done so.
Next week is a 20-miler…. That will be fun, I am sure (it's just 2 more miles….)
3 weeks to the Milford 30K, 8 weeks to Chicago.
These are notes of my running journey. Hopefully they will be useful or even inspiring to other runners! Scroll down and look on the right hand side for titles that might interest you (Archive)
Friday, August 12, 2011
Thursday, August 4, 2011
16 Miles, Second Time
Two weeks ago I ran a 16 mile route and “bonked”, or “hit the wall”, at around 15 ¼ miles. I simply ran out of juice. So after “bonking” on that run I read up on how many calories and nutrients I needed to consume before and during the run so that I wouldn’t run out of gas. So today I had a good 16 mile run and I made it all the way through without “hitting the wall”. I did however, wind up with horrible cramps in my left thigh at mile 15.5, but after working the cramp out I still managed to run the rest of the way.
But it was a tough run. It’s a long way (16 miles) and I was trying to maintain a 9:30 pace. In the hopes of achieving a marathon time of somewhere close to 4 hours, I wanted to see if I could maintain at least a 9:30 pace for this distance. I did really well up until mile 15, maintaining an average 9:33 min/mile pace, but when my leg cramped up at 15 ½ miles, I came to a full stop for several minutes while I worked it out. I wound up finishing the last mile in 14:24 minutes. That made my average pace something like 9:50 overall. My overall time for the 16 miles was 2:37:38. I wish it were better…
During the run I consumed something like 730 calories (but I burned over 2,000!) through an assortment of Gatorade, goo, a Balance Bar (a candy bar with carbs, proteins, and various minerals), and something called ShockBloks, which are like gum drops loaded with carbs and electrolytes (sodium and potassium mostly). In my research I found that I needed to be consuming on the order of 225 calories, or 50grams of carbs, per hour from all nutrient sources. This includes liquids, goo’s, bars, etc…
So I made a table of the nutrient value of each (Gatorade, goo, power bars, ShockBloks) and how often to take each. Carrying all this crap is reasonably ok…. I am able to store the ShockBloks in my waist pouch, along with a package of goo. (the waist pouch is like a thin fanny pack and a good place to put my phone and other goodies…). My camelback, with my very necessary Gatorade, has a small pocket in which I can store more goo and power bars.
I came up with a plan to suck on a ShockBlok every 2 miles, eat half of my Balance Bar at mile 8 and 12, and do the goo as I felt necessary. For fluids, I just make it a habit to take a few hits from my tube every ½ mile (which I figure gives me approximately 2-3 oz’s per mile). For the run, I wound up doing the ShockBloks every 2 hours, only consumed ½ of the Balance Bar, and did the goo at mile 12. I went through all 48 oz’s of the Gatorade that I carried with me.
I felt the biggest lift of all from the goo at mile 12. After it kicked in (it takes about 6-8 minutes) I felt strong and like I could run on for a long time – nice! It was nicely timed. I didn’t do the rest of the Balance Bar because it was a bit more difficult to get down, although it also gave me a nice lift at mile 9. It’s difficult to tell if the ShockBloks did anything, because I was popping them with regularity, but I think that they helped maintain my carb and sodium levels.
A big problem though, is the fact that I cramped up at 15 ½ miles. An acquaintance that does some serious cycling told me that he solved cramping by chewing on a version of ShockBloks that had a substantially higher amount of sodium (219mg vs the 70mg chews that I was using). Cramping remains a medical mystery, so all “cures” are the result of hearsay and empirical testing. Besides, every runners’ body is chemically different, so there is no one-solution-fits-all…
Next week I have an 18-miler on my training plan, and so I’m going to try alternating between the “Na+” ShockBloks and the regulars. I’m also going to try to get the full Balance Bar down, maybe do it in thirds. In addition, I’ll do more goo towards the end, like with 2 miles to go, just to make sure I have enough juice. And of course, make sure that I have enough Gatorade. Carrying the Gatorade is the biggest problem – 48oz is something like 3lbs, which doesn’t sound like much, but it is when you are lugging it around for a bunch of miles. Of course, it does get lighter and lighter as the miles go by, so perhaps I’m just complaining for nothing… But I’d love to not have to carry it.
Funny things happen near the end of a long run: I can just sense that the end is near; it’s almost like a hazy image that is beginning to form. At this point I’m basically on auto-pilot, with my brain ignoring the fact that my feet hurt and the straps from the camelback are bugging me, and so on. Little signals from my legs are constantly bombarding me as the lactic acid build up stiffens my legs, and I just keep repeating to myself that “it’s just a little bit further”. In a running magazine that I get I’ve read a couple of articles about mantras and I never understood them until now. I’ve never gotten this tired before, I guess. But I’m here to tell you – they work. The one that seems to work best for me is simply “I am going to do this…”. I’m sure that I’ll be saying that a lot to myself on October 9.
But it was a tough run. It’s a long way (16 miles) and I was trying to maintain a 9:30 pace. In the hopes of achieving a marathon time of somewhere close to 4 hours, I wanted to see if I could maintain at least a 9:30 pace for this distance. I did really well up until mile 15, maintaining an average 9:33 min/mile pace, but when my leg cramped up at 15 ½ miles, I came to a full stop for several minutes while I worked it out. I wound up finishing the last mile in 14:24 minutes. That made my average pace something like 9:50 overall. My overall time for the 16 miles was 2:37:38. I wish it were better…
During the run I consumed something like 730 calories (but I burned over 2,000!) through an assortment of Gatorade, goo, a Balance Bar (a candy bar with carbs, proteins, and various minerals), and something called ShockBloks, which are like gum drops loaded with carbs and electrolytes (sodium and potassium mostly). In my research I found that I needed to be consuming on the order of 225 calories, or 50grams of carbs, per hour from all nutrient sources. This includes liquids, goo’s, bars, etc…
So I made a table of the nutrient value of each (Gatorade, goo, power bars, ShockBloks) and how often to take each. Carrying all this crap is reasonably ok…. I am able to store the ShockBloks in my waist pouch, along with a package of goo. (the waist pouch is like a thin fanny pack and a good place to put my phone and other goodies…). My camelback, with my very necessary Gatorade, has a small pocket in which I can store more goo and power bars.
I came up with a plan to suck on a ShockBlok every 2 miles, eat half of my Balance Bar at mile 8 and 12, and do the goo as I felt necessary. For fluids, I just make it a habit to take a few hits from my tube every ½ mile (which I figure gives me approximately 2-3 oz’s per mile). For the run, I wound up doing the ShockBloks every 2 hours, only consumed ½ of the Balance Bar, and did the goo at mile 12. I went through all 48 oz’s of the Gatorade that I carried with me.
I felt the biggest lift of all from the goo at mile 12. After it kicked in (it takes about 6-8 minutes) I felt strong and like I could run on for a long time – nice! It was nicely timed. I didn’t do the rest of the Balance Bar because it was a bit more difficult to get down, although it also gave me a nice lift at mile 9. It’s difficult to tell if the ShockBloks did anything, because I was popping them with regularity, but I think that they helped maintain my carb and sodium levels.
A big problem though, is the fact that I cramped up at 15 ½ miles. An acquaintance that does some serious cycling told me that he solved cramping by chewing on a version of ShockBloks that had a substantially higher amount of sodium (219mg vs the 70mg chews that I was using). Cramping remains a medical mystery, so all “cures” are the result of hearsay and empirical testing. Besides, every runners’ body is chemically different, so there is no one-solution-fits-all…
Next week I have an 18-miler on my training plan, and so I’m going to try alternating between the “Na+” ShockBloks and the regulars. I’m also going to try to get the full Balance Bar down, maybe do it in thirds. In addition, I’ll do more goo towards the end, like with 2 miles to go, just to make sure I have enough juice. And of course, make sure that I have enough Gatorade. Carrying the Gatorade is the biggest problem – 48oz is something like 3lbs, which doesn’t sound like much, but it is when you are lugging it around for a bunch of miles. Of course, it does get lighter and lighter as the miles go by, so perhaps I’m just complaining for nothing… But I’d love to not have to carry it.
Funny things happen near the end of a long run: I can just sense that the end is near; it’s almost like a hazy image that is beginning to form. At this point I’m basically on auto-pilot, with my brain ignoring the fact that my feet hurt and the straps from the camelback are bugging me, and so on. Little signals from my legs are constantly bombarding me as the lactic acid build up stiffens my legs, and I just keep repeating to myself that “it’s just a little bit further”. In a running magazine that I get I’ve read a couple of articles about mantras and I never understood them until now. I’ve never gotten this tired before, I guess. But I’m here to tell you – they work. The one that seems to work best for me is simply “I am going to do this…”. I’m sure that I’ll be saying that a lot to myself on October 9.
Thursday, July 28, 2011
running notes since June...
(these are ordered from the oldest to most recent…):
July 8, 2011 – 12 mile run. Went to a local park; nice to run an unfamiliar trail. I was amazed at how comfortable the animal life was to people. Ducks, geese, birds in general would grudgedly get out of my way. They were fine just standing on or beside the trail and having me pass very close to them. I wasn’t worried about the little birds or the ducks, but the geese made me a little nervous… I took my camel-back for fluids and in general had a good run, but I was definitely tired afterwards. I tried hard to make sure that I prepped for the run right: carbing up and resting the day before, pre-run hydration, and making sure that I hydrated constantly during the run. After the run I drank my protein cocktail and an appropriate amount of fluids. I didn’t have any post-run cramps and that was the big goal. Mission accomplished.
July 14, 2011 – 14 mile run. I didn’t want to carry all of my hydration and nutrition with me, so I opted to do 3 mile loops around my neighborhood, stopping by the garage every lap for Gatorade and “goo” (“goo” is a honey-like concoction that contains carbs, sodium, potassium, all of which help fuel your body. I try to suck down a packet every 30-45 minutes). It has been incredibly humid and this morning was no exception. But in general, it was a great run. Better still that I had the juice to step it up the last two miles and finish strong. The bad news is that the top of my left ankle is bothering me (has been for a while).
July 18, 2011 – Went to see Brad (at Ann Arbor Foot and Ankle) re my ankle. Says that I have an inflamed tibialis anterior tendon (the tendon that your foot uses to pronate and push off with), basically “tendinitis”. The cure is to not use it – but that’s not going to happen. So alternatives are: 1) ice it, 2) ibuprofen, 3) cortisone shot (we’ll wait on that one…), and consider a different running shoe that might help alleviate (more support in that area) the stress on that tendon. So I went to my favorite running store (Tortoise and Hare) and got into a new pair of ASIC’s which seem to feel really nice (lower heel, good support). In addition, Brad is setting my up for new orthotics. All good.
July 20, 2011 - 8 mile run. Probably the most humid conditions that I have ever run in. I was 100% totally drenched when I finished. BTW, these are all early morning runs. I was so drenched that my running shorts, shirt, and sox were soaking wet. But somehow I was ok! And my ankle was good.
July 22, 2011 – 16 mile run – this was my longest run to-date. Got up at 5AM so that I could be ready to run by 6:00. But it was 6:20 before I actually got started (takes me a while to wake up my body, get it stretched out, and loosened up….). Hot and humid day 70deg/95% humidity). Did the neighborhood loops again (five 3-mile loops plus one mile), stopping at the garage on every 3 mile lap for Gatorade and goo. This was definitely one of those “long, slow, and steady” runs… I just plodded along thinking about how close I was to my next water break, and it all went fairly smooth and I was comfortable with my progress and condition. Unfortunately, about ¼ mile into mile 15, I learned what “hitting the wall” means - my legs where done – I just did not have any more energy to move them. My heart rate was normal and my breathing was fine – but I had no juice left to move my legs at anything faster than a walk. So that’s what I did - I walked the remaining ¾ mile (probably a very good thing) back to the house. After the run, I did my protein shake and more Gatorade and then jumped in the pool to stretch. My legs were a little crampy, which makes me think that I was not fully hydrated or properly nutritioned. Later in the day I did some reading about nutrition during long runs, and I probably was a little light. The article discussed taking in 200-250 calories per hour (at my pace), and I probably was only in the high 100’s. I also may have been a little light in fueling prior to the run. These are all good things to learn now. I pay close attention to my weight and the color of my urine before and after a run to make sure that I’m not dehydrated, and interestingly enough, despite the fact that I was good at my fluid intake (before and after), I still lost a full pound and a half. During my last lap, around the half-way point, I even stopped at a water fountain by the 12th tee to top up on water. This run was a great learning experience. With this knowledge, I’m actually looking forward to my next long run (in two weeks).
July 28, 2011. This week I did two 10-mile runs with a day’s rest in between. The purpose of that was to test my recovery from the first 10-miler and force me to run a little tired. And yes, the second 10-miler was harder. The first one seemed easy and great (did it in 1:32), but the second one was much more difficult . For starters, for the second one I had 100% humidity and I am sure that my legs were still recovering from the first 10-miler. I did it in 1:34, and lost 3 lbs to sweat (even though I tried very hard to remain fully hydrated). Around mile 6 I felt the need to take a leak so I did (used the bathroom at the 12th tee), but that makes me wonder if my sodium/potassium levels were out of kilter. In other words, my body may not have been adequately processing the fluid contents because I was low on Na and K? Or did I take too much in? 10 weeks to Chicago… 5 weeks to the Milford 30K Race…. I gotta figure this stuff out.
July 8, 2011 – 12 mile run. Went to a local park; nice to run an unfamiliar trail. I was amazed at how comfortable the animal life was to people. Ducks, geese, birds in general would grudgedly get out of my way. They were fine just standing on or beside the trail and having me pass very close to them. I wasn’t worried about the little birds or the ducks, but the geese made me a little nervous… I took my camel-back for fluids and in general had a good run, but I was definitely tired afterwards. I tried hard to make sure that I prepped for the run right: carbing up and resting the day before, pre-run hydration, and making sure that I hydrated constantly during the run. After the run I drank my protein cocktail and an appropriate amount of fluids. I didn’t have any post-run cramps and that was the big goal. Mission accomplished.
July 14, 2011 – 14 mile run. I didn’t want to carry all of my hydration and nutrition with me, so I opted to do 3 mile loops around my neighborhood, stopping by the garage every lap for Gatorade and “goo” (“goo” is a honey-like concoction that contains carbs, sodium, potassium, all of which help fuel your body. I try to suck down a packet every 30-45 minutes). It has been incredibly humid and this morning was no exception. But in general, it was a great run. Better still that I had the juice to step it up the last two miles and finish strong. The bad news is that the top of my left ankle is bothering me (has been for a while).
July 18, 2011 – Went to see Brad (at Ann Arbor Foot and Ankle) re my ankle. Says that I have an inflamed tibialis anterior tendon (the tendon that your foot uses to pronate and push off with), basically “tendinitis”. The cure is to not use it – but that’s not going to happen. So alternatives are: 1) ice it, 2) ibuprofen, 3) cortisone shot (we’ll wait on that one…), and consider a different running shoe that might help alleviate (more support in that area) the stress on that tendon. So I went to my favorite running store (Tortoise and Hare) and got into a new pair of ASIC’s which seem to feel really nice (lower heel, good support). In addition, Brad is setting my up for new orthotics. All good.
July 20, 2011 - 8 mile run. Probably the most humid conditions that I have ever run in. I was 100% totally drenched when I finished. BTW, these are all early morning runs. I was so drenched that my running shorts, shirt, and sox were soaking wet. But somehow I was ok! And my ankle was good.
July 22, 2011 – 16 mile run – this was my longest run to-date. Got up at 5AM so that I could be ready to run by 6:00. But it was 6:20 before I actually got started (takes me a while to wake up my body, get it stretched out, and loosened up….). Hot and humid day 70deg/95% humidity). Did the neighborhood loops again (five 3-mile loops plus one mile), stopping at the garage on every 3 mile lap for Gatorade and goo. This was definitely one of those “long, slow, and steady” runs… I just plodded along thinking about how close I was to my next water break, and it all went fairly smooth and I was comfortable with my progress and condition. Unfortunately, about ¼ mile into mile 15, I learned what “hitting the wall” means - my legs where done – I just did not have any more energy to move them. My heart rate was normal and my breathing was fine – but I had no juice left to move my legs at anything faster than a walk. So that’s what I did - I walked the remaining ¾ mile (probably a very good thing) back to the house. After the run, I did my protein shake and more Gatorade and then jumped in the pool to stretch. My legs were a little crampy, which makes me think that I was not fully hydrated or properly nutritioned. Later in the day I did some reading about nutrition during long runs, and I probably was a little light. The article discussed taking in 200-250 calories per hour (at my pace), and I probably was only in the high 100’s. I also may have been a little light in fueling prior to the run. These are all good things to learn now. I pay close attention to my weight and the color of my urine before and after a run to make sure that I’m not dehydrated, and interestingly enough, despite the fact that I was good at my fluid intake (before and after), I still lost a full pound and a half. During my last lap, around the half-way point, I even stopped at a water fountain by the 12th tee to top up on water. This run was a great learning experience. With this knowledge, I’m actually looking forward to my next long run (in two weeks).
July 28, 2011. This week I did two 10-mile runs with a day’s rest in between. The purpose of that was to test my recovery from the first 10-miler and force me to run a little tired. And yes, the second 10-miler was harder. The first one seemed easy and great (did it in 1:32), but the second one was much more difficult . For starters, for the second one I had 100% humidity and I am sure that my legs were still recovering from the first 10-miler. I did it in 1:34, and lost 3 lbs to sweat (even though I tried very hard to remain fully hydrated). Around mile 6 I felt the need to take a leak so I did (used the bathroom at the 12th tee), but that makes me wonder if my sodium/potassium levels were out of kilter. In other words, my body may not have been adequately processing the fluid contents because I was low on Na and K? Or did I take too much in? 10 weeks to Chicago… 5 weeks to the Milford 30K Race…. I gotta figure this stuff out.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Solstice 10M event – Northville
This was a somewhat hilly and early morning event that attracted some serious runners. I managed an 8:44 min/mile average pace (pretty good for me for 10 miles) but still could not finish higher than the middle of the pack (in my age group 58% of the field finished ahead of me, and 46% of the overall field beat me). The overall winner was a 32 year-old speedster that ran a blazing 5:05 min/mile pace. In my age group, the winner was a guy a year younger than me averaging about a 6:20 min/mile pace. Regardless, for me it was a great run – I did better my race plan, proving to myself that I could go 10 miles at a faster clip than I thought that I could.
The start was at Northville Downs, a harness racing track, and our first half mile was a loop around the track itself. Fortunately the track was clean of horse manure, but that didn’t stop everyone from making comments about “watch out for the horse poop…”. One thing that I noticed was how many people seemed to gravitate to the high (outer) side of the track – I stuck to the inside edge of the curve, hoping to shave off as many feet as possible.
About a half mile from the track is a somewhat steep hill, followed by two more moderate hills. I don’t know why, but I fretted about those hills all night long prior to the event. I was so concerned about burning my legs up in the first mile and a half while managing those hills that I wouldn’t have any juice left for the remaining 8 and a half miles…. In the end, I didn’t try to charge up the hill – I just took it slow and steady, keeping my eyes on the horizon. After cresting the big hill I was pleasantly surprised that my legs felt great. The remaining two hills were just speed bumps in comparison and I felt great.
I had been planning on bringing my camel-back fluid pouch with me to make sure that I stayed adequately hydrated, but the weather was so cool (50 deg F at the start) that I decided to leave it in my truck. I had also planned on walking through each water station to make sure that I swallowed an adequate amount of water, but I didn’t do that either – I did slow down, and I did try to make sure that I got at least a third of the cup down, but that was it. By mile 3 I was 2 minutes ahead of my race plan and I was not going to give up that time. I felt strong, had a great rhythm going and I just did not want to spoil the mojo. I was cruising. By mile 5, the halfway point, I was 5 minutes ahead of my race plan.
Around that point I realized that even though I had started “slow and steady”, and had successfully traversed the early hills without burning out, I had been strong enough to increase my pace to a comfortable and sustainable rhythm that was faster than I had anticipated my being able to do. My race plan at this point had me running an increasingly faster pace on a mile by mile basis to the finish. Well, it didn’t quite work out that way, but it was all good in the end….
I couldn’t, or more accurately, didn’t want to, increase my pace a whole lot. I was afraid of running out of gas. In addition somewhere between mile 5 and 6 my right hamstring started to tighten up, so I had to deal with that by changing my gait and allowing it to stretch out more. This slowed me down some for the next mile or so. Somewhere around mile 6 they were handing out Goo and even though I had my own I grabbed some and sucked on it for the next mile – so between that and my slowing down a tad, my hamstring seemed to recover and we were good to go for the finish.
When I got to Mile 9 I was cruising very comfortably and wound up running alongside a woman that had to be 60+ years old. I need to point out that she did not appear to be one of those genetically gifted people that are natural athletes who are out there making guys like me look bad… She was out there like me and matching me stride for stride as we went for the finish line – I so hope that I will be able to run distance events when I’m 60+…. (I should note that the oldest person that ran the 10M event was 70 years old, and I only beat him by 11 minutes….).
I'm not sure where this picture was taken, but I believe that it was near the end of the run. I'm glad to see that my hands are relaxed and my right foot appears to be headed for a mid-foot landing (vs a heel plant), and that I'm pushing off reasonably well with my left.
The last half mile was somewhat interesting – Northville was having an art fair of sorts and on the streets leading into the finish we ran in between all of the artists’ display tents. It was kind of funny in that as we all were sprinting into the finish the artists were starting to open up their displays and so there was a lot of activity as the artists were doing their thing and the runners were dodging the artists as they scurried around. The last quarter mile was a bit odd in that it finished in a park with a sharp and narrow downhill trail that ultimately flattened out and wound its way through the park to the finish line. As I entered the park I was sprinting pretty hard and had no knowledge whatsoever of the steep downhill trail that I was about to turn onto. As soon as I hit the hill I killed my speed; I didn’t want to hurt myself on the hill (I’ve already torn my calf muscle once – I don’t want to do that again). But then once on more level ground in the park the trail was so narrow that it was difficult to pass other runners who were content to jog their way in to the finish line. Oh well…. no biggie.
I wound up finishing with a time of 1:27:24, a full 5 minutes better than my race plan. That calculated out to an average 8:44 pace and I am very happy with that. Room for improvement, and I think that we can!
15 weeks to Chicago!
The start was at Northville Downs, a harness racing track, and our first half mile was a loop around the track itself. Fortunately the track was clean of horse manure, but that didn’t stop everyone from making comments about “watch out for the horse poop…”. One thing that I noticed was how many people seemed to gravitate to the high (outer) side of the track – I stuck to the inside edge of the curve, hoping to shave off as many feet as possible.
About a half mile from the track is a somewhat steep hill, followed by two more moderate hills. I don’t know why, but I fretted about those hills all night long prior to the event. I was so concerned about burning my legs up in the first mile and a half while managing those hills that I wouldn’t have any juice left for the remaining 8 and a half miles…. In the end, I didn’t try to charge up the hill – I just took it slow and steady, keeping my eyes on the horizon. After cresting the big hill I was pleasantly surprised that my legs felt great. The remaining two hills were just speed bumps in comparison and I felt great.
I had been planning on bringing my camel-back fluid pouch with me to make sure that I stayed adequately hydrated, but the weather was so cool (50 deg F at the start) that I decided to leave it in my truck. I had also planned on walking through each water station to make sure that I swallowed an adequate amount of water, but I didn’t do that either – I did slow down, and I did try to make sure that I got at least a third of the cup down, but that was it. By mile 3 I was 2 minutes ahead of my race plan and I was not going to give up that time. I felt strong, had a great rhythm going and I just did not want to spoil the mojo. I was cruising. By mile 5, the halfway point, I was 5 minutes ahead of my race plan.
Around that point I realized that even though I had started “slow and steady”, and had successfully traversed the early hills without burning out, I had been strong enough to increase my pace to a comfortable and sustainable rhythm that was faster than I had anticipated my being able to do. My race plan at this point had me running an increasingly faster pace on a mile by mile basis to the finish. Well, it didn’t quite work out that way, but it was all good in the end….
I couldn’t, or more accurately, didn’t want to, increase my pace a whole lot. I was afraid of running out of gas. In addition somewhere between mile 5 and 6 my right hamstring started to tighten up, so I had to deal with that by changing my gait and allowing it to stretch out more. This slowed me down some for the next mile or so. Somewhere around mile 6 they were handing out Goo and even though I had my own I grabbed some and sucked on it for the next mile – so between that and my slowing down a tad, my hamstring seemed to recover and we were good to go for the finish.
When I got to Mile 9 I was cruising very comfortably and wound up running alongside a woman that had to be 60+ years old. I need to point out that she did not appear to be one of those genetically gifted people that are natural athletes who are out there making guys like me look bad… She was out there like me and matching me stride for stride as we went for the finish line – I so hope that I will be able to run distance events when I’m 60+…. (I should note that the oldest person that ran the 10M event was 70 years old, and I only beat him by 11 minutes….).
The last half mile was somewhat interesting – Northville was having an art fair of sorts and on the streets leading into the finish we ran in between all of the artists’ display tents. It was kind of funny in that as we all were sprinting into the finish the artists were starting to open up their displays and so there was a lot of activity as the artists were doing their thing and the runners were dodging the artists as they scurried around. The last quarter mile was a bit odd in that it finished in a park with a sharp and narrow downhill trail that ultimately flattened out and wound its way through the park to the finish line. As I entered the park I was sprinting pretty hard and had no knowledge whatsoever of the steep downhill trail that I was about to turn onto. As soon as I hit the hill I killed my speed; I didn’t want to hurt myself on the hill (I’ve already torn my calf muscle once – I don’t want to do that again). But then once on more level ground in the park the trail was so narrow that it was difficult to pass other runners who were content to jog their way in to the finish line. Oh well…. no biggie.
I wound up finishing with a time of 1:27:24, a full 5 minutes better than my race plan. That calculated out to an average 8:44 pace and I am very happy with that. Room for improvement, and I think that we can!
15 weeks to Chicago!
Monday, June 6, 2011
Dex-AA Half Marathon
Dexter-Ann Arbor Half Marathon 2011
My realistic goal was 2:03 (2hrs 3min), my stretch goal was 1:59:59 – I did it in 1:58:53! But I almost crashed and burned 100 yards from the finish line.
Great day, great weather, great crowd. I met some interesting people including a young woman (Melanie Peters) who sat next to me on the bus who runs for the purse money on weekends to make her rent. Apparently she has some speed and unabashedly tells me that she might as well use it for something (she is also a nurse…) I also ran into runners that I’ve met at other events, one in particular that I’ll mention in a bit. The temperature was around 65deg F at the start, and quickly rose to 80deg+ as the sun came up.
I tried to start slow and steady, but my splits show that I was somewhat aggressive and was not holding back too much. The thing is, I was feeling strong and I was just running at a comfortable pace. I knew that I could run faster, so I figured that I was “reigning it in” some. But it almost did me in.
At mile 3 I was ahead of my planned pace of 9:30min/mile by almost a minute which meant that I was running at about a 9:15 pace. I was comfortable at that pace, so I tried to keep it. However, by the time I hit mile 6, I realized that I had sped up some, inching towards a 9:00m/m pace. A little too fast, a little too soon. My plan was to do Goo at mile 4 and 8, and to walk through the Gatorade/water stations at miles 4, 6, 9, 10, and 12. The intent there was to give me time to actually drink at least 1/3 of the cup of liquids without spilling most of it (which is what happens when you try to drink from a paper cup while running). That sort of worked. At a couple of stations I also grabbed water and poured it over my head (good to be bald!).
By mile 8 I was 3 minutes ahead of my pace and while elated at the strength of my run, I was definitely concerned about going the distance. We still had the mile long climb from the river up to the finish line. So I tried to ease up some – but again, I was so comfortable with my pace and I had such a good rhythm going that I pretty much just kept moving along….
As the sun was getting higher that the temperature was climbing, runners started to tend towards the “shady” side of the road. On one particular long curving bend to the right I was running with 3 other guys on the right side of the road and we noticed that everyone was suddenly jumping to the shady left side of the road. One of the guys asked how come we were running in the sun, to which the rest of us replied “because its shorter”…. (we were running on the inside of the curve – ok, it’s not a whole lot shorter, but every curve or bend that you can take on a tangent shortens the distance from the starting line to the finish line!) It was funny at the time – you had to be there…
Just before mile 12 I came upon a guy that I met at a recent 10K race. He is a bit younger than me (maybe by 10 years) and a bull of a runner. At the 10K race he worked hard to make sure that he stayed in front of me and would always speed up if I got close. But towards the close of that 10K race I found a bit of juice and passed him easily – we spoke after that race and he joked about being in front of me the whole time and then I took him out. Well, here he was again and as I passed him he says “ah shit, you again?!!”, We laughed, I slowed down a bit to talk to him and then continued on. I was actually thinking that he would join me for the climb up the hill, but he didn’t seem up to it – he probably would have beat me if he had!
The picture here was taken around mile 11 or so. Credit needs to go to runphotos.com. For what it's worth, I have my sunglasses perched on my forehead because they were fogging up on me and I couldn't read my watch. So whenever I needed to take a note of my time I'd have to slide them up.
The last mile climb from the Huron River to the finish line was a real strain. I was wanting to have a strong finish, but I was running out of gas. At mile 12 I was 2 minutes ahead of my planned pace to break 1:59:59 so I walked through the last water station and then trudged on as hard as I could up to the finish line. It was sooooo hard and I was beginning to cramp. I kept fighting it off and then just 100 yards short of the finish line, my left thigh cramped up so tight that I almost fell. Spectators jumped out to catch me, but I managed to stay on my feet. I was at a dead halt, in pain, and panicked about meeting my goal. I remember trying to calculate if I could crawl to the finish line in less than the 1minute 30 seconds I had left. But the good news is that I was able to get through the cramp and limp over the finish line and beat my stretch goal. But I was so done, that I couldn’t even feel good about it. There were other people that I had previously met all mingling at the finish line area that wanted to chat, but I was in no shape for conversation – I was dizzy, nauseous, and incredibly thirsty.
This picture is as I was just crossing the finish line - I'm not sure exactly how it is that I look so composed, because I didn't feel that way (picture credits need to go to runphoto.com). It took me an hour to get over the cramps enough to be able to drive home. I had brought more Gatorade, water, and protein bars in my truck and I just worked on those until the cramps subsided. Next time I’ll bring a cooler of ice. Ice would have helped a great deal. Another lesson learned is that I probably need to take in more fluids than the 1/3 or 1/2 cup of water/Gatorade every couple of miles, so I’m going to start running with my camel back fluid pouch. I’ll probably use it on the 10M race in a couple of weeks in Northville.
All in all, it was a great run – I thoroughly enjoyed myself (except for that last bit). I felt that I ran strong and solid and learned how to get a bit better. In my age group (50-54) I wound up coming in 80th out of a field of 164, right smack in the middle of the pack. Much better than last year where 84% of the field was ahead of me. Overall, I placed 1244 out a total field of 3136 - just ahead of mid-pack, and another reason to feel good.
By the way, the girl I met on the bus, Melanie, she placed 3rd and got a share of the purse (I don’t know how much, probably around $300). ! The leader in my age group did it in 1:26:14 (that’s a 6:30 m/m pace, compared to my 9:05 pace). The outright winner did it in 1:07:18 (that’s an incredible 5:08 pace!) – he took home $1,000.
Next up: The Solstice 10M event in Northville. Then the Milford 18M in Sept. And finally the Chicago Marathon on Oct 9. I might pick up another event or two if they fit in my training schedule – we’ll see. I need to start working on the big miles now in prep for Chicago. I want to be strong and as conditioned as I can get. 18 weeks to Chicago!
My realistic goal was 2:03 (2hrs 3min), my stretch goal was 1:59:59 – I did it in 1:58:53! But I almost crashed and burned 100 yards from the finish line.
Great day, great weather, great crowd. I met some interesting people including a young woman (Melanie Peters) who sat next to me on the bus who runs for the purse money on weekends to make her rent. Apparently she has some speed and unabashedly tells me that she might as well use it for something (she is also a nurse…) I also ran into runners that I’ve met at other events, one in particular that I’ll mention in a bit. The temperature was around 65deg F at the start, and quickly rose to 80deg+ as the sun came up.
I tried to start slow and steady, but my splits show that I was somewhat aggressive and was not holding back too much. The thing is, I was feeling strong and I was just running at a comfortable pace. I knew that I could run faster, so I figured that I was “reigning it in” some. But it almost did me in.
At mile 3 I was ahead of my planned pace of 9:30min/mile by almost a minute which meant that I was running at about a 9:15 pace. I was comfortable at that pace, so I tried to keep it. However, by the time I hit mile 6, I realized that I had sped up some, inching towards a 9:00m/m pace. A little too fast, a little too soon. My plan was to do Goo at mile 4 and 8, and to walk through the Gatorade/water stations at miles 4, 6, 9, 10, and 12. The intent there was to give me time to actually drink at least 1/3 of the cup of liquids without spilling most of it (which is what happens when you try to drink from a paper cup while running). That sort of worked. At a couple of stations I also grabbed water and poured it over my head (good to be bald!).
By mile 8 I was 3 minutes ahead of my pace and while elated at the strength of my run, I was definitely concerned about going the distance. We still had the mile long climb from the river up to the finish line. So I tried to ease up some – but again, I was so comfortable with my pace and I had such a good rhythm going that I pretty much just kept moving along….
As the sun was getting higher that the temperature was climbing, runners started to tend towards the “shady” side of the road. On one particular long curving bend to the right I was running with 3 other guys on the right side of the road and we noticed that everyone was suddenly jumping to the shady left side of the road. One of the guys asked how come we were running in the sun, to which the rest of us replied “because its shorter”…. (we were running on the inside of the curve – ok, it’s not a whole lot shorter, but every curve or bend that you can take on a tangent shortens the distance from the starting line to the finish line!) It was funny at the time – you had to be there…
Just before mile 12 I came upon a guy that I met at a recent 10K race. He is a bit younger than me (maybe by 10 years) and a bull of a runner. At the 10K race he worked hard to make sure that he stayed in front of me and would always speed up if I got close. But towards the close of that 10K race I found a bit of juice and passed him easily – we spoke after that race and he joked about being in front of me the whole time and then I took him out. Well, here he was again and as I passed him he says “ah shit, you again?!!”, We laughed, I slowed down a bit to talk to him and then continued on. I was actually thinking that he would join me for the climb up the hill, but he didn’t seem up to it – he probably would have beat me if he had!The picture here was taken around mile 11 or so. Credit needs to go to runphotos.com. For what it's worth, I have my sunglasses perched on my forehead because they were fogging up on me and I couldn't read my watch. So whenever I needed to take a note of my time I'd have to slide them up.
The last mile climb from the Huron River to the finish line was a real strain. I was wanting to have a strong finish, but I was running out of gas. At mile 12 I was 2 minutes ahead of my planned pace to break 1:59:59 so I walked through the last water station and then trudged on as hard as I could up to the finish line. It was sooooo hard and I was beginning to cramp. I kept fighting it off and then just 100 yards short of the finish line, my left thigh cramped up so tight that I almost fell. Spectators jumped out to catch me, but I managed to stay on my feet. I was at a dead halt, in pain, and panicked about meeting my goal. I remember trying to calculate if I could crawl to the finish line in less than the 1minute 30 seconds I had left. But the good news is that I was able to get through the cramp and limp over the finish line and beat my stretch goal. But I was so done, that I couldn’t even feel good about it. There were other people that I had previously met all mingling at the finish line area that wanted to chat, but I was in no shape for conversation – I was dizzy, nauseous, and incredibly thirsty.
This picture is as I was just crossing the finish line - I'm not sure exactly how it is that I look so composed, because I didn't feel that way (picture credits need to go to runphoto.com). It took me an hour to get over the cramps enough to be able to drive home. I had brought more Gatorade, water, and protein bars in my truck and I just worked on those until the cramps subsided. Next time I’ll bring a cooler of ice. Ice would have helped a great deal. Another lesson learned is that I probably need to take in more fluids than the 1/3 or 1/2 cup of water/Gatorade every couple of miles, so I’m going to start running with my camel back fluid pouch. I’ll probably use it on the 10M race in a couple of weeks in Northville.All in all, it was a great run – I thoroughly enjoyed myself (except for that last bit). I felt that I ran strong and solid and learned how to get a bit better. In my age group (50-54) I wound up coming in 80th out of a field of 164, right smack in the middle of the pack. Much better than last year where 84% of the field was ahead of me. Overall, I placed 1244 out a total field of 3136 - just ahead of mid-pack, and another reason to feel good.
By the way, the girl I met on the bus, Melanie, she placed 3rd and got a share of the purse (I don’t know how much, probably around $300). ! The leader in my age group did it in 1:26:14 (that’s a 6:30 m/m pace, compared to my 9:05 pace). The outright winner did it in 1:07:18 (that’s an incredible 5:08 pace!) – he took home $1,000.
Next up: The Solstice 10M event in Northville. Then the Milford 18M in Sept. And finally the Chicago Marathon on Oct 9. I might pick up another event or two if they fit in my training schedule – we’ll see. I need to start working on the big miles now in prep for Chicago. I want to be strong and as conditioned as I can get. 18 weeks to Chicago!
Thursday, May 19, 2011
Doubt
May 19, 2011: 20 weeks, 3 days to the Chicago Marathon. 2 weeks, 3 days to the Dexter Ann Arbor Half Marathon.
I've discovered that doubt creates a steep hill to climb. And I have also learned that it is something that you have to quash quickly and emphatically, lest it become a cancer that just eats away at you. It's been an interesting couple of weeks.
I've ramped up my miles in prep for the Dexter Ann Arbor HM as well as my quest for speed. And that is what did me in - the speed thing.
After completing a recent 12 mile run, my legs were done; I was exhausted. My time was good, actually my best ever for that distance, and I was good for a couple more miles, but I could tell that I was at the end of my endurance. And that was where the doubt hit me. I was seriously doubting that I'd be able to go another 14.2 miles. It really hit me hard.
During the final 3 miles I could feel the lactic acid building in my legs, and I had the strongest urges to just walk. But I didn't stop or slow down - I kept running, fearful of the fact that if I gave in and stopped, I really would NEVER make it through a full marathon. So I didn't dare slow down or stop. In fact I tried (not very well) to go faster. But I didn't stop!
It was while cooling my legs in my ice-cold pool (May in Michigan and I refuse to turn the heater on) that I started worrying and fixating about my physical ability to make it through a full marathon. It was depressing. Was I in over my head? Was I expecting too much? Assuming too much?
The good news is that I got over it and I did so quickly. No doubts. And I remain fully confident in my ability to run the marathon. I'm going to do this thing.
The net-net of that 12 mile run was that I had run it hard (on purpose - I wanted to test my ability to keep a certain pace) and to make matters worse, my pre-long-run routine was off (I didn't feed myself properly the night before or the morning of and I don't think I properly warmed up). It turns out that when you set out to run for long periods of time, and try to do it faster than normal, the demands on your body are tremendous. I'm clearly still learning about it all.
After that last 12 mile run, I did a rest day and then powered through 3 miles of speed intervals and then a great 4 mile increased tempo run (start slow, finish hard). I'm going to do an easy 10-12 mile run while in FL (the humidity should be fun), and then taper down for the Dex-AnnArbor HM on June 5.
I want to break 2:00 hours so bad, but my realistic goal should perhaps be closer to 2:03. Who would have thought that 3 minutes would be so hard to peel off? That only ~14 seconds per mile... We'll see....
(BTW did I mention that I yanked my hamstring playing golf with Jordan and AnnDee on Mothers Day? That added to my excitement over the last couple of weeks...)
I've discovered that doubt creates a steep hill to climb. And I have also learned that it is something that you have to quash quickly and emphatically, lest it become a cancer that just eats away at you. It's been an interesting couple of weeks.
I've ramped up my miles in prep for the Dexter Ann Arbor HM as well as my quest for speed. And that is what did me in - the speed thing.
After completing a recent 12 mile run, my legs were done; I was exhausted. My time was good, actually my best ever for that distance, and I was good for a couple more miles, but I could tell that I was at the end of my endurance. And that was where the doubt hit me. I was seriously doubting that I'd be able to go another 14.2 miles. It really hit me hard.
During the final 3 miles I could feel the lactic acid building in my legs, and I had the strongest urges to just walk. But I didn't stop or slow down - I kept running, fearful of the fact that if I gave in and stopped, I really would NEVER make it through a full marathon. So I didn't dare slow down or stop. In fact I tried (not very well) to go faster. But I didn't stop!
It was while cooling my legs in my ice-cold pool (May in Michigan and I refuse to turn the heater on) that I started worrying and fixating about my physical ability to make it through a full marathon. It was depressing. Was I in over my head? Was I expecting too much? Assuming too much?
The good news is that I got over it and I did so quickly. No doubts. And I remain fully confident in my ability to run the marathon. I'm going to do this thing.
The net-net of that 12 mile run was that I had run it hard (on purpose - I wanted to test my ability to keep a certain pace) and to make matters worse, my pre-long-run routine was off (I didn't feed myself properly the night before or the morning of and I don't think I properly warmed up). It turns out that when you set out to run for long periods of time, and try to do it faster than normal, the demands on your body are tremendous. I'm clearly still learning about it all.
After that last 12 mile run, I did a rest day and then powered through 3 miles of speed intervals and then a great 4 mile increased tempo run (start slow, finish hard). I'm going to do an easy 10-12 mile run while in FL (the humidity should be fun), and then taper down for the Dex-AnnArbor HM on June 5.
I want to break 2:00 hours so bad, but my realistic goal should perhaps be closer to 2:03. Who would have thought that 3 minutes would be so hard to peel off? That only ~14 seconds per mile... We'll see....
(BTW did I mention that I yanked my hamstring playing golf with Jordan and AnnDee on Mothers Day? That added to my excitement over the last couple of weeks...)
Monday, May 2, 2011
A Great 10K !!
I ran a 10K race this weekend finishing 3rd in my 50-54 age group!! Yahoo! I finished in 51:58 at an 8:23 m/m average pace. And once again, I was not surprised to note that there are some serious runners out there: While lining up in the starting area I wind up next to a group of 50-ish guys who were planning on doing a 8:00 m/m pace and offered that I should join them. I’d love to be able to run a sustained period of time at an 8:00 m/m pace, but that was not my day to try. And these guys flew – one, who I later find out is 55+ ran at a blistering 7:02 m/m pace. He was already enjoying coffee and a bagel by the time I came lumbering in almost 9 minutes later. How do these guys get so fast? Are they born that way or did they train to get there?
The really cool part about this 10K is that to me it means that I am just one-more-step closer to realizing the real possibility of achieving a 2 hour target for my upcoming HM and closer to a 4 hour target for my Chicago Marathon. I found a very cool website (www.mcmillanrunning.com) with a predictive calculator that is supposed to be realistically accurate (http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/mcmillanrunningcalculator.htm). Using this site was important because just because I was able to average an 8:23 m/m pace for the 10K, does not translate into being able to do it for 13.1 miles or, tougher yet, for 26.2 miles.
Progress baby, progress.
Little tangent here: While doing a 6 mile jaunt last week I had an interesting observation: During my run I found myself debating whether or not I should be even be doing a 6 mile run just before the 10K race. During the 3 to 4 mile segment I had pretty much convinced myself that I should properly rest my legs for the race and that it was ok to stop after 4 miles. I also noticed that while I debated it, I was beginning to drag and my pace suffered horribly – I went from a 9:00 m/m pace to 10:00. Ultimately I said screw it, I’m doing the 6 miles cause I want to and I like it, and perhaps not so surprisingly, my pace picked up dramatically. I wound up finishing the last two miles at a nice 8:30 pace. I think that the moral of the story here is don’t debate with yourself…. I had made a plan, and I should have just stuck to it without debate.
Meanwhile, back to the 10K: It was a good run and it was aggressive for me. I had tried to plan my pace keeping in mind some of the hills that we would encounter, and so on. I typically start easy and try to finish as hard as I can. As it is, I usually need a mile just to get myself loosened up. Starting at mile 5 there was this long hill that steadily became steeper (the 10K was a circuit course that we ran two loops of, so this was the second time we hit it). Approaching now the second time and with a mile and a bit to go was difficult. I was tired… But amazingly, and I don’t where it came from, but as we hit the steeper part of the hill I just dug deep, stayed on my toes, and I just pushed. I was pretty much done by the time I crested the last part of the hill, but the great, and I do mean great news, is that I bested the other runners that had been running with me, except for this one 17-18 year old kid who could run like a cheetah. He passed me almost like I was standing still and I never saw him again. That boy could run. After a few yards of recovery (where I am sucking oxygen into my body through every possible orifice) I dig deep again and run as hard as I can for the last ½ mile. Overall, including navigating the hills, I managed to average a 7:44 pace for the last 1.2 miles. That was HUGE for me.
I was thrilled to see that I crossed the finish line, by my watch, at 52:00. But I was absolutely ecstatic that the chip timer caught me at 51:58 (sub-52:00 !! ). Maybe there is some hope for this old fart! The next event will be the Dexter-Ann Arbor HM on June 5! I'm hoping to beat the 2hour mark!
The really cool part about this 10K is that to me it means that I am just one-more-step closer to realizing the real possibility of achieving a 2 hour target for my upcoming HM and closer to a 4 hour target for my Chicago Marathon. I found a very cool website (www.mcmillanrunning.com) with a predictive calculator that is supposed to be realistically accurate (http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/mcmillanrunningcalculator.htm). Using this site was important because just because I was able to average an 8:23 m/m pace for the 10K, does not translate into being able to do it for 13.1 miles or, tougher yet, for 26.2 miles.
Progress baby, progress.
Little tangent here: While doing a 6 mile jaunt last week I had an interesting observation: During my run I found myself debating whether or not I should be even be doing a 6 mile run just before the 10K race. During the 3 to 4 mile segment I had pretty much convinced myself that I should properly rest my legs for the race and that it was ok to stop after 4 miles. I also noticed that while I debated it, I was beginning to drag and my pace suffered horribly – I went from a 9:00 m/m pace to 10:00. Ultimately I said screw it, I’m doing the 6 miles cause I want to and I like it, and perhaps not so surprisingly, my pace picked up dramatically. I wound up finishing the last two miles at a nice 8:30 pace. I think that the moral of the story here is don’t debate with yourself…. I had made a plan, and I should have just stuck to it without debate.
Meanwhile, back to the 10K: It was a good run and it was aggressive for me. I had tried to plan my pace keeping in mind some of the hills that we would encounter, and so on. I typically start easy and try to finish as hard as I can. As it is, I usually need a mile just to get myself loosened up. Starting at mile 5 there was this long hill that steadily became steeper (the 10K was a circuit course that we ran two loops of, so this was the second time we hit it). Approaching now the second time and with a mile and a bit to go was difficult. I was tired… But amazingly, and I don’t where it came from, but as we hit the steeper part of the hill I just dug deep, stayed on my toes, and I just pushed. I was pretty much done by the time I crested the last part of the hill, but the great, and I do mean great news, is that I bested the other runners that had been running with me, except for this one 17-18 year old kid who could run like a cheetah. He passed me almost like I was standing still and I never saw him again. That boy could run. After a few yards of recovery (where I am sucking oxygen into my body through every possible orifice) I dig deep again and run as hard as I can for the last ½ mile. Overall, including navigating the hills, I managed to average a 7:44 pace for the last 1.2 miles. That was HUGE for me.
I was thrilled to see that I crossed the finish line, by my watch, at 52:00. But I was absolutely ecstatic that the chip timer caught me at 51:58 (sub-52:00 !! ). Maybe there is some hope for this old fart! The next event will be the Dexter-Ann Arbor HM on June 5! I'm hoping to beat the 2hour mark!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)