Archive for the ‘Marathon Report’ Category

Since You've Been Gone

Wednesday, February 3rd, 2010

*Brushes off the dust, removes the cobwebs*

*sigh*
Sorry for the aweful song choice, but sadly it FITS. I actually wanted to find a song from The Who in honor of the Super Bowl, but while I do have blue eyes, this isn’t a very introspective post and I don’t know anyone named Baba O’Reilly.

So, even though it’s a month into the new decade, here’s a recap of the past year and what I’ve been up to since my last post ages ago.

2009 Summary:
Miles: 1269
Hours: 196:46:25 (about 8 days)

3 Marathons: 4:00:36 PR
1 Half-Marathon: 1:55:49.04 PR
1 10 Mile Race: 1:32:25.82 PR
1 10k: 49:55.2 PR
1 8k as part of the two day Blackbeard Challenge with my PR OBX Marathon: 47:23 PR, 15/64 finish in challenge
6 5ks: 21:04 PR
1 Mile Race (after a 5k): 6:12
1 Bourbon Chase with 12/151 overall finish, 4th/80 in age graded division
1 Speed Session ending with a 6:10 Mile time PR

I had a fantastic year in running. I never thought I would get into running as mush as I have, but I’m really loving it. I ran a ton of races and never quit running for more than a few weeks (December after the Huntsville marathon).

Quick Summary of my fall races:
Bourbon Chase:
Most fun that I’ve had running. It was a fantastic experienc being part of a team and being competitive was great fun as well. Spending an overnight in a van, cheering on fellow teammates, running 3 times including one at 4:30am, celebrating with the team aftwards. Great fun, and I’m looking forward to doing it again!

OBX Marathon:
PR’d with my goal time of 4:00! It was a great course with a pain in the ass bridge to run up and it was awesome to race at a place where I’ve vacationed for years. I also loved running the 8k on Sat. and Marathon on Sunday for the Blackbeard’s Challenge. Only downside was the leg cramps I had around mile 23. Ugh.

5ks: Habitrot, Rudolph Red Nose Run, Run for Mercy
PR in Habitrot to impress the parents and kick-off a nice Thanksgiving. Age group award (that I missed out on) and fun and freezing Rudolph run. Competing with a final sprint for an Age group award (my first!) and running with friends for an awesome race that was directed by Melanie for the Run for Mercy.

Rocket City Marathon
The most fun I’ve had running a marathon. Rode with Amy to and from Huntsville that day. Ran with both Amy and Melanie (and also another friend Cheryl) most of the way at a nice enjoyable pace. Finished with  Melanie who had a fierce sprint for the last quarter mile! It was great to run with friends and enjoy the race (my second marathon in about a month). I also completed my goal of running the whole thing w/o walking!
Plus, had a fantastic cheesburger and milkshake on the way home.

So there you have it. That’s what running I’ve been up to *insert bad some title here*

Stay tuned for my plans for 2010.

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Posted in Marathon Report, Training, race report, running | 2 Comments »

Country Music Marathon Report: Hot Hot Heat

Monday, April 27th, 2009

Great News: A new PR: 4:32:29!
Bad News: Leg Cramps! And 80 degree weather!

This one was tough.. MUCH tougher than the Battlefield Marathon!

I knew it was going to be hot, so I was prepared as best I could for it. I ate my usual pasta dinner Friday night after a nice lunch of leftover stir-fry with brown rice, all with extra salt to keep my sodium up. I also drank water and kept myself hydrated all day. Saturday morning, woke up with plenty of time to have coffee and breakfast of oatmeal and waffles. I ate a bit more because I knew I wouldn’t start for a few hours. I was full, hydrated and ready to go.

Arrived at the start around 6AM. Plenty of time to use the bathroom before the lines were really long. We made our way to my starting corral (17 for the 4:30 finish).. and then the waiting began…  The race started at 7 but I didn’t start until 7:35. Ugh. It was tough to wait around for so long.. I guess it’s good motivation to run faster.

Once I got started, I was feeling really good! I was taking in the scenery of running through downtown Nashville. The bands were fun and it was cool to be a part of such a big crowd of runners. Around mile 2-3, I crossed the bridge on Demonbreun and could actually see some of the Elite runners crossing underneath us. It was exciting because I knew how far ahead they were (probably around mile 10 or so!).

I was running great, hitting all of the water stations for water and Cytomax. I looked for fellow Strider runner Amy around mile 3.5, but didn’t see her. I did see M on the back stretch of Belmont, which was nice. The Belmont section (miles 4-8), were a little crowded and slightly annoying. I had to dodge and weave to keep up my pace. The crowds were awesome along this stretch though!

As I made my way into double digit miles, I was ready to see the half-marathoners go. I wanted to more space! Around mile 11, they were made their split-off and it was great, there was finally some room to breathe! At this point also, I started noticing the heat. There was a nice water stop and I grabbed the usual cytomax and some water and dumped the water on my head. It felt great and really refreshed me. I’m glad I did too, because the worst stretch of the marathon was coming up.

Rosa Parks Blvd. Ugh. It was one big hill climb along a two lane road with no shade and nothing interesting. It felt like 5 miles although it was only 1.5. Once I made it past, I thought it might get a little more interesting, but it didn’t really. The course followed it’s way through smaller streets and onto a greenway. While the greenway was nice, once again, there was no shade, and it was a pretty much straight shot high up along the river. Between mile 16 and 17, I stopped to use the Porta John. Ugh. It was so hot inside that I think it affected my pace once I got started again. I refueled at the water stop, but I really felt like crap after stopping.

I think my problem at this point was that I drank (and ate) too much. I really didn’t want to get dehydrated, so was doing double drinks at all water stations. People along Belmont (miles 4.5 and 8) were nice enough to hand out orange slices and banana pieces, which I happily accepted. I also had a granola bar around the half-way mark. It was waay to much. My stomach felt heavy. I ended up walking for a little bit and skipped some of the cytomax at a few stations.

I started running again, between mile 18-19 and all of a sudden both calves tightened up with MAJOR CRAMPS. Stopped me in my tracks. I could walk fine and could keep up a pretty fast walking pace, and did for a bit until I felt like running again. I would run for a bit, then the cramps would hit.. calves and right hamstring. I managed to run between mile 19-20, because M was there cheering me on and I wanted to look strong.

When i reached mile 20, I tried to stretch. First, I did my calves.. which was fine. I ran a bit, and then tried my hamstring.  BIG MISTAKE. As soon as I pulled my leg up.. pain throughout. OK, no more of that.

I knew at that point that it’d be a tough finish and that I didn’t want to keep cramping up, so I started a RUN-WALK-RUN pattern. This worked great actually. I managed to keep the cramps to a minimum if I chose a short distance to run at a fast speed, then speed-walked for a short bit. i was still at a good pace (passing runners while running, and speed walking past the walkers). There were A LOT of walkers too… which I wasn’t surprised at because of the heat.  It was around 80 at this point.

As I made my way into mile 22 and 23, the 4:30 pacer past me. It was a little disheartening, but at that point, I just wanted to finish. I didn’t look at my Garmin for the last 8 miles.

I made my way through the last couple miles.. Finally, mile 26! I tried and really wanted to run the whole last miles (25-26.2), but couldn’t without cramping. I did run from the final turn to the finish though! I kept thinking “Don’t Cramp Up Legs, Don’t Cramp Up!”

I had a strong finish and looked at my time.. 4:32.. I couldn’t believe it! I was expecting 4:45 or so after the pacer passed me, I was ecstatic to get 4:32!

Overall, aside from the cramping, I had a really awesome race. When I was running during the last 6 miles, my legs felt great with plenty still left. I had kept hydrated, which was good (except for over-doing it a bit). I also had used the GUs (3x) and salt packets (mile 6.5 and 13) adequately to help keep myself going.

As for the cramping, I’m thinking it was a combo of the heat, going out a little too fast for the weather and maybe a tad bit of under training (maybe one more 40 mile week would have helped).

It was great fun with the bands, huge crowd and running through Nashville. I do have to say that the second half of the course is not much fun. It seems geared towards the half-marathoners. I’m not saying  I won’t ever do it again, but maybe I’d stick to the half instead.

Still, It was a great race and it’s awesome to say I ran my second marathon with a PR!

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Marathon Photos!

Monday, November 17th, 2008

Here are some photos to share:

OK, I'm ready to go!

OK, I'm ready to go!

Off I go!

Off I go!

My friend Melanie and I

My friend Melanie and I

Looking Good!

Looking Good!

Here I come with my strong finish!

Here I come with my strong finish!

Officially a marathoner!

Officially a marathoner!

Maureen and I after my finish

Maureen and I after my finish

Melanie and I after finishing

Melanie and I after finishing

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I'm a marathon runner!!

Monday, November 10th, 2008

Well, the exciting news is that I completed my first marathon! (in less than 5 hours too!) Here’s my race report (probably a bit jumbled!):

PRE-RACE

The weekend started off a little tense. We arrived at our hotel on Friday evening, and without going into details, had some troubles with our reservation. Advice: NEVER use the internet to book a room at Best Western. After a bit, we secured our NEW reservation at La Quinta Inn a few miles away. We then had to hurry down to pick up my race packet and make it to the pasta dinner (as we spent more time than we wanted arguing with Best Western).  We made it, got my packet and went to the dinner. It was nice bonus to get a hat in addition to a t-shirt! We had some pasta and some pumpkin pie and headed to our hotel.

We got to the hotel, which was pretty nice for a La Quinta. They were also very nice and had a nice sign on the bed which said that our 100% satisfaction was their policy (yay). I got my stuff together for the morning and went to bed around 10:30. I did not get to sleep until about 11:30-midnight however. I thought about it afterwards and that was because of the time change. My body felt like it was getting to bed at 9:30. It wasn’t the best night of sleep and I woke up once not wanting to race in the morning. I did get to sleep though, and woke up groggy around 5:30.

RACE DAY

After a breakfast of coffee, soggy microwaved waffles and juice, we made our way to the race, where it was cold! I wore track pants and a long sleeve tech shirt over my short sleeve shirt and was a little cold in the 40 some degree weather. I stretched, which warmed me up a bit and was ready for the race to begin. I looked around for my runner friend, Melanie, but didn’t see her and just figured I would see her during the race. After a few pictures, Maureen left me in the mass to begin. After an annoying 15 minute delay for stragglers, the gun went off!

I was in the back, so it took a few minutes to get going. As we started, I was surprised at how crowded it was. The first part was around a square and on a small service road, so it was a little tight. I liked it though, it felt nice to be a part of this big group. I started off at a nice easy pace and posed for a few pictures as we looped though the start once before heading into the park. The first few miles were a bit chilly, but I kept myself occupied by listening to other runners and enjoying the moment. I was surprised to learn that my initial pace was under 10 minutes!

Around mile 4 or so (maybe?) I saw a girl wearing a bright green shirt, who I recognized as Melanie. I caught up to her and ran with her for a while. We talked for a bit and it was a nice distraction for the middle miles. I ran at her pace and it was a good idea because it slowed me down and allowed me to save some of my energy for later.

We made it past a big point, the 10 mile mark and then then completed the first loop where the half runners separated off. It was nice to lose them and realize that everyone on the course was doing the whole thing. I was feeling really good during the whole first half. There were great cheering sections and Maureen was there to cheer me on which kept me going! Melanie’s dad met us along the course (somewhere, not sure how he got there) and took our picture. I was doing a good job at keeping hydrated at all the stops. As we went past the halfway point, my time was 2:25. I thought that was a good time, I was on pace for 5 hours and I felt good!

At the start of the second half, I quickened my pace a bit and started to leave Melanie behind. I knew she was using this as a training run, so I didn’t feel so bad about leaving her. This was the second loop now, and I knew it was pretty hilly. I was proud of myself because I managed to power up all of the hills without walking! I kept up my faster pace for most of the race. It was so exciting because I was passing a LOT of people and NO ONE was passing me!

It got a little tougher around mile 16 or so, but I kept myself motivated by thinking about the next water stop or cheering stop. I sure looked forward to the powerade! My one regret is that i didn’t grab any cookies or oranges at any stops. I did have my granola bar halfway though and my power gels, but the other food would have helped I think. I kept going and around 18-20 or so I ditched my top shirt to Maureen. It felt good to have short sleeves now.

Around mile 22, I think I hit the wall. I was tired! It wasn’t as bad as I thought though. The one thing I noticed was the my right knee was hurting. “Screw it,” I thought, and knew I just had to push through. I took a break and went to the bathroom. Standing still for that instant seemed to help and I got another wind to help push me through. I kept it going through mile 23 and up a big hill (still running up it!!). I finally did compromise and took my first walk break between mile 23-24 or so. I hadn’t taken any except at water stations, but they did help in the last couple of miles. One great moment came when I passed the halfway point time clock for the second time. My time was around 4:30! I couldn’t believe it, I might just get under 5 hours!

I was ready to be done around mile 24 and was really hoping for another water station. My prayers were answered as there was one around mile 25!! I got some powerade, got some strength and kept going into the last mile!

It was hard to judge where the last mile began though, because there was no sign for mile 25. I knew i was getting close though. As we rounded out of the park, a cop said there was less than half a mile left. I was pumped! I picked up the pace and rounded into the final descent toward the finish. I had already passed a 60 year old couple (I couldn’t let them beat me!) and as I “sprinted” towards the finish I passed a woman who had been running near me for the last couple of miles!

I crossed into the finish and heard the announcer call my name! It was awesome to hear that. I stood up tall and crossed the line strong! The finish was a blur of a guy taking the timing chip off, getting a framed plaque, and getting a picture. It was awesome to run across that finish line and know I am now a marathoner!!

After the race, I walked around for a bit with Maureen trying to keep loose. My knee was hurting but I didn’t care. I stretched a bit and cheered for Melanie when she finished. Maureen and I got some food and sat with Melanie and her dad. Pictures too. It was beautiful, 60 degrees and sunny and we sat enjoying the moment. Awesome Day!

Later that evening, Maureen and I had a great celebration dinner at Red Lobster then beers at the Big River Brewing. Great way to cap the day!

Battlefield Marathon: 26.2 Miles
Actual: 26.2 Miles
Gun time:  4:46:42
Chip Time: 4:44:30
Pace: 10:56
Place: Best 417th place ever!
Age Group: 25-29: Best 23/25 ever!

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