Sunday marked the end of my 2008 racing season with my last A race, the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, DC. I ran my first marathon in January, and it is really what got me out of a pretty slow winter of training and focused on the 2008 season. In the recovery weeks, I wrote out my season race plan and set all my goals for the year. I was also invited by a friend who lives in the DC area to come run the MCM with him since we’re pretty close to the same speed. We decided to try and run 3:30 for the marathon along with another friend from the area. So, that’s how I got here, now to the race weekend itself.
I drove from Cincinnati to his house in Arlington on Saturday morning, about an 8 hour drive. We headed to a local burger place, where I had possibly the best burger of all time for lunch. I know, not great pre-race food, but I was also being a tourist. I doubt it had any bearing on my results. Then we headed to packet pickup, which was very smooth. In and out with a quick look at the expo in less than an hour, and then we headed back to his place and relaxed. I was tired from the drive, so was fine just watching college football until dinner time. At dinner, we went to a small Italian restaurant and met up with a couple friends, other race participants including the other member of our pace group. We did a little strategizing and planned when/where to meet and then were off to get ready for the race. I got all my gear laid out and was in bed by 11.
Race morning: Woke up at 6AM and out the door by 6:20. Caught the metro to the race course, hit the bathrooms, dropped off the gear and was off to the start line. Even though we weren’t held up anywhere in particular, we didn’t get into our corral until 7:55 and found our other runner at the same time, with 5 minutes to spare. That didn’t allow much time to get nervous, which was fine with me.
Miles 0-7: This was the hilly section of the course that ran through a wooded area near Arlington Cemetery, across the Potomac and up around University of Georgetown. My breathing felt pretty steady at the get go, but I felt like I was working harder than I wanted to stay with my group. However, we hadn’t caught the 3:30 pace guy, so I assumed it was just nerves. By mile 4 we were on 8 minute/mile pace (the goal) but still were behind the pacer. We finally caught (and passed) him just after the Key Bridge. At this point I felt pretty comfortable with the pace and so the three of us moved ahead, which is where I wanted to be. I am usually pretty steady on my long runs, but definitely don’t usually negative split them. We wound up the last hill and out of Georgetown and I felt like I had hit my rhythm as we headed to the flat section.
Miles 7+-14: Most of this section is very flat, running right along the river. It is also pretty dull, a period where it is easy to get a little bored with the effort. Luckily, running with friends, we were able to talk through this section. I actually don’t remember much of miles 7-12, other than we passed the Kennedy Center and headed to some public golf course. At the half marathon mat, we were almost 3 minutes up on the 3:30 pace…oops. I was beginning to tell I wouldn’t be able to maintain at this pace, so slowed a little. Apparently it wasn’t enough since at mile 14 I was over 3 minutes ahead of pace and my legs were starting to feel a little stiff, not enough to really effect me at this point, but enough to worry me since it was too early to feel like this.
Miles 14+-20: This should have been the most fun part of the course. It was very flat; most of it was in and around the mall, so the roads were lined with spectators and monuments. This is where we all separated. Just past mile 14, my two pace partners dropped to the side for a bathroom break. I never need to go during a race since I sweat out all of my fluids. I did however; use this time alone to really focus in on hitting my pace. I ran the next 2+ miles at exactly 8 minute miles. My friends caught me around mile 16 and kept on going. At this point, I didn’t want to push a sub-8 pace anymore, so I let them leave. However, less than a mile later one of them fell back to where I was. His hamstring was acting up and he wished me good luck and fell back. Now, I knew I’d be alone the remaining 8 or so miles. I don’t know what happened, but almost as soon as I saw my friend fall off pace, I felt the stiffness and the pain. I needed to slow again. I had time to give back to still hit 3:30, but between miles 18-20 I was giving it back too fast and I didn’t think I could speed up again at this point. At the 20 mile mark I walked for a minute…
Miles 20-Doom (the end): I tried my hand at breaking up the next miles by doing 10 and 1’s. This lasted all of 10 minutes. We left the monuments and headed back across the longest, loneliest, highway bridge to Crystal City. The bridge was at the wrong place at the wrong time. I was hitting the wall and needed some driving force to get my spirits back up. Instead I got the bridge, which offered an uneven road surface, isolation from crowd support and no shade for the next 1.5 miles. I shuffled and walked across the bridge and down into Crystal City where the crowd-support was awesome. I think they were trying to make up for leaving us alone in such a crucial part of the race. For me, it seems it was too late. I had already been passed by the 3:30 pace group, which wasn’t a killer blow even though it was my goal. I was expecting it by that point and was still on pace to easily PR from my first marathon. At this point, my legs were just shutting down; I could run about 5 minutes at a time before having to walk again because my calves were spasming and nearly knocking me over. The frustrating part was, my breathing wasn’t rough I still felt like I had some decent energy and was pushing a pretty decent walking pace all things considered, but I just couldn’t run. I don’t really remember focusing on much but ending the race at around mile 24. I was somewhere near the pentagon (where we started) but was spending most of the time looking at the ground and cursing my legs. At least once I walked for over 10 minutes straight before trying my hand at shuffling again, but my running stretches kept getting shorter. The spasms would start within 15-20 seconds of starting to run. I had to walk at least half of the final mile and was even told “You can’t walk during the last mile!” by a couple of spectators. People who are going to offer THAT kind of encouragement don’t need to be standing on the side of the road. I saw the finish ahead and was determined to cross running (or as close to it as I was capable) so I locked my legs in place from the knees down to keep from using my calves and shuffled across the finish line. I had never been so relieved to be finished with a race, but at the same time disappointed. Time 3:44:37.
Post race: The regular post race discomfort set in quickly and I hobbled around calling family and my wife to let them know I was done. I found my running group, none of us made it, finishing 3:34+, 3:44+, and 3:57 respectively. Once the initial emotions at the finish line wore off some, I was able to put things in to perspective and was much more satisfied with the day. I think it was the poor pacing that did me in more than anything else, and I’m still pretty certain I am capable of sub 3:30, but that will have to wait for next year. I had a banana, Clif bar, and gel w/ caffeine before the race, 2 gels on the course (miles 8 and 15), Powerade every 4 miles for the first 16 miles and every 2 miles after that, and water at every water stop (~2miles). I also had an additional bottle of watered down Gatorade and bottle of water on my belt. This is well more than I had in my long training runs which were usually 2 gels and a bottle of watered down Gatorade along with water at regular intervals and I didn’t have issues with my legs shutting down there.
Anyways, it’s not the way I wanted to end the season, but no need to dwell on it. I still have unfinished business for next year, though so maybe that will push me through the winter. I am mostly recovered from the soreness by now and am looking forward to working on my ’09 racing schedule in the next couple weeks. I already know my A races, but it’s time to fill in the blanks for the rest.
And I’ll get you next time marathon………………next time.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
Sunday, October 19, 2008
Dog Pictures
Monday, October 13, 2008
Weekend Recap
Well, this past weekend was a pretty solid one by all accounts. My only complaint is that I lost a few hours of my life to the Kentucky-South Carolina football game which only caused me frustration at UK’s terrible play all around. But bitterness over the loss aside, things were pretty enjoyable, and of course there is the new family member (more on that later).
It’s interesting how different my life (and state of mind) is from just a year ago. Obviously, getting married and buying a house as well as having a full-time career will do that to you. Last year, I was still in the college mindset, always wanting to party on the weekends, even though I didn’t live near a college campus. Now the idea of a weekend in Cincinnati with only a few planned activities seems like a nice break from the normal hectic weekends and travelling we do.
Enough deep thoughts though, back to this past weekend. Friday wasn’t much to shout about. The wife and I went out to dinner, using a gift card we had gotten as a wedding present (thanks JD) and then relaxed a bit around the house while getting ready for the busy Saturday.
Saturday morning was my last long training run before my marathon in 2 weeks. It was a 20.66 miler (according to mapmyride), the longest solo run I’d ever done by almost 2 miles. Before my first marathon in January, I never completed a 20 miler, so getting this one done is good for the confidence going into the Marine Corps Marathon. As with my 18 miler, I walked portions of the steeper uphill sections in middle of the run to save the legs for a strong finish. Overall, it was a great run. I completed the 20.66 miles at almost exactly my goal marathon pace. Of course, I was rewarded with plenty of stiffness throughout the rest of the day and most of Sunday, but I like that kind of pain since it reminds me of hard work done.
Then, after some rest and refueling, I watched the UK football game. As mentioned before, this was disappointing and the low point of the weekend, but ultimately just a game, so oh well. To ease the pain, I was able to distract myself by watching the IM World Championships on my laptop. Even though my legs were sore, watching the amazing athletes accomplishing so much made me want to grab the bike and go for a ride. I did not, especially since we were trying to get the house ready for company.
Saturday night, we had our first house party, which was really more of a cookout than a party, but it still went well. I was disappointed we didn’t get more out of town guests to make it in, but Susan’s classmates made a decent showing and other people we know from Cincinnati also stopped by. Since we were uncertain of the numbers, we ended up with about 20 too many burgers and 2 cases too much beer, but no worries we will use the remainder eventually.
Sunday, we (Susan, me, and my two friends from Louisville who were my best men) went to a shelter and got a dog. This is our wedding gift from the best men, so they paid for the dog. We got a 1 year old boxer mix who is still yet to be named. Pictures will be posted soon. We now need to get a fence so we have better ways to contain him outside and to give him a little more freedom. He behaved well his first 24 hours with us and has only peed inside once. Luckily almost the entire house is hard surfaces so it’s not a huge deal to clean up after.
Anyways, that was the weekend, nothing too crazy, but a lot going on. Now it’s taper time (and time to dog-proof the house) for MCM is only 2 weeks away.
It’s interesting how different my life (and state of mind) is from just a year ago. Obviously, getting married and buying a house as well as having a full-time career will do that to you. Last year, I was still in the college mindset, always wanting to party on the weekends, even though I didn’t live near a college campus. Now the idea of a weekend in Cincinnati with only a few planned activities seems like a nice break from the normal hectic weekends and travelling we do.
Enough deep thoughts though, back to this past weekend. Friday wasn’t much to shout about. The wife and I went out to dinner, using a gift card we had gotten as a wedding present (thanks JD) and then relaxed a bit around the house while getting ready for the busy Saturday.
Saturday morning was my last long training run before my marathon in 2 weeks. It was a 20.66 miler (according to mapmyride), the longest solo run I’d ever done by almost 2 miles. Before my first marathon in January, I never completed a 20 miler, so getting this one done is good for the confidence going into the Marine Corps Marathon. As with my 18 miler, I walked portions of the steeper uphill sections in middle of the run to save the legs for a strong finish. Overall, it was a great run. I completed the 20.66 miles at almost exactly my goal marathon pace. Of course, I was rewarded with plenty of stiffness throughout the rest of the day and most of Sunday, but I like that kind of pain since it reminds me of hard work done.
Then, after some rest and refueling, I watched the UK football game. As mentioned before, this was disappointing and the low point of the weekend, but ultimately just a game, so oh well. To ease the pain, I was able to distract myself by watching the IM World Championships on my laptop. Even though my legs were sore, watching the amazing athletes accomplishing so much made me want to grab the bike and go for a ride. I did not, especially since we were trying to get the house ready for company.
Saturday night, we had our first house party, which was really more of a cookout than a party, but it still went well. I was disappointed we didn’t get more out of town guests to make it in, but Susan’s classmates made a decent showing and other people we know from Cincinnati also stopped by. Since we were uncertain of the numbers, we ended up with about 20 too many burgers and 2 cases too much beer, but no worries we will use the remainder eventually.
Sunday, we (Susan, me, and my two friends from Louisville who were my best men) went to a shelter and got a dog. This is our wedding gift from the best men, so they paid for the dog. We got a 1 year old boxer mix who is still yet to be named. Pictures will be posted soon. We now need to get a fence so we have better ways to contain him outside and to give him a little more freedom. He behaved well his first 24 hours with us and has only peed inside once. Luckily almost the entire house is hard surfaces so it’s not a huge deal to clean up after.
Anyways, that was the weekend, nothing too crazy, but a lot going on. Now it’s taper time (and time to dog-proof the house) for MCM is only 2 weeks away.
Monday, October 6, 2008
2008 Triathlon Season Finale
My 2008 tri season is now over. This past weekend’s Tri for Sight in Lexington, KY was the 6th and final race of the season. It went alright for me all things considered, but was a great day overall for my family. We had 5 competitors in the race, as I mentioned before…and everyone did well. But first, my race report.
Pre-race: I’ve had some congestion for the past week and a slightly sore throat so had not had as good a week of training as I’d hoped. Since this was a C race, there was no taper. Instead, I ran 8 miles with hills at sub-marathon pace on Saturday morning to get a decent workout in for my A marathon in 3 weeks. I completed the run faster than I’d hoped, but it just didn’t feel good. I was hoping it wasn’t the cold, but was ready to back off the race intensity if I felt similar during the tri.
Anyways, not terribly exciting race morning…had a banana before leaving the hotel and a bottle of water while setting up transition, helped the wife with some last minute fixes for the bike and setting up her transition, and huddled with the family as we all got nervous before the race start. At about 6:40, my wife, dad, sister and I headed to the pool for the pre-race meeting and start. My mom stayed back with the other duathletes for their upcoming run start. Downed a gel about 25 minutes before takeoff.
Swim: It was a snake style 800m pool swim with competitors starting every 10 seconds. This was the shortest time between starters I had experienced in a pool swim, and the congestion in the pool was noticeable. I stayed relatively clear of most people, passed about 4 people and was passed by about the same number. This is definitely where I need the most work to improve, but I said that last year as well and actually got slower. Funny how it’s easier to work on the stuff we’re better at. Anyways, I finished the swim w/o too much exertion and headed out to T1.
Time: 16:56 (7/20 in age group…Goal 16:30, +0:26 overall)
T1: This T1 was long, it included a quarter mile run from the pool to the actual transition area (barefoot) along with everything else. Still went pretty smoothly, but should have run a little faster I guess.
Time: 3:44 (2/20 in AG…Goal 3:30, +0:40 overall)
Bike: I have done this race 3 times before (’04-’06), but I guess the year away made me underestimate the bike course difficulty. I was hoping to really push it and go for 22.5mph avg for 18 miles. Well, first the course is actually 18.4 miles, and second the easy rollers were more substantial than I recalled. It was nothing I couldn’t deal with, but it slowed the average. Also, what I felt worst about was that I had misrepresented it to my mom and wife who hadn’t done the course before. Either way, I used perceived effort to guide me and stuck to my usual bike nutrition plan. Pretty smooth overall, and a very nice course BTW. I saw my wife just getting ready to start the rollers my way back and waved, but I wanted to apologize. She ended up not being angry with me though.
Time: 54:08 (3/20 in AG…Goal 50:00, +4:48 overall, 20.4mph avg)
T2: Uneventful, but lost a little time
Time: 1:32 (8/20 in AG…Goal 1:30, +4:50 overall)
Run: At this point I was obviously certain I wouldn’t hit my goal, but still wanted to get a good run in. My legs transitioned pretty quickly and I had a solid first quarter mile (of the 4 mile run). Then, my legs all of a sudden felt like lead, I struggled with the majority of the rest of the 1st mile. Once I got into the arboretum at mile 2 things opened up a bit and I was able to hit my stride. I never felt great on the run, but felt I was moving pretty good, so I was happy with it. I passed my sister in the last ½ mile, she thought she would hold me off with her head start. It was almost at the same time that we passed our mom heading out on mile 1. It was neat with 3 of us being that close (in proximity) at one point in the race.
Time: 27:44 (2/20 in AG…Goal 28:00, +4:34 overall, 6:56/mile pace)
Anyways, I was happy to be done, and it is a PR by about 4 minutes, but I was hoping for a little more. Either way, I can’t be too upset since it was a C race and I was more focused on my mom and wife’s performances since they are the beginners of the bunch.
Post race I talked to my sister for a bit since she came in about a minute behind me, then headed to the bike return to look for Susan (wife) to get back. I was hoping everything went well since she sometimes gets overwhelmed by too many hills. She actually came in a few minutes before I thought she would on the easier course I had imagined. She killed the bike, and seemed to be in pretty good spirits too. I then headed around to see her off on the run. I moved from point to point on the run course to cheer her on and find my parents coming in. Caught both of them looking strong in the last mile. Susan came back in about a ½ hour later…well faster than her projected time. My disappointing race was erased immediately by her and my mom’s successes. I do love this sport.
The breakdown (for everyone) in order of crossing the finish line:
Me: 1:44:03 (42/323 overall, 3/20 in Clydesdale AG)
Sister: 2:02:13 (7/23 in AG)
Mom: 2:20:08 in Du (1/1 in AG…a dominating victory)
Dad: 2:00:30 (5/15 in AG)
Wife: 2:36:51 (12/14 in AG)
Without family photographers, we have no personal pics, but I’m hoping the race pictures will have some good ones. They had plenty of opportunities to catch at least one of us. I’ll post good ones if I can find them. My next event is the Marine Corps Marathon, so focusing on running for the next few weeks…then the winter off-season build.
Pre-race: I’ve had some congestion for the past week and a slightly sore throat so had not had as good a week of training as I’d hoped. Since this was a C race, there was no taper. Instead, I ran 8 miles with hills at sub-marathon pace on Saturday morning to get a decent workout in for my A marathon in 3 weeks. I completed the run faster than I’d hoped, but it just didn’t feel good. I was hoping it wasn’t the cold, but was ready to back off the race intensity if I felt similar during the tri.
Anyways, not terribly exciting race morning…had a banana before leaving the hotel and a bottle of water while setting up transition, helped the wife with some last minute fixes for the bike and setting up her transition, and huddled with the family as we all got nervous before the race start. At about 6:40, my wife, dad, sister and I headed to the pool for the pre-race meeting and start. My mom stayed back with the other duathletes for their upcoming run start. Downed a gel about 25 minutes before takeoff.
Swim: It was a snake style 800m pool swim with competitors starting every 10 seconds. This was the shortest time between starters I had experienced in a pool swim, and the congestion in the pool was noticeable. I stayed relatively clear of most people, passed about 4 people and was passed by about the same number. This is definitely where I need the most work to improve, but I said that last year as well and actually got slower. Funny how it’s easier to work on the stuff we’re better at. Anyways, I finished the swim w/o too much exertion and headed out to T1.
Time: 16:56 (7/20 in age group…Goal 16:30, +0:26 overall)
T1: This T1 was long, it included a quarter mile run from the pool to the actual transition area (barefoot) along with everything else. Still went pretty smoothly, but should have run a little faster I guess.
Time: 3:44 (2/20 in AG…Goal 3:30, +0:40 overall)
Bike: I have done this race 3 times before (’04-’06), but I guess the year away made me underestimate the bike course difficulty. I was hoping to really push it and go for 22.5mph avg for 18 miles. Well, first the course is actually 18.4 miles, and second the easy rollers were more substantial than I recalled. It was nothing I couldn’t deal with, but it slowed the average. Also, what I felt worst about was that I had misrepresented it to my mom and wife who hadn’t done the course before. Either way, I used perceived effort to guide me and stuck to my usual bike nutrition plan. Pretty smooth overall, and a very nice course BTW. I saw my wife just getting ready to start the rollers my way back and waved, but I wanted to apologize. She ended up not being angry with me though.
Time: 54:08 (3/20 in AG…Goal 50:00, +4:48 overall, 20.4mph avg)
T2: Uneventful, but lost a little time
Time: 1:32 (8/20 in AG…Goal 1:30, +4:50 overall)
Run: At this point I was obviously certain I wouldn’t hit my goal, but still wanted to get a good run in. My legs transitioned pretty quickly and I had a solid first quarter mile (of the 4 mile run). Then, my legs all of a sudden felt like lead, I struggled with the majority of the rest of the 1st mile. Once I got into the arboretum at mile 2 things opened up a bit and I was able to hit my stride. I never felt great on the run, but felt I was moving pretty good, so I was happy with it. I passed my sister in the last ½ mile, she thought she would hold me off with her head start. It was almost at the same time that we passed our mom heading out on mile 1. It was neat with 3 of us being that close (in proximity) at one point in the race.
Time: 27:44 (2/20 in AG…Goal 28:00, +4:34 overall, 6:56/mile pace)
Anyways, I was happy to be done, and it is a PR by about 4 minutes, but I was hoping for a little more. Either way, I can’t be too upset since it was a C race and I was more focused on my mom and wife’s performances since they are the beginners of the bunch.
Post race I talked to my sister for a bit since she came in about a minute behind me, then headed to the bike return to look for Susan (wife) to get back. I was hoping everything went well since she sometimes gets overwhelmed by too many hills. She actually came in a few minutes before I thought she would on the easier course I had imagined. She killed the bike, and seemed to be in pretty good spirits too. I then headed around to see her off on the run. I moved from point to point on the run course to cheer her on and find my parents coming in. Caught both of them looking strong in the last mile. Susan came back in about a ½ hour later…well faster than her projected time. My disappointing race was erased immediately by her and my mom’s successes. I do love this sport.
The breakdown (for everyone) in order of crossing the finish line:
Me: 1:44:03 (42/323 overall, 3/20 in Clydesdale AG)
Sister: 2:02:13 (7/23 in AG)
Mom: 2:20:08 in Du (1/1 in AG…a dominating victory)
Dad: 2:00:30 (5/15 in AG)
Wife: 2:36:51 (12/14 in AG)
Without family photographers, we have no personal pics, but I’m hoping the race pictures will have some good ones. They had plenty of opportunities to catch at least one of us. I’ll post good ones if I can find them. My next event is the Marine Corps Marathon, so focusing on running for the next few weeks…then the winter off-season build.
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