Unfinished Business

I haven't written in a while but I have been running.  I run just over 20 miles per week now.  Recently I have been feeling the itch to put on a racing bib again.

More than just racing though, I have been thinking more and more about a long term goal.  When I started back running again in July 2021, my goal was pretty simple.  I just wanted to run the loop around Lake Fayetteville.  Of all the beautiful places to run around here, that is by far my favorite.  It is a total of 5.4 miles, so I had to work back up to that.

It wasn't long before I met that goal.  I have enjoyed running that loop many times since.  Only a true nerd with significant OCD would know the exact number (36).

My next goal was to run a half marathon again and beat my last time in 2016 when my fitness was in serious decline.  I met that goal too.  Now what?

The only full marathon that piques my interest at all is New York.  It is unfinished business given that I qualified in 2012 when the race was cancelled due to the hurricane.  That feels like an excellent long-term goal -- qualifying again, and then actually running the New York Marathon.

One step at a time, my immediate goal is to run a sub-52 minute 10K in December.

Shelly looked at this and said, "You are on the downhill side."  

And how, sweetie, and how.

Back Racing

My entire return to running has progressed much faster than I expected.  I attribute that to a couple of things:

1)  My years of riding my stationary bike were very good for my cardio, so I didn't really have much work to do there.

2)  I was very careful in building up the stress on my legs.  I added miles slowly each week and never tried to run too fast for fear of injury.

I decided a couple of months ago that it was about time to race.  I was running consistently 25 miles a week at that point.  Instead of continuing to add miles I started replacing some slow miles with some faster miles.  I thought a 10K sounded like a good first race.

As race day approached though I realized I was actually quite capable of racing a half marathon instead of the 10K.  I had several good 10-12 mile long runs under my belt.  Plus, my training had given me some indication that I might already be able to reach my goal of 1:56:30 -- my time in my last race in 2016.  

So I signed up for the Fayetteville Half.

 

Breathing

Breathing is important.  I like breathing.

Seriously though, I do like to use my breathing rate while I am running as a guide to pacing myself.  During all of those months of training, I wanted to run "slow" so I could avoid injury.  But how slow is slow enough?

I use my breathing as a guide.  I know from past experience that if I can take 4 steps while inhaling and then 4 steps while exhaling, I am running a nice relaxed easy pace.  That is all you really need to stimulate most endurance benefits.  You get the benefits of running and building mileage with minimal risk of injury.

The cool thing about using your breathing rate like this is that it is perfectly calibrated to each person.  I am older now, and still heavier than I was a few years ago, and some days I am more tired than others.  All that is fine.  It just means I have to adjust my running speed accordingly.  You might be a very fit 25 year old woman who can click off 7 minute miles and maintain an easy 4-4 breathing pattern.  I'm going to be closer to 11 minutes a mile for that same easy breathing.  We are both running easy, it is all relative.

Race Day

That 4-4 breathing pattern isn't the only way to run of course.  On race day I planned to run faster than that.  My plan was

• Use a 4-4 easy breathing pattern for the first mile to keep race adrenaline from sending me out too fast.
• Use a steady 3-3 breathing pattern for the bulk of the race, up to mile 10.
• Finish with a 2-2 breathing pattern as controlled as possible for those last 3+ miles. 
  

 

I lined up at the start with that plan in mind.  I was happy to have a bib on again.

 

 

I was pretty much able to follow my plan.  Along the way I noticed a bunch of other people weren't following that same plan.  They were breathing much heavier than me and eventually it showed.  Most of those people breathing heavy in the early miles of the race fell way back towards the end.

 Here at mile 13 I look less happy, but you will notice -- I am still breathing!

I finished in 1:53:56.  I beat my goal by a couple of minutes.  I get another try in New Orleans in a few months.  I will need another goal.  :)

On the road again

I have started running again after a long layoff. My fitness life appears to be 

 

Gain weight

Lose weight

Run

Repeat

Repeat?  Why the heck did I repeat? 

Seriously, I don't recommend it.  I am going to try really hard to not repeat again, holding instead here at run.

My last race

My last race was the Bill Snyder Half Marathon in May of 2016.

I never wrote about it in these pages because I wasn't happy with my performance. I knew I was in bad shape after several years of losing fitness from my peak in 2013, but I also knew I was still capable of finishing a race.  I really wanted that finishers medal and the race course passed through the campus of KSU, my alma mater.   

This picture alone was worth the price of registration 😀😀😀.

I finished in 1:57ish. 

 

 

Diabetes

 

Shortly after that race I stopped running altogether.  

 

I kept planning to lose weight and start running again but couldn't find the willpower.  I thought that as long as I exercised every day (15 years and counting) that I could eat anything I wanted and never have to worry about diabetes again.  I was wrong.  My diabetes symptoms returned, worse than ever.

This winter, back in the doctor's office to look over my latest results, I asked what was wrong.  Why isn't my prescription working?  Come on lady, I want a magic pill, dammit.  She kindly, but firmly replied

 

 

"The disease is progressing."

 

That was the moment.  Right there, those words.  

 

 

She should have been holding her stethoscope to the side of my head.  It would have been like one of those old safe crackers hunched over, listening intently, sweat dripping from his nose, nothing, nothing, nothing, ..., "click".

 

From that moment I made immediate diet changes and in the months since I have lost enough weight to allow myself to run again. 

My next race

I signed up for the Best Damn Race in New Orleans in March 2022.  

I can no longer hope to run as fast as I did a decade ago.  However, compared to others in my age group my potential is the same.  After all, those guys got older too.

For now though, I think just beating that 1:57 above would be a nice return to racing -- on the road again.

 

 

 

High Times

My race finish times are still higher than I want, though I am improving.

What did you think I meant?

The Fayetteville Half Marathon was held on the same course as the St. Jude 10K that I ran in August. The Lake Fayetteville trail is beautiful in the Fall and the weather was perfect.  This time we got to race around the lake twice.  Plugging that earlier 10K time into an online calculator gave me a projection of 1:41:35 for this race.  Since that 10K though, I have had some good training and I thought a 1:40 goal was within reach.  I did better than that, finishing in 1:37:15.


Caution, nerd at work

My runner friend, Abrena, ran the race too; she was 2nd place overall female, and beat me handily too. Congratulations Abrena!

She told me after the race that her Garmin showed the course to be short, only 12.9 miles.  I usually scoff at Garmin reports, but that is usually because the Garmin tells people that the course is too long and they really ran faster.  You can make a lot of money building gadgets that tell people what they want to hear.

Her watch was saying the opposite, though.  So, I measured the course online with Google maps and it came out just right.  Abrena, I think you are just in better shape than you realized.  That bodes well for your Memphis Marathon next month, good luck!

For the record, I don't really trust Google maps that much either. Though, I used it once to measure the Arkansas Razorback track circumference and it measured 399.9 meters.  Good enough.



Old guys 

I was passed at mile 10 by an old guy.  He said he had been chasing me for 5 miles.  I knew what he meant.  We had made eye contact at an out-and-back section near mile 5.  Runners are always on the lookout for others ahead/behind who appear to be in their age groups.  We are competitive that way.

He didn't worry me though, he was behind me, and clearly older than me.  Clearly.  At mile 10, he passed me, but still, he was obviously older than me.  Obviously.

I never caught him again; he finished about 20 seconds in front of me.  Inconceivably, he is 2 years younger than me.  Inconceivably!  As it happens though, he finished 3rd in the Masters awards and I was "first" in my age group. 

Perhaps it is time to roll out my long-term strategy for continued success in my age group:

St. Jude 10K

My complaints, which I now believe were due completely to low vitamin D, began last year on August 19.  It took over a year but I finally felt like racing again.

One of the reasons I wanted to run this race was the course, the paved loop around Lake Fayetteville.  It is my favorite running spot; I usually run that loop a couple of times a week.  It is a little bit hilly, but for Northwest Arkansas, what do you expect?  It is a beautiful trail.  The lake is visible as you run across the dam, but mostly it is a jaunt through the surrounding woods. 

Given the hills and summer heat, I figured my pace would be slowed by a minute or two, but everyone else would slow down too.  Based on my recent training I thought I could finish in 46 minutes, give or take a minute. 

I chose to run without my watch.  I am pretty good at knowing what pace I can maintain just by how it feels.  If it feels like your heart is about to explode, your lungs are on fire, and your muscles could rip apart at any moment, then you are running too fast for a 10K.  That is how a 5K feels.  Okay, not quite.  ;)

I finished in 45:35.  I was first in my age group and 4th master's male but those are really a function of who decides to show up.  More objectively, I was 16th out of 83 men.  Top 20% among men is about where I thought I was, so I'm pretty pleased.

Boston Marathon 2014 - Blood, sweat, and tears. And sweat.

Getting to Boston is never easy for any runner.  This year was especially trying for me. I didn't run this race for time; I was thrilled to just be there.  Instead of a race report, I will just describe some of what I saw and how I will remember the day.

As we walked to the start line in Hopkington, some generous locals offered free supplies to runners --  Beer, donuts, and cigarettes.  That cracked me up, and it set the tone for race day.  The crowd was incredible.  Spirits were high.

I cannot tell you how many kids I slapped high-fives with.  I have run other large races and the crowds are always great.  The crowd at Boston is something truly special.



Another sign I saw later, during the race:

Smile if you peed a little.  

Now tell me, how do you not smile when you read that?


I wore Ryan's University of Arkansas shirt and all day long I got to hear yankees call the hogs.  Woo pig sooie.

Go hogs!  Razorbacks!

Go Arizona Razorbacks, wait, what?  Lol.

The Wellesley scream tunnel at mile 13 is a favorite among runners.  It isn't a tunnel at all.  It is a long line of screaming coeds offering cheers and kisses.  "Kiss me I'm Irish."

I would feel creepy getting a kiss from those girls at my age, but I have often joked that if the professor ladies came out to support the runners, well...

As luck would have it, I saw the sign, "Kiss me I'm a Professor".  Finally, my chance!  Was I serious?  Shelly would understand, right?

Then I looked down at the person holding the sign.  It was a dude.

After the race, we made our way to the subway.  It was packed and we got stuck on a train for 45 minutes.  Just like last time, the riders were all very kind and allowed runners to sit.

As I sat there and waited, a little girl handed me a post-it note and a pen.  She asked for my autograph.  Awww.  She was the sweetest little 4th grader you ever saw.

 I signed it of course.  Then we had time to chat with her and her mom and her little brother.  Her name was Michelle.  We talked about how long they had lived in Boston, after moving from New York.  We talked about the race.  We talked about where we were from.  Shelly, the librarian, talked with her about her favorite books.

Her little brother, a second grader named Jason, asked to see my medal.  I told Shelly to grab the camera as I put it around his neck.  His mom took his picture too, as he beamed a huge smile.  I won't post that picture publicly.  Instead, I will keep it on the shelf next to my medal.  That is how I will remember this race.

Got milk?

It appears my running issue has been vitamin D.  That is certainly odd, given that our bodies produce vitamin D in response to sunlight and my symptoms began in August, after I had run outside the entire summer.  Nevertheless, my vitamin D levels tested low and I have been responding very well to the mega-dose my doctor prescribed.

My running has improved steadily and I feel much better too.  Shelly, Ryan, and I will be going to Boston in 2 weeks, where I will simply run slow and enjoy the experience.

This has been a long ordeal and I'm glad to put it behind me.  In the end, it seems I can treat my problems with cheap supplements, milkshakes, and more time on the beach.

Don't cry too much for me.

Suck it up Nancy

I have been struggling with a health issue. I can barely run anymore. It happened virtually overnight, August 19 to be exact. Though, I have no explanation for what happened exactly. I'm tired and sore whenever I run. It is all I can do to get in an occasional 5 miles, no matter how slow.

Here is my weekly mileage since last summer.  I was ramping up for some races but I've since had to withdraw from all of them.

Apparently, August 19 was the day someone told my body how old I really am.

 
I've been consulting every health-care provider I can find.  I have given so many blood samples I'm tempted to just install a tap.  Some doctors have been helpful, others not so much.  My dentist just looked at me with a blank stare.  Pitiful.  He was no help at all.

Running the Boston Marathon, actually running it hard, has been out of the question for a while now.  At this point I would need a miracle to simply be able to shuffle along and finish the race without hurting myself.  I won't withdraw officially yet, but realistically.... sigh.

My hope now is to simply get back to feeling better.  My exercise streak is still alive though; my bike is still bearable.

Hopefully the doctors can figure this out soon.  Otherwise, I will have to rename this blog ARiderOfStationaryBikesNerd.  If you think my writing is boring now...

Indy racing

We were in Indianapolis to pick up Ryan after the Drum Corps Finals competition.

He spent the entire summer traveling the country as part of a competitive Drum and Bugle corps.  We were able to see their show several times and it just kept getting better and better.

We were happy he had that experience but we were thrilled to have him back with us.

I took advantage of the trip to run one of the new Double Road Race events.  There have only been a few of these so far around the country. They are a unique combination of a 10K race, and a 5K race, with a halftime in between.  The two race times are combined.

These are the latest brainchild of Bob Anderson, who founded Runner's World magazine many years ago when he was a student at K-State, my Alma mater.  We chatted a little about K-State at the start. 

During halftime, Shelly and I stumbled upon this runner.  He isn't as fast as me, but to be fair, he is a Goonie who runs in shoulder pads and has Hobbit feet... 

Seriously though, Sean Astin is a an actual runner; he doesn't just play one on TV.  He just showed up to run the race with no fanfare whatsoever.  I'm not even sure the race organizers knew he was there.  He has finished several marathons and has a respectable 4:04 PR.

At the beginning of races, when runners are bunched together and most start out too fast, I like to listen to other runners' breathing patterns compared to my own.  Most of the people huffing and puffing in that first mile will peter out long before the finish.  As a rule, I won't pass anyone breathing slower than me, and I don't worry about getting passed by anyone breathing harder than me.  I will see them again.

This lady passed me breathing quite hard.  I expected to catch her later but never did.  She is Christine Kennedy, arguably the world's best runner in her age group.  She ran with the elite women in Boston and finished in 2:55 at the age of 58!

The course was flat, with only a few bridges.  It was relatively cool at the start, perhaps 65F, but very humid.  When the sun came out, the 5K was downright hot.  Still, decent conditions for summer racing.

In runner-speak, I sought to run both the 10K and 5K at my "LT" pace -- nominally the pace I can run for an hour in race conditions.  I claim I can run this pace by feel, so I tried to do just that.  I held back a bit in the first mile of the 10K to offset normal adrenaline effects, settled into a steady LT pace, and finished without any final kick.  This was the first time I have smiled at Shelly at the finish line of any race.  I had more in the tank, finishing the 10K portion in 41:31.

I tried to stay loose during halftime but my muscles still felt a bit tight at the 5K start.  I tried to push the pace as much as I could but it was tough, between the heat and the fatigue from the earlier race.  I wasn't smiling this time.  I finished the 5K in 20:12.

My combined time was 61:43, placing me 11/163 overall, 2/10 in my age group, and second among male Master runners.  I earned a nice medal and a $50 prize.  I also got to meet Bob Schul, the only American to win the 5K Olympic gold medal, at Tokyo in 1964.

Cancer Challenge 10K

It felt good to get out and compete again. I ran a couple of half marathons earlier this year but treated them both as training runs.

Today I raced. In fact, I surprised myself. I had expected to run something close to 43 minutes, given that I'm not quite back to top form yet, it is a tough, hilly course, and the weather has been hot.  Instead, I finished in 41:12.  I was 16/256 overall and 2/14 in my age group.

The temps really weren't that bad today, maybe 70F at the finish, though it always feels a little warmer when you are running hard.

Training has been going well.  I'm averaging about 70 miles/week lately and have put in a few good, solid speed sessions too.  Today counts as one of those.  I will be running at least one full marathon this fall but I haven't chosen which one yet.

There was a creepy guy with a beard at the awards ceremony.  The local baseball mascot showed up too. :)

Still running

This winter has been a tough one for me.  The NYC marathon was cancelled, then I ran poorly in my replacement race (Bass Pro in Springfield, MO).  Work responsibilities were overwhelming, and, well, somewhere in there I got depressed.  I spent the entire winter working more, eating more, and running less.  I gained 20 lbs. and I wasn't sure I would ever race again.

I never stopped my daily workouts though.  My streak is still active.  That commitment to exercise was key for me.  Little by little I have now worked my way back to some good running.  I'm still above my ideal race weight, so I won't be winning any awards for a while, but I'm a runner again!



Bass Pro - November 2012

Marathons are hard.

I know, I know.  Marathons are supposed to be hard -- duh.

What I mean when I say that marathons are hard is that it is very difficult to figure out how to achieve your goals in the marathon.

Choosing appropriate goals is absolutely essential, of course.  Doing the hard work of training is certainly part of the recipe too.  Yet, those aren't enough.  You have to eat right.  You have to rest right. You need a suitable course, and good weather.  You most certainly have to pace yourself right on race day.  Even still that isn't enough.  On paper, I did all those things right.  I still failed. 

Next time, I should just run on paper.

I ran the Bass Pro Conservation Marathon in 3:18 and change.  I failed in my goal of 3:10. At about mile 22 my right quad started cramping and it was all I could do to not stop completely.  Quad pain is pretty common for runners who aren't prepared for racing hills.  That isn't me though.  I train hard in hills all the time.  I'm in Arkansas, for goodness sake, we have a Junior High track nearby with a hill in the track surface!  (No joke.)   I had noticed a little soreness in that right quad in the weeks leading up to the race but it was so slight I just ignored it.  Argghh.

After the emotional roller coaster that was the NYC marathon, I was thrilled to be able to run the race in Springfield, MO.  As luck would have it, Springfield is home to a virtual running friend that I met online.  We were able to meet and make a virtual friendship real.  Running is a great way to meet some really nice folks.

Chad and his wife Jessica cheered for me in Springfield.  Today I'm heading out to cheer for them.  They are running in a 200 mile relay race through the Ozarks.  "You are a mermaid!!!"

Prairie Fire Half Marathon

 I must have gone soft since leaving Kansas.  Several locals commented about how little wind there was -- it was 18 mph with gusts up to 25 mph.  Hello!?!  That is windy folks.  I almost got knocked over at one point.  Plus, and if you have ever driven through Kansas you can back me up on this, the wind in Kansas is always against you.  While you are going West, the wind blows East.  Turn around and go East, the wind is blowing West.  Argghhh.

Ok, enough whining about the wind.  It was a great day, a great race, and the fan support was awesome.  Of course, fan support is always awesome at every race I run because I have Shelly, and, well, she is awesome!

I improved my personal record by almost a minute, finishing in 1:27:23.  Yet, once again, my placement in this race fell from last year.  The race is getting more popular, so more, and faster, people are running.  I finished 29th out of 2140 overall and 4th out of 94 men in my age group. As my son, Ryan, noted, 4th is the worst placement of all.  I was fastest among all the men my age who were not recognized.

Winslow Half Marathon

"This is the last hill."

"Just one more.  That is right, now I remember." 

"For sure, this is the last one". 

That is pretty much my last few miles. I ran that last hill about a dozen times, lying to myself on each.

Winslow is a tough course. In addition to the hills, the middle 5 miles of the race is on country roads with packed dirt and rocks. This year there was no mud, thankfully, but the bright sun made for a little warmer day than last year.

There was certainly more competition this year. The guy who won last year brought several of his fast buddies.  I finished in 1:30:55, bettering last year by more than 3 minutes.  Yet, I fell from 4th place to 8th place overall.  I was still the fastest masters runner by several minutes, though.

This is an encouraging sign for my training.  I'm definitely faster than ever.  I'm not sure I'm 3 minutes faster, but I am faster.  I'm curious what I can do in Wichita on a flat course.  I hope the weather is good.

Shelly was fascinated with my decision to continue running a cooldown jog after I got my medal at the finish. I explained that a 2-mile warmup and a 2-mile cooldown would allow me to count the day as a 17 mile long run in my NYC marathon training program.

A long run is 17 miles minimum, it says so right there in the rule book.  It's just after the warning about running a race in the shirt they give you for that particular race -- bad karma.  It's also just before the explanation for why the weekly mileage log must start on Mondays and end on Sundays -- obviously.

Shelly laughed at me.  I don't think she understands the importance of rules.

Run with Your Nephews

The race was called Run for a Child but I like my name better -- Run with Your Nephews.  This was the best part of the day by far.  After the 10K was over and I had a chance to cool down a bit, I jumped in the last quarter-mile of the 5K so I could finish up with Riley and Devin.  I looked for my sister, Andrea, but missed her. I guess she was running so fast she was just a blur...whooosh.

As for my 10K race, meh. I ran a 3 second PR, with a finish time of 39:53.  I finished 13th/253 overall and 2nd/22 in my age group.

I had some good excuses why I didn't run as fast as I was capable, but after 10 days or so, I have forgotten those excuses.  Something about being sick, or hills, or heat, or something.  Pick one I guess.  Next time I will be more diligent about preparing proper excuses.

Beaten by an Olympian

I ran in the Run for the Grapes 5K today in Tontitown.

Just last week I was hoping for some cooler temperatures where I could prove that I'm in better shape than ever.  Today, I got my chance.

It was about 65F but felt even cooler than that.  Maybe it just seemed that way compared to the recent high temps we've endured.  The course is relatively flat too, by NW Arkansas standards anyway.  It is very nice to run on a certified course, where you know the distance is correct.  My only concern for this race was some lingering pain in my left calf, though that actually might have helped me in retrospect.  I rested a lot more than usual this week.

I had some lesser goals for the race but they seem somewhat moot now.  My ultimate, long-term goal was to break 18:40, a 6 minute-per-mile pace.  Today I did it, I ran 18:36.



That was a 38 second improvement over my previous PR. I was 5th out of 312 runners overall and 2nd out of 25 in my age group. The guy who beat me was Reuben Reina, an 8-time All-American at Arkansas, who then went on to run the 5K at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.  Yeah, I think I'm OK with losing to him.

Another win, and turning Pro

It turns out that my "first" win was not to be my "only" win after all.  I ran the Decatur BBQ 10K today and won.

It was a tiny race, with only 8 runners in the 10K.  There were many other runners, including some fast ones, but they all favored the 5K race.  I wanted to run the 10K; that distance suits me better and 10K races are hard to find.

There were several of us bunched together for the first 10 minutes but then at the 5K turnaround spot, everyone else turned around.  I was seemingly all alone.  It was a good thing the course was marked well because I had no idea where I was going and could have easily ended up in Oklahoma.  I can hear the police call now, "...be on the lookout for a dork with a numbered bib on his shirt, running in circles...".

I managed to stay on course, and after the 10K turnaround I saw there were indeed some others behind me.  I finished about 5 minutes ahead of the second place fellow.  I finished with a time of 42:24, and that is a bit disappointing.  Even with hills, heat, and a dirt road, I was hoping for faster.  I always say that.

A couple of weeks ago I ran the Miles for Miller 5K and won my age group with a time of 19:56.  That too was slower than I hoped.  My training this summer suggests I am in better shape than ever, but I just don't have race results to prove it yet.  I am sure looking forward to some cooler weather.


As the overall winner today, I received a $25 cash prize. Woohoo! Am I a professional athlete now?

My First Win

Today I ran, and won, the local West Fork Elementary School 5K. 

My chances were better here than most races because there weren't going to be many runners.  I didn't know, though, that one of them was to be a former member of the University of Arkansas track team!  She is our cross country coach, and lately, a marathoner.   She is also a wonderful person.  You should have seen her running with the little kids in the fun run after the 5K.

She and I traded the lead in the first mile, but then she dropped back and let me go.  She isn't in the 5K shape she used to be, but was still was pretty darn close to beating me.  She was only about 30 seconds behind me at the finish.

This was an inaugural race, and there were some last minute verbal changes to the course that weren't universally understood by the course volunteers and escort car.  Any runners reading this know what comes next.  Yep, we made a wrong turn and ran too far.  I didn't care though, time was irrelevant.  I finished in 21:42.

I intentionally highlighted that word, first, in the title of this post.  That was what Mom wrote on my first home run baseball when I was ten years old. 

I came to the plate with a man on 3rd base and only 1 out.  I was nervous,  but I just told myself that all I needed to do was make contact and bring the runner in.  I made contact alright.  The ball sailed over the fence in center-right field.  The coach gave the ball to Mom.  Later that night, she wrote the details on it for posterity.

A few years ago, my sister Andrea took the ball from Mom's cedar chest and had it mounted.  She presented it to me as a birthday present.  Don't I have great women in my life?

The reason I mention this baseball is because that first home run proved to be my only home run.  I played a lot of baseball after that day.  I had a lot of good hits, including at least one foul ball that cleared the fence, but I never actually hit another home run.  Life is funny like that.  You don't always know when something is over.

Today was my first race win and there is a very good chance it will be my only race win.  I am OK with that.  Running isn't about winning races.  It is about proving to yourself that you can do anything you want to do.

Come to think of it, I win all the time.

Joplin Memorial Half Marathon

This was officially the first running of the Joplin Memorial Half Marathon.  I ran the race two years ago, but it was called the Boomtown Half Marathon then.  They changed the name to honor the 161 people who fell victim to the tornado that struck the town on May 22, 2011.

 At the start of the race they held a moment of silence for 161 seconds, one second for each person lost.  During that time they released 161 balloons into the air and we all watched them float to the heavens, in silence.  It was quite moving.  Then, we raced, because life goes on.  I'm not sure if running will add any more days to my life, but I'm quite sure it has added more life to my days.

This was one of those days.

This race was also a family reunion.  Several of my family members live in the Joplin area and many others traveled to Joplin for the occasion, some from as far away as Orlando.  Shown here at the start of the 5K are my son Eric, who finished his very first 5K, woohoo!, along with my uncle David, aunt Jeanne, cousin David, his wife Lorraina and their son Austin.

My cousin Amanda joined me in the HM again.  We both ran the Bentonville HM in March.  Here we are after the race, signing the flag that the race directors are giving to the city.

The rest of the family was there to cheer the runners on.  We had T-shirts made for the occasion.











As for the race itself, I was very pleased with my performance.  Once again I set out to break 1:30.  My PR is faster than that, but this isn't a great course for a PR and the weather was a little warm to boot.  A 1:30 finish seemed like a reasonable goal, all things considered.

I started off the race very disciplined.  My first mile was exactly on pace, 6:52.  It felt hard though, not at all like how easy your race pace should feel in the early miles of a long race.  I was worried this wasn't going to be my day.  There was a pretty good wind in our faces that first mile and perhaps that explains my difficulty.  Concerned as I was after that first mile, I decided to continue on with my goal.

The next few miles felt easier and I actually got a little ahead of my goal pace.  I was glad too, because there was a 1:30 pace group and the guy leading that group was annoyingly talkative.  Perhaps what really bothered me, though, was he was running my pace and was still able to talk.  I was thankful to leave him behind and hoped I wouldn't see him again.

At the halfway point I was a good minute ahead of schedule and felt reasonably good but I knew the second half was the hardest.  The elevation drop is more than 200 feet in the first half of the loop course.  That means the second half has more than 200 feet of rise.  What goes down, must come up.

I struggled at times in those hills, but I'm a strong, experienced hill runner.  My pace slowed a little but not too bad.  I finished in 1:28:37.

This was a very satisfying result, even if it was 20 seconds slower than my PR.  I finished 12th overall out of 1245 runners.  I was in the top 1%!  Wow, that is a bit of a shock.  I was 2nd in my very competitive age group, where the third place guy would have actually won several of the younger age groups.  The old guys really brought it today.

At the top of this page is a picture of  the brick I was awarded for placing in my age group.  It was one of the bricks from the Joplin High School that was destroyed in the tornado.  How cool is that?

Old Timer's 5K

This was a race that I was definitely qualified to run.  Shelly had great fun calling me an old timer all day.

I really enjoyed returning to Southwest City.  About 30 years ago, I played on the SWC baseball team because my community, Noel, didn't field a team that summer.  I was invited to play by one of my high school friends, Eric Wolfe.  As it happens, I saw his sister Michelle and her husband Dusty at the race.  They both ran the 5K and did great.

The race started and finished right at the old baseball field where we used to play.  The course was actually pretty challenging for a 5K and that surprised me.  Looking online later I figured out why.  It included 180 feet of elevation change -- quite a bit for only 3 miles.  Looking at the course you wouldn't think there were any significant hills but I guess what looked flat was actually a long, slow, uphill grade.  Plus, there was 100% humidity.  That probably explains why standing around before the start felt fine but once we took off it felt terribly hot.  This is going to be a long summer.

I finished 2nd overall with a time of 20:07.  The winner was a 14 year old boy who finished in about 19:10. See, it wasn't solely a race of old timers!

Garmin Oz Marathon

This was a spontaneous decision.  I registered for the race on Thursday and ran it on Saturday.  I have been training well for the last few months and I didn't want to "waste" that training without taking a shot at a faster marathon time before the temperatures really start to rise.  I noticed that the forecast for the race was great, 40F at the start and 55F at the finish.  The course is mostly flat too.  This was an ideal opportunity.

For a quick trip, Shelly and I had a lot of fun.  Well, at least I had fun.  Shelly is such a trooper that she would never let me know if she wasn't.  I really should give her all my medals.

The race was held in Olathe, KS and had a Wizard of Oz theme.  Never mind that Olathe is nowhere near the western Kansas farmlands.  Anyway, it was a fun atmosphere.  Lots of runners dressed as Dorothy.  They were cute, especially the 6'5" guy with hairy legs.  Shelly pointed him out to me but I refused to laugh.  I told her that in all the big races there is inevitably some guy dressed in a tutu who then proceeds to whip everyone's sorry tails.  Laugh at your peril.

The race conditions were indeed perfect, even if my fitness was suspect.  My goal is still 3:10 and at times my training has indicated I'm capable of that.  I hadn't exactly focused on this race though and I didn't taper for it, at least not exactly.  Last weekend was a cutback week in my training.  I had really been pushing hard and after an intense Tue-Wed-Thu where I ran 50 miles I simply was beat that weekend and my body screamed for relief.  That weekend I did 10 on Sat and 4 on Sun.  So, when the next Thursday came around and I got excited by the ideal race conditions, I looked back and thought, "hmm, a cutback week looks kinda like a taper...".  Yeah, what the heck.

I started the race nice and easy.  At the first mile marker I was very surprised to see 7:05.  A little too fast but not horrible.  I eased up just a bit and at the 2nd mile marker I saw 14:50.  What?   No way did I just slow down to a 7:45 pace.  The mile markers were off.  Oh yeah, this is the Garmin marathon.  For you non-runners that is a little dig at all the runners who use Garmin GPS products and invariably claim their races are measured wrong because their Garmin's told them so.  As an electrical engineer with a background in radio communications, I contend they place far too much faith in their electronics.

Without relying on the positioning of any one mile marker I kept myself exactly on pace for the first 19 miles.  Then the wheels fell off.   I felt like a monkey climbed on my back and was taking a ride.  I finished in 3:17:35.  Just a tad short of my Boston PR from last year.    I placed 2nd out of 43 in my age group and got a nice little trophy.

Though I'm not thrilled with the time I am still glad I ran the race.  Flat courses with nice weather are hard to find and I would have always wondered what I could have done.

Bentonville Running Festival

I have mixed feelings about this one...

Prior to the race Shelly asked what my goals were.  I told her I didn't think I was ready to improve my PR even on a fast course in great conditions.  This course is tough and it was pretty warm.  I told her I wasn't that concerned about my time and just wanted to compete.  Of course, that is runner-speak for "I really do care about my time, and I want to break 90 minutes again."

The weatherman this morning noted that the race was today and he declared it was a "perfect day to run a race".  Sorry, no.  Finish line temps of 70F with bright clear skies is a "perfect day to watch a race" but not run one.  Give me 50 and overcast please.

I have averaged about 65 miles in each of the last 5 weeks.  Last week I ran 67, and my only concession for this race was an extra cross-training day.  I normally cross-train on Fridays to give my running muscles a rest prior to weekend long runs.  This week I did cross-training on Thursday and Friday.  That was my only rest prior to the race.  Some of my online running buddies can race with virtually no rest from training and still run impressive races.  They are studs though, and that is just the ladies.  I did not have an impressive race, and fatigue could have contributed.

I was very happy to run this race with my cousin Amanda.  This was her very first sub-2:00 performance and I believe she had more than a 15-minute PR, with a time of 1:58:21.  A fifteen minute improvement in the half marathon is incredible!  I should have asked her for some training secrets.  We get a chance to run together again in Joplin in May.  I'm really looking forward to it.

She looks awesome for 42 doesn't she!..???.  LOL.  That is how the official race results list her age.  I'm not going to reveal her actual age but I will say it isn't anything close to 42.

I lined up about 30 people from the front of the race because that is about where I expected to finish.  At the starting line I recognized several people from previous races.  One guy and one girl in particular stood out because we always seem to run similar times.  I decided to stay close to them in the early miles as a way of holding myself back. 

As the race started though, we all apparently lost our minds.  I didn't know it until mile 2 though.  I somehow missed the mile 1 marker and at mile 2 I was very surprised to see 13:10.  That was definitely too fast for this day, especially since the last couple of miles are brutal.  I knew I had to back off the pace and save some energy.  I let all the speed demons go on without me and dropped my pace back.  Running those first 2 miles too fast though was a mistake.

That guy I mentioned that normally runs about my speed, I caught him at the 11 mile marker.  The girl?  I caught her at 12.  From about  mile 10 to 12 was a long, slow incline that certainly slowed us down but was manageable.  I was trying to recall if that was really all there was.  It had been a month or so since I last looked at the course elevation.  Gee, this isn't that bad.  Then, ooof, mile 12 is about 6% grade.  At the end of the race, that is just mean.

I finished in 1:32:00, first out of 65 in my age group, and 26th overall out of 1166 runners.  With that age group win, I got to get my picture taken with Dick Beardsley, famous for the 1982 Boston Marathon duel with Alberto Salazar.

After this race I'm trying to evaluate where I am.  I know I made some mistakes and I know the course and conditions weren't ideal. I am capable of running faster than this, but even still, I'm disappointed.  I was hoping I was in good enough shape that I could break 90 even with some issues.

I guess I need to run more.

Victorian Classic 10K - Eureka Springs, AR

Wilson and Wilson Folk Art

This race wasn't on my schedule until about a week ago.  I saw it coming up and thought it might be a good fit.  The race is in Eureka Springs.  Right away I knew this course was hilly and wouldn't be likely to yield a PR but I didn't think I was in PR shape anyway.  I have only just recently begun to add speed work back to my training.  This was a good opportunity to simply focus on racing against other runners and get in a really good workout.

When I read the race description, something stood out to me.  The top 3 runners in each age group receive an official Victorian Classic mug with Blakeley Wilson artwork.  I couldn't find any pictures of that online but it sure sounded cool.  Shelly is a big fan of the Wilson and Wilson Folk Art company.  I looked over previous results and I thought I had a good chance at placing at least 3rd in my age group even considering I'm not yet in peak fitness for racing.  I didn't tell Shelly about the mug before the race, just in case I didn't earn one.  I didn't want her to be disappointed.

The weather was perfect, about 45F with no wind.  I left my stopwatch in the car and decided to run by feeling.  That is what I did.  I ran by feeling -- feeling exhausted!  Wow, what a course.  There were big hills and little hills, steep hills and rolling hills, up hills and down hills.

My goals were { finish in 42 minutes, top 10 overall, top 3 in my age group }.  I did better than that in all respects.  I finished in 40:52, took 6th overall, and I actually won the Masters division (with a couple of asterisks because 2 guys were faster than me but they placed 2nd and 3rd overall).  I really surprised myself.  That was less than a minute slower than my previous 10K PR.  On this course, that is really something.  This bodes well for even better races to come...

As the Masters winner I received the official Victorian Classic mug that I wanted and I also got an artist's print of Eureka Springs suitable for framing and a free overnight stay  in one of the local lodges. Nice.

Disney Marathon

I ran the Walt Disney World Marathon on January 8, 2012.

Do as I say, not as I do. In the 8 weeks leading up to this race, beginning with my calf injury in November, I ran weekly mileage totals of { 0, 1, 4, 8, 20, 35, 12, 5 }. That is a total of 85 miles in 8 weeks and my longest run was only 13 miles. That is definitely not a good marathon training plan. I knew that if I sought out sage advice from my online running buddies they would uniformly tell me not to run. So, I didn't ask them. I really wanted the Disney finisher's medal and I wasn't sure I would ever make it back to the race again.

I had conflicting emotions at the expo when I picked up my packet.  I was very proud to be among the faster runners in the race.  Yet, I would not be able run at full-speed and that saddened me.

I decided that the best chance I had for successfully finishing the race and avoiding further injury was to employ a run/walk strategy. Disney seems like an appropriate place for such a strategy since they hired Jeff Galloway as a consultant. He is a former member of the US Olympic team and the author of the Run-Walk-Run method of training. His method appears very popular and successful with the novice runners that flock to Disney.

I started off the race very conservatively and held myself to about 1 minute of walking for every 2 minutes of running (slowly).  Surprisingly, I wasn't the only person in the first corral (A) that was following such a run/walk strategy. In the first couple of miles I was trading places with a guy and a couple of women who were doing the same thing. I would pass them and then they would pass me, and so on. He was wearing a watch that would beep periodically telling him it was time to run/walk again. He seemed to be drawing a fair amount of attention from other runners too. They all seemed to know him and call him by name -- Jeff. Doh. I was run/walking with Jeff Galloway himself!

The course winds through all four of the Walt Disney World parks, Magic Kingdom, Animal Kingdom, Epcot, and Hollywood Studios.  All along the way there are characters you can stop and take a picture with.  It is quite a unique atmosphere for a race and it is interesting even when you are running through the behind-the-scenes areas of the property.  For example, we got to see Disney's Wonderful World of Wastewater Treatment.  I don't recall anyone pausing for pictures there though.

As I said, Disney is very popular with first-time marathoners. Many didn't look like runners at all. One woman in particular caught my eye. She was quite large and had poor running mechanics, yet there she was running along -- ahead of me no less! I passed her at about mile 15. I know I was running slow, but surely not that slow. I mean, come on man! It took me about 3 days to figure that one out. Finally I remembered that there was a relay race going on too. She had a faster partner who ran the first half of the race, and then she took off for the second half ahead of me. LOL.

I ran this race with two of my brothers-in-law.  We are three of the luckiest men in the world as we are each married to a woman we don't deserve.

Each of the guys finished their first marathons.  Congratulations fellas!

Be careful what you wear on race day. I chose to wear my 2010 Chicago Marathon shirt and all day long I got to hear "go Chicago"!

I finished the race in 4:38:23 with no injuries.

I'm back.