Annadel Runner

Status update

2009-06-22T15:05:00.000-07:00

I can't believe it's been a month since I've been here! I haven't been following along in the blogging world for a while so I guess I'll start back in with a quick post then jump over to ya'll's blogs and catch up over this week.

I'm still struggling with some piriformis syndrome type symptoms and a pretty bad case of achilles tendinitis. I haven't run since Windermere but have been getting in a couple of aerobic workouts with the aquajogger since then. I started physical therapy a couple of weeks ago and have been on heavy duty anti-inflammatories for almost a month. I've made some good progress with the achilles, but it still feels off when I jog even just a little bit. I've taken the opportunity to focus on regaining some of my general fitness and strength by spending my workout time with some old routines and some new ones, mostly from Jay Johnson's resources on his blog, website, runnerspace and Vimeo. Ultimately I think maintaining solid strength training and flexibility routines will help keep me healthy but also improve my running. Had I not been injured I probably wouldn't have decided to devote substantial effort toward these endeavors so perhaps the injuries are blessings in disguise.

My plan going forward is to slowly build mileage up to 100 comfortable miles per week - however long it takes. I'll run a few races here and there and also throw in a weekly speed session along with strength and agility drills, but no formal periodized plan yet.

Bob: Thanks for your comments! I did do a Burn After Reading when I received an e-mail from Windermere to save $10 off next year's race! I'm looking forward to either Boston if I can afford it next year and increase my chances for corral 1 at CIM, or more likely Eugene for the spring. As for the Santa Rosa Marathon, I was initially planning on doing the half and I may yet. But the way things are looking now I probably won't try to race until October - I have a 10K and two halves that I'd really like to do.

Ewen: I wish I could attribute my "old & slow" feeling legs to lack of mileage or something excessive in my training, but I'm afraid they feel that way because they are old & slow! During Windermere I think a lot of things contributed to feeling terrible. Travelling + not running the day before, lack of running in the week leading up to the race, lack of volume in the months leading in, and the shoes were "the final kick to the crotch." I think the things I have planned for my mileage buildup will help a lot with this, though. I have lots of middle distance-specific ancillary work I'm going to do when my body's ready. Picnicking along the river is a better idea than marathoning along it for sure!

Billy & Glenn: Give me a shout anytime you're coming up for The Ave. I don't know that I'll go out of my way to run it again, but it's easy enough for me to get to and I'd love to spend a day or so with friends up in the redwoods!

Richie: I'm waiting to hear if I won tickets to the USA Outdoor Champs! Erin just started a job so it really doesn't work out time-wise or finance-wise for us right now. If I end up winning the tickets I may ask my dad for a loan so we can go!

Paul: I'm sorry to hear about your frustrating experiece at Windermere. Based on their advertising I'm surprised they screwed the markers up. I always try to learn something from every race I do. Next time make sure you leave everything on the course! Even if you don't reach your goal you won't walk away wondering "what if?" Good luck in your next attempt.

Windermere Marathon Race Report

2009-05-18T16:23:00.000-07:00

I had intended Windermere to be my goal race this spring, where I’d be shooting for a 2:52. I started my training back in January before I was 100% healthy, which both inhibited my training and caused me to make some compromises to my running form. The latter resulted in a little piriformis syndrome (PS) and achilles tendinitis (AT) that I pushed through to be ready for the Napa Valley Marathon. In the eleven weeks after Napa I did little to no running, being hampered by a slow recovery, two nasty colds and worsening PS and AT. So Windermere necessarily became just a long run I wanted to enjoy along the Spokane River.

Spokane River in Riverfront Park:

The shirts are pretty nice!

I think there's too much gear required for the marathon:

Expo sign. They had two of these yet no start of finish line banner:

On the bus ride to the start I finalized my strategy, to run the first five miles at sub-3 effort then back off to my anticipated easy pace of 7:30 – 8:00 for the rest of the run. The purpose of that was to get a handle on what the sub-3 crowd looked like in case I decided to come back next year. Although a little chilly before the start, I stayed reasonably warm with just my garbage bag poncho. Even as people continued to show up I realized the race was a lot smaller than I thought it would be. Organization was a bit lacking as the announcer and runner services were on one side of the designated traffic lanes while the port-a-potties and closed lanes were on the other. Fortunately there wasn’t much traffic.

Before the start:

Almost the entire field in the starting region:

After assembling in the start region (there was no start line or banner) the starter finally got everyone to the correct starting point. It was only then we found out the “chip timing” meant that our gun time would be recorded at the finish line by the chip. Lame. No one wanted to be on the front line so I grabbed a spot next to the eventual winner, close enough to hear the pathetic girl giggle to the hired announcer “Oops! I missed it!” Apparently the timing system starts at a designated time, not as a result of a starting trigger. What’s more amazingly stupid than that is that they put such an incompetent ditz in charge of getting us started on time. It appears they tried to compensate for this in the final times, but they’re still not chip-accurate.

Upon starting I instantly knew wearing my NB 903’s was a mistake. All of the cushioning was shot, leaving my feet and legs aching from the very first step. Nonetheless I continued with my plan of running 6:50 – 7:00 the first few miles. It was a little frustrating as many people went out too fast and I was surrounded by several people who had no business running 7-minute pace. Usually that doesn’t bother me but most of them were pacing erratically but always near me. We looped back past the starting area and after a couple of miles were finally on the Centennial Trail heading back toward Spokane. At this point there was a good group of us holding a decent rhythm over the Spokane River and into Washington.
Mile 1 – 6:57
Mile 2 – 6:50
Mile 3 – 6:54
Mile 4 – 6:56
Mile 5 – 6:56

After 5 miles I started falling back off the group, more as a result of the pace becoming more difficult to maintain than sticking to my plan of backing off. Aerobically I felt like I was running a very easy pace, but my legs were already feeling like they’d gone 20 miles. The next few miles passed fairly quickly with only a couple of runners passing me. Running through the native grasses and wildflowers along the river with the rising sun at my back was quite nice. By mile 7 my legs were really turning to rocks and I was seeking out the uneven gravel shoulder of the trail just to get a little softness underfoot. Even then every step became painful for my PS, AT and quads by mile 9. During this stretch one of the guys who had no business running 7’s at the start went lumbering by me. His shirt read “Running Is My Prozac.”
Mile 6 – 7:12
Mile 7 – 7:35
Mile 8 – 7:30
Mile 9 – 8:01 (bathroom break)
Mile 10 – 7:35

Several more people passed me before the halfway point. I told the first few “good job” as they went by only to realize they were wearing headphones. After a while I just ignored them. After rounding a turn onto a long strait stretch I saw Mr. Prozac walking while taking a drink from his fuel belt. Just a couple of weeks ago Erin was complaining to me about jog/walkers beating her in races and I bragged that at my paces I don’t have to worry about that. And here I was getting beat by someone who shouldn’t be able to run faster than me, but he was Gallowalking faster than me! As I approached the halfway point where the half marathon started I realized the run was going so poorly that continuing would leave me more sore than any of my previous marathons and possibly quite a bit more injured than I already was. I slowed to almost a walk before the aid station so I could ask a volunteer for a ride back to the finish line. Just before I stopped three things hit me: 1) I made this huge trip to run this race and I’d be leaving without even a finisher’s medal, let alone an age group award or PR, 2) In 22 years of racing I’ve finished every single race I’ve started and 3) There was something completely ambiguous, unceremonious and unsettling about ending my run right here in the middle of the trail. So I put my head down and just ran until I was well past the aid station and reassessed what I was doing. I was struggling. My legs were in agony yet I didn’t have the aerobic challenge to keep my mind focused. I drifted from shoulder to shoulder of the path trying to find as much gravel and dirt as I could while other runners continued to go by. Then we came to a long detour through a neighborhood. The pavement here aggravated my leg discomfort even more and not being along the river with the pine trees and wildflowers made this stretch almost unbearable. Finally I started to break up the run into manageable chunks at 14 miles. I just had to run two more miles then I’d have only ten to go. I could run 10 miles in any condition no problem!
Mile 11 – 8:52 (bathroom break)
Mile 12 – 8:03
Mile 13 – 8:01
Mile 14 – 8:52 (bathroom break)
Mile 15 – 8:21

After crossing the river again the trail disappeared through a neighborhood again. After reaching mile 17 most of the remaining miles were through neighborhoods or on the shoulder of a busy road and it all became a blur. With no more visual stimulation and other runners beginning to struggle along with me I became more aware of our collective plight. The runners that were catching me at this point appeared to be struggling as well but were still pushing. Most slowly faded into the distance while a few others came back and forth as they struggled with trying to walk out cramps. Toward mile 18 I spotted Mr. Prozac walking again, but what’s this? In addition to beating me with the run/walk method he’s also had his own bike support this entire way? Unbelievable! Some of the previous mile markers weren’t marked and when they resumed at 18, they were off by a mile. Fortunately I had my Garmin so I knew I was at 18 and not 17! At this point I also heard the whistle of a train. The course crosses train tracks but the race director stated that trains never come through Spokane before noon on Saturdays! I was too preoccupied with my immediate little hell to think that was anything but funny, though. I somehow missed it but just barely. Several other runners were held up for several minutes.
Mile 16 – 9:14 (this was long)
Mile 17 – 7:39 (this was short – 8:57 average for 16 & 17)
Mile 18 – 8:47
Mile 19 – 8:45Mile 20 – 8:57

After a very tough few miles in which a couple of short uphill stretches really hurt my achilles I rewarded myself at mile 20 with a short walk break to stop the painful pounding on the pavement. After about a minute I continued running, but at a much slower pace. The course was now on the shoulder of a busy road and I kept thinking how unsafe it was and that they should have at least put some traffic cones out. It was really getting warm out and I didn’t know how much of the remaining 10K I’d be able to run. Coming up to an aid station at 21.75 miles a cramping runner asked Mr. Prozac’s bike support lady for some Sport Beans which she reluctantly shared. Even though I had gained a little ground on Mr. Prozac I knew it would only get worse for me and I didn’t want to deal with his taunting so I decided to take a 30-second break at the water station to get some much needed liquids and let him gain some ground. Just after the aid station I heard an unholy yelling behind me. The fourth woman was closing on me and apparently not happy with her course support person. I felt bad for the support woman – she wore a jacket matching her runner friend’s outfit and was at four points on the course that I remember, always with a smile and bottle yet here she was getting yelled at for some reason. Finally this six-foot monster lumbers by me and I encourage her “good job!” in as upbeat a tone as I can muster. She grunted “you too…. I’m cramping horribly…. Oh, fuck!” I really didn’t know what to say to that so I slowed down and let her get by as quickly as possible.
Mile 21 – 10:13 (walk break)
Mile 22 – 10:17 (aid station stop)

Despite my courtesy to Mr. Prozac and his course support, he remained just a few dozen yards in front of me. Through no fault of my own, with the 9:28 mile, I caught him again in the 23rd mile. Seeing the lettering on his shirt again and reassessing my body’s injury status I decided that upon getting home I was going to see my doctor so I could wear a “Prozac Is My Running” shirt for the next few months. Realizing that I was only at 23 in the same time it took me to run 26.2 a couple of months ago I didn’t think Prozac was such a bad idea.
Mile 23 – 9:28

During Mile 23 I also caught another runner who was struggling with cramps. Although it was really getting hot out I finally felt that the finish line was a sure thing. Invigorated (I guess that’s the right word) to be within a few minutes of the finish and ahead of Mr. Prozac I focused on maintaining a decent pace the rest of the way. This other runner went with me for a while and we started to close on the Grunter. Mile 24 was marked as 23 and despite being nowhere near any other runners or volunteers she screamed out her objection to being only 23 miles into the race. We reassured she was at 24 and the markers were wrong, but I’m not sure if our voices carried far enough for her to hear!
Mile 24 – 8:49

As I approached the grunter I lost my running companion and could hear her encouraging herself: “Fuck you, calf! Come on you fucker! I hate you!” I quickened my pace and swung wide around the curve to sneak by her. In addition to beating Mr. Prozac I now had new motivation to finish strong – one I’ve never had before: genuine fear. Coming across an overpass I peered down to the street below and noticed a woman who was at the start of the marathon walking along the street, well off the course and away from it. It was very bizarre. Not only could I not fathom what she was doing and where she was going, but I had no clue as to how she ended up at that location and well ahead of me since she was at the start. If she had gotten a ride and not raced why would she have not gone to the finish line instead of the middle of an industrial area where no one was around on a Saturday morning?
Mile 25 – 9:34 (this was long, Garmin says 8:36 pace)

The last couple of miles were finally along the river again, but as we neared the city center more and more half marathoners were blocking the trail, more and more pedestrians were taking the tangents away from me and worst of all more and more people were smoking. After navigating the final maze of a mile with several random turns I finally crossed the last bridge to the finish. I was much slower than I thought I was going to be, but I salvaged a hard earned victory in the closing miles over Mr. Prozac and the grunter.
Mile 26 – 9:23 (this was long, Garmin says 8:30 pace)

I knew I was late to catch my bus back to the airport so I grabbed what food I could and hobbled back to throw my stuff in my bag and hobble back to the transit mall. The extra 1.5 miles of walking post-race was not my idea of a good time. The only reasons I made my bus to the airport were that the bus driver was 10-minutes late and a drunk toothless couple on their way to a casino told me their bus would get me to the airport. Fortunately I had the entire Economy Plus row to myself to stretch out and rub my legs on the way to Denver. When I finally got home at 9:30 Erin had dinner and a Key Lime pie waiting for me!

I was disappointed with the organization of this race, with the confusion of the bus drivers, the botched start and the incorrectly labeled mile markers. I was also disappointed at the small field size. It was promoted well through fliers at CIM and several ads in Runner’s World but it amounted to less than 300 runners, most of them local. I’m glad I ran Napa all out and came out with a decent time. Even if I were in 2:52 shape for Windermere I think the solitude and uncomfortable surroundings in conjunction with the heat and crowded trail at the end would have unraveled the race for me.

On the positive side, I really like the well-deserved finisher’s medal and the volunteers were extremely friendly and helpful, rivaling the course support at CIM. I won’t make a point of running this race again but I’d like to give it another try someday.

Avenue Of The Giants Weekend

2009-05-04T12:11:00.000-07:00

Last fall I had the grand idea to do the Avenue of the Giants Half Marathon since it could be rolled into a 3-day camping trip for Erin, Shadow and me. Unfortunately the weather forecast for the weekend was rain - and lots of it. Having already paid for the campsites and having camped for an entire week in the rain in the same campground back in high school I figured it wouldn't be a big deal.

After setting up the tent and our bed in the rain we took a short walk through the trees. Even though we weren't too happy about being wet, it wasn't cold or windy and it was nice to have the smells of the damp forest.

After getting back to camp I quickly got to heating up the chili Erin brilliantly prepared at home earlier in the morning. As the chili heated and we watched our tent get wetter and wetter Erin kept me entertained with stories of the kids she dealt with as a social worker. This one was about an afro...

The chili was absolutely delicious and just what we needed before hunkering down for the night.

Other than the short walk, Shadow was extremely dissatisfied with his inclusion on this trip.

We woke up with a pool of rain water caught in the rain fly which sunk down between the tent poles. After some coffee and a short walk we headed off to the packet pickup and found some good deals on socks and a fleece hat for Erin. She was being really good about tolerating another race weekend for me and especially being cold and wet for it so I decided to thank her by taking her down to Garberville for a warm breakfast inside:

Just before heading out of town I stopped in the Best Western and begged for a room. After an hour they finally found us a smoking room. At that point we couldn't really be picky so we took it. We hastily packed up our waterlogged camp gear and drove back out onto the course

to go for a short run. Even though it was still raining it was quite pretty through the mist and trees. Shadow even started to have fun finally.

Erin was extremely happy to get into the warm dry room and I must admit so was I. After resting for a little bit and getting cleaned up we headed out to get some dinner. This is where we ended up eating, right next to the hotel:

And the atmosphere, service, and quality of food is exactly what you'd expect from a restaurant specializing in Mexican, Italian and American cuisine.

After dinner we snuck Shadow down to the room and he was extremely happy. He also got meatball leftovers from dinner.

Although the room stunk to high heaven, all three of us slept really well. That was a much better experience than having to get up at 5am to break camp in the rain just to get to the race and back home on time.

Back on the road to the race the rain finally started letting up. The closer we got, the slower we went. The line of cars was pretty long...

We finally got down to the sand bar and were sent to the very edge by the river for some reason. Shadow was happy to get out and run around. He went swimming and even tried taking sticks away from another dog - very out of character for my little beta.

Up by the starting line and the intersection for the out-and-backs there was a ridiculously loud group of drummers under the 101 overpass making all sorts of noise. And of course that brings out the dancing nut jobs. Thank you, but we're in Humboldt County already - we don't need to encourage the weirdos.

Part of the chicken wire, adobe and straw contraption that's keeping my legs together:

Finally ready to go!

After my 1:28 debacle on a short course two weeks ago and ongoing achilles and leg issues I really had no idea of what to expect. I thought a 1:27 might be possible but I didn't really think about the time. I thought more of being in the top 10 and more specifically about not running the first half too fast. After some early jostling I was in 10th place a little less than a mile in.

Mile 1 - 6:26

I was running fairly comfortably but still probably harder than I wanted to be considering how easy the first few miles two weeks ago felt and how badly I fell apart. I tried to stay relaxed and breathe easy and not worry about it. The morning was extremely humid and I was completely soaked in sweat by the end of the first mile. It wasn't very pleasant but fortunately there was enough to focus on early to keep my mind off how uncomfortable it was.

Mile 2 - 6:48

A little more uphill than the first mile, but I didn't feel like I was working any harder. A woman pulled up alongside me here and we had the same rhythm going for a few miles. This was helpful to keep a consistent effort early on. It was actually nice to be in a race where a woman at my level was willing to work together. Most are either ultra competitive or assume I am and won't run as a team.

Mile 3 - 6:31

Another quicker mile than I wanted, but I started feeling okay about my effort level. We started passing the marathoners who were on the return trip here. There were three other runners strung out ahead of us, sometimes coming back and sometimes pulling ahead due to the hills, turns and footing. It was kind of bizarre; I'm used to being in road races where it's easier to control pace. This was like cross country with the different course elements affecting each runner differently.

Mile 4 - 6:44

A steady uphill slowed this one a bit but the effort was still controlled. After a short climb I started pulling away from the woman running with me and after coming down the backside I could tell she wasn't going to hold the pace.

Mile 5 - 6:31

I was alone in 8th and focused on the first place woman about thirty seconds up the road. Shortly after I refocused ahead, another guy came up and passed me and remained about ten seconds ahead, running about the same pace as me. While slowly closing on the first woman an older runner fell off his pace and I caught him just before the Albee Creek campground. He tried picking up his pace to keep up as I came up. Usually I just run my own race and let these types run with me for a while if they want. But for some reason I just wasn't in the mood so I surged for a few seconds and before I knew it I was up with the first woman. We were now on a long open stretch of road and I started gaining on the runner who passed me in the trees.

Mile 6 - 6:35

I went back and forth with this guy (Eric) a few times but really had to focus on my effort and staying as relaxed as I could at pace. I really had to focus here as there was no one on the radar other than Eric, my pace was starting to get a little more difficult and the long open road was wanting to lull me to sleep. Seeing the leaders coming back down the road was enough to help keep me focused.

Mile 7 - 6:28

More jostling with Eric and I led him through the turnaround at 42:53, just under halfway through the race. Although our moments of hitting pace didn't line up we were running the same average pace for quite a while. After making the turn I was surprised to see how downhill the road looked! This was enough to get me excited for the last half of the race. I came through the first half a bit more tired than I was hoping, but a lot faster than I thought I could.

Mile 8 - 6:19

I was really enjoying the downhill even though I was working pretty good now. I tossed what was left of my Cytomax in my handheld bottle away at the 5 & 8 mile aid station but was surprised to find I didn't have the same liberating sensation I had at Napa.

Mile 9 - 6:19

Another smooth mile, and just after entering the trees again I caught back up to Eric. Somehow our paces would match up well through the next few miles. Here we talked about going after the guy about a minute ahead of us. Eric was clearly feeling better than I was so I encouraged him to go after him when he felt he could.

Mile 10 - 6:20

The rough pavement, turns and rolling hills were really starting to take a toll on my legs at this point. Aerobically I was working, but was still pretty comfortable. My legs on the other hand, were feeling beat up. I was very happy to have Eric alongside to keep me going.

Mile 11 - 6:26

More of the same as mile 10 here, briefly chatting with Eric and gauging what we've got left. The few short uphills became extremely daunting.

Mile 12 - 6:29

My legs were fried going up the last climb and this is where Eric pulled out of reach. I was still happy with my pace and was thinking I could hang on for a sub-1:25, far exceeding my expectations for the day.

Mile 13 - 6:30

I picked up the effort considerably in the last mile. Knowing I needed "only" a 6:30 to stay on track for a 1:25 perhaps I didn't push as hard as I could have. This mile hurt, though. Again it was primarily my legs that failed me. They just feel weak, old and slow.

Finish - 1:25:01

After seeing the 6:30 lap time for mile 13 I knew I was sitting short so I ran the last 0.1 miles at a comfortable sprint. My calf, achilles and hamstrings keep me in constant fear of completely opening up at the end of a race. It was slightly uphill and I could muster only a :36, missing the mark by a second. Considering I was thinking a 1:27 was what I'd run I was still pretty pleased. I had yet to run a half marathon up to my fitness level from start to finish and today was the first one, so I'll take it. I ended up ten seconds behind Eric and I'm very glad there wasn't another 100 meters or so as the first woman was only a few seconds behind me; I thought I was alone. Phew!

Finishing hard with some 10K chump...

...who somehow outkicked me. Unacceptable. I need to get my bandicoot legs back in order.

The Finisher's Medal:

Parking mess on the sand bar:

Expressing my feelings for the HSU XC team. Even though North Dakota's in Division I now I can still hate them, right?

Wasting time waiting for the results to be posted...

And here they are...

1:25:01

7th overall out of 985

7th male out of 334

2nd (1st) M30-34 out of 54

(Since the overall winner couldn't double dip they gave me the Age Group win)

An interesting note on the overall winner, Matt Creason. He was a year behind me in high school and really lit up the North Coast Section. I never knew where he went to college, but he was definitely good enough for a scholarship. I beat him in our only other head to head race when I won the Frosh / Soph boys race at the Viking Opener in 1990. I'll have to snap my training around so I can take the tie-breaker next time...

Picking up my winnies: a medal, etched pint glass and beer!

We had to hit the road right after getting winnies to make it back to Santa Rosa for my dad's 60th birthday party. The one thing he asked for was a flat of fresh strawberries from a tiny roadside stand near Ukiah. I didn't see it on the way up and figured he'd have to go without. But just out of the corner of my eye on the way back down I spotted the tiny homemade sign and barely made the turnoff to get them:

We had a really good evening with everyone. Here's Erin with Trish:

Here's my dad trying to take credit for the grillies Trish prepared and I'm grilling:

My sister, dad and me:

When my dad walked into the backyard wearing that hat Shadow went nuts barking, not sure who the evil intruder was and why he was here to get his innards. Crazy dog!

4/27/09 - 5/3/09

2009-05-04T12:06:00.000-07:00

40+ completely unremarkable miles with the exception of the Avenue of the Giants Half Marathon. The achilles tendinitis was a bit flared up this week.

4/20/09 - 4/26/09

2009-04-29T04:10:00.000-07:00

67.5 miles This was my first decent week of running in a couple of months. I still felt pretty beat up most of the week but started feeling a little better on the weekend. The achilles tendinitis continues to be a major issue.

Sunday, 4/26: 16.5 miles (2:14:18)
Kenny Brown invited me to join a small group of guys for a long run in Annadel this morning. Lots of fast and/or experienced guys, mostly masters ultra runners now. A couple of guys my age-ish. I didn't feel particularly good for the first half but managed to hold my own making the first long climb. Toward the end of the second one Brian, one of the guys, started hammering and I really had to work hard to keep up with him, Kenny and Kevin, a triathlete who owns Echelon Sports in Santa Rosa. After a brief recovery toward the top I continued on with Kenny for several minutes before I realized we were again clipping along at a quicker pace. I was feeling okay and listening to Kenny's exploits of 2:26 marathons and running Comrades last year so I decided to roll with it. I had to work a little at times but it was mostly comfortable.

Saturday, 4/25: ~3 miles (37:00)
Erin requested that we do something she wanted to do this weekend since it was sandwiched between two of my race weekends. We spent the day in San Francisco, going to the Artistic Luxury exhibit at the Legion of Honor, getting a short run in through Golden Gate Park with stops throughout the Botanical Garden and Rose Garden and a quick stop at Sports Basement to replenish my powdered drink & gel supply. They don't advertise it but my friend Joe told me they give an additional 10+% discount off your purchases if you're a certified fitness professional. In the few trips we've made there over the past two years my savings have already paid for the certification. It was a beautiful sunny day and really enjoyable to go for a relaxing run.

Friday, 4/24: 12 miles w/ fartlek (1:40:03)
3.5 mile warm up, first 1.5 with Erin.
3 x [10 x :30 w/ :30 recovery jog] w/ 5:00 easy
1st set progressed from 8K effort down to 3K effort by the 3rd or 4th rep
2nd set progressed from 5K effort down to mile effort by the 4th or 5th rep
3rd set was all at mile effort (but probably 5K pace, gah!)
3.5 mile cool down.
This was a lot harder than I wanted it to be but I think I ran faster than I intended, pace-wise. It was nice to actually do some intensity again though.

Thursday, 4/23: 4- miles (40:23)
Easy run with Shadow. Didn't feel particularly good.

Wednesday, 4/22: PM - 10 miles (1:16:26)
Easy run from home. Felt only a little less flat than other recent runs.

Wednesday, 4/22: AM - 5 miles (38:29)
Easy run plus 4 x :08 hill sprints. Didn't feel that good but the achilles was good enough to try the sprints.

Tuesday, 4/21: 10 miles (1:20:54)
Absolutely miserable run from home along Brush Creek to Montgomery High School & back.

Monday, 4/20: 5+ miles (39:37)
Easy run early in the morning so I could get back to watch the Boston Marathon live. I love Kara Goucher's guts. I can't say I'm impressed with Ryan Hall's strategy, but he hung on fairly well through the finish.

River City Marathon: Half Marathon Race Report

2009-04-19T17:41:00.000-07:00

In case you missed it in my previous post, I've pulled the plug on racing for a couple of months to give myself an opportunity to find some fresh legs and hopefully get over some nagging injuries. Since I was already registered for the River City event I decided to do it as a training run. Finishing a 13-miler at this stage would have been a little victory and I was hoping to push just a little bit to make it seem worthwhile. My biggest fear was that it would be a poorly attended event and I'd find myself in a position to race for an age group award. Since this race was in Sacramento I figured there'd be no chance of that so I was looking forward to a nice run along the beautiful American River Parkway.

Saturday's packet pickup: I have several complaints about this inaugural event. The first was that race-day packet pickup was discouraged, and the race information didn't state whether the race-day pickup would be at the finish line where the shuttles were, at the marathon start in Folsom and/or/nor at the half marathon start halfway between. Additionally, the half marathon start time of 8:30 was not announced until a couple of weeks before the event and the previous information on the website indicated a 7 am start for both events. So I had made plans to go to Fair Oaks Fleet Feet to pick up the packet the day before the race. Whatever. When I got there I found one or two amorphous lines. After about 5 minutes of nothing happening one of the two people handing out packets indicated two lines "Marathon pickup here, half marathon down there!" Okay, great some structure. Five minutes later we get to the front of the half marathon line when the other person shouted "Pre-registered runners back there, registration here!" Excuse me? Just then a volunteer helper showed up, took my name, race and proceeded to shuffle through race packets as if he didn't hear my name but was too sheepish to ask me again. He finally just walked away at which point I spoke up and the race director finally came over. He was defensive about my attitude, but he didn't get that I was upset about being told two different things by two different people, neither of which was correct so no one knew where they were supposed to be. I saw that they were understaffed and was not upset about having to wait. I have no problem being patient but my patience is short for incompetence. Finally that's over with and Erin and I head inside to check out their merchandise. Erin found a pair of shorts and a shirt on sale so we go check out and they ask if we want to be in their computer. I politely declined stating that I never come to Fair Oaks and there's a Fleet Feet in my hometown of Santa Rosa. So then the punk rolls his eyes and says "Yeah, they're popping up everywhere now." Apparently he's not aware that the Santa Rosa Fleet Feet has been in business longer than the one in Fair Oaks. I'll also add that the Santa Rosa Fleet Feet is perhaps the single nicest retail store I've ever been in whereas the tiny, crowded strip mall Fair Oaks version looks like a poor man's Footlocker. Apparently my inability to train makes other people stupider and more anoying.

Despite the wasted drive and annoying scene at the packet pickup, the day was not wasted. I was able to get a hold of my grandmother finally and she said they weren't able to get together Sunday for lunch, so Erin and I were able to stop by for a visit on our way back home. We stayed for only an hour, but it was good to see my grandparents for the first time since the Davis Stampede.

Race Day: After a 4 am wakeup and a two hour drive we got to the starting line with a beautiful morning dawning. After a short walk by the river it was time to start my warm up. I felt better on this warmup than on most of my runs lately so I was looking forward to the distance not being an issue.

Stretching my injured hoof before the race:

Racing to the starting line after using the natural restroom:

Getting the unimportant race instructions (such as no mile markers), after I missed the important ones:

Although the start was on a narrow path, no one was taking the available spaces at the front. I would have been happy to start several rows deep, but took one of the spaces up front since it was there. With an unceremonious countdown and "Go!" similar to the Save A Turkey Trot we were off. Three guys quickly took off and I was quickly passed by three more. But after the dust settled I found myself feeling pretty good and in 7th place. And therefore in a spot to content for an age group award. Uh oh. I tried to settle in to a comfortable pace I felt I could hold through the full distance and things went well for several miles. I checked my Garmin at about a mile and was right at 6:22 pace, but that slowed to 6:28 pace by three miles. After about 3 miles of slowly working on #6 I finally caught him and breezed by at 3.4 miles.

#5 wasn't more than 50 meters ahead so I turned my focus to him. Although I was still feeling pretty comfortable aerobically, my legs were starting to fatigue around 5 miles. Nonetheless I thought I could hold things together until late in the race. After closing the gap to 10 meters, he started to pick up the pace and back off to try keeping that 10 meters on me. We played cat and mouse until about 7 miles where I finally passed him, still on 6:28 pace. Just after passing him my legs became noticeably more fatigued and we entered a series of very long, straight stretches of the trail. Having no one in front of me made these straights appear exceptionally daunting and ultimately led to my mind following my body into the shambles. I backed off the pace to about 6:40's and was shortly repassed. After a mile #5 was out of touch.

Shuffling on alone I felt the heat start affecting me in the open spaces and the humidity through the trees. The beautiful lush riverfront had become a deadly sweltering jungle. At 9 miles I snuck a quick look back around a corner and saw that I was about to be caught again. Knowing it was inevitable I kept on plugging away, probably at 6:50 pace now. Finally at 9.5 I was now in 7th place again. On a hook-shaped swing in the trail I took another look back and couldn't see anyone, so I figured there was well over a minute back to #8. All I had to do was continue forward progress and I'd save myself the embarrassment of losing another place. I backed off the pace again the last three miles as my legs were feeling quite heavy, but the effort unfortunately remained about the same. As I approached the finish I saw #6 pull up just short and step off. A bandit! And I complimented his work and wished him good luck as he passed! Jerk. I cruised through the finish line, or more accurately the finish region. Other than the chutes, nothing was marked. I didn't realize I was done or slow down until someone said "I'll take your bib tag." Um, okay, you do that. Are we done here then?

The course was very pretty, but unpleasant having to dodge all the cyclists. The travel rules are backwards on the path and people seem to do make up their own anyway, so it got a little annoying after a while. The packet pickup and finish area were extremely unorganized and at times chaotic, but the aid station volunteers were great and very supportive. This was a low-key small event which I love, but I hope they've learned some lessons this weekend about how to put on a smooth event. After waiting around for a couple of hours they finally gave us some food and gave out the awards. I'm feeling pretty good tonight so I don't think I'll be setback this week for training.

1:28:07

6th Overall

6th Male

2nd M30-34

Entering the finish region:

Erin grabbed a shot of the American River near the starting line after we headed down the trail:

Here I am after getting my winnies:

And this is what the winnies look like.

Breaking Radio Silence

2009-04-19T17:40:00.000-07:00

I suppose it's time to catch up in the blogging world, although there's really not much up on which to catch on my end. After a great race at Napa off eight weeks of compromised training, I figured a week off then two easy weeks and I'd be ready to start buckling down for my May 16 goal race, the Windermere Marathon. Things did not go according to plan. My recovery was slow in coming, and after some lengthy setbacks I'm quite far from being race ready. Here is a summary of my last several weeks:

3/2 - 3/8: No running. Recovery & celebration week!
3/9 - 3/15: 20 slow, uncomfortable miles in the form of four 5-milers.
3/16 - 3/22: 20 slow, uncomfortable miles in the form of four 5-milers. I finally started feeling better on the last one, running 6:57 pace with just a little effort. However, I noticed a sore throat coming on. I woke up the next morning (Saturday 3/21) with a terrible cold.
3/23 - 3/29: 0 miles, spent most of this week tossing and turning on the couch, working through the day in a zombie-like state and coughing up blood while being too hoarse to talk at all.
3/30 - 4/5: 3 miles, see above week. But this one was worse. It got so bad I had to call the doctor who prescribed some Codeine cough syrup and an inhaler as breathing was difficult at times. I thought I was getting better on Sunday so I tried a few miles. I was wrong. I somehow ended up with poison oak all over and the patch on top of my foot kept me from thinking about running for most of this week which would have been detrimental, so that was a blessing in disguise.
4/6 - 4/12: 40 easy miles. I felt about as bad for each run as I did during the second week after Napa. My Achilles Tendinitis returned and my glute / hip / groin issue remains.
4/13 - 4/19: 45 miles. Still felt completely flat and my legs are definitely recovering still. I'm not sure why it's taking so long. After Thursday morning's 5-miler I did 2 x :08 hill sprints hoping to infuse my legs with some life. Both were a struggle. Later that evening I did a 7-miler including 5 x 1,000m w/ 1:00 recoveries to see if an easy workout would help me feel better at all. Although my legs felt wobbly, weak and tired, I ran 3:49, 3:48, 3:49, 3:47, 3:45 and aerobically felt fine. I concluded this week with the River City Marathon's half marathon event. In addition to not being recovered from Napa yet I think my legs have lost some major strength and endurance relative to my aerobic conditioning. I've probably gained several pounds but haven't looked at the scale yet.

Considering how the last several weeks have gone and the fact I'm nursing some dead legs and lingering injuries, I've decided to abandon my plans to race for the next few months and instead just enjoy my scheduled runs while slowly building up my mileage and health again. So even though I felt like Napa came just as I was starting my Spring season, it was effectively the end of it. I still consider this Spring a success, however. While I did have some specific time goals I was shooting for, my primary goal was to run a marathon well and I accomplished that goal. Now I have plenty of time to work on some important fitness elements before launching an attempt at a sub-2:50 marathon at the California International Marathon.

Idle legs, random thoughts...

2009-03-07T18:33:00.000-08:00

With my achilles tendinitis flared up and a knot in my quad from last weekend's race I've decided to take this entire week off. I've had some time to reflect on my race and thought I owe it to myself to document some of the things I think contributed to such a successful showing. I hope anyone reading this post can benefit in some way from my experience.

Physical preparation
Long term: Last April started my comeback after almost a decade away from regular running. The first several weeks were just easy miles in which my goal was to work up to 30 comfortable and issue free miles. By mid-May I decided I was ready to develop and begin my first real training program since 1999. I introduced some speedwork while slowly increasing to 50 then 60 miles per week. I was a bit too aggressive a couple of times and suffered minor setbacks through the summer. Nonetheless I held up reasonably well.
Short term: After getting myself healthy in December I progressed my volume to 70 miles per week, the minimum I'd consider appropriate for successfully running at my intended level, under 3 hours for the marathon. In addition to the increased weekly mileage an essential component was the consistency at this increased mileage. Although I had to eliminate some scheduled workouts and modify others to accomodate my physical limitations, I hit my intended volume consistently. Additionally, there were a few key workouts that let me know I was ready to run well start to finish. These workouts will vary from person to person. For me, one was a 15 mile progression run on the tail end of some very high mileage days, when my legs were tired. The other was a 20 miler with 30 minutes of Tempo paced work separated by an hour of quick, aerobic running.
Mental preparation
As I mentioned in my Napa race report, I had never run a marathon well and I'd be lying if I had told you before Napa that I knew I would someday be capable of running a good marathon. Despite my strong running background and knowledge of exercise physiology the distance remained somewhat of a riddle to me on many levels. Rather than focusing on the unkowns and areas in which I failed previously, I focused my thoughts on all of my strengths (pacing, patience, endurance, leg speed) and the things I could control (hydration, fueling, mechanics, reaction to surprises such as very fast or slow splits, weather, backup scenarios should plans change - specifically missed meetings with Erin). On many of my runs when I felt tired at the end I envisioned myself in the last 10K of the marathon and despite my pace, focused on my stride and being disciplined with my mechanics and effort.
Planning / strategy
Rather than thinking of my A goal and at which point(s) on the course I could take chances at going for it, I picked a challenging but more realistic goal and came up with a strategy I was confident I could execute. I then made my primary goal executing that strategy rather than thinking about finish time or pacing.
Fueling / hydration
This was the biggest wild-card. I'm from the old school of not taking any fuel on runs of any length, and stopping for water only on really long hot runs that happened to go by a water fountain. In training I figured out how many of what kinds of calories and fluids I handled best. My first three marathon crashes were due to one or more of: dehydration, electrolyte depletion, glucose depletion, ???. I didn't want to take any chances and refreshed my nutrition knowledge. I think my fueling was the most important component to my success at Napa.
Fluids: I read that the stomach can empty about 8 oz. of fluid every half hour while exercising, so this become my target. I planned out where Erin should be along the course and with how much fluid in the bottle to keep me on target. I never once felt thirsty nor too full.
Nutrition: I decided to use Hammer Nutrition's Perpetuem since it includes protein in addition to simple and complex carbs. I think the protein was a huge factor in delaying fatigue in my legs until very late in the race and why I was feeling fresh enough at 19 to drop the hammer going up a mile long hill and stay on the gas for the next three miles. Between bottles of Perpetuem I had a Gu Roctane. I'm not sure if it's any better than regular Gu, but for races I'm willing to spend an extra couple of bucks in case Gu's claims have any validity.
Electrolytes: For the past year I've been using Elete electrolyte add in. For my two bottles of water I used the electrolyte water. Since Perpetuem also contains some electrolytes I also added a half dose of Elete to each bottle of Perpetuem.
Strategy: With the components described above I sought to alternate my consumption to keep my stomach from being overwhelmed with one type of cocktail at a time. I started with 12 oz. of Perpetuem, then went with 10 oz. of water plus the Roctane, back to 12 oz. of Perpetuem and finally back to about 8 oz. of water. As I stated in my report, I wanted another Gu along with that water at 21 but it was gone. I'm now thinking it would have helped me the last three miles. My stomach was very happy with this strategy. I never felt full or nauseous or that I had to choke any of it down.
Execution
All the planning and preparation is useless unless you can successfully execute your plan! For me this meant rehearsing the race start to finish with everything I intended to do. Successful execution also means adapting when things don't go as planned. My first mile was slower than I intended and felt much harder than 7:02. I had also planned on running with Ron through at least the late teens, not only through three. And I certainly was expecting my calf, achilles and glute & hamstring to warm up after a few miles rather than linger in a state of mild discomfort the entire race. I didn't panic when any of these things happened and quickly focused on the things I could control - my mental rehearsal during my difficult training miles paid off here. I thought about my effort, my stride and my pacing. As other runners jockeyed positions up hills, down hills, past aid stations I let them come and go and didn't get caught up in their races.

So, that was more for me than for anyone else. If there's something in there that you may be able to use I hope it helps in your next marathon.

One thing I didn't include in my report was that during the long, agonizing stretch in the early 20's a runner went absolutely flying by me, running well under 6:20 pace. He was going so fast I wouldn't have been able to respond even had I tried. It turns out that it was Bob Shebest, currently the fastest local runner now that "Downtown" Kenny Brown, the 2003 Napa Valley Marathon champion, has moved on. Bob was using Napa as a tuneup for the AR50. He's a sub-2:40 guy and was clearly able to drop something ugly on his way to running a modest 2:54.

With this being an off week for my running I thought I'd share some other things that have been on my mind. Two weeks ago we found out our Ergo program manager at Agilent was being let go. She's been with Agilent for over 20 years. She's an excellent manager and was very supportive. I will miss her very much as we move onto the next chapter at work. Additionally, our budget is also being reduced and my manager has had his hands full figuring out where he's going to trim services. So far Joe and I appear to be safe due to ongoing ergo needs and our recent expansion into the fitness / wellness program. I'm lucky I have a background in kinesiology and a certification from the ACSM! For Erin, she's been very active looking for a new job in a very tough market. Gottschalk's will be closing very soon, no later than the end of March and I'm not sure how much longer she'll be getting paid. Things are pretty tight right now and we're both hoping she finds something soon. Kaiser continues to batten the hatches but it looks like my dad's job is secure. Real estate remains a strange market but it is picking up. The housing market usually leads the economy into and out of recessions so hopefully my mom's able to get back in the game again soon.

On the positive side, my sister's kicking butt at work and was recently given a big bonus and raise. My high school coach Dougie just won the California Interscholastic Federation's highest coaching honor again (fortunately my senior year was his first year coaching and I wasn't around for the 25 pushups per curse word rule!). The bulk of our storms are over, the grass is green, the wildflowers are out, Daylight Savings starts tomorrow. I got the motorcycles cleaned up this weekend and will start riding again soon. I've got a great race under my belt with a year of big potential for my running resurection. For the past couple of weeks Erin and I have been watching a hummingbird's nest in an oak tree just a few feet off our deck. Earlier this week the eggs hatched and there's been a lot of activity - very exciting to watch.

So with so many people facing difficult times and uncertainty, I'm wishing all of my friends reading this hope and health. I hope you all can soon find yourselves flying down the highway singing "Born To Run"... (sorry for the ad at the beginning)

Napa Valley Marathon Race Report

2009-03-02T06:38:00.001-08:00

Even though I'd run three marathons before, I've never trained for one and never ran one well so I was looking to exorcise some demons in my backyard marathon. My training cycle has me peaking for a mid-May marathon, but I felt my training so far prepared me reasonably well for this one. Considering my inability to finish well in the past my primary goal today was to run well from start to finish, whatever that turned out to be. I felt that would give me a reasonable shot at sub-3, weather permitting.

I woke up well rested before the race. It was nice to be able to stay at home in my own bed for a marathon and to have my pre-race routine figured out from CIM. After my ten minute shake-out run I got my drinks prepared and gear on then putzed around until it was time to go. Erin got me near the start right on time and went off to our first meeting point along the course. Napa is a point-to-point run with many cross streets that spectators can use off of Highway 29 which parallels the Silverado Trail on the other side of Napa Valley. I decided to take advantage of this by having Erin be my aid stations at three key intersections.

At the starting line a group of Runner's World Online friends met up - it was nice to meet Ted, Eddie and blogging friend Bob, the TokyoRacer! Ron was also there but we missed Jonathan (Gundy) before the gun.

My race strategy was to go out conservatively the first 6 miles where the only three significant hills were then settle into my race pace.

Before heading out into the drizzle:

We all started out together with Ron and I setting the pace trying to get past some of the early traffic. The rain was fairly light but persisted through the entire race. Fortunately there was no discernable headwind as was anticipated. I tried glancing back the first few miles to see where the rest of our sub-3 crew was but it was a bit too crowded for me to pick them out. Somewhere in the second mile I heard Gundy shout that he was coming. Ron and I ran pretty comfortably together through three miles and I was glad to find the hills weren't as steep or long as they seemed while driving the course. Ron dropped a 6:30 mile on me for number 4 and I spent 22 miles watching him slowly fade into the distance. Other than miles 4 & 5 we were probably running the same pace until about 16 when he starting gapping me again. Fortunately by mile 4 I caught up with an old school friend, Jorge, who's now the manager at Napa Running Company. This was his first road marathon and he was shooting for 3:00 - 3:10. We teamed up for several miles with a nice guy wearing a Jeruselum running club singlet and another nice guy who's name is Ahjah according to the results. I wasn't feeling particularly good, but I wasn't working terribly hard either. By 7 miles I had taken in 10 ounces of Perpetuem and tossed my bottle.
1 - 7:02.5
2 - 6:40.5
3 - 6:54.0
4 - 6:34.6
5 - 6:45.4
6 - 6:47.5
7 - 6:44.6

Just after 7 miles, I started looking for Erin who had my next bottle - it was easy to spot her with her blonde hair and big smile! She was right where I asked her to be and the exchange went perfectly. I even tried to introduce her to Jorge as we ran by. Over the next few miles I started pulling away from Jorge and our Jeruselum friend, with Ahjah hot on my heels. Over the next four miles we caught just a few runners, but were slowly gaining on a pack led by Ron and the second woman about 70 meters ahead. My shoes by this point had become completely waterlogged and in the roomy toe box of the NB 903's my feet were swimming a bit. Although I was still running in control, my calf tightness and achilles tendinitis weren't going away like they usually do after a few miles. Further, running on the right side of the road caused my glute and hamstring to become aggravated. All issues were on my left leg. Nevertheless I pressed on. Through these four miles I took down a Roctane with 8 ounces of electrolyte water. I felt I was taking in as much liquid as my stomach would allow.
8 - 6:44.4
9 - 6:45.6
10 - 6:44.7
11 - 6:37.8

Just after 11 Erin was again right where I asked her to be with the bottle for my next leg. With the road being so wide and my mind focused on running, the beautiful surrounding scenery didn't really get noticed so it was nice to have my meetings with Erin break up the monotony. Over the next several miles Ahjah and I continued to close on the group ahead as it slowly broke apart. On a climb just before 13 we passed what was left of them as Ron, the second woman and another runner were still strung out ahead of us. I knew there was a long gradual climb in the late teens so I was trying to keep my effort somewhat conservative but still work on the gap to the second woman. We ran into a bit of a headwind at 17, but it didn't last more than a couple of minutes. Just before my last meeting with Erin a little after 18, I caught her with Ahjah close behind. My mom, sister and nephew made it out to this intersection also and were yelling along with the rest of the sizeable crowd - this was a great spot for support, right before the climb. Over this stretch I took down about 10 ounces of Perpetuem again.
12 - 6:44.9
13 - 6:39.0
half - 1:28:26.4, estimated from 0.1 * mile 14 split - course wasn't marked
14 - 6:46.1
15 - 6:39.0
16 - 6:43.9
17 - 6:50.2
18 - 6:31.3

Starting the climb just after mile 19 I was getting tired, but feeling good enough to not have the hill really affect me so I squeezed the throttle just a little bit and started putting some distance on Ahjah and the woman. This climb was about a mile long but it was very gradual and I was able to get a comfortable rhythm going. Even after I started to press, Ron was noticeably pulling away now, with about 150 meters on me. Cresting the hill and heading back down just after 20 I reached for my second Roctane in my shorts pocket... but it was gone! I wasn't sure if I was going to need or want it but packed it along just in case. It must have bounced out at some point. Since I didn't feel nauseous and didn't think it would hurt me I wanted to take it down. On this downhill stretch just after 20 the woman passed me again and held a 10 - 15 meter gap on me for the next couple of miles. Miles 20.5 - 23 are very flat, straight and wide open. I was really starting to get tired here and my left quad was now getting micro-spasms, but nothing major - I had anticipated something like this happening. This was mentally an extremely tough stretch. Somehow I kept myself on pace with an increased effort and kept the gap to the woman at about 30 meters. I no longer heard Ahjah's footsteps but could hear the aid station crowds cheering for him about 50 meters back. I dumped what was left of my bottle of electrolyte water at the 22 mile aid station and for the first time all race freed my hands up. It felt good!
19 - 6:36.3
20 - 6:41.1
21 - 6:34.7
22 - 6:40.6
23 - 6:40.5

After what felt like forever on this stretch we mercifully turned off onto smaller country roads just at the 23 mile mark. I was really starting to struggle now but was trying to focus on the woman ahead and her bike guide. I was continuing to rub micro-spasms out of my left quad. While I was wondering how long I could put off further cramping, I was also very grateful to have made it this late in the race without a major disaster - this was very new ground for me!
In addition to fading a bit, my focus had to shift to my footing. The country roads were pretty uneven and full of cracks and ruts which, filled with water from the rain, made for a surprisingly challenging obstacle course. I wasn't feeling confident enough to continue pushing harder and harder the last three miles for a sub-2:56 so I decided to give just a few seconds back the last few miles and lock up a good finish and sub-3. With about a mile to go Ahjah took advantage of my small drop off and passed me. I still wasn't willing to gamble with a push and gave him encouragement as he pressed on. I'm not sure if having that Roctane would have helped keep me from dropping off 9, 19 and 29 seconds the last three miles but it couldn't have hurt. I never felt any nausea. Coming past mile 26 my watch said I had 1:34 to get in under 2:57 - Now I was ready to gamble with a push! Considering the weather there were a surprising number of people out which helped me push through the end strong.

Finishing at 10K pace.

I need to work on those shoulders the last part of a race...

24 - 6:48.6
25 - 6:59.2
26 - 7:09.5
26.2 - 1:21.5
2nd half - 1:28:22.4, estimated - a 4 second negative split

Ron finished with his PR two and a half minutes in front of me and I was still in the finish area when Jorge came in with a phenomenal debut of 3:01. I knew Erin was waiting with my dry clothes so I limped off to meet her and take my shower. A big congratulations to Eddie and Ted who ran better than they predicted and were within just a few seconds of sub-3! Gundy was close again as well and I'm curious to hear about Bob's race when he's able to update his blog.

For me, I finally put into practice some sound strategies for race preparation, hydration and fueling, race strategy and adaptation and got a little luck with everything coming together at the right time. Time for some recovery then I'm looking forward to tightening the screws on my training for another big PR at the Windermere Marathon in a couple of months!

Woo Hoo!
2:56:49 - New PR
27 / 1836 overall

25 / 1030 males

6 / 131 M30-34

#3 local finisher (Lake, Marin, Napa & Sonoma Counties)

My awesome support crew:

My nephew Cole and me:

My sister Kimi and my Mom:

Cole and Erin:

Finisher's medal:

Taper week, 2/23/09 - 3/1/09

2009-03-02T06:23:00.000-08:00

56.5 miles. I'm not too familiar with effective taper weeks so I tried incorporating various bits and pieces that made sense to me. It seems to have worked out really well. After a couple of weeks of feeling pretty crappy I started feeling better Thursday and came into Sunday's marathon with no excuses on a physical level. My Garmin software ate my data so I'm including only the times that I remember.

Sunday, 3/1: Napa Valley Marathon
See race report above.

Saturday, 2/28: 3 miles easy
Nice and easy with 3 x 100m strides on the track.

Friday, 2/27: 3 miles easy
With 4 x 100m strides on the track. It kind of hurt to get my body up and moving at mile - 3K pace for the strides.

Thursday, 2/26: 5 miles
With 1600 meters at goal marathon effort and 4 x 200m strides at 3K effort w/ 200m recovery jogs. I wanted to focus on effort and ran this blind so I didn't see my splits until after finishing the run.
1600m - 6:34
200's were all at 39-40 and the recovery jogs were close to 8:00 pace so that 1600m ended up being 6:45.
I felt pretty good for this.

Wednesday, 2/25: 5 miles
With 3200 meters at goal marathon pace.
6:45
6:33

Tuesday, 2/24: 13 miles total
AM - 7 miles easy
PM - 6.5 miles with 4 x 1000m in 3:45 w/ 400m recovery jogs

Monday, 2/23: Off

Week 2, phase III: 2/16/09 - 2/22/09

2009-02-20T11:14:00.000-08:00

50 miles. Lower mileage than I was hoping for, but I definitely needed to back off to have a chance at sub-3 next weekend. My legs were flat all week so I'm hoping they come around in the next few days. It's looking like rain for Marathon Morning...

Sunday, 2/22: 4 miles easy (33:03)
Slow run with Shadow during a brief break in the hard rain.

Saturday, 2/21: 12 miles, mix workout (1:33:25)
3 mile warm up to the track for a mix workout and a 2.5 mile cool down:

4 x 1,000m @ 3:45 w/ 1:00 rests
6 x 200m @ 39 w/ 200m recovery jogs
3200m @ GMP (Turned out to be 6:39 pace instead of 6:45)

I felt pretty beat up for this one. My calf continues to be more troublesome than the past month, I'm having some achilles tendinitis on the same leg, my hamstring on the same leg is having some issues and after 1K on the track my quads felt shot. I didn't feel so hot the week leading up to CIM and ended up feeling quite good race day so I'm not going to worry about it yet.

Friday, 2/20: Off
Even though I felt like doing an easy 5 I decided to give my legs a rest day.

Thursday, 2/19: 7 miles easy (56:45)
My legs were still feeling some micro-damage and a little flat. I intended to make this an easy five, possibly with some strides if the legs came around. I ended up feeling a little better than expected, but not good enough for any intensity. The good news is the pace at which I'm running at recovery effort has been coming down. I also tried out another new tool for Napa, the Amphipod Handheld Lite. Quite comfortable, but not as much as the UD . The tradeoff is a very funtional pocket and an extra 2 ounce capacity. I like the large mouths of the Amphipod products since you can put ice in the bottles. This is handy in the summer.

Wednesday, 2/18: 10 miles easy (1:22:54)
Another easy recovery run - the "Cougar Crawl." My legs are still recovering, but I did run extra quick down the dark, unlit access path in the open space of the subdivision. My calf is still feeling more tenuous than in previous weeks and I'm noticing some achiles tendinitis now. Hopefully getting back on the ice and Advil will help get me through it quickly. This happened a couple of months ago as well, so I'm hopeful for a quick resolution. I brought along a new bottle I plan on using for Napa, the Ultimate Direction 10 oz. Fast Draw. It's extremely comfortable and functional, but the pocket is nearly useless. I was barely able to cram a Gu in there and can see issues with trying to get it back out on the run.

Tuesday, 2/17: 7 miles easy (58:12)
My legs are still feeling beat down and flat. I had some localized strain in the calf still. Ugh.

Monday, 2/16: 10 miles, last 4 MP (1:12:54, last 4 @ 6:45 pace)
Even though I had President's Day off I delayed this one until dusk, hoping for a break in the rain. Fortunately a few minutes into the run it stopped raining. Unfortunately the rain was replaced with hail. Ouch!!! The hail lasted for about ten minutes then gave way to some light rain for the rest of the run. My legs were completely flat from Saturday's run still. I probably wasn't 100% recovered from the previous weekend's half marathon before doing that workout. The positive from Saturday's workout is that I ran well on tired legs, but the downside is I've probably compromised my preparation for Napa to some degree. As long as I can take it fairly easy the next week and a half I think I've gained some confidence, so hopefully I'll realize a good tradeoff on 3/1.

Later in the evening one of the Bay Area news stations reported there was a mountain lion attack in the Skyhawk subdivision of Santa Rosa late in the afternoon. Um.... I was in the Skyhawk subdivision late in the afternoon.... Apparently while this was going on I was running along the streets completely oblivious to the fact that on the other side of a row of houses a woman was fighting to protect her puppy from two juvenile cougars. Just minutes before the attack I was running down an access path in that open space. Yikes! My friend and high school teammate Nika, who is quoted in the article, lives in one of the houses backing up to the open space. She has three young daughters and a few dogs.

The woman who was attacked is interviewed here.

The access path I take runs down from this row of houses in the photo below, then along the gulley behind the woman back into the subdivision. My route takes me right by this other access point:

Week 1, phase III: 2/9/09 - 2/15/2009

2009-02-16T08:41:00.000-08:00

60 miles. Not the week I was hoping for, but it took me a while to recover from the half marathon. I think I struck the right balance between recovery, volume and quality this week.

Sunday, 2/15: 5 miles easy (38:47)
I had hoped to do 15 and put some miles on tired legs, but the weather was terrible. Downpouring rain, swirling gusty winds up to 40 mph and low 40's. The pelaton for the Tour of California had just passed before I reached the route and the spectator traffic was very busy. I didn't feel safe on the streets and sidewalks so I went to the high school only to find the track and multi-use fields completely flooded.

Saturday, 2/14: 20 miles, workout (2:21:45)
Although I still had some very subtle lingering soreness from last Sunday and I wasn't optimally fueled to start this workout, it turned out to be one of my better ones of late.

3 mile warm up @ 7:24 pace
10:00 @ 6:02 pace, net incline of 0.5%
2:00 walk recovery
10:00 @ 6:15 pace, net inclinde of 1.4%
2:00 walk recovery
1:00:00 upper aerobic effort @ 7:15 pace
10:00 @ 5:54 pace, net decline of -1.1%
3.75 mile cool down @ 7:05 pace

This one gives me a lot of confidence for the sub-3 attempt in two weeks. I had a little drop off in my tempo paces compared to the last couple of tempo workouts, but being able to hold a comfortably quicker pace the rest of the run is extremely encouraging. I was probably running right around 3-hour pace the last 2.5 - 3 miles of the cool down. I was tired but pretty comfortable and controlled.

Friday, 2/13: Off
Still feeling a little tired and sore.

Thursday, 2/12: PM - 10.5 miles easy (1:22:12)
Easy run over rolling hills. Felt okay.

Thursday, 2/12: AM - 7 miles easy (53:51)
Easy run over rolling hills. Felt okay.

Wednesday, 2/11: Off
Feeling tired and sore from Sunday.

Tuesday, 2/10: 10.5 miles (1:22:34)
Easy run over rolling hills. Felt a little tired and sore.

Monday, 2/9: 7 miles (55:39)
Easy recovery run over rolling hills.

Davis Stampede Race Report

2009-02-08T17:51:00.000-08:00

After a necessarily conservative progression into higher mileage after CIM, and a few good workouts the past two weeks I was looking forward to testing my fitness in this race. After making my racing comeback last July I didn't feel race-sharp until late September. I was expecting a little bit of a mental relapse and coupled with my atrocious training week coming in I set what I felt were challenging but conservative goals. I hoped I was in 1:22 shape, felt I was in 1:23 shape and set 1:24 as an A goal and 1:25 as the worst-case-scenario B goal since the scheduled workout for the day was 13 miles at goal marathon pace.

My strategy was to run the first four miles at 6:20 pace and reevaluate how I felt, either holding pace, easing off or speeding up 5 seconds per mile through the next four miles where another reevaluation would occur. I felt this would put me in great control of running near my fitness for the day.

Pre-race:
The morning was less cool than I thought it would be, perfect racing weather. Even though I got a ten minute run plus a few strides in I didn't feel warmed up at all. I couldn't get my racing flats tied comfortably either and spent too much time futzing with them. The race was supposed to start at 8:15 so I made my way over to the line... barely in time for the countdown. They decided to start at 8:10. Bad omen number one.

Warming up Trying to get my head in the race

Mile 1 - 6:20.6
The first half mile was a little too crowded with the 10K and half marathon starting together. Fortunately I was able to dial into my pace right away. It wasn't hard but I wasn't feeling comfortable yet. The second half of the first mile I pulled away from a pack and very slowly worked up to another pack of about 5 runners. I was starting to feel a little more comfortable but still not feeling the race at all.

Mile 2 - 6:21.6

Well into the second mile we turned onto a bike path and hit the second mile mark. I was wide man out in a row of 6 and had to push a little before the turn to get clear. Just after the second mile the 10K split and I could see several half marathoners strung out along the path - everyone already running on their own.

Mile 3 - 6:16.9

My little surge at the end of mile 2 carried over into this mile and I knew it. Unfortunately I abandoned my race plan and focused on a woman about 20 meters ahead of me. Unfortunately she had also picked up the pace so I let myself get pulled into running faster than I knew I should have. Still, I was physically feeling quite decent now but my mind remained undisciplined.

Mile 4 - 6:15.4
Still feeling pretty good physically, I had no handle on the race so I just kept working on the woman ahead - I was slowly pulling her in. Toward the end of mile 4 I pulled up on her shoulder a couple of times before she surged again. At this point I figured she was in contention for top 3 women and I thought she may want to work together since everyone else was alone and there was a bit of wind. But apparently not.

Mile 5 - 6:21.6

Just after the mile 4 marker we turned onto a gravel road and came to the second aid station. She slowed to grab some water and I continued on. The loose gravel took some zip off the pace, but I was still cruising fairly comfortably. From here it was a good 120 meters to the next few runners so I tried to focus on my stride and keeping the effort up.

Mile 6 - 6:39.7

I knew this mile would be a bit slower as we hit an overpass into the wind across I-80. I didn't think it would be this slow, though. The Garmin measured this mile a few hundredths long, though. During this mile we started the first of many brief annoying route sharing with the 10K participants.

Mile 7 - 6:20.4
Okay, that's better. I was starting to work pretty hard in this mile, particularly on a 1/3 mile stretch on a severely crowned road. This stretch really fatigued my legs for some reason and really made my feet feel awkward, a remnant of not getting my laces tight just right I assume. Although I was still too far away and too tired to make a move, I noticed I was making decent progress on the guy in front of me, even though the next woman had taken off. Coming off Mace Boulevard my left calf started feeling excessively fatigued - but at least in a new location than my ongoing issues. This one was very high and lateral, no doubt due to the crown of the road. Should have taken the sidewalk.

Mile 8 - 6:18.4
This was the mile I realized I wasn't going to have enough in the tank to finish out the race at this pace. Nonetheless I pressed on in pursuit of the next runner. This mile took it's toll on me with lots of winding and rolling bike paths against the 10K participants. And yes, I'm using the term "participants" on purpose - the runners who would know which side of the path to move to and stay on were long gone. I finally caught the next runner just before mile 8 and pressed on. Toward the end of this mile my new calf strain was becoming more pronounced. Grrr.

Mile 9 - 6:30.7
After pressing for another half mile, I backed off the pace a bit the second half of this mile hoping to settle into a pace that I could either use to recover before a final push or at least salvage my B goal should recovery prove elusive. Two guys who ran a very smart race flew by me here and the guy I passed in mile 8 was hanging on, happy to see that I was starting to struggle, too. I was becoming more concerned about my calf but I honestly believe I wouldn't have fared any better had I not had the distraction. My mind was clearly not ready to race even though I was trying to will it there.

Mile 10 - 6:19.5
I was still trying to push with the footsteps slowly closing behind me, but I knew we weren't running this fast. The Garmin confirmed this was several hundreths of a mile short. I was starting to get rattled with the 10K walkers on the path and not knowing exactly when we'd hit the last overpass...

Mile 11 - 7:11.0
At this point I was pretty rattled and pretty much done racing and it didn't register that this mile was long and made up for the short previous mile (average for the two was 6:45). I saw 7:xx and put myself on autopilot. Still, my pursuer did not move. It was becoming downright infuriating at this point. Where the hell is that damned overpass???

Mile 12 - 6:54.7

Having already thrown in the towel and shut the poorly operating mental machinery down there's really not much to say about this mile. 10K walkers. Strollers. Underpass, not overpass. Whoop-de-freakin'-do. The punk in the shin-length basketball shorts finally passed me right at the 12 mile marker and mercifully left me to whimper in the final mile in peace.

Mile 13.1 - 7:23.7 (6:39 pace)

There are two things worth mentioning about this mile:

1) Coming off the bike path onto the city streets the course was poorly marked for the first time or I was totally out of it (or both) and I cut about 5-10 meters off a corner before someone snapped me back to reality making my miserable finishing time even more pathetic since I cheated to get it.

2) I did not get passed by the woman I left back at the mile 4 aid station. But it was close.

The festive finish chute (is it Easter already?)

Hauling my sorry gut the last few meters

Final time was 1:25:12.1. It was a soft year as I was 16th overall, 15th male and 3rd in the M30-34 category. Unfortunately I assumed I was out of the age group awards and took off for breakfast. Looks like I have a phone call to make tomorrow. Hopefully I can get the medal - they were quite lovely. Had I known the guy who passed me in the last mile and beat me by 20 seconds was in my age group I may have found another gear. Maybe not, though. Who the hell my age wears basketball shorts past his knees with shaved legs to run a 1:25 half?

My grandmother said with my hair I looked like her sister Theresa who recently passed away. Apparently it's time for a haircut and to loose about 200 pounds.

Me, Grandpa Lester, Erin

Grandma Mary, me, Grandpa Lester

It was really nice to see my grandparents and have a nice breakfast with them. My grandma went to the T-shirt table and conned / annoyed her way into six participant shirts because my grandpa was born in Davis and walks around town every day.

My comeback isn't progressing as quickly as I had hoped, but I'm grateful every chance I get to run and have my wife and family share these times with me. Time to refocus for Napa.

Week 6, phase II: 2/2/09 - 2/8/2009

2009-02-08T17:42:00.000-08:00

31 miles. This week speaks for itself. Terrible mileage, no quality workouts and a terrible race. I think my mind was on running this week, but my heart wasn't. Extremely hectic work week - probably the most hectic in my 3 1/2 years at this job. I'm not happy about this week but I'm not going to beat myself up over it.

Sunday, 2/8: Davis Stampede Half Marathon
See race report above.

Saturday, 2/7: 3 miles easy
Too lazy to look at the Garmin software for the time - something like 32:00 easy with Erin with 4 x 70m strides. Felt awful.

Friday, 2/6: 7 miles easy
Something like 53 minutes. Didn't feel too bad or too good.

Thursday, 2/5: 7 miles easy
Something like 51 minutes.

Wednesday, 2/4: Off

Tuesday, 2/3: Off

Monday, 2/2: Off

Week 5, phase II: 1/26/09 - 2/1/2009

2009-01-30T14:56:00.000-08:00

90 miles. Although my fitness is a shadow of what it was ten years ago, this was the best week of training I've ever had, and it came on the heels of the best weekend of training I've ever had. While I'm still coaxing along some little aches and pains, I think I'm managing them pretty well. I was 30 miles away from my all-time high weekly mileage but I've never had a week this high with so much quality.

Sunday, 2/1: 13+ miles, tempo workout (1:36:37)
Beautiful sunny and warm day along Santa Rosa Creek on the Westside Trail (we desperately need rain, though). ~5 mile warm up (Garmin registered 4.2 in 33:09 due to operator error), 3 x 2 mile Tempo with 2:00 recovery walks, 2.5 mile cool down (21:00). I didn't feel nearly as good as last night but I did feel ready for the workout. My times were right around where I thought they'd be but I worked a little too hard for them. I was hanging on for dear life on the last mile. I shut the watch off when I hit 13, but was still about three miles from the truck, so with my jog/walk back and the near mile I wasn't running the watch on the warmup I ran between 15 and 16 miles total. I didn't log it since that would put me within a recovery run of 100 for the week and that may have been too tempting tonight!
1st set - 12:14 (6:02, 6:12) = 6:07 pace
2nd set - 12:06 (6:03, 6:03) = 6:03 pace
3rd set - 12:08 (5:58, 6:10) = 6:04 pace
Average = 6:05 pace

Saturday, 1/31: PM - 5 miles easy, track drills (35:45)
Easy run from home, the long way to the high school track. I felt really good on the way there, averaging 7:13 miles. I did 3 sets of drills out of Hudson's book plus a lateral alternating foot shuffle. On my way out I did a lap and a half on the track that included 3 x 100m strides - I felt tired but efficient; very good news. On the way back it was all I could do to keep from unleashing something really fast. I felt so good!

Saturday, 1/31: AM - 7 miles easy (1:00:49)
Easy run from home. Although it was a bit chilly, the late morning start meant a beautifully sunny run. I got to start out with Erin who was doing her fourth run in six days after a long layoff due to a demanding work routine. I'm really happy she's found the time and energy to run lately.

Friday, 1/30: PM - 5 miles easy (41:03)
Recovery run from home with Shadow - he's been locked up on the deck most of the week with minimal play time so we were both happy to romp around the high school fields together. I was a little tired and the left calf a little iffy but I felt pretty decent otherwise. This was an unceremonious conclusion to a seven day century.

Friday, 1/30: AM - 12 miles (1:28:44)
What started out being an easy 5 - 7 mile recovery run turned into a 12 miler at a good clip. I felt pretty good after last night's workout and just kept going. I ran out of gas toward the end as I didn't refuel or rehydrate but the pace never slowed. Another very cold morning - had to wear the mittens!

Thursday, 1/29: 10 miles, speed workout (1:26:52)
2.5+ mile warm up to a nice stretch of trail in Annadel where I did 10 x quarter mile repeats with a 3:00 recovery jog back and 2.5- mile cool down. This one hurt. A lot. I started out at 3K effort but about a third of the way through that came closer to all out effort during a steeper portion of the trail, then back to about 1500m pace the last third after the climb eased up again. One frustration is that the Garmin measures a quarter mile under the trees so poorly that I never knew where it would let me stop - it varied by about 70 meters! It was also extremely cold - to the point of annoyance with my hands. On the positive side, this is the workout I failed at back in 2000 when I first drafted up a training plan to run really fast at Kenwood. I quit that day after only 2 or 3 reps and didn't run a challenging workout again until my comeback last Spring. I was happy to knock it out even though after two I thought there was no way I could finish all ten. On the cool down my legs had that wonderfully useless sensation you get only from lots of near maximal intervals.

Wednesday, 1/28: PM - 7 miles easy, with hill sprints (55:44)
Easy run from home after work. I knew I wouldn't get myself to do hill sprints on the unlit hill by my house at the end of the run I chose a suitable alternative halfway through to do 5 x 50m sprints. I felt lethargic during them but pretty good after.

Wednesday, 1/28: AM - 6 miles easy (46:21)
Erin and I went to Spring Lake for an easy early morning run. It was really cold! I did my 6 mile route while she went around the lake for a little under 4. I started out really slow; I was pretty tender after all the miles lately, but I was able to settle into a decent pace after a couple of miles.

Tuesday, 1/27: 15 miles easy (2:03:38)
Easy long run from home. Still tired so I just took it really easy. Fortunately I had my Amphipod belt so the fuel and liquid probably prevented a disastrous march home the last few miles. Not that it wasn't ugly anyway.

Monday, 1/26: 10 miles easy (1:23:02)
Easy recovery run after the 35 mile weekend. I felt tired but okay.

Week 4, phase II: 1/19/09 - 1/25/09

2009-01-21T08:24:00.000-08:00

70 miles. Another fairly decent week - not as I drew it up, but with a good amount of quality and more importantly, all of the scheduled quantity. Still battling calf issues which are still preventing me from doing any fast workouts, but those are the least important component of my fitness so I'm okay with that.

Sunday, 1/25: late PM - 10 miles (1:15:20)
With the two off days I was only ten miles short of my weekly goal, so after a cup of coffee I headed out into the cold and finished off the remaining miles with 19 minutes to spare on the week. I felt pretty good on this one, and it turned out to be an easy progression run, from about 7:50 pace through a rolling climb to halfway and a steady acceleration to just under 7:00 pace over the last five miles. My calf didn't bother me until after the run.

Sunday, 1/25: early PM - 5 miles (37:33)
Easy recovery run that was a little too quick. Although tired from yesterday's workout I felt pretty good.

Saturday, 1/24: 20 miles, tempo - long - tempo (2:32:08)
After yesterday's rest I decided to move Sunday's run to Saturday. I felt reasonably good for this one, but my legs were definitely sore afterwards. Running with the Amphipod fuel belt was a little annoying at first and I'm sure the weight slowed me down just a bit on the first 3 x mile set but it was pretty comfortable and I soon forgot about it.

3 mile warm up (23:00)
3 x mile w/ 1:00 recovery (6:10, 6:04, 6:08), slightly uphill
1 hour easy (7.5 miles)
2 x mile w/ 1:00 recovery (5:50, 5:49), slightly downhill
4.2 mile cool down (34:05)

Tempo paces averaged 6:00.5, with a net elevation gain of 71 feet and an extra 2 pounds of fluid on my belt for the first three. Clearly faster than my current Tempo pace but a great workout nonetheless.

Friday, 1/23: Off
Started out after work with a very sore and tight calf. Emotionally it was a major struggle and after a 1/3 of a mile I just decided to walk back home. I slept a very long time Friday night, so I guess I needed the rest.

Thursday, 1/22: PM - 8 miles easy (1:02:19)
Another easy run, the calf felt a little better but still iffy.

Thursday, 1/22: AM - 5 miles easy (38:50)
Other than the calf feeling a slight strain I felt okay. Took it easy.

Wednesday, 1/21: Off
The calf was feeling a little strained from last night so I took my first day off in 21 days.

Tuesday, 1/20: 15 mile fast finish long run (1:54:49)
Although still a little fatigued, I was feeling good after Sunday's MP run and with no real intensity scheduled until Thursday I decided to add just a little to a longer run. This workout was taken from Greg McMillan's pages and was three miles shorter than his example run. I had to make up the route as I went since I didn't have a 15 miler that lent itself to doing this workout well. I ended up finishing the 15 within a quarter mile from home, and it ended up being a great route I may end up using for regular 15 milers.

The last five miles were supposed to be a gradual progression culminating in the last mile being an all-out race simulation, all averaging out to Marathon Pace. Since this was an impromptu addition to my week I picked my goal MP for Napa, not Windermere which is 6:50. Since my 10 miler Sunday was better than any race effort I've put out in a while I decided against making the last mile of this run a race simulation as well, and just wanted to continue the :10 cutdown. So the plan became to cut down in :10 increments from 7:10. Most of this stretch was very subtly uphill as I followed a creek back home. Footing was a little dicey as well - the bike path and streets were poorly lit, if at all, and were riddled with cracks. In the 14th mile I ran through a pitch black stretch of about 150 meters and ran my sorry butt right off the path and almost into a tree. I felt pretty comfortable down to 6:45-ish but the last 2 miles were pretty tough. Getting an intense effort in after 90 minutes of running and while still not fully recovered from a hard hour run was perfect marathon training in my opinion. I'd like to incorporate this more in my training from here on out.

10 miles easy: 1:21:04
11 - 7:06.2 (target - 7:10)
12 - 6:58.3 (target - 7:00)
13 - 6:43.5 (target - 6:50)
14 - 6:32.2 (target - 6:40)
15 - 6:24.8 (target - sub 6:30)
Average - 6:45.0 (target - 6:50)

Monday, 1/19: 7 miles (53:13)
Easy run from home down the creek and back. Felt really tired from yesterday, but feel like I'm coming out of my funk.

Week 3, phase II: 1/12/09 - 1/18/09

2009-01-14T05:33:00.000-08:00

70 miles. The weather this week was incredible - record highs at least three, maybe four days. I was able to take advantage of it and get a few runs in while the sun was out! Looking just at the numbers it was an excellent week. Despite missing some 200's and 400's on the track I was able to incorporate more hill sprints, strength and agility drills on the track and an extra 2 miles of tempo running in addition to the great goal marathon pace run Sunday. On the injury side it was a mixed bag. While I got my target miles in, many of them were tentative with both calves going through periods of tightness, achiness and weakness. I was very fortunate with my schedule by being able to give myself a much needed 36 hours recovery between runs twice. Despite battling the calf issues, though I do think I'm making some improvement there. Regular stretching and calf raises throughout the day have helped.

Sunday, 1/18: 15.8 miles w/ 10 @ goal MP (1:51:06)
3+ mile warmup, 10 miles @ goal MP along Santa Rosa creek from Willowside road to Downtown & back, 3- cool down 4 hours later with Dog. Although I ran a lot harder than I wanted to, I ran faster than I thought I could, even all out. Goal marathon pace is 6:29's (for a sub 2:50 in May). I was quite certain I wouldn't be able to hit it considering how crappy I'd been feeling all week and how difficult the 6:23 after a 6:15 was on Monday. The first 5 miles were a gradual uphill (net 150 feet) before turning back for the return 5.
1 - 6:23.8
2 - 6:28.5 / 12:52.3
3 - 6:25.3 / 19:17.0
4 - 6:27.2 / 25:44.2
5 - 6:27.3 / 32:11.5
6 - 6:22.4 / 38:33.9
7 - 6:23.0 / 44:56.9
8 - 6:24.3 / 51:21.2
9 - 6:27.6 / 57:48.8
10 - 6:26.9 / 1:04:16.1

Saturday, 1/17: 7 miles easy (54:40)
Easy run along the creek from home. I felt really flat and tired the first four miles then progressively loosened up the last three. Another sunny day - maybe near record high again.

Friday, 1/16: 11.2 miles easy (1:31:45)
Slow, but not necessarily easy trail run - my old JC long run loop in Annadel. I felt really awful and achy - like I was in the last 10K of a marathon. It was pretty ugly so I just shuffled through it. I started feeling less bad toward the end when it flattened out, but I was pretty tender the rest of the evening.

Thursday, 1/15: 7 miles easy (54:26)
Easy run from home plus agility drills on the track on the way back. My body is feeling way overworked and my calves were really aching from all the miles lately. Since they did okay on last night's run I figured I'd go again to keep the consistency. I didn't feel too good on this one. Another record high today, but by only 3 degrees.

Wednesday, 1/14: 11 miles easy (1:26:47)
Easy slow run that should not have been. I hoped giving myself 36 hours between runs would give my calf some time to recover. I did do several sets of 1 x 50 calf raises and plenty of stretching in that time, but I had a feeling it still wasn't ready for miles. I slowed it down so I could actually run - no further straining, it actually felt okay but not as good as Saturday through Monday.

Tuesday, 1/13: 6 miles easy (47:32)
Easy early morning run. I had to force myself to slow down a couple of times, trying to stay fresh for some more intensity on Wednesday. My calf started feeling strained a couple of times in the first three miles so I had to stop and stretch twice then decided to cut the planned 8 short and head home. It didn't bother me the last 3 miles fortunately, but it's definitely aggravated.

Monday, 1/12: PM2 - 5 miles with drills (37:19)
Easy run down to the track for some strength & agility drills. I did only one set as I'm trying to be overly cautious after my hill sprint debacle last week. I finished the run with 3 x 50m hill sprints and felt pretty good.

Monday, 1/12: PM1 - 7 miles mini tempo (49:14)
Today was extremely warm with several record highs in the SF Bay Area. Santa Rosa's average temperature for 1/12 is 56 and the previous record high was 67. We reached that by 8a.m. on the way to 82, a record high by 15 degrees!
I didn't get out for my first run until 12:30 so it was quite warm. I was feeling a little tired but pretty smooth, running 7:15's through 4 miles. I decided to throw in a couple of moderate miles which ended up being a lot harder than I wanted them to be, straight into a strong headwind (6:15 & 6:23).

Week 2, phase II: 1/5/09 - 1/11/09

2009-01-07T13:14:00.000-08:00

65 miles. A better week than I was anticipating. I exceeded my scheduled 60 miles and did more intensity than I thought my calves would be able to handle. It's a good start toward bridging the gap between my body's limitations and my scheduled workouts.

Sunday, 1/11: 13.6 miles (1:44:06)
Early morning run from home with some hills in the first five miles. Very cold this morning, mid-30's the whole way. Starting out at 6am I was able to get the sunrise and moonset almost simultaneously over the last five miles. And with it being a Sunday morning no one was out in the neighborhoods or parks. Very nice. I didn't feel particularly good but didn't feel too bad. Left hamstring still giving me minor problems but the calves seem to be doing well.

Saturday, 1/10: 9.4 miles, track workout (1:13:48)
1.5 mile warm up
4 x 1600m @ tempo pace w/ 1:00 rests +
4 x 200m w/ full recovery 200m walk / jog
1.5 mile cool down
This was supposed to be a 6 x 1600m @ tempo but I was really off today. Still feeling the effects of Thursday's long run, particularly a spasming and achy left hamstring. That loosened up by the second mile, though. I was thinking of cutting the last two 1600's down to 1000's but since my calves weren't bothering me at all I decided to add a few desperately needed 200's instead.
1600's: 6:07, 6:07, 6:07, 6:05
200's: 35, 36, 34, 34

Friday, 1/9: 5 miles (40:39)
Easy run, still feeling the effects from yesterday's run but I started feeling a little looser toward the end of the run.

Thursday, 1/8: 14.2 miles (1:57:16)
Miserable run from Spring Lake through Annadel and back home. Warmed up with a walk around Spring Lake with Erin - beautiful sunny day. During the 1000 ft. climb my calves were starting to feel pretty strained but got better after reaching the top and heading back down. Poor nutrition and hydration through the day and no carbs or fluids on the run had me dragging my tail down the mountain after 6.5. I was able to get some water at 8.5, but the second half of this run was complete misery. Lots of aches and pains, spasms, neurological twinges, stomach woes. My general discomfort was so great even finishing offered no relief. It wasn't until after I refueled and showered that I started feeling better. I should have known better than to do a spontaneous 14.

Wednesday, 1/7: 8.8 miles (1:01:00)
2.9 mile warm up (22:00)
3 mile tempo (18:15.2: 6:09.5, 6:03.2, 6:02.4)
2.9 mile cool down (22:45)
I was going a little stir crazy with easy miles but know I'm not ready for a full blown workout so I thought this was a good compromise. I'm 8 lbs. heavier than a couple of months ago and found out I'm quite psychologically dull so the effort was considerably harder than a true tempo pace, probably closer to current 8K race effort. It's a little depressing to have such a harsh reality check on my current fitness, but there are positives:

I was fearing I'd feel that bad (or even worse) and not be able to hold 6:20's
I finally got to do a workout
The right calf gave me no problems and although the left calf got a little tight halfway through, it didn't get much worse for the remainder of the tempo and subsided almost completely early in the cool down

So I've got a lot of work to do and I'm still not ready to open the throttle on training, but my injury status is improving and I'm still able to get some decent running in.

Tuesday, 1/6: 7 miles (52:42)
Easy run from home. Felt fairly decent. Included 4 x 100m strides in the last mile and followed the run with 2 x 40m hill sprints. The calves were fine but the quads cramped on the sprints. Getting old and slow sucks.

Monday, 1/5: 7 miles (52:42)
Easy run from home. I finally felt quite normal; only a faint shadow of soreness. The forecast was for 35 degrees and rain. It turned out to be 45 and didn't start sprinkling until halfway through so it was quite pleasant.

Week 1, phase II: 12/29/08 - 1/4/09

2009-01-02T05:59:00.000-08:00

60.1 miles. While I hit my mileage target finally, it wasn't a good week. I foolishly did too many hill sprints causing extreme soreness the rest of the week and I didn't get in either of my two planned workouts. My longest run was only 13 miles, too.

Sunday 1/4: 7 miles easy (53:11)
Easy run from home. Very cold - high 20's when I left but with the sun out it warmed to upper 30's by the time I was done. Although I was quite a bit less sore than the previous three days my left calf was quite tight and sore. It did loosen up the last couple of miles, though. My right calf was also a little tight the first mile or two but loosened up shortly thereafter.

Saturday 1/3: 13 miles easy (1:43:56)
Still quite sore and I just felt generally awful. From home out to Spring Lake, into Annadel on the West side then back out to Channel Drive and home. The climbing in the park aggravated my calf pretty bad but after another mile or two on the flat on the way back home it felt okay. Another slow crappy run.

Friday 1/2: 7 miles easy (53:01)
Easy run from home. Extremely sore from the hill sprints on Wednesday. The calf felt better, though. Slow crappy run.

Thursday 1/1: PM - 5.1 miles easy (37:39)
Easy run from home and loops around the high school field. Felt tired still from hill sprints. Left calf achy but not any worse.

Thursday 1/1: AM - 7 miles easy (55:00)
From home, felt really sore and tired from my pathetic hill sprints yesterday. The calf felt okay except on the hills when if felt achy / tight / burny.

Wednesday 12/31: 11 mile trail run (10.8 in 1:31:34)
Easy and slow in Annadel, felt a little flat. Stopped on my way back down (~6.8 miles) to do 6 x 50m hill sprints at ~8%. I felt great the first four - a little slow and weak, but otherwise good. The fifth one was more difficult and I felt my form falling apart. The sixth one was completely worthless - I was giggling at my futile effort before I even finished it.

Tuesday 12/30: Off
The calf felt a little off so I gave it another rest day.

Monday 12/29: 10 miles easy (1:12:29)
I felt really good on this run from home over rolling hills. The calf was a little tight.

12/22/08 - 12/28/08: Transition Week

2009-01-01T08:52:00.000-08:00

52 miles. Another mixed bag this week. I was hoping to get 60 easy injury-free miles in this week heading into the start of my training next week. 52 in 5 days was good and I felt great, but the left calf became restrained after a too aggressive stretch on Christmas morning's run.

Sunday, 12/28: Off

Saturday, 12/27: 12 miles (1:41:16)
Trail run in the park. This was the most miserable run I've had in a long time. I was in a bad mood, felt awful and really just did not want to be out running. I had to shuffle along for fear of aggravating the calf. Plus my left hamstring started aching - surely some compensatory nonsense.

Friday, 12/26: 7+ miles (51:16)
Easy run from home, felt pretty good.

Thursday, 12/25: 10 miles (1:15:14)
Easy run over rolling hills from home - beautiful sunny day, but extremely windy and pretty cold. My calf felt tight the first mile so I stopped to stretch it 10 minutes in and was too aggressive. It felt achy and strained the rest of the run.

Wednesday, 12/24: 12 miles (1:29:56)
Early run from home to Spring Lake for a 4 mile loop with Joe then back home, all in the rain. Felt good except for the middle loop around the lake when I was talking too much on rolling hills.

Tuesday, 12/23: PM - 5 miles (36:08)
I felt really good after the morning workout and wanted to get some more miles in. Felt good on this one, too.

Tuesday, 12/23: AM - 6 miles, track workout
1.5 mile warm up & cool down, 4 x 800m @ 3:00 w/ 400m recovery jogs with Joe. It was low 30's and there was a sheet of glare ice on the track so we had to run on the grass infield. That was very challenging since the grass was also frozen, hadn't been cut in months and the football season left it quite torn up. Although we ran a few feet inside the track my guess is that the footing made the set much more difficult. I was putting out what I felt was 2:45 - 2:50 effort the whole way.
3:01.3, 2:58.3, 2:56.6, 2:53.4.

Monday, 12/22: Off

12/15/08 - 12/21/08: Recovery week 2

2008-12-21T15:24:00.000-08:00

51 miles - a great week. Although there was a run or two, specifically Thursday's 10 miler, during which my legs were getting fatigued, my recovery from the marathon is going much better than I could have hoped.

Sunday 12/21: 13.3 miles (1:43:04)
Out & back on Joe Rodota trail from Juliard Park to the water treatment plant along Guerneville Road. This was a great run with Joe. Lots of wildlife in the creek, vineyards and pastures on the other side of the trail from the creek and only 5 other people on the trail. The rain was steady but not too heavy, and the clouds brought up the temperature from the past several days. My body felt really good after yesterday's run.

Saturday 12/20: 11.1 miles (1:17:02)
An easy, flat out and back from home to the end of Channel Drive turned out to be a buildup run from 7:20 pace down to 6:30 - 6:40 ish. Averaged 7:14 on the way out and 6:40 on the way back.

Friday 12/19: Off
Just didn't get around to running.

Thursday 12/18: 10 miles (1:23:29)
Easy Annadel trail run in the mud and rain. Hardly anyone in the park; beautiful run. I felt pretty tired but okay until the last 3 miles. Too much climbing on tired legs then 2 miles of pounding on pavement back to the truck. All the puddles were frozen over up at the lake - cold!!!

Wednesday, 12/17: 5 miles (38:33)
Easy run with Shadow in the evening. Left calf felt achy and tight but I stretched and ran it out.

Tuesday, 12/16: 5 miles (40:16)
Easy run in the evening. Felt a little flat and took it easy.

Monday, 12/15: 7 miles (52:37)
Easy run in the evening. Ended up feeling quite good.

12/8/08 - 12/14/08: Recovery week 1

2008-12-18T20:18:00.000-08:00

15 miles. I'm pretty sore but doing much better than I had hoped I would be doing this week.

Sunday 12/14: 5 miles easy
Saturday 12/13: 7 miles easy in Annadel
I felt fairly good but got really sore and tired after about 4 1/2 miles.
Friday 12/12: 3 miles easy
Thursday 12/11: Off
Wednesday 12/10: Off
Tuesday 12/9: Off
Monday 12/8: Off

California International Marathon Race Report

2008-12-08T12:58:00.000-08:00

After finishing my second San Francisco Marathon in 2002 I swore I'd never run another. Six years later I found myself on the starting line again, and again for a marathon I had no business running. I resumed running regularly only last April and completed a 5 month half marathon training cycle in October. The two months leading up to CIM I spent running intermittently with only one or two solid weeks of running due to ongoing injuries. Just two weeks before CIM another calf strain had me doubting my ability to even toe the line. My goal for the race was to shoot for a sub-3 and let the race unfold however it was meant to.

Due to the early start and the 2 hour drive, I decided at the last minute to get a hotel room. That turned out to be a good decision. I got to the expo for my packet early before the crowds and spent the rest of the day relaxing, doing a short 3 mile run and watching football. I got to bed at about 10 and didn't have problems falling asleep or sleeping.

Pre-race:
I woke up at 3:15 for a 10 minute warm up run. I wanted to be loose for the first mile, but with enough time to be fresh and topped off with fuel. This worked out quite well and I think I'll keep doing this for future races.

All the race day gear:

Ready for the cold start:

After a Powerbar and Gatorade I was off to downtown. I was early enough to find a great parking spot two blocks from the finish. During most of the bus ride to the start in Folsom I tried to sleep. I was getting tired! It was dark and cold at the start so I did some dynamic stretching and walked around to keep warm. Before I knew it an hour had passed and it was time to go! Although I was shooting for 3 hour pace, I was well behind even the 3:20 pace group at the start. I wasn't too concerned since the race was chip timed. A quick countdown after the wheelchair start and the sold out field of 6,000 marathoners and 1,000 relay teams thundered off into the darkness.

I spent most of the first mile and a half weaving in and out of people as I tried to move up while still trying to keep a conservative effort. I got cleanly through much of the pack before I even felt like I was running so I was able to settle in quite quickly. The first five miles went by quickly and uneventfully. I was feeling smooth and strong. I did take a half-minute pit stop during mile 4 but I think that was a well spent 30 seconds as I was able to focus on my effort and dial in to what my body was feeling the rest of the race.
1 – 6:52.5
2 – 6:42.9
3 – 6:47.2
4 – 6:54.7 with ~:30 pit stop
5 – 6:40.0

The next five miles were also fairly quick and uneventful. Although my legs were starting to ache just a little bit, I was still feeling loose, strong and efficient. Just after the first relay station Ty Strange shouted encouragement while taking some pictures - it was really nice to see a familiar face there - and to get encouragement from someone who went 2:49 here last year. Still slowly working up the field I spotted the 3:00 pace group a hundred yards ahead. It took me almost a mile to catch up and finally pull clear of them just before Fair Oaks and the ten mile mark.
6 – 6:45.2
10k – 42:16
7 – 6:45.1
8 – 6:45.2
9 – 6:50.8
10 – 6:31.2

Although I was getting a little tired during the next five miles, I was still feeling strong, in control and very confident I could hold the pace through at least 20 miles. Shortly after the second relay station I finally caught Joe, with whom I was planning on running for most of the race but we just didn't meet up at the start. I was still feeling good and moving quickly so we exchanged well wishes and I continued on my way. He had found another runner to pair up with so I didn't feel too bad. Plus, as I told Joe, it was entirely possible he'd be re-passing me before the day was over.
11 – 6:37.2
12 – 6:46.9
13 – 6:46.3
Half – 1:28:23
14 – 6:44.7
15 – 6:41.8

Shortly after mile 15 I saw Ty taking pictures again and heard him shout encouragement to Mel Lovrin, another local runner who was going for a 2:55. She was clearly off that pace but well under 3 hour pace so I tried focusing on catching her. Over the next few miles I closed the gap but my feet were starting to hurt really bad. Every step became excruciating. My pace dropped off a little on mile 18, but my effort was about the same as it was a net uphill. I tried to buckle down to keep my sub-3 pace and held it together for one more mile, but just before 20 miles I knew sub-3 was out of the question. My legs quickly turned to bricks and every step was painful.
16 – 6:42.7
17 – 6:43.4
18 – 7:03.2
19 – 6:51.8
20 – 7:21.8

Shortly after mile 20 and the final relay station the 3:00 pace group finally passed me. I tried taking some Cytomax at 21 miles but the flavor in my mouth made me nauseous so I dumped it. After crossing the J street bridge the temperature seemed to drop and with my decreased metabolic output at the slower paces and sweat-soaked clothes, I was really becoming cold. Just before the zig-zag under the freeway at mile 23 my right quad developed an electrical achiness that didn't go away after a couple of strides. When I tried to shake it out my hamstring cramped up. Fortunately I was able to relax it quickly and step off for 15 seconds or so and stretch it out. I think that prevented it from coming back. More and more runners were starting to pass me quicker and quicker the closer we got to the Capitol. Although I was quite miserable the last two miles, it really is quite a beautiful finish for a marathon - the old statuesque trees lining the downtown streets are still dropping their orange, yellow, red and brown leaves, hundreds if not thousands of spectators are cheering wildly for the last mile or so and you finish running toward the beautiful State Capitol building. With less than a half mile to go Joe went scooting by me looking pretty good. I was dragging my tail coming in with people still whizzing by me (many of them I'm sure shooting for the 3:10 Boston Qualifying time). I'm now regretting that I didn't look up more and take in the scene and simply enjoy it. I think that's the best finish for a race I've ever run.
21 – 7:43.2
22 – 8:12.7
23 – 8:50.2
24 – 8:35.9
25 – 8:49.1
26 – 9:06.2
Finish – 3:09:08 (chip)

Joe ended up a minute faster than me and fortunately was there to help get me to the food and sweat bags. My nausea came back immediately after finishing and I think my core body temperature was a little low. I had some trouble thinking but was aware of it so I just followed Joe. It took me a good 20 mintutes to get my food in and sweats on. It was extremely cold at the end, probably low 40's. Joe's wife Melynda was at the finish and got a picture of us forcing smiles through chattering teeth:

Overall I'm really happy with this race. I wasn't prepared and was very concerned about how my calves would hold up. I'm really happy that I went for a 3 hour performance and while disappointed in my last seven miles, I'm confident my fade was due to a lack of training volume. Considering I ran a four minute PR and a Qualifying time for Boston that's good through 2010 in my current state I'm really excited to see what I can do over the next year while focusing on the marathon for the first time. My calves are fine and I'm considerably less sore after this marathon than either of my first two.

The finisher's medal:

Photos!

2008-12-05T10:10:00.000-08:00

Sheila just gave us a CD with the pictures she took at the Harvest Fair 10K / 3K and Save A Turkey Trot 5K!

Harvest Fair:

Duane & Erin

Joe & Sky both laughing, apparently at different things

Erin just before the 3K start

Erin closing hard in the 3K

Erin, Me and my Mom

Joe Cool and his age group medal for 3rd in the 10K

Save A Turkey Trot:

Kenny & Sky, the eventual 1st and 2nd placers, share a laugh before the start

Me & Erin before the start

Starting the final 300 meters on the track

Easing down the home straight

Erin entering the last 300 meters on the track

"Look at Mills! Look at Mills!"

(Sheila - awesome picture)

(Erin - I'm very proud of your finish here!)

The awards made by Analy's art class

11/24/08 - 11/30/08

2008-12-01T05:49:00.000-08:00

19 miles. Another off week, trying to be conservative with the calf injury but still trying to get a handle on what is realistic for the marathon next weekend.

Sunday, 11/30 - 13 miles, MP run (1:33:00)
1.5 mile warm up, 10 miles @ goal marathon pace up and down Channel Drive, 1.5 mile cool down.

This was a dress rehearsal for CIM and the run off which I'm basing my strategy and goal time. The first assessment was for the calves - other than some early tightness they both seemed to do fine. I was hoping to run 6:40's comfortably but I ended up working way too hard. Aerobically I felt fine, but my legs don't have the miles on them the past two months to handle a quicker sustained pace well. My quads felt fatigued at three miles, hip flexors at four and hamstrings at 6. Based on how this run went, I'm planning on running around 1:29 for the first half at CIM. Any faster and I know I'll blow up late in the race. Considering my low mileage I'm expecting a 3-4 minute slow down the second half, but if for some reason things are going well late, I'll still have a chance at sub-3.

6:54 (uphill 1)
6:44 (downhill 1)
6:43 (downhill 2)
6:45 (uphill 2)
6:43 (uphill 1)
6:31 (downhill 1)
6:35 (downhill 2)
6:37 (uphill 2)
6:39 (uphill 1)
6:35 (downhill 1)

1st 5 miles: 33:48.5, 6:45.7 average
2nd 5 miles: 32:58.1, 6:35.6 average
Total: 1:06:46.6, 6:40.7 average

Saturday, 11/29 - 5 miles easy (39:08)
Easy run around Spring Lake, caught Erin in the last 3/4 mile and ran back with her.

Friday, 11/28 - Off
Decided to rest the calf after yesterday's race.

Thursday, 11/27 - Save A Turkey Trot 5K (18:26)
6 total, 2 mile warm up, 1 mile cool down. 2nd overall.

Wednesday, 11/26 - Off
Tuesday, 11/25 - Off
Monday, 11/24 - Off

Save A Turkey Trot 5K Race Report

2008-11-27T16:16:00.001-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving!

This morning Erin and I ran Organic Athlete’s inaugural Save A Turkey Trot 5K in Erin’s hometown of Sebastopol, CA. The race was staged at the track of her alma mater, Analy High School. Erin’s been nursing some aches and pains and is a little burned out on racing. I’ve been taking some substantial time away from running in an attempt to get healthy for CIM. With Erin making a huge feast after the run neither of us were too revved up to race. My main concern was not aggravating my calf even though there was a good chance that meant easy jogging instead of racing. I hadn’t run a 5K since my last collegiate race over a decade ago and I’m in terrible short distance race shape so I wasn’t worried about my time anyway. About an hour before the gun I saw “Downtown” Kenny Brown warming up. Knowing the overall win was out of the question I was relieved to not be tempted in to running “just hard enough to win” if I found myself in that situation.

My warm up went pretty well – assorted aches and pains and the mechanics of running feeling completely foreign after a week and a half off. Even at 9:00 pace I was struggling. I took all that with a smile, though, since my calf seemed to be okay. Even when stretching:

We headed down to the start where I tried doing some agonizingly difficult strides before giving up and visiting with Kenny. He had a really bad race at the USATF Pacific Association cross country championships last weekend and was looking to re-test himself. As we approached the starting line, we looked awkwardly at each other. First, we were both independently under the wrong idea that the race started at 9 instead of 9:30. We were both probably the only ones who looked at the on-line course map, so when we noticed everyone on the wrong side of the line facing the wrong way we thought we were entering the twilight zone. I asked one of the race organizers about it and he didn’t know or seem too concerned about resolving the issue, if there was one. Finally the race director straightened everyone out, read a prayer for all creatures great and small and started us off with a “GO!”

I had to get out a little harder than I wanted to avoid the baby joggers on either side of me (at the very front of the line!) and reach the turn 40 feet away in the clear. Kenny and I ended up right together chasing three runners who went out really hard. “Kids,” I sneered and got a chuckle out of Kenny. Then some homeboy in polyester sweat pants, basketball shoes and a backpack ripped by us. “Ah! I forgot my 5K backpack again!” Kenny smiled but no one else thought it was too funny. I figured I'd better just keep my comments to myself the rest of the way. At least I had a good laugh at homeboy’s expense. Who wears a backpack in a 5K? As Kenny took off to chase the leaders we wished each other good races.

My thighs were really tight and my calf was feeling pretty weak so after about 600 meters I backed off the pace enough to focus on running relaxed and efficiently. For the short fast stuff I usually get up on my toes pretty good, so I had to focus on long distance race form while trying to hold a quicker pace – a very challenging adjustment to make in a race for the first time. Through much of the first mile weaving through neighborhood streets I led a small pack ahead of the rest of the field while Kenny reeled in the three front runners. Coming up a small rise by Analy’s tennis courts I pulled clear of the last pursuer and rolled through the first mile just before crossing the main street over to the bike path.
Mile 1 – 5:51.0

For the second time in three races, someone cleaning my clock inexplicably dropped out ahead at the start of the bike path. Kenny had caught the pack and pulled clear into the lead, which left two other runners strung out between us. At this point my empty stomach was starting to make breathing unduly more difficult. With a gradual climb on the bike path and third place a good 40 meters ahead of me I was content to back off and settle into 10K pace. But of course I never have things that easy, and the third place runner, a high schooler from Windsor, started coming back to me so I stayed on the gas until I caught up to him. He tried holding me off but when I pulled even he didn’t respond. I immediately honed in on second place, another young runner – he looked to be struggling. He was the early pace setter and was probably struggling more than anyone else. Another long minute or two and I closed the remaining 60 meters just before the turnaround. He tried going with me and even tried weaseling inside of me to squeeze me off just before the tight turn. I was definitely not in the mood to race today and didn’t want to deal with annoying high school race antics so making the return on a downhill road I threw the hammer down for two minutes to put some ground between us. Coming up on the second mile mark I now had a clear view of Kenny up front who had about 180 meters on me and clearly still pulling away. Even though I was pushing the downhill hard I was trying to stay relaxed and focused on staying off my toes.
Mile 2 – 6:07.0 (11:58.0)

Early in the third mile we turned back toward the high school and had another small rise to face. I started to feel a fade come on and my mind finally pulled the lyrics to the tune that was stuck in my head the entire race. I was hoping third place was well behind me, but afraid he could close the gap. I didn’t want him to see me struggling so I told myself to just make it to the turn into the high school on pace, then I could shamble my way around the track and probably have enough of a lead to hold second place. Yes, thanks to another Kenny I then knew when to hold ‘em (until the high school) and I knew when to fold ‘em. (on the track). After making it to the high school there was a small descent, a tight turn then a lap on the track. Kenny the Runner was starting his home straight as I entered the stadium. Around the turn behind me I finally saw I had just enough room to cruise in holding second. Kenny crossed in 17:27-ish and I was 18:26.7.
Mile 3.1 – 6:28.7 (18:26.7), 5:53.4 pace

I ran through the chute, barely slowing for my bib tag to be torn off and continued to the truck for the camera to take some picture of Erin. In all our races she’s finished before me so I was happy to grab some shots of her running finally. There were some needlessly aggressive runners near her through the race. I’m not sure why such average middle of the pack runners are so needlessly aggressive. It’s quite pathetic and not an appropriate attitude for a runner, sportsman or human being regardless of ability. Anyway, by the time I found her she was running with and encouraging a younger boy:

Erin making the last turn before heading toward the track:

Erin entered the stadium behind a large pack of runners. After entering the home straight she turned on the jets and blew by all of them!

Erin and I just after her blazing finish:
Erin trying to smile and catch her breath:

Since the race was just down the street from Erin’s mom’s house, Sheila came out to support us and take some pictures. Thank you Sheila!

Expressing my disgust at the pairing of two terms that strike very opposite emotional chords with me:

We didn’t stick around for awards since we had a big dinner to start preparing. But overall it was a good run for me. Another slow time, but I did race well for the second time in a row. Most importantly my calf didn’t suffer a catastrophic re-strain. It’s a little sore and achy now, but I think I’m in good shape to get to the line in Folsom in ten days. Hopefully it can get me to the State Capitol too!

Update: Kenny e-mailed me that he picked up my award, so I picked it up at Fleet Feet this morning...

Recalibration

2008-11-25T15:51:00.000-08:00

After straining my left calf last Sunday I didn't test it until the following Thursday. I made it just under a mile before I felt it start to twinge, shuffled another half mile then walked home. It felt good enough to test it again Saturday so I did 5 miles. It felt much better although there were some twinges of tightness, soreness and achiness. I did another 3.5 miles with Erin Sunday night and the twinges were more pronounced.

In addition to posing a major hurdle to my racing, finishing or even starting the sold out California International Marathon in two weeks, this is a major setback for my already cramped March 1 Napa Valley Marathon plans.

Although I've never dropped out of a race at any point, I'm trying to be realistic and intelligent about how I approach CIM. I'm pretty confident I'm in sub-3:00:00 shape with a healthy calf. Additionaly, some of the Tucson Marathon and CIM runners from the Runner's World California forum have a friendly challenge going, which fires up my competitive side. However, I'm very determined to run a great marathon this spring and will be ready to pull out of CIM at the first sign of calf trouble whether I race it or take it easy.

After making a key change to my schedule I'm more optimistic about my first real marathon training cycle. Although I will likely still run Napa, I've decided to push my goal race date out two more months. Assuming my annual May business trip happens and I can schedule it, my goal race will be the inaugural Windermere Marathon from Post Fall, ID to Spokane, WA along the beautiful Centennial Trail.

Spokane is a running hot spot and with the net 250 foot drop it should be a fast course. If that doesn't work out I may jump up from the half marathon to the full at Avenue of the Giants. Although this is a beautiful course, I'd prefer to not have to do this as the course isn't as fast and I'd be running alone for most of it.

So, this gives me two weeks to get myself able to run 26.2 then another three weeks of recovery before starting my spring marathon training.

Good times.

Week 1, phase II: 11/10/08 - 11/16/08

2008-11-13T11:47:00.000-08:00

70 miles. As far as the numbers go, a great week - I hit my target mileage, all scheduled workouts at or under pace and felt fairly good effort wise. On the other hand, it was a bad week for ongoing injuries. One good sign is that my right calf stopped bothering me Sunday, but my left calf sustained a substantial strain during the workout. More ice, stretching and anti-inflammatories this next week. Maybe another day off Monday as well.

Sunday, 11/17: AM - 16 miles total, Tempo-Long-Tempo
[20:00 warm up] + [5 x 1000m @ 3:45 w/ 1:00 rest] + [1:00:00 easy] + [3 x 1000m @ 3:45 w/ 1:00 rest] + [15:00 cool down]. Although my legs felt a little tired from the steady increase in mileage recently, I felt pretty comfortable and controlled on the track for the 1000's. On the hour easy my left calf started feeling strained and I was ready to call the workout at the end of the segment. I decided to at least try one rep in the second set of 1000's and with a gimpy flat footed stride limped my way through the workout. I can only guess that the right knee stiffness and pain, left achilles tendinitis of the past few weeks and now the left calf strain are results of some compensations I've made to my mechanics due to the right calf strain. Ironically, my right calf didn't bother me one stride today.

5x1000:
3:41.6, 3:40.4, 3:40.2, 3:38.2, 3:37.3
Average = 3:39.5

3 x 1000:
3:36.8, 3:39.5, 3:38.2
Average = 3:38.2

All rest periods were 59.X seconds.

Saturday, 11/16: PM - 3 miles (25:13)
Very easy run from home. Felt a little tired but overall ready for tomorrow's workout.

Saturday, 11/16: AM - 8 miles, trail run (1:11:16)
Easy run with Erin in Annadel - she did 5 and I did four extra loops of the lake for 8+.

Friday, 11/15: AM - 15 miles, trail run (2:15:00)
Very slow very easy long run in Annadel. Beautiful day, but it started to get a bit too hot up at the Marsh.

Thursday, 11/13: AM - 9 miles, track workout
1.5 mile warm up, 2 x 100m strides, 6 x [200m, 200m, 400m] @ :37 & 1:16 with equal distance walk/jog/walk recoveries, 1.5 mile cool down.
Even though my calf wasn't 100%, it felt good enough to give this one a try. It was a little cold - should have worn a long sleeved shirt or at least gloves. Even though I was never comfortable, my splits were quite a bit faster than I was expecting or even hoping for. Compared to the first two times I ran this workout back in June, I've made a lot of progress even though I haven't focused on speed since then. An extra set with shorter recoveries and much faster times; overall a great workout. Now both of my calves are feeling stressed though.
1 - :35.2 / :36.1 / 1:13.3
2 - :36.4 / :35.9 / 1:15.2
3 - :35.9 / :34.9 / 1:14.4
4 - :36.2 / :35.8 / 1:13.3
5 - :36.1 / :36.1 / 1:13.4
6 - :36.1 / :35.8 / 1:13.6
200m recoveries ranged from 1:41 to 1:51
400m recoveries ranged from 2:57 to 3:01

Wednesday, 11/12: AM - 7 miles easy (51:01)
Easy run from home, loops at the high school field and track. I felt pretty good. I tried to do an easy 5 in the evening but could tell after a quarter mile that my calf wasn't happy so I canned it.

Tuedsay, 11/11: PM - 7 miles easy (54:00)
Slow easy run from home, loops at the high school field and track. I felt a little flat but okay.

Tuesday, 11/11: AM - 5 miles easy (38:00)
I felt quite good considering the off day and no cool down after Sunday's race. I'm usually a little sore the day or two after a hard 10K, so I'm recovering well.

Monday, 11/10: Off
Although drastically improved from yesterday, my calf still felt a little strained so I decided it earned itself a day off by holding up through the finish yesterday.

Run To Stop Hunger Race Report

2008-11-10T06:06:00.001-08:00

After Saturday's rain, Sunday morning was beautiful - clear, sunny and surprisingly not too cold. I didn't get a very good night's sleep but Erin played some groovy music on the drive downtown to get us ready to run. She had some Springsteen Magic in my head during the race. I was hoping "who'll be the last to die for a mistake" wasn't an omen for my performance out there.....

My race strategy was to use the group for a quicker first mile (5:48 - 5:52) then run my own race and try to hit splits that would give me a sub-37:00 performance. This is a more competitive race than last weekend's 12K so I knew I had a better shot at a good assessment of my fitness level. Even though I used last weekend's race as a training run, I felt I wasted some energy holding back in the first three miles in trying to run behind the eventual winner.

On the starting line I didn't see anyone from the county's "A" crowd such as Jeff Jackson, John Litzenberg or the hanful of ridiculously talented high schoolers (they've got league championships next week). I did however see Gregg Jennings and Eric Downing, both runners having gotten the better of me the last several years. Another familiar runner who I later learned to be Kevin Buchholz was also at the front.

The race started right on time from Downtown's Railroad Square. Immediately Kevin, Eric and I were out in front with Gregg leading the rest of the field right behind us. After a quick block we turned to follow the Prince Memorial Greenway, a parallel path on either side of the Santa Rosa Creek that we'd take for the out and back course. Eric set the early pace and gave way to Kevin who surged ahead on a short downhill to start the gravel road stretch we'd follow just past mile 3. This first mile on the gravel road had some hidden dangers as there were embedded rocks in the gravel and lots of walnuts. Erin twisted her ankle on this stretch but avoided a fall and subsequent trampling in the 5K here.
I settled in behind Kevin and Eric with a few runners just behind me through the first mile.
Mile 1 - 5:48.7

After another quarter mile I sensed Eric and Kevin falling off the pace a bit. Since I was out for a time goal and not for placing I decided to take over pacing duties. I still felt really smooth and controlled through mile two. Both Eric and Kevin commented on how smooth I looked which was nice to hear. Through two miles I knew at least Kevin and Eric were right with me but the other footsteps were starting to fall back.
Mile 2 - 5:56.4 (11:45.1)

The third mile was very similar to the second mile, with me setting the pace and Eric and Kevin off my heels. Except now I was starting to get a little tired and was feeling a little bit of indigestion start in my chest. Coming past the third mile marker the turnaround at Fulton Road came into view. My goal the last mile and a half was to just get to the turn on pace.
Mile 3 - 6:03.6 (17:48.6)

There was a good sized crowd cheering at the turn and I felt Eric and Kevin coming up pretty quick at the end of the straight.

In order to keep from being passed and pinched off I surged to the first ninety degree turn and kept on the gas past the next one where we joined up with the paved portion of the path on the other side of the creek. Although my surge was a survival response, it was tactically well-timed as only one pair of footsteps came back on me during the return trip.
Mile 4 - 6:04.8 (23:53.4)

After coming through four miles with only one runner near me my focus on a sub-37 - which unbeknownst to me was slipping away - gave way to focusing on the overall win. Even though I was tiring, I still felt smooth and strong. The footsteps behind me started to fade. "If I can just hang on until 400 meters left, I can outkick anyone near me." Just as I finished the thought, I felt my calf tighten up just a little. Here come the footsteps again. The last mile and three quarters of the race became a simultaneous battle for the overall win and a battle to hold off another calf strain so I could just finish the run. After the third surge of the runner behind me, I figured out he was surging just to stay in the race - he wasn't trying to pass me, just survive. So just as he settled in right behind me for the fourth time I put a little surge in - nothing quick, but just enough to let him know settling in behind me wasn't going to be comfortable.
Mile 5 - 6:05.4 (29:58.7)

After pulling clear for the last time I started passing people from the 5K. This was a terrible stretch. The lead bike was at least 70 meters in front of me the entire time and not warning the other runners of my approach. I had to yell only once, but lots of weaving and a quick down and up for an underpassing broke my rhythm. Although I wasn't sure, I felt I had enough of a lead for the win - if my calf held up.
Mile 6 - 6:12.6 (36:11.4)

Just after mile six the course left the path for the city streets again - a quick left then right and I had a 300 meter stretch to the finish. I passed a few more 5K runners, but there were a few kids who turned on their jets when they saw me coming and made my last stretch a bit less impressive for the spectators! It was a bit confusing for the announcer not being able to discern me through the crowd of 5K runners, but he finally figured it out and announced my name - unfortunately Erin was still on her way over to the finish with the camera when she heard. I finished as hard as my calf would let me and crossed the line elated.
10K - 37:22.0 (1:10.6 last 0.2 miles)

Although I missed my A goal by a considerable margin, I achieved my B goal by bettering my 37:42 from the Harvest Fair last month. And I've always believed that race time doesn't matter only when there's an overall #1 next to it in the results. Even though I think I can go a bit faster, I'm extremely happy first of all that I didn't bomb another race and more importantly that I raced well - the first time I've done that since college. The overall win is also my first since high school track.

Left to right: Kevin Buchholz (2), me (1), "Downtown" Kenny Brown (volunteer), Eric Downing (3), 1/2 of Gregg Jennings (4): My Santa Rosa High School coach Doug Courtemarche congratulating me on the win:
My mom came out to watch Erin and I run and take us out for breakfast - Thanks Mom!

Even though Erin had a bit of an off day due to racing last weekend and twisting her ankle early in the 5K, she still got third place in her age group!

Here I am with my winnies - the ribbon and the Brooks Heritage jacket for winning my age group and the dish for winning overall:

Week 5, phase I: 11/03/08 - 11/09/08

2008-11-09T14:38:00.000-08:00

65 miles. Overall a good low intensity / recovery week. I spent most of the week feeling sore and tired from the half marathon and increase in volume but backed off the intended 75 mile week target and it paid off for Sunday's race. Unfortunately my right calf is now strained yet again after the race. It looks like Monday will be a day off.

Sunday, 11/09 - Run To Stop Hunger 10K
8.5 miles total. Race report above.

Saturday, 11/08 - 6 miles (45:47)
Easy run from home around the high school field three times plus a mile on the track with 4x100m strides. I felt drastically better today than during the week; finally recovered from Monday's 23 miler I think. My hamstring seems to be 100% healthy again, no calf issues but my legs still don't feel like they have any zip in them.

Friday, 11/07 - 6 miles (53:00)
Very slow and easy run from Railroad Square Depot down the Prince Memorial Greenway and back to Fleet Feet to pick up our race packets. I was really tired and unmotivated for this one. It was quite a pretty morning with some very thick fog, though. A couple of herons were skimming below me above the creek.

Thursday, 11/06 - 9 miles (1:23:00)
Easy trail run from Spring Lake into Annadel, up Marsh Trail to a turnaround at the Ridge intersection. I intended to hit Two Quarry and return via Channel Drive for 13 miles but just ran out of daylight after a longer than anticipated day at work. I felt pretty tired but slightly better in the middle of the run. My right knee was hurting, though.

Wednesday, 11/05 - 5 miles slow
Easy run from home. Left hamstring feeling pretty strained still, but my legs are too tired to run fast anyway. I cancelled some 800's I was thinking of doing. Rest and recovery are the most important components my training can have right now.

Tuesday, 11/04 - 7 miles slow
Easy run from home. Left hamstring feeling strained from the half marathon two weekends ago still.

Monday, 11/03 - 23.5 miles (3:11:00)
Easy LSD run from home to a 15 miler in Annadel and back. I felt pretty tired to start with but it was invigorating running through the overcast, drizzly morning. An error in my route memory for Annadel caused the intended 20 miler to be 23. D'oh. I felt pretty good considering the higher intensity run yesterday.

Redwood Fun Run Race Report

2008-11-02T13:38:00.001-08:00

This was the second annual Redwood Fun Run put on by the Redwood Adventist Academy, a local Christian Education institution. This was a fundraiser for the Redwood Empire Foodbank and RAA's scholarship fund. I'm a big advocate of public education, but it was nice to be support a small community race that most of the local "regulars" didn't bother to show up for. Unfortunately next weekend's Run to Stop Hunger has the backing of Fleet Feet and some other larger local supporters and this race will always be in competition for support. I won't post my rant about the other local running store, Heart and Sole. But I have issues with them.

My body was pretty tired from my first week of appreciable mileage in two months and still sore from last weekend's half marathon, particularly my left hamstring. With a slightly more competitive 10K next weekend I was planning on running hard, but not racing. Even though I felt less sore during the race, I was still tired and wouldn't have been able to "race" much faster than I ran.

Mile 1 - 5:58.2
The 5K and 12K started together on the lawn at Juliard Park. There weren't more than 50 people total. Seeing that Gregg Jennings was in the race I decided to tuck in behind him as long as I could. After coming out of the park a pack of four or five of us were on Gregg's heels, and Gregg was about twenty meters behind the leader. This first mile felt a lot more comfortable than the 5:57 at the Harvest Fair.

Mile 2 - 6:17.2 / 12:16.4
A couple of people dropped off the pace but I was still immediately behind Gregg, in third place. at least two more people were right behind me. We slowly caught the overall leader just before the 5K turnaround and almost ran him over after he made an unpredictable about face. Another runner or two behind me also make the 5K turn.

Mile 3 - 6:09.6 / 18:26.0
After dropping off a bit on the second mile, Gregg got back on pace in mile 3, which was a bit more of a struggle for me. By this time I was shoulder to shoulder with a younger guy who looked like a triathlete. We ran like this for several more minutes.

Mile 4 - 6:09.1 / 24:35.1
The second runner was laboring a lot harder than I was, at least aerobically. Nonetheless, I let he and Gregg pull away from me a couple hundred meters before the turnaround at Fulton Road - I was running a bit over my head for a workout and wanted to make sure I still finished holding a decent pace. Turning again to head back up the creek on the other side, the second runner inexplicably pulled off and into a port-a-potty and yelled "good job!" as I ran by. As Gregg passed the 4 mile mark I checked the time - :10 seconds back. The fourth and fifth miles were on uneven gravel and several ignorant bikers, walkers and unleashed dogs were about making this stretch the most difficult.

Mile 5 - 6:28.0 / 31:03.0
After backing off the intensity a bit Gregg's lead grew to :32 by mile 5. My legs were starting to get fatigued at this point.

Mile 6 - 6:25.8 / 37:29.8
In crosing back over to the other side of the creek again we pulled a net 360 degree turn and I got a good look behind me - no one. Getting back on the concrete path hurt my fatiguing legs more than the gravel, but having a smooth surface made it easier to maintain effort. Even though Gregg wasn't putting any more ground on me, I didn't feel good enough to make a surge on him and hoped that I'd feel better next weekend and that he'd be in that race, too.

Mile 7 - 6:21.8 / 43:51.6
I kept the same intensity, but apparently had some energy left as the pace picked up slightly toward the finish. Just under half a mile from the finish I saw an old high school friend who was a course monitor. He said hi and asked how it was going...... I hope he didn't think it was rude of me to not stop and chat. I hadn't seen him since high school so it was actually remarkable I recognized him after 7 miles at tempo pace!

Mile 7.48 - 3:20.7 / 47:12.2
The last little stretch had another sharp U-turn and a climb up from the creek path before finishing in Juliard Park. I picked up the pace a little bit the last quarter mile so I could look decent for the photo Erin took at the finish:

Me telling Gregg he won the race in Mile 4:
Winnie the Pooh hands out awards:

Erin passed two of her age groupers at the end and got 2nd out of 8 in the 5K!:

I ended up second overall and in the M30-39 age group behind Gregg. There was at least ten minutes back to the third place runner. Hopefully next year these guys will have a larger turnout - there were only 16 12K runners, 12 males and 2 in M30-39. So even though I've age group placed each of the last four times out, I've been the last person in two of those. This is why I refer to myself as an "age group loser." One of these days I'll get a win. Hopefully of the overall flavor.

Age group second placers:

Week 4, phase I: 10/27/08 - 11/02/08

2008-11-02T13:28:00.001-08:00

Sunday, 11/02: PM - 3 miles
Easy cool down / recovery run.

Sunday, 11/02: AM - Redwood Fun Run 12K (47:12)
Redwood Fun Run 12K in Santa Rosa. 2 mile warm up.

Saturday, 11/01: 5 miles (37:04)
Easy run in the rain with 8 x 100m strides on the track. Felt a little tired but okay considering yesterday's 14 miler. The left hamstring was still tight / sore.

Friday, 10/31: 14 miles (1:49:46)
Easy long run from home into Annadel and back through Sky Hawk subdivision. I felt fairly decent, the best all week, but my legs got sore and tired the last few miles. My left calf started spasming the last two miles.

Thursday, 10/30: Off
I put off my run until the evening then was just too tired after yesterday's 15 miler then 400 miles on the motorcycle down to Carmel including a late night ride back from San Francisco.

Wednesday, 10/29: 15 miles (2:09:40)
Early long run over Fountaingrove hill to Mendocino Avenue and back. My legs were tired still from the weekend's race so I just took it easy at 8:00 effort.

Tuesday, 10/28: 7.5 miles (1:01:52)
Easy run from home. Still felt a bit tired.

Monday, 10/27: 6.5 miles (55:31)
Easy recovery run, starting out with Erin. I felt pretty sore, particularly my left hamstring.

Wine Country Half Marathon Race Report

2008-10-27T07:21:00.000-07:00

This was the first ever Wine Country Marathon and Half Marathon in Healdsburg. So this makes the second “first ever” event in which I’ve participated in the last month. With the difficulty of getting away for several days to Bend for the XTerra Trail Running National Championships and the possibility it may go somewhere else in 2010 makes this event a more realistic one on which to maintain a long streak.

Trying my best to break pre-race focus to force a smile:

Erin and I carpooled up to Geyserville with my friend Joe, his wife Melynda and our dogs Dog and Max. Originally I was hoping to run a pretty fast half in this one – about 1:22 flat. With a low-volume four week taper to close out September followed by three weeks of very low volume, zero intensity running and a recurring calf strain I really had no idea what to expect. My primary and only important goal was to avoid aggravating my calf strain – I was even prepared to drop out of a race for the first time in my career if necessary. The morning was unusually warm for late October, probably low 50’s and warmed up to high 60’s by the end of the race. A little warm but not enough to have an adverse effect on performance.

Making sure the visor and sunglasses are ready for the 13.1 miles straight into the sun:

Mile 1 – 6:11.5
The gun went off right on time at 8:30 and within three strides I found myself clear in second place but already several meters behind the eventual winner, 21-year old Santa Rosan Alex Wolf-Root. He was gone with a first mile of about 5:30. Normally I would have felt very uncomfortable with my position but I checked my Garmin and I wasn’t running too fast – in fact I felt like I was holding myself back. Just before the first mile someone finally came up with me.

Mile 2 – 6:16.8
We ran together a couple of minutes into the second mile before he picked up the pace. Even though it was potentially a far way back to fourth place already and I could end up running alone for a very long time I knew it would be foolish to try matching his pace this early. He would eventually go on to run to second place alone and unchallenged. Through two miles I was feeling great and still holding myself back thinking I could run this pace all day long.

Mile 3 – 6:13.7
The third mile continued the long desolate stretch out in the open with Highway 101 immediately to the West and vineyards to the East in the Alexander Valley. The first several miles offered the less than refreshing pungency of over-fermented wine grapes. That somehow made it feel more hot and humid than it really was. Fortunately I was still clipping along very comfortably so it didn’t affect me much.

Mile 4 – 6:16.2
Just before the small downtown of Geyserville I passed the first group of race spectators off of Canyon Road. I kept listening for them to cheer the next runner behind me but I never heard it. So even at this early point I knew I had at least 45 seconds on the next runner. I thought it could potentially be a long day alone on the road. I had no idea…

Mile 5 – 6:17.7
Coming through downtown Geyserville even this early there was a lot of traffic – it even looked like the runner in front of me was having to dodge through cars at the Highway 128 stop sign. A few seconds later as I arrived I learned the commotion was an antique car show starting up which only confused the tourists trying to find their way through the area even more. Fortunately I was able to scoot through undeterred. There was a fairly steep but short climb just after Geyserville which negated the speed I’d gained on the otherwise slightly downhill fifth mile. It was on this hill I felt my left hamstring starting to feel a little strained. Getting back onto the flat after the hill I settled back into a good pace, coming by the aid station at mile 5 still feeling good enough to say hi and smile to a coworker who was working the station. She’s running NYC next weekend but still wanted to be part of this race.

Mile 6 – 6:32.5
At the start of mile 6 the course turned hard to the right to cross under the freeway. It was at this point I took my first look back to see where the next runners were. At this point I’d say I had well over a minute - it appeared to be almost a quarter mile back to a small group of runners. Much of mile 6 was very subtly uphill, but enough to really slow me down. There was no denying my hamstring was really suffering now and wouldn’t be getting better. I tried to figure out what was causing the stress to see if I could make some mid-race adjustments. After some thought I realized I’ve been favoring my calf while trying to run when I really shouldn’t have over the past two weeks. Additionally my legs in general were starting to get very fatigued at this point and I realized my training volume the past two months has simply not been sufficient for my body to keep up with my cardiovascular fitness in a race this long. The worst was yet to come.

Mile 7 – 6:46.6
I’d been battling a slightly upset stomach the past few days and yet I decided to split a hamburger and french fries with Erin for lunch yesterday. In addition to making my stomach worse, I wasn’t hungry for dinner – so I didn’t eat. Very early into mile 7 I realized I was bonking. Even as I grabbed my Gu and choked it down I knew it was too late and there wasn’t much I could do but struggle through the last 10K with as little damage as possible to my body and psyche.

Mile 8 – 6:36.5
While I was welcome for the net downhill of mile 8, my stride was getting longer and my feet were slapping as I watched the runner ahead get further and further away at the end of every straight until he no longer came back into view. And to think at mile 4 I was feeling good enough to think I’d be able to run him down the last four miles!

Mile 9 – 7:08.3
Settling into a long shady uphill grind with no sign of civilization – no runners, cars, houses – no anything in sight I was getting ready to shut down completely. Then from out of the shadows in the middle of the road appeared one of the Northbay’s top runners, “Downtown” Kenny Brown, out for a training run. I think he was just as surprised to see me as I was him. He shouted some encouragement and fortunately that was enough to keep me honest over the top of the hill.

Mile 10 – 6:56.1
Over a third of this mile was a steady climb to the west, where I fell apart and two runners behind me made up most of the minute plus I had on them. My hamstring was really tightening up bad and my quads were getting quite sore from over striding. Still, I was happy to have a long downhill and was able to keep enough momentum up several rolling hills to make the two guys behind me earn their place advancement. As they passed we exchanged compliments and I quickly realized I was having a very comfortable, albeit brief conversation with the eventual third place finisher.

Mile 11 – 6:22.3
I was encouraged to realize I was running well below my cardiovascular fitness level and that my struggles were really just my legs’ inability to deliver a performance of which I’m otherwise capable. Encouraged by this I decided to pick up the pace and try to keep my top 5 position. Although aided by a slight downhill, I ran this mile pretty hard, but realized my legs simply weren’t up to the task for the remainder of the race so I backed off once again. But this time I was out of the hills and on the last stretch – I just had to hold off what I was sure were hordes of fast-closing pursuers.

Mile 12 – 6:40.7
This was a long agonizing stretch through some industrial and residential neighborhoods of Healdsburg. I finally had a clear view behind me and saw the next pursuer was Catherine DuBay, someone who I’ve come to despise losing to. For over a decade we've been annoyingly close in our road racing performances in that time. I felt awful and was trying to talk myself into caring if she passed me, but the truth was that my goose was cooked and I really didn't care for anything except slinking across the finish and crawling in a hole.

Mile 12.87 – 5:32.7 (6:23 pace)
As you might have deduced, the race was short, per my Garmin. I was just barely hanging on this last mile, and with the chalk arrows disturbed by traffic and disappearing in the glare of the sun I had no idea where I was going the last half mile – I didn’t know where my turns were until I was upon them three or four times – all the while the whiz of the bike leading the women’s leader getting closer and closer. Squinting into the sun I saw my dad at the end of a long straight taking pictures, and I realized I was almost near the end. Even though I didn’t know where it was, I summoned all the speed I had – all of 6:00 pace probably – and closed just a few seconds ahead of Catherine in 1:23:53. After running in third place alone most of the race, I held my post-shamble top-five position (by five seconds) and finished second in the Men's 30-34 age group.

My finish:

Slugging over the finish line:

Joe & Melynda waiting for the awards ceremony:

The two age-group losers:

The finisher's medal and age group award,
a bottle of Souveraign 2006 Merlot in an event branded wine box
with a plastic plaque identifying my status as age group loser:

Cons:
1. I may be the only person in the history of the world to bonk in a half marathon while having a graduate degree in kinesiology hanging above his desk.
2. My equivalent of a 1:26:00 true half marathon was a minute off my worst-case-scenario-without-dropping-out time. After making some great progress in my competitive attitude the last two races I again was a giant wuss today.
3. I can tell my lack of training volume has really compromised my legs’ ability to run quick for several miles on the road.
4. I have only six weeks to get some miles in to prepare for the California International Marathon. Aerobically I think I have a 2:55 in me but I need to see how many miles I can pack on my body before then. It could get very ugly even if I don’t race it.
5. In this age of GPS systems I think race directors are getting lazy in marking courses. This is the second race in a month in which the distance has been been substantially short with very inaccurate mile markers. It's time to get the Jones Meter out again, guys!

Pros:
1. I’m ecstatic that my calf didn’t bother me at all during the race and even more so that it’s still feeling good tonight. Considering how this has affected my running the past month I consider the day a smashing success due to this alone.
2. I felt absolutely fantastic at 6:15-6:20 pace for over half an hour and really believe that once I get accustomed to my 60+ mile weeks again I’m in 1:22 shape, assuming I fuel appropriately for the race.
3. More than in my previous running life, I enjoy doing these events with my friends and family around. I was really glad to see my dad dragged himself out of bed after getting in from the east coast late the night before, that Joe, Melynda and Max hung out with us into the afternoon and of course Erin. It’s very comforting to know I don’t have to worry about tedious details with her around and that no matter how I finish she’ll be there.
3. And finally, it’s always nice to win age group awards! Although I faded to fifth overall, I got second in my age group, as did Joe. My best friend’s sister Tiana got third in her age group as well with an awesome time of 1:45.

Week 3, phase I: 10/20/08 - 10/26/08

2008-10-27T07:13:00.000-07:00

29 miles. Low mileage due to ongoing calf issues, but at the end of the week there are a some positives. Despite the disastrous outcome of my half marathon, there are several positives to take away and most importantly my calf is feeling okay.

Sunday, 10/26: Wine Country Half Marathon
Race report above.

Saturday, 10/25: 5 miles (36:57)
Felt fairly decent. 4 x 100m strides on the track then 2 x 800m @ 3:10, trying to get a feel for pace.

Friday, 10/24: 7 miles (51:00)
Easy run to test the calf. If it acted up I was going to scrap the race on Sunday. It felt fine.

Thursday, 10/23: 3 miles (20:55)
Easy early morning run. After taking 3 days off I was anxious to see how the calf did on a run. It felt okay but was sore the rest of the day.

Wednesday, 10/22: Off
Calf issues.

Tuesday, 10/21: Off
Calf issues.

Monday, 10/20: Off
Calf issues.

Another off week....ggrrrrrrr......

2008-10-15T15:00:00.000-07:00

35 miles. The number is more impressive than what actually happened. I would call these junk miles even though I got a good seven miler in. My calf started doing much better but after Sunday's run it's back to feeling very strained.

Sunday, 10/19: 8.5 miles (1:01:02)
Easy flat run to the ranger station in Annadel. Ran into Sean and Nika who tried suckering me into a loop around the Marsh (would have been 23 for me). Even with just the 8.5, my calf started feeling tight at the end.

Saturday, 10/18: 6.5 miles
2 mile warmup, 2 x 100m strides, 400m @ 74, 4 x 800m @ 2:48 with 2:45 400m recovery jogs, 1 mile cooldown. I felt a little tired, but okay. My calf felt tired, but not strained.

Friday, 10/17: 5 miles (35:57)
Felt okay, particularly after such a quick run yesterday.

Thursday, 10/16: 7 miles (46:35)
A little longer run to test the seemingly improved calf. Even though I was still a little sore from the strength training and Monday's biking, I felt really good on this one. The 6:47 first mile felt like a 7:30 and I was able to keep the pace without much effort. Even though 6:40's were pretty effortless, maintaining pace on the hills caused a disproportionate increase in difficulty. The calf didn't act up at all but I think my conscious efforts to push off the balls of my feet instead of my toes caused me to favor my right leg a little. My left calf was a little tired at the end of the run.

Wednesday, 10/15: 3 miles (22:15)
Easy run from home to the track. My intention of doing a couple of miles on the track for 5 was thwarted as there was a high school cross country race going on that started and ended there. The good news is that my high school (Santa Rosa) won quite easily and for the first time since my era looks to be the dominant team in the league.
Oh - the calf felt pretty good. I focused on pushing off the balls of my feet rather than my toes, particulalry on the right foot.

Tuesday, 10/14: 5 miles (37:58)
Easy run before work. Other than being really sore from strength training and the stupid bike yesterday I felt really good and had to catch myself trying to go too fast several times. The calf started getting tweaky right around 4.
After analyzing my injury history and symptoms then my anatomy chart I confirmed my mechanical error which has caused my continued calf trouble, specifically my flexor digitorum longus:

A little less noticable on my speed workout shoes. I can also tell the majority of the miles on these shoes were on the track:
Monday, 10/13: {2 x 5.5 mile bike with hills}
I rode to work and back today. One very long climb (12-20 minutes) each way. Felt good to do something, anything aerobic.

Off week between training cycles

2008-10-10T10:16:00.000-07:00

13 miles. My calf has been giving me major issues every time I've tried running this week. Unlike the vague achy tightness I've experienced the last few times it's acted up, including in Oregon, this week it's felt like a legitimate muscle strain.

I spent most of this week feeling really frustrated and depressed about my situation and the potential of being out longer than just a few days. By Saturday night my perspective came back around. Although I don't like deviating from my training plan particularly with three races in the next month, this is the least bad time for me to deal with this - I made it through what has been a complete - and to this point in my life - second most intense training cycle in my 22 years of running. My goal race is still 5 months away and I should probably be taking a physical break before getting back on the gas anyway.

Although I loathe cross training and have never been successful at maintaining fitness with it, I've got my bike ready to go and will be riding the long way to and from work to get some aroebic efforts until my calf is ready to run.

Sunday, 10/12:
No running. Very thorough and aggressive strength training in the morning.

Saturday, 10/11:
5 minutes of easy jogging; made it 2:00 before the calf started acting up. I felt really good today, too. Damnit.

Friday, 10/10:
No running. Strength training in the evening.

Thursday, 10/9:
3 miles easy in the evening. Calf felt achy, weak and tight and got progressively worse through the run. I stopped to massage and stretch it halfway through and it didn't help any.

Wednesday, 10/8:
Tried going out for a 5 miler late and made it a minute before my calf let me know it wasn't going to happen.

Tuesday, 10/7:
No running - calf hurt.

Monday, 10/6:
Hilly 10 miler in Fountaingrove in the morning. Although my legs were tired from yesterday's 10K, they finally felt like they had some zip in them. I think I may have been able to come close to 36:00 had the 10K been today. Right calf felt strained toward the end of the run.

Marathon Season Begins

2008-10-08T14:20:00.000-07:00

My first ever marathon training cycle began Monday 10/6/08. Although technically part of my training cycle, the first week is an unstructured stretch of running up to 60 miles to take a mental break from formal training between the last cycle and this one. I’m again using Daniels’ Running Formula (1st ed.) as the backbone of my program. Here is what it looks like:

10/6/08 – 11/9/08: 5 weeks
Foundation / Injury Prevention (i.e., base building)
The emphasis is on the long run specifically and building overall mileage in general. I have a half marathon, 12K and 10K on successive weekends to close out these five weeks. I’d like to have some more racing experience before getting into the more intense phases through which racing will be more difficult and would likely compromise my training.

11/10/08 – 12/21/08: 6 weeks
Early Quality
The emphasis is on running economy with weekly work on either the long run, lactate threshold (LT), goal marathon pace (MP) or a combination of long/LT. In week four (12/7/08) I will be running the California International Marathon to re-gauge the distance, practice my hydration and nutrition intake and familiarize myself with the challenges faced in the last 10K of a well run marathon so I may better deal with them in my goal race.

12/22/08 – 2/1/09: 6 weeks
Transition Quality
The primary emphasis is on improving aerobic capacity (VO2 max) with weekly work on either the long run, LT, MP or long/LT. To close out this phase I will be running the Davis Stampede half marathon with the intent of setting a personal record and getting an accurate performance prediction of what I should be shooting for in my goal marathon.

2/2/09 – 3/1/09: 4 weeks
Final Quality
The primary emphasis per Dr. Jack is LT work with one final 15 mile MP run. While I’ll do the scheduled workouts, I’ll be progressively cutting my mileage these four weeks and view the lower-intensity LT runs and decreased mileage as a sharpening/peaking phase. The 21 week cycle culminates with my goal race, the Napa Valley Marathon from Calistoga to Napa along the Silverado Trail on Sunday, March 1.

I’ve completed two marathons in the past:
1996 San Francisco Chronicle Marathon, 3:13 (3:06 excluding the stretching breaks the last 8 miles) during the summer before my redshirt year in college.
2002 San Francisco Marathon, 3:21:50 off of only five weeks of easy running.

Goal 1: Reach my target weight of 145 lbs. by the time phase II starts.
Goal 2: Strength training once or twice per week.
Goal 3: Marathon performance of 2:52 (A) to 2:58 (B) at the California International Marathon.
Goal 4: Half marathon performance of 1:18 (A) to 1:20 (B) at the Davis Stampede.
Goal 5: Marathon performance of 2:45 (A) to 2:50 (B) at the Napa Valley Marathon.

First Season Review

2008-10-07T11:41:00.000-07:00

Upon crossing the finish line at the Harvest Fair 10K, my first structured training cycle since college came to an end. Below are my assessments and thoughts.

Goal 1: Reach my target weight of 145 lbs.
Result: I remain 5-10 lbs. away from my goal. Halfway through my training cycle I realized my volume and intensity required me to have a higher caloric intake than I thought. I gladly exchanged further weight loss in order to have sufficient fueling and recovery to allow my sustained volume and intensity through the season.

Goal 2: Reach a body fat percentage of 8.
Result: I remain about 3-4% away at this point, which is related to maintaining my body weight. I also didn't perform any strength or core training during the last four months.

Goal 3: Complete the entire training cycle as scheduled.
Result: Aside from a few missed workouts and runs due to short-term calf issues, I feel really good about all the hard work I did the last 24 weeks and how consistent my training has been.

Somewhere through my training I started placing more of an emphasis on performance than I originally intended. While I may have performed up to my fitness level in some of these races, I hope I haven't and can finally run the race I think I can in either the half marathon, 12K or 10K I'm running in the next five weeks. While I haven't achieved the weight loss I'd hoped to in order to really benefit my running, I have lost 35 pounds since late last winter and have re-established an excellent work ethic toward my training which will serve me well going forward. Another benefit of the past 5 months is that after getting Erin in an appropriate pair of shoes she's been able to run regularly and can run in the park with me and enter races. Overall I'm very pleased with where my running is right now, the decade-long inertia I've overcome and the foundation I've laid for the future.

Harvest Fair 10K Race Report

2008-10-06T07:21:00.000-07:00

Erin in the blue visor before the 3K start:

10K start:

Erin and I headed out early on a beautiful fall morning for this race. Before parking I drove Erin down the out and back portion of the 3K course outside the Sonoma County Fairgrounds so she’d have an idea of gauging her distance and effort. The course looked quite different than the last time I ran it with a second overall in 9:48 nineteen years ago, with a new subdivision and perfectly smooth road replacing the open fields lining a crumbling country lane.

After a quick pit stop I headed out for my warm up. Although I felt quite a bit better than I had all week I was still a little fatigued and just off overall. Finishing up my 2 mile warm up I saw my dad had made it out to snap some pictures and support Erin and I. Since my mom was also running and my parents through Erin came out to support her it was a family event. Back at the truck I finished my strides and sustained minute at mile pace, threw on my racing regalia and headed to the start. I think this was the first time since college I did my warm up routine perfectly, so that was one positive on the day. I probably should have done a bit more stretching, though.

I got to the starting line with about five minutes until the gun and pushed my way to the front knowing that even on a bad day I should be top 10. At the front I first saw my work friend Joe and chatted a bit before the start – that was calming for me. Also at the starting line I noticed Jeff Jackson wasn’t around but John Litzenberg was – he’d go on to run alone at the front and barely hold off a pack of three at the finish in 33:59. After exchanging good lucks with my high school friend and team mate Nika and her daughter then the eventual women’s winner Catherine we were off.

After making sure I was clear of trouble I settled in to what I felt was 6:00 pace. There were about 15 people in front of me most of the first mile and I slowly started passing a few in the second half. I came through the mile in 5:57 and in 12th place. My effort was greater than I was hoping for, but my sense of pace was right on. It was at this point I realized my depression of the start button on my Garmin at the gun was unsuccessful. Although the mile markers were all correct, we didn’t have splits read until mile 4 so I ran this one all on perceived effort. Coming up the second short hill in the race at a mile and a third I caught a couple of runners before the top and left them behind on the backside.

There was a gap of about 15 to 20 seconds already on the next group ahead so I settled in to my own pace. Fortunately I was expecting to be running much of this race alone. After about 2.2 miles one of the three ahead dropped off and I caught him around 2.5. His effort to go with me lasted about three seconds – I give him lots of credit for at least trying, though – I usually don’t even bother when I’m passed. The other two were still slowly pulling away and closing on a young kid about 30 seconds ahead of me.

There’s a short out and back segment into Doyle Park to the 3 mile mark – on my way in I saw John coming out with a pack of three looking very good about 50 meters behind him. There was a big gap back to the two pulling away from me, another healthy gap back to the young kid then about 40 meters back to me in 8th place. After the turnaround there was a pretty big gap back to 9th place, close to 100 meters. Catherine was running her typically consistent race and had moved up to 10th overall about 30 seconds behind me. About a minute behind me was Joe who looked really smooth and comfortable – and almost smiling.

Coming out of the out and back segment I focused back in on the kid ahead. It took me another couple of minutes but I finally passed him at about 3.6 miles. The two guys ahead were still pulling away about 40 seconds ahead and looking strong so my race became an effort to hold my pace and place. I came through 4 miles in 24:20, well off my “B” goal pace and not feeling nearly good enough to even think of making up the time over the last two miles. I had a brief moment in which I had to overcome the urge to shut it down and run just fast enough to hold my place. I got over the next couple of easy hills with much effort and came through 5 miles in 30:37. With one mile to go I didn’t feel as bad as I should have at this point in a 10K but for some reason today I just didn’t have the extra gear I think I do.

My goal in the last mile was to stay close enough to see the duel between the kid and old man ahead of me (the kid easily outkicked the old man by two seconds). I felt good enough to close quickly and comfortably the last minute and would have like to have been around some others as I think I would have had a great competitive finish despite my slower than desired time. Mentally I was finally ready for a competition but my body just wasn’t ready to run a good race. The last mile was my fastest at a pace of 5:54 so I think my pacing was just about perfect for an “off” day.

I finished in 37:42, 7th out of 372 overall and 164 males; 3rd in the male 30-39 age group. Duane and Sheila were nice enough to stick around to see if Erin won an age group award in the 3K but she missed it by one place, as did my mom. Unfortunately the 3K and 10K were more competitive than usual this year. At least I got third so Sheila could take a picture of my medal.

Cons: Just an off day, having missed my “B” goal by almost a minute and my placing goal of top 5 by two. I still like the 10K distance the most and even though my training should have prepared me well for it, I think I would have benefited more with some shorter and faster intervals – I’m probably in better half marathon and maybe even marathon shape right now. Erin’s time would have won her age division by over a minute last year. This year she was out of 3rd by :42. My mom probably would have moved up a place into the awards had she not been chatting with my dad at the back of the pack well after the gun went off.

Pros: I ran a very consistent pace from mile to mile. Considering I was running blind to time I gauged my effort quite well throughout the race. I felt very competitive in the last mile and wished to have someone around to race. That’s the first time I’ve had that urge in a long time so I’m looking forward to future races. Finally, I’m learning to appreciate the age group placing – I usually don’t care for not winning, but I’ll take the top three finishes when they come now. While John will be in the next age division next year and I plan on being in much better shape to handle the second place finisher in the division with ease, I hope to contend for the overall win in addition to the age group win next year. For Erin, although she missed an award, she started at the front where she should have, ran a very smart race and set a huge personal record with a 16:16! I’m very proud of her and look forward to seeing her continued improvement.

Week 5, phase IV: 9/29/08 - 10/05/08

2008-10-06T05:08:00.000-07:00

38 miles. My last soft week. Although I was scheduled for a 3-week taper, I've had more of a drop off than I would have liked the last four weeks. Not just in mileage, but in dedication and consistency. I should have done cool downs after my races and I should have gotten my easy runs in. This was officially my last week of my first training cycle in almost a decade and I'll be reviewing my progress toward my goals and establish new ones shortly with my first ever marathon training cycle starting Monday.

Sunday, October 5: Harvest Fair 10K
2 mile warmup, 2 x 80m strides + 1:00 @ mile pace, 10K race. Race report to follow pending some pictures being obtained...

Saturday, October 4: 5 miles (40:37)
Easy run. My legs still felt completely dead. Not quite as sore and fatigued as the last few days, but still with very little life.

Friday, October 3: 7 miles (57:20)
Easy run in the light rain. My legs were a bit sore from the last several days plus last night's workout. Maria Carillo High School finally finished installing their lights and my route took my through the park adjacent to the school - quite a spectacle in the moonless, rainy night. And quite a difference from when that lot was an open field of grass adjacent to the park over which I set the last course record for Rincon Valley Junior High's cross country course in 1989. Since my new racing flats felt pretty stiff during last night's 3200m acceleration run I decided to wear them on this one to soften them up a bit before Sunday's 10K.

Thursday, October 2: 9.5 miles, track workout
1.5 mile warm up, 2 x 100m strides, 4 x 1000m @ 3:45 w/ 1:00 rest + 6 x 200m @ :38 w/ full recovery 200m jog + 3200m acceleration run, 1.5 mile cool down.

Even though my legs were still quite flat this was a pretty good workout. Instead dropping the pace 5 seconds every 400m ending at 3K race pace on the buildup, I wanted to run a mile at my 10K "B" goal pace (sub 37 = 5:56 1600m) then drop it to my "A" goal pace (sub 36 = 5:46 1600m) to simulate how I hoped the first two miles would go Sunday.
1000's:
- 3:44.4 (:59.7)
- 3:43.4 (1:00.2)
- 3:45.0 (:59.8)
- 3:45.3 (4:41.2)
Averages: 3:44.5 (59.9)

200's:
39.0, 38.3, 37.0, 37.7, 36.6, 38.6
Average: 37.9

3200m acceleration:
1:29.0
2:58.4 (1:29.4)
4:26.2 (1:27.7)
5:56.6 (1:30.4) = 5:58.6 mile = 37:09 10K
7:21.9 (1:25.3)
8:48.5 (1:26.6)
10:14.6 (1:26.1)
11:42.1 (1:25.3) = 5:47.4 mile = 35:59.4 10K
I felt exceptionally good and comfortable on this and didn't feel any struggle until my quads started burning a little the last 200m. I really think I'm fit enough for a sub 36:00 10K at this point but I'll have to be a lot fresher than I am now and it'll have to be a near perfect day otherwise. I think sub 37:00 is something I should be able to run unless there are excessive compromising factors on race day.

Wednesday, October 1: 8+ miles, LT workout
2.8 mile warm up from Howarth Park to Channel Drive, 20:00 (faster than) Tempo @ 10K goal pace (5:48) to Tempo pace (6:04), full recovery jog, 4 x 200m @ :38, 1 mile cool down.

With two days off instead of even one easy run from my two weekend races and drive to this workout I felt really awful. On the warmup my hamstrings felt quite strained and I thought I should skip the workout altogether to do an easy run. In retrospect, I made a poor decision and went ahead with the workout. I started the tempo not feeling any better, and started out at 5:30 pace, held it for a couple of minutes, held 5:45 pace through just over a mile but was working way too hard for it and got progressively slower, finishing the 20:00 with an average pace of 6:10. The 200's felt awful, too. Other than the fact I completed the workout, the big positive on the day is that I definitely learned a lesson about pushing too much = don't do it!

Tuesday, September 30: Off
Unscheduled - tired & lazy.
I had a similar motivational let-down after August's half marathon in San Francisco but was able to overcome it then.

Monday, September 28: Off
Unscheduled - tired & lazy.

Pilot Butte Challenge Race Report

2008-09-30T15:47:00.000-07:00

After reading on an XTerra e-mail newsletter that awards for combined times at XTerra and the Pilot Butte Challenge would be given I decided to sign up. It's only a mile long and was just a few minutes from where Erin and I were staying. Despite not going on a cooldown after Saturday's race I felt pretty good, just a little tired. The morning was even colder than yesterday, but bright and sunny. I warmed up by running to the top and back down on the trail then did some strides. I was still cold and foolishly looking forward to getting on with this bit of nonsense.
After the warmup I was still warm in my sweats at the bottom of Pilot Butte:

After my warmup I was freezing in my race getup at the base of Pilot Butte:

I started out quite conservatively - about four guys my age roared to the front with seven or eight little kids nipping at their heels. Knowing that I'm useless at racing less than a 10k at this point and even more useless on climbs I settled into a good (yet agonzingly painful) pace when we started climbing after about 150 meters. One guy passed me at the base but he quickly came back as I passed a couple of the kids as well. The rest of the crowd was a good 20-30 meters ahead of me for most of the climb. A smart early pace and the sound of a kid chasing me up the hill kept my pace honest, even though I felt I could have gone quite a bit faster on fresher legs. Nearing the top with about 200 meters to go I heard the kid behind me closing hard as I was fading. The guy in front of me was fading even more. Just after conceding the race to my pursuer we reached the pavement and the subtle downhill gave my dead legs a much needed boost to hold off the youth movement and almost catch the other old man just ahead of me. I finished in 9:24, whatever that means, and 9th in my heat.

The race was so short I beat Erin's shuttle bus to the top:

The second heat for 6-12 year olds and 40+ started five minutes behind ours, and I'm glad it did. A 12 year old girl almost beat my time!!! This was a fun little race and a great small town family event. The view at the top was spectacular and there were a lot of nice park volunteers in addition to the Oregon Guard to make sure everything went perfectly. Even the awards ceremony was great - A podium with an unbeatable backdrop and nice medals to the top three in 5-year increments. The winner, Mike Olson, lives at the bottom of the butte and set a new age division record of 7:59. Erin and I spoke with him and his girlfriend after the race - very very friendly people. I ended up last in my M30-34 age division, but fortunately there were only two others who ran:

Thomas Taylor (left, above) was second overall and ran a sub 1:20 at XTerra to win the men's combined challenge award, a cool REI jacket. There were only five of us who did both events and unfortunately for my runner up self REI and Emily from XTerra awarded only the top overall male and female. But, I got my first age group award since 2002. And back then I didn't stick around to collect it so this was the first in probably ten years or more. The medal is pretty cool, too:

In the online version of the Bend Bulletin article for the race there's a picture of the old man who finished just ahead of me and a kid who beat him. You can see me coming around the corner behind them.

XTerra Trail Running National Championships Race Report

2008-09-30T13:32:00.000-07:00

I woke up early and feeling well rested. After putzing around for a while Erin got up and we were on our way to the Old Mill District for the start of the race. The morning was really cold; probably around 40 degrees F but sunny and calm. After I convinced Erin to change from shorts into her running pants for her 5K I headed off to take care of some business. Upon my return I convinced her to change back into her shorts as it was still very cold but warming up quickly. I finally left Erin and Dog at the truck for a 5 minute warmup plus some strides. Despite feeling pretty decent on the warmup my low back was hurting (probably from all the driving) and with the grueling, tedious 7.5 miler with Dog at 8:30 pace on the EASY part of the course the day before I was hoping to run 1:45-ish, perhaps a bit faster if things went well.
I'm ready to start my warmup:

While Erin can't fathom the word "warm" with the truck door open:

Mile 1 – 6:38

The first mile started in the parking lot at the Old Mill and followed the paved part of the Deschutes River Trail through Farewell Bend Park, across the river and onto the cinder / dirt part of the trail. I knew there was almost 4 miles before we hit any single track and with only about 300 runners in the race I kept a comfortable pace to start, still needing to warm up before hitting a good race intensity. After about half a mile I slowly started passing people without picking up my pace. There was only one quick up and down hill in this mile.

Mile 2 – 7:08

I picked up the intensity just a little midway through the second mile which included a few short steep climbs in addition to the gradual climb on the “flat” sections which followed the river upstream via a wide gravel road. I passed several more people throughout this mile, many who looked and sounded like they may not finish… The short climbs didn’t feel too bad and I recovered quickly on the flatter stretches.

Mile 3 – 7:31

This was vertically the toughest mile with an extended steep climb in addition to a noticeable climb away from the river’s edge up toward the Cascade Lakes Highway. Even though the trail was pretty smooth gravel and dirt with some stretches of pavement it was too early for me to push the pace on the climb so I aimed to keep my perceived effort even and still managed to pass a few people.

Mile 4 – 7:10

After a long stretch of red cinder dirt and a parking lot the wide path finally turned us out onto the single track which was covered in several inches of dust. Even though I was still gaining on several people strung out in front of me I wasn’t moving fast enough to overtake any too quick, having to settle in behind several until wider straighter stretches.

Mile 5 – 6:49

I came up behind some clown decked out in Powerbar tagged spandex shorts and triathlon top (carrying Gu, of course). When the trail widened I moved clear ahead but remained on the side of the trail so as not to give him the impression that I was cutting him off. He was sucking wind really bad and when the trail narrowed again he tried moving up to pinch me off. For the most part runners are pretty courteous, particularly trail runners but there are still way too may clowns out there who think their mediocrity warrants the use of pointless race tactics that rarely work on the elite level, particularly at mile 4 of a half marathon. After surging ahead up a short hill I left him way behind when we got turned out onto another dirt fire road. My quads were really starting to feel fatigued after all the climbing and I figured I’d better take on some carbs and liquid – so I pulled off the gloves and grabbed some Gatorade at the next aid station. I tried slowing a bit but still couldn’t get more than a couple of small sips down out of the damned paper cup. Even though there were several runners strung out in front of me over the next 200 meters I could see, I was pretty alone for this mile which was mostly flat with wide sweeping turns of the road so I was able to settle in and focus on my pace and effort.

Mile 6 – 6:53

Coming up on a short steep climb I closed on a couple of runners – one guy who was looking pretty good and one of the top women runners. Fortunately the trail was wide enough to allow all three of us side by side as the guy passed the woman just as I split them both before cresting and heading back downhill toward the river. I was kind of surprised the guy didn’t go with me as he looked and sounded a lot better than I did.

Mile 7 – 6:33

Although the trail was twisty with loose dust and then gravel before the 7 mile mark, it was substantially downhill with the technicality being the primary speed limiter. I downed the Gu I packed in my pocket before the aid station set up in the park where we again joined the river to turn and follow it down river. This time I slowed even more to get more than a couple of sips of water down. At this point my average pace was 6:58 per mile and even though I didn’t know what the next couple of miles had in store, the rest of the race was a net downhill so I started to think my original A goal of sub 1:30 was an outside possibility.

Mile 8 – 7:05

The trail once again turned to some pretty technical single track over several short but steep hills along the river before heading away toward the hill to the North. XTerra’s site has a great picture of the men’s winner, Bend’s Max King here:

As the guy I passed in mile 6 started closing the gap on me during this stretch I thought I was loosing some ground on the string of runners ahead of me. When the trail came out of the trees I could see I was gaining on some, losing on others.
Mile 9 – 7:39
This was physically the toughest mile in the race and second toughest vertically. We climbed some tough winding single track up the hill away from the river then several of us bunched up again toward the top. I tried to give the guy behind me some room to pass a few times but he didn’t take it so I told him to just holler whenever he wanted up. He said he was fine where he was and that I was pulling away on the flats anyway. Just after the top we had a really tough section of steep switchbacks that forced one of the taller runners at the front of the string to step off to allow us more nimble guys by. Even though the downhill was nice, it was too technical to make up any time lost on the previous climb. Just before the end of mile 9 the trail opened up and flattened out. I got by a couple of more runners and again left my pursuer behind. The last couple of miles had pushed my average pace back to 7:08 per mile so I was feeling less optimistic about a sub 1:30.
Mile 10 – 6:15
Just after the start of mile 10 we joined back up with the wide part of the trail we took through the first three and a half miles. Even though I felt the 1:30 was out of reach I felt reasonably good and was running pretty well so I decided to push as best I could for the last few miles since they were downhill. I passed another couple of runners on the dirt road just before Mt. Bachelor Village and for the first time since about 300 meters (and the last time) I was passed by a tall older guy who just ate up the road with some huge strides. I was digging hard and my glutes started burning but everything else was clicking pretty well.
Mile 11 – 6:25
I passed another runner then headed down the longer steeper section mentioned in the beginning of mile 3. After a very short climb I closed to within 10 meters of Daddy Long Legs and in retrospect my only mistake in this race was not surging ahead to go with him at this point. I still have to work on my racing toughness…
Mile 12 – 6:28
Cruising along the river again I passed the 5K turnaround and snapped out of my focus to wonder how Erin did in her race. Her legs have been bothering her lately and she was sore from a massage the day before and wasn’t used to the cold at the start… Too distracting so I focused back in on the runner ahead of me.
Mile 12.82 – 5:17 (6:26 pace)

One more short climb and descent, passing under the roadway to Farewell Bend Park and I was on him. We were on a really wide road and I was taking the outside line well clear of him. With a shortening 5 meters between us homeboy looked over his shoulder and immediately moved into my path, a good five feet outside of his path. Now the trail here is at least 15 feet wide – easily enough for two cars so I don’t know if he thought he could hold me off for almost a mile by running me “off the rail” of the river or if he just wasn’t thinking at all. His timing was also so poor that I didn’t have to break stride to slide inside and easily glide by him. The last stretch was a bit of an unknown for me. Most of the middle mile markers were at least a quarter mile long – I was very glad I wore my Garmin – so I was sort of anticipating the course to be a little long. After a long ugly stretch of dirt where it appears some sort of development is about to occur we passed under the Columbia bridge. At this point I realized the finish which I would have guessed to be another 600m – 800m away was actually only about 200m away. So I started a kick, came around the last curve to the bridge and saw the clock at 1:27:46… I don’t know why but the 1:27:56 from San Francisco in August triggered my memory and I pushed to get under that time even though I knew the course had to be short. What a dummy, plus I was a second off anyway. Had I known the last half mile of the course I would have pushed harder to catch the woman who finished just ahead of me, but I’m still pretty pleased with my race – reaching my original “A” goal with a 1:29:45 equivalent on the 12.82 mile course. I ended up being 37th out of 225 overall, 32nd male of 137 and 7th of 25 in the male 30-34 division.

Fast finish over the bridge:

Happy runner with the Expo and Old Mill in the background:

After the race Erin, Shadow and I were milling about the expo checking out the overpriced XTerra gear when we heard Erin's name announced during the award ceremony. She ended up finishing second in her age group for the 5K, only a minute out of first, and won an awesome medal!:

Next year Dog will come back to participate in the K9 challenge to try to win a year's worth of crunchies. He enjoyed watching the other hacks try to navigate the course:

After a few rounds he let us know he'd seen enough to know how to prepare for next year's competition:

One last picture at the finish before we head downtown for a celebration lunch:

Downtown we had an awesome post-race hamburger and beer at the Deschutes Brewery. Actually I think I had two beers. If you're ever in Bend I highly recommend you visit this one and avoid the Bend Brewing Company. Huge difference in the food quality. BBC does have some decent beers, though.

Cons: This course would have been perfect for a race of ~1000 runners, but with only 300 there were too many miles of road-type trails. Although I’m not a hardcore ultra guy, I think for a championship “trail” race this one was pretty tame. For one of the premier events put on by an international event company I think they could have done a better job of getting the mile markers correct - or not even having them at all. I still have a substantial mental block to overcome before I can consider myself a competitive runner again.

Pros: There is no finer town in the world than Bend. Part of this trip was to introduce Erin to the place I’ve always wanted to call home. She loves it and we have a 5-year plan for getting up there for good. Tons of local support – from the hundreds of central Oregon participants, nature lovers on the trail and residents cheering from their driveways to the awesome volunteers at the start and finish and aid stations. This was the first race I can remember in a long time where I didn’t get a whiff of cigarette or cigar smoke. Despite feeling bad leading up the race I ran very smart and tough, particularly the last four miles during which I worked my tail off. Even though XTerra hosted a national championship trail race in conjunction with their triathlon in Tahoe last year, this was the first official national trail running championships for them and I finally got to be part of the “first” running of something that likely won’t fizzle out of existence.

Week 4, phase IV: 9/22/08 - 9/28/08

2008-09-30T12:42:00.000-07:00

40 miles. Another soft week mileage-wise, and workout wise. I opted out of the workout scheduled for Thursday simply because I didn't feel like doing it. I enjoyed myself with my wife on one of our few vacations instead. Overall it was a pretty decent week, though. The XTerra trail race is the race that motivated me to get back into training. Once I saw that it was going to be in Bend last spring I signed up and went to work. So even though I had a decent race, the event itself and this trip in general was a much deserved vacation for us and a well earned celebration of my return to running.

Sunday, September 28: Pilot Butte Challenge
2 mile warmup to the top and back down, some strides then the 1 mile race to the top!

Saturday, September 27: XTerra Trail Running National Championship
(Just shy of) Half marathon. 5 minute warmup and a couple of strides.

Friday, September 26: 7.5 miles (1:02:56)
While Erin was getting a massage downtown I ran most of the middle portion of the XTerra race course with Shadow. I felt really slow and lethargic, laboring up the hills with no energy. Dog even easily kept up with me despite never going over 7 miles in his life and not over 5 in the past year. I was very discouraged with this run the day before Saturday's race. I got over it in a hurry, adjusted my goals and enjoyed myself the rest of the aftenoon, finishing off my delicious taco salad downtown:
After lunch Erin and I took Dog to Farewell Bend State Park to walk off our meal, check out part of the first mile for her 5K and simply enjoy the beautiful day. The run crossed this bridge at about 1/2 mile then followed the trail along the river at the base of the cliff in the background:

Thursday, September 25: Off

I just didn't feel like running. My best chance was before Erin got up but she was ready to go for our hike really early! So we headed out to Smith Rock State Park. What a beautiful park this is - even though it's fairly arid and barren, the Crooked River keeps the riverside lush in the canyon. It reminds me of a mini version of King's Canyon along the Colorado River outside of Moab, UT.

The picture below on the footbridge in Drake Park was taken later in the afternoon when Erin and I walked around downtown Bend:

Erin and Shadow Ready to go!:

...Shadow's been ready to go for a while now...:

Guess which trail I made my wife take?:

Dog and I enjoying our climb up Misery Ridge quite a bit more than Erin:

The views are well worth the treacherous hike:

Erin trying to get it over with:

Almost to the top, and the attitude appeared to rise with the altitude:

Monkey Face, one of the most popular rock climbing spots on the west coast:

The other side:

There are some beautiful flowers once you get back down along the river:

A very happy dog cooling himself in the shade after the dusty hot climb and descent:

Wednesday, September 24: 4 miles

Easy run with Erin and Shadow on the gravel roads around our bed & breakfast in the country. We were both really stiff & tired from the 9 hour trip but Dog was really happy to get out and move.

Tuesday, September 23: 7 miles, track LT workout

1.5 mile warmup, 2 x 100m strides, 5 x 1200 @ 4:30 w/ 2:00 rest, 1.5 mile cooldown. I felt pretty tired but was able to hold the pace quite easily. There were some other people I knew from a local running club doing 4 x 1600m and our last interval lined up so I took little longer last break and ran the full 1600 with them.

4:30.1 (1:59.7)

4:29.7 (1:59.7)

4:25.7 (2:00.0)

4:24.0 (3:00.6)

5:46.9 - 1:28, 1:28, 1:26, 1:23

Monday, September 24: 5 miles

Easy trail run in Annadel with Erin.

Week 3, phase IV: 9/15/08 - 9/21/08

2008-09-16T11:07:00.000-07:00

44 miles - very easy week volume-wise. The jump to 74 then 80 topped off with the 23 last Sunday probably took more of a toll than I thought even though I felt pretty good at the end of last week. The important thing at this point (almost done with my training cycle) is that I get my workouts in at the right paces. Even though I didn't feel good doing it, I did that. I've got a couple of weeks to come back around for a flat 10k then three more after that for a flat half marathon.

Sunday, September 21: 10 miles, track workout
1.5 mile warmup, 2 x 100m strides, 4 x 1600m @ 6:04 w/ 1:00 rest + 2 x 1000m @ 3:28 w/ 3-5 minute recovery 400m jog, 1.5 mile cooldown. I wasn't feeling good for this one - still really tired and achy (probably just finally feeling my age again). However, I was able to run really good splits - one of my best workouts yet I think. I just wish I could feel good again.
6:04, 6:01, 6:00, 5:59 (rests - 59-60)
3:27, 3:25 (3:30 recovery)
:35, :35, :34, :33

Saturday, September 20: 4.5 miles
Easy trail run with Erin in Annadel.

Friday, September 19: 11.5 miles, VO2 Max workout
2.8 mile warmup, 5 x [2:00 hard (1:00 easy) 1:00 hard (:30 easy) :30 hard (:30 easy], hard = sub-5:40 pace + 4 x 200m @ :37, 3 mile cooldown. I felt really tired on this one - I have no idea how I pulled off 8 sets a couple of weeks ago.

Thursday, September 18: Off
Wednesday was a very draining day at work and I needed a rest day.

Wednesday, September 17: 7 miles (48:13)
Easy run from home. My hip flexors and knees ached a bit all day and my left calf was tight on the run but I felt really good - 7:00 miles felt very easy.

Tuesday, September 16: 11 miles, LT workout
2.8 mile warmup, 20:00 Tempo run @ 6:07 pace, 3:00 recovery jog, 4 x 200m @ :38 on the 3:00's, 3.3 mile cooldown. Even though I felt pretty decent I think my body is still a bit fatigued from the jump in mileage the last two weeks and the 23 miler Sunday. I was hoping to run just under 6:00 pace on the tempo but wouldn't have been able to even if I had gone all out. The pace started at 6:00 and ended up around 6:12 with a brief pickup the last two or three minutes. This was a bit discouraging considering I ran a lot harder than I wanted to for 6:07's. Just a couple of hours later I feel really good, though so I think I hit the right intensity. I was probably just hobbled a bit by some general fatigue. The 200's felt pretty decent.

Monday, September 15: Off
Despite feeling pretty good after yesterday's 23 I decided a day off would be a good thing.

Week 2, phase IV: 9/8/08 - 9/14/08

2008-09-08T09:40:00.000-07:00

80 miles. This was a decent week. Great mileage and I was able to complete my workouts at the necessary intensities, but the back end was heavy with mileage and my legs were feeling it. It was good to build on last week's 74 miles with scheduled drops to 60, 50, 50 coming over the next three weeks before jumping back up to 60-100 in October for marathon season.

Sunday, September 14: AM - 23 miles (3:12:57)
Solo long run day. I felt pretty decent during and after last Sunday's 20 and wanted to hit 80 miles this week so 23 was the magic number. This was the longest run I've ever done outside of my two marathons. I didn't feel nearly as good as last week, but not nearly as flat as the last two days. After finishing up the 20 miler from last week (which Mr. Garmin says is 19.6) nine minutes faster, I dropped the Camelbak and long sleeved shirt at the truck and did an extended loop around Spring Lake to get the 23. I was able to comfortably drop the pace back down to 7:30 - 7:45 those last 3.4 miles and after an ice bath I feel alright now. If I can finish long runs at the end of 80 mile weeks feeling as decent as I did today I'll be in decent shape when marathoning season rolls around...

Saturday, September 13: Early PM - 8 miles, LT workout
2 mile warmup, 20:00 tempo, ~1/2 mile recovery jog, 4 x 200m @ :38, 1.5+ mile cooldown. My legs were still completely dead today. I knew it wasn't going to be an ideal workout physically so I set my goal to keep my head in it and push through the discomfort. It went pretty well; I made it a little further than my two previous attempts on this rolling ~3 miles: 3.14 miles @ 6:22 pace according to the GPS. The target pace was 6:09, so 6:22 pace on the rolling hills was probably right around the correct effort. I chose to do the 200's on the grass soccer fields at the high school. Those sucked. Soft thick wet grass and dead legs. Ugh.

Friday, September 12: PM - 10 miles (1:15:53)
Easy long run from home. I felt really exhausted and my calf was twingy / achy during the middle miles. This was one of those runs you're just happy to not chicken out on.

After saving up REI gift cards for a year I finally had enough to pick up a Garmin Forerunner 205 GPS training watch. I did a lot of research and ended up with what I think is the best device to help with my marathon training starting next month. I can get by no problem with the Timex on the track or Channel drive, but the marathon workouts are so long that I don't want to be tied to either of those short courses. So tonight I took it out for the first time to measure one of the ten milers I've been doing for years. I've determined the distance of all my courses based on time and a best estimate of pace. According to the Garmin, my ten miler is actually 10.00 miles. I think the consensus is that these measuer up to 0.01 miles long per mile on certified courses, so that's good enough for me.

Friday, September 12: AM - 3 miles (25:18)
Easy run in the early morning foggy blackness with Dog. My legs were very tired from last night's run for some reason...

Thursday, September 11: PM - 9 miles, track workout
1.5 mile warm up, 2 x 100m strides, 4 x 1000m @ 3:50 w/ 1:00 rest, 6 x 200m @ :38 w/ full recovery 200m jog, 3200m buildup run ending at 3k race pace (1:57 -> 1:22 @ -:05/400m), 1.5 mile cooldown.
I felt a little tired after last night's workout but not too bad. Paces felt just about right and I cut down the buildup run reasonably well, but not perfectly. Good workout.
3:49.6 / 3:46.7 / 3:47.0 / 3:46.1
37.7 / 36.4 / 36.3 / 35.4 / 36.9 / 36.0
1:55, 1:51, 1:46, 1:40, 1:39, 1:33, 1:28, 1:21

Thursday, September 11: AM - 5 miles (35:30)
Easy run from home. I felt great after last night's workout and am very much looking forward to running my 10k and half marathon in October with a fresh body. Did I mention yet this week how much I love this early morning fog? The only downside is my hippie hair gets really frizzy and curls up in front of my eyes - I've been growing it out for just under a year now. Time for another buzz cut with the wetter weather a-comin'.

Wednesday, September 10: PM - 8 miles, LT workout
1.5 mile warm up, 2 x 100m strides, 5 x 1200m @ 4:36 w/ 2:00 recovery walk, 1.5 mile cool down. I felt pretty good and think I'm judging my LT pace just about right as my splits were pretty consistent but I got progressively more fatigued. This is a much easier workout than the VO2 Max 1200's I was doing in the previous phase - I'm very happy to be in my final six weeks!
4:33.9 / 4:35.2 / 4:29.1 / 4:29.4 / 4:30.6
Average = 4:31.6

Tuesday, September 9: AM - 7 miles (50:54)
Same thing..... yawn. For some reason I've never found myself dreading this route or getting bored of running it. I don't know why - it's got a couple of miles on the sidewalk of a fairly busy road, Some uncomfortable hills in the middle 2.6 mile residential loop (with no sidewalks) and the last 2.2 miles are a backtrack of the first 2.2. I've been running it since I was 14.
Anyway, it just struck me as odd for the first time today that I never get sick of it.
The fog was very wet this morning and oh so nice compared to the 100+ days we had last week.

I felt pretty good today although my quads were still a bit sore. I traded pleasantries with Danny Aldridge, a local coach (and #4 on the 4 x 1500m world all-time list) who was warming up with a couple of his runners. Danny has coached state and national schoolastic champions. The ladies up with whom he was warming were, um.... not.

Monday, September 8: AM - 7 miles (53:18)
Easy recovery run from home. I was a bit tender and stiff the first half mile but loosened up really quick and ran 7:30-7:40 pace the rest of the way. Other than slightly sore quads I felt quite good.

Week 1, phase IV: 9/1/08 - 9/7/08

2008-09-02T10:28:00.000-07:00

74 miles. Really good week. My mileage was finally well distributed through the week, had a couple of good workouts and with the exception of the run with which I replaced a scheduled off day, got all of my workouts in early, before work and before the 100+ degree days we had all week long. I fought off the urge to run another 6 Sunday night to get 80 for the week which is an equally valuable measure of success for a mileage junkie like me. My calves seem to have survived the 74 miles as well...

Sunday, September 7: AM - 20 miles (2:55:15)
Long run in the park with my work buddy. He started out pretty quick and I was struggling to hold a conversation; more because I'm not used to talking than the pace being too fast. But the pace was too fast. After backing off on the first 10 minutes of the 30 minute climb he took off and I questioned whether he was fit enough to handle that pace for 20 (and if so he could probably aim for 2:50 with me at CIM) or whether he was just pushing when he felt good.

He ended up backing off after the first climb at 5 miles and we had a good run through about 13, after another major climb after an hour where I finally started feeling good. It was getting hot really quick and we were on the sunny side of the park. Joe's from SF and not used to dry heat so he shambled after about 14 and we backed way off the pace with a couple of very short stretches of walking. Fortunately I had some extra water to share. To top it all off he got stung by a bee in the last mile.

Overall a good run - I think I ran 2:45ish when I did this 11 weeks ago. We were well ahead of that pace through 12 even though it was a lot more comfortable for me. If I were alone I think I could have comfortably run this in 2:35-2:40. I think I could actually run a decent marathon right now despite my lack of marathon pace and threshold training. My mileage and speed workouts have been pretty good.

Saturday, September 6: AM - 7 miles (50:45)
Another easy run on the same route as last night. Felt a lot better.

Friday, September 5: PM - 7 miles (55:05)
Easy run from home in the hot early evening. Felt tired but decent; running 7:30 pace for the first couple of miles then got some horrible GI issues. A short detour to a poorly concealed creek in the middle of a subdivision and I was back on my way at a much slower, less jarring pace. I didn't realize it had been getting over 100 degrees here the past few days - getting out the door before sun up has it's advantages for sure.

Thursday, September 4: AM - 10 miles, track workout
1.5 mile warm up, 2 x 100m strides, 1.5 mile cool down
4 x 1600m @ 6:09 w/ 1:00 rests
2 x 1000m @ 3:32 w/ 3:00 400m recovery jogs
4 x 200m @ :38 w/ full recovery 200m jogs
This workout was deceptively difficult. It's possible (likely) I ran my 1600's a little too fast which compromised the 1000's (I wanted them to be 1200's but didn't have the juice this morning). But I completed the workout at or under the prescribed paces so I'm pretty happy with it.
1600's: 6:09, 6:06, 6:05, 6:04. Average = 6:06
1000's: 3:31, 3:28. Average = 3:30
200's: :37, :36, :35, :33. Average = 36

Wednesday, September 3: AM - 10 miles (1:15:32)
Easy loop from home around Spring Lake from Mission Boulevard and back on Calistoga Road. I've really enjoyed the last two mornings watching dawn fall over Spring Lake. Spectacular. I felt tired today, but not unduely so.

Tuesday, September 2: AM - 13 miles, VO2 max workout (1:40:00)
22:00 warmup
8 x [2:00 hard (1:00 easy), 1:00 hard (:30 easy), :30 hard (:30 easy)]
hard @ < 6:00 / mile pace, last 5 sets over rolling hills
15:00 easy
4 x :40 (~200m) @ < 5:20 / mile pace, starting on the 3:00's
10:00 easy
This was a ball buster. My legs were still pretty tired but I was able to struggle through the whole workout. My legs were so sore when I got home I had to take my first ice bath in months. Really good workout, though.

Monday, September 1: AM - 7 miles (53:14)
Easy run from home. It was very windy overnight and all morning - fall is coming. The air was extremely dry, too. I finished feeling like I was getting a cold but realized my throat and nose were sore due to the dry air. My legs were pretty tired from the previous three days.

Week 6 1/2, phase III / Week 1/2, phase IV: 8/25/08 - 8/31/08

2008-08-28T05:27:00.000-07:00

64 miles. Good week - stayed healthy, got all my scheduled workouts in and made up for my 4 mile shortfall from two weeks ago. The demanding phase III is officially over now, so I'm very much looking forward to easier weeks. My body should feel better and better as I approach my end of season 10k and the Wine Country Half Marathon at the end of October.

Sunday, August 31: AM - 15 miles (2:00:00)
My friend from work recently moved to Santa Rosa from San Francisco and this morning we hooked up for a run for the first time. He ran from his house and was going 13 versus my 15 so I parked on the other side of the park and ran to the meeting spot (where Erin & I used to live off Parktrail Drive) and we did a 9+ in the park together so we each got our miles. My legs were really tired. Other than a few easy short runs (and races of course) I haven't run with anyone in a year and a half, and not with a friend / training partner in probably eight years. I've forgotten how enjoyable it was to pass easy miles with someone. I also forgot how uneasy some of those easy miles are when one of you is feeling good and it isn't you.

Saturday, August 30: PM - 4.5 miles (34:24)
Easy run from home. Felt pretty tired from the back to back workouts but was able to run pretty comfortably.

Saturday, August 30: AM - 9.5 miles, VO2 Max workout (1:16:03)
2.7 mile warm up, 6 x [2:00 hard (1:00 easy), 1:00 hard (:30 easy), :30 hard (:30 easy)] - hard effort = 5:55 - 6:05 pace, .3 mile walk (I was pooped!), 2.5 mile cool down.
Headed out to Channel Drive from home - out & back run. I felt very tired after the tempo workout 13 hours prior. The back of my right knee felt tweaked on the first couple of repetitions, I think from overstriding on the downhills of the first 20:00 tempo last night. I shuffled through those and it went away. I think the only thing I hate more than 1200's on the track is this workout. But it marks my first day in my last training phase of this season so I'm pretty happy to have an easier schedule the next eleven weeks.

Friday, August 29: PM - 9 miles, LT workout (1:00:00)
From home:
2 mile warm up (15:00)
20:00 tempo over rolling hills (19:37 @ 3 miles = 6:32 per mile)
3:00 easy jog
10:00 tempo with last 9:00 on the track (6:12 pace = 1.6 miles)
Although my legs were a little tired I felt pretty good. All of my tempo pace runs for the past six weeks have been done 24-36 hours after my most intense workout of the week (6 x 1200), so it was nice to get this type of workout in feeling a little bit fresher. The intensity of both the 20:00 and 10:00 was identical, so my effort that yielded 6:12 pace at the end on the track matches the 5 x mile workout I did two weeks ago perfectly.

Friday, August 29: AM - 5 miles (40:28)
Easy run from home. Legs felt tired and flat. I wore my lightweight trainers which could have contributed to the feeling.

Thursday, August 28: AM - 5 miles (38:15)
Easy run from home. Felt fine.

Wednesday, August 27: PM - 9 miles, track workout
1.5 mile warmup, 2 x 100m strides, 6 x 1200m @ 4:15 with 3:30 460m recovery jogs. It's been hot the last two days and is getting hotter the rest of the week - hopefully it's the last heat wave and we won't have an Indian summer. I had to eat dinner early then headed out an hour and a half later at 8:30. My legs felt a little tired still on the first couple but they were surprisingly comfortable. On the third and fourth intervals I developed a side stitch from eating dinner (just a salad) so close to the run which was exceedingly uncomfortable and caused me to back off the pace a little. My legs were getting a little tired so I'm not sure I could have maintained the 4:12 pace anyway. The fifth and sixth intervals were slightly less uncomfortable. I backed off the 3:00 recoveries to 3:30 due to having tired legs and the 460m recovery jog in lane 4 again (damned sprinklers!). I was both dreading yet another 1200 workout but looking forward to being done with them for this training cycle. Overall a good workout on which to end them.
4:11.1 / 4:11.6 / 4:15.4 / 4:16.5 / 4:15.2 / 4:13.0
Average = 4:13.8
Average recovery = 3:29.7

Tuesday, August 26: AM - 7 miles (53:12)
Easy run from home. My legs were a little tired but I felt fine.

Monday, August 25: Off
Quads a little sore but when I tried jogging my right hip hurt.

Salt Point Trail 26K Race Report

2008-08-26T15:24:00.000-07:00

I woke up rested but my legs were tired from the 38 miles the past 3 days. I knew I'd be sacrificing some time on the hilly course without the zip in my legs, but since I knew Gary Gellin was in this race and I wouldn't win I decided to keep my emphasis on the overall training picture. There was a very thick fog all the way up the coast from Goat Rock until Salt Point State Park. Although the fog lingered just off the coast in the park, it was spectacularly clear and cool - a perfect morning for a run. Erin and Shadow hung out with me until the race started then made friends with lots of kids waiting for their dads to finish running.

Since the single lane road narrows to a single track trail at about 600 meters I wanted to be toward the front to keep from getting stuck behind someone who had no business being in front of me. Who I correctly assumed was Gary Gellin bolted way out in front leaving a group of 5 of us jostling for position up the first climb. Two other guys were in close pursuit and disappeared into the trees. Just before the trail the eventual 50k winner Jasper Halekas passed me and checked my bib to make sure I wasn't in his race. Unfortunately we were both stuck behind a bald, overweight middle-aged participant wearing Nike Air Flight basketball shoes circa 1995. Usually I don't have a problem with anyone going out way too fast for their ability as we all have to learn somehow, but for this guy to deliberately surge into position just before the trail and not step aside to let us pass for the half mile climb really irked me. Two other guys backed up behind us on the climb and we all blew by him the first chance we had.

After about 2.5 miles we crossed Highway 1 where Wendell who started the race somehow beat us to the crossing to direct traffic. He didn't have a car and looking at the trail map I still don't know how he did it... A small group of us continued for the next half mile, crossing Cougar Creek with a couple of position changes and finally at about 3 miles we were dumped onto South Trail fire road for a 1.5 mile climb up to the prairie. I was fifth overall and fourth in the 26k at this point, and with the exception of the second and third place runners swapping position this is how we all finished. Jasper and the eventual second place 26k runner Scott Abel very slowly pulled away from me on the climb - I wanted to go with them but my quads just didn't have the zip. When the line of sight opened up at the top of the hill where the prairie is, Scott was out of sight and Jasper had over a minute on me. Looking back I couldn't see anyone so I knew I already had over a minute on the next person, which at the stage of the race didn't mean anything.

Running all alone I tried to run quick but relaxed on the downhill and was surprised to find I made up about 40 seconds on Jasper starting the next climb. I was able to get into a nice rhythm on Plantation trail as it's mostly downhill with only two very short but very steep climbs, but Jasper turned on his jets here and I didn't see him again until the last few minutes of my race. Coming through the three house stretch that is Kruse Ranch I passed a couple of 50k early starters and exchanged pleasantries. I rolled over Kruse Ranch Road past the aid station and quickly came up on Scott. He was having too much fun - he was tossing his beanie up in the air and catching it, then caught a root and took a tumble. As he was responding to me that he was okay, I caught the same damn root. Didn't tumble, though. (after the race Scott told me he took another more spectacular roll on the second loop).

Running alone for over two hours is something that I'm used to, but I must admit I really enjoyed the half hour Scott and I ran together. We had a few nice conversations which were a great distraction. He's training for the Marine Corps Marathon and out here from DC with his girlfriend who was on a business trip. As I expected, Scott pulled away at the start of the second loop - I closed the gap on the rolling half mile stretch after the first climb but he pulled away for good on the big 1.5 mile climb. The second loop was a bit more challenging than the first as the terrain isn't as stable or consistent and by the time I got back on firm dirt fire roads, the descent was so steep that I couldn't really open it up. I pushed as best I could but I was getting anxious to get to the bottom and open it up again. Just before crossing Highway 1 for the last time and heading to the bluff I blew by a couple of hikers - they were weaving and taking up the entire trail. The fire road at this point is covered in mown grass so I didn't make a sound as I flew by them probably around 5:30 pace coming off the hill. I scared the hell out of them but was long gone before they could issue a reaction.

Crossing Highway 1 I looked across the bluff and saw Tony Madrigal (running in second most of the race, Scott had since passed him) and Jasper along the cliff. Since the rest of the race was flat I picked up the pace and ran as fast as my legs could go. In the last mile and a quarter I closed the 2:30 gap to Tony down to 1:15. I just needed another half mile!

Although this was more of an organized hard long run than a race, it was really enjoyable. The trails and scenery at Salt Point are really spectacular and Wendell and Sarah of Pacific Coast Trail Runs put on great events. I missed my "B" goal of 2:15 by less than a minute. That wasn't too bad considering how tired my legs were. Gary Gellin went on to smash Downtown Kenny Brown's 2007 course record of 2:06:56 by 7:34 (after Kenny broke Jasper Halekas' 2004 record of 2:11:23). Gary's new record is likely out of reach for me in one year's time, but I'd like to run sub 2:05 next year and be in the hunt for the win. This was Erin's first time at a trail race and the throngs of jog/hikers have encouraged her to try the 11k next year and kick some butt.

Scott & I chat after the race.

Gary and Tony are on the left.

Fun!

Seriously.

Dog & I relax back at the truck.