Wow. That could have been a nightmare.
For those who don't know, the 115th Boston Marathon closed in 8 hours! Registration started at 6 am LCT (left coast time). I was up and ready at 5:50, along with my mamma back home. I figured two of us trying had a good shot at getting in quickly. I called her at 5:55 to make sure we each knew if the other got through. I tried once and it didn't work. Her first try went straight through!
This evening I booked a hotel for 3 nights and plane tickets for myself, my wonderful future wife and my older sister. Everything is set. Now I just have to decide on training and tentative goals. Any goals I set will be tentative until April. First I've got to see which training plan I go with and how training goes. I created my own 18 week plan that peaks at 60mpw with 4-20 milers. I can't decide if I would benefit more from that or building a base longer and doing a 12 week program.
Last week I put in an easy 14 miles. This week should be somewhere around 20. I've got a 5k race on Sunday too. Run Like Hell 5k here in downtown PDX. I'm shooting for sub-20. Shouldn't be too difficult considering thats 6:28 pace and my half in September was 6:40 pace. Still, I don't want to push too hard and injure myself. So sub-20 it is.
18 October 2010
14 October 2010
Recovery and Race Pics
Yesterday I did my first post marathon run. It went well. Got in 4 miles at the gym. I actually like running on the treadmill for recovery runs, especially after a race. It lets me control my pace much better.
Official results have changed a little. I'm now 204th overall and 186th among men. Here's a few pics from the race. The first is from mile 17 on the St. Johns Bridge, second is as I'm crossing the finish line.
Official results have changed a little. I'm now 204th overall and 186th among men. Here's a few pics from the race. The first is from mile 17 on the St. Johns Bridge, second is as I'm crossing the finish line.
10 October 2010
The Road to Boston
The quick and dirty: For those who don't want to read a race novel, I mean long race report. I ran 3:09:29 (7:14 pace, BQ!) placing 193rd overall, 175th among men and 11th in my Age Group (20-24).
The Training: Going into training for this marathon, I had a base of roughly 700 miles (since January) including a half PR (at the time) of 1:31:52. I followed Pfitz 18/55 very closely, missing very few workouts. Through out the 18 weeks, I averaged around 45 miles, with 8 weeks above 50 miles. Four weeks out, I ran a 1:27:30 half, giving me a better idea of my goal pace for Portland.
The Race: I felt really good going into this race. I woke up around 5. Had some gatorade, a banana and a peanut butter bagel. Then I got ready for the race. The nice thing about racing in your town is being able to stay home until just before the race starts. I left my apartment around 6:25 and jogged the half a mile to the start. The weather wasn't great. Temps were good, low 60's. But the rain came down like no other. I guess this is Oregon so...it happens.
I had some high hopes for this race. My previous and only other marathon was RnR Seattle last year. I had almost no base and peaked at 42mpw. It showed as I struggled to a 3:54 finish. Given that I had knocked 9+ minutes off my half PR and had a lot more mileage under my belt I decided to shoot for Boston. I knew I could run that pace for a half. I figured if I crash and burned after that, I'd still have 2+hrs to run the second half to a PR.
Mile 1-9: I decided to start the race with the 3:10 pacers from Team Red Lizzard (local club). My plan for the race was to stick with them till the half, reasses there and every 2 or 3 miles after that. Had a couple of shotbloks around mile 9. Didn't see some of the mile markers so there are a few sections grouped together.
1-7:08
2-5-28:49 (7:12's)
6-7:02
7-9-1:04:54(7:18's)
Mile 10-13.1: Decided the pace group was going a bit too slow for my liking. They were running an even effort race (even splits adjusted for hills). While I think this is a good idea, I couldn't bring myself to run slower up the hills. I wanted to run a more even pace. Seeing as this was a flat section of the course, I felt it was a good place to put some distance on the group. I actually hit the half way point right when the pace group planned to (1:34:18), but they were not with me.
10-7:03
11-7:07
12-7:25
13-7:02
Mile 14-18: I hooked up with a guy named James to run this section. It made the miles go by much faster, including the hill from about 15.5 to 17 miles. The hill wasn't as bad as I had heard. Don't get me wrong, it still hurt and I was still forced to slow down for it but it wasn't too bad. I had a couple more shotbloks around mile 18.
14-7:24
15-6:49
16-7:13
17-7:41
18-7:08
Mile 19-23: I decided to pick up the pace and bank a little time here. It was a mostly downhill section back to the downtown area. As the splits show, I was a little to anxious to pick it up during mile 19 and I paid for it during mile 20.
19-6:34 (oops)
20-8:10 (paying for mile 19)
21-7:15
22-6:55
23-7:05
Mile 24-26.2: These last 3 miles hurt. A lot. I had to dig to keep the pace I did. Around mile 24 I heard people start to cheer for the 3:10 group. I expected them to catch up to me. I was trying to hit even splits, them even effort, but with the same time in mind. It was inevitable that we met at some point. Rounding the corner at mile 26, a few guys moved past me. I tucked in behind them and used their energy to pull me through the finish, ahead of the pace group.
24-7:01
25-7:33
26-7:26
.2: 1:40
I couldn't really believe that I had just done that. Its still a little surreal to me. When I started running xc in high school, I couldn't hold 7:14 pace for 3.1 miles. Now, I had just held it for 26.2 miles. Ever since I started running half marathons, Boston has been a goal of mine. I never thought I'd have the speed to do it until I was older. A 3:10 just seemed out of reach. I mean, until this year my half PR was only a 1:36. So to qualify, I'd have to run a half PR and then do it again. A year of hard work and lots of miles changed all that.
Official Splits: 10k-44:42
8.9mi-1:02:38
Half-1:34:18
20mi-2:24:34
21.1mi-2:32:28
Finish-3:09:29
The Training: Going into training for this marathon, I had a base of roughly 700 miles (since January) including a half PR (at the time) of 1:31:52. I followed Pfitz 18/55 very closely, missing very few workouts. Through out the 18 weeks, I averaged around 45 miles, with 8 weeks above 50 miles. Four weeks out, I ran a 1:27:30 half, giving me a better idea of my goal pace for Portland.
The Race: I felt really good going into this race. I woke up around 5. Had some gatorade, a banana and a peanut butter bagel. Then I got ready for the race. The nice thing about racing in your town is being able to stay home until just before the race starts. I left my apartment around 6:25 and jogged the half a mile to the start. The weather wasn't great. Temps were good, low 60's. But the rain came down like no other. I guess this is Oregon so...it happens.
I had some high hopes for this race. My previous and only other marathon was RnR Seattle last year. I had almost no base and peaked at 42mpw. It showed as I struggled to a 3:54 finish. Given that I had knocked 9+ minutes off my half PR and had a lot more mileage under my belt I decided to shoot for Boston. I knew I could run that pace for a half. I figured if I crash and burned after that, I'd still have 2+hrs to run the second half to a PR.
Mile 1-9: I decided to start the race with the 3:10 pacers from Team Red Lizzard (local club). My plan for the race was to stick with them till the half, reasses there and every 2 or 3 miles after that. Had a couple of shotbloks around mile 9. Didn't see some of the mile markers so there are a few sections grouped together.
1-7:08
2-5-28:49 (7:12's)
6-7:02
7-9-1:04:54(7:18's)
Mile 10-13.1: Decided the pace group was going a bit too slow for my liking. They were running an even effort race (even splits adjusted for hills). While I think this is a good idea, I couldn't bring myself to run slower up the hills. I wanted to run a more even pace. Seeing as this was a flat section of the course, I felt it was a good place to put some distance on the group. I actually hit the half way point right when the pace group planned to (1:34:18), but they were not with me.
10-7:03
11-7:07
12-7:25
13-7:02
Mile 14-18: I hooked up with a guy named James to run this section. It made the miles go by much faster, including the hill from about 15.5 to 17 miles. The hill wasn't as bad as I had heard. Don't get me wrong, it still hurt and I was still forced to slow down for it but it wasn't too bad. I had a couple more shotbloks around mile 18.
14-7:24
15-6:49
16-7:13
17-7:41
18-7:08
Mile 19-23: I decided to pick up the pace and bank a little time here. It was a mostly downhill section back to the downtown area. As the splits show, I was a little to anxious to pick it up during mile 19 and I paid for it during mile 20.
19-6:34 (oops)
20-8:10 (paying for mile 19)
21-7:15
22-6:55
23-7:05
Mile 24-26.2: These last 3 miles hurt. A lot. I had to dig to keep the pace I did. Around mile 24 I heard people start to cheer for the 3:10 group. I expected them to catch up to me. I was trying to hit even splits, them even effort, but with the same time in mind. It was inevitable that we met at some point. Rounding the corner at mile 26, a few guys moved past me. I tucked in behind them and used their energy to pull me through the finish, ahead of the pace group.
24-7:01
25-7:33
26-7:26
.2: 1:40
I couldn't really believe that I had just done that. Its still a little surreal to me. When I started running xc in high school, I couldn't hold 7:14 pace for 3.1 miles. Now, I had just held it for 26.2 miles. Ever since I started running half marathons, Boston has been a goal of mine. I never thought I'd have the speed to do it until I was older. A 3:10 just seemed out of reach. I mean, until this year my half PR was only a 1:36. So to qualify, I'd have to run a half PR and then do it again. A year of hard work and lots of miles changed all that.
Official Splits: 10k-44:42
8.9mi-1:02:38
Half-1:34:18
20mi-2:24:34
21.1mi-2:32:28
Finish-3:09:29
01 October 2010
Welcome to Rocktober
Like many of my running friends, I can't believe that its October already. September was a great running month, 191.5 miles (third highest month) including a half marathon pr. This month is shaping up to be a month of epic proportions, hence the title of this post.
In eight short days, I will be competing in the Portland Marathon. I'm going to go ahead and make it official: my goal is Boston. I may crash and burn but for once in my running career I don't care. When I started running xc in high school, I was always afraid to go out to fast. I didn't want to be getting passed by tons of people at the finish where there were actually spectators. I guess even after h.s. that was always a thought in my head as I approached a starting line. After my last half marathon, I'm much more confident in my ability to hold speed. So, on 10.10, I'm gunning for Boston.
The race plan will be to roll with the 3:10 group for the first half. At that point, I'll reasses how I'm feeling. If I still feel good, I'll stick with the group. At mile 20 I'll do the same thing. Then if I'm feeling really good at mile 24 or 25, I'll drop the hammer for the last few miles.
A short two weeks after that, I will be running in my first race as a member of my running club. I still have to decide if I want to run the 5k or the 10k. Right now I feel like thats too soon to be ready for a 10k so I'll see what kind of damage I can do to the field in the 5k.
In all, its looking like a great month for racing. Oh, today's run. Should have been a rest day but I couldn't do it so I hit the treadmill for an easy 3 miles @10:00 pace. Happy Rocktober everyone!
In eight short days, I will be competing in the Portland Marathon. I'm going to go ahead and make it official: my goal is Boston. I may crash and burn but for once in my running career I don't care. When I started running xc in high school, I was always afraid to go out to fast. I didn't want to be getting passed by tons of people at the finish where there were actually spectators. I guess even after h.s. that was always a thought in my head as I approached a starting line. After my last half marathon, I'm much more confident in my ability to hold speed. So, on 10.10, I'm gunning for Boston.
The race plan will be to roll with the 3:10 group for the first half. At that point, I'll reasses how I'm feeling. If I still feel good, I'll stick with the group. At mile 20 I'll do the same thing. Then if I'm feeling really good at mile 24 or 25, I'll drop the hammer for the last few miles.
A short two weeks after that, I will be running in my first race as a member of my running club. I still have to decide if I want to run the 5k or the 10k. Right now I feel like thats too soon to be ready for a 10k so I'll see what kind of damage I can do to the field in the 5k.
In all, its looking like a great month for racing. Oh, today's run. Should have been a rest day but I couldn't do it so I hit the treadmill for an easy 3 miles @10:00 pace. Happy Rocktober everyone!
30 September 2010
Making Decisions
Wow, time has gone by since I last posted. It has been a crazy couple of weeks. I'm back in rip city. Classes and work are in full swing. And my thesis. Though that is going really well. I've been in touch with a prof at another college who has done some work in the specific area of my field, i.e. wrote a text I'm using as a source. I met with my advisor on Tuesday and she was very happy/pleased with my progress :) Hopefully I'll actually start writing this thing soon. The goal is to be done with the paper by the end of the quarter and present/defend next quarter.
Running has been good. I'm in full taper mode and its starting to get to me. Only running 4 days this week...I may add a short short run tomorrow, like maybe 3 miles. Something long enough to keep me sane and short enough to keep me rested. I've been giving a my goals for the marathon (next weekend!) a lot of thought. Given my training level, fitness level and new found (? maybe I've had it all along. lets call it new realized) speed I'm headed for a HUGE pr. My only other marathon was a 3:54 over a year ago. Since then, I've dramatically changed my training and dropped 9:22 from my half marathon pr. I am definitely shooting for 3:15. I'm also playing around with the idea of trying to qualify for Boston. Since I started running half marathons in 2005, Boston was always a goal. I didn't tell many people that until last year though. It might be a day of race decision. If I go for it, I plan on running with a pace group. I have a feeling that talking with them at the expo next Friday will help in my decision.
If you told me in January that I would possibly attempt to qualify for Boston before the year was out, I would have laughed. Then, I would have had to run a pr half and keep it up for another 13.1 to qualify! I've never really been a great runner. My running career started when I was 13 and went out for track. I was a hurdler my first year. Then I switched to middle distance and distance. Eventually I joined the cross country team. By great runner, I mean fast runner. Sure, I showed up to practice and ran my best at meets, but it was never fast. At best I was our number four miler, going under 5 minutes once. Although, that was after h.s. I never qualified for an invitational or the post season. Having a chance at Boston is like a dream for me. Qualifying would mean I'm a great runner. Well, I guess I can be great without that but it would make me feel a whole lot better about my running career.
For now its off to a long day of work and class. See you on the streets runners!
Running has been good. I'm in full taper mode and its starting to get to me. Only running 4 days this week...I may add a short short run tomorrow, like maybe 3 miles. Something long enough to keep me sane and short enough to keep me rested. I've been giving a my goals for the marathon (next weekend!) a lot of thought. Given my training level, fitness level and new found (? maybe I've had it all along. lets call it new realized) speed I'm headed for a HUGE pr. My only other marathon was a 3:54 over a year ago. Since then, I've dramatically changed my training and dropped 9:22 from my half marathon pr. I am definitely shooting for 3:15. I'm also playing around with the idea of trying to qualify for Boston. Since I started running half marathons in 2005, Boston was always a goal. I didn't tell many people that until last year though. It might be a day of race decision. If I go for it, I plan on running with a pace group. I have a feeling that talking with them at the expo next Friday will help in my decision.
If you told me in January that I would possibly attempt to qualify for Boston before the year was out, I would have laughed. Then, I would have had to run a pr half and keep it up for another 13.1 to qualify! I've never really been a great runner. My running career started when I was 13 and went out for track. I was a hurdler my first year. Then I switched to middle distance and distance. Eventually I joined the cross country team. By great runner, I mean fast runner. Sure, I showed up to practice and ran my best at meets, but it was never fast. At best I was our number four miler, going under 5 minutes once. Although, that was after h.s. I never qualified for an invitational or the post season. Having a chance at Boston is like a dream for me. Qualifying would mean I'm a great runner. Well, I guess I can be great without that but it would make me feel a whole lot better about my running career.
For now its off to a long day of work and class. See you on the streets runners!
12 September 2010
A Whole New Level
Skagit Flats Half Marathon
11th overall, 4th age group
1:27:30
This is by far the best race I have ever ran. It was a 4:22 PR over my last half marathon in March. Skagit Flats is a local race (sort of) that is fairly small. There were ~400 runners in the half. I'm not sure how many were in the full marathon. Instead of driving 2 hours north the day of the race, I stayed the night at my great-aunt's house, which is only 30 minutes away. Before the race started, they announced a few marathoners who had run 200+ and 400+ marathons, including Larry Macon.
The course is an out and back through some rural roads with beautiful farm land as far as the eye could see (minus the start/finish at the local high school). The weather was rainy and colder. Probably around 54 at the start. Oddly enough, I run my best in that kind of weather. Guess I'm a true PNW runner.
I wasn't sure what race strategy I would use until the morning of the race. I was debating between starting slower (7:10's) and working my way down to 6:45's (1:30 is 6:51 pace) or just going out like hell and holding on until I died. I opted for the latter.
I lined up towards the front of the start. Well, at the front of the start. Based on my goal time of 1:30 and previous years' results, I figured I would be top 20 overall. I heard a few of the full marathoners talking about shooting for 2:42 (the winner was actually 2:38). I knew I didn't want to stick with them at the start. Still, when the gun went off I took off like a bat out of hell. I ran with a small group of guys for the first few miles. Around mile 2, four of us broke away a little. We took turns accelerating ahead to lead the group until the turn around. One of the other guys was a full marathoner and kept going. The other two runners and myself picked up the pace a little. Then, we picked up the pace A LOT. The splits(below) show that the really fast mile hurt me. One of the other two guys was able to recover from it a little better and pulled away. The other runner (Greg, as I learned from those cheering for him) and myself ran together until about mile 9 or 10 when I pulled away. I held it together pretty well for the first 9 miles (again, splits below). Even so, my “falling apart” wasn't that bad. My splits were still faster than my average pace from my previous PR. Somehow, I managed to pull together a really strong finish for the last .1 miles and crossed the line in 1:27:30.
Overall, I really enjoyed the race. It was a great, fast, flat course. The volunteers were really helpful. Though I didn't take any water during the race (not my smartest move), the cheering and support they gave was awesome. A few of the hs cross country teams manning the aid stations were given a list of entrants/bib numbers. So instead of the usual “good job” we heard our names. For me this gave a huge boost. If you're ever in the PNW in September, I highly recommend this event. I'll have more pics soon, for now there's just one, I believe around mile 4.
Nerd alert: My overall time at 4 and 8 miles was 26:26 and 52:52. Being the numbers guy I am, I thought that was really cool.
Splits/Total
6:32/6:32
6:37/13:09
6:39/19:49
6:37/26:26
6:46/33:12
6:32/39:45
6:16/46:02
6:50/52:52
6:37/59:30
6:57/1:06:28
6:48/1:13:16
6:55/1:30:11
6:44/1:26:56
:35/1:27:30
This past year, I have lowered my half marathon PR by 9:28. I am at a whole new level of running that I have never been at before. It is an amazing and humbling feeling at the same time. I'm slowly thinking that I might shoot for sub-3:20 at PDX next month.
11th overall, 4th age group
1:27:30
This is by far the best race I have ever ran. It was a 4:22 PR over my last half marathon in March. Skagit Flats is a local race (sort of) that is fairly small. There were ~400 runners in the half. I'm not sure how many were in the full marathon. Instead of driving 2 hours north the day of the race, I stayed the night at my great-aunt's house, which is only 30 minutes away. Before the race started, they announced a few marathoners who had run 200+ and 400+ marathons, including Larry Macon.
The course is an out and back through some rural roads with beautiful farm land as far as the eye could see (minus the start/finish at the local high school). The weather was rainy and colder. Probably around 54 at the start. Oddly enough, I run my best in that kind of weather. Guess I'm a true PNW runner.
I wasn't sure what race strategy I would use until the morning of the race. I was debating between starting slower (7:10's) and working my way down to 6:45's (1:30 is 6:51 pace) or just going out like hell and holding on until I died. I opted for the latter.
I lined up towards the front of the start. Well, at the front of the start. Based on my goal time of 1:30 and previous years' results, I figured I would be top 20 overall. I heard a few of the full marathoners talking about shooting for 2:42 (the winner was actually 2:38). I knew I didn't want to stick with them at the start. Still, when the gun went off I took off like a bat out of hell. I ran with a small group of guys for the first few miles. Around mile 2, four of us broke away a little. We took turns accelerating ahead to lead the group until the turn around. One of the other guys was a full marathoner and kept going. The other two runners and myself picked up the pace a little. Then, we picked up the pace A LOT. The splits(below) show that the really fast mile hurt me. One of the other two guys was able to recover from it a little better and pulled away. The other runner (Greg, as I learned from those cheering for him) and myself ran together until about mile 9 or 10 when I pulled away. I held it together pretty well for the first 9 miles (again, splits below). Even so, my “falling apart” wasn't that bad. My splits were still faster than my average pace from my previous PR. Somehow, I managed to pull together a really strong finish for the last .1 miles and crossed the line in 1:27:30.
Overall, I really enjoyed the race. It was a great, fast, flat course. The volunteers were really helpful. Though I didn't take any water during the race (not my smartest move), the cheering and support they gave was awesome. A few of the hs cross country teams manning the aid stations were given a list of entrants/bib numbers. So instead of the usual “good job” we heard our names. For me this gave a huge boost. If you're ever in the PNW in September, I highly recommend this event. I'll have more pics soon, for now there's just one, I believe around mile 4.
Nerd alert: My overall time at 4 and 8 miles was 26:26 and 52:52. Being the numbers guy I am, I thought that was really cool.
Splits/Total
6:32/6:32
6:37/13:09
6:39/19:49
6:37/26:26
6:46/33:12
6:32/39:45
6:16/46:02
6:50/52:52
6:37/59:30
6:57/1:06:28
6:48/1:13:16
6:55/1:30:11
6:44/1:26:56
:35/1:27:30
This past year, I have lowered my half marathon PR by 9:28. I am at a whole new level of running that I have never been at before. It is an amazing and humbling feeling at the same time. I'm slowly thinking that I might shoot for sub-3:20 at PDX next month.
02 September 2010
Fly-By
Not much time to post tonight. I've got to get to bed since I've got work in the a.m. and then I'm driving to see my wonderful fiance!
Distance: 9 miles
Time: 1:09:45
Pace: 7:45
Today's run called for 9 miles with 5x1000m @ 5k pace. I wasn't sure that I'd actually do the intervals. Tuesday turned into an accidental tempo run and yesterday was a 12 mile MLR. My legs were feeling pretty tired. I decided I'd try to hit 4:00 for the intervals. Somehow, I dug deep and actually got faster with each interval (mostly). Ended up with splits of 3:58, :54, :48, :49, :42. I was super happy with those times. I'm pretty confidant that I'll be able to PR in my half-marathon on the 12th. The only thing I'm not sure of is what to do about my LR. I'm suppose to run a combo 17 miler/tune-up race for Sat/Sun next weekend. Pfitz has the race first and then the LR. But...my race is on Sunday. Not sure if I should bag the LR, run it really slow or turn the half into a 17 miler. Any ideas?
Distance: 9 miles
Time: 1:09:45
Pace: 7:45
Today's run called for 9 miles with 5x1000m @ 5k pace. I wasn't sure that I'd actually do the intervals. Tuesday turned into an accidental tempo run and yesterday was a 12 mile MLR. My legs were feeling pretty tired. I decided I'd try to hit 4:00 for the intervals. Somehow, I dug deep and actually got faster with each interval (mostly). Ended up with splits of 3:58, :54, :48, :49, :42. I was super happy with those times. I'm pretty confidant that I'll be able to PR in my half-marathon on the 12th. The only thing I'm not sure of is what to do about my LR. I'm suppose to run a combo 17 miler/tune-up race for Sat/Sun next weekend. Pfitz has the race first and then the LR. But...my race is on Sunday. Not sure if I should bag the LR, run it really slow or turn the half into a 17 miler. Any ideas?
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