Monday, December 24, 2007
Monday, December 17, 2007
Christmas Relays
This weekend Patty and I ran the Christmas Relays at Lake Merced in San Francisco. Our running club put together 9 teams, each of 4 runners. Each runner completed one lap of the lake, about 4.5 miles.
On my team one runner couldn't run because of a knee problem, so Ken stepped up to run two legs, each at a spectacular pace (sub 6 min/mile). My leg of the race went well and I held roughly my previous 5K pace for the 50% longer distance. Of course, that meant I was passed by a lot of people as the position Ken had put us in was totally out of my league. At one point I was running down a hill at just under 7 min/mile and people were flying by me on both sides like I wasn't moving at all.
The course itself was tougher than I thought when I drove around it. There's a hill at the start which you run too hard because it's the start, then a lot of downhill with a lot of people moving faster than you. Here you fly, too fast. By the third mile it's a slow uphill and the reality of how fast you ran the first two miles and how far it is still to go sets in. The final push to the finish also had a untimely hill. On top of that, the whole time you know there's a guy standing at the finish waiting for you. That keeps it moving along. I finished my leg in about 39 mins. Our team was the second LMJS team to finish.
Anyway, a fun time was had by all. After the race Patty, Patrick and I ran around the lake again to keep our miles up. It was a little rough as Patty and I were thinking 12 min/mile and Patrick was thinking 10 min/mile. Oh well, the legs were already trashed from the race, so what did it matter.
Monday, December 3, 2007
Southwest
We were recently on a roadtrip to the American Southwest and managed to get in a few runs. Here's the first one. Patty returning down Echo Canyon in Death Valley National Park.
We camped there for two nights in perfect camping weather. This run took us a couple of miles up a canyon along a jeep road. It was pretty hard going on the way up as it was uphill and the footing was very loose rocks. On the way down those same rocks were like pillows for our feet to crunch down on.
From Death Valley we headed into Arizona where the temperatures were not as nice. Flagstaff was in single digits and windy when we got up so we decided to pass on our planned run in Buffalo Park. We Northern Californian dwellers are not built for those conditions (or at least lack the right apparel!)
A couple of days later, now in Moab, UT we woke up and, because Kelly was still asleep and we were in a dark motel room, we checked the iPhone to see what the weather was like outside. "28 degrees." Not bad. A run looked on. "And a chance of snow." Hmmm. We checked the radar image and a big green and yellow blob hovered over Moab. Double hmmm. I got up and looked out the window. White. Snow. Everywhere.
When Kelly woke up she was pretty excited. She'd never seen snow actually falling before.
We spent the first part of the morning hanging out in a coffee shop and then playing in snow at the local park. While there I noticed how many people were out running! There was even a couple doing intervals across the park's snowy grass. If they could run, so could I. We went back to the hotel and got changed and then took turns in putting down a 3 mile run.
While I won't go so far as to say it was really all that nice running into the snow, it was refreshing and something different. Plus, with almost 3000 miles of driving in a week, it got my legs moving.
We camped there for two nights in perfect camping weather. This run took us a couple of miles up a canyon along a jeep road. It was pretty hard going on the way up as it was uphill and the footing was very loose rocks. On the way down those same rocks were like pillows for our feet to crunch down on.
From Death Valley we headed into Arizona where the temperatures were not as nice. Flagstaff was in single digits and windy when we got up so we decided to pass on our planned run in Buffalo Park. We Northern Californian dwellers are not built for those conditions (or at least lack the right apparel!)
A couple of days later, now in Moab, UT we woke up and, because Kelly was still asleep and we were in a dark motel room, we checked the iPhone to see what the weather was like outside. "28 degrees." Not bad. A run looked on. "And a chance of snow." Hmmm. We checked the radar image and a big green and yellow blob hovered over Moab. Double hmmm. I got up and looked out the window. White. Snow. Everywhere.
When Kelly woke up she was pretty excited. She'd never seen snow actually falling before.
We spent the first part of the morning hanging out in a coffee shop and then playing in snow at the local park. While there I noticed how many people were out running! There was even a couple doing intervals across the park's snowy grass. If they could run, so could I. We went back to the hotel and got changed and then took turns in putting down a 3 mile run.
While I won't go so far as to say it was really all that nice running into the snow, it was refreshing and something different. Plus, with almost 3000 miles of driving in a week, it got my legs moving.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Big Sur Half Marathon
This past Sunday Patty and I completed our last big race for the year, the Big Sur Half Marathon. It was also a PR for both of us, by more than 9 minutes!
As I might have mentioned before, this race isn't actually in Big Sur at all. Rather it is in nearby Monterey and along its own beautiful coast line. It is run by the same people who organize the somewhat famous full length marathon in April, except this run is (of course) shorter, and also much less hilly. What is the same is that it is exceptionally well organized and run along one of the nicest courses in the country.
Pre-race
The lead up to the race could have been better. I was off work sick for the whole week with stomach bug, the effect of which is best not described. With antibiotics I started taking on Friday I recovered just in time to make the start line.
Saturday afternoon we drove down to Monterey and spent the afternoon at the Expo including seeing Bart Yasso talk. He is the chief running officer (CRO) at Runner's World. Now that's a job. He's paid to fly around the world and attend interesting races. His talk included some great stories including being in the first every Badwater ultramarathon. I'll never think of banana bread the same way. On a sader note he talked about being at the Olympic trials and the death of Ryan Shay. His discussion of that will stay with me for some time.
In the evening we found an Italian restaurant. While you don't really have to carbo-load for a half marathon, it can't hurt. Plus, who doesn't like Italian?
We considered going for a walk somewhere but decided it might be better to stay off our feet so instead we spent the evening lying around watching bad TV. I did catch the end of Eragon and noticed to my surprise that I actually have a credit in that movie.
Race day
Our alarm went off at 4:30am and as usual we were already awake but lying in bed denying what lay ahead of us. I woke a few times during the night to the sound of rain, but by morning that seemed to have moved to the north and east. The wind, however, had not moved on.
We drove down to the start area, it still being dark, and parked in a free lot. The start line was right outside. We walked over to fisherman's wharf but couldn't really find a spot out of the cold wind. It was pretty empty over there, just a group of fisherman about to head out on a trip. Note to self: if I ever go on an organized fishing trip I need a big big cooler. We headed back and used our (secret) pottys for the last time and then returned to the start line. In our absence several thousand people had already gathered. With 5 minutes to go we slipped between the corral fence and took our place. Then we were off.
We took about 40 seconds to cross the start line and picked up to about a 9:30 pace. I'm not sure if it was the wind or just the fatigue from being sick all week, but I knew it was going to be a hard run. I was already tired by mile 2. But my HR was holding steady so we kept up a pace between 9:30 and 10:00, hoping to keep it together for a 2:10:00 finish. The run up to Pacific Grove was the only real hill and our pace slowed there, but much of the course was rolling with there always being a grade of some sort and always the wind, especially on the outward bound portion. It wasn't as easy as I'd hoped.
The course itself was completely gorgeous. Much of it ran right along the pacific coast. Waves crashing into rocks, sea lions barking at us from rocks, pelicans flying by us. Plus, with the road closed it was only the sounds of the sea and other runners. On the way back part of the course was along a bike path which presumably was an old railway grade, and took us even closer to the water and down tunnels of Cyprus trees. Even the parts in the town were nice, running around a lagoon of sorts and also down through the historic old town of Monterey. In front of the old movie theater a man dressed in a tux played the piano for us. At the end of a tunnel a Scotsman in full gear played the bagpipes. It was very cool.
I recorded the race on my watch. Here's the pace, HR and elevation on a chart. The blue spikes are us walking through aid stations. The mileage misses a little bit at the beginning.
With a couple of miles to go Patty picked up the pace and dashed off 30 yards or so in front of me. She is clearly the faster runner now and she shows a whole other side when it comes to hitting a time goal. My pace also quickened and I kept her close, but my HR was pushing up into the 190s so I was more inclined to balance my pace against imploding so close to the finish. Plus, I'm willing to give up a little time to not scare the medical staff waiting at the end.
As the finish line came into sight Patty slowed to allow me to catch her and we cross the line together in 2:09:21. It was very charitable of her, of course.
They hung a hand made medallion around our necks and then passed us an empty box. I soon found out what the box was for. It was to put all the food in. All kinds of fruit: strawberries, apples, oranges, bananas. Muffins. Cookies. Fruit cups. Bagels. And, a bottle of water. We slumped down against the side of a building and may I just say that those were the best strawberries and cookies I've ever had. I'm pretty sure of that.
The taste of fresh PR.
Conclusion
This was a great half marathon and everything we hopped for. A class act of event organizing which I plan to judge all future races against, completely spectacular scenery, and we came in under our goal. An awesome weekend.
As I might have mentioned before, this race isn't actually in Big Sur at all. Rather it is in nearby Monterey and along its own beautiful coast line. It is run by the same people who organize the somewhat famous full length marathon in April, except this run is (of course) shorter, and also much less hilly. What is the same is that it is exceptionally well organized and run along one of the nicest courses in the country.
Pre-race
The lead up to the race could have been better. I was off work sick for the whole week with stomach bug, the effect of which is best not described. With antibiotics I started taking on Friday I recovered just in time to make the start line.
Saturday afternoon we drove down to Monterey and spent the afternoon at the Expo including seeing Bart Yasso talk. He is the chief running officer (CRO) at Runner's World. Now that's a job. He's paid to fly around the world and attend interesting races. His talk included some great stories including being in the first every Badwater ultramarathon. I'll never think of banana bread the same way. On a sader note he talked about being at the Olympic trials and the death of Ryan Shay. His discussion of that will stay with me for some time.
In the evening we found an Italian restaurant. While you don't really have to carbo-load for a half marathon, it can't hurt. Plus, who doesn't like Italian?
We considered going for a walk somewhere but decided it might be better to stay off our feet so instead we spent the evening lying around watching bad TV. I did catch the end of Eragon and noticed to my surprise that I actually have a credit in that movie.
Race day
Our alarm went off at 4:30am and as usual we were already awake but lying in bed denying what lay ahead of us. I woke a few times during the night to the sound of rain, but by morning that seemed to have moved to the north and east. The wind, however, had not moved on.
We drove down to the start area, it still being dark, and parked in a free lot. The start line was right outside. We walked over to fisherman's wharf but couldn't really find a spot out of the cold wind. It was pretty empty over there, just a group of fisherman about to head out on a trip. Note to self: if I ever go on an organized fishing trip I need a big big cooler. We headed back and used our (secret) pottys for the last time and then returned to the start line. In our absence several thousand people had already gathered. With 5 minutes to go we slipped between the corral fence and took our place. Then we were off.
We took about 40 seconds to cross the start line and picked up to about a 9:30 pace. I'm not sure if it was the wind or just the fatigue from being sick all week, but I knew it was going to be a hard run. I was already tired by mile 2. But my HR was holding steady so we kept up a pace between 9:30 and 10:00, hoping to keep it together for a 2:10:00 finish. The run up to Pacific Grove was the only real hill and our pace slowed there, but much of the course was rolling with there always being a grade of some sort and always the wind, especially on the outward bound portion. It wasn't as easy as I'd hoped.
The course itself was completely gorgeous. Much of it ran right along the pacific coast. Waves crashing into rocks, sea lions barking at us from rocks, pelicans flying by us. Plus, with the road closed it was only the sounds of the sea and other runners. On the way back part of the course was along a bike path which presumably was an old railway grade, and took us even closer to the water and down tunnels of Cyprus trees. Even the parts in the town were nice, running around a lagoon of sorts and also down through the historic old town of Monterey. In front of the old movie theater a man dressed in a tux played the piano for us. At the end of a tunnel a Scotsman in full gear played the bagpipes. It was very cool.
I recorded the race on my watch. Here's the pace, HR and elevation on a chart. The blue spikes are us walking through aid stations. The mileage misses a little bit at the beginning.
With a couple of miles to go Patty picked up the pace and dashed off 30 yards or so in front of me. She is clearly the faster runner now and she shows a whole other side when it comes to hitting a time goal. My pace also quickened and I kept her close, but my HR was pushing up into the 190s so I was more inclined to balance my pace against imploding so close to the finish. Plus, I'm willing to give up a little time to not scare the medical staff waiting at the end.
As the finish line came into sight Patty slowed to allow me to catch her and we cross the line together in 2:09:21. It was very charitable of her, of course.
They hung a hand made medallion around our necks and then passed us an empty box. I soon found out what the box was for. It was to put all the food in. All kinds of fruit: strawberries, apples, oranges, bananas. Muffins. Cookies. Fruit cups. Bagels. And, a bottle of water. We slumped down against the side of a building and may I just say that those were the best strawberries and cookies I've ever had. I'm pretty sure of that.
The taste of fresh PR.
Conclusion
This was a great half marathon and everything we hopped for. A class act of event organizing which I plan to judge all future races against, completely spectacular scenery, and we came in under our goal. An awesome weekend.
Monday, October 29, 2007
Two weeks to go
Week mileage: 22.3 Miles (4hrs 4min)
Another pretty good week, although there's signs of overtraining.
It's been a pretty fast climb back up to decent miles, both for our long runs and total miles. Because of this we've now peaked for our half marathon and will hold at this level with some easy running this week and then taper down the following week so we're fresh at the start line.
This weekend I did my first real race since the marathon three months ago! We did the 15km race at Lake Merritt. Both of us were pretty happy with our run. My time was just over 90 minutes, which was my goal.
According to the GPS we ran quite a bit over 15km, probably because of poor tangents at the beginning (and maybe GPS error). Apart from the first two miles, which were fast, we basically negative split each mile until the end, with the slowest being 10:00 mins (actually our goal pace) for mile 3, and just under 9:00 mins for my final mile. It was good to be able to finish strong like that. Patty finished so strong in fact that she kicked my butt by 30 seconds.
From this race I'm supposed to draw conclusions on how fast to run the half marathon. I feel like 9:30ish pace is probably doable now, with 10:00 being pretty easy and 9:00 being probably too hard for that distance at this point. That puts our goal between 2:05 and 2:10.
We'll see.
Another pretty good week, although there's signs of overtraining.
It's been a pretty fast climb back up to decent miles, both for our long runs and total miles. Because of this we've now peaked for our half marathon and will hold at this level with some easy running this week and then taper down the following week so we're fresh at the start line.
This weekend I did my first real race since the marathon three months ago! We did the 15km race at Lake Merritt. Both of us were pretty happy with our run. My time was just over 90 minutes, which was my goal.
According to the GPS we ran quite a bit over 15km, probably because of poor tangents at the beginning (and maybe GPS error). Apart from the first two miles, which were fast, we basically negative split each mile until the end, with the slowest being 10:00 mins (actually our goal pace) for mile 3, and just under 9:00 mins for my final mile. It was good to be able to finish strong like that. Patty finished so strong in fact that she kicked my butt by 30 seconds.
From this race I'm supposed to draw conclusions on how fast to run the half marathon. I feel like 9:30ish pace is probably doable now, with 10:00 being pretty easy and 9:00 being probably too hard for that distance at this point. That puts our goal between 2:05 and 2:10.
We'll see.
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
Taco Tuesday
Weekly mileage: 25.1 Mi (4 hrs 56 min)
Running has come completely around in the past month and I'm back to enjoying it. Mostly. Last week I hit my target of 25 miles a week which I hope to more or less sustain until the beginning of next year.
On Wednesday morning we headed out to Tilden, a local regional park, in pouring rain to run five miles on a trail there. It turned out to be one of the hardest runs in a long time. With the rain the trail turned to sticky slippery mud. How can something be sticky and slippery at once? Somehow this mud was. Running was something like running on sand dunes, two steps up, one slide back with the bonus of extra pounds of mud caking our shoes and rain pelting our faces. Afterwards I was beat for the rest of the day.
During the week I also put in a couple of good runs at work. I have a new Garmin Forerunner which I got to test out for the first time. It's pretty cool, but I have the same feeling I had when I first got a HRM. That it will initially just show me how slow I really am. But in the long run, that's probably a good thing.
On Sunday we headed out for our long run. The morning started with a flat tire on our car, followed by a flat battery on the forerunner, and plus, I felt terrible and in completely the wrong place for the run mentally. After about three miles the run came round and we ran a little over 12 miles in total. I've been having some kind of cramping and/or early onset fatigue on the outside of my right shin. Not pain, like shin splints, but something else. It usually subsides after a while. No idea what that's about, but it doesn't help!
Our goal is a half marathon in three weeks called the Big Sur Half Marathon. Rather than actually being in Big Sur, it's in Monterey and runs by the aquarium and out to near Pebble Beach and back. The course is actually pretty stunning as it runs right along the coast.
I'm really looking forward to it, although I don't have the best sense of how my body will respond to a race that length or even what an good pace is for me right now. I'm surely fitter than the first and only time I've run a half marathon that wasn't a mountainous trail run and that time was 2:18. To help figure this out, and kick ourselves into the racing mood, we're running a local 15km race this weekend. Three laps around the lake. I'm mostly hoping to not DNF like the last time I raced there, but the goal is tentatively 90 minutes.
Well, it's Tuesday. And that means track workout and Baja fish tacos!
Running has come completely around in the past month and I'm back to enjoying it. Mostly. Last week I hit my target of 25 miles a week which I hope to more or less sustain until the beginning of next year.
On Wednesday morning we headed out to Tilden, a local regional park, in pouring rain to run five miles on a trail there. It turned out to be one of the hardest runs in a long time. With the rain the trail turned to sticky slippery mud. How can something be sticky and slippery at once? Somehow this mud was. Running was something like running on sand dunes, two steps up, one slide back with the bonus of extra pounds of mud caking our shoes and rain pelting our faces. Afterwards I was beat for the rest of the day.
During the week I also put in a couple of good runs at work. I have a new Garmin Forerunner which I got to test out for the first time. It's pretty cool, but I have the same feeling I had when I first got a HRM. That it will initially just show me how slow I really am. But in the long run, that's probably a good thing.
On Sunday we headed out for our long run. The morning started with a flat tire on our car, followed by a flat battery on the forerunner, and plus, I felt terrible and in completely the wrong place for the run mentally. After about three miles the run came round and we ran a little over 12 miles in total. I've been having some kind of cramping and/or early onset fatigue on the outside of my right shin. Not pain, like shin splints, but something else. It usually subsides after a while. No idea what that's about, but it doesn't help!
Our goal is a half marathon in three weeks called the Big Sur Half Marathon. Rather than actually being in Big Sur, it's in Monterey and runs by the aquarium and out to near Pebble Beach and back. The course is actually pretty stunning as it runs right along the coast.
I'm really looking forward to it, although I don't have the best sense of how my body will respond to a race that length or even what an good pace is for me right now. I'm surely fitter than the first and only time I've run a half marathon that wasn't a mountainous trail run and that time was 2:18. To help figure this out, and kick ourselves into the racing mood, we're running a local 15km race this weekend. Three laps around the lake. I'm mostly hoping to not DNF like the last time I raced there, but the goal is tentatively 90 minutes.
Well, it's Tuesday. And that means track workout and Baja fish tacos!
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
One month later
Well more than a month has gone by since the marathon so it seems time to update.
I've been considering this lately: does anyone really care to hear about nagging injury and failed runs for blog after blog? That should give you a hint of how the last month has been. But it is time to recap, so here's the rundown.
The bad:
Firstly, the marathon took a toll that I wasn't really expecting, and I was expecting plenty of toll. Both of us have found running hard and even now barely consider ourselves over it. But then a month is probably not that unusual for the damage to heel and lingering fatigue to depart our torn up muscles. 26.2 miles is a rough ride. I'm amazed now by those I know going on to run another one already. For me, I needed this month almost free of running on many levels.
Although the fatigue seems mostly gone, for me, there are still bonus problems I'm dealing with.
I ran the marathon on a foot injury, which exploded mile 19, and left my foot mostly blue. It also hurt a lot. While this seemed concerning to me, my doctor was completely unconcerned about the whole thing. Perhaps the patient before me had a severed arm to show her. I was expecting a horrified gasp. Instead I got a 'Well, that will heal. We'll do x-rays to make sure it's not a fracture and here's a PT referral'.
X-rays were negative on the stress fracture, so off I went to PT. What I learned is that this is almost certainly caused by some tearing in one of the peronial tendons, which in turn was probably caused by tightness in the peronial muscles which run down the outside of the leg. They probably got tight from running, and since I didn't know they existed, didn't stretch them. Apparently they are there for stability mostly, but the 'push-off' uses these muscles and can stress the peronial tendons in the foot. More so on uphills. Enough of that tension and pop! If they pop, the blood flows out and turns your foot blue. Cool. Anyway, I have a plan and am working on that.
But the real problem has been IT pain. This is really something which I thought would vanish after the marathon since I never had much of it before. But it's stayed around like an annoying 4 year old. I didn't even bring it up with my doctor. At that stage I still had blown quads and hamstrings and was hobbling around with a blue foot. The IT stuff was just background noise. But not when I ran. By 1.5 miles it inflamed and put a quick end to my run. Over and over. This was depressing. Pretty soon I felt like the whole marathon was a mistake and had decided that, for sure, I would never run again. Time to move on to sitting on the couch and eating potato chips. Time to call the cable company. This is, of course, crazy. But I, of course, am crazy.
The good:
Well, I needed a good news section to this post or I may not have written it at all.
Firstly, we went to Idaho on vacation after the marathon and it was fantastic. I'd like to write a post about that, but if I could move to Boise, I would.
Secondly, I've been spending some quality time with my mountain bike and am beginning to see the appeal. I spent 5 hours on it this past weekend, including a great ride in Tilden regional park down a 1000 ft drop single track trail through the woods. We had to carry our bikes across a stream. It was completely fun.
And thirdly, the best news is that I have now done 2 three mile runs with little IT pain, both on a track.
So, perhaps there is life after a marathon.
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