twenty6two

Race Report: Windermere Marathon

2010-05-15T16:06:00.000-07:00

Where do I start? It was simply a beautiful day. But of course, a beautiful day is not what you want on marathon day. It was 48 degrees at 5am when I woke up but it was probably close to 60 by the start and near 70 by 9:45 or so when I finished. Met up with Michael Bresson who was the clear favorite to win the race. He is a few months older but has had a much more profitable training year than I have had. His plan was to go out in 1:10 and then hang on for dear life.

The race got started 15 minutes late because they had to synch it with the start of the half marathon because they only had one clock at the finish line. Not acceptable. But I would have let it slide if that had been the only hiccup today.

The plan was to run 5:35s shooting for a 2:26.

The start of the race was the only portion of the course that was remotely confusing so since I knew I would be toward the front of the pack, I asked three different volunteers at the star, including one of the lead bikers, which direction the first part of the course took. I got three different answers. I should have seen the writing on the wall. They finally got us started and about 1.25 miles into the race we passed the 2M marker. Ummm…what the freak? I set a world record in the 3M crossing in 12:10. Awesome. I have to say that it was a pretty deflating thing to know that just more than a mile into the race I was no longer running a certified, full-length marathon. I spent much of the race trying to figure out if I should drop out and look for another marathon in the next week or two, but I couldn’t think of one so I plugged along. I thought again about dropping out and thought about maybe the Newport marathon in three weeks, but that would have a really negative impact on my summer race schedule. So I carried on. I think what really kept me going was the desire just to finish the marathon regardless of the actualt distance. I hadn't finished a marathon since Newport in 2008 so I really "needed" to finish this.

Mile 3 – 5:34

Mile 4 – 5:28 (By this point, no one was in sight. It was me, myself and I which is how it stayed until Mile 18 or so when I started catching up to a few of the half marathon walkers. Beautiful, but lonely)

Mile 5 – 5:31

Mile 6 – 5:37

Mile 7 – 5:32

Mile 8 – 5:31

Mile 9 – 5:35

Mile 10 – 5:38 (Somewhat of a guess because they were still putting up mile markers when I got to this point. Seriously)

Mile 11 – 5:36

Mile 12 – 5:41

Mile 13 – 5:45 (Knew I was slowing down but was hoping to hang on to sub 6:00 miles for the rest of the race)

Mile 14 – 5:51

Mile 15 – 5:50

Mile 16 – 5:54

Mile 17 – 6:00

Mile 18 – 5:57

Mile 19 – 5:56

Mile 20 – 6:03 (10k to go and at this point, I was getting pretty upset about the course screw up. All this effort and training to run 25.5 miles.)

Mile 21 – 6:03 (Things are getting pretty crammed with half marathoners. Narrower trail combined with many packs of walkers and slow runners with headphones on made for some frustration)

Mile 22/23 – 12:35

Mile 24 – 6:20

Mile 25 – 6:22

Final ¼ mile to FINISH LINE -- 1:23 (2:28:02) – So about ½ mile before the finish some guy was yelling at me to go to the finish, turn around and run back to him, presumably because he was standing at a place that would make the course the right length. So with hundreds of people, including my family, standing at the finish, I arrive there only to turnaround and try and find where this mystery man was running against a constant stream of half marathoners. Fortunately, I was the second place guy as the winner, Michael Bresson, flagged me down at the "new finish" to tell me I was no done. No clock. No one there to take my time. So my time from the real finish line to the new finish line was in 4:15 for a total time of 2:32:18. I don’t know if this was actually a certified distance. Probably not. My watch said 26.17. So it was closer, but who knows.

Bottom Line: I had a mediocre performance. The course fiasco wasn’t the cause for me falling 6 minutes off my target finish time. It was probably a small mental factor, but it wasn’t six minutes worth. I still continue to struggle in warm marathon conditions. I had cramps from Mile 6 on such that I could get my stomach to accept the amount of fluids my body needed to perform at the desired levels. That is frustrating because I feel like I had the fitness to achieve my time but I simply haven’t figured out how to hydrate in warm weather.

Observation: My marathon PR days are almost certainly behind me. I’m fine with that. At some point, that becomes the case for everyone. It just so happens that at age 37, that time has come for me. No worries. That said, I do feel like I have a 2:25 left in me which is something worth going after.

Observation: Nice course for the most part. Lots of potential but very poorly managed.

Observation: It was nice not having any pressure on me this time around. No Trials to qualify for. No crazy, unrealistic time to shoot for. It makes running a lot more fun.

Observation: The one thing a race director absolutely has to get right – especially for a marathon – is the course. I am a race director. I direct for races a year. Getting the course right is where 90% of my focus is each and every race. It is simply unacceptable to get this wrong. This is especially true for a marathon which people train months for. There are 400 people today who will not be eligible for the Boston Marathon because the race director screwed up the course. The course records are out the window. It’s as if the race didn’t happen because a marathon is 26.2 not 25.5. My so-so performance had more to do with poor hydration than the course screw up. But I feel for those who spent $100 and months of training to qualify for Boston and now can’t. Total bummer. The ironic thing is that their motto is “we don’t bring elite athletes to our marathon. We bring an elite marathon to our athletes.” Ummm…not so much.

I don't know what time they will put me down for...the 2:28 or the 2:32. There wasn't anyone at the end of the "26.2" to take my time, so I guess they will have to go wit the 2:28. What a mess.

So now the recovery begins. A few days of no running and then ramp up for the summer road race season leading up to Club Track Nationals in SFO.

Race Report: Seattle Rock and Roll Half Marathon

2009-06-29T07:57:00.000-07:00

It wasn't until Friday that I decided to run this race. After running 19 hard miles in the heat and humidity of Grandma's Marathon last Saturday, I wasn't feeling all that great and I certainly wasn't fully recovered. But after a decent short run Friday morning, I felt like giving it a go.

A beautiful day for running. 56 degrees at the start and not a cloud in the sky. A dreamy day for the race organizers of this inaugural race.

Caught up with Paul Peterson briefly prior to the race. It's always good to chat with him. There was a woman in the race with a 1:08 PR in the half which had a few of us a bit nervous.

Race started just a couple of minutes late. First mile was pretty much flat through the industrial part of Tukwila, just south of Seattle. By the Mile 1 marker there was already a lead pack and a chase pack. Crossed in 5:14. Perfect.

Mile 2 was more of the same...industrial Tukwila. Slight uphill as we crossed over I-5 but right back down. Hit mile two in 5:15. Perfect again.

Mile 3 was more uphill than I remembered from my course tour the day prior. It wasn't anything crazy at all, but it was a slight incline virtually the whole way. By this time, the lead pack had gapped me pretty good. From this point on it was me and a local running friend Destry Johnson in our pack of two. We picked off a few guys in Mile 3 who wanted some camera time and went out way too fast. Despite the gentle uphill we hit Mile 3 in 5:12. Very happy at this point.

Mile 4 was basically flat and through the neighborhoods of south Seattle. This the was last mile that Destry and I passed anyone. From Mile 4 on we didn't pass anyone and no one passed us. Hit Mile 4 in 5:11.

Mile 5 was the hardest of all the miles. It's a steady 2-3% grade uphill the entire mile. I generally run well uphill but this is one of those points in the race you have to be really careful because you have almost nothing to gain by going too hard and a ton to lose by doing so. Crossed the mile marker in 5:48. Much slower than I thought but I think the mile marker was off as my watch had us at 1.05 for that mile and my watch is usually never off that badly.

Mile 6 plummets down to Lake Washington. It has one of those short downhill stretches that is so steep that you can't really get the full benefit of the downhill. All the elevation we gained over one mile we gave back in less than 1/4 mile. The next few miles are along a beautiful stretch of Lake Washington. Again, it was a race organizers dream. Mile 6 came in at 5:00 which was pretty easy to understand given the downhill stretch. Destry is a much better downhill runner I learned.

Mile 7-9 are all along Lake Washington. Again...just gorgeous...however the beauty has its risks. This stretch is littered with "S" turns that can lengthen the race by a ton. So Destry amd I focused on running the tangents. There is no prize for running 13.3. My coach is the one who measured the course and he warned me about this stretch. He measured mile 7 the correct way (shortest possible route) and then measured it again following the center line. The difference in the two measurements over just one mile was a staggering 100 meters! So run the tangents people. 100 meters is 20-35 seconds depending on your pace and that was for just one mile. Miles 7, 8 and 9 came in at 5:09, 5:27, 5:26. The only explanation I have for the slower miles is the wind did kick up off the lake and we were exposed to that more than I expected. I also think the markers may have been off. Mile 8 is where I really started to feel the effects of Grandma's. My calves were screaming way earlier than normal. At this point I was pretty sure I wasn't going to be able to stay with Destry.

Mile 10 starts with a VERY abrupt uphill as we climbed to the I-90 tunnel. It's probably a hundred meters in length but very, very steep. Once you get to the top you enter the I-90 tunnel which was really weird. There was a band playing at the far end of the tunnel and the echoing noise was eerie especially since you couldn't see the end of the tunnel around the bend. Mile 10 marker was inside the tunnel. Destry and I crossed at 5:10. Quicker than I thought.

Mile 11...pretty flat ending with a pretty aggressive downhill portion as we headed toward Safeco Field. Mark Mandi, a local elite guy had been showing signs of weakening and we were reeling him in. He was less than 100 meters in front of us now. Mile 11 was in 5:10 as well.
Mile 12 was through the heart of downtown Seattle. A little bit of up and down. Pretty gentle. Destry was starting to gap me...probably 15 meters ahead at this point. I was just about ready to concede at this point. Crossed Mile 12 at 5:10.

With a mile to go, we went down a really steep hill as we approached the Alaskan Way viaduct. This was a turning point in the race for me. Up to this point, Destry had crushed me on every downhill stretch. This time, he didn't gap me at all and I was right on his heels headed into a brief uphill stretch that put us onto the viaduct. It was here where I passed him. But Destry is a competitor and once we got onto the viaduct and it flattened out, he passed me one more time and took the lead with about 3/4 of a mile to go. With 1/2 mile to go, we hit one final downhill stretch coming off of the viaduct and I passed him as I started to make a final move to the finish. As we made the final turn the finish line was about 250 meters away. It seemed a lot farther than that. Destry and I were now in an all out sprint for the finish. I pulled away a bit and with 150 or so to go looked back and felt like I had him beat. Then I looked back with about 75 meters to go and he was right there giving it one last push. I managed to hold him off across the finish but it was a fantastic race. Mile 13 was in 5:07...a strong finish.

Finishing time was 1:08:58. Destry was just one second behind. I ended up only a few seconds behind Mark Mandi who was fading fast. Another 1/2 mile and Destry and I both would have had him.

Finished 7th overall. 5th American and third Washingtonian. So I just missed out on the money. Oh well.

Destry is a good friend and I love racing with him because we are so similar in ability and style. He totally pushed me to a sub 1:09 finish which I didn't expect given my partially recovered state. So thanks to Destry for pushing me the whole way.

Great race. Great organization. Good course. Very scenic and not as difficult as I would have expected.

Congrats to Paul on the nice PR. Amazing what a little extra oxygen will do. He ran a very smart race and knew when to back off the leaders. While he was in sight at the finish, he smoked me.
As I sit here, my calves are wasted. I'm just glad I'm sitting here in my kitchen and don't have to get on an airplane. Ugh.

Race Report: Indy Mini Marathon

2009-05-03T16:33:00.000-07:00

Weather: 46 degrees; Thin overcast; NO WIND

I have never raced in better weather...period. It was absolutely perfect.

Woke up at 6am after a pretty good night's sleep. I brought my two boys and my dad along for the ride. My oldest son has the amazing ability of not falling asleep before 11pm, but once he was asleep, we all slept great.

By 6:20 I was out the door walking over to the NCAA Headquarters which was the Elite staging area. The race organizers were great and all the pre-race stuff went perfectly.

I felt slow, bloated and heavy during my warmup. This is very typical though so I didn't think much of it.

The start countdown was done by soldiers in Kuwait via cell phone. Kind of cool. As seems to always be the case, this race had its own "Michael Wardian" jumping out to an early lead for some good camera time. By Mile 2 we caught him.

The biggest surprise of the first mile was how slow the Kenyans went out. Paul and I were right together as we crossed Mile 1 in a very slow 5:23. That was really disappointing since it was a full 13 seconds slower than my desired mile pace. Even with 12 miles to go, that's a lot of time to make up. So I spent Mile 2 focused on hitting the desired split time. I wasn't going to try and get back any of my lost time, just get back on race pace. Mile 2 came in at 5:09. Much better. At this point, I think the "chase" pack was me, Paul and some young dude with floppy hair. I will refer to him as floppy from here on out.

The Mile 2 water stationn was staffed by well over 100 LDS missionaries. That was cool to see. They were probably very glad the weather was so cool.

The lead pack was still in sight at this point but they did begin to pick up the pace. I commented to Paul though that 1:02 wasn't going to happen based on the first two mile splits.

Mile 3 I still was feeling heavy and bloated. I had taken a few sips of water but was concerned I wasn't getting enough. Temps were low but the half is just long enough that hydration can be a concern especially with humidity. Mile 3 was 5:08. Perfect.

5k time -- 16:12

Mile 4. Don't remember anything exciting happening here. Me, Paul and floppy were still together. Floppy and I swapped the lead a few times but he seemed willing to take it back each time so I felt willing to let him. :-) Mile 4 5:08. Nice.

Mile 5..the last mile before entering the Speedway. We slowed a touch to 5:11. This was my first (and only) full swig of water and I tend to slow a bit when i take water. Maybe that was why. Who knows.

The Mile 6 marker is inside the Speedway just before you actually get on the race track. I had no idea how incredibly massive the Speedway was. A 400 meter track will forever seem very short. Mile 6 was in 5:07. I was starting to feel a little bit better about things although I was reserving judgment until Mile 10 which is 5k to go.

The 10k marker was on the back straightaway of the Speedway. Crossed in 32:15. It wasn't too long ago that this would have been a 10k PR. Mile 7 was inside the Speedway as well. I commented to Paul afterward about how slow this mile was. We did it in 5:16. By this time Paul had dropped back but me and Floppy were still together. We were both wondering what happened.

Mile 8 was almost entirely on the final straightaway of the Speedway and this was the only time during the race I felt anything resembling wind. Despite the slow Mile 7, I was content to let Floppy bear the brunt of the wind. Mile 8 was in 5:14. Slow but not too bad.

As we left the track it was good riddance from my standpoint. It's such an enourmous facility that it felt at times like we weren't covering any ground. So the Mile 9 marker was back out on the streets of Indianapolis. Crossed Mile 9 in 5:11. A smidgen slower than I wanted but I was just happy to be feeling good. At this point I was in 9th place and I think Paul was still in 10th. There was a Kenyan that me and Floppy were reeling in which was particularly motivating. Nothing quite like beating a Kenyan.

Mile 10 -- 5:12. Still slower than I wanted but the beauty of Mile 10 is that mentally, it becomes a very manageable race. 5k to go. I can get my head around 5k and I have a good idea of what i have left in the tank and how much to push it with 5k to go. It was right about at Mile 10 that Floppy and I passed the Kenyan. He put up a fight for about a 1/4 mile but we gapped him hard after that.

Mile 11 -- The biggest challenge which this mile is that you can see the Mile 11 marker from the Mile 10 marker. It's a really long straight stretch that felt like it went on forever. Crossed Mile 11 in 5:08. Beautiful. I was back to running my pace.

Mile 12 had us finally leave 10th St. and turn on to White River Parkway. I could see the marker early on and at this point, it was me and Floppy battling for 7th place. There was a slight breeze, but at this point, I wasn't even thinking about it. 5:12 was the time for Mile 12. 1/10 of a mile later you make the turn onto the New York Street bridge. They call it the Miracle Mile. At this point I had passed Floppy with the intention of never seeing the back of his head again. One of the great things of this course was they marked every final 1/4 mile. As I made the turn onto NY Street for the final mile, I made my move. I knew a sub 1:08 was still possible but it was going to take some real effort. I also knew there was money and pride on the line and I didn't want to let Floppy pass me. BTW...Floppy couldn't be older than 22 or 23.

With 3/4 to go, I was going to look back but decided not to. I told myself that I don't "get" to look back unless I hit the 1/2 to go mark on pace for a sub 1:08. So with 1/2 to go, I was on pace and looked back. I had gapped Floppy by about 100 meters. I kicked it into a higher gear telling myself I had only two laps to go. With a 1/4 mile to go I looked back again. Floppy had not closed at all. So I focused on trying to hit a 75 second quarter to the finish line. Crossed the 13 mile mark in 5:03! Wow...the extra effort really paid off.

The final 1/10 was awesome. I was really running hard and I could see the clock the whole way. One final look back and Floppy hadn't made any progress. 7th place was mine.

Finishing time: 1:07:53 (official)...a pace of 5:10.5.

In January I had set my 1/2 goal at 1:07:30. But that was a bit unrealistic. This past week I adjusted it to sub 1:08 which I did. Mission accomplished. That said, I do feel like a 1:07:30 is within reach.

The winning time was a high 1:03:55 by Festus Langat. The Kenyans really wasted an opportunity to take advantage of perfect weather. Joseph Mutinda was second in 1:04:28, just two weeks after winning the Salt Lake Marathon.

A couple of observations/learnings:

I continue to be astounded by how many elite runners do NOT run the tangents. This course had numerous opportunities to be lured off the tangents making the course longer than it needs to be. I just don't get it.
Improvement? The first mile was ridiculously slow. I'm terrible at gauging pace off the track but my watch said we were at 80 seconds at the quarter which turned out to be about right. I could have easily had 10-15 seconds back if I had run that correctly. I also want to start pushing it even sooner. I have never died at the end of a race, something I always have feared. So I almost need it to happen so that I know my limits better.
This is such a weird distance. It's only my fourth half and I feel like I have so much experience to still gain. Hydration is a fuzzy area. Pace wise it feels more like a 10k. It's just a weird distance.

Race Report: WWU Invitational

2009-04-13T15:03:00.000-07:00

What a difference two seconds makes. This evening I achieved my second of four goals for 2009...I ran a sub 31:00 10,000m in a time of 30:58. How heartbreaking 31:01 would have been. But I was not to be denied.

[Full results here: http://wwuvikings.cstv.com/sports/c-track/stats/041109aaa.html]

The race was supposed to start at 9:15pm but was delayed until 9:45pm which made a late evening even later. It wasn't a big deal for me but my parents came to watch as did my wife and kids so it was pretty late for them.

The weather was simply perfect. 48-50 degrees. No wind and occasional light drizzle although by race time I think it had stopped.

There were about 15 people in the race. Western Washington University hosted the race in Bellingham. It is a D-II school and some of the other schools were CCs. So the competition wasn't top notch. The meet record for the event was 32:30 or something around there.

When I signed up to do the race a month ago, there were supposed to be five of us running it all with the goal of breaking 31:00. But three had to bail out so it was just me and Steve DeKoker, a WWU alum who also happens to run Brooks’ awesome Brooks ID program...something many on this board should check out. Great discounts and some get free gear and shoes.

Steve and I agreed on a strategy during our warm up. We would switch off the lead every four laps and just try and hit 74s the whole way. Unfortunately, we got stuck in the second row of the waterfall start. In hindsight, it would have been better to be way out in lane 8. The first 150 meters Steve and I were totally boxed. Just before the 200 meter mark, I found a small hole and went for it…just in time to see that the first 200 was in 40 seconds…WAY too slow. It should have been in the 37 range. By the 300m mark Steve had made it out of the pack and took over the lead as we had planned. Lap 1 was slow (76 seconds) but not as bad as it could have been. I didn’t get too uptight about it. Frankly, running a 76 was better than coming out in a 71.

By the 800 meter mark, the race was over in terms of place. Steve and I had gapped everyone and it was pretty clear that we would finish ahead of everyone. But neither of us was there to place. We wanted sub 31:00. The first 1600 came quickly (4:57) and right on pace. I took over the lead from Steve and led the next four laps which went smoothly but somehow a bit slower than we wanted (5:01). I’m not sure what happened because I felt great and was having no issues at all. Oh well. Steve then took over for his second set of four laps which we covered in 5:00 flat…still a second or two slower. I was back in the lead and carried us through the 5k mark, which is when I began to get a bit worried. We crossed the 5k mark at 15:38. Eight seconds over pace is manageable but not a gimme, especially with the hardest (at least mentally) part of the race yet to come. My goal at that point was to try and make up one second each lap. Mission accomplished as we crossed the 6400 mark (9 laps to go) in 4:56. That was more like it. We picked up three of the eight seconds with nine laps to go.

Then another bit of bad news…Steve began having GI issues and told me he was going to back off and couldn’t take over the lead for his third and final segment. Ugh. Steve is 6’4”. I am 5’8” with shoes on. I really enjoyed drafting behind him. Oh well. So with nine laps to go, I knew I was on my own in a race I had never competed in before and still five or so seconds over pace. First lap all on my own (#19) was in 74. OK, but I needed a few 73s or even a 72 to get back on pace. 20th lap (the 8k mark) went a little better in 73 crossing the 8k mark in 24:48, shattering my previous 8k PR of 25:03. That turned out to be a pretty huge confidence booster that I really needed with 5 laps to go.

I was really starting to hurt and have some doubts as I was doing fuzzy math in my head about what it was going to take to reach my goal. Lap 21 came in at 75. Not good. The first two hundred of this lap was in 37, the worst split I had had all race at the 200m mark so I knew the lap was going to be slow. So with four laps to go, I had given back another second. Ugh. But lap 22 I found some strength somewhere and pulled in a 74 with the cumulative clock at 27:07. So I needed to cover 1200m in 3:52 or better. Lap 23 was perhaps the most difficult. My sub 31:00 was still in jeopardy and I was running out of gas and had no help. I had lapped several people throughout the race and that serves as some motivation and help but nothing like having a 6’4” wind shield. Despite how hard lap 23 felt, I managed a 73. This was HUGE. With two laps to go, I was sitting at 28:30. In other words, I need a 2:29 final 800m to reach my goal. I knew I could do this. I began to pick it up a bit in Lap 24. I consciously made the decision to not leave any work undone for the final lap. So I kicked it up a notch. It turned out to be a smart move. Lap 24 was a 72, just the second 72 I had all race. With one lap to go, the clock read 29:46.

I still needed a 73 to get the job done and that was no gimme. The first 200m of the final lap was in a “blistering” :35. With 200 to go, I simply needed a :38 to break 31:00. With 100 to go, I could see the clock and just gave it everything I had. I crossed the finish line in 30:58…barely a second to spare. I was so thrilled. I think my dad may have been even happier. He was there at the finish to congratulate me which meant a lot.

As it turns out, the time was a meet record.

Some have said the 5000 meters is the most grueling distance. Maybe. But I found the 10,000 and its 25 sometimes monotonous laps to be pretty grueling.

One more thing about running in a pack. There are definitely very real and measureable physical benefits to running with a group at any distance. But there is a mental benefit that is every bit as meaningful. The key to any distance race is being able to break the race up into sections whether its miles, laps or even minutes. The 10,000 meters became much more mentally manageable to me because Steve and I broke it up into 1600m segments. There was something very powerful in trading the lead every four laps that really made the race one of segments not simply a 25-lap race.

So what can I improve on to do even better next time...

Lapping -- one of the challenges of such a long race around a track (unless you are running at something like a Stanford Invite) is you are inevitably going to lap people. My coach's estimate was that I lapped 25-30 people over the course of 25 laps. Unfortunately, many of those occured in the turns. I tried to avoid running in Lane 2 as much as possible but I spent more time there than I would have liked. Not sure what there is to do about that but it was a small factor.
Faster front half -- Only after thinking about my times more yesterday did I realize the huge differential in the 5k splits. 15:38 for the front half and 15:20 for the back half. A negative split isn't necessarily all that bad but one of 18 seconds is a bit much. Next time, I will go out in 15:20-25 and then try and hold that for the second half. It was my first 10,000m so I didn't want to do anything silly on the front half that would cost me later, but now with one under my belt, speeding up from the front 5k would be my first place to look to bring down my time.
Bigger Pack -- I outlined above the benefits of a pack. Laws of physics support this and real-life experience validates it. If I run a track 10k again, I will make sure it's at a meet where there is a larger group of guys to do what Steve and I did, but do it for the entire race. Losing Steve with 9 laps to go was noticeable and it could have only helped to have had someone else to trade off with for those final 9 laps.

Seafair Marathon Now the Seattle Rock and Roll Marathon

2008-08-05T13:30:00.000-07:00

Apparently, the much maligned Seafair Marathon has been sold and is now the Seattle Rock and Roll Marathon. I ran the race in 2006 and found it had many problems. The course was very challenging, the temperature was way too warm and there were major traffic issues as the full and half marathon converged on one another. It was after this marathon I promised to never run another summer marathon, even in Seattle.

This year was a disaster. Not only did they change the course for the third time in four years, they didn't have enough buses to transport people to the start line, leaving 400 runners, who had trained for this race for many months, stranded with no race to run.

So I don't know what the transition of "ownership" will mean. They undoubtedly will keep it at the same time of year. Hopefully they will start the race earlier. More importantly, maybe they can find a course that won't change every year. It's no wonder they had so much logistical trouble this year...they don't keep a course long enough to perfect the logistics around it.

What's most interesting is it is run by the same people who put on what I believe to be the best road race in Seattle: Seafair Torchlight.

This past weekend I became a first time race director so I caught a glimpse of how ridiculously hard it is to put together a running event so I'm a bit hesitant to be too harsh. Maybe the Seafair folks realized their expertise was in shorter events. Marathons are infinitely more challenging to host than a 10k or 5k. While I will still never run this marathon, I hope Rock and Rolling it will provide the alternative to the Seattle Marathon that Seafair has been.

Someday, someone will organize a marathon in King County that isn't in the crappy weather of Thanksgiving weekend nor in the heat of summer.

Race Report -- Seafair Torchlight 8k

2008-07-28T11:51:00.000-07:00

I was nervous going into tonight's race. It's only the second time I recall being nervous before a race. Torchlight is probably the biggest race in Seattle in terms of the number of top guys in the area who run it. Last year when I ran this race, I was still a bit of an unknown in the area. But after several good races over the last year, including a trip to the Trials, there's an expectation that I have of myself that I have to do really well, especially in a race with all of my peers. As I toed the starting line this evening, sure enough, virtually all of Seattle's finest were right there too. Last year I was edged out by a good running friend of mine, Ben Mangrum, in the final half mile and there he was right next to me this year. So I was indeed nervous.

This race is notoriously a hot one in terms of temperatures. We're going into the hottest four-week period of the year and it's not uncommon to have 90 degree temps for this race. Luckily, the temp was about 70 with some cloud cover. It was a bit humid for our area which I noticed pretty quickly after the start of the race.

The race starts at Qwest Field (home of the Seahawks) and quickly turns west then south heading over the Alaskan Way Viaduct. There's a pretty good hill going up the Viaduct and you don't crest it until right at Mile 1. Going into the race I wanted to average 5:01 miles in an attempt to break 25:00. Mile 1 came in at 5:03. Not bad considering the uphill and gusty winds. I figured the winds would dissipate once we got off the Viaduct which is an elevated structure exposed to the elements.

Mile 2 is almost all on the viaduct and mostly flat until the end when it drops down into a bus tunnel. I felt like I had picked up the pace a bit and expected a 5:00 or better for the mile split. Oops. 5:09. Ugh. So I was almost half way through the race and already 11 seconds off the pace. I'm not sure how I got a 5:09. I was running pretty much alone at this point in third place and the main pack falling behind me. But I was really diheartened by the slow split especially knowing that a tough third mile lie ahead.

Mile 3 is a net uphill and had a couple challenging stretches. I didn't look back but could tell that my lead over the chase pack was widening. I was not losing any distance to Mike Sayenko in 2nd place but I also wasn't gaining. He was probably 20-25 seconds ahead of me. Mile 3 came in at 4:59. I was surprised because I felt like I had slowed down. Regardless of the good split time, this was the point in the race where I was really hurting. Right after the Mile 3 marker there's a short hill and then you turn on to 4th Ave. The good news about the 4th mile is that it's along the Torchlight Parade route which attracts nearly 100,000 people who line 4th street to watch the ensuing parade. The bad news is that it's a gentle uphill that seems to last forever. And it's a straight stretch so you are constantly looking at the hill. There was no Mile 4 marker so I didn't know what my split was and my GPS watch got screwed up on the distance while going through the tunnel so I had no idea. When you crest 4th ave, I think there is about a mile to go. And it's downhill hill the rest of the way.

The reason I love this race is not because it's fast, because it's not. I love it because its the only race of any kind in Seattle that reminds me of the Trials and Boston in that thousands of people are screaming and blowing horns and cheering you on and it comes at a very critical part of the race. Kids venture away from the curb and stick out their hands to give you a high five. It's an exhilerating experience that really helps take my mind off of the pain and fatigue that was setting in.

I crossed the finish line in third place in a time of 25:03. I really wanted to break 25 minutes but in the end I was happy. It was a PR by 29 seconds and considering the strong winds, which weren't at all part of last year's race and the fact I again ran almost the entire race alone (unlike last year) I am very happy with the results.

Next stop: 2008 USA Masters Outdoor Track & Field Championships in Spokane in two weeks.

Twin Cities Marathon Course Preview

2008-07-08T22:35:00.001-07:00

I had the pleasure of taking my wife and kids to visit my parents who live about 40 minutes south of Minneapolis. Since I'm planning to run the Twin Cities Marathon in October, I thought it would be a good idea to preview the course. I was particularly interested in checking out the final couple of miles which appear on the course map to be fairly significant inclines.

Link to course map: http://www.mtcmarathon.org/PDFs/MarathonCourseMap08.pdf

The Start
The race starts right outside the Metrodome. If you haven't been to Minneapolis then you are missing out. It's a beautiful city. The first few miles take you through the core downtown area which is pancake flat. The skyline is small enough that I don't think the winds that are often exagerated when among tall buildings will be an issue.

Miles 3-8
At the three-mile mark, you turn south out of the downtown area and enter an amazingly beautiful 5-mile stretch that takes you through some of the most beautiful if not luxurious neighborhoods of any metro area I've ever scene. When you're finished looking at the homes on your right, you look to your left and realize you are running along side three of the 10,000 lakes in Minnesota. The best part is the much of this section is heavily shaded with big trees protecting runners from much of the direct sunlight. This stretch is also dead flat.

Miles 9-11
This stretch is also quite protected from the direct sunlight giving runners a breather from temperatures that can be quite warm even in October. This stretch struck me as particularly narrow but by Mile 11, things will have thinned out sufficiently such that it shouldn't be a congestion problem.

Miles 12-13
Due to some road construction, we actually had to skip this part that goes around Lake Nokomis. According to the map it is also flat. I don't know what the shading is like.

Miles 14-16
We rejoined the course at Mile 14 which rejoins this narrow street called Minehaha Parkway. It again is pretty well shaded.

Miles 17-21
We were running low on time so we skipped this part that follow the Mississippi River back up to St. Paul. According to the map it is flat.

Miles 21-23
The elevation maps would have you believe this is a pretty substantial slope but if I hadn't looked at the map ahead of time, I'm not sure I would have noticed any uphill at all. Over the two-mile stretch, it rises just 120 feet. I know by this time in a marathon the slightest incline feels like Heartbreak Hill, but seriously, this stretch is no problem at all. You lose all of the shade on this stretch as the street widens dramatically and you enter some of the most upscale and gorgeous neighborhoods of St. Paul. The worst part about this stretch will be a lack of protection from sun and wind if either are present on race day.

The Homestretch
The last three miles are an almost unoticeable downhill slope to the capital building in St. Paul. I'm really looking forward to this stretch of the race because if there is anything left in the tank, it will be a perfect stretch to run. The finish area looks awesome.

I can't say enough about how great this course looks. The biggest x factor, as last year proved, will be the weather. It could be 40 and breezy or 85 and humid. Of then 10 days I just spent in Minneapolis, 8 of them were very pleasant with low humidity. But the day we left (Sunday) was miserable. It was 85 degrees with 70% humidity. If it's like that on race day in October, I won't bother running. But if the weather coooperates, I think this will be a very fun and memorable race.

My 5k Debut

2008-07-04T15:45:00.000-07:00

Well...today was my 5k debut. I didn't do myself any favors the last two days, eating like a cow at my parent's house. When I woke up I felt heavy and bloated but oh well.

It took about 40 minutes to get from my parents house to St. Paul where the race was. We were greeted with the implosion of an old coal chimney across the river 15 minutes before the race.

Fortunately, most of the toxic cloud blew just to the south of the starting line. Kind of cool to watch. Most implosions I've seen have the building falling in on itself. This one they tipped over.

I hope that was the plan.

The main reason I ran this race was because the prize for the winner was two round trip tickets anywhere in the US on Northwest Airlines. This was the fifth year they had run the race and I was surprised to see that the course record was only 16:09. Given the course is pretty flat and the fact that there is a very strong core of good runner in the Minneapolis area, I was just surprised that not more of the better runners here hadn't given this race a shot, particularly with two airline tickets at stake.

The 10k course record is a much faster 30:37 but it hadn't been run under 33:00 since 2005. So I debated which race to run but settled on the 5k mostly because I had never run one before.
The race runs along the Mississippi River just across from downtown St. Paul. Other than a small roller at the start of the race, it was virtually flat. However, there was a pretty strong headwind for the first two miles as a thunderstorm was moving in. Some tall dude was the only one who joined me from the start and he let me know he was only running a mile and offered to help pace me. With the headwind, I was happy to take him up on his offer to be a wind shield. The only problem was he wasn't going fast enough so I made the difficult decision to go out on my own. There was no question I was working harder by myself but I couldn't afford to go his pace and let the chase pack think I was in reach.

Mile 1 came in at 5:04, about 9 seconds slower than I had wanted to go out in but with the headwind the way it was, I felt like my effort was in line with the time I wanted so I kept plugging away. 9/10 of mile 2 was also into headwind and by now I was way out in front. There would be no rabbit to pace me this time.

The turnaround came at 1.9 miles. I skipped the water they offered there. My feeling is that far more can go wrong by taking water in a 5k than can go right. It's just too short for hydration to be an issue -- in terms of negatively impacting performance -- particularly in the near-ideal temperature and cloud cover.

I crossed mile 2 in 10:07 so a 5:03 on that one. Also slower than I had hoped for but probably about as good as I could of expected under the windy conditions. The return route was near the outbound route but it was sheltered in trees which was great for keeping things cool but it completely blocked the tailwind which I was hoping would give me a boost on the home stretch. Oh well.

Mile 3 came in at 4:56. I was pushing harder and it was a slight net downhill. It's the mile time I was hoping for on all the miles but what can you do. I covered the final tenth in 31 seconds which is about 4:50 pace. So I finished strong which was nice.

Finish time was 15:35 and a first place finish in my 5k debut. I haven't seen the final results, but I think the second place guy was more than a minute behind.

The course was great and the support staff was awesome. I've really learned to appreciate a well executed race and this was one of them. I briefly thought about running the 10k also, since it started 15 minutes after I finished the 10k but when I got to the starting line, I decided it would be more prudent to do a nice cool down...plus...I had another race to get to.

Yes...one 5k was not enough. I'm a distance guy after all so I felt a bit under worked. So we traveled back another 30 minutes toward my parent's house to a little town called Elko. They had a 1k kids race which my youngest son ran in and then a 5k race which me, my dad and my older son all ran in. I ran this because the race director is a dear friend of my father's and he had asked me to run. Plus, it was for a very good cause. So 90 minutes after finishing my race in St. Paul, I started 5k Part Deux. This race was also plagued with the same wind problems but even worse, it was fairly hilly. No brutal hills, but constant rollers which is pretty common for the suburbs of the Twin Cities. My legs actually felt pretty good. The course wasn't certified and my watch had it .05 miles long, but who knows. Incidentally, my watch had the earlier race pegged exactly at 3.11 miles. Take that for what it's worth.

Anyway, finished the second race in 15:58. I was completely happy with that. It was easily good enough for a victory as the second place guy was 19 minutes and high change. My son took second in his age group for the 5k despite a time well off of his PR. I reminded him that the wind was tough as was the course. Unclear whether he found that to be any consolation.

Fatherhood and Running

2008-06-17T16:28:00.000-07:00

With Father's Day 2008 now in the rearview mirror, I stumbled upon this story about Alan and Shayne Culpepper who are not only two of the most accomplished American runners in recent memory, but the proud parents of three children.

Being a parent is difficult work and sometimes it's very, very difficult to be a good father and still have the time and focus required to be a good athlete. I'm fortunate to have married the greatest woman on earth who has been supportive of me through the thick and thin of my brief running career.

I'm even more amazed when you look at the Culpeppers and realize they are both world class athletes who have made family THE priority above all else. It's so gratifying in these days of big money in sports, gigantic attitudes and dangerous and immoral lifestyles, that a couple as accomplished in their sport as they, are down to earth enough and focused enough to put their family before themselves. It's a breath of fresh air.

Race Report -- Fall City 10k

2008-06-14T21:54:00.000-07:00

What a glorious morning for a run. The sun was out and the temperature was in the mid 50s. The only downer was a fairly strong breeze out of the north.

My goal going in was to break 32:00. It was somewhat random in that this was only my 3rd 10k and I didn't know how recovered I would be from my marathon two weeks ago. Winning the race was secondary although a time under 32:00 would usually be sufficient to win this race.

The start was late due to either an unexpectedly high number of people registering the day of or poor planning on the part of the race for not getting through the line quicker. We were almost 15 minutes late which pretty much makes an effective warmup impossible. Oh well.

When the gun finally went off, I and three other guys jumped out to an early lead. I crossed mile 1 in 4:58. A good start especially into a non-trivial wind. Our pack was still four at the one mile mark.

By mile 2, we had said goodbye to the 5k runners and our pack was down to three runners: me, Leif Kohler and Eric Garner, a former University of Washington standout. http://gohuskies.cstv.com/sports/c-track/mtt/garner_eric00.html

Mile 2 was a bit slower as we crossed in 5:06. The wind was far more noticeable on this stretch.
There was no mile 3 marker. I HATE this. How hard is it to freaking put a mile marker at every mile. So my lap split came at the turnaround spot. It was 5:38 for the 1.1 miles which equates to a 5:09 mile pace. I was excited to head back the other direction to get out of the headwind. The 1/2 way split was 15:42.

Since I've never run a 5k, I guess that is my new PR.

I was leading at the turnaround by a few seconds. This is when things got interesting. Leif began dropping off and Eric jumped out to the lead. It was clear he was making an effort to surge and see what I would do in response. For the first minute I tried to stick with him but I was concerned that the increased pace wasn't something i could maintain and I didn't want to blow up at the end. This was mistake #2.

I crossed mile 4 in 5:02 and was about 10 seconds back of back now and Leif was way back. This is when I started to realize I may have made a tactical mistake by not going with Eric when he made his surge at the halfway point. Barring a major injury or blowup, second was mine and so was a decent time. But, catching Eric, who is tall, long-legged and had great footspeed, was going to be infinitely harder now than if I had gone with him when he tried to surge.

With one mile to go, I was still about 10-15 seconds back and Leif was nowhere to be seen. There was a short window here where I thought I might be able to catch Eric but he is a short distance specialist and I would have never been able to take him if it came down to a sprint to the finish.
My last mile was in 5:02. So I finished strong but lost the race.

Race mistakes:

Leif and I made things a lot easier for Eric by creating a great wall blocking the wind for him on the outbound half of the race. Eric was smart to stick behind us and let us do all the work.
Not going with Eric at the halfway point. My inexperience at this distance gave me some hesitation as to what to do. I gave up too soon on trying to stay with him. Had I stayed with him, I may still not have won, but I would have known how much he really had left.

It's hard to focus too much on the mistakes when I PR'd by 1:35 and ran what would have been a course record if I had been the winner. Racing should always teach you something and make you a better and smarter runner the next time around. I need to be more confident in the strength that marathon training gives me and use that to my advantage.

I felt no residual soreness or fatigue from my marathon. That was a pleasant surprise.
As a side note, my 10-year-old son finished in 25:28, a PR by almost four minutes. I was very proud of him especially since he never trains.

Juneuary

2008-06-12T13:47:00.001-07:00

Enough already!!! It's June and even by Seattle standards, this weather is awful. Every morning this week so far I have run in rain with temps in the mid- to lower 40s. At least my house isn't floating away...yet.

At least I am feeling good. Almost two weeks have passed since the Newport Marathon and I've definitely recovered much faster this time than ever before. I was able to run 55 or so miles last week and will hit mid 60s this week on my way back to the low to mid 80s. I would hit 18 this week if it weren't for the 10k I'm doing on Saturday in Fall City instead of the 18-mile long run I would otherwise do. It will be interesting to see if I have my race legs back yet. It's one thing to log a bunch of miles post marathon It's entirely different to run them fast.

But I am very anxious. My shortest race this year was my half marathon in Tacoma about six weeks ago. I crossed the 10k mark in that race at 33:00 flat which, sadly, was a PR. I would love to go sub-32:00 on Saturday. It looks like the weather will cooperate.

I've been asked by a few people to post some more detail into my non-running training regimen, meaning my core exercises, stretching and weight lifting. More to come on that soon.

I'm Back

2008-06-04T14:54:00.000-07:00

For the three and one-half readers (Mara, my Dad, my Mom and anyone else who accidentally stumbles onto the site) of my blog, I'm sorry for the almost six months of silence on my blog. I'm still running but slacked. I'm recommited to making regular entries from here on out.

Newport Marathon -- Race Report

2008-06-04T14:32:00.000-07:00

Race: Newport Marathon (Oregon)
Start Time: 7:01am
Weather: 47 degrees, heavy overcast, no wind. PERFECT.

Marathons are a funny thing.

I woke up this morning after getting a pretty decent night's sleep, a bit nervous...for the first time. I've never gone into a marathon with the expectation of winning. On paper, I was the favorite, but as everyone on this blog knows, a lot can happen over 26.2 miles. So I was a bit nervous.

My reason for running this marathon was to win. Period. I picked this one because it is flat and fast and because the course record was a respectable 2:26 so I wasn't picking a backwoods marathon that could be won in anything under three hours.

My second goal was to break the course record. My third goal was to go sub 2:24. Why? Well, I have this problem. My St. George PR is 2:18:57. My non-St. George PR is 2:29. That disparity has bothered me a lot and has made me wonder how fast I really am. So even more than the victory, I was anxious to get this dual-PR monkey off my back.

Mission accomplished on all fronts.

I finished in 2:22:47, winning the race by nearly 20 minutes and shattering the course record, which earned me a $100. (I put $95 of that into my gas tank in Corvallis on the way home). More importantly, I ran a very solid time, narrowed the huge gap between SGM and my "other" PR and did so doing it completely alone wire to wire. Going into the race, I would have said that winning would bring the greatest joy from this race. I would have been wrong. Don't get me wrong. Winning my first marathon is huge and a longstanding goal that has now been accomplished. But running a near-OTQ qualifying (old standard) race all by myself was an enormous boost in confidence that may carry me much farther than the victory itself.

Here are my splits:

I've thought a but about what made this race so much better than my previous PR in Eugene in 2007 especially since Eugene was not any more challenging than Newport and because I had a group of guys to run with the whole race there.

Two early observations: (1) Hydration. For those who have read any of my previous marathon race reports, you know that getting enough fluid in my body has been an enormous challenge for me at the marathon distance. I finally figured it out. The line between too little water and too much is very, very fine. I promised myself this race that if I went down in flames it was going to be because I drank too much fluid not because I drank too little. Today, I was able to manage that very tricky balance perfectly. I had a few stomach cramps and aches along the way, but nothing that slowed me down. Interestingly, the only fluid I took was water with NUUN tablets in it and just plain water. None of that HEED crap. I also took one GU at 17 which was perfect. So no sport drinks, only one GU (100 calories) seemed to do the tricks. I estimate I had 60 or so ounces of fluid during the race. That is a PR by more than double. Sad I know. (2) Strength exercises. I felt fantastic during the whole race. When I crossed the finish line, I didn't really feel all that tired. I kept waiting for the proverbial wall but it never happened. From Mile 18 on I just took it two miles at a time and it worked well. The strength exercises really conditioned me in a way that I have never experienced before. I suspect my post-race recovery will be easier as well. I have more work to do here but my legs have never felt better during a race.

The race course is stunning. It's beautiful and except for a few rollers in miles 1-5 and again on the 26th mile, it's as flat as can be. St. George is a beautiful course in it's own right, but this is classic Northwest beauty.

I should also mention that the race logistics were second to none. Given the new time standards and the elimination of St. George and other aided courses, Newport is a very good candidate for those wanting to try to qualify for the Trials in 2011. All it would take is a pack of 5-10 runners to push each other along.

Miles 1-4 run through a state park with a cool lighthouse and then winds through the neighborhoods of Newport before dropping down to sea level and running through the fishing district. At 4.5, there is a steep uphill that lasts for about .15-.2 miles. I took it pretty conservatively. At the crest you begin a gentle downhill back to sea level to Mile 5. From there all the way to Mile 25, it is as flat as can be.

At the halfway point I felt great crossing in 1:11:15, 45 seconds faster than planned. The turnaround at 15.2 was a welcome sight. I have come to love out and back courses. The runners are always so awesome to cheer those heading back to the finish. It's also nice to know what you have ahead of you.

At Mile 17, all was well but in the back of my mind I was worried about Mile 20 which has been the usual point of my demise. To help me get around that, at Mile 19 I did the "just get yourself to Mile 21 and you will be fine." It worked. I don't even remember Mile 20. At 21 I was well under course record pace and mentally pushed myself to work hard to Mile 23. At 25, I was still running at a solid pace and feeling great. Mile 26 was a gentle uphill and slowed me down a bit. Mile 26 would have greatly benefited from having someone to run with. Breaking 2:23 was the only remaining time goal to shoot for so I wasn't exactly killing myself up the hill. Right at the 26-mile mark you have a steep downhill which my legs did not appreciate.

What a day. It's not very often you run 26 miles and accomplish even the loftiest of goals you set for yourself.

When You Stop You Slow

2007-12-31T16:43:00.000-08:00

It's been a great holiday filled with visits by friends and family. It's also been one of over-indulging in calorie-rich foods. Can't wait for those temptations to go away on Wednesday.

After taking a full week off the week of the 10th, I put in a lowly 30 miles the following week and then 54 last week. I ended the week with a pretty difficult speed workout, my first hard running since CC Nationals on December 8th. Going from zero miles one week to 54 miles two weeks later was easy.

The week off had little if any impact on my endurance, but I did notice during Saturday's workout that taking time off will impact your speed much more than endurance.

I hooked up with coach Tom and Mike Sayenko and Mike Heidt, the other two Trials qualifiers from Washington for a tempo run around Green Lake in Seattle. It was a late start for me -- 3pm. Literally as I pulled into the parking lot ay Green Lake it started to rain as if on queue.

Our workout was a 10-mile tempo run witht he first 7 miles at 5:25 pace and the last three in 5:15s. Not having run hard for three straight weeks I didn't know what to expect. The wind was gusty in places and the rain was pouring. Temps were in the high 30s. A very chilly run. At mile 3 my shoelace came undone. So I reluctantly stopped to tie it and spend the next four miles catching up to Heidt. That meant running 5:12-5:15s from mile 3-10. While I was tight due to the cold and working harder to hit those times than I would have had to normally, I felt strong and felt stronger as I went.

I hit or beat all my splits and was very happy with the workout not to mention tired. The worst part was the two-mile cool down in the bitter cold. I had shed my jacket at Mile 7 and didn't get it back until I reached my car.

It was great running with the Mikes. They are younger and more talented but it serves as a good measuring stick for me.

Happy New Year.

Running Again

2007-12-19T14:41:00.000-08:00

After taking a full seven days off from any and all running, I'm easing back into things this week. I feel completely refreshed and re-energized both physically and mentally. The key will be to not go crazy and truly ease back into things. I'm treating this week as basically another rest week. I ran 4 miles on Monday, rested yesterday and ran 6 miles today. I'll keep alternating days of running and resting and increasing mileage each day by two miles. That will put me at 28 miles for this week and 44 for the next.

Once the New Year hits I'll be running 6-7 days a week again buliding mileage back up into the 70s and 80s.

First race of the year will be the Club Northwest Resolution Run 5k on New Year's Day. I haven't run a 5k in more than 15 years so it will be interesting to see how that "sprint" goes.

So far this break has really provided me the renergizing that I needed after a very long and challenging season of running in 2007.

Ragnar's Del Sol Relay

2007-12-12T14:37:00.000-08:00

I know it's my rest week but I can't help but think about the 2008 season.

I've committed to run the Ragnar's Del Sol relay in late February as part of the Fast Running Blog (FRB) team (www.fastrunningblog.com). They finished second in last year's race but they've put together a team this year that should make a serious run at victory and a course record.

I loved the 2007 Hood to Coast relay so much that when the FRB approached me about running on their team for the Del Sol, I couldn't resist.

Ragnar's has four relays they run throughout the country including one they just started this year here in Washington. http://www.ragnarrelay.com/delsol/index.php. They operate much like the Hood to Coast relays do and serve as a great relay opportunity for the myriad teams who get turned away by Hood to Coast each year.

If nothing else, these relays serve as very good back to back to back speed workouts and great prep for the upcoming spring track season. It's also a great opportunity to spend 24 hours with a bunch of freakish runners like myself.

Time to Rest

2007-12-11T13:55:00.001-08:00

There is a time to run and a time to rest.

I've been running non-stop for more than 2.5 years. During that time I've run eight marathons, two half marathons and numerous shorter races ranging in distance from 8k to 15 miles. Just in the last 65 days, I've run two marathons plus two cross country races. I am spent physically. More imporantaly, I'm spent mentally.

I have not enjoyed running for the last few weeks. In fact, there were several days since the Trials that I ran simply out of discipline and not out of desire. That's not a great thing.

The good news is that I'm going out on a high note after a solid CC race in Ohio over the weekend. That's much better than going into a rest cycle on a down note or injured.

My last day of running was Sunday when I ran 15 miles in Ohio before flying back home. I won't run at all this week and next week I won't run hard and I won't run more than 10 miles in any one outing. I'm thinking maybe 30 miles next week, all of them nice and easy.

Assuming that is the rest and refreshment I need, I will start building up the miles again and slowly work in some faster workouts. So far, I haven't missed the daily run but it's only been a day and a half. My hope is that by next week, I'll be itching to get back out there again.

To really train hard and improve, you have to hunger. Right now, I feel like I just ate Thanksgiving dinner. And that is OK.

Race Report: 2007 USATF Club Cross Country National Championships

2007-12-10T12:41:00.000-08:00

I've been a blogging slacker but who knew Ohio wouldn't have internet access. I just got back to Seattle late last night from West Chester, Ohio where I ran for Club Northwest in the USATF Club Cross Country National Championships. Here's my race report:

**************************
So this was my second cross country race in 17 years. Now I remember why I enjoyed cross country so much more than track in high school. Too bad I only had one year of CC in high school.

We previewed the course Friday and it was covered with 2-3 inches of snow which had been packed down by hundreds of other runners who had previewed the course earlier in the morning. But the temperature warmed and it rained all night long.

When we arrived this afternoon at around 12:30 the course was a disaster. It was windy, 35 degrees and threatening to rain. The Men's Open race was the last of four races and the frozen tundra of Friday was the sloppiest, muddiest thing I had ever seen. Pigs would have thought it too messy. Fortunately I bought a pair of spikes and put some 1/ 2 inchers in for good measure.

The course was two full laps around Voice of America Park in West Chester, Ohio plus a third lap that was slightly shorter. The start and the finish were slightly uphill, although uphill in Ohio is basically flat.

We warmed up as a team which is something I really enjoyed and missed from my high school CC days. An easy three miles was plenty. I joked with the rest of the guys that we marathoners aren't used to such a lengthy warmup. I felt pretty good during the warmups and the strides felt fine as well. But, I was a bit nervous. It had been so long since I ran CC in high school that I had forgotten a lot of the strategy that made it so much fun. Plus, every other guy on my team had run collegiate cross country, most of them for the University of Washington. So I was an old rookie.

One big difference from high school was that we had nearly 500 runners who started the race. The start must have looked like a scene out of Braveheart when the gun went off. Another first was that I didn't even wear my watch so I have no idea what any of my splits were. Time is irrelevant in cross country so it seemed pointless to wear a watch. With all the mud, I wouldn't have been able to see it anyway. Plus, I wanted to run off of feel.

By race time, it had warmed up, the wind had died to just a light breeze and the sun was trying to peek through. I ditched my skull cap but stuck with my gloves and the long sleeve tech shirt underneath the singlet. Good choice.

My goal was to finish in the top 100. That was a fairly random number and I picked it before I found out there were so many runners. My strategy from the start was to stay in the back of the front third and just pick people off who thought it was a good idea to sprint the first 800 meters. My marathon strength and endurance was going to be a huge asset on this course so I just needed to run smart and be patient. Any race that becomes a track meet will always be to my disadvantage.

When the gun went off, it was a crazy scene. The first 800 meters was nearly 100 yards wide but closed quickly after that to a pretty consistent 10'-12' wide. For the first mile or so it was so congested in the middle of the pack that I had to really slow down to avoid barreling into people. That was kind of distressing as it certainly impacted my time without saving me much energy.
By mile 2, it was still crowded but you could pass people if you were sneaky and determined. It was at mile 2 that we encountered our first hay bale. Yes. We had four hay bales we had to jump over each lap. Since they don't have hills in Ohio, they decided to make it a Midwestern steeplechase to add a little excitement. I only saw one person bite the dust on the hay bales. I guess running in muck for six miles can make hay bales look like brick walls.

At the end of two miles, I was starting to feel stronger. I had passed all of my teammates except one (he being Mike Sayenko who finished 29th in the Olympic Trials) and felt like I was at a pace I could easily maintain. I kind of wish I had worn a watch only so I could look back and see how consistent I was thorughout the race. I felt like I was getting stronger throughout which of course is the opposite of how I feel in a marathon.

I continue to be amazed at how many really good runners don't run the tangents. This course has many twists and turns and provided ample opportunity to make the race muh longer than 10k. The mud made tangential running a bit more challenging but the toll this course took on the body made it all the more important to make it as short as possible even if it meant running through a mud puddle. Fortunately, by running the tangents I was able to find what precious little grass there was left to run on.

At mile 4.5 you start the final, shorter lap to the finish. I was feeling very strong until I rolled an ankle in a mud hole. It sent a pain all the way up my leg but I kept going as the pain was brief and I didn't appear to have actually hurt anything.

By now the field was thin enough that you could pass anyone you had the energy to pass. With a mile or so to go, I felt fantastic and really focused on reeling as many people in as I could. I saw two guys in blue jerseys ahead of me and that they were two guys from a rival running club in Oregon so I passed them only to realize they were two guys from Boston Athletic Association. Oh well. A double pass is a double pass.

Then I saw one other guy I knew from the Seattle Running Company. He beat me at the Super Jock and Jill and there was no way I was going to let it happen again. However, I have a rule. I don't pass anyone unless I can keep them behind me so I waited for about a quarter mile and then blew by him. He put up no fight.

The finishing chute was nearly 400 meters long. This was new territory for me. Kicking at the end of a race was a distant memory from my high school track days. So I had no idea what I would have left. So I let it all loose with 400 meters to go and wound up passing ten guys in that final 400m. The last guy I passed tried to take me with about 10 meters to go but I found an extra gear and my chest crossed the line before his. One problem though. My time chip was on my back foot and his was on his front foot so while my chest crossed first, his chip beat me by .1 of a second. Now I know why they had us wear a chip on each foot. Oh well.

Using that extra gear I had came at a price. After crossing the finish I laid down and tried to catch my breath. I had all the energy in the world left but that last kick really put me in oxygen deprivation mode.

I finished in 34:13 which was good enough for 97th overall and 76th among scoring runners. I was the second scorer on my team beating out three guys on my team who are sub 30-minute 10kers. The winning time was 31:46 and then the rest were all in the 32s and higher. The slower, more tactical race definitely helped me out. I think if there had been hills it would have helped me even more but I gained a renewed love for cross country and a bunch of fresh experience.

I was very happy with my race. Cross Country is a very unique animal and I ran as smart as I did hard. In hindsight, I could have gone out faster and quite easily dropped my time into the high 33s, but experience will help me recognize that sooner and have greater confidence in my kick. I would also like to further test my ability to start a bit faster to get farther up in the pack, but do so without jeopardizing the rest of the race.

I'm taking two weeks off. I need a break. Two marathoner and two cross country meets in 65 days is a lot. The good news is that I'm finishing a training cycle that has lasted 2.5 years and I'm doing it on a high note.

I'm looking forward to Cross Country Nats next year as they will be just a few hours from my house in chilly Spokane, Wa.

The Unfortunate Reality of Olympic Trials Changes

2007-12-04T10:49:00.001-08:00

So I had the chance to think about the changes a bit more and after more thought, here's my take on each of the USATF changes:

Eliminating the 5k Standard -- It was a dumb move to add them in and a great move to take them out. The 5k distance has absolutely no relevance to the marathon. I would have liked to see them kill the 10k standard as well because I'm a believer that you should have to run the event you are qualifying for. But at least the 10k has a slightly greater predictive value to the marathon than the 5k.

Adding the Half Marathon Standard -- While this does go against my argument that you should have to run the event you qualify for, I'm supportive of this largely because a) it is much more predictive than the 10k and b) it is consolation to the marathoner who may not be able to make the new marathon time standard. In other words, it may be easier to make the 1:05 standard than the 2:19 standard.

Eliminating Aided Courses -- Despite the fact I qualified for the Trials on what the USATF has deemed an aided course (St. George), I agree with the decision. HOWEVER, I think it's wholly unfair to make some courses that don't meet the USA/World Record standard (limits net elevation loss and requires start and finish be within ~7 miles of one another) exempt from this new rule. The course either meets the record criteria or it doesn't. But instead, the USATF is playing god by picking and choosing which courses will be exempted from the list of non-qualifying courses. Already on the exemption list are Boston and New York. I'm certain the Twin Cities Marathon, site of the 2006, 2007 and 2008 US Marathon Championships will get an exemption as well? The explanation from the USATF is that NY and Boston don't generally yield fast times. That is actually a true statement, but let's be real. This is about money. I am no fan of a few people sipping mai tais at a meeting in Hawaii making arbitrary decisions as to which marathons are in and which are out.

Although they haven't named the courses on the complete exemption list you can almost guarantee that St. George, Top of Utah, Ogden, Deseret News, California International, Los Angeles, Grandma's and San Diego Rock and Roll will no not be on it. I'm no lawyer, but it will be interesting to see if anyone challenges this under antitrust laws.

Lowering Time Standard to 2:19:00 -- Any time standard is arbitrary by it's very nature. 2:19 is no less arbitrary than 2:22 except for the hundreds of marathoners who are close to 2:22 but nowhere near 2:19. On one hand, lowering the time standard could be an indication that US elite marathoners are simply running faster and therefore qualifying times are lowered to reflect that. But before we all get too excited about how great of a marathon nation we are, let's not forget that only seven years ago we qualified only one man (and only one woman) for the Olympic Games marathon. A good couple of years and a fantastic Trials do not a marathon nation make. Under the new marathon qualifying time, Brian Sell, now an Olympian, would not have qualifed in 2004 and would have likely given up running altogether. Jason Lehmkuhle, the 5th place finisher this year and second alternate for the Olympic team, would not have qualified for this year's Trials under the new standard. His time in Twin Cities in 2006 was 2:19:03. He would have had to either appeal or run another race to qualify. Trent Briney is the poster child for "sub-elites." He qualified for the 2004 Trials in a pedestrian time of 2:21:10 and finished in 4th place that year in a truly remarkable time of 2:12:35. He was one second per mile away from being an Olympian.

My point is that I hope we aren't raising the bar too quickly. As a country, we've had a couple good years and one great Trials. Perhaps we should get a few more under our belt before we start dismissing the Brian Sells (3rd place), Jason Lehmkuhles (5th place) and Trent Brineys of the world.

2012 Olympic Trials Marathon Qualifying Standard Tightened Significantly

2007-12-03T08:50:00.000-08:00

Big news out of the annual USATF LDR meetings in Hawaii last week.

http://www.letsrun.com/2007/trials1130.php

The committee has made four significant changes:

Gotten rid of the "A" and "B" standards and moved to one standard. All who make the one standard get expenses paid for just as "A" standard athletes did in years previous.
That new standard for men is 2:19:00
"Aided" courses will no longer be considered qualifying races for the Trials. Basically, all eligible courses will have to be American-record eligible which means the start and finish must be within 7.9 miles of each other and courses that are signficantly net downhill courses will be excluded. There are two stated exceptions to this rule: the New York and Boston marathons since they rarely yield fast times. Ineligible are courses such as St. George, Top of Utah and the International/Sacramento Marathon. A complete list of exceptions will be published by the USATF soon.
They dropped the 5k qualifier and added a half marathon qualifier of 1:05.

As a guy who qualified for the 2008 Trials on the St. George course, I will repeat what I have said elsewhere: I am completely fine with this. As long as the rules are fair and reasonable and well documented in advance, then I am completely fine with it.

More than anything, this change is an indication that American distance running has reached new heights. Ryan Hall and many, many others proved in November that this country is back on the world marathon scene. The Trials is a reward and an opportunity for the country's best to have a shot at running in the Olympics and the field of runners who qualify should always reflect that. With improvement in the overall US distance running field comes with it a need to tighten the standard it is measured by.

I have no idea if I am capable of a 2:19 under the new guidelines. I am not right now and don't know if I have the time or, frankly, the desire to put in the work necessary to *maybe* yield a 2:19. What may be more likely is a 1:05 half marathon esepcially since I am trying to focus the next six months on getting faster at shorter distances.

My friend and fellow Trials qualifier Paul Petersen has posted his thoughts on this as well: http://marathongis.com/blog/?p=96.

Ryan Hall Journal

2007-11-28T09:45:00.001-08:00

I have been a major slacker when it comes to posting on this blog. The holidays and work and family have had me all tied up, but in a good way.

I was on the NYRR site this morning looking to buy some Trials gear (all sold out) and found a great journal posting from Ryan Hall. In this day in age of cocky, overpaid, self-centered athletes, it is a breath of fresh air to read such an entry from such a talented individual. Keep in mind that Ryan is the king of our sport right now. Name one other king of sport who has the humility, focus and gratitude that this young man has.

http://www.nyrr.org/races/pro/usa_distance/ryanhall.asp

Josh Rohatinsky Podcast

2007-11-16T08:39:00.000-08:00

Josh Rohatinsky recently did a podcast on a popular running site, thefinalsprint.com. I think Josh's story is interesting for a couple of reasons. First, we both graduated from BYU and second he was the top debut marathoner in this year's Olympic Trials and one of the few guys to even finish the race who qualified on a 10,000 meters time. He was the 2006 NCAA Cross Country champion. He is has PRs of 13:25 in the 5,000 meters and 27:55 in the 10,000 meters.

In this podcast, he talks about his young professional running career, his training with two of the most heralded coaches in running -- Alberto Salazar and Ed Eyestone -- and how his faith and family help him run.

http://www.thefinalsprint.com/2007/11/podcast-104-josh-rohatinsky-on-his-marathon-debut-faith-salazar-mitt-romney-more/

There is also a good write-up on what inspired him to run when he was young.

http://www.byucougars.com/Filing.jsp?ID=6882

Golden Gate Bridge

2007-11-13T17:59:00.000-08:00

I've been dleiinquent in my postings. Something about crazy travel and lots of work to do. Speaking of travel, I spent the last two days in San Francisco and had the opportunity to run along the shores of the Bay this morning. I ran along Embarcadero all the way to the Golden Gate Bridge. It was about 6 miles out and 6 miles back. It was a gorgeous morning except for the bright yellow booms along the entirety of the shoreline mopping up after the unfortunate oil spill that happened recently. Really sad to see all the beaches closed. But SF is a beautiful place to run. I expected more hilliness but I managed to find the flattest part of the city. The best thing was that I escaped the dreaded hotel treadmill. Oh how I hate treadmills.

Still no word on the Ryan Shay autopsy findings. It has crossed my mind a couple of times whether or not I shoudl get tested. I'm trying not to get caught up in the media hype about testing athletes but at the same time, it scares me a bit. My dad, a physician, has told me what tests I would need to get. I haven't decided what to do.

I'll be better about my posts the rest of the week.

5th and 50th

2007-11-07T20:26:00.001-08:00

As I was walking in NYC this evening looking for a place to eat, I found myself a block away from Rockefeller Center where the Trials began on Saturday. I took the opportunity to retrace the morning from the time I got off the bus to the time the gun went off.

I eventually got to the starting line at 50th and 5th Ave. where the white tape still remains. It was cool. But I again thought of Ryan Shay and how this was the last starting line he ever crossed. I stopped at the spot where I saw my father-in-law who took a redeye flight to arrive from Spokane on Saturday and flew back that night...just to see me. So many great memories.

I was also looking more closely at the splits data from the race. I actually held on longer than I had originally thought. Here are my splits for each 5k, my overall pace and my overall place at each 5k.

5k Segments Cumulative Place
5k – 17:04 (5:29/m) (17:04) (5:29/m) 75th
10k – 16:23 (5:16/m) (33:27) (5:23/m) 101st
15k – 16:50 (5:25/m) (50:17) (5:23/m) 102nd
20k – 17:07 (5:30/m) (1:07:24) (5:25/m) 103rd
Half – 3:44 (5:28/m) (1:11:08) (5:25/m) 103rd
25k – 17:01 (5:28/m) (1:24:25) (5:26/m) 101st
30k – 17:24 (5:36/m) (1:41:49) (5:28/m) 90th
35k – 18:00 (5:47/m) (1:59:49) (5:30/m) 85th
40k – 20:42 (6:40/m) (2:20:31) (5:39/m) 88th
26.2 – 10:10 (7:28/m) (2:30:41) (5:45/m) 90th

It was really not until the final 7k where i reallt fell apart. Through 35k I was still on pace to finish in very respectable 2:24. That still would have only been good enough for 85th. The more telling piece of data is that my meltdown over the last 7k cost me only 5 spots. Plenty were melting behind me.

Teammate Mike Sayenko ran an unbelievably steady race. Here are his splits:

Mike Sayenko
5k Segments Cumulative Place
5k – 17:02 (5:29/m) (17:02) (5:29/m) 56th
10k – 16:00 (5:09/m) (33:02) (5:19/m) 52nd
15k – 16:12 (5:13/m) (49:14) (5:17/m) 53rd
20k – 16:25 (5:17/m) (1:05:39) (5:17/m) 53rd
Half – 3:33 (5:11/m) (1:09:12) (5:17/m) 53rd
25k – 16:19 (5:15/m) (1:21:58) (5:17/m) 48th
30k – 16:24 (5:17/m) (1:38:22) (5:17/m) 36th
35k – 16:27 (5:18/m) (1:54:49) (5:17/m) 31st
40k – 16:33 (5:20/m) (2:11:22) (5:17/m) 27th
26.2 – 7:13 (5:18/m) (2:18:35) (5:17/m) 29th

Amazing steadiness.

Central Park -- Lap 6

2007-11-06T18:37:00.000-08:00

Crazy thing happened on Sunday. I woke up and was able to walk. In fact, I was able to go up and down stairs with ease. "Wait," I thought. I just ran the hardest marathon I've ever run, where I absolutely blew up in the final five miles and here I was ready to run the New York City marathon the next day. Normally, it's at least four days before I'm able to run again and that is very gingerly at something like an 8:30 pace. I resisted the urge to run Sunday and spent the day with the family.

But yesterday there was no holding me back. It was still dark when I woke up so I ran on the really nice, but still really lame treadmill in the hotel. I hate treadmills...even ones with 13-inch TV screens that have Sportscenter showing on them. I started slow but within the first half mile was running at 7:00 pace and by mile one, I was running in the 6:30s. What? Are you kidding me? What gives? What I would have given to have four or five 6:30s in the final lap on Saturday. I even threw in a few quarters and a half mile at marathon pace with ease. Slight soreness in my left hamstring, but other than that I felt really good. Makes no sense to me.

So today I woke up early again and repeated the same run. Another 8 miles with a few quarters thrown in at marathon pace. But the treadmill is just awful. I have no idea how people run consistently on those things.

This afternoon, I said goodbye to my family as they headed back to Seattle leaving me in NYC to finish up my week-long business trip. I miss them. After about 30 seconds of being alone in the hotel room, I laced up the shoes and ran toward Central Park. I now know how these young, unmarried/childless runners have the time to run 120-140 miles per week. If I came home to nothing every week I'd run morning and night.

So I headed toward Central Park from my hotel on 42nd and Madison. The only bad part was running in rush hour traffic. I actually found that dodging people was way harder than dodging cars. I also found the bus lanes to be express lanes for runners.

Once I got to the park, I ran the Trials 5-mile loop backwards (counterclockwise). I seriously don't remember any of the landmarks from the run on Saturday except the Museum of Art. During the race on Saturday I never saw the ballfields or reservoir. Not sure how I missed the two biggest landmarks in the race. Oh well. I guess I'm supposed to be concentrating on the race.

The run tonight did have a somber moment. I passed the boathouse where Ryan Shay collapsed and died. My heart skipped a beat. I am happy for him because he left this life doing what he loved most. But my heart continues to ache for his new bride and his parents and seven siblings. The boathouse was another landmark I never saw during the race and it was sad to pass by it once again.

It was nice to run around the course again. I guess five laps on Saturday weren't enough. Central Park will always have a special place in my heart.

I did the loop in 6:30s with little effort. It was weird passing through the finishing area with no one there. Eerie silence.

Race Report: 2007 US Olympic Marathon Trials

2007-11-05T06:05:00.000-08:00

I'm not even sure where to begin. Maybe Mile 5.5 is the most appropriate place to begin. What a tragedy. I did not know Ryan Shay but we shared a common bond, the one everyone on this blog shares. We are runners. The added bond was that we were both OTQers. Ryan had just married his wife three months ago. I learned at the Brooks party today that he and his wife were to leave this morning (Sunday) for their honeymoon. Ugh. I cannot imagine what his wife is feeling right now. There was a fantastic tribute to him during the awards luncheon and again on NBC. There was a visible somberness at the awards banquet but the program did carry on as I'm sure Ryan would have wanted. I learned a couple of lessons today from this experience: (1) you just never know when; (2) what an honor it would be to die doing something you loved. God bless Ryan's wife and family in this extremely difficult time.

So here's the race report....

This was my first race that I went into without any solid goals. I didn't want to get lapped (mission accomplished) and I didn't want to finish last (mission accomplished). Beyond that, I didn't really have a time goal or a place goal. I kinda sorta wanted to be in the 2:25-2:30 range on time. I knew going in that getting a "requalifying" time would highly unlikely given the course, the wind and the short recovery from St. George. So I had the attitude that anything 2:25-2:30 would be satisfying. Place I didn't care about because it has so little to do with my performance and far more to do with the performance of others.

So the day started in earnest around 4:30am when I rolled out of bed after getting a suprisingly good night's rest. I got dressed, packed a few things into my clothes drop bag, kissed my slumbering wife goodbye and headed downstairs to grab a bagel and a bit of water. I went up to the lobby around 5:00am and waited to load the buses. At 5:20am we rolled out to the buses and what was only 20 minutes seemed like an hour before the buses headed toward Rockefeller Center. We had police escort but it seemed for for show than anything as we still had to wait at all the stoplights. After about a 15-minute ride we arrived at Rockefeller Plaza. It was one of those times where I wished I had brought a video camera. The winds were gusting pretty hard, it was cold, but the trees were lit up with Christmas lights and it just seemed to amazing.

We quickly entered Rockefeller Center and headed downstairs to a staging area with food, drinks and therapists. I saw my coach there and a couple of the Northwest runners I know as well as Paul and Logan. We were there for about an hour before it was time to head upstairs, back into the elements and begin our warmup. It was a bit too early for my liking -- 30 minutes before the gun -- but I just went along for the fun ride.

When we emerged on 5th Ave it was simply awesome. The wind was still howling but it didn't seem as cold as when we got there. But most impressive were the crowds. 7:00am on a Saturday morning in NYC and the streets were packed with people.

Brian Sell has quite the contingent there. Probably 75 or so Sell fans had yelow sweatshirts with his effigy on the front. I don't recall seeing any sweatshirts with mine on it. After walking around a bit trying to soak up the experience, I ran into my father in law who took a red-eye in from Spokane and landed at JFK at 6am and made it to the starting line at 7am. He flew home the same day at 5:30pm. What a trooper. Anyway, I talked to him a bit and then started my warmup in earnest.

Warming up for a marathon for me is a pretty uneventful affair. Four to six strides and a few hops, skips and jumps and I'm ready to go. No sense in using prescious energy when it doesn't count. We all lined up right at 7:30 for the 7:35 gun. It was the smallest marathon I'd ever run: 130 starters. It was also the most cramped start given the number of elites in the group crowding for position.

Gun went off at 7:05:35.

Since it was on TV, I knew it would start on time. After about four hundred meters down 50th Ave, we turned onto 6th Ave, then a hard right onto 44th Ave. The turns were a bit challenging because we were a pack of 130 runners all jockeying for position. Then we made the final turn outside of Central Park down 7th Ave and befor long, we were running down Times Square. I've been down that road many times before but never like this. It was awesome. It was still dark enough that the lights were brilliant. About 1.25 miles into the race is when we entered Central Park, never to leave it again. The crowds again were sizeable and full of energy. At about 1.75 miles in, you cross the "finish line" the first of five times. The crowds were especially thick and loud from the point we entered the park through the finish line. It was amazing. The first two miles were very slow: 5:35 and 5:33.

Through three miles we were still one pack except for some guy who was looking for a bit of camera time. He wound up finishing after me. Mile 3 came in at 5:19 putting the pack almost back on "B" pace. At about the 5k mark, the pace really started to pick up and smaller packs were forming with the lead guys making their first run, Mile 4 was 5:09 which was pretty fast considering it was on the uphill (west) side of the course. I settled in nicely behind 6-10 guys and let them break the wind to help ease some of the wind resistence.

Mile 5 marked the turn south onto the east side of the course and the only straight and flat stretch on the course. It was also the first time I took a bottle from the special fludis station. I completed Mile 5 in 5:25 putting me and the pack I was in about 2 seconds under "B" pace and sending us into a fairly continuous downhill stretch of the course. I was feeling pretty strong at this point and was hoping that our pack could stay together for the bulk of the race. At about the 5.75 mark, we turned right onto the 72nd Ave transverse, the only time we would run this stretch. This short loop we did once and then the larger 5-mile loop we did four times. It also has a weird jaunt off the road and then back onto it to account for 80 yards they needed to add to the course to certify it. I'm glad we only did it once.

Mile 6 came in at 5:13 which was about right considering the more downhill nature of that stretch. The pack was still well intact.

Miles 7, 8 and 9 are a bit of a blur. My splits were 5:27, 5:25, 5:25. This may have been where Paul passed me for good, but again it's a blur so it could have been at a different spot. The pack really started to break up at this point. Some dropping back and some picking up the pace a bit. With the wind a factor even in the densely treed park, my coach had encouraged me before the race to really stay with a pack even if it meant going a little faster than I wanted to. This would prove to be harder than I thought.

Mile 10 was mostly downhill which made my 5:20 split feel a bit slower than I had hoped but at this point I was running alone and all I really wanted to do in this race was run strong.

Mile 11 marked the second time we would cross the finish line. Really the whole mile was lined with huge crowds will large vocal chords. It was awesome to see so many people out so early cheering us on. I'm sure 2004's Trials in Birmingham had nothing like this. The Mile 11 split came in at 5:29. It's a relatively flat mile until the last quarter mile which "features" the infamous uphill finish that greets the New York Marathon. I felt really good for the first two laps which was through Mile 11. The only problem I had was that I wasn't taking in enough fluids. I felt bloated all week and probably had too much to eat Friday night. In fact, I didn't even have my customary bagel on race morning to leave room in my tummy for fluids.

Miles 12-19 were very consistent..all in the 5:33-5:35 range with one exception...Mile 15 where a small pack started to form and I was trying to keep up and dropped a 5:23 for that mile. But I couldn't hold it. While this stretch felt OK, I knew the end was nigh. I had consumed maybe 14 ounces of fluids to this point and was beginning to feel the inevitable side effects of dehydration.

The nail in the coffin was at Mile 19, the next to last time I would pass by the special fluids station on the east side of the park. I grabbed my bottle and took a small sip and couldn't get my stomach to take in any more fluids with having it just slosh around. Everything I had done right at St. George I did wrong at the Trials. The problem with a marathon is you simply cannot fake hydration like you can in a 10k or even a half marathon. You simply can't cheat it and 14 ounces through 19 miles is cheating it. So even though I was still hitting respectable splits, I knew I was in trouble and I also knew I still had almost a lap and a half to go. This was a situation in which I didn't like the lap contruct of the course.

Mile 20 was the biggest downhill stretch of the east side yet I was only able to manage a 5:41 split. Yes...the lugnuts were loosing. The Mile 21 marker came a couple hundred meters before the finish line. I looked at my watch and saw 5:50. It felt like 7:50. But the cheers of the crowd were helpful, at least briefly.

As I began my last lap I looked up at the Jumbotron and saw that Ryan Hall was crushing everyone. I knew the last lap was going to be lonely. But, I crossed the finish line in a high 1:56 so I was still hopeful that with even a mediocre final five miles I could beat my Eugene Marathon time of 2:29. All I needed to do was average 6:30s.

I did get a good laugh during Mile 22. As I headed north through the west side of the park, the throngs of people were running -- seemingly faster than I was -- toward me...ummm...I mean toward the finish line. My first thought was that this must be what it's like when a golfer is 10 or 12 over par and everyone is bailing to watch Tiger Woods finish on the 18th green. I actually wanted to join them, but instead, pressed on. Mile 22 -- 6:13. Felt like 8:13.

This is where wearing a watch, or at least looking at your watch, may be counter productive. If you have the strength and energy to make up for a bad split, then it's a great idea to look at your watch. But if no matter what the split says, there's nothing you can do to improve it, then maybe it's more demoralizing than helpful. Something to think about for future races.

(As a side note, this race must have set a record for timing mats. We crossed mats 52 times during the 5 lap race. 52 times! I can still here the chirps in my head. All the more reason to not pay attention to my watch. All the data I over-analyze was going to be available to me after the race anyway.)

Mile 23 was 6:17. I actually felt good about this because it was about the same time as the previous mile which gave me some hope that I could hold on and break 2:29.

Miles 24 and 25 were probably the hardest miles I've ever run. At one point I was cresting a small hill on the east side and felt like I was going to collapse. There were a couple of points that I didn't really know where I was. Never in the race did I seriously consider dropping out. I had come too far to quit. But after passing several guys who were walking, it took everything I had to keep running and not join them.

I do remember laughing to myself about the crowd. People were yelling, "Go Sundwall...you look great." "Sundwall, dig deeper." "#44 you're in control." Clearly these weren't the "tell it how it is" New Yorkers I was familiar with. I looked like death on two jello sticks. Mile 24 came in at 6:55. Mile 25, aided by a bit of downhill came in a tad better at 6:48.

The final mile felt like the death march that it was. The crowds were really thick for the final 1.2. In some ways that helped but in other ways, I was embarrassed by how poorly I was finishing the race. It's kind of like being 80 years old and not being able to control your bladder. You just wish someone would save you further embarassment and push you and your wheelchair into traffic.

Mile 26 was 7:29.

With .2 miles to go, I was at exactly 2:29. I knew my shot at beating my Eugene time were hopeless. Doing .2 miles in 17 seconds was not going to happen. So as I headed up the hill to truly thunderous crowd noise, I spotted my wife in the VIP grandstands and with about 50 feet to go, jogged (literally) over to her, gave her a kiss and then finished the last few feet of the marathon in 2:30:41.

I only vaguely remember the trip from the finish line to the aid tent. I just know I had two guys helping me along and a reporter from Northwest Runner Magazine (the Seattle running magazine) interviewing me. I honestly have no idea what questions he asked me or what my answers were. I guess I'll find out next issue.

About 7 minutes later I looked at my watch which was still running. Forgot to stop it at the line. I was trying to pour fluids down me but couldn't. I got a brief massage and stretch and headed for the bus to get back to the hotel and get cleaned up before the awards luncheon. I was really cold and shivering pretty badly.

I lost 9 pounds during the race or about 6% of my body weight. Not a good weight loss program.

The luncheon was pretty somber. The news about Ryan Shay dominated the entire room. It was pretty hard to get too excited about the three winners and celebrating any personal victories when one of your own died a few hours earlier doing exactly what you were doing.

So the first question someone is probably asking is whether or not I am disappointed. Certainly I wish I had finished stronger and with a better time, but if someone had told me 2 1/2 years ago, when I started running, that I would be the 90th fastest marathoner in America and run on the national stage in the US Olympic Marathon Trials in New York City, I would have died laughing and then asked him or her to give me some of whatever they were smoking. Two and a half years ago I wanted to run a 3:10 marathon and qualify for Boston. How could I possibly be disappointed? I ran 87 seconds slower than my Eugene Marathon effort in April on a much, much more difficult course, with worse weather conditions and no pack to run with. All this just four weeks after running the race of my life in St. George, an admitedly aided course, but probably the toughest course in America to recover from. Disappointed? No way. In fact, I'm probably hungrier now than I've ever been. And it's not a hunger for any kind of revenge. There's no revenge to be had. It's a hunger to further refine and magnify this talent I've been given.

I don't know if this means I'll be back in 2011 for the next Olympic Trials. I will be almost 39 years old then. Hard to look that far ahead. But I do feel like I have plenty to improve upon and I look forward to wherever that that takes me.

It's Showtime

2007-11-03T01:37:00.000-07:00

4:45am Race Day Morning

Friday was a busy day. I sent the family off to the Empire State Building and the WTC site while I went for a run around Central Park to get a feel for the course. It will be very challenging. I ran with Mike Heidt, Mike Sayenko, Nick Schuetze and my coach Tom Cotner.

It was windy yesterday and the forecast calls for remnants of the hurricane to bring rain and sustained winds of 20+mph with gusts of 40+.

We then had a mandatory luncheon where they went over all the details of race morning. Sat with Paul Petersen from the St. George Marathon. It was unbelievable to be in a room with so many runners. It is such a rare opportunity to have all of America's finest in one room and one race.

I then ran over to Columbus Circle to the NYRR store and picked up a ton of awesome gear from Jesse Williams of Brooks. I know Jesse from Seattle and he is the pro athelte rep for Brooks.

After that I was feeling pretty tired so I went back to the hotel to take a nap. Whatever. That didn't work out so I got my special water bottles loaded up and labeled to turn in at 5pm.

I fell asleep right about 8pm and didn't wake up until about 3:30. Just laid in bed until 4:15 and got up for good.

I feel pretty good this morning. A daunting course and less than ideal weather await me outside but it's really no different than running in Snoqualmie Ridge this time of year.

It's Showtime.

Meb, Ryan and Me

2007-11-01T18:00:00.000-07:00

No, this isn't the title of another bad Hollywood comedy. It's the story of my life here in New York today.

I arrived at the Trials hotel (Upper East Side Courtyard Marriott) today around 2pm after a long wait at Newark to catch the shuttle into the city. We got up to our room and got situated.

On my way down to pick up my bib number and goodie bag, none other than Sara Hall (formerly Sara Bei), husband of Ryan Hall and a decorated runner herself, stepped onto the elevator.

An hour later, I was down getting a massage. There are three tables in the room. I was laying on the center one and Meb Keflezighi was on the table to my left and Ryan Hall was on the table to my right. There's a lot of things they are better at than I am. Add flexibility to the list. Then Abdi Abdirahman walked in to yack it up with Meb. Just as I was getting up from my massage, in walked Dathan Ritzenhein. Crazy. I felt like an extra in a blockbuster movie.

After pinching myself, it finally started to sink in that I'm not an extra in a movie but in fact a regular dude who met the high bar required to run in the Olympic Marathon Trials.

A couple of observations. Meb is short. Very short. It says 5' 7" on the USATF web site but there's no way. I'm 5'7" and I felt quite tall next to him. Ryan is also shorter than I imagined.

One other thing of note. Some trainer/doctor type person came in to examine Meb's ankle. The diagnosis was that "everything seems to be holding up OK." I don't know if he had a previous injury or something but it will be interesting to see if this is an issue on Saturday.

Anyway...enjoying myself here in NYC and trying to adsorb everything and recognize this for what it is...a once in a lifetime opportunity for an average Joe to run on this country's biggest long distance stage.

In New York City

2007-11-01T06:57:00.000-07:00

I just landed last night with the family in New York City. I went for a 5.5 mile run around 6pm last night to shake the cobwebs out from the long flight. Unfortunately, my hotel in Newark is surrounded by three freeways and a penitentiary so I was stuck with doing a half-mile loop eleven times. Oh well...running loops will be the story of my life on Saturday.

I'm not sure the whole Trials thing has sunk in yet. I think it will today when I arrive at the HQ hotel, get settled in my room and go to pick up my race packet. I'm excited.

Weather forecast for Saturday calls for sunny skies, 41 degrees at gun time and won't reach 50 degrees until I'm done.

Meb and Khalid Press Conference

2007-10-30T13:55:00.000-07:00

I read an interesting transcript from a press conference held by two of the leading US Olympic team contenders, Meb Keflezighi and American record holder Khalid Khannouchi. While the sport is very competitive, it's also very collegial.

They both talked a lot about how competitive this year's field is and some of the challenges of this particular race and course. A short and interesting read. Here's a link to the transcript:

http://www.usatf.org/news/view.aspx?DUID=USATF_2007_10_30_13_36_07

Note: Tomorrow morning my family and I head for NYC. I don't know how frequent my posts will be over the next several days but I will provide a detailed race report no later than Sunday evening.

PNTF Cross Country Championships

2007-10-29T16:17:00.001-07:00

Yesterday was the 2007 PNTF Cross Country Championships at Woodland Park in Seattle. It's the same site where the regional championships will be held in mid-November.

I wasn't able to attend the event but in talking with a few people and looking at the results, the turnout wasn't as good as I would have hoped.

Club Northwest emerged victorious on both the men's and women's side but Seattle Running Company's Uli Steidl won the overall open men's 10k race in a time of 33:11. Sarna Becker won the women's 6k race in 22:32, a full minute off her winning time from last year.

The men's field was a bit depleted this year due to the fact that three CNW guys, including myself, are racing this Saturday at the Olympic Trials. We've also had quite a few local elites either move out of the area or "retire" from racing since last Fall.

The regionals are November 18th. I would like to run there but just don't know how ready I'll be after the Trials. I would like to run at Nationals in Chester, Ohio the first weekend of December. I love cross country and haven't run it since high school.

First things first, though.

Full results are available at http://www.pntf.org/open/results.html.

A Great Pair of Running Pants

2007-10-27T19:47:00.000-07:00

Today was my first cold run of the season. Temp was 32 degrees at 7:30 when I started my 15-miler and the first part was also foggy. I had just picked up a pair running pants at Super Jock and Jill. I normally don't bother with pants but it was just plain cold this morning so I'm glad I had them.

The pants I ran in were the Brooks Vapor™-Dry 2 Stadium Pant (Product #MP535)
http://www.brooksrunning.com/prod.php?k=26482&p=BSIMP535. I loved them.

They breathed really well, were light, yet kept me plenty warm. If only I had gloves that warm. Still working on that part.

A New Running Shoe Find

2007-10-26T20:17:00.000-07:00

Don't tell my running friends at Brooks, but I went to Super Jock and Jill this morning to redeem my gift certificate that I won at the half marathon on Labor Day and decided to try on a couple of different shoes just to make sure the Brooks Trance 7s are the right shoe. I tored the Kayano from Asics and hated it. The arch was to high and it felt like I was running on shortened 2x4s.

The they fitted me with the new Adrenalines. They now have Mogo in them and they actually felt way better than the Adenaline 6s. Much softer with the same stability.

Then I tried the Adidas Supernova. Wow! They fit like a glove -- or a sock i guess -- and they are soft yet seem to provide the support I need. They also were very light.

I get a free pair of shoes because of my third place finish at St. George so I think I will use that to try a pair of these Adidas.

I'll report back once I get them and run on them for a couple hundred miles.

The Beauty of Running

2007-10-25T12:55:00.000-07:00

I've spent five of the last ten days traveling for work. One of the things I love about running is that you can take it on the road with you. A pair of shorts, shirt, socks and running shoes and you're set. If I was a biker or a triathlete, getting my training in on the road would be much more difficult.

I was in Los Angeles last week for three days and ran along Manhattan Beach each morning and it was a thrill. It was sunny (this was a day or two before the fires broke out) and pleasant. I love running along the ocean.

Late last night I returned from a quick trip to Palo Alto where I got to run around the Stanford campus for ten miles at 5:30am. It was such a breath of fresh air to be running somewhere I had never run before and to be in an area where I was completely safe.

Earlier this year I got to run for four days in Central Park, not knowing then that I would return in November to run the exact same course for the Trials. It's such a blessing to be able to travel and enjoy so many parts of God's creation while staying fit.

My next trip is actually to the Trials, but after that, I have several more coming and my running shoes will be coming with me.

Great Story on the History of the Trials

2007-10-24T10:42:00.000-07:00

I've been traveling and busy with work so I've been delinquent in posting to this blog. I was reading a fantastic story today on Active.com about the Olympic Trials process that builds on and adds a ton of color to the whole process.

http://www.active.com/running/Articles/The_Olympic_Trials_Marathon__Pressure__Glory_and_Heartbreak.htm

I hope you enjoy this.

The Day After Your Marathon

2007-10-20T16:59:00.001-07:00

I know how I feel the day after a marathon, but now I know how I look. Yikes. What a great video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m-hCuYjvw2I&mode=related&search=lance

Olympic Marathon Trials on National TV -- Sort of

2007-10-19T09:17:00.000-07:00

Running hasn't exactly reached the level of TV supremacy that the NFL enjoys, but you have to start somewhere.

The start of the U.S. Olympic Trials Marathon on Saturday, November 3rd, is in Rockefeller Plaza and will be televised live on NBC’s Today show. The entire race will be streamed live on NBCSports.com. Additionally, a half-hour highlight show will air nationally on NBC that afternoon (subject to local listings).

This is a pretty big step for the sport and is perhaps a reflection of how popular the marathon has become in the US. It still has a long way to go, but an exciting race on November 3rd followed by a strong American performance in Beijing could do wonders for getting greater exposure for American long distance running.

The Disastrous Olympic Trials of 2000

2007-10-17T10:23:00.000-07:00

As I continue to train for my upcoming race at the Olympic Marathon Trials in New York City on November 3rd, I've spent a lot of time reading up on the history of the Trials trying to gain a better appreciation not just of my accomplishment, but of the sport itself.

I was immediately drawn to the disaster that was the Men's and Women's 2000 Olympic Marathon Trials.

Some background first. Some countries, like Germany, simply take their three fastest athletes from a specified time period and send them to the Olympics with no Trials. If we did it that way in the US, then the team would already be set and we would be sending Khalid Khannouchi (2:07:04), Ryan Hall (2:08:24) and Abdi Abdirahman (2:08:56) because they have the three fastest times among Americans. There would be no Trials.

But, since the 1960s, the US has essentially had a playoff system -- the Trials -- in which there is one race and the top three from that race, regardless of past performance, represent the US in the Olympic Games.

There is one caveat to this. There is an Olympic qualifying standard also to keep pedestrian marathoners like myself out of the Olympics. :-) For the men, the "A" standard is 2:14. Any country can send up to three marathoners to the Olympics as long as they meet the 2:14 standard. If none of the Trials finishers meet that standard then only the winner gets to go. (There is actually a "B" standard but it's so ridiculously slow it's not relevant to this conversation.)

I should also add here that the Olympic "A" standard does NOT have to occur at the Trials. You could theoretically have the top three finishers cross the finish in 2:30 and as long as they had a qualifying "A" time within the allotted time window, then they would be allowed to run in the Olympics.

Well, in 2000, the top three finishers in the Trials were Rod DeHaven (2:15:30), Peter DeLaCerda (2:16:18) and Mark Coogan (2:17:04). Notice the times. All of them were well off the Olympic "A" standard which meant that for the first time ever, the US would be sending only one marathoner to the Olympics. In the context of marathoning, that was a disaster and revealed how far American distance running had fallen.

To make matters even worse, the exact same thing happened in 2000 on the women's side. Trials winner Christine Clark missed the "A" standard of 2:33 and the US, also for the first time in history, sent only one female marathoner to the Olympics.

To be fair, there were some difficult circumstances in 2000. First, both races were run on challenging, hilly courses in unseasonably hot and humid weather. There isn't much you can do about weather, but one should wonder why such courses were chosen. Second, the IAAF changed the Olympic "A" standard from 2:16 to 2:14 for men and 2:35 to 2:33 for women in the middle of 1999, roughly one year before the Olympics were to begin. Why does this matter? Well first of all, if the tie had remained the same then the US would have sent three men and women to the Olympics because DeHaven would have met the "A" standard which automatically means DeLaCerda and Coogan would have gotten in because they met the "B" standard. Same on the women's side. Second, the timing of the change was very unfair. As I mentioned previously, the qualifying time doesn't have to occur at the Trials. But by announcing this change with only a year to go and the Trials date and course already set in stone, it did not allow for the qualifiers to run a race afterward on a course that was faster. It also didn't allow them to run one prior to the Trials because that would have hampered their performance at the Trials.

2004 was much different. The top four male athletes finished 2:12:35 or better meaning the US returned three marathoners to the Olympics in Sydney where Meb Keflezighi won a silver medal. The women also sent three.

2008 looks even brighter on the men's side. It's perhaps the most talented field in American history. The top eight runners at next month's Trials already have qualifying marathon times well below the Olympic "A" standard of 2:14. So Ryan, Meb, Khalid and Abdi, Brian, Alan, Peter and Mbarek don't need to care about time. That's a good thing because this year's course will be very challenging.

So don't be surprised to see a "slow" winning time. The true Olympic hopefuls have already met the time qualification. Their focus is making the team. It's all about place not time.

Running While Healing

2007-10-15T14:45:00.001-07:00

I'm in a bit of a precarious and unfamiliar position right now. I just finished a punishing marathon nine days ago and I have to train for another in less than three weeks. I have never had fewer than 11-12 weeks between marathons and I prefer 4-6 months.

It's important to let your body recover, but at the same time, I really don't want to bonk at the Trials. I don't expect a PR at the Trials, but I would like to run a respectable race.

So I'm walking a very fine line with admitedly little experience in tha matter. Run enough to maintain a high level of fitness but not so much that your body can't continue to heal from the punishment it took from the recent marathon. Too much running could lead to injury or overwhelming fatigue at the Trials. Too little training leaves me "out of shape" for the Trials which would likely mean a slower than acceptable finishing time.

If I was ust preparing for the Trials and hadn't run nine days ago, yesterday would have been my final long run day...probably 22-23 miles and the weekly mileage total would have been in the low to mid 70s. I got 20 in last week with 10 of those coming on Saturday and a rest day Sunday.

So I'm hoping that this week I can get 60-70 miles in with a speed workout on Saturday or as part of my 18-miler on Sunday. We'll see.

Back on my feet

2007-10-11T14:19:00.001-07:00

After not running for four straight days, I hit the roads early this morning to see how my legs were doing. I did a two mile jog to my PT, used his elliptical for 10 minutes and then ran two miles back to the house. I have a massage later on today and one again tomorrow morning. All in all, the run was OK. My pace was a ridiculous 8:20/mile but my goal was just getting time on my feet not trying to break any land speed records.

The problem with where I live is that it's impossible to go a tenth of a mile without either going uphill or downhill. Tomorrow morning I'm going to try and go six miles but drive down to the flat lands to avoid additional aggravation to the calves and quads.

I'm definitely not 100% yet but I need to get some miles under my belt before beginnning the regular routine on Monday. I'm planning 6 miles on Friday, maybe 8 on Saturday and either rest on Sunday or go another 4-6. That would give me 20-25 miles for the week. I'm hoping for closer to 50-60 next week with a speed workout on Saturday.

I'm drinking lots of water and upping my protein intake to help the body repair itself. I've felt a lot better each day. The consequence of St. George is it's always a day or two longer recovery.

Hopefully I'll be 100% by the middle of next week. I feel like I need to get at least four speed workouts in before the Trials.

High Nuun

2007-10-10T14:03:00.000-07:00

I've mentioned in previous posts that staying properly hydrated during a marathon has been a big challenge for me. It cost me an Olympic Trials qualifier in Eugene last April and it even had a negative impact on me at the Super Jock and Jill half marathon on Labor Day.

Prior to Eugene, I never took water with me on my training runs except for the long runs. Pretty hard for my body to get comfortable taking fluids on the run when it has little practice. So I started carrying water with me on any run 10 miles or longer, which is basically every run.

But what was even more helpful was the discovery of a very cool and decent tasting electrolyte tablet that helps replace the electrolytes (read: salt) that I seem to lose faster than most.

It's called Nuun (pronounced "noon"). They come in a tube with about 10-12 tablets. You drop one tablet into a 16 ounce bottle, let it dissolve for a couple of minutes and you're good to go. The company was even clever enough to make each tablet easily breakable into two so you can put a half tablet into more manageable 8 ounce bottles.

I've only used the berry flavor. It's tastes fine. I noticed after this last marathon that I was way better hydrated and much less salty. I swear by this stuff. You should give it a try. You can find it at any decent running store or online at http://www.nuun.com/.

Chicago Marathon: When Is It Just Too Hot?

2007-10-09T14:18:00.000-07:00

By now even non-runners have heard the horror stories coming out of Chicago where marathoners yesterday were greeted with deadly heat and humidity. (New York Times http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/09/sports/othersports/09marathon.html?ref=us)

So I ask myself the question: At what point is it just to hot, humid and unhealthy to hold a marathon? At what point does the race director, despite all the planning and expense organizers, volunteers and participants have put into training for and executing the race, do you simply call it off or postpone it? We postpone baseball games for rain because balls are hard to throw and players can slip and injure themselves. We don't play football games in lightening.

The forecast several days out was predicting exactly the weather Chicago got yesterday. Anyone who says they were suprised by it is either ignorant or rewriting history.

Believe me. I know delaying or postponing a marathon is a huge decision with incredible ramifications. In the case of Chicago, 40,000+ runners have trained for and tapered for the race to occur on a specific date. They have paid good money to enter and travel to the marathon. And of course, organizers and volunteers have done much of the same.

I have run two "warm-weather" marathons. The first was the Seafair Marathon in Bellevue, WA in July 2006. Even in the Northwest, July is no time for a marathon. Temperatures we in the 70s before the halfway point and even though there was very little in the way of humidity, the skies were clear and the sun was beating down as ther was very little shade. I made the mistake that day of finishing the race. Not only was my time ridiculous (3:00), the recovery was a nightmare. I was beyond dehydrated and there was nothing I could do about it.

The second warm marathon was this past 4th of July on Sauvie Island just outside Portland, Oregon. The race started around 6:30 but temps were already at 70 degrees. To make matters worse, it was unusually humid and skies were crystal clear. It was a beautiful day to watch a marathon and a terrible day to run one. But I had prepared for it and it provided me another shot at qualifying for the Trials. Fortunately for me, it was a two-lap course. After feeling at Mile 15 like I should at Mile 24, I pulled out and hitched a ride back to the finish. It was the smartest thing I ever did. It was just too hot and not only was I not going to qualify, but the recovery, had I continued on, may very well have jeopardized my qualifiying race at St. George.

I think everyone can agree that there is some point where you simply can't run the race. I guess the disagreemnent comes on where that point is. Is it 80 degrees? Is it 100 degrees? Is it 95% humidity? Who makes the decision. My fear is that if there are many more races like Chicago, the courts may be making those decisions rather than the race directors or health officials.

Olympic Trials Here I Come

2007-10-08T12:27:00.000-07:00

There is something about the St. George Marathon that will always be special to me yet I can’t put a finger on it. Maybe it’s because it was my first ever marathon. Maybe it’s because of the stunning beauty that greets you at Mile 14 as you enter Snow Canyon. Maybe it’s the world-class volunteer support and flawless execution of race logistics. It’s all of those things and more.

This year’s race was particularly special as I was attempting to qualify for the US Olympic Trials held in New York City on November 3. The “B” Qualifying time was 2:22:00 (5:25 pace) and the “A” time was 2:20:00 (5:20 pace). I had spent hours in the days leading up to the race pouring over last years’ splits (5:48/mile avg; 2:31 time) figuring out where I was going to pick up the 23 seconds per mile improvement I needed to qualify for the Trials. After studying the maps, my previous year’s splits and general knowledge of the course, my projected time, best case scenario, came out to be 2:20:04. Well under the “B” time of 2:22 giving me a buffer that I was mentally hoping for. That seemed too fast but those were the numbers I used on the wristband I created. While it seems tedious if not anal to micromanage splits over a 26 mile distance, it’s incredibly important when a specific time is desired and on a course as unique as St. George.

Race morning temperature at Central (5,200 elevation) was 36 degrees with a 10 mph wind mostly out of the west. The skies were clear with just a sliver of the moon and billions of stars. I got off the bus at 5:45 giving me one hour to ponder, pee and freeze…and then pee again. This was really the first year I took advantage of the bonfires. The bit of wind was just enough to make standing elsewhere completely unbearable. It’s fun to gather around the bonfires in the pitch black night listening to people talk about the upcoming race. Something I learned too late this year is that the elite runners not only get their own porto-potties, but they get their own fire pits. I noticed this only after throwing my clothing bag into the U-Haul. But it did help keep me warm in the final minutes leading up to the start of the race.

I exchanged pleasantries with the guys I would spend most of the next 2 hours and some minutes and then right on time, the starting horn went off at 6:45 am MDT. That first quarter mile into the early morning chill is always breathtaking. This year I decided to start with a long-sleeve technical shirt, a cap and gloves to help my body warm up. Man it was dark but I’m used to running in the dark winter morning of the Pacific Northwest so it wasn’t anything unusual.

First quarter mile felt pretty slow but came in at 81 seconds. Exactly on pace. There were probably 20 or so of us in the lead pack. Me and David Danley shared the early (meaningless) lead.

Mile 1 came in at 5:17. A bit faster than I wanted but not surprising given the adrenalin that comes with the start of any race. It definitely wasn’t silly fast like a 5:10 or something.

Mile 2 split was 5:33 which made me wonder whether or not the first two mile markers were placed precisely. But the average of the two miles had us right on 5:25 pace.

Mile 3 was 5:25. It marked the first water station as well as the first elite hydration table. I had hoped that someone would be there to hand us our bottles as they saw us come up but no such luck. I lost five or so seconds STOPPED at the table looking for my bottle. The good news is I got a good five or so ounces of electrolyte water into my system which is so critical. At the Eugene Marathon in April, I hadn’t put 5 ounces of fluid into my body until mile 7. But, next time I’ll be sure to attach something silly to my bottle to make it more easily visible. Shame on me. I quickly jumped back up with the main pack and this time stayed behind a few of the guys to draft behind them and benefit from the headwind you create when running at almost 12 mph. I still had the warmer clothes on as temperatures still felt a bit too nippy although a few of the guys had shed the warmer clothes including one guy who got rid of his plastic garbage sack that was making a ridiculous amount of noise.

At Mile 4 the pack was still largely intact. The split was 5:14. It was a bit of a drop in elevation and I knew I needed to take advantage of it with the mile-8 hill at Veyo. I was just about back on 2:20 pace by Mile 4 which felt good. No problems to speak of. The first signs of daylight were in the east but temperatures were still cold.

The Mile 5 split was 5:25 and it marked the next water station. It was time for some Gatorade. I grabbed two cups of it from the faithful volunteers and drank them both gone. As I’ve been able to increase the speed at which I run, I’ve learned that when grabbing a cup at the speed from a volunteer standing still, some of it spills out so it’s important to grab two cups to ensure you get enough fluid. I’ve also learned to make eye contact with the volunteer that I’m going to take the cup from so they know I’m coming. I even point right at them. While I had hoped for a faster split, I had five miles in the rear view mirror and I’m feeling great, I’m well hydrated and tolerating the cold.

Mile 6 has a pretty decent downhill. I knew from my race preparation that this needed to be a fast mile to take advantage of the downhill. The split came in at 4:58…the first of what would be several sub-5-minute miles. It was fast but it needed to be. I could ill-afford to stroll through mile 6 with the daunting uphill miles of 8-12 still to come. So I was very pleased. Cumulative time was 31:52. I was 20 seconds ahead of my wristband and 38 seconds ahead of OTQ “B” pace with one more downhill mile to go before the dreaded 8-12 stretch.

Mile 7 was in 5:05. Another fast mile that had to be. I shed my hat and long-sleeve shirt and threw them to my dad who was standing alongside the road as we entered the town of Veyo. This was also the second elite water station and this time my water bottle was handed to me. I drank 5-6 ounces of electrolyte water and was feeling very good about my hydration so far. Veyo is an important landmark in the race. Despite its tiny size, the town always manages to have people out cheering at 7:15 in the morning. Perhaps there are people crazier than marathoners. It also marks the end of what I consider to be Phase One of the marathon. The course has shed 787’ of elevation at this point and over the next four miles, we will have to gain 249’ feet of that right back, nearly 100’ of that coming in less than one mile. Miles 8-12, in my estimation, are where you have to be very smart about how you run and be patient or you will ruin your chances for success. I believe the race cannot be won from 8-12, but can absolutely be lost.

As we started Mile 8, which is almost entirely up Veyo hill, the pack had thinned. There were really only five or so of us with David Danley still courageously out in front of us all by probably 20 yards. I had planned to give back some time to Mr. Veyo Hill and run about 5:45 up it. As a pack we reminded each other to take it easy up the hill which we did. I crested the hill having finished Mile 8 in 5:54. It was a bit slower than I planned before the race but was exactly where I wanted to be when I assessed the situation entering Veyo.

While Veyo is pretty steep hill, I actually think the next three mile are harder because they give a false sense of security. They aren’t steep but their climb is steady and it’s really easy to run them too fast. Mile 9 came in at 5:45. I was aiming for 5:30 so this was the first mile I completely “missed.” However, I also was feeling very good and knew that I had run Veyo properly and that my time would come to make up for the uphill stretch. I was also able to get a good swig of Gatorade at the aid station.

By Mile 10, there were basically three of us, me, Nick Scheutze and Paul Petersen in the main pack with David Danley still braving it on his own 10-20 yards ahead of us. Mile 10’s split was 5:32, very close to the 5:30 I had down from my pre-race planning.

Miles 11 and 12 combined I had planned to hit in 11:05. I missed hitting my lap button at Mile 11 because I had to once again stop at the elite table to find my water bottle. I quickly recovered and rejoined Paul and Nick. When I hit the lap button on my watch at Mile 12, it read 11:22 for the two miles so I had given back 17 seconds more than I had wanted. Cumulative time at this point had reached 1:05:35. This was 35 seconds slower than Trials “B” pace and 16 seconds slower than my pre-race planning. I was slightly concerned but certainly not panicked. I knew the back half would be a negative split, I just didn’t know by how much.

Mile 13 is pretty flat. I picked up the pace a bit after being off pace through the toughest stretch of the race and wound up with a 5:10 at 13. At the half way point I crossed at 1:11:25 only about 6 seconds off OTQ “B” and now slightly ahead of my wristband.

With the toughest and slowest part of the race behind me, I was feeling as good as you could feel after running half a marathon. I knew my best was yet ahead. I had run the first half almost at OTQ “B” pace and didn’t kill myself doing it. But, another 13 miles is still a long way to go.

Mile 14 marks the end of Phase 2 and the beginning of Phase 3. It features the most beautiful stretch of running I have ever witnessed and at about the time I first saw the sun. At Mile 14 I’m still seeing my breath and I have my gloves on. Mile 14 is a slight downhill and I checked in at 5:11. I was three seconds faster than my wristband and six seconds slower than OTQ and closing fast.

Mile 15 and 16 are stunningly beautiful but brutal downhill stretches. Running the tangents on these two miles is critical unless you want to end the race having run 27 miles. You lose 450’ of elevation over these two miles. I missed the lap button on my watch at 15 because I was focused on the elite water station. Got my bottle and chugged another good dose of electrolytes in water. Threw the bottle down and bolted for two very fast miles. If remember correctly, this is where Paul and I finally reeled in David. The two combined miles came in at 9:48, way faster than the 10:20 I had planned for. My hill training was paying off as was my decision to take it easy from miles 8-12. All of the sudden I was now on pace for a 2:21 finish. But more goodness was to come.

Miles 17 and 18 were blistering as well. I grabbed Gatorade at 17 and plugged along. These two miles drop another 282’ in elevation. Mile 17 comes in at 4:58 and mile 18 at 5:06. I was now one minute ahead of my wristband and nearly on OTQ “A” pace with 8 miles to go. It was at this point where I started to feel the effects of the punishing downhills. The calves were aching which was good because it meant I was pushing off on the downhills rather than braking. But the pain in my quads and calves was beginning to make me feel limited in my ability to take a full stride without compensating for the pain. This was a point where I really relied on Paul to pull me through the next mile.

Mile 19 drops a modest 43’ feet in elevation and I could feel the pain and the lactic acid buildup try and slow me down. Mile 19 came in at a very respectable 5:14. I was thrilled because it was the first mile that felt like I was running 8-minute miles.

Miles 20 and 21 combine for a drop of 392’ in elevation drop. I didn’t take very good advantage of it on mile 20 managing only a 5:26. I knew I had to do better. I picked it up a bunch and turned in a 4:45 for Mile 21. That was a huge mental boost because it showed I still had something left with only 5 miles to go. Paul and I had reeled in David a few miles back and Nick had left us several miles ago and was in complete control of the race. I was now 1:15 ahead of my wristband and 2:30 ahead of OTQ “B.” I was now on pace to go sub 2:20 with 5 miles to go at a cumulative 1:51:14.

Mile 22 was a huge gut check. I was really hurting. Paul had pulled ahead was was still very much in reach. I knew he was probably going to beat me, but I really wanted to let him pull me through this very difficult time so I hung close. Thoughts of my intense training, my kids rooting for me at home and the people I had met virtually on the marathon chat page all helped me through this tough time. The thought of not having to pay for my trip to the Trials also helped. “A” qualifiers get all their expenses paid for by USATF. Mile 22’s split was a very hard earned 5:15.

Mile 23 was just as difficult but this is where you enter the city and from here, the crowds are constant and increasing in volume. It was also the next chance I had to see my dad and brother in law. I finally shed my gloves and gave them to my cheering father. Paul was very much in charge of second place at this point but he had really helped me through a very difficult stretch for which I was grateful to concede second place. The split was again a very hard earned 5:10. I was really, really hurting. The quad and calf pain was excruciating and I still had 3 miles to go. But I was reaching the point where only disaster would keep me from NYC. My main motivation now was two things: get the “A” qualifying time and break 2:19 which would give me the fastest marathon time for any Washington runner this year. While the “B” was getting closer to a sure thing, these last two goals were far from guaranteed. There was just too much race left to think I had these in the bag.

All I remember about Mile 24 is it sucked but I somehow managed a 5:09. I have no idea how. With two miles to go, I was at 2:06:48, 1:29 faster than my wristband and 3:12 below the “B” standard on pace for a sub 2:19 marathon. NYC was all but certain, but I had to fight to hold on to breaking 2:19 and not do anything stupid that would jeopardize 2:20. Nick was assured victory. Paul had locked up second and I had locked up third. I just needed to hang on and hang on is what I did.

Miles 25 and 26 were 5:27 and 5:26 respectively. Acceptable. As I turned on to 300 South to complete the last quarter mile of the race I began to really appreciate my accomplishment. The thousands of onlookers were cheering. I pumped my fist and they cheered louder. I was on my way to NYC. I managed to finish the last .21 miles in 74 seconds…pretty quick despite letting off the gas pedal a bit once I knew a sub 2:19 was assured. Finishing time was 2:18:55. Miraculous. I can’t even describe how I feel even two days later as I write this. It was a personal moment like none other and my proudest athletic achievement ever. 29 months after beginning my running career anew, I was on top of my marathon world, achieving something I hadn’t thought possible just 12 months earlier when I crossed the same finish line in 2:31. A PR by 11 minutes, a course PR by 13 minutes, about 30 seconds per mile.

And then to greet Paul and Nick at the end and see how happy we were for each other and the other four Trials qualifiers who followed was something I will never forget. And then to see my dad, also a marathoner, and my mother, sister and brother-in-law waiting there for me was something I simply can’t describe. They were so proud.
This race was perfect in every way. The weather was sublime. Finishing temperature was around 49 degrees, a far cry from Chicago’s weather the next day…the race I was originally going to use to qualify.

I am so blessed. God has blessed with a talent AND with the mental and physical toughness and determination to make that talent into something. I am so blessed.

I will be back next year. I think there is room for improvement. I’ll be 35 next year when I run St. George, but I’m going to add some weightlifting and some additional tempo running during my long runs to further condition my body and take a run at the amazing time Nick put up this year.

I am very grateful to the organizers of this race and particularly to the volunteers. There is no finer run marathon in America.

Unfortunately, my wife and four beautiful kids couldn’t join me on Saturday. But they will be there in NYC to cheer me on as I toe the line with this country’s finest marathoners…the ones we all read about.

2 Days 15 Hours

2007-10-03T15:29:00.000-07:00

That is the amount of time before I begin a very defining 26.2 miles. My most defining. In a little more than two days, I will toe the line at my third St. George Marathon. For me, running is always about improving my time. This marathon is no different in that regard. What's different with this year's goal is that achieving it gets me more than a PR.

2:22:00.

That is the time I must achieve to qualify for the US Olympic Marathon Trials in New York City's Central Park on November 3rd.

It's a crazy, silly fast time. It's a pace of 5:25 per mile for 26.2 miles. When I started training more than two years ago, I couldn't run one mile at 5:25 let alone 26 of them. My goal then was to qualify for Boston in a time of 3:10:59 or better.

A lot has changed in those 30 months. I've dropped my time to 2:29, I have a coach, I've increased weekly mileage to the point I exceeded 100 miles in preparation for this marathon. I'm in the best condition of my life and perhaps the best condition my aging body is capable of.

All that's left is to run the race. I've run 1,640 miles since May 3rd prepping for this moment. Add the five more I will run Friday morning and that is 11 miles longer than the distance from my house in Snoqualmie, WA to where my parents live in Minneapolis. Crazy to think about.

The interesting thing is that I don't feel that much pressure. If I don't make it, it surely wasn't for a lack of effort. It's OK to not be good enough, fast enough, smart enough, good-looking enough to accomplish certain benchmarks in life. All that matters is that you challenge yourself and work your hardest. That's what I've done for the last year or so and that's what I will do on Saturday. Don't get me wrong. There will be plenty of disappointment if I don't make it, but no regrets. Disappointment is not being happy with the result. Regret is knowing there was something you could have done to change that disappointing result.

An interesting sidenote. One of the reasons I love running is that it's all so relative. Just this past weekend, the world record was set at the Berlin marathon by Haile Gebrselassie from Ethiopia. His time? 2:04:26. Any idea what mile pace that is? Just a hair faster than 4:45 per mile. Remarkable from no matter where you sit. I look at that with awe. I can probably run two consecutive miles at that pace, but 26? Are you kidding? Everything is so relative.

Unless you are Haile Gebrselassie, someone out there is faster.

I don't really know what my plan is for this blog. I will post pretty regularly highlighting training efforts, things I've heard, seen and learned. Hopefully it will help someone. If nothing else, it's therapeutic to me and my kids will think it's cool I have a blog.