Random Question #327

Why the hex am I running another effing marathon in ten days?

Boston Roll Call

My blood blister burst over the weekend. I am still sore but was able to get two runs in this weekend. Pancho is calming down from his separation anxiety. And like most of us, I have to a five day work week coming up. In other words, the dust from the Boston Marathon has finally settled. My summary is in the post below. For more stories...

Nasty Nate summarizes his race. Open letter to the Nasty Man: you are too hard on yourself. I think we all tend to second-guess ourselves after a race. Outside of the winner, all runners tend to analyze and deconstruct their race. We find things we did wrong or wish we did differently more than we celebrate what we did right. Bottom line: you ran a fine race.

I for one am already wondering what would have happened if I had been more aggressive after the first three miles.

So I admire Nathan's race in that he ran aggressively yet intelligently, compared to my "hedging my bets" style of running.

Awalt has a nice recap of how connected we feel to those who follow us from afar and some nice tidbits that explain why Boston is such a special occasion. And I agree, there is something emotional about crossing the checkpoint mat every 5k. You'd here the mat beep and you know your split time was being posted on the web for all your family and friends to see. I felt suddenly connected to my running friends here, Emily, and my family in Texas every time I heard that beep.

No Handle Chad summarizes his race here, talks about what makes the Boston crowd special here, and highlights the women's' trials and, well ME (sort of) here.

Fancy Kirk deconstructs his 2:55 and ends up feeling just as happy with his time as I did mine. Open letter to Fancy Kirk: your take that Boston is essentially for the 40+ year-old marathoner with disposable time and income is a good one.

Tall Colin has some pictures of me, Mr. Nasty, and Mr. Fancy, along with a story of why the Boston crowds are different than any other. A good read for sure.

Running to The Walking City

Well, now I know why the Boston Marathon is such a big deal. It truly is special. There are runners who have tried for five years to qualify and finally did. And there are others who love the city and the race so much they have been there for the last 20 years. But no matter what, every runner is more excited to be at Boston. I feel lucky to have been a part of it all.

And I feel extremely lucky that we had ideal weather for the spectators and runners.

Here are the nuts and bolts of the race: I ran a 2:55, good for a PR.

I ran the (mostly downhill) first half of the marathon in 1:29 and I followed that up with a 1:26 second half. Somewhere between the 35k mark and the finish (42k), I must have thrown in an 18:00 5k.

So basically I sandbagged my way to a PR. I sat in the weeds for 16 miles. Halfway up the first Newton hill, I decided to start pushing it. Maybe not the gutsiest way to run a race, but it has to be the only comfortable way to run that course.

Now, onto the pictures, taken by Emily around mile 24.


Fancy Kirk, on his way to a 2:55 of his own. We had two very different races. Two guys who run a 2:55 in a marathon can have as much in common with their race as two golfers who both shoot an 85 in 18 holes of golf. Bottom line is, Mr. Fancy "schooled me" by 18 seconds, good for 5th fastest among Twin City marathoners.



Emily said I looked really happy when I passed her. This picture offers photographic proof to the contrary.



Duel of the Bald Guys.

What a race. The crowd really is unique in Boston. There is a connection we the runners have with the spectators that you can find nowhere else. From the families handing out sponges and water in the early towns, to the drunk college kids in Boston, and the rabid marathon lovers as we head into downtown, you really felt the crowd. They were just as much a part of the race as we were. They weren't just there to cheer on their friends and family. Instead they were there to cheer on the entire field.

No Handle Chad and and Tall Colin both did an excellent job of capturing what the Boston crowd is like.

And it was awesome to be a part of it. Here's to Boston 2009.

The Zen of Regression

Like oops. The Frozen Half Marathon didn't go nearly as well I had hoped. Last year I ran a 1:20:30 good for 10th place.

This year I came in 20th place and according to what source you use, I ran anywhere between a 1:22:00 and and a 1:23:45. No matter what, much slower than a year ago.

The way I can't figure out my time makes me feel like one of those people born in more agrarian times, who isn't exactly sure what year he was born.

So why the discrepancy? Well,that's all that interesting. But I will say this: I have to rely on three differing sources for my time because I never actually used a watch to time myself. I don't normally wear watches when I run, even when I race. In fact, the only races I do wear watches for are the half-marathon and the full marathon. It is probably no coincidence these are by far my two weakest distances as a runner. Maybe I need the watch as a security blanket in these distances where I'm less confident.

So to break the habit of using a watch, I never used mine for yesterday's half marathon. To borrow a quote from The Spirit of the Marathon movie, I am trying to be a "zen runner," which is a runner who doesn't get caught up in numbers like pace, time, or distance.

Am I a zen runner? I don't know. I do know it doesn't really bother me that I don't know my time. Well, I do know it was slower than last year's. I also know I placed twice as low. It would be very disingenuous of me to suggest that I'm not bothered by either one of these tidbits.

But overall, I feel okay about the race. I could tell by mile five it wasn't going to be my day. And I have a good idea of where I'm at fitness-wise. I don't have any goals for the Boston Marathon other than to have fun. When the summer racing season heats up, then my zen running will fade away and be replaced by a desire for fast times.



And in the meantime, look how cool this year's mug is. It features a ceramic spoon that fits into the handle. This is my third Frozen Half Marathon, and I like the collection of mugs I'm getting from it. I'm sure someone out there has the full collection from every year. But I'm too zen-like to get hung up on material posessions or collections like that. I'm joking of course.

Busman's Holiday

Holy crap. Kirk already posted how we have less than three months before the Boston Marathon.

I have two days until the Frozen Half Marathon, which for me, is the opener to my racing season.

I am not exactly overly-prepared for both. In my defense, it's been absurdly cold. Like many Minnesotans I have been relegated to the treadmill during this cold snap. Emily joined Lifetime Fitness a few weeks ago, and last I joined her. So I haven't been running outside in over a week.

But tonight I am going to see this movie. So if I can't train for the marathon properly, maybe I can just perfect the art of watching a movie about a marathon.

Half-Frozen

I woke up this morning, went downstairs and got the paper off the porch, and about froze my extremities off in the three seconds I was out there. It's a balmy six degrees out this morning.

I decided, is any better way to start out a frozen day by signing up for the Frozen Half Marathon? So I did just that.  The close reader will remember I ran and subsequently wrote about this race last year.

My high goal this year is to break 1:20. I'm sure how feasible that is, which makes it a good goal, I guess. I posted my high goal for the Twin Cities Ten Miler this fall, and missed that goal by over two minutes. So I'm hoping it's not bad luck to put the high goal for any race on this blog.

Don't Call It A Comeback

ABRIDGED VERSION

Highlights from Grandma's Marathon 2007.
1. I ran my fastest marathon ever, 2:57:53.
2. I did not run 4+ miles in the rain at 1 a.m. post-marathon, like I did a year ago.
3. Staying and visiting with Jocelyn and her husband in Duluth, and their kick-ass kids. Do you have friends that, even if you see them as little as once a year, you are so comfortable with them you pick up right where you left off with them a year ago? Jocelyn and Co. are those kinds of friends to Emily and me.

Grandma's weekend is such a great time for me. I love runnig. I love races. I love my friends, both in Duluth and those that I run with. I love my wife. I love my family. I love my dog. And Grandma's brings most of that together (four out six ain't bad).

Here's to Grandma's 2008 and whatever stories they will bring.

Below is a picture me of me running just before the 21 mile marker. Please keep all lame "I'm too sexy for my shirt" jokes to yourself. It was freaking hot out there.


This picture comes courtesy of Jocelyn, who said she expected this photo on my blog within the next 24 hours or she'd tag me with another meme.

Don't Call It A Comeback

THE UNABRIDGED VERSION
WARNING: This is a long, self-absorbed, potentially boring post. Oh wait that is true for 90% of the content of all the posts on this blog. So just add the word "very" to all the adjectives in that first sentence. Read this only if you are VERY VERY interested in how my marathon went.

As I wrote a year ago, my Grandma's 2006 experience was remarkable not so much for the race itself, but for what happended afterwards. I had to run four miles in the rain, less than 18 hours after finishing the marathon.

Well, this year's marathon didn't have any of that zaniness. I did, however, run my fastest marathon ever, which is much more exciting for me than any post-race shenanigans. About two months ago I was training with the intent of running a sub-2:50 at Grandma's.

Well, I ended up running a 2:57:53. So how can I be so content if I missed my original goal time by almost eight minutes? Well read on.

At the end of April I ran in the Drake Relays Half-Marathon in Iowa. At that race, I didn't really push myself until the last three miles, just as my friend Kirk suggested I do. So I was pretty fired up to run a sub 1:21 half-marathon without trying too hard. This race basically suggested I was right at 2:50 marathon shape. Things were looking good. I still had a month to train hard and I hadn't even gone for my first 20+ mile training run.

But there was this minor detail to the half-marathon in Iowa. I got tripped up at the start and fell. I reallly didn't think much of it until a few days later when I went for a long run. Halfway through the run, my right hamstring started spasming like crazy, a real painful kind of crazy. A trip to the doctor confirmed what I already knew: I had pulled my hamstring. But I hadn't put together (which he did) was that I pulled the hamstring by trying to break my fall at the Drake Relays and then getting up and running 13.1 miles at a 6:10 pace.

So the month of May was dedicated to resting and recovering. I lost a lot of confidence and my legs have felt out of sorts ever since. As a result, changed my goals and approach to the race.

Here were the three rules I made for myself going into the marathon:

Step 1. Make it to the half-way point in the marathon somewhere between 1:29 and 1:30.
Step 2. And at that point I would assess how I felt. If I felt okay, the least I could do is push myself to a sub 2:58, which would be my personal record (PR).
Main Goal: Run a negative split (which means running the last 13.1 miles faster than the first 13.1).

Let's see how I did...
Step 1: I reached the half-way point in 1:29:47
Step 2: My final time was, as I mentioned, 2:57:53
Main Goal: I ran the first 13.1 miles in 1:29:47, which means, my Texas math tells me, I ran the second 13.1 miles in 1:28:06.

Good job me!

So I am basically writing this post to brag about myself. I am not here to brag about how fast I went. Cripes. I got 174th freaking place. What I am proud of, however, is how I was able to set and reach realistic goals for myself. This race was a big deal for me.

First, I have always been able to this for any distance from 1500 to 8000 meters. However, this is the first time I nailed my goals for a marathon.

Secondly, my legs never felt right during the weeks leading up to Grandma's. And they didn't really feel loose during the marathon either. So I really had to grind this one out. My confidence and training were both compromised by my injury. So to PR under these circumstances is rewarding.

Lastly, I have a history with marathon training to set lofty goals, which is fine. But this is the first time I adapted and adjusted them to how I was feeling. In the past I would have stubbornly stuck to my original goals. The results when that has happened have not been pretty.

So my present goal is to see if I can do anything to get my legs back to feeling good again. Then I'll see what I can do at this fall's Twin Cities Ten Miler. Seems realistic to me.

EXTRA EXTRA! Read All About It!

"Country Mike" Runs a Race and Lines Up Next to Two Women Who Are More Interesting than He Is

It is usually not good to have your picture on the front page of the Local News section of a major city's newspaper. Your picture is usually run next to a story about how you just got caught for a string of bank robberies, were murdered by a roving gang of juvenile transvestites on crystal meth, are a sleezy politician who tried to make-out with George Bush, or are at the center of some scandal.

So it was a bit unsettling to be all cozy in our bed this morning, reading the Sunday paper, open up the Local News section and BOOM! see my picture. Allow me to explain.

Yesterday I ran the Frozen Half Marathon in St. Paul, and the Minneapolis Star-Tribune ran a nice story about it.

The story is on the front page of today's Local News section, below the fold. The bulk of the story is about two women who are going to be running in a marathon in Antarctica next month. Pretty cool.

One of the women has lost 150 pounds over the years, thanks to running, and is now a Boston marathon qualifier. She was also featured in the Star-Tribune during the week leading up to last October's Twin Cities marathon.

And if you do get the paper, you will also see there is a picture of the two ladies lined up next to me. Minutes before the race they kind of budged their way to the front, which people often do. Usually this is kind of annoying, but when I saw they were having their picture taken, I realized they were somehow part of a story. The picture is not on the web version of the story.

But click here to read it. You'll be glad you did.

As an aside, I did set a PR the at half-marathon yesterday. Seeing as I've only run three, this is not that big of a deal. Click here for the results.

The close reader of the results will note that I missed winning the 35-39 age group by only one place! And the closer reader will also note that even though I was only one place behind my age-group winner, he did happen to be 62 seconds ahead of me.



Emily snapped this picture of me with about a quarter of a mile to go. If it looks cold out there, that's because it was.

Next up: Training for Grandma's Marathon. Unfortunately, this morning I woke up with a slightly numb right butt cheek. Not good. It can be a hallmark sign of piriformis syndrome. Either way, I can still train through it, if I'm smart.

I sure hope I can keep training. I need all the training I can get. My goal is to break 2:50 at Grandma's, and then I can say I'm almost as fast as this guy.