Saturday, September 9, 2006
Tour de Pee Vee Half Marathon 2006
I had a good run, but a lousy race.
It's a hilly course at close to a mile in altitude, and it was raining the whole race, but none of that spoiled it for me.
There just were not enough volunteers out on the course. There was water every couple of miles. The first water stop had only two people working there, handing out cups of water and Gatorade as fast as they could, but not fast enough. Many runners had no chance to get anything unless they stopped and waited. The second water stop had only one girl working there, even more overwhelmed. The third one had no one there, just a bag of cups and a couple of big orange jugs.
I ran pretty well up until about seven and a half miles into the race, then the group ahead of me missed a turn and I followed them. A lot of other people behind me followed along too. I don't know how many people stayed on course and how many got lost. I heard some others got a shortcut.
I ran over 14 miles. I heard from other people who ran 15 plus. It was totally random at the end. Your place in finishing had more to do with how far you ran and how long you were lost than how fast you ran. I lost more time asking for directions than going a mile off course.
I know that if you run enough races then sooner or later you get lost. It's happened to me before. I'm just disappointed because this race was part of the Grand Prix Series, so it affects my results for the year.
I can't complain too much. It was probably difficult to get volunteers out there in the rain.
Like I said, it was a good run. I actually like the course and the race, and I'll probably do it again. I like a course with challenge and variation more than something flat and boring.
The rain just kept it cool. When I did this race two years ago, it was hot. There were only a couple of times the wind kicked up enough to be a problem, so the storm wasn't a big deal.
I got an age group third, but out of only 5. The two ahead of me in my age group are faster than I am, so I can't claim I would have finished farther up without all the confusion.
1:54:05 for 14.1 miles, including time spent wondering which way to go and asking for directions.
Because no other runners in my age group in the Grand Prix ran this race, I moved into age group first place in the Grand Prix. I need to run at least three more of the five remaining Grand Prix races this year. I have a pretty good shot at it.
Wednesday, March 1, 2006
Cherry Picking Races
This is an article I wrote back in 2006 for the East Valley Runners club newsletter.
Cherry-Picking Races
If you already have a wall or a drawer or a closet full of medals and trophies you’ve won running, then you can skip this little article. You either already know everything I’m about to say, or you don’t need to know it.
But if, like me, you usually finish somewhere in the middle of the pack, and those age group medals always seem out of reach, let me give you some suggestions on how to find the low-hanging fruit.
Runners like us need to find the “cherry-picking” races, the races where just about anyone might walk off with a medal. These are the things I look for:
1.far from population centers
Is winning a medal worth the drive to Miami, AZ? I think so, but I’m semi-obsessed.
2. no long history
“Inaugural” is almost always a good word to see in a race description, with the notable exception of enormously over-hyped musical extravaganzas.
Races that have been around for a long time have collected a lot of loyal, hardcore runners, who come expecting to win each year.
3. not on all the major calendars
If you heard about it from your church flyer, but it’s not on the Arizona Road Racer’s online calendar, that’s a good sign. Keep it a secret.
4. on the same day as at least one other race
This goes for races at the same event. For races at the same event, remember, the longer the race, the tougher the competition. This is not to say that some fast guy or gal won’t sometimes spoil your day by choosing the 5K.
Even better than races at the same event are more popular races elsewhere. For example, if you can run an unpopular race out in Surprise on the same weekend as popular races in Cave Creek and Apache Junction.
5. not on a holiday or weekend
All of the big races will be on weekends, but that’s not what you’re looking for. And even the small races can get a good turnout near a holiday.
However, these holiday weekends often have too many races going on, so if you pick the right one, it works out.
6. five year age groups
One of the problems with smaller races is that sometimes they have age groups of ten years or more, or they do not give out any age group awards at all. It’s nice to find out if they will have five year age groups.
Well, those are my tips for finding the races where you can occasionally come away with some hardware. I hope this helps you, my fellow EVR members, but if you’re a male, 45-49, I hope it doesn’t help too much.
There are other methods to increase your odds of winning, but they are much more strenuous than this. And they require spending a significant amount of time running at the track.
Good luck, and see you at the races,
Jerry
Cherry-Picking Races
If you already have a wall or a drawer or a closet full of medals and trophies you’ve won running, then you can skip this little article. You either already know everything I’m about to say, or you don’t need to know it.
But if, like me, you usually finish somewhere in the middle of the pack, and those age group medals always seem out of reach, let me give you some suggestions on how to find the low-hanging fruit.
Runners like us need to find the “cherry-picking” races, the races where just about anyone might walk off with a medal. These are the things I look for:
1.far from population centers
Is winning a medal worth the drive to Miami, AZ? I think so, but I’m semi-obsessed.
2. no long history
“Inaugural” is almost always a good word to see in a race description, with the notable exception of enormously over-hyped musical extravaganzas.
Races that have been around for a long time have collected a lot of loyal, hardcore runners, who come expecting to win each year.
3. not on all the major calendars
If you heard about it from your church flyer, but it’s not on the Arizona Road Racer’s online calendar, that’s a good sign. Keep it a secret.
4. on the same day as at least one other race
This goes for races at the same event. For races at the same event, remember, the longer the race, the tougher the competition. This is not to say that some fast guy or gal won’t sometimes spoil your day by choosing the 5K.
Even better than races at the same event are more popular races elsewhere. For example, if you can run an unpopular race out in Surprise on the same weekend as popular races in Cave Creek and Apache Junction.
5. not on a holiday or weekend
All of the big races will be on weekends, but that’s not what you’re looking for. And even the small races can get a good turnout near a holiday.
However, these holiday weekends often have too many races going on, so if you pick the right one, it works out.
6. five year age groups
One of the problems with smaller races is that sometimes they have age groups of ten years or more, or they do not give out any age group awards at all. It’s nice to find out if they will have five year age groups.
Well, those are my tips for finding the races where you can occasionally come away with some hardware. I hope this helps you, my fellow EVR members, but if you’re a male, 45-49, I hope it doesn’t help too much.
There are other methods to increase your odds of winning, but they are much more strenuous than this. And they require spending a significant amount of time running at the track.
Good luck, and see you at the races,
Jerry
Sunday, February 19, 2006
Desert Classic Marathon 2006
I have to get this race written up before I run another one, so here goes.
This was a small race. It has usually been small, with maybe a hundred runners, but last year there were a lot of organizational problems.
This year it was the same day as the Lost Dutchman Marathon on the other side of the Phoenix metropolitan area, which was much more promoted.
So there were only about fifty marathoners, and a little over 150 half marathoners, at the Desert Classic.
It was a nice morning in Surprise, just a little cold. I know many of you are more used to freezing temperatures than I am, so it might not have seemed that cold to you. But it was cold to me. I stayed in my car as long as I could.
I got to the start with just two minutes to go and started moving up through the pack toward the front. Then they delayed the start while trying to figure out a mixup that had happened with a few of the numbers and chips. The announcer kept calling out names of people they needed to come forward and show their numbers. This took about 10 minutes, and before the end of it, people were shivering and shouting to start.
It was just a little crowded in the first quarter mile, then I had room to go my own pace.
The course is uphill 350 feet to mile nine, then down 170 feet to the turnaround, then back up 170 feet to mile 17, and downhill, more or less, from there.
I had decided to stay close to my goal pace of 8 minutes per mile even on the hills. Chugging along at close to that pace near mile 5, a guy in a red singlet came along side me and asked what my goal was. I was in a long sleeved shirt and gloves, and was still cold. I told him I was trying to break 3:30, and he guessed that I was between 45 and 49 years old. He was, too.
I mentioned that we were in the same age group, and he said he didn't care about placing in his age group, just about getting 3:30. The runner just behind us said, "Me too."
I said we were going about the right pace, but within a few minutes, the guy in the red shirt pulled away. I figured he had decided to beat 3:30 by a lot instead of a little. The other guy ran with me for a while, but dropped away. I knew that I was a little under the pace, so I thought maybe he was smarter than me, running a more conservative pace going uphill.
Both of those guys looked like serious runners, lean, rhythmic, focused.
While I was running with those guys, another runner came up. He seemed to be chatting everyone up like he was just out for a morning stroll.
He was kind of broad around the middle with skinny legs. He did not look so much like a runner.
But he was moving along effortlessly, and quickly left me behind. Then a few miles later, he caught up with me from behind again.
I said, "You must have taken a potty break."
He said, "No, but that's a good idea." and went off into the bushes.
I reached mile 9 where Jen was waiting to help me get a blood sugar reading, but I couldn't get the test strip to work. I have had that happen a few times with this meter I've been using for the past month. Jen went to get another strip and said she would catch up to me.
He caught up with me again and ran my pace for a while and told me some stories about running in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
I kept wondering where Jen was. I thought she and Sue would come driving up any minute. Then I heard her voice behind us talking to the guy at the water stop we had just passed. She had run a very fast mile to catch us!
While I was finally getting a reading, the guy from Indiana left me behind behind right before the halfway point.
I had no blood sugar problems the whole race, but testing was a pain. We had planned to test again on the way back, but gave up on it after the first try didn't work.
I caught the guy in the red shirt around mile 17.
I said, "We're going to get this thing." and he said, "Yeah." but he wasn't keeping up with me.
I really thought it was possible for me to finish in 3:30 at that point, because I was only a little behind the required pace, and the rest of the race is mostly downhill. But it was like I described when I ran the 30K here a few weeks ago, it was like the earth had tilted in the other direction, and it was uphill both ways.
A young, energetic, guy came up from behind at near 19 miles and said, "Let's get that guy ahead of us."
Because it is just a long, straight road, you can see far ahead. The runner he was talking about was at least a quarter mile up there.
I said, "You get him and hold him for me."
It turns out that young guy finished in 3:29.
I finished in 3:34. I could have cut a minute or two off of that, but I really had no ambition to get extremely close to running my BQ time again. When I passed the 25 mile point and I could see I would have to run a 6 minute mile to reach my goal, I eased up. I would have kicked more if anyone had been near me, either in front or behind, but I was running alone at the finish, as I was most of the day.
The round guy with skinny legs from Indiana was third overall in 3:27.
The red shirt who went out fast and came back slower ran it in 3:53, and the other guy in my age group ran it 4:18.
So my 3:34:09 was worth 6th place overall and first in my age group. I don't do that in a marathon very often.
I found a lot to learn in this race. I hope you got something out of it.
One thing I've been thinking about is how far I've come. I want to thank the Roads Scholars for their support and help over the years. It wasn't that long ago I was happy to break four hours in a marathon. I am now quite certain I can break 3:30. I just have to be ready at the right race.
Garmin said 26.09
This was a small race. It has usually been small, with maybe a hundred runners, but last year there were a lot of organizational problems.
This year it was the same day as the Lost Dutchman Marathon on the other side of the Phoenix metropolitan area, which was much more promoted.
So there were only about fifty marathoners, and a little over 150 half marathoners, at the Desert Classic.
It was a nice morning in Surprise, just a little cold. I know many of you are more used to freezing temperatures than I am, so it might not have seemed that cold to you. But it was cold to me. I stayed in my car as long as I could.
I got to the start with just two minutes to go and started moving up through the pack toward the front. Then they delayed the start while trying to figure out a mixup that had happened with a few of the numbers and chips. The announcer kept calling out names of people they needed to come forward and show their numbers. This took about 10 minutes, and before the end of it, people were shivering and shouting to start.
It was just a little crowded in the first quarter mile, then I had room to go my own pace.
The course is uphill 350 feet to mile nine, then down 170 feet to the turnaround, then back up 170 feet to mile 17, and downhill, more or less, from there.
I had decided to stay close to my goal pace of 8 minutes per mile even on the hills. Chugging along at close to that pace near mile 5, a guy in a red singlet came along side me and asked what my goal was. I was in a long sleeved shirt and gloves, and was still cold. I told him I was trying to break 3:30, and he guessed that I was between 45 and 49 years old. He was, too.
I mentioned that we were in the same age group, and he said he didn't care about placing in his age group, just about getting 3:30. The runner just behind us said, "Me too."
I said we were going about the right pace, but within a few minutes, the guy in the red shirt pulled away. I figured he had decided to beat 3:30 by a lot instead of a little. The other guy ran with me for a while, but dropped away. I knew that I was a little under the pace, so I thought maybe he was smarter than me, running a more conservative pace going uphill.
Both of those guys looked like serious runners, lean, rhythmic, focused.
While I was running with those guys, another runner came up. He seemed to be chatting everyone up like he was just out for a morning stroll.
He was kind of broad around the middle with skinny legs. He did not look so much like a runner.
But he was moving along effortlessly, and quickly left me behind. Then a few miles later, he caught up with me from behind again.
I said, "You must have taken a potty break."
He said, "No, but that's a good idea." and went off into the bushes.
I reached mile 9 where Jen was waiting to help me get a blood sugar reading, but I couldn't get the test strip to work. I have had that happen a few times with this meter I've been using for the past month. Jen went to get another strip and said she would catch up to me.
He caught up with me again and ran my pace for a while and told me some stories about running in Fort Wayne, Indiana.
I kept wondering where Jen was. I thought she and Sue would come driving up any minute. Then I heard her voice behind us talking to the guy at the water stop we had just passed. She had run a very fast mile to catch us!
While I was finally getting a reading, the guy from Indiana left me behind behind right before the halfway point.
I had no blood sugar problems the whole race, but testing was a pain. We had planned to test again on the way back, but gave up on it after the first try didn't work.
I caught the guy in the red shirt around mile 17.
I said, "We're going to get this thing." and he said, "Yeah." but he wasn't keeping up with me.
I really thought it was possible for me to finish in 3:30 at that point, because I was only a little behind the required pace, and the rest of the race is mostly downhill. But it was like I described when I ran the 30K here a few weeks ago, it was like the earth had tilted in the other direction, and it was uphill both ways.
A young, energetic, guy came up from behind at near 19 miles and said, "Let's get that guy ahead of us."
Because it is just a long, straight road, you can see far ahead. The runner he was talking about was at least a quarter mile up there.
I said, "You get him and hold him for me."
It turns out that young guy finished in 3:29.
I finished in 3:34. I could have cut a minute or two off of that, but I really had no ambition to get extremely close to running my BQ time again. When I passed the 25 mile point and I could see I would have to run a 6 minute mile to reach my goal, I eased up. I would have kicked more if anyone had been near me, either in front or behind, but I was running alone at the finish, as I was most of the day.
The round guy with skinny legs from Indiana was third overall in 3:27.
The red shirt who went out fast and came back slower ran it in 3:53, and the other guy in my age group ran it 4:18.
So my 3:34:09 was worth 6th place overall and first in my age group. I don't do that in a marathon very often.
I found a lot to learn in this race. I hope you got something out of it.
One thing I've been thinking about is how far I've come. I want to thank the Roads Scholars for their support and help over the years. It wasn't that long ago I was happy to break four hours in a marathon. I am now quite certain I can break 3:30. I just have to be ready at the right race.
01 7:51 0:07:51
02 7:58 0:15:50
03 7:47 0:23:37
04 7:42 0:31:20
05 7:58 0:39:19
06 8:07 0:47:26
07 7:59 0:55:25
08 8:07 1:03:32
09 8:04 1:11:37
10 8:03 1:19:40
11 8:05 1:27:46
12 7:44 1:35:30
13 7:49 1:43:19
14 7:53 1:51:13
15 8:03 1:59:16
16 8:34 2:07:50
17 8:15 2:16:05
18 8:26 2:24:32
19 8:20 2:32:52
20 8:18 2:41:10
21 7:59 2:49:10
22 8:20 2:57:31
23 9:03 3:06:34
24 8:51 3:15:26
25 8:18 3:23:45
26 9:46 3:33:31
26.2 0:37 3:34:09
Garmin said 26.09
Sunday, December 18, 2005
Desert Classic 30K 2005
I did all right in the 30K on Sunday. I know I said I would probably do a 5K close to home, but this is the way it worked out.
I still haven't qualified for Boston, even though I've been about as close as you can get. There's a local marathon, the Desert Classic Marathon, on February 19th. Last year, this race was a mess. The location of the race wasn't settled until days before it was run. I'm not sure if it was ever certified.
So, because I wanted to take another shot at qualifying for Boston, I wrote an email to the Arizona Road Racers to find out if the permits were all in place and the course was certified. And I asked for details about the course.
They assured me it would be certified, they had the permits, and I could try out most of the course by running the 30K on Sunday. So even though I ran a very tough, hilly, 10 mile trail run on Saturday, the National Trail in South Mountain to Buena Vista and back, I went out to Surprise to run this 30K on Sunday.
It is all on one road, out and back. It's a gradual uphill on the way out, so downhill coming back to the finish. It's all in the bike lane, as wide as the car lanes, which is plenty wide enough for a small race like this.
I decided that my goal was to run a consistent pace, whatever I could manage. I thought it might be around 8:30 or 9, but I wasn't having any trouble keeping it close to 8 minutes per mile.
I was glad I had my Garmin, as the mile markers were all messed up after 3 miles. Up to that point, they were the same mile markers used by the 5K and the 10K.
From the 4 mile marker out they had mixed up the placement of signs for the out and back, so on the way out, they were .3 miles off, and on the way in, they were .6 off, until you got to 15 miles. A lot of runners without any GPS or good sense of pace and distance thought they were running a terrific pace until they ran a mile and a half between the 14 mile and 15 mile markers.
It wasn't until I hit the turnaround that I realized that one reason I had been able to keep up a good pace on the uphill was that I had a tailwind. Unfortunately, when I turned around, it became a headwind. It wasn't terrible, just always there, varying between noticeable and significant, all the way back.
All the way out, whenever the hills started to get to me, I told myself, "This will help you on the way back. It will be so easy." I didn't feel an earthquake, but there must have been some kind of geological event, because somehow the road had tipped the other way while I was running, and it ended up being uphill both ways.
Somebody caught me from behind near about mile 12, and I pulled in behind him for a while, drafting. Not wanting to be a parasite, I got ahead of him after a while and let him follow me. We traded off a couple of times and caught two other runners this way.
Then he picked it up in the last couple of miles. I didn't have it in me to go faster. I started to do the same drafting then leading with one of the runners we had caught, but he got away from me in the last mile. I was within a few seconds of him at the finish, and it turned out he was third in my age group.
I would say that I could have beaten him if I had tried harder, but truthfully, if I had challenged him, he probably would have given it more kick at the finish.
So I ran it in 2:32:34, an 8:12 pace, which I think is fine two weeks after Tucson and 24 hours after a hard trail run.
And I think I will try the Desert Classic Marathon in February. This may be a course I can do better on.
I still haven't qualified for Boston, even though I've been about as close as you can get. There's a local marathon, the Desert Classic Marathon, on February 19th. Last year, this race was a mess. The location of the race wasn't settled until days before it was run. I'm not sure if it was ever certified.
So, because I wanted to take another shot at qualifying for Boston, I wrote an email to the Arizona Road Racers to find out if the permits were all in place and the course was certified. And I asked for details about the course.
They assured me it would be certified, they had the permits, and I could try out most of the course by running the 30K on Sunday. So even though I ran a very tough, hilly, 10 mile trail run on Saturday, the National Trail in South Mountain to Buena Vista and back, I went out to Surprise to run this 30K on Sunday.
It is all on one road, out and back. It's a gradual uphill on the way out, so downhill coming back to the finish. It's all in the bike lane, as wide as the car lanes, which is plenty wide enough for a small race like this.
I decided that my goal was to run a consistent pace, whatever I could manage. I thought it might be around 8:30 or 9, but I wasn't having any trouble keeping it close to 8 minutes per mile.
I was glad I had my Garmin, as the mile markers were all messed up after 3 miles. Up to that point, they were the same mile markers used by the 5K and the 10K.
From the 4 mile marker out they had mixed up the placement of signs for the out and back, so on the way out, they were .3 miles off, and on the way in, they were .6 off, until you got to 15 miles. A lot of runners without any GPS or good sense of pace and distance thought they were running a terrific pace until they ran a mile and a half between the 14 mile and 15 mile markers.
It wasn't until I hit the turnaround that I realized that one reason I had been able to keep up a good pace on the uphill was that I had a tailwind. Unfortunately, when I turned around, it became a headwind. It wasn't terrible, just always there, varying between noticeable and significant, all the way back.
All the way out, whenever the hills started to get to me, I told myself, "This will help you on the way back. It will be so easy." I didn't feel an earthquake, but there must have been some kind of geological event, because somehow the road had tipped the other way while I was running, and it ended up being uphill both ways.
Somebody caught me from behind near about mile 12, and I pulled in behind him for a while, drafting. Not wanting to be a parasite, I got ahead of him after a while and let him follow me. We traded off a couple of times and caught two other runners this way.
Then he picked it up in the last couple of miles. I didn't have it in me to go faster. I started to do the same drafting then leading with one of the runners we had caught, but he got away from me in the last mile. I was within a few seconds of him at the finish, and it turned out he was third in my age group.
I would say that I could have beaten him if I had tried harder, but truthfully, if I had challenged him, he probably would have given it more kick at the finish.
So I ran it in 2:32:34, an 8:12 pace, which I think is fine two weeks after Tucson and 24 hours after a hard trail run.
And I think I will try the Desert Classic Marathon in February. This may be a course I can do better on.
Saturday, October 1, 2005
St. George Marathon 2005
Got a minute? Or half a minute?
Look at your watch.
I love the Saint George Marathon. I have never run a better organized race. To give you some idea of the organization of this race, (I know you're not going to believe me when I say this, but it's true.) there were more than enough porta-johns at the start of the race.
There were also more than enough cheerful, helpful volunteers at every water stop along the way, and at the finish.
Look at your watch again. How much later is it now than when you looked before?
Time. There it goes. tick...tick...tick...
St. George is famous for the bonfires to keep the runners warm out in the desolate desert before the sun comes up. It does help a lot to create a warm atmosphere in more ways than one.
I started with two friends I trained with who were going to run a similar pace, Jen and Clint. It was Clint's first marathon, and somewhere before the third mile he decided we were going faster than he wanted to. I'm surprised because he was always pushing the pace in training runs. I expected him to finish ahead of me.
On this course, there are lots of downhills, but also uphills. You lose 2600 feet in elevation over the course, but you lose elevation, gain elevation, lose more, gain less, lose a little more...
There's no place to get bored or stuck in a rut. The course is surrounded by magnificent volcanoes, canyons and cliffs, and the terrain is constantly varying. It is one road for 99% of the distance, but it is curving back and forth and rising and falling the whole time.
We stayed pretty close to the pace we needed over the hills in the first half, but after we went over the "last" hill at mile 21. The downhill stretches always ended with a curve and a slight uphill, so we weren't just letting gravity finish the race for us.
Coming up on the water station at mile 23, I could see that I was going to have to push to finish in my goal time of 3:30, so I told Jen I was going to run to the finish, no more water stops. She got water and I didn't see her again until after the finish.
With about a mile and a half to go, my calves started to twinge. It's a familiar feeling. They start to clench and a shiver of dread goes through me.
I tried to run on as hard as I could, without asking my calves to do anything except relax. I turned the last corner and took a last look at my watch, telling myself I would not look again. There was about half a mile to go, and I might just make it in time.
A few hundred more yards on I couldn't keep my calves from cramping without assuming a kind of straight-legged running form. I was limping in as fast as I could, but when I could read the big clock at the finish, it did not look like I was going to make it. I took a last look at my watch and knew it wasn't going to be.
I needed 3:30:59 or less to qualify for Boston, which I have been trying to do for two years. I ran it in 3:31:21
Missed it by 22 seconds.
I've thought of a dozen things that might have made a 22 second difference. One thing I know is that I stepped off the course to pee at about mile 16. If I could do it over again, I would wet my shorts while running. Anyone else think about doing this?
I guess the race is behind me now, and it's time to move on.
I've been telling everyone I'm 90% as happy as I could have been. I cut more than 11 minutes off of my PR. It's not really bad to be satisfied with that.
Thanks for your time.
Look at your watch.
I love the Saint George Marathon. I have never run a better organized race. To give you some idea of the organization of this race, (I know you're not going to believe me when I say this, but it's true.) there were more than enough porta-johns at the start of the race.
There were also more than enough cheerful, helpful volunteers at every water stop along the way, and at the finish.
Look at your watch again. How much later is it now than when you looked before?
Time. There it goes. tick...tick...tick...
St. George is famous for the bonfires to keep the runners warm out in the desolate desert before the sun comes up. It does help a lot to create a warm atmosphere in more ways than one.
I started with two friends I trained with who were going to run a similar pace, Jen and Clint. It was Clint's first marathon, and somewhere before the third mile he decided we were going faster than he wanted to. I'm surprised because he was always pushing the pace in training runs. I expected him to finish ahead of me.
On this course, there are lots of downhills, but also uphills. You lose 2600 feet in elevation over the course, but you lose elevation, gain elevation, lose more, gain less, lose a little more...
There's no place to get bored or stuck in a rut. The course is surrounded by magnificent volcanoes, canyons and cliffs, and the terrain is constantly varying. It is one road for 99% of the distance, but it is curving back and forth and rising and falling the whole time.
We stayed pretty close to the pace we needed over the hills in the first half, but after we went over the "last" hill at mile 21. The downhill stretches always ended with a curve and a slight uphill, so we weren't just letting gravity finish the race for us.
Coming up on the water station at mile 23, I could see that I was going to have to push to finish in my goal time of 3:30, so I told Jen I was going to run to the finish, no more water stops. She got water and I didn't see her again until after the finish.
With about a mile and a half to go, my calves started to twinge. It's a familiar feeling. They start to clench and a shiver of dread goes through me.
I tried to run on as hard as I could, without asking my calves to do anything except relax. I turned the last corner and took a last look at my watch, telling myself I would not look again. There was about half a mile to go, and I might just make it in time.
A few hundred more yards on I couldn't keep my calves from cramping without assuming a kind of straight-legged running form. I was limping in as fast as I could, but when I could read the big clock at the finish, it did not look like I was going to make it. I took a last look at my watch and knew it wasn't going to be.
I needed 3:30:59 or less to qualify for Boston, which I have been trying to do for two years. I ran it in 3:31:21
Missed it by 22 seconds.
I've thought of a dozen things that might have made a 22 second difference. One thing I know is that I stepped off the course to pee at about mile 16. If I could do it over again, I would wet my shorts while running. Anyone else think about doing this?
I guess the race is behind me now, and it's time to move on.
I've been telling everyone I'm 90% as happy as I could have been. I cut more than 11 minutes off of my PR. It's not really bad to be satisfied with that.
Thanks for your time.
Saturday, December 18, 2004
Desert Classic 30K 2004
t was beautiful cool morning out in the desert east of Scottsdale. No mile markers no splits. I set out thinking anything under 2:30 would be great considering I ran the Tucson Marathon 13 days ago. But I had no idea what my pace was. I knew I wasn't doing too bad because:
a) I didn't feel like I was dying.
b) I didn't get lapped on the loop we did 3 times.
c) I lapped a few people.
Yeah, we didn't really do what you'd really call a loop. We ran back and forth over the same section of canal bank six times, one way, then the other, then back the way we came...
Not the most exciting course. The canal bank is basically a wide dirt road, cotton fields on one side, the canal on the other. Pretty much a straight line, absolutely flat.
We started out at the college, ran down the street to where we could turn onto the canal, out and back and out and back.... I was really glad when we finally got to go back onto the pavement toward the school.
One of the things about a course like this that doubles back over itself is that you see almost everyone in the race, the speedsters in the front, and the people struggling in the back. Today I was proud to be a runner, proud to be in the same competition with some very athletic people, proud to be ahead of a lot of people who were well and truly racing. It was good to be out there.
Great weather, sunny and cool, but the sun was in your eyes at least half the time. I know my pace was really falling off in the last couple of miles. That's the thing about a race this long. It ends at about the point where, when I'm in a marathon, I start to ask myself, "Isn't that long enough? Why's it have to be 26.2? Why not 20? 18?"
Anyway, only three people passed me in those last miles. There were only a little over 200 runners.
My legs were complaining, and I just told myself that this was not my goal race.
I had nothing to prove and I didn't want to do anything that would take a lot of recovery time. So I didn't really try to kick in. I finished knowing I was going slower than I could.
I finished in 2:27:44, which I'm very happy with.
I was 6th in my age group, but I got a very nice finisher's button. Not a medal, button, or maybe you'd call it a pin, a little round piece of tin or aluminum with a pin on the back. I didn't expect a medal, so this was cool.
a) I didn't feel like I was dying.
b) I didn't get lapped on the loop we did 3 times.
c) I lapped a few people.
Yeah, we didn't really do what you'd really call a loop. We ran back and forth over the same section of canal bank six times, one way, then the other, then back the way we came...
Not the most exciting course. The canal bank is basically a wide dirt road, cotton fields on one side, the canal on the other. Pretty much a straight line, absolutely flat.
We started out at the college, ran down the street to where we could turn onto the canal, out and back and out and back.... I was really glad when we finally got to go back onto the pavement toward the school.
One of the things about a course like this that doubles back over itself is that you see almost everyone in the race, the speedsters in the front, and the people struggling in the back. Today I was proud to be a runner, proud to be in the same competition with some very athletic people, proud to be ahead of a lot of people who were well and truly racing. It was good to be out there.
Great weather, sunny and cool, but the sun was in your eyes at least half the time. I know my pace was really falling off in the last couple of miles. That's the thing about a race this long. It ends at about the point where, when I'm in a marathon, I start to ask myself, "Isn't that long enough? Why's it have to be 26.2? Why not 20? 18?"
Anyway, only three people passed me in those last miles. There were only a little over 200 runners.
My legs were complaining, and I just told myself that this was not my goal race.
I had nothing to prove and I didn't want to do anything that would take a lot of recovery time. So I didn't really try to kick in. I finished knowing I was going slower than I could.
I finished in 2:27:44, which I'm very happy with.
I was 6th in my age group, but I got a very nice finisher's button. Not a medal, button, or maybe you'd call it a pin, a little round piece of tin or aluminum with a pin on the back. I didn't expect a medal, so this was cool.
Sunday, December 5, 2004
Tucson Marathon 2004
Well,
This marathon was about par for me, which is really depressing because I had high hopes. My training and racing has been going well. I thought I had put in enough long runs. I trained with a Galloway group, and was trying walk breaks for the first time. I hoped they would leave me with enough energy to have a good finish.
I had some issues which may have had an effect on my race.
I ran a pretty good half marathon, but was struggling by the end.
3:50:28
You folks who love the cold and the snow are welcome to it. It was freezing in Tucson yesterday. There was snow visible in the hills just a couple of miles away from the road. I'm sure some of you would have been fine with it, but I'm acclimated to Phoenix weather now.
These splits seem terribly inconsistent, but the only reason for that early in the race is the uphill and downhill sections. This course has a lot of downhill in the first half.
1 7:43
2 7:20 15:03
4 15:52 30:54 (2 miles at 7:56/mile)
5 7:14 38:08
6 7:41 45:48 (had a Carb BOOM)
7 7:37 53:25
8 7:37 1:01:02
9 7:49 1:08:52
10 8:19 1:17:10 (checked blood sugar: high)
11 7:40 1:24:50
12 7:37 1:32:27
13 7:58 1:40:25
14 8:26 1:48:52
15 8:22 1:57:14
16 10:09 2:07:23 (pit stop)
17 8:01 2:15:25 (feeling better, no more walk breaks)
18 7:58 2:23:24
19 8:45 2:32:08 (checked blood sugar: high)
20 10:53 2:43:01 (struggling again)
21 9:34 2:52:35
22 11:15 3:03:50 (only goal is to finish now)
23 9:39 3:13:29
24 12:22 3:25:51
25 9:57 3:35:48
26 12:42 3:48:30
26.1 1:55 3:50:28
This marathon was about par for me, which is really depressing because I had high hopes. My training and racing has been going well. I thought I had put in enough long runs. I trained with a Galloway group, and was trying walk breaks for the first time. I hoped they would leave me with enough energy to have a good finish.
I had some issues which may have had an effect on my race.
I ran a pretty good half marathon, but was struggling by the end.
3:50:28
You folks who love the cold and the snow are welcome to it. It was freezing in Tucson yesterday. There was snow visible in the hills just a couple of miles away from the road. I'm sure some of you would have been fine with it, but I'm acclimated to Phoenix weather now.
These splits seem terribly inconsistent, but the only reason for that early in the race is the uphill and downhill sections. This course has a lot of downhill in the first half.
1 7:43
2 7:20 15:03
4 15:52 30:54 (2 miles at 7:56/mile)
5 7:14 38:08
6 7:41 45:48 (had a Carb BOOM)
7 7:37 53:25
8 7:37 1:01:02
9 7:49 1:08:52
10 8:19 1:17:10 (checked blood sugar: high)
11 7:40 1:24:50
12 7:37 1:32:27
13 7:58 1:40:25
14 8:26 1:48:52
15 8:22 1:57:14
16 10:09 2:07:23 (pit stop)
17 8:01 2:15:25 (feeling better, no more walk breaks)
18 7:58 2:23:24
19 8:45 2:32:08 (checked blood sugar: high)
20 10:53 2:43:01 (struggling again)
21 9:34 2:52:35
22 11:15 3:03:50 (only goal is to finish now)
23 9:39 3:13:29
24 12:22 3:25:51
25 9:57 3:35:48
26 12:42 3:48:30
26.1 1:55 3:50:28
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