Holy cow, sports fans, two posts in one day. But I can't let the year end without my obligatory end of the year running recap.
The year started off well enough - on track for some decent mileage. Then I got my second stress fractures in two years (femoral and pelvic). Anyhow, I ended the year with a total mileage of 1784.7 miles (second highest since I started keeping a log in 2003). My average run was 8.9 miles. My average weekly mileage was 40.5.
Meanwhile, I swam a total of 49.52 miles (2.13 miles of which were in triathlons) and I biked a total of 234.63 miles (82 miles of which were in triathlons).
On the racing front, it was very disappointing. My planned race schedule was scrubbed for the most part. I ran one marathon (not my best), and two triathlons. Meanwhile, I had DNS's (Did Not Start) in one half marathon, one half ironman, two marathons, and one ultramarathon. Bummer.
What's in store for 2013? Number 1: figure out what the hell is wrong with me so I can get back to running without having more pelvic stress fractures. I meet with the metabolic bone disorder specialist later in January. Number 2: avoid DNS and DNF (i.e., figure out some way to start and finish Boston, which I've already signed up for, purchased airline tickets and hotel room). Number 3: as always, run more with Jordana (i.e., maybe run Boston literally with her, and maybe do an ultra with her).
But above all, just have fun running and keep running my own race.
Signing off for 2012.
Monday, December 31, 2012
Hard Ashe vs Dumb Ashe
Hello sports fans,
As you know, there is a fine line, a very fine line, between being a hard ass (or at least doing hard ass things) and being a dumb ass (or, rather, doing dumb ass things). This past Wednesday, I have the strong feeling that I crossed that line.
The temp is about 35 degrees and it is raining. Do I run or not run? I'm thinking -- it would be pretty hard ass/bad ass to go running today. So why not? I head downstairs to the lockerroom. Put on my short sleeve running shirt, long sleeve running shirt, and running shorts. I look for my long running pants -- didn't I pack them? Crap, I forgot them. Oh well, I say to myself, they would only get waterlogged. Lace up my shoes, put on my gloves and hat and off I go. When I first stepped outside, it did not seem that bad. It was cold, but not terribly. It was raining, but not particularly hard. The wind did not seem bad either. So off I went.
As I was leaving my office, I overheard one person say to another --- "that guy (i.e., me) is pretty hardcore." Or stupid.
Anyhow, the first half of the run was not that bad. I was holding about an 8:30 - 8:40 pace, which isn't bad considering this would be my second time running at the 5 mile distance (as you may recall from my last injury, I'm doing the slow progression to increased mileage - a couple of weeks at 3 miles, then 4, then 5, etc.). I was not feeling that cold and the rain was no more than a distraction. I think I saw maybe a dozen other runners out there as well. Good, I thought, I'm not the only idiot out here.
As I said, it was a good first half of a run. I reached the Lincoln Memorial and turned around for the 2 1/2 miles back. Then the distinction between hard ass and dumb ass hit my in the face. Literally. The reason the wind and rain and cold had not been so bad was simply because I had been running with a tailwind. Crap!! So now I'm soaking wet, in 35 degree rain, running INTO a 20 mile per hour headwind. Crap!!
I quickly got really cold. I reached down to smooth out my running shorts and realized "I CAN"T FEEL MY THIGHS!" They were numb from the cold! And (mothers cover your children's ears) my privates were frozen. This was not fun. At all. My gloves were soaked, my shoes and socks were soaked. I was cold and miserable. My pace dropped to about a 9:30 which only prolonged my continued exposure to the elements. I seriously considered ducking into the metro or running into one of the museums. But the realization that I would still need to re-enter the cold to get back to my office kept me going. The sooner I finish, I thought, the sooner I finish.
So of course what happens? With about 1/2 mile to go, an obviously lost tourist stopped me -- that's right, I'm running and she stops me. "Where is the Supreme Court Building?" And nice guy that I am, I stop, and proceed to explain to her how to get to the Supreme Court (we were near the Capitol reflecting pool). After thanking me profusely, I continued my miserable run.
When I finally entered my building, I was freezing cold -- my legs and privates were numb, my fingers were aching. As I retrieved my ID from the guards' desk, I remarked "Some people simply have zero common sense. I am one of them!"
At first the shower was unbearable (the FTC showers, it would seem, have only two temperatures -- freezing and scalding -- I have yet to figure out how to modulate them). Eventually, I thawed enough to enjoy the shower. But I was freezingn and shivering for the rest of the day. I thought about heading across the street for a Starbucks, but the thought of going back outside was too much.
So, there you are sports fans. Was I a hard ass/bad ass runner? or just a dumb ass without enough sense to stay out of the rain? I'll let you decide.
But I did get in my 5 miles....
As you know, there is a fine line, a very fine line, between being a hard ass (or at least doing hard ass things) and being a dumb ass (or, rather, doing dumb ass things). This past Wednesday, I have the strong feeling that I crossed that line.
The temp is about 35 degrees and it is raining. Do I run or not run? I'm thinking -- it would be pretty hard ass/bad ass to go running today. So why not? I head downstairs to the lockerroom. Put on my short sleeve running shirt, long sleeve running shirt, and running shorts. I look for my long running pants -- didn't I pack them? Crap, I forgot them. Oh well, I say to myself, they would only get waterlogged. Lace up my shoes, put on my gloves and hat and off I go. When I first stepped outside, it did not seem that bad. It was cold, but not terribly. It was raining, but not particularly hard. The wind did not seem bad either. So off I went.
As I was leaving my office, I overheard one person say to another --- "that guy (i.e., me) is pretty hardcore." Or stupid.
Anyhow, the first half of the run was not that bad. I was holding about an 8:30 - 8:40 pace, which isn't bad considering this would be my second time running at the 5 mile distance (as you may recall from my last injury, I'm doing the slow progression to increased mileage - a couple of weeks at 3 miles, then 4, then 5, etc.). I was not feeling that cold and the rain was no more than a distraction. I think I saw maybe a dozen other runners out there as well. Good, I thought, I'm not the only idiot out here.
As I said, it was a good first half of a run. I reached the Lincoln Memorial and turned around for the 2 1/2 miles back. Then the distinction between hard ass and dumb ass hit my in the face. Literally. The reason the wind and rain and cold had not been so bad was simply because I had been running with a tailwind. Crap!! So now I'm soaking wet, in 35 degree rain, running INTO a 20 mile per hour headwind. Crap!!
I quickly got really cold. I reached down to smooth out my running shorts and realized "I CAN"T FEEL MY THIGHS!" They were numb from the cold! And (mothers cover your children's ears) my privates were frozen. This was not fun. At all. My gloves were soaked, my shoes and socks were soaked. I was cold and miserable. My pace dropped to about a 9:30 which only prolonged my continued exposure to the elements. I seriously considered ducking into the metro or running into one of the museums. But the realization that I would still need to re-enter the cold to get back to my office kept me going. The sooner I finish, I thought, the sooner I finish.
So of course what happens? With about 1/2 mile to go, an obviously lost tourist stopped me -- that's right, I'm running and she stops me. "Where is the Supreme Court Building?" And nice guy that I am, I stop, and proceed to explain to her how to get to the Supreme Court (we were near the Capitol reflecting pool). After thanking me profusely, I continued my miserable run.
When I finally entered my building, I was freezing cold -- my legs and privates were numb, my fingers were aching. As I retrieved my ID from the guards' desk, I remarked "Some people simply have zero common sense. I am one of them!"
At first the shower was unbearable (the FTC showers, it would seem, have only two temperatures -- freezing and scalding -- I have yet to figure out how to modulate them). Eventually, I thawed enough to enjoy the shower. But I was freezingn and shivering for the rest of the day. I thought about heading across the street for a Starbucks, but the thought of going back outside was too much.
So, there you are sports fans. Was I a hard ass/bad ass runner? or just a dumb ass without enough sense to stay out of the rain? I'll let you decide.
But I did get in my 5 miles....
Friday, December 21, 2012
Volunteering My Ashe Off
Hello again sports fans. This past weekend was supposed to be my reintroduction to ultras after my 2009/2010 stress fractures. As many of you may know, I grew up in Virginia Beach. Summer cross-country practice usually had us doing long runs in Seashore State Park. Nowadays, whenever we are visiting the folks, Jordana and I sometimes run in Seashore State Park (now called First Landing Park). I had often commented that the park would be an ideal setting for a trail race. As luck would have it, 4 years ago the Tidewater Striders inaugurated the Seashore Nature Trails 50K in December. The first three years did not work for us (first year I had the stress fractures, the next two years we were running Rehoboth Marathon the weekend before). But this year, the stars all seemed to align -- we weren't doing Rehoboth and we would be in Virginia Beach that weekend. So this summer, I signed Jordana and me up for the race. Me - a reintroduction to ultras. Jordana - her first ultra.
Then I had my latest injury. Race weekend arrived. We loaded up the kids and drove down to Virginia Beach. Jordana was ready for the race. And me? Well, if you can't run the race, volunteer. I had emailed the race directly earlier and he said to just find him and he'd put me to work.
So, as Jordana was taking care of pre-race necessities (and all you marathoners and ultramarathoners out there know what I mean), I found the race director, was given a "RACE CREW" long-sleeve shirt, and was put on bag drop duty. The course was a double loop through Seashore State Park with 2 aid stations (that runners passed 4 times each). Runners could send a drop bag to the 64th Street aid station (which they pass at around miles 8, 12, 20, and 24). So for the better part of an hour, I was helping runners fill out and attach the bag drop label.
After the gun went off, we would drive the bags to the aid station. I had told the race director that I wanted to volunteer at 64th street to cheer my wife as she ran by and offered to take a few bags. I backed up the Honda Odyssey and we ended up loading all the bags into my car. Actually, it was quite fortuitous. When I got to the 64th street entrance, they were not letting any cars park at the trail head. But since I had all the drop bags, in I went.
After we unloaded the bags, I helped in the set up of the aid station. Filling cups with water, gatorade, and soda (pepsi, gingerale and mountain dew); cutting PB&J sandwiches; filling tins of M&Ms, Skittles, pretzels, potato chips, etc. Then we just hung around waiting for the runners to come.
As I mentioned, the runners first hit us around mile 5 on their way to the Narrows and the first turnaround. The front runners whizzed passed with few, if any, stopping. Eventually the main body of runners started coming through and we became busy with "what can I get you?" and calling out "water here, gatorade there" etc. I cheered Jordana as she ran through. Then about 30 - 60 minutes later we repeated the drill as the runners passed at around mile 9 heading back towards the Nature Center.
After most of the runners had passed to finish the first of the two loops, we began preparing for round 2 (when they returned twice for the second loop). This time they would be hitting us around miles 20 and 24 and we knew they would be much hungrier, thirstier, and more tired than the first time.
Meanwhile, I chatted with several of the other volunteers. The person in charge of the 64th Street aid station, as it turned out, ran cross-country for Indian River HS the same time I ran for Princess Anne. We reminisced about Regionals, the William & Mary invitational, and Norfolk Collegiate invitational (our shared races). We talked about the fast runners of our day -- the twins Lloyd and Floyd West from Menchville, Carlos George from Kempsville, and David Coulter from Green Run. It was a fun trip down memory lane.
All too soon the front runner ran past us -- "I'd like a bottle of pepsi on my return please" he called out. Was he serious? So I emptied a 16 oz water bottle and refilled it with Pepsi. We kept the top off so it could de-fizz a bit. When he ran past us again, he grabbed the bottle, thanked us, poured into his own water bottle and kept on running down the trail. Ok....
Then more runners started filing past. Most were a bit more frazzled than before. Whereas the first time, they often ran past grabbing a cup of gatorade or water, this time they stopped. Handing us their water bottles so we could offer a refill, all the while munching on the sandwiches and salty goodies. A common response to our question "what can we get you" became "you take my number and do the out and back while I wait here." When they returned from the out and back to the Narrows, the reply became "you take my number and finish the race!"
Eventually Jordana came holding her hand. She said she had taken a serious fall, landing on her hand. It was black and blue and bloody. One of the medical workers cleaned her up and put on a bandage. And off she went. When she returned at mile 24, a doctor who was working at the aid station examined her hand a bit more closely and suggested she visit the ER after the race as it could be broken. Yikes. Meanwhile, off she went to finish the race.
As Jordana left the aid station for the last time (around mile 24 at this point), I made my good-byes, as I had all along planned to work until she passed by the last time so I could drive back to the start/finish area and run the last 5 miles with her. Got in the car and drove to the finish then shuffled my way to our meeting point -- where the King Fisher trail entered the Cape Henry Trail.
I got there just as she was approaching. And off we went. I was so impressed with her pace as she entered Ultra-territory. As we neared the final aid station, I sped up so I could fill up her water bottle so she wouldn't have to stop. And off we went onto the Bald Cypress-Osmanthus Trail loop (the kids ran this with her on her first loop). We took this one slow as it was quite technical -- many cypress tree roots sticking up to trip the runner. Indeed, Jordana fell two more times -- landing both times on her injured hand. A weaker runner would have given up, but Jordana picked herself up, shook it off, and kept on running. Eventually, we left the loop for the easier Cape Henry Trail with only less than a mile to go -- mostly on the road to the finish. She passed 3 or 4 runners on this final stretch. As we neared the finish, I dropped off so she could cross alone, savoring completing her first 50K.
All in all, it was a great day. The weather was perfect running weather -- cloudy in the upper 40s. I was so jealous that I could not run. I really hope that I heal so that I can run this next year or the year after.
Meanwhile, I had a blast volunteering. If you have not done so, I highly recommend it. I've always appreciated the volunteers and try to always thank them. But having worked as a volunteer, I appreciate them all the more.
So there you are sports fans. Meanwhile, I'm still slowly trying to come back -- I'm up to 16 mile
weeks (4 miles 4 times a week). The pubic area is still sore. I see the specialist in a month. Boston is fast approaching...
Stay tuned....
Then I had my latest injury. Race weekend arrived. We loaded up the kids and drove down to Virginia Beach. Jordana was ready for the race. And me? Well, if you can't run the race, volunteer. I had emailed the race directly earlier and he said to just find him and he'd put me to work.
So, as Jordana was taking care of pre-race necessities (and all you marathoners and ultramarathoners out there know what I mean), I found the race director, was given a "RACE CREW" long-sleeve shirt, and was put on bag drop duty. The course was a double loop through Seashore State Park with 2 aid stations (that runners passed 4 times each). Runners could send a drop bag to the 64th Street aid station (which they pass at around miles 8, 12, 20, and 24). So for the better part of an hour, I was helping runners fill out and attach the bag drop label.
After the gun went off, we would drive the bags to the aid station. I had told the race director that I wanted to volunteer at 64th street to cheer my wife as she ran by and offered to take a few bags. I backed up the Honda Odyssey and we ended up loading all the bags into my car. Actually, it was quite fortuitous. When I got to the 64th street entrance, they were not letting any cars park at the trail head. But since I had all the drop bags, in I went.
After we unloaded the bags, I helped in the set up of the aid station. Filling cups with water, gatorade, and soda (pepsi, gingerale and mountain dew); cutting PB&J sandwiches; filling tins of M&Ms, Skittles, pretzels, potato chips, etc. Then we just hung around waiting for the runners to come.
As I mentioned, the runners first hit us around mile 5 on their way to the Narrows and the first turnaround. The front runners whizzed passed with few, if any, stopping. Eventually the main body of runners started coming through and we became busy with "what can I get you?" and calling out "water here, gatorade there" etc. I cheered Jordana as she ran through. Then about 30 - 60 minutes later we repeated the drill as the runners passed at around mile 9 heading back towards the Nature Center.
After most of the runners had passed to finish the first of the two loops, we began preparing for round 2 (when they returned twice for the second loop). This time they would be hitting us around miles 20 and 24 and we knew they would be much hungrier, thirstier, and more tired than the first time.
Meanwhile, I chatted with several of the other volunteers. The person in charge of the 64th Street aid station, as it turned out, ran cross-country for Indian River HS the same time I ran for Princess Anne. We reminisced about Regionals, the William & Mary invitational, and Norfolk Collegiate invitational (our shared races). We talked about the fast runners of our day -- the twins Lloyd and Floyd West from Menchville, Carlos George from Kempsville, and David Coulter from Green Run. It was a fun trip down memory lane.
All too soon the front runner ran past us -- "I'd like a bottle of pepsi on my return please" he called out. Was he serious? So I emptied a 16 oz water bottle and refilled it with Pepsi. We kept the top off so it could de-fizz a bit. When he ran past us again, he grabbed the bottle, thanked us, poured into his own water bottle and kept on running down the trail. Ok....
Then more runners started filing past. Most were a bit more frazzled than before. Whereas the first time, they often ran past grabbing a cup of gatorade or water, this time they stopped. Handing us their water bottles so we could offer a refill, all the while munching on the sandwiches and salty goodies. A common response to our question "what can we get you" became "you take my number and do the out and back while I wait here." When they returned from the out and back to the Narrows, the reply became "you take my number and finish the race!"
Eventually Jordana came holding her hand. She said she had taken a serious fall, landing on her hand. It was black and blue and bloody. One of the medical workers cleaned her up and put on a bandage. And off she went. When she returned at mile 24, a doctor who was working at the aid station examined her hand a bit more closely and suggested she visit the ER after the race as it could be broken. Yikes. Meanwhile, off she went to finish the race.
As Jordana left the aid station for the last time (around mile 24 at this point), I made my good-byes, as I had all along planned to work until she passed by the last time so I could drive back to the start/finish area and run the last 5 miles with her. Got in the car and drove to the finish then shuffled my way to our meeting point -- where the King Fisher trail entered the Cape Henry Trail.
I got there just as she was approaching. And off we went. I was so impressed with her pace as she entered Ultra-territory. As we neared the final aid station, I sped up so I could fill up her water bottle so she wouldn't have to stop. And off we went onto the Bald Cypress-Osmanthus Trail loop (the kids ran this with her on her first loop). We took this one slow as it was quite technical -- many cypress tree roots sticking up to trip the runner. Indeed, Jordana fell two more times -- landing both times on her injured hand. A weaker runner would have given up, but Jordana picked herself up, shook it off, and kept on running. Eventually, we left the loop for the easier Cape Henry Trail with only less than a mile to go -- mostly on the road to the finish. She passed 3 or 4 runners on this final stretch. As we neared the finish, I dropped off so she could cross alone, savoring completing her first 50K.
All in all, it was a great day. The weather was perfect running weather -- cloudy in the upper 40s. I was so jealous that I could not run. I really hope that I heal so that I can run this next year or the year after.
Meanwhile, I had a blast volunteering. If you have not done so, I highly recommend it. I've always appreciated the volunteers and try to always thank them. But having worked as a volunteer, I appreciate them all the more.
So there you are sports fans. Meanwhile, I'm still slowly trying to come back -- I'm up to 16 mile
weeks (4 miles 4 times a week). The pubic area is still sore. I see the specialist in a month. Boston is fast approaching...
Stay tuned....
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Limbo
Howdy sports fans. I'm sitting here in Ft. Lauderdale waiting for my flight so figured I would bring everyone up to date on the edge-of-my-seat gripping saga that is my recovery.
When we last left off, the endocrinologist confirmed osteopenia. I then had another follow up with the ortho. Unlike my previous visit to him, he was a bit more cautious after the DEXA scan. No more sprint intervals. Discontinue the functional progression chart. We talked about pain levels and about what type of runs "hurt" the least. The easy 3 milers, said I. Then stick with those, said he.
Meanwhile, the endocrinologist gave me a referral to a metabolic bone disorder specialist at the University of Maryland. Next available appointment -- January 30 (criminy -- that many people see this type of specialist??) Anyhow, the ortho does not want me drastically increasing either mileage or pace until after I've met with the Maryland specialist. How am I supposed to train for Boston? Remember? I naively signed up for that race last fall thinking I'd be back running at full strength in January?
So, for the rest of November and so far in December, I've been running easy 3 milers about 4 times a week (12-13 mile totals). This week, I've been in Ft. Lauderdale on business. The hotel is 2 miles from the A1A -- so I did several 4 miles (to the beach and back!). They were slow and felt OK (or at least they didn't feel any worse). So maybe I'll step up my mileage to 4 milers next week.
So there you have it, sports fans. I'm in limbo. I can run -- but not much. No one seems to know why I've gotten my second pelvic area stress fracture in 3 years. Yep, I'm in limbo.
More to come...
When we last left off, the endocrinologist confirmed osteopenia. I then had another follow up with the ortho. Unlike my previous visit to him, he was a bit more cautious after the DEXA scan. No more sprint intervals. Discontinue the functional progression chart. We talked about pain levels and about what type of runs "hurt" the least. The easy 3 milers, said I. Then stick with those, said he.
Meanwhile, the endocrinologist gave me a referral to a metabolic bone disorder specialist at the University of Maryland. Next available appointment -- January 30 (criminy -- that many people see this type of specialist??) Anyhow, the ortho does not want me drastically increasing either mileage or pace until after I've met with the Maryland specialist. How am I supposed to train for Boston? Remember? I naively signed up for that race last fall thinking I'd be back running at full strength in January?
So, for the rest of November and so far in December, I've been running easy 3 milers about 4 times a week (12-13 mile totals). This week, I've been in Ft. Lauderdale on business. The hotel is 2 miles from the A1A -- so I did several 4 miles (to the beach and back!). They were slow and felt OK (or at least they didn't feel any worse). So maybe I'll step up my mileage to 4 milers next week.
So there you have it, sports fans. I'm in limbo. I can run -- but not much. No one seems to know why I've gotten my second pelvic area stress fracture in 3 years. Yep, I'm in limbo.
More to come...
Sunday, November 25, 2012
Recovery (?) Continues...
Howdy sports fans,
In my last post, my orthopedist cleared me to start the slow road back to running. And slow it has been. It's quite frustrating -- when I resumed running in 2010 after my last pelvic injury, I felt a lot stronger than I do now. And nothing seemed to hurt (at least I don't remember anything hurting). Now? I'm doing the functional activity progression chart, but the pubic area is still sore. The ortho said it would be OK to feel sore at a 1 - 4 (out of 10) level, but the cut back if it was 5. Whatever that means. Sometimes I wonder: do I have a high tolerance for pain (something, I'm sure many marathoners have)? If the doctor felt this would he be saying -- whoa that's not good. Other times I wonder if maybe I'm just over-reacting; if the doctor felt this would he be saying -- this is nothing? Anyhow, I go back to the ortho tomorrow for a follow up.
Meanwhile, for those interested, here is my functional activity progression. When we last left off, I was still in the transition from walking to jogging. I was alternating 440 yards walking with 440 yards jogging (for 1 mile total); then it was walk 440/jog 880/walk 440; then it was walk 220/jog 1320/walk 220; finally, walk 100/jog 1 mile/walk 100.
Stage II was progessing from jogging to running. Basically, this was a repeat of stage I except replacing walking with jogging and jogging with running. By jogging, I was doing anywhere from 9:30 to 10:30 pace; the running, it was anything faster than 9:30 -- typically in the 8's although I attempted to do some of my LSD pace (7:30 - 7:45). Anyhow, this stage went as follows: jog 330/run 110/jog 330/run 110/jog 330/run 110/jog 330/run 110/jog 110; next it was jog 220/run 220/jog 220/ run 220/ jog 220/run 220/ jog 880/run 440/jog 440/run 440; next it was jog 440/run 880/jog 880/run 1320/jog 440; finally I was up to jog 440/run 1 mile/jog 880/ run 1 mile/ jog 440.
This week, I was doing Stage III -- progression to sprint running. The first day (last Monday), I ran on the Mall. Warm up of jog 440/run 1 mile/jog 440. The program then called for 2 repetitions of 50 yards at 50% speed, then 2 reps of 50 yards at 75% speed, finally 2 reps of 50 yards at 100% speed. I attempted to go MP (as 50%), Lactate Threshold or 10K pace for the 75%, and VO2max or 5K pace for the 100%. I say "attempted" because I don't think I was really able to maintain or even approximate any of those speeds. Using my Garmin, I approximated 50 yards on the Mall and did my short repeats. It was very sore running at that speed. The adjective that best describes how my pelvic area felt was "creaky."
I decided not to do the sprints everyday. I had meetings and doctor appointments on Tuesday (so just swam). The next day, I did an easy 3 miles (jog 440/run 1 mile/ jog 880/run 1 mile/jog 440).
On Thanksgiving, I went to the Churchill track for the next progression: after the 1.5 mile warmup, I did two x 100 meters (slow jog of 300meter recovery). I felt very sore doing those repeats -- although I was able to maintain VO2max (5:49 pace). Not only was I sore, but I was exhausted, just running 100 meters. And to think, I was doing 8 to 10 x 800 meters at V02max this time last year!!
Friday was an easy day (thank you Peter!)
Yesterday I was back at the track to do 4 x 100 meters (300m recovery jog). Again, I was able to run sub 6's for the 100 meters. But, it just doesn't feel "right" if that makes any sense.
Anyhow -- there you have. I have two more "sprint" sessions 6 x 50 meters and 10 x 50 meters and then I'm "done", whatever that means. I'll talk with the ortho tomorrow and figure out what "that means."
Meanwhile, I still don't know what's causing all this. A week ago Wednesday, I get a call from the endocrinologist's office: "Your DEXA scan results are in, the doctor would like you to come in. Are you free next Tuesday?" That can't be good. Of course, it's only the scheduler, so she can't give me any more information. Is this good news? bad news? Anyhow, Tuesday comes and I go to the endocrinologist. The DEXA scan confirms osteopenia (low bone density). In fact, the DEXA scan results over time (2010, 2011, and now 2012) show progessively worsening bone density. Yikes! BUT the blood results all were in the normal range. The endocrinologist is stumped and I'm now referred to a doctor at the University of Maryland who specializes in metabolic bone disorders. Meanwhile, I'm now taking 1500 IUs of Vitamin D3 in addition 400mg calcium per day.
More to come...
In my last post, my orthopedist cleared me to start the slow road back to running. And slow it has been. It's quite frustrating -- when I resumed running in 2010 after my last pelvic injury, I felt a lot stronger than I do now. And nothing seemed to hurt (at least I don't remember anything hurting). Now? I'm doing the functional activity progression chart, but the pubic area is still sore. The ortho said it would be OK to feel sore at a 1 - 4 (out of 10) level, but the cut back if it was 5. Whatever that means. Sometimes I wonder: do I have a high tolerance for pain (something, I'm sure many marathoners have)? If the doctor felt this would he be saying -- whoa that's not good. Other times I wonder if maybe I'm just over-reacting; if the doctor felt this would he be saying -- this is nothing? Anyhow, I go back to the ortho tomorrow for a follow up.
Meanwhile, for those interested, here is my functional activity progression. When we last left off, I was still in the transition from walking to jogging. I was alternating 440 yards walking with 440 yards jogging (for 1 mile total); then it was walk 440/jog 880/walk 440; then it was walk 220/jog 1320/walk 220; finally, walk 100/jog 1 mile/walk 100.
Stage II was progessing from jogging to running. Basically, this was a repeat of stage I except replacing walking with jogging and jogging with running. By jogging, I was doing anywhere from 9:30 to 10:30 pace; the running, it was anything faster than 9:30 -- typically in the 8's although I attempted to do some of my LSD pace (7:30 - 7:45). Anyhow, this stage went as follows: jog 330/run 110/jog 330/run 110/jog 330/run 110/jog 330/run 110/jog 110; next it was jog 220/run 220/jog 220/ run 220/ jog 220/run 220/ jog 880/run 440/jog 440/run 440; next it was jog 440/run 880/jog 880/run 1320/jog 440; finally I was up to jog 440/run 1 mile/jog 880/ run 1 mile/ jog 440.
This week, I was doing Stage III -- progression to sprint running. The first day (last Monday), I ran on the Mall. Warm up of jog 440/run 1 mile/jog 440. The program then called for 2 repetitions of 50 yards at 50% speed, then 2 reps of 50 yards at 75% speed, finally 2 reps of 50 yards at 100% speed. I attempted to go MP (as 50%), Lactate Threshold or 10K pace for the 75%, and VO2max or 5K pace for the 100%. I say "attempted" because I don't think I was really able to maintain or even approximate any of those speeds. Using my Garmin, I approximated 50 yards on the Mall and did my short repeats. It was very sore running at that speed. The adjective that best describes how my pelvic area felt was "creaky."
I decided not to do the sprints everyday. I had meetings and doctor appointments on Tuesday (so just swam). The next day, I did an easy 3 miles (jog 440/run 1 mile/ jog 880/run 1 mile/jog 440).
On Thanksgiving, I went to the Churchill track for the next progression: after the 1.5 mile warmup, I did two x 100 meters (slow jog of 300meter recovery). I felt very sore doing those repeats -- although I was able to maintain VO2max (5:49 pace). Not only was I sore, but I was exhausted, just running 100 meters. And to think, I was doing 8 to 10 x 800 meters at V02max this time last year!!
Friday was an easy day (thank you Peter!)
Yesterday I was back at the track to do 4 x 100 meters (300m recovery jog). Again, I was able to run sub 6's for the 100 meters. But, it just doesn't feel "right" if that makes any sense.
Anyhow -- there you have. I have two more "sprint" sessions 6 x 50 meters and 10 x 50 meters and then I'm "done", whatever that means. I'll talk with the ortho tomorrow and figure out what "that means."
Meanwhile, I still don't know what's causing all this. A week ago Wednesday, I get a call from the endocrinologist's office: "Your DEXA scan results are in, the doctor would like you to come in. Are you free next Tuesday?" That can't be good. Of course, it's only the scheduler, so she can't give me any more information. Is this good news? bad news? Anyhow, Tuesday comes and I go to the endocrinologist. The DEXA scan confirms osteopenia (low bone density). In fact, the DEXA scan results over time (2010, 2011, and now 2012) show progessively worsening bone density. Yikes! BUT the blood results all were in the normal range. The endocrinologist is stumped and I'm now referred to a doctor at the University of Maryland who specializes in metabolic bone disorders. Meanwhile, I'm now taking 1500 IUs of Vitamin D3 in addition 400mg calcium per day.
More to come...
Monday, November 12, 2012
A Light at the End of the Tunnel?
Happy Veteran's Day sports fans and a big shout out to those of you who have proudly worn the uniform of the United States or its allies.
Anyhow, two weeks ago I had my DEXA scan (still waiting for results) and on Monday I had a follow up with the orthopedist. I was worried because I was starting to feel some low level pain in the pubic region again (typically 1 -3 out of 10 on the pain scale, maybe very seldom 4's) nothing sharp or excruciating or debilitating but still... Anyhow, the orthopedist did not seem concerned with pain in the 1 -4 range. He even mentioned that given the drop in temperatures, it was actually normal for me to be feeling that low level type of pain (must by temperature sensitive). He put me through a range of motions test. I was concerned when he told me to wait while he went and got something -- I'm thinking, another prescription for an MRI? He comes back with a two page sheet entitled "Functional Activity Progression." The doctor said I could start on Saturday.
Day 1: Walk 1 mile. Walk 330 yards, jog 110 yards, walk 330 yards, jog 110 yards, walk 330 yards, jog 110 yards, walk 330 yards, jog 110 yards. Total distance -- 2 miles, total distance jogging -- 1/4 mile.
So on Saturday, after two long months, I put on my running shoes and my 2012 XMP shirt, went to the track at Churchill, turned on my Garmin (still anal when it comes to that...), and walked. And jogged. It wasn't fast, and I was a little sore. But I was running (or rather jogging) again. When I was done, I headed off to the pool for my usual mile swim and 15 minutes of pool running.
Day 2: Back at the track. Walk 220 yards, jog 220 yards, walk 220 yards, jog 220 yards, walk 220 yards, jog 220 yards, walk 440 yards. Walk 440 yards, jog 440 yards, walk 440 yards, jog 440 yards, walk 100 yards. Total distance -- 2.05 miles, total distance jogging -- 7/8 mile. Again, it wasn't fast (my jogging pace was around 10:30) and I was still sore, but not as sore as I kept at it.
Day 3: Swam a mile and did 15 minutes of pool running in the morning. This afternoon, back at the track for 440 yards walk, 880 yards jog, 440 yards walk. 220 yards walk, 1320 yards jog, 220 yards walk. Total distance -- 2 miles; total distance jogging -- 1 1/4 miles! Slowly building that mileage up!!
So here I am, very thankful and hopefully optimistic that I am finally back on the road to recovery.
Stay tuned, sports fans...
Anyhow, two weeks ago I had my DEXA scan (still waiting for results) and on Monday I had a follow up with the orthopedist. I was worried because I was starting to feel some low level pain in the pubic region again (typically 1 -3 out of 10 on the pain scale, maybe very seldom 4's) nothing sharp or excruciating or debilitating but still... Anyhow, the orthopedist did not seem concerned with pain in the 1 -4 range. He even mentioned that given the drop in temperatures, it was actually normal for me to be feeling that low level type of pain (must by temperature sensitive). He put me through a range of motions test. I was concerned when he told me to wait while he went and got something -- I'm thinking, another prescription for an MRI? He comes back with a two page sheet entitled "Functional Activity Progression." The doctor said I could start on Saturday.
Day 1: Walk 1 mile. Walk 330 yards, jog 110 yards, walk 330 yards, jog 110 yards, walk 330 yards, jog 110 yards, walk 330 yards, jog 110 yards. Total distance -- 2 miles, total distance jogging -- 1/4 mile.
So on Saturday, after two long months, I put on my running shoes and my 2012 XMP shirt, went to the track at Churchill, turned on my Garmin (still anal when it comes to that...), and walked. And jogged. It wasn't fast, and I was a little sore. But I was running (or rather jogging) again. When I was done, I headed off to the pool for my usual mile swim and 15 minutes of pool running.
Day 2: Back at the track. Walk 220 yards, jog 220 yards, walk 220 yards, jog 220 yards, walk 220 yards, jog 220 yards, walk 440 yards. Walk 440 yards, jog 440 yards, walk 440 yards, jog 440 yards, walk 100 yards. Total distance -- 2.05 miles, total distance jogging -- 7/8 mile. Again, it wasn't fast (my jogging pace was around 10:30) and I was still sore, but not as sore as I kept at it.
Day 3: Swam a mile and did 15 minutes of pool running in the morning. This afternoon, back at the track for 440 yards walk, 880 yards jog, 440 yards walk. 220 yards walk, 1320 yards jog, 220 yards walk. Total distance -- 2 miles; total distance jogging -- 1 1/4 miles! Slowly building that mileage up!!
So here I am, very thankful and hopefully optimistic that I am finally back on the road to recovery.
Stay tuned, sports fans...
Sunday, October 28, 2012
Tasty Grapes
As I sit here watching game 4 of the World Series not feeling tired from running a marathon, not feeling aching muscles from having completed 26.2 miles, not feeling exhausted from exercising for roughly 3 or so hours, I could think of all the I'm-glad-I-didn't-run-today excuses. It was forecasted to be pouring wet (I think of Boston 2007) --- but the rain held off. It was forecasted to be gale force winds (again I think of Boston 2007) -- but the major winds will come tomorrow (not that a 10 - 15 mph headwind is fun, especially at the end of a marathon). I could be sitting here (while my wife sleeps the sound sleep of the marathoner) thinking I'm glad I didn't run because those grapes were probably sour anyway.
But I can't. I know those grapes are sour. Those grapes are tasty. I don't care what the conditions are -- I'm really bummed I wasn't out there running today. Or in early September at Parks Half. Or in late September at the Richmond Rox 1/2 Ironman. Or in November at the Potomac River Run Marathon. Or in December at the Seashore 50K. Jordana ran her 8th Marine Corps --- 7th in a row. Two away from getting her 10 timers patch. Me? I squeaked out my 5 timers patch last year -- no streak. I was hoping to run MCM #6 -- maybe start a streak of my own thinking my running injuries (at least serious injuries) were in the past.
Instead, I spent the morning doing laps. As I was going up and back 36 times (plus the 15 minutes of pool running), I was running the course in my mind. Thinking of where my running friends would be at that moment. I got back home and followed the runner tracking -- imagining where everyone was. Imagining how I felt running last year. Thinking of my crappy spring marathon performance and how I was hoping to redeem myself this fall. Definitely a bummer.
Meanwhile, assuming there is power, I have another DEXA scan scheduled for Tuesday. And another visit to the orthopedist next week. Part of my crappy mood is that at the beginning of last week, I was thinking to myself that everything was starting to feel pretty good and had been for a number of days and maybe I should be thinking about when I can start running. (As you may recall, I'm supposed to go 14 days pain free, then I can schedule a follow up orthopedist visit to discuss resuming running). But all week I felt a nagging pain in the groin area. Not as bad as in the summer. But definitely setting the clock back to zero when I should be not feeling this way. I've been good -- no running (I swear), no fast walks at lunch. Hell, I don't even run to catch the metro. Nothing but swimming with the pull buoy and pool running. So why is it hurting again.
Oh well.
To all my friends who ran Marine Corps today, well run. I don't care what the conditions were, I wish I could have joined you. I'm sure those grapes were sweet.
But I can't. I know those grapes are sour. Those grapes are tasty. I don't care what the conditions are -- I'm really bummed I wasn't out there running today. Or in early September at Parks Half. Or in late September at the Richmond Rox 1/2 Ironman. Or in November at the Potomac River Run Marathon. Or in December at the Seashore 50K. Jordana ran her 8th Marine Corps --- 7th in a row. Two away from getting her 10 timers patch. Me? I squeaked out my 5 timers patch last year -- no streak. I was hoping to run MCM #6 -- maybe start a streak of my own thinking my running injuries (at least serious injuries) were in the past.
Instead, I spent the morning doing laps. As I was going up and back 36 times (plus the 15 minutes of pool running), I was running the course in my mind. Thinking of where my running friends would be at that moment. I got back home and followed the runner tracking -- imagining where everyone was. Imagining how I felt running last year. Thinking of my crappy spring marathon performance and how I was hoping to redeem myself this fall. Definitely a bummer.
Meanwhile, assuming there is power, I have another DEXA scan scheduled for Tuesday. And another visit to the orthopedist next week. Part of my crappy mood is that at the beginning of last week, I was thinking to myself that everything was starting to feel pretty good and had been for a number of days and maybe I should be thinking about when I can start running. (As you may recall, I'm supposed to go 14 days pain free, then I can schedule a follow up orthopedist visit to discuss resuming running). But all week I felt a nagging pain in the groin area. Not as bad as in the summer. But definitely setting the clock back to zero when I should be not feeling this way. I've been good -- no running (I swear), no fast walks at lunch. Hell, I don't even run to catch the metro. Nothing but swimming with the pull buoy and pool running. So why is it hurting again.
Oh well.
To all my friends who ran Marine Corps today, well run. I don't care what the conditions were, I wish I could have joined you. I'm sure those grapes were sweet.
Wednesday, October 10, 2012
Quiz
Three guesses as to what is in the orange container. And no, it's not lemonade.
Anyhow, in addition to the above container, went to the lab for a full work up to see what is causing these pesky stress reactions in the femur and pelvis.
Now it's wait and see what the test results say.
Stay tuned sports fans.
Monday, October 8, 2012
(still not) Running my Ashe Off
Quick update. Went to the endocrinologist on Thursday. Mostly a consult. We talked about my running history, in particular my injury history. Gave the doctor copies of my various MRI reports and DEXA scans. Her first reaction was that stress fractures and reactions, even in the femur, are a risk factor of marathon & beyond training. But she did agree that two in two years likely means some secondary cause. So, she ordered the battery of blood tests and my favorite, the 24 hour urine test. That's my favorite, because I get to store my urine in a bright orange jug in the fridge --- that's not lemonade, kids! I take the blood tests on Monday. So it will probably be another week before all the results are in and we can start figuring out if anything is wrong.
Part of me hopes there is some correctable problem. Correct it and get back to running. I don't want to be told that it's just too much running and that I need to cut back. I'm not ready for that yet.
Meanwhile, off to the pool for more laps.
Part of me hopes there is some correctable problem. Correct it and get back to running. I don't want to be told that it's just too much running and that I need to cut back. I'm not ready for that yet.
Meanwhile, off to the pool for more laps.
Thursday, October 4, 2012
Runner's Hell
It's been a couple of years, but I once again tasted runner's hell last night --- aquajogging!! Oh brother, I strapped on the big, pale-blue waist belt/float, waded into the "slow" lane of the pool, and started....what? not running, not really swimming either. Sort of running in place, in the deep end. Slowly going....nowhere. Welcome to aquajogging.
Criminy. At least I waited until 8:30 pm when there were few people in the pool. I want to wear a sign that says I'm not really this lame! I can run marathons and ultramarathons and do triatlons, really, I'm just injured. But all I get is the occasional look from the lifeguard (probably the same look I know I'm guilty of giving), the look that says "is that all you can do?"
Fifteen minutes of runner's hell, I mean aquajogging. Then I swam a mile (36 fun filled laps), alternating 1/4 mile with the pull buoy, 1/4 mile without. And the cherry on top of my sundae? the steam room was closed for repairs.
Later today, I go to the endocrinologist. What goodies will be in store for me then?
Stay tuned. Same bat time, same bat channel...
Criminy. At least I waited until 8:30 pm when there were few people in the pool. I want to wear a sign that says I'm not really this lame! I can run marathons and ultramarathons and do triatlons, really, I'm just injured. But all I get is the occasional look from the lifeguard (probably the same look I know I'm guilty of giving), the look that says "is that all you can do?"
Fifteen minutes of runner's hell, I mean aquajogging. Then I swam a mile (36 fun filled laps), alternating 1/4 mile with the pull buoy, 1/4 mile without. And the cherry on top of my sundae? the steam room was closed for repairs.
Later today, I go to the endocrinologist. What goodies will be in store for me then?
Stay tuned. Same bat time, same bat channel...
Crap! Crap! and Double Crap!!
Here is my Facebook blogpost from September 7:
When we last left off, I was about to see the orthopedist for a follow up visit on August 30. He prescribed an MRI just to rule things out (like stress fracture or hernia). So on the 31st, I slid myself back into the MRI canister for another 45 minutes of claustrophobic high magnetic field fun.
Yesterday the doctor called with the diagnosis: bone edema in the tension side of the left femoral neck which he described a stress reaction (or pre-fracture, i.e., the stage just before a stress fracture) (the femoral neck is the base of the ball at the top of the femur). Wait, there's more. Bone edema in the pubic symphysis which is almost unchanged since my March 2010 MRI (i.e., original stress fracture never fully healed??)
Crap! Crap! and Double Crap!!
His recommenation (or rather order): no running for at least 4 weeks. He said I was lucky. Had the femoral neck actually developed a stress fracture, I would have needed major surgery to correct it. With a stress reaction, he thinks that just keeping away from impact sports for a time should allow for a complete recovery.
Anyhow, I have to wait until I go 14 days in a row with no pain when walking (so if I feel pain on day 11, the clock is reset to 0). He estimated that it would take at least around 4 weeks until I was able to go that 14 days pain free. What happens then? I begin recovery. The doctor did not go into details, but it sounded something like: go to the track and walk a lap and run a lap. WTF?????
What can I do? Swim and stationary bike. So I guess it's back to the pool and trainer for me. Oh well...
Needless to say no Parks Half Marathon on Sunday, no Richmond Rox half ironman on the 23rd, no Marine Corps Marathon in October, no Potomac River Run Marathon in November, no Seashore State Park 50K in December.
Crap! Crap! and Double Crap!!
Then comes the issue of why the hell is this happening? I would have thought that after all the shit I had to endure in 2009/2010 I would get a break (well, not literally a "break"). To quote Travis "why does it always rain on me?"
On the one hand it could just be overuse on a pelvis that was never fully healed (but the doctor was not sure if the femoral injury was related to the pubic injury). Or maybe, I have some deeper issue about not processing calcium that is making the bones more susceptible. Who knows? All I know is that it's back to the doctors to figure out what is going on and how I can prevent this from happening again.
Crap! Crap! and Double Crap!!
Yesterday the doctor called with the diagnosis: bone edema in the tension side of the left femoral neck which he described a stress reaction (or pre-fracture, i.e., the stage just before a stress fracture) (the femoral neck is the base of the ball at the top of the femur). Wait, there's more. Bone edema in the pubic symphysis which is almost unchanged since my March 2010 MRI (i.e., original stress fracture never fully healed??)
Crap! Crap! and Double Crap!!
His recommenation (or rather order): no running for at least 4 weeks. He said I was lucky. Had the femoral neck actually developed a stress fracture, I would have needed major surgery to correct it. With a stress reaction, he thinks that just keeping away from impact sports for a time should allow for a complete recovery.
Anyhow, I have to wait until I go 14 days in a row with no pain when walking (so if I feel pain on day 11, the clock is reset to 0). He estimated that it would take at least around 4 weeks until I was able to go that 14 days pain free. What happens then? I begin recovery. The doctor did not go into details, but it sounded something like: go to the track and walk a lap and run a lap. WTF?????
What can I do? Swim and stationary bike. So I guess it's back to the pool and trainer for me. Oh well...
Needless to say no Parks Half Marathon on Sunday, no Richmond Rox half ironman on the 23rd, no Marine Corps Marathon in October, no Potomac River Run Marathon in November, no Seashore State Park 50K in December.
Crap! Crap! and Double Crap!!
Then comes the issue of why the hell is this happening? I would have thought that after all the shit I had to endure in 2009/2010 I would get a break (well, not literally a "break"). To quote Travis "why does it always rain on me?"
On the one hand it could just be overuse on a pelvis that was never fully healed (but the doctor was not sure if the femoral injury was related to the pubic injury). Or maybe, I have some deeper issue about not processing calcium that is making the bones more susceptible. Who knows? All I know is that it's back to the doctors to figure out what is going on and how I can prevent this from happening again.
Crap! Crap! and Double Crap!!
The best laid plans
I've been a bit behind in reposting my Facebook blogs to this blog. Here is the entry from August 27:
Howdy sports fans, been a while since my last post. This is one of high hopes that, while not being dashed on the shores of reality, have required a major mid-course correction.
The summer started off OK. After Eagleman, I think I finally stumbled upon the correct formula to deal with my electrolyte depletion issues. As an aside, I decided to be scientific about my sweat rate during exercise. For a couple of days post-Eagleman, I weighed myself naked before and then after my run. Since I do not drink any fluid during my noontime runs, the difference in weight is how much I sweat out. And since my daily run is about 1 hour in length, that number is also my sweat rate per hour. Well, it seems that I sweat anywhere from 3 to 5 pounds per hour, averaging around 4 (and since a pint of water is about one pound, that translates to about 1 quart to over half gallon of sweat per hour). So I've been sweating a lot.
As I said, I seem to have found the right formula for keeping my electrolytes in balance: every morning I take 500mg of magnesium supplement and 595mg of potassium supplement. Before my runs, I take a Succeed S!Cap (341mg of sodium) and if the run is over 1 hour, I usually take another half way. With this supplement to my diet, I had no trouble running through this past summer's heat wave (both my shorter daily runs as well as my weekend long runs and Tuesday evening speedwork workouts).
Meanwhile, I was doing well on mileage throughout the remainder of June and most of July. As I have mentioned previously, I have an aggressive fall racing schedule -- Parks Half Marathon and Richmond Rox Half-Ironman in September, Marine Corps Marathon in October, Potomac River Run Marathon in November, and Seashore Trails 50K in December. Mid July I was already at 1414 total miles for the year (about 100 miles more than the same time in 2011), so I was on track to break my total yearly mileage record as well. And my early speedwork runs were putting me on target to repeat a sub-3 either at Marine Corps or at Potomac River Run.
Then, my ego got in the way. We were running an 18 mile long run (CCT to Beach Drive to Pierce Mill and back). The scheduled run had 3 sets of hills (Wise Rd/Bingham box, Ross Road, and ending with the Leland hills). Well, we started out at a pretty good clip. LSD should be between 7:45 and 7:30 per mile, but we were averaging 7:15 to 7:20. I knew I should have slowed down, but it felt good. The group was engaged in good conversation. The temperature was surprisingly cool and rainy. We got to Pierce Mill (at the base of the Ross Road hills) and instead of heading back along Beach Drive, we decided to head back going back up the Ross Road hills. The grade was a bit steeper in the this direction and I could tell mid-way through this 3rd set of hills that (in the words of Miss Clavelle) "something was not right." I started to drop back, running several paces behind the group, occaisonally picking up the pace to catch back up. By the team we reached the Leland hills, I was spent. My groin was aching, my legs were heavy. I plodded my way up the five sets of hills, several minutes behind everyone else.
When I got home to shower, the left side of the groin area was aching. Standing in the shower, I found it difficult to put weight on the left leg. Oh crap! I thought, this had better not be a stress fracture. I ruled that out, though, because I found I could hop up and down on the left leg without difficulty. Maybe just overuse I thought.
On Monday, it was painful to begin running but the pain went away after about a mile or so, so I figured I must be OK. Indeed, on Tuesday night, I was running marathon pace miles for 4 miles at the XMP workout. But...that first mile or so was very painful. It hurt when I sneezed or coughed. It hurt when I got out of bed. Instead of stress fracture, now I was thinking hernia and surgery -- yikes!
I kept thinking things would get better. But I seemed to be stuck in a repeat-loop. I could run (even do marathon pace miles) but it was sore.
The beginning of August, I went to the orthopedist. Strained hip flexor (to be specific, the left psoas major). On the plus side, I could run through this injury. On the negative side, no hills, no speed, no long distance for a month. Sort of puts the damper on my racing schedule. To quote a fellow injured runner, "this may not be a PR season." I also started doing physical therapy again -- ultrasound, deep tissue massage, and electic stimulation of the muscle group.
Meanwhile, I've stuck to running my daily 8 miler at LSD pace. Three weeks ago, the physical therapist thought I could start gradually upping my weekend long run mileage. Luckily, XMP has been running some relatively flat courses lately, so I could run out with my group but just turn around early. So three weeks ago, I did 10 miles on the C&O Canal. Then I did 12 miles on the CCT, and this past weekend was able to do 14 miles. Same routine -- very sore for the first mile or so, then I can just "feel" the muscle.
Interesting phenomena as I've been upping the long run mileage -- when I did the 10 miler, it felt OK for the first 8 miles but was a struggle for the last 2. When I did the 12 miler, it felt OK for the first 10, then struggle for the last 2. And, that's right sports fans, when I did the 14 miler, it was the last 2 that were the struggle. Not sure what to make of that, but I hope you can see the pattern that has developed.
So here I am, last week of August. I have yet to do any 20 milers. No speedwork beyond running marathon pace. Parks Half Marathon is on Sep 9. I hope to just run that as an extended marathon pace tempo run.
Don't get me started on the triathlon --- when I tried to swim laps earlier in August, I could not flutter kick without the hip flexor hurting so had to swim with the pull buoy. Luckily, the muscle does not hurt on the bike (although, unrelated to running, I have tendonitis in the elbow making riding in aero position for extended periods of time discomfortable -- thankfully the orthopedist intends to give me a cortisone shot in the elbow later this week). My hope for the tri is that the James River will be cold enough to be wet suit legal -- the buoyancy of the wetsuit mimics the pull buoy allowing me to minimize kicking.
So there you have it sports fans. The best laid plans.... Oh well. I'm hoping to be able to run LSD or bit a faster at Marine Corps to at least run a Boston qualifying time.
I go back to the orthopedist for a follow up on Thursday. Until then....
The summer started off OK. After Eagleman, I think I finally stumbled upon the correct formula to deal with my electrolyte depletion issues. As an aside, I decided to be scientific about my sweat rate during exercise. For a couple of days post-Eagleman, I weighed myself naked before and then after my run. Since I do not drink any fluid during my noontime runs, the difference in weight is how much I sweat out. And since my daily run is about 1 hour in length, that number is also my sweat rate per hour. Well, it seems that I sweat anywhere from 3 to 5 pounds per hour, averaging around 4 (and since a pint of water is about one pound, that translates to about 1 quart to over half gallon of sweat per hour). So I've been sweating a lot.
As I said, I seem to have found the right formula for keeping my electrolytes in balance: every morning I take 500mg of magnesium supplement and 595mg of potassium supplement. Before my runs, I take a Succeed S!Cap (341mg of sodium) and if the run is over 1 hour, I usually take another half way. With this supplement to my diet, I had no trouble running through this past summer's heat wave (both my shorter daily runs as well as my weekend long runs and Tuesday evening speedwork workouts).
Meanwhile, I was doing well on mileage throughout the remainder of June and most of July. As I have mentioned previously, I have an aggressive fall racing schedule -- Parks Half Marathon and Richmond Rox Half-Ironman in September, Marine Corps Marathon in October, Potomac River Run Marathon in November, and Seashore Trails 50K in December. Mid July I was already at 1414 total miles for the year (about 100 miles more than the same time in 2011), so I was on track to break my total yearly mileage record as well. And my early speedwork runs were putting me on target to repeat a sub-3 either at Marine Corps or at Potomac River Run.
Then, my ego got in the way. We were running an 18 mile long run (CCT to Beach Drive to Pierce Mill and back). The scheduled run had 3 sets of hills (Wise Rd/Bingham box, Ross Road, and ending with the Leland hills). Well, we started out at a pretty good clip. LSD should be between 7:45 and 7:30 per mile, but we were averaging 7:15 to 7:20. I knew I should have slowed down, but it felt good. The group was engaged in good conversation. The temperature was surprisingly cool and rainy. We got to Pierce Mill (at the base of the Ross Road hills) and instead of heading back along Beach Drive, we decided to head back going back up the Ross Road hills. The grade was a bit steeper in the this direction and I could tell mid-way through this 3rd set of hills that (in the words of Miss Clavelle) "something was not right." I started to drop back, running several paces behind the group, occaisonally picking up the pace to catch back up. By the team we reached the Leland hills, I was spent. My groin was aching, my legs were heavy. I plodded my way up the five sets of hills, several minutes behind everyone else.
When I got home to shower, the left side of the groin area was aching. Standing in the shower, I found it difficult to put weight on the left leg. Oh crap! I thought, this had better not be a stress fracture. I ruled that out, though, because I found I could hop up and down on the left leg without difficulty. Maybe just overuse I thought.
On Monday, it was painful to begin running but the pain went away after about a mile or so, so I figured I must be OK. Indeed, on Tuesday night, I was running marathon pace miles for 4 miles at the XMP workout. But...that first mile or so was very painful. It hurt when I sneezed or coughed. It hurt when I got out of bed. Instead of stress fracture, now I was thinking hernia and surgery -- yikes!
I kept thinking things would get better. But I seemed to be stuck in a repeat-loop. I could run (even do marathon pace miles) but it was sore.
The beginning of August, I went to the orthopedist. Strained hip flexor (to be specific, the left psoas major). On the plus side, I could run through this injury. On the negative side, no hills, no speed, no long distance for a month. Sort of puts the damper on my racing schedule. To quote a fellow injured runner, "this may not be a PR season." I also started doing physical therapy again -- ultrasound, deep tissue massage, and electic stimulation of the muscle group.
Meanwhile, I've stuck to running my daily 8 miler at LSD pace. Three weeks ago, the physical therapist thought I could start gradually upping my weekend long run mileage. Luckily, XMP has been running some relatively flat courses lately, so I could run out with my group but just turn around early. So three weeks ago, I did 10 miles on the C&O Canal. Then I did 12 miles on the CCT, and this past weekend was able to do 14 miles. Same routine -- very sore for the first mile or so, then I can just "feel" the muscle.
Interesting phenomena as I've been upping the long run mileage -- when I did the 10 miler, it felt OK for the first 8 miles but was a struggle for the last 2. When I did the 12 miler, it felt OK for the first 10, then struggle for the last 2. And, that's right sports fans, when I did the 14 miler, it was the last 2 that were the struggle. Not sure what to make of that, but I hope you can see the pattern that has developed.
So here I am, last week of August. I have yet to do any 20 milers. No speedwork beyond running marathon pace. Parks Half Marathon is on Sep 9. I hope to just run that as an extended marathon pace tempo run.
Don't get me started on the triathlon --- when I tried to swim laps earlier in August, I could not flutter kick without the hip flexor hurting so had to swim with the pull buoy. Luckily, the muscle does not hurt on the bike (although, unrelated to running, I have tendonitis in the elbow making riding in aero position for extended periods of time discomfortable -- thankfully the orthopedist intends to give me a cortisone shot in the elbow later this week). My hope for the tri is that the James River will be cold enough to be wet suit legal -- the buoyancy of the wetsuit mimics the pull buoy allowing me to minimize kicking.
So there you have it sports fans. The best laid plans.... Oh well. I'm hoping to be able to run LSD or bit a faster at Marine Corps to at least run a Boston qualifying time.
I go back to the orthopedist for a follow up on Thursday. Until then....
Friday, June 15, 2012
Three Marathons and a Tri
Welcome back sports fans as I attempt to bring everyone up to date after a several month lapse in race and running reporting. My last race report (other than last weeks’ Eagleman 70.3 report) was last fall’s Parks Half Marathon in September 2011. Since then I raced Marine Corps Marathon, Rehoboth Marathon, Potomac River Run Marathon, and Naylor’s Beach Olympic Triathlon. So without further ado....
Marine Corps Marathon 2011 Recap
As you may recall I was very excited about my Parks Half time – I had PR’ed and I was hopeful that my performance would predict a sub-3 at Marine Corps. I continued to train with XMP – averaging 60+ mile weeks. Of course, I am training smarter now – running 6 times a week but over 5 days (double running on Tuesdays – slow 8 mile run at lunch and speedwork with XMP at night) which gave me 2 fulls days of rest. I was also running my base miles slower and introduced speedwork.
The day before Marine Corps (October 29, 2011) we were treated to...a snowstorm. Yup. Snow. About an inch or so. What the hell would that mean for race day?
Race day dawned clear and cold but not bitterly cold. I opted for shorts, long sleeves, glove and hat. The runner’s village was a somewhat muddy mess due to the snow and some of the streets were very slick. Jordana and I hung out at the MCRRC Hospitality Suite at the Rosslyn Holiday Inn (she was coaching the First Time Marathon program) until it was time to walk to the start. That was one cold walk – as I had forgotten to bring any plastic bags or discardable clothes to wear. We kissed each other goodbye and went to our respective starting corrals.
Once again, I did something you aren’t supposed to do in a marathon – tried something new. I thought that perhaps the key to a sub-3 was really trying to achieve negative splits (i.e., running faster the second half than the first) and so decided I would go out slower than target pace for the first several miles. Especially since the first 3 miles of MCM are uphill.
The race started and I went slower than usual. First several miles were closer to 7:10s. In retrospect, I think I started TOO slow. If my target pace is 6:48, perhaps I should have been starting out at 6:56s NOT 7:10s. Oh well, I would pay for that later.
Meanwhile, the race continued, through Arlington, down the long steep Spout Run Parkway Hill onto the GW Parkway. As we neared Key Bridge, we ran over an overpass – that was VERY SLICK with black ice from yesterday’s snow storm!! Crap! Luckily I did not fall – but everyone started shuffle stepping to stay vertical. MCM – Really? – You couldn’t throw down some sand or salt pre-race!?! Over Key Bridge and hard left to run around the MacArthur Reservoir.
Observation: As the course climbed up Reservoir Road from Canal to MacArthur, we were running into the sun. All I could see was runners in front of me in dark silhouette against the sun. There was a slight mist in the air from the cold and breath from the runners. The effect was runners in black shadow surrounded by a hazy shade of yellow. It was truly sublime.
On MacArthur road I caught up to the 3:05 (or was it 3:10) pace group and realized I was going way way too slow, so kicked things into a high gear with a couple of 6:38s until my overall pace dropped below 6:52 (magic sub-3 pace). Of course, this was a big waste of energy at an early stage of the race. I hoped I wouldn’t be paying for that later in the race.
Meanwhile, the race continued – through Georgetown, past the Kennedy Center and the Lincoln, on to Haines Point. Hit the half-way mark at 1:29:59! One second faster than goal pace. Surprisingly, my pace actually improved for the next several miles – holding at 6:51 overall. As the course continued along the Mall towards the Capitol, though, I could feel the all-too-familiar tiring of my body. I willed myself to hold the pace. But as I approached the 14th Street Bridge, my pace creeped above 7 min/mile never to come down.
I pushed my way down and back through Crystal City. Still, I was running faster than I had ever run MCM. I knew there was not going to be a sub-3 or PR today but I thought I might set an MCM PR. The race continued along past the Pentagon, onto Route 110. Mile 24, Mile 25, finally Mile 26 and the quarter mile spring uphill to the Iwo Jima Memorial and the finish.
My time 3:02:32! My fourth fastest marathon and my fastest Marine Corps. So, it was a good day.
Lesson learned: don’t try anything new and that includes race strategy! Also, my body seems to run best when I run as flat a pace as possible. Now on to Rehoboth.
Rehoboth Marathon 2011 Recap
With Marine Corps done, I gave myself a two week reverse taper, then a 60 mile week, then taper for Rehoboth. With XMP over, I did speedwork on my own (following the XMP schedule) using the large oval around the Washington Monument as my "track" – it happens to be just about ½ mile in circumference, making it perfect to do 800m and 1000m repeats – I’m sure the park rangers still wonder who the hell that runner is doing lap after lap around the Monument.
As before, Jordana and I have decided doing Rehoboth is a great way to combine running a marathon with having a weekend away. My in-laws have a place in Bethany, the race is Saturday morning, and the kids were with the in-laws – so we had a nice weekend away.
Race day was cold, but not as cold as the previous year. There were a number of my XMP friends racing that day – either the full or the half – which it made it that much more fun. Humorous observation: we’re standing around the start, I’m in shorts, long sleeves, hat, and gloves. My friends are in singlets and they comment on my long sleeves. "I don’t have a lot of body fat," I say, "I get cold easy." "What are you talking about?" one of them replies "Look at us – we’re all skinny guys with no body fat!" I laugh, agree, but say "nevertheless, I get cold easy."
The race started and I was determined to stick with my tried and true racing strategy – race flat for as long as I could. And I held to that. My times were amazingly consistent, for the majority of the race I held to a 6:48 pace plus or minus a few seconds.
The race was much windier than last year, so sometimes it was a real struggle to hold the pace. But I was determined that this would be my race. All of my running friends were convinced that the 3 hour barrier was more mental than physical, and perhaps I was believing that myself.
There isn’t that much to say about the race that I haven’t already discussed in last year’s race report, so I’ll just mention a few additional observations. There was one point, where the course makes a 90 degree right turn to run around a parking lot before resuming along the road. This was right near the beach in Lewes. Remember the wind? When I made that right turn, I was just about stopped in my tracks by a gust of wind that carried with it tiny grains of sand. Like getting stung with tiny needles. Very unpleasant – at least it was only a few 100 meters or so before getting back to the road.
Observation and thanks: Eventually the course (on its return to Rehoboth from Lewes) leaves the roads and heads back onto the Junction & Breakers Trail (about mile 20 or so). I was feeling mentally down, wondering could I keep this pace up for another 6.2 miles. Just before the course turned onto the trail, I hear a chorus of shouts "Way to go Greg! You got it!" My buds who had run the half marathon, were out there cheering those of us doing the full on. Thank you Dan, Owen, Chrissy, and Brad!! (I hope I’m not forgetting anyone) That was just what I needed.
The course wound its way along the trail. The miles counting down and with each mile I was more and more confident that I would finally meet my goal.
The course left the trail and back onto the roads in Rehoboth. Mile 24, 25, 26. I was flying down the final mile and when I saw the finish line up ahead with clock showing "2" I put in a 6:09 pace for the final quarter. I crossed the finish line:
2:58:19!!! My friends were high-fiving me. I broke the 3 hour barrier. It only took me 14 marathons to do it!!
When Jordana finished, she asked how I did. I showed her my Garmin. It was a happy day. Of course, we all had a great time in the post race party. Did I mention they have a huge beer truck with Dogfish Head Ale?
2011 Year End
After Rehoboth, I took the rest of December off (and by "off" I mean running only 25 miles per week). I ended the year with the highest mileage I’ve ever run in a year: 2456.77 total miles – 702.25 more miles than my previous highest mileage year (2008, the year before I was injured). My average run was 9.3 miles per run, and my average weekly mileage was 47.1 miles. Not too shabby.
Boston Bound (or 26.2 to Boston) 2012
With the new year, came a new running season. Although I was not running Boston, I decided I really like running with a group so signed up for Boston Bound again (oops, due to trademark issues, it is now called 26.2 to Boston) and signed up to run the Potomac River Run marathon in May.
Not much to say about the training program – I simply continued my fall training. Running 60 mile weeks, weekend long runs, double runs on Tuesday.
One of the highlights, however, was meeting Michael Wardian. Wardian is a sub 2:20 marathoner who also runs (and wins) ultras. He's our hometown champion. He spoke to our group after track one night. He's not only a great runner, but also he's a genuinely friendly guy.
An observation: one of our long runs was a 22 miler – down the CCT, over the Key Bridge, loop around Roosevelt Island, down the Mt Vernon Trail, across the 14th Street Bridge and back up the CCT to Bethesda. It was a cold day, windy, cloudy. As we started around Roosevelt Island, it started to flurry. The flurries turned into a stead snow. By the time were on the Mt Vernon Trail, we were running it what seemed to be an all-out blizzard. We could barely see in front of us, the snow was so thick. As we reached the 14th Street Bridge, the snow lightened up and then stopped. As we crossed the bridge, we could see the snow squall moving down river. To the left, blue skies. It was surreal.
An observation: we are doing track at Whitman HS. Yasso 800s, I think (or maybe 1000m repeats). The Whitman Athletic Director and bunch of bigwig donors are reviewing the infield, near the edge of the track. We politely ask them to move out of lane 1 as we run around them. So what do they do? They stand in lane 1. The more we asked (politely) for them to move, the further out into the track they seemed to stand (deliberately I might add). Eventually, they were taking up the two inside lanes. Our coach (who teaches at Whitman) pleaded with us to just run around them. Which we did, without further incident (well, one of our members decided to have a few words with the group. I think their reply to him was along the lines of "how much money did you give for the track?") Just because you have money, doesn’t mean you have to be jerks about it. Oh well.
Potomac River Run 2012 Recap
I was hoping to run sub-3 again, to prove to myself that Rehoboth was not a fluke. However, I did not feel strong going into this marathon. Despite a strong winter/spring training season, work and life intervened in April and just seemed to throw off my training. I had to travel to Sacramento for work in early April, followed by going to Virginia Beach over Spring Break, then my oldest daughter’s Bat Mitzvah (all in April), and, even though I got my miles in, I did them mostly alone.
Anyhow, as I stood at the starting line, I just didn’t feel mentally or physically ready for 26.2 miles.
Anyhow, the gun started and off I went hoping to run as flat as I could around a 6:48 pace.
I actually ran surprisingly well for the first half. Although the course mile marks did not always seem accurate (one "mile" was actually about 1.2 miles and another "mile" was about 1.2 miles – and this is a straight line course along the C&O Canal, so this is not a Garmin issue because I was not running perfect tangents), I was holding a pretty consistent overall pace of around 6:49.
I hit the half way point a few seconds under 1:30, which surprised me a bit because I thought (according to my Garmin) that I was running faster. Whatever. I made the U-turn and begin the second of the two out-and-backs.
My big complaint about the race is that between the full and half and the 6:30 and 7:30 starts for both, you have no idea whatsoever who the competition is. Everyone has the same looking bib. Is that runner doing the full or the half? Are they your competition or did they start an hour before you? Based on perceived pace at the various turn arounds, I thought I was in 3rd or 4th place at the last turn around.
Just before the last turn around, I passed a runner who I thought was in 3rd, putting me in what I thought was now 3rd place. I was tiring greatly. It wasn’t the hottest of days (only in the mid 60s) but it was very humid (humidity in the upper 80%) and I could just feel myself getting slower and slower. Indeed, my pace over the final 10 miles went from 6:49 to 7:03 to 7:13 to 7:21 to 7:49 to 7:53!!!
That’s when the runner who I had passed back at the last turn around passed me. Crap – so close and now I’m in 4th! But then I thought, but that means I’m at least first place masters. But no! I want 3rd. So I dug deep and brought the pace down to 7:30, passing him back in the final mile. It was a foot race to the finish (I did the last quarter at a 6:13) and I finished a few seconds ahead!
My time: 3:05:34. Not even close to a PR or even one of my fastest marathons. Oh yeah, it turned out I totally missed several other runners. I wasn’t 3rd, I was 6th place overall. And 3nd in my age group!! As it turns out, the overall winner was 25, but overall places 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 where all masters runners! Not bad for a bunch of "old" men.
Post Race Reflection
Shortly after this marathon (my only one of the season) I read an article (don’t recall if it was Runner’s World, Running Times, or Marathon & Beyond) that talked about running multiple marathons in a season and how with some runners, they run their best marathons AFTER racing (not running) a first marathon only a few weeks earlier. I then noticed that my two best marathons – Potomac River Run 2011 and Rehoboth 2011 – were both run within weeks of racing hard marathons. I ran a 3:00:30 at Potomac just three weeks after running a 3:05 at Charlottesville, and I ran a 2:58 at Rehoboth, only 6 weeks after running a 3:02 at Marine Corps. Indeed, my 2012 Potomac River Run time was 3:05 – consistent with what I had run my "first" marathons in 2011.
I’m wondering if perhaps I’m the type of runner who does better running multiple marathons in a season? We’ll test this out in the fall – I’ve got Marine Corps in October followed by a special November running of the Potomac River Run.
Didn’t You Mention a Tri?
As Jordana was driving me home from Potomac River Run, she asked "so, with two triathlons coming up in June, when are you planning to start training?" Oh yeah, I had been so focused on marathons, I kept pushing off my tri training – and I had an Olympic and then Half-Ironman (on consecutive weekends) in about a month. Time to start training.
I spent May, swimming and biking. Now by "spent May" I mean I swam about 4 times and biked about 4 times. Oops.
Naylor’s Beach Olympic Triathlon Recap
I signed up for this back when I was on the waiting list for Eagleman, not knowing if I’d get in. When I got in to Eagleman, I figured at worst Naylor’s Beach would be a good tune up, especially since my tri training had been not the most vigorous.
It was a wonderful race day. Not dreadfully hot. The water was wetsuit legal. I had come with a neighbor who was doing the Sprint Tri option (half the distance) and this was his first open water tri (his previous tris had been pool swims), so he was excited and glad it was wetsuit legal.
Not much to add that I haven’t said previously about this tri. It was a wonderful low-key triathlon, now in June (having been moved from September).
The swim was a bear – there was a strong outgoing tide. The swim course was sort of like a misshaped 3 sided rectangle. First, we swam against the tide to the first turn buoy, then with the tide to the second turn, then perpendicular to the tide to the finish. The race director reminded us of this fact and urged us to remember to over-correct when swimming the final leg.
I thought I swam pretty nicely for the first two legs. Of course, I and about half the rest of the olympic participants forgot about the overcorrection! I turned the final buoy and started swimming to shore. But I could not get a good sight on the finish. Eventually I look up and say to myself "why am I seeing houses in front of me? The finish is at the campground." I look to my left (upriver) and see, oh crap! I’m way downstream! So we all turn parallel to the shore and start swimming upstream, against the tide, to make our way back on course!
Meanwhile, the spring participants are on shore watching us getting carried off-course. The race director is standing among them saying "why didn’t they listen? I told them to over-correct for the tide. I hope YOU guys don’t forget."
Anyhow, my off-course diversion put my total swim time at 35:50 – almost ten minutes slower than the last time I did Naylor’s Beach. Crap. Of course, I was bit discombobulated from the extra distance I swam, and my T1 time reflected that – about 30 seconds slower than last time (3:04).
Maybe the bike would help me along. My tri training philosophy has been that marathon training is sufficient! I’ve got strong legs, I’ve got the endurance. I actually had a decent bike – no equipment malfunctions like last time (when my cleats fell off my shoes). I thought I was riding pretty well.
Observation: there is one really steep hill. I was flying down that hill, reaching a max speed of almost 40 mph! As I was hurtling downhill on my bike, I thought "it would be really bad if I were to wipe out."
I finished the bike in 1:18:18 about three minutes faster than last time. I’d hoped to have ridden faster, but oh well. T2 was about the same time as my previous Naylors (1:35) and off to the run.
Now I was in my element – and I excelled. I ran the 10K in 40:24 – a 6:30 pace. Unfortunately, it was not enough to compensate for a totally crappy swim, and I finished with an overall time of 2:39:10 (three minutes slower than in 2010).
But, everyone had a crappy swim – not just me. I finished 21st overall (was 23rd last time) and finished 2nd in my age group (5th last time). So I was pretty pleased. I got a decorative wineglass as my prize.
Oh yeah, my neighbor had a great first open water tri experience, and pulled out 3rd place in his age group as well. We loaded up the car and headed back to Potomac.
So there you have it race fans. I’m all caught up. This weekend I begin XMP training for the fall marathon season.
On deck: Parks Half Marathon and Richmond Rox Half Ironman in September, Marine Corps Marathon in October, Potomac River Run Marathon in November, and the Seashore State Park Trails 50K in December (did I forget to mention I want to return to running ultras this year.....)
Marine Corps Marathon 2011 Recap
As you may recall I was very excited about my Parks Half time – I had PR’ed and I was hopeful that my performance would predict a sub-3 at Marine Corps. I continued to train with XMP – averaging 60+ mile weeks. Of course, I am training smarter now – running 6 times a week but over 5 days (double running on Tuesdays – slow 8 mile run at lunch and speedwork with XMP at night) which gave me 2 fulls days of rest. I was also running my base miles slower and introduced speedwork.
The day before Marine Corps (October 29, 2011) we were treated to...a snowstorm. Yup. Snow. About an inch or so. What the hell would that mean for race day?
Race day dawned clear and cold but not bitterly cold. I opted for shorts, long sleeves, glove and hat. The runner’s village was a somewhat muddy mess due to the snow and some of the streets were very slick. Jordana and I hung out at the MCRRC Hospitality Suite at the Rosslyn Holiday Inn (she was coaching the First Time Marathon program) until it was time to walk to the start. That was one cold walk – as I had forgotten to bring any plastic bags or discardable clothes to wear. We kissed each other goodbye and went to our respective starting corrals.
Once again, I did something you aren’t supposed to do in a marathon – tried something new. I thought that perhaps the key to a sub-3 was really trying to achieve negative splits (i.e., running faster the second half than the first) and so decided I would go out slower than target pace for the first several miles. Especially since the first 3 miles of MCM are uphill.
The race started and I went slower than usual. First several miles were closer to 7:10s. In retrospect, I think I started TOO slow. If my target pace is 6:48, perhaps I should have been starting out at 6:56s NOT 7:10s. Oh well, I would pay for that later.
Meanwhile, the race continued, through Arlington, down the long steep Spout Run Parkway Hill onto the GW Parkway. As we neared Key Bridge, we ran over an overpass – that was VERY SLICK with black ice from yesterday’s snow storm!! Crap! Luckily I did not fall – but everyone started shuffle stepping to stay vertical. MCM – Really? – You couldn’t throw down some sand or salt pre-race!?! Over Key Bridge and hard left to run around the MacArthur Reservoir.
Observation: As the course climbed up Reservoir Road from Canal to MacArthur, we were running into the sun. All I could see was runners in front of me in dark silhouette against the sun. There was a slight mist in the air from the cold and breath from the runners. The effect was runners in black shadow surrounded by a hazy shade of yellow. It was truly sublime.
On MacArthur road I caught up to the 3:05 (or was it 3:10) pace group and realized I was going way way too slow, so kicked things into a high gear with a couple of 6:38s until my overall pace dropped below 6:52 (magic sub-3 pace). Of course, this was a big waste of energy at an early stage of the race. I hoped I wouldn’t be paying for that later in the race.
Meanwhile, the race continued – through Georgetown, past the Kennedy Center and the Lincoln, on to Haines Point. Hit the half-way mark at 1:29:59! One second faster than goal pace. Surprisingly, my pace actually improved for the next several miles – holding at 6:51 overall. As the course continued along the Mall towards the Capitol, though, I could feel the all-too-familiar tiring of my body. I willed myself to hold the pace. But as I approached the 14th Street Bridge, my pace creeped above 7 min/mile never to come down.
I pushed my way down and back through Crystal City. Still, I was running faster than I had ever run MCM. I knew there was not going to be a sub-3 or PR today but I thought I might set an MCM PR. The race continued along past the Pentagon, onto Route 110. Mile 24, Mile 25, finally Mile 26 and the quarter mile spring uphill to the Iwo Jima Memorial and the finish.
My time 3:02:32! My fourth fastest marathon and my fastest Marine Corps. So, it was a good day.
Lesson learned: don’t try anything new and that includes race strategy! Also, my body seems to run best when I run as flat a pace as possible. Now on to Rehoboth.
Rehoboth Marathon 2011 Recap
With Marine Corps done, I gave myself a two week reverse taper, then a 60 mile week, then taper for Rehoboth. With XMP over, I did speedwork on my own (following the XMP schedule) using the large oval around the Washington Monument as my "track" – it happens to be just about ½ mile in circumference, making it perfect to do 800m and 1000m repeats – I’m sure the park rangers still wonder who the hell that runner is doing lap after lap around the Monument.
As before, Jordana and I have decided doing Rehoboth is a great way to combine running a marathon with having a weekend away. My in-laws have a place in Bethany, the race is Saturday morning, and the kids were with the in-laws – so we had a nice weekend away.
Race day was cold, but not as cold as the previous year. There were a number of my XMP friends racing that day – either the full or the half – which it made it that much more fun. Humorous observation: we’re standing around the start, I’m in shorts, long sleeves, hat, and gloves. My friends are in singlets and they comment on my long sleeves. "I don’t have a lot of body fat," I say, "I get cold easy." "What are you talking about?" one of them replies "Look at us – we’re all skinny guys with no body fat!" I laugh, agree, but say "nevertheless, I get cold easy."
The race started and I was determined to stick with my tried and true racing strategy – race flat for as long as I could. And I held to that. My times were amazingly consistent, for the majority of the race I held to a 6:48 pace plus or minus a few seconds.
The race was much windier than last year, so sometimes it was a real struggle to hold the pace. But I was determined that this would be my race. All of my running friends were convinced that the 3 hour barrier was more mental than physical, and perhaps I was believing that myself.
There isn’t that much to say about the race that I haven’t already discussed in last year’s race report, so I’ll just mention a few additional observations. There was one point, where the course makes a 90 degree right turn to run around a parking lot before resuming along the road. This was right near the beach in Lewes. Remember the wind? When I made that right turn, I was just about stopped in my tracks by a gust of wind that carried with it tiny grains of sand. Like getting stung with tiny needles. Very unpleasant – at least it was only a few 100 meters or so before getting back to the road.
Observation and thanks: Eventually the course (on its return to Rehoboth from Lewes) leaves the roads and heads back onto the Junction & Breakers Trail (about mile 20 or so). I was feeling mentally down, wondering could I keep this pace up for another 6.2 miles. Just before the course turned onto the trail, I hear a chorus of shouts "Way to go Greg! You got it!" My buds who had run the half marathon, were out there cheering those of us doing the full on. Thank you Dan, Owen, Chrissy, and Brad!! (I hope I’m not forgetting anyone) That was just what I needed.
The course wound its way along the trail. The miles counting down and with each mile I was more and more confident that I would finally meet my goal.
The course left the trail and back onto the roads in Rehoboth. Mile 24, 25, 26. I was flying down the final mile and when I saw the finish line up ahead with clock showing "2" I put in a 6:09 pace for the final quarter. I crossed the finish line:
2:58:19!!! My friends were high-fiving me. I broke the 3 hour barrier. It only took me 14 marathons to do it!!
When Jordana finished, she asked how I did. I showed her my Garmin. It was a happy day. Of course, we all had a great time in the post race party. Did I mention they have a huge beer truck with Dogfish Head Ale?
2011 Year End
After Rehoboth, I took the rest of December off (and by "off" I mean running only 25 miles per week). I ended the year with the highest mileage I’ve ever run in a year: 2456.77 total miles – 702.25 more miles than my previous highest mileage year (2008, the year before I was injured). My average run was 9.3 miles per run, and my average weekly mileage was 47.1 miles. Not too shabby.
Boston Bound (or 26.2 to Boston) 2012
With the new year, came a new running season. Although I was not running Boston, I decided I really like running with a group so signed up for Boston Bound again (oops, due to trademark issues, it is now called 26.2 to Boston) and signed up to run the Potomac River Run marathon in May.
Not much to say about the training program – I simply continued my fall training. Running 60 mile weeks, weekend long runs, double runs on Tuesday.
One of the highlights, however, was meeting Michael Wardian. Wardian is a sub 2:20 marathoner who also runs (and wins) ultras. He's our hometown champion. He spoke to our group after track one night. He's not only a great runner, but also he's a genuinely friendly guy.
An observation: one of our long runs was a 22 miler – down the CCT, over the Key Bridge, loop around Roosevelt Island, down the Mt Vernon Trail, across the 14th Street Bridge and back up the CCT to Bethesda. It was a cold day, windy, cloudy. As we started around Roosevelt Island, it started to flurry. The flurries turned into a stead snow. By the time were on the Mt Vernon Trail, we were running it what seemed to be an all-out blizzard. We could barely see in front of us, the snow was so thick. As we reached the 14th Street Bridge, the snow lightened up and then stopped. As we crossed the bridge, we could see the snow squall moving down river. To the left, blue skies. It was surreal.
An observation: we are doing track at Whitman HS. Yasso 800s, I think (or maybe 1000m repeats). The Whitman Athletic Director and bunch of bigwig donors are reviewing the infield, near the edge of the track. We politely ask them to move out of lane 1 as we run around them. So what do they do? They stand in lane 1. The more we asked (politely) for them to move, the further out into the track they seemed to stand (deliberately I might add). Eventually, they were taking up the two inside lanes. Our coach (who teaches at Whitman) pleaded with us to just run around them. Which we did, without further incident (well, one of our members decided to have a few words with the group. I think their reply to him was along the lines of "how much money did you give for the track?") Just because you have money, doesn’t mean you have to be jerks about it. Oh well.
Potomac River Run 2012 Recap
I was hoping to run sub-3 again, to prove to myself that Rehoboth was not a fluke. However, I did not feel strong going into this marathon. Despite a strong winter/spring training season, work and life intervened in April and just seemed to throw off my training. I had to travel to Sacramento for work in early April, followed by going to Virginia Beach over Spring Break, then my oldest daughter’s Bat Mitzvah (all in April), and, even though I got my miles in, I did them mostly alone.
Anyhow, as I stood at the starting line, I just didn’t feel mentally or physically ready for 26.2 miles.
Anyhow, the gun started and off I went hoping to run as flat as I could around a 6:48 pace.
I actually ran surprisingly well for the first half. Although the course mile marks did not always seem accurate (one "mile" was actually about 1.2 miles and another "mile" was about 1.2 miles – and this is a straight line course along the C&O Canal, so this is not a Garmin issue because I was not running perfect tangents), I was holding a pretty consistent overall pace of around 6:49.
I hit the half way point a few seconds under 1:30, which surprised me a bit because I thought (according to my Garmin) that I was running faster. Whatever. I made the U-turn and begin the second of the two out-and-backs.
Really not much to add to this report that I haven’t discussed in last year’s race report. Despite the loneliness, I quite enjoy this marathon. River on one side, canal on the other. It’s very lovely.
Just before the last turn around, I passed a runner who I thought was in 3rd, putting me in what I thought was now 3rd place. I was tiring greatly. It wasn’t the hottest of days (only in the mid 60s) but it was very humid (humidity in the upper 80%) and I could just feel myself getting slower and slower. Indeed, my pace over the final 10 miles went from 6:49 to 7:03 to 7:13 to 7:21 to 7:49 to 7:53!!!
That’s when the runner who I had passed back at the last turn around passed me. Crap – so close and now I’m in 4th! But then I thought, but that means I’m at least first place masters. But no! I want 3rd. So I dug deep and brought the pace down to 7:30, passing him back in the final mile. It was a foot race to the finish (I did the last quarter at a 6:13) and I finished a few seconds ahead!
My time: 3:05:34. Not even close to a PR or even one of my fastest marathons. Oh yeah, it turned out I totally missed several other runners. I wasn’t 3rd, I was 6th place overall. And 3nd in my age group!! As it turns out, the overall winner was 25, but overall places 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 where all masters runners! Not bad for a bunch of "old" men.
Post Race Reflection
Shortly after this marathon (my only one of the season) I read an article (don’t recall if it was Runner’s World, Running Times, or Marathon & Beyond) that talked about running multiple marathons in a season and how with some runners, they run their best marathons AFTER racing (not running) a first marathon only a few weeks earlier. I then noticed that my two best marathons – Potomac River Run 2011 and Rehoboth 2011 – were both run within weeks of racing hard marathons. I ran a 3:00:30 at Potomac just three weeks after running a 3:05 at Charlottesville, and I ran a 2:58 at Rehoboth, only 6 weeks after running a 3:02 at Marine Corps. Indeed, my 2012 Potomac River Run time was 3:05 – consistent with what I had run my "first" marathons in 2011.
I’m wondering if perhaps I’m the type of runner who does better running multiple marathons in a season? We’ll test this out in the fall – I’ve got Marine Corps in October followed by a special November running of the Potomac River Run.
Didn’t You Mention a Tri?
As Jordana was driving me home from Potomac River Run, she asked "so, with two triathlons coming up in June, when are you planning to start training?" Oh yeah, I had been so focused on marathons, I kept pushing off my tri training – and I had an Olympic and then Half-Ironman (on consecutive weekends) in about a month. Time to start training.
I spent May, swimming and biking. Now by "spent May" I mean I swam about 4 times and biked about 4 times. Oops.
Naylor’s Beach Olympic Triathlon Recap
I signed up for this back when I was on the waiting list for Eagleman, not knowing if I’d get in. When I got in to Eagleman, I figured at worst Naylor’s Beach would be a good tune up, especially since my tri training had been not the most vigorous.
It was a wonderful race day. Not dreadfully hot. The water was wetsuit legal. I had come with a neighbor who was doing the Sprint Tri option (half the distance) and this was his first open water tri (his previous tris had been pool swims), so he was excited and glad it was wetsuit legal.
Not much to add that I haven’t said previously about this tri. It was a wonderful low-key triathlon, now in June (having been moved from September).
The swim was a bear – there was a strong outgoing tide. The swim course was sort of like a misshaped 3 sided rectangle. First, we swam against the tide to the first turn buoy, then with the tide to the second turn, then perpendicular to the tide to the finish. The race director reminded us of this fact and urged us to remember to over-correct when swimming the final leg.
I thought I swam pretty nicely for the first two legs. Of course, I and about half the rest of the olympic participants forgot about the overcorrection! I turned the final buoy and started swimming to shore. But I could not get a good sight on the finish. Eventually I look up and say to myself "why am I seeing houses in front of me? The finish is at the campground." I look to my left (upriver) and see, oh crap! I’m way downstream! So we all turn parallel to the shore and start swimming upstream, against the tide, to make our way back on course!
Meanwhile, the spring participants are on shore watching us getting carried off-course. The race director is standing among them saying "why didn’t they listen? I told them to over-correct for the tide. I hope YOU guys don’t forget."
Anyhow, my off-course diversion put my total swim time at 35:50 – almost ten minutes slower than the last time I did Naylor’s Beach. Crap. Of course, I was bit discombobulated from the extra distance I swam, and my T1 time reflected that – about 30 seconds slower than last time (3:04).
Maybe the bike would help me along. My tri training philosophy has been that marathon training is sufficient! I’ve got strong legs, I’ve got the endurance. I actually had a decent bike – no equipment malfunctions like last time (when my cleats fell off my shoes). I thought I was riding pretty well.
Observation: there is one really steep hill. I was flying down that hill, reaching a max speed of almost 40 mph! As I was hurtling downhill on my bike, I thought "it would be really bad if I were to wipe out."
I finished the bike in 1:18:18 about three minutes faster than last time. I’d hoped to have ridden faster, but oh well. T2 was about the same time as my previous Naylors (1:35) and off to the run.
Now I was in my element – and I excelled. I ran the 10K in 40:24 – a 6:30 pace. Unfortunately, it was not enough to compensate for a totally crappy swim, and I finished with an overall time of 2:39:10 (three minutes slower than in 2010).
But, everyone had a crappy swim – not just me. I finished 21st overall (was 23rd last time) and finished 2nd in my age group (5th last time). So I was pretty pleased. I got a decorative wineglass as my prize.
Oh yeah, my neighbor had a great first open water tri experience, and pulled out 3rd place in his age group as well. We loaded up the car and headed back to Potomac.
So there you have it race fans. I’m all caught up. This weekend I begin XMP training for the fall marathon season.
On deck: Parks Half Marathon and Richmond Rox Half Ironman in September, Marine Corps Marathon in October, Potomac River Run Marathon in November, and the Seashore State Park Trails 50K in December (did I forget to mention I want to return to running ultras this year.....)
Wednesday, June 13, 2012
Eagleman 70.3 Recap
The word for the day was HOT, really hot.
But first, sorry for the long gap in posts Sports fans. I could say it’s been a crazy fall and winter and spring. Well, I said it, so that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. I hope to give some recaps of my two fall and one spring marathon, as well as the olympic tri I did the week before Eagleman (was that the smartest thing to do? asked Jordana). As a little preview, in case you did not see my Facebook status update last December, I broke the 3 hour barrier at Rehoboth Marathon in December – running a 2:58:19.
But I digest...
After completing her first tri at Rocketts Landing last year, Jordana caught the tri bug and decided she wanted to try Eagleman this year. We both missed the entry deadline. I put myself on the waiting list and she registered as a charity runner for Team Win the Fight to stop melanoma. I got in off the waiting list, so we were both on board. Jordana spent the spring dedicated to training – swimming, biking on the trainer in the basement, running. Me? Nada except doing my spring marathon training (I had a May 6 marathon). Indeed, I’m somewhat embarrassed to admit that prior to Eagleman I had swum and biked only 4 times (including the tri the week before). I believed that my marathon training would carry the day.
Meanwhile, as race day approached we saw the weather forecast showing increasingly hotter temperatures. Oh well – we had a string of about 5 days of really hot weather, oh was it April? Would that suffice for heat acclimation?
Race weekend came. With the grandparents watching the kids, Jordana and I packed our bikes and gear and headed off to Cambridge, Maryland. We went through packet pickup and had enough time to listen to the pre-race talk (to a standing room only crowd). "It wouldn’t be Eagleman without the heat" said the race director. "If it was a cool day, you’d all have just stayed at home, right?" Afterwards, I went through the expo to purchased a new bento box for my bike (my old one was too small to hold the Cliff Shot Blocks that I now rely upon for fueling during the bike portion) and a new set of sunglasses (lost my old ones in Israel). Then, we headed off to the race to rack our bikes (at Eagleman, you rack your bike the day before).
We got to transition and racked our bikes. A number of people were taking practice swims, so we got our wetsuits (the race director said it would be touch and go whether the race would be wetsuit legal – notwithstanding the high air temps, the water was around 75 degrees – 76.1 F being the magic number for whether you can wear wetsuits). We did some practice swimming, which greatly reduced some of Jordana’s anxiety about open-water swimming (the James River at Rocketts Landing, although a river, was like swimming in a pool). On our way back to the car, we saw a few people running – too late for heat acclimation now, I thought.
Back in the car and off to Bethany Beach where we were staying. Lunch at Panera in Salisbury. We made a pasta dinner to carbo load, then headed to the Bethany boardwalk for frozen yogurt. Early to bed and, following Ben Franklin’s wisdom, early to rise. The alarm rang at 4 am Sunday morning and it was time to go! Got our water bottles filled with gatorade and ice, made sure we had everything, then back on the road at 4:30am.
We arrived at the shuttle parking lot at around 5:45, hopped on the bus to the race start, and heard it was going to be a wetsuit legal race. (As an aside, wearing a wetsuit makes the swim much faster.) We arrived at the race and proceeded to set up our respective transition areas. I’ve gotten the hang of this now, and can set up a pretty swell transition area. I helped Jordana with hers. We slathered each other with sunblock – nary a cloud in the sky and there is not an inch of shade on the bike or run course. At 6:45am, we had to exit transition as the pro’s were about to start. Of course, Jordana’s swim wave did not start until 7:58 and mine 8:06 – such is triathlon – so we hung out in the shade or in line for the porto-johns.
Soon it was time to help Jordana into her wetsuit. As I said at Rocketts Landing, the very best part of doing a race with your spouse is kissing him or her good luck just before the start and saying "have a good race" and "see you at the finish." The 7:58 horn went off and off went Jordana! I got my wetsuit on and waited for my start.
The SwimA little confusion at my start. We were standing in the water and heard the race director call out "1 minute to go." Almost immediately, the horn sounded. Some of us started swimming, others looking confused. The race director then shouted "go - start swimming!" So we did.
I started to the side and a bit in back. No need to get swum over by the aggressive faster swimmers. So, I never really encountered much in the way of the cuisinart-start. Yes, I occasionally swam into someone else or was swum over – but not much. I actually had a very good swim. I settled quickly into a good stroke/breathe/sighting rhythm. I sighted very nicely (much better than the week before at Naylor’s Beach).
Not much else to say about the swim. About midway through, I started passing swimmers in the wave in front of me – sometimes wondering if one of those swimmers was Jordana. Likewise, I was passed by a few of the stronger swimmers in the wave behind me.
I finished the swim in 36:52 – almost 10 minutes faster than last year. Some of that is attributable to the wetsuit – you swim much faster wearing one. But not that much faster. So part of it is that I am a stronger and better open water swimmer.
Out of the water, peeled off my wet suit and headed into transition.
T1Had a decent transition. It was a bit slower than last year, but that is mostly due to having to take off a wetsuit. Of course, I could spend hours practicing, but why, really. My T1 time was 3:23. Last year it was 2:59. Anyhow, off to the bike.
The BikeI really wasn’t sure what to expect on the bike. I expected a faster swim if only because I was wearing a wetsuit. I didn’t know what to expect now. I hoped to bike a bit faster than last year, but then I biked faster than I thought I would last year. Anyhow, I ate a Cliff chomp and had some gatorade to replenish after the swim and settled into aero position.
The one thing I noticed pretty quickly was that I was cycling at a good clip – ranging between 20 and 22 mph. I also noticed that I was passing a lot more cyclists than were passing me. So I felt pretty good. I felt comfortable in the bike. I kept to my fueling regimen of a cliff chomp and gatorade every 10 minutes.
At the 20 and 40 mile marks, I realized my times were such that I was probably going to bike faster than last year. At around halfway through the bike, I found myself often getting very anxious for the 10 minute fueling/hydrating mark to arrive – not so much because I was hungry but because I was thirsty. I also found myself going through my gatorade much quicker (I was carrying three bottles). Indeed, I ended up taking a fourth bottle at one of the aid stations. I probably should have focused on that a bit more but, alas, did not.
At around 40 miles, I started to feel the strain of maintaining a super-20mph pace and found myself having to work harder to pedal that fast. Indeed, my speed was more in the 18 - 19mph. I also noticed, but again, did not focus on, the fact that when I stood up into power position, I could feel the faintest hint of quivering in my quads. I did start thinking, though, that maybe I was pushing the bike portion to hard. After all, I still had a half marathon in the hot sun to run. Not that I made any conscious decision to slow down, but I think my body did.
Eventually, I passed the 50 mile mark – 6 to go. Around this point, the bike and run portion meet and we triathletes starting in the later swim waves get to look jealously at those athletes who were on the "back" portion of the out-and-back run course.
I rode to the finish, crossed the dismount line and ran the bike back into transition.
Bike time: 2:49:36 (19.81 mph average) and a bit over 6 minutes faster than last year.
T2Another decent transition. Switched biking for running gear. I realized that I hadn’t started my Garmin before the bike so quickly turned it on and hoped that it would lock signal before I was done getting my shoes on. I was really hot now, and sweating. I had a bottle full of water for my feet (in case they were sandy after the swim, which they weren’t) so I dumped almost all of it on my head and chest. The watch got signal, and I was off. Grabbed a cup of gatorade as I headed out of transition.
T2 time: 3:04 (last year it was 3:00)
The Run (or welcome to the lava fields)The run, what can I say. My legs felt fine (as last year, my legs felt better after biking 56 miles than they did at olympic tri’s having biked only 24 or 26 miles – go figure). My first mile was a nice 7:04 pace. My spirits were up, having just been cheered on by Big Al Navidi (thanks for coming out)!! I looked at my overall time and thought, if I can keep this pace up I will have an awesome PR.
Famous last words. The next mile was a 7:28. The mile after that was a 7:58. Then my Garmin shut off (I had left it on top of my running hat in the blazing sun and it just overheated – I remember how hot if felt when I put it on my wrist). I tried to start it up but it stopped again. Oh well, I thought. Run "naked." Of course, it did not occur to me to just use the "lap" feature of my chronograph.
As with most of my tri’s, I was passing runners left and right – albeit not as quickly as I had hoped. I overheard one runner say to another "welcome to the lava fields" (a reference to the baking lava fields of Kona).
I was so thirsty and not really in the mood for gatorade. At each water stop (about a mile apart) I would grab three cups of water – drink two and pour one on my head. I still had three cliff shot chomps in my pocket – I was planning to take them at the turn around (no stomach for chocolate GU).
Meanwhile, I had not seen Jordana since the start. Pre-race, she was very anxious – would she finish the swim before the cut-off? Would she finish the bike before the cut-off? Would she get a flat tire on the bike? Would she get DQ’ed? Would she DNF? As mentioned, a portion of the bike course and run course parallel each other. As I entered this part of the run course, I scanned all of the incoming bikers. Where was Jordana? Then I saw her cycling by – that was a relief – she had finished the swim and was only about 6 miles out from finishing the bike (in more than enough time to beat the cutoff). Now I could return to focusing on my own heat-baked misery!!!
I kept plodding along (or what felt like plodding). I neared the turnaround and had one of the three remaining chomps. As I was getting the second chomp out, I dropped the package and then it was stepped on by another weary runner. Oh well, at least I had one chomp.
I reached the turnaround in 52:06 (7:57 pace). Only 6.55 miles to go!!
The last 6.55 were mostly a blur of plodding along – running from water stop to water stop, chugging several cups of water and pouring a third over my head. I kept thinking maybe I should just start walking, but realized if I stopped running to walk I would probably never start running again. Meanwhile, shortly after the turnaround, I was passed by a fast running women. Crap – until I looked at her leg "R 24." 24 year old, relay runner. Well, that was OK – she should be running fast, she’s only doing the run portion of a relay – no bike, no swim. Shortly afterwards, another runner passed me. In total, about 5 people passed me (although I may have repassed 2 of them). So much for that goal.
Meanwhile, now I was looking at all the approaching runners for Jordana. Eventually, we passed each other "Hang in there!" I yelled. And kept moving forward. Eventually I passed the 10 mile mark – only 5K to go. I’d like to think that I started picking up the pace. About 1 ½ miles to go, I passed a runner being loaded into an ambulance. That’s not good. Then a mile to go! Again, I’d like to think I picked up the pace even more. I kept thinking, once I cross the finish I can topple over!!
I made it to the finish and like to think I finished strong. My second half time was 55:29 (8:28 pace). Overall run time: 1:47:35 (8:12 pace).
Total time: 5:20:30, a 5minute PR from last year! I was 487th out of 1836, and 49th out of 211 in males 45-49.
And as crappy as I felt on the run, I had the 27th fast run in my age group and my overall place went from 877th after the bike to 487th after the run (moved up 390 places). So not bad.
Post RaceAs I said above, the word for the day was HOT. But there were other words for the day: how about mild hyponatremia? Or dehydration? Or IV in the medical tent? I guess I was sitting in the chairs a little bit too long after the race. I was feeling dizzy and nauseous, my hands and arms were tingling. So they escorted me to the medical tent. The doctors figures I was so combination of mild hyponatremia and dehydrated. So they hooked me up to an IV. An hour later, I felt much better.
I’ve always known I was a heavy sweater, but I think I need to do something about losing so many electrolytes. The first culprit is that I normally drink only half strength gatorade (I use the powder and only put in half the amount). Now gatorade already only minimally replaces electrolytes, and I was only drinking half strength at that. Plus on the run I was drinking almost exclusively water. Previously, I was starting to notice calf cramps and had been starting to take magnesium and potassium supplements. I had taken 500mg magnesium pre-race and 595mg of potassium after the swim (before the bike). I had planned to take another 595mg of potassium after the bike but forgot. And of course, this doesn’t replace the sodium. I have heard a lot about salt tablets (like Succeed S Caps, etc) for sodium replacement and think I will spend the summer and XMP getting used to taking those. Hopefully that will correct my electrolyte imbalances.
All in all, though, Eagleman 70.3 was a blast. Jordana and I had so much fun pre-race and post-race. I am so proud of her finishing the race (despite all her worries). I think she is very proud of herself as well. Indeed, just last night she was talking about next year’s Eagleman....?
There you have it sports fans. In upcoming posts, I’ll try to recap my last three marathons (2011 Marine Corps, 2011 Rehoboth, and 2012 Potomac River Run) and 2012 Naylor’s Beach tri.
But first, sorry for the long gap in posts Sports fans. I could say it’s been a crazy fall and winter and spring. Well, I said it, so that’s my story and I’m sticking to it. I hope to give some recaps of my two fall and one spring marathon, as well as the olympic tri I did the week before Eagleman (was that the smartest thing to do? asked Jordana). As a little preview, in case you did not see my Facebook status update last December, I broke the 3 hour barrier at Rehoboth Marathon in December – running a 2:58:19.
But I digest...
After completing her first tri at Rocketts Landing last year, Jordana caught the tri bug and decided she wanted to try Eagleman this year. We both missed the entry deadline. I put myself on the waiting list and she registered as a charity runner for Team Win the Fight to stop melanoma. I got in off the waiting list, so we were both on board. Jordana spent the spring dedicated to training – swimming, biking on the trainer in the basement, running. Me? Nada except doing my spring marathon training (I had a May 6 marathon). Indeed, I’m somewhat embarrassed to admit that prior to Eagleman I had swum and biked only 4 times (including the tri the week before). I believed that my marathon training would carry the day.
Meanwhile, as race day approached we saw the weather forecast showing increasingly hotter temperatures. Oh well – we had a string of about 5 days of really hot weather, oh was it April? Would that suffice for heat acclimation?
Race weekend came. With the grandparents watching the kids, Jordana and I packed our bikes and gear and headed off to Cambridge, Maryland. We went through packet pickup and had enough time to listen to the pre-race talk (to a standing room only crowd). "It wouldn’t be Eagleman without the heat" said the race director. "If it was a cool day, you’d all have just stayed at home, right?" Afterwards, I went through the expo to purchased a new bento box for my bike (my old one was too small to hold the Cliff Shot Blocks that I now rely upon for fueling during the bike portion) and a new set of sunglasses (lost my old ones in Israel). Then, we headed off to the race to rack our bikes (at Eagleman, you rack your bike the day before).
We got to transition and racked our bikes. A number of people were taking practice swims, so we got our wetsuits (the race director said it would be touch and go whether the race would be wetsuit legal – notwithstanding the high air temps, the water was around 75 degrees – 76.1 F being the magic number for whether you can wear wetsuits). We did some practice swimming, which greatly reduced some of Jordana’s anxiety about open-water swimming (the James River at Rocketts Landing, although a river, was like swimming in a pool). On our way back to the car, we saw a few people running – too late for heat acclimation now, I thought.
Back in the car and off to Bethany Beach where we were staying. Lunch at Panera in Salisbury. We made a pasta dinner to carbo load, then headed to the Bethany boardwalk for frozen yogurt. Early to bed and, following Ben Franklin’s wisdom, early to rise. The alarm rang at 4 am Sunday morning and it was time to go! Got our water bottles filled with gatorade and ice, made sure we had everything, then back on the road at 4:30am.
We arrived at the shuttle parking lot at around 5:45, hopped on the bus to the race start, and heard it was going to be a wetsuit legal race. (As an aside, wearing a wetsuit makes the swim much faster.) We arrived at the race and proceeded to set up our respective transition areas. I’ve gotten the hang of this now, and can set up a pretty swell transition area. I helped Jordana with hers. We slathered each other with sunblock – nary a cloud in the sky and there is not an inch of shade on the bike or run course. At 6:45am, we had to exit transition as the pro’s were about to start. Of course, Jordana’s swim wave did not start until 7:58 and mine 8:06 – such is triathlon – so we hung out in the shade or in line for the porto-johns.
Soon it was time to help Jordana into her wetsuit. As I said at Rocketts Landing, the very best part of doing a race with your spouse is kissing him or her good luck just before the start and saying "have a good race" and "see you at the finish." The 7:58 horn went off and off went Jordana! I got my wetsuit on and waited for my start.
The SwimA little confusion at my start. We were standing in the water and heard the race director call out "1 minute to go." Almost immediately, the horn sounded. Some of us started swimming, others looking confused. The race director then shouted "go - start swimming!" So we did.
I started to the side and a bit in back. No need to get swum over by the aggressive faster swimmers. So, I never really encountered much in the way of the cuisinart-start. Yes, I occasionally swam into someone else or was swum over – but not much. I actually had a very good swim. I settled quickly into a good stroke/breathe/sighting rhythm. I sighted very nicely (much better than the week before at Naylor’s Beach).
Not much else to say about the swim. About midway through, I started passing swimmers in the wave in front of me – sometimes wondering if one of those swimmers was Jordana. Likewise, I was passed by a few of the stronger swimmers in the wave behind me.
I finished the swim in 36:52 – almost 10 minutes faster than last year. Some of that is attributable to the wetsuit – you swim much faster wearing one. But not that much faster. So part of it is that I am a stronger and better open water swimmer.
Out of the water, peeled off my wet suit and headed into transition.
T1Had a decent transition. It was a bit slower than last year, but that is mostly due to having to take off a wetsuit. Of course, I could spend hours practicing, but why, really. My T1 time was 3:23. Last year it was 2:59. Anyhow, off to the bike.
The BikeI really wasn’t sure what to expect on the bike. I expected a faster swim if only because I was wearing a wetsuit. I didn’t know what to expect now. I hoped to bike a bit faster than last year, but then I biked faster than I thought I would last year. Anyhow, I ate a Cliff chomp and had some gatorade to replenish after the swim and settled into aero position.
The one thing I noticed pretty quickly was that I was cycling at a good clip – ranging between 20 and 22 mph. I also noticed that I was passing a lot more cyclists than were passing me. So I felt pretty good. I felt comfortable in the bike. I kept to my fueling regimen of a cliff chomp and gatorade every 10 minutes.
At the 20 and 40 mile marks, I realized my times were such that I was probably going to bike faster than last year. At around halfway through the bike, I found myself often getting very anxious for the 10 minute fueling/hydrating mark to arrive – not so much because I was hungry but because I was thirsty. I also found myself going through my gatorade much quicker (I was carrying three bottles). Indeed, I ended up taking a fourth bottle at one of the aid stations. I probably should have focused on that a bit more but, alas, did not.
At around 40 miles, I started to feel the strain of maintaining a super-20mph pace and found myself having to work harder to pedal that fast. Indeed, my speed was more in the 18 - 19mph. I also noticed, but again, did not focus on, the fact that when I stood up into power position, I could feel the faintest hint of quivering in my quads. I did start thinking, though, that maybe I was pushing the bike portion to hard. After all, I still had a half marathon in the hot sun to run. Not that I made any conscious decision to slow down, but I think my body did.
Eventually, I passed the 50 mile mark – 6 to go. Around this point, the bike and run portion meet and we triathletes starting in the later swim waves get to look jealously at those athletes who were on the "back" portion of the out-and-back run course.
I rode to the finish, crossed the dismount line and ran the bike back into transition.
Bike time: 2:49:36 (19.81 mph average) and a bit over 6 minutes faster than last year.
T2Another decent transition. Switched biking for running gear. I realized that I hadn’t started my Garmin before the bike so quickly turned it on and hoped that it would lock signal before I was done getting my shoes on. I was really hot now, and sweating. I had a bottle full of water for my feet (in case they were sandy after the swim, which they weren’t) so I dumped almost all of it on my head and chest. The watch got signal, and I was off. Grabbed a cup of gatorade as I headed out of transition.
T2 time: 3:04 (last year it was 3:00)
The Run (or welcome to the lava fields)The run, what can I say. My legs felt fine (as last year, my legs felt better after biking 56 miles than they did at olympic tri’s having biked only 24 or 26 miles – go figure). My first mile was a nice 7:04 pace. My spirits were up, having just been cheered on by Big Al Navidi (thanks for coming out)!! I looked at my overall time and thought, if I can keep this pace up I will have an awesome PR.
Famous last words. The next mile was a 7:28. The mile after that was a 7:58. Then my Garmin shut off (I had left it on top of my running hat in the blazing sun and it just overheated – I remember how hot if felt when I put it on my wrist). I tried to start it up but it stopped again. Oh well, I thought. Run "naked." Of course, it did not occur to me to just use the "lap" feature of my chronograph.
As with most of my tri’s, I was passing runners left and right – albeit not as quickly as I had hoped. I overheard one runner say to another "welcome to the lava fields" (a reference to the baking lava fields of Kona).
I was so thirsty and not really in the mood for gatorade. At each water stop (about a mile apart) I would grab three cups of water – drink two and pour one on my head. I still had three cliff shot chomps in my pocket – I was planning to take them at the turn around (no stomach for chocolate GU).
Meanwhile, I had not seen Jordana since the start. Pre-race, she was very anxious – would she finish the swim before the cut-off? Would she finish the bike before the cut-off? Would she get a flat tire on the bike? Would she get DQ’ed? Would she DNF? As mentioned, a portion of the bike course and run course parallel each other. As I entered this part of the run course, I scanned all of the incoming bikers. Where was Jordana? Then I saw her cycling by – that was a relief – she had finished the swim and was only about 6 miles out from finishing the bike (in more than enough time to beat the cutoff). Now I could return to focusing on my own heat-baked misery!!!
I kept plodding along (or what felt like plodding). I neared the turnaround and had one of the three remaining chomps. As I was getting the second chomp out, I dropped the package and then it was stepped on by another weary runner. Oh well, at least I had one chomp.
I reached the turnaround in 52:06 (7:57 pace). Only 6.55 miles to go!!
The last 6.55 were mostly a blur of plodding along – running from water stop to water stop, chugging several cups of water and pouring a third over my head. I kept thinking maybe I should just start walking, but realized if I stopped running to walk I would probably never start running again. Meanwhile, shortly after the turnaround, I was passed by a fast running women. Crap – until I looked at her leg "R 24." 24 year old, relay runner. Well, that was OK – she should be running fast, she’s only doing the run portion of a relay – no bike, no swim. Shortly afterwards, another runner passed me. In total, about 5 people passed me (although I may have repassed 2 of them). So much for that goal.
Meanwhile, now I was looking at all the approaching runners for Jordana. Eventually, we passed each other "Hang in there!" I yelled. And kept moving forward. Eventually I passed the 10 mile mark – only 5K to go. I’d like to think that I started picking up the pace. About 1 ½ miles to go, I passed a runner being loaded into an ambulance. That’s not good. Then a mile to go! Again, I’d like to think I picked up the pace even more. I kept thinking, once I cross the finish I can topple over!!
I made it to the finish and like to think I finished strong. My second half time was 55:29 (8:28 pace). Overall run time: 1:47:35 (8:12 pace).
Total time: 5:20:30, a 5minute PR from last year! I was 487th out of 1836, and 49th out of 211 in males 45-49.
And as crappy as I felt on the run, I had the 27th fast run in my age group and my overall place went from 877th after the bike to 487th after the run (moved up 390 places). So not bad.
Post RaceAs I said above, the word for the day was HOT. But there were other words for the day: how about mild hyponatremia? Or dehydration? Or IV in the medical tent? I guess I was sitting in the chairs a little bit too long after the race. I was feeling dizzy and nauseous, my hands and arms were tingling. So they escorted me to the medical tent. The doctors figures I was so combination of mild hyponatremia and dehydrated. So they hooked me up to an IV. An hour later, I felt much better.
I’ve always known I was a heavy sweater, but I think I need to do something about losing so many electrolytes. The first culprit is that I normally drink only half strength gatorade (I use the powder and only put in half the amount). Now gatorade already only minimally replaces electrolytes, and I was only drinking half strength at that. Plus on the run I was drinking almost exclusively water. Previously, I was starting to notice calf cramps and had been starting to take magnesium and potassium supplements. I had taken 500mg magnesium pre-race and 595mg of potassium after the swim (before the bike). I had planned to take another 595mg of potassium after the bike but forgot. And of course, this doesn’t replace the sodium. I have heard a lot about salt tablets (like Succeed S Caps, etc) for sodium replacement and think I will spend the summer and XMP getting used to taking those. Hopefully that will correct my electrolyte imbalances.
All in all, though, Eagleman 70.3 was a blast. Jordana and I had so much fun pre-race and post-race. I am so proud of her finishing the race (despite all her worries). I think she is very proud of herself as well. Indeed, just last night she was talking about next year’s Eagleman....?
There you have it sports fans. In upcoming posts, I’ll try to recap my last three marathons (2011 Marine Corps, 2011 Rehoboth, and 2012 Potomac River Run) and 2012 Naylor’s Beach tri.
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