A Balance, Redefined

Single: Just a nice easy morning. Up early again. The MG overlook and back from work. 

AM: Commute run with Chad sighting.

PM: From lab in the late PM, FireHouse mile shake out (5:02.18; HR 173). I'm starting to think the the HR for the half was off... Today's run. I started pre-run ~57bpm, then a block into the run I saw 165bpm! I adjusted the strap and it immediately went down to 132bpm. Even the hard mile only hit 173 and my average for the run was 8:33 pace with 139 HR. Now to get home. Hopefully tomorrow is more productive than the rest of this week has been...

Single: Daddy duty treadmill run.

Good start to the day. Up at 4am and into lab to set-up something before heading over to meet Clyde, Logan, Walter and Chad at the capital. Then we did an out and back on the road and then up and down City Creek. It was fun to run in a group again. It was also great to see those guys, some of which I hadn't seen in well over a year. All and all a good pace and good conversation throughout. Avg. 7:36

It is nice not being on a structured program. When I found out Clyde and Logan were coming up yesterday  I switched things around and did the rest of the weeks mileage yesterday. This morning I got up early (again) and went over to Big Cottonwood to hike up to Lake Blanche with a friend from work. We had perfect timing. We were the first ones of the morning to get to the lake and then we had about 20 minutes to look around before a small cloud burst. However, the cloud burst was right around sunrise and it gave us a rainbow. Then on the way down (despite a number of other hikers) we saw a Moose and her calf. In fact they saw us. They were less than 50ft off the trail and looked up as we were passing. Really cool. Round trip was 6.75 mi with ~3400ft to the lake (by Garmin). The rest of the day was family time and errands. Now on to taper madness...

Family day. A friend had a blessing for their son and then a potluck at a local park. Other than that just a relaxing day. In the evening I finally finished one of my manuscripts and sent it out to the co-authors. One step closer to submission.

Home loop. I ended up working most the day. The good news is I got the edits from my review done and back to my boss. One step closer to being published. Two in two days. Can't beat that. Avg. 7:57

Home 5K. A full bench day actually ahead of schedule for the week.
5:28
5:30
5:38
0:36
17:12
Felt harder than it should have but my joints were kind of complaining after the weekend off.
Avg. 6:58

Suicide-Dog loop. Still feeling tired. I planned today on Monday. Since I worked the holiday and get to make my own schedule (more or less) I took a half day today. Went in for about three hours. Then took the family to Thanksgiving point. It was great. We got to the door of the dinosaur museum as they were opening and there were only three other people there. We had the whole museum to ourselves. My daughter got to do every hands on activity without any wait. Toward the end of the loop of the museum a few other people showed up but there were so few children that we always had each room to ourselves for at least half the time. Overall a great family day. Then after a late lunch back into work. After dinner the home loop past Suicide Rock and through the Dog Park. Headed home just in time to watch the sunset. Avg. 8:35

A slightly different commute run in. Really losing my mind with the taper. Focus and sleep have been hard the last couple of days... Avg. 9:06

A very sluggish FireHouse mile 5:22. Really felt like I was running through sludge. The day was pretty good over all. I've enjoyed the updates on the Wasatch 100. Really makes me interested in running it one of these days. Avg. 8:37

Good day. The U has have free Health Day. It is great for kids. Tons of give-a-ways and other fun activities. Did a PM home loop. Felt very sluggish. So is the taper I guess. Avg. 8:36

Rest day.

AM: Direct commute run.  Had to start work by 6am. 2.5mi

PM: Treadmill progression run. Started at 8min pace then increased 0.1 mph each 0.1 miles. 3.5mi

Single: Campus commute run. Slept in this morning.

In honor of Jon and Cody's summaries here is a very quick rundown of my training...

So this round (despite the slow start and no weeks over 75mi) I still have my 3rd highest cumulative mileage.  I also have a good 150 miles over last time preparing for TOU. However, I have the least workouts and pace work. We'll see what happens...

Single: Blah. I may as well have been wearing a lead suite. My initial plan was for one "quick" mile, then one pace mile, then just finish... I guess my body is conserving everything for Saturday because I just could not get turnover this morning. MG overlook. Avg. 9:22

Rest day.

Just the tune-up before the storm.

Chapter 10

There’ll be another

Preface

I knew it was bound to happen, not all races can live up to your expectations. That being said I think I’ve handled this as best as I could. Here is the story of my ’09 marathon. As is my usual tradition, marathon race reports are a time of reflection for me on my year in running and life in general. Last year ended in defeat with a critical injury not one month out from what was set to be my fastest marathon. It hit me hard and life filled in the gap. The birth of my second daughter (on my birthday) was a great addition to my daily life and really adjusted my priorities for the coming year. Also, the knowledge that my current salary support was ending in June did not help matters any. The good news is that I was awarded another three years of funding starting this month and my second daughter is already 9-months old, happy and more importantly healthy, so all and all the year was a great one. But as I mentioned my priorities changed a lot this year and my only goal for running was to not get re-injured. That was until Des 10K and TOU1/2, both just off my PRs from the previous year. This and the knowledge that I’d put in the 3^rd most total miles leading up to this race than before any of my other marathons, though the least number of workouts. In fact, I’d run 150 more miles than when I ran a 2:40:20 on this same course just two years earlier. This being said my three goals all shifted 5 min up the month before the race than what I was planning when I registered. Going to the line my A STD was 2:35, B STD was 2:40, and C STD was 2:45. Also, I was seeded 15^th so I wanted to get at least 15^th place. I did however know that some faster people were not seeded and that could affect place.

The Race

            I left work an hour early so I could spend a little time with the family before heading north. Then after dinner I hit the road for the drive up to Logan. Stopped briefly at the expo to pick up my number and drop off some water bottles. The race director had graciously agreed to place these at some of the aid stations (though this isn’t typical for this particular race), more to come on this later. I also ran into Steve A. and spoke with him briefly and saw Sasha on my way out the door to the local high school track. As has become tradition for me I did two miles on the track to shake out my legs from the drive and get a good pace in my mind. I do an 800 warm up then 4 quarters at a “good effort” without checking my pace and then an 800 cool down with some stretching afterwards. The post-run glance at the splits had me very encouraged the effort felt easy and I had hit 87, 85, 86, 85 or about 5:43 and since my A STD goal pace was 5:55 with most of it downhill my hopes were flying high!

            After the gaunt at the track I headed over to Cody’s. He had been kind enough to host me again for my stay in Logan. Cody, Sasha, Jon and I spent the next hour or so talking about running and plans for the next day and then I hit the sack. Very interesting thing, it was the first night I have ever slept through before a big race. Usually I’m waking up every hour. But to my surprise the next thing I remembered was my alarm going off at 4:30am to get to the buses. The four of us from the night before carpooled to the start, boarded the buses, and enjoyed the ride to the start. After meeting up with some of the other bloggers, a few for the first time, I was getting ready to go. It was nice to meet some people for the first time face to face, JD, etc. We knew the race was going to be stacked from some homework Jon had done and saw four Kenyans at the start and knew that the top 20 men all had PRs under or about 2:45. My plan was to just run my race and try my best to hit that 2:35, if I fell off and got a 2:40 so be it.

            To my surprise, even with all the big guns the first mile was rather conservative. Paul jumped out to the lead with the Kenyans, Sasha, and Nick and a few others close behind and to my surprise I found myself in a fairly large chase pack. The first mile was only about 5 sec fast so I felt good. Soon after the chase pack started to split and I had to make a decision. I opted to go ahead with the faster group. This probably didn’t happen until about mile 3 or 4 but whatever. I knew as long as I was not up with Jon but not losing too much ground I was probably still doing good for the 2:35 pace. As we approached the 7 mile aid station I knew one of my bottles was going to be there. So here is the story on that. St. George has an elite water station. I had contacted the race directors for TOU and asked if they had something similar. They said no but that they could help me out. So Sandra and Kaitlyn decorated bottles for me. They added a little flag with both my race number and the aid station. Then they wrote something encouraging on the lid and taped a GU to each. Now as I approached the aid table it became clear that I was the only person who had asked for this. I am very thankful to Bob for making this exception. The volunteers found it very funny and as I approached they all started yelling out that number 15 was coming and to get the bottle. It was handed off and I took my GU and continued on. It really gave me a surge of energy and put a big smile on my face. Although part of that smile was embarrassment…

            The next three miles I was still feeling pretty good and I was very happy to see ~59 min on the clock as I passed the 10 mile mark. I knew I was still in pretty good shape and I could still see Jon and I think it was Steve A. on long stretches of road. However, somewhere within the next mile my legs just did not feel “right”. I think it was the lack of speed work. I was in half marathon shape but my body was beginning to tell me I better go back to Oz if I think I am in marathon shape off of mileage alone. The next 5 miles I held it together more or less, only deviating from pace a little. Through the half I was still on pace for a sub-2:36 (if a flat course). Around mile 15 or 16 Joe W. and his buddy passed me. Almost in the exact same spot on the course as they passed me on the half marathon. However, today I had no inkling that I could hang with them even for a mile and just watched them quickly gap me. During the next mile Vance and someone else passed me. He gave me a very encouraging string of comments and though I appreciated it, they just went in one ear and out the other. During mile 18 something very strange happened and both my legs and mind switched off. There was a very obvious change from racing to running and I just seemed to give up. Through mile 19 I was still on pace for a sub-2:40 (again assuming a flat course) but it didn’t matter, I don’t like to admit this but what crossed my mind was that the race was over and I wanted to only finish and not hurt myself for a non-PR effort. By mile 21 the lead woman passed me (way to go Nan) but soon after I passed one of the Kenyan’s who was having an even worse race. By mile 22-23 Cody passed me and though he encouraged me to come with, his comment on this being a death march was much more to my mentality at that point. I continued on and appreciated the cheers of people telling me how good and strong I looked though I just kept thinking I had to look like death. The people at the aid stations throughout continued to be great and the stations with my bottles all got them to me without a hitch. I really appreciated it and their enthusiasm and the knowledge that Kaitlyn and Sandra had spent so much effort on them were the only things that kept me going.

            I finally made it to mile 26 and saw that I could still break 2:50 so I put in just enough effort to do that. I made it to the line in 2:49.16 in 26.28 miles by Garmin, this was good for 16^th place. So I missed all goals…

Final place 16^th overall of 2027 finishers

3^rd division (at least I came home with a moose)

Final time 2:49.15

Average HR 176, Max HR 191.

Wrap-up

            What next? Another marathon of course! I’m planning two for next year, a tune-up in the spring to wipe this race from my memory and then something fast in the fall. Races to be determined, depends on money and schedule. I’m happy with the year and despite some pain in my knee today and some very sore muscles I think I made it through the training year in one piece. Thank you to all the bloggers that have supported me through my recovery. I think I’m back. Now to get back into marathon racing shape. Also, many congratulations to all the bloggers that had great days. A few others had races similar to mine but they all seem to have taken them the same way. Not too devastated just move on. However, there were also a number of bloggers who did VERY well. Paul, for winning the race out right: You really deserved it and I’m so proud of your dedication. Jon, for a huge PR and winning his age group: You ran a race I hope to mirror in the near future. Thank you for the great example. And the blogger women for sweeping 1-3! Nick for a great 4th place finish behind some stiff competition, Cody for sticking it out even when running through the killing fields (i.e. passing my dead body), JD for coming to the line after 10yr and shaving 15 min off of his PR, Sasha and Steve for tune-up races on their ways to much better performances at St. George. I know I’m missing other people and I’m sorry…

Legs and knee pretty sore. But otherwise ok. Looking more closely at yesterday's performance I took from it what I could and know more for next time. Now into the double digits and still learning... Overall good day. Slept in, then church, then  some errands...

I had a horrible night's sleep. First, I was thinking too much about the race then I was just restless. I pretty dazed and confused Monday overall. The knee pain has already subsided and I'm going down stairs without a hitch so overall quick recovery. There is a slight pain in the outside of my left foot that I'll have to watch.

Slept better last night but up early for work today. Just did the commute run in. Even the foot pain feels a little better. I was definitely crawling into work this morning but felt fine physically just sleepy... Avg. 11:02 no kidding

Left foot still a little funky but legs almost back to normal. Commute run in to work...

Daja vu all over again. Easing back into a routine is about as exciting as tapering... I've been occupying my time with planning the next marathon. I seem to have a need to have that next date on my calendar. For a number of reasons I've decided on Salt Lake City again. I know there is Ogden around the same time and I came very close. However, I had a great experience in '08, it is close to home so my family can easily cheer, and I can train on the course. Commute run  in.

I forgot to mention I also looked ahead and I should complete by trip around the world the last week of Oct/first week of Nov. I have 172 miles to go today and am planning a very light mileage Oct...

I thought about cutting and pasting one of my previous postings from this week. But then I realized that I switched up the mileage so opted against it :). The other runs were 2.6 for two reasons. One I thought it was funny that my daily runs were 1/10th the race on Sat and two I had to clean up the mileage on my spreadsheet to get to even halves so that I will know when I complete my circuit of the world. Just another commute run it. Have a great weekend everyone.

Good weekend so far. My grandparents are visiting from Chicago. Yesterday was a carnival at our church and then they watched our girls while Sandra and I went out to dinner to celebrate our 5th wedding anniversary.Today was just lounging around the backyard and playing with the girls.

Last day of the visit. My girls are a little under the weather but the visitation of their great grandparents seems to keep them in high spirits. Just running some errands, more play in the back yard and more good meals out.

Well right back to it. I had an early meeting before my usual lab meeting. Nothing special about the day. Busier than normal as a few extras popped up but what is a Mon without surprises? After the girls went down I did a run from home. My quads were pretty tight with all the time off and still recovering. Still not sure what is going on with my left foot but I'll just watch it for now. All of Oct is more or less going to be recovery/rest for me before I build for my spring marathon. I'm going to try two new things this time around. First, focus a little more on diet. Second, focus more on core/strength exercises. My run was miles 3 and 4 of the course. I'll be doing those two miles a lot as they can easily be part of a home loop. Avg. 8:41

Was planning on getting up at 4:45am but my daughter had other plans. Up at 4:15am then commute run in to lab. Even though I got in and ready by 5:30am I'm already an hour behind in the day... Oh well. The run was not eventful just VERY slow... Not fully awake and uphill is a bad combo. Foot about the same as is the knee. You have to love the joys of getting back to it. Avg. SLOW (11:57 no kidding!)

What a flash back to the start of St. George last year mid-40s and raining... I hope that the weather is getting it out of its system for all those racing this weekend. Commute run in. Legs feeling better but it feels like I didn't miss whatever my girls had this weekend as my throat/nose were a little poor this morning. For those who know me, you know I like my numbers. I thought this was funny. My first two miles this morning were 9:19.00 and 9:19.02, how's that for consistency?