blog.andyobrien.com

I’m not dead.  I just post a lot of stuff on DailyMile these days. I’ll post another race report here soon. I’ve got the HAT Run, a difficult trail 50K, coming up on March 20th. That’ll be fun. I hope.

In the meantime, if you’re an athlete looking to post your workouts online and don’t mind getting awesome support and motivation from other athletes, then go over to DailyMile and signup. Do it! The sense of community there is off-the-charts! Speaking of charts (or graphs), here’s how my last 26 weeks of running is graphed on DailyMile:

andy running DailyMile

Boy, I don’t know what to say other than that I completely blew this race.  And, before you get bored with my stupid details and excuses, let me offer a quote from “Boston Billy” Rogers, winner of 4 (3 consecutive) Boston marathons, who said: “The marathon can humble you.”  He ain’t kidding.  Marine Corps Marathon: 2, Me: 0.  My 3 years of adult running are bookended by 2 ass-whoopings by the MCM.  I don’t find the MCM a tough course, but somehow I end up hating life while finishing up that tiny climb to the Iwo Jima Memorial finish line.  My first of 4 marathons was the 2007 MCM, where I walked the last 10 miles to finish in 4:39:39, well below Oprah’s standard. :-/ But, that was the first one.  The one we don’t “really” train for or respect.  My 2009 MCM was much different.  I had put in much more training and had come to respect the distance far more than any other.

My goal was to qualify for the Boston Marathon in this race.  I needed a time of 3:15:59 or better to get in the 2010 race.  That’s an average pace of roughly 7:28/mile.  I failed to reach this goal.  My finish time of 3:20:12 was a little over 4 minutes off the mark.  My overall pace of 7:38 just didn’t cut it.  But, my overall time and pace don’t tell the story…

PRE-RACE

I got up at 3:50 AM even though the race wasn’t until 8:00 AM.  I don’t like rushing to a race, and besides, I had a long Metro (subway) commute ahead of me.  Surprisingly, I had gotten a quality sleep despite its short length.  I felt refreshed and ready to go, especially after getting some major restroom activity out of the way (for the most part).  I had everything I needed for pre-race, race, and post-race.  I decided to wear an old long sleeve t-shirt and cheap (3 pair/$2) gloves to the start line, where I would ditch both items before the race.  And, I had trained with the race outfit I had on many times.  I wore my RaceReady compression shorts (pockets for GUs in the back), Brooks Equilibrium SS shirt, old pair of Feetures running socks, Brooks Racer ST4s, Road ID bracelet, Garmin Forerunner 305, a Clif Bar 3:10 paper pace bracelet (from the expo), and of course, my blue doo rag.

When I got to Runner’s Village, after the long walk from the Pentagon Metro station, I dropped off my post-race bag at the UPS trucks and looked around for the Brooks V.I.P. Porta-Potty, but couldn’t see it.  I had to go, so I simply used one of the million normal porta-potties that had no line at that hour (~6:15 AM?).  The MCM doesn’t screw around when it comes to porta-potty : runner ratio.  That’s a relief.  I found the Brooks V.I.P. Porta-Potty shortly thereafter, and decided to use it even though I really didn’t have to go.  I was eligible to use it, since I was wearing Brooks shoes, so dammit, I was going to use it!  They had velvet ropes set up and really played it up when a Brooks runner entered their area.  They’d open the rope and point you to their heated restroom setup.  After leaving the temporary building, another Brooks volunteer would offer a mint (wintergreen LifeSaver) from a basket s/he was holding.  Classic.  So, I got an early start to breakfast.

For breakfast, I had an Orange GU 30 minutes before the start, washed down with a few ounces of water.  I also placed 5 more GUs in my shorts, planning on consuming 4 of them at miles: 4, 9, 13.1, and 17.5, leaving an extra one if I needed it (due to mishandling of one or otherwise).  I lined up in the 3:00-3:19 corral, as I desired a sub-3:10.  I chatted with another guy, wearing a bandana (it’s an alternative headwear thing, you wouldn’t understand), and we shortly had to move up to close in the gap that formed between the elites and our corral.  It was neat being so close to those famous MCM balloon start arches up there with the fast runners.  In 2007, it took me about 2.5 minutes to reach the start line after the cannon blast.  This time it took only about 10 seconds…

RACE

My race pace strategy was a mixed bag of paces, really.  I enjoyed my 7:1* splits in many of my long runs, and also did NOT enjoy my long runs which started slow and finished fast (~7:4* down to 7:2*).  Add also an enjoyable uptempo 10-miler (all splits below 7:00 for a 6:45 pace), and as race day approached, I had a vague idea what I wanted.  I decided that worst case I wanted 7:1* splits through 20 miles, then race the last 10K (like everyone wants to).  My best case would be mile splits between 6:4* and 7:1* through 20, and again racing the last 10K.  I knew the initial miles would be a nice ramp-up speed due to traffic, and figured I could get in my target zone fairly easily.

My 7:22s the first 2 miles were a welcome sight, as they weren’t too slow or too fast (in my mind).  There was a small climb around Miles 2 and 3 and I wasn’t having too much trouble with it, like some of the wheelchair participants were.  Just an enjoyable pace before the downhill.

I think everybody recorded their fastest mile during Mile 4, as it was all downhill to the beginning of the Key Bridge into Georgetown.  It was at Mile 4 that I had planned my first GU and hydration stop.  And, this fueling point didn’t go well for me.  With all the cowbell-ing and hollering going on, I couldn’t make out what the Marines were saying, regarding what fluids they were handing out first in the long stretch of volunteers.  I had wanted water for my first fueling point, but grabbed the first cup available and saw that it was Powerade.  To avoid being bloated later, I didn’t want to fill up on Powerade this early in the race.  And, at this point I was a little too friendly with what I grabbed and decided to hold the unwanted beverage while I eventually grabbed a water later in the line.  Now carrying 2 cups being splashed around while I ran, I finally chucked the Powerade to the side of the road when I thought no one was near me.  Why I cared about volunteers or other runners getting wet from a somewhat full cup of Powerade, I don’t know.  And, by this point my water cup was no more than a 1/3 full from all the bouncing.  Oh, I had already had my open GU tucked under my thumb slightly before the station.  But, with little water to wash it down, I didn’t get but 1/2 of the packet, before chucking it and the cup to the ground.  I shrugged it off, knowing that having GU this early probably wasn’t the standard anyhow.  As long as I got full ones later, I’d be ok.

Miles 5 through 7 were easy with only another small climb near the end of Mile 7.  I thought my pace was nice and easy, but I guess it would haunt me later.  Again, another downhill section during Mile 8 had everyone flying.  It was hard to hold back on this hill.  Near the bottom of the hill we could see runners at Mile 5 of the flat loop around the Georgetown reservoir.  It was nice to be far ahead of that massive crowd.

Next up, my next fueling point around Mile 9.  This time I had managed to consume all of my Orange GU and the < 2/3 full cup of Powerade I grabbed early in the line.  But, I had forgotten what I mentioned on DailyMile, regarding the possibility of grabbing extra fluid due to unknown race day serving amounts.  In my training, I always had 8 oz. of water or Powerade during my stops from my flasks, but wasn’t getting anywhere near this, and I didn’t make up for it at unplanned stations (as I mentioned) or sub-stations either.  Race day mental lapse, I guess.

Oh, I kept thinking about my race watchers, family and friends, who were getting my 5k split times/pace via SMS/email, thanks to the MCM 5k timing mats and alerts system.  I knew my pace was fast, but it felt good.  I kept comparing my time to my 3:10 pace bracelet.  I was 2+ minutes ahead of that expected finish time for a long time.

Somewhere between Miles 10 and 11, we passed under the expected overhead photographers, running across 2 separate red/blue painted sections of the road.  I had known about this from the 2007 MCM and had it all planned out.  I would sign the letters “B” and “Q” as I came into camera view.  Sign language letters are done with the right hand, so I did the mirror image of a “Q” with my left hand.  I’ve seen the race pics.  Totally gay and embarrassing, now that I’ve failed to get that BQ.  Eh, it was a neat idea, I guess.

I was happy that the MCM changed their course after my 2007 run.  This time and last year they swapped the mall loop with the Hains Point loop so that runners would go around the mostly empty Hains Point during Miles 11 - 15, instead of Miles 16 - 20, or such.  In 2007, that later empty loop was killer and where I had started to walk for good.  This time, Hains Point was enjoyable for the most part.

I reached my next fueling point near the 1/2 mark, and had a similar event.  Not enough fluid, but mostly finishing my Orange GU.  And, I remember hopping with both feet onto the the 1/2 timing mark, because I’m an idiot, thinking that my previous left-footed (no D-tag) timing mark steps were bad.  Weird what goes on in your mind during these long runs.  My 1/2 marathon time was 1:33:34.  I ambitiously wanted nothing worse than 1:35, even though I convinced myself I could deal with 1:37.

I got to admit that after the 1/2 I started to feel it a little bit.  In my training long runs, I would also feel it around 13, but then I’d get a surge (post-GU maybe) that would kick-in and I’d feel great again.  I wasn’t feeling bad, but I didn’t have that easy free flowing stride (though over-stride) that I had going.  I was still holding pace, or at least I thought.

Around about Mile 16 the 3:10 pace group came up by me and I said to myself “No way!”.  I looked at my pace band and it showed that I was still about 2 minutes ahead of 3:10.  I tried to stay with them a little bit, but they were a big group and it was a little too crowded, and I figured I’d just stay slightly behind them.  And besides, they were ahead of schedule, I thought.

I had originally planned a GU and Powerade fueling point at ~Mile 17.5, but decided to just have Powerade, as I convinced myself that I couldn’t swallow another GU at that point.  I had done the same thing at the Frederick Marathon, pretty much.  And, in that one I slowed near the end.  :-/ … I told myself I’d GU up at Mile 22, if I felt up to it.

As you can see though, my 30K split wasn’t great, but then again, it wasn’t horrendous, yet.  I believe I took more Powerade at the water point just before Mile 20 or so.  I was anxious to get to that magical Mile 20, even though I didn’t have that extra gear that I wished to use when I got there.

A cool thing happened on the bridge, after Mile 20.  I came up on a runner that I knew, but had never physically met.  I would recognize this runner as Paul S., one of my DailyMile buddies.  He had posted race pics of himself on DailyMile, so it was easy to spot him.  But, finding 1 out of 20,000+ runners is pretty rare, especially while running.  I just happened to be picking my pace up slightly during a small section of the bridge and saw Paul and nonchalantly said “Hey, Paul” as I matched his pace next to him.  He hesitated a little bit, but quickly figured out that the blue doo-ragged dude was me.  We did a quick handshake and we both agreed that we were struggling/hurting a bit.

Paul and I crossed the 35K timing mat at the exact same time, as we were running side-by-side.  I guess we never heard of drafting.  :-/  Anyhow, maybe running with Paul helped me get some time back as my 35K split suggests.  At this point in the race though, I just thought if I could just hang on and run the remainder with Paul, that all would be good.  My BQ time of < 3:16 was looking pretty good, though not in the bag.  Of course, when you start having these thoughts, you know you’re in for a long, iffy finish.  I don’t remember talking too much to Paul.  In fact, we were pretty quiet for most of the time.

Feeling the struggle, I decided to down my 4th and overdue Orange GU at Mile 22, but I can’t remember how much of it I got.  I was slowly losing it, physically and mentally.  However, Paul and I both remember that fragrant beer smell on the way up to the Mile 23 turnaround.  And, I remember smelling it also on the way back of the out-and-back.

Somewhere between Miles 23 and 24, Paul kicked into another gear and I couldn’t match him.  I was rapidly approaching a point of no return.  I was bonking big time.  I can barely remember the 2 times I bumped into the reaching arms of the Marines at the water point just before Mile 24.  Finally, I got a cup of whatever with the 3rd guy reaching out.

I don’t remember a whole lot in the last 5K of the race, except that I figured out that I could keep from walking by leaning my head back, closing my eyes and just keep my feet pedaling somewhat.  Yeah, that’s not good.  When I let my head drift forward, I would near a walking speed it seemed, as I hunched over.

The last mile and .2 seemed to be the longest part of the day.  I was completely out of it.  All I can remember there was hoping that the end was near, and was pleasantly surprised to see that the MCM had eliminated a small out-and-back from 2007 that went slightly beyond (and back to) the Iwo Jima Memorial driveway.  Knowing that I was only a tiny climb away from being done was such a huge relief.

Crossing the MCM finishing wasn’t a joyous occasion once again.  I was doing a duck-like jog/walk coming to the line.  When I crossed the final timing mat in 3:20:12, my first thought was to go to the ground to rest.  Of course, I was then hauled over to the side to be looked at.  I was OK, but I was very dehydrated, as I quickly downed a Powerade given to me in that area.  I was completed dejected and cussing to myself, just like in 2007.  What the hell happened?…

POST-RACE

I met Paul S. again in the family meet-up area.  Also, his NC neighbor, and another DailyMile friend, Jeff N., showed up too.  We’re kind of like family in that we share our workouts on DailyMile almost daily.  Oh, their real families (wives and kids) showed up too.

Us runners hit the beer tent for our 2 free beers, and then we all walked about 10 blocks to an Irish pub/restaurant to get some food and drink.  It was nice to meet up with these cool DailyMilers after such a deflating performance in this race.  I went from feeling very down to quite happy actually.  Nothing like some friends and a slowly nursed Guinness to turn your spirits around.

WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?

I think the main ingredient in my failure was my fueling.  I’ve ran 3 marathons this year and I’m definitely not getting enough fluids for the long haul.  I don’t get thirsty when running long, but I guess my body likes to be hydrated.  Go figure.  I need to take sips at all water stops, I guess, while making sure I don’t get bloated on Powerade (or such) in the early stops.  And, with more fluid intake, I also could probably get away with less packets of GU and shift some to later in the race.  I didn’t have a bonk like this in my previous 2 marathons, but I hadn’t expended so much early energy in them either.

My early pace was surely questionable.  We all would like to go out slow, and finish fast.  A negative split would feel great.  But, as I mentioned, I had some training runs where I went out slow and finished with heavy legs, though still getting a negative split.  I had desired to get in a good rhythm early to avoid those heavy legs.  My first 5K splits through 25K suggest a consistent pace of 7:0* was doable.  But, maybe I should’ve done more 7:2* miles in the beginning.  Maybe that would’ve saved something for the end.  I don’t know.  I’m sure others would suggest that 7:4* or above should’ve been my initial pace, but again, some of my training runs turned me off of that.

I think my training was adequate for the time I wanted, but certainly not optimal.  The great thing about DailyMile and Twitter is the advice you can get from other runners.  One suggested that I add more higher mileage easy runs during the week, as I ran a lot of 4, 5 or 6-milers a lot, and then did a long one on the weekend.  My weekly running charts always had a sudden climb at the end of the week.  I definitely need to add more 8, 9, 10-milers to the mix to make my week a little better balanced and get more (quality) weekly mileage built up.  Also, my taper could’ve seen easier runs too.  I could’ve ran my last long run much slower and maybe skip that last uptempo 10-miler too.

There are always things to work on and fix before the next race.  And, my next nearest race is unknown, really.  I do have the HAT Run 50k in March 2010 though.  That’ll keep me busy over the winter.  But, I’d like to pick up another race or two.  I’ll probably find some smaller ones between now and March.

I should be happy with yet another 26.2 PR.  This time by more than 5 minutes (last one was a 3:25:20).  But, I wanted that 2010 BQ bad.  And, thought I’d crush it by 5 minutes or more. Oh well, things don’t always go as planned.  As a consolation prize, I believe I BQ-ed for 2011, since I’ll be 40 for the 2011 race and the qualifying window is typically around 18 mos. or so.  I believe my 2009 MCM results will fall into the B.A.A.’s timeline range of eligible qualifying results.  Eh, that’s fine.  I should be ecstatic with this fact/near-fact.  But, I’m not.  I’m certainly not going to hold back now that I may have qualified.  I still want to run the time I had wanted to run in this race.  I’ll eventually figure the marathon out.  I hope.

andy running race report

Less than a week prior to this event, fellow DailyMiler, Matt Lofton, asked me if I would like to join him in running the Paul Thurston Burke Lake 4.5 Miler, a nearby DC Road Runners event. I obliged, and in the days prior to the race, we (and our running friends) enjoyed a playful back-and-forth of light trash talk (tweets and DailyMile posts). And, we finally settled on an entry fee wager ($5) for the victor, where I was also to be given 2:22, since Matt is much faster than me.

PRE-RACE

Not much pre-race activity except for meeting Matt and also my co-worker (and DailyMile recruit), Ryan McGeary. By the way, my family also attended this evening event too. They had never been to any of my previous 21 races, and after this humid and low-key event, may never go to another one! Anyhow, after a 1/2 mile warmup with some bug swallowing, I was ready to get the race started…

RACE

The race’s 4.5 mile track around Burke Lake was mostly well-maintained trail with some added black top at the beginning and end of the route, connecting parking lots. My main goal was to keep Matt within sight to cover the 2:22 spread. I went out much easier than the way I went out in my previous Crystal City Twiligher 5K race. This time my first mile was a friendlier 5:59, according to my Garmin. And, Matt took it easy the first mile too.

There wasn’t a whole lot of passing on the trail, I must say. I did manage to pass 5 runners between miles 1.5 and 3.9. I first passed a young woman around mile 1.5, then a very young boy (12?) around mile 2. Then, slowly reined in 3 more gentlemen up to mile 3.9. I remember the 3.9 mileage because the last guy said we had a mile to go, but I didn’t correct him. I knew we had .6 to go, and was happy knowing it!

Slightly before the last pass, I could see Matt up in the distance and figured he was about a minute ahead of me. At that point, I knew I could cover the spot. And, coming down the stretch, Matt gave me lots of support yelling “Slow down, please slow down!”  :-P

The race itself was somewhat uneventful, otherwise. The only thing special about it was that they had timing issues, and anyone who finished prior to 38 minutes weren’t recorded. My Garmin showed 29:15 for 4.52 miles. I later emailed this time to the group asking for missing times. Unofficial race results can be found –> here.  My regressive splits were: 5:59 6:35 6:35 6:48 3:15  Oh well.

Also, here’s a TwitPic (thanks to Matt) of my winning pose:

Let it be known that I didn’t ask for the prize money after the race.  I had planned on turning it down anyways, and repeatedly did so.  But, Ryan said to Matt “Didn’t Andy win the bet?”, and then Matt refused to keep the cash, saying “A bet is a bet”.  Oh well, we had fun with it.  I guess I won’t be getting that spot next time.  :-(

andy running race report

andy running Brooks Racer ST 4, BrooksID, race photo

It had been awhile since I did a 5K race.  My last one was the 2006 Herndon Turkey Trot, where I PR-ed with a time of 22:34.  Back then, I was ~25 lbs. heavier and not nearly the runner I am today.  Now, my training is at a whole new level.  So, going into last night’s Crystal City Twilighter 5K, I knew I would PR big time!

PRE-RACE

The start time for the race was 8:00pm. So, I decided to leave the house no later than 6:30pm, which would get me to the race site by 7:00pm or so. That would give me plenty of time to warm up, hit the porta-potties, and possibly catch up with my DailyMile.com friend, Steve Speirs @britishbulldog and his lovely wife, Allyson. Well, things don’t always go as planned.

After a little bit of traffic problems, I arrived in the packed area around 7:15pm, and made the terrible decision to use one of the smaller parking garages that the race recommended, which I had thought was in the best location for getting out of the area. The race listed 2300+ runners, and so, I figured I’d use this particular garage because it was slightly away from all the commotion. Well, it took me 10 minutes to get in and out of that garage, as all of us realized there were no spots left. And, it appeared that there was only one floor of that garage. Strange. So, I was in panic-mode after this failure. I knew where the other garages were, but was worried about the time. Another 10 minutes later, after waiting through lights and traffic again, I finally got parked in the main garage which had plenty of spaces (and floors).

Knowing the size of the field, I envisioned long lines at porta-potties, as I pinned up my bib while sitting in my minivan. I looked over on my passenger-side floor and saw a red plastic cup, the throwaway kind. Hmm. I was concealed in my minivan. Hmm. Moments later I emerged from my vehicle carrying a nearly full cup of a warm liquid, which I quickly disposed in a nearby trash can. Sorry, garage janitor.

Once I emerged from the garage, I was pleasantly surprised to see a nice light rain come down. It was 90 all day, so it was refreshing to have a small front come through for the race. I turned on my Garmin Forerunner 305 and headed towards the start/finish area to do a warmup. Of course, looking over at the porta-potty collection, I noticed there were no lines. Go figure. Anyhow, my Garmin wasn’t finding a satellite as I was walking around in the rain. Lots of people were taking cover wherever they could, but I stayed out in the rain, since I needed to get some sort of warmup in. I finally saw @britishbulldog during a little jog, but didn’t want to ruin his warmup routine, so I kept going. Later, after my warmup, I lined up near the front and got to talk to my running buddy. This was Steve’s 3rd 5K of the day!!! He and his wife had teamed up for a run~swim~run event down in their Virginia Beach area, earlier that morning. Steve did both of the 5K runs, and Allyson swam. They took first place in the mixed division! So, needless to say, Steve didn’t have that raring to go look, especially after a 4 hour drive to boot! But, the race was under way before we knew it…

RACE

As predicted, I would go out way too fast in this one. My Garmin beeped slightly before the Mile 1 mat with a time of 5:44. Holy Moly! I knew I was flying, since @britishbulldog wasn’t too far in front of me. Despite the effort during this first mile, I passed on taking any water at the stop around that point. My mouth was dry, but I knew we’d be passing that area again on the back portion of the out-and-back course.

Nearing the Mile 1.5 turnaround, I saw @britishbulldog coming back the other way and he shouted something along the lines of “fast pace” or something. I didn’t yell back, so I could save some energy. I then grabbed a cup of water when back in the water stop area. I just needed something to wet my whistle. I got only a single gulp down and chucked the mostly full cup to the side of the road.

At Mile 2, my Garmin beeped and showed a 6:13 pace for that lap. I knew I wouldn’t have another 5:44, but still fast! I was on pace for my goal of a sub-20.

Coming into the next tiny out-and-back area, I figured @britishbulldog was long gone, but to my surprise I saw him coming back the other way on this section too. He again yelled something supportive, maybe something like “you’re right behind me” or such. That would be a compliment, by the way. He’s a fast one. At that point though, I knew he was struggling. Later, in the final 1/2 mile or more, I saw @britishbulldog walking gingerly along the side of the road, as he again yelled words of encouragement, maybe something like “take it home strong” or such. His sore foot finally gave him enough pain to decide to shut it down. There was no point for him to risk further injury.

After that final supportive cheer, my Garmin beeped again at the Mile 3 marker, showing that my last split was 6:20. I sped up again to finish off the final sliver of the 5K. The course appeared long, according to my Garmin. My last split was .18 miles, instead of .11. For .18 miles I ran 0:57 (5:26 pace). I was happy to see the finish line, knowing that I crushed my previous 5K best by 3:22. I beat my goal of sub-20, coming in at 19:12. Not too shabby.

My first mile really banked a lot of time for me. Yeah, I’d prefer a faster finish. My regressive splits weren’t desired, but certainly weren’t unexpected. I haven’t been training for a 5K, as I’m slowly moving things along in my MCM training. Hopefully, I can work some more races into my training. They’re fun!

After the race, I got to chat with Steve and Allyson, and got to meet Allyson’s mother and brother, both fresh from Scotland. All good people. We stood in the rain drinking our free Budweisers (on tap for the finishers). While it wasn’t Flying Dog beer, it was free nonetheless. It was raining pretty good at that point, but it was refreshing I thought. All in all, a great night race. A pleasant course in a cool area. I’ll be back next year for sure!

I see that I’m listed as 110 out of 2040. And, I only see 3 35-39 year old males ahead of me in the list. Damn, I may have missed an Age Group placing by 1 place! I should have ran faster!

andy running race report

andy running Brooks Racer ST 3, BrooksID, race photo

After the National Marathon back in March, I decided to add a late spring marathon to my schedule. I didn’t want all that winter training to go to waste with just a single marathon. The Frederick Marathon seemed to be the perfect fit both schedule-wise and its close proximity. I had a few goals for this marathon. The main one was to do better than the previous, and thus, set another PR (personal record). The other more farfetched goal was to somehow BQ (Boston Qualify) with a 3:15:59 or better. Yeah, right. Even though I had some good training runs the past 6 weeks, that was probably a pipe dream. My plan was to go at a 7:30 pace through 20 miles (2:30:00) and then do a 7:24 pace or better the remainder. That would do it. But, I knew the course was tough in the latter miles, and so, I wasn’t going to be totally bummed if I couldn’t reach this difficult goal. Plus, I still haven’t added more than 1 sprint workout to my training. More on that later. In the end my 3:25:20 finish turned out to be 3:18 better than my National Marathon. I can live with that.

PRE-RACE

I got up at 3:30am for the 6:30am race. I didn’t get much sleep I must say. Hydrating all day and all evening has its downside. I made the ~hour long drive up to Frederick, MD for the 2nd time of the weekend. The day before I drove up for packet pickup. The Frederick Fairgrounds (race and packet pickup HQ) is a quaint area nestled next to the downtown section. Parking seemed to be ample, but parking in a grass field on a day when rain was expected was a little worrisome. I had visions of cars stuck in the mud later. But, it turned out not to be an issue (I think).

I got to meet the famous, Steve Speirs (aka, @britishbulldog and also the creator of the 100 pushups program), and his lovely wife, Allyson. They’re good people. I was just standing around the port-a-pottys, and Steve came walking up in his Brooks Racer ST3s. Same shoes I was wearing. It was Steve who had kind words about the Frederick Marathon, when I was considering it, as he had ran it a few times before. It was great to chat with them before the race. I’m sure they walked away saying “OK, now there’s a loser”.

I also talked to another runner, as he was wearing a Garmin Forerunner 305 on one wrist and a Road ID on the other. Same as me. Oh yeah, I was wearing my compression shorts and shirt, as well as, my doo rag head cover. All were soaked by the end.

I finished an Orange GU with water (my only breakfast) about 30 minutes before the start. I then lined up for the race just in front of the 3:20 pace guys, and after Steve stopped by and offered a quick “Good Luck” on his way up to the front line, the race was shortly under way…

RACE

Again, I wanted a 7:30 pace through 20 miles, but as you can see, I had a few splits beforehand that were too fast, and then, eventually too slow. It’s hard to get Mile 1 right, it seems. The built up energy causes a faster than desired pace in the beginning. Mile 1 went through the main-street like area of the town. Nice scenery. I was able to reign my pace back in for Miles 2 and 3, but was back into the 7:1* again for Mile 4. Even though I wanted 7:30s, I said I would be happy with 7:25 - 7:35. I’m not yet a machine, like some runners who have very even splits. Miles 5 and 6 felt the same, as the splits suggest. I had another Orange GU with some water to wash it down around the Mile 6 area. During these opening miles, I had traded places with a young lady doing the 1/2 marathon. She laughed when I played to the race photographers, when I twirled my pointed index finger in the air, as if I was saying “whoop-dee-doo” to the whole affair. After Mile 7, I mentioned to her that I couldn’t get into my target pace. She said she had the same problem too, as she wanted a 7:45 pace and 7:30s later. And, she said she hated full marathons. I pulled away from her, shortly thereafter, but would later see her pass me near to the end of her 13.1. She must’ve PR-ed big time.

Oh, the rain had started sometime around Mile 8 or so (maybe earlier/later), depending on how you define rain vs. sprinkling mist, etc. It wasn’t bad at that point in the race, but would become a factor later on. I was feeling fine nearing the end of the first half. I was looking for Clustered Spires Golf Course around Mile 10 or 11, a course which I played with my uncle about 10 years ago. The race map showed it right next to the course, but GoogleMaps later showed it was a little further away. No wonder I didn’t see it. I kept thinking it was just around the corner, but never saw it. I had another Orange GU with water around the Mile 10 water stop.

I reached the 1/2 way point around 1:38:00. The 13.1 for us full marathoners was just outside the fairgrounds track, and so, my Garmin was my timer for that point. Once back on the main street where we started, I saw @britishbulldog running the other way of the short out-and-back. He had just finished his 15 miles, as he passed by saying something like “Looking strong Andy”. I gave him a “Go get ‘em” cheer, not knowing where he was in the standings, and unaware that he was struggling. Mile 14 went a little too fast for my liking. Maybe passing the crowd near the start area was a push. Or, maybe running on brick sidewalks by the downtown canal made me fast. That area of the course was my favorite. Beautiful there. Around 14.5 miles, another guy in ST3s flew by me. He had to be going at a 7:00 pace. He said “Nice shoes”, and I reciprocated, after he was probably out of hearing range. I don’t know if it was that deflating pass or what, but my Mile 15 split was the first that I cringed at. 7:43? It was around there that I was starting to feel it. I knew I would be “clocking it”, “phoning it in”, etc. With hills to come, I knew I didn’t have what I needed for a BQ, let alone even splits coming home.

And, it was still raining as I approached Mile 16, where I had my final Orange GU with Powerade. I had planned another GU stop around 22 or so, but later canned that idea. As you can see from the elevation profile above, a lot was in store for the next 4+ miles. A more jagged graph would show more of a climb, where this one shows little bumps and valleys. I like this graph’s colors and shading. Thanks to Kristen F. for pointing us to these graphs. Miles 17 and 18 were climbs up the highway hills on the shoulder of the road, as a car or two would go by, every now and then. Around Mile 18 I passed a guy wearing a 3:10 pace bib. He wasn’t a pacer, but a guy who signed up to run with them. He was struggling, and I said “This rain sucks!” and he agreed. I figured that was probably the best thing I could say to him.

Heading towards Mile 19, runners crossed the highway with help from the police to head into the Spring Ridge community, where the entrance was another steep (but shorter) climb. I passed another guy on the latter part of this climb, and said the same, “This rain sucks!”. He didn’t really agree. I think he said something like “Eh, it’s ok”. After Mile 19 or so, a guy flew by me. He had an “R” bib on the back, which meant he was a fresh-legged relay runner. The Spring Ridge community is a nice, newer single family housed area on the outskirts of town. It’s kind of nice, actually. There weren’t as many race supporters as would normally be, since the rain just kept coming down. I did have one memorable and funny moment around Mile 20. A little girl saw me running by, wearing my doo rag, and I heard her say to her dad, “That’s a boy, right?”. My immediate thoughts were of Conan O’Brien in Jim Gaffigan’s Pale Force, where is always portrayed as the wimpy, girly side-kick of Jim’s Pale Man character. Also, around Mile 20, the 3:20 pace group went by fairly strong. My chances of a sub-3:20 had faded.

Around Mile 21, a fellow Brooks ID young lady ran by me, looking awfully strong. By the time I read the Brooks ID badge on the back of her singlet, she was out of hearing range, and I didn’t want to yell at her that I too am a Brooks ID member. Three ladies finished ahead me in the results.

The last 4 miles was more rain, a small climb, and more rain and wind. Towards the end the rain was coming in at an annoying angle. The running gods were letting me know that it wasn’t over yet. I kept plodding along in my soggy shoes. Oh, I’ve had soggier shoes. The ST3s let water out better than most.

I was happy to see the finish area and line, as I raised my arms coming down the stretch. I hope I have some good pictures. They should come quick with only 824 finishers to sort through. I was happy with beating my previous time PR. The course was tough and the weather made it harder.  I was 58 / 824.

WHAT NEXT?

Well, my next marathon is the MCM on 10-25-2009. But, I may find another for early September. I still want to BQ for 2010. Putting it all on the MCM would be tough. Actually, in the MCM, I can alternatively BQ for 2011, with an extra 5 minutes given to me (40 yr olds are in with a 3:20:59 or better). I turn 39 in November, and 2011’s race would cover races back to the fall of 2009. You see, BQ is based on race day age, not qualifying day age. But, I really want to do the 2010 Boston.

I know I need to do more sprint workouts, and I’m going to do them after I recover from this race. I tried one Yasso 800s workout about 2 weeks before Frederick and had a hard time. I did like them though. They added variety to my otherwise same ol’, same ol’ workouts. I knew I couldn’t get in the proper speed workouts in my 6 week window, after I was educated from the last marathon that I needed to do such workouts. I’ll definitely incorporate them into my training from here on out. I don’t want yet another marathon where I start to crash in the 2nd half.

Thanks to all my DailyMile.com friends and also the running community on Twitter. You’ve given me lots of support and motivation. Run Happy!

andy running BrooksID, marathon, race report

Yesterday I ran my 2nd marathon, finishing the National Marathon in D.C. in 3:28:38. My goal (at the end of training) was a sub-3:30. So, mission accomplished! My 1st marathon was a disaster and one that I rarely like to talk about. I completed the 2007 MCM in 4:39:39. In that race I made the huge mistake of walking-off my sore feet, which eventually led to me tightening up and walking the last 10. Stupid and frustrating. But, this time was different. My training went really well, and I was a much faster and lighter runner, totally prepared to run 26.2 miles.  Here’s my race day report:

PRE-RACE

Since the race was at 7:00 and I would be driving to it (~40 min. trip), I woke up at 3:15 to give me plenty of time to get ready. “Ready” meaning that I could give my bowels a chance to do their thing, as I was ready with everything else. I also wanted to get to the race parking lot early to beat the road closures, giving myself breathing room if I were to make a wrong turn in D.C. (which I did the day before at packet pickup; very frustrating). The race promoters heavily urged the use of the D.C. metro system, which opened at 5:00. But, from my nearest subway station the trip would taken ~1:00. I didn’t want to get to the event amongst the masses with reduced chances at using the “facilities” again, if needed. When I did get to the start site, I was pleasantly surprised that they had opened up the D.C. Armory building (the packet pickup site). It was cold outside (high 20s to low 30s), and I was glad that I didn’t have to stand around with my teeth chattering. The old D.C. Armory is like a gym inside with wood flooring (to lounge/stretch on) and the 4 restrooms were a god-send. We weren’t forced to use the porta-potties outside. Yay!

At 6:30 I had my only breakfast and fluid, as I downed 1 Orange GU with about 4oz of water.  I had placed 5 Orange GUs into the back pockets of my RaceReady tights.  My plan was to consume just 4, one each at Miles 5, 11, 17, and 21.  As 7:00 got closer we filed outside and got into our corrals. I initially placed myself at the beginning of the 7:45-8:30 pace corral. I had paced at 7:41 in my 20.28 training run, so I figured I was where I should be. Then I saw the the 3:40 (overall finish) pace group next to me. So, I moved up closer to the 3:20 pace group, since I wanted a 3:2* finish time. Of course, as usual people got into the front corrals that should’ve been in the back, and that’s why my first mile was slower that desired …

RACE

I wore my Garmin Forerunner 305 and started my laps when I stepped on the starting mat.  The first mile was inundated with runners, as expected, but I resisted from doing my normal, excessive weaving through race traffic.  Oh, I passed quite a few, but didn’t spend a whole lot of energy in the process.  I would need the energy later.  After the clogged initial mile, I was able to make up some time over miles 2 and 3.  I had to pull in the reigns a bit when I saw my 7:10 3rd mile.  I had promised myself not to go out too fast.

Oh, the temperature was in the 30s to start, and I had decided to wear my compression long sleeved shirt, a technical t-shirt on top of it, and another light moisture wicking zip-up long sleeved jacket to top it off.  Compression tights on the bottom too, plus moisture wicking gloves and non-moisture wicking winter hat.  I debated using the outermost jacket layer, and shouldn’t have, and I even stubbornly pinned my bib on it, straddling the zipper.  But, I had prepared for the eventual ditching of the jacket.  I had even stuck a few extra pins on my jacket, just in case a bib-transfer (to the technical t-shirt) went bad.

It was around mile 4 when I tucked my gloves into my jacket pockets for good, and I prepared to have my 1st Orange GU at the mile 5 water station.  The GU and water went down fine, despite drinking from cups, which is different from training with flasks.

Miles 5 - 7 were the only major “hills”, if you will.  Definitely more hilly than my training, but nothing too hard.

Around mile 8 we were pumped up by the rhythmic hip-hop of a group of energized supporters.  I even started juking around, running crazy like, just to let them know that we appreciated their enthusiasm.

Around miles 9 and 10 I knew I would be ditching my jacket, gloves, and hat at the 1/2 way point.  Running with half-marathoners is usually packed, but the fact that we’d all be running to-or-near the finish line at 13.1 was great for full-marathoners throwing clothes for later pickup.

I was right on pace through mile 11, as I consumed my 2nd Orange GU with water.  My mile 12 may have been slower as I ran with my head down, as I did the fun task of transferring my bib to my technical t-shirt while running.  I thought I had it all planned out.  When we were close to the stadium (RFK - former Redskins place and start/finish area outside), I would ditch my jacket with hat and gloves inside the pockets…  Well, I ended up ditching my stuff near a parking lot that I thought would be closest to mine.  But, it turned out that we ran into my parking lot too, nearly 15 yards from my car.  Doh!  (My stuff got picked up by someone else; no biggy)

My 1/2 split was 1:39:48.  Right on schedule.  I start fast and finish slow.  Yeah, I need to work on that next time.  As you can see, I started to slow down quite a bit after the half way point.  But, I managed to keep my pace under 8:00 for 16 miles, so I knew I had an excellent shot for 3:2*.

Around miles 17 - 19 we had to deal with a guy who would make a hacking cough noise on alternating exhales.  It was deflating to be around him.  It sounded like he was dying, but he was running fine otherwise.  I just hate being around that, as it makes me feel exhausted just listening.  I took turns following another runner and even he looked puzzled at the hacking guy.  Oh, I had my 3rd Orange GU (or at least 2/3 of it) at mile 17, washed down with some blue PowerAde.

My 4th and final Orange GU (not counting the one 30 mins before the race) came at the 21 or 22 mile mark, again washed down with blue PowerAde.  Shortly thereafter, D.C. Mayor Fenty passed me.  He was looking strong too.  He ended up with a 3:25:46.  I believe his PR was a 3:3* in last year’s MCM.  He’s getting faster and stronger.  I mumbled “Great job, Mr. Fenty”, but he probably didn’t hear me.

Miles 21 - 25 were a struggle I must admit.  I heard a guy tell his buddy that these miles would be the hardest.  I was feeling fine, until I heard that.  ;-)  But, I remembered all the hard work I put into my training.  I refused to give in to any temptation to take a break.  I made that mistake in my first marathon, aforementioned.  Plus, I had a lot of people virtually looking at me.  All my well-wishing Twitter followers expected me to have a good race.  I wouldn’t let them down.  There were some rolling hills between miles 24 and 25, but nothing too difficult.  Just annoying when you’re tired.

I actually picked it up the last mile, as I was running light and upright.  I knew I had it “in the bag”, even though I was only 1:22 below a 3:30 at the end.  I had crossed the start line 1:10 after the gun, so the race timer showed 3:29:** as I neared the stretch.  I picked it up just to be sure that I finished below 3:30, gun or chip time.

3:28:38 .  I’ll take it.

The hardest part was walking back to the car.  I knew I would tighten up.  I guess I need to practice eating breakfast for my next race, whenever that is.  Thanks to all for your support and reading this rambling post.  I may post another which reflects back on my training…

andy running marathon

My splits for my 13.33 miles done in 1:39:56, yesterday:

andy running mile splits

My splits for my 15 mile taper long run:

andy running mile splits