Well I've waited for a while to post this, but after yesterdy I couldn't wait anymore. I was a pretty good runner in H.S., with PR's of 4:26 for 1600m, 2:01 for 800m and 16:30 for 5K Cross Country. But I think my daughter might end up blowing me out of the water.This is her first year running cross country, and last night she ran her conference meet, and ended up in 4th place overall with a 4K time of 16:23. Her school ended up winning the team title too! She has basically gotten better as the season went on, and really only ran one bad meet where she got a sideache and still ran 16:40. I have deliberately stayed away from trying to coach her, b/c she really loves running and I didn't know how she'd react to her Dad telling her what or how to do something (She's at that age where her dad is really stupid). The only thing I told her before this race was that it was a really hilly course, and don't worry about your time, just think about the place (top 8 finishers were All-Conference). She responded by running a 9 second PR on a way harder course than before!Her coach told my wife last night after the meet that she really thinks the sky is the limit for her (she's a freshman who just turned 14 in June), and said if she gets more serious during practices (she basically goofs around and doesn't really push it during workouts), she could contend at state in the coming years. I do know that girls running ability can change as they develop, and that's another reason I've pretty much decided to stay on the sidelines and let what happens happen.She has one more meet this year for the team (district Sectional meet - very unlikely that she or the team would make it to state), and I'm toying around with the idea of having her run the Junior Olympic CC meet. The State JO meet is two weeks after their season ends, and if she finishes in the top 20 in the 13-14 AG, she would qualify to run in the National meet in Kansas on December 8. Last year only 22 girls ran in the state meet, so she'd almost for sure make the qualifying standard. We talked about it once, b/c she went to Suzy Favor-Hamilton's running camp and she knows Suzy ran the Foot Locker CC championships. She seemed intrigued, but again, I don't want to push it. None of her teammates are likely to run, b/c they'd be in different AGs running different distances and have other committments like basketball, Show Choir, etc. So she'd have to train by herself (running with dad is so not cool...)
As for me, today was the 3rd run, post-marathon. Ran 44 furlongs on my 44th birthday. Felt fine, with no leg soreness and only a little bit of left knee pain.
Friday, October 12, 2007
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
Twin Cities Report
Considering where I have come from following my last marathon in 2005, I am so glad to be here. 22 months ago I had a series of debilitating spasms over the course of three weeks that were of unknown origin (after $1,000s of tests). 2006 was a disappointing year running wise, but I knew that I was an odd year runner, so I looked forward to what 2007 would bring. I trained diligently and set mileage personal bests throughout the year. In May I was confident enough to sign up to run the Twin Cities marathon. I missed the deadline for Chicago, and turned down the opportunity to run Milwaukee Lakefront for the 3rd time.
They say the 3rd time’s a charm, but that’s not entirely correct. After my two previous marathons in 2003 and 2005, I thought that I had the training figured out for my 2007 edition of marathon. What I found out is that the marathon is a totally different animal that doesn’t play by the same rules of normal (shorter) races. I thought that I had taken care of everything I could control. I trained hard, running 50, 60 and 70 mile weeks from May through September. I destroyed my previous half marathon PR three weeks ago running a 1:22 in beautiful, 40 degree weather (remember this sentence). I really felt I was ready to attack and surpass my 2:59 PR.
Then came the weather forecast for the upper Midwest for this past weekend. Record high temperatures abound, and predictions of carnage at the three Midwest marathons (Milwaukee, Chicago and Twin Cities) all being contested on the same day. What to do? Well, I paid my $90 entry fee, my brother lives in St. Paul, so I was definitely going to run. I kept hoping against hope that the temps wouldn’t be as bad as predicted, and my summer training would benefit and allow me to run a successful race.
So I got into my car and drove the 4+ hours to Minnesota on Saturday afternoon. Got to the expo and obtained my packet. My bro and I went to find some eats and when we got back I watched the weather and saw the weather reporting the record high of 87 on Saturday and the Sunday forecast of 72/82. By the way, that 72 degree low for Sunday was a record high for a low temperature for the date by 12 DEGREES! I went to bed planning on not wearing a shirt and figuring I still was in shape enough to give 2:59 a shot (5 minutes slower than my goal).
Sunday morning arrived, and Jon drove me downtown to the Metrodome, and I prepped for the start. Looked around for Butters and Cartman but never saw them. The warning to get to the start early did put my normal preparation a bit out of whack, so I started the race having to go pee, and did hit the porta potty around 4 miles. The race started and I really felt like I was running easy. My garmin beeped @ 1 mile and I saw 7:08. I was pleased that I had started nice and conservative, but my feelings changed 6 minutes later when the two mile mark came up and my watch showed 13:00!! I tried to relax, and saw HOF Minnesota Viking, State Supreme Court Justice and marathoner Alan Page playing the Tuba in mile three. Saw my friend Chad on his bike right afterwards, and tried to relax. Four miles @ 26:20 and I just figured that whatever would happen was going to happen. So relaxing meant don’t get bent out of shape on the time, and just enjoy the ride while it lasted. I saw Taylor (TeePee) and tried to enjoy myself. A steady stream of 6:50 miles followed, and I still felt pretty good. This would change.
I encountered a bunch of co-runners coming and going, including John who asked me if I was from Massachusetts, Mike from Wisconsin with whom I played a game of yo-yo for 10-12 miles (I’d pass him when he stopped at water stops, he’d pass me back about a mile down the road). Saw a set of male twin runners who told me they weren’t Cartman and Butters. The crowd support was awesome, and afterwards I figures that if I had the chance to sit out in the 75-80 degree weather and watch people run by and cheer for them, why not? But these people were not just fair weather cheerers; they were knowledgeable, supportive, and very helpful. I saw Taylor again around 7 miles, and couldn’t figure out why there was a person standing next to him at both places holding a Pillsbury Doughboy (more on that later). I hit the 10 mile mark in 67:50, and quickly figured that my 50 second cushion wouldn’t be enough to keep me under 3:00. The long straightaway bridge going over Lake Nokomis was enough to seal it, as my left knee started to have sharp pains (which has never happened to me before). The only question in my mind after reaching the half in 1:29:34 was how long will it take me to reach the finish?
I was able to keep a pace of 7:15-7:30 from miles 13 to 19, and made sure that at each water stop I grabbed 1-2 cups of water and poured it over my head and then drank plenty of water. They had 20 oz bottles of PowerAde that I tried to avoid since I hadn’t trained with it. At most stops they had ½ liter bottles of water, which were great to take and run with, even though they were warmer. At 15 miles I finally began to walk through the aid stations, but didn’t want to dawdle too much. The incline up to the Franklin Bridge @ mile 19 was the start of things to come. Into St. Paul I still felt ok, and the first uphill was ok as well. The 2nd hill @ mile 21 was where I really started to slow. I stopped at the top of the hill (a first for me), and gathered myself. Kept making deals with myself of trying to run the next mile, of not worrying about time, just about finishing. At one point I heard someone rattling off numbers and I thought I heard ‘168’. I figured that was my place, and I just wanted to keep in the top 200. But a funning thing was happening: unlike my 1st marathon when I really went backwards in the last 5 miles, people were not passing me at a steady clip. And for every person that passed me, I seemed to pass another runner. It was like everyone was either in the same survival mode I was, or experienced and even worse death march. How else to explain the last half taking almost 16 minutes more than the 1st, and me passing 20 more runners than passed me! The worst mile for me was somewhere about 22-23, when I stopped twice and really struggled. At the end of the mile, my split said 9:16. I figured that was the worst, but it felt like an 11 minute mile. So I willed myself to BQ – I really wanted 3:10:59, even though @ age 43 I only needed 3:20:59.
The last 4-5 miles along Summit Avenue in St. Paul is really pretty: A tree-lined boulevard with plenty of spectators who kept encouraging me “Let’s go blue, you’re looking great!” I was wearing blue shorts. Of course, there were more inclines that I really cared for, and all I wanted was this race to be over. Finally, it leveled off about 25 miles, and I passed the three hour mark with sore quads, chafed body, soaking wet shoes and shorts, and a realization that on this day I could not have done much better. The finish came into site, and the last ½ mile downhill was not a sprint for sure, but a somewhat pickup, as I looked at my watch and figured I could gut out a sub 3:15. I guess I was right, as the final tally showed 3:14:54. I crossed the line in 170th place out of 7200 finishers. Thank the lord my brother was there at the finish for me. I felt so good about this race that when by accident I cleared my watch and the splits, I shrugged and said ‘oh, well!’
Post Mortem: Kudos to Taylor (TeePee) for planning and organizing the FE dinner yesterday @ the Green Mill in St. Paul. I expected Cartman and Butters to be there (BTW, GREAT race Thomas, and you did well too, Justin), but the surprise was walking in and seeing Erik (Tidy B) who drove down from the Duluth area to spectate, as well as Eric (Eric1970) and Chris (Doughboy). The East Coasters had come in under the radar to run Personal Worsts as well, and we had a wonderful time commiserating. Of course my selfish self took one look at Chris and said “So, where are the baked goods?” Well he hemmed and hawed, but Erik pulled out some of the stash he had procured and shared. All I can say is any proclamations of how good Chris’s baked goods are severely understated: They are the BEST I have ever tasted. Dragging my non-running brother along with me was fine; b/c running was not the primary topic of conversation. FE’s are always the best part of any marathon, and this get together was exactly what I needed to deprogram.
I’ve had people tell me that my Personal Worst marathon was very well done considering all of the circumstances, especially given the conditions, which were not just unfavorable, but bad on a truly historical scale. Others shared with me the fact that I could have gone to Milwaukee or Chicago, and it might have been a far worse experience. In the results, I saw only one person who ran negative splits. If I’d run smarter I’m guessing I might’ve run 1:32/1:34 at the best. All I can say is, the marathon certainly can be a humbling experience, and even the best preparations are not always good enough. Will I run another one? Boston is out there, and 2009 is probably doable. Hey, it’s an odd year, so what else can happen that hasn’t already? Stay tuned….
They say the 3rd time’s a charm, but that’s not entirely correct. After my two previous marathons in 2003 and 2005, I thought that I had the training figured out for my 2007 edition of marathon. What I found out is that the marathon is a totally different animal that doesn’t play by the same rules of normal (shorter) races. I thought that I had taken care of everything I could control. I trained hard, running 50, 60 and 70 mile weeks from May through September. I destroyed my previous half marathon PR three weeks ago running a 1:22 in beautiful, 40 degree weather (remember this sentence). I really felt I was ready to attack and surpass my 2:59 PR.
Then came the weather forecast for the upper Midwest for this past weekend. Record high temperatures abound, and predictions of carnage at the three Midwest marathons (Milwaukee, Chicago and Twin Cities) all being contested on the same day. What to do? Well, I paid my $90 entry fee, my brother lives in St. Paul, so I was definitely going to run. I kept hoping against hope that the temps wouldn’t be as bad as predicted, and my summer training would benefit and allow me to run a successful race.
So I got into my car and drove the 4+ hours to Minnesota on Saturday afternoon. Got to the expo and obtained my packet. My bro and I went to find some eats and when we got back I watched the weather and saw the weather reporting the record high of 87 on Saturday and the Sunday forecast of 72/82. By the way, that 72 degree low for Sunday was a record high for a low temperature for the date by 12 DEGREES! I went to bed planning on not wearing a shirt and figuring I still was in shape enough to give 2:59 a shot (5 minutes slower than my goal).
Sunday morning arrived, and Jon drove me downtown to the Metrodome, and I prepped for the start. Looked around for Butters and Cartman but never saw them. The warning to get to the start early did put my normal preparation a bit out of whack, so I started the race having to go pee, and did hit the porta potty around 4 miles. The race started and I really felt like I was running easy. My garmin beeped @ 1 mile and I saw 7:08. I was pleased that I had started nice and conservative, but my feelings changed 6 minutes later when the two mile mark came up and my watch showed 13:00!! I tried to relax, and saw HOF Minnesota Viking, State Supreme Court Justice and marathoner Alan Page playing the Tuba in mile three. Saw my friend Chad on his bike right afterwards, and tried to relax. Four miles @ 26:20 and I just figured that whatever would happen was going to happen. So relaxing meant don’t get bent out of shape on the time, and just enjoy the ride while it lasted. I saw Taylor (TeePee) and tried to enjoy myself. A steady stream of 6:50 miles followed, and I still felt pretty good. This would change.
I encountered a bunch of co-runners coming and going, including John who asked me if I was from Massachusetts, Mike from Wisconsin with whom I played a game of yo-yo for 10-12 miles (I’d pass him when he stopped at water stops, he’d pass me back about a mile down the road). Saw a set of male twin runners who told me they weren’t Cartman and Butters. The crowd support was awesome, and afterwards I figures that if I had the chance to sit out in the 75-80 degree weather and watch people run by and cheer for them, why not? But these people were not just fair weather cheerers; they were knowledgeable, supportive, and very helpful. I saw Taylor again around 7 miles, and couldn’t figure out why there was a person standing next to him at both places holding a Pillsbury Doughboy (more on that later). I hit the 10 mile mark in 67:50, and quickly figured that my 50 second cushion wouldn’t be enough to keep me under 3:00. The long straightaway bridge going over Lake Nokomis was enough to seal it, as my left knee started to have sharp pains (which has never happened to me before). The only question in my mind after reaching the half in 1:29:34 was how long will it take me to reach the finish?
I was able to keep a pace of 7:15-7:30 from miles 13 to 19, and made sure that at each water stop I grabbed 1-2 cups of water and poured it over my head and then drank plenty of water. They had 20 oz bottles of PowerAde that I tried to avoid since I hadn’t trained with it. At most stops they had ½ liter bottles of water, which were great to take and run with, even though they were warmer. At 15 miles I finally began to walk through the aid stations, but didn’t want to dawdle too much. The incline up to the Franklin Bridge @ mile 19 was the start of things to come. Into St. Paul I still felt ok, and the first uphill was ok as well. The 2nd hill @ mile 21 was where I really started to slow. I stopped at the top of the hill (a first for me), and gathered myself. Kept making deals with myself of trying to run the next mile, of not worrying about time, just about finishing. At one point I heard someone rattling off numbers and I thought I heard ‘168’. I figured that was my place, and I just wanted to keep in the top 200. But a funning thing was happening: unlike my 1st marathon when I really went backwards in the last 5 miles, people were not passing me at a steady clip. And for every person that passed me, I seemed to pass another runner. It was like everyone was either in the same survival mode I was, or experienced and even worse death march. How else to explain the last half taking almost 16 minutes more than the 1st, and me passing 20 more runners than passed me! The worst mile for me was somewhere about 22-23, when I stopped twice and really struggled. At the end of the mile, my split said 9:16. I figured that was the worst, but it felt like an 11 minute mile. So I willed myself to BQ – I really wanted 3:10:59, even though @ age 43 I only needed 3:20:59.
The last 4-5 miles along Summit Avenue in St. Paul is really pretty: A tree-lined boulevard with plenty of spectators who kept encouraging me “Let’s go blue, you’re looking great!” I was wearing blue shorts. Of course, there were more inclines that I really cared for, and all I wanted was this race to be over. Finally, it leveled off about 25 miles, and I passed the three hour mark with sore quads, chafed body, soaking wet shoes and shorts, and a realization that on this day I could not have done much better. The finish came into site, and the last ½ mile downhill was not a sprint for sure, but a somewhat pickup, as I looked at my watch and figured I could gut out a sub 3:15. I guess I was right, as the final tally showed 3:14:54. I crossed the line in 170th place out of 7200 finishers. Thank the lord my brother was there at the finish for me. I felt so good about this race that when by accident I cleared my watch and the splits, I shrugged and said ‘oh, well!’
Post Mortem: Kudos to Taylor (TeePee) for planning and organizing the FE dinner yesterday @ the Green Mill in St. Paul. I expected Cartman and Butters to be there (BTW, GREAT race Thomas, and you did well too, Justin), but the surprise was walking in and seeing Erik (Tidy B) who drove down from the Duluth area to spectate, as well as Eric (Eric1970) and Chris (Doughboy). The East Coasters had come in under the radar to run Personal Worsts as well, and we had a wonderful time commiserating. Of course my selfish self took one look at Chris and said “So, where are the baked goods?” Well he hemmed and hawed, but Erik pulled out some of the stash he had procured and shared. All I can say is any proclamations of how good Chris’s baked goods are severely understated: They are the BEST I have ever tasted. Dragging my non-running brother along with me was fine; b/c running was not the primary topic of conversation. FE’s are always the best part of any marathon, and this get together was exactly what I needed to deprogram.
I’ve had people tell me that my Personal Worst marathon was very well done considering all of the circumstances, especially given the conditions, which were not just unfavorable, but bad on a truly historical scale. Others shared with me the fact that I could have gone to Milwaukee or Chicago, and it might have been a far worse experience. In the results, I saw only one person who ran negative splits. If I’d run smarter I’m guessing I might’ve run 1:32/1:34 at the best. All I can say is, the marathon certainly can be a humbling experience, and even the best preparations are not always good enough. Will I run another one? Boston is out there, and 2009 is probably doable. Hey, it’s an odd year, so what else can happen that hasn’t already? Stay tuned….
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