A John Deere tractor on the 5 Freeway

Highlights and observations from my run at the Boston Marathon on Monday.

Many of you know I had a very disappointing race in Boston back in 07. This was my first attempt at Boston since.

Then (2007) / Now (2011) Comparisons:

• Then 3:14:56; now 3:15:14

• Then half splits in 1:34:32/1:40:24 (5:52 pos split); now 1:37:23/1:37:51 (0:28 pos split)

• Then nor’easter, rainy, headwinds, 40s; now perfect day, strong tailwind (17mph WSW), 45* at start, 54* at finish (as I observed on at a bank on Beacon St)

• Then slowest winning times (M & F) in the previous 22 years (since 1985); now fastest world and American times ever in history

• Then over-trained... built my mileage too much too fast and did the wrong kinds of speedwork (few LT’s, few MP’s; too many mile repeats); now waaaay under-trained (due to back injury in Dec)

• Then I averaged 85 mpw from Jan 1 to Patriot’s Day; now I averaged only 35 mpw from Jan 1 to Patriot’s Due (due to injury)

• Then I ran PR tune-up races in 35:53 (6 miles), 57:45 (15K), and 1:23:32 (half); now I hadn’t run a race in 4 months

• Then I wore only a watch; now I wear a Garmin 305 to help me with pace and effort (Heart Rate)

• Then I didn’t know how to run in the rain but I had to; now I know how to run and race in the rain but didn’t have to

• Then overdressed in rain pants; now in shorts and singlet (even though I was shivering and cold in Hopkinton while wearing 3 layers pre-race)

• Then was obsessing about a specific time goal (my first sub-3); now was going to do my best but enjoy the run.

• Then other than the Newton Hills (miles 17-21), my last 4 miles (miles 23, 24, 25, 26) were my slowest 4 miles of the entire race; now my last 2 miles (miles 25 & 26) were my fastest 2 miles.

• Then I finished 2,562nd out of 20,348 finishers; now I finished 3,975 out of 23,879 finishers.

• Then I left Boston embarrassed, frustrated, and disappointed; now I left Boston having had the time of my life… even though I ran 18 seconds slower than 4 years ago in Boston, and 18 minutes slower than my PR only 4 months ago at CIM.

• Then I got choked up running under a TV camera at the start line in Hopkinton knowing that Mary Ann and the kids were back in California looking for me on TV and cheering me on; now… well, I still got choked up for the same reason.



Training:
Someone could see my limited training going into Boston and come to some wrong conclusions. Someone might think, wow, he’s got the genes and talent to run fast (if you consider 3:15 fast, which I really don’t) and that genetics are more important than training. Definitely not true... otherwise I would’ve run this time (and faster) when I was in my 20s, not my 40s... and I never once came close.

Or someone might erroneously think, marathons don’t require much training if he can pull off that time on such limited training. Wrong again... the only reason I could run this well (which really wasn’t outstanding) was because I’ve run so much for months and years prior to my injury hiatus. Yes, my Boston training cycle was cut extremely short by injury, but the only reason I could do what I did on Patriot’s Day is because of the miles I’ve run before the injury.

So how bad was my Boston training? Well, I ran a PR at CIM on Dec 5 in 2:57:58. Plan was to use that as a stepping stone towards an even faster run at Boston. But at the end of CIM, I severely hurt my back/hip (x-rays, MRI, chiro, etc.) and went 7.5 weeks without running (except limited attempts without any pain-free success). Just walking from my car to the office was an accomplishment. Wasn’t sure if I’d ever walk pain-free again, yet alone run. And unfortunately, I couldn’t cycle or do the stair-climber or any cross-training so my aerobic fitness (not just my running legs) was departing for the netherworld in the proverbial hand-basket.

As the injury gradually healed by mid-Jan, every mile I tried to run was a grind. It’s the closest I’ve ever come to saying, That’s it. I quit. My running career is over. I also had gained 15 lbs (which makes sense... no longer running 70mpw = ~7,000 calories a week = ~2 lbs body fat a week).

But fortunately, I didn’t quit. I pressed on. Weekly mileage after CIM was: 0, 0, 0, 0, 5, 1, 25, 27, 17 (hurt my back again getting a dish out of the dishwasher!), 40, 40, 50, 57, 65, 66, 66, 55, and 31. My weekly long runs were: 0, 0, 0, 0, 2, 1, 8, 11, 7, 11, 11, 13, 16, 20, 21, 21, 13. In comparison, for the 15 months leading up to CIM, I had averaged 70+ mpw, including 85 mpw in the final 10 weeks.

After waiting for weeks in Dec-Jan for my back to heal, Boston was an absolute no-go. I could barely survive the shortest runs (at slow paces and high HR’s). Even when I ran as far as 16 miles on March 12 (a mere 5 weeks out), it was a tough, tough run that I barely survived. Going 10 miles farther without hurting myself wasn’t even an option.

But then I heard from an old friend of mine. Eric had always been active... ran XC and track in HS... often biked centuries as an adult. I had seen that he had walked some races recently, and I must admit, I wondered why he walked instead of at least jogging or running since he had always been so fit, but I never asked. I was just glad he was staying active.

So I heard from Eric and he mentioned he would be walking the Music City Marathon on April 30, and he told the whole story of all that had been going on. While training for a triathlon 5 years ago, he encountered health problems. Blood tests came back irregular. Long story short, but he’s battling a serious auto-immune syndrome in which his body is fighting against itself and it leaves him lethargic, achey, and sore. But Eric’s not a quitter and that’s why he started walking races (under doctor’s supervision) and now he’s training to do an entire marathon.

When I understood Eric’s whole story, I knew I had to go for it at Boston in honor of him. That Saturday, I went out and ran a make-it or break-it 20-miler that went reasonably well (certainly not great). I figured I could throw together 3 weeks of solid training and then go to Boston with no high expectations and just hope for the best. So I started running 2 LT runs a week (I had to try to ratchet up my lactate threshold) and I got in 3 long runs. Never even topped 70 miles in a single week of training.

So yeah, I missed 7.5 weeks of running... but unlike Kara Goucher (who finished 5th female on Monday), I didn’t have a baby.

Strategy:
• Take the first downhill mile easy and bank effort instead of banking time. Make it a 25.2 mile race.

• Cruise ~7:20/mile pace for the first 16 miles. (Note: 2 weeks prior, my 11-mile marathon-paced run averaged 7:10 pace, but my HR got waaaaay too high... so I knew faster than 7:20 pace was suicidal.)

• Start using some energy on the Newton Hills (from MM 16 to 21) but don’t come close to red-line and expect to slow from 7:26 pace.

• Start putting the pedal down after topping Heartbreak Hill... and throw every log on the fire in the closing two miles.

• And seriously hope the wheels don’t fall off in the last 5 miles due to lack of training.



Garmin Info:

Mile . Split ...Up ... Down .. AvgHR ..MaxHR
--------------------------------------------
01 ... 7:18 ... 26’ .. 133’ ... 149 ... 161
02 ... 7:11 ... 22’ ... 79’ ... 155 ... 158
03 ... 7:20 .... 0’ ... 50’ ... 154 ... 158
04 ... 7:13 .... 0’ ... 62’ ... 154 ... 159
05 ... 7:38 ... 36’ ... 28’ ... 157 ... 163
06 ... 7:22 .... 0’ .... 8’ ... 157 ... 162
07 ... 7:17 .... 0’ ... 16’ ... 158 ... 162
08 ... 7:38 ... 25’ ... 12’ ... 157 ... 163
09 ... 7:27 .... 0’ ... 41’ ... 156 ... 160
10 ... 7:31 ... 30’ .... 4’ ... 154 ... 158
11 ... 7:29 ... 15’ .... 0’ ... 156 ... 162
12 ... 7:17 .... 9’ ... 65’ ... 156 ... 161
13 ... 7:26 ... 26’ ... 17’ ... 157 ... 163
14 ... 7:29 ... 12’ ... 12’ ... 157 ... 162
15 ... 7:39 ... 23’ .... 0’ ... 158 ... 163
16 ... 7:13 ... 12’ .. 131’ ... 158 ... 162
17 ... 7:49 ... 76’ .... 0’ ... 163 ... 166
18 ... 7:46 ... 79’ ... 33’ ... 163 ... 167
19 ... 7:23 ... 15’ ... 51’ ... 162 ... 168
20 ... 7:41 ... 68’ ... 50’ ... 164 ... 170
21 ... 8:03 ... 91’ .... 0’ ... 167 ... 172
22 ... 7:20 .... 0’ ... 86’ ... 171 ... 184 (!!!)
23 ... 7:23 .... 0’ ... 51’ ... 169 ... 173
24 ... 7:10 ... 25’ ... 54’ ... 172 ... 188
25 ... 7:02 .... 0’ ... 52’ ... 176 ... 185
26 ... 6:53 .... 0’ .... 0’ ... 185 ... 191
0.35 . 2:06 .... 0’ .... 0’ ... 191 ... 194 (!!!) (6:07 pace)
--------------------------------------------
Tot 3:15:17 .. 589’ . 1036’ ... 161 ... 194 (7:24 avg pace)

Notes: Garmin isn’t always precise on elevation gain and loss. Officially, Boston has a net elevation drop of 442’, not 448’ as my Garmin indicates. And I have no idea why it shows zero elevation gain or loss in the final 1.35 miles since it’s gently downhill on Commonwealth Ave and Boylston St and slightly uphill on Hereford.

Normally, I like to have my HR ~158-159 in the opening 16 miles of a marathon. I ran a little easier than that in the opening miles on Monday. But I knew being undertrained I would experience more HR drift upward than normal. And I certainly did. But since I didn’t overdo it early, it didn’t ruin my race.

Official Results from the B.A.A.:
Bib #1643
05K ... 22:42 ... 7:19 pace ... 0:22:42 ... 7:19 pace
10K ... 23:08 ... 7:28 pace ... 0:45:50 ... 7:24 pace
15K ... 23:15 ... 7:30 pace ... 1:09:05 ... 7:26 pace
20K ... 23:18 ... 7:31 pace ... 1:32:23 ... 7:27 pace
25K ... 23:20 ... 7:32 pace ... 1:55:43 ... 7:28 pace
30K ... 23:47 ... 7:40 pace ... 2:19:30 ... 7:30 pace
35K ... 23:59 ... 7:44 pace ... 2:43:29 ... 7:32 pace
40K ... 22:36 ... 7:17 pace ... 3:06:05 ... 7:30 pace

Chip Time: 3:15:14 (7:27 pace)
Gun Time: 3:16:06 (52sec diff between chip & gun)

3,975th overall out of 23,879 total finishers (top 16.65%)
3,585th male out of 13,806 men (top 25.97%)
692nd out of 2,303 in M40-44 age-group (top 30.05%)

Fastest Miles:
Mile 26 in 6:53 (34 seconds faster than my avg pace)
Mile 25 in 7:02 (25 seconds faster than my avg pace)
Ran the last 0.35 mile (on my Garmin) at 6:07 pace (!!!)

Slowest Miles:
Mile 21 in 8:03 (36 seconds slower than my avg pace; Heartbreak Hill)
Mile 17 in 7:49 (22 seconds slower than my avg pace; start Newton Hills)
Mile 18 in 7:46 (19 seconds slower than my avg pace; 2nd mile of Newton Hills)

Half Splits: 1:37:23/1:37:51 (28 second positive split)

Last 10K (mile 20 to finish) in 45:57 (7:24/mile pace or 2 sec/mile faster than my avg pace, which included Heartbreak Hill mile in 8:03).

Age-graded calculator = 67.48%.


Highlights and Observations:

Pro Races. On Sunday, I watched the B.A.A. mile races on Boylston St. Both of the elite races (M & F) were decided at the wire. Anna Pierce for the US got pipped at the line, and so did Lukas Verzibicas.



The mile races reminded me that on Monday, no matter how my race went... you gotta lean at the tape... even if I'm finishing behind 3,974 other people (not that I was counting or anything) and over an hour behind the winners... and I did... I leaned at the tape. :-)



Fenway. Sunday afternoon, I finally saw a game at the grand ol’ historic ballpark. Pesky’s Pole. The great Green Monster. The manual scoreboard. Great stuff for baseball fans. Game was good (Red Sox 8, Blue Jays 1)... but even more fun was sharing it with friends... including Lee and Angela Toowey from Texas (friends of my college friend Kevin Anderson). Lee ran a great race and a new PR the next day. Congrats Lee! Loved it in the 8th when the crowd all sang, “Sweet Caroline... bah... bah... bah” (Neil Diamond song)... a Fenway tradition. Classic. Pure classic.





Hopkinton. Pre-race weather was cold (40s) and very, very windy. Everyone was hunkered down in any nook or cranny of a wall or building they could find. I had on 3 layers (upper body) but was still shivering due to my bare legs. I had thought about wearing rain pants, but only an idiot would do that. I peeled down to a singlet at the start of the race and never regretted it.

Pictures galore. I find it amusing how marathoners, especially at Boston, documented everything, and I mean *everything*, on race day. I observed runners photographing things such as their breakfast, or their seat on the ride to Hopkinton, or where they went to the bathroom (seriously). Of course, these pics of bagels, buses, and porta-potties are important so we can all blog about the entire experience when we get home. Of course, no one actually reads these blogs... not even doting mothers who saved all our third-place ribbons from Field Day. And even though these blogs aren’t sustainable by Google ads, the bloggers do provide the world a great service with amazing pics of post-race toenails for late-night insomniacs in cyberspace. Btw, here's my blog: http://jjcate.blogspot.com/

Life in the slow lane. Based on my PR from CIM (2:57), I was seeded in Corral 2 (out 23), but I lined up waaay in the back near Corral 3 due to my current lack of fitness. Since I was running far slower (7:20s) than my Boston-Qualifier time (6:40s) and thus those around me, it felt like all of New England ran past me on Monday morning. Seriously. I felt like a John Deere tractor on the 5 freeway. It made the tailwind all the more severe as everyone went blowing by me.

I’m not exaggerating when I say I don’t think I passed a single person in the first 16 miles of the race... well, except those on the side of the road who had over-hydrated. My OC friend Sam who was in Corral 3 even passed me in the corrals before I got to the starting line. Literally several thousand runners (at least) passed me. It was very humbling to say the least. Seriously, I started among bib #1000s and was finishing among the 6000s and 7000s (as seen in race photos).

But I knew I had to be patient or else I would crash and burn in a painful demise. It’s far more fun to pass people at the end of the race than the beginning. On the Newton Hills (beginning at mile 16), I finally started passing some people who had gone out too hard. I passed more on the backside of Heartbreak Hill, and in the final 2 miles not only was I passing everyone in sight but no one was hanging with me either. Hey, if I couldn’t run a fast overall time, at least I could pace it well and finish strong. And I did and it felt great.



Crowds. Loved, loved, loved the crowds. I’ve never high-5’ed with so many kids in my life. Loved how the school kids would count how many high-5’s they got like it was a competition against their brother or sister. At times, I just ran along the road with my hand out just slapping hand after hand after hand after hand. The crowds were so thick it was like running a parade route. You could hear the Wellesley scream tunnel (the girls from Wellesley College around mile 13) a half mile before you got to it.

At Boston College (around mile 21) starting on the downside of Heartbreak Hill, I nearly ruined my race due to the crowds. I knew all the tough hills were now behind me. And the college students were yelling so loud. I started high-5’ing them and soaring like an airplane. The crowds loved it. Even the squirrels were clapping. Next thing I know I look down and my pace is at 6:06 and my HR at 184 (!!!)... yikes! Had to back off or blow up.

New PR. Even though Monday wasn't a banner day for me, I did set a new PR at Boston. Seriously. A heart-rate PR. Not sure if that’s a good thing or not. Prior to Boston, the highest HR I had ever hit while either racing or training (even long, tough hill repeats) was 191. But on Boylston Street on Monday, I hit 194... and I averaged 191 for the last 0.35 on my Garmin. So much for sports clichés... I can honestly say I gave it 110%... well, at least, 101.57%. Of course at the time, I more worried about becoming a different kind of statistic...

Important thoughts. Non-runners sometimes ask me, So when you’re out there for so long running, What do you think about? Well I thought about that. And I thought about Mary Ann and the kids back home seeing some of the telecast. Of course, I also wondered if they forgot or were watching Sponge Bob instead, but they didn't... or at least they said they didn't... or maybe they'll just read this blog post?... nah...

Every time I crossed a chip timing mat at the 5K points, I also thought about family and friends tracking me online. That was rather intimidating. Everyone in the world knew exactly where I was at that point and how I was doing. Really didn't want to crash and burn in an ugly, humiliating way.

I also thought about my friend Eric. He gave me lots of good inspiration to keep going strong even when there were 10 or 12 miles left to go. Around mile 10, I passed Dick and Rick Hoyt. Absolutely amazing to see them in person in the race. True celebrities and a great inspiration.

But I also thought about other important matters during the race... such as, Why do all New England houses have shutters? We don’t have these here in California. And do these shutters actually work? And if so, do people use them? And when? Or are they merely ornamental? Do home-owners associations require shutters? Are they part of the civil housing codes? I really need to return to Boston to investigate this. I'm sure there are late-night insomniacs in cyberspace awaiting my thoughts on this phenomenon...

Bad eyesight or habitual liars? All along the way, people kept saying, “Looking good!” or even yelling "Looking great." Well, I’ve seen myself in the mirror and know they weren’t talking about me. And I looked around at everyone else and they looked even worse. So I’m not sure if New Englanders suffer from some kind of genetic eye problem or if they’re all practicing to become politicians.



Trying to be friendly. Generally, I discovered that once the gun fired, everyone became rather anti-social. I tried to break the ice sometimes and be friendly, but rarely did the conversation go farther than one or two sentences... even in the opening miles when the pace still seemed relatively easy... but maybe that was because everyone was flying past me and had no time to talk...

Fire truck. Somewhere in the middle of the first half... I dunno... maybe around Natick or Framingham, we crested a small hill and could see probably a half-mile ahead in the distance and wow... there’s a big firetruck with lights on coming up Hwy 135 at us in opposition to the flow of runners. It was like the parting of the Red Sea as hundreds of runners went around and it slowly came up the road. I mentioned to a runner next to me, Wow... heckuva time for a house fire.... But he didn't say anything and ran past me too...

Tailwind. Despite what famous coach Renato Canova says on letsrun, yes there was a strong tailwind. Both the American (Ryan Hall in 2:04:57) and world (Geoffrey Mutai in 2:03:02) best marathon times were smashed at Boston on Monday.

But you don’t feel a tailwind when you’re running with it... unless you turn and run into it... but people were already tripping over my slow carcass as I moved in the correct direction so I didn't attempt this. But evidence of the tailwind was all around if you looked for it. I noticed at one aid station that the cups on the ground were blowing down the street faster than I was running... granted, that doesn't say much about my speed... but still... tailwind.

At another point, I commented to a runner near me, "Gotta love this tailwind." He looked at me like, What? Then I pointed to a runner near us who was carrying a big American flag... and the flag was blowing in *front* of him while he ran (not behind him). I commented, I’ve never seen something like that ever before in my life. He didn't say anything either and ran on past me too...

You absolutely could not custom order better weather than what we had. Tailwind of 17 mph from WSW matched the course precisely. When I was walking through the finishing chute and heard the winning time (2:03:02), I was thinking, Holy freakin’ cow... but I knew why. It was the once-in-a-century perfect storm... literally.



The Finish. The best part of the race for me was the final 5 miles. I think Boston is kind of like a 10-mile race with a 16-mile warm-up. You need to run patiently and conservatively on the opening 16 miles. The true race is the 5 miles through the Newton Hills and then the 5 miles to the finish. And I played my cards well. I was flying in the final miles and logged my fastest miles of the day. And it was a blast to be strong in front of the biggest crowds on Commonwealth Ave, Hereford St, and Boylston St. I really didn’t expect to have that much left in the tank at that point, but I’m glad I did.



Jacob Wirth’s. Our post-race dinner was at Jacob Wirth’s. The place was packed with runners. We had a great time eating and laughing and without noticing spent 3 hours there. I ate with my OC friend Sam (and many others)... and Sam was absolutely ecstatic about his first sub-3 marathon (2:57:53). Of course, I razzed him about the tailwind because his PR is now 5 seconds faster than mine. I’m sure the tailwind was worth at least 6 seconds...

My OC running friend John Loftus (2:47; 11th AG on Monday... awesome as ever!) even arranged for another runner in the restaurant, a young guy who was a musician, to go to the piano and play. In no time, he had the entire place singing "Sweet Caroline... bah... bah... bah... Good times never felt so good... so good... so good... so good!" What a perfect song to cap off a great day. Great times, great memories. Sam caught it on video and posted it on youtube. And for the record, I'm in the yellow shirt at ~0:52... that's *not* me dancing (if you can call it that) at ~1:22. Youtube scares me. :-)



Sorry for such a long blog post. No wonder my mom doesn't read these. I'm just very thankful to be healthy and back out there running pain-free again. It was hard to keep from smiling on Monday. Glad I got to create some new Boston memories. First time I was overtrained, now I was undertrained. Maybe third time is a charm?...

Thanks for reading. Git 'er dun.

Cal International Marathon

Cal International Marathon
Folsom Lake to the State Capitol in Sacramento
7:00am, Sunday, December 5, 2010

Weather: Partly cloudy/sunny all day
Start: 48°, no wind, no rain
Finish: mid-50s, no wind, no rain




Training:
I had high hopes for a good run at CIM. For 15 months, I had averaged running over 70 miles per week. After doing some 5K training throughout the summer, I had a somewhat short training cycle for this race. I had 10 weeks of solid training at more than 80 miles per week, and then 2 weeks of tapering off the mileage for race day. The 10 weeks went flawlessly according to my plan with my weekly mileage at 82, 82, 85, 80, 83, 80, 86, 89, 82, 82, and then 65 and 28 (sans marathon) for the 2 taper weeks. Saturday was normally my day for my long run and 9x I had runs of 20-24 miles in length. I had good 5-6 mile LT runs ("lactate threshold" runs, about the same pace as a 10-mile race), medium-length MP runs ("marathon paced" runs, about 20sec/mile slower than LT runs), and tune-up races (10K, 10-mile, and a half marathon). Overall, I felt I was peaking just right for an optimum performance at CIM.

Garmin Info
Mile . Split ...Up ... Down .. AvgHR ..MaxHR
--------------------------------------------
01 ... 6:38 .... 0’ ... 54’ ... 150? ... ?
02 ... 6:50 ... 19’ ... 24’ ... 157? ... ?
03 ... 6:41 .... 0’ ... 36’ ... 157 ... 161
04 ... 6:45 .... 0’ ... 53’ ... 157 ... 163
05 ... 6:45 ... 14’ .... 8’ ... 157 ... 163
06 ... 6:46 .... 0’ ... 16’ ... 158 ... 161
07 ... 6:47 ... 39’ ... 40’ ... 157 ... 162
08 ... 6:52 ... 39’ ... 23’ ... 157 ... 162
09 ... 6:53 ... 33’ ... 22’ ... 158 ... 162
10 ... 6:43 .... 0’ ... 15’ ... 156 ... 160
11 ... 6:43 ... 51’ ... 92’ ... 155 ... 161
12 ... 6:54 ... 42’ ... 61’ ... 157 ... 163
13 ... 6:49 ... 16’ ... 31’ ... 156 ... 161
14 ... 6:44 .... 0’ .... 9’ ... 157 ... 161
15 ... 6:54 ... 11’ ... 14’ ... 159 ... 162
16 ... 6:46 ... 27’ ... 29’ ... 160 ... 163
17 ... 6:52 .... 0’ ... 36’ ... 161 ... 164
18 ... 6:51 .... 0’ ... 19’ ... 161 ... 163
19 ... 6:51 ... 16’ ... 16’ ... 162 ... 166
20 ... 6:50 .... 0’ ... 13’ ... 163 ... 166
21 ... 6:48 .... 0’ ... 11’ ... 165 ... 168
22 ... 6:54 .... 0’ .... 3’ ... 166 ... 169
23 ... 6:48 .... 7’ .... 3’ ... 168 ... 170
24 ... 6:48 .... 0’ .... 9’ ... 169 ... 171
25 ... 6:37 .... 0’ .... 6’ ... 172 ... 175
26 ... 6:34 .... 0’ .... 0’ ... 174 ... 179
0.28 . 1:36 .... 0’ .... 0’ ... 178 ... 179 (5:46 pace)
--------------------------------------------
Tot 2:57:58 .. 314’ .. 643’ ... 160.5 . 179 (6:47 avg pace)

Notes: HR monitor wasn’t reading correctly for the opening two miles so the data is conjectured. Also, the official difference between elevation loss and gain is -340’ (366’ start; 26’ finish), even though my Garmin registered -329’.

Official Results from CIM:
Bib #1248
Mile 5.9 in 39:28 (349th place)
Mile 13.1 in 1:28:51 (347th place, moved up 2 spots)
Mile 20.0 in 2:16:09 (322nd place, moved up 25 more spots)
Chip Time: 2:57:58 (246th place, moved up 76 more spots)
Gun Time: 2:58:06
246th overall out of 5,879 total finishers (top 4.2%)
193rd male out of 3,330 men (top 5.8%)
22nd out of 625 in M40-44 age-group (top 3.5%)

CIM is the most competitive marathon in the west (even though it has only a third the number of runners as the L.A. Marathon or the S.D. Rock-n-Roll marathon). CIM is the 5th most competitive marathon in the entire U.S. (only behind Boston, Chicago, New York, and Twin Cities).

PR by 90 seconds. Previous best = 2:59:28 at the Orange Co. Marathon on May 2, 2010 (but afterward I learned the OCM course may have been as much as 2/10ths short so I really wanted to run sub-3 at CIM to make sure I had a legit sub-3.)

Fastest Miles:
Mile 26 in 6:34 (flat terrain; 13 seconds faster than my avg pace)
Mile 25 in 6:37 (flat terrain; 10 seconds faster than my avg pace)

Slowest Mile: Miles 12, 15, and 22 in 6:54 (only 7 seconds slower than my avg pace)

Half Splits: 1:28:51/1:29:07 (16 second positive split)

Last 10K (mile 20 to finish) in 41:49 (6:40/mile pace or 7 sec/mile faster than my avg pace)... which interesting enough, was my goal pace for the entire marathon.

Age-graded calculator = 73.81%, my best marathon yet, but still less than the +75% marks I’ve hit for some shorter races (mile race in Aug at 78.1%; 5K in Sept at 75.6%; 10K in Oct at 76.2%, 10-miler in Oct at 77.4%).

Thoughts:
CIM is one of the absolute finest marathons I’ve ever run. Very well organized. Everything went smoothly… buses, a bajillion port-a-potties, great water stations, very visible mile markers, no snafus at all.

The course was wonderful. It’s a gentle rolling route mostly through open-air yards and fields speckled with trees adorned in fall colors. Very few turns. The hills are neither long nor steep, but any advantage of a slight net downhill is negated by plenty of rollers, more so on the first half of the course. Despite the hills, the course has less elevation drop than Boston and is certified as a course for qualifying for the U.S. Olympic trials (not that I can run within 30 minutes of that standard).

Really enjoyed the entire weekend with running friends. I flew up and back and split a room with a new colleague at CBU who was also running CIM. Great to hang out with him all weekend. Also enjoyed a great pre-race pasta dinner on Saturday with a big group of running friends in town for CIM. They ran some great, great races including some big PR's and some age-group podium finishes.

Afterward I was in a lot of pain... severe lower back pain. Riding the school bus up to the start (30+ minutes), I sat over the “wheel hump” with my knees up near my chest. I could feel my rear end cramping and I would shift and move to try to prevent that but the bus was crowded.

After getting off the bus, I didn't think any more of it... until late in the race. In the closing miles, I started feeling the twinges of glute and lower back pain, something I rarely feel when running. But I’ve strained my lower back enough in the past from lifting heavy objects that I know what this feeling is. But fortunately, my back never seized up... nor did I slow down... my fastest 2 miles were my last 2 miles.

But as soon as I crossed the finish line and started walking, Wow. OUCH! Serious back pain. Serious sharp lower back and glute pain. I could hardly walk (no exaggeration). I had to take baby steps. My legs (quads, calves, hammies) were fine... tired but not cramping. But wow, the back pain was really severe. It was all I could do to hobble through the finishing chutes, see some people, get some food, and then catch a cab back to the hotel. I'm really, really glad it didn't ruin my race. If I had stopped for any minor reason (tie a shoe, get water), it easily could've seized up then and I would've DNF'ed (seriously)... or added 30-40 minutes on my time walking the last mile alone.

My goal throughout my training cycle was 2:55 (6:40 pace). Until the last week before the taper, I realized that probably wouldn’t be attainable since my MP runs were averaging ~6:45. But right before Thanksgiving, I started hitting LT, mile repeat, and MP miles that projected a time faster than 2:55. So my goal was 2:55.

But on Sunday, in the opening few miles on the rolling hills, I could tell that pace would be too fast and I backed off some. I think from my splits, I paced it about as perfectly as possible for my fitness level on that very day... neither too aggressive nor too conservative. In fact, as I look at the splits in the race results, no one passed me in the second half of the course (well, a few did temporarily).

On Friday before I left for Sacramento, as I walked my son to elementary school, this conversation took place:
Me: “You know, in 48 hours I’ll be running my marathon. My goal for this one is 2:55. I think I can do it… it’ll be tough, but I think I can.”
Son: “I don’t think you’ll make it.”
Me (chuckling): “Really? Why not?”
Son: “Well, last time, you ran perfectly and barely got 2:59. I don’t see you progressing that fast. So I think something more like 2:57 or 2:58.”
Me (still chuckling at his analysis): “Oh you think so?”
Son: “Yeah.”
Well, now I wonder if he knows my running capabilities better than I do....

Thanks for reading.

A few pictures:



Pre-race dinner at Paesano's in Sacramento. The legs around that table ran 200+ miles the next day, including two 2:38's, one 2:42, two age-group awards, and five PR's. Seated left going clockwise: John L, Julie, Elisa, Susan, John H, Dan, Charlie, myself, and Laurent.



Over 8,000 runners dart out from the start line near Folsom Lake... 26.2 miles in the distance is downtown Sacramento and the finish line at the state capitol.



The route is a wonderful point-to-point course with light rolling hills from Folsom Lake to the state capitol.



Somewhere on the course.



Somewhere else on the course.



Somewhere else on the course.



Mile 20 is marked creatively by the appearance of a brick wall. Fortunatley, I had trained well, fueled up well, and paced the race well so I never felt "the wall" on Sunday.



Somewhere else on the course.



In mile 21, the course crosses this bridge on the American River, the last bit of uphill with only 5 more miles to go.



Running strong through the finish in a new personal best time.



Another angle of me at the finish.



Talking with my friends, John Hill (2:38) and John Loftus (2:42) who each placed second in their age groups at the finish line at CIM... of course, both of them finished, stood around for a while, went back to their hotels, showered, ate lunch, caught a movie, and then came back to greet me as I finished. And I appreciate them wrapping up in thermal blankets so at least they looked tired when they greeted me....



The creative design for the finisher's medal... a footprint with the shape of the state in it.

5,280' of Pain and Oxygen Debt

SoCal USATF Road Mile Championships at El Toro Airfield (Irvine, CA)

I have never run an official mile race other than HS or college gym classes. I don’t even remember my precise time. I think I ran ~6:00 in college. Not sure.

This Road Mile Championship is a brand new race for the SoCal area, and one that I hope will remain for years to come. Most any runner likes to know what they can run for just one single mile... no string attached... nothing but racing one single mile. And this was a true race. No one was thinking about just finishing. Everyone was thinking... how fast.

And the old El Toro Airfield was the perfect venue for this race... cool weather (even in August) and one flat, straight runway for takeoff. The USATF had done this event right. The course was measured to precision with time clocks at every quarter. There would be 16 races separated by age and gender... complete with computer chip timing.

Since I’ve been 5K training this summer towards the Santa Monica 5000 in mid-Sept, this race came at a perfect time on the calendar for me. I haven’t done this much high-intensity, short-rep speedwork in years... if ever. But unfortunately, 10 days ago, I bruised my ribs pretty bad and missed 5 days of running (including DNS’ing a 5K last weekend). My ribs are still sore, but not enough now to keep from running and racing today.

I wasn’t sure what kind of time to target for a race this short (especially with bruised ribs). I haven’t run a race shorter than 10K in years. I just knew it would be 5,280’ of pain... and some severe oxygen debt. I just didn’t want to make it any worse by going out too fast in the opening quarter.

My goal was to run sub-5:30... and my A-goal was actually 5:20. I figured I’d attempt splits in 80 and just try to hang on for the 5:20. But I still felt that’d be too fast. Maybe I better shoot for quarters in 82 and go for 5:29.

I warmed up by jogging down the runway to the starting line in the distance with my youngest daughter... one of my favorite parts of the morning... nothing like doing a warm-up mile with my daughter down a runway in the middle of nowhere. :-) As we ran that long straightaway, I thought... “Daggum, a straight mile is one heckuva long distance!” This was nothing like a mile on the track. I could barely spot the finish line from the start line. Sheesh!

After we got to the starting line, she walked on back to momma and her brother and sister while I jogged around waiting for the start of my race. It was really nice knowing I had my own little cheering section back at the finish line. Normally, they don’t go to my races because there’s rarely any race I run near home.

About 8:40am, it was time for me to line up with the Open Masters Men (40+). I wasn’t sure how competitive this race would be since there was also an Elite Masters Men race (QT was sub-5:30) after mine. I should’ve signed up for the Elite race, but I wrongly presumed that an official QT was necessary (which it wasn’t). So I wasn’t sure how competitive it would be in the Open Masters race.

The gun went off, and we took off. I was in about 6th or 7th place and by the quarter I was in 5th place. Coming up on the quarter, I see the clock ticking 1:08... 1:09... 1:10... 1:11... 1:12... 1:13... Ruh roh... a bit too fast! But I was feeling ok. Just keep steady.

I wore my GPS/HR monitor (mostly to analyze the data after the race) and glanced at it only a couple of times in the race... it was showing me running at a speed about ~4:56/mile. Yikes! Backed off the accelerator just a tad to prevent an ugly blow up at the end.

I saw the half and three-quarters splits as I ran by, and I remember doing the math in my head thinking... hang on and get that sub-5:20! In the last quarter, wow... oxygen debt... severe oxygen debt... seriously severe oxygen debt... breathe... breathe... breathe... I gradually moved on up into fourth place and then into the third. (Note: discovered in the results, I actually finished 2nd in my race.) Well... I don’t think it was so much that I sped up but that I just hung on better than two of the guys in front of me.

I could see the finish line approaching fast... run... breathe... run... breathe... hang on... here it comes... hang on... yes... 5:08!!!

Ok... whoa... slow down legs... stop... bend over... breathe... breathe... breathe... holy freakin’ cow... breathe....

Wow, I didn’t expect that at all. Seriously. Did I just do that? Wow. My wife and kids run over and congratulate me. They knew I’d be happy with 5:08... and yes I was.

After I caught my breath, I jogged down the runaway as a cool-down and turned around at halfway to come back and see my friend John Loftus finish with the elites. But I messed up and thought his race was 4 races after mine and it was only 2. As I was jogging back towards the finish, I looked to my side and here comes John. He was kicking towards the finish and I missed my chance to photograph him. Saw him finish in 4:57. That’s huge. Sub-5 and he’s ten years older than me. Huge congrats, John, on the PR. Sorry I didn’t get a pic of you.

Good day. After examing my GPS file, I realize I ran a much more even-paced race than I initially thought:

Quarter split, total time, avg HR, max HR, quarter distance (GPS distance):
0:00, 0:00, 110, 110, 0m (0m)
1:16, 1:16, 148, 174, 402m (413.7m)
1:17, 2:33, 165, 182, 804m (808.2m)
1:18, 3:51, 170, 187, 1206m (1204.9m)
1:17, 5:08, 174, 190, 1608m (1614.0m)

It felt really bizarre and surreal to run a race this short. Now I'm really looking forward to the Santa Monica 5000... and doing this mile race again next year. Thanks for reading.

Drinking the Kool-Aid: My First Ultra-Marathon

I've wanted to do this for years, but it never fit into my schedule until now... my first attempt pushing the envelope beyond 26 miles, 385 yards... my first ultra-marathon... the Holcomb Valley Trail Race (33 miler).



Where? The mtns above Big Bear, 99% trails and fire roads... ~15 miles on the Pacific Crest Trail.



Elevation? ~3,850' net elev gain and drop... low point (start/finish) at 6,750'... high point (~mile 8) at 8,212'... 6 climbs to high points on the route.



Weather? Ideal... 50s at the start and 60s at the finish... bright sunny day... about 50/50 with shade/exposure on the route.

Why now? Good timing. I finally got that sub-3 marathon burden off my back. Time to try something new... and I love the mountains.

Training? I piggy-backed my training off of my winter and spring marathon training in which I ran 3 marathons in a matter of 12 weeks (somewhat unintentionally) culminating with marathon PR at the OC Marathon on May 2 in 2:59:28. Basically, I recovered for about 8 days and started training hard again. My key workouts for each of the next 3 weeks were:
• 6-mile tempo run at lactate threshold (6:34 pace then 6:23 then 6:21 then 6:24)
• tough longish (15-17 miles) run on big hills (~1000' elevation gain)
• b2b long runs (20/11 then 22/16 then 25/20)

Goals:
Main goal: since I've never run farther than 26.2 miles, I wasn't sure how my body would respond in the final 7 miles. So my main goal was not to overdo it and finish strong without limping across the line in a death march. Goal accomplished. I ran a neg split (2:38/2:35) and my fastest mile was my last mile. (Here's my Garmin file which gives all the data on mile splits, HR, elevation, map, etc.)

I had no idea what to target as a time goal since this race was considerably farther than I had ever run and it involved big climbs and downhills... on trails (which can be tricky with rocks and roots)... and at altitude (all between 6,750' and 8,212'). But these were my "sketchy" goals:
• Time Goal A: sub-5:00 (~9:00/mile pace)? This was so far-fetched I didn't mention it to anyone... but it sure would have been nice. Fwiw, only two runners ran sub-5 this year. Jorge Pacheco (a fast, elite ultra-runner who won Badwater 2008!) won the race and broke his own course record in 4:13. Second place finished 43 minutes behind him (!!!). I was a full 60 minutes behind the winner, but only 17 minutes from second place.
• Time Goal B: sub-5:19 (essentially sub-5hrs for 50K... a very tough goal). Since this race was an odd distance (33 miles), not a standard ultra distance (like 50K, 50 miles, etc.), I thought it'd be cool to hit this mark. Goal accomplished. I looked at my Garmin when it read 16.5 miles (halfway) and I was at 2:38 (on pace for a 5:16 finish). I hoped I wouldn't fade at the end... but I just didn't know... and fortunately I didn't.
• Time Goal C: sub-5:30 (~10:00/mile pace). Based on past results for this race, I figured this would probably get me into the top 10 overall... and it did... 6th overall and 1st in the M40-49 age-group (well, technically, 3rd AG... but the other 2 got overall awards and there was no "double dipping").

Race plan:
• Gels and an Endurolyte capsule (sodium & electrolytes) every 4 miles.
• Carry a handheld bottle and refill it at the 7 aid stations.
• Try to avoid overdoing it too early so that the end doesn't become a cramped-up death march.
• Wasn't sure what heart-rate zone I should target since this involved steep climbs at altitude. Planned to target 148-150 to avoid an ugly crash and burn at the end. A mile into the race, I had already abandoned that plan and targeted 158-160 (essentially my target HR zone for OCM)... and it worked out ok. My avg HR for the entire race ended up being 159... and I finished strong so my adjusted plan worked.



About my race:

The race had a staggered start of four waves started every 2 minutes to avoid too many runners clogging up the trails at once. The waves were seeded so the fastest runners were in the first wave. I was disappointed to be seeded in the fourth and final wave (since I had never run an ultra)... but that actually turned out great. At the end, when I was running near anyone, I knew I had either a 4- or 6-minute lead on them depending on whether they were in the first or second wave. :-)



Opening 3 miles were a steep climb... had to do some power-hiking even within the first mile to avoid spiking my HR too early. I didn't mind if people passed me at that point, I knew I could pass them back by the end... and I did... since I started in the fourth wave, I passed everyone except only the 5 people who finished ahead of me.



In the opening 6-8 miles, I couldn't find a nice steady pace... I was either going too fast and my HR was climbing or too slow and my HR was dropping too low. Finally, I caught up to some other runners about my pace (from an earlier wave) and that helped steady my pace... one of whom I ran with for ~12 miles on the PCT. I asked him if he minded that I followed him since this was my first ultra and was trying not to overdo it. He didn't mind. We talked a little bit. Around mile 21 on some climbs I ended up getting ahead of him. After the finish, he came up and congratulated me on my race and informed me that I won our age-group. I thanked him repeatedly for letting me tail him for all those middle miles and also thanked him for saving my race or else I would have crashed and burned for sure. I really owe my AG award to him.



I also learned the hard way that while trail running, don't follow the runner in front of you too closely... you gotta be able to see the rocks and roots coming up. Around mile 8 or 9, I took quite a tumble (nearly down a steep ravine) when I tripped on a rock. I cut up my right knee pretty good... but it's not a trail race until you fall... :-) And I must say, I saw more runners than not who had taken a spill during the race. Lots of battle scars.



The race went remarkably smoothly for me. I don't have time to tell about all the sights and sounds today. Suffice it to say, ultra-runners are interesting folks. And the route was amazing. Great views of Big Bear Lake from high up and also Holcomb Valley, the High Desert... and even the ghost town of Belleville. In 1860, the town had grown to 10,000 people and came within 2 votes of becoming the county seat of San Bernardino County during the (smaller) southern California gold rush. All that remains is a few old mine shafts, a log cabin, and "Hangman's Tree" where justice was meted out in this rough town.





What's next?
I always like a challenge. Some of my running friends think that since I've succumbed to the dark side of running and have run an ultra, now I'll be signing up for a 50- or 100-miler soon... well, not so fast. Yes, I finally drank the kool-aid and found myself part of the ultra-running cult... but I have no immediate plans to go farther... at least, not yet. 33 miles was plenty for me right now. Since I've (unintentionally) run a marathon (or more) in each of the four local counties this year (Diamond Valley Marathon in Riverside Co.; LAM in Los Angeles Co., OCM in Orange Co.; and now the HV33 in San Bernardino Co.), I'm gonna set aside the longer stuff for a few months and work on the shorter stuff... namely, speedwork for 5K/10K... something that's long overdue. And then I hope to arun the Cal International Marathon in Sacramento in December.

And I'd like to dedicate my first ultra-marathon to my friends Jay and Anita Finkle who are amazing ultra-runners who regularly run 100-milers. All the best to both of you, especially with the new challenge you're facing. You two are a great inspiration!

The Orange County Marathon

I'm sure I blog way too much about my running, but this marathon was truly special... something I've been trying to do for years... and it all happened very unexpectedly. Here's my story... and it's not just about running... and hopefully it can inspire others to dream big, train hard, and shoot for the stars.

Back in 2006, as I was training towards the Boston Marathon in April 2007, I set off on a "Quest for Sub-3"... striving to run a marathon in under 3 hours (6:52/mile pace). To that point, I had never trained harder in my life for a race... and I ran my fastest times for 10K, 15K, and the half marathon leading up to race day. I flew to Boston with hopes high and came home with them crushed. That was the year of the nor'easter and I never ran a single mile that day at the necessary pace. I was embarrassed, frustrated, and disappointed with my performance... and worst of all suffering some injuries from over-training that kept me from running another marathon for 17 months.

Since then, I've encountered minor running injuries off and on... unable to be consistent enough with my running to make any progress at the marathon. In the meanwhile, I ran some tough, scenic marathons (Big Bear 2x and Leadville) since I wasn't in shape for a PR ("personal record"). Still, it seemed like I should be able to run a sub-3 marathon. In the past four years, I've run 35:53 for 6 miles, 38:40 for 10K, 57:45 for 15K, 64:55 for 10 miles, and five times in 1:25 or faster for a half marathon (twice in 1:23)... all of which pointed to my potential to run a sub-3 marathon... yet I had never gotten within ten minutes of that marathon goal.

After battling plantar fasciitis (inflammation of a tendon in the foot) for much of 2009, my training went well in the fall and I ran a PR 1:23:14 at the Mission Inn Half in Nov. I started targeting the L.A. Marathon for March 2010. I averaged 80+ miles per week (mpw) for 26 straight weeks (including tapering and an injury week)... 6 weeks in a row in Nov-Dec I ran 100+ mpw (including one week of 121). But I crashed and burned horribly at LAM. I wanted to try again soon and at least run a PR this spring and make progress towards sub-3:00 in the fall.

Since starting my "quest for sub-3" back in 2006, I hadn't even improved on my fastest time (3:11:50 at St George 2005... something I wanted to bury in the past since it was a downhill course). Meanwhile, one of my running friends who's my age who had not run sub-3 as of 2006 has since gone on to run sub-3 multiple times, including 2:41 a few weeks ago. Another friend in his 20s, who had not run sub-3 as of 2006, recently ran 2:28. Me? My bests since then have only been 3:14:56 at Boston '07 and 3:16:13 at LAM '10... both of which were huge disappointments for me.

Strategy for OCM?

I only had 6 weeks time between LAM and OCM... and I had never attempted full-effort marathons on such a quick-turnaround. This gave me: 2 weeks recovery from LAM (weekly mileage was 28.5 and 70.0), 2 weeks of solid training (82.0 and 83.5 miles), and 2 weeks of taper (67.6 and 28.0 before the marathon itself on Sunday)... and most importantly, I needed to correct my mistakes from LAM:

(1) Don't go out too fast. I crashed and burned horribly at LAM by going out too fast on the opening hills. But I didn't make that fatal mistake on Sunday, not even on the opening downhills. I kept my HR ~158-159 (about 2 bpm lower than at LAM) on the opening half and felt remarkably fresh at halfway... like I was just starting a half marathon race. My friend Sam Felsenfeld who is about my same speed got about a minute ahead of me after a couple of miles, but I didn't worry about it. I had to run my own race. By mile 10 or 11, I gradually caught up to him... but of course, his legs have run 6 marathons in the last 3 weeks... including 3:03 at Boston just 2 weeks ago... since he's running 60 marathons for his son this year.

(2) Fix the fuel and cramping problems. I've cramped up and bonked really bad in the closing miles of my last four marathons. This time: ate banana bread on the drive over... drank 1.5 quarts of UltraFuel (like uber-Gatorade)... took 5 gels (1 before the start, 4 more at miles 6, 11, 16, 21)... took 3 Endurolyte capsules (sodium, potassium, and magnesium) at start, mile 8, and mile 16. Never bonked. At mile 21, I was thinking and my mantra became, "What wall?" :-) Never cramped a bit. My fastest two miles were my last 2 miles.

(3) Lose some weight and try the old-school carb-deplete/load. I think I weighed 181 when I ran LAM (and even hit 183 at one point in the week or two before LAM). I was so mad at myself after LAM that I dieted while recovering. Lost 5-7 lbs that week. Lost 1-3 lbs for the next several weeks. Six days before OCM while carb-depleting, I weighed 164... 17 lbs of weight loss. My jeans wouldn't stay up without a belt. But it wasn't easy. Carb-depleting was miserable. Ate less that 20g of carbs a day for 7 straight days... that's not much carbs at all. My runs during that time were horrible... slow paces and high HR... but it didn't affect me mentally because I knew it was just glycogen depletion, and it would benefit me on race day.

Why OCM?

It was soon (at least sooner than San Diego Rock-n-Roll marathon in June). It was flat (at least flatter than Palos Verdes Marathon on May 16) and would probably have cool temps since it's next to the ocean. It seemed to be a good weekend... initially. I had to attend graduation at my school on the Saturday before, but no biggie. But that all changed quickly...


Ten days before race day, some of the men at my church decided to take the boys camping that weekend (Fri, Apr 30 to Sun, May 2) so we could all camp, bike, and fish together. Initially, I thought, "Nooooooooooo...." because I needed my rest for my big race. And I knew my son would want to go... and of course, I would want him to go... and me with him. I was so tempted to say, "I'm sorry, son... my race is that weekend... we can't go." But I couldn't. I didn't want to be "that dad"... you know, the dad whose own stuff is more important than his kids. Eleven year-old boys don't understand schedule conflicts. They just think they're not important if you say no to a camping trip. So against my better running judgment, I agreed that we'd go on Friday and Saturday but come home on Saturday night. And my son would also be bringing a friend who otherwise wouldn't be able to go. And I'd have to entrust these two rambuctious boys to the oversight of other dads while I attended graduation on Saturday morning. Things were getting complicated...

So my weekend?

Friday: drive an hour over to Costa Mesa to get my race bib at the expo, eat lunch with my friends Sam and John (both of whom were also running this race), drive home (east) on the friggin' 91 freeway on Friday afternoon (one of the worst in the LA/OC area), get home (later than I was supposed to), throw all the camping gear in the car, drive the 3 of us to Lake Perris, set up camp... and later that night in the dark when I moved my car to allow a friend to back in with his camper, I accidentally ran over two kids' bikes that had been left on the passenger-side of my car where I couldn't see them... major anguish and guilt-trip over that. :-( Went to sleep at 10:30pm.

Saturday: got up at 5:45am, ran 4.0 miles at Lake Perris, cooled off, entrusted the boys to friends, left at 7am, stopped by my house, showered (because I smelled like smoke from the campfire the night before), get dressed in coat & tie, cap & gown, attend graduation, drive back to camp (only had banana bread and iced tea for supper Fri, breakfast Sat, & lunch Sat), took the boys fishing for 2 hours in the hot sun (lathered in sunscreen and drinking tea non-stop), packed up camp, left at 4:30pm, got home at 5:30pm, unpacked, showered, threw all my race stuff in a bucket next to the door, was in bed by 9pm, and slept in my race clothes.

Sunday: never woke up for 7 hours until my alarm at 4am, used bathroom, grabbed race bucket, ate banana bread and drank UltraFuel while driving (also while driving: applying vaseline, pinning bib, putting on socks and shoes), arrived at the OC Fairgrounds (and forgot where I parked... had to walk the parking lot for 30min after the race searching for my car), hopped on the shuttle bus at 5:10am, found Sam, Tim, John, and other friends, lined up, ran. I didn't even know where I was running... hardly had a chance to look at the course map... knew where 3 hills were.



My Race?

Half a mile into the race, I look at my GPS watch at it read 4.5 miles and suddenly realized... dang it... I forgot to reset the daggum thing after Saturday's run while camping. (I normally do that at home on my laptop... but I never got a chance to connect it.) But it's too late. I can't reset it now. I know I ran 4.00 miles on Saturday, but I had no idea what the time was. Suddenly found myself having to "run blind"... other than knowing my HR and mile splits. I realized, I'll just have to run 26 one-mile races today. It's ok. Just get under 3:10. I won't be fast enough to get near sub-3 so it's not like I'm gonna miss it by a few seconds anyway.


The miles start clicking off and I keep running miles under 7:00/pace but yet I'm in control... I'm not straining... not feeling exhausted at all. It felt like a simple, long training-run... not much effort... the miles were clicking away one by one by one so easily... but of course, I'm not used to running on such flat ground.



When I caught up to Sam around mile 10 or 11, I asked his overall time and tried to subtract it from mine to figure out how to interpret my overall time. He told me and I tried doing the math and couldn't figure it out... 34 minutes? 33?... too much blood going to my legs instead of my brain... :-) (Afterward discovered the difference was 33:37.19.) I gradually pulled away from Sam and he cheered me on. But I reminded him that I had a history of crash and burn. He agreed. I replied, "You're not supposed to agree with that." :-)

Around mile 12 or 13, I crossed the first timing mat. I didn't hear a beep like I should have (and I crossed by myself with no one else right with me). I yelled back at the lady overseeing the device (who had pointed me through the timing blocks... which were rather narrow... only about 5-6' apart), "Hey, it didn't beep?!?" but I didn't stop and she had no idea who I was. But it concerned me. I looked down and my D-tag chip (the computerized timing device) on my shoe had come unglued and was flopping open (you can see that on my left in some of the pictures). I stopped and stuck it back together... but it came undone a few seconds later. No time to stop now... it was still stuck under two sets of my shoe laces. But I kept an eye on it all day to make sure I never lost it.

Everything was going smoothly... incredibly so. I geared back on the three small hills to prevent my HR from going too high and then picked the pace back up. At mile 21, I was feeling so good, I was thinking, "What wall?" and started pushing my HR a tad higher. I was reeling people in the whole second half of the race. No one ever passed me after the half-marathoners split off... and I wasn't surprised because I was careful not to overdo it on the first half. But somehow, one guy caught up to me around mile 22 or 23. I could tell by his breathing he was working a whole lot harder than I was. I also knew there was one last hill after we left the Santa Ana bike trail and Fairview Park. I went up that hill at a steady pace (not too fast and not too slow) and hard-breathing guy hung with me.

After that hill, I looked at my watch and calculated that I had exactly 2 miles left. And I just took off and ran like a man possessed. I left that poor guy in my wake. I can't imagine what he was thinking when I surged that late in the race, but I was feeling great... no bonking, no cramping... and I knew it was nothing but flat ground to the finish. I knew I was running a PR... but I had no idea what my overall time might be. 3:02? 3:03? I didn't know. I just wanted to get the best PR possible. My 25th mile... are you ready for this? = 6:26 (Yes, that's correct... 30 seconds faster than my average pace.) I didn't care that my HR had now risen into the 170s.

And I didn't let up. Occasional by-standers were pointing me out and cheering me on because I was clicking and kicking. In the 26th mile, my Garmin watch was showing a pace under 6:00/mile (!!!) and my HR was going higher and higher... but it didn't matter. I felt strong and was about to finish and I was running a marathon PR. I had a smile sand-blasted on my face because I knew it was my day. I couldn't stop smiling. I was pumping my fist as I crossed intersections and came across spectators.

I passed the 3-mile marker for the 5K and knew there was only one-tenth left. I sprinted for all I was worth... one more corner... I turn the corner and see the finishing clock ahead for the first time with less than 50 yards left... 2:59:20!!! I COULD NOT BELIEVE MY EYES!!!


I had no idea until that point... with just a few seconds left... I was going to run sub-3... I was whooping and hollering as I running towards the finish... I had no celebration dance planned because I wasn't expecting this... I just put two fingers up with each hand since there was a big "2" on the clock instead of 3... and crossed in 2:59:33. After crossing the line, I just shouted and yelled for all I was worth! A photographer from the Orange County Register took a bajillion pictures of me because I was so elated. I finally had to tell her to stop and told her my name, age, city, and that I had wanted to do this for years... my first sub-3 marathon. I look over to the side and see John and he was so happy for me. I spent several minutes in the chute just explaining to him through the fence that I couldn't believe what I just did... and that I had run a negative split and my last two miles were so freakin' fast.


I went through the chute, got water, found John (who ran a solid 2:50). A few minutes later, I found Sam (he ran a solid 3:06) and his wife, kids, dad (who ran the half), and step-mom. They were so happy for me. I wanted more than anything to call my wife and kids... but my daughter had lost our extra cell phone and so I had my wife's cell phone and she didn't have one on her.

I was so choked up afterward. I felt like Jim Valvano wandering around on the basketball court... I just wanted to hug someone. I didn't want Sam and John to notice the tears in my eyes so I kept stepping away from them. I wasn't crying because I ran fast. I was crying because I went camping with my son and I just wanted to hug him. I had done it the right way. When I got home, I told him, "You know, if I had run sub-3 today and not gone camping with you... it would've been hollow, shallow, and empty. I would have much rather missed my goal... even by a few seconds... and gone camping with you. I enjoy running, but I love you." Priorities matter.


But then my worst nightmare... I didn't attach my D-tag correctly on my shoe (didn't know that at the time, but now I do)... the chip part was under the laces and it never read all day... OCM had no results for me. And my Garmin file was messed up because it had Saturday's 4-mile run at Lake Perris, OCM, and then I never hit the stop button until long after the race. After analyzing the Garmin file, I evidently ran 2:59:28. I emailed OCM and after four of the longest days of my life, I heard back from them and they authorized and included my results based on my Garmin file and a finishing photo from the OC Register. Whew!

Aftermath

It was rather fortuitous that I was so stoked at the end because that photographer from the Orange County Register shot a great photo of me right after I finished which documents that I ran sub-3. And I even ended up with my picture in the paper (at least the online version).

I know some of my non-running friends were kinda surprised that I was so disappointed after I ran the L.A. Marathon. Sure I finished, but my goals were so much higher that day (and not unreasonable either). It's kinda funny... but 6 weeks ago at LAM I had 7 goals for that race (and only achieved one of them):

(1) Top 100 (ended up needing 2:57 to do so at LAM... at OCM, I was 23rd overall... but granted... OCM had 1500 marathoners while LAM had 25,000... but still I was in the top 2% at OCM)

(2) Sub-3:00 (I ran 3:16 at LAM but 2:59 at OCM)

(3) Sub-7:00/mile pace (My average pace was 7:29 at LAM but 6:51 at OCM)

(4) Qualify for guaranteed NYCM entry with 3:10:00 (missed it at LAM; got it at OCM)

(5) PR (missed it at LAM; got it at OCM)

(6) BQ = qualify for the Boston Marathon (got it at LAM; moved myself several corrals closer to the start at Boston by my time at OCM)

(7) Negative split... running the second half faster than the first (ugly 8-min pos split at LAM; beautiful 1:48 neg split at OCM 1:30:38/1:28:50)

Also, I never stated this, but I thought it'd be really cool to do what my friend Pam did at CIM... run my last mile as my fastest mile. I certainly didn't do that at LAM. My last four miles at LAM were 8:34, 8:19, 8:07, & 8:01... my four slowest miles of that miserable day... and those were all downhill. My last four miles at OCM were 6:47, 6:57 (some uphill), 6:26, and ~5:55.

Sorry for the long report. It's been such a long journey to the land of sub-3:00... and it happened when I least expected it. I wasn't being modest or sand-bagging when I stated my goal for OCM was merely 3:10. At one point to a friend, I even mentioned 3:05 and felt extremely nervous saying that... I remembered all too painfully how my hopes were recently crushed at LAM and didn't expect a lot better on Sunday. But sometimes it's your day... or maybe your weekend. :-)

Thanks for reading.