Jacksonville Bank Marathon
December 19th, 2010 @ 7AM
26.2 Miles need to be covered in under 3 hours 15 minutes 59 seconds.
That's running, on average, at least 7:28/mile or faster.
Course
The course is described as flat, fast, and very scenic with 85% shade. That's 22 miles of shade to take advantage of, if the sun decides to pop it's ugly head out. I'm a notoriously horrible hot weather runner, and coming from Michigan's weather in late mid-December to Florida's historical mid 50s with 88% humidity in the morning I'm going to need all the help I can get. I concede some of these problems are self-induced psychosomatic, but they are problems none-the-less. I'm hoping that arriving two days ahead of time will help in some LARGE way. I'm also crossing my fingers for record low temps on December 19th. I don't really drink orange juice anyways...so let it be 32 degrees, if only for 3 hours and 16 minutes. Not too many people will be affected by damaged crops, right?
All joking aside, I've put in the mileage and feel I'm prepared to run somewhere between 7:14 and 7:28 per mile over the course set out. No "I'm feeling strong I can hold this pace and hold back the fade through 26..." I've tried that before, didn't work out so well.
The Plan(s)
1. The first half (13.1 miles) I need to come through in 1:37:30 or very close to that. That would be 7:27 per mile. Pick it up to 7:25 pace for the second half and come in satisfied with a Boston Qualifier (BQ).
2. Go out in 7:25 for the first 20 miles and gradually pick it up (one or two seconds per mile) and see what I can do on that last mile.
3. Put my watch on "PACE" and just make sure I stay close to 7:28 per mile.
4. Don't overthink it.
Now let's hope this chest congestion I've had for three weeks clears up and everything else stays on track.
Wednesday, December 1, 2010
December 2010 update
I am such a slacker. There, I said it, let's move on.
This has been a strange year. I told myself I wasn't going to run another marathon until I was ready, had dropped enough weight, and was ready to ROLL. Life gets in the way, things and minds change...and now I'm less than three weeks away from running a marathon. Bear with me as I work through this year's running events.
Martian Half Marathon (4/10): 1:44:24 (see previous post for detail)
Glass City Marathon (Support for JeffMac, ran just about 24 miles that day)
Cinco de Mayo 5K: 21:16 with my son in the jogging stroller on a windy day.
Cleveland Half Marathon (5/16): 1:33:50..... nice hilly course, will do it again some day.
Dexter Ann Arbor Half Marathon (6/6): 1:31:33 nice hilly course, ran with Katherine Kyle most of the way, then gassed out with two miles to go. Tough run, not to be run hard on the front end.
Anchor Bay Triathlon (7/11): 1:21:07 Had NO IDEA how to "manage" my energy output, nor how to survive the gladiator pit known as the swim...definitely going to work on a repeat performance. Training for this event improved my overall running shape. (1/2 Mile swim, 12 mile bike, 3 mile run)
Chicago Rock and Roll Half (8/1): 1:31:41 VERY HOT. Out too fast. Last three miles felt like I was running in a bowl of my own stupidity.
Kayla O'Mara 10K (8/7): 41:13 nice challenging course. Sufficiently hilly to keep you honest. Great performance considering the self-induced beating I gave myself 6 days previous.
Milford 30K Cyclocross (9/4): 1:06:10 Most important detail...bring the right tires! Slipping and sliding all over the place. Could have rocked this event if I wasn't spinning in place once we went offroad. Only saving grace were the 4 or 5 miles on pavement. Definitely will be clipping in next time as well. Rookie mistake. Took 4th overall for my first cyclocross event.
Somewhere after Chicago's Half Marathon and just after Milford's 30K I suffered from some serious ITB issues. I had had the plan to make it all the way from 12/25/09 to 12/25/2010 without missing a day of running. I could barely run. That's when I realized that a trip to Kyle Ormsbee was necessary, the sooner the better (yes, it took a little prodding from a few friends). If you suffer from ITBS, and need it to go away FAST, see someone who can ACTIVELY release your tightness. It's NOT for the faint of heart, it's not for those with a low threshold for pain. It's going to hurt, you're going to come close to passing out and you'll break such a sweat you'll think you were hanging out with Bikram Choudhury. It's all worth it. The pain goes away, AND you come back BETTER THAN BEFORE. Flexibility you had long long ago comes back, your fast-twitched muscles will fire like they used to, it'll feel like you're just going through the motions when you're training at your "usual pace". After my Ormsbee treatment (it gets progressively stronger over a few sessions) I signed up for the Brooksie Half Marathon. My expectations were low. I basically had three weeks of garbage runs, and thought maybe I'd not have anything inside to be able to handle 13.1 miles of some really tough hills. It was the hardest course of the year, by far, when you factor in the weather (Milford's 30K is no laughing matter).
Brooksie Way Half Marathon (10/3): 1:30:22 Hard Course, smartest move to run conservatively through 10 and take off with the last 3.1 being mostly downhill. PR for the year. 23 seconds away from my personal goal of breaking 1:30 in the half.
That WILL happen.
Took a break from racing to go shoot from the Finish Line Photobridge at the New York City Marathon. My favorite photo from that day:
Shalane Flanagan
Roseville's Big Bird 10K (11/14): 41:33 (6:42/mile pace), nice flat course mostly, mile markers aren't exactly in the right places, but overall you end up running 10K...so no biggie. Probably shouldn't have run that fast. Was trying to help out a friend run sub 40 minutes, but it was just too cold and windy that day to make it happen.
Thanksgiving morning was spent managing the Finish Line for the Detroit Turkey Trot.
Or being the Captain, or Chief, or (___________) whatever. Titles aren't important. What is important is that 17K+ runners/walkers got through the finish line in the right chute, and without congestion. Thanks to all the volunteers that helped make that happen.
This has been a strange year. I told myself I wasn't going to run another marathon until I was ready, had dropped enough weight, and was ready to ROLL. Life gets in the way, things and minds change...and now I'm less than three weeks away from running a marathon. Bear with me as I work through this year's running events.
Martian Half Marathon (4/10): 1:44:24 (see previous post for detail)
Glass City Marathon (Support for JeffMac, ran just about 24 miles that day)
Cinco de Mayo 5K: 21:16 with my son in the jogging stroller on a windy day.
Cleveland Half Marathon (5/16): 1:33:50..... nice hilly course, will do it again some day.
Dexter Ann Arbor Half Marathon (6/6): 1:31:33 nice hilly course, ran with Katherine Kyle most of the way, then gassed out with two miles to go. Tough run, not to be run hard on the front end.
Anchor Bay Triathlon (7/11): 1:21:07 Had NO IDEA how to "manage" my energy output, nor how to survive the gladiator pit known as the swim...definitely going to work on a repeat performance. Training for this event improved my overall running shape. (1/2 Mile swim, 12 mile bike, 3 mile run)
Chicago Rock and Roll Half (8/1): 1:31:41 VERY HOT. Out too fast. Last three miles felt like I was running in a bowl of my own stupidity.
Kayla O'Mara 10K (8/7): 41:13 nice challenging course. Sufficiently hilly to keep you honest. Great performance considering the self-induced beating I gave myself 6 days previous.
Milford 30K Cyclocross (9/4): 1:06:10 Most important detail...bring the right tires! Slipping and sliding all over the place. Could have rocked this event if I wasn't spinning in place once we went offroad. Only saving grace were the 4 or 5 miles on pavement. Definitely will be clipping in next time as well. Rookie mistake. Took 4th overall for my first cyclocross event.
Somewhere after Chicago's Half Marathon and just after Milford's 30K I suffered from some serious ITB issues. I had had the plan to make it all the way from 12/25/09 to 12/25/2010 without missing a day of running. I could barely run. That's when I realized that a trip to Kyle Ormsbee was necessary, the sooner the better (yes, it took a little prodding from a few friends). If you suffer from ITBS, and need it to go away FAST, see someone who can ACTIVELY release your tightness. It's NOT for the faint of heart, it's not for those with a low threshold for pain. It's going to hurt, you're going to come close to passing out and you'll break such a sweat you'll think you were hanging out with Bikram Choudhury. It's all worth it. The pain goes away, AND you come back BETTER THAN BEFORE. Flexibility you had long long ago comes back, your fast-twitched muscles will fire like they used to, it'll feel like you're just going through the motions when you're training at your "usual pace". After my Ormsbee treatment (it gets progressively stronger over a few sessions) I signed up for the Brooksie Half Marathon. My expectations were low. I basically had three weeks of garbage runs, and thought maybe I'd not have anything inside to be able to handle 13.1 miles of some really tough hills. It was the hardest course of the year, by far, when you factor in the weather (Milford's 30K is no laughing matter).
Brooksie Way Half Marathon (10/3): 1:30:22 Hard Course, smartest move to run conservatively through 10 and take off with the last 3.1 being mostly downhill. PR for the year. 23 seconds away from my personal goal of breaking 1:30 in the half.
That WILL happen.
Took a break from racing to go shoot from the Finish Line Photobridge at the New York City Marathon. My favorite photo from that day:
Shalane Flanagan
Roseville's Big Bird 10K (11/14): 41:33 (6:42/mile pace), nice flat course mostly, mile markers aren't exactly in the right places, but overall you end up running 10K...so no biggie. Probably shouldn't have run that fast. Was trying to help out a friend run sub 40 minutes, but it was just too cold and windy that day to make it happen.
Thanksgiving morning was spent managing the Finish Line for the Detroit Turkey Trot.
Or being the Captain, or Chief, or (___________) whatever. Titles aren't important. What is important is that 17K+ runners/walkers got through the finish line in the right chute, and without congestion. Thanks to all the volunteers that helped make that happen.
Thursday, May 20, 2010
The Cleveland Half Marathon
8th Place in the Age Group, 100th Male overall, 127th overall I believe.
1:33:50 Chip, 1:33:55 Gun.
Race Executive Summary: Little bit windy, slightly warm (those two combined made it okay). The FIRST half of the full course is hilly. If you're running the half, you experience the most "up and down" volatility. Well organized and supported. Plenty of beverages along the course. Great support after the finish line. Excellent medal.
Will come back for the mile-by-mile report, if I so choose. I did find it ironic that the RITE AID Cleveland Marathon starts out in front of a CVS.
Friday, May 14, 2010
Anyone out there?
Wow.
I really really let it drop this time. How to catch up? It's probably easiest to list the last few races I've done, and those that I'd like to do this year.
Working backwards:
Cinco de Mayo 5K: 21:16 1st place age group, 9th place overall
This is the 4th year of this race, haven't missed one yet. Hopefully they get the City to work WITH them and make this an event everyone wants to run. The wind this year was really strong...in our face. One half loop around Clark Park in the opposite direction of the runs in past years, straight out to Livernois and loop around the tire store and then straight back in to the finish. You'd think the wind would be at our back on the way in. Nope. Square in the face. I had the benefit of pushing my 3 year old son in the jogging stroller, and he's mocking me for not staying in first place. "What's the problem Daddy, why aren't you in first place anymore?" "Everyone is catching up Daddy, go faster!" Nice race overall, felt good, but definitely felt like the effort was 18:16 not 21:16.
Glass City Marathon: Trained someone at work (I'm looking at you Jeff) under less than ideal conditions. Ultimately I'm satisfied with HIS results, but I know that with more time to train, he can drop some serious time off his PR. For a first marathon, he ran 3:40:26. I ran the first 6 to establish a conservative pace. Stick with that pace and things would turn out perfect, that was my thinking at the time. At 6 the Half Marathon splits off to the right, so I turned off and picked up the pace to 6:30ish for 2 miles, then realized I needed to turn LEFT at the fork in the path over the covered bridge. Had to double back and run through the park. Ran out to the 17 mile marker (After stopping to help set up the water/GU station at 18) and waited for Jeff for roughly 30 minutes. Thankfully, his brain kept his passion in check. When we split off, we were roughly 3 seconds behind 2 college aged girls in uniform running a pretty even pace. When I saw him coming, he looked strong, a little flush, but only 3 seconds ahead of the two college runners. I took the lead pace from there, hitting 8:24-8:29 at each mile marker all the way in. Even though I didn't run the marathon, I did put in a total of 24.2 miles if you include the 2 mile "warm up, calm down" run I put in before Jeff got to the start line (3 minutes before the race started). Good times.
Martian Half Marathon (4/10/10): 1:44:24
This was designed to be a controlled up tempo run that started out near my intentions for Jeff's Marathon training, and then drop a few seconds off of each mile through the finish. We did exactly that. Each mile was faster. We talked the entire way. Easiest half marathon I've ever run. The only difference between our race is that I did not allow him to sprint in with me. There's roughly a 20 second difference in times over the last .1, and if 4 people would have moved out of his way, he would have averaged 7:59 officially. Not bad for starting out at 8:30 at the first mile.
New Year's Eve Belle Isle Run: 1 Mile and 4 Miler
1 Mile run in 6:25, did not run that on purpose. The 4 Miler I don't know exactly what my time was, and I can't look it up as Motor City Striders don't usually keep results beyond the first few people. I think I was 27:00ish. Didn't really feel good about that run. Probably should have run the "warm up" somewhere other than the 1 mile run.
Big Bird 4K: 15:46 6:20 pace, 13th overall.
This race took me completely by surprise. Not yet one month after the Chicago Marathon I had done approximately 3 "speed" sessions integrated into my Thursday night runs. First mile I came in at 6:15 and knew I was running way out of my league. Tried to back down, but looked back and saw no one. If I backed down now, I was going to drop way way back. So I stuck with a pack of 5 and we ran together until approximately the last .3 when everyone started really getting at it. Still having the fear of phantom hamstring issue, I stuck at the pace we ran, and just let the people sprinting take off. Happy with my performance overall, glad to have been able to shoot the 10K for RunMichigan.Com and in a nice cool down afterwards.
Chicago Marathon (10/11/09): 3:26:51 7:53pace 3000th male.
First time I ran a marathon without looking at my watch to make sure I was on pace. Just ran what felt good, felt relaxed, felt right. Phantom hamstring pains at Miles 24/25/26. Last two miles were roughly 12 minutes each. Not really happy about that, but considering that 85% of the training program was at 7:57 pace, and only in the last 6 weeks did I entertain going 7:40ish, I'm happy with the end result. Just wish the BS phantom pains didn't happen to me. I'll live to run another marathon, the way I want to, when I want.
Milford 30K: 2:28:11 7:56 pace
Talked with some guy (I'll have to look him up in the results) the entire way. We worked together to make sure we didn't go too fast. Ran really strong and relaxed all the way through. Little scary part at mile 16 when I stopped sweating. Proper hydration? Probably not. I thought I was taking in enough. Guess not. I'll call that race my breakthrough race. It gave me the confidence (at the time) that everything was going to be alright. I knew then that I'd be fine with setting 3:30 as my goal.
Crim 5K:
Ran with Veronica, we ran 9 mins, 8 mins, 7 mins for each mile. It was supposed to be a jog. The day started out by riding on the back of a motorcycle shooting the elite professionals in the 10 Mile race (for RunMichigan.Com)
Solstice 5K 22:06
First run in the new age group, 35-39. Didn't race it, just tried to take it easy and stay near the marathon training program. Never warmed up during the race, felt stiff throughout the run. Took 3rd in the age group.
Martian Half 2009: 1:48:56
Had only been running 3 or 4 miles a day 3 days a week, then ran it on a whim just to wake myself up. Things were going fine at 7:40 pace for the first 10 miles, then I cramped up and had to walk/hobble/jog in the last 5K. Stupid stupid stupid.
I really really let it drop this time. How to catch up? It's probably easiest to list the last few races I've done, and those that I'd like to do this year.
Working backwards:
Cinco de Mayo 5K: 21:16 1st place age group, 9th place overall
This is the 4th year of this race, haven't missed one yet. Hopefully they get the City to work WITH them and make this an event everyone wants to run. The wind this year was really strong...in our face. One half loop around Clark Park in the opposite direction of the runs in past years, straight out to Livernois and loop around the tire store and then straight back in to the finish. You'd think the wind would be at our back on the way in. Nope. Square in the face. I had the benefit of pushing my 3 year old son in the jogging stroller, and he's mocking me for not staying in first place. "What's the problem Daddy, why aren't you in first place anymore?" "Everyone is catching up Daddy, go faster!" Nice race overall, felt good, but definitely felt like the effort was 18:16 not 21:16.
Glass City Marathon: Trained someone at work (I'm looking at you Jeff) under less than ideal conditions. Ultimately I'm satisfied with HIS results, but I know that with more time to train, he can drop some serious time off his PR. For a first marathon, he ran 3:40:26. I ran the first 6 to establish a conservative pace. Stick with that pace and things would turn out perfect, that was my thinking at the time. At 6 the Half Marathon splits off to the right, so I turned off and picked up the pace to 6:30ish for 2 miles, then realized I needed to turn LEFT at the fork in the path over the covered bridge. Had to double back and run through the park. Ran out to the 17 mile marker (After stopping to help set up the water/GU station at 18) and waited for Jeff for roughly 30 minutes. Thankfully, his brain kept his passion in check. When we split off, we were roughly 3 seconds behind 2 college aged girls in uniform running a pretty even pace. When I saw him coming, he looked strong, a little flush, but only 3 seconds ahead of the two college runners. I took the lead pace from there, hitting 8:24-8:29 at each mile marker all the way in. Even though I didn't run the marathon, I did put in a total of 24.2 miles if you include the 2 mile "warm up, calm down" run I put in before Jeff got to the start line (3 minutes before the race started). Good times.
Martian Half Marathon (4/10/10): 1:44:24
This was designed to be a controlled up tempo run that started out near my intentions for Jeff's Marathon training, and then drop a few seconds off of each mile through the finish. We did exactly that. Each mile was faster. We talked the entire way. Easiest half marathon I've ever run. The only difference between our race is that I did not allow him to sprint in with me. There's roughly a 20 second difference in times over the last .1, and if 4 people would have moved out of his way, he would have averaged 7:59 officially. Not bad for starting out at 8:30 at the first mile.
New Year's Eve Belle Isle Run: 1 Mile and 4 Miler
1 Mile run in 6:25, did not run that on purpose. The 4 Miler I don't know exactly what my time was, and I can't look it up as Motor City Striders don't usually keep results beyond the first few people. I think I was 27:00ish. Didn't really feel good about that run. Probably should have run the "warm up" somewhere other than the 1 mile run.
Big Bird 4K: 15:46 6:20 pace, 13th overall.
This race took me completely by surprise. Not yet one month after the Chicago Marathon I had done approximately 3 "speed" sessions integrated into my Thursday night runs. First mile I came in at 6:15 and knew I was running way out of my league. Tried to back down, but looked back and saw no one. If I backed down now, I was going to drop way way back. So I stuck with a pack of 5 and we ran together until approximately the last .3 when everyone started really getting at it. Still having the fear of phantom hamstring issue, I stuck at the pace we ran, and just let the people sprinting take off. Happy with my performance overall, glad to have been able to shoot the 10K for RunMichigan.Com and in a nice cool down afterwards.
Chicago Marathon (10/11/09): 3:26:51 7:53pace 3000th male.
First time I ran a marathon without looking at my watch to make sure I was on pace. Just ran what felt good, felt relaxed, felt right. Phantom hamstring pains at Miles 24/25/26. Last two miles were roughly 12 minutes each. Not really happy about that, but considering that 85% of the training program was at 7:57 pace, and only in the last 6 weeks did I entertain going 7:40ish, I'm happy with the end result. Just wish the BS phantom pains didn't happen to me. I'll live to run another marathon, the way I want to, when I want.
Milford 30K: 2:28:11 7:56 pace
Talked with some guy (I'll have to look him up in the results) the entire way. We worked together to make sure we didn't go too fast. Ran really strong and relaxed all the way through. Little scary part at mile 16 when I stopped sweating. Proper hydration? Probably not. I thought I was taking in enough. Guess not. I'll call that race my breakthrough race. It gave me the confidence (at the time) that everything was going to be alright. I knew then that I'd be fine with setting 3:30 as my goal.
Crim 5K:
Ran with Veronica, we ran 9 mins, 8 mins, 7 mins for each mile. It was supposed to be a jog. The day started out by riding on the back of a motorcycle shooting the elite professionals in the 10 Mile race (for RunMichigan.Com)
Solstice 5K 22:06
First run in the new age group, 35-39. Didn't race it, just tried to take it easy and stay near the marathon training program. Never warmed up during the race, felt stiff throughout the run. Took 3rd in the age group.
Martian Half 2009: 1:48:56
Had only been running 3 or 4 miles a day 3 days a week, then ran it on a whim just to wake myself up. Things were going fine at 7:40 pace for the first 10 miles, then I cramped up and had to walk/hobble/jog in the last 5K. Stupid stupid stupid.
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