Lukes half

I had an out of body experience this weekend.

I went to Houston to run the Luke’s Locker half-marathon. I’ve done it the last three years; it’s a great race. It is also good training since it’s run on the Houston marathon course.

My Boston qualifying time is 3:20, so I was hoping to do a 1:40 (Boston pace for ½). I figured I had a 50/50 chance. The night before John said the weather forecast looked perfect, 50 degrees with 10mi/hr north wind. He asked if I would go full bore and try to run in the 1:38s. I replied that it would take a 100% race effort and that would interrupt my current training cycle because of the post-race recovery time I would need. I said I would be trilled with a 1:39:30.

The weather was perfect. At gun time, my GPS watch wasn’t picking up a signal. I decided to just run on feel and try to catch the time-clock splits every 5K. I went out fast; at the 5k split I was on a 10k (6.2 miles) race pace, not half marathon (13.2 miles). I said what the hell and just let it ride. At the 10k marker my time was a new personal 10k record, but the race wasn’t even half way over.

At mile eight I was on a 1:35 pace, I kept thinking that I should implode any minute. At mile 10, it became surreal; I was on a pace literally unimaginable just the night before. I opened it up the last mile. In the second half of the race, I set another 10k record (ran a negative split-averaged 7.00 min/mile pace last 10k).

I finished in 1:33.43 and placed 134 out of 2,200 finishers. Again, my Boston qualifying time is 3:20. If you double my half-marathon results, you get a 3:07 marathon pace. Of course you can’t do that.

However, there is a runners’ formula that can take your half-marathon race result and predict the time you will most likely run in a marathon. My friend John ran my 1:33.42 result through, and it returned a 3:15 marathon.

So I am obviously in condition to qualify for Boston (and then some). Additionally, I still have 10 more weeks of training in this cycle. Hopefully the weather is good come mid-January.

Marathon #5-Chicago Marathon

October 11th, 2007
Chicago Marathon

I started a new 18 week training cycle on June 1st. I normally do about 75% of my training on a treadmill. This summer I increased it to 95%. It’s just impossible to run in 90 degree heat for more than 5 miles with out dehydrating.

From the outset, I padded my schedule with extra miles, speed, and hill work. In my previous marathon, I finished 12 minutes short of my Boston qualifying time (3:20). I knew by Chicago I wouldn’t be ready for Boston yet, but I believed I could get within striking distance. I set a 3:25 goal.

Just four weeks into my training, I was in top form, running faster than ever. With three training months remaining, I decided Boston might be possible. In July, I switched to a more aggressive training schedule.

By August I was running 70 miles a week. Initially, I thought I would give out physically before completing the cycle. Instead, I began deteriorating mentally. Though running great, my training indicated that even if the planets all lined up (i.e. perfect course, perfect weather, I timed my training to apex perfectly) I would probably have less than a minute to spare in attempting a 3:20. With six weeks of hard training left, I thought about abandoning my 3:20 goal.

I called my Houston running mate, John, to solicit his opinion. He said that my goal was a bit too ambitious, but at this pint, I should try. First, he said that I had made it this far, and that I should finish the cycle. Secondly, he said not to focus on my Boston time until I was standing behind the starting line in Chicago. At this point, my focus should be on finishing my training. It was sagacious advice and helped me complete the cycle.

Two weeks before the race, I believed that I had a better than 50% chance of qualifying for Boston. My pre-race speed workouts were all at record pace (PRs). Ten days out, the weather forecast was perfect (high of 67 degrees). This was in-line with the marathon website that stated the average temperature for race day was 65. However, this quickly changed.

Seven days out, the forecasted morning low was up to 65, and the high to 72. Four days out the forecasted high was in the upper 70s. With just three days remaining another Houston running mate, Jeff, emailed the following forecast:
“Saturday Night-Partly cloudy. Near record breaking warmth likely. Lows in the upper 60s.”
“Sunday -Partly sunny. Near record breaking warmth likely. Highs in the mid 80s.”
Jeff was also concerned, as he was doing Chicago with me. Jeff had previously run a 3:45 marathon, and was hoping to better that by 10 minutes so he could qualify for Boston (over 50 yrs old time requirement).

The night before the marathon, the forecast for gun time was 72, with a high of 87. I now believed my chance for Boston was less than five percent. Nevertheless, I tried to stay positive. “Maybe if it’s cloudy and there’s a strong cross wind.” I told Jeff. He replied, “Go ahead and humor yourself.”

We woke at 6:00 a.m. on race day and immediately turned on the local weather. It was already 75 degrees with 86% humidity. This wasn’t the forecasted high; it was the current temperature at 6:00 a. m! The forecasted high was now 87 with a heat index of 90+. I conceded that Boston was out.

We made our way to the start at 7:00 a.m. expecting high congestion as 45,000 runners had registered to run. Fortunately, I had run well enough in my previous marathon to get “seeded” for Chicago. This meant I was allowed entry into one of the four gated starting corrals at the front. I entered corral “B” with the other runners expected to run a sub 3:30.

I met half-a-dozen other runners that had planned to run a 3:20, prior to race day. Every single one said they, “…now would be lucky to do 3:30.” I decide to forget about time, and just run what was a comfortable pace. That was a mistake as I had spent the last four months planning to run in the low 3:20s at a comfortable pace.

At 8:00 a.m. we were off. Even being seeded, a minute and half pasted before I made it to the start line. I started my watch. I was already apprehensive as we would have a light 5 mile/hr wind at our backs for the first 8 miles. Sure enough, I was sweating quite a bit by mile two.

Again, just running by “feel”, I didn’t even look at my watch until mile 6. I was at a 3:27 marathon pace, and in trouble. My breathing was heavy. Up to this point I went through the water stops while running, drinking what I could. At the mile 7 station, I slowed to a walk to get a full cup of Gatorade in me. Using this technique, I realized that I probably wasn’t going to make 3:30.

At the end of the water station, I stopped my watch in disgust and stepped-off the course. I stood on the side for 30 seconds with my hands on hips and totally discombobulated with indecision: “What do I do? Should I try for the best time I can? Do I just try to finish? Do I just stop?” Just three days earlier, I was 100% sure I would set at least a PR. Now, I just didn’t know what to do. Just then, the New Balance 3:30 pace team went by.

Their pace didn’t seem that fast. I fell in line behind them. We were now running into the wind and I actually felt better. I began to think that I might be able to hold this pace all the way through. At mile 9 we came to another water station. I again slowed to a walk trying to get at least a full cup in me. The pace team drank on the run and began to pull away. The same thing happened at mile 11 and I knew 3:30 was out of reach.

Half way through mile 13, I began to get a chest pain. I knew it was nothing serious, and probably just cramping due to dehydration. However, I believed the probability of an injury was likely. I was now on a 3:48 pace and soaked head to toe. I literally, not figuratively, looked like I had just stepped out of a shower. As I approached a medical tent at mile 14, I saw about half-a-dozen runners at the entrance. As I got closer and looked inside, I saw two others stretched out flat on cots. One was covered head to toe with ice bags. That was enough for me. I stepped off the course and quit

A lot of four letter words were flying around, surprisingly, from other runners and not me. I was frustrated with the futility of my results, but not with my effort. I took the risk of running a PR on a day when the heat index was 90+. I lost. About three hours later I learned from Jeff that I probably wouldn’t have been allowed to finish even had I tried. The marathon was stopped.

Though now 52, Jeff spent his 20s as a British Royal Marine Commando. He spent a winter leaving out of a Norwegian ice cave, and one summer tracking through the jungles of Belize. Resiliency was in his nature. Though already hurting at mile five, Jeff adapted. First he slowed his pace to what he thought he could hold until the finish. Secondly, at each water stop he would walk in order to drink two full cups of Gatorade, and pour another two cups of water over his head. Amazingly, he did this for the next 21 miles to finish in 4:07. It was an admirable display of determination.

However, as Jeff was finishing, he saw race officials walking up the course. So many other runners had adapted Jeff’s four cup hydration strategy, the stations ran out of water. Due to that and other concerns as the medical tents were filling up, the race was halted. All remaining runners were directed off the course and handed a finisher’s medal. On the train back to the airport, I met a man wearing a finisher’s medal who only made it to mile 12.

Ultimately, I was ambivalent about the race. I was initially disappointed that I didn’t finish. However, this was totally abated in retrospection for two reasons. First, my goal is to run faster, and eventually qualify for Boston. Finishing the race in 4+ hours would have done nothing to further that end. It probably would have had the opposite effect. Secondly, when I got home that night, I knew I had made the right decision as I read an article posted on foxnews.com:

“CHICAGO MARATHON SHUT DOWN AFTER 4 HOURS DUE TO HEAT, ONE RUNNER DEAD-In a race run in scorching heat that left one man dead…Another 250 runners were taken to hospitals. …Almost 10,000 of the 45,000 registered runners chose to not race [at all].”

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,299956,00.html

cnn.com reported similarly, “Organizers shut down the course four hours after the start of Sunday's Chicago Marathon because of 88-degree heat and sweltering humidity that left one runner dead…”

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/10/07/chicago.marathon.ap/index.html

I’ll go on record here and state that I will never start another marathon when the temperature is forecasted above 80 degrees combined with a dew point (relative humidity) above 65. Not only is a PR is impossible, running can be dangerous.

Overall, I’m still optimistic. Houston is only 12 weeks away. I should be ready to start serious training in a week. Additionally, this is a great time of year to run as the weather cools. There are two great half marathons in November and December. Having run on the treadmill all summer, it will be nice to run some pre-marathon road races to get a good gauge of my Boston potential before I actually try.

Marathon #4-Flying Pig Marathon

May 6th, 2006
Flying Pig Marathon (I’ll do it when pigs fly; get it!?)
Cincinnati OH

Several postings to the race’s website about last year’s event contained phrases like: “…challenging course…”, “…uphill at the start…”, “…rolling course…". The salient feature on the course’s elevation chart is the 350 ft. climb between miles 5 and 8. I also noted, while driving the course the day before, three bridge crossings in the first four miles and a series of rolling hills in the later sections.

However, the net elevation change over the entire course was zero. As long as the declines weren’t too steep, I hoped to pickup some time on the downhill sides. I employed two strategies in preparation; the first was obvious, more hill training. With all the treadmill work I do, that was done simply by increasing the incline. Secondly, I lost an extra five pounds knowing the reduction could be material over the entire course.

I was apprehensive about setting a personal record (PR) on this challenging course. Additionally, it looked as though I would have to also face my perpetual bête noire, hot weather. Just five days out, the high was forecasted to be 82. The day before the race I heard another runner say that a storm disturbance was suppose to blow-through that evening dropping Sunday’s high to 70. I was dubious. But sure enough, as our running group was eating our pre-race paste dinner, winds began gusting and a 15 minute rain came through. It was by no means a cool/cold front; but it did drive all the humidity out making race day dry and cool at the dawn.

Six-thirty Sunday morning, I stood in the pack behind the start-line and next to my good friend John. He was instrumental in helping me achieve a PR in our previous race. In addition to the comradeship a running mate provides, John is a highly disciplined racer. Using his GPS wrist watch, his mile splits deviate by less than a couple of seconds. Unfortunately, he would be no help to me that day. Though equally fast as I, John did not run his previous marathon goal time due to cramping. He thought it best to complete that goal before trying for a faster time this run.

A quartet sang the National anthem and we were off. As always, I was a half-a-minute behind pace after mile one due to the herding mass. But unexpectedly, the course opened up early in mile two. I suspect the relays teams helped. In additional to the full-marathoners, there were four person teams running. They tend to go out faster which helps thin the course. They were also responsible for the funniest comment heard during the race. Near mile 14, I ran past a relay team member. A spectator noticed the runner’s beleaguered appearance and shouted supportively, “Just two more miles and your halfway there!” For those who miss the humor, I will translate the spectator’s comment into an algebraic formula, the solution of which is the total distance the runner had completed: X + 2 = 6 / 2.

I was already absent my pacer, John, but at both miles three and four the course crossed under long overpasses. My GPS watch lost its signal and mistakenly altered the distance covered by a quarter mile. That made its “average pace” display, on which I heavily rely, useless. My only indications of pace from that point forward were the total time elapsed since the start and how I felt.

At mile five I began the continuous incline that peeked at mile eight. Experienced runners have told me that a good uphill strategy is to think of what you consider a slow pace, and then run even slower. To avoid lactic acid build-up, that makes sense. However, there comes a point that you artificially shorten your stride and that disrupts your rhythm. I slowed down but held a stride that felt natural.

It was at the half way point that I was first able to determine my pace. I simply noted the total elapsed time and doubled it. The result was excellent. I was almost a minute ahead of what I considered an aggressive finishing goal time of 3:35. My initial thought was, “Just try to hold onto this pace and you’ll do it.” With that thought, all motivation left me. The connotation of “…just try to hold on…” negatively affected my psychology. I re-thought, “Still try for a negative split!” This challenge instantaneously excited me though I knew the risk. I had already pushed a pace far exceeding my expectation. Increasing it might cause me to implode after mile 20 and completely obliterate any chance at a PR.

I picked up the pace. At mile 17 the sun was high and bright. My breathing was still flowing, but I had fatigue in my legs and mid-section. I tossed my shirt at mile 19 hoping any light breeze would refresh me. My pace was still strong but my confidence was waning. I began the cardinal sin of counting miles, “Don’t stop here; just make it until mile 20, ….just make it until mile 21…., …just to mile 22….”

At mile 23 I was hurting in every aspect. My body was getting heavy, my breathing was shallower, and my posture was no longer vertical. But there was my pace! Though struggling at the limits of my endurance, I later learned through the course’s tracking mats that my pace had remained constant since I accelerated at the half-way point. “Just make it until start of mile 26. Nobody runs 25 miles to walk during the last one.”, I repeatedly told myself.

The start of the final mile did pull me. For the first quarter mile my pace increased significantly. Rounding a bend, I saw the cruelest of designs, a freeway on-ramp uphill with less than a mile remaining. I stopped at the base and walked. I hiked up for 20 seconds taking deep breaths. Running again I turned left at the top and then took off trying to make up the 10 seconds lost.

To involve the local populace, marathon designers like to snake the last mile like a labyrinth through a half-dozen downtown streets. If you’re a local, this may be fun. For others, the disorientation drains any remaining strength. Additionally, before rounding every turn spectators yell out, “The finish is just around the corner!” The absence of which is like a punch to the gut.

Approaching the fourth inner city turn, I again walked for 15 seconds. Finally, I saw the finish. I raced the finally stretch, pumping my fist the last 100 yards. I bested my previous PR by more than six minutes on the most challenging course I’ve run to date. I finished in 3:32:41 and placed 441 out of 3,980 finishers.


David

Marathon #3-Houston

January 14th, 2007
Houston Marathon

The day before the race, when passing by a group of other runners somewhere about town, I’d hear them debating whether the cold front would come through or not. Saturday night the word was good with one saying that a high of 53 degrees was forecasted for Marathon day. Sunday morning I stepped into the evaluator at 6:00 a.m. and heard one runner say to another that it was suppose to be 48 degrees at noon! I pumped my fist in anticipation of getting to run my first cool weather marathon. Unfortunately, they must have been discussing the forecast for Fantasyland.

At the 7:00 gun time, the wind was out of the South, the temperature already at 55, and the humidity a muggy 94%. The humidity didn’t drop all day. However, on the good side, the sky remained completely obscured by clouds and the temperature didn’t rise much above 60. Additionally, we were spared the forecasted rain.

Given the weather conditions, I decided to let my running mate John do all the pacing work. He and I planned to run about the same time for the first half, but he does negative splits (runs second half of race faster then first half). Many runners espouse a negative split strategy, but at the Houston Marathon it is almost inevitable; you get boxed-in by the other 15,000 runners for the first 5 miles or so. If you are running only a minute behind schedule at mile 3, you’re lucky.

I was already feeling the humidity at mile 4. John recommended tossing my shirt. I was a bit reluctant that early in the race, but by mile 5 thought it best. It did provide some cooling whenever we would catch a breeze. Also at mile 5, we settled into my planned marathon pace of 8:23 / mile.

At the halfway point, 13.1, I felt better than I had in my previous two marathons. However, I was still apprehensive about dehydrating down the road. I consumed water at every station, and that seemed to be enough. At mile 20, I was still on pace and felt moderately well. In fact, John and I hadn’t deviate from our 8:23 / mile average pace by even a second for a 15 mile stretch. Always positive!

At mile 20 we turned into a slight breeze. Additionally, the congestion on the course had thinned considerable. This allowed me to straighten up and relax into longer strides. About a minute later, John said in a loud supportive voice, “You’re looking strong; nice and relaxed.” That was very encouraging since John had bested me by a full five minutes in our previous two marathons. I initially interpreted John’s remark as an indication that we should increase our pace. Without saying a word, I held out my hand and John gave me five. Then I took off.

However, John didn’t. I reassessed his comments to mean he wasn’t feeling his best that day and for me to go. I decided just to stretch out my legs for a quarter mile to see if I could break the constant groove we had been running for two hours. I couple of minutes later, I couldn’t detect any change in my breathing. I actually felt energize, and then really took off.

I began passing about a dozen runners about every quarter mile. Some spectators lining the street called out in encouragement (our names are on our numbered bibs). Previously, I had never run over 20 miles, neither in a race nor just training, without feeling some endurance related pain. But yesterday mile 22 felt like mile 2. To put it in perspective, the fastest mile split that I ran up to the 20 mile point was 8:19. At mile 25 I ran a 7:44.

I crossed the finish line in 3:38:36 and placed 779 out of 4,015 finishers. In fact I ran so well, at mile 25 I caught that mother of two year old triplets I tied last year and beat her by a solid 15 seconds. Unfortunately, the 60 year old marathoner / triathlete I met at dinner the night before bested me by half an hour.


David