7/28/2009 - SF Marathon 2009: 2:50.06

Saturday night, the night before the race I went to bed at around 8:30pm. I had been going to bed around 8:45-9:30pm that entire week, and had been getting up around 5:30-6am. Thank god the Tour de France was on TV in the mornings, otherwise I would have had nothing to do that early in the morning. Saturday morning, the day before the race, I got up at 5:30 and went to the Campo track. I ran one mile easy, followed by some dynamic stretches, followed by about 250 meters as fast as I could, followed by 1 mile easy. You may ask why I would do such a thing the day before the race. Studies have shown that a short burst at well over VO2 max 24 hours before a race can help your body store substantially more glycogen. Not only that, it got the blood flowing, and woke me up early in the morning, which made it that much easier to fall asleep that night. Being that it was only a minute and a half sprint, I wasn't worried at all about it affecting me negatively for the race.

I spent most of Saturday setting everything out for the next day. I clipped/shaved down any parts of my body that I thought might chafe during the race. I shaved by legs, and applied a kinesthetic tape over my right knee which had been causing problems in the previous few weeks. I ate alot of carbs throughout the day, but stopped eating at about 6pm, just to give everything a chance to digest. I put my bib on my jersey, set out what I was going to wear for the race, and for the morning when I was warming up. I put out my breakfast, and my gels for the race. I basically set everything out so that in the morning I would have as little to do as possible.

Sunday morning, I woke up at 3:30. I applied bandaids over my nipples and applied bodyglide to prevent chafing. I ate a light breakfast, which was a banana and a high sugar, high carbohydrate energy bar. I drove to SF, and I got there around 4:15am. My heat started at 5:30am, so I had plenty of time to warmup. I ran 1 mile really easy, probably around 9 minute pace. I did a dynamic warmup, and then ran/walked another mile or so. I then went to the bathroom and cleared out my stomach. This is something that every runner worries about. There is no worse feeling that not being able to go to the bathroom before a long race. I was able to, which definately calmed me down. At this time, I met my Mom, brother, and a close family friend who had come to watch the race. It was around 5:15, and I was surprisingly calm. I debated whether or not to wear my arm warmers, but it was pretty cold, so I decided to wear them. I was planning on pulling them down somewhere in the middle of the race, but I ended up wearing them throughout the race so that was a good decision.

I started the race with the 3 hour pace group, and ran the first mile in 6:46. This was a little faster than I had originally planned, but I felt comfortable so I went with it. The next mile was 6:52, and the following was 6:45. After that I missed a couple mile markers, but I could feel myself picking up the pace. I got to the Golden Gate Bridge at mile 5, and I felt extremely comfortable. The wind really picked up on the bridge, so I tried to run closely behind the people around me. Unfortunately, at this point of the race, the runners were pretty diluted. Running with a pack in windy conditions can decrease effort by 3-5%. Carried over a few miles, this can add up to over a minute. I tried to follow the runners in front of me, and let them fight the wind, but this idea failed because they were all just a little bit too slow. I decided to just go for it, and took off by myself. I was surprised how fast the race was going, and once I got to the end of the bridge, I couldn't believe that I was only 3 miles to half way. The night before I had written on my hand where the hills were along the course, so I had a good idea of what to expect as I was running it. I knew that there was a huge downhill after the bridge, so I began to pick up the pace.

At half way, my time was 1:27.12 which was a 6:40 pace. This was about 5-10 seconds per mile under what I had originally planned. The 2nd half of the SF Marathon is substantially easier than the first half. The course is almost all downhill on the 2nd half except for one 2 mile hill from mile 14.5-16.5. Based on how I felt at half way, and my time, I knew that I had a chance to post a really fast time. At mile 15, my family was waiting for me, and seeing them was a boost of energy. My brother and friend ran about 200 meters alongside me at mile 15, and it was just what I needed at that time. At mile 20, I was at 2:12.01, and had dropped my average overall pace to 6:37. I was feeling really good at this point, and was starting to shift to a more anaerobic effort. I began to calculate in my head what I needed to do to break 2:50, and I knew that it was going to be really close. I took my last gel pack at mile 21. Miles 21-24 were probably the worst miles of my race. If anywhere in the race, this is where I missed the opportunity to make up some time. At mile 24, I knew that I was going to need to average about 6 minute miles the rest of the way to break 2:50. I pretty began to sprint and I got a boost of energy from somwhere. I ran mile 24 in 6:06, and mile 25 in 6:11. The last 1.2 miles were pretty much an all out sprint, and although I don't know how fast I was going, I would guess around 5:45 pace. As nice as it was to finish strong, at the same time it almost made me think that I should have gone faster earlier. As I was sprinting down the home stretch, I could see the clock and I knew I just missed breaking 2:50. I finished with a time of 2:50.06, but was not dissapointed at all. That time was much faster than anything I had planned on running before the race, and I was so proud of my accomplishment. I finished with an average of 6:30 per mile.

My Dad ran the 5k race, and coincidentally, finished his race at almost the same time I finished mine. Both races finish in the same location, and it was cool to see him almost immediately after I crossed the finish line. As soon as I stopped running, my calves cramped up and turned into rocks. I probably shouldn't have come to an immediate stop right after the race, but I didn't really care at that point. I had accomplished what I wanted to accomplish. There is no better feeling that seeing your hard work pay off. The pain that I was feeling in my calves, and the rest of my body was just a reinforcement to myself that I had just accomplished a tremendous physical effort. Before the race, I had basically convinced myself that this was probably going to be my fastest marathon ever. I just did not see myself putting in another trianing cycle as serious as this one. However, once I crossed the finish line, I knew I had more in me, and although I am going to take a few weeks off, I will eventually start putting some more miles into my shoes. Last year I missed qualifying for Boston by about 4 minutes, and it was my motivation for this years race. This year, I have that picture stuck in my head of the clock going from 2:49.59 to 2:50.00 before I could cross the finish line. My goal last year was to drop 4 minutes, and I dropped almost 25. My goal now is only to drop another 7 seconds.

It is weird to think that after spending my entire life as a swimmer, I might be a better runner than I ever was a swimmer. I have only been running for 2 years, and have ran a total of only 4 races in my life. The biggest thing about running these races for me is not just the time, or the accomplishment. It is the feeling of pushing myself to the absolute physical limit. It is about finding what my mind and body are capable of. It is about getting to that point where every part of my body is telling me to stop, and then going even faster. After reaching such physical limits, it makes everything else in life seem easy. One of my favorite athletes of all time, Steve Prefontaine, once said: "A lot of people run a race to see who is fastest. I run to see who has the most guts, who can punish himself into exhausting pace, and then at the end, punish himself even more."

Writing down my thoughts in this blog throughout my training has really helped me. It has forced me to be accountable, and has helped me track the good and bad parts of my training. I know that years from now, reading over these logs will be a huge motivating factor for me in whatever I am doing at the time. I hope that those of you that have been following my blog have found some inspiration as well.

7/23/2009 - Getting nervous!!

I ran my last hard run before the marathon today. It actually wasn't really hard. It was 4 miles at tempo pace. I didn't take a watch with me, so I don't really know how fast it was, but I just ran a comfortable pace that I felt was something I could hold for a marathon distance. Yesterday I ran 3 miles easy on a track. On Tuesday, I ran 5.5 miles at tempo.

I am definately starting to feel more and more rested. The biggest difference I notice is after I stop running. Usually when I finish a run, I can feel the lactic acid in my legs, and my legs feel heavy and worn out. Today after I finished, I felt like I had just warmed up. 2 more days of rest should really allow me to be fully rested for the race. My calves were a little tight today and yesterday. I don't know what that is from, but it is something I haven't really felt in a while. Generally, tightness gets better as the muscle warms up, so I don't think it should be an issue during the race. I would be more worried if it got worse the longer I ran.

My plan for the race is to run the first 3 or so miles at 7:00 mins/mile. After that I want to drop it down to 6:45 per mile, and hold that as long as I can. There is a pretty tough 2 mile hill at mile 14.5. If I can hold 6:45 through mile 18, I would be happy. I think at that point, there will be a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders. Getting to mile 18-20 and having some energy left in the tank is the goal. I don't want to be dead at mile 18, but I also don't want to go too slow, and feel like I need to sprint to the finish to get a decent time. 6:45s consistently to mile 18 will put me in a good place. I can continue to hold 6:45s until the end, and even slow down a little, and still finish under 3 hours. If I am really feeling good, I can kick it up a notch and really go for a good time. I just need to not go out too fast. That has always been a problem of mine, even in swimming. Gaining a minute on the first 4 miles means nothing if it means losing 5 minutes on the last 4 miles.

I have dropped down to about 141 pounds for this race. I have been slowly dropping weight over the last few months, without letting it affect my training. Last year, I was at about 153 on race day. 12 pounds is alot of weight when carrying it for 26.2 miles. I will carry two gel packs with me. Also, at water stations 3 and 8, they hand out gel packs. I plan on taking gels at miles 7.5, 12, 17, and 21. I will probably skip the first water station, and hit up every one after that. The weather appears to be perfect, nice and cold haha. This is probably the only time in my life where I will refer to a forecast of 55 degrees and cloudy as perfect, but it really is perfect for race conditions.

The last thing is to have fun and not put too much stress on myself. I need to remind myself that nobody is forcing me to do this, and that this is something I have chosen to do. I am doing this as a recreation and as a hobby, and those are supposed to be things people enjoy. It is not like a swimming race where if I miss my turn or start the race is ruined. I have 3 hours of running to do. I will probably make mistakes along the way, but as long as I stay focused, listen to my body, and have fun, I know I will do well.

Tomorrow is the packet pick up. I will get my race bib and goodie bag. I will post again on Saturday and give an update. I will also give details on the race for those of you who want to come watch on Saturday.

7/19/2009 - One more week!!

I can't believe one week from today is race day! I am excited/nervous, but ready to go. I had a pretty good week, and really started to feel rested. One more week of taper and I will be good to go. I ran 41 miles this week, and felt stronger as the week went on. Yesterday I had an awesome track workout. My knee has been getting better which is a good sign. It was a little sore today, but that was expected after yesterdays workout. This week will be easy and should give it some good time to heal. I am not worried at all about how it will feel on race day.

On tuesday I ran 9 miles. It was an okay run, nothing special about it. Friday morning was a 7 mile tempo run. Again, nothing amazing about it, but it was solid. Saturday was my track workout, which was 7 miles with all the warmup and warmdown. I ran 4x800s, and was faster than I have ever been. I ran 2:37, 2:36, 2:35, 2:34. If you look at what I have been running, you will see that that wa sa dramatic improvement. I really felt like I had my legs back and wasn't running on jello legs like I had been in the past. The best part for me was that I was able to be fast from the beginning. It didn't take me forever to warm up like previous track workouts.

This morning, I ran my 13 mile run. I ran it in 1:30.35 which isnt bad at all considering that I ran my track workout yesterday afternoon. Usually I do the 13 mile runs on Tuesdays after taking Monday off so to run 1:30 was good. I would like to run the first half of my marathon at around 1:30 or under.

Overall, this week was pretty good. I am starting to feel more and more rested with every day that goes by.

Monday - rest
Tuesday - 9 mile medium long run
Wednesday - 5 mile track workout, 3x800s: 1)2:47, 2)2:45, 3) 2:43
Thursday - rest
Friday - 7 mile tempo run
Saturday - 7 mile track workout, 4x800s: 1) 2:37, 2) 2:36, 3) 2:35, 4)2:34
Sunday - 13 mile long run, 1:30.35

This week will include rest, stretching, and easy runs, with 2 tempo runs. I plan on running an easy mile with some dynamic stretches tomorrow. Tuesday, I will do a 6 mile tempo run. Wednesday will be an easy 4 miles, probably on a track. Thursday will be a 4 mile tempo run. Friday will be about 3 miles, easy and probably on a track. Saturday morning, at about 24 hours before I start the race on Sunday, I will run an easy 2 miles consisting of a dynamic warmup, 1-2 mins really fast (probably a sprint 4-600 meters), followed by a mile of warmdown. Then just rest up until the race!!

I will do a few more posts this week before the race on Sunday. I will talk about how I plan on running the race, and what my goals are. I'm going to go pick up my packet on Friday at the Expo. The Expo is always a fun event- It just gets you in that running mood, and ready to go!

7/12/09 - 2 weeks till race day

This week was supposed to be my last hard week of training before taper. However, I decided to reduce the mileage a little bit this week as well. My right knee started hurting more than usual in the middle of the week, and I did not want to risk an injury at this point. I dropped the mileage down to 42 this week, and will probably do about 40 next week, and finish with about 20 in the last week before race day.

Tuesday was my medium long run and was the best run of the week for me. I ran it in 1:29.16. For those of you who have been following my blog, you know that I've been between 1:29 high and 1:33 the last month or two, so to drop it down to 1:29 low was really good. Especially two days after an 18 miler.

Thursday was an 8 mile tempo run, and was good until the last mile or so. I sorta died at the end but thats okay. It just reassures the fact that I deserve taper. I was planning on doing an easy 4 or 5 on friday, but my knee hurt and I was exhausted so I took the day off.

On Saturday, I did a track workout, which was 5 x 800s. My times werent too impressive, but I wasn't going all out but was rather focusing on easy speed. My times were: 1) 2:52, 2) 2:51, 3) 2:45, 4) 2:43, 5) 2:44. I am going to try to do 3 or 4 800s this week sometime before the track workout next Saturday, probably wednesday. Today was an easy 15 miler. My knee was really hurting for the first 7 or 8 miles, but then went away. I am hoping that as I decrease my mileage, the pain will slowly dissapear and that with the adrenaline and excitement of the race, I won't even feel it during the actual race.

This week overall was 42 miles:
Monday - rest
Tuesday - 13 mile medium long run (1:29.16)
Wednesday - rest
Thursday - 8 mile tempo run
Friday - rest
Saturday - 6 miles overall (5x800s: 1) 2:52, 2) 2:51, 3) 2:45, 4) 2:43, 5) 2:44)
Sunday - 15 mile easy long run

7/5/09 - Last week of before taper

This week is going to be my last week of real training, and then I begin to rest up for the marathon!! I can't believe how fast time has flied. It seemed like only yesterday that the marathon was "months away." Its now exactly 3 weeks away, and with a 2 week taper, I have one week of hard training left. At the same time, my body feels about ready for taper. My legs feel dead and heavy all the time. My quads and butt have been really sore, and I can't wait to run with "fresh" legs.

Yesterday I ran the Moraga 4th of July run. It was a 5 mile run, and like the 10k a few weeks ago, I just treated it like a speed workout. I went 28.23 or something like that, which is averaging 5:38 per mile. I paced it terribly and ran the first mile in 5:18, which I paid for at the end of the race. It was a fun race though and although it would be interesting to see what I could do if I was rested, it was good speed work for the marathon. I finished in 6th behind a bunch of campo cross country runners. The results are here: http://www.campotrack.com/july4PAGES/july4results5mile2009page.html

Tuesday, I ran my 13 mile medium long run. I ran a 1:34 or so which wasn't bad considering that I ran 23 miles 2 days before. I also ran it in the middle of the day and it was really hot out. When I run, I usually rub this stuff called body glide on certain parts of my body. It looks like a deodorant stick, but it basically prevents chafing. I rub it on my toes, along the seams of my shorts, my inner thighs, my armpits, my nipples.. and basically anywhere where there is friction and where there can be chafing. I forgot to apply it for this run, and even worse I ran with my shirt off. The combination of heat, lots of sweat, and friction was bad news, and my armpits were raw and slightly bloody at the end of the run. I didn't really notice till afterwards, but it burned in the shower... oops!

Today was my long run. I ran 18 and it was painful. My bum was really sore, and my legs felt like i had weights strapped around them. I am going to need to take tomorrow off and recover if I want to do anything productive this week. The good news is that I only have a few more hard runs before I begin to back off of the mileage. My legs hurt even as I sit here right now... but its sort of a good pain. I wore my HR monitor for the run and was surprised how low my HR was. My average heart rate was 136, and the highest was 164. The run was 18 miles and took me 2 hours, 18 minutes, 56 seconds.

This week was a total of 53 miles
Monday - rest
Tuesday - 13 mile medium long run
Wednesday - 5 miles on treadmill
Thursday - 8 mile tempo run
Friday - 1 mile easy/ race warmup
Saturday - 8 miles total (5 mile race: 28.35 time)
Sunday - 18 mile run (2:18.56)