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Cory's St. George Marathon


Run for Speed Blog

New 5K PR

This morning's Run The Woodlands 5K went well. I clocked a new personal record (PR) of 20:48.

It was a cool morning. But I warmed up soon after the start. I worked my way through the small group of runners to the front of the pack. (One of the entertaining aspects of The Woodlands run for me is the fact that I can stay with the frontrunners for awhile, if I choose to.) I found myself in second place 2/3 mile into the run. My pace was a bit faster than I wanted and I knew that I'd pay for it later. I dropped to third then fourth place during the second mile as my pace slowed from 6:27 over the first mile to 6:56 for the second. I had planned to hold the second mile at 6:45 but just wasn't able to do it. Over the last mile I was passed by a few other runners even though I held my third mile pace at 6:55 (my plan was for 7:00). I ended with a decent kick over the final 0.1 mile. I covered it in 0:29. I finished in 9th place.

My stomach started bothering me about half way into the race. I haven't had that problem before. It just felt like my stomach was empty even though I ate earlier this morning. I'm not exactly sure what to make of that situation.

On the one hand I'm pleased with the run after not training for 6 days (that's the longest break I've taken since March). On the other hand, it seems like I can do better. There's some time to be had over that second mile. I'm closer to my 20:30 5K goal. Of all the goal times, I've laid out for myself I expect this one to be the easiest to reach.

FOOTNOTE: The anticipated dual with Cameron never materialized as Cameron found himself afflicted with the common teenage malady that I call "mattress-itis". You know that's the one where a person finds a mattress attached to their back in the morning and are unable to free themselves from it. My guess is that he knew he wasn't ready for the challenge so he just folded before he found himself embarrassed.

I'm Floundering!

No goals ... no training schedule ... no motivation ....

That's what I'm feeling right now. So it's time to take the bull by horns and get organized with my running!

My objective is to qualify for the Boston Marathon. The required time for 40-44 year old men is 3:20. That's a big jump from my 3:40 in St. George (which I'm finding is an EXTREMELY fast course on which I had absolutely PERFECT conditions ... I've even read several bloggers suggest that St. George allows marathoners to record inflated PR's ... not that good for my confidence!). But I think with some focus and effort, I can get there.

Here's the plan I'm toying with but not yet committed to:

GOALS

5K - 20:30 (current PR 21:35)
10K - 42:37 (current PR 45:31)
HLF - 1:34:50 (current PR 1:46:09)
MAR - 3:20:00 (current PR 3:40:18)

To accomplish this I've got to introduce more speed work into my training. I used Runners World Smart Coach for my St. George training program and it worked well. I'm a bit reluctant to go away from it but I think I'm going to try a training program by the Furman Institute of Running & Scientific Training. The program seems to focus on intense, quality workouts without "junk" mileage. I'll follow the FIRST program for my next marathon and see what kind of results I get.

I dropped the Cajun Classic from my race schedule since I don't think I'll be ready to challenge my goal time by then (due to my recent slack training regimen!). My new race schedule is something like this:

Oct 27 - Run The Woodlands 5K (Cameron plans to beat me and I expect he will but I won't go down easily!)

Nov 22 - Ogden Regional Medical Center 5 Mile Run (We'll be in Utah for Thanksgiving so I'll give this one a shot. It will probably be COLD! I'd like to come in somewhere near 34:00 but that will be a challenge.)

May 17 - Ogden Marathon (It should be nice to get back on the Ogden course. I saw the last half in 2007 so that should help from a tactical standpoint. I also plan to get a pacing strategy from the guy who designed the pacing schedule I used in St. George. My goal here is 3:30:00.)

Oct 4 - St. George Marathon (A return to the scene of my maiden marathon. Hopefully I can get through the lottery again this year and get back on that fast track. If not, my backup marathon at the moment appears to be the Steamtown Marathon in Scranton, PA [Oct 12])

Baton Rouge 4-Miler

Cameron and I spent the night at Jonathan's mom's place in Baton Rouge after last night's LSU-Auburn game.

Jonathan and I started the 4-mile loop around University Lake at 7 AM. It was very nice to have new scenery and I always enjoy running with Jonathan. He's training for the White Rock Marathon in Dallas. He's also getting faster every time out - it seems! I'm confident he'll have a succesful marathon debut in December. He's following that up with the Houston Marathon in January.

Cameron and I made the 4 1/2 drive home this afternoon. Paige will be back from California tomorrow.

Solo 9 Miles from the Y

I started a run from the Y at 5:45 this morning. I was just under a 9:00/mile pace. The weather in Houston is changing so I enjoyed the 55 degree temperature this morning. However, the humidity was still +90%.

Paige is in California visiting her mother and brother. Cameron took the PSAT exam this morning. When he finished, we drove to Baton Rouge. We met up with Jonathan and Julie. Jonathan had miraculously found someone to sell him 2 tickets to the LSU-Auburn game at face value this afternoon. Cameron and I really enjoyed the game. LSU won on a last-second touchdown pass. It was nice to see an SEC football game with +94,000 ragin' Cajuns! THANKS, JONATHAN!

Rice University Tour w/Jonathan

Jonathan and I got together today for a 6-miler around the campus of Rice University. It still doesn't seem that I've fully recovered. This is surprising to me. Maybe it shouldn't be ....

One Week Later and Still Feeling It

Paige wanted to try out Memorial Park so we left the house at 6 am for a morning run. She did 7 miles (counterclockwise) and I did 8 miles (clockwise). That arrangement worked out well.

My legs (particularly quads) were still sore and a little tight.

Paige said her hip and knees flared up a bit at that distance. Hopefully she's able to train through it and be physically sound to continue working toward her marathon goal.

Another 3 in the 'hood

Clocked 3 miles in the neighborhood this morning at 4:20 am. It seems I'm finally starting the feel better. My legs weren't as weak as they were Wednesday morning.

What's Next?

I'm still thinking through things but at the moment this is my best guess.

I'm not going to WARR in Sydney at the end of the month. This is a disappointment but the disorganization of those in charge of our contingent and the general logistics weren't working out. I'm finding as I get older I have less patience so to avoid further frustration, I'm scrapping this plan altogether.

The Houston Marathon is full and I didn't register. Frankly, I didn't want to commit to another marathon before running my first. There may be opportunities to have other runners transfer their entry to me but for now I'm not counting on it.

Okay, so that's what I'm NOT doing .... How about what I am doing ...

November 3 Cajun Cup 10K, Lafayette, Louisiana
November 22 5-Mile Thanksgiving Charity Run, Ogden, Utah
January 19 Cabo Half Marathon, Cabo San Lucas
May 17 Ogden Marathon, Ogden, Utah

Of course, all of this is tentative and subject to change but it's good to have a plan.

Interestingly, after spending an hour at the finish line in St. George, Paige is thinking she would like to do a marathon. She's looking around at different dates and locations. Of course, her decision could alter my schedule.

Stretched Out with 3 SLOW Miles

I took a three-mile tour of the neighborhood this morning. I went very slow and didn't look at my watch. Just used it to stretch out. I've still got soreness from the marathon - mostly in my quads (from the downhill run, I suppose) and some in calfs.

My plan this week is just to "listen" to my body and try to give it an opportunity to recover.

The question of "what I'm doing next" keeps coming up. At the moment, I'm not too sure ....

List of Marathon Moments To Blog About ...

Four alarms & the false start

2 things speaker at the First Timers' Seminar has never heard after a marathon:
"I really wish I wouldn't have trained so hard."
"Boy, you really sucked today."

The "real" marathon began at the post-run massage line!

Final 1/4 mile

"Stan" really was The Man!

Zimmerman's pace band

The "pink" ladies ... were they robots?!?!?!?

DATELINE: St. George, Utah

3:40:18

St. George Marathon Report - DRAFT VERSION !!!

Jonathan pointed out this afternoon that my blog isn't current. Hopefully this hasn't been too hard on my readership (ha, ha, ha)! It seems I've had to pay a price for skipping out of town to run the marathon. It's been a peak time in the office so ever since I've been back I've been making up for being gone by working.

Anyway, here's a hacked up race report for what it's worth. I wanted to polish it up before posting it but that may not be forthcoming so ... here's what I have for now:



The marathon went well. It was a really good experience. I had mentally prepared for the worst and was pleasantly surprised when none of my worst-case-scenarios came to pass.


The conditions were absolutely perfect. The temperature at the start was 35 and at the finish it was 60. Humidity was 40%. I ran with my friend from LA for about 17 miles. He was having stomach problems and had to fall back. The run started feeling more like work at about 18. I think that was because I wasn’t with my friend anymore. By Mile 23, my legs were very fatigued (mostly quads from running downhill but my calfs were getting tight too). The course gets into town at about that point so spectators are lined along the streets with signs, cowbells, and cheering. There were some bands playing too. That was a big boost. Coming out of an aid station, I was gasping as I was gulping water or Gatorade. Fortunately, I hooked up with a 56-year old guy who was trying to qualify for the Boston Marathon. His required time was 3:45. My best-case-scenario goal time was 3:45. He offered A LOT of encouragement over the last 3 miles. I finally told him to go ahead so he could get his time and qualify but he wouldn’t go. I stayed with me. He knew the course so he kept me informed of what was coming up next. It was a miracle this guy came along for me. Interestingly, my legs kept getting heavier and heavier but I felt really strong on the cardio side. It was a strange feeling (runner’s high ???) … like I could keep going indefinitely if only my legs weren’t burning so badly.


Okay, here’s my favorite marathon moment. We make the last turn and there’s a little over ¼ mile left. I could see the finish and was feeling real giddy. My older running buddy sensed it and told me to go ahead. So I took off for the finish line. I was passing what seemed like dozens of people as I picked up speed. Now you’ve got to realize I’m not fast but I do have a mantra that “no one passes me at the end of a race”. As I’m going faster and continuing to pass other runners, I hear footsteps over my right shoulder. Someone is coming up fast. I pick up my pace. The other runner is now beside me. He picks up his pace. I stay with him. It seemed like forever …. We kept picking it up until I was at top speed. There was no way I could go faster. At that point, I looked over at the guy. It seemed like he was a young kid. In reality he was probably in his mid-20’s. He looks at me and smiles. I figured that was it so I said to him, “Ahhh, it looks like you got me.” I turned back toward the finish line and gave it absolutely everything I had. I don’t know how far I went like that but when I looked to my right he was gone. I had dropped him! By this point, the line seemed within reach and I figured I’d just continue the sprint to the end. I ran out of gas about 60 yards short of the line and couldn’t take it in as strong as I wanted but I still finished fast and … no one passed me at the end. That whole last stretch had spectators on both sides of bleachers along the way. They were yelling and it was really exciting. I was happy the have a National Guardsman “catch” me after the finish or else I’m sure I would have collapsed to the ground.


I’m pleased to report that my GPS recorded my final splits as:

Last Mile – 7:38
Last ½ Mile – 3:22 (6:44 mile pace)
Last ¼ Mile – 1:23 (5:32 mile pace)


My finishing time was 3:40:18 (8:25 mile pace)


You can view a couple action photos here:

http://www.marathonfoto.com­/index.cfm?RaceOID=13112007M1­&LastName=BIRT&BibNumber=2777­&Mailing=5924


It’s too soon after the finish to know what my plans are from here. I really enjoyed the marathon but I’m sure that a big reason why I did was because of my preparation. To prepare properly requires a huge commitment of time. I think I’m going to drop down and run some shorter races for a while – maybe a 10K next month and a half marathon in January. From there, I’ll see how I feel about getting ready for another marathon.

Confusion Reigns!

Yesterday turned out to be a particularly bad day at the office. Without getting into the details, my nutrition and hydration routine was really thrown off. My intent this week has been to focus on three things: nutrition, hydration, and rest. I've done pretty well until yesterday which ended up being an extremely bad day all the way around.

This morning I was scheduled for an easy 3 miles at 8:46 pace. Hopefully I'm thinking more clearly than I was this morning when I went out at 4:50 am. I started from the house feeling okay and without much thought proceeded along my run focusing on keeping it EASY and not stepping in a hole or on a curb. My pace seemed fine and I wasn't really paying much attention to it. I was trying to imagine the start Saturday before sun up. Well before I knew it 3 miles had passed and to my surprise I was still 1.5 miles from the house. I had absent-mindedly taken my 5 mile route this morning instead of the 3 mile route. Doh!

I used the additional distance as a warm down.

Easy
3 miles @ 8:26

Cool Down
.84 mile @ 7:08 ????!!???!


Hopefully the day goes better!


Forgot to mention I wore sunglasses yesterday to see how the high visibility lenses worked before sun up. They were fine but I've decided I'm not wearing sunglasses during the marathon. It's too long to be dealing with them if for some reason they become a nuisance.

3 Mile Tempo

I wasn't expecting to feel too good this morning due to skewing my diet away from carbohydrates the past couple days. I'm not doing a full blown carbo loading routine but a modified version of my own design. I've read the best science suggests a 3-days off/3-days on for the best carbo loading. So I've just focused on a protein-rich diet for the past couple of days. Beginning tomorrow, I'll skew my intake toward carbohydrates with a goal of about 75% total caloric intake being carbs between now and the marathon.

I didn't feel particularly bad ... or good this morning. I started from the YMCA through the neighborhoods at 5:30 am. The goal was a 1 mile warm up followed by a 3 mile tempo run at 7:20/mile pace then a 1 mile cool down. I decided I'd try to run the first warm up mile at the same pace I hope to run the first mile of the marathon, 8:56. Here's what I ended up with:

1 mile warm up 8:44

Tempo
Mile 1 7:16
Mile 2 7:30
Mile 3 7:22

1 mile cool down 8:30


The air felt cool at the start this morning. But after the run, I noticed the temperature was 64 with 90% humidity. The current forecast temperature for the start of the marathon Saturday is 36!

St. George Pace Chart

Here's what I'm considering for Saturday given what I've heard about pacing and the variable elevation.

Pre-Event Thoughts ...

Okay, if you've been following along here, you my have a sense for my crazed anxiety about this Saturday's marathon. If not, let me just say that for the past two weeks I've been VERY freaked out by the whole concept.

However, while I can still get myself pretty worked up over the whole thing, I'm feeling differently about things now. Don't get me wrong! I can still get worked up and easily head off down the road of pessimism but beginning Saturday my attitude started to change.

It seems my two biggest concerns have been a general but overwhelming fear of the unknown and an attitude of wanting to do my best while having no idea what to expect as my best. So these issues have turned me into the mental equivalent of a dog chasing its own tail!

An analogy occurred to me Monday morning which led me to wise words taught to me when I was a teenager.

The idea about preparing reminded me of a concept I was taught as a teenager by a respected member of the community. My friend's dad happened to be the Justice of the Peace as well as an ecclesiastical leader in the small town where I grew up. He was one of those people you occasionally meet who just seemed a bit wiser than the general population. Because of this and his position and personality, most people accorded him a degree of respect. At least as a young person, I know that I did. He once shared with me the concept of the 6 P's. I've used it many times since but it just occurred to me that it applies to my marathon training.

The 6 P's are:

Proper prior planning precludes poor performance.

Weeks ago I made my plan and I've stuck to it. There were training runs which I really enjoyed and some that I didn't. There were times when I felt great and times when I didn't. There were times when I didn't feel like running but I did. There were times when the Houston summer didn't offer ideal conditions but I went out anyway.

The plan was laid out and executed. There's really nothing left to do to give myself the best opportunity for a good marathon.

Now the analogy. It occurred to me that the marathon is not unlike a test from my days in school. Most of the time one never knows exactly what's going to be on the test. You probably have a general idea of the concepts but not the precise way the instructor will choose to test your knowledge or ability.

The marathon is the same except in a physical rather than mental sense. I have an idea of what the experience might be like but I don't know the exact way it's going to play out. What will it be like on the course with 7,000 other runners? How will I feel at Mile 22? ... I've never been that far. How hard can I push for a better time and still finish? There are dozens of questions but none can be answered until I'm living the experience. Just like the academic test, the only thing to do is study and prepare the best way you know how ... maybe rely on others who have taken the class or had the instructor before (thanks, Stephanie, Randy et al.) ... maybe you take an approach that has been successful in the past (Runners World SmartCoach worked for me at the Ogden Half Marathon in May). Once you've made your preparations, there's no more left to do but take the test ....

On Saturday morning at 6:45 am MDT, I'll step to the starting line to take the test. From there, I'll rely on my preparations over the past 16 weeks.

Giddy 3 Miles

Today's scheduled run was for 3 miles at 8:46. I'm planning to go out in the morning for each run this week. I read somewhere that it's a good idea to get your body used to running at the same time of day that the marathon will be.

I started from the house around 4:45 am. I was feeling good right from the start and even though today's run was supposed to be "easy", I figured I'd pick it up a bit faster than scheduled.

Here's what I ended up with:

7:58
7:50
7:48

3 miles @ 7:52 (23:36)


This probably wasn't exactly what I should have done .... I had a good stretch after and generally felt good; strong. Hopefully this is the result of the taper and allows me the same sensations this coming weekend!

Training Schedule: Oct 1 - 7

Mon - Easy 3M @ 8:46
Wed - 5M w/3M Tempo @ 7:20
Thu - Easy 3M @ 8:46
Sat - St. George Marathon

8 Mile Taper

The good news is that today was the last long run before the marathon. Ironically, that's the bad news too!

I ran from Memorial Park with Stephanie, Laurie, and Randy. We started at the 6 and the weather was very nice. It has been very nice to train with Stephanie's group. Most of the group is running the Chicago Marathon next Sunday. I realized today that it seems like I have much more confidence when running with this group. They're all better and more experienced runners than I am but it seems like they care that I do well. I hope I can run next Saturday as comfortably and confidently as I usually do when running with my regular Saturday group. I also wish each of them the best in their marathon next weekend. I know they've trained hard for a long time and I'm sure they'll do well.

We rolled up 8 miles this morning.


8.11 miles @ 8:19 (1:07:29)


By complete coincidence, I met a guy named Dirk in the parking lot after our run. He has run the St. George Marathon seven times. He's not running this year due to injury. He gave me several things to think about: Veyo Hill is huge ("bigger than any hill on any other marathon"); start out slow; there are places on the course where you can take advantage of the downhill grade; don't try to run an even pace - it will really screw you up; seriously consider wearing sunglasses; among other things.

I guess that's about it. I picked up my parents from the airport and went to Cameron's cross country meet. Unfortunately I just missed the JV race he was in. Incredibly, he shaved one minute off his 5K PR! He had been saying throughout the week that he felt like he was going to have a good race. Boy was he right!