Goals - Past and Future

January 2009 I set 4 running goals. 1. To run my first 100 miler. 2. Run the Boston Marathon under 4 hours. 3. Run a sub 20 minute 5k. 4. P R in the marathon.
I achived two of them. I ran 100 miles, and I completed Boston in under 4 hours, barely.
For 2010 I am carrying the two that I didn't achieve over to this year. And I'm adding two more. My running goals for 2010

1. Qualify for Boston at Boston (3:45:59 or faster)
2. Run 100 miles again.
3. Run a sub 20 minute 5k.
4. P R in the Marathon.

I didn't specifically train to run a sub 20 5k. I plan to do that this year starting past July or August. Vamos a Ver.

A New Year - Short Ultra - Met Blog Friend

A New Decade is here. And like a New Year or a New Day, what is the difference between today and yesterday. I guess in this case a lot more hung over people.

For my first race of the year I ran a Fat Ass race. For those who don't know what this is, it's a very low key minimal support informal run/ultra. This one has a maximum distance of 50k (31 mile), but you were welcome to run whatever you wanted. I haven't run much since the CIMarathon early December. Several reasons, one - I wanted to rest a bit, two - a very busy time of year, 3 - relatively cold here. We had a blizzard Christmas Eve which stranded me in the DFW Airport trying to get back home. Anyway I decided to run the race and just do it by feel. This is a 17 mile out and back, then a 14 mile out and back. I would guess around 30 people started, but many turned back at the only water crossing. The temps were around 20 at the start, and while there was a makeshift bridge, some just didn't want to chance it. I started out very slow, and was in nearly last place for some time. I pressed on and made it to the dam which you only had to do once. While I had warmed up some on the trail, the dam is elevated and open to the elements. It was cold and windy and my hands started getting cold again. I made it to the turn around and continued back, still undecided if I would go beyond the 17 miles. The trail was snowy, icy, and muddy. After making it back to the start, I sat down, had a sausage with chili and some hot chocolate. I decided to go back out, but since I figured I'd be the last person on the trail, I told the director that I would turn around when I encountered the last person returning. There were only three people who had headed back out to do the full 50k. I just wanted to get past the marathon distance. The second time out I was much slower, not feeling bad, just low on energy. I encountered what I thought was the last person returning, decided to continue just a bit more so I would get over 28 miles, and then headed back. I finished feeling ok, ate a little more then headed home. A nice way to get back into the swing of things.

On New Year's Day I met one of my blog friends. She was headed back to California from Tennessee, and had stopped in Oklahoma City to rest for the night. The next morning we met at Starbucks, and chatted like we were old friends, which we now are. Nice meeting you Penny, look forward to the next meeting. Below is our picture, and here is a link to her blog.

California International Marathon

My apologies for the lateness of this post. I've basically been in a running hiatus, running but not for any real purpose other than to keep my sanity. I have been very busy in business and personal matters.
I entered this race hoping for a personal record. I'd heard that this was a fast course, and it was mostly down hill. By profile it is a more gradual and less of a drop than Tucson, but supposedly move even.
A running club friend was coincidentally running this race also. His reason was to qualify for Boston. We made it to Sacramento with no problems and went to the expo to pick up packets, talk to and listen to Bart Yasso. The next day we drove the course with a couple of other people from Oklahoma.
Race day was cold and windy. The buses to the start were efficient, but not very warm. Still, they were warmer than outside. I left the bus with about 20 minutes to go and made my way to the porta-potties. I got in and out with just minutes to spare. Once again, I was unable to make it to my starting area and ended up in the 4:15 group. We started and I slowly caught up with the 3:45 group. I hoped to run faster, but wanted to hang with them until the halfway point. This course was much hillier than I thought it would be, but everyone said the second half was better. I passed the 1/2 in around 1:50 which is about what I wanted. I hoped to at least even split. I left the 3:45 group hoping for a more downhill course. I assume it was, but again it was hilly to me. I could also tell I was soon going to be having energy problems. I started losing about 10 seconds per mile, and there didn't seem to be anything I could do about it. I was tired, cold, and the wind was blowing in our face. I started walking through the aid stations and continued to slow. I was finally having to walk about every half mile, and even when I ran it was around a 10 minute mile. I finished in about 3:52, quite a bit short of my sub 3:42 goal. I didn't feel bad, just tired, so I wasn't too disappointed. Any finish not hurting is a good finish.
My friend found me at the finish line and told me he had been successful. Great Job David

Route 66 Half Marathon

This past Sunday, November 22, I ran the Route 66 half marathon in Tulsa. Four years ago this was the site of my first marathon. I decided to run the 1/2 because I'm running a full in two weeks. So I wanted this to be a long tempo run, and to also try to run my best time in a 1/2. My previous best was run in Oregon in a 1/2 that I'm convinced was short.
I felt like I had a good chance to P R because my 12k last week went well, and I was able to hold a fast pace the entire race.
A cousin had died earlier in the week, and I attended his memorial service first. It was good to see friends and relatives there. After that I headed to Tulsa to check into my hotel. After checking in I went to the expo for packet pickup and to check things out. It's a nice little expo and I did see some friends there.
That morning it was a bit cool, perfect in other words. I took the shuttle to the start and met up with more friends, some running the full, others the half. I waited too long to get in the starting area, and got stuck around the 10 minute pace area. Not good. We're off, and in the first two miles I'm working my way around slower people. It was ok, but I would have like to have started a bit faster. My first couple of miles were around 8:30. Not good enough if I wanted to run under 1:41. As I cleared the crowds, and started to warm up, I began bringing the pace down. I was soon around 7:30 and worked on holding that. I never felt bad and in fact ran a few 7:10 miles when I realized that I was going to be cutting it close. When I made the final turn to the finish, I could see the clock inching to 1:41. I wasn't too worried, I knew I had a small chip cushion. I finished with the clock reading over 1:41. When I got my official time, it was 1:40:22. I met one goal, but missed another by 22 seconds. I could have qualified for New York with a time under 1:40:00. But that's ok, I'm not sure I could do New York next year anyway. I have two ultras near that time. I'm very satisfied with my performance, and looking forward to my next marathon in Sacramento in two weeks.
Congratulations to all my friends who ran and who met their goals.

Races & Training

Last week I ran the Race with Stars 5k. This has always been a good race for me and I like the fact that they don't give medals, they give gift certificates and tickets. I had a mild cold the days before the race and decided I would just run and try to be one of the first 300 who would get "an extra prize." Earlier in the year I had picked this race as a possible attempt at a P R. But that was before I decided to run the 24 hour ultra. Coupled with the cold I just decided to run by feel. I did just that and was pleasantly surprised that I still was under 22 minutes. Good enough for 3rd in Age group. Four tickets to a museum I've never heard of. And the extra prize, an LED bracelet.
Yesterday I ran the Race for Hope. This is a 12/5K run to benefit the Oklahoma Brain Tumor Foundation. I like this race and this was my 3rd time running it. I volunteered last year because of my pacing duties that night in the Mother Road 100. Yesterday a cold front came through just before the start. As I was driving to the site at Lake Overholser, I could see clouds and fog ahead. The sun was shining when I left the house. This was a good thing though, as it cooled the race off. I was running the 12k and I wanted to treat it as a tempo run for my half marathon next week. I started out slowly and then as I warmed up, began to pick it up. I wanted to hold around 7:30/mi and at times was below that pace. I felt good the whole time and finished just over 54 minutes. I didn't realize that this was a sub 7:15 pace. It ended up being good enough for 1st in age group.
After the race I went to lunch at church for the men's ministry. It was a good day including having to get a slow leak fixed on my car.
This morning I did a nice 10 miles of trails at Draper Lake. Cloudy, light rain, great run.
Looking forward to my half marathon next week, and my full at the California International Marathon in Sacramento. I've also registered for the Boston Marathon.

24 The Hard Way

While I am excited about my 24 hour run this past weekend, I have to spend a moment remembering someone else.
My cousin Jimmy (Married to my 1st cousin) died last week. He had Leukemia but chose not to tell anyone, including his wife and daughter. He aslo refused any treatment. So when he went into the hospital a week ago Saturday (Oct 17th) and died two days later, it was a big surpise to everyone. Who am I to question his decision. All I can say is the man was fun to be around. He was a coach and a teacher, and the funeral was packed with his fomer students and atheletes. Less than twenty-four hours after finishing my run, I was driving in the pouring rain to his service south of Dallas. And now, back to the run.
I got up Saturday morning not knowing how the days run was going to go. The plus is since this race was in Oklahoma City, I didn't have to travel, and could sleep a bit later than usual. Our race started at 9:00 A.M. Saturday morning. We started, and I started running very slow. This was a .97 mile loop so I was trying to keep my early loops under 12 minutes. As the day wore on, I was able to pick it up just a bit. I didn't ever want to go much below 10 minutes, because I knew I had a long way to go. After 30 miles, I decided to take a 45 minute break. The other nice thing about this being a local race was I could walk to my car. I laid down and listened to the start of the OU-Kansas game. After returning to the course I continued to run into the dark. While you might think that this continually running the same loop would be monotonous, it really wasn't. As night wore on I grew more fatiqued and decided to take a longer rest. When I came back I was into my 3rd time hitting the wall. I tried various things to get over it, but in the end only time would work. The night running was hard but I was never sleepy and even during my rest times I never went to sleep. When the day broke I had a mild recovery and continued to try to keep sub 20 minute miles. I was now walking the slight up hills and "jogging" the downs. They had a computer monitor just as you crossed the timing mat, and you could see where you and others stood. My friend Bill, who helped crew and pace me at my first 100 mile race, was running his first ultra. I could see he was getting close to 100 miles, and was hoping he would make it. That's him with me crossing the mat for his 100th mile. He ended up with slightly over 100. My total ended up being 87 miles. While that is my 2nd highest total ever, I was a bit dissapointed in having taken the breaks. Without them, and assuming I could have kept going, I should have been able to get to 100 also. On the other hand, it also tells me to be able to run longer without breaks, I need to train longer. My longest training runs were around 32 miles. I probably needed a couple of 50 mile runs. I'm not sure I need to do this again, but I'm sure I'll want to later.

Spirit of Survival Marathon

Today I ran the Spirit of Survival Marathon. From their website:
"The Spirit of Survival Marathon is unique because it is the only USATF certified race approved to run through one of the nation’s 547 Wildlife Refuges. For the individual looking for the ultimate wildlife racing experience, this event offers the opportunity to run while observing wildlife in its natural habitat."
Doesn't that just sound wonderful? Well I ran this race last year because it was on my birthday. It was unseasonably hot for Oct in Oklahoma, and I went out way too fast for this very hilly course. This morning it was raining and a bit chilly. The race is about 90 miles from Oklahoma City, and a group of us left the city at 4 this morning. It rained all the way, and was raining when we got there. But as it got close to start time, the rain eased up. It still was wet the entire race, but a nice gentle cooling rain. I promised myself since I now knew this course, I would run it smarter. And since I was treating this as a training run, I decided that I would get under 4 hours if I could, but not worry about it. I started out running with a friend, and as we talked, the miles seemed to go by easily. We ran the flats sub 9 minute miles, and the hills plus 9's. My friend had to make a potty stop, so I kept going and we didn't run together anymore. As with most marathons I had my ups and downs, but kept telling myself that I would push through the downs, and take advantage of the ups. I passed the 1/2 marathon mark at 1:58. I had no plans to try to negative split, but I thought that I could maybe have close to even splits. The second half I started getting fatigued, and we made a turn at mile 15 that turned us into a brisk headwind. But I kept pushing on trying to average right at 9's. When I hit around 20 miles, I allowed myself to walk for a minute. It was a struggle to keep running 9's. As I got closer I realized I could average 10's and make it under 4hours. I was able to stay close to 9:30's and finished in 3:58. Making my splits 1:58/2:00. Anytime my splits are that close, it's a good race. When I finished I was so beat I almost couldn't stand. I sat down and felt terrible, couldn't eat anything, but could drink and I had the chills. One of my friends who was driving said they have showers and you'll feel better. I doubted it, but since I was riding in his car I figured a shower was a good idea anyway. I got under the hot water and was feeling better in no time. The warm up did wonders. I'm sore of course, but feeling pretty good. Afterward we went to this famous hamburger place and had lunch. Back to the city and getting ready to go to work tomorrow. Get friends, great race, great day.