Steal the Seal 50k (31 miles)

Midnight (June 12th) Friday night/Saturday morning I started my first official ultra marathon of the year. Official because I did run past the marathon January 2 in an unofficial ran.

This race is called "Steal the Seal" because early in Oklahoma State history the first Capital was Guthrie. The story goes that the State Seal was stolen in the middle of the night and taken to Oklahoma City to make it the new Capital. So the premise was that we would symbolically return the seal to Guthrie.

At midnight we started our journey to Guthrie from the State Capital in Oklahoma City. Down Lincoln to 50th and then to Martin Luther King Dr. This street has several names as it passes through Oklahoma City to Edmond and beyond. I started with three other friends and we ran together for about six miles. One surged ahead and the other slowed down a bit after the first 10k. When we left Edmond it was very dark and the fireflies were putting on quite a light show for us. It was probably the most enjoyable part of the race outside of the finish. Bill and I stayed together until around 2o miles when I was starting to fade. Bill was still running strong, so he went on. It was about this time that we left pavement and hit a dirt road. It was very dark on the road and at this point I started to use my head light. The dirt road part wasn't bad except when cars would pass and then the dust was a problem. Since most of the cars were supporting us though, I'll take some dust. There were too few aid stations in the second half for the heat and humidity during this run. When I saw Cara and Shay on the dirt road it was like an oasis. I was out of water and knew there were no more aid stations until the finish. Another small change I'd make would be to put more signs on the dirt road to confirm that we're going the right way. Although I did not go off course, I was afraid I had. I ran for over 5 miles without a sign and couldn't see any lights letting me know that I was near Guthrie. My Garmin was reading 30 miles and I was still on this road. Just as I was about to panic that I had gone too far, the road curved and I could see pavement and houses, Guthrie. I knew I was near the finish and picked it up a bit. Now there were people at the turns to let you know where to go. Three blocks to the finish. I crossed the finish line in 5:36:21. Fifth male and sixth overall. This was not an easy run but neither was it really hard. There were hills and the heat and humidity made it difficult. But it should be good training for yet another ultra, 50 mile, July 2nd with another midnight start.

Thanks to Bret, Bill, and Mary for the time we ran together. Thank you to all who manned the aid stations in the middle of the night. Thanks to all of you roaming the course with aid to anyone who needed it. Those that I remember were, Dave, Keith, Cara, Shay, Chuck, Vaden and friends, and special thanks to Brandi and friend for the aid, and Brandi for the ride back to my car.

Vibram Five Fingers.

I have said I'd review these for some time now. Almost a year ago I purchased the Vibram Five Finger KSO's. I have over 100 miles on these. I bought the Five Fingers to hopefully make my feet stronger. I had run a couple of races over 50 miles and the thing that hurt the most was my feet. In the later miles of my 100 mile run, my feet were really hurting. There was no damage to them, they just hurt from being on them so long.
I must say the verdict is still out on whether they are helping. I have two road ultra's in the next month, and I may know more after that.
I have done most of my running on pavement or grass. I don't feel comfortable running trails in these. I have some friends that do, and Barefoot Ted has run hundred mile races in them. But I feel that I'd be courting injury running trails with these. I've stubbed my toe hard running trails, and if I hadn't been wearing trail shoes with their extra toe protection, I would probably have broken one by now.
Lately I've been combining heart rate training and running in the FF's. My heart rate training entails keeping my HR under 130. I usually do 5 to 6 miles in this range at a nearby paved loop. The most I've ever run in the FF's is 12 miles. Whenever I run hard, my calves hurt for several days. It's not a injury hurt, just a sore hurt that tells me I'm using muscles I don't usually use.
I guess I would say that these are fun shoes, but whether they are worth the money depends on what you want from them. But as most people advise, if you do get them, don't rush into long mileage with them. I would suggest no more than 5-8 miles a week for several months.

Andy Payne Pt. 2

I'm only calling this "Pt. 2" because this is the second time I've run this marathon. I first ran it two years ago. This year's version was run Sunday, May 30th. It is a very low key marathon, less than 100 finishers this year. And it is almost always hot and humid. This year was no exception. I ran this race as a training run for my next two ultra marathons, 50 k on June 12 with a midnight start, and 50 miles July 2 also a midnight start.

It was in the low 70's at the 6:30 AM start of the marathon. I had a somewhat loose goal of running this under 4 hours. But my main goal was to run it smart. I started out running with a friend from the running club. We separated after about 7 miles and I ran the rest of the marathon alone. The race starts in a park where we run about 2 miles and then it's 3 times around lake Overholser. If it weren't for the hot and humid conditions, this would be an easy course. It is boring, but there is very little elevation change. I started feeling the loss of energy around mile 15, which is on the last part of the second loop. I was still able to maintain a sub 10 minute mile, but I had to use the walk run strategy for the final lap. It was now into the high 80's and too far between aid stations. Still when I finished in 4:05:45 I didn't feel bad. I won my age group and am ok with the time. As a training run I got what I needed, a nice finish, heat training, and no injuries.

Boston Marathon & Goals

This was my second time to run Boston. Last year my only goal was to enjoy the experience, and just try to beat 4 hours. I finished in 3:59.35. I qualified at Tucson, 3:43.01, Dec '08 and that gave me two years. I hadn't run that fast since. I tried to P R at CIM, 3:52.26, in Sacramento back in Dec '09, but in retrospect, would have been better served to simply try to B Q. I have no regrets about that though, I went for it and paid the price. This year I had a goal of re-qualifying at Boston. That meant I had to run 3:45.59 or faster. That was my only goal outside of the always backup goals of finishing and not hurting myself.
In the days leading up to the marathon it rained. I flew in Friday because I wanted to just take it easy. The Red Sox game was rained out in the 8th inning and it rained some Saturday and Sunday. Some friends and I went for an easy 4 mile run Sunday morning, and it was misting. The forecast for Monday was almost perfect. Cool, mid 30's and partly cloudy in the morning, and warming to the 50's in the afternoon.
I made it to the Athlete's Village with no problems. Sat by a nice young lady from California and we had a good conversation all the way. Once in the village, I walked around for a while looking for some others from the running club but never found them. It was chilly, so I looked around for a spot out of the wind and in the sun and sat down.
Showtime
I was in the 2nd wave starting at 10:30. I walked to my corral and waited for the start. Boom, and we're off. Walking at first, but once you cross the timing mat you can start running. It's still crowded, but it didn't slow me much. Plus since the start is downhill, I needed to hold back a bit anyway. Once I got going at my pace, really a bit under, I felt pretty good but as with any long distance race I was apprehensive about being able to hold pace the entire race. I was to go through many ups and downs, but keep going in the knowledge that the down would soon give way to the up. From miles 8-11 I was in a zone like I've never been in. It was like I was in a bubble, no one around me and able to do anything I wanted. I felt like I could really pick up the pace here, but resisted the temptation. I was unable to maintain that feeling, but was still keeping pace. Boston is strictly a chip timed race except for the elites. I knew I had about a 3 minute cushion over gun time, but decided I wanted to meet my goal on gun time. Every mile had a clock so I knew where I was in relation to the start. Mile 20, fatigued but still on pace. Newton hills, still running and while I was hurting, I was running strong. Many were falling by the wayside, some having hit the wall, others with one pain or another. I ran up Heartbreak hill at pace, and once I topped it felt like I was going to make it. I did slow for one mile at an aid station. I decided I needed to get hydrated so I slowed to a light jog and drank both Gatoraide and water. Ramp back up for the finish. Under the Citgo sign and just a little more to go. Once I turned onto Boylston street and could see the finish in the distance I really picked it up. I could see the clock just turning to 3:44 and knew then that I would meet my goal by gun time. I finished and the clock read something like 3:44.40. I slowed and then started walking. Extremely happy I had met my goal. Later when I saw my chip time, 3:42.07. Not only did I re-qualify for Boston at Boston, but I had P R'ed at Boston. I trained hard for this race, and am so pleased that hard training paid off. Those of you who run know that training alone doesn't do it, you have to have other things fall into place also. Monday, April 19th, 2010 Boston MA, it all fell into place.
Thank you to all who wished me well, thought about me and the others you knew running there, and for all your congratulations also. I appreciate you all.

Sanctuary

Sanctuary is one of those words I've always liked. There is so much contained in that one word.
There are many definitions of sanctuary. But the one I like best is "A place of refuge or asylum." Asylum is another word I like, Leon Russell had a group called the "Asylum Choir." And another called the "Shelter People." All of these words have a similar meaning to me, Asylum, Shelter, Sanctuary. Running is my Sanctuary. Not a physical place, but a place. I can go there other times, but running has the added benefit of lowering my resistance. Like when you stay up far beyond time to sleep, not under the influence of drugs, just going beyond time to sleep. Fasting is another way to get there. But for me, it is usually running, running beyond the comfort zone. Whether it be by pushing your speed, endurance or time limits. I run alone a lot, not so much by choice, but because I work in a place away from people of a like mind. I have never seen another runner during my weekly runs near my job. But this is fine with me. I get my communal runs on the weekend. But sometimes even that is not possible. I was out of state on business last week, and missed the club run. So I did my long run, 21 miles, alone last Easter Sunday. It was a wonderful time. I did see a lot of other runners, even a few I knew. But our paths simply crossed, and were not joined.
When I got home the house was vacant, everyone was already at church. I had promised to go, so I went. I was still in sanctuary, a place where I can be alone with myself, even among the hundreds who surrounded me.
From the Song "Million" by Paul Kantner

"And yet there were some of the men and ladies
Who remembered that in the beginning we were one
A body and one spirit in all of our bodies
Whoa... oh sanctuary
Come and sail with me ... revelation
Standing on the edge of civilization"

Road Trip - A2A Half Marathon

My running club planned a road trip to a new marathon/half marathon about 100 miles from Oklahoma City. We chartered two luxury buses for the trip. This was to be a test of my Boston Marathon training. I was running the 1/2 and wanted to do my first sub 1:40 time. I just missed it at Tulsa in November, 1:40.22. My training has been going well, I've been able to meet all the speed work times and have resisted the temptation to overdo it.
The bus left Sunday morning right on time. It was a festive atmosphere and I was cautiously optimistic. This was a point to point race for both the 1/2 and full. We got to the start and it was cold and windy. But we all knew that we'd warm up once we started. I had just a short sleeve on, and decided to put a long sleeve under. We started and it was a steep downhill for the first couple of miles. I let the hills take me and was running faster than I needed to. As the road leveled off, I started keeping the pace I needed. I felt fairly good the whole time, and took a Hammer Gel every 20 to 30 minutes. For a first time race this one did everything right. Plenty of aid stations, good traffic control, and a nice finish. The wind was at our backs most of the way, but when we neared the finish, the wind was in our face. I was also starting to fade, but knew I was near my goal. As I entered the stadium and got on the track, my watch said I had close to a minute to spare. We did one lap on the track to finish, and I started sprinting like I was just starting a speed session. I passed several people, and as I neared the finish, saw I was going to make my goal. 1:39.19. I reached my goal, and won my age group by 4 seconds. That means that I passed the 2nd place male on the track. Of course I didn't know that at the time.
The ride home was nice. The entire trip was very well organized as was the race.
A couple of weeks earlier I won my age group in the triple crown of racing.
Next up, Boston April 19th.

Jack Rector 25k & Creek Classic 10k

There is a group of races here called the Triple Crown. This consists of a 25k/5k, 10k/5k, and then a St. Paddy's (Day before) 8k. The 25k is named in honor of Jack Rector, the man I'm pictured with. He and his wife started the Oklahoma City Marathon training group years ago. Jack has since passed, and the race was named in his honor. I had only run this race once before, and since it was the only time I'd run 25k, it was my P R. I wanted to run it this year to see if I could improve on my "P R." I also felt it would be a good test of my conditioning for the Boston Marathon. My goal was to hold 5 minute k's. This would give me a 2:05 time, and about a 10 minute P R. I started out holding this pace, and while I would go over by 3-5 seconds, I was able to average this almost the whole race. I finished just over 2:05 and was pleased to be able to reach my goal. I also won my age group.
After the 25k, I decided to go ahead and run the Creek Classic 10k. I've run this race a couple of times before, and swore I wouldn't run it again after two years of poor after race activities. But then a friend took over the race, and I felt like she would make improvements. The race itself had been fine, but the awards ceremonies the last two years took way too long. Last year they ran out of medals and said they'd mail them to us. I never received mine, and when the previous race director emailed me telling me I was going to be charged for not turning in my chip, I pointed out to her, one, that I owned my chip, and two, that they hadn't sent my award. She replied to me that "I don't know why runners care so much about those medals." I told her that I didn't care about the medal, but that it was more about doing what you say you're going to do. Enough of that. My goal for this 10k was to try to hold 4:30 k's. This would give me a 45 minute time, not a P R, but not easy for me. I started holding this, but was letting it drift a bit after 4k. I was probably averaging 4:35 k's through 8k, but got a second wind and ran the last 2k under 4:15 each. I finished just over 45 minutes, and won my age group again. The awards ceremonies was better, but still needs some work. I know it is not easy putting these races on, and hope they can improve next year. They had a great turnout and say they raised more than they had hoped for for their cause.
Next up, 8k.