Danman 50, 26.2, 13.1, 10k

Danman is an unofficial race held at a man's (Dan's) land down near Madill in southern Oklahoma. It's almost a Fatass, but it probably has too much support to qualify as a FA. As the title suggests, there are multiple distances to run. And I didn't run any of them. I signed up for the 50 miler, but with the snow and rains we've had, I knew I wasn't going to run 50 miles. You didn't have to pre-register, but I did. I rode with some friends who planned to run 13.1 miles. So I had to keep their schedule in mind also. So I went with plans of trying to do at least the marathon distance.
Dan has a large "ranch" with a beautiful house on it. Large, plenty of room, this served at the headquarters for the race. The race is two loops, 6 miles, and 7 miles. You do these loops as follows, 1st loop only for 10k, both loops for 13.1, and both twice for 26.2. The second loop has a 3 mile plus offshoot for the 50 milers to get around 17 miles per two loops.
I started on the first loop, and it was very muddy, and somewhat hilly. But I made it through ok. Second loop was a bit easier, although it was shoe sucking muddy right near the end. I decided to take the 50 mile extra loop to get to 17 miles. I also decided that I would take the 2nd loop again, rather than the first. The 2nd time I just did the 7 mile loop, ending up with close to 24 miles.
This is a nice run, and if I ever do it when the conditions are better, I will attempt to go the full 50 miles.

Egocentric

Before I get to the reason for that title, just a few words about training. I've run both trails and the road lately and things seem to be going well. Our cold snap seems to have snapped, at least for the time being.
I commented on another blog that was about what the author felt was an overemphasis of fighting tobacco use at the expense of other worthy endeavours. I expressed a dissenting opinion. The author and I have no problem. We do not always agree, but we are always civil. Another person commented that I was egocentric, or rather my blog is egocentric. Here are his exact words;
"I looked over your egocentric blog brother and I find it amusing, this comment of yours, because connected to what you write about (me, me, me) your concerns are not for public health but rather for your own desires in your own little world. "
Now his comment didn't really bother me. However, he sent me a very childish email. But the purpose of this post is to look at whether what he said is true. Of course it is. This subject has been covered by me in the past, and by many blogs that I've read. We allow ourselves to boast, if we so choose, about what we do or accomplish. Those who have read this blog for any amount of time know that it is primarily about my running. But is running all there is to me? Of course not. I simply choose not to talk about the other things I do or am involved with. Nor am I going to talk about them now. From time to time I do, but not often. If I am to be judged solely by the content of this blog, then so be it.

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.