Napa Valley Marathon 2009
It was a dark and stormy morning. Dark until the sun came up anyway as we stood around in Calistoga waiting. If you are going to run a marathon in the pouring rain (with a slight head wind from time to time,) might as well make it one where you PR.
Going into Napa I felt that a 4:30:00 finish would be about right based on my long runs and my general condition but I guess what the say about racing is true, it fires you up and motivates you in positive ways, which at least partly explains the 4:08:20 finish. The rest I'll have to put down to some luck with choices.
Knowing there was going to be rain, the first decisions were what to wear. I've run in the rain plenty before and the forecast was for mild temperatures (50s F) so I didn't want to wear a thick layer that I would have to take off later in the race. I settled on a short sleeve dryfit shirt and a thin longsleeve Nike pullover over it. The pull has a small gel pouch in the back that I had never used so this was a nice opportunity.
The choice of what to wear before the start was simplified by the Napa Marathon providing a swag backpack with attached bib number that doubled as a sweats bag. I brought a warm cotton hoodie and an umbrella which kept me quite comfortable while I was standing around waiting. Then I changed into the $2 poncho Mike bought me at the Expo and dropped everything off on the bus for the finish line. I also wore my thinnest running gloves that I knew would not get too hot even if the weather got warm (it didn't.) I didn't expect them to get quite so soaked from absorbing the rain, but a little fist clenching every so often squeezed out the excess water, and they worked well to wipe the rain out of my eyes. I also opted for my thinnest running socks because my standard ones were feeling too thick and heavy lately. They ended up working well even after I had soaked both feet by stepping in puddles on the road.
Napa was unique in my marathon experience by providing boxes for racers to have their own drinks delivered to any of the aid stations. Mike clued me in to this and so I used 2 700ml water bottles with sports tops and filled them with 200 calories of HEED from Hammer Nutrition. I carried a 3rd bottle from the start mixed with a light solution of Perpetuem. This turned out to work perfectly. Starting off with a bananna 30 minutes before post time, I sipped the first bottle slowly over the first 6 miles, finishing it off with a gel at mile 6.5 about an hour into the race. I ran the next 5.5 miles without stopping and picked up my 2nd bottle at mile 11.9. I drank that more aggressively and finished it over about 4 miles. I ran the next couple miles not having to stop or carry anything, feeling pretty good until I grabbed my next bottle at the 18.4 mile aid station. I drank that bottle over the next 4 miles, stopping somewhere near the end of the bottle to down my 2nd gel - this time one with caffeine.
After that it was settle in for the final miles. I attempted to grab gatorade at one of the later stations but the thought came too late and I ended up past the gatorade and into the plain water cups and for whatever reason decided to just not bother stopping at all (a clue that racing often distrubs rational thought.) I did eat one piece of bananna in the middle-late miles but other than that I ran through every aid station. Having fluids with me was a huge benefit both by being able to hydrate when I wanted and avoiding having to slow down and drink from the cups. Having the cool weather and being soaked in rain the whole way made it possible to get away with just the 3 bottles. During the race it seemed like a lot of fluid but in hind sight it probably wasn't enough by a third; a liter an hour would have been better and that is supported by what I experienced during the race. Even though I was drinking large gulps at a time, I never felt like I had too much liquid in my stomach. Psychologically I thought it was a lot, but my body could have taken more.
The crowds were great during the race, there were large groups at various places on the road even though the weather was so bad - everyone cheering for all the runners and hardly any of the evil purple people fans. I found myself unconsciously surging every time I ran through the crowd.
I kept my pacing pretty even through the whole race - I fought the urge to surge at the start even though I still ran the first mile at 8:45 but I was passed by tons of people. I had thought to hold a 10min pace for the first 6 miles, but I slowed and pretty easily kept a 9:15-9:30 pace even as more people were passing me. I would see them again later. My training runs had led me to think a 10min pace or slower for the first half would be necessary to maintain strength until the finish but I continued at mid 9min pace making sure I never felt like I was working so hard that my breathing quickened. Being faster than my target it was a little easier to talk myself into slowing on the hills, again based on keeping my breathing steady, and that's the guide I used all the way to mile 25. By mile 25 I had already been passing runner after runner for some time. Some where pulling up to walk, others shuffling along trying to maintain a least the form of running. Right after passing a pair of guys I heard one of them say that he was falling apart and apologize to the other guy for holding him back. Its a completely different experience to be in the last miles of a marathon and know that you still have gas in the tank. My legs were definitely starting to hurt but my breathing was normal and my head clear. Around mile 25 I caught up and started to pass another group of runners just behind a woman who also seemed to be running strong and starting her last mile kick. I slotted in a couple yards behind her and we ran up to the final 200meters at about a 9 min pace.
The Napa finish is about as devious as it gets, with no less than 3 or 4 turns in the last 200 meters before you catch sight of the finish line. With 4:08 on the clock above the finish tape and the seconds passing, I ran past and into my new PR.
The Napa runner's buffet was a bit thin but hot soup was wonderful after being soaked. The drive back home was fun as Mike and I recounted our various race experiences and I was still a bit shocked that I was so drastically faster than my expected finish. I guess the good thing about low expectations are they are easy to exceed ;)
a great run, not such a great race.
The Great Race, 4 miles from
Saratoga to
Los Gatos along Hwy 9, April 15 2007. Celebrating in its 30
th anniversary, the Great Run still has no web site (??). Why would I care ? It's not
just because I'm a web freak. I also want to know where the start line is, right ?
I registered online with Active. The next day I received my bib in an envelope. It was a small envelope, and the only thing inside was a bib number. Not even a single piece of paper with race day information. Not even the race date. And, did I mention that there was no web site? I sent an email to Eric
Eberle, president of the LG Rotary, twice, but received no reply.
Patrick arrive at my place in the morning and we had coffee and bagel. We then ran 1.3 miles to the start line, a nice and easy warm up.
Patrick signed up and got his bib number. We did what men has to do and we were all set to start. We head to the start line, and moved up to the 7 minutes pace sign where we found Sheila, Joe and David. I relaxed, stretched up, to the side, the other side, and down - only then I noticed that many runners have this thing on their foot that's called time chip. Where that came from ? ? "one minute to start", the call said. Darned, we're going to run without a chip. At least we will have gun time.
The run went very well. My first split 7:05, the second mile 7:13. Then my GPS dies out of battery.
OK, I thought to myself, just keep going and keep the good pace.
The last mile is mostly flat with some downhill. I turned onto Santa Cruz road and could see the finish line down the street. I gave my best out for a strong finish and just before the finish line passed this 12 years girl who was doing remarkably well (she won her division, F 2-13 !). The official clock shows 28:30 and I was ready to hand my bib slip away. There was no one to collect it, though. "I think you need to have a chip to get your time in", one official said, "didn't you read the email?". What email? the email from Active did not say anything about time chips. There was no web site, remember? no race day
pamphlet, no nothing ! Even the race day registration desk did not direct us to pick our chips. Aparently there was one more email with instructions, not from Active (then from whom?). I missed that one.
By now I am quite upset. Patrick did not receive the finisher's ribbon. They just let him pass through the finish line without handing it to him. He had to go back and ask the young guy (a third grader) to give him one. We ran back with Sheila to Saratoga, making it a total 10+ miles before we call the day.
The day after. As anticipated, we're not showing up on the results list. It's not like I would use this result as a
BQ, but we do deserve to be listed. It took a couple days and several emails until I finally had this fixed.
Yes, it is a great run, but the
organizers have to greatly improve the race communication to make this race hold up to its name.
Arnon
What not to do - Marathon training part 2
Running Rancho can be dangerous, especially if you're clumsy. Running on uneven ground is supposed to help your ankle strength, that is unless you decide to roll you ankle underneath you as you put all your weight on it. Item 1 shows the bruising along the lateral right foot. Obviously some tearing in the tissue. Item 2 shows the swelling difference between the right and left feet.
Of course this had to happen 6 weeks out from the Big Sur marathon, with 2 long runs still on the schedule. Luckily the damage seems to be survivable. With light ankle exercises, stretching and walking, I was able to put my full weight on the foot after 2 days. I don't have full range of motion yet, but running seems emminently feasible. The focus has been on rehabilitation. I didn't use ice, ibuprofen was enough to keep the pain in check for the first 3 days. Physical therapy right away is the key!
These abrasions resulted from a headlong fall after clipping my toe in a downhill run at speed. You can't see it here but there was also a light contusion along the head of the
Vastus medialis. Considering the speed I was going I got off pretty light, nothing broken and no damage to my hands or head despite getting a mouthful of dirt while skidding to a stop.
Tucson marathon
It's Sunday morning, 12/09/2006. Thorsten and I are 26.2 miles north to the Hilton Tucon. That's quite far away. We are in the middle of nowhere. There are hills around us, surrounded by tall mountains. A single lane road, a remoted ranch, and about 1500 runners jumping from one leg to the other while waiting in line for the porta pottys.
We are going for an ambitious 3:20 time goal - would be a BQ for me. Thorsten came all this way to pace me. Why would I have any reason to believe that I can run a 3:20 ? well, I did run a 3:39 a couple months ago at hilly SF (take off 5 minutes), with a toes cramp (take off the 3 minutes stop). Since then, I did lots of track work (several minutes for sure). Tucson marathon goes 1500 feet downhill, and Thorsten as a pacer. A 3:20 is ambitious - we go for all or nothing.
We start high. High in elevation as in expectations. Elevation is 4500 feet or so. Thorsten and I are on a fast pace. The first miles have some strong downhills, and a few short uphills. We get rid of the gloves and sweatshirts around mile 4. The first six miles passed at a 7:23 avarage pace, 15 seconds bellow our required overall average pace of 3:38, and right where we want to be in these first downhill miles.
At mile 6 the head wind starts. A very sturdy wind, average 10mph with 15mph gusts. We have to push through. We still keep our miles bellow 3:39, but this requires heavier breathing and more effort than I planned to spend at this early stage of the run.
The downhill slope is now much less noticable than before. We run alongside state road 77 - a major two lanes road. In some parts one lane is closed for us, and in other parts we run outside of the yellow line. Make sure you don't trip and fall past the cones into the lane because cars and trucks are passing by at 60+mph.
We pass the half point at 1:37:52. This is great, right where we wanted to be. A few minutes to spare for the second half. And is my new halfs PR !!
The head wind does not let go. Thorsten runs in front of me to break the wind, and I trail him to save energy. He pushes the pace a notch and we catch up with a group of runners and blend in. It does help to run inside the group. Still, I am getting tired. I take a gu every 5 miles, and a couple e-caps every hour.
The miles become longer, and uphill. At least this is my feeling. The wind keep blowing in our faces. It is draining my energy and I slow down. Miles 15-19 go at an average 8:25 pace. It could have been a great pace for any other shiny day, however it is far too slow for today's ambitious goal. We no longer wish for a 3:20, but if we keep this pace we should still be able to make a 3:30.
We drink at any aid station. Prior to the run I finished one bottle of water and another of gatorade. I also carry my fuel belt with two little bottles. The temperature is between 50-60, an ideal temprature. It does not feel hot.
Miles 20-22 go at a 9:15 pace. Running is hard, and Thorsten does everything to cheer me up and keep my pace. I feel depleted but I keep going.
At mile 22 I get cramps. My right leg first, left leg follows. We keep running, although the pace is now 10+ minutes per mile. This is quite a painful struggle. Miles 25 and 26 are even slower, 11 minutes pace. Every time that I try to pick up the pace the cramps instantly tight up. I do not walk, but for Thorsten this is kinda walking pace. He tells me jokes and cheers me for every mile mark we pass. I am no longer a fun partner to run with, I must admit but he has infinte patience and not a single comment. He is there just for me. A true friend.
The last mile is uphill, alongside a very long traffic jam (we cannot escape the gasoline odor). We enter the finish line zone and the director even announce my name. A 3:41:29 finish time. It is over !
Not quite over yet. Thorsten sits down to rest, and I fight my cramped legs. I cannot sit - they would instantly cramp, toes to hips. I can hardly walk either. And I feel worse than after any previous marathon. My face are all salty, from the e-caps. I wonder, how comes I have such strong cramps if I took all these electrolytes ? Thorsten gives one look at me and says "I think that you are dehydrated".
Dahhh. It hits me. Of course I am. Pretty badly dehydrated, I must say. How could I be there and not notice it myself ? Yes, I had a bit more water than I usualy drink through a marathon. However, I have zero experience with running marathons in the desert. Humidity is 30%, compared to 90-97% in the bay area. We get some more water and other drinks. Within the first ten minutes after the run I finish four bottles of liquids, and two more within the next 20 minutes or so. This is three liters! And nothing will come out for the next couple of hours, while I keep sipping more water. I never been so dehydrated before.
Three weeks later. My recovery is very slow. I could not walk straight for the first three days. After one week I had a first short run. My right foot swells and hurts after 4-6 miles. I run slower, shorter, and it is improving. The blisters are mostly gone, and I only have one black toe nail. I hope to be back to normal in a few more weeks.
The moral? my first marathon outside of California. A totally different weather; high elevation, head wind, very dry - all were overlooked. Running with a friend makes a huge difference, especially when it's hard and painful. Time of 3:41 is very good, given the cramps etc. Still, I must be alert to my body condition, and adjust my plan (gu, water etc) based on the conditions. Other than that, Gary was right- long downhills do cause blisters. And what about Boston ? Fortunatly, every year I get older ... and next year my BQ will go up to 3:30. I hope to see you in Boston 2008 :-)
Nike Marathon
What's the Nike Women marathon in SF ? A very impressive organization - check out their web site
http://www.nike.com/nikemarathon/. It sells out very quickly, months before the event.
How do I get into that? Well, have you seen "The Bachelor" ?
Inspired by the movie, I finally had my wet dream come true - to run in San Francisco with thousands of women running after me :-) The full marathon had about 240 men, 3,700 women. Overall there were about 15,000 runners in the Nike event, perhaps half are Team and Training (!). TnT secured a huge chunk of the registrations - hence why the event is sold out so early (in May).
It's a very nice course, starting from Union Sqr, down to Embarcadero, all the way to Presidio, keeping the coastal road past Legion of Honors to the Great Hwy, into the GG park - touring most of it, then back on the Great Hwy, going south past the zoo, around Merced lake and a nice golf course, and finally heading north back to GG park and the finish line. I like it better than the San Francisco Marathon course, except that it misses the GG bridge.
Until mile 20 I was just a minute behind my 3:30 target time, with a 1:45:05 split at the first half and already having all the hills behind. A bit tired, I must say, but happy and energized. Nike have a very nice pace calculator on the web site, with splits adjusted to mile's difficulty - and I was following it very closely. It works great. I took one e-cap and one s-cap capsole every hour, water at every other aid station, and a Gu every 5-6 miles. However at mile mark 20, Lake Merced, my left foot toes suddenly cramped - they instantly curled under my foot. I was literally stepping over my own toes... hhmm, I almost tripped over, right on the "Mile 20" mark, in fron of a few surprised spectators. It felt somewhat like a race car crashing into the barriers and flipping over. I had to take off my shoe and sock to stretch and massage my toes and take a couple more e-caps. It only took a few minutes, but I could no longer make a 3:30 ... that's left for the next time.
There are lots of goodies along the way - chocolate, foot massage (?) and even free pairs of shoes... I skipped them all. The right way to enjoy this marathon is to stop at all these stations. Just don't try to make it your new PR.
I finished in 3:39:39 - knocking about 3 minutes off my previous PR !! I placed 175 overall, 15 in men and 5th in my age group. It felt great. The cramps were over and I just received the finisher's Tiffany neckless from a guy in tuxedo and the "Run like a girl" tech-shirt :-)
And what about all the women behind ? well, hhm, some of them were actually ahead of me. The bechelor must have ran faster to leave them all behind. I did not look back very often, but one difference I able to notice - they had very different outfit than in the picture :-)
Arnon
SAD Living Memorial Inaugural Run
I got a chance to enjoy a morning run at Rancho, without all the noise and chatter of my usually unstoppable monologue. The reason being I was the only one running this morning.
It was a perfect fall morning in Northern California, sun shining, that clear, warm light that bathed the hills and trails. I decided to visit some of the "old" places I hadn't seen in awhile. (What comes from not running so much this summer.) So I headed the long way, Farm Bypass and up Upper Wildcat Canyon and down Upper Rogue Valley to the little pond. Its completely dried up at the moment, which was kind of a surprise.
Coming back I crossed the causeway and went up to the junction with Chemise and then back down and around to meet up with Rogue Valley and out to the farm. All the time enjoying the cool, still morning. There were plenty of deer, squirrel, rabbit and birds, but not too many humans. I caught up with one of them on the last leg past the fallen oak, only to have him shoot away in an urgent shuffle. Well, I'm not into racing so whatever, except then he slows down again, and since I'm just keeping my pace, I catch up to him again, and now he's off again! So what the heck, I think, if he's got that much energy, he must need some motivation. So putting thoughts to deeds, I pump it up a little so that I'm just within that
"he's back there, I can feel 'em" distance all the way back to the bridge.
It was a good pick up for me, and I kept him from slacking off at the end of his run, mission accomplished.
The S.A.D. run name comes from Sissie, Arnon, and Dayle, all of who are out this week for various reasons. Seeing as its usually me that's MIA, it is appropriate that I step up and put some miles in for the team.
And really, how can one avoid a Rancho run, when just this summer there were sightings of bobcats, snakes, and coyote; and I personally got to witness a red-tail hawk descend and retreive a fat grey rat from the bushes. Not to mention the somewhat awesome sight of a giant oak limb, more like a half-tree, broken off and fallen from its parent.
Nope, you just can't beat running in the Bay Area.
