2009 marine corps marathon

I’m not really one for suspense, so I’ll go ahead and spit out it. I’m kind of a little bummed about this race. I went in feeling like I could reasonably expect a 4:10-4:15 finish and possibly faster if I were feeling good, but I ended up with a 4:29:37, about four minutes slower than my first marathon time. I thought for sure I had to do better than last time, being that I actually did way more miles and long runs than for ING Georgia and the second half of the course was much flatter. Not so much, though. “Wha’ happon?”

My mom and I got up to DC mid-afternoon on Saturday in time for torrential downpours and mega-traffic in the area. It was stressing me out and I felt like we were never going to make it to the expo, especially when we followed my dad’s GPS instead of good old Google Maps directions and went the wrong way off the highway. We eventually got to the expo with plenty of time to spare (typical) and picked up my race number and totally sweet baby blue, cotton, mock-neck long sleeve race tshirt. That t-shirt is pretty much the best thing to ever happen to sales of race-branded apparel, let me tell you. We walked around the expo and bought a black Brooks MCM shirt for me and a white long sleeve for my mom, who earned it with some serious driving and public transit time over the weekend. We checked into our hotel in Arlington and then drove over to Whole Foods to get some dinner from the salad bar and ate in the hotel room while watching the Weather Channel (yep, still raining) and figuring out transportation for the next morning, pinning my gels to my shorts, number to my shirt, etc and getting all our things ready to throw in the car since we didn’t have a late checkout. We decided my mom would meet me around miles 10, 19, and 22 water stations.

We were in bed by 11pm, maybe asleep by 12am or so. I woke up a little before my alarm went off at 5am. It was a pretty relaxing morning and I felt comfortable, not nervous, and ready to go, but not hungry at all. I had to short on the eating because I knew if I kept going, I’d barf. We left around 6:30am and my mom dropped me off at the Crystal City Metro station to catch the shuttle to the starting line, where I noted the irony of standing in line for 30 minutes to take a shuttle about a mile before running 26.2. Oh, well. I shot the shit with a nice girl from the DC area running her first marathon and a man from the Seattle area on his 49th. I was running behind by the time we got to the start, so I worked against every grain in my body that wants to be on time and told myself it really didn’t matter whether I was on time or not since my race wasn’t starting until I crossed the starting line, which ended up being about 12 minutes after the gun went off.

The first third of the race was very crowded; think Peachtree Road Race if you’ve done that one. Lots of bob and weave, jostling, full contact running! These first eight miles were the hilliest of the course, but very manageable and I ran towards mile 10 feeling good and looking forward to seeing my mom and handing off my long sleeve. I couldn’t find her there, which sent me into a bad mood about the whole thing and I pulled out my dad’s cell that I was carrying (because it’s lighter than mine) and tried reaching her on her phone and my phone to see if I’d missed her or if she wasn’t there yet so she wouldn’t keep waiting for me. Of course, this is where I saw the first race photographers, while I’m walking and [attempting to be] talking on my cell phone. Whatever. I couldn’t reach my mom and didn’t get in touch with her until I was at the halfway point and she was still looking for me at mile 10. I don’t know why this bummed me out so much. Probably because I’m a grump, but after that I just felt kind of dejected and it was hard to keep up speed/motivation to get to mile 19, where she said she’d head to. At ING Georgia, Brian had been supposed to meet me at mile 21 and didn’t get there in time, so I just started stewing. I decided since then that if I’m going to attempt to see anyone along the course, either I need them to not tell me where (and they have an eagle eye for me) or it needs to be very late in the race so I’m not sad the rest of the time that they weren’t there.

I trudged along and my pace just stunk it up. I spotted my mom near mile 20, just before the bridge. The bridge was probably the longest/most boring part of the course. For as slow as I was running and as frustrated as I was, the miles and the time seemed to be moving by pretty quickly. My Garmin had me about .20 miles over the course mile markers, which increased to .40 over by the end of the race. This was my second bummer since my Garmin would beep that I was on mile 23 and then I’d have to run another third of a mile or so before actually reaching the mile marker. Not a huge deal, but not really helpful and I couldn’t understand why the gap was growing and growing towards the end, since I attributed the extra mileage to all the jostling at the beginning of the race. I was so frustrated. After a few days, I’m mostly over it and am not going to cry about it, but I’m not going to lie – I was pretty disappointed at the time when I realized I wasn’t even going to beat my last time, let alone finish faster.

Running out of Crystal City (an out-and-back portion), you headed back onto a highway, down an exit ramp, and past the starting line, then up a hill to the finish line and the Iwa Jima memorial.

Other stuff: I started the race with 5 Hammer gels and only ate 2, at miles 7 and 10-ish. Surely a bad move, but I couldn’t deal with eating the sugary gels, which I usually like. Obviously as everyone else says, the thing is very well organized and executed by the Marines. Tons of people were wearing shirts in remembrance of family members. I’m the kind of person who will bawl if you mention that your dog died ten years ago, so it took a lot of focus not to cry looking at all of them. Best moment was probably getting a high five from a young blonde [female] Marine at the starting line.

I saw the most amazing person in the race using crutches (I know there is another word, but am blanking on it; a more permanent version that uses your forearm more and not so much your armpit) and he was followed by someone pushing a wheelchair if he needed it (he did not when I saw him). I can only assume that he was a veteran and he had very scarred legs and what looked like parts of his calves gone. It is so incredible what people can persevere through and the cards that people get dealt and don’t give up. Thinking about your odds of something happening to you from conception forward, if you are born whole and healthy and remain that way, you’re unbelievably lucky. I don’t think I feel like running a race in and of itself is a great personal accomplishment, but it is a testament to the fact that you are fortunate enough to be more able-bodied and blessed than so many people who face bigger challenges every day. I don’t feel a sense of pride at finishing so much as hugely fortunate to be healthy and strong enough to run, happy and motivated enough to set goals for myself, to live somewhere that people enlist to risk their life for everyone else and then congratulate them on a day that’s probably a tenth as difficult as their easy days, financially able to spend hours running and training and traveling hours away just to run some more, and to have people who love me enough to come along and encourage me and cheer for me and let me sleep in the car on the way home and then have the audacity to mention that my feet hurt.

Results:
Chip time: 4:29:37
Distance: 26.2/Garmin 26.6
9,430/21,176 finishers
2,791/8,335 females
669/1813 age group 25-29

2 weeks out

I was pretty generous with my off days last week. Between feeling like I should take some kind of rest after the half and then going to a wedding on Saturday (plus a gnarly Advanced Macronutrients exam in between), I didn’t pencil in too much running time. So now I’m just kind of dunked into my taper weeks, with eleven days to go before the Marine Corps Marathon on the 24th. It’s finally time to start getting stoked about it; Google Mapping directions, figuring out what clothes to wear, frantically typing numbers into the pace calculator on Cool Running, and, dare I say, considering some semblance of race strategy.

My general strategy for races is something like, run at a pace that doesn’t make you want to puke for as long as you can, then slow down as necessary to mitigate puking. Usually that pace is just whatever feels natural and on practice runs, that’s usually around 8:30 outdoors (slower indoors for some reason). I know I can’t maintain an 8:30 pace for a full marathon; you can see my pace at the half last weekend was about 8:46 with slower miles thrown in at the end and my 21 mile training run a couple weeks ago was 9:15/mile or so pace. I am thinking about starting the race at about 9:30/mile pace and seeing where that gets me. I am just skeptical of the negative split and am pro putting some time in the bank, although that is never really recommended as a strategy. Should I start even slower? I’m concerned that won’t give me enough time to pick things back up if I’m tired at the end. And I mean, really, I’m going to be tired at the end regardless. The question is just what time will be on the clock when I start fading. The course elevation map looks like the hills are pretty minimal and mostly at the beginning. Famous last words.

miles for week of 10/4
10/4 sunday – 13.1 miles, 1:55:02 (Locomotive Half Marathon)
10/5 monday – off
10/6 tuesday – off
10/7 wednesday – 8 miles, 73:50
10/8 thursday – 8 miles, 73:50 (I may not be fast, but I am consistent!)
10/9 friday PM – 6.52, 60 minutes
10/10 saturday off

total miles: 35.62

oktoberfast or oktoberslow?

I signed up for the Locomotive Half Marathon in Kennesaw online last night at about 11:54pm, barely beating the midnight registration cutoff (if I don’t register in advance, I know I won’t go). Naturally, I feel like crud today; headache, grumbly stomach, tired legs. I don’t know if that’s being worn down from my run yesterday or being outside all evening at Brian’s art thing or staying up late eating tacos at our friends’ house last night. Maybe I would feel better if I put my contacts in and got off the couch. Either way, I’m pretty cheap and enjoy making myself miserable to some degree, so I’ll be running in the morning. For now, I am going to try and enjoy a day of not running and then going to sleep early … like right now, maybe.

I am pretty stoked about my run yesterday, though it definitely brought back some of the memories of marathon pain. I ran 21 miles on the greenway; 3.5 miles from where I park to the Sandy Creek Nature Center and 3.5 back, three times. It wasn’t too mind numbing until the third trip. My old buddy mile 19 came along and kicked me in the bottom and made me wonder why I have been doing a bunch of 18 mile runs when I should have been going to 19+ since that is when I usually start flopping. I honestly don’t think I had even considered it, so my subconscious must have done a great job of duping me. I finished in 3:15:23. I ended the first third with a 9:15 pace, second third with 9:14 (and hopes of a negative split), and then ended up with an overall 9:18 pace.

miles for week of 9/27

9/27 sunday – off
9/28 monday – 8 miles, 1:14:15
9/29 tuesday – off
9/30 wednesday – 8.5 miles, 1:18:19
10/1 thursday – 8.1 miles, 1:15:10
10/2 friday – 21.0 miles, 3:15:23
10/3 saturday – off
total miles: 45.6

hello fall

Three weeks out from race day and I am dutifully hanging in, though deviating from any kind of planned schedule most of the time. I’m a little bored with the places I usually do longer runs (campus, greenway), but luckily our weather is finally cooling off after a blazing summer and then the odd week and a half or so of pouring down rain we got in Georgia. My birthday was a couple of weeks ago and Brian got my bike tuned up for me, so I have been riding my bike a little bit to break up the boredom. The wheel is an incredible invention, by the way. Did you know it’s so much faster than using your feet to propel yourself? I signed up for the Jittery Joe’s Fall Classic Century on October 17th. Tapering means less running, but I can bike 31 miles and then drink beers, right?

Something I haven’t done is decided if I am going to run a half as a tune up race. Since the ones I was thinking about are this weekend, I kind of need to decide that soon. I’m going to see if I actually run my whole long run tomorrow morning and then decide since registration closes tomorrow. The one I preferred to do (Locomotive 1/2) is farther away than I thought it was before I Google Mapped it – 2 hours. That’s hecka early to be getting up on a Sunday morning for a start time of 7am. I am still having trouble sleeping/staying asleep so I don’t know. The other one (13.1 Marathon) is about a half hour closer, but double the price so that isn’t going to happen. Running the distance isn’t a factor as much as just getting some race-day running in since it’s so much different than just putzing along alone on a trail. I know I could get up Sunday morning and do the same distance at home for free at a reasonable hour (as Brian so reasonably suggested), but it just doesn’t feel like the same thing.

Here’s a short catch up on my mileage for the past several weeks. I’ll spare the deets and just give you weekly miles and the length of my longest (note I say longest and not so much “long run”) run for that week. So far this week, I’ve plodded out 24.6 miles and am scheduled (pronounce that shed-yuled, please) to run somewhere around 20 miles tomorrow, god willing I muster up the motivation. I need some amazingly entertaining podcasts to listen to or something. My long runs have been generally shorter than they should be (I probably should have a couple 20-22s by now). No comment there, really. I feel pretty comfortable and my runs in general are an improvement from the last go ’round, so I don’t feel unprepared so much as I do a bit of a slacker.

week of 8/23 – total miles: 43.55, longest run: 18 miles
week of 8/31 – total miles: 36.XX, longest run: 9 miles (aka no long run. I haven’t uploaded my garmin in a while and I didn’t write down the number for one day, so I’m not positive of the exact total)
week of 9/7 – total miles: 33.14* (ouch!), longest run: 10 miles (x3)
week of 9/13 – total miles: 40.84, longest run: 15 miles
week of 9/20 – total miles: 42.00, longest run: 18 miles

My last long run started out as a trail run and morphed to a TM run because of rain. I got my nature on and saw three deer while I was out there. They were faster than me, but luckily not in my age group. My ankles hurt for two days!

*edit: I couldn’t figure out why I didn’t run much that week, but I forgot that I played a game with my old roller derby team that weekend. They didn’t have enough players and asked me Thursday if I’d play the game on Saturday with them, so instead of doing a longer run on Friday or Saturday, I only did a 3 mile or so run on Saturday afternoon to feel like my legs were awake to skate that evening without wearing them out (I hadn’t been on skates for about 3 months). Not an even trade off, but I don’t feel so bad about that week now since I know at least I was doing something else.

crickets chirping

My Google Reader has been pretty quiet for the last few days and so have I. The third (fourth?) week of the semester is finishing up and it’s been pretty busy so far; it’s been harder than I expected to get my classwork done and leave designated days for work-work and running. I’ll post my mileage over the weekend when I have a little more time to look at it; I know I’ve had at least one pretty weak tally since my last post. I had a long run fail (LRF) last weekend; just procrastinated too much, then got worked up that I wasn’t going to get back to my car before nightfall (scary) and the gates being locked (immobilization, mandatory 20+ mile extension on the run). I’ve had a couple of ten mile runs this week and then took tonight to do a workout video at home.

Since I don’t have a lot to say about running, here’s some school stuff. Right now I am sort of loosely planning to do my thesis on older adults/elderly + obesity + physical activity +/- something else, but I haven’t figured it out yet. I’m a little interested in rural individuals in some way; this is something that has become a much larger and more important issue in my life just by living in a rural area for several years. The type of environment that promotes a healthy lifestyle (namely resources for safe, accessible physical activity) don’t really exist in rural poor areas. My major professor is a great resource for information; she’s extremely well established in nutrition, gerontology, and generally very adept at taking scientific literature and making it accessible.

One of the projects that is under her wing (and coordinated by a doctoral student of hers) is the State Farmers Market Nutrition Program for NE Georgia. Basically, low income seniors can recieve $20 in vouchers; a farmer comes and sets up a “farmers market” at the local senior center and they pick out fresh fruits and vegetables. This is the bomb deal for the farmer and a fun way for the seniors to access more fresh foods. I’m not an expert on this, but I believe it’s limited to one voucher per person per year, so it’s definitely a supplemental program. We had one in ACC about a week ago and one in Morgan County today. Tomorrow will be in Elbert County, not too far from where I live. It’s really fun and I get a kick out of the seniors. Some are silly and some are very serious, but for the most part they’re really, really nice and appreciative. We help them pick out foods, pay with the vouchers, get everything bagged up for them, give them a little survey, etc (that’s the basics since I’m just showing up to help; there is a lot more paperwork and prep involved, but I don’t know much about it). Giving the survey is fun because they are generally so stoked about getting to come out and “shop.” I had one sweet old lady give me a hug and another ask me to write down my name – she said she was going to pay me later or something, I don’t know what she meant! Like when she won the lotto? Don’t worry, I gave her my full name just in case.

It’s really nice to be around a different demographic of people that you aren’t necessarily used to. I personally cannot WAIT to be retired. Ever since my parents retired (granted after working hard for many, many years) and I see them hanging out and doing what they want all day, I have had my eyes on the prize. Now I just have to work for 40+ years and I’m golden …

I forgot that I do have one running thing to mention; I got my bib number – 8273 – for MCM, which has gotten me psyched up and feeling ready even with weeks and weeks (and longer runs) to go. Maybe I need to start writing it on my tshirt to get me motivated!

trying to focus

I’ve been feeling pretty blah on running for the last couple of weeks. Maybe a combination of still being a ways out from MCM and also sleeping pretty poorly. I have always had trouble falling asleep and I wake up a lot at night, but I feel like I have spent more time laying awake trying to fall back asleep than I have actually sleeping. I mostly feel pretty good, so I shouldn’t complain, but I do feel pretty listless and hungrier than usual (trying to compensate for being tired and gaining weight as a result). Anyway, here’s what I’ve got. Pretty much the same as usual, but it’s been a struggle to make myself get up and out. I think that just happens sometimes when your hobby is also exercise; if your hobby is video games or happy hour or singing, you can do those things even if you’re tired and they’re relaxing. You don’t go, oh my GOSH, I did not go to happy hour today and therefore I’m lazy and I suck. You might even be proud of yourself for that, haha.

week of 8/9
8/9 sun – off
8/10 mon – off
8/11 tues – off! (woah)
8/12 wednesday – 9.5 miles, 89:50, avg pace 9:27
8/13 thursday – 8.37 miles, 79:39, avg pace
8/14 friday – AM 7.1, PM 8.4 – this was supposed to be a 14 mile run, but I was tired so I split it. don’t ask why I was tired when I already took 3 days off.
8/15 saturday – 7 miles, time?

total: 40.37 miles

week of 8/16
8/16 sunday – off
8/17 monday PM – 7.0 miles, 65:45
8/18 tuesday AM – 7.57, 70:40
8/19 wednesday PM – 3.25, 30:07
8/20 thursday PM – 8.5, 79:40
8/21 friday PM – 16 miles, 2:31:00
8/22 saturday – off

total: 42.32 miles

So, I have been thinking about what kind of MCM time I am going to shoot for. Things seemed a little easier when I was running to see if I could run a marathon; I knew I could do that, even if it was going to be slow, and as long as I did it, success. Trying to figure out how fast I can run a marathon is a whole different beast and requires a little more effort. My previous time is 4:25, so about 10:07 pace. Obviously, I want to beat that and I think I’ve been running more than I did in prepping for that race. Barring weirdness (and there is always weirdness), I think I could reasonably run a 4:10, but would like to do 4:00 or less.

I think I’m going to sign up for a half in early October and see if my time there has improved much just to see where I am at. There are two on the same weekend in Atlanta; Locomotive Half Marathon and 13.1 Atlanta. I’m leaning towards Locomotive because it seems a little more homegrown. It’s cheaper too, but slightly further away from me and I’d be driving there the morning of the race. 13.1 seems kind of silly; “the latest craze in themed half marathons.” I’d rather something be cheaper than be “themed” (I can’t figure out what their theme is?) and I still disagree with them naming it “13.1 Marathon” because I think it’s confusing to people who don’t realize that a marathon is a set distance. And to be superficial, I don’t want to look like a dumbass wearing a tshirt that says 13.1 Marathon on it, because I know better.

I’m also going to start picking the pace up a little bit again, which was something that I let slip after I was having more bouts of foot pain during faster runs. Running mid-long around 9:30 has been much more agreeable to my feet, but I need to pick it up again and see what happens because now I just feel lazy running that speed most of the time. It’s probably time for some new shoes. How often should you get refitted for shoes? I like the ones I have, so I don’t really want to rock the boat, but maybe there is something better for me now.

miles for week of 8/2

8/2 sunday afternoon – 3.1 miles, 26:26 – avg pace 8:31
8/3 monday night – 8.5 miles, 78:23 – avg pace 9:13
8/4 tuesday night – 8.53 miles, 78:03 – avg pace 9:09
8/5 wednesday night – 8.5 miles, 79:14 – avg pace 9:19
8/6 thursday afternoon – 8 miles, 74:25 – avg pace 9:18
8/7 friday – none
8/8 saturday AM – 14 miles, 2:12:33 – avg pace 9:28

total miles: 50.63

This is my first time breaking 50 miles for the week. Yeah, buddy! No class = lots of time and few excuses not to run. Most of my runs were at night this week. I’d work or mess around my house all day and then be frustrated and tired of sitting before I would go out and do something. I’m at my parents’ house in North Carolina visiting them and, soon, my brother, his wife, and my nephew and niece. I got up at 6AM this morning to do my long run of the week, 14 miles. I ate some granola and soy milk (fascinating!) and then realized I didn’t charge my Garmin before I went to bed last night. I let it charge for about 45 minutes until it was at 45 or 50 percent and was moderately satisfied that it wouldn’t die over the course of the morning. So, I didn’t get out of the house until 7:30am because I am apparently a slave to data and the idea of running around for 2 hours without knowing if I was beating my virtual training partner was just dastardly.

The weather held out for me and it was a beautifully grey and cloudy morning. My parents live on a lake (not actually on it, but it’s a planned community with a manmade, spring-fed lake), so my plan was to loop the lake twice, which they said was about 7.2 miles. The last 3 miles are a lot hillier (shorter, more frequency) than the first (flatter, with some extended uphills). I took some detours and ended up back at the house at 8 miles on the dot. I went inside to get some ice to put in my [empty, warm] water bottle.

My dad: You’re not supposed to stop in the middle, are you?

Haha. Then I went for 3 miles out and back to get 6 miles and finish up. The first 8 miles were a 9:25 pace and then the last 6 were 9:32, which is weird because I was so freaking tired by then. It’s kind of a lot easier to just run a marathon than to progressively train for one. No one gives me medals and shirts for these long runs. I went back inside, relieved to be finished and both of my parents were in the kitchen.

My dad: You took a long time.

Haha. Burn. I’m not sure if he meant the whole thing or the last 6 miles because he said something about it taking me more than an hour and I said, well, I don’t run 14 miles per hour. But maybe he meant the last 6 miles. I ate two pieces of rye toast and some coffee, but I feel so uninterested in eating after long runs; maybe just too tired to care. My mom and I went on some errands and saw Julie and Julia in the afternoon, so I didn’t eat lunch except for the bottle of OJ (with pulp!) I got to drink during the movie. OJ is my favorite post-run food. Then at dinner when I was putting pasta and sauce on my plate, my dad goes, “are you going to eat all that?” Triple whammy! For what it is worth, I didn’t eat all that – but I could have. Then do the truffle shuffle.

The next week or so, I will probably be sucking it up because two of my BFFs will be in Atlanta so that’s a couple of days I might not do anything. I’m going to be here for a few more days, so maybe I will tackle the lake again if I can get up early enough. I like the morning, but getting up early enough to run in the AM is my downfall; I like running, but I sure love sleeping. For now, I’m going to bask in my 50-mile week glory for the remaining 3 hours of the day and enjoy my rest day tomorrow.

marathon training, go!

I mentioned yesterday that this was my first week following a training plan for the Marine Corps Marathon at the end of October. The plan I chose is the Runner’s World advanced training plan. I don’t really think of myself as an “advanced” runner, but I run more regular miles than described in the intermediate plan and I didn’t want to start with 8 miles as a long run since that’s a distance I do regularly. The plan is mostly to use the long run distances as benchmarks and maybe not follow the plan to a t.

It’s been a while since I posted what I ran weekly because I got so behind. My actual running was diminished when I wasn’t keeping track on paper as well. So, back on it. I think I have all my miles written down, but if I know I’m going to post them, you know I’ll make sure to write them down in my notebook too.

7/5 sunday – off
7/6 monday 4.05 miles: 34:49, avg pace 8:36
7/7 tuesday 8.5 miles: 79:31, avg pace 9:21
7/8 wednesday 5 miles: 45:46
7/9 thursday 7.18 miles: 1:06:02, avg pace 9:11 (greenway run)
7/10 friday 8.5 miles: 80:00, avg pace 9:24
7/11 saturday 11 miles (long): 1:44:56, avg pace 9:32

weekly total: 44.23 miles

It was a slow week – some are! My body just felt sluggish so I accepted a slower pace in exchange for keeping moving at all instead of running faster and quitting sooner. Yesterday and today, the slower pace was a joy and I felt awesome through both runs. I’m excited to see how much improvement I can make between now and October; I think my running/endurance has gotten a lot better since I ran ING Georgia in March. It feels awesome to have a big race goal again. As of today, I’ve run 860.14 miles this year.

woah

I can’t believe how many people wear lined shorts+undies in this Runner’s World post. I guess I just never saw the point. The only time I do that is if I have to change in front of someone at the gym. What can I say, I’m modest.

Booked my hotel for the Marine Corps Marathon. It looks terrible, but whatever, I got it for $100. It took about 1500 tries and I couldn’t find anything in Crystal City. I swore off Days Inn years ago when I had to travel a lot for my job and just stayed at one too many horribly sketchy Days Inn locations; crying may have been involved, actually. Now I know better. We’ll bring sleeping bags and strip the sheets.