Timing

09 Saturday Apr 2011

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Timing’s everything. Checkout these two pics of my run in the Boulder Half Marathon. You might have to click on them to see this, but both feet are off the ground in each shot. It’s the same spot, the one with gloves is 2 miles out and the one without gloves is with 2 miles left. So same lucky cameraman I assume. The first pic has me stunned as I am running uphill, and considering I’m running so slow the odds of that photographer catching two shots of me airborne are unreal. The dude has some incredible timing.

See the chic a step behind me at the finish in the 3rd pic? I put on a small surge at the end. I looked up her results from her bib number 1655. Her name is Caolan MacMahon. Turns out she is in the same age division as me – for women of course – but the really amazing thing is she ran only 3 seconds slower than me. I finished 241st overall, Caolan finished 242nd. Sort of rare to finish so close to someone who ran essentially the same pace, considering you both could have started anywhere apart from one another in the pack. We must have started standing fairly close to one another. I spent a full minute in a port-a-potty at mile 4, and ran the second half of the race 4 minutes faster than the first; she ran the second half 1.5 minutes faster than her first half. We even registered at nearly the same time as our bib numbers are only 4 digits off. Weird timing.

I ran my first track workout of the season today. Technically, my first track workout in about 25 years. I ran 6 quarters, which is to say I ran 6 loops around the track at 75% full speed and maintained a controlled rest interval in between. I used a 1 loop jog as my rest interval, and recorded the pace of that along with the quarters themselves.

1 mile warm up

Q1: 1:43 rest 2:15

Q2 1:59 rest 2:20

Q3 1:43 rest 2:29

Q4 1:44 rest 2:26

Q5 1:42 rest 2:26

Q6 1:40 rest 1 mile cool down

Maybe I’ll post another blog on some of the granular details of those splits after I’ve analyzed them. Just getting them published for now before I reset the stopwatch app on my iPhone. Or better yet, to any coaches reading this, feel free to comment. I don’t normally time myself. I don’t wear a watch, not even in road race events. I used to have such a good feel for my pace that I didn’t need to. I’ve lost that inner timer though and I’m using timing now as a tool to relearn my experience. After a quick look at the splits, I find the timing interesting for several reasons. My splits are oddly even for both the quarters and the rest intervals. That’s not surprising on the rest, I’m jogging around the track at a standard pace. It is surprising that my quarters are so even considering I’ve forgotten how to run interval workouts. Then, notice that the 2nd quarter is the most off from the others. If I recall, this is not unusual even for experienced runners. It must be a norm. Although I think more in-shape athletes tend to run the second quarter as their fastest rather than their slowest. That’s because the first quarter serves as a warm-up of sorts. And then they, as you, settle into a pattern. Synchronous timing.

Timing is everywhere. It’s timing when they tell you your baby will be on the waiting list to receive a new heart for 4 to 6 months – and that’s how long it takes for another one year old baby boy to make his little heart available to Lil L. It’s timing when Susan comes home a day early from the week of work in Austin for a date night – courtesy the grandparents – and that puts her in bed with her husband when they receive the call at 2am letting them know the heart is being flown to Hobby International. It’s timing when Lil L’s sad heart varies wildly in rhythm, and his new heart – after it’s been disconnected from the machines and is organically part of the living Lil L – beats solid, steady and even. God’s timing.

CT Cronica: Green Chili

08 Friday Apr 2011

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“Really?  Thank God!”  You land at the trail head after a seriously steep serpentine and even though you knew you were nearing the end of the trail, it seems sudden nonetheless.  Finishing up a 16 miler requires adjustment.  You stretch on the rail leading to the bridge.  Others are standing on it taking pictures, so you drift down to the river itself.  The shallow torrent is as cold as it is clear, and you proceed to souse your head.  You feel the mountain water cleanse layers of sweat soaked sunscreen from your face and scalp.  This river bath is the ultimate cool down.

Refreshed, you join A Lo Hawk sitting on the river bank.  A Lo Hawk notes you completed the 16 mile trail in under three and a half hours.  You’re not quite completing full sentences yet and mumble a response.  You are ready now to eat your sandwich.  You take a couple of bites, but it’s stale so you decide to save your appetite for a more formal lunch.  The two of you reach consensus that you’ll stop at the first place you pass on the ride back that appears open.  You sit long enough for your heart rate to calm down, and you think about returning to this trail head in two weeks to begin the second segment of the CT.  You remove your socks and shoes, showing A Lo Hawk your splintered toe nail.  He’s impressed by this but then you admit it was already cracked before slamming it into that rock a few minutes earlier.  You’re both really hungry so you get in the car and leave without ceremony.  You chat during the drive about other occurrences  that drift back to memory.  Most notably, you’re both amazed you just completed 16 miles without running into a single hiker.  What are the odds of that?  Enchanted forest indeed.  The parking lot was fairly full at the ending trail head, so where is everyone?

Sprucewood Inn on Hwy 67 at the intersection of Pine Creek Road is the first place and there is no question about it being open.  A dozen vehicles are parked outside.  You enter with the expectation of it being the best restaurant ever because the sign said beer and you are thirsty.  There’s outdoor seating, a beer garden of sorts, and you decide that’s where you’ll sit given the bright sunshine and unseasonably warm weather.  The bartender says you’ll need to order from the bar as she is too busy to wait on patrons sitting outside.  That’s fine.  You order a bottled beer – there is no tap – water, and the green chili.  A Lo Hawk orders the same beer and a burrito.

You sit outside with your beer and water and appreciate what a fantastic trail run you just completed, what an incredible day it is, and how fortunate you are to have shared this experience with a good friend.  You recall the trail chat you had on tattoos.  A Lo Hawk commemorated his PCT and AT hikes with specific designs around his ankles.  For the first time ever, you could see yourself doing something similar if you were to complete the entire CT from Denver to Durango.  It’s not likely you’ll complete the entire trail, but it doesn’t hurt to think about it.

The bartender brings out your food and you dig in.  You’re reminded of the scene in Once Upon a Time in Mexico where Johnny Depp eats the best puerco pibil he’s ever had, and he’s compelled to go into the kitchen to shoot the chef dead.  Good movie.  This is absolutely the best green chili you ever ate.  Hands down the best, and you’ve eaten some good shit.  The neighborhood’s annual chili cook-off has produced some outrageous green chili.  Your friend Dave, raised in New Mexico, makes some tasty green chili with lamb and pork seasoned in bacon.  But this is the best in the world.  And it’s located 10 miles west of Sedalia.  The Sprucewood Inn is worth a return visit.  And so is the Colorado Trail.

CT Cronica: Ultra

07 Thursday Apr 2011

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You might have started off leading this final leg, you don’t remember.  If you did, A Lo Hawk passed you at some point.  He’s ahead of you with hopefully only a few miles remaining when your feet begin to hurt and you reconsider promoting your shoes with a blog link.  This run brings forth memories of the Imogene Pass Run last September.  The bad part of the IPR – miles 8 and 9 leading up to the peak.  The only thing that kept you running then was the pressure of not forcing the runner behind you, whom you knew was likely to be feeling as tired as you, to have to pass you.  That trail didn’t provide the ability for runners to easily pass, and so you felt obligated to maintain your position and pace.  The CT at this point actually widens to double track, so you run alongside A Lo Hawk.  But that is short lived, you mostly fall behind – even when walking although there isn’t much of that.  The first 4 quarters feel like they were yesterday – this is the ultra quarter.

At some point you carry on a conversation with A Lo Hawk.  Talking is much more rare now too.  One of your chats covers the topic of falling.  You’ve only taken a couple of spills your entire life – both on trails.  The conversation foreshadows a near fall.  You slam the big toe of your right foot into a trail rock so hard you nearly hit the ground.  You scream loud enough to cause A Lo Hawk to turn around.  You don’t know if you were injured, you keep running.  But it hurts.  Bad.  You imagine it as a bloody stub, but the pain gradually subsides and is replaced with the misery afflicted to the soles of your feet which have become tenderized flesh.

It once again occurs to you that you are wearing the right shoes.  The thing about trail running shoes is they have a glob of rubber on the front, not unlike a car bumper.  These shoes re-earned their way back onto honorable mention in your blog.  That bumper clearly saved your big toe from destruction.  Thank you, La Sportiva.  Once you sufficiently recover from the pain and fear of toe loss, you find it ironic, almost irritating, that like the two falls you’d related to A Lo Hawk, this occurred in the last mile of your run.  But that’s probably not coincidence.  No doubt, the end of any run is when you are weakest and most likely to stumble.  Good reason to slow for a cool down.  And A Lo Hawk certainly is shuffling along the trail much slower these last miles.  The final downhill leg resembles the IPR’s 7 mile drop into Telluride.  As was the case then, A Lo Hawk’s and your quads are too weak to push it in.

Upon seeing the trail head, marked by an iron and wood foot bridge crossing the South Platte River, you are ready to simply walk it in.  And A Lo Hawk feigningly slows to meet your expectations.  But then you hear him mumble something and with renewed vigor he kicks in the final stretch.  This is fairly impressive considering the steepness of the trail here, but you feel more like penalizing him for the pitcher’s balk.  Your mind was set for walking, and you almost did.  Instead, you finish the trail running, as you had done for 16 miles; but without any pretense of strength by kicking.  You finish up slow as if running a cool down.  Much like you did during the last half mile of your most recent half marathon.

CT Cronica: Enchanted Forest

06 Wednesday Apr 2011

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The 4th quarter is at least the start of the second half of the course distance-wise.  You’ve certainly gone over 10 miles by now.  A Lo Hawk begins slowly although a bit faster than you would have.  But you loosen up and begin to enjoy the look and feel of the trail.  You appreciate having discarded your second top shirt.  It’s almost odd how the air retains some iciness – you feel it in the ring of sweat around your head below your cap.  And yet you feel the warmth of the sun too.  Outstanding running conditions for both weather and scenery.

You enter into some heavier woods.  The sun continues to splash through the leaves as you enter but soon becomes hidden above the canopy.  You’ve warmed up and don’t need the sun but you experience a new level of fatigue.  Your running form is fine, but your mind is now wandering as much as it would if you were running alone.  You allow gaps between you and A Lo Hawk to develop larger than those in the 3rd quarter.  You even lose sight of him at times around bends.  The trees are thick enough to obscure A Lo Hawk at a distance, yet roomy enough to walk through.  The trail has changed.

You begin to imagine creatures.  Not squirrels or rabbits.  You’re brain is beginning to bake and you’re thinking about trolls and mystical leprechauns.  The setting really is magical and combined with your numb mind supports mild hallucinations.  If there were such things as  two foot tall creatures with size 12 hairy feet, this is where you’ll see them – miles deep in the forest of the Colorado Trail.  You scan the trees ahead, prepared for Hobbit-like characters or Charlie Sheen to appear from behind a tree and accost you for your tiger blood.  As you round a bend, you catch a glimpse of A Lo Hawk before he disappears again around the next curve in the trail.  Feeling alone, your thoughts are illusory.  You quicken your pace.

You’re running stronger now, or the hills have slowed A Lo Hawk, or perhaps he has even stopped to wait for you, and you are now running close behind him.  This has been a long quarter and you now expect this trail is headed to extra innings.  A Lo Hawk is still running the downhills strong, but your pace is close enough to his now that you leave behind the fantasies to begin thinking about finishing.  It occurs to you that you should eat some food.

You’re not interested in your sandwich at the next rest period.  Rob offers you something he calls a pancake.  You have yet to find any manufactured trail energy food that you find palatable, but you like this.  Yes, you’re super hungry but you suspect you like this anyway.  You make note of it as something you’ll provide a link to in your blog.  It’s earned honorable mention.  And so do your shoes.  Your La Sportiva trail shoes lead you up a glacier and have gripped this entire trail with confidence.  Likewise, A Lo Hawk is pleased with his Adidas trail shoes.  Smart gear and smart gear choices today.  You’ve got that going for you.

The rest spot was impressive – on a large boulder that you used your hands in order to climb up.  With a view that justified pictures and should have rationalized sitting for a good hour.  But knowing you’re nearing the end, you don’t hang out too long and you begin the last leg of this trail run.

CT Cronica: The Warm-up is Over

05 Tuesday Apr 2011

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After 6 miles, you reach the Colorado Trail.  “Really?  What was the trail we just ran?”  What you just did was the Indian Creek Trail Head.  It sits south of the CT at nearly the same distance as the Waterton Trail Head sits north of the CT.  Where those two trail head paths collide is the start of the Colorado Trail sans trail head – which is said to start in Denver and end in Durango.

10 miles remain, but according to runner’s math, it feels like halftime.  You’ve completed one trail and are starting another.  That’s half way regardless of distance.  A Lo Hawk leads the 3rd quarter and you notice a different feel to your body with your first steps.  The weight of lactic acid in your legs reminds you of the several hills you climbed over the last 6 miles.  You eventually fall into a comfortable pace as A Lo Hawk leads yet another march, another quarter in this epic run.  It occurs to you that you might run the entire course today.  So much for hiking.  But to be fair, you’ve yet to encounter hills you can’t handle, and the elevation isn’t out of your range.  A 16 mile run is starting to appear possible.

Like a dolly zoom, this quarter expands the further you run.  You realize you are beginning to tire.  A Lo hawk isn’t showing signs of fatigue as he runs downhill with the confidence and speed you demonstrated in the 2nd quarter.  And while he might walk a few steps of intensely steep uphill, he is quick to return to solid pace once the steps flatten out.  You surrender distance on even ground and struggle to close the gap during downhills.  Your pace is inconsistent while A Lo Hawk’s tempo is strong and even. You consider whether he is in that much better shape or if trail running skills are starting to show their impact.

The path meanders in and out of sun and shade.  You feel the heat in the sun and alternate the bill of your cap to forward from rear to counter the glare.  You feel grateful that A Lo Hawk is leading as following is the only thing that’s keeping you running.  If it were your lead you’d be walking – if not resting on a big rock in the shade.  You haven’t hit a wall exactly, but your body requires replenishment.  The end of the 3rd quarter brings relief and for the first time you eat.  You test the carrots – something you’ve never brought along for a run or hike before but seem like a good idea.  They are moist with water while still crunchy.  You’re happy with them and relate a story to A Lo Hawk on how they remind you of eating tunas in Mexico.

You finish the bottle of Gatorade you’ve been carrying in your hand – partly from thirst and partly because you’re tired of carrying it.  A Lo Hawk has been fueled by Cytomax.  Before you start up again, you remove your top shirt and stuff it in your pack along with the empty bottle.  It’s heavy with sweat and you feel smart for your selection of layers.  Up to now, you’ve been alternating lead with A Lo Hawk, but you let him lead the 4th quarter as well.  He’s still strong.

CT Cronica: Trail Legs

04 Monday Apr 2011

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A Lo Hawk shouts from the mountain top at you to take the lead for the second quarter of today’s CT run.  You jump into action.  The CT is headed downhill again so you try to control your pace.  But soon enough you’re flying.  You’ve rediscovered your trail legs and are artfully stepping past stones.  Any over-confidence that is building though is challenged by the first water crossing you encounter.  You slow down to consider either the thin boards to the left or the thick log to the right.  A Lo Hawk surges past your incompetence and skips across the rocks right down the middle of the path.  You’re learning and on the next water crossing – much later in the hike but where you are again leading – you perform gracefully without hesitation.  Although to be truthful, you ran upon that stream too quickly to slow down and had to commit.

Committing your footfall while in mid-step is what makes trail runs so damned fun.  Skill starts with having sufficient leg strength and grows with your swelling confidence.  The faster you run, the greater your sense of owning this trail.  It’s addictive and you know you’ll pay for the good time once the path reverses slope and begins to climb back up.

The upturn occurs gradually though, allowing you to maintain a decent pace.  You’re nearly halted however upon encountering the glacier.  The path is half creek bed and presents you with a tremendous mound of snow and ice.  Your body stops momentarily, but not your momentum.  After assessing the risk, you leap up the middle of the colossus – undaunted by nature and resolute in your commitment to lead this section of the trail.  Not doubting A Lo Hawk’s abilities, you fail to look back, certain he is right behind you; and imagining how impressed he must be right now at your deft trail running prowess.

Typical of running intervals, the second quarter is fast, and will probably be your quickest.  You take the hills strong with little walking.  You guess the wrong direction at a trail intersection, but that’s why you run with a master trail guide.  After a quick photo op, you surrender the lead to A Lo Hawk for the upcoming third quarter basking in the memory of this interval.

CT Cronica: Downhill

03 Sunday Apr 2011

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You rise at 6 am to dress for hiking the first segment of the Colorado Trail.  You laid out your clothes the night before and selected a slew of shirts, extra socks and even multiple hats to make your final dress determination at the trail head.  You make a ham and cheese sandwich and grab a bag of baby carrots for trail food, and stuff it in your pack with clothes, sunscreen and two bottles of Gatorade Perform 02.  You’re out the door and at Vics by 6:30 am for a large cup of half decaf, half real deal for the drive to Sedalia.

You drive about 10 miles west of Sedalia on Hwy 67 to the Indian Creek Trail Head, where your trail guide A Lo Hawk is waiting for you after having camped the night out there.  You spend 45 minutes shuffling a car to the end of the hike, and launch at 3 minutes before 9 am.  A Lo Hawk, who in many ways is more of a spiritual guide than trail guide, takes the lead.  You follow more as if chasing the wind than anything corporeal.  Your expectation is to run as much as the first half of the 16 mile trail, and walk the rest.  But that plan is fluid and will be determined by the terrain and elevation.  You warm up and quickly fall into a fast pace because the trail is noticeably downhill.  Soon you’re flying effortlessly down the single track, and recalling how this trail reminds you of the time you spent regularly running an inner city greenbelt 23 years earlier.  You wonder if this trail will fall downward forever and know that you’ll complete it much earlier than planned if the drop continues.

All downhills end with a corresponding uphill, and this experience is no different.  A Lo Hawk gradually, smoothly shifts gears to maintain cadence as the slope increases and you near the crest.  He talks of trail ultras and the concept of continuum – the notion that each segment, the runs, the walks, and the sit down rests, all comprise equal experiences in your enjoyment of the CT.  As the rise steepens, you look forward to the walking component of the continuum.

A Lo Hawk eventually glides into a walk and you take his picture.  You’ve completed the first quarter of the first segment of the CT.  You don’t know that the quarter metaphor will add up mathematically in terms of today’s hike/run having 4 stops or 4 discrete segments; but you’re thinking more in terms of running an interval track workout of quarter miles.  Such workouts might consist of 6 or 8 quarters, and for whatever reason, you think today’s run might be something like an interval workout.  You’re flexible enough in your use of metaphors to apply the term to the notion of having just  completed a quarter of the trail.  Technically, your first stop came after only 2 or 3 memorable miles – so only an eighth of the trail.  And so far, your gear choice of two layers of thin, high tech shirts – one a red long-sleeve Under Armour jersey, and the second your new crimson red Boulder Spring Half Marathon top – has kept you comfortable.  The air is still chilly but the sun is bright and the wind nominal.  You think about taking the lead for the second quarter.

A Lo Hawk Launches Off on the Colorado Trail

02 Saturday Apr 2011

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Meet A Lo Hawk.  A trail moniker birthed in a Maui volcano and carried forth on the PCT and AT.  Having fully tested the patience of loved ones on those summer-long hikes, his plan for hiking the Colorado Trail is to complete segments on weekends.  I believe A Lo Hawk told me there are 28 segments.  That sounds like half a year to me.  But A Lo Hawk suspects he can hike some of the segments in tandem, and he started early.  A Lo Hawk started today with me.

Me was very impressed with myself for being able to hang with A Lo Hawk on today’s 16 mile excursion over the rolling hills of the first segment of the Colorado Trail.  A Lo Hawk finished stronger than me but I held my own for most of the ride.  And man, what a ride.  Physically, it was much more challenging than the recent half marathons I’ve run.  And yet it was totally more fun.  Trail running presents the runner with an epic adventure, and today was no exception.

I won’t provide all the details here because I’ve decided to return to my metaphorical writing style and will publish several narratives as part of a single story on today’s experience.  I setup a new page which should appear as a tab like the About tab on this blog page.  I’m still working to understand the mechanics of publishing this on a separate page within this same blog, so please remain patient with me as I figure this out.

Needless to say, today’s adventure contains enough themes to write several stories.  If A Lo Hawk is successful in his prodding, I’ll complete additional segments of the Colorado Trail with him, and the new story will continue throughout the summer.  I’ve named the story, CT Cronica.  You should be able to view the tab near the top of this blog menu.  As of now, I haven’t added any stories, but I will.

Spring Break

31 Thursday Mar 2011

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We went snowshoeing a second day for Ellie’s spring break.  It appears we’ve acquired a new pastime.  Have you ever gone for a weekend ski trip where you or someone else didn’t fully get the skiing thing?  Maybe you liked it when you were younger.  Now your eyesight is such that you can’t see the dips.  Or your legs don’t have the stamina to complete the run without countless stops.  But you like exercise and you enjoy the outdoors.  So for you, the combination of both woods and a mountain are exquisite.  And snow is like the cherry on top.  Snowshoeing is hiking on steroids.  The three of us, two 48 years olds and an 8 year old, kept pace together for treks of 100 minutes on day one and 75 minutes on day two.  And we all seriously enjoyed it.

To be totally honest, Ellie would have preferred something else, but she took the lead for the entire second half of our hike.  I don’t care if her reason for that was impatience with my pace, the girl took charge and enjoyed it.  We had fresh powder from nonstop dumps of snow, and we were the first ones out on the trail this morning.  Ellie had to navigate by reading the signs; the ground hints were completely invisible half the time.  I can’t get inside her head but she’s leaving here with something memorable.

And actually Karen led the first half, not me.  Both those girls were clearly enthralled by the specter of fresh powder covering the trail, and the challenge of navigating by sighting trail signs.  Ellie’s seemingly random barks of caution for potential danger of holes and soft snow left me in wonder at how leadership forms in a young girl’s life experience.  And if leadership is genetic, I’ll admit here and now that neither Karen or Ellie allowed me a chance to lead today.  To the back pops.

As I planned yesterday, and related in my last blog post, we took today’s hike to the Shock Hill gondola stop and rode up to Peak 8.  We ate a nice lunch at the T-Bar – the food had a southwestern flair.  And on full stomachs, we rode back down the gondola, strapped on our snowshoes, and hiked the remaining half mile or so to the Nordic Center to complete this morning’s outing.  We proceeded directly to the ice skating rink where we all remembered we suck at ice skating.  But with full tummies we continued our day of working out.  I suffered the additional embarrassment of some authoritative 17 year old girl instructing me to sit down to tie my shoes properly before I broke an ankle.  Tired from taking the backseat to women all day, I all-to-weakly complained about the shoe strings being too long; but soon found myself benched retying my laces.  And she was right; I skated much better afterward.

Once back at the hotel, surprisingly Ellie was too tired to immediately swim.  I took that as my chance to avoid the cold pool and spend some quality time in the hot tub.  And it was perfect – a steaming outdoor hot tub in snowfall.  After about 20 minutes, 5 minutes past my second punch of the 15 minute timer, I was in some sub-level conscious state when several pounds of ice rolled off the lodge roof and slammed into the concrete near my head like a Japanese earthquake.  My 20 minutes of mental calmness was forever disrupted, but my physical stress was already fully restored.  This vacation has been a – well a vacation.  A successful one.  Karen is just so excellent at setting these things up for us.  To be fair, I couldn’t fully escape work.  And who can in the age of 110% American productivity?  But even though I had to remain engaged, my peers and even management were pulling their weight and making things happen for me to enjoy the week.  We head home tomorrow morning, but with no regrets.  This was an awesome spring break.

Spring Snowshoe

30 Wednesday Mar 2011

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snowshoe B1

My second snowshoe outing for the year – this one while on spring break with Karen and Ellie in Breckenridge at the Nordic Ski Center.  This was the first time ever for Karen and Ellie to snowshoe.  Karen really enjoyed it.  Ellie started out strong but for some reason lost her mojo and got grumpy.  Still, a grumpy Ellie is nothing like some temperamental youngsters.  She stomped onward; she even assumed the lead for awhile.

snowshoe B3

We hiked the Pence Miller trail.  It’s a loop (not sure the distance) and it took a little under 2 hours.  Tomorrow we plan to hike the shorter Willow trail, but will take it to the Shock Hill gondola stop and ride up the mountain for lunch and more activities on Peak 8.  Not sure if we’ll do any typical skiing on this trip, but we also have plans for ice skating.  No running on this vacation, but it’s good to mix things up every now and then.  I’m thinking of even squeezing in a deep tissue massage in the spa.  Why not?

2011 Roadmap

28 Monday Mar 2011

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Got the race results from the Boulder Half and I ran about as I thought.  I ran my second 6.55 miles 5 minutes faster than my first 6.55 miles.  I felt like I was racing again on the return.  Overall, my time was about a minute slower than the week before in Moab, or 5 seconds per mile slower.  If I consider the minute I took to relieve myself at the 4 mile port-a-potty, the two runs were equal; which is pretty amazing considering the 1000 feet difference in altitude and general variance in elevation.  The pic here is at the finish of the Moab run.

A Lo Hawk – coach that he is – left me a comment suggesting I add some speed work, even track workouts – to my schedule.  That is in fact my goal.  Gaining speed shouldn’t be so important to me, certainly not as much as improving my health.  I’ll even say that enjoying myself with a healthy outdoor hobby is near the top of my objectives.  But running faster is one of my goals.  I’d say it’s less of my competitive nature than the fact that I simply like running fast.  There’s a feeling almost animal in nature about letting your body go.  I like it.

Now that muscle tone has fully returned to my legs, I can tell that it’s my belly holding me back from running faster.  I should probably refer to the term – core.  I need to strengthen my core.  But such a convex core as mine is more aptly described by the term belly.  I’ll call it my core after it’s trimmed up a tad more.

This is not to say I wouldn’t benefit from track workouts.  While my belly is certainly an issue to be dealt with, my legs and cardiovascular system need to relearn how to run fast.  And this means interval workouts.  So my 2011 roadmap will include hitting the Niwot H.S. track this spring.  My racing objective is to run a 7 minute pace in this year’s Bolder Boulder.  That’s the only race I’m interested in running fast, so I’ll probably stop the track workouts by June.  For the summer, I want to run some half marathon trail runs.  Those won’t require speed as much as stamina and hill training.  So after I’ve improved upon my speed, I intend to increase my mountain trail running.  If the year of training goes well enough, I’ll run another marathon or two by year end.

The Boulder Half

27 Sunday Mar 2011

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I completed the Boulder Half Marathon this morning and it went really well.  I must be learning my pace.  I ran this exactly how I described my plans in earlier blog posts.  I ran the first half nice and easy – maybe a 9 minute mile pace.  Upon turning back at the 6.55 mile marker, I dropped a minute or more off my pace.  Man did that feel good.  But let me start at the beginning.

For breakfast, I ate a banana and a tasty organic tangerine.  I also had a mug of java – half decaf, half the real deal.  I included a sip of OJ and a glass of water.

I reached the Boulder Reservoir at 7:15.  It was nice being able to park there close to the race start in terms of not having to commit to my race gear until the final minute.  It was chilly as I expected but the wind seemed fairly calm.  I committed to the two race jerseys I described in my last blog post, along with a thin pair of Under Armour tights and runners gloves.  I figured I didn’t really need the tights, but they kept me comfortable while waiting for the race to start.  And I felt confident I wasn’t over dressed as easily 80% of the crowd was wearing tights of some sort.

I also had to make a decision on what hat to wear.  I brought a fleece runner’s hat and my Barr Camp runner’s cap.  I have three fleece hats of varying thickness.  This was the thinnest – my baby bear edition.  But the idea of wearing it for 13.1 miles didn’t appeal to me.  Fleece hats get so sweaty.  Since the wind wasn’t strong, I figured my ears would be fine and opted for the runner’s cap.  It’s easy to pop that thing off and force the sweat out of it by swinging it a few times.  Plus the bill shades the sun – which came out from the clouds right at the start of the race.

I launched my playlist in shuffle mode and started the race to REM.  Seemed appropriate.  By 2 miles, I’d warmed up nicely and would not have needed the tights, but they were such a light pair that I felt fine with them the entire course.  I noticed the first race photographer at this spot too – I didn’t know this event would have them.  I’m guessing the Flat Irons were in the background at this spot so I hope they got a picture of me.  I was dressed head to ankle as black as a cat burglar.  Ideally, this color selection will make me appear more slender than the white compression jersey I wore in Moab.  The picture above might not show this, but in other pics it made my prominent belly pop.

I removed my gloves at 4 miles, and also surrendered a minute to take a leak.  A minute well spent I assure you.  I encountered the lead runner around 4.5 miles coming back on the out and back course, and saw the first female around mile 5.  When I say she was pretty in pink, she was wearing pink and she was a blond cutie.  Boulder’s finest.

Upon turning back myself at the half way point, I did exactly what I had hoped I would do – I turned on the jets.  It could have been the down slope, or it might have been Green Day.  ENGLAND!  I feel like I dropped a good 90 seconds off my pace.  I felt awesome.  And I wasn’t the only one – a couple of guys and a couple more women had the same plan and challenged me.  But I kept strong and didn’t let anyone surge past me until the final half mile when I decided to coast in for a warm down rather than race it in.  I ran strong the entire way back and that was my reward to myself.  I’d accomplished my workout plan and didn’t feel a need to kick.

I don’t know my true chip time yet but the clock read about 49 minutes – which is the same time I ran in Moab.  This felt so much better though.  I started out slow the first mile in Moab but otherwise ran a strong, consistent pace.  The final 3 miles in Moab were difficult as the course sloped uphill.  Today I ran easy for the entire first half.  And it was noticeably tougher than Moab because the first 6 miles were completely uphill – an elevation gain of 300 feet.  And at 5200 feet, you feel every one of those 300 feet.  So controlling my pace was smart.  The return back down those same 300 feet felt great.  I started so fast between miles 6 and 7 that I didn’t know if I could maintain my pace.  I know I dropped back off a good 30 seconds, but overall I stayed strong.  I’m really glad I decided to run this event.

Drinking a Boulder Beer at the finish, I sat down next to this guy, he said his name was Jim Frimers.  Not sure if I spelled that correctly, but he’s a writer for Trail Runner Magazine.  I really enjoyed talking to him and plan to look up his column.  Next weekend I’ll meet up with A Lo Hawk to hike the Colorado Trail.  Looking forward to that.

Next Up – Boulder Half

26 Saturday Mar 2011

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How’s this for a finisher’s pic?  This is a little less than half our running crew at last weekend’s Moab Half.  That’s me, Amy (aka Gadget Girl), Jen and Steve.  I’ll be running alone tomorrow in the Boulder Half out at the res.  Might as well listen to my iPhone, so I’m charging my Phillips Bluetooth Earbuds.  Gadget Girl doesn’t have a pair of these!

I’m also washing some cold weather gear.  It’ll be 32° at race start, and maybe 35° with rain by race finish.  That won’t be too bad if the wind stays out of the way.  An 8 mile wind is expected which will probably be more of an issue while lined up at the start in terms of keeping warm.  I’m thinking of wearing two long-sleeve high-tech shirts; the under shirt being thin and the over short being thick.  I also think that the 30s is cold enough to justify tights – but not a heavy pair.  Something with pockets would be good though.  I’m big on pockets.  If you find yourself ever buying me some running gear, look for pockets.

Gadget Girl asked me earlier today what pace I thought I’ll run tomorrow.  Certainly slower than last week.  I pushed myself a bit in Moab but I’m taking this like any other workout.  Of course, if it were a workout, I’d average a 9 minute pace.  I plan to start out at that pace but hope that I loosen up enough to run the second half at 8 or 8.5 minute miles.  I need to start working on my speed.  Registration for the Bolder Boulder opens up Monday.  I’ve set a goal to run that at a 7 minute pace – which is a pretty aggressive target.  I ran a 7:35 pace in the Longmont Turkey Trot last fall though; and I think I’ll use that to pick my starting corral.  I ran last year’s Bolder Boulder at an 8:01 pace, so anything in the 7s will demonstrate improvement.

The Capitol 10K in Austin is also run tomorrow.  I had that on my radar but opted for the Austin Marathon instead.  Can’t be flying down to Austin for everything.  I have some friends running it though so I’ll check out the online results.  I ran the very first Capitol 10K in I think 1977.  I won some age division awards at that event in ’81 and ’82; so if I ever become age competitive again, I plan to return to that race to repeat past glory.  Wish me a good run tomorrow.  A blog post will follow.

Post Race Awards Ceremony

23 Wednesday Mar 2011

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This is not what you think.  I mean it’s not really an awards ceremony.  Nobody in my inner runner’s circle won any awards.  But we awarded ourselves tonight with a foot stompin’ good time.  To reward ourselves for our 13.1 mile efforts, we pampered ourselves with pedicures.

Four beers deep into the evening, I discovered my inner chick runner and enjoyed the massage, wax, hot wraps, buffing, chips, dip, olives and more beer.  I neglected to mention in my earlier blog posts on the Moab Half that the vast majority of Team Prospect were women.  Keith and Steve were the only two other men, but they weren’t man enough for this celebration.  With that said, can you tell which feet are man and which are woman in this pic?

Seriously, I not only enjoyed this – I plan to make a habit out of it.  Why not?  I beat the hell out of my feet running.  There are times Karen wants to put a bag over my feet.  My feet are a vessel and I should take care of them.  Before this, I didn’t understand what taking care of them meant.  Now that I know, I’d be reckless not to get pedicures.  You say what you want.  Or think what you want, you feckless voyeurs.  You got something to say, leave a comment.  I could have used this back in the day when I was a young athlete.  Of course, I didn’t exactly have the coin back then, but I imagine San Marcos had some cheap back alley spas that I could have afforded.  I’ll be joining Karen as a regular going forward.  That’s my foot on the right without any polish in the pic.

Running Alone

22 Tuesday Mar 2011

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The best thing about the half in Moab wasn’t the spectacular scenery, it was spending the weekend with friends.  What are the odds I could have so many friends fit enough to enjoy such a demanding sport with me?  If this weren’t Boulder County, I’d say pretty low.  In this pic is Eve, Suzy, Coach Jabe, Katherine, Keith and me.

But I’ll be running by myself this weekend in the Boulder Half Marathon.  Sort of hard to get excited about that.  I am thinking about it as simply a workout, and that’s fine; but man – what a difference!

I checked out the course online today at the Boulder Res.  I’ve run those backroads before.  Good God, I must be spoiled but talk about boring.  In fact it’s double boring because it’s an out-an-back route.  6.5 miles north on gravel roads, turn around, and return back to the Res on the exact same 6.5 miles.  Now that I think about it, the Garden of the Gods 10 Miler was that way too.  But that was different.  It included a half mile loop at the turn-around, and the hills were so intense that they seemed new the second time.

So what will it be like running alone this weekend?  Not much different really.  I wouldn’t even be thinking about it if last weekend weren’t such an extroversion.  Before Moab, I ran the Austin and Denver Marathons completely by myself.  So this isn’t exactly unusual for me.  But then I ran the IPR with my buddy A Low Hawk before that.  Running with friends turns a workout into an event.

Can’t do an event every weekend though.  I think running an organized run as my workout is smart.  I typically run by myself and I suspect running with the crowd will push me to run a little harder.  Not as hard as Moab where I was under some pressure to beat Keith.  Poor Keith started out too fast, sort of like me in Austin, and hit a bit of a wall at 11 miles – when the course flipped its slope to an incline.  I plan to run as slow as I would in a workout.  I’ll certainly start out nice and slow, although I expect the event factor to keep my pace strong.  I ran an 8:12 pace in Moab.  I predict an 8:30 pace this Sunday.  Forecasting is hard though because the elevation is dramatically different from Moab.  Boulder rises 300 feet the first half, and then gives back that altitude on the return.  Just another reason to start out slow and hope I loosen up.  That’s the game plan.

The Moab Half

19 Saturday Mar 2011

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Look at those rocks.  These are nothing.  You haven’t seen rocks until you’ve been to Moab and run 13.1 miles down Hwy 128.  Moab is where rocks come from.  As scenic as this course was though, the entire drive to Moab ain’t too shabby.  The tunnels through Glenwood Canyon are pretty awesome.  Dave and his two daughters drove with Karen, Ellie and me.  We had lunch a little after noon in Vail and arrived in town around 5pm.  We stopped less than we anticipated along the way, ironically, more for the adults needing rest stops than the kids.

We hit the one liquor store in town before going to the condo.  It was interesting; being a state run liquor store, they didn’t have coolers or sell ice.  Needless to say, they didn’t have little brown paper bags for your single either.  We arrived to a happening party at the condo with most of our friends already enjoying happy hour in the front yard.  Not a bad start to the Moab Canyonlands Half Marathon.  We ended the night at the Red Cliffs Lodge for dinner where both the service and food were as good as the view.

I walked to the race start around 7 in the morning with Keith, Susan and Katherine.  We stopped for coffee first at the Red Rock Bakery and Net Cafe.  The owner was unbelievably personable – and the coffee was very good.  Then we completed our walk to Swanny Park and boarded a bus for the race start up Hwy 128.  The start of the run wasn’t until 10am, so we queued up for the port-a-potties and then found a nice spot up the canyon wall to sit on some rocks.  The picture above is of my running mates at this time – Katherine, Suzy and Keith.  One of the professional race photographers came by later and took our picture after more of our group had joined us.

The weather felt fairly pleasant at first and I was starting to feel like I might have over dressed and felt remiss for not bringing a short-sleeve shirt.  I could have taken multiple shirts with me inside my gear bag, but I’d committed to my white Under Armour, long-sleeve compression jersey.  I wore a red long-sleeve fleece top over that, along with gray fleece pants – both Under Armour as well.  But my plan was to store those in my gear bag before running.  Then the wind picked up noticeably and the clouds began to form overhead.  I actually pulled my wind jacket out of my gear bag at that point to stay warm.  We had another 60 minutes before the start of the race and we all began to re-assess our wardrobe selections.  I did however start to feel more confident that I was good with long-sleeves.

With 20 minutes left, we were allowed to walk the remaining half mile from our bus drop off area to the start up the hill.  We had to commit to our dress gear on that walk as the gear bag trucks were positioned before the starting line.  Upon reaching the starting corrals, the wind began to howl.  So many runners, in short shorts and tank tops were shivering.  The situation seemed almost dire and I considered whom I might spoon with for warmth.  No options presented themselves but I did start up a conversation with Allison, a charming lady from the Springs.  She noticed my Barr Camp running hat and asked if I’d run the Pike’s Peak Ascent.  I haven’t, but I did hike Pike’s Peak and stay at Barr Camp.  I ran the first half mile or so with her and she read out our pace from her Garmin.

I found this helpful as my goal was to try my best to run no faster than a 9 minute pace for the first mile or two.  I think I hit this although it might have been more due to starting at the 9 minute mile pace sign and the road being so narrow that it took several miles before there was sufficient room to run my own pace.  The shivering subsided immediately upon running.  It was never so cold that my ears were numb, but the wind was super strong.  After two miles though, I was feeling pretty warm.  I even rolled up my sleeves by mile six.  Compression shirts are tricky though.  I found it uncomfortable for my sleeves to be rolled up past my elbows and had to roll them down below my elbows where they didn’t feel tight.

I felt really comfortable at this point and even though I didn’t have any confirmation of my pace, I felt certain I was running around an 8.5 minute mile.  I didn’t wear ear buds for this race.  Not sure why I made that decision but once running I definitely appreciated the heightened visual of one of the world’s most spectacular roads without the distraction of audio.  Something I wouldn’t have noticed listening to audio was whenever the wind roared up around a bend, its effect rippled across a hundred race bibs leading me to imagine I was flying with a flock of birds.  That probably sounds weird but the sound must have triggered something in my subconscious.  The wind wasn’t at all constant.  It was dead still at times, like around two miles when I felt hot; but after some bends the canyon would inhale into my face and chest while it exhaled against my back around other bends – all seemingly random.

The course never dropped more than 100 feet over the entire length, but it felt downhill forever.  A pace changer of a hill presented itself at mile 9 but gave back all its altitude on the far side.  Mile 11 began the climb back out of this gorgeous canyon hole.  It was never steep, and hardly even noticeable, but it was enough to keep me from increasing my pace as I neared the finish.  I kept my pace steady to the end and was really happy to discover I’d finished the 13 miles with an 8.12 pace.  Even more pleasing was that after my lessons learned from the Austin Marathon, I effectively controlled my pace and remained comfortable the entire run.  I’m really excited to think I’m learning my pace.  I finished with my family cheering me on, took the official race photo, and proceeded to claim my gear bag and change into dry clothes.  I returned to watch my friends finish, although not fast enough to see Keith come in.  Everyone did well, although I’m still so impressed that so many of my neighbors can run a half marathon period, let alone well.  We attribute this to Coach Jabe, who has been leading Team Prospect in fitness for well over a year now with the result being our accomplishment today.  I got to see Amy’s strong finish; and took another round of photos with her, Steve and Jen.  Then it was lunch with Karen and Ellie, back to the condo for beer, hot tub, beer, prepping ceviche – and finally to a post race dinner of pulled pork with the gang.  I’m now calorie neutral for the day, if not a little heavier after all that eating and headed to bed.  Next weekend is the Boulder Half Marathon.

Road Trip

17 Thursday Mar 2011

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This run has been planned for awhile.  I had time to run a full marathon since registering for this half marathon.  I haven’t run a race with a group of so many friends since college when I used to run the Beach to Bay Relay Marathon in Corpus Christi every Labor Day weekend.  And now it’s time, we leave tomorrow morning.  I have to squeeze in a business call first at 7:30 am.  Not to be outdone, Karen is teaching an aerobics class in Boulder at 6am.  Then we drop Jack off at the doggie ranch and we hit the road.

I expect lunch in either Vail or Glenwood Springs.  And 2 or 3 hours later we’ll be in Utah.  I’ve never driven west of Grand Junction before.  I’m looking forward to turning south off I-70 onto U-128 for the slow scenic drive alongside the Colorado River.  We’re leaving early enough to take the slow road.  I wish I had a camera other than my iPhone.  I need to work on that.  But I expect some great team pics during this event.  And you should too – look for me to post some pics by Sunday for sure.

Pasta Jay’s Bites

15 Tuesday Mar 2011

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Have I not mentioned Pasta Jay’s several times in my recent blog posts?  So you all know I was planning on having dinner at their Moab site this Friday with a dozen of my fit friends before running the Moab Half Marathon.  Barb went out of her way to call them several times to set reservations.  Each time adding a couple more people.  So just now they call her back to not only state they don’t accept reservations, but to be so rude about it as to make her feel she should have known better than to trust one of their staff who happened to answer the phone on each of her calls.

I know many restaurants don’t accept reservations anymore.  It  runs counter to their business model of quickly turning over tables.  But the more business savvy of these places still make exceptions for large tables of 10 or more persons.  Few of them are ever rude about it.  I used to like Pasta Jays.  I think mostly because it was cheap.  But you get what you pay for and I can’t recommend this place to anyone.  At least not the Moab site.

Pre-Race Delirium

14 Monday Mar 2011

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I’m out of control.  With another 5 days before I run the Moab Half Marathon, I just registered for the Boulder Half Marathon for the following weekend.  Why not?  Spring training is in full swing.  I’d probably do my 12 mile run on East Boulder Trail anyway; might as well get a finisher’s medal for my efforts.  Plus I hear they hand out finisher’s shot glasses.  That will be a nice compliment to my 100 plus shot glass collection.

And here’s the kicker.  When I’m standing in the Moab starting corral with my friends, and Keith asks me what pace I plan to run, I’ll respond, “Around eight and a half minutes Keith.  I don’t want to push too hard cuz this is just a warm-up for next week’s Boulder Half.”  What an ass!

Pre-Race Excitement

13 Sunday Mar 2011

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If you’re a mountain biker, then you know this sign is in Moab, Utah.  Land of magnificent sandstone archways and red rock canyons that funnel the Colorado River toward Lake Powell.  And for a biker, Slickrock Trail stands out as one of the world’s best.  With less than one week remaining before the Moab Canyonlands Half Marathon, the neighborhood emails have reached spam proportions as everyone details their plans and arranges what will be the true highlight of the event – eating and drinking.

We’ll meet up at Pasta Jays on Friday Night, Dave will slow cook pulled pork Saturday while we swim in his condo’s heated pool, and Sunday marks Jen‘s birthday.  There are nearly a dozen of us from the hood running, but Steve is planning on hikes with his kids while Dave and Kelly are gearing up for a ride on Slickrock.  Something for everybody.  But seriously, how many of you have a dozen neighbors who could and would run a half marathon for fun?  Living in Boulder County is insane.

Since I returned to road races last summer, I’ve scored some really nice venues.  It doesn’t hurt that I live in Colorado.  The Imogene Pass Run from Ouray to Telluride stands out as the most spectacular, but Garden of the Gods wasn’t too shabby.  We stayed at the Cliff House in Manitou Springs while we enjoyed two different places for the IPR, spending the first night in Ouray at the Beaumont Hotel and the second night in Telluride at Hotel Columbia.  I don’t run a big event every weekend, but when I do I make the most of it.  Two other events I’m looking into this summer are the LaSportiva Half Marathon Trail Run in Vail and the Vasque Golden Leaf Half Marathon Trail Run in Aspen.  Those can’t be bad.

I feel good that I’ve been able to blend my fitness kick in with events that I can share with friends and family.  The Garden of the Gods run was my family’s first visit to Manitou Springs – which marks the trail head to Pike’s Peak.  The IPR was our first drive down to Ouray and Telluride which are both unbelievably beautiful.  And next week will be our first venture over to Moab.  I’m as excited as all my neighbors.

Breakfast of Champions

09 Wednesday Mar 2011

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Is coffee not the best thing ever?  I liked Squeeze’s song, Black Coffee in Bed, before I ever drank coffee as a regular part of my nutritional breakfast.  Think I’m being funny when I call it nutritional?  Read that last link.  Coffee contains a surprising amount of vitamins and minerals – especially magnesium.  I’ve read an article or two (I had a subscription to Runner’s World for awhile) about the benefits of a cup of coffee before exercise.  I forget the details but recall it advising something about small quantities being good before a run.  I’m thinking of this now because I ran 8 miles today after two missed days of running and had a bit of a stitch from the 8 cups of java I had for breakfast.  8 cups probably exceeds the limits of small quantities, I know that.  But I’m just wondering, how good or how bad is coffee for training?

I know too much caffeine is bad, no question.  Especially in Colorado with the dry climate.  In fact, when I determined to seriously return to high-mileage running a couple of years ago, I had to give up caffeine.  I went from 8 cups of coffee each morning to zero – cold turkey.  Such prodigious amounts of joe led to incredible dehydration and headaches.  After a good number of months, I think by Christmas after quitting in the spring, I began to drink decaffeinated coffee.  I used to think drinking decaf was odd, but I get it now.  I love black coffee – caffeine or not.  I’m now even more lax and will drink regular coffee when traveling or I simply run out of decaf.  If I go down to Big Daddy Bagels or Vics, I’ll order half regular and half decaf.  So like with most things I’m pretty flexible.  Still, I’ve crept back up on the quantity of coffee I’m drinking and caffeine or not – I have to wonder what the effects of such voluminous java is doing to my diet – or for that matter my running.  It certainly bounces around in my gut so that’s less than optimal.  I’ve heard stories that caffeine actually makes your body hold onto fat cells, and similar bits of wisdom saying it’s good or it’s not good before a run.  No idea what’s true.  And of course, I’m more concerned with better understanding the effects of coffee sans caffeine.  I’m interested in comments.

Gadget Girl

06 Sunday Mar 2011

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I ran 7 miles this morning with my friend Amy. I rarely run with anyone because I don’t generally have the time to synch up with people, but it’s amazing how fast the time goes by when you’re chatting away about your kids, training, injuries and the next big event – which for us will be Moab. We ran on one of her favorite trails, McIntosh Lake in North Longmont. Nice route, it’s a 3.5 mile loop about half trail and half sidewalk.

Now, you know I like gadgets as much as the next guy. But apparently not as much as this girl. Amy has it all. She wore this killer wind jacket – it was so light – made by Pearl Izumi. I could have used that for the IPR last fall where jackets, gloves and hats were pre-requisites for lining up in the corral. The weather was just cold enough for a light jacket. I got by with a single layer compression jersey, but the wind picked up before we were done and dressing any lighter would have become uncomfortable.

Of course, Amy had a top-of-the-line Garmin GPS sportswatch. This thing knew our distance and would have told us what we had for breakfast if we were interested. Now the next piece of gear might surprise you. She wore patella knee straps. I’m not sure what brand but they could either be ProCare, Bioskin or Breg based on the pictures at this gear catalog website. Amy has had knee surgery and swears by these straps. The last gear of significant note would be her compression shin socks – not the full socks which I understand you can also buy. I like my compression tops and tights, so I have no doubt those things feel good. The theory is they help with circulation to avoid cramps. She also wore some good looking Mizuno shoes which I heard are among the lightest on the market; and she had this cool running long sleeve top – not sure the brand – that had holes to hook her thumbs through to act like partial gloves. Perfect for today when the temperature was such that many other runners on the trail were in fact wearing gloves – but it was too warm for me.

Running with Amy this morning was a wake-up call. Before we run the Canyonlands Half Marathon later this month, I need to gear up. High altitude running in the desert could be tricky. It’ll likely start out fairly cool but warm-up dramatically. I’ll want light and efficient gear. I want what Amy has, but in more masculine colors.

Next Up – Moab

03 Thursday Mar 2011

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I feel fully recovered from the Austin Marathon. Admittedly, I’ve only been running my little four mile route, but the runs have felt strong and all the lingering pain from the marathon has dissipated. It’s such a relief to escape any ultra distance conflict injury free. Just ask Alohawk pictured here descending Imogene Pass about that. Or better yet, read his blog on how such injuries can impact later events. He got lucky in that he mostly recovered before his next big event. I feel like I dodged a bullet considering I launched this season with a marathon. Could have ruined the entire season. Instead, I’m feeling pretty confident.

Moab Canyonlands is next up in 16 days. This is going to be a blast – half the neighborhood is going. We’ve already made reservations for Pasta Jay’s on Friday. And I expect Dave will cook up some awesome BBQ on Saturday. Some of my friends will be biking on Slickrock, which I’ve never done since I’ve yet to visit Moab; but I understand it’s one of the most fantastic mountain trails ever. Biking is on my list of things to find time for this year. First, I’ll need to buy a bike.

I’m not certain if I’ll amp up my training for Moab. These 4 mile runs are feeling nice and comfy. I’ll squeeze in more distance on the weekends of course, but I’m not looking to race Moab in spectacular fashion. In fact, I’m more interested in using it to gain experience on pacing myself. I’d like to control my first mile or two with about a 9 minute mile pace. And assuming I feel good after that, speed up to whatever. It’ll be interesting to see what “whatever” turns out to be. You’ll be the first to know, as soon as they post the results. Sooner if I decide to wear a watch.

Run Rabbit, Run

01 Tuesday Mar 2011

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See the way these runners are eyeballing me in the last 50 meters of the Austin Marathon?  Either they are concerned about me dropping dead in front of them, or they are amazed how anyone in Texas could possibly be more butt white than they are.  Regardless, they went on to pass me in their sprint to the finish line as I was struggling to maintain even a semblance of forward motion.  And this is because like the hare and the tortoise, I started out running too fast a pace and couldn’t hold it.  Sure, I was quick to blame my shoes and inserts.  So now I’ve showed my personality, so what?  Actually, I don’t blame myself for being quick to cast aspersions elsewhere; I blame my hypocritical, unaccountable, debt-ridden, hippie, boomer culture for setting my thought processes to where I would assume fault elsewhere before considering to blame myself.

And then my buddy Rob, aka A Lo Hawk, suggests that I should always begin a long run at a fast pace.  I immediately saw through this facade of apparent advice for what it was – calling me stupid for not controlling my pace.  Fair enough.  I used to understand my pace better but have clearly lost that experience.  I recall in high school cross country, when we only raced 2 miles, my running mate Mike used to beat me daily in practice – but I would finish ahead of him on race day.  Part way through the season I convinced him to start off slower.  He did, and he never looked back.  I didn’t beat him again in a race until late in the season after he drove his Ford Mustang into an opposing school bus.  The resultant head concussion took the edge somewhat off his racing prowess.

Don’t be fooled by the a lo hawks of the world.  Use the start of any race as a warm-up.  I felt so comfortable during the Denver Marathon after having slowly increased my pace.  I so wish I’d have ran that way in Austin.  My memories would be that much better.  Since I’ve renewed my interest in road races last summer, I’ve yet to actually put on a kick at the end.  I’m not really racing and so far I haven’t seen any reason to finish up sprinting.  I would however like to run the entire event comfortably and finish strong.  But that won’t happen by starting out too strong.

Spring Season

26 Saturday Feb 2011

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Sure it’s still winter – especially in Colorado considering it just snowed the last two days.  But that little 26.2 mile jaunt down in Austin last weekend marked the end of my winter training.  And today was gorgeous outside.  About 45° with strong sun splashing off the new snow.  I was able to wear a single layer of Under Armour cold weather gear.  I bought a new white, mock turtle compression shirt.  Looks pretty good from my chest up.  Compression gear isn’t too flattering on my bowling ball belly.

I feel pretty good after the marathon.  I ran 4 miles Thursday and 8 today.  I was quite a bit more sore after the Denver Marathon, perhaps from running faster.  I had a sore lower stomach that felt like a hernia for several months after.  It didn’t go away until I began doing sit-ups again in January.  From the Austin Marathon, I have a pain lingering in my lower left leg.  It feels sort of like a high ankle sprain.  I’m guessing it’s from running so much of the marathon on the right side of the road which is not normal.  I recall a number of times shifting position from the curb to the crown of the road for a more natural feel.  It should go away soon but I might try some toe raises to see if that speeds up the recovery.

This official race pic above was taken maybe a minute after crossing the finish line.  My finish time is finally posted – 4:23.  That’s 23 minutes slower than I expected, which is fine.  What I learned from the splits being posted is I clearly went out too fast.  I ran the first 10 miles at an 8 minute pace.  I was running with the 8:30 pace team, so some help they were.  I didn’t notice because my breathing was fine, but clearly my legs are not in shape for such a torrid pace.  I believe a 9 minute pace would have been perfect.  As it was, I probably slowed down ultimately to a 12 minute pace as I finished with a 10 minute pace overall.  Bottom line is I need to relearn how to pace myself.  I used to have such a good feel for that 20 years ago.  And since I’ve learned I can’t trust the pace teams, I might have to start wearing a watch.

This pic to the right catches my fatigue in the last 50 meters.  I’m going to remember the pain from this race for years to come.  It might have been harder than my very first marathon at age 16.  The rest of the year should feel downhill.  My next event is in a month – the Moab Half Marathon.  I intend to practice my 9 minute pace for that puppy.  I hope to show some improvement in the Bolder Boulder in May.  I don’t have anything officially planned after that.  I did enter the lottery to run the New York Marathon in November.  I won’t be too disappointed if I don’t get selected.  Otherwise, I’m looking forward to some hiking on the Colorado Trail with my buddy Rob this summer.  I think I might finally be in good enough shape to hang with him.