Tag Archives: Austin Marathon

Austin Half Marathon 2012

19 Sunday Feb 2012

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I was up most of the night with a cough from these Central Texas allergies. Still, I felt fine when I woke at 5am for the big run. My brother had to wake early as well since he would drive me down to the Texas Capitol building.  I ate a banana and drank a cup of coffee, got dressed and we headed downtown at 6am.  Dressing presented a difficult decision knowing the temperature would go from 46° to 64° but I opted for a single long sleeved shirt.  It’s a training shirt made from high tech fabric so it would be fine in the heat but the sleeves would also serve to keep me warm early on.  I nearly wore a second short sleeved shirt underneath but there wasn’t any wind and the 46° felt comfortable.  I also took a Sucrets for my throat and it felt fine by the time Steve dropped me off at 6:30 on 15th Street.

I lined up near the pace sign for a 4 hour marathon, expecting to run the half in about 2 hours.  I learned last year I couldn’t trust running with these pace setters.  Instead, I opted to run alongside a flock of pretty girls.  There are so many decisions to make at the start of any race, from what to wear, and what energy aids to carry, to whom to stand next to.  I brought along 3 one ounce energy gel packets and ate one before the start of the race.  It tasted like tripe.  I hate those things.  Lance spoke a few words and a woman sang the national anthem.  Then we were off.  It took me nearly 5 minutes to reach the starting line – still running alongside the pretty girls.

A total of 18,000 runners started the race but I didn’t feel overly crowded.  The first couple of miles wound through downtown Austin and was packed with cheering spectators.  I started up my run playlist around the 2 mile mark.  I was concerned about starting out too fast and paid close attention to my pace.  I learned last year running the full marathon how easy it is to start too fast when coming down from altitude.  I didn’t wear a watch and never saw any of the official race clocks, but I felt I might be running a tad bit fast.  Keeping it in check was difficult and required constant monitoring – breathing was just so easy.  The 3 mile hill running up Congress Avenue served as a decent governor.  Nothing like hills to slow you down.

The hill crest just after 5 miles.  My hope was that I would start off slow and then loosen up my stride running down South First Street.  I didn’t feel a need to push myself too hard down First because I knew I had run well up Congress. My allergies and sore throat weren’t affecting me at all.  My breathing was great.  Still, I continued a strong pace.  However, I throttled it down a bit on steeper downhills.  The memory of running out of steam by 10 miles last year was still fresh in my mind.  Discipline.

I tried eating another but different type of energy gel at the 6 mile point as part of my plan but spit it out and tossed the remaining packet.  All energy gels suck.  I drank my first sip of water at the 7 mile aid station.  Really just to wash the gel out of my mouth.  Steve and my sister Nancy were down on the north side of the First Street bridge cheering me on.  This was about 8.5 miles and I was still feeling really strong.  There’s a bit of a slope crossing MoPac around 9 miles and the hills just keep coming after that.  I tried to maintain my cadence with shorter steps but would slow down climbing the steeper grades.  The course split a bit shy of 11 miles for the full or half course.  Last year I took the red pill.  Ironically, I felt strong enough to consider the red pill this year but swallowed the blue pill instead and was happy for the opportunity.

The last 2 miles run along Enfield/15th Street and present some sharp hills.  By this point anyone running with me was strong enough to take the hills without walking.  Some runners took them quite a bit faster than me.  Even though I didn’t feel winded on this set of hills, my legs burned so I took them slow.  A few runners did stop after cresting the hills to vomit.  These are real hills.

As we neared the finish line some runners put on their sprints.  Satisfied that I had maintained a strong pace the entire run I didn’t care to put on any kick.  I did step it up though the final 100 yards.  I was feeling good and felt like catching a couple of women who tried passing me.  I refrained from any actual sprinting though.  My body is just too delicate right now and I didn’t want to stress anything.  Besides, pain wasn’t part of my game plan today.  I missed seeing the final clock too but learned shortly after I ran in 1:48 – an 8:16 mile pace.  I didn’t expect to run over 2 hours but also didn’t expect to run quite that well.  More important than the time though was that I felt great.  Very happy with today’s run.  Not happy with the race results site.  You’ll need to know my bib number 16012 or use my name if you click on that link above to view race results because I can’t give you a direct link.

The weather was ideal for this run today, but oddly it was cold afterward as I waited to meet up with Steve for a ride to brunch.  I’m not sure if the temperature actually dropped but the wind did pick up considerably.  It certainly had not warmed up to the 60s yet.  We took breakfast at the Magnolia Cafe on Lake Austin Blvd.  I hadn’t been there in 25 years.  I later got a men’s pedicure to treat my feet and work the lactic acid out of my calves.  Overall, an outstanding day.

A Runner’s Year in Review

31 Saturday Dec 2011

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Zilker Tree2011 wasn’t really about me.  I had an 18 month old nephew survive a heart transplant.    He’s now 24 months old and I suspect Little L will dominate the next decade, and that’s okay.  My mom is getting on in years with more than her fair share of ailments, but she maintained a fairly steady pace and I was able to visit her during the Austin Marathon and on Mother’s Day as well as Christmas – which is more than usual.

I had some personal achievements though.  Top of the list was completing the 500 mile Colorado Trail with my buddy Rob, and it wasn’t even on my calendar at the start of the year.  Second was finally trading options.  I consider investing/trading as much a hobby as anything because I enjoy it and trading options is something I’ve read numerous books on but had never done until 2011.  I’m not a day trader by any means – I might do several trades per month – but I spend a great deal of time reading financial news and books.  I maintained decent fitness in 2011 which was a goal.  I ate healthy foods.  I would argue I didn’t accomplish my exact goals on running.  I wanted to increase my speed but instead opted for hiking.  I also gained a few pounds after having lost weight in each of the preceding four years.  Lastly, I didn’t start on another 2011 goal of writing a book.  Most of my new year’s resolutions will be to further unfinished 2011 objectives.

I want to spend more time with my mom so I’m considering living and working from her home in Round Rock for a month or so.  She can make do on her own but it’s not wise and my brother lives with her now.  Of course Steve has his own house and maybe he’d appreciate me giving him some time to live there.  Ideally, I’ll do this in the late winter / early spring.  I just returned from Austin yesterday – the picture above is of Karen and me checking out the Tree at Zilker Park.

As for running, my plans are to run a series of half marathons – mostly trail runs in the mountains.  I’ll start with Moab in March.  I still need to correct my plantar fasciitus, but I don’t expect that to limit me too much.  And I’m going to make a concerted effort to trim down my abdomen.  Enough is enough.  I’m also going to move our elliptical into my office to work out on during conference calls.  The idea being this will replace the snacking I do currently.  I might do that tomorrow.

I’m going to increase my trading focus on options.  All I actually did last year was sell covered calls which is easily the least risky type of options trades.  The only risk is that you can’t sell a stock that is losing value until the expiration date.  And you won’t likely recognize gains over the strike price.  This isn’t important to me because I generally sell stocks after 10% gains and I set strike prices at 10% for my covered calls.  This has worked out well for me as I handily beat the market in 2011.  For 2012 I intend to begin buying options rather than simply selling them.

My last big goal will be to write a book.  At least start a book.  Blogging keeps my writing skills exercised but I haven’t written much fiction lately and would like to tell a story.  This is going to take discipline.  I could be wrong but I suspect I’ll get a great deal of satisfaction from writing a book.  I don’t care about the publishing aspect – I’m not trying to become a novelist.  I’ll just upload it to Amazon.  Related to writing is reading and I’ve already downloaded a series of books to my Kindle to keep me busy in that area.

I am happy with 2011 and feel pretty good about 2012.  At least I have plans.  One of my neighbors told me last night he intends to make quarterly resolutions for 2012 thinking they will be more obtainable.  Interesting concept.  I’m going to ask my friends and neighbors at the NYE party tonight what their goals are.  I usually find I’m not very unique and expect to hear numerous goals on health and fitness.  I’m curious as to what people’s work and career goals are.  I need to put some focus on that as well.  I had a really cool project in 2011 and have an idea of what my primary task will be for 2012, but it’s not well defined yet.  I like to manage my own career versus being tasked and I need to put some focus in that area.

For all my plans, 2012 is still unknown and whose to say what will happen.  I actually like the prospect of the unknown.  It’s exciting.

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.

Post Race

22 Tuesday Feb 2011

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OK, now that the race is over, work is behind me and I’m airborne headed back from Austin, I can muse over Sunday’s marathon and other post race events.  It all went so fast.  A business trip to Detroit midweek, return home to Longmont Friday night, fly to Austin Saturday afternoon and big run on Sunday morning.  I was already apparently mentally fatigued half way through these events because I missed the exit for Pena Blvd on the way to DIA Saturday and drove another 10 miles on E470 conversing with Karen before I noticed.  That added to my toll charges.

I understand now more of why my run was so hard.  And I feel stupid for it.  The primary reason was my shoes.  Or more specifically, my new Sofsole inserts.  As I related in an earlier blog post, I bought them just this last week and was able to walk in them enough to be confident I wouldn’t get blisters.  But I wasn’t able to run in them.  To be fair, I might not have noticed the problem.  I would have only run 4 miles or so training but I didn’t notice my feet hurting in the marathon until 10 miles.  But man, when they started to hurt, it was like walking on hot coals for 16 miles.  My feet hurt both top and bottom.  My first thought was that I laced them too tightly.  Of course I put up with that until late in the race before loosening them, but it didn’t make much difference.  It didn’t affect my soles at all and only slightly alleviated the tops of my feet.  This didn’t make any sense at the time.

After the race, I figured the unique lacing architecture contributed to the top foot pain.  This shoe, the ASICs Gel-Nimbus,  has a unique lacing pattern that is off-center following a point from the big toe at the bottom of the shoe, up to the middle near the ankle.  I can tell you now that this is stupid.  You might not ever notice it on shorter runs, but it becomes quite evident in a marathon.  I hate to be overly critical of an ASICs shoe, because they’ve been my favorite training and racing shoes my entire life.  I’ve rarely deviated from them.  However, meeting up with family and friends at this event provided me with interesting feedback on my running blog.  I’ve heard before that it motivates some people to run.  I heard more of that this weekend.  But I also heard for the first time that my description of running gear and apparel motivate my readers to purchase some of the mentioned products.  Clearly that’s not my intention.  I don’t receive ad revenue.  I am only averaging 10 hits per day so that’s hardly an ad revenue business model.  But I do want to be as helpful and informative on products as I try to be on any other stories that could be mistaken for advice in this blog.  The askew lace design sucks.

The second issue with this shoe is that I bought it for its advertised stability.  Indeed, its promoted stability.  The shoe is in both this season and last season’s Runner’s World training shoe roundup.  I bought last year’s model and it still did not prevent me from pronation.  Beyond the lacing pattern, I think the shoe design itself is probably fine for stability but it needed new inserts.  Why the hell do they sell $140 shoes, designed for stability, with such cheap inserts?  Do I seriously have to spend another $30 on my own inserts?  After the pain I suffered through the last 16 miles of the Austin marathon, I don’t mind ripping on these shoes.  Yeah, ASICs was great when I was young and fast.  I always felt like they were a fast shoe that matched my running style of a mid-foot to toe landing.  But I land on my heels nowadays.  At 48, I’m no longer sprinting through long distance runs.  I’m ready to move on and will be sporting a new shoe for next month’s Moab Half Marathon.  And while I’m dishing it out, what’s up with Runner’s World.  Their writers wear a pair of shoes to evaluate for a week or two as part of their normal running regimen.  Wouldn’t running something more substantial like perhaps a half marathon be more journalistically sound?  They wear these shoes on an average run and report on how they feel.  They talk about it feeling hard or squishy.  Man, try running some real distance and report on how your feet hurt so dag-nab much that your ribs and shoulder blades feel bruised too!  Did I mention that the next day I discovered the soles of my feet were all purple from bruising?  Not the entire sole really, but just behind the ball of my feet and into the arch.  Now to be fair, this is probably more from the non-ASIC insert than the shoe, but back to my earlier point – why doesn’t a $140 shoe have decent inserts to begin with?  If I’m starting to come across as an angry writer, I should mention now that I’ve started drinking on the plane.  I don’t generally drink on flights anymore but I’m unwinding and Karen is picking me up at DIA so I won’t have to drive – or search for my car.

So I’ve shared with you.  If any of you want to comment, give me some advice on shoes I should buy.  I pronate in my left foot.  My race pace appears to be 8 minutes per mile for 10K to half marathon, 8.5 minutes for a full.  And I run about 8.5 to 9 minutes per mile on training runs.  I also run trails but have good shoes for that already.  Should have worn them Sunday.  The other post race thought I’m having is on the hills of the Austin course.  I swear I read a pre-race elevation chart that suggested a different pattern.  I described how I thought the hills would go in an earlier blog post.  More importantly I expressed my confidence that I wouldn’t have issues with the hills.  It’s very likely I just read the chart wrong.  I had it in my head that the course would rise for the first two miles then drop for the next four and then rise until the 18  mile point and then drop back down.  I clearly did some shortcuts in my mind.  I’m often accused of having a highly selective memory.  This course hit some small hills at the start downtown.  Nothing significant since they were short and the crowd was so thick that we weren’t running full speed yet.  But South Congress Avenue has a serious three mile hill between the 2 and 5 mile markers.  I felt fine running up it.  The crowd started to thin out and the slope wasn’t steep.  Bit I think that’s deceptive.  Yes I felt strong but I suspect it was still a mistake to run as fast as I did.  I’ve learned this in the Bolder Boulder 10K which is downhill the first mile.  A disciplined runner would force him or herself to purposefully run slow on that.  It’s trickier in the Bolder Boulder being downhill, but regardless; you need to control the emotion of the race start.  Especially in a marathon.  The Austin Marathon then returns down the same slope, albeit on 1st Ave rather than S. Congress.  I did actually refrain from speeding down this slope knowing I had another 20 miles to go.  But for all I know that braking might have contributed to my sore feet.  It was at the bottom of 1st Ave. when we turned west toward Tarrytown that my feet began to scream.  And by 11 miles, I think my form was starting to become impacted.  There’s a hill on Exposition as you near the turn-off to the half marathon where I first truly felt the grade and believe that is where I gave up on the 3:30 pace group.  And when I say I gave up, my pace dramatically slowed.  I prefer not to relate the rest of the run because it would be like reliving a nightmare and my selective memory is in control now.

I do remember some very pleasurable post race events.  For whatever reason, I decided late last year to try to reconnect with my old running teammates from high school.  Actually I know the reason.  My buddy Dave met up with his New Mexico swim team last summer and really enjoyed it.  This seemed brilliant to me because even though I’ve never attended a HS reunion, I am actually interested in the people I ran track and cross country with in high school.  For the most part, I haven’t kept up with them.  But I know them.  Like all distance runners, they’re good people.  I know that Scott Holman would crack me up.  Perhaps because today he’s a stand-up comic.  I know Toby would start me giggling for hours on end.  And I suspect cavorting with Rob or Mike, or certainly the two of them together, would end up with me swimming naked at Hippie Hollow.  As I recall our last skinny-dip was in the month of January and resulted in extreme shrinkage.  If we do have a Cross Country reunion, it should be in the summer.

As bitter as my race experience might sound, or was – my selective memory already forgets – this trip’s highlight was reconnecting with my old friends.  I touched on this in my last post, but I wrote that before having dinner with Toby and his family.  He brought along one of his stunning daughters, Lauren.  And his beautiful wife Margie was so charming I could have sat down with her all night to chat and felt like we’d grown up as neighbors rather than her and Toby.  Toby really did marry the girl next door.  And I still feel so good after meeting up with Nancy Basey for lunch.  I’m not sure how to express this, but it’s somehow very comforting to see that your old friends have grown up and are happy.  Sort of like how a team victory is always sweeter than individual accomplishments.  For all of us to have succeeded in life is just so cool.

Austin Marathon 2011

20 Sunday Feb 2011

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Austin Marathon 2011I can tell you now about the wisdom of training on only 4 miles a day for a marathon.  More specifically, I can tell you what has more impact, gaining ten pounds or dropping in altitude from 5280 feet to 550.  Gaining 10 pounds.  I’ll expand on that topic a bit later.  This pic was taken by my brother Steve in the final 100 meters on Congress Avenue.  Fortunately he can’t figure out the video on his camera so you can’t see that the other runners in this pic were all passing me.  I’m back at my mom’s house, showered and blogging with a Miller Lite by my side.  I’ve got about an hour before I meet up with some high school friends at Chuys.

This run started at 7am on Congress Avenue a block north of the Texas Capitol and proceeded north a few blocks toward the UT campus.  The darkness of night may have faded, but it was hard to tell with the thick overcast.  The weather was awesome.  Drizzle was projected but never materialized.  It wasn’t cold though and I wore Nike Dri-FIT® runners shorts and my Denver Marathon short-sleeve shirt with hi-tech fabric.  I also wore my black Barr Camp runners hat but carried it the second half of the race as the sun never came out.  I launched a 17 hour playlist from my iPhone in shuffle mode.  I love the random nature of my 17 hour universe when just the right song comes on as I need it.  Dream On by Aerosmith led today’s charge.  I was huddled in a scrum with the 3:30 pace runners.  I actually hung with them for 10 miles or so.  That might have been too fast.  The street was crowded and didn’t start to yield room until crossing the Congress Avenue bridge after a couple of miles.  Lance Armstrong was larger than life on an electronic billboard at the end of the bridge looking down approvingly at us all like some brew pub deity commanding us to drink Michelob Ultra.

The race blogs I read to understand the course weren’t downplaying the hills.  This little run didn’t shy away from elevated terrain.  We climbed up South Congress Avenue for 5 miles non-stop.  My crowd of runners got a kick out of the Austin Motel sign after 3 miles.  This phallic signage stood erect as if to point the way “up” South Congress.  Other signs were notable.  My favorite was around 18 miles where some young woman held a large white poster board in front of her body.  Above the sign were bare shoulders and below the sign were her bare thighs and feet.  The sign read, “I’m naked behind this sign”.  There were lots of runners looking over their shoulder as they strode past.  Speaking of women, I absolutely love that sporty look of braided pig tails and ponies with fitted running outfits.  Austin has some real beauties.

I also read a number of references to the great Austin crowds in some blogs.  Wow, I can’t say enough.  I was truly impressed by the number of supporters out on the streets.  Reminded me of my early days running the Capitol 10,000.  They would read the names on the race bibs and call them out for a personal touch.  It might have been the difference between me finishing and still lying out there somewhere in a gutter.  This run was hard for me.  At 12 miles or so the course split for the half marathoners to head back toward downtown.  If they allowed last minute decisions, I’d have turned for the shorter run then and there.  I was feeling beat and knew then that I wasn’t in shape for the full marathon.  It’s a fair argument to state I wasn’t in shape for the half.  My legs didn’t have the strength for this distance.  They totally melted.  I felt fine otherwise.  The hills didn’t bother me until after 11 miles.  My feet hurt like hell.  Talk about inexperience.  While my shoes were not new, I hadn’t been running in them much because they needed inserts to protect my left foot from over-pronating.  I was busy with travel for work this week and didn’t have a chance to run in them after buying inserts.  My feet felt like they were in a vise, but loosening them didn’t help.  I didn’t get any blisters on my hills or arches, but did get one on a toe.  But they just hurt.

Running through the old Austin neighborhoods was special.  Each neighborhood reminded me of some old girlfriend or date.  But the ravages of age kept me from remembering any of their names.  Running through the last neighborhood I lived in before moving to Boulder was pretty cool.  And the bonus was that Hyde Park was nearing the finish.  I knew at this point I’d make it.  The Hyde Park Bar & Grill was around the 24 mile point.  I’d been walking at each aid station to drink water since mile 16.  I’d let the 3:30 mile pace group go long ago and had since been passed by the 4 hour pace group.  I wasn’t too disappointed even though I’d expected to finish in 4 hours.  I was just focused on finishing.  I’d accomplished my goal of using this to keep myself motivated through the winter and this was good for that.

This run has also been good for meeting up with old friends.  Nancy Wilson Basey met my brother and me for lunch at Kerbey Lane off 38th Street.  She looked as good as ever and made me feel pretty good that she went out of her way to see me.  We hadn’t seen each other in 30 years.  And I’m meeting up with some other friends from my RRHS Cross Country team in 30 minutes at Chuys.  Toby Thurman and Bill Hay.  That’ll be a trip.  I come down to Austin every Christmas but don’t generally meet up with old friends because I focus on family.  Time to publish this and head over for a frozen rita.

How to Train for a Marathon…

17 Thursday Feb 2011

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…on four miles per day.   Assuming it’s even possible.  I’ll find out this Sunday when I run the Austin Marathon. The first step to establishing this training regimen is to let work take priority over your personal life.  I know that sounds counter-intuitive to most serious runners.  But it’s key to not having the time to properly prepare for 26.2 miles.  Next step is to gain 10 pounds.  Don’t forget to gain weight as you near your event. Imagine the horror of reaching mile 18 and some volunteer hands you a half gram packet of honey.  Fat runners never hit the wall.  At least not on America’s Biggest Loser.

Maybe that was too many sentences of sarcasm in a row.  But it’s more than warranted.  You tell me.  Who else do you know that’s gained 10 pounds training for a marathon?  I’m still glad I scheduled this February junket to Austin for a 26 mile ramble up and down Congress Avenue; I was out there running in some pretty unfair winter weather.  Gaining 10 pounds isn’t as bad as gaining 15.  But I’m disappointed knowing I won’t be completing my second marathon in less than 6 months in more impressive fashion.  I really can’t predict just how I’ll run because I don’t have enough races under my belt to have a strong sense of my pace.  I do feel a little bit more experienced.  My feeling is that I’ll finish right around 4 hours.  More likely over than under.  My time isn’t as important to me though as being able to run the course comfortably.  Failure would be having to walk.  I might not admit to walking but if I finish closer to 5 hours – you’ll figure it out.

I won’t admit to wimping out over the last four months.  My excuse is work.  It got the better of me.  Even now, I’m writing this blog in a Detroit hotel room.  I had to fly out here Wednesday and will return Friday.  I haven’t run since Tuesday and won’t again until the big day Sunday.  I’ll have a 12 hour turn-around in my own bed Friday night/Saturday morning, and then get back on a plane to Austin.  Pretty poor prep for a marathon, but we’ll see how it goes.  I’ve never considered canceling.  I’m confident I can run it slowly.  I feel sorry for one of my RRHS cross country buddies who was going to run the half marathon.  Nancy Wilson Basey got sick this week – fever, coughing, the works.  She has to be disappointed and I can empathize.  It helps me appreciate that at least I can still run, albeit slower than I had hoped.

I suspect this will be my last post before the race.  Thanks to everyone whose been lending me support.  Especially my understanding wife, Karen, and my brother, Steve who is picking up my race packet as well as me from the airport.  Next blog post will be Sunday night.

Game Day

06 Sunday Feb 2011

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You think I ran today, or do you think I sat around and just watched the Superbowl?  Well, the game wasn’t until late afternoon, so I squeezed in a little run before hand.  I wanted to run a long one but I didn’t have that much time.  I spent most the day painting my dining room.  It would have been great weather though for a long run.  I woke up to 4 inches of fresh powder and the sun was out – up until I stepped out the door and it turned cold and cloudy.  I considered snowshoeing today but would have needed to start earlier.  The painting took longer than expected.

My big run is only two weeks away so no amount of extra training is going to help me prepare.  Well, that’s not entirely true.  I can’t get more fit aerobically in two weeks but I can properly maintain with a healthy diet and regular running.  I’ll try to do as many 8 milers as possible – if my work schedule allows.  And I’ll do weights to stay strong.  But eating healthy might be more important than any actual training at this point.  So I only had one beer at the super bowl party.  When I say “diet”, I’m usually referring to alcohol.  In fact the only other substance I’ve ever curtailed is caffeine.  I’m not likely to eat differently.  My breakfast typically consist of a toasted bagel with cream cheese, lox and capers.  Lunch is a sandwich of some sort.  Dinner is average Americana but more meaty than starchy and a few veggies.

I don’t expect the Austin Marathon to be special in terms of performance.  Matching my time from the Denver Marathon last fall would be nice but my expectations are for somewhere right around four hours give or take.  I’m mostly excited about hooking up with some of my high school cross country teammates.  At a minimum I’ll be meeting up with Nancy Wilson Basey.  She’s running the half and we plan to have lunch afterward.  And Bill Hay said he’d be at the finish with a cold one.  I’m hoping to maybe see some others the next night at Chuys.  I visit Austin at least once a year for Christmas but rarely visit my friends because so much time is focused on family.  For some reason I feel like catching up with people I haven’t seen in 30 years.  If I do, pictures will follow.

Return to Austin

22 Saturday Jan 2011

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Round Rock Cross Country

Look at those boys in Jeff Graham’s 1978 drawing of five fit athletes enjoying their time in the sun running cross country for Round Rock HS back in the day.  From left to right, we are Doug Hall (RIP), me, Joe Cepeda, Robert Graham, and Johnny Martinez.  The countdown to my Austin Marathon is less than 30 days and I can’t help but reminisce on my training runs of fun times running in my youth.

My very first road race took place on a golf course actually in South Austin.  Doug Hall organized a handful of us on a Friday night and drove us down Saturday morning.  It was such a kick, a 3 mile dash over grass and water traps.  I ran it barefoot.  Doug and Rob were sporting the game-changing Nike Waffles.  That was the late summer of ’77.  The next spring we ran what really was technically my first road race, the inaugural Capitol 10,000.  I can’t leave out the 100s of runs along Townlake, now named Lady Bird Johnson Lake.  And my all-time favorite run is the coolest inner-city trail ever – the Barton Creek Greenbelt.

I had a nice run today on one of my favorite Boulder County trails – the East Boulder and White Rock Trails.  I ran 8 miles at what felt like a pretty good clip.  I went the 3 days prior without getting out.  Work has been like cramming for college finals; never-ending days of phone calls, powerpoints, copy/pasting between docs and spreadsheets.  I was prepared to train this winter regardless of the weather.  I’d snowshoe if that was all I could do.  I didn’t expect work to rule like it has.  My goals for the Austin Marathon have gone from beating my time in the Oct. 2010 Denver Marathon to simply finishing without walking.  Despite having lost the edge on my conditioning, I’m still committed to running it.  I’ve booked my flight.  My mom’s excited I’ll be staying with her for the weekend.

Today’s run felt so good.  The work week ended on a bad note.  All work and no recognition.  I presented a piss-poor PowerPoint to my VP on Friday afternoon and I felt exhausted.  Today’s run was like breathing for the first time.  The weather started out perfect – maybe 50° – and sunny.  I wore shorts and two shirts – one short sleeve covered by a second long-sleeve.  Both high tech fabric.  The wind picked up on the return and I would have benefited from having wrapped another long-sleeve shirt or light jacket around my waist.  Had I, I’d have put it on.  Likewise, my ears would have preferred a warmer fleece cap than the runners cap I wore.  But it was tolerable, I didn’t freeze.  The hills sheltered me from some of the wind’s wrath.  Halfway through my run, the Chinook winds dropped out of the Boulder foothills with a fierce velocity that nearly ripped the cheeks off my face.  My legs were warm enough but the sweat on my chest and armpits chilled me beyond comfort.  I’ll layer smarter next time.  I’ll need to put some thought into how to dress for Austin in February.  The humidity magnifies the cold.  I’ll take all my gear and look at what the locals are wearing.  It’s all about the gear.

Fallin’ Behind

15 Saturday Jan 2011

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I haven’t had much to blog about in terms of running the last couple of weeks.  I haven’t been running much.  Work has taken priority.  I hate that.  I haven’t even been able to read a book at night.  That’s the way it is sometimes.  There’s no debating priorities – work always comes first.  But I’m concerned.

I registered for the Austin Marathon, purchased my flight, and quite possibly set expectations of running fast because it will be at sea level.  But I’ve dropped my distance down to 4 miles and am only getting out 4 days a week.  Not a good January.  I committed to the marathon to challenge myself over the winter.  I’m still glad I did it – I doubt I’d be doing anything had I not set such a goal.  I’ll accept the fact that work got busy and I’ll just do my best to finish the marathon without walking.

One good thing is I haven’t let the recent cold and snow slow me down.  I’ve got the right gear and winter running experience to deal with the weather.  In fact, I really enjoy running on snow and ice packed trails with my YakTrax.  It’s warming back up into the 40s and now that I’m acclimated – that’s down right balmy.

I expect work to continue to dominate my schedule for the next 2 weeks, but I should gain some bandwidth in February.  The marathon might be brutal, but I’ll be back on track for the Moab Canyonlands Half Marathon in March.  I didn’t care to run too hard in that run, just keep up with my neighbors – we have a big group going.  As far as measuring improvement over my running last year, the Bolder Boulder in May will provide the best apples to apples comparison.  Running fast isn’t everything.  In fact, it isn’t even close to some of the other pleasurable benefits from running.  But it’s hard not to be somewhat competitive about it.  Hopefully I’ll get some good training runs in soon.  Something I can blog about.

Fit for the Holidays

18 Saturday Dec 2010

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I’m off work for the next two weeks.  Perfect opportunity to focus on training.  But not always.  The holidays, and winter in general, is also a standard time for weight gain.  Work gets busier and with the stress comes fat.  I did miss a couple of days this past week because I couldn’t get away from work.  Usually though I make the most out of vacations.  I ran throughout Thanksgiving in Spokane with my daughter and brother-in-law.

In Texas for Christmas, I’ll be staying first at my mom’s house in Round Rock and then at my father-in-law’s house in Northwest Hills, Austin.  I have a nice route in Round Rock along a trail that follows Harry Man’s Road in Brushy Creek.  I can make an hour run out of that.  It’s nostalgic too because I used to run down this road in high school for cross country workouts.

In Austin, I’ll run down to the track at Murchison Junior High School.  Assuming it’s warm enough, I aim to launch my 2011 speed work with some quarter mile intervals.  My muscles need to relearn how to run fast.  No more seniors surging past me at the finish line next year.  I won’t need speed for my first planned event – which is the Austin Marathon in February – but I hope to show improvement in my 10Ks.  I’ll find one or two before the Bolder Boulder to get a good qualifying time.  I started too far back in the pack last May and found it frustrating to pass so many other runners.  I can tell you the secret to a good run in the Bolder Boulder – run slow the first mile.  It’s down hill, then miles two and three slope upwards and people die off.  It takes discipline to run slow that first mile with the race excitement and given it is downhill, but that’s the trick to running strong on that course.

I hope you have good winter running weather over the holidays.  Ski, snowshoe or run.  Weights indoors.  Take advantage if you have time off and use the holidays to launch your winter training regimen.  Merry Christmas!

Exotic Runs

03 Friday Dec 2010

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This is me two years ago on top of Mt. Garfield.  I drove out to Grand Junction to give my ole buddy Rob a lift to DIA.  15 minutes to the right of my outstretched hand – stage left – lies Grand Junction.  We couldn’t drive for more than 15 friggin minutes before Rob told me to pull over for a 2000 foot climb up the ugliest approach of eroded foothills I’ve ever seen.  If you’ve ever driven along I70 into Grand Junction – you know what I mean.  The place looks like the end of the world.  Of course, that’s just the base, once you get going the terrain changes dramatically.  It might look like the land before time from I70 but this part of Colorado has got some outstanding hikes.  This was the genesis of my current fitness kick.  That round belly underpinning the 88 on my shirt is now half gone and this year I entered a few road races.

I’ve already captured this summer’s running events.  What’s racing around my mind now are next summer’s possibilities.  I have some wicked opportunities.  There isn’t much talk of pedestrian turkey trots, people are proposing some weird shit.  This week alone was suggested the Warrior Dash in Copper Mountain and the Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon in S.F. Bay.  WTF!  I couldn’t swim 1.5 miles at 18 when I was negatively buoyant.  What are my chances now that I’m a boat anchor?  A high school cross country buddy is even suggesting the Tough Mudder in Vail.  Or he might have been suggesting the Tough Mudder in Austin, but good Lord; is this all the result of having completed the IPR in Ouray/Telluride.  Apparently that run brings out the crazy talk in people.

But I kind of like it.  I don’t intend to do any of these nut-job events, but I like thinking about doing them.  And the really cool thing is I can at least afford to register for and travel to these spectacles if I so desire.  It’s not like 25 or 30 years ago when my pals and I would race unregistered to instead put our money towards a post-race six-pack(s) of Schaefer Beer.  Although the stakes have been seriously raised.  It’s not unusual for event registrations to cost upwards of $100 nowadays.  And let’s not leave out the cost of towing along the family for a night or two in a comfy world class resort.  So if I do choose do run any of these exotic events, I’ll need to choose wisely.

I’ve already entered the Austin Marathon in February 2011.  There’s a plane ticket or two.  But I’ll stay at my mom’s house for that run.  And I’ve entered the lottery to run the Canyon Lands Half Marathon in Moab next spring.  Those two runs will start the season off for me, and you have to admit – they’re pretty damned cool events.  After that, I don’t know.  I have fantasies of becoming competitive in my age division.  That sort of implies I’ll focus on 10Ks.  And I’ve been thinking about an ultra trail run, but I will settle for some cool hiking if plans come together to reunite with some old friends next summer.  I don’t know what I’m going to do yet, but just thinking about it has kept me entertained while I quaff this bottle of Barón De Barbón Rioja 2004 Reserva.

Winter Maintenance

30 Tuesday Nov 2010

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I’m an idiot if all I do this winter is run.  My brother-in-law told me over Thanksgiving of his plans to train for a triathlon in the spring.  Chad already runs and recently bought a very cool road bike.  But he’s considering adding swim lessons to his regimen.  And then my buddy Rob is advising me about all sorts of alternative workouts I could be doing over the winter to strengthen my core and rest my knees.  But I’ve been preoccupied with the recent drop-off in my running mileage.  And for no good reason.

Baby it’s cold outside and I don’t have to be.  Here’s the plan.  I’m going to return to my weights in the basement.  They sit right outside my office.  I’m going to add a real pull-up bar to the ceiling rather than using the iron support beam that kills my fingers.  I have an elliptical machine in the basement as well that I’m going to ride when either it’s too cold outside or I can’t get off conference calls.  I might actually move that into my office.  And lastly, I’m going to pick up a new outdoor activity.  Karen is interested in snow shoeing.  That looks awesome.  It’s a lot like running, but it’s certain to be lower impact.  There’s minimal equipment to buy – relative to skiing.  And I suspect it will cost much less overall than skiing, but at the same time it will get me outdoors in the Colorado wilderness.  This might even be something the whole family could do.  It’s officially on my list of things to look into.

It’s simply nuts to think all I should do to train for the Austin Marathon in February is run.  I’ll burnout from boredom and it will possibly even lead to injury.  You hear all the time how cross training is more effective.  Snow shoeing won’t even feel like training.  It’s a bonus that now I am fit enough to try new sports and recreation.  If you’re already into it, tell me what I need to know to get started snow shoeing.

How to Motivate a Slacker

06 Saturday Nov 2010

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See the blood in this pic, under my left arm pit?  That was due to chafing after 23 miles into the Denver Marathon.  Of course this pic is at the finish.  You would think completing a marathon, all bloody no less, would indicate what a committed, disciplined and serious athlete I must be.  Not really.  I mean, I have my moments, but I can be just as equally the biggest slacker to ever lace up his racing shoes.  I was motivated to get into road racing shape – mostly out of fear – after registering for the Imogene Pass Run.  I’d worked up to 45 miles per week, including regular hilly mountain trails.  But in the month between the IPR and Denver Marathon, and the weeks since, I’ve dropped to 30 miles per week.  Worse, I’m back to averaging four drinks per night.  By my measure, four drinks over five hours doesn’t make me a drunk, but it won’t earn me parent of the year either.  The combination of running only 30 miles per week and four tasty beverages per night has put a halt to any improvements in my athletic conditioning.  I’d lost 15 pounds this year, and had hoped to lose yet another 10, but it won’t happen at this pace.  In fact, I’m in danger of regaining lost weight.  I need to turn this around and get back on track.

Still high from a sub 4 hour time in the Denver Marathon, I registered for the February 20th Austin Marathon.  My logic was to give myself a goal that would keep me training through the winter.  Seems like a good call.  Problem is, it’s not working.  To be fair, I’m still running everyday.  But the diminished distance and lapse of drinking discipline is dire.  I’m walking up an escalator moving downwards the other direction.

In my defense, my work load at IBM isn’t leaving me much time for longer runs.  I can only seem to squeeze in a 30 minute run, and I don’t have time for weights anymore.  I haven’t lifted since the IPR.  I’m still running 8 to 10 miles on weekends, but I’ve dialed down the intensity on those as well.  I recognized my slacker attitude this week, which is why I’m blogging about it, and I’m going to turn this around.  Starting Wednesday or Thursday, I reduced the volume of drinking by half.  And today, I returned to the mountain trail, Heil Valley Ranch, that prepped me for the brutal IPR.  An 11 mile run consisting of 5.5 miles up and 5.5 miles back down, over rocky, single track.

I worked too hard this year to allow for any reversals.  I’m going to refocus my efforts.  In my giddiness as I registered for the Austin Marathon, I had thoughts of breaking 3 hours.  I really want to break 3 hours.  I at least want to do well.  My first event at sea level presents opportunities.  And I would like to lose a few more pounds between now and race time.  I will not allow myself to lose any more momentum!  I’m kickin’ it back up a notch!  Stay tuned.

The Thirty-Thirty Club

29 Friday Oct 2010

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Out of my 50 or so blog posts, I’ve only written a couple where I reminisce.  Even my fiction is generally typical blog stuff where I relate current events – whether developments in the news or stuff I’m doing at IBM.  But now that I’m blogging on running, and I don’t have a new race scheduled for 4 months, it’s time to look back for running material.  Way back, 30 years ago.  This pic is of me in 1980, ironically 30 pounds ago as well.  You should also know that I can still grow my hair that long, I simply choose not too.

I attended Round Rock High School – back when there was only one.  Now the town that Dell Computer put on the map has six high schools.  I don’t know if they still have a distance running tradition, but back in my day, Round Rock was known for its storied harriers – from the Cepeda brothers to the Rodriguez family.  And my class of ’80 added depth to the equation – especially if you threw in the classes of ’79 and ’81-’82.  Rather than send one or two hotshots to the Texas State Cross Country Meet, we sent the entire team.  We had talent.

The race I’m running in this pic is the 2 Mile Relay, technically termed the 4×880 Relay.  This was right around the time tracks were converting from yards to meters.  I think it was still the 4×880 relay but could have been 4×800 meter relay instead.  Same difference.  We had at least 8 guys we could swap in and out on any given race day and still win this event.  Trust me, that’s impressive.  I can’t remember my PR anymore in the half mile, but I’m fairly certain we could all break 2 minutes.  Mike O’Neill and Toby Thurman ran under 1:55.  Then they’d anchor the Mile Relay for an encore.  We were invited to  compete in the Texas Relays – which was not a race we won – but it was a kick.  There was a team from Houston, I think Houston Jesuit, that was unbelievable.

I’ve been emailing many of my past teammates from Round Rock recently, trying to get them together next summer.  I’ve registered for the Austin Marathon in February and plan to run the Capitol 10,000 in March as well.  I understand not all of my class mates are in running condition anymore but it would be cool to just meet up for some frozen ritas.  Just in case any of them are looking for a reason though, I’m pushing them to run.  Fairly confident I have one or two of them ready to commit to a half marathon.  It’ll be good for them.  Of course, I won’t be overly disappointed if no one steps up to the starting line with me.  As I said in one of my recent emails to them, just giving ’em shit is its own reward.  At the same time, a couple of them are likely in better condition than me.  I know Rob Graham is, and it wouldn’t surprise me if my sister Nancy could out pace me at the 10K.  But it will be immensely rewarding if just one of them who is currently more than 30 pounds over his or her high school weight takes the challenge and catches up to me in the thirty-thirty club.