Race Report: WRRC Summer 5K Series- October

ORN:  5K, 24:29, 7:54/mile

What fun!  The last in our local running club's summer Wednesday evening 5K series for the season was a treat.  This event is the opposite of the Chicago Marathon from 10 days ago and both events were enjoyable.

I worked till 5:45pm...drove home, changed into running gear, was out the door at 6:05pm.  I ran the mile to the local park where this race starts and ends.  I signed on a list, paid nothing (the race is free to club members) and chatted with a few folks.  In the "its a small world" department, I chatted with John, who had run portions of a marathon in Rhode Island last weekend with fellow blogger David .  David had texted me about it Sunday...what a hoot!  John asked me about it tonight.  Just a hoot.  

At 6:30pm, all 18 of us lined up, Tony said "Go" and off we went.  The sun was nearly down, the almost-full moon was above the horizon, fall colors in full bloom.  We ran past the Farmer's Market (didn't realize our local farmers raised tie-died T shirts but I guess they do), and curled around the pond and the park.  

This is just the third time I've run since the marathon, so I had no idea how I would handle pace.  So, I just let it flow.  Amazingly, the first mile clicked through at 8:01, a pace I seldom get to. But I felt OK.  Without really trying, mile two sped up, going down at 7:56.  Hmmmm, this feels fine, so I pushed it harder; mile 3 came in at 7:42.  Pushing hard over the final tenth at a 6:54 pace, I finished in 24:29.  I was thrilled to see "24" on my watch at the end.  I looked at my race records when I got home and this was the third fastest 5K ever for me.  Go figure, ten days post marathon!!  

The small group gathered under a gazebo with some pizza and cookies.  I rewarded myself with a chocolate chip cookie and jogged home.  I walked in the door at 7:12pm and Gretchen and I sat down to dinner 5 minutes later.  

What a fun evening.   Grateful, often, for life in a small town.  

Persevere.

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Race Report: Chicago Marathon 2010

ORN: 26.2 miles, 5:40:40, R4/W1(mostly), 13:01/mile

Quick Summary:

Huge. Colossal. Massive. A ginormous street party. The Chicago Marathon was this and more. It was a marvelous experience, even for a guy who normally does not like crowds. I was thrilled to participate.

And the race went well for 23 miles. Bummer that a marathon is 26.2. Severe calf cramps and some dehydration on a day with temps in the upper 80s made for a less-than-desirable finish. Yet that does not color the entire experience.

The Gory Details

Pre-race

The key highlight of this race was a chance to run again with my nephew (but more like my brother, John. We ran the LA Marathon together in March and now it was my turn to host him for another Big City Marathon. He flew into O’Hare mid-day on Saturday. We met up, checked into our hotel near the airport, hopped the CTA train and then a city bus to McCormick Place to register.

register


After working through that crowd, we walked around the finish area at Grant Park, visualizing what we hoped we’d feel like at the end of the race Sunday. It is a very cool finishing path…we both wanted to feel strong at that point and enjoy it.

Race Day

We were up at 4am, out of the hotel and on the CTA platform at 5am.

5am platform

It was a fun ride downtown on the train…as you might expect the only folks on a subway train at 5am on a Sunday all had round, orange plastic loops on running shoes and seemed anxious to chat with other perfect strangers with loops. We were in Grant Park before 6am, found a place to lie down and rest for 45 minutes or so, watching the sky brighten over Lake Michigan. It was terrific. The crowd began to build and by 7am, we got into the starting grid. We wished each other well and John worked his way to the 4:15 area, while I was quite content to park myself with the 4:45 folks.

start grid

Wow, what a pack it was! Estimated 40,000 people or so. It was palpably different than the half-marathons I’ve run with similar sized packs, as fundamentally different as the half marathon is from the marathon.

The Race

The gun went off right on time at 7:30am. Twenty-four minutes later, I was across the starting line. I anticipated a very frustrating first 2-4 miles, hemmed in on every side by runners too close to one another. Wrong. By the time we cleared the tunnel at the half-mile mark, I had plenty of room to run without bobbing and weaving much at all. It was a very pleasant surprise.

We wound through the heart of Chicago’s loop for about 3 miles. What crowds! Amazing energy and enthusiasm…hard to describe. We then turned north and the run was terrific. Temps at this point were in the low 60s but we also had full shade from the tall buildings and low sun angle.

A high point in the race for me, a die-hard Chicago Cub fan, came midway in the eighth mile. I had planned this ahead of time but didn’t know if I could pull it off…but I did. The northernmost point in the course was the corner of Addison and Broadway, where we turned south back to the loop. But, like all true Cub fans, I also knew that had we gone just a few more blocks west on Addison, we would have arrived at Wrigley Field. So, this was key geography for the runner/baseball fan. Fortunately, there was also plenty of room between the runners taking the corner and spectators on the other side of the barricade. I just eased out of the pack and led the crowd, Harry Carry style, in a loud rendition of “Take Me Out To The Ball Game.” It was a hoot…folks really got into it. It’s the closest I’ll ever come to singing at Wrigley.

The run back downtown was enjoyable. Cool, tree-lined residential areas and shops gave way to skyscrapers.
Joe at mile 10

We then headed west and crossed the half-way mark and the run remained most pleasant. My pace through mile 15 was marvelously consistent in the 11:30s, doing a 4/1 run/walk ratio and keeping my heart rate in the low 130s during the run segments. I felt terrific and was enjoying the whole thing.

And then.

At the 15 mile mark, we turned back east to downtown and moved, in the space of two blocks, from tree lined streets to open, unprotected strips of asphalt. I notice my heart rate head up, so I slowed down. On my later analysis, this was the key slowing point in the race. I added a full 45 sec/mile to my pace and then more. I still felt fine but had to slow to keep the HR in the 130s.

At mile 20, we turned from 18th Street south onto Halstead, and there was a bank at the corner. Its trusty time and temperature sign said “88F”. That really startled me. It wasn’t humid, so I wasn’t sweating all that much but the heat was certainly building. Right at the 20 mile mark. Great. So, I just kept moving and threw in some extra 30 sec walk breaks to keep the HR in the 130s. I was still drinking water, taking a Salt Stick capsule at the top of each hour and a Gu at the bottom of each hour. Experience told me to just keep doing the right thing and I’d get home OK, even if slowly.

We crossed the Dan Ryan Expressway, hit mile 23 and turned north again on famous Michigan Avenue. Psychologically, this was wonderful…I knew the next three miles were dead straight on Michigan and the next turn would be the penultimate one, heading to the finish line. The scenery improved a bit and I just focused on keeping moving.

Then Ruth passed me. I had seen this peach-shirted lady with the imprinted name quite a bit over the past four miles or so. She was a calm race walker who kept a steady pace. Except she usually passed me while I was walking. This time Ruth passed me while I was “running”. Hmmmm, I say to myself. She’s walking faster than I’m supposedly running. Maybe I should just “walk” with Ruth? I tried this for a while but at the mile 24 marker I found my left shin and then my left calf would cramp up at her "blistering" pace. I smiled and realized I was done and visualized a giant fork poking me. All I could do was just walk it in.

So I did. The hoped-for triumphant run up Roosevelt, followed by the left into Grant Park to the finish line was, instead a calm walk, focused on keeping the leg relaxed and not cramping. I at least had some fun with it…smiling at a cop who recognized I was struggling and getting a sympathetic high five from him…reflecting on how fortunate I was to have health to even attempt such a thing. And, out of all the many runners streaming across the line at the same time, I actually heard them announce my name and home town. Again, perhaps an act of empathy for the guy walking across the finish line. It was nice.

And marathon #17 was over.

Post Race

I struggled for the next 45 minutes or so. No way to sugar coat it. If I stopped moving, one or both calves locked up. I was not the only one, though, as John showed with the photo he took just after he finished an hour ahead of me.

injury at end

John and I found each other and it was great to see him. He was a huge help as I slowly got my wits about me. [In fact, the only fly in the ointment of the whole day happened about this time. I had set down my gear bag while walking around and someone grabbed it and took it. Glad I had nothing in it I didn’t mind losing.]{Ed note: this changed...see below}

By the time we got to the subway station, I could stop and sit without cramping. The 40 minute ride to the hotel in the air-conditioned train, sipping a bottle of water was what I needed. By the time we got off, I was conversant again. A shower and a rest and some light food put everything back into perspective. By 6pm, we hopped in my car, zipped down to Wheaton College, picked up my son Matt and the three of us sat for 2 hours talking into the evening.

Post Race Reflection

Why the cramping? Why has this come up in yet another marathon? I gotta think it is my approach to electrolytes. Clearly, water plus Gu plus Salt Sticks was not adequate, certainly not on a hot day like this, despite the fact I have trained in heat all summer. I’ll figure this out. Because, even in the moments just after crossing the finish line, I was looking forward to “getting back on the horse” for the next marathon I’ve signed up for in five weeks.

This is long, I know. But, as my long-time blogging pal Sarah and I agree, this blog is mostly for my own record. And I hope it is helpful as well for anyone who cares to read.

Persevere. Cramps or not.


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Postscript: Five days after the race, I got a phone call at work from the Chicago Marathon office. They found my gear bag...what did I want to do with it?? Amazing and totally impressive. I gave them info to pay for the shipping and it arrived back at my house three days later. While there was nothing huge in it, a couple of items I was glad to get back since I could. More importantly, it spoke volumes about this massive event paying attention to the smallest of details. I was and still am impressed. With this level of detail, it's no wonder why this is such a marvelous event.


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Race Report: Tippy Connect/Tri N Run 10K

ORN:  10K, 55:19, 8:56/mile

It seems a little odd, in a way, to run a race as a planned part of the taper into the Chicago Marathon, but it worked out today.  This race was set up as a fund raiser for a local senior center, had a good bit of advertising, was run on the same route I use for all my long runs, was 8 minutes from my house and, hey, I needed to pick up some special drafting instruments at a store next door to the start.  Enough of a reason, right?? 

I suspect the sponsors were disappointed.  Despite their publicity efforts, only 25 of us ran the 10K; the associated 5K had barely 50.  The grey, chill and drizzle probably held down the walk-up registration, as did another 5K race in town at the same time.  In a small community, that pretty much divides up the few runners available.

With a marathon in 8 days, I had planned to run this easily, probably at a 9:30/mile pace.  I set the Garmin up to monitor such behavior and off we went.  Mile one flowed at 9:21, but then it got flat.  I tried to hold back, but mile 2 hit 9:07 and mile 3 flowed at 8:46.  We then went out to do the 5 K course again and the hill held mile 4 to a 9:15.   A long conversation with a guy I know from church held mile 5 to 8:57.  However, he then challenged me to catch his father-in-law (who was still in sight) over the last mile or so.  Off I went...mile 6 clocked at 8:10 and the final 0.2 was at a 6:48 pace.  And I didn't even catch him!

I did get a nice workout though, which I had wanted just to break up the taper madness a bit.  So this was not too long of a run, no walking at all, yet a modest level of intensity.  Average HR for the race was 141 bpm, which is evidence of some effort but not too much.  And have I mentioned how much I enjoy Race Day??  Even a little race like this is fun.  

So, it is now one week until John and I join 40,000 of our closest friends in Grant Park in downtown Chicago for a shuffle through the Windy City.  The early look at Chicago weather on October 10 is fine, if not perfect; low 50s at the start, heading to the upper 60s by the finish.  I'd like it 10 degrees cooler but it's way better than the heat wave they had just a few years ago there.  I'll update my status there via Twitter/FB while up there; a blog report will follow.  

And did I tell you I signed up for another marathon on November 13?  More on that to come.    

Persevere.

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Tapering into Football

ORN #1: 11.7 miles, 2:01:40, R6/W1, 10:24/mile
ORN #2: 0.25 miles, no time, all run, lots of chatter

The beautiful fall weather continues. My first long run of the taper was useful and thought provoking on Saturday (but that's not unusual). During the taper, I'm trying to follow the concept of shortening the mileage but keeping the intensity. With temps in the upper 50s, that was not hard to do. I used a 6/1 and kept the HR up...I was pleased with a sub 10:30pace. The legs were stiff-ish throughout, probably from 23 last Saturday. Interestingly, around mile 8, the legs were neither more nor less stiff than in the early miles, so I pushed the pace with no ill effect. After one day off last week, I go back to the usual schedule this week. I may well run a local 10K race next Saturday as a final "tune up" before Chicago on Oct 10.

My second run of the day was a treat and perhaps the first of many. We had our grandkids over all day. When I returned from my outing, I asked the three of them "Who wants to go for a run?" Young Nathan jumped up and so out we went. I said "Let's see if we can run all the way around the block without walking!" He was game. And off we went...a steady jog and we made it. What a treat! Hope we get to do that more.

On the beautiful fall afternoon, I then took both boys on an outing I often took my own sons on when they were little. With Purdue playing at home, we went down to see the fourth quarter. It's a great value with little kids...no traffic, park for free, walk in for free, find an empty seat (plenty of those available, sadly, for Purdue football this season) and enjoy the sun, the crowd and a box of popcorn, if not the game (yeah, Toledo beat the Boilers; a win for the MAC, Darrell!).

Drew, Joe, Nathan

A good day, all the way around. I'm blessed and thankful.

Persevere.


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Three is wiser than two

ORN:  23.0 miles, 4:19:50, R/W 4/1, 11:18/mile

Today was the day Indiana runners dream about all year...a fall day with sunshine, clear skies and comfortable temperatures.   Shoot we get 4, maybe 5 days like this each year...and if it falls on a weekend, it's even better...and if it falls on a day when you have a long run scheduled, well, that's just amazing.  

A bonus was a home football game for Purdue with a noon kickoff.  My loop through campus allowed me to share a bit in the fun, pregame atmosphere.  There is something fun about the drum cadence from a big marching band.  It's a hoot to jump into a touch football game with some college kids as you run by.  It's fascinating to watch the people trooping to a game.  

Three weeks until the Chicago Marathon, so today is the last long run.  I had 22 on the calendar and it went well.  I ran today the way I plan to run in Chicago, a 4/1 run/walk ratio, using heart rate to indicate effort.  During the first 16 miles of the run, the pace was steady and it all worked fine.  Over the last 7 miles, the temperature had risen to the upper 70s and my HR was up, more and more.  I found it worked well to simply slow down to get to a proper zone.  That got me home fine.  Due to a slight route change, I had 22.7 miles as I neared home...I went a bit farther to round it off to an "even" 23.  

One perplexing thing during the run...the legs seemed "tired", more so than I anticipated they should be.  Why??  Later in the day, I realized the likely reason.  All my reading on training and all the training I've done in the last four years counsel to separate long runs by three weeks.  And I have not.  I did 22 on August 21, then did the 30K race two weeks later and now 23 in two more weeks.  Yep, the legs were tired and the two-week separations explain why.  Particularly at age 56 (nearly 57!), that timing is key.  

So, I'm glad to have three weeks before John and I line up with 40,000 of our closest friends in Grant Park and begin a tour of the Windy City.  An intelligent taper should leave the legs fresh and ready to run early and run often that day.

Persevere.  

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Heart Rate Approach Summary

ORN:  6 miles total; 4x1 mile intervals @ 8:18/mile average

Boy, the fall weather sure helps the enjoyment of running.   It's been a long, hot summer and I'm grateful for the cool down!

I mentioned in last week's race report I was fleshing out a new-to-me method of incorporating heart rate training to my running, using the Labor Day 30K as a shakedown for the method ahead of the Chicago Marathon on October 10.  As promised, here's my method as it has evolved over the past 6 weeks.

The Background:  The whole concept of HR training has had appeal to me for some time now.  Yet, to read about it, it seems so very complex and many who write about is seem combative.  Battles over this method and that method of zone calculation.  How to plan training.  Expensive devices.  All of this was off-putting to me, even though the concept of using one's own heart rate as a simple and reliable method of bio-feedback made abundant sense.  My effort here, therefore, has been to simplify the thing enough to the point I could use it.  

Further, I've been so pleased in using Galloway's run/walk approach ever since my injury in the 2006 Portland Marathon I was not going to reject that.  It has saved a number of injuries for me and all I really want to do is to continue to run long distances pleasantly.  

Yet, in the two marathons I did this spring, they were less than pleasant at the end.  Thus, I was open to change. But how?  Here's what I did.  

The Actions:  First , I bought a simple HR Monitor.  For $60, I had myself a simple Polar FS2c monitor.  All it does is measure HR and tell you, at the end, what your average and peak HR was.  Simple.  

Second, I had to calculate my Zone 2 (Z2), the seemingly magical zone where one burns mostly fat, not glycogen and keeps you going for a long time.  This was more annoying than I anticipated; but using 5 different methods of calculation, I found none of them differed by more than 3 beats per minute.  Shoot, I won't be fine tuning it that much.  So, by fiat,  I declared the reasonable Z2 for me of 113-128 beats per minute (bpm).  (Yes, Wes, a larger range than I first published here). 

Third, I set a plan combining Run/Walk and HR training that is simple.  I plan to run a 4/1 run/walk ratio (run 4 minutes, walk 1 minute) at Chicago.  And, when I run, I will not use a Garmin to check the pace; rather I will simply hold my pace to stay in Z2.  

Fourth, I changed my mind about finishing time.  I chose to accept whatever time this plan gives me for the marathon.  Finishing well now trumps hitting a particular time goal.  

The Implications:   It means I no longer try to predict what time I will run on a particular day or course.  Instead, I simply take whatever the weather and the course and my conditioning allow.  It means my pace per mile might change.  If the HR gets over 128, I slow down.  If I can't get it up into Z2, I speed up.  If I tire towards the end of the race, my HR will tell me and I will slow down.  I will record the times at each mile but will not be a slave to it.  It means my HR should come back to Z1 during each one minute walk break.  If it stays up, I need to back off more.  It also means I'll probably run longer (no more 1/1 or 2/1 ratios) and probably run slower.  I hope it means I'll be stronger at the end and enjoy it all more.  Indeed, if it works, it will better allow me to achieve my general goal to "Run the Best Race Conditions Allow." 

The Prototyping Test:  So, I took this plan and executed it at the Labor Day 30K last Saturday.  I did not run the race to see how quick I could run 18.6 miles.  I ran it to test the method for Chicago.  Success would mean feeling strong at mile 18, feeling like another 6.2 would be no big deal. 

And it worked.  The course for the 30K was a set of rolling hills.  I could see the HR go up on the uphills and be unchallenged on the downhills.  I saw the HR drop off during the walk breaks.  I felt it stay low through the first five miles, then go level for the next ten or so.  Around mile 15, it felt a big odd, staying up during the walk breaks.  I walked a little longer once, ran a little slower the next run segment, focused on breathing; and it all came back to normal by mile 16.  I passed a lot of folks the last three miles and at the mile 18 marker, said "this is good" and opened it up the last partial mile.  And, according to my new and improved laminated pace chart (that's another blog post sometime), this effort would have netted me a 4:42-4:45 marathon.  And I'd be thrilled with that.  

So, that's the plan.  Yeah, I'm a systems geek, so such efforts fascinate me.  It worked well in the race last week.  It worked wonderfully in my 22 mile training run on Aug 21.  I'm set for another 22 miler next Saturday...we'll test it again.  

Hope this makes sense...it's the first time I've tried to explain it all in one place.  Feel free to comment or make further suggestions.

Persevere.

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Race Report: Labor Day 30K

ORN: 18.7 miles, R/W 4/1, 3:19:53, 10:42/mile

Quick summary:

What a fun, unusual, well-run event, just west of Detroit. On hard-packed dirt roads under a full canopy of leaves, the cool weather allowed for a visually and physically pleasant shakedown of my fall marathon plans.

The Gory Details

The Labor Day 30K bills itself as an excellent training event for fall marathons and that it is. Most of the runners I talked with were using it as such.

My own objective for the day was a) to simply have a race and b) to shakedown a new approach to long races, following less-than-satisfying performances in two marathons last spring. Both objectives happened, in spades.

A bonus for the event was some extended time with my Mother-in-law! No, she didn't run but logistics worked out for me to drive her to spend the night with my sister-in-law and family who live in Michigan, on the way to the race site. With all the jokes and chuckles about MIL's, I'm very fortunate to have a wonderful relationship with Sue. I truly enjoyed the 9 hours in the car with her up and back. We covered the waterfront several times and even enjoyed a complete Cub-Mets broadcast on the drive home Saturday.

The race was in and around the little down of Milford, Michigan. Easily 3/4 of the miles looked just like this; it was a very satisfying and enjoyable visual surrounding. The other miles were through the village. All in all, the course was well done and accurately measured. It was steadily rolling as well...lots of ups and downs. This is helpful for me, the flatlander, as hills are so hard to come by here in north-central Indiana farm country.

The race started right on time, a fact I always appreciate. About 600 of us trundled off on the unusual 30K distance. The weather turned unusually cool the night before the race, with temps in the low 50s at the start and never getting much beyond 60. The wind added quite a chill, being 20-30mph all day. Fortunately, the heavy tree cover tended to break up the breeze, so it wasn't a huge factor. Clothing-wise, I found this to be the perfect day for cut-off tube socks on the arms.

My main objective for the race was to test the new strategy, combining the Run/Walk pattern of Galloway with the effort-control provided by using a heart rate monitor. I'll write about the plan in a separate post. I was pleased with how it went.

The really great part of this race was there is nothing remarkable to report! The run was, simply, a most enjoyable jaunt through wooded lanes of Michigan. I had some very nice conversations with folks along the way. Mostly though, I simply marveled at the scenery, so very, very different than what I run in all the time and a far cry from the urban setting I'll run in Chicago in five weeks.

After the eight-mile mark, the miles really started to seem to click by. That's a day when you know it is going well. I kept the 4/1 run/walk sequence and it held up well. I even skipped several of the walk breaks around mile 7-9, as I was in a fascinating discussion with a fellow runner. The legs barked at me a bit around mile 15 on one of the hills but that didn't last long. As I passed the 17 mile marker, I felt strong and picked up the pace. We turned back to the finish line just after the 18 mile mark and I opened it up and ran the last 0.7 at an 8:15 pace. I felt strong at the end, satisfied with a good run.

I had forgotten just how much I enjoy "Race Day". The atmosphere, the energy, the challenge, the need to think on your feet to changing circumstances, the ebbs and flows; all so enjoyable. This race had all of them and ended well.

Five weeks remain till Chicago. I'll do another 22 mile training run in two weeks, then a 10K race the week after that; those two runs should finish off the training. And, if Chicago goes well, some other plans for the rest of the fall may unfold nicely.

A good run, a good trip, a good long weekend. I'm grateful.

Persevere.



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