Zero!

We haven’t seen temperatures this high for a while now, although it’s gone below zero again as the sun sets.  Yesterday I worked outdoors for 3 1/2 hours in temperatures ranging from -14 (morning) to -5 (afternoon) removing snow that had drifted in Sunday night and Monday morning.  I couldn't start the snowblower in the morning, so the biggest drifts were removed by shovel.  Then later in the day, after applying heat to the snowblower, it started easily and I finished the job and did the neighbors driveway too.  Great cross-training.

Today we ran in the YMCA again, "marathon pace" again, just 3.8 miles, tapering.  I felt slight pains in the left quads and calves, both rather unusual.  Both went away, so let's not worry about it.  I didn't feel as strong today as I did two days ago, but I did OK anyway.

11:15, 10:54, 10:59, 8:28 (10 laps), total time 41:36, pace 11 minutes/mile.

Marvelous Run

Nine miles on the YMCA track at a relatively fast "marathon pace," I felt full of energy the whole way and could easily have gone farther.  I took a Clif Shot gel at mile 2 and mile 6, with about five ounces of water at miles 2, 4, and 6.  Pace was run one lap, walk one.  I moved right along in both cases, but there were a few distractions on the track too, including a few families with excited preschoolers zig-zagging along near their parents, which called for a reduction in my speed now and then as I sort of pussyfooted past.  It's OK - the YMCA is for everyone, and these ones were mighty cute.

Whining: The right knee hurt just a little, but nowhere near enough to make me want to slow down.  I think it will be OK on a mostly straight course.

Splits: 11:06, 10:47, 11:09, 10:46, 11:14, 10:35, 11:06, 10:44, 10:10, nice last mile, total 1:37:36, average pace 10:51.  This corresponds to a 4:44 marathon if the pace could be sustained for almost three times as far.  That's unlikely, so I'll go a lot slower in the actual upcoming marathon.  For better or for worse this is the long run, and it's taper time now.

Marathon Pace

I tried running six miles at marathon pace, more or less, running one lap and walking the next, taking 40 triplets (120 paces) for a running lap and 50 triplets for a walking lap (I walk fast).  After 60 minutes I had logged 5.4 miles.  Good enough - at that pace I would finish a marathon in 4:52 or so if I could sustain it for another 20 miles.

That's very unlikely.  I'm thinking that a run/walk ratio of 2/1 or even 3/1 might be a better strategy for the next marathon.  Believe it or not, my longest run since the November marathon in San Antonio has been 6 miles.  I still hope to get in a longer one, maybe 8 to 12 miles, but it's way too late now for a 20-miler and I'm going to have to take it easy in the marathon, shooting for 5.5 or even 6 hours.

Blogging Is A Habit

Thursday, January 23, 2014

And I got out of the habit.  Maybe I'm back now.  After the Memphis Marathon that wasn't, and one short run in New Orleans, I didn't run for ten days, mostly because I was blowing and shoveling snow almost every day during that time.  In December I ran only 28 miles, less than I should run in a week, but I spent way more hours clearing snow.

January hasn't been much better, either.  Despite the extremely low temperatures (minus 17 this morning, schools closed), there has been enough snow to keep me pretty busy - our driveway and sidewalks get dangerously icy if not kept clear.   I don't always feel like running after spending three hours clearing snow,

I did enjoy a local race, though, called Meet of the Miles.  It's a one-mile race, eight laps on a 200-meter indoor track at the University of Minnesota, and I was able to run another three miles in warmup too.  Fun time with old friends.

We have done some other running as well - 55 miles so far this month, including today.  All of it has been in the Woodbury YMCA, except for three miles Tuesday, when we ran in the soccer dome in Stillwater.  That one was scheduled for six miles, but I cut it short because of knee pain.    A mile in the dome involves 22 right-angle corners on a flat surface, while the YMCA requires more than twice as many corners but the corners are sloped, which my knees like much better.

Six miles today, back to the YMCA, no knee pain, no problems at all.

Splits: 10:04, 9:50, 9:42, 10:03, 9:39, 9:12, total 58:32.  I think I ran 14 laps instead of 13 in the fourth mile.  Oh well

Regular breakfast:  Oatmeal, yogurt, strawberries, blueberries, currants, pear, kiwi, macadamia nuts, almost all organic.  Marathon food!

Memphis St Jude Marathon 2013

Cancelled because of ice that fell all day Friday as freezing rain.  Friday night the race director gave his reasons: First, although the roads are ice-free, the course is not safe for runners in the start and finish areas; Second, the sidewalks are icy and dangerous for volunteers and spectators; Third, the course goes through a park where the roads are icy, at least one tree is already down, and more trees are hovering over the roads, threatening to break; Fourth, as of Friday night 30% of volunteers had already cancelled because they have their own ice problems; and Fifth, the entire area around Memphis is in a state of emergency, with power lines down and people out of power everywhere, so the police and rescue services needed by the marathon are required elsewhere.  I find it hard to disagree with that reasoning.

Plants coated with ice

He didn't even mention the unseasonable cold.  This morning, race morning, the low was about 20 with a stiff wind and a resulting wind chill temperature less than 5 degrees.  If the race had gone forward, it would easily have been the coldest of our 78 marathons, by at least 20 degrees, not considering the wind chill. Coming from Minnesota, I was ready for the cold, but we would have heard reports of frostbite or worse, so it's good that the race was cancelled for that reason as well.

This is the third time that we three have gone to a race that was cancelled after we arrived.  Chicago in 2007 was cancelled during the running because of heat (they ran short of ambulances), but I was far enough along that I was allowed to finish.  Then St. Charles MO, in 2008, was cancelled during the running because it got flooded by the remnants of Hurricane Ike, and part of the course went under water.  No one finished that one; we all ran 10.5 miles and got half-marathon medals.  Today's race was cancelled the night before the race, so today we're all carbed up with nowhere to run.

We rode this

I do like to blog about a race as soon as I can afterward, while the memories are still fresh.  However, as Sunshine points out, I've never before been able to blog during the time of the race.  Oh well, we took Amtrak to get here and that was fun.  Also we enjoyed a day in Chicago making the connection, and downtown Memphis isn't a bad place to be either.  We even rode the trolley from our hotel to the expo during the ice storm.

Be Careful What You Ask For

Saturday, November 30, 2013:

After the very hot San Antonio marathon I wrote "where’s a little sleet when you need it!"  Today, the long-range forecast for our next marathon, in Memphis, includes the words: "... chance of freezing rain and sleet."  Hoo ha.  Not the best of weather, but better than 89 degrees with a blowtorch sun.  Long-range forecasts never really come to pass anyway.  Usually.

Splits: 10:12, 9:54, 9:48, 9:25, total 39:18, pace 9:50.

Friday, November 29:

YMCA.  Today is the day for burning off the excess that I consumed yesterday (Thanksgiving).  I lost the splits (accidentally cleared my watch) but I know that I ran five miles, each one a little faster then the previous, and the last mile took about 9:10.

Wednesday, November 27:

Stillwater Bubble.  No pains or problems.  Running just four miles, I had a little fun in the last mile, doing several short sprints along one side of the soccer field.

Splits:  10:30, 9:57, 9:35, 9:29, total 39:32, pace 9:53.

Monday, November 25:

Stillwater Bubble.  We ran there for the first time this fall, just to enjoy the unheated air and the

Taco Salad, one of my favorite meals

rubber smell of the soccer field.  Well, there were other reasons too.  Actually I do like it a little better than the YMCA track, because it’s 5 laps per mile instead of 13.  And I had a very nice run, finishing very the 4.8 miles very strong.  I stopped one lap short of 5 miles (I goofed), but it was enough.
No pains, no problems.  It’s a masterpiece!

Splits: 10:07. 9:50, 9:30, 9:46, 7:29 (about 0.8 mi), total 46:42, overall pace 9:44.

Saturday, November 23:

Three more miles in the YMCA.  This time I ran (run/walk) a mile on the track, then another on the treadmill at a 10:00 pace, and finally another mile on the track, somewhat faster.

For most of the day I had been experiencing a significant pain in the upper left tibia or fibula, not sure which, on the lateral front, just an inch or two below the kneecap.  The pain appeared when I put weight on the joint, and also when I lifted the leg in a sitting position.  It hurt a bit when I started running, but then quickly settled down and has not been heard from since.

Splits: 10:14 (run/walk 56/30), 10:00 (run), 8:58 (run/walk 60/20), total 29:12, pace 9:44.

Friday, November 22:

This was the second run since Sunday's marathon, and I tried running  continuously, in place of the run/walk that I usually do.  I'm not sure that I understand or believe the results, though.  The mile that I ran continuously seemed to be much slower than the next mile, where I used a run/walk ratio of about 60/25.  So much slower that I wonder if I slipped an extra lap in there - the track is 13 laps per mile and it would be easy to miss one.  I'll probably try this again the next time we go to the YMCA.

 Meanwhile, I felt very good today, full of energy, and the last mile zipped by quickly.  A tightness in the right calf appeared and then resolved itself during the first mile.

Someday I’m going to measure this track, to see if it really is 13 laps per mile.

Splits: 10:44, 9:40, 9:18, total 29:44, pace 9:55.  Great for five days after the marathon.  I'll do longer runs next week.

Thursday, November 21:

Normally I would run on Wednesday after a marathon, but the yard was calling me Wednesday with tons of leaves that needed mulching.  I spent 5 or 6 hours walking behind a mower, and that was quite enough for the day.  Today was the first real run, and I took it very easy on the YMCA track.  I didn't bring my watch, but ran and walked for 33 minutes, according to the clock on the wall, at a pace that may have been 11 minutes per mile or so.  No problems.

San Antonio Rock n Roll Marathon

The Alamo

Welcome to Texas.   If marathons were all like this one, I would switch to half-marathons.  It was torture.  Until today, we held the Hyannis, MA Marathon to be the most miserable one we've done, because of temperatures in the 30's there, with rain and sleet.  On Sunday Hyannis lost that distinction, replaced by San Antonio, with temperatures of 89 or more, high humidity, no wind, sun like a blowtorch, and zero shade in the last 13 miles.  Where’s a little sleet when you need it!

Riverwalk from above

I did finish my 77th marathon, in 6:08:10, fifth of seven in my age group, but it was no fun - I was never so glad to be done.  That is mostly not the fault of the race organizers, of course, they can't control the weather.  Today was a freak - the forecast was for one degree below the record high for the date, and the actual temperature went even higher and set a new record.  The race started at 7:30 am, and they could start it a half hour earlier, but that wouldn't have made much difference.  We needed shade ...

My Race:

"On the plains of hesitation bleach the bones of countless millions, who, at the dawn of victory, sat down to rest, and resting, died!"  - George W. Cecil.  That quotation rattled through my head many times in the later miles, as I was sorely tempted to sit for a moment in a shady place.  I was also thinking of a T-shirt I saw two weeks ago in the NYC Marathon: "I don't stop when I am tired, I stop when I am done!"  I really did want to stop, rare for me, but I didn't.  A sign along the way said "Own every mile, celebrate every moment."  Sorry to say, I didn't celebrate much in the second half of the marathon, but I sure did own the damn miles!

Concrete trail

For the first half marathon I ran pretty well.  The temperature was in the 70's and climbing out, but the sun was behind clouds.  I followed the 5:30 pace team leader with no trouble.  I fact, as the sun began to peek around the clouds, the pace team started to lag a bit (I think by agreement among them) and I moved out ahead, staying on pace, trying to milk whatever I could out of those first relatively cooler hours.  I knew that I would have to slow down later, because the temperature would climb and the sun would appear full time.  By Mile 13 the sun was shining more than not, and by Mile 15, I was done running.  My face was hot, and in the later miles I began to feel slightly nauseous.  Both of these are possible symptoms of heat exhaustion, so I even slowed my walking pace at times.  By Mile 17 or 18 the 5:30 pace team passed me, though they weren't running much faster than I was walking, so I doubt they finished ten minutes ahead of me.

Most of the last miles were on a beautiful, wide, new all-concrete trail along the San Antonio River.  Unfortunately, however, there are no trees whatsoever.  I fear that I didn't enjoy that lovely trail as much as I might have.  I did see lots of other runners (walkers?) stopped by the side of the trail, under a bridge or wherever else they could get a spot of shade.  They weren't enjoying it either.  In those last miles I didn't run a step, but I did walk fairly fast, and I passed a lot of people.  Few passed me, and if they did, I usually caught them again.  No one was doing well.

Early miles

I took a Clif Shot Mocha gel at mile 2 and four more during the race.  I skipped the last one because of the mild nausea, thinking that the race people would try to take me out of the race if they saw me throw up.  I took six or seven salt tablets, and I’m sure that I've never taken more water in a race.  I had no trouble with cramps (yay!), except in my hands (?)!

Whining.  See above!  However, nothing hurts except the expected muscles and ligaments, and those will recover nicely in time for the next marathon in three weeks.  I got away with this one.

RnR San Antonio Marathon:

I usually avoid the Rock 'n' Roll Marathons because I’m not drawn to over-amplified music, especially when it's not of my own choosing.  But this one fit our schedule nicely, so we took a chance.  Happily, there was no music at the start, so we didn't have to stand it for a long time, only for a few seconds at a time as we would pass a band on the road.

Other stuff:

Streets really were CLOSED!

• These guys have done this before.  Everything was well organized.
• Rock ‘n’ Roll marathons are big business and seem so, apparently not engendering too much allegiance.  I thanked one person at the Expo for volunteering, and she replied "If I were volunteering I wouldn’t be here."
• We were required to sign a negligence waiver at the expo.  A waiver signed at the time of payment may be valid, but this one, signed later, is a total waste of everyone's time and suggests an arrogant disdain for the runners.
• Porta-potties at the start were organized into little C-shaped groups of four units, so runners naturally formed a line for each group - no question which units belonged to which line.  Nice.  Why doesn’t everyone do that?
• The whole course was closed to automotive traffic, period.  That is wonderful!
• The marathon starts and ends in the same place, the Alamodome, as does the half.  Makes things easier - no bussing.
• The Expo was at the Alamodome too, and it was a nice, large expo.
• Packet pickup was smooth and easy, except for the bullcrap about turning in the signed negligence waiver.
• The full and the half started together, which meant that my "corral" (24th of at least 32 corrals) got to the start line 38 minutes after the first corral started.
• For the most part the organizers were prepared for the weather, with plenty of water, even spray hoses at the aid stations. 
• They say that there was ice at every aid station, but I didn’t see ice at most of them when I got there.  Water was almost always warm. 
• Next year’s event is December 7 - weather should be cooler.  Good decision.
• I saw lots of battery-powered carts running up and down the course checking on and assisting runners.  That’s good.
• But when I asked them for a bottle of water, they didn’t have any.
• I saw several dropped runners, either on carts or waiting for one, but I have seen no news about this.
• Results were up immediately - I love that!  Results are easy to navigate, too.
• The time limit was 7 hours, and the last-listed runner finished in 6:59:02.  Since runners were still finishing in droves, the organizers obviously just cut off the rest despite the extenuating circumstance of the record heat.  I think that’s disrespectful, and of course the effect will be both sexist and ageist.

  

  Sunset from hotel room

• The time limit for the half was 4 hours, but the results do show people finishing well after that.
• 2013 finishers:  Half 14,430 and full 2,678.  Note that this is basically a big half marathon with a full added on.
• For some reason I missed many of the mile marker signs - didn’t see them.  Probably my fault, but I usually see them.
• There was no marker at Mile 25 at all - I did see the paint marking on the pavement, but no sign.
• No aid station at Mile 25 either, or at Mile 12 for the half.  The last two miles were devoid of aid, spectators, even music, until the last tenth or so.

Memorable:

• The half and the full ran together for the first 11 miles.  At about Mile 12, I told the pace team leader that I had almost expected the full to be redirected to finish with the half, because of the heat.  She replied: "Nope, this is Texas!".
• I heard a rumor that the slowest marathon runners were turned around a few miles short of the measured turnaround, so they ran a shorter race.  I don’t know the truth of this, and I could find no news about it.
• Update:  It's true.  Hundreds of runners were directed through the shortcut.  I have no idea if those people had their times adjusted in some fashion.  Probably not.
• In my age group (70-74) no one qualified for Boston.  This was not a good day for qualifying!
• We stayed at the Staybridge, which is about as close as you can get to the start and finish, but still an easy walk to the Alamo and the Riverwalk.

  

  After the race

• We even got in a little Friday morning run on the Riverwalk.  Nice.  We liked San Antonio.
• Some women raced in tights or pants despite the heat.  Modesty?  Some of those tights really didn't help much with modesty.
• One of the amplified "bands" was a man playing a recording of organ music, possibly E Power Biggs.  It was not too loud and I enjoyed it for half a minute as I passed by. 
• A live band, near mile 19 or 20, had temporarily abandoned their instruments and devolved into goofy acappella singing of old tunes.  They were horrible singers, but having fun in the shade of a tree, and I was almost tempted to join them.
• I saw a lot of my favorite Team In Training runners in this race, especially in the half.  I like to encourage them. 
• I wore my Team Continuum singlet of course.  Go Team Continuum! 
• I ran this race in honor of my friend Sharon.  We love you, hang in there.  Both of you.

Splits: 35:16 (3 mi),, 11:44, 38:26 (3 mi), 12:53, 25:24 (2 mi), 12:43, 13:16, 1:10:26 (5 mi), 16:11, 15:19, 16:06, 15:57, 33:11 (2 mi), 15:46, 38:15 (2.2 mi), total 6:08:10, pace unmentionable.