I forgot to post a race report from last week!  I’m going to be lazy and copy and paste the report I posted in the Ravelry running group here.  A picture will come soon when I remember to load the ones I have on my camera onto my computer.

November was an unusual month, but in a good way. My brother lives in NYC, and usually we only see each other every few months, or even less. (Part of it is due to my aversion to that city – having grown up in upstate NY, I always feel like it is patently obvious that I don’t belong.) Anyway, I digress.

I was able to see my brother three weekends in a row in November. I went to NYC for a few days before a meeting, then he ran the Philly Marathon, and then he came up to visit for Thanksgiving. (I’ll write more about the Philly Marathon, complete with pics, in another post.)  

For those of you who don’t know my brother, or are new readers to the blog, my brother goes by Jim, but of course, and much to his chagrin when his friends are around, I call him Jamie.  (Sorry, 35 years of calling him one name ain’t going to change overnight!) Anyway, Jamie and I have begun a tradition of always running the Feaster Five on Thanksgiving morning.  It’s a race that is run by the running group to which I belong, the Merrimack Valley Striders.  There’s a kids’ race at 7:45, and then a 5K and 5 Mile race that start at 8:30.  This was our third year of running it, and the second year in  a row that we’ve done the 5 Miler.

Over 7,000 people run this race.  It’s organized by Dave McGillvray (sp?) and his management company, which is, of course, the same guy that directs the world-famous Boston Marathon.  So, it follows that it attracts some big names, like Dick Hoyt, Joan Benoit Samuelson (she lives in Maine), and this year, Nate Jenkins.  Nate’s name might sound familiar because he placed 7th in the Olympic Trials Marathon in 2007. He’s also from the area.  It’s no surprise he won the 5 Mile race, with an average per mile pace of less than 5 minutes. The results are on CoolRunning.

As usual, my brother wasn’t able to make it into town until late the night before (traffic is always horrendous, coming to Boston from NYC.) I picked him up from the Bus Station in Boston around 11:45 p.m., and think I finally got to sleep around 1 a.m. or so. We had to get up around 6ish, so we could leave the house a bit after 7 a.m.  (Parking can be an issue at the race.)

This year, we were lucky to have some nice mild weather and we got to the race by around 7:50, in plenty of time to visit the porta potties.  Jamie brought his new gloves that he got in the goody bag at the marathon the weekend before.  Too bad he didn’t actually get to run in them. You see, when he used the porta potty, he put them up on the shelf. Then, what do you think happened? That’s right….they fell into the abyss.  Totally gross….He said he thought, for a split second, about trying to fish them out, but then (thankfully, in my mind) gave up that idea. Lucky for him, I had an extra pair in the car.  When I got back in line to use the porta potty a second time (nervous bladder, what can I say?), he ran back to the car and got them.

So, then, we get into line at the start, and put ourselves close to the 9 minute pace sign.  As we’re standing there, and it’s getting warmer from all the bodies around us, and we hear the national anthem sung, he looks at me and says “oh boy, I need to use the bathroom.” Trust me, at this point, there is no way in hell he could have broken out of that group. And unlike the Boston Marathon, it’s not so accepted that you might pee in your starting corral. So I looked at him and said “looks like you might need to hold it for a while.”

The course goes like this:  There is a MONSTER hill in the first mile. I mean, huge. As in, you keep going up and up and up, and you wonder when the hell will you ever see the crest? It flattens out about halfway up, but it’s just a tease, literally for just a few feet, and then you continue on with your climb.  I saw someone in full-on turkey regalia, walking. Can’t say as I blamed the guy. This year, even though my lower back has hurt a lot recently (yes, I know, I need to do more core work), that hill, while being tough, didn’t cause me as much agita as it did the past two years. Maybe because in the mornings I’ve been making myself end my runs up and down over the bridge near my house a few times.  After the first mile marker, the 5Kers and the 5 Milers split up, and the road literally opens up more to our race, which is awesome.

From there on, it’s pretty much a flat, but sometimes rolling course. My brother and I even commented to each other that it seemed like there were a lot of downhills on the course. (Maybe they just felt that way after the huge hill at the beginning.)  My brother and I remembered that after the two races merge, there is a stretch where you’re not running alongside houses on both sides of the road. We saw that area (not really a woods but that is what we kept calling it, and I pointed out the largest tree I could see and said “go, run there!”)  At this point, I think my brother would have been happy peeing behind a pixie stick. At one point, he’d said to me, “the water’s knocking on the door!” with a big smile on his face.

Here’s the funny part – he said that as he was “taking care of things” he heard people yell out “we can still see you!!” and then when he ran back into the field of runners, a lady looked at him and smiled. She said “hey, when you gotta go, you gotta go.”  When he’d left me initially, a guy running next to me just kind of smiled, and I was like “he’s been looking for that patch of trees for 4 miles now!” and he just laughed.  I said he’d just run Philly a few days before that, and I had no fear that he couldn’t catch up to me.

So, here’s the thing. For most of my runs, it’s felt tiring to run in the low 9 range, for more than just a few miles. Yet, that day, despite being on very little sleep, even running in the 8s didn’t seem too difficult. I even said to myself at one point, even as I looked at my Garmin as it beeped out the miles and paces, “I’m feeling pretty good today. This is COMFORTABLE!”  So, after my brother caught up with me (it even looked like he was sprinting there for a moment), he said to me “you want to throw the hammer down and go below 9?”  To which I responded “we’ve been under 9 for the past mile!” (He has a stopwatch but not a Garmin, although now he wants to get one for himself.  See what a great influence a big sister can be?)

Well, we picked up the pace, and started weaving around people, trying to get ahead. When you get to the last .3 or .4 mile point, there’s a downhill. Followed by an UPHILL  at the very end. That’s where my morning runs have really come in handy. I felt strong through to the very end!

All in all, this is a great race. If you register early enough (online), you get a long sleeve technical shirt, plus an apple pie and tons of food at the end. It’s very well organized. Never a worry about there being enough porta potties, thank God. (Hey, it’s a concern, because Lis and I ran a race last winter where there were 3 toilets (count them, 3) for over  600 people…enough said.

Ok, I’ve gone on long enough. The stats are below.

Stats:

• 136/384 in division, F35-39
• 1295/2798 overall
• Official net time: 44:49, but average pace of 9:01/mile (doesn’t add up, right?)
• Mile 1=9:46
• Mile 2=9:03
• Mile 3=9:01
• Mile 4=8:49
• Mile 5=8:03!!

This weekend, I’m running a Jolly Jaunt 5k in Boston with some coworkers. I usually like to keep these two parts of my life separate, but for one of them, it’s his first race ever, so I want him to have a good experience.  I’ll write about it afterward, and hopefully get some pics! (And the scary thing is, they think I’m the fastest of all of us.  That’s never been the case. I just think they’re being nice, honestly.)

Oh, and just because she’s adorable, and I don’t have pics from the Thanksgiving race, below is another picture of my cutie pie, Ruthie.  She’s hanging out on my brother’s lap -note the blurriness around the tail, because it’s constantly wagging. She enjoys life, what can I say? And isn’t every 55-60 pound dog a lap dog?

Ruthie, the lap dog, sitting on Jamie

All good things must come to end.
Every end is a new beginning.
It ain’t over till the fat lady sings.

As I go through some quotes about things coming to an end as we enter the last month of 2009, I can’t help but (once again) feel nostalgic. I will definitely remember this year as I ran my first full marathon.  And then three more.  But more importantly, I’ve met a lot of interesting people through this blog. So when the New Balance Run was moved to the last Sunday of November and so far I haven’t signed up (don’t know if I will) for any race in December, it hit me for the very first time that I was at the homestretch of this busy yet productive year.

Photo grabbed from www.baldrunner.com

I got to the race area at least 30 minutes before start time so when I saw Anton, a former student, we decided to run part of the BHS block for our warm up and then made our way near the start arch where I met now regular race buddy Junrox.   He just came from a business trip in Japan and was lacking mileage prior to race day.  That was according to him.

Catching up with Junrox, reading the markers

For after the “horn,” or whatever start signal it was, was sounded,  Tigerboy didn’t show any sign of  “lack in training.”  I didn’t think I was remiss when it comes to putting in the kilometers regularly but I was chasing him for the first half of the race, sometimes even falling behind as much as 10 meters.

Aid stations were taken care of by the organizers although I felt that instead of bottled waters, cups should have been used to save water.  I particularly liked the road markers with “amusing” lines.  Kilometer 5 marker made me smile with “Running, the original friend with benefits.”  And even as I was trying my best to keep up with Junrox after 8 kilometers of running, I still had time to appreciate “XOXO Running.”  Then when I finally caught up, km 13 read, “Running will meet you anytime” (or something like that).

Turning points

I love those turn around points because they were opportunities to see friends who may have been running ahead or behind you and those points were the only chance for you to cheer or receive cheers from them or just say hi or call out their name as a sign of support. (But what’s with the tight turn around bands???)

I never thought that turning into and entering McKinley Hill would be the X factor of the race for me.  X because I’ve never run “around” it and, as I would learn painfully that morning, the experience from previously running “portions” of the 50 hectare project home to condos, international schools and a couple of embassies provided little help.  I think I should seriously consider doing a hill training now.   Although I saw some runners doing some walk breaks especially in the more hilly parts, I decided not to for fear of not being able to run anymore later.

The final turn

But surprisingly, I was still feeling strong even after that killer leg, and so I went on with the 5minpkm pace heading near the finish.  I did a mental note of the map (a big mistake since a friend later told me that I should have checked the “revised” map!) and accelerated a little thinking that the final turn before the finish was near the NBC tent.  But when I saw that the runners in front of me were directed to the Serendra area, I thought I could not go further anymore!  But somehow I was able to maintain the speed and gain some more as I made the “real” final turn to the finish line.

Accidents and finish lines

Relieved to finish this challenging race. Thanks Jovie-san for the photo!

It was a tough race to say the least but in the end, isn’t that what we need sometimes to push harder, go beyond 100 percent, be the best we want to be?  It reminded me of a line from a recent post by the The Bull Runner:  the tougher the challenge, the more rewarding it feels in the end.

Download race results at the New Balance website.

Good luck to all Pinoy runners in Singapore!!!

And one more final quote from Orson Welles:

If you want a happy ending, that depends, of course, on where you stop your story.

Thanks SPEX runners for the breakfast! Yes, that's Kitty, Urbanathlon Women's 10K 2nd placer the week before

Photo op with the most famous Afro in the running world!

After the race with students at a group study complete with Christmas decor. Good luck on the test this Sunday!

29 November 2009

Overcast, little bit windy, spotting with rain, around 6°C

In my experience, there are three types of race that your common-or-garden runner can find themselves in. These are:

1. Fun runs, such as the Cancer Research Run 10k series, where everyone and their dog (sometimes quite literally) joins in and timing and distance are rather informal affairs.
2. Event races, like the Frieth Hilly 10k, where the race is organised to support fundraising, covers some scenic ground, and although fast times might not be in the offing, it still attracts serious club runners as well as your more occasional runner.
3. Semi-pro speed tracks where the gradient of the course, the surface, and various other factors take precedent over scenery with some very serious and very fast competitors. The Maylarch Eynsham 10k is in that category (as was the Headington 10k).

I had spent some time reading the short programme that came in the post with the race number. I knew that I shouldn’t measure my success – or otherwise – by my position in the field. Frankly, any race that offers cash for the first sub-30 minute man and first sub-34 minute woman is going to attract some super-human racers. However, with the course’s reputation for PBs, and my own determination to go sub-40 this side of the New Year, I went with a target firmly in mind.

This was my first real race since starting to run with the Abingdon Amblers, so the first race where I actually knew a few people (although you tend to see the same faces after a few races). However, in order for my race to count for the athletics league tables, I needed to wear an Abingdon top – which I didn’t have (partly because I’ve not yet got round to paying my sub, so the whole exercise may have been rather academic anyway).

Kindly, one of the ladies let me borrow a club vest, which technically meant I was partially cross-dressing for the race. Not that I was in any position to make any kind of a fashion statement – it was chilly, so I’d reconciled myself to wearing some rather fetching lycra leggings and a recently purchased ‘base layer’ top. Base layer clothing is essentially designed to keep you warm. I hadn’t realised, though, that it was designed to fit quite so snugly until I put it on. It wasn’t dissimilar to wearing a long-sleeved girdle… I imagine.

A curious thing you’ll notice at winter road races with seasoned athletes is the number of people wearing bin bags. To the casual observer, they look a little like improvised straight jackets as these runners continue to limber up as they jog towards the start line, arms out of sight, bag rustling. It’s quite a sensible strategy, however bizarre it might look, as you inevitably stand around a bit, hemmed in by other runners, waiting for the starting pistol. During which time, as for this race, it can start raining and feel remarkably cold.

Tips for running the Maylarch Eynsham 10k

1. Get there early and read the programme in advance! There were several runners who forgot – or didn’t know – to pick up their timing chips, and since race HQ is about 10 minutes away from the main car park, there’s no sense cutting it fine. Despite knowing I needed to pick up my timing chip, I was momentarily thrown by the signs for ‘Chips’, thinking that it was indicating the direction of some potato snacks. I’m pleased to say that I wasn’t the only one.
2. Learn to pace the race, dammit! I set off way too fast, again, slowed down in the middle, again, and had to make it up at the end, again. Apparently, the best-practice strategy is to run the first half of the race slower than the second half. Maybe next time…
3. Ditching the drink. Hydration is, of course, important in races. However, since it was cold and raining, my chances of overheating or dehydrating were pretty slim, so I didn’t pick anything up at the water station at the 5k marker. This saved my from my usual problem of choking on water, dropping the cup, or any of the usual repertoire of errors.
4. The race consists of two laps of the town, with the only differences being the start and finish points. This means that the distance markers for the laps are staggered by something like 500m. In theory, this should be something that could be used to help with pacing.
5. Be prepared for mud. Although most of the course is run on pavement or road, there are some sections clogged with mushy leaves, mud, puddles, etc., which can make for some hair-raising moments on corners.

Details

Finish time: 40:20 (PB)
Position: 85 out of 542

1km: 3:33
2km: 3:47
3km: 4:00
4km: 4:01
5km: 4:10
6km: 4:09
7km: 4:10
8km: 4:11
9km: 4:12
10km: 3:55

I did our local 5K on Thanksgiving morning with 7,500 other people and their dogs.  It was a perfect morning for running – chilly but not unbearably so, clear, and calm.  The course was reasonably flat with mostly small hills.  Running through the quiet, peaceful downtown felt like running through a movie set.   Or through residential Venice.  The only people along the 5K route were runners and their families & friends.

I arrived with about 20 minutes to go before the start.  I walked around to keep myself warm and saw this guy:

Yes, those are ties.

Once the clock hit 9am, they fired the gun and off we went.  Shuffle…shuffle…run!

It took a few minutes to get past owners with excited dogs who wanted to run criss-cross down the street and wrap themselves around light poles (true story).  Finally I was on my way, albeit a bit fast.  Around .6 miles I started to feel it.  Yikes!  My watch showed a 7:25/mile whereas my goal was to stay within an 8:10-8:30/mile.  I slowed down.

Suddenly, at mile 1.2, my ankle rolled.  No reason.  The ground was completely smooth.  I didn’t trip.  Maybe the muscles around my ankle were tired and simply failed?  It was a full-out, ew-I-think-I-felt-things-crunch ankle roll that left me seriously limping and wondering if I’d just broken something.  I pulled out of the crowd and over to the side to assess the damage.  Walk-limp, walk-limp, walk-limp.  I realized I was freaked out and in shock so I got a grip and told myself that I was okay.  Nothing’s broken.  I might not have to pull out of the race.  Can I walk on it?  Hmm…yes.  Okay, good.  Can I jog on it?  Yes.  Can I run?  Let’s try.  Yes, I can.  Okay, cool.  Go.

I got back into the mix and eventually revved back up to about a 7:50-8:00 pace for the rest of that second mile.

We hit a few small hills and one steep hill during the third mile.  Plod, plod up the hill. I took advantage of any downhills and was careful NOT to roll my ankle again!

The finish line was at the end of a straight-away so as soon as I saw it I locked my eyes on it.  Focus – you’re almost there.  Keep up your speed.  During the last .2 miles I continued to pick up my pace and sprinted in.

I actually remembered to stop my Garmin this time (first time ever in a race!) and was so pleased with the results.  I had beat my PR.  By a minute and a half.

Official chip time: 25:24.

W00ttttttt.  I killed my holy crap goal.

Final stats

554/2375 Total
(not sure why this total's not closer to 7500?)
24/161 Age Group
128/1155 Females
25:24 Chip time
25:42 Gun time
8:17/mile

My ankle was very sore and swollen for the rest of the day and felt really “off” the next day.  It’s a bit better today although not fully healed.  I will probably be off running for at least another 2-3 days.  I have a 5K that I’m doing with friends as a part of a team in two weeks but don’t expect to beat this new PR since I will probably have a newly-healed ankle.

My half marathon running plan is supposed to start on Monday although I will obviously be delaying it.

Yesterday a couple of my girlfriends invited me to join them on their road trip in April to do the Nashville Half Marathon.  I may do that instead of the Shamrock half, which would allow me to push off my training for a few weeks.  I hear this trip is a total blast so I’m leaning toward it.

Happy post-Thanksgiving!  I hope everyone had a fantastic holiday.

Even though it’s been a few days, I still cannot believe I did it! I am a half-marathoner

All my stuff ready the night before:

The morning started out pretty cool out. I was terrified it would be warm and rainy, but it was neither. The Hubs and I got to the race about 45 minutes before start time, and I was shaking with nerves from the moment I got out of bed.

I saw the Hubs somewhere between mile 7 and 8 (I think). I had him give me some Tylenol, and he snapped this pic as I ran by:

Around mile 9, my IT band/left knee just couldn’t take it anymore and I had to implement walk breaks. I ran for 4 minutes and walked for 1 minute for pretty much the rest of the race. It was painful, but I knew I was close. Turning the bend for the finish line:

And after crossing the finish:

And my finisher’s medal:

I still cannot believe I actually did it. It’s weird. And I was extremely disappointed to find they were out of beer by the time I finished. I was really looking forward to that beer.

I can’t wait for the professional pictures to go up, so I can post them. I want to buy the one of me crossing the finish line and put it in a shadow box with my medal and number.

If I can get my IT band issues straightened out, I’m contemplating doing the Jax Bank Half-Marathon in December. We’ll see

I wanted redemption.  Though I didn’t at the time, as months passed I began to hate the 1:02:20 time I had in the 2008 Turkey Trot.  Since then, I’ve gotten my 10K time down to 58:09 in April, then 56:00 in June, and set a new PR of 53:58 in September.  If the trend continued, I’d have another 10K PR.

However, my prerace preparation nutrition wasn’t the greatest. Bill Simmons, my favorite sportswriter, talks about “Highway Hungry” -“If you’re on the highway for more than two hours, seeing food signs for long enough, any food suddenly becomes six times as good.” On my version of the Vegas drive (the less ballyhooed Chicago-to-Detroit trek), I suffered from intense highway hunger.  Upon getting back to MI, I put my Wendy’s bag inside of my Taco Bell bag, filled the TB bag with a Sugar Free Red Bull can and random receipts and wrappers.  Oops.

The timing of my travels brought me straight to the bar when I got home, to catch up with old friends. I didn’t drink, because of the race. I was fine with showing up last and leaving first, the bar was crowded, smoky*, everybody seemed to be out only because it was ‘The Biggest Bar Night of the Year’.

I woke up from a fitful five hours of sleep and put on my race clothes. The shirt was awesome this year, and I put it on underneath my favorite Mizuno zip-up. I decided to race in my Mizuno running pants. They’re great – they’re light, but loose and more… modest than running tights. My sister and I left later than we wanted, and I made a quick stop to buy a water and disinfecting wipes.

We got to the starting line with less than 10 minutes to go, and wanted to use the port-a-pottie before starting. I kept number crunching the equation of “Time Left Until Race Begins minus Time Until I Am Done Peeing”**. The equation didn’t work out in our favor, as I saw runners pushing towards the start line as I entered the Porta.

Side story: My coworker and I got Wendy’s at lunch Weds., and they forgot his Spicy Chicken Go Wrap. I asked him, “What’re you going to do?”. Without delay, he responded, “I’M GOING TO STORM IN THERE… LIKE A BEAST!” and got out of the car. This killed me at the time, and the quote popped in my head in the port-a-pottie.  I decided I was gonna storm through the race… like a beast!  I hopped out of the port-a-pottie like a trashy Superman and started weaving through runners, walkers, strollers, and dogs.

A big knock on this years race was the number of runners, which swelled to 15,000, beating the previous high of 9,000. The race was crowded, and I wasn’t able to find my groove until nearly 2 miles into the race. I missed when I crossed the timing mat, and thus didn’t have my stopwatch going. I only saw mile markers at 3 and 6, that was ok. There were two split offs for the 5K and 10K runners, and only course martials directing which way to go, no signs. My sister ended up missing one of the turns, and finished her race nearly 40 minutes faster than she’d expected. Still, I’m thankful for all those who spent their Thanksgiving mornings out on the race course.

I felt like I was burning a lot of energy at the start of the race, having to hang back, wait for a gap to open, then crossover and accelerate through it. It made me feel like a Running Back for the Lions***. I’d wanted to go for a PR, but with the rough start, I thought about tossing that goal out of the window. Since I had no idea what pace I was on, I pressed forward.

During a race, I’m normally a stoic S.O.B.:  music blasting, pressing forward, looking to take down the next person ahead of me. So it was a surprise to feel a tap on my shoulder around mile 2. I took my left earphone off:

Guy: Hey, you’re REALLY sweating!
Me: … Ha yeah man, guess I overdressed.
Guy: Well… take something off!
Me: Yeah… (accelerates)
*end awkward interaction*

The race had 3 water stops. I need to work on my water drinking technique, I choked twice, not wanting to walk/drink. In future road races, I want to drink half, then throw my cup in the air and let it hit me in the head. Seems like more fun than just dumping it on myself.

The race was through the streets of Detroit, which is a desolate town when compared to Chicago. Though I am the Chicago Runner, I will always be “from Michigan”, and will have a soft spot in my heart for Detroit.  Coming downhill on Washington, I spread my arms like a soccer player celebrating a goal, as Santigold’s “L.E.S. Artistes” blasted in my ears.  Someday, myself and all the others that’ve left will come back and save you…

The end of the race was also confusing, as the 5K and 10K finishes were right next to each other, and signs directed men and women to finish on separate sides.  I found a small lane and found enough energy to sprint as the clock read “53:00″.  I had to wait until today to see the official results:  51:17!!!  What a difference a year makes.  I’m already thinking about next year and the small improvements I know I can make.

* Really, Michigan, really… we’re still allowing smoking in bars? Really?
** Broken down further: Time Until I Am Done Peeing = (# of Runners in Front of Me x Avg. Time it Takes Them to Pee divided by # of Port-a-Potties)
*** You know, except actually able to run through a gap.  Freakin’ Lions.

_____________________________________________

I took a (insert nation of choice) shower with disinfecting wipes in the car, and met up with friends at the Athenaum Hotel.  A group from my improv class had come into town, and we went to the annual Lions Thanksgiving game.

Scrambled eggs & 1/2 order of wings @ Sweet Water Tavern

The Lions were still in the game at this point...

Ford Field had Thanksgiving meals for $8.50, not bad

Alex ('09 Chicago Finisher) enjoying a cigar and $40 glass of Johnny Blue after winning big @ Greektown

It was a great Thanksgiving: a mix of new and old, cashing in on the benefits of hard work, cashing in on some luck at the casino, a breather after a 17 straight days of work.  For a long time, Thanksgiving was my favorite holiday, because of the food.  But as I get older, it means more to me.

I’ll save you the introspection, but to summarize a 1000 word post: I’m faster than before, and speed isn’t the only way I’m getting better.

I love this video.

My friend sent it to me, yesterday. It’s a timelapse video of the Philadelphia Marathon, and apparently it’s made entirely on an iPhone. Gotta love technology! We look like little ants marching one by one. Still haven’t spotted myself in the masses, but I’m thinking it’s going to take me a little while

Distance: 10K
Time: 45:31:72
Avg Pace: 7:20
Overall Place: 95/386
Gender Place: 15/158
Division Place F 35-39: 1/18

A big thanks to Christine and Maureen who kept me company and made me work harder than I thought I could!  You two are great!  I can’t wait to race with you again.

Happy running…

“If I can go out there and do it, then I can encourage other people. I don’t mean to run marathons. I mean to do, to fulfill their dreams, whatever they want to do.” -Ed Nagle

I’ve been quite busy with work the past few days so I was totally unmindful of the reactions, violent or otherwise, to the conduct of the Del Monte Fit ‘n Right Fun Run at MOA last Sunday. In fact, were it not for a text message from Marianne asking me if I enjoyed the run, I wouldn’t have taken note of the mostly negative comments from runners especially on their Facebook page. I also heard apologies had been made. Here’s my two cents’ worth.

What time will the race start?

Days before the fun run, I was looking for info on the start time because I could only recall that they put “Call time 4:00 am” and I forgot about the 6 am start time. I decided to go there around 5 to be safe and I was surprised to see men still busy putting up the Start/Finish arch. Jinoe said when they prepared for the RotaRun, as early as 11 or 12 pm the night before, they were already busy. A sign that start will be late, I told myself.

While I gave the announcer plus points for repeatedly giving instructions on how to put the bib with RFID properly (cheaper than the ChampionChip, but overall better? well, only time will tell…), I was waiting for them to announce the starting times for the different categories, which only came at around 6 am!

Stretch and Start

I squeezed my way to the area of the now completed arch and waited for the guy who led the stretching whose super positive and cheerful rapping and stretching (I couldn’t see what they were doing from where I was standing) did not stop the runners from cheering (and jeering) for the stretching to end and for the race to finally start.

After the start gun had been fired, eager runners went off.

Feeling lethargic

Maybe it’s because of the too many races I’ve been joining, or maybe the warm-up I was doing minutes before the supposedly start time of 6 was put to waste after standing too long while waiting for the official start, the first lap (5k runners will finish after 1 lap so 10k runners needed to do one more) was a difficult run for me as I was feeling a little lethargic. I kind of guessed there would be issues with hydration so I held on to my sports drink (One runner-blogger confessed he had to squeezed liquid from his singlet and sip it for hydration… )

Nearing the famous globe in front of the mall, our group found it very challenging and dangerous to zigzag our way and avoid traffic as marshals did a very poor job in controlling traffic. So I was happy to finish the first lap in 23+ minutes.

Celebrity cheerleaders

I think I kind of woke up going into the second leg after seeing the Bald Runner cheering for runners at the Finish area–this time I was more into the run and enjoying the experience. Fortunately, the marshalls guiding the cars did a much better job the second time around. But, alas, there were no more cups at the aid station.

Seeing familiar faces like Jason, Ronald and the Bull Runner during the race somehow provided an added boost to my tired legs. And as I made my last turn near the Archdiocesan Shrine of Jesus, I sped up for the first time in the race. And who’s at the finish line? The Bald Runner and Natz taking photos!

With THE coach Jim Saret after the race

It was also interesting to meet and talk to Jaymie The Bull Runner for the first time (too bad I didn’t have my camera yet at that time, no thanks to the adventures Natz and I had claiming our bags) and Coach Jim Saret, and later to Takbo.ph main man Jinoe, to exchange some views regarding the race. That no matter how an organizer plans to just have a “fun run,” they must not leave any stone unturned because there will always be “serious” runners joining each and every race.

Thanks, better luck next time

I wasn’t able to press the stop button of my watch when I finished so I couldn’t give an answer when asked about my time by some runners. I didn’t see the time at the Finish line either. The time posted on the official results is 46:43.

Congratulations to mi tocayo Jet for shaving 3 minutes off his previous PR!

Takbo hanggang may lupa! With Dhenz also with a new 5k PR!

Like how I feel afterevery run, I felt a lot more upbeat and positive and ready to meet my students for a group study for an upcoming exam.

What do I think about the race? I hope the organizers do better next time but still thank them for supporting an event that promotes health and fitness.

Good luck and see you next year guys!

5K race reports are pretty amazing.  Soooo much quicker than all these marathon and tri RRs I’ve been doing.

This 5K is at the local YMCA and it’s a race I’ve run every Thanksgiving that I’m home since I was 13ish.  So, since I was finally home for T-giving for the first time since college, I knew I had to run the race even though this is technically my two-week “off-season.”  It’s a fun race because I always see peeps I know including many of my former high school cross country and track teammates.  Plus, it’s always fun to go out and see all the cute little current runners on the THS cross country team in their uniforms.

Anyway, so I was, as written last night, hoping for a PR, in the 22s.  But, sadly, that wasn’t to happen today.

Turkey Trot 5K Stats:

• Time: 23:07
• Distance: 5K
• Avg Pace: 7:26
• Overall: 122/1234
• Gender: 16/600
• Division(F19-29): 8/250
• Splits: 6:53/7:49/7:44/6:20
• Avg HR: 192
• Max HR: 203 (?!?!?!)

Ok, in my defense, those splits are not as wildly erratic as they may seem at first glance.  While I did go out too fast, the first mile is mostly downhill and the second mile is all uphill…and the third mile is rolling hills.  But, really, this is a mad hilly course.  I’m ok with this race (not really disappointed but not really happy either); which is actually an odd reaction given that it is, for all intents and purposes, an “adult” PR (i.e. fastest 5K since I have been post-pubescent).  I’m mostly not ecstatic because I feel that I could have run a faster race if I had been a little smarter.  But, c’est la vie, and for my first 5K in a long time…and without very much speedwork over this past year, it’s not a bad race.

But, here is how the race went: Mile 1: Stuck behind a whole lot of slow walkers, so I had to dodge in and out of the crowd for the first quarter mile.  It took me that long to build up any kind of speed.  By the time I broke free from the crowd, the course was headed downhill and I strided out, allowing gravity to do the work and got my speed up to under 7min/mile. Mile 2: Starts uphill…and long ugly uphills.  And, it starts hurting.  I wonder why all of my hilly running in Augusta hasn’t helped me run these hills better.  I sloooow down.  And at one point, I get a little discouraged and walk (wtf?  in a 5K?  I didn’t walk one step when I ran the Augusta Half when I was running nearly as fast for 13.1mi).  Mile 3:  Ah, yes!  We are almost done!  I come up on a mother and son running together.  The son can’t be more than 8 years old and he’s wearing this Boston Marathon finisher jacket that is way too big for him and is clearly his mothers.  It was such a cute sight that I actually got distracted from the pain some.  So, I just try to keep the pace below 8min/miles, knowing that I probably won’t break 23min and just want to finish at this point and get on with my “off-season.”  I had enough to pick up the pace to under 7min/mile for that last .1 of a mile.

But, had I known I was sooooo close to breaking 23min, I may have pushed harder in mile 3.  I think, like Philly, my mind gets in the way.  I feel the pain of the race and think, oh you can’t keep at this, slow down…stop… And, really I’m not sure if that’s true at all.  I think I could have pushed harder.  And I would have been ok.  The pain is temporary.

And now, a justification for declaring this time a PR:

The last time I ran under 23:00, I was 16 and 115ish lbs.  I am now 26 and…well…a whole heck of a lot more than 116lbs (as I should be).  But here’s the thing, my 5K PRs when I was that light and young were under 22mins.  And those PRs are nearly a decade old (and will be in Mar).  So, that begs the question, at what time do you determine a PR to be so old that it’s not even really applicable as a reference point?  And, I think, nearly a decade is a pretty large time period over which to be comparing race times.  So, I’m making an executive, declaring this race a new PR.  That way, I have a better comparison point for improvement than a PR set when I was a twig.

Finally, please take a note about my HRs.  Those ridic high rates are WILDLY out of character for me.  I think it is a sign that I need some time off.  There is a big connection between physical burnout and rises in resting and exertion heart rates.  And, I’m going to read my 200+ HR to be a sign that I need a break.

On another note, I really hope that when I’m a grownup with my own family, that well all go and do these races together.  I loved seeing that mom and little boy run together.  Anytime I see a little kid running these fun runs with a parent, it makes me want to be that parent.  I also love seeing an entire family come out and race together.  My old neighbors always come out and run, which is fun because one of the daughters and I ran on a relay team together that was one of the top in the state my senior year.  She always beats me now….I credit that to her being a long distance runner and me being a middle distance runner…:)  I was always a miler or less.  But, Mom, Dad, and the four kids are always out there running.  Even now that all the kids are out of college, they all get up and run it in Thanksgiving morning.

My daddy usually will come with me, but really it’s always just me running…and sadly today, I was one my own totally, as Daddy prepared the Turkey at home.  And it’s not bad, I mean I knew other people there.  But, I do wish sometimes that I could recruit more people out…even if its just to walk the 5K (or the 5miler TT that I do when we are in NC for the holiday).  Perhaps, I’m just aching for someone to go to all these races with, especially since it’s such a big part of my life.  That said, I  am thankful that I am able to run.  period.  even if I’m running by myself.

6pm (Saturday Night)
Here we go.  Saturday night. We were exhausted from a bit of sightseeing in Philly,  so decided to order in. I  ordered my usual baked Ziti which I have whenever I need a carbo load with garlic bread for a long run. With my previous Rhabdomyolysis encounter earlier this year, which I was hospitalized 3 days for,  I made it essential to Hydrate! Hydrate ! Hydrate! and get sufficient rest.

8pm
We hit the sack for the evening because we were planning to be up by 4am.  However I didn’t think I feel asleep until about 9-10pm. Many factors may have  been involved, nervousness for one, also thought the room was a bit too humid  at one point, with all the tossing and turning eventually fell asleep. Though I may have not admitted at first, no matter what,  one must be full of anxiety before such a race, especially this being my first marathon. Our longest long run in training was 20miles. We missed a 22  miler suggested by, Bart Yasso’s Runners World Marathon training plan due to schedule  conflicts, but as many veteran marathoners affirmed, a 20 miler would suffice for the marathon.

4am (Sunday Morning – My Birthday – Marathon Day)
Wake up it’s your birthday. We’re up, It’s my birthday, but for what maybe the first time as far as I can recall, the bday is not the priority of the day, all I am able to focus on is the marathon, I am up 3 minutes before the  alarm goes off. I get up and immediately go to my iPhone and logon to  twiiter and see who else in the Philly Marathon world may be up,  sure enough IronBrandon (BrandonsMarathon)  is  also awake, a recent twitter connection, who is also a podcaster, ironman, opera singer, I wish him a final good luck and started putting my gears together.  Our fuel bottles were filled the night before, mine with  Gatorade, Anh choose vitamin water “Power C”. Anh is also up making coffee and  (peanut butter & banana) sandwiches, um.

6am
Final trip to the hotel’s restroom. Also continued sipping on Gatorade diluted with water. We meet Joe, Mary and Ellen in the hotel lobby. Mary wasn’t running  due to injury. Joe and Ellen both are 3:20ish marathoners. I question  them as much as I can on any last possible advice for a newbie. What  miles do you take your PowerGels and so on. Many of the questions I know can only be answered during race base on your conditions, but I inquire anyway.

7am (Official Race Start)
Joe and Ellen are in the “black” corral. The first gun goes off for the only wheelchair participant at the Philly Marathon. Cheers go off for him, I have the deepest admiration for parathletes. Meantime Anh and I are at the potty lines. I was in a faster pace corral “green”, but decided to run in Anh’s corral (note: going forward if we are not required to qualify for any given corral, rule of thumb will be to opt for a faster corral base on our best finish time possible, being in the latter corrals is a true disadvantage, something you may know beforehand, but you go into the race trying to be conservation, but really, one just needs to get out of the starting field and start running their own race, attempting to hurdle your way through the field just takes too much energy, as we did the first 3 miles). So now we find ourselves in the the “purple” corral.

7:15am (Our Corral starts)
Announcers, including, Bart Yasso, who were very animated during the marathon’s opening, gives the go ahead for our corral to begin the race. The Mayor of Philadelphia is at the starting line giving “high fives”, I am not about to get in the melee. I started the race not knowing what to expect, this maybe a cliche, but it’s quite appropriate here, consciously, I know I struggled in our longest training run at mile 19, so given 26.2 miles, I am very cautious. My one and only goal at the start was to finish the race.

Mile 1 -2: I am doing 10mins, it’s harder than I thought to make my way  through the massive crowd. I am still shaky, nervous, an experience I also felt at the New York Road Runners Brooklyn Half Marathon.

Mile 3-4: We’re doing 28 mins, about 3 mins short of our ideal MP (Marathon Pace). We  agreed at this point in the race to part ways and run individually, which in retrospect was the correct call.

Mile 5: My nervousness  is finally over, I’m warmed up, legs are ready. Race is on!

Mile 6-13: At mile 6, I took my first PowerGel at the water station, ripped off gel and drank 2 cups of water.  I am feeling good, but still running a conservative race (remembering to run a positive first split followed by a negative second half). Pee break in the woods at about mile 10.

Mile 13: It’s a treat to see elites finishing off their marathons, John Crews, 25, first American to win the Philadelphia Marathon, since 2000, finishes in 2:17:15.

Mile 14: “Man you’re tall”, a fellow runner shouts out, we chat and run for a while then depart ways. Saw Anh about 5 runners away from me. However wasn’t ready to push my pace to catch up with her. My race was all about defense, how far can I reach before my leg feels likecinder blocks.

Mile 15: Came across and passed the 4:30 pacer. Saw Anh at “u turn” point in the race,  about mile 15, I  just kept running my own race, was not ready to try to make any gains on her.

Mile 16: Took my second PowerGel.

Mile 17: Passed the 4:13 pacer. Yay!

Mile 18: Looking forward to mile 20, what should I expect, no matter  the consequence I am not doing too much walking.

Mile 19: Throughout the race eyed about 3 runners and kept pace with them on all 3 occasions with determination passed them along the way.

Mile 20-21: I also saw Anh, at about mile 20, tried to get her attention, but to no avail. Your beer is served! Smells good, but I am not going for it, not here, not now. Sounds of the “Eye of the Tiger” and “Gonna Fly Now” blasting from boom boxes,  kept the adrenaline flowing. Also continued fan shouts of “Go Alex”, “You rock”, “Go Alex & Anh” (which was printed on my shirt as can see in the pics below), kept my spirits high. With amazement I also came across joggling runners? Yep that’s right, guess it’s a new thing, saw this runner, who I thought also dropped a ball, joggling balls along his run, up to mile 20, Manayunk, which is also a slight incline. Took some extra GU gels from the wonderful volunteers,  at three fluid stations if in case I would need more  and they weren’t available.

Mile 22: Took my third PowerGel. Took the time to walk off a bit. Off  again I go, not to lose any momentum, especially with my legs being a bit heavy now  at that point of the race. Here goes the mental part of the race, “Alex that’s it we came  in with the goal to finish, but it’s on now”, goes this thought in my head. Looked at the CliffPace bracelet on my right wrist, (we took a variety of CliffPace bracelets which we scored from the  marathon expo on Saturday). It reads that I’m in reach of a 3:55 finish time (at mile 22, the 3:50 finish bracelet read 3:13, I was doing 3;17, didn’t mind at all, that only meant sub 4 was in sight). My starting goal just to finish my first marathon was now out the door, a renewed goal was now at hand “sub 4!”

Mile 23-finish: Pushed everything I had left of my quads into a strong finish. Every  mile after mile 23, I pictured myself at home in Astoria, on the couch deciding to go for a run, still being fresh with energy.

Mile 24: Met Anh along the way, and gave her a slight push towards the finish.

Finish: 3:54:00 is my finish. Yay! Sub 4, thank Yasso 800s (1 of 2 Yasso 800s). Who else shouts my name at the finish, but Bart Yasso himself.  “I met Alex yesterday”, he said over the speaker/pa system. Man I felt good hearing those words, maybe I could have gone for a next 5 miles at this point, lol.

Finishing before Anh, I decided to attempt taking a finish photo of her with my iPhone, but before reaching for the phone in my  fuel belt,  out she comes zooming by with a very strong finish 3:54:08, sub 4 as well, celebration are on, our training could not have paid off better dividends. Smiles and all. “We did it Baby”, I shouted, kisses and hugs……..

Now off to the hotel, freshen up and to “Tir Na Nog”, post Marathon meetup with some dailymile friends, Joe, Kristen and Adam, also joining us, was Mary and Ellen. Overall, great first marathon. All the training was tremendously important, hill repeats, Yasso 800s (2 of 2 Yasso 800s), LSDs, speedworks, etc. Looking forward to the next one.

Philadelphia Marathon 2009 Results

Anh’s Philadelphia Marathon Race Report

Pictures from top left shirt printed by Anh, bottom left, CliffPace Bracelets, Philly Marathon start, finish pics.

I know, I know, it is late, but better late than never!  Check out part 1 here:

As I started on the 2nd half of the marathon, I really felt completely comfortable, and happy with my pacing.  However, the voices in the back of my head said “you should still be feeling good at this point, only halfway”, and I also reminded myself that I still had the hard half to go, and so could take nothing for granted.  Would still just focus on taking it slow, and conserving energy for the late stages where I would need it.

The Queens portion of  the course is very short.  In my first few NYC marathons, it was also pretty sparsely populated with spectators, but that has changed in recent years.  Now there are lots of people watching, and making lots of noise.  I never liked how the course seemed very jig-jaggy through Queens, with lots of turns.  However, they made some subtle changes this year to reduce some of the turns and straighten things out.  I think this makes the Queens portion of the course slightly shorter, which is made up with a little extra room in the Bronx.  I can only otherwise say that I was feeling good here, and got lost a bit in the support of the crowd.  Mile 14 was completed in 10:09, and before I knew it, we were approaching the Queensboro Bridge.

At that stage of the race, the bridge is a killer.  I firmly believe that charging hard up the bridge last year was my downfall in missing 4:30.  So this year, I decided to just take it easy up the bridge and incorporate walk breaks.  I walked early on up the bridge for about 2 minutes, and then again as we reached the top.  This is actually where I started feeling my first muscle issues, namely spasms in my hamstrings.  It was not bad, but just the first cause of concern.  Seemed related to the cold wind, which could be felt here as a cross breeze from right to left.  It went away as soon as we were off the bridge.  In addition to dealing with the incline is the challenge of dealing with the congestion.  You essentially have 2 lanes of traffic for running, but with lots of people walking, (sometimes 3 and 4 abreast) there is a lot of energy lost in just weaving your way through the walkers up the hill.  My approach was to try and find somebody running at my pace and just stay right behind them, and let that person pick through the crowd.

I do enjoy the relative serenity of the bridge.  With no people cheering, it is very quiet, and a chance to recollect before you hit the big crowds again when you come off the bridge.  The cool thing I saw here, that I didn’t remember from years past, is that as we were coming down the ramp off the bridge, there were people stationed above on the main structure of the bridge, literally hanging over the concrete side, above the runners and cheering.  It was a nice welcome into Manhattan, and to the 16 mile mark.  Only 10.2 miles to go!  At this point, was still right within my strategy as mile 15 with the uphill was 11:08, and mile 16, with some uphill in it, was 10:46.  Little slower than I wanted at this point, but still no cause for concern. At this point, my time was approx 2:40, which meant I had 1:50 to cover 10.2 miles, or almost 11 minutes per mile.  So, still feeling good about 4:30.

• Mile 14 – 10:09
• Mile 15 – 11:08
• Mile 16 – 10:46

At this point, we hit 1^st Ave, which on TV they tend to call the  “Canyon of Sound”.  In my experience that is not really true.  Yes, the crowds are HUGE on 1^st Ave, but they are very sterile.  They tend to stand around and watch, and are not so into the cheering and screaming, as they are on other parts of the course.  This may be because the Ave is so wide that the spectators are set apart quite a ways from the runners.  Again, I just focused on slow and smooth and enjoying the energy.

I had two people to look for here.  Michelle, was going to be at around 72nd St, and a work friend, CW would be in the 90’s.  I didn’t know which side they would be on, so guessed left.  Started looking for Michelle after 70’s St, and was able to easily pick her and her sister out from the crowd.  A quick hello, high five, and an awesome picture, and I was off on my way again. 

Mile 17 at NYC Marathon

As I approached 90’s St, started looking for CW.  Lot of people watching here, so I was focused on the front set of watchers, and almost ran right by her, and her boyfriend as they were set back in the sidewalk.  Luckily, she saw me and called out my name, and I heard, so I was able to see her, give a wave and smile, and carry on.  Still feeling great through this stretch.  I did not take a walk break, with the exception of the water stops.  However, this is where I started getting worried, as my times were slower than my pacing felt.  I was feeling good, but my miles were slowing here, in the 10:45 to  11 range, rather than the 10:30 range I felt.  That was a bad sign.

• Mile 17 – 10:34
• Mile 18 – 10:43
• Mile 19 – 10:56

No only did I take it up 1st Ave without walking, but I also ran the entire length of the Willis Ave Bridge, which is also a clear first for me, and a good half of the Bronx portion without walking.  Did take a walk break towards the end of the Bronx portion, but thought I did pretty well through this area.  Over the Madison Ave Bridge back to Manhattan and the 21 mile mark.  This is where everything changed for me.  As I crossed 21 and hit the button on my watch, I simultaneously noted the really slow time of 11:47 for the mile, and first felt the twinges and muscle spasms that would haunt me the rest of the race, in my legs.  It was at this moment that I knew that 4:30 was totally out of reach.  Even though I was “feeling good”, my times were just way too slow.  And now, in my defeated spirit, my legs started barking at me big time.

The muscle spasm that I had was weird.  Sort of felt it in my lower quads, almost at the top of my knees.  Felt it in both legs, and it seemed to hurt regardless of whether I was running, walking, and stretching didn’t help that much.  At times I was able to run through it, at times it was too much and I took significant walk breaks.  The uphill stretch from 110th to 90th St before you enter the park was the worst.  I walked most of this, and it resulted in my slowest mile, 14:16, for mile 24.  The crowd is so loud and encouraging here, but I just couldn’t get myself together enough to make a real push.  The emotions felt here were truly mixed.  I was very disappointed and upset that 4:30 was not going to happen.  Not only missing 4:30, but I could see that 4:35 wasn’t going to happen, and then 4:40.  On the other hand, I really did feel a huge sense of accomplishment for getting as far as I did.  I was going to finish the race, and I was also going to beat thousands of people also running the race.  And since this will be the last NYC Marathon I will run for awhile, I tried hard to enjoy the last miles, through the most amazing park, the most amazing crowd, in the most spectacular mass participation sporting even there is.

• Mile 20 – 11:44
• Mile 21 – 11:47
• Mile 22 – 12:49
• Mile 23 – 12:46
• Mile 24 – 14:16
• Mile 25 – 13:17

I walked through the mile 26 sign and water stop, and then started to run again, and managed to keep running to the end.  It is mostly a blur, but I really did savor the very loud crowd on Central Park South, and appreciate and enjoy the final third of a mile through Columbus Circle, back into the park, and the final stretch I run hundreds of times up into the finish line.  My pace was still incredibly slow (14:44 for last 1.2 miles) but I ran it, with no walking, and was happy I was able to get that done.

• Mile 26 – 12:24
• Mile 26.2 – 2:30

My finishing time was 4:44:05.  In the end, really not that bad.  It is my 2nd fastest NYC Marathon, and my 4th fastest overall out of 11.  While disappointed I didn’t get to, or close to 4:30, I was still very happy with the overall experience.  Of course, then started going through the inevitable reflection of what could I have done better?  A suggestion was made that taking salt in the race may help to avoid muscle cramps.  I will need to experiment with that next time around.  Otherwise, I don’t know there was much else I could do differently.  I think the slower time was simply a reflection of not having trained well enough.  I worked through several injuries in the last few months, starting with a severe lower back spasm in late July, and then shin and groin issues.  I got a lot of miles in, but there were not hard, quality miles.

Anyway, with the exception of the approx 50 minutes it took me to get from mile 21 to mile 25, I totally had a blast and enjoyed every other moment of the day!

My tentative plans for 2010 include Rhode Races Marathon on 5/2, and possibly Chicago on 10/10.  Will also mix in two triathlons, possibly a duathlon, and lots of road races and biking!  Trying to get to 800 miles for 2009, but since I’ve continued to have groin issues and have put in limited miles in the last 3 weeks, it is not looking like that will happen.  If I don’t make it in 2009, then it WILL happen in 2010!

Happy running…

PART TWO: RUNNING and SMILES.

My alarm went off at 4:30 a.m. and I jumped out of bed. Finally, after three months of training, bloody toes, looong runs, sore legs, sickness, and lots of waiting, the marathon had arrived. Today was the day. I couldn’t contain my excitement. When my parents and boyfriend stumbled out of their bedrooms, I jumped on them all. I smiled from ear to ear. For some reason I knew the race was going to be great. I knew that all my training would pay off.

We drove into the city, and I ate a banana and part of a peanut butter granola bar, and drank a cup of Wawa coffee (I always drink coffee before a race—I swear by it). We pulled up to the start area and I totally had déjà vu. It all looked exactly like last year’s race. My first marathon. The marathon that made me swear off ever running another marathon. But not everything was the same. Today I felt different. I couldn’t wait for that gun to go off. I told myself this was my day, and I knew I could do it. My training would get me through. Here I am waiting in my corral for the start of the race. I think it was 12 minutes until the start, and I was so excited and so happy.

As the sun rose over the city, everyone kept remarking on the difference between this year’s weather and last year’s. It was perfect race weather: 41 to 52 degrees and sunny. Last year, it was 20 degrees when we started. It was so cold the starting gun actually froze and the Mayor had to use a megaphone to countdown the start of the race instead. We all welcomed the warm weather.

Finally, the race started. At a little past 7 a.m., the gun went off and my corral took off. My dad caught an awesome photo of my corral taking off:

I stayed right behind the CLIF BAR 4:15 pace group. Kathleen was our pacer. My plan was to follow Kathleen and her 4:15 sign and balloons the whole race:

But after just the first half mile, I decided to stop. Yes, STOP. Never thought I would have to do this, but I went to the first Porta John I saw. All the water and coffee I had that morning went right through me! People were already in line to use the bathrooms. I knew if I waited to stop until later, the lines would just get longer. The lines moved quickly, though, and within a few minutes I was running again. However, enough time had passed that I couldn’t see my pacing group ANYWHERE. I knew I shouldn’t sprint to catch up, so over the next three miles I slowly made my way up to them. Once I found them, I didn’t stop again for the rest of the race.

At Mile 6, I saw my family and Daniel. They cheered so loud for me, and my Mom jumped up and down. The three of them probably walked about ten miles during the race, going from cheer zone to cheer zone to root for me. It was great having them there. Last year, I didn’t have anyone cheer for me because I didn’t want anyone there. But seeing their smiling faces and hearing them scream my name as I ran past was absolutely wonderful. I can’t imagine ever running a race without supporters again. It definitely makes a difference.

Then, disaster struck. Right before Mile 7, Kathleen got hurt. Someone blindly ran in front of her as they cut over to get water. Kathleen ran to the side of the street, clutching her ankle. I didn’t know what to do. I jogged over to the side of the street, but two other runners were already there helping her. My heart sank. I had been relying on Kathleen and her Garmin to help me through the race. Now, I would have to try and pace myself, and—I can’t lie—I was scared. I can never pace myself properly. I usually have trouble keeping myself on track. But suddenly, Kathleen got up. Seconds later, she was leading our group again. I cheered loudly as she told us she would get us back on pace. She was so tough! I seriously could have hugged her.

Miles 8 and 9 brought big hills as we headed into Fairmont park. I chugged up them, even though hills aren’t my forte. But once we hit 9.5, the course began it’s long descent downhill. I snapped a quick photo on my BlackBerry as I (happily) headed down:

Before I knew it, I was on Kelly Drive, running past Boat House Row and heading to the Art Museum for the halfway mark. The race was flying by. I couldn’t believe we were already done 13 miles! I felt great. Please check out the smile on my face as I spot my parents in the crowd:

As we ran along the Schuylkill River for Miles 16 and 17, there were few spectators. It was at this point last year where my body broke down and I thought I wouldn’t finish, and started to walk on and off. But this year I still felt great. I was in a groove and staying right with Kathleen and the rest of the pace group. I was having a blast! Who knew running a marathon could actually be FUN?

Entering Manayunk around Mile 18, the crowds of spectators grew again and I still felt good. I passed my friend, Russ, who had come out to cheer me on. But then, right before I got to the turn-around at Mile 20 to head back to the Art Museum, I hit a wall. A BIG wall. My legs felt heavy and I couldn’t fathom doing six MORE miles. It seemed like too much. Over the next three miles I watched as Kathleen pull farther and farther ahead of me. I began to think I wouldn’t hit my 4:15 goal, that I might not even beat my time from the previous year. Inside I wanted to cry.

Then, I saw the sign for Mile 24 and I couldn’t have been more happy. TWO more miles. That was it. TWO. I could totally do this, I thought to myself. I started to pick up the pace. I could still see my pace group about a half mile in front of me. I increased my pace again. People screamed for me along the sides of the course and I felt myself smile again.

At Mile 25 I really started to book it. My legs felt heavy, but strong, and I slowly closed the distance on my pace group. As I turned the final bend, the city and the Art Museum came into view. SO close. I had lots of energy left and raced by the throngs of people lined up along the home stretch. I sprinted as fast as I could the last half mile of the race. I saw a sign pointing to the finish line and gave it all I had left. This was what I had trained for—this moment. I passed Kathleen during the last 10 yards of the race, and crossed the FINISH LINE with a time of 4:13:12 with the biggest grin on my face. I had made it!

Here’s Daniel and me after the race, doing a tribute to “Rocky”:

And my race photographers a.k.a my parents:

What a difference a year makes. REDEMPTION! I took 22 minutes off last year’s marathon time. Three months of hard work and training made this day possible. I can’t wait for my next marathon…

4:13:12.

PART ONE: FRIENDS, EXPO, CARBS, and SLEEP

I arrived at my parent’s house (about 25 miles outside of Philadelphia) late Friday night, gave my ‘rents quick hugs and kisses, and went straight up to my old bedroom for a good night’s sleep. Still sick and exhausted from fighting off a sinus infection, I kept wondering how I would actually do at Sunday’s race. But when I woke up the next morning, I felt so much better. I popped my last antibiotic, and then I met a bunch of friends from high school for breakfast at a restaurant down the street from my house. They filled me up on carbs and wished me lots of luck. It was great to see everyone and totally took my mind off the race.

After breakfast, I headed into the city for the expo to pick up my bib and race packet. Although the expo was way too crowded and it was difficult to navigate through the mass of people and vendors, I got excited for the first time in two weeks. Being sick put a damper on my outlook of the race, but at the expo I couldn’t wait for the next morning. Here I am smiling at the entrance to the expo:

I went to the CLIF BAR pacing team table and found out who would be leading the 4:15 pace group (9:45 minute miles). I’d never run with a pace group before, but figured it would be a good way to stay on track. I have a tendency to go out too fast in the beginning of races, causing me to run out of steam halfway through. Even if I just keep the pace group in my line of vision, it would help me not to speed up or slow down. I also bought a new belt to hold my Power Bars, tissues, and BlackBerry. Yes, my BlackBerry. I wanted to tweet while running. Everyone thought I was crazy, and I couldn’t help agree with them a little bit. How the heck would I run and type without tripping over a curb or my own feet? But I saw @chicrunner tweeted during the Malibu marathon and thought it was a great idea. People followed her progress and cheered her on. So I thought, hey, why not? I might as well try it.

To kill some time before I had to catch the train back home, I took a short walk around the city.

I LOVE Philadelphia. As much as I like DC, I definitely miss my hometown.

When I got home from the city Saturday night, my mom had made spinach manicotti and vegetable lasagna from scratch. Time to load up on carbs, again! I was NOT complaining. It was delicious, so I made her wrap up all the leftovers so I could bring them back home with me. Then I laid out my outfit for the next morning and jumped into bed for an early night’s sleep…

Lets start out with this: I was registered for the full marathon in Philly.  Originally, it was my “goal marathon” of the season.  I was going to run Chicago to see what a marathon is like, and then I’d run Philly to qualify for Boston if I didn’t in Chicago.  But, I BQed in Chicago and was left with the big question: what now?  In all honesty, I didn’t expect to qualify in Chicago, so I always figured I would run Philly to BQ.  I was left feeling exhilarated by a great race and scared that I would never be able to race like that again.  Because of that fear, I put a lot of pressure on myself to train hard and race harder.  After another good race at the Augusta Half Marathon,   I burned out a little.  I considered running the half at Philly; I considered not running anything at Philly.

After three weeks of running twice a week, and no run longer than 7 miles, I thought, heck, I can run the full marathon.

And, that was the intention I had when I left Baltimore.

But, that’s not so much what happened.

I got to the start line, and as I discussed in part 1, I forewent (foregoed?) starting with the 3:30 pg.  We walked up to the start line and took off:

One of those blurry orange blobs is me, I think.

Full Stats:

• Miles: 13.1
• Time: 1:46:44
• Pace: 8:08.4
• Overall: 937/7187
• Gender: 336/4654
• Division: 92/1049

First 10K: 49:19//7:51/7:47/7:50/8:05/7:57/7:52

I was hunggggggry at the start line.  The delish bagel from panera was not enough.  Crap.  That’s why I usually do PB with the carbies.  The fat and protein hold you over.  So, I start off, with a hungry belly.  I try to be mellow into the beginning of any race because hitting a wall is awful.  But, as I start out, I think to myself, I think I started out in the 7min/mile range in Chicago and that was totally fine.  And this is a faaaaassssst course, I will totally be fine.

So, I refuse to allow myself to run 8min/miles+.

I’m trotting along, and this is not hurting tooooo bad.  I’m so going to beat 3:30.  yessss.

But then…there start being hills.  Wtf?  I thought this course was flat and fast.  I even looked at the elevation chart before the race and it appeared to be a pretty flat course sans hills.  But, these hills appeared.  And there didn’t seem to be any hills at all.  And the course should be downhill and flat.

The hills hit me hard.  Not physically so much as mentally.  I got mad.  I seriously got mad.  At everyone.  And everything.  And the hills.  And so much at the freaking geography and geology that created said hills.

I got mad and I said “F this.”  Why am I doing this? I’m uber mature.  Seriously.  I think this is the point where I mentally gave up.  I gave up because I was mad that there were f-ing hills.

Second Half: 8:02/8:20/8:02/9:03 (!!!!!!!)/8:20/8:20/7:59/7:23

Ok, so you can see where it starts going downhill?

I saw my dad at the 10K mark and was already wondering if I was going to want to run the full.  But, I was still determined to see if I could keep up the pace.  If I could keep on about an 8:00, I would beat 3:30!  But.  Mile 8.  Mile 8 happened.  And I couldn’t keep it up anymore.

I got my first side stitch in a race.  Heck, it was the first side stitch I’ve had since I was about 8.  I told myself to just relax and breath deeply, and the stitch would resolve itself.  But it didn’t.  And I had trouble breathing deeply because it hurt so badly.

And then, as we approached the Philly Zoo, we hit a real hill.  And I walked.  Oh, the horror! (do you see the 9:00 mile?!?!).  But, fortunately, this helped the side stitch.  And I was able to run side stitch free for the rest of the run.  But, I had decided at this point, I’m done.  And I’m only doing the half marathon.

I was mad at the hill.  I was mad at myself for going out so hard.  I was mad at myself for being mentally weak.

And, I just couldn’t do it for another 16 more miles.  It wasn’t even the physical part that was so bad (though, it was pretty bad.  I had hit a rough rough wall).  The mental was awful.  The constant hating the race.  And hating myself for hating the race.  And hating myself for hating the race and giving up because of that.

I ran out the last 3 miles trying to keep up the pace, but my legs were so heavy.

And, so what have we learned?

I finished.  And it wasn’t a PR.  And it wasn’t the most brilliant race performance.  And it wasn’t even a fun race.  But, I learned that I need to work on my mental game.  And I should never start out a race thinking that I don’t have to run the full if I don’t want to.  Because honestly, are you ever going to want to?  I’m newly energized to change up my game and train hard next year.

Stay tuned for the season recap…and the newly solidified 2010 race and training plan.

Highlights of the Race:  Someone dressed up as Ben Franklin; The back of a runner’s shirt that said “Relax, neither of us if going to win,” stopping running

Last Saturday, me and my friends Betsy, Nikki, Noel, Tyrone, and David decided to get (more than) our feet wet by joining the Hamilo 358 Open Water Swim Competition. 358, by the way, stands for: 3k, 5k, and 8k…. which were the swim distance options.  Except for Noel, who had already done an 8k swim in Guimaras, Iloilo, a couple of years back, this was definitely unknown territory for us… swimmer or not. 

It was daunting to say the least, but even though we were terrified, the mere thought of venturing so far out–unprotected at that–in the ocean was also very alluring somehow.  How were we going to know we weren’t going to cramp?–we didn’t know how to answer that for sure.  How were going to eat?–various hiding places for gels.  How were we going to drink?–okay, we would be surrounded by water, no need to tell me that…but drinking water it isn’t!

It was another lesson in self-discovery for sure.  Everyone was apprehensive as we lined up on the beach, and the energy was more subdued than my normal triathlon starts…no use in sprinting in the initial stages here. It was going to be a loooooong swim.  The view was breathtaking, and Hamilo Cove is worth the drive, but I could hardly appreciate it just then. Without much ado, off we went, and I struggled to find somebody to swim with.  Lucky, lucky me–Tony seemed to be swimming the exact pace that I wanted!  I cannot thank Tony enough for being such a gentleman and my surprise saviour that day! I just didn’t want to be alone and I followed his lead half the time. 

Thousands of high elbows, dozens of small sea creature bites,  and gulps of saltwater later, we finally returned to shore.  We smiled at each other, and strangely enough I felt fresh and highly energetic.  We did it! We were now certified bad a@@, long distance, open water swimmers. 

I want to thank Guy Concepcion and his group for organizing this event.  The very reason I started doing triathlons is because I could not find anything to join as an older swimmer.  Now that problem is solved.  I cannot wait for the next one!!!

My Daddy and I left Baltimore to drive up to Philly Saturday afternoon, made it into town at four-ish.  We went to the expo, picked up my packet and all that and then headed to a little market to grab dinner before going home. I had a greek veggie wrap (I’ll eat anything made as a vehicle for tzatziki sauce…again, I’m Greek.) and a Birch Beer.

I was exhausted, so I laid out my things, before going to bed at 8pm.

I had gotten my marathon nutrition out (I rarely bring GUs with me for a full marathon)…3 gels: Espresso Love GU, Chocolate Power Gel, Vanilla Gingerbread GU (thanks Noah!)

I woke up at 4:45am, and ate 2/3 of a cinnamon crunch bagel from Panera.  Brought PB but didn’t use it.  This would later come back to bite me in the arse.  Got dressed:

Don’t judge.  I know I look ridic and like heck.  But, please, make a mental note of the color of sweatpants that I’m about to pull up over my skirt.

But then, we left to go to the course at 5:15.  At this point, I really wished I had booked a hotel within walking distance from the start like I had in Chicago.  But, anyway,  we packed up the car.  The leftover cups from our dinner drinks were still in the cupholders of the car; unfortch, my dad and I had picked up brown flavored water as a coffee-a-like in the hotel lobby.  As an environmentalist, I was not just going to dump the cups out on the side of the car so that I could stick the to-go coffee cups in the cupholders.  So, I nestled my little cup of disgustingness and caffeine in between my legs and stuck my father’s on the middle console, thinking “surely, he won’t knock this over when he get’s in the car.”

If I should have learned any lesson over my lifetime, it really should be that anytime I think “surely…blah blah blah” I will be wrong.

And I was.

My dad got in the car and swung his arm back onto the console without looking.  And I flipped out to save his cup (because my father is ridonk anal retentive about car cleanliness, am I not right, sister?).  And I saved his cup from spilling.  But in that effort, I knocked my cup, which was so happily nestled safely between my legs, into my lap.  And holy heck.  It was HOT.  I think I gave myself first degree burns on my inner thighs.  And my throw away sweatpants were soaked in coffee.

Here’s the real ironic part.  Those sweatpants were purchased at the college where I took the LSAT after I spilled juice in my lap 20 minutes before exam time.  I refused to take the LSAT with wet pants.  So I went and bought those sweatpants at the last minute.  Apparently, I just need to learn how to stop spilling stuff in my lap.

Fortunately, I brought two pairs of throwaway sweatpants, and changed into those sweatpants while my running skirt dried (it did eventually…)

So, then it was time for a pre-race photo shoot with daddy:

(See the black sweatpants?  Different color from before…) Ok, any musical lovers get this reference???  My mother requested this sign.)

And in the tradition of marathon weekend photoshoots (see e.g. Chicago), I had to get one of me pointing at something.

Then, we parted ways, I made it to my corral (I was seeded with the 3:30-3:40 marathoners) and looked around for the 3:30 pg.  The group was on the other side of the road from where my Dad would be standing at the start, so I figured I would meet up with them later.  This turned out to be a fatal mistake…