The short: Opted for the half-marathon and was slow as hell, clocking in at 3:10:51
The long: After the bout of the flu and the chaos that was this past Thanksgiving weekend, I went into the event to just get as much time on my feet as I could have allowed myself without screwing up too much and to see my friends during the event. Doing the whole 26.2 miles was a mild pipe dream due to the fact that I hadn't had run anything longer than 12 miles and that my conditioning levels for strength were okay, but I was on the downside for aerobic capacity compared to before (should have gotten that flu shot when I had the chance.) I also decided to go a bit minimalist and run in my Crocs. I wanted to maintain my form as best as I could and there is no better way to do that then to run minimalist.
As I said before, it's the Thanksgiving weekend and I was busy as hell. Even though I had a 4-day weekend away from work, home and family took over like mad and I got just as little sleep as I would have during the work week. Rest is important and I gave it the finger.
On race day, I scrambled out the door in my cold-weather gear and got to the race location later than expected. No parking spots near the start/finish for me. Even though I was supposed to early start with everyone at 7am, I ended up 10+ minutes past. Lucky for me, Scott Krell (the RD) was cool enough to let me just keep my own time. Wasn't like I was going to break any records or BQ anyway.
So with Crocs on my feet, I set off along the trail. It was a cold and windy day, so with my construction bag/body-bag poncho I made up the night before, I was kept nice and warm while the winds that came off the waters of Lake Washington doubled as an invisible hill. The bag acted like a parachute when running into the wind and as a sail when the wind was on my back. Yin and Yang baby, gotta love that.
My feet/legs were feeling good for the first 8-9 miles and I was running at the pace that I'd be grooving at (sub-12 minute miles). However, my hamstrings gave out on me at mile 10 and I ended up practically slow walking most of the last 5k to the finish line. I tapped out and opted to take the half-marathon finish. Funny thing is that from the waist up, I was fine. I wasn't winded and felt like I had the energy to keep going. But from the waist down, those hamstrings weren't cooperating and a blister on my right foot (4th toe) wasn't helping things along, even after downing two AC&C pills to ease the pain.
So what did I learn? Well...
1.) My running form has improved, but it's not there yet for a longer distance yet.
2.) I need to run more and get my long runs longer and more frequent.
3.) I need to hammer on my hamstrings more. I've neglected deadlifting and other exercises that targeted the hamstrings.
I've got about a month before the Pigtails Flat Ass run, but I'm more optimistic about that one to finish it and do much better time wise on a minute per mile basis than I did at the Ghost.
Do I consider this a defeat? Nope, just another learning experience. I figured out my faults and will start beating the crap out of them before I test out myself again for the next event. Onward!
Showing posts with label seattle ghost. Show all posts
Showing posts with label seattle ghost. Show all posts
Monday, November 30, 2009
Saturday, November 29, 2008
Seattle Ghost 2008 Race Report (aka There's always next year)
http://www.nwultras.com/ghost_main.htm
The short: What started as a 50k, ended up turning into a half-marathon with about 7 miles extra credit.
The long: It was a morning of high hopes, but should have had lowered expectations. The idea of me pulling out a 50k or marathon distance after getting back into the running game in 3 weeks is something that only movies are made of (think Run FatBoy Run).
I got up at a fairly decent time and headed to Seward Park to get there for the early start at 7am. This was my third time at this race and it was my first attempt three years ago as my first jump to doing a 50k. Seems that after three years, you'd think I would have eventually hit that number. 2006 - I dropped after passing the half-marathon point. 2007 - I finished the marathon distance and opted not to do the 50k since it was my first double marathon weekend (2 marathons in 48 hours). For 2008 - I would try and get those 31 miles in as best as I could.
So, after the usual talk about the course by one of the best RD's around (Scott Krell), a group of us took off at 7am. I ran for a bit with my buddy Stan Nakashima, but he was running at a clip that my weenie legs couldn't keep up with. I let him go ahead and made a pitstop (for a race that is considered a fat-ass/low-frills event, the number of bathrooms along the course is quite remarkable.) The pitstop was a blessing, since that mild "rest" actually got my running mojo going and I was feeling very good and very comfortable running through the course for the first half. Running on the soft-surface trail next to the waters of Lake Washington felt very liberating. I saw my Marathon Maniac cohorts, always a pleasure to see them in passing, feeding off their positive vibes. I was right on pace, hitting about sub-12 minute miles. Then something odd happened after passing the half-marathon point, my left quad was starting to seriously bug out.
I thought that maybe I could walk it off. I proceeded to walk the entire Seward Park loop, about a 4 mile lollypop loop before returning to the aid station/start/finish point. I was moving at 15 minute miles at this point and thought that I could continue for the rest of the course. I had moved for about 17 miles and figured I could go for the remaining 9 miles to do atleast the marathon distance or if I could run again, finish the 50k.
After another mile of walking, my quad was screaming. There was no shutting it up without stopping. I had to take a hard look at myself and re-evaluate my objectives. Do I suck it up and keep going, even though I could mess myself up more? Do I wave the white flag and live to fight another day? In my head, I thought, "I was able to finish a killer course like White River with little training, why can't I keep going now?" Then I realized that I was better conditioned to handle a course like White River back in July. I've been deconditioned for several months and actually convinced myself that I could pull myself through a flat paved 50k. I cut my losses and opted to have my results down as finishing a half-marathon (actually closer to 14 miles since I did the longer out-n-back) plus close to 7 miles of extra credit. So I went for about 19-20 miles today. But hey, this marks the longest distance I've done now since my original stress fracture injury. That counts for something.
So, a nice freezing soak in the waters of Lake Washington to aid in the recovery (others followed my lead soon after) and some excellent aid station & post-race food that whups the Seattle Marathon's stuff, hands down. Chicken Soup, Vegan Chili, Vegitarian HotDogs, Boiled Potatoes with Salt Dips, Candy, Coca-Cola, Water, Gatorade, etc. Always kick-ass!
The amusing things that came from this event:
- Maniac Ray "McGyver" Shaw snagging the hotdog that I made up for myself (yeah, we all cracked up once I realized what just happened)
- Shawn thinking that she was done, then finding out she had another Seward Park loop left to complete a 50k. She was ready to start boxing someone, yo! :-)
- Watching people get use to the chilly Lake Washington waters. It's always funny to see people do that shiver-shake the moment they get in.
- Scott Krell's Scotty Dog trying to eat three sugar packets without anyone being the wiser. Good thing my "no-no, bad dog!" senses were tingling at that moment.
A kudos for those that ran this course to completion and an extra kudos for those that are doing their best with trying to handle the Northwest Triple. Good luck at the Seattle Marathon guys! And to Maniac Monte: Hope you get through your 100th Marathon tomorrow!
The short: What started as a 50k, ended up turning into a half-marathon with about 7 miles extra credit.
The long: It was a morning of high hopes, but should have had lowered expectations. The idea of me pulling out a 50k or marathon distance after getting back into the running game in 3 weeks is something that only movies are made of (think Run FatBoy Run).
I got up at a fairly decent time and headed to Seward Park to get there for the early start at 7am. This was my third time at this race and it was my first attempt three years ago as my first jump to doing a 50k. Seems that after three years, you'd think I would have eventually hit that number. 2006 - I dropped after passing the half-marathon point. 2007 - I finished the marathon distance and opted not to do the 50k since it was my first double marathon weekend (2 marathons in 48 hours). For 2008 - I would try and get those 31 miles in as best as I could.
So, after the usual talk about the course by one of the best RD's around (Scott Krell), a group of us took off at 7am. I ran for a bit with my buddy Stan Nakashima, but he was running at a clip that my weenie legs couldn't keep up with. I let him go ahead and made a pitstop (for a race that is considered a fat-ass/low-frills event, the number of bathrooms along the course is quite remarkable.) The pitstop was a blessing, since that mild "rest" actually got my running mojo going and I was feeling very good and very comfortable running through the course for the first half. Running on the soft-surface trail next to the waters of Lake Washington felt very liberating. I saw my Marathon Maniac cohorts, always a pleasure to see them in passing, feeding off their positive vibes. I was right on pace, hitting about sub-12 minute miles. Then something odd happened after passing the half-marathon point, my left quad was starting to seriously bug out.
I thought that maybe I could walk it off. I proceeded to walk the entire Seward Park loop, about a 4 mile lollypop loop before returning to the aid station/start/finish point. I was moving at 15 minute miles at this point and thought that I could continue for the rest of the course. I had moved for about 17 miles and figured I could go for the remaining 9 miles to do atleast the marathon distance or if I could run again, finish the 50k.
After another mile of walking, my quad was screaming. There was no shutting it up without stopping. I had to take a hard look at myself and re-evaluate my objectives. Do I suck it up and keep going, even though I could mess myself up more? Do I wave the white flag and live to fight another day? In my head, I thought, "I was able to finish a killer course like White River with little training, why can't I keep going now?" Then I realized that I was better conditioned to handle a course like White River back in July. I've been deconditioned for several months and actually convinced myself that I could pull myself through a flat paved 50k. I cut my losses and opted to have my results down as finishing a half-marathon (actually closer to 14 miles since I did the longer out-n-back) plus close to 7 miles of extra credit. So I went for about 19-20 miles today. But hey, this marks the longest distance I've done now since my original stress fracture injury. That counts for something.
So, a nice freezing soak in the waters of Lake Washington to aid in the recovery (others followed my lead soon after) and some excellent aid station & post-race food that whups the Seattle Marathon's stuff, hands down. Chicken Soup, Vegan Chili, Vegitarian HotDogs, Boiled Potatoes with Salt Dips, Candy, Coca-Cola, Water, Gatorade, etc. Always kick-ass!
The amusing things that came from this event:
- Maniac Ray "McGyver" Shaw snagging the hotdog that I made up for myself (yeah, we all cracked up once I realized what just happened)
- Shawn thinking that she was done, then finding out she had another Seward Park loop left to complete a 50k. She was ready to start boxing someone, yo! :-)
- Watching people get use to the chilly Lake Washington waters. It's always funny to see people do that shiver-shake the moment they get in.
- Scott Krell's Scotty Dog trying to eat three sugar packets without anyone being the wiser. Good thing my "no-no, bad dog!" senses were tingling at that moment.
A kudos for those that ran this course to completion and an extra kudos for those that are doing their best with trying to handle the Northwest Triple. Good luck at the Seattle Marathon guys! And to Maniac Monte: Hope you get through your 100th Marathon tomorrow!
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
The Joy of Massage
My wonderful wife gave me a helping hand and aided my massage of my left quad. Seems a few days ago, I mildly strained it with doing dumbbell squats (52.5 lbs in each hand). And since then, the muscle is still pretty tight and has a deep ache depending on how I move my leg or if I even tense/flex the quad. But the achey feeling does go away during my runs, so this won't sideline me for Saturday. However, I think I'll look into getting a sports massage or a deep-tissue massage after the Ghost. It's been some time since I've had an LMP turn my muscles into melted butter.
Sunday, November 23, 2008
Monday, November 17, 2008
Dogs don't run...
Well, my dog doesn't...or rather she chose not to run yesterday as I had hoped.
I had woke up a bit later than expected, so running with the group was out of the question. I needed to do about 16-18 miles VERY SLOWLY. I had decided at the last minute to take the family dog with me. Well, our puggle pup decided that after two miles, she wasn't going to take it anymore and proceeded to trip me. Over and over. I wasn't too happy about that and decided that the run would have to be bagged. So after walking her for the remaining 2.5 miles (we were that far from the car), I was glad to take her home and just take that morning as it was.
However, despite that long run snag - the training plan went well. This is what I've figured will work with my work and homelife schedule:
Mondays: Rest
Tuesdays:
Lunchtime - X-Train during my lunch (weights, rowing, etc)
Evening - Group Runs of 6-8 miles (Although they're supposed to be "easy" runs, they feel more medium or marathon pace for me at the moment)
Wednesdays: Lunchtime Runs @ Work from 2-4 miles (Could be easy/recovery runs, could be tempo/intervals, could be just good powerwalks)
Thursdays: Repeat of Tuesday
Fridays: Repeat of Wednesday
Saturdays: Rest or Alternative Long Run (if I can't do a long run on Sunday for whatever reason or if's just some place too good to pass up.)
Sundays: Long Runs ranging from 12-35 miles, preferibly sticking around 18-20 miles weekly.
I followed this so far this past week and with the exception of Sunday getting botched, it went well. I'm still pretty confident that I'll hold up for the Seattle Ghost in two weeks. As long as I'm conservative on that day and take an early start, I should be able to complete the distance (not to mention giving myself a serious shock to the system) in the cutoff time.
I had woke up a bit later than expected, so running with the group was out of the question. I needed to do about 16-18 miles VERY SLOWLY. I had decided at the last minute to take the family dog with me. Well, our puggle pup decided that after two miles, she wasn't going to take it anymore and proceeded to trip me. Over and over. I wasn't too happy about that and decided that the run would have to be bagged. So after walking her for the remaining 2.5 miles (we were that far from the car), I was glad to take her home and just take that morning as it was.
However, despite that long run snag - the training plan went well. This is what I've figured will work with my work and homelife schedule:
Mondays: Rest
Tuesdays:
Lunchtime - X-Train during my lunch (weights, rowing, etc)
Evening - Group Runs of 6-8 miles (Although they're supposed to be "easy" runs, they feel more medium or marathon pace for me at the moment)
Wednesdays: Lunchtime Runs @ Work from 2-4 miles (Could be easy/recovery runs, could be tempo/intervals, could be just good powerwalks)
Thursdays: Repeat of Tuesday
Fridays: Repeat of Wednesday
Saturdays: Rest or Alternative Long Run (if I can't do a long run on Sunday for whatever reason or if's just some place too good to pass up.)
Sundays: Long Runs ranging from 12-35 miles, preferibly sticking around 18-20 miles weekly.
I followed this so far this past week and with the exception of Sunday getting botched, it went well. I'm still pretty confident that I'll hold up for the Seattle Ghost in two weeks. As long as I'm conservative on that day and take an early start, I should be able to complete the distance (not to mention giving myself a serious shock to the system) in the cutoff time.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Officially Sponsored! *happy dance*
To my suprise yesterday, a package was waiting at home in a BIG BOX from SOLE.
I'm right now wearing the really cool black t-shirt and flexfit cap with the company name and logo on them. (Pics to come later...maybe. Black is definately slimming!) And it goes well with the red sports flask they also provided! They even threw in an extra pair of heat-moldable footbeds for my regular shoes too! Thanks to SOLE and especially Claire from their Marketing Dept who was nice enough to offer this to me!
I'm no Dean Karnazes by any means, but I hope to be a positive representative for SOLE! I'll definately write up how the footbeds (and my foot) hold up after my first race since my stress fracture sidelining me and for my subsequent races after that (including my goal of doing the Cascade Crest 100).
So far, it's been a month since I've been using them and the experience is positive overall. The tendons in my right foot rarely (and I do mean RARELY) bother me during my runs now. The original pains I felt have diminished greatly and the support I get now is phenomenal. I'm also able to maintain better form, despite my muscles still needing better conditioning (which will come with time and training).
The only difficulty I'm experiencing in relation to using the SOLE footbeds is trying to adjust my laces of the shoe since the arch of my foot goes up in the sweet spot and the current lacing system I have doesn't work as well as it should. However, that's simple user error on my part and I simply have to find a better lacing method to make the shoe fit better. The other thing I have to learn is to STOP JAMMING MY FOOT IN THE SHOE! Cramming/Jamming your foot into your footwear can cause a minor shift in the footbed placement and you'll feel weird when standing in them. Slipping them on gently always works best.
Things learned so far this week:
- On a group run, figure out where exactly everyone is going and then go at your own pace - not theirs. I got smoked and slowed considerably after two miles in a 6+ mile easy run due to running a faster 8-9 minute pace versus a 10-11 min pace that my body can currently handle better. (6.43 miles in 1:06:17; traffic light stops - boo!!!!)
- Make sure you don't forget your workout clothes. Due to no running clothes, I did a 2 mile powerwalk on the treadmill in my jeans and a spare t-shirt. I had the speed set to 4.0 MPH @ 2% incline, so yeah - I got sweaty after the first 15 minutes.
I also think I figured out a good running/workout schedule for myself, but I'll see if it's successful after this week is up before I disclose it.
Happy running all!
I'm right now wearing the really cool black t-shirt and flexfit cap with the company name and logo on them. (Pics to come later...maybe. Black is definately slimming!) And it goes well with the red sports flask they also provided! They even threw in an extra pair of heat-moldable footbeds for my regular shoes too! Thanks to SOLE and especially Claire from their Marketing Dept who was nice enough to offer this to me!
I'm no Dean Karnazes by any means, but I hope to be a positive representative for SOLE! I'll definately write up how the footbeds (and my foot) hold up after my first race since my stress fracture sidelining me and for my subsequent races after that (including my goal of doing the Cascade Crest 100).
So far, it's been a month since I've been using them and the experience is positive overall. The tendons in my right foot rarely (and I do mean RARELY) bother me during my runs now. The original pains I felt have diminished greatly and the support I get now is phenomenal. I'm also able to maintain better form, despite my muscles still needing better conditioning (which will come with time and training).
The only difficulty I'm experiencing in relation to using the SOLE footbeds is trying to adjust my laces of the shoe since the arch of my foot goes up in the sweet spot and the current lacing system I have doesn't work as well as it should. However, that's simple user error on my part and I simply have to find a better lacing method to make the shoe fit better. The other thing I have to learn is to STOP JAMMING MY FOOT IN THE SHOE! Cramming/Jamming your foot into your footwear can cause a minor shift in the footbed placement and you'll feel weird when standing in them. Slipping them on gently always works best.
Things learned so far this week:
- On a group run, figure out where exactly everyone is going and then go at your own pace - not theirs. I got smoked and slowed considerably after two miles in a 6+ mile easy run due to running a faster 8-9 minute pace versus a 10-11 min pace that my body can currently handle better. (6.43 miles in 1:06:17; traffic light stops - boo!!!!)
- Make sure you don't forget your workout clothes. Due to no running clothes, I did a 2 mile powerwalk on the treadmill in my jeans and a spare t-shirt. I had the speed set to 4.0 MPH @ 2% incline, so yeah - I got sweaty after the first 15 minutes.
I also think I figured out a good running/workout schedule for myself, but I'll see if it's successful after this week is up before I disclose it.
Happy running all!
Sunday, November 2, 2008
Pushing past the edge
8, maybe 10 miles. But I was thinking 8.
But somehow, with some patience and a little help from my friends (well, one friend - Thanks Rob), I ran almost 14 miles (13.68 mi) in 3 hours exactly. A very slow pace of 13:09/mile, but all the miles and time - total quality.
Best thing of all, the only thing that hurt was the good kind of hurt in my calves and hamstrings. My stress fractured area was a non-issue. *BIG CHEEZY GRIN*
This run has shown me a few things:
1.) With enough patience, I can go long...not fast, but long.
2.) Doing the Seattle Ghost Marathon or 50k at the end of the month looks more doable.
Totally looking forward to tomorrow and beyond. Totally.
But somehow, with some patience and a little help from my friends (well, one friend - Thanks Rob), I ran almost 14 miles (13.68 mi) in 3 hours exactly. A very slow pace of 13:09/mile, but all the miles and time - total quality.
Best thing of all, the only thing that hurt was the good kind of hurt in my calves and hamstrings. My stress fractured area was a non-issue. *BIG CHEEZY GRIN*
This run has shown me a few things:
1.) With enough patience, I can go long...not fast, but long.
2.) Doing the Seattle Ghost Marathon or 50k at the end of the month looks more doable.
Totally looking forward to tomorrow and beyond. Totally.
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