Saturday, July 26, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
Less than 10 hours to go...
Gear is ready. I've decided on two drop bags at Aid Stations 1 and 5. Also, carrying three bottles total, not 4.
We'll see how things go.
Time to go to bed and wake up at 2am
We'll see how things go.
Time to go to bed and wake up at 2am
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
White River 50 Strategy
I've been trying to figure out what I'm going to do for the White River 50. I know to walk the ups and do my best to run the flats and downs (while praying that I finish within the cutoff of 14 hours for the early start).
The only thing that is really left is knowing what to put in my drop bags. Funny thing is that I might not actually NEED drop bags for this event.
All but two aid station is stocked with GU, GU2O, Succeed! Caplets, and Food. That's 6 places where you can refuel easily. The weather is going to be hot and dry, so no need to have any dropbags with replacement changes of clothes for cold or wet weather. I don't plan on replacing shoes (or socks for that matter) on the course and having multiple pairs of socks along the course just sounds like overkill. I could pack blister kits, but for all 6 aid stations? I don't think so.
So the only thing I could come up with is to have in separate little baggies:
- Aleve
- Tums
- S!Caps
That's pretty much it. Unless if any of my fellow Maniac friends would like to give their $0.02 on this, I would appreciate it.
The only thing that is really left is knowing what to put in my drop bags. Funny thing is that I might not actually NEED drop bags for this event.
All but two aid station is stocked with GU, GU2O, Succeed! Caplets, and Food. That's 6 places where you can refuel easily. The weather is going to be hot and dry, so no need to have any dropbags with replacement changes of clothes for cold or wet weather. I don't plan on replacing shoes (or socks for that matter) on the course and having multiple pairs of socks along the course just sounds like overkill. I could pack blister kits, but for all 6 aid stations? I don't think so.
So the only thing I could come up with is to have in separate little baggies:
- Aleve
- Tums
- S!Caps
That's pretty much it. Unless if any of my fellow Maniac friends would like to give their $0.02 on this, I would appreciate it.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Fishing for Keys - Rattlesnake Lake Marathon Race Report
http://www.littlemarathon.com/RattlesnakeLake/default.asp
Long overdue, but...
The short - it was the slowest time for my marathon at 5:11:02 and the most hurty I've been.
The long - The race was on July 6th during the Independence Day weekend at Rattlesnake Lake in North Bend, WA and hosted by my Maniac Buddies - Monte and Brian. With all ID4 weekends, it was a busy one. Rewinding back to July 4th, I took the family to the in-laws house...in North Bend. Yeah, so I'd be making another trip to the same town again 48 hours later. I usually don't like doing things like that, but we had plans and I wasn't going to be the one to spoil them. While visiting the in-laws, I had the bright idea to wear out the family dog (Daisy) with a nice hike up Mt Si - a mountain in North Bend that has a 4 mile trail with a 3500 ft elevation gain from the bottom of the trail to the top. Well, Daisy and I hiked up that mountain in about 80 minutes. However, after a brief rest at the top, we ran down to the bottom in 25 minutes. My quads were unbelievably thrashed.
Fast foward to Sunday and the Marathon. My quads are still thrashed, but more manageable. The venue is a small one, but nice. Low-key races are always a good thing to participate in, more personable. The course is a double out-n-back in two directions (a 5 mile trail heading north and an 8 mile trail heading south and east). Total elevation gain is 1300+ feet with equal amount of loss. I've been on this trail many times. The Mt Si Ultra and the NB2V runs goes along the course. I've also done some training runs on it too, but in retrospect - I should have done more.
Once I got to the race location, I did a stupid thing. In the process of getting someone some Band-Aids, I accidentally locked my keys in the car! Oh well, 8 minutes before race time - I'll have to deal with this when I'm done. So putting the car key situation out of my mind, I got ready to run.
At 8am on the dot, we started moving. The first 5 miles is on a downward slope along the Snoqualmie Valley Trail and is on a negative incline. I did my best not to go too fast on this, but my legs had other ideas. However, the faster movement did ease the pain from my quads. I reached the turnaround in under 45 minutes and avoided all the bear crap on the trail (there were bear warnings, but all I saw was poop). Running back up, I was still feeling remarkably good. My pace slowed mildly, but not by much. I hit the 9.9 mile point at 1:36:45. 9:45 miles!!!! I was stoked! Should have relished the feeling, because it wasn't going to last.
When we moved from the Snoqualmie Valley Trail to the Iron Horse Trail, I was starting to slow down. My quads were starting to be inflammed again and my hamstrings were also getting seriously irritated. I did my best to soldier on after the half-marathon point. Then about mile 15, I had to stop. Something got in my shoe. Now this was truly a WTF moment since I was wearing Dirty Girl Gaiters and managed to get a bit of gravel in my right shoe anyway.
The rest of the trail from when I got the gravel out and to the turnaround is a bit of a blur. I remember seeing alot of folks climbing the rock faces along the trail. I remember seeing many rails-to-trails bridges that cover the Iron Horse Trail. I remember seeing a great deal of faces running back after reaching the turnaround. I remember seeing the I-90 freeway from my vantage point along the trail. That's about it. Everything else is filled in with increased soreness and slower speed until I got close to the turnaround.
When I got to the mile 18 turnaround, I was ever so glad to see Marathon Maniac Monte and his sons. I knew that I had only 8 miles left to go and it would all be downhill. I thought, "Great! I can throw down the hammer and let gravity take over!" Unfortunately, the hammer decided to smash me in the head. I was able to run at a decent clip until mile 21. After that, it was the Galloway method of run/walking. It was also at this time when I decided to take off my running singlet and go shirtless. My singlet was rubbing my right side raw and I already had enough problems. Hopefully no one got blinded by my semi-nekkid frame.
Then when I got to mile 23, it was all walking. My legs were just shot. I was too tired. I was too sore. I just wanted to finish. The fun went out the window along with any possible chance of not getting an even SLOWER marathon finishing time. Mile 25 came and I did my best to push. Continually telling myself that I'm nearly there, it's nearly over. Mile 26 came and I was able to make a half-feeble effort to run the remaining .2 miles and finish in 5:11:02 - my slowest finishing time ever for a marathon.
I quickly got some food in me after that from Monte's wonderful Flipino cooking and got started on some more important matters, getting my car unlocked! I was able to get Brian's son to lend me a second pair of eyes as I used a coat hanger and piece of wire to fish the keyless remote from the center console through a small crack opening in a back window of the minivan. Within 10 minutes, I successfully fished out the remote and unlocked the car! I honestly felt more accomplished doing that then finishing the run, go figure.
With car key in hand, I headed back to the finishing area to munch on more post-race food and remembered why I do these things. The real fun is after the finish line. Brian and Monte (and their families) did a great job with everything and even though the last part of the run didn't go my way, I'd do this one again...better prepared, but again.
Next race: White River 50 Mile ultra on July 26th. Predicted finishing time is anywhere from 10-12 hours, but I'm aiming just to finish in the 14 hour cutoff.
Long overdue, but...
The short - it was the slowest time for my marathon at 5:11:02 and the most hurty I've been.
The long - The race was on July 6th during the Independence Day weekend at Rattlesnake Lake in North Bend, WA and hosted by my Maniac Buddies - Monte and Brian. With all ID4 weekends, it was a busy one. Rewinding back to July 4th, I took the family to the in-laws house...in North Bend. Yeah, so I'd be making another trip to the same town again 48 hours later. I usually don't like doing things like that, but we had plans and I wasn't going to be the one to spoil them. While visiting the in-laws, I had the bright idea to wear out the family dog (Daisy) with a nice hike up Mt Si - a mountain in North Bend that has a 4 mile trail with a 3500 ft elevation gain from the bottom of the trail to the top. Well, Daisy and I hiked up that mountain in about 80 minutes. However, after a brief rest at the top, we ran down to the bottom in 25 minutes. My quads were unbelievably thrashed.
Fast foward to Sunday and the Marathon. My quads are still thrashed, but more manageable. The venue is a small one, but nice. Low-key races are always a good thing to participate in, more personable. The course is a double out-n-back in two directions (a 5 mile trail heading north and an 8 mile trail heading south and east). Total elevation gain is 1300+ feet with equal amount of loss. I've been on this trail many times. The Mt Si Ultra and the NB2V runs goes along the course. I've also done some training runs on it too, but in retrospect - I should have done more.
Once I got to the race location, I did a stupid thing. In the process of getting someone some Band-Aids, I accidentally locked my keys in the car! Oh well, 8 minutes before race time - I'll have to deal with this when I'm done. So putting the car key situation out of my mind, I got ready to run.
At 8am on the dot, we started moving. The first 5 miles is on a downward slope along the Snoqualmie Valley Trail and is on a negative incline. I did my best not to go too fast on this, but my legs had other ideas. However, the faster movement did ease the pain from my quads. I reached the turnaround in under 45 minutes and avoided all the bear crap on the trail (there were bear warnings, but all I saw was poop). Running back up, I was still feeling remarkably good. My pace slowed mildly, but not by much. I hit the 9.9 mile point at 1:36:45. 9:45 miles!!!! I was stoked! Should have relished the feeling, because it wasn't going to last.
When we moved from the Snoqualmie Valley Trail to the Iron Horse Trail, I was starting to slow down. My quads were starting to be inflammed again and my hamstrings were also getting seriously irritated. I did my best to soldier on after the half-marathon point. Then about mile 15, I had to stop. Something got in my shoe. Now this was truly a WTF moment since I was wearing Dirty Girl Gaiters and managed to get a bit of gravel in my right shoe anyway.
The rest of the trail from when I got the gravel out and to the turnaround is a bit of a blur. I remember seeing alot of folks climbing the rock faces along the trail. I remember seeing many rails-to-trails bridges that cover the Iron Horse Trail. I remember seeing a great deal of faces running back after reaching the turnaround. I remember seeing the I-90 freeway from my vantage point along the trail. That's about it. Everything else is filled in with increased soreness and slower speed until I got close to the turnaround.
When I got to the mile 18 turnaround, I was ever so glad to see Marathon Maniac Monte and his sons. I knew that I had only 8 miles left to go and it would all be downhill. I thought, "Great! I can throw down the hammer and let gravity take over!" Unfortunately, the hammer decided to smash me in the head. I was able to run at a decent clip until mile 21. After that, it was the Galloway method of run/walking. It was also at this time when I decided to take off my running singlet and go shirtless. My singlet was rubbing my right side raw and I already had enough problems. Hopefully no one got blinded by my semi-nekkid frame.
Then when I got to mile 23, it was all walking. My legs were just shot. I was too tired. I was too sore. I just wanted to finish. The fun went out the window along with any possible chance of not getting an even SLOWER marathon finishing time. Mile 25 came and I did my best to push. Continually telling myself that I'm nearly there, it's nearly over. Mile 26 came and I was able to make a half-feeble effort to run the remaining .2 miles and finish in 5:11:02 - my slowest finishing time ever for a marathon.
I quickly got some food in me after that from Monte's wonderful Flipino cooking and got started on some more important matters, getting my car unlocked! I was able to get Brian's son to lend me a second pair of eyes as I used a coat hanger and piece of wire to fish the keyless remote from the center console through a small crack opening in a back window of the minivan. Within 10 minutes, I successfully fished out the remote and unlocked the car! I honestly felt more accomplished doing that then finishing the run, go figure.
With car key in hand, I headed back to the finishing area to munch on more post-race food and remembered why I do these things. The real fun is after the finish line. Brian and Monte (and their families) did a great job with everything and even though the last part of the run didn't go my way, I'd do this one again...better prepared, but again.
Next race: White River 50 Mile ultra on July 26th. Predicted finishing time is anywhere from 10-12 hours, but I'm aiming just to finish in the 14 hour cutoff.
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Bailed
Lake Youngs and running 28.8 miles or 38.4 miles didn't happen.
This is what happens when you get home after 11pm and don't actually fall asleep properly till 2am and then wake up at 7am (the same moment the race starts).
Hopefully Arthur will roll my entry into next year.
I think what I'll do is run with the Balanced Athlete group tomorrow (plus some extra time) and then next week, I'll plan to do a solo run at Lake Youngs for the distance I planned on doing. It won't count to my Maniacs total, but I need the workout.
Monday, June 9, 2008
GreenRiver Marathon Race Report
http://www.greenrivermarathon.com
The short: Finished in 4:41:20, was on-course for a sub-4 until things went wrong with my left knee at mile 19+.
The long: Familiar course. Done it before as the iUWR Marathon and have rode the course on my bike many times for my work commute. Paved bike trails for 85-90% of it, concrete sidewalks for the rest of it. Virtually flat, except for the hill near mile 18.
I rushed out the door in the morning and drove to the finish. I soon got a ride from Nic (aka Marathon Maniac #932) to the start (Thanks Nic!). Point-to-Point courses are usually a pain in the ass when it comes to getting transportation to the start, but so far, so good. Lots of folks were at this race (close to 200 marathon runners, not including the relay runners). Guess when you put on a free marathon with your standard aid station goods (Water & Gatorade), people show up. One person of interest that appeared was the Marathon Junkie himself, Chuck Engle. So this was going to be interesting to see who'd win this race. Lots of folks sporting Maniac Yellow. It was good company to be in.
We started at 8:30am and all did our best to run along the Green River Trail. Even for it's wide paved path, there were plenty of us running along the grassy sides for the first few miles until the crowd thinned out. I ran with Val (Maniac #626) for most of the time since her pace and mine seemed to be about the same.
For the first 6 miles, I was having a difficult time getting into my groove. My left shin was tight, almost akin to a shin splint. But it eventually stopped and I felt good.
Then between miles 8-9, the inside of my left knee started to bug out. This was a first. The pain was something I couldn't really ignore, but I was able to tolerate...to a point. I knew that I had to focus on my form to ease the impact on my knee, run along the soft surfaces along side of the main paved trail to reduce the shock further, and do my best to avoid concrete as much as I could. I did a good job for the most part. Then there was something I didn't anticipate, hurting on the downhill.
I'm a poor uphill runner, but the downhill is where I can catch anyone. My cycling and strength training have helped beef up my quads to take the impact and eccentric movements that downhill running causes. However, I have not done any strength training for nearly a month due to the Bike-to-Work challenge for May and I cut my cycling down drastically the last week of May as well. This, along with my left knee problems turned into a pain-fest as I descended down the other side of the hill around mile 18. Then the concrete jungle appeared. For the next mile, there are no trails. There are sidewalks and streets that are made with concrete slabs. If it wasn't for the fact that this was flat and not a downhill, I would have waved the white flag at this point and begged for a ride to the nearest cemetery to be buried at.
After passing the aid station at mile 19, I was able to go another quarter mile before giving into my knee's demands. I told Val to go on and I'd see her at the finish. As I saw her get smaller and smaller in my view, I looked at my watch. It was over 2:40! WTF!? I was running at a sub-9 pace! A sub-4 hour marathon would have been possible if it wasn't for this blasted knee! Damn. Mildly upset, but needing to regroup mentally, I sat for a bit and then proceeded to walk. It hurt while walking, but the pain wasn't nearly as intense. When I arrived onto the Duwamish Trail, it was past 3 hours. Thankfully, I knew that I only had about 5 miles to go.
By this time, a first-time marathoner by the name of Dean came up from behind me. He was pretty beaten up and was walking the rest of the course too. From his pain description, his problem seemed to be his Achilles' tendon and feeling genuine bonk after mile 16 (his longest training run was 14 miles and he went out too fast). I agreed to walk with him the rest of the way. Misery loves company after all and we were both feeling the misery. At the Duwamish aid station, a nice lady with her cute 6-month old baby girl in a Snuggli saved me with some Tylenol! Despite the pill being smashed and I having to taste the yucky medicine flavor, I was extremely grateful.
As Dean and I kept walking, I checked my watch - no way in hell for a sub-4 hour finish obviously, but a sub-5 hour was possible provided we didn't stop moving. As we continued walking, I gave Dean some tips for recovery, racing, and other things that we sometimes overlook when we do these things. Soon, we were past the West Seattle Bridge and were about a 5k away from the finish. I kept telling Dean, this is where you tell yourself, "A 5k? I've done a 5k run during training! I know I can finish THIS!" He was getting pretty psyched up. I gave him a packet of GU (Espresso Love flavor - Double the Caffeine!) after he told me his stomach was feeling empty. A few minutes later, I could tell it kicked in. He was starting to look better and he made more attempts to run the last bit of distance.
Once we got to the last aid station, it was 2.5 miles to the finish. I told Dean that the finish was in front of the Seattle Bathhouse, a very odd YELLOW building. I told him that once you see that yellow bastard in the distance, you know you're only a mile away. Sure enough, we saw that yellow building and both started to move as best we could. The Tylenol helped me out from earlier, but I still had some twinges, but twinges were better than screaming bouts of pain. I pulled ahead and kept on moving until I crossed the finish. 4:41:20.
Dean crossed a second behind me (he really cranked it hard to catch me) and was winded. I patted him on the back and shouted out, "THIS IS DEAN'S FIRST MARATHON!!!" To which he got a big round of applause from the other finisher's waiting around and the volunteers. He had that typical look that most of us get, the combo of "I'm sore. I'm tired. I'm happy. It's over. I DID IT! Where's the food?"
For my food, I relented and went to eat at Spud's Fish N' Chips again. Not my best choice for a finisher's meal, but I had to eat something and in my rush to leave the house - packing a post-race meal was forgotten.
So, good weather (low 60's, mild wind, mild shower spray rain for a good 30 minutes), good course, good people (Volunteers and Runners), and good aid. For $0.00, you can't ask for anything better.
Things to remember for next time:
- Do Strength Training! My knee problems would probably have not even happened if I had kept up with my strength training. Squats are your friend.
- Train Better! So even with my mileage being so bloody low (between 25-30 MPW w/cross-training), I'm getting a wee bit faster. If I can increase my mileage to have a 40-50 MPW base and continue cross-training, it may be possible to hit that sub-4 and maybe even get lower (BQ maybe? Bah! Wishful thinking!)
- Carry Pain Killers!!!!!!!! I don't know why I didn't think of doing this. How heavy are little pills of "Vitamin I" (Ibuprofen) anyway? I have them in my dropbag during ultras, it would make sense to keep them on for marathon races. If I would have had popped a few of them before mile 18, I think I would have been able to cope better and gotten closer to that sub-4 hour finishing time.
Next race: Lake Youngs Ultra on 06/14. Question is: Will I do three loops for 28.8 miles or do 4 loops for 38.4 miles? Guess we'll find out next week.
The short: Finished in 4:41:20, was on-course for a sub-4 until things went wrong with my left knee at mile 19+.
The long: Familiar course. Done it before as the iUWR Marathon and have rode the course on my bike many times for my work commute. Paved bike trails for 85-90% of it, concrete sidewalks for the rest of it. Virtually flat, except for the hill near mile 18.
I rushed out the door in the morning and drove to the finish. I soon got a ride from Nic (aka Marathon Maniac #932) to the start (Thanks Nic!). Point-to-Point courses are usually a pain in the ass when it comes to getting transportation to the start, but so far, so good. Lots of folks were at this race (close to 200 marathon runners, not including the relay runners). Guess when you put on a free marathon with your standard aid station goods (Water & Gatorade), people show up. One person of interest that appeared was the Marathon Junkie himself, Chuck Engle. So this was going to be interesting to see who'd win this race. Lots of folks sporting Maniac Yellow. It was good company to be in.
We started at 8:30am and all did our best to run along the Green River Trail. Even for it's wide paved path, there were plenty of us running along the grassy sides for the first few miles until the crowd thinned out. I ran with Val (Maniac #626) for most of the time since her pace and mine seemed to be about the same.
For the first 6 miles, I was having a difficult time getting into my groove. My left shin was tight, almost akin to a shin splint. But it eventually stopped and I felt good.
Then between miles 8-9, the inside of my left knee started to bug out. This was a first. The pain was something I couldn't really ignore, but I was able to tolerate...to a point. I knew that I had to focus on my form to ease the impact on my knee, run along the soft surfaces along side of the main paved trail to reduce the shock further, and do my best to avoid concrete as much as I could. I did a good job for the most part. Then there was something I didn't anticipate, hurting on the downhill.
I'm a poor uphill runner, but the downhill is where I can catch anyone. My cycling and strength training have helped beef up my quads to take the impact and eccentric movements that downhill running causes. However, I have not done any strength training for nearly a month due to the Bike-to-Work challenge for May and I cut my cycling down drastically the last week of May as well. This, along with my left knee problems turned into a pain-fest as I descended down the other side of the hill around mile 18. Then the concrete jungle appeared. For the next mile, there are no trails. There are sidewalks and streets that are made with concrete slabs. If it wasn't for the fact that this was flat and not a downhill, I would have waved the white flag at this point and begged for a ride to the nearest cemetery to be buried at.
After passing the aid station at mile 19, I was able to go another quarter mile before giving into my knee's demands. I told Val to go on and I'd see her at the finish. As I saw her get smaller and smaller in my view, I looked at my watch. It was over 2:40! WTF!? I was running at a sub-9 pace! A sub-4 hour marathon would have been possible if it wasn't for this blasted knee! Damn. Mildly upset, but needing to regroup mentally, I sat for a bit and then proceeded to walk. It hurt while walking, but the pain wasn't nearly as intense. When I arrived onto the Duwamish Trail, it was past 3 hours. Thankfully, I knew that I only had about 5 miles to go.
By this time, a first-time marathoner by the name of Dean came up from behind me. He was pretty beaten up and was walking the rest of the course too. From his pain description, his problem seemed to be his Achilles' tendon and feeling genuine bonk after mile 16 (his longest training run was 14 miles and he went out too fast). I agreed to walk with him the rest of the way. Misery loves company after all and we were both feeling the misery. At the Duwamish aid station, a nice lady with her cute 6-month old baby girl in a Snuggli saved me with some Tylenol! Despite the pill being smashed and I having to taste the yucky medicine flavor, I was extremely grateful.
As Dean and I kept walking, I checked my watch - no way in hell for a sub-4 hour finish obviously, but a sub-5 hour was possible provided we didn't stop moving. As we continued walking, I gave Dean some tips for recovery, racing, and other things that we sometimes overlook when we do these things. Soon, we were past the West Seattle Bridge and were about a 5k away from the finish. I kept telling Dean, this is where you tell yourself, "A 5k? I've done a 5k run during training! I know I can finish THIS!" He was getting pretty psyched up. I gave him a packet of GU (Espresso Love flavor - Double the Caffeine!) after he told me his stomach was feeling empty. A few minutes later, I could tell it kicked in. He was starting to look better and he made more attempts to run the last bit of distance.
Once we got to the last aid station, it was 2.5 miles to the finish. I told Dean that the finish was in front of the Seattle Bathhouse, a very odd YELLOW building. I told him that once you see that yellow bastard in the distance, you know you're only a mile away. Sure enough, we saw that yellow building and both started to move as best we could. The Tylenol helped me out from earlier, but I still had some twinges, but twinges were better than screaming bouts of pain. I pulled ahead and kept on moving until I crossed the finish. 4:41:20.
Dean crossed a second behind me (he really cranked it hard to catch me) and was winded. I patted him on the back and shouted out, "THIS IS DEAN'S FIRST MARATHON!!!" To which he got a big round of applause from the other finisher's waiting around and the volunteers. He had that typical look that most of us get, the combo of "I'm sore. I'm tired. I'm happy. It's over. I DID IT! Where's the food?"
For my food, I relented and went to eat at Spud's Fish N' Chips again. Not my best choice for a finisher's meal, but I had to eat something and in my rush to leave the house - packing a post-race meal was forgotten.
So, good weather (low 60's, mild wind, mild shower spray rain for a good 30 minutes), good course, good people (Volunteers and Runners), and good aid. For $0.00, you can't ask for anything better.
Things to remember for next time:
- Do Strength Training! My knee problems would probably have not even happened if I had kept up with my strength training. Squats are your friend.
- Train Better! So even with my mileage being so bloody low (between 25-30 MPW w/cross-training), I'm getting a wee bit faster. If I can increase my mileage to have a 40-50 MPW base and continue cross-training, it may be possible to hit that sub-4 and maybe even get lower (BQ maybe? Bah! Wishful thinking!)
- Carry Pain Killers!!!!!!!! I don't know why I didn't think of doing this. How heavy are little pills of "Vitamin I" (Ibuprofen) anyway? I have them in my dropbag during ultras, it would make sense to keep them on for marathon races. If I would have had popped a few of them before mile 18, I think I would have been able to cope better and gotten closer to that sub-4 hour finishing time.
Next race: Lake Youngs Ultra on 06/14. Question is: Will I do three loops for 28.8 miles or do 4 loops for 38.4 miles? Guess we'll find out next week.
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