Can it still be called a 'blog if you only update it a couple times a year? I should get on that. More to come.
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Camp Hardrock 2019
6 years ago
20 February 2010
19 May 2009
Marathon #2
January, that was my last post? What a lame blogger I am! I'll type up a report on the triathlon training soon, but here's my race report from my second marathon.
Colorado Marathon
Fort Collins, CO
3 May 2009
The course is mostly rural and scenic, similar to the Steamboat Marathon course in that it runs down a river valley into town. It starts about 17 miles up the Cache la Poudre River canyon, 3.5 miles up from the Mishawaka amphitheater. After exiting the canyon there are a few boring miles before the last 6 miles run down the Poudre river bike trail and finishing in Old Town Square in downtown Fort Collins. The course is almost entirely downhill. The net downhill is 1128 feet with only one real hill the entire way. The average downhill grade is 0.8%.
Pre-race nerves weren't as strong as last year, before my first, but they were still there. Friday evening was the worst, I think I kept busy on Saturday and avoided some then. It's hard to describe exactly what the nerves are from, as even when nervous I knew I was going to finish, just general nerves about a big task ahead I guess. I do think during the taper you notice every ache and pain, but that doesn't seem to bother me too much. Though I based my training plan on a 4:05 finish (predicted by a half marathon time last November), as my training went on I wasn't confident that was realistic. I didn't decide on a race plan until Saturday afternoon. I decided to go out at a 9:40 pace (4:15 finish) and adjust at 10 miles if I felt stronger. 16 miles is more than enough to make up the less than 3.5 minutes I would have lost at that point.
Race day started early with oatmeal and a banana and then a car ride to the buses. I love the feeling arriving at a race, especially a half or a marathon. Looking around at the other fit athletes I sometimes have to pinch myself as I forget I'm not just with them, I'm one of them. The bus ride up to the start of a marathon can be a little daunting. It's dark, daybreak just coming as we got to the top. And on a windy road it takes about 45 minutes to get to the top. The camaraderie with the other runners helps time pass and the nerves calm. I finished my coffee as we got to the top with about 40 minutes until the start. I got in the portapotty line which moved quickly for once, and then walked around and soaked in the atmosphere. It was just past daybreak, there was wispy fog around the tops of the peaks on the sides of the canyon, and light dustings of snow here and there, overall very pretty. About 10 minutes before the start I shed my pants, downed a gel and some water, and checked my bag.
Before I knew it we were running. It is amazing how strong you feel the first mile or two of a marathon. I started at my 9:40 pace and felt almost guilty for running so slow. I was in no way going to go out too fast though, even with the downhill course. I did that last year, it doesn't work. The first 10 miles actually felt easy. I crossed the 10 mile mark on pace for a 4:12 finish and feeling very strong. I stopped for the first time here, watered some bushes, turned on the MP3 player for the first time, and got back to it. I was feeling incredible at this point, quite happy with my performance. I picked up the pace a bit for a mile to make up for the stop and then at 11 I slowed back to around 9:40-9:45. I found some people to pace off of and just kind of zoned out, listening to tunes, taking in the sights, and running along. When I say zone, I mean it, as from mile 11 through mile 19 my mile splits fell within about a six second window. That may be the steadiest I've ever run. It wasn't as effortless as the first 10, I did have to concentrate on keeping my pace up, but physically everything I needed to call on was there. At mile 19 I was on pace for a 4:17 finish. The confidence I gained during that stretch was immeasurable, especially since the second half of my last 20 miler was tough. Miles 14-18 or so were also the toughest of my first marathon, at least mentally. I had no trouble with focus this time.
Mile 19 ends on top of a hill. As I started up the hill a girl came up next to me and started to pass. The two of us pushed on together and got each other up the hill without slowing too much. We exchanged high fives at the water station on top and then continued on with smiles. Not long after I started feeling tight in the calves. I pushed through it, but it didn't go away. A halfassed attempt to stretch at mile 21 didn't help, but it was still more just a little discomfort at this point. The going was certainly starting to get tough, but I was able to keep up the pace. At mile 22 it got hard. It took everything I had to keep going. And I did, for about a mile, keeping my pace towards a 10:30 pace, still thinking a 4:20-ish finish was in reach. About mile 23 the cramping hit my calves though. Between the physical and mental fatigue I was running at about an 11:30 pace. The last 3.2 miles were all at about that pace, all pure guts. It probably sounds strange but pushing on through those miles, though they were the slowest of my race, was what I was most proud of. I finished at 4:28:35, bit ahead of my “worst case” goal of 4:30. I finished with a smile though, dreaming of holding pace the whole time instead of “just” for 23 miles next time.
It's 5 days later now, and I'm still on cloud 9. The confidence I gained, the sense of accomplishment I feel is incredible. You other runners, maybe only you other marathoners, are about the only ones who understand this. Most people, my wife included, just think I'm nuts for wanting to run for 4+ hours. I'm not sure what's up next on the marathon front, but I want to give breaking 4 hours a serious run next spring.
Colorado Marathon
Fort Collins, CO
3 May 2009
The course is mostly rural and scenic, similar to the Steamboat Marathon course in that it runs down a river valley into town. It starts about 17 miles up the Cache la Poudre River canyon, 3.5 miles up from the Mishawaka amphitheater. After exiting the canyon there are a few boring miles before the last 6 miles run down the Poudre river bike trail and finishing in Old Town Square in downtown Fort Collins. The course is almost entirely downhill. The net downhill is 1128 feet with only one real hill the entire way. The average downhill grade is 0.8%.
Pre-race nerves weren't as strong as last year, before my first, but they were still there. Friday evening was the worst, I think I kept busy on Saturday and avoided some then. It's hard to describe exactly what the nerves are from, as even when nervous I knew I was going to finish, just general nerves about a big task ahead I guess. I do think during the taper you notice every ache and pain, but that doesn't seem to bother me too much. Though I based my training plan on a 4:05 finish (predicted by a half marathon time last November), as my training went on I wasn't confident that was realistic. I didn't decide on a race plan until Saturday afternoon. I decided to go out at a 9:40 pace (4:15 finish) and adjust at 10 miles if I felt stronger. 16 miles is more than enough to make up the less than 3.5 minutes I would have lost at that point.
Race day started early with oatmeal and a banana and then a car ride to the buses. I love the feeling arriving at a race, especially a half or a marathon. Looking around at the other fit athletes I sometimes have to pinch myself as I forget I'm not just with them, I'm one of them. The bus ride up to the start of a marathon can be a little daunting. It's dark, daybreak just coming as we got to the top. And on a windy road it takes about 45 minutes to get to the top. The camaraderie with the other runners helps time pass and the nerves calm. I finished my coffee as we got to the top with about 40 minutes until the start. I got in the portapotty line which moved quickly for once, and then walked around and soaked in the atmosphere. It was just past daybreak, there was wispy fog around the tops of the peaks on the sides of the canyon, and light dustings of snow here and there, overall very pretty. About 10 minutes before the start I shed my pants, downed a gel and some water, and checked my bag.
Before I knew it we were running. It is amazing how strong you feel the first mile or two of a marathon. I started at my 9:40 pace and felt almost guilty for running so slow. I was in no way going to go out too fast though, even with the downhill course. I did that last year, it doesn't work. The first 10 miles actually felt easy. I crossed the 10 mile mark on pace for a 4:12 finish and feeling very strong. I stopped for the first time here, watered some bushes, turned on the MP3 player for the first time, and got back to it. I was feeling incredible at this point, quite happy with my performance. I picked up the pace a bit for a mile to make up for the stop and then at 11 I slowed back to around 9:40-9:45. I found some people to pace off of and just kind of zoned out, listening to tunes, taking in the sights, and running along. When I say zone, I mean it, as from mile 11 through mile 19 my mile splits fell within about a six second window. That may be the steadiest I've ever run. It wasn't as effortless as the first 10, I did have to concentrate on keeping my pace up, but physically everything I needed to call on was there. At mile 19 I was on pace for a 4:17 finish. The confidence I gained during that stretch was immeasurable, especially since the second half of my last 20 miler was tough. Miles 14-18 or so were also the toughest of my first marathon, at least mentally. I had no trouble with focus this time.
Mile 19 ends on top of a hill. As I started up the hill a girl came up next to me and started to pass. The two of us pushed on together and got each other up the hill without slowing too much. We exchanged high fives at the water station on top and then continued on with smiles. Not long after I started feeling tight in the calves. I pushed through it, but it didn't go away. A halfassed attempt to stretch at mile 21 didn't help, but it was still more just a little discomfort at this point. The going was certainly starting to get tough, but I was able to keep up the pace. At mile 22 it got hard. It took everything I had to keep going. And I did, for about a mile, keeping my pace towards a 10:30 pace, still thinking a 4:20-ish finish was in reach. About mile 23 the cramping hit my calves though. Between the physical and mental fatigue I was running at about an 11:30 pace. The last 3.2 miles were all at about that pace, all pure guts. It probably sounds strange but pushing on through those miles, though they were the slowest of my race, was what I was most proud of. I finished at 4:28:35, bit ahead of my “worst case” goal of 4:30. I finished with a smile though, dreaming of holding pace the whole time instead of “just” for 23 miles next time.
It's 5 days later now, and I'm still on cloud 9. The confidence I gained, the sense of accomplishment I feel is incredible. You other runners, maybe only you other marathoners, are about the only ones who understand this. Most people, my wife included, just think I'm nuts for wanting to run for 4+ hours. I'm not sure what's up next on the marathon front, but I want to give breaking 4 hours a serious run next spring.
18 January 2009
Living in the Limelight
They say everyone has their fifteen minutes of fame. This may be mine. I think I mentioned being selected as a Finalist in the Weight Watchers Inspiring Stories of the Year contest last year. I wasn't a Grand Prize winner, so no trip to New York. But some fame has come my way nonetheless. In an effort to drum up first of the year business Weight Watcher's PR firm sends out briefings to media outlets regarding local people who have had success. As a finalist in their contest my story was pushed towards the Colorado media. I have had requests for a newspaper interview, 2 radio interviews, and 3 TV interviews in the past couple of weeks. I was caught a little off-guard by this, and am not a limelight kind of guy, but did agree to do all but one of the radio interviews. I've now done all but one of the TV interviews, and they haven't been as bad as I thought they would -- meaning I wasn't uncomfortable doing them, which I thought I would be. I suppose the interviewers are good at helping you not feel that way. I especially enjoyed doing the newspaper interview. It was a very relaxed conversation at a coffee shop one evening. The longer duration of this interview helped me realize all that has gone into this over the past almost four years now.
My spring and summer racing plans are starting to shape up. I've decided on the Colorado Marathon on 3 May, which runs down a beautiful course in the Poudre Canyon and ends in downtown Fort Collins. I've also decided to do a triathlon, aiming for the Loveland Lake to Lake Triathlon on 20 June. It's an olympic distance tri, 1.5K swim, 30 M bike, and 10K run. I've got to learn how to swim that far -- it will be the hardest part. If I can get out of the lake I'm home free. I'll pick up some shorter races along the way, the Horsetooth Half Marathon in April for sure, the Bolder Boulder 10K on Memorial Day, and probably at least one 5K around Saint Patrick's Day. I'm probably nuts, but know I will enjoy every bit of it, the races and the training.
My weight has crept up a bit, but is still low enough that Weight Watchers meetings are still free. I've weighed in under my Lifetime weight for 9 straight months now. It seems almost silly that I once was more worried about maintaining my loss than losing in the first place. It's all in the mindset, I think. If you think you can go back to eating like you used to, you'll start weighing like you used to. In other words, nothing changes - there is no finish line. And I'm OK with that.
Lastly, a good quote I came across late last year:
Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man. -- Benjamin Franklin
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Now playing: Rush - Limelight
via FoxyTunes
My spring and summer racing plans are starting to shape up. I've decided on the Colorado Marathon on 3 May, which runs down a beautiful course in the Poudre Canyon and ends in downtown Fort Collins. I've also decided to do a triathlon, aiming for the Loveland Lake to Lake Triathlon on 20 June. It's an olympic distance tri, 1.5K swim, 30 M bike, and 10K run. I've got to learn how to swim that far -- it will be the hardest part. If I can get out of the lake I'm home free. I'll pick up some shorter races along the way, the Horsetooth Half Marathon in April for sure, the Bolder Boulder 10K on Memorial Day, and probably at least one 5K around Saint Patrick's Day. I'm probably nuts, but know I will enjoy every bit of it, the races and the training.
My weight has crept up a bit, but is still low enough that Weight Watchers meetings are still free. I've weighed in under my Lifetime weight for 9 straight months now. It seems almost silly that I once was more worried about maintaining my loss than losing in the first place. It's all in the mindset, I think. If you think you can go back to eating like you used to, you'll start weighing like you used to. In other words, nothing changes - there is no finish line. And I'm OK with that.
Lastly, a good quote I came across late last year:
Be at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let every new year find you a better man. -- Benjamin Franklin
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Now playing: Rush - Limelight
via FoxyTunes
22 November 2008
Who's that guy?
I have received a lot of funny looks when showing my old driver's license to people as the picture did not look like me. Nobody declined me anything, butI decided I should get a new one before voting earlier this month just in case. It seems almost obligatory to post "before and after" driver's license photos, so mine are included below. The before is from 2002, I was probably around 300. The after is 2008, at 180. The poor quality of the current photo isn't my fault, it's that bad on my license as wellMy weight has been fluctuating up and down, a little more up than down, lately. Still at a weight I can live with but not as low as I'd like it to be. As I sit down and make fitness plans for the winter months losing some more weight is going to be part of that too. I want to run a lean and mean marathon next spring!
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Now playing: KUNC (NPR Radio Stream)
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02 November 2008
sub-2 Hours!
I ran my first half marathon in 2:31:56, a pace of 11:35 seconds per mile, about 18 months ago. Not too long after that I decided I wanted to run a half marathon in less than 2 hours. At the time I had been running for 6 months and my speed had picked up tremendously, I had taken 2.5 minutes off my 5K pace in those 6 months so I figured it was just a matter of time and work, but a sub-2:00 half was going to happen sooner rather than later. Afterall, I had just started doing speedwork for the first time, minutes were just waiting to fall off my time. I was naive then.
I realized pretty quickly that it wasn't going to be as easy as I thought. By the end of last year I ran a 2:15, and a 2:09 this past spring. As mid-summer approached I decided to target the Heart Center of the Rockies Half Marathon for my sub-2:00 race. I'll leave out the gory details of my training, but suffice it to say that some runs I had it, some I didn't. I was 75% sure I couldn't maintain the 9:09 pace needed to break 2:00 for 13.109 miles. But that 25% kept me working. Here's my race report.
Heart Center of the Rockies Half Marathon
Saturday 01 Nov 2008
It was a perfect day for a race. The temperature was around 50°F at the start, maybe 60°F by the end, the sun was shining, there was no wind. I was happy with my taper, my legs were feeling quite strong the previous several days, I beefed up on carbs the previous night, and stayed out of the kids Halloween candy (within reason ;-). Oh, and I was well hydrated as evidenced by 3 trips to the bathroom during the night Friday.
I ran with a guy from work and a lady he knows. The guy from work could have gone faster, but we both appreciated his running with us and we both set PRs today. It certainly helped me to have someone to run with the whole way - when solo it seems easier to give yourself permission to slow down a bit when the going gets tough. Today I just ran with the other two, hardly glancing at my pace on my GPS. I've run with Frank, the guy from work a few times these past few weeks and it was these runs that convinced me sub-2:00 was possible. They were some good tempo runs in the 6 mile range, all about the pace we ran today or bit faster. The thing about those runs is that I just got behind Frank and a couple other fast guys at work and held on, not paying attention to pace until we were done, then saying "wow, I didn't know I could run that fast". There really is something to be said about Seaweed's comments on giving yourself permission to run faster. Interestingly, a month ago I accpeted that sub-2:00 wasn't likely and would probably have to wait until April. I think this lack of pressure and the confidence from recent tempo runs allowed me to relax and run a good race.
I didn't run negative splits, so maybe could have run a tiny bit smarter, but I think I did pretty well. Miles 1-8 were all sub-9:00 miles, ranging from 8:40-8:59. Miles 9-13.1 I was slowing a bit, but not a ton. All but one of those were between 9:00 and 9:10. Mile 12 was the toughest at 9:20. My kick at the end was a gradual speed up of maybe 20 seconds a mile for the last 0.5 mile or so, in other words I didn't have a ton left at the end, I left it all on the course. It certainly is fun to be up in the middle of the pack during the race, a relatively new experience for me on races of this distance. I am used to being "lonely" the last 3 or 4 miles but there are a LOT of finishers in a half between 1:50 and 2:10. Finishing 153rd out of 297 finishers I can say I'm a mid-packer now.
This was my sixth half marathon, my finishing time of 1:56:40 is a PR. My previous half PR was 2:09 last April, though on a VERY hilly course and no taper. Think 600 ft of climb in the first 2 miles and a week after a 20 mile run. My first half was 2:31:56 in April '07, 18.5 months ago. That was a watershed day for me as it changed my outlook on myself, my weightloss, and my fitness. But that day I never dreamed that this time was possible. Who knows what the future holds. My buddy Frank was talking about taking up ultrarunning, in my oxygen deprived state at mile 8.5 I thought this was a good idea.
----------------
Now playing: Dire Straits - Money for Nothing
via FoxyTunes
I realized pretty quickly that it wasn't going to be as easy as I thought. By the end of last year I ran a 2:15, and a 2:09 this past spring. As mid-summer approached I decided to target the Heart Center of the Rockies Half Marathon for my sub-2:00 race. I'll leave out the gory details of my training, but suffice it to say that some runs I had it, some I didn't. I was 75% sure I couldn't maintain the 9:09 pace needed to break 2:00 for 13.109 miles. But that 25% kept me working. Here's my race report.
Heart Center of the Rockies Half Marathon
Saturday 01 Nov 2008
It was a perfect day for a race. The temperature was around 50°F at the start, maybe 60°F by the end, the sun was shining, there was no wind. I was happy with my taper, my legs were feeling quite strong the previous several days, I beefed up on carbs the previous night, and stayed out of the kids Halloween candy (within reason ;-). Oh, and I was well hydrated as evidenced by 3 trips to the bathroom during the night Friday.
I ran with a guy from work and a lady he knows. The guy from work could have gone faster, but we both appreciated his running with us and we both set PRs today. It certainly helped me to have someone to run with the whole way - when solo it seems easier to give yourself permission to slow down a bit when the going gets tough. Today I just ran with the other two, hardly glancing at my pace on my GPS. I've run with Frank, the guy from work a few times these past few weeks and it was these runs that convinced me sub-2:00 was possible. They were some good tempo runs in the 6 mile range, all about the pace we ran today or bit faster. The thing about those runs is that I just got behind Frank and a couple other fast guys at work and held on, not paying attention to pace until we were done, then saying "wow, I didn't know I could run that fast". There really is something to be said about Seaweed's comments on giving yourself permission to run faster. Interestingly, a month ago I accpeted that sub-2:00 wasn't likely and would probably have to wait until April. I think this lack of pressure and the confidence from recent tempo runs allowed me to relax and run a good race.
I didn't run negative splits, so maybe could have run a tiny bit smarter, but I think I did pretty well. Miles 1-8 were all sub-9:00 miles, ranging from 8:40-8:59. Miles 9-13.1 I was slowing a bit, but not a ton. All but one of those were between 9:00 and 9:10. Mile 12 was the toughest at 9:20. My kick at the end was a gradual speed up of maybe 20 seconds a mile for the last 0.5 mile or so, in other words I didn't have a ton left at the end, I left it all on the course. It certainly is fun to be up in the middle of the pack during the race, a relatively new experience for me on races of this distance. I am used to being "lonely" the last 3 or 4 miles but there are a LOT of finishers in a half between 1:50 and 2:10. Finishing 153rd out of 297 finishers I can say I'm a mid-packer now.
This was my sixth half marathon, my finishing time of 1:56:40 is a PR. My previous half PR was 2:09 last April, though on a VERY hilly course and no taper. Think 600 ft of climb in the first 2 miles and a week after a 20 mile run. My first half was 2:31:56 in April '07, 18.5 months ago. That was a watershed day for me as it changed my outlook on myself, my weightloss, and my fitness. But that day I never dreamed that this time was possible. Who knows what the future holds. My buddy Frank was talking about taking up ultrarunning, in my oxygen deprived state at mile 8.5 I thought this was a good idea.
----------------
Now playing: Dire Straits - Money for Nothing
via FoxyTunes
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