Knoxville Marathon - 3/30/08 RACE REPORT

The title of this post could have been something creative and memorable like "a tale of two marathons", or "the irony of the number 22" or "this one was for the team" but I couldnt pick a favorite so, much like my other marathon report, I left it plain and simple. Deal with it.

The marathon is an event that sucks every drop of life out of you, so the couple of days before the race, you don't want to go and do anything that will drain energy from you on race day. So, I didn't. I went to the expo, drove my parents around the course and went and saw "run fatboy run" the day before the race. I actually didn't run at all the week before the race--I was sick with a viral infection until literally the day before the marathon. Marathon day was the first day I'd felt ok in two weeks. This race day was completely different than my first marathon day. It went a little something like this:

4 am: Wake up......coke zero and shower. Coke zero gets the bowels moving, showers make me clean. 4 am might have been a little early to wake up, but I wanted to make sure that the whole bowel thing was taken care of by 7 am when the race started. (it was, btw, for those at home keeping score)

5:45 am: Head down to the starting area, to meet up with everyone. My family was in town from Michigan, my sister-in-law Sonya was running the half marathon (see pic), and I had my covenant health marathon team homeboys and homegirls to hang out with before the race. It took about 45-60 minutes to get parked and everyone together. Stretching was very limited, it was more just socializing and trying not to think about what's coming.



6:45 am: One more trip to the potty and it's go time. Between the lines at the bathroom and the crowded starting area, I got settled in right at 7 am. Before the race, my goal was to break 4 hrs. I can't get any closer to the front than the 4:15 pacer. He's a friend of mine and training partner anyways, so I'm totally fine with that. Like jerks, we talk through most of the national anthem. Call me a terrorist.

7:00 am: Race starts. I'm an idiot.

Miles 1-3: Why am I an idiot? Well, I am running with the 4:15 pacer for the first mile, and my one mile split was 9:16. I freak out and speed up for miles 2 and 3. Mile 2 was 7:29 and Mile 3 was 7:45. This is why I'm an idiot, miles 2 and 3 were WAY too fast for what I wanted to do, when mile 1 was actually about the pace I should have maintained until about mile 20 where I theoretically would have sped it up.

I feel really good running, and my homies from knoxlife church (www.knoxlife.org) were at the water stop at mile 2.5. They even had signs for me, I felt special.

Miles 4-6: These were run through the rich part of town, Sequoya Hills. The neighborhood is kinda hilly and difficult, a loop with the largest hill on the course. Miles 4 and 5 were run in around 8:30, still too fast, and then mile 6 was sub 8 minutes. I feel really good and realize I am running at about a 3:35 pace. That would have put me in the top 50 overall--crazy.

Miles 7-10: This is where the spectators completely disappear for the first time. We are running on some of the greenways in Knoxville--not real hilly or anything, just a paved trail going through some woods. Nothing too exciting, really...other than my time at this point. When I completed mile 10, my overall time was 1:22....that's a 3:30 pace.

Miles 11-14: You see this pic? I am rocking out and feeling GREAT at the 11 mile marker. First time I see any family, which I find out after the race is my own fault because they got to the mile 3 marker at about 26 minutes like I should have been, but I passed mile 3 at 24:30. My bad. The thing about this stretch of course was the hills, and it took you through the area where most of the University of Tennessee students rent big, old houses. So the houses were kinda crappy and NOBODY was out because most of the residents in this neighborhood are just going to bed at 8:30 Sunday morning. 2 things about the 1/2 marathon split off:

1. I went from running with 30 people to running with 5 people once the half marathoners finished.
2. My 1/2 split was 1:48--I'm starting to slow down. Still on a good pace, but I'm starting to tire a bit.

Miles 15-18: After the half marathoners finished, there weren't very many runners left on the course. There weren't many spectators, either. This part of the course was run through an old neighborhood and it was also where the 3:45 pacer passed me. I was still running, but my miles were more in the 9:30 neighborhood than they were in the 8:30 neighborhood for the first half of the race. I started taking more water and powerade at the water stops, and also walking through the stops to ensure I'm getting everything in my mouth.

Miles 19-22: Running proceeds, cursing begins. In my defense, I crashed at mile 15 during the first marathon. Here it took me until mile 22 to finally throw in the towel and walk beyond the water stops. My times were slipping and 4 hours is starting to become less of a reality. Muscles were really starting to ache and tighten up. Miles 19-21 were right around 10:00, mile 22 was 12:58. ugh.

Miles 23-finish: I really hit the wall during mile 22. 22 was the number I wore in basketball and football growing up, and it's still my number whenever I have an option to choose one. So there is a little bit of irony here. Also, the last 3 miles were sparsely populated with spectators, which didn't help me at all. I was running, but barely. I was finished. The 4:15 pacer, my training partner, passed me right at the end and was jokingly talking trash to me. I probably had a 45 minute 'lead' on him at my farthest point in the race, this was totally an example of the tortoise and the hare. My mile times in this last stretch were anywhere from 11:50 to 13:56/mile. My chip time was 4:14:16, and that is a PR (In the pic, you can see that I was partying across the finish line.) A week from now, I will be happy with this time. Right now, a day later, I still feel like I should have broken 4 hours.

Learning Experience: START SLOWER!!!!!!!!! I had a mile split of 7:29 and a mile split of 13:56. That is a glaring sign of inexperience, and something I don't ever hope to duplicate. I burned 3180 calories. I didn't realize you burn that much during a marathon.

I am so proud and happy for everyone who ran Sunday. My Covenant Health homies all did great, as did my training partners and sister in law. After the race I was sore and cranky, but really happy and glad that the race was over. I am still sore today, and probably will be tomorrow too. I really had a good time and will probably run this again next year. I am leaning towards the Kiawah marathon in December as my next attempt to come in under 4 hours. I CAN DO IT!

Why?

I am sitting at home sick (almost recovered), 2 days before my 2nd marathon, and all I can think about is this: Why am I running this thing on Sunday? Why have I gotten back into running? Why have I been sick basically the entire month of March? Why, when I got back into running, did I jump straight into marathon training?

I think the answer really is simple. I frickin love it. I can't explain it, but I feel like I have a gift, a talent in this area, and it would be stupid to waste it. I think Steve Prefontaine said something to the effect of "to give anything less than your best is to sacrifice the gift..." That's kinda how I feel when it comes to running, basically go hard or go home.

I have learned a lot from when I started this running thing for the 2nd time back in June of 2007. In my first marathon-Detroit in Oct 2007-I barely trained enough to cross the finish line alive. I ate whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted and barely survived the race. I had a blast, but wished I was better prepared and didn't have to walk.

So in mid-November 2007, I started training for the Knoxville marathon which is this Sunday. I have really done a good job with my long runs on the weekends and I feel very physically prepared for whatever comes up during this race Sunday. I am hoping to run the entire way and break 4 hours. Based on my training races leading up to Sunday, I am right on track.

I have ran into problems with my diet this training cycle as well....however they are from not eating enough, rather than eating too much. I've been running a good 30-35 miles a week, but I've actually cut out most of the junk food I used to eat, thus decreasing my calorie intake and probably increasing my daily calorie burn. I feel like this has somehow messed with my usually strong immune system and I have been sick since mid Feb it seems. I finally went to the doctor and got some anti-biotics, so by Sunday I shouldn't be sick, but I haven't properly tapered heading into this race. I can only guess if it's going to effect my race. We'll see.

I am pretty sure I am going to take the first half of summer easy and work on setting up my diet, speedwork and weight training for my next marathon--Kiawah, SC on Dec 6, 2008. I think I can challenge for a Boston Qualifying time if I properly eat, weight train and add speed work to my workouts.

So we'll see what happens on Sunday, I am very excited to run and see my friends compete. I am also looking forward to seeing my Covenant health teammates run and enjoy what they have worked so hard to accomplish. It should be a good time, and I'll have a race report from hopefully....the top 5 of my age group.

So, uhhhh what have I been up to?

Nothing, honestly. Well, that's not totally true, but I haven't been running.

The Story:

I ran one too many times on my old shoes. I developed tendonitis of the flexor tendon on my right foot (thats your 'big toe' tendon, kids). It was painful to run, painful to walk. This happened Feb 26. On March 2, I had signed up for a 30K race--or 18.6 miles if you're not into that whole metric system thing. I still had tendonitis. The week prior to the 30K, I didn't run at all except for that Tuesday where it started to hurt. I did get new 'everyday' shoes (New Balance 992), and new running shoes (New Balance 768), new cushion insoles and new powerstep arch supports. That wasn't a cheap trip to the store, btw.

I still ran the Whitestone 30K, with my new 768's and the last 14 miles being a little painful. Time? 2:27:17, third in my age group. Booyah.

I still have a marathon to run on March 30, in Knoxville. The TV people have been tracking our progress (see: www.knoxvillemarathon.com/RaceInfo/MarathonMinute.cfm for the internet coverage)....I NEED TO RUN THIS RACE! I NEED TO RUN WELL AT THIS RACE!....

So, since Whitestone on March 2, I took about a week and a half off of running. I've gotten on the bike a few times, iced my feet every night, and have taken it easy. This past Monday, I did run a mile at the gym, and felt pretty good. Yesterday, March 12, I went out and ran 6 miles in 48 minutes. I got a cramp, my hip tightened up, I felt a little winded at the end, but my feet felt fine. Go figure.

Today my foot is a little sore, not anything bad (I hope). The next two Saturdays are training runs on the marathon course itself, this Saturday is the first half, and next Saturday is the 2nd half. I am running in both of those for sure. Don't know about weekly mileage, maybe easy 3-4 mile runs 2-3 times/week until March 30. I plan on taking some real time off after March 30, probably about a month to heal up and get ready for the fall marathon. Probably Chicago, maybe NYC. Who knows.

Race report--Strawberry Plains Half Marathon

In the words of everyone's favorite rapper/actor, Ice Cube, Today was a good day.

If anyone has been following my progress (doubtful), you'd know that in most races of any distance, I am around 8:00/mile. You'd also know that I've been struggling with improving upon this pace--I've never really known/had the guts to actually try to run faster.

So, with this being a half marathon, and my pace being 8:00/mile, you can do some (not-so) fancy math and tell me that my half-marathon time is going to be 1:44:43--and I would have been totally cool with that. The problem would be that you would have been wrong.

The weather was absolutely perfect for running. It was about 45F at the start and overcast, no wind whatsoever. There were a good number of runners today, as there were two races--a 10k and a 1/2 marathon. The fact that there were some (faster) 10K runners with us 1/2 marathoners for the first three miles really helped me set my pace and get into rhythm--if it weren't for them I probably would have 'plodded' along at my 8 minute pace and went about the rest of my day like I just completed my regular Saturday run. Today was different--I was racing!

So I'm feeling like I have a ton of energy at the beginning of the race. I don't know if it's because I've been sick and have missed 4-5 runs the past 2 weeks, or if it was the Diet Mt Dew I had at 6 am. Probably a combination of the two in all honesty. Either way, I am feeling great through the first 5 miles--37 minutes!

Miles 5-10 we're good as well. There was a water/GU station at mile 6 and I took advantage--I wanted to keep my high energy level up for the rest of this run. I knew I was running well and didn't want to crash at the end. I almost take 2 GU's but decide on powerade and GU and keep running. I ran a 10 mile race on Jan 26 and my time was 1:20:11. My split at the 10 mile mark today was 1:14! Really?

Miles 10-13.1 were tough, but not that tough. If you would have told me I was going to run a 1:38:11 half marathon I would have told you to lay off the crackpipe. I guess I got in a good groove and was able to keep my pace throughout. My per mile pace was right at 7:30 and now I have to re-evaluate my time goals for all other distances going forward. I guess it's a good problem to have, but now I am thinking if I run a 4 hour marathon I am slacking. If I don't crack 21:00 in a 5k I am slacking.

I really need to stop thinking and start running. That is one thing I will say about my approach this Saturday, I took it one mile at a time and just kept pushing. I didn't really care about my time, but once I knew I was on pace for a fast time I kept damn sure I wasn't going to blow it by slacking at the end. This race was a lot of fun.

I am lame.

I have had to take a couple trips this month for business. I have been sick both times. I don't think the traveling and the sicknesses have been related, (the entire east side of Tennessee is apparently sick right now), but nonetheless I haven't been running as much as I'd like. How do runners run while they're traveling? I find it hard to fit in and frankly I usually don't have the energy.

I've heard that you are not supposed to exercise when you aren't feeling well, because you'll never get better? I don't know the truth in the matter, but I've taken that 'advice' nonetheless.

Well, sort of. I felt myself getting sick last Thursday, so I took it easy and tried to sleep and drink a lot of fluids because I knew I had an 18 mile run on Saturday. I was going to run that 18 miler on Saturday come hell or high water--so, Saturday rolls around and I go meet up the group at 7:30AM for the run. The group was about 1/2 the size of what it normally is--I think people were chickening out on the 18 miler, but I'm sure there were a lot of smart sick ones that didn't try it. (you know, since the plague has covered east TN)

I, on the other hand, was a sick one....but not a 'smart' sick one. I knew I didn't have all of my normal energy, so it was going to take a miracle to run for all 18 miles. I also was attempting this run with no GU or energy gel, powerade or any other 'performance enhancers'--another bad idea. It turned out to be a good learning experience, because I was able to find out how far I can go before I just don't have the energy to run anymore--I did make it 2 hrs and 8 minutes before I started walking--and I had covered about 14-15 miles. I walked because I just felt spent. I wasn't sore, out of breath, or anything like that--which is good. I am happy with my strength and preparedness going into this marathon. It's just that whole GU/powerade thing I gotta work on.

I have been in FLA all this week, and the weather was warm, but it's either been really windy or raining the whole time. Oh well. (At least they had 7-11 which meant SLURPEES EVERYDAY!!!!!) (7-11's don't exist in Tennessee) I'll be home tonight and I have a 1/2 marathon Saturday. I'm pushing for 1:45, but since I've been sick all week and I don't know how that's going to effect me. I did run 3 miles on a treadmill this morning but it's the only time I've ran since the 18 mile run/walk on Saturday. I'm either going to be well rested or weak and out of it. We'll see, I guess. I will have a report shortly after the race.

Calhouns 10 miler -- Race Report

I know everyone loves a good race report, so here is mine from the Calhouns 10 miler ran on Jan 26, 2008. This is an annual event in Knoxville, and this was the 14th running. I didn't really figure it out until afterwards that this race brings all of the best runners in the area out, this really was an excellent field of runners.


The weather was just about right for running a long distance. Temp was in the mid to upper 30's and it was cloudy. By the time the race was over my body temp was just about right, I wasn't hot or cold really at any point during the race.

I'll preface my race experience by saying that I had food poisoning Monday-Thursday last week, with the race being on Saturday. I know this was totally out of my control, but it still ticked me off and really threw my body out of it's normal routine, along with losing some weight. I really didn't know what to expect going into this race, and even the morning of the race I was questioning whether or not I should even run in this race. I did have a good Friday in which I was back to my normal eating pattern, and I did try to over carb and over hydrate in preparation for Saturday. I really think that's what got me through this race.


This was the front of the pack--I wasn't anywhere near these guys at any point throughout the race. I think the winner finished in the neighborhood of 52 minutes and there were plenty of runners finishing under 60 minutes. For perspective, when I was crossing the 4 mile marker, the leaders were heading past the 6 mile marker (It was an out and back style course). I still can't get over the speed of some of these guys--52 minutes? 10 miles? Really?

My race was actually a very good one, given the circumstances. Prior to food poisoning, I was really aiming for about 80 minutes to finish the 10 mile course. After the food poisoning, I was realistically allowing 90 minutes to be my goal on Saturday. Even when the race started, I was thinking 90 minutes was about where I was going to finish.

So the race starts, and I am near the back. I did this on purpose so I'd start slow and see what my body does as I make it through the course. I feel good for about a mile then I start feeling a little winded. My brain was really playing tricks on me for the first 5 miles of the race. I kept telling myself I shouldn't be out here, I should be at home recovering....this is only going to make me sick.....I'm going to pass out if I run too hard.....and thoughts like these run through my head for the first 5 miles. I never wear a watch when I run, and this race was sorta out in the middle of nowhere so there weren't clocks at the mile markers or anything like that. So on top of my brain telling me to quit, I have no idea how fast/slow I am running. Which I think turns out to be a good thing this day, because what felt to me as 'slow' turns out to be about an 8:15-8:30 mile! I figured this out at the halfway point (I finally broke down and asked someone with a watch what time they had), so I really picked up the pace and my 'race' started at mile 5.

At the 5 mile marker I upped my pace to what had to be 7:15-7:20/mile and I started looking ahead and telling myself I am going to catch 'person x' by the next mile marker. I set my sights on 5 people for mile 6 and I caught them all! I did the same thing with 4 people by mile 7 and I caught them too! I caught and passed 9 people between miles 5 and 7 and I am feeling good. One guy got kinda pissed I passed him and he sped up and passed me back, but then he fell back and stayed behind me the rest of the race. He should've known who he was messing with.



I am in the blue fleece and blue hat on the far left in this picture (all photo credits go to the Knoxville Track Club, btw).

Miles 7-10 were equally as fast as miles 5-7, and I really finished strong. Not a single person passed me after the halfway point and I ended up passing probably 15 people during the last half of the race. I still love that feeling of finishing strong and just blowing by people, there is just something about it. What was my time, you ask? 1:20:21! I am really pleased with my race from Saturday. That's about the time I would have expected had I been totally healthy. Maybe that says that I am holding back speed and just need to go all out during these races? I never know when to push/hold back during a run. That's definitely something I struggle with.

So, these next few weeks should be normal running, and I have a scheduled half marathon for Feb 16. I may try to push it a little more during that one and get down into the 1:40 neighborhood. There is something in the back of my head telling me I can do that. I'm just afraid to listen.

I've been a runner since May, and.....

...I've lost more weight in 3 days than I had in 8 months of running. It's funny how stuff like that works.

I guess this week hasn't been a total waste. I've finally made it down to my ideal weight! It's only taken 3 days of bathroom trips and no eating to get it done. Forget all that running business, that stuff is for the birds! IF YOU DON'T EAT YOU WILL LOSE WEIGHT! The secret is out!

No really though, I am concerned in regards to putting the weight back on, and how it's going to affect my running. I weigh 165-170 normally and I'm around 160 right now. I don't want to go eat a box of donuts just to put the weight on. I'm no doctor, but I'm assuming it's water weight and I've already sucked down 2 gatorade G2's and 32 oz of water today . I don't know about that stuff, the G2, btw. It's gatorade with less sugar. Big deal.

So, assuming I survive the race tomorrow, I'll have a race report from the back. It's the calhoun's 10 miler in Lenoir City, TN. Should be fun!

Food Poisoning :(

I would like to take the time to congratulate a Burrito restaurant on Northshore Dr. in Knoxville, TN (name rhymes with 'hose') for successfully becoming the first (and hopefully, only) restaurant to serve me (partially cooked?) food that my body could not handle.

Now, I am not one to make accusations, but I had lunch at this establishment and some 7 hrs later 'lunch' wanted to see the 'the other side of the road' on the road from my mouth to my stomach (...and that side of the road is very rarely used...). 'Lunch' had its way with me that night, the next day, the next night, and still to some degree, today--a full 3 days later.

On top of having to deal with this meal from hell, I had to travel to Dallas, TX for some business (that I will be self-promoting from this blog when it's ready). Being sick at home is one thing, being sick on the road is something else. Things like always knowing where the bathroom is 'just incase'. Not venturing far from said bathroom. Not eating anything more than Diet Coke and a few fries. Sleeping during any freetime. Having my 'business partner' pick up my slack in our presentation (thanks again, dude). NOT RUNNING AT ALL THIS WEEK WITH A 10 MILE RACE THIS SATURDAY. Not eating a full meal since Monday afternoon. It's Thursday afternoon. Wow, I'm bitter. I think it's more a matter of timing, however, and this was not the week for me to get sick.

Welcome to 'hose'!

You think I forgot about taking Oprah down?

Oh no, Oprah is still my prime target for defeat in the Knoxville marathon. I accidentally told some people jokingly at a run that I had set taking down Oprah as a goal for this marathon, and it seems as if the whole city of Knoxville now knows I'm out to get Oprah. She ran a marathon in 4:29:20 back in the 90's, and that time is something that coincidentally I am shooting for.

After some tough calculations (McMillan's), I figured that to be a 10:17 mile all the way through.

I think I can do that. I KNOW I can do that. McMillan's says I can do that.

However, I think I am developing some right knee tendonitis. I hope it's not a big deal and goes away, I've never had tendonitis so I guess I don't know how severe of a problem it is? We'll see.

16 miles tomorrow, and if I can survive that I can make it through anything, right?

The 'benefits' of running with a partner....

I have changed up my running routine a little bit for this upcoming Knoxville marathon. I am running 3 times during the week, and my long run is on Saturday mornings rather than Sundays. There are multiple reasons for this, but the biggest being the Knoxville Track Club has a group run Saturday mornings for marathon preparation. I cannot stress how awesome it is to have the Knoxville Track Club here in town. They put on SO many races and training runs that people who have a desire to run in Knoxville really don't have an excuse not to.

That being said, there were about 50-100 people that showed up Saturday morning for the run! Now, there are people training for the 1/2 marathon as well as the full, and the distances that the KTC members mapped out varied from 2-15 miles. Again, the KTC goes out ahead of time and maps out a course and marks the trails with chalk so you know how far you've gone and where you're going the enitre time. It's awesome.

Of these 100 people that were there, I have been running with 3 guys consistently. We met at one of these runs a few weeks ago and it's been great to train with them. Our training pace is about the same, but they like to pile on the miles, which in all honesty I've needed. I tend to 'take it easy' for fear of getting hurt or tired out and therefore may have been holding a little back on the long runs.

So this past Saturday I didn't find my guys at the beginning of the run, apparently they started behind me, and when I stopped at a park bathroom they passed me. My plan for the run was 12 miles at about 8:45/mile. (This is already WAY ahead of my long run training schedule for my first marathon--Knoxville marathon is on Mar 30). So, I got caught up with some people training for the 1/2 marathon and only running 8 miles at the beginning of my long run on Saturday. They were running at about 8:00/mile, which for me was too fast for this run.

I slowed down and started running by myself :(

I don't wear a watch when I run (don't try that at home kids....runners should have a watch), so I really had no idea how fast I was running. Usually someone in the group has a garmin to lead the group. I was apparently running faster than 9 minutes a mile, because at my 6 mile mark, which was going to be my turnaround spot, I caught my running buddies at the water stop. I was totally prepared to turn around and run 12 miles, but they twisted my arm into running with them (which I wanted to do anyways), and running 15 miles. They had 1.5 more miles to go before they turned around, and they were running at about 9:10/mile, which sounded good to me.

So, I ran with them and it was a good run. I was dead tired after the run and have been hungry ever since (It's now Monday at lunchtime). I am really pumped I made it 15 miles at this point and I still have 2.75 months to train. Everyone should run with a group, it makes everything so much easier!