Modesto (half) Marathon race report

This was a race that almost wasn't.  Despite driving 5 hours to get to Modesto (with my dog Scooter on my lap the whole way) I woke up Saturday feeling terrible.  My chest hurt worse than any day the last week.  It hurt so bad that as I got to the race expo I asked if I could defer my entry until next year.  I already told myself if they said no that I would at least wake up the next morning, get ready and see how my body felt.  Well, they said no, so that meant that I was at least going to attempt to run.

Well lo and behold I woke up race morning feeling great.  All the prayers people said for me really paid off.  I ate some breakfast, made some coffee, took the dog on a walk, and then it was time to get ready and head out the door.

As I was driving to the race I felt no nerves at all, which is unusual for me.  Maybe because I knew I had a good excuse if I sucked it up.  Maybe it was because I did a lot of CrossFit and knew that was so different to any other training I have done in the past.

Thanks to Dan Ross for giving me some encouragement on the blog the night before and some advice on how to warm up.  (I guess I know of 4 people now who read this blog... my wife, my mother in

mile one

law, Dan and Jen.  Thanks guys!)  Anyway, I was nice and loose as the race started.  I shed a sweatshirt I bought at Goodwill right before the start and I felt great wearing a tank top.  I could not believe how many people were all layered up.  It was in the 40s at the start but I think they paid for it in the end.  I would say it was sunny and in the 50s when I finished.

The race was pretty uneventful itself.  The course is totally flat except for the overpass you cross out and back.  My goal was to hit 7:30 minute/miles throughout the race.  After the first mile I ended up running about 10 yards behind the 3:15 marathon pace group until mile 8 where they diverged.  I did some mental math and knew following them would put me near a 1hr37 finish.  

Around mile 8 I was running next to a high school kid and he said it was his first time racing.  I asked him if he had a goal and he said to finish in an hour and 10 minutes.  I didn't have the heart to tell him he needed to be running 5 minute miles.

my dad and Susie

In the last 3 miles I started picking off runners, which never happens to me.  My most humbling moment racing was actually being passed by a fat middle aged woman around mile 23 of a marathon.  Well this time I was the fat middle aged woman!  Wait... you know what I mean.

I did a good job of not focusing too much on my watch throughout the race and I only looked at the elapsed time 2 times until I was about to make the turn at mile 13.  I was surprised when it, and the big clock, registered in the low 1hr37ish realm.  I knew if I booked it I could break 1hr38.  I did just that and i could hear my step mom cheering for me, which was great.  Officially my time was 1 hr 37 min and 50 seconds.

After I crossed the finish line I felt better than I have in any other race at any other distance.  I never hit the wall, wasn't hunched over, could talk in big boy sentences and didn't look like a mess.

Below are my splits...

the ole Garmin

1-7:29
2-7:17
3-7:22
4 -7:25
5-7:25
6-7:29
7-7:26
8-7:27
9-7:31
10-7:33
11-7:39
12-7:28
13.1-8:17


Overall it was a great day, a great race and also fun to randomly see some old friends along the way racing also!

elephant on my chest

Wouldn't I know it a week before my race I get some mysterious injury. 

I rarely every play basketball anymore even though it is probably my favorite sport to play.  I had a small class of students in my PE class last Friday so I took them into the gym to shoot some hoops.  Of course I love for my students to know I am better than they are at basketball so I decided to play a game of one on three against some boys.  I proceeded to destroy them and their pride over the course of a 10 minute game.  The next morning I woke up and it literally felt like I had an elephant sitting on my chest.  It hurt to sit up, bend over, and take a deep breath.  I didn't know what was wrong but at that point I was just glad it was not a heart attack.  I figured it was something from playing basketball and it would go away.

Almost a week later and I am still experiencing the same things, some days to a lesser extent, some days more.  I have gone on some easy runs and I have noticed it.  Since I could not get into the doctor until next week today I had the nurse at my school looked check me out.  She seems to think I strained the muscle on my sternum on my left side. 

My goal all along was to run a smart race, not go out too fast and run consistent 7:30 minute/miles.  While I still want to do all the above, running a smart race is the hardest simply because I do not know what by body is willing to let me do.  I need to not let pride get in the way if I am not feeling it at all. 

If you are reading this (basically I think just my wife and mother in law read this blog) say a prayer that I feel great Sunday morning and whatever this injury is miraculously goes away, or at the least does not hinder me too much.  

back in the saddle

Despite not posting to this blog in about 7 or 8 months my running has been pretty consistent.  It is daily a challenge to figure out how to get out the door and take a run though with a 13 month old little girl that needs constant attention.  Thankfully she takes naps.  When she naps, I run. 
Probably the biggest bonus to my running and training for another half marathon in March is that I moved to Solvang in September.  Goodbye 45 mile commute to work and hello 6.2 mile commute to work.  I work with my wife so 2 days a week I run home instead of drive.  It is great to walk in the door at 4:30ish and just finish a run as opposed to walking in the door at that same time but just have sat in the car for the last 50 minutes.
In getting ready for the Modesto half marathon I felt like I needed to try and get an edge.  I am not the fastest, but in training I definitely put in the miles, do speedwork and all that jazz.  I felt like I more or less I have plateaued.  What I haven't ever done much of is cross train.  I can't seem to sit on a bike saddle for any amount of time where my man parts don't start to hurt.  Another cross training that I could do but haven't is swimming.  Of course I know how to swim but I am intimidated to go to the pool with all the real swimmers.  I don't want to be all over the lane looking like I a newbie.  There is a fellow teacher at my school who is also a runner and she has raved about a cross fit class she takes 2 days a week.  I first heard about it when my friend Andy was training for a 50 miler and he said it was indispensable to his regiment.  I decided to give it a try.
Let's just say the first class sucked.  I thought going in, "Hey I am in shape! I should be able to handle this."  I left that class feeling like I could puke.  I have a new respect for all those fatties on the Biggest Loser doing all those crazy exercises you always see them doing.  I am just thankful I don't have some crazy lady like Jillian cussing at me while I am trying to do the same things.  We do tire flips.  We fling big ass ropes all over the place.  We do lunges and ab exercises like nobody's business.  It's only been a month of that but I do feel stronger.
Back to my running.  I run 4x a week and do that class 2x a week.  I feel like I am getting faster.  Even before I started that class on one of my runs home from work I wanted to go at a pretty fast pace to see where my fitness was at.  I ended up running my first 2 miles at 7:30/mile pace and then the last 4.2 around 6:55/mile pace.  I was happy to see that I was around 44 minutes for a 10k.
My PR last April was a 1:39:42 which equates to a 7:35/mile.  My hope is to run at a 7:30/mile pace this March.  A big part of that is running a smart race and not going out too fast.  As for now, I am just continuing to do the things that I hope will get me there in 6 weeks. 

How to impload during a half marathon - Fontana Days race report

This was a race I have been targeting for a while.  I was very happy with an unexpected PR in April and thought I could pretty easily better that mark to around 1:35 with such a fast course.  I knew the hardest part of this race would be dealing with the heat, something that was non-existent during the SLO half. Another thing I was unsure about was setting my pace.  The first 6 miles were a steady decline before leveling off the last 7.  I figured it would be best to put some time in the bank for the last 7.
My first few miles seemed effortless and I was running 6:30ish/mile.  Pretty fast.  I dialed it in a bit but didn't feel like I was putting out too much effort.  At the 10k mark I clocked around 42:30, a good 25 seconds faster than my best 10k race.  That was right around 6:50ish pace.  I had to pace 7:14/mile over the whole course so I thought I was good to go. 
After the first 6 miles we left the shade of the mountains and I was left with the heat of the road with no shade.  This is where I start to fall apart.  It's hotter than balls.  I am dumping water over my head every station but isn't helping much.  I slowly begin to wither.  To make a long story short because it's painful to think about, I start running about 15 seconds slower each mile until miles 12 and 13.  I told myself to just run 8 minute miles at the end and I would still PR.  By the time those last miles came though I was in the clear cut "I don't give an eff" mode.  I just wanted to be done.  Mile 12 is 9:10 and mile 13 is 9:55.  I limp across the line at 1:40:46 over a minute off my PR.   
This is one of those races I put in the category of a learning experience.  Putting "time in the bank" just doesn't work for me.  When I hit the wall I hit it hard (and often).  Running smart is just better than running hard.
Also when it comes down to it, doing all my training at 5AM in the morning when the weather is an overcast 50 degrees might be perfect during training, but it doesn't help when the race conditions are not the same.  If I want to do better in races I need to find some warmer conditions to train. 
Right now I really don't have a desire to do another race until the fall.  I put in a lot of time and effort into these races this spring I just look forward to taking it easy.  I told my wife I will run with her in the City to Sea half marathon in October and that will be a perfect opportunity to spend time with her while she trains and enjoy that race instead of going all out.

SLO 1/2 marathon race report

I need a tan

I decided to sign up for this race in preparation for another 1/2 marathon in June.  I didn't have high expectations after slogging through part of the course last weekend, I just didn't want to do terrible.  The elevation profile showed this race to be hilly, but it really does not do all the hills justice.  After running the whole course I didn't think it was accurate at all, but that is neither here nor there.  My plan was to run the flat and downhill parts around around 7:30/mile pace and the hills at 8:30/mile pace.  That would bring me in around 1:43:30.

Mile 1: 7:22
Mile 2: 7:25
Mile 3: 7:37

These were all flat, except for the end of last part of mile 3.  It winded through downtown SLO and was pretty uneventful.  The best part was the weather was overcast and in the low 50s, perfect.

Mile 4: 7:55

This mile was rolling hills on Johnson Ave.  I ended up running faster than my 8:30 pace, but I just ran how my body felt, which was pretty good. 

Mile 5: 7:02

The bonus of going up hills is being able to fly back down them.  I was running around 6:45ish/mile but I reigned it in because I didn't want to pay for it later.  The toughest part of the race was yet to come.

Mile 6: 7:45
Mile 7: 7:55

These hills were never ending.  I didn't run this part of the course prior but expected them to not be as tedious as they were.  Again the weather was ideal.  It has been super hot around here lately and I don't do well running in the heat.  After I made the turnaround, not only was it still overcast and in the 50s but I was also running into a slight breeze.

Mile 8: 7:16

This was the mile where I figured I could not only set a PR, previously 1:41:42, but go under 1:40.  I was going strong downhill, but I soon had to run up the hill I ran down on mile 5.

Mile 9: 7:42
Mile 10: 7:39
Mile 11: 7:36

I was starting to hurt near the end of mile 11.  On top of that we had to cross a bridge to get over the rail road tracks.  It had one of those ramps with 3 switchbacks to get to the top of the bridge.  WTF?

Mile 12: 7:58

At this point I wasn't hitting the wall like I have done in marathons, but my body was really hurting.  In the back of my mind there is always this voice that says "shut it down and walk."  I hate that.  I just had to press on.

Mile 13: 7:29

The end was near, all I had to do was run up the steep incline to get to the bike path where the race ended.  I REALLY wanted to walk, but I am glad I didn't because I would have lost the seconds I needed at the end.  When I was running up the hill I had to put my hands behind my head and interlock my fingers to try and get a little bit more air in my system.  Does that work, probably not, but at the moment it felt like it did.

The last stretch I was pushing hard and ran a 6:00/mile pace for the last .15 miles.  I ended up running 1:39:42, 2 minutes faster than my previous PR.  I was also 62nd out of 1810 runners.  For such a hilly course and not expecting to do anything close to this, I am very happy. 

And this was without a doubt the best post race experience ever!  They had all the normal goodies plus unlimited Jamba Juice!  And I had Shelly and Emme waiting for me at the finish line.  If that isn't a reason to run fast to get there I don't know what is. 

registered for SLO 1/2 Marathon

I feel pretty good so I just signed up for the SLO 1/2 Marathon on April 22nd instead of the 5k.  That gives me two weekends to get in two 2 hour runs.  I think I'll be ready. 

Modesto 5k race report

Training has been going really well in the weeks leading up to my 1st race of the Spring.  I have been pretty consistent in doing one set of 8x400 intervals at 5k race pace, one 40-45 min tempo run, one longer run of 80-90 minutes and two other easy days of 3-4 miles each week.  Besides my weight creeping back up near 170 pounds, opposed to the 160 when I ran NYC and that other 5k in November, I feel like things are going really well.
The morning of the race I had an unwelcome visitor... one that is usually only reserved after trips to Wienerschniztel, Woodstock's Pizza or a night of too much drinking.  In about a 45 minute period I had 5 separate trips to the bathroom.  I was really starting to wonder if I was going to be able to run this race.  I know that running while having to go #2 is probably one of the most miserable things in the world and I have never run when experiencing the d-train.  All I knew was that if things got bad during my run, it would be really bad.  With all that in mind I decided to drive to the race and see how I felt.
I was happy to see a ton of port-a-potties once I arrived but thankfully I never felt like I had to use one.  I drank as much water as I could to rehydrate, but not enough so it would be sloshing around in my stomach.
I was right at the start line when the gun went off and by looking at the times from this race in the previous years I thought I had a good shot at winning my age group.  I think all the really fast runners my age were in the marathon and half marathon, which was fine with me.  Right from the get go I started to feel pretty beat.  I clocked 6:16 the first mile and I knew that was probably a tad bit too fast for how I was feeling earlier.  After the first mile I was running behind a group of 3 or 4 other runners and I stayed with them for the rest of the race.  The 2nd mile I clocked 6:23 and I actually moved to the front of my little pack. 
Side note:  I just got a text that Peyton Manning is signing with the Denver Broncos.  As a die hard Broncos fan I am pumped!  I feel terrible for Tim Tebow though.  OK, now back to my race.
The 3rd mile was tough and I fell behind two others in my little pack.  In this being my 2nd 5k race I've learned that the finish line is never too far away.  I've been in marathons and half marathons where I have totally hit the wall and still a good ways away from the finish line.  Nothing is more demoralizing.  The 5k is great because I can look at my watch and tell myself, hold on for 4 more minutes, hold on for 2 more minutes, hold on for 30 more seconds.  Before I knew it the race was just about over.  My 3rd mile clocked in at 6:29.
When I made the final turn the clock was around 19:10 and I was very glad I knew I would run another 5k in under 20 minutes.  My last race was in 19:37 and this time I clocked in at 19:42.
Overall I got 2nd in my age group and 12th place overall.  I also got in the Modesto Bee here as finishing in the top 20 for the race.   I feel really good with where I am at and am hoping I can peak in June when I run my half marathon.