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2010 Flying Monkey Marathon Race Report

May 21, 2011 planet3rry 2 comments

2010 Flying Monkey Marathon

Percy Warner Park, Nashville TN

November 21, 2010 [ed. Note: I noticed that although I wrote the majority of this blog post 3 months ago, I am not finally finishing the Race Report exactly 6 months since I finished the race]

This was my 3rd Flying Monkey Marathon and once again, it did not disappoint! Despite the fact that my average weekly mileage was a pitiful 10.08 mile average over 16 weeks of training with the long run of 18 miles, it was still an awesome time. I will have to say that I would not recommend such a lean training program for the marathon unless, of course, it was because of necessity. However, the one thing that saved me was experience, not only with the race course, but also with the marathon. The 2010 Flying Monkey Marathon was my 17th Marathon start and with 1 (all important) DNF (Did Not Finish), I know what I can handle, how to handle and what to do if things start “not going well”.

GROOVY

The Theme of this year’s Monkey was “Groovy”… Monkey Groovy. Each year has a theme and this theme influences the Volunteer Shirts, Runner Shirts, Posters, Emails, etc… Seeing that it was the 5th Running of the Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey Marathon (the official marathon title), the “groovy”, from my point of view, came from the peace sign “V”. Not only an awesome 1980′s Alien show, but also Intergalactic sign of ‘Peace’ (or ‘Victory’, or [Editor has removed his own content]), it was Monkey Groovy… Peace, Love and Hills.

Originally, I was supposed to travel with my Family Entourage, but something close to the Bubonic Plague had visited our house earlier in November and it was agreed that it would be best for me to fly solo to Nashville for the race. This was fine because I was having thoughts of 2009, when I arrived there on race day, I had just enough time to get my packet, find my number, shove everything else in a bag and get to the starting line right as the gun went off. Seeing that this was my 3rd time running, I was comfortable without having any personal crowd support while I was out running (again, another helpful experience tidbit). I drove to Nashville area the night before. I ended up catching up with a friend from Longwood who lived in the area and had dinner with her and her awesome family.

I had everything ready for Race Day ready to go in the hotel room. Since I knew there would be no chance for me to come back and shower, I had everything ready so that I would get ready for the race AND check out. So, what to do in hotel room the night before a race? Seeing that we have not had cable in our house since Sept 2009, the first thing I did was turn on ESPN and watched some College Football. Then just flipping through some channels, I found “Bloodsport” on Versus Channel. Ahhh, the great B- 1980′s movie with Jean-Claude Van Damme. The marathon is like Chong Li “You break my record, now I break you, like I break your friend.“… kicking the hell out of you, trying to beat you down into the ground… and you Frank Dux “You told me to use any tactic that works, never to commit yourself to one style, to keep an open mind!”, with everything stacked against you, have to find the inner strength to find a will to win. So with vision of Kumite in my head, I drifted off to sleep.

PEACHY

Race Day! Weather Forecast looked decent for the day, overcast, 50ish. However when the sun rose, there seemed to be an absence of clouds, it was pretty… but every marathoner knows that the unshielded Sun is one of the worst things possible for a race (really, for any distance but the longer the race the greater the exposure). I kept that in my mind… for race day strategy. At least most of the course has partial shade with the trees (with no leaves) but some stretches are fully exposed to wind and sun. Arriving at the Race Site, I found myself parking quite a bit further away then I thought. The race is growing in popularity, which is good, especially because I have faith that the Race Director (Monkey Trent) will not go “commercial” with this race, so more people running should equal more swag (and we get a nice Race Packet already!).

Enjoying the extra time from arriving onsite to having to be there for race start, I prepped the car for the most efficient post race experience. Putting things I would need for the car ride home in a logical (at the time) place and just plain taking it easy. With about 10 minutes to go, I headed up and got my Race Packet. One of the “neat” things about the Flying Monkey Marathon is that the first race number that you get is the race number you keep. So when I signed up in 2008, the “newbies” running bib numbers went from 400-599, and I was knighted with #438. So, I shall forever be Terry – 438. Oh, and the bibs are Personalized with your name as well and being Monkey Groovy, the running bib color was Tie-Dye with a nice “Groovy” font.

I got everything out that I needed for the race from my race bag and put it off to the side. I came prepared this year for the post-race with a Sponge Bob folding chair for a place to sit down after the race. Heading to the start line, it was time for the pre-race Marathon Maniac picture which is all the members of Marathon Maniacs running the marathon. I used the 2008 Flying Monkey Marathon in conjunction with the 2008 Rutledge Marathon to qualify for the Marathon Maniacs. I missed the picture in 2009 from my accounts earlier.

And then the race started and while this was my 17th marathon start, there was something VERY VERY different about this race. In fact, in the 12+ years that I have been a runner, this was the first race that I would run this way. And what is one of the Cardinal Rules of Marathon? “Never do anything new on race day”. This race, I was Chronologically Naked! I didn’t have a watch… and it was different… but not ‘bad’ different.

For years, I have worn a wrist watch… 24hrs a day, 7days a week. The only time that I would take it off is when I would put on a nice dress watch or the watch band I was wearing broke off. In either case, I would quickly put on another watch, because I have to know what time it is to help with my (and the kids) schedule. Sometime in September, I don’t really remember now, my watch band broke and, of course, the watch that I really really really like has a watch band that is not replaceable. Once it breaks, the only thing to do is to cut the band and fashion a pocket watch or something and get another one. In this case, we didn’t have the budget for a new watch… and with not having a backup, I had to rely on something else. For running, it turned out that while it was very awkward at first, it proved to be refreshingly new. I started timing my runs by using a Stopwatch App for my Palm Pixi to record the entire time I was away from my car. I didn’t want to carry it with me since I didn’t have a carrying case for it and while it’s not bulky, I didn’t want to have the hassle.

Without having the watch there during my training, I had to run based on feel and not necessarily be motivated/depressed based on my split times. During the marathon, not having a watch was not a problem as well. Since I wasn’t going to be setting any sort of Personal Course Records (based on my lack of training), I wasn’t worried about hitting time targets. There were a few people out there calling split times, so I was able to do some recreational math to pass the time as I tried to calculate my pace.

Since this post is grossly delayed, I am going to spare the Mile by mile details. I know, those are the most exciting parts… to see what kind of trouble I get myself in, yeah, yeah train wreck. One thing that I did notice was that around Mile 21, when I was pretty worn out, I was still mentally in the race. I remember running up a hill and being pleasantly pleased that I wanted to continue to run up the hill before I took a walk break where as the same spot in the previous year’s race, I was starting to get a little loony. And so as I approached Mile 25, it was time to switch into Finish Line Mode.

FAR OUT

My Finish Line Mode is a component of racing that I train for almost each time I run. I have to give props to Matt Tartar of The Dump Runner’s Club for having a podcast episode about Finish Line (perhaps Episode #10?)  strategies that prompted me to put a bunch of pieces along with some things that he does into a unified strategy.  My strategy is the same basic sequence, but the longer the run, the longer my Finish Line Mode will take. Like anything with running, it has to be constantly tweaked and altered as needed because of weather, course, or my motivation.

I would be called a ‘Kicker’ if you were to label my running type.  I will reserve some amount of energy during the race and try to pool it together at the end for one last kick. The problem with Kickers is that you have to understand the relationship between your effort during the race with what you will be able to do at the end. There are times where you might think you have more in the tank and so you kick too early. Flash and burn. Then again, you might start too late and end at the finish line with a lot more in the tank. So what do you do? Practice! Of course. Both in actual races plus during training and that really helps during a race situation where you are trying to finish as best as you can.

My strategy goes pretty much in these phases which I am sure that at one time, I had official “labels” to them, but have slept since then. The first stage is Assessment of Self, how do I feel, what hurts, etc. The next stage is Assessment of Competition, who is ahead of me, who can I realistically catch, who is behind me. Once I have the information from those two stages, I then build a “plan”. Typically, up to this point doesn’t take too much time for long distance as you have plenty of time to contemplate you and the World and this race.

For this race, there was a group of 3 runners ahead of me around 50-60meters ahead of me. I wasn’t exactly sure if I could over take them, but that was my plan. Stage 3 is the Engage Stage. For the runners ahead of me, I tried to find the pace that they were running and increasing my pace so that I was gaining ground on them. One of the guys of the pack started to drift slower and soon fell back of the other 2. I approached to within 10 meters of them, but made sure I did not pass, as it was still too early and I didn’t think that I had enough energy to sustain a pass and any attempt to challenge.

The first and last 0.3 of the race is run on grass. Going out is not that big of an issue, but finishing, the uneven terrain can feel horrible for tired legs. Also, there is a big 90 degree turn around a tree for the final ~0.15 miles straight into the finishing chute. You can hear the finish line for the first time back around mile 25, then just after you get on the grassy part of the course, you can hear and SEE the finish line. Now on the grass I remained that 10 meters away, in my time following them, it seemed to be that one of them was running this race for the first time. The other runner was a seasoned runner and had run this course a couple of times and was running with his friend. Running on the grass felt much harder than usual, but I think it was a combination of being close to the finish line and trying to manage enough to pass them at the end.

The last stage consists of the final approach. It is one last inventory of what energy I had left, who was in front of me and when to let loose, i.e. “kick”. Emerging around the tree on the last turn, I could now focus on the finish chute, primarily the race clock. I started to lengthen my stride as I began to ready for the final push. At ~0.1 mile, I decided that was the time to kick. Lengthening my stride had put me at a faster pace and so I was covering the 10 meters the runners were in front of me fairly easily. They didn’t have any type of (obvious) plan to kick at the finish and so I passed them. But then I heard the more experienced runner tell his friend something and start to engage me to overtake me.

RATS! I hadn’t planned for a challenge! I had planned on getting to that pace and then passing with the intent to stay at that speed through the finishline. I didn’t think that I would need to speed up and honestly at that moment that I realized that it was a sprint to the finish, I wasn’t sure what to do. Could I maintain or would I crash and burn and BOTH runners pass me at the very end? Who knew, but this wasn’t a “fun run” marathon… it was a race.

After my mini-panic attack on being challenged, I tried to increase my speed to as fast as I could. I have NO idea how fast I was actually running, I’m sure it wasn’t as fast as it felt, but an all out sprint at the end of a marathon is tough when the last 26.1 miles you’ve run a 10-11 min pace and are now *uh-um* “sprinting” at a 8-9 min pace. Form, at this point, is not one of the first things you are thinking about, so everything is bouncing around as you try to keep breathing and ignoring that your legs are getting very very mad at you. The closer we came to the finish line, the runner behind me didn’t seem to be going away. RATS! I had to find another gear somewhere. How, I don’t know. Make one up! A mental gear. At this point, sure why not, sure there was absolutely NO fortune and glory for a sprint finish at this part of the race, even the photographer wasn’t taken pictures of finishers at this time.

So, in my mind, I forced myself to push “faster” and used a mental image of  me accelerating to fake running faster, at least to myself. My eyes were locked on the clock, I was still moving forward, my feet hadn’t tripped on anything, my legs despite objecting to this sprinting nonsense after a 26 mile warmup had not buckled, my lungs were trying to get any molecule of air that it could find, my heart was probably at a new max heart rate for me and then it was all over. I crossed the line.

Trying to be The Good Runner in the finisher’s chute, I ripped off the tag on my bib and held it up in air, for anyone, preferably someone with the race, to take from me. I was delusional trying to get oxygen, where was that ambulance? They have oxygen. I knew I had to keep moving forward to prevent my legs from taking advantage of loss of momentum and let gravity take over. Only half-delusional at this point, because I knew I had to get my finishers medal wherever they were, I kept moved passed the chute and POOF there was the volunteer with my finisher’s medal. Ah, the success of finishing… a finisher’s medal was all the fortune and glory that I needed. Now, with my breathing almost back to normal and some adequate blood flow back to my brain, I started to become more aware of the world around me. Oh, I’m cold; I need a sweatshirt. Oh, I’m thirsty; I need a beer. Oh, I’m hungry, a beer would help.

One of the things that I love about this particular race is the culture that the Race Director, Monkey Trent encourages and demands at this venue. While they were presenting the awards, when a runner or runners were nearing the finish line, he would say to us over his Bullhorn… “why aren’t you cheering? MONKEY! MONKEY! MONKEY!” until the runner(s) would cross the finish line. It’s expected whether you are an Elite, and middle-back of the pack runner or a Volunteer.

Mark Your Calendars! November 20, 2011

Registration is on August 1st at 8am CST, if you try to register at 8:33am CST based on the 2010 registration, you will be too late, you have been warned.

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Race Reports and Guess My Time

May 4, 2010 planet3rry One comment

I would like to thank all those that played the Guess My Time, Win Crap contest for the Run For the Deaf 5k this past Saturday. I don’t have the “official” results, but it looks like unofficially that David Peach of Missionary Talks fame (@dpeach on twitter) will be the winner of the crap great prizes. And just in time too, because now that he actually has a home for his missionary trip in South America, it might actually be able to reach him. However, it might take a couple of months for something to make it to him, IF it makes it… but the official results are still pending.

Run for the Deaf 5k 05.01.2010

As for the actual race itself, the Run for the Deaf did not disappoint for a great run and venue! The weather held off (i.e. Storms that pounded Middle Tennessee) and it was cool and calm for the run. Now while I still had to stop for just a short bit just before mile 3, I was pretty pleased at my overall run. I am not exactly sure why my 5k runs have been so poor (i.e. I have had to walk in the last 3) physically, but mentally I feel fine. I am curious if it’s a residual effect of the marathon runs in Late 2008 and in 2009, or it’s a flag that something else is wrong. Who knows…

So my unofficial time for the Run for the Deaf was 24:58 (net Terry-Time from Start Line to Finish) but it’s going to be slightly over 25 minutes I know, but my split times were: 7:39, 8:02 and for the last 1.1 which included two short walk breaks was 9:17 for a total of 24:58. I didn’t win any Age Group awards, since I stayed for those, but I did win a DOOR PRIZE! Scored me a CASE of water! I think that makes my Door Prize winning at this race about 50%!

Rittenhouse Half-Marathon 4.24.2010

My Official time for the Rittenhouse Half Marathon was 2:16:28 and I finished 30 0ut 0f 36… and they didn’t have Age Groups, but I finished 23 out of 26 in the Male Finishers. I was on a 2hr finishing pace for the first 4 miles. My downfall came to a Rookie Mistake that I did the day before (Never Eat Anything New the Day Before Race Day). I ate something that wasn’t actually “new” to me, but given my current diet, it was “new” and thus had an adverse reaction. I have been on a Gluten Free Diet for almost 3 years now, and in addition, I have been on a Casein-Reduced diet as well. Reduced basically means that I’ll still eat Chocolate and Sherbet and a few other things that have Casein (Milk Protein) but never anything in high concentration. Well, as a reward for The Elder’s trip for a checkup at the hospital, the reward was a Frosty from Wendy’s. Seeing that the Wendy’s that they would be purchasing said dairy treat at the one just down the block from my office, I said “Get Me One!”

Excited about the cold, casein-rich Frosty, I ate without even thinking of any residual effects for the next day. After all, I have had plenty of Frostys in my lifetime, so what would odd about it now? Nothing, other than the fact that it made my stomach feel like a lead weight around mile 4 and that shortly after mile 10, I was hoping that I would just expel whatever was hating me that day from either end… at this point… I didn’t care. I just wanted to feel better. Nothing ended up happening and around mile 11, I was feeling okay… tired, but okay. I had been taking walk-breaks as needed but I was finding that after Mile 10, my walk breaks were becoming less frequent, even when I running a challenging part of the course. So, I knew that my sluggishness was stomach related and not fatigue related.

In the last mile, there was no one ahead of me, and I had distanced myself from the runner behind me, who just before Mile 12, had caught up with me as I wasn’t sure of the Course and stopped and back-tracked about 0.1 of a mile. I was going to make the best of whatever was left. As part of my normal race strategy, I had the last 0.25 mile or so planned out on where I would start accelerating to the finish. Not exactly sure how “fast” I got in the last 0.15 miles, but it FELT like a sprint. I knew that I wasn’t going to even be close to my goal time for that race (sub 2hr), but it was a RACE and every second counts!

The nice thing about this Half Marathon is that you get a Finisher’s Medal, so I didn’t walk away empty handed (didn’t win a door prize either). Usually only the Mega Halfs (or in this case the Micro Halfs) which can afford the medals will have them, but sometimes the Micro Halfs will have something for the Runners. This was my first time running the course and I really enjoyed the course itself, which is part through the town/city of Harriman and part on the back country roads. When you were on the country roads, the shoulders on the road were ample enough that traffic didn’t seem like it was going to plow into you. Plus, the Rittenhouse race having the support of the Harriman Police, there were plenty of patrol cars on the course. The water stops seems nicely laid out according to  difficult parts of the course. There were mile markers, but they were at not uniform places along the course, which for my run that day was probably a good thing so that I wouldn’t be obsessing about my mile times every split.

I would probably run the Rittenhouse Half Marathon again, but with it being in late April, it does have some competition with other events on that particular weekend or being close to a spring Marathon.

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Run for Autism Race Report

April 20, 2010 planet3rry One comment

I was thinking that I was going to do a Tale of Two Races, but then thought that it would be too difficult to try to bear the poor performance at both races. I thought for sure that I would do better on 4/17/2010 for the Breakthrough Run for Autism. However, that was NOT the case.

My finish time was a 26:22 on a course that I had previous done a 24:12 and 24:11, so why the 2 minute difference? I have a speculation, but more on that later…

At the mile split, I knew I was in trouble because my 8:15ish pace FELT like 7:30 and so when Slower Feels Like Faster that is NOT a good thing. Close to Mile 2, I started to walk, just a short distance, then off to running again. I stopped again just before the 3 mile mark, hidden from the view of the finishline. I took the last 0.25 mile or so to bleed off any energy I might have left, it was a race anyhow! In the last 0.1 of a mile, I picked off 3 runners and the runner with the running stroller who passed me just a few minutes past.

I was not in all that of a happy place when I finished, so I went and got a bottle of water, a banana, got in my vehicle and headed home.

Nobody played the Guess My Time contest game, so I’ll guess that I’ll just contest for the Half marathon on 4/24/2010.

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Whitestone 30k Race Report

March 24, 2010 planet3rry 2 comments

On February 28, 2010 I had my 12 year RUNiversary, and what a strange race it turned out to be…

The Whitestone 30k is a road race whose START/FINISH is at the Whitestone Inn in Paint Rock, TN. I had ran it back in 2002, but given it’s distance and date (traditionally, a Sunday) I hadn’t put it on my racing calendar. But this year, since I am not running a Spring Marathon, but instead training for a PR time at the 1/2 marathon distance on April 24 in Harriman, TN, I thought this would be a very good endurance run, since I just had run Strawplains Half Marathon just 2 weeks prior.

Like all the races that I know ahead of time that I am going to run, I will volunteer for any pre-race duties. Seeing that this was a training run and a longer distance, there would be little chance of me placing in my age-group, I wouldn’t need any warm-up and as long as I got to the starting line, I’d be fine. Bobby Holcombe was the race director for the event and emailing him saying that I could volunteer for anything pre-race that I’d be more than happy to help. My reply was that most things were covered, but a few people including myself would be on the “reserve/back-up list” in case there was a need for something. I could handle that, just fine.

One of the neat things about volunteering at Knoxville Track Club events, is that you get a Volunteer Voucher, which in essence is good for $5 in KTC money. That is, you can apply vouchers when purchasing KTC apparel or race entry fees for KTC events, or exchanging it for that race’s shirt (because it is so cool, or NOT white!). When you volunteer outside of Knox County, you get 2 of them! Well, with my volunteering at Strawplains, I had 9 coupons, which is worth $45 in KTC Land. It just so happened to be that Whitestone 30k was $45 for Day of Race registration! So, I didn’t have to pay a nickel to run the 30k! However, there were NO t-shirts for Day of Race entrants and I am waiting for the email saying that my shirt is ready.

I arrived on-site and proceeded to find Volunteer Check-In and Day of Race Registration. Wasn’t difficult at all, and still being early it went fast as well. When I checked in, everything was “covered” so I didn’t really have anything to do… I could just take my 2 coupons and head out for the race. But that’s shooting fish in a barrel and I’m not really programmed to work that way anyway. I’d still volunteer is there were NO coupons, but I appreciate the coupons though! Registration (usually a good pre-race activity) was fine, so I headed out to see if there was anything that I could to help outside. I wandered over to the KTC trailer and found people pulling out tables for the water stations. I jumped right in and helped get those tables into a pick-up to be taken out to the course. Then I started loading another truck with cones, Mile Markers, and Race In Progress signs.

I was beginning to shape up that the guy, Dave, was going to be alone in putting out the road markers, so I grabbed a map and hopped into the truck. The Whitestone 30k course wraps around itself depending on where you are. That is, there are certain chunks of roadway that you run over 3 times with different directions at the intersections depending on how far you are in the race. As a result some of the Mile Markers, are near 100ft of each other, so when it came to looking for the markings for these, if we found one, we knew the other was close. We had about 45 minutes to get all the Mile Markers, Cones and Race in Progress signs out there and for the most part it went pretty smoothly. We did calculate that given the race start that we’d be behind in getting everything out before the race actually started. Most of the Mile Markers weren’t an issue because even the immortal Elite Runners could never run that fast that we couldn’t put the 12 mile marker on the road before they would get there… they’d have to be running at a World Record pace of 1:00 mi/min.

Given our location (near Mile 11) and the time, we might have an issue with the 6 mile marker not being out on the course in time. After we put down Mile 12 marker, we started seeing some of the runners and the Police stopped traffic. We were close enough to some of the Mile Markers, that Dave took one in one direction and I took the other. While setting up the Mile Marker I had, # I think, I saw my friend THE Stewart Ellington, who at the time was in second overall, but there was a relay aspect to this race, so that might have just been a relay person ahead of him. I got to cheer him as he passed and then I ran back to the truck. THE Stewart Ellington ended up placing 1st in this race, and actually in alot of races around here… I joke with him that he better watchout because during the race I’ll be behind him chasing him down. Of course his pace is like 5 and some change… mine, eh…

So as we proceeded to head back, we saw the bulk of runners and Dave was talking with the people he knew as we went by. It was really cool because he knows some of the personally, he would tell me an interesting fact about them, which was cool. But we both TOTALLY missed the Mile 17 marker! So we kept going to put the Mile 18 mile marker down and then I asked him if he could take me to the Race Start before he went back to put down Mile 17. He dropped me off and I ran to my car where I put on my number and got what I would need for the race. When I got to the top of the hill, there was no one around… I found the line I assumed that was used for the Starting Line, leisurely got all my gear together, looked at the time and started the stopwatch. My watch said 8:56 when I started so that was +26 minutes into the race, if it had started right on time at 8:30 and the time was accurate.

The Race start is an Exciting downhill start… steep and windy down the parking lot and entrance to Whitestone Inn. I had just passed where my car was when I remembered: OH I DON’T HAVE MY WATERBOTTLE! Seeing that I had some inside of me just 3 days earlier that “Hated The World”, I was worried that I would be dehydrated during the race, so having that water bottle was of utmost importance! And that backtracking to the car was the best diversion ever… I would have been DOA if I hadn’t gone back and gotten it.

Miles 1-5

The first couple of miles, was just trying to find a pace that wasn’t too strenuous. The only thing was that I was DEAD LAST… I was 20+ minutes BEHIND the patrol car, so knowing that just made me WANT to run fast. But I know that had I done that I would be paying for it big time later in the race. This was the longest distance since the Flying Monkey Marathon in November 2009, so I wasn’t sure how long I was going to last. Plus hitting the Wall around Mile 9 of the Strawplains Half Marathon just 2 weeks prior, I wasn’t sure where that Wall would be for a 18.7 mile course… maybe 11, maybe 15… maybe 8? Who Knew?

Being where I was on the course, when I approached MY mile 2, this was the Elite’s Mile 6, so I was being passed by some of the Elite Runners and some of the Relay Team. I did want to speed up as they passed, they made it look SOOO easy to run at that pace… I would sound like a herd of wild elephants or something.

When I approached the Split at Mile 2.5, which you pass by 3 times, I had to tell the Volunteers who were telling the runners at the Mile 6.5 point that I was just making my first pass! I filled my Water Bottle at every chance that I could to make sure that I stayed hydrated. Since I had helped set up the course, I already knew where the water stations were going to be located and so for Racing Dynamics, it made it easier to pace my water intake, trying to keep myself from dehydrating too quickly.

Right near the Mile 5 marker I saw the flashing lights of the patrol car who was following the last runner. At this point, I was relieved that I was now back “officially” within the course time cutoff.

Miles 6-12

For the next batch of miles, I felt pretty decent. I wasn’t pushing myself, but rather trying to stay evenly paced as best I could with the terrain. I was completely alone, there was no one ahead of me and the last runner was still behind, I really had no idea where I was in the race, other than next-to-last. Mile 8 of the course double backs on its self and it was here that I saw the tail end of runners, about 7 of them just starting Mile 9 and I was just beginning Mile 8. I tried to do some math to see if my pace would be enough to catch up with them before the finish line. I wasn’t sure… perhaps, but we hadn’t quite hit half-way and there were still Plenty O’Hills to worry about.

When I came to Mile 9, I could just make out the Police lights of the Last Runner, he was yet to start Mile 8. Good to know that he was still going steady-on. The runners ahead of me where out of side… still perhaps about a mile away, but with the hills and curves, I couldn’t see them. At Mile 10, I shifted my race strategy to incorporate some mandating walking (other than water stops). I could tell that I was consuming liquids WAY too fast, which for me means that if I continue at the same pace, I will end up Hitting the Wall and it falling on me. Using this strategy, I could at least defer The Wall to a later distance.

Starting at Mile 11, the course takes you back on the main road, which unfortunately is not sheltered from the elements. In my case, this was slightly beneficial because the cold wind was helping keep my core body temperature from rising too fast going up the hills. I was still able to maintain running for the most part, with walk breaks taken at specific locations (usually at the mid/end of a downhill).

Miles 13-Finish

I knew at this point that that personal finishing time (Terry Time) would be decent given the conditions, my training, etc but that the clock time would stink. I still figured that my pace was still overall faster than those that I saw at Mile 9, but I didn’t see them although there were hills and curves to obstruct my view. Knowing that I was basically running on this road right up until the finish line, I began to move into my Race Finish Mode. Even though there was no time goal involved (good that I didn’t have a Guess My Time, Win Crap contest), this was still a Race and unless it’s a “fun run” it’s ethical to beat 6 year olds and 80 year olds. My goal at this point was to maintain my pace, and to try to over take runners still on the course (which is a typical Race Strategy).

Around Mile 16 I started seeing a lot of vehicles coming from the direction of the Whitestone Inn. This could really only mean ONE thing… the Award Ceremony was over and people were leaving! And sure enough, that is what it was… runners…  rather “Finishers” leaving to head home and I’m still out there with just a few miles to go. I even saw the overall winner pass and wave to him and his wife and I wondered if it was weird that he saw me help setting up the course at “his” Mile 2 and that I was wearing a Race Bib and he was leaving at “my” Mile 17?

Just before I reached Mile 18, at the top of the hill, I could see another runner on the course. But damn was I tired! There wasn’t a whole lot in the take, but I did have one thing… motivation. I wanted… NEEDED to finish quickly. The uphill finish for this race is nothing to be trifled with even for those like me that actually “Like” hills! In the last 1/2 mile I shifted into a quick walk, fast pace run. While this is much more taxing on the body, it does provide a faster pace and at this point, it was do or die.

Not only is the uphill pretty steep, just to make it more “fun” there’s a number of curves associated with it. And it was here where I saw my chance to pick-off the weak of the herd. I pulled within 10-20 feet of the runner right in front of me waiting for the right time to move. The last part of the course is on a asphalt “trail” that leads up to the Inn and Chapel and maybe 0.1 of a mile… or little more… but, you have make a right turn from the parking lot onto to it. And that is when I made my move.

Right as she was turning, I accelerated past her and started to churn my legs to make it up the hill. I probably got a 20-25 feet ahead of her before my legs said… “NO MORE” and I was forced to walk. However, my mind decided to drown out my Legs whining and I focused on the top of the hill where I could see the clock and just started moving as best as I could. And then, I crossed the finish line… “officially” in 3:49:48 as the 124 finisher out of 126. Looking at the finishing times, I could have potentially have come in 122, if I had just been 15 seconds faster…

The unofficial Terry Finish Time was 3:28:49, which ended up being roughly 21 mins difference… so perhaps the race started a tad late. Now, although the conditions would have been different had I started with the rest, my unofficial time would have put me around 108 out of 126. So overall, I was fine with my time, it was a training run after all anyway, but I was more pleased from my performance. I have said it before that I have learned MORE about my running style and strategies on races that have gone poorly than I do where I run races well.

Here’s a picture from the Whitestone Inn, just a few feet from the Start/Finish Line

Whitestone Inn

Great view! Taken with Pi-Eleven (My Palm Pixi)

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2009 Flying Monkey Marathon Race Report

January 14, 2010 planet3rry 3 comments

2009 Flying Monkey Marathon Race Report

Date 11.22.2009

Location: Percy Warner Park, Antioch TN

Abstract

This was my second consecutive running of this race, and while I was excited about the event, I was grossly undertrained. With low motivation in August, when training was supposed to start, to a sliced heel in September and then in early November, a mysterious chest congestion which produced some amount of phelghm, I hardly was able to train like I wanted, or how I should! Regardless, I was signed up, even pleading after the race had filled up to capacity to be an entrant, so I was going to run the race even if was the death of me. [ed. Note since I am writing this, I did not die, although I would have been nice monkey fodder if they knew my state on the course]. The race was a nice tie-in to our trip to California, we were flying out of Nashville and so we would be in Nashville the day before our flight which, in theory, should make the flight easier for the whole family.

Pre-Race

Having the advantage of running this race previously, I knew when and where the race start would take place. This logistic point would be very important, as when I go to the race site, I had about 4 minutes until race start. We used reward points to stay at our hotel, which was actually the second time that I had used points to stay at a hotel for a race.

At the hotel, I got ready for the race and did most of my pre-race ritual. I tossed my clothes that I was going to use in the race near my race bag. I pinned my gels (4 ACCEL gels 2-Key Lime, 2-Orange) to my shorts. I found that I had to do this the night before, because doing that when you are rushing around doing this leads to getting poked with the safety pins!

Race Morning

There’s always anxiety and anticipation on race morning… and for a while, I had convinced myself that I wasn’t under trained for this race. I was having delusions of grandeur of coming in under my bib number (#438) at 4 hours sub-38 minutes. Then I was distracted with having to get the kids ready to take me to the race. I felt pretty decent about the amount of food that I ate for breakfast… which was mainly oatmeal, but I had saved some chicken for some protein.

Even though we “sorta” knew where the race was, we still used the GPS to get us there. I was getting pretty nervous as the estimated GPS arrival time was getting dangerously close to the race start time… and I had to use the bathroom (just #1).

My Lovely and Talented wife drove me through the parking, up to where the bridge was which connected to the race festivities. I hopped out of the van, said a few quick good-byes and headed to get my stuff.

I somewhere around 4 minutes from the time that I left the van until the race gun went off. I hurried to the registration table, got my goods and my bib number. Being in a state park does hold some advantages. There’s basically hundreds of places to use the bathroom.

The weather wasn’t fore-casted to be all that great, possible rain, but it was surely overcast and the temperature not all that warm… just about perfect for a marathon. The race director was warning us runners (although he is foolish to run as well) of all the hazards of the park and running… so I knew that it would be just a few seconds. And it was, because we were off!

Mile 1 “Who is the more foolish? The fool or the fool that follows?”

I probably had one of the best starts to the marathon that I ever had. I wasn’t shooting off like a rocket, since I wasn’t planning on making any crazy attempts at a course PR. The first ½ to ¾ of a mile is long reprieve of being relatively flat, that probably helped too.

Mile 4 “Battling against that is more like… suicide”

I had another delusion since I had started off so well, that even up the first section of hills, I felt steady in my pace. I knew that the split times would vary from mile to mile, given the hills, but I felt great. At least for the first 8 or 9 miles

Mile 13.1 “Will he finish where he begins?”

As the race started, I decided that I would make race strategy would be to run the first half of the marathon as best as I could, trying to keep a 10:30ish pace. I had even factored in some time buffer time so that my goal time to cross the half-way time would be near 2:30. Then, I would change strategies and switch to the run-walk.

Crossing at 2:34 and knowing that I was past the point where I would be able to hold up my desired pace. I decided to do a 4 minute walk/ 1 minute walk and somehow, I was able to set my watch’s interval timer to do this. So, there I was… 4 minutes run, 1 minute walk and I was still in great spirits even knowing that I would be past 5 hours.

Mile 15 “Curse my blasted circuits, I wasn’t fast enough”

There’s one difficulty with the run-walk method… when you are really hurting, it’s hard to transition from the walk back to the run. I’m not a huge fan of switching from running to slowing down to a walk, especially on a hilly course, because it makes up hills longer and down hills harder on the knees. However, I wasn’t not going to deny myself of any walk breaks… so if I was in “run” mode and came to a water stop, I was walking through to refill my bottle… and if my watch signaled that it was time to walk just after the water stop… oh well.

Mile 20 “I won’t give up! I am not afraid!” “Oh, you will be, you WILL BE!”

The proverbial Wall of Mile 20 had come much earlier, but still there is something special about reaching the 20 mile mark. It’s the end of the warm-up for the 10k that you are running! And while this spot of a marathon has it’s own evil influence over the psyche of runners, I look to a different sci-fi movie as my mantra for Mile 20, The Matrix.

When Neo is finding out if he is “The One” (a similar title that Qui-Gonn Jin heralded Anakin, in The Phantom Menace) , he is an apartment room which children who see to have some special abilities. One of the kids is bending a spoon with their thought which leads to the phrase “There is no spoon”. Hence, at Mile 20, “There is no Wall”.

Mile 22 “The circle is now complete, when I left you I was the apprentice. Now I Am the Master!”

The Mile 22 marker is one of my favorite signs. Double-Deuce! Only 4 miles away… and it’s at this point that you can start to estimate finishing time. I knew that it wasn’t going to be anything to write home about, but still a refreshing sight.

One thing that I hadn’t expected was that I was well hydrated. Despite being deep into the race, I had an urge to use the bathroom that did not go away after a mile or two. Again, I took advantage of being in a State Park.

Mile 24 “Help Me Obi-wan Kenobi, you are my only hope!”

This was probably my worst mile from an attitude point of view. I knew the terrain ahead, I knew how I was feeling and was starting to lose focus on the race. At this point, I was alone on the course, with no runners ahead that I could see. I started to get myself focused on the finish, despite the fact that I wasn’t going to finish with the time that I wanted, I was still going to go through my normal finish ritual.

Mile 25 “The Force is strong with this one”

There’s one volunteer that you pass twice that you enjoy seeing. He gets to see you early and at the end. So when you see him the second time, you know that you are close to the finish line. It also helps

Mile 26 “Echo Base, this is Rogue 2, I found [him]. Repeat, I found [him]

Mile Splits

1 – 10:19

2 – 10:45

3 – 11:46

4 – 12:14

5 – 10:58

6 – 12:41

7 – 10:22

8 – 12:05

9 – 11:16

10 – 12:16

11 – 11:55

12 – 11:58

13 – 14:23

13.1 – 2:34:35

14 – 13:17

15 – 14:00

16 – 11:59

17 – 13:38

18 – 14:37

19 – 12:56

20 – 16:17

21 – 13:52

22 – 13:39

23 – 13:05

24 – 11:22

25 – 11:57

26 – 13:14

26.2 – 5:31:58

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2009 World Wide Festival Of Races Race Report

October 15, 2009 planet3rry 3 comments

There is a podcast version of this in the works. It’s just that I have been migrating my computer stuff at work from a dead WinXP machine to a new and speedy Windows7 machine. So, my processing power quadrupled! Which means that I can work easier, but I have been in the process of getting stuff to the “way I like it”. One thing that I have been doing is getting the programs that worked on a legacy OS like WinXP to work on Windows7. Thankfully, working with Windows7 is a WHOLE lot easier than Vista! Almost all of the programs that I used to use are working just fine. One program/device that I have to install is my iRiver ifp895 which is my main podcasting device. It’s not so Windows friendly, mainly because the driver isn’t in the device and you have to install manually. Also, the proprietary iRiver Music Manager sometimes has “issues” with seeing the device. Dunno why… I should look into recorder that records directly to MP3 and will drag and drop when plugged into a computer (windows or linux).

Anyway, this past weekend was the FOURTH ANNUAL World Wide Festival of Races! It’s hard to believe that this was our Fourth Year, but it was! Once again, I chose to do the Half Marathon distance despite the fact that I had a TOTAL of 6 miles in 2 different running sessions (4 miles on 9/12 and 2 miles on 10/2)! I figure that I was stoopid enough had enough experience with running that I could tell if I was getting ready to die breaking my body getting into some trouble. This year, I didn’t have the kids, which is nice not having an extra 100lbs to push along the 13.1 mile course, especially when I was a little severely under trained. Also this year, I was thinking about the course that I would run, as if I went the traditional out-and-back course that I had done the previous times, it would leave me pretty far out, if there was any “emergencies” (such as severe cramps, or exhaustion). Also, there was a UT home football game, which would cause some issues because my Course of Choice would take me through Volunteer Landing and behind Neyland Stadium. With the Vol Navy and 100,000 spectators in the general area, this be way too much traffic to negotiate… TWICE.

Taking into account the game, I also decided that it would be best to run DURING the game. Thus if there was traffic around the campus, it would be at a minimum. I would be parking a few miles off of campus, but when you bring in 100,000 people to a football game, the traffic tends to pick up. I made it to the Third Creek Greenway parking area at Earthfare just after 1:00pm. The first quarter to the game was just about over, and so, it would work out time-wise, if I didn’t have any issues. The question was now: what course should I take?

From where I was parked, I could take 3 different directions. The parking lot was close to where the Sutherland Greenway and the Bearden Greenway merged together and so I could take either one. If I took the Bearden Greenway, it would be an Out-and-Back to my location. Taking the Sutherland Greenway could be an Out-and-Back or I could make it a loop where it connected up with Third Creek Greenway. What I decided was to go out on Bearden Greenway and back (2.5 Miles), Go out on Sutherland Greenway and back (2.5 miles) and then go out on Third Creek Greenway (4.1 miles) and then back (4.0 miles).

Bearden Greenway (2.5 miles: 23:22, 23:22)

Heading out initially wasn’t that big of a deal. Despite being 9 days since I had last run, I think the excitement from the Festival of Races was enough to jumpstart my engines. And like in true Terry Form, I started out way to fast! There was a mild threat of rain, but that never bothered me during the run. The nice thing was that the Sun stayed in the cloud and didn’t beat down on me. I did have a water bottle with me and I had routed my course that I would be able to keep my water bottle filled and have some access to food during my run.

During my run, I did have someone stop me and ask me for directions. I was happy to oblige since this was the WORLD WIDE Festival of Races and it was quite obvious that the gentleman lost on his bike was from another part of the World. I made it back to the car in 23:22, where I filled up my water bottle and headed back out.

Sutherland Greenway (2.5 miles: 25:04, 48:26)

The Sutherland Greenway is merely a sidewalk, but a sidewalk with Mile Markers! There’s alot more “action” out on Sutherland Ave since it’s a minor road in the area with a sizable amount of businesses on it, plus a High School and some Off Campus UT housing. This really keeps you aware of what is around you, as you don’t want to get creamed by someone coming out of a driveway or parking lot. Thankfully, it went by pretty quickly and without incident. My time was fairly comparable to the Bearden Greenway section, but the slowing-down had begun.

Third Creek Greenway (4.1 miles: 43:50, 1:32:16)

Running on Third Creek is probably my favorite place to run on asphalt in the area. There are plenty of hills, there’s a park with a bathroom and water fountain and there’s a number of terminus points of other sidewalks/greenways which allows for a customizable route of just about any length. This part of the run would take me out on Third Creek to where I would connect with the Neyland Greenway. This would then take me toward Volunteer Landing and Neyland Stadium, but since I had already gone 5 miles, I wouldn’t have to get into the hustle and bustle of the game traffic. My legs where already pretty sore at this point. I was finding a rising pain in my shins. It wasn’t like shin splits, it was highly localized, but I am sure that it was shoe (degradation) related or an over-use on a weak muscle. Once at the turn around point, I stopped to work out the muscle, plus… very conveniently was a group of tailgators watching the game. I heard the fireworks while I was on Third Creek, which indicates that Tennessee had scored (either Touchdown or Field Goal, but you don’t know which). I wasn’t sure if that was just us trying to stay in the game, or if we were just trying not to get shut-out. It was neither… we were well in control of the game and I got to see a couple plays before I started back to the car.

Third Creek Greenway (2.0 miles: 23:44, 1:56:00)

Working out the pain in my shin turned out to be pretty effective. It did flair back up once again, but working on it a second time and it was fine. I had ran out of water but was able to get refill at Tyson Park, but it would have to last me until I finished, and at this point, I was drinking like a fish. I was trying to avoid having to stop to walk, because I knew that once I stopped to walk, it would be pretty much over for speed at that point. I made it to the 11 mile mark before I had to go into a Survival mode of walk-run.

Third Creek Greenway to Finish (2.0 miles: 31:00, 2:27:00)

At this point, it was to keep my speed around a 4:00 walking 800 meters (1/4 mile). At first, I was able to walk close to a 1/4 mile and then run some, but that drifted down to a “run whenever I felt like I could”. I was able to keep the pace fast enough to keep my 2 miles under 32 minutes, but it really showed about how far I could really sustain a 10 minute mile. I was very happy to finish and running the 13.1 miles despite not having the proper training (i.e. Don’t Try This At Home).

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Congratulations to all those that participated in this year’s World Wide Festival of Races! Once again, we had a bunch of runners in many different countries! Next year will be the FIFTH year! The distances of the World Wide Festival of Races include a Kick the Couch 5k (3.1 miles), The Zen Run 10k (6.2 miles) and the World Wide Half marathon (13.1 miles). Entry fee to this event is FREE. The training programs are FREE (though, you physically have to do them for them to work), the Training Log (powered by Buckeye Outdoors) is FREE! In addition, you can print a customized Bib Number, plus finisher’s certificate… BOTH FREE ( you have to supply the printer). You also get a Goody Bag (PDF file) that’s very similar to the Bags that you get a Packet Pick-up at Race… which will cost you DOUBLE of your Entry Fee, oh, which is again NOTHING! And if you missed the Festival this year, don’t sweat! Next year’s campaign will start shortly after the New Year, which if you have not looked at a calendar in a while is not too far off!

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2009 Scholar’s Run 5k Race Report

August 20, 2009 planet3rry 3 comments

I wasn’t really expecting much out of the race and my finishing time showed it: 26:21

Despite having one of my slowest 5k times in recent memory, I was pleased with my technical approach to the race. The Scholar’s Run isn’t known for it’s gentle rolling hills. In fact, on the tougher part of the course, you past by a cemetery, just in case you can’t make it up the hill and just need to roll over and expire. Funny… another race in the area has the same setup… curious.

So, what’s so special about a slow time but technically pleasing to someone… Negative Splits… bay-beee. And for those that aren’t familiar with Runner’s Jargon, a “Negative Split” is when you run a certain distance (a split) faster than the previous one. Typically in marathons, you’ll say you ran a negative split if you ran the first half of the marathon faster than the first half. In 5ks, you usually have to run all 3 (or 4 if you are counting that last 0.1 and using your average pace). So in my case, I went from 8:42 min/mi to a 8:32 min/mi and to a 8:30 min/mi with the last 0.1 having a kick of 36 sec which averages to a 6:00 min/mi pace.

So although I wasn’t anywhere near the awards for my age group, nor anywhere close to a time that I would find satisfactory for my historical performance, I did walk away from the race with the hunger of racing again. A spark, once again, lighting the fire of focusing on the race and training ahead. I am 13 weeks out from Flying Monkey and still unknown if I will be wearing a bib at that event or not.

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2009 Flying Pig Marathon Race Report

June 14, 2009 planet3rry 3 comments

I am now more than a month removed from the actual race, but I can still visualize parts of the race. Overall, I did not achieve the time that I was aiming for, 4:15, but rather finished in a 4:36:07, but I am not complaining (too much). Technically, I think I ran the race pretty well, I was well hydrated and it wasn’t until after the race that I realized that I had to make myself eat out on the course, because I never felt really hungry. One thing that will make this race report hard is that I can remember pockets of the race, but am not exactly sure where they were on the course. So, let’s begin.

Swine Flew

Despite the H1N1 Virus media frenzy, that did not stop the marketing of The Pig. Nestled downtown Cincinnati, Ohio housed the convention center and where the Packet Pickup and Race Expo was held. One of the unknowns for The Flying Pig was that this was the largest event that I had ran, ever. I am quite used to and can manage running for large stretches of races with no one around… no runners, no crowd support, no race support… just me and the watch. But this race was different, there were 4,070 finishers, just for the marathon, 661 teams and over 8,000 half marathon finishers. So at race start, there were over 12,000 people there. Slightly more than the 2002 Richmond Marathon where the marathon finishers were around 2500 or so.

The Expo was well marked and with the maze setup, it was very easy to get the essentials (Bib and Chip) before being thrusted into the marketing sty of Flying Pig Marathon paraphernalia. There were a few things that I would actually have liked to purchase, but being a tight budget race, and the fact that I didn’t REALLY need any of that stuff, we passed on everything before going into the Vendor section of the race. Having experience with vendor’s both from MK and other marathons, while the Expo had more people than what I thought was comfortable, it was fairly manageable even with The Elder and The Younger.

Of the vendors at the marathon, I was happy to touch and feel some of the new products from Road ID. I am in need of a spare one and so I was hoping for some sort of race discount, which I got a coupon for, but am not sure that it is any good anymore. We scored a free canvas bag from the Wal-mart area, they had the space of 4 boothes filled with flowers and other silent auction items. There was even a Wii there, you could blow out a knee trying to do the downhill ski game, but it was fun. One of the more interesting things was the knowledge of the mini-Stick, a pre and post race tool… no Runner is complete without one. Actually you don’t “need” one… but they are pretty awesome, especially when you need to knead some lactic acid out of your legs, or back. My Lovely and Talented Wife actually put my name into a contest for a free race entry for the Niagra Falls International Marathon. The kids were entertained with some small Canadian Flags and then got these cool LED lapel pins that flashed lights in the race logo. Exiting the Expo, we were treated to a nice poster of the event and a messenger bag with embroidered race logo and sponsors. Definitely a nice premium for the racers, hopefully ASD Athletes will get to the point of getting super cool stuff for the athletes… but that is a different story.

So with the packet pick up going down and the bib was secure, the countdown to the race was more real… now only over-sleeping would have prevented me from getting to race start. We had plenty of time to drive around Cincinnati and found ourselves going in the wrong direction of civilization. The Elder enjoyed it because it was next to a train track, I wasn’t all that thrilled because the structures we were passing became more and more delapidated as we went… neat for historical references, BAD for personal safety. So, rerouting we finally made our way to something near civilization and had lunch at Texas Roadhouse.

Our next desination before going back to the hotel, was to find Union Station and check it out. Actually finding it wasn’t that hard, and actually getting to it wasn’t either. But when we started to park, we noticed that people in Tuxedos and Gowns were going up to the entrance. We were feeling a tad under-dressed, but that didn’t stop us from going in to see what the hours were for Sunday, providing that I was still alive.

Getting back to hotel, it wasn’t long before I went back out to get some stuff on the Walgreen’s list and Dinner list. On the way there, I was able to some of the local prostitutes hanging out on one of the corners. Thank goodness that it was daylight, because my silver minivan stuck out like a sore thumb… although I did want to roll down the window and ask “Hey, what can I get for 10 Dollars?” [ed note: reference to the movie Full Metal Jacket, made pop-culture through the rap song by 2 Live Crew]. Little did I know that just about 2 hours later, I would be lost in this neighborhood and be down by the business park where it would be dimly lit and nothing around where a nice out of town boy could be mugged or beaten or worse and no one would find out… it was like the opening scene of CSI.

Talk about motivation! It is times like that why guys don’t ask for directions… EVER! About 45 min later, I made it back to the hotel room, safe and secure. I had a salad with tuna, some almonds, raspberry vinagrette and after a couple of bowls, I was full and content. Next was to get some prerace rituals underway and make sure that I didn’t oversleep.

Race Day, Finally

The hotel that I was staying in was actually in Kentucky, so I had to leave with plenty of time to get to the early start. Thankfully when there are many THOUSANDS of people heading to the race start, it’s pretty obvious where you need to go. A light rain was falling, making it cool, though a little humid. I was just hoping that it would stay overcast.

It was about a mile walk from my room to the race start, so when I got there, I had a little warm-up and seeing that there was quite a number of people, I really was not expecting to take off in a hurry. My personal goal for this race was a 4:15 or better, so I made sure that I found the 4:15 pace group and lined up somewhere in front of them.

The magic of race day is just as exciting and powerful whethere there are 48 people at race start or 4,800. There is so much unknown, each race is different and that is one of the mysteries of the marathon. You never run the same race twice, and although you “plan” to peak at Race Day, you never really know until you are well into the race. And it’s the firing of the gun that sets you free!

Most of the race, now, has faded into obscurity except for a few things that have stuck and so it’s these things that I will share:

It’s doesn’t take Rocket Science (and techincally, I have a nuclear engineering degree anyway) to know that People cheering on the course makes a difference. What I found was there was a long stretch were there were people 1-2 people deep for what seemed like a short time. I noticed that this time passed quickly because there was always something to see, people to look at AND because I wanted people to see my shirt and headband, just in case there was a fellow Dump Runner there, the crowd of people actually made me correct my form… and run more upright. However, the crowd, because it does get exciting makes it seem that you are running a faster pace then planned. It might just be a placebo effect… I’ll have to run more marathons to collect the appropriate data (it’s the Statistician in me).

Despite the positive effect of the large crowds, having run many marathon in near isolation was, tactfully a good thing. Apart from the super-MEGA-MONDO marathons where there are 1.2 million people around (or something like that), in most long distances races there are long stretches where it is YOU and THE COURSE. Having to go through this multiple times, it really makes things easier, when all of a sudden you are by yourself, or are in between pockets of runners. Right after the long stretch of people mentioned above, there was virtually nothing for a stretch… and if you were relying on the crowd for supplemental motivation, good luck! There was also another stretch coming back that was very similar, between water stations, there were some scattered runners and if you were alone at the start, more than likely you’d be that way for most of that stretch.

I could not believe how well I was on food during the race. It wasn’t until a week or so later after the race that I realized that I barely ate any of my own food on the course. In fact, I had to force myself to eat in the beginning. I wasn’t remotely hungry but experience has taught me that during a marathon, you don’t eat whenever, you have a plan and STICK TO IT! My standard plan for eating is eat something every 4 miles, plus take the energy gels on the course and alternate between carb-drink (gatorade, powerade, etc) and water. And not only was I not all that hungry, but I was well hydrated. It did help that it was overcast and slightly misting, although this (in my opinion) hurt me in the end… details to follow. When there are TONS of runners and people in the crowd, it is hard to find a place to ditch for a little tinkle. So, I just did what the professionals do. I went. I went while running. Now, I am sure that I wasn’t prettiest smelling person out on the course, but I wasn’t distrupting my time to stop and use the bathroom. I’ll be honest, it wasn’t the most comfortable thing to do, but after a few times, I had a method to the madness. What a time saver!

My goal of a 4:15 became further and further attainable and finally succumbed to the almightly lactic acid, late in the race. It was some point after mile 20-21, where I went from my Marathon Racing Mode to Marathon Survival Mode. I wasn’t going to let the build up of lactic acid keep me from having, at the very least, a good technical race. I saw My Lovely and Talented Wife and the Dynamic Duo, I think, somewhere around mile 19ish. So after that, I knew that I wouldn’t see anyone (I knew) until the end of the race. I don’t think that I actually stopped running and shifted to walking exclusively. I might have, but I have blocked that from my memory. I would walk when I was either slowing down to, or starting back up from stretching my legs. I set visual goals for myself as I started up each time… making to a particular destination before allowing myself to stretch again.

Another, “We don’t need no stinkin’ Rocket Science” is that Practice Makes Perfect What You’ll Probably Do Naturally In That Situation. I had taken Matt’s 3-2-1 BLAST OFF workout and had made a hybrid of taking that format of 3-2-1 BLAST OFF and converting it specifically for ending a long distance race. For the last segment of the race, the first increment of the plan, I did a self-analysis of what shape I was in for landing (Finishing the Race). My legs were shot, heavy tree trunks just about short of falling over, but mentally I was still On-Point: Engaged and still in The Race. The second increment of the plan, is a race-analysis. Where was I relative to the finish? I knew my energy levels… so, who could I overtake?

The third increment of the plan would be what I associate with the actual launch (of the Space Shuttle). This is the point on the course, where you don’t hold back anymore and go for about 80% of what you have left in the tank. “Usually” this point for me is when I see the clock at the end of the race and can read the numbers.

In the case of the Space Shuttle, there is point where the Space Shuttle has reached a certain speed and the procedure is to go faster to help break Earth’s Gravity. For those who biggest News event (Pre 9/11) was the Space Shuttle Challenger, this is the point that 72 seconds into the mission, that the O-ring failed. This is Throttle up. And my executive function (i.e. Houston) and I have communication on this point on the course.

“Go for throttle up.”

“Roger that, Going for throttle up.”

I am not sure how many people I passed in that last little bit… I was hurting. I felt like I was running a 6 minute mile. I am sure it was closer to a 8 minute mile, but when I got to the end, I was exhausted. At the very end, the Mayor of Cincinnati was there shaking finisher’s hand. My next goal, after crossing the finishing mat was to shake his hand. And breathless, I did.

“Are you going to be okay?” was the Mayor’s words to me. I kinda nodded and moved along. The next guy at the finisher’s line asked, “Are you with us now?” I was at least functioning, but still not that coherent. I wandered around the finish line a little bit with my mylar blanket (BEST THING EVER!) trying to gain some clarity. I was hoping to meet Kevin from The Extra Mile podcast, but I had been running late and missed him, plus I wouldn’t have said anything that made sense… Bumblebee Tuna.

I continued to wander out to the food area. Being a middle of the packer sucks, but not “as” bad as a back of the pack runner because of the scarcity of food. It doesn’t help that being on Gluten Free nixes many of the snacks at the end of the race. I think Oranges was the only thing they had left that I could eat, oh, and potato chips.

My family found me, at some point, and we did make it back to the car (eventually). Now that I had finished the marathon, it was time to go over to the Union Station and visit the Children’s Science Museum. It’s a fine day when you can run a marathon AND have fun with SCIENCE!

So, not a PR race, but I had (what I thought) was a good technical race for myself. Not “only” as a guy, I can pee standing up… but now I know how to do it running. I think what held me back was the lack of miles during training. Looking back at my average weekly mileage during the previous 12 weeks, it was an average of around 27-28 miles per week, with a peak of 32-33 miles one week. So, I know that with “proper training regiment” that I can break that 4 hour barrier, no problem.

Oh, and remember that drawing that My Lovely and Talented Wife entered me in at The Expo? Well, I won… I won a free entry to the Niagra Falls INTERNATIONAL marathon! Seeing that I want to run the Flying Monkey Marathon again, and that’s not very PR friendly, this will be my Fall marathon Race. At the end of June, I will start officially training for it. I am thinking that I am going to make a mash up of Ryan Hall’s Half-Marathon plan with one the Hanson’s Brother’s plans, plans on that later.

I’ll have pictures up… eventually.

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2008 Flying Monkey Marathon Race Report

December 10, 2008 planet3rry 7 comments

There is something different about this marathon. It has extra Savoir Faire, to quote John & John, to say the least. I discovered this right at packet pickup when I met the race director, Trent, and him telling me that I was a fool and didn’t heed his advice.

While standing in line, Trent asked one of the runners if she remembered her number from last year. She didn’t, but that’s okay because once you sign up for the Monkey, you get a race number and that’s YOURS for LIFE. I think I might try to use it for my SSN instead, my FMN (Flying Monkey Number) which is 438. One guy has 3.14159265, another has the infinity symbol and I am stuck with 438.

I get my packet and my timing chip. Oh wait, did I say “Timing” chip? Sorry… they were handing out potato chips as timing chips. i think it was one of the chips with ridges, they should have said it was a course 3D map… it’d be accurate!

Now, the race packet was a few pieces of paper, my bib, with my NAME on it! And the bib even MATCHED the color of the race shirts. Oh wait, did I say race “shirts”? Technically that is a misnomer, because the race shirt was a Long Sleeved Technical Shirt, with the race info on it AND my NAME! The OTHER shirt was a Tshirt that said “My Monkey Made Me Do It”… which is how I have 2 kids, huh.

The race bag wasn’t some cheap plastic bag, nor was it the nicer paper bags that I have gotten. No, it was a Publix (Grocery Store) canvas bag! This did NOT have my name on it, as my legal name is not “Publix”. Although, I think that I may have been called somethings that are close to that word. If there were other stuff in there, I don’t really remember… I’ve run a marathon since then.

Now, before the race start, we had the normal race info meeting and then there were group pictures. Although I think these might have been requested for remain and missing persons identification, they disguised it as a picture of the Marathon Maniacs. Next year, I will be able to be included in there… if I get off my lazy post marathon ass and send in the email application [ed note: which I did as I was inserting links into this post].

The weather conditions were pretty good at race start. It was upper 20s, but it was suppose to warm-up to the 50s, so I braved the cold weather with what I had on in the pictures from a couple of days ago. Usually, if it below 40, I wear my Almost Tights for warmth, but given that the forecast was 50F by the race finish, I stuck with shorts.

Right before race start, I wasn’t all that nervous. I was excited, but I wasn’t overly giddy. Although I wasn’t disappointed, I was glad that I would be in control and not taking off trying to get a PR time, only to create a huge train wreck. I wouldn’t have the “weather” to blame for my poor performance and slow time. Of course, there were the big MoFo hills… and they proved to be formidable adversaries.

The marathon course in Harpeth Hills was definitely the hardest course that I have run. It’s the sheer number of hills that does it. There is little to No flat areas of any notable distance, except for the first and last 0.3-0.4 of a mile. Everything else is UP or DOWN and some even seems to be BOTH at the same time.

The marathon is run through Percy Warner Park, which you can think of all the hills in the Nashville area crammed into a small tract of land and we were running on it! For all practical purposes, there is little to no marathon crowd cheering support, but the few spots there are are rockin! There is plenty of Support (water, food) on the course. I don’t think there was ever time when I was in need, the Water stops were spaced out almost perfectly! In fact, I didn’t even bring my own food.

One thing was visibly missing from the water/food stops and my only rationale is that they didn’t want to excite the flying monkeys more then sacrificial running ritual marathon runners out there in their honor, and those were bananas. Nope… no bananas. Aren’t bananas like communion wafers of marathons?

The course, although sparse of crowds, did have quite a few personages on it that were out there voluntarily. A number of walkers were on the course. There were a few runners on there. I mean, why run on the course for free when you could pay GOOD money for 2 shirts with your name on it? Oh, and a Green Canvas bag? Also saw some hikers and I did see a couple trail runners out there as well. I would imagine that the trails out there would be like running Big South Fork, just longer…

The views were fantastic while I could still focus. The leaves were past their peak and some what fallen off, but that just made the vista view even more gorgeous as the sun beamed through the holes in the yellow tinted leaves. The cooler air clearer in the distance allowed you to see for miles and miles, as we ran for miles and miles…

I can’t really talk about my times, because I was slower up the hills and faster down the hills. Most of the mile split times deviate by over a minute from mile to mile! I felt really consistent in perceived effort (not actual pace) for the entire race. It was the water stop at the top of the hill at Mile 24 that I really started to feel the beginning of the end of my endurance. Up to this point, my legs were HURTING, but with my water bottle in hand, I was still motivated to run. Instead of lasting a number of miles before needing water, I was having to fill up my water bottle every stop. But, I learned that I can withstand ALOT of pain, as long as I can feel hydrated. Which tells me that Rutledge could have been ALOT worse if I hadn’t carried the water with me.

Around Mile 14, I saw a tiny figure in the distance… and then there was another… The monkeys are out to get me. Then I realized that they were MY crazy Monkeys! I ran up to them and stopped and bent down to give both hugs! They ran with me to where My Lovely and Talented Wife was standing. Now, The Elder ran pretty fast and was bragging that he beat me running to mommy… but I KNOW that I could have taken him… I was just saving my energy. The cool thing was that I was not expecting to see them at all.

So at the last water stop around 24.5-25ish, I fueled up as best as I could and tried to manage the pain. The best I could do at this point was just look ahead and try to relax. I couldn’t focus on anything else, just get me to the finish line. I wasn’t demoralized at all when I went past 4:30. I had no expectations on finishing times… or even if I was going to finish. Near 25.5, I finally convince myself… to walk. I had hit the wall. Although I could physically move forward, I had mentally stopped and went to walking. I was also starting to get a tad delusional as well… my head was getting light and I was thinking that I was Batman. I knew that I had less than a mile to go and so I collect myself and realized that I would not be able to make a super mad dash to the end… but I would survive.

I left the asphalt roads of Percy Warner Park to the final approach to the Finish Line on the trail leading to the finishing chute. I stared at the ground looking for large clumps of dirt that would reach out and grab my feet and pull me down to the ground. And there is was! The glorious finish line! There were cameras there and so I needed some good promo pieces and didn’t want it to look how I was really feeling…

With about 50 yards to go, I met up with The Kids and tried to get them to come with me. Had The Younger known the drill, I think the Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey Marathon Guess My Time, WIn Crap Winner, My Other Running Brother Darrell would have been spot on with 4:43:00. I was able to get The Elder to turn with me and run over the finish line with me… The Younger, clueless, was still following to the finish.

I LOVED this race. I want to do it every year! I think that my “goal” for the race will Beat The Bib! that’s a sub 4:38 marathon which, on a normal course with moderate conditions is pretty doable… on this course, ehhh… not so much.

Okay, so there it is. Most of it has been written, just as a draft. I am glad to get this blog post sent so that I proceed to the normal “quality” content! Pictures of both races are coming shortly…

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2008 Rutledge Marathon Race Report

November 17, 2008 planet3rry 7 comments

Normally when I do a race report, especially a longer race report, I use a A-F Grading System for different aspects of the Race, but since the 2008 Rutledge Marathon was the inaugral running, I don’t think it’s quite fair to grade things, especially compared to other marathons that have larger budgets and have worked out some of the kinks of race logistics.

Friday night, I had just about everything packed and ready to go. I was anticipating having to rush around in the morning and having to battle the kids to let me out of the door… only to leave them with My Lovely and Talented Wife in their meltdown mode. However, despite using the microwave to heat up water for my Thermos and other noises in the kitchen, they didn’t wake up and I only left about 5 minutes late.

Rutledge, TN is a Rural City about 35 minutes of Downtown Knoxville and so while everything is right off of Route 11, I was beginning to worry that I had missed the race start location because it seemed like I was driving and driving. And it didn’t help that it was RAINING! Arriving to the marathon start, I proceeded to park and since it was being Staged at Ritter Farms, the parking lot was a field… a wet field. I began wonder if my Civic was going to get out in a few hours, because with the mud pits being generated and the rain not stopping… I might just have to run home.

Not 1 minute out of the car, I received a text from my Support Crew, I Run for my 1.5 Lives Susan, that she was here. I told her that I was heading to get my number and we met up at the barn that was being staged for Race Registration. She told me that her GPS had told her Ritter Farms was at a different location and that she would have been here sooner if she hadn’t turned around. That’s locations in East Tennessee for you…[ed. note: I tried to bring Ritter Farms up on a Google Map and 1) it's TOTALLY in the wrong place, like Susan Said and 2) The Photos for this region do not get very detailed when trying to zoom in]

I can’t thank Susan enough for volunteering on being my Support crew. Not only is she Pregnant, but she was also on a vacation weekend with some friends and her husband in the Pigeon Forge (near Dollywood) area. I didn’t even have to use a Jedi Mind Trick to coerce her get her to come to the marathon. And had not she shown up, I would have TOTALLY understood. Not only was the forecast for low-mid 50s but it was supposed to rain until NOON. But Again, It’s East Tennessee… if you don’t like the weather, wait 5 minutes.

Now, this was the first time that I used a specific “Support” crew. In past marathons, I have had Cheering Crews (My Lovely and Talented Wife et al) and I have used the aid that has been on the course. This was the first time that I had preplanned to have stuff ready for me. Now, it helped that it was a double loop and that I would be returning to the course start to start the second loop.

In a Canvas Grocery Bag, I included 2 sports bottles: one labeled WATER and one labeled GATORADE. I Can’t remember everything else that was in there except for the very important STROLLER PACK. When I was going over what I had and when I would potential need it, I pulled the Stroller Pack out of the bag and asked,

“Have you heard my most recent podcast?”

“Uhhhhhhhh, which one?”

“About Poop.”

“Oh yeah, I have.”

“OKay, this is “The Stroller Pack”, if I ask for this, things went wrong”, holding up the gallon sized Ziplock bag filled with things that I found useful in my recent rash of unscheduled “Pit Stops.”

We waited around for quite a while, and it was very evident that the 7:35am marathon start was going to pushed back. Susan had overheard that someone received an email saying the marathon would be pushed back(and the website DOES have the updated time). But I never received one. Which was fine because the later start would help with the Sun coming up and although it was still raining would add some ambient light to the course. Around 8am, they herded us (haha, farm reference) to the Race Start.

As we were going over Pre-Race announcements we were blinded by light from the Sun. It had broken through the clouds and I was beginning to question my choice of wearing a wind breaker. However, it was still kind of windy and there were still clouds in the sky… and it was still cold, so having the windbreaker was a good way to 1) Break the Wind, 2) Stay Dry and 3) Regulate Temperature. AND I had a Support Crew, that if I ditched the jacket, it would be retreived!

So around 8:10, the gun, which was VERY LOUD, went off and we started running. In about a 1/4 mile, everyone was greeted with a head wind. A nice head wind. Although the actual weather conditions were erratic, the wind was constant, both in direction and in intensity. So for the first 7 miles we had somewhere between a 10-15mph headwind. It was strong enough to keep flags flapping in the wind and you could hear the metal clasps banging on the Flagpole. I don’t think anyone got video of the wind, I had meant to, but I got distracted with the whole marathon “thing” going on.

The “Official” Support on the course was really good. There were Support tables at Miles 1.5, 6.2, 7.9 and 10.9 which also meant that you got them again at 14.6, 19.3, 21 and 24 (website lists one more spot, but I can’t remember it… but that’s my problem!). At all of the Support areas you had: Water, Gatorade, Pretzels, Bananas, Oranges, PowerGels, PowerBars, and the PowerGummies. With the on-course support this good, I never had to use any of the Gel Packs that I brought, I was able to get everything on the course. And in the later miles when I needed my water bottle filled, they had enough to do it… and at the last stop, did it for me!

Now MY Support Crew had made signs! I don’t have the pictures hereyet , but I will post them when I get them and can get mine together! They were AWESOME. I don’t want to spoil them now, but they we VERY well done, and funny. In fact, the people that I was running with liked them as well.

It was difficult to catch the split times in the first loop, mainly because some of the mileage markers were spray painted on the ground and so if you didn’t see the split, you missed it. So, I know that my first 2 miles were in 19 flat, which was a 9:30min pace. I felt GREAT at this pace and with PLENTY of runners ahead, the wind wasn’t a factor until after the 2 mile mark when runners started to seperate. By Mile 3, I was already in at a 10min pace. The Wind was relentless and I was drafting behind runners to avoid having to battle the wind.

The course really wasn’t all that hilly. There was one very steep, but very short hill, everything else was pretty gradual. So, the hills were really a non-issue. For the 1st 7 miles of the loop, the course was on the side of Highway 11S except for some small sections. The Police presence was very good and there was never a point that I felt like target to the cars, nor did I have anything thrown at me. The Wind made it pretty cold for the first part of the loop and so I was glad to have the Windbreaker.

Around Mile 4, I started running with (after drafting for about a mile) a girl duo. One of the girls it was her 1st half marathon race and she was shooting for a 2:10 time. This was also her first time at this distance and after quizzing her on her current training, i was pretty confident that she would make the 2:10 time, but there was always the wind to deal with.

Unfortunately, I had to stop at the PortaJohn at the Water Station at Mile 4.4 and I lost 4 minutes in there. I have NO idea where the time went, but I was trying to avoid a major Malfunction and I DID! Castrophy Avoided. And now I had a mission… catch back up with the girls that I was running with earlier and get them to a 2:10 finish.

At Mile 7 we had the turn around point and so the wind would be at our backs. YAY! We’d Have a Tailwind! YAY! The Slow first part of the loop would be averaged out with a faster and easier 2nd section of the loop! YAY! The turn around dropped us in a road parallel to Highway 11S and lower by about 10 feet, thus having the buildings and trees protecting us from the wind. BOO! In Fact, on the second part of the 1st loop, it got warm enough that I had to take off my windbreaker because it was keeping me TOO warm! And then it rained for a short spell, then the sky broke open and there were some spots of blue in the sky… but the wind… never let up.

Somewhere around Mile 9, I caught back up with the girls from the first section. They were still running strong, but a little worn down. Looking at my watch, I knew that it would be kinda pushing it to make it in 2:10, but I divulged to them that I caught back up with them to make sure they would make it in their goal time.

I saw Susan somewhere around Mile 10-11 and I panicked! How did she get there? Um, her car. Could she get back to the race start by the time that I got there so that I could get my supplies… the things you think while running. Of course Terry, she has a CAR! Duh! Okay, disaster averted! And I got to see the signs that she had made… YAY because silly me thought she was just going to be at the Race Start/Finish area.

At Mile 12, it was final approach for my new Runner Friends. Of course, she told me her name, but I failed to remember what it was and the results aren’t posted for me to cheat and see what it is. I felt good at this point, so keeping pace for her was easy for me, but the distance had taken somewhat of a toll on her. Although she didn’t ask for it, I immediately went into “active coaching” mode and started coaching her in that last mile. Since she was fatigued, it was fixing her form/posture and breathing. Then to concentrate on the course ahead.

At one point, she said something and I immediately blurted out, “Less Talking, More Breathing.” So she concentrated and then in a Terry-Like move, in the last 0.1 of a mile, out of the blue, she took off and sped up to the finish line. I’m pretty sure it was 2:11-2:12 finishing time… I don’t know at this point.

Now, as I was, coming through the turnaround, there was my Support Crew, taking pictures! So, I should have a number of good Facebook Profile pictures to rotate through! But the best part was when Susan Said,

“What Do You Need?”

“Gatorade.”

“You want to leave your jacket?”

“Sure,” I replied, totally forgetting that I had been pampered with being sheltered from the wind the last 6 miles and just had to deal with some rain and some heat…

So, I had a FULL bottle of liquid and I was ready to go! And it was only 0.2 of mile before I had to deal with the wind again. I caught up with another runner just as I was starting the 2nd Loop. There was a gust of wind and a splattering of rain and she said:

“I’m going to run behind you for a bit”

“Sure, go right ahead, I was drafting behind some runners at the start of the race, so tuck behind me”

We ended up running for a little bit together chatting about which marathon this was and which ones we had done… Joked about the weather… commented on the police presence on the course. But we parted ways, or rather she slowed down to prep for the steep hill and I ran until the base of it before walking up it.

Just before the 17 mile mark, I got “That Call” and for those seasoned Readers of this blog, that can mean only one thing… Awwww POOP! Sure enough. Despite the fact that I had gone BEFORE the race and then made the stop at mile 4.4, I was still getting that “Call of Nature”. I knew the PortaJohn wasn’t too far ahead (with in 0.5 mile) and thought I could make it. I couldn’t.

I scrambled for a secluded part of the woods were I could “commune” with Nature. The advantage to running in rural Tennessee is that you can pretty much do what you need to do without being seen. So, I did what I needed to do… another 4 minutes GONE! But, I was much better and I knew there was that PortaJohn that I could “freshen up” in.

As I was approaching, I could see Susan’s car… sweet! That meant Stroller Pack! As I was approaching there were other people near Susan’s Car. Huh, that sure looked like our van. And there’s two tiny people holding up signs as big as them! And there’s a hot looking oriental woman standing there… sure enough, it’s My Lovely and Talented Wife with The Dynamic Duo with signs and The Elder was in an ASDa shirt!

But as I approached my Mission was clear:

“Susan… Stroller Pack!”

“Uh-oh,” she said going to her vehicle to get it.

I dashed into the PortaJohn and came out minutes later, feeling clean. I stopped to say Hi to everyone and had took some picture of me with The Kids. The Younger must of had one of the PowerCranky gels because he was NOT a happy camper (could have been the wind). The Elder was very enthusiastic holding up the sign.

But, I still had about 9 more miles to go… 3 of which were with a headwind. I know that my Mile 17 Split included both my Nature Commune and the PortaJohn and it was 20 minutes and change. So it really took alot of time just in that mile.

When I came to the Water Station at mile 19ish, I told the guy, “The Only Weather we haven’t had was Thunder and Snow.”

“Oh, they are forecasting that [snow] for tonight.”

Great. I should be finished by then, just 1 more mile and I will be able to get out of the wind and down in the sheltered area. By Mile 20, I was still feeling pretty good, considering everything (i.e. The Wind and other weather phenomenon). At the Aid Station at Mile 21, I was already done with my water bottle and needed a refill, that was the first sign that I was starting to feel the effects. Just after the Aid Station, I saw Susan and she asked where I was and I was just at Mile 21… and I remember still feeling pretty good.

And Mile 22, I caught up with the Runner Chick that I was running with at the beginning of this 2nd Loop. We caught up on the last 5 miles and chatted about the weather. In the span of roughly 1 mile, the blue skies that was letting the Sun beat down on us, clouded up and some cold rain came down. Only to shortly clear up (this happens when the wind can move the clouds around)… well, at least, rain went away, but the clouds stayed.Until about 15 minutes later when the Sun was shining and the Rain came down again from a dark rain cloud in the North.

I can’t remember exactly which mile it was, but we saw an AWESOME Rainbow off in the distance. It was hanging really low in the sky. Actually it appeared to be just North of us, within the hills in the background.

Seeing that a time anywhere NEAR my Terry Anticipated Time of 4:05 was out of the question. Perhaps it was after doing the math in my head realizing I would need a near World Record performance to make up the time and distance. So, I had decided that I was going to hang with this other Runner. We stopped when she needed to stop to walk and we ran when we could. It seemed that we were on the same Pain Page, because whenever she stopped, I was just about to stop. Her husband was running Support Crew for her, so she was able to get some outside motivation.

I could tell that she was getting bummed about her time. Her previous slowest time was 4:24 and when we passed that she made the comment about it. I tried to console her that the marathon that was my worst experience was the one that I learned the most, so there is hope in races that go poorly, if you can look at from a point of view other than “I failed to get my time.”

I got see Susan again… with a different Sign… She made 2 signs with 4 seperate Messages!

So, with the Motivation of NOT coming in over 5 hours, we decided to focus on the finish and head for home. At the Mile 24.7 or so we came out from the balmy, still area out in the wind-exposed colder section of the race course. In the 1st Loop, there was no benefit in the tail wind, it’s as if it had changed directions for those couple miles, just for me. But now on Final Approach, I was getting a tailwind!

The tailwind was nice for all of about 3 steps until the force of the wind was causing me to run faster than I wanted to run or rather than my legs could handle. Soon enough, I saw the Barn, then the sign for Ritter Farms and then the Clock and then… I was finally finished with this marathon.

Despite the miserable Wind Conditions, I felt pretty good about the marathon. I think that even with my “Calls of Nature” I would have a time that I would have been happy with. I came to terms (as something that I learned in a marathon once) with my finishing time as it is. The 4:50 tells a story, it’s just half of my quest to be a Marathon Maniac. Although all of training (and your Guess My Time guesses) suggest that I should have been on the other side of 4 hours… like 4:20ish (with the “Calls of Nature”) but we can never predict the weather conditions 16 weeks out from when we start training.

The marathon was a very good experience but I don’t get to dwell on it very long. I have another one in a few days, and that one is definitely in uncharted territories… so it’s time to Reload, Recharge and Prepare to battle with some Flying Monkeys!

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