Race Report- Carmel Marathon

     It was a dark and stormy early morning. Suddenly, a shot rang out! Hundreds of people ran away from the scene. This is their story. Or, mine at least.

     I stood in a crowd of a little over 1,800 people gathered for the Carmel, Indiana full and half marathon, 'listening' to the mostly unhearable pre-race announcements. "Blah blah blah, wonderful Carmel, wokka-wokka-watermelon, Carmel office holders, blahdeblahdeblah, Ready...GO!"  And ready or not, my third marathon was underway.  I like to start further back in the slower corrals and work my way up during the race as this gives me a helpful sense of forward momentum, and assures a reasonable starting pace also, but I was itching to run. I felt, as they say, full of running.

     Training had gone well, and while I could have and probably should have done more long runs I felt ready, excited, and eager. I had a reasonably challenging goal of 4 hours, the experience of a previous marathon for reference, and red shoes. The weather had improved some from the predicted rain and cold to at least partly sunny and chilly, but it had been puzzling to figure what to wear. I settled on singlet with a thin jacket I was prepared to toss away at some point. I had used this jacket for years and never really liked it. The collar lining material rubbed my neck, the zipper pull had broken and offered only a little nub to pull on, and the wrist elastic had long ago given up the ghost so the sleeves would ride up and flop around annoyingly. So yeah, I'd wear it until the temp warmed and then leave it at a water station trash can, and good riddance.

We who are about to die salute you!

      The first several miles were pretty slow, from working my way through the crowd and (literally) warming up. I loosened up and settled in for some miles, taking in the scenery, conversations around me, and as always, monitoring and adjusting my form and stride. Around mile 8 I started running pretty well and was happy to see sub 9 minute pace on the Garmin. My goal time required a 9 minute pace, so anything under that would both make up for the slow first miles and put a little time in the bank for later. My perceived level of exertion was fine, I felt steady and relaxed and was running easy.

How's that for hitting my goal pace of 9:00!

     In fact, other than for a super quick pit stop at  mile 16 to, er, unhydrate, I was under my 9 minute pace right up until mile 23, when I stopped to wrestle with the stupid jacket that had by now become my nemesis. I had taken it off somewhere along the way, then realized I might want it later since it wasn't really warm and at several places the gusty wind was downright cold, so had reluctantly tied the thing around my waist. It flopped around, nipped at my arms, the sleeves came loose and flapped against my legs 9,457 times, and eventually the whole soggy burden it had become unravelled and started sinking lower from my waist, threatening to leave me hog-tied in the ditch. So I stopped during mile 23 and walked as I redid the knot and explored the depths of the bluer portion of my vocabulary. At this point I realized I'd need it after the finish, so this combative remora had gained a free ride. Note to self: use gear check next time, duh.

     At Chicago I had started slowing steadily after mile 18 and was in trouble after about 22, but I continued to feel mostly fine pretty much the whole way this time. No 'Wall', no great crash, no wheels coming off. I was over 9/min after mile 23, and the last couple of miles were a challenge as I was starting to lose it then, but I was far too determined to lose sight of my goal and I actually picked it up as the finish neared. I had run by how I felt and had settled into my most natural speed just as I had trained for, running by perceived level of exertion, nudging but not pushing past going just a little too fast. I only used one gel at mile 10 and only took water at a few stops since I don't like Powerade, the house special that day.  Overall I'm very happy with nearly every aspect of this race and encouraged for more marathoning. Time now to learn what I can from this and plan training for Summer and Fall races. More miles and less weight and maybe I can hope for a 3:45 some day?

     My official time was 3:57:52, but my Garmin had measured 26.45, and at 26.2 my time was 3:56:15. But official is official, so 3:57 it is. A 20 minute PR from Chicago and a green light for more progress, I say.

     It was great to have friends there also, and it's hard to explain how much those high 5s and cheers meant to me at mile 24. Thank you so much for that.

     Other more random memories: getting to ride to the start in the empty "Elites Van" because a few of us were in the right place at the right time, calling out "High 5 to the runner you don't know!" (a la Jon L.) to a string of local runners going the other way and getting very enthusiastic response, a short convo with a woman about shoes ("I have 11 pair of Newtons!") that made me happily realize my own shoe problem pales to a broader comparison, and as always, seeing and high 5ing little kids along the way.
     I've read the percentage of the general population that runs is only about 1% or so, (I think?) but it is one that is richly steeped in humanity and while we all run alone, nothing seems to pull us together like a race, where the shared effort and enthusiasm turns a crowd into a sort of family, if only for a few hours.

     And the jacket? I was glad to have it after the finish, where I got chilled pretty fast again. The stupid sweat soaked smelly nasty heavy necessary parasite got the last laugh too- as I write my neck is still healing from where the flopping zipper rubbed a raw spot. It's washed and hanging in its lair, and one happy day I will rid myself of it. Probably.

Carmel Marathon, 2 days out.

     This Saturday I'm running the Carmel Marathon. I did the half there last year and enjoyed it and was impressed with how well everything was organized, especially considering it was their first year and they had a lot going on- half, full, and 8K road race among other events. So back in early Winter I decided to do the full this year and started planning and training.

     I'm really pretty new to marathoning, having only done two so far, Chicago waybacklongtimeago in 1986 and then again last Fall. So my lifetime average has been one every 25 years, but I have two scheduled this Summer. So far. If Carmel goes well we'll see about maybe doing others as I have fallen prey to the lure of the Marathon Succubus. I mean, if there is one.

1986 Chicago Marathon finisher's medal. The "10th annual"!

      I really don't remember much about training or running Chicago the first time, but while I finished and enjoyed it I guess it was enough for me at the time. Last year my goal there was to run easy, finish, and enjoy it as best as I could, all of which I did. I finished in 4:16.

     My goal for Carmel is to break 4:00. This started as a casual early thought but has become a firm goal as it has neared, and now I'll damn well do it or know why. Goals are all subjective and subject to race day conditions. A 4 hr marathon is fairly modest, but this is a gateway goal for me. My longer term goal is to use a sub-4 hr Spring full to launch a good Summer of further retooling my form, drop more weight, learn more about heart rate training, and do much better in my Fall full in West Virginia, the Freedom's Run. That's the plan.

     Training has gone pretty well. I adopted and adapted a Hal Higdon marathon plan, adding some ideas of my own and others. For Chicago last year I mostly trained on trails and got by with strength and endurance runs and very little speedwork. This Spring I have increasingly kept to the roads, have done Saturday long runs of 15, 17, and 19 with runs of 8-12 the next day, and have done some interval work the last several weeks as well. I have just over of 600 miles since Jan 1 and am averaging 40 per week and ramping up. I will likely always feel I can be better trained for a race, but I do think I'm better prepared now than for last Fall's Chicago. Sub 4:00! 

     The predicted weather has bounced around some and has yet to settle on a consistent forecast. How like Indiana is that? It started out looking great, then storms, colder temps and wind suddenly showed up. It's been slowly improving this week, currently looking like rain Friday night with a low of 41 and now at least partly sunny Saturday with a high of 59 and less wind. For me, a starting temp of about 50 with sun and a slow climb to mid to upper 60's at finish is perfect, so I hope this holds.

     I haven't tapered very well in the past, generally doing too much, but this time I feel I got it about right. I've been pretty busy this week with life and stuff and haven't had a lot of time to worry about it. But between suddenly running less and eating a few more carbs than usual I started feeling GREAT today! One more day to store it up and I'm betting I'll be more than ready to go Saturday morning.

     Marathon! Sub 4:00! Bring it!!

          

Step right up!

    
     We got Progress, right here in River City! Progress with a capital P and that rhymes with C and that stands for Cadence!  Had a nice Ah-ha! moment kind of deal today on a Sunday longish run. It was very sweet indeed. It all started with a heart rate monitor...

   I've been re-reading about training with a heart rate monitor, mostly from this site, (another take on it here) and have decided to try this training right after the quickly approaching Carmel marathon. So I got a heart monitor strap for my Garmin and finally curiously tried it out today. I use the contraption sparingly, usually when I'm on an unfamiliar course or want to measure a specific distance, and generally turn it on and ignore it until the run ends. I'd rather pay attention to whatever I'm running past than data on my wrist. But watching the beats of my heart was pretty fascinating to see and I was checking it a lot. In a nutshell, the formula has my training HR limit right at 130, and, at least at first, the challenge is supposed to be in running slow enough to keep under your limit. But, after racing up to 145 right off, mine settled in at 120-125 at my normal training pace. Either I have a turbo-charged super efficient pumper, a defective Garmin, or my formula interpretation is whack. I like the former.

     Anyhow, checking the watch so often got me thinking about numbers, and 180 came to mind, which is widely accepted as a model for running cadence. I was not far into the run and still not quite up to speed, and still a little tired from 19 miles yesterday, and counted 30 strikes for my right foot in 30 seconds- times 2 for a minute and times 2 for both feet = 120, pretty low. Pick it up here, dude. I shifted up to what felt about like my normal pace and did some math, realizing that 45 single foot strikes equals the magical 180 and checked again, still low at 140. Dang. One more bump up and- hey wait, what's this?- I felt smooth, light, and easy, and my HR was still in the low 120's.

      I've been making a sustained effort to change my form for the last few years, with some good progress, and am mindful of this as I run, usually. I was your classic heel striking over strider and running faster meant running harder. Two knee surgeries later I started learning as much as I could about better running form and feel I've made some good progress, still with room for improvement. On-line videos, books and articles, DVDs, an all-day Chi Running session, and a few local form clinics have all helped a lot and left me with a string of cues to keep in mind. I know I run with my head down and still, frustratingly heel strike, though much less. Like cooking a good meal, working on form is a work in progress, hard to do right all the time, and steady progress leads to more possibility of improvement. I now firmly believe that proper form is the key to long-term healthy running, and at some point I'll go into more detail in a future post.

     By picking up my running cadence, my stride shortened slightly, which put my feet in a better landing pattern, which made me feel lighter and smoother, and the swirl of form cues all seemed to fall into place at once. Ha! Hey- this is great! Look at me! Or maybe the endorphins had just kicked in, but something happened. I continued and finished the run trying to lock in this change and I do feel like this was the easiest I have run the hilly 8.5 mile course I know well. Also, my HR never did get much higher and I finished with a 123 average, including some spikes on uphills. I need to explore the HR training formula further and do some testing to find my best range, and that will be interesting.

     So, pretty exciting and I sure do hope I can make this my new norm and not just a one run thing. If running form is the key to running well and well into your lifespan and potential, is cadence then the key to that form? I was still a little under 180, but am very curious to see what happens with this week's training.         

       

Race report- Bound The Mound Trail Half

     I've been running far more than writing of late and time to get caught up here. First up,  Bound The Mound Trail Race on March 3rd, in Evansville, Indiana. I found this race while snooping through the race listings on Trail Runner Mag's site, which is a real good race resource to have.

     All races start with preparation and no exception here. Let's see, working backward from an 8 a.m. race start- get there an hour early, 2.5 hour drive, most of an hour to coffee up and wake up, that's looking pretty dang early.  I posted the idea on Facebook and that drew in a friend who was also interested and before I could say "Holy crap I have to get up at 3 a.m!" we were both registered. Game on.
     The drive went quickly and enjoyably with the company as we yakked our way through the darkness, heading South on county highways through the rural Indiana countryside. We made good time and got there sooner than we thought, in more ways than one. Did you know Evansville is in a different time zone? Neither did we and we realized we had an extra hour to wait, one that could have been spent sleeping. These are the days of our lives.

And they're off!

     Bound The Mound is a lap course, and the half marathon meant 4 laps with an add-on around a field at the end. I've done a few lap races before and generally like the format- first lap is getting familiar with the course and subsequent laps are benchmarks to the balance between what's left to run and what's left in the tank. I hadn't done a 4 lapper before, and had never been to Evansville either, so this would have to be interesting, right?     


     It had rained a couple of days before and there were muddy stretches on the flat sections of the course, and further back in the boggy parts it was downright swampy. With a lap course this means hundreds of feet churn it up even more each time through.

For me, part of the charm of trails.

   
      With a little luck we all learn as we go, and I try, I try. It's hard for me to judge how much to wear when the temps are changing with the seasons. I'm not a fan of cold, and as a result tend to overdress for runs with rising morning temperature change. Folks were wearing everything from coats and pants to singlets and shorts, and I went with tights, light jacket and hat. Too much, again. Whatev.

  
     I ran a 2:07 half, a fair time for me at this point in the year. Even better, I had a blast doing it. There was a good size field and the race was well organized. The Bound The Mound RD is ON IT as far as getting info out to registrants. I swear I got more emailed pre-race info than I did for the Chicago Marathon. Afterward there was actual food for runners, including your choice of burgers, dogs, and sides. And donuts. And this guy.

       All in all, a fun day and a good race. Really, any day we can romp through the woods is a good day to me. And many thanks to Erin, who made it all way more fun than it would have been alone.