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.

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.

Frosty Trails 5 Mile race report

     The Frosty Trails 5 Mile was held at Brown County State Park this past Saturday and was my first race of 2012. At first I thought a hard run mid-January sounded extra cruel- this is, after all, the season of hibernation, stagnation and vegetation. I am at my annual worst weight and have only been doing easy paced running, but after reflecting on that I realized this is the perfect time for a race!

     Hosted by Bill Bartley of  Indiana Running Company and with an appearance by the Mag 7 van and always-friendly Kelly Smith, the race was headquartered from the Lower Shelter where check-in was fast, easy and sociable. There was a big fire in the hearth, large pots of chili already starting to smell great, and tasteful music mixed with the wood smoke in the air. I had plenty of time before the race start and really enjoyed visiting with several runners I haven't seen for awhile. See, I used to do A LOT of the Mag 7 races, but not so much last year. So it was great to see that gang again and I hope to do more of that series this season.

     Have I said it was cold? The early a.m. low was 7 here at the house that morning and by the time I had made the hour drive over the the park it was climbing toward 20 according to the car thermometer. After having being spoiled by a very mild Winter so far this felt worse than it was. It could be worse. Much worse.
                           
     Long sleeve tech shirt with long sleeve half-zip top, my fav Asics Thermopolis tights, hat and gloves were my ensemble for the day. I wear the cheapo brown cotton gloves you get bundled in packs of three down to the farmer's implement store, and have never had a pair of actual running gloves. I'd hate to pay that much for something I will be wiping my nose on and perhaps leaving behind as I have done once. This was last year,  after a strange tug-of-war with a race volunteer over a paper cup of Gatorade which he was weirdly reluctant to let go of. My gloves got soaked with the stuff and became very sticky and extra gross, so after spying a trash can a few miles later they never made it to the finish line that day.

     I had wanted to wear the Merrell Mix Master trail shoes but figuring the snow and several days of freezing temps would probably make for some slick conditions I opted for the Saucony Peregrines, traction master supreme. The Merrell's also have great traction but are not race tested and I wanted to play it safe. The Peregrines, see my review here,  were perfect and I ran without undue worry of footing, a good feeling to have. I also tried some Smartwool socks for the first time in a race, a little bit thicker than I like but not bad at all, and very warm. Warm feet = happy heart.

     There were about 40-50 of us there as we headed out on the trails at the start. The course was well marked and the woods were very scenic, though I mostly focused on the ground in front of me and on making my way in the crowd. I hadn't planned to charge out hard at all, just wanted to push a little harder than usual and go for a good run in the woods with some good like minded people. I'm not overly competitive with others as a rule, but I do prefer to pass rather than be passed and was happy to be moving forward pretty steadily. The crowd thinned as we each found our pace and soon I was in mental zoneland. I'm not one to do calculations of split times and related pace regulation and follow a pre-race scheduled chart of times to mark along the way. In fact I totally suck at all of that and prefer to look at the trees and hear the birds and let my mind wander as it will. The topic this time was mostly "running is life: cliche or applicable creed?" I decided it was bona fide since; the more you put in the more you get out, it's better with a challenge, unseen twists in your path are always ahead, sometimes you can coast downhill, sometimes it hurts, it mostly makes you happy, it gets better as you go. And more I can't remember.

     The course was interesting and not as hilly as I would have guessed, and I was happy to have more juice than I thought i would during the climbing, a general weakness of mine. It took us out of the woods and onto a road for the last 3/4 mile or so and most of that was downhill. This was great, a time when I love to try and charge to the finish anyhow, and the downhill made that even better. I crossed the line and stopped the Garmin, realizing later it had not stopped. Again. I've done this before, hit the button at the finish and then realized later it was still running, sometimes seeing the drive home included on the map when I download it later. Oops. I figured 46:23 was probably about right.

     I talked some with racers who had finished around me, went up to the shelter for some great chili, visited with friends in the parking lot, and finally headed back home, generally happy with this first race of the still new year. Thanks to everyone involved for putting this well-run race on for us to enjoy.

Next race- DINO Eagle Creek 15K, unless another one is around a twist in my path...