Checking In

Wow, that last post got found by the spambots. I was going to delete them all, but got bored.

Moving on. I finished the Timberline Marathon – what, nine months ago now? Yikes, time flies. During the race I was doing okay, jogging along, and then I tripped and landed awkwardly on my right leg. Nothing popped or broke, but I got a shooting pain in my knee/IT area. I hobbled along to the finish and took a long time off running. I needed a break. I'm now considering the Autumn Leaves 50K in October. No firm plans, but I'd like to try and get my act together to train for it. If I do get a schedule in place again, I'll start updating more. In the mean time, here's me getting cozy with my medal.

Better late than never, right?

Three days after Newport I flew home to NY for work & a few vacation days, so I'm just now getting around to a race report. Overall I had a great weekend, and would recommend Newport to pretty much anyone.

I took a half-day at work and carpooled out to the coast with my friend Sandy. She spent the night camping with a bunch of other friends that night at Beverly Beach, while I opted for a real bed and a quiet night at the Shilo Inn. (Totally the right call!) I drank a ton of water and mindlessly watched TV to calm down. I had no problem getting to sleep around 10, and woke up at 5:15 am relatively bright and cheery. I got all packed up and checked out, and made it to the Embarcadero Resort by ten after six. The Embarcadero is the finish line of the marathon; there were shuttle buses to the start line about a mile and half away. My hotel was actually quite close to the start, but there was no way to get back to the start from the finish. So rather than worry about it, I just parked at the finish (whew, tired already).

I met up with Tina and Dan to catch a shuttle to the start. It was chilly but I was comfortable enough in shorts and t-shirt. The ocean was theoretically to our left, but thick fog socked in the entire point. About 800 people lined up at the start. I was ready to go but seven AM came and went with no horn…just more time to get nervous. Eep. I was glad I knew the majority of the course, but still…26.2 miles is a long way. Why do I do this again?

Before I could sneak away and hide the horn went off. There were no timing chips, but it only took about 20 seconds to cross the start. The first five miles or so are made up of rolling hills as you go down to the water and back up toward Highway 101 in Newport. It wasn't terribly scenic, as the ocean was still M.I.A. and we were running behind houses and hotels. I found my first pace bunny at this point, a tiny little woman wearing a Maniacs singlet. I unobtrusively mimicked her pace. Soon we looped around past the starting point and down to the boardwalk. We headed up the one "major" hill in front of the Embarcadero and then were on the Bay Road proper, our home for the next ~20 miles. Right after the hill I started chatting with my Maniac pacer, and a few other ladies who'd settled in around us. I don't really remember most of it, just general marathon chat. We were doing around 8:50/min miles. Knowing I would slow down in the second half, I figured that would still be good for an under-four hour finish. As I told one of the ladies, I really just wanted to finish feeling good and happy. I lost most of them around mile 11 when I grabbed a cup of HEED on the go rather than stop.

I was glad to have people to talk to, because miles 7 through 9 are the ones I struggle with the most. By that point I've started to get tired, but there is nothing to "celebrate" yet – I haven't made it halfway, or even to the double digits. Thinking of the miles or time I have left is just depressing, as is trying to imagine passing these same landmarks again on the way back, two hours from now. Ugh. Miles 11-17 (the turnaround) are a blur…I honestly don't remember much. Once we got away from the ocean the fog lifted and it was a beautiful day, sunny and warm. Around mile 15 the lead runners starting passing us coming back. My lower back started to hurt, which was odd – I don't normally have any back problems. Luckily it didn't get beyond a vague ache. I also got a butt cramp – WTF? I've never in my life gotten a literal pain in my ass. Weird. It was totally bearable, and went away after a few minutes, but still weird.

I got something of a second wind after the turnaround, always pleasant. I'd say that carried me through to about 21-22, at which point I went on autopilot. One foot in front of the other. Motivational strategies: "Just a typical lunch-time run left;" "Just a quick run to 148th and back left;" "ONLY TWO G-D MILES LEFT". I did actually find myself saying "living in a VAN down by the RIVER" a couple of times. Awesome.

I lucked out at the end of the marathon. I'd been sticking with an older woman, not letting her getting too far ahead of me. About two miles out her boyfriend met her to pace her in to the finish. I let him pace me in too, of course! That definitely kept me from fading in the home stretch. I made sure to thank them in the finisher's area.

The last .2 miles is a steep downhill, which actually sucked. My quads were dead, and I didn't want to risk any knee issues by taking it too fast. I tried to find my friends at the finish as I came around the corner but there was a pretty big crowd. I could see the clock as I entered the chute. 3:57! Yay! My immediate need was for water. Water water water. I'd been careful to get a full drink of water or HEED at each aid station and sip from my fuel belt, up until the last four or so miles. At that point I just couldn’t stand the thought of water or HEED or Gatorade, or anything other than "FINISH LINE, KEEP MOVING, FINISH LINE, KEEP MOVING."

I showered and hung out with Tina and Dan (and got my yummy finisher's beer) until after the awards ceremony. (I won a raffle prize! A giant bottle of Hammer Gel, woohoo!) The rest of the weekend I spent sitting and/or shuffling around the campground. Oh and eating, of couse. Good times.

I took a couple of things away from this race. One, I'd really like to try a marathon without my fuel belt. That thing just cramps my style. I'm always aware that it's on, and jostling, and I never even finish the Gatorade. I'm contemplating buying a hand-held bottle. Second, I need to figure out how to get more even split times in the big M. I don't hit the wall exactly. It's more like each mile from 18 on hands me a brick that slows me down by 5 seconds. I sort of putter out.

Next up is the Timberline Marathon September 19th. Technically I should've started training last week, but I'm not running until this Saturday, when I'll head up to Powell Butte for 15 miles. I've been doing the Stairmaster, elliptical, weight training, etc., just not running. I did a couple of quick 3-5 mile runs the week after Newport and felt pretty good. I just don't want to push it. Timberline is going to be an experi-marathon. I'm using a three-day program with FIVE twenty-milers (yikes). The distance doesn't worry me though, because I'll never run two days in a row – goodbye overuse problems! Also, I'm going to try to do all my long runs either on trails or at elevation in preparation. (I already know one 20-miler will be on pavement at sea level, because I'll be in Victoria, BC that weekend.) We'll see. I'm looking forward to getting in some great trail runs around the area, and having the freedom to have fun this summer and not be chained to a training schedule.

Getting better all the time

I ran 6 miles outside after work on Tuesday, risking the erratic spring weather. It was one of those sunny-raining-hail-sunny days. Luckily the hour I was out on the Springwater was dry. The sun chose to make an appearance as I was crossing the Hawthorne Bridge and staring right at it, which I didn't appreciate. But it's silly (and risky) to complain about the sun coming out, so I'll stop. Portland needs all the vitamin D it can get right about now.

I didn't have to take any walking breaks, but in the middle I slowed down noticeably before bouncing back in last two miles. My right foot started hurting, though, boo. I'm hoping it was random foot pain and not something that will start nagging. Yesterday was a rest day, which was slightly weird – felt like I was playing hooky. But I'll run every other day this week, so I milked it and did nothing but take a walk at lunchtime. I have a feeling that I'll be exhausted by Sunday.

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I was impulsive this morning and signed up for the Timberline Marathon in September (view from the start line at right). I really like trail running, and hopefully this will motivate me to do more of it this summer. I've been thinking about the race and how I'll fit training into my summer schedule, plus doing some rumination on running in general. I like running, obviously, or I wouldn't spend so much time doing & talking & thinking about it. What I don’t like about marathon training is feeling worn down. I think that if I varied my activities more and ran less I would feel better. (Not a new idea I realize, but a new approach for me.) I'm going to stick with my planned schedule for Newport, but try a new approach for Timberline. Rather than strictly follow a daily schedule like I've done so far, I'm going to play this one a little looser. I think I'll have a long-run plan for weekends but let the rest of the week shape up however I want it to. I want to do more weight training and cross-training (and if I bike commute like last year, that's a solid built-in workout every day). I think I'll find it more fulfilling to have a fun, relaxing, diverse summer than to have a few minutes' faster time in a race. Guess we'll see!

Training marches inexorably forward

Last week I was on vacation in the hill country of Texas. Somewhat pretty, although very brown to my verdant-Pacific-Northwest-accustomed eyes. They're in a bad drought so it's even browner than usual. I ran my 15-mile long run in the cattle country behind my aunt & uncle's new house. The route was an out & back, and very nice. Several rolling hills to break it up, and some nice vistas. There were several "loose livestock" areas that made me a bit nervous – not like I'm expecting the cows to rush me, but they are quite large animals and sometimes they get this glint in their eyes…But it was fine. They actually ran away, which I found amusing. (The pic is not Texas, obviously. It's Newport, where #2 will be.)

Training continues to be easier this time around, because I know what to expect. I know that at the turnaround point I will wonder how I'll ever get back to the start. About three miles before finishing my legs will start to feel breakable, but they won't actually shatter. I'll reach a certain level of discomfort but it will be bearable. These are really great things to carry with you on long runs. It's been tough to reach my goal speed but I've been pretty pleased so far.

I'm following a NYRR schedule this time around, rather than Hal. I dunno, I have mixed feelings about it. The big changes are increased peak mileage (three weeks at 40 rather than one at 37) and running on Sundays. I like the running on Sundays, which is the part I thought I would hate. I tend to be stiff on Sundays but not sore, and I'm finding that a nice easy three or four mile jog loosens everything up. I'm only up around 31 miles per week at this point, so I can't say how I'll feel about three forty-mile weeks in a row (it will probably involve multiple invectives). But what I haven't liked about this program is that there is a step down in between EVERY long run mileage increase. I got up to 10, then stepped down to 8, then up to 13, then down to 10, then 15 to 12 to 18. I'm finding that I prefer to gradually ramp it up – I would feel better doing 10, then 11, then 13, then 14, then 15, maybe at this point a step down, then 18. I just feel like the long mileages are more of a struggle when I'm adding a block of miles on at a time, rather than gradually cranking it up.

My ambitious goal is still to qualify for Boston. With a pace of 8:25 min/mile I could just squeak in. Some days I think I can do it and other days not, but I'm sticking to it. I've run up to 12 miles at that pace and felt pretty good. If I can keep it up at 18-20 miles I'll feel better, obviously. I know I'll run faster on race day than during my training runs, so if I can keep up an 8:25 pace in training I'll feel relatively confident.

My next race is April 5th, the Race for the Roses half marathon in Portland. My coworker Marathon Steve recommended it, and it falls on a 13-mile-long-run weekend anyway, so I didn't even have to adjust my schedule. I haven't looked too much at the course but my goal will be to beat my Helvetia Half time of 1:51.

Clearly my life is a WIP

So I was originally thinking about running the North Olympic Discovery marathon in June. But I'm reevaluating. The issue I'm "running" into (ha!) is that I appear to be overbooked for the next, oh, four months. Summer in Portland is glorious, and while I really have grown to enjoy running, I don't love it to the point where I want to give something else up to accommodate it. It's one thing to spend half of a cold rainy February Saturday running. When that Saturday is sunny and warm and not humid (and not buggy) and there are Beer & Wine Fests to visit, sandcastle competitions at the coast to "Ohh and Ahh" over, camp-outs to be joined, music festivals to patronize, kites to be flown, volunteer galas to, um, volunteer at, barbecues & baseball games to attend, frisbees to be thrown, DB races to be won…well, it gets a lot harder to find the time. Plus my work travel schedule is picking up, which I don't even want to contemplate. I can see myself getting in 25-30 miles a week, with the occasional free Saturday to fit in a 10+ long run. Really just not enough to prepare the way I want to. So, I'm thinking that I'll stay in good running shape, but not plan on running another big M until the Portland marathon in October. We'll see, though.