The Race Report

The weekend was a family celebration since Allison came from Tampa, Florida to run with me. So, we had alot of things planned. We went out to Trey's house in St. Charles Friday night and had dinner with them - the gang put together a batch of lasagna that was great and added some salad. We had ice cream and some evil, molten lava chocolate cake that my son-in-law whipped up upon his arrival. This decadent creation was to celebrate Allison's recent birthday.

Saturday we toured Stone Hill Winery in Hermann, Missouri complete with a wine tasting on our way to the Mizzou football game. At the game, Jeni's family had a great tail gate spread out and Trey got to use his new hitch mounted grill for the first time. It works great, by the way. Once I indulged in the sweets and other refined carbs I couldn't put on the brakes. I'm sure I ingested multi-thousands of calories. Oh well, the Tigers won the game so it was a good day.

It was a long one, however, considering we had to get up around 5:00 a.m. to get ready for the race. We got back to St. Charles on Saturday night at around 11:30 p.m. I went right to bed.

Sunday, September 13, 2009 was a beautiful day, temperature in the 60's at start time. I felt ready and was only a little concerned about my eating habits over the past few days. I had truly been enjoying the company of my kids and their spouses and had paid no mind to my eating regimen.

The only snafu was that I had left my hydration belt at home so I was going to have to go with what the race provided. I was hopeful it would be adequate (and it was).

We got a good start and I hooked up at about mile 1.25 with the pacers for the 2:00 hour group. These guys were experts and kept us right on pace. That meant, of course, that I had to finish with them to make my goal. I was right on their tail through mile 10 but got hung up in the feeding station and couldn't get back to them. I fought the last two miles as I watched them drift ever so slowly further ahead of me. My head was turning cartwheels trying to calculate and recalculate the time I had to be at by mile 12. Even though it was a miscalculation on my part - I felt I was now way behind. Physically, I was spent, though nothing was really a problem except my exhaustion. I had pretty much decided that I wasn't going to make my goal.

Then, the cavalry arrived. Or rather, I arrived at the cavalry post. There was Jeni, my daughter-in-law and just beyond her, right at the corner, Trey and David were standing. Jeni offered me some Gatorade and I took a couple of swigs. All three of them realized I was behind my time and began shouting encouragement to me. As I ran down the road I regained some belief that I could actually pull this off. A young kid who I don't know shouted my name (having read it on my bib) and I was propelled further by this. Now well into the 13th mile I was pushing with everything that I owned to get it done. Somewhere in the mix was Dahna. I knew she was there somewhere but echos of "Cantelope" did not fill my ears. Even though I didn't see her, her spirit buoyed me up and I kept pushing with all of my strength.

When I saw the finish line I was disappointed that I couldn't see the running clock. It's probably just as well. I forced myself across the finish line and hit the lap button on my watch. Damn, "Did I get it? Why is the time still running?" I hit the lap button again. Rats! Finally, I hit the stop button. In the chaos that is the finish chute I was trying to stop running (the brakes kinda went out for a moment) and maintain my upright posture. I took my medal and kept moving out of the way of others who were coming in behind me. I found a tree and used it to keep my balance and tried to stretch a bit.

I tried to make sense of the data I had collected on my watch. The 1:59 time that first flashed in my mind seems to have been replaced by a 2:xx time. I hadn't actually made my goal. As I scrolled through my lap times lap 13 read 1:59:42. A half marathon is 13.1 miles. Had I marked mile 13? In the fog that now swirled in my head I couldn't remember. I must have. All of the other miles were marked properly. So, lap 14 had to be my total time - 2:00:14.

I had actually used this horror story as motivation to complete my long runs by sprinting the last mile - I told myself I didn't want to miss my goal by seconds. That was the worst possible result. But, here it was 2:00:14 - 14 seconds beyond.

I tried to stretch out a bit, even laid flat on the ground to stretch my back muscles. Trey caught up with me and the first thing he said was "Wow, Dad! You take a bullet to the chest?" Huh? I looked down and my shirt was stained with blood - rats, I forgot to apply the Body Glide to my nipples - that's gonna hurt when I take my shower!

Anyway, everybody treated me like I was about to die. I guess that's how OLD people get treated all the time. I was recuperating slowly but my calf muscles were threatening a strike - twitching in an ominous pre-lockup sort of mode that usually spells painful cramps. I drank all kinds of fluid and ate a half a banana.

I decided I was going to have to wait until my official time was posted. The website indicated it would be up within 24 hours. Yikes! I didn't know if I could wait that long. After a shower and a short nap, I started fiddling with the website. I looked at the format that the web master used for his previous results pages and, on a whim, decided to punch in the same file name with 2009 on it. It worked! I hastily scrolled down to the two hour portion of the list and there it was - my official time 1:59:42! Exactly my watch time for lap 13. In hindsight it made sense. My final 'mile' time was 9:49.31 which was much slower than every other lap. That's because it was for 1.1 miles.

Let the bragging begin. I was excited and relieved. I had done it.

This is quite possibly the first time ever in my life that I set a long term goal, made a firm commitment to a plan, and then worked that plan faithfully to achieve my goal.

I guess my only comment after that is to say, if I want to run a sub 2 hour 1/2 marathon I have to train to run a SUB 2 hour half marathon. I got exactly what I trained for with nothing to spare. Anything less than perfect on this race would have nixed the whole deal - weather, potty break - anything. My next goal will have a bit of padding built into it.

This achievement is a grand accomplishment and I really know now why people who get up to accept their awards want to thank their family and friends. It truly would not have been possible to do this without everyone's encouragement and support. Thanks so much to my life partner and biggest support - Dahna, to my kids Allison and Trey who never let me forget all the rah-rah crap I used to spout to encourage them in their own efforts (btw - that stuff really does make a difference) and to David and Jeni who have provided much needed inspiration as well.

Now, what's next?

Week 11 Report - The Hard Work is Done!

It's been an interesting ride for the past eleven weeks. I think that this is the most diligent that I have ever been in following a training program. I have made a concerted effort to do precisely what Hal Hidgon said I should be doing. And, I know that I have made tremendous strides toward my goal of running the Lewis & Clark 1/2 Marathon in under 2 hours.

Interestingly enough, my head wants to argue with me about that now. I keep having these thoughts like "What if that's not enough?", "Are you sure you were working this program right?", "Did you figure your pace correctly for those 400's you ran?", etc, etc. I'm glad that I have been meticulous about recording my data.

Actually, some people (Dahna) might say that I've been a bit obsessive about it. I don't see where she comes up with an idea like that. I have only maintained an MS Excel spreadsheet showing the time for each mile that I have run according to my watch. I have an activity file on Bones in Motion that comes from my phone - it records time versus the GPS data. I have a MapMyRun account that I've started using about midway through the training that tracks the miles as drawn on the Google Maps versus my time from my watch for comparison with the BiM data. Oh, and I have the data that I enter on the Nutrisystem page that tracks the calories expended. Hmmm.... Maybe she's right.

Anyway, all signs point to success. However, just like the UMass football team found out last night (and the Illini) it ain't over till the race is run. Things out of my control will play a role in my success (Hurricane Ike ring a bell, Jeni?) and so, we'll see.

What I do know is that I have learned how to run more efficiently, I have increased my pace a whole lot, I have developed a working plan for feeding myself during the run (GU Energy Gel every 35 minutes) and keeping myself hydrated (G2 in the hydration belt - sipping about every mile and a half or so). My shoes are in good shape. My feet and knees feel good. Even though my shoulder still annoys me I have practiced relaxing during the run and shaking that out so it shouldn't become a factor.

The weather has been outstanding for the past two weeks. The forecast for next Sunday is rain. Cool is better. This could be a bonus.

My runs this week have been very good. I did a predictable 10 x 400 session on Tuesday (average time was 1:47), then, ran a stellar 3 Mile Pace run in 25:24 on Wednesday. My splits on that run were faster than they have ever been with two miles timed at 8:20 or below! Thursday I had a meeting at school so I ran the 5 mile 'hills from heck', so I just completed that run. Then, rested Friday and on Saturday went for a 3 Mile Pace run trying to repeat Wednesday's time. Rats! Missed it by 15 seconds!

Sunday (9/6) was my 12 mile long run and I missed the turn around point so I actually logged 12.6 miles. Time for the run was 2:12. While it seems counter-intuitive to me that I should train for a 2 hour race at sub-race pace (I need 9:09 to get under 2 hours for the 1/2 marathon) it's what in the training regimen. The sub-race pace is supposed to be about 2 to 3 minutes slower than race pace and I completed my last two long runs about 1 and 1/2 minutes per mile faster than that. Added to the much improved splits on my Pace runs and the impressive times on the 400s I believe I have done exactly as coached.

I feel physically ready for this. I always get super psyched during a race so that will add the adrenalin boost that I need. I am mentally ready for this race and I think that I have covered every element that I need to have looked at.

Now, I just have to get past this week's training challenges in that I start teaching Late School on Tuesday and Wednesday this week so I'll have to figure out a way to get my mileage in without jeopardizing my rest pattern and my well being.

Knowing that my family will be supporting me will be a real shot in the arm - Allison running with me and Dahna, Trey, Jeni, David supporting me from the sidelines. Dahna's constant vigilance over the training table has been very helpful and she has done great things with my meals both for work and for home. I couldn't have been successful without her support and encouragement.

I think we'll try the "Track My Run" feature that Bones in Motion has available so that the cheering section can keep a eye on my progress as I run. I haven't used that before but the phone sends data to a website that allows people who know the magic password to view my progress live. That'll be a fun addition. So, here's to a good week and a great race next Sunday.