San Antonio Marathon (Race Recap)

As you have probably guessed by now, things didn't quite go my way on Sunday... in fact, they really didn't go my way at all. That said, I guess I have good and bad news for the followers of this BLOG. The bad news is that the race was pretty much a disaster. The good news is: that I wasn't a total idiot and saved myself from injury, so I will likely keep this fitness going (after 10-14 days rest/recovery) and refocus on a January or February race.... Leaving you with another month or two of blogging to follow! Aren't you excited?!

Where to begin? First off, I am not a huge fan of weather variations from year-to-year. While I had seen that the previous year, the San Antonio Marathon had been held under cool temp's in the 40's and 50's with a relatively low humidity, this year I awoke to an entirely different scene (more on that in a minute).
In short, I ended up having a few different problems on race day, which led me to one of my first major DNF's ever (I dropped out at Mile 21 of the race). I can pinpoint this result to two specific factors:
1. Lack of training in the final 4 weeks leading into the race due to ongoing injuries
2. High Humidity and increasing temps throughout the race

Let me start by saying, that I was extremely pleased with my progress in training until just after the Denver 1/2 marathon on October 9th. It was directly following that race that I made the biggest mistake that I could have in my training: I didn't rest! I should have taken at least 2-4 days completely off (if not an entire week) and given myself some recovery heading into the final weeks of training. After 11 straight weeks of 70-80 miles a week, I should have known better than to push it. Lesson learned.

Secondly, I need to do better research in selecting my races in the future. As I stated above, the previous year had been subject to nearly perfect running weather and the average temp/humidity in San Antonio in November led me to believe that I'd be racing in temps in the 40-65 degree range with humidity of around 45%.

While the temps did hover at around 60 degrees throughout the first 45 minutes or so of the race, the humidity was through the roof! In fact for the first 8 miles or so the cloud cover was probably only a few hundred feet off of the ground. I was completely soaked with sweat within the first half mile of the race. Later, around mile 10-12 somewhere, the clouds began to lift and the temps began to climb. Anyone, that knows me very well, knows that I have never done particularly well racing in hot and/or humid weather. I just don't handle it well.

Race morning, as I headed to the line it was quite apparent that it was going to be a humid race with significant fluid-loss, but it remained to be seen, whether the temps would rise out of the 60's before I finished the race. I prayed it wouldn't.

The one thing that I am very proud of myself for is for sticking to my plan. The plan was:
- run smart! 6 minute mile pace (or a bit slower) for the first 2-3 miles. I typically go out too fast, and I really wanted to stay under control. Rather than running 5:40's and settling in to 6:00 pace, I wanted to start at or above the pace and go the other way for once (This was particularly important at this race because the full marathoners started, and ran with, the 1/2 marathoner's thru 10.5 miles, making it very tempting to run too hard in the early stages of the race).
- Also, I knew that with the humidity I would need to drink at every aid station, take at least 3-4 gels, and even try to get a salt tab or two down.

Although my splits STILL aren't on the Rock n' Roll website (I don't think that they posted them, since I DNF'd). Here are the splits from my watch. You can see the explosion 10-11 miles in followed by the downhill slide, which really started at about mile 16:
Mile 1: 6:10          Mile 7: 6:03              Mile 13: 6:18               Mile 20: 7:41
Mile 2: 5:58          Mile 8: 5:59              (1:20:21 - 1/2)             (2:07:18 - 20mi)
Mile 3: 6:04          Mile 9: 6:02              Mile 14: 6:22               Mile 21: 7:41
(18:48 - 5K)          Mile 10: 6:11            Mile 15 & 16: 12:24    Dropped
Mile 4: 6:03          (1:00:52 - 10mi)       Mile 17: 7:19
Mile 5: 6:09          Mile 11: 6:15            Mile 18: 6:42
Mile 6: 6:07          Mile 12: 6:24            Mile 19: 6:58

Another big factor in the slow down around Mile 10-11 could have been due to the fact that that is where the full marathoners (black race bibs) split off from the 1/2 marathoners (green race bibs). While it was motivating to run through all of the dying 1/2 marathoners in the beginning of the race, it got real lonely, real quick, after the split. I was actually the 4th place full-marathoner at Mile 10, getting passed by one person at Mile 16.5 or so, and then not seeing anyone again until I was bent over on the side of the road in mile 19.

In retrospect, after having 4 weeks of injury I should have switched down to the 1/2 marathon and tried to race well in that. My fitness was there for that distance, even at a significantly faster pace, but not for twice the distance. Now that I have a great fitness-base and another LONG tempo run under my belt, I can focus on those longer runs/workouts throughout Dec/Jan as I get ready for another attempt at the full.

Here are some pics (click for larger versions) from the earlier part of the day... Most from Mile 10, the Brightroom pics from Mile 3 or 4. Notice how absolutely soaked I am!?

 So, thanks again to everyone who has supported me through this training by running with me, giving me advice or just plain wishing me luck. Hopefully you have enjoyed reading this and checking in on the progress. The journey is definitely not over! Stay tuned in late November/early December as I get back into training and try one more time and reaching this goal. Happy Thanksgiving next week! I'll be celebrating on the beach in Mexico... not training!

Race Morning!

5:15am: Slept like I was in a coma last night (love being at sea level!). Barely moved for 7 hours. 56 degrees and a bit humid right now. mid-60's at the start is probably about right. Gonna be a warm one. I guess it's time to actually do this. See you all on the other side!

12 Hours Away!

So, here we are. I'm camped out in my hotel room in San Antonio with the compression tights on. Packet Pick-up at the expo and easy shakeout run are done, Chinese food is eaten, and all that's left is one more night's sleep before the big race...
I've got to admit, I'm nervous for this one. With tri's it's been a long time since I've really gotten nervous for races. Even for Rome last Spring, I didn't get all that nervous, but this time, for whatever reason, it's different. I think it's the lapse in training over these past few weeks that has knocked my confidence down a few notches. While I know that just 1-month ago, I was in some of the best running shape of my life, it still seems like running 6-minute pace tomorrow is going to be a very tough task. Throw in the lingering VMO issues and this weeks bout with a sore throat and I am all nerves tonight. Hopefully once the gun goes off in the morning and we settle in to race pace all of this will leave my head and it'll be fine. That's what I'm counting on, anyway!
The Gameplan: for the first 2-3 miles I want to run very, very relaxed. Probably so much so that I will feel like I am way slower than pace. Hopefully that will keep me at, or a little over, 6-minute pace. Assuming all goes well there, I will just try to settle in thru at least 15-miles. By mile 10.5, I will have to have made up my mind whether my knee has it in it to go the full distance. If not, I can turn left and just finish out the half. If so, that's where I will begin to enter no-man's land. From what I've read, miles 13-22 are pretty desolate, so that will be a challenge in itself.
The forecast calls for temps in the low- to mid-60's at the start. That, mixed with the slight humidity, which I experienced on tonight's easy run, will mean that I need to drink as frequently as possible. I'll also be carrying some Endurolytes to help with sodium loss.
I honestly have NO idea how this is going to go tomorrow morning, but I will be fighting to hit my goal of 6-minute pace. All of the long workouts and runs will definitely be going through my head as I fight through the dark parts of the race. Thanks to everyone who supported me through this journey over the past 15 weeks. This Blog, while a little self-absorbed, helped me to stay accountable throughout the training, and to get some key advice (from you guys) regarding training.Without a coach, it's sometimes hard to have those things, and this turned out to be a great solution for me. Now, hopefully the name of this blog doesn't turn out to be too far off!!
Off to bed. THANKS EVERYONE!!

Flying Out...

Quick check-in: On my way to the airport in a few minutes. Feeling pretty good. Have been fighting a sore throat all week but seem to have it under control. Nervous to see what the humidity is like down in TX, but I have heard that it hasn't been bad lately. This morning it was only 44 degrees in San Antonio at 7:30 (race-start time tomorrow). Perfect running weather!

I'll write a big update tonight.

Last Track Workout

We're getting close now! It's Tuesday night, and I've successfully gotten in my last run of an hour or more (1hr ez run last night) and my last little bit of speedwork (track workout tonight). Now I just have a few easy days of light running before lining up at the start on Sunday!

Tonight's workout on the track went well, it was simple one:
2mi warmup
3 x 1200m @ T-pace (~4:12) on 2min rest
went 4:15, 4:10, 4:12
1 x 400m (1:18)
2mi warmdown

The VMO (Vastus Medialis Obliquus) is still feeling about the same, but my legs feel pretty good otherwise. I am noticing that the VMO is still tight and pulling during the slow/easy runs but when I get up closer to race pace I notice it less and less. This is a good thing but I can't deny that I am super nervous about whether it will hold up for the entire distance. I am seeing that my fitness is still there but I question the endurance. The good thing about the layout of this course is that I will have until almost mile 11 before I have to make the call whether I can go the full distance or not. While I definitely don't want to DNF or cut to a slow half-marathon, I also would rather cut my losses early and avoid a major injury if it's feeling like that's what's to come. One thing's for sure, without being stupid/stubborn on Sunday, I will be gritting my teeth and pushing through any of the regular pain of a marathon. I have put so much time and effort into training for this race that I will not be giving up easily!

The Hardwork is Done

Knocked out my last long-ish run this morning. 12.25miles at E pace. This was first time running over 8 miles in about 3 weeks. Not great when leading into the marathon, but hey, it is what it is at this point. Anyway, felt good this morning. Taking tomorrow off, and then it is just a few easy runs next week before giving San Antonio a go next weekend!

The routine is just gonna be ICE and easy workouts in an effort to get this knee/VMO as ready as it can be for the beating it's going to be taking.

To all my friends racing in NYC tomorrow morning, GOOD LUCK! Leave it all out there.

The Teeter-Totter

This week has been like a rollercoaster, one day thinking my chances of racing were totally out the window, the next thinking that this might still be doable. The ride isn't over yet...

After I posted on here on Monday night, I was feeling a little better about things. I woke up the next morning to do a morning run and once again was met with run-ending pain in my right knee (the original issue that I had, with the VMO). I made it 2.25mi. At that point I decided, "screw it, I'll revert to bike training to try to get me thru" and maybe that will help the range-of-motion and muscles in/around the knee. That night I jumped on the bike and put in a solid 35mi ride.

Weds evening I gave running another shot. Went 5 miles easy, but felt amazing. Just took it easy, came home got right on the bike and did a 1 hour ride with about 40min of hard intervals. Friday I took it easy again on the run and went 6 miles. This time I felt good for about 4-miles and was once again greeted with pain.

Tonight was to be my 'Take-it-or-leave-it' workout. I figured that I had to get some running in at race pace in order to see how it felt. The plan was, if there was pain, pull the plug on the workout, the race, everything and just be done. Amazingly, however, once I was at the track with the flats on and took out the first mile-interval, I felt no pain and instead felt like I had a month or so ago in workouts!! I did 3 x 1-mile on 1min rest w/no splits, just going by feel, followed by 2 x 400m on 1min rest. My splits were:
5:39
5:41
5:48
1:17
1:16

Admittedly, I could tell, aerobically, that there had been some down time as I was breathing harder and probably working at about 5% higher effort than I had been at the same pace a month ago, but I was able to run!!

I'm incredibly excited about the workout and the possibility that it gives me for next week. Granted, my knee/VMO was hurting pretty good at the slower pace while jogging home, but it seems that while running at a faster pace, and in my flats, things came together and alleviated some of the stress that the legs otherwise would have felt. I know tomorrow will be a tough run (and possibly painful), but I am going to bed tonight feeling significantly more confident than I have in weeks.

It was October 13th when the shit hit the fan in my training. That's about 3 full weeks of reduced mileage and mental stress/worry, but for some reason I am beginning to believe again (at the last moment) that this may be doable... am I crazy?