Seattle Marathon tomorrow!!!

AK will be running the Seattle Marathon tomorrow, I’ll be posting photo updates from my phone on Facebook. The weather should be pretty good, cold but not raining much and no snow. It should be 38-45 degrees at the start and about 50 after the sun comes up.

AK said she feels ready and can’t wait to get on with it. At the Expo on Friday she said she finally got the nervous excitement of realizing you’re about to plunge into another marathon.

I had the same feeling and told her “, but I’m still glad I didn’t sign up : ) “

Ten days til the work starts....

Have been keeping it pretty low the last few weeks, much to my liking. I wouldn't say I'm a lazy person, but not having to get out of bed at 5:45 to train is really easy to get use to.

I started looking at the 2009 season and started to see what I would smash and grind the body through this next year. I love the time away from "Sport" because after a few weeks of not being active, I get this real surge of the " oh, I can't wait!" Like waiting for Santa 2 weeks out.

I really want to tune up the year with Nookachamps at the beginning of the year with a hard fast half marathon. I'd like to go under 1:30, which isn't out of the question with the way I was running in the summer. I'd really like to start tri-season with the San Francisco Olympic Tri, the run does an out and back over the Golden Gate Bridge, how cool is that!

I want to through a huge effort into this next year and think I could really have fun doing it. This last year I focused on swimming and made what I thought was huge advancements in distance and speed. Making a 1.2 mile swim seem totally fine to start the day or a race : )

Well, talk to you all soon...

Laying low...

This has been a much needed rest over the last three weeks. I see daily all the people out training for whatever's on their schedule and I can't wait to be back joining them. I get restless and down right grumpy when I don't workout or train in some sort of schedule.
However, I know myself and I knew that "burn out" was just around the corner.

As you can see I haven't signed up for anything and that's probably the first time in a few years I haven't had that carrot out there pushing or pulling me towards the start line.

Feels kind of freeing. I know that this next year will be covering new ground and not doing a lot of the same races and schudules as the last few years. I have a marathon to look forward to and jumping into my first 70.3 race. The training will be more intense and longer, so I can really enjoy this time anyway from all things athletic.

Of course there is still running w/ Penny.

Also, Alley (AK) is a few weeks away from running the Seattle Marathon, first time doing the full in Seattle. She's been out and about on mornings before work putting in her miles, in the dark I might add. She's looking and feeling ready for the hills that Seattle throws at you.

I'll be cheering her on with Penny from the roadside.

Recovery and sunny days

An easy week of recovery this week from the marathon. A few bike rides and a small run. I think as much as I want to race in a few things over the next couple of weeks. I think I'll just rest up and support AK with her marathon training for Seattle in a few weeks.

She hasn't signed up for it, but I have a feeling she's going to jump in for the full in a few days. Having run a few times this last week already, I know she says she's recovered from Victoria. So why the hell not : )

I got out on the bike today for the first time since Kirkland, oh the work. I hit a few hills and long flats - felt like I was riding on flats...
I think I'm going to start a weekly spin class with some friends from Emerald Multisport to keep up the biking over the winter.


Mostly I was just wanting to enjoy the day and take advantage of the sunny, sunny day. While I was out on that, AK was doing a 13 mile run around the hood and to Green Lake.

After that we took Penny over to Marymoor to the dog park and ran around there for a few hours. Until she just started laying down in the tall grass every time we threw the ball for her.

Look at that tongue!!!
I think we'll all sleep well tonight.

Back from a long run....

What a cool weekend! Aside from having to leave Penny behind it was a great weekend.

The race was 24.5 miles of really having a good time and being surprised at how well my legs were holding together. I set out planning to hold the pace at around 8:45 - 9:00 per mile. A little slower than usual, but I figured after the last 2 months of training not being so hot, I’d be able to survive 26.2 miles at that pace.

Race morning was great, an 8:30 start meant we got to sleep in about an hour and a half compared to most races. SWEET!



The morning was odd because the temp was s different from morning to evening and that morning was about 48 degrees, but suppose to get about 64. Didn’t want to waer too much and over heat if the sun did come out, but didn’t want to under dress and be freezing before, during and towards the end of the race.I think I changed twice before heading out and AK must have changed just as many, maybe more. However, it wasn’t as cold as in the past and the clouds gave way to clear skies and amazing weather for running. About 53-55 for most of the day.

AK was ready to run and couldn’t wait to get it started. She said she wasn’t nervous this time, just waited to get it on. I felt odd at the start, like I wasn’t really there to do 26.2, just there to do a long run.

From the start of course you get stuck in the massive packs and run really slow trying to wait for the numbers to drop and make it easier to start running at your own pace. My biggest rule and advice is “Run your own race.” Something I follow and never let myself fall out of, except when the finish is in sight of course.

At about mile 2 I fell into a good pace that felt easy and sustainable, around 8:10. I thought of slowing and running a little easier, but it felt comfortable. At this same time I found my friend Karen and thought I’d run with her for a few, but knew she was looking for a 3:40, faster than I was going to be doing. I told her I’ll run with you when I can, but don’t hesitate to drop me to keep your time. That was at mile 2.

I had a great time out on the course and maybe because I knew I was running on borrowed time. I knew around any corner my I.T. band or achilles was going to jump up and rob the day from me. I was OK with that. I’ve never DNF’d and I figured it would happen sooner or later.

Around mile 12 I was still running a strong 8:15 per mile and feeling really good. Mile 13 I was like OK half this may not be that hard of a day. Up through 16 was feeling great, at 18 the group I was running with, including Karen, made a surge and we did a sub 8 minute mile. Not amazing for the truly fast, but I was proud to be there holding my own. At twenty I broke to the front of the group with this guy from South Africa and told him at the top of one of the hills,’ you going?’ he smiled and said ‘ go ‘ We broke from the group and opened a small maybe 15 sec gap on the group at the bottom.

Not the game winning shot of course, but it was really fun talking, joking and supporting each other out there. I ran with about four people through the race at different times in the race and ended up finishing with most of them.

At the 23 mile mark the legs felt great and I was pacing pretty well and the thought, as most do at this point, was to tell myself one lap around Green Lake. I hit 23 at 3:13. Sweet I thought, I’m going to PR.

Then at mile 24.5, I would say that for the second time in my athletic career, the wheels came off. At 24.5 I hit the water stop feel mostly OK then in about 30ft the legs put out the “out to lunch” sign. I walked a few then picked up a painful stab in my right hip and the legs felt heavy as lead. i looked at my watch and saw that I could still make 3:40 if I put my ass in gear and started running again. So I told myself “ just running, walk, then jog, then pick up the pace” About 15 long seconds of that my legs refused.

I made myself walk until I was clearly unable to PR, so I could stop thinking about that. Then I picked it up again, but could only do about 30 yards then walk again. This went on until I saw the one mile to go sign. At that point I was walking with massive cramps in places I wasn’t really expecting or had had before. My legs felt like they wanting to buckle in on themselves. I walked for about a half mile until I saw the green gates that lead to the finish. I held a strong 12:45 for the last .25 miles! CRAZY!

The pain was brief and only came in the last two miles. Although the last few miles seemed to last forever and seemed to crawl by my Forerunner has me at: 8:50, 9:25, 9:50 for the last three, but 5 minutes for the last .2

Over all I enjoyed the race and the amazing setting of Victoria for the race. I still find it funny because I told Alley at the beginning, I don’t really think I’m going to run 26.2 today, we’ll see.

The thing that this did do was make me want to get in the right training to see if I could hit 3:30. I felt great out there and the lack of training caught up with me as excepted. BTW the lack of training came from injury and not laziness. However, I felt I could of run 8:00 even or better per mile up until about mile 23. Endurance from better training could .......................wait a minute!

This sounds like other one could be around the corner soon.......

Also, AK and Karen did an amazing job out there, both getting the times there were looking for.

Long run on Sunday.....

Off to the Victoria Marathon tomorrow. I feel good and ready for the run. Maybe not 100%, but close enough not to make it brutal.

I guess that is all you can ask sometime. I can't look at all the training I didn't get in for the marathon and have to look at it like this - I can pace and maintain and enjoy the day.

It could be worse, I look at this as a great weekend getaway to celebrate one hell of a year in training and racing. I had such a great year that this is a cool way to just put a good high watermark on it.

The main story for this weekend is AK's run. She has been training and in the zone for the marathon. Knocking off 5 days a week and long runs like water. I can see it's not easy on her, shoving out at 6:30 in the morning to get a morning run in before work. Cold dark mornings, with little shelter from wind or rain.

I can see that she has that look of keeping an eye on down the road. Looking down to the payoff. Looking down to this Sunday. Looking down to seeing mile marker 22 and knowing - totally have this.....

Kirkland rundown.......

When the announcer calls one minute to go, I stand there in the water staring just over the horizon,breathing, calm. Always thinking how, in just a matter of seconds, at the sound of the horn, all hell will break loose.

I got myself a bit unfocused before the start because I forgot lube for my bike and lost my swim cap on the way to the transition zone from the car. Crazy.

Swim:

I wanted to push in the swim and lined up just one row back on the left, about 15ft closer than I usually do. The water was pretty choppy heading into the first buoy and about 10 yards from the turn I lost a bit of focus and drifted a bit off course by about 15-20 ft.

I swim pretty straight, I’m not faster than a lot of people, but I tend to swim straighter and in a swim that’s less energy and less time to the other side.

I felt great around the first turn and hit the half way point rolling pretty good. A nice long stroke with plenty of room to move. The last turn takes you back to shore, I let off a bit, but kept up a good pace, about 70%. At one point I was swimming shoulder to shoulder with someone thinking I couldn’t lose this guy and thinking I was moving too slow.However, about a minute of that and we caught about 5-6 people, surprisingly passing with some pretty good speed. A bit more closing speed than I thought a few times.

I had a feeling that I had a good swim time and came out of the water clean without having to run around any large groups.

T1:

Pretty smooth, all went as planned

Bike:

Heading out on the bike I wanted to stay calm, but steady at about 80% effort until the 5 mile mark. The first five are hard, but if you hit the corners right with the right speed and use small burst of speed you can really go through some serious hills with very little effort.

The road was pretty littered with glass from the late and early morning rain. I seen about three flats, but even worse heard a crash behind me that I didn’t want to look back at. Most of the way it was wet and slick, but I never got caught out on a slick spot or felt like the bike was out of control at anytime.

I felt good pushing the tempo and started hunting down people once I got to the second hill, it’s a pretty intense stretch that takes you over some railroad tracks then kicks up again through some houses to get you over the freeway. I was keeping about 10-11 mph up that and breathing was calm so I just thought instead of waiting until mile 5 I’d start at four and work the hill.

Looking back even right after the race I felt I didn’t make the best decisions on the bike as far as went to make the biggest efforts or focus on certain parts of the course. On Slater road, a steep long hill that kicks at the end before flattening out, I trained to stand and attack the last 50 yards, knowing I could recover on the two minute flat spot at the top. Although, during the race I sat and just paced up steady and kind of played it safe?
Also, at about mile 9 you finish a nasty climb and hit a flat spot before a big down that rolls you up the last hill, well mostly.

I hit the flat area and started pulling a gel out and taking a drink and arranging stuff from my bike to my back pocket on my jersey. Sitting up to take in a few deep breaths.........and two guys fly by me. Not just edge by, but haul ass in full sprint mode. CRAP!!! I lost focus again on a very easy part of the course and forgot that others came to race and not just ride. I felt that instead of taking it easy on the part that I did I should of quickly refueled and then got back in a tuck position to take advantage of the flat. The two guy’s shot away from me and it took me less than a second to change gears and chase, catching one on the hill and the second on the overpass of the freeway.

Once you cross the freeway it’s all downhill to the finish. You S turn after a steep descent off the overpass into some blind turns, which you can take at speed if you know the course : ) I kept telling myself “don’t over cook the turns”. I shot out of the turns through the enter section at 39 mph and passed one more person before the next big down that sweeps you left back to the start. I felt great and as soon as I hit max speed I rested the legs and took my feet out of my shoes for the last half mile.

T2:

I put new quick release shoe strings on my running shoes the day before and forgot to loosen them back up for the race. Then I got to my station I grabbed my right shoe first and couldn’t get it to fit. Only wasted about 2 seconds.

Heading out for the run I was knew I had to keep a good pace, 7:30-7:45, if I wanted to stay in the hunt for the top 50. I saw AK and Lil’K at the start of the run, along with Penny, cheering me on. That always seems to get me out of my head and kind of remember, “ OK, we’re just out here running” The first part of the course has a hill to it that I always forget about until I’m staring up at it, but I just kept pace and spotted a few people to focus on. At the first turn I was hunting down a guy in blue, but past him there wasn’t anybody we could see. I stretch of about 150 -200 yards until the next turn.


I was telling AK that for some reason when I go to pass someone I look for the next person down the road to focus on, but if there’s not someone else I fall into a “sympathy pace”, for lack of a better name. It’s hard for me during a tri to focus on the pressure of
racing when I get stuck in “no man’s land”. Meaning there’s no one insight, you’ve either run to the front of your pack or got dropped by the pack in front of you. I went from 6:50 pace down to 7:35 in just a few moments and started running with the guy I was about to pass. Obviously, something to work on!

Once we got into the long snake like turn around I spotted enough people to start bridging the gap on and regained my pace. Heading back for the last mile I kept thinking that all the training, all the hours, all the time out on the road this season was about to finish up. I spotted a guy wearing a Live Strong bike jersey about 30 yards ahead of me and wanted to take him before the intersection that lead to the finish line. I can usually put aside pain if I know there’s reason behind it??? I guess meaning I can live with 2 minutes of extreme discomfort, knowing the finish line is around the corner.

I was talking to someone on a group run yesterday who said, “ you have to know when the pain is going to come and if your willing to deal with it. You can’t start hoping it’s not going to come, but be ready for it.”

Passing the guy and rounding the corner I let off a bit, but worked it to the finish. Always knowing how sometimes seconds can make a huge difference.

I felt great about this race, It wasn’t the bike ride that I imagined, but it all felt like a great effort.


Last years times:

98th 35 M 1:21:38 23 17:53 305 1:50 0:39:54 122 1:16 143 0:20:45 80


2008 Times:

57th 36 M 1:17:30 5 15:14 206 1:35 0:39:26 96 1:12 76 0:20:02 71


Over two and a half minutes faster than last years swim, that alone was a great day! I was telling AK I was a little bummed at not getting sum twenty on the run and I sort of lost track of the fact that this was the fast run leg of a tri I’ve ever done.

In the end I didn’t get Top 50

However, I only missed it by 31 seconds and I could of had that in a straighter swim, slightly more focused bike, loosened shoes in T2 and by not hanging with the guy in the run, but just passing him. I’m happy with how I placed and did and of course, think I can do better next year.

Thanks to AK, Shell, TK, Lil’K and Penny of course for their support and encouragement .


Shell’s got a shell of a story to tell about the Kirkland tri, next time......