Thursday, June 25, 2009

Encounters with Darth Vader

Last Sunday I ran the Father’s Day 5 Miler in a record slow time. A Personal Worst, if you will. While I could blame my poor performance on the day’s muggy clime, I can’t deny the fitness I’ve lost in recent months.

It’s amazing the difference 30 to 40 seconds per mile can make. Not only must I deal with the psychological ignominies of deteriorating condition, but also the many material disadvantages. There’s the embarrassing corral assignment – one or two behind previously well matched club mates. Then there’s the claustrophobic race lane, the chaos at every water station, and the extra long lines at the finish for chip clipping and bagel, to name a few more.

Perhaps most curious though, are the characters I’ve come upon when racing further back in the pack. I don’t recall rubbing shoulders with these types in my speedier days, at least not with the regularity I do now. These life forms can be broadly categorized as follows:

1. The Darth Vader. What’s up with those men* who could be the Dark Lord’s emphysema-suffering twin? They sound like drowning souls who, having just fought their way to the surface, are sucking air like a Dyson 3000 in full blown panic attack. These human vacuum cleaners distract and terrify me, not because of any latent childhood fear of Luke Skywalker’s estranged father, but in anticipation of their imminent demise. I don’t want to be the one to have to stop and administer CPR. Surely it’s not healthy to be laboring that hard?

2. The Conversationalist. It’s insulting and galling to race alongside that chit-chattering pair: “What you having for dinner? Did they have layoffs at your work? Did you watch Lost last night?” SHUT the hell up! Either you’re bragging that you can run this pace while carrying on a casual tête-à-tête, or you’re not racing at all. Either way, I’m killing myself over here, and you’re making a mockery of it. All I want to hear during a race is pounding feet, and the occasional hocked loogie.

3. The Costumed. During the recent Vermont Covered Bridges Half Marathon I found myself flanked by two Batwomen. The initial entertainment factor was quickly replaced with irritation. That I couldn’t overtake these latex-clad femmes, wearing underwear over tights and bat ears, was an affront to my formally more competitive self. And don’t get me started on the capes which fluttered persistently in my face. For the best part of 13 miles I was privy to the recurring spectator reaction, like an iPod on repeat. First, the surprised snort of laughter, then the cheer “Go Batwomen, Go!” And finally, the interminably witty, “Why don’t you just fly to the finish line?” Yes, please do, and take your glossy polyisoprene with you!

Clearly, I need to light a fire under my Brooks, and put in the hard training effort required to escape these prattling, heavy breathing, comic characters. I would love to turn the physiological clock back to that time where my elbows had freedom to flap, my legs had room to settle into a stride, and I didn’t have to fight the masses for a post race banana. I’d love to move further up the pack again, and be part of its quieter and more civilized environs. I have to do this soon though, for if I can’t beat them…I may well don that old Halloween fairy outfit, limber up the tongue, rub sandpaper on my lungs, and join them.


*Perhaps there are female equivalents but I’ve never happened upon any.

Sunday, June 07, 2009

Birthday Blog

In spite of not blogging for nigh on 6 months, I can't let a bloggiversary pass without acknowledging it. It's the big "4" today. How time flies...cliché cliché etc. I've been kinda busy, with the working and the running and the toddler and the travelling and the writing class.

The latter will be ending in a few weeks, at which point I will have the time and the motive to blog regularly again.

I've raced a heap this year already (well, a heap more than in the whole of 2008.) I haven't been overjoyed with any of my performances, but hey, I'm out there.

Last weekend it was the Brooklyn Half, and right at this very moment I am out on the Covered Bridges Half Marathon course in Vermont.

I failed to get into the NYC Marathon via the lottery (although my mum and step dad have confirmed time qualifier spots!), so my fall marathon of choice is the inaugural Asbury Park Marathon on October 18th. Let training commence!

Saturday, January 31, 2009

I am alive

My running diary betrays my recent laziness and injury, with some very spartan entries for the many weeks since my last post.

After being forced to a halt with excruciating pain mid-run on Dec 13th, my knee continued to be dodgy and/or I continued to be lazy for 3 weeks. Then I finally felt confident / motivated enough to try some running on Jan 4th. Since then I haven't gotten above 30 miles per week.

Needless to say, I won’t be running the Country Music Nashville Marathon, since it is but a few brief months away. I'm still contemplating flying down for the half, since it would be a crying shame to miss hanging out with all the Hellgaters (not to mention a total waste of the entry fee.) Given that official switching from the full to the half does not seem possible, I'll just have to hope I don't get blacklisted or arrested for logging a 1:40 (or whatever) marathon.

The knee continues to provide some serious issues this week but oddly, not while I’m running. The best way I have to describe it, is like there’s a loose razor blade floating around in there. It intermittently jabs me sharply in various places, usually on the lateral side, often preventing me from bending my leg more than about 20 degrees and causing me to limp. But now I’m boring myself (and you I'm sure), as this is the same problem I’ve described having for as long as I’ve kept this blog, and before that, to boot. Hopefully, I’ll recover like I managed last year, and be able to run a fall marathon.

Speaking of which, my plans for the Marine Corps Marathon on October 25th were scuppered recently due to a calendar clash with a friend’s wedding. So now I’m prematurely pinning all my hopes on Baltimore (October10th). It sounds like a lovely city to visit, especially since we’ll have friends living there by then.

Eons ago, I signed up for the Bronx Half Marathon - which is next Sunday. If I participate (& I really quite want to), it will be my running career’s least trained-for race. I haven’t run further than 6.5 miles since the marathon over two months ago. But what the heck.

Friday, December 19, 2008

Post Marathon Resolutions

Not sure who's with me, but in the months leading up to each of my marathons I procrastinated on so many tasks, employing a "I'll take care of that afterwards" mentality. With such a huge event looming large, it seemed inconceivable to burden myself with unnecessary undertakings. Which of course, left so much to get done after the big race...

1) Get an iPod Nano and move into 21st century re: learning how to download music/podcasts and whatnot. Check.
2) Start reading books again. Check (two on the go right now)
3) Revamp hideously boring blog format. Check.
4) Start and finish Christmas shopping in a maximum of three focused, top speed outings. Check.
5) Research and choose a more aggressive training schedule for next marathon. Check.

I signed up for April 25th's Country Music Nashville Marathon, chose a new, more challenging training schedule (that I plan to alter down to a 60mpw max), and decided to incorporate heart rate monitoring into the mix.

Then, last week I was literally stopped in my tracks during a run with excruciating left knee pain. I haven't run in a week and it seems to be getting better (at least I'm no longer limping or screaming out in agony intermittently.)

Theoretically the 18-week schedule starts next week with 36 miles, but since I have run less than that in the entire 4 weeks since the marathon, I'm not sure it would be wise (advice anyone?)

I'm too scared to step on the scales, but I'm pretty sure I've gained about 10lbs since the marathon. I lose all control when I'm around chocolate. Which of course, is all the time right now. *sigh*

Tuesday, December 02, 2008

Back to the Flat

I sense a new world record in the works. Who wants to bet me?

Friday, November 28, 2008

Belated Race Report

Now that the legs have (mostly) healed , the duck is (mostly) digested, and the giant mound of dishes are (mostly) washed, I can sit down finally and write my Philly report.

We arrived in Philly on Saturday at about noon and checked into our lovely downtown hotel straight away. Then we head over to the expo to pick up my number and chip. We had some time to kill before the pasta buffet dinner, so we took a chilly walk so I could orientate myself for the next morning's route to the start line.

In spite of trying to get to bed early, I had bad nights of sleep on both Friday and Saturday. Sunday morning my alarm went off at 4:45am, and I woke to find Kyla lying right across my legs. I shook her off gently, sat up and immediately started chowing down on my peanut butter bagel and banana. It was tough going. I always gag on food when I'm nervous. But I know it was really important to eat a lot then, and not leave it any later.

At 5am my cell phone rang and it was mum calling from Scotland to wish me good luck and tell me my wee brother's wife had given birth earlier that morning (12:30am GMT). That was such happy news and an excellent mental boost!

They say you're not meant to wear anything in a marathon that you have not practised wearing in training. Unfortunately with the temperatures so low, I was forced to wear an outfit I had never had occasion to try out. I was a afraid of chafing, so I made sure to smear myself thoroughly with Vaseline, then put some some all over my face for extra protection against the cold. On my lower half I donned my three-quarter length lycra shorts, under race ready short shorts, under a pair of throw away tracky bottoms. On the upper half, it was a long sleeved technical shirt under my Hellgate vest under two throw away shirts, a jacket, scarf, two pairs of gloves with chemical hand warmers, ear muffs and a hat. From the moment I left my hotel room I felt like I'd overdone the layers somewhat, as I met other racers in the elevator who weren't dressed like Eskimos about to embark on a polar expedition.

In the end though, I wasn't sorry at all. I stayed toasty on the walk over there, and during the wait. Even after I'd shed most of the layers, and stood in my corral, it seemed everyone there was shivering uncontrollably but me. Maybe it helped me to be so short; buffered by a wall of tall men.The race started about ten minutes late, but I can forgive them that since I'd only left my hotel room 45 minutes prior. I'm used to leaving home three or four hours before marathon start time.

The marathoners started on the left side of the road, and the half marathoners on the right. We'd jogged about 500 yards when something very odd happened. We took a right turn, and all the marathoners were forced to jump over a low median right through a wall of spectators. It was incredibly weird. I really felt embarrassed for the the course planners, who knows what they were thinking with that one. Oh well, at least nobody (around me anyway) seemed to get hurt, and it gave us all a good giggle.

It wasn't until we were underway that I realized my legs were numb with the cold. It took a mile or two for them to properly defrost. I was really shocked to check my split at the one mile marker and see a '9:01.' I had to fight hard not to really let it affect my confidence. For lack of any better idea, I had decided to go out at an 8 pace and see how far I could take it. Believing I was just just one mile in, and already a whole minute behind threw me. As the next few mile markers passed and my splits were all over the place, it was clear something was wrong. After my 4th mile I happened to pass the only guy from my club running the half - Jay -, and he confirmed that that markers were all wrong. Then a few people with garmins around us called out that we had actually run about 4.25 miles at that point. That must have been right because I clocked a 6:30 split (haha) for the 5th mile.

It's hard for me not to be too judgemental about all these unprofessional aspects of the race organisation. At the risk of sounding like a compete marathon snob (oh who am I kidding? I am), when all you've done is three world class marathons (NYC, Boston, Chicago) it's difficult to comprehend why a race can't start on time, why the miles can't have been measured accurately and why they forced the marathoners to hurdle medians. I heard that it's the City that puts on the marathon, and not a running group, which they say, explains why a lot of it seems amateur.

Anyhoo, after the chaos of the first few miles, things seemed to settle down into normality. There were quite a few serious inclines and declines (particular around the 9 mile point), which made it difficult to maintain a consistent pace. I felt I had to make up time on the downhills that I'd lost on the uphills. I don't remember much after that until the midway point when the half marathoners split off from us. It was nice to be rid of the bulk of the crowd and focus on the business of marathoning.

I didn't have any friends on the course to support me (Matt and Kyla met me at the finish line), and the crowds were sparse for most of the course, but that wasn't an issue for me. If it had been my first ever marathon it would have been disappointing, but I don't need that now. The course itself (from what little I paid attention of it) was attractive and interesting. After the midway point we head out on the outbound part of the out-and-back loop. As I've felt in other races designed like this, I loved being able to watch the leaders pass me. I was a little shocked not to see a police car or cyclist alongside the lead woman, but am assuming one joined her nearer to the finish? Or do you have to be someone like Paula Radcliffe to get that honor?

As usual, my brain was incapable of doing mental arithmetic as I ran, and for the longest time I thought the turnaround was the 18 mile point. It was a hard slog to get to the real turnaround point (at 20), but incredibly uplifting to finally do it. Instead of looking at my actual splits, from about the 6 mile mark I was instead looking at the overall net time, and figuring out how far off an average pace of 8 minutes I was. Because of this, I didn't know until later that day, that I'd actually slowed down a lot - going from approximtely 7:50s to 8:20s. That wasn't my plan at all, and I'm a little bit bummed it turned out that way. But the overall 3:33 was not disappointing. Given my my long absence from running combined with my incredibly negative (PMS-fuelled?) attitude on the day, I'm fairly proud of myself.

The after affects have been minimal. My hamstrings and calves ached for a few days. I only hobbled sideways downstairs for one day. By Wednesday my legs felt fairly normal. I do, however, have one odd complaint. I seem to have done some nerve damage to the toe next to my smallest toe on my left foot. It feels alternately numb and 'tingly', and gets increasingly painful after walking for a while. I trust this is temporary, but I may have to see a doctor if it interferes with running. I haven't run yet, but I may manage a jog before this long weekend is over. I'm already feeling kinda fat and yucky from the combination of being sedentary and the usual Thanksgiving excesses.

I know I did a lot of 'plodding' in the training for this race, and very few 'quality' workouts. But I don't regret it. I think it was important to come back gently to distance running without risking injury. Frankly, I'm shocked and stunned that I got through it all without a hint of my old left knee pain, so I must have done something right. Nonetheless, I'm already planning how to incorporate some more intense workouts to the Nashville training schedule. Hell, maybe I'll even invest in a heart rate monitor. It may be time. And godamnit, I still really need to lose those extra 10+ pounds.

Like the majority of runners I'll bet, I do not yet feel like I have fulfilled my marathon potential. I look forward to doing something about that.

Sincere thanks to everyone who left such kind and supportive comments, messages, texts and emails. I very much appreciate every one of them. This long distance running lark would be too lonely a business without you all.



Summary of Philly Negative Points

The very strange median thing.
The water stations turned into ice rinks. They should have predicted this (from the weather forecast) and had salt/sand at the ready.
Corrals not strictly manned. I saw plenty people in mine who were meant to be much further back, and hence we were more squashed together than battery chickens.
The first few incorrectly placed mile markers.
The delayed start.
The official finish line photo background was unnecessarily jingoistic (American flag) which (combined with the long queue) totally put me off getting it taken.
The medal is badly designed, such as the medallion can fall off the ribbon (which happened to me on the way home - luckily I found it again - in our car.)

Summary of Philly Positive Points

Number pick up was incredibly easy - took 10 seconds, no lines.
Post race salty chicken soup an absolute delight.
Baggage drop off and pick up simple and easy
Super attractive medal and long sleeved technical t-shirt.
And lastly (this has nothing really to do with the marathon) - the famous Philly cheesesteak afterwards was a TREAT!

Sunday, November 23, 2008

3:33:39 Official (3:33:31 Unofficial)

Maybe I'm not over the moon, but definitely within its orbit.

I was hoping the official time comes back at 2 seconds slower - 3:33:33 - that would've been easy to remember.

Full race report to follow soon. All I'll say now is these were the weather conditions when I left the hotel for the start line - and it didn't get much warmer...

Btw - a few folks who tracked me have been telling me my splits were very even - I'm not sure what's going on because by my watch they are all OVER the place. Perhaps they evened out over the distance - ?

Results are in: 1398/7231 overall, 223/2986 women, 47/486 age group. (um - only 7231 people ran the marathon?? - that's tiny!)

Thursday, November 20, 2008

Summary of Silly Philly Training Stats

The following stats detail the 18 weeks leading up to the marathon, excluding the two weeks of taper immediately prior.

# of runs
86 (avg of 5 per week)

Miles:
734

Average mpw:
41

# runs of 18 miles or more:
5

Hours of running:
110

Average Pace:
9 mm

Proportion of runs run alone:
91%

Highest weekly mileage:
53

Races:
3 (one 4 miler and two halfs - Queens and Staten Island)

PRs:
None

Speed work, Hill Work, Crosstraining:
None to speak of

Lowest & Highest Temps:
Around about 38F and 90F (?)

Runs missed due to injuries/sickness:
Two (due to cold/sore throat in late September)
Remarkably however - NO running-related injuries!

This schedule is almost identical to that of my Chicago training schedule three years ago, with the exception that I did a lot of crosstraining (swimming/cycling/weights/yoga) back then. And to be honest, I was slimmer back then. I also came to Chicago after a few solid years of running and a couple of other marathons. This time I'm coming from two years of nothing much (except child birth and over eating).

So, in answer to Thomas's question, I don't really know what time I'm shooting for. I would say at the very least I want to qualify for Boston (not that I plan to do it again.) I'd be a little disappointed with a 3:40 or slower, but I'd get over it. I would be absolutely over the moon with anything 3:29:59 or faster. But being realistic, my time is likely to fall somewhere in between those two.

The weather forecast still looks decent, but I'm suspicious. I think it's going to be freezing before we start, and I'm worried about the muscles seizing up. I'm going to try to plan it so I have a minimal wait time.

I'd like to be able to tell you how to track me, but the lame website doesn't have that information up yet. As I mentioned, my bib number is 2206 if you're up that early on Sunday, and have any interest. Otherwise - I'll catch you on the flip side!

___
Update: sign up to tracking here - I'm Yvonne Damm if you didn't know that already. And apparently there will be live coverage of the race on the website....