The Joy of Running

Before I called myself a triathlete - and after my weight lifting days - I viewed myself as a runner. Training for a marathon I would follow Pfitzinger or Jack Daniels (the coach, not the whiskey) in my pursuit of whatever the time goal was this time around. Chasing a goal is motivating. Running in heat, cold, rain, snow was fine with me, just get me to the race fit and with happy legs. Training for a race gives purpose. Training for a race gives focus. There are goals, both big and small.

And then it happens ... the race arrives and the season ends. All of a sudden there's not a race on the schedule. Well, not a "real" race anyway. After the big goal race, racing becomes more a social thing. More like a hard workout than something I was training to do. With no structure, nothing to point at for motivation, motivation can be hard to find. At this point in the season, many people have trouble getting out the door. I am not one of those people.

As I have discussed recently this is my off season, which I describe as a time for easy workouts, when and if I'm motivated to do them. Every year, so far anyway, a strange thing happens. Every year I'm motivated to run.

This morning I left my house at 5:45 am in the dark of the morning for a run. It was early, but it didn't bother me one bit. The pace was casual. I wore my Garmin, but didn't look at before hitting the stop button. I ran my favorite route; the one I am most comfortable with;  the one I refer to as my "home course."

If you don't have one of these you should. My home course is 8 miles, but I can shorten it to as little as 5 miles or extend it to 10 miles.I know these roads better than the township road crews that care for them. I know the tangents and I know ever mile marker. I run these roads enough to have a waving relationship with the school bus drivers as well as the regulars on their way to work. There's even a long distance runner who drives to work about when I'm out there, Dunkin Donuts coffee in hand, who raises his cup to me when we pass.

I'm not the only regular out there either. "Old Man Ed" was out walking today, as was "Bike Guy" on his way to work. "Bike Guy" made me think for a second that I should be on my Madone. That feeling quickly passed.

Funny thing about these roads - I think of them as mine. I got really upset when the chipped and tared a section a few years back; I cheered out loud when they properly paved that same section six months later. Come springtime, when the fair-weather athletes start to hit the streets again, I admittedly get a little offended that they are on MY ROADS. Where were they on that cold, windy days in February?

Running is my gateway drug and the reason I ended up an Ironman.

Don't get me wrong, I love riding my bike and I (for the most part) enjoy hitting the pool. But at the end of the day, it all comes back to the joy of  running ...

Train hard. Stay focused.
Jon

Race Report: Philadelphia Marathon

The Philadelphia Marathon is a race that has been on my schedule many year. It is close to home, a nice course to run, and the timing is perfect for both my schedule and my desire to race in cooler conditions. Of all the race distances I have raced, the distance I have been the most inconsistent at is the marathon. It should come as no surprise that  I've had some very good races and some very bad races in Philly.

Late last week I posted up my thoughts Sunday's run and what I wanted to accomplish, what I would consider a success. I defined success based on two things - discipline and process. You can find that post here.

On Saturday morning I woke up early and ran an easy three and a half miles with some strides at the end of the run. After a stretch, a shower and a hardy breakfast, I headed down to Philly with The Mayor and The Queen. What would normally be a 75 minute drive turned into a 2 1/2 hour slog due to a major accident that shut down rt. 309 for 6 hours. Sitting in stopped traffic is never the ideal situation, it isn't any easier when you are full of pee because you are very well hydrated energy at the end of a taper week. Fortunately, the company made it a little more bearable. We did finally make it to the expo, picked up our race packets, walked the expo floor, then headed to our hotel for a little r&r.

Sunday was an early start due to the 7 am start time and the "heightened security" around the staging area. In the pre-race materials it was highly suggested that participants get to the race site by 5 am as the security would be tight. We decided a 5:30 arrival would make more sense. We walked through security, waited in the port-o-john line (why are there never enough of these at any race), dropped our bags at the UPS trucks, and hit the starting corrals.

Rant: I get that in the aftermath of the Boston Marathon bombing in April there is a need to increase the security around big city marathons. I get that. What I have a problem with is a security plan that makes no sense. All they did was have a perimeter with a limited number of entrance points from  the art museum on the west and the start/finish area to the east. While would be fine, except there was no bag checking, or pat downs, let alone metal detectors. We literally just walked right in with only a "good morning" from "security."

Back to the race ... The conditions were as ideal as one could ever expect with a light breeze and temperatures around 50 degrees. A no excuses day made my time goal of a 3:15 finish time (with a BQ time of 3:25 as my fallback) reasonable. Still, success would be truly defined as sticking with my five predefined goals. This race was about discipline and process.

So how did I stack up against my five pillars of success?

1. Start the race at a controlled pace without burning off too much energy trying to get space. Here I was successful. The Mayor and I started at the back of our start corral, crossing the start line approx. 2 minutes after the start of the race. The first three miles were really tight with less space than I like to have. It was uncomfortable and I had the urge to weave around some of the slower runners, which would have happened in years past. This year, I kept my discipline and eased into the race with my first three mile splits coming in at 7:45, 7:36, 7:20.

2. Pace the run for a negative split. The time goal was a 3:15 and I hit the 10k mark in 46:34, the halfway mark in 1:37:19, and the 30k in 2:18:12. Good pacing for the most part, but a little fast from 10k to the half, which had more to do with the terrain than me actually pushing the pace. Success.

3. Proper fueling. I have a real bad habit of just forgetting to take on nutrition. Here, I drank water at all but two of the 17 water stops and took a Power Gel at miles 8 and 17 as planned. My stomach wasn't an issue and energy levels were fine to the very end. Success

4. Push myself in the last 10k.So I did and I didn't. I was on pace for 21 miles to get the 3:15. And then my hip flexors tightened up like you wouldn't believe. Forced to walk a bit my attitude remained positive and I decided to gut it out the best I could. I stayed positive for the next few miles, even as the periods of running got shorter and shorter. Then it happened. Mile 25 was a dark place for me as I mentally started to check out. It was also by far my slowest mile at 9:58. I did the math and knew I could still get the BQ, but I was in that mentally dark place. Half Success

5. Leave it all out there on the course.Yes, I broke a bit mentally. Still, I think I gave it everything I had. More important than the breakdown is the fact that I came out of it to finish up as strong as possible. I'm sure it looked ugly over the last few miles, but I got it done. Success

Overall that's a 4 1/2 out of a possible 5 which we can call a win. Unfortunately, discipline and process did not result in a sub-3:15. Instead, I finished in an official time of 3:24:04 and a 7:46/mile average pace, which did not come as a surprise to me.

Going back over my training I had some really good long runs. Four weeks out I had a great 20 miler on the tow path with Phil, followed up one week later with a 17 miler on the roads. At that point all things were looking and feeling great. But ... isn't there always a but ... the day after the 17 miler I woke up with a strange pain in my right quad. It was a muscle strain which led me to take five easy days with no running. When I got back to running I did a 10 mile long run, not the 20 I had intended to do. Also, once back running I stuck to flat terrain so as to decrease the muscular stress.

It worked, in that I got to the start line ready to run. In getting to the start line, however, I gave up some strength as well as my last long run. No training block goes exactly as planned, but I have to believe that losing the consistency and mileage when I did factored into how the final 10k played out. Not making excuses, it just is what it is.

Finally, I want to give a big shout out to everyone who raced last weekend, and specifically Cassie (3:04:02, 5th in F20-24), Danielle (3:25:18 6th in her AG), Barb (2:08:20 in the half), and The Mayor (1:41:16 in the half).

I want to give an extra special shout out to The Queen, who completed her first half marathon in an official time of 2:35:21. What she did on Sunday was a huge accomplishment and is much more impressive than anything I did last weekend. Cannot express in words how proud I am of her.

Train hard. Stay focused.
Jon

Thoughts on this Weekend's Philly Marathon

There was a time when the marathon was the focus of my training. I was a runner - not a great runner, but a runner - and the marathon was the defining distance in my mind. I raced other distances, sure. But my training was built around a spring and fall marathon.This went on for a number of years, eventually leading to cross-training, which led to a duathlon, which led to a triathlon, which led to a full Ironman ... but even as the level of craziness in racing increased, I always managed to ran a standalone marathon every year. It was just something I did ... until 2012.

I did start the D&L Marathon last November, but pulled out with a hamstring injury around mile 19, making 2012 the first year since 1999 I failed to complete 26.2 miles. It's now been more than two years since I finished my last marathon.

With my focus on triathlon the past 7 years the marathon has taken a back seat, almost an afterthought. In fact, my training for a marathon always came AFTER my last race of the year. Talk about an afterthought!!!

This time around I am not taking the distance for granted, and have made a few changes to my prep. For example, I actually have been preping specifically for a marathon. Getting ready for the Rev3 Half/Full Triathlon I made sure that my run mileage was up and my long runs were sufficiently long for marathon training, as opposed to get through 13.1 miles off the bike.

The taper has also been a real marathon taper with just enough running, no bike mileage, and a few short swims to work off enough idle energy to keep me from going insane. Rest time is actually rest time as well, including more sleep (not 8 hours, but more than the 5 I usually get). For me this is big. I don't like to slow down and I don't like the taper.With that said, my last "real run" on Thursday morning went well. Not exactly where I want to be on race day, but the legs had life in them. This gives me hope for a good race.

As for what I'm expecting to do on Sunday morning ... first, I don't plan on making any of the mistakes I have made in the past. I've gone the distance enough to (hopefully) not sabotage myself with stupid. To do this I am focusing in to process and not a goal time, although I do have that in mind as well. If I don't get that goal I will run to the top of the stairs in front of the Philadelphia Art Museum and throw myself down them in disgust be fine. IF I stick to a sound game plan. So what will define success?

1. With more than 25,000 participants the Philadelphia Marathon is a big race. There is also a 1/2 marathon running at the same time. These two facts make it challenging to find pace and stay in control in the first few miles. Thus, goal number one: Start the race at a controlled pace without burning off too much energy trying to get space.

2. Pace the run for a negative split. The best run marathons are run either evenly paced or at a slight negative split so it doesn't make any sense to put "time in the bank" when that really doesn't work.

3. Proper fueling. I have had a habit of getting behind on liquids and calories. I need discipline.

4. Push myself in the last 10k. While I really, really like the pain of pushing the limit while on a bike, I find it less enjoyable on the run. As Macca would say, "embrace the suck." As we discuss within my circle of friends - Rule #5!!!

5. Leave it all out there on the course. Doesn't matter what I feel like on Monday because this is my last race of the year. You might see me at some small, local races, but I will be participating, not racing.

So there you have it, my definition of success for Sunday's race comes down to one word: discipline. I have to fight my inner urge to do stupid and stay focused.

And ... with all that said ... it really comes down to two numbers: Three Fifteen. That would give me a qualifying time for Boston, 2015. I'm 44 now and will be 45 then so a sub-3:15 gives me enough space from the BQ standards to qualify and get a spot come race day.

Good luck to everyone else who will be racing, including Cassie, Danielle, Barb, The Mayor and The Queen.

If you have an interest you can get race results here.

Stay focused. Train hard.
Jon

The Joy and Stress of Tapering

On November 17 I'll be racing the Philadelphia Marathon. After a completing my triathlon season I have returned to my running roots and put in a short, but solid, block of running. While the mileage wasn't as large as past cycles, the mileage was focused. With a solid triathlon base, "junk" miles were not necessary. The only issue was a slight muscle strain that put a twist in the plan. Now, in the final two weeks, it is time to heal and get ready to physically race. It is time to taper.

There are some who enjoy the taper. I don't. I like to train. Let me rephrase that ... I really like to train. A lot. I think back to big Ironman focused weeks and I smile. Big weeks when you are fit make you feel strong; big weeks make you feel like you never need to stop.

Tapering is the exact opposite.After weeks of building fitness these final two weeks are about rest and recovery - getting the legs to feel awesome on race day. I totally get the theory. The problem I have with this process can be summed up in four words: It feels like shit. 

Here is the not exact analogy I always go back to: When I was in college, the end of the semester was always a time of high stress and focus, making sure that papers were done and the studying for finals was complete. A lot of time and energy expended with little sleep to ensure my final grades were up to the standards I expected of myself. During those weeks it was easy to be focused. During those weeks it was easy to be efficient. During those weeks it always felt good. This is the equivalent of the big work you do during the build phase of a training cycle. And then it happened ...

After weeks of focused work I would crash. Hard. All of a sudden I didn't feel good, slept a crazy amount, got lazy and unfocused. Some semesters I would get a bit sick (although, as usual, I would go into total denial). This is the taper of the analogy.

About two weeks later I would come out of the funk and could once again contribute to society. In my mind this is like race day.

Back to today. My legs ache. I'm tired. A little moody. And I really want to crank up the training. Hasn't happened yet, but I'm sure the "marathon flu"* will start sometime soon. Other than some riding while down in Florida last week (post to follow), I haven't done any serious riding for some time, while swims have been limited in duration and intensity. Now the run miles are dwindling. Ugh.

I know it has to be done in order to have a chance to reach my goal of running a Boston Qualifying time. It sucks. It feels like shit. It's annoying. It's necessary.

Train hard. Stay focused.
Jon


* The Marathon Flu is that feeling you get during the taper period where you constantly feel like you are getting sick. The fake sore throat or the sniffles are the main symptoms

8 Easy Ways to Blow Yourself Up During a Marathon

In three weeks I'll be lining up on the streets around Eakins Circle for the start of the Philadelphia Marathon. This won't be my first rodeo. I'm not exactly sure, but I have started somewhere around 30 stand alone marathons - the first one back in 1999 - dropping out of two due to injury. I may not be the fastest at the distance, but I certainly have some experience.

Some races have been quite successful, while others complete disasters. Getting it right is fun, but getting it wrong tends to bring more knowledge and understanding of what works and what doesn't. The combination of doing a good number of marathons and my propensity to race kinda stupid from time to time, I have managed to blow myself up in an embarrassing number of ways.

Here are the top eight ways I have destroyed a training cycle:

1. Start the race not in marathon shape - There is a difference between being fit and being marathon fit. Before I started competing in triathlons, this wasn't much of a problem as the marathon was the point of my training plans. In the last few years, however, I have been really fit but not necessarily marathon fit. The marathon is a totally different beast from any other race. Trust me, if you aren't trained for the specific stresses of a marathon you won't run your best race.

2. Race at "wish I could" pace, not "what I should" pace - Listen to your training. If your training indicates a 7:30/mile marathon, going out at a 7:15/mile pace will be a disaster. Here is how it plays out: the race starts and you feel great, as you are running on fresh, tapered legs. After passing through the half feeling good, you start to tire a bit around mile 15 or 16. From there it gets worse and worse until you are shuffling along or walking most of the final 10k. It took me some time to figure this one out (I can be a bit thick headed).

3. Start the race with a known injury - My second try at the marathon distance was at the Jersey Shore Marathon in April, 2000. Going into the race I was coming off a strained calf ... or at least that's what I told myself. I really wanted to do the race and convinced myself I was good to go the distance. Around mile 15 it started to ache. Buy mile 18 I was walking. At mile 21 I caught a ride to the finish line to meet my family.

4. Run too fast a pace in the early miles - I forget the year, but back in the mid-2000s I felt great going into the Philly Marathon and we (Jack and I) decided to go for it. We went out fast. Really fast. Stupid fast. We reasoned that even if we slowed down a bit we would still run a good time (by our standards). Yeah ... By the time we hit the turnaround in Manayunk (mile 20) we were hurting. Bad. By mile 22 we were staggering across Kelly Drive. We did eventually finish ... eventually.

5. Improper fueling - I have never over-fueled, but I have under-fueled on a number of occasions. If you don't get enough calories in early on you will run out of fuel and hit the wall. On a hot day, not enough liquids can cause cramping and over heating. Best thing to do is work on this during your long runs and have a plan.

6. Overeat the night before the race - Eating a huge plate of pasta and all the bread they will give you at the Italian restaurant isn't the best option. It takes time for your food to completely digest. Eating a big meal too close to the start of the race can, and likely will, leave you bloated and/or with intestinal distress. I have found that a better alternative is to make breakfast the largest meal the day before a marathon (or triathlon for that matter). As a side note, don't go crazy at the race expo with the free samples. 

7. Show no respect for hot, humid conditions - I am just terrible in the heat. Sorry, that's an understatement. I'm like a 300 pound guy wearing cotton sweatpants and sweatshirt. If I were in a blizzard in my underwear I would break into a sweat. Now that you have that picture in your head, understand every race isn't run in ideal conditions. If you have a goal but it turns out that your race will be run in 85 degrees, not "average" mid-50s you expected, bag the original game plan. This is more important for early season races when the body isn't heat acclimated. Don't believe me? Ask anyone who ran Boston in 2004 or 2012.

8. Overdress in the cold - This is the opposite problem from #7, and one I have only done once - at the Boston Marathon in 2009 (?) when a major storm rolled through causing havoc. The rule of thumb is to dress for 10 degrees warmer than the actual temperature. If you are one of those people who are always cold or always hot, modify this rule to fit your needs. The problem is, over the course of 3 to 6 hours the temperature can change drastically. I've done races where it's in the high 30s at the start and mid-50s by the time I cross the finish line. Best thing to do in that situation is to dress in layers. Use arm warmers, vests, two sets of gloves, ear warmers, and "throw aways." In Boston I wore a jacket which was fine for a while. When the weather changed I was stuck and soaked, which really sucked.


And there you have it, some of my dumbest racing mistakes there for the taking. Fortunately for you, all of these mistakes are easily avoidable with just a bit of forethought in your training and race prep. I put this out there to help others speed  up their personal learning curve while reminding myself of the dumb mistakes I have made in the past, hoping to not make them (again) in the future.

Train hard. Stay focused.
Jon