Monday, January 28, 2013

Colton Winterfest 10 Miler Review

The course was brutal.  It was brutally cold (about 0-5 degrees) and was HILLY.  I had heard that it had hills, but they just kept coming.  A peek at the Garmin indicates that the first 5.7 was all hills.  Tough course...

The Hills
So naturally, the first thing that I realized was that I am a horrible hill runner.  I am so bad at running hills, that I got passed by A LOT of people, and only managed to pass one person going uphill (and that person passed me going up an earlier hill - so I think it pretty much cancels itself out).  My quads were burning, and I was breathing heavier than everyone who passed me.

On a brighter note, either because I don't know any better, or for whatever reason, I made up a lot of ground on the downhills.  I think that some people who I was even with in the first 2 miles gained at least a quarter of a mile on me on the hills, but I managed to catch many of them on the downhills.  I don't know if running so much with the stroller (slow up, fast down) has changed my running tendencies or what, but the gist of it was a leap frogging type of race for a large portion of the run.  I'd get passed on the uphill, and then I'd catch them, or pass them on the downhill.  This continued throughout all of the hilly portions of the race.

Goals
I really had no idea of how to pace for this distance, but the Jack Daniel's book said that I should be running 7:45 to 8:00 miles for a race of this distance based upon my 43 VDOT (calculated from my 5K PR).  So I started out with a 1:15 "A Goal" and a 1:20 "B Goal."

The Race
I hadn't gotten much good sleep either of the two nights prior to the race, and I had been battling a cold for a week, so I kind of felt like I might not hit my A goal, but I thought that my B goal would be a lock.  I started really slow (about 10 min/mile) because the race starts on a fairly steep short decline and a sharp turn to get out of the parking lot and onto the road - and the roads all had a covering of snow from the night before (which, to my dismay, did not change much - almost the entire race was done on a thin snow cover).  I don't know how much this impacted performance, but I'm sure that it didn't help anyone run to their full potential.  I also opted out of using the YakTrax because of the calf strains that I believe they've been causing me.

I picked up the pace a little after leaving the driveway start - and logged an 8:35 first mile.  My second mile was 8:26, but then the hills started to take their toll on me.  I progressively slowed (my slowest mile was 10:02 for mile 5) and by that time I was thinking that I just need to finish.  That's when the downhills and flats came.  I managed to regain my pacing, and logged my two fastest miles for mile 8 & 10 (7:22 and 7:49), but it was too late.  I never made up enough of the time that I lost on the uphills, and didn't have enough steam to pick up the pace any faster anyway.

Results
I finished in 1:26:42, with a pace of 8:41.  In the couple of days since, I keep wondering how much better I could have done if I was a stronger hill runner.  Note to self, add more hill training to my workouts...

The Course
Bitterly cold and damn hilly.  Hilly sounds too small, because they were so brutal.  The scenery is nice, and the traffic was minimal, so it was a fun run on those accounts.  Also, the organizers did a great job of providing refreshments afterwards and a plethora of awards (from non-performance recognition to trophies for the top 5 finishers in each age group).  My favorite part of the race was the numerous painted messages on the snow covered roads.  They had gone out an painted messages like, "It's all downhill from here, feel like you want to puke yet?, We love hills!," and my personal favorite "Slow?"  I would recommend the experience to others, but with a word of caution, do some hill training first.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Colton Winterfest 10 Miler

I ran 10 and a half on Saturday.  It was a nice run.  I decided to push the last half mile (I don't know why), but other than that - it was a very leisurely jaunt.  I ran 6 tonight - again, easy...

I'm thinking about doing the Colton Winterfest 10 Miler, but I'm not sure if I'm really going to do do it.  It's a decent drive, plus it's early in the morning, plus the weather is supposed to be COLD.  Single digits cold...  I keep having these images in my head of trying to gulp water at the water stations and splashing it down the front of me - only to have it freeze as it reaches my midsection.  BRRRRRR!!!!  I suppose that I could skip the water stations - I've definitely run longer without hydration - but I've never done that with a modest effort, only on LSDs.  The last, and perhaps most compelling, reason I might talk myself out of this one is because I'm not sure what to do with the kids.  Any takers?

That brings me to my next conundrum.  If I were to run this race, I have absolutely no idea of how to pace for a 10 mile race.  Both times I've run a similar distance I've taken it really easy for the majority of the race, only to discover that I had way too much in the tank at the end.  I've heard that this is a brutal and hilly race.  I tried to find some reviews on the Internet, but with no luck - anyone run this one before and care to share your experience with me, in particular good strategies?

My calves are sore.  Bad calves!  How dare you be sore today!

Disclosure:  The results of the Frozen Foote are now available, despite my prior complaints.

Friday, January 18, 2013

Lost Race Results

I took Wednesday off because I just didn't feel like running.  I was worried that it might be an indication of burn out and/or just needing a break from running.  When I was training for the Philly Marathon, I got to a point where it felt more like work than fun (ironically, somewhere near the peak mileage of my program - go figure).  I am happy to report, however, that I felt like running last night - and did so.  I only did 4 easy miles though...  Maybe because easy miles are more fun?  Either way, because I raced on Saturday and did a hard workout on Monday, I figured the rest of the week should be easy anyway.  My only regret is that it was so much warmer on Wednesday.  Instead of running in Wednesday's 30 degree weather, I ended up running in 0 degrees on Thursday.  I was thinking it was going to be brutal, but turns out that I layered ok and was quite comfortable throughout.  It always amazes me, however, that no matter how cold it is outside, I always remove sweat soaked shirts afterwards...  Anyway, I'm now up to 14.25 miles this week, so I'm thinking that a run of 6-10 miles on Saturday will wrap up my week.  I'm trying to stay under 25 miles or so for now, because I think that my legs are at their breaking point for injury (although I think that the YakTrax caused much of my misery - more on that another time).

Rants and Rambles: One of the odd things that I like to do is to continuously review and look up race results.  I often find myself perusing the postings on the web, and analyzing them over and over again.  It must drive my wife crazy.  Well, I've been going crazy because the last 2 frozen foote race postings are unavailable!  The December race was posted on northernrunner.org, but the link has never worked right.  As for the January results - they are no where to be found.

This brings me to my rant.  Why is NorthernRunner so poorly kept?  The site is a great concept, and is wonderful when it's working right, but there are always incorrect/bad links, and any time I've tried to e-mail the webmaster for the site, the e-mail bounces back because his/her inbox is too full.  One of the Frozen Foote organizers told me that she was trying to contact them too in order to fix the bad link, but that she was not having any luck.  I've contemplated taking on the task of creating a new website to serve as northernrunner.org was intended to.  The other thing that always drives me crazy is when race organizers publicize a race like crazy, but after the event happens there is nothing more - not a word.  No press release, no results posted/published - nothing!  GRRR... ARGGG!  Don't they know that there are people like me out there who obsess about looking up race results, comparing our times against our running buddies and foes, and analyzing them for any signs of improvement?  Oh well.  I guess I'll have to obsess over other things for the time being...

On another note, in the not so distant past, I probably would have been reluctant to disclose my odd habits - like over analyzing race results.  However, the older I get, the more I acknowledge that if I'm thinking it, somebody else likely is too.  Is it you?

Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Boilermaker 2013

I registered (and my wife) for the 2013 Boilermaker 15K late yesterday afternoon.  At the time I registered, there were about 1,000 slots left out of 14,000.  This morning, I noticed that it was sold out.  I'm glad that I got our registration in when I did.

The Boilermaker:  The Boilermaker takes place in Utica, NY.  The marquee event is the 15K, but there are several other races that take place over the weekend, including a 5K, with wheelchair divisions for the 5K and 15K (which I might add are quite cool and inspiring).  The organizers claim that it's the largest attended 15K in the country.  I don't know if that's accurate, but it sure is crowded - especially if you're in the last corral, like we were last year.

Last Year:  Last year was the first time that we attempted this race.  I finished in 1:22:51 (8:54 min/mile).  Although I had run a marathon prior to this, I had never attempted this distance before.  Thus, I went into it with a marathon pacing mentality.  I started slow, and decided to hold back until the fabled golf course hill.  After the hill (about mile 4 or 5), I ran the rest at a lactate threshold pace.  I ran the first 4 miles in about a 9:40 pace, and the remaining at approximately an 8:10-8:15 min/mile pace.  My fastest mile (the downhill portion of the golf course), was at 7:45.  I ran the last half mile at a 6:42 pace, so needless to say I think I could have probably gone out a little faster, and netted a slightly faster overall time.

Goals For This Year:  One of my goals for an event of this distance is always to finish.  My other goal for a race this long is to finish injury free.  At this point, I'm shooting for a sub 1:15, but I solidify this more as we get closer to the actual date, and determine how my training is going.

Corrals:  I don't know how they determine the corrals for this race, but I know that it's a big gripe for many of the participants.  I hope I'm not in the last corral this year, because they seem to dump to many different abilities in this group.  I indicated that I projected to run this race at a 9:00 min pace last year, and yet I had to dodge walkers in the first half mile of the event.  Worse even, some people would simply stop running right in front of me.  If you're in this corral and you're trying to achieve a goal finishing time, pay attention to the strategies section that follows.

Strategies for Newbies:  If you care about your time, my advice is that you get to the front of the last corral, if that's where you are seeded.  I saw a bunch of people running on the sidewalk instead of the road, thus avoiding much of the congestion.  I didn't try this last year, but I might consider it this year.  It's so crowded, you'll be tempted to weave around people.  Try to resist this temptation, and make gradual path changes.  My experience from doing a lot of weaving at the Philly Marathon was that it wastes energy, and actually makes your race significantly LONGER.  No joke, I added about a quarter mile more to my marathon because I was impatient and weaving a lot.  I know a quarter mile isn't a big deal, but the first time you run a marathon you may think differently (think about having to go another quarter mile after you cross the finish line - who wants to do that?).  Instead, relax, take in the moment, and know that you'll get around that pack in front of you.  I also found that politely asking if you may pass seemed to work well.  On another note, I accidentally bumped some guy's elbow with my upper arm as I passed him.  He was irate.  I apologize immensely; it was not intentional, and I should have said such immediately.  As it turns out, I didn't say much because I was trying to focus on my race, but as I pulled away, I could hear him continuing to shout insults at me - so I turned around, looked him in the eye and shouted, "then move over to the side!"  I know, I know...  Very immature.  I am indeed sorry for how I handled it, but part of me also feels like he should have never lined up in front of me, especially if he didn't care about his time (which is one of the things he indicated when he was shouting at me).  Drink lots of fluids throughout the race, try to hit the tail end of the water stations (less congestion), and make sure you look behind you if you're going to walk through the stations (so that you don't cut someone else off).  Also, beware of people doing that in front of you.  Lastly, don't underestimate the gradual hill that climbs towards the college - or the final hill towards the last stretch.  Both of these hills hurt me more than the infamous golf course hill.

Training Thus Far This Week:  I was so bummed that I got passed on the uphills in the Frozen Foote on Saturday, that I decided to do hill fartleks yesterday.  I ran just over 6 miles, easy 1st mile, easy for most of the rest of the runs except the hills, I ran some of them at tempo pace, and some of them at interval pace.  I was sore afterwards.  I think it's kind of funny how running easy in between any sort of interval always seems to be a faster pace than my normal "easy" pace.  Perhaps it's psychological, perhaps any slower pace feels easy after a hard bout, or perhaps it's physical, your more warmed up and pumped up, so your body just moves faster even though it feels easy.  Maybe it's a combo of both.  Thoughts?

Today I ran out easy 20 mins. and then turned around and came back easy.  I ended up going just under 4.2.  My paces were about 15 seconds per mile faster than my normal easy runs.  Am I getting to a new level, or was it just a good day (or was I pushing harder than I thought I was)?

Sunday, January 13, 2013

Frozen Foote #2 2013

My wife and I ran the Jan. Frozen Foote yesterday.  It was the perfect day for running.  I convinced a friend to watch our kids for 2 hours so that I could run sans stroller.  It's interesting, because there are so many different twists to this post, different tangents that I could follow...  I'll try to break them up by topic:

Race Conditions:  I've already mentioned that conditions were perfect.  It was low 40's and no precipitation.  Slightly overcast, but not ominously so...  I've since heard that we broke records for warm temps yesterday.  For those of you not familiar with the North Country (the True Upstate NY), this weather is ridiculously warm.  The past two weeks (prior to this race), I've mostly been running in single digit weather.  In fact, one of my recent runs started at -10 degress and ended at -12.

The Stroller Effect:  I've often wondered how much running with a stroller really affects pace.  I've found that there is a huge difference in opinions, and more specifically in regards to how much affect it has on pace.  There is quite a bit more that I'll eventually get around to writing about as it pertains to stroller running, but for now I would just like to say that I think that this event was particularly useful in helping to answer this question for me.  The reason is that I ran this same race (it's a series of 4) last month with the two kids in the stroller, and gave (what I felt) was an all out effort.  The result was 30:52.

Race Goals: This race is billed as a 4 mile event, but it's slightly shorter than that.  My Garmin picked up 3.88 last month and 3.9 this month.  The race organizers claim that it's 3.87.  Regardless, because this race is close enough to a 5k, I thought that my 5k pace was good to use to generate a goal for this event.  I have been making significant improvement in recent 5k races, so I thought it would be realistic to shave a couple of seconds per mile off of my most recent 5k time and use that as a goal.  I went into this race with two goals.  My "A" goal was to go sub-28.  My "B" goal was to go sub-29.  Either of these would be PRs for me in this event (I ran 3 in the series last winter).

Race Recap:  I warmed up for this race.  I had really been pysching myself up to run well in this event, so one of the things that I convinced myself to do was a 10 minute easy jog, finishing with one stride of approx 80 yards.  I don't normally warm up, I just usually go.  If you want to, you are permitted to go out before the race, and (on the honors system), write your time in.  My wife decided to do this (first time), and I ran out with her for 5 minutes and then back.  Kudos to her for accomplishing her one and only goal.  I'd love to print it here, but it's not my place to do so.

Instead of lining up in the back (like I usually do with the stroller).  I chose the front of the 2nd pack.  No one really seemed to want to get on the line, so there were about 10-15 people right on the line, a significant gap, and then a second group - that's were I was.

In the first quarter mile of the race, I felt great (then again I always do).  I glanced at the garmin and saw a 6:30 something pace.  I thought I was starting too fast, but ultimately decided to just run by feel, and because I felt so calm and relaxed, I just went with it.  I also knew that sometimes the Garmin could report paces vastly different within a few seconds of one another, so I took the quick reading of pace with a grain of salt.  It didn't matter much anyway, because when I hit the first hill, I didn't feel so great and relaxed anymore.  I glanced at the garmin again and saw a pace time that looked North of 7:40 - go figure...

I decided then, that I would just continue to run as hard as I thought that I could without dropping.  By the close of the 1st mile, I was already breathing a 2-2 rate, which typically doesn't hit me until after the 2nd mile of a 5k, so I knew that I was at least pushing harder than I normally do.  I saw my wife just after Mile 1.  I told her that she had "just about a mile to go; keep it up."  I'm not sure if that helped or hurted, but it's what I thought was encouragement at the time.

The turnaround point always gets me on this run.  I'm not a big fan of out and back races to begin with, but for whatever reason, this one bothers me more than others.  It's at the bottom of a slight hill, so that you're rocking the downhill, have to make this turn (which totally messes up your rhythm and cadence), and then you have to go slightly uphill.  I employed a tactic that I read in Runner's World (I think offered by Ryan Hall), shorten your stride and take several quick choppy steps immediately following the turn.  I don't know if it works or not, but I got passed by a few people immediately following the turn - so I'm thinking that it didn't work so well.  I did find out afterwards, however, that someone that runs very similar times to me said that he was right behind me at the turn around, but then I pulled away - so go figure?  I rarely look at my watch at the halfway points - so nothing to offer you there...

The leg home was tougher.  I found myself fighting the urge to let off the pace a little.  I kept saying things to myself like "Do you really need to back off a little, or could you actually push a little harder?"  Everytime I thought I wanted to back off, I used this to pick up the pace.  I got passed by more people than I'm used to (which bothers me), but I also attribute this to the fact that I usually start in the back.  I also noticed that I lose ground on everyone (that I can see) on the uphills, but that I gain ground on everyone on the downhills.

The last quarter mile, I came to the realization that I was racing this race to my full potential.  I was going to finish knowing that I could not have run it any faster.  I realized this as I pushed up the last two hills and forced myself to run them harder than the previous hills - even though I wasn't moving much faster than before.

Race Results:  28:31.  I have to admit, I was immediately disappointed to see that I had not hit my "A" goal.  After a few hours, I felt better about my effort.  I should be happy, considering that my best time from last year in this series was 32:57, and that I ran it in 30:52 last month (albeit with the stroller).

Long Term Plan:  I've been re-evaluating my long term goals since this run.  I guess that I was delusionally thinking that my rate of progress would continue at the same rate that I was on in the fall (I know that it's not realistic, but I was hoping...)  Now that I'm showing signs of diminshing returns, I am wondering what might be realistic for 2013.  Prior to this run, I was hoping to be sub 21 mins for the 5k by the fall of 2013.  Now I'm wondering if sub 22 would be a better goal.  My current 5k PR is just over 23 - run this past fall (I'll have to look it up to give you a specific time).  So I'm not sure yet.  I'll have to get back to you on all of my goals...