The Tour De Cleveland: Cleveland Marathon Race Report

Where do I begin.  I am just a glutton for punishment.  I had a fantastic race and yet another success of a marathon.  That is the best most positive way to put it.  The more accurate way to describe it is to say I should have run the half marathon instead.  Two weeks rest after the Flying Pig Marathon is just not enough.  I thought I was ready and I was not.

It all started rather odd.  I was one of the last to cross the start line.  I accidentally got separated from my Athletic Supporters and still had my gear and gym bag with me when I crossed that start line.  At one point I was willing to run the entire marathon with the bag strapped across my chest.  Space was reading “Ultramarathon Man” so that was in the bag and if I needed it I could have pulled it out and read for a little inspiration.  I got lucky though.  About 100 meters after the start line Space and Rae were there and I tossed the bag in their direction.  I will learn from that mistake and ensure that I do not loose track of my Athletic Supporters in the future.  They are what keeps the team together.

Well, there I was at the very back of the pack.  This was obviously too slow so I weaved my way through the crowd at a blistering pace.  I was putting up some killer miles in the low 8 to high 7 minute range.  I passed the 5:30 pace group and about a mile later I passed the 4:15 pace group.  I could see the the 4 hour pace group just ahead.  So I pushed.  I passed the 4:00 pace group just before the 10k mark.  What a great feeling.  I was moving and I still had a lot left.  That would be end of that mess.  Just remember, when running a marathon and you get that feeling of euphoria.  Don’t worry, it will pass.  I looked down after I went past the 10k timing “mat” and saw that our new timing system tag was coming loose from my shoe.  So I pulled off to readjust the tag so it would not inadvertently come off during the race.

Lets see here.  We have these champion chip systems that have been proven and are well accepted by the racing community.  Then comes the Chrono Track system that has only been used in select races with very little success  See Complete Running for an update.  This “D-tag” is held together with a pressure sensitive adhesive where the champion chip is a mechanical lock.  I am an adhesive chemist and love the idea of the technology being advanced but it was not ready.  I initially attached my tag to my shoe in the rain.  Did I forget to mention that the race started in the rain.  A very good thing except for the soggy shoes.  Well through a lack of forethought the adhesive did not hold.  When I realized it was loose it had stopped raining and I hoped that is was going to hold when I stuck it back together and tucked in under my laces.  A mile later I looked down and found that it was loose again.  I pulled off and worked at it and eventually I took pin from my number and ran it through.  That did the trick.  I had lost about 7-10 minutes and the stopping like that killed the pace and rhythm I had going.  This was the start of my misstride and tight calf muscles.  Lets not forget the timing mats were about a millimeter short of speed bumps made of plastic that were slippery in the rain.  How about that.  My rant is over.  I think.

After that was through, I passed the 4 hour pace group for the third time of the day.  Things were going along real nice.  My Athletic Supporters met me right before the 1/2 marathon turn off were I exchanged caps and dropped off my gloves.  My knee was bothering me and at the turn off I thought how nice it would be to cut it short.  I went on and that was the second mistake of the day.

I got to the half point in under 2 hours and I was real happy but then I zonked.  My left calf was real tight and my right knee was really hurting.  For brief moment I thought about those fatal letters.  DNF.  Then I came to my senses.  My brain was telling me to keep going.  I must prove that I can do this.  My body will adapt.  Of course it will I have trained through ice storms.  Over bad terrain.  In a blizzard.  With a turned ankle.  All of that I can run with a little knee pain.  Body be damned I am stronger than that.  So I kept running and the 4 hour pace group passed me for the third and final time.  It was okay.  This was not about time it was about finishing.

The next 13 miles were hidious.  The pain was not really that bad but my stride was completly undone.  My left leg was mostly in my standard stride and foot strike but my right was kind of limping and I was favoring it to try and take some impact off of my knee.  This whole thing just put more stress on my hips.  What at disaster.  On and on I went.

At mile 20, a guy passed by and asked if I was at the Flying Pig Marathon two weeks earlier.  I guess there are very few people in Virginia Tech bike jerseys that are running marathons.  I affirmed my participation.  He had run in the relay in Cincy.  We discussed a few items of note and he encouraged me on in my insanity.  From that point I kind of kept him as my pacer and never lost site.  Thanks Dude.

Well, four hours and nineteen minutes later I completed my 4th marathon in one year.  With the 4:02 I ran in Cincy I have cut 40 minutes from my time.  Fantastic.    I could not be prouder of what I have accomplished. I am nursing that knee and hip injury and am eager to start my running again.   The funny part about this whole thing is if you look back at my training log I cut runs out or short because I was a little injured or fatigued.  I was smart and listened to my body.  When I get into a race and that good sense turns off.  I am about never having a DNF on my record but I need to have better judgment about crazy stuff like this.  Thanks Cleveland for putting on another great race.  Just drop that Chono Track idiocy next time.

The Road to Cleveland: What is an extra hour?

What am I doing.  I just ran the Flying Pig on Sunday yet I felt I was ready to go on a shake down run on Thursday.

As per the usual I went swimming on Monday to work things out and I did the same on Tuesday.  It is good no impact work to get the lactic acid out and stay active.  I should have done the same today but no.  A larger booming voice rang in my ears, “I MUST GO RUNNING!”   So I did.

I knew I would not put a fast pace.  I knew parts of me would be sore but really could they be that bad.  Four miles and off to work.  There I was kind of shaking out my legs and I take the first stride.  Not good but it is just warming up.  Down the street and still stiff and my Right calf is screaming.  Brain says it will warm up.  Brain is wrong.

Half way through I think about my training.  I went on plenty of 20 mile runs then ran just two days later for some tempo run or something like that.  Those were never the best runs but they were okay.  26.2 miles is not that much more and I waited 4 days.  6.2 miles more and twice the recovery time.  I should be good.

What is an extra hour of running anyway?  I have gone out running with no plan and run for a couple of hours with no issue.  An extra hour of running is all I did last Sunday.  No issue, right?  What was I thinking.  I wasn’t thinking.  An extra hour is an extra 20miles.  Lance Armstrong was told before his first New York Marathon that the first 20 miles is the first half of the marathon.  Oh so very true.

So here I go.  Thinking I only ran another 6.2 miles or an extra hour.  Thinking that I should be able to lace up and sprint out the door of the Y like I was a teenager again.  Thinking I knew better than my body did.  That was the most awful 4 miles of my life.  I ran through blizzards, in -10F weather, in down pours, on hurt feet(you got to finish a race), with a belly full of soda.  Those pale in comparison to running during a recovery period.  This is not the way to be ready for the Cleveland Marathon in 1.5 weeks.

I think I will concentrate on ignoring my brain and listening to my body.  Of course I am sure Space said something to me about not running too soon but I probably wasn’t listening to her either.  Brain Bad, Body and Wife good.

Heres to the next week of recovery and developing a fool proof plan.  Remember that, I am a special type of fool.

When Pigs Fly, I Soar and I Sore

Where do I start. What a fantastic weekend. Let me explain. No that will take to long. Let me summarize. No no. Let me make short statements. No haw about some modified Caesar. I came, I saw, I ran and ran and ran. No in bullet points I

• Got to Cincy
• Went to the Expo
• Saw Bart Yasso
• Went to the Zoo
• Went back to the Expo
• Went to sleep way to late
• Ran a fantastic race
• Went back home

For Real now.

Wearing my Virginia Tech Bike Jersey was probably the best move of the day. Besides being a bike jersey with its three back pockets for storing the essentials like gels, caps and the like, we are a Hokie Nation. I mean it. Before the race one gentleman came up to Space and I and introduced himself. I believe he was class of 73. We chatted for a few minutes and went on our merry way. When I got to the start coral another Hokie proud came up to me. He told me he saw my Jersey and had to say hi. There is nothing prettier than Orange and Maroon. I believe he was class of 70. This was his 5th marathon and he was at the Marine Corps last year as well. As we waited for the start we chatted up with a couple in front of us. It was their first. We assured them that the 26 miles was not that hard. It was the last .2 . If you had run the Marine Corps Marathon this is truly the case. I saw the guy once more as he passed me at about mile 23 or 24. As the race went on I had a cheering section at just about every mile. I say it again “We are a Hokie Nation” Many a Hokies in Tech gear saw me and cheered me on. It was awesome. Even at the finish line (swine) as I was “sprinting” to the finish an official told me he was a Tech Alum. On a side note. I saw a family of cheering spectators in U of Illinois shirts and as an homage to my brother from a different mother Eric Skinner I yelled out I-L-L. After a brief surprised look I they yelled back the I-N-I!

I got a perfect spot for the hotel. It was about a mile and a quarter to the start line and gave me a good warm up walk to get things worked out. The crowd was pumped and things started to get antsy when the start time had come and gone. It turns out that overnight a house fire had occurred somewhere on the race course. The race was delayed and rerouted a block. At about 6:45 the fireworks went off and so did I.

I started weaving my way through the crowd. I had lined up just before the 4:15 pace group but was not worried where they were. I just used the first mile to warm up. I reached the 1 mile point at 12 minutes and change. I was a little worried but I knew there was a delay crossing the start line but 12 minutes still seemed slow. I got into my effort mode and put the speed on. I felt good even though I was putting up 8 minute miles. I had my plan and I was sticking to it. I would listen to my body and not the clock. I passed the 4:00 pace group at about mile 4 and was cool with that. At one point I saw the 3:45 pace group was not that far in front of me. I could have caught them but I thought it a bad idea that could only lead to disaster.

Now for some reason I am unable to read and elevation chart. I saw that there was a big hill at about mile 8-9 but it just seemed like the rest was easy down hills. I was wrong. This course is full of hills, up an down. I am real glad I ran all of those hills in training. Without them I may have been sunk. What really got me was some of the short steep hills. There was one around mile 17 that I saw nearlly 2/3 of the people in front of me come to a stand still. I trudged up but the pace was much slower. I know that there are courses with more hills but this was a nice challenge and me being surprised by it added to the challenge.

Things were going real well up through the 30k mark. I was actually on 30k pace. I met my one and only time goal for 2008. I crossed the half marathon mark in less than 2 hours. Over all things went real well but there was a melt down at the 21 mile mark or so. My poor feet just did not want to take the pounding anymore. They started hurting real bad. The fatigue set in and things were looking real grim. I decided to slow down and get a grip on the situation. Then I trudged on.

We were on the Ohio River front at this point and I was very glad that the race organizers were on top of their game. There were almost too many water stops. Of course that is not possible to have to many but there were plenty in the second half (last 10k) of the race. It gave me a chance to slow down rehydrate and possibly walk if I needed to. Speaking of rehydration. My hands got real dry and therefor the salt got crusty. It is just uncomfortable but some water on the hands washes them off and helps alot. Another thing is I kind of forgot my gel plan and should have taken the third at about the 30k mark but I missed it and thought I was okay. I need to stop listening to my brain. It does stupid things at times.

There were so many cool features to this race like the gym bag gift at the Expo, the poster, the Flying Pig towel at the Finish, the medal. But a real cool feature is the Race to the Finish. There was a timing mat at the 25.2 mile mark. It there was a race inside of the race. The fastest last mile. This is nothing but a new torture device that we runners now have to go for because it is in our nature. I am already hobbling along but I put up a 9:33 last mile or something like that and Finished in 4:05:06.

The finish was fantastic. In the final half mile the streets were lined with people cheering the runners on. It came over another hill to view the finish line. What a great site. If memory serves there was a bridge over head with people cheering us on as well. I hate coming to a stop after races. I always feel so disoriented about things. The medical staff asked me if I needed help. I waved them off. I was just starting my road to Cleveland.

About the other cool stuff. There was no finish line, it was the Finish Swine. Of course. The post race refreshments were varied and plentiful. The medal has not only Flying Pig on it; on the back is a Flying Pig’s butt. Pictures are coming. Man do I love post race massages. If I weren’t married I may have asked that fine young lady to come home with me. There is something about laying down and being manhandled. It may hurt at first but the effects are joyful and ever lasting.

Overall, I made some mistakes on this race but that is the learning experience that is running marathons. I will return to Cincy to take on the Pig again. Probably not next year. I am still stunned by my time and the race was long by a quarter mile. They reworked it our and the 26.2 time would have been 4:02:46.  All I need is to shave off another hour to qualify for Boston. 

I am really looking forward to a nice flat course like the Cleveland Marathon in 2 weeks. What a race and Go Hokies.

The Flying Pig: Training Blog Complex

Well the Race is over and things went well but before I put everything together in a Race report I plan on consolidating my training Blog. Here goes. Well here goes.

Flying Pig Eve

Well it is the night before the Flying Pig Marathon and things are getting exciting.  We got in on Friday and rested up with some Dr. Who and Battlestar Galactica.  I didn’t get very far before I was out like a light.

The morning started off great.  Freshen up then down to the first floor for some powdered eggs and tar like coffee.  I knew this would catch up with me later and it did.  Lets just say anybody walking behind me knew what I was eating.  Almost Sulfurous.  As a matter of fact it is still a matter of diffusion.  Look it up. 

We got to the car and toured around a 4×4 block area of Cincinnati a couple of times.  I passed the same parking space at least three times before I made the decision to park there.  We walked our way to the Expo.  It was great.  There were plenty of flying pigs and other pig related materials.  We picked up some noise makers.  I got a lot of free snakes.  The Larabars were fantastic.  I went back a couple of times for more.  The clif drink was kind of disgusting.  And I got some free socks from Pearl Izumi for just trying on the shoes.  The Syncro Guides have changed a little but they are not what they need to be for me to go back to them.   I thought that at that moment I should have brought my old Pearls just so they could get the experience of the Marathon.  Oh well. 

As far as swag we got a nice Flying Pig embroidered gym bag, a tec shirt and a Flying Pig Poster.  Kind of cool.  I really like the bag.  We back tracked and I got to see Bart Yasso talk about his first Badwater race.  It was cool hearing about the experience.  He is the Cheif Running Officer of Runners World.  I think I may ask fro that promotion at work. 

Rae was getting kind of board and we headed for the Zoo.  The Cincy Zoo is real awesome.  This seems to be a marathon traditions for the Clan.  All zoos are good and Rae loves them.  It was a great walk around the park but time for lunch. 

Space found a nice diner called “Hathaways Coffee Shop”  Good diner food.  You really can’t go wrong with diner food.  Burgers, fries, milk shakes.  Ummmm… milkshakes. 

We went back to the expo.  I love expos.  More stuff and free food. 

Afterwards, back to the hotel for some rest and Kentucky Derby.  Poor Eight Belles.  Good racing and to see a fantastic specimen go down like that.  It reminds us just how fragile we all are.

Now that we are all sad and down lets back to the fun.  The hotel is walking distance from the start line we we walked it to get our bearings and then on the Shanghi Mamas for dinner.  A great Thai Noodle place.  This was a real find in the Cincinnati magazine Space found.  Better than the usual Italian.

We walked back the hotel in the Dark.  Not the smartest move but the only way home.  I have laid out my stuff for tomorrow morning and here I am in just my running shorts watching Major league.  I am ready for bed.  Tomorrow will be fun.  See you after wards.