Trials and Tribulations

In early April, I was coming off of the NYC Half Marathon and looking forward to the Eugene Marathon. A few things did not go my way in NYC and I thought I left a lot of time out on the course. I managed a two second PR but definitely think that something in the 1:16 range should have been possible that day. After NYC, I upped my mileage and began to put in some solid workouts. I hit an 18 mile run and a 22 mile run. The week of April 4th, I hit a nice 4 x 2 mile workout in 11:37, 11:37, 11:35, and 11:21. The next three days I ran 11, 9, and 7 miles. Then on April 9th I ran the Pear Blossom 10 miler. The goal was to maintain marathon pace on some very tired legs, in a high mileage week. I ran 59:06 (58:50 on my Garmin) for 9th overall and 3rd in my age group. My last mile was my fastest in the race in 5:44. As I got into the last mile of the race, I started to feel lightheaded. It was a little warm (60s) in comparison to the 40s and 50s it had been for the previous couple months. After I crossed the line, I just figured I would hydrate and be fine. During my cooldown, the lightheaded feeling persisted so I shut it down for the day and figured that I would be good to go the next day. I was wrong.

I've been on this cycle for two full years now. In winter of 2014 I passed out running and then for the following 3 months or so I was lightheaded every time I ran. It eventually just went away. I was fine in the fall of 2014, but the feelings came back in the spring of 2015. By summer and fall of 2015 I was feeling back to normal again and felt awesome all the way up until April 9th, 2016. Then for about one month I felt the same as I did in winter 2014 and spring 2015. As I write this now the feeling seems to be gone. I was still feeling awful on May 1st but I wanted to complete my first marathon since fall of 2013. I should not have started to race because of the constant lightheaded feeling I was experiencing. I opened up the race with 5k splits of 19:04 and 19:09. This comes out to 2:41 marathon pace which should have felt easy seeing as I ran 5:55 pace for a 10 miler on tired legs and 5:54 pace for a half marathon both in the six weeks prior to this race. The lightheaded feeling persisted and I slowed horribly during the marathon. I went through halfway in 1:22:32 and stumbled home to finish in 2:59:18. I had to stop due to leg cramps around mile 25 for a couple of minutes. I have no idea what happened. Well, I know that my body just felt completely different on April 8th versus April 10th. The April 10th feeling is how I felt on May 1. The only good news is that I salvaged a Boston Qualifier so have that option the next two years now. I truly believed that I was in shape for a 2:37-2:42 marathon. Sure, sub-3:00 is nice and all, but this is where I was in 2012. I've put in the training for something much faster and it is tough to have circumstances you cannot control interfere with training and racing.

Anyways, now it is June, and just like that, the lightheaded feeling is no more (or very minimal). I hit the track with a lot of anger immediately after the marathon. I did take two weeks easy with four days or so off in the first week. On May 17th I took my frustrations to the track. I was still feeling lightheaded at this point but I did not care in the slightest. Here are my last several weeks of workouts:

5/17 4 x 800m- 2:27, 2:30, 2:35, 2:30, 1:58 600m, 69 400m, 6 x 200m 33, 33, 34, 34, 34, 33

5/20 12 x 200m hills

5/24 1km in 3:19 on bark (slow surface), 8 x 400m in 73, 73, 73, 73, 73, 73, 70, 68, 2 x 300m 50, 49, 2 x 200m 33, 32

5/27 4 mile tempo 23:07, 4 x 200m relaxed in 35, 35, 35, 34

5/31 1 mile on bark 5:38, 1200 3:47, 800 2:32, 600 1:53, 500 1:33, 400 71, 300 49, 6 x 200 33, 34, 32, 33, 32, 30

6/3 8 x 1600m on bark 5:50 average (5:37 last rep)

6/7 1 mile 5:45 on bark, 800m 2:13 (66.5, 66.5), 400m @ goal 1500 pace in 70, 4 x 200 32, 32, 30, 29

Most of the workouts above were done with jogging rests. I have no idea what I am in shape for. Last summer I ran a 4:39 and 4:35 for 1500m in the two races I competed in. About 30 minutes after the 4:39, I ran a 2:19 800m. I ran 2:13 for 800m in a time trial on June 7th. The workouts I have been doing have basically been at my 1500 pace from last summer or much much faster. I think I am in the 4:20s for 1500 and 4:40s for a mile right now. I am hoping I can run sub-16:00 for 5k this summer. I think my speed is setting up well for that once I get in some more strength over the coming weeks.

Tonight, I am heading up to Portland to tackle a track mile. There are different ways to deal with disappointment and frustration. Over the past two years, I have hated running and even have contemplated giving up all together. It is frustrating to not see improvement. During this tough time, however, I have made my choice to keep fighting. I think about where I was at in high school and it gives me all of the motivation I need. I was overweight when I started running, I got picked on a lot and made fun of for it. High school kids are ruthless. My first ever 5k I ran 24 or 25 minutes for 5k. Now I have run in the 16:30s and look positioned to knock off some more time this summer. In high school, I doubt I could break 6:00 for a mile. Now, I have run half marathons averaging in the 5:50s. I am hoping to drop something in the 4:40s for the mile tonight- not bad for a kid who six years ago would have trouble with 6:00.

Let's do it.

NYC Half Marathon Race Report: a 2 second PR but a missed opportunity

Back in late November, I finally had what I would consider a breakthrough in the half marathon. After going through a period of a couple of years where I was not able to race much and not able to see improvements, I clocked a 1:17:50. My splits were incredibly consistent in that race and I felt strong through the finish. On this past Sunday, I ran 1:17:48 at the NYC Half Marathon. I would have been upset if I did not dip under 1:17:50, as my fitness coming into this race was as good as it ever has been. I wanted to see 1:16:xx on the finish line clock but came up a little short. This was due to some things that I controlled and some things that I could not. Let's get into it.

Like I just mentioned, my buildup was very solid for NYC. I read a quote once that said something along the lines of you know you are ready for a good race when you have a lot of good workouts but are not necessarily knocking them out of the park. This is how I felt. Here are some of my workouts since January (there were many others that were along the same lines so this is just a small snapshot):

1/13 6 x mile starting at 5:53 and working down to 5:42

1/17 10 mile tempo 1:00:55 (6:05 pace) in San Diego

1/29- 12 x 1k 3:36 average

2/17 6 x 2k 5:51 pace

2/21 12 mile tempo @ 6:09 pace (1st 4 6:15, last 8 6:05, 5:55 last mile)

2/27 3k 9:42

2/28 long run with 4 miles @ 5:53 pace, 6 miles in between, 3 miles @ 5:57 pace (2 mile warmup/cooldown)

3/2 2 miles 11:36 (5:48), 2 x mile 5:37, 5:34, 4 x 800m 2:45, 43, 40, 36

3/6 long run with 3 miles @ 5:50 pace, 2 @ 5:47 pace, 1 in 5:35

I also ran the Shamrock Run 8k on 3/13, which was the weekend before NYC. My goal for the race was to target half marathon pace. Because of the layout of the race (faster 8k runners running into slower half marathoners) I got a little over 5 miles on my Garmin, having to pass half marathoners for much of the race. My 28:46 for 8k came out to 5:44 pace with the added distance. This gave me some confidence for NYC. My plan for NYC was to take the early hills of the race easy- 5:50-55 pace and then work it down on the faster miles of the course starting at the 10k point. I was hoping for a 1:16.

The weather race morning was in the low 30s with 14 mph winds. Not ideal. The security line to get into the start area was excessive and unexpected. You have to enter the park and work your way about 12 blocks to the start line. Before you do this, however, you need to basically go through airport security. Put that image in your head but then much longer lines and you being antsy about getting to the start on time and getting your warmup in and that was how I was feeling. Bag check is also before security so I was waiting in line in shorts and my singlet. I was frozen. I started waiting 1 hour before the racing, hoping to start warming up 45 minutes out. Instead, I made it through security 25 minutes before and started running immediately. I stuck to my normal routine but it was rushed. Corrals also close 20 minutes before the race. This is absurd. In that kind of weather, even if I had gotten in sooner, I would not want to stand for 20 minutes. By the time I came back to my corral (wave 1, corral 1), it was just under 10 minutes to the race. They had removed what was separating the corrals so I entered into corral 3. I made my way to the front of the seconds corral and then security let me into the back of the first (those two were still separated but there was not another way to get to it). I made my way towards the front of the corral but made it about halfway. This meant there were about 500 runners in front of and behind me. For reference, I ended up finishing 145th and 500th place was 1:25. That is an awesome time but 8 minutes slower! 

(ditching the gloves at 11.5)

When the gun went off, it took me 5 seconds to cross the line and many more seconds to actually get going. It was very congested and I could barely move in the first 400 meters. I spent miles 1 and 2 moving around people and running extra distance. My watch clicked at 6:04 for the first mile but I reached the marker at 6:10 or so (maybe a couple seconds slower). That was well off goal pace but I was probably running pretty quick making up for a very slow opening 400 the rest of that mile. I then committed a mistake that made this race tougher than it should have been. I split a 5:42 weaving around folks in mile two. I wanted to stay relaxed through the hills in the park and then drop a 5:42 through Times Square and then hold that kind of a pace during the faster, flatter miles from 7 to the finish. Mile 3 was a 5:50 flat mile. Mile 4 was 6:09 but climbed 110 feet (also dropped 70 so a net 40 gain). By mile 5, 29:42 (on my watch), I took the only gel I had on me. My legs felt cooked so I just tried to get in some calories. I took some gatorade between 6 and 7 and that would be my last fluid/fuel intake of the day. In retrospect, I should have grabbed a gel just before mile 8 where they were being handed out and I should have taken liquids again around 9 or 10. My splits on my watch were off where the course was. After I came out of the park, I dropped two 5:45s (6-8) and the started running in the low 5:50s until 20k. I ran by my family at 11.5 or so and was exasperated by then but hanging on. I was giving it everything I had and I felt like I was running 5:40s instead of miles closer to 6:00. At mile 10, I had 58:50 on my watch. The course had me at about 59:10. I definitely lost a good amount of time on the course with the slow start, weaving in and out of runners, and not running the tangents. Even with my gun time, I was quicker than my last half through 10 miles by 25 seconds. In this race, however, I ran my slowest miles of the race versus my last half where I ran my fastest 5k at the end. I held it together but I was really spent from 20k to the finish where I averaged about 6:05 pace. I had no kick and lost some serious time here. Had I kicked and had been able to drop the pace, I could have been closer to 1:17-mid.

Here are my official 5k splits from the race (not from my watch, I had myself a little quicker with the added distance):

5k: 18:20 (5:54 pace)- 1:17:21 half pace overall

10k: 37:01 (18:41- 6:01 pace)- 1:18:06 half pace overall

15k: 55:12 (18:11- 5:51 pace)- 1:17:38 half pace overall

20k: 1:13:39 (18:27- 5:56 pace)- 1:17:41 half pace overall

4:09 to the finish- 6:05 pace

(flying- both feet off the ground!)

On my watch, I was on 1:17:07 half pace at 10 miles and 1:17:13 half pace at 12. At 20k, you enter an underpass so my Garmin lost reception here and did not calculate the rest of the race accurately. I lost some time coming back uphill out of the underpass. My legs were toast at this point and I was pushing hard but could not muster anything that resembled a kick. My official time was 1:17:48 which is 5:56 pace and a 2 second PR. I did not execute my race plan in the park which could have made some of those 5:5x miles from 8-12 in the 5:40s. I am happy looking at my official splits that my best 5k was my third one. I would rather have it there than the first or second. The third 5k is also by far the fastest miles on the course. 18:11 for 5k comes out to 1:16:43 pace so that was what I hoped I would have been closer to for the entire run. Overall, I have to be happy with where I am at. My last two half marathons were 1:17:50 and 1:17:48. Both averaged 5:56 pace. The training has been going very well. I just would have liked to have seen something in the 1:16 range or 1:17-low range. I do not get to race a ton of half marathons because they take a lot out of you. That means I will not get a chance to better this mark until the fall. I definitely feel like my time could have been 1:17-low or better even with some aggressive miles in the park if I had just had a clean start. The start process needs to be cleaned up for runners who qualify into this race. There needs to be an easier way for corral 1 runners to access their bags, their corral, and get a good warmup in. I would suggest using the entrance by 72nd street which is where I am guessing the true elites get to go through. 180 runners went under the qualifying mark of 1:19 so it would not be too many people to accommodate. There should also be a separate gear check by the start line for those folks so runners can warmup and stay warm right up to the start.

So after this overly wordy blog post, I feel satisfied but disappointed. I am in much better shape than a 2 second improvement indicates. I had to fight the entire race just for those two seconds and lost time in ways I could have controlled and in ways that I could not have. A 1:17:48 half equates to a 2:41-2:42 marathon or so. I believe I am in 1:16-mid shape which would equate to a 2:39-40 full. I am going to run the Eugene Marathon which was six weeks out from Sunday. I want to clock a sub-2:40 marathon. This half marathon does not quite indicate that, but the fitness does. This is tough to process but I am hoping to use the half as motivation for the full and not as a setback. I know I am in the best shape of my life for longer distances. I'm excited for the challenge of a shorter marathon buildup with the half marathon base that I have. One final thought is that I have the best support crew in running! Shoutout to my friends and family who braved the cold for me and gave me a boost a little before mile 12. I made a hard move on the downhill going into the underpass and passed some folks that I would end up beating. While I slowed in that final stretch, their energy might have been the difference in a 2 second PR. Onward to Eugene. Onward to a sub-2:40.

2016 Goals

1:15 half marathon

2:37 marathon