Really stupid…
If an idea is good, it's on the verge of being stupid. ~ Michel Gondry
I have always had this theory… get a group of people in a room, throw out a bunch of ideas and at the end of the night, look at your list to find the most idiotic and that's the one you should do.
This blog was spawned from one very stupid idea – run the Leadville 100. I gave that a shot in the summer of '07, completed 73 miles, & and survived. The blog lives on…
Time flies…
I've got ants in my pants! I'm discombobulated! Fetch me a calmative! ~ Grandpa Simpson
Amazing how time flies when you are attempting to prepare for a big event. I hardly know where March went and now it is already closing in on the middle of April and in less than one week, the Boston Marathon!
Needless to say, I am getting quite excited about the event and have been doing a lot of research to better prepare myself for everything on Patriot's Day in Boston. I still have some final preparations to accomplish but feel like I am in great shape and have teed myself up well to go for a sub-3 finish. We'll see how things go on race day and I am still a bit anxious about that goal but to me, that means I picked a good one. If you aren't a little scared about whether or not you can accomplish something, then you have set the bar too low.
The past week's running has featured some ups and downs but at this point, I am aware that is part of the game and am generally feeling pretty sharp. Tapering is always a little wonky and I do it so infrequently that all the little changes and adaptations one goes through just feel weird at this point. I am trusting Mark Plaatjes' plan at this point, however and feel that if anyone knows how to run a fast marathon, it's him. One more "hard" run tomorrow then we coast in to Sunday where I'll do a standard pre-race run then get my race on Monday the 18th.
A lot of people have asked about how to follow me during the race. There are a number of options available including following online, via text messaging, and you may even be able to stream the event live online or watch on TV if you are interested in seeing how the elites do. I am bib #5135 and will be starting in Wave 1. I am in the 6th corral for the start so probably won't cross the start line until around 10:03 but if you are following online, you should see my chip time at the 10K, half, 30K and Finish. I'll have final details about my target times for each of these later in the week.
So the countdown continues... more to come!
~stubert.
Four to go…
You see? This is what happens when you drink all day and skip lunch. ~ Malory Archer
As I close in on the first big race of the season, I am starting to feel my fitness coming along well. Boston is 4 weeks from today and I had a decent week of running in preparation for the event. Saturday wasn't good but the rest of my workouts for the week went pretty close to plan.
I drove to Gunnison on Monday to get in a couple more days at Crested Butte and to see my dad, Donna and cousins who were in town for a few days of skiing at the Butte. I skied very easy, not wanting to risk injury at this stage of the game then did a quick, easy run around Crested Butte after skiing. Honestly, I felt great for some reason. The side roads at the Butte were a mess and one over-zealous police officer gave me some grief for running on the road (vs. the snowpacked/icy sidewalks), I had a good run. Did 6 or 7 surges and managed to get in 5.5 miles in 45 minutes. Super easy. At altitude. Go figure. Then I gorged on Donita's food and headed back to Gunny for a quick yoga session and bed.
I have been doing yoga with Rach on a regular basis for the past several weeks and am pleased with the results. It seems to be helping me get more limber and is a good way to get in some easy stretching and even some strength poses (depending upon what program I am following). I definitely feel like it is improving my general fitness and works to augment my running. Glad Rach asked me to join her!
Tuesday, I got up early and braved chilly conditions to get in a decent hill workout. I didn't really select my venue well so the run didn't go exactly to plan (ran out of hill) but all in all it was a good run and I managed to feel like I was putting in a solid effort throughout. I jammed back up to the Butte for another easy ski then headed back to the Front Range. Travel and running hard are not a good combo (in case you were wondering) but I did some yoga with Rach when I got home and that made everything feel better for sure.
Wednesday called for an easy 1.5 hours so I hit the trails on South Table Mountain for what turned into a bit of a mixed-effort run. Definitely didn't feel super but just stuck with the plan and enjoyed my evening run on the dirt. Friday I did a quick road run at lunch that felt really good but Saturday's workout was truncated. Just wasn't feeling that great so decided to not push it and focus on Sunday's run. Did a long-ish yoga session to make up for it.
Sunday I jammed down to Boulder to run with Mark Plaatjes and the group and was greeted with mild temps but pretty decent, steady winds. We started at Pott's Field and made our way North to Jay, east to Cottonwood, then South to the Bobolink trail at a fairly mellow pace. From Marshall Road, we headed up the mesa, over to the Community Ditch Trail then over to Big Blue Stem where we dropped back down to Marshall Road. From here, we put the hammer down for 30 minutes at marathon pace. I did very well for about 4 miles then my last mile was a little off. Finished in 3:34 with 25.85 miles under my belt in challenging conditions. All in all a good run and a solid week of training.
Four to go...
~stubert.
That DAM Half Marathon Race Report…
The Dash likes. ~ Dash Parr
1:26:50, 8th Overall, 3rd in Age Group PR*
*Full disclosure, this was my first half marathon, so a PR was inevitable.
I had high hopes for this past week's race (That DAM Half Marathon) and I really wanted to throw down a good time and solid effort. Fortunately, my bod cooperated and turned a tough course into a fantastic time (both clock and experience).
The day started with an early alarm to get to the Colorado House Rabbit Society for our monthly volunteer session. Rach was extra-special awesome and got up VERY early in order to facilitate an early exit by yours truly in order to get down to the race in a timely fashion. We cleaned bunny runs quickly and I changed into my race kit and scurried out the door at 8:30. This provided plenty of time to get down to the race, get in a short warm up and get ready to run my first official half marathon.
Cool temps, overcast skies and steady-but-mild winds greeted us on race day. The field wasn't particularly deep but there appeared to be some decent talent on the starting line on Cherry Creek Reservoir Dam Road when they started us right at 10:00. The first 2.5 miles ran across the dam itself and featured flat terrain and a bit of a cross wind. Like most races, things started to split early with two runners breaking away very quickly (eventual winner and SUPER speedy Japeth Ng'ojoy 1:13:46 and runner-up Trent Joseph 1:18:04). Needless to say, I wasn't keeping up with these fellas and settled in about 10 meters off the back of the main group. This proved to be a mixed group of runners and I had a feeling that the group would eventually break apart as those with more experience and fitness dropped those who had gone out a bit too fast.
I eventually grouped up with several other runners who were pacing about the same as my target and we took turns leading for a bit until the first major turn of the race. At this point the course dropped significantly and we broke up again. I ran with one of Colorado's top Masters racers, Jay Survil for a bit until I dropped a glove and had to spin back briefly. After this foible, I ran just off the back of Jay and and Chris Smiley (I believe) until the turn at mile 6.55.
After the turn, I picked it up a bit and quickly fell into a good rhythm despite the uphill return into the wind. I was passed by Mark Bockmann at about mile 8 and fell in behind him for a bit until I feared blowing up and retreated to a more comfortable pace. Miles 9 and 10 were a bit of a trial through the steepest portion of the course but I managed to stick with low 7s pacing and hang in there to the return to the dam road. At this point, I knew I only had 2.5 miles to go, still felt relatively fresh and was still running with good form so I set out to chase down a couple of people still within reach.
I caught Michael Nothem with about 2 miles to go and after a brief battle of wills (he did NOT want me to go past), I managed to surge and drop him in the final minutes of the race. I finished strongly into the wind with a final mile of 6:28 and yoinked a sub 1:27 for the day. A solid effort all around.
This tees me up pretty well for Boston and was a definite confidence booster going into the final 6 weeks of training. I really need to get a couple more long runs under my belt before the big event and am guessing Mark has those on the schedule for the following few weeks. This also qualifies me for the New York Marathon and I am considering that as my fall race instead of doing Denver. Need to pull the trigger on that fairly quickly if I am going to do so. Guessing I'll have another shot at it, however, if that seems like too many big events in a single year.
Good stuff.
~stubert.
Whoops…
Try this trick and spin it, yeah. ~ The Pixies
Forgot to post, apparently. Time does fly when one is having fun.
The last couple of weeks have been interesting. I seem to be in a bit of a plateau and was fending off a cold which I managed to avoid. Whacked down some extra Zinc for a few days and paid special attention to rest and diet. So far, this week has been a lot better with strong, easy runs on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday and a killer hill repeat workout on Tuesday. I am all teed up for a half marathon on Sunday and am hoping to do well. Given the timing of this race in my training cycle and my lack of taper, I am certainly not expecting earth-shattering results but if I can put in a good, steady effort, I'll be super happy.
Two weeks ago I raced in the final event of the Winter Distance Series, the Snowman Stampede 10-miler, and it was an interesting event. I felt really rushed getting down to the race so my pre-race preparation was abbreviated then I just never really felt super well during the event. There was a fairly steady headwind on the outbound portion of the race so I battled that solo for the first half then just couldn't get into the zone on the way back. Ended up a minute off my previous race time but still managed 3rd in my age group. All in all, a decent effort and a fun day racing.
I followed that up the next day with a big, 22-miler that was equally interesting. I started feeling pretty bonky about 2 hours into the run (depleted from the race) then battled fierce winds the second half of the run. Ended up finishing the last two miles at a decent clip (downhill... good sign) and ended up with 3:15 for the day. So again, not a bad effort. Good to see what I can do when fatigued and fun to do a course that approximates Boston in some ways.
I think that teed up my flat performance the following week so overall, not too concerned. We are about 6 weeks out now from Boston so I should be feeling a bit on the tired/crappy side on occasion. I know this hard work will pay off come race day.
~stubert.
I could watch this all day…
I like to watch, Eve. ~ Chance the Gardener
Posted without comment.
Elite Male Runners in Slow Motion - 2010 Boston Marathon from Runblogger on Vimeo.
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