Progress? Really?

If tonight's plan unfolds as planned, we'll find out tonight. (That's almost a tongue twister, or a very simple yet profound quote from someone ancient and/or famous.) Anyway, I believe I began to finally make some progress in the pool Sunday. It was my third visit back to the water and as I was wrapping up my mile I fell into a slow but comfortable pace that I was able to maintain for quite a few laps. I was still pausing for a few seconds to de-fog my goggles, but I didn't need to switch to the breaststroke to catch my breath. The funny thing was that being out of breath wasn't the problem. I was breathing TOO MUCH. I guess I was hyperventilating trying to take too much air in on each breath. What I ended up doing was concentrating on expelling the air I already had and just taking little "puffs" of breath every two strokes. I know I should be working at breathing every three strokes, but I'm just going to go with whatever works. I've done 2.75 miles on three visits and would like to get another mile in tonight.

Speed work last night was fun. Kind of. Frank and I were running with Patrick and one of his friends from school. Both good runners. Both fast runners. Both young runners. After a nice long warm-up we did 4 X 200 meter relays. It was all I could do not to get left in the dust. I'm just not a sprinter anymore. Give me some 800s any day over 200s. Yuck! And it was just too cold to be pushing that hard. I was having trouble breathing and my hamstring was bothering me afterward. Just too cold. We did eventually move onto some 800s. I held back a bit from what I did last week. Frank and I averaged around 3:24 or so for 3. It was mildly unpleasant weather to run in. We had tiny little snowflakes or pellets that stung when they hit you in the eyes. There was a wind that made the 28 degrees feel a little bit chillier. With a nice cool-down I had 6.75 miles in for the evening.

I've been trying to get on the bike as much as possible lately. I managed to get in 10 miles this morning in 40 minutes. Is there a secret to riding a bike on a stationary trainer? It's so boring. And it hurts. The lactic acid builds up so quickly for me. I'm just glad that when I get out on the road it's so much easier to ride than it is indoors. Give me hills. Give me a headwind. Just let me outside!

But inside is what I've got for the next few months. And it's what I'm using to burn off all the additional Holiday calories I've been consuming lately. The cookies. The fudge. The truffles. Not to mention sampling Christmas/Winter/Holiday beers from an assortment of brewers. Great Lakes Christmas Ale is by far the best. Sam Adams Winter Lager isn't doing much for me this year. Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale is good, but be sure to pour it into a glass. It's bottle conditioned, leaving a layer of yeast on the bottom. I still have some Sam Adams Cranberry Lambics to get into as well as an Old Fezziwig. (I don't want to "get into" old Fezziwig. I don't swing that way. Not that there's anything wrong with that. It's another Sam Adams brew named after the character from A Christmas Carol.)

All for now. Be on the lookout for a 2008 season re-cap, my take on this year's Ironman Triathlon World Championships, as well as the usual training updates.

Peaking in December?

Usually, December is not the month of choice for peaking. Not in the Northern Hemisphere at least. But that's what I began suspecting at last night's track workout. We had a foursome show up on a rainy 48 degree December evening. After a two mile warm-up we decided on running 800s. How many? That wasn't determined at the start.

My first 800 came in at 2:54. 2:54? I've only had a couple sub 3 minute splits for 800s this year. And those came during the height of my speed training. Surely, it must have been a lucky first attempt.

My second 800 clocked in at 2:56. "Crap!", I remember saying as I checked my time. I wasn't upset. I just didn't know where this was coming from.

My third 800 was in 2:57. OK, what's going on here? How am I doing this in December when I couldn't do it in September or October? Granted, it was a nice night for running. But there was a nasty headwind coming down the final straight.

My fourth and final 800 was back at 2:54. I knew I wanted to make sure I got under 3:00. And I did. I don't know what happened last night. Maybe I'm climbing up to another level. Maybe I just had a good night. Hopefully it will continue next year. Another 2.25 miles for a cool-down and I was done.

In other news: Sunday I hit the pool for the first time in over a year. I just wanted to get in the water and do some laps. I had no goal for time or distance. Once I reached half a mile, Mrs. P suggested I do an entire mile. So I did. 64 laps = 1 mile. That's a lot of swimming. Especially for someone who has horrible form and horribly uncoordinated breathing. Lots of work to do this winter.

This morning I jumped on the bike for 10 miles. Oh, how I dislike the trainer. But, like swimming, I need to put in the time in the hope of having success next season. At least with the bike, if I stop pedaling, I won't sink!

2008 Tour de Ashland Half Marathon...

Or as I have come to call it, The Run From Hell! (If and when Hell freezes over, that is.)

I was going to go nice on this race, until this morning. This morning, when I checked to see if the results had been posted yet, I found that my name was missing. It is missing from the age group results. It is missing from the overall results. The race was chip timed and they pulled tags from the bibs. That means they should have two records of me actually finishing the event, but no mention. It's like I drove for an hour and paid $35 for a glorified training run in weather conditions that I wouldn't run around the block in. There was minimal course support with cars zipping by on all the main streets. The weather sucked. It was around 20 degrees at the start with winds gusting to who-knows-what. It was colder than the 12 degree race before Thanksgiving! And then there were the hills. It was all uphill. I'm convinced of it. I don't care what the elevation chart shows. A downhill with a stiff headwind is no longer a downhill. At best it's flat.

So let's summarize: I drove for an hour, during which my service engine soon light came on, paid $35 to run uphill for an hour and forty-one minutes in the cold. Yeah, that's exactly my idea of fun. There's a reason I have NEVER run a race in December and unless it's a race somewhere far to the south and/or west of Cleveland, I never will again. Rant over.

Aside from all that, I had a not-to-bad run. I knew the course would be hilly, although having never been to Ashland, I didn't know how hilly it would be. If they could get a secure handle on the traffic issue, this would be a SWEET fall half to do. On a sunny morning with temps in the 40s to 50s, no wind, and the trees full of color, this has the potential to be one of the more scenic runs around. I like the challenge of the course, just not under December conditions.

I did have a funny moment yesterday after arriving home. I thought I had lost my two gel packs because I had forgotten to zip the pocket in my windbreaker vest I had put them in. As it turns out, I had zipped them into a pocket i didn't even knew was on there. It was all the way around on the back. I kept hearing something bouncing and just thought it was my car keys. (They were in a back pocket of another shirt I was wearing.) When I went to put my clothes in the washing machine, I felt something in my vest, but I couldn't find the pocket! Eventually I was able to locate and extract the gels. Man I could have used them during the run! Those hills and that wind really took a toll on me.

Today we're heading to the Rec. Center. I'm going to be hitting the pool for the first time in well over a year. I'm also going to be calling the race director to find out where I am. 

My Big Three

I was a little bored after lunch today, so I went ahead and made it official regarding my other two "A" races for 2009. I'm pleased to announce that the Rite Aid Cleveland Marathon and the Nationwide Better Health Columbus Marathon will be joining my half Ironman triathlon attempt at Steelhead to form my Big Three races next year. Who needs an off-season? I've got some work to do!

A Hill Workout?

I haven't done one of those in a while. But that's exactly what we ended up doing last night. The conditions on the track were not that great. Three quarters was crunchy snow and the home straight was ice. I was planning to do 300 meter repeats with 100 meter recovery down the icy stretch when I heard crunchy footsteps that weren't coming from me. I was surprised to see that Dan and Patrick were making their way onto the track for some speed work. I honestly didn't expect to see anyone else last night. It was about 28 degrees with a bit of a breeze which was chilly, but it wasn't snowing or anything. A not too unpleasant night to run.

After doing about a mile and a half of warm-up laps it was decided that we head over to Reagan Park to do some hill training. After a short drive, an icy parking lot crossing, and an equally icy trail descent, we arrived at the main road which was miraculously clear and dry. Dan and I decided to head one direction looking for Patrick, who had run over from the track. Up one hill without seeing him yet we head back the other direction and up the other hill. As we were heading back the other direction yet again, we see him.

He suggests 10 times the hill we had just done. Now these hills aren't the largest around, but they're decent for sprinting up. And that's exactly what we did. I've done hill work this year, but not all out sprinting. It was fun, until a point. On about the third repetition, my legs were noticeably more Jello-like. And that transition continued through the rest of the sprints. I'd be OK up to a certain point on the hill and then it would just hit me. My breathing would become very labored, my legs would get very heavy, my feet became impossibly to move quickly. So I would just push as hard as I could to the top.

And before I knew it, we were done. Not a long workout, but a hard one. I plan on returning there in the next couple months to prepare for the stair climb in February. After a short cool-down, I was off for home and a hot shower.

Some other recent training highlights include getting my 30 miles in on the bike trainer on Friday. Which I think is WAY too long to ride indoors. I think I'll end up doing shorter but more intense rides from now on. On Sunday I was able to get in nearly 15 miles running, doing two laps of my 7.4 mile loop around the house. The weather was right around freezing with occasional raindrops, icy patches on the ground, and a stiff breeze that continued to grow the longer I was out. I was cold at times and hot at times. It all depended upon which direction I was running.

That's all for today. We're all either sick or fighting off becoming sick, so I'm not sure what Saturday is going to hold. We're either going to Lakewood to run a 5K together or I'm going to Ashland to run one last half marathon for 2008. I think it will be a Friday decision.

2008 Flying Feather Four Miler

Another Thanksgiving has come and gone, and I'm happy to say that I've gotten up early and raced once again on Thanksgiving morning. And Mrs. P joined me this year too! We did the Flying Feather Four Miler in Dublin, OH for the second year in a row. This is a very well done race. The course is great with some uphill at the start before flattening out. But what goes up, must come down, leaving a nice downhill near the finish. Of course there is a slight uphill finish, but it's so small it doesn't factor in. We had beautiful weather this year with around 22 degrees, no wind, and no clouds. Did I mention all runners receive a bottle of wine? Yeah, that's why we do this race...

I was fortunate to run once again with my friend John who lives in the Columbus area. I found out he's venturing beyond the marathon into ultras and having great success! He stayed back with me for the first three miles before punching out the last mile in sub 6 minute fashion. I'm grateful to have been able to pace off of him again, as I would have slowed down to catch my breath after the first mile. We did that first mile in 6:19. My lungs were burning from not being used to going that hard in the cold yet. If I were at the track, 6:19 would be a good mile split, followed by a 400m jog to catch my breath. No such luck in a race. Mile 2 passed in 6:34. A little more manageable pace. Mile 3 was right on at 6:33. But I was gasping to breathe. The cold had congealed something in my lungs and I could feel it when I inhaled. I told John he could take off if he wanted, and boy did he move out! The last mile was the slowest in 7:04. I knew I was going to PR the course, so I just ran as hard as I could, trying not to worry about catching anyone ahead of me, or preventing anyone from passing me. My finish time? 26:26 at a 6:37/mile pace average. That's 3 minutes and 26 seconds faster than last year! I don't know how I'm going to match the level of new PRs next year, or if I should even try. I was 7th of 110 in my AG and 29th overall of about 2400 runners. John was 5th in our AG, but would probably have won it (not to mention being competitive in the overall) if he hadn't decided to stay with me for 3 quarters of the race.

I had a great race and followed it by eating a TON of food for dinner. But I did something a little different this year. I ate mostly main course food, two helpings, and only one slice of chocolate peanut butter pie for dessert. And I only drank water while eating. This morning I weighed a half pound LESS than yesterday morning. Coincidence? I think not!

Today I'm going to climb on the bike and try to do about 30 miles or so. I'm also planning a longer run for Sunday before the snow machine starts up again. We only have ONE more race planned for the year, a week from tomorrow, and then it's just training miles until next spring. Good luck to everyone finishing out they're season.

2008 Fall Classic Half Marathon

12. The car was showing 12 degrees as I pulled into the parking lot in Strongsville for the Fall Classic yesterday. Good thing we weren't running in Brunswick. I got a 10 driving through there on 71. I made a last minute addition to my wardrobe before heading out the door: tights under my running pants. Good decision too. Although the added weight and restriction of movement slowed me down a bit, my legs did indeed stay warm. As did the rest of me that I layered up. Two pairs of gloves. Two long sleeve shirts. A jacket and a vest. The only area I was having issues was my feet. They were numb by the start and made for some awkward early miles. This was, without a doubt, the coldest race I've done yet. And it's right up there with the coldest runs I've ever done.

But cold or not, slower than usual or not, I must have done something right because I placed third in my age group. I ran a 1:40:02 (by my watch). That's not my best, but certainly not my worst. Here are my mile splits: 6:50 (short mile) / 8:02 (long mile) / 7:33 / 7:34 / 7:23 / 7:24 / 7:57 (hit slower congested traffic on the bike path section) / 7:57 / 7:37 / 7:45 / 7:47 / 7:39 / 7:41 / 45:10. While it may not have been a PR outing, it was a course PR for me by five or six minutes. I felt pretty good for the most part. Definitely started feeling the extra clothing by the second loop. I didn't feel like ditching anything, so I just kept everything on and kept pounding. And pounding is an accurate description too, as I still had not fully recovered from the 20 miles I put in on the bike Friday afternoon. My legs were still tired.

This is a good race. It's become an annual event for me, unpredictably uncomfortable weather and all. They put on a spring race on the same course which I've never done. The only thing that depresses me about this race is that it means Thanksgiving is near which in turn means that the end of the season is upon us. I'm going to try to get outside more this winter than I have in the past. Hopefully that will help with the winter blues.

Next race: The Flying Feather Four Miler, Thanksgiving morning.

Have a happy Thanksgiving!

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

I did it. All this snow has finally gotten to me. I went and busted out the Christmas music tonight. And the first CD I chose to listen to? Twisted Sister's Twisted Christmas! WOW! You haven't heard Christmas carols till they've been twisted by Dee Snider and the boys!

On to other things, I climbed onto the bike tonight in the basement and rode 20 miles in an hour and twenty minutes. That's a 14.9 mph average. Which doesn't sound like much compared to what can be had on the road, but the trainer is an entirely different animal than the road. It's much more difficult to ride inside than it is outside. So I'll gladly take it as base mileage.

I'm looking at some cross training tomorrow and then I'm ready for the Fall Classic Half Marathon on Sunday. The snow is supposed to stop overnight and Sunday is looking sunny with low 30's in the morning. Nice running weather. No expectations for this race. Just doing it for the fun of it.

Running in the Snow

An inch of snow evenly covers the track, with just the occasional snowflake randomly falling. Two floodlights above the stands splash the entire track in light thanks to the reflective layer of snow. The light reaching even to the furthest corners, dim but noticeable. No one else has been here yet. A pristine blanket of snow awaits my tracks, my autograph on this night. Maybe tomorrow someone will venture out here and find my surely frozen footprints in lane one. The wind, gusting out of the northwest, chills my hands as I make my way down the back straight and around the far curve. But numb fingers alone aren't going to stop me. Heavier gloves next time. Lap after lap I make my way back to the line on the track I uncovered with my shoe. I notice with detached amusement how my footprints often fall in the same spots. Could I have done that if I had tried? As the snow transforms into slush with each pass, I need to edge my way to the outside of my now established path. There is better running in the fresh snow. How many more laps to go? How long do I want to run? How much would we do on a night like this if more people were here? I don't want to short change this opportunity. It's really not so bad, so I think I'll stick with the plan.

A warm-up mile in 7:32. Hey, that's not bad. Am I sure I ran four laps? I count the footprints to make sure. A recovery lap before another mile, this time in 6:59. Not the fastest mile I've ever run, but for the conditions, pretty good. Why is it that when it's dark you feel like you're running much faster than you actually are? Another recovery lap and it's time for 1200 meters. Only three laps. I illuminate my watch as I cross the line. 5:00 flat? Wow, I guess I'm moving a bit tonight. Another recovery lap and then 800 meters. 3:15! That's a split right out of the summer! Another recovery lap and a final 400 meters. 1:33! Those times are great for not doing any serious speed work since before Columbus. Time for a cool down mile. As the sweat evaporates it starts to get a little chilly. Do I want to do an extra mile? Not tonight, I'm good.

70.3

1.2 mile swim.


56 mile bike.


13.1 mile run.


That is a 70.3 triathlon, also known as a Half Ironman. A little daunting when grouped together, true, but taken as individual parts, a challenge I not only think I can meet, but excel at. Or so I hope.

Two things that have been weighing on my mind the past few months have been moving from duathlon to triathlon and going longer. This move satisfies both quite nicely. With the economy headed into the crapper, I've been waffling on whether to make the attempt next year. I decided last night to just go ahead and make the commitment. It's done. Now I have to get myself ready.

Steelhead will by my "A" race of "A" races next year. The other two being the Rite Aid Marathon in May and most likely the Columbus Marathon again next October. I love to challenge myself and I think two marathons and a half Ironman triathlon should challenge me quite nicely. I wouldn't have dreamed of doing this had I not had as good a year as I had in 2008. The addition of track work did wonders for my running at all distances. I think that with a steadfast dedication to training on the bike, I can not only get faster but go longer in a race than I ever have before. The swimming side will be the wild card in the whole house of cards. If that fails, the whole thing's going to come down. I enjoy being in the water, it's just the fact that I can't stand up in the water that starts to mess with my head and always has. Last night I decided to tackle that last little fear that's been holding me back.

So that's what I've been up to lately. The snow is flying outside and I'm making plans to race next August. I also got an 11.5 mile run in Friday after work while it was still spectacular outside. Yesterday afternoon I got the bike mounted to the trainer and did a short 11 miles. It was short, only 44 minutes, but seemed to take forever. I really don't like riding indoors. I have to play a mental game with the odometer. Quarter mile hard, quarter mile recovery, quarter mile hard, quarter mile recovery. Next mile, repeat. It's boring, but if it's going to help, I'm going to do it.

This won't be my only triathlon next year, and not even the first. I plan on some shorter races to build up. Sprint and Olympic distances. I just haven't decided which ones to do yet.

Off season is over. It's time to get back to training!

OH CRAP

What the hell did I just do?

3 minutes ago I just entered the 2009 Steelhead 70.3 Triathlon.

I hope somebody out there can help me with my swimming.

This Time of Year

I'm referring of course to the period of time from November to whenever it is that we get daylight before AND after work again. This time of year is really hard for me to keep up on my workouts. This time of year I start to lose my motivation. This time of year I start to indulge in food and drink a bit. This is the time of year for something called an "off season". While I don't intentionally let myself have an off season, I guess I end up having one after all.

I workout year round in the mornings. It usually consists of some aerobic activity and is inside. Sometimes I'll do some weight training in the morning, but I usually save that for the evenings. We have an elliptical, which on its highest setting, provides a great cardio workout. I'll get on that 3 to 4 days a week. We used to have a borrowed treadmill which came in very handy on cold winter days. We were on the lookout to locate a replacement. We have a bicycle training stand that will fit both our bikes. It is handy during the foul weather, but the most boring thing I've ever done. And I'm not kidding.

Due to some recent events at my employer, we've decided that buying a treadmill right now isn't the wisest investment. Getting a membership to the rec center is being put on hold as well. I was hoping to be in the pool all winter and spring and make the transfer from duathlons to triathlons next year. Unfortunately that's going to have to wait another year. The economy is constricting. The company I work for is unexpectedly constricting. My training and racing plans are going to constrict accordingly as well. The gray weather reflects my mood this time of year.

So this time of year I plan on running outside when possible. Long runs on the weekends and whatever I can do during the week, logging miles on the bike trainer instead of the treadmill, running my elliptical into the ground, and lifting. I need to work on my leg strength anyway. Hopefully this winter will go by as fast as the summer did.

Mr. P

November 4, 2008

I know this is two days late. I'm sorry. I'm not that reliable getting posts up here in a timely manner.

Tuesday was Election Day. How did I spend my day? I ran 5.2 miles with Marsha from the club. In the dark. And when I say "dark" I mean DARK! Damn clock changes. Could we just leave it on Standard or Daylight time year round? Or, the best solution I have heard: Let's move the clocks ahead 1/2 hour in the spring and leave it there permanently. We could call it Eastern Moderate Time. Which is also where our country's politics are going to need to go, but more on that later.

Marsha and I were the only ones who showed up for the track work this week. Lots of other people showed up for a soccer match and some more pee wee football games, so both stadiums were being used yet again. We headed out on the same course they ran last week. But this night, we could barely see where we were going. Fortunately, she had the presence of mind to grab her head lamp, so we had a little swath of light illuminating any sticks, cracks, and small animals. I'm going to have to get one of those. (A light, not a small furry animal!) The run was otherwise uneventful as we toured Reagan Park by moonlight. Sections were straight out of a B horror movie. With everything appearing gloomy and grainy. Kind of a weird experience. I don't know what's going to happen to the weekly workouts. It's just too dark to do much.

As for the politics. I'm not by any means going to get into a rant or anything. I've been relatively quiet this year. If someone asked which way I was leaning, I answered truthfully. I had no desire to go around advertising my thoughts, and have no intention of doing so here.

I will just say this:

The result of Tuesday's election was historic. As a nation, we should be proud of what just happened. Something I didn't expect to see happen so soon. I am proud to be an American because with this election, we are regaining our leadership role in the world. Something we have lost in the last 8 years. But we need to keep working. The extremists on both the right and the left have taken control of the issues. In order to keep our country strong, we're going to have to come together in the middle and be Moderates. Otherwise it's like we're living in two different countries, and that's not good for anyone.

Mr. P

2008 Inland Trail Half Marathon

I decided to run the half marathon yesterday instead of the 5K. I really didn't know what to expect from a long run. It has been two weeks since Columbus and I hadn't done anything over 7 miles. And I didn't feel all that great doing that. So I was very pleasantly surprised when I felt great yesterday.

My time was 1:34:55. That's about a minute or so longer than my PR. I didn't expect a PR day, but that's certainly a course to do it on. It's flat and the wind is generally at your back, when you're not sheltered by trees anyway. I'm not an iPod runner, but this course made me think about it. When I ran this race last year, the weather was not nice. It was cold and blustery. The leaves had all dropped from the trees and it was generally grey all around. This year, the weather was beautiful. It was chilly at the start but it warmed steadily. The sun was out and there were still some great fall colors to enjoy. I had an enjoyable, steady run as seen in my mile splits: 7:25 / 7:18 / 7:14 / 7:29 / 7:19 / 7:19 / 7:25 / 7:20 / 7:31 / 7:18 / 7:30... and that's where I messed up my splits. I missed the mile 11 marker so that 7:30 is a little long and the remaining splits I have don't make sense to me today.

The course is so flat and the field is so small, that once you've settled into your pace, there is very little passing that occurs. Unless, of course, someone starts out too fast (which happened), too slow (which also happened), or is fluctuating (ding, ding there too!). There was a guy running with a heart rate monitor who came up on me and passed me. He got a little bit ahead of me before he came back. I could hear the thing beeping. When it started beeping faster, he would slow down. Eventually he dropped back behind me. I didn't turn around to look at any point to see where he or anyone else was behind me. I was able to make out people ahead of me, barely. It's hard to judge distances out there with no curves or elevations to go by.

Like I said, I felt good. No knee pain. No phantom pain in my foot. My breathing was right on. I started cramping a bit in the last mile, which prevented me from turning on the boosters and finishing hard. But that was fine as I didn't have to race anyone to the line. I ended up placing 3rd of 9 in my age group and 19th of 177 overall. Not too bad for two weeks after the marathon with minimal training in between.

Congrats to Mrs. P and Jr. P for running the 5K and placing 2nd each in their age groups. Congrats also to some other club runners yesterday: Ladd, Marsha, and Dan. Marsha won her age group and Dan placed second in his age group in the marathon.

Mr. P

First Snow

That's right. It's October 29 and we're getting our first snow here in Medina. Of course it's not sticking to anything yet, but still, it's the thought that counts. Everyone keeps predicting a hard winter this year. I say whatever. I have a short drive to work and we don't "need" to go anywhere out of town. I don't mind shovelling the snow, it's a decent workout. Obviously, I would prefer a more mild winter so I can run outside more. A cold and snowy winter will force me to purchase a new treadmill and run while looking at a cinder block wall. It's supposed to warm up for Halloween though, so this is only temporary.

As for running, I logged 7 miles on Friday afternoon. Mrs. P was out of town and I get out of work early on Fridays so I got an hour in before my son got out of school. Then I was cut off for the rest of the weekend. The run went well, though a little chilly. It was a little blustery Friday.

Last night I went to the track but found a soccer match getting ready. I drove down to the high school but they were playing flag football there. So I headed back to the middle school where I saw some people running on the sidewalk. They could have been with the club but I couldn't find them when I set out after them. So I headed home and did a nearly 3 mile loop. Almost 4 miles in last night. It was windy and chilly, but nice too. Maybe it was the darkness giving the evening a little bit of character. The gloom certainly made me feel like I was running a bit faster than normal, when in fact I wasn't.

The Inland Trail marathon, half marathon, and 5K are this Sunday in Elyria. I know some people in each event and wish them luck. I believe the New York City Marathon is also running on Sunday. I don't know anyone participating in that one, but wish everyone luck anyway. We more than likely will head out there to do the 5K. I feel rested, but my right foot feels a little worn still from Columbus. I think I'll keep the distances low for the time being. There's a half marathon the Sunday before Thanksgiving I'm keeping my eye on to finish out the season. I think I'll save what distance I still have left for that one.

Mr. P

Life After a Successful "A" Race

For people who don't just run a lot, but compete in a number races every year, the season is usually broken down into segments with a key race headlining each segment. Those key races are called "A" races. They are followed, of course, by "B" and "C" races. Training builds up to the "A" race, with the hope that the runner will peak for that race. While I may have other races this year that were "A" races, Columbus was my top "A" race. And now it's over. I'm still coming to grips with the fact that I whomped it. Everything worked. I peaked at the right moment. The weather even cooperated. But I've nothing of that caliber to look forward to till next year. And that's a little depressing. I suppose I'm suffering from post-marathon depression (medical term). But rather than dwell on that, I'm going to make some other comments from this weekend.

1. Is it too much to ask, that if you're someone who is walking a race instead of running it, that you queue up BEHIND the runners? It is quite inexcusable for there to be ANY walkers lined up in front ANYONE who is running.

2. Could the floor planner for the Columbus Marathon Race Expo please by sacked? The layout this year was HORRIBLE. Talk about not planning for crowd flow. I didn't mind the serpentine pathway concept, but to have a walkway that's only ten feet wide at parts? That's just madness. There were over 10,000 entrants coming down there to pick up their race packets, and there was NOT enough room. You've gotten it correct up until this year, could you please return to what you've done in the past? Please also see how Cleveland and Akron do it.

3. Kudos, however, to the race management for coming through with upwards of 50 live bands along the course. Although some of them could have been playing a bit more up-tempo music, it was nice to have real people out there for us. I hope race officials from the Cleveland Marathon were taking note. They really did a poor job last year with on course entertainment.

4. Kudos also to Columbus race management for the 21 fluid stations. I don't recall how many there have been in the past or at other races, but they seemed more numerous. That's a good thing, even on a cool day. It's hard to take in the proper amount of fluid at each stop, and having them spaced out about every mile and a half made a HUGE difference. I don't think I would have been as successful without each and every one of them.

5. More mylar blankets at the finish next year please. I didn't get one and I needed one.

6. If you're going to get a hotel room next to Mr. and Mrs. Pythagoras the night before a race and you are going to be up late drinking, talking, and laughing so loudly that it wakes us up and keeps us up, don't be surprised when we strike back the following morning when we wake up HOURS before you. This weekend, we had our room moved but unfortunately "forgot" to turn off the alarm clock. If we could hear their phone ringing through the wall, I know they could hear our alarm clock going off with no one to turn it off. Congrats to Mrs. P for coming up with that idea.

7. Congrats to Mrs. P and her mom for walking the half marathon in under three hours (according to her watch). Now to get her running that distance!

I can't think of anything else right now, but those should suffice. Both of us are registered for the Flying Feather Four Miler on Thanksgiving morning, so I have that to look forward to. And I might consider finishing out the year with some various 5Ks as well. As long as my knee heals that is.

Mr. P

(edit)
I forgot to include mention of last night. So, two days after running a marathon I show up for the weekly speed work. Jim and Dan were there and I got to hear about their recent successes as well as share mine. 4 X 400 was all I could handle after a mile warm-up. My knee was bothering me. Best not to do too much with and let it heal up.

2008 Nationwide Better Health Columbus Marathon

I'm not exactly sure where to start writing about this race. There was so much that went into it and went right. The training was the foremost ingredient, to be sure. I've been increasing my long runs since the end of summer, reaching distances of 20 and 23 miles. I've been doing speed work at the track since June, and can see how adding that alone has helped me get faster at every distance. I began carbo loading on Friday night, and included Saturday morning in that as well. I didn't get much sleep Saturday night, but that hasn't affected me in a race before. The weather for a marathon was perfect. It really could not have been any better. As I had not anticipated the mid 30's at the start, I was a little less than prepared clothing-wise, and had to pull a MacGruder at the last second to save my wardrobe issue. I chose to wear a dry fit sleeveless as a base layer, followed by my long sleeve Akron dry fit shirt, followed by a long sleeve cotton race shirt (I was desperate), all topped off with a trash bag. This information will be revisited later and will be on the exam.

I suppose I will just get right to the race itself. We arrived at the start a little later than we should have. I was only able to make my way forward to the 4:30 starting vicinity. There were so many people there, it was impossible to squeeze up any further. And as I was to find out, many of those people were queued up too far ahead. I was literally weaving my way through the crowd for the entire first half of the race. When the half marathon split off from the full, it took over half the field with it, finally giving me some breathing room.


It took about four minutes for me to get to the starting line. We just shuffled along, stepping over the discarded trash bags and sweatshirts from the people ahead of us. Miles one and two were horribly congested. I couldn't believe that I was passing walkers who had started so far up. And the groups running together three or more abreast. That's just ridiculous. I usually will toss my trash bag before the start, but decided to keep mine this time. Somewhere during mile 1, I popped my arms out through the sides and ended up running in it till after the first fluid station, where I discarded it. It did it's job keeping me warm, but I could feel the sweat forming with nowhere to go.


As we turned north in Bexley around mile three, I removed the cotton shirt, tying it around my waist for the rest of the race. The course also narrowed here, causing us to bunch up tight again and therefore slowing down. That was actually my slowest mile, going up and around the Governor's mansion. Mr. and Mrs. Strickland were out on the corner this year, the same place I high-fived Bob Taft two years ago, but I didn't see them soon enough and just waved. We wound south towards Capital University, around Franklin Park, and back up to Broad St. This was one of the course changes and I liked it. There's a lot of atmosphere along Bryden, but I have never felt comfortable running over there. I don't mind that they changed that section. The house with the porch full of "happy" men on the corner of Drexel and Main was pretty funny though. This whole time I'm only thinking about a couple things: trying to stay on my pace, trying to work my way through the field safely, and making sure to take fluids at every station as I had planned: Gatorade, Gatorade, water and PowerGel. That was my plan and I had to stay focused to remember where I was at in my order. They were serving Gatorade Endurance, which I train with exclusively, that has extra sodium. I need that because I am a heavy sweater. The gels have more concentrated calories and caffeine. The combination seems to work just fine for me.


Making our way into German Village, I high-fived someone in a full jack-o-lantern costume, and waved at the photographer on the platform suspended over the road. As we turned onto High St., It was good to see downtown ahead, but I knew it was still a couple miles away and that even when I reached it I was only going to be half done. I felt great though. I didn't need to play any of those old mental games this time. No need to try to motivate me just a little further. I felt so good running this time, I was just doing it. As I passed the 13.1 mile marker, I simply asked myself if I would like to go for a 13.1 mile run. No matter that I had just run that distance already. I answered myself, "sure, why not" and kept going.


The new route down through "Fraternity Row" was interesting, but there weren't too many people out and about. One guy on the corner of High and Chittenden was eating a quart of Ben and Jerry's at 9:30 in the morning. It sure looked better than Gatorade and PowerGels!


As we were running around the Horseshoe, I met up with a large group, a few of whom were talking about the Akron Marathon. I chimed in that I liked Akron and got into a conversation with one of the guys. It turns out that I had caught the 3:40 pace group. I decided to hang with the group and Darren, the guy I was talking with. We ended up running together the rest of the race. It was also really nice running with a pace group. I didn't need to worry about my times, just keeping up with the group. We ran through Upper Arlington (where I removed my other long sleeve shirt, hat, and gloves), down through Grandview Hts., and back toward Victorian Village and ultimately the finish. Through all this, I just kept running and conversing with Darren and others in the group, more than a few were down from the Cleveland area. The mile markers and fluid stations seemed to be coming faster than expected. That's a good thing that late in a marathon. I was starting to get tired and I had a couple leg cramps that I was able to quickly run through, but nothing debilitating. My knee was tightening on me and was sore, but nothing like it was last year. And no wall! My fluid and gel strategy must have worked because I had no wall issues. Hitting the wall was in the back of my mind up until mile 25. And if I hit it then, I could mentally push through it. Actually, my finish was very strong. I was able to pick up my pace with half a mile to go and pushed pretty hard down Nationwide to the finish line.


After crossing the finish line, and stopping for the first time in over three and a half hours, I started to feel a little not-so-good. I was starting to get lightheaded and my fingers were tingling. I tried to keep walking, thinking that my blood was pooling too much in my legs. After about 15 minutes and a bag of potato chips I felt better. My finish time was 3:34:08, 41 minutes faster than Akron last year. I finished 903rd of 3869 overall, 115th of 348 in my AG, and 776th of 2426 men. My splits were: 8:17 / 8:14 / 7:51 (finally got some room to run) / 8:55 (bottle-necked in Bexley) / 7:52 / 7:45 / 8:21 / 8:21 / 7:39 / 7:57 / 7:50 / 7:51 / 8:40 (13.1) / 7:01 (0.9 mile) / 7:59 / 7:52 / 8:15 (joined the pace group) / 8:22 / 8:37 / 8:18 / 8:19 / 8:20 / 8:17 / 8:54 (nearly missed this mile marker) / 8:28 / 8:18 / 1:23 (final 0.1 mile).


Today I'm just a little sore. My quads mostly. My knee is what's really bothering me. I'm having trouble negotiating stairs and keeping up with anyone I might be walking with. I'm supposed to head to the track tomorrow, but I'm going to decide on that tomorrow. Otherwise I'm doing relatively well. I've gone through more water than I normally do, but haven't snacked as much. I could go for a nap right now though.


Only one more officially scheduled race this year on Thanksgiving. I may work some others in however. Next marathon? That will be next spring. Probably Rite Aid but possibly another. Seven months out, time to start training for a sub 3:30! But for right now, I'm going to be happy with my performance yesterday and not worry too much about next year just yet.


Mr. P

3:34

Previous marathon PR: 4:15

New marathon PR: 3:34

41 minute difference.

I'm tired now.

Mr. P

Mr. Pythagoras and the Marathon

Please enjoy this little jaunt of mine down memory lane. It's something I wrote back in January in another forum, but haven't posted here yet. It is essentially my complete history with 26.2. To date, that is.

Why would you want to do that? Are you nuts? You're going to do WHAT? All questions I fielded when I started telling people I was planning on running a marathon. My answers? I like to run. No, I'm not nuts, just slightly masochistic. You heard me right, I'm going to try running the full Revco Marathon. Oh, I should mention that this was back in 1990, I was 15 years old, and a sophomore in high school. Yeah, I had plans to go long even back then. But the marathon was nothing compared to my dream goal: competing in an Ironman. Next to that, the marathon should be easy. Well I was to find an answer to that soon enough.

I began my running career on the track in jr. high. It was the first year track was being offered, and I was somewhat interested in seeing what it was all about. I didn't fancy going to the orientation meeting by myself so I talked some friends into going with me. The meeting was very informative and I became seriously interested. But again, I didn't want to join by myself. The other guys weren't all that thrilled by the idea of competitive running, so I joined without knowing anyone. When asked what distances I was interested in doing, I asked what the shortest distances were. Well, I eventually ended up running the 100 meters and the 800 meters. An interesting combination. That season went well, as I didn't have anything to compare it to. It was a lot of hard work, but totally worth it.

That was my first and last experience as being a part of a running team. I went out for track in high school, but my legs just couldn't take running everyday, so I dropped out.
I still wanted to run, just not what was offered at school. So I turned to road races. 5Ks led to 5 miles and then to 10Ks. Attempting a marathon only made sense. So I entered the 1990 Revco Cleveland Marathon.

I should have known I was going to have a bad day when, while lining up in the queue, an older man leaned over to me and asked "You know this is the Marathon, right. The 10K starts later." I assured him this was the event I planned on doing. After the gun went off, I took my time, a very slow, comfortable pace. I didn't have a clue what to expect. My longest training run was probably not much more than 6 miles. I just figured that if I kept to a nice easy pace, I would eventually finish. I was young, invincible, and didn't know any better at the time. I was about to find out about something called "the wall".

The first half of the race actually went pretty well. The course was a straight out and back that led to Bay Village from downtown Cleveland. I was very tired by the time I hit the turn-around, and started eating and drinking whatever was being offered. Having never eaten anything during training, my body started rebelling on me. My stomach developed that heavy pressure you get when you know something isn't quite right. I remember my legs being very tired, not necessarily sore, just tired. I walked from mile 13 to just after mile 16, when the sag wagon pulled up beside me and asked if I wanted a ride back to the finish. Without hesitation, I climbed aboard and experienced my first DNF. We were dropped off at the CSU campus. My mom had driven us down, so I needed to find her. But first I was going to lose everything I had been consuming. Frantically, I found a somewhat secluded spot in which to blow my chunks. I was embarrassed enough about quitting the race, I didn't need anyone seeing me get sick too.

My next attempt at a marathon was two years later. I don't remember exactly how I decided to try it again, but it may have had something to do with the race starting and finishing a matter of blocks from the college I was just starting at. The race was the 1992 Columbus Marathon. It was an early October date, on Columbus Day weekend, to coincide with the 500th anniversary of Christopher Columbus discovering the new world. I ran in a 10 miler that September and also did longer training runs than I had before the Revco. I had just turned 18, was away from home for the first time, living in a strange fine-art environment, and felt it was something I just needed to do.

Back then the course went north up High St., through the Ohio State campus, and wound it's way into Upper Arlington, before coming back down through campus again and eventually downtown. Then it would head east into Bexley, turn around, wind through German Village, and finish at the State Capitol building. Basically the opposite of the way the course is laid out now.
I went out hard at the beginning. Passing people on the sidewalks and everything. When I did Revco, I started slow and I didn't want to do that again. Eventually I fell into a decent pace, staying with a pack of runners going my speed. I was tired as we made our way through Upper Arlington. But because it's a residential neighborhood, there were so many spectators lining the streets and cheering, I couldn't help but get a nice kick of adrenaline and feel really good making my way through there. In fact, the energy carried me all the way back down through campus and into downtown before I started really dragging. I think I made it into Bexley before I had to start walking. I was tired and my legs were starting to cramp on me. Quads and calves mostly. I don't remember much of what happened between Bexley and German Village except that I was in a lot of pain. More pain than I could ever remember experiencing before. But I kept pushing. I didn't want to have another failed attempt at a marathon. What I lacked in physical preparedness, I more than made up for in being mentally focused and just plain stubborn. The feelings that hit me as I made the final turn onto High St. were overwhelming, because I knew the finish was a little over a mile straight ahead of me and that I was going to finish. I was in so much pain, but I knew I was going to finish.

I finished my first marathon in 4 hours 49 minutes. I was sore for weeks afterward and couldn't run again for a couple months. That effectively ended my 1992 season. Nothing like going out on a high note though. The following spring, I finished the Revco Cleveland Marathon for the first time. I cut nearly 25 minutes from my time too, finishing in 4 hours and 25 minutes. In the fall of 1993, I finished another Columbus Marathon, again shaving off a little more time, finishing in 4 hours 23 minutes. I pulled out of the 1994 Columbus Marathon just after half way due to heat concerns. All my training was done in cool temps and race day ended up being very warm.
That was all she wrote for me until last year when I finished both the Akron Marathon and the Columbus Marathon. Three weeks apart doesn't allow for full recovery and I won't be doing that again. My PR in Akron of 4 hours and 15 minutes leads me to think I can go sub 4 hours this year in Columbus. We shall see.

I am glad to be going long again. The more I do, the more I'm getting over the regret of the 10 year break from running. Last year I reached a point where on any given weekend I could go out and do a half marathon, no problem. I would like to reach a point where I can do multiple full marathons per year, and do them faster. Qualifying for Boston isn't one of my goals, but it sure would be nice to do it once.

Two Days and Counting

OK, I broke down and ran last night. Just a short 2.8 miles around the neighborhood in 21:38. Not too hard. Not too slow. I did feel just a little tight with just one day of rest from Tuesday. Aside from getting out and burning off some calories, I wanted to get out in the cold. We are cold again in Medina. It's been nice the last two weeks, but a front came through and it was a little chilly. Which is GREAT for running. Temps last night should be close to what they'll be on Sunday and I wanted to get out there and try to acclimate a bit. I'm good in the cold. I'm good in the heat. It's the transitioning between the two that messes me up sometimes. Breathing was good last night, so I'm pleased.

On another note, Columbus doesn't offer the same text message/e-mail race updates that Akron did. But they do offer online tracking. If you go here, http://www.mtectracking.com:8080/Mtrack/Mtrack?raceid=3, you might be able to follow my progress. My number is 877. You get the nice low numbers when you register as far in advance as I did. If the link doesn't work, don't sweat it too much. I'll at least post a short report Sunday.

Mr. P

P.S. I just followed the link and it does work. However, when you search for number 877, two names come up, me and some chick. I'm the dude. I wonder what that's all about...

Three Days and Counting

It's three days till Columbus and I'm ready to go now. I don't want to wait any more. I want to hit it. HARD! I held back on Tuesday night. We were busy with life-things yesterday, so I didn't do anything. I didn't get out of bed early enough this morning to do anything meaningful. Maybe later tonight. I'm not used to tapering like this. I'm chomping at the bit. I just want to do it. Not to get it over with, mind you. I'm tired of waiting. I'm tired of having all this energy and worrying about not saving it for Sunday.

It's the quiet before the storm.

Except, the quiet is driving me nuts.

Mr. P

Last Training Session

My last training session before Columbus was last night. And it went pretty well. Dan and Bob were both there, after having put some miles in at Towpath Sunday no less. We were joined by a couple "newbies" as well. No one wanted to do anything really tough so we just winged it. A mile warm up, followed by 3 X 400m with striders on the straights. Then a trio of 400s with 400m rest between. Times were 1:39 / 1:34 /and 1:32. Then one mile cool down for a total of about 4 miles. I definitely left the track feeling like I could do more. In fact, I want to go out tomorrow night too, but I don't know if I should 3 days before my big race. I'll have to think on it.

Mr. P

One Week Out

One week out from the marathon and I spent my last long run with Chip and Dale. Well, not the REAL Chip and Dale, but chipmunks none the less. Yesterday I decided to get some different terrain under my belt, so I headed out the Lester Rail Trail. There were chipmunks everywhere! And they weren't afraid of me either. Some wouldn't move until I was just a few feet away. As I only saw one other person out there, they were nice company.

I haven't been out there since early summer. The trail head isn't far from the house, 1.6 miles to be exact, it's a nice gravel trail, and shaded in most spots. Since I was getting another late start, not do to the weather this week but instead the free Sam Adams Cherry Wheats at Mrs. P's work function Saturday night, so I once again decided to find a route somewhat away from auto traffic.

It's a 9 mile round trip from my house to the end of the Lester Trail. If I were to add my 3 mile loop on top of that, I would end up with 12 miles. Guess what? 12 miles exactly. Damn, I'm good! I covered the distance in 1:34 under moderate effort. It was hot yesterday. I was feeling for everyone running Towpath again this year in the heat. The heat made for more effort than I encountered in Akron just a couple weeks ago. But I didn't want to press too hard anyway. It's way to close to mess up anything now.

What I did want to do was run a negative split on just the trail portion of the route. Which I did. According to the G-maps Pedometer I use, the trail length is 2.9 miles. I clocked 22:40 out and 22:24 back. I had a bit of a headwind coming back, but going out is slightly uphill, so they cancel out. The wind was welcome however, as I was dripping in sweat after just a little bit. I didn't think it was going to be that warm. I went through 3 of my 4 bottles of Gatorade Endurance, taking no gels with me for this run. I wouldn't need any for only 12.

The whole run, my mind kept going over what clothing I should pack for the race. I haven't looked at any of the long range forecasts, so I really don't know what they're calling for for next weekend. But I went over every conceivable scenario and what clothing combinations I would want. So basically, I'm going to pack a little bit of everything and decide Sunday morning. Just as if I were spending the night at home and had access to everything in the morning.

That's all for now. I've one more run at the track tomorrow, and then that's it. I'm trying not to think about it too much, but when I do, I'm more excited than worried. The hay's in the barn and I'm as ready as I'm going to be.

Mr. P

A Quick Training Update

Yes, I was back to "quick" 800's this week. After a mile warm-up we clocked splits of:
3:14 / 3:13 / 3:11 / 3:08 / 3:11 / and 3:07. Why not save the quickest for last? It was good running them with someone after what happened last week. (See the Miserable and Lonely post.) It also helped to have some fabulous weather. Dry, clear, with just a touch of breeze. But really, the main thing is the company. Dan was there, but that's it. I'm not sure where everyone else has gotton off to, but oh well. It's much easier to maintain your pace with someone else to gauge off of. I know he's able to average faster splits than I can, but he held back so we could stick together. All told, just 5 miles Tuesday night. But with less than two weeks till the marathon, that's plenty.

I managed to squeeze in a short 3.5 miles last night. The weather was still beautiful so I didn't want to waste it. I just ran around the neighborhood in 26:33, about 7:30's I believe. I shouldn't have pushed as hard as I was. Now for a couple off days and my last long run on Sunday.

I have a correction to my last post to make. I was under the impression that the Towpath Marathon was last weekend. It wasn't. It's this weekend. I somehow, again, got the wrong date down on my calender. I'm going to have to be more diligent about getting these dates right next year. Good luck to everyone running either the full, half, or 10K! Looks like it's going to be getting a little warm.

Mr. P

It's Woolly Bear Time Again

And we had frost yesterday too, so it must definitely be fall here in Ohio. Not a hard killing frost, just enough to highlight the grass in the green space in front of our house. But I did delay my run until the late morning because of it. I really didn't want to go out and freeze for a couple hours. And because I delayed my run, I decided to drive up to the Metroparks to run instead of running around town.

I like parking in Strongsville, just off Pearl. It's easy to get to from the highway, and it has an outhouse! In the past I've parked there, run through Berea, down into the Rocky River Valley. Yesterday I decided to take a different route, heading up the Big Creek Parkway to the picnic area at Snow Rd. I used to ride my bike along there tons in high school, but haven't been up that way in many years. Nothing has changed. The trees may be a little bigger and the shrubs a little fuller, but it's still basically the same as it was 15 years ago. The traffic light patterns are still ridiculous, refusing to give you a "walk" sign, forcing you to cross when everyone making a left hand turn is done. People carelessly walking their dogs. People walking on the left hand side of the path. I could go on.

But I won't. What I will go on about is the run. I did 14.5 miles in 1:53. I really wasn't planning on going too hard, what with the marathon two weeks away and all. I wanted to be out no longer than 2:30 so I planned to run for 1:15 then turn around. I ended up reaching my desired turn around point in less than an hour. I thought that was fine and decided to go for a negative split on the way back. A negative split in this case is running back to the car faster than I did leaving it. I don't have my splits in front of me right now, but I negative split the run by a couple minutes. I felt good. A little tight at points, but good. It was chilly, about mid 50's, but the course is heavily wooded, so I was in and out of sun throughout the run. There weren't too many people out, as the Towpath Marathon was yesterday. I was pleased that I was able to push it, but not too much as to cause an injury.

Columbus is 13 days out and I think I'm in a good spot. I've done the long runs. I've done the short runs. I've done the hard runs. Now, I'm just planning some shorter, easier runs as I taper. I'm not sore today, just a little tight. I do have a bit of a sore throat. Better this week than next week, though. I'll be at the track tomorrow, but I'm not planning on pushing anything at all.

Happy Fall everyone! The storm windows are now in. The furnace has a clean filter and has been coming on at night. And 100,000 people joined Dick Goddard in Vermilion yesterday for the Woolly Bear Festival. Too many people for my liking. That's why I was running.

Mr. P

Miserable and Lonely: Two Not-So-Great Feelings That Go Great Together

My birthday was yesterday. So what did I do to celebrate? I ran 9 and a quarter miles on a track, by myself, in the cold, in the rain, and in the dark. And I'm glad I did too.

Miserable and lonely are definitely two feelings (among others) that rear their heads during the later stages of a marathon. So is the desire to stop short. So I made sure that I did everything I had planned last night. We missed the opportunity to do this workout last week due to the tracks being used, and the fact that I was going to go it alone this week wasn't going to stop me from completing it.

10 X 800 is a lot of running. The most I've done in a speedwork session yet. I was hoping to at least maintain steady splits from the first to the last. I really didn't know what range I was going to be at, as I was still tired from the half marathon on Saturday. Given that, and the uncooperative weather, I can't be too disappointed in the results:
3:10 / 3:19 / 3:19 / 3:17 / 3:19 / 3:13 / 3:15 / 3:20 / 3:20 / 3:15. I would have liked the average to be grouped around the 3:10 mark, but there was a steady wind coming out of the west really slowing things down on the back straight. And not having anyone to pace off of slows things down a bit too. I'm not going to be hard on my times at all. The fact that I completed them all brings me more satisfaction than the times themselves.

Speaking of the half marathon. I was able to get back on the website to view the results and here's how I did against the competition. My time of 1:33:59 placed me 9th in my age group out of 132, and 50th overall out of 781. Wow! I never look at how I place against others in big races like Akron. I just look at my time. But I did damn good, if I do say so myself. The hard part now is going to be improving THAT time. I don't expect to do it this year, so sometime in 2009 will have to do.

My hard workouts are now done, as I am 18 days away from Columbus. I plan on going for a long run this weekend, maybe 18 or so. And I am planning for two more speed sessions, but I'm not going to be pushing that hard during them. So, the proverbial "hay is in the barn". I just need to show up on race day and do my thing. Until next time...

Mr. P

And Now For Something Completely Different

I'm going a little off topic here, but need to document 2008, the year of the Roller Coaster. Sunday we made our late season visit to Cedar Point, (America's Roller Coast)! That made for my 4th amusement park and 5th location for roller coaster riding this year. When Mrs. P and I rode The Roller Coaster at New York, New York in Las Vegas back in April, I didn't think I would be on a quest to ride as many as possible this year. And I suppose it was only just an unofficial quest at that. I left as many as 6 on the table due to crowds or lack of time. And if it was an official quest, I would have paid visits to additional parks to ride even more coasters.

What I was able to accomplish wasn't bad though: Four amusement parks, Busch Gardens Europe, HersheyPark, King's Island, and Cedar Point, plus the New York, New York Casino in Vegas. I rode a grand total of 33 different coasters, some more than once. I now present, for your reading pleasure, my Top 10 Coasters of 2008.

10. The Beast - King's Island, Cincinnati, OH

The Beast is still the world's longest wooden coaster. And that thing gets going at a pretty good clip too! They don't call it the "Beast" for nothing.

9. Fahrenheit - HersheyPark, Hershey, PA

Fahrenheit was new at HersheyPark this year. It wasn't huge, but the lift hill climbs straight up, crests and goes straight down. Pretty cool! Lots of turns and rolls to keep you on your toes.

8. Raptor - Cedar Point, Sandusky, OH

Raptor is always good, but until this year, I hadn't ridden up in the front row. A totally different experience when you can see where you're going. The six inversions are some of the smoothest anywhere. Great Bear and Alpengeist are nearly identical, but I prefer Raptor.

7. Son of Beast - King's Island, Cincinnati, OH

Son of Beast is the world's tallest and fastest wooden coaster, and an amazing ride totally worth waiting to ride in the front seat. A 214 foot hill is something else on a wooden coaster, as is hitting nearly 80 mph.

6. Magnum XL200 - Cedar Point, Sandusky, OH

What can I say about Magnum XL200? It was the world's tallest and fastest coaster back in 1989 and still kicks the snot out of you. Jr. P agreed to ride it this year. He didn't mind the 205 foot drop or the 72 mph, but he didn't like all the airtime at the end. I did!

5. Apollo's Chariot - Busch Gardens Europe, Williamsburg, VA

Apollo's Chariot is taller and faster than Magnum. Plus you sit more on a moving platform than in a car. Lots of speed, good airtime, and very smooth.

4. Griffon - Busch Gardens Europe, Williamsburg, VA

Griffon is just different than anything else on the list. You wait at the top of the 205 foot hill, looking straight down, just waiting to take the plunge.

3. Top Thrill Dragster - Cedar Point, Sandusky, OH

Top Thrill Dragster is more different still at 420 feet tall and hitting 120 mph. You need to ride it to fully appreciate it. Mrs. P was coerced into riding it and nearly had to be sedated. There's only one taller than Top Thrill, but it's not by much. I rode this one twice.

2. Maverick - Cedar Point, Sandusky, OH

Maverick was new at Cedar Point last year and is amazing. There is so much going on! A fast lift hill followed by a 95 degree drop. That's right, it inverts while dropping! There are so many twists, turns, and hills, plus a linear launch halfway through that shoots you to 70 mph. This was almost my number 1!

1. Millennium Force - Cedar Point, Sandusky, OH

Millennium Force is my number 1. At 310 feet tall and hitting speeds of 93 mph, it's so FAST from start to finish. It never lets up. Cedar Point says that it broke 10 world records when it opened in 2000, and I believe them. Millennium Force snatched the title of Mr. Pythagoras' favorite roller coaster from Magnum on Sunday, and it's going to take something utterly astonishing to rest that title from it's grip.

I'm always on the lookout for new coasters to conquer, so feel free to leave me recommendations.

Mr. P

2008 Road Runner Akron Half Marathon

Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds... but 10,000 runners will!

There was a record turnout for this year's Akron Marathon. Over 10,000 runners. Of course with the relay events, they weren't all on the course at the start, but that's a great showing none the less. The paragraph above came to mind when I saw a USPS truck stopped at an intersection as we ran by. He wasn't going anywhere for a while!

As for the run, I chose to run the half this year, and to save myself for the full in Columbus in 20 days. Next year I'm planning on doing the full at Akron and perhaps just the half at Columbus. Maybe the full, you know, just for fun.

I had a great race this year. All the speed work on the track really came through for me in this race. Although my mile splits did slow a bit from mile 1 to mile 13, they were all fairly even and fast (for me). I set yet another PR for the half marathon this year (3rd time) at 1:33:59. The results page is down right now, but if I remember correctly, I placed 9th in my age group and 50th overall. Not too shabby! Here are my mile splits:

6:44 / 6:59 / 7:01 / 6:53 / 7:12 / 7:08 / 7:19 / 7:28 / 7:10 / 7:21 / 7:18 / 7:18 / 8:02 (1.1 mile). I also had a 10K split of 43:37 and a 15K split of 1:06:20. The 15K is faster than my previous PR for that distance, and I'll need to check the 10K time. It's going to be close.

I felt really good Saturday. I had to park way down on the south end of downtown and jog in to the starting area. I had a little caffeine that morning which may have helped a little. The porta-potty lines were too long for me to get one last visit in, so I just lined up toward the front, about 25 feet back or so. I had a great start and felt really good going out a decent clip. I spotted Connie from the training group, and a world class ultra-marathoner I might add, caught her and ran with her for about a mile. I had to slow my pace a bit so I wished her luck and let her go. It was mid 60's for temps and a bit humid, so I couldn't maintain her pace for very long. Another thing about Akron is that the course is certainly NOT flat. Your pace will change as you run along the course. But for every hill, there's a descent, so it averages out nicely.

Having run the full last year, I wasn't familiar with the half course. They're identical until they split apart around mile 10 or 11. But as the full heads DOWN into the valley, the half begins to climb UP on Rt. 59. I wasn't expecting the elevation increase that late in the race and that close to the finish. I began experiencing some minor calf cramping, but was able to run through it.

It was an all around exceptional event. Count me in for next year. Especially with the way the economy is heading down the crapper, I'm going to be focusing on events closer to home in 2009. And this is one event I'm glad is so close to home.

Mr. P

How to Get Boxer Slobber Off Your Leg, and Other Handy Tips While Running Long Distances

Well, you are probably now asking, "Mr. Pythagoras, how DO you get Boxer dog slobber off your leg during a long run?" I pondered this very dilemma this morning for about a half mile before the answer struck me, and I just scraped it off onto the side of a bench. I was initially tempted to wipe it off with my hand, and then wipe my hand on the dew kissed grass. But then I thought to myself, "EWWWW!" That dog could have just been licking it's nads or a-hole (medical terminology), I don't want to touch it with the same hands that are going to be wiping sweat off my face or handling my water bottles. You can never underestimate the flexibility of a dog, and their ability to reach less than desirable locations!

But now, back to my long run. The plan was to go out for 3:20 to 3:30 and hope to cover up to 23 miles. I ended up running for 3:16, and covering 23 miles. Good enough! I was very tired this morning. I just didn't feel any energy for some reason. My pace was better than I felt, however, and I ended up with my intended mileage in a shorter period of time.

Once again, I took advantage of the school tracks in Medina to get some mile splits. The first one was at A.I. Root Middle School at 13.1 miles into my run. So at the half marathon distance I ran an 8:04 mile. I'll take that, considering my marathon pace is a bit slower than that, around an 8:30 to 8:45 pace.

My second mile split was at Medina High School at 18.8 miles into the run. I turned that one out in 8:33, right at my marathon pace. By this point I was getting extremely tired. The legs just weren't feeling fresh and I was laboring in my breathing just to maintain a steady pace. I took my first gel at Root, and my second at the high school. I had packed four bottles of Gatorade Endurance and had gone through three of them. Maybe I should have planned to consume more gels, intake more calories out on the road. Maybe I should have eaten a bigger breakfast, more calories before starting. Whichever, I was hitting the wall.

My third and final mile split was at Claggett Middle School at 20.5 miles into the run. By this point, my form was deteriorating to the point that my knee began bothering me. I had to walk a 150 meter portion to avoid making my knee worse. My split here was 9:32. Definitely too slow. I took another gel and downed a good bit of water before leaving on the home stretch.

I had to walk another portion on the way home due to my knee. I was able to pop it a couple times, and eventually didn't have any more problems. One of these days, I'm going to have it looked at. Something in there gets in the wrong place sometimes, and it hurts. Bad.

The rest of the way home was somewhat uneventful. But that leads me to another running tip. Don't cross intersections in front of old ladies in cars. Even if you have the right of way. They've forgotten how to drive by this point, so just stop, wait, and when they finally do see you, make an "after you" motion with your hands and give them a big condescending smile. The "what the hell?" look on their faces is priceless.

I was so tired when I got home that it hurt. I didn't cramp at all. I wasn't building up lactic acid the way you do while sprinting. My legs were just drained to the point they hurt. And wouldn't stop hurting. For those non-runners out there, when your legs hurt, you stop running and walk, and the pain goes away. This pain didn't really begin until I was done. I'm sure some of it was mental, but it was agonizing. It cleared after 30 minutes or so, but man, I'd love to get to the point where that doesn't happen. It sucked. Massage please?

Well that's it. That was my last long run before Columbus. It's all shorter than that from now on. Hopefully I can have a good taper, rest up, and be ready to rock in October.

Mr. P

Speed Work Updates (a little late)

Better late than never, though. I need to update the last two track workouts. First, from Sept. 9, I had a great speed session. The best yet. Since the number of runners has dwindled with the onset of cross country season, those of us still hitting the track each week have agreed to concentrate on running 800s. We all seem to be training for a fall marathon, and these 800 repetitions sure seem to be effective. This day we did 8 X 800 meters. Since my speed has gotten better, I was shooting for 3:15 as a target time. I'm happy to say all my times were under that. The first one being a 2:57 and the last one a 3:04, my two fastest times. I also had 4 at 3:09 and 2 at 3:11. I guess I get an A for consistency.

As for this week, it was my best speed session yet! We had cool temps in the mid 60s with a little breeze that was just strong enough to make things chilly by the time we were done. We did 9 X 800 meters, with the plan being to increase to 10 for next week. My splits were as follows: 3:10 / 3:12 / 3:10 / 3:12 / 3:10 / 3:09 / 3:09 / 3:09 / 3:05. Yes, that is the fastest split on the last 800. The amazing thing is this was two days after a VERY hard race. I was still sore and my legs felt tired. I kept getting more sore later that night too. I felt about back to normal yesterday, but today I'm good to go. Which is good, because I'm planning a few miles for tomorrow morning. My last long training run for Columbus, and the longest so far. I'm planning to run for 3:20 to 3:30 (hours) and hoping to cover upwards of 22 to 23 miles. We'll just have to wait and see how that works out in the AM.

Mr. P

2008 Mizuno Columbus 15 Miler

It's Tuesday and I had better write about this now, or run the risk of putting it off to the point that I don't at all. Things have been so busy at work and at home that I'm still missing a training report from last week's speed workout as well. I'm going to try to tie that one in with this week's a little later.

The race was Sunday morning, before the remnants of Ike decided to "blow" through the Great State of Ohio. I drove down from Medina that morning instead of staying in Columbus overnight because we had to make some last minute changes to the weekend due to the poor health of our dog Penny. The temperature when I began driving at 5:00 AM was 76 degrees. It only dropped a couple degrees by the time I got to Alum Creek State Park. Did I mention that it was also about 75% humidity? It was. It was wet. Our one saving grace that day was a stiff breeze. A breeze out of the south bringing with it the sweet smell of hops and barley from the Anheiser-Busch brewery miles away.

After an easy warm-up of about a mile, I decided that I felt good enough to try to run this race at my half-marathon pace rather than just maintaining my slower, more comfortable marathon pace. That meant I was going to hurt a little. But I didn't hurt that much. All the hard repetitions on the track had me pushing, but without the effort I was expecting. Even the heat didn't get to me the way it was getting to others. I was hot and sweating a ton, but I was aware of it and took extra care at the water stops to replace as much fluids as I could. I only suffered from some minor cramping in the last 2 to 3 miles. But I was able to work through it and finished strong. My finish time was 1:58:22. I finished first in my age group. I passed a kid (or so I thought) with about 150 yards to go, who ended up placing second in our age group. Glad I put the hammer down going into the finish line. I would have hated to have been caught by him after all the effort during the 14.95 miles before that!

For anyone interested, here are my mile splits:
Mile 1 - 7:12
Mile 2 - 7:41
Mile 3 - 7:39
Mile 4 - 7:44
Mile 5 - 7:37
Mile 6 - 7:43
Mile 7 - 7:57
Mile 8 - 8:02 (began walking through the water stops)
Mile 9 - 7:52
Mile 10 - 8:26
Mile 11 - 8:12
Mile 12 - 7:51
Mile 13 - 8:20
Mile 14 - 8:18
Mile 15 - 7:41

Overall, not a bad course. We started at the beach area, wound around the parking lot, and headed out the south end towards the dam. There is a great gravel path back there that winds up and down and around through a dense stand of trees. I never new that was back there. Some of the other races that are held at Alum Creek should take advantage of that trail and incorporate it into their courses. The run over the dam and levee was the windiest section, but that felt magnificent. Running on the road was just alright. The roads were still open to traffic, but there wasn't too much that early on a Sunday. My biggest gripe was the non-removal of road kill from the course. Those things STANK! Especially the deer with missing hind quarter. YOU try running past something like that, breathing very hard, and not gagging, and see if you enjoy it. Otherwise a well run event, though on the small side, that I might consider doing again in the future.

Take care and look for a track training update sometime.

Mr. P

2008 Portage Lakes Sprint Duathlon

And so upon finishing today's race, I close another multi-sport season. 2008 was my second season in a row, but my eighth overall. I've had a good season, competing in six sprint distance duathlons. I've come to realize a couple things this year. One is that I am more competitive in the shorter races than the Olympic distance events. Another is that, try as I might, I'm not going to be as fast as the top guys overall, or even in my age group. I am going to take that knowledge into consideration when I choose the direction my racing will go next year.

I finished 4th in my age group today in the series finale for HFP Racing. We were at Portage Lakes State Park in Akron, OH, which kicked my ass last year. Of course last year the elements conspired against me, namely 30 degree temps at the start, competing in the Olympic distance, and a wicked hangover from my brother's 30th birthday party the night before. This year I was well rested, competing in the shorter race, and most decidedly NOT hungover. (I got that out of my system Monday at Oktoberfest.) While 4th in my AG, I was 18 out of 75 overall. That should tell you how competitive these older age groups are. My bike was slow with an average speed of just 17.6 mph. My lack of training on the bike really shows up on hilly courses. I did have some high points, however. My runs kicked ASS today! Seriously! All this track work is really paying off in these shorter distances. I had the second fastest Run 1 in my AG at 21:23. That's a 6:54 per mile pace. It was also the 12th fastest Run 1 split overall. My Run 2 time was just as good at 22:44, a 7:20 per mile pace. That was also the 2nd fastest Run 2 split in my AG and the 11th fastest overall. I knew I felt good on the runs and my splits prove it. Also, my transitions were the fastest in the AG at 50 seconds and 45 seconds respectively. If my bike would have been better than the 42 minute slog that it was, 37th position, I would have had a lovely outing today.

All in all, I can't complain. I know where I can make the most improvement for next year. I know where I'm strong right now, and I need to maintain that. I have some plans for change next year, but I'm not going to reveal the specifics just yet.

For right now, I'm going to rest. Rest, and prepare for my 15 miler this Sunday.

Mr. P

Is it September Already?

I mean, we just got done with Christmas and New Year's and all. The year went by too fast. So did my duathlon season. My last race is this Sunday at Portage Lakes State Park. At least I can spend the night before in my own bed. Sleeping at home always makes for a more pleasant night's sleep than staying in a hotel or with relatives.

Just a couple training bits of note for the week. I did two track workouts this week, Tuesday and Thursday. Tuesday was the real speed workout and last night only a few miles with the family. Mrs. P is trying to figure out how to reduce her 5K time and increase her endurance. Jr. P also needs to work on his endurance for soccer. He wasn't as interested in running last night as the Mrs. was.

On Tuesday, there were just three of us at the high school, myself and two really fast masters runners. We agreed to just stick with 800 repeats. More Yasso 800s for marathon preparation. I don't have a specific marathon goal time to associate to the 800s but I want to run them as hard as I can. My target time was around a 3:15 to 3:30 pace.

Warm-up - 1 mile
800m - 3:03
400m rest
800m - 3:19
400m rest
800m - 3:08
400m rest
800m - 3:15
400m rest
800m - 3:14
400m rest
800m - 3:14
400m rest
800m - 3:20
400m rest
800m - 3:12
Cool-down - 1 mile

As you can see, my times were around 3:15 for the most part and trended toward 3:00 flat a couple times. Overall, a total mileage of 7.75 miles including the 400m recovery jogs. A workout I'm very pleased with. We were running in mid 80s to 90 degrees with a bit of humidity thrown in for good measure.

Last night however, was a bit on the slow side. We did a mile at around a 12 minute pace. Then we did another mile and a half with interspersed pick-ups, bounding, striders, butt-kickers, and sprints. That was about all she wrote for Mrs. P. While they were walking a half mile cool-down, I went and ran a 7:13 mile. It was supposed to be a cool-down mile, but ended up being a fast tempo pace instead. The geese on the infield were giving me the eye whenever I came around the back corner. They were literally about 10 feet from the track. I could have veered right into them and they wouldn't have been able to move quick enough. But that whole flock suddenly took off a few minutes after I finished because a pug was running around on the track. A PUG! It was having a good old time just running here and there, but those geese were gone!

That's it for now. I'll be back after Sunday's race.

Mr. P

A Little Labor for Labor Day Weekend

Based upon my long run from last week, I wanted to go out for about 2:45 this week. I estimated that would get me about 18 or so miles, maybe a little more. What I ended up doing was joining a large group run over on the Road Runner Akron Marathon course. One of the guys from the club posted it in the forum on the website. Fortunately I found it and changed my plans. It didn't take much for me to decide to run with others versus running by myself.

The plan was to run 20 miles of the course, cutting out about 6 miles on the south side of Akron. 20 miles is a little bit more than I was intending to do this weekend. But only a little bit. I felt like I could have gone 20 last week, so knowing that, I was confident I wouldn't have any problems doing the distance this week. What I didn't expect was to maintain a decent pace throughout the run. The finish time, by my watch, was 2:54:55, averaging 8:40-ish miles. We certainly started out faster than that and finished slower. But that's to be expected. If I can maintain that kind of pace in Columbus, I'm going to shatter my PR of 4:15. I'm extremely excited at the prospect, but I have to keep the emotions in check and just let the run happen on it's own.

The Akron course is unique for a marathon. It's fairly flat for the first half, then it drops down into the Cuyahoga River valley, climbing slowly out a few miles later. Much of the course is shaded, which wasn't an issue this morning because we were blessed with fog. Just enough to obscure the sun for most of the run. Plus we started at 6:30 AM, getting out ahead of the heat. Even with the hills, I like the course. It's scenic and changing, giving you different things to notice while running. The loads of spectators weren't out this morning, but they will be on race day. Some of the best of any race I've done. I'd rank them right up there with the spectators along the Columbus Marathon route. I look forward to next year when I plan on participating in the full Akron Marathon again. It's only the half for me this year. But I'm glad I've got one 20 miler under my belt before Columbus. Now only one more to go.

I would like to thank Frank for posting the notice about the group run. Otherwise I would never have known about it. I would also like to thank Ladd and Chuck for keeping the pace up and for the good conversation during the run. And thanks to Vertical Runner in Hudson for organizing the whole thing. Even though I haven't been up to their store since the Second Sole opened here in Medina, I appreciate their involvement in the running community.

Have a great Labor Day weekend everyone.

Mr. P