May 2018 Running Challenge

Pittsburgh Marathon Weekend Race Report

So, unlike previous years we signed up to run the 5K the day before the marathon. This was done for three reasons:
First, I typically do a short easy run the day before a big race. I find it makes running the race easier. So, regardless of running the 5K or not, I would have run 3 or 4 miles that day anyway.

Second, they do something called the “Steel Challenge” where if you run both the 5K and the marathon you get a third special medal and since this is the tenth anniversary of the race, it is a big cool looking X.

Third, by running the 5k at a much slower than normal pace, I was able for the first time to run a complete race with my wife. Normally I run close to twice her speed, so this was a nice change.

We arrived for the 5k with plenty of time to spare, and parking was easy too. Earlier in the week, we joined the local runners club (which is a very big club) called Steel City Road Runners (SCRR). So just before the 5K was to start they wanted to do a group picture. We decided to do that since it seemed like there was plenty of time but turns out it took a lot longer than anticipated. Long enough that by the time we got back to the corrals, the lines for the porta-potties were long enough that I was worrying that if we went we would not make the race. We made it in plenty of time but learned a valuable lesson about timing for future races (hint: the next day).

The 5K got started and we kept with the 13 min/mile pacer. I would normally run a 5K at around 7 or 8 mins per mile, so this was a very easy pace for me. The run was through city streets with very tall buildings that messed with the GPS on everyone’s watches and phones. The pacer was apparently used to this and only used her GPS watch to track time and used the mile markers on the course to figure out the pace. We ended up finishing in the 12:50s pace range despite the various phones and watches all reporting widely different times.

Afterward, we hit the finisher party for a short bit and then went home for a while. Our hotel check in was at 4pm and we did not want to hang around for most of the day waiting on that.

Now, we only live about forty minutes from the race, but with all the road closures and city traffic race morning (news reported “over 40 thousand people” had come in for the events), it becomes a mess to get in. By renting a hotel room on the start/finish line we got to sleep in an extra hour or two and did not have to stress about driving in at all. This was a huge win, well worth the cost.

Joining the SCRR was great because the morning of the race they had a continental breakfast, private gear check, and indoor real bathrooms for members to use. After the race they big tent that was warm, dry and full of food – which was very much welcome. Well worth the price of the club. All of that went smoothly – oh this time we skipped the group picture.

So, the problem that morning was the weather report. It had pretty much gone from great to cold rain for the entire race. When we walked down to the breakfast I was wearing all of the clothes I brought with me and was trying to figure out what I wanted to check, and what I wanted to run in. Since the temp was in the high fifty’s, I decided for my singlet, and shorts, oh and a garbage bag that I had bought the night before. So, I checked all of my gear and we headed to the corrals. This is where things started to fall apart.

First, I had purchased a race timing tattoo that I had planned to use as my fall back plan if (when) I lost the pacer. I figured with the tattoo to help me judge where I should be I would be fine. Great plan, except I had left the tattoo at home. After some stressing, I came up with a fall back for my fall back plan. I took a screenshot of a pace chart and set it as the lock screen on my phone. That way I could whip out the phone, glance at the lock screen at each mile. The only drawback was that only ½ the chart would fit on the phone, so I put miles 13 to 26 on it.

Second, when I arrived at my designated starting corral, I found out that I had been assigned a slower corral than my target pace! That meant the pacer I had planned to run with, which was my primary plan, would have a good 10 to 15-minute head start on me. I briefly considered trying to run the pacer down, but wisely ruled this out as stupid.
My plans were falling apart around me, and it only got worse. Standing in the corral with only the garbage bad to keep me warm I started to get very cold and was beginning to doubt my clothing choice. Too late to do anything about that though so I carried on.

Next, I realized I had forgotten my corral snack. See I knew I would be stuck waiting for the race to start for a good hour, and I normally eat during that time. Those of us that struggle with blood sugar issues will understand why. Well, that only works if you remember to bring your food. All of my food was safely in my gear check bag.

At this point, all of my plans were foiled, and the race had not started yet! Thankfully I remembered that a sub-four-hour marathon was about a 9 min pace and you can do the nine times tables on your fingers at least up till 10. That was enough since I had 13 through 26 on my phone screen. So, I took my s-cap (the only one I remembered to take all race) and hunkered down in my bag to wait.

The race finally started, and I swear the clock read 33 minutes when I crossed the start line, but the official results say I started at twenty minutes after gun time. Whatever, they can think what they like. I know the truth. *smile*
Being in the third corral meant I was in the fifth wave to start and jammed packed in with a large number of runners who were all planning to run much slower than my target pace. That meant I had to fight for every meter of the course for a long time to hold my pace and make my times.

The Pittsburgh Marathon course is in two distinct halves. The first is much easier than the second and they are separated by a big hill. Knowing this I pushed the pace a bit in the first half and ticked off the miles. Mile one – must beat 9 minutes. Done. Mile two must beat 18 minutes. Done. Mile three must beat 27 minutes. Done. By mile three I was finally warming up and starting to get a groove on. I was still in a mess of a crowd fighting for space, but at least I was not shivering anymore.

I fought that crowd all the way to mile twelve where the half marathon runners break off and take a different route. This is also where the big hill is. Or so I thought. I remember the hill from last year being an untamable monster. I spent most of my runs since the doing nothing but hills so that I would be ready for it. I hit it this time and my pace did not even slow as I climbed it. It was nothing like I remembered and much less than many of my training runs.
I was feeling pretty good at this point and had a much clearer course to run. I had to fight hard against the urge to start picking people off in front of me. I knew if I did that I would burn out fast.
Looking at the pace chart, I held the faster pace that I meant only for the easy half well up to twenty miles. The course gets a bit tougher in there, and when I reached it I was starting to feel the effects of pushing too hard too long.

Around mile 24 I was starting to fade badly. My pace chart does not seem to show how bad I was feeling, so you will just have to take my word for it. Well just as I started to fade, @dudasd1973 caught up to me. He was doing the last leg of a relay team. When he reached me, he was doing a good minute if not more faster per mile than I was. This was right at the 24-mile time. When he came up beside me, I remember saying to him “well I just missed a BQ by two miles.”
He replied with “Don’t let me hold you up, I am dead,” and then faded back.

That was just the kick I needed, and I held the new pace he had set pretty much all the way to the finish. Thankfully the last point-2 miles were all downhill and I picked up another minute per mile for them.

I crossed the line with an official time of 3:51:53 – which beats my marathon PR by about TWENTY MINUTES!
Here are the official results:





And my three medals:





Thanks to everyone in this thread! Y’all really helped me over the past year to train for this. I will not call out names, because the list is way too long, but y’all were the inspiration I needed to get out there and run!
Next week… my first ulra! A 50k trail race!

Well, today was basically the opposite of yesterday. I almost didn't run at all, as Sunday is typically my rest day, but after taking an extra rest day Thursday and having such a bad run yesterday, I decided to go for it. I woke up early enough that it wasn't quite 60 degrees when I hit the road, I kept my eye on my pace for the first couple of miles, and I felt really good the whole time. Only .09 miles to go before I run my very first ever 5k!

5/1 Tu - 2.41 miles
5/2 We - lift
5/3 Th - rest
5/4 Fr - lift
5/5 Sa - 1.9 miles
5/6 Su - 3.01 miles

May total: 7.32 miles

Next week's target:

5/7 Mo - rest
5/8 Tu - 2.2 miles
5/9 We - lift
5/10 Th - 2.5 miles
5/11 Fr - lift
5/12 Sa - 3.4 miles
5/13 Su - rest

May Running Totals (miles)
5/1 – 5.69 warm up + speed work
5/2 – 6.21 group run
5/3 – 7.08 warm up + speed work
5/4 – rest day
5/5 – 15.02 group run + solo miles
5/6 – 5.01 trails & grass

May running total to date – 39.01

Nominal May mileage goal: 180 miles

Real goals: Stay healthy. Build base. Maybe run some trails. Have fun.

Today's notes – Yesterday's 15 miles was a bit aggressive for where I am right now, so today I needed something easier. Had a warm afternoon to work with; it turned out to be 68º F (20º C) and sunny by the time I got around to running.

I have a few upcoming races to be concerned with. The one that I'm least sure of is the Ontario Summit Trail Half. I've run exactly 2 trail races in my life, the longer of which was 8 miles. So at club practice last Tuesday I asked an experienced trail runner how I should approach the trail half. She told me there are a lot of turns, and the best thing would be to go there and run the trails. Um, I don't really know the race route. Doesn't matter. The race will run on almost all the trails in the park. Just run some of them.

So this afternoon I drove 45 miles to Ontario County Park, and tried to figure it out. I found some trails. They were more technical than anything I've run since 2015, and it took me a while to get into a trail running rhythm. Even when I achieved what rhythm I did, it was clear that the real trail runners are going to blow past me on the downhills. I might make up some ground on the uphills, and probably will on the segment that's on the road.

I don't have time to learn good trail skills before June 9. So the operative plan for the trail half will be, survive. Don't fall down, don't turn an ankle, don't fret about being slow. Just hope that there aren't many USATF Niagara members over the age of 40 running that race.

Just for @PastorVincent - The Ontario Summit Trail Half has been declared the USATF Niagara Trail Championship, and is part of the USATF Niagara Runner of the Year series. I plan to compete in the series, because the Masters division is scored by age grade placement. That gives me a chance to be competitive against those young 40 year old masters.

There is a bit of planning in how you attack a series of races. In this case, I know that a lot of guys who age grade better than me will show up for the cross country race in the series. Cross country is very popular among USATF Masters in this region. I expect there will be guys who age grade better than me show up for the road races in the series, though I can be competitive there if I have a good race. But last year, no USATF Niagara Male Masters participated in the trail race in the series. I smell easy series points.

Yeah, I may be a bit too competitive for my own good.

So anyway, today I ran some trails. Got to about 4.3 miles of technical trails, confirmed my understanding that trail running involves some skills that I have not developed well, and adjusted my expectation to run the race to survive and stay uninjured. Then I ran around on the grass at the top of the hill to get to 5 miles, because I'm OCD that way.

No doubt @MNLittleFinn or @7lenny7 would have just cruised right over the trails I ran today. There wasn't any mud, I only crossed 2 streams, and the footing was firm. I need to be content with having practiced a little trail running and getting a little better at it over the course of the time I was there. Still, the operative work is "survive." I managed not to fall down, though I had a couple of opportunities. I managed not to turn an ankle, though I had several opportunities. Most importantly, I managed not to fall the wrong direction in one of the place where I would have rolled a *long* way down before coming to a bruised stop.

And I got home, and noticed that my legs weren't beat up at all. Yep, all my aches and niggles are creatures of repetitive motion. The technical trails give enough variety of movement that I didn't exacerbate any existing questionable area. Throw in avoiding any acute injury, and I'll call today a smashing success.

I probably ought to go back there every weekend I'm not racing between now and June 9. More practice has to be better.

2018 races:
February 17, 2018 Freezeroo #5 (Valentines Run "In Memory of Tom Brannon" 8 Mile) (Greece, NY) finished in 54:48
February 24, 2018 Freezeroo #6 (White House Challenge 4.4 mile) (Webster, NY) finished in 28:46
March 17, 2018 USATF Masters 8K (Shamrock 8K, Virginia Beach, VA) finished in 31:55
March 24, 2018 Spring Forward 15K (Mendon, NY) ran at MP, finished in 1:10:47
April 16, 2018 Boston Marathon (Hopkinton, MA) finished in 3:28:43
April 29, 2018 USATF Masters 10K (James Joyce Ramble, Dedham, MA) finished in 41:33
May 20, 2018 Lilac 10K (Rochester, NY)
May 26, 2018 Sunset House 5K (Rochester, NY)
June 3, 2018 USATF Masters Half Marathon (Ann Arbor, MI)
June 9, 2018 Ontario Summit Trail Half Marathon (Naples, NY)
September 30, 2018 Wineglass Marathon (Bath, NY)
November 11, 2018 Syracuse Half Marathon (Syracuse, NY)