May 2019 Monthly Running Challenge

Race report later, short version:

My wife PR'd at 5:55! She rocked it!
I did poorly. Details to come later.

Race Report:

TLDR; It went poorly but I live to race again!

So, the morning started out rough. We had stayed in the city overnight due to the road closures and etc. This also let us sleep in a good hour to ninety minutes longer. It was a good choice, but we had planned to put most of our luggage in the truck and just leave the truck in the garage while we raced. Turns out we could not get to the garage from the hotel race morning due to all the barricades and etc. Thankfully we were at a nicer hotel and they had a service to hold bags. So we left the bags there and went up to the pre-race breakfast that Steel City Road Runners (SCRR) puts on every year for its club members.

I went for safety and only ate food I was one hundred percent sure of. That should have set me well for the race. But you know about the best-laid plans of men and mice…

So, we head out to the corals in light rain. I sneak into my coral a good 30 mins ahead of the closing it so that is good, but then I discover I was in a slower section than I expected. I was in the one I was assigned; it just had the 4:20 hour pacer and slower in it. My last marathon was 3:50 and I was shooting for sub 4 again. Well, that meant the 3:50 and 4:00 pacers would have a good fifteen to twenty minute head start on me. No way I would be chasing them down.

That was okay because I had actually remembered my pace tattoo. I was not worried about gun time, only chip time, so it really did not matter when I started. Side note: The pace tattoo worked great! I will probably use it again.

According to the official results, I started at 7:20 am. Not bad since the non-elite race was supposed to start at 7:05.

Well, it was a very very crowded field to start. I did a lot of ducking and weaving trying to hold my pace. The plan was easy, try to keep pace as reported by my Garmin between 8:30 and 9:00, and check every mile marker against the pace tattoo. Everything was going great. The weather was as predicted, and I was ticking off the mile markets with a little to spare each time. I started to wonder if I had a PR coming but held myself back and put off that decision until much later in the course. This turned out to be great wisdom

I got to mile 11 and the dreaded hill. The hill was where runner’s dreams die on. Seems all the hill work I had done had paid off, ran the whole hill without issue. Past mile 13.1 with my second best ½ marathon time and still feeling great. I was eating the gummies I brought and drinking the water I was carrying since they changed the brand on the course this year and I was unsure how I would react to it.

I was feeling great, I even stopped to ask someone if “this was the way to the 5k?” It was a hilarious question in my mind, but it went over like a lead balloon. Ah well.

At mile 15ish things started to change. First, my stomach started to rebel, and I really needed a bathroom which I have never needed before in a race ever. Did not find one until mile 18, and ducked in. Looking back, I think this was when the race really ended for me. I was in the sitting position too long and had a very hard time getting started again. Pace fell from 8:42 to 9:56, but I was still ahead of my target times, so I hoped to be able to recover that lost time.

Then the unpredicted happened. The temps fell and the rains came. Neither of which was in any weather forecast. I was not dressed for the new weather. I got a chill that I could not shake for hours. Pace fell into the 11s as I switched from making a sub-four to survival mode. At several points, I was clenching my teeth to stop the chattering. It was not fun.

I strongly considered finding a place to duck in and warm up several times. I also considered stopping and waiting for my wife (who was way behind me) and just giving up and running in with her. But I stuck it out. I held the pace in the 11s (though I did employee run/walk for parts of it) until mile 25 when I had to give up and walk for a long stretch. Pace fell to 18 minutes.

Overall I finished in 4:23 which is not horrible, but well off target. I am not sure I could have done anything else though. Not a single weather report mentioned that rainstorm in the middle of the race.

My wife killed it though. She held her pace pretty tight and came in at her personal best of 5:55:23. She was very cold too. Blue lips, uncontrolled shivering, so we got her warm clothes from gear check and then I rushed her into a McDonalds and got her decaf coffee. We stayed in that McD’s for a couple of hours until she was warmed back up and then headed home.

We both are fine now. Well, she is laid up in bed, but nothing unusual for a PR marathon. Nothing that time and donuts will not fix at least.

What a great racing weekend—I’ve loved reading all the race reports!!

Here’s my dispatch:

Getting up at 5 really helped with the 7 am start time—and I had plenty of time for some granola, a banana, and some coffee, and found the right bus to take from my hotel to the start line. The weather was in the 50s to start, and after about the first two miles the rest of the race was sunny and gorgeous.

The first 4K were significantly downhill, so I just went with fairly easy effort, and my 5K chip time ended up being a 5K PR, to my surprise. I was trying to take it easy. It’s a net downhill course, and had two modest uphill bits, and a couple of smaller ones. I walked the uphills since I’ve been training on flat runs, and hadn’t wanted to add hills in when I was still focusing on lengthening the distance—and since I knew it was a net downhill course I wasn’t too worried. This ended up being a good strategy. Walking the water stations was too—thanks @PastorVincent! Working in hills is now up next after recovery.

Basically, I felt pretty beat at miles 5, 9, and 11 to the end, but overall I really really enjoyed it. All the races (marathon, HM, & 8K) were sold out, so there were tons of people there and lots of energy. I liked the funny signs people made. I was less of a fan of the encouragers at the end when I was feeling spent—but I know it’s all motivational! The course itself is just beautiful—lots of running by the sea wall, and through beautiful Stanley Park. And it couldn’t have been more perfect weather.

I was hoping to do better than 2:20, and my time was 2:19:43, so I was very happy with that for my first HM.

And @rheddmobile yes, those were gloves! The swag was all lovely—now I just need to find a place to hang it...

May goal: 70 mi

5/1 2 mi
5/2 2 mi
5/3 13.3 mi

May total: 17.3 mi

2019 Races:
3/16 Kirkland Shamrock Run 5K
4/13 Mud & Chocolate 4.5 mi trail run
5/5 Vancouver BMO Half Marathon
5/12 The Color Run 5K
5/18 Your Canyon for a Day 35 mi Bike Tour, Yakima
6/16 Monroe Bubble Run 5K
7/21 Seafair Triathlon?
8/11 Lake Union 10K?

I woke up this morning to more knee and hip pain, so that's not fun. I thought about feeling sorry for myself, but managed to pull myself out of it and sent a message to my GP requesting an appointment or referral. At this point I've accumulated a little bit too much advice to make heads or tails of, so I think seeing a specialist and getting a clean slate will be welcome. I did do some stretches I got the last time I saw a massage therapist and that helped a little, and now I've got my TENS unit going on my knees while I work. Gym this afternoon but I'll walk there, not run.

MobyCarp wrote: »

PastorVincent wrote: »

http://www.runnersworld.com/news/a27206120/michael-phelps-running-turkey-trot
Michael Phelps Calls His Thanksgiving Turkey Trot the ‘Worst Idea in the World’

He might be great in the water... but I guess a 5k not his thing. I could have beat him in that race I bet. I have run several 5ks faster at least. Would be cool to say, "Yeah, you know that Michael Phelps dude? Yeah, well I crushed him."

Yeah, I looked . . . his winning time was slower than my PW 5K, which I ran at age 60 in about three inches of snow? Aren't there any local runners better than that?

Yeah, I was surprised by that too. I have to say I kind of wish that 11-year girl would have run him down though.

@workaholic_nurse -Congrats on crushing your goal!

@Katharmonic and @ContraryMaryMary - Congrats to both of you. Both of those events sound like so much fun!

Fantastic job @_nikkiwolf- That is a great finishers photo. Worth every penny for the medal! Congrats!

@7Lenny7- Hooray for your daughter!

@Pastorvincent- Sorry to hear that your race did not go as planned. It happens to us all at some point. At least you have another one coming up to crush! Congrats to your wife on her PR.

@Simcon1- Way to go on your half! I enjoyed reading your report. Yesterday when I was running the Flying Pig we got into Eden Park and guy behind me who was running with his friend said "and now we are in Eden Park which reminds me so much of Stanley Park". I was wondering where that was. Now I (possibly?) know!

I am glad to report that I do not have to be beaten by sticks! Yesterday at the Flying Pig I ran my slowest half marathon in 5 years and had an awesome time! I am going to confess that it did not start out that way. I did head out at a PR pace, but after only two miles I realized that it wasn't going to happen, so I stuck with my plan to dial it back and have a good time. I kept telling myself to treat it like a training run, but it was a bit difficult at that point because I was surrounded by runners that were all running so much faster than I wanted to. I am sure many of you know what happens at that point. I did not run as slow as I probably should have, but I did not push myself into injury either, so I feel like it was still a win.

That was my second time running the Pig Half, the first time in 2012, and I have run the full 3 times since then. I have to say that, even though the crowd is still great, the half marathon is nothing in comparison to the full. I had fun running it, but the highlight of my day came after I finished when I went back out to the 24.5 mile mark of the course and waited for my running group buddies to come in. Most of them were looking pretty drained at that point and they all really appreciated the support. I ran along side several of them for encouragement which everyone agreed was very helpful. On of my friend got a course PR because I told him he was not allowed to walk. He said once I left him he kept looking back over his shoulder because he was worried I was watching. I also ran another girl all the way to the finish shoot because she pleaded with me not to leave her. It was so rewarding to know that I had a hand in helping them to achieve their goals.

It also offered me a different perspective of the marathon at that point in the race. I have been there myself, but to see the perseverance of the runners when they are obviously in pain is so inspiring. It's completely different than watching from the finish line when they get that final boost from knowing that they are about to be done. If anyone has never watched a (non-elite) marathon from this perspective, I highly encourage you to do so.

After all was said and done, Garmin said that I ran and walked over 23 miles yesterday. It was quite an exhausting day, and, while pretty uneventful in my personal collection of races, it's not one that I will soon forget!

@shanaber lol yeah, I was too busy trying not to fall down the rock to my death to take pictures, and mum is STILL muttering under her breath about it but it was funny really. She told me afterwards her phone, which was in her backpack, started suddenly beeping like crazy while she was stuck spreadeagled across the rock and for a moment she was sure it was sending out automatic SOS signals and someone was going to turn up in a helicopter to rescue her. Not sure she preferred her rescue in the form of a shove to the backside from underneath by me, but that was what she got! She isn't big, but at times like that I realise what a good investment my upper body strength workouts and particularly overhead presses are ;-)