I only run on days that end in a "y."

California International Marathon

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Location:

Austin,TX,USA

Member Since:

Feb 02, 2009

Gender:

Male

Goal Type:

Other

Running Accomplishments:

2008 Austin Marathon - 4:12

2008 Dallas Marathon: 3:30 (8 months later)

2010 Austin Marathon - 3:24 (bonked at 25 - 12 minute last mile run/walk)

2010 Steamtown Marathon - 3:27 (quads killed on the down hills)

2011-Feb   Austin Marathon - 3:17 (finally BQ'd!)

2011-June   Marathon to Marathon, IA - 3:07 (BQ'd by 13 minutes!)

2011-Dec  CIM - 3:02

2012-April  Boston Marathon - 4:03

2013-April  Boston Marathon - 3:06

2008 Austin 3M half marathon: 1:43:00

2009 Austin 3M 1/2 Marathon: 1:29:50

2011 San Antonio Half - 1:25 (100% humidity fun fest)

2010 Chuy's 5k - 19:19

2011 Chuy's 5k - 18:23

2012 Chuy's 5k - 18:25 

2012 RFTW 5k - 18:05 - PR! 

2009 Austin Capitol 10k: 41:50

2011 Austin Capitol 10k: 38:57

2012 IBM Uptown Classic 10k - 37:52 - PR!

Short-Term Running Goals:

BQ at Austin Marathon - 2/20/2011 Tough course, warm and humid - but I did it.

Break 3:10 in a fall marathon (TBD) 3:07 at Marathon to Marthon

Break 40:00 in a 10k 38:57 @ Cap10k 2011

New: Break 3:05 @ CIM on December 4th, 2011  3:02

Break 38:00 in a 10k - Done - 37:52 @ IBM Classic 

Break 18:00 in a 5k - 18:05 @ RFTW - October 2012 - getting close!

2011 RACES:

Run for the Water 10 mile - 10/30/2011  1:04:06

San Antonio 1/2 Marathon - 11/13/2011

California International Marathon - 12/4/2011

2012 Fall Races

IBM Uptown Classic 10k - 37:53

Run For the Water 5k - 18:05

2013

Boston Marathon - 3:06

2014

Boston Marathon - April 21 - 3:11

2016

Rookie Tri - May 1st

Peak to Creek Marathon - Oct 29th

 

 

Long-Term Running Goals:

Run a sub 3:00 Marathon

Personal:

Der Hammer is a nick name I picked up from my German friends while living in Germany. My real name is David. 

 I have been running seriously since March 2007.  I started with a local running group called "Gilbert's Gazelles".  Before that I had run a couple 5k's (26:00's) and never run more than 3 miles at one time.  I have lost about 40 pounds in a little over 2 years. 

I am 45 years old, married and have 2 children, ages 5, girl, and 10, boy.  I try to keep my running from interfering with my family as much as possible, e.g. getting up at 5 am.  However, Saturdays are long run days and I don't come home until around 9 am or so.  I owe my family a debt of gratitude for allowing me to pursue this passion. 

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Miles:This week: 0.00 Month: 0.00 Year: 0.00
Hoka One One Lifetime Miles: 152.00
Saucony Ride 7's - Blue Lifetime Miles: 345.97
Hokas Red Lifetime Miles: 127.25
Brooks Launch Lifetime Miles: 151.75
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.5026.200.000.0036.70
Kinvaras - Black - Neon Green Miles: 10.50
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Race: California International Marathon (26.2 Miles) 03:02:16
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
0.0026.200.000.0026.20

Perfect day - 40 to start - little to no wind - sunny.  I will write a full report later but I am happy with my time.  I knew sub 3 would be a big stretch.  The first 13 miles consisted of rolling hills so I ran this conservatively.  I tried to pick it up on the back half.  I managed a 2 minute negative split but could not push any more.  I am very happy though.  This is another PR - so that is 3 PRs this year.  As long as I am making progress towards a sub 3:00 I know I am doing the right training.  

 

RACE Report:

NOTE:  I have never had so much fun leading up to a marathon.  We went out with a big group from our running club.  It was a great time going out to eat, celebrating all of our good races, and hanging out after the race.

Training:  I pretty much followed my training plan for Iowa with a couple of tweaks here and there to experiment.  The base of my plan consists of 1 medium long run of 12-15 miles, 1 Gazelle interval session (total 12 miles inc. easy miles), and a long run @ MGP +10-30secs, some with progressive finish and some with MGP.  For a couple weeks I ran very easy at lunch on one of the Gazelle workout days to make a 17-18 mile day.  This seemed to work well and I recovered in time for next workout.  I also tried 14 mile progressive runs on Tuesdays for a couple weeks.  These were very taxing and left me a bit fatigued for Thursday’s workout.  I would run these again but spread them out throughout training and maybe run easy on Thursday.  I also ran the RFTW 10 mile race and the San Antonio half leading up to this marathon.  This disrupted my long run schedule but I think the race experience was invaluable.  I continued to use the workout pace calculator to determine interval paces as well.  I wasn’t to fanatical about mileage.  I had a couple weeks in the 70’s but most in the 60’s but did not bother with recovery weeks.   4 runs of 20 miles - all other long runs were 16-17 miles until taper. 

I did the Aussie carb load plan again and it worked well.  Around 800g of carbs on Saturday.  We drove to a local track first thing in the morning and did 1.5 easy followed by 1000m all out.  After that we immediately started the carb load.  I had a Gatorade pro Prime and bagel and then went back to the hotel for free breakfast.  I sat with a couple runners one who was shooting for 2:35 and the other 2:45.  I told them that the Ultima drink at the race did not have any carbs in it.  They said they would adjust their Gu strategy.  Out of all the positives of this race the non-carb drink – and the lack of communication about it – are the only negatives.

Race Day:

Nutrition: Up at 4 am.  I.5 bottles of Gatorade Prime Pro to get in 100g of carbs 3 hours before the race.  I did not consume any other carbs until mile 2 of the race.  I took a Vespa 35 minutes before the race and again at the half.  I don’t know if it really works or not but I have used it for my last 3 marathons and have never hit the wall. After that I had a power gel about every 4 miles.  I think I had 5 over the rest of the race. 

Strategy:  Mistake # 1 – I did not have my exact paces written down.  Coach told me to be at 1:31 at the half and try to run a 2 minute negative split.  I figured that would be a 6:57 average and that is what I tried to stay at.  However, I did not figure out what that equated to on the second half and winged it, thinking somewhere in the 6:40’s.  Next time I will know the exact paces I need to hit.

The race:  It was a gorgeous day in the low 40’s. We were picked up from our hotel in school bus and taken to the start.  Our bus driver got a bit lost but we arrived with plenty of time.  It was cold outside and they let you stay on the bus as long as needed.  You could get off and come back on, too.  The start was extremely well organized.  With about 35 minutes to go I took a Vespa CV-25.  I don’t know about this stuff but I have used it 3 times now and had good races, so I plan on keeping up the tradition.  I also take one at the half way point as well.  I had my race ready shorts on and the pockets were filled with plenty of powergels and 2 ishuffles, just in case one failed on me.   I had a long sleeve and gloves that I tossed around mile 4. I lost my sunglasses here because they were on my head.  I did not notice until around mile 14-15 when I went to put them on.   I ran the hills conservatively to save energy for the end.  I even focused on taking it easy on the downhill sections so I would not tear up my quads.  I tried to keep my overall average pace at 6:57 but I was a bit off and hit the half at 1:31:46 – MISTAKE #2 – forgetting about chip time.   At this point I was really at 1:31:30 – but thought I was almost 2 minutes behind and this was mentally discouraging.  Next time I will have total elapsed time on my watch.  I started picking it up from here and was able to hit some 6:40’s but the average pace time comes down slowly!  It felt like I was not making progress.

At mile 20 we crossed a bridge with a slight up hill and then it was flat as could be all the way into town.  This is a straight shot into downtown with old Victorian houses on both sides and large trees on both sides.  This came in handy in keeping the sun off.  It seemed like the entire last miles were covered with shade.  I tried to keep the pace up but faded every so slightly.  At 24 I felt a slight twinge in my calf.  At this point I had to make a decision – I knew I had PR’d – do I just hold on and cruise in and finish or push it and take the risk of a cramp and possibly a miserable 2 miles.  I took option 1.  I faded here but I was OK with it.  I probably left 30 seconds out there by not pushing as hard as I could have.  MISTAKE # 3 – see Mistake #2 – if I had total time I would have known I could get under 3:02.  I would have found a way to make up 16 seconds.  I know I had it in me because I ran a 6:11 pace for the last quarter.  Oh well, I don’t think a competitive runner is ever truly happy with their time. J  Still, I managed over a 5 and half minute PR over my June marathon.  Last October I ran a 3:27 in Steamtown, so to come so far in a year has been pretty amazing.  At least now I feel like I only have 2 minutes to get to a sub 3.  Well, that’s 3 marathons in one year.  And now I have to start training for Boston!  Maybe I will take a break soon. 

Splits:  1. 6:57, 2. 6:58, 3. 6:56, 4. 6:56, 5. 7:04, 6. 6:55, 7. 7:08, 8. 7:02, 9. 7:03, 10. 6:50, 11. 6:57, 12. 6:54, 13. 6:56, 14. 6:52, 15. 6:58, 16. 6:48, 17. 6:47, 18. 6:48, 19. 6:50, 20. 6:48, 21. 6:47, 22. 6:52, 23. 6:55, 24. 6:57, 25. 7:06, 26. 7:19, .27 @ 6:11.

In the end, I ended up running what most of my MGP runs were like.  Next cycle I will need to keep those training paces in the high 6:40's for a chance a sub 3, I believe.

 

Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Comments(14)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
3.500.000.000.003.50

Still in CA on business.  Nice cool evening - decided to go get some

blood flowing into the legs.  3.5 very, very easy - some on grass - 9:50

overall pace.  Calves a bit sore but other muscles coming along.

Kinvaras - Black - Neon Green Miles: 3.50
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Comments(6)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
7.000.000.000.007.00

Nice cool and overcast morning - perfect for running.  Met up with Dan at Runtex this morning and did the 7 mile Town Lake trail loop.  Had a couple runners that I did not know give me a shout out for my marathon CIM marathon shirt that I was wearing. 

Feels great to be back in Austin again.

Took it very easy for the first few miles.  AP 8:30's.

 

I would love to break 2700 miles for the year but not sure that will happen being in recovery mode.  

Kinvaras - Black - Neon Green Miles: 7.00
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
Comments(2)
Easy MilesMarathon Pace MilesThreshold MilesVO2 Max MilesTotal Distance
10.5026.200.000.0036.70
Kinvaras - Black - Neon Green Miles: 10.50
Night Sleep Time: 0.00Nap Time: 0.00Total Sleep Time: 0.00Weight: 0.00
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