Winning Back What I Lost

Not the result I was hoping for even though it was a 6 min PR.  Ran the 1st half in 1:39 as planned.  What I didn't plan on was the desert heat getting me and running a 1:50 2nd half.  

Splits below do not reflect the 3 min I lost in POP while my Garmin went on auto pause at mile 15.  Up til then, I was on pace but not really.  The plan was to do a negative split based upon all of the downhill during the last half.  After mile 15, I kept up the charade for a few more miles even though in the back of my mind I knew there was no way to make the math work.  At mile 19 I saw the 3:20 pace group pull away and I decided at that point to just make sure I PR'ed and didn't totally blow up and spew at the finish line.  See My Great Potato Marathon Race Report for more details.  

Thankfully, I arrived at the finish line in relatively decent shape.  I had enough composure to stop and kiss my wife and kids as I ran down the chute to the finish.  My wife said I looked comparatively good at the end.  I definitely feel better than I have after any of my previous marathons, which is a nice bonus.  Taking this week off to go fish Yellowstone and the S Fork Snake with some my law school buddies.  Can't wait. 

Yellowstone National Park, MT:   Hiked into the first meadow of Slough Creek.  Later we covered some water in the Lamar River Valley.

First run after a week off fishing.  Slow and easy pace.  Weather is cooling down quite a bit now which is a welcome change.  Time to get some more cold weather gear.  My wife cancelled our gym membership and I sold my treadmill last year.  I really only used the gym during the winter months anyway. 

630AM:  Early morning run after a late evening run.  Very cold this morning (mid 30's).  Quads are still a little sore 10 days after SGM.  It's really hard for me to get back to the grind following a big marathon.  Having that week off from running made me miss it a little bit, which is probably a good thing. 

640AM:  Slow and easy pace.  Got a late start this morning.  Not as cold today but still on the chilly side.  Legs are still in the recovery stage- sore but not painful. 

1230PM:  Lunchtime run on GB.  Covered a good portion of the Barber 2 Boise 10k course in preparation for Saturday's race.  1M warm, 4M @ 7:24/mi pace, 1M cool.  Had a helicopter hover over the top of me and grab some water from the Boise River to dump on a fire in the nearby foothills.  Very cool. 

My eldest son is 15 now and my days of beating him in anything shorter than a half marathon are behind me.  But I'm ok with it.  Really, I am. :)

My second year running this race. It's one of the premiere running events in Boise.  There's the Race to Robie Creek in the spring and Barber to Boise in the fall.  All of the other races, including the two marathons, really pale in comparison.  It begins at Barber Park on the Boise River and on the northeastern edge of town.  From there its mostly flat or slightly downhill along the river to the finish line inside Bronco Stadium. 

As for the race: I lost touch with Martin w/in the first mile.  There are not a lot of younger runners in this race and he was shooting for an age division win.  Based upon last year's results, I told him he had an excellent shot.  After the race, he told me that he got a little freaked out when the 5kers merged with the 10k runners at the stadium and he could see lots of younger kids who were suddenly in front of him.

Can you asphyxiate on half a cup of water from an aid station?  I certainly tried.  About mile 2.5 I tried to get down a cup of water at full speed.  I've probably run a couple dozen of these races over the past 2+ years and I STILL cannot down water while running.  It amazes me to watch some of these runners on TV grab a cup and down it with one swig.  If I haven't acquired that skill by now I don't know that I ever will.

Splits:

Mile 1- 7:04; Mile 2- 7:06; Mile 3- 7:13; Mile 4- 7:16; Mile 5- 7:14; Mile 6- 7:13; .2- 6:44.

That's a new PR by about a minute and a half.  One thing that really helped this year as compared to last year was they finally went to a wave start w/ four different groups.  The course funnels everyone onto the narrow Boise River Greenbelt which is beautiful but not really conducive to such a large race. 

I felt like I went out a little too fast the first couple of miles trying to keep Martin in sight.  He just got stronger and so I backed it off a touch and found a nice pace that I was able to repeat the rest of the race.  To cap it all off we had a nice pancake breakfast, live music, and some nice photos/video of Martin and I on the hallowed blue turf of Bronco Stadium. A pretty good day.

915PM:  Slow and easy run on a cool fall night.  No more racing planned for the rest of the year.  I thought I might do Zeitgeist Half Marathon in November but I'll be returning from Florida late the evening prior so I decided not to push things.  So the winter will consist of keeping my base intact and trying to avoid the weight gain I've experienced the last couple of winters.  The latter will be key to any success I might have in my spring marathon, Eugene or Boise. 

915PM:  Short, easy run with Martin.  He's eager to start training now that the football season is over for him.  He thinks he might want to try Robie Creek in the spring.  Just based on his body type, I think he could be a much better runner than a football player.  

6:15AM: Met up w/ Court for a morning run.  Kept it at a conversational pace.  Good to catch up w/ him on his running exploits/goals and talk a little BYU football.

640AM:  Looks like fall is here to stay finally.  Still trying to find an outfit that will keep me warm but not too warm.  Took me a few miles to wake up this morning.  My entire body feels sore but I'm not sure why.  I haven't had a hard workout this week.  Gonna try to get a massage today or tomorrow and see if that helps. 

630AM: Short progressive run.  Started slow and ran the last 1.5 miles at marathon pace.  A bit warmer again this morning.  Looks like it will cool down again next week though.  Planning a longish run tomorrow. 

3PM:  Snuck in a longish run in between rain showers.  Weather was actually pretty pleasant w/ temps in the mid 50's and sun off and on.  Legs felt better after yesterday's massage.  That's pretty surprising given the pain that mean woman put me through on the massage table.  Who needs waterboading when there's deep tissue massage?!?  Holy crap was that painful- but it works.

7AM:  Slept through my alarm and woke up late.  Only had time for a short run this morning.  Ran slow and easy. Gusty winds made it difficult on the way back home.  Planning on another short run during lunch. 

130PM: Short 3.4M run from my work to Fort Boise and Military Reserve Parks.  Easy pace. 

630AM:  Met up w/ Court again for a nice run near the Cloverdale/Overland area.  Ran w/ Court for about 4M.  Pace was a tad quicker than last week but still within the realm of "conversational" pace. I wanted to go 7M but the weather, light rain, and the late hour prevented that.  Lunchtime run is out of the question.  Today is Gameday, BSU v. La Tech and I have to pick up some rain gear to get ready.  Temp in the 30's so it could turn to snow later.

1230PM:  Slept in again.  Got home late last night after BSU's "disappointing" 4 touchdown win over La Tech.  I prefer to get my runs over before work but these midday runs are a nice diversion from work.  Slow run on the GB from Veterans Park to Glenwood and back.  A little cool and blustery but I warmed up quickly in the bright sunshine.  Started w/ gloves and beanie and shedded them after a couple miles.    

815PM:  1M warm; 4M @ 7:29/mi; cool.  Felt good the entire run despite eating pancakes for dinner about an hour and a half before the run.  This is the time of year that I usually go into relative hibernation and ratchet down my training to 20-25 easy miles a week.  The plan is to stay with my normal marathon training through the winter so that I can maintain my current fitness level and then improve upon it when March rolls around.  That's the plan anyway.

645AM: Short, very slow recovery run.  Very tired this morning and a little sore from last nights workout.  I'm getting old and feeling it more and more. Left heel is beginning to flare up again. It had improved with the week off after SGM but its no back to where it was.  I'm thinking this is gonna be a chronic thing that I'll have to deal with unless/until I take a couple months off.  Not gonna happen. 

330PM:  A pretty good intermediate long run on a really nice fall day.  Legs and feet felt much better than earlier in the week.  Kept a leisurely pace, 8:40/mi, throughout.  I wanted to go 14M but time constraints didn't allow it- trunk or treat w/ the kiddies tonight at our church.  Getting on a plane in the morning and heading to FL for the week.  My hotel's on the beach and temps should be in the mid 80's all week.