Sean's Running Blog

Easy 10 miles in an absolute downpour. Rain was the story of the day. Fortunately, it wasn't cold. Everything feels good...can we get on with the race please?

As Paul would say, the hay is now in the barn. Last workout prior to Saturday's marathon.A short marathon sim of 4 miles at pace with one final mile at something faster. Was running by 5:45. No rain or wind. The one-mile loop I ran was a bit hilly but nothing crazy.

5:22, 5:22, 5:25, 5:18, 5:16.

Ready to roll.

The weather in Indy is looking chilly. No rain or snow but maybe some frost. Forecasts for race time all say partly cloudy. The forecasted start time temp varies from 28-33. Very cold. Temps by 11am will still only be in the upper 30s. While this suits me better than excessive heat, these temps are low enough to potentially have a fairly negative impact on times. It also has me wondering what I will wear.

Last time I ran a race in sub freezing temps, I pulled my hammy.

Here is the entry list of elite guys in Indy along with the most recent/relevant race times that I could find:

 

BIB	NAME	AGE
2	Cheruiyot, Hillay	29
3	Maina, John	26	45:55 15k
4	Tuwei, David	32	2:15:51
5	Bor, Peter	37
6	Petersen, Paul A	31	1:05
7	McClellan, Jeffrey R	26	2:22
8	Parks, Jason R	28	1:08:22
9	Sundwall, Sean	37	1:08:35
10	Greutman, Ryan T	32	1:10:25
11	Howarth, Paul M	33	2:27
12	SANGA, ISAIAH	32	2:45
13	Runyon, Brian M	29	1:14:00
14	Robinson, Brad T	25	1:13
15	Toothman, Zachary J	28	1:28
16	Gregory, Christopher M	30	1:15
17	Moody, Matthew R	30	1:15
18	Davis, Jesse	28	1:09
19	Stansbury, Kyle D	24	1:12

Crazy warm and insanely windy morning in Snoqualmie. Strongest winds of the season which resulted in a morning temp of 63 degrees! A little warmer than Indy. :-)

Running six miles seems like such a waste of time. i hate the taper.

Rest/Travel day tomorrow.

Got a crazy good night's sleep. 9 hours. And I feel adjusted to the three-hour time difference.

Probably the best marathon eve run I've had. Nice and easy 6:50 pace throug the first five and last two miles of the marathon route. Absolutely flat. Temp was 36 degrees so I wore everything I plan on wearing tomorrow morning (when it's supposed to be 10 degrees cooler) and managed to stay warm except my hands...a chronic problem. So I am going to pick up a cheap pair of mittens that i can throw off at some point of the race and switch to gloves.

The sun was out in all its glory and I think that could be the difference tomorrow. Even with crazy cold start temps, the radiance of sunshine will do a lot at least for the psyche.

First of all, congrats to Paul for an incredible race on home soil. I think he may have another OTQ in him.

Let me also say that this marathon is gorgeous, flat, well managed. It was the perfect marathon and I would highly recommend it to anyone looking for a good, unaided time.

The forecast was for temps between 25-27 at the start. We caught a bit of a break in that it was 31. There was a breeze out of the north and clear skies. I also learned that because Indy is on the very western edge of EDT, the sun didn't rise until after 8am. That was weird running the first mile or so in mostly darkness. Kind of like SGM I guess.

The first almost 7 miles of the race is shared with half marathoners. The great news about that is we had a pack for a lot longer than we would have had if the two races had been split. My plan was to run a 2:10:30-2:11:00 first half and there were plenty of half marathoners running that same pace. This was particularly helpful for Miles 2-5 which were mostly into the breeze that was coming out of the north. The pack helped mitigate the wind resistance and the wind chill. Thanks guys. Great to be short.

Paul and Jeff bolted from the pack around 5M or so. I was focused on running my race. Unfortunately, that meant going it completely alone from about mile 5 until about Mile 11 when I caught Jeff. Miles 9, 10 and much of 11 were along a long, flat straightaway. I could tell that I was reeling Jeff in for most of the time. When I caught, we chatted briefly and he stayed with me for what seemed like 1/2 mile or so, and the I was alone again. Until right after the half when I caught one of the Kenyans. We hung together through the 30k mark which was great because that was 6 miles or so of someone pushing me from behind.

At the 30k mark, I grabbed my next to last water bottle poured down about 8 ounces and then threw off my long sleeve shirt. Felt great as the sunshine was out in full force. Still 34 degrees, but the sunshine helped a lot. At this point I had gapped the Kenyan hard. I had discovered in our six miles together that this was his first marathon. Unfortunately, I would not remain ahead of him for long. As I crossed through 20 all alone, felt fine all things considered. I was giving back a few seconds but nothing catastrophic. I was still on pace to break 2:22. Same after mile 21.

By the Mile 22 marker things, were not feeling so fine. My wife was stationed there to give me one last special fluids bottle which I took. The watch said 5:46. Slipping, but remarkebly still on pace...by the slimmest of margins. Then it all fell apart. I simply ran out of gas. Most of my problems in the past have been with hydration. But thanks to cool temps and really good hydration, this was not my issue today. Mine was one of energy. I had taken two GUs but a third would have probably helped some.

The final four miles were a death march. To make it worse, the final four miles are shared with the halfers...so I had every opportunity to use all the roadkills to cobble together whatever mental and physical energy I needed to take me home. But there was nothing left. It was like pushing the gas pedal of a car in neutral. If my daughter was at the finish line being eaten by a bear, I would not have been able to run any faster.

Incredibly frustrating after months of really hard work. I am pretty realistic, i think, about my capabilities. I don't think I have an OTQ in me. 2:19 on an unaided course just isn't within my reach. That's fine.

But I do feel like a 2:22 is which makes the end of today's race really frustrating. In the final four miles, I gave back 4:00.

The good news is that I didn't bonk until 4 to go. Usually I bonk with 6-8 to go. Progress.

The bad news is that I have to regroup and figure out how to conquer that final 5-6k. I'm looking at everything including some much needed dietary focus. This will help get me to a leaner race weight and just be better for me. I also need to look at doing some progressions deeper into my long runs. It probably means running a few 24 milers with the final 10 being at MP. I'll sit down with my coach and figure it out. As disappointing as the last four miles were, the first 22 were great, so I'm not ready to give up just yet.

2:22 or bust.

 

Mile 1	5:17	5:17
Mile 2	5:26	10:43:00
Mile 3	5:16	15:59:00
Mile 4	5:20	21:19:00
Mile 5	5:18	26:37:00
Mile 6	5:25	32:02:00
Mile 7	5:20	37:22:00
Mile 8	5:27	42:49:00
Mile 9	5:26	48:15:00
Mile 10	5:23	53:38:00
Mile 11	5:25	59:03:00
Mile 12	5:22	1:04:25
Mile 13	5:25	1:09:50
Mile 14	5:26	1:15:16
Mile 15	5:28	1:20:44
Mile 16	5:26	1:26:10
Mile 17	5:30	1:31:40
Mile 18	5:27	1:37:07
Mile 19	5:21	1:42:28	5:23
Mile 20	5:30	1:47:58	5:23
Mile 21	5:30	1:53:28	5:24
Mile 22	5:46	1:59:14	5:25
Mile 23	6:05	2:05:19	Off Pace
Mile 24	6:16	2:11:35	Off Pace
Mile 25	6:22	2:17:57	Off Pace
Mile 26	6:39	2:24:36	Off Pace
Finish	1:25	2:26:01	Off Pace
1st Half	1:10:29	5:22
2nd Half	1:15:33	5:45
Final 10k	37:59:00	6:06
Final 5k	19:45	6:21

Three miles just because. Was gettting antsy and bloated. Still some tightness and soreness. Will run a bit more next week. Have to start earning my turkey and pie well in advance.  

Power outtage overnight bled into my run this morning. Made for a quiet and spooky dark run.

Seven early evening miles along Eliott Bay after work. Off to Boston tomorrow.

A chilly and dark run along the Charles River after a long 5-hour flight from Seattle to Boston. I'm here for a few days for a work-related conference. Who would have thought that in mid-November I would be going from cold seattle to warm boston.

Another enjoyable run along the Charles. This time I went down river toward the ocean. It's a little less runner friendly. I also ran up through the Bunker Hill area which me and my wife visited in 2006 when iu ran the Boston Marathon. Good to be back. Boston is my favorite East Coast town.

Final day of running in Boston. Another balmy late Fall day. 52 degrees and sunny. Quite windy but I wish i had brought a short sleeve shirt with me because I was toasty in the long sleeve. Ran again along the river but this time hit four colleges: MIT, Harvard, Boston University and Northeastern University. I swear Boston must have the most universities on the planet. I ran by Harvard's football stadium during the rivalry game. Pretty tame crowd. Nothing like Autzen Stadium during the Civil War.

Back to Seattle where it's cold and snowy.

I waited until it warmed up to a balmy 22 degrees before running today. It was very bright as perfectly sunny skies reflected on eight or so inches of snow. I started out on the trails but they were too rutted and sloppy so I actually went on the streets and was happy to find good footing. There was enough untouched snow on the road shoulders that I has a soft and secure landing with every stride. Was a great run.

Today was one of those dreaded one or two times each year when I just had to run on the treadmill. It wasn't the 20 degrees that was the problem. It was that the icy roads were worse. There was no powered snow left to run on so after 45 seconds of running on the ice I opted to go back inside and run on the treadmill. Wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Maybe because it was only nine miles. More likely it was because I was watching Sportscenter the whole time.

A day without any ice or snow to deal with except when I decided to take a run through the woods and got a bit lost. That would explain why I went longer than the planned 10 miles. Good times.