A+ at CIM!

My A goal for CIM was to PR, which would mean basically a 3:59 and a few less seconds than my prior "just break 4" PR which was done at CIM last year.

I was not sure what I could or would do.  My training had been up and down.  I had a lot of travel the last 6 weeks due to the illness and then death of my grandmother and due to my work schedule.  Due to the travel my weekly mile totals were much lower than I wanted.  I did get three 20 mile runs in - 1 (the first of them) was a horrible, hard and slow run, 1 was one of my fastest 20 mile runs ever, and 1 (that last one) was a solid run.  Which meant, if you go by the 20 mile training runs, I could have a great race, a horrible race or a solid race.

I was also running my first marathon in my five fingers (picture below) so I was very unsure how my feet would hold up and my calves (these tend to get very sore after my 20 mile runs).  I have never ran more than 20 miles in them.

I wanted to spend Sat with my daughter before the race so I had someone from the SF Training program pick up my bib for me.  I made it Sacramento about 8:30 on Sat night.  Got my race gear organized and then tried to go to bed early.  Our hotel shuttle was leaving at 4:30 am to take us to the Sheraton to get the buses that took us to the start line.  I could not fall asleep though until about 11:30pm.  Then, I was woken up at 1am by a vivid dream that it was 4:45pm and I missed the shuttle!  So not the best sleep, but I made it to the 4:30am shuttle and got onto the buses for the start line.

We were enterained by the conversations with what appeared to be a number of "lost buses".  Now I see why they get you to the start line an hour or so early, just in case your bus gets lost.  :)

On to the race:  My plan was to start about a 9mm pace the first few miles, then increase to about 8:30pace, then try to get some 8 mm in if I could and try to have have too many "bad miles" where I hit a wall and fall off.

1 - 9.03
2 - 8:48
3 - 8:34
4 - 8:31
5  - 8:20

My first mile was good, right where I wanted to be.  Mile two was solid also.  I basically just kept a bit in front of the 4 hour pace group.  Tried to not go too fast.  My plan was about miles 3 to 5 to drop to the 8:30s so I was right on schedule (maybe a little early with mile 3).  I felt good and basically was just trying to control my pace at this point and not go "too fast" too early.  I was trying to run a smart race (as I am known for starting off way too fast only to fall flat on my face).

6 - 8:20
7  -8:15
8 - 8:16
9 - 8:22
10 - 8:09

Miles 6-10 were strong.  I was feeling good.  I was planning to keep about 8:30mm pace to mile 8, but had picked it up a little more (but I felt fine).  However, I could feel my stomach starting to act up.  I have at times (during training runs and during races) had major stomach cramps.  At the SF marathon my stomatch cramps were so bad that I had to walk accross the GGB.  Later during the SF marathon, I had to stop and wait about a minute from my stomach to calm down.  So I was worried.

11 - 9:47

Thus, I made the decision to stop at a porta potty and lost a good minute and a 1/2 to two minutes.

12 - 8:25
13 - 8:22
14 - 8:16
15 - 8:08

After the stop and restart, I just tried to get a good pace going again. I was running great before I had to stop, but I was hoping it would pay off and not cause problems later in the race.  I was worried about the "fall off" so again tried to slowly build my pace back up.  After 15 miles, besides the stop, I was having a great race.  I felt that I could easily PR and maybe have a massive PR.  But, I knew the key would be miles 16-20.  If I fell off and started walking or had major stomach cramps, then the last 11 miles could be horrible.  So my goal now became let's push to mile 20.  No stopping.  No walking, just push forward.

16 - 8:11
17 - 8:16
18 - 8:15
19 - 8:12
20 - 8:11

These were very solid miles but very hard.   I was tired, but I kept pushing to keep my pace up.  I kept telling myself "you feel great" and "you are doing awesome" (even though I felt tired and little thoughts were in the back of my head telling me to just take a walk break).  But, I made it to mile 20 without stopping or walking.  I carried my hand-held water bottle and just grabbed water at the aid stations and dumped it in the bottle.  I felt if I slowed down to walk through the water stations it would be very hard to get my pace back up.  I felt that I could have a huge PR, could break 3:50 and maybe even 3:45.

Now that I made it to mile 20, my mind shifted to just take one mile at a time and get through this 10K.  My feet were sore and my calves were starting to cramp up.  I focused on 1 mile at a time.  Each mile I told myelf let's just make it to the next mile without stopping.

21 - 8:19
22 - 8:36
23 - 8:33
24 - 8:32
25 - 8:31
26 - 8:38
.2 - 8:04

My splits were falling off, which was okay.  I was trying to keep my pace about 8:30ish which I did!  And, these were hard miles for me.  My legs were tired.  My left calf was killing me.  My feet were sore.  But, I knew as long as I did not walk, I would be fine.  I was struggling the last mile, but I saw the 3:45 pacer.  I worked to catch him (he was very nice and encouraged me to stay in front of him, which I did).

As I got close to the finish, I knew that I easily broke 3:45 and I looked at my Garmin (which I had often) and then picked it up a little to break 3:43.

Official Total:  3:42:54
Garman total:  26.36 miles, 3:43:53

A PR by almost 17 minutes.

Further - I ran CIM in my VFF, without a knee brace!  My calves are very sore (my left one was killing me the last mile) and my feet are sore, but they are slowly getting better (no injury).

Lastly, I am limping around the office today!  Within 2 mins in the office someone asked me if I was okay!  Yes, I'm great!

A picture with my VFF:

CIM on Sunday!

Good luck to everyone running this weekend.  A lot of good races.

I'm heading out to Sacramento tonight for CIM.  I have someone picking up my bid so that I could spend a good part of the day with my daughter.

This will be my 8th marathon and first marathon with the five fingers!

My goals:

A goal - to PR.  I would love to say break 3:50 but I have not trained as well as I good.  Tough past two months with my grandmother passing away and a lot of work travel.  But, I did complete three 20 mile runs and have felt that I have run strong.  If everything goes great, then I'm hoping to PR.

B goal.  Have a good race.  I would say Break 4 hours, but my PR is 3:59 and a good chunk of seconds so a new PR could end up being 3:59 and a few less seconds.  So, my B goal would be just to enjoy the race and have the best time I can out there.

C goal.  Just finish!  For about the last 10 weeks I have sent exclusively to using the five fingers running.  I have done 3 20 mile runs in them with significantly less knee pain (I can run without a knee brace!).  So just completely the marathon in my five fingers would be great as that will be a record running in "barefoot-type shoes".   If I can finish with no injury, than that will be a B-/C+

Happy Thanksgiving

Hi,

Just a quick post to wish everyone a very happy thanksgiving.

A few things that I am thankful for:


1.  My daughter Brooklyn, obviously.  She is almost two (1 more month) and I am so thankful to have her in my life. She brings so much love and joy into my life.

2.  I am thankful for my family (my wife, mom, sisters and extended family).

3.  For running.  It has brought me new places and allowed me to make awesome running friends.

4.  For my job(s). My full time job - I'm grateful that I'm able to have a job I enjoy that also allows me to pay the bills.  And, for my teaching job - which allows me to find enjoyment in teaching tax to others.


5.  My pets.  My two dogs, two cats and 1 horse are part of my family and brings so many memories.  Brooklyn loves them also!

Update: CIM coming up, NY marathon DNS, and Grandmother!

Hi,

I wanted to start off by saying I have enjoyed reading your blogs (if I commented in the past on your blog, then I'm still reading you!).  Sorry for not providing recent comments.  I read them a lot on google reader and sometimes fall a little behind.  Life has just been too busy.

I also had a DNS for the NY marathon.  I "got in" but I did not run it (deferred instead).  I was never committed to running it, but had to "get in" and see how my life scheduled played out.  I hope to run it next year as I am not sure I will be able to defer it again.  I was able to watch it this am and wished I was there.

Even if I wanted to run it, this would not have been the best time.  Unfortunately, I am in So. Cal. for my grandmother's service and mass.  She passed away earlier in the week.  She was 91 years old.  I will miss her greatly.  I traveled and spent 4 days in So. Cal. to be near her during her final week. It was tough to see her during those final days, but I know she is in a better place now and is at peace.

Lastly, I am still training for CIM.  And, doing my training in five fingers.  I've done two 20 mile runs in my five fingers.  I have not ran in "running shoes" in a month.  My knee brace has been put away as well!  I'm hoping to run CIM in my five fingers and without a knee brace.  My first 20 mile run was a struggle, but yesterday I had a strong 20 mile run (it helped to have great running weather).

I started blogging to track my running journey and also to have a place where I could express my thoughts.  So, I'm going to express some of my main thoughts about my grandmother:

1.  I'm starting out with one concept my grandmother taught me.  That is to forgive and forget.  Don't hold onto bad memories.  Don't hold onto hard feelings of others.  Let them go.  Forgive and forget.

2.  Be strong in your faith.  My grandmother was always strong in her faith.  And, she showed it by her actions.

3.  Give to others.  She was very involved in the community and always reaching out to help others.

4.  Spend time with your family.  I was so blessed to grow up near her.  I have countless fond memories of spending time with her and my extended family.

5.  Be strong and believe in yourself.  She was always a strong women.  She had a lot of tough moments in her life, but was always strong.  No matter what life hardship was dealt to her, she fought.  She was a tough women and would not back down.  I'm proud of her.

6.  Most important - Love others.  My grandmother was a tough and strong women, but she had so much love in her heart.  It was felt not only by her family, but my friends, community members and strangers.

My Grandmother with four of her boys and her two daugthers (yes, I have a large family)



PR at the San Jose Rock & Roll half marathon

Hi,

I thought I give a quick update before too many days/weeks go by.  With working, teaching, running and playing with Brooklyn, there seems to not be enough time in the day.

This past Sunday I ran the San Jose Rock & Roll half marathon.  This would be my fourth year in a row running it.  My first year, 2008, I did it as part of my 20 mile training run (as I trained for my first marathon).  That was the first time I ever ran 20 miles.  I ran 7 miles prior to the start of the half.  I had only started running a few months earlier (building up from 1 mile).  Thus, the last few miles of the half in 2008 were tough. I still remember having to walk portions of it because I was so tired.  I finish about 2:13 or so.

In 2009, I was training for my second marathon (after coming back from a 5-6 month injury that occurred in my first marathon).  I PR'd with a time of 1:48:52.  In this race, I tried to not go too fast early in the race to save something for the end.  It worked as I avg'd about 7:30 pace the last three miles.

In 2010, I ran a marathon in June, slowed my training down and then was picking it back up for the Morgan Hill Marathon that was about 5/6 weeks away.  I tried to watch my speed early and then pick it up at the end.  But, this time, I was not able to pick up my pace and finished at a 1:51:xx time.

For 2011, I was not sure what to expect.  Since the SF marathon in July, I have not been "training".  I've been running (10-15 mile long runs, well mostly 10-12 mile long runs with 1 slow 15 mile run) but not doing any speed or tempo runs.  I did run the Ragnar relay and ran hard in it.  But, with CIM coming up, I know that I need to get back to "training".  So I viewed the SJ R&R half as a way to kick start my training.  I thought was not sure what time I could do.  My goal A was 1:45, goal B was a PR and goal C was to break 1:50.  After 1:50, then it would be to just somehow have fun and finish.

I now work in downtown SJ so I was able to park in my building and walk over.  Which meant I also was able to use the bathrooms in my office.  No porta-potties.

My great running friends were there.  I tried to not "find" them because I knew they were all going for sub 1:40s (and they all did that).  I did not feel I was in shape for that and did not want to keep up with them and then burn out early in the race.

I started close to the 1:45 pace group.  I, like I always seem to, started off a bit too fast - about 7:30 pace the first mile.  I decided to back off as I did not think I could keep that pace.  I was going okay.  My pace was solid the first few miles, but I had a lot of trouble finding a grove.  Toward the middle of the race miles 5-8 I slowed down a little and my avg pace was dropping back to about 8:15 (based on my Garmin - which was showing the course as a little long).  I wondered whether a PR would be possible since I was right on the edge.  Due to my slower mid-miles, I gave up on goal A, but wanted to get a PR.

I decided to just get try to keep my pace at 8:15 until mile 10 and then push to get under my PR (I assumed I need an avg pace about 8:13 - based on my garmin).  I was able to keep up the pace until mile 10 and then slowly picked up the pace.  I felt good when my Garmin showed an 8:14 then 8:13 avg pace.  The weather was nice (not hot) and there were a lot of people which gave me energy.  I came in at an 8:10 avg pace (by Garmin - which showed me running 13.3 miles, which was similar to my 2009 distance on the course). I was able to PR with 1:48 and change.  I finished almost three minutes faster than my time last year.

I did not get a sub 1:45, but I believe if I actually train hard for a half that I can get that goal and maybe close to 1:40.  I do now need to pick out a half and train for it.  I've never trained for a specific half.

I ran into some of my running friends and they also PR'd.  Some of them had times at the 1:37 and 1:38 level.  It gives me times to strive to reach.

Best of all, my wife brought Brooklyn out to the finish and they found me!  They missed my cross the finish but found me among the 10K or so people.