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!
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)
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.
I took part in my first relay race this past weekend. It was quite the experience with many highs and some lows.
Me and 10 running friends (one running friend got sick the week of the race and had to back out) took part in this relay. We had two vans. I was in van 2 and we had six runners, but we had the longer miles and, I would say, harder run times. So have 1 less runner in van 1 seemed to make sense.
Van 1 started at 9am in SF and we met Van 1 at exchange 6 in Kentfield (the College of Marin). We got there in time to write on our van and get all ready for this journey. Then, we waited and waited and waited. We found out that van 1 went to a wrong exchange point and this caused a 45 min delay. But, finally they arrived - the extra time allowed us to have a little fun with another van. Another van did not lose a van, but lost a runner (they found their "runner 6") and had a little spelling problem.
Our legs started. And, once our van started running I was excited and ready for my leg 10 to start. My leg 10 was in Petaluma and was 7.8 miles. It was 717 feet of elevation gain and started about 4pm. I was excited and ready to go. I started off fast and gave it all I got. Then I got to a stop sign with a cop watching traffic. I had to slow down to a stop. I cross the street but not where the cop wanted me to so I got yelled at (at least no ticket). That was a low point. I then started picking up my pace and hit a large tough hill. I tried as hard as I could but had to walk for 30 seconds or so and then struggle running slow to the top. My avg pace had risen. I picked it back up and came in about an 8:30 pace. However, I was down 1 or 2 runners (I can't recall any more).
I'm not sure how it started, but from the get go we started keep track of the runners we passed (our kills) and runners that passed us (killed).
We started out in the deficit. So for my first leg, I wanted to help get us out of the defiicit, but also ended up in the negative. But, it was still fun to be out there. And, I had two more legs to get positive.
We ended our first shift about 7pm or so. I went to eat and then tried to get a little sleep before we had to start over again. By the time we eat and got to the exchange point I only had a little rest (and no sleep). About 11:30pm we started our next shift. We had some strong women on our team, as our ladies were racking up the kills. By the time my next leg started - maybe about 1:40am or so, I believe we were well into the positive kills so my goal was to add some more. I had a 6.2 mile run for leg 22 in Santa Rosa. This was the first time I ran with a headlight.
I was very tired to start the run but after a while you get energy and get into the grove. It was actually nice to be out there. This leg I think was a positive 2 or 3. I believe after this leg I was up 1 (worse case I was even). I enjoyed running at night. A negative was that because other runners would stop at lights, I had to stop as well even though it was going on 2:30am and there were hardly any cars around. That cost me a little bit of time, but still came in about 8:15 pace.
As our last runner was running his leg in our second shift, I was getting tired. We all were. We went to exchange 24 and decided to take a nap. We set the alarm for 5:15am; we all feel asleep (our van) and then are woken up by a phone call. Our runner came in earlier than 5:15am. A runner in van 1 was at the exchange and ready to go so we did not have to be there, but we all felt a little bad as no one was there to cheer him on or to tell him where the van was at.
We then went and had something to eat. Before our next shift, we crashed for another 1/2 an hour or so.
I think most of us were tired and not really looking forward to running this next leg other than to run it to get it over with. Then, a very high point for the relay occurred. One of our strong female runners was the first one out for the third and final shift. We went over to the end the leg to cheer her in. She passed a struggling male runner and he tried to pick up speed to pass her. This video shows what occurred:
It was classic. He was okay . . . except for the pride.
This just made us all feel good and excited for this last shift. My last leg was leg 34 in St. Helena. It was mid-afternoon at this point in time and very hot for this 6.8 mile leg. I went out fast and hard, but the heat was tough. I had to slow down. I pushed hard at the end and ended up positive 1 or 2 in this leg with about an 8:30 pace - not bad for me as I hate running in heat (maybe it is mental, but I just get exhausted). Most everyone out there felt the heat at that time of the day.
Soon - we would finish:
It was quite an experience.
This Highs:
1. The man falling.
2. We ended up well in the positive in roadkills thanks to our amazing women.
3. Some great running experiences
4. Great times hanging out with running friends.
The Lows:
1. Being away from brooklyn
2. The heat and hills with slowed me down
3. The mean cop
4. Very little sleep
On Sunday, July 31, I ran the SF marathon. My 7th marathon!
To get the the bottom line - I'm really disappointed with my performance. I got sick on July 4th (right when I had to go on business travel). The cold/flu took me down for a week without running. Then, the next week I tried to run but really struggled as I was still recovering. After that week, I had a two week taper. I just could never get a good feel for running after getting sick. Every run I took after getting sick was a struggle. Especially, with chest pain. I went to the Doctor the Wed before the SF marathon because of the chest pain. My heart tested out fine. She thought my lungs might still have some inflammation. She thought it was safe to run the marathon. I guess this is a big excuse for my poor performance. But, before I got sick I was running stronger than I ever had. I was putting in 50 plus miles a week and running faster than I had in the past.
I took off work early Friday to get to the expo and pick up my bib. I had a church meeting on Sat and worried about getting to SF on Sat. I did not spend much time at the expo. I picked up my bid, shirt and changed my wave group (moved back a group). I ran into one of my running friends (it was nice to see her there) and talked a little.
On Sat night I drove up to SF and stayed the night in the city. I went up there close to Brooklyn's bed time so I got into the room about 9pm and just relaxed until I fell asleep. As normal, I woke up early and often . . . checking the clock to make sure I did not oversleep (even though I set about 5 alarms on my iphone).
I woke up about 4:30am. Slowly got ready and then headed out to the start line. I had to walk about a 1.1 miles (walking the morning was fine, the walk back after the marathon was painful). I got there in time to run into some of my running friends at the SF marathon training group tent. We lined up together.
I decided to try to stay behind the 3:50 pace group. I felt (before getting sick) that I would have tried for a sub 3:50. My thinking was that I had to give it a shot. I had very little confidence, but I did not want to kick myself for not trying. So I said let me see how long I can stay with them.
I felt good the first 5 or so miles, but then (like my recent runs) my chest was bothering me (below my ribs) and I was losing my endurance. On the GG Bridge I realized that I would not be able to keep up with them so I let them go and told myself "just enjoy the race."
I ran across the GG bridge and made the turn to run back across it. Here is a video I took (I have no idea how to get it to play properly - it is sideways):
Then, the trouble really started. Halfway back across the GG bridge, I developed major stomach cramps. I mean major ones. I could not run. I had to stop a couple of times (on the GG bridge). I did not have a choice. A couple of my running friends passed me as I really struggled to control the stomach cramps. I finally was able to get running again. Thanks a lot to my running friend Rachel who passed me. I was able to catch up to her once I started running and was able to run with her for a while until I ran into the porta potties. I had to stop.
After that I started running again. I ran into Aaron. I thought maybe she recognized me because she said hi Tim, but I realized that my bib had Tim on it. :) It was nice to see her because I was thinking about her great SF marathon course descriptions (I really relied on those) and how she thought the hill after the GG Bridge was the tougher one. I always feel a bit strange when I run into bloggers that I really don't know, especially when I think they don't know me (I don't want them to think I'm some crazy guy). But, it was very nice to see her out there. She was one of the first blogs that I followed and still follow (it is like seeing a star out there). Next time I need to get her autograph.
Soon after running into her, my cramps started up again. This time I was getting side cramps. This sucked. I really was thinking of stopping at the halfway point. I wondered whether I could get a half metal if I just followed the first half marathon runners.
I pushed forward. I ran into one of my other running friends. That was a real pleasure as I felt that at least I could pace along side him for a few miles. About mile 16 I needed to walk through an aid station to get some water. My running friend kept going and I knew that would be the last I would see him as I just did not feel strong. The next two miles were horrible. I struggled with chest pain and stomach cramps. I forced my way to mile 18. I used the porta potty again and then just tired to focus on getting the last 8.2 miles or so done.
About mile 19-20, another running friend past me. I told her I was struggling and wished her luck. She broke 4 hours! Yeah!
About mile 20, two of the trainees from the SF marathon training group approached me. I ran with them for about a mile or two. I turned off my watch and just focused on getting 1 mile done at a time. Once I got within the last few miles I knew I would finish. I tired my best to run as much as possible the last few miles (maybe the last six miles, I just walked through two aid stations for water). Here are two videos I took:
After the finish I waited for the two trainees to cross the finish line. It was incredible to see them finish their first marathon. Here are video's of them crossing the finish line.
Overall - I'm still disappointed with my performance. I came in about 4:17 and change. I know I could have done so much better. I want to run another marathon right away to "make up" for this performance, but I'm still letting things settle before making a plan. I would have likely signed up for the NorCal marathon in Sept, but that weekend I'm signed up to do a relay in Napa and can't really let down my running friends.
Although I am disappointed with my performance, I also need to keep positive. I did complete my 7th marathon! I did lose about 10 or so pounds this training period. I made some great new running friends and enjoyed running with old running friends. I really loved working with the trainees in the SF marathon training program. It was a great experience to be a pace and help lead so many Rancho Thurs. night hill runs. I was able to run in SF for the first time. And, there will be a next time.
I started running and training for a marathon in June of 2008 and now have run 12 marathons and 1 ultra marathon. I live and work in the bay area, CA. I also have an amazing three year old daughter.
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