8 Days

http://www.flotrack.org/videos/coverage/view_video/234839-2009-boston-marathon/169111-ryan-hall-boston-preview

Great Video from Flotrack!

Carlsbad 5000 Recap, Fam, 11 Days to Boston

A New 5k PR

My experience at the Carlsbad 5000 turned out to be very positive, but it didn't get off to a great start. I made the 7 hour drive from Mammoth to North San Diego County early Saturday morning and checked into my Motel 6. The weather was beautiful and I made my way to the course to do an easy shakeout run and course preview.

When I stepped out of my car I noticed an intense pain in my right knee. Something had developed while making the drive. I was able to do my run and check out the beach, but after I wrapped things up the pain increased greatly. When I got back to my hotel I couldn't climb the stairs and I experienced the pain all night while sleeping. I knew it couldn't be too serious since nothing had happened to cause it (so I hoped) but when I got up the next morning I could barely walk.


Carlsbad is different than a lot of 5ks in the fact that it splits its age groups into separate heats. The elites even have their own race at the end of the event. This makes for a festive atmosphere as there are races all morning. The energy seems to build as the morning moves on. My race did not start until 11:30 AM which is much later than normal. This worked to my advantage as it gave me plenty of time to try and get rid of the pain.

I began my warm up much earlier than normal, but I couldn't run for 15 seconds without experiencing too much pain. I took some medicine and hoped the pain would go away. After an hour it was still bad, but I noticed a difference so I doubled the dosage. I was able to warm up just in time. I moved into the corral at 11:28 and moved near to the start line. I didn't want to stand still long and have my knee tighten up again.

However, this didn't work out for me. Just before the gun went off it was announced that my race was being delayed for 8 minutes because an Amtrak train would be crossing the course. I did my best to dance around and stay loose. My mind was a nervous wreck as I had to wait. I knew I was about race on a fast course, and in a 5k there's hardly any time to work into a groove.

Finally the race did get underway and I immediately felt badly. The start is downhill for 400m and then works its way back up before taking a 90 degree left hand turn. Several people passes me including young boys who had to be 13 or younger. I couldn't seem to find a rhythm and felt slow. I finally approached the first mile marker and had some idea of how I was doing. To my surprise it was still in the 4 minute range when I could make out the time that it showed. I passed the first mile in 5:12 pace. I had been aiming for 5:20.

At this point I totally relaxed and found a rhythm. This pace felt very easy, and I knew I could hold it and push a bit at the end. Shortly after the 1 mile mark the course does a 180 hairpin turn and runs along the Pacific Ocean. At this point a lot of people who had started too fast were moving backwards and I began picking them off one by one. I passed the 2nd mile marker in 5:26 and knew I had a lot left for the final 1.1 miles.

During an uphill chunk of the third mile I picked off an entire pack of runners (maybe 7) and was grateful for all of the hill work I'd done in Mammoth. While the hill was certainly small, it did slow many people at that point in the race. Coming around the last corner to see the finish line I had two tenths of a mile remaining. A few people sprinted to get by my side. In the final 100 meters I turned on what I had left and kept them behind while managing to get two more runners (one at the very last step, you can see me just ahead of him in the pictures, and the other a few meters out, pictured looking to his left as I come by).

I finished in 16:42 and 40th place. While this is certainly nothing to write home about in the grand scheme of elite running, its a really good time compared to what I ran last year at this time. This was a PR by 31 seconds. If nothing else, this was a great confidence booster going into Boston to know that I'm in good shape and to know that I can run at a pace much faster than my marathon goal pace and feel comfortable. I know I shouldn't feel comfortable while racing a 5k, but my training hasn't been geared towards that short of a distance. I wrapped up the day by laying on the beach for a few hours before driving home. Its a lot easier to relax after a PR.

An Elite Perspective

Watching the men's and women's elite race was a lot of fun. Anthony Famiglietti came within four seconds of the American record and looked really strong. He wrote an interesting recap on falling short of his goal to break the record here.

I also shot some video of the race and set it to Richard Buckner. However, the audio was taken off by YouTube because of copywrite laws. The video quality is pretty comprimised as well.


The last hard workouts before Boston, and I got laid off!

Yesterday I got to work at 7:45 am and then took a break at 2:30pm. Mammoth has been graced with a nasty winter storm the last few days. High winds... snow... etc. I headed out in the conditions to repeat the brutal hill run I posted about a few weeks ago. I managed to run it a few minutes faster this time around and then headed back to work until 8pm. This was the final intense workout before I begin to pull back and rest for the race. I do still have a some mile repeats and tempo runs to complete, but the total mileage is beginning to drop.

The challenge has been getting the workouts in around my work schedule. I'm working 8 10 hour days in a row. I won't complain though. I need the work and the money as I was informed today that I will be laid off at the end of April. Does anyone know of a job openning?

In one final note about Boston, there was a GREAT interview with Ryan Hall on Runnersworld.com today. He mentions several runs in the Mammoth area that I'm familiar with. He also had this quote about the winter we've had in Mammoth this year.

All of my preparation has been done at Mammoth Lakes. We were totally blessed, although the snowboard crowd might have a different word for it, to have a super mellow winter this year. It was really tame compared to years past. Last year, I was only up here for a couple weeks and I felt like I was constantly thinking to myself "we can train anywhere in the world this winter, why are we training in this winter tundra?." Don't get me wrong, Mammoth is the most beautiful place in the world, but the winter is not usually so kind. This winter was beautiful though. I only had to run on a treadmill a couple of times and I didn't miss any workouts. In years past, we would have to drive down to 5,000 ft for most of our workouts and some of our easy days which made training seem really long. This year we stayed high for almost everything. I just kept waiting for the winter to show its wrath but it really never did. If there is any winter that I should be able to run fast off of, it is the winter of '09. Big Bear is usually much more mellow in the winter compared to Mammoth but there are also only a couple of spots to run on the dirt and even less then that that are flat compared to Mammoth, where we have more dirt roads with flat options if we want it. We haven't been able to get as high as 9,000 feet up here in Mammoth because to do so you have to be cross country skiing but we do most of our long runs and tempos above 7,000 feet. I can't wait to get into Boston. The first week at sea level after being at altitude for an extended amount of time is euphoric.

Carlsbad 5000

I'm heading to San Diego this weekend for what some call the "World's Fastest 5k". I'm not sure what to expect, but I'm stoked to be at the ocean once again. I hope to have good news on my return. The field is very competitive, and luckily I'll be able to watch the elite race as the event is actually staged in several heats, with the elites in their very own races.

Boston Training

My mind is still focused on Boston and I found this video of American hopeful Kara Goucher to be quite exciting. Ashley will be excited to see Alberto Salazar making an appearance. She loved him as an assistant coach in high school.

Hills

Last winter in preparation for the '08 Boston Marathon my training partners and I made frequent trips to Barrington, IL a suburb of Chicago. In an area that is mostly pancake flat, Barrington was one of the closest places Chicago runners can go to get in good hill training. On Saturday and Sunday mornings you could find the country roads there full of transplants from the Chi' that had made the hour drive, just for their run.

This year, has been remarkably different. There is almost no place to run from my house that is flat, unless I drive 25 minutes away. That means that even my 4 to 5 mile easy runs that I do in the late afternoon (when doubling) are done on hills longer and steeper than Barrington. I certainly don't know that this will make me faster, but I'm hoping that my legs are significantly stronger than they were last year.

Yesterday, I did a very difficult hill run. Starting at 8900 ft I ran a hard downhill for nearly 4 miles before turning and going up a steep, yet shorter incline. I then turned down again reaching my lowest point about 6.5 miles into the run. This was about 1050 ft below where I started. I climbed another hill to go back up 350 ft. At this point I hit the 8 mile mark and returned to trace my exact steps. By the time I reached the final 4 mile ascent, my legs were spent.

Running up long, steep hills at elevation is never fun, but its much harder after doing so much downhill. Usually I prefer to run uphill first and then hit the downhill. But, this is a luxury the Boston course does not afford. It's my hope that runs like yesterdays will allow me to cover the downhill first half of Boston with out any muscle fatigue. This will be key when hitting the the major climbs near the end of the course. I don't want to experience what I did last year, when Lance Armstrong flew by me on Heartbreak Hill. (Last year's winner, Robert Cheryiout pictured ascending the last of the Newton Hills)

I did the 16 mile hill run on an extended lunch hour at work. This meant I worked from 7:45am until 8:15pm (I work 10 hour shifts). It makes for a long day, but I was lucky to run in the middle of a crisp, beautiful afternoon, and earn a day's paycheck. I finished the night off with a 4 mile run at 9pm. Glad to see the temperature being somewhat reasonable at that hour.

I'm starting to get my swagger back. I realize I'm still slower than so many runners, but I'm back at the point where I can do 20 miles of running one day and still feel fresh the next morning. I can't imagine how I will feel at sea level!

Bring on Summer!

Week in Training - Anna Willard - MTC

The Boston Marathon is 26 days away and the bib numbers were released today. Chris, Verdo, Robert and I are all in the very first corral meaning we'll line up immediately behind the elites.

It's crunch time in terms of my training. I finally had a decent week. I think my body is finally near full strength. I did just over 80 miles, managing a 20+ long run at 4,500 ft and 2-mile/800m repeats at over 7,000 ft. The week also included two 90-120 minute hill runs that included uphill and downhills that changed over 1300 ft in 5 miles.

This week is off to a good start, so I hope to have a good update next week as well.
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Here's a nice interview with Anna Willard (pictured at right with bib ending in 55) that was done at the gym where I do core workouts. She's training with the Mammoth Training Club (Team Running USA changed their name, read why here, great quotes from my coach) after her olympic experience in '08. Anna and her fiance Jon, have been really supportive to my training. Mammoth Lakes is a small town and I seem to see them everywhere. It's nice to be part of a sport with athletes that are so down to earth.

Frustrated and Sorry and Selfish

I went to see a doctor today. I've been carrying a temperature since Sunday night, aching, and coughing. I have not been able to run or work. The visit was less helpful than I had hoped. I've had symptoms for over 3 weeks which make one think its bacterial, but because of a terrible training mishap on Sunday night (stranded in cold/rainy conditions for just under 4 hours in my running shorts) the doctor thinks this could be new and unrelated and viral. This means he prescribed antibiotics for me, but I'm not supposed to fill the prescription until Monday (If I stay sick) or tomorrow if I wake up feeling even worse.

I understand there is nothing he can do. And I know there is not a wonder-drug he can prescribe. But, its very frustrating to a runner to take days off during the peak of training. And, while I can stomach that, not being sure when I'll return is hard to take. If I was taking meds and expecting it to disappear by the weekend I could handle it a lot better.

Doc told me no running for 14 days. But, that's why I always wish that I could see a doctor that an elite runner would see. No way they would say that. I'll be back on my feet when the fever has gone.

I know I need to be strong, and patient, and that in the grand scheme of things my overall running won't be affected, especially all season long when you look how early we are into everything. But, I have a half, a 5k, a trail-10k and full marathon all within 8 weeks. I've paid to do them, to travel to them, to have a place to stay while racing, and now it might all be money lost. That's hard to stomach for a person without insurance living check to check.

Next time I write, I hope to have much better news to share. I'll certainly be sharing an article from the most recent Running Times when I'm feeling good enough to touch the scanner.

And I feel selfish complaining about being sick. It happens to everyone. The great champions I admire have dealt with broken bones while training and they've bounced back! I need to learn from them. But, I also have to explain that almost all of my decisions are based on how I can improve as a runner. I make sacrifices every day that make my life less fun in the short-term because I find the long-term payoff to be so sweet, and then in looking back I usually realize how much fun I had getting there. I guess I need to remember that there is no promise that hard-work will pay off in terms of faster times. If it was that simple, then it would make the amazing feeling that comes with improvement less exciting and special. It is very hard to keep that perspective and not feel owed a reward at the end.

Boston Marathon Bullets and Photos

• I ran the first 5 or 6 miles with my friend Verdo until stomach troubles forced him to make a few stops. This was my first marathon running with others that I knew. It made it very peaceful.
• During the first few miles of downhill we passed Lance Armstrong like he was standing still. He had a huge crew of runners around him and I had a feeling it might have been a good move to slow down and run at his pace.
• The women of Welsley College are incredible, although I wish I would have been running slower like my friend Phlip so I could have enjoyed them even more. There is a picture of Phlip below that was printed in one of the Boston newspapers.
• As I covered the route I kept hearing updates that Lance was farther behind me. At one point it seemed he was 3 or 4 minutes behind.
• As I began to slow in the hills I could hear a growing roar behind me. On the middle of heartbreak hill Lance came right by me. He stood shoulder to shoulder with me and passed me with a strong, ungraceful yet powerful stride. Having watched Lance ride on so many famous hills in the tour for many years it seemed fitting to watch him blow by me here. Although I must admit that I never dreamed I'd be racing with him in any capacity. It was one of those moments that I kept telling myself to remember for the rest of my life. You may be able to see it here.
• I slowed a bit over the last few miles and could feel my muscles cramp once in a while, but luckily nothing ever shut down. This race is, as many have said, the perfect set-up. The beginning makes you feel so fresh, but the ups and downs at the end thrash your legs by the time you are anywhere near the Citgo sign.
• Seeing Paul and Claudia near the finish line cheering for me really pumped me up. Especially the day after watching Claudia run a great race at the olympic trials.
• Staying with Brian and Laura in Cambridge was great. Harvard is a beautiful place and I'm glad Boston is not on a grid.
• There is a reason I don't drink very often. I think Monday night proved that pretty well. I had a blast with Phlip, Arik, Cari, Tiffany, Mike, and Carolyn anyway.
• I hope to do this race many times again in the future.
• Even with my significant pace drop at the end I still managed to run a 2:55 and I can be happy with that. But, here's hoping I'll be much faster in the near future.
• When I arrived home and was taking the el from midway I found a copy of the Tribune sports section. To my surprise, my name was listed as one of the top Illinois finishers in the Boston Marathon.
• My image appeared in both the Herald and Globe. I'm in the upper left under the large 21,963.
• My pointer toe on my right foot had a nice little berry on it when I was done.