12 Weeks to Boston

It is amazing to think that the gloves I am wearing to shovel the snow were worn last week, just a few days ago, at the Houston Marathon.  I'm quite fortunate the storm did not come earlier or I would have either not been able to fly to Houston or would have chosen not to go as I am not about to leave my wife home by herself for this.

This is what two feet of snow looks like.

The storm has forced me to take two consecutive days off from running - something I hadn't done in quite awhile.  I think it was actually beneficial as it gave me rest from the personal best and helps me recover so I can begin the next training cycle strong.  My goal is to replicate my feat at Boston on April 18.  Instead of running on Saturday and Sunday, I shoveled.  A lot.  Five shifts of ninety minutes over the two days to dig out our walkway to the main street, a path around the house to the trash and alley, clear the deck from snow so it doesn't ruin, and clear off cars.  The walkway was cleared from my attached neighbor's house (on our left as we look at 17th Street) all the way to Monroe Street.  With my neighbors on the right, the six of us cleaned the walkways and dug out many cars.

This is how you clear a sidewalk - not a path, the entire sidewalk!

This morning, I went for a run along the road next to Catholic University and then we went down the MBT.  The MBT had sections that were fine for running toward the head of the trail as we went past Rhode Island Avenue, but when we hit the bend and passed under New York Avenue, the path wasn't cleared and the footing became treacherous.  I ran with Shawn and we agreed that we would stick to the paved roads.  I also have not done any strength training or yoga, but if I do not do them for another week, that won't be an issue.

The path from the front to the backyard.

I communicated with my coach and we planned out most of the workouts for the next twelve weeks.  Nothing is foreign or new.  We will use some club races including Langley 8K, the Club Challenge, and the George Washington Marathon Relay.  We will also use the Rock N Roll USA as a preparatory race.  With our vacation to Ireland in March, we'll have to schedule accordingly.  Otherwise, I am hopeful that I can get into the kind of shape that will get me from Hopkinton to the finish in Boston in less than three hours - weather and more factors cooperating, of course.

The path to the alley.

Our back porch.

I BROKE 3 HOURS AT THE HOUSTON MARATHON!!!

I am a sub 3 marathoner!!! All that hard work paid off: those early morning runs in the cold and dark, the strength training, the yoga (okay, that’s good for the mind), the long runs, the tempo – all of it.

24th Mile with Aimee Newsome (my right) and Derek Bailey (in red) in hot pursuit

Thank you Houston and thanks to my coaches, Ryan Vail and Mike Hamberger, pacer Derek Bailey, club DC Road Runners, too many club mates to mention that includes Stephen Easley, Alex Albertini, Joe Kane, Michael Rohlf, Shawn Zeller, Michael Pryce-Jones, and more, and my favorite running partner, Sammy Ames. But most importantly, thank you to my wife, partner, and muse Laura Goldin Ames!!! #sub3 #houstonmarathon #micdrop

Derek and I during took a photo during our easy jog.

To recap the weekend, I arrived Friday, January 15, 2016, into Hobby where Derek Bailey, my running friend who I met in 2011 at the Pocatello, Idaho, Marathon, met me and drove me to my hotel, the Club Quarters.  On the flight, I finished “Once a Runner,” a fun fictional story about a runner realizing his potential.  One of my resolutions for 2016 is to finish a book a month, and I had started this book a few times before finally finishing it this weekend.

Watching Chris finish the 5K.

In the morning, we met up with his friend Chris and ran an easy twenty minutes then watched Chris break 17 in the 5K.  The expo opened at 8:30 AM and we were some of the first people so we quickly grabbed our packets, shirts, and other goodies before headed off to breakfast.  We found a bakery along the early miles of the course, and I grabbed a green tea, a raisin bagel with lox and cream cheese, and two bagels for Sunday breakfast.  The three of us drove the course, which was helpful, as I knew what to expect on Sunday.  Back at my hotel, I went out to a nearby Italian restaurant that is also an Irish pub, and took the pasta bowl to eat in my room.  I rested most of the afternoon and watched the Patriots win their divisional matchup against the Chiefs.  At halftime, I went down to the hotel restaurant, ordered more pasta and bread, watched a quarter next to two Chiefs fans from Kansas City, and retreated to my room.  I spent a lot of time on my bed simply relaxing, watching football and other TV (Brewster’s Millions), and went to bed.

All the names of the runners listed in the expo.

I woke up a few times during the night since I was overhydrated and because some of my neighbors loudly returned to their rooms past midnight.  I think around 2AM I was up trying to fall back asleep, but since it was fruitless I just kept my eyes shut.  Around 3:30 AM I ate the first bagel, readied myself, and ventured out to the George Brown Convention Center, where the runners waited indoors.  Having never been to Texas before this trip, it was amusing to see several church services occurring.  Derek met up with his running group that was also sort of part of a church or prayer group – the minister had won the race in 70s and given Bill Rodgers a good race in Boston.  A runner from DC, Tuan, was connected with us as he was going to try to produce a three-hour marathon.  Around 6AM with an hour to go, we left to go to the start line.

Packet pick up

The weather was perfect for a marathon – it was in the 40s and I was cold waiting around for close to thirty minutes.  At the gun, we took off and tried to stick together as best we could, but there were so many people.  I took the first mile slow with the goal of easing into my pace by the 5K mats.  Derek and Tuan stayed in sight if not on my shoulder and he started to run with his friend, Amy, who was in the sub elite crowd.  I don’t recall the four of us ever running shoulder-to-shoulder, but that could be due to the fact that we were surrounded and then absorbed by the three-hour pace group.  I wouldn’t be surprised if there were thirty runners relying on the pace group.  It wasn’t my strategy to hang with them, but there was a steady headwind that I avoided letting it beat me up by tucking myself into the pack and drafting off the leaders.  Derek and Amy took off by Rice University after the eighth mile but Tuan was with me.  I do remember passing the Hillel a mile earlier when Derek was with me and said the Shehechianu as this was our first time running Houston together.

As we neared the halfway point, I thought that Derek had sped ahead, but while turning I saw him behind the pack by about twenty seconds.  I later found out he pulled over to go to a port-o-john.  I did a self-assessment at the halfway point and everything felt pretty good, and I had clocked a solid 1:29:38.  Since I had read a couple of articles about the shortcomings of the GPS watch, I had an easier time ignoring my watch and focusing on the dude’s shirt in front of me or the pacers’ balloons.  Of course I still checked my pace from time to time, especially early on to make sure I wasn’t going out too fast, but for the most part I was able to focus on the mental game.  At the 22K mark, I vowed that if I can hang with them for the next 10K that I would make a push with 10K to go.

Each mile and kilometer marker became a milestone, one more marker to reassure me that I was still on goal of breaking three.  As I plodded onward, the countdown began just after where I thought 16.2 was as I knew I only had to run a solid ten miles in roughly seventy minutes to come under three.  Near the eighteen-mile mark, I passed Amy, but she caught me and we ran together for a few miles.  At mile twenty, my brain knew I had 10K to the finish and simply needed to put down a 43-44 to accomplish my goal.  After the twenty-first mile, it appeared that the pace group dissipated at a water stop.  At past water stops, runners would leave formation to grab hydration, but it always reformed with the two pacers and their balloons in hand taking front-runner status.  This time, I didn’t see if reform and had a decision to make: stay with the one pacer or forge ahead on my own.  I decided I felt decent enough to try to lay down the hammer.  In retrospect, that decision likely saved my race since increasing my effort was necessary to hold pace.  With four to go, I had a small cushion but began to really believe this was going to happen.  After the twenty-third mile marker, I had 5K to go and correctly deduced that my current pace was good, but I needed to hold it.  Around the twenty-four mile, I heard someone cheer for Derek and soon he caught me.  I tried to stick with him for a bit, but I knew that I only needed two more miles at seven minute pace so I let him go.  In retrospect, should I have pushed harder to give him a chase?  If there is a fault in my race today, this possibly qualifies, but you cannot be upset when you run a personal best.

Celebrating near the toilets

The final mile was tough and euphoric at the same time.  I knew I was going to achieve my goal so I used the extra emotion to pick up the pace, especially with half a mile to go.  When I hit that sign, I had about four minutes to break three and half of an eight minute pace would do it but I went faster to leave nothing on the course.  Then there was only one lap of a track left and then we entered the finisher’s chute and I crossed the line with a good push for a time of 2:59:31!  I was ecstatic yelled “PR!” “Sub-three” and “Thank you, Houston!”  Derek crossed about twenty seconds ahead and we celebrated our achievements together.  We marched into the convention center to retrieve our bags – I was eager to call my wife and coach – and our finisher’s shirt and beer mug.  Before parting, we took a photo by the port-o-john, a Derek tradition for some reason, and said goodbye.

Pizza and beer - the celebration lunch of champions!

 Back at the hotel, I showered, packed, checked-out, went to Flying Sauce around the corner for a pizza and some Texas IPAs.  I was able to connect with Brant Koch, the race director, and thank him for a great race and gave him a DC Road Runners Club shirt.  He’s a really nice guy – I met his daughter in DC as she is looking for work.  Then, Tuan and I shared a cab to the airport.

With the race director near the finish

Splits:

None of my miles were in the 7:00 minute range.  Each 5K segment was in the 21 minute range.

Perfectly paced!

According to my Garmin GPS = 6:57/47/40/49/48/46/47/56/45/46/50/51/48/51/48/45/46/46/51/46/49/49/53/58/55/50/ 2:15/6:11 (.37) - 5K = 21:13; 10K = 21:10/42:23; 15K = 21:21/1:03:44; Half = 25:54/1:29:38; 25K = 16:48/1:46:26; 30K = 21:09/2:07:35; 40K = 21:38/2:50:30 Finish = 9:01/2:59:31.

OA = 219; Gender = 170; AG = 34

I only had a +15 seconds positive split – very even (1:29:38/ 1:29:53).  On Marathon Guide, my age graded time is 2:57:54.  I feel really good the day after and even could run a few miles if I had to - which I will not.  I predict my next run to be Tuesday morning - an easy four miler.

I remember when I finished I commented that I had nothing else to shoot for since I accomplished my goal.  He said there are plenty of more goals to set and sub three-hour marathons to run.  I hope he’s right – this was an amazing experience!! Next up: Boston!!

State 23 and Marathon 34

Note to Self: GPS is Merely a Guide

A few of my running friends and I have read the articles circulating about the inaccuracies of GPS watches.  It is not uncommon to run a marathon and log 26.4 miles or a ten miler in 10.3 or a 5K at 3.2 miles.  Runners World wrote about this issue and here is a second article.  The basic idea article to the Hampton Rockfest piece is:

"A GPS measurement is often not nearly as accurate as a wheel measured course. The normal wrist-held or recreational devices are accurate to anywhere from 3 meters to 10 meters 95% of the time causing them to often report longer distances on an accurate measured course. There are many other issues that prevent a GPS measurement to be as accurate."

For my running, that means that often my GPS is close, but not 100% accurate.  When I started running, GPS watches were just starting to catch on with runners.  I remember early long runs training with a particular group because my friend Dave had GPS technology.  I'd ask how fast each mile was.  Eventually, I invested and bought my first GPS watch, which did help my times since I was able to measure time, distance, and pace.  Remarkably, I only have had two GPS watches: the Garmin Forerunner 205 and Garmin Forerunner 405.  The 405 is likely on its last legs, but until I need a new one, I'm fine with it.

I did start to rely too much on the technology.  In the Columbus Marathon, I ran through an urban canyon (tall buildings) and lost signal so it displayed a slower pace.  I picked up the pace and since it was early in the race, that likely cost me later as I would have been better off trusting myself.  Now, I only use my Garmin for long runs, speed work, races, or runs where I don't know the route.  When I have measured several routes through online mapping tools so I know the distance and can simply run without worrying about pace. At the Chicago Marathon, the same thing happened, but I knew better this time from my experience.

Knowing how the watches really work, for my next marathon scheduled for Sunday at Houston, I won't get discouraged when I see the mile record on my watch meters before the marker on the course.  Previously, I assumed I wasn't running the tangents well and was adding too much by going to get water or deviating.  Now that I know, I can relax and trust my pace and my training.  Remember, with regard to the GPS: it's more of a guideline than a rule.