Thursday, December 19, 2019

2020 Hyland’s Boston Marathon Team!



Wow! I'm on the Hyland's team for the 2020 Boston Marathon.

I qualified for Boston in October 2018 at the Mount Desert Island Marathon in Bar Harbor Maine and registered for the 2020 Boston Marathon in September 2019.  The marathon will be on April 20, 2020.


After being accepted into the marathon, I applied for a place on the Hyland's team as a Legacy runner.  The team was announced in early December.

Who or what is Hyland's?
Hyland's is a century old leader in pain relief, rest and recovery and is the Official Cramp Relief Sponsor of the Boston Marathon. The Powered by Hyland's mission is about supporting and celebrating athletes of all abilities, empowering them to achieve their goals on race day, and every day.


https://www.hylands.com/products/hylands-leg-cramps

Featured Athlete Teams
In 2017, Hyland’s assembled a team of inspirational women runners to celebrate the 50th anniversary of women running at Boston.
For 2018, Hyland’s built a team of incredible teachers, those that inspire every day and are remembered for decades and ultimately inspire us all.
In 2019 Hyland’s recruited Healers on a journey celebrating the true story of human connection that happens when someone dedicates their life to serving others.

Hyland's invited Builders to apply to join Team Hyland’s for the 2020 Boston Marathon. Hyland's Builders are people who have created something meaningful and impactful for their community, big or small, from the ground up.

Legacy Athletes
Legacy athletes have already qualified and been accepted into the field for the Boston Marathon, but aspire to be part of something bigger and experience the training, the race, and the weekend with people who share their passion.

More details about Hyland's Boston Marathon Team experience can be found at https://www.hylands.com/boston


How I learned about this
My friend Jill has been on the Hyland's team for a couple of years.  She was on the 2018 Teachers Team and returned for 2019 as a Legacy Team member.  She is also a Hyland's Ambassador.

Having seen what a good experience Jill has had, I was happy for the opportunity to apply for a Legacy spot on the team.  Two other local run friends have also been accepted as new Legacy runners for this team.

At Chambersburg's Christmas Cash Dash December 7, 2019


Our Chambersburg group spans four decades by age from the 30's through 60's. Yes, I am the 60 something!  Jill and Brooke are current executive board members of the Chambersburg Road Runners Club. Laurie and I are past board members.  We all have previously finished the Boston Marathon multiple times; I have the fewest, having earned three finisher medals.

This year brings Hyland's biggest team.  In addition to 18 Featured Builder athletes, Hyland's will also have its largest group of Legacy athletes. They welcome back 36 athletes from previous Hyland’s Powered Boston Marathon teams and 38 new Legacy athletes joining the team in Boston for the first time.  WOW! 92 ATHLETES!

Boston Marathon weekend will see us representing Hyland's by participating in the BAA 5k on Saturday and the Marathon on Monday - Patriots Day.  

There will be a few other team activities including attending a Red Sox game and a post race team celebration.

Along the way we will use social media to document our preparation for the marathon.


This seems like a run adventure of a lifetime.  Let the fun begin!



#hylandspowered #bostonmarathon #sponsored

Friday, November 15, 2019

Stone Mill 50 Mile Endurance Run, Nov 9 2019



Summary:
On Saturday November 9th my friend Brenda and I (plus about 250 others) completed the Stone Mill 50 Mile Endurance Run near Gaithersburg MD. We started in the predawn darkness; we crossed the finish line more than 14 hours later.

There were lots of physical struggles and some mental ones. We knew we were under trained and that became more clear all along the way. As our pace slowed we found ourselves racing against the cut off times. It turned out that the 42 mile aid station and 5:10 pm cutoff was our biggest deadline. And we made it with only 5 minutes to spare.

We switched on our headlamps as we resumed the effort. It turned out that we hiked the remaining distance, not wanting to risk injury from falling in the darkness and having made what felt like a finish line push over the last hour plus some. Our GPS watches ran out of battery power so we couldn't measure our progress. We were cold and tired and sore long before finishing, but we finished.

It was good to be with a friend for a struggle like that.


Long version:
Brenda had let me know that she had signed up for this race and a month or so later I decided to enter it too.  We have some thousands of miles running together over the last 10 plus years, so this would be a day to relive the "old times".  We were both under trained compared to  previous long runs, but were aiming only to finish.  We were counting on years of "getting it done" to make up for the lack of training miles in recent months.  Yeah, that's what we thought.


Were were at the back of the pack for the 6 am start outside of an elementary school in suburban Maryland.  A mile or so of paved roads/sidewalks brought us to the trailhead.  We joined the slow "conga line" of runners winding along the trail with headlamps lighting the way.  Now and then we were passed by some people who apparently started a little late.  Our early pace was something like 12:xx minute miles.  Once we were not feeling pressure from people behind us, our pace relaxed to something more like 14 minute miles.  To meet the cutoff times in the later aid stations we needed to keep an overall average no slower than 16 minute pace.

The course covers relatively gentle trails through the woods, often on the edge of suburban developments, and a few miles of pavement connecting the several trails.  We planned to walk the uphill portions and run as much as we could for the flats and downhills.  There are numerous stream crossings, but water levels were low enough to mostly keep dry feet.  The crossings all had some rocks in place to help with that.  There were also some places where the trail went under bridges.  Some of these were side-sloped steeply and/or with especially uneven rocky surfaces.  With no branches or nearby structure to use for support, these seemed like places that falling could happen.

The single track trails didn't really allow side by side running and easy conversation.  Mostly I ran first, with Brenda coming after with enough distance between to clearly identify where to step and avoid trip hazards.  My easy pace on the trails was a little faster than hers and Brenda's hiking/walking pace a little faster than mine.  It seemed like running about half the time should keep our average pace within the cutoffs.

We came to the first aid station at about mile 4 and just jogged on by since we didn't need anything.  Around 7 miles into the race the course goes around a lake for a few miles.  Going through the related park I overlooked the turn from park road to the trail but Brenda noticed it and kept us on course. The park had some lighted decorations that resembled what is common to see for Christmas time.  (Too bad it was daylight by then.)  At least some of these were water themed with mermaids, etc.  The first aid station that I can remember visiting had the usual options: water, gatorade, cookies, chips, pretzels, etc.  But something new to me was grilled cheese sandwiches and warm donut holes.  I filled up my water bottle, grabbed some chips and M&Ms.  The M&Ms were really hard due to the sub freezing temperatures.  It had been about 25 degrees at the start with a high forecast for low to mid 40s.

We made our way at a relaxed effort, following the course markings, running/walking, chatting when possible.  We would reach an aid station, thank the volunteers, fill up water bottle, grab some aid station food to carry in a baggy to be eaten during walk periods.  At times we stopped to determine which trail branch to follow.  One time we retraced our steps when it seemed we had gone too long without seeing trail markings.  It turned out we had stayed on course, but lost almost 10 minutes (and added half a mile) making sure.

Near one housing development we saw a whitetail buck trotting along the back boundary of a residential property.  At another place we followed in-town roads for about 10 minutes past a small shopping center and other business properties.  Overall the course was an unusual mix of suburban and woodland for a trail ultra.  Some places felt remote, but then around the next turn we ran along the edge of some backyards.  The second half of the course had less of the suburban setting until the last 5 miles or so.

As we got into late morning we began to focus on the first time cutoff.  It required us to reach the 24.5 mile point before 12:30 pm.  Our overall pace seemed okay to meet the cutoff but we were a little unsure of our mileage due to the back tracking we had done.  That uncertainty continued to be a factor for each of the cutoffs we had to make.




About noon time we came off the trail onto a parking lot, gravel road area.  Just at that transition was a photographer and we did our best to smile.  We arrived at the aid station without almost 20 minutes to spare, but took at least 10 minutes getting ready to continue.  There were porta potties to visit, food and drink refills to grab, drop bag items to collect.  I had been ready (even wanting) to drop out here if Brenda wanted to stop.  She didn't mention it, but on the drive home I found out she had been thinking the same way.  My feet had been bothering me for quite a while so I switched from trail shoes to road shoes for more cushioning.  We crossed a timing mat as we left the aid station and that time would be available online for family or friends to view.

Aid station at 24.5 miles

The course now went along the Potomac River for about 3 miles on the C&O Canal towpath.  No hills or rocks or roots, simply a level surface that allowed us to take a break from watching every step.  We leap-frogged with a few others here as our run and walk intervals varied from theirs.  The river view was nice; my change of shoes helped my feet.  We were about half done with the distance, but the second half of long races is often twice as hard as the first.  As we left the towpath we came onto the namesake of the race - the ruins of the stone mill which now had only its walls standing.  We ran inside of the structure then out though another doorway and then on to an aid station.

Stone Mill remnants




Back in the day


The usual food and drink was there, plus some sausage links and bacon!  I took a little longer to gather my foods.  I think this one had coffee and I had some of that too.  I should say that all of the aid stations were extremely focused on helping us.  We were greeted with questions about what we needed and offers to refill our bottles.  Food choices were announced and as we were near the cutoffs, we were reminded to keep going - even "get out of here!"  The interaction was always encouraging.

Soon we were back on trails and then beyond the 30 mile mark.  Less than 20 miles to go.  That's good news, isn't it?  It seems to me that the trails became a little more gentle for a few miles, going through or along some more open, pasture like areas.  A mile or so before the 34.3 mile aid station and the 3:10 pm cutoff we caught up to a younger guy who was limping along.  He looked to be hurting but his comments suggested he wasn't feeling defeated.  We were coming into this aid station in time, maybe with a 10 or 15 minute cushion.  A different beverage available here was some kind of strong drink - Jim Beam?.  We asked about the distance to the next aid and were told the "bar" is 3 miles away and then 5 more miles to the last cutoff at 42 miles and 5:10 pm.



As I recall, the trail soon crossed a road where a volunteer gave great encouragement to us, and then we had more climbing through wooded hills.  There were some other runners in view ahead of us and the distance between us shrank and expanded repeatedly.  It seemed to take too long to reach this aid station, but eventually we approached a hilltop with someone watching for runners and encouraging us to keep pushing.  This was the "bar" aid station with numerous strong drink choices, plus water and gatorade on a separate table.  Before I realized how things were arranged I picked up a cup of what I thought was gatorade or mountain dew only to find it tasted like beer.  I put it down and found the water at the other table.  We were reminded of the cutoff ahead and urged to get going.

Our pace had been slowing some more and the almost 5 miles that on paper remained to the 42 mile cutoff seemed impossible.  We would have to improve our pace by a couple minutes per mile.  One contrary bit of evidence was that my watch showed we had about an hour to make 3 miles, even though the published aid station locations suggested it was farther. 

I remember asking Brenda if we were going to still try to make it and she said "yes".  So I tried to set a faster pace, hoping to pull her along.  And I prayed, asking for all the help we possible from Heaven: strength, angel protection and help, even miracles.  At times the gap between Brenda and I grew as I tried going faster.  But there were several stream crossings and at each of these I waited to be sure we crossed safely together.  I caught up to one of the guys ahead to ask what he and the others just ahead knew about distance to the next cutoff.  He said they had no idea; none had a GPS watch.

At some point I passed this runner and eventually Brenda did too.  The other guys ahead had moved on out of view.  We saw some some archery hunters very late in the afternoon at a spot where the trail crossed a forest road.  As we got closer to what seemed to be the distance my watch should show for the aid station, I was moving further ahead of her.  I starting to think of how to ask for permission to continue even if we didn't make the cutoff.  At times I heard voices, but couldn't determine if these sounds were from runners on course or the aid station.  Eventually I could recognize road traffic sounds and shouts of encouragement.  As I approached the road I could understand the volunteer saying there were 8 minutes, and then I could see where the aid station was.  We had been pushing harder for about 2 hours and were making it to this cutoff.  It may have been a miracle.  I certainly felt emotional, sure that prayers were answered and I was grateful.

photo & effects by Jenna
As I entered the aid station a lady cheered for me by name.  It surprised me to hear my name, but then I recognized Brenda's daughter and her little boy waiting for his Nana.  They had made a nice poster for her.  When I approached to greet them, Brenda was just coming into their view.  We each received our drop bags from volunteers and quickly prepared for the last 8 miles.  I changed into a dry shirt in anticipation of colder temperatures.  A volunteer took care of my food and drink requests.  Soon we were being urged out onto the trail again as darkness was falling.


During the pre-race instructions, the director had said that if we made the mile 42 cutoff, he would wait and keep the finish line open until we got there.  This took a lot of pressure off for the remaining miles, but it also gave permission to ease up.  Without that we might not have continued.  There was only 1 hour and 50 minutes until the officially announced closing of the finish line.  We would need to go even faster for these 8 miles in the dark to reach the finish by then.

We were directly behind a few others who also barely made this cutoff and we switched on our headlamps.  We needed to walk to gather ourselves from the extra effort over recent miles.  We also took in some of the food and drink we had picked up.  Soon those in front of us stopped to take care of a headlamp issue and we moved ahead of them.  And then it wasn't long until they caught up to us, and although we offered, they declined to move in front.  Our 5 person group hiked on - I was in front figuring out where the trail turned, Brenda next, and 3 guys following.  It sounded to me like maybe one of the guys was not entered in the race but had joined one of them as a pacer.  It seemed he was too talkative, with many comments about other running experiences and too much enthusiasm to have been out on the trail for 11 plus hours.

After the darkness had fully descended on us, Brenda commented that she didn't know if she could run anymore.  I took this to be a temporary situation and asked her later a few times to see if that had changed.  Between the darkness and the fatigue, she felt the risk of falling was too great and could have serious consequences.  We were now repeating a trail section from the beginning of the race. We came onto one of the tougher sloping areas under a bridge that carried road traffic overhead.  As Brenda and I took our time here, those guys passed.  Gradually they moved ahead and maybe ran some; then they were out of sight.

Other than the very bright moon and the small circle of light from our headlamps, we were really in the dark.  I hoped that I wouldn't regret leaving my spare light in my drop bag.  Brenda's watch went dead in the first couple miles after mile 42, mine stopped with 46.92 showing.  This was quite a while before we reached the aid station that was to be at mile 46.  Without knowing how many miles we had covered we couldn't gauge how much farther we had to go or how much longer we would be out there.  Following the trail and watching our step kept bringing our focus to the present moment.  Usually there were trail markers with reflective material at the places where the trail could be unclear. Sometimes when we had gone a few minutes without seeing any markers, we would have to consider whether we had gone off course.

We pressed on, supposing that the 46 mile aid station probably had been closed up since we were so late.  Now and then the moon reflected off the nearby stream, other times lights from homes would catch our attention.  Sometimes we saw streetlights and headlights from passing vehicles and wondered when we would be coming off the trails and onto a road.  Then I could see a light ahead of us that seemed aimed at us, somehow different from the other lights along the roads and homes. As we approached that place we had to pass under a bridge and could see that someone was along the trail with the light.  We were finally to the aid station at 46.  So, we went under the bridge, up the bank, climbed over the wood railing and followed the sidewalk back across the bridge.  A volunteer guided us and gave us directions on each of those things.  (I felt like a nursing home resident receiving proactive assistance from a staff member.)

The aid station volunteers greeted us excitedly and encouraged us about finishing the race.  It seemed surprising to me to hear "you got this!" and similar things considering we had been out there for about 13 hours, having covered 46 miles.  We grabbed some PBJ and other things before heading back onto the trail.  They said there was one more runner coming behind us.  That was a surprise too.  I felt sure we were last.  As we continued, I took out my phone to call home and let my wife know that we probably had another hour and a half to go.  Rose sounded amused that we were still struggling against the circumstances we had chosen for ourselves.  At least she knew we were alive.

So on we went.  More of the same.  Darkness, increasing cold, follow the trail.  Eventually we got to the end of the trail and another volunteer with a light.  He gave us the directions about following the sidewalk for a mile and a quarter and then follow the driveway to the school and the finish line.  We kept a brisk walk, now noticing hills we had easily gone up and down at the beginning of the day.  And now we covered them with much greater effort.  Along here we caught up to a guy moving with great difficulty.  He had been through the same things we faced all day.  He struggled to continue, leaning on fences and such as he moved forward.  We wished him well as we passed.

We guessed wrong several times about having reached the school driveway.  What else to do but continue?  And we did.  Finally at the school driveway, we turned and climbed, that's right, one more hill.  We made the last turn toward the finish.  Still walking.  As we neared the finish line, Brenda and I heard footsteps from behind.  Wow, someone was going to pass us this close to the finish.  That didn't matter enough to get us to run.  The sight of a photographer did give us reason to run a few steps - until the camera was lowered.  There were about 4 people waiting: the cameraman, someone who gave us medals, the person at the timing computer, and someone who called out our race numbers.  We were done 14:23:51 for Brenda and 14:23:52 for me. (That is according to race results. We had seen a time on the clock about 30 seconds higher due to chip timing)

Sigh.  The end.






Monday, September 9, 2019

Getting out of a Slump - Why Don't I Want to Run?

I stated in an earlier post that I wanted to run Pine Creek Challenge 100 miles in September and I also had in mind One Day 24 Hour in November.

My plan changed after my "quit early" performance in the 24 hour race at 3 Days at the Fair (3DATF) in May 2019.  I don't think I know how to explain what has happened, but I am pretty sure it was more in my mind than anywhere else.

During 3DATF I became uninterested in continuing the race.  I was physically uncomfortable sooner than I had expected even though my body was working OK and my miles were adding up well enough.  But I didn't try much to correct this problem; I simply gave it some time to go away.  When my motivation problem didn't go away and my discomfort remained, I just decided to drop out.  I had completed 45 miles, about 20 miles of which were recorded during my period of deciding whether to continue for the entire 24 hours.  I just quit and went to sleep.

The "I don't feel like it" attitude was a new one for me and it shook my commitment to training for other long events.  Without this commitment I decided not to register for any race until I had gotten back my "want to".  And my training dropped off to less than half the running than needed to prepare for even a marathon.  Many weeks I managed only 2 runs. 

A puzzling thing for me has been that at the beginning of the day my motivation was weakest.  But by late morning and continuing through the end of the day, I felt like I wanted to train for and enter races.  At bedtime each day I would set my alarm to get up early and run.  By morning I was again feeling more like sleeping than running.  If I didn't have arrangements to meet friends to run, I usually reset my alarm and slept later.  I have hoped to run some local races where I would see friends who are still in the game.  In particular, a July 4th 5k and a 5 mile race a month later fell to the wayside just like most of my planned morning runs.

I have been more achy and was breathing harder in training runs, but that seems normal considering my sporadic, low mileage training.  I wondered if some physical issue was to blame.

Finally, I think I am coming out of this slump.  The run enthusiasm of local friends is rubbing off on me.  I am wanting to be a disciplined and committed runner.  I am back to thinking about the races I can prepare for later in the year.  In the previous 2 weeks I have run 11 of 14 days.  I have done a speed work session in each of these past 2 weeks.  And I ran again today.

It seems to come down to the popular saying:

         There is no try, only DO or DON'T DO

 I am ready to DO.

Wednesday, May 22, 2019

3 Days at the Fair 24 Hour Race - May 18 & 19, 2019

Saturday May 18 at 9 am I started my goal race of the year – 3 Days at the Fair 24 Hour Race.  I had hopes and a detailed plan to complete over 100 miles.  But I stopped after 10 and a half hours with 45 miles.  Huh?  Really.  After months of looking toward this event, I dropped out before it was half done.

This is a fixed time event, which means trying for as many miles as possible in the time allowed.  It is different from the typical fixed distance race where we try to finish in the least time possible. You can stop and restart at your own choosing.  There were several other races in progress at the same time, 6 Hours, 12 Hours, 48 Hours, 72 Hours, 6 Days, 10 Days, marathon and 50k.  It was a little like a carnival or fair with running as the attraction; and it was held on a county fairground on a one mile loop.  Runners had tents and campers set up around the course.  Families and friends were along the course in support of their runners.  The fairground kitchen and concession were in service supporting the runners.

A fun thing that this race does is to encourage participants to celebrate their accomplishments.  At the timing mat and food station area there is a bell that can be rung by any runner at any time to celebrate any mile mark or time completed.  Off and on through my time there runners were ringing the bell.
Ringing the bell video

Race details and results can be found at https://sites.google.com/site/njtrailseries/fair

My run plan called for running the first hour at my easy long run pace - about 9:30 to 10:00 minute miles.  Then I would switch to walk about a fourth of each lap which covered the uphill part of the loop and I expected this to result in lap times of 12 minutes more or less.  I planned to eat and drink regularly from the race provided aid as well as taking some of my own food and drink.  As needed I would walk more.  Overall my goal was to keep moving 90 to 95% of the time.  My calculations pointed to 105 to 110 miles if I could execute my plan.

In spite of all my training, planning, etc I was not ready mentally when things got difficult a few hours into the race.  From my knees down to my feet, I was sore and achy like is normal after a long time on your feet.  The sunny weather made me hotter than just the air temp in the low 70s.  My stomach contents were sloshing a bit.

My friend Angie was in the 6 hour race which started the same time as mine and I ran the first hour with her before switching to my run/walk plan.  Later she and I did some miles together in the last hour of her race.  By this time I was lamenting (whining) how I felt and that I no longer had any interest in continuing to try.

Before
After Angie's 6 hour race

Sunny afternoon conditions

I tried to give my body (and mind) a chance to pull out of the slump by walking more, focusing more on fluids and food, and interacting with other runners.  Eventually I stopped and called my wife Rose to talk about the trouble I was having.  She gave some medium strength encouragement to continue trying, but also gave non-judgmental consent if stopping was what I wanted to do.  I resumed the effort for 10 more miles (mostly walking), then at about 7:30 pm I decided to lay down for a nap before deciding whether to quit.  My legs did feel better after the nap, but my motivation still had not returned.  I knew that I could resume running since my body worked okay again and I felt like I "should" continue. But I just didn’t want to.  I didn't want to enter the "fight" again.  So I officially withdrew from the race a little before midnight.  I showered and lay down again till morning.

One of many posters for inspiration - wish I had seen it!
Why the problem?
The thing with my legs may have been related to the heavy compression socks I was wearing.  While laying down I kept the socks on until I decided that I would not return to the course.  My legs were aching that whole time.  Soon after removing the socks I got up and walked to my pickup truck to pack up my supplies.  Once I finished with that and started toward the place to turn in my timing chip, I realized my legs felt completely okay.  Maybe the socks had restricted circulation to the point of bringing on leg pain.

A number of other things probably also contributed to my lack of motivation.  1. My stomach was a little off due I think to my dinner meal the night before and eventually the heat and effort.  2. I had not slept well due to the noisy surroundings where my tent was placed.  3. And my preparations had focused on the practical details of food, equipment, run plans.  There was significant physical effort and time on my feet in the last 24 hours collecting and setting up everything.

A successful runner who I follow online has pointed out that while many realize that the mind (our will) decides what the body will do, the mind is also part of the body and is affected by the same conditions that weaken the body.  Will power is not immune to the body's physical depletion.

Perhaps most importantly, now after the race I realize I was over-confident and neglected to really acknowledge and prepare for the challenge I was facing physically and mentally.  I had a successful prior 24 hour race.  I read and copied what successful runners have done in making my plan.  I was anticipating writing of my successful run.  So I had taken for granted that I could and would step up to overcome any difficulties during the event.  I quickly found out how wrong I was about that.


In spite of how things went for me, I enjoyed being there.  Already I am thinking about what’s next and how to prevent a similar result.


Some notable memories of people there, some I spoke with:

  • Barkley Marathons finisher, John Fegyveresi was competing in the 50k
  • The men's 10 day race was won with 731 miles, the women's winner had 530
  • French runner Serge Girard, age 65, finished second in the 10 day with 600 miles - he has run across several continents, one year he averaged 47 miles per day all year long
  • First runner to reach 2000 miles in race history (10 yrs).  I ran with Gary several times that day
  • Third runner to reach 2000 miles in race history (10 yrs) - 37 year run streak. I recently read Fred's book Running Home which refers to races in my hometown area.
  • Fourth runner to reach 2000 miles in race history (8 yrs for him) Jim reached both 1500 & 2000 miles in the 10 day event and finished in 3rd place with 540 miles.  Gary (above introduced us and asked me to explain my Walking Purchase story.
  • I made a friend, Scott who I had seen at another race, shared most of my last 10 miles with him
  • I met Amy, the winner of women's 48 hours with 202 miles; also a friend of my local friend Laurie
  • Saw elite level runner Gina Slaby who ran 100 miles in 15 hours something, then stopped around 22.5 hours (of the 48 hour race) with 130 miles, finishing 5th and her husband Steve who was leading the men's 24 hour until stopping around 9 hours with 60 miles
  • I spoke w/ a boy about 10 yrs old who had done 13 miles and was walking w/ dad mostly holding hands
  • Also spoke w/ a boy about 12/13 yrs old who had done 20 miles by late afternoon. I asked if he was having fun. He said yes except that he was now walking because his leg wouldn't allow him to run anymore.  He had goal of 34 miles because he did 33 last year and race director said he should try for more.

Various pics, most by taken others.

2000 lifetime miles group
Their awards

Barn for tent set up

My sleeping spot
 Course pics






 


Female 10 Day winner getting it done

Tuesday, April 9, 2019

Chbg Half & Salisbury Marathon

Races as training runs for other races - Winter/Spring 2019

Chambersburg Half Marathon March 9, 2019
I ran this race on a day when my training plan called for a 20 mile long run to finish a 50+ mile week.  I ran about 6 miles before the race and took an hour break to rest/refuel.

I was planning to run a 9 minute pace for 10 miles, then to push the pace in the mostly downhill final miles.  I managed about 8:55 to the top of the hill at marker 10.  The last 3 miles were at 8:41, 8:23, 7:52, 7:10 for the last 0.1.  I passed maybe 10 people in those faster miles including one after the final turn into the finish chute.


This is our local Road Runner Club's main race and I saw many friends before/after the race and along the course.  And I chatted a bit with a few other runners trying to offer encouragement to some who were working hard.

Finish time was 1:55:23, average pace 8:49


Salisbury Marathon April 6, 2019
The little group I have been training with made the trip to the Eastern Shore in Maryland do this race.  Ron & Kim were running their first marathon, Alexx was doing her first half marathon. The race was something beyond Monique's 30th marathon and about number 15 for me.  Training went well enough for everyone and included lots of questions and advice exchanged between the first timers and veterans.  Our training friend Gene had selected this race, but dropped out of training with an injury almost two months prior.

The weather forecast was for temps in the low 50s at the 7 am start, rising to low 60s by about noon.  It was overcast and foggy for at least the first couple hours of the marathon.  There was a light to medium breeze most of the time.

Our race day plan was for each to run their own race, except that I would be running along with Kim at her planned pace.  My own training is pointing to a goal race about 6 weeks later, so this race was to be a solid training effort and a chance to help Kim with early pacing and to share the "fellowship of suffering" in the later miles.  Our pacing goal was to try to stay between 9:20 and 9:30 per mile.  After being a little fast in the first 3 miles, we got into our target range and the miles clicked by uneventfully.  For maybe 10 miles we were leap-frogging with a lady going basically the same pace, but she was better at keeping her pace steady.  We would slip ahead, then fall behind a little - over and over.  It seemed we should acknowledge her and our back & forth but she was pretty much tuned in to her music.

A little before mile marker 11, the half marathon runners split off toward the finish and the marathoners turned away toward the countryside.  It seemed to me that about two thirds of the runners were now gone from our view.  Part of our strategy to make it to the end in reasonable shape was to walk through water stations to drink without spilling and to give our legs a little break every mile and half.  Our gels were planned for about miles 6, 12, 17, 22 as the water stops allowed.  I made a couple of quick potty stops in the middle third of the miles to take care of some excess hydration.  Kim continued on pace during my stops and I then took a mile or so to catch up. 

On and on we went, chatting now and then.  We remarked about scenery, flowers and flowering trees, and things we remembered seeing from the course preview video, including a pedestrian tunnel on the Salisbury University Campus.  There were some places that seemed they might be tidal backwater places that had recently been full of water, but were only wet and muddy as we passed.  Most of the course was set up with traffic cones on the center line to separate runners from vehicle traffic.  Runners were to use the right lane and vehicles used the other side.  The last several miles shifted runners to the left lane.  By around the middle of the course Kim and I had worked out an approach to running the shortest route possible.  As the route curved right or left, Kim moved to run the inside of the curve and I would run slightly to the outside of the line she used.

After the split there were many times as we ran on that no one was visible on the road ahead.  As we approached the water stations the volunteers made lots of happy noise - maybe they were lonely too and glad for someone they could offer to help.  They were offering energy gel, water, gatorade with more cups extended to us than we could drink.  I started keeping count of how runners we passed.  I think we passed about 10 in the second half, but people were so spread out that I wasn't sure what number we were on.

As is to be expected, the effort and fatigue gradually increased even though we were not running faster.  Actually our pace was slowing.  Our chatting gradually decreased.  With the increasing effort Kim had gotten mostly quiet as we entered the miles in the 20s.  I decided to try some story telling to help pass the time in this final hour.  I told Kim the long story about the Walking Purchase of 1737 and my ancestor Edward Marshall's role in it as a runner.  After describing his story, I told her about my research and my run to retrace Marshall's run.  Then I went on to tell about a an article I wrote for a magazine, a newspaper article that covered my retracing and being interviewed for a BBC documentary that connected to that whole story. (see more about that in another blog post here walking-purchase-of-1737)  This got us through 2 or 3 miles and within a 5k of the finish.

We caught up to Monique who had a recurrance of a running injury that was forcing her to mostly walk it in.  We commiserated with her and offered encouragement, then continued on our mission to finish.

We discussed when or whether we would begin racing to the finish.  We agreed on just holding on the best we could.  Our persevering was bringing us closer and closer to the finish and the moment we could stop running.  During the last mile we were greeted by a wildly leaping and cheering young lady - our friend Alexx was waiting for us to cheer us in and give us high fives to energize us for the finish.  It was a happy thing for me.

And then we had only to cross a bridge, turn right and run one more block to the finish.  With the end in sight our paced quickened a little and we pressed strongly through the chute and finish line.  As we approached the line we heard our names announced.  Kim completed her first marathon in 4:09:22 and I was a second later.  Volunteers met us to give us finisher medals and some recovery drinks and food.


Chuck and Kim (smiles below may be somewhat forced)




 
Alexx
 


Monique (as herself, then undercover for the race)


 
 Ron






Mile splits/pace from my gps watch
9:07, 9:10, 9:15, 9:25, 9:32, 9:16, 9:46, 9:06, 9:16, 9:31, 9:17, 9:07, 9:57,
9:29, 9:05, 9:04, 9:27, 9:44, 9:24, 9:48, 9:42, 9:55, 9:46, 9:23, 9:59, 9:34, 9:17 (last .2)

Tuesday, January 22, 2019

Finishing 2018, Starting 2019

 Finishing 2018



Prior to running the MDI Marathon in October, I had a routine health screening that found I had a low heart rate.  I thought that was good news, that regular running should lead to lower heart rate due to improved fitness.  My heart rate of 39 was low enough that I was referred to my primary care provider.  This led to wearing an EKG monitor for 24 hour which found a low of 33 during sleep, an average of 58 and a high of 150s during a one hour run.  I was given the OK to continue with the marathon, but with some advice to pay attention for symptoms of heart issues and to get help if needed.

Mid course
A few weeks after my MDI Marathon experience, I ran the D&L Half Marathon.  Training friend Monique and I drove together to the race and ran it together, finishing in 1:54:22.  Monique won an age group award, but I missed one by about 5 minutes.

Finish Line


Following the D&L Half I had an appointment with a cardiologist and then a stress test to follow up on the low heart rate.  No problems were found and I was again given the OK to train and run but to pay attention to any symptoms that would appear.


In late December I joined running friend Angie and some other friends of hers in celebrating her 7 year run streak by running 7 miles at 7 am.  Her streak of 7 years is over 2500 days without a day off from running.  Angie thinks running every day helps her stay injury free.

7 Miles at 7 am for Angie's 7 years

Starting 2019

So now I am setting running goals and plans for 2019.  At this point my race wish list looks like this:

March - Chambersburg Half Marathon (as training)
April - Salisbury (MD) Marathon (as training)
May - 3 Days at the Fair 24 Hour race
September - Pine Creek Challenge 100 Miles

As of January 22, I am a few weeks into a marathon training schedule aiming for the April 6th race and planning to take a minimal recovery and then ramp the mileage up a bit more for the 24 hour race.

I took advantage of some recent snows and during morning runs made about a dozen snow angels at various friends homes.

Today (Jan 22) started extra cold and I joined friends Denise, Monique, Gene, Troy, Ron to do a More Miles than Degrees run - 6+ miles in 4 degree weather.

Here's to a fun and fulfilling 2019.