Addicted to Exercise

Well, I’ll just get right to the point. I stunk. Again. I keep doing the same thing, so I am going to have to find something else to try to get past it.

I did have fun, though, so now I’ll go back to the beginning.

I had set up all my gear the night before, so the morning was not too hectic. I met the gang in the hotel lobby for our walk over to the start area. It was cold, but not nearly as bad as some days we get in the winter here in Austin. We had signed up to have access to the Trophy Tent, which was a relatively warm and nice place to hang out until it was time to head to the start line.

Frank, Marcy, and I found our way to the start corral just in time. It was really crowded, and these people don’t screw around, so if you weren’t there in time you would miss it. I had learned a new last-minute discreet hydration adjustment strategy on the forums, so that took away some of the usual worries. I was really surprised at how little time we were there before the race started. I’m used to having to stand around quite a while.

From the start things seemed to go really well. There were tons of people along the sides cheering. Since I had my name on my shirt, lots of them called me out by name. It really was a great feeling. In the first couple miles, I was afraid the long sleeved shirt I wore would be too warm, but once the first gust of wind hit I knew it was the right choice.

My plan was to run the race with Frank, and I thought the pace we were doing felt easy enough. I was relaxed and happy, and the first several miles were gone before I really even noticed. The water stops were really well-organized, and even though there were a ton of runners it was really easy to grab a cup or two each time. It was just cool to keep hearing people yell for us as we went by.

My favorite part of the whole course was about 9.5 miles in when we made a left turn and hit what seemed like a wall of sound. The crowds were just so loud, it was awesome. The spectators were all bundled up, too. It was cold out there, and they weren’t moving like we were. So, the fact that there were so many of them was pretty amazing.

Shortly before the half, we turned west away from downtown. The crowds were really loud through there, too. I think we hit the half in about 1:38, which was right in the ballpark we wanted.

Somewhere in the next few miles my trouble started, though. It’s the same thing I get on almost every long run farther than about 14-15 miles. I just started feeling a general non-specific form of “bad”. I knew nothing was really wrong with me. To be sure, I started running through my mental checklist. My legs felt fine. My feet were a little sore, but they’d been pounding the ground for a couple hours, so that was normal. I wasn’t wearing my heart rate monitor, but I could tell from my breathing that all of that stuff was normal. Still, my mind was telling me to stop. Frank knew I was in trouble because I had gotten really quiet and had that glazed-over look, and he asked if I was all right. I tried to convince myself I was, but I knew I had lost it already. We were running into a strong headwind, and the crowds were thinning out, so I’m sure those didn’t help, but I pressed on for a while.

At the mile 15 marker, there was a 180-degree turnaround, and I hoped that with the wind at my back I would feel better. I didn’t. My mind started to focus on a my stomach not feeling right, and I dropped back and let Frank go. I just spiraled down from there. I started looking for a pit stop area. It’s like my mind just manifested the stomach issues out of nowhere to give me a reason to have to stop. I just can’t explain it any other way. I felt so completely relaxed earlier, and it all went south just like that (snaps fingers). It got worse and worse, and I started taking walking breaks. I passed two water stops without seeing any port-a-potties, and then finally near mile 21 I finally found some. I made a pit stop, and I really did feel much better after that.

From there, I had some “go” in my legs again, but I had already lost a ton of time and pretty much given up. I was going slowly, but still much faster than most of the people around me. That seemed to delight the crowds for the most part. That walking I did was like poison, though. It made my legs stiffen up, so running was pretty uncomfortable compared to how I felt earlier in the day. I had to stop a few more times to stretch out my legs. I was in the last few miles, though, and I could tell I would at least get in under four, so that kept me going until the end. I saw Gilbert inside the last mile, and I knew he was disappointed with me. I was, too. I’ve learned to run a lot faster in the last couple years, but I still haven’t figured out how to finish this race.

My official time was 3:55:34. I went back to the tent, ate some food, got a massage, and swapped stories with the other runners. My hamstrings and the bottoms of my feet were sore, but I knew I didn’t have anything really wrong with me. I just gave up too soon. I got some concerned calls from friends back home who had seen my time and were afraid I was hurt or something, so I had to keep explaining, no, I’m fine, I just sucked.

We walked back to the hotel to rest before dinner, and I took advantage of the cold water to soak my feet. That worked wonders, and I didn’t have any problems with my feet being sore after that. I watched some TV and rested. We all went out for some deep-dish pizza for dinner, and that was really tasty. They just don’t make it like that here! We had a good time, and it was nice to get to know some of the others on the trip a little better outside of just the running, too.

So, I did a really bad job, but I really did like the place. The people were great. The organization was great. The food was great. The course was flat, and the weather was cold but not too cold for running. I’ll have to come back and do it again, and maybe by then I’ll have that whole finishing thing figured out.

Gilbert assigned pretty much everyone in the group who was in town to a team for the Fila Relays. I wasn’t sure how that would go considering I am not used to running in the evenings. Plus, it was a work day. It was pretty hot outside when I got to Zilker Park, but there were a ton of people there. I found the Gazelles tent and hung out for a bit while I waited for things to get started. I was running the third leg, so I figured I would wait until the race started and then warm up. That worked out well because they were about 20 minutes late getting things started due to some traffic issues.

The race started, and I took off on my warm-up jog. After about 12 minutes I got to see Gilbert finish his lap, and he was already way ahead of the next guy by then. Once I was ready, I found my way to the exchange area, and I didn’t have to wait long. Our team was doing pretty well. I started my leg running too fast, of course, with all that excitement, but I quickly settled down. The first part of the course is the same as we do for the 2000s, so it felt like home, even down to the slippery water puddles where they’ve been running water every it seems all summer. I had gone about half a mile when I felt really dried out in my throat. I thought I might be in trouble, but I just lept on going strong. (I found out later that everyone got that. There was a lot of dust being kicked up in the inside area, and it was having an effect on the air.)

I just focused on my running form and trying to maintain a quick turnover. Before I knew it, I was at the turn where we diverged from our normal training route. I grabbed a cup of water, but unfortunately some of it went down the wrong pipe, so I spent a few paces coughing and getting to where I could breathe again. There was a very short out-and-back there, and I saw one of my friends was just a little bit behind me. I resolved not to let her catch me, so I turned it up another notch. I hadn’t run through the nature center in a couple years, so all I remembered was that there was a big hill. It didn’t turn out to be as bad as I feared, and I passed a lot of people there. I think most of them were only second-leggers, though, because they weren’t going nearly as fast as I was.

We came out of the nature center, and I could see that the course would quickly rejoin our regular training route for the finish. That would make things easier. I just kept concentrating on my form, and soon I was at the entrance to the park. My friends were cheering there, and I picked it up again for the finish. I knew from the clock that I was under 15 minutes for the loop, but I didn’t have my exact time since I had left the watch out of it. I made my handoff, grabbed some water, settled down a bit and then got to see Bernard come through to win the race (so they were almost a whole lap ahead of us).

I chugged several bottles of water, but I was still thirsty. I was really happy with my performance, though, so it didn’t bother me much. I hung around watching people finish and then listened to the band playing for quite a while before heading out.

The official distance for each leg was 2.44 miles, and my time was 14:45, so that’s just barely over 6 minutes a mile. Considering that was not really flat and like a thousand degrees outside I think that’s pretty good! Our team was all pretty even. We all ran within a few seconds of each other and finished in under an hour. That’s some strong running!

I felt like I could have kept going a while longer at that speed, but that I probably could not have run the course much faster. I think that must be pretty close to the fastest speed I can maintain right now.

A couple months ago, Frank asked me to fill in an empty spot on his realy team for the race on July 4th. I sat that one out last year, and I was happy to get to play this time. It was pretty hot and humid out there, but this was a really fun event.

When we showed up this morning, it looked like the weather could not decide whether to have rain or sun. The good thing was that the cloud cover kept things from getting too hot too fast. We got our tent set up and had a little bit of time before the start.

I was running the third leg, so I got to hang around a while longer. I warmed up and did my drills a little before my leg, and it turned out I timed it perfectly. I only waited in the chute for a couple minutes for my turn.

The course was all on roads I’ve run tons of times. As I started out on the road by Austin High, some spectator yelled something about slowing down since it was a long way. Maybe I was faster than the people around me, but I knew I could keep it going. I just ran. The only time I got passed was shortly after I started. I heard some noise behind me and then some people on bicycles saying to get out of the way because the leader was coming through. Thankfully, getting lapped right at the start didn’t really demotivate me. It probably picked me up a little bit as I tried to briefly match pace. The course was straight to Congress, and from there we went right. I was steadily picking people off the whole way, but I had no way to know how many of them were on my lap.

Soon, I hit the turnaround, and then it was time to run to the Capitol. I felt pretty good through there, but when I passed the three mile marker I wished my leg was only 5K long. Oh well, half-way done. I know I lost some time on the loop around the Capitol. No one passed me, but I could tell I lost some momentum. I’m not sure why I drag there. I always did in training, too, when we ran around there. Coming back out of there and on to the street, I picked up the pace again, though. It was pretty much a blur from there. I knew I was close to the end, and I just ran as fast as I could and picked off more spots. I dumped water on my head at every aid station, and I had a tremendous finishing kick. I finished with some gas left in the tank, so I probably could have started that a little sooner.

As soon as I finished I found the food and started pigging out. Our team did pretty well. We got 6th in the mixed division out of over 80 teams. I was a little disappointed when I saw my time — I had 42:23 for the 10K. I can do better than that, but it was pretty hot and humid. I think it was a good effort on a tough day, though, and I’ll take it as a good tempo run.

Finally, the big day was here. (official race site)

After strolling down to the start and dropping off our bags, Frank, Jay, Richard, and I went through our normal pre-race routine. We jogged around a bit from the finish line, and eventually we found a nice parking lot with lots of space and our very own restroom. We did all the Gazelle drills, made a few final hydration adjustments, and went off to join the crowd.

I was seeded in group “A” which was the first group of “normal” people. My friends were in groups “B” and “C”, and the corrals went all the way to “Z”, which was all the way back at our hotel. There were a LOT of people. It was pretty noisy, and I could not hear the announcer very well. The start was obvious, though, because they had a countdown, and a lot of people joined in.

Even though it only took me about 10 seconds to get across the line, the crowds were really thick. There were runners everwhere, and we moved in a huge (pretty fast) group. I was determined to just run how I felt, without really paying a lot of attention to my watch. Naturally, that meant I started out a little fast. Fortunately, I was strong enough to hang on for a really good finish.

In the first few miles, I just started enjoying the music. Basically, as soon as one band started to fade out behind me, the one on the next street corner would fade in. They were all really energetic, and that probably made me go even faster. I made it a point to take some water early, even though it was pretty crowded. For the first mile, we were running at least 5 or 6 wide. (They had a lot of overhead pictures in the local news, where you could see just a huge mass of people covering the entire road. Up at the front, the density was probably about the same, but we just didn’t take up as many lanes.) I saw my split at 5 km, and I knew I needed to slow down a little bit. I tried to just relax and find a comfortable speed.

Mile 1: 6:42
Mile 2: 6:22
Mile 3: 6:25
Mile 4: 6:29

There were people around me calling out splits each mile and generally being pretty serious, but I was just having a good time. I felt relaxed, and I even waved thanks to several of the musicians. I thought about several of Gilbert’s running form drills, and I chuckled as “get off me — I’m having fun” and “no I don’t like this cookie” danced through my head. At mile 5, we crossed a timing mat, and I think that was the point farthest west on the course. Before I knew it, the race track was in view. I slowed down to recover a little bit during the underpass at the entrance. I thought I picked it back up, but now that I look at my splits, it appears that I did not. I did note when I saw the 10 km clock station that I was faster than I was in the 10 km race a few weeks ago, though.

Mile 5: 6:37
Mile 6: 6:43
Mile 7: 6:51

I think most people slowed down a bit on the track, though, because I thought I was running around the same people most of the time. I swung out wide again for the cameras, on the track, so hopefully I’ve got some nice pictures on the way. Leaving the track required making a bunch of quick turns. There was probably a fast way through it, but I didn’t find it. I was really glad to hear rock and roll once we got back out on the road. I knew that would carry me to the end. Last year I remember wishing that section had happier music.

Mile 8: 6:39
Mile 9: 7:00
Mile 10: 6:52

After 10 miles, it was time to go. I really increased my effort and turned in another pretty fast mile. That section consists of a really long straightaway, though, and it seemed to last forever. I was really happy to finally see the “11″ appear in the distance. When I saw that marker and the clock on top of it, it was clear to me that I was going to beat my record at this distance by a wide margin. Something in my head told me to slow down and relax since I’d still make it, but I managed to fight it off and finish strong.

Mile 11: 6:39

Shortly after that, we turned back toward familiar territory. This part is tricky, too, though, because we know you turn on a bridge to reach the last part, and the first bridge you see isn’t the one. The real one is a little bit after it, so that makes it kind of hard. Shortly after making the turn, though, the countdown starts. They have markers from there every quarter mile until the finish. By then, I knew I was tired, but it was easy to run to each next marker since it was just “one lap” like in practice. When I saw the finish line and the clock I’m sure the grin I had covered my whole face.

Mile 12: 6:51
Mile 13: 6:45
Mile 13.1: 0:41

Total: 1:27:36 (6:42 pace)

I stepped on the mat and went straight to the woman handing out medals. She congratulated me for being in the top 500 finishers and handed me the special medal associated with that. (”500 Club” it says.) I was grinning ear to ear and having a surprisingly hard time keeping my legs from wobbling. I really gave this one everything I had, and I got the prize I had wanted since seeing it last year. I grabbed a bunch of food and my other finishing medal (the normal one everyone gets, which was really cool with a spinning race car embedded in it) and headed on out to retrieve my checked gear.

After catching up with everyone else, Frank and I stuck around for a while afterwards listening to the band play in the finishing area. They were really good, and I was happy to just sit on the grass and stretch while listening.

After a pizza lunch, I blew off more touring in the afternoon and took a nice nap instead. I was really, really tired. I’m not normally that tired after a run, so I know I did a good job with my effort on this one.

This weekend, I had a special event on the schedule. An organization my mother belongs to was one of the sponsors of a little 5K race outside of Houston, and she wanted me to head down there and run. I hadn’t run a 5K in almost two years, so I figured I was due. I didn’t really know what to expect going in. I just knew it was a pretty small race.

I showed up with my parents an hour before the start to warm up. After getting my bearings, I headed out for a jog along the course. It was nice and flat. I ran a little less than the first mile of the course before I ran into a pretty busy street and decided I would turn back. I scored all that about a ten-minute average pace. I was good and did all my drills and a little stretching. Before it was time to hop into the starting area, I did a few strides. While I was doing that, I saw another guy doing them and pointed him out to my parents as the probable winner. I saw a few other people who looked quick, too, as I was lining up. There were only a couple hundred people in the race, so I didn’t force the issue lining up. I was in the second row.

They started the race with a gun instead of the airhorn I’m used to from Austin, and it seemed like tons of little kids appeared out of nowhere. I had to navigate through them in the first little bit, but once I got through, there were just a couple other guys. I actually took the lead for a short time within the first half mile. There was a guy up there who had gone out really fast, and I just kept my pace and scooted past him. Shortly after that, the eventual winner (the same guy I had pointed out) caught me, and I ran along with him for the rest of that mile. It was pretty fun to be right behind the pace car.

I could tell he was a lot faster than I was, so I had to let him go so I wouldn’t blow up. I didn’t hear anyone behind me, so I just relaxed a little bit and tried to be consistent. I grabbed a tiny sip of water at the first mile marker and pressed on. When I made the turn around at the halfway point, I saw that there wasn’t anyone close behind me. I knew I had second place in the bag as long as I kept on going. Soon, I was passing the mile 2 marker and then seeing the place I had turned around during my warm-up. Then something neat happened. The motorcycle cop ahead came back towards me and drove in front of me as I approached the busy street so he could block the traffic. From there, I knew I was well inside a mile to go, and I just pressed on.

I rounded the final corner going as fast as I thought I could go. When I saw the clock, I was a little disappointed because I thought I might break 19, but I’ll be happy taking a huge chunk of time of my personal best with a 19:11 and going home with a trophy.

I realized at the end of that run that I could have kept going at that speed. I don’t think I could have run it any faster, but I could have kept doing that for longer. That’s probably good news for my half marathon coming up in a couple weeks.

I did about a two-mile cool-down run with guy that won the race. He lived in Austin in the early 80s, and we talked a little bit about some of the races that they had back then and what they still do now, and it was a lot of fun.

Well this turned out to be a pretty interesting day. I had decided late in the game to do the race, and then after running the course on Thursday I was having serious doubts. I figured I would just show up and have fun, though, and not worry about how I did.

The time change didn’t help things, but I did wake up in time to make it down to Town Lake to warm up. The group was meeting at the zero-mile marker, and I arrived just in time to see them starting on the warm-up run. I ran a little faster to catch up, and we all ran about 2 miles in all. I didn’t want to worry about timing today, so I had left my watch at home on purpose, but I’m sure we were going pretty slowly. After we did all of our usual drills, it was time to move a little closer to the starting area. There were already a ton of people lined up, but we did a few last-minute stretches before joining the crowds.

I lined up pretty far up towards the front along with a bunch of people from the group. It wasn’t long before it was time to start. I’m not sure why I thought there was more time, but it kind of caught me by surprise.

The gun went off and I started running. I apparently did a pretty good job of getting to the front because I really didn’t have any trouble with the crowds. I took only a few seconds getting to the line. There were a few people I knew around me, but I just wanted to run and not worry about them. I tried to just tune everyone out. There was a rock band playing at the end of Congress, and I really enjoyed that. As we rounded the corner there at the first mile marker, I had some water and charged up the hill.

It got pretty hilly after that, and those lasted for the next couple miles. I was just going along wishing there was more of that music, but instead there were just more hills. Somewhere in the second mile, one of the three knots on one of my shoes came undone, and I was glad I still had two more. I wasn’t about to stop. After all, it was only like five miles or so. When I saw a water stop again, I grabbed a cup and dumped it on my head. It felt nice and cool for about a second before it was warm again. I passed a couple people from my group on those hills, and I just hoped I would not see them again until after the race.

It was really, really hot and humid out there, and I think I even started hallucinating. As I approached the third mile marker, I heard someone behind me reminding some people to stop for water at the next station. I could have sworn it was Jay’s voice. I didn’t have my watch, and I had been purposely not looking at the clocks, but that got into my head, so I looked at the mile three one as I approached: 20:0-something. Well, obviously I wasn’t running too slowly, so if it had been Jay he was having the race of his life.

We made the turn south and soon began the last real climb of the day. There was a band playing on the porch of a house along that street that I liked, and that got my feet moving again. Coming down towards the Lake Austin RunTex and making the turn East I knew the home stretch had begun. Somewhere over there near AHS someone was smoking, and that was pretty annoying, but I survived and moved on. I didn’t feel that strong in mile five, and I got passed by a couple people I knew. That motivated me to push a little harder.

There was a really loud rock band under the Lamar bridge, and that got my feet moving faster. When I’m running hard like that I like loud music with drums and electric guitars. They had some of these other acts all trying to be like serious musicians or something, too, but those just don’t really get my legs moving. I was pretty happy to reach the bridge and see the finish line. I saw some friends yelling along there, and I broke into an all out sprint. Seeing how easy that was to find, I probably could have started it sooner.

I came in a little before the clock got to 42 minutes, and immediately grabbed a couple bottles of water. I guzzled those and grabbed another while watching people finish. After talking to a few of my friends, it became clear that I had had a really good day. I was tired, and my time was just a few seconds faster than last year. However, just about everyone I talked to was at least a minute or two off of their goal. So maybe I am getting stronger after all.

I joined a bunch of the crew for a cool-down trot. It was really slow going, and we went out a half mile and returned. By the end of it, I was starting to feel normal again, and that’s why those are so important. After a little more food and drink, it was time to head out, and I did manage to squeeze my stretches in once I got home. That turned out to be a great running day. Maybe I should leave all my thinking at home more often.

Well that was just an awful showing. I don’t have too much to say besides that. I felt good going in, but within the first mile I knew there was no way I could run that distance, regardless of how slow I went. I just didn’t have anything close to it in me. I have a cold, but I wouldn’t figure it would affect me like that. So, maybe I just can’t do it. It’s certainly not the training. Everyone else had great runs, and we’ve all done the same work. I’m not going to attempt that distance again unless something changes to make me think I can actually do it. Every time I’ve tried it I’ve failed miserably, so it doesn’t really make sense to go through it again unless I find something to change that might give me a chance.

I suppose the one positive thing I can say is that it appears I have escaped without hurting myself, so I should be able to run again just as soon as I figure out how to get these lead weights unattached from the ends of my legs.

What a wonderful day for running! This was one of those runs that should serve as a model for how future runs should be. It had a little of everything.

Several of my friends had plans to really race this one since we have a whole three weeks to recover before the marathon, but I had other plans. I knew I still needed to let my leg heal up to have a shot at doing well in the marathon, so I had to avoid going all out. After yesterday’s easy jog, my leg really felt good, so I woke up feeling pretty confident.

Parking is a real pain at both the start and finish of this race, so I met a few of the others at RunTex, and we shared a ride up to the top. That’s about a mile and a half from the finish, but I figured walking or jogging back there would be a nice way to really loosen everything up afterwards.

We did our normal warm-up jog out on the course. I measured 1.62 miles at over a ten-minute pace. The crowds were pretty bad, so I didn’t even look for the group doing drills and went to wait in line for the bathroom instead. I did a few stretches standing in line, and by the time I got out of there and dropped my warmer clothes off for transport to the finish it was time to get lined up. I was really thankful to find a couple of my friends there in the starting area after drawing a blank on that at the last race.

They were having some issues with the PA, so it was tough to hear what was going on. Standing in the starting corral, all the excited voices around me were much louder than the announcements. They took a long time to get us started, but eventually the crowd started moving. We were all looking around, wondering if the race had started since we couldn’t hear the traditional air horn.

There were so many people in that first mile. We really had a hard time cutting through them. There was a lot of zigging and zagging, and I found the mile marker in 7:33. It thinned out a little bit after that, and we had plenty of room to run. We really got settled in there, and the next mile was 7:06. They had water every two miles, and I planned to sample all of those. Mile three dipped under 7 minutes, and that was the last time I looked at my watch all morning.

I felt very relaxed and just wanted to stay consistent. The couple friends I was running with were using a little bit more effort, but it wasn’t too bad. We cruised along nicely for miles, grabbing a quick drink at each stop. My main focus was on staying relaxed and positive. Fortunately that was easy since my leg wasn’t bothering me at all.

The miles really seemed to click by in a hurry. We have run this section so many times in training that it was a breeze. Around mile 6 we started catching people we knew that had started ahead of us but weren’t running as fast. For some reason, I lost my friends in mile 8. They just slowed down a little bit, and I figured they must have needed a quick rest. I kept to my pace, though. It did seem like a little more work after that, though.

I latched on to a couple other runners for the long stretch down Burnet and also enjoyed the crowds. I saw several people I knew cheering on that stretch of road, and it was a nice boost to hear them call out to me. As we cut over to Guadalupe on the only real hill on the course, I slowed down just a little bit, but I picked it back up again once we made the turn.

In the last couple miles, it was hard not to really get racing because everyone around me was picking up the pace. I stayed under control for most of it, but I did turn in a pretty fast last mile (6:33).

I finished in 1:30:40 with absolutely tons of energy left. Seriously, that is the last tired I have felt after a race this entire season. The weather could not have been better, the course was mostly downhill, and I had friends to run with most of the way. I’m sure all thost things helped.

I jogged back along the side of the course to watch some people finish, and then I jogged around the finishing area with one of my friends looking for the clothes we had dropped off at the top. Somewhere in there, I sampled the free breakfast tacos for the first time, and they were just fine. I found my warm clothes before I got too cold, and I was pleased that my leg did not hurt at all.

I ended up hanging around quite a while just soaking up the morning, visiting with people, and throwing in a few stretches. I didn’t feel much like running on the roads on the way back, so I walked down Lamar to the trail before jogging the rest of the way back to where I parked. All in all, that was a wonderful morning of running, and I hope I have more just like it really soon!

Well that has to rank up there as one of the hardest runs I’ve ever done!

The day started out happily enough. I got to carpool up to Round Rock with Gilbert since we both live way down south. It was quite a long way, but we got there with plenty of time. It turned out that they had moved the starting line farther back in the parking lot than they had had it marked a week ago. Everyone had started to gather there, and shortly after 7:00 we took off on our warm-up jog. Since Gilbert was with us, he kept us all under control. I clocked us at just over an 11-minute pace. We went out about a mile, but we took a shorter way back, so I ended up with about a mile and a half. Then, we found an empty section of parking lot and did our warm-up drills and a little stretching.

Shortly after that is when things started to go downhill for me. I had planned to run with some of the others from my group, but by the time I managed to make a pit stop and get back to the starting area, I could not find them. There were a lot more people there than I expected, and there were some really, really long lines. The starting area was packed, and I did not want to start at the back, so I hopped through an opening in the fence and looked for people I knew. I found a couple, but I knew they would start much faster than I wanted to go. By that time, they were already about to start, so it was time to go.

I ran pretty conservatively at the start. I was hoping that some of my friends would catch me. I didn’t want to go too slowly in case they were ahead of me. After about a mile, I fell in with one of the big pace groups practicing for the marathon. It was a pretty big group, and we clicked off 7:15 miles like clockwork. I actually felt very relaxed and comfortable, just the way I want to feel for the first several miles of the marathon.

They had water stops every two miles. The first one was very crowded, but I muscled my way in. At the second one, though, they only had a couple volunteers, and they simply couldn’t hand out water fast enough to service such a large crowd. I missed it, but I figured it would be better later as things thinned out.

At the mile 5 marker, we made a right turn and hit the first real wind of the day. I was thankful I had a large crowd to run in because even with all the people breaking it up, I could tell the wind was very strong. I refueled at the mile 6 water stop, and kept going. The mile 8 water stop was a mess. Apparently, they had just found out that the volunteers had not shown up yet, and Paul Carrozza was there handing out water. They didn’t even have cups filled yet, so this was a slow one. I needed a drink, though. The trouble, however, was that I lost my group. That’s when I found out how bad the wind really was. Most of the way to Highway 79, I pushed a little bit to see if I could catch them, but I could tell I was working way too hard. I wasn’t really losing ground, but I wasn’t gaining either, and that wind was just punishing me.

When we turned on to the highway, I glanced back to see how far back the next pack was, in case I could just blend in with them. Well, there was no pack. In fact, it looked like there wasn’t even anyone coming. I could not figure out what was going on. All the way down that road I was just getting abused by the wind. I looked forward to making the turn to get it behind me. I could tell I was working way too hard.

I made the turn and crossed the halfway point with a big smile on my face for the camera. Ahead of me I could see that the pace group was breaking up a bit. I thought I might be able to catch up to them, but those next couple miles were uphill, and I took it a little easier. Without anyone around, it was actually pretty hard to stay motivated. There were a few people at the water stops, but for the most part it was empty. From mile 12 to 15, I saw just a handful of other runners. I really just felt kind of lonely. I wished I had some music to listen to. I wished I had found my friends at the start.

At the mile 5 marker, I made the turn into the wind again. (The mile 15 marler was a little bit down the road due to the extra distance in the parking lot at the beginning and end.) That’s when I pretty much lost the rest of my motivation. The wind was just brutal. There still weren’t any people around, and I felt like I must be the last runner out on the course, just struggling to get home. I felt really tired, and I slowed way down. I was just determined not to walk so that when I finally got to the end I’d at least be able to be happy about that.

People started passing me around mile 17. First they would draft behind me to avoid the wind then scoot by. I just didn’t have any energy to fight it. I finally got caught by one of the guys from my group at about the mile 18 marker. He had started much slower and was in the fast-finish mode. I couldn’t even think about trying to speed up and stay with him. I was just too worn down. At least there was plenty of water there this time around! I really felt like just walking it in, but I kept on going.

I struggled with the wind some more on Highway 79. The highlight of that stretch was passing the sag wagon. There were three or four walkers ahead of it (still on their first lap, of course), and they cheered loudly for each runner that passed them. Finally, I made the turn off the highway and out of the wind, and a little bit of a spring came back into my step ans I headed back into the parking lot and towards the finish line.

I made it. I grabbed some refreshments and then sat down to stretch for a bit. I was tired, but I knew I had escaped largely unharmed, and that’s a victory in itself for a run like this.

My overall time was 2:42:42 (8:08 pace). That’s an okay time I guess, but I’m really not happy with the way the run went. I started out faster, and I wound up doing over 9 minutes a mile at the end. That’s pretty much the opposite of what we are supposed to do. Still, I ran 20 miles through some really tough conditions, I fought off the urge to walk, I scored my highest weekly mileage total ever (57), and I get to come back and run again, so with any luck doing that will somehow make me stronger.

After how hard that was, though, I’m having real doubts about running the marathon in six weeks. I have to do something between now and then to build up some confidence, because whatever I had before is long gone now.

I had really been looking forward to a repeat of the fun I had at this race last year, but this one really just wiped me out. I ran a pretty good race, but I felt so meserable at the end that it colored the whole day.

I showed up nice and early to warm up with the whole group. We ran out of the end of the course for a total of 1.8 miles, and I measured a little slower than a 10-minute pace. I felt really good for that. We did all the drills and even a little stretching before it was time to go line up.

I made my way through the crowd so I could start near my normal training group, so that was an improvement over the last one of these races. We started off, and I could tell it was going to be a long day. The first two miles were into a pretty strong headwind. It wasn’t too bad, though, because there were a lot of people in the crowd breaking up the wind. As usual, I wasn’t watching my pace at all and instead just finding a groove.

Mile 1: 6:35
Mile 2: 7:10

Thankfully, in the third mile, we turned and got out of the wind. That mile was pretty nice, and it was good to recover a little bit and let my breathing calm down. At the end of the road was another right turn that went straight into a pretty tough climb. At the top of the hill was the mile 4 marker.

Mile 3: 6:33
Mile 4: 7:14

The running crowd really started to thin out around there. For the next couple of miles we just ran down the country roads, and I wished I had had some music with me.

Mile 5: 6:48
Mile 6: 6:44

All the people from my training group who weren’t running in the race were at the water stop at the 10K point. They were all so excited and jumping up and down. I grabbed a cup in each hand as I went through. Right after the water stop was another turn, and then the course went upward for about a whole mile. I was running pretty fast there, but I could still feel the wind at my back pushing me along. (That should have been a warning, I think!)

Mile 7: 7:02
Mile 8: 6:57

Shortly after the mile 8 marker the biggest climb on the course began. I still felt very strong, and I was looking forward to coasting to the finish.

Mile 9: 7:16

At the top of the hill was another turn, and as I made the turn it felt like I ran right into a wall. The wind was so strong it felt like if I had my feet off the ground it would push me backwards. I looked for someone that I could get behind for some shelter form the wind, but I was out of luck. Those last few miles were an absolute struggle. I could tell that every step was just wearing me down, and every so often the wind threw a freezing gust at me. For two miles it was into the hard wind and mostly uphill. I had not been looking forward to the turnaround in the out and back since right after the turnaround you have to go up a hill, but this time I was so thankful that the wind was gone that I barely noticed the hill. After half a mile the course turned back into the headwind, and by then I was totally worn out. I don’t remember much of the last little bit except finally making the turn away from the wind a couple hundred yards from the finish and running in as fast as I could still manage.

Mile 10: 7:20
Mile 11: 7:11
Mile 12: 7:34
Mile 12.43: 3:06

Total: 1:27:30 (7:03 pace)

I almost collapsed at the finish line. I stumbled over and picked up a drink, my teeth started chattering, I got dizzy, and I lost track of what was going on. I felt so cold I went to my car and put on all the clothes I had in it before I went inside the expo center to look for food. I cannot remember ever feeling that bad after a run. I must have looked the part, too, because some of my running friends sounded really concerned when they saw me.

I stayed in the expo center quite a while before venturing outside in the cold again to head home. I got a short massage and ate lots of food, and by the time I left my face had turned back to its normal color.

So, I’ve clearly got some work to do. It felt the like wind chewed me up and spat me out, so I need to get my legs a lot stronger in case it tries that again. Still, even though I blew up at the end I managed to beat my time on this course from last year, so I’ve got that to be happy about.

I took a nice nap all afternoon and woke up just in time to go devour some pizzas with my running buddies, and that was certainly a nice way to cap off the day.