It's been several weeks since I last posted, and a lot has gone on. I guess it's hard for me to know who is "in the loop" because of I don't know who only follows me on here, or also on Facebook. I don't know of either gives a complete picture.

The week after the marathon I felt great. A Wed. or Thursday 5 miler felt ok and I decided to make that weekend run 15 miles. I intentionally did not follow a specific route, and ended up doing around 18 miles. Well, I hadn't carried any fluid, so it was a little grueling, but it was cold so there wasn't terrible fluid loss. I had a bit of an ache in my right calf, which dissipated later in the day.

It went down hill the following week. Each successive run, my right knee started hurting. At first not until about 7 miles in, but eventually within the first 2 or 3 miles. I did a 15 miler on Friday (since I was traveling that weekend) and it was hurting within a mile. Me being me, I did the rest of the 15 miles.

Now I've been on a hiatus for nearly three weeks. For someone who loved and thrived off of 45-50 mile weeks, this was torture. The first week I supplemented with cycling and swimming. Both also cause my knee to ache, and I've stopped cycling now too (also because of the cold.).

I've been extremely fortunate though. I was a rower in college, and used to be quite familiar with the erg (the indoor rowing machines NO ONE ever uses, at least not correctly). For the past year, I've never done more than 250 meters; even for rowers an erg is the most boring exercise, and when I had no rowing oriented fitness goal, it seemed so pointless. However, erging has the upside of giving me no knee pain. So now I've been rowing several days a week to replace my running. I think I may actually being rowing more meters now than I did while at State. On the other days I've been swimming, where my yardage has also skyrocketed to support my exercise addiction. I've gone from doing a max of about 4000 yards in a session to a minimum of 5300 (to cover 3 miles).

I know at some point I'll need to go see a doctor. My biggest fear isn't having to take time off, but if whatever is wrong will require surgery.

It's tough to be away from something I love so much (running). I just try and comfort myself with the stories of people who may not even start running until in their 50s, or people who were 100 lbs overweight, or chronic chain smokers, who have been able to turn their lives around. I try to tell myself that if people can turn their lives around, I should be ok with a couple of weeks.

The best thing about going back to erging is that I'm able to do all kinds of mini-goals without the presumption of having my previous fitness. Such as that for that first hour piece, I had no goal 500 m split and just went with it. Obviously, as I've progressed, I have been lazy, but my tolerance for the boredom has increased as well.

More than meeting an ultimate time/distance goal, I love being consistent. This morning was a high point on that scale. For my hour piece, it was set to log 10 minute splits. For 50-40 min, 40-30, 30-20, 20-10, my meters were 2342, 2343, 2343, 2342. Meaning for I maintained the same pace for 40 minutes. For those unfamiliar with the sport, that's not half bad.

The Marathon

It's hard to write post-race and feel that it is completely satisfactory. So many things go into the preparation, strategy, and then all the little things that to you seem worthwhile, but probably mean diddly-squat to anyone else.

It was a great race from many aspects. It was well-organized (for it's size) and also a solid performance for myself.

To get it out of the way, I ran a 3:17:58 chip time (3:19:40 gun time. Gun time is when you cross the finish from when the gun goes off. Chip time is from when you cross the start) (results). This put me 14/100 in my age group. I was 47 overall out of 654 finishers. This was a BIG personal record. My previous (and only other marathon) was last year's Marine Corps Marathon at 3:49:22, making this a 31:24 improvement. Further stats: it is a 7:33.4 min/mile pace; it is also 6:59 min off the 3:10:59 Boston qualifying time, which would require :16 sec/mile faster pace to make.

Was I upset about not getting a Boston qualifier? Definitely not. For Marine Corps, I was somewhat naive coming off my training and had lofty expectations that led to rookie mistakes and a disappointing performance. I went out too fast and ended up burning out around mile 16. This year, I set some more realistic goals and then tried to execute. The beginning of the race was what I call a "restrained" pace where I primarily try to hold back a little to make sure I'm conserving energy. It was about mile 12 that I caught up with the 3:30 (8 min/mile) pace group. Most "negative-split" strategies have you go out slower the first half, so I knew I was pretty much on target. I knew I was picking up speed, but still held back till I had cleared the hillier sections leading into Umstead (~mi 15-16). In the next stage I kinda went somewhere between "letting go" and "running with a purpose." Essentially no longer holding back, but not yet willing to hit the grindstone. Mile 18 - 20 was solid pace building to take me into a "determined" and eventually "hard" finally 10k.

That hard final 10k is hard to describe. If you had asked me last year about, it would've been very daunting. But having come through the 20 mile point essentially unscathed, and I suppose with a little bit more mature outlook, I was both more fresh, and more determined to keep it strong. I almost wish there were more splits provided post-race so I could see how the pace was that last bit. I still don't know if I hit any "wall" but I know I was in that strange place of running on fumes but also mysterious reserves.

Soon I'll do another analysis of my training leading up to the race, this will be important to planning my future races.

Final comments:
-Race volunteers were great, if not sometimes hit-or-miss.
-Great to hear from an unexpected friend coming out by Gorman (thanks Gavin).
-Play it by ear, but if nature calls early in the race: answer. Comfort goes a long -way.
My deer slaying days are not out of sight (sighting along Ebenezer Church).
-As I've said before, and further realized: I am much more a runner than a triathlete. As much as I am ever determined to do an Ironman in 2012, I would give it up in a heartbeat to qualify for Boston.

On the NYC marathon(!!!). When I got home, NBC was re-broadcasting the race coverage:
-Man, I want to run that race.
-Being at a football/basketball/hockey game is exciting. Watching a football/basketball/hockey game is meh. Watching a minute and a half of Olympic swimming is cool, but still meh. But 2 1/2 hours of a marathon is MESMERIZING.
-Great wins by Gebrmariam (men, Kenya, 2:08:~~) and Kiplagat (women, Ethiopia, 2:28:30).
-I really want to run NYC.
-Regrets/better luck to my American male favorite, Dathan Rizenhein (8th, 2:12:33).
-Much praise to my American female favorite, Shalane Flanagan (2nd, 2:28:40, and in her DEBUT MARATHON).
-Man, I REALLY WANT to run this race.
-Also on Flanagan: she is quite fine! (as with 99.99999% of women distance runners)

Taper Week #1

Last week was the first week of tapering for City of Oaks. Not surprising, it was that much of a taper. My weekday mileage was pretty much what it has been, the mid-week bike ride was a little shorter, and the main difference being a shorter weekend long run. While I've discovered many benefits to having a self-built training plan, now is when the pitfalls of being able to vary that plan can arise. I'm doing my best to stick to it, but I know it'll be hard, especially now that the daily miles are beginning to go down.

Ever a glutton for punishment, I've begun searching for my next adventure. In the mid-distant future [i.e. 2011] I was primarily concerned with my next marathon, looking any time from February till May. However, it wasn't until my bike ride yesterday that I remembered 2011 is my year of the half-Ironman. With that in mind, I've already envisioned my 2011 A-list races: a marathon in the February/early, early March time frame; a May Half-Ironman (HIM); another HIM in September, followed by an October marathon. In just over the cusp into 2012, I still dream of running the Disney World Goofy Challenge: run the half marathon on Saturday and wash it down with the full marathon on Sunday. Oh, and the one race I am dead set on is the Krispy Kreme Challenge which has A-level priority, not for it's difficulty but it's ridiculous fun, enjoyment, and college-nostalgia.

It sounds like a full schedule, but for me, that's part of the challenge. For me, more than being able to complete a distance is being able to do it again. And again. That's why I've been intent on finding a quick follow up marathon to City of Oaks. I'm not sure what to call it: turnover, resiliency, bounce-back... Essentially I want to assess what a hard/long effort feels after just doing one. As I delve into longer and longer events, I want to develop a lasting endurance.

This matter is something I contemplate often. Do I want a perpetual level of training, or continue with some staggering periodization? How much can one sacrifice quality (speed, endurance) for quantity (/frequency)? If I try to do multiple marathons a year, do I risk missing a chance to qualify for Boston? Or do more races increase "maturity" and resiliency?

I think the secret revolves around expanding the baseline, part of what I wanted to accomplish this training period. While my long run build-up this year was fairly similar to the build-up for MCM, the big difference was the increase in my weekday mileage. Last year, the longest mid-week was 8 miles; this year it was 12. Preseason this year consisted of routine 8 milers, with a weekend 12-13. Does this year's training predict weekly 12 milers with weekend 15-17? I'd like to try, perhaps even up those weekend runs a little more. Besides wanting to be capable of frequent marathon racing, if I start to delve into ultras, I feel a high sustained baseline will be essential.

I think I've babbled enough. All I'll say now is that it's becoming obvious I am much more a runner than a triathlete. I am still lock-on to a 2012 Ironman, but still, running is my escape.

Endurance Fun

I love my runs. This is probably a good thing for someone training for marathons. But really, they are soooo enjoyable. And usually something interesting happens that I don't get to see or experience while driving or whatever.

This week/weekend culminated the peak of my training. With three weeks left, I will be going into the taper phase. In this phase, I'll gradually reduce my training volume to give my body adequate recovery for the effort require for the marathon. Tapering is always mentally challenging. After fine-tuning your body to work and work and work, it becomes very awkward to ease-up.

I've been fairly content with this training season. I've stuck to my training plan well and learned a lot about my abilities, and learned to be flexible with changing schedules. My CNA class pushed me earlier and earlier in the morning to complete runs; I'm currently waking at 4:00 for 4:30 runs. The exception has been my Friday runs. I'm opening the pool at 5:30. I'd probably be fine with doing my run even earlier; however, it would mess with my eating habits a lot more, so instead I've done my runs after work. Despite being miserable with these midday runs, I've actually clocked some of my fastest runs. It's also given me a chance to have some mild "refresher courses" on running after already having a meal. Most marathon coaching suggest breakfast the morning before the race, but also suggest not doing anything new. For most of my runs, they are the first thing in the morning, but these Friday midday runs give me chance to see otherwise.

One great accomplishment this weekend was this morning ride where I hit 70.3 miles, certainly the farthest I've ever ridden. I was pleasantly surprised.

Yesterday was my peak long run at 22 miles. As stated above, I love my runs and this one was particularly enjoyable, with a couple of noteworthy instances. First was the SUV that called out to me asking for directions... to a bank... at 6:00am on a Saturday. Unfortunately for them I 1) was running and wasn't keen on slowing, 2) couldn't understand what bank she was looking for, and 3) didn't know where "center green" rd was. Supposedly she was on her way to work security? I also enjoyed my run through Umstead before dark. When first reaching the end of Harrison, the entrance is a bit intimidating with absolutely no illumination. However, either my eyes adjusted, or some starlight helped and I was able to navigate safely. The route markings in Umstead are notoriously (to me) difficult to understand regardless, let alone in darkness, but I some how ended up on my desired route.

This led me out Umstead and up Reedy Creek to Blue Ridge, which happens to be around miles 17-20 of the marathon. While earlier in my run than it will be in the marathon, I was glad to get a preview of this particular section of the course, where I was worried about the uphill nature of it. Obviously mile 18 will feel different than my mile 10 did yesterday, but I felt good having run it.

Lastly is the farm animals at the State Fair! My run took me by there around 7:00. I'm not sure if the fair was open or not; there were volunteers but I couldn't discern anybody else. Well, while running by a tent, which seemed to house some animals, all I could hear were these god-awful screams. I'm sure they were the crowds of animals, but I swear, I didn't know the difference between them and if kids were screaming on a roller coaster. Don't know whether it was scary or comical.

That's pretty much it. I also almost got to race in a relay at the Pinehurst Triathlon. Might have been fun, but seeing as I was gearing for my final long run, I must admit I'm glad the NCSU tri club could find someone else (who was probably faster than me anyways!).

Til next time...

20 mi #2

This weekend I completed my second 20 mile run. I finally took the opportunity to satisfy my nostalgia for NC State and drove over to complete my run. Many have heard me say this before: having 20 miles to run, instead of trying to choose only one of my old runs to do, I can combine several together for one great trip. I parked in the Varsity lot across from where I use to live (and start my runs). My journey took me through frat court towards my St. Mary's/Cameron Village loop, whizzing over to Dixie Trail for a stint down Wade and Oberlin. After a waltz down Hillsborough, I tackled Kaplan and a little Avent Ferry. A short climb in Centennial and Western to Boylan, back to Hillsborough to finish off on Morrill/Avent Ferry. In felt fast, but it must have just been the familiarity.

For some actual news, earlier this week I crashed on my bike. Out riding in the rain Wednesday afternoon, I swerved to avoid a collision with a truck that was turning left where I was turning right. My wheels slide out from under me and I took a fall. My hip ached pretty bad for the evening and next day (still does even now). I was terribly worried about how my running would be affected. However, everything seems to be ok. My two runs since (9 miles on Friday, and the 20 on Saturday) started out uneasy but both finished strong. I think at the moment, there is just some bruising and transient stiffness from swelling.

For a while I joked about being a bad omen on my exercise excursions. Now, I am becoming seriously concerned. Four times (five if you include my own crash), I have seen/learned about accidents close to where I've been running/biking. After my first 20 miles with a bit along Tryon, the news later reports of a hit-and-run along Tryon. The next week, a jog on Jenks Carpenter was followed by a motorcycle accident report. Also, last week a water main broke along Maynard (though this apparently happened before I passed by). Earlier in my ride last Wednesday (preceding my own crash), I witnessed a stopped car blatantly cross a red light at James Jackson, getting T-boned. Then I passed a car wreck on Hillsborough street in the later miles on this week's 20.

Last comments: For some reason I noticed the range of brands I sport. Sometimes I try to stick with product loyalty: my running shoes have been Brooks for many years. However, on my bike ride, I couldn't help but feel like a hodgepodge of labels. My bib and jersey were Hincapie. My socks were Craft. Leggings were Under Armor. Arm warmers were Pearl Izumi. Wind-vest was Nike. And gloves were Reebok.

I'll have a brief "recovery" week followed by a final 22 miles. Then it's time to taper.

Final Build up

It's been a little bit longer since my last update. There are always things I do/see that I think "I'd like to comment about that on my blog." But of course I ultimately forget. Hopefully writing will get the brain working and I'll remember things as I go.

Having completed the Nation's Triathlon, I am now building up for the City of Oaks Marathon here in Raleigh. My training schedule hasn't really changed all that much. I am still biking and swimming as before with the reasoning that looking ahead to 2011 when I plan to step up to the half-Ironman, the more base I have the better. I also am finally getting to a point where cycling can be enjoyable versus it being a necessary evil in triathlon.

After Nation's I have also begun some mild strength training. My initial plan was to incorporate a daily core (abdominal and lower back) exercise routine. However, with a modest assortment of lifting equipment (some barbell and weights with a bench), I got the impulse to throw in some short lifts. My entire routine only takes about 20-25 minutes, at least 10 of which are the core exercises, and nothing at all heavy. However, I figure something is better than nothing. Also, a nagging knee problem has dissipated tremendously since starting this program so I think there is some therapeutic value.

Two weeks ago I also began my Nursing Assistant class. As with starting back my job at the YMCA, it is a humbling experience to go from working towards a Ph.D. to taking a class you don't even need a high school diploma to take. But the subject matter is interesting and I think I'm realizing and reaffirming how much I prefer jobs that may not pay great, but may be more laborious. The class is very short (only 6 1/2 weeks) but goes three days a week for 8 hours. Once I'm done I hope to be able to work at one of the local hospitals and be in a position to discover a future career goal.

There isn't much more I can think about for this post. I guess a few briefs:

1) If biking while raining, wear protective eyewear NO MATTER WHAT. This morning I made this mistake since it was still dark out and sunglasses would be inappropriate. My eyes have been hurting most of the day and I'm sure there's some [temporary] damage.
2) When starting my weekend long run a deer jumped across the road RIGHT IN MY NEIGHBORHOOD. And we don't live out in the boonies, this is a fairly long-established suburban neighborhood.
3) On the previous week's long run I 'got lost;' which is really to say I just didn't go the way I had originally planned. No biggie. However, I did discover the most blatant "themed" street names: the main road was 'Carousel' with side streets of 'Ferris Wheel,' 'Brass Rings,' and 'Candy Apple.'

Twenty miles coming up. Get excited.

Nations Triathlon

Another wonderful race day/weekend. I love this post-race athlete's high. I'll try and provide a good recap. It's always hard to do so; I want to be thorough but without overwhelming with details, some of which I may think are interesting, but wouldn't make since unless you were there.

The Nation's Triathlon was an Olympic distance, i.e. 1500m swim, 40 K (approximately 25 mile) bike, and then a 10 K (6.2 mile) run. Over 7000 people registered with 5300 picking up their packets which gave us, [the event] the WORLD RECORD FOR LARGEST INTERNATIONAL DISTANCE TRIATHLON (previously held by the 2006 Chicago Triathlon). So far this is the longest distance I have done, but the second one. In May I had done the Columbia Triathlon in Maryland as a member of Team in Training.

There are many interesting details surrounding the race: staying with my cousins (thanks Jenny!), the packet pickup and expo, the weather this morning, etc. It may be best to just stick to the race.

Like most, if not all, triathlons, the race begins in wave starts. First elite/open triathletes go off, and then racers go off based on their gender/age group. Sometimes they'll send the younger (and likely faster) ages first, but usually the older age groups go first since the younger people catch up and therefore minimize road closures. For me this meant being one of the last waves (30th out of 33 waves). This made the wait HORRIBLE. My wave started TWO HOURS after the official start of the race. Being soaked through from the rainy morning, it got very chilly. Swimming in the Potomac turned out to be a lot better than I expected. It was fairly calm, and for the most part I couldn't notice a significant current.

Both the bike and the run were unfairly flat. On the bike, my makeshift strategy was to push a decent pace, but let up later on to restore my legs a little bit for the run. But with such this course there was no need to. Unfortunately, I hate to stop twice to take care of nature (this is the second race this has happened, despite minimal/no pre-race hydration (???)), but I'm pretty sure my split was still faster than my Columbia split.

The run was awesome as well, while my need ached some, I set a reasonably quick pace and set a PR.

A big motivator was due to the nature of the wave starts and having most of the field start ahead of me. Of course a couple of my age group past me on the bike. However, the WHOLE time I was passing people. Sure they were the older age groups, as well as women racers. However, overtaking - and a lot of cases just BLOWING by - other competitors always helps you keep up a grueling pace. Twice on the run people asked (light-heartedly) for me to slow down. I think in both I then overheard them realize "oh, he's 23" (triathlons have you marked with your age on your calf).

Again, overall a phenomenal race. Here are some time summaries:
Swim: 25:23 >1500m > Slightly slower than my Columbia time, but being in a river and sure to have SOME current, it's understandable.
Bike: 1:15:16 > 40k, 19.8 mph > Almost 10 min faster than Columbia. It was a flatter course, but I also had an extra pit stop (both had slick, post-rain roads)
Run: 40:52 > 10 k, 6:36 min/mile. Just over a minute faster, which can be pretty significant for a 10 k. I give credit to the flatter course. I'm really happy about this because it was below 42 minutes, which was a secondary goal, just below breaking 7:00 min miles.
Overall: 2:28:52
18/108 in my age group (top 18%)
412/2835 males (top 15%)
452/4392 finishers (top 11%)

Most surprising - for me - was my rank on the run. My bike and swim places didn't really stick out to me, but I was 156 on the run, which if it is out of 4392 finishers, puts me in the top 5 %! That % statistic isn't official, so don't hold me to it...

Now it's back to the grindstone. City of Oaks is Nov 7, just 8 weeks away.