Recovery Run (?)

Today was the first time I've run since The Other Half 6 days ago. My legs have felt pretty good, but I wanted to make sure that I gave them adequate rest and recovery time after the race on Sunday. Bill wanted to run 14 miles this morning, and I initial thought it was a good idea. After thinking about it for a couple days, though, I thought that maybe it wouldn't be so wise. I'm sure I could have done it, but I suspect I would have paid for it later. So Barry and I talked about doing a shorter distance-- like 6 or 8 miles (which, of course, means 8 miles). Since I only got 3 hours sleep the previous night and figuring that Barry would be tired from seeing Tina Turner the night before, we decided to run a little later. So we met at Granada Park at 6:30AM. The parking at the park was a little tough. There were tons of people out doing training runs for the PF Chang's Rock and Roll Marathon and Half Marathon in January. It's good to see so many people out running. Too bad they only do it when they're training for that race instead of running year-round. When we started out, both of us were definitely feeling the effects of the race on Sunday. I had various aches and pains that moved to different parts of my lower body as we ran-- ankles, then calves, then knees, then quads, then hamstrings, then achilles, then feet. Still, the "slow pace" we set out to do turned into an 8:30 pace. It didn't feel hard at all, and the pain was more of the annoying level than the "oh-my-god-I-have-to-stop-because-I'm-going-to-die" level. At mile 3, I checked in with Barry to see if we should do another mile, and of course he said, "Of course!" So on we went. We reached the 4 mile turnaround and I felt really good. My legs felt strong, my breathing was good and I wasn't overheated at all. Most of the little aches and pains had subsided. We paused for a short time and set out again. The run back was as good as the run out. We had to stop or walk at a couple of the cross streets because of traffic, but otherwise we maintained a pretty consistent 8:30-ish pace. At mile 7 Barry started to pull away. He really opened up a good distance when he crossed 24th St. and I got stuck for a good 45 seconds waiting for traffic. Dangit! I was hoping to beat him today! :) Once I got started again, I reeled in a couple groups that had been ahead of us for a while, passing one woman that tried to keep ahead of me right before we got to the finish line. Ha! I ended up with a very satisfying time of 1:09:19, a very respectable 8:38 pace. So much for a slow recovery run! I'm surprised I had a run like that in me so soon after the race. How I feel later today and tomorrow will indicate how recovered I am from the race, but the early returns look promising. The next long run I do will be in Paris, France!! Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 0 ft Location: Phoenix, AZ Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 10/25/08 Up/Downhill: [+0/-0] Time: 07:44 AM Difficulty: 0 / 5.0 Weather: A Few Clouds 67 F temp; 21% humidity 67 F heat index; winds SE 6 Performance Distance: 8.03 miles Time: 1:09:20 Speed: 6.9 mph Pace: 8' 38 /mi Calories: 1303 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 8' 34 -0' 04 7.0 +0.1 -- ft 2 8' 38 +0' 00 6.9 -0.0 -- ft 3 8' 35 -0' 03 7.0 +0.0 -- ft 4 8' 47 +0' 09 6.8 -0.1 -- ft 5 16' 37 +7' 59 3.6 -3.3 -- ft 6 8' 46 +0' 08 6.8 -0.1 -- ft 7 8' 32 -0' 06 7.0 +0.1 -- ft 8 8' 40 +0' 02 6.9 -0.0 -- ft end 7' 40 -0' 58 7.8 +0.9 -- ft Versus average of 8' 38 min/mile

Posted from runtracker.runnersworld.com

The Other Half

In my 37 years, I have found that events that you look forward to for months and build up in your mind rarely live up to the expectation. The births of my girls were 2 such events. The Other Half half marathon this weekend is another.

After a quick breakfast of english muffins and peanut butter, we left our condo to walk to the bus pickup location at about 6AM. We were all a little nervous and excited, and Barry seemed particularly keyed up for his first race.

After getting misdirected a tad, the bus dropped us off at the starting area near the Historic Dewey Bridge at about 7:30AM. We were shocked and awed to discover that the bridge was destroyed in a fire earlier this year by a 7-year-old kid playing with matches (photos here).

It was just before sunrise when we arrived, and a tad chilly. We hung around the start for about an hour or so, and I spent most of that time in line for the port-a-potty. After an hour or so, the announcer called out that it was time to line up for the start. Barry, Bill and I moved down to the New Dewey Bridge and stretched, set our iPods to play, got our Garmins ready. We positioned ourselves just in front of the 9:00 pace sign and anxiously awaited the start.

After 10 or 15 minutes, the started shouted, "Runners get ready... Go!" And we were off. Barry immediately shot ahead of Bill and I. I wouldn't see him again until I arrived at the finish line almost 2 hours later. Bill and I ran together for a half mile or so. He started pulling ahead and I decided to stick to the comfortable 8:15 pace I had established. That is a little slower than my 5K pace, and right where I wanted to be on this section of the course. I knew there were some pretty good hills ahead, and I wanted to leave some energy for that.


It was interesting to look at my Garmin log after the race. During the race, it felt like I was ran slower than I did. I had pretty good (for me) sub-9:00 splits for the first 7 miles, but I felt like I was running at a 9:30-ish pace. I'm extremely pleased that an 8:45 pace feels like a 9:45 pace did not too long ago. My splits increased by a few seconds each mile. That's something to work on in the future. I thoroughly enjoyed every second of this section of the race. The scenery was just incredible. I felt very lucky to be running a race in this beautiful place.


At mile 7, I encountered the first real hill. We had driven the course the day before and I had studied the elevation profile, so I knew this was coming. I wasn't dreading it, but looking at it as a challenge. As I worked my way up the hill, it got steeper and steeper. Bill and I had done a couple hill runs in the weeks before the race, but I'll admit that I found this hill pretty damn tough. My pace slowed further and further until I wasn't going much faster than a fast walk. The uphill climb lasted for a little over a mile. When I reached the summit, I stopped briefly to take a photo of what I had just accomplished. Wow!


On the other side of the hill, another steep, quad-pounding downhill awaited. I made up some time here, but the steepness prevented me from running too fast. At the bottom of the first hill, the second of 3 hills started. This one wasn't quite as steep or as tall as the first hill, but it was still a good challenge. My pace again slowed considerably. I eventually crested the hill and stopped for a second to take another photo.


On the way down the other side of the hill, I had to stop to re-tie my shoes, and I also dropped my water bottles a couple times. Neither stop bothered me much, and it pleased me immensely that I was able to run this entire race in a positive state of mind. The downhill ended at about mile 11. I was surprised at how quickly the first 11 miles of the race had flown by. I was enjoying myself so much that I was a little disappointed that I only had 2 more miles to go. The final hill eased that disappointment somewhat.

I reached the top of the final hill at mile 11.5. I knew the last mile and a half were a steep downhill, and I hoped to pick my pace back up to make up some of the time I lost on the 3 challenging hills. I started flying down hill. After a half mile of steep downhill, my quads cried out for a break. The pounding of the steep downhill was intense. I walked for 15 seconds or so, and then resumed my descent. The downhill rounded a bend, and eventually I was able to see the entrace to Sorrel River Ranch where the finish line awaited.

At the bottom of the hill, I turned into the driveway of the ranch. I thought the finish line would be just inside the gate, but I glanced down at my Garmin to see I had about a 1/2 mile left! I kept up a good pace despite a strong urge to slow down or walk. I even managed to pass a few people. I kept waiting to see the finish line, but it remained out of view for quite a while. Finally, the driveway fishhooked sharply to the right. I could see the FINISH banner ahead. I kicked my way to the finish line and crossed with my arms raised.

I felt very good about my second half marathon. I finished in 1:57, although the non-chip-timed "official" results list my time as 2:00. Either way I was happy with my time. I shaved either 6 or 9 minutes off my previous half marathon time. I finished the race without any major pains, and I was able to run the entire race with a positive attitude instead of the "Oh God, when will this be over?!" feeling I had in my previous half marathon. The course was challenging, but stunningly beautiful.

I found Bill and Barry at the finish line. Bill finished in 1:52 (great job!) and Barry finished in 1:44 (outstanding!). We milled around the finish area for a half hour or so and ran into the nice folks from Jen's office who also ran the race.

We eventually boarded the bus for the ride back to the pickup point. We walked the 3/4 mile back to our condo and had a huge, delicious feast for lunch. During lunch we already started talking about next year's race!

The next day we drove back to Phoenix. What a fun trip! I can't wait for next year!

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 4148 ft Location: Cisco, UT Elev. Gain: -43 ft Date: 10/19/08 Up/Downhill: [+1036/-1079] Time: 08:30 AM Difficulty: 4.2 / 5.0 Performance Distance: 13.09 miles Time: 1:57:48 Speed: 6.7 mph Pace: 9' 00 /mi Calories: 2063 Map   Elevation (ft)   Pace (min/mile)   Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 8' 24 -0' 36 7.1 +0.5 +59 ft 2 8' 09 -0' 51 7.4 +0.7 -56 ft 3 8' 22 -0' 38 7.2 +0.5 +43 ft 4 8' 25 -0' 35 7.1 +0.5 -37 ft 5 8' 41 -0' 19 6.9 +0.2 0 ft 6 8' 44 -0' 16 6.9 +0.2 -7 ft 7 8' 54 -0' 06 6.7 +0.1 +13 ft 8 10' 42 +1' 42 5.6 -1.1 +168 ft 9 10' 16 +1' 16 5.8 -0.8 -108 ft 10 10' 00 +1' 00 6.0 -0.7 +36 ft 11 9' 08 +0' 08 6.6 -0.1 -79 ft 12 10' 10 +1' 10 5.9 -0.8 +10 ft 13 8' 44 -0' 16 6.9 +0.2 -69 ft end 7' 39 -1' 21 7.8 +1.2 -16 ft Versus average of 9' 00 min/mile

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Moab!!

We made it to Moab in good time last night.

We checked into the condo where we'll be stating. Very plush accomodations. We ate dinner at The Moab Brewery with some fellow runners. We stopped by a decent-looking bar for a beer, but left pretty quickly after it turned out that they don't like strangers 'round those parts.

We slept in this morning and are going down to the race expo after breakfast. We're thinking we'll drive the race course and then maybe hike in Arches National Park later today.

Are We There Yet?

Boy it's dark out here. Real dark!

Keep On Truckin'

After a quick pit stop in Tuba City, Bill has taken over driving duties. I now know what those 3-digit numbers on the speedometer are for.

We just made a left on US 163 and are driving through Monument Valley.

Breathtaking.

On the Road

The day is finally here! After talking about, training for, thinking about and planning for The Other Half for the past 6 months, it's finally time to do it. After making sure that every single last one of our co-workers was aware that we are running this race, Bill, Barry and I left the office at about 11:30, and headed north in my car.

We hit a little traffic getting out of Phoenix, but my lead foot helped us make up some time and we hit Flagstaff at about 2:30. After some tasty fish-n-chips and Guinness at Connely's Pub in downtown Flag (and a minor detour when I left my sunglasses in the bar), we headed north again.

We're currently in the middle of nowhere (well, the middle of the Navajo Indian Reservation) with Barry behind the wheel doing a perfectly safe and sane 58 MPH. At this rate, we should be in Moab no later than Saturday.

P.F. Chang's Rock and Roll Kickoff Event

There was a kickoff event for the P.F. Chang's Rock and Roll Marathon tonight. I went with Bill, Barry and Greg. There was a small expo, and 1972 Olympic marathon gold medalist Frank Shorter was there to speak and sign autographs. The expo was pretty tiny, and there wasn't much schwag worth picking up. There were a few booths that had nice pint glasses, one place was giving away pizza and the Cyomax booth was giving away free sports drinks, but it was mostly flyers and stuff.

At about 5:45, there was a 5K fun run along the canal. With the Other Half coming up in a week and a half, I didn't want to do an all-out sprint, but a nice evening run with friends sounded fun. The run was a quick out-and-back along the canal banks. Frank Shorter ran it, too, and during his talk he gave everyone permission to brag about beating him if that's how it turned out. He even touched on the state of the economy while he was talking. Boy, that's on everyone's mind!

We got a little bit of a head start on the main pack to avoid being stuck in the crowd. As we took off, it felt like we were doing a pretty quick pace. It wasn't uncomfortable, so I kept up with the other guys. After a quarter mile or so, I was curious how fast we were going, and we were doing a 7:30 pace. Yikes! Waaaaay too fast for me. I slowed to an 8:10 pace, and Barry, Bill and Greg slowly drifted ahead of me. The run was very pleasant. The sun was just dipping below the horizon on the out, and by the time we finished, it was dark. It's great to finally be able to run at a time other than 4AM and not be heat-affected.I finished the 5K in 25:39 (an 8:17 pace), which is a PR for me. Bill finished about a minute faster than me and Greg and Barry finished about 2 minutes faster than me. My calves felt "hot" afterwards, and I was a little worried that I might have gone too hard. But I did some calf stretches in the parking lot, and they felt much better.

Afterwards, the 4 of us went to La Grande Orange Pizzeria at 40th St. and Campbell for some pizza and beer. It's a great little restaurant with good, friendly service, a cozy atmosphere and some dynamite pizza.

Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 1268 ft Location: -- Elev. Gain: -6 ft Date: 10/09/08 Up/Downhill: [+16/-22] Time: 07:00 PM Difficulty: 1.8 / 5.0 Performance Distance: 3.10 miles Time: 0:25:40 Speed: 7.2 mph Pace: 8' 17 /mi Calories: 451 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 8' 18 +0' 01 7.2 -0.0 +7 ft 2 8' 08 -0' 09 7.4 +0.1 0 ft 3 8' 37 +0' 20 7.0 -0.3 -9 ft end 7' 00 -1' 17 8.6 +1.3 -3 ft Versus average of 8' 17 min/mile

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Mid-week 5.5-Miler

Today was my first run after our tough 12 miler on Saturday. As I expected, I was still pretty sore. I thought I might try a tempo run today, but I didn't have much in the tank for that. I did the first few miles at a 9:30-ish pace. There was a time (and it wasn't that long ago) that I would have been impressed with that. These days, that feels like something between a fast walk and a slow jog. After that I took a short walk break every mile or so to let my leg muscles recover. The goal of any run I do for the next week or so will just be to ensure that I toe the starting line of The Other Half injury free and feeling strong. I finished the approximately 5.5 miles in a little shy of 55 minutes. Not an outstanding performance, but I was glad to get in the miles. Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 1092 ft Location: Phoenix, AZ Elev. Gain: +0 ft Date: 10/08/08 Up/Downhill: [+22/-22] Time: 06:40 AM Difficulty: 2.1 / 5.0 Performance Distance: 5.56 miles Time: 0:54:55 Speed: 6.1 mph Pace: 9' 53 /mi Calories: 900 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 8' 54 -0' 59 6.7 +0.7 -10 ft 2 9' 21 -0' 32 6.4 +0.3 +3 ft 3 9' 04 -0' 49 6.6 +0.5 +3 ft 4 9' 42 -0' 11 6.2 +0.1 +6 ft 5 9' 16 -0' 37 6.5 +0.4 -3 ft 6 9' 37 -0' 16 6.2 +0.2 0 ft end 8' 20 -1' 33 7.2 +1.1 0 ft Versus average of 9' 53 min/mile

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The Rolling Hills of DC Ranch

This was, without a doubt, the most challenging run I've ever undertaken. I'm shocked-- SHOCKED-- that this run tracker software gives it a measly 3.7 out of 5.0. If this was a 3.7, I shudder to think what a 5.0 would be. 18 miles up a 45% grade in 100° heat carrying a live mule on my back while juggling lit torches and whistling the theme from Guns of Navarone? Sheesh! Anyway, Barry seemed to still be feeling sore, so Bill and I ran this run without him. We decided on a 12-miler at DC Ranch to get in some practice running hills. And that's one thing this area has-- in spades! The weather has finally, finally, FINALLY cooled off (the high today is only supposed to be 88°). We agreed to meet at Bill's house at 6AM since the weather would be more pleasant. Indeed, when I walked out the back door, it was almost chilly. I even had these weird bumpy protrusions all over the skin on my arms. It seems like I've seen them before. What are they called... oh yeah, goose bumps! We drove up to DC Ranch and left some water at about the 6-mile point of the route. When we got to the parking area, we were surprised to discover that today was the Tour de Scottsdale, a 70 mile bike race through the desert of North Scottsdale. The normally quiet parking lot was full of bikers in really expensive riding clothes and really expensive riding shoes on really expensive bikes. After finally finding a place to park, we got underway at about about 7AM. We did the first 3 miles at a pretty decent sub-9:00 pace. That part is mostly downhill, with an occasional flat or slight uphill to break it up. The challenge here is to keep from running TOO fast, which we managed to do. And then the fun began. We made a left turn onto Bell Road. We were immediately confronted with a 3/4-mile stretch of straight road that climbs from about 1650 ft. of elevation to about 1850 ft. As soon as we started, I turned to Bill and said, "Holy stuff this hill is fooling STEEP!" We attacked the hill at a really good pace, averaging 8:30 - 9:15. I stopped at the top to turn around and admire what we had just done. There is an awesome view of the Valley of the Sun from there. From there, it's a long downhill that drops about 300 feet. Again, I tried to keep my pace in check. I was also starting to feel some tightness in my calves, and wanted to make sure I wasn't hurting for the rest of the run-- or for our Big Race in a couple weeks-- so I kept my pace to around 9:00 or so. When we got to the bottom of the hill, we picked up our water and rested for a couple minutes. As we were descending, I thought, "That would be sinister if we made this into an out-and-back and just turned around and ran back up this crazy hill." I suggested that to Bill, and he said, "Sure. What the heck." After our rest, we set out again and immediately started climbing. And climbing. And climbing. This hill describes a sweeping arc. Just when you think you might be at the top, you round another curve and see more hill waiting for you. Bill seemed to be feeling great and pulled ahead. I was doing my darnedest to keep up, but the steepness was insanely challenging. When I looked at my Garmin later, I was surprised to see that I managed a 9:00 - 10:00 pace the whole time. I felt like I was barely walking. When we finally crested the hill, I stopped to walk a bit to enjoy the view again. Simply incredible. Then we started the shin-pounding descent. It's so hard to keep from all-out sprinting down a hill like that, but I did. When we reached the bottom, we turned back onto Thompson Peak Rd. and immediately started the 2 mile climb up F__kyou Hill. "This is insanse!" I thought. By then, my quads, hamstrings and calves were all crying mercy. I tried to push through the pain, but I had to take a few walk breaks on the way up. My muscles felt like a piece of steak that had been thwacked with a tenderizer for the past hour. Whenever I tried to accelerate, my legs would just chuckle and say, "Yeah right, asshole!" But we finally made it to the top of the hill, and I rejoiced inside. The final mile was a 9:00-ish plod to the finish. Again, I was surpised to see how fast my pace was because, at the time, it felt like I was just jogging slowly. I've never been so glad to see that parking area at DC Ranch. As soon as my Garmin hit 12.00 miles, I hit the stop button and started walking. Whew! Bill and I agreed that the run should be a 5.0 difficulty, given the length of the run and the number and steepness of the hills. The hills are just unrelenting and steep. It's not just the burning from the uphills, it's the pounding from the steep downhills. But I was satisfied in knowing that the 2 hills that The Other Half will throw at us in two weeks (TWO WEEKS!!) will be nothing in comparison. I feel ready for The Big Race now. Activity Route: -- Elev. Avg: 1737 ft Location: Carefree, AZ Elev. Gain: +3 ft Date: 10/05/08 Up/Downhill: [+767/-764] Time: 07:55 AM Difficulty: 3.7 / 5.0 Weather: Fair 69 F temp; 43% humidity 69 F heat index; winds W 3 Performance Distance: 12.00 miles Time: 1:50:16 Speed: 6.5 mph Pace: 9' 11 /mi Calories: 2083 Map Elevation (ft) Pace (min/mile) Splits Mile Pace (min/mile) Speed (mph) Elevation Gain actual +/- avg actual +/- avg 1 8' 41 -0' 30 6.9 +0.4 +39 ft 2 8' 37 -0' 34 7.0 +0.4 -79 ft 3 8' 37 -0' 34 7.0 +0.4 -105 ft 4 8' 47 -0' 24 6.8 +0.3 +39 ft 5 9' 17 +0' 06 6.5 -0.1 +7 ft 6 8' 47 -0' 24 6.8 +0.3 -167 ft 7 16' 20 +7' 09 3.7 -2.9 +144 ft 8 9' 38 +0' 27 6.2 -0.3 +39 ft 9 9' 04 -0' 07 6.6 +0.1 -78 ft 10 9' 50 +0' 39 6.1 -0.4 +98 ft 11 10' 15 +1' 04 5.8 -0.7 +98 ft 12 9' 14 +0' 03 6.5 -0.0 -33 ft end 9' 10 -0' 01 6.5 +0.0 0 ft Versus average of 9' 11 min/mile

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