We have several new race reviews on RunColo and on the RunColo Forum, here they are:
Longmont Turkey Trot 5k
Panicking Poultry 5k
XTerra Marathon
Home for the Holidays 5k
Steamboat Half Marathon
Eerie-Erie 10k
If you have run a race and would like to review, please stop by the RunColo Forum.
11/09 – 4 miles
11/10 – 4 miles + 2 miles in VFF
11/11 – 4 miles in VFF
11/12 – 5.5 miles + 2 miles in VFF
11/13 – 2 miles in VFF
11/14 – Longmont Turkey Trot 10k + 1 miles warm up
11/15 – 8 miles
Total 38.71 Miles
I’m going to run one more race this year and then hang up the proverbial spikes for the 2010 season. I will be running the Gobble Wobble 5k this Saturday. Looking at last year’s results, the competition is lacking and the course is probably not the fast, looks like a ton of turns. Plus, anytime you run on concrete paths they tend to have a lot of little hills that kill your momentum. Thus, I have no time goals for this race, just going to enjoy the race.
I’m about halfway through Where Men Win Glory and it is excellent. I’ve read all of John Krakauer’s books and this one does not disappoint. Highly recommend it.
Results HERE
I ventured up to Longmont this morning to participate in the 35th running of the Longmont Turkey Trot 10k. Met up with Mr. Fuller at the registration table and we then proceeded to do a mile warm up. The temperature was in the mid 30′s and I love the cold weather for racing. I had the feeling that I might be able to bust out a fast 10k today!
Mile 1 – The first mile featured an immediate hill but finished with a net elevation decline and I came through with a 5:50. Faster than I wanted to be, but since it was a bit downhill from the start, I was not worried. At this point in the race I was in 9th pace.
Mile 2 – Four runners passed me after the first mile, which I thought was odd since I wasn’t slowing down. The second mile was in 6:01 and I still felt great and figured I would soon start reeling in some runners.
Mile 3 – Came through with a 5:54 split and passed two more runners.
Mile 4 – At the start of mile 4, I started to get a side stich. Now the only time I ever get a side stitch is if I go running to soon after eating. So I was a bit baffled because all I had eaten this morning was a Cliff Bar. I was hoping the side stitch would soon pass, but it was starting to bother me. The fourth mile was a bit of an incline and I came through with a 6:08 split.
Mile 5 – I felt horrible. The side stitch was in full force and now my back was tighening up and I couldn’t figure out what was going on. I wanted to quit and probably would have if the finish line was closer. I gutted it out and came through with a 6:37 split. Lovely, I was now running slower than my marathon race pace.
Mile 6 – I tried to get tough, but I couldn’t move. Three or four guys passed me on the last mile and the girl who was in second place. I ran a 6:26 split, I was now running marathon race pace.
With .2 miles to go, I threw in a surge, just so I didn’t get beat by the girl that recently passed me…pathetic I know but I did muster up some fight. I finished in 38:09.
Not a horrible time, but 40 seconds slower than my last 10k, which was run this summer in Longmont on a warm summer day. I have no idea what happened today, I felt fine before the race and after the race. I had been battling a cold this entire week, but by Friday I felt really good and this morning I felt 100% normal. Not sure what happened today, perhaps some lingering tiredness from the marathon or just one of those days that you have to chalk up to an anomoly. I felt horrible out there though and was in 5x more pain than I was at any point during the marathon.
Anyway, Brandon rocked the 10k, threw down a huge PR. He even set a 5k PR in his 10k PR, but you can check out his blog for the story.
11/02 – off
11/03 – off
11/04 – 2 miles (sore)
11/05 – 4 miles
11/06 – off
11/07 – 5.5 miles
11/08 – 8 miles
Total 19.5 Miles
* It’s hard to get that first post marathon run in, but it definitely helps the legs to recover.
* Recently read Basketball Diaries, Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas and Hell’s Angels. I got my first taste of Hunter S. Thompson and loved it.
* Met Rod Mackey on Saturday timing the Littleton Stride 5k, super nice guy. We talked CU football and Iowa Hawkeye Football; he used to live in Cedar Rapids. Of course Iowa’s perfect season came to end on Saturday. His 13 year old son ran the 5k in 21:02.
* My goal is to go sub 37 minutes in the Longmont Turkey Trot 10k. Looks the weather will be nice and cold. I just came down with a cold this week, I think I should be fine by Saturday though and hopefully my legs will have some spring in them, right now they do not.
* I’ll be spectating the Panicking Poultry 5k – which should be the weekend race that draws in the fast runners.
* Metro State ROTC 5k Review
Press Release:
After careful planning, the Boulder Marathon is excited to announce our new event, the inaugural 2010 Boulder Spring Half. The new event is slated for Sunday, March 14th, 2010 and the start and finish for the event will take place at the City of Boulder Reservoir. Filling a need on the Colorado running schedule for a quality early season distance event on the front range, the “Spring Half” will feature three distances: the Boulder Spring Half (13.1 miles); a 10 mile distance, and a 10 kilometer distance (6.2 miles). The Spring Half course will be the same exact course as the fall Boulder Half Marathon course. The 10 mile and 10k courses are held on the half marathon route and each will have a turnaround point (at 5 miles and 3.1 miles). Register
The Boulder Spring Half is the perfect compliment to the fall Boulder Marathon event – and the new event occurs almost exactly 6 months before the 2010 Boulder Marathon. For the runner or walker looking for motivation to train in the winter months, the Boulder Spring Half is for you! All participants receive a quality technical running shirt, goodie bag, great food and a medal for finishing. Many of the Boulder Marathon sponsors are lined up again, including California Pizza Kitchen and Boulder Beer…Early bird registration is still up for the Boulder Spring Half events, and you can save $10 on each event by registering by midnight tonight. In its first year, the Boulder Spring Half will have a cap of 1,000 registrants. So if you want to be one of the lucky ones to participate in this first year event, register soon! And don’t forget to set your clock forward one hour as the Boulder Spring Half takes place on daylight savings (and we have set the start time at 9am to compensate for the hour lost on this day).
10/26 – 6 miles in VFF
10/27 – 7.1 miles
10/28 – 8 miles, with 4 miles at marathon race pace
10/29 – off
10/30 – 6.2 miles
10/31 – 3 miles
11/01 – NYC Marathon in 2:48:54
Total 56.5 Miles
* If you’re looking for a fast 5k on Saturday, check out the race at Metro State. This is a new race, but I am guessing that they are using the same course that was used for the Metro State 5k, which was probably the flatest 5k course that I have done in Colorado. No idea on the comeptition though.
* Plan on running the Longmont Turkey Trot next Saturday. I’d love to PR, my current 10k PR was set in Longmont earlier this year with a 37:29. Hopefully my legs will have recovered by then, right now I’m still a bit sore.
* Lance still has a better PR than me in the marathon. About two minutes faster when he ran NYC a few years ago.
* I’m now wondering if I didn’t go out hard enough in the first half of the race? Wondering what my time would have been had I hit the half in 1:25 (minute faster). Funny how you can have a great race and still question your race.
* Great stuff in The Onion on Meb.
* It’s crazy how many people cheat in marathons. I’d like to know what percentage of cheaters, cheat to get into Boston?
I arrived in Manhattan on Thursday evening, my first visit to New York City. I’ve been to the state of New York a few times, but have not been into the City. My sister lives in Manhattan, on the Upper East Side. Thus, I had a convenient place to lodge and I was able to run in Central Park on Friday and Saturday and check out various spots of the course and start my mental preparation for the race.
Sunday morning, I woke up early and started the journey to Staten Island for the start of the New York Marathon. The first part of the journey involved a subway trip to the Staten Island Ferry, my brother-in-law was also running the marathon, which was nice because that way I didn’t have to think about the logistics of the race and he had run the race the year prior. When we arrived to catch the Ferry we missed the first one and had to wait about twenty minutes until the next ferry arrived. The ferry finally arrived and we cruised over to Staten Island. Once we arrived in Staten Island we took a bus to the start of the race – just getting to the start of the NYC Marathon is a journey in and of itself.
I checked my bag at the UPS truck and then heard an announcement “The entrance for Wave 1 is now closed.” I started to panic, you have got to be kidding me, the race wouldn’t even start for another half an hour and I had no idea where to go. I sprinted down to where the runners were starting and found a volunteer who pointed me where to go and then said “I doubt you can get in” at this point tons of thoughts were running through my head. The race had three waves; each wave started in twenty minute intervals and the thought of having 20k runners starting in front of me would most certainly hurt my race performance just from having to maneuver around so many people.
I eventually saw the Wave 1 runners with orange bibs, but unfortunately an 8 foot fence was separating me from them. I was still running towards the fence and noticed other runners in the same predicament and they all seemed to be having a discussion as to whether or not they should scale the fence. I never broke stride and in one quick motion jumped onto the fence, put my hand on top of the fence and jumped over the fence. I heard several runners say “Wow!†which gave me a laugh, sometimes it’s better to ask for forgiveness than to ask for permission. I was now with the Wave 1 runners and started trying to get past other runners and to find my coral, which was the B corral. The herd mentality then took effect and other runners started trying to scale the fence, the volunteers started hollering at them saying “If you scale the fence we will report your bib numbers and you will be disqualified†sometimes indecision will cost you!
The runners were then allowed to proceed to the start, which was on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge. I tried to get around a few runners and managed to move up slightly, I then took a look around and noticed that most of the people around me were in the C and D corral, I figured I was close enough to the start and with my usual slow start to the race it might even be for the better as that way I’m not in the way of the rest of the runners who sprint out like mad at the sound of the gun.
(Note: My Garmin had the course at 26.7 miles, impossible to run the tangents with a race the size of NYC Marathon. Thus, my mile splits are probably a couple of seconds slower than reported)
Mile 1 in 6:55 – It took me about 20 seconds to reach the start line. A steep climb up the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge
Mile 2 in 6:18 – Descent down the bridge, my pace was now close to goal pace, I tried to settle down and relax at this point, get into a groove.
Mile 3 in 6:30 – Perfect, some kid handed me a Starburst, so I enjoyed some candy while checking out Brooklyn.
Mile 4 in 6:28 – Feeling relaxed, I was running on the left side of the road – alone. Everyone else was running in the center and would have to cut over to get Gatorade. I figured a straight line is not a bad strategy.
Mile 5 in 6:31 – I took my first gel packet.
Mile 6 in 6:26 – Enjoyed the long straight away on 4th Avenue. Tons of runners passed me, staying patient, sticking to the game plan.
Mile 7 in 6:30 – I grabbed a banana being handed out by some girl in a banana outfit, tasted great. I managed to eat half of it before tossing it aside.
Mile 8 in 6:30 – The last mile along 4th Avenue in Brooklyn. I grabbed an orange slice, tasty!
Mile 9 in 6:34 – Steady climb up Lafayette Avenue, one of my favorite spots on the course, tough climb though.
Mile 10 in 6:25 – A bit of a decline.
Mile 11 in 6:26 – Felt good.
Mile 12 in 6:25 – Took my second gel, thought about the half marathon split and wondered what my time would be.
Mile 13 in 6:26 – Started to wonder when the hurt will begin and how I will handle it.
13.1 Miles in 1:25:59, right where I wanted to be (notice I stated a 1:26 split in the previous post). I felt great, super strong and I wanted to get after it. This was the same feeling that I had last year at CIM and I took off only to later get into a world of hurt after 21 miles. I decided to keep the pace and if I felt good at mile 16 then I would pick it up a notch.
Mile 14 in 6:18 – Second Bridge of the day just entered Queens.
Mile 15 in 6:24 – I started to pass a lot of runners, other runners were now fading. I felt great and know that the Queensboro Bridge is up next and that it’s a tough climb.
Mile 16 in 6:36 – Long climb up the Queensboro Bridge. I noticed several runners now walking and other runners staring to fade. I’m excited to enter Manhattan.
Mile 17 in 5:50 – When I came off the Queensboro Bridge I heard a roar from the crowd, thousands of fans line 1st Avenue in Manhattan, five to six people deep. I have never experienced anything like it before and I make my move.
Mile 18 in 5:45 – I’m now blowing by people; I see my sister and her friends and get an added rush.
Mile 19 in 5:55 – Still feeling incredible strong, no sign of any pain and I start thinking this is too good to be true. I take another gel.
Mile 20 in 6:11 – Crossing the bridge into the Bronx, I looked down at my Garmin and can’t believe my average pace and decide to back off a bit as I know that I still have six miles left.
Mile 21 in 6:04 – Left the Bronx and enter Manhattan again, took my final gel.
Mile 22 in 6:06 – First sign of fatigue, my quads are starting to get tight.
Mile 23 in 5:57 – Picked it up another notch.
Mile 24 in 6:44 – Long and steady climb up 5th Avenue. I see several runners walking and the hill was a tiring effort.
Mile 25 in 6:17 – I entered the park and another runner passed me, I realize this is the first time that I have been passed since the 16th mile. I picked up my pace and try to hang on to him but my quads are really sore at this point. I still feel really strong but the rolling hills in the park; especially the downhills are painful on my quads.
Mile 26 in 6:07 – One other runner passed me, but I’ve probably passed another ten runners in this mile alone.
The finish was slightly uphill and I put in a solid kick, picking off a few more runners. I heard the announcer and crowd cheering on Joan Benoit Samuelson who broke the 50+ age division record with a 2:49:09; she finished slightly ahead of me.
I finished with a chip time of 2:48:54, with an average pace of 6:27 per mile. I ran the second half of the marathon in 1:22:55. The other interesting thing to note was that the second half of the marathon had a net elevation gain and the first half had a net elevation decline. The course was incredible and the crowd of two million spectators is hard to describe with words.
Also, since the race was point to point, runners were faced with a slight headwind in the range of 5-10mph most of the day. The temperature was perfect, low 50’s and overcast, could not ask for a better day.
I surprised myself on Sunday, great feeling. For every exceptional race that you have, you’ll have ten that disappoint you. I’ve only run three other marathon courses, but New York was by far the most challenging course. When I do my long runs I don’t run a lot of hills, thus probably why my quads felt trashed – not sure, or it’s just good old fashion fatigue. I also did a much better job at fueling myself, taking four gels during the race. I have negative split 3/4 last marathons that I have run, I’m a firm believer that it is the optimal race strategy, unless your battling for the win.
The NYC Marathon was truly an event like none other.
Was Jeff running bandit at the Denver Marathon?
10/19 – 5.5 miles
10/20 – 4 miles in VFF
10/21 – 8 miles (Fartlek @ 10k race pace)
10/22 – 15 miles with 4 miles @ 6:44 pace, 5 minutes active recovery, 4 miles @ 6:43 pace (marathon race pace)
10/23 – Scream Scram 5k and 2 miles in VFF
10/24 – 8 miles
10/25 – 8 miles
Total 53.61 Miles
The countdown to the NYC Marathon is under way. I feel strong and confident, ready to race. The positives are that I’ve put in some solid miles and that I weigh 156lbs, which is seven to eight pounds lighter than the weight in which I ran the Denver Marathon in 2008. Most of the weight loss came from the additional miles, but I also made sure to cut out some junk food, but no drastic changes to my diet. In college I never really thought about how my weight affected my performance, but even a few pounds of excess fat over the course of 26.2 miles has to slow you down. I am hungry all the time though, especially now during my taper but am curbing my appetite.
I approached the taper differently this year and didn’t cut back my miles as drastically and I also made sure that I had two to three solid workouts during the week. On the negative side, I haven’t had any good races in the past couple of months to give me the boost of confidence that I would like to have going into the marathon. The Boulder Half Marathon was too hot, Regis 5k, well I got there a minute before the start of the race and the Harvest Festival 5k it was 18 degrees and snow was on the roads, so I guess I have my reasons, aka excuses.
My goal for the marathon will be a 2:50 – 2:52. I will run the first half in 1:26 and then hopefully pick up the pace. I’m good at pacing myself and being patient during the first half of the race. I have negative split the Denver Marathon the last two years that I have run it and to me that’s the ideal strategy on race day.
Miscellaneous:
Denver Marathon Review
Scream Scram Review
Racing with the Stars Review
Shake, Rattle and Run 5k Review
It was not a fair fight from the beginning. I’m on a taper, the legs are fresh and the tires on my Instep Stroller were inflated to maximum pounds per square inch to reduce rolling resistance. I met Brandon near the start line, pretty sure that neither of us did a warm up, he was in costume and I decided to wear running gear and my non-technical Iowa Hawkeye’s (how about that win on Saturday!) stocking cap.
Brandon was gracious to bring his double wide BOB stroller, the Cadillac’s of strollers. Before the race I somehow convinced him that it would be better to put the two girls in the double wide and that I’ll just push my one year old son in the stroller, oh and that he should also push the double wide. Brandon bought it, hook line and sinker, my strategy was already working. The race would feature RunColo pushing my one year old son weighing in at 23lbs and Brandon pushing the double wide and 80 plus pounds in little girl weight.
Before the start of the race we saw the Mayor of Washington Park, with his Steve Nash haircut, Justin. Justin gave us the lowdown on the race and then Brandon and I lined up at the back of the field for the Scream Scram 5k.
It’s a weird feeling to line up in the rear of the crowd, I don’t like it one bit. I wasn’t taking this race seriously, but my competitive drive wants to be at the front, ready to race. The gun went off and we took off, we must have been doing 13 to 15 minute pace for the first quarter of a mile, getting around walkers, people in costumes, dogs and others pushing strollers was tough, especially if you are pushing a double wide stroller, which luckily for me, I was not.
After a quarter mile runners are asked to stay on the left side of the road, Brandon and I did not heed their warnings and instead ran on the right side of the road, the open road, where no one would get in our way. The pace was now starting to pick up, right before the first mile I looked over at Brandon and realized that he still had his mask on, he was working really hard and I was laughing, shortly afterwards he took the mask off.
The negative splits continued and runners were now being passed by two guys in strollers running sub 7 minute pace. With about a mile to go my son started getting fussy, so I figured I better get to the finish line. I picked up the pace and but some pavement between me and that guy pushing the double wide. With about a half a mile to go, I was working pretty hard and probably picked it up to six minute pace. In hindsight, I found it pretty funny because I wasn’t just passing people, I was blowing by them. I figured that most of them were running 7+ minute miles for the their last mile and then here comes a guy pushing a stroller running six minute pace, probably doesn’t happen that often.
When I made the right hand turn for the final sprint to the finish, I kicked it in another notch as I could see about seven people in front of me and figured that I could pass all of them. Passed a large group of people and saw the marker for mile 3. I also heard some footsteps, pitter patter, pitter patter, someone wanted to battle it out. I love the fight to the finish, so I picked up my pace but could hear the steps, he’s making his move. It was a youngster, high school kid and I loathe getting out kicked by high school kids, but let me tell you something it’s pretty much impossible to sprint when pushing a stroller..unless you have total disregard for the child in the stroller.
He pulled up on my shoulder, the finish was 10 meters away, he cuts right in front of the stroller and I have to hit the brakes as to not clip his ankle – defeated at the line – I even had the crowd cheering for me. At the finish the kid told me that he couldn’t let a guy pushing a stroller defeat him, I told him that I would have done the same thing, well played young man.
I have no idea what my time was, didn’t bother to wear a watch. Brandon clocked a 21:59, so I was probably a tad faster than him. Oh, Brandon thanks for pushing my kid in a 5k, I owe you.
I do love the Scream Scram 5k, I think next year I will go as the Marlboro Man. What’s the over/under on me being able to break 21 minutes wearing cowboy boots, Wranglers, cowboy hat and smoking a cigarette each and every mile..while running of course?
10/12 – 5.5 miles
10/13 – 10 miles
10/14 – 8 miles @ 6:43 (marathon race pace)
10/15 – 18 miles with 15 mins @ 6:14, 5 min recovery, 15 mins @ 6:19
10/16 – Off
10/17 – 12 miles @ 7:16 pace + 2 miles in VFF
10/18 – 8 miles @ 2 miles in VFF
Total 65.5 Miles
* First week of the taper
* Train stops Des Moines Marathon winner
* An Honorable Run book review in Boulder Camera
* Brock Quimby opening up another Boulder Running Company in Greenwood Village
* Brandon Fuller is going to Boston
* Congrats to my arch rival and best friend Mark Thompson on his 2:51:21 at the Des Moines Marathon yesterday. I now have to run a 2:51:20 at NYC.
* Denver Marathon finally gave out tech shirts, nice work.
* Denver Marathon also had timely results and it was great to see the track runner feature on the web page. However, it would be nice if they added the text message alerts. While spectating at Denver Marathon, I was receiving regular updates on the Des Moines Marathon with regards to my friend Mark, three split points and expected finish time. The Des Moines Marathon is smaller than Denver, thus you would think Chrontrack would have this capability.
* Running Scream Scram 5k on Friday, will be pushing a stroller and battling Brandon Fuller sans stroller! The best part about Scream Scram is the 6pm evening start time on a crisp fall day, reminds me of high school CC. I ran a 21:52 last year and that was starting at the back of the crowd and having to stop twice to run back and grab my daughters witch hat. So I’ll be gunning for a slightly faster time this year, but not racing.
* Timing Shake, Rattle and Run 5k on Saturday.
* Plan on running Racing with the Stars 5k on Sunday, not racing though, probably run marathon race pace.
