Race preview: New Year's Double

WHERE ARE WE GOING?
Allen, Texas

WHEN?
Saturday, Dec. 31 & Sunday, Jan. 1

WHY?
New Year's Double, AKA New Year's Eve Marathon and New Year's Day Marathon

NO REALLY, WHY?
This is a new challenge for me. I've run races on back-to-back days, but those were a half marathon and a 10K. This will bump me up from a 2-star Maniac to a 4.

WHO ELSE IS GOING?
There are 2,000 registrants in 4 distances over 2 days, but among those going 26.2, there are 190 on Saturday and 121 on Sunday. There are 88 runners planning to run both marathons, but with a 6-hour time limit and certainly a fair number of folks who, like me, haven't tried this before, I can probably guarantee a few DNFs on Sunday.

WHAT'S THE FORECAST?
Both races will start in the low 40s and finish in the low 50s, with hardly a cloud in the sky. The wind will be a factor, though, picking up out of the south as Saturday morning goes along, then turning around to become a pretty stiff north breeze throughout the race Sunday. There's a mid-loop straightaway of just over a mile that runs directly north-south; this could really sap some strength come Sunday (because the benefit of a tailwind is never as great as the punishment of a headwind).

HOW DO WE WIN?

The marathons will each have awards for the top 10 men and women, and since the registrant lists were posted, I did some somewhat-obsessive digging on Athlinks. Seems there are about 9 or 10 guys with faster PRs than me (and almost all of them are running both days). This suggests I might be right on the cusp of getting some bling. The wild card, of course, is strategy. Do I go all-out to make the top 10 on Saturday and just shuffle through Sunday? Do I sandbag Saturday and then go hard on Sunday to take advantage of everyone else being tired? If I do that, how tired will I be Sunday? If anyone cares about making the top 10, there's a good bit of poker to be played -- especially since the out-and-back loops assure you of knowing where you are virtually the entire race.

Year in review

The year-end best movie/song/album lists are coming out, so it's probably safe for me to roll out the recap of my 4th year as a runner.

I'll finish the year with about 1565 miles, assuming I hit 183 this month, my high for the year. I had a lull in September after hurting my ankle running 50 miles for the first time, but I'm feeling strong as the year draws to a close.

Here are a few things I'll remember:

SCORECARD: 2 5Ks, 1 10K, 2 15Ks, 6 half marathons, 6 marathons (counting one to come 12/31), 1 50K, 1 12-hour, 1 24-hour -- 405.44 race miles
PRs: 5K (19:23), 10K (42:20), 15K (1:02:57), half marathon (1:29:51), marathon (3:12:55), 50K (4:40:02), 12-hour (50.4 miles), 24-hour (57.04 miles). Yes, I set a PR at every distance I ran this year. Some still have major room for improvement (50K and 24-hour, obviously).
RUN OF THE YEAR: Dash Down Greenville. Two weeks earlier, I'd gone into Cowtown with a big checklist: first ultra, qualify for Maniacs, and hit the marathon split in 3:15 to (presumably) qualify for Boston. But the weather turned against me and wretched tendinitis made for 23 miles of pain. I took a week off and managed just 3 2-mile runs the next week before it was race day again. With the pain gone and my legs clearly much stronger from the long run and recovery, I ripped off a 32-second PR.
DUD OF THE YEAR: Tyler Rose Marathon. My first race back from the aforementioned injury was a mighty struggle and a reminder that while I should never have to worry about just finishing a marathon (barring catastrophic injury), I can't just roll out of bed and go nail one. Over an hour slower than my PR -- tougher course, yes, but that doesn't account for it all.
EVENT OF THE YEAR: Grandma's Marathon. Nothing ever happens in Duluth, except for this race. And they've been doing it for 35 years, so they've got the kinks worked out -- the organization was terrific. Spectator support was the best you'll see outside of New York, Boston or Chicago. I don't repeat events as a general rule, but there's a decent chance I will go run this one again.
NON-EVENT OF THE YEAR: Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Marathon. My view might be a little skewed based on what just happened in Las Vegas, but in hindsight, the biggest problem there was also the biggest problem for my race: too many people. We all know that Competitor is a for-profit operation and they're as likely to cap race entries as I am to turn down a piece of pumpkin pie. But at some point they need to understand the laws of diminishing returns. The expo was too crowded. The start was too crowded. The finish was too crowded. And as a bonus, the course was terrible -- there was very little to look at, including, outside of about 2 areas, spectators.
TWEET OF THE YEAR:

I registered for Boston as somewhat of a charade. I figured the race would fill up during the registration window for folks who beat the standard by 5 minutes. When that didn't happen, the message board prognosticators still didn't give me and my BQ-2:05 much cause for hope. So on the day of the announcement, I just plodded away at work as usual and, frankly, completely forgot about obsessively checking the BAA website for updates. Then I got the notification of a mention on Twitter and suddenly it was time to party.
HOTEL OF THE YEAR: Candlewood Suites, downtown Mobile, AL. Just a few blocks from the expo and start/finish of the First Light Marathon. Very friendly staff, and quite affordable (it's not a huge race so they don't gouge you).
DUMP OF THE YEAR: America's Best Value Inn, Texarkana, AR. I tried to go cheap for the Run the Line Half Marathon. Big mistake.
BIG GOALS FOR NEXT YEAR: Run the New Year's Day marathon to complete the New Year's Double. Finish Rouge-Orleans alive. Break 19:00 at Dash Down Greenville. PR at Boston. Run 6 marathons in 16 days in the fall to hit level 6 of Maniacs (my schedule has to be reworked as one of the races I penciled in will be a week later next year). Go sub-24 at Old Dominion 100 or Cajun Coyote 100.

Race review: Run Like the Wind 24-Hour Run

ENOUGH WITH THE SMALL TALK. HOW'D IT GO?
It was nowhere near the 100 miles I was shooting for, but I set new PRs for distance and time by covering 57.04 miles (92 1K laps) in 12:22:18 before bowing out.


DID YOU WIN?
I was 2nd of 6 in the official results, although I think there were only 5 folks who started the day with any intent of going for 24 hours, and one of those got moved to the 12-hour roster after the race started.


HOW'D THAT HAPPEN?
Staying awake for 24 hours (plus) isn't the easiest thing to do, so I wanted to sleep in on Saturday and get to the race as shortly before the 10:30 a.m. start as I could. But 8:00 rolled around and I couldn't help it; I was wide awake. I got dressed, assembled my drop box and made the 15-minute drive to the Canine Center for Training and Behavior.


It had rained overnight and was continuing to drizzle as the start time approached. I thought about walking a lap to survey the course but figured I was about to see plenty of it anyway. There was some mud around the start-finish area that volunteers were covering with mulch, but generally the course looked to be in reasonable shape from what I could see of it. That would change quickly.


There were 29 starters in the four timed events (3, 6, 12 and 24 hours), and I found out before the start that there were 4 besides me who were planning to go the whole way. But I didn't know who any of them were and so I didn't concern myself with strategizing against them. I wasn't about to repeat my mistakes from the Labor Day weekend 12-hour in St. Louis; I just wanted a comfortable pace I could keep up for a while.


Within 5 laps I'd already lost track of what lap I was on, and I had only a rough guess of what pace I was keeping, though I knew it wasn't too fast. I could also tell that the course was not going to hold up for long. By the third lap I was already seeing areas where a thin layer of mulch was giving way to mud. Good thing my shoes were due for retirement anyway.


I generally followed the same nutrition plan as St. Louis, alternating a 350-calorie protein drink with a Clif bar or some other solid food after each hour. I mostly stuck to Heed for hydration instead of plain water and was careful not to overdo it, since hyponatremia has been a problem for me in the past. I'd had a headache for most of the week but I was feeling much better on this day.


About 2 1/2 hours in, I made a pit stop to reapply Aquaphor and checked the standings for the first time. I was in the lead! I had 23 laps; there were folks at 22, 21 and 20, I think. Suddenly I grew interested in finding out who these people were. A short time later a guy in a red shirt asked how far I was going, and he shared that he was doing the 24 as well. I learned that this was Austin, who was in 2nd. I started paying attention to where he was.


The 3-hour runners left the course and I was thankful, knowing that would mean several fewer pairs of shoes leaving footprints in the mud. Perhaps the rate of course erosion would ease, especially given that the rain had stopped. Austin passed me, and then lapped me, and I went back to not paying attention to others. I was chugging along just fine, not acutely aware of my pace but good enough with the math in my head to know that I was on track.


Shortly after the 6-hour competitors ended their day, I had my first foot issue. Just as I was coming around to the start/finish area, on one step with my left foot I felt the sharp pain at the front of the arch, in the middle of the foot, that is the telltale sign of skin about to be rubbed raw. I immediately ducked into the tent and went to work.


It was nothing to fix the foot (just a quick tape job), but the problem was that on this day, anything coming off was not going back on. That meant the compression socks that I really wanted to keep on as long as I could were going to be lost for the day. My shoes, totally drenched in mud, could've stayed on, but I went ahead and moved to the second pair. (I knew at the time that, barring extraordinary circumstances, this would be my only shoe change. I took a third pair but they were brand new and I really didn't want to kill them off immediately.)


As night fell, I strapped on my headlamp and limited my running to the couple of stretches that were still runnable thanks to artificial lighting. At 7:30 p.m., 9 hours in, I had 72 laps down. So I knew I needed 90 more to get to 100 miles, and with 15 hours to go, that meant I had only to churn out 10-minute laps (16:07 miles) the rest of the way.


Keeping track of this was easy. My laps just needed to end by :10:00, :20:00, :30:00, etc., on the clock, and I was consistently peeling off 9-minute laps. I set a goal to chip away little by little each lap to the point that I would have enough time for a bonus lap at the end, because 101.06 miles sounded much better to me than 100.44. My legs, after feeling achy for a while, were now just fine, probably because of the increased walking.


I was buoyed as well by hearing at the aid station that Austin, now a good 5 or 6 laps ahead of me, was thinking about dropping to the 12-hour event. At some point we were leapfrogging each other on the course and I asked him about it. He knew he couldn't keep the same effort for another 12 hours without crashing. I wasn't sure if I could either, but I was going for it. Another guy, Paul, had now moved ahead of me but I thought it would be easier to worry about making up a lap on him than 6 on Austin.


The 12-hour mark passed and Austin and a couple of others stopped. I was still on schedule, now with 90 laps down. A lap or two earlier I had felt a pain in my chest coming to the end of one of my run intervals. I figured I'd taken it a little too hard and tried to get past it with deep breaths. The bonus time I'd been banking with each lap was starting to wither to just a few seconds. I took a minute of it and sat down.


There were now just 3 of us left: me, Paul, and a woman named Shannon who was close to 20 laps behind me. There had been a couple brief rounds of rain since the late afternoon, once when I was changing shoes and again later when I was grabbing something to eat. The opening 50-meter stretch was a complete slop-fest by now, and plenty of other areas throughout the first quarter of the loop were quite boggy as well. I have no idea how, but Paul was zipping around the place without a light as if it were nothing. I hadn't seen Shannon in a while; we were probably just on opposite corners of the course, going the same speed.


My 91st lap came in only a couple of seconds under the goal. I tried running another little stretch near the start of the next lap, as I figured that despite the mud I knew enough about where I was going to run it. But the sharp pain in my chest returned, this time on the other (left) side. This set off some panic in me. I may well die running, but I wasn't ready for it to happen now. Fortunately I didn't have to worry about it because in short order the aches and pains in every other part of my body became too much to bear. My back was killing me, my knees were starting to go, and my feet were swelling. I came to the next section I would normally have run, and I just couldn't do it. My walk became a stagger, and finally my will vanished. I sat in the tent for 20 minutes with no intent to continue, then turned in my chip.


WHAT ELSE?
Paul and Shannon kept going until past the 17-hour mark, when apparently thunderstorms rolled in and shut the thing down. Before I left, I had chatted with Sam, the race director, about prizes and felt fairly certain I'd end up in 3rd, assuming Shannon kept going. She came up 2 laps short of catching me. I felt bad about that, since the awards are not intended for the folks that go out quickly but don't see things through to the end.


Speaking of which, I felt bad in general about how this race went when I headed back to the hotel. Not only did I not run 24 hours or 100 miles, but I'd made such small improvements over my previous personal bests. You hear "100 miles in 24 hours" and think that's such an easy thing to do, to keep up a 4.17-mph pace. But what that calculation ignores is all the ancillary stuff that goes on. You have to eat, and drink, and on a day like we had, you have to keep up with your gear. The eating and drinking weren't an issue for me, but in hindsight I would have taken at least 5 or 6 more pairs of socks, and still another pair of shoes, this one bigger and wider to fit my feet better after so many hours.


As I've thought about it, these kinds of preparation mistakes just come along with being new at this. I looked up the resumes of my competitors. Austin ran Rocky Raccoon last winter (and under 24 hours, at that). Shannon has banged out most all the Tejas Trails events in the last couple years. And Paul is not just some dude: try Western States AND Badwater just last year, for example (they're 3 weeks apart), to go with numerous other 100s over the last few years (Heartland, Angeles Crest, The Bear, Wasatch Front, etc.). Compared to those folks, I am a total spare. This made me feel a lot better about my effort. Some day, I will get there.


My result was also a major wake-up call for Rouge-Orleans. It's barely 2 months away and I don't really have time to revamp my training schedule to be what it probably needs to be. So it might come to be that I get out there and just walk the whole damn thing (I can still make the time limit if I just keep moving forward). Whatever happens, I won't be mentally unprepared. The loop course I just ran made it a little easier to give up when things got tough. Rouge-Orleans is point-to-point, with a few very widely-spaced aid stations (think 25 miles apart) and, for me, no crew. "It hurts", in the sense of aches and pains, is not going to cut it.


SPLITS?
N/A 


OK, WHAT ABOUT THE REAL REASON WE ALL RUN, THE STUFF?
As with many ultras, you in fact do not run this one for the stuff. The race is aimed at dog people, seeing as it's held at a dog training facility and raises money to help people who otherwise can't afford to get their dogs trained. So the goodies were dog treats, a frisbee, etc. -- nothing my cats can get excited about. The T-shirt is a soft organic one, though, and in the coming days I should be seeing a hat in the mail to commemorate my 2nd-place finish.


WHAT'S NEXT?
New Year's Double (marathons), Allen, Dec. 31-Jan. 1.

Race preview: Run Like the Wind 24-Hour Run

WHERE ARE WE GOING?
Austin, Texas

WHEN?
Saturday, Dec. 3

WHY?
Run Like the Wind 24-Hour Run

NO REALLY, WHY?
Playing off of my 12-hour run over Labor Day weekend, I picked another timed race that will give me a crack at my first 100 without having to worry about a DNF. This should also be a learning experience as I prepare for Rouge-Orleans, where there will be no margin for error.

WHO ELSE IS GOING?
Last year's race had 8 entrants. The year before had 15. So I'm guessing there will be between 8 and 15 runners. There are 12-, 6- and 3-hour events also.

WHAT'S THE FORECAST?
The forecast has been gyrating wildly for the last week... cold, warm, rain, no rain. The current forecast is somewhere in the middle of what it's been, so that's what I'll plan for: cloudy and low 50s at the start, warming to the low 60s before the wind picks up and rain rolls in after dark with a low in the low 40s. This will take some creative wardrobing, it appears.

HOW DO WE WIN?

The course is a 1,000-meter mulchy loop. That means I'll need 162 loops to hit 100 miles. After the 12-hour race, a 46-mile training run a few weeks ago and volunteering overnight at Ultracentric last weekend, I don't think mental fatigue will be a problem. It'll just be a matter of how my legs and feet hold up.

Race review: Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Marathon

ENOUGH WITH THE SMALL TALK. HOW'D IT GO?
I had 3:40 as a goal and without strategizing at all I managed to cross the line in 3:40:59. Given the conditions I was pretty happy -- more on this shortly.

DID YOU WIN?
Of course not, but I was safely in the top 10 percent of each grouping, which is always my backup goal. I was 38th of 420 in my age group, 186th of 2414 men and 225th of 4229 overall.

HOW'D THAT HAPPEN?
My goal of 3:40 happened to be the exact average time of my previous 6 full marathons. I figured the easy course would bring my time down, but that would be offset by warmer weather and not running at full effort.

I started off at a comfortable pace under the clouds and fog. It was quite humid and I was quickly drenched. The course was not terribly crowded thanks to the corral start, but there were enough folks around to keep me under control.

We zigged and zagged through downtown, past the Alamo and out into... I don't know, the rest of the city. Not to steal my own thunder for later but this was not a memorable course at all. Maybe I was biased to begin with because I think San Antonio is a really overrated city.

The frequent musical interludes -- live and recorded -- gave me a shot of energy, especially passing the 10K mark. There was something about hearing the line "you'll be kissing my ass" from that one Pink song that really sparked me.

Unfortunately the good times only lasted a few more miles, as the evil sun burned off all the clouds that had given us such a wonderful overcast morning. The half marathoners turned for home and the rest of us were left to wander off on the long out-and-back down Mission Road. I just tried to ignore my watch and the sun and keep moving forward as best I could.

I was pretty happy with myself for maintaining a healthy jog, until the last Gu I took around mile 21.5 decided not to sit well. I've never had a problem with gels before, but this one just felt like a brick in my gut. I was probably dehydrated because by now it was easily 75 degrees on the pavement. I couldn't fight through it and had to decide whether to walk off or keep running until I threw up. I chose the former and walked off a quarter mile, an interval I'd repeat for each of the last 4 miles.

At the 26-mile marker, my wife and kids were waiting for me. This was special because I rarely bring them along -- it seems like something you'd want but believe me, a toddler is not having a good time out there waiting around for Dad to show up. Their smiles and waves got me up the last hill and over the finish line, which came about 50 yards after my left calf started to cramp (another race first).

WHAT ELSE?
Sorry to have to repeat myself here but the course, though easy in terms of its minimal elevation change (412 feet of gain per my Garmin), is not a good one. It's virtually a carbon copy of the Route 66 course in Tulsa: a circuitous first half with many interesting urban features, followed by a long, dull, unattended out-and-back to comprise the entire second half. The 80 percent of race-goers who only ran the half would probably say its a nice course, but for the full, not so much.

I had a beef with the expo as well. I understand that any promoter wants to pack as many exhibitors as possible into the available space. But it seems as though no one stops to think that the more folks you have selling stuff, the more people will be attracted to shop -- and the less room there will be for everyone to get around. I gave most of the sellers little more than a cursory glance -- because I really didn't need anything and we pretty much all know what the scene is like by now -- and it took me forever to get off the Alamodome floor. Maybe, just maybe, some race will decide to forego an extra booth or three to give the runners room to breathe. But I won't hold my breath.

SPLITS?
7:26
7:28
7:25
7:20
7:36
7:26
7:17
7:13
7:21
7:28
7:18
7:34
7:48
7:57
8:08
8:13
8:28
8:38
8:46
9:04
9:26
9:37
10:44
10:54
11:06
10:47
8:49 pace last .29

OK, WHAT ABOUT THE REAL REASON WE ALL RUN, THE STUFF?
We all got an actual goodie bag with actual goodies, with a pack of Gu Roctane among the highlights (I'm going to consider the above Gu episode as a one-time occurrence). I can appreciate other races' efforts to go green by nixing the pre-race bag, but it's still nice to get actual stuff now and then.

The medal is not bad, though it's attached to a thin, completely nondescript ribbon:

WHAT'S NEXT?
Run Like the Wind 24-Hour Run, Austin, Dec. 3.

Schedule changes

My finish in next weekend's Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Marathon will mark my 8th marathon or ultra in the last 12 months, good enough for a promotion to Level 2 (or whatever the catchy nickname is for it) of Marathon Maniacs. It'll be short-lived, since the New Year's Double will get me to Level 4.

But the New Year's Double will get a bunch of other people to Level 4 too, and let's face it, that makes me a little less special. I'd reviewed the Maniacs criteria before and always figured Level 6 would probably be where I'd ultimately top out, getting there with 6 marathons in 16 days (3 weekends of back-to-backs). I've decided to reach that goal sooner than planned -- about this time next year.

Of course, this could fall apart if any of these races change dates, but for now here's what I'm going with:

*11/13/11 Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Marathon
*12/3/11 Run Like The Wind 24-Hour, Austin TX
*12/31/11 New Year's Eve Marathon, Allen TX
*1/1/12 New Year's Day Marathon, Allen TX
*1/29/12 Miracle Match Marathon, Waco TX
*2/10/12 Rouge-Orleans (126.2 miles), Baton Rouge to New Orleans
3/17/12 Dash Down Greenville (5K), Dallas
*4/16/12 Boston Marathon
*4/29/12 Big Sur International Marathon, Carmel CA
5/13/12 North Trail HM, Dallas
6/2/12 Old Dominion 100, Woodstock VA
6/17/12 Dadfest (5K), Dallas
7/4/12 Liberty 10K, The Colony TX
7/15/12 El Scorcho 50K, Fort Worth TX
9/3/12 Labor Day 15K, Dallas
9/15/12 Tour des Fleurs 20K, Dallas
9/23/12 Heels & Hills & Him HM, Irving TX
10/6/12 Heartland 100, Cassoday KS
10/6/12 Arkansas Marathon, Booneville AR
10/7/12 Mother Road Marathon, Joplin MO
10/13/12 Kansas City Marathon
10/14/12 Prairie Fire Marathon, Wichita KS
10/20/12 Frankenthon Monster Marathon, Cedar Park TX
10/21/12 Waterworks 25K, Dallas
10/21/12 Brazos Bend Gator Run, Needville TX
11/4/12 DRC Half, Dallas
11/18/12 Big D 30K
12/1/12 Cajun Coyote 100, Ville Platte LA
12/2/12 Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon
12/15/12 Jog'r Egg Nog'r 15K, Dallas

Race preview: Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Marathon

WHERE ARE WE GOING?
San Antonio, Texas

WHEN?
Sunday, Nov. 12

WHY?
Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Marathon

NO REALLY, WHY?
Many reasons: It's a family outing. I get an extra medal for having done the Dallas event earlier this year. And with this being my 8th marathon or ultra in the last 12 months, I'll get a Marathon Maniacs promotion.

WHO ELSE IS GOING?
Looks like a field of something close to 5,000 for the full, and of course many thousand more for the half. That reminds me, I better get my Saturday dinner plans lined up.

WHAT'S THE FORECAST?
Some sun, some clouds, a north wind, 60 at the start, 70 at the end. 

HOW DO WE WIN?

With Run Like the Wind coming 3 weeks later, I don't plan to run this thing all that hard. I'm really just hoping for something much better than that ridiculousness in Tyler (4:23).

Race review: 13.1 Dallas

ENOUGH WITH THE SMALL TALK. HOW'D IT GO?
I came up short of my time goal, though not ludicrously so, finishing in 1:37:55. I felt like I did all I could and blame the extra couple minutes on the cold I was right in the heart of.

DID YOU WIN?
No but I placed better than I thought I would, really. I was 104th of 1675 overall, 87th of 800 men and 12th of 127 in my age group.

HOW'D THAT HAPPEN?
I started as slowly as I wanted and gradually got into my groove coming back down Cole and turning onto Cedar Springs. I felt like I was keeping the pace I wanted, but little by little I was slowing down as we gradually climbed Turtle Creek into Highland Park. I crossed the 10K mat in 45:56 and already knew there was no chance of sniffing 1:35.

But, just as I'd faltered a little on the way up, I regained strength coming back down the Katy Trail. When the trail ended and we were spit out onto Houston Street, I picked up the pace and started passing folks. I kept right on going up the hill on Ross Avenue and finished with a strong spring to the finish. It wasn't as fast as I wanted, but it was the race that I wanted to run.

WHAT ELSE?

The course was promoted as the best half marathon course in Dallas, and as much as I enjoyed the Rock 'n' Roll course, I tend to agree with this assessment. Sure, there are plenty of watch-your-step moments through the first 3 miles, but I like the urban setting. Where the RnR course wanders into a sort of wasteland crossing 75 on Mockingbird to Skillman and down to Swiss Avenue, the compact 13.1 course keeps things interesting and scenic. If I ran the Katy Trail all the time I might be burned out on it, but I don't, so I'm not.

The convenience of the start/finish line is of course a big plus as well, being just a few blocks from the DART station. I liked the village-y feel of the exhibition area, though a couple of strategically-placed floodlights before the race would've made the port-a-potties easier to find.

SPLITS?
7:39
7:29
7:10
7:10
7:22
7:38
7:51
7:33
7:31
7:40
7:31
7:22
7:33
6:13 pace last 372 ft.

OK, WHAT ABOUT THE REAL REASON WE ALL RUN, THE STUFF?
The shirt was lame -- it's the same shirt handed out at every stop on the nationwide series, individually and unnecessarily wrapped in a plastic bag. The medal, on the other hand, is a beaut:

WHAT'S NEXT?
Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Marathon, Nov. 12.

Race preview: 13.1 Dallas

WHERE ARE WE GOING?
Dallas, Texas

WHEN?
Saturday, Oct. 22

WHY?
13.1 Dallas

NO REALLY, WHY?
When the race was announced a year ago, I was one of the first 100 to sign up and got in for a mere 38 bucks. In fact, I signed up so long ago they changed the race date since then (it was going to be the next day).

WHO ELSE IS GOING?
Not sure. It looks like this event will get off to a fast start as the replacement to the Uptown Run, a very popular 8-miler. With the DRC Half coming up in a couple weeks you wouldn't think there would be a huge demand for another half right here, but it looks like I'll have close to 2,000 folks joining me.

WHAT'S THE FORECAST?
Mostly sunny, 62 at the start, 66 at the finish, light winds, somewhat humid. Used to be I'd write these previews the Sunday before the race but at least my procrastination makes this section a little better.

HOW DO WE WIN?
Initially I had a feeling that this favorable course and the placement on the calendar would give me an outside shot at sniffing my PR (1:29:51). But it's gonna be just a little too warm for that and besides, I've caught a cold that is really starting to hit its crescendo. Maybe I'll be fresher having skipped yesterday's run, but I'm certainly not at full strength. A good comparison race should be the White Rock Centennial half (1:35:12). I'll make that my target.

Race review: Tyler Rose Marathon

ENOUGH WITH THE SMALL TALK. HOW'D IT GO?
It went about like you'd expect for someone who'd been averaging 6 miles a week for the last month and set out to run a hilly course on a warm day. I set a new personal worst of 4:23:25.

DID YOU WIN?
Nope. I was 61st of 212 overall, although 6 people ahead of me did not run the entire course (more on this later). I came in 5th place of 21 in my age group. It's pretty annoying to know that 3:54 would've taken home an age-group award and I certainly could've run that if I were in shape, but alas, I was not.

HOW'D THAT HAPPEN?
I stuck to my plan of walking up hills and running easily for as long as I could. I "cheated" a little with some of the small early inclines, feeling like I really didn't need to walk those. By mile 5 I encountered the first real hills and hiked up them, but I was feeling fine.

I ran with the legendary T.O. for a couple miles before the halfway point, chatting about the course and upcoming races and Boston and whatnot. I wondered who was holding whom back until he declared he was going to head off to catch someone. He finished about 40 minutes ahead of me. That's what happens when you reach machine status.

I crossed the mat at 13.1 in 1:50:42, which surprised me a little until I reminded myself I was supposed to be going this slow. I still felt OK, but the wheels would be coming off soon. I got to about mile 17 before the walk breaks started getting longer and more frequent. And by the final 4 miles, I was so out of whack from walking up hills and running down them that I had to start walking downhill too.

From there on out I could only manage to jog a couple of minutes per mile. Everything from the waist down was breaking down at one point or another. I did manage a good sprint across the finish line, flashing double horns down for the cameras to a responsive crowd (they were mostly against me, but this was the most noise I'd heard all day -- more on this in a moment also).

WHAT ELSE?
Not sure where to start, but here's one: The course was terrible. I don't say that because it was hard. Obviously it was hillier than almost anything we can recreate in these parts, and my undertraining of the last 5 weeks included pretty much no hills, so it was going to be hard, definitely. (I know that 1,081 feet of gain is comical to folks in most parts, but it's all relative.)

No, the course was bad for other reasons. Signage was abysmal. Twice I had to ask cops directing traffic which way to turn. It was nice of them to tell me but that's not their job and I shouldn't have to ask. Not everyone was so lucky, apparently, since at least 10 people cut perhaps 5 or 6 miles off of the course thanks to wrong turns or bad directions. When barely 200 people are running, you can't assume there will be someone to follow who's going the right way.

Another 3 or 4 times I found myself crossing paths with or running directly at half marathoners, at least one of whom refused to yield (I don't know what the rules are about who yields to whom, but I've gotta think if it's known that the other runner is going further and/or faster, you step aside, and both were true for me). On one side street, all the half marathoners were running one way and little ol' me was running the opposite direction, unbeknownst to the driver who eased out of her driveway just as I approached. I pounded on her hood as I ran by yelling, hopefully hard enough to leave a dent.

Also, there was no community support whatsoever. We could've just gone to the track and run in ovals for hours in front of empty bleachers and it would've felt the same. I watched the local news on Saturday night and didn't hear a word about the race. Not to say there's nothing to do in Tyler but when it's a slow news day and there's a marathon in town the next day and there's not even a mention of it, that tells me the race directors did nothing to promote it. That seems to be the standard for Mellew, which does a similarly poor job of pushing the Big D Texas Marathon. They should really just stick to 5Ks.

I was about a week removed from Lasik surgery and had no complications until right before the finish, when sweat finally dripped into my eyes. That hurts anyway, but especially so with eyes still in recovery. Fortunately I carried drops with me and got the sweat washed out a couple minutes after finishing. Oh yeah, the part about finishing.... The Rose Garden is certainly a scenic finish, but having the finish line down there means you're having to climb upstairs to get post-race food. People don't want to climb stairs after a marathon on a flat course, let alone one that hilly. Just more poor decision making.

One good thing worth pointing out was the stellar performance of my new Native sunglasses. I got the Sprint model and they didn't dare think of scooting out of place one millimeter the entire run. Totally worth it.

Also good, my best race photo yet:

SPLITS?
7:42
7:58
7:40
8:00
8:30
8:42
8:11
8:15
8:11
8:31
8:28
9:09
10:06
8:40
10:05
8:46
9:26
11:10
12:16
11:11
11:57
12:14
13:04
13:53
13:33
13:10
12:49 pace last .37

OK, WHAT ABOUT THE REAL REASON WE ALL RUN, THE STUFF?
At least there was some good stuff to be had. Everyone gets a simple white long-sleeved tech shirt for entering and a genuine Tyler rosebush for finishing. The medal is a big heavy rose with a quality ribbon:

And this being the completion of my swim through the Four Seasons Half Marathon Challenge, I got another tech shirt and another medal:

WHAT'S NEXT?
13.1 Dallas, Oct. 22.

Race preview: Tyler Rose Marathon

WHERE ARE WE GOING?
Tyler, Texas

WHEN?
Sunday, October 9

WHY?
Tyler Rose Marathon

NO REALLY, WHY?
This completes the Four Seasons Half Marathon Challenge. Plus all the cool kids are running Chicago, and I'm not one of them.

WHO ELSE IS GOING?
There were 224 folks registered before today, so unless another couple dozen walk-ups showed up, this will be a smaller field than last year.

WHAT'S THE FORECAST?
Not what you would call "pleasant": upper 60s at the start to upper 70s at the finish, with winds picking up with the temps. Oh, and humid too.

HOW DO WE WIN?
I'm just looking to finish. With an injury and a vacation and Lasik surgery clogging the last 5 weeks I've logged just 33 miles in that time. That's not really ideal preparation so I'm going to lay way back on this one, walking the uphills and running the rest easily. I probably won't crack 4 hours but I don't care; I can just put this down as a training run for Run Like the Wind.

Schedule changes

You might say it's been a bit of a whirlwind week in terms of my 2012 racing plans. First, the updated schedule (bold ones are new since last time, starred ones are paid for):

*10/9/11 Tyler Rose Marathon

*10/23/11 13.1 Dallas

*11/13/11 Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Marathon

12/3/11 Run Like The Wind 24-Hour, Austin TX

*12/31/11 New Year's Eve Marathon, Allen TX

*1/1/12 New Year's Day Marathon, Allen TX

1/29/12 Miracle Match Marathon, Waco TX

*2/10/12 Rouge-Orleans (126.2 miles), Baton Rouge to New Orleans

3/17/12 Dash Down Greenville (5K), Dallas

*4/16/12 Boston Marathon

*4/29/12 Big Sur International Marathon, Carmel CA

5/13/12 North Trail HM, Dallas

6/2/12 Old Dominion 100, Woodstock VA

6/17/12 Dadfest (5K), Dallas

7/4/12 Liberty 10K, The Colony TX

7/15/12 El Scorcho 50K, Fort Worth TX

8/4/12 Headlands Hundred, Sausalito CA

9/3/12 Labor Day 15K, Dallas

9/15/12 Tour des Fleurs 20K, Dallas

9/23/12 Heels & Hills & Him HM, Irving TX

10/6/12 Heartland 100, Cassoday KS

10/21/12 Waterworks 25K, Dallas

11/4/12 DRC Half, Dallas

11/18/12 Big D 30K

12/2/12 Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon

12/15/12 Jog'r Egg Nog'r 15K, Dallas

I pondered the Cajun Coyote 100 in place of Run Like the Wind but I think I'll stay in Texas that weekend. Miracle Match will probably happen unless I find a suitable ultra that weekend or the one before. DDG is a lock.

The family trip to California we'd planned for August will now be in April, obviously. I probably won't mind losing the August 100 and gaining something of an offseason. After this ridiculous summer I'll appreciate stepping back to 25- or 30-mile weeks for a bit when it's 100 every day (and 83 every night).

I'm not convinced the Vegas trip is going to happen given the other three fly-outs next year (Boston, Big Sur, OD100). I may well do Cajun Coyote then instead.

Shocker in Beantown

In posting my update yesterday, I totally forgot to mention that I'd gone through the motions and submitted my entry for Boston last Monday. Nothing I'd read over the previous weekend gave me much confidence that my BQ -2:05 would be good enough.

Now when I think of Hail Marys and Boston, Flutie-to-Phelan won't be the first thing to come to mind.

The BAA drew the line at BQ -1:14 and emailed me my acceptance early this afternoon. I couldn't believe it. I didn't think I'd make it from the moment the 3:10 pace group started pulling away from me with 6 miles left at Grandma's. I had to be reminded to register last week and to check out the website today. But there I am.

This evening I went ahead and signed up for Big Sur, too, as one of the 400 folks in the Boston to Big Sur Challenge. We were planning a family trip to California next summer anyway, so we'll just go earlier. I'll have some other schedule juggling to figure out later, but for now I'll just enjoy this bill I got for hundreds of dollars that I'll gladly fork over for my proudest running experience yet.

This thing needs more content

I've been painfully inactive in the 3 weeks since my 12-hour race, painful thanks to some unspecified injury to my left ankle area sustained in that race (and really secured when I went for a 5-mile recovery jog 3 days later). I took almost 2 weeks completely off from running, took a very short (12-minute) jog Tuesday to see where things were, then went on vacation and had 4 more days off. That put me at about 6.3 miles in 20 days.

Today I finally got back out for 5 miles and didn't feel anything unusual during the run or afterward. My wife had originally guessed I'd broken my navicular bone, but my research found that would require 6 weeks on crutches or in a boot or something to that effect. So I'm guessing that wasn't it. Maybe the vitamin D supplements saved me.

I'm having Lasik surgery this Friday, so that's going to force some more downtime with just another week left before my next race, the Tyler Rose Marathon. I long ago abandoned any intent of this being an A race; now I won't make it a B race either. I'm going to walk the uphills and comfortably jog the rest and be happy to finish the Four Seasons Challenge and put marathon/ultra #8 behind me.

Race review: Flatlanders 12 Hour Run

ENOUGH WITH THE SMALL TALK. HOW'D IT GO?
I met my bare-minimum goal, rounding the 1.4-mile loop 36 times for a total of 50.4 miles. I was so worn out I sat down for the third and final time with almost 2 hours left on the clock.

DID YOU WIN?
Of course not, but having never gone past 50K before, I shouldn't have expected to. I was right in the middle, 17th of 33 entrants. If I had tried to shuffle along until the end, I might've moved up another 5 spots, but I didn't.

HOW'D THAT HAPPEN?
My plan was to jog along at my comfortable training pace until I couldn't anywhere, and then just fight for whatever miles I could after that. As I later learned, this was a ridiculous plan.

After starting in the middle of the pack, I scooted around a few folks and found myself behind just one other runner barely half a mile into the race. I didn't know if the leader was in the 6-hour race or the 12, but I thought it'd be pretty cool to take the lead, so I did. I was running easily, so I figured there was no harm in it.

I kept the lead for another lap... and a couple more... and a few more after that. I wasn't wearing my Garmin and I was keeping only rough track of my lap times, but I was in the neighborhood of 8:00 miles -- less than a minute slower than marathon pace and much faster than I'd been running around the neighborhood to build aerobic endurance. I'd been amped for this race; clearly too much so.

On lap 10 or so one of the 6-hour leaders ran by me and remarked that I'd have a course record in the bag if I kept up my pace. A few people I'd lapped made similar remarks. But it was near the end of lap 12 that I got my 15 seconds of fame.

I'd spotted last year's winner motoring along the one long straightaway on the course. Much as I figured it would be neat to take the lead, I thought it would be very cool to lap this guy. And so I did, passing him just as we crossed the start/finish line. I heard a few murmurs from the lap counters' tent. I considered that my formal introduction.

Of course, he'd have the last laugh, as he would pass me back, and then continue to pass me, repeatedly, until he walked off with another win. As the day wore on it became very apparent that I had been that guy, the one who goes flying off at the start of a race (relatively speaking) only to crash and burn. Before the day was half over, I had reached into my container of goodies and pulled out a lacrosse ball to run over my hamstrings, quads and IT bands to work out the fatigue. As the 6-hour racers wrapped things up, I crossed the line for the 21st time to mark 35 miles.

At 42 miles I sat down for the first time. I wanted to call it a day. I couldn't run anymore thanks to tendinitis in my shins. All the muscular issues from before, I could work out, but this kind of pain could only be relieved by stopping. I was upset with myself that I couldn't get to 50 miles; even though I'd never come close to running that far I figured surely I could stick it out to there. After 15 minutes or so on the ground, I got up and started walking.

I finished 5 more laps to get to 49 miles and told my lap counter I had one more lap in me... but let me sit down for another few minutes first. After resting for 15 more minutes and hobbling another 1.4 miles, I brushed off the volunteers' pleas to keep going and took my shoes off. It wasn't the 70-some miles I'd allowed myself to think I might be capable of, but it was certainly respectable.

WHAT ELSE?
The great thing about a fixed-time event on a loop course is that you can break the cardinal rule of racing: doing something for the first time on race day. And I did this, many times, really without much trouble.

I planned to take in 250 calories per hour. I never do this during training runs, so this was an experiment. After each odd-numbered hour, I downed whatever the Kroger version of strawberry Ensure is called. The other hours were a mix of Gu, coconut water, protein shakes and granola bars. I had no real digestive issues to speak of.

I started the race carrying Nuun in my handheld bottle, trying to make sure I got a good start with getting salt in me. After a couple bottles of that, I went mostly with water, mixing in Gatorade and soda here and there. Judging by the fact that I didn't pee until an hour after I'd quit running, and by the brief bout of nausea that hit on my way back to the hotel, I could've used both more salt and more fluids throughout the day.

Except for pre-race preparations, I ditched the Body Glide and went with Aquaphor for all my critical areas. Thanks to timely (but not terribly frequent) re-applications, I got through the day with nary a chafe. I had no blisters either; I credit the toe socks for that. In hindsight, I definitely could've gone with my compression shorts and socks. The latter don't prevent blisters for me so I'll have to try out the Ijinji liners with them.

Aside from all those intricacies, I enjoyed the feel of this small club race. There were just 66 entrants in the two events combined. I'm not the most social animal but I struck up conversations with a few folks along the way -- you really can't help it when these few faces are the only ones you see for so long.

SPLITS?
N/A

OK, WHAT ABOUT THE REAL REASON WE ALL RUN, THE STUFF?
The St. Louis Ultrarunners Group uses this race as an annual fundraiser for the Muscular Dystrophy Association, so I didn't expect to be showered in goodies. We all got a blaze orange cotton T-shirt, and everyone who finished at least 26.2 miles got a medal:

WHAT'S NEXT?
Tyler Rose Marathon, Oct. 9.

Race preview: Flatlanders 12 Hour Run

WHERE ARE WE GOING?
Fenton, Mo.

WHEN?
Sunday, September 4

WHY?
Flatlanders 12 Hour Run

NO REALLY, WHY?
I took my last swing at qualifying for Boston, I sorta made it, and now I'm on to other things. Some folks I work with -- even fellow runners -- have asked me why I would want to run for 12 hours. That they would ask why is a large part of why.

WHO ELSE IS GOING?
Only about another 40 folks, mostly members of the St. Louis Ultrarunners Group (SLUGs).

WHAT'S THE FORECAST?
Looks like upper 60s at the start warming to upper 80s in the afternoon. Warm, yes, but I've been logging miles at least in the upper 80s for many weeks. If I encounter any trouble, it shouldn't be because of the weather.

HOW DO WE WIN?
I don't have a true upper-limit goal for this event. There are some numbers I have in mind but I need to consider I've never gone past 31 miles so this will be a record by (hopefully) quite a long way. I can say that I'd be very upset if I wasn't safely past 50. I could hit that with barely above a walk, so all I really need to do is drop everything to prevent chafing, and keep moving forward.

Race review: The Hottest Half

ENOUGH WITH THE SMALL TALK. HOW'D IT GO?
This was my slowest half marathon in 15 attempts. I set a reasonable goal and came up plenty short, easing to a 1:42:08. Yes it was hot, but it was also hot at Too Hot to Handle and I managed to be 3 minutes faster through 15K there. I think I have to blame this on disinterest; I had been looking past this race to my next one for weeks. If this were college football, you could say I was looking ahead to the Texas game and lost to Baylor.

DID YOU WIN?
Not at all, although my placing looked respectable: 75th of 1379 overall, 16th of 138 in my age group.

HOW'D THAT HAPPEN?
I started slow, very slow. A little past half a mile in, we split from the 10K runners and headed over the footbridge along Mockingbird. Nothing will deaden your stride more than trying to bounce along that bridge with several hundred other people at the same time. One step comes up short and feels like you stepped in quicksand. The next step goes long and you try not to fall over.

I found my stride for a little bit after that, but I could tell my pace was getting away from me. I hardly looked at my watch -- maybe this was why -- until mile 11 or so, just to see if I still had a shot at 1:40 (I didn't). There's really not much else to say; I just plain didn't run as fast as I should've been able to.

WHAT ELSE?
In rapid succession between about 6.25 and 7.25 miles, I crossed paths with three dailymile friends and a co-worker. Judging by the trend in my splits, those friendly faces gave me about a 15-second boost, so go make some friends out there!

Aside from my time goal, I wanted to finish first again among the participants in the Four Seasons Challenge. Those results aren't yet posted, so we'll see. I know there was one guy who beat me, but he didn't run the Texas Half so we really shouldn't count him.

SPLITS?
7:28
7:14
7:11
7:29
7:30
7:37
7:25
7:39
7:59
8:12
8:00
8:14
8:24
7:40 pace last .22

OK, WHAT ABOUT THE REAL REASON WE ALL RUN, THE STUFF?
I like the red tech shirt, but as with Too Hot to Handle, if you're using the heat to sell your race, you really ought to go with a tank. It's just more appropriate.

The medal is not bad, though turning this into a bottle opener would've really been going the extra mile:

WHAT'S NEXT?
Flatlanders 12-Hour, Fenton, MO, Sept. 4.

Schedule changes

There's been more upheaval in my running schedule, the greatest of which has nothing to do with running. A couple months ago, a thunderstorm induced a power outage that zapped my PC and took with it my entire music collection, a bunch of pictures and, most importantly for purposes of this blog, my notes on upcoming races. My whole daily training schedule was wiped out, along with the ideas of what races I'd be running for the rest of this year and next.

There's a chance I might be able to revive the machine long enough to get everything moved to an external hard drive and then be done with it. For now, let's focus on the running.

Among other things in the last couple months since I posted my schedule, my 50-mile debut along the Katy Trail was canceled because of Missouri River flooding, so I replaced it with a similar race in the same part of the world (although I'll somewhat spoil the preview by saying I'll be very disappointed if I only cover 50 miles). The New Year's Double convinced me to dump Bandera from the schedule, which may have been a wise move anyway given my trail experience.

I have one more slot to fill for 2012, and given that I've scratched two ultras from the calendar, you can be sure that last spot will be an ultra. But the schedule as constructed doesn't leave a really good space to put one, so if I were you I'd expect to see a pretty good rearrangement of things in the back half of next year.

*8/14/11 The Hottest Half, Dallas
*9/4/11 Flatlanders 12-Hour, Fenton MO
*9/10/11 Katy Trail 50, Boonville MO
*10/9/11 Tyler Rose Marathon
*10/23/11 13.1 Dallas
*11/13/11 Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Marathon
12/3/11 Run Like The Wind 24-Hour, Austin TX
12/31/11 New Year's Eve Marathon, Allen TX
1/1/12 New Year's Day Marathon, Allen TX
1/7/12 Bandera 100K
1/29/12 Miracle Match Marathon, Waco TX
2/10/12 Rouge-Orleans (126.2 miles), Baton Rouge to New Orleans
2/25/12 Mount Cheaha 50K, Oxford AL
3/17/12 Dash Down Greenville (5K), Dallas
4/16/12 Boston Marathon (or 4/15/12, Austin 10/20 (10-mile))
5/13/12 North Trail HM, Dallas
6/2/12 Old Dominion 100, Woodstock VA
6/17/12 Dadfest (5K), Dallas
7/4/12 Liberty 10K, The Colony TX
7/15/12 El Scorcho 50K, Fort Worth TX
8/4/12 Headlands Hundred, Sausalito CA
9/3/12 Labor Day 15K, Dallas
9/15/12 Tour des Fleurs 20K, Dallas
9/23/12 Heels & Hills & Him HM, Irving TX
10/6/12 Heartland 100, Cassoday KS
10/21/12 Waterworks 25K, Dallas
11/4/12 DRC Half, Dallas
11/18/12 Big D 30K
12/2/12 Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon
12/15/12 Jog'r Egg Nog'r 15K, Dallas

Race preview: The Hottest Half

WHERE ARE WE GOING?
Dallas

WHEN?
Sunday, August 14

WHY?
The Hottest Half

NO REALLY, WHY?
This is the third leg of the Four Seasons Half Marathon Challenge. I beat all the other Challenge entrants at the Texas Half, and all of them who ran the full at Big D. So my sweep is on the line.

WHO ELSE IS GOING?
Mellew says 1600 in the half and 900 in the 10K.

WHAT'S THE FORECAST?
I said Too Hot to Handle would be hotter than Mila Kunis baking a pie in her underwear. This might make that look like Kathy Bates instead. Consider that I keep the thermostat at 78, and it hasn't been 78 since June 30.

HOW DO WE WIN?
I don't expect to come within 10 minutes of a PR; I'm just hoping not to fade too miserably toward the end. Oh, and keeping my Challenge streak going would be good too.

Race review: Too Hot to Handle 15K

ENOUGH WITH THE SMALL TALK. HOW'D IT GO?
I wilted over the final 5K but still managed a 1:07:13, well below my goal and within 4:15 of a PR I strung together in weather about 40 degrees cooler. On a normal January day this might've gone under 1:02.

DID YOU WIN?
No, this being the big event that it is, plenty of speed demons were out. I was 11th of 77 in my age group and 48th of 1007 overall.

HOW'D THAT HAPPEN?
I got off the train at White Rock Station at 7:03, downed my pre-race caffeine and started jogging down Northwest Highway to warm up. I began to perceive this impending... intestinal requirement, whose needs were going to surpass by great lengths anything in the athletic realm. Fortunately there's a lone port-a-potty at the foot of Flagpole Hill, of which I was able to avail myself.

A little more jogging got me to Norbuck Park, where I then needed to empty out the front end. When all was said and done, it was 7:27 by the time I was settled in behind the starting line. I wasn't pouring sweat yet, but I was close.

Having started 24 seconds off the line, the first couple miles gave me plenty of chances to pass folks. I tried running at a pace I was comfortable with, just a little slower than what I might've been capable of in cooler conditions. I hit the 5K mat in 21:18. It was faster than I knew I could sustain, but I wasn't worried. All I needed was to beat 1:09 and I'd be happy.

As I neared the turnaround, a group of us encountered that most evil of White Rock denizens, the cyclist who won't cede her ground because YOU are on the wrong damn side of the trail. Look, I know the trail is open to everyone and you're just out there trying to enjoy a nice ride, but let's be reasonable here. We're in a RACE. We're trying to get from here to there as fast as possible within the rules, and the rules are such that the shortest route includes taking all the tangents. If it's that big a deal to you, it's very easy to find out if there is an event going on at the lake and avoid it. As this woman growled at us running by, it's possible I said something rude. Possible.

My second 5K took 22:48, but I was already starting to ease up before I got to the mat. Somewhere around mile 6.5 I remembered that I had a GU in my pocket. I don't know if would've helped any if I'd eaten it 2 miles earlier, but by this point it was definitely way too late. I kept pushing, barely keeping it together until another runner edged by me coming down the stretch. I misstepped and almost bit it less than 100 yards from the finish, but caught myself and zoomed across the line. The last 5K split was 23:30.

WHAT ELSE?
A couple spots along the course had sprayers rigged up to shower you as you passed. It was a nice thought, but the problem was that at least one of them was unavoidable unless you ran off the pavement. Something like that needs to be optional; I like being cooled off but I don't exactly dig getting sprayed in the eyes.

On the other hand, as we crossed the finish line, before we got to water or Powerade or bananas or anything else, volunteers handed us each a hand towel plucked from a tub of ice water. Draping that towel across my shoulders felt just fantastic. A brilliant idea.

SPLITS?
6:40
6:51
6:55
6:58
7:04
7:08
7:39
7:42
7:42
6:49 pace last .37

OK, WHAT ABOUT THE REAL REASON WE ALL RUN, THE STUFF?
The selling point of the race is that it offers some of the best goods of anyone, but I gave this year's premiums a lukewarm reaction. The red running hat is stylish, certainly, but the choice of a muscle shirt over a tank was not well-received. For guys like me who must run shirted, something like the tank given out a couple years back is ideal for the summer. It's a nominal reduction in fabric, sure, but it's still less.

WHAT'S NEXT?
The Hottest Half, Dallas, Aug. 14.

Race preview: Too Hot to Handle 15K

WHERE ARE WE GOING?
Dallas

WHEN?
Sunday, July 10

WHY?
Too Hot to Handle 15K

NO REALLY, WHY?
It's something to do. If I have to go all summer just slogging out 90-degree, 20-plus-mile long runs every Sunday, I'll go nuts.

WHO ELSE IS GOING?
The 15K and 5K together ought to come pretty close to the 3,000-runner cap, with about half in each event.

WHAT'S THE FORECAST?
Hot... hotter than Mila Kunis baking a pie in her underwear.

HOW DO WE WIN?
I can compare this to the 15K I ran in Sherman last September in roughly equal miserable conditions. That course was tougher and I faded significantly to a 1:10:39 finish. I think anything starting with 1:08 will make me happy.

Race review: Grandma's Marathon

ENOUGH WITH THE SMALL TALK. HOW'D IT GO?
I came up short of my goal but technically qualified for Boston nonetheless. My time of 3:12:55 was a PR by more than 3 1/2 minutes.

DID YOU WIN?
We'll find out when I try to register for Boston in September. Otherwise I was 451st of 6337 overall, 372nd of 3658 men and 65th of 485 in my age group.

HOW'D THAT HAPPEN?
My day started ominously. I jogged the couple blocks from the condo to the DECC, the departure point for the buses, amidst a cool drizzle. I was plenty early but nevertheless concerned that the only folks I saw lined up were half marathoners. I walked around for a while, looking for perhaps another line for the full, but found nothing and returned to where I started, now about 200 feet further back in the line.

Just as I approached the front, the volunteers directed full marathoners to board the train instead. This was not so much a train as a rolling railroad museum, dedicated to rail travel of long ago. Not sure if you've noticed but folks are a lot taller and wider now than they used to be. Four dudes cramped into two facing benches wasn't comfortable for anyone.

As you might also imagine, this wasn't exactly high-speed rail: The trip took every bit of an hour and dumped us near the starting line with just 40 minutes until the race. That was just enough time for me to unintentionally cut into the port-a-potty line (sorry, folks), take a leak and... well, nothing. I had no time to warm up, though even if I did, there really wasn't any room to do anything. A fellow Marathon Maniac stopped me and mentioned I'd missed the group photo, too. What's one more thing to throw me off, I figured.

Hovering near the 3:10 pacer, I heard someone say they didn't like the first 4 miles of the race because there was no room to maneuver. I didn't mind this for the opening mile, but after a while I tried seeking out some open space. I moved over to the shoulder a time or two, but each time I'd get wedged back into the pack, either by spectators or an aid station or some other obstacle.

Finally around the 4-mile mark, I found an opening and got a couple steps ahead of the 3:10 group. At times I felt myself pulling away, so I eased up and let myself fall back to the pacer. This worked for a few miles until I couldn't slow down enough to let those folks catch up anymore. I was feeling strong and untaxed, with the wind at my back, beautiful views of Lake Superior to my left and highly supportive throngs of people on both sides. I didn't need to look to see where I was in relation to the pace group: I'd get a little cheer, and then 20 seconds later I'd hear a big cheer behind me.

I hit the mat at 13.1 in 1:34:45, right on schedule. At each mile marker I compared my watch to the pace band I'd wrapped around my wrist next to it. One after another, they ticked off with me keeping the same cushion against 3:10 pace, though around mile 16 or 17 I could hear the pacer calling out instructions to the group. At mile 18, the group caught me -- but I wasn't slowing down, they were speeding up. By my math I still had a 20-second cushion or so.

As they passed me and pulled slowly away, the stink of a couple dozen stacks of B.O. filled and then left my nostrils. I wasn't having doubts just yet, but when I got to the mile 21 marker and saw that I'd given back 16 of those 20 seconds in that mile, that's when I knew a PR would have to be good enough. I got up the hill at mile 22, shuffled my way through downtown Duluth, then turned back into the wind for the first time and battled through the last mile to the finish, scurrying to get in under 3:13.

WHAT ELSE?
I don't know if it was my attitude, my running form, the feeling of the tailwind, or reality -- OK, I know it wasn't reality -- but the vast majority of the course felt like running downhill. Certainly of my six marathons and ultras, this was the easiest course (yes, Tucson is almost all downhill but you have to be prepared for that, plus there's a vicious uphill at mile 25). The one notable late uphill, Lemon Drop Hill at mile 22, only cost me about 10 seconds. Otherwise the rest of the race felt like an easy descent.

Of anything, attitude was probably the biggest factor. Simply put, I had a great time running this race. This is the only thing that goes on in Duluth all year, and folks all along the North Shore come out in support -- and they are very enthusiastic. You wonder how this small city can host one of the biggest marathons in the country, but then you see what they do with it and you understand.

What else... well, the aid stations were outstanding in both concept and execution. They were pretty much all on both sides of the road, with plenty of signage and a familiar table order, with water first and last, bookending Powerade, sponges, ice and whatever else. No mishaps here.

We stayed at the Suites at Canal Park, where my wife had found some guy renting out his condo online. I would highly recommend this if you want to split a place with someone or need to house your whole family. It was an easy walk to the expo and from the finish line. Speaking of which, the expo was not a bright spot -- way, way too crowded. And the finish-line activities? Well, I'm sure they were great, but I just wanted to waddle back to the room since the temperature had dropped from 54 at the start to 48 at the finish and the wind had seemingly picked up.

SPLITS?
7:24
7:00
7:11
7:04
7:12
7:11
7:17
7:18
7:10
6:59
7:18
7:20
7:09
7:13
7:15
7:15
7:16
7:13
7:06
7:18
7:27
7:35
7:52
7:44
7:38
7:58
7:30 pace last .31

OK, WHAT ABOUT THE REAL REASON WE ALL RUN, THE STUFF?
This being the 35th running of the event, everything is plastered with a huge 35: the finisher's shirt, the sling bag and aluminum water bottle we all got, and of course the medal:

You can buy a ticket to the big pasta dinner, but pretty much all the restaurants in Canal Park have all-you-can-eat pasta dinners that night so it's just a matter of preference.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Too Hot to Handle 15K, Dallas, July 10.

Race preview: Grandma's Marathon

WHERE ARE WE GOING?
Duluth, MN

WHEN?
Saturday, June 18

WHY?
Grandma's Marathon

NO REALLY, WHY?
My wife and I decided last summer we'd make this part of a trip to visit family and friends.

WHO ELSE IS GOING?
Not sure if this thing sold out but there will be more than 5,000 finishers (plus an equal number in the half).

WHAT'S THE FORECAST?
Partly sunny, maybe a shower, mid 50s at the start and just a couple degrees warmer by the end. I was hoping for a little cooler than that but I'll take the alternative: a healthy 15 mph tailwind expected from the east.

HOW DO WE WIN?
I don't know if the "BQ -5" rule for early Boston registration means that I need 3:10:00 or 3:10:59 -- it should be the latter -- but that alone is what decides whether this is a win. It's not a difficult course, my training has been lackluster but done in far worse conditions, and I'll be in the 3:10 pace group. It may be one in a million, but I'm telling you there's a chance.

Schedule changes

It's been quite a while since I posted my race plans, and since I'm too rested from my long afternoon nap to sleep, it's time to revisit them.

You can see I've done a lot of shuffling over the last few months -- I'm a planner, yes, but given enough lead time, I'm flexible. The race distances I'm aiming for have changed substantially, but my approach will be changing as well.

Things are going to be different after next weekend. I'll be running on trails when I can. There won't be many 30-minute dashes through the neighborhood for a while. I'll be going much longer more often, with less concern about sticking to certain paces. To reach the kind of goals I'm aiming for, it's gonna take work.

Here's what I'm thinking (* means I'm registered, the bold ones are new since I last put the list up in January):

*6/18/11 Grandma's Marathon, Duluth MN
*7/10/11 Too Hot to Handle 15K, Dallas
*8/14/11 The Hottest Half, Dallas
*9/10/11 Katy Trail 50, Boonville MO
*10/9/11 Tyler Rose Marathon
*10/23/11 13.1 Dallas
*11/13/11 Rock 'n' Roll San Antonio Marathon
12/3/11 Run Like The Wind 24-Hour, Austin TX
12/4/11 White Rock Marathon, Dallas
12/31/11 Recover from the Holidays 50K, Huntsville AL 
1/7/12 Bandera 100K
1/29/12 Miracle Match Marathon, Waco TX
2/10/12 Rouge-Orleans (126.2 miles), Baton Rouge to New Orleans
2/25/12 Mount Cheaha 50K, Oxford AL
3/17/12 Dash Down Greenville, Dallas
3/24/12 Tyler Azalea 10K
4/16/12 Boston Marathon (or 4/14/12, Oz Marathon, Olathe KS)
5/13/12 North Trail HM, Dallas
5/28/12 Memorial Day 20K, Dallas 
6/2/12 Old Dominion 100, Woodstock VA
6/17/12 Dadfest (5K), Dallas
7/4/12 Liberty 10K, The Colony TX
7/14/12 Lady of the Lake Relays (18M solo), Dallas 
7/15/12 El Scorcho 50K, Fort Worth TX
8/4/12 Headlands Hundred, Sausalito CA
9/3/12 Labor Day 15K, Dallas
9/15/12 Tour des Fleurs 20K, Dallas
9/23/12 Heels & Hills & Him HM, Irving TX
10/6/12 Heartland 100, Cassoday KS
10/21/12 Waterworks 25K, Dallas
11/4/12 DRC Half, Dallas
11/18/12 Big D 30K
12/2/12 Rock 'n' Roll Las Vegas Marathon
12/15/12 Jog'r Egg Nog'r 15K, Dallas

I will also add a short race (10K max) before the end of 2011 to keep a nice round 20-race total for the year.

Where in the Great White North am I?

Grandma's Marathon is a week from tomorrow. Not to beat a dead horse, but thanks to the tougher standards, this is probably my last crack at Boston until I hit Masters territory.

You can share in my joy or anguish by signing up for tracking here. I'm not sure if I need 3:10:00 or 3:10:59 and I really don't have tremendous faith in getting to either, but I'll put one foot in front of the other and see where it gets me.

By the way, I haven't even run the thing and I think this is my favorite marathon so far. We already know we're getting some good swag this year with the 35th anniversary sling bag and aluminum water bottle. Today they emailed me to tell me to get to Duluth early because of construction on 35, which I thought was mighty courteous. And after signing up with the Clif pace team a while back, yesterday they sent me a good-luck note, presumably signed by the 3:10 pacer, with a pair of lucky red shoelaces. Now that's pretty damn thoughtful.

Get up and go

This is the first weekend of meteorological summer, but you don't need a calendar to tell you the sun's coming up earlier and it's getting warmer. It's the time of year that running becomes more challenging... and dangerous.

A runner died this morning at the 13.1 Marathon -- I hate that name, by the way -- in Chicago. The race was called off somewhere around an hour or 90 minutes after it began, as the temperature was screaming toward the 90s.

I've been in at least one race where someone was overcome by heat and needed an ambulance. And I've been in many races where the heat made things plenty uncomfortable for me, most recently at the Big D Marathon.

Here's the problem: Most races start way too late. This morning I was up to run at 6:30 and it was already bright out, certainly bright enough to have a race. But I'd challenge you to find any events going off that early. Even a 7:30 start is unusual around here.

It's not just locally. Races everywhere start too late. If the sun is up and you can see where you're going, you should be running.

Below is a sample of races around the country this morning. The race that started last also had the highest likelihood of being too cold at the start, so I'll give them a pass. In most cases though, folks are more likely to run into problems with heat from starting late than cold from starting early:

	Sunrise	Race Start	Normal Hi	Normal Lo
Green River Marathon (Kent, WA)	5:13	8:30	68	50
13.1 Chicago	5:16	7:13	78	57
Timberline Marathon (Government Camp, OR)	5:21	8:30	70	48
3 Sisters Marathon (Redmond, OR)	5:22	7:00	73	40
Pilot Hill 25K (Laramie, WY)	5:31	8:00	69	39
Newport Marathon (Newport, OR)	5:32	7:00	62	47
Taste of Louisville HM (Louisville, CO)	5:33	8:00	79	48
Athletic Republic HM (Fergus Falls, MN)	5:34	8:30	74	52
God's Country Marathon (Galeton, PA)	5:38	7:00	75	50
Dam to Dam 20K (Des Moines)	5:41	7:00	79	58
Virginia Wine Country HM (Purcellville, VA)	5:46	7:00	81	57
Forest of Nisene Marks Marathon (Aptos, CA)	5:49	8:30	70	50
Hospital Hill Run (HM, Kansas City)	5:53	7:00	81	60
Sun Valley HM (Sun Valley, ID)	5:57	9:00	69	33
Fight for Air Run (HM, Salt Lake City)	5:58	7:00	78	52
The Spirit of Magic Valley HM (Twin Falls, ID)	6:02	7:30	73	46
Charity Chase HM (Hickory, NC)	6:10	6:30	82	61
Sunburst Marathon (South Bend, IN)	6:12	7:15	77	55

I'm not saying we all need to be lined up at 5:30, but if you're waiting more than an hour after the sun comes up, what exactly are you waiting for?

Of course, there's also the issue of performance. You run faster when it's cooler. Sure, there are races that use heat as a selling point -- there are a couple big ones in Dallas -- and you know going into those that you're pretty much just trying to finish upright. But I think the races above probably want you to enjoy your experience. Dropping dead will surely put a damper on that.