Monday, October 31, 2011

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.

Friday, October 21, 2011

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.

Saturday, October 15, 2011

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.

Saturday, October 8, 2011

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.