Friday, September 27, 2013

Race preview: Lost Loop 50K

WHERE ARE WE GOING?
Gordonville, Texas

WHEN?

Saturday, Sept. 28

WHY?
Lost Loop 50K

NO REALLY, WHY?

I could use a trail race to get my head right for the Javelina Jundred, and even though the two courses probably could not be any more dissimilar, it sure won't hurt to go pick up my feet for a few hours.

WHO ELSE IS GOING?
There are 37 entrants for the 50K. A few more than that are driving up all the way up there just to run 12K.

WHAT'S THE FORECAST?
It's looking pretty gross. The good news is that it should be mostly cloudy to overcast, but it'll still be plenty warm (going from low 70s to low 80s) and quite humid. Storms are on their way; it looks like they won't show up until mid-afternoon but the threat should provide plenty of incentive for everyone to keep moving.

HOW DO WE WIN?

I've given up making predictions on trail races given that my last several have been grossly optimistic. If I make it through without falling down and I can get around OK on Sunday, I'll consider that a big win.

Race review: Queen City Marathon

ENOUGH WITH THE SMALL TALK. HOW'D IT GO?
As you might have guessed by how long it has taken me to post this report, it did not go well. I was on track for 3:05 throughout the first half but blew up on the way home, struggling to a 3:18:34 finish.

DID YOU WIN?
As I said before the race, the sole reason for this trip was to lower my Boston qualifying time. I didn't do that, so the trip was a failure. I had a lot of feedback afterward disputing this, but when you have a very specific goal and you come nowhere near accomplishing it, there's really no other way to categorize it. There's no "next time" in this case. Anyway, I was 34th of 666 finishers, 31st of 376 men, 7th of 46 in my age group, 4th American and 2nd Texan.

HOW'D THAT HAPPEN?

Honestly, I have blacked out most memories of this event, it was that forgettable. The splits below tell the story. I remember thinking at the halfway point that it was going to be extremely difficult to maintain that pace. I had built a small cushion but by the 18K mark I was already starting to give a little bit of time back with each passing kilometer. I tried to relax by reminding myself that 3:05 was the goal but any PR (under 3:09:42) would still qualify as a success.

I would start the second half of the figure-8-ish course with a little bit of a tailwind, but it hardly did me any good. And the combination of coming back into the wind and tired legs slowed me nearly to a halt. At about mile 21, a runner passed me and, noting my North Texas Runners shirt, shared that he was from Austin. Oh great, I thought, not only am I not the only Texan to come all this way, I can't even cling to the claim of being the fastest.

WHAT ELSE?
I spent a lot of time after the race trying to dissect it and figure out what went wrong. Did I log too many miles in training? Did I not run enough miles? Did I walk too much the couple days before the race? Did travel throw me off? Did I not get enough carbs? Was I dehydrated? Did I not get enough sleep? Was the course too flat (73 feet of total climbing)? Any and none of these could be at fault. I think most of all I just focused too much on running in the heat and not enough on doing more work at race pace. I had a couple of race-pace long runs during the summer but they were not long enough and the last one of note was too many weeks before the race. And let's face it, racing a marathon is hard. I don't mind running marathons, but running them as hard as I can is probably my least favorite thing to do.

SPLITS?
6:56
7:01
6:55
6:52
6:58
7:01
7:00
6:55
6:52
7:03
7:05
7:07
7:24
7:09
7:15
7:21
7:26
7:41
7:51
7:49
8:14
9:05
9:14
9:35
8:55
8:50
8:37 pace last .1 (the Garmin cut the corners quite generously)

OK, WHAT ABOUT THE REAL REASON WE ALL RUN, THE STUFF?
This race brought about the welcome return of the actual goodie bag: free samples of granola bars and Advil were among the items tossed into the drawstring bag. The long-sleeve shirt pays homage to the local Canadian Football League team, and the medal reminds you that the number 26.2 has little meaning elsewhere in the world:



WHAT'S NEXT?
Lost Loop 50K, tomorrow.

Monday, September 2, 2013

Race preview: Queen City Marathon

WHERE ARE WE GOING?
Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada (the city that rhymes with fun)

WHEN?Sunday, Sept. 8

WHY?
Queen City Marathon

NO REALLY, WHY?
I was pretty pleased with myself after ducking under
 my Boston qualifying time by 18 seconds in Houston this January, but between then and now it became clear that 2014 was not likely to be a good year for squeakers. When the mood shifted in late April from rescue to recovery and a client contacted me to write her a last-minute BQ plan (she made it by 35 seconds at Santa Rosa last month -- maybe not enough, but we'll see), I rushed to figure out my own backup plan. I considered Sioux Falls, Skagit Flats, Lehigh Valley and a couple others, but given the unpredictability of finding a temperate location in summer and knowing how I melt when it gets too warm, I went as cold as I could find.

WHO ELSE IS GOING?
As with many marathons around this time, interest in QCM was high and the race sold out long ago. The circumstances of all these record fields have to make many of these race directors uncomfortable, but hopefully they are taking the opportunity to put on the best races they can (although QCM is a little different; they've announced a sellout the last 4 years and probably would've gotten there anyway). I believe there are 800 folks signed up for this race.

WHAT'S THE FORECAST?
Good now, but at risk of changing. It's going to be hot up there this week -- close to 90 -- but there's a cold front coming. The problem is, it was originally supposed to come through on Wednesday. Then the updated forecast had it cooler on Thursday... then Friday... and now it's not expected to cool off until Saturday. The current consensus for race morning is low to mid-50s with a chance of a thunderstorm -- acceptable, but very iffy and not as good as previous guesses has been. My biggest concern had been that the wind would stay down -- and it seems like it will be reasonable -- but if I go up there and it's hot, I'm gonna be pissed.

HOW DO WE WIN?

No pressure, but if I don't go up there and set a new PR, the entire trip will be recorded as a waste, unless my BQ-:18 is miraculously good enough. No offense to Canadians or the folks putting on the event -- who have a tremendous sense of humor by the way -- but this race would never have been on my radar if not for the bombing. If I lower my time and I still don't get accepted for Boston, well, there's not a whole lot I can do about that. I'm feeling confident. It will have been 8 weeks since I pinned on a bib, the longest stretch in more than 3 years, but my taper has finally helped my nagging Achilles issue subside. I'd like to break 3:05.