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.

Race review: White Rock Lake Centennial Half Marathon

ENOUGH WITH THE SMALL TALK. HOW'D IT GO?
Very pleased with how this went. I aimed for 1:35 and was right there at 1:35:12. Adjusting for weather that's right at PR pace, or perhaps a few seconds under. I'm plenty satisfied.

DID YOU WIN?
With a reported field of 2,200 runners, I just wrote off any chances of taking home an age-group award. So it was a little bit of a gut punch to finish 4th of 138 in my age group, just 49 seconds out of 3rd. Those looked like pretty nice trophies, too. Oh well. Overall I was 29th of 1,813 finishers (must have been a lot of DNS/DNFs).

HOW'D THAT HAPPEN?
It's becoming clear that 13.1 is becoming my favorite distance. It's long enough to be a real workout but not so long that it takes me to the point of physical or mental breakdown. And while it's wrapped up in a reasonable hour and a half (if I do it right), there's enough room for forgiveness if I veer off the plan and need to catch up.

The key word there is plan. I think I've gone into my last 5 of these with a good plan that's given me some predictability and consistency in my results, and that was the case again today. I suppressed the opening-mile rush as much as I could, keeping an easy 4-4 breathing pattern. Even though it was still my fastest mile, I used very little energy getting there.

Past the mile marker, I shifted to the 3-3 pattern I normally use for the first 80 percent of my halfs. Other than the climb up to the spillway, I really didn't feel that taxed, even as I could tell the heat was coming on. An appreciable tailwind certainly helped.

Of course, what goes around comes around when you're running around the lake, and after crossing the bridge and turning south for the last 5K, that wind came around and was in our faces. I soon picked up my effort as I normally would in the closing minutes of a half, but the increased effort did not result in a quickened pace. The time I had banked to get in under 1:35 was used up, and I raced across the line a few seconds after my goal time.

WHAT ELSE?
The Dallas Running Club scrapped their normal May club race to put on this one-time event, and boy did they knock this one out of the park. From the frequent and clear pre-race communication about parking all the way through to the post-race goodies, this was an exceptionally well-produced event.

Comerica put inspiring messages on each of the oversized mile markers. Drink stations were thoughtfully jammed in no more than 1.5 miles apart; I skipped 2 on purpose, there were so many. Post-race pizza, beer and Muscle Milk were quite welcome -- OK, I couldn't find the beer, but it would've been delicious, surely.

SPLITS?
6:57
7:04
7:03
7:09
7:03
7:13
7:23
7:13
7:13
7:14
7:27
7:25
7:24
7:09 pace last .20

OK, WHAT ABOUT THE REAL REASON WE ALL RUN, THE STUFF?
Not that anyone will ever get this stuff if they didn't run today, but there was premium swag to be had, starting with the event shirt, a sharp-looking Adidas tech shirt with the familiar 3 stripes on the sleeves. The finisher medal is lightweight but large, with a section on the back designated for engraving:

Everyone also got a pint glass with the DRC and Centennial Celebration logos:

Maybe I don't get out enough but I happen to love the glass as a race premium, especially given that it was not announced beforehand. Compare that to the patch with the same logo that we all got; eh, it's nice, but I'm just not a patch guy. I should've seen if someone wanted to trade a glass for an extra patch.

WHAT'S NEXT?
Grandma's Marathon, June 18.

Race preview: White Rock Lake Centennial Half Marathon

WHERE ARE WE GOING?
Dallas, TX

WHEN?
Saturday, May 7

WHY?
Comerica White Rock Lake Centennial Half Marathon

NO REALLY, WHY?
This is my springboard to Grandma's Marathon next month. How I perform here will shape my attitude for better or worse. Plus it's pretty neat to run a race that hasn't been run before and won't be run again.

WHO ELSE IS GOING?
It's a sellout crowd of 2,011 runners, plus apparently enough sponsor or giveaway spots to bring the total field to 2,200.

WHAT'S THE FORECAST?
Would've been just perfect earlier this week, but instead we'll get about 68 degrees at the start with a healthy breeze from the south. That means a headwind at the beginning and end with a tailwind in the middle.

HOW DO WE WIN?
Someone asked me a couple days ago what my expected pace would be and I replied that I expect to be around 7:15. I might be a little optimistic, but that would put me right at 1:35, or exactly half the time I need to run at Grandma's. The autumn before last I ran a very warm 1:38 in Louisiana, so this goal can certainly be reached.

Time to kick it up a notch

Well kids, I've gone and done it this time.

I am the first registrant for the third running of the Katy 50, a --surprise! -- 50-mile jog from Boonville to McBaine, Mo., and back on Sept. 10. It's a little bitty race, with just 19 solo finishers last year (after 8 in the inaugural event). But, it should be a pretty ideal spot to debut at that distance.

The course is on a rail-trail so there are no hills, and it should be warm but not hot, maybe going from 60 to 80 degrees during the course of the day. Yes, I'd hope for cooler, but I'll be training for this in Texas in July and August -- 70s should feel almost chilly.

I'll probably toss this out again sometime between now and then, but where I normally take suggestions under advisement, I'll actually be listening this time if any folks with experience running 50s or 100s have tips regarding such minutiae as drop bags, race nutrition, and things of that sort. Much like a full marathon is a totally different animal than a half, so is a 50 to a marathon. I'll consider it a success if I get this thing done in under 9 hours.

With four marathons and a 50K behind me, I am past the point where an onlooker shouting "you can do it" has any effect on me. I know I can finish a marathon. I'll be very excited to take the next big leap forward.

Race review: Big D Texas Marathon

ENOUGH WITH THE SMALL TALK. HOW'D IT GO?
Coming off of a couple weeks of almost no running as I tried to fend off a foot injury, a tough course on a hot, windy day produced the expected result: suckage. Sure, I'll get very little sympathy for calling a 4:09:19 suckage, but that's damn near an hour slower than I ran 26.2 twice within the last few months. I'm calling that suckage.

DID YOU WIN?
Oh good grief no. But it tells you what kind of day everyone had when I threw that effort out there and came in 84th of 714 finishers, 11th of 80 in my age group.

HOW'D THAT HAPPEN?
Well, like I said, I hardly ran at all in the two weeks since the Rock 'n' Roll race. The first run after that, I felt a sharp pain in my right foot that felt just like the stress fracture I had a couple years ago. But this time, I didn't have the telltale swelling, so I was hopeful I'd stopped in time. After a bunch of days off, I went out for a couple short jogs and came to the conclusion I could probably shuffle my way through the marathon.

I had little if any plan for how to run this race. My previous long runs had been in much better weather -- even Cowtown -- so it was tough to know what I should expect on a day that started out in the upper 70s and was pushing 90 by the time I was done. I knew I would run-walk; I had decided this long ago. I just needed to come up with the appropriate intervals.

At First Light, the only other marathon I had run-walked (on purpose), I went for a 5:00/:30 rotation. On this day, I aimed for 4:30/:30. I was thinking that might yield about a 7:45 pace... which would have been true, if I had kept it up. It took most of, oh, about one run interval for doubt to set in, as I wrapped up the first run segment already drenched.

Other than checking my watch for intervals, I really wasn't paying any attention to how I was doing. I felt fine -- sweaty but fine -- so I figured I was keeping things respectable. I was playing leapfrog with some girl who had Bible quotes written on the backs of her legs. I couldn't tell you what they said, since I was more focused on the scant, thin piece of material just above them. (Don't kid yourself, people.)

Eventually I quit catching up to that girl on my run intervals, somewhere on Peavy about 9.5 miles in -- the bridge over Buckner had hit me pretty hard. I stuck with the intervals a couple more miles before deciding I needed a longer walk break, maybe 2 minutes or so. That was the beginning of the end. After a brief rally, I quit looking at my watch and decided that anything that even smelled like a hill would slow me to a walk.

I crossed the 13.1 mat in 1:44:02, which was 48th best at that point. If it had only been a half marathon, I really wouldn't have been too upset with that time. But I had a rough 13.1 miles to go.

I walked the long hill up Country Club and remarked to another girl who'd picked this day of all days to run her first marathon that the worst hill was yet to come. We got back to the lake and traded the hills for a ridiculous 30 mph headwind that did just as good a job of stopping me dead in my tracks. I traded places with a few guys who were having just as rough a day as I was, while every so often a couple of more conditioned folks zoomed past.

After walking all the way up that other hellacious hill, on Lakewood, I went back to doing some mental math. Usually I keep myself busy with this for the better part of my races (since I don't carry music), but I didn't have much to think about until I tried to encourage myself that an 11-minute pace for the remaining miles would get me home under 4 hours. Thing was, I was a little generous with the math, and I wasn't keeping that pace... and on top of that, I was thirsty.

I can't remember ever being downright parched in a race. I take fluids at every stop, and while I have felt like I could have more to drink at other times, this was different. I would take a cup of both water and Gatorade, drink them both and feel thirsty again just a couple minutes later. I should have just stopped and drank until I was satisfied, but I was still of the mind that another mile and a half to the next station wasn't that far. On a normal day, that would be true, but in this case that meant almost another 20 minutes.

The turn onto Haskell meant the end was mercifully near. I still had to pass the delicious glue fumes from a cabinet shop at mile 24, and deal with the tease of hearing the finish line announcer's voice echoing through Fair Park with more than a mile and a half to go. I saw my third Marathon Maniacs photographer of the day and switched to running just long enough for him to get the shot and for me to tell him, "Make it look good." I'm sure I was never as happy to be done with something as when I finished.

WHAT ELSE?
I ran this race to complete the trifecta after running the half and 5K in previous years, and to knock out another race in the Four Seasons Half Marathon Challenge. Other than that, there's no reason to run this.

Put aside the weather; no one can control that (some folks would've voted for a 7 a.m. start, but the year they switch to 7 is the year we get a late ice storm; I had no problem with the start time). It's a difficult course and you've got next to no one out there cheering you on. Some folks may go for the scenery but there are tons of races at White Rock; you can see it any time you want.

SPLITS?
7:06
7:23
7:32
7:06
7:57
7:45
7:44
7:56
7:48
8:15
8:59
8:10
8:33
8:59
10:12
8:59
10:04
10:49
10:37
11:15
12:35
11:15
10:51
12:58
12:12
12:43
9:55 pace last .37

OK, WHAT ABOUT THE REAL REASON WE ALL RUN, THE STUFF?
Entrants got a cotton T-shirt in a rather interesting shade of green, and that's it. Marathon finishers got a white tech shirt and a decent medal:

Trouble is, neither the medal nor the ribbon makes clear what race was run. A co-worker who ran the half told me his medal was half as big, but it's a mere coincidence that anyone would know that.

Post-race food thoughtfully included baked potatoes and pizza, which was apparently restricted to full marathoners only. Membership has its privileges.

WHAT'S NEXT?
White Rock Lake Centennial Half Marathon, May 7.