Keith's Amusing Musings

I started my 4th half-marathon promptly at 8 AM, Sunday, September 13, along with 640+ other Skagit Flats marathoners/half-marathoners. It felt great running outdoors soaking in the late-summer, early-autumn beauty of the Pacific Northwest. I ran with an excited bounce right from the start as TB and Owen saw all us runners off and cheered me on. The temperature had reached the upper 50s by the time the gun fired and the bright sun hung over the flat, treeless, farm-draped course painting the asphalt in bright yellow and warming the air with a damp, earthy thickness.

I planned to run mile one at a 9’30” pace then gradually increase my pace the rest of the way to about 8’45” by mile 10. I hoped my training prepared me to finish between 1:55 and 2:00 based on how I ran the other races. Where I ultimately landed in that range would be determined by how I felt at the midpoint and again at mile 10.

Expecting a fairly cool temperature throughout the first half of the race, I ran with less fluid for the first 4 miles than previous races. While my FuelBelt holds 6 bottles, I wanted to minimize the additional weight I carried along each segment (1-4, 5-9, 10-13). I started with a single 8 oz bottle filled with Gatorade Endurance. I swapped the empty bottle with TB for two more 8 oz bottles at mile 4. At that point I was already hotter and thirstier than I expected. My plan called for me to run miles 5-9 with that 16 oz of Gatorade supplemented by water at the water station I would pass just after mile 6. Before reaching mile 6, I had consumed one of the bottles of Gatorade. At the water station at mile 6 I tossed back a 2 oz cup of water. At the 6 1/2-mile turnaround I ate a GU gel and drank half the second bottle of Gatorade. I felt strong and energetic but sensed I was overheating.

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I am scheduled to run the Skagit Flats Half-Marathon in just over two weeks—8 AM, Sunday, September 13, to be exact. The course is about an hour north of our home and will be the smallest of the races I have registered, judging by the total number of finishers in 2008—333 half, 189 full—and minimalist Web site.

My goal is to finish in under 2 hours since I fell just short in the Rock ‘n’ Roll Seattle half back in June.

Of course, I would not be mad if I finished in 1:56 or faster to commemorate my first half-marathon time a year ago. With TB and Owen there cheering me on, why not?

Update (6/30/2009): The official results are in. I finished 3,584th out of 15,610 half-marathoners (1,751 out of 4,221 males). My chip time was officially 2:01:51. My pride remains somewhat intact since I finished before the fastest full-marathoner who ran twice as far in 2:18:17. :eyeroll:

Today I ran my third half-marathon, completing the inaugural Rock ‘n’ Roll Seattle in 2:01:52. I secretly desired to finish in under 2 hours but after my horrid experience running the Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona back in January, avoiding injury, finishing and not walking the latter stages were my main objectives.

My unofficial results are shown in the image below. The final results won’t be posted until after the event.

Here are my Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona results for comparison.

Judging by the 5K and 10K splits, you can see I learned from my mistake by starting this race more slowly. Doing so left me with more in the tank later in the race and allowed me to run a faster pace overall—9:18 vs. 9:54 per mile. If you break the race into 3-mile quarters, you can see how similarly I ran the first and third vs. the second and fourth. Mentally, I break the race into halves and try to finish each half strong. It appears my little motivational trick worked this time around.

Here is the Nike+ data I collected during the race.

I stopped a few moments at mile 4 to talk to TB and play with Owen. I paused again just after mile 9 to say hey to TB and jettison my CamelBak hydration pack. Other than that, I attacked the hills, up and down, and kept a pretty even cadence.

Next up is an 8K in late July. I haven’t selected my next long-distance race yet but suspect it will be some time in the next 2-3 months.

This morning I completed an 11-mile run to prepare to run the inaugural Rock ‘n’ Roll Seattle Half-Marathon in 3 weeks. This evening it dawned on me it has been about nearly 5 months since I blogged about running. My blog was taken over by some guy who likes writing about his kid.

This race marks my third half-marathon in 9 months and my first since Owen arrived so it is a pretty big deal. I finally got serious about my training last month since TB and I were getting a handle on the whole new parent thing. She has been very supportive. My training requires lots of juggling and sacrifices on her part to allow me the time to go out for 1/2-2 hour runs several times a week when that time could be directed to giving her a break or us doing something together. As a runner herself—TB is the real runner in our family—she understands how being outdoors on the road helps keep my mind and body from turning to mush.

So, dear readers, do not fret. While I took an extended break from running after the Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona in January, I am still on the wagon, in the saddle, racking up the miles with Nike+. I am looking forward to my wife and son cheering me on.

Speaking of cheering, here is a picture of our little guy in a custom Dallas Cowboys jersey from his Uncle Chuku. Team Smith will be cheering for the Cowboys this fall despite the many boneheaded front office decisions over the past year. Yeah, T.O. is no longer on the roster but you already know what I think about that.

I completed half-marathon number two this past Sunday, running the Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona in 2:09:39. Below are my official race stats. I finished 6,557th out of 21,990 half-marathoners (3,704th out of the 7,939 males).

You may remember I had a much faster time for my first race, the Bellingham Bay, which I ran in 1:56:56. I started this last race strong, on pace to finish in 1:52:00 through mile 8. So, how did I end up averaging a minute-per-mile slower finish than before? First take a look at the following video—courtesy the Nike+ data I collected during the race—to review my splits.

As you can see, things started well enough but quickly fell apart around mile 10. That is when I started experiencing massive cramping in my left hamstring and right calf precipitated by severe dehydration. It got so bad, I ended up walking on-and-off for roughly 10 minutes of the race between miles 10 and 12. I started taking in a lot more fluids at each station and, by mile 12, I was able to run the rest of the way.

How did I get dehydrated despite the equipment and attention I invest in proper hydration during training and on race day? Two reasons:

• First, it was expectedly warmer in Phoenix than any other place I have run since the summer but I didn’t realize how much the heat would affect me. By the end of the race, it was sunny, mid-70s. Compare that to the 9° temperature in Chicago or the 30-40° temperatures in Seattle these past few months. Also, it was much cooler the morning I ran the Bellingham Bay and the hydration plan I used then did not translate to this race. Oops.
• Second, I had not fully recovered from the virus I caught over the holidays. Mentally I felt ready to have a good race and physically my body felt strong, though a little hot, until mile 8. That was the point the first signs of dehydration and muscle fatigue set in. I previously explained how getting sick derailed my training. Suffice it to say, getting back to a 7 mile “long” run after two down weeks of being sick didn’t fully prepare me to run 13.1 miles a few days later as I had hoped.

I’m not down about my time. In fact, it’s the complete opposite. I am proud I finished strong. Even more, I’m proud I went from not running at all a little over a year ago to completing my second half-marathon. What’s more, I did it surrounded by Arizona Cardinals fans as the home team spoiled the Philadelphia Eagles Super Bowl quest. I’m still smarting from the 44-6 shellacking the Eagles gave my Cowboys to end our playoff hopes. Given my recent rants, how would it have looked for the Eagles to make it to the Super Bowl again without T.O.? Yes, even after a 44-6 beatdown, I will continue sprinkling hate flakes on Eagles nation. I digress…

I have already registered for my next race, the inaugural Rock ‘n’ Roll Seattle Half-Marathon, taking place right in our backyard on Saturday, June 27th. Training should be interesting with a new baby and all but I’m sure TB will be supportive. Who knows, maybe she will run too.