On the morning of Sunday, June 2, I toed the line for the Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon a little nervous and a very apprehensive. A little over 3 hours later, I was downing a pair of chocolate milks (liquid gold for me after a race) and more excited than ever for my running future, having just shaved 45 minutes off of my previous marathon time. More on that in a bit....
Since my last post I have had many ups and downs, the variety in running that keeps me motivated and coming back for more.
On Saturday, March 16th I competed in the annual Sioux Falls Irishman Road Races (5-mile, 5k & mile). I ran a little slower compared to last year but managed to finish 4th overall out of 200 Irishmen participants. Nothing to get too excited about... just races that I used as a workout.
A few weeks prior to this I signed up for the Deadwood Mickelson Trail Marathon in early June. My only other previous full marathon was Deadwood in 2011 and it was a total disaster for me. I vowed to be much smarter about my training this time around - especially concerning the all important long run.
Most of my long runs were down during the winter and spring in and around Yankton with former teammate Jordan Pater. Jordan is the best distance runner in the history of Mount Marty College and easily the hardest worker that I have ever met. I was lucky enough that Jordan had qualified for the NAIA Nationals Marathon to be run just before Deadwood so we could do long runs together.
Even though Jordan is much faster than me, he is smart an realized that he should take it easy on his long runs during his first ever marathon build-up so it was a tremendous opportunity to have a partner to run and chat with on some downright miserable winter 2+ hour runs.
On Saturday, March 30th I competed in and won the Missouri Valley Christian Academy 10k in Yankton for the second year in a row. It is a pretty small race although Gregg Uecker from Freeman was not too far behind keeping my effort honest the whole way. It ended up being a solid speed workout which is exactly what I was hoping for.
Most of April was simply building mileage with a little (but not nearly enough) speed work mixed in, culminating with a 20-miler with Jordan on April 21st. I wouldn't call this run fun, but I did feel really good until about mile 18 and then the last couple were a struggle.... but thankfully Jordan was struggling right next to me and we got through it. We got thirsty about 2/3rds through the run but luckily there was some mostly clean looking snow in the ditch to munch on while we ran down some Nebraska blacktop.
Saturday, April 27th saw me compete in the RiverRat 1/2 Marathon in Yankton for the third year in a row. After finishes of 4th (2011) and 2nd (2012) the past two years I was hopeful for a victory but had to settle for third after Bruce Allen from Flandreau literally ran away with the race for the 2nd year in a row and Uecker sped by me in the second half of the race. My time was 1:28:02... 6:44 pace.... something that I was not thrilled with but my mileage and workouts were geared for a longer race so in hindsight I am a little less upset. In my running log I simply wrote, "Felt like sh*t - need more speed work!"
I did manage to win my age group however. I also convinced former teammate Kaylee Fly, who was redshirting her outdoor track season, to run the 5k and she completely dominated. This is us with our awards...
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| Collecting some spring racing hardware :) |
The beginning of May brought a move out near Custer to work at camp once again, and along with that some training opportunities at elevation (approx. 5000 ft)
I spent the first few days getting used to running up and down the hills and up at a mile in the air and did my final long run of my training progression on May 4th, 4 weeks before race day.
A week later I made a pretty dumb mistake and wiped out on some gravel on a friend's scooter at camp. I scraped up my right knee, arm, hand and hip which hurt a good bit but also messed up something in my right knee which took the brunt of the fall. I ran 7 miles the next day but my knee got very sore halfway through the run and was extremely painful during the final couple of miles.
I ended up taking most of the next week off (2 weeks before the race) due to knee pain - only running about 10 miles total - all in Boulder while on a little trip.
I really didn't have to worry about a taper for the race since I was only able to log about 3-4 miles on most days due to my knee getting extremely sore after about 10 minutes of running. I had thoughts of maybe calling it quits and throwing in the towel for the marathon but two things kept me from doing that. 1) The entry fee was expensive and I didn't want to throw it away. 2) All those long runs were not going to be wasted.
My plan was to go into the race with a small medicine cabinet of ibuprofen in my pocket and to just take it easy early and see now the race unfolded.
The Deadwood race route can be a killer for those who run it foolishly, as the first 13 miles are all uphill - gradually - before the course descends just before mile 14. Normally I wear a watch and am a stickler with my pace but I decided to run without any type of watch and to just go by feel and take the first half very cautiously. I also popped a few ibuprofen just before the start and kept taking one pill at each water/aid station - about every two miles. I was also taking small amounts of the offered Powerade at each aid station.
I settled into what I felt was a decent groove early in the race and just rode along for a solid 10 miles. Eventually I caught a pair of guys - seen shirtless and in the neon green in the picture below - and just stayed in their shadows for a few miles. Even though it wasn't windy and I wasn't exactly drafting I still felt good about the pace they were holding and it helped me to relax.
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| On the ascent up the first half of the race, somewhere around mile 11 |
Just before the halfway point one of the guys moved over and slowed slightly, obviously wanting me to get out of his footprint - not that I can blame him. I took a short lead on them and they ran just off my shoulder for the next mile. Right at the halfway point curiosity got the best of me and I asked them what our race time was since they were wearing watches. We hit the halfway point in 1:40 - a 3:20 finish pace and very respectable. I was very aware however that 13.1 miles into a 26.2 mile race might as well be 1 mile into the race and really doesn't mean a whole lot.
Just before we hit the peak of the course and started the descent half of the race one of the gentlemen stopped momentarily and a small gap appeared between us that grew quite quickly without me trying to put any more effort in.
After coasting downhill for a couple miles - and very much enjoying the easy effort to maintain what I thought was the same pace I caught and passed another couple of runners who were already paying for starting too hard. I caught another marathoner at mile 16 whom I had run just behind very early in the race and we ran and chatted together for the next couple of miles while I felt our pace slowly increase.
Eventually we reached the one point in the course at mile 19-20 where the course levels off and climbs in elevation ever so gently. At this point in the race the flat part feels hard enough of the elevation gain is very difficult. The guy I was running with dropped off and I kept plugging away at close to the same pace although at an obviously harder effort.
I should mention that I took my first ever energy gel packet around mile 15. I had never take a gel before and never practiced and to do so in a race for the first time is a cardinal sin of running, BUT I could feel my energy draining and felt it was worth the risk.
It ended up being a great decision and gave me a needed boost without affect my stomach at all.
The final six miles were difficult but a number of half-marathoners whom I was passing and spectators gave me encouragement as a marathoner near the front of the pack and this gave me energy to keep moving. I felt like my pace was decreasing but I was able to keep going at a fairly good clip I thought.
The final mile seemed to go on FOREVER but finally the finish line cam into view and the awesome spectators cheered me in to the chute. I looked up at the clock not really knowing what to expect and was pumped to see that I had run a negative split (2nd half of a race faster than the first) and set a 45-minute marathon PR (personal record) with a time of 3:18.
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| Coming to the finish line |
This placed me 12h in the men's division and 13th overall out of 325 runners. I was stoked that I improved my time by so much despite missing about 3 weeks of quality training heading into the race. Also, I am certain that I could have come near or surpassed a Boston Qualifying standard (3:05) on a flat course near sea level.
The less than great news.... I ran out of pills in the final few miles and my right knee was starting to hurt pretty badly. It eased up the final few miles thankfully but pretty much locked up on me after I was done running. I could barely get out of bed for the next couple of days and walking without a limp was impossible.
Thanks to lots of ice and rest it gradually got better but still hurt a good bit for the next few weeks. I am just now getting back to the point where I can think about serious training again so most of my summer racing plans are no more but I still feel good about starting a new build up for a fall race.
I'm not sure what race I want to do next but I fully expect to run under 3:00 next time I hit the course for a marathon - hopefully sometime this fall.
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| Batman ran the race too. We hung out post race. As you can see form my shoes the course was very muddy, especially during the second half. Luckily, when you are sore and tired all over, splashing through some mud puddles is really no big deal. |
