And like many runners new to this game, I find myself falling into the trap of thinking faster is always better.  And it’s not.  In fact it can be counter productive.  When discussing my current training with my coach, he reminded me to make sure to try to hit the specific tempo pace I had been given.  When I’d report a particular tempo effort, I’d say, “The plan was for 2 miles warmup then 6 miles at 8:10 and my actuals were 8:07, 8:01, 8:09, 8:00, 8:00, 7:56,” and then I’d wait for a pat on the back and a “Good job!”  But the reality was that by going faster than the prescribed pace, I’m not getting the benefit that particular run was meant to give me.  Here’s a small excerpt of our discussion:

With a marathon tempo, you are really hovering along that point where the body is probably using a little more carbs than fat. This is good, because it puts the body into just enough stress that it will adapt very well. When you cheat it down (i.e. go too fast), the body is stressed beyond the point where any real adaptation will occur.

The whole point of dragging my butt out of bed and cranking out these workouts is to adapt.  To get stronger and faster.  And by going too fast, I blew it.  OK, there still is some benefit when you compare it to sitting on the couch, but I’m not getting the very benefit I am trying for: to get faster.

During MCM this past October, I had a couple miles in the middle and then a couple at 15 and 16 that were a full 10-15 seconds faster than they should have been.  And I know I paid that toll in the last couple of miles of the race: my pace fell by more than a full minute in 24 and 25 and while I knew it would dip, that’s pretty drastic.  I may have been able to hit a 3:35:00 had I paid better attention and paced myself more consistently.

If I’m going to have a legitimate shot at reaching my goals for this year, I’m going to have to do a much better job of being consistent and smart about my workouts.

Finally, I decided to go to Andy Shetterly at Peak Performance Sports Therapy based on a recommendation from the great people at Bob Roncker’s Running Spot. The first thing Andy did was watch me run a bit. His first comment: “A little tight, I see. Let’s see how flexible you are.” So I did a few exercises and he declared me to be the most inflexible person he’d seen in a while. A dubious distinction, at best.

As I told him about the hip pain I was having he started asking a ton a questions. “Where, exactly does it start? Point to it. OK, then where does it go? Shooting pain, or dull? Does it stop when you stop running?” And plenty more. He also had me move my leg into a few different positions to see if any caused pain. After thoroughly talking through everything, he said, “I’m going to have you feeling better in just two sessions.” Then he explained what Active Release Techniques (ART) are, what it would do for me, and how it will help. The next thirty or so minutes was spent finding and releasing all of the trigger points in my hip and IT band.

So that I’d get this right, I asked Andy to describe why this works. He’s the only therapist in the Cincinnati area (and one of just a few nationally) who combines Active Release Techniques (ART), NeuroMuscular Trigger Point Therapy and Active Isolated Stretching. Here’s his response.

“Adhesions and internal scar tissue restricts normal muscle movement and cause pain. This internal scar tissue leads to fascial micro trauma, increased inflammation, which results in additional scar tissue and eventually, pain. It’s a never ending cycle, that is effectively treated by breaking up that unhealthy, restricted scar tissue. Once that occurs, normal range of motion can return, helping to break the cycle of pain and re-injury.”

Andy also recommended that I increase my flexibility, using active isolated stretching (a 2 second hold), to ensure that I would reduce the chance for re -injury and also to increase my performance level, as well. This kind of stretching is different than those I learned on the gym floor before high school baseball practice. I’m already seeing an increase in my flexibility and range of motion. The day I first went to Andy, he had me try to touch the floor while standing, straight-kneed, and I could only make it to my shins. Now I can easily touch the floor and am working on getting even better.

The point is this: Andy helped me get back to training quickly and effectively. I’m now in the first third of a spring marathon training plan, and I’ve had no issues with pain at all. What more could I ask for? And because he taught me the techniques he uses, I can continue to work on any trigger points I do find at home. But if I need some specific, extremely therapeutic work, I am calling Andy.

If you live in the Cincinnati area and have been suffering through pain while running, do yourself a favor and give Andy Shetterly a call.  In fact, even if you live elsewhere, I’m sure he can help you find someone to help.

I remember when I first started running back in the fall of 2009 that running even 5 miles in a row seemed completely unattainable.  But, I kept at it, slowly and steadily, and managed to get to a place where I could do it.  So I’d add a bit to my next milestone, then go after that a little bit at a time.  When I toed the line to run my first 10K (which is 6.2 miles), I had never run 6 miles in a row before, and I wasn’t even certain that I’d finish, but I went ahead anyway.  After reaching that, I began to add a little bit more here and there.  I distinctly remember trying to run 10 miles.  It took me four attempts before I actually made it.

So now I’m at the place where I have a few marathons under my belt; some went well, some … not-so-much.  In the midst of training for my first (in Chicago 2010), a friend asked if I was going to qualify for Boston, and I remember thinking he might as well be asking if I plan to go to the moon.  A complete and utter impossibility.

In my most recent race, the 2011 Marine Corps Marathon, I proved to myself that I could, in fact, improve my running beyond what I thought was possible.  And it’s from that perspective that I’ve decided to dedicate this year to shaving an additional 27 minutes from my marathon P.R. to get down to 3:15:00, or the Boston Marathon qualification time for a man of my advancing age.  It definitely feels like a stretch goal, but I now know what hard work and dedication can lead to, and I feel like I’m ready to take those next steps.  The coaching I’ve been getting from Luke Humphrey has been an incredible boost for me, too, and so I believe I’m going after this goal in a measured, smart way.  So the plan looks like this:

• Glass City Marathon, April 22, 2012.  My base goal is to run a 3:34:00 here.  If the stars (and weather) align, I may go for a 3:30:00.
• California International Marathon, December 2, 2012.  This will be the marathon where I go for a 3:15:00.

I’m sure I’ll have other races along the way to see how my fitness is progressing, but those are the major ones.  So there it is in black and white:  I’d like to qualify for Boston.  And 2012 is the year I start to do that.

Ladies and gentlemen, I have a real problem. I kill iPod Shuffles at a rate even the most prolific serial killers couldn’t match. Victim number six was the light blue Shuffle I been using since July when the last victim was found lifeless at the bottom of our washing machine.

The light blue one had been special. It got me through the tough, hot, humid training runs during the summer and then led me to a 20 minute PR at the Marine Corps Marathon in October. Indeed it helped me survive 32 miles in less than 24 hours just this past weekend in Florida.

…and then I killed it. Once again, I forget to unclip it from my running shorts, then sent it spiraling to its own drowning death with Tide Mountain Fresh (with Downy) as its only companion.

Team Where's the Damn Van?!

My team consisted of four runners from last year’s team and one new runner:  Joe Marruchella leading us off, Steve Speirs ran second, Thomas Neuberger was third, Jenny Jowdy was fourth, Ally Speirs ran fifth (our “new” teammate), and I ran last.  John Thorne, my brother-in-law, somehow agreed to be our van driver during all of this craziness.  The way Ragnar races work for an ultra team is pretty simple:  rather than running one leg at a time, you run two consecutive legs.  So Joe ran legs 1 & 2, 13 & 14, and 25 & 26.  Steve ran legs 3 & 4, 15 & 16 and 27 & 28.  And so on.   No matter what, there are a total of about 200 miles to run, and no matter what, each runner takes three legs of the race, it’s just that as an ultra team each leg is really a combined, consecutive two leg assignment.  So if you’re a standard (12-runner) team, each runner will end up running a total of 16 or 17 miles, but if you’re an ultra team, each runner handles about 33.  The legs themselves vary in length a bit, so it’s never a truly even split.  In fact, for this race, one of our runners (Steve)  did about 42 total miles.  I did about 32.

Our start time was 1:00 PM Friday afternoon.  We truly had a gorgeous couple of days for running.  Saturday was a bit hot (mid-80s), but when I left Ohio, it was 30 degrees and cloudy, so I’m not going to complain!   The first part of the race had us running through a bunch of streets in Miami, which proved to be pretty challenging on a number of fronts.  Dodging pedestrians on sidewalks can be tough, and needing to stop at traffic lights can be mentally unnerving.  Unlike marathons where the streets are shut down to pedestrians and traffic, relay races occur on “live” roads.  Thomas had multiple cycles of passing slower runners only to have them catch back up when he had to stop and wait for lights and traffic.  The other difficulty of running the city streets is that the signage Ragnar uses to direct runners where to turn can get lost in all of the mental juggling of lights, traffic and pedestrians.  All of my teammates ran strong first legs covering about 47 miles before me, which meant I was handed the slap bracelet at about 7:20 PM for my first run.

I've just started leg one in the dark

My first assignment was a combined 12.5 miles and it ended up being a transition point between the more city-like running of the first section to a mostly dirt road, trail-like middle section.  After leaving the park where Ally handed off to me, the first 10½ miles of my leg was quite literally in the middle of nowhere.  To the left was a canal, to the right were mangrove and woods, and the road was a trail with odd bits of gravel and dirt.  It was pitch black, and for whatever reason, I only ever saw one other runner during this leg, so I was completely alone.  Picture a horror movie where they purposefully send a character into an place where the audience just knows something is going to happen, but they don’t know what.  I kept shining my headlamp into the canal looking for alligators and then into the woods for critters big and small.  While I really never felt scared, I did have an uneasy feeling for quite a while.  After an hour and half of that, I was excited to make the turn that sent me down a road headed toward Homestead Speedway and civilization.  The last part of my leg was running one lap on the speedway itself.  Pretty cool. Leg one stats:  12.5 miles, 1:27:51 for an average pace of 8:19.

Finishing leg one with a lap in Homestead Speedway

The next set of legs marked the transition from the middle trail-running section to US Highway 1 – The Overseas Highway and over into the Florida Keys.  Joe and Steve truly got the worst of it during this section as their 4 combined legs to start this cycle (a total of  33.5 miles) was through the canals and had the worst of the road conditions.  Steve had a particularly hard section as his combined run was 20 miles with the first 8+ running the hardest of the trails.  To make just a bit tougher, these legs were “No Van Support” which meant we couldn’t stop and hand him water or assistance.  The second half of his run took us from mainland Florida over to Key Largo to begin the Keys section of the race, which would have teams running the bridges going from one Key to the next over the final 110 or so miles.

There was a a lot of beauty and tranquility running bridges over the ocean all through the night, but it also presented its own set of difficulties.  Most of the bridge running left the runners on their own for hydration and nutrition since there just isn’t enough room to allow vans to pull over and help on a two lane highway with guardrails.  It also meant that exchange points could get pretty congested with vans trying to get in and out to exchange runners.  This would end up becoming a bigger problem later in the day, but we could see it starting to happen in the wee hours of the morning.  Jenny had to run the second longest combined leg during the middle of the night:  nearly 17 miles.  Ally got to watch the sun rise during her 12+ mile second run and then she handed it back off to me for the final portion of the second cycle of team running.  One real positive part of the night running was getting to use the Trailblazer Headlamps that L.L. Bean provided for us.  These headlamps do a great job of lighting up the road in front of you (43 lumens!) all while staying in place on your head.  They also proved to be useful inside the van where we needed to look up exchange points on maps without disturbing any runners trying to catch 40 winks.

My second run was a combined 9.8 miles and had some bridge running as well as some trail-like running on Marathon Key.  Nothing too difficult here with the exception of the heat.  Since my first leg was pretty arduous because of the length and the uneven ground, I decided to put on my Zensah calf sleeves to help perk up my tired legs.  They really helped a lot.  Once the sun came up, it started to get warm pretty quickly.  I made the mistake of not bringing any nutrition with me, so the team grabbed some energy gels and gave them to me along the way.  I was very thankful that this wasn’t a “No Van Support” leg as I was starting to get that hollow feeling that precedes dizziness.  After popping an energy block I felt much, much better and finished my second run feeling good at Marathon City Hall.  Leg stats:  9.8 miles, 1:21:22 for an average pace of 8:18.  The team was also excited here because it meant the kickoff of the final cycle of running for all of us.  We had covered about 145 miles so far.  Two legs down, one to go!

The end of leg #2

… And I managed to step on Joe’s shoe during the handoff.  Whoops.  As I got back to the van to grab some water, another ultra team of Dailymile friends pulled in right next us.  Team “There’s the Damn Van” was filled with very strong runners, so we figured we’d see them at some point along the course even though they started 2 hours after we did back on Friday.  After having each already run somewhere near a marathon distance, any little bit of motivation helps, so knowing they were lurking gave everyone a boost.  Our team pretty well knew we wouldn’t beat them outright (based on total time), so making sure we at least crossed the finish line without being caught got the competitive juices going a bit.

This final set of legs really pushed our endurance.  The heat was really beginning to build, and by now, we were all pretty tired.  No sleep, no good food and twenty-some miles on our legs will do that to you, so getting through this last set was a real test.  But one by one we cranked out that last run.  We helped one another by handing out ice cold water to pour over our heads in the midst of the heat and just kept pushing.   We managed to avoid missing any exchange points due to the bad traffic along the route, but in a few cases it was pretty close.  Before her final leg, Ally, who is a surgical nurse, helped revive an exhuasted runner at an exchange.  When I got the bracelet for the final run of the race, I was ready to be done, and so was the rest of the team.  My final 9+ miler took us across the bridge onto Key West, along the south side of the island, then to the finish line.  I started out that last leg running pretty strong, at about an 8:20 pace and feeling pretty good.  I held that pace for about the first 5 miles, then just ran out of steam.  I remember at about mile 8 trying to push to speed up but my legs just wouldn’t answer the call.  So I kept going slow and steady and made the final turn toward the finish line and that’s when I heard the crowd noise growing and music playing.  Soon enough, the rest of the team joined me to run the final meters as a team and crossed the finish line together.  My final leg stats:  9.3 miles, 1:21:20 for an average pace of 8:48.

Final results for Where’s the Damn Van:  27:01:50.  We placed 8th among men’s ultra teams, and 31st overall (out of about 500 teams).

I had a great time running this race with friends.  Doing it as an ultra team certainly made it more of a physical challenge, but I think the tougher part may have been the mental side.  When you run a race like this as a 12-person team, you have periods of a few hours where your set of runners have no responsibility, so you can head to a major exchange, sleep a bit, eat a decent meal or just relax.  As an ultra team, you’re constantly on the move to the next exchange and have no real breaks.  You may be able to steal a minute or two of sleep or wolf down yet another peanut butter bagel, but nothing of any real substance, and that really starts to add up.  When you couple that with running 32-ish miles in less than 24 hours, it’s a tough go.  But a fun one for sure.  Thanks again to our sponsors: Zensah Compression and L.L. Bean.  Mission Athletecare also helped keep the gorgeous yet brutal sun from sending me home looking like a lobster.

A special commendation needs to be given to John Thorne, our van driver.  He had to stay awake the whole night just as we did, but he also had to be awake enough to get us safely from place to place.  But where he really shined was helping keep everything light.  30 hours cooped up in a van of sweaty, smelly runners is no picnic, but he managed to keep everyone smiling as he did it.  A complete class act.

John Thorne, van driver extraordinaire

Steve Speirs

Ally Speirs

Jenny Jowdy

Thomas Neuberger

Joe Marruchella

UPDATE:

• Read Steve’s race recap here.
• Read Joe’s race recap here.

The year started pretty slowly as I was recovering from a knee injury sustained during my run at the 2010 Chicago Marathon, but I was feeling better and had started training for the 2011 Flying Pig Marathon in earnest.  While Cincinnati isn’t known for having brutal winters, January and February were pretty tough.  Lots of snow and lots of ice.  But training went pretty well.  At the end of February, I had a great time running with 11 other runners at the Ragnar Relay in Del Sol, Arizona, and surprised myself by turning in 3 consecutive legs averaging under 8:00 minute miles.  That little confidence boost lead me to give myself a bit of a fitness test in March by running the Cincinnati Heart Half Marathon to a PR:  1:42:43.

When May rolled around I felt ready to tackle the Flying Pig.  Everything in my training lead me to believe a sub-4:00 race was more than doable.  In the end, that race left me face down in the gravel after mile the 16 mark, and with a huge question mark about my health.  Things turned out OK, though, and I got the go ahead to continue running, with a strict proviso that I pay keen attention to my hydration levels.  Much to the dismay of my entire family, I made the decision to turn around a week later and run the Toronto Good Life Marathon.  My reasons were many, and although I was a bit afraid too, I’m glad I made the decision to do it.  I finished in just over 4 hours:  4:00:40.

I spent the summer training for the fall marathon I had on my schedule:  the Marine Corps Marathon in Washington, DC.  While I had turned in a solid performance in Toronto, I knew I had a better time in me, so I got to work trying to make that happen.  At the beginning of the MCM training cycle, I made to the decision to try something new with my training and signed up with coaching from the Hanson-Brooks Distance Project.  I worked directly with Luke Humphrey, who is running in the Olympic Trials Marathon in just a few weeks.  Their thinking on marathon training plans are a bit different from most, but honestly, that’s what I wanted.

By late summer, I knew I was improving.  Double digit tempo runs no longer scared me, and my strength and speed runs were solid as well.  My peak mileage got up to about 60 miles per week and I was handling it well.  I went into the race feeling pretty confident.  My goal was to run a 3:45:00 and I ended up bettering that by 3 minutes:  3:42:00, an 18 minute PR!  I also got to run with a bunch of great people, many of whom I had met in person at the Ragnar race in February.  Getting to meet a bunch of people I had only known online was an incredible treat as well.

A smile at the finish of the Marine Corps Marathon

This last part of the year has been spent recovering a little bit from a wonky hip, but it’s mostly been spent setting my goals for 2012.  I’ll get to that in a post in a few days.

I’ve learned a ton this year and look forward to more of the same next year.

“Remember that today, it doesn’t matter who is the fastest, or who is the strongest. It only matters who’s willing to endure. You’ve trained and trained and now it’s time to go out and complete this mission.”

At every marathon you go to, it’s someone’s job to rile up the runners and get them motivated before the race begins. They play loud, high-energy music and they talk the runners up over loudspeakers. But somehow, standing in the corrals just yards from Arlington National Cemetery, hearing those words coming from a Marine whose own missions were far more important than a particular time goal in marathon, I knew this day would be different.

Rewind two days.

As I waited in Cincinnati to board my plane to Reagan National on Friday, I looked around the waiting area to see if I could spot any other runners. At a marathon as big as the Marine Corps Marathon, it’s a pretty good bet that any flight coming into the host city will have at least a few runners on it, and this one was no different. They’re easy to spot: they’re probably a little anxious from the taper so they can’t stand still, they’re likely wearing running shoes, and they’re also looking around for fellow crazy people soon to take on 26.2 miles. After spotting a few candidates in the waiting area, I smiled when my guesses were confirmed in-flight. Here’s a snippet from the conversation of the two people sitting directly behind me on the flight, one of whom I had spotted pacing at the gate:

 ”Are you from D.C.?”

“No, I’m going there to run the Marine Corps Marathon.”

“Ohhh! Good for you. How long is that one?”

I watched smiles cross the faces of a few of us when we heard the question, confirming their status as runners. Before getting off the plane in D.C., we all wished one another good luck in the race on Sunday. A great, positive way to start out the weekend.

My sister and her husband live outside Washington, so they volunteered to pick me up from the airport and take me to the hotel in Arlington. It’s such a relief to just skip over the worry of wondering how to get from place to place without really knowing the city. Once I got settled in to the hotel, we had dinner together too. Since we hadn’t seen one another since last Christmas, it was great to have the time to catch up.

Saturday morning came, and with it came horrible weather. Rainy, very cold, and reports of it turning to snow later in the day. This same weather system dumped 30″ of snow in some areas of New York and Connecticut, setting new records for October snowfall. But the weather couldn’t dampen the enthusiasm to get going and get prepared for the race. On the docket for Saturday was packet pickup at the Expo, followed by lunch and a Dailymile meetup. And umbrellas. Many, many umbrellas.

If I had one complaint about the entire experience of MCM, it would be the seemingly poorly planned Expo. This is a major marathon with over 21,000 runners registered, but the venue for the Expo was entirely too small to accommodate that many runners and their families and friends. I’m certain that the foul weather didn’t help at all, but forcing everyone to stand outside in the cold in lines to get your bib first, then to just get into the Expo was crazy. Once inside you had to be committed to want to buy something. Thirty minute lines awaited anyone needing to get to the cash registers. The building simply wasn’t meant to hold that many people. Honestly, it was a relief to just get the hell out of there once we were all done.

The dreariness of the day completely turned around when we got the Dailymile meetup. Getting the opportunity to meet people in real life who have been so supportive and so helpful online was just incredible. Hearing everyone’s goals for the race also got me excited about my own plan. I’ve said it before, I’ll say it again: runners are a giving, enthusiastic bunch of people.

Sunday morning finally came after a fitful night’s sleep. I’ve never been able to sleep well the night before a race, so this was not a surprise at all. After having a bit of trouble finding our friends’ hotel in the wee hours, we finally got the whole group together and were on our way to start corrals. I’ll admit it, I’m kind of crazy about not being late, so cutting it so close to the gun time had me a bit nervous, but we made it with 10 minutes or so to spare. And since it was about 38°F outside, I don’t think a lot more standing around trying to keep warm would have been helpful anyway. The sun was brightly shining, though, and I’d much rather run in the the cold than the heat and humidity.  Perfect running weather.

As the minutes ticked down to the 8:00AM gun, I got more and more excited to get going. Drew Carey was the guest starter for the race after having been featured in Runner’s World’s “I’m A Runner” section a month or two ago. Finally, at 8:00, the gun went off and we were under way.

My plan was to run the first half of the race at an 8:20 min/mile pace, which would have gotten me to the half marathon point at about 1:49:10, then pick it up to an 8:10 pace if I was still feeling strong. If the stars absolutely aligned and I nailed everything perfectly, I’d finish at 3:36:08, but I knew I’d be thrilled with anything better than 3:45:00.

My sister surprised me by being right at the start of the race. I don’t think I was more than a quarter of a mile in when I heard, “Go Sean Brown!” Man, does that get you going!  The first half of the race features the two big hills – one at mile 2 and another at mile 7.  Somewhere before Georgetown (at about the 9 mile mark), I decided to shed the light jacket I had started with; the sun had warmed things up a bit, so I no longer needed it. The Georgetown section of the race is a huge boost as the crowd support there is just phenomenal. It was about there that I took my first of three gels.

When I got the halfway point, I assessed how I was feeling and so far, and I felt good. I hit halfway at 1:48:05, so I had done a pretty good job of hitting the pace I wanted, but I did get there a little over a minute quicker that I should have. I also took my second gel just after the halfway point. The miles ticked on, I saw my sister and brother-in-law a few more times, and I was doing a decent job of holding the second half 8:10 pace. As I look back over my splits, I do find a couple of miles at 8:02 and 8:03, and yes, I would pay for these later. I can see the first slower mile at 22 (8:30), which is just after crossing over the 14th St bridge, which seemed endless. I took the third and final gel sometime around 21 or 22. The next few miles would see my pace really erode, going from 8:30 at 22, to 8:25 at 23, 8:56 at 24 and 9:35 at 25. I remember checking my watch often during that stretch but was unable to muster the brain power to figure out what was happening. I finally pushed through the fog, willed myself to go harder and got through the finish line running well.

When I looked down at my Garmin I saw 3:42:01, a huge smile crossed my face. I had taken nearly 20 minutes off my previous best marathon time.  Mission accomplished.

A smiling finisher's photo

I did come away with a few things I plan to do differently in future races.  The first is obvious:  do an even better job managing my pace.  I did a much better job here than I had done before, but I’ll need to be even better if I plan to improve.  I also think I’ll go a little heavier on in-race nutrition.  I only did three gels this time and I think my late race confusion was a result of that.  I’ve learned that the nutrition you take in can have as much impact on the mental side of marathoning as it does the physical.  Finally, I really need to learn how to run the downhills.  No big mistakes there in MCM, but I never felt comfortable like I knew what I should be doing.

I absolutely loved this race. The scenery, the great crowd support, the Marines not only manning the water stations, but also posted all along the race course, the opportunity to run a major race with friends, my sister cheering me on, and, of course, training hard and beating my goal.  A huge, huge day for me as a runner.

Postscript. As I boarded the flight home, I found the same handful of runners that I had shared the flight to D.C. were also sharing the flight home. We all shared our great experiences with the race and, of course, discussed what we planned to run next. A great ending to an incredible weekend.

It seems I always think this when a race I’ve trained for gets closer, but I just don’t know where the time goes.  When you’re in the midst of a long training run in August, you think it will never get here, but this morning, it seems like the miles flew by.  It has been a successful training cycle in that:

1. My running improved
2. I’m going into the race completely healthy

Another iPod Shuffle suffers a brutal, ugly death at the hands of our washing machine.  I believe this is the fifth Shuffle I’ve killed by drowning since realizing I was a serial killer.

On a brighter note, the Apple stock I bought 18 months ago, has gone from $200 to $350.