Disney World Marathon

Time: 3:29:55
Overall: 547 out of 16883
Age group: 59 out of 1183

On a day that few things seemed to go right I managed a PR and got my 2011 BQ.

More than a week out I knew that race day was going to be cold. It hit the lowest forecast numbers with a race start temp of 28. Throw in the wind and the temps felt like the high teens. Ideal race temps for me would be around 40. 28 was a little cold but I’ll take that over the 60+ that I have been racing in.

I didn’t get a good night sleep. I dozed off in the late afternoon and woke up around 8pm (which was when I wanted to go to sleep). I laid in bed until 10:30 when I fell asleep again. I woke up again a few times before I decided to get up at 3am. Breakfast, shower, stretching, bathroom and I was out the door a little after 4. I had over 1.5 hours until my 5:40 race start which from past experience was more than enough time to get to Epcot, park, hit the toilets and get to the start. This year was different. Less than 1 mile from the hotel I ran into heavy traffic and we were barely moving (of course my lane was the slowest). That 3 mile drive seemed to take forever and I was coming to the realization that I may not make it to the start on time. I ended up parking around 5:20 (20 minutes before start). I got to the start corrals as the national anthem was playing. There was a row of port-a-johns by the corrals that were empty (because everyone was ready to start). I jumped in for a quickie and got in to the corral about 1 minute before the start. The actual start ended up being 3-4 minutes late (so maybe not all was bad).

It took me a little over 1 minute to reach the start line after the clock started. I ended up being at the back of the A corral but I could still see the 3:30 pace group up ahead of me. I caught up with the group by the first mile but the number of runners still made it difficult to stay with the group. I decided to just keep in the general area until things thinned out a little. I warmed up pretty quick after I started running and tossed the sweatshirt around mile 3. By mile 5 things started to thin out and I was keeping a good steady pace. I felt like I was pressing a little but it wasn’t a struggle to stay with the 3:30 group. It definitely helped having them there though.

Around mile 8 the pace group was a nice cluster of maybe 25 runners and not too many runners in front or behind. Disney had a nice setup for the pacers. We had the main pace leader (Bill Sanders) plus roving pacers that would join the group for a while and then pull out (I assume to join other groups behind us). They did a lot of talking about their race experience or asking about ours or just stories to lighten things up a little.

The approach to and running through the magic kingdom was as good as always (by far my favorite part of the race). The sun was just breaking through as we ran down main street so it was a really nice experience.

As we approached the water stop around mile 15 the pace leader suggested that if you needed to use the toilets this was a good time since we were a little ahead of pace and he was going to slow a little. I didn’t have to go bad but I wasn’t sure if I would make it until the end so I ran up ahead and found an open port-a-john. My only comment here is that it’s tough taking a shit when your hands are frozen. Overall I lost 1:30 on the pit stop. I didn’t want to push too hard to get back to the pace group but I did want to catch up by mile 19 when the tough stretch started. I figured that if it could run 7:40-45 miles I would get to them by mile 19. I proceeded to pick up the pace a little and was surprised at the lack of extra effort that it required. I was 16+ plus miles in and running harder than my goal pace and I felt great. That feeling would not last long.

I finally caught up with the pace group around mile 19 as we were getting into a 3+ mile stretch of running up and down overpasses and a boring out and back stretch between the animal park and Hollywood studios. Somewhere around mile 20 my right knee starting bothering me. It wasn’t anything that I couldn’t deal with but I still had 6 miles to go. 21-23 is usually the toughest stretch for me. This is the point where running with a pace group has the biggest impact and the pace group leaders were the best. Whenever some of us were lagging behind the lead pacer, the other pacer would pull back a little and push the runners to catch up. At mile 22 I felt the group slipping away and if it wasn’t for that extra push I would have never stayed with them. As we were closing in on the mile 24 marker I got my second wind (or third..) and picked up the pace a little and tried to pull away. That lasted until around 24.5 when the pace leader and another runner seemed to pick up the pace and break away from the group. They weren’t really running faster but everyone else (including me) was slowing down and it was too close to the end for the pace leader to pull back and push us on. I did a pretty good job of keeping them within eyeshot. As we ran through the boardwalk there wasn’t a lot of room. The boards were a little slick (still icy) the path was narrow and trees were scattered along the path. I was struggling but was still keeping a steady pace.

As I turned into Epcot just before mile 25 I rounded a corner and caught my left toe on something. I fell forward and almost caught my balance (almost) but ended up plunging into the concrete. It was a good thing that I had gloves on because my hands would have been pretty messed up. I got to my feet in disbelief that I wiped out so late in the race. My first thought was that I blew my PR and BQ but I still started to run. At first it was a really slow jog but then I realized the fall really wasn’t that bad (more like I was too numb to feel it). Well I managed to put in a decent final mile and ended up breaking 3:30.

When I crossed the finish line all of the fatigue and cold hit me. My right knee was so sore I could hardly walk and my hands were so numb I couldn’t feel anything. On top of that I was in such a rush when I parked in the morning that I forgot where my car was. I had a pretty good idea of the section but I had to walk (of hobble) up and down a couple of rows before I found my car. Getting the key out of my pocket and starting the car was an adventure in itself but I managed and then sat in the car for a good 15 minutes before I thawed enough to drive.

Overall though it was a great race, I usually just miss the great running weather by a day or two and end up running in temps that are too warm. This race was the opposite but I’ll take that any day. I love running at Disney and I’m so happy that I was able to run so well here. This was my 7th marathon here (9th race overall) and I plan to be back many more times.

Weekly Summary 1/3/2010

Weekly total: 44.9
Monday: 7.08
Tuesday: 8.32
Wednesday: 8.2
Thursday: 7.04
Saturday: 9.12
Sunday: 5.17
Average pace: 7:49

Last week of training before the Disney Marathon. My right knee was starting to bother me a little more so I decided to take Friday off. After staying up after 2am I didn’t feel much like running anyway. Saturday’s early morning run in the cold felt great but it left my right hamstring really tight. It never loosened up on Sunday so I decided to cut that run short.

It does seem like my list of minor injuries seems to be building but nothing is really that bad and I should be fine with a couple of days rest.

My plan this week is to get in easy 1 hour runs on Monday & Tuesday and a short run on Thursday. Resting on Wed, Fri-Sat should give me enough time to recover and be rested for Sunday.

The forecast for Sunday’s lows range from 33-41 so I don’t think I’ll have to worry about it being too warm.

1 week until Disney

A year in review 2009

Here I sit with one day left in the year (1 day left in the decade for that matter). As I look over the last year I have had many accomplishments and a few disappointments.
A random list of accomplishments
• Survived a few minor injuries with no major injuries
• Ran 5 marathons
• Ran the Boston Marathon (2nd best time to date)
• 2 half marathon PRs
• Almost 2500 miles logged (training & races)

A few disappointments
• No Marathon or 5k PRs
• 3 of 5 marathons were poor efforts

My left heel was probably my biggest health issue. It had really bothered me for most of the first half of the year. Ironically it took two other injuries and moving, which greatly reduced my training, to allow whatever was bothering my heel to heal. Overall I’ve been amazed on how well I’ve held up. I’m not sure why that is because I’ve been pretty injury prone throughout my life.

I’ve had some really good races this year. Tops on that list had to be Boston.
Boston was easily my toughest marathon course but I was in great shape going in and the energy from the spectators carried me to a time that was just shy of a PR.
There was a tie for second best race between both of my half marathons. I had entered the Disney half early in 2008. Later in the year I decided to run RnR Arizona which was the following week. I still wanted to run Disney since I had already paid the (very expensive) fee but I decided to just run an easy pace so that it didn’t hurt my marathon the following week. Well that easy pace still beat my previous PR by 1 minute. Based on what I did at Disney I had high expectations for Gasparilla. My goal was 7 minute miles (1:31:42) which I felt very confident in doing. Unfortunately a front was coming through that morning and by the half way point the wind was a steady 15-20 mph with gusts of 35+. With all that I still managed to beat my Disney time by 1.5 minutes.

I was equally disappointed in 3 marathon efforts (Phoenix, San Diego, Hartford). At this point there is no reason why I should be running 3:40+ marathons and in all 3 I hit the wall prior to 20 miles. Of the 3 I am most disappointed with my effort in Hartford. It was the slowest of the 3 and the only one with no easy excuses (race the weekend before, visiting family or friends). I knew this wasn’t a PR attempt but I still pushed it and failed miserably. WPB was an example of how I should run a marathon in less than ideal conditions.

Although my friends and family would disagree, keeping my weight under control and reaching an ideal race weight has been a struggle. This year I managed to take off around 10 lbs and now average in the low to mid 160’s. I’ve kept that pretty steady since August. My low point has been 158 but I have also hit 170 after a day off and eating a little too much. I’m not sure if maintaining a weight in the high 150’s is realistic but I do want to keep myself under 165 which means maintaining an average weight of around 160.

My goals are many for the coming year. I have 4 marathons and 2 half marathons on my schedule. In addition I have plans to run 6-8 shorter races. My race results really leveled off this year after a big improvement in 2008. I really think that I’m on the verge of another big improvement in 2010 if I can keep motivated, race smart and stay healthy.
Goals for 2010 in no specific order are:
• 2500+ miles for the year
• At least 1 month of 300+ miles
• A marathon PR (and thus another BQ)
• No marathon crash & burns
• A 5k PR
• A sub 1:31:42 (7 min pace) half marathon
• Keep the weight down
• No injuries

Weekly Summary 12/27/2009

Weekly total: 50.2
Monday: 6.15
Tuesday: 8.33
Wednesday: 8.47
Thursday: 7.54
Saturday: 10.33
Sunday: 9.39
Average pace: 7:42

Before the week started I was entertaining the thought of reaching 2500 miles for the year. That would be 100 miles in 11 days. Certainly doable but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to push myself that much and since Christmas fell in that time period I would have to get a decent run in that day or really make the task difficult. Mondays run of 6.15 sealed the deal. I was feeling run down and my right knee was a little sore so I decided not to push it. I will most likely end the year with just over 2480 miles certainly nothing to be ashamed of and well over my 2200 from last year.

Most of the week I was feeling pretty rundown even a day off didn’t seem to help much. My right knee wasn’t as sore as it was stiff and fatigued. My hamstrings were also much tighter than usual. After 2-3 miles into a run I would start feeling better but my knee is still an ongoing issue and it forced me to end a couple of runs early because I didn’t want to end up hurting it more.

Two weeks before my next marathon I feel pretty good (or at least confident). I don’t have a specific training plan for the week. I do want to run every day and get in as many miles as I can without pushing too much. I would like to keep the pace under 8 (if possible) and any longer runs no more than 9. The big thing this week is to not over do it.

2 weeks until Disney

Weekly Summary 12/20/2009

Weekly total: 65.4
Monday: 7.56
Tuesday: 9.21
Wednesday: 10.4
Thursday: 8.72
Friday: 10.09
Saturday: 11.08
Sunday: 8.38
Average pace: 7:47

Overall it was a pretty productive week. I had 3 long runs and kept the pace well under 8. Little or no aches and pains but I was feeling a little tired by Sunday.

I’m still on pace (as of Sunday) for 2500 this year but I have to average 9 miles a day. At this point I’m not sure if I want to push it that hard so I’ll just keep running and see where I’m at during the last few days of the month. It’s only a number and in the grand scheme of things there isn’t much of a difference between 2485 and 2500.

I don’t have a specific plan for this week as far as total miles. I’ve already put in a shorter than average run on Monday and I’m not sure if I’ll find the time to run on Christmas day. I do want to get in at least 3 long runs and keep the pace under 8. If I manage to do that and stay healthy then the week will be considered a success.

3 weeks until Disney

Weekly Summary 12/13/2009

Weekly total: 50.5
Tuesday: 5.05
Wednesday: 8.58
Thursday: 8.25
Friday: 9.17
Saturday: 10.59
Sunday: 8.85
Average pace: 7:59

I was surprised at how fast I bounced back after last Sunday’s marathon. I was still a little stiff and sore on Monday so I took that day off. Tuesday I felt better but I didn’t want to push it and the rest of the week was like a normal training week.

Since I have 3 training weeks left before Disney, I would like to get in a couple of 60+ over the next 2 weeks, taper down to 50 on the third week and rest most of the week before the marathon. I really feel that I’m in the best running shape right now and there is a probably a fine line between going too easy and losing some of that or going to hard and hurting myself.

4 weeks until Disney

Palm Beaches Marathon

Time: 3:37:33
Overall: 92 out of 585
Age Group: 9 out of 62

Prior to the race it was very hard to predict what the temps would be like. Weather.com forecast seemed to change daily with temps ranging from the mid 50’s to mid 70’s predicting rain then no rain. All I really knew is that it would probably be too warm for me to attempt a PR. I’ve fallen into the trap before, thinking that I could set a PR when the temps were on the warm side only to end up struggling at the end.

The race started at 6:30 but since I didn’t know what the parking situation would be like I left early and ended up parking before 5:30. I headed down to the start area. The temps were in the high 50’s but a 10-15 mph wind made that feel pretty cold. There were plenty of port-a-johns with no lines but I didn’t need to go and that really concerned me because I didn’t go at the hotel either. I hate giving up valuable race minutes by sitting on a toilet mid race.

The race started on time (organization was top notch all the way). Between the full and half there were around 3000 runners at the start. I was near the front and was about 15 sec from the start line after the gun went off. The street was wide so there was plenty of room to run without people getting in your way (side note: a 1/4 into the race a car was driving against the runners). The fastest pace group in the race was the 3:30. I had no intention on running a 3:30 and just wanted to stick to a pace that I felt comfortable with. That comfortable pace kept me right behind the 3:30 group. I was definitely running faster than intended but I felt comfortable and wasn’t pushing it. My concern was that when my body started telling me to slow down, my mind would let the pace group pull me along.

By mile four, I was starting to feel like I was ready for that inevitable pit stop. The full and half didn’t split until mile 6 so I decided to wait until after the split. At the split point it seemed that 75% of the runners around me were in the half. They made the right turn and I followed the 3:30 pace group to the left. At 7.5 miles (or 1 hour into the race) I came to the toilets. Although I didn’t want to lose time in the port-a-john it was probably a good thing in that it would break me away from the pace group. I ended up losing just under 2 minutes. I then settled into an 8-8:10 pace and kept that going until mile 13.

Around mile 13 the 2 races joined back together. The difference was that the half marathon participants were the back of the pack group who were on mile 7. When we merged, they did a pretty good job of staying to the right (as instructed) but slowly started spreading out which made running a straight line difficult. I think running beside such slow movers had a mental effect in that my pace slowed another 10 seconds even though I still felt fine.

I don’t like racing with an IPod but I brought it with me thinking that I may want it later in the race. That turned out to be a good decision because the fatigue was starting to set in around mile 16 and I needed some motivation. At mile 17 I finally turned it on. The next couple miles passed by which made what was remaining a much more manageable number. By mile 20 I passed the finish line (where the half-ers finish). It really is a downer when you have to pass what you are striving to achieve. To make things worse, the sun was out and it was getting pretty warm. The wind had really picked up too it was a cross wind which meant that I would always feel like I was running into it.

The last 6 miles were a real struggle. We ran 2 miles north of the finish and then did a series of loops on our way back. Approaching my first loop I saw the 3:30 pace leader (approx .75 miles ahead of me) and there was nobody running with him. When I broke from the group there were 15-20 runners with him. I did remember passing quite a few but apparently I passed most of them. By mile 23 I was really hurting but was still keeping a sub 9 pace (8:30-55 range). I knew that by just keeping that pace I would easily achieve my sub 3:40 goal. There weren’t a lot of runners around me but there were a few that I was gaining on. This made it a little easier to push myself toward the finish.

I saw the finish clock with about .2 to go. If I picked up the pace I could get in under 3:38 (clock time). I was running with the last of the guys that I had been gaining on. I could tell that he was giving it all he had too, either to beat me or to get in under 3:38. We ended up crossing at the same time (I had him by 7 seconds net).

All in all I was happy with the results. I sacrificed a PR (which I had very little chance of getting) but I ran a sub 3:40 (which I should do every marathon) and ended up with my 3rd best time. I'm really glad I raced here. I still prefer the larger races but the organization was great and it was a very nice course.

I need to give my body another day or 2 of rest and then it back to training. Disney is less than 5 weeks away.

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