Cooked in Death Valley

Death Valley Borax Marathon Race Report

PRE-RACE

            My race weekend started at the end of the school day on Friday.  I closed up my classroom, took my kids to their Mom and by 3:00PM I was off.  I had a 7 ½ hour drive Friday night from Paradise to Lone Pine, California.  I stopped in Reno for a quick to-go dinner and then a beautiful moonlit drive down the eastern side of the Sierras.  Lone Pine sits in the shadow of Mt. Whitney, the highest point in the contiguous U.S.  But I didn’t get to appreciate the scenery.  I arranged for a wakeup call for 4:30 AM and went to sleep. 

            I woke up before the wakeup call but stayed horizontal until it was time.  Got ready and hit the complimentary breakfast for some coffee and a bagel.  I had 104 miles to drive into Death Valley that morning.  I had allowed 2 hours but made it to Furnace Creek Ranch in 1:45. 

 

Race registration was in the Corkscrew Saloon.  No race expo lines to deal with—basically walked in, was handed my bib and I was all set with nearly an hour to spare.

THE RACE

            There is a pre-race gathering in front of the start line.  The race director gives a little speech (a few jokes at the expense of the Rock-n-Roll marathons), provides race instructions, and leads the crowd in singing “America, the Beautiful.”  

The Marathoners get to start first (all 111 of us), followed by the Half Marathoners (165) and 10K runners (65).  At 8:06 AM, we counted down and off we went!  Since the course doesn’t allow headphones, I spent the first 6 miles singing “America, the Beautiful” in my head.  I stuck my starting paces pretty well—9:10, 9:16, 9:12, 9:07, 9:07, 9:14.

            At around the 6^th mile, the pleasant little breeze that had been blowing into our faces since the start of the race began to gradually increase.  By the time we got to the turnaround it had become a significant headwind.  I found myself pushing into the wind as it increased and pretty much kept to my goal pace (9:09, 9:11, 9:10, 9:16, 9:01, 9:07, 9:14)—this turned out to be a serious error.  More on that in a bit.  I sung to myself “I’ve Been Through the Desert on a Horse with no Name” during this leg.  I made the half in just a smidge over 2:00.  The turn-around was marked by a cone and a “TA” in red tape on the pavement.  The race director was at the turnaround chatting with the runners.

            As soon I turned around, I immediately felt the relief of getting the wind at my back instead of in my face.  For about a minute, I really enjoyed that.  After that minute I started to feel warm…too warm.  The wind was at my back and the desert sun in my face.  I think the next 6 miles were with a little Tom Petty, “Running Down a Dream .”  Sadly, that dream was already slipping away.  By miles 18 and 19 I knew that my time goals weren’t going to happen (9:13, 9:15, 9:19, 9:13, 11:03, 9:59).

            At this point in the race I started to go to that very bad place.  My head was down and I was hot!  Somewhere at this point in the race I was reminded of the Scripture (Psalm 121 in case you care), “I lift up my eyes to the hills, where does my help come from?  My help comes from the Lord.”  So I lifted up my head and looked around at the hills that surround Death Valley.  This was where I began to keep my promise to myself to smile the last 6 miles.  

Smiling changed my reaction to the circumstances, but  I was still very hot.  I began to take walk breaks which were became longer until I was only taking short run breaks from my walking.  By the end of mile 23, I was no longer producing sweat and I became worried about heat exhaustion or worse.  Mile 24 lasted for an eternity.  You can see the finish line from a long way off—the trees at Furnace Creek are easy to spot—but it doesn’t seem to get any closer.   I reminded myself that it is better to finish slow that not at all.  In fact, I was here in Death Valley because I wanted to be there.  So, no pity party for me, I just kept putting one foot in front of the other.  I took pictures along the way and tried to take in the beauty of the desert landscape (12:25, 13:23, 12:15, 13:43, 18:47, 15:04, 17:32, 5:29).  I crossed the finished line in 4:45.50.

POST-RACE

            Rehydrating was my first priority.  I'm pretty sure that this is what I looked like at the finish:

I believe that I drank about 120 oz of water and Gatorade during the race.  I easily drank another 100 oz of fluid after the race and still it was over two hours before I felt like I would ever need to pee again.  The post-race atmosphere was very low-key, but in a good way.  No big festival-like environment, just a well-stocked table of drinks and snacks, and volunteers handing out race medals and t-shirts. 

Race highlights—I don’t think this one qualifies as a “destination race.”  A better term might be a “bragging rights’ race.  However, one of the highlights for me was meeting a lot of really experienced marathoners.  One guy considered himself a slacker because he had only run 30-some marathons.  There was a couple from Montreal who had worked their way through 50 states—twice!  I started the race with an Air Force Chaplain.  I go to meet fellow forumite Potranca at the finish line.  There was a woman who was running to honor fallen soldiers—she ran the entire race carrying a full size American flag—no small feat with the wind. 

Lessons learned:  1) running into the wind is to be treated with the same respect as running uphill.  Harder wind=steeper hill.  I definitely fried myself by keeping my goal pace into the headwind on the first half.  2) Dehydration is bad—I drank a lot a fluid but did not keep up with what my body needed.  The arid climate, sun and wind sucked every bit of moisture out of me.  3) 10 hours of driving the day before a marathon isn’t a great idea.  4) Goals are not always in your control, but goals are not everything.  If I run because I love to run, then there is always something to smile about, even if it’s hard (or perhaps, because it’s hard).

After I finally got rehydrated, I drove down to Badwater Basin (It would be a shame to go all that way and not see the actual lowest spot, right?) and then it was time to start the trek home.  I drove to Reno Saturday night and home the next morning.  Marathon #2 is in the books. 

Bonus pic:  Here is the cleanup crew if you fall out during the race. 

Rust Days

I've been comparing the last week of marathon training plans.  It's taper-time and I want to be clear on how much is enough and how much is too much rest.
For me it comes down to rest or rust.  I find overall that my legs are happier while regular runs but that days off tend to make me aware of tightness (IT Band) and pain (knees). 

This last week before the marathon looks like this:

Sat   1/28    10 miles (5 at marathon pace)
Sun  1/29   4.5 miles
Mon 1/30  2.7 miles (slowish pace)
Tues 1/31  6.1 miles (4 at marathon pace)
Wed 2/1    2 miles (maybe in the five fingers)
Thurs 2/2   3 miles (marathon pace)
Fri    2/3       2 miles (super easy)
Sat   2/4      DEATH VALLEY BORAX MARATHON!

So, I think I'll choose restful short runs over rust days this week. 

One Week 'til Death Valley

Woah, it's been a long time since I posted--I'll blame a combination of being really busy and forgetting my password (oops).
I am Tapering for Death Valley.  I finished the heart of my training with three 20 milers and a 21 miler.  I have averaged about 7 more miles per week this training cycle and feel like that's going to be a help on Saturday. 
Yesterday I completed my last double-digit run.  I did 10 miles with about half of that at marathon pace.
I'm thankful to be relatively healthy and am ready to see what marathon #2 holds in six more days.

Holiday Streak?

Runner's World is promoting the idea of streaking through the holidays.  No, this is not an invite to run naked.  Rather it is the challenge to run every day between Thanksgiving and Christmas. 

I think I'm in.  My previous streak is a whopping 13 days.  I came down with a sore throat and it seemed wise to take a couple of days off this week.

On deck this week:  Run for Food 5K in Chico, CA.  No better way to start Thanksgiving.

Back In The Saddle Again

So I pretty much dropped off the face of the earth after the SF Marathon.  I spent a few weeks taking it easy, but then life got very busy, and I really had a hard time finding time to run. 
In late August, I was doing some non-voluntary running (a work thing--chasing a student who was running away) and ended up getting a stress fracture in my upper femur.  Ouch.  Could barely walk for a few days and definitely needed to take time off from running. 

Late October came and I finally got to start running again.  I was pleased and a little surprised at how quickly the fitness is coming back.  I am presently building up to 40 miles per week.  This time around I am going to emphasize running nearly every day and building a much better weekly mileage base.  My goal is to get up around 45-50 miles/week before my next marathon. 

Speaking of marathons, I am considering the Death Valley Borax Marathon in February as my next biggie, and I have a 5k on thanksgiving and a 10K in mid-December as short-term goals.

San Francisco Marathon Race Report

Drove into SF on Saturday and headed to the Expo.  They couldn’t find my bib, so I had to go to the solutions line and was issued a new bib.  They were very helpful, but the new bib was a disappointment because it didn’t have my name or proper wave placement—they gave me a pass to get into my desired wave.  Frankly, I thought the rest of the Expo was a bit of a dud.  Saturday night went to North Beach for some great pasta and the best beet salad I have ever eaten.  If you’re ever in SF, try Bocce Café.  Drove as much of the race course as possible Saturday night and my only reaction was Yikes!

I was a little worried about getting to the start line on Sunday morning as my hotel was across town, so I called for an early cab when I woke up.  Stood outside my hotel for a couple of minutes when a cab pulled up, so I made it to the start without any hassle and plenty early.  Sat around waiting for time to start.  Bart Yasso was announcing the race start and he did the countdown for each wave. 

 I was in Wave 5 because I wanted to run with the 4:00 Pace Group.  I was told that they typically start near the end of the wave, but they were right up front.  As we prepared for our start, I wasn’t prepared for the emotion of actually toeing the line at my first marathon.  Counted down and off we went.  I cruised into my goal pace for the first mile—aiming to do a 9:20 mile.  The 4:00 pace group pulled out irresponsibly fast—there is no way they were doing 9:09 or 9:10.  I figured they were trying to bank time ahead of the hills.  I actually never saw them again, but my wife said I was always just behind them (until the end).  My wife and kids were cheering for me at mile two.  At mile 4, there was a group from “Wear Blue” honoring fallen soldiers (the founder of the group was running a double marathon today, one for her, one for her late husband), that was an awesome spectacle.  The first few miles clicked by just great—9:14, 9:06, 9:11, 9:09, 9:08.

Mile five begins the climb up the steep hill that takes you from sea level up to the Golden Gate Bride.  Here is where the hill training really pays off.  I felt pretty good going for an even effort up the hill.  We made it up onto the bridge and it was so nice getting to run on the actual roadway of the Golden Gate Bridge.  We were only given a single lane of traffic in each direction so it was a little crowded, but not unbearable.  I caught up with a staff member of the official training program and just sort of paced off of her across the bridge and back.  Back across the bridge, the course heads down Lincoln past some amazing views of the coast.  Miles six through ten—9:33, 9:00, 8:50, 9:00, 9:05.

Next we headed toward Golden Gate Park.  Here the First Half Marathoners split off and then rejoin as they finish.  Then for a stretch it feel a little lonely as it is just the Full Marathoners.  Then all of a sudden I was overtaken by pace bikes and the lead runners of the Second Half Marathon.  This gets a little discouraging because you’re feeling slow and tired and being passed by fresher runners for the rest of the race.  Miles eleven through 15—8:44, 9:20, 9:07, (HM split-2:01:08), 8:46, 9:39.

My wife and kids were waiting at the 18 mile mark.  What an encouraging thing to have people cheering for you.  I also got a big boost by cheering for the 2^nd Half Pace groups as they went by.  This portion of the race takes your out of Golden Gate Park and onto Haight.  Miles 16 through 20—9:45, 8:10, 8:54, 8:56, 9:25.

Here Haight starts it’s huge descent which was steep enough to make it hard to actually run fast.  This was also new territory for me as my longest run prior to the race was 20.5 miles.  I started to fade here.  Getting passed by lots of 2^nd half Marathoners here.   This is by far some of the ugliest portions of the race as once you turn off Haight, the race winds through industrial portions of the City.  The funny thing was that the ugliness seemed to fit perfectly with how I was feeling.  I think I was one solid grimace through section.  I switched over to some better music here, but even the “Imperial March” aka Darth Vader’s theme, didn’t help much.  Miles 21 through 25—9:38, 9:36, 9:46, 10:24, 11:17.

At Mile 25 we run up to AT&T park (SF Giants’ Stadium) and we had planned to have my son run the race mile with me.  My wife and kids were waiting next to the stadium and my son joined me.  It was cool to have him along side me for that last mile.  11:23 and then 3:17 to the finish line.  Official finish time:  4:09:12!

Bart Yasso commented on my son helping me finish.  We headed through to get snacks, the awesome 3.5” coaster medal, finish line photos, and then began to wander around trying to connect back up with my wife and daughter.  About that time I began to feel faint, so we made a beeline for the medical tent to lie down for a while.  Reconnected with my family there and took in the finish line festivities.  First marathon done. 

What was I happy with?  I felt really good on the hills.  I was also able to run the whole thing only stopping for a couple of pictures and porta-potty visits.  I was also so glad that I wore my hydration belt.  That helped me fuel and hydrate on my terms.  What could have been better?  I did get a little fast on some of those early miles—which contributed to my fade at the end.  It just seemed a little hard with all the early hills to gauge the effort for an even race.  I was pretty close to my planned time at the half, but I could have run a slightly smarter race in the second half.

All in all a great first marathon experience.  Really captured the SF Marathon motto:  WORTH THE HURT!

Spy Planes, Wiretaps, and other Conspiracies

6.4 miles with 3 at tempo pace today.  It was a good run, but the highlight was my conversation the last mile.  I caught up with a guy in full backpacking gear and figured that he must have just came down from the backcountry. 

As we made our way down the trail, he told me his tale of woe.  As the tale of hardship went on, it began to include a deep-seated paranoia.  The Government was sending U2 spy planes to track him.  They were wire-tapping his pre-paid cell phones.  They had even fried his car's heater core by the strength of the satelites beaming his car's computer. 

That's the kind of run that makes you glad for your marbles.  Praying for this guy.  He needs a touch from Jesus' own hand.