Shorts Weather Has Come To Northern California

Get out your sunglasses folks, I'm wearing shorts!

Yes, after a really long patch of wintery weather, spring weather has arrived in Northern California.  Today called for 9 miles of General Aerobic (I know what you're thinking, the it was Colonel Aerobic last time you checked--well he's been promoted.

General Aerobic is Pfitzinger's term for pretty much easy running 15-20% slower that goal marathon pace. 

Out to Paradise Lake I go just daring the sun to darken my mighty white legs.

Had a nice run around the lake.  The trail is an out and back on the right (east) side of the lake.  It works out to a 9.35 mile run--perfect.

I enjoyed the trail today, even managed to keep my feet mostly dry.  No snow on the trail anymore, but there are still some very ambitious puddles (think 30-40 feet long and covereing the width of the trail). 

I did pick up a little friend on the run.  When I got in the car to head home, I looked down to find a tick taking a bite out of crime on my leg.  Fortunately, it hadn't had a chance to get embedded yeet, so I was able to pull it off with relative ease.  (Note to self--add tick repellant to the running gear).  I think it saw my bright white legs and thought it was the promised land. 

Welcome to the Freak Show

Climb Aboard Explorers! 

Today I officially started my marathon training program.  Yes, I know you're envious--18 weeks of lactate threshold increasing, V02max building, endurance escalating, limit pushing fun.  My plan--largely based on Pfitzinger's 18/55 plan which is 18 weeks building weekly mileage to 55 miles. 

To be fair, the plan is also authored by Scott Douglas, but everyone just refers to it as a Pfitzinger plan, or Pfitz for short.  Sorry Scott.

Today's workout--an 8 mile run with 4 miles at Lactate Threshold pace.  For me that works out to a pace between 8:53 and 9:10 (Heart rate 148 - 165).  So, I set the alarm for 5:30 and away we go with a zoom!

I couldn't sneak out the door without waking the dogs, so they got to come for the first mile and a half.  Then I dropped them off and went out for more.  I pushed up near LT pace, but because it was uphill, my HR was already there so two miles of LT.  After that, I realized that I needed to add a little to my route, so I explored some new ground.  I found a trail that went along the Magalia Reservoir--this turned out to be a Mr. Toad's Wild Ride of a trail, so I had to go a little slower for the two miles of trail.  Finished up with two more at LT pace. 

Viola!  First day of training in the books.  To bolster my legendary fame and running prowess, I am counting the half marathon training as part of my total training bragging rights for the marathon.  That puts me at 318 miles down, approximately 800 to go.

The Sun Will Come Out Tomorrow

We have had a solid three weeks of rain here in sunny, northern California.  The official stats for my town record us at 20 days of rain in March with 16.27 inches!  That's enough to discourage even the most resilient of souls. 

Don't get me wrong, I like the rain.  I even like running in the rain in the winter, as long as I am prepared for it:

• hat with a bill to keep the rain out of my eyes
• wool socks (I love my green smartwools)
• a decent outer layer up top

The problem with that many rain days is that it starts to wear on you over time.  I was doing pretty well--either braving the rain or squeezing runs in between rainstorms--until daylight saving time hit.  Since I am an early runner, I was enjoying the extra light in the mornings.  Then all of a sudden, daylight savings add this insult to injury.  It's darker and I really don't feel like getting out of bed an hour earlier. 

Saturday, I had just about had it.  A growing sense of cabin fever began to really get to me.  So, I geared up and went out for a medium-long run.  When I left it was cloudy but not raining.  The rain came about 3 miles into the run.  A sprinkle, then a downpour.  No problem for me, I'm dressed and ready.  The downpour lets up and to more of a sprinkle followed by another downpour.

I was running an out & back course and about a half mile before my turn-around point, the rain starts to turn to hail.  To misquote the country song:  "If you're going through hail, keep on moving!"  I enjoy the crunchy feel of hail under my feet.   I decide to make this run a half-marathon distance so I tack on a little more before making my turn. 

As I'm running in the rain, hail, wind, and fog I begin thinking that this run is perfect for preparing for the San Francisco Marathon.  It's always windy going across the Golden Gate Bridge.  It's usually foggy.  This is the exact type of training I need.  Add to it this route is a pretty fair facsimile of the course elevation profile, and I am having a great training run--building mental toughness.

Two more miles of rain and then it suddenly cleared up.  The clouds even turned from dark grey to light grey with some hints of yellow.  I finished the run after sunset, with my headlamp on, but felt pretty good.

The sun is out today, I guess Annie was right.

Spring, Snow and Mountain Lions

Today was my first run of Spring! 

Unfortunately, "Spring" in Northern California this year looks a lot like torrential rain turning to snow at higher elevations.  I was looking forward to a nice trail run this morning, so I headed out to Paradise Lake.  The trail there is a nice rolling trail that follows the shoreline of our beautiful lake.  It is a 9.3 mile out and back trail.

Today, it was about 90% covered in snow and the rest was puddles.  I dressed for rain and off I went.  Nothing fast or fancy through the snow and mud, but just a nice natural pace, mostly 10-11min/miles. 

On the far part of the trail, I started to see some traccks in the snow.  Mountain Lion tracks to be exact.  At first it was one solitary cat with BIG feet...3-4" across.  I lost his track, but later picked up a smaller adult cat's print with a cub along side.  Momma and cub, I'm guessing.

What do you think the lions think of me running by in the rain?  FAST FOOD.

Actually, I'm not that fast. 

Unicycle Cross-Training

My brother Jeff called yesterday.  Jeff has been one of those inspirational big brothers.  He has run the St. Loius Marathon, done the Sears Tower Climb a couple of times (he's training to do it again).  Way back in my first semester of college, he taught me how to juggle as a helpful procrastination method. 

About 6 years ago he gave me one of his old unicycles (a classic Schwinn 24") and told me I had to learn.  After about 5 years of mostly letting it collect dust, last spring I finally took to learning it in earnest.  I spent a lot of time at the local tennis courts.  Tennis courts are great for unicycle practice because they are nice and flat and have chain-link fence surrounding them, which is ideal beacuse you have something to hang on to.  After a good bit of work, I managed to graduate to being an official level 1 unicycler who can:

• mount unicycle unassisted
• ride 50 meters
• dismount gracefully with unicycle in front

Six years to get to level 1--that's the equivalent of spending six years in first grade.

Back to yesterday's call.  Usually he calls to rub in how my neice or nephew are doing laps around my unicycle ability--my nephew is working on level 2.  Even my brother's six year-old neighbor is learning.  My brother's latest stunt is riding 2+ miles on his unicycle. 

So, the conversation progresses and he challenges me to get after progressing to the next level.  I give what I think is the ultimate excuse: "I'm training for a marathon."  He responds, "Then unicycle as cross-training."

Ok, he got me there.  So, once a week on one of my "rest of XT" days, I'm gonna work on the uni!

Elitist Prigs

One of the things I like most best about running is the general sense of camaraderie that runners have with each other.  This is best found when you end up near another runner and there is an immediate connection.

These vary from light:
     "Nice day for a run."  
     "Good job."
to the the more involved:
       "What are you training for?"
       "How long have you been running?"
In fact, there is nothing that helps a workout go by than a nice conversation along the way.

In our online world, there is also a great source of encouragement to be found in the various running forums.  These are all over, with some of the more popular being offered by running magazines such as Runner's World and Running Times or on the multitude of online tracking programs such as Running Ahead and Map My Run.  Since a lot of my running is solitary, I have received a lot of encouragement from folks on forums.  In fact, one forum in particular had a great community of people all training for half marathons--what an encouraging group of people!

However, I have found that not all is well online.  The big difference is that in person, most people tend to try to be nice.  Online, on the other hand, people seem pretty free to be total jerks. 

This was highlighted recently as I started to make the transition from half marathon training to full marathon training.  Unlike the really friendly folks in the HM realm, there is a high incidence of what I like to call Elitist Prigs on the full marathon side.  These are the guys that think if you aren't running a 2:30 marathon that you might as well call the mortuary.  Also, apparently these guys were born with at least 5 marathons under their belt.  They are just brutal when it comes to responding to first time marathoners.

My solution--find the turtle rooms (it must be the Terrapin in me).  This is the place where people are running 4-5+ hour marathons.  These awesome folks are humble and helpful.  Plus, they probably work harder at their marathons than the speedy experts do.

What is it about going online that requires some to load up their flame-throwers and unleash all their fiery vengeance?

Running and Reading

Whew!  It's been a few days since my last post.  I have been trying to catch up from the Half Marathon last week.  I am also trying not to become that guy who obsesses completely over running. 

But I am also at a bit of a decision point.  I am in between two training cycles.  I successfully completed my Half Marathon (yeah, I know it doesn't need to be capitalized, but to me it's capital letter worthy)--no major injuries, met my goal, yada, yada, yada.  I am now getting ready to transition into training for the San Francisco Marathon.  The only problem is that I have yet to pick a training plan.

Enter the reading.  Right now I am pretty much reading anything I can find on the topic of marathon training plans.  What I am finding is that while there are are lot of free half marathon plans online, full marathon plans tend to require an investment.  First stop--the local library--to my dismay, they only have one book on running, The Idiots Guide to Running by Bill Rodgers.  Nothing wrong with Bill Rodgers, but this book is written more for the entry level runner and not real specific to marathon training. 

Next stop, my favorite local used book store, Books of Paradise.   These guys are getting ready to close their brick and mortar store and transition to just online sales, so on my first visit, they are selling everything for 60% off.  They only two books on running:  Galloway's Book on Running, by Jeff Galloway and The Complete Book of Running, by James Fixx.  I read Jim Fixx way back in the day, so I opt for Galloway.  A few days later, I find out via Facebook that the bookstore is having a "every book is $1 sale," so I figure I might as well pick up Fixx for a buck. 

While I'd like to give a little respect to the dead, the Fixx book is not really turning out to be helpful on the specifics of marathon training.  Galloway, on the other hand, has a thorough plan for training for marathons and differentiates between goals of finishing and various time goals--now we are getting somewhere.

In my internet browsing on the topic, I keep reading about Pfitzinger's marathon training plans (and some insane workouts on the way), so I decide that to be thorough, I ought to pick up a copy of Advanced Marathoning.  The local Barnes and Noble didn't have it, but Amazon.com to the rescue--the book will be delivered by my friends at UPS any minute now (What can Brown do for me?  Bring my book!).

I used a hybrid Galloway/F.I.R.S.T. plan for my half marathon trianing--mainly because I only had 10 weeks to move from 5K fitness to the half marathon.  But there are some very appealing things to me in Galloway's plan.  I especially like that he has you do long runs of at least your race length, if not longer.  For the HM, this meant I worked up to 16 miles--compared to some plans that have you peak out at 10-11 miles.

However, for the marathon, I am wanting to put in a larger base of weekly miles and the Galloway marathon plan for a 4 hour marathon only builds weekly mileage into the mid-40's.  Enter Pfitzinger.  I am strongly considering what is commonly called the Pfitz 18/55.  It is an 18 week program that builds up to 55-mile weeks. 

I realize that I am a novice, not an advanced marathoner, but I also realize that I am venturing into a world that I know nothing about, so I thought I'd like to get some race-specific info as I launch into this. 

The best part, I get to build on my previous training cycle and count the miles toward my marathon goal:  241 miles down, approximately 700 to go!

Race Report--Bidwell Classic Half Marathon

Saturday was the big day, my first Half Marathon! 

I was a little excited because I kept waking up the night before about every hour or so.  Finally, I just got up at 6:00AM.  I figured since I was up so early, I could handle having a normal breakfast--Cheerios with banana and blueberries.  I get the family loaded in the car and we head to the race, arriving about an hour ahead of time.  We parked, walked to the start area and then hit the porta-potty lines for the pre-race restroom visit.  I warmed up jogging maybe a third of a mile, doing some strides in the baseball field, and then jogging back. 

As I milled toward the start line, I met up with my friend Lou Diaz.  We chat to kill the time until the gun (which was a while, because we had to wait for the 5K runners to clear the course) and he decides that my planned first mile pace of 9:15 would be good for him.  The gun finally starts us and off we went.  Lou clearly wanted to go faster and I kept trying to pull back till we hit the one mile mark.  Mile 1=9:12.84.  At this point Lou took off.

I stayed put with a group that was running around me.  A couple of runners nearby were calling out pace time and they were going for 9:10 minute mile—my goal pace.  I figured I would hang out near them for a while.  The first drink station—finally!  The drink station volunteers were having a hard time keeping up with the flow of runners so I managed to get over to the table and grabbed a cup of sports drink and away I went.   Mile 2=9:10.66.

Mile 3, just some cruising with the pack. Mile 3=9:13.48. 

Mile 4, the course turns ever so slightly downhill.  The people I had been running with started to fade.  I pushed up a little and started to pace with a couple of guys that had been in front of me since mile 2.  Second drink station.  This one is staffed by the local fire department, which elicited better running out of the ladies in the vicinity.  The down-side was they were a little understaffed, just three of them.  I downed a GU as I left the drink station and chased it with the water.  Mile 4=8:59.03.

Mile 5, my wife and kids were cheering for me along the way.  Smile for the camera. Mile 5=9:04.38.

Mile 6, drink station…this time I’m taking two cups.  Mile 6=9:08.91.

Mile 7, this marks the bottom of the loop (the course is a double loop), so we start to turn from slightly downhill back to slightly uphill.  I figure this is halfway and I can push it up a bit.  Leave the guys I had been pacing with and venture on ahead.  Mile 7=8:55.88.

Mile 8, feeling like I pushed a little too much in mile 7, backed off the pace just a tad.  My family is on the side cheering and taking pictures again.  It’s also getting warm.  Drink station again—this time I take three cups.  Mile 8=9:01.82.

Mile 9, now I’m feeling pretty warm.  However the good pacing is starting to pay off because as I make the turn at the top of the loop, I am starting to pass more runners—big psychological boost to pass some exhausted runners.  Mile 9=9:06.95.

Mile 10, drink station where are you.  Was really wishing I was carrying a water bottle in the race at this point.  Back around at the Fire Dept.’s drink station, this time they have more staff.  I down my second GU and grab four cups—one over my head and three down the throat.  I walked through the station because I didn’t want to spill the water.  Mile 10=9:19.48.

Mile 11, Feeling good here.  Mile 11=8:46.46.

Mile 12, last water station, I grab four this time.  I pour two over the head, and two in me.  Eeewww, that grape flavored sport drink is a little nasty.  My wonderful family is on the side cheering for me.  My son runs along side for a while.  Mile 12=8:38.71.

Mile 13, make the bottom turn of the course again.  This part of the course is a skinny sidewalk, so it seemed a little slower as we approach other runners. Hey, who moved the finish line?  Some guy cheering on the side yells out at a group of us, “Looking Strong!”  Wow, that really helped, it made me feel stronger.  In sight of the 13 mile marker, it’s time kick.  I begin to pick it up.  Mile 13=8:53.73.

Right at the 13 mile marker, the course turns left and into the finish gate.  At this point, there’s nothing to lose so, I begin to pour on the gas.  Some great folks from my church had come to see me finish.  How cool is that?  At this point I find out what max heart rate looks like.  This is me pushing up to 180bpm.  The clock just ticks past 1:59:01 as I cross over the line.

Here’s the results:  Gun time:1:59:02, Garmin time: 158:46.67, Chip time:  1:58:42.7.

Overall, the race felt great! 

I would definitely carry my own water next time.  Other, than that I wouldn’t change a thing.  I really appreciate my family for being such great supporters.  (They must have logged several miles criss-crossing the park to cheer for me.)

Leave Your Ipod in the Car

"NO ipods, dogs, strollers or pacers/pace bikes are allowed on the course."

 

That's what it says in the race reminder email I received from Chico Running Club for tomorrow's Bidwell Classic Half Marathon.  My immediate response is "What!"  As this is my first big race since Ipods have been around, I was a little taken aback.  I ran the Run for Food 5K last Thanksgiving and it seemed like I was the only one NOT wearing earbuds. 

Now, don't get me wrong, I prefer to do most of my running without music--I enjoy the peace and quite and the opportunity to listen to what my body is telling me.  The exception has been my long runs--I bring the Ipod along specifically so that I can't hear what my body is telling me ("Hey big dummy, would you stop running, for crying out loud!") and sometimes just to keep me company on those two plus hour early runs in dark.  On my first over 13 miles long run, my music really saved my bacon those last couple of miles. 

So, for the last few weeks I've been pimping out my running playlist.  It seems like everyone and their brother listens to Eminem and death metal when they run, but I find all the hopeless negativism to be counterproductive.  So, my playlist has quite the ecclectic mix.  The first category is any song that even mentions the idea of running:

• You Can Run to the End of the Highway by Keith Green
• Running by Christ for the Nations
• I Will Run to You by Hillsongs
• Running Out of Pain by 12 Stones
• Jogging by Ray Stevens
• The Distance by Cake

Next into the mix come the high energy songs that just get you pumped:

• Boom by POD
• Jump Around by House of Pain
• Dare You to Move by Switchfoot
• Power of Love by Huey Lewis
• Souljahz Don't Stop by Souljahz
• Rawkfist by Thousand Foot Krutch

Then, there are those songs that are just funny, whimsical and quirky enough to keep it fun:

• They're Coming to Take Me Away by Napoleon XIV
• The Official Hamster Dance Song by (some singing hamsters, apparently)
• DC-10 by Audio Adrenaline
• My Addidas by Run DMC
• The Unicorn by The Irish Rovers
• Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash
• The Imperial March (aka Darth Vader's Theme Song) by John Williams

I was really looking to pounding out part of a mile to that last one. 

But, race rules are race rules.  And if it says "NO ipods, dogs, strollers or pacers/pace bikes are allowed on the course.", then I'm gonna leave my dog wearing an ipod in a stroller at home!

Actually, it turns out that this is a now standard rule for any official USATF sanctioned course.  Most race organizers don't really enforce it much.  I expect tomorrow to see plenty of earbuds. Still, the rule is there for two compelling reasons:

1. Runner safety:  If you are "That Guy" that has to run with your music so loud that I can hear when I run next to you, chances are you can't really hear your surroundings, such as a runner coming up from behind.  This is the biggie for race organizers.
2. My own enjoyment of the race experience.  I want to fully take in the sounds of the race--my breathing, feet hitting the path, other runners, the cheers of the crowd. 

I can listen to my Ipod anytime, but the sounds of the race are a unique opportunity.  Even though I'll miss those guys from Cake urging me along with a "Hiyah!", I'll choose to follow the rules and enjoy the race.

Slow and Steady Wins the Race

2.4 easy miles this morning.  I was running with my friend Ryan.  His training plan has him alternating between running and walking (run 5 minutes, walk 3, run 8, walk 3, run 5).  There were two great things about this workout this morning.

First of all, on the running portions we pretty much ran what I hope my starting pace will be in the race on Saturday.  Nothing fancy, slow and steady wins the race.  I'm going to purposefully start slow and reserve some energy for later in the race.

The other great thing was that my slow and steady starting pace felt comfortably easy.  A nice little confidence booster two days before the race.

212.1 miles down--13.1 to go!

Four Days 'til Liftoff

The Bidwell Classic Half Marathon is in four days.  This will the 35th running of this 13.1 mile race, but for me it's a first.  My first half marathon, my first race over 10K, and my first race of 2011.

Right now I am tapering--that's runner lingo for giving my legs a rest by running shorter distances the two weeks before the race.  For the next four days, my focus is primarily resting my legs and fueling up my muscles.  I figure it's a lot like topping off the fuel tanks on the space shuttle before lift-off.

Of course, I'll not being reaching space worthy speeds.  While my official goal has always been to just finish the race, I have trained around a goal time of 2 hours.  That works out to running each mile in 9 minutes and 9 seconds. 

My next goal is to complete the race with negative splits.  In short, I want to run the second half of the race faster than the first.  For me that means I really need to chill out at the starting line.  I hope to use the first mile to gradually build up to my goal pace.  The next four miles, I'd like to hover right around 9:15 minute miles.  The next five miles, I might see if I can speed up to a 9:05 minute mile, and then I'd like to do the last 3.1 miles right around a 9 minute mile. 

They've studied this in marathons and found that only 10% of runners actually do a negative split.  Hopefully, I can pull back enough at the start to be in the minority of runners who conserve enegy for the end.