Race Recap: 2015 Grandma's Marathon

After running my fastest marathon in four years at Grandma's last year, I decided to return to Duluth for the marathon again in 2015. As I was already signed up for the Garry Bjorkland Half and the Marathon still had open spots, this was a relatively easy transition. I switched a week or two after Boston. While I was healthy coming off of my Boston Marathon, I wasn't particularly satisfied with my performance and had long entertained running Grandma's again in 2015 if Boston didn't end up going as well as I would have liked.

Post 2015 Grandma's Marathon!
photo credit: Erin Webb

Training between Boston and Grandma's was a little rocky. As with each training cycle, things change and this one was unlike last year's mini-cycle between Boston and Grandma's and unlike the cycle I did between Chicago and Dallas in 2010. Unlike my two prior experiences, with the 8 week turnaround between marathons, I could feel my motivation lag and doubt creeping into my mind as the weeks progressed. One of the big factors here was tweaking my left arch a two weeks after Boston. I wasn't nearly as sore this year and returned to running a little too aggressively. I also started doing hops and strides in an effort to find my speed and strengthen my calves which had given out in Boston. Perhaps the introduction of this stimulus also played a role in my arch issue. Anyway, it's difficult to motivate yourself to train hard when you're constantly dealing with a nagging injury. For future reference, when dealing with a nagging injury, take a break or train without fear. Continuing to run with a nagging injury that isn't improving doesn't have to be the end of the world if you're able to more or less maintain training at a high level. If you're compromising your training, you aren't going to achieve your goals, your motivation will suffer, and you're probably better off resting and recovering.

Note: This is more for my own reference, in no way am I advocating you train through injury. Ten of ten times I would tell you to back off and rest, particularly immediately following a decent marathon goal race and a hard training cycle. But the rules are different for me. Ha. ;)

I know this is supposed to be my 2015 Grandma's Marathon Recap.

The one good week of "training" I had was probably also one of the dumbest weeks of running I've ever attempted (100+ mile weeks included). It began Sunday, May 17th, at the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon (my BibRave review), with pacing the 3:00 group, running 2:59:26, on a really humid day where only 18 people broke three hours. After taking Monday and Tuesday "off" (I "only" rode 17 miles+ to/from work), I returned to running Wednesday the week following Green Bay. Still feeling elevated soreness in my left arch, Thursday, I raced the JPMorgan Chase Corporate Challenge representing team Shure for the second year! While the event was fun, the race was a struggle. I only managed 19:05 for 3.5 miles, 10 seconds slower than the prior year.

At this point, you're probably thinking, "Serves you right, Dan." I was just warming up!

After an "easy, recovery" run on Friday, it was time to race again. This time it was Fleet Feet Sports' Soldier Field 10 Mile. Despite barely averaging sub-5:30 pace for 3.5 miles, I had it in my head that I could probably average sub-5:40 pace for 10 miles. My gut told me that if I slowed down just a bit from the pace I ran at Corporate Challenge, I'd be able to hold it for the 10 mile distance. Marathon training does weird things to your physiology (and psychology, ha). Sure enough I was able to finish just seconds off my 10 mile PR set at Soldier Field in 2011, running 55:37 for 24th in a deep field.

Capping a very odd 7 day stretch of with a near PR performance over 10 miles probably indicates that my 10 mile PR is pretty soft but also gave me some much needed confidence that Grandma's Marathon wasn't going to be a total bust as my races, workouts, and long runs with the exception of Green Bay had not gone well.

Fast forward to several days before Grandma's Marathon. I hadn't had a great workout since Soldier Field, but was feeling pretty strong and confident something like 5:50-low pace was totally doable after averaging 5:34 pace for 10 miles. I planned to go out a little faster than last year, somewhere around 1:17:00 versus 1:17:45. After running a -2:04 negative split in 2014, I knew if I were to run faster than the year prior, I'd need to get out a little harder in 2015. I also had the though flash through my mind, "2014 was pretty much about as good as it could have been. It's highly unlikely 2015 will go quite as well." I don't think this is necessarily negative thinking as much as being realistic and preparing for the potential for things not to click quite as well as the year prior.

Sure enough, things didn't quite feel as good in 2015. While we started in a downpour, the rain lightened up so as not to be much of a factor for me pretty early in the race. I ran with a group that included the 6th, 7th, and 8th place women at the time as well as my friend Ben Kampf for many of the early miles, we were on a fairly hot pace, running 5:45s which was kind of my average goal pace. I told myself it was the incline variation and that I might be having a decent day.

After reaching halfway in 1:16:48, I could tell a negative split was out of the picture. Discouraged, I considered slowing to meet up with a group of friends who were trying to break 2:40. 13 miles is a long time to run when you know you aren't going to reach your goal. After a mile or so, I snapped myself out of my malaise and told myself to just focus on running as close to 5:50 pace as possible, taking each mile at a time. I strung together some decent miles and kept the slowing to a minimum until mile 22. After mile 22, I had one downhill 6:11 but the rest of my miles were about 6:20 pace. I wrote in my log, "Death by 1,000 paper cuts."

Dying by 1,000 paper cuts at mile 23.

photo credit: @kimmiepearlman

While my 2015 Grandma's Marathon wasn't the 2:33 I was hoping for, 2:36 and my 3rd "best" positive split ever (+2:40 on the second half) isn't the worst possible outcome. More importantly, I like to think choosing to stick with the race was a good character and race-skill building opportunity. I've found that it can be easy to check out physically and mentally when things aren't going as expected or desired, but often (not always, but often) staying positive and continuing to work towards your goals is still valuable. I suppose some people would call this "heart."

Weeks prior to Grandma's I was really looking forward to taking a break from running mostly because I wasn't really running well and my left arch wasn't getting better while training on it. I'm on day 7 of 14 planned days without running. I have been bike commuting, but this first week was pretty much a complete rest week. I'd like to reintroduce some light strength and stability work next week in preparation for returning to running and ultimately 12 hard weeks of training for the Chicago Marathon. My top priority is to get my left arch to a place where it doesn't hurt as much. So far, it's improved significantly, but is still sore. Hopefully another 7 days will do the trick.

Thanks for reading!

Some Qs for yous:

What are your mental processes when you know mid-race that your goal is out of reach?

How do you spend your time when taking a break from running?

Happy Belated Anniversary! (Training 9/8-9/28)

I totally missed any type of recognition on the actual date I first posted, however, I did want to take a moment to point out that I've been writing Kansai Kudasai for an entire year! If you are a newer reader, you should check out my first post, What's in a Name, where I talk about the impetus for the blog and more!

Speaking of blog names, I'm going to plug my friend Eric's blog, Baum Temple of Speed, which has a name origin story rivaling Batman's origin story. Eric, brings a unique perspective to the endurance sports blog-o-sphere by including concepts gleaned from expertise in Supply Chain Management and all things mechanical. His guide to spectating, Take Your Spectating to the Next Level, is a chuckle-filled guide to the harder-than-it-looks sport/science of spectating endurance events.

Switching gears, I started to read about the training I was doing leading up to last year's Chicago Marathon. Clearly several weeks out, I felt like I was in good shape, but my left shin was a significant issue. In the week leading up to the race, I wrote:

At this point, it seems like I'm losing the battle to take the shin pain. On dailymile, my friend, Dan M reminded me to try nuking the shin with anti-inflammatory drugs for a bit. I'm taking Monday off and taking some ibuprofen in order hopes it will help me shake some of this shin pain as it is clearly causing me to change my form a bit and put more pressure on my right hip.

One week to go!

Note to self and others: running a marathon with (lower leg) pain severe enough to cause irritation/imbalance is a bad idea. If it is bad enough where you're considering running in trainers like I did, take care! The marathon is a cruel and unforgiving mistress. It may sound simple, but it took me three years of injuries and poor performances to realize the value of showing up to the start line healthy. You may be able to BS a 5k while hurt (I did, setting a PR two weeks before last year's Chicago Marathon), but there is no getting around the fact that a road marathon involves 26.2 miles of pavement pounding that will exploit your every weakness and prevent you from running to your expectations.

Marathons are then a great opportunity to apply the theory of constraints (TOC). The Theory is a management philosophy first described by Eliyahu M. Goldratt and is based around the premise that focusing attention on a few constraints that limit an entire system you can make that system more productive. What were my constraints? Based on my Chicago Marathon race recap and further reflection here's what I'd say:

1) Mechanics constrained by
a) injury to the lower legs
b) muscular development due to the fact I didn't get in longer long runs that would have simulated marathon "time on your feet"
2) Fuel, there are two parts to this one:
a) Constrained by a haphazard fueling plan
b) Constrained by aerobic development, that is to say my ability to run aerobically at my expected marathon goal pace, at the pace I thought I was fit enough to run I was burning fuel too quickly

So in the year following, I shifted my training accordingly, focusing on first running pain-free then on injury prevention, consistent longer long runs both for time as well as at or near marathon pace, practicing a fueling plan and developing trust in certain products, and increasing aerobic capacity.

Leading up to the 2014 Boston Marathon, I spent time in the pool, nursing my lower legs and scraping for aerobic development. A steady diet of long runs during this build up, got me comfortable running beyond 18 miles again. I was also able to find fuel that I enjoyed using on these long runs and began to trust gels again. Introducing a longer bike commute with my new job, padded my training with hours of additional easy aerobic activity, the foundation of one's aerobic capacity. Finally, racing marathons more frequently allowed for longer efforts at or near marathon pace. I believe I've mentioned this before but pace at Boston equated to about 95% of my marathon pace  at Grandma's making the Boston not unlike one of Renato Canova's very long runs a close to marathon effort.

All of this to lead up to the past three weeks of training for the 2014 Chicago Marathon:

A good set of three weeks, there are three key workouts here, one in each week.

9/8-14

24 miles

Leading up to Grandma's I did this run by time, running about 20 miles in LA's Griffith Park. This time around, I did it on the super fast Lakefront Trail:

This one was my second longest training run ever (the first being a 25 mile run I did back in 2009 leading up to the Chicago Lakefront 50k).

9/15-21

3 x 3 miles

This one was a bit funny as I had a lot of time between reps (15 minutes!), but it certainly gives me a bit of confidence to know I was able to run 5:30 pace or better for each effort.

9/22-28

10 miles alternating pace

This is a new workout for me. The goal here was to average marathon pace for 10 miles, but by running above and below goal pace alternating every half mile. If you've ever done Yasso 800s, consider this the next level as you're never really resting, but you end up running a total of 10 "harder" half mile segments. I was really thankful to have Austin with me for this one as it was mentally tough since you could never really settle in and focus on running an even, consistent pace. I'm taking a lot of confidence from this workout.

This one was quite a long blog, but there was a lot of ground to cover!

Identify some of your constraints. What are some ways you can shift your training to address these constraints?

Tread-iquette alt. Tr-etiquette

Yeah, I just made up a word; it's etiquette for treading the track.

With the recent addition of a real 400m track and synthetic soccer pitch to the lakefront (between Wilson and Montrose) I thought it might be helpful to write a blog about track etiquette.

Isn't it pretty?

Thanks for the photo, Jeff Fine!

I wanted to start by defining etiquette as it helps inform the full purpose of this blog (which probably started with fear that this new facility would be overwhelmed with track n00bs, but has grown in to something more).

Etiquette is a set of expectations for behavior based on a group's norms. It changes and shifts over time, however it provides structure for interactions. This structure helps facilitate interactions among the group, curbing misunderstanding and conflict. On a more positive note, knowledge of this structure is empowering as it builds of foundation for consistency and comfort particularly for new group members.

After working out on one of the only public 400m facilities on the Northside for over a decade, I have come away with my fair share of stories of misunderstanding and conflict around the oval. Emotions run high when runners focused on hitting goal paces collide with kids running wild, soccer players on the infield, and fitness runners. Since this new facility is in a higher profile location than the North Park/River Park track, it is my fear that it might become a pain point instead of the training asset that it should be.

Beyond minimizing conflict between existing facility users, I believe it is in our best interests as track clients for many people to feel comfortable about using this new facility. If usage is good, perhaps the CPD will see the value of such public facilities. Doing a workout on the track could be a foreign, uncomfortable concept for some runners. Exposing as many clients and potential clients to track etiquette basics creates a more comfortable environment making Chicago an even better place to run for everyone.

Tread-iquette for n00bs and Veterans Alike

1. Be Cognizant that the Facility is Public

Conflict arises when competing parties assume more ownership of a facility than is reality. It can be difficult to share a space however as long as the other parties are abiding by the law and following posted signage, they have just as much right to use the facility as you do.

In other words, your ability to perform your key workout on the track has as much validity as the pickup game of soccer that is occurring on the infield of a public facility.

2. Be Aware of Your Surroundings at All Times

Treat the track like you would a busy street; look both ways before crossing, move with traffic (counter-clockwise), and if you're slowing or stopping, move out of the way. 

Assume objects (human bodies) will be moving at high velocities around the oval and unless you want to experience the effects of Newton's first law (objects in motion stay in motion unless acted upon by an unbalanced force) make sure you're aware of what is happening around you. This can be particularly difficult after a hard repeat, when it feels like your head is going to explode and you're trying to catch your breath, but if you don't have enough awareness to move to the infield or outer lanes, I would suggest reevaluating the intensity of your workouts (you're probably working too hard).

3. Stay in Your Lane

The inner lane is typically reserved for faster running (for distances longer than 400m). If you plan on warming up or simply running easily on the track, tread-iquette dictates you must use an unoccupied outer lane. If there is a significantly faster party using the inner lane, consider using another lane and the marked staggered start lines for your workout. 

Unlike on a road or path, runners pass on the right instead of the left. Wait until you are clear of the person you are passing before merging back into your original lane. The person being passed should not have to break their stride.

Keep in mind that it is probably safer and more efficient to pass on the straightaways.

There are lots more rules and regulations codified by the sport's international governing body, IAAF, but those principles are the basis for a safe, productive time on and around the track.

What tips do you have for track newbies?

Also, anyone have a nice photo or two of the new facility that you'd like shared? I'm looking for a photo to add to this blog.

Aside: Three Floyds Brewery Ride

One of my "goals" for the summer was to bike to Three Flyods Brewery in Munster, IN. Particularly after talking with my friend Javier about the Austin to Shiner ride (I guess it's called Shiner GASP) while we were training through Chicago's Polar Vortex for the Boston Marathon.

Since the prospect of doing a long run and an 80 mile bike ride on the same weekend didn't sound too appealing, I decided to schedule the ride after Grandma's Marathon while I would take a break from running. Props to Lyndsey Baum for completing her scheduled 16 miler AND our Three Floyds ride!

Considering the apparent popularity of this ride there weren't really that many good resources to help plan the ride itself (that said, it isn't rocket science), so I decided it wouldn't be a bad idea to write a little aside covering some of the important details for fellow Chicago riders.

Where should I start?

Meet your friends on the Lakefront Path (I can't stand calling it the Lakefront Trail). Did you know you can check the conditions of the path by following @activetransLFT?

We rode from the 0 marker at Ardmore Ave (5800 N). Actually, I got on at Lawrence and rode up to meet the Baums:

Meeting anywhere on the LFT is probably a good bet no matter where you live in the city. During the summer there are public bathrooms and access to water fountains from 5800 N to 7100 S (the South Shore Cultural Center, where the other 0 marker is).

Where do I go after the Lakefront Path ends?

Actually, if you've never been to the 0 marker on the Southside, it's actually not that easy to find. Up until this point, it is pretty clear how to follow the Lakefront Path south, Once you get to 71st/E South Shore Dr, it may not really be clear that you'll need to turn east and continue until the two streets split (you should Google Streetview if you really want to see what it looks like, in fact here's a link).

Once you've made it to The End (the marker is at the northeast corner of the intersection), you'll want to continue down South Shore Drive until you get to 79th Street (1.25 miles). At this point, you have the option of riding on what looked like the recently reclaimed S Lakeshore Drive (which was very beautiful) or continuing on South Shore Drive (which does wind a bit) to 95th Street:

I'm getting hungry...

For the full experience, you'll want to refuel at Calumet Fisheries, a Chicago dive which has been critically acclaimed by the press for years. Be forewarned you won't find any bathrooms here so do you business elsewhere! Also it's cash only...

Anthony Bourdain and the ATM

Regardless of what you do at the earlier fork, you can easily get to Calumet Fisheries as long as you're paying attention for 95th Street, both Harbor Ave and Ewing will get you to 95th:

The Burnham Greenway

If you don't like traffic and underpasses, I would suggest taking the eastern route, outlined as it will connect you to the Burnham Greenway with minimal bustle. The more direct route is to ride Ewing to Indianapolis and get on immediately after crossing under the Skyway:

It may look a little funny presented here, but the X marks where you'll be getting on the Burnham Greenway which lies just south of the Skyway and runs parallel for a half mile before turning directly south.

Follow the Greenway (this is dummy-proof) past Eggers Woods Forest Preserve for about 2 miles. This section is literally flat and straight with a handful of street crossings. Once you enter Eggers Woods, pay careful attention for the only fork in the path (again about 2 miles from where the Greenway departs from the Skyway). Take this left (east) turn immediately to get onto Wolf Lake Boulevard:

Follow Wolf Lake Boulevard to the southern most exit by the Ranger Quarters on to Avenue N. At Avenue N and 134th turn left (east) again. This gets a bit sketchy, but should be fine if you ride smart.

You'll  come to a T (there is a Luke's Gas Station on the northwest corner). At this point you'll have unceremoniously crossed from Illinois into Indiana and 134th will be 136! The T intersects 136th with Sheffield. After turning right (south) onto Sheffield continue right at the fork which should keep you on Sheffield which has much less traffic than Hohman though when Sheffield dead ends at Hoffman, you'll want to get on Hohman which will take you through downtown Hammond, IN!

Riding south down Hohman for about a half mile, look for Sibley St and turn left (east). On Sibley you'll be looking to turn right (south) onto the Erie Lackawanna Trail. If you pass the First Baptist Church, you've gone too far!

About .25 miles after getting on the trail, south of Douglas, you'll want to take the right (western) path which is the Monon Trail.

You're Almost There!

Following the Monon Trail for 4.4 miles will get you to Fisher St, cross Fisher and turn left (east) towards the Walgreens and Calumet Ave. Staying on the west side of the street (the sidewalk is nicely divided for bikes) turn right (south) onto Calumet Ave.

Ride a single mile south on Calumet, looking for Superior (there's a Speedway/White Castle just before Superior, if you're thirsty you should buy stuff to drink at this Speedway). Take Superior to Indiana Parkway and you'll have arrived:

Glorious, isn't it?

Once you've arrived, you'll probably have to wait as you can observe in the photos above and below. But that's why you ride with friends (thanks Eric and Lyndsey)!

Eric and I planning our meals.

(photo credit: Lyndsey Baum)

We arrived around 2:00pm and waited for a good couple hours to be seated (We ate, drank, and were on the road again around 5:00pm). I think you might be able to mitigate some of the wait time by arriving closer to 4:00pm of course this would push back your departure time.

Ultimately, it is rather astounding the number of miles you can bike on paths, away from car traffic. This ride was also done in rather mild weather for July and with a nice tailwind out of the south, expediting our return trip a bit. For complete route information of our trip, check out my Strava posts: to Three Floyds and Back Home.

I hope this was helpful for those planning a similar ride. 

Do you have any questions about the ride?

What are some rides you would recommend?

To Inform and Inspire (Training 6/2-6/22)

Here's a recap of remainder of the training cycle prior to my 2014 Grandma's Marathon. If you'd like, here are links to the plan I outlined after registering for the race and a recap of the first four weeks of training.

To begin, I'd like to reiterate the goals of the cycle:

1) Stay healthy. By prioritizing workout/long run quality over volume, I hoped to stay healthy. I ran too much the in first week of the cycle. Unlike in other cycles, I realized my behavior was not moving me towards my stated goals and adjusted for the rest of the cycle. I was able to complete the cycle healthy which gave me a lot of confidence going into the race.

2) Practice running Marathon Pace, again by prioritizing quality over volume, I hoped to run Marathon Pace more comfortably than in Boston. I was able to execute some key workouts that I believe really helped contribute to my ability to handle Marathon Pace. Executing these workouts successfully required me to focus on being properly recovered then properly recovering afterwards. For me this meant eliminating "junk" mileage. Though I did supplement my running volume with cross training (more on this below).

Week 3

Training at this point was starting to really become tiresome. My body was tired and I was burning out mentally. I remember desperately looking forward to my 10 day-ish taper. It is in these moments when it becomes necessary to lean on your teammates and support structures.

Monday, I decided, due to lacking motivation and a later than usual run start time, that I would swing by Fleet Feet Sports in Lincoln Square for the weekly 6:30pm "Fun Run." Typically Angelica and/or Brian attend these runs and are usually up for a nice 8 miles to/on the lake. Fortunately for me, Angelica and I were able to get some good miles in.

Nice weather on Tuesday prompted an impromptu double with strides.

Wednesday was my opportunity to really nail a hard mid-week workout. Sort of unintentionally, I ended up racing quite a bit during this cycle. A couple of these races fell on Thursdays so they sort of became my mid-week workout. Despite being registered for 13.1 Chicago the following Saturday, I decided that I had to get in a pretty high volume workout at just faster than marathon pace a pace I could live with.

After a string of races where I felt I had significantly under performed, my hope was that my legs were fatigued and that the strength I had built with all of my consistent running would eventually lead to faster running and racing. For Wednesday's workout, I drew on memories of comfortably running a three mile segment of a workout well under 16:00. If I could get close to 16:00 on my last rep I would be content (all this despite the fact I wasn't running much faster than 16:00 through 3 miles during races at this point).

Though I didn't manage to quite hit 16:00, I was pretty happy with how the workout played out:

"I was a bit disappointed that I didn't get any brutally difficult marathon type workouts in during this cycle. I did 3 x 3 miles on the lake half into the wind and half out of the wind, taking 4 minutes between reps: 17:01, 16:45, 16:19. I was very happy with this workout though it left me very tired."

Just to be safe, I took the day following completely off.

I've run a half-marathon in June for four of the past five years. I use this run as a barometer of my fitness going into the big summer training months. 13.1 Chicago as served as this barometer for three of these tests thanks to a couple free entries. This year's edition featured very tolerable weather (I ran my slowest half marathon ever here in 2011), but my big Wednesday workout and general fatigue prevented me from running very quickly:

"Wasn't 100% sure how the legs would respond after my very hard effort on Wednesday. Ended up just sort of running 5:45-55 pace for the whole race. One gear. I'm hoping since I did it on dead legs that this is pretty close to marathon fitness."

These words read as somewhat prophetic as I ended up running nearly exactly double my 13.1 Chicago finish time in Duluth (1:16:47 at 13.1, 2:33:26 at Grandma's). I like to think that it wasn't so much premonition as finally understanding what marathon pace is supposed to feel like. Previous cycles, I had gotten too much confidence from fast, hard workouts. A 17-18 miler with some very fast running mixed in is good training stimulus, but these runs made me overconfident when going into a marathon and didn't provided the appropriate aerobic stimulus necessary to run my intended marathon goal pace without blowing up. I'm pretty sure, easy to moderate 20 milers would have been more beneficial in retrospect.

Week 2

After one of the hardest weeks of the cycle, I was very happy to be done with workouts long, marathon type workouts. That said, two weeks is a long time to just sort of run aimlessly. Workouts (that you're slightly scared of) provide a very nice stimulus with intermediate goals and a mini recovery cycle. As you can see I didn't get too creative (I think I ran the exact same route 3 times this week). My goal here was to rest from marathon pace running while continuing to run somewhat consistent volume. I ran 2 hours for my final long run. This was probably a bit too long in retrospect, but I took off the day following so I don't feel too bad about this one.

I also did a mid-week 6 x 1k which went pretty well:

"Did 6 x 1k with Strubbe, Javier, and Andrew: 3:21, 3:15, the rest were around 3:10. Pleasantly surprised to feel decent during this one. Pretty cashed after the 6th one though. 2 min recovery between reps."

After so much running at or around marathon goal pace, I thought it might help break the week up and be good to do a bit of running at 5k pace.

Finally, due to additional rest/fitness coming around/boredom, my runs became much faster on average (let's say from ~7:45 average pace to more like 7:00).

Week 1

The first half of this week was an extension of the previous week. I was sick of running 8 milers, but I was also afraid that if I didn't run at least 8 miles, my body would stiffen up and not feel very good. I was very relieved to make it to Thursday prior to the race as I more or less let how I felt finally dictate how I ran. I was sick of running so I basically just warmed the legs up.

Friday, I alternated fast/slow 200s on the track for 1600m with a mile warm up and cool down. I wanted to get the blood flowing a bit faster as I knew I'd be sitting on the plane. Little did I know I'd be driving!

I was pretty happy with how my taper played out. I'm not a fan of cutting mileage significantly since I don't feel like I'm running too much mileage to begin with, however I did feel like reducing intensity 10 days out while keeping volume consistent, then slowly dropping volume until you're just relying on your body seemed like a good way to taper down for a goal race.

Unlike my first two marathons where I feel like stumbled on success, my previous three less successful cycles  (four if you count failing to even start in 2011) along with this mini-cycle taught me a lot about what sort of training I need for low 2:30s fitness:

• Appropriate recovery, typically incomplete recovery in order to simulate the fatigue of the marathon distance, prioritizing recovery before and/or after key workouts in order to stay injury-free. I think Luke Humphrey does a pretty good job describing this in Hansons Marathon Method, he calls it "cumulative fatigue." I'd also lump in self/preventative care. I've been able to find a routine that has kept my lower legs from preventing consistent training so far.
• Longer (hard) long runs (I count my 2:42 in Boston as one of my key long runs as well as my 2:49 in California). Now this idea is very Canova-esque as my Boston run was about 95% of my Grandma's effort for 100% of the marathon distance.
• Some running at faster than marathon pace, 5k pace for me (including a few races). This will not feel very comfortable or build your self-confidence much, particularly if you're used to running faster at shorter distances.
• Regular cross-training. I didn't really included this in my earlier write-ups as I've never viewed bike commuting as training, but I certainly spend enough time on my 11 mile round-trip bike commute to count these efforts a significant aerobic stimulus. I plan on starting to log these consistently for my next cycle. I realize now that when I was running well in the marathon, I was also doing a pretty decent bike commute on a regular basis.

Finally, I also drew a lot from Matt Flaherty's 2:25 at the 2013 Napa Valley Marathon which occurred after he was sidelined for much of 2012. Taking off the final two months of 2013 and spending January 2014 splitting time between the pool and the roads, I had my doubts about getting into low 2:30s shape this calendar year, but it certainly helped me to review Matt's record and not put too many limits on my own running. I also took a lot of ideas as well as inspiration from Rich Heffron's build up to the 2013 Grandma's Marathon where he posted a nice 2:31:21 PR. Rich started his build up in 2013 at nearly the same time I did in 2014 so it was very helpful to track my own progress against his. My hope is that someone else will be able to use these blogs to join Rich and I in the Chicago-area low-2:30s club! Thanks guys!

What resources have informed and inspired your running?

Race Recap: 2014 Grandma's Marathon

I'd be remiss if I didn't begin with a thank you: thanks for reading, and for the kind, supportive texts/tweets/posts/photos/tags/etc!

I ran my final long run 7 days prior to the race, an easy-ish 2 hours (17 miles). The week of, I forced myself to run a couple 8 milers despite being pretty tired of running/training (I ran 3-5 easy on the other days). I also forced myself to stop biking to work on Thursday. Thankfully I only had to take CTA to/from Niles Thursday as I was able to work a half day from home on Friday before leaving for the airport.

After rushing to O'Hare (I'm usually late-ish), my flight was canceled shortly after arriving (late) to my gate. This was about 16 hours prior to the 7:45am start of the 2014 Grandma's Marathon.

Standing in the customer service line at O'Hare, I decided that my best course of action was not to find another flight but to drive. Even if I was re-booked on a later flight, how could I trust that it wouldn't also be cancelled? On my shakeout earlier in the day, I came to the realization that the time had come to be stubborn. Training without injury is a dance of compromise, changing or shifting plans in favor of consistency. Racing when the fitness is finally present is about courageously/stubbornly pursuing your goals: maintaining the pressure and not backing down or changing course when things get uncomfortable. It was a shift I was not so sure I had prepared to handle. That said, the first challenge came much earlier than expected when my travel plans fell through.

I felt good about driving, but I could not have done it without help! My parents kindly shifted their weekend plans in order to allow me to use their second car to make the drive to Duluth. Meg and Bess who were already in Duluth were able to pick up my race packet and room keys as I'd be arriving much too late to do either.

Arriving around 1am, I ate some food (two bags of microwavable rice if you must know, should have just done one bag), prepped my race gear, and rolled out my legs in an effort to mitigate the effects of 8 hours of sitting in the car. Getting to sleep at 2am, I was happy to finally be in Duluth. Having done the first portion of the drive up to Duluth many, many times driving to/from Carleton College where my sister, Rachel, and brother, Jonathan, went to school, the drive it self didn't really bother me too much. I knew I was capable of making the drive solo. The lack of sleep didn't really bother me either as my sleep as been somewhat inconsistent of late and prior to my fastest marathons I hardly even slept the night prior due to nerves. They say it is two nights prior that really counts.

5:00am came quickly, but I still felt good (not groggy or tired) when I woke up. I went for an easy 10 minute shakeout on the St. Scholastica campus where we were staying (I'd stay there again, it was great!). The legs felt pretty good, not great but good enough. We took the 5:45am bus to the start which picked us up from just outside the dorm where we were staying. Once in Duluth (haha), pre-race logistics were pretty painless.

We were fortunate to have a cool, but not cold day which made the pre-race waiting much more tolerable. That said, I can't believe I forgot any type of throwaway garments and warm-up tights for the start line. It ended up being totally fine, but in the moment I could have used a little something.

On the start line, they dropped the men's and women's elites in front of us normal folks so there was about 60-70 (?) runners already a head of me. Which was more or less totally fine. I hoped would help me stay controlled over the first mile or so.

When the race finally started, I started slowly, keeping in mind the task at hand, but not as slowly as in Boston where I split a 6:35 first mile. I split 6:10 with an approximate 6 second delta between gun and chip times. So I was just about perfect, pace-wise. The first portion of the race, I was just trying to run as comfortably as possible, as close as possible to 5:55 pace. 6:10s, 6:05s, 6:00s, were permissible as long as I was comfortable until at least mile 20-ish. I was trying to replicate my memory of cresting Heartbreak Hill feeling good aerobically (unfortunately that day, my muscles were totally trashed and were the limiting factor).

Without the elevation profile of Boston, I wasn't sure how to segment the Grandma's, however after being pleasantly surprised after feeling out the first few miles, I decided that the segmentation that Dan Daly had suggested for Boston was probably still applicable to Grandma's Marathon (and perhaps most marathons now that I think about it). Specifically this entailed:

1. Starting conservatively
2. Running goal pace, strong and steady through mile 17 (in Boston this is where the Newton Hills begin)
3. Surviving miles 17-22 (the Newton Hills, typically my mentally toughest miles regardless of the course)
4. Unleashing the kraken on miles 23-Finish

Miles 2 and 3 were 5:50 and 5:52. It was here that I began to trust a bit more in my intuition that my run at 13.1 Chicago was probably pretty close to marathon pace (I ran 1:16:47 (5:52 pace), but only had one gear the whole race). I was still cautious and backed off a bit, hoping to run 5:55s through mile 13-17.

I ended up splitting 6:01 for the 4th mile, but then put together a nice string of mid 5:50s: 5:54 and 5:54 for miles 5 and 6 then 11:53 (5:57 average) for miles 7 and 8. It was here that I got to chatting with Adidas Running Rep, Ben Kampf. Having a full blown conversation during a race is a weird experience, but I enjoyed it immensely. It took my mind off the miles for a moment, and kept me relaxed and hopeful I hadn't gone out too aggressively.

We slowed a bit in mile 9, splitting 6:00 and I broke away from the group I had been running with at an aid station and forged on. I was still pretty focused on running 5:55s, telling myself that I needed to stay as comfortable as possible through at least 15 miles. Mile 10 came pretty quickly and was the first time I really started to feel a bit of fatigue. Splitting 5:44, I pushed any irritation at my inconsistency out of my mind and backed off a bit.

Miles 11, 12, and 13 were a bit slower than I would have liked, but I found myself still clicking off sub 6 minute miles despite a very aggressive 10th mile so I couldn't be too upset. Splitting 5:58, 54, and 59, I found myself crossing the half-way point feeling pretty comfortable in 1:17:45. I was on pace to even split a 2:35:30 which was just a bit off one of my goals of running the sub-2:35 Fleet Feet / Nike Racing sponsored athlete qualifier. I figured with how I felt, I could find 30 seconds over the next half so I was encouraged a bit though still plagued with doubts as I've gotten to half-way in every marathon I've run still on or around my goal pace. The carnage usually ensues within just a few miles.

I told myself at half-way to hang tight and run comfortably for another couple miles to mile 15. Then revised my thoughts and told myself to chill until mile 17. Then mile 20. I've had too many races become death marches in these middle miles.

That plan went out the window when I was passed just after half-way by a guy running just a bit faster than my planned mid-5:50s. We ended up running 5:45 for the 14th mile. At that point, I decided to back off a bit, but to try to start running 5:50 pace. I was still feeling good and I figured that had I shot myself in the foot by running the earlier miles too fast, there was nothing I could do about it at this point in the race.

The next few miles went by pretty quickly as could see a pretty big group a couple hundred meters a head that I told myself I wanted to catch by mile 20. I hit 5:50, 5:47, 5:51, and 5:49 for miles 15, 16, 17, and 18. Then split 11:31 (just off 5:45 pace) for miles 19 and 20. I managed to catch up with the group I was trying to run down that included the top American woman as well as a couple guys from Lincoln Running Company Racing.

I had managed to survive to mile 20 without hurting too bad (it wasn't easy, but I wasn't totally suffering).I kept on telling myself that after I took my last gel at mile 21 I just had to run a sub-30 minute 5 mile tempo. Then I decided to break things up a bit more, using other runners on the course to motivate myself. I selected my next target and told myself to push slightly to catch him by mile 23.

The final miles contorted themselves in time seeming both short and long. I ran no slower than 5:50 over the last 10k, splitting a 5:38 for mile 25, my fastest of the day. I was able to pick off a few more runners over these final miles and received some well appreciated cheers from bike-mounted Chuck of Brooks Running and Dan and Allie Walters (if you're on Facebook and like running you should follow Dan Walters Running)!

Crossing the finish line less than two minutes off of my PR felt great, I laughed with relief and joy. I hadn't come closer than within nine minutes of my PR over the past three years and it was beginning to be difficult to believe I'd ever be able to achieve my goals. The marathon can be a cruel event and apparently I have been slow to learn my lessons.

I hope to follow up this race recap with a bit more of a dive into the last few weeks of the training cycle and the race itself to pull out some of the principles I think others can apply to their training and racing. Check out my race review on BibRave. The short review is that Grandma's Marathon is a must-run American marathon. In my opinion it is up there with Boston, particularly if you want to run fast as the field up front is very deep. They did a great job producing the event.

At Grandma's Marathon, my expectations aligned with my fitness/reality. Can you share a time when this happened for you? What were the key factors driving this alignment?

My 2014 Boston Marathon Weekend

The weekend started Friday, April 18th with an easy 8 miler to Palmer Square prior to my flight to Boston. Once in Boston, I checked into the Adidas Boston365 VIP area at the Marriott Copley. (mini hotel review: a very convenient place to stay marathon weekend, the elevators are noticeably sluggish).

Adidas has partnered with Fleet Feet Sports nationwide to put together the Boston365 program which focuses on getting runners to Boston for the Marathon through training programs (both to qualify and to complete the Boston Marathon as well as fantastic race weekend amenities). I was blessed to be able to coach the Fleet Feet Sports - Chicago B365 program leading up to the 2014 event.

This is actually a pretty good segue into my reason for wanting to describe my pre and post race experiences: after underwhelming race performances in my previous couple marathon races, I felt the need to include community development as a part of my training. My running being focused around my performances was becoming depressing (it is of course not quite that simple or as well depressing as I make it sound, but we don't have all day). The Boston365 program was the perfect opportunity to do this. Our twice-per-week meetings over 15 weeks developed into new relationships that I am happy to say will live beyond April 21st, and being present race weekend was also a great way to continue to build existing relationships with runners living around the country.

Just a few of my new (and old) Boston365 friends

(Photo credit: Tom Swietochowski/Meg Kobza)

Any way, Friday night we enjoyed food and drink on Adidas at McGreevy's (which claims to be "America's First Sports Bar"). I tried the famed Sam Adams Boston 26.2 Brew (which tasted to me like they tried to make a beer with electrolytes...). I also was able to grab my bib number without much waiting at all, which was a pleasant surprise. From what I heard, Saturday was absolutely nuts!

For me, Saturday was the day I totally geeked out on everything running.

We kicked things off by watching the blazing fast B.A.A. 5k which was won on the men's side 13:26 by Dejen Gebremeskel (one of the most dominant road 5k runners ever) in a very, very close finish with Ben True (they were awarded the same time, Ben had an amazing 2013 and looks poised to do the same in 2014). Molly Huddle (the American Record Holder on the track) made her move late in the race to win in 15:12 to with Ethiopian Mamitu Daska's 15:14.

After the 5k, Eric Baum and I did a short run along the Charles River (along with the rest of Boston) ending at Mike and Patty's for their special breakfast sandwich, the Fancy (mine was sans cheese), an egg, bacon, avocado delight. Our coworker tipped us off on this place and also told us to call our order in ahead. This was key as the place is the size of a food truck and the wait for food was pushing 30 minutes.

Next on the agenda was the B.A.A. Invitational Mile races. Run around the Boston Marathon finish area, I was particularly excited to see the pros go at it on the roads.

As you can see we had a great view of the final turn!

I hope Morgan Uceny has a good 2014 season.

After the races, Eric and I got to high-five winners Nick Willis (he's pretty great) and Morgan Uceny!

Later we went to Fenway Park for a Red Sox game (it was hot in the bleachers!) and a swanky Adidas/Competitor Magazine party where I got to meet Steve Jones! Eric and I met up with Eric's friend Dave and Dave's folks for dinner at a Vietnamese place called Pho Basil. Our coworker Lindsey went 2/2 on restaurant recommendations as this place was full of locals and had some of the marathon crowd, but wasn't totally shut down by marathon craziness. The food was exactly what I needed, too. I slept very well after a full day geeking out on running.

Okay, I'm boring myself a bit so I'll skip ahead. Easter Sunday was spent previewing the course with our Boston365 inspirational leader, Dan Daly (Dan finished his 20th Boston Marathon on Monday), giving us tips for the final mile of the course, and grabbing lunch at Veggie Planet with my good friend Dan McDowell.

You can find a recap of my race here.

After the race, I felt pretty awful. My stomach hadn't felt great and I had slowed down significantly so I skipped my final Huma Gel (which I was supposed to take at mile 21). I was kind of out of sorts for a while, but then was able to catch up with a bunch of other runner friends at the Boston365 VIP area. I also had time to catch up with the mustachioed Matt Flaherty who had run a 2:21:20 for 32nd overall and 15th American! We ran into fellow racers Henry and Graham Peck and family while grabbing a pizza to eat at The Salty Pig.

Matt, Graham, Henry, and myself posing for a photo.

(Photo credit: Graham Peck)

Henry and Matt had met before and it was fun to trade stories of the day.

All in all, the weekend experience was what I was looking for. An opportunity to feel a part of the greater running community, race and celebrate with new and old friends, and a fantastic introduction to the city of Boston and surrounding areas. I feel like I also learned quite a bit about the logistics of the weekend and look forward to applying my findings to a Boston Marathon weekend in the future!

Some additional 2014 Boston Marathon links:

Read about how Shalane Flanagan ran like a champion.

A story (that has been circulating the web) about Ryan Hall's leadership on the course and how it played into the ultimate outcome.

Searchable 2014 Results

BibRave founders Jessica and Tim Murphy guest blog their Boston365 experience.

What are your tips for the Boston Marathon weekend?

Race Recap: 2014 Boston Marathon

First off, thanks for reading and for the kind, supportive texts/tweets/posts/photos/tags/etc!

I've been terrible at keeping this space up-to-date for the last 8 weeks or so, but I wanted to make sure to get down my initial thoughts about my 2014 Boston Marathon experience:

The race itself presents some pretty interesting logistical challenges as it is a point-to-point course. Of course one of the biggest perks of the Boston365 program is that we got to ride in a chartered bus (instead of the race provided school buses) and could wait (as long as we wanted) on the warm buses. This was great for the first couple hours, but by about 9:10 am, when I began walking to the start corrals, it was nearly warm enough outside to stand in a singlet and shorts and not be chilly at all (a slightly ominous sign, but at least it wasn't pouring rain).

The walk over to the corrals was filled with greeting various other Chicago-area runners and in my corral (wave 1, corral 2), I quickly found a group of guys I knew from Chicago. Once in the corral, I was thankful to have read about Sage Canaday's hilarious attempt to pee into a bag at the start of his Boston Marathon experience in 2010. Instead of a bag I chose a 20 oz. Gatorade bottle which served me well.

After the gun start, we seemingly very slowly moved in the direction of the start line, ultimately crossing the timing mats around 45 seconds after the gun. I fell in step with Chicago guys, Jason Ream and Craig Taylor. All three of us were focused on a sub-2:40 finish and a very conservative start.

Our first mile was a very pedestrian 6:35 which made me pretty uncomfortable knowing that we had run some pretty significant declines and had perhaps been actively breaking during this mile. I stuffed any fears away, hoping I'd gain tens of seconds back charging into Boston after mile 22.

The next few miles were conservative but not slow as we ran between 6:00-6:10 for miles 2-5. I was feeling good, but not great and was hoping that I'd really be able to get into a rhythm when we dropped the pace below 6:00. The roads were crowded with runners and spectators. So much so that it was difficult to see the aid stations early on. I immediately started drinking water and after the first couple stations also started dumping water on myself as it was pretty warm.

After mile 5, the course flattens a bit and we started trying to get a bit of time back from the slower early miles. We started running our miles in the mid-5:50s. Jason fell off a bit. The pace felt a bit hot and Craig and I had to do a fair amount of weaving as we were already passing slowing runners, but I decided I still felt like I had enough in the tank for the Newton Hills so I kept it up. 

By mile 10 or 11, my left quad was starting to bother me.  Anytime you feel something like that before the half-way point in the marathon, you know you're in trouble. That said, I kept relaxed and enjoyed high-fiving some of the coeds in Wellesley around mile 12. By half-way, the discomfort in my quad hadn't gone away and I considered slowing down, but I again decided that otherwise I felt okay and that slowing down wouldn't necessarily make running on a sore/strained(?) quad less painful. 

Around mile 14 or 15, I ran into Boston365 runner Andrew Kaehr and tried for a short bit to pull him along (while simultaneously dropping off of Craig's pace). After this failed attempt, I regrouped and began setting my own rhythm for the first time in the race this allowed me to feel a bit more comfortable as I was just about to enter the famed Newton Hills.

Running the Newton Hills with fellow Chicagoan Rob Chenoweth.

(Photo credit: Jason Dement)

The Newton Hills are a bit of an enigma as the final hill is somewhat appropriately named Heartbreak, but at the same time they're often down played by experience marathoners. I had made it to Newton, MA on pace and ready to tackle whatever was in store. I was hurting, yes, but generally still running okay, I was happy and hopeful that I'd still be able to pull this one out of the fire. As we began climbing, I noticed that the inclines were taking pressure off of my left quad! I was passing people left and right (literally) the first three climbs and felt good. I had even almost caught back up to Craig. The only problem was that I was getting caught between climbs as it was painful to run downhill and even on flat surfaces. By the time I got to Heartbreak, I was beginning to tire as the rolling terrain was starting to wear me down. I also knew there is a pretty significant descent the mile following which didn't bode well for how the shorter descents had been going. Heartbreak was long, but that's about it. The pain kicked in as soon as I crested it. My quad was shot and I couldn't really use the downhill portion to my advantage.

I went deeper into damage control mode (versus racing mode) and tried to stay as smooth as possible while still moving towards the finish line. It felt like I was crawling along, but really I was running around 6:40 pace (then 7:00 pace for mile 25). I had wanted to get to 22 feeling good, read to "unleash the kraken" in the words of Dan Daly, but instead I was just trying to keep myself going. It felt like I had eons to deal with the disappointment of this development. I did my best to let the crowds carry me (and they did) and I also did my best to enjoy the experience. Jason, who had held back earlier blew by me.

With 1000m to go (underneath the Mass Ave overpass), I knew there wouldn't be anymore quad pounding declines so I decided to do my best to run hard through the finish. I was a bit surprised at how much I had left. I took the right on to Hereford feeling pretty good and passing some runners. I took the left on to Boylston and picked it up again. The stretch to the finish seemed never ending and I did my best to stay engaged mentally, but I probably slowed down after the 26 mile marker.

Looking back on my race, I am disappointed I wasn't able to run more strongly in the final 5 miles. I don't mean this to be an excuse at all, but based on this experience, the Boston Marathon course is hard to train for in Chicago, specifically it is difficult to prepare your legs for hard (marathon pace) downhill running. Sage mentions the 10 x 1 mile workouts he did downhill when preparing for Boston with the Hansons. No doubt 1-2 of these sessions would have been helpful in my preparations. I also could have done a little more of a warm up before the race to loosen the quads and slowed the second mile down a bit (6:35 to 6:08 is a pretty big jump). Other than that I would say I am pretty satisfied by my performance and am happy to have made it to the finish line healthy (not needing 2 months off unlike my previous couple marathons). The 2014 racing season is just beginning and I am optimistic about future success!

It is a bit embarrassing to admit, but I did not really understand how much the Boston Marathon means to the people of the Boston area, other participants, and the running community in general. Prior to this experience, I was certainly guilty of a certain cavalier attitude towards the event (rather foolish, I know, perhaps this was also a way to dissociate from the pressures of performance). While at its core, a running race, the Boston Marathon more so than any other race in which I've participated, reflects the hopes and dreams of the watching world, its host community, and its determined participants.

For me, the 2014 Boston Marathon was a gift from the people of the Boston area, an opportunity not only to leave behind terrestrial cares for fleeting moments to chase a dream, but to be celebrated for this act. The Boston Marathon is my reminder that racing and running are valuable because these acts require and inspire hope.

What does the Boston Marathon mean to you?

*For my thoughts on the 2014 Boston Marathon weekend experience... Check out this blog here.