Race Recap: 2014 Bank of America Chicago Marathon

Since I'm going away for the weekend, I want to make sure I get some thoughts written down about this race.

"To enjoy the streets of Chicago you need to smile. 

With all these people you need a big smile." 

- Eliud Kipchoge, winner of the 2014 BoA Chicago Marathon (among other things) via LetsRun.com

photo credit: Ruben Gonzalez

First off, thanks for your support!

There is no experience like running your hometown marathon, the crowd support is amazing. I was perhaps more acutely aware of this as my last couple marathons were away from home (Boston and Grandma's).

Running the streets of Chicago this year was like a stroll through my running past as I saw and heard supporters from my earliest years as a runner to the present. My family of origin, my parents and youngest brother, have spectating the Chicago Marathon down to a science. I started running in 2002 when my dad was training for his first and only Chicago Marathon. High school teammate Danny Garcia and coach Humberto Gutierrez, two of the few people I knew who had run the Chicago Marathon in my earliest running years were on the course cheering.

Moving on to my friends from undergrad, there were tons of guys from the Illinois Cross Country and Track Club cheering (Aaron Silver, I needed that pick up in those last couple miles) and racing. Congrats to my former training partner Declan McDonnell for pulling what Matt Newman called a "Kittaka" and debuting in 2:35 as well as throwback racers Matt Peharda and Ryan Tripicchio! I also saw some former River to River Relay buds including JMac (dude, someone else was totally racing in a NBA jersey this year), Kyle Somerfield, and Brent Chatham.

My description of supporters from my Fleet Feet days could probably go on for several paragraphs, but I will say it is always a pleasure to run through mile 10. I enjoyed seeing Catherine Moloznik, Cole Sanseverino, Shawn Lucas, Krissy Czapanskiy (and Bill!), Matt Curley, Peter Mone, and of course Mark Erspamer. Thanks for the pics, Ruben Gonzalez and Lyndsey Baum!

Heh, this is getting long but it's a pretty interesting, at least for me, to review how running is defined by the folks you share it with. It was great to have Bana Negash out there on course. Thanks to TTAU's Michael Martineau for some sweet pics and Mark Wehrman for the company. And finally, thanks to the crew from Bootleg Runners Coalition for the Rainbow Dash, helium pick me up and Jeff Edmonds and crew at the BibRave cheer station for the encouraging words!

I've undoubtedly left more than a few names off the list, but you get the point. I mentioned this in my BibRave review of this year's event, but it bears repeating, 2014 had the best crowd support in the toughest areas of the course in my four years running the event (2010, 12, 13, 14). This of course could all be my distorted memory as 2014 was my fastest Chicago Marathon of the bunch, but I think there is still some truth in there somewhere.

Now onto the actual race itself.

If you want to run low 2:30s, run with the ladies as they tend to be smarter racers than men!

Also: Twin Anchors!

photo credit: Michael Martineau

I started a bit quick. I'm not sure how I missed the first mile split, but I ran what felt like a relaxed split with my teammate and fellow pretzel aficionado, Kyle Larson who was guiding vision impaired athlete Aaron Sheidies. From there things got rolling pretty quickly as I keep the pace under 5:50 through the first 10k, splitting 35:52. The wind was out of the south so things felt pretty relaxed and I dropped my gloves when I saw my folks near LaSalle and Chicago (mile 4).

After turning south at Addison, I could feel that the legs weren't too happy running 5:45s into the wind. I let the pace sag a bit to let my body relax remembering that there was still 19 miles remaining in the race! At this point, I was caught by a group of women including Hansons-Brooks' Melissa White (see Michael's photo). They were probably running high 5:40s while I kept things controlled and stayed comfortable, biding my time until after the half-way point. I was relatively comfortable, but not feeling particularly smooth which was concerning considering the hot early pace and bad memories from previous years. I recalled my general race plan to stay relaxed through mile 15, then reevaluate my goals for the remainder of the race.

Passing half-way in 1:16:17, I tried to stay optimistic. Based on how I was feeling, it would probably not be possible to negative-split the way I had intended. Not only that, but the miles following were exactly where my races the past two years completely unraveled. I found confidence in my ability to continue running (relatively) relaxed 5:50s. Over the summer, I had been bike commuting pretty much everyday, logging 3-5 hours of easy riding per week. This additional aerobic activity helped keep me healthy while maximizing my aerobic capacity however it also introduced more muscle fatigue as my rides and runs often butted up against each other. During training and racing leading up to the marathon, I noticed that it was difficult for me to maintain fast paces, but my ability to run 5:50 pace was nearing the level it was at when I set my marathon PR nearly four years ago in Dallas.

Mile 15 came and went and while I didn't feel great, I also wasn't blowing up. Modeled after Dan Daly's segmentation of the Boston Marathon I used in April and again at Grandma's, miles 15-22 or so are run by feel, focusing on staying relaxed and maintaining the effort. For Boston, this section is comprised of the Newton Hills, culminating in the legendary Heartbreak Hill. For marathons in general, these represent some of the toughest miles for a variety of physiological and psychological factors that I don't have space to discuss at the moment. I ultimately decided it was easier to think about the segment as through mile 21 (where I'd be taking the last of my three GU energy gels, I take one every 7 miles in case you wanted to know).

I honestly don't remember much about this portion of the race with the exception of feeling my form breaking down and slowing slightly. The steps no longer came easily. They were labored and there was nothing I could do to loosen things up. I felt like the Tin Man with no oil. In fact for about 30 seconds or so the arches of my feet cramped up.

Despite all this, I was able to get past miles 21 and 22. I believe it was at this point that I did the math and calculated that as long as I didn't blow up, I'd be able to clock in under 2:35. This quick calculation lifted some of my anxiety. I did not feel very good and couldn't run any faster, but I also felt like the pace I had been more or less maintaining could be maintained through the finish. With this and the wind from the south in mind, I decided to make a go at a faster finish once I turned north on Michigan Avenue. Of course seeing my family near 33rd and my friend Mark Erspamer on the 33rd Street Bridge also helped keep me motivated.

Struggling to maintain pace on 33nd Street.

Also this photo proves that this is in fact the Chicago Marathon.

photo credit: Mark Erspamer

While I told myself turning onto Michigan Avenue would be a relief, in fact it was just the opposite. This nearly penultimate mile and a half long stretch would determine the result of the run. Anxiety mounted. I wasn't sure I could hurt all the way to the finish. I did my best to pick up the pace, but I was probably just maintaining if not just slowing ever so slightly. To battle doubt, I verbalized a few times, "I can do this" and tried to accept the shouts of encouragement. Corny, I know. In my head, I knew my body could run 5:59 pace or whatever for another 10 minutes, but my body was trying to convince me to relax and slow down.

I ran a terrible Mt. Roosevelt as my form had deteriorated into a wavy mess and the race was over.

I finished just 15 seconds off of my time at Grandma's Marathon. I thought I was in slightly better shape this time around, however as I mentioned earlier, I've been having a difficult time running faster paces (5k and half-marathon pace). The improved running economy at marathon race pace that comes along with running at faster paces was one of the biggest limiting factors of my Chicago Marathon performance in my analysis.

Ultimately, I am very happy with my 2014 marathon season. I started in the Lincoln Square Athletic Club pool way back in January after not being able to run most of October, November, and December 2013. Boston snuck up on me, but it was also the first marathon in three attempts and three years where I arrived on the starting line without major lower leg pain. Grandma's Marathon reinforced the marathon segmentation strategy I had applied to Boston and resulted in my second fastest marathon ever and my first marathon negative split. Finally, this run in Chicago redeemed the past two years where I wasn't within 9 minutes of my best. My run in Chicago set a new standard of marathon performance consistency.

My goal for 2014 was to get in a full year of healthy running and racing, building a platform on which to break 2:30 in 2015. I feel like I got much more than I expected as I developed a better support structure (thanks, friends), learned an effective way to segment and execute marathons, and broke 2:34 twice. Looking ahead, I am hopeful for success and excited to find my speed again.

For the curious:

Check out my splits here.

I don't have Strava data because I don't use a GPS watch for marathons.

Thanks again for your support! 

What are your goals for 2015 and how do you plan on achieving them?

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?

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.

Rest Days

On Saturday, I got into a couple discussions about the prescribed Day Off/Rest Days in the Boston 365 program. I had some thoughts and recommendations, but after thinking about it a bit, I think doing a post on this topic might be helpful to clarify my thoughts on these matters. The discussions revolved around this sort of statement:

I feel sluggish or sore when running after prescribed Rest Days*.

Our Rest Days are prescribed immediately after our Wednesday night group workouts which constitute the bulk of the fastest running we'll do every week. This is in order to mitigate injury risk as faster running poses arguably more and objectively different stress on your body.

If you tend to feel sluggish on your Friday runs, consider your warm up and cool down routine on Wednesday, the day before our Rest Day. Luke Humphrey in the Hansons Marathon Method does a good job describing warm ups and cool downs without going too deep into the physiology:

"Warm-ups and cooldowns are instances when you will want to run on the slower end of the spectrum. Here the idea is to simply bridge the gap [emphasis added] between no running and fast running and vice versa."

So, what am I getting at?

I would encourage you to focus on performing a thorough cool down Wednesday night. Since we do most of our very fast running on Wednesday, there is a bigger difference between the running at this workout and a resting state (no running) than on a typical easy run. This makes transitions to and from a resting state more important. Additionally since you'll be in more or less a resting state for all of the following day (Thursday) you'll want to make sure you take your time.

It might be tempting to get back to the store as soon as possible after our tough Wednesday workouts, but as long as you don't feel like your mechanics are compromised, I would encourage you to do 10-20 minutes of easy to moderate running to help your body enter a resting state. A cool down should be done at whatever pace feels comfortable. It should be easy, but not slow enough where your body temperature drops quickly particularly in the cold conditions we've been experiencing.

A final recommendation:

In addition to focusing on a thorough cool down, I would consider moving the prescribed Rest Day to Friday. Moving Friday's easy run to Thursday will help your body continue to transition from the fast running of Wednesday to a resting state on Friday. Remember to warm up slowly and ease into your long run pace on Saturday. I find I'm a bit less antsy at the beginning of long runs as I know I have a lot of miles to ease into the run.

Still have questions?

Leave them in the comments below or tweet them to @danielkittaka.

*A clarification: a Rest Day in this context indicates not only a break from running, but also a break from intentional physical activity with a focus on good nutrition (including hydration) and sleep/rest in order to allow for adaptation to training stimulus as well as prevent injury.

Whoops Already Behind! (Training 1/13-1/19)

I won't labor too much on this as I'm already a week late on posting, but here's what I did for 1/13-1/19.

Monday

am - 2200 yards swimming

A conservative estimate on my yardage. I tried to use the Suunto Ambit 2S I'm demoing to track the workout, but it wasn't exactly on point. I also was distracted as there were a lot of other swimmers in the pool and it freaked me out. The last 40 minutes I did: 300 free, 3x100, 6x50, 3x50 pull buoy, 3x50 kick board, and 300 free = 1500 yards.

pm

After my pool workout, I had a massive headache. I ended up becoming extremely nauseous at work, tossing my cookies in the middle of a vendor meeting :D, and leaving early. Got home and stayed in bed for 16 hours.

Tuesday

pm - 8 miles easy, The Long Way Home

After a very eventful Monday and 16 hours of rest, I powered through work and ran an easy 8 on the lake just like old times. I turned a half mile early and ran home instead of back to work.

I don't usually carry a phone with me, but since I was carrying my phone home, I decided to capture a rare running selfie:

Check out those Aframes

Wednesday

pm - 1x1 mile, 4x800, Boston 365 workout in the Zoo lot

It was pretty cold out so I suggested we add a mile at tempo to this workout prior to the 800 reps. Did 1x1 mile at tempo (5:39), 4x800 at ? (2:32, 34, 37, 39). Started way too fast. Happy to have survived.

Thursday

am - 2200 yards swimming

Swam with Team LT Dream's Eric B. 300, 3x100, 6x50, 300, 2x50, 2x25, 200, 2x50, 2x25, 100, 2x50, 2x25 + 50

pm - Brooks PureProject Collection Fashion show

This whole ordeal stressed me out. Felt a lot of anxiety about this for whatever reason.

Friday

Destroyed after Thursday's stress/anxiety and late evening celebrating birthdays.

Saturday

am - 12.3 w/ 3 miles at goal MP in 1:23

Ran with Boston 365. 3rd 3 miles at marathon goal pace. Hit 6:13, 5:58, 5:47 with Peter M. blocking the wind on the last half mile.

Sunday

am - Ran 2 miles to/from the LSAC Pool, 2500 yards swimming

My leg felt really good thanks to proper rest (16 hours on Monday night and taking Friday off after a lot of anxiety were key). I decided to run to the pool just to see how it would feel the day after a long run it ended up being okay.

300, 3x100, 6x50, 300, 2x200, 4x75 hard, 3x50 pull, 3x50 kick, 300 easy. Felt very tired that last 300.

~7 hours of activity including some faster than goal MP work and 4/7 days of running!

Happy New Year! (Training 1/6-1/12)

Happy New Year!

It is a bit scary to think that the last post I published was my BoA Chicago Marathon race recap on October 20th of 2013! Quite honestly, I haven't written anything as I wasn't really able to run or enjoy running since that time. I basically totally quit running and working out in order to get my body healthy and be able to run pain-free.

I tried to come back too quickly at the beginning of December, running 17:10 in Austin, TX at the Indie 5k (my slowest Indie 5k in three attempts) and 29:20 at the snowy Rudolph Ramble (good for 4th, missed the podium by 5 seconds). My shin started hurting again the week after Rudolph Ramble after running a 10 miler at a pretty quick pace. At that point I decided to quit running through the first of the year.

By the time I started back up on 1/1/14, the nearly 10 weeks of inconsistent/nonexistent activity had taken their toll. I had lost muscle mass but gained weight, and had not kept up my aerobic base. After mulling over joining LSAC (Lincoln Square Athletic Club, which is a block from my office) for months, with the Boston Marathon on the horizon, I decided it was time to start being serious about maintaining and developing my aerobic conditioning whether or not I could actually run regularly. I joined LSAC on a month-to-month basis on 1/3/14 and have failed to visit once in nine days. I've used the pool and the spin studio primarily as well as the treadmills a bit (this was great for when the air temperature was -15 earlier this week.

In addition to having access to cross-training facilities for the first time since I finished at Illinois in 2009, I also had my first swim lesson in probably like 15 years. I got to attend a Chicago Endurance Sports Swim Class and it changed my perspective on swimming. I have a lot to work on and think about in the pool and the technique changes I've made in just a couple workouts make swimming a lot more comfortable and productive.

Left to right, Ryan, John, and me ready to rock our first swim in ages!

Anyway, here's my first week of attempting to use cross training to develop aerobic fitness in preparation for serious marathon training.

Monday
AM - 1 hour aqua jogging with a belt
I focused on keeping my HR up by doing 10 minute segments focusing on maximizing range of motion, cadence, and "sprinting" sections with easy recovery intervals. I would say I was moderately successful at making this a valuable aerobic workout. I will say that this was my second aqua jogging workout in as many days and I could really feel the benefit of just being able to loosen up my lower legs in particular.

PM - 30 minutes spinning at a consistent effort
I tried to keep my HR around 130-140 BPM, but it is hard to track without at heart rate monitor (HRM).

Immediately following:
PM - 32 minutes treadmill
I decided that it would be okay to run a bit. Was pleasantly surprised to run into Dan S. on the treadmills and to find that my shin was relatively pain free!

Tuesday
30/30 - 30 minutes spinning followed immediately by 30 minutes on the treadmill
I liked this workout so much from the previous evening that I did it again. 30 minutes is about as much as I can take of either activity. I'm going to probably make this a staple workout (in place of an easy 8 miler at least for the next 6 weeks) so expect to see 30/30 and know that it is this workout.

Wednesday
First Boston 365 Workout - 6 miles with 2 miles at Goal Marathon Pace (MP)
Boston 365 is the name of this program that my company produces that is for Boston Marathon qualifiers and hopeful qualifiers. There are a lot of amenities like supported long runs in (hilly) Barrington and a private bus to the start line in Boston.

Anyway, we warmed up over snow and ice for 2 miles then ran ~2 miles at goal MP. I think I hit 6 flats, but it wasn't comfortable and I felt like I couldn't relax. The footing was not so nice so that didn't help at all. Over all I was kind of disappointed with how I felt, but at the same time there isn't really a good physiological reason to run 2 miles at goal MP. This was more of a team building/goal setting workout.

Thursday
22 minutes treadmill (3 miles)
Tried to get a quick run in before leaving for our swim class down at UIC. Dinged my shin.

500 yards swimming
Most of this was more instruction rather than a true workout. I learned a lot. For example, your hips should roll while you're swimming. This makes breathing a lot easier!

Friday
AM - 2200 yards swimming
I saw a workout on a whiteboard in the pool and decided to try it: 300 anything, 3x100 ~1:50-55 or so, 6x50. 3x150 pull buoy (not sure if I was using this correctly) ~3:35, 5x50 kick board, 300 in ~6:15... That last 300 was my own addition, I cut a few reps off the pull buoy and kick board portions as I was losing focus. The stuff I learned Thursday night was invaluable!

PM - 1 hour spinning, avg hr 145
I started wearing a HRM. It was a good effort though super boring. I forgot a hat so my hair kept getting in my face. I didn't want to do any running as my shin was bothering me from Thursday's quick 20 minute run and we had 10 miles scheduled for Saturday's Boston 365 run.

Saturday
10.2 miles in 1:12 (basically 7 flat pace), avg hr 159
After a day of no running and some TLC (I iced Friday night), my shin was ready to roll. Enjoyed meeting some new folks and chatting with Lou and Dan S.

Very happy this time around I survived a 10 miler! I have to figure out what my max hr is as this seems high, but I didn't feel like I was running out of my fitness.

Sunday
Off - Produced the 2014 Daniel Burnham Open. It was a great success!

~7 hours total training

Race Recap: 2013 BoA Chicago Marathon

I'll start by just putting down the numbers:

Mile splits:
6:06, 5:57, 5:55, 5:42, 5:57, 5:47, 5:53, 5:54, 5:50, 5:57, 6:01, 5:47, 5:57,

5:54, 5:52, 6:00, 6:03, 6:07, 6:11, 6:22, 6:17, 6:29, 6:39, 6:45, 6:59, 8:38 (1.2 miles).

My 5k & Half Splits

Half splits: 1:17:32 (5:54 min/mile) followed by a 1:23:45 (6:23 min/mile).

Race morning, I woke up around 3:45am and started fueling with water, the new Clif Bar hydration drink, and an All in Almond Picky Bar (which despite being an allergy sensitive brand is the only favor that really works for me). Did a ~1 mile shake out, went to the bathroom. Generally felt good with the exception of my left shin which to be perfectly honest for the past 4 weeks or so has been bothering me.

I did a 5 mile shakeout with a few soccer turf strides with some of my Fleet Feet Racing teammates on Saturday as my second run of the week. The shin, specifically the areas where my posterior tibial tendon attach, felt "runnable." Some fleeting pain, but nothing I couldn't tough out.

Anyway on my shakeout, the left leg felt "tight" and the pain was fairly acute. At this point though I was already committed to starting the race. Looking back, I should have committed to finishing the race at this point as well. Things had felt good the day before so I tried to stay positive and did a bit of self massage and took a hot shower after shaking out to help loosen things up.

Obligatory Pre-Race Gear Photo

Still feeling pretty good otherwise, I got down to the race site pretty early (~5:50am) as I typically allow myself a bit too much leeway for city races and didn't want to be stressing about getting to the race on time.

Up until actually starting the race, things seemed to be going very smoothly!

The Race Itself

The plan was to run with Fleet Feet Racing teammate, Dave Strubbe through 10k at around 5:55 average pace then slowly accelerate and hold 5:50s for as long as possible.

The first mile is typically very quick so I was actually somewhat relieved to find that I hadn't gone out in 5:20 though also bit disturbed by the fact that my first mile in 6:06 didn't feel as easy as it should have. Perhaps there is something to allowing the energy of the start into your brain and legs. I intentionally slowed myself several times over the course of this mile. I also chalked things up to being a bit "stiff" after only putting in about 15 miles on the week.

The second and third miles were my attempt at continuing to stay relaxed, running by feel, and attempting to stay out of trouble (trying to run on the smoothest portions of pavement and not doing a whole lot of leading). Around this time, Strubbe got about 5-10 seconds ahead of me. I let him go and decided to work up to him slowly as I was still not feeling smooth at the pace we were running.

The fourth mile, I got a bit antsy and dropped my fastest mile of the day, catching Strubbe in the process. This was also about  the time I got to see my family for the first time on the course and  that we started running through the familiar areas of Old Town and Lincoln Park. Seeing this split, I backed off a bit. But as you can see splits 5, 6, and 7 were all over the map. I was still having a difficult time feeling comfortable at this pace.

It is here that I think I should have adjusted my expectations. Running up Sheridan, I was pretty much all alone. There was a big group about 10-15 seconds ahead (which I ended up catching at Addison) and I believe a whole slew of runners behind (not sure by how much, but it couldn't have been more than 20-30 seconds). 5:55 average pace wasn't feeling comfortable (I was forcing the pace even though it didn't feel particularly hard). I should have dialed things back to 6:00 or 6:05.

Instead I pressed on up Sheridan hoping to catch the group ahead for some protection from the wind. It was about here that I also took most of my Honey Stinger chews. Honestly I hadn't ever practiced with them, but I had decided I'd be taking something with whole food-ish ingredients probably once early on in the race. I landed on the chews as gels just haven't been appealing to me lately and some of the other Fleet Feet guys were going to be using them.

After turning onto Broadway, I was safely tucked into a group containing most notably, 2012 Olympic Trials qualifier Laurie Knowles, the "Michigan Guy" I ran with in 2012's BoA Chicago Marathon who was running with a couple of his Club Northwest teammates, and fellow CPS-alumni Steven Bugarin. We rolled together for quite sometime though I was still struggling to stay comfortable. Which is exactly what I told my good friend Mark Wehrman who joined in for a couple miles at this point. He reminded me to stay positive. I kept telling myself things would loosen up and feel more smooth by the halfway point.

Our pack rolling through Old Town

I hung with this group through around mile 15 when we split at 5:52. Things weren't feeling any more comfortable and I knew that mile 16-18 is usually where the struggle really begins particularly if the early stages of the race were not particularly good. I decided to allow the group to go ahead and focus on relaxing and running 6:00 pace through the next stages of the race.

This lasted just a couple miles before I started to slow even more. I was hurting pretty bad both mentally and physically. In retrospect, probably more mentally than physically. I was tired of running hurt. It was pretty clear I was not going to loosen up at all and that my mechanics had been compromised enough by a sore shin that my right leg was taking more of a beating than my left. I was regretting running in my soft, cushy training shoes which helped support my shin, but made my feet work extra hard.

Looking back, I am realizing that while I had committed to starting the race after having a decent shakeout, I hadn't really committed to finishing the race mentally. I spent the "middle miles" of 19-22 making this commitment. Mark jumped in again around mile 20. Running down Halsted, I looked up and saw a mullet and a bright Fleet Feet Racing singlet. It was my teammate, ColeSans who was running his first marathon and based on talk pre-race had gone out with three other teammates at sub-2:30 marathon pace. We caught him quickly at what has become one of my least favorite parts of the course:

View Larger Map

I really, really wanted to stop and jog it in with Cole, but Mark wouldn't let me. It was at that moment, I was almost 100% committed to finishing the race. The frustrating thing about this for me was that I couldn't make that decision "on my own." Without a commitment to finishing, Mark had to talked me into finishing mid-race. My mental environment had become too negative with anxiety surrounding running injured and not meeting performance goals for me to realize that running a 6:17 at mile 20 is still actually pretty decent.

While this was probably the watershed moment in terms of successfully completing the race, I still carried a little backup drop out plan in my back pocket for another couple miles. I was expecting to see my family a final time around Chinatown. If I was feeling really terrible, I would drop out in front of them so the would know I was done with the race.

It was running through Chinatown where the wheels really started falling off in earnest. Things were pretty uncomfortable and I think sort of warm since there really isn't much shade on this portion of the course (I don't recall feeling hot though). Mark continued to run with me. I saw my family just before turning east on 33rd street.

The rest of the race was me struggling just to put one foot in front of the other, not cramp, and maintain as much pressure as I could. I felt like I was halfway between racing and jogging it in. I was running slowly for a race, but I maintained sub-7:00 pace until the last 1.2 miles which was about 7:00 pace exactly.

The final turn onto Columbus, I got a bit dizzy and saw a flash of black. I told myself if I had to that I would slow to a walk to make sure I crossed the finish line. I didn't want to run all that way to pass out less than 200 meters from the finish line. Fortunately my body held together long enough for me to run across the finish mats.

I'll have to write another blog outlining the many things I learned and am continuing to learn from this race, but for now this will do.

Did you run the 2013 Bank of America Chicago Marathon? 

Share your thoughts on the race (or a blog recap) in the comments below!

Coming in Point Three Five (Training 9/23-9/29)

A solid week of training with a nice little bonus on Saturday. On going pain in my left tibia and soreness in my right quad made me a bit cautious. Logged just 8:55 for the week not counting stretching, massage, biking, etc.

Forgive me if there are a few funny tenses here as I'm pretty tired and I wrote this by merging my dailymile log with some brief reflections/clarifications.

9/23 Monday

Twelve - 1:30 at an easy pace
Ran into Matt Blume, Doug Maisey, Adam Palumbo, Will Fischer, and Ben Reifenberg running south. Turned around at Fullerton then ran Blume home on my way back to Lincoln Square with Ben. 

My right quad was a wreck thanks to not being able to recover well after my 20 miler yesterday. Got a tiny bit of work done on my left tibia & the quad which felt good (Aligned was at Fleet Feet Sports - Lincoln Square for the Fun Run).

9/24 Tuesday

Easy - 1:03 at an easy pace
Went out in my Hokas as I was tired of feeling beat up. Iced and rolled my right quad and left tibia. Tried to go as easy as possible because my legs were feeling crappy and I needed to get in my second to last big workout in sooner rather than later.

9/25 Wednesday

Penultimate Key Workout - 1:09:59 for 12.12 (5:46 min/mile) + 4 miles W/U & C/D
While most of the time I try to share my workouts in duration/time as explained here. I feel like this is a pretty good indicator of the quality of workout needed to run in the low 2:30s so it might be helpful to actually share the details for someone interested in seeing what it might take to get to that level.

I'm pretty proud of doing this one solo even though it was on the shorter end of what I had wanted to run. When I set my PR, I started thinking I'd do 12 miles and ended up doing 15 miles at 5:45 pace.

1.5 mile splits - 8:53, 48, 29, 44, 41, 44, 49, 47, 47. I was thinking about going one more 1.5 mile straight, but decided against it as I was just trying to run a fast half marathon (to be fair, I also wanted to practice pushing through fatigue). I think I'm glad I kept it to 12, my right quad doesn't feel quite normal yet though my left tibia is feeling decent now.

Ran home just in time to register for the Park Ridge Charity Classic 5k online. They say strike when the iron is hot. Usually when I'm in good marathon shape I'll be in decent 5k shape. Since I hadn't really raced 5k since I ran a disappointing 16:23 5000m at the NCC Dr. Keeler Invite I decided to give it a go.

9/26 Thursday

Watchless Run - Measured to be just over 13 miles at an easy to moderate pace
Went without a watch! It was so freeing. Wow, definitely longer than I intended. I thought I was only running 12. Oh well. Tibia and right quad still acting funny. Ate a ton of food after, still catching up after Wednesday's run.

This run was a clear indicator that it was probably a good idea to cut the key workout at 12 miles.

9/27 Friday

Horner Park Loops - 10 minutes easy then 56 minutes easy
Ran 1.5 mile then spend 10+ minutes talking to Coach Gordon, Coach Nebrida, and Dan Carlson about the NCP XC season. My left shin was hurting. It loosened up as I tried to turn early for home. Decided I could keep running;  ran 3 big loops on the dirt around Horner Park. Things loosened up a bit. Continued icing and the use of compression socks during the day/while sleeping.

9/28 Saturday

Park Ridge Charity Classic 5k - 15:50 (5:06 min/mile) for 6th place + 5 miles W/U & C/D
Still dealing with some shin pain. The quad finally felt good after yesterday's crazy slow, soft run.

Read the Race Review.

9/29 Sunday

Chicago Marathon Course Run - 2:29 at an easy pace
Last long run of the cycle. I first did this run with Mark Wehrman before my first Chicago Marathon. This was tougher than I thought it would be without hydration. Ran with Braulio Benitez, Kyle Larson, Scott Laumann, Evan Rosendahl, and Dan Carlson. It was a great relaxed run and made for a pretty cool looking GPS image:

Check out our funny detour around mile 11.5 I totally misled the group

What workouts and runs do you use as marathon benchmarks?

BONUS: From where did I poach this week's blog title?

Do You Know the Way to San Jose? (Training 9/16-9/22)

Didn't quite hit the volume goal I had for the week (I was about 60-90 minutes shy), but considering the amount of time I spend traveling and with family I don't mind too much. I spent 9:24 running (not counting the other stuff like massage).

I also didn't feel like doing another quality session while my sleep and eating schedule was off during travel. Quite honestly I ate a lot while I was away. My family likes to eat! Also my left tibia has been a bit tight and not being at home I didn't want to press things too much.

All in all I don't think this was a bad week, but after a down week and with not much longer until the BoA Chicago Marathon, I was hoping I'd feel a bit better this week.

9/16 Monday

52 Minutes at MP? - 2:13 with 52:00 at about marathon effort
Originally intended to run 5 miles at 5:50 pace with Mark Wehrman, I ended up meeting up with Scott, Robert, Evan, and Mark and getting talked into doing 52 minutes at about marathon effort. Had a tailwind for most of the later half of this harder effort segment which helped, but I felt remarkably relaxed and controlled. Ended up running about an hour more than I originally intended.

9/17 Tuesday

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Palmer Square - 1:04 at an easy pace
As easy as things felt yesterday, I paid for it today (that and the extra distance). Everything felt awkward, like I was slamming my feet into the ground. 

I love running here. Ran here for the first time with my friend, Skinny Dan.

9/18 Wednesday

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Skokie Valley Line Trail - 1:02 easily
My legs still felt beat and my left shin was sort of sensitive so I decided to run easily again.

As much as I enjoy Palmer Square it is much more relaxing to run up to the Skokie Valley Line Trail as it is quieter and there is much less car traffic. By the way, I hate cars. Just wanted to put that out there. Also it is not too late to start Car Free Week! 

Also my eating habits were all jacked up specifically I was eating meat AND eating late night snacks (cereal and other crap) before bed when I had to run in the morning.

9/19 Thursday

Skokie Valley Line Trail - 1:00 at an easy pace
Didn't want to risk things so I just ran an hour easily before work & travel to San Jose, CA for my grandma's memorial service on Friday.

9/20 Friday

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Los Gatos Creek Trail - 1:02 at a moderate pace
A decent mix of asphalt and some very mild single track .5 miles from the door of where we stayed in San Jose. I was very blessed to be staying at a family friend's house that was just short jog from this fantastic path. On Sunday, I ran 20 miles on this path and had to cross just a handful of streets.

9/21 Saturday

Los Gatos Creek Trail - :50 at a moderate pace
Up late visiting with family & off to another family gathering before people had to leave. Snuck this one in.

9/22 Sunday

Los Gatos Creek Trail to St. Joseph's Hill Open Space Preserve - 2:13 at a moderate pace
Felt good to get a longer run in after just trying to recover from my long effort early in the week and dodging travel and family time.

Stayed on the Los Gatos Creek Trail through Campbell and Los Gatos to the foothills of St Joseph's Hill Open Space Preserve. There were a couple nasty climbs near the turnaround. Never felt great thanks to dehydration and late nights. Also wasn't able to eat properly after. I really wanted to do a long run while in San Jose, hopefully not at the cost of training for this coming week.

Where are some of your favorite places to run?

Back by *Popular Demand (Training 9/9-9/15)

This week's post should be pretty easy (I took two days off).

Hip Update
All better, thanks to resting the first couple days of this week. I have issues with my hip flexors and hamstrings from time to time typically when dehydrated or when I haven't taken the time to roll out my quads.

Efforts/Duration
I'd like to recap my workouts in effort/duration in order to remove some of the metrics that people often get hung up on like pace and mileage. I received a number of comments on the pace and volume of the work I did last week which was a lot of fun, but I want to make sure these posts are inspiration/education for personal running goals. I think it can be easy to look at workouts and get totally psyched out because the paces and the volumes seem so unreachable.

If workouts are presented in terms of efforts and duration, it is easier to see how they might be applied to any given person's running goals.

If I'm not making sense, maybe Fluency's Folly puts it more clearly:

"I think A LOT of age-groupers, specifically newer distance runners tend to aim too high on mileage goals not realizing how relative these metrics are to each runner."

Same goes for pace in my book. How many high school athletes and age groupers run 7 min/mile day in and day out while underachieving on race day?

9/9 Monday
Off completely. I think I rode my bike to work if you want to count that. After my run on Sunday with Emil and Verdo, I tried to stretch out my hip and I think I ended up over stretching as I had pretty acute pain around the hip throughout the night into Monday.

It was certainly easier to take a day off after reading Matt Flaherty's training update for 9/2-9/8 which described the liberal use of time off in order to recoup from a biking accident and very long, race-specific effort. Matt uses days off in his schedule like any other workout.

9/10 Tuesday
Woke up to marked improvement. Iced a few times throughout Sunday night/Monday.

Worked a very warm Mather Invite #1 in the afternoon and ended up just taking another day off in order to make sure the hip was well on its way to recovery.

Colin G. ready to fuel the next generation of Chicago runners!

9/11 Wednesday

Tour of Albany Park - 1:10 Easy

Morning shake out after 2 days completely off. Hip feels much better, but still a bit funny. Saw Brian and ran him home then past the old house up to Skokie Valley Line trail.

Additionally, I was very tight (my back most noticeably) all day after this run.

1:02 Easy

Decided to do an hour or so after work. Felt much more smooth than this morning! Ran into TTAU and dailymile friends; Scott L., Evan R., and Justin J. A pleasant surprise!

A relief to feel smooth on my second run back.

9/12 Thursday

1:03 Easy

Felt tight (dehydrated) most of the run. Ate meat for dinner and also ate late. I blame it on both of those things.

INOV-8 FFS Staff Functional Fitness Workout/Footwear Launch Party

It feels silly to include this but I did 2 x push ups, air squats, sit ups, burpees, and kettle bell (water jug) swings as many as possible for 1 minute?

This workout left me sore as hell for the next few days. I even sandbagged the push ups in order to not be as sore.

I also didn't get home until 11:30 pm from this workout and was so over-stimulated I ended up not going to bed until well after midnight.

9/13 Friday

TGIF - 1:33 Moderate

I had hoped a moderate effort would help me work out some stress and shakeout some of the soreness for Saturday's key workout. No such luck. It was a good run though.

Ate some quinoa, asparagus, and turkey sausage. Note to self: don't put so much apple cider vinegar in next time!

9/14 Saturday

5 x 11 minutes - 1:52 Half-Marathon Effort

Not sure if this was really HM effort, but I wanted to give some sort of description of effort.

Wanted to do alternate ks, but my watch wasn't cooperating. Settled for this strength workout. Warmed up for 29 minutes to meet Kyle and Mark at Irving Park then 10:47, 10:55, 11:00, 11:09, 11:18 w/ .5 mile jog between. On my cool down, made it to Irving and Clark with Mark, but then started walking. Thursday night's workout caught up to me (see above). My abs, back, quads, and hamstrings had enough.

Cool Down continued... - 0:20 Beyond Easy

Mark dropped me at Clark & Irving Park and I decided to walk for a bit. I told Lakefront Runner on dailymile, my body was like, "Yeah, you need to walk, bro." Some GI discomfort paired with muscle soreness was too much at this point in the run.

Walk-jogged the next mile then ran (20 minutes) from Damen & Cullom to home very slowly. For perspective, running down Wilson I spotted a guy running with a baby jogger. I didn't catch him until he stopped to walk. Not saying guys or girls with baby joggers are slow, but he was not running hard and was actually pulling away until he stopped to walk.

Extremely sore not so much from running as from Thursday's workout on top of running. The good news is the quality work was done and the pain wasn't acute nor asymmetric. 

9/15 Sunday

1:05 Very Easy

Unfortunately my abs are still very sore (my legs and back not so much). I feel like they are tightening and causing me to hunch over so I decided to scrap trying to run medium-long today. It was also difficult to breath deeply so I just ran easily the whole time.

All in all, an okay down week. I spend about eight hours running this week (not counting stretching/self-massage or other activities) down from around 11 hours the last five weeks. I traded acute hip pain for acute muscular soreness in the abs, back, quads, and hamstrings. Hopefully I'll have relief soon!

Just about 4 weeks until BoA Chicago Marathon! I'll be looking to a couple key workouts over the next couple weeks to inform me of my marathon fitness as well as a course run (last 16 miles) and some hill repeats at Roosevelt and Michigan.

How did you like this week's training recap?

Did the switch to duration/effort make sense?

P.S. If you haven't already check out my Running History page! It is kind of interesting. At least I think so!