Fun Run Race Report and "The Next Big Thing"

Wilmette Fun Run Race Report

With my training schedule for Toronto looming in a couple of weeks, right now it's happy fun time, just base building and doing whatever the hell I want. That's not to say I've been slacking, quite the contrary. A couple of weeks ago, I set a weekly mileage PR of 56.34 miles and I've been running 6 days and 50+ mpw for three straight weeks now. I'm looking to push through the 60 mpw barrier this week for the first time ever.

So there hasn't been a lot of motivation to race, being that I'm not a huge fan of racing in the summer months, but knowing that I was going to be in town for the 4th of July I thought it would be a nice test to see where my speed is at by racing the Wilmette Fun Run. This is a wonderful 4-mile race put on by the Wilmette Park District, and would serve as a nice barometer of where my short-distance fitness is at as well as possibly giving some more positive reinforcement of the remarkable fitness gains I've made this year. And although in general I'm not a huge fan of anything shorter than a half-marathon (as I find these distances incredibly hard and painful to race) I am also fiercely competitive and I feel that I am at a level right now where I can actually compete in these smaller races.

I've got several goals going into this race: 1) To win my age group, 2) To finish strong with at least one sub-6 mile at the end 3) To break 24 minutes. I felt going in that 1) and 2) were good goals and definitely attainable; I thought 3) was a stretch, but I was going to try for it anyway.

Catherine and I get to the start and we mill about the tents in Gillson Park checking out the other runners. I see a couple of runners I know from Evanston Running Club, which is cool, and after chatting a bit, before I know it, it's after 7:40 and I need to get a warm-up in. I've learned that I cannot just shift gears to 5k-ish pace from a dead stop, I need to get my legs moving so that I don't get that rubbery feeling early in the race. I go off to do a few out and backs near the start with a couple of 20-second bursts and my legs feel like they have some zip in them, probably due to the day off I took the previous day.

I line up right near the starting line and it's great to feel like I belong there. I talk to a collegiate runner who has been base building for the summer and we both agree this is about to be extremely painful. We get to chatting and he mentions he ran a 4:25 mile this past season, but feels there is no way he could ever run a marathon. I told him he would come around someday, while privately thinking there's no way I could ever run a 4:25 mile. I think I broke 5 minutes when I was in high school, but that's about as fast as I have ever run a one mile race.

I overhear another guy wearing a Twin Cities Marathon shirt mention he's going to try to hold a 6-minute pace, and I decide to use him as my barometer for what kind of day it's going to be for me.

Then, the clock strikes 8, the horn goes off and the race gets underway. My collegiate buddy races ahead to keep pace with three other young guys, and I fall into a chase group just behind Twin Cities guy and a friend of his. We separate rather quickly from the rest of the field and I am feeling really happy about my warm-up as my legs are feeling fresh and moving very well.

After a couple of quick turns we begin a long straight away and the first mile on my Garmin clicks at 5:58, right after the Mile 1 marker. I have it set up so I can see what pace I am running at for the next lap, and it's very close to 6-minute pace. I am working hard and settling into a nice breathing pattern, and I can see it's just the lead group, another guy with a black visor, Twin Cities guy, his friend, and me. I am maybe 10 yards behind Twin Cities guy, and his friend is falling off the pace pretty rapidly, and shortly thereafter I pass him.

I decide to try and reel in Twin Cities to get a sense of how he is feeling and maybe run alongside him. One thing I love about these short races is that my competitive nature starts to take over and I start thinking tactically about the race just as much as how I am feeling and managing my own effort, and it's an incredible game of chess and quite frankly, rather awesome. About 100 meters before the next turn I am alongside Twin Cities, and he is gasping for air and I can tell he is struggling. This gives me a boost of energy and I am able to pass and drop him.

We are into the downtown village area turning onto another long straightaway and mile 2 is in the books at 6:03. I am working hard, but I am feeling confident I am not going to blow up. I am breathing heavy but in a very controlled pattern and I am thinking sub 24 could very well happen. I have the older guy with the visor and a younger guy in my sights. My pace is steady and throughout mile 3 I slowly reel them in. I manage to catch the older guy first and he says to me "you sound good," I guess referring to my breathing. "We'll see," was all I could muster in response. I am immediately irritated that he talked to me and it made me feel uneasy. The younger guy was next and there would be no words coming out of him, as he clearly went out too fast and was blowing up. My third mile is 6:00 flat and it's time to bring this home.

We turn again, and I look over my shoulder and the older guy isn't going anywhere. He's maybe 15-20 meters back. The younger guy is nowhere to be found. At this point I have to try to separate myself from this guy. I might have made a tactical error passing him, but I thought I could correct it by pushing the pace hard and breaking him, Prefontaine style. There's one mile to go and I am definitely all in at this point. There is a loooong straightaway to the finish and I am running very hard. The lead group is nowhere to be found, but I really want to come in ahead of this second group.

We turn left back into Gillson Park and I feel like I've really been pushing hard. I've got maybe 20 meters on Visor guy. Really annoyed at this point I haven't been able to lose him. Turning into the park I think to myself that I have maybe one more burst in me, but to save it until the last turn. I turn right and can see the tents, and I've got 200-300 meters left. I am not thinking about Visor guy at this point, I just want this pain to be over, and that proves to be my downfall as he passes me about 50 meters from the finish. I try to recover, but is in vain, as I cross the finish line at 24:16 and finish less than a second behind him.

I give the guy a fist bump and tell him "Nice kick." It was. He out raced me, and I knew it. Oh well, chalk it up to inexperience perhaps. My last mile was a 5:52 and the last 0.07 mile was run at a 4:58 pace, so it certainly wasn't lack of trying on my part. He was just more experienced and better on this day. That being said, I thought I had a pretty damn good race in my own right and proved that I am still getting faster. I still don't feel like I have hit the ceiling yet with my speed and with a little more VO2 work leading up to this race I think I would have done even better.

I grab a Clif bar and a water and turn around to run my cool down and look for Catherine, who is running with my brother-in-law, Michael, who is doing this race on literally a week of training. I find them about 3/4 of a mile down course and I run with Mike while Catherine goes back to look for her mom. Mike and I are chatting and it's clear he is having a great time.

We all make it back to the finish, just in time for awards to start, and sure enough, I won the 30-39 age group with my time, and finished 5th overall. I'm thrilled that I attained 2 of my 3 goals for this race and overall am pretty satisfied with my performance.

KPH post-race before a change of clothes

Mike, Catherine and KPH show off the snazzy T-shirts

What's Coming Up, and Other Stuff I'm Thinking About

Catherine and I hastily signed up for Run the Keweenaw, a 25-kilometer race that takes place entirely on trails in the Keweenaw Peninsula in Michigan's U.P. I had my eye on this race for a long time and thought it would make a terrific weekend road trip, but I wasn't sure Catherine was on board, but after talking it up and selling it as a "just you and me" kind of trip, she was on board. Last night we decided to run it together and take a bunch of pictures and enjoy being together, and I'm really excited about that decision; I haven't run with my wife in a race in over 2 years.

Last time I wrote about the next big goal for a marathon, but I've also been thinking about what "the next thing" is going to be. Last year, I set out to run a marathon, and I've accomplished that, and since then in the back of my mind I've been wondering about what the next big challenge I'm going to take on will be. For a while I thought it might be a triathlon, but even though I like the sport and have huge respect for those that do it, I don't like swimming or biking even close to as much as how much I like running.

So it looks like "the next big thing" is going to be completing an ultramarathon. An ultramarathon is defined simply as any race whose distance that is longer than a marathon. I think that once 2011 is in the books and I've completed the two marathons I have left on the calendar (Toronto Waterfront Marathon in October, California International Marathon in Sacramento in December), I'm going to turn my focus on training for a 50-miler in Wisconsin next May. Of course plans can change - who knows I may actually get to run Boston next year, although I doubt it - but right now I'm thinking more and more I might enjoy the challenge of finishing a 50-mile race.

Why 50 miles? Why not just a 50k? A 50k for me, doesn't sound nearly as intimidating (or impressive) as 50 miles, although I plan on completing a 50k before attempting a 50-miler. If I'm going to commit to doing this, let's just go all in and go for it. Plus, my weekly mileage is already approaching what I would need to successfully complete an ultra, and I plan on running a few weeks in the 70s before Toronto, so I feel that I will have built a strong base to take on this challenge. Plus, with ultra training the emphasis is on running long, and I like running long. It's my favorite workout of the week. I love zoning out and taking it easy and letting my mind wander. The more I think about it, the more this makes sense to take on.

There are a lot of other reasons to make this switch. The vibe of ultras is very attractive to me - it really appeals to my laid-back personality and my love for the woods and the outdoors. I love to travel to see and experience unspoiled wilderness. I want the feeling of not really knowing if you can actually finish something, then you work hard and finish it, and it's a life changing experience. And more than anything, I just love to run. It's changed my life. Is there a better way to celebrate that than spending a whole day running?

I think this trail run with Catherine is going to be a big determining factor to see how I like the trail running scene and if it goes as well as I think it will, then I could very well start planting the seeds to make the switch to ultras for 2012.