Comeback Complete: Spring 2012 Racing Update

It's been an interesting 2012 so far.  Throughout January and February, I just could not run without significant pain. Every attempt at it was met with the same result - 5 minutes in, sharp pain on the outside of the knee.  5 minutes later, a realization that the pain was just getting worse and I should stop and try again some other time.

I cannot even begin to describe how depressed I was that I could not get out there and run.  All of the things I worried about throughout last year - mileage totals, paces on workouts, PRs, those things became completely insignificant.  I missed the routine of running.  The relaxation and satisfaction getting out there each day brings to my life.  It got to the point where I was having dreams of running without pain.  Running in my favorite pair of shoes, the breeze fluttering against my face, the long periods of turning my brain off and daydreaming about things while exercising and enjoying the fresh air.  I missed it so much.

I'm happy to report that my dreams have finally become reality.  I've been running pretty consistently for about two months now, and I feel like my life is finally settling back into balance again.  I am starting to worry about mileage totals, paces and PRs again.  But mostly I am happy.  Happy to be doing something I have grown to cherish and love, something that brings me incredible peace and serenity.  I am running.

I am really hoping I can keep running, so I am continuing to do the strengthening routine prescribed by the PT at Athletico.  I feel that these exercises, along with some other core strength stuff I've picked up here and there, and making sure to stretch thoroughly after every run, have been absolutely key to getting me back out there and keeping me healthy.

Return to Racing - The Bunny Rock 5k

After a couple of 13-mile weeks of listening closely to my body to try and figure out if I was ready to come back, I managed weeks of 24, 35, 38, and 43, in which I ran 5 days in the week and had a long run of 14 miles.  During that time I thought that if things were going well I'd race a short distance just to get some kind of honest feedback as to what kind of shape I was in.

There was a 5k race in Chicago the Saturday before Easter and I figured "What the Hell" and signed up for it.  I looked at the times from last year and thought that if the college guys stayed away again, that I might have a chance to get on the podium if I ran smart.  Of course this was based on doing absolutely no speed work whatsoever since November and really no indicators at all in the couple of weeks of decent mileage I had run, so I really had no clue how it was going to go.  I thought going into it I would start at 6 minute pace and hope for the best.

That's actually not how it worked out at all.  I arrive at the race and do my warm-up, which consisted of about a mile and a half jog with a few 20-second bursts.  Didn't really feel that great.  Walked up to the start corral, lined up in the front, and was surrounded by a couple of impressive looking runners, a few kids, and a shitload of people wearing the race shirt.

Getting ready to race and hoping I can at least beat #1192

The horn goes off and I sprint out front and actually led for a few yards there.  I am so incredibly excited to be out there...my heart is pumping nitro.  After a quarter mile or so there I hang back and tuck in behind two guys wearing the race shirt- a younger guy and an older guy.  I look down on my watch and we've got a low 5-minute pace going, and I immediately have to back it down, lest I blow up right there in the first mile.

I drop back to fourth, some other tall drink of water passes me and I try to settle in, but it's hard because I have insane energy.  We get to the first mile and my watch says 5:43.  Holy crap, I'm in trouble.  I desperately search for 6 minute pace, finally find it.  The effort feels very hard and the second mile feels like 10 miles.  I get passed by another young guy, but I manage to catch the older guy, he's in even deeper trouble than I'm in.  Pass a group of young guys who jeer at us:  "Go marathoners."  Assholes.

Trying to keep up.  I think the guy with the compression socks won.

Finally hit the second mile...I must be all over the place with the tangents because it comes quite a few feet after my watch beeps, showing a 5:56 second mile.  Turn a corner and headed back home and I am really hitting the wall at this point.  I am really short of breath and my chest is just burning.  I hear a guy behind me and I concede fourth place to him, and try desperately to stick with him.  Ironically I'm not really thinking about what my finish time is, I just want this to be over.  Mentally I'm a wreck at this point.

Finally get a glimpse of the finish banner and I will myself there.  I didn't see the third mile split at the time, but looking later I saw it was 6:18.  Yikes, talk about a blowup.  I cross at 18:50, not too long after the fourth place guy.  Really not too shabby all things considered.

Love this photo...I actually look like I know what I'm doing...

Flying by the Seat of my Pants

After the 5k I decided that I would make a 10k race in May my focus, so I devised a little mini training cycle which included some 10k specific work and some speed - 4x1k at 10k pace with 2x800 at 5k pace and 10x400 at 5k+ pace were completed in the two weeks that followed this race.  The week of the 5k I hit 50 miles and the week after I hit 62, which was about my average while training for the Toronto Waterfront Marathon last fall, so I thought that was a good place to stop for now.  The following week I had a planned cutback week with a tempo workout and the Glass City Half Marathon looming big.

My original plan was to pace my wife to something between 3:50 and 3:55, but I got hurt, so I didn't feel comfortable doing that, so I emailed the race directors, who graciously allowed me to switch to the half, which eventually sold out.  I had zero intention of racing this, I thought that I would do my tempo workout and then treat this as a supported fun run, but on the ride over from Chicago to my parents' house in the Detroit area I decided to give it go.  The weather conditions for the race were going to be very cool and the last time I raced a half I did not run very smart and it cost me a PR on a day where I thought I was definitely in shape to get one, so I wanted to redeem myself.

I also had a good feeling going in that even though I really had only put about 6 solid weeks together of training and only just started doing some speed training, my legs felt fresh as they did not have the wear and tear of running all winter long.  I had done three runs of 14+ and five other runs of 10+ miles and they all went fine, and the speed training I had done up to that point had gone well...and I was fresh off a modest 5k PR, so I thought I could at least PR if I got out there and felt good.

Here Goes Nothing - Glass City Half Marathon Report

Once I decided to race, I got really excited.  The half marathon distance has always been kind to me, as I feel that it's a distance I have a good history with and that I usually race pretty well.  The day before the race I got to meet a couple of my forum buddies - Mike (GusGordon) and Ted (Fonz) at my favorite  coffee and donut shop - Tim Horton's:

I just wanted to make it CRYSTAL CLEAR that we met at Tim's.

We had a nice chat and visited the expo, which to be honest wasn't much.  The local running shop had a nice spread of items, and that was about it.  Afterwards Catherine and I treated Ted to dinner and I couldn't believe how relaxed he was.  He was racing the full the next day and if he was nervous, I certainly couldn't tell.

I slept like ass and got up very early the next day so we could let the dog outside, get a little breakfast and then get on the road back to Toledo so that we could get a parking spot and have plenty of time to do our thing before the race.  Of course the traffic getting in was a nightmare, so even though we were in the area by 6am, we didn't really get parked until 6:30 due to the congestion getting into the lot.  That was irritating.  I had to pee in a bush because the porta potty lines were insane, and then get a modest 10 minute jog in before it was time to hit the corral.

I asked Mike if it would be cool if I tagged along with him the first couple of miles just to make sure I don't go out too fast.  He was shooting for a 2:57 and would be going out at 6:45 pace, which I felt would be a good conservative start for me and would help me get an idea if I was going to have a good day or not.  

The race began and we headed out.  I had my usual 1.01 mile auto split on my Garmin...I find that this allows me to focus more on how I'm feeling and also helps me correct the inevitable failure on my part to run the course tangents.

First couple of 1.01 splits:  6:47, 6:44.  The effort feels very easy and Mike and I are chatting happily.  At one point he asks me "How's the pace" and I am able to reply comfortably in a complete sentence which tells me that I need to get off my dead ass and start racing.  At one point we start to speed up and he tells me that if I am feeling it to go ahead and go.  I tell him that if the third mile still feels easy that I will slowly start to pick it up.

Third mile is 6:43 and I am having no issues whatsoever.  I thank Mike for letting me tag along and he gives me a fist bump and says "I hope I don't see you" and I start to pick it up.  In hindsight I probably left about 30-40 seconds on the course with the slow start, but I was nervous about how I would feel.  But from then on, I started racing.

Next three splits:  6:38, 6:38, 6:39.  Just a little extra effort, but I am at least working harder now.  I am almost halfway home, so if I want a PR I'm going to have to start hammering this at some point.  Recalling the course map at the expo, there is a long straightaway right after mile 8 that would be perfect for a fast finish.  I try to stay patient and save gas for then.  I start passing people pretty consistently during this stretch.  

I should mention too that sometime during these miles we enter a nice bike path and it's really pretty.  The course has been surprisingly scenic for a race in Toledo, Ohio.

Flexing the "guns"

Next two splits:  6:36, 6:36.  We come to a "T" intersection and split off from the marathon runners, which kind of bums me out as I was using a guy in a black shirt to pace off of who was looking really strong, but he turns the other way and I silently wish him well.  People I am passing are really breathing heavy and each one I pass is giving me more and more adrenaline.  After mile 8 it's on like Donkey Kong.

Next four:  6:29, 6:27, 6:24, 6:23.  I'm going fishing at this point.  Not really looking at my splits anymore, now I am just picking a guy out to catch and then catching them.  Not too many people around at this point though, it's pretty spread out, but I manage to pass three or four guys.  At mile 10 the clock shows 1:05:5x.  I thought that if I could get to this point at 1:05 that I would probably PR if I was running hard at this stage instead of trying to hang on.  Now I was thinking a PR was a lock, it was just going to be a question of by how much.  I'm even wondering if I have an outside shot at 1:24.

Grinding it out on the home stretch

 I go through a long stretch running by myself and see two guys ahead of me in the distance and hear another guy's footsteps behind me.  Eventually I catch the two guys and the guy behind me catches me and passes all three of us.  I take quick stock of how I am feeling:  It's mile 11 or so at this stage and my legs are getting tight.  Breathing is hard and controlled.  I say "fuck it" and decide to try and keep up with the guy who passed me.

At mile 12 I'm about five yards behind him as we pass a guy whose gait suggests he is really struggling to hang on.  His breathing confirms that suspicion.  I see the stadium in the distance and I know this is almost over.

Last full split is 6:09.  I'm in this guy's hip pocket now and I'm determined to beat him.  He is running strong but I am in the better position and I know I have the speed to out kick him.  But it doesn't come to that.  About a half mile from the finish I can sense he's conceding to me.  I see a sharp downhill into the parking lot of the stadium and I choose the flat strip right before it to make my move.  There are two guys about 40 yards ahead of us.  He tells me:  "Go get 'em boss!"  I respond with a gasp, "I'll try!"  Awesome.

I am wheezing at this point, possessed by a simple desire to catch these last two guys and get home.  I'm shocked how fast I am going through this final stage.  One guy pulls up lame about 100 yards from the stadium entrance.  Ouch.  I get into the stadium, see the finish line and 1:25 is mine.  YES.

Getting it done.

Official finish is 1:25:35, and it takes me a good 10 minutes to get my breathing under control.  Feeling very satisfied with the effort and I have all of the justification I need now for a sub-3 attempt this fall.  

Racing philosophy is different for everyone but mentally it is so much easier for me to hurry the fuck up if I save gas for the home stretch and I always surprise myself with what kind of speed I can muster up when I race this way.  I love the little mini battles that take place at the end of a race and I love it even more when I can win them.  I finished 36th in a very competitive field...in which the winner ran a 1:06...I'll take it.

The crew celebrating by taking in a Mud Hens game after

Next Up

After the unplanned half marathon PR, I'm still going to follow through on the plan to race a 10k in early May.  Then it's onto the summer relays...when the sub-3 prep begins in earnest.  And worrying about mileage totals, paces on workouts, and PRs. 

;-)  

-KPH