Race Recap: 2012 San Antonio Rock and Roll Marathon

In my experience, the recap that someone gives after a bad race reflects more about what that person wants to have happened rather than what actually took place. With that said, I am going to do my best to give an accurate depiction here of what actually took place on November 11th, 2012, for better or worse.

Let's start at the end: 3rd place, behind one local guy and one out of town African. Doesn't sound that bad right? Well here's some perspective: 1:13:25 and 1:21:17. The former is my time at the half marathon mark last week. The latter is a time I would in other circumstances not even consider a workout, but here it was my closing half of the race. My final time was less than 10 seconds faster than my 2008 performance at this race, when I was in significantly worse shape, and also stopped midway to use the bathroom...

So the question becomes, how did I arrive at this sorry state of affairs? The sad fact of the matter is I don't really know. There are things that I would do differently in training if I could do it all over again, to be sure, but I don't believe that was a major issue. And once you remove training from the equation, all you're really left with is a list of lame excuses.

It was hot and humid. Yes, but only for me? Nope. It only gets worse from here. I had a cold that week? A runny nose and some gross yellow mucus aside, it didn't bother me in training at all, so not much reason to think it derailed my race. Maybe all I'm left with at the end of all that obsessive second guessing is the old cliche: it just wasn't my day.

Which is such a lame cop out.

I made it through the first 10 miles in just under 56 minutes feeling fine, and I kept it moving ok through the halfway mark. During miles 14 and 15, I noticed that the same effort level was only getting me 5:45s or so, where previously it had gotten me mid 5:30s. I began to contemplate the possibility that I was in trouble, but I figured if I could keep my pace to the mid 5:40s, I could still come away with a decent performance.

Well by mile 17 that ship had already sailed. I was hurting, and hurting good. Dizziness, exhaustion, and all of the other usual suspects that have previously come to bear during the last 3 miles of marathons were now here to stay for an entire goddamn hour. So I jogged on. By mile 20 I was above 6 minute pace, and I was resigned to suffering through it. I slogged through at 6:30 pace until mile 25, when nausea and lightheadedness rendered that impossible as well. My last mile was probably somewhere north of 7:30.

Since we are now several weeks removed from the aforementioned debacle, I’ve moved on to focusing on the winter and spring seasons, but I still feel some lingering disappointment for how things turned out. In the end, I believe that feeling the sting of disappointment means that you actually care about what you’re doing. And to paraphrase an old classic, caring is half the battle.

Looks like a beautiful day, huh?

Already looking a little grim, but better than that Kenyan dude back there

At the time, thought I was going strong.  In hindsight, hanging on for dear life.
Last two photos courtesy of Mark Wright of Wright Stuff Photography

The Coach-Athlete and Husband-Wife Relationship: How Does it Work?

So it’s November, the declared month of thankfulness. Although I don’t think it should be limited to just one month, I do appreciate the fact that it reminds people to take a step back and reflect on those that have truly made a difference.

When I was traveling with the Trinity cross country team, to the national meet last week, we had ten glorious hours of travel time on the first day. On the positive side of things it led to some bonding time. One runner asked me for instance, how exactly things worked with Jer, my husband, also being my coach. At first I thought about the fact that for a good amount people it just does NOT work. Then I kept trying to think of all the times Jer and I had arguments about training or racing or anything coaching related. The problem I began to notice during this time was that the memories that kept popping up, while trying to find the bad ones, were some of the most wonderful moments I have had with Jer. Besides my college coach, Jer knows my running career better than I do. He knows what works and what doesn’t. He supports me in every way possible. He knows how to motivate me. He has gotten me to perform far better that I could ever have imagined myself doing. I honestly can’t think of anyone else who would be a better fit for me as a coach. Of course, in any relationship, communication is KEY. We always talk about what's going on as to make sure we're both on the same page. Now this does not mean we have never had running related disagreements, most of the time it's lively discussion in which we don't always agree, but I wouldn't say any of them have put a strain on our relationship . And no, there is not a clear cut separation from our husband-wife and coach-athlete relationship. We don’t put on separate hats when we’re playing different roles, it just intermingles. I believe it works because we have such a strong relationship in both aspects of our marriage and running that it has formed into a unique part of our lives. Heck, I'm even trying to be play the self-designated role as Jer's coach now! He's learning to adjust :) Also, since we live with one another it's pretty obvious he knows what my sleeping, eating, and lifestyle habits are. We both help to keep each other honest when it comes to these choices in life and it's been pretty easy to live as close to the ideal running lifestyle as possible when you have someone there to keep you in check.

The more time I have had to reflect on Jer being my coach the more I realize how far we’ve come as a couple. We have grown so much together over the last seven plus years that we’ve somehow managed to have even fewer arguments than ever before. I’m still having a hard time even remembering the last time we did argue, running related or not. It is quite shocking seeing as how both of us are rather opinionated. I absolutely consider myself lucky to have the type of husband, best friend, and running coach that Jeremy is. I think we’ve figured out a great system, and it works because he is just that phenominal of a guy and of course, because I’ve learned to listen :). He has been just as invested in my running as I am, if not more so, and I know that I don’t say it enough, but I am truly grateful to have him in my life. Today, on this pre-Thanksgiving day three years ago, Jer asked me to spend the rest of my life with him. I’m just glad I was lucky enough to have been asked.

ENGAGED! Fall of 2009

Jer trying to calm my nerves fall of 2008

The running + the personal = AWESOME!

Me being a proud coach after Jer's PR! circa Spring 2012

Race Day: 2012 San Antonio Marathon

Tomorrow is race day.  The weather isn't looking quite as bad as it could've been, so I'm going out with plans to run aggressively and try to PR.  

The competition looks fairly intense, with a small contingent of Kenyans and some very good Texans.  Everything has gone well so far so time to get some sleep and see what happens tomorrow.  Good luck to everyone else running tomorrow.

Taper Taper Taper

Hey everybody.  This Sunday is the San Antonio Rock and Roll Marathon.  I'm kind of excited.

I began my training for this race on July 8th, 3 weeks after having set my marathon PR of 2:27:38 at Grandma's Marathon on June 16th.  There were 18 weeks between July 8th and this Sunday's race.  In the previous 17 weeks (prior to this final week of taper), I have run 2,009 miles, or an average of 118 miles per week.

Lots of workouts, lots of miles.  The weather for Sunday looks absolutely terrible, but you know what?  It was terrible last year too.  The only thing I can really do is try to feel out what pace is sustainable on race day, and not go faster than that.  I think I can still lower my PR.  I just have to run under 5:38 per mile for 26.2 consecutive miles.  Piece of cake, right?  Eh.

If, by some miracle, we get a wonderful cold front before Sunday at 7:30am, I will attempt to run the race at under 2:26 pace,  or about 5:33/mile.  If we have awful weather, then it's just about competing with whoever shows up.  Here we go!

Taper Time 2012

As much as things change over time, some always stay the same.  Here are some:

• Before every marathon, I feel like I should have done more/better/harder training. 
• I check the weather forecast at least 3 times per day.
• I always get nervous about tapering down my training.

This is my last 100 mile week, and it's just barely going to be 100. The last time I ran less than 110 miles in a week was the middle of July, so it's always a scary experience running so much less than usual.  The inescapable feeling is always that you're slowly but surely getting out of shape, no matter how crazy that might seem.

This morning I did one of my standard last workouts: 10k on the track, alternating each 1k between fast and "medium".  Today I averaged roughly 5:00 pace for the fast k's and 5:40 pace on the slow ones, with the total 10k being 33:16.  I believe this is the first time I've ever broken 34 minutes in this workout, so I'm taking it as a good sign.  

In the end though, the marathon is an entirely different beast than shorter distances.  While it's nice to know that I'm probably in close to PR shape for 10k, how I'll do in 9 days at a distance over 4 times longer is still a bit of a question.  In the end I take confidence from this being my 3rd marathon in the last 12 months - I have a lot more experience than I did this time last year.  That plus the cycle of long run workouts I've done makes me feel pretty good about where I'm at.  This is what that series looked like, in all of it's glory.

• 11 weeks out: 26.2 miles at 6:07 pace
• 9 weeks out: 22 miles with 18 miles at 5:46 pace
• 7 weeks out: 24 miles at 5:56 pace
• 5 weeks out: 24 miles at 5:51 pace
• 3 weeks out: 22 miles with 20 mile race at 5:45 pace 

So here we go! I for one am getting very excited for marathon time.

The Final Countdown

As of today, there are 16 days separating me from the 2012 San Antonio Rock and Roll Marathon.  The competition: unknown.  The weather: unknown.  My goal time: unknown.  But before the next two weeks and two days elapse, all of these will have an answer.

On Sunday I did a 20 mile race in a little under 1:55, or 5:44/mile.  It was hot and humid, and I suffered accordingly, but thankfully still got some solid work done.  My last really hard workout was Thursday.  It went about as well as I could expect - not great at first, but in the end I covered 14 miles at 5:31/mile, with the last 4 miles at 5:18 pace.  The weather has changed a lot since then (it's currently 50 degrees outside, compared to a low of 70 when I did the workout) which has me hoping for a beautiful wintery day on November 11th.

But we shall see.  In the meantime, I'm wrapping up my training and trying not to get too nervous too soon.  Race day will be here soon enough, and I know I'll have more nerves than I know what to do with by then.

Happy Running,
Jeremy

Races as Workouts (20 Miler Tomorrow!)

Where I work, there's a common saying when someone is being honest about something unpleasant: they'll precede whatever they're about to tell you with the term "full disclosure." For example: "Full disclosure, I was out drinking until 2am last night so I haven't been listening to a word you've been saying".  Or something like that - you get the idea.

So here's my full disclosure: I am in general opposed to the idea of racing with anything other than the intent to give your honest best effort to win.  There is nothing lamer in this world than the guy you beat in a race who then goes on to describe how this was "really just a tempo run for him".  It's demeaning to the actual winner of the race, and it's demeaning to the concept of racing in general.  One of the things I've been pleasantly surprised by post-college is how the nerves before a race never really go away.  Whether it's a major marathon or a local turkey trot, when I'm on that line, the butterflies come back like I'm still a 15 year old high school freshman.

BUT.  I have, on many occasions, made the decision to do a race in place of a planned workout.  And I'm doing it again tomorrow.  When I originally laid out my training schedule a few months ago, I was planning on doing 3x5 miles at roughly 5:30 pace, with 1 mile recoveries at ~6 minute pace, for my workout tomorrow.  It was supposed to be one of my last hard efforts in the last true full week of training.  But instead of trucking around by myself for an hour and a half in crappy weather, I've decided to do a local 20 mile race.  Now I get the thrill of racing, the nice perk of water stops, and a good way to simulate the particulars of the marathon 3 weeks from tomorrow in terms of clothing, warmup routine, etc.

So if you happen to be out on the Leon Creek trail on the Northwest side of San Antonio, be sure to say "hi" to me.

I should hopefully be winning by quite a bit, but if I'm not, I will be sure to not feed the actual winner any bullshit about this being a workout.  Because at the end of the day, the point of a race is to win the race, and if you lose sight of that, well I don't know what to tell you.

http://www.scallywompus.com/site/index.php/events/167-alamo4battleofleonfeatured.

Cheers!