Applefest 1/2 Marathon

Yesterday was our big race this fall, a 1/2 marathon in Hollis, NH. The weather was far from a typical New England fall day. Race time was 10:00 to probably allow people from Mass to get to the race.

It was already sunny and 70 degrees when Katie and I left our house around 7:45 - not a good sign!

The temperature was at least 80 degrees by the time the race began, but I still decided to shoot for my goal of 1:30. The race course is quite hilly (see pic below), and the first half of the course is mostly downhill. By the midpoint I was still right on pace: 44:47, but I knew what was coming.

However, soon after that the heat and humidity began getting to me and then the hills began. My pace went from a little under 7:00 to over 7:30 pretty quickly. It seemed like I was constantly looking up at the next hill.

It didn't help that I started getting blisters on my toes - I need to remember not to wear my tri shoes for longer races next time!

I guess the good news is that the heat and humidity seemed to get to everyone - quite a few people were walking some of the hills. I finished in a time of 1:36:42, which was surprisingly good enough for 32nd overall and 2nd in my age group, winning us an apple pie! The same time the previous year would have put me 69th place. Katie finished in just under 2 hours (1:59:27), which was her goal!

While in line for food after the race, Katie and I talked to another runner who ran the course two weeks ago in training and was six minutes faster than he was on race day. He said the temp in training was around 60 degrees. That 20-30 degree change made a big difference.

Considering the weather conditions, it was a good day of racing. I set a PR by two minutes on a pretty hilly course under far from ideal conditions. My IT band, which had been giving me some problems, was a non-factor. Now, I'll just have to find an early spring 1/2 to break 1:30 in.

http://www.coolrunning.com/results/10/nh/Sep25_28thAn_set1.shtml

Update from Alexa: Run on the Sly race last weekend

Hello running friends! My trail marathon is in 2 weeks and I am enjoying the taper. Last weekend, I completed Run on the Sly 20-mile race with my running partner Katy. It was a fun day, the trail course had quite a bit of elevation changes, and we had to cross through a creek! Yes, we had to submerge our sneakers and then trudge for the next few miles with soaking wet feet...that was not the highlight of the run. I contemplated taking my shoes off to cross it, but Katy bravely charged into the water! She took a fall about a mile from the finish...from my angle it was like she was sliding into home base and she was covered in dirt and skinned her knees. Also not the highlight. She is okay by the way. I thought the best part of the run was the trail around Jenkinson lake. It was more similar to the trails we have been running in GB, compared to the rest of the course. I kept thinking that these trails were easier than our trail marathon will be...I guess we will wait and see. I also loved the aid stations: candy bars, potatos dipped in salt, rice krispie treats! yum!!! I think we spent 5 minutes at each aid station enjoying the grub. I was ready to pull up a chair at the last one and have a feast, lol!

I ran 12 hard (and slow) miles today at Lagoon Valley. Chad was out there mountain biking and we got a late start so it was pretty hot and dry in the exposed sun. Not my favorite run, but I was happy to go out for lunch at the new Five Guys Burgers with Chad afterwards. It was a treat since I have been watching my food intake :)

Here are some photos from last week's race and my run today at Lagoon Valley:

Running Flats

Looks like things have been fairly quiet with all the other authors holding their tongue.  My rehab continues with my hammie getting better each day.  During our east coast visit I have been able to get some running in with my traveling running flats.  They are thin soled shoes with thin uppers that travel well ... light weight taking little suit case space.  Proabably the closest I will ever get to going bare foot.

Running in Chatham the last three days has been great.  I'm up to six easy miles with no twinges or soreness.  Janet says that's good, especially since I couldn't run at all a month or so ago.  Now in Nantucket, looking forward to some longer runs, but not too far, before we return home later this week.  I still have to watch my distance not to increase it too quickly.  Maybe I will be able to increase it up to the magic 26.2  miles to get a Parrot Predictor Time.

New England Racing Update

Hello to all of those west-coasters! The New England race circuit is going strong. Yesterday I completed my fourth triathlon of the summer, posting my best results. I placed 2nd in my age group (out of 33) and 41st overall (out of 636) in an Olympic distance tri in southern MA. I'm happy with my results, but was aiming for a bit faster pace on the run - shooting for 6:50 pace and was at 7:04. The swim is by far my weakest of the three, and I'm taking masters swim classes over the winter with the goal of getting my Olympic distance swim time down to around 22-23 min (from current time of 26 min).

The prior week was a 7 mile race in Gloucester (or for those of you familiar with New England, pronounced as 'Glosta'). Went 47:07 and 68th of 841.

Next up is a 25K on the 'North Shore' on September 6th, then a half marathon on the 25th, and a duathlon on October 17th. I'm shooting for 1:49 in the 25k and really hoping for 1:30 - 1:32 in the half. My plan is to build to a marathon in the fall of 2011 with the hope of qualifying for Boston - I'd need a 3:10:59 or less! I'm only running around 25-30 miles per week now, so with building up my mileage I feel that qualifying for Boston is definitely feasible.

Uncle Todd - hope your recovery is going well!

Rehab with envy

Rehab continues ... this morning I went 4 miles and still felt well at the end. It took everything in me to limit it to only 4. I already broke by 10% rule, but I have to think that 26.2 is too may 10%'s away for little jumps. I now have changed my rule to 10% or 1 mile, which ever is greater ... increase then hold steady for a while, that's the ticket. A slow steady return will hopefully be the trick to get the hammie back in shape.

As Alexa gets ready for her September trail race, I watch with envy as she goes out the door to do some real running. She is visiting for golf with Janet and needed to get nine in tonight ...  lucky for her, too many for me to even think about.  She is really enjoying her trail training.

I added a page to the blog with "Upcoming Races". It can be found with clicking on the page name to the right (but don't click yet). Links to the web sites are attached and will hopefully work ok (this web stuff is confusing). If you have never done trails before, it really seems interesting to me. Todd Y, "the little, big one", runs the Tahoe Trails Ultra in 2 weeks; Alexa and Katy do their Marathon in 4 weeks. So as I continue to ice, run on! (try that click to the right now).

Ice - My New Best Friend

Half committed!

Big thanks to Todd for putting together this blog. He's been our inspirational leader over the years. His interest, knowledge and communication has helped many of us progress as marathoners. I'm excited for a strong fall running season in spite of the fact that last week was one of my worst weeks in a few months. The Saturday before yesterday I got sick after a strong 50 mile week. As a result last week I logged only 6 miles. I'm ready to get back after it this week. No running injuries - so I should be all set.

I'm going on the record... I will try to qualify for Boston this CIM. I know this is a long shot given my current fitness. In order to have a chance I need to focus on the following 3 things over the next 16 weeks.

1. High Mileage - average 55 miles per week.
2. Lose Weight - shed by about half pound per week so that my CIM weight is at 174.
3. Avoid Injuries - sleep a minimum of 7 hours per night.

Time will tell if I have the discipline to stay on goal. I'm looking forward to reporting my progress over the fall and using this blog as a vehicle for personal accountability. With that, here are my weekly Goals.

1. 55 Miles.
2. Parrott 3:59.
3. 182 Lbs.

Keep moving forward!

As my dad mentioned, I am busy training for my first trail marathon with my running friend Katy. We both PR'd last year at CIM and she is also an accomplished 50-miler! We are running the Sierra Nevada Endurance Run marathon on Saturday 9/25 and I am looking forward to it. I just started running on the trails a month ago and I love it so far. It is slower, tougher, more beautiful, you get really dirty, and I love my new Nathan hydration backpack! I have also learned to do a rub-down with Technu to prevent poison oak after my runs! good times. This will be my 8th marathon and we are also signed up for CIM in December.

I am looking forward to an 18-miler tomorrow morning. We are going to run from Twin Rocks in Granite Bay to Auburn, which is the same trail as our upcoming marathon.

Dad, thanks for setting up this blog. I am happy to hear you are "slowly" getting back out there.

Here are some photos that I wanted to share:
1. After a recent trail run
2. Beautiful Folsom Lake where we have been running on the trails
3. Yes, this is dirt on my legs. I was shocked after my first run. I have also purchased black socks, which help because the white ones are hard to clean after that.
4. Here is one of my favorite running photos with my sister Abby (from the finish of Run to Feed the Hungry 10K last year). Abby, I love how much fun you are!
5. And lastly, here is a video from a recent trail run (not the greatest quality, but you get the idea)