an amazing run

Pre-Race Nerves Stink!

I mowed the lawn the other day. It didn’t need it. I just did it to take my mind off the elephant in the room – it’s race week and the Chicago Marathon is Sunday. It’s on my mind constantly.

You would think that I would be used to pre-race jitters by now. This will be my 23rd marathon (if you count the five Ironman marathons, and I do), and tenth Chicago Marathon total. I’m not new to this, and I know that once I start moving forward everything will be okay. But damn, the nerves are kicking in hard.

To start, I didn’t get an email with the packet pick-up QR code that you need to get your bib and t-shirt at the expo. I got every other damn email they sent me to remind me about everything regarding the race, but not that one. It wasn’t in my inbox, my junk folder, or in the e-trash bin. Trust me I checked, numerous times. I posted that I didn’t get the email on r/ChicagoMarathon on Reddit and found that I wasn’t alone. Someone mentioned that they emailed the race and got a new email within a couple of days. So I went with that approach. Crickets. Then I get one of their regular emails stating “Packet Pick-up tickets cannot be resent. Please go to Participant services… at the expo.” Great. Thursday comes and I check my email – lo and behold – a nice email from Kelli thanking me for being a Legacy Finisher and the missing/replacement QR code.

I hate driving into the city, so I looked at the Metra service to get me to the expo. It looked like the Metra Electric line east of me runs by McCormick Place. Perfect. I asked a police officer coworker of mine if that train line was safe, and he strongly suggested not to take it. Interestingly, my Facebook friends mostly said that it would be fine. I rechecked the schedule from another “safer” place to catch the train and it turns out that none of the afternoon trains even stop at McCormick Place. Driving it is.

I found the Chicago Marathon’s suggested parking garage fine, the one with the half-rate cheap parking. But once in there I had no idea where to go. There was no signage, so I found someone who looked like they had just come from there and they directed me to continue going in the direction I was heading. I found some people getting on the elevator and I asked if they were heading to the expo and got a yes. Great. Up the elevator and down the hall and we were there. I was sure that I was going to have trouble finding my way back to the car.

The expo on opening day Thursday wasn’t too bad, and the check-in volunteers were great. I got my envelope with my bib and started heading to the back of the expo to pick up the t-shirt. I wandered through the Nike store with the official race gear and glanced at some of the offerings. I was unimpressed. The quality seemed poor and the prices were crazy. When I saw how long the line was to overpay for cheap stuff, I made my way out of the store and walked to the back for my t-shirt. I have been to the expo numerous times, and there’s really nothing there that I need. I made my way back to the exit but didn’t see where the event posters were located. The volunteer that I asked didn’t have any idea either. I finally found a guy who had one and he pointed me to the booth. I have to have a poster for my basement workout room shrine to myself. (I took an extra one for the shrine at work, too!)

I was right about not knowing my way back to the parking garage. I doubled back two times and finally found the way out. I got my parking ticket validated and was back on the road quickly. Glad I got in and out of the expo. It was underwhelming and just causing further stress.

At home, I began the “nesting” process where you gather all the running crap that I still own and figure out what I will wear and use on race day. Sometimes I will overthink this way too much, and the five different shirt/shorts/socks/visor options will need to shrink down. I also had the bright idea to bring enough gels to eat one every 20 minutes. I’ll look like a clown carrying that many gels. Time to pare that down as well. Eating a gel every 30 minutes has worked well in the past. Why change it now?

Oh, and let’s stress about the weather a little too while we are at it! I’ve been checking the weather app constantly for ten days now, and nothing has really changed. Low 50s (d. F) for the start rising to mid-60s and dry. So the weather looks to be pretty good, and last year’s race had perfect weather and was one of the reasons I signed up to run the race this year. That’s a win. Stop stressing.

I will carbo load on Friday night, and eat a sandwich or something easy Saturday night. I’m not trusting the restaurants downtown, not so much for the food causing issues, but more so for the lack of availability. Maybe some soup and bread with the wife.

I’m staying at the Palmer House Hilton, very close to the start/finish line. I will walk the route to the Jackson Street race day entrance, and then walk from where the exit from the finish line to the hotel in case my wife can’t find me. I can get turned around very easily downtown.

And that reminds me, I bought an Apple AirTag device, which I plan to carry so Kari can track me more precisely. It’s an extra thing that I will have to have on me, but I think it is worth it.

Just writing this stuff down has been a good stress reliever. Now I just have to kill 1 DAY : 16 HOURS : 14 MINUTES: 37 SECONDS until race day. Not that I am counting or anything. Pre-race nerves stink.

2024 Broken Anvil Backyard Ultra Race Report

Broken Anvil Backyard Ultra / West Point, Iowa / September 21, 2024

10 Yards/Loops – 41.67 Total Miles – Tied for 31st place with 11 others

Results: 2024 Broken Anvil BYU Results

Well-run and fun events always strike a chord with me, and this race is one of those that I really enjoy doing. Endless loops of 4.16 miles every hour on the hour may not sound like a fun time, but race director Nic, the volunteers, and the other participants made for an excellent day of pushing the boundaries and testing our limits.

It appears that we had 89 “finishers” out of the 102 that had signed up, and that made for some crowded running on portions of the course. But since I was bringing up the rear it wasn’t an issue for me. My usual plan for this race is to run for two minutes and then walk for two minutes, and I had no problem following that plan. During the walk I made sure I was drinking water from my handheld bottle, downing 12 ounces every loop. A few of the hills were walked even if it called for running at the moment. My splits looked great until yard/loop nine when it was clear that I was starting to slow down : (1) 52:29, (2) 52:56, (3) 52:38, (4) 52:12, (5) 52:07, (6) 52:21, (7) 53:06, (8) 53:44, (9) 55:18, (10) 56:36. Yard/loop 9 took longer because I made a dash to the toilet while on course. On the 10th yard/loop the chafing started to get to me and the slowing was more to do with that issue than actually running out of gas.

My wife Kari was once again dialed in to keep me going. On every return back to the tent I was met with all of the things that I needed to refuel and rehydrate. I was eating a gel, something solid like a couple of cookies or some banana, electrolyte pills, and she was quick to swap something out for me if I requested. She also had a wet washcloth to clean up with and refresh myself with. I swapped out shirts and visors about three times and made one sock and shoe change after dealing with rain for some midday loops. The rain was somewhat welcome, cooling us down and keeping the sun hidden behind the clouds. When the sun was out, I felt the worst. Fortunately, the course has good shade for about 2/3s of it.

It seemed that yard/loop two was a struggle for some reason, but the rest felt great and pretty much on repeat – run/walk/drink/eat/rest/refuel – and be back in the corral at the one-minute warning. One change I made this year was to eat more, which included taking a GU liquid gel with me and eating it around the two-mile mark, and also eating more in camp. Sometimes it’s difficult to eat when you don’t want to, but I knew that it would make a difference. Plus, I spent $$$ for some good snackies this year!

Even with dealing with the chafing when I sensed that it was starting, it wasn’t going to change the outcome, and that is what really pushed me to decide to pull the plug. I had gotten past the 50K mark for another notch in the ol’ ultramarathon belt and I didn’t want to make my evening uncomfortable for myself. I lined up for the 11th yard/loop, started it, and then walked over to my tent. Other racers and participants don’t like to see another pull out, but it was time for me. 41.6 miles and 10 hours of running made for a pretty memorable day, and an easy way to get that last long-distance training run done for the Chicago Marathon in three weeks. That’s the A-race and should be the focus.

I walked over to the tracker table and told them I was pulling out, grabbed my loser keychain, and thanked everyone for an awesome day. Back in the tent, Kari started organizing and packing up things while I took a few minutes to let my body come down. We finally got our tent put away and decided to eat a bowl of chili that they had made for the participants and anyone else who might like a bowl. Once we got the tent down, we loaded up the car and made our way back to the hotel. It was a terrific day.

Thoughts and Observations on the Day

~ Run the tangents! – I don’t know if it is the road racer in me, but it seemed at times that I was the only one running the tangents and taking the shortest line. I would think that if you could reduce even a few steps throughout double-digit miles you would take advantage of that. I was also staying in the shade more than some of the others. Simple things to make it easier on myself that others could have benefited from.

~ My pacing method may not be for everyone, but I can’t help to think that others could be missing out on saving some intensity minutes by dialing it back and walking more. I don’t know if they prefer to have some extra rest time between loops, or if they are just younger and don’t feel like they are working that hard, but I am only running for 26 minutes of that 52-minute loop, and they are running for 45 minutes or so. That is almost 20 minutes more intensity time spent than what I am doing, and burning more calories while doing so.

~ I met some great people out there and had some good conversations. One older guy like me seemed to be really enjoying the day. He was bringing up the rear but always had an “attaboy” for anyone out there. I could tell that he was struggling in the latter part of the race, but you couldn’t tell it by his demeanor. He ended up missing the cut on the 7th or 8th loop and I saw him coming in as we were heading out and gave him a bro hug for his effort. He also needed some medical care, which I believe was due to heat exhaustion. He was looking good after a visit with some EMTs.

~ Heat exhaustion could be sneaky, and fortunately it didn’t affect me on the course. But after a shower and resting back at the hotel, I could feel how hot my core was when I was lying in bed trying to go to sleep. I made Kari feel my back and she agreed that I was warm to the touch. I should have taken some anti-inflammatories before bed.

~ Don’t judge a runner by their look. I was guilty of this as well, thinking some of these people would not last very long, but I was proven wrong time and again. One woman was consistently coming in with just a minute or two to spare, and I thought that she was cutting it close. But as the miles wore on I realized that she was executing her plan very well. There were several that far exceeded my expectation for them. Congrats to everyone!

~ I have the main pieces of the “go far” puzzle established. I was solid with my pace plan, Kari kept me on point with my nutrition/hydration, and although the training miles I had done might have been on the low side, I felt great muscle-wise and felt like I still had a lot of miles left in me. It’s the mental side of ultra running that I have continued to struggle with. When the going gets tough I tend to fold my cards so as not to destroy myself. Chafing is no fun, and it was only going to get worse. I have to figure that issue out for next time. And there will be a next time.

Event Photos Link: Mile 90 Photography – 2024 Broken Anvil

Can Losing Be Better For You?

I started running for the same reasons most people do – to drop some pounds, feel better, and give this bored guy something to do. Most people lose interest in running after a while, but I caught the competitive bug. I got to a point where I wanted to see if I could add an extra mile, if I could lower that mile pace time, if I could complete a 10K. When I started racing I was hooked and always looking to perform at my best.

Some people can enter a race and not actually race it, but not me. I need to know how I did against others, against the clock, and against my previous efforts. How else do you know how well you are performing if you aren’t comparing yourself to those parameters?

When I race I have found over the years that I will be in the upper middle of the pack, somewhere around 25-30% of the field. This plays out during the race and is very apparent in the results at the end of the race. I have finished in first place overall once, been a top-three age grouper in many other races, and have been squeaked out of a podium finish many, many times. There is always a post-race analysis of the finisher results for me. How did I do overall? How did I do against the other males? Against the other age groupers? Against my past efforts? But does the analysis make me feel any better? Generally, I’m happy to receive any award at all, and if I do better than the average then I am content. However, if I just miss out on getting on the podium, I am going to mull that over for a while. What if I hadn’t pushed too hard at the beginning of the race? What if I didn’t waste so much time in transition from swim to bike? Where could I have gotten faster?

I read an interesting article (Inc. Magazine – Haden, Jeff) today about how counterfactual thinking can affect your happiness. In the article, it points to a study in which the faces of the gold/silver/bronze medallists at the 1992 Summer Olympic Games were examined to determine who was the happiest. Of course, the gold medal winner was happy. But the big surprise was that the bronze medalists were almost always more happy than the silver medalist. The gold medalists came out on top and were super happy. The bronze medalist is the one who beat out all the rest to be in the top three. But the silver medalist is the one who will be thinking about what went wrong.

Counterfactual thinking is an interesting concept. Basically with counterfactual thinking, you find yourself wondering “what if?” in certain outcomes and play out alternatives in your mind. The silver medalists will use upward counterfactual thinking, judging themselves only against the gold medal winner according to the article. They will dwell on the second-place finish, thinking about what they needed to do to win. The bronze medalists often employ downward counterfactual thinking, comparing themselves to the others who missed out on the podium. They are elated not to be in that group. Whew! Pretty interesting concept.

Although I think I’m aging past the point of dwelling on my placement in the field, there’s still the old guy age group that makes a difference for me. But now I have a little more insight into how to make myself feel better about my performances. Being thankful to still be in the hunt is feeling pretty good right now.

A first-place a/g win and two second-place a/g wins at Manteno Triathlon over the years. I think I look pretty happy in all three!

Oopsie… Oh Well

Earlier this year I struggled with some butt pain, essentially some high hamstring tendonitis that was not going away. I took time off from running, did a whole bunch of stretching, and finally got myself back to feeling pretty good – good enough to start running again without the tendonitis bothering me. And then I went and raced a sprint triathlon.

If there’s anything that will do me in is pushing myself too hard, and I when I sign up for a race, I plan on racing it at my hardest and best effort. I had tested myself a little leading up to the race and had no issues really. And even during the race and the day after, I had no ill effects. I felt great. So great in fact, that I thought why not switch to the marathon training plan and stop following the Ironman training plan that I was using to train for my fall marathon. After all, the sprint triathlon was over, I wasn’t sore or hurting, and really felt like I was ready to add some more running intensity. So instead of taking Monday off, I ran a four-mile run and pushed a little in the last mile per the plan, and that’s when I felt the butt pain again. Oopsie… oh, well – back to the drawing board.

I think I will bounce back a little quicker this time, knowing that rest and stretching was the combo that worked the best for me earlier in the spring. I’ll have to take a little time off from running again, stretch more, and keep putting my butt back on the bike to keep my cardio fitness going. And I will rotate the Ironman training plan back to the front. I need the cross-training to keep me from overdoing the running.

There’s still plenty of time to get ready for the Chicago Marathon in October. I just have to stop doing foolish things and stay away from things that will derail me. No more oopsies!

One of the finishing photos from last weekend’s race. I actually don’t look fat here.

The Forge Gravel Triathlon Race Report

When: 07/20/2024

Where: The Forge – Lemont, Illinois

Distance: Off-road Sprint – 14 miles total: ~ 540 yard SWIM, ~ 10 mile BIKE, ~ 3 mile RUN

Results: 1:20:34 – Overall & A/G placement – Who Really Knows?

Results Link: The Forge Gravel Triathlon Results

A lot can happen in three years. I certainly changed in that short period, taking time off from almost any type of race that involved going fast, and concentrating on going long and slow. But as I claw my way back into shorter and faster races, I find it difficult to get back to where I was. The Forge Gravel Triathlon has also changed since the last time I did it, adding a very technical (i.e. scary hard) section to the run course that involved a lot of walking and praying that I wouldn’t fall. I ended up with a time about 5.5 minutes slower than in 2021, which I can’t be too upset about. I’m actually somewhat impressed that I held it together through the last mile of the run. It wasn’t easy.

As I drove over a very potholed road into The Forge on Friday to pick up my race packet, I was reminded that this road is part of the course, and it was going to need my full attention on race day. I was up at 4 am on Saturday to get ready for the race. The drive to Lemont was an easy trip and I parked in my usual spot at Lemont HS and rode my bike into the park along the I & M Canal trail. Once there I racked my bike, set up my transition area, then started taking in the important Swim Out, Bike Out, and Run Out portions of transition. That led me to discover that the run-out now takes a narrow path, winding around and eventually dumping you on the trail. I decided a warm-up jog was in order, and headed down the trail to see what parts were changed and what to expect. I saw my friend Tony walking down the path and we exchanged pleasantries. He was there to volunteer as a lifeguard in a kayak, which is very much appreciated. He has a super-packed race schedule this year, so I was a little surprised that he finds time to volunteer for stuff like this.

Back to the warm-up jog, it led me to a very technical portion of the park that is used for mountain biking. It had steep drops and climbs, with many rocks and other gnarly stuff. I “jogged” through some of it until I finally decided I had seen enough and returned to prep for the race.

I saw another friend Leah, and I asked her husband Steve if he was wearing “the shirt”. “Oh yeah, I’m wearing it!” He wears this shirt that says “I DON’T DO MARATHONS, I DO A MARATHONER” to all her events and it gives me a chuckle every time. Leah and I chatted about our nervousness and then got ready.

Even though the water was 75 d. F. and wetsuit legal, I opted for my Roka swimskin, a sort of swim outfit that is supposed to reduce drag in the water. I love my wetsuit, but struggling to get it off after a swim can be a chore.

I was one of the first triathletes to head down to the swim start area and I found myself first in line in Wave 2. Looking at some of the athletes behind me had me thinking that I should probably move back, but I kept my spot and waited for the start. After the Elite Wave group of about 10-12 started, we all started to make our way to the dock and jump in, separated by about 5 seconds. It was a good swim for me – the water was a good temperature, I settled into my pace easily and had zero contact. I started to tire and felt a little out of breath on the last section heading back to the dock, but I got through it fine. SWIM TIME: 13:36

Into T1, I easily unzipped my swimskin and lowered it to my midsection, while sitting down, drying my feet, putting on socks/shoes, grabbing my helmet and bike, jogging to Bike Out, and then I realized I hadn’t fully taken off the swimskin! I stopped, leaned my bike against the fence, stripped it off, tossing it back to my transition area, and then off on my way to ride. T1 TIME: 2:32

I redlined the ride in true Gunner fashion. I was breathing heavily and my legs were screaming at me, but I soon found myself concentrating on my line on this twisty-turning trail and looking out for others as well. I passed a few and had a few pass me, but still felt like I was giving it my best effort. I knew that I wanted to press hard here and try to gain some time advantage because I knew I would be walking some of the run. BIKE TIME: 37:21

T2 was quick for me! It took me all of 44 seconds to rack my bike, take off my helmet and cycling shoes, put on my running shoes, grab my bib belt and visor while running to Run Out. I’m usually not that quick! T2 TIME: 0:44

A photo of the early part of the run course. The gnarlier stuff came later.

Once on the run I secured my bib belt, got my visor on, and carefully jogged through the opening path leading to the trail. It helped me settle down a little. As I got to the flat main trail, I started pushing pace and was doing quite well. Fortunately, a volunteer directed me over a bridge or I would have blown straight past her, cleaving off about 2/3s of a mile from the course. I was running pretty well on the flat trail and when I got to the technical part the walking began. There’s no way you could run up these little hills. On one of them, I was almost crawling up it. Fortunately, I didn’t have any mishaps and was about to finish that section when I heard a guy yelling about being confused about where to turn. I found that the run course was pretty clearly marked with arrows, but could understand how someone could get confused. He had been ahead of me, so I told him to follow me and got him going in the right direction again. I hit the gas for the last half mile back and finished pretty strongly. RUN TIME: 26:23

I was recovering a little past the finish line when I had a guy come up and ask me if my watch showed three miles. I informed him that it did and he said that he only had two miles recorded for the run. Five minutes later, a young lady also inquired about the run distance, saying she only had done two miles. Things were starting to get a little weird. It wasn’t long after the race that the race director grabbed a microphone and explained that somehow an arrow on the course had been moved, directing runners in the wrong direction. He advised that he couldn’t change the results, but if anyone in the crowd was aware that their run was short by a mile, to do the right thing and let him know. I didn’t see anyone approach him.

That somewhat explains the difference in my finish place compared to 2021. I finished 22nd overall in that race, and finished 60th in this one! And to add insult to injury, I placed 5th in my age group, but when I looked at the results, it was pretty clear that at least two of them had questionable run times. I should have been 3rd overall in the age group. I was robbed of an A/G spot!!! Oh well, it’s not that big of a deal. The bigger picture is that I raced well, felt good about my performance, and had a great time.

It was nice to get back to racing triathlon again.

Taking in the view waiting for the awards.

Ka-KLUNK! & Other Noises From Me

My gravel bike has been my riding choice this year, as it is more versatile and the tri-bike hangs in the garage, needing a tune-up and a reason to do it. Most of my weekday rides have been in the 20-25 mile range and I have stayed mainly on the local paved trail. Some of it is smooth as butter, but most of the portions of the trail have cracks and bumps, which are hard to avoid. And every bump lately has also come with a loud Ka-KLUNK! The sound was curious at first, causing me to wonder about it, but also to completely ignore it. But on my ride on Thursday, the sound was really bugging me.

The sound sometimes sounded like it came from the front fork, other times it was the back of the bike. But it seemed to echo through the carbon fiber frame of my bike. I tried coasting over bumps – Ka-KLUNK! I tried riding faster over bumps – Ka-KLUNK! I removed my water bottle – Ka-KLUNK! I checked and tightened all my screws – Ka-KLUNK! I removed the top tube bag which contains a bunch of stuff – Ka-KLUNK! One last thing to check was the saddle bag, which includes my flat repair tools – BINGO! No more Ka-KLUNK! It was a little surprising because it was tucked very tightly under the saddle and packed so full of junk that nothing loose could have been moving around. I added a piece of foam between the bag and saddle for now and have been riding Ka-KLUNK-free.

~~~~~

I had gotten a couple of flats while riding on the tarred and chipped roads we have around here, and the inspection of my rear tire showed considerable wear on it. Little pointy rocks on the road and on the crushed limestone paths were easily causing small cuts and piercing my tube. I ended up buying a new tire to replace it. Replacing the tire was not easy. I got the old tire off easily enough, but the new tire was not going on at all. My son was called in to assist and we both struggled to get this tire on the wheel. We were eventually able to muscle it on, but it left me thinking about how hard it would be to fix a flat while out riding by myself.

I was scrolling through Reddit and saw a post on r/bikewrench from a guy who was having the same issue – couldn’t get the tire on the wheel. One guy responded that he could get it on in about 30 seconds. Others chimed in with the same advice the 30-second guy had and I was embarrassed to admit I had not heard of these instructions before. I bought a new matching tire for the front wheel and it went on much easier, and without having to call for assistance.

~~~~~

One of the reasons to replace the front tire to match the back was to avoid looking silly, but also because I am doing my first triathlon in 3 years next weekend! Yes, I’m racing a gravel/off-road triathlon next Saturday and the tires I have added to the bike should make for good traction at this course. It’s a crushed limestone path with lots of turns, so hopefully I won’t have any problems negotiating those turns.

I found myself looking at the participant’s list, hoping to see if I knew any other locals racing, but couldn’t resist taking a peek at what the competition looked like in the M60-64 age group. There was one guy I found who had a very similar finish time to me and I figured he was my main competition. I searched his name and found that he’s a triathlon coach. Great. Well, I’m still going to give it a good effort and try to be competitive, despite trying to ease back into it after having hamstring injuries earlier this year. While I was on vacation, I was able to ride 10 miles in about 35 minutes and run 3 miles in about 25, so I’m not too far from my race pace effort.

~~~~~

Speaking of coming back from injuries, I have been doing much better. After my above-mentioned 25-mile bike ride on Thursday, I followed it up with a 9-mile run on Friday. I fully expected to be sore and have to run a little slower on a rather warm and humid day. But I was surprised to be running very well and pushed a good effort through 6-7 miles before the heat made me dial it back. I’m glad that the stretching and smart training I have done has made a difference. I just got to keep it up and not do something stupid like racing.

~~~~~

There’s a new Ironman 70.3 in Rockford, Illinois next year and of course, I had to sign up for it! Feeling good about riding and running again, and since this race is fairly close to me, I decided that this is would be a good reentry point. It’ll be a fun time!

~~~~~

I haven’t told the wife yet, but I signed up for the Broken Anvil Backyard Ultra yesterday. The race director said it was filling up and was capped at 100 participants. So I checked and saw that it had 79 runners so far and figured why not sign up? The race falls about 3 weeks out from the Chicago Marathon, so I can use it as my last long training run before then. I really like the backyard format and this race has been fun the past two times I have done it. I got through 50 miles in 2022, and 37 miles in 2023, so I’ll play it by ear and try to have some fun without wrecking myself.

I’d better tell the wife that I signed up. She hates it when she finds out on Facebook. If I don’t break it to her soon, you might hear a Ka-KLUNK! from my skull.

Let It Rip Wednesday!

The plan that I follow for triathlon training includes a bike workout immediately followed by a run on Wednesdays. Triathletes call this type of workout a “brick,” which basically means two workouts stacked together, or the way your legs feel when you get off the bike and attempt to run on them. It’s a tough workout, but by the end of the plan, you will be in a much better position to run well without the heavy legs you experienced initially.

The plan doesn’t say to go hard, but I always tend to let it rip. I will push hard on the bike, quickly transition to running gear, and then head out for the short run. It’s a good way to measure fitness and readiness for racing sprints. Today was the first brick workout I have done in quite a while, and I really shouldn’t have pushed very hard, but old habits die hard with me. I went hard on the bike for 12.6 miles, averaging 16.6 mph. That average pace is a little slow when you factor in the many slowdowns and stops for road crossings on the local bike trail. It’s probably more like 17-17.5 mph effort-wise.

The run was definitely a surprise. After struggling with a 5-mile run on Tuesday and feeling sore, I began the 2-mile planned brick run just hoping to not ruin myself. It started out as I expected with heavy legs and the overwhelming feeling that my calf muscles could go to Charley Horse mode at any time. But I slowly moved along until I felt like I was out of danger. The first-mile split showed a surprising 8:15 pace! The route I took was a little downhill and I struggled a little more with the second mile running back home. Again to my surprise, I ran an 8:11 min/mile. Yesterday I was lucky to average a 9:30 pace.

Post-workout I felt pretty good, without any soreness at all. Doing bricks and pushing pace is not something that I want to do more than occasionally, but I’m glad to see where I stand with my fitness, as I will do similar distances in the upcoming Forge off-road triathlon race next month. Back to my regularly scheduled training!

READY, SET, TRAIN!

Today marks the start of training for the 2024 Chicago Marathon! Sixteen weeks of training, and I kicked it off with a… swim?

Yes, I started with a swim. I have had a fairly rough go with running this year and was forced to hit the reset button. After taking basically two months off from running during March-April-May, I slowly started easing my way back into it. But boy, has it been a slow recovery.

I was dealing with an injury that I self-diagnosed as high hamstring tendonitis, and took some time off from running to help my old tendons and muscles recover. I have recovered enough now that I can do five miles pretty well, albeit much slower than I would like. I ran eight miles the other day and felt pretty beat up afterward, so instead of starting training with a bang, I better ease into it.

In the past, I had used an advanced plan to train for the marathon and it worked pretty well for me. But I really saw success when I was also training for triathlon, specifically Ironman. My three best marathon times were all done in the same year that I had trained for an Ironman. So I thought that maybe I might use the Ironman training plan to prepare me for the fall Chicago Marathon.

The main reason why following a triathlon-based training plan would be beneficial for me is because running is tough on my body, and at 60 years old, it isn’t getting any less tough. By following the triathlon plan, I have to spread my workouts over three disciplines and not just one. This should allow me to build cardiovascular conditioning through swimming and biking, as well as running, without putting all of that on just running.

To make it even a little less taxing, I will be following the “just finish” plan, which is a beginner-type plan instead of the advanced or competitive plan that I would normally follow. I can always up the training another notch if I feel like it is going well, but I really don’t want to have to hit that reset button again. Also, I have signed up for a sprint triathlon in July and I need to prepare for that too. I must admit that I enjoyed my swim today, and I have really enjoyed the biking that I have done as well.

I’m not setting any time goals, or shooting for a Boston Marathon qualifying time – I just hope to run strong and finish well. So, hopefully, all of this will work out and I will find some success in sixteen weeks. Chicago Marathon 2024, here I come!

Race Crashing

My wife and I head to northern Wisconsin every spring to get our lake home ready for summer, mowing the grass and picking up the hundreds of sticks that seem to gather on the ground. Memorial Day weekend is the perfect weekend for that getaway.

After getting all the chores done and taking a relaxing boat ride on Saturday, the following Sunday was the perfect time to drive to the local trail and get in a short run. As we approached the trailhead the parking lot was packed, and clearly there was a running event going on. I figured it was probably a 5K, so we made the decision to drive up the road to where a street crosses the trail, park, and start our run there. As we parked, we could still see runners heading back into town with race bibs on but it was pretty thinned out. We started running the other direction on the trail and I asked someone what race was going on and she said that it was a 5K/half-marathon/marathon. Here we were crashing another Minocqua trail race.

I’ve done this inadvertently before a few times. Heading up north for Memorial Day and Labor Day generally means I have work around the house to do, and if I run, it’s just to get a training run in – racing is never on my mind. But both holidays seem to have a big race going on. One year I was doing a 20-mile training run while the No Frills Marathon was going on. I got to run with a few of those runners too. Hopefully I will remember and have enough training under my belt to join in officially.

Kari and I were getting lots of “looking good” and “way to go” comments even though we weren’t in the race.

As we headed out most of the runners coming toward us were wearing the half-marathon bibs, and one runner was carrying a 2:00 hour pacing sign, so mostly mid-pack runners at that point. Then came a biker with another runner with a different bib. The leader of the marathon had just run by – with bleeding nipples. Even the elite runners still make the mistake of neglecting to tape the nips!

Kari decided to turn around after a little more than 2 miles, and I said that I’d run another 1/2 mile and then turn around. Just before I turned around I saw another marathoner heading back in, who was clearly struggling. I caught up to him as he was walking and I asked him if he was in the marathon. He replied that he was. I then said to him that he was the number two overall runner, that he had about a 5K to go, and that there was an aid station just ahead. He replied that he was feeling okay, just tired, and that he appreciated the pep talk. I said that I’d hate for him to get passed and lose a podium spot, and offered to pace him a little. He started running again and I picked up my own pace to make sure he got to the aid station. He took on some water and sports drink and I figured at that point he was looking good again.

It wasn’t long after that the third overall marathon leader and the first place woman runner caught me and passed me. This was turning into a very tight battle for second place. She was wearing earbuds, so I’m not sure if she could hear me, but I informed her that she was in third overall and that she had a good chance of catching the guy I was pushing to finish strong and not get caught! I always root for the underdog, and love to inspire someone to go for it.

I finished my 5 miles and went home and checked the results. Sure enough, the guy had enough left in the tank to hold off the hard charging top woman. I googled his name and saw that he was a rower at UW-Madison, so maybe not a runner, but an athlete who runs well for sure.

So as a reminder to myself, if I’m running well again this fall, I’m going to try to participate and not just crash the race.

I’m Proud Of It, So What?

I was on an ultramarathon Reddit page when I made a comment on a post about underestimating ultramarathons, mentioning how I felt ultras were more difficult than Ironman was for me. Then there was this reply to my comment:

“How do you know when someone has done an Ironman? Don’t worry, they’ll tell you.”

This is an old joke, and probably pretty fitting for most of us Ironman finishers. The guy thought that he was pretty witty I guess, even though it wasn’t even an original joke. Some people just feel the need to belittle others. I initially took his comment as an insult and then told him to stick it, and he then confirmed his insulting nature by trying to belittle me some more. A bully hiding behind his keyboard that I didn’t waste any more time on.

But it got me wondering if it was true? Could I be a little over the top with Ironman pride? Yeah, guilty as charged. I’m proud of being an Ironman, damn proud of it actually. It was something that I never thought was possible for me. I couldn’t swim 100 yards in a pool without stopping, and the thought of biking more than a century and then running a marathon after all of that – used to boggle my mind. I would watch the Ironman race on television and think that these people were superhuman.

Most finishers feel the accomplishment is worthy of celebration. We buy the gear – and wear it. We refuse to take off the athlete wristband for weeks after the race is over. Some follow a long-held tradition of getting the “M-dot” tattoo, usually on the right calf. Talk about telling others that you are in an elite club.

But this is not the first time I got the feeling that I need to dial it back. After my first finish, I took to wearing my new Ironman Wisconsin hoodie, the one with the athlete names on the back of it, every chance I could. Another dad, who liked to raze me, mentioned that I was wearing that hoodie – AGAIN. Touché, but did I dial it back?

Heck no! One Ironman finish became two, then three, four, and currently I am up to five. I wear the finisher jackets, the Ironman hats, t-shirts, and hoodies. I drink my coffee from my Ironman race mugs. I started this blog to document the training and the racing, but there’s definitely some level of pride going into it. I want the memories to be there for me when I am older. Although I write them for myself, others visit the site, looking for race insights and maybe some inspiration. I like to write about running, triathlon, and Ironman, I’m not making any excuses for bragging a little.

At home, it may even be worse. I have a room dedicated to running medals, race posters, and memorabilia. I have a similar shrine to myself in my office at work. Guilty, guilty, guilty.

My shrine to myself at work.

I’m not sure if there are many more races in the cards for me. I may not earn another Ironman finisher medal, jacket, name t-shirt, hat, or plaque with pictures of me working hard to earn those things and that title of Ironman. I’m going through some injuries right now and realize that I will get over them, but at 60 it’s not getting easier. So I will look back on those five Ironman finishes and cherish them, and maybe brag a little about it.

As they say, “Suffer for 140.6 miles, brag for a lifetime.”