Rock and Roll Half 2 weeks later...

5251	JKA	Chesapeake VA		M-47	Half Marathon
Gun:	7:00:56	5k	10k	10 Mile	11 Mile	Finish
Chip:	7:07:19	26:26	52:01	1:21:47	1:29:30	1:45:11
Race Pace:		8:32	8:23	8:11	8:09	8:02

This was maybe the best race I've ever run. I think I had a smile on my face the whole way. I don't think I can say the strategy worked. I forgot about strategy and just ran. Maybe the biggest factor in that 1:45:11 was the weather. It was cooler then it had been in previous years. Or maybe the key factor was that I've learned enough about running a race like this that I understand most of the salient points and can just run and not overthink the thing. There are always huge numbers of people in this race, which I think really adds to the fun factor. This year there were about 17000 finishers. My most vivid memory is of the people who pass by. I like feeling that sense of camaraderie as you run along with and chat with, sometimes friends and acquaintances, sometimes perfect strangers. Maybe people can't be considered strangers in a situation of shared suffering. Or maybe we're all brought together by a shared goal. Anyway, this was my seventh year running this race and my fastest time, by 6 minutes. I'm very proud of the race pace listed above. It shows that I was getting faster as the distance increased. Ran the last 5K faster than the first. If I could run a full marathon like that I'd probably end up qualifying for Boston.


"If your heart is closed, then you will find behind that door nothing to light your way. But if your heart is open, you will find behind that door people who, like you, are searching, and you will find the right door together with them. None of us can save himself; we are the instruments of one another’s salvation, and only by the hope that we give to others do we lift ourselves out of the darkness into light. "

- Dean Koontz, One Doorway From Heaven

The world, On time!

Had a problem with my iPod. Sent it back and they determined that it needed to be replaced. Here's the FedEx tracking log. I think it's amazing that I can get something all the way from China, in just a few days.

Luxury????

Check this out. $40 round trip. How much Luxury can you get for $40?

Strategy for the RnR Half

Pretty much the same strategy I always have. Go out conservatively and speed up depending on how I feel. I'd love to be under 1:50:00 this time but the heat makes that tough. There will be pacers for people looking to finish at various times. there's one for 1:45:00 and 1:52:00. The idea is to just stay near them and you'll finish in that time. I'm thinking of trying to stay near the 1:45:00 pacer and just hang as long as I can. Just make sure I stay ahead of the 1:52:00 group.

The question keeps coming up, why I do this. Meaning not just the half but the marathon and the triathlons. I really can't answer this question. It has to do with some of the following:

1) It allows me to challenge myself. Something I don't get in other aspects of my life.
2) I enjoy the discipline. Even though I hate schedules or being bound to exact times.
3) Stress relief.
4) Keeps me fit, in shape and feeling good.
5) Gives me a sense of personal accomplishment. Hard to get in other aspects of my life. Somehow this is related to 1.

Friend of mine(M) found this and said it describes me. Might not be true but I claim it:

"Some people imagine that I'm a bohemian mystic who lives outside the system and disdains conventional wisdom. That's half-true. I'm also a disciplined artist with a fondness for analytical thinking and a commitment to self mastery." -Rob Bresny

We had a great ocean swim last night. Heavy surf and we were just rolling along like it was nothing. Loved it! And there were some cool people out there too.

10 mile monday

Ran 10 miles this morning since I went and watched the practice tri yesterday(Sunday) I rode the Patriot Half Ironman bike course on Saturday. Usually I like to run long on Saturday but there were some folks who were gonna ride the course so I joined them. My GPS lost the satellites at 8.3 miles on the run today. Not really sure why. Maybe I was under some trees and too close to a stone wall, in sort of a sheltered area. It's hard to reacquire sats while moving, and I didn't want to stop, so I'm guestimating the last couple of miles. The Rock and Roll Half marathon is next Sunday. This will be my 7th. I'm probably as ready I'll ever be. My Half marathon PR is 1:41 but my best in this race is 1:51... the discrepancy is due to heat at the RnR every year.

This is a great short story. Another something I should have read in high school.

Negative Splits...

Couple of things to look at from my very good run this morning.







This is data from my garmin GPS unit for my standard 5.8 mile run loop. Usually I feel good if I can do it in under 46 minutes. Today's time was 44:50, after really struggling on this same route a few weeks ago. The big difference was the temperature and humidity. It was nice and cool out this morning. Maybe around the low seventies. Things to note: in the table, each mile was faster than the previous one, this is called having negative splits and is what you want to happen in a race. I'll take even splits in the marathon. Even 9 minute mile splits gets me under 4 hours. The heart rate graph shows just a slow drift upward as the pace shows a slow downward drift. Getting those 2 lines to remain steady for up to 4 hours is the challenge of the marathon. I probably need my heartrate to stay under 155bpm and the temperature to be no more than 65F to be anywhere close to a PR in the NYC marathon.

Swam in the ocean Monday night, at Virginia Beach, off 55th street. We practiced getting the heartrate up as would happen at the start of a triathlon and then bringing it down after rounding the first buoy(while still swimming). It's good to see how this feels. My biggest problem is just keeping my head down and swimming. Instead I'm looking around trying to stay away from kicking feet and swinging arms.

Swam 1 mile last thursday.
Ran 9.7 miles last Friday(hot and high humidity).
Rode 57 miles on saturday.

As societies grow decadent, the language grows decadent, too. Words are used to disguise, not to illuminate, action: you liberate a city by destroying it. Words are to confuse, so that at election time people will solemnly vote against their own interests. -Gore Vidal, writer (1925- )

OBX!!!!

Is where I am this week. Seems odd to me, when people ask where are you going and I say OBX, they say, what's that. I can understand if you live out of this region but how can you live in the mid atlantic and not know what OBX is? Don't those all those OBX bumper stickers at least heighten your curiosity? Anyway, I'm here with the peeps, relaxing, eating and training. Rode(Map here) yesterday, swam and ran today. Click on the map and it'll show you where I am. We're staying right at mile 0 on the map. Very nice and relaxing place! I'll post pictures soon.

Ran 10.5 Saturday and I'm up to swimming 9/10(1600 yards) of a mile without stopping.

"Learn to be quiet enough to hear the sound of the genuine within yourself so that you can hear it in other people." -- Marian Wright Edelman