Mountain Man!

Just got back from a great 5 mile run in Tahoe. It was a balmy 15 degrees (It was zero degrees at 7am, but Liz wouldn't let me go until it got to at least double digits). Fortunately it was sunny and there wasn't any wind, so I bundled up warm and went for it. I had some shoe grips that go over the running shoes with little spikes on so you don't slip on the ice and snow. They worked really well, in ice, snow or even just plain road - I could run without feeling I was about to fall on my ass.

After a few hundred yards it didn't feel cold (perhaps because I was numb) and I did a 2.5 mile, downhill run (dropping from 6750 to 6250) along a dirt trail through the trees in a few inches of snow. A really beautiful run down to the lake.

Then I turned around and came back up what I thought was a fairly gentle slope. Wow, was I wrong about that. Between the cold and the altitude it was a real slog running those 2.5 miles back up even though it was only a 500 foot climb. The end was very steep and I slowed to a crawl. By the time I got back to the house I was soaked in sweat and gasping for breath.

Tomorrow I'm planning a longer run, and this time I think I'll go uphill for the first half and then have an easy second half.

Ooops....faster than planned

So another messed up training run. Supposed to be an easy 7 miler with the Oracle group at lunchtime. Got there late and they were starting as I got to the changing room. I said "I'll catch you". I started 5 minutes behind them and figured that I'd catch them in the first 2-3 miles. So off I go at a 7 minute pace, chasing the group, that I'm hoping is taking it easy at 8:30-9ish.

Finally catch them after 2 1/2 miles in just over 17 minutes. Definitely not the planned easy run and I was certainly breathing hard. of course, that's the time that the group starts to pick up the pace.

Finish the 7 miles at an average of 8 minutes. And the first mile (6:52), two miles (14:01). three miles (21:37) and 5k (22:27) were new time records for me. After the next half marathon I am going to try to run those short distances fast up at the track as I think I should be able to get much closer to 6:30 for a mile, and 21:00 for a 5k.

Because of this unplanned fast run I get to skip the 6 mile pace run in Tahoe and just do an easy 5 miler on Saturday - so I guess that's a silver lining.

Hopefully it's not too cold up there.

The money keeps rolling in

Just checked my sponsorship page for Aids Marathon, and was surprised to see that even though the marathon was a month ago, people are still making donations. Amazingly, since the race, another $1,200 has been donated, taking my total to $18,212!

Here's some different ways to think about that amount......
......$695.11 per mile run
......$0.43 per meter run
......$1 for every 2.31 meters run
......$68.59 per minute run
......$1.14 per second run
......$0.38 per step taken
......$1 for every 2.62 steps taken

And by far the most useless measure, if you took the total amount in 1 cent coins and laid them out in a line, they would stretch for almost 21 miles. If I somehow manage to raise another $4,600 (which is highly unlikely), the pennies would go the entire marathon course.

The first week of 2007

1 down, 51 to go.....

My highest week mileage ever at 42.8. Just finished out the week with a fast 6 miler (7:52 pace) yesterday and a nice easy 12-13 miler (8:57 pace) today starting in Bixbee Park, twice around the lake at Shoreline Park and then back home up Steven's Creek Trail and thru Mountain View. An absolutely beautiful sunny day, low 60's with no wind. Seems like half the Bay Area was out running, biking or walking in the sun. Days like this remind me of why I left dark, cold, rainy England all those years ago.

The next 3 weeks call for 35-38 miles spread over 5 days/week as I build up to the Kaiser Half Marathon on Feb 4th (Superbowl Sunday). After 2 back to back marathons I'm definitely looking forward to some shorter races.

One fun little adventure will be running in the snow late this week as we're off to Tahoe. I have my hi-tec slip-on snow grips - we'll see how it goes running at 6,000 feet in the cold on snow/ice. If I stick to my schedule I will be running a fast 6, an easy 14 and an easy 5. I guess we'll see how dedicated I really am when it's 25 degrees and snowing.

Slow and Steady

An easy 7 miles today at lunch with the work group (8:59 pace) and an even easier 5 yesterday morning on my own (9:42). I was happy that I actually managed to stay on a slow pace and not speed up at the first excuse. My knees and shins feel a lot better than they did Tuesday night. Maybe I will miraculously avoid more injuries if I can keep things under control.

So much for the training plan

Ran today with a new group at lunch. Was supposed to be an easy 5 miles but common sense seemed to be at a lower level than testosterone so it ended up being way too quick (From high 8's down to high 6's at the finish) . Oh well, I will make tomorrow an easy day instead (promise....)

2007 - Off to a good start

Woke up at 7 when the kids decided it was time to get up. I think I had a little too much food and wine the night before so wasn't expecting too much as I lined up at the start of the 10k race. But it was a beautiful day and a fairly small field (150 people) although most people looked like real runners.

I had a very fast start (6:30 pace) and it took me almost a mile to get on my planned pace (7:30ish) but then I settled down. Focused on staying on pace through mile 3 and then spent the second half of the race trying to catch the people in front. I reeled in about 6 or 7 people between miles 3 and 6, and no-one passed me. I finished with a strong final 3/4 mile for a time of 46:25, which was 7:28 average pace. I was very happy with that! Imagine what I could do if I wasn't dehydrated!?

However, when they posted the results about 30 minutes later I wasn't on the list! I went to the race director and he checked my number. Apparently I'd run down the right instead of the left finish chute (both of which were unmarked...) and they had me down as a runner in the 5k race that started 30 minutes after we did. It seems I had won the 5k in a time of about 16 minutes. I decided against taking the trophy and told them I was a 10k runner. After a little doinking around on the computer the director told me I had come in 27th place. Not bad - in the top 20%.

Although I'm not completely sure yet, I don't think I was beaten by anyone under 15, or over 60, which is a big first for me in racing.

Hopefully this is a sign for how the rest of 2007 will go!

The end of 2006

No running today. Resting for a New Year's 10k race tomorrow. - my first ever 10k race.

It's been 3 weeks since the marathon and I've been running probably a little too hard since then and my knees are telling me to back off a little. I'm on an 8 week schedule for the Kaiser Half Marathon on Feb 7th. 5 days a week, 35-40 miles/week and lots of speedwork (400m and 800m). Plus I've thrown in a couple 10k practice runs for fun (best time so far 46:52).

Looking back over the last 9 months I can see a lot of progress (the advantage you get of starting from zero...). I've gone from 60-70 miles/month in June/July to about 130 in December. My fast pace in April is now my easy pace.

2007 is about doing some much more structured training, and scarily I am also starting to look at what I eat! (I had promised that running was not going to start changing what/when I eat but there you go....). The focus is on half marathons for the first 6-7 months and then I need to get serious about doing a "well-under-4-hour-marathon" in Sacramento at the California International Marathon on December 3rd. Reviewing my two somewhat subpar marathons of 2006 I realise there are 2 major problems....

1) I have been running nowhere near enough miles in training to run a good marathon
2) I need to stop wimping out at the end of the race

For now though it's an easy day with the family - Happy New Year!

Honolulu Marathon - Race report.

Aloha from sunny Hawaii! It's Tuesday, 2 days after the marathon and it's time for my final update....

The Plan....
The plan was good, maybe even excellent! Basically I split the race into 3 parts: A steady first 10 miles in 1 hour 34 (9:24 pace), a slightly faster 10 miles in 1 hour 31 (9:06 pace) and then a fast 10k to finish in 55 minutes (8:51 pace) - total time 3:59:59 (9:09 pace).

The First 10 Miles.....
After a long & restless night the alarm went off at 2:30am. Got down to the start about 3:45 and lined up for the restroom for 25 minutes (25,000 people, 200 restrooms - you do the math). Spent 45 minutes sneakily edging my way to the front of the 2-3 hour section along with everyone else who had absolutely no chance of achieving that time. At 5am we set off under a huge firework display. Not sure how smart that is as 25,000 people start running thru dowtown in the dark and no-one is looking where they are going because they are all staring at the fireworks - saw a few people trip over curbs etc but I managed to avoid most of the mess. After a mile I was running on pace, and in the clear, but was already drenched in sweat, so I knew this was going to be a rough race. Things go well except for the pit stop behind a bush in downtown Honolulu at mile 2...(that cost me 30 seconds, but it was worth it), and at mile 8 we get to Diamond Head. It's not too bad and I keep on pace as we go over the hill for the first time. As I cross the 10 mile marker at the bottom I'm at 1:34, right on pace and feeling really good.

The Second 10 Miles...
At mile 11 we hit the highway for a boring 4 mile stretch . On the left it's miles 11-15, on the right it's miles 18-22. We get to see the elite athletes and the wheelchair racers zip by, barely sweating and looking very relaxed. It's always cool to see them go by but it's a little humbling to think that they are going at about a 5 minute pace. The highway stretch is into a reasonably strong headwind and it's tough. I look around for someone big to follow and realize I'm probably the tallest person in the race. Slogging on thru the wind I cross the halfway point at 2:03:20 (74 seconds behind plan). Then the sun came up and we move from hot and humid, to hotter and humider. At mile 15 we thankfully leave the highway, and the headwind and loop around the neighborhood for a few miles. At mile 18 we get back on the highway and this time I'm the fast guy passing the slower people coming out on the other side. However, what should have been a tailwind still seemed to be a headwind and it's now about 120 degrees. But I keep going and cross the 20 mile mark at 3:07:55, which was 2:59 behind pace. The wind and heat had really slowed me and I was feeling pretty tired with 6.2 miles (10k to go).

The Final 10k....
This is the final stretch - you reach this point after a 20 mile warmup run feeling fresh and ready to kick it into gear for the final 10k. Nice theory. Doing the math in my head I realized that to hit 4 hours I needed to run a 52 minute 10k, including going over Diamond Head. They say that great racers have the ability to change their race strategy on the fly to account for raceday conditions. I'm certainly no great racer but I sure as hell knew that I wasn't going to be turning in a 52 minute 10k right then, so I switched to plan B. Unfortunately there really wasn't a plan B so the "Marathon Voices" started whispering..... "it's hot, you can walk, you can't beat 4 hours so why are you still running., take a quick break, slow down....". I am determined to fight the urge to walk and remain strong and try to hold to a 9:30 pace which would get me in about 4:05. This goes on for a while getting worse and worse as the voices get louder and louder. Eventually, after about 150 yards the voices win and I'm taking a walk break, but just a quick one. Of course, that's the time I see my marathon coach, who is patrolling miles 20-22 helping all the AidsMarathon runners. Our program is a run/walk program, meaning you run for 5-6 minutes, then walk for a minute. I hate the walk part so I always skip that, so she is surprised to see me walking. She asks me what run/walk ratio I'm on and I tell her it's the run 20 miles, walk 6 miles plan! At this point I'm seriously considering walking the last 6 but I was also looking around for a bus. I walk for about 2-3 miles, only running when I pass a camera, and then get bored of it and start running again. By then I'm about 25 minutes behind plan but manage to get going again. I cover the last 3 miles at about a 9 mile pace, including up and over Diamond Head. I finish feeling OK, at 4:26:11 a good minute per mile behind the planned pace, but I managed to smile for the cameras and pass a few people on the home stretch. The rest of my running pace group comes in between 4:41 and 5:23 so it wasn't just me finding it tough. Even the winner was 8 minutes behind the world record, and he didn't have to run in the sun!

The Conclusions....
26.2 miles is a long way.
I beat Oprah twice, not once.
I got beaten by a 10 year old girl.
I crushed the 7 year old girl by almost 2 hours.
Nobody over 77 years old beat me.
Hawaii is hot, and it gets worse when the sun comes up.
I was the top AidsMarathon fundraiser in the country, raising over $17,000
I'm now a runner.

thanks for your support - Alan

Honolulu Marathon - Final Countdown!

I can't believe it, but it's finally time for the big race! It's next Sunday, December 10th, starting at 5am Hawaii time. Weather forecast is 73 at the start climbing to 82 with 70% humidity. A little change from my run yesterday morning at 34 degrees....

It will have been 6 weeks since I ran a marathon in San Jose, and at the end of that race I swore that I wouldn't run fast in Hawaii. That lasted all of a day, and then I started looking for some training advice for people dumb enough to do 2 marathons, 6 weeks apart. Most of the advice was along the lines of "Don't do it, it's a dumb idea" but I miraculously found a training plan from a reputable running coach designed exactly for people silly enough to be doing this. It's been much more intense than my previous training, including 400 meter sprints, hillwork and 5 days running a week. I've been running 35-40 miles for the last 4 weeks and I'm feeling great. I've run in the dark, the cold, the rain, when I'm sick and even on my birthday. I have one 8 miler left tomorrow and then it's a few 2-4 milers before I line up to race, in theory better prepared than I was 6 weeks before.

My goal for Hawaii is to beat 4 hours (average 9:09/mile), which should be possible given the training. Of course, the heat, humidity and 35,000 other people could mess things up, and I'll be sure to blame all of them if I fail miserably. But I have a cunning strategy - to avoid getting bogged down by the crowds I plan to start with the guys who will run it in 3 hours. That'll mean lining up about 4am and trying to look like a serious runner for an hour, talking about technical things like "glycogen and negative splits", and then, at the gun, I'll try to avoid getting trampled to death by the 7 minute milers as I trot off on my 9 minute miles. The alternative is to start with the 4 hour gang but then I will have to run over all the people dressed as Santa Claus and Darth Vader, and the crazy Japanese families who have decided that dragging their 10 year old kids through a marathon in homemade flip-flops will be a good bonding experience. I have no real strategy for the heat other than hoping for rain. Bottomline is that I have no idea what to expect but I know that I'm going to enjoy a nice beer or 5 at the end.

So, many people have asked "What happens after the race - Will you keep running, or return to the couch from whence you came?". Well I have to admit, I am hooked on this running thing. I love the measured improvement that you see from following a structured training plan. I love the time alone being able to just think about stuff. But mostly I love all the cool gadgets and gizmos that I am allowed to buy. I am probably being a little too organized/analytical but I have already worked out my running plan for 2007. The plan is to focus on half marathons thru July (I have 5 planned), with a goal of getting down to one hour thirty-something (i.e. 1:39:59). This is only 11-12 minutes improvement over my best half, which doesn't sound like much, but it means running at a 7:38 pace. Once I've achieved (or failed completely to achieve) that, I turn my attention back to the full marathon. I am going to run the California International Marathon in Sacramento early December, with a goal of under 3:45. This is a course that is conveniently downhill the whole way so that should be good for a few minutes. Of course, by February I could be bored of it all, in which case you should look out for my "Amazing News - Alan to climb Everest!" email....

Thanks to everyone for their support, encouragement, advice (well, some of it anyway) and generosity over the last 6 months - I've been amazed at the response to this whole thing, it's certainly changed my life. - Alan

Quick Post Marathon Update....

The race (The Silicon Valley Marathon) on Sunday was good. I finished a full 26.2 mile marathon in 4 hours 10 minutes. Although this was a little slower than my stretch goal of 4 hours, it beat Oprah (4:29) and P. Diddy (4:14) so I am very happy with that for my first ever marathon.

The first 18 miles were great - I was ahead of pace for the 4 hour time. By mile 20 the 4 hour pace group had caught me and I hung with them for 15 minutes or so until it started to feel bad and I had to let them go (I really could have used a couple of 20+ training runs before racing this). Then I had 3 really tough miles on my own with very few people around. It was pretty demoralising to watch the pace group creep away into the distance as I was plodding along.

By about 24 I was feeling better (as it was only 2 miles home) and kicked it in again, but by then I had lost enough time that there was no way I could hit 4 hours. As I got to the home stretch, Liz and the kids were waiting for me and Nick (5) and Anna (4) ran the last 100 yards down the finishers chute with me, which was awesome. All in all, it was a very rewarding run.

I can now run Honolulu (which is in 6 weeks) with no pressure on time etc. - if it's good, great - if it's slow, no problem. thanks, Alan

Marathon Update - 6 Months into Training

6 months down, 6 weeks to go. $15,285 raised, 499 miles run, 299 miles biked and 0.1 mile swimming.

A few weeks ago I raced a half marathon in San Jose. The main goal was to see if I could do a race without getting carried away running too fast with the crowd. My plan was for a fairly steady 1 hour 53. After a reasonably constant pace 12 miles and a fast last mile I finished in 1:51. That was an 8:34 pace for 13.1 miles. I was very happy with that. Legs weren't too bad after but I definitely wasn't running too much the next few days. Popular belief is if you double your 1/2 marathon time and add about 15 minutes you get your marathon goal (assuming you've trained for it). So I should be able to do 3:57. I feel that at this point I could just declare victory over Oprah and get back to my normal life. With a little extra effort maybe I can even catch Roger Craig (3:54) - our fabulous president may be a little far off at 3:44:52.

But this isn't about "paper victories", it's about grinding out the miles in the blazing heat, so tomorrow I'm running a full marathon! I am supposed to be doing a 23 mile training run in Golden Gate Park, but the Silicon Valley marathon is this Sunday in San Jose. There's not much difference between 23 and 26 miles (Ask me about that at mile 23 if you are around....). But the real difference is going to be the pace. Our long training runs are meant to be SSLLLOOOOWWWWWW at 11:30-12:30 pace. Through some warped & extremely dubious logic, I have decided that this race will be an easier one than Hawaii (less people, less humidity and less hills). If I do this one fast, beat Oprah, & declare victory I can take it easy in Honolulu instead of having to fight my way through 35,000 Japanese runners.I would have liked to get a couple more long runs in (I've done 16, 19 and 20s) and spending the week walking/standing at Oracle OpenWorld wasn't exactly a good way to rest but I feel pretty good so I'm going to give it a try. I'm going to start on pace (9:00) and see how it feels every 5 miles. If it's good, I'll keep going. If anything feels off, I'll slow it down to 10:30ish and take it easy for the run. If all goes well I'll do just under 4 hours.