Week Update/Philadelphia 1/2 Marathon Recap

Haile is running Tokyo in February, Shalane is leading the U.S. Women's revolution in long distance running, Brad Hudson analyzes Ritz, and a weird tidbit from the crazy Boston registration this year.

Playing some catchup, so bear with me.

Tue - 7 miles with drills - went out with Pat and Crystal, did 4.5 up, 20-30 minutes of drills at the track, 2.5 back. As usual, sped up coming in and blazed through the last half mile (low 8 minute pace overall). Felt pretty good overall.

Wed - 0!!! Couldn't really work it into my schedule due to cold weather + rain, started rethinking my objectives with the upcoming 1/2 marathon since I was feeling better, and reasoned that it was race week and needed to get a little rest

Thur - 7 miles with drills - did solo around town, legs were really tired and sore and took it very easy. 5 up, did drills right outside my neighborhood, paced out 40 yards and went right down the line and nailed the workout. 2 easy to finish it out. Legs felt much better when I was done.

Fri - 0 - travel day to D.C., considered doing a few miles in the morning but the midnight showing of Harry Potter and the consequent 2.5 hours of sleep killed that thought.

Sat - 5 miles - ran a loop with Shane around Washington D.C. - did his monument loop which starts at the Capitol Building and loops around the Washington Monument, FDR Monument, and Lincoln Monument. Super scenic, tons of people out, actually passed by a 5K in the Mall that was being held for the homeless. Just reinforces my theory that the best way to see a city is to run through it. Weather was high 60's, just ridiculously perfect.

Sun - PHILADELPHIA 1/2 MARATHON - 13.1 miles - 1:25:18 PR Since this race was an important one for me (for many reasons), will revert back to the old format of race reporting.

Drove into Philly the night before (roughly 2-3 our drive sans traffic), hit massive traffic jams on I-95 due to some 50+ car pileup which consequently shut down BOTH lanes. Started considering whether this was worth the 5+ hour drive since we were coming close to missing the expo. Using Google Maps, hit some side roads, drove through the side roads of Maryland, and eventually got back onto the interstate and into Philly. Made it to the downtown Philly with roughly an hour to spare at the Expo, hit up Hard Rock Cafe for a late night dinner, got to the hotel and repelled any bad notions of visiting Harrah's Casino down the road from our hotel, and went to sleep.

Race Morning

Woke up super early, the lack of sleep from the previous nights plus the hour time difference being on Eastern Time Zone was taking its toll. Made our way downtown, had slight problems finding parking and was definitely running late. Walked to the start, pretty scenic downtown and saw a lot of buildings that I recognized in various shows/movies. We started in front of the Art Museum and looped our way around the city. Was scrambling to get to the bag check off, and back to the start, and definitely was starting to panic slightly.

At the Start

Had 10 minutes to spare by the time I got to the bag drop off, and had to work my way through a few thousand people to get to my start corral. Absolutely 0 warmup, 0 stretching, was going into this cold. Legs felt ok though, and the weather was cold (38, would eventually get up to the low 40's), but really perfect to run since there was minimal breeze. Barely made it to the start to watch the wheelchair participants go off, and get my shoes tied up. Made my way up, was getting really anxious and actually had some butterflies, and tried to visualize the race and get into focus.

Race Report

Gun goes off, and here we go! Quite a few people were surging forward, and was a little perplexed to see everyone starting hard. I knew this was supposedly a fast course, but everyone seemed to be hauling. Kind of a weird feeling, since I hadn't done much in a while so the speed took a little bit to get adjusted to. Kept monitoring my Garmin, was definitely going out pretty fast. Looped around downtown, pretty scenic and had some decent cheer zones. I always go out freaking hard in these races and tried to dial it in - the cold didn't help. Fortunately, I felt pretty good and it was a pretty flat start and I had a good group of people to run with. [Miles 1-3 splits: 6:14, 6:17, 6:22]

Definitely went out a bit hard, but was still ok. Started to dial in a pace, and tried to get settled in. Looped back and started leaving downtown alongside the river towards some outer neighborhood like areas. Had a goofy looking guy with a funky stride clearly single me out, and he had it in his mind not to let me pass him because he kept surging forward. Felt bad because he was breathing waaay too hard for that early in the race, and he had a friend that was biking/taking photos yelling at him to slow down. Not surprised to drop him hard at the 5th mile. Started to feel a little tired, but tried to push those evil thoughts and get settled in. Found a group of runners to work with, and tucked in behind. Pretty awesome to run through this area which had Independence Hall, and a few coffee shops/retail shops. Great scenary, and was appreciating seeing Philly like this. Lots of cheering around, lots of fun. [Miles 4-6 splits: 6:30, 6:29, 6:26]

Started hitting some rolling hills a bit later. Ran through the 10K at 40:00 (would have been a PR sadly), and felt pretty good. Looped around this neighborhood like area, and hit a few long hills. Had to adjust my stride a bit, and started to labor over some of the long climbs which felt like eternity at times! I was still running in a group at this time, and had to battle to get my heartrate and breathing back to normal since they were surging out as soon as they hit the flats. I really didn't want to lose them, so had to adjust and really talk to myself to get back into form. Defintely starting to struggle a bit, but the downhills helped a little. [Miles 7-9 splits: 6:10 (I think this was short, but this was a really downhill mile, 6:37, 6:26]

I had done my homework for this race, via the Running Laminator, and knew to expect some painful hills around here. Hit one of the nastiest uphills around mile 10 around the zoo area, which pretty much took all the wind out of my sails. Pace dropped substantially, and my entire group was staggering up this mountain. Decided to just slow it down and try to make it up without expending too much energy, but it definitely took its toll. The others took off, and I tried valiently to keep up but started to get gapped. Legs were dead at this point, and the lack of training was pretty evident. Eventually got my breath and legs slightly back, and made my way back up. Started looping around back towards the city at this point, and could see the runners behind us. Ran around a circular drive, and started to lose my mark (one of the women marathon runners), and the group was officially done at this point. Started getting some really dark thoughts, and the girl was gapping me again, but vanquished all the negativity and pushed back forward. The Running Gods rewarded me with a nice downhill and was able to get back into pace a bit. Started visualizing the final 3 miles as my G.C. loop back home, and tried doing the math to see where I was at since I was on PR pace. Headed back towards downtown, pretty cool to see the River and the city as we approached it. Started talking to the girl a little bit that I was working with, found out she was aiming for low 2:50's and she was just in cruise control. A bit demoralizing since I was pretty tired, but we encouraged each other and I started to pick it up with a mile and a half to go. Started to get a little excited when I saw the split from the half and full marathoners, and picked it up a little. Worked with 2 others and pushed it towards the end. [Miles 10-13.1 split: 6:47, 6:21, 6:25, 6:22, not sure the last because my watch was messed up]

RESULTS
Peter Kim M31
Clock Time: 1:25:28
Chip Time: 1:25:18 PR
Overall Place: 94/9500?
Gender Place: ?
Division Place: 12/?
Pace: 6:30/Mile

Final Thoughts

Pretty stoked, had no idea where that came from with virtually no training and being slightly overweight, but it was clear the fresh legs helped me though and all the work I gave my lungs when they were pretty much closed helped a bit. Definitely recharged and motivated to push forward, still completely speechless. The stars may have aligned for that one day, but there is still much work to be done. Shane finished shortly after at 1:31, just missing his PR but still a great time. Marc finished a little after at 2:03, he was using this as a workout and had a good run until his IT bands started to flare. Good races all around!

In D.C. for another day, hoping to get in one more workout with Shane before heading back tonight. All in all a solid week, hit around 40 miles which was good, and hoping the holiday week doesn't derail me too much from hitting some good miles!

More on Haile

Didn't realize Haile had a Twitter account; also, one more article via the New York Times concerning his unretirement.

Was running super late for dinner with the Harrisses, so was forced to get in a very quick run. The schedule said easy 6, but I didn't have much time and ended up pushing the pace a bit. Weather was cool and absolutely perfect, and legs felt decent. Chose the trail out and back with G.C. 270 loop, pretty hilly and challenging but fun as well and somewhat scenic. Felt ok starting out, and got into a decent rhythm and was knocking off miles pretty quickly. Pushed it on the last mile coming up that last huge hill, and felt like I was flying. Perfect night to run, and I was really pleased with the splits which I really wasn't shooting for. Breathing was a bit messed up when I was done and had a slight coughing fit which caused some concern, but went away eventually. I wonder if I need to do some track work to see if I can even race a 5K without problems? Something to think about for next week. Total mileage: 5 miles - splits were: 6:40, 6:34, 6:37, 6:34, 6:19.

Easy 7 with drills tonight with Crystal. Really happy that I can run at near full capacity again and enjoying the awesome fall weather :)

That didn't take long...

Haile unretires! Not surprised, he was talking from his heart after a tough race, and I'm glad he reconsidered. The running world is better with him competing, and he is one of the greatest ambassadors ever for the sport. Also, here is an interview with Ryan Hall that was interesting.

Weekend running went pretty well. Friday, got out of work and headed to Crystal's for us to do drills. Picked up the new Brooks Adrenaline 11's from Big River Running, and was pretty excited to try them out. Will write a shoe review later after I get a week or so with them. Ran 4.5 up with a detour around Crystal's parent's neighborhood. Found a nice 1-1.2 mile slightly hilly loop that may serve as a good area for tempo runs. Wide roads, safer than the streets, so we may do work in the future there. Got up to the track, did form drills and ran back. Felt pretty smooth, got faster coming back, not a terrible surprise. Inhaler helped a ton, breathing wasn't an issue at all. Total mileage: 7 miles - averaged low 8's.

Saturday, did long run with Mike and Crystal. Did our typical out and back on the trails. Kind of mentally circled this run - thought if I could get through this run without any issues that I would declare myself on the verge of recovery. Nice weather - slightly chilly starting out, but felt fine later on the run. Didn't really push the pace, and we all enjoyed a nice run. Last mile coming back, kind of let loose and picked it up. Hit 5:45 pace coming in, and just felt smooth. No issues whatsoever, pretty much on the road to recovery. Total mileage: 12 miles - don't have splits handy, but hit 8:11 average I think.

Sunday, crapped out early, got in an easy 8 around town. Legs were pretty tired, but made it through it ok. Late Saturday night and a few cocktails during the day didn't make it easier. No watch, no idea of the splits. 44 miles this week, I think my highest since early summer.

Philly 1/2 is this Sunday, and headed to D.C. to see my D.C. friends and head to the race with Shane and Marc. Also signed up for the Dallas Mayor's Cup 5K on 12/4, which should make for a great speed workout and most likely my last race of 2010. Targetting 45-50 miles this week, would be very pleased to hit that total.

A Breakthrough!

Haile is supposedly having second thoughts - not surprising for one of the greatest in the world, and arguably one of the most competitive. Simon Bairu had a ROUGH NYC ending - I mean this is almost comedic how much went wrong at the end for him. Usain is AWESOME, and a chat with the NYC and U.S. Champions, and with all thoe hoopla about marathon training here is a guide to training for...spectating! lol

Ran on Tuesday with Crystal after work. We have experienced some pretty nice weather as of late (60-70's), so the evenings are about perfect. Ran to the track and back and did drills. Felt like poop going up, but settled in when we got a couple extra on the track. Drills felt like my legs were on fire, but it is a necessity at this point since I can't do any running strength training. Felt decent running back, and our efforts to slow it down were thwarted because apparently it is impossible to slow it down when Crystal and I both feel good. Total mileage: 7 miles - ran low 8's on average.

Wednesday after work, FINALLY went to go see a doctor. Got checked in, explained to Dr. Hong about my symptoms (shortness of breath when running in general, complete lung shutdown/massive wheezing when pushing any pace whatsoever, complete sinus cloggage), and he listened to me breathe through a stethoscope and pretty much immediately diagnosed me with exercise induced bronchospasm which is basically exercise induced asthma because of severe allergies. Prescribed me a ton of meds for the allergies, gave me an inhaler to use before running which should neutralize the side effects of my bronchi tubes flaring up, and sent me on my way. Went to my pharmacy to pick up the meds, and got home to change and get in my mileage for the night.

Pretty much couldn't wait to try the inhaler (doc said I should be able to feel the benefits from the inhaler (about a week till the allergy meds kick in)), so took a couple puffs and strapped on my shoes on a pretty nice evening outside. Ran towards the trail, and jumped on even though it was pitch black but could see ok on the trail. Legs were pretty tore up from the mileage/drills this week, but got moving ok and didn't suffer through the first mile which was sub 8. Got on the trail which was flatter, and picked it up to see how I felt. Wasn't wheezing and could breathe somewhat ok, and picked it up even more. Was amazing to be restricted from leg soreness/fatigue versus not being able to breathe, and continued to pick it up and flew through a couple miles before shutting it down the last mile and jogging in. Had a fat grin on my face and was tired, but it felt absolutely AMAZING to be able to step on the peddle a bit and take off again. Total mileage: 5 miles - splits were: 7:42, 7:21, 6:32, 6:28, 7:43.

Despite all that, my breathing passages are still massively swollen and breathing is still a bit restricted. The plan is to slowly work back to 100% and regain some strength again. Heading to Philly next week and will not be running a kamikaze race, and I will be in Dallas the week after to cheer on Ken on his marathon efforts, and Pat and Crystal for their half marathon. I saw there was a 5K the day before those races with some pretty slow times from the year before - might be a good opportunity to throw in a race for fun and maybe win a prize??

Post NYC

Still shocked on Geb, as are many of his former colleagues and the running community in general. Will he reconsider? I hope so. He has openly stated his desires to run 2012 London Olympics, and I suspect after a few weeks of healing and deliberation that he may resume his training. We shall see. Here are some of the celebrity results from NYC - impressive all around, and loved that former tennis pro Justin Gimelstob and Andy Roddick had a fun wager going with a happy ending. Pretty impressed with the trapped Chilean miner that finished the race - an amazing story all around, and a fascinating individual in general if you caught any of his press conference before the race (sang some of his favorite Elvis songs). And finally, a bizarre post from Ryan Hall's blog - a little confused to where he is going with this, but actions ultimately speak louder than words and hopefully he knows what he is doing.

Last night, ran a workout solo since I was too late for the Big River Run, and Crystal had already started hers. Perfect day to run - cool, and breezy. Did my GC loop, then jumped on the trail for a couple more. Was hurting after a couple miles, tried to calm down, then finished somewhat strong. Another frustrating workout since it took 500 times more effort than it should have. Total mileage: 6 miles - splits were: 7:42, 7:40, 8:01, 8:09, 7:48, 6:58.

Easy mileage and drills tonight, then to the doctor finally tomorrow and hopefully he can fix me up!

The King is dead, long live the King

Track and Field Videos on Flotrack

Still shellshocked about the recent retirement by the Emperor. Shalane killed it in NYC, Ritz had a disappointing race, and we have a new champion but completely saddened by this news about Geb. Hoping he is at peace with this decision, and he is back to race one day and doesn't end on an injury like it did at Mile 16 on the Queensboro Bridge.

Fri - 5 easy
Sat - 12 total, 8 with Mike and Crystal on the trails (low 8 pace average), 4 cooldown. Gorgeous day outside. Breathing was crap, struggled a bit coming in but locked in for a fun last mile pickup like the old days. Was nice to hit it harder, albeit for 6 minutes but very frustrating that 8 minute miles feel like 6:30's.
Sun - 4 easy
Mon - 5 easy, drills at the track with Crystal. Struggled going up, but felt decent coming back. Drills were nice to do, but pretty clear my legs have lost from strength.
Tue - 9 total, 6 easy with Crystal, 3 cooldown. Getting dark early but we got on the trail anyways and was actually not too bad. Did Home Depot loop (sort of hilly, nothing too bad), came on strong coming in. 7:45 average, was at marathon pace on the last couple miles. Felt pretty awesome for once.
Wed - 0! Legs felt like crap, then ended up grabbing dinner and drinks for Crystal's birthday. Happy Birthday Crystal!!!
Thur - 0, no excuses, just crapped out
Fri - 2 - melted down a mile into a run and had pretty much an asthma attack or something close to it. My lungs should not feel like peas after a 7:25 mile. Walked/jogged it in from there. At an all time low, and have had it with this awful 4 months.
Sat - 12 with Crystal, GC route with Meridian Hills. Perfect day to run, went out with Pat for 3.5 miles, then picked it up slightly. Decided to hit Meridian Hills for a little more work, and went faster there but nothing too out of control. Breathing started to suffer, but made it through. Legs were a bit tired, felt ok coming back but beat up afterwards. 8:25 average I am guessing? Hit the last half mile at 6:30's pace which was fun.
Sun - 4 easy