Clinton a success! Hobo is history...

Those of who who have read my blog before know that my training plan for the summer basically revolved around pulling a "double" of sorts: The Clinton Half Marathon followed the next weekend by the Hobo 25k. I don't know if I ever made it clear but I was planning on holding something back during the half to save a little for the Hobo. I started changing that thinking a bit the last couple of weeks. I prefer to run trail races, so I figured that this half marathon may be one of the last long road runs I do. Therefore, I might as well let it go and P.R. (is that road runner thinking, or what?) and if I can't get it together for Hobo, so be it. Well, that is exactly what happened.

I had only run one half marathon before, in Madison the spring of 2010. It was unseasonably hot that day and I was pretty cautious, having never run that long of a race before. I stopped to pee at a port-a-pottie during the race where I was about fifth in line and ended up finished just over 2:02. So my weak bladder cost me a sub-2 hour half marathon time! Anyhow, I ran a 1:56 training half a couple weeks ago so I was shooting for under 1:50 at Clinton. Gina, Coop, and I got to the race and picked up my packet pretty early but I still somehow managed to dawdle just enough to feel rushed. To top it off, I realized that I forgot my GPS watch at home. I had a couple of minutes there where I was teetering on the edge of total panic! This is what they mean when they claim that a sport is 90% mental. I had about 15 minutes left to get myself stretched out and figure I was going to keep and eye on my pace and cope without my watch. I will tell you something: I will never bring my watch to a race again.

My original plan was to run around 8:30 miles until mile 10 where I would hit the downhill and go for broke. Without a watch this plan was out the window so I wrote a couple of my planned split times on my arm that I could use when I saw Gina and Coop on the course. That way I might be able to guage how far ahead or behind I was. I knew I would most likely be ahead of plan, but I had no choice but to basically race by feel. Sure enough, at about mile 5 or 6 I saw them up ahead, took a box of raisins from Gina, and heard the warning "you need to slow down, you are five minutes ahead!" I was running a minute per mile faster than planned. Surely, a bonk/blow-up/meltdown loomed.

But man, I was feeling good. I was going completely by instinct, I was shortening my stride and not wasting myself on the uphills (and there were some nasty hills for a road race, holy cow!) and I was in a nice little rythym. I went for broke! I knew at about mile ten it was an almost total, gradual downhill to the finish. I just had to hang in there until then and it would be okay. I would probably hurt (a lot) but it would be okay. I have to say at this point that the crowds in Clinton were very uplifting, and the kids working the water stations were a lot of fun. I am a firm believer that I run better at a race the more interaction I have with volunteers, other runners, and those watching the race. It just helps me keep a positive attitude and I have a lot more fun. The race is well supported by the town and staffed with great people. I was even called out to by name by a dude I know from high school! You can't beat that! Thanks, Larry!

After I saw my wife and Coop I never again had any clue what time I was running. I just kept putting the hammer down. There were some fairly steep, short hills in a park that ate up miles 7 through 10. The park was pretty taxing but I seemed to be handling it about as well as any of the other runners that were around me. Honestly, the last 5k didn't seem to be as "downhill" as it was described (it never is, is it?) but I still felt good. I was hurting moderately but nothing that forced me to slow down any. No ITB problems, cramping, etc. Just your general long run soreness and aches for the most part.

To make a long story a bit shorter, I hit the finish in a stunning (to me at least) 1:41:09! I finished 15th out of about 150 runners and 5th in my 40-49 age group. To say I blew my greatest expectations out of the water would be a severe understatement. The aftermath was not quite as pretty. I typically don't show most of the effects of a long run until a few days later and this is definitely the case with this race. I have called off the Hobo because my calves are absolutely killing me and my right knee is being a bother. I don't think limping through a 25k would make bunch of sense, and it definitely wouldn't be much fun. I am reasonably young, I have a LOT of Hobo's left in me God willing. A person sometimes has to know when to call it quits and live to fight another day.

I am not pretending I did something miraculous, but in 2 1/2 years I shaved over 20 minutes off my half marathon time. Part of the reason is simple: time. I have only been running for about six years, so in a way it is not suprising that I have made improvements. But my 5k PR is 20:39 was at Music In Motion in 2010. This summer I ran 40 seconds slower. Also, in 2010 I ran our hometown Raging Road Rally in 21:30. This year I ran it in 21:37. My 2011 HOBO 25k was about two-and-a-half minutes faster than the year before. Not much of a difference, though I admit I was not nearly as well trained for the 2011 run and still had a PR. So how can you explain such an improvement in my half marathon time?

First of all, this was not completely out of the blue. In the spring I ran the Blue Mound Trail Run. This is a VERY hilly (by Midwest standards) 18k run that I ran in 1:43:21, about 10 minutes faster than I guess-timated before the race. So it seems something happened between fall of last year and spring of this year that resulted in significant improvement in my endurance during longer runs (and my recovery between runs) but no real speed effects on shorter runs. These are the factors that have changed.

1) My diet: This will not be terribly popular with the local farmers, but I have seriously decreased the amount of meat I have been eating. I am a ultra-running fan (an ultra is anything over marathon distance) and something I began to notice was that a suprising amount of ultra runners are vegetarians and vegans. How can meat protein be necessary if somebody who routinely runs 100 or 200 miles a week subsists without it? I treat meat like ice cream or cake: I eat it moderation. And when I do eat it, it's usually fish. You can get plenty of protein from other sources. I also eat as many fruits and veggies as I can stand, including at least one salad a day with stuff like tomatoes, blueberries, etc. And no pop or McDonald's! It's just common sense, really.

2) Hills: Although I am finding out they are not terribly popular with the cross country team, I have become a huge believer in running hills. I do West Lanark Avenue hill repeats on a regular basis, and I head out to Mississippi Palisades State Park and run out there quite often. Those runs can be torture but you can get the benefits of a 10 mile run while only putting your joints through a seven-miler if you put enough vertical into it.

3) Rest: I don't get hung up anymore thinking "real" runners have to run almost every day. I rarely run more than four days a week, and on Monday and Friday I usually rest completely. If I do anything on those rest days it is a short walk or something equally mild. I also don't go out and do short, easy runs just for the sake of piling up miles in my running log. In my opinion those are "junk" miles that serve very little purpose. If it isn't a fairly hard or long run than I don't think it is doing much other than adding needless wear and tear to my legs. I feel I am better off cross training or resting on those days.

4) Minimal footwear: I have gone more lightweight, flexible, and thin-soled with my shoes since last fall. While this can take some getting used to and be pretty darn uncomfortable in the calf area for a bit, it's worth it. I believe it allows you to run more naturally and builds up the muscles in your feet, ankles, and calves. In the long run it makes you a stronger runner with a more efficient stride, eventually making it less effort to run longer distances. I also try to put in some cool down runs barefoot at the local High School. If I am running trails I sometimes put some water shoes on afterward and put in another mile or so. Got to give those feet a good workout!

Anyhow, good luck to all those Coyotes and everybody else hitting the trails for the night run, 25k, and 50k this weekend! And especially for those incredible people doing all three, which is known in Hobo circles as The Triple Crown! See you at the Survivor Series!

I have found out one thing this past week and that is coaching cross country does NOT fit well into a person's half-marathon taper! Even though the mileage is not much and the intensity is pretty low, I am not used to running four days in a row during the week. I did not run the hill repeats with them Thursday (I sat on my bike watching them work up the hill, which I am sure they just loved) and I took yesterday and today off which will give me three days of pretty much complete rest before the Clinton Half. It's been a long couple of days until the race, though. I am getting restless and I can already feel the pre-race adrenaline flowing. On the other hand I have gotten more done around the house this morning than in the last month combined. Taper energy pays off I guess!

 Physically, I am actually feeling pretty good besides my knee still bothering me a bit. After taking a close look at the course description for my half Sunday I am now shooting for under 1:50, I think the last three miles are tailor-made for a downhiller like me. I just need to make sure I get to that last 5k in under 1:25. Essentially I am going to go for it and risk blowing up. I am holding nothing back for next week. I will see how I am feeling around the middle of next week. The HOBO 25K is not going to happen if my knee and I do not feel real close to 100%  by then. 25k on rough, rocky, rooty trail is probably not a good idea if a part of me is not feeling stable. I can say "I will take it easy" all I want but I know I wouldn't. It will make me a little sad if I don't run it, I have done it two years in a row and the HOBO runs are the one event I could see doing every year for a long time.

Been pretty busy with the cross country team, holding four practices a week, brainstorming with the other coach about scheduling, fundraising, etc. The kids are coming along well. Though they all did some running over the summer only two of the seven had ever run a meet before our first one at Winnebago the day after Labor Day. There is a lot of inexperience there but we have some kids who are young that have high ceilings. I think it takes a couple of years of pretty consistent training before you can really get an accurate idea of how good a runner can be. They are all working hard, though, and I think they will be very suprised how much their times improve by the end of this season, let alone what they could be doing by the end of the NEXT season! I really think all four freshman and sophomore runners could advance to a sectional as individuals before they are done.

Lately, I have been really debating with myself what to do with my daughter Claire. She just started 7th grade and shows quite a bit of running potential in my opinion. She ran a sub-26 minute 5k this summer and broke the Eastland Jr. High girls P.E. mile record last year as a 6th grader. I am sort of resisting the urge to drag her out to run all the time. I sometimes ask her if she wants to join me. Sometimes she does, sometimes she doesn't. I don't really want to push. I also feel a bit goofy about it (ok, guilty actually) because when Coop was that age I never really encouraged his running. He was in track but was basically a basketball and baseball player. Plus, and it seems weird saying this now, I didn't feel he showed much running talent. In fact, when he ran the mile in Jr. High track he was almost always last or next-to-last. So I basically considered track to be something he would quit doing in High School when it clashed with baseball. Shows how much I know!

Have been watching quite a few running documentaries lately. Netflix is a godsend if you like docs! Some of the better ones: Terry Fox: Into The Wind 30 for 30, My Run, and Running The Sahara. I personally think that Fox's story is pretty much the most motivational and inspirational journey I have ever heard of. Definitely something everybody should check out. If you can't find the doc anywhere here is a link to a great article about him.