Running the Richmond Marathon - November 10, 2012

2012 has been an extraordinary year for me. I turned 50 in January and trained for my first half marathon at Shamrock in March. Actually, all of this started in 2011 when I took up running again after about an 18 year hiatus. It was part of my effort to drop most of the extra weight I had accumulated and to make some effort to get back into reasonable shape. In November, 2011, I ran the Wounded Warrior 5K in Norfolk and finished in just over 31 minutes. It was my first race since running the Elizabeth River Run back in the early 1990's and by the end of the race, I was sucking wind. The important thing, though, was that I finished it. I remember standing at start line watching the half marathon runners start their race and thinking that I could never run a half marathon.

After that, I was hooked. For the first time in a long time, running felt good and was helping me achieve my weight loss goals. In December, I joined the Cornerstone Striders, a Suffolk running club, and began to participate in group runs. While I do run solo, I have found that running is much more enjoyable as a group activity. With the advice and encouragement of friends in Cornerstone, I began to set and achieve longer distances. By May, I had run two half marathons and decided that I would run a full marathon. I finally decided that race would be Richmond, because it is my hometown and has the reputation of being that nation's friendliest marathon.

This past Saturday, I accomplished that goal, finishing the Richmond Marathon in 4:35:51. We had a beautiful day and the race was mostly enjoyable, with the exception of some cramping between Miles 24 and 25, which I was able to walk off. I ran much of the race with my training buddies, David Pace and Ted Bennett, but we split up about Mile 19. The race finish was wonderful with a downhill sprint to Brown's Island. As Dick Beardsley observed in the documentary "The Spirit of the Marathon": "Once you cross that finish line, no matter how fast or how slow, it will change your life." Finishing the marathon has convinced me that there is nothing I cannot achieve once I put my mind to it.

Training for the Richmond Marathon

 

It is now just a week until I run my first full marathon in Richmond. It's kind of hard to believe. I signed up months ago after completing the Flying Pirate Half Marathon and November 10 seemed like an eternity in the future. No longer. It has been a long road, but I think I'm ready. Having never run a full marathon, I really wasn't sure what to expect. Fortunately, being part of the Cornerstone Striders has been an enormous benefit. The founder of our group, Andrea, is a seasoned marathoner with lots of experience.

One of the first things you learn when you begin training for a marathon is that, once a week, you do a "long run." The long run is designed to extend your ability to endure a long distance. The long runs start with relatively shorter distances and, toward the end of training, work up to 20-22 miles. That's a lot of miles, but the process serves a purpose. In my case, my training and a good many of my long runs occurred during the heat and humidity of July and August. Even though we started early in the morning, running 14 or 15 miles in temperatures in the upper 70's or low 80's and 90% humidity takes its toll. I remember thinking that I was never going to finish 15 miles and having to slow my pace to a walk because I was so drained. But I kept on plugging.

As the temperatures have turned cooler, an amazing thing has happened. All of those hot and humid miles built my endurance and conditioned me to deal with longer distances. Most marathoners, especially first-time marathoners, worry about hitting "the wall." The "wall" is the point where your body is running low on fuel and simply refuses to keep going. It can be devastating to a marathoner, especially if it comes with 5 or 6 miles left in the race. Trying to continue with leg cramps is very nearly impossible. And so, how do you deal with "the wall"?

In addition to training for distance, I have learned how to run distance. One of the keys is hydration. If you allow yourself to become dehydrated, you will hit the wall for sure. For that reason, I have learned to take hydration with me (hydration belt) or to consume it along the way at water stops. The same is try with nutrition. You cannot run a race on an empty stomach. You need fuel. I always eat something no closer than an hour before race time. I also take sports beans or gu's with me to provide a quick source of energy. Finally, when it comes to the marathon, sometimes walking is a good thing. There are any number of marathon strategies that include a walking component. Our Cornerstone marathon group will be using a "2 and 1" strategy. At each 2 mile mark, we will walk 1 minute. We have tested this strategy in our long runs and it seems to work well. It's almost like running a series of two mile races.

I will be running the Richmond Marathon with several friends. One of the things I have learned over the weeks and months of training is that running with friends makes the journey all the more enjoyable. If you have been thinking about taking the plunge and doing a full marathon, my advice is to go for it. Have fun and do something you never thought you could do!

Crawlin' Crab Half Marathon in Hampton

My first half marathon was the Shamrock, back in March of this year at Virginia Beach. I trained for my first half right through the winter and, by March, was ready for the 13.1 miles. It was a great event and I enjoyed finishing what had been the longest race I had ever run. The Shamrock was followed by the Flying Pirate on April 22, 2012 in Kill Devil Hills on the Outer Banks. Despite the rain, I improved my half marathon time by several minutes.

Once I had completed the Flying Pirate, I began to wonder if a full marathon was within my reach. Before I ran Shamrock, I could not imagine running 13 miles, so was 26 really beyond my grasp. I finally decided to give it a try and figured that I would wait for the Shamrock full in March. Until, I talked to my friend, Katie, who was really pushing the Richmond full in November. She has done over 20 marathons and claims that Richmond is her favorite. After pondering it for several weeks, I decided to give the Richmond full a try. After all, Richmond is my home town and what better place to run your first full. In an upcoming post, I will talk more about getting ready for Richmond.

In the meantime, I heard about a new half marathon being promoted by the folks from J&A Racing, who do the Shamrock. It was a new half to be held in Hampton in October. As it turned out, it fit nicely into my training schedule for Richmond, so I signed up. October 7 turned out to be rainy and chilly. A group of us from Cornerstone Striders met up and drove over together and it rained the whole way. It looked like I was in store for another wet half marathon, just like the Flying Pirate. By race time, it was still cold, but the rain had stopped. I really wanted to PR, so I hooked up with the 2:00 pace group and stayed with them. The course was nice and mostly flat through downtown Hampton and along the river. By Mile 11, I was still feeling strong and I quickened my pace. The rain started again about Mile 12, but I could feel a signficant PR and I kept pushing myself along. In the end, I accomplished one of my goals - a sub 2:00 half marathon. Official Time: 1:57:56.

Colonial 70 Relay

First, let me apologize for allowing my running blog to languish over the last several months. When I started out, I intended to post regularly, but, like a lot of bloggers, my schedule got busy and more time passed than I had intended. That said, let me play catch up.

My focus over the past six months has been to ready myself to run my first full marathon in Richmond. Thanks for my friends in the Cornerstone Striders in Suffolk, I have had plenty of friends to train with and three of them will be running Richmond with me.

I also want to mention that we put together a Cornerstone Striders team for the Colonial 70 Relay that was held  September 29, 2012. Although we don't have a Ragnar Relay in Virginia, this is a similar event. Our team of six covered 77 miles from Hanover to Jamestown and finished third. More importantly, we had a great time. Next year, we may even run the Colonial 200 from Charlottesville to Jamestown.

MS 150 Ride on the Eastern Shore of Virginia

I know this is supposed to be a blog on running, but allow me to deviate briefly. In addition to running, my fitness regimine has grown to include cycling. Actually, before I had taken up running seriously last year, I was cycling on my old mountain bike and racking up some serious miles. I felt that I was too heavy to run without risking some serious damage to my knees, so cycling allowing me to work on my endurance without the impact of running. This spring I transitioned to a road bike and found it to be an amazing ride. Cycling and running seem to be great compliments to one another and cycling allows me to recover from long runs while still working on my endurance.

Several months ago, I was approached about joining an MS 150 team to raise money for the National Multiple Sclerosis Society. The MS 150 is an annual ride of 150 miles over two days on the Eastern Shore of Virginia. I jumped at the chance, although I had never ridden 75 miles in a day before. In the weeks approaching the ride, a small group of fellow cyclists and team members did several rides to get ready and by March 2-3, we were ready. Our Saturday ride was at a faster pace with some unwanted wind in our faces. Sunday was perfect. Our team of about 14 riders managed to raise almost $8000 for MS. A great event for a great cause!

Volunteer for A Race!

I recently did something that I had been intending to do for some time. I volunteered at a race. Specifically at the Run for the Dream Half Marathon in Williamsburg, Virginia. We had to show up by 6:00am, because the race kicked off at 7:00am. Although the weather forecasts looked a bit dire earlier in the week, race day dawned cool and with some fog. Generally pleasant running conditions.

I was assigned to Water Station 8, which was located at Mile 12 near the end of the race. We had about 10 volunteers at the station and we all pitched in to get the tables set up and the cups filed with Gatorade and water. Because we were the last water stop, we had about an hour before the first elite runners came by. The first folks were the wheel chair racers and then the elite men and women.

Speaking personally, if you are a runner, you really appreciate the folks who man those tables and hand out the water. I always try to remember to say "thank you," even if I don't take the water. Let's face it, without them, the race would not happen. This time, it was nice to be on the volunteer side of the table and to experience the gratitude of the runners coming through. Many of them took the time to thank us for coming out and working. It's nice to be appreciated and my experience as a volunteer allowed me to experience that. If you're a runner, pick a race and volunteer. You'll be glad you did.

Spirit of the Marathon Movie

In my relatively short time as a runner, I have stumbled upon some undeniable truths that recur over and over. Perhaps one of the most significant is that running is at least as much mental as physical. What I mean by that is that the mind has an awesome power when it comes to determining the limits of our physical abilities. That is not to say that physical condition is not important. It is extremely important. Someone who is out of shape cannot run a marathon no matter what their mind tells them. By the same token, someone in good physical shape may be similarly handicapped if their mind tells them that the marathon is beyond their capacity.

In my case, when I signed up for my first half marathon, my mind told me that I was crazy and that there was no way I could complete such a race. And yet, in the 5 months that followed, I trained and devoted myself to that goal. By the time of the half, my mind had come around and I knew I could finish the race. With my mind on board, I knew that nothing could stop me. In short, I was inspired.

I recently stumbled across a film that touches on the intangible power of inspiration and the power of the mind to drive the body. The movie is "Spirit of the Marathon" and just watching the movie trailer will choke you up. You can find it here:

http://www.marathonmovie.com/pages_film/film_trailer.html

After you watch this movie, you'll be ready to sign up for a marathon and test the power of your mind to drive your body.

Flying Pirate Half Marathon Mud Run

On this past Sunday (4/22), I ran my second half marathon, the Flying Pirate Half in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. It was a race I will remember. I did an earlier post on this race and, after having run the Shamrock Half last month, I was confident in my ability to finish the race. But, as they say, you can't control the weather.

We went down to the Outer Banks the day before for my daughter's lacrosse game and stayed the night at the First Colony Inn, which I would recommend. Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day, sunny with temperatures in the 70's. However, the forecast for Sunday was much more dire. I had been watching closely for the past week and it consistently called for thundershowers. Indeed, as it turned out, Sunday was the first day of a Nor'easter. I had not run in the rain before, but figured that I could do it unless there was lightning. At race time, we had a light rain, but no wind. Off we went.

The first part of the race was downhill and then levelled out. The light rain made the run cool and pleasant. My pace was averaging around 10:00m/m, which pleased me. The rain began to pickup as we got to Mile 6. As we ran along the Sound, you could not help but note the "buzzing" of the high voltage power lines running along the street. My friend from Duck later told me that it is caused by the heavy salt content in the air. That would freak me out if I lived there. Despite the rain, many of the Kitty Hawk residents came out to cheer us on. That's one of the great things about running a race.

As the turned away from the Sound, we caught sight of the Wright Brothers Memorial atop a significant hill. My first thought was "I hope we don't have to run up that hill." Fortunately, our run was around the base of the hill. At about Mile 8.5, we departed the paved road and began our ascent of the trail. Normally, I like trail running, because it is more forgiving than pavement. Unfortunately, the rain had turned the trail into mud and puddles. About the same time, the rain got harder and harder still. After a certain point, I stopped worrying about avoiding puddles, since my shoes were already soaked.

The last couple of miles of the course is a series of up and down hills. I had been warned about these hills, but I figured, "it's the beach, how bad can they be?" Let me tell you, some of the hills were a 45 degree grade and they kept coming. Finally, I saw the banner for Mile 13. Only 0.1 miles left to the finish. Perhaps the longest 0.1 mile I have ever run. As I crossed the finish line, I was gratified to see my friend, Nancy, who was working as a volunteer. What a race. My official time: 2:16:57, a PR for me.

Flying Pirate was a more challenging half than Shamrock, both because of the weather and the terrain. It showed me that not all half marathons are the same. In retrospect, I enjoyed the race despite the rain, the mud and the hills. I hope to run it again......hopefully when it's dry.

How Much is Enough?

After I signed up for my first half marathon in November, it dawned on me that I would need to be able to run 13.1 miles in less than four months. At that point, I was probably doing 3 to 5 miles on a given run, so extending that total another eight miles seemed almost insurmountable. On more than one occasion, I thought that I cannot possibly run a half marathon and I'm only going to make a fool of myself. After talking to a few friends who had completed a half, I began to come around to the notion that I could complete a half marathon. I found myself bragging that I had signed up for the race, which usually garnered responses like "Wow, that's amazing." Past a certain point, I decided that failing was not an option, even if I had to crawl across the finish line, I WAS going to finish.

That left me with my original dilemna, how do I get there? My answer, like most runners in training, was to gradually extend my distance. And so, I set about doing what I thought was gradual training and, indeed, I managed to extend my distance up to 6 miles and then 8. I was running almost every day, sometimes twice a day. Like many inexperienced runners, I decided that more was better. Boy, was I wrong.

On Christmas Eve day, I went for a group run and hit an enourmous road block. We were going for a ten mile run. This was more that I had done before, but I decided I could drop out if I needed to. The first part of the run was fine, although the pace was faster than I was comfortable with. I gravitate around a 10 minute mile and we were doing about 9:15. I stayed with the group feeling an occasional twinge in my right knee. About mile 6, I felt a shart pain in my knee and had to stop. I waved the other runners on and hobbled for a half mile. I tried to run again and the pain returned. I managed to get back to my car with my knee throbbing and the worst shin spits ever. What the hell was wrong?

I layed off Christmas day, but decided that I would try again the next day. At first, the knee felt okay, albeit with the same twinge. At two miles, I had to stop and walk. It was too painful to run another stride. I hobbled back home and my wife hustled me off to the doc-in-a-box. All kinds of dire thoughts filled my head. Stress fracture? Mensiscus tear? After some x-rays, the doctor said there was no fracture, but told me no running for a least two weeks and lits of ice and ibuprofen. While I was happy about the absence of a fracture, my thoughts immediately turned to my half marathon training. Two weeks as an eternity. It was going to completely derail my training. As it turned out, I ended up not running for five weeks. In the meantime, I kept my endurance up by taking up spinning and, for the first time in decades, getting back into the pool to do laps.

At the end of the five weeks, I got a green light to run again with the admonition to "take it easy." However, despite the pain and my worry that I would not be able to run the Shamrock Half, my knee proved to be stronger than ever. Also, I walked away (no pun intended) with an important lesson as a new runner. GIVE YOUR LEGS TIME TO RECOVER! Running too much might be worse than not running enough. Since that time, I try to give myself at least 24 hours between runs and I try to alternate my workouts to include low impact exercise, like spinning and swimming. For me, it has been a valuable lesson in how to train.

Flying Pirate Half Marathon - April 22, 2012

I ran my first half marathon ever on March 18, 2012 at Shamrock in Virginia Beach. I did better than I expected and I had a great time. What more could you ask? Ever since then I have been chomping at the bit to do another. So, on April 22, I am signed up for the Flying Pirate Half in Kill Devil Hills on the Outer Banks of North Carolina. This sounded like a fun race, so I signed up.

As you can probably tell, the race is based on a pirate them and celebrates the Outer Banks association with pirates in the early 18th Century, including the infamous Blackbeard (aka Edward Teach). Indeed, runners are encouraged to sport pirate attire during the race. Not sure that I have much in the way of pirate attire available, but I will try to find something to stay in the spirit. I hope to see some of my Dailymile friends at the race and look forward to another fun half marathon!

Dailymile

As you probably figured out from my previous post, one of the things that I have come to enjoy is social running or running with a group. Although running is usually viewed as an individual sport, it lends itself to a group approach very nicely. A group tends to encourage you to improve your performance and to accept new challenges to extend your mileage or to sign up for races that you might otherwise skip. In short, a group provides positive reinforcement and encouragement.

In most cases, running groups meet up at a certain place and time; however, I have been lucky enough to discover what can best be described as a virtual running group called Dailymile. Dailymile is essentially a bulletin board that allows you to make friends with other runners and cyclists in your area and elsewhere to share your progress and to encourage others as well. It allows you to log your workouts and, once you have friended others, to comment on their efforts and to motivate them. I have found Dailymile to be a great help to me. The interesting thing is that, although I have over 50 "Friends," I have met only a few of them in person.

Dailymile is a great way to learn more about running from others who are doing it. It allows everyone to share their triumphs and to get much needed encouragement when they fall short. If you decide to check out Dailymile, spend a little time just looking around. I think you will find that it can help make you a better runner.

Running with a Group

Like most people who take up running, I starting running by myself. There were two good reasons for this. First, I prefer to run early in the morning - around 5:00am, when most normal people are still in bed. Second, I was self conscious about my running and afraid that I could not keep pace with other runners or that they would have to slow their pace to accommodate me. While these are both valid concerns, I have found that running with a group is a great experience.

By last December, I had developed some confidence in my running skills and chanced upon a running group that had been formed in my area. My wife and I attended a Christmas party and another guest suggested I check out the group. I got up the next morning for my normal run and decided to investigate. As it turned out, they had a group run scheduled for that morning. With a bit of apprehension, I signed up and showed up at the run all in the space of an hour. The group included runners of all levels and had a policy that "no runner is left behind." Since that time, I have participated in many group runs, including training runs for my 14K and half marathons.

While I like the occasional solo run, I enjoy running with a group. I find that I am more motivated and better able to increase my pace. It's also nice to find other runners that you can buddy up with for races. If you have not tried a group run, do yourself a favor and find a group or just pair up with some friends that run. I think that you will find that social running makes the sport all the more enjoyable.

If you are in the Hampton Roads area, check out Cornerstone Striders in Suffolk or Tidewater Striders in Norfolk.

My Running Blog

Although I have done some blogging before, this is my first attempt at a running blog. I am relatively new to running, having started seriously in September of last year as part of my weight loss program. I had tried running before, back in the late 1980's and early 1990's, but my training was inconsistent and after a couple of 10K's, I lost interest. Flash forward about 18 years to September, 2011.

When I turned 49, I was determined to lose weight and get into better shape by age 50. That meant dropping about 120 pounds. I gave myself a year to be realistic. By September, I had dropped almost 80 pounds and felt like it was safe to try to take up running. Prior to that I had used cycling as my primary cardiovascular exercise. I had also been a regular walker. I decided to gradually run parts of my regular walking route until I could run the entire distance of about 5 miles.

My first efforts at running were, at best, embarrassing. I could barely run two blocks without being short of breath. Determined not to give up, I kept up my routine, slowly increasing my running segments. Soon, I was running a mile, then two and finally the entire five. I can still remember the day I finished a five mile run without stopping to walk. I was psyched. I was also hooked on running. Not only has it helped me drop additional weight, it has strengthened and toned my legs and ramped up my endurance. As of April, 2012, I have lost almost 115 pounds and have actually increased my loss goal to 130. I feel great!

As with most new runners, I have spent hours reading up on the "do's" and "don't's" and learning about my new found love. I ran my first race in 18 year in November, a 5K. Although I wanted to break 30 minutes, I came within 90 seconds of that goal. Since then, I have run an 8K, a 14K and in March, I ran my first half marathon. What an experience! I remember signing up in November and thinking I was out of my mind. My second half is in less than two weeks and I can't wait.

I set up this blog to help me talk about my wonderful experience with running and to pass along whatever information I can to other new runners. I hope you will check back periodically and give me your thoughts and suggestions. Meanwhile, I'll see you.....on the run in Virginia.