New Motivation - Attempting the 100 miler

As this gloomy mid-morning Monday continues on, I felt the urge to log a few thoughts on my progress and process of my 100 mile training. Since my last post, I was in the thralls of training for the Boston Marathon, and had my sights set on a postponement of that race. Over the coming weeks and months, that race; among others, began to cancel and I continued to train at a mediocre effort. The occasional time trial, or virtual race peaked my interested as it may have with so many other runners, but in the back of my mind I knew I wanted to complete a 100 miler this year. The main goal was the Javelina Jundred in October. However, with so many uncertainties, that race wasn't in the cards for me to attempt. I then shifted to another goal, which will lead me to the starting line of another 100 miler I found; expect this race will be in January.

The idea of completing a 100 miler seemed so appealing to me for nearly 10 years now. Many friends have done them and the sense I get from them is unworldly. They have that look of terror and humble satisfaction that only a few runners have accomplished. "They've seen things" is what I whisper to Arlene when we end a conversation and part ways. I feel compelled to inquiry more of every aspect they went through: from their training, to what race they did, the scenery, what hallucinations occurred, to any other words of wisdom. Yet, with a subtle look on their face, I can tell they want to cherish those memories for themselves. Or, elect to show me that there isn't a way to describe their experience and that you just have to venture into the darkness and find out for yourself.

As of now, I plan on running the Coldwater Rumble 100 miler in January. That race is put on by the same organizers as Javelina, and has a solid course that seems to be manageable for me. I'm not expecting to set any records or do anything wild out there, I just want to complete one and feel the anguish that comes from the process in training for a 100 miler. I want to be uncomfortable and keep pushing. I want to embrace everything the elements have to offer and still put one foot in front of the other. I know these 30 mile training runs are nothing compared to the actual 100 mile race, or even a 40 mile training run. However, I feel that this is a learning process, and if I can bare through the race, then I can reflect back on my training and see what needs to be changed for another attempt. Time can only tell. 

      

Boston Marathon 2020 Postponed

With so much more pressing issues in the World than not having the opportunity to race the 2020 Boston Marathon on Patriots Day, I decided it would be insightful to reboot this blog and discuss some training, the Boston Marathon in the fall, and what lies ahead. Since the stay at home order and schools have been closed, I have slowly adjusted to this new schedule of working at home. A few weeks ago, I also took a week off to let some pain in my hamstring heal up. That subsided, but the weirdness of it remains. Luckily it doesn't hurt during running... which is the statement of every runner desperate to hold on to their running hopes.

So, moving onward to what will be some easy base mileage during the spring months, and then the grinding marathon workouts over the summer months. All this while adding another race to the docket - a hundred miler. Yes, I hope to compete and run the Javelina Jundred on Halloween. That race will be 6 weeks post Boston, and as many ultra marathoners in town have told me that it is totally doable; I have my doubts. For one, I am starting to feel the years of miles under my belt after I sit on a comfortable couch for prolonged periods of time. The rusty old body seems to need more oil on the joints these days, but that's substituted with either a beer or chocolate chip cookies. My mind seems to always be ready and thirsty to train hard, however I get reminded by my body to only work at a reasonable effort. This has been a good balance and it has kept me relatively health for the past 5 marathons I've signed up for.

With 21 weeks ahead of Boston, I have been thinking a little on how I would like to segment my training. I tried to keep things simple, and if all goes to plan, it will look a little like this:

April - Base Mileage and strides
May - Incorporate some speed sessions
June - Introduce some marathon workouts
July - Sustain those marathon workouts and longer long runs
August - Same as July
September - Start Peaking

Seems full proof...

Now I just got to figure out how to sprinkle in some Ultra Marathon training in there. I guess, I have a couple months to figure that out. Until then, this was my easy week back:

Monday - easy 4
Tuesday - easy 4
Wednesday - easy 6
Thursday - easy 6
Friday - easy 6 w/4xstrides
Saturday - easy 6
Sunday - easy 10.5

Total: 42.5

Random Boston Photo from Last Year with the Crew

CIM reflection and a New Year Ahead

Now that the dust has fully settled after CIM and basically started piling up as dust so often forms on the forgotten places like the backside of your TV shelf, I've had plenty of time to fully reflect on that race and think about what lies ahead. With the countless holiday treats and pints of beer over the last month, I found myself thinking why I had a cramp in the marathon. I've heard plenty of people tell me that they cramped up around mile so-and-so, and had to slow pace. Do some damage control. But, I never really experienced that in a marathon. At CIM, I felt great. I hadn't warm-up, but felt that the first few miles were a great warm-up for the daunting distance. In my mind, I had a goal time of 2:28, and with every mile the little Garmin watch would read 5:40 something, so I was right on pace. One guy even asked what I was going for in the race, and I told him 2:28, and just as the mile came up, we looked at our wrists for a sense of gratification, and there on the screen "right on pace" appeared!

Nothing could go wrong, as magical things always occur at the California International Marathon. Many miles pasted with ease, along with the occasional rain shower. Even when I approached half way in 1:13:49, I knew I was going to have a fabulous day! I thought to myself, "man, I really feel good, this pack is going to crumble at mile 24, and I'm going to break away and really put the hurt on.". I was definitely getting ahead of myself. Flashback to my training, and only the half marathon at the Duke City race indicated that I could run around 2:27 or 2:28 from that fitness. Yet, since that race, my training had stagnated and I was attempting to do workouts in the morning. Those workouts weren't the greatest, and were actually minimal in volume and speed. I think I was running around 5:50 pace at 5:50 in the morning. Not a solid indication of a 2:27. But, I was holding on to those infamous Race Indicators, and I believed I could crack 2:30 with ease. I was wrong.

Miles 13-17 felt good. I could start to feel the burning sensation in my quads, and the tiredness from the pounding. Yet, I still felt good and was trying to embrace that feeling. In my mind, I was going to cruise to mile 24 and then let go of the comfort. Then the twitch and subtle tightness in my left hamstring started to tingle. My first reaction was to move it out of my mind, not to think about it and focus on the positive of the pace and my surroundings. A few strides later it was still there. Around mile 18 or 19 I thought that feeling wasn't happening to me. I wasn't getting a cramp or twitch, or whatever it is that's going on with my leg. I stayed focused. Maybe if I switch up my stride the leg will magically feel better? Well, that didn't help. I realized I had to at least slow down a little. Again, in my mind slowing down by 20-40 seconds felt like putting on the brakes and the entire field was going to pass me. I had to slow down even more. 6:40 pace clicked on my watch, and I felt doomed. Then 7 something was scrolling on my watch and a few guys were passing me with the same look of despair on their faces, yet they were dredging onward. A few moments, I thought I wasn't even going to finish. But those thoughts of darkness were quickly pushed out of my head by the lamest excuse of positivity I could think of: If I don't finish I won't get a water bottle, how am I going to get to the finish line if I stop? and You've NEVER dropped out of a marathon, so just FINISH!

Embracing the distance. pc: Zach

Around mile 22 I saw Zach, and I could tell he knew I was in pain. I tried to smile to ensure him that even though I was going "slow" I was still giving it everything I had. Zach hopped on his rental bike and zipped along the course cheering and speeding ahead towards the finish. The slow disappearance of Zach was almost symbolic to the cramp that was subsisting in my leg. As each step towards the finish line was a moment less of pain. However, earlier I wanted to embrace the pain of running fast the last 2 miles, but now I was going to embrace the pain and push towards the finish no matter how fast I would be going. The agony would ultimately be what I was searching for, not a general speed, but the feeling of discomfort and satisfaction all rolled up into one immense feeling. Luckily for me, that feeling was still going to happen over the last 2 miles. The lungs and muscles burning with satisfaction as a few other runners were now fading as I repast them. An old friend that wanted a PR yelled my name from behind as he quickly approached. "Stew!!!" I replied, as he was in happy mode knowing he was going to PR with about a mile to go. I saw this as another sign to keep pushing and attempted to go with him and his running buddy. That didn't last too long, but the momentum of that wake helped carry me to the finish in a time of 2:32:51.

Somewhere along the course

After finishing 13 marathons prior to this one, I usually have a good feeling of where my fitness is, but that doesn't account for the actual outcome. This one goes without exception. As will my next one be determined as they all are - a reflection of your training and execution. This is why we run the marathon, to see how well we can do on the day. With that said, I'll be very excited to be racing Boston again. I know I still have a lot of work to do over the winter months, and I need to get myself in shape, but more importantly I need to stay healthy and hungry. There will be a lot races ahead, but I think I want to continue to embrace the suffering that parallels the races that I do. Either it be a 10k or even a 100 miler, I never want to look at the final moment of accomplishment, but rather the length of the sacrifices that lead me to that moment.

The crew with post marathon smiles