17 days out from the 17th of October and Duke City Half Marathon

I am a little late posting this, but it was intended to be posted on the 17th of October...

Well, 17 has always been my lucky number, and on this iconic day of my birth, I look 17 more days until the New York City Marathon.  I think the one mistake many runners make is the constant self-assessment of their training.  I too have fallen victim to my own observation as I've created an eyeglass into the past months calculating what went well and where I went wrong with my training.  I've already pinpointed it to when I started my teaching job, and the immense amount of time spent at school.  I could go further back to the summer heat that kept me comfortably away from logging mega miles.  Either way, I still feel the fitness is there and I can run a great race considering the circumstances.  I will (and have run a half marathon) on October 21st, as part of the Duke City Marathon weekend, and my last big marathon workout.  I planned on racing it as a marathon pace workout, and the success of it couldn't have been better.

The Duke City Half Marathon:

From the start of this race I had two goals: 1) to run it as a workout, 2) win it.  Once the gun went off at 7:30 am, I took the lead and started to keep a comfortable pace.  My first mile in the Duke City was 5:23, and right away I could feel two Africans sitting on me.  I didn't want to worry too much about it, since I was just going to run my own race, but deep down it really bugs me, especially since there's no money involved in this race.  Why wouldn't you want to work together and run a decent time together?!  Well, this guy didn't want to help out at all.  I lead the next 6 miles in, 5:21, 5:19, 5:17, 5:12, 5:17 & 5:12.  After mile 7, and after one of the African's faded, the Moroccan put in a good surge on me over the next 2 miles.  I could only maintain a 5:21 and a 5:20 for the next miles.  Also at this point in the race, the half marathon flips around and runs back into the crowd of other runners.  So, after mile 9 and about 20 seconds back from the Moroccan, I decided I could still run a good effort and not kill myself before New York City.  I start to clip off a 5:19, 5:18 and another 5:18 for miles 10, 11 and 12.  By this point, the leader is slightly fading, but he still feels too far away.  All the 10k runners that we are passing on our way back to the finish are cheer me along with encouraging words to "catch him", as if by saying something will automatically create a hidden energy source in me.  Well, it kind of motivated me as I was able to drop a 5:09 last mile and attempt to kick towards the finish.

With about 200 meters to go, both myself and the Moroccan are finishing strong, and I was able to gain on him to finish 1 second behind him.  It's a bit discouraging to lead a race for that amount of distance, only to be used.  I distinctively and deliberately remember slowing down to grab water and allowing this Moroccan to take the lead.  But instead, he would slow down to a pace that I didn't feel was honest.  At times, I would run next to him to work together instead of right behind him, as he would do, but the pace would still falter.  As you can tell, I am a bit frustrated with this, especially since NO money was at stake.  I wish I had another gear to out kick him at the end, and snag a hidden prize purse; but in reality, neither scenario happen.  My time of 69:45 was a solid effort and indicator of where I am at.  And of course, the only indicator of a marathon, is to run one...  Which is what is going to happen in 12 days!

More to come on my thoughts on how to race this thing!                 

Chips and Salsa 1/2 marathon recap

Race Recap:

Just another wonderful Albuquerque fall morning in the valley, even though fall is just a few days away.  The half marathon was set to start at 7:00am, but as we all know, it was a little late.  The course was the same course as last year, but with the help of high school volunteers, our half marathon race would have a little detour.  This slight detour would add about seven-tenths of a mile to the course.  Nevertheless, I was okay with the mishap, and just kept my effort consistent as well as my pace.

After the mishap in the first mile, I ran the rest of the race on my own.  I clocked off my splits at around 5:15-5:24 per mile (more precise splits below).  With that effort, I finished the 13.8 mile race in 1:13:22.  All-in-all, it was a pretty good day.  This race was a great tune up, and fitness indicator for New York City.  With that long of a "tempo" run under my belt, and with about 6 weeks left, I'm starting to feel pretty good about New York.  Just a few more weeks of marathon specific workouts, and the only test of this teacher/runner will be assessed on November 4th.  This race distance would've put me in the ballpark of 1:09:40 at 13.1 miles at altitude.  With that time, it's nothing to be too proud of, but it proves to me that I still have the strength to continue marathon training and perform at New York.

Sorry for the short recap, I'm just a bit tired these days.

Half marathon splits: [9:22 (1.7ish miles), 5:12, 5:17, 5:22, 5:24, 5:17, 5:21, 5:11, 5:14, 5:23, 5:18, 5:22, 5:01, 35 seconds) 1:13:22 - 13.8 miles - 5:19/mile average.

Pre race with Jesse Espinoza (National Guard Team Member)

Finishing the race.

Our little awards ceremony: (from left) Todd Nickerson, Kelly Nickerson - 2nd place female, Me - 1st place male, Arlene Espinoza - 1st place female 10k, Dana Patton, Lauren Patton

Ides of August

Well, it's not as bad as Julius Caesar had it (and it's not even the same month), when he got stabbed 23 times, but this has been a crazy month, and as his fate was forewarned, so was mine...

Our lease at the infamous Dukes Headquarters in Downtown Albuquerque was coming to and end, and I was still jobless.  I had a feeling I would get some interviews as the 1st day of school approached, but I wasn't too concerned about it.  And finally, the interviews came rushing in, and I got a job offer to teach 3rd grade in a small town just outside of Albuquerque called Los Lunas.  I took the position with 2 days until school started.  And, with my classroom a complete mess, my loving girlfriend - Arlene and her family came to the rescue.  I got most things situated within the class, before the chaos of the first days of school began, and then before I knew it, school was already in session.

Most 1st year teachers are never prepared for everything that lays ahead of them.  And I completely agree with that.  Right now I'm trying to stay afloat and hope I can generate the best educational experience for these kids as possible.  After the first day of school, we had a quick staff meeting, and we were informed that on a normal A-F grade scale, my school is performing at a "D", and more than 50% of the students are BELOW proficiency, when compared to the rest of the state.  I'm thinking to myself how completely different this year is going to be when compared to the experience I had student-teaching at S.Y. Jackson elementary school and their nearly 92% proficient school rating.  It's like night and day.  Raymond Gabaldon Elementary school is on a completely different level, but it's going to be my new home for the next 180 days:

As you could imagine, my running that very first week of school (August 14th-18th) was, lack there of.  And because of that, my sanity was starting to fluster with overwhelming amounts of emotion.  I almost lost it with the amount of unpreparedness I had for that first week of school.  But, I got through it, and this last week without incident.  In fact, this past week went very well with school and with running.  Almost an erie parallel between the two.  And today, I got my 22 mile long run with mile repeats with 1 minute rest. It went up on Tramway (6000 ft. alt.):

4 miles easy, 4x1 mile, 8 miles easy, 2x1 mile, 4 miles easy [5:27, 5:22, 5:19, 5:17], [5:17, 5:11].

I know this year is not going to be easy, and I know I won't get the mileage I really want, but with proper fine tuning of my daily schedule, I think I can mange some good training, and preform well at New York City.  It'll be interesting!

Running Tourist

All I can think of, is how this week is creeping along. I took my first day off since my marathon break, and I still feel the need to put in more miles than ever before. I also can't help but notice what the other runners are doing throughout the country, from breaking American records, to spending their race earnings on meaningless junk, to traveling the globe in search of their perfect PR. It shouldn't get to me, as I keep thinking how our sport is still falling through the cracks (in the US). So, to keep my mind preoccupied, I continue to dream about how exhilarating it would be to race in other countries, to become a running tourist, so-to-speak. Actually, I don't even have to run in another country, I haven't even seen this country in it's entirely. But, across the oceans is where I would like to race one day. Touring the globe in search of; not a perfect PR, but a race that will bring my memories back to that country and to those people who I would hope to meet.

So, where shall I go first...? At this point, I have already scheduled an exotic trip to Michigan, later in the spring. The bird sized mosquitoes, with the thirst of blood as any Twilight movie can produce are sure to await me when I arrive for the USA 25k championships. I know the competition will be excellent, and making the podium is a huge goal of mind, but I think Michigan isn't exactly what I'm looking for as a running tourist. Breaking this term down to its core is what I should focus on first. Well, I got the running thing down, now I just need to dissect the tourist part. I want to visit and tour different avenues of running, but I think as a History buff, I should really focus on the great races that have shaped our running history. I'm thinking Boston, New York and Fukuoka Marathon in Japan. That is one (Fukuoka) that has always been in the back of my mind. The glamor, the excitement, and the people are what make a Japanese marathon come to life! With people shouting at you with every step you take, pushing you to limits you probably had no idea you could reach, and being in another country are all the things I expect from a Japanese marathon. And, from few people that I know that have run over there, it sounds amazing.

Again, the race itself is one aspect that I hope to experience, with many different emotions that come from completing a marathon as fast as you can, but meeting a different culture and then mixing your passion with theirs has to be sensational! Of course, I will never know, unless I take that leap over the Pacific Ocean and embrace the unknown.

I have plenty of time to think about this one adventure, as many, many more races and towns are to be discovered this spring on the roads, and on the track! I definitely do not want to waste any opportunity I have in the near future to experience something of this magnitude (either it be domestic or foreign), so my eyes and ears will be open so that my heart and mind can fully embody a great experience. After all, I love running, not only to run fast, but to travel and meet new people...

Edmonton Half Marathon and Training (Weeks 7 & 8)

Well, it's been awhile since I've written anything, mostly due to a much more hectic schedule of Student-Teaching 5 days a week 8:30-3:50, one and final grad class on Tuesday nights, a thesis that hasn't been worked on in over a month, and pounding away 100 plus mile weeks! Either way, no excuses to get in the quality marathon training and posting. First and foremost will be the Canada trip a few weeks ago, then the training sessions that lead up to it and that preceded it to culminate weeks 7 & 8 of my New York City Marathon Training.

Edmonton, Canada.... that's all I have to say about that. Well, I guess I had a race, and I guess I got to wear a U.S. Jersey in what was considered to be an International Exhibition at the half marathon distance. This was a great experience for me to finally test my fitness after being injured over the winter months, and not getting a true gauge of my race fitness, until now. I was planning on racing the AFC Half Marathon, but decided to race Edmonton due to the flatter course, possibly better weather, and an opportunity to wear a US Jersey.

After the hectic ordeal of getting to Canada, going through customs, and not getting a ride to the hotel, I attempted to relax till race day. On race day, the weather was slightly warmer than expected, but the course was awesome! A nice out and back on relatively flat streets, made for a great race. A couple of Kenyans, Ethiopians and 3 Americans consisted of the elite field and for some decent times. Since we where in another country, they had kilometer marks, so I attempted to get 2k splits, but once the race started getting hard and my pace fell off my goal pace of 65 minutes, I started taking 1k splits. I also managed to miss a couple kilometer splits and got a 4k split. The following times are my splits:

[6:21, 6:28, 5:51, 6:12 (24:53-8k), 6:12 (31:06-10k), 12:49, 2:54, (46:50-15k), 3:19, 3:13, 3:05, 3:18, 3:19 (1:03:12-20k), ?:??] Total time: 1:06:28

It didn't go too bad, and I was happy with my performance. Again, it's a great indicator to where I'm at and how I'm progressing towards the Marathon.

Week 7 Training:

Mon - am. 6 miles easy

Tue - am. 4x2 mile at tempo pace (10:53, 10:49, 10:40, 10:42) total: 13 miles / pm. 6 miles easy

Wed - am. 12 miles easy / pm. 6 miles easy

Thur - am. 10 miles easy / pm. 4 miles easy w/4x hill strides

Fri - am. Travel to Edmonton / pm. 6 miles easy

Sat - am. 4 miles easy w/3x strides on the grass

Sun - am. half marathon race. Total: 18 miles / pm. Travel Home

Total: 85 miles

The next day I couldn't believe how sore I was. I was lucky enough to get a massage on Monday after teaching, and the soreness would slowly subside throughout the week with more miles. I was a bit hesitant to do a workout this week, and didn't think I'd be able to finish the planned tempo session. But, the body can prove the mind wrong. The workout was scheduled on Thursday, which was ample time for my quads to stop aching, and the session was 4x1 mile at tempo pace with 1 minute rest, followed by 5 minutes rest, then 3x1 mile at tempo pace. With "only" 7 miles at tempo pace, I still thought I should just do the first 7, and call it. Yet, once the workout started with the help of Kris Houghton and Soloman Kandie (Kenyan), we were able to get it done quite fast... At least, fast for me.

Sunday was another workout in our long run. Again, the temperature crept into some dangerous highs, but we were able to get it done before it got too hot. The long run would have us: warming up for 4 miles, then straight into 4x1 mile repeats at tempo pace/effort, then 60 minutes easy to medium pace, then a 3 mile continuous tempo, and whatever remained of the 22 miler, which was about 1 1/2 miles.

All in all, this week was a little tough as I had to get back into the teaching rhythm and recover from the race along with some workouts. But, I'm feeling strong, and the workouts are transitioning towards more marathon specific workouts without much "speed" oriented work. The only speed work will be done through strides, which I'll be combining both hill strides and flat fast strides. Most of this stuff will be at goal mile pace, or in my case, dream mile pace (4:00 minute mile). This is actually pretty easy as they're done at a distance of less than 200m.

Week 8

Mon - am. 8 miles easy

Tue - am. 10 miles easy / pm. 4 miles easy

Wed - am. 8 miles easy / pm. 10 miles easy

Thur - am. 4x1 mile at tempo, 5 min rest, 3x1 mile at tempo (5:24, 5:13, 5:17, 5:18) (5:14, 5:07, 5:10) total: 12 miles / pm. 8 miles easy

Fri - am. 2 miles dead tired / pm. 12 miles med/easy

Sat - am. 12 miles med

Sun - am. 22 miles w/4x1 miles at tempo, 60 min rest, 3 mile tempo (5:30, 5:25, 5:30, 5:25), (5:32, 5:27, 5:26)

Total: 108