A Dangerous thing- adding fuel to a Dad’s already dramatic tale

Back to a running post- sort of

“Are there places colder than New Jersey?” Natasha asked the other night as we were walking in short sleeves looking at the Christmas lights in our neighborhood. We were anticipating a cold front coming though the Houston area overnight that was going to drop the temperatures down to near what most of the country experiences during winter. I had just told her that it was going to get as cold as it had been when we were in New Jersey last spring. “New Jersey” had become synonymous with “cold” for my kids after our spring trip north.  That reminded me of some news that from a few weeks ago that needed to be recorded for history’s sake.

There are some things in life that make you feel better about an event long it is in the rear view. Sometimes they are incredibly small things that make your war stories a bit better and this is one of those times. You may recall my blockbuster blog post about the Ocean Drive Marathon and its extreme conditions this past year. Those of us that ran the marathon were blown all over the course from Wildwood to Cape May in near freezing temperatures. As inhospitable to running as the conditions were they were equally bad to watch a race. Granted, my family wasn’t outside waiting for me in the cold the entire time but the time they were was certainly not the highlight of the trip. Well, it seems that the good folks who put on the marathon have decided to change the course going forward from a “point to point” to an “out and back” course. Marathon course designs are pretty simple but essentially a course where the runners are going in the same direction the entire time can either be made easier by wind at the racer’s backs or, in the case of last year’s Ocean Drive Marathon, made much more difficult if the wind is in the runners face the whole time.

I received an email from the race director and my initial thoughts ranged from “It’s about time” to “I wish the change was done last year so I wouldn’t have almost been blown into the Atlantic” to a little touch of sadness in seeing a signature feature of a race lessened.

A similar range of reactions from OD marathon veterans were recorded in the article linked below about the change. I have no plans to run the race again but there is something in the announcement for me as well. When, as a family we retell the story of our Easter trip to the New Jersey Coast, the Nor’easter we drove and then I ran through, and the kids shiver thinking about that coldest place they have ever been I can add an epilogue to the story to further illustrate for eternity just how brutal the conditions were that weekend…and by extension how badass we were to get through it

(Dramatic pause) It was so bad that they even changed the race course to keep it from ever being that bad again…

A chapter is added to family lore.

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/sports/local/everyday_athletes/ocean-drive-marathon-changes-course-will-start-and-end-in/article_3ea8b18b-7f77-5fb3-8f48-e506039830d6.html

Summer Tonight

Bad Poetry Alert!

I have to be careful or I will end up posting more poems than race reports but this was one, or part of it, that has been kicking around my head for probably a dozen years now. I remember taking a walk on a cool evening and feeling a warm breeze and thinking about summers past. I was still young then so "past" would have been just a few years where now finishing the thing I am actually closer to the old man I was imagining 12 years ago. Anyway, here goes nothing. At least it isn't a post about politics!

Summer Tonight

When the warm wind blows through the trees
It can bring back memories
of those nights way back in June
when we went walking under a lazy moon
It seemed like youth would last forever
And we wished on all the stars above
dreaming about life and love
and how we feared September
We would spend hours strolling down by the lake
sharing secrets about the lives we planned to make
I can't help but smile when I remember
We'd hold each other close
and argue over who cared the most
for one another
Now many days have passed and I'm older
Seasons have turned and now its much much colder
But when the warm breeze blows again
In my mind I'm way back when
and once again we're dreaming by moonlight
and Darling
Oh, Darling
It feels like Summer tonight.

My Tiny Town

My Tiny Town

I grew up
in a tiny town
set in a valley
Mountains all around
It had an old fort
and a paper mill
with one main street
that went downhill

You could tell even then
Its heyday had passed
the machines at the mill
weren't running as fast

The storefronts
They struggled
to keep up with the times
first huge stores
now people shopping online

A city was more
than mere miles away
the pace of life
was not the race of life
and the locals liked it that way

The grownups, they told us
about the good old days
and taught us kids
their old fashion ways

To other places
eventually I would roam
new adventures awaited
and a different town
I would call home

But sometimes I wish
That I would have hung around
punched in at the mill
and then settled down

Not under my feet
but always a little in my soul
I keep coming back as I grow old

And I smile with each visit
as the thread of my life
is unwound
As I greet my dear friend- my tiny town.

* A non-running post and not award winning materials for sure but occasionally I like to write a little bit, and this was inspired by my hometown

Harpeth Hills Flying Monkey Marathon- November 20^th, 2016

Tennessee became the 21^st State on my 50 state marathon Journey and we decided to take a family road trip with the kids to Nashville for Thanksgiving and complement the race with festivities. The drive from Missouri city to Nashville was over 12 hours but we were up to it. The plan was for me to work from home on Friday and we would go as a family to pick Natasha up from school and get right on the road, drive as far as we could before we needed to get some sleep and then drive the rest of the way on Saturday. Getting around Houston during commute time in the rain was slow going but once we were north of the city we made good time. We stopped off at Quality Inn in Carthage Texas the first night, and then through Arkansas and Tennessee on Saturday. Rolling into the hotel in Dickson, TN on Saturday night my daughter spotted the Best Western sign an announced that she could see the hotel. Mitchell (my four year old) asked her “what to do you want a medal? GET OUT! (of the car)”.

Race Morning

Nashville experienced a cold snap and there was frost on the ground. I had plenty of cold weather stuff with me so this wasn’t an issue other than the groaning we would hear from the kids waiting around for the race to start when it was this cold. We got to starting area early and stayed warm in the car until it was time run.

The Flying Monkey is run in Percy Warner Park in Nashville and takes pride in being one of the toughest marathons in the country. The race director, Monkey Trent, refers to the participants as idiots in pre-race emails describing the terrain of the park. Although from the mountains, I am currently a flatlander. Fortunately, my plan for this race was to take whatever the day gave me and to enjoy a scenic run in the park.

The terrain might not be great for a PR run but the layout of the park for a runner and three family spectators was perfect. Beth and the kids would spend the morning hiking and playing with other kids while I ran. There would be a post-race potluck which we dutifully had brought food for.

Monkey Trent gave his announcements and recognized groups of runners who had run all of the previous Monkeys as well as some folks who had run an ultra the day before and then we were off. The race started in a field and we charged into the woods Spartan style and on to leaf covered asphalt path for the rest of the day.

My watch didn’t save splits from the race and they wouldn’t tell much anyway because of the elevation change- the GPS and the mile markers were not in sync. We ran Nashville’s 11.2 mile loop twice with some other roads tacked on so that each time we ran up a big hill on the front half of the course we would get to run down it during the second part. The bad part of that was knowing that every nice downhill during the first 13.1 miles of the Monkey would be an uphill later in the race.

Of course, Trent had not only added the “Idiot” label to each of the mile markers but also put “motivational” signs up around the course such as “All the Good Looking People have already finished, They are out of beer at the finish line, you paid for this?, What were you thinking” and joyfully chalked on the steepest of hills were the words “This is not a hill”. Needless to say despite the fact that the running was tough there was a lot of fun on the course. The volunteers were as great as the views.

Notables:

·         I knew there were several folks dressed as Monkeys but I was actually passed at one point by a woman who was dressed as a banana- thankfully I beat her but still.   

·         Seeing the kids and Beth just before the halfway point was great and something I don’t usually get to have during a run. This was also about the point of the run where I saw Larry Macon (one time record holder for most marathons in a year) and Chuck Engle.

·         Early in the race I get to an aid station where the volunteers were busy so I grabbed a cup of Sports drink off the table and chugged it…..and then realized that it was pickle juice. I actually like pickle juice but a stomach needs to be prepared for it.

·         The Mile 24 aid station featured a gentleman claiming to be drunk guiding the runners to the aid station. At the aid station runners were offered the standard fare as well as shots of Jack Daniels is they wanted……we were in Tennessee after all.

·         The views within the park and of Nashville from the high points were stunning. Again, tough course, slow day, but what a great time.

Finish

I didn’t slow too much during the second half of the race but the effect of not really having any long runs other than the Houston half marathon was apparent. I hear someone say something about wanting to speed up for the last stretch and although I had started to get passed a bit, I decided to pick it up and passed a half dozen or so runners and made the left turn back to the field where the run had started to finish the day. As I entered the field I saw my family again and Mitch said he wanted to run with me so I grabbed his hand and we ran together until just before the finish line- I got passed back by a couple of runners but it was well worth it to keep instilling the joy or physical activity in my son.

Final Stats

4:51:30 (yep, more than an hour slower than my PR)

Place: 159 out of 308.

Post Script

After a feast at the post race potluck we headed to the Opryland Hotel on the other side of the city to take in some Christmas exhibits. The kids had fun hiking and filled me in on all of the things they had seen while waiting for me. I can’t say enough about how well run this race is, how quirky yet tough it is and how much everyone who participates in it seems to love it. It is one of the great parts of traveling around the country to get to experience runs like this. 

Chevron Houston Marathon 2016

1.17.2016 Chevron Houston Marathon- Houston, Texas

Background

Houston is to date the only marathon that I have run twice. It begins and ends downtown near my office and the logistics are so good that I can take my standard commute to work and park in my normal parking sport for the race. Add to it that it is a very well run race on a good course and this marathon is one I may do many times in the future. It was also the Houston marathon in 2015 that marked my first marathon back after 3+ years and 30 + pounds away from the sport. I was just looking finish that day but for 2016’s edition of the marathon I had a different mission- a new Personal Best time.

I had already marked Texas off of the fifty states map the previous year but actually had signed up to run Houston again the day that registration for the 2016 race had opened. I was running for Houston Habitat for Humanity through the race’s Hero program.

I had also already run two fall marathons in 2015- The Hot and Hilly Heart of America on Labor Day weekend and the just plain hot Mississippi Coast marathon over Thanksgiving weekend. HOA was meant to pick up a state and keep me motivated to train through the Houston summer and MGC was a race that could have been a fast day if the weather had been better- I used it to the best training effect I could given Houston was on my calendar already. Also, leading up to Houston I had run a 30K prep race in late December in Sugarland that went well.

In the end I didn’t think that I was going to go under 3:30 but I did think that I had a chance to better the 3:39:02 PR I had set in Las Vegas back in 2011. The comeback had a chance of being complete in all senses of the word.

Travel and Logistics

Again, this race has virtually no logistics to speak of but unlike a normal commute day, or even the 2015 race, the family made the trek downtown with me. We took off early in the Mazda loaded with snacks, blankets, and sleepy kids.

We were successful in parking in my normal lot and proceeded to the Convention Center by way of the Hilton Americas. Mitch was especially impressed with the tall escalators and remarked about what an awesome place it was. Tasha had her pink pompoms with her to cheer me on and had made a “Go Dada” wrist band for me that I wore during the run.

Houston is a big race and I kissed everyone before heading out onto the street and finding my corral. It was cold in the corals even though the weather was expected to eventually be pretty good. I had a throwaway long sleeve shirt on and marveled at some of the clothes others were using to stay warm including a woman that had a full length bathrobe.

The Race

8:32, 8:33, 7:44, 7:59, 8:11, 8:07, 7:59, 8:08, 8:09, 8:14, 8:08, 8:07, 8:19, 8:22, 8:17, 8:24, 8:17, 8:20: 8:46, 8:29, 8:28 8:43, 8:16, 8:22, 8:18, 8:19 (+ 2:32)

As the splits for this race reveal things went pretty consistently. I was not in a pace group but did note where several of them were. The first two miles were crowded and included an unscheduled pit stop to the porta potty. After that I settled in and pretty much confirmed my prerace decision to run for the PR but not more aggressively.

It was notable for me to compare how much faster I was moving at various mile points than in 2015. I was working hard but not to the point where I thought I was risking a blow up. I did start to fade a bit after mile 18 but kicked it back into gear when I saw the 3:40 pace team come up near me. I was doing the math to essentially stay just in front of that group and then kick in the final 1.2 in order to challenge my PR.

The Houston Marathon finishes on Lamar Street and as I turned onto Lamar I realized that there was something off with my math and I was closer to not making a PR than I thought over the last few miles so I accelerated (or kicked harder to maintain pace I guess) a little early.

I passed my office and new that the 26 mile mark where I had watched some of the later finishers from the 8^th floor the previous year was in view and at that point the road seemed to be more clogged with runners which made it more difficult to speedup. Still, as I reached the finish line I saw that if I hustled there would be a new PR on my running resume. And if I just missed my poor family would have to hear about it until I did achieve a new best.

3:38:04- sounds nice to say. I am back

Wrapping up

I’m writing this entry in May after the race so I do know how at least the next four months of my season played out. Leading up to Houston I logged a lot of miles and those two fall marathons really served their purpose. Granted, if Mississippi had better weather that may have been my PR and I may have jogged Houston but as it stood an 11 mile tempo run was a great confidence booster for my 30K and some much needed longer quality work. The 30K was tough especially considering the storm it was run in but I felt so strong at the end of that race that it was a real confidence booster headed into Houston. And, of course Heat of America may look like it was just a Midwestern adventure but I signed up for it when I had nothing on my calendar at all and really wanted to keep focused training through the summer.

Ocean Drive Marathon 2016- New Jersey

3.20.2016 Ocean Drive Marathon- Cape May, New Jersey

Background

Beth knows how to get me on board for a trip. She wanted to go see her family in PA for Easter and mentioned that maybe there was a marathon I could knock out as well. We already have PA but found that the Ocean Drive Marathon in Cape May, New Jersey was logistically possible as an add-on to the family holiday. I had already run and set a Personal Best in Houston in 2016 and had the OC marathon scheduled for the first of May but thought that I could at the very least us Ocean Drive as a long run. Besides, it was a race I had looked at doing when we lived in Maryland and had never gotten around to running and Cape May looked like a fun place to visit even if the early season weather could be a question mark.

Kidz Village

Travel and Logistics

We got into Newark airport without much drama- the kids are pros at flying by now. The landing was a bit bumpy and I actually had the air sickness bag at the ready but fortunately never had to use it. I had been watching the weather over the week and it looked like it would be cold and windy for the run at the least. There was also a late season Noreaster that may or may not have an impact. We stayed just outside of Newark the first night before heading down to Cape May. We chose this particular because it was adjacent to a nifty indoor playground called Kidz Village. Mitch and Tasha really enjoyed that place which was essentially a combination arcade, pizza place, and play place. The highlight of our trip for Mitch seemed to actually be the airport shuttles. He referred to the one on the ride to our first hotel as a “couch car” and would talk about his ride in the couch car for weeks after. Oh, the simple pleasures of being three.

We had a good time playing at Kidz Village and the hotel stay was mostly fine with the exception of a late night (false) fire alarm that had us waiting out in the cold for about a half hour. I took a shuttle over to the airport to pick up the rental car the next day. “Make sure there is a snowbrush in the car. We are expecting up to 10 inches tonight” said the lady at the rental counter.  Fun times lay ahead for sure.

We had a Saturday drive to Cape May and eventually found the convention center just off the boardwalk in Cape May. It was cold and extremely windy on the coast but at least we hadn’t seen any snow. The hotel was just off the course about a mile away from the starting line and about a block off the beach. One I picked up my packet we headed back to the hotel to check in and get dinner. At the expo I made the last minute decision to purchase tights and was extremely glad I did on race day after seeing the red legs of those that dared wear shorts.

My intended outfit- ugly yellow sweatshirt not pictured

The Race

I don’t have the splits from this race preserved but it doesn’t really matter- my plan was essentially to use this race as a supported Long Run and to both finish in the best possible shape that I could and without jeopardizing my upcoming race in California at the beginning of May.

I got dressed in layers before the race with the tights and three layers for shirt- a long-sleeved compression shirt, a standard long sleeve technical shirt (courtesy of the Chambersburg half marathon) and an old yellow sweatshirt that I intended to throw away once I got warm. I never got warm so the shirt is now residing in Texas waiting, perhaps, for a future opportunity to do its duty. I had an ill fitting cheap winter snow cap and ball cap over it- again I had planned on maybe ditching the winter had but the conditions never let me. I did, however, have to eventually throw the baseball cap in a roadside trashcan as it kept getting blown off of my head.

The wind. That was something. The Ocean Drive marathon course is a point to point so runners either always face the wind or always have it constantly at their back depending on the conditions. On this day the wind was not going to be giving us a nice push. As I walked to the starting line I heard a scratching sound beside me and looked over to see the 1^st mile market blowing own the street. Yep, it was going to be a long day.

near the starting line

Official finish time was 4:34 and change. The scenery was beautiful but I wouldn’t exactly call it a fun race to run. I hit the half marathon mark in just a shade under 2 hours and then completely finished fighting the wind. It didn’t really rain or snow much. I did get a little wet but it was mainly from a bridge that where ocean water was coming over the break wall. The only major hills were the causeway bridges.

This was my 20^th marathon and I thought about that quite a bit in the closing miles of the run. Twenty times I had stood at the starting line since 1997 and twenty times I had crossed the finish. This wasn’t one of my greatest days but it still gave me a good story to tell.

Wrapping up

As I neared the finish line I saw the family come into view. I had thought about having the kids come out to finish with me if I was off pace but Mitchell was clearly asleep and Tasha was as bundled up as possible near the edge of the boardwalk. They had passed the time in the shops and on a local playground and were ready to get in out of the cold and on the road. Tasha loves the medal that has the “bird with real legs” although neither kid was especially excited when I pointed out the snow on the drive north to PA.

OC Marathon- California

The OC Marathon. Sunday May 1^st, 2016 New Port Beach, California

I had been reading a book on the mental side of racing called “How Bad Do You Want it?” by Matt Fitzgerald that has really gotten me thinking not only about the intensity that I race with but in how I train. There are a number of lessons I’ve picked up with the main theme being that most often runners don’t miss their goals during races because of fitness but due to mental mistakes and the wrong attitudes.

Anyway, this race was one that I signed up for last year when I found out that I was going to be attending a conference in Palm Springs, CA for one of my company’s vendors. The conference was this past Tuesday-Thursday about two hours from the marathon. I flew into Orange County airport on Saturday to run the OC Marathon and then drive over to Palm Springs on Monday. My training leading up to this race was decent considering I had just run the Ocean Drive Marathon in New Jersey a little over a month prior. I logged 300 miles even in the month of April including two weeks of 84 and 88 miles respectively. I did have pain in my heal in the days leading up to the race that was starting to fade but not entirely gone by the time I hopped on the flight to CA.

The OC Marathon provided an option to have my race bib mailed in advance of the run. Because of this I did not have to attend the Expo and could take a later flight out on Saturday than I would normally have been able to. This option allowed me to pick up my shirt after the marathon which worked just fine as well since I had nowhere to be on Sunday after the race was done.

My flights (connected in Dallas on the way out) went smoothly and one I checked into the hotel I found a store to pick up provisions including Diet Pepsi, Kind Bars, and a 4 pack of Apple Fritters. I also purchased a sleeve that would hold my phone, ID, and a credit card on my arm during the run since I was by myself.

Race Morning

The shuttle to the starting line left our hotel at 4:25 AM. I probably had it easier than the local runners since my body thought it was 6:25 which wasn’t so bad a time to be getting on the road. We got over to the starting area in the dark and I paced around waiting for the festivities to begin. I did all of my normal pre-race routines but I must have not lubricated my right heal well enough as I would develop a pretty bad blister pretty early on in the run. I have been aiming for a 3:30 marathon time for what seems like an eternity and this time was on my mind but I figured that it would be an unlikely target considering I hadn’t done anything to improve my fitness over the last few months since running a 3:38 in Houston- I had only been able to maintain. My plan was to run the first mile based on feel and then adjust my goal accordingly. The other major thing on my mind was that as happy as I was to be running, and to knock off another state, I was a little weary of marathons having run one about every other month since the previous Labor Day weekend.

My travel Buddy Norf was ready to take on the OC....

The Race

As the marathon got underway I realized that I had not looked at an elevation profile of the race. I figured there would be some hills since we were on the Pacific coast but I had no idea where they would be or how bad they were going to be. My first mile was the slowest that I would run until late in the race. The 3:30 pacers went by effortlessly and then the 3:40 pacers which was when I decided to catch the 3:40 group and run with them for as long as I could. I didn’t feel great but I didn’t feel bad either. I did figure that if I could hang with this group until the very end I might be able steal a PR at the very end of the race.

I don’t have the exact splits but I do know that after a first mile 8:33 that I settled in to running in the low 8’s with the 3:40 group. The scenery in Costa Mesa, Newport Beach and any other towns we might have run through was stunning. I recall seeing an Electric Bike shop in a small downtown and thinking about how “Southern California” that was. There were some stunning views of the Coast as well. I hung with the 3:40 group occasionally falling back and having to sprint to catch up and then tuck in again. It wasn’t an easy effort by any stretch of the imagination- I was laboring but fighting my way back to where I wanted to be each time I fell back a little.

I remember a large hill right near the 13 mile mark of the course and the hand cycle winner passing us on the hill. Each time I fit a hill I attacked it and then tried to get my heart rate back under control after cresting.

I actually got a little ahead of the 3:40 group for no more than a mile or two after the midway point of the race. One thing I didn’t like was that it felt like there were a lot of turns on the course. My knee didn’t really like those and the blister that popped up on mile 9 increasingly didn’t like it either.

Mile 22- Each time the 3:40 group had gotten ahead of me earlier in the race I had bit my lip and charged after them until I could tuck back in with the group. It was a more aggressive style of racing than I usually do as I generally don’t surge once I fall back but I again and again I fought to keep a chance at a PR alive, even mounting one charge of short steep hill that left me short of breathe for a bit. This time was different. I started talking myself up to making the charge one more time and my legs just couldn’t do it. It was then that I unplugged and let the 3:40 group go so that I could at least make sure I would finish respectably. The mile 22 split I didn’t look to bad, but the mile 23 split was 10:34 and then I rebounded somewhat the rest of the race but still lost time each mile until the finish.

After all of the gorgeous scenery that the OC Marathon Course provides the marathon actually finishes up in the Orange County Fairgrounds. I sped up a little bit faster than my low point when music and louder cheers were heard. I starting high-fiving people that stuck their hand out and kept looking for the last run that finally came and was followed by a straightaway that seemed to go forever. I saw the clock pass 3:45 and then I hit the finishing matt shortly after for a finish of 3:45:06

A zombie walk was followed by a call home to Beth, Tasha, and Mitch once I found a spot on the ground to sit and then I wrapped myself in a space blanket and tried not to get too cold. The temperature was supposed to be close to 80 and may have hit that during the run but either it got colder after I finished or I was just feeling extreme chills. Either way, I eventually found some food, a Diet Pepsi, picked up my race shirt and got to the hotel shuttle to go back and lay in bed the rest of the day.

Final Stats (https://www.runraceresults.com/Secure/RaceResults.cfm?ID=RCOE2016)

Time: 3:45:06

Overall: 247 out of 1998

Men: 195/1209

35-39: 35/157

The Area

As I mentioned the parts of Southern California that I saw were beautiful. First, the ocean views during the run followed the by the hills on the drive from Costa Mesa to Palm Springs and eventually mountains. The road turned to twisty mountain roads and then a valley nearing Palm Springs near Joshua Tree national forest that was so windy that it was home to the biggest wind farm I have ever seen- that was somewhat surreal to drive through. The resort for the conference was a pretty typical resort- pool, meeting, rooms, beautiful views, etc.. One night we did have an offsite dinner at a Boutique Hotel designed by Frank Lautner (who I had never heard of before) that was very cool.

The pics I took don't do justice to what I saw but I pulled off the highway once to take pictures of the scenery in between the coast and Palm Springs and didn't take many at all in Palm Springs.

Beginning somewhere..

Welcome to the blog. I am going to chronicle my attempt at running marathons in all 50 states, and maybe someday qualifying to run the Boston Marathon in this space. I keep a training log but up until now have not written much down about my adventures that can be preserved for my kids. A blog is the modern version of a scrap book, right? This is the spot for all the details that nobody really wants to see on Facebook.

 A week ago I completed my 21^st marathon in my 19^th State on the Southern California Coast so we are not starting at the beginning of the quest but the good news is that there is plenty of racing to left to and places to see. I will attempt to post recaps of previous adventures. If the kids never want to look back on these hopefully it will preserve my memories and I can read back as I get senile in years to come.