Groundhog Marathon- February 4^th, 2017

Looking down at the seat of a port-potty with a little apprehension is often understandable. When it is pre-race in Grand Rapids, Michigan before the Groundhog Marathon and the temperature is all of seven degrees outside the feeling is doubly so. There was a tent a short distance away where runners were gathered before the beginning of the festivities and kept relatively warm but out by the toilets it was another story.

I got the idea to run the Groundhog marathon once I knew that the week prior I would be in Baltimore for business. I always look for races in places that I travel too and figured the pickings would be slim to none in the northern states the first weekend in February but this one had turned up. The race director bragged about how snowy the conditions were usually but the timing was good and I am usually up for an adventure that gives me a good story to tell. I had thought Michigan would be crossed off the list last Labor Day in Marquette but travel had changed and I ran in Wisconsin instead. This time after the week in Baltimore I flew to Grand Rapids on Friday instead of Houston and checked into a hotel near the airport. I had never actually spent any time in the lower Penninsula of Michigan other than in the Detroit. I saw the snow dusted ground from the plane as we descended into Grand Rapids and felt a world away from Houston.

I had run in snow many times growing up in the Adirondacks but don’t think I had raced in it before that I can remember. It was 19 degrees in the mid afternoon when I arrived at Gerald Ford International airport and the “Welcome to Michigan’s West Coast” sign in the baggage claim. I took an Uber to the Hampton Inn by the airport thinking about whether to get some extra traction for my shoes. As I was waiting to check in I spied a copy of USA Today in the lobby with a picture of Downtown Houston on the front page and a story about it preparing for the Super Bowl on Sunday. I also took note of the Dixon Ticonderoga pencils on the desk. The reminders of places I either lived or were from were certainly evident. The event itself was Groundhog Day themed and of course I had met Beth on Groundhog Day at a race in Norfolk VA back in the day.

As luck would have it the hotel was within walking distance to a Target and a Dicks Sporting goods and I went there for suppliers after settling in. I did end up getting some YakTrax traction for my shoes as I was a little more concerned with the possibility of ice than snow and snacks for the morning. Dinner was delivery from a Michigan pizza chain called Jet’s which was quite tasty and then off to bed.

I layered on everything I had in the morning including two pair of tights on top of one another, two sets of gloves, multiple top layers a hopped in an Uber headed to the park where the race would take place. Another cool personal history connection was driving on Oswego Street very close to the race destination. I was dropped off by the driver in the dark and relieved to see there was a tent set up and that is where I spent most of the time before the run was ready to proceed. Packet pick up went smoothly (bless races that allow race morning packet pick up) and I made a last minute decision to wear the race hoodie as an extra layer on top of all the other layers I was wearing. There were several runners in Groundhog costumes and the Bill Murray movie playing on loop in the tent. I had Norf, my stuffed travel Groundhog with me in a fanny pack and figured in the spirit of the race he could ride along for this one. After the apprehensive trip to the porta potty I headed to the starting line, which was coated in a couple inches of ice- not a good sign. There I stretched a little and tried to stay warm until the race began.

The Groundhog Marathon is held in a park in Grand Rapids and consists of 6 4.4 mile loops around the park- in keeping with the Groundhog Day (movie and holiday) theme. After the ice patch at the Start/Finish line the course was covered by about 4 inches of snow other than about a mile patch that has been mysteriously cleared. There were some hills but nothing too bad. If you like beautiful winter scenery in the woods it is a good run. I tucked in on the first loop and concentrated on keeping my footing and getting a good deep breathe in the cold air.

The thing About running in snow is that pacing your self is really tough, at least for me. I was running slow to start with but probably too fast when you consider all of the energy I was spending getting through the snow and keeping my balance. I was amazed seeing some of the natives who seemed to glide over the snow. My shuffle is good for keeping balanced in the snow but not much good for being light and quick. Still, it was a beautiful trail that was especially stunning on the first couple of loops as branches were still frozen and the rising sun reflected off of everything. It didn’t really matter how slow I went.

Straight about a half mile, turn to the right up a series of hills and then the first rest stop. Leaving the rest another hill and then a downhill and turn (sharp) and onto the cleared part of the course. Over a snow-covered bridge after a left turn back onto the trail along a river with ice flows right out of the Frozen movie. Maybe I should have brought stuffed Sven instead of Norf I thought with a chuckle. A remember a final bear to the right after the mile 3 aid station and then down a long snow covered straightaway to the start finish line and back again…and again….and again 6 times.

Not all of the loops were particularly memorable. The scenery was pretty each time. The hills felt tougher even though they were the same hills. The Yack Trax were a blessing on the snow covered part of the trail but they made things tougher on the paved portion. I was enjoying myself but after the first two loops were somewhat reasonably paced the next four were progressively slower. That was fine with me and I started inserting walk breaks and hanging out at the aid stations talking to the volunteers I kept seeing again and again. Everyone was nice and although I knew that this was going to challenge First Light for my slowest marathon it was still a good experience. The aid stations even had Pepsi and Mountain Dew which was nice as I start craving anything but sports drinks after drinking them for hours during a marathon. It is also a tradition at the Groundhog to use Maple Bacon-flavored Gu brand gel which I sampled as well- it was tastier than expected. I met some interesting people, survived the cold, didn’t fall on any ice, finished in decent enough shape to be able to make my connection in Chicago at Midway airport with a jog across the terminal.

After the run I took an Uber back to the hotel and another to the airport after changing and sampled as much Michigan fare as I could get prior to leaving. I knew about Michigan blueberries but I didn’t know Cherries were a big thing there are well but all of the specialties at the Michigan Taphouse restaurant were flavored with Cherry sauce of one kind or another and there were bags of dried local cherries (good for inflamation) and cherry chocolates in the Hudson News type store.

So Michigan is the books which makes for State number 23. Despite knocking out few states and having some good experiences my last three marathons have all been pretty slow. My hope for the spring is to get some solid training in and remain healthy enough to get back comfortably under the 4 hour mark and even challenge my PR. This run at 5:20 and change was very fun but I can run much faster and would like to run in conditions where I can do so. Until next time....Thanks for reading.

First Light Marathon and Travel

Wake up Maggie I think I’ve got something to say to you…as if on cue started playing on the sound system at the Hampton as I hit the down button the elevator to get breakfast in the lobby. There are moments when it seems like the universe is trying to tell you that things are going to turn out fine and hearing one of my favorite songs mid worry is about as clear a sign as I could get. It was just a little after 5AM on January 8^th and I was within two hours of trying to run a marathon when I hadn’t been able to run at all for the last three weeks because of shin splints in my left leg. I had an insert in my shoe, a compression sleeve on my lower leg but little confidence in how this was going to turn out. Still, the race had been paid for long ago and I really didn’t want to have to reschedule Alabama for another time.

We had driven the 8 hours to Mobile on Saturday morning from Missouri City the day before and the kids weren’t really thrilled with the trip. Mainly because it was unseasonably cold and probably also because we didn’t have any kid-specific fun on the weekend itinerary. The trip on I-10 East was fairly uneventful. We stopped in Louisiana at a Popeye’s and again at the Mississippi Welcome Center to give the kids a chance to run around, but as much as they hated being in the car, they had no interest in picking up pine cones in the cold.

We got into Mobile just before 3 in the afternoon and headed straight to the Expo which was at a government building just down the street. My initial impression of the city was that it was incredibly pretty and a shame that we were here when walking around to see the sites around Mobile Bay was not going to be so fun. The Mississippi Blues Marathon which was to be held on Saturday was cancelled because of snow and ice in Jackson but where we were it was just cold and windy. We saw remnants of the winter storm all along our drive over but we were travelling just after it had passed. A lot of runners in the 50 States club run both Mississippi Blues and First Light so at least they would get one race in this weekend. I may not be the most stable person in the world but to date I haven’t been crazy enough to run two marathons in one weekend. The expo was small but nice. We were glad to be out of the wind and the kids played on a set of stairs as we unwound from the drive and waited to check into our hotel. There would be no walking around Mobile Bay and not one person suggested it.

I grabbed some food and made Beth her first coffee of the morning and headed back to the room where everyone else was asleep. The weather called for an overnight low of 23 degrees so we decided that the cheering section could sleep in, hang out at the hotel, and we would meet up at the finish line when it was warmer. We didn’t exactly know when to expect that meeting to occur since I hadn’t run in so long. It was entirely possible to get to the starting line feeling refreshed, not having any pain, and having a good run. In reality I knew that I would be lucky to finish and had made a plan to jog slowly and even insert walk breaks if need be. I had been perplexed by this particular case of shin splints as it seemed to take longer than the previous cases I have had and flair up again each time I had thought it might be under control. I had planned on doing a test run or two before the marathon but ultimately decided to just use the last few days to keep resting it.

The Hampton was only about a quarter mile from the starting line and I kissed everyone and headed out on the walk down Government Street. There was a relay and half marathon associated as well as Full marathon so there were quite a few runners shivering as I approached the Start line. I stretched out as best I could and kept reminding myself to not do anything stupid once the race started and with some luck we would be able to check Alabama off of the map today. After a rousing rendition of the National Anthem we were off. I settled in the back at a snail’s pace and the adventure began.

I felt my shin for the first time before the first half mile had passed but it was less of a pain and more of a tugging sensation. The compression sleeve surely was helping somewhat but this sensation quickly served as a warning that there would be no attempting to push the pace today unless I wanted to end up limping and not able to finish. I settled in and then began an internal debate over whether inserting walk breaks during the run would help or if they would make things worse and give my shin time to swell up- I decided against them

Splits (1-10): 10:49, 10:30, 10:26, 10:28, 10:20, 10:14, 10:11, 10:47 ,10:36, 10:30

I spent the early miles just looking around at the city and monitoring my leg. Still tugging, feeling best on flat ground, decent on ascents, and worst on descents. There were not a ton of spectators out other than the aid station volunteers but that was not surprising considering the weather, and they were all so nice. I remember a lot of nice old large houses and a couple of frozen water fountains in yards during these miles. There was a little panic near mile 8 as I knew the half and full marathon courses were supposed to split at this but we were all waived in the same direction. I was asking other runners and one advised that she had asked the officer at the intersection and apparently the split for the two races had been moved a little further along. When the two courses did split and the half marathon runners left us things did thin out somewhat but since the relay runners were doing the full course as well it didn’t get too sparse at any point.

Splits (11-20) 11:08, 12:37, 12:03, 11:45, 12:49, 12:31, 12:57, 13:03, 13:48, 13:12

As you can tell from the splits miles 11-20 were rougher. My leg hurt as we headed to mid-town although I could still keep moving. I figured if I could make it to the halfway point ok without walking then I’d figure out a way to finish- maybe not the brightest plan but that’s how it went through my mind then. We ran through two colleges- The University of Southern Alabama and another one later that slips my mind. I always love running through colleges- it reminds me of all the miles Beth and I logged in Charlottesville around UVA back in the day. I’m sure that things didn’t look real great as I kept having the guys roaming the course on bicycles come up and ask me if I was ok. At first I thought it was just Southern Friendliness but the second time it happened I realized that my stride probably looked like a mess to anyone watching. I distinctly remember running up a hill and having a lady running/power walking in front of me that I couldn’t catch.

Miles 20-26: 12:15, 12:51, 13:00, 12:42, 12:56, 12:49

I do not know what the slight speed up was a result of over the last six miles. There were more people out at the day went on and I knew that I would finish even if not in the best shape. I kept plodding, smiling at volunteers, and assuring the bicycle spotters that I would not require medical intervention no matter how bad I looked.

Finish: 5:10:14 (11:51 Pace)

I took my headphones completely out on mile 24 to appreciate the last two miles completely. As we got closer to where we had started I could see the large hotels near the Bay come into view. Mobile’s architecture is reminiscent of New Orleans in places with many balcony of ornate iron. As I passed the 26 mile mark and peered down the narrow street looking for the finish line I saw Beth and the kids cheering on the side of the road. They had gotten bored of the hotel and even though it was a little chilly still decided to come out and ended up buying some doll clothes from a local seamstress.

L’Arche Mobile supports adults with developmental disabilities. I had heard that the medals would be handmade but didn’t give much thought to the finish until I got near and saw participants of the program handing out the wooden medals, smiling proudly, and offering support and water to the runners. It was one of the neatest finish line scenes that I have encountered to date. I was irritated when glancing up at the finish clock of how slow I had run but that quickly disappeared as I finished and met up with my family.

We walked back to the hotel where I changed in a public restroom while Mitch amused himself with rocks he had collected from the landscaping. Everything seemed pretty normal. My lower leg was swollen and I left the compression sleeve on for the time being figuring it would be a little while before I knew whether I had made things any worse or not.

We got on the road back to Houston after the race driving pretty much straight through save for a McDonald’s stop and another at a Love’s to get gas, arriving back home about 10:30 at night or so. The post script to all of this was that my calf actually was no worse for wear after the marathon amazingly and actually ended up completely healed by the end of the week after the race.

I’m luckier than smart sometimes. On to the next adventure….

Happy 2017

Today is my first working day of the new year and I am happy to report that the holidays were spent the way holidays should be spent- with my family and too many calories to easily count. 2016 had its ups and down for sure but turning the page from one year to the next is always a little bitter sweet. The gets get older and so do us adults. My baby girl will be turning six in just over a week and the little man will be five by the end of the summer and ready to head to Kindergarten. On a running note this year will mark 20 years since I lined up at my first marathon way back in 1997. I will at some point write down the historic tail of that race as well as the others that are missing from here for posterity. I have four marathons scheduled for the first half of this year in the states on Alabama, Michigan, Arizona, and Utah which will bring me to the halfway point of my 50 states marathon adventure.

I really don’t know what to say about politics in the upcoming year other than it looks like 2017 will be really interesting. My hope is that the things will settle down and we can stop seeing those with different political views as enemies but I am not holding my breath on that one.

Here is to 2017 and hope that anyone reading this has a great start to the new year!

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.