marathon report

Lacking any stories about ski races lately I thought I'd share this one...

Traverse City Michigan -

Unique spot for a running marathon. You start right next to the high school
track
and by the mile marker you are running along Lake Michigan - the third
largest of our great lakes. TC also has the North American Vasa ski
marathon -
won by our very own Nathan Schultz a few years back. (2?)

With a starting time of 7am, cool temps are always assured and today was no
different. Race temp @ the starting line was 48 deg.
I sat in my van listening to some iTunes and relaxing until about 10 minutes
before race start (1400 entries today) the jogged to the line. I situated
myself in the top 50 or so runners and asked around for peoples goal time -
it ranged from 3:00 to 3:30 so I figured I was in the right spot. 3 minutes
later, bang and we're off.

Going along lake Michigan is very scenic and nice. A cool lake breeze just
light enough to keep you comfortable was there the whole race and at a
couple points I got a tad cold. Then the sun popped out and I got a little
hot. But, overall, perfect temps running along the shoreline.

Caught up in the excitement I run a silly 6:40 first mile. Geez, you'd
think an experienced 39 yr. old distance runner and coach would know better
than to go out too hard, but I did it anyway. My training has gone much
better than my last marathon (2 yrs ago, same course 3:21) so I thought I
could meet the Boston Qualifier (3:15). Second mile 6:50, third 7:00, lots
of people passing me as I slowly eased back to a better pace time. @ ten
miles I hit 61 minutes = 7:06/mile - still too fast if I wanted to finish
still standing. The Bayshore marathon is out and back so at the turn around
I hit 1:33:30 - on pace fot 3:07 if I could hold the pace.

By mile 16 I began to get some tired legs. I had eased back to 7:20 miles
but still felt some deadness in my quads and calves. My breathing was fine.
I've got a great endurance base from years of running (25 to be exact) and
lots of racing this winter ( I cross country ski race all our of great snow
filled, northern Michigan season) so my breathing was fine. Not enough long
runs this season was, however, beginning to take its toll.

At mile 16 I decided to purposely slow down just to hold on to a decent
finish. 7:30, 7:20, 7:30, 7:40 went the miles until 20. At twenty a few
people started to come back to me. I thought I went out to hard but these
guys went out WAY to hard !! ouch. One guy was just sitting on the ground
next to the race course. I said "need a Gu" - he just said "no" and sat
there. Glad I wasnt feeling that bad !

About mile 21 I caught a guy going real slow. I made the decision to run
with him for a few miles just to preserve my legs. As long as I hit 7:50's
for the last 5 miles I was still sub 3:15 and qualified. We went 8:05 then
8:10 then 8:00 - ouch, slow. I new if I stuck with him I wouldnt make it...
so I picked it up a tad and went 7:45, 7:50.... ONE MILE TO GO. I quickly
calculated i needed a 7:20 + a pace of the same for the last 285 yards.
HEre we go.... no legs left, breathing hard... I pumped out a 7:20 and had a
finish time of 3:14:52 !!!!!!!! EIGHT SECONDS TO SPARE !!!

Race temp at finish 58 deg. perfect.

Boston here I come.

I walked slowly to my van, hopped in and drove home. The kids helped me out
of the van since walking was difficult and my wife had a pasta lunch waiting
then big fat steak for dinner followed by a nice Fosters oil can.

Motrin for breakfast this a.m.

JK

Hey, good job. It's always funny how over a long distance like that it
comes down to a few seconds. I think my first Boston qualifiying time
was 3:09:46 or something. When I was running a lot in my 20s (and
about 40 lbs lighter) all of my running buddies had a story of missing
3hrs by a couple of seconds or so. Mine was 3:00:09 one year at Marine
Corps - my finisher foto shows me giving the finger to the timing clock
overhead (nice - didn't give that one to mom). Another friend boasted
a 3:00:03.

Maybe I'll see you in Hopkinton this year. But then there's that
hamstring, the baby, and geez, 7:25 miles are about 2 minutes faster
than my training pace now.... :-)

bt

Nicely done!

I love reading 'real life' marathon reports. Much more fun than the guy
who goes out at 6:05s and finishes strong with 4 consecutive sub-6 miles!

Marsh Jones

Very nice work to finish with 8 seconds to spare on the qualifier.
If you come to Boston be sure to let me know.
We'll cheer for you!

Rob Bradlee

--- 32 degrees wrote:
Lacking any stories about ski races lately I thought I'd share this
one...

Traverse City Michigan -

Unique spot for a running marathon. You start right next to the high
school
track
and by the mile marker you are running along Lake Michigan - the
third
largest of our great lakes. TC also has the North American Vasa ski
marathon -
won by our very own Nathan Schultz a few years back. (2?)

With a starting time of 7am, cool temps are always assured and today
was no
different. Race temp @ the starting line was 48 deg.
I sat in my van listening to some iTunes and relaxing until about 10
minutes
before race start (1400 entries today) the jogged to the line. I
situated
myself in the top 50 or so runners and asked around for peoples goal
time -
it ranged from 3:00 to 3:30 so I figured I was in the right spot. 3
minutes
later, bang and we're off.

Going along lake Michigan is very scenic and nice. A cool lake
breeze just
light enough to keep you comfortable was there the whole race and at
a
couple points I got a tad cold. Then the sun popped out and I got a
little
hot. But, overall, perfect temps running along the shoreline.

Caught up in the excitement I run a silly 6:40 first mile. Geez,
you'd
think an experienced 39 yr. old distance runner and coach would know
better
than to go out too hard, but I did it anyway. My training has gone
much
better than my last marathon (2 yrs ago, same course 3:21) so I
thought I
could meet the Boston Qualifier (3:15). Second mile 6:50, third
7:00, lots
of people passing me as I slowly eased back to a better pace time. @
ten
miles I hit 61 minutes = 7:06/mile - still too fast if I wanted to
finish
still standing. The Bayshore marathon is out and back so at the turn
around
I hit 1:33:30 - on pace fot 3:07 if I could hold the pace.

By mile 16 I began to get some tired legs. I had eased back to 7:20
miles
but still felt some deadness in my quads and calves. My breathing
was fine.
I've got a great endurance base from years of running (25 to be
exact) and
lots of racing this winter ( I cross country ski race all our of
great snow
filled, northern Michigan season) so my breathing was fine. Not
enough long
runs this season was, however, beginning to take its toll.

At mile 16 I decided to purposely slow down just to hold on to a
decent
finish. 7:30, 7:20, 7:30, 7:40 went the miles until 20. At twenty a
few
people started to come back to me. I thought I went out to hard but
these
guys went out WAY to hard !! ouch. One guy was just sitting on the
ground
next to the race course. I said "need a Gu" - he just said "no" and
sat
there. Glad I wasnt feeling that bad !

About mile 21 I caught a guy going real slow. I made the decision to
run
with him for a few miles just to preserve my legs. As long as I hit
7:50's
for the last 5 miles I was still sub 3:15 and qualified. We went
8:05 then
8:10 then 8:00 - ouch, slow. I new if I stuck with him I wouldnt
make it...
so I picked it up a tad and went 7:45, 7:50.... ONE MILE TO GO. I
quickly
calculated i needed a 7:20 + a pace of the same for the last 285
yards.
HEre we go.... no legs left, breathing hard... I pumped out a 7:20
and had a
finish time of 3:14:52 !!!!!!!! EIGHT SECONDS TO SPARE !!!

Race temp at finish 58 deg. perfect.

Boston here I come.

I walked slowly to my van, hopped in and drove home. The kids helped
me out
of the van since walking was difficult and my wife had a pasta lunch
waiting
then big fat steak for dinner followed by a nice Fosters oil can.

Motrin for breakfast this a.m.

JK









Rob Bradlee
Java, C++, Perl, XML, OOAD, Linux, and Unix Training

On 30/5/05 12:07 am, "Marsh Jones"
wrote:

Nicely done!

I love reading 'real life' marathon reports. Much more fun than the guy
who goes out at 6:05s and finishes strong with 4 consecutive sub-6 miles!

Marsh Jones




I agree, first person accounts are always interesting even if, like me, you
have no intention of doing the event.
BTW re e-mail and news group replies, someone asked what "e-mail client" I
used. I use entourage on a mac os x
Even more BTW why did you call it a "client"? I'm curious about the way
language evolves.

On 30 May 2005 03:20:40 -0700, (Andrew
Bolger) wrote:


I agree, first person accounts are always interesting even if, like me, you
have no intention of doing the event.
BTW re e-mail and news group replies, someone asked what "e-mail client" I
used. I use entourage on a mac os x
Even more BTW why did you call it a "client"? I'm curious about the way
language evolves.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Client_%28computing%29

Also, rec.running.

JT

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Remove "remove" to reply
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Andrew Bolger wrote:

I agree, first person accounts are always interesting even if, like me, you
have no intention of doing the event.
BTW re e-mail and news group replies, someone asked what "e-mail client" I
used. I use entourage on a mac os x
Even more BTW why did you call it a "client"? I'm curious about the way
language evolves.

Nice effort, JK!

I don't know about the Mac world these days, so I can't speak to the way
your email or newsgroup app works. Yes, language is evolving. A client
in the computer world is, per Merriam-Webster, "A computer in a network
that uses the services (as access to files or shared peripherals)
provided by a server." That would include browsers, FTP apps, email
apps, or any other application that gets its info from a server. See
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...=define:client.

Gene

I don't know about the Mac world these days, so I can't speak to the way
your email or newsgroup app works. Yes, language is evolving. A client
in the computer world is, per Merriam-Webster, "A computer in a network
that uses the services (as access to files or shared peripherals)
provided by a server." That would include browsers, FTP apps, email
apps, or any other application that gets its info from a server. See
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...=define:client.

Gene
Thank you

Did you have a calculator with you or smth? Nice job.

JK

For some trail fun this summer you should make the trek to the Keweenaw for
the Keweenaw Trail Running Festival. A 10K, 6K Hill Climb and 25K all in
just over 24 hrs. The 10K and 25K courses are new this year, everything is
now in Keweenaw County.

There have been some "bugs" in previous years but I think/hope all of that
is worked out. Regardless of bugs the races are always fun, getting an
accurate timely time is another question.

http://keweenawtrails.com/events/trailfest/index.htm

Now that I write this I seem to recall you mentioned the Grand Island
Marathon a few months ago, the timing of the two is not too conducive to
running both (one week a part I think).

Dave

"32 degrees" wrote in message
...
Lacking any stories about ski races lately I thought I'd share this one...

Traverse City Michigan -

Unique spot for a running marathon. You start right next to the high
school track
and by the mile marker you are running along Lake Michigan - the third
largest of our great lakes. TC also has the North American Vasa ski
marathon -
won by our very own Nathan Schultz a few years back. (2?)

With a starting time of 7am, cool temps are always assured and today was
no
different. Race temp @ the starting line was 48 deg.
I sat in my van listening to some iTunes and relaxing until about 10
minutes
before race start (1400 entries today) the jogged to the line. I situated
myself in the top 50 or so runners and asked around for peoples goal
time -
it ranged from 3:00 to 3:30 so I figured I was in the right spot. 3
minutes
later, bang and we're off.

Going along lake Michigan is very scenic and nice. A cool lake breeze
just
light enough to keep you comfortable was there the whole race and at a
couple points I got a tad cold. Then the sun popped out and I got a
little
hot. But, overall, perfect temps running along the shoreline.

Caught up in the excitement I run a silly 6:40 first mile. Geez, you'd
think an experienced 39 yr. old distance runner and coach would know
better
than to go out too hard, but I did it anyway. My training has gone much
better than my last marathon (2 yrs ago, same course 3:21) so I thought I
could meet the Boston Qualifier (3:15). Second mile 6:50, third 7:00,
lots
of people passing me as I slowly eased back to a better pace time. @ ten
miles I hit 61 minutes = 7:06/mile - still too fast if I wanted to finish
still standing. The Bayshore marathon is out and back so at the turn
around
I hit 1:33:30 - on pace fot 3:07 if I could hold the pace.

By mile 16 I began to get some tired legs. I had eased back to 7:20 miles
but still felt some deadness in my quads and calves. My breathing was
fine.
I've got a great endurance base from years of running (25 to be exact) and
lots of racing this winter ( I cross country ski race all our of great
snow
filled, northern Michigan season) so my breathing was fine. Not enough
long
runs this season was, however, beginning to take its toll.

At mile 16 I decided to purposely slow down just to hold on to a decent
finish. 7:30, 7:20, 7:30, 7:40 went the miles until 20. At twenty a few
people started to come back to me. I thought I went out to hard but these
guys went out WAY to hard !! ouch. One guy was just sitting on the
ground
next to the race course. I said "need a Gu" - he just said "no" and sat
there. Glad I wasnt feeling that bad !

About mile 21 I caught a guy going real slow. I made the decision to run
with him for a few miles just to preserve my legs. As long as I hit
7:50's
for the last 5 miles I was still sub 3:15 and qualified. We went 8:05
then
8:10 then 8:00 - ouch, slow. I new if I stuck with him I wouldnt make
it...
so I picked it up a tad and went 7:45, 7:50.... ONE MILE TO GO. I quickly
calculated i needed a 7:20 + a pace of the same for the last 285 yards.
HEre we go.... no legs left, breathing hard... I pumped out a 7:20 and had
a
finish time of 3:14:52 !!!!!!!! EIGHT SECONDS TO SPARE !!!

Race temp at finish 58 deg. perfect.

Boston here I come.

I walked slowly to my van, hopped in and drove home. The kids helped me
out
of the van since walking was difficult and my wife had a pasta lunch
waiting
then big fat steak for dinner followed by a nice Fosters oil can.

Motrin for breakfast this a.m.

JK