Marathon Mania, After Action Report

Well, I crossed the finish line of my fourth 26.2 mile race, and it was my toughest one yet.  I hit the midway point at 2:11 which was exactly 10 minute miles.  If I could have sustained that, I'd have beaten my personal record by over 12 minutes.  Alas, I could not.  On the back half I ran out of gas, as had been my problem in my long runs throughout my training.  Clearly my time goals were overambitious in comparison to my actual fitness.  In fact, it was a struggle even to keep running on the back half and that leads to my next point.

On the positive side, I received enormous support all throughout the race from many friends in Team Hammerheads, Team FDC and others, and my wife and boys were there, as always for this race, at the finish line.

In the end, I finished in 5:08 and change, where I'd finished all three of my prior ones under 4:40.

BUT, every race has three goals - hit your time target, finish, and stay uninjured.  I managed to achieve that finish, and that back half was an exercise in mental toughness which I will NEED come NOVEMBER, so onward and upward!

Lessons learned - your target pace in a marathon has to be relatively easy for you.  You can't run 26.2 miles at any pace that you have to push.  If I want to run 9 minute miles, I need to heart rate train until I can run that pace for a long run and feel comfortable the whole way. 

What did I do right - more strength training, more weekday consistency, more speedwork.

Next up, a sprint, 2575, in early March.  That'll be a different feel from the Marathon, and a re-entry to triathlon-land.  750m swim, 20k bike, 5k run It will be over in less than an hour and a half.  Just redline it the whole way - a speed workout under race conditions.  Then Nautica in April - an Olympic.  That'll take around three hours, an endurance challenge I consider more than a half marathon and less than a marathon, in running terms.  Those two lead up to IM 70.3 FL in May, my next biggie (A race).  A half iron is both harder and easier than a marathon.  Harder in that it takes longer, and you're in more physical pain on the run.  BUT, there is something uniquely hard about running 26.2 that is not present in even a half iron.

As for that half, it is a ways out.  I have 16 weeks (and two tune up races) to act on the lessons learned yesterday and hopefully achieve a realistic time goal and personal record. Also, time to dust off the bike and swim goggles!  (I've been swimming and biking, just not much).

My First Raven Run, by "Quick Study"

I got in a few hours of quiet work in the office on Monday (it was closed for MLK Day), then headed over to the beach to run with "the Raven," born Robert Kraft.   The Raven has run 8 miles on the beach every day since January 1, 1975, rain or shine or worse, that is over 38 years.  If you complete the run, you get a nickname by him.

I met the group at the lifeguard stand on 5th street, and there were about 15 or so runners, including 3 other first timers. 

I was running along chatting with the Raven, when somebody dropped out early.  In the process of looking up where and when to go for the run I had read the materials posted on his website:  www.ravenrun.net, and noticed that he obsessively tracks full and partial runs, and 1/3 mile swims (which he does after every run).  So when the guy dropped out, I said "so, he gets a partial right?"  The Raven said, "listen to you, your first run and you know all the lingo!"  To which I replied "I am a quick study!"  Then he said that was my nickname.

I think it fits.  I am a lawyer and former intelligence officer, and I always like to learn as much as I can before entering a new situation.  So I now go forth with the running name - Quick Study.

And the 8.5 miles easy on the beach was a good marathon week workout.  Took yesterday off and I am running 5 or so easy with short pickups today. 

Cheers.  It's Marathon minus Four!

Great Half Marathon Training Run from Tri Beach to the Grove at Garmin Connect - Details

The cool rainy weather was a godsend on my training run today.  I wasn't sure exactly what pace and distance I was going to do, 10-12 miles, easy to marathon pace.  The workout sort of found itself.  I decided to do a half marathon at a sub 9:30 pace and push the last few miles.  I comfortably ran it in under 2 hours and then cooled down with 2 very slow miles. 

Half Marathon Training Run from Tri Beach to the Grove by ebriggs22 at Garmin Connect - Details

I am so happy I had a kick in me at the end and ran the last few miles sub-9.  This long run had a consistency the others have lacked - so much so I even had gas in the tank to speed up at the end.  I feel a greater attention to tempo and track workouts during the week has paid big dividends.  I now feel very confident about the Miami Marathon and all I need to do now is rest up, do a few short and easy workouts to stay loose, hydrate, then go nail it.

RIP, ACE

My friend Aaron Cohen, an avid runner and triathlete like myself, and formerly the sales manager at my car dealership, Esserman Acura, was killed by a drunk driver, leaving a wife and two young daughters.  The driver was sentenced this week to 364 days.  What a travesty.

However, I will continue to celebrate the life of Aaron and to continue this quest in his honor.  As such, I am formally dedicating my Ironman in his memory. 

A warm, caring and friendly person, Aaron captured the essence of why we do this craziness in a letter he wrote just a few days before his life was taken. 

Why do I run?

“I run because I can…” How many times ...have I seen and heard this phase? How many times have I read it and not really thought about it?

A year ago, you shared something with me that answered the same question. As the father of a 3 year old, I hear the question “Why” so many times, that while sometimes the answers come out automatically and quickly, sometimes I stop and think about the question. Sometimes Lily receives an answer that while she won’t quite understand, my hope is that somewhere deep in her “absorbent sponge” mode of life, something will be tucked away that she will remember and use later in life.

Such a short statement – “I run because I can….” – so much inside those few short words.

One year ago today, I ran the farthest distance ever. I left my house to Alice Wainwright, past Kennedy Park to Peacock Park and back. I mapped 8 miles at an 11:36 pace. That run gave me confidence to do the 13.1 the following week, and while I couldn’t walk for a few days after, I did the ING race and finished.

I run because it does matter. I run because actions mean more than words. I run because challenging myself and stepping up to the challenge is what life is all about. I run because I find that when we do, I surround myself with great and motivated people that understand and connect on a level that others may never understand. I run because I grow with each step and with each breath. I run because I believe that I can, and with each mile, I realize that understanding and believing and reaching for what is important is a journey that I have to and want to face head on. I run because it makes me smile. I run because I love to reach the finish line happy. I run because physically, emotionally and mentally, each step builds endorphins, energy and emotional highs that make me more accomplished, energetic and confident.

I run because it makes me happy.

I run because you have pushed me to believe in myself and what I can do and will do. Two years ago, even one year ago, I never would have believed that I could do the things that we have done together in the last two years. When you talked about doing the 70.3 I thought you were a little nuts. When you mentioned a full marathon, I thought you had lost your mind. Your confidence, your determination, your courage, your happiness, your motivation, your toughness, your ‘not taking no for an answer,” your kindness, your compassion, and your love have made me understand and believe that anything is possible.

I have been competing in sports since I was 4 years old. I have been in national and North America championships, State and local competitions, and even the Olympic trials. I have raced in the past against some of the best athletes in the world. I haven’t done any of that since I was roughly 20 years old. Still, with all the history and all the past accomplishments, I have never felt an athletic accomplishment greater than I did finishing my first 70.3.

Now I am one week away from my first 26.2 (because 26.3 would be crazy). I am nervous and confident at the same time. I feel like I did before the 70.3 – confident, ready, and at the same time, anxious and a little nervous for the start. Part of me is also thinking about the next race and the next challenge. Thank you for your support, encouragement and for everything that you have done to influence this amazing series of events and accomplishments.

Why do I run? The short answer is I run because it makes me happy. Thank you for being such an integral part of that."

/End of letter



By the way, I have no doubt that were he alive today, he would already be an Ironman, so I am going to do it for him. 

If this dedication moves you to sympathize for the plight of Aaron's family and to desire to help them, you may contribute to his daughters' education by sending money here to the trust set up in their name: 

The Lily and Aiden Cohen Trust
c/o Stephen Cohen
Cohen, Kelly, Olson, Dehaan & Richter, L.L.C.,
900 Ridge Road, Suite K
Munster, Indiana 46321

The Hay is in the Barn

Unlike school, you can't cram for a marathon.  What's done is done.  The best thing I can do for myself is manage stress, get to bed early, hydrate and do a few recovery pace and short interval workouts to keep race pace dialed in.  Training is going to be challenging this week because Gennifer is out of town at a conference in New York City and I am on double daddy duty here in Miami.  Luckily, I don't have to train that much.

Today, I am going to do a scaled back version of the mixed intervals I did last week:  warmup: 1mi, 2K at half marathon pace (HMP), 1 mi at 10K pace, 1K at 5K pace, and 800m at 3K pace (7:56), cooldown 1 mile.  The paces are a function of previous race results, or in the case of 3K pace (which I've never raced), extrapolated from results at other distances.

As an aside, here is another cool website plug:  MacMillan Running Calculator.  It lets you determine what your time at one distance should be (if you train appropriately) based on a known time at another distance.  It will also give you goal training paces based on your desired finish time:

http://www.mcmillanrunning.com/index.php/calcUsage/calculate

Looking past the marathon, I have three triathlons coming up in the spring culminating in my next A race, Ironman 70.3 Florida on May 19, 2013.  The tuneup - B races are a sprint in early March - 2575 Triathlon Miami on March 10, and Nautica South Beach Olympic on April 7.  After the Half, I go into Ironman training with a vengeance with little more racing: maybe one more sprint over the summer (Trilogy I in June or Huntington's in July) and definintely the Escape to Miami Olympic tri in September.  Kind of an orderly progression - Sprint, Olympic, Half, Sprint Olympic, Full, with the Marathon, the Half and the Full being my A races. 

Early to Rise revisited

I got up before 5 a.m. and ran 6 easy miles @ 9:46/mi.  with my friend Nati and a bunch of her friends.  So nice to have the day's workout done before the sun comes up!  No angst about when I am going to squeeze it in.  Yesterday, I did intervals - a new workout I got from "Brain Training For Runners" by Matt Fitzgerald.  It was mixed intervals starting longer and slower and getting shorter and faster as follows:  1 mi w/u; 3K at half marathon pace (8:50); 2K at 10K pace (8:26); 1K at 5K pace (8:06) and 800m at 3K pace (7:57), with 90 second rest intervals and 1 mi c/d.

Tomorrow is tempo - 8 mi at Half pace if I'm feelin' it.  If not, Marathon pace. 

Marathon Mania

The ING Miami Marathon is less than three weeks away.  I hope I am ready and prepared.  I've been following my training pretty well, better on weekends than weekdays, but getting the key intervals, tempos, and long runs done on schedule.  This past Saturday, I completed a (not-very-fun) 22 mile run in unseasonal heat on Key Biscayne, and that particular workout is my benchmark for assuring that "I will cross the finish line."  I still follow the basic long run program I learned with Team Footworks in 2010 and 2011 that peaks at 22 miles 3 weeks out.  It reminded me:  Marathons are hard.  There is no getting around the fact that at some point in the race itself-- for me it is after about 22 miles, but your mileage may vary -- I am completely fatigued and finishing the race is an exercise in forcing my body to do more than it wants to.  Those 4.2 miles are harder than the 22 that came before. 

As for this race's purpose in the overall plan for the  Iron Year, I am glad to get at least one standalone marathon done this year before I have the gall to do my next marathon after a 2.4 mile ocean swim and 6-7 hour bike ride!

I have less than three weeks to go Hopefully the 2 remaining long runs (16 mi and 13 mi) coming up, will go well.  I am tapering now, all I can really do is hydrate, sleep and manage stress.

The marathon is a mental game, but you have to give your mind a fit body to ride!

New Year's Resolutions:

Use the "Iron Year" to improve in all areas of life, not just as an athlete, but as an attorney, father and husband, by cultivating habits that will maximize and optimize the use of time, minimize stress, and create a stable, balanced platform for succcess in all areas of life. 

I.  Consistent Training - Early to Bed and Early to Rise

Less nighttime eating. Less TV and mindless computer time. 

Go to bed early. 

Wake up early.  No snooze bar. 

Train consistently and early - try to get the day's training done (or at least most of it) before 6:30 a.m.  That's the only time I can truly count on.

II.  Make the Workday Count; Clear the Decks

Manage stress.

Manage time.

Stay organized.

Get things done, don't procrastinate.

III.  Balance and Mindfulness

Be with family when with family.  Be working when at work.  Be training when training.  Being present in each role will do the impossible - "create more time" in the day by making time count. 

Don't forget that even during the demands of Ironman training this year, family and work come first. 

Limit conversations about racing and training  (that is what this blog is for). 

IV.  Focus on the Less Obvious Components of Training:

Get more sleep.  Actively focus on recovery from hard sessions.

Eat more fruit, veggies, whole grain, fish.  Less fried food, less fast food.  Better portion control.

Do more strength training and more flexibility exercises (stretching, yoga, etc.).

Use visualization and meditation to develop mental toughness and a positive mentality.

Minimize race day stress by being better organized and prepared.  Pack the night before, from a checklist, wake up early.  Warm up.  Mentally Rehearse.

V.  Very important HAVE FUN! 

Every time a race gets really hard, I remind myself - this is what I wanted to do. 

Happy 2013!

Happy New Year to all and especially any guests or friends who happen to pay a visit today.  The 2013 calendar year begins, and I started it off with a great workout this afternoon - the Yasso 800 workout, invented by a writer of that name for Runner's World:

2 mi warmup
8 x 800m intervals at about your 5k race pace with  400m recovery between 800s
2 mi cooldown.

Finishing this workout within my intended time parameters was a great confidence booster and a great way to start the new year.

Best to all!