Valley-to-the-Sea Race Report AND Lessons Learned

John, Sherri, Yolanda and me, pre-race.

Recent training has been sporadic at best.  Each week I start off with good intentions, then work, drama, life, etc. all conspire to prevent me from making a workout.  

I didn't run any appreciable mileage for the 3 1/2 weeks prior to the Valley-to-the-Sea race.  I knew going in that it would be difficult and, despite my irrational hopes, that I would probably not make my PR goal of a sub-2 hour 1/2.  I tried to tell myself that I had enough run fitness to make it work.  

Lesson #1 - You will lose fitness if you do not run the appropriate mileage before a race.

Still, I was optimistic.  I felt good on race day, had my pre-race smoothie, drank my coffee and water.  It was cool (chilly even, for Maui!) at the race start and there was cloud cover the entire race, which helped keep temperatures in check.

Lesson #2 - Don't mess around with the hydration/nutrition systems you KNOW work for you.

I didn't wear my Nathan water carrier this race.  The course was mostly downhill/flat.  I wanted to run it fast (see previous PR goal) and didn't want the extra weight.  I decided that water at the aid stations and 3 gels would be enough.  But I'm used to carrying my own HEED and having it whenever I want.  I was thirsty and the aid stations were too far apart (not really, but that's how I felt).  

I started off fast (for me) but you can see why - steep descent at the beginning.  I figured if I kept up a good pace at the start it would see me through at the finish.


Lesson #3 - Negative split, negative split, negative split!  Don't go out too fast.

Would I have been better off to slow it down at the start?  Probably.  I should have kept it more at 9:00 mm.  Mile 5 was a long, gradual uphill, which really dropped my speed and where my attitude started to go bad.  Miles 6-9 were downhill again and when I really started talking to myself and giving myself a pep talk, and you can see it in my average pace, which was back on track.

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	2:11:55.2	13.08	10:05
1	8:22.0	1.08	7:43
2	8:02.4	0.98	8:11
3	9:09.0	1.02	8:59
4	10:03.5	1.01	9:55
5	10:23.8	1.00	10:25
6	9:40.1	0.99	9:45
7	10:29.5	1.11	9:29
8	8:27.2	0.90	9:24
9	9:14.5	0.98	9:25
10	12:43.5	1.07	11:57
11	9:50.4	0.94	10:31
12	12:02.3	1.00	12:04
13	13:27.1	1.01	13:20

For the record, my actual finish time was 2:10:34 - I forgot to press STOP on the Garmin.  AGAIN.  #74 out of 107. 

At Mile 10, where the ground leveled off once again, the wheels started to come off.  I was done.  I'd had my last gel at about Mile 8 and thought it would carry me through, but I really started to lose it.  At one point I just wanted to sit on the curb and cry like a baby.  I don't know what got into me?!  Yolanda and Sherri passed me at this point and I told them I was fading.  They were encouraging and that kept me going for awhile.  I really tried to HTFU.  My legs were starting to cramp, but I kept up a slow jog until the end.

Here we are at the finish. I am so proud of Yolanda - it was her first 1/2 and she did great!  I was just glad it was over, which makes me sad because I love to race and this one was on a beautiful course, on a great day, and had great volunteers and was run exceptionally well (thanks Rudy!).  Which leads me to:

Lesson #4:  You can't fake a 1/2 marathon.

My quads hated me for three solid days.  I. Seriously. Could. Not. Walk. 

My new Brooks PureFlow shoes, however, were AWESOME!  I still had a couple of blisters, but they were minor.  I will have to tape my feet in a couple of places, I think, to eliminate them, but my feet were not sore and neither were my calves. 

Lesson #5:  Some things DO work, even on a bad day.

Loved my Brooks shoes, Injinji socks ROCK, and even though I missed wearing my water carrier, I liked wearing my Zoot tri top for the race (the back pockets are awesome!).

Things I'm Loving Right Now

Tri-ing to get better about posting!  I have so many ideas and things I want to write down, but there doesn't seem to be enough hours in the day.

Here are a few things I've come across recently that I am crazy about:

Brooks PureFlow Shoes  

I needed some new running shoes and didn't know what to do.  I wanted a more minimalist shoe, but still wanted a little extra cushion, and needed to solve the blistering issues I had on longer (10+ mile) runs.

I settled on the new Newton Distance U, but was frustrated because I could only order the 11.5 size I needed directly from Newton and they would only ship to me UPS 2-day air at a cost of over $40.  At $155 for the shoe, I wasn't about to spend that kind of money for shipping - just couldn't justify it for an untested shoe.  Sorry Newton - epic fail on the shipping.

I went to my #2 choice, the PureFlow, hoping that the wider toe box would prevent the blister I was getting on the inside tip of my big toe.  I ended up ordering them from Zappos.com, and got free FED-EX shipping from them.  My shoes were delivered two days after I ordered them.  WIN!

I've run 9 miles total in them so far - 3 miles, then 6 miles, all on the treadmill because we have been continually soaked by rain.  So far I like them and will be breaking them in the next two weeks.  The real test will be the upcoming 1/2 marathon I have on the March 24th.  I'll report back with a more specific fit/comfort review.

Sahale Snacks

These nuts are THE DEVIL!  They are delicious and addictive and I will eat the whole package in one sitting if I'm not careful.  Ideally, I should take the package home then dole out a little at a time in my lunch for the week - NOT take them to work.

The only other downside is that they are not 100% Paleo - there is some sugar and balsamic vinegar - but if those are the only two offending ingredients I'm OK with having them for a special treat from time to time.


 
 Steve's Original Paleo Krunch

I'll give Steve a gold star even if he does spell crunch with a "k" (major pet peeve). 

I originally ordered this so I could try the recipe for Luscious Lemon Bars in the Paleo Comfort Foods cookbook. Of course, I had to try it before I cooked it up into a recipe and it's wonderful!  However, there is honey in it and I've been having some sugar issues recently, so I had a hard time staying out of it.  This is another item where I can't have an open container around because I will eat too much at once.

It's delicious all by itself, but I like to dip a banana into it for a little crunch. It made a great base for the lemon bars, which I altered and used fresh passion fruit (lilikoi) pulp instead of lemon - and awesome tropical dessert to take to my next potluck.

On the Training Front

I've stumbled a bit on my training in the last two weeks - weather, work, minor illness, family drama, have all conspired to sap the motivation right out of me, but it's a new week and I've got a race coming up.  Time to get with it!

2012 - So It Begins

I spent a considerable amount of December mired in a full-blown pity party.  Oh, I ran (I was training for a January marathon afterall); I ate reasonably well (although deviating periodically from my pure Paleo format); and I went to work.  Trouble was, I was vaguely unhappy and unable to put a finger on it, thereby making it unfixable.

I'm a fixer.  A do-er.  An achiever.  There's nothing I like better than to put a solid check in that little black box.  I make lists. I keep calendars.  I have a training plan.  Many years ago a mentor made the statement, "You just aren't happy unless you can tie a big red bow around it."  Trouble was, I had too many loose ends and not enough bows tied.  And when that happens I.....just......do........nothing.

Within all of that chaos was a message.  The message was, perhaps, that I was doing too much.  There were things I needed to cut, reduce, say "no" to.  The problem was, how did I pick the things to cut?

There are four things I am committed to for 2012:

• My marriage and family
• My job
• Racing Hawaii 70.3 in June
• Exhibiting in a featured show in Utah in July

I'm going to focus on those for now and the rest are going to have to wait.

And I'm going to have to be OK with that.

VIRR Turkey Trot Race Report - 16 miler

Sometimes it's best if you don't know the race course in advance...

For most races, I haunt the website, review the race course and decide on a plan of action well before race day.  I like to run portions (if not all) of the course prior to race day so that I have a strategy and can be mentally prepared for the tough spots.  I like to look at the previous year's race results, check times for my AG, and think about where I might end up in the standings.  I'm sure a lot of athletes do this.  At least the Type-A athletes do, even if they know they aren't going to place in the top (that would be me, chaser of the FOPs (Front-of-Pack'rs).

This race was going to be a little different.  It was my first time entering.  It was a fun run.  It was FREE.  It fit fabulously into my training schedule and took the place of my long run for the week.  IT WAS FREE!

The course map was not posted until a couple of days before the race.  I've run races with VIRR from Rice Park (the start), so I assumed it would probably be an out-and-back to Grandma's, with two loops to get to the 16 miles (they also had an 8.4 and a 2.6 mile run that day).  When I finally glanced at the posted course map, I did not zoom in, and I assumed it would be down Kula Highway, then back up Lower Kula Road.  OK...different, but extremely do-able.  Then I got the surprise.

A group of us were standing around at check-in and I overheard someone say, "It's the same course as last year."  So I told him this was my first time and asked "what, really, is the course?"  Turns out the "down Kula Highway" part was right, but then we turned right at the high school and ran UP AND AROUND Kekaulike Hwy.  Oh, s%@t!  This is an approximate 2,000 ft elevation gain.  It is an uphill run from about Mile 7 to about Mile 13.  (FYI - I chickened out and didn't sign up for a 10K in May of this year because it was primarily THIS section of the course - billed as a "one hill" race.  Ha Ha!  The entire race is that one hill.)

But the race was FREE.  And my training was going well.  And I completely rescheduled my training plan for the long run on Thanksgiving.  And I was there.  What the hell?  It would be fun, right?

Pre-Race
Standard pre-race smoothie at 4:30 a.m.  Race started at 7:00. FYI - I've pretty much decided that the 2-hour window is too short.  It leaves me feeling a bit sloshy.  Next time I will get up earlier and drink the smoothie prepared the night before, then go back to bed for a little more snooze.  It works!


Warm Up/Race Prep
Ha ha!  It was 53 freaking degrees at the race start!  That is downright COLD for us Maui folks.  I kept my sweatshirt on, did a little light jogging to stay warm.

After hearing about the real race course, I added 10 minutes to my "guessed" time.  Those who come closest to their guess can win a prize (no watches, garmins allowed).  I originally planned to go for 3:00, but added 10 minutes for the serious climbing.  (I was going to wear my Garmin as this was supposed to be a training run for me and I wanted to watch pace, heart rate, etc., but one of the long-time runners cajoled me into leaving it in the truck.)

We also found out at check-in that there were no "official" aid stations on the course, but that someone was going to leave water at about Mile 6 and Mile 12.  Although I had my Nathan carrier with my bottle of Heed and two Hammer gels, I decided to grab an extra water bottle from my truck just in case there was no water.

Off came the sweatshirt, but I wore my new YMX Yellowman long-sleeve dragon shirt underneath (more about that in a later post).


Race
There were 24 of us in the 16-mile group.  The ultra-runners (one only clad in black running shorts and shoes) took off and never looked back.  I ended up with a group of about 4-5 runners at the tail end of the pack, but I was OK with that.  This was supposed to be a long training run, not a race, and I was perfectly content to let everyone else take off.  I figured this would be a good way to practice pacing and see if the rumors were true: that I would eventually pass some of the runners who took off too fast and paid for it at the end.

The first 6 miles were mostly on a gradual downgrade, a pleasant way to warm up.  Several of us chatted as we ran along.  I felt good and even though I felt I could pick up the pace, I tried to stay slow.  This is where I sort of missed my Garmin, but I realized it was probably very good for me to run by feel for a change.  Mentally I felt good because I wasn't DFL in the pack, which is a driver for me, for better or for worse.

We made the turn at the high school and started the climb.  There was no water at the first "drop" but I was OK - I popped my first gel as planned and finished the bottle I was carrying.  We began the ascent, and this is where some runners started dropping off in pace.  I was still feeling good and elated that I felt so strong...in the tougher sections I reminded myself that it was OK to walk portions.  My pace slowed and I walked what I thought was quite a bit, but I still felt good and strong and ran as often as I could.  I enjoyed the beauty of the day, the fact that I was out running sixteen miles (which still amazes me - it was the longest distance I have ever run in my life!), and kept a positive mindset.  I even stopped to take a couple of pics:

A friend of mine says I look like I was hitchhiking in this photo!

I thought I knew the stretch of highway fairly well as I've driven it many times, and I got excited when I saw the houses just before Kula Lodge because I thought I was near the top.  I wasn't and it was still quite a ways to the Haleakala Crater turn-off where the second water drop was.  When I got there I was glad so see there were still plenty of bottles because I'd burned up my HEED on the climb.  I took a quick break, took my second gel and topped off my water bottle so I wouldn't have to carry another, and took off.

After this stop my legs protested a bit.  There was still a bit of climbing left to do and I got back to it.  This is when I noticed that I was getting a blister under the base of my big toe (at the top of the ball of my foot).  I stopped to adjust my sock, which was bunching a little in that area, and took off.  Side Note:  I noticed that I am getting more blisters as my runs get longer. I thought my feet would toughen and callus up, but they aren't.  For this race I wrapped my 4th toes with bandaids to avoid the nasty blisters I got in the Harbor-to-Harbor, and really rubbed my feet up with Body Glide.  I wore socks with my Mizunos.  Mostly a winning combination.  I still have several long runs to test shoe/sock/no-sock combinations before race day.

I caught a few more runners in this last climbing section, then the glorious downhill began!!

About Mile 12-13 my quads started getting cranky with me, but I told myself the same thing I told myself at Mile 10 in the 1/2 marathon: as long as the pain doesn't get any worse, I am fine.  I can run with this.  I can deal with this.  I still felt strong, and if I hadn't had the blister really yelling at me at this point, I could have even picked up the pace a little bit.

Soon I saw the intersection at the highway and made my turn for the home stretch.  As I came up the last little hill before the finish, I saw my family on the sidelines cheering me on.  It was awesome!  I left them all, still sleeping, that morning (I had told them the night before that I would finish at around 10:00 IF they wanted to meet me at the finish line).  It was great!

I finished in 2:59:58!  If I wouldn't have added that last 10 minutes, I would have only been 2 seconds off my time and would have probably won a prize.  I can't believe how consistent my pace is, even without the Garmin to check.  And that was despite that crazy incline!

My uncle said he couldn't believe I wasn't even breathing hard at the end and I looked as if I barely broke a sweat. 

I am very pleased with this race and the results. It did wonders for my self confidence - I know I can tackle just about anything with good, consistent training.

Can't wait to see what happens next year!

Marathon Monday - Week 9 of 18

"I'm at the half-way mark!" I realized, as I typed the title for today's post.  So far, so good.

I missed posting last Monday because I was on vacation, here, at home.  My mom came to visit from California and we had a great time together.  I stuck with my run training (minus one 3-miler), but swimming, biking and blogging all kind of fell by the wayside.  It was a good mental break for me. Today, though, it's back to our regularly scheduled programming.

I ran a fun race on Saturday - the 20th anniversary of the Maui Harbor-to-Harbor race.  It clocked in at a little over 10 miles (10.55 according to my Garmin) and I was thrilled with my average pace of 9:28!  Running more is paying off!  I felt good the entire race and incorporated some new mental tricks to keep me going in the later miles: keeping focused, staying positive and checking in on my body and how it was performing.  Run tall.  Hold your core. Smile. There was no swearing involved, unlike Xterra.

With a little more than a mile to go, a younger woman passed me.  Usually this is not a big deal, because people pass me a lot, but for some reason I could not let this one go.   I remembered something I read recently, that if someone passes you near the end of the race, do not let them get too far ahead.  Her pace wasn't much faster than mine at the time, so I hung on around 25 yards back.  We got inside that last mile and I knew if I didn't pick up the pace she would think she had it in the bag.  I remembered how Mirinda Carfrae tried to chase down Chrissie Wellington in Kona.  We hit a slight downhill and I lengthened my stride a bit, gradually catching up, then I dug down deep and pushed enough to get past her.  I figured she would push it and pass me again, but I stayed strong and finished just ahead of her.  She came up to me at the water station after the race and congratulated me on the finish, which was really nice of her to do.  I thanked her and told her I wasn't sure if I was going to be able to catch her and told her she set a good pace.

I went into the race with the intention of racing strong and trying to sustain a 9:30 pace.  It was a hard effort, but it also reassured me that I can run faster than I think!

The race was an exchange for my long run for that weekend, scheduled for 10 miles.  I know I'm supposed to get my long runs in slower, and I won't be doing any more "racing" throughout my marathon training, but this was a really good check-in for me and a great confidence booster.

I promise to take it slow at the Turkey Trot next week!

Xterra Kapalua 10K Race Report

Run - 10k
Total Time = 1h 17m 13s
Overall Rank = 260/338
Age Group = 40-44
Age Group Rank = 8/19

Shoes: Asics Gel-Trabuco

PRE-RACE

The 9:00 a.m. start left plenty of time for breakfast so I had a smoothie: fresh coconut milk, pineapple, OJ, banana, ice and egg white protein. Filled coffee and left the house – it was a little over an hour drive to the race site and I still needed to pick up my packet. 

Got to the race shortly after 7:00 a.m.  It was nice to get there early – I got a great parking spot and had plenty of time to check in and relax before the start. 

The check-in area was quite a walk uphill to the center of the hotel.  I had pre-registered via fax, but they didn’t have any record for me.  Thankfully, I brought my form and fax confirmation.  The Xterra staff made it smooth and hassle-free, which was nice.  I got my bag and number (lucky #300 ) and walked back to my truck.  Turned out I got the wrong size shirt, so I walked back up to registration and they exchanged it for me.  I should have checked before I left, but I just considered it a pretty good warm up.  By the time I got back to my truck the second time, I had worked up a pretty good sweat.  It was going to be a HOT ONE!

Nutrition:  Prepped HEED in water bottle and sipped up until 30 minutes prior to race, then apple cinnamon* Hammer gel 15 minutes prior with water.  *I really like this flavor in the morning!

THE RUN

Everyone gathered at the start.  One of the first things I noticed was that the race was seriously UPHILL BOTH WAYS (meaning at the start AND at the finish).  I was chatting with some other racers then BOOM – off went the start cannon.  Talk about a hit to the adrenalin!

The runners streamed out along the golf course and across a wide maintenance road for the first part of the course.  I was near the middle of the pack and the pace was good – I only had to maneuver around a few runners to get into gear.  We hit the tunnel under the highway (funny course sighting – right about this time I looked down and saw someone had dropped the remainder of what appeared to be a joint just outside the tunnel) then the real trail started and that’s when the trouble began.

I thought that starting mid-pack was a good idea pace-wise, however, when we hit the start of the trail everyone slowed to a walk.  It was a single-track section and there was quite a traffic jam.  I lost a lot of time and momentum here and it was a little frustrating.  Next time I will know – get up front, start fast, hit the single-track, then slow the pace once the trail widens and people can pass.

We finally hit some wider trails and it was a go, then HELL hit us square in the face!  Yes, I already knew:

·         Xterra trail runs were notorious for being XXX strenuous!

·         That the old Kapalua Village course was practically a vertical climb, even on the cart paths!

I knew both of these things when I signed up, but you tell yourself, “Hey, it can’t be that bad.  After all, it’s only a 10K!”  Right.  On several of the climbs I was reduced to absolutely trudging my way up the trail, grasping onto every tree branch I could reach as I went to haul my ass up.  Thankfully, I was in good company with many other runners who had also underestimated the effort required of this course.  I found myself swearing under my breath on several occasions. 

I stayed hydrated through the aid stations because it was freakin’ HOT out there and knew how important it was to stay cool.  Props to the Xterra volunteers – there was a good amount of aid stations on the course and even one guy handing out GU at the last one (SMART!).  I took one, but did not eat it – instead saved it to try later – nothing new on race day.  It was bad enough that I grabbed a cup of Gatorade on the course – I thought it would be OK (I train with HEED and haven’t had any high fructose corn syrup since March), but it tweaked my stomach a little bit.  I thought about bringing my own hydration belt, which I do for longer races, but decided water on the course would be fine.  Next year I will bring it anyway – it would have been nice to have HEED on me for whenever I wanted it.

So, it was climb, climb, climb, climb, climb, then the wonderful and really fun downhill started.  They threw in a lot of obstacles with ducks and jumps here and there, which was a lot of fun for me.  I passed a LOT of people on the downhill, then the course ran along a narrow single track and you could see the beach and the hotel so we knew we were close.  We dropped down into a dry riverbed with lots of potentially ankle-breaking stones, but I stuck to the piles of pine needles and picked my way down to the beach.  The beach run was the first of two heart breakers…it was blazing hot, full sun, and so hard to slog through that sand!  I was really feeling my energy starting to sap, so I half walked, half jogged down the compressed part of the sand as much as I could, then hit Heartbreak Hill.

The last 200 yards or so of the race were up a steep hill on the grass between the hotel and the beach.  As much as I wanted to run to the finish, I just couldn’t do it.  Half way up the hill I almost threw up (and I almost NEVER throw up – it’s a thing) and I willed myself to keep it down because I was in the wide open with the course barrier on one side (behind which were a bunch of spectators) and a huge hedge on the other, so there was no where to go and no way to be discreet.

At the top of the hill the course turns and hits the finish line – so I at least ran that!

I would liken this to what some women say about childbirth - when they are in the middle of it, they are asking themselves "what the hell was I thinking when I signed up for this?!" But after it's all done you say to yourself, "Hey, that wasn't too bad. When can we do it again?!"

I had only been running/training on flat courses, so I was not in good shape for a difficult trail run. More trail running, more hill training, and starting up front would have probably resulted in a better time/performance.  We’ll have to see next year!

Xterra does a great job running races - this was a great day for those with families, too, because they had 10K, 5K and Keiki (child) races. Lots of volunteers. I will do it again!

Marathon Monday - Week 7 of 18

With some creative scheduling, I eked out my mileage for last week by the seat of my pants.

I ran the Xterra 10K last weekend (race report coming!) and, without doing any specific hill training or trail running in the weeks prior, my legs paid for it last week.  Sunday they weren't too bad, but DOMS always hits me worse on Day 2 post-race, so Monday I was in some serious hurt.  I was supposed to get 10 miles that weekend for my long run but I figured the exertion required of the off-road race would equal a 10-mile LSD, so I called it even.  And post-race I felt that it took WAY more out of me than the 1/2 marathon a month earlier (my race pics show it, too, but that's another story).

Last weeks mileage:

• Monday - Swam 1500yds - thought it would help.  It did, sorta.
• Tuesday  30 minutes easy spin on trainer
• Wednesday - Rest
• Thursday - Rest
• Friday - 3 miles
• Saturday - 5 miles
• Sunday - 3 miles
• Monday - 7 miles

Running just wasn't quite happening on Wednesday.  As scheduled I should run Wed., Thur., Fri., rest on Sat., then long run on Sunday.  I'm OK with moving stuff around, A LITTLE BIT.  I figure Hal Higdon is the expert and I should try to stick with the basic plan as much as possible.  But life does require a little more flexibility sometimes.

I've bumped my morning alarm from 4:45 to 4:30 to try and get on a little earlier schedule so I can fit in the longer runs on Thursdays.  So far, so good.

I have a 12-mile run this Sunday ON THE ROAD for once, and with a new running partner.  I'm a little anxious about it, but looking forward to spending time outside and with someone to chat with on these long days.  We are both training for the same marathon, so our training schedules and mileage are pretty close.  She's a faster runner than me, but her long runs are at 10mm so I can hang with that.