The 2016 US Olympic Team Trials Marathon: the inspiration is cyclical

My Sunday run was a success. It wasn't perfect, I had a couple of unplanned stops to relieve myself. Those always frustrate me, but it happens, right? The surprise upside to the 2nd stop was then deciding, stay at a controlled slow pace or chase after the 3 guys I was out there with who are now almost a minute ahead of me. I didn't want to end the run solo, I gave chase...hard.

 I have probably done about 20 runs of 2hrs 30mins or more in the past ten years of marathon training. Few of them have I walked away from feeling "okay" and feeling "not beat up" the next day. But this Sunday, despite the absurd low temperatures, I ended the last 5miles of my run like a dog off the leash. Today, I felt no worse for it.

 If I told you I wasn't inspired by watching the Olympic Trials marathon race the day before, I would be a liar. Will, Jeremy, Brandon, and I were discussing the Us Olympic Trials Marathon race somewhere along the way. Then as I knew I had ground to make up, I imagined myself the 6th man in the OT race. Running a calculated faster pace to reel in my competition and get a spot on the team. After about 1.5miles I passed Jeremy and Brandon (who were left by Will who had decided to pick it up), exchanged some words of thanks and encouragement and I kept at it. Another 1.5miles later I caught Will, he was surprised and glad I had reeled him back in. 

He asked "Do you have another 3 left in you?" 

I said "Hell yea!" 

And we stuck the fast pace until we hit 22 miles. We congratulated each other on a great effort and quickly parted ways, it was still only12 degrees by that time. It was a lot of fun to finish a run that way. Most often I have been just grinding to get the last 10-15mins finished and hating it. Not today, today was like a 17mile warmup and great 5mile tempo!

In running, I can appreciate that there are a couple of levels above my head. That greatness is an inspiration that has always been in front of me, simultaneously pulling and pushing me to new achievements. I have always looked at being "far from the best" as a built in bonus, keeps the pressure of being the one who most others expect big things from.

So, what is the inspiration for those who are the champions? The best of the best? I think the ones who keep striving to win and stay at the top level are the ones who know that Victory or any achievement becomes a memory as soon as the next newspaper is printed. As soon as the next race comes, or the talk of the next championship upcoming. So, they recognize this, enjoy the day and get ready to do it again because it is a great challenge to have repeated success or just to have the chance to compete with a field of the best.

I think they can also be inspired by those that are chasing them, competitors, training partners, or just other athletes that have the common bond of making the effort to be a great as you can be. 

You need your rivals as much as you need your teammates, because without them; what would any win or medal be worth? Who would you beat to get it? Who would it matter for?

On Saturday I was amazed to see Meb Keflezighi run with all the younger challengers and beat all but one, simply inspired to see Tyler McCandless push to the front, Tyler Pennel making his surge and leading for several miles. Jared Ward's patience and strength that ultimately led him to the 3rd spot on the team. On the Women's side, Amy Cragg and Shalane Flanagan working together the whole way until Flanagan began to struggle. Seeing Desiree Linden's push into 3rd and then 2nd as the race wore on in its' later miles had me on the edge of my seat. I am continually impressed by Kara Goucher's drive, running hard stuck in 4th is a mental kick in the gut. She never backed down and I think we'll see her do amazing things still!

Seeing the emotion of these Athletes in triumph or failure reminds me: They are just like me, the numbers are different but we go through it just the same. Like they say, the struggle is real.  Training for years to hopefully have a shot to run with your country's best for one of three slots into the Olympic Marathon race is a dream. I can only imagine how a runner may handle it when the outcome is sour. Many vow to come back again no matter what happens out there.

All of it is an inspiration, and makes me think "one more mile today", "three seconds faster today", "run more hills you sissy". Yeah, I say Inspiration is reflexive and cyclical, it is NOT a pyramid scheme.

Hey, I was thinkin' about it, it's 1:35am now, having sufficiently emptied my brain, I bid you a good night.

12k essential to success in long distance running

Today was my first workout of the year that I walked away feeling solidly accomplished from. Recent running has been consistent and I'm gradually putting the pieces where I want them to be. I have had a hard time plotting when I wanted "big workouts" to start for my build up for the Boston Marathon (to be my 6th, and overall my 13th). Recently losing my job has put my mind in a spin, and running often has felt like a stress break, but I haven't really drafted "a plan" other than run a little bit longer each Sunday if I feel up to it.
A lot of times, you get out there and do workouts that just feel too fast or mundane as you have run them more times than you could guess. I look at training like eating, sometimes you are hungry and want to take huge bites and devour something like a glutton. But even in those instances, if one bite is too big, it can get ugly. Going too fast on long intervals is a similar concept.
The whole workout could be going very well up to a point, and then you just get greedy. You start pushing a pace that is a little bit too fast and then you are over your Threshold. Some of us are foolish enough to stretch down from Half Marathon pace to10k pace or quicker. It's easy to let it happen, and I am pretty sure I have been guilty of this at least once. But not today! Today was brilliant, I covered 2k, 6 times, jogging 2:00-2:30 between reps (partly due to Middle Distance Runners needing to start their 200m reps without crashing into us). The slowest interval was 7:04, the fastest was 6:53.
Threshold pace shouldn't hurt that much if you are running the correct pace and taking ample recovery. Look at it like this, To run at your Threshold isn't easy running, but it has a much bigger margin for comfort and error. Small miscalculations in pace can be corrected throughout a long interval, and don't amplify as harshly when you go too fast. You may ask "Why 2k, why not 1600m, it seems long to keep going for such a while?" Because I like getting a mile split and then continuing on at the same pace, it has the hidden benefit of race day preparation. If I check my watch for "my mile", I want to imprint in my mind "good mile, keep going", over and over and over again. That is one reason, and having your head in the right place about your pacing is a damn good reason to do something.
Many inexperienced runners might be reading and asking "Wait, we run Half Marathons kinda slowly, that doesn't sound like a speed workout!" Well, don't ignore the fatigue factor kids! by the 5th and 6th interval I started to feel the pressure. For you, a similar effort might be just 2 or 3 times 2k, but try them, see what it feels like to keep on your pace for 400m longer after getting that mile split, then take your recovery of 1/3 the interval time. Total volume for these types of workouts are well explained in Daniels' Running Formula.
I had originally considered running a 7th interval, but the track had some icy spots on it, and the 6th went very well! I decided, that's it, I did work, I don't hurt right now. It's done. This workout is over. I'm a happy guy tonight.
And for your viewing pleasure: Anis runs on a relay team!

Anchoring the 4x800m B team at the Frank Colden Invitational on 2/6/16. Absolutely a rust buster, I am not a Mid-D guy! Earlier in the day I raced 3000m in 9:17, yea that was a rust buster too, working on it!

Sciatic Nerve Pain or Piriformis Pain

Sciatic Nerve Pain feels like maybe an alien impregnated your upper ass. You know, you wake up one day and think "Did Aliens abduct me, and implant their unborn inside my lower half? This hurts! Shooting pains down your hamstring, into your calf, your arch, etc. Oh, it's terrific when this manages to simultaneously hurt your buttock, hip flexors and groin. Marvelous mess to manage.
Why am I talking about this you wonder? Those who know me well, have heard the story. "I jumped awkwardly over a stream during a trail race, landed hard, felt the shot of pain and have never been the same since". That summarizes it, that happened in 2010. To avoid the pain entirely I am fairly sure that quitting distance running would have been in order. To hell with that!
It is incredible how much pain distance runners are willing to deal with...just so they can bring on more pain by hard racing. The workings of this mind state probably resembles a skipping record (for the kids in the crowd, research 44 and 78rpm records, ya know that old crap before digital download).

 Age telling metaphors aside, I am convinced of the following:
1)Chairs were a bad invention and most of them suck.
2)Our lives have come full circle from hard-easy-way to easy-hard because we made it too easy.
3)I am more than ever considering that training as a survivalist is probably the way to go.*

Managing this is a challenge. Periodic and repeated stimulation of the upper gluteus, hamstring and calf seem to help a bit. Stretching/Yoga also seem to help. It is difficult to tell sometimes if in fact my Piriformis muscle is the culprit of these pains, or if it is only the sciatic nerve that is affected from my the discs in the L4/L5 area
being impinged.
For certain, one of the most effective treatments overall is just digging into the my glutes with my thumb or rolling on a lacrosse ball.
I have managed to crank out some decent mileage despite the pain in recent weeks. But that my friends, will be the topic of another discussion.
 

*Moderately held belief in an impending Zombie Apocalypse.  ;)

2015 Newport Liberty Half Marathon Race Report

This was my 10th Newport Liberty HM, 2005-2015. Funny, I never planned to run the same race 10yrs in a row, but hey, there it is. I have placed inside the top 10 at this race 7 times.We have our ups and downs, don't we? Sometimes, the competition gets tougher, ready or not. Anyway, the weather yesterday was fairly ideal, cloudy and 72 degrees F. While it kept us cool, the wind was too strong, it definitely put a slow down on things between miles 6-10.

Shortly after the start: Far left, Steve Mennitt takes an early lead, 3 different styles of GSTC singlets on display.

 Today's splits 5:50, 5:39, 5:41, 5:36, 5:34, 5:36, 5:41, 5:51, 5:55, 6:02, 6:07, 6:01, 6:33 last 1.1 miles (5:57pace). Battling Sciatic nerve pain was a factor, time to see the Chiropractor. Maybe I haven't thrown myself into hard enough workouts yet this year. I am trying to avoid having excuses. I would prefer proper execution of a solid race strategy. Anyway, read on. Check here for Full results.

At least 7 GSTC men in this photo, we all were somewhere around 25-30th position here at about 1.75miles. Anthony Harris is looking at You!

My reaction: This didn't feel so great. Knowing I had pushed too hard too soon and was over my threshold into the wind in the middle of Liberty State Park, but let's talk about where I was in the field early versus the end. I was easily somewhere back around 30th before we had made it to 1 mile. Noticing that I had taken off too quickly, I corrected my pace within the first minute of the race. From there I was running along with a well formed pack of teammates and competitors, probably somewhere between 12-15 at times. Everyone in this clump seemed fairly content to keep it tight for the first 3.5miles...
That's when I had had enough of the little tea party. I swung a turn wide allowing me out from behind 7-8 guys and I started to move to the front. I made a push from there until we were near the 5mile mark. I felt surprisingly comfortable with the first three miles. By the 9th mile I might have been in roughly 14th or15th position, but I was clearly a pretender, fading back to 19th by races end. All in all, it was good battling with some great runners.
I proved to myself the following, I'm not at my all time best and I can't run at that pace right now. Which, is admittedly frustrating. But at least I have a better idea of where I am working from. Truth be told, I wasn't ready to race a HM. There has been little in my training this year to lead me into this.  But, I've had worse efforts and worse endings for sure.
I was impressed with the effort I saw out there today from so many people. The teamwork I witnessed and took part in was great! I still dislike the course itself, and if they change the championship race location ever, it won't break my heart. I could happily close the book on a race I have run 10 times.
Somehow, from here, I will find a way to make training happen each day until The Club National XC Championship in December. It shouldn't be impossible, I've got inspiring teammates around me!

Finishing in 1:16:05, glad this one came to its end.

Living a Runner's Dream

People remark to me when they learn I am "A Runner", that they "hate running", "couldn't run down the street", "would only run to catch the bus", etc.  Or sometimes, they ask simply, "Why do you do it?"
I find the why a more interesting thing to respond to, it is open-ended. Perhaps they actually want to gain some insight. 
 I'm going to cut to it now. Nevermind specific race goals for the year, nevermind why I started. Let me tell you why I won't stop.
 I am living the dream: Every time I get going, even when the weather sucks and I am alone wishing I had a buddy out there with me, I am at least 51% glad that I made the effort.  The pain comes with the territory, and there are far more painful things than running injuries and pushing yourself to the limit over and over again. Every step is worth everything I get back from it. I see things that most people won't see, I continue to meet exceptional people because we run. Goals always seem just around the corner, adventures are in every direction. I have been doing this for almost 20yrs, I've run enough miles to encircle the earth and then some.  I can look back on it so far and realize I have accomplished a lot for myself and with teammates, on my terms, in my own time, on my level. Why Would I ever stop?

My team, the distance runners at least, we roll deep.

Now I ask You, "Why do you NOT run?"
That's enough, chew on it...and get your ass out the door, the world probably needs you to run all over it.

Team Bloke 5k for Brain Cancer Awareness

I learned recently, that one of the toughest and most accomplished Triathletes I have ever competed against has been stricken with brain cancer.  The man's name is Doug Clark. Some of you may know him, he is a Family man, former team member from the Old Sneaker Factory Club team, and a fellow that enjoys a beer mile.

Doug Clark himself

I had a terrific duel finish for 2nd place at a road race once years ago at a Road/trail 10k race in Mendham back in 2004.  I nipped him at the line, he is a good sport and took it well.  Doug's presence at a Road race always brought the competition up a level. We always had a friendly chat during warmups or cooldowns at the races. Take a look at the results below, these are the results of the 2011 Newport Liberty HM. I had a rough day, Doug was hunting me in that last mile, no easy task staying ahead of him then.

NEWPORT LIBERTY HALF MARATHON

05:00 PACE(min/mi)   5:00   6:00   7:00   8:00   9:00   10:00   11:00   12:00

                                                                         Gender     Age Group    Age Graded
Place    Runner           City/Town,State  Age Sx U Code    Time    Pace Place        Place          PLP     ChipTime
   1.John Thou            ,NJ                38 M       1:08:03.27  5:11 1/1227    M35-39:1/193     89.18   1:08:03.27  
   2.Jeff Perrella        Westfield,NJ       23 M U     1:10:44.99  5:24 2/1227    M20-24:1/37      83.64   1:10:44.99  
   3.Michael Rolek        Maplewood,NJ       25 M U     1:10:45.31  5:24 3/1227    M25-29:1/197     83.63   1:10:45.31  
   4.David Nash           Jersey City,NJ     30 M       1:11:14.00  5:26 4/1227    M30-34:1/221     83.07   1:11:14.00  
   5.Rich Burke           Morristown,NJ      44 M U     1:15:00.82  5:43 5/1227    M40-44:1/199     84.85   1:15:00.82  
   6.Matthew Bach         Jersey City,NJ     24 M       1:15:21.17  5:45 6/1227    M20-24:2/37      78.53   1:15:21.17  
   7.Jason Holder         New York,NY        27 M       1:15:37.08  5:46 7/1227    M25-29:2/197     78.26   1:15:37.08  
   8.Elliott Frieder      Montville,NJ       40 M U     1:16:10.25  5:48 8/1227    M40-44:2/199     80.93   1:16:10.25  
   9.Mike Carriglitto     Pottstown,PA       36 M       1:16:52.63  5:52 9/1227    M35-39:2/193     77.93   1:16:52.63  
  10.Michael Anis         Highland Park,NJ   30 M U     1:17:16.02  5:53 10/1227   M30-34:2/221     76.59   1:17:16.02  
  11.Doug Clark           Morristown,NJ      42 M U     1:17:20.17  5:54 11/1227   M40-44:3/199     80.99   1:17:20.17  
  12.Tim Morgan           S. Plainfield,NJ   27 M U     1:17:37.64  5:55 12/1227   M25-29:3/197     76.23   1:17:37.64  
  13.Diego Vanegas        New York,NY        36 M       1:17:40.06  5:55 13/1227   M35-39:3/193     77.13   1:17:40.06  
  14.Thomas Yakowenko     Metuchen,NJ        42 M       1:17:57.68  5:57 14/1227   M40-44:4/199     80.34   1:17:56.59  
  15.Steven Geiger        Pine Beach,NJ      34 M U     1:18:12.21  5:58 15/1227   M30-34:3/221     75.97   1:18:12.13  

I am running this race, if it means we might save his life or just to support him and his family as they go through this, I owe it to him. If you are a competitor, know the joy of running competitively, and most of all ever met Doug or raced against him. Be there, support this.

Sign up or donate here.

Thank You.

The 119th B.A.A. Boston Marathon

If you aren't careful you can easily ramble from one year's race into another. If you are a creature of habit and tradition, as I tend to be. You think of the first time you ran the Boston Marathon when you start thinking about the one you just ran. My mind does that anyway.  Read my previous post, and you'll see how this year's race was very uncertain for me. I didn't think I would make it to the starting line with a reasonable hope of running more than half the distance. In the end I ran a brilliantly executed 2:52:13 (1:28/1:24).  Far from my best, and a decent bit better than my worst.  The truth is, if systems aren't failing and you put forth the best effort you feel that you can at the moment; then you ran a good race.  As a competitive runner, I tend to mark myself against recent or long past results. It is a practice of mental torture we inflict upon ourselves. We want the feeling of knowing we've made a new achievement. Maybe we won't admit that we're all "PR" addicts.  If you aren't a runner...well, whatever, let's just say, "It's a runner thing."

"The Belgian Bullet" Johan on the right, and Me on the Left, before the ride to Hopkinton.

My Employer, TomTom, required my support for the marathon expo, Inevitability was knocking. I'll say this, being at the expo center for several days was a great feeling! I've worked several other big race expos for TomTom by now, but this was my first chance to work at the Boston expo! I had a blast teaming up with my coworkers to help sell our product! But I also had a good time meeting runners from around the world who were there for their first Boston; or their 10th! You really do get to appreciate the dedication it takes for people to qualify or raise money to be at this event.  Also, over the course of the five days I was in Boston, I had a chance to see two games at Fenway Park, I'd never taken the opportunity to do so in the past. I bought the official Boston Mararthon commemorative jacket! Despite this being my fifth, I'd run in 07', 10', 12', and 14'. Many reasons lead to the gaps between years, so I was very excited to make it back to back years for the first time!
 I managed to arrange a very comfortable couch to crash on with last year's host, Dave Moyer. Again, I made my way with Dave and Will Appman to the Boston Commons on the morning of the race. In one of my favorite moments of the day, Dave says to Will and I "We'd better hurry or we're going to miss the train and the next one isn't for another 15mins". Which resulted in the three of us running Tempo pace for roughly .3-.4miles (thankfully downhill), into the station, and I managed to swipe my "Charlie card" for Will just in time to get through the turnstile. We bounded down the stairs and onto the train, doors closing with about 3seconds to spare! We'd told a bunch of friends, also racing the marathon, to meet at a specific time. Ironically, most of them were late anyway. So, our mad dash "warm-up" was largely pointless. But, hey, we got there!
 I met up with my friend and running protege, Johan "The Belgian Bullet" Ghillebert, who had qualified for Boston after numerous attempts across a span of 2yrs, made the "hop across the pond" from the UK. His goal of 2:58-2:59 roughly lined up with what I figured I might be able to run safely, all moderately scientific speculations. But I figured, "30min slower than my PR, 20mins slower, what's the difference?".  Finding myself in the scenario I was in (recent surgery for a sports hernia), I decided: help my friend, offer to run his pace. Johan was very glad when I told him I would run his pace and help guide him to goal. So, a crowd of us, Dave, Will, Johan, and numerous others from NJ dropped our gear at the gear check tents in the Boston Commons, lined up to board a school bus to ride out to Boston. All of us getting simultaneously nervous and excited.
The weather was not favorable, a raw 43-44degrees with 20mph gusts at times and a steady light to moderate rain for more than 90 mins before the race start. This forced us all under cover, an interesting scene. Thousands of runners trying to stay dry and warm.  Sadly for many waiting on a line for a bathroom at the wrong time, they had wet feet long before the race started. As for myself, I was quite on the edge of barely comfortable before we moved from the athlete's village at Hopkinton HS to the starting line. Still the time passed as Johan and I made acquaintance of a couple decent fellows. The one guy, Ethan, followed us all the way to starting line as it turned out he was in the same corral with Johan. We chatted with Ethan and the other guy, finding that we had some connections through other runners, trading stories about our prior marathons and attempts at big goals. The numbers may be different but the experience is usually all about the same. Talking about some of this stuff before a race like this helps me get through the seemingly endless waiting that takes place beforehand.
Ethan, followed Johan, and I up to the start corral. As we marched along, I reminded them both to keep on a throw away layer for as long as they felt comfortable, as got near the start there were a lot of random articles of clothing being tossed aside as per the usual before a marathon. I noted that poor Ethan had just a cotton short sleeve shirt over his race singlet, and I spotted a long sleeve tech tee for him! He agreed it was a better choice and swapped his cotton throwaway for the tech long sleeve.  As we stood at the edge of the entrance to the 4th corral, the national anthem played, Air Force fighter Jets soared overhead, and many runners wished luck with a hearty hand shake to anyone within reach. They announced the start and we were off...kinda. No one really starts to run until they are right at the start mat. So, about 2mins after the gun went off, we were finally started!
Ethan hung with us for about a mile or two, and he settled into his own pace, later I found out from him that he finished in 3:12, "not my best, not my worst.", he told me. Johan, was very locked into his pace, if anything I might have possibly sabotaged his race, and he would remind me several times "we're speeding", I did edge about 3-5 seconds per mile faster at points than he had in mind in a best case.  So, I kept tapping the brakes. At one point, I simply just had to pee, I thought it over for about a mile. There was no point in holding out, I let Johan know I would catch back up. I stopped into some trees alongside the road, did what I had to do, and hopped back into the fray. Trying to catch a friend in a marathon, that has just developed a 30second gap on you is a challenge when running through other evenly paced runners on a race course.
I did catch him after about a mile or so, that was my fastest mile of the race by far, something probably in the 5:40-50 range.
Johan had a moment of doubt around 12 miles and decided he had to hit the Porta-John, I told him, "I will lock up from the cold if I stop and wait, You got this, I'm gonna' roll." And so I did, I started methodically picking off runners constantly throughout the rest of the race.  I was touching 6:10's later in the race, and felt pretty decent doing it. This all was quite a surprise, I kind of figured it would be a bigger struggle after the surgery. As the miles went buy and I realized, I can get 2:56, 2:55, on pace now for 2:54, faster, 53, 52!  It is exciting to exceed your expectations on a race and do it in smooth, commanding fashion. 

Pushing up Heartbreak Hill, on my way to my big negative-split run!

 I knew with 2miles to go that I was going to stay on the pace I'd been running for the past 3-4miles, which is a great feeling compared to the typical fade that I have experienced in most of my marathons. Running down Boylston Street, weaving through some slower runners, I crashed the line like I was racing a Mile!

Will, Dave, Katie, Me, Stephen, and Nick! Runners and Supporters, good times after the race!

So, there you have it. A great time in Bean Town, with friends near and far. I'm motivated to get truly healthy, strong and fit to go back next year to chase the magical 2:29:xx!
More stories about relatively recent things coming soon!
Hope the Summer Training is going well for all!