Parkersburg Half Marathon - Review

As improbable as it may have been, I managed to finish the Parkersburg Half last Saturday without walking. A consistent, steady pace helped me overcome a lack of preparation, and I was able to trump my only other half marathon experience from two years ago in the Marshall University Half Marathon. Back in November 2010, I was confident in my training and let out of the gate at my normal 10k pace. This proved disastrous late in the race when I pulled up and walked the entirety of mile 12. That was a mistake I wisely avoided this time around.
Though I missed out on crucial training, I made sure that the day before race day went by the book. This consisted of filling up at the pasta dinner and getting a solid nine hours of shut eye. I booked a hotel just north of town to avoid driving an hour and half from Charleston the morning of the race. That was the best decision I could have made. For breakfast I downed a Powerbar two hours before the start. Then, I jogged around the hotel room to loosen up a bit (weird, I know). I packed up and drove down to the start where I was greeted by the Parkersburg High band (I'm assuming).
Then, it was race time. The weather was a beautiful mid-60s with overcast skies. I began at a trot and only slowly passed those in my vicinity. I used the Nike+ GPS app on my phone to track the run, which started fairly accurately, but wound up overestimating my distance by a mile at the end of the race. The first three miles felt great. I kept my pace steady and enjoyed the views, crossing a bridge to leave downtown and hit more rural scenery. I was warned by locals the night before that there wasn't much to see along the course. While true, at least it wasn't an ugly looking route.
After two miles right at an 8'40" pace, I dropped to 9'17" on mile three due to some inclines. I polished off the first 10k around 55 minutes. My mantra during this section was "save it for the back half". I felt like I could easily pick up the pace, but again, I didn't want to commit the error of overestimating my endurance. By the time I entered the 7-10 mile range my mantra changed to "save it for the home stretch."
After mile 10, I hit the proverbially wall. The feeling is almost indescribable, but I'll give it a go. No single muscle, bone, or joint aches, but the body itself hurts. Your brain thumps away. Your mouth is dry and stomach empty, but you don't want food. All you want is to stop. That's where the kind organizers of this race decided to stick a steep incline. On mile 12 you run for less than 0.2 miles up a hill that stopped at least half of the people I was running with. It reduced much of the field to walking. Somehow I managed to summit it. After doing so, I knew I had to drag my limp corpse all the way to the finish.
Even after that, I did want to walk, but made it to a straight-away where I could see the finish line. It's common sense that you can't pull up in sight of the finish line. But neither could I gas it up for a dramatic finish. A couple hot shots behind me decided to do that and sprinted past me at the line. Whatever guys. Enjoy the added soreness from taking 299th place instead of 300th. Groggily, I walked forward and was donned with my finishers medal.
Then came the best part of the day. I shuffled to a small leafy area with stone seating and chugged a water and some Powerbar gel. Sitting there reflecting on what I just did and knowing that somewhere people were rolling over in their beds sleeping the morning away felt pretty sweet. Without serious training I had ran thirteen miles nonstop.
Here's how ugly I looked after 13 sweaty miles:

Get the stretcher ready

My final stats for the run were as follows:

Distance - 13.1 miles. Net time - 1:54:30. Avg. pace - 8:44/mile.

Parkersburg Half, Hope or Delusion?

I remarked a couple weeks ago that I signed up to run the Parkersburg Half Marathon on August 18, 2012. Back then, I probably figured there was enough time to run a few 10ks and maybe a longer 8-10 miler. Alas, sickness laid me on the couch for the entirety of last week. Not a single mile was logged. When training for the Charleston Distance Run in previous years I went to great efforts to prepare. I ran the Corridor G hill numerous times, slowed my pace, adjusted to the late summer heat. This race will enjoy no such preparation. My only hope is that rest has refreshed my legs and they will be able to endure the physical strain. It is likely that this hope is unjustified. I trotted out a comfortable 5 miler yesterday and felt well enough. Then, I remembered just how daunting it would be to trek an extra 8 miles, with uphill sections. Apparently the toughest hill at the Parkersburg Half is at mile 11. Why anyone would subject runners to such misery late in a race is beyond reason. This may very well turn into a dual event for me: a 10k run and a 10k walk. At least then I'll be able to enjoy lovely Parkersburg, WV on a mild summer morning.
Race week preparation always stumps me. It's difficult to know how much I should push for a little more training and what is merely opening me up to injury. For this race though more preparation seems little better than folly. I've already gotten this deep without doing the necessary work. I'll likely take the pain come Saturday and then rest up for the remainder of August.

Running in the Morning

The Stats 7/29/12 - 8/4/12
7/31/12: 2.12 mi; 15'50"; 7'27" avg. pace
8/2/12: 2.55 mi; 19'24"; 7'35" avg. pace
8/4/12: 3.17 mi; 27'47"; 8'45" avg. pace

I think I spent this entire week planning on running in the morning. Going to sleep with that on my mind did not prove helpful. It took until Tuesday evening to hit the pavement when I managed a short 2 miler. The heat probably played a role in stopping me before I could complete a 5k circuit, but also my conditioning is noticeably off. The second mile was nearly a full minute slower than the first on this run.
Thursday, my resolve to wake up and run finally won out. Although this run was also shy of 3 miles I improved my pace as the run progressed. That may be due to the nature of a morning run; you tend to wake up as you break a sweat. Feeling good about making it out Thursday morning had me wanting to repeat the effort Friday. Unfortunately, the snooze button proved irresistible and I left the training to the weekend.
The morning run on Saturday was atop lovely Snowshoe Mountain. Challenging inclines slowed me down as I just tried to make sure to dodge injury. I switched from the Newton's earlier in the week to my Nike Structure shoes on Saturday. I fear that they have all but lost their tread and cushioning though. Running in my Newton's has put stress on my left foot, mainly in the arch. I suspect that I'm actively stretching the foot with each strike instead of keeping the foot more or less straight during impact. The game plan going forward is to strike the ground evenly and not push off with the toes. We'll see how that goes.

Chillin' among the wild animals of the mountain

In event news, I've signed up for the Parkersburg Half Marathon on August 18th. Why? I'm not really sure other than because a friend asked me to do it and I had nothing on the calendar. I'm certainly not in shape for it, but if I wreck my body I'll have a month to prepare rest up for the Capital City Challenge. Oh boy.

Project Rebuild Mike (Mike)

After 6 weeks of inactivity, I mowed grass today.  This is what followed:

Not really any pain, but regular icing will likely become part of my lifelong preventative maintenance.

Assuming I work my way out of the flu bug that's plagued me all week, I hope to get back in action next week.  I'll probably focus on cycling and swimming to regain some strength before easing my way back into pounding any pavement.

I've also been considering getting back in the gym to lift maybe a day a week; nothing major or too heavy.  Then I learned that Corey now has a bench press in excess of 365lbs.  (sigh)  This is the 3rd time I've taken a 2 year break from heavy weightlifting and I don't know if I have any desire to put that stress back on my body again.  But....I'm not sure how I'll react if my 390lbs bench press record and title of Triana's Strongest Man goes down. .... "huh? Oh, Corey benched 385 today....hey Henry, I think I can absorb his work responsibilities...what do you say we eliminate that position?"  Ha ha ha, joking ...  probably

Third Time Lucky

The Stats 7/22/12 - 7/28/12
7/24/12: 4.79 mi; 38'01"; 7'56" avg. pace
7/26/12: 3.00 mi; 27'40"; 9'12" avg. pace
7/28/12: 2.87 mi; 20'40"; 7'11" avg. pace

Well it felt extremely good to get out three times in a week again. I feel like that has been my baseline activity for running since 2009. That trend was interrupted for basically the entire month of June and most of July. Furthermore, all the runs were all pain free, though not free from the scorching heat. Tuesday's run was an attempt at hitting up a 10k. That distance proved elusive and I settled for a bit short of five miles. Energized by a lack of pain, I started at a pace in the low 7 minutes per mile. That turned into 8 minute miles on the third and fourth mile. I became sluggish, even on my flat neighborhood course, and figured walking out a cool down would leave open the rest of the week to training.
The recovery from Tuesday's run went well and left me ready to head out again Thursday evening. I met up with a friend, and her boyfriend's dog, for a run along the Kanawha. It was in the mid-to-upper 90s, temperature wise, so this run could was only going to last so long. I got in a little stair work, running up the steps between the two levels on the boulevard. Sometimes you have to make sure you can still climb. 10k organizers love to through hill sections into their routes. The dog needed periodic breaks in the river (and multiple pee stops), but easily outpaced us when running. Even at a more comfortable 9 minute mile pace, I was ready to shut it down after hitting 3 miles.
Coming back out Saturday morning was what capped this off as a good week in running. I needed some energy to get ready for a good friend's wedding later that evening. Although a touch shy of 3 miles, I kept a good pace around the 'hood in my new Newton's. The first mile clocked in at 6'55". I fell off slightly to 7'10" in the second mile, and the third would have been in the low to mid 7 minute range had I finished it. I attribute this boost in pace to significantly cooler weather. Still, it makes me feel like I can handle the Capital City Challenge and Pittsburgh Great Race, which are lurking around the corner in September. One month of training, a few more 10ks, a handful of rides, and perhaps a kayak outing in August will set the stage. Bring it!

Returning to Form

The Stats 7/16/12 - 7/21/12
7/17/12: 5.0 mi.; 45'00"; 9'00" avg. pace
7/21/12: 3.17 mi; 22'55"; 7'13" avg. pace

I made it out the door twice last week as the healing period continues. A reversion to the padded Nike Triax Structure shoes made it easier to trust my form. I kept my strides short and avoided pounding the pavement to keep the stress off of the knee joints. It paid off in the form of little to no pain following each run. Tuesday I managed to wake up early and run the boulevard with help from a friend who agreed to brave the early morning hour. Some talking and striding can help the miles go by without constant contemplation on form, breathing, etc. It's a reminder that if you're not having fun running, you're doing something wrong. Also, if you're willing to sacrifice an hour or so of sleep, the morning temperatures will reward you during the summer. Were it not for a bum knee, my summer might have been filled with morning runs. Beating the sun kept me relatively cool and it's always a great way to wake up. You get the feeling that if you can drag yourself out of bed and sweat out some miles, there is no challenge that can get you down the rest of the day. So that's my endorsement for morning running.
Saturday, which is usually a longer running day, I took it easy with a 5k around the neighborhood. I hadn't ran my full "go-to" route in a while without stopping due to pain. Thus, this standard run felt empowering. Wounds do heal if you stick around, have patience, and use good sense.

Tour des Chaussures

The Stats 7/8/12 - 7/15/12
7/10/12 (Cycle): 15.25 mi; 57'35"; avg. pace -15.9 mph
7/11/12: 1.5 mi; 11'17"; 7'07" avg. pace

To mix up the cardio, and because it's Tour de France month, I took the road bike for a spin on Tuesday. I kept to the flats and left the hills for a day when I'm feeling a bit more like Tommy Voeckler. The change up was a welcome relief to my knee. I can foresee sticking with cycling years after my joints cry out for mercy from all the road running. But while I still have the motivation and ability to run, I"m going to try to lessen the impact on those joints. That is part of the reasoning behind experimenting with a variety of shoe styles. In my desire to get the  most minimal feel, without looking weird, I picked up a pair of Merrell Barefoot Shoes (pictured below):

Calf killers

These are the puppies I took for a test drive on Wednesday. They have a soft mesh upper and some rubber tread. There is no padding in the back or the heel, which is meant to encourage that more even foot fall that everyone is raving about. I intentionally tried to keep from heel striking for the first mile of the run. Unlike on most runs, I could feel my calves getting sore as I progressed. Near the end of the run, I resorted to heel striking to take the pressure off those muscles. Yes, it was pain free peace for the joints, but these shoes will tear your calf muscles to shreds if you run full force in them the first time out. Six days later I could still feel the residual soreness. Lesson learned: ease into minimalist running shoes. Not taking that advice basically had me couch bound for the rest of the week. That's not a bad place to be during Tour month though. The tv coverage has plenty of chateaux, countryside, and cows. Oh yeah, and cycling.