Event: The Half
Place: Norbuck Park (near Flag Pole Hill) at White Rock Lake, Dallas, Texas
Date: Sunday, November 4, 2007
Time: 8:00 AM

Goal: MP 7:48 (adjusted from a training plan of 7:40)

Age: 54
Weight: 148

Goal Event: Chevron Houston Marathon, January 13, 2008

Div: Male 50-54
Bib: 1565

Race attire – Boston Marathon shorts (blue) and singlet (white), Dallas 26.2 cap Asics 2020, a\Asics Kayano socks, Garmin 305 and backup Nike watch.

Weather: Start, 52 degrees, no wind at start, clear, slightly humid.

End, 70 degrees, clear, slight breeze, daytime high reached 84

Part One – “On the Road Again”

I got up early Saturday morning to watch the Men’s Olympic Marathon Trials, wow, what an incredible finish, however tragic for Ryan Shay which is a story for another time. It’s amazing how the elite runners just seem to float at a sub 5 minute per mile pace. I don’t float at any pace. In fact, I don’t think I float.

Saturday I was on a tight schedule, so after the trials I drove to Ardmore Regional Park, jumped out of my truck and immediately began a 5 mile recovery run. My legs were tired and I experienced minor signs of what I thought could be shin splints. Yuck. I expected tired legs since I ran 13 miles on Thursday but even so I was a little concerned.

Afterwards and while loading the truck I slammed my right shin against the curb, man, that really hurt.

I was on the road by 11:30 AM and heading south to Dallas. I had a side trip planned to meet up with my parents for lunch at Chili’s in Gainesville, Texas. After a carb loading lunch and a nice 1 ½ hour visit with Mom and Dad I was back on the road.

I stopped in Lewisville to pick up some Cinnamon Crunch Bagels at Panera Bread (these things are to die for) along with Gatorade and some bottled water. I would have Bagels for Dinner and breakfast Sunday morning.

I have run this race for the last three years and always drove to Dallas the morning of the race which meant I was up at 3:00 AM and on the road by 4:15 AM and parked at the race by 6:00 AM, which allows time for Packet pick up that starts at 6:30 AM.

This year, however, I decided to get some extra rest and since I could get a room at a discounted price of only $49 bucks, I said…”What the hey”. Forty-nine bucks and 10 minutes from the race are hard to beat.

I checked in and upon entering the room I discovered that ants were crawling on the night stand: a quick call to the front desk and I was in a different room.

I set the alarm clock for 5:15 AM (and set it back an hour to standard time) and called the front desk to request a 5:15 AM wake up call.

Since I didn’t have any plans I just hung around the room, watched some TV, stretched, and used “the stick” on my sore hamstring. Later in the evening while watching the OU/Texas A & M game the common area outside my room became quite animated with loud voices and sounds of running up and down the hallway along with loud band music. After investigation I discovered that there was a party in the Ballroom. The noise kept going on until about 2:00 AM. I would sleep and wake up every few minutes: I even had a dream about the noise. All through the evening and night my right shin throbbed and a nice bruise was developing. Well, so much for a restful nights sleep.

Soon, the wake up call rang, I jumped up and began to drink some water and chew on a bagel when I noticed it was 4:15 AM and NOT 5:15 AM. Obviously the Motel’s computer system did not reset to standard time. I went back to sleep and worried if I would wake up to the alarm.

But, soon the alarm buzzed and I was up and preparing to leave for the race.

Part 2 – “Warming Up”

I was out and on the road by 6:05 AM and arrived for the race at 6:20 AM with plenty of space to park. Runners were arriving at a steady pace. After I picked up my bib and chip I ran a couple of warm up miles, worried by the shin pain, stretched and made a last stop at the porta potties.

As I approached the starting line the crowd was elbow to elbow, it took some maneuvering to get in between the 7:00 and 8:00 minute pace area which was only a few yards from the starting line.

So there I was lined up and ready to go. A guy noticed my Boston attire (he ran Boston the last 2 years) so we discussed our experiences and soon discovered that we were in the same corral at Boston. Small world.

He was here to run with a buddy: they are preparing for the White Rock Marathon: his friend is trying for his first Boston Qualification. He asked me what pace I was running: I said that it is a marathon pace day so I was aiming for a 7:48. His friend suggested that he run with me if he wanted to run at a faster pace. He said, no, we are running 7:55’s, it is important to run your plan and practice marathon pace. Discipline is important in marathon training. I agreed. But as we shall see, we don’t always practice what we preach.

Part 3 - “Why am I here?”

During my 8 years of running Marathons on some occasions people have asked my wife if she runs, she always responses with “No” and gives her reasons. If my daughter, Dana, is present they will ask her the same question and her response is similar, “No, I am not a runner, it hurts my knees and shins”. I have never tried to push running on my family. I figure if they want to try it, then the choice is theirs and theirs alone. However, I do offer guidance when appropriate.

A few years ago my niece decided to run her first Half Marathon which I was thrilled to attend. And Last November, I ran with her during the first two miles of this same race. I almost missed her as she turned the final corner to the finish line.

My daughter and niece have attended some of my Marathons and I privately hoped that they might attempt a marathon one day. Maybe the excitement of attending my events would motivate them.

My Daughter (Dana) attended my First Boston Marathon in 2006 and when 2007 came around I invited my niece. They both were there and Cindy (niece) ran the Freedom Run.

Soon after Boston my daughter surprised me when she said that she had joined the NYRRC and had decided to run the NYC marathon in 2008 and wanted to know if I would run it with her. I was quite astonished since she “is not a runner”. I told her I would love to, but I would have to get in through the lottery system which is no guarantee. She said,” Well if you can’t, will you come and watch?” I said “sure”. Dana replied, “Then you can carry signs around the course and look for me”. I said, “Yeah, I can do that”.

Later I checked the NYRRC website and discovered that they had relaxed the qualifying standards, since 2005. The new a Half Marathon qualification time for my age group is 1:40 and the Marathon is 3:30. How convenient, this fell right in to my training plans; in fact I ran a 1:39:12 at White Rock in 2005.

So, I informed Dana that I would try to qualify at The White Rock Half Marathon in 2007 or the Houston Marathon in 2008.

She has since finished some 5 and 10K’s and a Duathalon and Cindy has finished her first Sprint Triathalon. Something has surely changed.

In the mean time, I suggested to Dana that she run the Half Marathon at Houston as an intermediate goal toward NYC 2008. She registered just days before the race was closed.

Which, finally leads up to today’s race, a planned MP run of 7:48 not the required 7:40 pace I would need to qualify for NYC.

Today, I need to concentrate on 7:48, the 7:40 or better is planned for The White Rock Half marathon in December where the weather is cooler, the course is easier and I will be better prepared, besides this race has a very hilly first half and it has always nailed me.

My best time here is 1:42:48 in 2005.

Part 4 - The Race “Marathon Pace or bust, I guess it is bust”

The gun went off and even thought I was just a few yards from the starting line it still took 30 seconds to cross. The crowd was thick and it took me almost a quarter mile before I was in stride: my first mile pace is 7:34.

Time to reel it in and find that 7:48, ah there it is, 7:45 for mile two and my shins feel fine.

Remaining Splits:

Mile 3 – 7:42, still flat but the hills are coming, the pace is comfortable and I begin to think more about the 7:40 I need for NYC. It’s early, but I am concentrating on passing runners, one at a time, very few are passing me.

Mile 4 – 7:37, the hills have begun, since I am off of my 7:48 MP, I figure I will try to keep it below 7:40 (sounds like a good excuse to me) for as long as possible. To do so, I need to concentrate on maintaining pace up the hills and take advantage of the opportunities when I am running down the hills.

Mile 5 – 7:31, I am climbing the hills with nice short quick strides, counting my steps and trying to find 180 steps per minute (3 steps a second), I can’t let any one pass me while climbing the hills, and in fact I need to reel runners in, one at a time as I climb the hills. So far so good. But, can I keep it up?

Mile 6 – 7:38, the constant hills are relentless, I am still passing runners, and I don’t think anyone has passed me for a while. I have to run FAST down the hills in order to make up for any lost time during the climbs.

Mile 7 – 7:22, some really nice down hill stretches provide me with a great 7:22 split, I am quite surprised. I am still passing runners and not loosing ground.

Mile 8 – 7:33, I am very familiar with this section of the race, the Dolly Parton Hills, part of the marathon course, as is most of the rest of this race. I can see this mile very clearly in my mind. I keep pulling one runner in at a time, if someone passes me that informs me that I could be slowing down so I have to keep pushing. I have had success with these hills before but they have taken such a toll on me that I loose pace on the flats going around the lake.

Mile 9 – 7:37, it is mostly flat now, the grades are slight but now anything is a challenge. It truly is…one mile at a time, I would sure like to back off and take it easy. I am concerned that if I loose concentration I might drift off into an 8:00 minute pace. One slip like that and this race is toast.

Mile 10 – 7:33, I keep picking off one runner at a time, no one has passed me for miles now, and I keep pulling them in, pulling them in. I am counting the miles to the end of the race. If I can get to mile 11 and still be on pace, I know I can hold on a little longer.

Mile 11 – 7:40, 2.1 miles to go, I am beginning to think I might have pulled this NYC qualification off. Throughout the race I have heard my name called and some have hollered “Go Boston” or “Hey Boston”, I guess they read the Boston Marathon Logo on my singlet. I wish I could have acknowledged the crowd but I have been in such a high state of concentration that I just stared ahead.

Mile 12 – 7:42, there is a young girl running next to me, obviously struggling, as I can surely relate. She hollers “How close to the end?” Another runner responds “About 2 miles (he repeats her name), you can do it, you have a lot of people cheering for you”. She replies “Really?” I felt for her, when you get to the point when you have lost track of the remaining miles, you are in trouble.

Mile 13 – 7:30, as the final stretch approaches, she is still maintaining pace. I can’t afford to back off, but if she can keep going I will stay with her. She hollers again, “How much further?” I reply “just about 3/10ths of a mile, we turn left, go under the road, and then you are at mile 13”. She is holding on, so it is time for me to move on.

Mile 13.1 –0:45, I can see the clock, currently just under 1:40, I don’t have any kick left, so I just try to maintain pace As I approach the mat, the official clock clicks over 1:40, my chip time is 1:39:24, 12 seconds shy of the PR I set two years ago, at the White Rock Half Marathon but a 3:14 PR for this course which I think is far more difficult than the White Rock Half Marathon, at least it has been for me.

Summary: OK, I didn’t maintain my discipline to run Marathon Pace which is crucial for Marathon success but I did put myself in a better position (mentally) to PR at White Rock which is my target Half Marathon for 2007. And, I managed to qualify for NYC which was really neat. And, it is ironic to qualify on the same day of the 2007 NYC Marathon. Now the pressure is on Dana…hehe

There is no doubt that this race was very challenging for me, the previous 3 times I have run this course I have managed to have some success on the hills but I was always wasted during the second half where I would see one runner after another passing me. This time, I managed to keep it together during the second half which required a high level of concentration. If I had drifted off on for just one mile I could have easily lost enough time to miss a sub 1:40. So, now I have a lot more confidence going in to The White Rock Half Marathon where my goal is to get under 1:38 which prepares me for success at The Chevron Houston Marathon.

Note: Afterwards I caught up with Ribs while he was monitoring the Hamburger line: we had a great time reviewing my results. I wanted to meet Flash, but to no avail. I needed to get back to the Hotel before the noon checkout time.

Finish Time: Clock 1:39:55, Chip 1:39:24, 7:35 pace
Final results: Male Age Group – 15/119
Overall - 200/2541
NYC 2007 Requirements – Male Veterans Age 50 plus – ½ Marathon 1:40