Dallas Marathon & A Look Back on 2014

Dallas Marathon

December 14th was a pretty good day to run a race.  Temps were in the high 50s and into the 60s with complete cloud coverage.  We had high humidity and a slight breeze with occasional gusts, which helped me stay cool throughout the race.  There was an increasing chance for rain after 12:00 PM however I finished well ahead of the rain.

This was my second time to Dallas Marathon, so this race had some redemption value to me.  In 2012 I finished with a time of 3:11:00 due to fairly severe pain in my knee that didn't allow me to continue running.  I was really looking forward to running the race again in 2013 but mother nature was not going to make it so and so the race was canceled due to a freak ice storm that hit the Dallas/Fort Worth region several days before the race.

Right before the race began I decided that I wasn't going to push myself to PR and just run the race at a pace I could feel really good at.  After the race started I settled in at a pace between 10:00 and 10:20 per mile.  This is a pace I am very durable at and had run when I was in the middle of my marathon training, so I knew I could easily not bonk out at any point during the race.  The only really challenge I had was that I got blisters which made it painful to run at the end of the race.  I've had trouble with blisters for several weeks now so I need to see what I can do to fix that.

I will say that I really enjoyed the route this year compared to what the route was back in 2012.  I would love to see the route used again in the future as I got to see some parts of Dallas I have never seen before, especially along Greenville Avenue.  There also was some great crowd support along much of the half marathon course.  Another stark contrast between the 2014 route and 2012 route is that at the end of the 2014 route you run downhill to the finish line for about the last .1 to .15 miles.  The 2012 half marathon route had you running uphill, past the finish line and then make "U"-turn back down towards the finish line.

This year the race felt like it was very well run.  2012 was well run as well but I think this year was better than before.  I guess we were lucky but this time the family reunion area was located outdoors.  While that's not an issue it would not have been fun to be sitting in the rain waiting for a family member to come out of the finish area.  In 2012 that area was indoors in the convention center.  To be fair there was some remodeling construction taking place so I wonder if that forced the marathon planners to move that outside?

The Dallas Marathon returns next year on December 13th, 2015.

Two Races in Eight Days

I think I just attempted the second hardest thing I've ever done next to running/training for my marathon.  I ran two half marathons in eight days.

On October 25th, I ran the Michelob Ultra Half Marathon.  The course is relatively flat with a portion of the route on the Katy Trail.  I started out where I wanted with my pace just below 9:00/mi. I was running with another runner who I had been training with the last several weeks.  I started having trouble with my left foot falling asleep.  I was concerned with not being able to "feel" things and so I pulled back a little but was still maintaining a pace I felt could get me under two hours.

About the time I reached the end of the Katy Trail my right shoulder was really hurting.  It forced me to walk for stretches in order to stretch it out.  I don't know if I was tensed up for some reason or if I over-worked my arms in one of my cross-training boot-camps.  I finished with a time of 2:01:28.  Rats, I just missed my goal time of finishing under two hours.  I felt pretty disappointed and felt I had a "bad race" despite blowing away my previous best time of 2:18:38.  However I knew I had a chance at redemption as I was running the DRC Half Marathon in a week.

So I rested.  I slept in all week while I skipped my speed classes.  I was trying to rest my legs as much as possible so that I could push hard in a race I know the course.

I love running the DRC Half Marathon.  It is the first half marathon I ever ran.  It's my Super Bowl.  The course is beautiful and relatively flat.  The weather the past two years has been very nice with temps in the 50s.

I started out with the 2:00 pace group but after just a mile or two I decided to pull ahead so that I give myself some buffer in case I run out of juice towards the end of the race.  I am running my best race ever with a consistent sub-9:00/mile pace until I get to around mile 8.5.  I develop this nasty cramp in my abs/stomache and it causes me to not be able to draw in a full breath (plus it hurt pretty bad).  I started to slow down.

Somewhere past mile 10 the 2:00 pace group passed by me and my hopes for finishing within my goal time was dashed.  At this point my legs were really achy and sore.  I flashed back to how I felt in my marathon training as this was the type of fatigue pain after running 13 miles.  I generally felt like this somewhere around mile 15 or 16.  I continued to press on though and would walk when I felt like I needed a small break.

I finished with a time of 2:06:40.  In the grand scheme of things, I took 12 minutes off my time from the last time I ran the same race.  I also have never ran races in back to back weekends like that.  I might do a couple things differently the next I try something like this.

This next week I am taking a week long training course to become certified Personal Trainer.  I will go from being the motivated to being the motivator.  What will be interesting is how I can tie getting certified as a coach with next year's goals.  I'll wait and see how the class goes and think about what I want to accomplish for 2015.

I'm also keeping an eye on the RRCA website for upcoming Running Coach certification classes.  I want running to be my focus for my Personal Training experience.

Speaking of 2015, I have updated my races page with races I am planning to run or have already signed up to run.  I am going to run fewer races next year but more of them will be out of town races.  I may still sign up for the Fayetteville Half Marathon in December 2015 in Fayetteville, AR rather than run in the Dallas Marathon.  I haven't made up my mind on that yet.

Long Time, No Post

I haven't forgotten this blog.  I'm still running and I even have a race coming up in a week and a half that I hope to PR in.  Now that I am no longer training for a marathon I don't have near the motivation to write down everything that happens to me along a journey that I'm not taking.

Since I am already so close to my 500 mile goal (484 out of 500 as of 9/11) I decided to modify the goal to 600 miles for the calendar year.  Barring an injury I don't see why I won't hit that goal either.  650 miles might be a much hard distance to reach but I think it would be still doable.

Speed training has been fun and I hope to see some positive results this fall in the races I have coming up.  Cross training (Boot Camp) has been going good as well.

I've taken the plunge and signed up for a week long class in November to become a fitness Personal Trainer.  I am taking the required CPR class this weekend.  I also want to become a running coach and get certified in that as well.  The 2014 schedule is already complete and most all the classes are full for the remainder of the year so I will just have to keep an eye out for 2015.  Hopefully I can get in a class when they schedule a session in Dallas.

Perhaps I will move my blog in the direction of overall fitness and not just running.  Running will still be a major part of the blog but not the sole subject.

I Love to Run

A while ago, I wrote an article on why I run.  Well, this article pretty much builds on that.

I love to run.  I mean that ... I love to run.

I love that I can call myself an athlete.  This is perhaps the one sport I feel I am really any "good" at.

I love that I earned every drop of sweat from every step I took on that long, hot run this past Saturday.

I love that no one can take away my accomplishments -- Crossing that finish line or my Personal Records (PRs).

I love that "runner's high" I sometimes get from a really good run.  The feeling is hard to put into words but you sometimes get one after a good, hard run.

While I don't love the pain I sometimes experience after a long run, I love that is represents me getting better, stronger, and faster.

I love that while I might run the same race year after year, it never really is quite the same race because factors like the weather are never the same.

I love that when I do run races, I'm not racing the person in front of me or beside me, I am racing against myself.  I'm racing against my best time which is currently 2:18:38 on 11/3/2013 as of the time I posted this article.

I love that I feel that running has made a better person.  I know with determination I can accomplish anything, no matter how hard it might be.

I love that the running community is a tight knit group, many of whom are supportive of each other, pushing each other to run past their abilities.

I love that when you do run races, you have random people cheering you on.  The funny signs might be the best things I look forward to other than crossing the finish line.

Here is one of my favorite slogans that definitely applies to running:

Courage to start.  Strength to endure.  Resolve to finish.

LiveWire Run Club 8/9

Summer runs can be brutal, especially in August in Texas.  Today was no exception.  I started out slow for my first mile for my warm up and then kicked it up to my goal race pace for mile two but started to ease up after mile three and four.  I was trying to keep up with some of the faster runners in our run club and did fine until I started struggling with regulating my body temperature.  I then settled into a comfortable pace of around 10:00/mile for the remainder of my run.

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	1:21:08.9	8.40	9:40
1	9:27.8	1.00	9:28
2	8:54.3	1.00	8:54
3	9:14.7	1.00	9:15
4	9:32.7	1.00	9:33
5	10:00.1	1.00	10:00
6	10:01.1	1.00	10:01
7	10:07.2	1.00	10:07
8	10:00.0	1.00	10:00
9	3:51.1	0.40	9:38

I have a race in two weeks and I think I will be able to handle a 10:00/mile pace and finish with a time I can be very satisfied with.  Last year when I ran this same race I finished with a time of 2:48.  I had trouble keeping cool and ended up walking some.  This year the race has a completely new course and my biggest concern is shade.

In terms of my 2014 Miles Goal I am at 427 of 500 (85%).  I have 5 half marathons coming up which will give me about 65.5 miles putting me around 492.5 without any additional running between now and the end of the year.  I really think I am going to revise this goal to 600 miles.  I am running between 15 and 20 miles a week thanks to my speed class that I have twice a week.

LiveWire Run Club 8/2

I couldn't have asked for better running weather this morning.  It started out around 68 degrees.  In August.  In Texas.  After the sun came up, there was a nice light breeze to help keep things cool.  When it is nice and cool like that I try to run my hardest since I have a goal to run a half marathon in under 2 hours.  I ran within my "goal per mile times" which is between 8:45 and 9:00 per mile.  It's not a lot but I also ran a negative split this morning and did a hill repeat (at the end of my run!) while keeping my pace about the same.

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	1:19:25.6	8.94	8:53
1	9:09.4	1.00	9:09
2	8:48.4	1.00	8:48
3	9:03.1	1.00	9:03
4	8:40.4	1.00	8:40
5	8:52.4	1.00	8:52
6	8:45.4	1.00	8:45
7	8:54.2	1.00	8:54
8	8:48.6	1.00	8:49
9	8:23.6	0.94	8:55

All this week I have been hitting the speed training and cross training hard, so I was a little worried about how my legs might feel.  I think it is safe to say my legs were fine.

I absolutely love runs like this.  It helps keep me motivated during the summer when good runs like today are hard to come by cause it gets so hot forcing me to slow down.  I'm really enjoying my speed class as well.  I've learned some good running techniques that are helping me with my form and speed.

I can't wait to run my fall half marathons.  I am aiming to finish under 2 hours in either my October (Michelob Ultra Half Marathon) or November (DRC Half Marathon) races.

LiveWire Run Club 7/19

This week we've had some freaky weather resulting in some below average temperatures.  This made for very ideal running conditions in the middle of July here in Texas.  This morning we had temps in the upper 60s with cloudy skies.  Due to the great conditions, I was able to keep my pace under 10:00/mile and even got under 9:00/mile.

Today's goal while running was to run a Negative Split, which I feel I did a good job of executing.  I ran the first two miles by myself and then from there I ran with a group of people who help push me a little.  About halfway through the run I was feeling great and so I pushed ahead of the group and to my surprise I was running under a 9:00/mile pace!

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	1:05:14.1	7.02	9:17
1	9:58.7	1.00	9:59
2	9:55.8	1.00	9:56
3	9:37.2	1.00	9:37
4	8:57.0	1.00	8:57
5	9:06.3	1.00	9:06
6	8:50.1	1.00	8:50
7	8:36.7	1.00	8:37
8	:12.1	0.02	8:31

I have a goal to run a Half Marathon this year and finish in under 2 hours.  If I can maintain a pace around 9:00/mile I'll have a little wiggle room should I end up running a mile or two off my goal pace. I need to try to start out around 9:20 to 9:30/mile for the first couple miles and then speed up to 9:00/mile further into my run.  The good thing is I have some races in September and October to practice a negative split strategy and to see whether I can maintain a sub-9:00/mile pace.

I think the speed training I've been doing the past couple weeks has really helped me.  I ran a 6:53 for my mile assessment this Thursday evening in Boot Camp.  I haven't ran a sub 7:00 mile in something like a year or more.  This just inspires me even more to try to train harder to keep getting faster, even if I'm one of the more "slower" people in the class.

In closing, I'm going to post this link to a Top 75 list someone created.  It's pretty funny and I have thought some of the things on the list before.

July 4

I had a really good run this morning.  I may not have run my fastest but I felt good in so many different ways when we were done.  Running with a partner always helps make the run go better and sometimes can even be therapeutic.  After I was done I felt like a weight had been lifted off my shoulders and had some clarity on where to go with something that has been a major cause of stress in my life.

Something else that helped make this run even more special was that I hit, in my opinion, a major milestone.  Two miles into my run I hit the 1,000 mile mark since I started running about two years ago.

LiveWire Run Club 6/28

I promise I haven't forgotten this blog but I was out of town the past two weekends and so I didn't get any chances to run.

With that in mind, I was a little worried about how this morning's long run was going to go.  I ran an average pace of 10:09/mi which is faster than what it felt like.  My feet felt heavy for much of the run.  The weather was cloudy but it was very humid with temps in the high 70s.  I force myself to run slower because I am very concerned about overheating since I don't always handle the heat well.

With the summer heat I like to focus less on my speed and try to work more on my form and whatnot.  This morning we ran some hill repeats and so I worked on trying to bound up the hill with good form.  Going uphill you should run up on the balls of your feet, which actually puts more spring in your step.  Going downhill you should lean forward, shorten your stride a little, increase your cadence some, and let the hill pull you down the road/trail/sidewalk.

For more regular terrain I just try to focus on my stride, strike, and cadence.  I want to really maintain a steady cadence and shorten/lengthen my stride as needed.  The thing about lengthening my stride too much is I need to increase my turnover otherwise my cadence has to slow down.  Thankfully in my LiveWire Adrenaline class that is one of things were we focused on this week.

Finally, I set a goal for the year several weeks ago to run 500 miles this year.  As of this blog entry I have logged 345 out of 500 miles, which puts me at 69% complete.  I feel this is very doable especially since I have half marathon races in August, September, October, November, and December which means, barring injury or illness, I have about 66 more guaranteed miles which would put me at around 410 miles.

I'm going to try to run on the 4th since I won't have a chance to run the next two weekends.

LiveWire Run Club 6/7

Today was (what I consider) my first real run since my marathon.  I've run smaller distances like 3 or 4 miles but today was my first "long" run I've done in several weeks.  It felt great, especially since I got to run with people.  It sounds weird but during much of my marathon training I was running solo.  The group I ran with all run at about my pace so they helped push me and I helped them push the pace.

Now that I am finished training for my marathon I want to change gears towards finishing a half marathon in under 2 hours.  To do that, I figure I need to average better than 9:15/mile.  This morning I ran a 9:28/mile average and that was even with our group running slower to allow for someone to catch up.

It was warm this morning but the heat didn't bother me too much since I've been doing cross training in the evenings where the temps have been in the 90s lately.  Running in this heat should help me with the Hottest Half in August.  Last year I really seemed to struggle and I'd like to see if I can do better this time around.

I'm excited about my slate of races coming up.  I have a race in the months of August, September, October, November, and December.  I've been training in a speed class lately called Adrenaline offered by LiveWire Fitness.  I've learned some cool techniques like bounding on hills which I feel is helping me become a better runner.  Here's a good article that gives five different techniques to make you a better runner, especially when trying to conquer a hill.

I am going to work on my account of the Mountains2Beach Marathon this weekend.  I've been extremely busy since I ran the race and haven't had time to sit down and write down everything about the race.  I'll try my best to get it done tomorrow morning.

Week 20 - 8 Miles

So today was my last training run before the Mountains2Beach Marathon.  This morning was an easy 8 miles.  The weather was very nice -- not too hot and not too cool.  Hopefully this is the last time I have to wake up for a 5:30 run on a Saturday for a while.

I felt great the entire run.  Didn't have hardly any trouble with my legs warming up.  No cramps or anything else that would slow me down.  Just the road/sidewalk, my music, and me.  I haven't had a chance to have a great run like this in a long time because the distance has taken a lot of the enjoyment out it.

I'm have two goals with my first marathon.  First and foremost I want to finish.  That is what is most important to me.  Second, I'd like to finish in under 5 hours.  I'm not sure this is doable but if I do finish within that time, I'll be very happy.

I also tried the Garmin Connect mobile app where I link my watch to my phone.  It worked for the most part but my watch or phone kept losing the connection and so there are gaps on the route.  I'm going to try to go on another training run Monday evening and see if switch arms my phone is on helps any.  I don't like wearing things on my left arm but the distance from the watch to the phone will be much smaller, so maybe that will help with the disconnects.

I feel excited and a little nervous about this race.  I feel like I am as ready as I can be.  I've been hitting my cross training really hard the past couple months and my long runs have been challenging yet I've been able to handle them for the most part.  The only thing I am worried about is my endurance. My physical ability really drops off after 13 miles so it will be interesting to see how I do for a full 26 miles.  The best key to a good run will be to not start out too fast.  I've been running between 10:30/mile and 11:00 for the most part so if I stick to that pace I think I will do fine.

Week 19 - 12 Miles

This morning I ran a nice 12 miles as we tapper heading into the Mountains2Beach Marathon.  The race is in 2 weeks!  Wow.  Hopefully this is the last time we have to get up at 5:30 in the morning for a run.

The taper seems to come at just the right time in the training schedule.  I know your body needs to recover from the hard work you put it through with the 18, 19, 20 mile runs but I think it is good mentally as well.  I am perhaps mentally tired after long as I am physically and so it was nice running a "shorter" distance for a change.

It's interesting how training for a marathon changes your perspective on what a long distance is.  I used to think 10 miles for training and a half marathon were long distances and now they don't seem so bad.

The only thing that really slowed me down was I got hungry right around mile 10 and so I snacked on a Larabar.  I'm very happy with the 10:44/mile pace I ran, even with the temps starting to rise here in Texas.

Carrollton 5k (Week 18)

On Saturday I ran the Carrollton 5k, which is a local race put on by the city.  It's a nice race that tends to top out around 500 runners, which is good considering we are running on a cement trail that is about twice as wide as a regular sidewalk.  Many of the runners live in the immediate area but there are some folks that come from other nearby cities to run this specific race.

I did alright in the race.  I managed to finish 17th out of 41 runners in the Male 30-39 division.  I finished with an official time of 28:19.90, which is about a 1:15 slower than what I ran last year (26:55.16).  I had a chance to PR had I not gotten a severe leg cramp right around the 3 mile marker.

I heard via a third party (I don't know if the woman was the race director or not) that the race course will be changing next year.  The idea is so that people won't have to park at the high school and then be bused to the start line.  The course will still be on the Carrollton trail network which is nice in that there aren't any significant street closures with how the course is currently designed.  We did cross the street in two places and the Carrollton PD is there to manage traffic but it's nothing like most races where you run on nothing but streets.

After the race I ran back with some other people to pick up their car, so I managed 6.2 miles for the day.  For the most part it was a pretty good day.

I paid for running that 5k pretty hard the next day when I needed to run 10 miles as part of maintaining my marathon training schedule.  My legs felt like jello and that nasty cramp in my left leg was still there.  In fact it was so bad I walked most of the abbreviated route.  I decided to walk rather than trying to run through the pain since I am too close to my race that I didn't want to risk an injury.  I was worried about having the cramp turn into some worse like a pulled muscle.

Product Review: Knuckle Lights

Knuckle Lights Product Review

This is my product review of Knuckle Lights.  Friendly disclosure: I bought these lights with my own money; they were not sent to me by the company to try for a product review nor was I paid any money for this review.  I will only review products I purchase myself that I feel others might benefit from.

I purchased these lights directly from Dicks Sporting Goods through their website.  As of the publishing of this blogpost, these lights retail for $39.99.  The lights are eligible for free shipping if you purchase the lights from the company directly; Dicks may ship the lights for free depending on whether they are offering some sort of promotion that may require you spend a certain amount of money.

These lights come in a number of colors -- Blue, Pink, Silver (pictured), Black, and Yellow.  They come with AAA batteries already included but it might be best to replace them as soon as possible as mine only seemed to last for a very short time frame.  I recently invested in rechargeable batteries in an attempt to reduce the cost of constantly replacing batteries roughly every month to two months.

These lights put out good light that fully illuminates the area in front of you.  Unlike a headlamp that shines where you are looking, you don't have to worry about shining the lights in someone's eyes, which is a problem for me since I am 5'11" where people shorter than me tend to shine their headlamps right into my eyes.  The lights have three settings -- High, Low, & Flashing.

The primary reason I bought the lights was that I wanted to see where I was running as I have seen too many people that run in my group trip and fall over something.  It also makes it easier for other people, most importantly cars, to see you in low light situations.  I've even run with the knuckle lights during the day with them set to flash when I haven't gotten tired of carrying them.

They lights are not very heavy and not really noticeable while you are carrying them.  I got tired of carrying them though when I was doing my really long runs for my marathon training.  I can be really bad about clinching my fists and holding the lights will start to cause my hands to hurt.  Since I run with a Nathan hydration belt on my really long runs (13 or more miles) I got two carabiners that I used to fasten the lights to the belt when I don't want to carry them anymore.

All in all, I have been extremely satisfied with these lights and would recommend them to any runner that runs in low light situations.