I am a long time runner and coach and I'm here to write about it. I have blogged some before (years ago), but that site is now archived. My plan is to write some personal reflections skipping around the 40+ years of my running career, probably some race reports. However, I'd like to spend a fair amount discussing current events in the world of running, and likely dishing out on some coaching and training advice. I have some opinions--okay a lot--and like to share those. rws_58@yahoo.com
Here are my obligatory PRs, all set way back in the 1980s and 1990s:
3K - 8:54
5K - 15:34
8K - 25:35
10K - 32:11
15K - 49:41
1/2 marathon - 1:13
marathon - 2:34
Now I'm a senior, yes a Senior (60+)! age group runner and here are my 60 and up PBs over the past couple of years:
1 mile road race - 5:15 (former American road record)
5K - 17:28 (USATF masters champion)
8K - 28:12 (USATF masters champion)
15K - 54:43 (Gasparilla 15K)
1/2 marathon - 1:17:49 (World Masters Champion)
One more for the road! I ran the Steamboat Classic on Saturday to close out a long winter-spring racing campaign with seven races over the past six months.
The pre-race was a little hectic, but there was no getting round that for this race. I had an endoscopy on Thursday afternoon, and they had to knock me out for half an hour. The procedure went well but I was groggy on Friday morning.
I flew out to Peoria on Friday evening and arrived at the Airbnb that teammates had rented just before 10 PM local time. Everyone got up a 4:30 (so 3:30 my time), we had some breakfast and caffeine, and got to the race by 6 for check in and warm up. During the 20 min warm up I mentioned that it all felt sort of out of body because I wasn’t awake enough yet.
Conditions were decent but not perfect–67 F but 92% humidity with a light head wind on the way out. The course basically had 1 hill over the first half mile and a fast downhill over the last one-third mile. Otherwise it seemed almost completely flat.
The elites went off just after 7 AM and we started about 10 minutes later. My plan was to run about 24-flat or low 24 for the 4 miles and score >90% to close out the season (7th race in 6 months). I have been feeling a little flat since the 10K out east at the end of April.
I felt terrible up that gradual hill but hoped I would be able to pick it up once we got on the flat street toward the turn around. I checked my watch a couple of times and saw I was only running 6:10, although it felt like 6-flat. Maybe I could have surged to snap out of it, but instead I tried to work into it a faster pace. Split 6:15, way slower than planned.
I was running in about 25th place and 40 meter gap had opened up with a pack of 10 or 12 runners at about 6:00-6:05 pace. I briefly went after them but tied up and my breathing got heavy, so I eased up and ran with the lead woman from the masters field and an open runner. We played cat and mouse through mile 2. That split was even worse! 6:20. It looked like I might not be able break 25, so I was was writing it off as a bad day.
But at the turn around a masters runner from my age group was only a few seconds back. I decided to fight it out for as long as I could. Dan, my main rival was already well ahead, and I figured that going home with a silver medal would be better than a bronze. Plus there was team competition and age grading to consider, both with prize money.
The lead woman were just a few seconds ahead, so I surged to catch up and stuck with them through mile 3. We picked up, and that split was a 6:05. I didn’t feel great but the pace and effort were more like it. We crossed 3 in 18:40.
Over the last mile I pulled away from those runners, and my masters challenger, and worked to reel in stragglers from the faster-starting group. They had 20 seconds on me, and although I did not catch them I made up some ground. I kept it together by looking at the stoplights as focal points. We made the turn to head down the hill and I picked it up to closed in 5:51 to take an age group sliver and to help our team to win.
I fell short of my age grade goal, with 89.5%. I needed to have been a few seconds faster in the opening mile or two to be at 90%. The highlight of the day was to drop down an age class and to run with the men’s 50-59 team. We won that against some stiff competition from the Atlanta Track Club and Shore Athletic Club.
Mixed on these results. Ended up running little less strongly than what I had expected. However, I haven’t been firing off great workouts lately so it wasn’t unexpected. It is the end of a long campaign and I had a lot going on last week.
I’m looking forward to a few days off dialing back for a couple of weeks, with not much intensity work over the next month or so. That should be a pretty good reset for the next training block.
I ran the 15-mile run on Magnolia Drive west of Boulder the other day, the route made famous in the book Running with the Buffaloes, a cult classic about the 1998 Colorado University cross country team. The route is an attraction for runners visiting Boulder. It’s not really a staple for locals, other routes are preferred, but a lot of people run the course or parts of it a couple times a year.
The out and back route starts about 10 miles west of Boulder at an elevation of 8200′. It has a series of long climbs (1/3 mile to 3/4 mile) that are followed by a drop in elevation. Repeat seven times, then you turn around. The low point is 8050′ peak elevation is over 8700, and in its entirety, runners must climb and drop about 1,500 feet.
I have always run Magnolia (aka Mags if you’re a cool kid) about once year just as regular weekend long run. Even then, with all the hills, it’s not an easy run. Magnolia Drive is famous for some Olympic-level runners doing some crazy fast times and I have wondered what I can do on it.
I probably should have done it 6 or 8 years ago, when I was younger and a little more spry but it never fit in. Now that I’m in my last month in Colorado, and with just more one race to go on the calendar this season, I decided to give it ago. Although I had only five days of recovery following the Bolder Boulder 10K, I felt good enough this weekend to give it a try.
We had a wet week and I actually delayed the attempt a couple of days becasue of the wet and foggy weather. On Saturday morning it was 60 degrees, clear, with only a light breeze. So pretty close to ideal (50 degrees might have been better). I
I have been thinking about this for years now, and figured that I could run 7:30 pace on average. Maybe I could have five or six years ago, but that that proved to be over optimistic. The uphills were just too hard.
I slurped down a gel and some water, did a half mile jog as a warm-up and rolled into my start. I actually started the watch at the crest of the hill, which was 30-40 meters behind the start of the pavement. I figured that Garmin/Strava would sort that out and start my route when hit the dirt. Didn’t work out that way! So in the end I ran some 60-80 meters further than necessary.
Running at a hard effort at an average of 8,400 feet for nearly 2 hours is hard enough. Throw in all those hills and the task becomes really tough. The nice thing is that the downhills do not beat you down too much because of the soft surface. It’s the uphills, which start early and don’t really let go until you a done.
You start with a nice 3/4 mile downhill (150 foot drop), the first mile is the easiest of the day. I hit a 7:15 and felt really good, although dreading what was to come.
Tamara provided support every 2-3 miles, and I took in a few ounces of Maurten 160 drink at each stop, I figured that would be enough and once I ran out there’d be water. Going out was hard! We moved from our condo at 7,400 feet a month ago and even though we’re staying at 5,900 feet now I think I could tell that my breathing was more labored. It did get better once I settled in, after about 15-20 minutes. Nevertheless, I had planned on averaging 7:40s-7:50s on the way up and to be well under an hour at the Peak to Peak Highway (7.5 miles). But the hills were relentless, and I slowed way down on the steeper sections. As a result, I was about 59:26 (7:56 pace) at the turn around.
The return, until the last hill, was better. And I was able to run 7:20s most of the way. But even there, on the some of the, thankfully shorter, uphill sections I could only run about 9-9:30 pace. Fortunately, my legs were fine on the downhills and I could run 7 min pace +/- when I wasn’t going uphill.
It’s hard to gauge effort compared to sea level. Too many variables (hills and elevation) to draw a direct comparison. However, I would say that I was running pretty to a marathon effort for the 15 miles. Not that I could have held that pace for another 80 minutes on Saturday, unless they were flat miles!
I don’t normally go that hard for that long unless it’s in a race. The most marathon pace do while actually training for a marathon is about 10 miles. I have gone up to 14 in the past (ala Pete Pfitzinger plans) but decades ago decided that might be too much if its incorporated into an 18-20 mile long run. Usually, the most marathon pace I’ll do is 10.
I ended up running about 1:55:50 from pavement to pavement (that’s the official demarcation), which is 7:43/mile. Strava said it was 7:37/mile, but there is some discrepancy with the different watches. That’s the fastest for the age group by a long way, and I set numerous age group segment leads along the way. It’ll be interesting to see if any of my friends, frenemies, or friendly rivals decide to go after those times. I know one who could probably take them down and another one or two might try over the next year or two. Bring it on! That’s why we do these things. Although I’m not making a huge deal about it on social media. Just put the run down and let it be.
That was freakin’ hard! Although I’m way down on the segment list (like mid-pack with more than 1500 attempts) but if you age grade it (1:27:30) I would be in the top 5 on the Strava board.
Glad I did it, doubt that I’ll do it again, especially coming from sea level. Unless it’s an easy paced effort.
This was my 15th Bolder Boulder, going back to 1983. To date me even more, I was in town for the first Bolder Boulder ever in 1979. Some college friends and I traveled to Boulder to train for the summer, but I broke my foot a few days before the inaugural race and had to skip it, and I was so disappointed that I did not even watch the race.
I have lived in Colorado for half of my life, and I have run this race more than any other. However, I regret missing many years due to injury (1979, 1984, 2002, 2003) or work and travel (1982, 1987, 2004, 2015), or travel, plus the covid years. That’s a lot of misses, each with regret.
My course PB of 34:06 (1985), is 2 minutes slower than my 10K at sea level. It’s not an easy course, with rolling terrain and an uphill finish (and a net gain of 90 feet from start to finish; and nearly 300 feet of vertical), all at +/-5300’ elevation.
The goal was to break 40 minutes, a tough task at altitude and proving to be just as difficult for me as breaking 3 hours for the marathon (which I haven’t done since 2017). My last official sub 40 at Boulder Boulder was in 2019, although I did run 39:45 in a solo virtual attempt in 2020, and 39:37 at a socially distanced race in 2020. Both of these were at different locations and on flatter courses, and they do not count in the record books.
No one over the age of 64 has been under 40 minutes on this course, I was hoping do that in 2022 but covid knocked me out.
I returned in 2023, but it was only 16 days after an all-out (American age group record) at the Riverbank Run 25K in Michigan. Afterward, I did not manage my recovery as well as I should have. The result was a lackluster 40:46 in Boulder, my slowest Bolder Boulder and probably my worst result of that year. In 2024 I also had run the 25K a couple weeks prior but did a better job of recovering and tapering for the Bolder Boulder. On Memorial Day last year I just missed the mark, with a 40:08.
2025
So here we are in 2025, probably my last best chance to break 40 because we are moving to sea level next month and I’m not getting any younger. Unless I do 5 or 6 week altitude block, maybe with some coaching from Mike Smith or Ed Eyestone, it’s going to be quite difficult to break 40 going on this course.
This is a year of transition in other ways; for first time I did not qualify for the A wave, in which you need to run an 18:10 5K, 38:00 10K or 1:24:00 half marathon to qualify. I did not achieve any of those standards in the past year and had to run in the AA wave. There are about 500 runners per wave in this huge race, and 100 waves! They are going out all morning an 80-90 second intervals.
Nevertheless, the AA wave is very competitive (the fastest from our group ran 31:30 and was top 20 on Monday). If anything I found the A wave a little more relaxed because I would line up near the back and it was fairly easy to find a rhythm.
Race Time!
I got to the start corral a few minutes later than I probably should have (about 7-8 minutes before the start) and lined up back a way. It’s all chip timed of course, but it was crowded the entire way and in particular during the first 2 or 3 miles—enough so you could not really run the tangents effectively. I just watched my space and hoped not to get tangled up with another runner.
Monday was an odd weather day with mist and rain, and slick pavement. However, it was cool, in the upper 40s at race time. I split the first two miles in 6:24, and 12:47 (6:23). On this course you are climbing gradually through 2.7 miles, before getting some respite. The 3-mile split was 19:28 (6:41) and my 5K was about 20:10, which was just about what I wanted, because I was hoping to run a negative split. Despite those intentions and being right on for halfway I was not feeling optimistic, it felt like I was pressing as hard as I could and I did not know if I could hold on for another 5K.
Half-way and already feeling it.
The 4th mile is rolling, and I was struggling as I split in 26:04 (6:36), and I had wanted to be about 5 or 10 seconds faster on that mile. The 5th mile drops close to 80 feet, and it is the easiest stretch on the course, and I passed 5 miles in 32:21 (6:17). My mental math told me that I would need to be under 6:20 for mile 6, and have a strong kick, to finish under 40.
The course makes the turn onto Folsom Avenue, heading south, with about a mile to go. On that stretch I was hanging on with the but also struggling.
Running down Folsom, hanging by a thread (note the 9-year-old on my tail!).
The last kilometer is uphill and always extremely tough and I lost some time. With about 450 to go the climb gets more serious as you turn onto the stadium access road, I had practiced and visualized that dreadful hill over the past month, and I tried to increase my pace for a final long kick, but it kicked back! And by halfway up I was jogging. The 6th mile was a 6:37, not what I needed. I was gasping. Into the stadium with just a couple hundred to go I mounted a feeble kick (the mat was very slippery) to finish in 40:23. Shucks.
Entering the stadium, usually a joyous moment, but you can see we are all in our own private pain cave.
I fell short of a big but difficult to achieve goal at this point in my running journey. However, I am pretty happy with the race overall, I did break the single year age record, won my age group, and now have the two fastest times ever for the 5 year age group. This was also my 8 official age win at the Bolder Boulder (10th if count the covid races). Can’t argue with that. However, there are some caveats and maybe a misgiving or two (self-flagellation) about the shoulda, woulda, coulda on Monday.
As I mentioned earlier, my first half splits were good on paper. However, I had actually planned on going out a little bit easier, closer to 6:30 pace for miles 1 and 2, and then about 6:30-35 for mile 3. That would have put me a few seconds back, but maybe with a little bit more energy for the first half.
Did I get caught up in competition in those early miles, with certain rivals just ahead or behind? As the old adage says, for every second too fast at the beginning, you can lose 2 seconds on the back half. Did the rain and slick roads have an effect, as indicated by race announcers Alan Culpepper and Frank Shorter. It was definitely more crowded in the AA wave than hanging off of the back in the A wave. Running better tangents and turns might have helped shave off a few seconds. Or are those just three excuses?
It also just comes down to finding the wherewithal to push through over the second half. I lost time on the 4th mile (5 seconds), 6th mile (at least 7 seconds), and the final finish into the stadium (5 seconds), that was easily my weakest finish ever at Bolder Boulder.
Post Race and Elite Races
After the race I met up with teammates for a bit, trying to get warm in the old CU field house, and then hung out for the morning to watch elite races.
Had some mixed emotions as this will (probably) be my last time racing the Bolder Boulder as a Colorado resident. Nevertheless, although it was an exciting, if not damp and chilly morning.
The elite races were fantastic! Connor Mantz had a huge kick to win men’s race in 28:21, passing Kenyan star Daniel Ebenyo with just 50 m to go, and Grace Nawowuna broke the long-standing record (set 30 years ago) of 32:12 by running 31:52.
Bolder Boulder and Me: The Future
In spite of having some success at Bolder Boulder, I have never run quite as well as I had hoped. Or maybe it is just the course. As an open runner I probably should have run well under 34 minutes, in fact my goal back then was to run under 33. However, those years I ran too fast in the opening mile or two and then paid a heavy price to the finish. As a masters runner (1999-2001) I felt I could have been under 35, but didn’t put it together (pacing in 1999, hot weather in 2000, and out of shape in 2001). In this latest era as a grand masters and senior runner (2015-25, minus the covid years) I had the most success age group-wise, but it never has een my best race of the year. I guess that’s okay.
As for the future I want to return even though we are moving away. I will return. Whether or not I am as competitive as I have been is a different story. Maybe it will not matter. You see former world class runners taking more than an hour to complete the course, and they are happy and we are happy for them. Participation in this event is what it is about.
When I do return, I guess at least once, I would like to have the final weeks of my training block to be in Colorado or at altitude. To get into the best competitive shape that I can. That’s not a given, but something to maybe plan and strive to make happen.
Until I do return, thank you Bolder Boulder for the excitement as a participatory runner and fan of the sport of road running.
I first did this race in 2022, more than 40 years after thinking that I had to run it someday. Getting to Spokane and running the race was a huge bucket list race event for me. We liked it so much we thought about moving to Spokane, and by 2024 those thoughts became a plan.
We planned the Bloomsday weekend back in January, thinking that this would be a pre-move scouting trip, or we would already have a bid on a house by then. However, things changed, and that was discussed in last week’s post and we decided not to move to Spokane after all.
Despite that, I still wanted to make the trip and run the race in 2025. Although I have only raced to it twice now, the Bloomsday 12K is one of my favorites.
Quick Turn-Around From The 10K
I only had a week to recover from the USATF Masters 10K, which was on the East Coast. In-between the travel and these races we had to move out of our condo on Wednesday, with closing on Thursday before Bloomsday. Not to mention flying out Friday night. The week was a bit of a blur. I had couple of easy running days, but put in 21,000 steps on a 14-hour moving day. The last three days of the week were just easy runs with a few strides thrown in.
Returning to Spokane after thinking-expecting to move there this year was a bits strange. Let’s just call it bittersweet.
On Saturday morning I ran about 4 miles along the course, including the top half of Doomsday Hill, and we drove around the town some after bib pick up. Otherwise, we took a restful day which was nice after such a busy week.
Doomsday Hill
Doomsday Hill a 5% climb over a half mile in the background.
Race Day
Race day dawned rather cool, at 39 degrees. We made our way downtown early to ensure that we had good parking (that wasn’t a problem) and waited in the car for 40 minutes before making our way to the Riverfront Park area and race hub.
Took some pictures of the falls, but just doing that was chilling so we found a coffee shop and warmed up there until I was ready to start my jog.
I got in just 2K for a warm up, dropped off my bag and lined up in the second seed wave, about 30 meters behind the elite runners. It had warmed up significantly, to about 48 degrees with just a slight breeze. These were perfect race conditions.
The first half mile or so of this race is a little sketchy compared to other big races. There are several slight turns with curb jumps and the streets are narrow in spots. Plus, there are potholes. However, I managed to avoid any mishaps.
The plan was to run the first two miles a little slower than goal pace, which was about 47:00 (6:18/mile). My secondary goal was to break my time of 47:32 from 2022.
The first mile is relatively flat and the second mile has a half mile descent (dropping 140 feet) and sharp uphill. My splits were 6:18 and 6:18. Just a few seconds faster than I had planned but it seemed within reason, my breathing was good and I felt in control.
Mile 3 had another big uphill and it was a net climb of about 80 feet, so my split was a bit slower at 6:34 (but the grade adjusted pace was another 6:18). Through mile 3 my effort was fairly even and I felt good. So I pushed it some in mile 4. Maybe that was my mistake. With a drop of about 30 feet I ran about 6:08, my fastest split of the day. At this point I was ahead of my 2022 time and I was feeling good about that as we crossed the Meenach Bridge over the Spokane River. This, the low point of the course at 1740 feet, would be the highlight of my race.
Onto Pettit Drive and the start of Doomsday Hill, I eased up a little and let the pack just ahead pull away from me. I figured I could make up some time once we summited (which I knew was nearly a mile ahead). The course climbs over 100 feet in that initial half mile, at a grade of 4-5 percent. Just get through that part I thought, and I could grind out a good finish. My 5 mile split was 32:00, almost exactly what it was in 2022.
Course profile and pace, along with some stats.
Although I had run up the steep part of the hill, the run out was another half mile at about 1% incline. Small but I was just zapped at this point, and I ran a 6:30 for the 6th mile. Fortunately, I regrouped by 10K and got my rhythm back, knowing that it would be a net downhill to the finish. This stretch along Broadway is more than a mile long with no turns. However, it’s easy going and there were some crowds along the way cheering us on. That mile was a 6:20, again a little slower than 2022. We made the turn on to Monroe and I threw all I could into it for a strong finish in 47:42. Short of my goals, but I’m still happy with the effort and to take home another age group win.
I’ll reiterate that this is one of my favorite races. It’s huge, with 30,000 runners, but everything is well managed. They have an exciting elite race up front and those in the mid pack and back are out there on a Sunday morning having some fun running or walking with friends and family on the scenic yet challenging course.
We did not move to Spokane in 2025, but I will return for this race!
“Think you’re escaping and run into yourself. Longest way round is the shortest way home.”
I took a long trip away to run the James Joyce Ramble, and then we sold our home. It was that kind of week.
We planned to sell our place in the Rocky Mountain foothills this year, or at least look into making a move, but I envisioned that we’d close the deal during the summer. Or maybe we’d make the move next year. However, events took a life of their own as soon as we returned from a weeklong trip to Spokane, WA where we were planning to move.
Life sometimes throws curves at you. Two factors changed our destination. We bought our mountain condo in 2016, and all seemed pretty good, but the monthly homeowners association fees increased 10-15% a year and by 2024 it had doubled, while the services and quality of maintenance at the site declined. In a few more years the fees would be greater than our mortgage, and that would be financially unsustainable for us. Not to mention the value of our property would decline. At the beginning of this year we decided that moving out in 2025 would be better than 2026. That would mean having the condo on the market by spring.
Things accelerated from there. Realtors, you know. We were on the market on March 7, with open houses the on the following two weekends. So much for a relaxing beginning of spring! Had we not been selling our place I would have stayed the World Masters Championships in Florida to run the 10K road race on March 30, but I needed to get home to help take care of things.
Meanwhile, other events prompted us to rethink whether we actually wanted to move to Spokane. It checked a lot of boxes, but one issue was that it was no closer to our family, in fact further. In mid-March, just a week after the condo went up for sale, we decided that a move to the Midwest might suit us better. Three factors gave the edge to the Midwest. Housing is even more affordable, it’s closer to our oldest son (his brother lives on the West Coast, but it was still a 2 hour flight from Spokane), and access to cross country skiing would be better. We have decided to move to the Twin Cities this July. It beat out Spokane in 10 of 12 categories that we considered. The only two that it was better were location and landscape and size.
Enough of the preamble, now to Dedham and the 10K.
Post WMA Training
I had five weeks after the 8K cross country championships. Recovery from that race took longer than expected. I was completely washed out that first week, and it felt more like following a half marathon, indicating some life stress no doubt but also that the race in Gainesville was an all-out effort.
My weeks in April, leading up to the 10K at the end of the month were 47, 43 (with some skiing and cycling), 56, 43, and 39 miles. For me that’s kind of in the lower end of moderate mileage. I usually like 60-65 miles a week. With so much going on and the slower than normal recovery it was adequate.
Workouts were nothing special in April but I got in a couple of double threshold days, and some single workouts focusing on threshold or CV effort (essentially race pace). I guess my capstone workout, 10 days before the race, was an asymmetrical ladder with 2,3,4,5,6,5,2 on rolling terrain. Starting at threshold and then working toward low 6 minute/mile effort (CV for me right now). That workout went well enough, and I felt I could run under 6:20/mile in Dedham.
Travel and Pre-Race
I flew into Boston on Friday afternoon and visited my cousin and her husband in Brookline that evening. Saturday was very chill, I ended up spending the day on my own at the hotel in Dedham, with my only activity being an easy run to pick up my race packet at the course venue.
Race Day
My friend Jim drove down from New Hampshire Sunday morning and we visited for a bit before taking the short drive to the race. It was cool, windy, and raining off and on. More like day for a cross country race, but it wasn’t terrible and everyone would be facing the same conditions so it didn’t phase me much. Got in a 2-mile warm up jog with some friends, did my strides and stretching and before I knew it, we were lined up and ready to go.
The first part of these races is always a little frenetic, and I’m always surprised at how fast some runners shoot off from the starting line. I focus on staying on my feet but also try to be aware of my pace-effort, next is to survey the scene and to keep an eye out for competitors. Two local guys from my age group strode by in the first 200 m, and then a guy in the 70s age group! I couldn’t even keep track of how many in the 60-64 group were ahead, but it seemed like a lot. Then another runner (a future teammate from the Twin Cities) ran by looking light and fresh.
I was hoping to win the age group, but figured that even if I had a bad day, I would be top 3 in the age group. However, you never know and I’m always full of doubt in the early stages of these masters running events.
By the first mile (a bit too fast in 6:03) I had pulled away from the two local runners and had my sights on my new friend/rival from the Twin Cities who was about 30 meters ahead, who had thrown in at least one surge and was and looking strong. A hell of a way to introduce ourselves, I thought.
I gained some ground in the second mile, but when I got within about 10 meters he surged again and the gap had quickly opened up to 30 meters. I knew I’d have to keep focused and have good middle and latter part of the race to keep in contact. At about 2 miles we made a sharp turn to the right, and I could see him easing up some. I was in a good pack of about six or seven other runners and I went with their tempo. We crossed 2 miles in 12:12. This was faster than the 6:15/mile I had anticipated, but I felt it was important to keep in contact.
Just after mile 2, pulled along by the pack of runners, I eased past my competitor. This was mostly a flat mile, with a net downhill and I think the wind was in our favor. That split of 5:56 was my fastest of the day, as I crossed 3 miles in 18:08.
Then things got harder. The 4th mile is through a campus and it features two solid hills. The first one was 25 feet, not too bad, but after a short downhill the second hill climbs at 6% with a net gain of 40 feet. I really slowed on that one. My mile split was 6:22, the slowest of the day. The 5th and 6th miles were a grind, with lightly rolling terrain, the splits were 6:07 and 6:13. I was running out of gas during mile 6 and on the final turn, with about 1200 m to go, did a head check to see where my competitors were. I had about 20 seconds and although I was feeling uncomfortable I felt that I could hold the effort for a few more minutes. He’d have to have a blazing kick to run me down.
Course map with Garmin splits (probably about a second per mile faster than actual).
The last 500 m have a slight net uphill, with a final hill with about 350 to go. I threw it all down and closed in about 5:50 pace to hang onto a 38:17, good enough for 48th overall and 1st in my age class.
A final surge at the finish was enough to put me on the age grade podium, 3rd out of all runners/ages in the race.
That was a hard fought race–it’s going to be interesting once I get to the Twin Cities, with such strong and competitive teammates! Meanwhile, although we did not field a 60s team, the 70s team showed up strong and took 2nd place to a surging Shore Athletic Club from New Jersey. They rarely lose, but Shore is strong this year.
With BRR 70s team.
And speaking of future teammates, in the age grading category I edged another Twin Cities runner (early 60s) by 0.05% to score a 90.6% age grade, and 3rd place overall. That was probably the biggest achievement of the day.
I was really happy with this race. Although I felt rough in that 6th mile in particular, I held on and didn’t lose much ground. Had I put my head down and stayed with the leaders of that pack I might have eked out 8 or 10 more seconds and been at the 91% range or age grading (and moved up a spot), but other than that I don’t think I could have gone much faster.
Sisu. Finnish for strength, will, and determination.
Although we raced on just the third day of the spring, the World Masters Athletics (WMA) cross country championship was my biggest race for the spring or winter of 2025. Preparation this time was a little different, because I mixed in more cross country skiing (on average two workouts a week) for recreation and to supplement my training. The result was less running volume no more than 40-50 miles a week of running, compared to 60-65, and fewer workouts overall. The workouts I did were less intense and frequent than in years past.
Following US Nationals in January I took a four week break from tempo or speed workouts, and I resumed doing regular sessions in February. These sessions were nothing fancy. Typically, I would do a tempo or threshold session early in the week and a few days later something involving 5K to 10K effort. I did a couple double threshold days, but these were not an emphasis as they had been during the winter over the past few years. The routine was solid and I averaged about 8 or 9 hours a week of training since January.
This year’s WMA races were in Florida so I decided to include some heat training to prepare for warm/humid weather. Twice a week over the past five or six weeks I went to a community fitness center and spent 15 or 20 minutes in the steam room (the sauna was not functioning properly) and then donned a couple layers of running clothes and I ran on the treadmill for 25 to 45 minutes. This was nothing radical, but it seemed to serve me well in 2018, when I ran the Gasparilla 15K in Tampa.
I was prepared but heading into these championships did not feel as sharp as last summer, when I raced in Sweden, and not nearly has honed as I was in 2019 when the championships were in Poland. Noteabley, my recovery days of late have been much slower (about 30 seconds per mile) than in previous years. However, my workouts were close to what I had been doing in 2023 and 2024, and I felt confident that I could get another world medal and maybe a win.
I have never won a championship cross country race although I have done so on the roads more than a dozen times. Leading up to Sunday’s race, at the US cross country championship events I have had five podium finishes (2018, 2019, 2022, 2024, 2025), and two bronze medals at the WMA championships (2019, 2024). A win would be nice. Here is how it went down in Gainesville.
Travel
I traveled to Florida on Thursday evening, but did not get to my hotel in Jacksonville until midnight. On Friday I drove to Gainesville and my first stop was for a shakeout run at the cross country (and throws venue), about 10 miles west of the city and the University of Florida.
It was fun to drive through the city with it’s storied running history going back to the days of Olympic Gold Medalist Frank Shorter and writer John L. Parker Jr., author of Once a Runner, which was set in a fictitious version of Gainesville. And more recently it has been home of the NCAA track and field champion Florida Gators, where the likes of Olympic Gold Medalist Grant Holloway and Olympian Parker Valby still train.
The 2K loop on a former golf course was mostly flat, with a few bunkers along the way to break things up, but lumpy and sandy. I would like to see more hills and interesting terrain but it was fair enough.
Course preview on Friday
On Saturday I returned to the course, after my easy run and a few strides, I spotted my friend Jukka from Finland. He won WMA XC in 2019 and 2022. Last year we raced in Sweden and I was 3rd and he was 4th. That day I wore spikes and he wore Nike Vaporflies, and that may a have been the difference. Before the race the other day he showed me his brand new Nike Dragonfly XCs and said “Now we are even!”
On Friday I ran into my friend and primary competition, Jukka from Finland.
Otherwise I was very boring and only ventured out from my Airbnb for essential trips. I’d like to go back Gainesville some day for a winter training camp, then maybe I would have some more time to check out the city and university.
Race Day
Friday and Saturday mornings there were surprisingly cool in the 40s, and it only warmed up late in the morning. But things heated up quicky on Sunday when it warmed up almost 20 degrees from 50 to 70 in just a couple of hours (and then climbing to 80 later in the day).
The temperature was already in high 60s when we raced, and about 70 by the finish. It was a little warmer than I would like but thankfully it was not oppressive.
The race had three five-year age groups combined, covering men from age 55-69. Each time I do one of these WMA races age range gets larger. In 2019 we just ran one age group at a time, so you knew exactly where you were. And last summer in Sweden we had two age groups of men in their 60s. Nevertheless the field this year was not big (70 runners in all three age groups and only 20 in the men’s 65-69 age group.
After getting yelled at and verbally abused by the official for a few minutes, typical for masters cross country, we finally lined up and the starter fired the gun. I immediately settled into to mid-pack and I counted three runners in my age group who went out faster. Three that I knew of at least: Jukka from Finland, a runner from Algeria (Alem), and another from Argentina. Jukka and Alem gapped me by more than 30-40 meters within the first 400, where we had our first turn. And that gap ended up making the difference on Sunday.
Even though they were well ahead, I stuck to my pacing throughout the first lap and reeled in a half dozen runners and I felt I was running about where I should be. My first mile was in 6:18.
Making my way through the field, end of lap 1.
By the end of the lap, Ricardo the runner from Argentina was coming back, but the runners from Finland and Algeria seemed to have increased their advantage over 40 m. I passed Ricardo early in the second lap and instinctively picked up the pace, and set to work on reeling the other two. The by midway through that lap, Jukka had pulled away from the Algerian, who had slowed down. I caught and passed Alem just after lap 2, and I surged by to discourage him from going with me.
I was getting thirsty and hot, but had run by the water table twice because they had placed it way off to the left side of the course just before a right hand turn. I didn’t even see the table on the first two laps.
Onto the final lap. One more to catch, Jukka, my friend from Finland. He was still about 30 meters ahead. At the end of lap 3 I finally spotted the water table off to the left side and decided to veer off the tangent to grab a bottle (it was beyond me why they put the table way out there) so I could get a sip and splash some on my head and arms. That felt great and I was rejuvenated, but I lost a few meters. 2K to make the gap 40 meters. Catching Jukka was possible but only if he would have to fade some. I did make up some ground before starting my kick with about 500 m to go. I got back to about 20 or 25 meters back. On the last turn, just 200 m from the finish I went into a full sprint a but then he also kicked it in and I finished 5.6 seconds back.
I congratulated Jukka, who could only mutter “I feel so bad right now!” We had pushed each other out there. This race was all about Sisu. Going against Jukka the Finn, he showed a lot of Sisu out there and would not let up. I’m half Finnish myself. I felt that also ran with guts and determination, I just did not quite have that extra gear on to reel him in.
I did not get the gold medal but did win an World Championship upgrade to a silver. A win would have been great, but I am not too disappointed. We won the team title (also did in 2024), so we got another medal for that. Avg. 6:20/mile, about 87% age grade which has been about where I have been landing for XC races over the past couple of years.
Men’s 65-69 age group individual podium at the WMA 8K cross country championships in Florida.
Individually it was close but not quite. Teamwise, which is why I chose this race instead of the 10K road race, we won easily. In fact we beat all comers (best of the rest combined), and would have been 2nd behind the American men in the 60-64 category, where he did have a half dozen teams.
Team USA taking the age group gold medal in the 8K cross country at the WMA championships.
I lined up for Saturday’s Sharin’ O’ The Green 5K hoping not to have a blow out. Not my shoes, and not folding in the stretch, I was concerned about holding my breakfast and yesterday’s meals in my intestine. This was my first bicarb (sodium bicarbonate) race experiment and I lived to tell the tale.
Other than some casual ski races in January and February, on the schedule for fitness more than competition, I had only raced once since November and that was 9 weeks ago. However, I needed a rust buster and test effort for the upcoming WMA cross country event this month. I also got my hands on some Maurten bicarb, which is all the rage this year, but like anything new in running that shows success it’s hard to get. Fortunately, one of my friends knows people in the company and was able to get package with four treatments.
Last week I listened to the Physiology of Endurance Running Podcast (they’re nerdy but it’s really good), and their recent interview with Dr. Andy Sparks a researcher who did much of the work on sodium bicarbonate in sport over the past decade. He’s now a research manager with Maurten. In that interview he told tales of their earlier research where athletes had massive diarrheal outbursts or upset stomachs after taking bicarb. But that was before they developed an encapsulated formula that releases the bicarbonate in your intestine, and at a slower rate, rather than your stomach. The issue is the acids in the stomach don’t mix well with the base in the bicarbonate, and that often leads to an upset digestive system.
For years researchers athletes and coaches have recognized the sodium bicarbonate can buffer the exercise induced acidosis in blood and muscles, but the trick was to find a way to get enough into an athlete’s system while not causing digestive upset. However, recently Dr. Sparks and others have shown that encapsulating the bicarbonate and taking it with a carbohydrate gel product, it can be consumed by athletes while not resulting in digestive issues. Indeed it appears to allow greater endurance by buffering the blood.
The trick is that you need to follow the protocol. It’s pretty simple. Eat a light meal a few hours ahead of your exercise (or race), two hours before mix the gel caplets into 200 ml of water, and then a couple of minutes later add in the encapsulated bicarb, mix and then slurp down the tasteless gel in one bout but without chewing the bicarb.
How did it go?
Saturday’s Race
We decided to drive the 80-90 minutes to Fort Collins on Saturday morning, rather than stay in a hotel overnight. I was a little nervous about the bicarb protocol and timing it right while we were enroute, but decided to go ahead with the idea that we would stop about half way there, 2 hours ahead of the race.
After 45 minutes of driving we pulled off and stopped at a service station where I mixed the goop, waited 5 minutes and gulped it down without gagging anything and spilling only a half teaspoon. Two hours to race time.
We arrived in Fort Collins about an hour ahead of the race where I picked up my bib and set about with the warm up. I had planned on 3 miles, but with porta john lines (especially important on this day!) I got in 2 miles with some drills, a short tempo, and some strides. We lined up and everyone one seemed to converge at once, and I could only get as far up as the 4th row, with 30 or 40 people ahead of me in a field that did not look deep.
The plan was to run about 6:08-6:10 over the first mile and then see how it would go on the bike path over the final two miles. My goal was run about 19:00 for the 5K, which age grades to about 88 %.
20 meters into the race, and slightly boxed, in you can see my hat and sunglasses between numbers 288 and 694.
We blasted out of the start and some from behind shot ahead. The pace over the first few hundred meters was faster than I had wanted (sub 6) so I eased up a little. I split the mile in about 6:02, which was a little fast. My breathing was okay.
We had a bit of a headwind as we turned onto the bike path just after one mile. I tucked into a large pack of about 10 runners and found myself near the front of the group. It was a little unnerving to hear so many footsteps right on my heals. I braked a few times because the leaders of the group slowed a bit, and also eased up once, at about half way because a guy was breathing so heavily, practically in my ear. That was a distraction and either I could pick it up and get a gap or slow a bit and run behind him for a bit.
On the bike path, about 2 km into the race.
I fell back to about 4th or 5th in that pack, trying to keep focused and in contact. By 2 miles I had moved back up some and the pack was dissipating by then. We split in about 12:10, so a 6:08 second mile. That felt about right and it felt like I could run about 19-flat or under if I could hang on.
However, I started to get the feeling that I might need to go to the bathroom. Hold on! Less than a mile to go. I got gassed (tired) at 2.5 and slowed down for a few hundred meters. Two runners went by quickly. They were younger and closed under 6:00 for the last mile. Then two more went by, but they were not moving as fast and I was able to maintain a better pace, about 5 meters behind them. We popped off the river and over a bridge at about 2.8 miles, and I was back onto 6:00-6:10 pace for the stretch. Over the last 200 or 250 m, just before the 3 mile marker (3 miles in 18:28), I threw down all I could and had a strong kick (5:40 pace). I passed those two and pulled away by 4 or 5 seconds. Officially finishing 19:17, but I think that was a little long. And my watch had me closer to 19:05+/-.
Finishing kick!
My intestines were okay, but I did seek the nearest bathroom within 2-3 minutes after crossing the line. No upsets or accidents. All was good.
Post-Hoc
This is why we do rust busters. I think my fitness is there, but the pacing was not perfect (see pace chart). The finish was crazy fast, however, and that’s encouraging.
Pace chart from Saturday’s 5K. Note the quick start. The big dip at 2.1 miles was actually going under a double bridge. Ideally I would have liked to hold about 6:10 pace from 2.3 to 3 miles, and hopefully can find that gear when we have the bigger races.
I finished top 20 and won my age group, and pretty much achieved my pre-race goals.
Age grade was 87% for the full time for 5K, if you consider that the course seemed long (3.16 miles) it was over 88%. I probably hit that first mile a bit too fast, maybe 5 or 6 seconds, and that’s why struggled some over the 3rd mile.
Age group winners at Saturday’s 5K in Fort Collins.
What about the bicarb? I think there is something there, that was my best kick in a 5K in a long time. Usually I drop a few seconds in pace, maybe 10-15 seconds per mile under the overall pace, but this was 30+ seconds, and I felt I could have gone another 100-150 meters at this sprint effort, instead of feeling utterly spent when crossing the line. So I am encouraged.
Last weekend I traveled for the USATF masters 8K cross country championships in Lubbock, TX. I find racing in December or January to be difficult. I’m usually sort of burned out in December from the previous 8 or 9 months of training and racing and January is too early to have enough base behind you to feel that competitive. And forget about feeling sharp.
Our team has not traveled much in recent years. In fact we went for almost a year and a half, from June 2023 to November 2024, without fielding a full team. Injuries, burnout, lack of interest, and maybe personality differences all played into this.
But to Lubbock we went, with an age group team of four runners. Travel this past weekend was dicey and many athletes and clubs were not able to make it. Only about half of the entrants actually lined up to race. Although the fields were small, there was good competition in both the open and masters races.
We made it. Men’s team ventured to Lubbock for the masters championships. Many teams were snowed out.
It was windy on race day, 45 degrees F with sustained winds averaging nearly 20 mph, with stronger gusts. The wind was out of the west, which meant we would have a cross wind most of the way, with some short stretches of tailwind and about a km total of direct headwind on the 2.5 loop course.
Wicked winds whipping from the west.
The route was two and a half loops on a mostly flat former golf course that has been converted into a college cross country course. There were a couple of small rollers each loop and couple short steep bunker-type hills. It was real cross country and the wind added an extra challenge.
Course layout for 8K masters championship race in Lubbock, TX.
As we lined up the officials yelled at us like we were in middle school, “no more run outs! Line up behind the boxes!” And then “What don’t you understand about behind the boxes!!!?” And we were off, I sprinted about 70 meters before settling in.
Crazy hair day! (photo by USATF)
I run by feel in xc and don’t look at my splits much, but ran hoping to run about 6:15 for the first mile and see what I had. On the first loop (just under 1 mile) I felt better than expected and ran with a third pack (with the leaders way out in front at 5:00 pace, and a second pack of about 5-6 runners only 10-15 seconds ahead of us). I did check my watch that one time and it had 6:12.
Into the subsequent 2 mile loops I worried a bit that my early pace had been too hot. Our pack started breaking up by 1.5 miles and the second pack was still up by 5 or 6 seconds. Dan, my main age group competitor had just pulled ahead of that pack.
Decision time, hold steady and hang on, or surge to catch that pack.
I did the latter throwing in my fastest little stretch of the day, hitting sub 6 pace for a bit. I was a little gassed by the time I caught them, but that was just when we turned into the wind for a grinding 400 m stretch straight into it. We slowed way down, and I stutter-stepped a few times, biding my time and trying to catch my breath. We turned north and with a favorable cross-wind picked up the pace again.
I stayed with this group for the next two miles. Dan was only 15-20 seconds up in no-man’s land but I didn’t have the desire or grit to chase him down. On the windy stretch just after 4 miles, we slowed way down again as the wind tore at us. As we rounded turn over a bunker I took off an one of the runners from a different age group went with me. He went off in a sprint. I picked it up gradually over the last km and sprinted home. 15th place and 2nd in my age group. I got 2nd in age grading, and our team won by default because our rivals could not make the trip.
Age group winners, a bit squinty.
It was a good weekend and feeling so much better after feeling off for a few weeks was a pleasant surprise.
My next big race will be in late March, another 8K xc event (world masters) but I will do some xc ski races along the way (more casually than running) and probably a 5k-8K tune up road race in Feb or March. I’m not 100 percent certain, because I have done it two years in a row, but I think I’ll do the masters grand prix (best 5 races in the 8 race series) again.
Postscript: Controversy from Letsrun
You expect nothing but garbage and controversy on the website LetsRun.com and they rarely if ever disappoint. There is currently a thread on the site decrying the lack of participation at this championship. Indeed, it may have been the least attended ever. Only 156 runners (101 men, 55 women) in three divisions for each (Under 20, Open, and Masters) lined up and participated in the event. Last year there were 447 participating in Richmond, VA. Last year was a qualifying race for the World Cross Country Championships and World Junior Championships. So that was a big difference. Nevertheless, recall that half the field did not make the trip due to weather cancellations. So instead of the numbers down by 2/3, it’s closer to 1/3. That’s still a big hit, but factor in the remote location of Lubbock compared to Richmond, VA, and the fact that there is no championship qualification this year the difference is understandable.
Tell that to Letsrun! Those apes will moan, bitch, and caterwaul over anything and everything. Morons.
My post-marathon recovery has been middle of the road, there were no setbacks and it hasn’t dragged on but there has not been a fitness boost. I find it interesting how some people come out of a marathon supercharged and they set huge 5K or 10K PBs in the weeks immediately following a marathon training block and race. That has never happened to me. Only once or twice have I felt decent within a month after a marathon. That just shows how everyone has their own physical and mental response to the long event.
Weeks 1, 2, 3: Recovery with a Big R
I took off a few days of running or aerobic activity other than walking the dog a few times a day. Then I cycled for a couple days. Ran on Day 6 post-marathon, so I had reasonable, but not extensive break. I got in about 14 miles in that first week.
Fortunately we got some early snowfall (in fact much of it while were away in Indianapolis for the marathon) and I was able to incorporate some cross country skiing for cross training (and for its own effect), with three days of skiing in November and now twice a week in December.
The air is thin at 9000 feet but it’s refreshing.
I rolled back into running on the second week back, with 43 miles of easy running and a short ski outing at Breckenridge. On the third week I put in 49 miles of running plus a 15 km ski at Frisco, my old stomping grounds (ca. 1986-87). I did my first tempo effort, just a short 15 or so minutes of effort at 6:50 pace or so on trails on the day before Thanksgiving.
I did have a bit of Turkey Trot FOMO, I kind of wanted to do a race on Thanksgiving but knew I was not mentally or physically ready to line up after a long 2024 campaign. Skiing that day was a good alternative. No traffic no crowds on Thanksgiving day.
Weeks 4, 5: Some Volume
I got my volume mojo back in December with a couple decent weeks. However, workout quality has been lagging.
Over the first week of December I ran 50 miles and got in two ski days of about 28 km (2.2 hours) for a weekly sum of just over 9 hours. I did a double threshold on the 4th. The AM part was actually a pretty stiff session with 4X 1 mile averaging about 6:30. That’s more mid-season level for me but I went with it. The PM part was a pretty mild 8x 30 second surge/30 second recovery on a gravel path. That day gave me some confidence so I signed up for a 5K for December 15.
The second week of the month (week 5 post-marathon) was more of the same, although truthfully I don’t think I felt as well as on the previous week. I did 43 miles of running and two ski outings of 12 and 21 km for a total of 9.3 hours.
My double threshold on Tuesday was a bit of a weather bust because we got several inches of snow overnight. I had to cut an AM treadmill session short when after 2X 6 min reps (plan was 4X) a guy with a cold lined up right next to me (3 feet away, no social distancing there!) so I bailed. And the second workout later in the day was supposed to be 8X 2 min at CV effort with a 1 minute recovery. But with the ice on the path it was 6X 2, 1X 3 and a fartlek within a fartlek because I had to slow down on the icy/snowy patches and then speed up on the dry stretches.
Running-wise the rest of the week was easy, but I did that 21 km of skiing on Thursday.
Training Race
On Sunday I signed up for the Ugly Sweater 5K in Denver. Silly theme, but overall it’s a well-managed race. Shoutout to Derek and Jessica for their series (although I miss the Winter Distance Series at Hudson Garden). Washington Park in South Denver is probably the best place in the entire city for a 5K to 10K road race. It’s almost flat. No traffic. And the road is wide enough to accommodate thousands of participants.
I kind of worked through this one, but was hoping to finish well under 20 minutes for 5K and to take home an age group award. It ended up being mixed on those goals.
The day was about as perfect as you can get here in December. It was cold overnight, and I was freezing on my 2+ mile warm up at about 30 degrees. But by 8:45 it had warmed up to the mid-30s and with full sunshine and no wind to speak of I suddenly felt overdressed with tights, double shirt, beanie and gloves. With 10 minutes to go I stripped off my tights and tossed the gloves and decided to be lightly dressed.
The plan was to go out in about 6:20-30 and then bring it down from there. I didn’t really stick to the plan.
I lined up in about the 4th row, should have been farther back. We started and I was almost immediately swallowed up by another dozen or two runners. I checked my watch at about 200 meters in, and saw that I was running at about 5:40/mile pace. Way too fast. So I eased up, and some more runners went around me. I tried to settle in. Checking again at about a half mile and it was still 6:10 pace. Still too fast. So I eased up some more. However, by then the damage had been done.
Start of the race, you can see my red cap between #1127 and the guy in the white singlet. Yeah, too far up at the start.
I split the mile at about 6:15 and decided to just hang onto the current effort for as long as I could. A pack of about 5 or 6 runners had formed about 20 meters ahead. Otherwise I was in sort of a no mans land as we headed north through the park. And that’s pretty much where I stayed the rest of the way. Breathing was a bit hard, I passed one young runner who was obviously overdressed in a sweater and Christmas pajama pants and a Santa hat. I just hung behind that pack through half way and 2 miles (12:46). There are two small hills before the lap (2.2 miles) and I kind of eased up on those, falling behind that pack a bit. Over the last hill just before the lap I tried to gradually increase my pace. I caught one runner, a younger woman. And we had ourselves a duel for the rest of the way.
End of mile 2, feeling the pain cave.
Felt that I was just hanging on with about a half mile to go, as we were lapping the back of the pack walkers on the west side of the park. I surged with about 600 to go, pulling ahead of my female competitor, but immediately felt that in my lungs so let up and she passed again. I hung back about 5 meters and then threw in a final surge with 300 to go. That didn’t last either and she passed me back before the final turn (150 to go). From then on I just tried to hold form and not throw up.
A final kick.
Final result: 20:11 for 3.16 miles, the course was a little long, probably off by 60 or 70 meters. I’ll split the difference between my Garmin and official time and call it 20:00.
Nevertheless, I believe that’s my slowest time in a 5K road race (about equal to the training race I did in September, but that was a definite tempo-type effort, this was a more of a concerted race effort.
It was slow but I am not disappointed. It was about what I could expect for five weeks after a marathon. An 83% age grade at 5200′ elevation. (3rd overall in age grading). I’m not going to complain. I enjoyed the morning and appreciate the race management and work that went on to host this late season event.
This was my fifth attempt to get on the five decades sub-3 marathons (aka 5D/S3) list. In my past I ran 2:34 in the 1980s, 2:44 during 1990s, 2:54 in the 00s, and 2:58 in 2018. The attempts the 2020s have been 3:02, 3:00, 3:01, 3:05.
Otherwise, this was a big year of racing with a 25K and two half marathons on the docket. I knew going in, that it would be a big ask to fit in a late year marathon.
In August I ran the world masters half marathon in Europe, got sick on the return, and it took a couple of weeks to get my legs back. Going back to the first week of September mileage was 50, 57, 70, 70, 61, 70, 64, 70, 68, and taper weeks of 36 and 31 miles. I got in four decent long runs of 19, 20, 22, and 20 miles, and a mid-long run of 11-13 on most of those weeks. The long runs included progression efforts to marathon pace or just a little over, and most of the mid-long runs had tempo or threshold workouts.
The Race, How Did it Go?
I carbo-loaded a bit more than usual on Friday, but not too extreme. And for the race I had Maurten 160 in a handheld for the first 50 minutes and after that used Maurten gel every 30 minutes (so 480 calories for the race). That was about all I could take in.
After some delays I cut it close and got into the starting corral just minutes before the start.
The first 4-5 miles of this race are very crowded. We hit the first few miles a bit slower than race pace and the 5 mile split was in the 34:30s. Through 10 miles I felt heavy from the carbo loading, but not terrible. I kept clicking off 6:55s or so and was 68:40s for 10 miles. Then I fell into a funk, and was questioning whether I should continue with this return to sub 3 quest, and also wondering if I could maintain or increase pace, to keep o the sub 3 quest. That was not a good headspace.
We passed the half, a bit off pace and then 15 miles n 1:44, and knew that sub 3 was no longer on the table. I just resolved to keep on the pace for as long as I could.
My mantra for the day was to live in the mile, and that’s what I tried to re-focus on. And I also thought about resilience. The mostly the downhill 19th mile felt great! And I held the momentum for another mile. But then my pace fell off 7:05 -7:10s and the battle became less about time and more about just finishing. Came through 20 miles in 2:18. 10K to go. Once we got back onto the city streets after about 21 miles I focused by making it from stoplight to stoplight and that helped keep my head in the game.
The last few miles weren’t terrible, nor were they great. I could not ratchet my pace down to sub 6:50, that just wasn’t in the tank. But 7:05-7:10 was sustainable.
My wife and son (he’d just finished the half) were on the side of the course with about a half km to go, before the last couple of turns. With less than a quarter go however, my little toe blew up (ended up being a popped blister, and I’m certain to lose another toenail), so I had sort of a sprint-hobble over the last bit of the course, crossing in 3:03.
Post-race
I grabbed some food and got my medal and made my way to the gear tents, but soon after getting my bag I got nauseous and started throwing up. That only lasted for a minute or so, but it felt longer. Then I felt better. Lolled around the area for an hour or so until we all reconvened. Enjoyed some good meals later in the day a couple of beers in the evening.
With family, M&M who both set PBs in Indy!
Relaxing after the race.
Post Hoc, What worked and What Didn’t?
I’ll give the training block a mixed review. I did get an adequate amount of mileage, with long runs and workouts, but an 8-week marathon-specific build may not have been enough. However, I did have solid a summer HM block preceding that but it was hard to come back from a peak week (in August) in just a couple of months.
Fueling and hydration went okay. I did not bonk or cramp. That was more gels than I’m used to, but still it was less than some are now recommending.
My mental prep and attitude? Also mixed. I was probably less nervous for this race than any marathon I have done, going back 40+ years. That’s good. But I have never felt so off in the middle of a race—that time between 10 and 15 or so miles, I when I was questioning whether I should do any more of these, in particular another sub 3 attempt. Fortunately, I was able to pull out of that and get back into the mindset of just being in the mile.
The Future?
I don’t know. No doubt I enjoy distances, say 25K and under (down to about 5K) more than I do the marathon. What does that tell you? I would at least like to get NYC done to complete the North American WMM tour. And my son and daughter-in-law are already talking about doing Berlin someday. But breaking 3 again? Has that ship sailed?
rrunnin234 