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Recap of the 39th annual One America 500 Festival Mini-Marathon in Indianapolis, IN

One America 500 Festival Mini Marathon 
May 3, 2014
www.500festival.com/marathon/

My Run:  Overall, the One America 500 Festival Mini-Marathon (“the Mini”) in Indianapolis was my 15th half marathon. This was the fifth year to run the Mini, which is the largest half marathon and fifth largest road race in the U.S. with 35,000 runners.  The Mini is part of the month-long 500 Festival that leads up to the Indianapolis 500. I missed last year’s Mini due to injury, but was able to defer my registration to this year.

My thoughts on the 2013 Rock n’ Roll New Orleans Marathon…

Rock n’ Roll New Orleans Marathon
February 24, 2013
runrocknroll.competitor.com/new-orleans

My Run:

The 2013 Rock ‘n Roll New Orleans (NOLA) Marathon was my 13th marathon overall and first since being diagnosed with a femoral shaft stress fracture in late August 2012. My current marathon personal best of 3:12:28 came at the 2012 Rock ‘n Roll NOLA Marathon in ideal weather conditions.

After having a great month of January, my training had been very inconsistent in February leading up to the race, primarily due to my mission trip to Honduras and subsequent illness. I had also been dealing with IT band issues since returning from Honduras, which persisted until race day. All of this left me fairly unsure of my level of fitness for this marathon.

Recap of the 37th annual One America 500 Festival Mini-Marathon in Indianapolis, IN

One America 500 Festival Mini Marathon 
May 5, 2012
www.500festival.com/marathon/

My Run:  Overall, the One America 500 Festival Mini-Marathon (“the Mini”) in Indianapolis was my 12th half marathon. This was the fourth year in a row that I have run the Mini, which is the largest half marathon and fifth largest road race in the U.S. with 35,000 runners.  The Mini is part of the month-long 500 Festival that leads up to the Indianapolis 500.

Recap the 13th annual St Jude Country Music Marathon in Nashville, TN…

Country Music Marathon
April 28, 2012
nashville.competitor.com

My Run:  Overall, the Country Music Marathon (CMM) was my 12th full marathon, but this one was quite a bit different than any of my previous 11. For this race I had applied for and was accepted to be the official 4-hour pace team leader for the race. This was something I have wanted to do ever since my first marathon which I completed with the help of a pace team (Chicago 2009).

My thoughts on the 3rd annual Oak Barrel Half Marathon in Lynchburg, TN

Oak Barrel Half Marathon 
April 7, 2012
www.oakbarrelhalf.com

My Run:  Overall, the Oak Barrel Half Marathon in Lynchburg was my 11th half marathon. This race was capped at 1050 entries, and this was my second consecutive year to participate in the event.

Even though I had a specific goal going in, I really didn’t treat this like a goal race. I did drop my total mileage by about 10-miles for the week of the race, but otherwise just trained right through the event. My goal was to “officially” break 1:30 for the first time. At the Murfreesboro “Middle” Half Marathon last October the course ended up being long by 4/10 of a mile due to a mis-routing in the early miles. My “unofficial” re-calculated time for that event was 1:29:49, but it never felt like I had truly broken 1:30, since this result was from a recalculation.

Anyway, the Oak Barrel course is much tougher than the Middle Half, but I also felt like I was in better shape than I was last October. This is especially true considering that the Middle Half was six days after the Bank of America Chicago Marathon and my recent PR performance at the Rock n’ Roll New Orleans Marathon (3:12:28) a few weeks ago.

The Oak Barrel course is famous for a very difficult climb during part of mile four and all of mile five called “Whiskey Hill.” This hill is significant enough that you almost have to base your entire race strategy around it. To break 1:30, I would need to finish with an average pace of 6:52 per mile. With that in mind, my plan was to run the first three miles around goal pace, and then hope to complete Whiskey Hill with an overall average around 7:00 min pace. After Whiskey Hill, there are three miles of rolling hills, followed by four miles of mostly downhill (or flat) and a rolling finish. Provided that I didn’t spend all of my energy on the climb, I was confident that I could make up eight seconds in the final eight miles.

Can you guess which one is “Whiskey Hill?”

My thoughts on the 2012 Rock n’ Roll New Orleans Marathon…

Rock n’ Roll New Orleans Marathon
March 4, 2012
runrocknroll.competitor.com/new-orleans

My Run:

Overall, the Rock n’ Roll New Orleans Marathon (NOLA) was my 11th full marathon, and first since setting my current PR of 3:18:44 at the Rocket City Marathon last December. For NOLA I had been very public about my goal of breaking 3:15 for the first time (i.e. my “Quest for 3:15”).” My training leading up to the race had been fantastic, having only missed 4 scheduled runs due to two stomach bugs and a flare-up of my Small Fiber Sensory Neuropathy in January.

The weather for NOLA was just about as good as anybody could have hoped. The temperatures were right around 50 degrees at the start, with low humidity, clear skies, and a light breeze. By the end of the race the temps were just over 60 degrees. Can’t ask for much better than that in New Orleans in March.

For this race I tweaked my preparation schedule and nutrition plan slightly. This included:

• For the second time in my 11 marathons, I only did a two-week taper as opposed to three. The other was before Rocket City last December.

• I ran 3.5-miles the day prior to the race. I normally don’t run the day before.

• I ate a peanut butter PowerBar, a banana, a Honey Stinger Waffle, and a bagel 3-hours prior to the race.

• I drank a full cup of caffeinated coffee 1.5-hours prior to the race.

• I took a 2x caffeine Gu 1-hour prior to the race, and another 15-minutes prior.

• I took 6 more Gu packs during the race at 30-minute intervals. I only washed these down with water, taking Gatorade occasionally between Gu packs during the first half of the race. The first of these six was a 2x caffeine, the next two were 1x caffeine, and the final three did not have caffeine.

• Starting 1-hour prior to the race, I did a 12 minute warmup run followed by 4 x 100m stride outs 15-minutes prior to the race.

All during the warmup my legs felt good with no unusual aches, pains, or stiffness. My strategy for this race was to start off fairly conservative and then slowly work my way down to goal pace (7:26). I wanted to try and delay “the Wall” as long as possible, and knew that starting off too fast would bring it on a whole lot sooner.

No full-blown race recap / review since this was more of a tempo run than a race for me, but did want to give a brief update.

Big NOLA confidence boost today!

As I said in my post last night, this race was a NOLA tune-up. I was not going to race at full half-marathon speed, but shooting for an average pace of 7:16 (Just under goal marathon pace). The weather conditions were tough with 25+ mph wind gusts and a “feels-like” temp of less than 15 degrees at race start.

I knew the course was going to be hilly, but it was actually a little more challenging than I expected. There was a nasty hill right at start, and at least some elevation gain in every mile with several long inclines throughout the course. I was a little worried about the three-mile gravel segment, but this turned out to be a great surface. The ruts in the road were more like packed dirt than gravel which felt fantastic. It was a bit of a shock moving back to asphalt.

I felt great during my warmup, though it was tough to keep my toes from going numb. Even though I knew 7:16 was my goal today, I really just wanted to run at a pace that was within myself and felt comfortable. After finishing the first mile in 7:14, I ended up settling in around 7:05 pace. I felt strong up most of the hills, and smooth on the flats and downhills. I generally resisted the temptation to go crazy on the downhills.

My thoughts on the 35th annual Rocket City Marathon in Huntsville, AL

Rocket City Marathon
December 10, 2011
www.runrocketcity.com

My Run:  Overall, the Rocket City Marathon in Huntsville was my tenth full marathon completed. I decided to run this race for three reasons: (1) The close proximity to Nashville (2) We have very dear friends that live in Huntsville (3) Recommendations from running friends who spoke very highly of the organization and the small field.

I have been very public about my “Quest for 3:15” this year, but my expectations coming into Rocket City were somewhat muted due to an inconsistent training schedule since completing the Bank of American Chicago Marathon in early October.

There are several reasons for this inconsistency in training:

• In October and November I competed in 5 races…*Shelby Bottoms Boogie 15k – Oct 2
  *Bank of American Chicago Marathon – Oct 10
  *Murfreesboro Middle Half Marathon – Oct 16
  *196-Mile Ragnar Relay – Nov 4-5
  *Boulevard Bolt 5-Miler – Nov 24
• I missed 5 days of training from being sick, and it took another 5 days to get my energy back once I was able to run again. Due to fatigue from racing, and from getting sick, I was not able to get in a 20-mile run until 2-weeks before race day. I had originally planned on doing one 20-miler and one 22-miler before Rocket City.
• Just as I was getting over being sick I hurt my back (re-aggravated an old injury). This did not prevent me from running, but did impact the quality of my runs for several days.

After failing to make 3:15 at Chicago because of unexpectedly hot conditions (finished with 3:22), I had put my hopes on Rocket City thinking the smaller field and cooler temps would be conducive to faster times. But…with about a week to go before the race, I was really feeling like 3:15 was not going to be a realistic goal. However, several of my running friends convinced me that I had enough of a base built up after a year of consistent training to at least give it a shot. With this in mind I made the decision just before the race that if weather conditions were favorable I was going to go for it.

On race morning it was cloudy with temps in the low 30s and a 10 to 15mph wind which made it feel rather crisp. The sun came out around mile 10 and the temps at the finish were close to 40. I would have preferred slightly warmer conditions, but this was awesome compared to Chicago. Even with the cold conditions I still went with a sleeveless shirt and shorts (with arm warmers, gloves, and a beanie), and actually felt quite comfortable for most of the race.

My thoughts on the 2nd annual Ragnar Relay Tennessee

November 4-5, 2011
Chattanooga to Nashville
www.ragnarrelay.com/race/tennessee

The Experience:

This was undoubtedly one of the most difficult yet AWESOME things I’ve ever done. I had never participated in anything remotely like this before, and had an absolute blast going through this experience with my teammates. The Ragnar Relay Tennessee is a 196.1-mile relay from Chattanooga to Nashville. A standard team was comprised of 12 runners, with each runner completing 3 legs of 2 to 9 miles each. The first 6 runners were in Van #1 and the last 6 in Van #2.

Meagan leading Team Isabel to the finish line…

My thoughts on the 34th annual Bank of America Chicago Marathon…

Bank of America Chicago Marathon
October 9, 2011
www.chicagomarathon.com

My Run:  Overall, the 2011 Bank of American Chicago Marathon was my ninth full marathon. Chicago was also the site of my first marathon back in 2009. There was no secret that my goal coming into this race was to break 3:15 for the first time. I had set my current PR of 3:24 at the Rock n’ Roll San Antonio Marathon in November 2011. Just before this I tried to break 3:15 at the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon in October, and was able to hold that pace for 22-miles before hitting the wall hard and finishing with a 3:25.

Everything in my training program, which started on July 4th, was aimed at this goal. I reduced the amount of time I spent doing cardio-based cross training, and spent that time instead on putting in extra miles on the road or trails. I added trail running and barefoot running to my schedule to improve strength, and was diligent about doing tempo runs and marathon pace workouts around this goal pace. My training throughout the summer went extremely well, and I felt ready to break 3:15.

The one thing that I could not control was the weather. When I ran Chicago back in 2009, the temps were in the 30s and 40s during the race, but this year it was 65 at the start and nearing 80 when I finished (with full sun). While this is not oppressive heat when compared to what we run through in Tennessee during the summer, it is way higher than what is ideal for a race of this distance. Also, Middle Tennessee had seen morning temps in the 40s and 50s for the past two weeks, so this made it even more difficult to adapt.

We all knew what the temps were expected to be going into race day, but I decided I was still going to give 3:15 a shot. My plan was to run a slightly conservative pace for the first 15 to 18 miles, and then take inventory and see if I could push it the rest of the way.

On race morning, everything went according to plan. This included my pre-race meal, hydration, warmup, etc. My legs felt really good with no soreness or pains. I ran easy for just over a mile with Nathan and Paxton, and then did a few short bursts in the corral to get my heart ready for race pace.

My thoughts on the 28th annual Tupelo Marathon and 14.2-Miler in Tupelo, MS

Tupelo Marathon and 14.2 Miler
September 4, 2011
tupelorunningclub.homestead.com/tupelomarathon.html

My Run:  Trample the Weak…Hurdle the Dead!  Overall, the Tupelo 14.2 miler is my 9th half marathon (even if this one was a little more than half a marathon). I decided to participate this year for two reasons: (1) It was highly recommended by a number of friends from my running group who participated last year (2) it seemed like the perfect tune-up to the Chicago Marathon which is in five weeks.

My thoughts on the 36th annual One America 500 Festival Mini-Marathon in Indianapolis, IN

One America 500 Festival Mini Marathon
May 7, 2011
www.500festival.com/marathon/

My Run:  Overall, the One America 500 Festival Mini-Marathon (Mini) in Indianapolis was my eighth half marathon.  This was the third year in a row that I have run the Mini, which is the largest half marathon and fifth largest road race in the U.S. with 35,000 runners.  The Mini is part of the month-long 500 Festival that leads up to the Indianapolis 500.

My thoughts on the 2nd annual Oak Barrel Half Marathon in Lynchburg, TN

Oak Barrel Half Marathon
April 2, 2011
www.oakbarrelhalf.com

My Run:  Overall, the Oak Barrel Half Marathon in Lynchburg was my seventh half marathon. This race was capped at 1000 entries, and there were just under 900 that made it to the finish line.

I went into this race with a lot of uncertainty about how hard I could push myself.  During the fall and winter, I ran four marathons and one half marathon in a five month span. At the Murfreesboro “Middle Half” marathon in October, I set a new PR of 1:31 (6:57 pace).  After completing the Mercedes Marathon in February, my body was pretty trashed and I decided to re-evaluate my training plan and race schedule.  This included a re-commitment to P90X/Insanity, and not scheduling another marathon until October.

My thoughts on the 10th annual Mercedes Marathon in Birmingham, AL…

Mercedes Marathon
February 13, 2011
www.mercedesmarathon.com

My Run:  Overall, the Mercedes Marathon was my eighth full marathon, and third in the last 90 days (Rock n’ Roll San Antonio on 11/14, WDW Marathon on 01/09).    Coming into this race, I had been trying to temper my expectations because of my heavy race schedule this winter, and due to missing significant training time from a series of illnesses (influenza, sinusitis, lung inflammation, stomach virus).  I had set my PR of 3:24 at the Rock n’ Roll San Antonio, and then basically ran the WDW Marathon with the flu, and finished in 3:43.  For the Mercedes, I was hoping for just under 3:30, and really didn’t want to push it any harder.

My thoughts on the 2011 Walt Disney World Marathon…

Walt Disney World Marathon
January 9, 2011
http://espnwwos.disney.go.com/events/rundisney/wdw-marathon/

My Run:  Overall, the Walt Disney World (WDW) marathon was my seventh full marathon, and my third in the last 14 weeks (Twin Cities Marathon on 10/03 and Rock n’ Roll San Antonio on 11/14). This race was originally planned as the Goofy Race and a Half Challenge, which would also have included the half marathon on Saturday, January 8^th.

Unfortunately, on the Tuesday before the race I came down with flu.  This included a fever of 100 to 102, body aches, chills, exhaustion, etc.  My family and I still traveled to WDW on Friday morning, but as of Saturday morning my temperature was still around 101.  Because of this, I ended up skipping the half marathon, and really did not think the full was going to be an option either.

However, late in the day on Saturday I began to noticeably feel better, and my fever broke.  Even though I knew I would be nowhere near peak condition, I decided to give it a go.  I decided to stick with my same strategy I had originally planned for the Goofy, to run a very smooth race and come in under 3:45 (current PR is 3:24 from San Antonio in November).

On the morning of the race, I did a 5-minute warm-up run followed by 4 x 100m stride outs. During the warm-up, I could tell that my energy level was low, but otherwise felt ok. I did have some sinus congestion and a cough, but neither of these flared up during the race.

My thoughts on the 3rd annual Rock n’ Roll San Antonio Marathon in San Antonio, TX…

Rock n’ Roll San-Antonio Marathon
November 14, 2010
san-antonio.competitor.com

My Run:  Overall, the Rock n’ Roll San Antonio Marathon (RnRSA) was my sixth full marathon, and my second in the last six weeks (Twin Cities Marathon on 10/03).  At Twin Cities, I was going for a Boston qualifying time of 3:15, but came up short. Even so, I still set a new PR of 3:25. For RnRSA, Boston was no longer a priority since it is already sold out for 2011. Additionally, my expectations were scaled back due to lingering problems with patellar tendinitis in my left knee, and IT band pain in my right hip. Because of this I did not run at all during the 4 days immediately preceding the event, and decided that I would wait until Sunday morning to determine my pace based on how I felt. I knew from the expo that there would not be a pace group for 3:25, but only for 3:20 and 3:30. Based on my injuries, I felt like 3:20 would be very aggressive, and really didn’t want to jeopardize the race just because I like running with pace groups.

On the morning of the race, I did a 5 minute warmup run followed by 6 x 100m stride outs. During the warmup, my right hip felt fine, but my left knee was very sore and stiff. I was worried that this would end up being a big problem for the race, but was determined to give it a go regardless. I decided to start out the race at 3:25 pace (7:51 per mile) and see how that felt. I was not wearing a pace band, so my focus was mostly on just making sure that I did not get too fast, and not so much on any specific goal finish time.

Even though the race time was posted as 7:00am, it did not start until 7:15am. Not sure why it was delayed, but this messed up the timing of my pre-race gels, and my knee started to get stiff while waiting in the coral. I tried to keep stretching, but it was hard to move around. However, the weather was perfect with overcast skies and temperatures in the low 50s at race start and high 50s at the finish. That’s about all you could hope for in San Antonio.

As the race started in downtown San Antonio, I did not feel good at all. My knee was sore, and for some reason my heart rate shot up into the mid 170s during the first two miles. Considering that I was hoping to keep my heart rate in the low 160s during the race, this was somewhat alarming. However, after 2 miles my heart rate settled down to my normal race range. Not sure what was going on during the first two miles. Could have been nerves, or could have been the caffeine in the gels I took before the race.

My thoughts on the 4th annual Murfreesboro Middle Half Marathon in Murfreesboro, TN

Murfreesboro Middle Half Marathon
October 16, 2010
www.themiddlehalf.com

My Run:  Overall, the Murfreesboro Middle Half Marathon (Middle Half) in Murfreesboro was my sixth half marathon, and my second long-distance race in the last two weeks (Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon on 10/03).  This was the second time I have run the Middle Half, which is capped at 2,250 runners.  Actually, the Middle Half in 2008 was my first long distance event ever.

I went into this race with absolutely no goals.  Being two-weeks out from the Twin Cities Marathon, I just wanted to do this one by feel.  On top of that, I also had a stomach virus the previous weekend where I lost 4 pounds from my already low post-marathon weight.  With this in mind, I decided to do a 10 to 15 minute warmup before the race, including some stride-outs, and then see what pace felt comfortable.  On race morning the weather was absolutely perfect and I felt surprisingly good.  I decided that I would start the race around a 7:00 to 7:15 min per mile pace, and then go from there.

There were a number of members from my regular running group who also ran in this race.  Many of these are gearing up for the Marine Corps Marathon in two weeks, and were using this race as a good solid tempo run.  My buddy Paxton even turned this into his final long run before Marine Corp, by adding miles before and after the race.  He ran 20 miles in total.

My thoughts on the 29th annual Twin Cities Marathon in Minneapolis/St. Paul, MN

Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon
October 3, 2010
www.mtcmarathon.org

My Run:  Overall, the Medtronic Twin Cities Marathon (MTC) was my fifth full marathon, and my first since the Country Music Marathon in April 2010.  All five of my marathons have been within the past 12 months, with the 2009 Chicago Marathon being my first.  In the first four marathons, I set PRs in 3 of them, improving from 3:53 in Chicago (10/09) to 3:39 in Knoxville (03/10).  Even though I was steadily improving, I knew I needed a better cross training program if I was truly going to take my running to the next level and ultimately qualify for Boston.

With that in mind, I started P90X in June after doing a lot of research into cross training programs.  Even with the improved training I knew that closing a 24-minute gap to qualify for Boston by the MTC in October would be exceptionally difficult.

Throughout my training this summer I began to see steady improvement, and as of August began to think about setting 3:30 as a goal for the MTC depending on the race day conditions.  However, when I stated this goal to someone in our running group, their response back was “You’re faster than that! You should be going for 3:15!”  This was both encouraging and terrifying at the same time.

As August moved into September, our group did a couple of marathon pace indicator workouts, and things seemed to be pointing in the direction of being capable of doing a 3:15. With this in mind, I started increasing the speed of my tempo runs.  My first attempt at a 10-mile tempo run at 3:15 marathon pace was a bust.  I only lasted through 7-miles.  However, my next attempt of 11-miles was very successful.  After discussing this with several members of our running group, I decided to go for it at MTC provided that weather conditions were favorable.

When I woke up on race-day morning, it was 39 degrees, and the highs during the race were only supposed to reach the low 50s.  Perfect conditions!  Unfortunately, there was not a 3:15 pace group, only a 3:10 or 3:20.  At the advice of several from my group, my goal was to run even splits as much as possible, and not try to bank any time.  From their experience, they indicated I would need all of the stamina I could get for the hills beginning at mile 20.

My thoughts on the 35th annual One America 500 Festival Mini-Marathon in Indianapolis, IN

One America 500 Festival Mini Marathon
May 8, 2010
www.500festival.com/marathon/

My Run:  Overall, the One America 500 Festival Mini-Marathon (Mini) in Indianapolis was my fifth half marathon, and my third long-distance race in the last six weeks (Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon on 03/28 & Country Music Marathon on 04/24).  This was the second year in a row that I have run the Mini, which is the largest half marathon and fifth largest road race in the U.S. with 35,000 runners.  The Mini is part of the month-long 500 Festival that leads up to the Indianapolis 500.

I traveled to Indianapolis with my good friend Nathan Wright.  When Nathan is in top form, he has proven to have a little more speed than me (sub 1:40 PR for the half, compared to my 1:44 PR).  However, Nathan had not run a long distance event since the 2009 Country Music Half Marathon, and had only begun running again in February of this year after dealing with a foot injury.  Prior to the race we had discussed shooting for an 8:00 min per mile pace through the first 9 or 10 miles, and then each of us would decide how much gas we had left for the finish.  If we carried that pace to the end, we would finish in 1:45.  Our plan was to start out conservatively (which is a must due to crowd congestion), and then pick it up slowly over the course of the race.

The weather was a mixture of good and bad.  It was an overcast day, and temperatures were ideal, with upper 40s at the start and mid 50s at the finish.  However, the wind was blowing around 20 mph with gusts up to 30 mph.  Given that Indianapolis is very flat, the terrain offered little protection.  This was slightly concerning as the wind blew my hat down the street while Nathan and I were running our warmup stride-outs.

My thoughts on the 11th annual Country Music Marathon in Nashville, TN…

Country Music Marathon
April 24, 2010
nashville.competitor.com

My Run:  Overall, the Country Music Marathon (CMM) was my fourth full marathon, and my second in the last four weeks (Covenant Health Knoxville Marathon on 03/28).  In Knoxville, I set a new PR of 3:39, and in the back of my mind hoped that I could improve on that time at the CMM.  I really like running with pace groups, and at the CMM, the pace groups are set every 15 minutes.  It took me a while to decide whether I would run with the 3:45 group, and attempt to pick it up at the end, or try to hang with the 3:30 group.  I ultimately decided to go with the 3:30 group which turned out to be a poor decision considering the conditions on race day.

All week, the forecast had called for severe storms on Saturday, and ultimately the race organizers decided to cut off the full marathon after 4:30.  The prediction was for a first wave of storms that would clear out around 6am, and then a second wave would move in around mid-day.  This is pretty close to how it turned out, but what I didn’t expect was that during this gap there would be warm, sunny, and humid conditions.

I was able to hang with the 3:30 pace group through the first 11 miles or so, but the heat and humidity took a big toll.  Between miles 11 and 12 I hit the wall very hard (bonked).  My heart rate was in the mid 180s, which is much higher than I am used to after coming through the winter months.  I had to walk for a bit to try and lower my heart rate, and began dumping cold water over my head.  I began to think that finishing the race was going to be extremely difficult.  Once I reached the second half of the course, I was able to regain some semblance of a running rhythm, and made the decision that I was going to walk for a couple of minutes at every aid station, and simply focus on finishing.