Ben’s Race Page

M 30-34 Place: 71 Overall Place: 451
1st Half Rank: 97 1st Half Time: 2:01:15 1st Half Pace: 9:15
2nd Half Rank:28 2nd Half Time: 1:41:45 2nd Half Pace: 8:04
Chip Time: 3:46:56 Gun Time: 3:49:05 Overall Pace: 8:40

It was a great day and a great race. The temperature was about perfect and there wasn’t a lot of wind. The course goes up Mission Peninsula and the views on the run were beautiful. I started out running with my friend Brian as it was his first marathon. We started a couple minutes back and saw our wives and families right near the start of the race. We kept a steady pace just over 9 minute miles and everything felt comfortable. We knew our wives and families would be waiting at mile 6, so we looked for them again. Brian spotted Carrie first and I was able to cut across the 1/2 marathon traffic to give her a kiss. We say Brian’s wife and family up a little way. Then we turned for the rest of the run up the peninsula.

Everything felt great. We kept a steady pace and had some good conversation. Brian’s IT bands had been tight and I asked him about it and he said they were fine, but he could feel them a bit. A very nice woman offered him some Aspirin, so he took them and we kept on running. There weren’t a lot of spectators, but the views were nice and the spectators that were out helped.

I knew Brian was meeting a friend at around the 15 mile mark and I was hoping to go under 4 hours, so at the halfway point, we parted ways. I pushed ahead and tried to keep a slightly faster pace. I saw Brian’s brother and friend at mile 15 and let them know Brian was a couple of minutes back.

I kept up a pretty good pace, but wasn’t keeping track of how fast I was running. I was passing people and not being passed by anyone. I passed one group of people who commented that they didn’t think I had run the whole marathon due to my pace. We laughed and I kept on going. I was looking forward to seeing Carrie at mile 20, but didn’t see her. She wasn’t able to get back via the shuttle bus and was worried that if she did, she would miss me at the finish. I kept going.

After about mile 20, I found that my quads hurt with every step I took, so I did what I could to keep my mind off of them. I kept a steady pace, watched other runners, and encouraged some as I ran by. At around mile 24, a group of guys was handing out beer, so I grabbed one and took a couple of sips and then tossed it. It was actually pretty good.

I heard one lady discussing how long she had to get to a 3:50. I asked her how long she had to hit 3:50. She said, “I can’t.” I told her there is no can’t and kept on.

I was really looking forward to a gatorade at the last aid station, but the jerk (not the word I used in my head at the time) in front of me, grabbed all the fluids. There were 2 people handing out water and gatorade and he grabbed all four cups so that they were reloading as I went through. I said, “can I get one?!” and one worker frantically handed me a water, but I was ticked off. I didn’t say anything to the jerk who took all the fluids, but I wish I would have. This whole incident just made me mad and I pushed on faster, or at least what seemed like a faster pace.

I finally made the turn back into the college and I knew the finish was coming up. I was really hurting at this point and just wanted to finish the race. I kept thinking the finish had to be soon, but it seemed to be a long way away. Finally, I saw Carrie, Heather, and Steve. Unfortunately, I was behind some other runners, so I wasn’t in the best position for them, but I waved as best I could while keeping concentration. Their cheers really helped. Carrie even recruited another woman to cheer for me! I turned the corner and was on the track for the final 200 meters. I was moving pretty quick at this point and heard a lot of comments on how good I looked from the crowd. The final 200 meters felt like they were taking forever, but I finally saw the finish and had enough to make a final kick. I was hurting, but glad to be done. Since I hadn’t been keeping track, I thought my time was closer to 3:50.

I knew Brian would be behind me, so I grabbed a water, collected my medal and headed to the refreshments. I saw people with Coldstone ice cream, so I knew I needed some of that. I got a gatorade, banana, and some orange slices, then stood in line for the coldstone. I chatted with a couple of other people in line. One was a first timer who got a 3:45, great job for him! The other guy qualified for Boston.

I finally got my ice cream and headed back to where I saw everyone in hopes of catching Brian. He hadn’t passed yet, so I waited and saw him. He looked great! We all cheered him on and then waited for him to come back. He finished in an awesome time of 4 hours and was already talking about running a second marathon.

I’m still feeling a little sore, but I think I ran a pretty good race. I feel like my training went very well, but I still wasn’t really prepared on race day. I’m not sure exactly what caused this. I may need more strength training or I may have done too much biking leading up to the race. Lack of sleep could have also caused this feeling.

Anyway, I had a great time and the race was a good one. The scenery was great and I had no complaints about the aid stations. Post race food was great. The expo was just okay and although they had a lot of port-o-lets, they probably could have used a few more. The course was flat with a couple of gentlr hills. I would definitely recommend this race to other runners.

I’ve got a couple of half marathons coming up, so look for race reports on those.

No, I didn’t race, but I went to watch my fiancee and her friend do the race. Carrie did great and I am so proud of her!

It’s a different experience to watch a triathlon instead of participate, but I had a lot of fun. The course was set up well for spectators. I got to see Carrie 4 or 5 times and I got a bunch of really good pictures. I love the continuous shot mode on the camera. It really helps to capture action shots.

The weather was perfect for the race, except for the storm that delayed the start by 1 hour. The race looked like it was put on well. Carrie had a lot of fun and had a smile on her face every time I saw her. I even got a kiss from her on the run out.

While standing at the bike out waiting to see Carrie, I saw a lot of the participants struggle with getting on their bikes and getting started. It looked like most people were in way too high of a gear. I have to think they talk about this at the seminar at the expo. It just seems like this one little piece of advice would make the bike start a lot easier.

I’m sore. More sore than I have been after a race in a long time. I think it’s partly due to my training and partly due to the hilly course. My time was good for my training, but I showed 3:43 on my ipod and I really thought I had a PR. I’m not sure why my time was so far off, but looking at my splits, something must have happened between mile 10 and 13.1 because that’s where things seem to be off. That, or I didn’t see my ipod correctly at the 1/2 marathon mark. I was feeling great at the 1/2 point and was thinking of a 3:40 time, after all, the weather was perfect. It was around mile 17 where things started to go downhill and the hills started to catch up to me. By mile 20, I was pretty sore, but I kept going. At about mile 24 the 3:45 pace group caught up to me and I decided I was going to do my best to keep up with them. I did for a while until we hit a hill and I just couldn’t keep up, so I did my best to keep them in sight. I was spent by mile 26, but I kept going and seeing Carrie near the finish gave me the last little boost I needed to pick up the pace and finish strong.

Now on to the race. The first half was a great course. Good crowd support and interesting course. The second half was farther out of town and the crowd support was pretty thin. The course was pretty by the river, though and I had a little bit of a back and forth battle going with some girl running the race, so that kept me going. At the end of the river path, there was a really steep downhill that about did me in. I was fading as we headed back into town, but one of the bands was taking a break and they were playing Herbie Hancocks’ Chameleon over their sound system and that really gave me a boost. I thought I’d see Carrie at around mile 19 or 20, but I was ahead of my pace and she missed me. I only had a couple of complaints. First, they handed out red Accelerade. I don’t mind the Accelerade, but who decided red was a good idea? I didn’t get much on me, but several people had red stains all over their clothing. Second, the CMT Music Mile didn’t have as much music going on as had been promised. I’d guess that was due to the rain at the beginning of the race.

I want to say a big thanks to Tyler for driving and making plans in Tennessee. I stuck with him for the first few miles, but then he told me to go ahead and I did, even though I felt bad for ditching him. It was perfect weather, though, and I figured this was going to be my shot at a PR.

I also want to thank Carrie and Michelle for coming out to cheer us on and running around the course to find us at multiple spots. I know that can be frustrating and it is a lot of walking around and figuring out where to park, but it’s always a big help to see them on the course.

I ran the Lincoln Memorial Half Marathon yesterday. It was a perfect day for running. I went out without a plan, but before the race, my buddy Tyler said he was going to run 9 minute miles. We ran the first mile together at 8:40 and decided to stay together. I sped the pace up to 8:26 and he wasn’t happy with me, but stayed with me and we ended up running the whole race together. I ran a little slower than I would have and he ran faster than he would have, but it worked out great. There were a lot more hills than I would have thought and that was tough, but it went well. I also didn’t really taper for this race and did a tough spinning class on the day before, so I probably couldn’t have run too much faster. Anyway, there was a big hill at around mile 5 or so and I was going to leave Tyler at the top, but he wasn’t too far behind and we stayed together. There was a girl who was pacing with us for most of the race and somewhere around mile 7, Tyler made a comment that he and I had been chatty and she was probably sick of us. It was a good way to invite her into the conversation and we chatted with her most of the rest of the way. At the mile 12 waterstation, I took off and finished a little ahead of them. I finished strong and met a few people at the end of the race. The girl found us at the end and congratulated us, so that was cool. The post race food was good. They had Arby’s marketfresh sandwiches, pizza, and Mello-Cream doughnuts along with the standard fruit. All in all, this was a great race and I would run it again. The entry fee was very reasonable and I even got a dri-fit shirt in the race packet! The medal is pretty cool, too. It’s a giant penny. Clever.

Also, I finally bought a new nike+. It did okay in this race given that I didn’t bother to calibrate it. I’m happy to have it back to keep track of my runs, especially since my garmin died about 2 miles into my 18 miler a couple of weeks ago.

I’m back on track and I feel good about my running. It’s also nice that the weather has been beautiful this weekend. I’m ready for my 20 mile training run next weekend and the Country Music Marathon at the end of the month.

1:48:15. Pretty good considering the amount of training that I did for the race.

This was a great race. Very well organized and the volunteers were great. The weather was perfect. Crowd support was lacking in certain areas, but that’s to be expected. I would definitely do this race again.

Brutal.

Let me start with the expo and then I will get to the brutal race. The expo is great, but getting there is a PITA. I understand the need to hold it at McCormick place, but it’s not very convenient to get there via public transportation, so we decided to drive. First, the directions in the runner guide on how to get to the parking were wrong and that caused some frustration. Second, the runner guide said parking was $14, but we were charged $16. I know it’s not a big difference, but that’s a lot to pay for parking when you have to go there to pick up your race packet. You’d think the Marathon could offer a discounted parking rate. Other than that, the expo was good. I always enjoy the video they take of the course.

Now on to the race…

I was already worried about the heat and it was looking like the forecasts were correct, except for the 50% cloud cover. The skies were clear. It was warm at the start, but I tried to stay hydrated before the race. We got down to the race at about 6:30am for the 8:00am start. We met up with some friends and went to the bathroom. Then Megan and I decided to head up to the start corral so we’d have a good place to start. Everyone else wasn’t concerned with being up front, so we split up. We still had about 50 minutes before the start, so we sat down and waited. Once the race started, we crossed the start line between the 6 and 7 minute mark, which was pretty good.

The beginning of the race went pretty well and I was feeling good. I was covered in sweat by the 1/2 mile mark. I missed the first mile, so the first time check was mile 2 and the pace was looking good. The race was a little crowded, but it wasn’t a big deal and Megan and I were able to stay together. I wasn’t expecting to see anyone until Broadway (between 7 and 8 miles). I was able to see Amber and Jen because they had a Cookie Monster balloon. My friend Liz saw me and said Hi. Later, I was able to see Carrie because she had a butterfly balloon that was really easy to see. Things were still going well and I felt good. There was plenty of water and gatorade and I was staying hydrated.

It was around mile 10 that things started to fall apart. I told Megan to go ahead because the heat was really getting to me. I slowed a bit and kind of shuffled through the next water station. Then I saw a 3:45 pace group and I tried to keep up with them, but quickly realized that there was no way I was going to keep that pace, so I backed off again. From that point on, it was a huge struggle. My pace dropped off every mile. I ended up walking through every water station. There were more people walking than I had ever seen in a race before. I took on gatorade and water at every water station, but it did not seem to be enough. I had to go to the bathroom, so I figured as long as I was going to blow my goal, I might as well stop and go so I was comfortable.

I saw my friends Brice and Kim and their kids somewhere at mile 16 or something and that helped. I looked for Carrie again and saw her somewhere before Pilsen, but I’m not sure where exactly. I think it was mile 17. I stopped to give her a kiss and to tell her that there was no way I was going to finish in 3:30 and it would be more like 4:30. I then continued along at my shuffle pace.

I was struggling to keep running at points and I had to walk at certain points. I was trying to enjoy the scenery, but it was tough at points. I have to say that Pilsen is maybe the best neighborhood to run through. The peopel there are really into the race and that is a huge help to the runners. So, thanks to everyone in Pilsen. You rock.

I saw Bryce and Kim again on the course. Just before that, I must have looked pretty bad because I was walking through a water station and I had used a cold sponge (which really helped), but I was still walkign and a guy looked at me and offered me his sponge. Thanks to that guy, because the sponge helped. So I started “running” again and that’s when I saw Bryce and Kim. Bryce jumped in and asked me how I felt. I said, “shitty.” He handed me a water, which was a help, and then took off.

When I hit the mile 24 water station, they were announcing that the race had been cancelled and they were askign everyone to walk to the finish. A lot of peopel were walking, but there were still some people running. I walked through the water station and looked for my coworker who was supposed to be there. I’m guessing she had already gone home since I was arriving so late. Anyway, I picked up my shuffle after the water station and kept it up to the mile 25 water station where I walked. The crows were pretty thick in this area again, so the encouragement helped. I picked up my shuffle again at the 1 mile to go marker and I was planning to walk over the bridge just before the finish. When I hit the bridge, they were again asking people to walk, but the crows were keepign me going and I continued to shuffle over the bridge and into the finish. In the last 400 meters, they were announcing that it was a fun run and we would be timed and get our medals, but they wanted us to walk. I shuffled in to my 4:42:11. Not what I wanted, but I finished and that’s all that mattered.

It was really packed in the finish shoot and I really just wanted some water or gatorade, but they always make you get your medal and return your chip before they have anything available. I really wish they would provide fluids first and then take care of the other business. On top of that, it was really hot and everyone was packed in. I wasn’t feelign great, but others were passing out. We were stopped for a runner to be pushed through the crowd in a wheel chair and it was not uncommon to hear volunteers yelling “Runner Down!” to get medical help. The sound of sirens could also be heard everywhere.

I finally made it through the shoot and drank a warm water and gatorade. What I wouldn’t given for a cold drink. Anyway, I found Carrie at the runner reunion area and she was relieved to see me. We made some phone calls and met up with everyone else and called others to make sure everyone was okay. It turns out I was the only one who finished the marathon. The others were routed off the course at certain points. Doug actually had to sit down and get medical attention at mile 16 and then took a bus back to the start. He was interviewed by the channel 2 (WBBM) news and made the 10pm broadcast! Others had to walk back down Jackson.

A big thanks to everyone who came out to watch as well as all of the volunteers working the aid stations. Spectators really help us runners get through the race and we definitely couldn’t do it without the volunteers. I also want to say thanks to everyone who gave me the I-L-L cheer or cheered for my Illini shirt. That helped me keep going.

Here’s the data from my GPS: Chicago Marathon Data. You can see it was off, but if you look at the laps, you can see them just go up and up. It was that bad.

Here’s the official results.

Anyway, it was a struggle and it wasn’t fun, but I’m glad I finished and I learned a lot of lessons about running in the heat. Namely, don’t go out so fast. I think I could have maintained a 9 minute mile pace or even an 8:45 pace, but going out for the 3:30 pace hurt me early.

With less than a week to the marathon, I thought it would be a good time to post some details about my plans for the marathon. I’m hoping to run it in 3:30 to 3:40. That is roughly 8:00 to 8:30 pace. I really hope I can keep that pace for 26.2 miles. The course map is here. You can sign up for runner tracking here, but it hasn’t worked that well in the past. Hopefully they have worked the bugs out. If you want to sign up, but bib number is 9805.

We’ll probably be a little bit slow at the start of the race, so I will give you times that are for 8 and 9 minute pace. Hopefully I will be somehere in between those times. If I’m any faster, that will be trouble. The race starts at 8am, but it will probably take about 10 to 15 minutes to cross the starting line due to the number of people running the race. So, I should hit Old Town (mile 5)sometime between 8:50 and 9:00 am. Boys Town (mile 8 ) by 9:15 to 9:25 am. The 1/2 marathon point (13.1 miles) by 9:55 to 10:10 am. Pilsen (mile 19) by 10:40 to 11:00 am. Chinatown/Comiskey area (22 miles) between 11:05 and 11:30 am. Anyway, it’s probably easiest to let me know where you will be so I can look for you. Basically plan on a 8:00 minute per mile pace and add 10 minutes for how long it will take to cross the starting line and that should be the earliest I will be at any given point. A quick tool for figuring this out is the Cool Running Pace Calculator. You can put in the distance and pace, and it will show you how long it will take to run that distance. Also, depending on temperature and everything, I am planning to wear my orange Illinois running shirt and blue shorts. I will try to take a picture and send it out later. It looks like the termerature should be nice for the race.

So I think I’m ready to go. I just need to take it easy this week and get some rest and eat well.

It looked like it was going to be a good morning for a run. We got to the race plenty early and everything went well, but it was more humid than I thought it would be. I got a good starting position and I ran the first half of the race with my friend Dan. We kept a pretty steady pace at 8 minute miles. Things felt good and we even caught up to the 1:45 pace group. There was even a nice breeze headign north on Lakeshore. When we turned to head south, the breeze went away and we were directly in the sun. It was at that point I lost Dan. I found out later that he hit the wall when the breeze went away. I ran with the 1:45 pace group for a while and I thought I recognized the leader. It turns out he was the 3:45 pace group leader for the Detroit Marathon last year and I ran most of the race with that group. They eventually slowed their pace and I was feeling good, so I kept going. At this point, I was running closer to 7:45 miles. We finally got out of the sun and that helped. The rest of the race was pretty uneventful. I finished and gave a kick at the end to finish just under a clock time of 1:45.

The race was well organized. The water stations were great, except there was one near the beginning where the Gatorade concentrate wasn’t mixed and was undrinkable. I drank mostly water from there on out. There is not a lot of crowd support on Lakeshore, but there are decent crowds closer to the Museum. I have done this race for the last 4 years and the medals this year were the worst by far. The finish area was good, but they said there would be more water and juice where the food was, but I didn’t see any.

Overall a good race and I was happy with my time.

It’s been pretty busy and I’m sorry for not posting sooner. I have completed the Nike Rock and Run 5K and the Harbor Lights Sprint triathlon since I last posted. I’ll try to get all of the results updated in the results section as well as get some pictures up.

Yesterday I completed the Steelhead 1/2 Ironman. I finiahed in about 6 hours, which was better than I expected. I didn’t wear a watch because I didn’t want to know how I was doing. Thanks to my girlfriend for keeping track of that and taking a lot of pictures.

There was a big backup to get into the parking area by the time I got there. Luckily, I wasn’t driving myself and I was able to walk to the transition. I made it with about 15 minutes before it closed. I got everything set up and then made my way to the swim start about 1.2 miles away. I put on my wetsuit even thought the water temperature was 76 degrees. I saw Carrie there and she took some pictures while I waited for the swim to start.

My swim wave went off at 7:44am. I started near the back of the pack. The water was pretty shallow for a long way out, so everyone ran out for a long time before starting to swim. Once I got going, I stayed pretty consistent. I did get a little freaked out when people got close to me, especially when the waves behind me swam up on me. Towards the last part of the swim, I started feeling a little sick. I’ve never been seasick before, but I guess that might have been what it was. I slowed down and got my composure back and finally made it to the finish. Carrie said it took me about 45 minutes to finish. I was still feeling pretty good, so I ran into the transition.

I took my time in the transition area. I put on my shoes and socks and I took the time to put some sunscreen on. I unracked my bike and headed out with a stop to give Carrie a kiss. I felt really strong out on the bike. The course had some rolling hills and I kept my speed high going down the hills and passed people going up the hills. I stuck to my plan of drinking every 10 minutes and eating or taking a GU every 30. I also stood up and stretched every 10 minutes. I brought a turkey sandwich along and ate that at about the 1:30 mark on the bike. The only problem I had with eating was trying to breathe through my nose while I ate. There were 4 aid stations on the bike, but I did not stop at them as I had everything I Thought I would need on my bike. It was interesting to see all of the stuff scattered on the bike course that fell off of people’s bikes. Everything from water bottles to expensive water bottle systems. Anyway, I had a great bike and came in just under 3 hours. That was an average of exactly 20 Mph according to my bike computer. I was feeling pretty good, but I still had to run a 1/2 marathon.

I went back into the transition and once again took my time. I reapplied sunscreen, changed shoes and got ready to head out. I stopped to give Carrie another kiss and ended up having to run across the transition area to the run out. I guess I should have paid attention to where the run out was located.

I felt good in the beginning of the run. I had no issues with my stomach, which was my main concern from the international distance triathlons I had done previously. I was still feeling good after 6 miles, but it was hot and my pace started to slow. I stopped at every water stop, but I was still starting to feel a little dehydrated between water stops. There were wet sponges out on the course and that was a big help for keeping cool. The aid stations were well organized except for one where I had to stop because the workers weren’t reloading the water fast enough. When I’m out on a long run like this one, the little things keep me going. A little kid gave me a high five and another group of kids were spraying athletes with super soakers. I ran with a lady for a while and talked to her. When I saw the 12 mile marker, I knew I was in the home stretch and picked up the pace a bit. That seemed like the longest mile I had ever run. A group of people had a megaphone and were cheering everyone on, so that helped. When I hit the last stretch, there was a big crowd, so that helped to give me a last burst to finish strong.

I was sore and tired, but not feeling horrible. I saw Carrie and went to say hi after I collected my finisher medal. I just wanted a cold drink and some fruit or something, but they had run out of water and the gatorade I grabbed wasn’t very cold. I walked around a bit, stretched out and felt a little better. I finally got my stuff out of the transition and we had about a mile walk back to the car.

Overall, this was a great race. I am very happy with how I did. I thought I would feel worse after such a long race, but it all went well. The race was well organized, but I think it was a bit too big this year which caused the traffic and parking issues.

See my Photo page for the pictures: My Photo Page

Results are up and I finished in 5:53:00. Here’s the breakdown:

Swim: 45:42
T1: 4:34
Bike: 2:52:31 (19.5 Mph)
T2: 3:54
Run: 2:06:21 (9:39 per mile)

I’m still happy with the bike. I was really thinking I’d average closer to 18 Mph. I am a little disappointed with the run, but I was guessing it would take me 2 hours, so I guess it’s not bad after the swimming and biking. I was really hoping to be closer to 9 minute miles. I did feel undertrained for this race, so I’ll take the finish and hope to be faster next year.

4:07:38. It was hot. And humid. Tyler and I were shooting for under 4 hours, but within the first mile, I was already covered in sweat and I knew this race wasn’t going to be my fastest. Despite the heat, it was a good race. The aid stations were well organized and the volunteers were friendly. The course was pretty good. There were only about 600 people running the marathon, so the race got pretty spread out and there wasn’t a lot of fan support.

The first half of the race went pretty well, but we were off our pace. The sun wasn’t bright, but it was humid out. After about mile 12, the sun finally came out and it was beating down on me. I was careful to take in enough water, gatorade, and energy gels. I took 4 GU gels to attempt to reduce my chances of cramping up. I even grabbed a banana when they were offered at one of the aid stations. I was not fedeling overheated or cardiovascularly challenged, but my quads were sore and on the verge of cramping up. When we got to mile 20, Tyler decided he needed to walk and I wanted to keep going, so we split up. The last 6 miles are always the hardest and that held true this time. I ran as fast as I felt comfortable. My quads were really hurting and I felt like I may be on the verge of cramping up. I was able to finish strong and luckily never cramped up.

The finish was in Notre Dame Stadium, so that was cool. Carrie and Michelle (Tyler’s wife) were there and saw us at around mile 12 and at the finish. A big thanks to them for coming out and supporting us. The post race food was pretty good. They had all kinds of fruit and even ice pops. They also had cold towels, which I missed. They let you mill around on the field as long as you wanted, so that was fun to walk around and take things in. It was cool to be in ND Stadium, but it wasn’t really all that impressive. My only complaint was that the 1/2 Marathon finisher medals were nicer than the Marathon finisher medals.

All in all, it was a successful race. Thanks to all the volunteers. Thanks also to Carrie and Michelle for coming out. Thanks to Tyler for convincing me to run this race and running the long runs with me. We always have a lot of fun running together and it is helpful to have someone to run with. Also, Congratulations to my friend Doug for completing his first Marathon. We saw him on course a few times due to the out and backs and he looked great. He ran a great race.

See the course here GPS data. The GPS was a little over and the nike + was a little under, but they were both fairly accurate.