This Week's Forecast - Milestones with a Sprinkling of Reality Check

The past week included a few milestones in my marathon training. I ran 20 miles for the first time. That is the longest I will run before the marathon. I also ran my standard Green Lake Outer Loop (3.2 miles) at an avg pace of 7:34/mile, which has been a goal for a while (not 7:34 exactly - I was shooting for 7:30, but it's close enough for me). And finally, I managed to run better than my target pace for the marathon on a "distance" run. I call "distance" anything that is noticeably longer than the usual 3-5 miles that I run and can easily maintain a fast pace on. Tonight I ran 6.2 miles (with some hills) at an avg pace of 8:43/mile.

The reality check part is that the avg pace for the 20-miler was 10:30. Now I don't try to push the pace on a day where I am running further than I have ever run, so I didn't expect a fast pace. On a day like that, the only goal is to complete the distance that I set out to run. Considering the weather and the fact that Sharon and I were running together, it is pretty amazing that we did complete it.

Another dose of reality came with tonight's run. I was running less than 8-minute pace for a while tonight, but still only netted out to 8:43 because of the hills, and a bit of fade at the end. I felt like I was going fast, and I was trying not to obsess about the numbers while I was running. It is just a bit disappointing when the numbers aren't what you expected. But I did run 20-miles on Friday and race my bike Sunday, so maybe I should cut myself a little slack...

I know that there will be all the other people and the adrenaline factor on race day. But...it is a big gap to fill.

Getting the first 20-miler under my belt has definitely helped. I feel much more confident about the marathon overall. I am just now finally honing in on the timing goal of under 4 hrs and realizing how hard it will be. I think I will try to push the pace a little harder on the next (and last) 20-miler. We'll see how it goes.

Ups and Downs

I never wrote anything about the Seattle Cyclocross series race #1. It was at Evergreen High School. It was a good race for me overall, but I had a horrible start. I thought that I was being really good by making it to the staging area 15 minutes before the race. I was dead last. I didn't realize how many people show up to the first race of the season and how eager everyone is. Completely different than the races later in the season. I raced well, but finished 43rd. Actually not bad considering that I was in the last row in a field of over 90 riders. For those of you challenged by math, it means I passed almost 50 people.

I missed race #2 in the series because I was down in Cannon Beach with the family.




Race #3 was this past Sunday at Silver Lake in Everett. The course was fun, but tough. I haven't felt that bad on the bike in a long time. After about 1.5 laps, I was toast. I really thought I was going to be dead last. But I guess others struggled as well, because I was somewhat surprised to see that I finished 48th out of 74 that started.

It was my first race on my new tubular wheels/tires. Not like me to go through the process of deciding to get tubulars and trying (and failing miserably) to glue them, and not write about it. I think I was embarassed about the failure. I had to bring them into the shop to have them save the day and get them mounted.

They are sweet, but I need to get used to them. I think I had a little too much air in them on Sunday. Looking forward to Steilacoom this Sunday, even though the run-up instills fear in my chicken legs.

MFG Race #3 - A Fun Race & A Good Cause

Yesterday was the Starbuck's Gran Prix, benefiting the Seattle Cancer Care Alliance. Last year, it was a stand-alone race, but this year it is part of the MFG series. After calling up the top 8 riders in the the class standings to the line for the race, they invited anyone who had a family member that was fighting cancer or a family member that is a cancer survivor. Let's just say that a lot of people moved toward the starting line. Thoughts of many people ran through my head, but most prominent was Becky. How bad can it hurt to push yourself to the limit on the bike for 30 minutes, compared to what others go through?

That was a rhetorical question. But, I will tell you that it does hurt quite a bit.

The race was at Lake Sammamish Park. It was a new venue for me. Not sure if the the Seattle series has been there in the past or not. A very flat, fast course. Not a great layout for me, as speed is not the strength of my cycling repertoire. What is? And it included a long stretch of deep sand beach. My plan was to cut down to the water's edge and ride in about an inch of water, where the ground is very firm and rideable. But on warm-up lap #2, they were taping off the water so that you could not ride it. I was worried that the long run through the sand carrying my bike was going to inflict serious damage. So I decided to ride the "detour", which was a thin strip of firm sand along a retaining wall further up the beach. The only problem was that it was a longer route. But I chose it because I felt that I would get through the sand in much better condition to immediately push in the upcoming flat section, and make up any ground that I lost. In hindsight, it wasn't a great choice because of issues getting stuck behind other riders and the fact that the nice firm sand got torn up pretty fast as people rode and ran through it.

I still don't know how I finished, because I had to leave to go to the airport to pick up my wife before they posted my the race results. As of this morning, they are still not posted online. But I felt that I raced hard and did push myself close to the limit. As I look back, there is always the feeling that I could have pushed just a little bit harder. Or at least I could have run the beach section, instead of trying to ride the detour. Oh well, life goes on.

Next week, I'll miss the MFG race on Saturday. Bummer, because I think I am actually doing pretty well in the overall standings. But hopefully, I will make it to the Seattle series race on Sunday, and try to redeem myself for the horrible start in the last race.

Here are some pics courtesy of Joe Martin - thanks, Joe.

I actually made it to staging on time and got a good position (2nd row, visible between front row guy in bright yellow and guy in black)

Riding a section of the beach

Chasing a wheel after the hairpin

Making up some ground on slower riders in the barriers