My 2010 running review.

In June 2010, I ran for a good cause, representing Montclair Police Department during the Special Olympics torch run. Nice of them to let a dispatcher run.

With 2010 in the books, it’s as good a time as any for a review of my 2010 in running.

Statistics! I’ve got ‘em! Here they are!

• 2010 mileage: 1,009.3, down 293.3 miles from 2009.
• Most miles in a month, 2010: 196.2 (April); 2009: 145.2 (May)
• Least miles in a month, 2010: 4 (December); 2009: 31.2 (December)
• Races, 2010: 2 5Ks, 1 10K, 1 half marathon, 1 marathon; 2009: 2 5Ks, 3 half marathons, 3 marathons
• Pairs of shoes worn out, 2010: 4; 2009: 1 (More a reflection of miles racked up in 2009, but still cool.)

The biggest factor in the running decrease was moving to Phoenix and starting grad school. There are many aspects of that decision that impacted my running: Phoenix is terribly hot in the summer and early fall; downtown areas aren’t great for running, especially when it’s dark out (no 3 a.m. runs here); and grad school takes up a lot of time and money.

I ran fewer races in 2010, but they were quality races. In both 5Ks and the half marathon, I came in second place in my age group. Although my marathon in Palos Verdes was kind of a disappointment, I still set a PR. And running my first 10K, I nearly broke my 5K best on my way to breaking 7:00 pace.

That big difference in monster months was thanks to taking on a more ambitious, six-days-a-week marathon training program. In April 2010, there were only five days I didn’t run, and there were two 20-milers, a half marathon and several double-digit runs in there.

Despite all those miles, I still haven’t had a running injury, even after being hit by a car.

I am, however, dealing with a soccer injury that’s keeping me from running. Go figure; I’ve played the sport for 20 years and it’s given me a broken ankle, a pinched nerve, torn cartilage and a sports hernia. Thanks, soccer. I owe you one.

Put the injury together with all the work put in at the end of the semester in grad school — at least there’s something to show for it — and it’s no wonder I managed only 4 miles in December 2010.

I’m not one to make New Year’s resolutions, but I don’t mind setting some goals. I’d like to hit 1,000 miles again, with more of them coming on trails. I don’t know if that will happen if I’m off for a month or more this year, but I’ll do my best to make it happen.

Phoenix 10K

I ran my first 10K — automatic PR! — in 42:55 at the Phoenix 10K (and 5K) Nov. 7. That time put me in 98th place overall and 12th in my age group, which is fine by me, considering there were more than 1,500 finishers.

It was a decent debut at that distance. I’d hoped to break 40 minutes; failing that, I was looking for a 7:00/mile pace. I just managed that, as my time translated to a 6:55/mile pace.

Heading down Jefferson Street on the first lap of the Phoenix 10K course. Photo by Amber Trotter

It had been six months since my last race, so it was nice to run one again. And I was probably a little too wound up for it, because I hit the first mile marker at 6:16.

A good way to slow down during a race is to have a headwind, which there was all along the Jefferson Street stretch of the course, although it didn’t completely solve my pacing problem. The 10K was two loops of a 5K course, and I nearly set a 5K PR on the first loop.

I ran the second loop at a much better pace, but the wind wore me out, making it tough to keep up the pace for the last mile.

Now that I’ve run every distance, I don’t know which I like best. Each has something going for it. (Maybe I just need to run more races.)

To be honest, I was surprised at how well the race went for a big-city race. Obviously it isn’t the New York or Los Angeles marathon — or even Rock ‘n’ Roll Arizona — but I think I’m allowed to appreciate that the course was completely closed to traffic and there was enough aid out there.

Most importantly, it was under 80 degrees.

Google Maps as a race tracker!

If you weren’t aware already, Google Maps has a feature that allows you to build your own custom maps. And I just learned it can be a race tracking tool. Check it out.

View Larger Map

Pretty awesome, right? It’s easy to see where you’ve raced, and you can draw out the course, keep track of the distance and your finishing time, and even include a photo. I won’t stop keeping spreadsheets, but I’ll probably keep this going, too. Although I have to say, now I feel the need to race in all 50 states.

Since when is running hard?

That pretty much explains everything.

Moving to and living in Phoenix has not been good for my running. Consider the evidence:

• I didn’t run at all from June 8 until June 21.
• I ran less in June and July combined (88.2 miles) than any previous month this year. Lowest mileage month other than those? May — when I ran the Palos Verdes Marathon — at 100.8 miles.
• Since moving, the most days I’ve run in a week is four. Before, I was running six consistently.
• It’s alternately god-awful hot or humid during the summer in Phoenix. If you get up to run at 5 a.m., it’s “only” 90 or 95 degrees; unless there’s a monsoon, which means it’s 80 degrees with 50 percent or higher humidity.

Fortunately, the September issue of Runner’s World made me feel much better about my lack of training. Liz Plosser writes that runners can “crash” a race a month out as long as they’ve maintained a decent fitness level. For a marathon, that’s weekly mileage including “several six-milers and at least one eight- to 12-miler.” It’s even easier if you only want to run 13.1 miles: “You can run a half-marathon on the fly if you’re already logging several weekly six-milers.”

Well, maybe several six-mile runs each week hasn’t been happening lately, but I’m still in the shape for it, I think. I’ve done an 8.5- and 10-mile run at my usual 9:00 long run pace, and that’s been at 90 degrees. But for an even better indicator, there was the four-mile run I did Wednesday morning.

Honestly, it felt terrible. Looking at my watch when I finished, however, I felt better. At 27:44, I was running sub-7:00 miles. I’ll take that.

Now I just need a race to crash.

Crashing and freezing in Palos Verdes.

After five months of six-day training weeks, the Palos Verdes Marathon was supposed to be the race in which I got my 3:30 finish. Unfortunately, the conditions got the best of me and I had to settle for my backup goal of breaking four hours, posting an official time and PR of 3:58:25.

With the heavy training and good recent races, I was primed to have a 3:30 marathon. The course is hilly, but Redlands has plenty of hills to run. At the start it was overcast with temperatures in the upper 50s.

The first half of the race went by easily. The hills weren’t that bad, and I was holding the 8:00 mile pace easily. (I even overheard a volunteer at the mile 10 water station say, “Wow, he has really good form.”)

But the conditions weren’t going to help the whole time. It hadn’t warmed up much in the first 90 minutes of the race, and it was overcast and humid, which meant I was soaked even though I was wearing sweat-wicking fabric. And at that point, the wind was starting to pick up.

I held on to the pace until mile 17. It was around that mark that my body started using more energy to stay warm than run, so my pace dropped dramatically. Soon I was walking.

A 3:30 finish was out of the question as soon as I started walking, but I was able to force myself to run for five, 10, 15 minutes at a time. In each of my previous three marathons, I’d encountered some problem that kept me from finishing in under four hours. As long as I could keep running more than I was walking, I still had a chance to do that.

Breaking four hours wasn’t a certainty until I actually crossed the finish line. The course was mostly downhill after mile 23, but I was so spent from trying to keep warm that it was even tough to keep running with that momentum.

It was great to break four hours, but I would have liked to acheive my primary goal so I could move on to another running goal, such as moving up to an ultra distance or qualifying for Boston.

But I did learn some things that will help me in my next marathon, and I didn’t have any of the breathing problems that hit me in San Diego and San Antonio last year. I’m sure I can hit 3:30 – or better – if I can get the right conditions.

That’s the thing about the marathon, though; your best one isn’t entirely up to you. Months of training for a single event can feel as if they were for nothing when something out of your control stops you from achieving a goal.

I can sort of almost qualify for Boston.

This guy sort of thinks I'm almost capable of running a 3:10:00 marathon. I'm not entirely convinced, but you don't argue face-to-face with someone whose title is "chief running officer."

It took some willpower, but I rolled out of bed at 3:20 a.m. for some half-mile repeats. As I headed around the neighborhood on my warm-up, it struck me that I was about to run what has been promoted during the last decade as the best workout for predicting a runner’s marathon finish time: Yasso 800s.

OK, I was going to sort of almost run them. The actual workout is 10×800 meters with a recovery jog after each repeat for the same amount of time (so 4:00 of jogging for 4:00 repeats). I was running eight just-a-hair-more-than-800-meter repeats.

My goal marathon time right now is 3:30:00, so I was looking to run 3:30 repeats. Alternatively, with my low-tech watch, I was looking to complete the repeats in a total time of 28:00. I set off at a comfortably hard pace and finished the first half mile in 3:09.

Since the first one went well, I didn’t push any harder on the next one, but I didn’t back off, either, finishing in 3:09 again. Then the times started dropping. The total amount of time it took me to finish was 24:55, or 3:07 per repeat.

I quelled the temptation to run two more, but I felt as if I could have done them around the same pace. Let’s see … 3:07 repeats means a possible 3:07 marathon … carry the one … divided by pi …

According to Yasso 800s, I am ready to qualify for the Boston Marathon!

No, I don’t truly believe that having heretofore not broken four hours in the marathon that I will magically cover 26.2 miles in 3:10:59 or less the next time out, even after 18 weeks of six-day training weeks, lots of speedwork or a half marathon near my PR on a tougher course. The workout has its critics, and despite Bart Yasso‘s impeccable running résumé and support for the 800s by a former Boston Marathon winner, their results are best taken with a grain of salt.

It takes years to build the aerobic fitness base required to run your best, and I haven’t been at this for that long. Just because I can run fast for a half mile at a time eight or 10 times doesn’t mean I can crank out 26.2 miles at 7:00 pace.

Qualifying for Boston is a goal, but I’m staying focused on what I’ve been working toward. I’ll make it to Boston if and when I’m ready, even if I need to run 3:30:00 marathons until I’m 45.

Run through Redlands 2010

I capped off a second-place age group finish in the Run through Redlands half marathon with a strong finishing kick, crossing the line in 1:39:41. Photo by Richard Aragon.

Although there were low expectations going in, the Run through Redlands Sunday ended up being a good race for me and my mother-in-law, who was running her first race. Both of us took home a medal for placing in our age groups.

She ran the 10K in 54:26, good for fourth in her age group. First in her group was just under 3 minutes faster, so when she said she ran a little easier than she probably could have, I told her not to hold back next time. Not bad for a first race!

Ten minutes after her race started, my event, the half marathon, began. I intended to run my anticipated marathon pace, 8:00 per mile, which would give me a time around 1:44:40, so I made sure to start out at an even, controlled pace. No weaving through a crowd of slower runners for me in this race.

Because mile markers were drawn on the asphalt in blue chalk, I didn’t see one until mile 3, most of the way up the first big hill. I hit mile 3 around 22:30, a minute and a half under pace.

The RTR course map is online, but it seemed as if a lot of runners didn’t check it out. I passed a lot of people on the first big hill, a stretch of Lakeside Avenue from Fern to Palm Avenues, and never saw them again. That happened a few more times over the first half of the race, which features several large hills.

I caught up with one of those runners I passed around mile 5, right after running uphill through Prospect Park.

“That wasn’t so bad!” he said.

“Yeah,” I replied, “But there are still two big hills to go.” (I didn’t see him again, either.)

The biggest hills on the half marathon course are back-to-back: the 1600 block of Ford Street and the 1700 block of Ford Street turning into Garden Hill Drive. It’s about a 100-foot climb over a quarter mile between the two. About a half mile from there is the halfway point, and I reached it about 1:05 under pace. Sub-8:00 miles going uphill meant this race was going pretty well.

Since I only intended to run my marathon pace, I didn’t start pushing hard on the downhill second half, but I didn’t really back off, either. I thought if it was going well enough, maybe I would go for a new PR.

I hit the 10-mile mark around 1:15, so running the last 3 miles at 7:00 pace would have been enough.

It wasn’t going to happen that race, though. I didn’t get to drink as I normally do, approximately 6 ounces of Gatorade every 25 minutes, because not every aid station had Gatorade and because they were serving fluids in bigger cups. More fluids less frequently caught up with me just after mile 10, and I eased up a bit when my stomach began protesting.

Most of the half marathon course isn’t shaded, but the last mile, a straight stretch of Olive Avenue from Lakeside Avenue to Eureka Street, is particularly bad. Not only is there absolutely zero shade, but it’s been baking in the sun for hours. It always seems a lot longer than it is. Fortunately, I had enough left to pick up the pace just after Michigan Street for a strong finish, picking off a couple more runners in the process.

I crossed the finish line in 1:39:46, good for second in my age group, 26th overall. I wouldn’t have taken first in my age group, as that runner came in 23 minutes before me, but if I could have pushed harder I might have had a chance at cracking the top 10. (It still works out to the top 5 percent, so I won’t complain.)

Run through Redlands was a good race for working out my marathon strategy. I ran a little faster than I wanted to but felt strong throughout the race on a tough course, finishing with negative splits. After the longer pace runs in my training and the results of this race, I’m looking forward to a good marathon – and hopefully a time near 3:30 – in about a month.

My mother-in-law (right) ran her first race in the 10K event and finished fourth in her age group. She was less than a minute behind third-place finisher Mary Llaurado. Photo by Richard Aragon.

What a f*$#%@&^ week.

"Yeah, this road is so bumpy today. And it keeps screaming."

It’s been one of those weeks; two days in a row, I was involved in incidents that included running, a woman driving with her window down and the adjective form of the f-word.

The first time was fairly innocuous, even borderline hilarious. It was around 3:25 a.m. Sunday, and I was 15 minutes into a 45-minute tempo run, heading east on Highland Avenue toward Redlands Boulevard. A black Dodge Charger with the windows down going the same way drove past, and a woman yelled, “Are you f*$#%@&^ crazy?”

I’m not entirely sure what she was referring to. At that time of night, I run in the street against traffic because there isn’t any and it’s a more even surface with better lighting than the sidewalk. But it’s not as if I was in the eastbound lane or even toeing the center line. So I took it more as “What in the world are you doing running at this hour when I am just coming home from a night of fun?” than “Outta my way, jerkass!“

Monday’s incident was completely different. Let me set the scene: shortly before 5 p.m. at the intersection of University Street and Colton Avenue, the main entrance to the University of Redlands. Although there were storms earlier in the day, it’s bright and sunny. I’m wearing a bright yellow shirt and I’m a tall white guy, a combination I believe is hard to miss.

I was just over halfway through an easy 5-miler, running west on Colton – on the sidewalk – facing oncoming traffic as always. Because the intersection was busy as usual, I stopped at the corner and waited for the cars traveling nothbound and southbound to go. There’s a green Prius across University from me that has the right of way, but it’s going straight, so I proceed across the street in the crosswalk.

Before the Prius is even out of the intersection, the woman driving a maroon Chevy Tahoe north on University decided it was her turn to go. Unfortunately, she decided it was her turn to go while I was right in front of her.

Yes, yesterday was the first time I was hit by a car while running. Thankfully, it wasn’t serious. She didn’t have her brain completely occupied by something else, so she got the brake instead of the accelerator when she caught me with the front bumper. I got a slight bruise and scrape (nothing bad enough to stop my run or skip today’s) on my left hip. Hopefully, her hood has a dent in it from where I intentionally hit it with my hand. (Bonus for running facing traffic: close calls usually happen on your left, giving you the potential to cause more damage when you hit the car with your ring hand.)

Fortunately, her window was down, so before I ran on I was able to give her some advice.

“Pay some f*$#%@&^ attention!” I yelled.

I don’t know if the look on her face was relief from not injuring someone or shock that someone directed that kind of language her way while she had a kid in the car, but the advice was sound. I’ve run at all hours of the day, and recently most of them have been in the early morning when most drivers are presumably struggling to wake up, struggling to stay awake or drunk. Despite the potential for problems, I’ve never had a close call.

All the times I’ve been nearly hit – or now, hit – by a driver have been in broad daylight while I was following the rules of the road. On a long run a couple weeks ago, I was nearly hit twice within 10 minutes.

The lesson in this is that while running, your safety is up to you. Even when it’s light out, visibility is good, the road is dry, and the driver isn’t on the phone, texting, shaving, applying her or his makeup (I don’t judge), eating, reading, watching “Spongebob” with the kids on the entertainment system, hopelessly trying to work the new navigation system, or one of these folks, it’s still possible he or she just isn’t mentally present behind the wheel.

Therefore, it’s up to runners to watch out for their own safety. Case in point: while running Saturday around 7:30 a.m., a lady driving a blue Toyota Corolla was leaving a yard sale and trying to make a right turn from the stop sign as I was approaching from the right. She looked left, inched forward. Looked left, inched forward. Kept looking left, kept inching forward until she turned. I stopped on the corner and watched for about 15 seconds as she did this, and not once did she see me there.

For whatever reason, drivers are going to get distracted or stupid while behind the wheel, and they won’t always notice or care that a person running is going to cross their path. Runners can do stupid things – why are you wearing all black at night? – or get distracted too – iPods, wandering thoughts, playing with gadgets – but it’s easier for us to see a potential problem and slow down, speed up or stop than it is for a distracted driver to suddenly be mentally present and take appropriate evasive action.

And OK already, Dean Karnazes, my recent close calls and the fact that a pedal mix-up would have put me under that Tahoe have worn me down. I’ll buy a RoadID. Are you happy now?

Author’s note: I would have included a photo of my injury, but nobody wants to see my butt on the Internet. At least I imagine they don’t.

Making it through Mega Monster Month.

Come on, guys. I'm just trying to run, here.

Monster Month, in runner lingo, is those four weeks toward the end of a training cycle when you run the most miles. During a typical, four-days a week, 18-week beginner’s marathon program, it might culminate in a 40-mile week with a 20-mile long run.

But, having gone through such a cycle more than once and having finished three marathons (and being slightly delusional), I gave the beginner’s program a well-meaning, “Beginner? Pfft,” and embarked on an advanced schedule. It’s got six days of running a week. It’s got speed work. It’s got six weeks of high-mileage training – the Mega Monster Month.

This is actually week five of my MMM, and it’s going well. I’ve made it through two 20-mile long runs at around 8:30 pace, nine- and 10-mile runs at 7:10 pace and some tough interval sessions. The MMM also jacked up my mileage to around 50 per week.

Sunday will be a good way to judge how well I’m holding up to the increased training. The Run through Redlands half marathon is going to be a chance to run my planned marathon pace – 8:00 – on a tough course and somewhat tired legs.

Next week will be the sixth and final one of the MMM, and it will be the toughest: half-mile repeats, a tempo run, a marathon pace run and a long run, 52 miles in all. But then it’s time for the sweet, sweet taper.

The MMM has had it’s moments. I dreaded last week’s seven hill repeats until I was done with them. And I was nervous about the longer marathon pace runs the day before a long run. But so far they’ve all come and gone, and each has gone better than I’d hoped for.

Maybe MMM is nothing to be scared of. I’ll find out for sure when I run my spring marathon.

ARMC Run 2010

Two for two!

Although an uphill finish and strange running tactics kept me from breaking 20 minutes in my second 5K of the year, 20:09 was good enough for second place in my age group and 20th overall at the Arrowhead Regional Medical Center Run March 13.

That result gives me a top-three age group finish in both races this year, which is infinitely more than 2009.

The race began and ended in front of the hospital, and it was a crowded start. Like many races, some entrants lined up as close to the front as they could, regardless of perceived finishing time or the ability to acheive it. It made for a rough start; I took an elbow to the ribs and did a lot of weaving in the first half mile.

Once we got into the surrounding neighborhoods, the field opened up. After two tough days of running before – 9 miles at 7:30 pace Thursday and 12 miles around 8:45 pace Friday – I wasn’t feeling especially fresh, but I thought I was holding a good pace. Unfortunately, there weren’t any mile markers to know for sure.

Just after the halfway point – it was the one water station, that’s the only reason I know – I was running side-by-side with a guy who couldn’t have been older than 16. For the next half mile or so, we traded positions as he would inexplicably speed up enough to nudge ahead of me then run in a tight zigzag to keep me from passing. If I did, he would speed up just enough to do it again.

I don’t know if this was a strategy. If it was, it was pretty annoying. Maybe I’m not a seasoned enough runner yet, but if I’m not faster than somebody, I don’t try to slow them down.

By the time I pulled away from him, it was time for the uphill stretches at the finish. I already mapped the course and knew it wasn’t too bad, but the effort over the last few days made it pretty difficult.

I’d like to think I would have broken 20 minutes without the zigzag runner and fresher legs, but I’ll take 20:09. It shows all the speedwork this marathon training cycle has been paying off. Now it’s time for a break from racing, though.

My next race is the Run Through Redlands April 18. After some debating, I chose the half marathon distance again. I’m planning on using it as an extended marathon pace run, so unless things are going really well for me, I probably won’t try to beat my previous best of 1:37:22. That strategy probably rules out another award finish, but a month out from my (planned) spring marathon, holding my anticipated pace on a tough course will be good enough.

Although I couldn't best my PR, my 20:09 finish was good enough for another 2nd place age group finish, 20th overall. Photo by Amber Trotter.