Cycling vs. Running

Now that my big goal is over for the season, it's time for me to reflect a bit on the physical impact on my body when making the switch to running from cycling. In no particular order, here is a list of ailments that I have had in both disciplines this year:

Cycling:

• Occasional razor burn.
• Weird tan lines which are hard to explain while on vacation at the beach.

Running:

• Bloody nipples (learned that Bag Balm works well here on runs up to 15 miles in length. Anything over that and use band aids.
• Rubbed raw certain, sensitive male parts. Once again, Bag Balm works well here. This was a tough lesson to learn....
• Blood blisters on ends of toes.
• Lost toe nails
• Stress Fracture to my left femur...the largest bone in the body.
• Strained lower back

Seems pretty apparent that running just plain sucks....somehow I'm hooked and already looking forward to training for the next one.

b

Columbus 1/2 Marathon

Columbus...what can I say? It is a city that as an Architect I have had a love/hate relationship with for years. There are some examples of amazing architecture, incredible historical neighborhoods and parks but Columbus is also a city that has expanded with reckless growth and is the epitome of Urban Sprawl. No need to conserve as long as there's another corn field or forest to destroy. My personal feelings aside, this past weekend might have been one of my greatest experiences in our State's capital (w/ the exception of being married there).


My wife's family lives in the city and typically we stay with them on weekend trips in. This time, we decided to get a hotel room downtown. Not knowing what to expect in terms of available parking and traffic in, I wanted to minimize any anxiety and sleeping a few blocks from the start line seemed like the best way to do it. This also gave us the opportunity to leave the kids with my in-laws which really made both of their days. The hotel was awesome, with our room being on the 19th floor it really gave me a greater perspective of the city which I can now come to appreciate more. The hotel was also connected to the new convention center downtown which made getting to the expo and my race packet a lot easier. That also gave us the opportunity to see all the other events happening there like some big cheer leading competition. Before you go crazy thinking thoughts about hot college chicks or high school girls, it seemed like this was cheer leading for the pre-tween girls. I swear that I even saw girls there younger than Nicholas who is only 5 years old. With all the criticism the Ramsey's received about how they exploited their daughter JonBenet, it seems like some parents just haven't learned the lesson yet...but once again I digress.

Saturday night was spent hooking up with my family who came into town to watch the race and heading out to dinner at the Spaghetti Warehouse. After being disowned by my parents, it was nice to have the support of my grandparents, Aunt and Uncle and of course my wife's family. They weren't there just to see me but my cousin Tim and brother-in-law Brian was also running with me. Tim's an experienced runner and is currently the boys' cross-country coach for Ashland High School. If I have a question about running, he's one of the two people I go to. The other is a friend named James Miller who was also there this weekend taking a stab at a Boston Qualifying time.

The Sunday morning wake up came early but fortunately with the short distance to the start line, I was able to sneak in a few extra minutes of sleep. Heading out to the start line at 6:30 I immediately noticed that it was cold. The temperature was mid-30's...ouch that's cold. Coming back from dinner the previous night I rethought my clothing strategy and decided to go with a long sleeve shirt, gloves and shorts. I also had on a sleeveless Under Armor on which made for a nice base layer. I'm really glad I made the switch to long sleeves because during my warm up/stretching and staging for the start, I couldn't keep myself from shivering. I could only imagine how much worse it might have been in short sleeves. There is nothing worse than having chattering teeth on the start line.

My strategy going into the race was to just have fun and to try to hold an 8'/mile pace. I haven't run longer than 9 miles in over 3 months so I wasn't sure how my body was going to react. Going out of the start we hooked up with the 8'/mile pace group. Within the first mile, Tim and I decided to pick it up a bit to get in front of them and if necessary, we could ease up and rejoin them if we weren't feeling great. Mile after mile, we pulled further and further away from them to the point that if they caught us, it was because we would be running backwards to rejoin them. It was obvious that Tim and I were both feeling good and that we would average much better than an 8'/mile tempo over the 13.1 miles. A new thing for me was to try to drink while running. Normally I carry a water bottle so it's not a big issue but drinking out of a cup is a bit more difficult. I was able to get a few sips down but that always came with Gatorade shots up my nose. I need to perfect drinking I guess.

I lost contact with Tim around the 9 mile mark. We caught up to the 3:20 pace group which had a lot of runners and Tim made it through but I didn't. Here's where I might have taken it too conservative. I was still feeling good but being in uncharted territory here, I played it conservative. I decided to hang with this new pace group and then if still feeling good, pick it up by mile 11 and finish as quick as I could. That's what I did but in hindsight I wish I would have made the effort to try to regroup with Tim and finish even faster. As it turns out, I beat the secret goal that I had set for myself. I was hoping to come in around 1:40. I finished the race in 1:38:56. That gives me an average pace of 7'34"/mile pace.

A lot of people have asked me about how the race went. My response is this...in all of the competitive events that I've ever participated in, this by far ranks as one of the best experiences, if not the best. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's being a part of nearly 12,000 runners trying to accomplish the same goal which is to finish. Maybe it was miles and miles of spectators along the sides of the road cheering you on. I don't think there was ever a stretch of road where there wasn't at least one person watching. Normally when I run I notice every mile that goes by. This event I remember hitting the 10 mile mark and being surprised that I had already gotten that far. The effort just seemed that easy.

Here are some stats from the race:

Mile 1 – 7:59
Mile 2 – 7:41
Mile 3 – 7:26
Mile 4 – 7:37
Mile 5 – 7:25
Mile 6 – 7:22
Mile 7 – 7:29
Mile 8 – 7:34
Mile 9 – 7:25
Mile 10 – 7:17
Mile 11 – 7:28
Mile 12 – 7:39
Mile 13 – 7:20
.1 – 1:07
Total – 1:38.56

bib number: 3034
age: 35
gender:M
location: Cuyahoga Falls, OH
overall place: 354 out of 5290
division place: 3 out of 160
gender place: 279 out of 2230
time: 1:38:56
pace: 7:34
10k: 47:09

brian

2 days to Columbus

Here I am, sitting comfortably at my computer 2 days before the Columbus Marathon. Because of an unfortunate injury which I've already discussed in previous posts, I'll only be able to complete the 1/2 marathon this year. I have mixed emotions about it. On one side, I'm only running 13.1 and when I'm done my body most likely won't feel trashed with the shorter distance. On the other side, I had set some really lofty goals like completing my first marathon while I was 35 and doing it in a Boston Qualifying time (3:15). Training for this event was unlike anything that I've ever done before. Training for a bike race is different. Sure, you spend lots of time training hard just like you do for running, but if you get hurt, sick, get unlucky or have a bad day on the bike, there's another bike race somewhere the next weekend that you can travel quickly to and have another go at it. With running, it's not like that (or at least it just doesn't appear to me that way). With marathon training, I focused all of my attention and energy to running to make sure my body was ready for the big goals that I set. I dedicated almost 5 months of my life to a singular event. Running is so physically demanding that racing the next weekend if something happens to go wrong most likely just isn't an option. Unfortunately with the fracture, I can't take a stab at even completing the marathon this year. I'm currently only up to running 9 miles at a time and trying to take a stab at 26 is just asking for another injury. That's just something that I can't risk. The 5 months of training for Columbus could be looked at as completely down the drain. Those were 5 months that I could have been on my bike riding with good friends that I haven't been able to keep in touch with because we don't share that commonality at the moment. Do I regret it? Absolutely not. I'm still in decent shape, just not cycling shape. Will I take a stab at another marathon? Absolutely. Just not sure when and what my plan is for 2009 yet. I still have 13.1 more miles to go this Sunday before I think about next year.

brian

Akron Roadrunner Marathon

Last Saturday was the Akron Road Runner Marathon. This is the sixth year of existence for the race and the 4th time that I've had the opportunity to run a relay portion of it. I have to say that each and every year it just gets better and better. Earlier in the year the strategy for this event was to fun the final 12k leg with some kick. I had delusions of running 6' mile pace. Obviously that all changed a few months back. With me on the right road to recovery, I opted to run the shorter 10k. In hindsight, this was a great move because I am now only able to run a slow 6 miles without any discomfort in my femur. This year was the first year that I was also able to run the opening leg of the event. This was important for me for two reasons. Firstly, it was great practice for Columbus to get started in a big mass so I could see how I needed to maneuver around people to hit my goal pace. Secondly, it allowed me to finish in plenty of time to see Nicholas and Will run in the Kids Fun Run later in the morning. My strategy for today was to finish somewhere close to 45'. My normal 10k pace is 43' but with recovery, I knew I would have to sacrifice some time so I didn't injure myself anymore. The plan for the day was to hook up with a friend of mine named James who is an avid runner and seasoned marathoner. He was running the 1/2 marathon (in preparation for Columbus) and was hoping to run a 7'10" pace, a touch faster than what I thought I could do but idealistically right about where I wanted to finish up. Running that morning felt great. There's something about the adrenaline and the excitement of the day that really gets you going. It was probably that quicker than goal pace that helped tire me but just after 5k of running, I began to lose touch with James as I just couldn't hang at that pace. Seems like I've lost a bit of that high end speed. As I was beginning to suffer more and more , I noticed that we were running right by the Summit Lake neighborhood that we delivered to last winter with Elves & More. The thoughts of that day pulled me away from the pain and the doubts that I was beginning to suffer. I have to imagine that running which is really a solitary sport is probably a lot like Time Trialing on a bicycle. When you're by yourself, I'm not sure if the bigger battle is between you and the road or you and your mind. Ultimately I won because I didn't stop, but I wonder if I slowed down at all because of the mental debates that I was holding with myself.

I'm happy to say that I finished the 10k if 45'24". That's where I realistically figured I would end up being, but deep down inside, I was hoping that I could have pulled out a much faster time. This was a good test for me for Columbus. From this experience I learned that the marathon is for sure out of the question. I realistic goal will be now to complete the half-marathon in Columbus. Not sure what my goals other than completing relatively pain free will be yet but I'll let you know.

b