Winter Running- "The weather is here, wish you were beautiful"

Winter is traditionaly my favorite time of the year to run in the south. The leaves are changing, the kids are at this point really settled into their school routines, and best of all the temperatures are generally fantastic for running. My favorite is when the weather is in the 50's. Not cold, but not so hot that you have worry about finding the next quick-mart to jump in and buy water every few miles.

I spend many of my weekends logging miles on the Chattahoochee River. I ran the hooch on a recent Saturday. I saw a deer, rabbit, ducks, a dead racoon, a man fishing in 40 degree water in waiters and at least over 2 dozen dogs. I know that running in the south is much differant than friends of mine who train in the Northeast and Northwest. However, no apologies here. It's one of the greatest things about living in Atlanta. Four seasons, great sports, great running city, and lots of support if you want it.

With Thanksgiving and Christmas mixed into the equation, it's also the time of year when many people start setting their sights on New Years and keeping the weight off. Therefore there seeem to be more active people out on the roads trying to stay healthy. It's very differant than the 90+ degree heat that you normally train at during the summers in Atlanta. This year training actually took a unique turn for me after the Chicago Marathon. My recovery was very quick and I was back running within five days after the race. I felt so good that I threw my name in the ring for the Atlanta Half Marathon on Thanksgiving. After getting through that I just kind of worked on general fitness for the rest of the year. A pleasant change after having spent two solid years of training for one event after another without a break.

The great positives about running this time of the year are the weather, the number of great local races to enter, and the ability to try out all of that wicked cool training gear you've accumilated during the year that you've stored away in some drawer because it's been to warm to pull it out. For very differant reasons than how the lyrics were originally intended to be perceived, I always keep the song "The weather is hear, I wish you were beautiful" by Jimmy Buffett in my running mix this time of the year. The weather is so great and if I want to keep the weight off during all of the eating that surrounds two big holidays I better keep my legs moving. Welcome to my twisted mind.

Now that New Years is upon us and training for another marathon has officially kicked in I remain thankful that the thought of another winter awaits ahead of me. As training gets harder and the temperatures rise the cooling feeling your mind gets with knowing that there a great training runs ahead but knowing that you have to pay a price to get there keeps you going.

Enjoy your winter!

2008 Chicago Marathon Race Review

2008 Chicago Marathon

I arrived in Chicago on Friday. I took the "L" from Midway to my apartment at Lake and Michigan Ave. The location was 3 blocks from the start/finish line of the marathon and one block from tons of shopping for Julie, Frances, and Cassidy.

Sunday morning I awoke at 5 and went through my normal pre race routine of shower, shave, getting dressed and heading to the start line around 5:30 with my bag and gear already packed and by the door. The start line and baggage check was VERY well organized and easy. At 6 0'clock it was in the high 50's so I wore a long running shirt under my Livestrong race shirt and Falcons hat to the starting line. The Falcons were playing the Bears in Atlanta later in the afternoon and I felt it would be a great ice breaker. Boy was I right. I called Joe and Walter, my tailgating buddies in Atlanta to let them know I'd made it to the start line. Fortunately, I met another Falcons season ticket holder in my time group that tailgates about 50 yards from me on Sundays in Atlanta. I attached another hat onto my fuel belt knowing that I would see my family at mile two and could ditch my long sleeve shirt and Falcons hat. I downed my traditional pre-race bagel and peanut butter. A little water and potty stop had me ready to run.

Miles 1-7

I lined up with the pace group to finish in 4:15. The marathon bills itself as one that passes through 29 neighborhoods in one world class race. The start is in Grant/Millennium Park heading north on Columbus, over the river into town. You turn on Grand, passing under the massive shopping and restaurant venues and head back over the river again down State street through the theatre district, where I saw my family the first time. I threw my shirt and hat at them and continued. There is tons of crowd support the first 4 miles. I kept hearing people rooting for me and some woman named Marcie for the first 5 miles or so. I remember in mile three running behind two women also in the 4:15 time group. One had a shirt on that had Philips Electronics on the back and her name, Julie, was placed on it. I thought, hey Julie Phillips, how cool is that. I remember passing the famed Cook County Courthouse and thinking about all of the history that had happened on those famed steps. Al Capone, Elliott Ness, Reverend Wright. So Julie dropped off of our pace in less than a mile and I ran with the other women, I don't recall her name but we ran together for the next 3 miles or so. I joked with her because it seemed that every half mile or so was another guy specifically there to cheer for her. I asked her if they knew about each other. She swore they were family members and one boyfriend. Anyway, we noticed that at miles 4-5 that we were already about 3 minutes ahead of our pace. At mile 7 she decided to slow but I kept close to the same pace because I felt great. We ran up LaSalle past the Old Town and through Lincoln Park. Wow, I remember thinking how lucky Chicago was to have all of these awesome parks. As we headed up the shoreline we turned west on Addison and another runner pointed out to me when we came close to Wrigley Field. It was quick but I'm glad I had someone point it out to me.

Miles 8-13.1

When I turned south in Lake View East the crowds continued to get larger as we headed into Boystown. Hmmm......nope, never run through anything quite like it. Let's just leave it at that. I will say that there was plenty of support running through mile 8. The next three miles was a great stretch for just settling into my pace and beginning to get focused. You could tell that it was really starting to get warm. You run south back past Lincoln Park, Old Town, and River North. You run through some beautiful neighborhoods and people coming out of their homes and townhouses to have breakfast and coffee on their brick steps and just root for runners. It was very inspirational. You run back into downtown. As you cross the river again you can really feel the crowds getting larger . Again you run back under the tracks of the "L" and turn on Adams to head through the west loop and to the half marathon point. When I crossed the half marathon line I was still two minutes ahead of my goal and I felt great.

Miles 13.1-20

I ran west down Adams to the West Loop. It was long, it felt like we were running to nowhere and we were NEVER going to turn. Mentally I hated this stretch because you could see faster runners already heading back into town a couple of blocks over but you couldn't see anyone in front of you ever turning. Finally right before mile 15 your turn for a couple of blocks and head back east. You pass Malcolm X University. Wow, I had no idea how big that place was. They call this the Charity Mile. I'm not sure why. My only thought is maybe they think Malcolm X University needs some charity because that place looks old. There was very little crowd support but knowing that I had made the turn and heading back toward town gave me a little boost. My fuel strategy was going as planned although I did notice that every time I was passing mile markers that the medical tents were full. I was taking in what I thought was a great balance of fluid and GU but I'll discuss my strategy in my wrap up. You turn south around mile 16.5 and at mile 17 I saw my family again for the second time. They had positioned themselves to take some pictures of me running with the Sears Tower in the background. You then turn and run another mile west through Little Italy and the crowd support was pretty good. I was cruising and doing really well at this point. Then, I'm running right in the middle of the street with the 30k sign in the faint distance....BAM!!!!!!.....My right hamstring locked up and clinched my leg like I'd been shot...I stumbled to the curb and leaning against a building trying to stretch it out.....Standing right next to me was this Angel of a grandmother with her two grand daughters who had come out of their house with ice trays. I couldn't believe it. She gave me a few cubes of ice and for the next 15 minutes I stood their icing my hamstring and talking to her. She told me that last year, when there was also a really high temperature, she brought ice out to the runners because they were so dehydrated. I have no doubt that God specifically put her there on that day just for me. I would never have finished this race without her. I started back, knowing that my time goal for the day was shot. Now I just wanted to finish. I then started slowly just to get my pace back and really hoped my hamstring would hold up. I started taking on more fluid. We ran through Pilsen and finally into the first banana station at mile 20. I must have eaten 2 bananas. They chop them in fourths but I couldn't get enough potassium.

Mile 21-23

I kept going knowing that my family had plans to be in Chinatown at mile 21.5 I started back into a pace and was actually feeling good again. What a huge lift Chinatown is. The crowds were massive and, thanks to Cassidy and Brady's sign, I spotted my family right after turning south on Wentworth Ave. I felt pretty good the next couple of miles but I could defiantly feel the heat starting to take a beating on me as it continued to get seemingly hotter. We approached Cominsky Park and thought how I'd spent a few nights watching the White Sox in that crappy ballpark a few years earlier.

Mile 23.5-25.8

When turning from 35th Street to Michigan Ave. I knew it was my last big turn. I also remember there being a big LaSalle Bank on the corner of the turn with one of those bank signs that flashes the time and temperature. It blasted a very depressing 93 degrees. It was HOT!!! and mentally I just tried to block it out. One thing that always bothered me about my pictures from NYC was the finish. People who don't know any better think that the time over your head is how long it took you to finish. They don't account for how long it took you to get to the start line. In NY it read over 5 hours, even though I ran faster, and I told myself at this point my goal from here on out was to try not to let that happen in Chicago. I ran for another half mile until passing the water station and decided to walk for a minute. I told myself from here on out I would not walk for more than one minute at a time for the rest of the race and I would have to run for at least 5 minutes without stopping. While I was walking I started talking to this man that was running his first marathon and said he had originally set a goal of 3:30. Now he was going to be lucky to hit 5 hours. I said goodbye and started running again. As I approached mile 24, with McCormick Place to my right, people continued to scream support for me and I also started hearing yelling loudly for Marcie again. I looked around and there she was. I said wow, I heard your name a lot early in the race and now here you are again. She told me that she wasn't going to be able to finish with me though as she needed to stop. At that point I knew I was close and told myself just to keep moving my legs.

25.8-26.2

As I headed up Michigan Ave. at mile 25.8 I'm thinking, wow, I made it. Then I turned right on Roosevelt, a President that I will now forever hate because of this, and stared at the most massive hill I've ever seen. OK, so it's in reality only about .3 of a mile but it may as well have been Stone Mountain. I buried my eyes in the road and just thought about all of the runs I had made up those fun hills on Lower Roswell back in Marietta. I didn't stop until I reached the top. Once I reached the top, I was almost home. You turn left on Columbus Dr. and finish the last .1 on a flat surface to the finish line. I could see the clock, the one the elite runners started with and it read 4:58:20. I got really focused again. I had .1 left to go and I wanted to finish under the 4:49:59 on their clock. I finished in 4:46:07. It was 2 minutes and 9 seconds faster than I ran the New York City Marathon. The clock over me read 4:59:48 when I crossed under it. I was REALLY proud given all of the conditions of the day and all of the injuries I'd battled through this year. I downed about 6 bottles of water and 2 bananas. I was then given a medal that they placed around my neck, handed a beer, taken a picture, and kept walking to baggage claim. It was very organized.

Wrap up: Mile 26.3

I found my family when I got to my cell phone and we spent a couple of hours milling around Grant Park and letting the kids play. This marathon was very special for me because it's the first time my father has ever seen me run a full marathon. I'm not sure if he got anything out of it because we still haven't talked about it but I hope there is some pride for him in there somewhere. Julie, Brady, Cassidy, and my mother Frances, who all followed me to New York also, were again amazing in all of their support. Chicago was a great choice, not the Obama kind of choice either. I actually enjoyed this choice. One tricky thing to do in a marathon is to hydrate properly. Drinking to much in a race is worse for you than not drinking enough and could land you in the hospital. I sweat more than most people and usually try to take in slightly more than the recommended 6 oz. of fluid every 15-20 minutes. I've learned this over a few thousand miles the last couple of years. However, taking in more fluid in high temperatures is something I'll take away from this race. I should have finished between 4:00-4:15. Because I didn't follow that simple rule I missed my goal. I'm a little disappointed with myself but not to much. The crowds in Chicago were great. You aren't New York, but the support was great in many sections. Yes, I know your offended but it's my race report not yours. Sorry, deal with it.

I look forward to my next marathons of choice in 2009.

Fins Up!

Cliff

2007 ING New York City Marathon Race Review

I thought this would be the perfect day on my one year anniversary of runnning this race!

New York Rocks!!!!

The race itself!!!

The best way I can describe the whole experience is to steal quote from the last American to win the NYC Marathon, Alberto Salazar. He says "a marathon is best broken down into two halves, the first 20 miles and the last 6.2 miles." I doubt you will find many marathoners that disagree with that.

Staten Island...New York was everything I thought it would be times 10. I left my hotel at 5:30 and took a cab to the Staten Island Ferry in lower Manhattan. The ferry ride takes about 30 minutes over to Staten Island and is very comfortable. Once there you take a 3 mile bus ride to a Fort that sits on the banks of the Hudson River next to the Verazanno-Narrows bridge. Running with a team allowed me to hang out with other Livestrong Army Runners for the four hours leading to the race. My start time ended up being about 40 minutes after the professional men started and probably over an hour after the women.

Brooklyn...The first two miles were over the Veranzano bridge and overhead were helicopters, under you was the Hudson river, to your right were tugboats shooting water and to your left was the Statue of Liberty and Manhattan. It was simply awesome. While running over the bridge I met a woman named Pam who lived in Brooklyn. She was running a tad bit slower than me but since I have a tendency to always start races to fast, I saw it as an opportunity to slow down early when she told me that her husband, kids, and neighbors were meeting her at mile 6.5. Perfect! As we ran into Brooklyn I got a big history lesson about each neighborhood that we ran through. The crowds in Brooklyn were unbelievable. It seemed like people were shoulder to shoulder on both sides of the street high fiving you for the first 10 miles.

Queens...The second bridge you run over is the bridge connecting Brooklyn and Queens and is also the halfway point in the marathon. At this point I felt amazing. About a mile and a half later you enter the third bridge, the Queensboro Bridge. It connects Queens and Manahattan and you run over the top of Roosevelt Island. About 3/4 of the way up this bridge was the first time in the race that I walked, about mile 16.5. I felt great but had another marathoner once tell me not to kill yourself early by running to many hills because it would bite you later. So, I walked for almost 1 minute and started again.

Manhattan.....when you exit the Queensboro Bridge, there is the loudest, deepest crowd you have ever seen. I've described it to others as it felt like running into the largest frat party on the planet. It pours out onto 1st avenue and the Manhattanites are everywhere. 10 or 12 deep crowds cheering on both sides of the street. One mile up first avenue, in mile 17 is where I ran into my family. I stopped for a few minutes and took pictures with my wife, kids, and mom and then off I went to the Bronx. This section of the race is the greatest adrenaline rush in the world for a runner.

The Bronx....The fourth bridge you cross at mile 20 is the Willis Avenue Bridge...I remember laughing when I crossed for two reasons. First is because in running there is this so called mythical "WALL" you're supposed to hit at mile 20. Granted I did slow down considerable the later the race went but I never hit the "WALL". Also the second I crossed the bridge was a guy at the foot of it holding his son and in his loudest thickest NY accent he said "Hey, welcome to the Bronx." He kept saying it to everyone who ran by him and everyone seemed to laugh. Ok, at this point you could see Yankee Stadium, which was pretty cool and what had to be the 8 next great hip hop artist in the country blaring loudly all the way through Harlem.

Central Park in Fall......Now the final stretch. The crowds begin to grow again and we heading back into Manhattan. As we ran into Central Park North and down along the sides of Central Park East the crowds got larger and larger. You had so many people screaming your name that it made you feel like you were superhuman, although I'm not sure your bod would agree at that point. This part of the race, around mile 23 is all mind over body. You think a lot about all of the reasons and people you've done this for and dig a little deeper. Although we can quite pinpoint it, it's also around this area that I passed Katie Holmes somewhere. She started 40 minutes before me and finished about 12 minutes behind me so it had to be in this area. In case you care. Entering Central Park West was breathtaking...people lined up on both sides of the single path and screaming at you. I said that I can't imagine not finishing the race at this point. I don't think New Yorkers would allow it. You run on pure adreanaline at this point. I stopped one other time just before mile 25 and walked the last half of a hill for one minute. At mile 26 you exit Central Park South and there again is where I saw my family. Just the boost I needed for the last mile. When you get to the end of Central Park South you run through Columbus Cirlce and head up Central Park West....The crowds still huge and you start seeing signs saying 800 yards to go, 700, etc......When you get to about the 400 yard sign you re-enter the park and run uphill to Tavern on the Green when you cross the finish line.......4:48:26 for me!

The volunteers place the medal around your neck, get your picture made and hook up with your family....I know this one was long and if you made it this far you're probably saying that it took longer to read this than it took me to run the stupid thing.

So, congrats!!!

Fins Up!!!

Cliff

Half Marathons-ING GA, AFC San Diego, Country Music Half

I decided to combine some of my old Half Marathon race reports instead of doing individual post on them all. I hope you can gain something for these.

ING Georgia Half Marathon.
It was a VERY challenging course. LOTS of hills!!! Even the elite marathoners were commenting on how tough the course was. One of the Kenyans that finished in the top 3 remarked that it was the toughest Marathon courses he had ever run. We also had a record 87 degrees yesterday in Atlanta and there could have been a few more water stations. The race organizers did a terrible job with the amount with the lack of fluid needed on a course. All in all, it was a lot of fun. The fan support from the Atlanta community was pretty good. We actually started on time.

The first part of the race was fun running through downtown Atlanta past the Hard Rock, Macy's and then round Mile 3 past The Wheat Street Baptist Church on Auburn Ave where Dr Martin Luther King presided. The support through the beginning on the race was fantastic. I saw my family around mile three as we turned up toward the Carter Center.

The second section of the race started down Freedom Parkway and was just a crazy loop. I would love to see them ditch this section for future races. You run to the end, mostly down hill and then run back up it. You then begin what felt like a 4 mile run straight up hill all the way to Virginia Highlands. The crowd support when you got there was great. After making the turn downtown there were a bunch of college guys giving away beer in there front yard. I'm like, you must be kidding.

The third section of the race ran us through Piedmont Park and back down Peachtree Street back to Underground Atlanta. I remember one! Yes one water station in the last 4 miles. It was really hot and very dangerous. It would have been a nice stretch to end a half marathon if I hadn't been dehydrated. Finished in 1:58 and felt pretty good.

This race has a long way to go to be world class. I hope it will be better in the future but I don't see myself running it again until they get a successful one under their belts.

Addition: I wanted to make an addition to this report since I hadn't actually read it in a while. One great thing about doing this is the people you meet. After this race Julie and I hung out in underground and had lunch. We were fortunate enough to get seated next to our now friends Julie McAdoo and Bryan Parker who live in Seattle. Julie is a phenomenal runner and one that I've sought for much advise since then for running. Her skill is FAR superior to anything I could ever obtain but it goes to show how much runners support each other. Brian flies for Alaska Air and supports her in big races the same support my family has always shown me.

San Diego-AFC Finest City Half Marathon
I finished the EAS Finest City Half Marathon in San Diego in 2:07. It was nine minutes slower than the time I posted at the ING Georgia Half Marathon in March but I also ran into some different obstacles that taught me some things. For one don't trust race organizers when they tell you to leave your fuel belt in the car because there will be water stations at every mile. They had stations at 4, 7.5, and 10.5. That's it. THREE water stations in the entire race. Added to that the average temperature in San Diego for this time of year is 68 degrees. It got up to 98 that day.

The run was absolutely beautiful. We started at Cabrillo Monument on the base at Fort Rosecrans. You take a bus past military guards to get to the start. You start with the Pacific Ocean to your left and Coronado to your right with San Diego Bay in between. We arrived before the sun came up and got to see a submarine depart from the base while we were waiting to start. The first part of the race was really fast and mostly downhill, but the back of the race was another story when the fluids started running out and the last two and a half miles were totally straight up hill into Balboa Park. The run was beautiful and I really enjoyed participating. It was great for my training and I learned that I need to slow down a little early on. I finished 2439 out of 7750. Not great but not bad either.

Two weeks later I made a last minute decision to enter the US 10K Classic in Atlanta on Labor Day. It's becoming a tradition in our area and they attract some of the top runners in the world. I think it's because they bill it as the toughest 10k in the US and everyone wants to prove they can do it. Julie and I noticed that they were going to give medals this year to the top 1000 finishers and joked that with 13,000 running that they might as well just set aside an extra bagel for me at the finish. However, I even surprised myself when I finished 802 and got a medal.

Country Music Half Marathon-Nashville, TN
First of all this was a very special weekend. My kids ran and finished their first kids marathon and Julie ran her first half. I had a Very severe muscle injury in March that I thought would knock me out of this race, so just lining up was a victory for me. It was a rainy overcast day that honestly was great for running but not so great for the fans. The check in and corrals were a little uncomfortable because of the rain but after we got started and since I was able to keep my socks dry, I was good to go, except for my injury.

The first part of the course started in Centennial Park in Nashville as we ran down the West End past Vanderbilt, looped back around the oval and headed down the first part of music row. It was very cool for me having spent most of my career in the music industry and having spent many days and hours there over my life. Many memories came back while running down music row. After passing Belmont University we ran east over the interstate and into some neighborhoods on east of Belmont.

The second portion of this race begin here. There are many more hills than advertised on this course and the turnaround run back to Belmont is where you first start to notice them. The crowd support in this area is the best of any section of the race. You turn again on the backside of the University and head back down the other side of music row. For me more memories passing old publishing companies, writers building, Curb Records, I looked for you Benson, and past my old offices at the Warner Bros. building. I didn't need much motivation in the section of the race given all of the memories I had. You turn right and head into downtown Nashville when you get to the end of music row.

The third part of the race takes you under the tracks and north to the Bicentennial Mall. Their are lots of more unexpected hills as you head past the mall. You know your close to finishing and every time you round a corner, another hill. Very mental. You finally get to the top of the hill at Union Street and you can see the stadium. The last mile is pretty much downhill and flat and a great finish with good crowd support. I finished in 1:48. A PR for me in the half despite the injury and hills. That tells me I can do much better in the half.

This race was fun. Every city thinks they have great crowd support. I would give Nashville a C+. I know many people in this city and was surprised it wasn't better. The city may embrace the race but I don't think people in the burbs care. It was VERY well organized. Water stations were everywhere. The hills were under advertised but it's not the ING GA by any stretch. It was a fun course but I would like to run threw downtown on First Avenue instead of next to the train tracks under the bridges. I think the fans would enjoy that more also. I would run this race again!