- Current plan: Bay Trail Marathon Training Plan – Recovery Week 1
- Today’s session: 3 mile easy run @ 8:37-9:37 pace
- Comments: I did 3.66 @ 8:13. Legs were sluggish, even though my pace seems to indicate otherwise.
Archives For November 30, 1999
This past Saturday, I ran the marathon distance of the ZombieRunner Bay Trail Run – MY FIRST FULL MARATHON!!! This was the third edition of this event, put on by Zoom Running Events. The run had three distances: a full marathon, a half, and a five mile and drew a field of 82, 365, and 116 finishers respectively. This was my second Zoom event and simply stated: they know how to put on a fantastic run! (Zoom is a sister org to Coastal Trail Runs, which also does an awesome job on their events – I’ve run one of their events.)
The weather was perfect for a run: cool and partly cloudy. Rain was forecast for about 1200, but I planned to be done by then. I still wore shorts though, but sported my long sleeve tech shirt from the San Francisco Half Marathon and my lite Lululemon running gloves for warmth. There were quite a few runners in long pants and layers. I thought about donning layers, but knew that I’d shed them pretty quickly after the start.
The course was flat and a mix of paved and dirt trails (27 and 73% respectively) that traveled around the Bayland park areas in Palo Alto. Okay, one could say that there was one “hill”, but nothing really to speak of in the scheme of things – it was more of an incline. Those running the marathon simply ran the half route twice. I had never been to this park area before, but do drive by a one mile stretch of the course that parallels Highway 101 every day on the way to work (more on that later.) I tend to zone out while I run, but it did seem like a nice place to go for a run or hike and see the waterfowl and baylands.
This was my “Plan B” race, as I was supposed to have run the Honolulu Marathon for my first full on December 9th. If you’re a regular visitor here, you know that we had to cancel the trip. As I looked for options, this race worked best with my schedule and 2013 training plans (read: gotta get ready for Big Sur in April.) After 18 weeks of training, I was anxious to Giddy Up! At first, I was bummed to be running my first marathon on a small event; but, in the long run, I wouldn’t have had it any other way. I’m a low-key person and this was just right – it would have been interesting to run my first with ~30,000 people; but, in the end, 82 was better.
My Race
Results:
- Garmin time: 4:05:05 at an 9:19/mile pace
- Official time: 4:05:05 at an 9:21/mile pace
New “Personal Records” on the Garmin Dash!!!
Since my Garmin measured 26.3, does that make me an ultra-marathoner? HA!
Recap:
Fair warning: This is my first marathon so this is a verbose post. You only get one “first” and I want to capture everything!
[Recap Soundtrack] Part of my pre-race routine is to listen to my Unbreakable playlist as I drive to the race. This is track one (Outro, by M83), a favorite, and is one of the few songs I hear in my head while I run… I just imagine myself running in slow motion to this music…on the road or on a trail! Click play and read on…
Marathon #1 is in the books – WooHoo!
I ended up with a time of 4:05:05 @ 9:21 pace. Since this was my first full marathon, this is a PR(!); though it was slower than my race plan goal, due to calf cramps in both legs on miles 17.2 to 20 and again at 24.5 to the finish. That said, I did take 3rd in my age bracket (smaller races rock!)
I’ll post a full race report later this week with all the adventurous details! Giddy up!
- Current plan: Bay Trail Marathon Training Plan
- Today’s session: Race day!
- Comments: See above…full report to follow.
ZombieRunner Bay Trail Marathon, here I come!
- Current plan: Bay Trail Marathon Training Plan – Week 3 of Taper (1 day to go!)
- Today’s session: 2 mile, shake out run & carb load day 2
- Comments: Shake out run: 2.45 miles @ 8:32. Planned carb intake: 90%
Here’s my planned “intake” levels for the next two days!
- Current plan: Bay Trail Marathon Training Plan – Week 3 of Taper (2 days to go!)
- Today’s session: Pre-race rest & carb load day 1
- Comments: Nada … pero los hidratos de carbono!
- Current plan: Bay Trail Marathon Training Plan – Week 3 of Taper (5 days to go!)
- Today’s session: 4 mile easy run @ 8:37-9:37 pace
- Comments: I did 4.8 at 8:30
- Current plan: Bay Trail Marathon Training Plan
- Today’s session: 8 mile long run @ 8:39 – 9:59 pace
- Comments: I did a 9.23 out and back up in to Alum Rock Park @ an 8:43 pace
Weekly mileage: 12/3-9/12:
- Running: 31.36
- Bicycling: 0.0
- Total: 31.36
- Current plan: Bay Trail Marathon Training Plan
- Today’s session: 3 mile easy run @ 8:39 – 9:59 pace
- Comments: I did 5.3 @ 8:30
- Current plan: Bay Trail Marathon Training Plan – Week 2 of Taper
- Today’s session: 4 mile easy run @ 8:37-9:37 pace
- Comments: I did 6.45 at 8:14. I just needed to run a bit longer today. It was nice to run in the light rain this morning as well…peaceful.
Made the tough decision to cancel our trip to Honolulu and my running of next Sunday’s marathon – which would have been my first. There are just too many things going on right now (the details are private), and the best decision was to cancel.
After 4.5 months of solid marathon training (really almost a year), I really want to accomplish that milestone. Over the past two days, I scanned the available ones over the next several months and did find a few in January & February in SoCal. The rub is that I’ve already registered for the Big Sur Marathon in April and want need to start a focused, 18-week training program for that on December 24 (read: build base and do hill work.) Inserting a 3-week taper, marathon, and subsequent recovery week(s) in the middle of that just didn’t seem smart.
I did find a local marathon being run on the 15th: The ZombieRunner Bay Trail Marathon in Palo Alto. It’s not Honolulu, but the organizer puts on quality events and I know it will be a great experience for my first marathon. One nice part will be that my taper and carb loading will be easier since I’ll be at home!
So, I’m resetting and will start (re-do) week 2 of taper tomorrow. Deja Vu…all over again!
GIDDY-UP!
…I’ll run Honolulu someday.
Training Journal – 12/2/12:
- Current plan:
HonoluluBay Trail Marathon Training Plan - Today’s session: 12 mile long run @ 8:39 – 9:59 pace
- Comments: I did 12.16 @ 8:21 pace in the wind and rain – woohoo!
Weekly mileage: 11/26-12/2/12:
- Running: 30.68
- Bicycling: 17.47
- Total: 48.15
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