My Insane Weekend Part II (40th Guam Marathon)

Around 11:30AM on Saturday, 26 March I finished the XTERRA Triathlon. A mere 15 hours later I back up and getting ready for my next great challenge of the weekend...the 40th Annual Guam Marathon! Here I am somehow smiling at 3:30 in the morning even though I know what is about to happen, and how much it's going to hurt.

At 4AM 89 of us took off from the University of Guam. I'm somewhere up in the front (though I didn't stay up there for long).

Here I am around Mile 8. I was still going strong and feeling good. Actually, that's not entirely true. It was about this time that I started to feel "twitches" in my legs and I knew that cramps would be coming soon. I knew there wasn't a lot I could do but try to get as much water and Gatorade at the aide stations and take as many GU power gels as I could stomach (that number is about 7 by the way).

At Mile 19 my calves cramped up and I was done running. I tried several times to run again, but every time I would instantly cramp up. With 7 miles to go I had no choice, but to power walk my way to the finish line. Not a "glorious" way to finish, but I was determined to cross the finish line.

4 hours, 11 minutes and 2 seconds after starting the marathon, and about 25 hours after my first race had started I crossed the finish line. The cloud cover (and early start) helped to keep it relatively cool during the race. Thank goodness for that because it was brutal enough, and the heat would have made the race just about unbearable.

Eventually I was able to cool down enough and dry off so that I could change out of my sweaty clothes and sport my new medal.

As for the race, I got it all on my GPS. It was pretty cool to see that I had run from one side of the other (even though it was narrowest point). For the most part, there was very little area that was covered twice with the exception of the "out and back" in the upper left corner. The total distance there was about 5 miles.

Here's a picture of it zoomed out to show you that Guam is small island, but it's not that small. I am a little curious to see how far down the island we would have gone if we hadn't done the "out and back"

Looking back on the race, now that my legs are mostly feeling better, it's pretty crazy to think I did it. If I were to do it again (who's to say what's happening in 2012), I would definitely do some longer runs. With 17 miles being my longest run in preparation for this marathon, I know I need to get my mileage up (a couple of 20 miles runs) if I want to make it the full 26.2. I think I did all I could for hydration and rest (considering Saturday's activities), and the only thing else I could have done was train smarter. Still, my goal was accomplished...I finished. Although there were a few people who did the marathon and a leg of the XTERRA Triathlon, and some people who did the XTERRA Triathlon and a leg of the marathon relay, I am the only person who did both in their entirety. That's pretty cool.

My Insane Weekend Part I (2011 XTERRA Triathlon)

As I spend the day resting my very sore legs and trying to rehydrate, I have a little time to reflect on this past weekend, and the shear craziness of it all. As far as putting my body through an ultimate test, few things come close to what I did March 26&27, 2011. Friday Stephanie picked up my rental mountain bike from the Navy base. As I was tweaking the brakes and adjusting the seat, a friend offered to let me borrow his mountain bike, which I jumped at since his was much lighter, and much nicer. It took a couple of hours to get everything set up because his tires weren't right for rough terrain, he didn't have inner tubes for the correct tires, my rental tubes didn't fit on his wheels, and the brakes on the nice bike weren't wide enough for the rental wheels. Oh, and there was small leak in the front rental tire. I probably could have taken this as an omen, but I decided to press through, and eventually with several adjustments got the rental tires on the nice bike and patched the hole in the inner tubes (twice). Saturday morning came very quickly and at 4:30 I was up and off to the race. After body marking and setting up we hit the water for our 1K swim. There was about 72 solo racers plus several teams competing.

With the sound of the Conch shell (as opposed to a gun) we were off. Knowing that I would need my energy for later, I decided to take it slow and hang towards the back (I was in it to finish, not to win).

After about 23 minutes, I was done with the swim, and ready to tackle the 31K mountain bike ride. It was by far the hardest portion of the race for me. It started out with an insane climb of Nimitz Hill. Luckily it was on paved road and I had clip-in pedals. I was able to pass several people climbing the hill but once we left the beaten path and had to go downhill I slowed down a bit and most of the people I passed ended up passing me. Still, my goal more than anything was to finish. I took my time, hopped off my bike several times to go down hills that were too steep, and in general played it safe.

In hindsight, it probably would have been beneficial if I had actually practiced riding a mountain bike (this was only my 3rd time to ride one). Somehow I made it through the course safely and was back at the transition ready for the "run" at about the 3 hour point (the cutoff time was 3:30). I was starting to feel a little fatigued, but with only 8.2K left to go, I knew I could finish. I took off running trying to make up for lost time on the bike. The running didn't last long, though once I hit the trail, and I was trekking through the forest, going over, under, and around bamboo, wading waist-deep through rivers, and going down a waterfall.

4 hours, 20 minutes, 54 seconds after starting the race I crossed the finish line. I was tired, dehydrated, and very sore, but more than anything I was glad to be finished.

Stephanie did such a great job as a volunteer that she got a t-shirt too. It was a fun and exciting day. Looking to next year's XTERRA Triathlon, I'll definitely look at getting more comfortable on a mountain bike. I'll also have a back-up plan in case I have a bike malfunction (to be honest I think I got lucky making it through the race).

After a very early morning and more than 4 hours of racing I was tired, and could have called the weekend a success, but I wasn't done yet...

Weeks 10&11 (Getting Ahead and Tapering)

I swear I've been trying to write this blog for close to a week, but time has seemed to get away from really quickly recently. Still, I'm here now, and I've got some recapping to do. If Week 9 was for catching up, then Week 10 was all about getting ahead. I knew that in preparation for my marathon (it's tomorrow, 27 March, by the way), that I would need to get some serious miles in. I was hoping to do a 20-mile run or so over the weekend, but I had to settle for 17 miles. Still, it was the farthest distance I've run since I ran the AF Marathon in Sep of 2008, so I was glad I got the distance in. It gave me some confidence that I would be able to actually finish the marathon (though I won't be setting any records while doing it). I also ran with a Camelbak during the race which I won't do during the marathon, but it helped keep me hydrated, and was probably the only reason I was able to do that distance. Overall, I logged more miles in Week 10 than I have in any previous week. The 17-miler helped, but I had 4 other runs that week that were greater than 7 miles, which I felt was adequate leading up to the two-week countdown for the marathon.

The Totals for Week 10 are:
Total Runs Logged: 6
Total Miles: 53.3
Total Time Spent Running: 6 hours, 57 minutes, 3 seconds
Average Pace: 7:49 (min/mile)

I'll do the "as of total" shortly

As for Week 11, I classified it as a tapering week, which if you don't know is when you start cutting back on your running leading up to a race. It is to ensure you aren't over-trained and injury-prone. The reduced running gives your legs, joints, and back a little rest and recovery time which helps lead to improved race-day performance. Truth be told, it was still a decent week of running, and I would have likely hit my 25-mile goal, but Friday after my run, I started feeling really sick, and didn't feel better until the following Monday. I will take that as a sign that my body did not want me to run, and so I didn't. Most of my runs were fairly short this week with the exception of a 9-miler on Wednesday morning. I definitely noticed a slower pace. I'm not sure if that was a result of my bug coming on, the weather, or if my body was just tired from the previous week. The slower pace probably helped, since I won't be going super fast through the marathon, and the slower pace was closer to my goal marathon pace (though that will probably be even slower than I had hoped).

The overall totals for Week 11:
Total Runs Logged: 6
Total Miles: 22.9
Total Time Spent Running: 2:56:44
Average Pace: 7:43 (min/mile)

At the end of Week 11 my new "As Of" totals are:
Total Runs Logged: 55
Total Miles: 341.1
Total Time Spent Running: 43 hours, 5 minutes, 50 seconds
Average Pace: 7:35 (min/mile)

Coming up very soon, I'll be talking about what I did today (26 March). I'll give you a hint if you haven't checked Facebook, it definitely wasn't resting, and probably not the smartest thing to do before a major race. That being said, it was EXTREME!!

Tomorrow's the marathon...I'll be blogging about that (and Week 12's running) very soon.

Week 9 (Catching Up)

With a dismal Week 8 that included absolutely no running, I knew I had some serious work to do in Week 9. Although even after skipping a week of running I was still "ahead" of my 1200 mile goal, I knew I was falling behind. My biggest near-term concern was and still is the Guam Marathon on 27 March. Starting off Week 9, I only had two runs for the year that were greater than 10 miles. Although some people would argue the necessity of really long runs, most people would agree that in preparation for a marathon you do have to get your weekly mileage up and at least a few really long runs in (~20 miles). Well, I was able to do a 13.1 mile run on Saturday which still is only half the distance I'll have to run on the 27th, but it's a step in the right direction. Of course I'm running out of time too, as I can't complete my longest run right before the marathon or I'll be too worn out for the actual race.

Although, my individual runs weren't very long in Week 9, I did manage to increase my mileage. My weekly totals were:
Total Runs Logged: 4
Total Miles: 34.3
Total Time Spent Running: 4:29:26
Average Pace: 7:51

My longer (though not long enough) runs in Week 9 slowed down my pace a little, but that was to be expected. More than anything, I was just glad to be outside and running. At the end of Week 9 my "as of" totals were:
Total Runs Logged: 43
Total Miles: 264.9
Total Time Spent Running: 33:12:03
Average Pace: 7:31

Over the next couple of weeks, I really can't think about my 1200 mile goal. Instead I need to focus on preparing for the marathon. Luckily, preparing for the marathon will help me with my goal, but I need to be smart about my runs. Ordinarily I would run as much as I felt like running with no real goal in mind as long as I was getting at least 25 miles a week. Now, with a challenging run in my very near future I have to be a little more deliberate in my run planning in order to get the maximum benefit from my runs to best prepare me for the 26.2 mile race. If I had planned far enough in advance I'd use a website like this one, but there really isn't that much time. It's not like I'm coming into this marathon completely unprepared, but it's been more than 2 year since my last marathon, and again my longest run over the past several months has only been a half-marathon. I'm not planning on setting a PR (personal record) at this event, just on finishing, so really it's going to come down to mental more than physical determination, and I'm confident that I will finish.

The scary part is, that the marathon isn't the only challenge that week. The details on what else I'll be doing are forthcoming.

Week 8 (a look back)

AKA My Garmin World Adventures...

As I mentioned last week, I didn't do any running, mostly because of the gash in my thumb (doing much better now, though), and I did some serious "catching up" in Week 9. That being said, I thought it would be fun to talk briefly about my Garmin GPS watch which is oh so important in my 2011 goal of running 1200 miles.

I got my Garmin 205 GPS in the fall of 2008 shortly before I deployed to Iraq. As far as GPS watches goes, it's fairly basic (no heart rate monitor, blue tooth, or fancy features that the new models have), but it does everything I need it to do (which is tell me how fast I'm running, how far I've ran, and my average pace). When I upload my runs onto my computer, there is a rather neat feature of "mapping" my run. Google Earth it is not, but the map usually shows you enough to at least tell you approximately where I ran. Take first instance the picture below:

As I said I got my GPS right before I deployed to Iraq. This particular run was a 12-mile ruck march/run that I did January 10, 2009. No the map is sand-colored, but that's just coincidental, and really there isn't much detail, but if you look in the blue line on the upper right of the map you'll see "TIGRIS". The map below was 5-miler I took after I returned to Hurlburt Field. There was an overpass across Highway 98 that would bring you right to the Marina.

Of course, now that I'm living in Guam, the opportunities for travel have increased, and while I go about my goal this year, I thought it would be fun to include GPS maps of my runs in areas that we travel to. The first opportunity for this was Hong Kong:

This 5.5 mile run was right outside my hotel and along the harbor which was quite popular for a lot of runners. What I found most interesting about this run was that according to the map I was running on the water! I imagine it is because Hong Kong has expanded over the year to make room for the booming population. Of course, my trip back to San Antonio, TX was no exception either.

Lackland AFB was great for running not just because of the colder weather in January, but because the base is so big, there was lot of areas to run without having to cover the same ground twice. In this instance I ran 10.2 miles which included running around the hospital, and the parade grounds. Lastly there's Guam, which is where the bulk of my runs occur. The picture below is just one of many, but I am fond of it. It was actually from the 2009 Ko'Ko' Half Marathon and quite accurately depicts me running along the Pacific Ocean for the majority of the run. I am not sure what is going on in the bottom left, though, as I didn't actually run into the water at any point.

So there's a look at some of the runs I've logged on my Garmin GPS watch. Hopefully, as the year progresses and I travel more I'll have the opportunity to add some more interesting maps to my blog. Although the maps are a bit crude, they still give you an idea of where I'm running.