Race Recap: Rock 'n' Roll USA Marathon

2012 had gotten off to a slow start for me. A plantar fascia injury meant a reduction in my training and not starting in two races I had signed up to do in February. It was definitely not the way I wanted to start off the year, but that's running. Things happen sometimes and you have to respect your body, or you're asking for trouble.

Sitting out my first two races of the year meant that the Rock 'n' Roll (RnR) USA Marathon in Washington, DC would be my first test. Not racing in February was a smart decision and enable me to focus solely on my training and conditioning so I would be ready for RnR. Thankfully, my foot got better and my long runs were positive. So positive, in fact, that I thought I might be able to better my marathon PR I set back back in October at the Marine Corps Marathon (3:49:10).

As race day approach, I noticed I was bit more nervous and anxious then usual. Even though my foot was feeling a lot better, it was definitely still a concern of mine. In addition to RnR being a home race for me, it was going to be the 26th time I would be toeing the line for the 26.2 mile trek. To most people, the number 26 means nothing. To a marathoner, it means everything. So, being my 26th marathon, it had a little extra meaning to me.

Finally, race day morning was here and I was ready to go! After hanging out with some of my friends from my running club, I headed to my start corral. 7 minutes after the gun went off, it was time for my corral wave to be unleashed onto the course.

The forecast called for temperatures to be near 70 around the time I expected to finish, but that didn't worry me much. However, something I didn't take into account was the humidity level. Being mid-March, humidity didn't cross my mind. One mile in, it was abundantly clear to me that the amount of moisture in the air was high. I made a mental note to be sure to drink a little extra at each aid station.

I started the race off at a 8:50 mile pace. My strategy was to ease my mile splits to an 8:30 by the halfway point. Having run this marathon in the past, I was very familiar with the course and used this to my advantage. Besides sweating like crazy, this first half of the race went well for me. I had reached my intermediate goal of running 8:30 splits by the halfway point, but now the real race began.

Mile 15: My splits were down to 8:20. I felt that this was a bit too fast at this point in the race. Yet, mile after mile, I found myself holding steady at this pace...so, I decided to go with it. At mile 20, I was still feeling pretty good, but the temperature was starting to affect me. Over the last couple of aid stations, I was dumping water over my head to keep cool, but a lack of shade meant it didn't take long for me to heat back up.

As I started mile 22, I felt myself starting to lose the wind in my sails. I wouldn't go so far to say that I was hitting a wall, but I could feel that my pace was slowing.

Mile 21: 8:22
Mile 22: 8:34
Mile 23: 8:36
Mile 24: 8:50
Mile 25: 8:52

Things were not going well and I felt my PR goal was in jeopardy. Then, I bumped into a fellow coach at mile 24 that provided me with some much needed encouragement (thanks Kyle!). We ran together for a bit and his support was much appreciated. After crossing the mile 25 mark, I looked at my watch and realized all was not lost. I was still under my PR pace. While this came as a relief, I knew I needed to keep pushing to ensure I didn't lose anymore time.

Most non-runners would think after running 25 miles, how hard could it be to run one more? Let me assure you, mile 26, especially when you're hurting like hell, is a real bitch. Yet, when you are so close to your goal and the finish line, you find some underlying strength you didn't know you had.

Mile 26 - 8:23
Mile 26.2 - 3:47:51 and a new PR!

As soon as I crossed the finish line, my left quad locked up and greeted me with a friendly dose of pain. I was about to drop to the ground (stupidly) when Kyle came up to me and told me to keep walking. Eventually my quad loosened up and after pouring an icy cold bottle of water over my head, I finally began to relish my PR!

My 26th marathon will certainly be a memorable one! This race gave me a much needed boost of confidence. I have a couple more marathons lined up this spring, but I have no intentions of trying to best my PR at either of them. I'm a bit of marathon maniac and enjoy immersing myself in the marathon atmosphere as much as I can! My next marathon, the Blue Ridge Marathon, claims on their website to be "America's Toughest Road Marathon" with it's 7,200 feet of elevation change! Looking forward to the challenge!

Cheers!
Doug

Garmin Upload

Twitter Road Race - Spring Edition

Thanks to everyone that participated in the inaugural Twitter Road Race! It was great to see runners from 14 countries come together and run in the TRR! After recieveing so many great comments about the first TRR, how could I not host another one?!?!

So, with the winter/inaugural TRR in the books, I'm happy to announce that the spring TRR is going to be held on Saturday, April 28th!  If you ran in the winter TRR, you know the drill. For those of you that are new to virtual racing, here's how it works:

On race day...
1) Head out your door.
2) Run a 5K.
3) Post your time on the finishers form that will be posted on my blog.
4) Tweet about your race experience using the hashtag #TwitterRoadRace.

To be counted as an official finisher, you MUST enter your time on the finishers form by 11:59PM Hawaiian-Aleutian Standard Time (HAST) on race day. No time. No result.

New for this race...
1) There will be a race t-shirt option! Stay tuned for ordering instructions!
2) I'm also considering a charity option for this race. More details to follow!

So, you want in? Click here to register! Be sure to spread the word about this race using the hashtag #TwitterRoadRace. There were 376 finishers in the first race. Let's top that for the spring TRR!

Doug
@seedouglasrun

Twitter Road Race - 5K Race Report

First and foremost, thank you for all your kind words about the Twitter Road Race! They've meant so much to me! I'm so glad everyone had as much fun as I did!

When I came up with the idea of organizing the TRR, I had no clue what I was getting myself into. I thought 50, maybe 100 runners, would be interested in running in this event. Yet, on January 21st, 376 runners from 14 countries laced up their running shoes, picked their own starting line, and ran in a global 5K!

As runners, I believe we are a special breed and the energy and motivation we provide each other is contagious! We are part of one big family and I think the TRR brought that to the surface! My eyes were glued non-stop to the #TwitterRoadRace trend on race day. Your tweets had me smiling ear to ear! Thank you so much for making this race possible! You rock!

I had not run in, let alone hosted a virtual run. So, this whole experience was quite unique and challenging for me. My anxiety levels were certainly a bit high throughout the race weekend! My biggest concern was making sure that the form I created for you all to enter your time worked correctly. Thankfully, Google has an extremely user friendly system that helped me design the entry and finisher's forms with relative ease. Albiet a few hiccups, I was incredibly pleased with how smoothly everything went!

The thing I loved most about the TRR was that although we ran in the same race, that's where the similarities ended! Some of us had beautiful weather to run in. Others had to contend with snow, sleet, and ice. Some took to the roads and trails. Others ran on a treadmill. Whatever the case may be, at the end of the day, we all ran the race together!

Over the past few days, I've been reading so many great blogs and tweets about your TRR experiences! Keep them coming!!! I have to give a special shout out to TRR runner, @KCtoCapeCod. I think after you read her blog about her TRR, you'll see why it's one of my favorites! Awesome run!!!

Congratulations TRR finishers! You were all part of something real special! Also, congratulations to our overall male winner, @ThinkPlanRun and our overall female winner, @legalmindtrap! Way to go!!! If you have not seen the results, they can be viewed here. Last, @hellomisspotter designed a downloadable Finishers Certificate for all that would like one!

Thanks again for making this race a reality!

Happy running!
@seedouglasrun

PS
There will be more Twitter Road Races in the future! I'll we be posting another blog soon revealing the next race date!

Running Year in Review: 2011

As 2011 comes to a close and I begin to reflect, I can't stop smiling ear to ear. 2011 was a year of PRs and without a doubt, my most successful since I started running.

Certainly, the highlight of 2011 was running in my first ultra in May, the Mind the Ducks 12 Hour. I did some of the most intense training I had ever done in months leading up to the ultra. I was averaging about 20 to 25 miles during the weekdays and 20+ mile long runs on the weekends.

Since most of my long runs were near the marathon distance, I decided to use marathons as part of my training. I figured I might as well have the on course aid/support instead of running solo. To my surprise, I found 5 marathons within the span of 6 weeks that were all very close to me.

So, in late February, I kicked off my "training run" marathons running in my club's annual marathon. Then, in March, I ran in a marathon every weekend. I had a blast running in each event! Some were big cities races, like the National Marathon in DC. Others were small town races (my personal favorite) like the Lower Potomac River Marathon in Piney Point, Maryland.

I'm always amazed with how quickly our bodies adapt to the stresses we introduce to it. Each time I toed the start line, my body felt fresh and ready to take on the distance. That gave me a lot of much needed confidence going into my first ultra. Below were my times from the marathons.

2/20/11 - GW Birthday Marathon - 3:57:41 (PR)
3/06/11 - B&A Trail* Marathon - 4:05:06
3/13/11 - Lower Potomac River Marathon - 4:01:58
3/20/11 - Shamrock Marathon - 3:54:20 (reset PR)
3/26/11 - National Marathon - 3:55:59
*The trail was a paved bike trail.

April was a taper month. No races...just easy training runs in the beautiful spring weather. As the day of my ultra drew closer, there was a mix of excitement and fear. Running into the unknown is scary as much as it is a thrill for me. Having said that, my first ultra was an amazing experience! Over the course of the 12 hours, I covered 59.5 miles! I couldn't believe it! If you would like to read about it, check out my race recap blog: Mind the Ducks 12 Hour.

A month after my ultra, I ran in my first trail marathon. The day before the race, I got to meet one of my running idols, Dean Karnazes! The trail marathon was a very humbling experience for me. I had not trained much on trails leading up to the race, but I figured my road marathon conditioning would be sufficient. Boy was I wrong. The course chewed me up and spit me out (luckily near the finish line!). Trail running is a totally different beast and I learned that the hard way. Following my trail marathon, I toned down my training.

During the mid-summer heat of July, for reasons beyond me, I thought it would be "fun" to run in a 6 hour ultra in Annapolis, MD. I have one word for how that race went: disastrous. 3 hours in, I was 5 pounds under my start weight. The concerned looks I was getting from the medics at the aid tent were not very reassuring for me. While I was still within the tolerances of acceptable weight loss, I was on the verge of being pulled out of the race by the officials. Before I let that happen, I went over to the starters table and voluntarily dropped out. It was not an easy decision, but it was the right one.

As summer turned to fall, I began to focus on my goal of PRing at the Marine Corps Marathon in late October. About a month prior to the MCM, I ran in the Woodrow Wilson Half Marathon, resetting my half marathon PR by almost 2 minutes!

The MCM is a great event and I was excited to run in my "home" marathon. I had a race plan going in and stuck to it. 3 hours 49 minutes and 10 seconds later I crossed the finish line, shaving 5 minutes off my previous PR!

After the MCM, it was off to sunny Southern California in November to try my hands, errr feet, at another trail marathon on Catalina Island. In preparation for this race, I did a lot of trail running out in the gorgeous Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia (I highly recommend checking that area out if you live nearby). On race day, the running gods had other plans. During the overnight hours, a heavy rain storm hit Catalina Island, flooding most of the course. For safety reasons, the race director changed the course which meant this race became about a 60% road - 40% trail race. It was a shame that I didn't get to run the official race course, but better to change the course then to cancel the race completely.

Over Thanksgiving, I traveled to my hometown of Newburgh, IN and ran in a Turkey Trot 5K. Two good friends of mine joined me, both first time 5Kers. Having the company was nice and it was great to see my friends run in their first 5K!

To cap off my 2011 running season, I ran in a 10K put on by my running club. The race went well and I locked up my last PR of the year, running a 43:52. The real highlight for this race was that I finished in the top ten overall and won my age group! It had been years since my last age group win, so I was pumped!

Looking ahead to 2012, my race calendar is filling up fast! I can't wait to get the new year kicked off!

Happy New Year and Happy Running!

Cheers,
Doug

Twitter Road Race

If you're like me, you're always trying to find a way to keep running fresh. You run a different route. You hit the trails instead of the road. You run in the morning instead of the evening. You join a running group. The list goes on and on.

I got to thinking about how it would be fun to combine the camaraderie of road racing with the powers of Twitter...a Twitter road race!

Thanks to everyone's amazing feedback on Twitter, the race is on! Those that are interested in participating can register here. The Inaugural Twitter Road Race is going to be held on Saturday, January 21st. Race distance is a 5K.

So, what do you do on race day? Simple, head out the door and run the race distance! Choose which ever route you want. You get to decide how easy or hard the course is.

When you finish, there will be a form similar to the one you used to register where you can record your finishing time. I will post that form as race day nears. To be classified as an "official" finisher, you MUST submit your time by 11:59 PM Hawaiian Time (to accommodate runners in all time zones) on the day of the race. Also, don't forget to tweet about your run using the hashtag #TwitterRoadRace so everyone can read how you did!

I will post the results within 24 hours.

The goal of this race is to create a new and fun way to connect with all the awesome runners on Twitter. It's a way for us all to run together even though we might live on separate sides of the country...or as I've begun to notice, the world!

I welcome any and all comments/suggestions for this race. Please spread the word to all your followers on Twitter! I'm leaning on you guys to help get this race trending! Don't forget to use #TwitterRoadRace when you tweet!

You guys rock! Can't wait for January 21st! Happy running!

Doug
@seedouglasrun

Runs for Dad

I often write about how running has given me the ability to connect with my dad in ways I had never been able to before. However, something I don't write about much is how I lost my dad. I don't speak of his death often because it's something that happened a long time ago. On November 27th, 1997, which happened to be Thanksgiving Day that year, my dad died in a car accident. Since that day, life has never been the same for me, my mom, or my two older brothers and older sister.

Being only 12 at the time, I didn't really know how to handle the whole thing. To me, my dad was invincible. Nothing bad could ever happen to him. So, trying to comprehend that he was gone didn't add up...it didn't make sense.

Following his death, I experienced so many different emotions. Sadness led to confusion. Confusion led to anger. Anger led to denial. Denial led to acceptance. I missed my dad terribly, but rather than talk to anyone about it, I bottled up my emotions. I thought I could work it out on my own.

As I progressed through middle school, high school and onto college, my heart was always heavy. I thought of my dad often. Not having him around was hard to get use to. In fact, I don't think I have ever gotten use to it. Rather, I have learned how to live in his absence.

Eventually, I hit my breaking point. My bottled up emotions were like a ticking time bomb.... and 8 years after my dad passed, it finally went off. I remember calling my mom one night and breaking down. Many times before she had suggested I see a therapist, but I was stubborn and would always reject the idea. However, when I spoke to her that night, I told her it was time for me to see someone.

To my surprise, I found my therapy sessions to be very helpful. I was certainly feeling a lot better, but I could tell something inside still didn't feel right. I still was missing that connection to my dad. Some people say they see signs and swear that it is the deceased speaking to them. I, on the other hand, had never experienced anything like that.

In the spring of 2007, I started running. I didn't start running because I thought it would help me connect with my dad. Instead, I started running because I was horribly out of shape. Once I started running, it didn't take long for me to sign up for my first 5K and after finishing that 5K, I was hooked! I started signing up for every race I could find. 5Ks led to 15Ks, and 15Ks led to my first half marathon.

My first half marathon in the fall of 2007 is a race I will never forget because it's when I had my first "encounter" with my dad. I had just crossed the 6 mile mark and was running under a beautiful canopy of trees. Between the tree branches, I could see the brilliant blue sky. I was taken away by the beauty and in that moment, I truely felt my dad's presence with me. After 10 long years, we were finally reunited and to say the least, it was an awesome feeling. I looked skyward again, smiled, and said, "Hey Dad."

So, here I am now, 4 years later, still running and having the time of my life. I've lost count of the times I've run into my dad (no pun intended) while I'm out running. It doesn't even have to be in race. Sometimes during a training run I feel him running right next to me. Perhaps he's training with me as we prepare for our next race?

My encounters with him usually don't last very long. Most times, only for a couple of minutes. But, during that moment in time, it's an incredible feeling. I never know when he is going to show up, but when he does, he certainly lets me know!

It's hard to express in words how grateful I am to have my dad with me when I'm running. He provides me the strength and courage I need to achieve my goals. Earlier this year, I decided I wanted to do something for him to say thank you. Since running is my connection to him, it only made sense to do some special runs for him. I knew I was going to be in my hometown of Newburgh, Indiana for Thanksgiving. So, I decided the first of my two planned "Runs for Dad" would happen then. My second planned run would be on his birthday, December 8th.

Before I speak about my Thanksgiving run, I need to backtrack to November 2010 and the last 365 yards of the New York City Marathon. I was lucky to get into the NYC Marathon on my 2nd attempt using their lottery system. As excited as I was to be running in the NYC Marathon, I did not have a good day on the course. I started out too fast and was bonking by mile 18. Not good. The last 8 miles were extremely slow and painful. As the finish line came into view, I was overcome with the sensation of my dad's presence. It was almost as if he was behind me, pushing me in the back to make sure I got over that finish line.

I'm not quite sure why my encounter with him at the NYC Marathon has stuck with me the most. Perhaps it's because my dad grew up not too far from NYC on Long Island? Whatever the reason, that race holds a special place in my heart.

So, for my run in Indiana, I decided I wanted to run from downtown Newburgh to my dad's headstone in Evansville, IN, a distance of about 17 miles - My route. My starting point in Newburgh was the head of a nature trail that my dad use to take me, my mom and my brothers and sister for nature walks. I remember during one of our nature walks, my dad carved our names into a tree. While I couldn't find that tree, I started as close to where I thought it was. I chose to finish at my dad's headstone because I wanted to give him something, my New York City Marathon finisher's medal. 

It was a great feeling to be able to finally present my dad with this special medal. This medal represents more than crossing the finish line in Central Park. It represents the special bond I have with my dad each time I run. I'm glad it finally has a home.

Upon returning to Washington, I began to look forward to my second run. December 8th, 2011 would of been my dad's 58th birthday. To honor him, I decided I would run 58 kilometers, or 36 miles. As December 8th approached, the weather had me a bit worried. The 7th was a miserably cold and rainy day. Certainly not great running weather. When I went to bed that night, I could still hear the rain falling. However, when I awoke on the 8th, the clouds had parted and all I could see were blue skies.

I rarely use the word perfect, mostly because I think everyone has their own definition of what perfection is. However, December 8th was a perfect day. I headed out the door and began what would be the 2nd longest run of my life.

For this run, I wanted to show my dad some of my favorite places in DC. Our first stop was in historic Old Town Alexandria. Running past all the docked boats in Old Town's waterfront reminded me of the early mornings my dad use to take me to Newburgh's boat landing to watch people launch their boats. I would beg him to buy me a boat each time we went.

My second stop along the way was Reagan National Airport. My dad knew how much I loved planes. Each time he would return home from a business trip, he would give me the peanuts he got on the plane. It would make my day! One Christmas, Dad, errr Santa, got me an international airport playset. We have a family video of me opening it and you should have seen the excitement in my eyes as well as my dad's.

From the airport, we continued up to one of my favorite parts of Washington, Georgetown. Dad and I ran along the towpath of the C&O Canal. From Georgetown, we ran past the historic Watergate complex and the beautiful Kennedy Center.

Next, we ran around Hains Point and then over to Washington's Waterfront. From the Waterfront, we cut over to Pennsylvania Avenue and then up East Capitol Street. Once we reached the Capitol, we had a little over 4 miles to go.

At this point, my leg were pretty shot, but there were a few more places I wanted to show Dad. From the Capitol, we headed down Madison Drive and cut over to Constitution Avenue. There was a certain point along Constitution where we could see the White House on our right and The Monument on our left.

From Constitution Ave, we ran around the backside of the Lincoln Memorial. From the Lincoln Memorial, we headed back towards The Monument and the National Mall. By this time, the sun was low in the west and was casting an amazing array of colors on The Monument and the Capitol's dome. It was an incredible sight!

Running along the gravel path on the National Mall, Dad and I hit the 58K mark. While our journey had ended for the day, our bond will last forever.

Love you Dad.

Our run

One of my favorite pictures of Dad and I

Race Recap: Catalina Eco Marathon

In June, I ran my first trail race and after I finished, I was eager to sign up for my next trail run. Enter: the Catalina Eco Marathon on Catalina Island in Southern California. The location for the race was ideal because my brother as well as some of my relatives live in the Santa Monica area. So, in addition to running in the race, I had a chance to catch up with my family. My mom decided to come out as well, so it was quite the gathering!

The race started at 8am which gave me, my bro and mom enough time to catch the 6:15am boat from Long Beach to Catalina. Such is my luck, the only rainy day the whole time I was in Cali was on race day. The poor weather also made for an "interesting" boat ride to Catalina. The ride was about an hour long and the first half went smoothly. However, as we neared the island, the water got rougher and the boat started tossing and turning. I've never thought sea sickness was a problem for me, but the coffee and Clif Bar I had earlier started to yell at me in protest.

Somehow I made it to the dock without getting sick, but I can't say the same for my brother (I later heard the ocean swells were about 9 feet!). By the time I got off the boat, I was left with only 30 minutes till race start and I still felt pretty queazy. I quickly hustled over to the packet pickup to drop off my bag and get my bib. By the time I pinned my bib on and headed to the start line, the race was only minutes from starting.

I had received an email the day before the race from the race directors stating that they might change the course due to the inclement weather. However, as far as I knew when the race started, we were running the planned course.

For this marathon, I had no time/pace goal. Since I knew this was going to be a hilly race, I let the course dictate my pace. I was there to enjoy the sights and I stopped frequently during the run to snap pictures on my phone.

 Race Start

Luckily, my stomach had settled down by the time the race began. The first 4 miles were more or less uphill the whole way. By the time I had reached mile 4, I was 1,500 feet above sea level. Due to the low clouds that were hanging over the island, I was running in near white out conditions!

...and here's a video I took while running in the clouds: http://www.twitvid.com/WUUZI

When I hit mile 6, the course transitioned from trail to road. I was hoping that this was just going to be a short section of road that would quickly turn back to trail, but as the miles continued and the posted mile boards were replaced by oranges cones & mile marks spray painted on the road, I realized that the course had in fact changed. If an announcement was made pre-race about the course change, I had missed it. I was bummed that I was not going to run the advertised course, but understood that for the safety of me and my fellow runners, it's what needed to be done. Better to change the course then cancel the race.

It was evident from the mile markers on the other side of the road that the changed course was now an out & back. It was another bummer as I'm not a fan of out & back courses. On the plus side, the clouds began to lift and I was finally starting to see the sights I had traveled all the way from Washington to see.

Here are some of the pictures I took.

During the 12th mile, the course entered the grounds of the Catalina Airport. As I continued through the airport, I neared an aid station and saw the turn around sign. Looking at my watch, I still had at least a good half mile to go before I should of hit the turn around. I asked the volunteers if this was the halfway point and they assured me it was. Part of me still didn't want to believe that this was right, but when reached the mile 14 mark with 13 miles registered on my watch, I realized that the new course was unfortunately measured incorrectly. Another bummer.

Catalina Airport - Elevation 1602

Airport terminal. The white sign on the second level says, "Airport In The Sky"

The middle part of the race was a mix of rolling hills. All and all, I was feeling good. Since I had spent most of the first half of the race to stopping to take pictures, I decided to get into more of a rhythm and lay down some faster miles.

When I reached the mile 20 mark (or 19), I was back on the portion of the course that was trails. I knew that soon I'd be facing a 1,500 foot decent down to the finish line. I had burned my quads up a bit by running faster and some recent hills hadn't helped the cause. As I suspected, the decent was pretty tough on my quads. I tried to keep a steady pace on the down hill, but my legs wouldn't let me. It was frustrating.

Fortunately, the grade of the decent lessened in the last couple of miles and I was able to up my pace again. As I neared the finish line, I saw my mom and bro off to the side cheering me on. As I approached the finish line, I did something I'd always wanted to do when finishing a marathon... I crossed the finish line running backwards.

Unbeknown to me, my mom took a video of me finishing: http://www.twitvid.com/9EWKQ

The official distance was 25 miles, just shy of the marathon distance. Ironically, my first trail marathon course was long by about 1.5 miles... so I guess I broke even!

The Catalina Eco Marathon was like none other. I still wish I could have run the original course, but the last minute course change still provided me with some amazing views! I guess I'll have to come back next year and run this race again!

A big thanks to my mom and bro for braving the nasty weather on Catalina to support me. It was great to have them there. I'm so grateful for all the love and support they and the rest of my family give me!

My Garmin Upload

Race Stats
Time: 4:10:05 @ 9:55 min/mile avg.
44th of out 195 overall
6th of out 11th in age group (25-29)