2010-the year in review and some race reports

2010- The year in review

It’s been quite awhile since I’ve posted anything so I thought the year in review would be a great way to play a little catch up. Great things have been going on and I’m happy to say to all my friends who have supported me and www.clydesdalerunningcompany.com that 2010 was a fantastic year! I’m not quite sure how long this will be but you might want to grab a drink and a sandwich….haha!

Some fun (or nerdy statistics):

Races run: 21 (fewest since 2005!)
Ultramarathons: 1 (Big Horn 50k)
Marathons: 5 (PF Changs, Little Rock, Boston, Vermont City and Berlin)
Half Marathons: 9
Races of 10 miles or less: 3 (2 holiday 5 milers and a 10k)
Distance Traveled to run: 31,346 miles
Total mileage covered in races: 336.21 miles


Race of the year: It’s a tough one because the first two races of 2010 were PR’s for me and I’m inclined to say those but the truth of it is the Big Horn Trail 50k wins. Real Berlin Marathon is a close second!

Best Running Experience: Hood to Coast Relay (without a doubt!). The camaraderie with the Honey Bucket Harriers was fantastic despite me only knowing 2 of the other 11 members on the team. If you’ve never done a relay, you should! A fantastic fantastic (yes, 2 of them) experience and one of my top 5 all time running experiences. It was epic!

Least favorite race of the year: A tie between the Joker’s Wild and Corridor Run (both 13.1). In both cases it was brutally hot and I had some issues because of it. I’ll give the slight nod to the Corridor Run because in addition to almost passing out at the finish, I also tweaked a hamstring.

Best finisher’s medal: Without a doubt the Little Rock Marathon medal is the best! It weighed in at 1.5lbs and is larger than a box of thin mint girl scout cookies! A fun race, too! Great Boston prep!!

Most surprising finish: Indy Mini. It wasn’t a PR but I ran about 3 minutes faster than I thought I could despite running the first half of the race in a pretty severe headwind.


Race Recaps (Jan 10 through April 10):

PF Chang’s Rock N Roll Marathon (Phoenix, AZ) 1/17/10- The sole intent on running this race was to try to PR. We were lucky with unusually overcast skies and cooler temps. The start was uneventful and by 3 miles I was in a rhythm. Unfortunately I had a watch issue at mile 5 and slowed for a few minutes to get it fixed. By mile 9 I was starting to feel like I had gone out too hard and the sun popped out of the clouds so it started to warm up a little. We hit a great downhill at mile 11 or so and I knew if I could keep it together and run smart, I’d PR for sure! I slowed my pace around mile 15 or 16 and hoped I wouldn’t see the 4:30 pacer before mile 20. Fortunately my controlled slow down I was able to run fairly consistent splits from 16-22 and I didn’t see the pacer until almost 22. I started to wobble a little at mile 24 but I really didn’t think about the PR for sure until I saw the 26 sign. It was then my left calf cramped! I had to slow a bit more at the 26 mile mark and walk a few feet. I hit the tape in 4:39:00 and grabbed a 3 ½ minute PR. It was pretty interesting as reflecting back, I ran way too conservatively and probably should have run below 4:35. I guess that’s what happens when you’re always trying to go faster….. Post race was funny because I stayed right beside a waffle house. Who knew you could spend $20 there by yourself…..hahah!

Tallahassee Half Marathon (2/7/10). This race starts and finishes on the Florida State campus and is an out and back. The temps were in the upper 30’s and it was an out and back affair. Early on I went out way too hard and was sure I’d pay for it later. My planned 2:09 would have been a 2 minute PR and by half way I was on pace for just over 2:07. I kept telling myself to slow down but I just couldn’t do it. Miles 7-10 were a blur for me and by mile 11 I knew so long as I didn’t cramp or lose it mentally, I’d set a new PR by a ton. I slowed just a little for miles 10-12 but not significantly so. At 20k I lost focus for about 15 seconds and actually started to walk. I quickly got mad at myself and realized I needed to get after it because we were going sub 2:08. I entered the stadium for the final 300 meters and decided I had an outside shot at sub 2:07! At that point I forgot completely about how I was feeling and began to push the pace. According to my garmin, I ran the final .11 in a 7:46 pace and from looking at the website, the woman I passed at the 13 mile mark finished 12 or so seconds behind me (gun time). As my coach later said, “big man’s got some giddy up.” The PR was sub 2:07 and almost 4 minutes faster than I’d run previously!!

Little Rock Marathon (3/7/10): This was done as a long run with no taper and 8 miles of speed work 5 days before. I could definitely tell early that it needed to be a little slower than my normal pace. A rolling course and surpisingly a fun city! By mile 10 I was a few minutes slower than I wanted to be and by 15 I wanted to be done. I pushed through and completely ran out of gas on a hill at mile 23. I limped it home some 13 minutes slower than PF Chang’s but I was pretty happy because it was on a much harder course ( a great course to get ready for Boston!!) with not fresh legs! The finisher’s medal is awesome and this should be a race everyone does. I had a great weekend in Little Rock!!

Boston Marahton (4/19/10): My second Boston and another opportunity to raise money for Dana-Farber Cancer Institute. I almost was a non-finisher in my 2008 version of this race and I.T. band issues caused me to miss the big mileage weeks before the taper. It was really unfortunate because before the injury, I knew I was ready to run it and even have a PR type of day. I had to reset my goals and wanted to run 4:45-4:50 but wasn’t going to push it and risk further injury. The day was just about perfect! Temps were great and no headwind! The goal was to start out on the downhills and run the entire first 10k to heart rate rather than speed. I had forgotten how rolling the course was and the uphill sections of the first 10k nearly did me in. I never wavered from the goal and hit my first 15k with relatively even 5k splits. I started to struggle around mile 11 but the Wellesley girls at 20k brought me back to life as we ran through the scream tunnel! I kept telling myself to save something for the Newton hills from 17-21 and if I had anything left, try to run up heartbreak hill. By the third hill, I was pretty much done and I had really nothing left to run up heartbreak hill at 21. When I looked at my watch at 21, I knew 4:45 or even 4:50 wasn’t going to happen but I needed to push to salvage a decent finish (for me). By 24 I was hurting big time and my right hip was killing me. I didn’t worry about any injury because I had to keep pushing! By the left turn on Boylston, I knew I’d be sub 5 and actually stopped to talk to my friend Sarah who was spectating at the race. One of the coolest running experiences is the last third of a mile on Boylston. It’s a slight downhill to the finish with barricades on both sides of the 4 lane road. People were several deep on both sides and it felt as if they were all cheering for me. I slowed quite a bit to drink in all of the scene and as people encouraged me to pick it up, I smiled because I knew being in that moment would be one I would cherish forever! I didn’t want it to end! I hit the finish line about 70 minutes faster than I had done it in 2008 and felt far better! It was a fantastic day and not only did we have fun, we also raised $4.5 million for innovative cancer research!

The rest of 2010 coming soon!