Rock n Roll San Diego Marathon Comeback: Still a lot of work to do

I had every intention to update this blog on my journey to run a marathon for the first time in 7 years. I really should have written an in-depth analysis of each long run I had leading up to the race. I've had a string of injuries and a long-time hamstring injury that now, after 7 years, is "mostly" gone.

On June 1, 2014 I ran my first marathon since June of 2007 at the Rock n Roll San Diego Marathon. Ironically I was returning to the last marathon I ran 7 years previously (and my fastest marathon time posted). It was a long 7 years without marathon running in my life. In 2013 I started to train in late March to try to squeeze in the Rock n Roll Marathon, but after a horrendous 20-mile training run in mid-May, I scrapped my plans to run it. I wasn't ready. I knew it would be a struggle and I knew I would be unhappy with my result. So I just didn't do it and focused on a possible winter 2014 marathon. Then when it came time to train in the fall, I decided to just wait until spring 2014 and I made plans to run RnR in June here in San Diego.

I may not have been ready to run the RnR Marathon this year either. But, I did complete the race, just not in the time I wanted. So here goes. This is my story and analysis of what went wrong and how I can learn from it.

Leading up to this race, I was able to several long runs of 14+ miles. I started tracking my training in January and began doing my long runs on the weekends. I started out with 8 and 9 mile runs by mid-January. By Feb I was up to 10 & 11 milers. In March I really turned the training up with a 14 and 15 mile run. My paces, according to my Nike + on my iPod, said I did those runs at close to 7:00 per mile pace, just under at 6:57 in fact. I never doubted the accuracy of the Nike application. I had calibrated it in February so I thought it was the truth. I felt strong. I felt confident. (FORESHADOWING HERE).

April 5, a 19 mile run at 7:07 pace in the sun. I felt decent. Everything was going my way. I never doubted anything. I felt I could sustain my pacing. I followed that run with an 18.5 mile run on April 12 at 7:09 pace, again in the sun. April 19, a 20-mile run at 7:03 pace. Things were looking up. My goal was to do at least 2 runs at 20+ miles. Ideally I wanted 4 but I didn't want to push it too much. It was my first marathon in 7 years. I wanted to make it to the starting line.

Here are the final long runs I did in the training cycle:
April 26: 14.6 miles at 7:03 pace
May 3: 18.69 miles at 7:09 pace
May 9: 22.1 miles at 7:01 pace (FINAL LONG RUN)
May 17: 17.07 miles at 6:55 pace
May 24: 14.06 miles at 6:50 pace

Based on my training, I felt I had this marathon in the bag. My original goal was to just run anything under 3:10:00, my Boston Marathon qualifying time for a male 35-39 years old. I'm 38 now. I figured that I could easily get under 3:10 but I was really training for a 2:59 (my secret goal) so I would have some cushion should anything go wrong in the race. I felt that if I could hold the paces I had during training, I could go a little faster (6:50 pace) in the race and possibly toy with another sub-3 hour marathon. I have done it twice in my marathon career.

SIDENOTE:  The first time was at the 2006 Boston Marathon where I ran the race of my life and finished at 2:59:07. Then, the next year at the Rock n Roll San Diego Marathon I ran another PR with a 2:57:41 finish. I was on fire those years. Then I got injured in Dec 2007 playing tennis and tearing my right hamstring badly. All bets were off. Off and on PT sessions and I sat 7 years on the sidelines without running another marathon until 2014. I missed the best marathoning years of my life (ages 32-37). 

MARATHON SUNDAY - June 1, 2014

FIRST HALF
Miles 1-6: I purposely didn't run too fast in those early miles when it's so easy to do so. Everyone is pumped and full of adrenaline. I wanted to stay EXACTLY on a 1:30:00 pace for the first half. I wanted to to have enough juice for the second half. These miles go from Balboa Park up through Hillcrest, down Park Blvd to downtown. Then it crosses through Little Italy (a few inclines). I crossed the 10K split at 42:24 (6:49 pace). Right on target.

Miles 6-13: I kept plugging along. There definitely were some minor hills here and other inclines I didn't expect. Through Little Italy after the 10K I definitely felt these. I also felt like I was sweating a lot more than normal. I was drinking the bottle I had around my waist and grabbed water at the stations every 2 miles.

Around mile 7-8 we entered Mission Hills and another small incline. I decided to take one of the GU gels they were handing out. Just in case. We made our way through Old Town (more inclines), then along Morena Blvd adjacent to Mission Bay Park. I knew the half-way point was along the bike course in Mission Bay Park. So in order to get over there we had to cross a bridge over the 5 freeway around mile 11 that also was a minor hill. I took my Cliff shot bloks here with water. Actually my bottle fell so I had to stop and grab it. My goal was to get to the half marathon by 1:30. I crossed at 1:30:18, 6:53 pace! RIGHT ON PACE!

Miles 14-20: Once I passed mile 14 I knew trying for a sub-3 hour marathon was out of the question. I was already fatigued, but I felt like I had some room to slow and not blow my chances at at least the sub 3:10:00. I kept moving and just focused on staying within distance and keeping a cushion. Miles 17-19 were definitely challenging me. I fought and fought and tried not to slow down. Before we went onto the 163 and faced the MAJOR hill, there was a minor hill in that we had to go across a bridge to get to the other side of the 5 during the last part of mile 19. I didn't like this at all. We were on the freeway now and mile 20 was right in front of me. I crossed mile 20 at 2:21:42, a 7:05 pace overall.

My actual time from crossing the half marathon split to mile 20 was 51:24 (6.89 miles at 7:27 pace). So I did slow down considerably from my first half pace. If I held this pace I would finish at 3:06-3:07 and change. I knew I would lose a few minutes on the hill though. It was going to be close. The sun also came out right as I was getting onto the freeway. Great.

Miles 20-21: I knew going in that the race had this MAJOR hill from mile 20-21. I figured it was less than a mile and I didn't think it was going to be that bad. I even drove on it in the days before since it was on the northbound side of the 163 freeway. It seemed gradual but I really couldn't assess the true nature of it.

I am going to say this now and I honestly believe it's the truth. This was the most difficult hill of ANY race I have EVER run in my ENTIRE LIFE. Period. Having this hill at this stage of a marathon is absolutely INSANE. Since I have run Boston Marathon 4 times, I honestly believe RnR is MORE DIFFICULT. This hill is EXACTLY 1 mile long with no breaks, all incline. There are no areas where the hill levels off and then continues to ascend. On Boston Marathon's Heartbreak Hill, there are areas where you have breaks of flatness. Not on this one.

I tried my hardest to NOT WALK. I made it about 3/4 of the way up and I just felt I needed to walk in order to save myself from collapse. I walked about 30 seconds and then ran the rest of the way up. The hill ended with the on ramp to get to Hillcrest and University Avenue on 10th ave. I had nothing left. As I crossed mile 21, I looked at the clock and determined I needed to run 7:40 pace the rest of the race (5.2 miles) to just squeak by with a sub 3:10:00 and a Boston Marathon qualifying time. Given the state of my body and my mind I knew odds were against me. I tried though.

Miles 22-24: As I crossed mile 22 I looked at the clock and I knew I wasn't going to break 3:10:00. I kept thinking about the 163 hill and how truly devastating it was. I was becoming extremely thirsty since the sun was out in full force now. This isn't how I wanted this marathon to end. At this point I was toying with the idea of walking the rest in. But I still wanted to post a decent time. I just didn't know if it was worth it to kill myself since I knew I wasn't going to finish under 3:10:00. I ended up walking portions of mile 22 and 23. I tried to walk only 20-30 second spurts. I only did this a few times per mile. As we made our way through Morley field, yet another hill. Not fun. Then finally we were on Pershing and I knew mile 24 was at the top of that hill. I decided I would run the rest of the race in (as much as I could). I flew painfully down Pershing and as it flattened out I walked again for 20 seconds. I then forced myself to run.

Miles 25-26.2: My legs were completely shot. It was painful to move. I could barely run but I ran. I just wanted to be done with it. I wanted to eat the pecan roll my good friend Alex promised she would bring to me at the finish line. I felt disappointed that all this training resulted in a sub-par performance. As I made my way down the final stretch I saw the clock read 3:18 something. I ran as hard as I could to stay within the 3:18 minute and finished at 3:18:52. It was my 4th slowest time out of the 11 marathons I have run since 2001. I finished 159th overall out of 5400 runners. Not bad, but I've certainly done better.

Finish line delirium: After I crossed the finish line I bent over to stretch my hamstrings, which felt awful and like I had lead in my blood. I had so much pain in my legs. I actually sat on the ground for a moment to catch my breath. I was not in a good state. I got back up since I was determined to find Alex and Jason who were waiting for me somewhere in the family meeting area. I told them to go to the "B" section and to expect me around 3 hours after the race started. So I was a little off. I then became very lightheaded.

A half marathon finisher girl asked me if I was ok. I could barely answer her. I told her I was dizzy and needed to sit down. I was stumbling as I walked, almost like a drunk, but a medicated drunk. She got someone from the medical tent to come over and I was wheeled into the tent. I was there for the next hour. They gave me Gatorade with added salt (disgusting!!), ice bags and told me to put my feet up on a box whileI laid in the cot. After the dizziness was mostly gone the next task was to be able to stand up. It took me 15 min to be able to do that. I then had to lay back down again and start over again. Finally I decided to leave and try to walk it off. I found Alex and Jason, who were miraculously waiting in the Family Reunion section. The walk out of the finish area to that section felt longer than the actual marathon itself! I bit into the pecan roll (despite not having much of an appetite).

Marathon Post-Mortem: When I looked at my Nike+ tracker on my iPod it said I ran 28 miles instead of 26.2. This meant that all of my runs using that application were inaccurate. This meant that it said I was running faster then I really was. This wasn't good. This wasn't good at all. I was led to believe I was in better shape than I actually was. All those "7:03" paced training runs were actually a lot slower. I have determined the pace was most likely off by at least 20-30 seconds per mile. I can't quite nail it down. Regardless, if I had had an accurate training device, I may have approached the race differently.

I have a few options if I still want to qualify for the 2015 Boston Marathon.

Option 1: Run another marathon before registration begins in mid-September for the Boston Marathon. That means I need to run a full marathon in under 3:10:00. I have found one race in Ventura, CA. The Ventura Marathon on Sept 7. The course is relatively flat from what I have read and there should be good coastal fog and cloud cover up there. I would basically start formalized training in late June through Sept. That means an additional 8 weeks of training. I'll probably need to build up to another 20+ mile run, maybe 2. It's a short time span but I am utilizing the training base I already have.

Option 2: Focus on running a marathon in early 2015 to qualify for Boston Marathon in 2016. Since I will be turning 39 in December, that means for the 2016 race I will be 40 (YIKES) but my Boston qualifying time becomes 3:15:00 instead of 3:10:00. Five more valuable minutesI will gain! This seems more realistic.

I am leaning to Option 1. Still undecided. I'm not ready to give up marathons just yet. I have run 6 qualifying times for the Boston Marathon. I still feel I have a few more in me.

Moving yet again...running tally ending Sept 6

I have been searching on Craigslist for about 3 weeks now for a new place to live since I won't be able to stay in my current place on Balboa Island. I finally found a place. Click here to see my previous post about the trials and tribulations of roommate searching on Craigslist. I ended up finding a place in Costa Mesa that is right on the Newport Beach line about 1.7 miles from the coast. I will share a 3BD/2BA condo townhouse with 2 other girls in their 20s. I really wanted to be within 2-3 miles from the beach so at least I got that wish.  It was only $50 more than my current apt so I was relatively satisfied. This will be my 8th apt I have rented since 1999. The photo on the left is one I took on the Balboa Peninsula last weekend.

This Oct 1 move means my time on Balboa Island is coming to a close. It has been a nice 4+ months living on this cute little coastal island community of Newport Beach. I will miss it a lot but it's still a 10 min drive away. Actually my new place is so much more convenient to stores, restaurants, my 24 Hour Fitness gym, etc. Trader Joe's will only be a half mile away. It's in this area called Triangle Square, which has many cool shops, cafes and restaurants. Despite the negative reviews of this area on Yelp, I actually like the area.

J** and I are having a good time so far while he visits. The night he arrived we took the Balboa Island Ferry out to the peninsula to get $1 tacos at Great Mex. Then on Friday night we went down to San Diego to visit and stay with my friend Ryan. We went to Babycakes in Hillcrest to eat some of their very scrumptious and MOIST cupcakes. Since we wanted to prevent the sugar-induced comas I so frequently get after having sweets in the evening, J** and I split a pistachio one. They also have other flavors called "White Bottom" and "Black Bottom". Hmm, why would a place owned by gays name those cupcakes as such? I wonder... Anyway, the cupcakes are really, really good and they truly are moist, I'm not joking. Most have some kind of a filling inside. Ryan had a blueberry one with a blueberry jam inside. They also have other flavors like Blood Orange, Mango and Pomegranate. I'm so glad they have stayed in business for over a year. I haven't tried the actual cakes yet, but I am sure they are just as good. Babycakes also has plenty of brownies and cookies, along with a wide selection of beer and wine. This space used to be the former location of David's Coffeehouse.

On Saturday we went down to Coronado for a few hours. I always enjoy that beach with its very fine white sand. It feels so good under my feet. I didn't bring my boogie board but still managed to body surf in the 2-3 foot waves. The waves weren't too intimidating, but I did get sand and water in my ears/nose since it's hard to stay above water without a board while surfing. The beach we went to was about a half mile south of the Hotel del Coronado.

After a few hours at the beach we walked along Orange Avenue (the main drag) and stopped at Panera Bread for something to eat. Then we went to Stretch's Cafe for some soft serve vanilla yogurt. It was so good and very inexpensive. A medium cup is only $2.65 and they give you a lot. J** and I split a cup. If we had known that they also have sandwiches there we would have just gone there to eat. The last time I was at Stretch's was a few years ago. I only noticed the yogurt, but maybe I wasn't paying attention in my frozen yogurt craze.

Yesterday we went back over to the Balboa Peninsula to lay out at the beach and this time I brought my boogie board only to find out that the waves were SO SMALL. I couldn't believe that this was the same beach that featured the 20-foot waves back in July. There were a few 3 foot high waves that I did surf, but it was nothing.

Running

This week I tried running on consecutive days. I pushed the pace a few times as well. The calf still feels the same, not better, not worse. I had PT once on Tuesday before J** came into town later that night. Normally I would do it twice. I will go next week one time. I may not need it anymore.

Below is what I did last week.

Date	Time	Mileage	Min/ Mile	Notes	HR Max	HR Ave
Aug 31, 2009	37:03	5.32	6:57	I did the Back Bay again. It was twilight and I ended this run in the dark. It was kind of cool to run at this time of day. The dunes and marshes glowed.	---	153 (82%)
Sept 2, 2009	41.03	6.04	6:47	I ran with J** at Back Bay again. This time I was really able to push it. My calf felt ok. It's always the first mile that feels weird. My hamstring was a little sore but I think I will always have to deal with that.	171 (91%)	157 (84%)
Sept 5, 2009	17:12	2.5	6:52	I was in San Diego and was going to do 6-7 miles today but cut it short due to running too late in the AM (11am). I decided to do a short run due to the heat and see how my calf feels running on consecutive days. No HR monitor since I forgot it in Newport.	---	---
Sept 6, 2009	41:30	6.16	6:44	I ran Back Bay again but in the direction of UC Irvine. It was mostly flat and the breeze was nice. It was very sunny though, so by the end I was getting hot. Temps were in the upper 70s, we started around 11am. It would have been better to start at 9am, but my tired ass was just getting out of bed.	174 (93%)	156 (83%)
week ending Sept 6, 2009	---	20.02	---	I'm glad I reached 20 miles for once. I think this week I really tried to push the pace on a few runs. Perhaps I should have ran slower, but I need to stay in good condition if I am going to do a half marathon in 5-6 weeks time in Long Beach.The plan next week is to run 4 days and also do 9 miles. I am traveling to DC for a conference on Saturday so maybe on Friday I will do the longer run.	172 (92%)	155 (83%)

Too Much Too Soon - Running Injury Update

I haven't posted a training log for the week ending July 26 since I haven't done a lot of running since then. The issue I was having with my lower right calf has been identified. Basically I caused this injury from overuse and there is soft tissue damage. I did too much too soon too fast after not running for 3 weeks straight due to my appendectomy on June 9.

The sports medicine doctor who I saw yesterday (7/31) told me that I have a strain at the junction of the gastrocnemius soleus muscle tendon. I really need to study more leg anatomy so I can self-diagnose and save a doctor's trip. Kidding. Anyway, he said I can still run but I need to take it easy. He ordered physical therapy for 6-8 weeks going 1-3 times a week. My insurance will cover this at $20 per session. Each session is 1 hour 15 min. I'll probably just go once per week. He said they can massage it and do an ultrasound as well as iontophoresis. I didn't even know what it was so I checked Google.

In layman's terms iontophoresis is "a technique generally used in physical therapy to get drugs such as lidocaine and dexamethasone into one's body by using an electric current. The benefits of using this technique are that a smaller amount of the drug is used, but a higher concentration reaches the affected area. The main use of iontophoresis in physical therapy is to reduce inflammation in a musculoskeletal injury." Credit to the Associated Content site where I found the info. I'm not sure how this will all play out, but it can't hurt to try it and I am glad I have insurance that will cover a procedure like this. Although, the physical therapy center may or may not follow the doctor's recommendations.

I started out going very easy on my run today but felt this surge of energy. It was probably from the coffee I drank. Usually I drink decaf but I ran out, so caffeinated it was!. I ended up running 4.57 miles at a 6:50 pace. I should have gone slower but felt too good. My heart rate got too high at 174 bpm (93% of max) and I averaged 162 (87%). I ran mostly on grass sections of a park, but half the run was on concrete and streets. My elevated HR was due to running at mid-day in the sun. Higher body temps= higher HR while exercising. I should have ran earlier but was on the phone with a friend on the East coast so I had a later start than what I am typically used to.

I asked the doctor what my chances of doing the Long Beach Marathon on Oct 11 were, and he said to just take it day by day and see how I feel in a month. I do need to hold off on the miles now. I decided I will run every other day or so depending on how I feel. I may run again tomorrow since my leg feels fine and I iced immediately after. The ice therapy seems to work. I need to ice immediately after for 15 min for it to be effective. So far so good.

I definitely yearn to get back to my sub-3:00 times. I know I have it in me. I definitely think I am capable of a low 2:50 marathon. I haven't competed in a marathon since I ran 2:57:41 at the Rock n Roll Marathon on June 7, 2007. You can read more and see a finish photo on this post. I hope I can get back to this level of competition soon. I know I will, it's just going to take time to get my miles back up and remain uninjured. The good news is that running paces around 6:30-6:50 per mile are not difficult now so the chances of me finishing another sub-3 hour marathon are very good (in my opinion!). I've done it twice so far so hopefully 3 times a charm!

I recently changed running shoes. As of early June I have been running in the Mizuno Wave Inspire 5. Previously I was used the Mizuno Wave Nirvana 4, but the guy at Road Runner Sports told me that I needed a shoe not at the top of the stability scale. He said the Nivana is too much shoe for my gait and pronation. I had been wearing the Nirvana for over 4 years. It seemed to be working for me. Now my gait has been corrected. I was so pumped when I ran in the Inspire for the first time. I felt like I was running on clouds. I felt light on my feet. I guess the Nirvana is a lot heavier at 12.9 ounces compared to the Inspire's 11.3 ounces. It does make a big difference. I can feel it.

Weekly Running Tally - ending June 28, 2009

Each Sunday I will do an entry that will add up all my runs for the previous week and post my thoughts on my progress. My goal is to be in marathon shape by mid-October. I am contemplating doing the Long Beach Marathon on Oct 11 this year. Click here to see my training log from when I did the 2005 Long Beach Marathon. I believe I can do it if not other injuries surface between now and then. My current injuries seem to have subsided. I don't have a pain in my Achilles anymore and I don't have that stubborn pain in my hamstring that has haunted me since Dec 2007 and caused me to not run a marathon in all of 2008 and so far this year (missed Rock n Roll San Diego Marathon and Boston Marathon this year. I have my fingers crossed for a healthy recovery.

Date	Time	Mileage	Min per Mile	Observations
June 22, 2009	31:25	4.2	7:20	First Run post-appendectomy. It felt like my insides were gong to fall out of me. It was painful but I made it through. HR max=172 BPM (91% of max), HR ave=151 (81% of max).
June 22, 2009	32:44	4.8	6:47	What a difference a day makes. I was 30 seconds faster per mile on this run and I felt a lot better. Not much abdominal pain. My heart rate reached a very high level. Probably due to running so much faster just a day later. Maybe the watch was off too. HR max=179 BPM (96% of max), HR ave=159 (85% of max)
June 25, 2009	28:08	4.0	7:02	I ran in the morning today since I had something to go to after work. I had a pain in my right leg that felt like radiating nerve pain. It went away after about 8 minutes. HR max=175 BPM (94% of max), HR ave=158 (84% of max).
June 26, 2009	33:47	4.83	6:58	Longest run yet. I still had the pain in my right leg but it went away after about 6-7 min of running. I ran along Bayside and into some private seaside neighborhoods. HR max=187 BPM (100% of max), HR ave=149 (80% of max).
June 27, 2009	31:09	4.56	6:49	I ran in the mid-morning since it was Saturday. I got the nerve pain slightly, not as bad but it was still there. It went away after 5 min of running. HR max=178 BPM (95% of max), HR ave=159 (85% of max).
June 28, 2009	29:04	4.35	6:40	Fastest run yet. I felt good. I ran on a sunny, Sunday afternoon. I added a hill that was about .3 miles long. I felt strong. No abdominal pain and not much nerve pain. I stretched a lot before, that probably helped. HR max=171 BPM (91% of max), HR ave=158 (84% of max).
Week Ending June 28, 2009	---	26.74	---	Not bad for considering I had my appendix taken out on June 9!

In other non-running news, yesterday I had a great time hanging out with my friend Newell. We took the Balboa Island Ferry over to the peninsula and boggie boarded. The waves crash very close to shore so basically you drop 2-3 feet each time you catch a wave. The positive is that you can ride many waves. The negative is that you can get hurt and it's very voilent if you catch a wave the wrong way.

I got thrown down by a wave that crashed directly behind me (I was trying to avoid the wave) and bruised my arm and slammed by butt on the sand underwater. Water went up my nose and in my ear. It was ok though. I stopped boarding at that point. I noticed you have to use your abs a lot for paddling to catch waves so since I am still sore and my doctor said I cannot do any type of ab exercises I called it a day and laid out on the beach. I hope to board some more when J**** comes into town on Thursday for the holiday weekend.

Rock n Roll San Diego finish

Here is a photo of me crossing the finish line at the Rock n Roll San Diego Marathon on June 3, 2007. It was a such a thrill to be able to break 3 hours in a marathon again. After my 2:59:07 finish at Boston Marathon last year I didn't think another one was possible since I had a some injuries this year. You can read my Boston/Rock n Roll Marathon Log for all the details.