Mad's Philly Marathon

**I apologize for the terribly late posting of this... It was a long week. But without further adieu...

It was the perfect day for a marathon this past Sunday, 11/20/2011 (sorry it took a while to get this one up!). Cool in the morning with temperatures hovering around 55 degrees for the majority of the race. Maddy did the work, and she was ready to go. Her bff Leslie was in town doing the half marathon as well, also her first, so there was a lot of excitement around the apartment. Living in Philadelphia is nice because we got up at 5am and still had plenty of time to head over to the race start. Another friend of ours was doing the half mary too, so we hitched a ride over to the start. Bag check, stretch, shake out, and wait in the port-o-pot line...pretty standard pre-race. We were still in line for the port-o-pots when the gun went off actually, but with 27,000 people racing and Maddy not being one of the elites chasing an Olympic Trials qualifier, we were still OK. Finally the girls were in and out and starting on their way across the starting line at about 7:25am.

waiting in the port-o line

just crossed the starting line

I decided to watch them take off down the Ben Franklin Pkwy and then cut right over to Chestnut st where the 10k marker was. I got some coffee and headed over just as the 3:00 pace group was coming past. I could picture exactly where I was last year at that moment. After meeting up with some other friends who were spectating we got out the cowbells and started cheering. Mad and Leslie flew by looking great and with smiles all around! They were right on pace and looked super strong.

Here come Mad and LB around mile 6.5!

From there I headed back to the apartment for a little liquid encouragement (beer) with my buddies and then hopped on my bike to see them at the half way marker. They came through half way a little faster than I was expecting so I almost missed them. Again, they looked super strong. Maddy came through the half way mark faster than she did in 2009 when she was only racing the half! And Leslie, who decided to throw the whole "formal training plan" thing to the wind looked great too despite only having done a 4 mile long run in preparation... Leslie peeled off for the finisher's shoot while Maddy turned and started heading out to the loneliest part of the course, Manayunk. Well, actually there are a ton of supporters in Manayunk, but the 6 miles out and 6 miles back are pretty desolate and mentally tough to push through.

pretty crowded

almost missed them at half way

mile 14 (looking great!)

 I stopped my bike just past mile 16 to cheer Maddy on and then crossed the street to catch her at mile 23 headed back into town. The marathon is a tough distance. I saw a lot of people break on Kelley Dr. I also saw a lot working hard though.

mile 16 (still great!)

mile 23 (starting to hurt a little...)

200m to the finish!!

What a day. Just spectating was exhausting. I remember how hard the marathon distance is, and I was glad not to be partaking this year. I can't express how proud I am of my bride to be.

Giving the legs a break after a long day

After the marathon Mad took a couple days to rest the legs, but we got them going again on Thanksgiving morning in a local Turkey Trot! And we were joined by a friend from the north (Boston), Maddy's sister Lesley

I won a pie!

Hope you all had a great turkey day!

XC State Championship and races to come

Yesterday was the Delaware XC state championship down in Killens Pond, DE. Tatnall came in favored to win and did not disappoint. The quick summary is that both boys and girls teams won the division II state title, by substantial margins. The individual winners of both races were also Tatnall runners, and they both broke state records at the course.

It was an amazing day. And, something I didn't realize until I got home after the post-meet party last night, it was the first state championship team I have been a part of. Pretty cool stuff. The kids won't put race anymore this year in the black singlet, but they will race again. In 2 weeks we head down to Cary, NC to race in the Southeast Regional Championship race as "Wilmington XC". The top 2 teams get to fly out to Portland Oregon the first weekend in December to race the Nike Cross Nations (NXN) right on Nike's campus. More on that later.

Some upcoming races for me - I signed up for a turkey trot 5k on Thanksgiving morning, which I'll use as my speed workout going into Saturday's SE Regional Open 5k. It's supposed to be a flat, fast course, and I'm hoping to better my recent 5k PR. All movement in the right direction!

The week after I'm going to see a specialist that should be able to take care of my sports hernia, which is actually an "athletic pubalgia". In an ideal world I will have surgery the week before Christmas, use the break to heal, and hit the pool hard for the winter months.

Thanks for reading!

**Oh, also should throw out there that I signed up for a Tough Mudder with a couple of my buddies for the spring. It's 11 miles of mud, muck, obstacles, and apparently some electric shock! It will definitely be something...

Don't do it, Asics...

Dear Asics,

Please don't get stop production of the Hyperspeed 4! It's the best running shoe I've come across yet. And for the love of god, don't replace it with the Hyperspeed 5... It's just ugly. All things being equal, it's probably still a pretty good shoe, but those colors are horrendous. I might have to order a couple pairs of the 4's before they do stop production. The bottom line is that I've been running all fall with the Adidas Adizero Rocket, and mixing in my old Zoot TT 3.0 (I have the previous model in yellow), and I just purchased the K-Swiss K-ruuz a couple weeks back because I found a deal for $45, and none of those shoes, nor any that I have run in before, compare to the Hyperspeed 4. My ONLY complaint about the hyperspeed is that the sole wears quickly. I would love to get 500+ miles out of a shoe, and by 250 miles the forefoot portion of the sole is worn through. Granted I run predominantly on pavement, which definitely takes it's toll, but 200 some miles just isn't enough. All the other shoes I have ride very hard. I mean to say that there is very little cushion, which I would expect since I run predominantly in racing flat type shoes. However, the Hyperspeed 4 is like the perfect hybrid between a flat and a trainer. AND the simple white and red of the HS4 looks great!! It's simple and stylish. Asics - don't do it!

Anywho, this fall is flying by. I'm off to talk with a surgeon in just couple minutes actually about how/when this sports hernia surgery is going to happen. I'll check back with more on that later.

Maddy banged out a long run of 20+ this past weekend! I'm very proud of her and excited to watch the marathon in 2 weeks. It's going to be a great day!


Chrissie Wellington is supposed to put out a book some time in 2012 and I can't wait to read it... Chrissie Wellington's book.

That's all for now.

The best race I've ever seen

Yesterday was the New Castle County XC Championship race at beautiful Winterthur Park in Wilmington, DE. It's a 2 loop course that has some decent hills, the most notable going around the round loop at the top of the course where mile 1 and about 2.5 pass. There's also a moderate incline heading up the shoot to the finish. It's an honest course. And yesterday was a truly gorgeous day that let me see one of the most amazing races I think I will ever witness.

There were 5 races in total yesterday. First the Old Timers race, which I raced in. Last year I ran an 18:55. All I really wanted was a PR, and I got it! 17:58. The 5k distance hurts! But all the speedwork I've been doing really helped out. I also set a mile PR earlier this week mid way through a workout - 5:12. Another Tatnall coach and Brooks sponsored professional runner, Daryl, took 2nd with a 15:20. There were some fast guys. But enough on that.

Both JV boys and girls had breakout days. I was taking mile 1 splits all day and the kids looked great. They were all reaping the benefits of months of workouts and tired legs. It was great to see.

The girls varsity race was the one for the books. Tatnall's best girl runner is currently ranked in the top 3 in the nation, I'll call her H. So is Charter's number one, I'll call her J. A couple weeks back Charter's girl beat our number one in a local meet. Our runner was set back about 3 weeks at the start of the season with some foot problems, and she still isn't where she wants to be. However, she was not going to take 2nd again without a fight. I saw the race from the start and H and J were out front in the first 500m running side by side. They came through the first mile shoulder to shoulder, H with a half step lead, in 5:17 (FLYING!). There was a look of determination in both girls' eyes that I can't put into words. Up around the first hill after mile 1 they stayed attached at the hip. Through mile 2, the same. They were pushing hard. It seemed that J was just going to sit back and let H set the pace. I was worried she would sit and then kick past H in the shoot, but the pace H set was intense. I saw them again heading up the hill for the second time about 2.4 miles in, J tried to push up and took the lead, but only momentarily. H responded and opened up a 25m gap coming down the back side of the hill. It was amazing. I got chills. I saw her coming down the hill with a lead that she couldn't lose. Coming down the hill though, her form was falling apart. It looked like she rolled an ankle. I called out words of encouragement as she passed. The course was completely lined with people cheering them on. J had started to lose her form as well. Coming up to a hairpin turn about 100m to the finish H started to stumble. Then she collapsed. She pushed herself up, still in the lead, and started to walk. Then she stumbled again. J was obviously in pain too. Her pace had slowed tremendously. H passed a row of bushes and pulled out of the race. She laid it all out there, but the pace was just too much; she completely exhausted herself. It looked like J was going to limp to another victory. BUT, what no one saw coming, our number 2 runner, a stud junior girl came through the hairpin turn 40m back. She kicked through the last 100m. With 10m to go to the line, R (our #2), caught and passed J for the WIN!! Because of where I was standing I didn't see the girls cross the line so I had no idea Tatnall had won! I didn't know how we could have... J took second just 2 seconds behind R. I am still in awe with what happened. The guts it took to go out that hard by both H and J is unbelievable. They pushed and just hoped to hold on. Sometimes when you take a risk though, it doesn't work out. It's unfortunate, but I admire H tremendously for her bravery in pushing beyond her own limits for what she wanted so badly. And of course R, running her own race, allowing only herself to dictate the pace she set, and somehow being in a position to strike that late in the race... It was all remarkable.

The rest of the girls varsity team also raced their hearts out. They all were named all county runners, and Tatnall won both the individual girls title and the team girls county title.

The boys varsity race was also an amazing race, but with less drama. Our number 1 boy won this race last year in a tactical masterpiece. This year he set the tone early going through mile 1 in 4:52. He stayed out front the entire race and won in 15:52. Second place was had by another Tatnall runner, a 9th grader in 15:57. We also took 4th by a junior in 16:01. The boys also came away with quite a few all county runners, the individual win, and the team county championship win. Not a bad day for the Hornets.

For their privacy I've left out names and any pictures, although they are amazing. More details about these amazing kids can be found here: http://www.n5cta.com/.

MRI results are in...

Looks like there will be a surgery in the off season...bummer. I have some sort of sports hernia in my lower left abdominal/groinal region (aka where my left leg connects to my pelvis). But on the bright side, at least there's an explanation for this pain, and once I have the surgery it should go away; so there's an end in sight. It's going to be quite a challenge scheduling this because as a teacher I really can't miss work. I'm thinking of having it done right before winter break. That will give me 2 weeks to recover and I shouldn't miss any school. Although it does kill any fun I want to have over Christmas vacation... I guess a relaxing break could be nice... We'll see. I am meeting with a surgeon Monday to get the full prognosis and schedule things. I'll check back in after that. I do have copies of my MRI on my computer, but I can't figure out what anything is haha. Hopefully after I meet with the doc I'll be able to post a picture of what is actually going on.

On a brighter note - Tatnall won the conference championship again this year. A great race on a beautiful course yesterday. Both girls and boys teams won (both varsity and jv races). Of the all conference runners, I think we had 12 runners and there are only 16 spots. In about 10 days is the New Castle County Championship meet. They have an open 5k before the kids race, so I'll probably do that. Last year I ran 18:55, so I'll be trying to better that. It is a tough course, and I haven't been running a lot because of my classes, but I have been doing a LOT of speedwork compared to what I am used to. We'll see how it goes!

¡Hasta pronto!
Do great work.

Thoughts on Kona

This past Saturday (**2 Saturdays ago now) was wonderful. I went down to XC practice in the morning and got back just in time for the prerace coverage of the Ironman World Championship, which I watched streaming on ironmanlive.com for probably 6+ hours. Maddy was out of town visiting friends, but that meant I could lie around and watch IM alllll day.

To state the obvious right off the bat, what an amazing race! I just couldn't turn away. I love how effortlessly Andy Potts pulls away in the swim. Sure, he swims alone, and it's lonely leading a race that early, but he needs to play to his strengths. When he got passed just a couple miles into the bike I expected Andreas to make a push. Although being with the front group, he never really surged... Most shocking on the bike had to be Crowie actually riding with the front pack! Who knew he could do that??!! Maybe it's the new Specialized Shiv, or maybe he just had a bone to pick with everyone who read Macca's book "I'm Here to Win", in which he flat out says Crowie can't ride. Quite an impressive feat. On the women's side of the race, holy shit Julie Dibbens! When she came off the bike 20+ minutes in front of Chrissie and Rinnie I didn't think they had a chance to catch her. She could run 50(ish) seconds per mile slower than those girls and still stroll across the line first. Unfortunately, between pushing too hard and some foot problems she dropped out of the marathon. As IM athletes/enthusiasts/fans we know the race is really won and lost on the marathon. And what a marathon it was. The men's race was tight. The women's race was was tight. Neither winner posted the fastest run split (but they were close), nor were they leading off the bike.

Macca made an interesting point in his book, which I just finished reading, that in 2010 Andreas spent so much energy just reaching Macca that by the time he got there he had already reached his goal and had to recalculate how much energy he needed to get across the line first. That's where Macca won. I didn't see that happening this year. I thought Raelert was going to hold that 6:00min/mile pace through the whole thing. Unfortunately for him, Crowie was just too strong. It's absolutely incredible what those guys and girls do.

Maddy actually called me and started watching the end up in NYC. I love that she has developed an interest (even if it is just to humor me) and knows all the big names. I got teary toward the end of the race just thinking about what Crowie and Chrissie were able to do. Listening to them speak was what pushed me over the edge because of how humble and truly human they are. If somehow you missed it, Universal Sports still has the FULL 18 hours of coverage up on their website to watch, if you're interested (watch here!). I'll probably go back and watch some of it before it airs on NBC in December. Something unbelievable is that it's being broadcast tomorrow (**some time last week) in Australia according to Crowie's facebook page. The US has got to get a quicker turn around and start feeding all those crazy IM addicts in the states. We also, as a country, need to start developing better feeding programs and valuing the sport to become more competitive at international competitions....but more on that another day.

So during this week of non-stop IMWC thinking, I've come to the re-realization that I MUST get there some day. It kind of stinks that most athletes that get to Kona by finishing in the top 3-5% of their race end up in the 50th percentile in Kona, but it's an experience that I need to have in my life. It's hard to sit back and say I won't go after it asap, but I need to take care of other things first. The bottom line, I'll get there.

Some interesting info I picked up through reading articles, watching clips/interviews, and listening to a couple podcasts with regards to Kona... If you complete 12 full IM's you're automatically accepted to race KONA! (23ish minutes in KonaPodCast). Now the compromise is that it might not be the very next year. It could take quite a few years for WTC to get everyone in. But even still, it's great to know that those spending sooo much time, energy, and money on ironman will have the chance to race the big island. I would never just enter the lottery. That's not how I want to make it there. But if for some reason I just can't get a qualifying slot, it would make me feel better knowing that I earned it by racing enough to get in.

That's all for now. More coming soon. MRI on my possible sports hernia Wednesday.

16.4 mile run today

Only it wasn't me that did it! Maddy is ROCKING her training for the Philly marathon. I ran about 10 miles with her and I was cooked. By mile 7 her heel had a blister that burst and started bleeding through her socks. It didn't stop her. My legs were very fatigued by mile 9... Mad on the other hand looked just as strong finishing as she did on the first part of the run. I couldn't be more proud of her. And she still manages to look beautiful after 16+ miles - pretty impressive...

The weather has made things easier. It was beautiful today and yesterday with weather feeling more like early September than October. We also have to think good ol' Cristobal Colon, aka Christopher Columbus, for giving us the day off. It was wonderful not having to work today.

On the wedding front, we spoke to a wedding photographer today. None other than my training buddy David. An awesome triathlete with a 4:19 HIM personal best. As it turns out he's pretty good with a camera as well. Looks like almost everything that we need to do is done (or at least getting done).

I managed to get to the doctor today also. I'm scheduling an MRI some time soon to get this whole sports hernia thing all figured out. The orthopedist I saw today thinks that is likely what it is.

If you think it's odd that I haven't touched on the Ironman World Championships in Kona this weekend, that's understandable. Yes, I watched. Yes, I have lots to say. And yes, it's coming in a future post. I wanted to give Maddy the spotlight tonight because I am so proud of her. I can't wait to cheer her on during the marathon. She's right on track to have an amazing first 26.2.