Zooma Women's Half Marathon 2009

Yes, you read that right. No, this was not a women-only event, it was women-mostly. When I first heard about this race (from Runner's Edge Coach David, who helped design the course), I went to the website to investigate. When I saw the race shirts had "men's sizes also available," I emailed the race director who confirmed that I could register if I wanted. A race population that would probably be 93% women? Yeah, I had to think for all of about 2 seconds for that one.

That was a month or so ago. Of course, I knew that this race would be two weeks after the Disneyland half marathon, and two weeks before the St George full marathon. I told myself that at either Disneyland or Zooma, I would break two hours. Fortunately (as you know, O Loyal Reader), that happened at Disneyland, leaving me free to take a more relaxed approach to the Zooma race. I (half-) jokingly told my friends that this would not be a PR race, nor even a hard race: this would be a flirt race. I planned to enjoy myself and make some new friends. But even with that, when my friend Keri (who worked registration) told me that there were only 22 men signed up, I figured I might at last be able to say that I had a top 10 finish (in my division, that is).

Before the race, I designed a sign to pin to my back that quoted Shania Twain's song "Man I Feel Like A Woman." I'd kicked the idea around before, and all the women I'd told about that said it was a good call, that it would make people laugh and get some attention. At least, I thought it would make a good conversation starter. This morning, when I connected with my RER friends who were running, they all gave the sign a thumbs-up.

When the race started, I settled into an easy sub-11 minute warmup pace, running with some friends. After that first mile, I increased my speed to around 10-minute pace, planning to hold that for the rest of the run. As I ran, I'd say Hi to some of the women I passed and chat with them for a while. About 3 miles in I struck up a conversation with a young lady from Alaska named Clea. We were going at about the same pace, so I decided to stick with her for a while. We chatted about running half marathons and fulls, where she went to school (she's in Boulder getting her masters), and how often she gets back to Alaska. We ran together for about the next 5 miles, until I (stupidly) did the same thing I did at Disneyland: powered through an uphill and left her behind.

The aid station at the 8 mile point was manned by Runner's Edge. Coach David was there with his megaphone, encouraging the runners as they came up the hill. I was happy to see Al, Jen, Julie, Mike, and many others as I came powering through. It's always a great boost to see friends on a race course.

I then caught up with fellow RERers Leslie and Jamie, and ran with them for a few miles. I enjoyed that, too, as I hadn't really spoken with either of them at great length before. But they dropped me, as they were both feeling strong and wanted to push harder than I did.

After I came back along the course and passed the Runners Edge aid station, I struck up brief conversations with other runners. I also started thinking about where I was in terms of finishing order. I'd passed a handful of the other men running the race, and seen what I assumed to be the first two finishers come tearing past me (before the 8 mile mark). Where, then, was I in relation to them? I started asking some volunteers how many men had passed them before me, and was encouraged when they all indicated that I was the 3rd or 4th one. I wanted to turn up my effort, but I reminded myself that I wasn't going for a PR in this race, that I was taking it slow and having fun. I almost believed it.....

I did slow down to walk along the last uphill climb before the course turned onto MLK Blvd in the last mile. I was still pretty secure in thinking I was going to be the 3rd or 4th male finisher, and decided to cut myself a break. When I hit the level road, though, for the last half mile, I turned it up again to about 10 minute pace. And as I turned the last corner and saw the finish line a tenth of a mile away, I gradually increased my speed to have a nice strong finish. And although my final time was nowhere near my PR (and in fact was slower than my last 3 half marathons), I was satisfied with my results, especially when I saw them posted: turns out I was 2nd in my division and the 4th male to finish overall!

Official Time: 2:13:33
Total Races: 19
YTD Race Miles: 164.1
YTD Total Miles: 990.1
After the race: A woman asked if she could take my picture. Turns out, she actually wanted a picture of my sign!

Fans on the Field 5k 2009

Yesterday I ran 20 miles. It was my last long run before the forthcoming St George (UT) marathon on October 3. Usually, Coach Dave of Runner's Edge of the Rockies schedules our weekly runs so that my last 20 happens on The Parker Run, an infamous (within the group) and challenging run that starts in Aurora and crosses over E470 into Parker. There are some long, slow climbs on that run, and its reputation is well deserved. We often joke about the difficulty of that run, and (tongue firmly in cheek) try to scare newer members with horror stories.

(Actually the truth of the matter, from my point of view, is that it's not that bad. Sure, it is a difficult run, but I enjoy the challenge and the feeling of conquest I get whenever I finish. Also--at least to date--none of my marathons has been as challenging as The Parker Run.)

This season, though, The Parker Run wasn't my last 20. Instead, yesterday's run was out in Lone Tree, starting in Park Meadows and moving south through Bluffs Regional Park. Coach Dave called this run "Parker Junior," and with good reason. A steady climb up for the first 2 miles, then a quick descent followed by a long, slow climb through the Park, then up and over two steep peaks before levelling out somewhat. Then, we had to go back along the same path!

For my money, this run is even more challenging than The Parker Run. They're pretty comparable in terms of total elevation gain, but there are some steep descents on this one that Parker lacks. For all the increased difficulty, though, the 6 of us that went 20 pulled each other through with encouragement, teamwork, and funny stories. It was a very fulfilling run, and a great way to wrap up my hard training prior to my taper.

Now (in the words of Bill Cosby), I told you that story to tell you this one.

Earlier this week I finally got around to registering for the Fans on the Field 10k, an event that I ran in 2007 but missed in 2008 because I was in Omaha for the marathon. Fans on the Field is a fun race that starts at Mile High, runs to and through the Pepsi Center, Coors Field, and Mile High at the end. I'd put it on my calendar a few months ago, when I realized it didn't conflict with the Disneyland Half marathon. I was looking forward to running this race, even knowing that since I'd run 20 the day before a PR was hardly in the cards. And up until about 5:45 yesterday afternoon, I still planned on running the 10k. But, I got to thinking, that would be like running a full marathon (in two days). Why would I do that to myself? Oh sure, I could tell myself that I would take it very easy at the race, and maybe even walk it; but I know me. I wouldn't do that. So I decided to dial back to the 5k. What the hell.

It was a beautiful morning for a race. There was some fog early on, but by race time it had burned away. There was a good crowd for both the 10k and the 5k. I checked in with my friend Keri, who was working the event. I told her that I planned to take it pretty easy in the race, since I'd run 20 miles the day before, and anticipated finishing in just under 27 minutes. ("It is recognized that you have a funny sense of 'easy.'")

Naturally, once the race started, all thoughts of relaxing and going easy on myself flew out of my head, replaced by the rush of competition and the thrill of pushing myself. I pushed a very aggressive pace for the first quarter mile, before forcing myself back. I soon settled in to what I thought was an easy effort, but was surprised to find myself passing runners right and left. Honestly, on a scale of 1 to 10 I really felt that I was going about a 7, maybe 6 1/2, but I was still moving through the crowd with relative ease.

Just before the 1 mile mark, I was passed by a tall kid who looked like he was hardly expending any effort. I took no real notice at the time, because he was hardly the first person to have passed me (although that number compared with the number of runners I passed was definitely small). I just kept on running my own race, staying within my fairly easy-feeling effort and slowly moving my way up through the pack. However, about the time we got to the Pepsi Center, I saw him ahead of me. I caught up to him quickly and, as we ran across the lacrosse field, passed him by. I expected him to pull alongside me very quickly; but when he did not I put him out of my mind again.

Until, that is, we turned onto the bridge to take us across the Platte River on the east side of Mile High at mile 2.6. I was feeling good at that point; I'd increased my pace steadily over the course of the run and, with a half mile to go, was preparing to turn it up just a little more. When suddenly, that same kid came tearing past me! "Good job," he said as he caught up. "You, too!" I replied. "Was sure I'd dropped you." For about a second I debated the merits of racing him down, weighing which was more likely: a photo finish, or him leaving me in his dust. I decided that I had nothing to prove, since I'd run 20 miles the day before (did I mention that?). "All yours, kid," I said as I held myself to my current (granted, sub-8-minute-mile) pace, and chuckled to myself as he tore past me. Oh, to be young and well-rested.

I still finished with a respectable time of 25:30 (by my watch. The 5k race isn't officially timed). I spent the rest of today off my feet, and will take tomorrow off from running, which should give me enough time to recharge before Tuesday's workout. And, by dropping back from the 10k, I had a 5k for September that I otherwise would have had to make up next month. So all in all, a pretty good day.

"Official" Time: 25:30
Total Races: 18
YTD Race Miles: 153
YTD Total Miles: 970
How Many Miles Did You Run Yesterday, Again?: Twenty

Disneyland Half Marathon 2009

At the Walt Disney World marathon expo, I saw a booth for the Coast to Coast Challenge: if I completed the marathon in Florida and a half-marathon at Disneyland in California within the same calendar year, I could earn a third medal commemorating that achievement. After about 20 seconds' thought, I decided to sign up for that Disneyland half marathon. I planned on making a mini-vacation out of it, taking a couple of days after the race to spend some time at Disneyland with my baby sister, who lives in Los Angeles. Naturally, as had happened with Disney World, once my dad heard about my plans, he invited himself along. ("Which actually worked out well, as he let me stay at his hotel and provided transportation to and from the airport." "Not to mention buying the food!" "I know. Eight dollars for a churro?!") I was also joined on this trip by fellow Runner's Edge of the Rockies members Gert, Merril, Susan, and Kandy, all of whom were going for that Coast to Coast medal.

After spending some time in LA with my sister, I connected with my friends at the expo at the Disneyland Hotel. Then on Saturday, my dad and I went to Disneyland. There had been a 5K race that morning at 6:45, and a kids' fun run at 8:30, so of course the park opening was delayed slightly while the staff ushered all the participants out. ("God bless Disney. No free rides for anyone, eh?") We spent a little time in the Magic Kingdom before heading across to California Adventure, where we spent the day before returning to the hotel after dinner. ("Wait, you spent the day before a big race walking around?!" "In fairness, most of it was standing. In lines.") Saturday's dinner was a home-cooked pasta meal at the condo which my friends were renting, which was across the street from the Disneyland Hotel and within walking distance of the race start.

Very early Sunday morning, my friends and I made our way to the starting area. After dropping our bags and getting our picture taken with a couple Toy Story army men, we wished each other luck and headed off to our starting corrals. I was in Corral B, and seeded myself about 20 feet from the front--much further up than I'd intended, as I discovered when I saw the 1:45 pacer move into position a little in front of me! I looked behind me and saw the pacer for a two-hour half marathon (which was my goal) towards the back of Corral B. Oh, well. As long as they didn't catch up to me.....

At 6:00, we were off! As I crossed over the start line and began my race, I focused on holding back. My strategy for this race was to run the first mile in 10 minutes, and then up my pace to 9-minute miles for the rest. That would get me to the finish line in just over 117 minutes. Of course, the cool temperatures ("It was still dark out."), plentiful oxygen ("God bless sea level!"), and plethora of faster-paced runners surrounding me ("That's what happens when you start too far up." "Didn't you learn that lesson at Oklahoma City?") made it easy to lose track of my slower pace, and I really had to work to stay where I wanted to. I did not want to burn out in the first mile!

As the course turned off Harbor Blvd to the south access road into the park, I looked for my dad and baby sister. Unfortunately, the crowd had only started to thin out and it was still dark, so I did not see them. Nothing daunted, I continued to run, now settling into a 9-minute per mile pace which I would hold for the rest of the race. We ran through California Adventure in the predawn, to the cheers of the park employees who were our only crowd. ("Unlike Disney World, spectators were not allowed into the parks for this race." "Lame!!") We crossed through California Adventure and across the Promenade which separted it from Disneyland, then entered the Magic Kingdom. We wound our way behind Space Mountain before wrapping around Fantasyland and heading to Sleeping Beauty's Castle. As at the Magic Kingdom in Disney World, there was a great photo opportunity as I came out of the castle--or would have been, if there had been less people around! ("Actually I'm pretty sure there won't be very many good pictures of me on the course. Almost every time I saw a cameraman, there were at least three runners between me and him; and on the few occasions there weren't, he was reloading film!" "You are such a narcissist.")

We ran through Frontierland and past the Rivers of America before exiting the park and turning up towards Ball Road. Almost immediately we started one of the very few climbs on this course as the road arced over the Santa Ana Freeway. ("Or as the natives call it, 'the I-5.'") I was still feeling great, the temperatures were still in the low- to mid-60s, and happily, the sun had yet to break through the clouds. What's more, there were plenty of spectators as the course made its way east along Ball Road. I enjoyed slapping five's and blowing kisses to the high school cheerleaders as I went by. ("Pervert.") I even ran for a bit with a man dressed like Peter Pan, and joked that we should just fly out of here. He left me behind at about the 4 1/2 mile mark, but I'm happy to say that I caught up with him and passed him at around mile 7 and never saw him again. ("Peter Pan flew with children...in a fairy tale.")

Just before the 8-mile mark the course turned off Douglass Rd and through the parking lot for the Honda Center, home of the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. ("I think they're just the Anaheim Ducks now." "What's up with that?!") This was a mile before we would run through Angels stadium, home of the Anaheim Angels. ("Actually, they're the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim." "What's up with that?!") I spent that mile running along side a very lovely woman who was wearing a Kansas City running shirt. I asked her if she had ever run the KC Marathon, and if she knew of the KC Runner's Edge group. Turns out, she's a member. I told her I was a member of the Denver affiliate, and we spent some time comparing notes and sharing war stories of our various races as we ran along the Santa Ana Trail between the two stadiums. ("Should that be 'stadia'? If the plural of datum is data...")

At mile 9 1/2 we entered Angel stadium and ran along the warmup track behind the first base line, past home plate, and then along the third base line. There was a huge crowd inside the stadium cheering for us. As we passed home plate, we could see ourselves up on the jumbotron screen, which was pretty neat. I still felt great, not really tired thanks to the copious amounts of air available at sea level. I was ahead of schedule by more than two minutes at this point according to my Garmin. As we passed the 10-mile mark, I said out loud to myself, "Okay, just a 5k left. No problem." ("Someone came up to me after the race and said that he'd heard me say that, and he wanted to thank me for it because he'd been starting to fade at that point. My words encouraged him to keep going!" "How d'you like that. Someone actually listened to you!")

Just before mile 12 we crossed Harbor Blvd again and re-entered California Adventure. At this point I saw my sister and dad, which made me happy as I hadn't seen them the first time I went past that point. I also realized that I had been running for an hour and forty-five minutes and had less than a mile and a quarter to go. If I'd wanted to, I could afford to slow down considerably and still come in under two hours. Of course, I had every intention of doing the exact opposite, and pushed my pace even harder. Then, as the course made its final turn, with about a quarter mile to go, I repeated what Coach David had called to me as I approached the finish at Georgetown last year: "Less than a quarter mile--less than one lap around the track!"

At the 13 mile mark I saw the finish line around a slight curve, with Mickey Mouse, Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck, and Daisy Duck all cheering runners in, and the finishing clock inching its way towards 1 hour, 58 minutes. Arms raised in triumph, knowing that because I was about two minutes behind the clock, my final time would be even better, I ran across the finish line. Sure enough, my final time was 1:56:21, nearly an 8-minute improvement over last year's Georgetown race. I also got my Coast to Coast medal as well as the half marathon finisher's medal, which of course was the whole point of this.

I spent the rest of Sunday (after a shower and a nap) at Disneyland and California Adventure. My dad and sister and I had a great celebratory dinner with Merril and Gert, and my dad and I hit almost every ride in the Magic Kingdom over the course of the next day and a half. ("Actually, we did every ride I wanted to, including Splash Mountain and Mr Toad's Wild Ride, both of which had been closed in Disney World." "So how many rides didn't you do?" "Mad Hatter Teacups and It's A Small World.")

I want to thank all my friends and family for believing in me and sending their positive vibes my way. I felt really good going into this race about breaking the 2-hour mark, and am very happy with how it turned out. My next full marathon is less than 4 weeks away, and I expect that one will also be a great race.

Official Time: 1:56:21
Total Races: 17
YTD Race Miles: 141.9
YTD Total Miles: 937.6
Worst Part of the Weekend: The booth in the big Disney shop at Downtown Disney selling half marathon merchandise, including finisher's Tshirts and slightly-smaller-than-the-real-deal finisher medal replicas!! Seriously?! What the hell did I just run that race for if just anybody can buy one of those?!