Lakefront Marathon - Race Report

Well, I never had any intentions of running the Lakefront Marathon this year.  I had trained all spring and summer to run the Fox Cities Marathon on September 22nd.  As I always do, and so does just about every other single registered participate, I check the weather as soon as it is available.  The weather was never very promising.  From the get go, it was rain, rain and more rain.  The weather here in Wisconsin towards the end of summer was, simply put, wet.  It rained, and rained, and when you thought we were finally going to dry out, it would rain some more.  So, you can see where I'm going with this, but when I woke up on Sunday morning to go to the start line of the Fox Cities Marathon, it was...you guessed it, raining.

If you have read any of my past marathon race reports, you know my primary goal of any marathon was to post a finish time under 3 hours.  That has been at the forefront for me for 1 about 10 years of racing.  So, when I woke up Sunday morning, I honestly was hoping for the race to get cancelled.  Obviously, I didn't want to pony up another $100 race fee.  But I just had a feeling that if the Fox Cities Marathon was run that day, I was going to have a miserable race.  It was just a gut feeling I had.  My mind was not ready to run a 26.2 mile race, but body didn't feel ready, it just wasn't going to be a good day.  But, shortly after arriving to the starting area of the Fox Cities Marathon, we got word that the race was officially cancelled.  We didn't receive much additional information at that time.  I felt bad for most of the runners who trained all summer for that specific event and were unable to register for another event.  But, inside, I was kind of glad.  Even though I was upset at the whole idea of having to adjust my training or pay for another race.  I had mixed emotions.  Mentally I was so ready to be done training and the idea of another several weeks of dedicated training just sounds miserable.  But, obviously, I jumped at the opportunity to register for the Lakefront Marathon when they offered a discounted registration fee specifically for Fox Cities Marathon registrants who lost the opportunity to race this event.  I signed up for this event knowing that I had an additional 2 weeks of training and I would zero support out on the course.  It was going to be just me, myself, and I.  Honestly, I was kind of looking forward to that aspect of it.  I would have no additional concerns out on the course.  I would only have to focus on myself and not when or where I would be seeing my family.

After a successful racing season last year while following the Hanson's Marathon Method, I focused solely on training for the Fox Cities Marathon with this training schedule.  My training went pretty much flawless.  Other than a couple super minor hiccups where I skipped a day or two for minor aches or pains to prevent them from becoming large bigger issues.  I was hitting all my prescribed paces for all the types of workouts and I was feeling pretty good, especially compared to last year.

After finding out that my goal race was now two weeks out from when I had trained for it to be, I just repeated the last two weeks of training, but modified the "Easy Run" days.  Throughout the entire training plan, I added an additional 2 miles to each of these runs to increase my weekly mileage.  But after feeling fatigued and not interested in continuing my training after Fox Cities was cancelled, I figured that I earned the right to decrease my training mileage to make sure I would get to the start line ready to race.

Prerace

I am fortunate that I was able to secure a place to stay the night before the race at my brother-in-law's house, which is literally a 12 minute drive from the finish line of the Lakefront Marathon.  So the day before the race, I left to pick up my race packet at the University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee campus.  Of it rained the entire drive down to Milwaukee and rained damn near the entire day (and night).  On either the Thursday or Friday before the race, we had received an email about a large amount of standing water on a trail portion of the race course at about mile 25.  The race directors did not want to alter the course as it would remove any of the race certifications of the distance of the race.  So they opted to have runners run through the giant puddle with hopes of it drying out prior to the race.  So, now, back to me driving to Milwaukee in the pouring rain, all I could think about was that there is no way in hell that giant puddle was going to dry out now.  

The race expo was decent.  Pretty much your stereotypical expo, nothing special, nothing terrible.  I got my race bag, bib, and shirt and headed out...in the rain.  After getting to Jake's house, we relaxed for a little while and then went out for dinner.  This past April, when I ran the Brew City Half Marathon, I stayed at his house and went out to dinner to an oriental style restaurant which served various meals including Pad Thai, sushi, and Pho.  I was lucky to win the Brew City Half Marathon after that dinner, so there was no way I wasn't going to eat at the Hungry Sumo.  I ordered the exact same meal, sushi, Pad Thai, and some water.  After getting home it was pretty much to bed with an early wake up call.  

The Lakefront Marathon's course is a point to point race starting in Grafton and running basically straight south along the Lake Michigan lake shore, ending in the Summerfest Concert Grounds in downtown Milwaukee.  They offer busing from the finish line to the Grafton starting at 5:15.  My goal was getting on the fist bus out of Milwaukee.  I ended up getting on the second bus out of Milwaukee and made our way to Grafton High School.  After getting to the school I found a quiet corner in a hall and just relaxed and listened to music as I normally do for big races.  I then got my warm up in, which was basically a mile jog with some dynamic stretching worked into it.  As it got closer to 7:30 (race start time), I made my way to the start line and was honestly feeling pretty damn good and I was optimistic.

Nutrition Plan

My plan for this race was a little different from past marathons.  I have always felt that I took in too many calories too early in races which left my stomach just not sitting right.  Not that I ever had digestion issues, but I always felt like by the end of races, I was never able to take calories in.  Most of the time I would literally force myself to take in calories even though I felt like I didn't need them.  The thing is, there are certain recommendation for calories to be consumed in races to maintain performance.  I was already near the lower end of the recommendations, so I reached out to my friends at Hammer Nutrition to discuss a customized nutrition plan for me.  I spoke with Anastasia who was super helpful.  We decided that If I take in some light calories 3 hours before race time and then push out gels until later in the race and then take one other gel if needed in the later stages of the race.  Also during the race, I would take a couple of capsules of Race Cap Supreme along with a couple Endurolytes to maintain my electrolyte balance.  One hour before the race, I took a couple of capsules of Race Cap Supreme, two capsules of Endurance BCAA+ along with a couple Endurolytes.  Also, about 15 minutes or so before the start of the race, I took a dose of Fully Charged.

Miles 0-13.1

My plan for this race was to divide the race into three sections; the first 10 miles, the second 10 miles, and then the final 6.2 (10k).  My plan was to run the first ten miles slower than my goal pace of 6:45-6:50.  During the second 10 miles, I wanted to be at my goal pace.  Then for the final 10k, my plan was to pull out all stops and just finish strong.  As I began ticking off miles, I was feeling really good.  I didn't want to think it, but I felt as though it was easy.  I took a gel around mile 8 to get some calories in.  My plan was to take my only other gel at around mile 16.  I crossed the half way point in 1:29:16.  This was basically right where I wanted to be, which was about a 6:49/mile pace.  

Miles 13.1-20

As I continued throughout the race course, the weather remained damn near perfect.  Maybe a little too cold and I wouldn't have minded a couple more degrees warmer, but I left my arm sleeves and gloves on for a while.  I still continued to feel like my effort was easy.  I wasn't sure if this was fools gold or if I was setting myself up for failure for the later stages of the race.  But I just kept chugging along.  I really didn't adjust my pace too much since all my mile times were in the 6:45-6:50 range.  I figured that my number one goal was to finish under 3 hours.  It wasn't necessarily to finish in 2:55 or 2:57.  I wanted the clock to start with a 2 when I finished.  That was it.  So I just told myself to maintain this pace and then if I'm still feeling good around mile 22 or 23, then that would be the time to pick up the intensity.  I crossed mile 20 in 2:16:00, which was now averaging a 6:48/mile pace.  

Miles 20-26.2

As I continued on, I was feeling good.  But then mile 21 happened.  I began getting side stitches (cramps, or whatever you want to call them).  I was having a hard time breathing.  My legs began to ache and cramp.  I began wonder what the hell was happening.  It is so hard to explain.  It's lie this shit just comes out of no where and hits me like a freight train.  I can't explain it.  I have no idea why it happens.  This has been the reason why for 10 years I have struggled to finish a sub three hour marathon.  During mile 21, I took a super short walking break just to catch my breath and hopefully get back into a grove.  I started running again and was feeling okay, definitely not great.  My pace for mile 21 was 7:01.  Then after I was running for a little bit, all those feelings came right back.  I thought, "Oh great, my day is done and maybe I just wasn't meant to run a sub 3."  I began walking again, but then some complete stranger passed me and said, "C'mon man, you can't quit now."  I'll never forget it.  I have no idea who said it, but that statement struck me.  I told myself that I didn't sacrifice countless hours this past summer for training to walk and finish with another shitty race.  I didn't drive down to Milwaukee to quit on my dream at mile 22 of 26.  I sucked up any bit of strength I had and just began to run.  I kept telling myself one foot in front of the other.  Just keep moving forward.  My time for mile 22 was 7:27.  The remaining 4 miles all averaged under a 7 minute mile.  As I hit mile 26, I knew it was going to be damn close to 3 hours and I decided to lay it all out on the course for the final 0.2 miles.  As I came down the final stretch, I saw the clock read 2:59 and a low number.  I knew I was going to finally do it.  I crossed the finish line in 2:59:45.  15 seconds to spare! 

Post Race

After crossing the finish line, I was in rough shape for a little while.  I needed to get some fluid in me and just sat on a bench and drank some Gatorade until my stomach felt a little better.  I then went to get my gear bag right away to call Sarah.  I'll be honest, I cried (only a teeny tiny bit) when talking to Sarah.  She had been just as invested in my pursuit of running a sub 3 marathon as I was.  Plus she knew how much it meant to me.  We were both pretty happy.  She was bummed she wasn't able to share in the moment together, but she was happy for me.  I also called my dad about it.  It was a cool moment.  I then enjoyed my traditional post race beer from Lakefront Brewery and then it was time to head home!  I did make a short stop at a nearby brewery.  I stopped in at Broken Bat Brewery for one more additional pint before finally heading home.

What's on Tap?

As of typing this, the race is now over a month in my rear view mirror.  We have since moved into our new house, which was my personal big project.  That occupied pretty much all my free time after the race and allowed me some time away from running.  Now that I have finally run a sub three hour marathon, I honestly have NO clue what my personal goals or aspirations are.  I have no current plans for a race in 2020 of any distance.  I'm sure I'll run some race or even races, but I have no clue what ones or what distances they will be.  And honestly, I'm pretty content about that.

Thanks for sharing this journey with me!

Fox Cities Marathon - Race Report

The Fox Cities Marathon is one of my favorite races.  It is organized, it runs through my hometown and the entire fox valley, and it's run in the late summer/early fall, which is my favorite time of year.  It's been 8 years since I've last run the Fox Cities Marathon.  The Fox Cities Marathon was my first ever marathon back in 2007 and it is also the course I've run my marathon PR on, in 2010 of 3:03:46.  For all of these reasons, the Fox Cities Marathon holds a special place in my heart.  Coming off of a 3:04:58 marathon at the Oshkosh Marathon this past spring, I wanted to push all my hypothetical chips into the middle of the table and work my ass off and finally break the 3 hour threshold.

After recovering from the Oshkosh Marathon someone recommended I check out the Hanson's Marathon Method.  After they read my Race Report from the Oshkosh Marathon and heard me describe my late race struggles of feeling weak and drained the final 10k, he felt I could benefit from the Hanson's Marathon Method.  I figured I really had nothing to lose and could possibly benefit from a change in my training strategies.  So I purchased the Hanson's Marathon Method book and followed the Advance Plan while running an additional 2 miles for each scheduled "easy" training run.  The book recommended upping weekly mileage by running these additional 2 miles if you were looking to run a marathon under 3 hours.  Below are my print offs of my training schedule I followed leading up to the marathon.  The only changes I made, were instead of having my off day scheduled on Wednesdays, I bumped Friday's easy training run to Wednesday and bumped Saturday and Sunday's run to Friday and Saturday, then had my off days on Sundays.  This just made my life easier for family and personal reasons.  Essentially my week was broken down as follows:

• Monday: Easy
• Tuesday: Speed/Strength Day
• Wednesday: Easy
• Thursday: Tempo
• Friday: Easy
• Saturday: Easy/Long Run
• Sunday: Off

  

Prerace

Heading into race week, I was skeptical and had no real idea how the race was going to go for me.  Since June, I had been struggling with some achilles tendonitis and a soft tissue injury to my hip.  I was pretty sure I would be able to push through the full race, but truly didn't know.  I modified the training schedule the final week, to include 3 total off days, opposed to the scheduled one day off the training plan called for.  Weather-wise, you couldn't ask for a better forecast.  At race time the forecasted temperatures were in the middle-to-upper 40's increasing into the upper 50's by 10:00am.  I chose to wear a new pair of shorts I bought at the race expo, which I know is a text book no-no, but I felt comfortable with the shorts and myself that it wouldn't be an issue.

Saturday night was a relaxing evening, and had a filet of Ahi tuna, some wild rice, and a sweat potato.  Sarah and I dropped the girls off at my parents house for the night as Sarah was running the half marathon on Sunday too.  We got to bed early and eventually woke up at 4:15am.  We picked up Tessa and my dad and parked our vehicle in Neenah near the finish line and took a bus to the start line.  We got to the start line about an hour before race start.  I took care of some business and started warming up around 6:30.  Throughout my training, I had been experimenting with Rock Tape and used Rock Tape on both calves with hope that it would help prevent any potential issues throughout the race.

Nutrition Plan

If you have read any of my past race reports, you'd know I like to keep things consistent and simple.  So, with about an hour to go before the race, I took a couple Tissue Rejuvenator capsules, Mito Caps, and Race Caps Supreme.  Normally, I also take a couple Anti-Fatigue Caps, but because I was a total procrastinator, I never ordered a new bottle after running out.  With about 15 minutes to go until race time, I took a serving of Hammer Fully Charged, which is a phenomenal preworkout booster which I don't ever go without.  During the race, I planned on taking a Hammer Gel about every 6 miles with the first at about mile 8, and then miles 14 and 20 respectively. 

Miles 0-13.1

This entire season, I bought into the Hanson's Marathon Method.  With that being said, part of their philosophy is to race with even splits.  So that was my goal.  I trained all summer to race at a 6:40/mile pace.  I know that a 2:59:59 marathon equates to a 6:52/mile pace.  Knowing this, my strategy throughout the race was to have every mile fall between a 6:40-6:50 split.  As the race started I really wanted to judge how things were going to play out throughout the first 10k.  Everything was feeling pretty good after the first few miles.  My calves were feeling good, my hip was a non-issue, and simply put, I felt good.  Then, around mile 5 or so, I started to notice a pain on the outside of my left foot.  It felt like a shoe issue and was debating changing shoes when I next saw my mom.  As I continued, the pain slowly just went away.  It was weird and hard to describe, but like I said, it felt like a shoe issue, but just disappeared later on as I continued running.  I continued pushing forward and feeling good.  I crossed the half way point at about 1:28, which was basically right on track for what I had hoped.

Miles 13.1-20

It was around miles 15 or so, where I started to get some minor side stitches.  I got really concerned and worried that my day was going to completely become unraveled.  Throughout my training, following the Hanson's Marathon Method, I never ran further than 16 miles in a single training run.  Typically, I go at least 20 miles, multiple times, if not up to 22 or 24 miles.  I started wondering if my training was failing me and I was just going to fall apart by the time I hit mile 18+.  I knew that I had a couple of options, one, I could worry about my training and the side stitches, or I could focus on what I can control and just keep pushing forward.  Eventually, the side stitches went away, and I was right back to turning out splits all within my goal target range of 6:40-6:50.

Miles 20-26.2

As soon as I hit the 20 mile mark, I checked my watch to see how things were going and what the chances were of my FINALLY getting my sub 3 hour marathon.  At mile 20, I was at 2:15:05, so I knew all I had to do was run 7:00 miles for the final 10k and I would be right were I needed to be to set myself up for success.  Only problem was, I was hurting.  I kept pushing hard, knowing that I had a chance.  Around miles 23/24, my hamstrings started cramping.  I knew that if I just kept pushing they would lock up on me good, so I took short stretching breaks to loosen up my hamstrings.  I did my best to do this while continuing to move forward.  I ended up coming down the homestretch and saw the race clock just break 3:00:00.  I pushed as hard as I could to try and put up a 3:00:XX finish time.  I crossed the finish line in 3:01:05, missing my ultimate goal by 66 seconds.  66 F#*king seconds.  Don't get me wrong, I am thrilled to set a new PR.  A PR that has been in place for 8 years.  It leaves me motivated for next year and excited to have a great race.  It also confirms that the Hanson's Marathon Method is legit and without a doubt, I will be following their training plan next year with the goal of again, a sub 3 hour marathon.

Post Race

I finished the race in 8th place and 1st in my age group (technically 2nd, but the 1st overall finisher was also in my age group).  I am thrilled with my race and my time, I am also bummed to come so close to the goal I have been chasing for over 8 years.  After the race, I hung out with Sarah, my dad, and my kids.  It was an awesome day.  A damn near perfect day for a marathon.  After taking in some water and moving around to loosen up, I got to ring my first ever PR bell.  I have never gotten to ring a PR bell, since there never really was a "PR bell" when I set my last PR 8 years ago.  We then let the girls play on the playground while we all waited for Tessa to cross the finish line after her first ever marathon.

What's on Tap

Since finishing the Fox Cities Marathon, I haven't even run a single mile...and quite honestly, it's been pretty nice.  I worked my ass of the past 4 months training for this race.  I have run the most miles throughout those 4 miles ever during training and made a lot of sacrifices throughout those months.  Mentally and physically, I just need a break from training.  My achilles need to heal up and so does my hip.  Also, I mentioned the pain I felt in my left foot early on in the race that eventually just went away.  Turns out that after the race, later in the day, I started feeling a tingly pain every time my foot plants.  It's strange.  It's not painful, but just a weird sensation in my feet.  It has now been a couple weeks since the race, and I'm still dealing with the apparent nerve issue.  I'm hoping the issue eventually goes away, but we'll have to wait and see.  I have also been working on a new table and bench set for our house which has taken up pretty much all my free time the past couple weeks.  I'll get a blog post up soon about that build later on.

As always, thanks for reading and Cheers!

Oshkosh Marathon - Race Report

Alright, so lets be honest, I ran this race on April 29th and it is August 8th today.  I am already now two races down as far as Race Reports go and I'm already closer to my next marathon than I am to this race's race report.  But, as I tell my kids, you get what you get and you don't throw a fit.  This was my second ever full marathon at the Oshkosh Marathon.  If I had the chance, I honestly wouldn't choose this race.  But, when I registered, I though this was the only spring marathon I could run, so I couldn't pass it up.  It's a cheap race and it's close to home, so I can't turn it down, especially when it's the only weekend I can race.  But towards the end of my training, I accepted a new position at my work and no longer work shift work.  I am now working straight days, Monday though Friday.  Sure, it sounds great, but, it's quite the change after 8 years of working night shift.  I gave up my extended "weekends" and all my spare time to train.  But, I didn't find out about the job change until a little over a month before the race, so it really didn't totally effect this training plan as one would think.  Honestly, the weather had a bigger effect on my training than my job change did.  But I sucked it up and did what I could with what I could.  That meant training many early mornings in sub-zero temperatures on top of trudging through some snow here and there.  Over the years, I have become accustom to it though.

Training for This Race

Going into this race, I really wanted to work on my weakness.  Even though I have run over a dozen marathons and even run a pretty successful 50 mile ultramarathon, I honestly think my weakness is long distance.  I guess to be more specific, running fast at long distances.  So with this training plan, I upped my usual long distance training runs.  This training plan, I scheduled long runs up to 24 miles, with the idea that this would help build my comfort with running long.  I also threw in my marathon standard of 800 repeats.  My training went well, other than dealing with the weather, as I stated earlier.

Prerace

I honestly don't totally remember exactly how my race morning went.  I remember getting up early as usual and got to the race site early (as usual).  The weather forecast was decent, a bit cold if you ask me, but for a late April race in Wisconsin, it was as good as you could ask for.  My warm up was good, I ran about a mile to a mile and a half and felt good at the end. 

Nutrition Plan

In the past, it has seemed that I have always struggled taken in calories towards the end of every marathon.  So, to hopefully circumvent this issue, I planned on taking in few calories, more spread out over the 26.2 miles.  I had planned on taking in 4 gels over the 26.2 miles.  Prior to the race, I took my usual dosage of 4 Hammer Anit-Fatigue Caps with 4 Endurance Aminos.

Miles 0-26.2

As soon as the race started I did my best to try and hold back and not succumb to the urge of starting out too fast.  After the first mile or so, I knew I started out a tad too fast.  I felt good though.  I didn't want to mess with what was feeling good.  Then, at about mile 2 or 3, I met up with an old friend from my YMCA days.  I ran with him for a few miles and talked a lot for my tastes.  Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed chatting with him and it sucks that it seems I only see him at races, but I hate talking while I run.  I mean, I absolutely HATE talking and having a conversation during races.  But, that is what I (we) did.  I don't regret it, but it sure did throw off my pace and my breathing.  I ended up pulling away from him around mile 6, which is right about the same time I took a minute or so to stop and put some band-aids on my nipples.  Sarah thankfully brought some for me since for whatever reason, I completely forgot.  Don't worry, my nipples thanked her later for bringing those for me.  I kept pushing on after that.  Everything was going really well.  Like really well.  No, I mean REALLY well.  My pace was all below my goal pace.  I felt good, like really good.  I was beginning to think this was going to be race.  The race that I finally break 3 hours.  Then, mile 19-20 hit me...as always.  I hit mile 20 and everything just seemed to slow down.  It was like molasses in December.  My breathing struggled and my legs felt like cement.  This has been my nemesis in my marathon races.  I don't know if it's a mental struggle or a purely a fitness struggle.  I'm thinking it's likely a combination of both.  Either way, I finished the race in 3:04 and change, which is the best time I have put up in a marathon since my BQ in 2009, when I ran a 3:03 and change.  So considering this is the best race I have ran in nearly 10 years on top of the fact that my training was so-so, I was left very motivated for what is to come.

Post Race

After the race, I hung around for a while with the family and some friends.  It was cool and windy, so I didn't stand around too long.  But enjoyed a good race.

What's on Tap 

Well, this is interesting.  If I had written this somewhat after the race, I would talk about running the High Cliff Ultra 25k in August or even my training strategies for the Fox Cities Marathon in September.  But here I am, 4 days after the Ultra 25k, and almost a month out of my fall marathon.  So, I guess I'll just say stay tuned for my race reports from those races, which I will do my best to get posted ASAP.

Thanks for reading and as always, cheers!

 

Oshkosh Marathon - Race Report

It's been a year and a half since I last ran a marathon and 16 months since my last half marathon. I've really missed the longer distance events. Sarah and I had a couple extensive discussions about possibly racing another Ironman in 2017 or 2018. I got excited at the idea of racing a 70.3 half Ironman this summer to get back into racing long course triathlons again, but then I took a step back and tried to plan my training for a 70.3 this year. I had a very difficult time scheduling 4 hour bike rides and 4-6 hour training blocks into my personal schedule. My life is in a new place now, with a third daughter. I was having a hard time figuring a way to allow me to get all the training in. There is no doubt in my mind that I would be able to finish a 70.3, but I want to be competitive. The idea of just finishing doesn't motivate me to put in the training. So that lead me to some new goals for 2016. I have wanted to "run the year" the past few years, but never truly attempted to achieve it, due to cycling and swim training. I decided that I would focus on running for a while (few years), while my kids are growing up. Running is easy to work into my schedule. It's much more conducive to run before the sun comes up in the morning, where the same is cannot be said for cycling or swimming. I am also able to take advantage of drop off child care at my local YMCA and run for up to 3 hours on a treadmill. So That leads me to my goal races for the year. I decided to focus back on distance running this year. First on my list was a spring marathon. Second was my first ultra marathon.

I registered for the Oshkosh Marathon for a few reasons. First, I couldn't beat the cost. I got a 50% off deal from Groupon for the marathon. Second, it fit into my work schedule and my personal schedule, and it is close to home and wouldn't require me to travel or stay in a hotel. Lastly, two years ago while training for the Whistle Stop Marathon, I did a lot of my training runs on the Wiouwash Trail, as the marathon was a trail marathon and fell in love with the scenery on along the trail. The Oshkosh Marathon has a 7 mile stretch of of the trail as part of the course, which was enticing.

Training for This Race

I created a strict, specific, 16 week training plan leading up to the April 24th race. My training was going great initially. But, then came my first hurdle. I some how, some way, injured my neck on January 25th. It put me in the Emergency Room. I took a 2 week hiatus from running to allow, what my chiropractor called, a compressed disc to heal. I finally got back to a normal running routine on February 9th. At that point, I made some minor adjustments to my training plan and began following it very loosely. I was actually probably very smart about my training. I followed my training plan with workouts, but was flexible with what I did on a day to day basis. I knew what I needed to achieve throughout a specific week, but made my day-to-day decisions based on how I felt, my personal schedule, and other various metrics. But then, on March 31st, I had a 10 mile tempo workout, which I ran on a treadmill. I felt great afterward and went to work that night. I made the decision to do a "back-to-back" running day and run a 6 mile "easy" run the morning after work. I finished it, but noticed a "niggle" in my left calf throughout the run. It never hindered my run, but I noticed it. It got tighter and tighter throughout the run, but finished. I biked the next day, hoping to work out the soreness. I then attempted to get back out for a run on April 3rd. I wasn't able to get further than 2.46 miles. At this point the race was 3 weeks out. I knew that if I was going to be able to not only run the race, but finish, I would have to be smart with my calf and not force anything. I made a couple more attempts at running on both April 5th and 6th, but ended with the same results. I felt good for about the first mile, then noticed my calf tightening up, and would just bag the run all together. I took my second two week break from running, this time during my peak training weeks. I finally was able to get back to running on April 15th, just about a week out from the race. These two "injuries" really changed my goals for the race.

I will say though, I really took away two big learning points this training cycle. First off, on the Endurance Planet "Ask the Coaches" Podcast, one of the host's favorite running workouts was an "over/under" run. The concept is simple. You take your goal race pace, then run a mile at 10 seconds faster and alternate that with a mile at 10 seconds slower than your goal pace. Basically, I would run a mile or two warm up, and follow that with 4-8 miles alternated at a 6:40 pace and 7:00 pace. The workout is challenging and never really gives you a slow recovery. I fell in love with this workout and will definitely use this again. The second learning point I took away was the idea of having a flexible training schedule. Basically I knew the 2 or 3 key workouts I wanted to achieve during a weekly training cycle, but would plan out my cycle literally in 2-4 day stretches. in the past, I would follow my training plan to a "T." This would get difficult and frustrating. But making these adjustments made my life less stressful and allowed for my body to adapt and recover. If I wasn't a complete idiot that one day which caused my calf to tighten up. I completely blame myself for "injuring" my calf, due to just being stupid.

Prerace

The entire week or two leading up to the race, I had been checking the weather forecast. The forecast was not promising. All week there was an 80% chance of thunderstorms and cool and breezy. The night before the race, the forecast was the best I had seen. There was a slight chance the rain would hold off until the afternoon. I was ecstatic with this. Not that I would have any control over this, or let this get to me mentally, but let's just be honest, no one likes running in the cold ran...let alone thunderstorms.

The Friday before the race, we brought the girls to a Brewer's game with some friends of the family. I did something that I don't think I have ever done....drank alcohol within the week of a major race. I had three beers! I guess, at this point, I had the mentality that I was not going to be setting any personal records at this race, just based on my training. I chose to have a few brews to enjoy the company and have fun. I thought, what's the worse that could happen at this point? Three beers would not dramatically impact my race, 36 hours later.
 

 

  
On Saturday, I was on my feet way more than I would have liked to be, but again, oh well, life is life. I had to take care of filling in several holes in our yard and planting grass in those spots. I also made it down to the race expo for my packet pick-up. The process was actually very smooth, I credit that do the smaller size of the race. That evening, I had a baked filet of tilapia with a sweet potato and a salad for dinner. I drank a lot of fluids throughout the day and finished the day with my traditional cup of chamomile tea before bed. I was able to get to bed right around 8pm and watched a little of the start of the NHL Playoffs.

I woke up when my alarm went off at 4:30 and was on the road by 5am and got to the race site by 5:30...exactly as I planned. I just chilled up until about 6:20ish, which is when I stated doing some of my favorite dynamic movements to help loosen and warm up before the race. The weather outlook was just about perfect. Temperatures were in the upper 40's with overcast skies. The rain looked like it was going to hold off for the morning.

Nutrition Plan

In every single previous marathon I have run, I have had some sort of breakfast.  Whether it be a Powerbar (way back when), toast with peanut butter and honey, or a sweet potato.  For this race, I chose to try something new...to not eat a damn thing.  All I had before the race was coffee and a few swigs of water with a tablet of Hammer Nutrition Endurolytes Fizz.  My fueling free morning seemed to work, as I never really got hungry before the race. 

The days leading up to the race I took my standard dosage of 4 servings a day for 4 days leading up to race day of Race Day Boost.  As far as my race plan, I wanted to keep it as simple as possible.  I first took two capsules of Anti-Fatigue Caps one hour prior to the start of the race, then I carried 4 Hammer Gels with me, along with a few additional Anti-Fatigue Caps.  My plan was to take a gel at or around miles 5, 10, 15, and 20 and take an additional 2 Anti-Fatigue Caps around miles 10 and 20.  I ended up taking a gel at 5 and 10 and 16.  At that point my I never really felt like I wanted to take an additional gel, but also felt like I needed something.  So at about mile 21-22, I forced about half of my last gel down.  I also took two Anti-Fatigue Caps around mile 13.  My body started craving something sweet, but not a gel, around mile 23.  So, I took an orange slice from an aid station, and it tasted so good.  I also took about three cups of Gatorade from 3 separate aid stations from the remaining 4-5 miles of the race.  I felt good, all around, just wasn't digging the gels at that point in time.
　

Equipment

New Balance 890v5 ShoesSLS3 Compression Socks
Nike Running Shorts
Hammer Nutrition Race Singlet
Sleefs Arm Sleeves　
TomTom Spark Cardio+ Music

Miles 0-10

 As I mentioned above, my training was inconsistent at best leading up to the race, so my expectations were curbed.  I really didn't have any specific goals other than not to embarrass myself.  I set a wide range of times for a finish goal.  My range was 3:00 to 3:30.  I figured I should have no problem finishing within that time window.  So at the start of the race, I really just wanted to take it intentionally easy and just get into a groove that I could sustain for at least 20 miles.  Once the race started I did my best not to get sucked into the rush that happens at every race start.  I knew that still went out a bit too fast and did my best to pull myself back.  By mile 4, I had the inkling that I probably had been going too hard.  My heart rate at this point was in the mid to upper 160's.  I slowed up a bit, but also tried not to look at my watch for time and distance as I just wanted to run based on feel for at least the first half.  As I continued to pass mile markers, I continued to see my heart rate in the 160-165 range.  I decided to just do my best to try and regulate my heart rate the best I can and just keep the fact that this was a 26.2 mile race and not anything less.  

Miles 3-20 were by far the most scenic miles of the race.  These miles were run on the Wiouwash Trial that I mentioned about.  The course was set up to run the first 3 miles to get out of the City of Oshkosh and to get onto the trail itself.  Miles 3 to 10 were all north on the trail.  There were several old bridges from when the trail was originally a train track.  I first saw Sarah and the girls along with my parents and my in-laws around mile 9.  It was great to see some familiar faces as it had been a while since I saw anyone.  The total number of marathon participants was pretty low, which left us runners pretty spread out, so it was nice to just see a person.  Just before reaching the mile 10 mile marker, you hit the turn-around point and headed back south down the trail. 　

Miles 11-20

After hitting the turnaround point just before the 10 mile mark, I was on the "home stretch."  I only had another 16 miles to go and I was making my way back into the City of Oshkosh.  At this point in the race, I had a feeling my heart rate was too high and was going to cause problems later on.  I just did my best to keep my pace in check and keep a close eye on my heart rate.  My goal was to stay below 160 bpm.  I look at my watch for a time for the first time just after the half way mark.  I was at 1:34.  My immediate thought was, "Wow, I could really put up a good time."  My second thought was, "I better get my heart rate down if I want to be any where near a even split."  As I approached mile 15, my stomach wasn't really craving a gel, so I opted to push it back a mile or two and see if that made a difference.  I approached the water station in the vicinity of mile 16, I forced myself to take as much of a gel as I could.  I ended up sucking down at least 75% of it and I called it good.  It was right about this point that fatigue set in.  Part of me was pissed that it again was happening.  That again, I would be taking walking breaks.  The other part of me was actually surprised that I made it this far before fatigue got the best of me.  My cardiovascular system was feeling great, my lungs felt like they could keep on keeping on.  My legs though, they felt heavier and heavier with every passing mile.  I did my best to just make it mile marker to mile marker.  

Miles 21-26.2

By the time I got to mile 20, I was still just going mile to mile with short walking breaks.  My legs were destroyed by this point.  I again didn't want anything to do with a gel, but knew I needed the calories.  At mile 21/22 I forced about a half of a gel down the hatch.  I knew that I didn't get nearly enough calories, so I started to take Gatorade from the water stations.  The flavor of the Gatorade tasted great and wasn't exactly what I would have preferred, but they went down great.  At about the 23 mile mark, I grabbed an orange slice, and let me tell you, it was the best damn orange and it hit the spot.  After getting to mile 24, I just kept telling myself, "2 more miles...15 more minutes."  I just kept pushing till the end.  I finished the race in 3:17:53, 18th place overall, and 3rd in my age group.

Post Race

At the end of the race, I had mixed feelings about my race.  First, I was actually really happy with finishing at all.  I honestly had forgotten how hard marathons were.  I guess a better way of putting it would be that I took running a quick marathon for granted.  It's not easy at all.  See, over the last couple years, I have been running shorter races, simply using my base fitness.  Marathons are not easy, nor can you just mosey your way through one.  Sure, you may be able to mosey your way to just simply finishing one, but if you have ambitious goals, you better have put in the work...and consistent work.  Ultimately, at 3:17 marathon is nothing to scoff at.  Especially knowing that I took four weeks off from a 16 week training plan (25%).  Not only did I miss 25% of my training plan,  two weeks were the two biggest weeks leading up to my taper.

After the race, I got to hang out with my buddy from Winnebago.  I haven't seen him in what felt like years.  But it was great to catch up with him after a race.  He ran the half marathon after working all night.  After sticking around for a bit, I headed home to try and take a nap before work.  Yup, I had to work third shift the night after a marathon.

What's on Tap

With my marathon out of the way, I have one remaining "A" race left on my schedule and it is quite possibly my biggest race, at least since the Ironman.  On October 22nd, I will be running the "Fall 50," a 50 mile ultra marathon in Door County, WI.  I am also 1/3 of the way into my goal of running 2016 miles in 2016.  I am behind the 8 ball to be honest, but with my training for the Fall 50 coming up later this summer, I should be close.  Also coming up is our family trip to Florida, which we are all very excited for.

What's on Tap for 2016

Coming off of a year where I literally did a race each and every month, I honestly have been looking forward to a break from racing.  At the same time, I wanted to get back to a structured, planned out year.  Initially, I really wanted to try to get back into longer racing.  After finishing the 2013 Ironman Wisconsin, I was given strict rules that I would be allowed to race another Ironman until our youngest kid was fully potty-trained.  Well, that time is just around the corner.  We are figuring that Harper should be potty-trained within the next 10-12 months, tops.  Based on this assumption, I should be able to do another Ironman in 2017.

Early on during my 2016 race season planning, I had a general idea of easing my way back into long course triathlon racing.  I was eyeing up either Ironman Racine 70.3 or the Door County Half Ironman, both of which were July 17th.  I also was looking at doing a couple Olympic distance triathlons (1.5k swim, 40k bike, 10k run).  On top of that general plan, I really wanted to do another marathon which I haven't done since October 2014. 

But, the more I kept thinking about training for a 70.3 triathlon, the more I began to question whether or not that was really what I wanted.  Did I really want to devote the time to get to a pool at least 3 times a week?  Did I really want to figure a way to get out for 70-80 mile bike rides?  Was I really willing to sacrifice time away from my wife and more importantly my kids during our weekend camping trips to make sure I get my training in?  The more I kept asking myself these questions, the more I started thinking that I wasn't mentally ready to commit to that lifestyle.  I have been enjoying a less structured training lifestyle.  I have been enjoying spending time with my kids and allowing them to be apart of my fitness.  If I were to commit to a 70.3, my life would become exponentially more difficult.  Especially when it came to finding time to get in bike rides.  Getting in runs and swims are relatively easy.  The YMCA is generally always open when needed and I have drop-in kids care for up to 3 hours.  Sure, the Y does have a couple stationary bikes that are as good as you're going to find for mimicking a road bike bike.  But truth be told, nothing will beat or replace riding outdoors.  Outside you have to deal with wind, hills, and shifting, all of which are never even considered when you are mindlessly spinning the pedals indoors.  Another downfall with cycling, is that it is difficult to get out early in the morning to ride.  I enjoy riding on country roads opposed to city streets for the fact that you have to stop less and it is just easier to map out 20, 40, or even longer routes on straight, long, less traveled roads.  Riding on country roads in the pitch dark is not only dangerous because of other vehicles, but its hard to see what's ahead when riding in excess of 20 mph.  In addition to that downside, I can't take my kids with me on my bike rides.  At least with running, I have a running stroller for the two little ones and Maya can now bike along side.  So, if I am unable to get up early enough to run before they get up, I can either take them to the YMCA and run on a treadmill or take them with me. 

With all that being said, I have made some adjustments to my approach to 2016.  I am going to focus on running more than ever.  Ever since qualifying for the Boston Marathon at the Fox Cities Marathon after running a 3:03, I have had the goal of running a sub 3 hour marathon.  So, this year, I am going to focus early on and do my best to finally run a 2:59 marathon.  My biggest, most ambitious undertaking will running a 50 mile ultramarathon in October in Door County.  This has always been another goal that has been sitting in the back of my mind.

They say you should wright down your goals and post them for others to see.  It'll hold you accountable, it'll keep your goals at the forefront of your mind.  So below are my goals for 2016 along with my proposed race schedule.

Proposed Race Schedule

• Oshkosh Marathon - April 24
• Elkhart Lake Triathlon - June 11
• Ripon Medical Center Triathlon - July 24
• Fall 50 - October 22 

Goals for 2016

• Run a total of 2016 miles throughout the year
• Lose weight (goal weight of 165)
• Finish the Fall 50
• Run a 2:59 (or faster) marathon
• Set a PR in the 5k (current PR is  17:42)

WhistleStop Marathon - Race Report

Immediately after getting home this past May following my first ever DNF (Did Not Finish) at the Cellcom Green Bay Marathon, Sarah started looking for a secondary option for my opportunity to run a sub 3 hour marathon.  I had entered the GB Marathon with a pre-existing calf issue, but at least tried to run a full marathon regardless.  I made it just 17 miles of the 26.2 mile race.  I was pretty bummed, but not really surprised that I didn't finish.  I was more surprised that I made it 17 miles than I was that I had to pull out prior to crossing the finish line.  After Sarah and I got home, I started to unpack all my stuff and then jumped in the shower.  After I got out, Sarah had already found a redemption race for me...The WhistleStop Marathon in Ashland, WI on October 11th.  After she told me about it, I was as excited and optimistic, if not more, as I was earlier in the year before my calf issue arose.  The race website claims the event to be a "smaller, runner friendly event, with a course that is flat, easy on the knees, and the one on which you can set your PR or qualify for Boston."  I was sold immediately.  I then continued to read up on the course a little more and found that it was run almost solely on an old rail road trestle, that has since become a gravel/sand recreational trail, called the Tri-County Corridor.  The race was prominently flat with a net downhill course.  The course was a point to point race starting 26 miles west of Ashland at a resort in Iron River, WI.  The race starts with a short 1 mile jaunt south on a paved road before getting on the trail.  Not only was this a simple, runner friendly course, it appeared to be a super easy marathon to spectate.  The trail runs directly East/West along major highways and has several cross roads the intersect both the trail and the highways.

It not only sounded like a perfect course for me, but the timing was ideal too.  The race was exactly 9 weeks after the USA Triathlon Age Group National Championships.  That would leave me one week to lay low and recovery from a long stretch of triathlon training before jumping right into an 8 week marathon specific training program.  I had already taken that weekend off for Maya's birthday weekend, so my work schedule was not an issue.  Sarah's parents have a cabin (that I have talked about before) in Cayuga, which is about a 30 minute drive south of Ashland.  So there really was no reason not to do this race.  As you could imagine, it didn't take long for me to be convinced that this was "THE" race for me to set my marathon PR and redeem myself from my first ever DNF.  I jumped online and registered that day, the same day I posted my DNF.  We made immediate plans with both my family and Sarah's family to make a long weekend of it and spend the weekend in Cayuga, and hopefully celebrate my new Marathon PR with Maya's impending birthday (on the 13th).  Or so I thought....

Training for This Race

This year was the year for cookie cutter training programs.  Every single year prior to this race season, I created my own custom, personalized, specific training program.  But this year, I opted to scour the internet for training programs.  I did this for a couple reasons (or excuses).  One, I wanted some new workouts opposed to the usual workouts I would schedule myself.  Two, I was a little lost when designing a program specific for Sprint distance triathlons.  Three, I was looking for a marathon specific program that would theoretically prepare me adequately for a 2:59:59 or faster marathon.  So, I utilized Runner World's free Smart Coach feature which allows you to create a "custom" training program based on a previous race result.  I entered my half marathon time from this past April of 1:24:31 and scheduled my race date to be 8 weeks out with an average weekly mileage of 40-45.  It spit out a weekly training program with prescribed paces for each workout.  The program had me running 4 days a week; Tuesday, Thursday, Friday, and a long run on Sunday.  Below is a link to a PDF file of my training program. 

LINK TO MY TRAINING PROGRAM FOR THE 2014 WHISTLESTOP MARATHON

In general, my training was spot on.  I was hitting all my weekly mileage and my prescribed paces.  I was feeling great throughout my entire training plan and was seeming to progress rather nicely.  Typically, every Friday was a speed or tempo themed workout.  My first speed workout was a 7 mile run consisting of 4 mile repeats which I did at my local track.  It was during my last interval that I felt a similar tightness in my left calf.  I finished my interval (stupid?) and proceeded to take an extra day off to insure proper recovery.  I proceeded to train through the tightness, at the direction of my apparently newly appointed "coach," Sarah.  I proceeded to make my next long run of 18 miles and just dealt with the tightness, but it never became such and issue where it hindered my run.  All of long runs and most of my daily runs were done on local trails.  I did this with the belief that it would better prepare my legs for the softer running surface of the Marathon.  I ran on either the Wiouwash Trail or the Friendship Trail for most of my runs.  My last long run was run on the Fox River Trail, South of Green Bay.  I think this decision was as beneficial for my mental strength as it was for my running fitness, due to the simplicity of just running out and back for 10-20 miles at a time.  Doing this forced myself to remain focused on my breathing, heart rate, feeling in my legs, and just listening to my body opposed to relying on the constant changing scenery or constant turning of city running.

Prerace

I was fortunate enough to have off of work for most of the week leading up to the Marathon.  My last night at work was on Saturday (into Sunday) October, 4th.  I was then off Sunday through Wednesday.  On Wednesday night I made a Ginger Beef Stir-Fry for dinner and didn't think anything of it...  Until 12:30am that nigh, when Sarah and I were both woken up by Delaney screaming and crying.  We both immediately thought she had wet the bed.  Sarah went in to check on her and found that she had thrown up in bed.  Within the next hour, Sarah was now puking.  By 4:30am, Maya was now up throwing up.  Grrrrrrreat....now the entire family will be struck down by the flu for the next 3-4 days and my hopes of running in the WhistleStop Marathon were going to be taken out by the flu.  For whatever reason, I felt completely fine throughout the remainder of the night and woke up at 6:00am for my final training run before the race.  I was scheduled to have SWAT Training from 8a-4p on Thursday and made it through the day with no stomach issues, even though my stomach never felt "right."  Sarah ended up staying home from work on Thursday and all three girls just laid on the couch all day randomly puking throughout the morning.  As the day progressed, however, the vomiting stopped and all three of them felt relatively better.  After I got home from SWAT, I packed up the car and Sarah decided that they all felt well enough to make the 4 hour trip to the Northwoods.  We were on the road for Cayuga by 6:00.  Maya and Sarah were both asleep within the first 15 minutes of our drive, while Delaney stayed awake for the entire trip.  We finally made it to the cabin minutes before 10pm and were unpacked and in bed around midnight.  By the time we arrived, all three girls were feeling somewhat normal, albeit, tired and sore.  We never really figured out if they had a form of stomach flu or a type of food poisoning from the stir-fry.  I opted to sleep apart from Sarah and the girls in case they had the flu.

On Friday, I just laid low around the cabin, colored in Maya's coloring book, did some word searches, and watched some TV.  I ate my scheduled menu for Friday, which was a pretty simple diet with all easily digestible foods and nothing new....and definitely no Ginger Beef Stir-Fry.  At 3:30 I drove up to Ashland for the packet pick-up, which was about as simple as they come.  I picked up my packet and walked through the couple of vendors that were selling their end of year gear and was back on the road heading back to the cabin within a half hour.  After getting back to the cabin, I ate my dinner and hung out with the gang before heading over to my mom and dad's cabin for the night.  My parents made the trip up north for the weekend that Friday night and got into town around 5:00.  They rented a cabin for the weekend on Gordon Lake, which was about a 15 minute drive south of the my in-law's cabin.  I was in bed around 8:30pm and was asleep before 9pm.

Keeping busy with crayons

My morning breakfast

That morning I woke up around 4:45am to a fresh brewed pot of Hammer Nutrition's 53x11 Organic Chain Breaker Coffee.  I ate a sweet potato with Justin's Almond Butter and a Tbsp of natural local honey at 5:30 and left for the race around 6:00.  I found a great parking spot and hung out in the Ashland Ice Arena for a little while before boarding the first bus to the start line of the full marathon at 7:00.  The bus ride was relaxing and took about 25-30 minutes.  The start line was located on East Long Lake Rd just outside of the Tri-Lake Timbers Resort.  The resort opened their bar/dinning area up for runners to hang out and stay warm.  The weather at the time we arrived at the start line was about 30 degrees.  The bar was a nice place to sit and just relax.  They served free coffee for runners and hand made bloody mary's for the family members of runners.  With about 20 minutes before the start of the race, I made my way outside and did an easy warm up consisting of various dynamic movements, such as leg kicks, lunges, and skips, all intermixed with very light jogging.

A view looking left from the start line...gorgeous!

Nutrition Plan

What I had planned for my race nutrition plan and what I actually did throughout the race were two completely different things.  I won't dive into what I ended up doing on race day here, as I will let you read the actual report for that, I will just stay with what I had planned to follow on race day.  So, I already discussed what I ate and drank for my pre-race breakfast after waking up that morning.  I then continued to sip on my 53x11 Organic Coffee throughout the morning during the bus ride to the start line.  At 8am, 1 hour before the race, I took, 2 Anti-Fatigue Caps, 2 Race Caps Supreme, 1 Mito Caps, and 1 Endurolyte.  During the race my plan was to take a Hammer Gel at miles 3.9, 7.9, 12.2, 16, and 21.6.  Doing this would provide me a total of 450 calories or about 150 calories per hour.  My preferred flavor for the WhistleStop Marathon was the new Peanut Butter-Chocolate, which is seriously, the best flavor gel I have had.  Throughout the race, I was planning on taking 2 Anti-Fatigue Caps at miles 10 and then at 20.  I also had several Energy Surge tabs and Endurolytes to take as needed throughout the race.  My plan was simple and had worked for me throughout all of long runs in training.  To carry my pills and capsules, I bought a pack of 2.5"x3" resealable plastic bags which would keep my pills dry and separated without taking up a lot space.

Gear/Equipment

New Balance 890v4

Race Ready Shorts

Race Ready Cool-Tee Running Shirt

Thorlo CoolMax Mini Running Socks

Garmin Forerunner 910XT GPS Watch

Cheap, knee-high socks with the toe cut out to throw away during the race

Cheap, knit gloves that I can also throw away during the race

Miles 0-6.2

My Splits:

1 - 6:51

2 - 6:39

3 - 6:44

4 - 6:48

5 - 6:39

6 - 6:42

I was feeling really good and confident leading up to the start of the race.  I really felt as though I was going to be able to nail my goal of running a sub 3:00 marathon.  I was running with my Garmin, but turned off all alerts and alarms.  I set the screen to just show distance.  I did not want to become overly concerned with what pace I was running.  I wanted to truly focus in on myself and listen to my body.  I had read several articles on the benefits of not running with a GPS watch, and I bought into it.  My plan was to run the first 4-6 miles at a moderate pace, build up to a more intense pace for miles 7-20 and then run as fast as possible for the final 10k.  As I mentioned earlier, the first mile or so, was on an asphalt road leading south to the Tri-County Corridor.  I ran at what I felt was a comfortable relaxed pace for the first 10k.  I was feeling really good.  I was getting slightly annoyed with the trail surface however, but was expecting this.  The WhistleStop staff did make us aware of the current trail conditions leading up to the race in their regular email updates.  Due to the above average rain fall all summer and fall, they experienced areas of the trail that were slightly washed out.  They also warned of larger rocks throughout the first 6 miles of the trail.  What I was not expecting was the sandiness of the trail.  Throughout most of the race, but especially during the initial 10k, we were all moving from side to side of the trail just trying to find the most secure footing along the trail.  There were sections of the trail which reminded me of running on beaches with how sandy and soft the surface was.  There were some sections of the trail which had large rocks, some the size of baseballs, which I was not anticipating.  I first saw my support group (Sarah with the girls, my mother and father in-law, my parents, Sarah's sister, Lisa, and Andy's wife, Lindsay with her boys.  Shortly after passing my fans, the runners around me started calling my "Uncle Matt" and commented on how loud and great my crowd was, I just smiled and said they are the best.

Miles 7-13.1

My Splits:

7 - 6:35

8 - 6:47

9 - 6:44

10 - 6:57

11 - 6:38

12 - 6:39

13 - 6:55

After crossing the first 10k mark, I was feeling really good.  I honestly felt as though I was running about a 6:55-7:00/mile average.  After the race, as I was looking at my splits, I was well below that, averaging close to a 6:45/mile average.  The trail conditions continued to remain constant - Sandy and rocky in spots.  I took my second gel at mile 7.9 and was feeling really well.  I was constantly asking myself, "how do you feel?" and "how will the pace effect me at miles 20-26.2?"  I knew I still had a long race ahead and was convinced I was not going to blow up and fall apart during the second half.  Literally a mile or two before the 13 mile marker I started getting terrible stomach cramps.  They felt like knives stabbing me in my sides, they made it difficult to breath.  I was determined not to let that effect my race.  I immediately began to start thinking a mile ahead of where I was in the race.  I wanted to stay ahead of the game and make sure my plan would set me up for success, not make matters worse.  I skipped my third gel that I was scheduled to take at mile 12.2 with hopes that my cramps were being caused by my nutrition.  I did take my Anti-Fatigue Caps at mile 10 as I was scheduled to.

Miles 14-20

My Splits:

14 - 7:17

15 - 7:41

16 - 7:01

17 - 7:33

18 - 7:11

19 - 8:47

20 - 7:24

Just by looking at those splits you can tell something went wrong.  As usual, I completely fell apart after crossing the 13.1 marker.  My stomach cramps never went away, in fact they got worse, much worse.  It got to the point were I felt as though I was going to puke.  I actually regurgitated a bit several times and just swallowed it back down (sorry for being descriptive).  I knew that regardless of how I was feeling I needed to take some calories in to keep moving forward.  I took my third gel at mile 16 and it didn't feel good going down.  I tried to continue taking in water, but I could still feel everything just sloshing around in my belly.  I knew at this point a 2:59 was probably not going to happen.  I was still going to do my best to continue moving forward with hopes of a marathon PR (sub 3:03).  Due to my persistent stomach issues, I was forced to walk more and more, as is evident by my splits.  My race turned into a mile by mile survival in stead of cranking it up during the second half as I had planned to do.  I skipped taking my second dose of Anti-Fatigue Caps at mile 20

Miles 21-26.2

My Splits

21 - 8:00

22 - 8:59

23 - 8:31

24 - 9:05

25 - 8:42

26 - 9:48

The final 10k was not at all what I had hoped it would be.  My breathing became noticeably more and more labored and my stomach issues were getting worse.  I was burping more and more and doing my best to not throw up.  I never took my 4th or 5th gels, nor did I take any of my Energy Surge tablets or Endurolytes for fear that they would put me over the edge and make me throw up, and make my shitty day even worse.  I was now walking a couple times every mile.  It reminded me a lot of how I felt through most of my Ironman Marathon.  It seemed like no matter how slow I would run, my heart rate would skyrocket and I would be out of breath and the only thing that would counter this would be to walk.  It was frustrating and painful.  It's a terrible feeling knowing that you're not going to come close to your goals and there was nothing you can do about it.  It was the same old song and dance for me.  Run a strong half marathon, feel great throughout the first half and then crash hard and burn throughout the next 13.1 miles.  I did make it a point to run when ever in eye shot of my family.  I felt as though I owed it to them, not to look like I was struggling - no matter how much I hurt or how frustrated I was.  I ended up crossing the finish line in 3:16:28 (7:30/mile average pace) which put me in 28th overall (of 379 finishers) and 4th in my age group (of 30 finishers).

Post Race

Immediately after crossing the finish line, I just wanted to catch my breath.  My breathing had been very labored for the past 13 miles and my stomach felt like it had several knives stabbing me from every which way.  I quickly made my way through the finisher's chute, got my space blanket and medal and found a quiet spot off to the side and just caught my breath.  Within seconds of finding a quiet spot to rest, Maya ran up to me and gave me a huge hug, it was exactly what I needed.  It made me so happy.  I immediately took off my medal and gave it to her.  Sarah found me shortly after Maya did and she was probably just as frustrated as I was with the day.  I made my way to the post race tent to claim my finisher's jacket, which is a really nice, white jacket with a stitched in WhistleStop logo and the word FINISHER printed along the right sleeve.  The jacket is easily one of the best post race give-aways, if not THE best I have received from a race.  The jacket is a quality jacket and one that I will actually wear, especially this fall.  I made my way through the post race food tent as well, but nothing even looked remotely appealing.  I just grabbed two containers of unsweetened apple sauce.  I ate them slowly and was able to hold them down.  The was the only thing I ate until I had a beer :) at South Shore Brewery in Ashland.  Even if I wasn't feeling up for a beer, I was going to force myself to drink one, as I was looking forward to having my traditional post race brew, especially at one of my favorite little brew pubs.  I ordered a light tasting Apple Ale which actually hit the spot pretty nicely.  Right after most of the gang sucked down a beer we all hit the road back to the cabin to make the most of the remainder of the afternoon.  We had a big cook out and sat around a fire for the rest of a nearly perfect, cool, crisp fall day in the Northwoods of Wisconsin.

Finisher's Jacket and Medal

My post race beer at South Shore Brewery

The race itself, as I look back on it, was an awesome race.  As I mentioned above, if I were to make on complaint it would be the quality of the running surface.  For majority of the race, the trail surface was much softer and sandier than I had expected and frankly, more than desired.  The course was uber scenic and there was rarely a section of the course that wasn't picturesque.  There were large gorges with large wooden trestles.  The fall colors were at their peak throughout the entire area.  I would highly recommend running this race, if you are able to make the trip to Ashland.  Just expect the course to be run on a sand/gravel covered trail.  If you are able to accept this fact, its a race that I guarantee you will enjoy and not regret.

A view of the course

The Day in Music

I'm going to try doing something new here.  I want to just put a song up that I feel summarizes my race.  I am a huge believer in the power of music, not only to motivate, but to tell a story, effect emotions, or even inspire.  I won't go into any details as to why I chose the song I did, and will leave that up to your own interpretation.  So, for my first crack at this, I have chosen "Takes Me Nowhere," by The Offspring.

What's on Tap

How lucky am I to have such a great support crew!!

This one was tough.  I had high expectations and really thought I was going to be successful.  I went into this race more confident, more optimistic, and honestly, more arrogance than any other race to date.  As I sit here writing my race report, just 2 days after finishing over 16 minutes longer than my goal, I am left with feelings of failure, guilt, and more questions that I just don't have the answers to.  I feel like I failed, I have no idea why, or how, but I failed.  Don't get me wrong, finishing a marathon in 3:16 is still nothing to scoff at and honestly, I am happy with finishing in the time that I did, but, still, I know what I am capable of, or at least think I know what I'm capable of.  And, 3:16 is NOT the peak of my abilities.  I feel guilty for having my awesome family make the trip up north to watch me to just fall short of my goal.  I feel like I not only let myself down, but let them down.  They all knew my goals and aspirations.  They knew how bad I wanted it, so when I finished in 3:16, I felt like the 4 hour drive up North was all for naught.  I feel as though I am carrying the burden of a weekend of something better to do, than watch me struggle through yet another marathon.  I wonder how much longer I will continue to get the best support of any other runner on the course, before my support group says, "you know, we have something better to do..."  Finally, I am left with numerous thoughts just racing through my head.  I wonder why I can't put together a strong marathon.  Am I running too much?  Should I be running at a higher weekly mileage?  Is my nutrition as dialed in as I thought?  Do I need to just step away?  Should I run more?  Do I need to reevaluate my goals and abilities?  Is a sub 3 marathon realistic?

To her, I'm the worlds greatest runner

The more I sit here and think about it, I am torn.  I don't know where to go.  Almost immediately after I finished this race, Sarah looked at me and didn't offer any words of accomplishment, apathy, or congratulations.  She simply looked at me with a disappointed face and said, "maybe you just need to step away for a year."  I'll be honest, it pissed me off, it wasn't really what I wanted to hear at that moment in time.  But, that's my wife, she's very strong, and bull headed.  She doesn't sugar coat anything.  Frankly, she has every right to share her emotions with me.  She has made just as many sacrifices throughout the years for me to race and train, so I would be foolish to think she owes me anything.  But those words stuck with me, and still stick in my mind.  I wonder if maybe she's right, or if she was just speaking out of frustration from watching me train so hard just to continuously fall short.  I honestly don't know what to think at this point.  I know I want to run a sub 3 hour marathon more than anything.  I know that I am unwilling to just give up.  I am not a quitter, I will not give up, nor will I accept my mediocrity.  I don't know what it will take for me to accept the fact that running a 2:59 marathon just might not be in my deck of cards.  What I do know, is how I feel right now, as I sit here sore as hell, writing this report.  I feel frustrated, angry, and a desire inside that is burning bigger and hotter than ever.  I am motivated, driven, and unwilling to quit.  I may have numerous other goals (just check out my bucket list), but none are more meaningful or more important that running 26.2 miles in under 3 hours.  Right now, today, I am here to say I will most likely be running another marathon, hopefully early this spring.  I think I am going to set aside my cycling and swimming fitness to focus on my running, if that's what it is going to take, that is what I shall do.  I will train like a runner....not a triathlete.  I will add strength training to my program to strength up my legs to better withstand the torture they endure over the course of a marathon.  I will continue to refocus my diet and continue to pursue my desired body composition.  Ultimately, I will run a 2:59 marathon.  Mark my words.  

So what now...like right now, the immediate future?  I do need a break, I am not a fool.  I need to recharge both physically AND mentally.  I am taking a week or two off from working out and possibly 3-4 weeks off from running.  I want to get in some yoga, strength training, swimming, and cycling before the snow starts to fall.  So until then, I will continue to stay up to date with my blog, so stay tuned!

Thanks as always for following my journey throughout yet another successful race season!