Colorado Marathon - Ft. Collins, CO

Race Day: 5/6/2007

Weather: Low 40’s. Absolutely beautiful morning! The sun rose to totally illuminate the canyon just in time for a 6:15am start.

Course: The race began at a small campground nestled along the canyon at Stephen’s Gulch. Totally downhill, the course meandered its way from 6100ft down to about 4900ft. The first 16 miles were completed framed by the canyon walls. The foothills created a remarkable setting and totally took my breath away, both figuratively and literally. As we traveled along the river, we were greeted by several fly-fishermen waving encouragement. Eventually the course exited the canyon and headed for Old Town, Fort Collins. The last several miles of the course were set on a scenic bicycle trail allowing amazing views of the foothills.

Personal Experience: This was my first marathon in six weeks (since Ocean Drive). I’ve been nursing some injured IT bands and trying to regain my confidence. I anticipated an easy downhill marathon with beautiful scenery. As it turned out, the marathon was considerably more difficult than I anticipated. The constant downhill took its toll on my quads, and the altitude made felt as if someone were sitting on my chest. That’s what I get for being a flat-lander.

Other than the physical side-effects, Dave and I had an amazing experience. Our times were less than stellar, but even a poor time could not diminish the beautiful course scenery and the lively nights spent in Ft. Collins.

Conclusion: Great technical T-shirt! I loved this race. I hope in the future I will come better trained and prepared for the altitude. The organizers did a terrific job. There were plenty of Pot-o-potties, well organized bus rides, and super easy bag check. This is definitely an A race.

Final Grade: A

Universal Sole's Lakefront 10 - Chicago, IL

Race Day: 4/29/2007

Weather: Low 70’s and not a cloud in the sky. Beautiful!

Course: The race started just off of Montrose Harbor on the north side of Chicago. The route traveled north a short distance along the running path and then south for 6 or so miles; then returning to the start via the same running path. The Chicago Lake path presents some of the best view of the Chicago skyline and Lake Michigan. The announcer continued to refer to the course as the “most beautiful in all of Chicago.” She was probably correct!

Personal Experience: I’ve run this race once before in 20 degree weather. With the weekend’s consistently beautiful weather, this year’s race was complete different than my past experience. It was a wonderful day for a 10 miler. The people were friendly and festive. The route is crowded because it was not closed to non-racers, but anyone who regularly runs on the Lake path is used those conditions.

Conclusion: The T-shirts are the best around and for $35 this is a hard race to beat. Great race! I’m giving it a B+ only because the route was not closed. Other than that, I consider this a yearly must do.

Final Grade: B+

Run through the pain... Think again!

For the past week I have been reduced to no running. My IT bands have all but locked up causing major discomfort in my hips and knees. At mile two of the Cherry Blossom 10 Miler, I finally throw in the towel. My mom and others tell me that trying to run 12 marathons this year is too ambitious and I was bound to hurt myself. I totally disagree…

Since my embarrassing walk back to the start line of the Cherry Blossom I have reflected on how I allowed my self to get to this point. Notice I said, “How I allowed myself.” It is my firm belief that we have total control over our injuries. In my opinion and experience thus far I have determined that it is not the training or the demand of the sport that causes injuries - it is a lack of focus.

Discipline and steadfast devotion to a long-term goal helps me stray away from over-doing one particular workout or ignoring a persistent soreness. My current injury is a direct result of my lack of focus on the long-term goal of running 12 marathons this year.

Here’s how…

Running Phoenix Marathon at a slow-consistent pace resulted in no injuries, no soreness, and (most importantly) no deviation from the plan.

While training for the Los Angeles Marathon, I hit the weights irregularly hard. This was a product of “feeling good” ONE day. I did too many sets of calf raises with too much weight, which resulted in a slightly strained calf.

Thinking this soreness would eventually work itself out, I continued to run harder. In the Los Angeles Marathon I set a PR. I ran way too fast for a sore body and calf. This effort, on ONE day, caused a chain reaction.

The continued training on this sore calf caused a shift in my gait, which caused other (stronger) muscles and tendons in my leg to work over-time. Eventually, my IT band and knees were so sore that I resorted to walking two miles back to the start of the Cherry Blossom.

My point: the entire chain of events can by traced to one common theme – loss of focus. I lost focus on that one day of weight training and I lost focus at the Los Angeles Marathon. Both incidents and my own stubbornness caused this injury, and as a result I will not be able to run the full 12 marathons. On the other hand, I now have new goals: to rebound from this injury and run faster in one specifically targeted race: Chicago.

The more I run (or more importantly, don’t run) the more I learn. Marathoning is an older person sport. This is true because it takes time to put aside youthful indiscretion and remain true to a lasting devotion to your goal.