Russell's Ramblings on Running Races
Until I was 33, I rarely exercised and had spent much of the previous 15 years sitting (both as a perpetual student and in my job as a chemist). In 1990, I was helping to develop a lactic acid sensor to help train athletes. When I tested the sensor on me and 5 co-workers before after running a mile, I was surprised that my lactic acid spiked higher than anyone else! I was in extreme pain, and apparently in worse shape than people much older than me. I worried that I might not be healthy enough to raise my 3 kids.
I vowed to start running. It took me months to build up to a mile, and over the next 15 years, I eventually was running about 5 miles 3 times a week. I was on record as saying that running a marathon was "stupid", but then my brother-in-law invited me to run the 2008 3M Half Marathon and I didn't want to sound like a weenie! With virtually no real training, we ran the race and even had fun! The down-hill course made us feel like studs, and we signed up for the San Antonio Rock & Roll Marathon for that November.... and the rest is history!
In general, my strategy is to run for fun, and I never really "race". I am not one to push through pain, and instead believe in slowly building endurance so that running a marathon becomes the norm instead of a big challenge (at least in theory; if you run a marathon every weekend, it should eventually become easy!). I also believe in walking a bit when you're tired, and that pushing or training too hard increases the chances of injury. Below are a few thoughts about each of my longer races, in reverse chronological order:
#49-2023 State 47 Las Cruces Marathon: After a disappointing Fort Worth marathon, I looked for another race to try again to set a PR. My son-in-law was running the Las Cruces marathon, and I decided to join him since it was even flatter than the flat Fort Worth course (though at 3900 ft. elevation). Unfortunately, by race day I was a week into a really bad head cold, and hadn't slept much for 4 days. I used the same strategy as at Fort Worth, with my lightest, thinnest shoes and sipping on a concentrated glucose/electrolyte mixture about once every mile. I was actually on course to PR up to mile 17, but the head wind (and coughing) was taking its toll. When I realized I wouldn't set any personal records, I decided to slow down and enjoy the sunny, open high-desert & mountain views! After a 2 minute walk break with 8 miles to go, I started running and almost immediately twisted my left knee, which was so painful I could hardly walk (pain from an impact injury in early 2023 that comes and goes). I was barely maintaining a 30 min/mi pace and realized that I wouldn't finish in the allotted 6 hrs., so I tried to run a little bit. It didn't hurt that much more than walking (though I was only going at 13.5 min/mi!), and I was able to run/walk and slowly extend my run intervals from 100 to 700 steps. By the end, I was able to run the last half mile at a 10:30 min/mi pace, and finished under 5 hours... with no severe cramping, though I didn't run as hard as I had in Fort Worth. Needless to say, getting slower with each attempt to go faster is a puzzling and more than a bit frustrating! (4:56:34)
#48-2023 Fort Worth Marathon: Last year on this course, I ran my fastest marathon in years- even with bad cramping taking 15 minutes off of my time over the last 6 miles. I decided I wasn't used to running that hard/fast, since I wasn't particularly tired or sore the next day. Leading up to the run this year, I did calf strengthening exercises and did several 9-12 mile runs at faster than a 8:40 min/mi pace... I thought for sure I was ready to set a lifetime marathon PR! The weather was about 10° warmer this year (but still 60°-70°) and I was a few days into a bad head cold, but I found it easy to maintain a steady 9:30-9:40 min/mi pace for most of the race (I needed to average 9:50 to PR). I rarely walked, and actually took in more calories and electrolytes than last year by dissolving them in a concentrated solution that I could take a swallow of (while running) every 10 minutes starting after the first hour, while drinking a cup of water at each aide station without having to walk. (4:29:15)
At mile 23, I was struck with the same intense calf cramps as last year! They stopped me completely for a couple minutes, and then kept forcing me to walk so that I averaged about 13:30 min/mi for the rest of the race. Since I didn't have the big lead that I'd had last year, instead of reaching my goal of cutting 3-4 minutes off of my time, I was actually 7-8 minutes slower... WTF??!? I'm still baffled by the situation, since the first 23 miles seemed so easy, and I was smiling and saying "Hi!" to everyone along the way. I ate more calories (and started earlier in the run) than ever before. I upped my electrolyte consumption. I wasn't even sore the next day, and even did well sprinting in our exercise class. All I can figure is that I'm STILL not strong enough to run in good form at that speed for that long, and need to figure out a way to train for the end of the race... maybe back-to-back long fast runs every couple weeks? I guess we'll have to wait until next year to see... (4:29:15)
#47-2023 Ston Wall Marathon: We planned a trip to Eastern Europe, and my wife found me a marathon to run in Ston, Croatia, where a 3+ mile long stone wall was constructed in the 1300's-1400's. The marathon climbs over 1,000 old stone stairs, runs along the top of the wall, and then descends and continues through the countryside, including mountains and dipping down to the Adriatic Sea in a couple places... and runs along a section of Napoleon's Highway, a rocky road running from Split to Debrovnik. I ran in my Vibram 5-fingers (after hiking for 5 days in the Julian Alps!), talking the whole way with a friend from Poland who I invited to run with me. Between the talking and his not wanting to run up any hills, it was a nice easy marathon experience... even with the 3700 ft. of climbing! No cramping, only drank water with electrolytes, and skipped breakfast and only ate about 500 calories of my dextrose powder (5:57:32)
#46-2023 Mt. Nebo Marathon: Ever since I received my medal and t-shirt for running the Mt. Nebo marathon virtually in 2020 (I ran it in the mountains near Seattle), I've felt like a fake- I didn't even know where Mt. Nebo was! To redeem myself, I decided to actually run the marathon in person. As it turns out, the marathon wasn't a trail marathon, like I thought. At 4:30 on a Saturday morning, I had to catch a bus that drove us on a 80 min, 26 mi ride up a really steep paved mountain road to an elevation of 9,000 ft above sea level (26% less oxygen than Austin!). We then had to run back down to the town of Peyson- there were 4 uphill sections (2 were really long and steep), and then 16 miles of continuous steep downhill. I increased my cadence and kept an erect posture so that I didn't have to break, running fast at first, but finally slowing down to about 13 min/mi at the end. I barely took any walk breaks (in fact, walking downhill was harder than running!), but my calves were not used to running downhill so long- it was like running a marathon in 5 inch heels! And of course, I ran in my thinnest (5 mm) pair of Vibram 5-Finger shoes! I was really wobbly at the end- I kept falling backwards, since my calves kept trying to point my toes. But 2 days later, I was running down a mountain trail near Park City Utah at a 7 min/mi pace! (4:59:43)
#45-2023 Mt. Hood 50K: I was supposed to run a mountain marathon in April during our Australia trip, but it was cancelled because a tree fell across the trail (???). Planning to attend a reunion in Oregon in July, I looked for a replacement race there- a 50K that boasted of a beautiful easy route on the Pacific Crest Trail with 2500 ft. of climbing... but when I went to sign up, all 160 slots were sold out! I put my name on the wait list, but didn't have much hope of getting in. Then, 30 days before the race I received notice that I was in, since many people dropped out at the last minute they were able to get a full refund! I ramped up my training for a couple weeks, but wasn't able to get longer than an 18 mi. long run in... and then bruised the arch in my left foot and got another lung infection and was on antibiotics and steroids (this time from excessive dust in the Pioneer Farms horse stable)... but I hoped for the best, since all I had to do was average 16:30 min/mi pace to make the Mile 22 cut-off.
It was 50° at the start line (Yay!!!) with tall pine trees shading almost the entire 31 miles- though it was dusty at times, irritating my already irritated lungs. I ran in my Vibram 5-Finger trail shoes, since my bruise seemed to be healing, and hiking in my cushioned trail shoes the days before the race was driving me crazy! Every now and then, a rock would poke me in my bruised arch and make me yelp, but the pain would quickly subside and I ran well, power hiking the 2 long steep hills up the mountain. By Mile 14, my arch started hurting a lot more from the cumulative poking- even pencil-diameter twigs hurt if I stepped on them wrong, so when we turned to come back down the mountain, I couldn't pull off my usual downhill speed. By Mile 22, it was getting hotter and we had to run the rest of the race in denser lowlands with little wind- I twice splashed off in the lake to stop from over-heating... but then my Texas Heat Training kicked in, and in the last 2-3 miles, I passed several locals who had earlier passed me by! I finished strong, sprinting across the finish line, with an average of less than 14 min/mi... and never cramped once! (7:12:14)
#44-2023 Austin Marathon: The weather was perfect (50°-67°), and I started the race out strong, even though I recently had a mild lung infection which had cut back my training. It seemed I had a chance of beating my Personal Record of 4:19 from 8 years ago! But after 10 miles, I realized I wasn't in shape to PR (especially on such a hilly course!), but hoped to at least match my 4:23 time on the flat Fort Worth course last November. By mile 18, my average was slipping past the 10 min/mi pace that I needed, but I was still hopeful, with the biggest hills and the pee break behind me! Then, at mile 23, I had a severe right adductor cramp (AGAIN??!?) and was forced to stop for 2-3 minutes, followed by 2 miles of gimpy walking and short bouts of 13.5 min/mi "running". But when the 4:40 pace group passed me, I sprung into action, and finished the last mile strong and fast!
Though I wasn't in as good of shape as I'd hoped, I feel I executed the race well. I ran in my thinnest Vibram shoes, and my feet felt happy the entire time. I only walked 2 short steep hills and half of the long 26th street hill, and managed to run (slowly) up both the 15th St. and final 11th St. long steep hills. I learned how to drink while running, and only had to fill up my water bottle twice along the way, sticking to my glucose powder for fuel starting at mile 10... but in order to PR in my sixties, I'm going to have to figure out how to conquer my nemesis- the inner thigh cramping that has zapped me in over 3 dozen marathons! (4:39:34)
#43-2023 Goodwater Marathon 26.8 (Lake Georgetown, TX): The weather was 50° and cloudy until noon (when the sun came out), so was perfect running weather. Unlike most of my races, I ran with a small group almost the entire race, which led to a lot of good conversation and motivation to keep going. I decided to run the race in my thin cheap Amazon shoes, and my feet were happy on the rocky trail, at least until the last couple miles. I fell a couple times and had blood on my hands and legs, but it was all superficial and the only thing that hurt was my wrist. My adductor started cramping pretty bad the last 3 miles, and I had to walk a lot and drop back from my group. The race took me 20 min longer than last year, but I was the fastest in my age group... since I was the only one over 60 running the race! (6:24:23)
#42-2021 Tinajas Trail Marathon (Colorado Bend State Park, TX): They cut my favorite 50K trail race down to a 2-loop marathon, eliminating all of my favorite sections and scenic overlooks! They even dropped the tinajas (granite bowl making a little lake filled with tadpoles), the namesake tourist destination! Having times of 8-9 hrs when the race was 50K, I expected to finish in 7 hrs since the race was 5 mi shorter this year... but I actually finished in under 6 hours! This was especially puzzling because I fell FIVE TIMES! Considering how I typically don't fall more than once at most (most times!) and that I've run this course many times before, I'm tempted to blame the fact that this past year, I've been running trails almost exclusively in my minimalist shoes with 5 mm thick soles (Vibram Trail 5-Fingers or Amazon's $38 Weweya shoes with an amazing rubber toe bumper), but for this race, I reverted back to my Altra Superiors with their 21 mm thick, cushioned soles. While my feel were protected and maybe helped me run faster, I kept scraping the soles on rocks, since my brain wasn't used to my legs being more than half an inch longer than usual! So in the future, I think I'll stick to the thin shoes, especially since they've been doing well for me on the road. The first fall was the bloodiest, but the 2nd pulled my right adductor (groin) enough so that if I lifted my knee too high, it started cramping. So for the last 10 miles of the race (the other 3 falls were minor irritations), I had to run with my right leg straight, and do all of the climbing with my left leg! But I was still able to run fast on flat or easy sections, and finished the last half mile at sub 10 min/mi pace. The race was a challenge, but I enjoyed most of it! (5:57:32)
#41-2022 Fort Worth Marathon: After a few speed workouts, I headed to Fort Worth in my 5.5 ounce Xero Shoes Speed Force thin-soled shoes for my 2nd tune-up marathon leading up to the 2023 February Austin Marathon. It was 34° and calm that morning, and I started out with 3 shirts and sweat pants over my running shorts... but by mile 13, I was down to shorts and a t-shirt (ditching my shirt at mile 20!). Somehow, I managed to average 9:20 min/mi for the first 20 miles, faster than I'd ever run for anywhere near that distance- I guess the cold weather and my slow 22-mi slogs in the Texas heat really made a difference! So at mile 20, I was on track for just under my Boston Marathon Qualifying time of 4:05, almost 14 min faster than my fastest marathon 8 years ago!
Unfortunately, after 20 miles, my calves started to cramp (fast little spasms that made my foot flex into the ground, causing stumbles). As the frequency of the cramping increased, I tried running a variety of different ways, including tiny rapid steps, turning my feet in or out, turning my upper body to face somewhat sideways, and even squatting and reaching my feet out way in front of me like the "Keep on Trucking" man! Each variation helped for a while, but then the cramping would return with a vengeance! I watched my 14 min "lead" slowly slip away, until I calculated that I needed to run 10 min/mi for the last 2 miles to beat my former record. While I could occasionally run that fast or even faster, the cramping got worse until it looked like I was being shot by a sniper at least once a minute... and with a mile left to go, my calves started occasionally "seizing up" so bad I had to completely stop and grit my teeth for up to a minute... So needless to say, I didn't beat my marathon record that day! But even with the self-destruction, I still ran my fastest marathon since 2014! (4:22:41)
#40-2022 Lakeside Marathon (Lake Tahoe, NV): In March, I decided to train to try and PR in the February 2023 Austin marathon, having done unusually well in the Irish road marathon in 2021. My "old man" strategy focused on adapting to higher mileage, increasing from 35 to 45 mi/wk and doing a 22 mi long run every Tuesday. After a couple months, I was no longer tired all of the time, and decided to sign up for 4 "practice" marathons (one a month) leading up to The Big Race... Tahoe was the first! I hadn't realized it was such a small marathon, with only 32 runners. I'd been having foot/toe issues, and decided to run the race in my Vibram 5-Finger shoes, since they made my feet feel the best...
The elevation ranged from 6000-6900 ft, with 2391 ft of climbing... luckily, it wasn't hot (36 °F that morning!). I started with 2 layers, gloves, and a beanie cap, and finished shirtless! While I averaged a slow 12:02 min/mi pace, I ran the whole race strong, even running up the hills (very unusual for me!). And on the downhills, I even ran a mile an 8:19 min/mi! As usual, I had no breakfast and only used glucose powder after 2 hrs of running. One of the best parts of the race was catching up to my wife 50 ft before the end (she was running the half marathon), and we crossed the finish line strong and holding hands! While I felt pretty beat up an hour after the marathon, I felt fine the next day and did an 8.25 mi hike/run in the mountains, including an almost 5 mi section running downhill... fun! (5:10:48)
#39-2022 Goodwater Marathon 26.8 (Lake Georgetown, TX): Last year, while running this race, I kicked a rock 6 times HARD with my right big toe, damaging the cartilage and requiring surgery in early December of 2021. Before surgery, I deferred my registration for this trail run and the Austin marathon until 2023. During surgery, it turned out the damage was too severe to allow a bone graft (3 month recovery time), so they smoothed out the bone as best they could, and said I could resume running to tolerance in 3 weeks. Then, this race was deferred from mid January to mid February, and I realized I had just enough time (God willing!) to ramp my mileage back up and un-deferred my registration back to this year!
Luckily, I didn't kick any rocks, and only fell once (or course, on an easy, flat, sunny section of the trail!). My toe and foot hurt, but I was able to run in pretty good form, and only cramped once during the race (unlike the 10 bouts of cramping during each of the last 2 races before surgery!). I paced myself by heartrate, and felt surprisingly good the whole time. When I cramped at mile 22, a 1st-time marathoner stooped to talk to me, and we then walk-ran 2-3 miles, and then picked up the pace to finish strong... almost 30 minutes slower than last year, but a grand success considering I only had 5 weeks to train on my post-surgical big toe! (6:04:22)
#38-2021 Tinajas 50K (Colorado Bend State Park, TX): This unsupported (no snacks) race still had staggered starts, but they resumed having water at all of the aid stations. Each year I've run this race, I've taken less food, and yet I still only eat half of it! True to form, this year I put out Cokes, cookies, and a chicken salad sandwich at the aid stations, and only ended up drinking 12 ounces of Coke and eating a quarter of the sandwich. I also occasionally had glucose and electrolyte powder with my water (that I carried in my pocket). I ran most of the course alone, though I did get into one long conversation with a fellow runner about minimal shoes and his calf injury! I ran in the new Altra Superiors trail shoe- while I usually prefer an un-cushioned shoe, I needed something to better protect my injured toe (that is requiring surgery next week). I was on track to beat my previous 7:55 course record, but at the half-way point, I started cramping in my right adductor again- each bout of cramping made me stop for 2-3 minutes, followed by 10 minutes of walking (9 bouts during the race, likely due to bad running form induced by my toe injury). I was disappointed in not being able to bomb down my favorite downhill section (Old Gorman Road, mile 20), but had fun and met my wife's goal of finishing by 4:00 so we wouldn't have to drive home on the back roads in the dark! (8:59:54)
#37-2021 Franklin Mountain 58K (El Paso, TX): Once again, this race proved to be the hardest I've ever done. The Race Director introduced the race as being 36 miles long- he said he hadn't increased the distance, but had decided to stop lying and calling it 50K! There was 4,300 ft. of climbing in the first 12.5 miles, followed by a 9-mi descent to the dessert floor... most of it covered by loose rocks about 2-5 inches in diameter! I ran in my Xero Terraflex trail shoes, carried powdered glucose for fuel, and ate several PB&J quarter sandwiches at the Aid Stations along the way. On my way down the long decline, I started cramping in my adductors (the left and right sides kept taking turns), each bout stopping me for several minutes. At one point in the flat section of the dessert, I tried to get a rock out of my shoe and cramped so bad I had to lay down and stretch out in the dirt for a while before I could get my shoe back on... surprising someone who came around the trail! Many people offered me various salt and anti-cramping recipes, but the cramping kept recurring until the steep parts were over. Like 2 years ago, I took long enough to end up running in the dark for almost 2 hours. The stars and the coyotes howling were incredible! I was able to turn off my headlamp and run by the light of the 3/4 moon for the last few miles, and was happy to see my son and son in law waiting for me at the finish line... and instead of only having peanut M&Ms, this year the finish line still had pizza, Ramen, and Coke! Plus, with the course better-marked, I didn't get lost and managed to shave almost 20 minutes off of my time from 2 years ago! (13:15:16)
#36-2021 Tralee Marathon (Tralee, Ireland): We finally got to go on a post-COVID international trip, so I found another local marathon to get another international medal! Tralee is a small city on the southwestern coast of Ireland. The Saturday marathon had almost 300 participants, and we ran a hilly route along the coast and through some remote "suburbs". That Thursday, I had just finished hiking 16 mi/day for 4 days through the rural Irish countryside, including a 3-mi steep climb up the shoulder of Mt. Brandon... not exactly the ideal taper! While I started out tired and sore, I followed my usual pattern of starting out slow, with no breakfast or calories until 2 hours into the race. After a few miles of gentle climbing on urban roads, the course left town and had a long medium-steep decline. I was feeling good, and decided to race the 1-mile downhill (at times, reaching 7 min/mi pace!), since I knew that the only way I'd be able to get a post-run shower (we had to check out of our hotel by 2:00 to head to Dublin) was to run the race in 4:40 (recent PR of 4:37). I was able to run my regular pace on flats, walk the steep up-hills, and speed up on all the downhills. I had also recently listened to a neuroscientist's podcast that suggested you try speeding up if you start to cramp (?), and when my typical calf/adductor cramps started to creep in during the last 10 miles, I tried the strategy and never had full-blown cramping! I still started slowing down during the last 3 miles, but finished strong, only 11 min slower than my lifetime PR 7.5 years ago- the 2nd fastest marathon of my life! I also got a few comments for running shirtless and in Vibram 5-Finger shoes, both of which are rarely seen in Ireland! (4:30:39)
#35-2021 Texas Trail Running Festival-Marathon (Krause Springs, TX): Krause Springs is a beautiful park with a spring-fed pool and natural swimming hole, with lots of both open and single-track trails in the trees. The course was 4 laps (6.55 mi each), with 2 steep hills on each lap. The day was cloudy, and the first two laps were pretty easy, taking me about 1:20 apiece. In the middle of the 3rd lap, the sun came out and I started slowing down (taking 1:42). I even had to take a short rest hiking up the 2nd big hill... it was hard to pass the live band at the finish line (I asked them to play a rain song instead of the sunshine song they were singing!) and go back out for my 4th lap. I really started to over-heat and feel dizzy, and had to take frequent walk breaks and occasionally splash water on my head. My pace was so slow that I calculated that the lap would take me 2:30, so when I passed someone with a calf injury, I welcomed the chance to walk with him and talk about rehab strategies... I think we chatted for almost 20 min! I then realized I was feeling better, and took off at a good clip, occasionally running (downhill) at a 8:30 min/mi pace, and even power-hiked the last steep hill as fast as I did in the first lap! That lap ended up taking me 2:01, and I raced the last quarter mile to cross the finish line running strong... weird! I then jumped into the cold pool, and then went and got a hamburger and fries from the food truck (I'd skipped breakfast and only eaten glucose powder on the run, starting after 2 hrs). (6:27:53)
#34-2021 Wildflower Trail Marathon (Bastrop State Park, TX): A week before the race, I was browsing the trail run sites and decided to sign up for this one, having once enjoyed a run in this park. I had only built up to a 15-16 mi long run since my last marathon, but felt I could easily trot along and enjoy myself for 26.2 miles... but I turned out to be wrong! The course was a short out & back segment followed by 4 X 6.25 mile loops around the park, with two aid stations on road intersections of each loop. After leaving the 2nd aid station on my first loop, I ran down the paved road and ran into 2 young men running their first marathon on a dare. As we chatted, we missed the sign to turn right back onto the trail, and ran all the way to HWY 71 before we realized something was wrong. On the way back to find the trail, I heard the local chickens and cows laughing at us! It increased our race distance to 28.5 miles, which seemed to break the spirits of the 2 guys (one dropped out after Loop #3). The second piece of "bad luck" was that there was 2"-3" of loose sand on about 10% of the trail, which made running (or even walking!) very difficult. And finally, there were a couple long steep hills that weren't too bad on the first loop, but by loop #2 were hard to even walk up. And then, contrary to the weather report of a completely cloudy day, starting at 10 am, the sun came out more often than not... needless to say, it was a long day, and I ran less than 100-200 yards during my final loop! But it was fun and a well-run race! (7:09:42... but 6:32 for the first 26.2 miles!)
#33-Goodwater Loop FKT 2021 (Georgetown, TX): When hearing that I'd run around Lake Georgetown in January, a trail running friend told me that the unsupported FKT (Fastest Known Time) record for the 27 mile Goodwater Loop was 6:20. I'd run a supported race on nearly the same course in 5:35, so he suggested I give it a try. I had planned on waiting until the winter when it would be cooler, but then I saw that perfect weather (a low of 42 °F and high of 68 °F) was predicted for March 20... giving me 2 days to prepare! Having run a marathon in February, I figured I was still in shape and could run 45 min slower than January and still beat the record! I decided to run clockwise from Cedar Breaks Park, getting the hard part done while I was fresh and the weather cool. I started at 7:15 am (as usual, without eating any breakfast), and started eating my usual dextrose powder after about 90 min into the run (and a peanut butter honey packed my wife got me... sticky!)- fueling every 30-60 min. At one point, in my peripheral vision I thought I saw a 12 year old child running towards the trail, but it turned out to be a >3 ft wild turkey running across the trail 15 ft in front of me! The run went well for the first 18 mi (even falling 3 times), and I was on track to finish 20 min faster than my personal course record!
As I got close to Russell Park (the original reason I started running out there a few years ago!), things started to go south. There were a lot of fallen trees blocking the trail from the recent epic Texas snow and ice storm. Not only did it slow me down, but I actually had to go so far out of the way that I got lost 3 times and had to wander around to find the trail. This added a half mile to my run and dropped my "lead" on my old record to only a few minutes- all in about a 3 mi section of the trail! One of the times I got lost trying to get around downed trees, a woman and her 15 year old daughter helped me find the trail. A bit later, I came up behind them and thought I was going the wrong way, since I had just passed them... they said they had cut across and shaved at least a mile off their hike!
After getting to Jim Hogg park, the "mine field" ended, and I was feeling goo and picked up my speed. By mile 23, I realized I could still break my record by about 10 min... and then I fell again, bad! For the first time in 13 years of running (and falling during!) endurance events, I fell on my face and hit my chin. I couldn't clench my teeth together without pain and my hands and knees were bleeding and hurting. I walked for a while and then could only run slowly for a while, but then felt normal again. The the last 2 miles were paved, and I was able to pick up my speed and happily (relatively) flew to the end. I never cramped the entire time, which is unusual for me, and supports my idea that the cramping fits are over as long as I continue to run at least 15 mile long runs every week (theory didn't hold in the last 2 races where I got injured early on and likely was running "funny"). While I was 5 min slower than my previous race PR, I beat the current FKT time by about 40 min... and have every reason to believe I can knock off 10-20 min next winter, as long as another Polar Vortex doesn't knock over a bunch of trees! (5:39:58)
#32-2021 Round Rock Fit Marathon (Round Rock, TX): Since they cancelled the Austin Marathon, my old marathon training group decided to host their own race! We started at 6:00 am in Old Settler's Park: 27 °F and a 15 mph wind, dropping to 25 °F by the end! We had 10-12 runners and almost twice that number of club members supporting the race by handing out water and snacks, patrolling the course in their cars, and staffing "cheering stations" at various points along the route. I ran strong and averaged under 10 min miles for almost 18 miles... until I took a walk break, took off my gloves to drink, and within a minute, my hot sweaty hands froze and went numb and rigid. I couldn't zip up my pockets, work my water bottle, or even completely get my gloves on. At the next aid station, someone helped put hand warmers in my gloves, but I was still numb and immobile by the next aid station where I took time to hang out in front of their radiant propane heater until my hands thawed (and started burning!). It was an interesting new lesson in how something seemingly so small could derail a race and even prove life-threatening in certain circumstances! But with the readily available help, I was able to recover and finish strong, only about a minute behind the 3 front runners! (4:39:38)
#31-2021 Goodwater Marathon 26.8 (Lake Georgetown, TX): This 26.8 mile trail consists of one lap around Lake Georgetown. I ran more than an hour faster than the 3 times I've raced this course in September (sponsored by a different group), mostly due to it being 20° cooler now! I also set a few other personal records. I fell 6 times (on damp, slippery clay soil- not the hard rocky parts), beating my previous record of 2 falls! I stubbed my toes 8 times (6 on the same big toe!), beating my previous record of 2-3 times. And I have 5 bouts of severe cramping in my inner thigh bad enough to stop me for several minutes each time (usually always happens a few times at the end of marathons). Plus, for about 5 hours afterwards, I kept having random intense cramps when I'd move: various leg muscles, my shoulder, a muscle in my wrist, and even a bad spasm over a few ribs on my side... weird! But somehow today, only my toe and 1 quad hurt the next day, and I'm looking forward to running the race again next January and beating my time... assuming my wife doesn't sent me to therapy to have my brain re-programmed! (5:34:54)
#30-2020 Tinajas 50K (Colorado Bend State Park, TX): This year, the race start times were staggered and there was no water or food along the route due to COVID (self-supported). It was the 3rd time I'd run the Tinajas 50K (plus 2 laps running the 100K last time), so I didn't expect any surprises. I was also starting out in the best shape of my life, based on recent lifetime PRs for the 1-mile and 5K distance, and my continued improvement in my aerobic function, steadily increasing my speed at my sustainable 130 BPM heart rate. But the Trail Gods must have figured I needed to learn some humility! At mile 7 (15 min after telling someone how I didn't fall once running the course in the dark last year), I slipped and landed on a large flat rock. No blood, but I instantly had a lump the size of a ping pong ball on the inside of my knee! It hurt and felt unstable, but with concentration I could run in pretty good form. I decided nothing was horribly broken, and within 15 min, I was back to running at a pace that would have beat my course record... I decided to run the last 25 miles in pain. At mile 15, I told a runner that it was my 4th time to run the race, and that it was always so well marked t hat you couldn't get lost. 15 min later, we saw several people running towards us, and it soon became clear that we were running the wrong way (adding a mile to our race)! About that time, I started having severe cramps in my thighs that would force me to stand still for 2-3 min and then walk cautiously for 10 min before I could run again. Five bouts of cramping during the last 15 miles ensured that I did NOT beat my record time for this course... but then again, it wasn't my slowest time either! (8:39:03)
#29-2020 Virtual Freddy Yeti 50K: I was unimpressed with my first 2 virtual races. The first company basically just sold medals, and while the 2nd was a real trail run with a virtual option, I felt like I was "cheating" since I didn't run on the actual course. But this Trail Running Over Texas 50K was an all-virtual challenge by a race director of the great mountain race I ran last year, and it even had some elite runners on the sign-up roster! I ran the 31.07 miles on the Austin South Walnut Creek paved hike/bike trail, a trail I'm very familiar with and have always wanted to run it's entire 21 mile out and back in a single run (I made up the additional miles on the intersecting roads). It was 40°-41° the whole time, but dry. The predicted rain must have scared everyone off the trail- I only saw 3 runners, 2 deer, and 1 bike the entire time! I wore the thinnest 5-Finger shoes that Vibram makes, and my feet did fine. I skipped breakfast and started fueling at mile 10 with crystallized ginger and dextrose powder, with a half of a turkey sandwich thrown in at mile 20 (~1200 total calories). I only drank 2 liters of water (with my home-made electrolytes), since it was cool and I wasn't sweating. I had a new experience: a 15-min "visual migraine" at mile 23, but it didn't cause me any issues, and I almost enjoyed the sparkly colorful bands in my peripheral vision. It was a wonderful day, and I was only a bit sore when running a recovery mile the next morning! (6:00:20)
#28-2020 Virtual Mt. Nebo Marathon: On a recent trip to the Mt. Ranier National Forest near Seattle, I decided to run an actual Utahan trail race with a virtual option. I picked a scenic trail along the White River, 4.5 road miles from our B&B, and left at 6:00 am when it was 41° (unseasonably cool, which was perfect for me!). I ended up running 11 road miles, since the 2nd half was much more challenging (i.e., STEEP!), and I realized I'd better use the road to make the pick-up I'd arranged with my wife (no cell phone coverage on the trail). I surprised myself by running my 24th mile in 9:11 (some at a <7:30 min/mi pace!), partly because it was on the road and down hill, and partly because I didn't want to make my wife wait at a remote trail head! I did the run without breakfast and only ate a 5 oz. bottle of glucose powder and a few pieces of crystallized ginger. I also didn't carry water, but relied on my Grayl water bottle filter and streams along the way. Even with a few gear failures, it was really fun running on the single-track trail through the forest... and I only ran into a single human on the entire trail! (6:03:22)
#27-2020 Earth Day Virtual Marathon: COVID cancelled the marathon I signed up for in Norway in June. On a road trip to Colorado, I found the LOBO Trail (13-14 mile paved/gravel flat trail from Longmont to Boulder close to our AirBnB), so I signed up for the virtual Earth Day Marathon for July 17. As it turns out, the LOBO trail doesn't really exist- it is actually several nice trails, but you have to know which combinations of road shoulders, bike lanes, and neighborhood sidewalks connected one section to the other. Even with a trail app on my phone, I often had to double back to find the trail. Still, I kept my spirits up until mile 23, where I found myself a whole mile off course! At that point, I was frustrated and "broken", but ran on until reaching 26.2 miles, after which I had to walk about 3 more miles and then bike for 30 minutes to get back to our AirBnB! But the good news is that the frequent stopping didn't beat me up so bad, and I was hiking and trail running 2 days later! (5:33:17)
#26-2020 Austin Marathon:This turned out to be my fastest marathon since 2014! It also was the best executed marathon that I've ever done, running up all of the hills, only walking for about 30 sec to drink every 3 miles (not including 3 restroom breaks that totaled almost 10 min), maintained a pretty even heart rate (in the 140s), experienced NO muscle cramps, and managed to "sprint" to the finish line at under an 8 min/mi pace! I attribute my success to this being the first time I managed to do a 15+ mi long run every single weeks for a year. I came in 19th out of 46 in my age group, and I browsed the results to see if I had beaten all of the 70+ year olds (a light-hearted goal that I've only achieved once!). A 73 year old guy from Switzerland beat me by almost 6 minutes, and then I noticed a 75 year old former client and running buddy beat me by 19 min!!! (4:37:00)
#25-2019 Post-Turkey Day Marathon-Half Marathon-10K Challenge (Lake Pflugerville): Thunderstorms were predicted for our running club's 2nd annual "Turkey Challenge",and it was raining at various places around town... so only 6 people showed up this year! But the lightening never came, and it only rained for 2 minutes. A fellow club member ran with me for the last 21 miles, and he kept sneaking up the pace, so I ended up running faster than last year... and my first 3 mi lap was even run carrying turn-around signs and a 5 pound sledge hammer to mark the course for the shorter races! (4:59:30)
#24-2019 Franklin Mountains 58K (El Paso, TX): When my son got a few of us to sign up for this race, we didn't know that it was a "Sky Mountain Race", more than 50K long and over 6,000 feet of climbing! As it turned out, the race had 8,000 feet of climbing, mostly in the first half... and it was STEEP! Plus, virtually the whole race was rocky and hard on the feet. At one point, you have to climb up to and past Aztec Caves, which required both hands and feet with precarious sections that took some serious deliberation. After 11 miles of mostly climbing, the course got even steeper and did a 4 mile out and back climb up about 4,000 ft to the top of Mount Franklin, where you get your picture taken with a colorful Day of the Dead skull. I really liked this section, not for the skull or the steepness, but because I was able to see and say "Hi" to the 5 other members of my group who were ahead of me and heading back down! The 2nd half was all climbing or descending, but at a much gentler slope than the first half... but by then, all my muscles were shot. Even so, 3 separate times I felt rejuvenated and was able to mostly run for a few miles. It was weird to go for over 2 hours in the desert without seeing another living thing (not counting the 2 tarantulas!). Since I was slow, it started to get dark with 6 miles still to go. But the trail getting less rocky, the air cooling off, and the chirping of the night insects made this section the most fun of all, and I finished strong! But it was definitely the hardest race I've done to-date, with probably more than 75% of the course being more hiking than running! (13 hrs, 34 min)
#23-2019 Tinajas 100K Trail Run (Colorado Bend State Park, near Lampassas TX): For the last 2 years, I've been running this 50K race, using the Austin Marathon at my last long training run 2 weeks before the race (sounds less insane than running 31 miles 2 weeks after running a marathon!). But sometime last summer, I realized I'd be turning 62 in March, and that a double loop of 100K would be 62 miles... it sounded like fate! Needless to say, I often questioned the wisdom of my decision, but also realized that my previous strategy of waiting until half-time to "see if I felt like doing a 2nd loop" was unlikely to ever actually happen. As it turned out, it took me just over 8 hours to complete the first loop (somewhere between my time in the first 2 years), and at that time, I was hurting and feeling spent. But about an hour into my 2nd lap, the pain eased and I got into a good rhythm for the rest of the race. I survived on dextrose powder, crystallized ginger, mashed sweet potatoes, guacamole, and a turkey sandwich at 8 pm. At that point, it was pitch-black dark (no moon; lots of clouds), was getting cold and drizzly, and my usual severe cramping was hitting me for 10 minutes at a time. I resigned myself to walking the rest, and realized it would take me until 6 am! But as dismal as that sounded, it was a rush running on the trail int he dark with a head lamp, and everything has a beautiful, surreal charm! Then I caught up to an Argentinian woman, and she encouraged me to try running and to try and beat my expected 20 hr finish time. Damned if it didn't work! We'd alternate on leads, but would chat every hour or so, and crossed the finish line together. (19 hrs, 42 min)
#22-2019 Austin Marathon: Once again, I used my heart-rate monitoring watch to keep myself at a sustainable pace. I managed to run most of the hills at a slow pace, and was able to swallow and run at the same time! At about 22 miles, I realized I was on pace to break my recent record of 4:40 (Vancouver) by about 5 minutes... but at 25.5 miles, I was again plagued with sudden and intense cramping in my adductor, hamstring and calf (like last year). I didn't want to stop, but had to hobble backwards up the last hill. As I entered the finish chute, I was able to run again, but would occasionally cramp and stumble to the crowd cheering "You can do it!" I didn't beat my Vancouver time, but did knock almost 20 minutes off of my Austin Marathon time for the last 2 years! (4:40:47)
#21-2018 Beerwah-at-Daybreak Trail Marathon (Glasshouse Mountains, Australia): My second 42.2 international marathon medal! I also talked my wife into doing the half-marathon (one lap; 2 laps for the full marathon). We met the infamous podcaster Coach Jeff a couple of days before the race for a final morning shake-out run and breakfast... he smiled when I told him the course looked pretty flat (the published elevation profile only showed one big descent and climb). As I was to find out, the entire course consisted of running up and down 300 foot steep hills... plus it was raining most of the time, and often the course was covered in slick mud that was hard to even walk on! It was the hardest race of my life, and I finished dead last about 30 minutes before the final cut-off... but the race director acknowledged that I was indeed the first Texan to finish! My wife still hasn't forgiven me for the torture, and Coach Jeff ran the last half mile with me, asking how I enjoyed the "flat course"- of course he and his wife had run the course many times in the past! (7:28:18)
#20-2018 Post-Turkey Day Marathon-Half Marathon-10K Challenge (Lake Pflugerville): This year, I organized an informal challenge for our new running club. We got a few people to do the 10K, one to do a half-marathon, and I ran over 9 laps around the lake to log 26.2 miles on my Garmin. Slow and easy; last long training run for my up-coming trail marathon in Australia! (5:14:27)
#19-2018 Dare to Ascend Trail Marathon (Lake Georgetown): This year, my wife and son did the half, while I again ran the full marathon. We drove to the race in the dark with lightening and torrential rains, but the rain stopped as we arrived. I ran the first 4 miles with a group in the back, but then moved ahead closer to the middle of the pack. The rains made the trail very muddy and slippery, but luckily the Georgetown mud didn't stick as well to your shoes as some clay-based muds! At one point, the trail was completely covered by 4"-6" of rapidly flowing water, for what seemed to be over a wquarter of a mile... and when we reached the half-way point, we were informed that we'd have to turn around and run back and couldn't run the full loop around the lake, since 12 feet of water had been reported at the stream crossing at Camp Tejas Park! On the way back at mile 17, I again suffered extreme cramping in my right hip adductor, and had to walk most of the next few miles. Plus, I got lost on the variety of trails in Overlook Park, since hte course had not been properly marked for us to have to run in backwards! Plus, the sun came out and I got hot! (whine, whine, whine). But by the end, I was running as fast as I had in the beginning, and the whole day was a fun adventure! (6:51:19)
#18-2018 Vancouver Marathon (British Columbia, Canada): This was my first time to run a race outside of the country... the medal even has 42.2 km, instead of the typical 26.2! I decided to go run with my son, who lives in Seattle. The weather was supposed to be 65° and cloudy, which it was the day before and after the race. Unlike other marathons I've run, the half marathon group was slated to start 90 min before the marathon, which started at a relatively late 8:30 am. When I awoke at 6:30 am (staying at a B&B 3 blocks from the start line, for $35/night!), the sun was already beating down, and by the end of the run, it was 77 °. I ran in a brand-new pair of what is now my favorite minimalist running shoe: the Xero Shoes "Prios" (5 mm thick soles, named for their enhanced "pro-Prio-ception"). The course was pretty flat, but with regular hills spread out throughout. I was able to fly (for me!) down the hills, which banked a lot of time that I'd later eat up when I died the last (hot) 6 miles along the sea wall around Stanley Park. But even with moderate hamstring cramping for the last 16 miles (ouch!), I was able to run in good form and finish almost 20 min faster than anything since my 4:19 PR in 2014! (4:40:01)
#17-2018 Tinajas 50K (Colorado Bend State Park, TX): I went to my favorite PT and had my left leg assessed and dry-needled, and didn't cramp at all during this race! I camped out in the back of my Honda Fit again, the night before the race, and nearly froze, even though the temperature only got to about 50°! I cut back on the amount of food I put out at the self-supported water stations, and still ended up having more than twice as much as I needed. I fueled most of the race with electrolyte powdered water, ginger cookies and crystallized ginger, and a squirt-bag filled with HEB guacamole! I ran without my watch, but kept the pace slow for the first 2 hours, running (and chatting) behind an experienced ultra-runner. At that point, I had to slow my pace down, and concentrated on my form and cadence while enjoying the rocky. hilly scenery, At about mile 18, I tripped and face-planted, of course in a flat, open, non-technical stretch! at Mile 19, I was still able to run my favorite 1-mile downhill rocky stretch at a sprint (8:30 min/mi), which made me feel like a kid again! But around mile 21, I ran out of steam, and walked the remaining hills (and even some of the flats), happy I could still run the downhills well. I had a misguided idea that I might go ahead and walk/run the 2nd loop to do my first 100K(I had a pack with supplied and lights waiting for me!), but I realized it would take me to about 2:00 am and the thought of the rocky terrain in the dark scared me off... but I still knocked almost an hour off my time last year! (7:55:07)
#16-2018 Austin Marathon: I'd been doing most of my training using Phil Maffetone's low heart rate strategy since May of 2017, and ran this race at a near-constant heart rate (at a bit higher than my pure aerobic heart rate). Things went well for 23 miles, and I only had to walk the last part of a couple steep hills. My form and my energy was good, but at mile 23, I must have looked like I was shot by a sniper! I had explosive simultaneous cramps in my left adductor, hamstring and calf, almost fell over, and had to tell the other concerned runners around me that I was OK! After walking for a while, I started trotting again, and then was able to run strong up the last hill and sprint to the finish! I figure I lost 20 minutes due to "the incident", but still finished 20 seconds faster than last year. (4:59:29)
#15-2017 Dare to Ascend Trail Marathon (Georgetown): My son flew in from Seattle and joined me and my son-in-law to run this 26.8 mi trail run. The kids (can I still call them kids if they are in their early thirties?) finished in just over 5 hours, but it took me almost 7 hours, a bit slower than 2015, even though the temperature was over 10° cooler.. The run went well, though I had a bad adductor cramp at mile 14 that forced me to walk for 20 minutes. The high point of the race was meeting a 50-yr-old guy at mile 20 (when I'd stopped to soak face-down in the creek!) who had started running marathons 4 years ago and was on #20! He was in town on business, signed up to run, and didn't know until the last minute that it was a trail run! Having never run trails before, this technical rocky terrain was a surprise, and after a few miles, he didn't know if he'd finish... we walked and ran together for a few miles and both finished in good spirits! (6:54:37)
#14-2017 San Luis Obispo Marathon I registered for a running class in San Luis Obispo, CA, and the next day got a complimentary entry into their marathon the next day! Marathon day started in the 40's, but by the time we started the 14 mile section out and back into wine country (read steep valley, no wind, and intense sun!), it had reached 80 °F. It ended up being my slowest road marathon yet. Likely the steep trail run a couple days before didn't help... or maybe the grape Popsicle, and bacon they handed out in the last few miles! (5:27:36)
#13-2017 Tinaja 50K (Colorado Bend State Park): A year earlier, my wife and I discovered this park and fell in love with hiking and running the variety of its trails (woods, prairies, mountains, cliffs, gorges, waterfalls, and a glade with a bubbling creek!). When I realized there was a total of about 31 miles of trails, I asked but was told there was no local 50K run. Then a few months later, I received a copy of an email announcing the first annual 50K self-supported race, offering a discount if I registered by midnight. Even though the race was 2 weeks after the Austin Marathon, I considered it a Sign From God, and registered for the race. It was cool and drizzling almost the whole time (which was great for me), and I ended up only needing about a third of the food I distributed in drop boxes at the water stations. It took me almost 9 hours (with the prerequisite mid race cramping), and was so scenic I plan to do it again next year! (8:51)
#12-2017 Austin Marathon I stopped running from May to the end of July 2016 to have toe surgery (chipped bone and a growing "marble" in my big toe joint after kicking a rock on a trail run in 2014). I was back in shape and even running faster with the help of my first run coach. But I got sick for 2 weeks leading up to the marathon and didn't get my typical long run in. Even though I was fully recovered 5 days before the race, I ended up losing energy after 10 miles and progressively slowed down and eventually couldn't run more than a mile without taking a walk break. It was muggy the whole time and when it refused to rain, I started pouring 2 cups of water on my head and shoulders at every mile water station! When I saw the finish line and realized my time, I sprinted the last 200 yards to pass several people and beat 5 hours by a few seconds! (4:59:49).
#11-2016 Possum Kingdom 52.25 Mile Endurance Run (Possum Kingdom State Park west of Dallas): I've been intrigued at the thought of running/walking from sun-up to sundown, and planned to try a 50 mile race in early 2017 "just to see what its like". Then some fellow trail runners suggested I was already in shape, having run 3 marathons in 5 months, and I wanted to give it a try before I had toe surgery, just in case I'd never again have the chance! I really wasn't sure I could finish 52 miles in the 14.25 hours allotted, but knew I'd at least set a personal distance record, and the park looked beautiful. It was gentle rolling hills through the trees around a lake, with only 300 feet between the lowest and highest point.
I actually finished in just under 12:55! I mostly credit the low temperature (54-60 °F) and the 2+ hours of rain to keep me cool... though the rain turned what looked like loose sand into a thick clay that added over 2 pounds to each of my "minimal" light-weight trail shoes! But an hour later, the mud dried out and it stayed overcast and cool. I somehow got my second wind, and fell into an efficient rhythm of slowly running the downhills and flats, and quickly power-hiking the hills. I finished without really feeling tired, and ran the last 2 miles faster than any other section of the race... I still don't know how that worked!
#10-2016 Austin Marathon: 2 days before the marathon, my therapist suggested I add 1-legged squats to my ankle re-hab, and I ended up doing nearly 40 on each leg. I ended up so sore that I had trouble standing up or sitting down! I started the race aching, but within a mile, things felt great. Then, at about mile 20, I started having muscle cramps in various portions of my upper legs, with my knees sometimes giving out. I had to walk a full 20 minutes, and then was able to slowly get back to running, though It probably didn't look pretty! I finished in 4:56 hrs. It was one of my slowest marathons, but at least most of it was fun, and I really wasn't even sore the next day.
2016 3-M Half Marathon (Austin): Ran with a friend, and kept slower than 10 min/mi for the first 2.5 miles. Then steadily sped up until I was running 8.5 min/mi! I ended up averaging 8:57 min/mi, running my first-ever "negative split"... it was the best-executed race I'd ever run, and I wasn't even sore afterwards! (1:57:11)
#9-2015 50K Endurance Run (Huntsville, TX): Excited to be able to run again, I took on the 50K challenge in early December. It was over 70 degrees and humid, unlike the 32 degrees when I last ran the race. I did great for 14 miles, but at that point things turned for the worse. I fell a few times, pulled most of the muscles in my legs, and got dizzy/nauseous from not taking in calories soon enough. I had to walk 50% of the time for the next (miserable) 10 miles, but then came back to life and finished the last 3 miles strong. Lesson Learned: Just keep going, even if you have to walk! (7:20)
#8-2015 Dare to Ascend Trail Marathon (Georgetown): After finding a good doctor to diagnose my ankle dysfunction, I started training in June and managed to build up to 20 miles by The first of September, so I signed up for the 26.8 mile run around Lake Georgetown with my son-in-law. The trails were rough, and I lost a bunch of skin from my knees during training, but on race day did fairly well. I had to walk half of the last 8 miles, likely because it got over 90 degrees! (6:47)
2015 Austin (Half) Marathon: After getting injured in August of 2014 (tore my plantar fascia and jammed my ankle joint while training on crazy-steep rocky hills!), I had to downgrade to the half marathon. The run went well until I stopped, and then immediately wished I'd had the sense to have completely skipped the race. Spent 5 weeks in an orthodic boot, and couldn't run again until June!
#7-2014 Light at the End of the Tunnel Marathon (Seattle): I signed up for a July marathon near Seattle, and invited one of my sons to join me. The course ran 21 miles down a gentle 2% downgrade on an old railroad track (minus the railroad ties!), to finish up with 5 miles of flats. It was all below 3,000 ft elevation and was supposed to peak at about 75 °F. Unfortunately, it got into the mid 80's, and running on a smooth downhill grade is harder than it sounds! I hit the halfway point in under 2 hours, but then started getting cramps and ended with walking half of the last 5 miles. My son came in just a few minutes after I did, adding his first marathon to his Half Ironman experiences! (4:44:45)
#6-2014 Austin Marathon: By the time my next marathon came around, I had done 8 >20 milers in the 3 months prior to marathon day. I felt in the best shape of my life, but the day was warm and humid, and it took a Round Rock Fit coach encouraging me up the final hill to shave another minute off of my marathon PR. But more importantly, I reached two other long-time goals that I'd set: I finally didn't feel crippled the day after, and I finally completed a race ahead of all the 70+ year old runners! (4:19:39)
#5-2013 50K Endurance Run (Huntsville, TX): In March of 2013, I joined a weekly fairly rugged 5-mile group trail run at Bull Creek. At first, running trails seemed harder, but after a while, my body got used to the varied terrain, and it not only became easier, but therapeutic both mentally and physically. I got more flexible and my core strength and stability increased. I decided to sign up for my first ultra-marathon, a 50K around a lake near Huntsville, Texas. It had no significant hills, but everyone warned about the danger of tripping on all of the roots. I upped my summer mileage to at least 12 miles every few weeks, and did 4 X >20 milers in the 2 months prior to the race. To me, the race was much slower and harder than a marathon, often tripping and stumbling (but never hitting the ground). By the last 5 miles, I couldn't run up even the slightest of hills, but finished with a smile on my face and was actually less sore the next day than after my marathons! I also appreciated the 30-34 °F temperatures, and the fact that the ice storm didn't hit until my drive home! (6:49:22)
#4-2013 Austin Marathon: I switched to an even thinner shoe (Altra "Adams") and decided to run more through the summer to keep in shape (at least an 8-miler every few weeks). I also added in a couple extra 20+ mile runs at an easy pace, to get myself used to the higher mileage. The strategy appeared to pay off, and I knocked off 26 minutes from my previous marathon PR! (4:20:41)
#3-2012 Austin Marathon: By the fall of 2011, I was knocking out higher mileage without pain, and my chronic knee pain of 40 years had vanished! I ran my first Austin Marathon in thin, flexible Merrell Trail Gloves, and while I had to walk at least half of each big hill, I still beat my San Antonio times! (4:46:57)
2011 Austin Marathon Catastrophe: I decided to skip San Antonio in 2010 and tackle the hills of the 2011 Austin Marathon. I started running in minimal shoes (Soft Star "RunAmocs") in June of 2010, but when we hit 15 miles that December, I pulled a muscle in my big toe (a muscle my foot doctor said no one uses, at least in regular shoes!). Too much, too quick! I had to skip the marathon, heal, and gradually build up strength in my feet and calves.
#2-2009 San Antonio Rock & Roll Marathon: I was better prepared in 2009. But at mile 20, I started getting calf cramps that were so severe that I actually fell down if I tried to run through them. I tried stretching, massage, and salt from the Aid Station, but couldn't run more than 50 yards at a time for the entire last 6 miles- finishing almost half an hour later than 2008. On the bright side, I did get to study the form of lots of runners, including a 300+ lb person with a perfect gait and a steady pace! (5:07:31)
#1-2008 San Antonio Rock & Roll Marathon: I started doing volunteer massage for Round Rock Fit in 2008, and started their marathon training program. I arrived in San Antonio feeling prepared, having done my first 20 mile run without problems. At the race, I felt pretty good up to mile 23.5, but as I approached the Mile 24 marker (where my wife was waiting to cheer me on!), I suddenly got tunnel vision, heard ringing in my ears, and felt so exhausted I could hardly hold my head up. I later realized I had "bonked" and my muscles had run out of glycogen. While I had 5 gel packs and some other snacks in my pouch and pockets, in my rookie enthusiasm, I had forgotten to eat anything! I walked for about a mile, and ate an energy bar out of boredom, and suddenly came back to life and was able to run... but I had tightened up, and the last mile was pretty ugly! (4:55:27)
I vowed to start running. It took me months to build up to a mile, and over the next 15 years, I eventually was running about 5 miles 3 times a week. I was on record as saying that running a marathon was "stupid", but then my brother-in-law invited me to run the 2008 3M Half Marathon and I didn't want to sound like a weenie! With virtually no real training, we ran the race and even had fun! The down-hill course made us feel like studs, and we signed up for the San Antonio Rock & Roll Marathon for that November.... and the rest is history!
In general, my strategy is to run for fun, and I never really "race". I am not one to push through pain, and instead believe in slowly building endurance so that running a marathon becomes the norm instead of a big challenge (at least in theory; if you run a marathon every weekend, it should eventually become easy!). I also believe in walking a bit when you're tired, and that pushing or training too hard increases the chances of injury. Below are a few thoughts about each of my longer races, in reverse chronological order:
#49-2023 State 47 Las Cruces Marathon: After a disappointing Fort Worth marathon, I looked for another race to try again to set a PR. My son-in-law was running the Las Cruces marathon, and I decided to join him since it was even flatter than the flat Fort Worth course (though at 3900 ft. elevation). Unfortunately, by race day I was a week into a really bad head cold, and hadn't slept much for 4 days. I used the same strategy as at Fort Worth, with my lightest, thinnest shoes and sipping on a concentrated glucose/electrolyte mixture about once every mile. I was actually on course to PR up to mile 17, but the head wind (and coughing) was taking its toll. When I realized I wouldn't set any personal records, I decided to slow down and enjoy the sunny, open high-desert & mountain views! After a 2 minute walk break with 8 miles to go, I started running and almost immediately twisted my left knee, which was so painful I could hardly walk (pain from an impact injury in early 2023 that comes and goes). I was barely maintaining a 30 min/mi pace and realized that I wouldn't finish in the allotted 6 hrs., so I tried to run a little bit. It didn't hurt that much more than walking (though I was only going at 13.5 min/mi!), and I was able to run/walk and slowly extend my run intervals from 100 to 700 steps. By the end, I was able to run the last half mile at a 10:30 min/mi pace, and finished under 5 hours... with no severe cramping, though I didn't run as hard as I had in Fort Worth. Needless to say, getting slower with each attempt to go faster is a puzzling and more than a bit frustrating! (4:56:34)
#48-2023 Fort Worth Marathon: Last year on this course, I ran my fastest marathon in years- even with bad cramping taking 15 minutes off of my time over the last 6 miles. I decided I wasn't used to running that hard/fast, since I wasn't particularly tired or sore the next day. Leading up to the run this year, I did calf strengthening exercises and did several 9-12 mile runs at faster than a 8:40 min/mi pace... I thought for sure I was ready to set a lifetime marathon PR! The weather was about 10° warmer this year (but still 60°-70°) and I was a few days into a bad head cold, but I found it easy to maintain a steady 9:30-9:40 min/mi pace for most of the race (I needed to average 9:50 to PR). I rarely walked, and actually took in more calories and electrolytes than last year by dissolving them in a concentrated solution that I could take a swallow of (while running) every 10 minutes starting after the first hour, while drinking a cup of water at each aide station without having to walk. (4:29:15)
At mile 23, I was struck with the same intense calf cramps as last year! They stopped me completely for a couple minutes, and then kept forcing me to walk so that I averaged about 13:30 min/mi for the rest of the race. Since I didn't have the big lead that I'd had last year, instead of reaching my goal of cutting 3-4 minutes off of my time, I was actually 7-8 minutes slower... WTF??!? I'm still baffled by the situation, since the first 23 miles seemed so easy, and I was smiling and saying "Hi!" to everyone along the way. I ate more calories (and started earlier in the run) than ever before. I upped my electrolyte consumption. I wasn't even sore the next day, and even did well sprinting in our exercise class. All I can figure is that I'm STILL not strong enough to run in good form at that speed for that long, and need to figure out a way to train for the end of the race... maybe back-to-back long fast runs every couple weeks? I guess we'll have to wait until next year to see... (4:29:15)
#47-2023 Ston Wall Marathon: We planned a trip to Eastern Europe, and my wife found me a marathon to run in Ston, Croatia, where a 3+ mile long stone wall was constructed in the 1300's-1400's. The marathon climbs over 1,000 old stone stairs, runs along the top of the wall, and then descends and continues through the countryside, including mountains and dipping down to the Adriatic Sea in a couple places... and runs along a section of Napoleon's Highway, a rocky road running from Split to Debrovnik. I ran in my Vibram 5-fingers (after hiking for 5 days in the Julian Alps!), talking the whole way with a friend from Poland who I invited to run with me. Between the talking and his not wanting to run up any hills, it was a nice easy marathon experience... even with the 3700 ft. of climbing! No cramping, only drank water with electrolytes, and skipped breakfast and only ate about 500 calories of my dextrose powder (5:57:32)
#46-2023 Mt. Nebo Marathon: Ever since I received my medal and t-shirt for running the Mt. Nebo marathon virtually in 2020 (I ran it in the mountains near Seattle), I've felt like a fake- I didn't even know where Mt. Nebo was! To redeem myself, I decided to actually run the marathon in person. As it turns out, the marathon wasn't a trail marathon, like I thought. At 4:30 on a Saturday morning, I had to catch a bus that drove us on a 80 min, 26 mi ride up a really steep paved mountain road to an elevation of 9,000 ft above sea level (26% less oxygen than Austin!). We then had to run back down to the town of Peyson- there were 4 uphill sections (2 were really long and steep), and then 16 miles of continuous steep downhill. I increased my cadence and kept an erect posture so that I didn't have to break, running fast at first, but finally slowing down to about 13 min/mi at the end. I barely took any walk breaks (in fact, walking downhill was harder than running!), but my calves were not used to running downhill so long- it was like running a marathon in 5 inch heels! And of course, I ran in my thinnest (5 mm) pair of Vibram 5-Finger shoes! I was really wobbly at the end- I kept falling backwards, since my calves kept trying to point my toes. But 2 days later, I was running down a mountain trail near Park City Utah at a 7 min/mi pace! (4:59:43)
#45-2023 Mt. Hood 50K: I was supposed to run a mountain marathon in April during our Australia trip, but it was cancelled because a tree fell across the trail (???). Planning to attend a reunion in Oregon in July, I looked for a replacement race there- a 50K that boasted of a beautiful easy route on the Pacific Crest Trail with 2500 ft. of climbing... but when I went to sign up, all 160 slots were sold out! I put my name on the wait list, but didn't have much hope of getting in. Then, 30 days before the race I received notice that I was in, since many people dropped out at the last minute they were able to get a full refund! I ramped up my training for a couple weeks, but wasn't able to get longer than an 18 mi. long run in... and then bruised the arch in my left foot and got another lung infection and was on antibiotics and steroids (this time from excessive dust in the Pioneer Farms horse stable)... but I hoped for the best, since all I had to do was average 16:30 min/mi pace to make the Mile 22 cut-off.
It was 50° at the start line (Yay!!!) with tall pine trees shading almost the entire 31 miles- though it was dusty at times, irritating my already irritated lungs. I ran in my Vibram 5-Finger trail shoes, since my bruise seemed to be healing, and hiking in my cushioned trail shoes the days before the race was driving me crazy! Every now and then, a rock would poke me in my bruised arch and make me yelp, but the pain would quickly subside and I ran well, power hiking the 2 long steep hills up the mountain. By Mile 14, my arch started hurting a lot more from the cumulative poking- even pencil-diameter twigs hurt if I stepped on them wrong, so when we turned to come back down the mountain, I couldn't pull off my usual downhill speed. By Mile 22, it was getting hotter and we had to run the rest of the race in denser lowlands with little wind- I twice splashed off in the lake to stop from over-heating... but then my Texas Heat Training kicked in, and in the last 2-3 miles, I passed several locals who had earlier passed me by! I finished strong, sprinting across the finish line, with an average of less than 14 min/mi... and never cramped once! (7:12:14)
#44-2023 Austin Marathon: The weather was perfect (50°-67°), and I started the race out strong, even though I recently had a mild lung infection which had cut back my training. It seemed I had a chance of beating my Personal Record of 4:19 from 8 years ago! But after 10 miles, I realized I wasn't in shape to PR (especially on such a hilly course!), but hoped to at least match my 4:23 time on the flat Fort Worth course last November. By mile 18, my average was slipping past the 10 min/mi pace that I needed, but I was still hopeful, with the biggest hills and the pee break behind me! Then, at mile 23, I had a severe right adductor cramp (AGAIN??!?) and was forced to stop for 2-3 minutes, followed by 2 miles of gimpy walking and short bouts of 13.5 min/mi "running". But when the 4:40 pace group passed me, I sprung into action, and finished the last mile strong and fast!
Though I wasn't in as good of shape as I'd hoped, I feel I executed the race well. I ran in my thinnest Vibram shoes, and my feet felt happy the entire time. I only walked 2 short steep hills and half of the long 26th street hill, and managed to run (slowly) up both the 15th St. and final 11th St. long steep hills. I learned how to drink while running, and only had to fill up my water bottle twice along the way, sticking to my glucose powder for fuel starting at mile 10... but in order to PR in my sixties, I'm going to have to figure out how to conquer my nemesis- the inner thigh cramping that has zapped me in over 3 dozen marathons! (4:39:34)
#43-2023 Goodwater Marathon 26.8 (Lake Georgetown, TX): The weather was 50° and cloudy until noon (when the sun came out), so was perfect running weather. Unlike most of my races, I ran with a small group almost the entire race, which led to a lot of good conversation and motivation to keep going. I decided to run the race in my thin cheap Amazon shoes, and my feet were happy on the rocky trail, at least until the last couple miles. I fell a couple times and had blood on my hands and legs, but it was all superficial and the only thing that hurt was my wrist. My adductor started cramping pretty bad the last 3 miles, and I had to walk a lot and drop back from my group. The race took me 20 min longer than last year, but I was the fastest in my age group... since I was the only one over 60 running the race! (6:24:23)
#42-2021 Tinajas Trail Marathon (Colorado Bend State Park, TX): They cut my favorite 50K trail race down to a 2-loop marathon, eliminating all of my favorite sections and scenic overlooks! They even dropped the tinajas (granite bowl making a little lake filled with tadpoles), the namesake tourist destination! Having times of 8-9 hrs when the race was 50K, I expected to finish in 7 hrs since the race was 5 mi shorter this year... but I actually finished in under 6 hours! This was especially puzzling because I fell FIVE TIMES! Considering how I typically don't fall more than once at most (most times!) and that I've run this course many times before, I'm tempted to blame the fact that this past year, I've been running trails almost exclusively in my minimalist shoes with 5 mm thick soles (Vibram Trail 5-Fingers or Amazon's $38 Weweya shoes with an amazing rubber toe bumper), but for this race, I reverted back to my Altra Superiors with their 21 mm thick, cushioned soles. While my feel were protected and maybe helped me run faster, I kept scraping the soles on rocks, since my brain wasn't used to my legs being more than half an inch longer than usual! So in the future, I think I'll stick to the thin shoes, especially since they've been doing well for me on the road. The first fall was the bloodiest, but the 2nd pulled my right adductor (groin) enough so that if I lifted my knee too high, it started cramping. So for the last 10 miles of the race (the other 3 falls were minor irritations), I had to run with my right leg straight, and do all of the climbing with my left leg! But I was still able to run fast on flat or easy sections, and finished the last half mile at sub 10 min/mi pace. The race was a challenge, but I enjoyed most of it! (5:57:32)
#41-2022 Fort Worth Marathon: After a few speed workouts, I headed to Fort Worth in my 5.5 ounce Xero Shoes Speed Force thin-soled shoes for my 2nd tune-up marathon leading up to the 2023 February Austin Marathon. It was 34° and calm that morning, and I started out with 3 shirts and sweat pants over my running shorts... but by mile 13, I was down to shorts and a t-shirt (ditching my shirt at mile 20!). Somehow, I managed to average 9:20 min/mi for the first 20 miles, faster than I'd ever run for anywhere near that distance- I guess the cold weather and my slow 22-mi slogs in the Texas heat really made a difference! So at mile 20, I was on track for just under my Boston Marathon Qualifying time of 4:05, almost 14 min faster than my fastest marathon 8 years ago!
Unfortunately, after 20 miles, my calves started to cramp (fast little spasms that made my foot flex into the ground, causing stumbles). As the frequency of the cramping increased, I tried running a variety of different ways, including tiny rapid steps, turning my feet in or out, turning my upper body to face somewhat sideways, and even squatting and reaching my feet out way in front of me like the "Keep on Trucking" man! Each variation helped for a while, but then the cramping would return with a vengeance! I watched my 14 min "lead" slowly slip away, until I calculated that I needed to run 10 min/mi for the last 2 miles to beat my former record. While I could occasionally run that fast or even faster, the cramping got worse until it looked like I was being shot by a sniper at least once a minute... and with a mile left to go, my calves started occasionally "seizing up" so bad I had to completely stop and grit my teeth for up to a minute... So needless to say, I didn't beat my marathon record that day! But even with the self-destruction, I still ran my fastest marathon since 2014! (4:22:41)
#40-2022 Lakeside Marathon (Lake Tahoe, NV): In March, I decided to train to try and PR in the February 2023 Austin marathon, having done unusually well in the Irish road marathon in 2021. My "old man" strategy focused on adapting to higher mileage, increasing from 35 to 45 mi/wk and doing a 22 mi long run every Tuesday. After a couple months, I was no longer tired all of the time, and decided to sign up for 4 "practice" marathons (one a month) leading up to The Big Race... Tahoe was the first! I hadn't realized it was such a small marathon, with only 32 runners. I'd been having foot/toe issues, and decided to run the race in my Vibram 5-Finger shoes, since they made my feet feel the best...
The elevation ranged from 6000-6900 ft, with 2391 ft of climbing... luckily, it wasn't hot (36 °F that morning!). I started with 2 layers, gloves, and a beanie cap, and finished shirtless! While I averaged a slow 12:02 min/mi pace, I ran the whole race strong, even running up the hills (very unusual for me!). And on the downhills, I even ran a mile an 8:19 min/mi! As usual, I had no breakfast and only used glucose powder after 2 hrs of running. One of the best parts of the race was catching up to my wife 50 ft before the end (she was running the half marathon), and we crossed the finish line strong and holding hands! While I felt pretty beat up an hour after the marathon, I felt fine the next day and did an 8.25 mi hike/run in the mountains, including an almost 5 mi section running downhill... fun! (5:10:48)
#39-2022 Goodwater Marathon 26.8 (Lake Georgetown, TX): Last year, while running this race, I kicked a rock 6 times HARD with my right big toe, damaging the cartilage and requiring surgery in early December of 2021. Before surgery, I deferred my registration for this trail run and the Austin marathon until 2023. During surgery, it turned out the damage was too severe to allow a bone graft (3 month recovery time), so they smoothed out the bone as best they could, and said I could resume running to tolerance in 3 weeks. Then, this race was deferred from mid January to mid February, and I realized I had just enough time (God willing!) to ramp my mileage back up and un-deferred my registration back to this year!
Luckily, I didn't kick any rocks, and only fell once (or course, on an easy, flat, sunny section of the trail!). My toe and foot hurt, but I was able to run in pretty good form, and only cramped once during the race (unlike the 10 bouts of cramping during each of the last 2 races before surgery!). I paced myself by heartrate, and felt surprisingly good the whole time. When I cramped at mile 22, a 1st-time marathoner stooped to talk to me, and we then walk-ran 2-3 miles, and then picked up the pace to finish strong... almost 30 minutes slower than last year, but a grand success considering I only had 5 weeks to train on my post-surgical big toe! (6:04:22)
#38-2021 Tinajas 50K (Colorado Bend State Park, TX): This unsupported (no snacks) race still had staggered starts, but they resumed having water at all of the aid stations. Each year I've run this race, I've taken less food, and yet I still only eat half of it! True to form, this year I put out Cokes, cookies, and a chicken salad sandwich at the aid stations, and only ended up drinking 12 ounces of Coke and eating a quarter of the sandwich. I also occasionally had glucose and electrolyte powder with my water (that I carried in my pocket). I ran most of the course alone, though I did get into one long conversation with a fellow runner about minimal shoes and his calf injury! I ran in the new Altra Superiors trail shoe- while I usually prefer an un-cushioned shoe, I needed something to better protect my injured toe (that is requiring surgery next week). I was on track to beat my previous 7:55 course record, but at the half-way point, I started cramping in my right adductor again- each bout of cramping made me stop for 2-3 minutes, followed by 10 minutes of walking (9 bouts during the race, likely due to bad running form induced by my toe injury). I was disappointed in not being able to bomb down my favorite downhill section (Old Gorman Road, mile 20), but had fun and met my wife's goal of finishing by 4:00 so we wouldn't have to drive home on the back roads in the dark! (8:59:54)
#37-2021 Franklin Mountain 58K (El Paso, TX): Once again, this race proved to be the hardest I've ever done. The Race Director introduced the race as being 36 miles long- he said he hadn't increased the distance, but had decided to stop lying and calling it 50K! There was 4,300 ft. of climbing in the first 12.5 miles, followed by a 9-mi descent to the dessert floor... most of it covered by loose rocks about 2-5 inches in diameter! I ran in my Xero Terraflex trail shoes, carried powdered glucose for fuel, and ate several PB&J quarter sandwiches at the Aid Stations along the way. On my way down the long decline, I started cramping in my adductors (the left and right sides kept taking turns), each bout stopping me for several minutes. At one point in the flat section of the dessert, I tried to get a rock out of my shoe and cramped so bad I had to lay down and stretch out in the dirt for a while before I could get my shoe back on... surprising someone who came around the trail! Many people offered me various salt and anti-cramping recipes, but the cramping kept recurring until the steep parts were over. Like 2 years ago, I took long enough to end up running in the dark for almost 2 hours. The stars and the coyotes howling were incredible! I was able to turn off my headlamp and run by the light of the 3/4 moon for the last few miles, and was happy to see my son and son in law waiting for me at the finish line... and instead of only having peanut M&Ms, this year the finish line still had pizza, Ramen, and Coke! Plus, with the course better-marked, I didn't get lost and managed to shave almost 20 minutes off of my time from 2 years ago! (13:15:16)
#36-2021 Tralee Marathon (Tralee, Ireland): We finally got to go on a post-COVID international trip, so I found another local marathon to get another international medal! Tralee is a small city on the southwestern coast of Ireland. The Saturday marathon had almost 300 participants, and we ran a hilly route along the coast and through some remote "suburbs". That Thursday, I had just finished hiking 16 mi/day for 4 days through the rural Irish countryside, including a 3-mi steep climb up the shoulder of Mt. Brandon... not exactly the ideal taper! While I started out tired and sore, I followed my usual pattern of starting out slow, with no breakfast or calories until 2 hours into the race. After a few miles of gentle climbing on urban roads, the course left town and had a long medium-steep decline. I was feeling good, and decided to race the 1-mile downhill (at times, reaching 7 min/mi pace!), since I knew that the only way I'd be able to get a post-run shower (we had to check out of our hotel by 2:00 to head to Dublin) was to run the race in 4:40 (recent PR of 4:37). I was able to run my regular pace on flats, walk the steep up-hills, and speed up on all the downhills. I had also recently listened to a neuroscientist's podcast that suggested you try speeding up if you start to cramp (?), and when my typical calf/adductor cramps started to creep in during the last 10 miles, I tried the strategy and never had full-blown cramping! I still started slowing down during the last 3 miles, but finished strong, only 11 min slower than my lifetime PR 7.5 years ago- the 2nd fastest marathon of my life! I also got a few comments for running shirtless and in Vibram 5-Finger shoes, both of which are rarely seen in Ireland! (4:30:39)
#35-2021 Texas Trail Running Festival-Marathon (Krause Springs, TX): Krause Springs is a beautiful park with a spring-fed pool and natural swimming hole, with lots of both open and single-track trails in the trees. The course was 4 laps (6.55 mi each), with 2 steep hills on each lap. The day was cloudy, and the first two laps were pretty easy, taking me about 1:20 apiece. In the middle of the 3rd lap, the sun came out and I started slowing down (taking 1:42). I even had to take a short rest hiking up the 2nd big hill... it was hard to pass the live band at the finish line (I asked them to play a rain song instead of the sunshine song they were singing!) and go back out for my 4th lap. I really started to over-heat and feel dizzy, and had to take frequent walk breaks and occasionally splash water on my head. My pace was so slow that I calculated that the lap would take me 2:30, so when I passed someone with a calf injury, I welcomed the chance to walk with him and talk about rehab strategies... I think we chatted for almost 20 min! I then realized I was feeling better, and took off at a good clip, occasionally running (downhill) at a 8:30 min/mi pace, and even power-hiked the last steep hill as fast as I did in the first lap! That lap ended up taking me 2:01, and I raced the last quarter mile to cross the finish line running strong... weird! I then jumped into the cold pool, and then went and got a hamburger and fries from the food truck (I'd skipped breakfast and only eaten glucose powder on the run, starting after 2 hrs). (6:27:53)
#34-2021 Wildflower Trail Marathon (Bastrop State Park, TX): A week before the race, I was browsing the trail run sites and decided to sign up for this one, having once enjoyed a run in this park. I had only built up to a 15-16 mi long run since my last marathon, but felt I could easily trot along and enjoy myself for 26.2 miles... but I turned out to be wrong! The course was a short out & back segment followed by 4 X 6.25 mile loops around the park, with two aid stations on road intersections of each loop. After leaving the 2nd aid station on my first loop, I ran down the paved road and ran into 2 young men running their first marathon on a dare. As we chatted, we missed the sign to turn right back onto the trail, and ran all the way to HWY 71 before we realized something was wrong. On the way back to find the trail, I heard the local chickens and cows laughing at us! It increased our race distance to 28.5 miles, which seemed to break the spirits of the 2 guys (one dropped out after Loop #3). The second piece of "bad luck" was that there was 2"-3" of loose sand on about 10% of the trail, which made running (or even walking!) very difficult. And finally, there were a couple long steep hills that weren't too bad on the first loop, but by loop #2 were hard to even walk up. And then, contrary to the weather report of a completely cloudy day, starting at 10 am, the sun came out more often than not... needless to say, it was a long day, and I ran less than 100-200 yards during my final loop! But it was fun and a well-run race! (7:09:42... but 6:32 for the first 26.2 miles!)
#33-Goodwater Loop FKT 2021 (Georgetown, TX): When hearing that I'd run around Lake Georgetown in January, a trail running friend told me that the unsupported FKT (Fastest Known Time) record for the 27 mile Goodwater Loop was 6:20. I'd run a supported race on nearly the same course in 5:35, so he suggested I give it a try. I had planned on waiting until the winter when it would be cooler, but then I saw that perfect weather (a low of 42 °F and high of 68 °F) was predicted for March 20... giving me 2 days to prepare! Having run a marathon in February, I figured I was still in shape and could run 45 min slower than January and still beat the record! I decided to run clockwise from Cedar Breaks Park, getting the hard part done while I was fresh and the weather cool. I started at 7:15 am (as usual, without eating any breakfast), and started eating my usual dextrose powder after about 90 min into the run (and a peanut butter honey packed my wife got me... sticky!)- fueling every 30-60 min. At one point, in my peripheral vision I thought I saw a 12 year old child running towards the trail, but it turned out to be a >3 ft wild turkey running across the trail 15 ft in front of me! The run went well for the first 18 mi (even falling 3 times), and I was on track to finish 20 min faster than my personal course record!
As I got close to Russell Park (the original reason I started running out there a few years ago!), things started to go south. There were a lot of fallen trees blocking the trail from the recent epic Texas snow and ice storm. Not only did it slow me down, but I actually had to go so far out of the way that I got lost 3 times and had to wander around to find the trail. This added a half mile to my run and dropped my "lead" on my old record to only a few minutes- all in about a 3 mi section of the trail! One of the times I got lost trying to get around downed trees, a woman and her 15 year old daughter helped me find the trail. A bit later, I came up behind them and thought I was going the wrong way, since I had just passed them... they said they had cut across and shaved at least a mile off their hike!
After getting to Jim Hogg park, the "mine field" ended, and I was feeling goo and picked up my speed. By mile 23, I realized I could still break my record by about 10 min... and then I fell again, bad! For the first time in 13 years of running (and falling during!) endurance events, I fell on my face and hit my chin. I couldn't clench my teeth together without pain and my hands and knees were bleeding and hurting. I walked for a while and then could only run slowly for a while, but then felt normal again. The the last 2 miles were paved, and I was able to pick up my speed and happily (relatively) flew to the end. I never cramped the entire time, which is unusual for me, and supports my idea that the cramping fits are over as long as I continue to run at least 15 mile long runs every week (theory didn't hold in the last 2 races where I got injured early on and likely was running "funny"). While I was 5 min slower than my previous race PR, I beat the current FKT time by about 40 min... and have every reason to believe I can knock off 10-20 min next winter, as long as another Polar Vortex doesn't knock over a bunch of trees! (5:39:58)
#32-2021 Round Rock Fit Marathon (Round Rock, TX): Since they cancelled the Austin Marathon, my old marathon training group decided to host their own race! We started at 6:00 am in Old Settler's Park: 27 °F and a 15 mph wind, dropping to 25 °F by the end! We had 10-12 runners and almost twice that number of club members supporting the race by handing out water and snacks, patrolling the course in their cars, and staffing "cheering stations" at various points along the route. I ran strong and averaged under 10 min miles for almost 18 miles... until I took a walk break, took off my gloves to drink, and within a minute, my hot sweaty hands froze and went numb and rigid. I couldn't zip up my pockets, work my water bottle, or even completely get my gloves on. At the next aid station, someone helped put hand warmers in my gloves, but I was still numb and immobile by the next aid station where I took time to hang out in front of their radiant propane heater until my hands thawed (and started burning!). It was an interesting new lesson in how something seemingly so small could derail a race and even prove life-threatening in certain circumstances! But with the readily available help, I was able to recover and finish strong, only about a minute behind the 3 front runners! (4:39:38)
#31-2021 Goodwater Marathon 26.8 (Lake Georgetown, TX): This 26.8 mile trail consists of one lap around Lake Georgetown. I ran more than an hour faster than the 3 times I've raced this course in September (sponsored by a different group), mostly due to it being 20° cooler now! I also set a few other personal records. I fell 6 times (on damp, slippery clay soil- not the hard rocky parts), beating my previous record of 2 falls! I stubbed my toes 8 times (6 on the same big toe!), beating my previous record of 2-3 times. And I have 5 bouts of severe cramping in my inner thigh bad enough to stop me for several minutes each time (usually always happens a few times at the end of marathons). Plus, for about 5 hours afterwards, I kept having random intense cramps when I'd move: various leg muscles, my shoulder, a muscle in my wrist, and even a bad spasm over a few ribs on my side... weird! But somehow today, only my toe and 1 quad hurt the next day, and I'm looking forward to running the race again next January and beating my time... assuming my wife doesn't sent me to therapy to have my brain re-programmed! (5:34:54)
#30-2020 Tinajas 50K (Colorado Bend State Park, TX): This year, the race start times were staggered and there was no water or food along the route due to COVID (self-supported). It was the 3rd time I'd run the Tinajas 50K (plus 2 laps running the 100K last time), so I didn't expect any surprises. I was also starting out in the best shape of my life, based on recent lifetime PRs for the 1-mile and 5K distance, and my continued improvement in my aerobic function, steadily increasing my speed at my sustainable 130 BPM heart rate. But the Trail Gods must have figured I needed to learn some humility! At mile 7 (15 min after telling someone how I didn't fall once running the course in the dark last year), I slipped and landed on a large flat rock. No blood, but I instantly had a lump the size of a ping pong ball on the inside of my knee! It hurt and felt unstable, but with concentration I could run in pretty good form. I decided nothing was horribly broken, and within 15 min, I was back to running at a pace that would have beat my course record... I decided to run the last 25 miles in pain. At mile 15, I told a runner that it was my 4th time to run the race, and that it was always so well marked t hat you couldn't get lost. 15 min later, we saw several people running towards us, and it soon became clear that we were running the wrong way (adding a mile to our race)! About that time, I started having severe cramps in my thighs that would force me to stand still for 2-3 min and then walk cautiously for 10 min before I could run again. Five bouts of cramping during the last 15 miles ensured that I did NOT beat my record time for this course... but then again, it wasn't my slowest time either! (8:39:03)
#29-2020 Virtual Freddy Yeti 50K: I was unimpressed with my first 2 virtual races. The first company basically just sold medals, and while the 2nd was a real trail run with a virtual option, I felt like I was "cheating" since I didn't run on the actual course. But this Trail Running Over Texas 50K was an all-virtual challenge by a race director of the great mountain race I ran last year, and it even had some elite runners on the sign-up roster! I ran the 31.07 miles on the Austin South Walnut Creek paved hike/bike trail, a trail I'm very familiar with and have always wanted to run it's entire 21 mile out and back in a single run (I made up the additional miles on the intersecting roads). It was 40°-41° the whole time, but dry. The predicted rain must have scared everyone off the trail- I only saw 3 runners, 2 deer, and 1 bike the entire time! I wore the thinnest 5-Finger shoes that Vibram makes, and my feet did fine. I skipped breakfast and started fueling at mile 10 with crystallized ginger and dextrose powder, with a half of a turkey sandwich thrown in at mile 20 (~1200 total calories). I only drank 2 liters of water (with my home-made electrolytes), since it was cool and I wasn't sweating. I had a new experience: a 15-min "visual migraine" at mile 23, but it didn't cause me any issues, and I almost enjoyed the sparkly colorful bands in my peripheral vision. It was a wonderful day, and I was only a bit sore when running a recovery mile the next morning! (6:00:20)
#28-2020 Virtual Mt. Nebo Marathon: On a recent trip to the Mt. Ranier National Forest near Seattle, I decided to run an actual Utahan trail race with a virtual option. I picked a scenic trail along the White River, 4.5 road miles from our B&B, and left at 6:00 am when it was 41° (unseasonably cool, which was perfect for me!). I ended up running 11 road miles, since the 2nd half was much more challenging (i.e., STEEP!), and I realized I'd better use the road to make the pick-up I'd arranged with my wife (no cell phone coverage on the trail). I surprised myself by running my 24th mile in 9:11 (some at a <7:30 min/mi pace!), partly because it was on the road and down hill, and partly because I didn't want to make my wife wait at a remote trail head! I did the run without breakfast and only ate a 5 oz. bottle of glucose powder and a few pieces of crystallized ginger. I also didn't carry water, but relied on my Grayl water bottle filter and streams along the way. Even with a few gear failures, it was really fun running on the single-track trail through the forest... and I only ran into a single human on the entire trail! (6:03:22)
#27-2020 Earth Day Virtual Marathon: COVID cancelled the marathon I signed up for in Norway in June. On a road trip to Colorado, I found the LOBO Trail (13-14 mile paved/gravel flat trail from Longmont to Boulder close to our AirBnB), so I signed up for the virtual Earth Day Marathon for July 17. As it turns out, the LOBO trail doesn't really exist- it is actually several nice trails, but you have to know which combinations of road shoulders, bike lanes, and neighborhood sidewalks connected one section to the other. Even with a trail app on my phone, I often had to double back to find the trail. Still, I kept my spirits up until mile 23, where I found myself a whole mile off course! At that point, I was frustrated and "broken", but ran on until reaching 26.2 miles, after which I had to walk about 3 more miles and then bike for 30 minutes to get back to our AirBnB! But the good news is that the frequent stopping didn't beat me up so bad, and I was hiking and trail running 2 days later! (5:33:17)
#26-2020 Austin Marathon:This turned out to be my fastest marathon since 2014! It also was the best executed marathon that I've ever done, running up all of the hills, only walking for about 30 sec to drink every 3 miles (not including 3 restroom breaks that totaled almost 10 min), maintained a pretty even heart rate (in the 140s), experienced NO muscle cramps, and managed to "sprint" to the finish line at under an 8 min/mi pace! I attribute my success to this being the first time I managed to do a 15+ mi long run every single weeks for a year. I came in 19th out of 46 in my age group, and I browsed the results to see if I had beaten all of the 70+ year olds (a light-hearted goal that I've only achieved once!). A 73 year old guy from Switzerland beat me by almost 6 minutes, and then I noticed a 75 year old former client and running buddy beat me by 19 min!!! (4:37:00)
#25-2019 Post-Turkey Day Marathon-Half Marathon-10K Challenge (Lake Pflugerville): Thunderstorms were predicted for our running club's 2nd annual "Turkey Challenge",and it was raining at various places around town... so only 6 people showed up this year! But the lightening never came, and it only rained for 2 minutes. A fellow club member ran with me for the last 21 miles, and he kept sneaking up the pace, so I ended up running faster than last year... and my first 3 mi lap was even run carrying turn-around signs and a 5 pound sledge hammer to mark the course for the shorter races! (4:59:30)
#24-2019 Franklin Mountains 58K (El Paso, TX): When my son got a few of us to sign up for this race, we didn't know that it was a "Sky Mountain Race", more than 50K long and over 6,000 feet of climbing! As it turned out, the race had 8,000 feet of climbing, mostly in the first half... and it was STEEP! Plus, virtually the whole race was rocky and hard on the feet. At one point, you have to climb up to and past Aztec Caves, which required both hands and feet with precarious sections that took some serious deliberation. After 11 miles of mostly climbing, the course got even steeper and did a 4 mile out and back climb up about 4,000 ft to the top of Mount Franklin, where you get your picture taken with a colorful Day of the Dead skull. I really liked this section, not for the skull or the steepness, but because I was able to see and say "Hi" to the 5 other members of my group who were ahead of me and heading back down! The 2nd half was all climbing or descending, but at a much gentler slope than the first half... but by then, all my muscles were shot. Even so, 3 separate times I felt rejuvenated and was able to mostly run for a few miles. It was weird to go for over 2 hours in the desert without seeing another living thing (not counting the 2 tarantulas!). Since I was slow, it started to get dark with 6 miles still to go. But the trail getting less rocky, the air cooling off, and the chirping of the night insects made this section the most fun of all, and I finished strong! But it was definitely the hardest race I've done to-date, with probably more than 75% of the course being more hiking than running! (13 hrs, 34 min)
#23-2019 Tinajas 100K Trail Run (Colorado Bend State Park, near Lampassas TX): For the last 2 years, I've been running this 50K race, using the Austin Marathon at my last long training run 2 weeks before the race (sounds less insane than running 31 miles 2 weeks after running a marathon!). But sometime last summer, I realized I'd be turning 62 in March, and that a double loop of 100K would be 62 miles... it sounded like fate! Needless to say, I often questioned the wisdom of my decision, but also realized that my previous strategy of waiting until half-time to "see if I felt like doing a 2nd loop" was unlikely to ever actually happen. As it turned out, it took me just over 8 hours to complete the first loop (somewhere between my time in the first 2 years), and at that time, I was hurting and feeling spent. But about an hour into my 2nd lap, the pain eased and I got into a good rhythm for the rest of the race. I survived on dextrose powder, crystallized ginger, mashed sweet potatoes, guacamole, and a turkey sandwich at 8 pm. At that point, it was pitch-black dark (no moon; lots of clouds), was getting cold and drizzly, and my usual severe cramping was hitting me for 10 minutes at a time. I resigned myself to walking the rest, and realized it would take me until 6 am! But as dismal as that sounded, it was a rush running on the trail int he dark with a head lamp, and everything has a beautiful, surreal charm! Then I caught up to an Argentinian woman, and she encouraged me to try running and to try and beat my expected 20 hr finish time. Damned if it didn't work! We'd alternate on leads, but would chat every hour or so, and crossed the finish line together. (19 hrs, 42 min)
#22-2019 Austin Marathon: Once again, I used my heart-rate monitoring watch to keep myself at a sustainable pace. I managed to run most of the hills at a slow pace, and was able to swallow and run at the same time! At about 22 miles, I realized I was on pace to break my recent record of 4:40 (Vancouver) by about 5 minutes... but at 25.5 miles, I was again plagued with sudden and intense cramping in my adductor, hamstring and calf (like last year). I didn't want to stop, but had to hobble backwards up the last hill. As I entered the finish chute, I was able to run again, but would occasionally cramp and stumble to the crowd cheering "You can do it!" I didn't beat my Vancouver time, but did knock almost 20 minutes off of my Austin Marathon time for the last 2 years! (4:40:47)
#21-2018 Beerwah-at-Daybreak Trail Marathon (Glasshouse Mountains, Australia): My second 42.2 international marathon medal! I also talked my wife into doing the half-marathon (one lap; 2 laps for the full marathon). We met the infamous podcaster Coach Jeff a couple of days before the race for a final morning shake-out run and breakfast... he smiled when I told him the course looked pretty flat (the published elevation profile only showed one big descent and climb). As I was to find out, the entire course consisted of running up and down 300 foot steep hills... plus it was raining most of the time, and often the course was covered in slick mud that was hard to even walk on! It was the hardest race of my life, and I finished dead last about 30 minutes before the final cut-off... but the race director acknowledged that I was indeed the first Texan to finish! My wife still hasn't forgiven me for the torture, and Coach Jeff ran the last half mile with me, asking how I enjoyed the "flat course"- of course he and his wife had run the course many times in the past! (7:28:18)
#20-2018 Post-Turkey Day Marathon-Half Marathon-10K Challenge (Lake Pflugerville): This year, I organized an informal challenge for our new running club. We got a few people to do the 10K, one to do a half-marathon, and I ran over 9 laps around the lake to log 26.2 miles on my Garmin. Slow and easy; last long training run for my up-coming trail marathon in Australia! (5:14:27)
#19-2018 Dare to Ascend Trail Marathon (Lake Georgetown): This year, my wife and son did the half, while I again ran the full marathon. We drove to the race in the dark with lightening and torrential rains, but the rain stopped as we arrived. I ran the first 4 miles with a group in the back, but then moved ahead closer to the middle of the pack. The rains made the trail very muddy and slippery, but luckily the Georgetown mud didn't stick as well to your shoes as some clay-based muds! At one point, the trail was completely covered by 4"-6" of rapidly flowing water, for what seemed to be over a wquarter of a mile... and when we reached the half-way point, we were informed that we'd have to turn around and run back and couldn't run the full loop around the lake, since 12 feet of water had been reported at the stream crossing at Camp Tejas Park! On the way back at mile 17, I again suffered extreme cramping in my right hip adductor, and had to walk most of the next few miles. Plus, I got lost on the variety of trails in Overlook Park, since hte course had not been properly marked for us to have to run in backwards! Plus, the sun came out and I got hot! (whine, whine, whine). But by the end, I was running as fast as I had in the beginning, and the whole day was a fun adventure! (6:51:19)
#18-2018 Vancouver Marathon (British Columbia, Canada): This was my first time to run a race outside of the country... the medal even has 42.2 km, instead of the typical 26.2! I decided to go run with my son, who lives in Seattle. The weather was supposed to be 65° and cloudy, which it was the day before and after the race. Unlike other marathons I've run, the half marathon group was slated to start 90 min before the marathon, which started at a relatively late 8:30 am. When I awoke at 6:30 am (staying at a B&B 3 blocks from the start line, for $35/night!), the sun was already beating down, and by the end of the run, it was 77 °. I ran in a brand-new pair of what is now my favorite minimalist running shoe: the Xero Shoes "Prios" (5 mm thick soles, named for their enhanced "pro-Prio-ception"). The course was pretty flat, but with regular hills spread out throughout. I was able to fly (for me!) down the hills, which banked a lot of time that I'd later eat up when I died the last (hot) 6 miles along the sea wall around Stanley Park. But even with moderate hamstring cramping for the last 16 miles (ouch!), I was able to run in good form and finish almost 20 min faster than anything since my 4:19 PR in 2014! (4:40:01)
#17-2018 Tinajas 50K (Colorado Bend State Park, TX): I went to my favorite PT and had my left leg assessed and dry-needled, and didn't cramp at all during this race! I camped out in the back of my Honda Fit again, the night before the race, and nearly froze, even though the temperature only got to about 50°! I cut back on the amount of food I put out at the self-supported water stations, and still ended up having more than twice as much as I needed. I fueled most of the race with electrolyte powdered water, ginger cookies and crystallized ginger, and a squirt-bag filled with HEB guacamole! I ran without my watch, but kept the pace slow for the first 2 hours, running (and chatting) behind an experienced ultra-runner. At that point, I had to slow my pace down, and concentrated on my form and cadence while enjoying the rocky. hilly scenery, At about mile 18, I tripped and face-planted, of course in a flat, open, non-technical stretch! at Mile 19, I was still able to run my favorite 1-mile downhill rocky stretch at a sprint (8:30 min/mi), which made me feel like a kid again! But around mile 21, I ran out of steam, and walked the remaining hills (and even some of the flats), happy I could still run the downhills well. I had a misguided idea that I might go ahead and walk/run the 2nd loop to do my first 100K(I had a pack with supplied and lights waiting for me!), but I realized it would take me to about 2:00 am and the thought of the rocky terrain in the dark scared me off... but I still knocked almost an hour off my time last year! (7:55:07)
#16-2018 Austin Marathon: I'd been doing most of my training using Phil Maffetone's low heart rate strategy since May of 2017, and ran this race at a near-constant heart rate (at a bit higher than my pure aerobic heart rate). Things went well for 23 miles, and I only had to walk the last part of a couple steep hills. My form and my energy was good, but at mile 23, I must have looked like I was shot by a sniper! I had explosive simultaneous cramps in my left adductor, hamstring and calf, almost fell over, and had to tell the other concerned runners around me that I was OK! After walking for a while, I started trotting again, and then was able to run strong up the last hill and sprint to the finish! I figure I lost 20 minutes due to "the incident", but still finished 20 seconds faster than last year. (4:59:29)
#15-2017 Dare to Ascend Trail Marathon (Georgetown): My son flew in from Seattle and joined me and my son-in-law to run this 26.8 mi trail run. The kids (can I still call them kids if they are in their early thirties?) finished in just over 5 hours, but it took me almost 7 hours, a bit slower than 2015, even though the temperature was over 10° cooler.. The run went well, though I had a bad adductor cramp at mile 14 that forced me to walk for 20 minutes. The high point of the race was meeting a 50-yr-old guy at mile 20 (when I'd stopped to soak face-down in the creek!) who had started running marathons 4 years ago and was on #20! He was in town on business, signed up to run, and didn't know until the last minute that it was a trail run! Having never run trails before, this technical rocky terrain was a surprise, and after a few miles, he didn't know if he'd finish... we walked and ran together for a few miles and both finished in good spirits! (6:54:37)
#14-2017 San Luis Obispo Marathon I registered for a running class in San Luis Obispo, CA, and the next day got a complimentary entry into their marathon the next day! Marathon day started in the 40's, but by the time we started the 14 mile section out and back into wine country (read steep valley, no wind, and intense sun!), it had reached 80 °F. It ended up being my slowest road marathon yet. Likely the steep trail run a couple days before didn't help... or maybe the grape Popsicle, and bacon they handed out in the last few miles! (5:27:36)
#13-2017 Tinaja 50K (Colorado Bend State Park): A year earlier, my wife and I discovered this park and fell in love with hiking and running the variety of its trails (woods, prairies, mountains, cliffs, gorges, waterfalls, and a glade with a bubbling creek!). When I realized there was a total of about 31 miles of trails, I asked but was told there was no local 50K run. Then a few months later, I received a copy of an email announcing the first annual 50K self-supported race, offering a discount if I registered by midnight. Even though the race was 2 weeks after the Austin Marathon, I considered it a Sign From God, and registered for the race. It was cool and drizzling almost the whole time (which was great for me), and I ended up only needing about a third of the food I distributed in drop boxes at the water stations. It took me almost 9 hours (with the prerequisite mid race cramping), and was so scenic I plan to do it again next year! (8:51)
#12-2017 Austin Marathon I stopped running from May to the end of July 2016 to have toe surgery (chipped bone and a growing "marble" in my big toe joint after kicking a rock on a trail run in 2014). I was back in shape and even running faster with the help of my first run coach. But I got sick for 2 weeks leading up to the marathon and didn't get my typical long run in. Even though I was fully recovered 5 days before the race, I ended up losing energy after 10 miles and progressively slowed down and eventually couldn't run more than a mile without taking a walk break. It was muggy the whole time and when it refused to rain, I started pouring 2 cups of water on my head and shoulders at every mile water station! When I saw the finish line and realized my time, I sprinted the last 200 yards to pass several people and beat 5 hours by a few seconds! (4:59:49).
#11-2016 Possum Kingdom 52.25 Mile Endurance Run (Possum Kingdom State Park west of Dallas): I've been intrigued at the thought of running/walking from sun-up to sundown, and planned to try a 50 mile race in early 2017 "just to see what its like". Then some fellow trail runners suggested I was already in shape, having run 3 marathons in 5 months, and I wanted to give it a try before I had toe surgery, just in case I'd never again have the chance! I really wasn't sure I could finish 52 miles in the 14.25 hours allotted, but knew I'd at least set a personal distance record, and the park looked beautiful. It was gentle rolling hills through the trees around a lake, with only 300 feet between the lowest and highest point.
I actually finished in just under 12:55! I mostly credit the low temperature (54-60 °F) and the 2+ hours of rain to keep me cool... though the rain turned what looked like loose sand into a thick clay that added over 2 pounds to each of my "minimal" light-weight trail shoes! But an hour later, the mud dried out and it stayed overcast and cool. I somehow got my second wind, and fell into an efficient rhythm of slowly running the downhills and flats, and quickly power-hiking the hills. I finished without really feeling tired, and ran the last 2 miles faster than any other section of the race... I still don't know how that worked!
#10-2016 Austin Marathon: 2 days before the marathon, my therapist suggested I add 1-legged squats to my ankle re-hab, and I ended up doing nearly 40 on each leg. I ended up so sore that I had trouble standing up or sitting down! I started the race aching, but within a mile, things felt great. Then, at about mile 20, I started having muscle cramps in various portions of my upper legs, with my knees sometimes giving out. I had to walk a full 20 minutes, and then was able to slowly get back to running, though It probably didn't look pretty! I finished in 4:56 hrs. It was one of my slowest marathons, but at least most of it was fun, and I really wasn't even sore the next day.
2016 3-M Half Marathon (Austin): Ran with a friend, and kept slower than 10 min/mi for the first 2.5 miles. Then steadily sped up until I was running 8.5 min/mi! I ended up averaging 8:57 min/mi, running my first-ever "negative split"... it was the best-executed race I'd ever run, and I wasn't even sore afterwards! (1:57:11)
#9-2015 50K Endurance Run (Huntsville, TX): Excited to be able to run again, I took on the 50K challenge in early December. It was over 70 degrees and humid, unlike the 32 degrees when I last ran the race. I did great for 14 miles, but at that point things turned for the worse. I fell a few times, pulled most of the muscles in my legs, and got dizzy/nauseous from not taking in calories soon enough. I had to walk 50% of the time for the next (miserable) 10 miles, but then came back to life and finished the last 3 miles strong. Lesson Learned: Just keep going, even if you have to walk! (7:20)
#8-2015 Dare to Ascend Trail Marathon (Georgetown): After finding a good doctor to diagnose my ankle dysfunction, I started training in June and managed to build up to 20 miles by The first of September, so I signed up for the 26.8 mile run around Lake Georgetown with my son-in-law. The trails were rough, and I lost a bunch of skin from my knees during training, but on race day did fairly well. I had to walk half of the last 8 miles, likely because it got over 90 degrees! (6:47)
2015 Austin (Half) Marathon: After getting injured in August of 2014 (tore my plantar fascia and jammed my ankle joint while training on crazy-steep rocky hills!), I had to downgrade to the half marathon. The run went well until I stopped, and then immediately wished I'd had the sense to have completely skipped the race. Spent 5 weeks in an orthodic boot, and couldn't run again until June!
#7-2014 Light at the End of the Tunnel Marathon (Seattle): I signed up for a July marathon near Seattle, and invited one of my sons to join me. The course ran 21 miles down a gentle 2% downgrade on an old railroad track (minus the railroad ties!), to finish up with 5 miles of flats. It was all below 3,000 ft elevation and was supposed to peak at about 75 °F. Unfortunately, it got into the mid 80's, and running on a smooth downhill grade is harder than it sounds! I hit the halfway point in under 2 hours, but then started getting cramps and ended with walking half of the last 5 miles. My son came in just a few minutes after I did, adding his first marathon to his Half Ironman experiences! (4:44:45)
#6-2014 Austin Marathon: By the time my next marathon came around, I had done 8 >20 milers in the 3 months prior to marathon day. I felt in the best shape of my life, but the day was warm and humid, and it took a Round Rock Fit coach encouraging me up the final hill to shave another minute off of my marathon PR. But more importantly, I reached two other long-time goals that I'd set: I finally didn't feel crippled the day after, and I finally completed a race ahead of all the 70+ year old runners! (4:19:39)
#5-2013 50K Endurance Run (Huntsville, TX): In March of 2013, I joined a weekly fairly rugged 5-mile group trail run at Bull Creek. At first, running trails seemed harder, but after a while, my body got used to the varied terrain, and it not only became easier, but therapeutic both mentally and physically. I got more flexible and my core strength and stability increased. I decided to sign up for my first ultra-marathon, a 50K around a lake near Huntsville, Texas. It had no significant hills, but everyone warned about the danger of tripping on all of the roots. I upped my summer mileage to at least 12 miles every few weeks, and did 4 X >20 milers in the 2 months prior to the race. To me, the race was much slower and harder than a marathon, often tripping and stumbling (but never hitting the ground). By the last 5 miles, I couldn't run up even the slightest of hills, but finished with a smile on my face and was actually less sore the next day than after my marathons! I also appreciated the 30-34 °F temperatures, and the fact that the ice storm didn't hit until my drive home! (6:49:22)
#4-2013 Austin Marathon: I switched to an even thinner shoe (Altra "Adams") and decided to run more through the summer to keep in shape (at least an 8-miler every few weeks). I also added in a couple extra 20+ mile runs at an easy pace, to get myself used to the higher mileage. The strategy appeared to pay off, and I knocked off 26 minutes from my previous marathon PR! (4:20:41)
#3-2012 Austin Marathon: By the fall of 2011, I was knocking out higher mileage without pain, and my chronic knee pain of 40 years had vanished! I ran my first Austin Marathon in thin, flexible Merrell Trail Gloves, and while I had to walk at least half of each big hill, I still beat my San Antonio times! (4:46:57)
2011 Austin Marathon Catastrophe: I decided to skip San Antonio in 2010 and tackle the hills of the 2011 Austin Marathon. I started running in minimal shoes (Soft Star "RunAmocs") in June of 2010, but when we hit 15 miles that December, I pulled a muscle in my big toe (a muscle my foot doctor said no one uses, at least in regular shoes!). Too much, too quick! I had to skip the marathon, heal, and gradually build up strength in my feet and calves.
#2-2009 San Antonio Rock & Roll Marathon: I was better prepared in 2009. But at mile 20, I started getting calf cramps that were so severe that I actually fell down if I tried to run through them. I tried stretching, massage, and salt from the Aid Station, but couldn't run more than 50 yards at a time for the entire last 6 miles- finishing almost half an hour later than 2008. On the bright side, I did get to study the form of lots of runners, including a 300+ lb person with a perfect gait and a steady pace! (5:07:31)
#1-2008 San Antonio Rock & Roll Marathon: I started doing volunteer massage for Round Rock Fit in 2008, and started their marathon training program. I arrived in San Antonio feeling prepared, having done my first 20 mile run without problems. At the race, I felt pretty good up to mile 23.5, but as I approached the Mile 24 marker (where my wife was waiting to cheer me on!), I suddenly got tunnel vision, heard ringing in my ears, and felt so exhausted I could hardly hold my head up. I later realized I had "bonked" and my muscles had run out of glycogen. While I had 5 gel packs and some other snacks in my pouch and pockets, in my rookie enthusiasm, I had forgotten to eat anything! I walked for about a mile, and ate an energy bar out of boredom, and suddenly came back to life and was able to run... but I had tightened up, and the last mile was pretty ugly! (4:55:27)