Route 66 Marathon Race Report

It has been a crazy week and I am late getting this report out, but I ran the Marathon on Sunday, Julie had surgery on Monday, we went to Illinois on Tuesday for Thanksgiving and drove home yesterday. That is a full week.

I was looking forward to the Marathon as it is a hometown Marathon and I can sleep in my own bed. I have ran the race all 4 years and I did not want to miss it. I had only made one long run of 21.5 miles at the Mock Marathon since the Leadville Marathon in July. I knew I needed more training, but I had been running well and did not have anything to lose.
I showed up at the race and had to deal with this yahoo. This Brian Hoover of TATUR and Runnersworld fame, the best running store in Tulsa. Brian was also doing the Marathon and so was a lot of his training groups that meet on Saturdays in the same location at Veterans Park.

After I talked to Brian, I had to make my way through this mess. I had waited too long and barely made my way up to in between the 8 & 7 minute pace markers. After the wheelchair people took off, We were able to scoot closer. I was having trouble with my new Garmin as I was trying to put in a quick workout course for the Marathon and every time I did, it would shut off. I was hoping that this would not be a sign of a really bad day. A Marathon can be a great experience as well as a long day.

At 7:30 AM, we were off. We were lead off by the classic police car and some of the 1/2 Marathoners took off at a faster clip than I wanted. I hit the button to start my Garmin and it just re-set to zero, which is what the other button is supposed to do. I did it again, same thing. I tried it once more, ditto. So, I decided that as long it would hold out, I would just look at my pace and use that.
Another shot of the start.

Michael Wardian and Zac Freudenburg were racing each other for the Guinness Book record for a Marathon pushing a stroller, which Michael already owned at 2:42. They had made a deal to look at each others kid as they did the Marathon. Great teamwork! This is at the 10K spot.
Mark Dolph on the right coming through the 10K marker. He keeps getting faster and faster. I think he ran a 1:19 at age 51.
Here I am at the 10K mark. I felt pretty good at this time and my split was 42:31. I was headed to the West Side and then downtown. I wanted to go through the half at 1:35 and see what I had left on the second half. I made it through the downtown at 15K 1:08:35. As I was heading downtown, I saw Pete Orban already heading to Riverside, what a stud.

The downtown part was a little hilly, but not bad. Somewhere on Denver I met up with the slower 1/2 Marathoners. This got pretty congested. I passed one older guy and he muttered, "you suck." Come on, I'm busting my tail here! At the water stop on 11th, people were stopping or slowing down and I almost plowed a girl over to try and get some water. This continued as I headed south on Riverside.
On Riverside I hit the half at 1:35:17, pretty close to where I wanted. I was still running on the opposite side of the street for all the congestion I was hitting. At about mile 14, I started to feel it a little. Nothing major, but I knew I was going to be a pushing it on the second half. Once I lost the 1/2 Marathoners, it got pretty lonely and boring. My pace started to slow and I thought it was going to be a long day. I was still running about a 7:25 pace, but I was slowing down as we were heading into the wind. I saw the stroller guys heading back at just past 51st street and Zac was in the lead. I ran to the turnaround at mile 20 and I thought I could maybe make up some time up as I was out of the wind, no such luck. I was still able to run around a 7:55 mile, but it was a chore. I kept everything going and I finally hit that spot where I knew I was going to finish.

Here I am just coming to the mile 26 marker and I was able to pick it up a little. My last two miles had been over a 8 minute pace, but I was heading home and I knew I was going to make it under 3:20 and qualify for Boston.
This is the chute for the finish and I hit it pretty strong and crossed the line at 3:17:46, well under the 3:20:59 for Boston. There were 3 guys that finished ahead of me by no more than 30 seconds in my age group. Oh well.

It is too bad that Boston closed on Nov. 13th, but at least I am in for 2011. I ran a pretty good race considering I had not done much Marathon specific training. I know I can do even better, but I am really happy with the result. The weather was perfect and I could not have asked for anything better. Zac did break the stroller Marathon record by 10 minutes and also won the entire Marathon. How cool is that! The Route 66 Marathon is one of my favorite races and I look forward to next year already. Results can be found here.

Day After Marathon

This what I will probably be like on Monday. I love this video!

New Balance 100 Shoe Review: Updated

I have ran for awhile in the New Balance 790's, but like a lot of things, they must come to an end. I have really enjoyed the 790 shoe for its low profile and feel on how I can grip the road. This is the shoe that Tony Krupicka used to wear and what Kyle Skaggs wore to win the Hardrock 100 in a new course record. New Balance decided to stop production on the 790, so it is relegated to the past.
They have decided to focus their attention on the MT 100. This shoe had a lot of input from Tony Krupicka and Kyle Skaggs and personally I think it is a big hit. I have about 50 miles on them and they are performing well. I do not think that they grip the road that well, as they are a little stiffer than the 790, but overall I think it is a better shoe. It has better breathability with better rock guard protection. The support around the heel is higher, but the main fit around the foot is definitely a thinner material, almost like the Addizero. I have yet to do a longer 20+ mile run in them, but I am sure that they will hold up well. I thinking about tackling the Rocky Raccoon 50 miler in Feb. and this is the shoe I would wear. I would give them a 4 out of 5 and hey, with a retail price of $75, you cannot beat the price.
This Sunday is the Route 66 Marathon, but I will not be wearing the MT 100 for that. Instead I will be wearing the Asic Hyperspeed. I originally wore them during the OKC Marathon and they performed well. They have a real good fit and feel with a low profile. After all, this is the same shoe Ryan Hall wears. Not that I will run like him, but I think I am in good company. We are three days away and I cannot wait. It is going to be so much fun and the weather should be just right. This is my fourth year running it and I have had my best Marathon times here. An added bonus this year is that Michael Wardian will battling another guy, Zac Fruedenburg, for the Guinness Book record for a Marathon time for pushing a jogging stroller. Michael already owns the record, but once he found out it was going to be challenged, he wanted in. The record is 2:42 and some change, that is incredible! This weekend is going to be a blast!



Well, I finished Rocky Raccoon in my NB 100's and they performed flawlessly. I had absolutely no blisters or any hot spots after running a 50 mile race. I had concerns about the higher back in the heel was maybe going to rub, but it was not even an issue. I heard from so many people how their feet were raw and hurt from the roots and sand, but I came through without a hitch.

I know that the new 101's are supposed to be out in October and they are supposed to address a lot of the issues, such as the higher heel part of the shoe. As for now, I will continue to run in the 100's as my shoe of choice. On or off the road.

Deer Cycling

Words do not do this picture justice. The thoughts around this are endless. I know a lot of Redneck hunters back home that have never done this, or that I am aware of. This may be a new type of cycling or training for the Ironman. Did he hit the deer on his bike? Is this a new transit system for animals? My guess is, this is the best way to spot an Oklahoma DUI driver that lost his license.

Mock XC

Saturday morning I had the privilege of running the 4th annual Mock Marathon. I have ran all 4 versions of this with the Runnersworld gang and each year it keeps getting bigger. It was amazing to me this year to see all the different people from the other running stores come out and do it. The course has changed again this year and we venture downtown a lot in the first half, so it was good to see what kind of hills were on that part of the course.
We started at 7:30 am, the same time as the real Route 66 marathon. I wanted to go slow as I have not done a long run for awhile. I started out running with Aaron Ochoa and we were going about a 8:40 pace. We were joined by Curtis at about mile 6. I have never ran with him before, but got a chance to talk to him while running the rest of the course. He has done several other races and is looking at getting under 4 hours on Route 66.

The downtown piece had a few hills, but overall I did think it was too bad. The worst is on Cincinnati, but other than that, I think it will very doable for a PR. The second half is flat on Riverside. We went through all the downtown part together and once we got on Riverside, we lost Aaron. Curtis and I hung together until about mile 19, when I said I wanted to drop some faster miles at the last. I did the next mile at 7:08 and the last one at 6:56. I felt really good and I know I am in good condition for the Marathon.
Later on that day, we went out to check the Cyclocross races at Chandler Park. I have read about them, but had never actually got a chance to see them. The bikes are slightly different than a road bike with different tires and brake set ups. The cool thing about it is that it is on grass with hills and obstacles that you have to dismount and carry your bike over. It really reminded me of trail running. This is the start of the Cat 4's, Masters, and Single Speeds.
They had a kids race that I entered Wyatt in. Here he is at the beginning. It was a real short course and he was disappointed it was not longer. His comment was that he could have ran the whole thing.
He ended up with second place and got a medal. He is really athletic and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for him.


I really hope this video turns out as there was this kid on a single speed that did not dismount on his bike and carry it over the barricades. He actually jumped both the barricades with his bike. It was truly awesome and I am sure the video does not do it justice.

Tulsa Run Race Report

Saturday was the 32nd edition of the Tulsa Run. Being a BOK employee, I get to run for free. Joining me this year was Julie and several of my co-workers. Most of them were going to walk to walk the 5K, but hey, at least they got off the couch. Julie had decided to do the 15K. She had planned on training for it, but she did not do much running in October. I figured it was going to be a long day for her.
Here is a few of them at the start of the 5K. From left to right is Shane, one of my Transit employees, Cheryl, who works with Julie, and Tracy, who is one of my leads. This was Shane's and Cheryl's first 5K. I warned Tracy about wearing her Tulsa Run shirt for the race, but she didn't listen. You cannot wear the shirt until you have actually done the race!

I was very fortunate this year to start up front due to the kindness of Runnersworld. I have been on their race team for a number of years and they were allotted 10 slots and I received one. It was kind of neat being up front as we did little tiny loops to warm up in front of the masses. It was kind of like being on display at the circus.

I ended up about second or third row behind some of the tiny elite Kenyan girls. They were very petite, but quick. I am pretty sure I have ate bigger sandwiches than what they weighed. The countdown started at we were off at 9 AM. I had just got a Garmin 305 on Wed. and decided to wear it during the race to try and pace my self. It worked out really great during the first 5K, which is where I normally go out too fast and pay for it later. I stuck right on my 4:00 pace per K for the first 6K. As we came down on Riverside, where it was flat, I started to fall back. This is where I should have been able to kick it in, but instead, I just got slower. I guess I have not had enough longer tempo runs. I went through the 10K at 40:45 and knew my goal of sub 60 was gone. I kept a pretty even pace up to the Denver hill, but knew that would drop me back even further. I hung in there and pulled out a 1:02. Good enough for 121st overall. I even managed to be the top runner for the Bank this year and pulled us into a 3rd place for Corporate teams.
Here is the first female coming across the line. I think she finished in 50 something.
One of the great things of the Tulsa Run is that is either around or this year, on Halloween. Clark Kent ran the race this year and flew across the line. He is pretty fast, sub 60!
Here I am coming across the line. I was sure glad to be done. I have a ways to go to get sub 60. I hung around afterwords and drank a soda and talked to the kids. They were getting fussy holding all our gear, so I told them to go take the stuff back to the Jeep and I would go back out and find their mother. I headed back out on the course and the looks on peoples faces when I was going back out was priceless. I did a slow jog and saw several people still coming in, Bobby, Ken, Kathy, and the Runnersworld group. I was starting to wonder how far I was going to have to go back and in between 11 & 12K I found here. She was so glad to see me. I stayed with her the rest of the way as she slow jogged and walked it in.
Here is she coming into the finish. I am so proud of her for not quitting and accomplishing her goal. She was not last and she even beat one of the celebrity runners. With some training and dedication she can do a lot better. No matter what, she still did 9.3 miles.
Glad to be done.
Here we all are after the race, except for Wyatt, who was hanging out in the port-a-john.

The Tulsa Run is a great race with a great race director. The course is really tough with all the hills, but it so much fun to come out and see the excitement. I really hope that this sticks with the people at work who did this and this will lead them to a more healthy lifestyle. I will see what happens next, but I may throw myself into the Route 66 Marathon in a couple of weeks. Who knows? The results can be found here.