After that tragic 5 mile run following a steak dinner on October 19, I was back on track. With my midweek runs on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Lifting on Monday's and Friday's. And cross training where I could fit it in, I was rolling. and the mileage was increasing.
Hal Higdon's Novice 1 Marathon Training increases mileage every week. There is no way even the best athletes who haven't run in a long time can go from running 3 miles to running 13 without increasing week to week. You are teaching your muscles how to burn energy in the most efficient way and learning about yourself, your barriers, running hills, etc.
November brought new challenges, finishing October with a 6 mile long run felt like an accomplishment. I hadn't run this far since I ran the Cowtown 10K in February 2008. My time back then was 1:09:52 (11:30/mile). On October 26, 2014, I ran 6.12 miles in 1:00:43 (9:56/mile). I remember huffing and puffing in that 10K back in 2008. But my training consisted of running once per week and never stopping for water during the training or during the race. That was back when the Cowtown started and ended in Downtown Fort Worth. I had run the Cowtown 5K years before when it started and ended in the Stockyards. Now the Races begin and end by the Will Rogers Memorial Complex. A great place to have the Expo, Start, and End of Race Activities. There is more cowtown in my future.
During November, I committed to something new. No-Shave November. Here's the thought. I will be training hard for this Half-Marathon. Its going to get colder. Having a beard won't hurt. And I won't shave until after the race in December. But I needed a warm-up race before then. The training schedule encourages a 10K during this time-frame, and Thanksgiving is right around the corner. My running friend from Houston was planning on running the YMCA Turkey Trot in Dallas. It is sponsored and proceeds benefit the YMCA of Metropolitan Dallas, which is a great organization my family and I have benefited from and was a great cause to run for. Our YMCA, Cross Timbers YMCA of Flower Mound, is a part of the Metropolitan Dallas group of YMCA's. Here's the thing, The Turkey Trot is either a 5K or an 8 mile race. Luckily, looking at the schedule, it seems as if I would be doing about 8 miles that week, so the timing was perfect.
The second week of November began with the same 6 mile route from the previous week. The Good news is that I bested my time by 5 minutes cutting about 53 seconds off my pace! The mid week runs threw me for a curve, however. At 4.5 miles, they didn't fit my ideal distances (all whole numbers), I needed to find an extra half mile. Although, it was brought to my attention by my loving bride, whether or not I found the extra 1/2 mile, my training wouldn't suffer, but that's how I am. I said in my first post, "My world needs two things. Order and Reason. Rules apply to everything." Therefore, I had to find the extra half mile. However, figuring out an extra half mile wasn't hard. The end of my street has a cul-de-sac and is about .2 to .25 miles away. Down and back was all I had to do. Problem solved.
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Energy Gels come in many flavors
By this time, I was clocking anywhere from 15-20 miles/week. I started using Gu Energy Gels during the long runs. I still use them for any run over 5 miles. Energy gels are basically 100 calories of Sodium, Potassium, Carbohydrates, and protein for your body to maintain through long runs. My favorite flavors are Salted Watermelon (has a little caffeine too), and Strawberry Banana. During this time, I was trying several different flavors, but settled on these two.
This was also about the time a cold snap came through town. November 16 saw some snow flurries in the Dallas area and I had to adjust my outer wear for running. I really only had a long sleeve running shirt from 6 years ago and one of my new dri-fit shirts. In October, because of all of my running posts on social media, I got a surprise in the mail. An old friend, who manages a movie theater out of town, sent me a gift. Some Headbands and wristbands. Leftovers from a marketing promo for the movie Neighbors, starring Zac Efron and Seth Rogen.
I was prepped and ready to go.
I found that the headbands helped keep my earplugs in. And the wristbands were good at wiping sweat out of my eyes. This has become my thing. I love running with the headbands. Still do.
So I signed up for the Dallas Turkey Trot and would prep to run 8 miles on Thanksgiving Day. I thought this was great since I could burn 1000 calories and then eat Thanksgiving Dinner. My training was on schedule with the exception of some midweek rain which put me on the treadmill and then the race, which would be on a Thursday. And Thursday is not a normal Long Run day. Some adjustments had to be made. On top of that, I found out my buddy from High School would be running the Fort Worth Turkey Trot instead. I was rolling this race Han Solo.
So I scrapped the plan for the week, keeping the long runs in place. Rather than run my two 5-mile runs during the week of thanksgiving, I would run 2 and 8 leaving the 8 mile race as part of my regimen, but also a race warmup.
Not having ever done a race in downtown Dallas. I wasn't sure what to expect. I knew the race started near city hall, which was fine, I grew up driving there since my dad worked there for over 20 years. He used to take me to work, or to his office and we'd drive underground and he'd park in the employee parking. He used to love showing me around and introducing me to the people he worked with. He also liked showing me where scenes from 1987's Robocop were filmed. Looking back, I didn't think much of it at the time, but I cherish those memories now. He was always proud of us and I think about him often. He passed away in 2007, but having this run start and stop at City Hall was important to me. It meant that he would see me start and finish something. The same would be true for the Dallas Half-Marathon. As you train, the harder training may sometimes require a deeper motivation. My training was getting tougher and so for me, motivation was my dad. I was doing this for him and making sure he'd be proud of me. On these November/December Long runs, I would always think of him to keep me going.
The race started at 9. I wasn't sure what to expect as far as crowds were concerned. I had read that this event would be attended by over 10,000 people. The DART light rail was being fixed downtown that week, so taking the train in was out of the question. And since we were having Thanksgiving dinner at our house this year, I needed to book it after the race to get home and help out. So I needed my car. And I needed it close. So I looked into Parking Panda. Parking panda is a site where you can reserve and pay for your parking before the special event. They had a 50% off deal through the Turkey Trot people, so I thought it was a good deal. I found an underground garage only a few blocks from the start of the race.
Pandas help you park. (not really)
I arrived at about 7 AM because my reservation urged me to arrive before roads were closed off for the race. The lot I secured was inside the route. This was 2 hours until the gun would start the race. And it was cold. Race time temp would be just shy of 50, which would be perfect. But it was about 35 at 7AM as I wandered around the desolate downtown area. Learning: DON'T GET TO A RACE TOO EARLY. Very little was set up. Vendors were still setting up. So I basically wandered around for about 30-45 minutes. I tried not to use my phone because I wasn't sure if I'd have enough battery to play the music and use mapmyrun for the 8 mile run. I'm pretty sure I photobombed a few TV interviews going on that morning, then I contacted a friend who was volunteering for the event. He got me into the hospitality tent where there would be coffee and restrooms.
A little after 8, I headed to my corral. There would be 2 corrals for this race. The front corral for those who were interested in being timed, and the second corral for anyone running with a dog on a leash and everyone else. I got in the corral and still had to kill about 45 minutes. I was probably the 20th person to report to the corral. So I had plenty of time. I found a spot where the sun was peeking through the buildings and began stretching a little and warming up slightly.
There was a row of port-a-potties, so I tried to use it one last time before the race. I had been drinking water on the drive down, so I knew I needed to empty as much as possible before starting and dropping a deuce if possible. I popped in, got my clothes situated. It was less windy in there and nobody had really used it yet, so I took my time. Fixed my headphones, headband, Got my gloves on and ready, then stepped out. The moment I stepped out, it was a new world.
Lines had formed. I mean LONG LINES. Pre-race lines. I found out later on, that these lines form approximately 30-45 minutes before race start time at big races and they don't go away until about 5 minute after the start. Everyone is trying to go now, so they don't harm their time on the course. Good advice.
I meandered toward the starting line. The "Elite" runners were warming up on the other side. I was right on the starting tape. Waiting patiently. The Emcee of the event began talking thanking everyone who made the event possible. I people watched. Listened in on others conversations. Watched people learn that only elite runners could be in the warm up area, but then break the rules and then cross the line and get in anyway.
It was almost time: I set my music to start, I got ready to set MapMyRun, and the horn blew. We were off to the races. It took me all of 10 seconds to realize I lost a glove. This sucked because I had just bought them and there were 6000 people behind me, so I wasn't going to go back. But I kept up. I was pretty close to the front of the line, but was learning quickly that finding my pace among racers can be a difficult task. We headed down Young Street toward Deep Ellum and crossed 75-Central Expressway when before making a left on Hall, the MapMyRun lady was telling me I was passing the 1 mile mark at 7:30. My mind was blown! I was running a 7 1/2 minute mile? Could I keep this up? Then my brain broke into math (as it usually does for time, speed, and distance calculations). Could I finish this 8 mile race in 60 minutes? The answer was quickly figured to be a, "no." I started dropping pace immediately after that. Down to 8:00/mile, then 8:30/mile. But still doing very well.
I passed the first group of water stations on Main Street in Downtown. I got out of the way, because I didn't feel like I needed it, and I think the first fluid station during a race is a big mistake. It's a time-suck. Too many people are too close at the beginning of the race, too easy to trip on someone, I politely move out of the way and let others get their sip of water.
There was also a bank of toilets (about 20) off to the other side, I didn't have to go. So I kept on. I got to mile 3 and did get a sip here.
I read Hal Higdon write about walking. Many long distance runners, or those who begin training from couch to 5K, use the run-walk method. It works something like this, run for 10 minutes, walk a minute. Run 10 walk 1. Or some variation thereof. You may read or hear people say, I'm here to run, not walk. Or If you're going to run 5K, 10K, or a marathon, then run it, don't walk. That's all poppycock. Hal writes that he once ran a 2:29 marathon walking through every aid station. That's my strategy. If I stop at an aid station, I walk. It rests me up and frankly, its easier to drink while walking.
I saw some port-a-potties at the second water station, but there were only a few and they had lines, this is when it hit, I needed to take a leak. Running past the site of the old reunion arena on Hotel street, there was a temporary building, like one you'd see at a school or a construction area. I saw a few runners dip behind there, and pop back out again. I thought it was strange at the time, but later I'd find out they were relieving themselves. At the 4 1/2 mile aid station, there was a port-a-potty and I had to go. So I waited in line. At this point my miles were about 8.5 minutes each. But the guy in front of me was apparently having worse issues than I had. This stop cost me about 2 minutes on my time. This mile was clocked at nearly 11 minutes. But it felt so good! Afterward, I popped another Gu. (one every 45 minutes after the run starts) and I kept running.
The route went down South Lamar, which is a cool area to run and it ran us down to Pennsylvania. Many who live down there would come out on their porches and watch us run by. Some would waive. We made it over to Harwood and ran back north towards downtown again. I was ready for this to be over But I kept thinking about my dad and how proud he'd be. We ran past Dallas Farmers market, the photographers took a snapshot of me, and I made the turn toward city hall. I pushed myself and tried to hit the gas, but there was nothing there. I finished in 1:12:41 (9:05/mile). I was very pleased with this time. Especially since I wasted 2 minutes going to the bathroom.
My first organized major(ish) race.
Once I crossed the finish line, I grabbed some bananas, a water, and a powerbar. Looked around at the crowd. It was VERY crowded. I didn't see anyone I knew, so I made my way back to the car. as I did, I saw the finish line to the 5K race still had mobs of people finishing. I know a lot of families do the 5K together, many walk. Its more about the time together and the donation than the competition.
I finally made it to my car, and left to get home. Then there was traffic. Tons of it. It was very slow getting out of there. A lesson I would learn for future races in Downtown Dallas. Lesson: Don't get there too early, but when you do,park outside the route and walk. The walking is good for you after a run, anyway. I would be putting my running to good use in 2 1/2 weeks when the Dallas Half-Marathon would be run.
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