When I signed up for this race in early March, my training was going really well. I intended to challenge my PR on this fast, flat course in New Orleans. Two months later after completin.g back to back halfs, my training fell off the side of a cliff with work and later moving taking huge chunks of my time. Add in achilles tendonitis in both legs and my weekly mileage dropped to single digits.
Since moving back to Louisiana early August, I had logged one weekend long run along with 2 half marathons prior to this race. Since the Gulf Coast 1/2 3 weeks prior to this weekend, I had 4 5 mile weekday runs. With all that said, I was totally pleased with my time of 1:55 in this race. The weather was to my liking with start temps in the lower 50s. There was a brisk 10-20 mph wind but with the course being looped, there were head, tail and cross winds. I definetely can deal with wind better than heat.
The start and finish were moved to near Lafayette Square this year. This gave more room for the post race party; otherwise, the course was the same as last year's course.
With the Louisiana Marathon and Half 11 weeks away, I'm ready to start training properly for this upcoming race. I'm now officially down to one house and am pretty much done with getting settled in so no excuses for those weekend long runs!
Thanks to the New Orleans Saints 55 point beatdown on the Indianapolis Colts, I'm now registered for Rock N Roll New Orleans in early March. I don't think competitor envisioned a 55 point spread when coming up with their promotion for discounted registration the day after Saints games. $1 per point netted me a 1/2 marathon registration under $40. The savings have been capped at $21 for future discounts.
Sunday, October 30, 2011
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Gulf Coast Half Marathon Louisiana Northshore
After traveling 4465 miles in straight line distance for the Bupa Great North Run last month, this past Sunday's half marathon in Fontainebleau State Park was a wake up in your own bed event for me.
With 1149 finishers Sunday, the field was much smaller than the 54,000 runners registered for the GNR. I am favoring smaller events these days; there were plenty of runners around me the entire race.
Estimating a 12 week intermediate half marathon training plan at 225-250 miles, I logged just over 100 miles for the 12 weeks leading up to this race. The lack of training came back to haunt me around the 8 mile mark, a little earlier than last months GNR but understandable given the warmer weather conditions and abundant sunshine.
All in all, it was a great race for my 61st half marathon. It was my first race in Louisiana outside of New Orleans.
Next up is the Jazz half in New Orleans the last Saturday this month.
With 1149 finishers Sunday, the field was much smaller than the 54,000 runners registered for the GNR. I am favoring smaller events these days; there were plenty of runners around me the entire race.
Estimating a 12 week intermediate half marathon training plan at 225-250 miles, I logged just over 100 miles for the 12 weeks leading up to this race. The lack of training came back to haunt me around the 8 mile mark, a little earlier than last months GNR but understandable given the warmer weather conditions and abundant sunshine.
All in all, it was a great race for my 61st half marathon. It was my first race in Louisiana outside of New Orleans.
Next up is the Jazz half in New Orleans the last Saturday this month.
Friday, September 23, 2011
Bupa Great North Run
Just back from my first trip to England where I ran in the Bupa Great North Run September 18th. This race is currently the world's largest half marathon with a maximum capacity of 54,000 runners. A general lottery is held for race entries as well as many entries being reserved for runners racing money for various charities.
I must admit that the trip was poorly organized on my part as I was pre occupied for the months leading up to the race buying and selling houses and relocating from Texas to Louisiana for work. Once my actual move date was nailed down and my move completed in early August, I decided in mid August that I would indeed make the trip for the race.
I first learned of this huge race in northern England in October last year. I wore my race shirt for the Jazz Half Marathon that I had just completed on my flight back to Houston from New Orleans. The guy seated next to me was returning to England after vacationing in New Orleans. Seeing my race shirt, he told me about the Newcastle race and how difficult it was to secure a spot in the event.
Once I got home, I researched the race and noted the lottery opening date on my calendar. I entered the lottery not confident that I would be selected. So as luck would have it, my entry was successful when the lottery was held in January. Once selected, I booked a race transfer package that included lodging for the night prior to the race. Not knowing anything about the area, I just blindly selected a place based on website descriptions (and price of course).
Reviving my trip planning seven months after being entered into the race and having one nights lodging booked, I booked a Wednesday to Wednesday flight from New Orleans to London with United or Continental (can you really tell these days?). I bought a book on England earlier in the year to help with my planning. Based on the 7 days I would be in England, I booked a couple of nights in a hotel in Bath for my first 2 days and then 3 nights in London post race. A week before the trip and I had nothing booked for travel within England.
Friday before leaving, I decided to purchase a 4 day rail pass for my travel within England. Thanks goodness for 2 day Fedex shipping as I received the pass the day before my flight.
I arrived at the airport Wednesday afternoon for my 5:20 pm flight and all was going well until my flight was cancelled due to a mechanical problem right when we were supposed to start the boarding process. As instructed, I got my bag from baggage claim and proceeded to the ticketing counter along with the rest of the passengers to figure out new transportation. Louis Armstrong is not a large airport and not much flight activity occurs after 5:00. It seemed that most people were heading home with flight plans for the following day. I got lucky and was put on an American flight at 7:00 connection to London through Dallas instead of my original flight connecting through DC.
After going through a long customs line to get into England, I had my rail pass activated and was on my way to Bath. My hotel was very old with a tiny, slanted 2nd floor by England count (3rd floor to us Americans) room with a private external bathroom. It was within a half mile of the train station.
After a great 2 day stay, I caught a 9:00 train to Darlington where I would determine how I would make it to my lodging booked way back in February. After the 7 hour train ride, I arrived in Darlington and sought information on local transportation options. Prior to heading to England, I looked into renting a vehicle. The problem I encountered was that no car rental companies were open on Sunday. I needed to return the car Sunday post race in order to travel to London on the 4th day of my 4 day rail pass.
With no car rental agency in sight of the train station, I opted for a train to Bishop Auckland in order to get somewhat closer to my lodging. Once arriving at the BA unmanned station, I walked over to the nearest business and one of the employees graciously called a cab company for me. My Verizon cell phone was in paperweight mode the entire trip as Verizon's platform does not work at all in England.
Almost 40 quid later, I was at the bed and breakfast. I then had the issue of figuring out a way to get to the shuttle bus pickup area in Dunham the next morning for the race. Another couple staying at the bed and breakfast offered me a ride to the bus the next morning so I was set for the race.
I had breakfast race morning at 6; at 7:30 we caught a bus to the race start. The race atmosphere was fantastic; many runners were dressed in costume. After the elite wheelchair and elite women's start, we got underway after the Red Angels did a flyover.
Like Alaska, weather was fantastic; course was nice; training was lacking. Severly. I thought my training for my mid June Alaska race was off, training for this race was practically non existent.
12 week leadup in 4 week increments:
First 4 weeks: 32 miles
Second 4 weeks: 11 miles
Third 4 weeks: 41 miles
Mile splits show the lack of training in the later miles:
Mile 1 8:54
Mile 2 8:39
Mile 3 8:38
Mile 4 8:44
Mile 5-6 17:02
Mile 7 8:49
Mile 8 8:36
Mile 9-10 20:01
Mile 11-12 19:35
Mile 13.1 9:21
Total 1:57
Post race, I got my checked bag, changed in a portolet and caught the shuttle bus back to Durham. Once in Durham, I ran around looking for a taxi. I finally went to a hotel and had them order me a taxi to get back to the bed and breakfast. I had the taxi wait at the b&b while I retrieved my luggage and then continued my fare to the train station in Darlington. Total fare was over 100 quid. Yikes.
After the long train trip to London, I caught the tube to my hotel. After sitting for so long post race, I hobbled around the remainder of my trip. Yeah, lack of training had alot to do with that as well.
All in all, it could have been a much better planned trip but it was another successful run for me. This was my first run outside of the United States. There are no eminent plans for a second international run.
I must admit that the trip was poorly organized on my part as I was pre occupied for the months leading up to the race buying and selling houses and relocating from Texas to Louisiana for work. Once my actual move date was nailed down and my move completed in early August, I decided in mid August that I would indeed make the trip for the race.
I first learned of this huge race in northern England in October last year. I wore my race shirt for the Jazz Half Marathon that I had just completed on my flight back to Houston from New Orleans. The guy seated next to me was returning to England after vacationing in New Orleans. Seeing my race shirt, he told me about the Newcastle race and how difficult it was to secure a spot in the event.
Once I got home, I researched the race and noted the lottery opening date on my calendar. I entered the lottery not confident that I would be selected. So as luck would have it, my entry was successful when the lottery was held in January. Once selected, I booked a race transfer package that included lodging for the night prior to the race. Not knowing anything about the area, I just blindly selected a place based on website descriptions (and price of course).
Reviving my trip planning seven months after being entered into the race and having one nights lodging booked, I booked a Wednesday to Wednesday flight from New Orleans to London with United or Continental (can you really tell these days?). I bought a book on England earlier in the year to help with my planning. Based on the 7 days I would be in England, I booked a couple of nights in a hotel in Bath for my first 2 days and then 3 nights in London post race. A week before the trip and I had nothing booked for travel within England.
Friday before leaving, I decided to purchase a 4 day rail pass for my travel within England. Thanks goodness for 2 day Fedex shipping as I received the pass the day before my flight.
I arrived at the airport Wednesday afternoon for my 5:20 pm flight and all was going well until my flight was cancelled due to a mechanical problem right when we were supposed to start the boarding process. As instructed, I got my bag from baggage claim and proceeded to the ticketing counter along with the rest of the passengers to figure out new transportation. Louis Armstrong is not a large airport and not much flight activity occurs after 5:00. It seemed that most people were heading home with flight plans for the following day. I got lucky and was put on an American flight at 7:00 connection to London through Dallas instead of my original flight connecting through DC.
After going through a long customs line to get into England, I had my rail pass activated and was on my way to Bath. My hotel was very old with a tiny, slanted 2nd floor by England count (3rd floor to us Americans) room with a private external bathroom. It was within a half mile of the train station.
After a great 2 day stay, I caught a 9:00 train to Darlington where I would determine how I would make it to my lodging booked way back in February. After the 7 hour train ride, I arrived in Darlington and sought information on local transportation options. Prior to heading to England, I looked into renting a vehicle. The problem I encountered was that no car rental companies were open on Sunday. I needed to return the car Sunday post race in order to travel to London on the 4th day of my 4 day rail pass.
With no car rental agency in sight of the train station, I opted for a train to Bishop Auckland in order to get somewhat closer to my lodging. Once arriving at the BA unmanned station, I walked over to the nearest business and one of the employees graciously called a cab company for me. My Verizon cell phone was in paperweight mode the entire trip as Verizon's platform does not work at all in England.
Almost 40 quid later, I was at the bed and breakfast. I then had the issue of figuring out a way to get to the shuttle bus pickup area in Dunham the next morning for the race. Another couple staying at the bed and breakfast offered me a ride to the bus the next morning so I was set for the race.
I had breakfast race morning at 6; at 7:30 we caught a bus to the race start. The race atmosphere was fantastic; many runners were dressed in costume. After the elite wheelchair and elite women's start, we got underway after the Red Angels did a flyover.
Like Alaska, weather was fantastic; course was nice; training was lacking. Severly. I thought my training for my mid June Alaska race was off, training for this race was practically non existent.
12 week leadup in 4 week increments:
First 4 weeks: 32 miles
Second 4 weeks: 11 miles
Third 4 weeks: 41 miles
Mile splits show the lack of training in the later miles:
Mile 1 8:54
Mile 2 8:39
Mile 3 8:38
Mile 4 8:44
Mile 5-6 17:02
Mile 7 8:49
Mile 8 8:36
Mile 9-10 20:01
Mile 11-12 19:35
Mile 13.1 9:21
Total 1:57
Post race, I got my checked bag, changed in a portolet and caught the shuttle bus back to Durham. Once in Durham, I ran around looking for a taxi. I finally went to a hotel and had them order me a taxi to get back to the bed and breakfast. I had the taxi wait at the b&b while I retrieved my luggage and then continued my fare to the train station in Darlington. Total fare was over 100 quid. Yikes.
After the long train trip to London, I caught the tube to my hotel. After sitting for so long post race, I hobbled around the remainder of my trip. Yeah, lack of training had alot to do with that as well.
All in all, it could have been a much better planned trip but it was another successful run for me. This was my first run outside of the United States. There are no eminent plans for a second international run.
Mayor's Half Marathon
I ran my 2nd half marathon in Alaska June 18th, this time in Anchorage. 90+ days later here is my race report (at least what I remember).
Weather was nice; course was nice; race would have been nicer had I trained adequately. I still had some benefits from my training earlier in the year for my back to back halfs; the mileage in my 12 week training period was:
First 4 weeks: 100 miles
Second 4 weeks: 80 miles
Third 4 weeks: 50 miles
There was a definete lack of a build up or the longest taper period I have ever done! My time by mile shows the lack of conditioning aka the tank being empty the last few miles:
Mile 1 8:34
Mile 2 7:57
Mile 3 8:03
Mile 4 7:58
Mile 5 7:51
Mile 6 7:32
Mile 7 8:01
Mile 8 8:23
Mile 9 9:07
Mile 10 8:34
Mile 11 8:40
Mile 12 9:25
Mile 13 11:09
Total time 1:51
I spent a week post race on a well organized tour booked through an Alaskan travel company. Transfers were all taken care of, tours booked, lodging secured. All I had to do was show up. After spending a day in Anchorage, I visited Kenai Fjords and Denali National parks. Portions of my transportation was via the Alaskan railroad, a very scenic travel method!
Weather was nice; course was nice; race would have been nicer had I trained adequately. I still had some benefits from my training earlier in the year for my back to back halfs; the mileage in my 12 week training period was:
First 4 weeks: 100 miles
Second 4 weeks: 80 miles
Third 4 weeks: 50 miles
There was a definete lack of a build up or the longest taper period I have ever done! My time by mile shows the lack of conditioning aka the tank being empty the last few miles:
Mile 1 8:34
Mile 2 7:57
Mile 3 8:03
Mile 4 7:58
Mile 5 7:51
Mile 6 7:32
Mile 7 8:01
Mile 8 8:23
Mile 9 9:07
Mile 10 8:34
Mile 11 8:40
Mile 12 9:25
Mile 13 11:09
Total time 1:51
I spent a week post race on a well organized tour booked through an Alaskan travel company. Transfers were all taken care of, tours booked, lodging secured. All I had to do was show up. After spending a day in Anchorage, I visited Kenai Fjords and Denali National parks. Portions of my transportation was via the Alaskan railroad, a very scenic travel method!
Monday, September 12, 2011
First double digit run since June 18th
Yesterday I ran 10.01 miles as my final/only long training run before Bupa Great North Run this coming Sunday. It was the first time that I hit double digits since running Mayor's Half Marathon in Anchorage back in June. Little did I know how much undertrained I would be going into GNR compared to Mayors as my training for Mayors was less than stellar.
Basically my mileage came crashing to a halt after my back to back half weekend April 30th/May 1st. Work responsibilites in May followed by a work relocation zapped most of my free time. Hopefully I will be down to one house in about a month. I also hope to continue my increased training as I have two Louisiana half marathons next month.
Basically my mileage came crashing to a halt after my back to back half weekend April 30th/May 1st. Work responsibilites in May followed by a work relocation zapped most of my free time. Hopefully I will be down to one house in about a month. I also hope to continue my increased training as I have two Louisiana half marathons next month.
Sunday, June 12, 2011
I run like a Paw Paw
2 days after my 47th birthday, I was blessed with 2 grandchildren. They arrived a few weeks early so have spent time in the Special Care unit. James came home Monday and hopefully Emmaleigh will be joining him shortly.
I'll be joining them as well; well, I'll be getting closer to them at least. I'm relocating back to the New Orleans area after almost 6 years of running The Woodlands.
I'll be joining them as well; well, I'll be getting closer to them at least. I'm relocating back to the New Orleans area after almost 6 years of running The Woodlands.
Emmaleigh Grace
James Patrick
Sunday, June 5, 2011
13.1 Chicago
After running over 50 half marathons in 45 states, I no longer have many "race firsts" in events these days. Yesterday morning at 13.1 chicago I did not receive an official race time for the first time. Only 130 of the 5000 or so participants received official times as the course was red flagged around 1:45 into the race. The red flag was changed to black a couple of miles later at about the 11.5 mile mark for me. I was able to finish the race and did receive a race medal.
The event started under yellow flag conditions in the mid 70s and balmy. Shining sun and not much shade on lakeshore made for tough running. The course reminded me of the Gary Bjorklund 1/2 course in Duluth MN that is run along Lake Superior vs Lake Michigan in Chicago.
Weather aside, 13.1 chicago seemed much better organized than reports I'd heard of other 13.1 events. Packet pickup was in a local running store within walking distance of the L. Shuttle transportation to and from the start/finish went very smoothly. I just would have liked to have had the need to check warmups but it just wasn't meant to be.
When I registered for this race, I had visions of training hard in an attempt to PR on a flat fast course. Work got in the way of training, so I'm not disappointed with the warm weather. I run another half in 2 weeks. Weather in Anchorage should be cooler than yesterday!
Mile 1 8:54
Mile 2 8:16
Mile 3 8:04
Mile 4 9:04
Mile 5 9:20
Mile 6 10:53
Mile 7 7:47 looks like this mile was short?
Mile 8 10:50
Mile 9 11:03
Mile 10 11:04
Mile 11 10:28
Mile 12 12:04
Mile 13.1 11:39
Total unofficial time: 2:09. My previous time May 1st in Lincoln was 1:49.
The event started under yellow flag conditions in the mid 70s and balmy. Shining sun and not much shade on lakeshore made for tough running. The course reminded me of the Gary Bjorklund 1/2 course in Duluth MN that is run along Lake Superior vs Lake Michigan in Chicago.
Weather aside, 13.1 chicago seemed much better organized than reports I'd heard of other 13.1 events. Packet pickup was in a local running store within walking distance of the L. Shuttle transportation to and from the start/finish went very smoothly. I just would have liked to have had the need to check warmups but it just wasn't meant to be.
When I registered for this race, I had visions of training hard in an attempt to PR on a flat fast course. Work got in the way of training, so I'm not disappointed with the warm weather. I run another half in 2 weeks. Weather in Anchorage should be cooler than yesterday!
Mile 1 8:54
Mile 2 8:16
Mile 3 8:04
Mile 4 9:04
Mile 5 9:20
Mile 6 10:53
Mile 7 7:47 looks like this mile was short?
Mile 8 10:50
Mile 9 11:03
Mile 10 11:04
Mile 11 10:28
Mile 12 12:04
Mile 13.1 11:39
Total unofficial time: 2:09. My previous time May 1st in Lincoln was 1:49.
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