I haven’t posted here in a long time, but since I successfully completed the 2015 Portland Marathon, I haven’t exactly been taking it easy.
In November, I did two races: The Firehouse 10k, which benefits Santa Clara schools and their fire department, and the “Beat the Blerch” Half Marathon in Sacramento, which is organized by Matt Inman, author/artist behind The Oatmeal webcomic strip.
After a disappointing finish at Portland, I was pretty focused on doing well at these two races. And by “focused,” I mean, I rested a lot. I wasn’t super-happy with the way my IT band locked up, so I made sure I recovered from the marathon before even thinking of doing a real race. The rule of thumb is one recovery day for every mile you race, so the Firehouse Run was perfectly timed.
I’d never run a 10k, but felt like I could break one hour. So, I was pretty happy when I crossed the finish line at 58:05. Unfortunately, they only reported “gun time,” not “chip time,” so because I started at the back of the pack, my official time is 59:39. Oh well, still got under the one-hour mark!
Here we are (me, Steve and Paulie) at the finish area at Santa Clara University.
I’ve been a fan of Matt Inman’s comics for a long time. When I found out he was a long-distance runner, I immediately bought his book, “The Terrible and Wonderful Reasons Why I Run Long Distances.” And when he started organizing his own races, complete with sheet cakes and Nutella sandwiches at rest stops instead of the usual sports gels and healthy options, I signed up for the nearest “Beat the Blerch” race, which happened to be in Sacramento. (“The Blerch” is Inman’s imaginary character that motivates him to run by trying to tempt him into being lazy and eating junk food.)
I also talked Paulie and Chris into running it with me. Here we are at the start.
Also at the start: volunteers in Blerch costumes handing out marshmallows drizzled with chocolate sauce. I had one. It was not a good idea. And I discovered that early in the race. But the upset stomach feeling passed pretty quickly — without incident.
The course was fast and flat, so I wanted to do well. But I didn’t want a repeat of the Portland Marathon, so I took it pretty easy for the first half of the race. I told myself going into it that I would only evaluate my race prospects after the halfway mark. Around Mile 7, I decided that I felt pretty good. I planned on keeping that pace until Mile 10 or so, then see how much I had left in the tank for a fast finish. Of course, nature called and I had to take a pee break, but still clocked an 11:05 mile for that split, so it probably only cost me about 30 seconds.
Long story short: I was right at my personal record, depending on how you looked at it. I didn’t get a PR according to my chip time, but I was close. I got a 2:14:48 at the Capitola Half and finished this race in 2:14:59. But both courses were a little short, so I walked a bit after I crossed the finish line to get to 13.1 miles. Looking at it that way, I was a little slower at Beat the Blerch, but the finish area was very congested.
Didn’t matter, though. I finished my “season” on a high note. And I got my finish line pic taken on one of the ugly couches they had spread around the course. Obviously, this is not a race that takes itself too seriously — and neither do I.
I also did a pair of 10ks put on by Brazen Racing. Their end-of-the-year race on the 27th and the New Year’s race on the first. These were trail races that ended up more like fast hikes with a little running here and there. I did them just to keep active — and because they have a cool, third medal for people who do both races, which connects the medals for doing each race.
So, now we’re solidly into 2016 and I’m back with Team in Training for the Seattle Rock and Roll Marathon. Wish me luck — and please help me reach my goal of raising $2,620 to fight blood cancers!