Watt's Running

It’s not often I can set a PR especially these past three years, but today I did. My previous 20 miler was a disaster (ARA 20 Miler where I walked for several miles), so there was no place else to go but up. I completed the race in 3:02:20 for 9:07/M.

Mile 01 - I don't remember seeing a Mile 1 marker, I don't think there was oneMile 02 - 20:09.81 - 0:20:09.81Mile 03 - 09:22.00 - 0:29:31.81Mile 04 - 09:34.15 - 0:39:05.96Mile 05 - 09:19.47 - 0:48:25.43Mile 06 - 09:27.40 - 0:57:52.83Mile 07 - 08:49.10 - 1:06:41Mile 08 - 08:43.13 - 1:15.25Mile 09 - 09:05.97 - 1:24.31Mile 10 - 10:29.87 - 1:34.59 (this seems to be out-of-wack)Mile 11 - 08:23.29 - 1:43.23Mile 12 - 08:39.84 - 1:52.03Mile 13 - 08:50.39 - 2:00.53Mile 14 - 08:29.23 - 2:09.22Mile 15 - 09:10.38 - 2:18.33Mile 16 - 08:38.49 - 2:27.11Mile 17 - 08:30.00 - 2:35.41Mile 18 - 08:46.02 - 2:44.27Mile 19 - Missed marker again?Mile 20 - 17:54.86 - 3:02:20

I ran the Decker half marathon today, and about 1/3 of the way through it someone on a bike across the road yelled “Hi Mr. Watt”. Since I was totally out of it I said my obligatory “Hi” and continued on while wondering who the heck that was. A few minutes later Paul F. and a friend on their bikes caught up to me and asked me how I was doing. Still being out of it I assumed that Paul was part of the support staff typically made up of EMTs and was asking how I was because I LOOKED LIKE I WAS GOING TO COLLAPSE. I told him I was doing OK, and needed to get a gel packet shortly, which I did. He mentioned that he was here because Heather, his girlfriend, was running the race. Then he rode on. Well that still didn’t sink in right away. For the next few miles he kept riding around where I was running. I kept thinking that if he was still support staff (just who else would be there and not running) that he should probably stay in the same section of the race. Gosh, I’m slow witted when I run. Finally, yes finally, I realized that he was riding about 50 feet in front of me and I recognized Heather as a runner next to him. Then it all fit. He was riding his bike while Heather was running the race. With about 2 miles to go I caught up to them and said a simple hello and continued on. She was running with a friend as Paul was riding with her friend. At the end we finished only a few minutes apart. So I apologize to them for my being a total dunce, and it was nice to see them out there. I finished in 1:57:48 or 9:00/M.

 Mile  Time    Total  01 08:09.26 0:08:09.26  02 09:12.97 0:17:22.23  03 08:32.25 0:25:54.48  04 08:33.45 0:34:28.45  05 08:47.00 0:43:15.45  06 09:04.50 0:52:19.95  07 09:06.14 1:01:26  08 09:13.60 1:10:39  09 09:39.51 1:20:19  10 10:00.00 1:30:19  11 09:29.22 1:39:48  12 08:42.87 1:48:31  13 08:34.62 1:57:07  HM 00:43.29 1:57:49

Matthew and I got up early at 6 AM. We left the house at 6:36. After driving around the block we parked in the IBM parking garage at about 6:50. After a short 1 mile warm-up I visited the bushes and Matthew stretched. We were ready to go. While waiting in the corral I introduced Matthew to some of my running class buddies, Terry, Richard and Kent. Then we were off at 8 AM. The miles went by and I listened to Matthew’s breathing beside me. We had planned to do between 10:00-10:30/mile. We ran though the center of the Domain mall, and all through the IBM site. Although the course seemed relatively flat it subtly rose and fell over the 6.2 miles. Near the end we began to speed up and as we rounded the last curve we could see the finish line in the distance we hustled it. We crossed the finish line in 1:00:45 (my chip time, yesterday night Matthew realized he had left his timing chip back at his home in Bastrop). That’s 9:46/mile – excellent. Plugging that in to the McMillan Running Calculator it said he’d do a 4:45 marathon. Afterwards I learned that Matthew had silently gotten a blister and his head was aching, but we did it. We completed the first race of the Austin 2009 racing season.

I ran the Austin American Statesman Capital 10K in 56:11 today. It was overcast and began to rain lightly part way through. Overall I was happy to have completed it in under 1 hour.

Glenn was gone almost immediately. Chris stayed with us a few miles, but he too left us. I started and ran with Celeste and Jay for over half the race. I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy race. By mile 13 I was having my doubts, and by 16 I was struggling. I would walk and run as needed. I tried to chase the 4:30 group, but finally had to ask myself why I was doing this and I couldn’t think of a reasonable answer. Finally I had to walk around mile 20 for a few miles. Celeste and Jay passed me and then they went off ahead of me. While walking I met and talked to a nice runner named Joe who was about my age and was having the same doubts about running marathons. After a mile or so we said our goodbyes and he started to slowly run again, and I watched him go off into the distance. I was alone again. I kept walking. There were many other runners walking too – zombies. I was way way at the back of the pack. The 4:45 group passed me. Then after a bit I forced myself to run (it was probably around mile 23) and I finished the race in 4:48:29. I got my medal, finisher’s shirt and Austin Distance Challenge jacket. All of which I am very proud to have. This was the longest time for me to run a marathon. Even my first one took less time (4:24). I knew ahead of time that today was going to be a tough one. I tried so hard to keep in control and pace myself. But in the end it had nothing to do with pace. I just got so sore and stiff as I always do and just had to walk. It was not easy to start running again, but I pushed myself. In my humble opinion this is the last marathon I will run in my life. It is just too hard on my body and me. I’ve not been able to handle the stress and it’s no longer any fun. I’ve not been able to solve this soreness and stiffness that now always happens to me. So I am officially announcing my retirement from being a marathoner after having completed six of them. I might consider a half marathon, but a full marathon will never again be an option. However I will always remember these times. I will look at the medals and pictures and remember the sweet feeling of accomplishment they represent. Yet I will continue to be a runner. My body and mind aches to have to say this, but I must. Adieu sweet friends and running buddies. May I run with you around my neighborhood or on the Town Lake trail, but otherwise I wish you the best to all who continue to do this brutal test of strength and spirit that is the marathon. Sincerely, Bri
Update: A photograph of my running buddies for 2008

L to R: Glenn K., Jay N, me, Celeste D., and Chris L.

Great weather. Great run. Finished in 1:49:55 (8:23/M pace). Near the end of the race (that is during the last two miles) I felt I could break 1:50 if I kept pushing, so I did, and I did. WOOHOO! I feel quite satisfied with this accomplishment today. The only negative is that I did it alone. Instead I would have liked to have done it with one or more of my running buddies.

Mile Split   Total 01 9:14.48 0:09:14.48 02 8:31.36 0:17:45.84 03 8:09.00 0:25:54.84 04 8:08.40 0:34:03.24 05 7:34.22 0:41:37.46 06 8:44.38 0:50:21.84 07 8:33.00 0:58:54.84 08 8:04.85 1:06:59 09 8:50.37 1:15:50 10 8:40.19 1:24:30 11 8:20.09 1:32:50 12 8:14.72 1:41:05 13 8:01.50 1:49:06 HM 0:49.38 1:49:55

Update: If I were to run the marathon based upon this the McMillan Calculator says I’d complete it in 3:51:49 (8:51/M). Yeah, right, no way!

For 18.6 miles you too can get one of these.

WOOHOO! I like medals. I like shiny medals. WOOHOO!

Today Chris L. and I ran the ARA 30K together. This is the fourth race in the Austin Distance Challenge. The weather was great (overcast and in the low 60s). Since this was a very hilly race we had decided beforehand to do it slow and steady – and we did. We had been warned that this course could hurt us. So we felt no remorse walking the hills at the beginning and at the end. See the elevation map at the bottom.

The middle of the course (miles 6-15) was quite nice and the scenery was good (consisting of hills, scrub brush, and multi million dollar homes). Also because we were going slow enough we could even look at the scenery and enjoy it. Chris and I stuck together and chatted through the entire thing. At times we also ran with another running buddy of mine, Ed C. Ed was “slum”ing by running with us since he’s running the Houston Marathon next week for a 3:30 time. He said he wanted to run with someone slow so he chose us. Ugh! I know we’re slow, but he didn’t need to tell us that. In any case we finished together comfortably in about 3:32. Overall the course was hard if you were racing, but for those of us at the very back of the pack going slowly I think it was a good run and not as foreboding as previously warned. So we survived – quite well as a matter of fact.

Update: Here are the splits
Mile – Time
01 – 10:49
02 – 10:55
03 – 10:48
04 – 10:38
05 – 10:32
06 – 11:24
07 – 10:43
08 – 10:14
09 – 11:14
10 – 09:59
11 – 10:59
12 – 11:08
13 – 10:45
14 – 11:08
15 – 10:57
16 – 13:21
17 – 12:48
18 – 15:46
30K- 07:26

Well, I took off yesterday to rest my left knee. In the afternoon I helped Matthew and Beth purchase a couch and love seat at IKEA. Katie and they did all the heavy lifting. I could still feel my knee when I went to bed. Today I woke at 5 AM, and left the house at 6 AM. It only took about 20 minutes to get to the Travis County Exposition Center. Once there I just rested in the car. No warm-up. I wasn’t going to chance it. After listening to a podcast for about an hour I found my friends (actually they found me), and we waited for the start at 8 AM. Afterwards they were ahead of me. I felt bad because I couldn’t keep up with them. Running carefully I was worried that the knee would stiffen up. I was compensating trying to not stress my left side, but soon I felt that my right side was tightening up. So I just tried to run slow, steady, and evenly. After a while the tightness went away. I knew left knee was there, but it was not painful which was a relief. Soon I caught up to Celeste around mile 5, and on the first big hill she began to walk and I went on ahead. Then I caught up to Glenn shortly afterwards. He had a tough night and wasn’t feeling well. His stomach was upset. Together we passed Chris at a water stop at mile 6. Then slowly Glenn fell behind and I went on by myself. The miles passed and so did the big hills. On the final few miles on flats I just kept going. When we got back to the Expo I was really starting to breathe hard. On the last few tenths of a mile I looked down at my watch it said 1:59:07. I could see the finish. So I pushed as hard as I could and finished in 1:59:37. I was totally spent.

 Mile  Time    Total  01 09:45.75 0:09:45.75  02 09:35.41 0:19:21.16  03 09:30.25 0:28:51.41  04 09:40.75 0:38:32.16  05 10:14.09 0:48:46.25  06 10:11.64 0:58:57.89  07 10:15.24 1:09:13  08 09:50.72 1:19:03  09 09:11.55 1:28:15  10 09:40.73 1:37:56  11 09:05.51 1:47:01  12 08:45.01 1:55:46 20K 03:52.95 1:59:39

Chris we missed ya today somehow. Glenn said he saw you before the race heading to the potties and we looked for you from the very back of the pack, but didn’t see or find ya. Did you see any of us during the race? [Sometime near the end I'm so focused on just getting it over with I could have run by anything or anyone without knowing it] Celeste, Glenn and I started together and stuck together until about mile 6. We were doing about 10/mile. And then at 6 (heading up the last Scenic hill) Glenn drifted on ahead and we lost sight of him. Then at 7 and back on flat Lake Austin Blvd Celeste said it would be OK for me to “get back to the barn” so I ran ahead. I was happy to see Steve Sission and Ruth England cheering us on at the Mopac overpass, but still no Glenn. Then finally at 9.5 I caught up to Glenn. Overall the weather was good, and the company was great and for that I am very thankful because all my running buddies made the 10 miles seem so much shorter. Now we’ve now got to set our sights on the six (or is it seven) big, very big, rolling hills of Decker on the 2nd. See ya…

Chris: 1:37:57.8
Celeste: 1:39:41.2
Brian: 1:34:43.9
Glenn: 1:35:05 (no chip, his watch)

Mile – Time
01 – 10:05.94
02 – 09:46.00
03 – 10:12.50
04 – 10:01.00
05 – 09:41.65
06 – 10:18.84
07 – 09:52.14
08 – 08:19.01
09 – 08:04.83
10 – 08:22.00

Finished in 53:48 with 8:39 pace.
 Mile 1 – 9:17.28
 Mile 2 – missed
 Mile 3 – missed
 Mile 4 – 25:33.33, avg 8:31.11
 Mile 5 – missed
 Mile 6 – 17:30.25, avg 8:45.13
 10K – 52:48