NYC Marathon & Fred's Team

Week 2 of my marathon training went really well.  The heat does get to me a bit on the long runs.  I see my heart rate spike up above what it normally is during a hard run.  When I see this, I stop and walk for about a minute until my heart rate slows a little and then I start running again.  In the end, it doesn't affect my overall pace and it keeps me from overheating.  I have 16 more weeks until race day and I want to arrive well trained but also in good health.

I have been applying to the NYC Marathon lottery drawing off and on for the past few years and never been selected.  This year I got the email I had so long dreamed about.  I was finally chosen in the lottery.  I was so excited to see that I was actually going to be able to check this marathon off of my bucket list.  I actually went to the website multiple times over the next several days to double check that it wasn't a mistake or that I was dreaming it.  Of course, each time my name appeared on the list.  I was beside myself with joy.

After a few weeks and the reality had set in, I started to think about joining a charity team.  I figured that this would be my chance to raise money for a great cause and not have to have the charity provide me an entry.  If you have followed my musings over the last several years, you know that I have raised money for cancer research for each of my Boston Marathon races.  Charities that help fund researchers who are trying to find cures for cancers is something have always supported.  I knew that the NYC Marathon had Fred's Team which raises money for Memorial Sloan Kettering and supports over 50 areas of cancer research—including bladder, brain, breast, colon, colorectal, head and neck, kidney, leukemia, liver, lung, lymphoma, melanoma, multiple myeloma, neuroblastoma, ovarian, pancreatic, prostate, testicular, rare cancers and The Aubrey Fund for Pediatric Cancer Research.

I went out to the Fred's Team website to see what it would take to join the team. As I read about the team, I knew that it was something I could really get behind.  Plus they welcomed runners with and without their own NYC Marathon entries.  Their minimum goals were either $3,500 or $6,000.  Since I knew that I have been really successful in my past fundraising efforts, I signed up for the higher level.  As I progressed through the registration, I set my personal fundraising goal at $15,000.  To date I have already raised over $10,000.  I would love to not only meet my goal but exceed it.  Here is what Fred's team is all about:

"Since 1995, Fred’s Team has raised over $65 million. The money the program raises goes directly to Memorial Sloan Kettering, which not only improves cancer research and care at MSK, but also helps spark progress at centers worldwide that look to our institution to set the standard of achievement and pace of innovation."

While I am truly looking forward to running this race, I am more excited about all the support I have received through my friends and family who have all donated to this very important cause.  We have all been touched by cancer in our lives.  We all know of or have had loved ones succumb to this disease.  We have also know survivors as well.  I know that each mile I run I will be thinking of my family and friends who lost their battles and I will be dedicating those miles to them.  At the same time, I will also think of those who won their fight and celebrate the ability to be able to share this feat with them when it is over.  Finally, I am running because I want to and I can.

If you are reading this, I would love for you to support my run.  No amount of money is too small.  You can donate by clicking on this link -

http://mskcc.convio.net/site/TR/FredsTeamEvents/FredsTeam?px=3457204&pg=personal&fr_id=2721&_ga=1.21071547.1081818874.1466208735

Thank you in advance for your support!

July 11 – 6.20 miles (52:47, 8:31 pace)
July 12 – 3.20 miles (24:58, 7:48 pace)
July 14 – 8.40 miles (1:17:19, 9:12 pace)
July 15 – 6.20 miles (54:36, 8:49 pace)
July 16 – 10.20 miles (1:36:08, 9:25 pace)
July 17 – 8.20 miles (1:16:03, 9:16 pace)

Total Miles:  42.4 miles
2016 Total Miles:  1,018.4 miles

Training for NYC Marathon - My Running Bucket List

Independence Day was the official kick off of my 2016 New York City Marathon Training.  The race is 18 weeks away.  This will the first time that I have trained for a full marathon through the peak heat of summer here in Arizona.  When I trained for the 2014 Boston Marathon, I was able to train through the Arizona winter which was much easier than I training will be for the New York City Marathon.  But I am undaunted.  I know I can do it.

I had 3 marathons on my bucket list once I ran my first marathon back in 2000 - Boston, Marine Corps and New York City.  I have since added Chicago to that list.  Each of these 3 marathons had a special meaning for me.  Boston was on the list because of the history and storied nature of the race.  And every true runner dreams of running the Boston Marathon.  I knew I would never be able to qualify for this prestigious race.  Therefore I figured I would never get the chance until I heard through a friend that you could gain an entry if you were willing to be a charity runner.  I feel blessed to have had the chance to run Boston on 3 different occasions all for the Dana Farber Cancer Institute's Marathon Challenge Team.  More importantly, I made some lifelong friends of fellow teammates who I met through the DFMC.

The Marine Corps marathon or "The People's Marathon" was on the list for 2 reasons.  First, it was because my Dad is a Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel.  He served active duty and then stayed on as a Reserve for 20+ years.  Second, because I am a Marine Corps brat born on the base at 29 Palms, CA.  "Military brat" is known in U.S. military culture as a term of endearment and respect.  I wanted the chance to run the marathon because it would allow me to run in our Nation's Capitol and be part of one of the largest marathons in the US and the world and to honor my Marine Corps roots.   The coolest part for me was that it finished at the Marine Corps Memorial, a beautiful monument.

The New York City marathon was on my list because I have heard how much fun it is to run through all 5 Boroughs.  And it’s the largest marathon in the world, with over 50,000 finishers. I have always loved visiting New York City.  Although, I don't think I could ever live there.  But I love the vibrancy of the city.  I love being able to eat at fantastic little out of the way restaurants and being able to go see shows on Broadway.  I am very lucky to get the chance to visit New York at least once every year for work.  This year I will finally get to run the marathon and cross it off my list.  Maybe I will even be able to set a PR.

My parents spent most of their childhood in Chicago.  I have been visiting the city for as long as I can remember and always enjoy my time there.  I also would like to run it because I still have family living there and will get a chance to hang out with them before and after the race.  Several years ago, I was in town for a convention and had a chance to run along the lake.  It was a beautiful run and still one of my favorite urban running trails.  In fact, just a few weeks ago I had the chance to run that route again.  It reminded me that I  should really think about running the Chicago Marathon sometime in the future.  So I have added it to my list.

Overall my first week of training went as expected.  On my longer runs, I would take a few short walk breaks to let my heart rate go down and to avoid overheating.  I am hoping that I will become more acclimated over the next several weeks and be able to run every training run without having to take any walk breaks.  Even if I do have to take breaks, I know that I am putting in the effort to allow me to toe the line in Staten Island ready to rock the race.  

Till next week, run because you can and finish because you want to.

July 4 – 6.20 miles (1:05:18, 10:32 pace) - Hill Repeats
July 5 – 6.30 miles (57:37, 9:09 pace)
July 7 – 7.50 miles (1:10:54, 9:27 pace)
July 8 – 6.20 miles (55:57, 8:50 pace)
July 9 – 10.20 miles (1:37:49, 9:35 pace)
July 10 – 8.20 miles (01:12:48, 8:53 pace)

Total Miles:  44.6 miles
2016 Total Miles:  976.0 miles

Back and Training for My Next Marathon

I must apologize to those of you who follow this blog for being absent for 2 months.  It wasn't because I didn't have any ideas to write about or anything to say.  It was simply that my life became extremely busy after the Ragnar Austin.  It is funny how that seems to happen from time to time.  I seem to remember a quote I read somewhere that said "Too busy is a myth.  People make time for the things that are really important to them."  Amen to that.

So what important things have I been busy with the last 2 months.  One, of course, is running.  I have been trying to keep my fitness base up to the level it needs to be so that I can kick off my New York City Marathon training on July 4th.  I want to make sure that I can start the hard training right away.  I am going to incorporate hill training into my normal Brooks Hanson program.  I figure it will help me on the bridges in New York City.  I have set a goal to break 4 hours in a marathon one more time.  If I train hard and the weather gods are in my favor, I think I have a good chance to achieve this goal.

While you no doubt know my passion for running, you probably are not as familiar with my second love - theater.  I started acting back in my high school productions and did a little of it while in college.  But after graduating from TCU, I focused on my career and let my love of the performing arts lie dormant.  I didn't seek out acting opportunities because I was unaware of amateur and community theater.  It is unfortunate because I would have loved to have been able to perform when I was in my 20s and 30s when I could potentially play so many more roles.  I am happy to have the chance to perform now and have had a chance to really play some fun roles over the past 7 years.

For the last 2 months, I have been rehearsing for and performing in "Moon Over Buffalo" as the lead character George Hay.  It is a very physically challenging role and one I absolutely love performing each and every time I step on stage.  It is a comedy and I get the chance to show a side of myself that I don't often get to in let loose in my daily life.  Yep, the buffoon.  The biggest compliment I have received from a friend who saw the show was "you were born after your time - between your comic timing and slapstick abilities, you would make the Three Stooges proud!" My Dad introduced me to the great classic comic actors like The Three Stooges, Laurel and Hardy, The Marx Brothers and Abbott and Costello.  I really try to emulate their timing and physicality in this role and it seems to resonate with the audience.

It is so nice to have something in my life that gives me a powerful feeling of enthusiasm.  The enthusiasm I feel about running and theater is very powerful. When I am able to have it supplement my work, it allows me to achieve true success in my life.  These passions better equip me to overcome the many obstacles that arise in my daily life.  I find that these outlets make me more inclined to work harder at improving both professionally and personally. Thus allowing me to continuously improve myself.  As I age, I find this is even more important.

I am planning to blog each week about my training for the New York City Marathon.  It will allow me to record my thoughts about training for a marathon here in the peak of summer in Arizona.  My hope is that by training in hot weather and then traveling to a cooler weather race will work to my advantage.  Obviously my body will have less work to do in cooling itself, so I think it will feel easier than my training runs. I don't know how dramatically different it will be than my hot training runs but I know that I enjoy racing in cool weather.  My best marathon in 2009 was a cool temperature day.  Maybe I will have another P.R. in the cool temperatures of New York City.  Who knows?

May 2 – 5.60 miles (59:21, 10:36 pace) - Hill Repeats
May 3 – 6.30 miles (57:40, 9:09 pace)
May 6 – 4.00 miles (42:00, 10:30 pace)
May 7 – 6.20 miles (1:00:56, 9:50 pace)
May 8 – 3.00 miles (32:00, 10:40 pace)
May 9 – 6.20 miles (1:04:02, 10:20 pace) - Hill Repeats
May 10 – 6.10 miles (57:44, 9:10 pace)
May 12 – 6.30 miles (59:07, 9:23 pace)
May 13 – 5.20 miles (45:11, 8:41 pace)
May 14 – 9.10 miles (1:22:54, 14:11 pace)
May 15 – 8.20 miles (1:17:37, 9:28 pace)
May 16 – 5.20 miles (55:25, 10:39 pace) - Hill Repeats
May 17 – 6.30 miles (57:36, 9:09 pace)
May 19 – 6.30 miles (59:03, 9:22 pace)
May 20 – 5.10 miles (43:53, 8:37 pace)
May 26 – 6.30 miles (59:03, 9:22 pace)
May 28 – 7.20 miles (1:01:58, 8:36 pace)
May 29 – 7.20 miles (1:09:01, 9:35 pace)
May 30 – 6.20 miles (01:02:41, 10:07 pace) - Hill Repeats
May 31 – 6.30 miles (59:29, 9:26 pace)
June 2 – 6.20 miles (01:00:37, 9:47 pace)
June 6 – 5.50 miles (56:21, 10:15 pace) - Hill Repeats
June 7 – 6.30 miles (57:56, 9:12 pace)
June 9 – 6.20 miles (45:12, 9:33 pace)
June 10 – 5.20 miles (45:08, 8:41 pace)
June 13 – 4.10 miles (35:50, 8:45 pace)
June 14 – 3.10 miles (23:06, 7:27 pace)
June 16 – 3.20 miles (28:15, 8:50 pace)
June 18 – 5.20 miles (47:51, 9:12 pace)
June 21 – 4.20 miles (39:39, 8:01 pace)
June 22 – 4.20 miles (35:33, 8:27 pace)
June 23 – 6.50 miles (1:01:31, 9:28 pace)
June 24 – 6.20 miles (52:55, 8:31 pace)
June 25 – 8.10 miles (1:11:57, 8:53 pace)
June 26 – 8.20 miles (1:11:57, 9:40 pace)
June 27 – 6.20 miles (1:04:01, 10:20 pace) - Hill Repeats
June 28 – 6.20 miles (57:46, 9:19 pace)
June 30 – 6.30 miles (59:04, 9:23 pace)
July 1 – 6.20 miles (55:57, 9:01 pace)
July 2 – 8.20 miles (1:20:19, 9:48 pace)
July 3 – 10.20 miles (1:39:43, 9:47 pace)

Total Miles:  248.2 miles
2016 Total Miles:  931.4 miles

Ragnar Austin 2016 Race Report

On April 12, I flew to Austin to participate in my 9th Adventure Relay race.  I was joining up with my friends who ran the American Odyssey relay last year with me.  We were all really excited to be getting back together for our second race.  Everyone was going to arrive on Thursday the 13th and then we would drive out to Fredericksburg where the start of the race was going to be.  Little did I know what an adventure just getting the team together would be.

On Thursday morning, the first few team members arrived on time.  I headed over to the airport to pick up our vans and the first half of the team.  While we were on our way, we got a text from Leslie telling us that Carrie (who was supposed to be on their flight) wasn't on the plane.  Yes.  She missed the flight from Atlanta.  At the same time, Darren found out that his bag was missing.  So he would be hanging around the airport in hopes that it would come in on the next flight.  With all that information, we decided to leave Jason with one of the vans and the rest of us would go to Sara's house to wait for the rest of the team to arrive.

At around 4 pm, we got word that they had given up on Darren's bag and that Carrie was on her way but probably wouldn't make it until late.  We decided to all head up to Fredericksburg to check into our hotel.  We figured Carrie could rent a car and drive out to meet us once she arrived in Austin.  We packed up and headed out.

Once we all got checked into the Fredericksburg Inn, we headed over to the Auslander Beirgarten and Restaurant.  The Ausländer has been one of Fredericksburg's most popular eating establishments for over twenty years. It was just a short walk from our hotel in the heart of historic downtown Fredericksburg.  They serve authentic German cuisine and have a great beer list.  We had a great time and drank a lot of beer before heading back to the hotel to try and get some rest before the race.

Carrie finally made it to the hotel shortly after we got back from dinner.  She had met a nice woman on the flight who offered to drive her to Fredericksburg.  She didn't ask Carrie for any money at all.  Plus she lived in San Antonio meaning she had driven at least 2 hours out of her way to drop Carrie off.  All she asked was that Carrie pay it forward sometime in the future.  It is really nice to know that there are still good people out there willing to help another human being when they need it.

We got up early the next morning to head over to the starting line at the Gillespie County Fairgrounds.  We got Van 1 all checked in and through their safety briefing.  Then we hung around waiting for our 8:30 am start time.  While we hung out, we chatted with other teams and even held a lip sync performance at the starting line to Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'".  The Ragnar people loved it.  So did we!

Finally at 8:30, the gun went off and Darren, our first runner, headed out.  Since we were in Van 2, we headed to breakfast.  We found a nice little cafe in Fredericksburg called the Sunset Grill.  I ordered the "Big Ass Sandwich" which had eggs, cheese, bacon, avocado, etc.  And they weren't kidding.  It was huge.  Good thing I had some time to digest before my first run.  

Once we finished, we headed over to Altgelt Field in Comfort, TX where we checked in and did our safety briefing.  The field was near the historic little downtown.  We learned that Comfort was established in 1854 by German immigrants moving further west from New Braunfels. Apparently, they rested here and were so taken with the place, that they didn't see any need to travel further.  Nearly the entire downtown is on the National Register of Historic Places.  Most of the buildings are made of rock and remain in an excellent state of preservation. The 1880 Ingenhuett-Faust Hotel is one of the buildings and the 1930 Comfort Theater (originally financed through public subscription) is another.

After waiting for a while and relaxing, Sara finally came in to hand off to Vanessa who had to run the longest leg of the race.  It was after 2 pm and the Texas heat was in full force.  There was no shade either.  She headed out and ran an excellent leg.  The only thing was that Ragnar had said there would be water at mile 8.  But when she got there, it was nowhere to be found.  Apparently, they couldn't get a permit to put it there and moved it over a mile further.  Vanessa had finished her water thinking she had an oasis and was not happy when it wasn't there.  She handed off to Brian and we were on our way.

My first leg was Leg 11.  It was a short 2.7 miles.  I did not get the hand off until about 5:30 pm and it was  a hot 79 degrees.  But I wanted to run hard and get it over with.  I knew I could do it because I train throughout the summer here in Phoenix.  I took the handoff and headed out.  The route took me through a section of Boerne, TX crossing under a freeway.  I had to wait to cross a major street and run under a freeway overpass before heading up the hill to the exchange.  I pushed myself hard and came in at 21:55 and 8:07 pace.  I was tired but happy with my time.

Our last runner, Jason, had a tough leg in the heat.  But he rocked it and we were finished with our first set of legs at 6:15 pm.  The strange thing about this exchange is that it was virtual which I don't like because we didn't get to see the other van.   When we arrived at Exchange 12 at the San Antonio Rose Palace, Van 1 was  waiting to begin their legs at University United Methodist Church. Basically, the Ragnar Staff and volunteers radioed Van 1 to tell them they could start.  They said they would make a time adjustment if it was needed.  We texted Van 1 to make sure they were off before heading to dinner.

We didn't have much time to wait.  Van 1 texted us around 10:30 pm that their last runner was on the road.  We had only got in a little sleep.  But that is part of the challenge of these races...running on almost no sleep.  Leslie got out of the van to get ready.  This was going to be a very strange leg and exchange.  For some reason, Ragnar decided that between Legs 19-20, there would be a flexible exchange.  We were told to pick our own exchange point along Smithson Valley Road.  This meant that the first runner would run a minimum of 7.2 miles.  Depending on the exchange, the next runner would run a minimum of 8.5 miles.  The problem was that they didn't give us any information about where there might be a safe place to exchange.

So, we headed out and measured the distance on the odometer until we reached 7.2 miles from the exchange.  We pulled over to the side of the road and got out to watch for Leslie.  In the mean time, we pulled out our Bluetooth speakers and cranked up the tunes.  Brian and I took out our reflective safety flags and vests and were dancing to the music on the side of the road encouraging the other runners as they went by us.  Finally we saw Leslie and she handed off to Greg for his leg.  As we headed to the next exchange, we passed a parking area with signs saying exchange.  Nice job, Ragnar!

My second leg was going to be my longest.  It was leg 21 and would be almost 10 miles of rolling hills.  In addition, the beginning of the leg would be on the shoulder of a major road.  I would have to pay close attention to stay safe.  Greg came in at 1:00 am and handed off to me.  Off I went.  I wanted to try and kill this leg.  It had cooled down to 64 degrees and I love night running.  I ended up passing 16 people and came into the exchange 1:24:33 which was an 8:29 pace.  It was even better than I expected and it didn't even seem too hard.  Needless to say I was thrilled.

We wrapped up our second set of legs at 3:54 am.  We wanted to try and get some sleep before we would have to run our final legs of the race.  So we headed to Lehman High School where we would meet Van 1 when they were done.  We were able to find a quiet spot to get in at least a power nap.  This was going to be a race where none of us got much sleep at all - at least in Van 2.  I was right because at 8:15 am we got a text from Van 1 telling us that their last runner was on the road.  We got up and out of the van to get ready to start the final 6 legs of the race.

Brian took the handoff at 9:15 am and headed out for his 5.4 mile run.  The good news was that it was overcast and threatening to rain.  The bad news was that the humidity level was 91%.  We all kept hoping that it would rain because we thought it might help to cool the temperatures off a bit.  Regardless, we knew we had to finish.  So we got into the van and headed over to the exchange area so I could get in a little stretching and prep for my final run of 5 miles.

Brain came in right after 10:00 am.  As he came in, he told me to get ready for the handoff.  As he got closer, I knew he was going to jump on me.  All I could think of was to catch him and hope that I didn't fall over.  He jumped up and I caught him midair and was able to stay vertical.  After a big sweaty hug from him, I took off on my final leg.  Although I wanted to run this last leg fast, I knew coming from Phoenix that this leg would be harder than normal due to the high humidity and 70 degree temperature.

The route was basically flat which helped.  I completed the first mile at an 8:02 pace.  I knew I had started off too fast.  I slowed it down to an 8:30 pace and held that through the second mile.  But as I continued, I could feel the heat start to take its toll.  My pace started to slow to closer to a 9 minute pace.  I was getting frustrated but kept pushing as hard as I could.  The humidity was oppressive and I was sweating profusely.  When I made the final turn, I pushed it hard to the exchange coming in at 43:43 which was an 8:47 per mile pace.  Not bad considering how I felt.  

Due to permitting regulations in the City of Austin required the route to be completely on sidewalks therefore I was not able to just hand off to Jason.  Instead, I had to jump into the van and drive from Exchange 32 A at Tom Green Elementary School to Exchange 32 B at Akins High School where Jason started his final leg.  Ragnar did  deduct 15 minutes from every team for travel time from Ex 32 A to Ex 32 B.  Unfortunately for us, the traffic was dense and we missed the turn. It took us closer to 30 minutes to get to the high school.  Not a great way to have an exchange.

Our last 3 runners had to run through probably the worst section of Austin.  I am not sure why Ragnar chose this route.  But we felt that Leg 34 was somewhat dangerous for Vanessa.  Being a female running through a very sketchy part of town was not ideal.  We stopped about half way through the leg just to ensure her safety.  As I reflect on the overall route, I think that Ragnar would be better off starting the race on the west side of Austin out near Bee Caves and have it finish in San Antonio at Hemisfair.  Austin is just too tough to permit apparently and I don't think this course really showed off the beauty of Austin.

Our final runner Leslie started out at 12:51 pm on the last 2.9 miles of the course.  We boogied to the finish line at Rodeo Austin.  The history of preserving western heritage began here in 1938. Over the years, Rodeo Austin has grown from a stock show featuring 16 animals into one of Austin’s premier event areas, featuring a top 10 ProRodeo, daily concerts, and world class livestock shows.  As we arrived, it finally started to rain.  It wasn't heavy, though.  We all gathered to create a tunnel for Leslie to run through and then followed her across the finish line.  

We had run 177.9 miles across the Texas Hill Country.  When the results were posted, we had finished in  29:00:19 which was 72nd out of 191 teams and a 9:47 per mile pace.  For some reason they had us in the Men's Open Division where we finished 22nd out of 50 teams.  If they had had us in the correct Mixed Division, we would have in finished 23rd out of 50 teams.  Overall, the team was really happy with our personal and team performance.  I ended up running a total of 17.65 miles at an average pace of 8:31 per mile which is one of my fastest performances in these types of relays.  There was a lot left to be desired with regard to the course, the volunteers, planning and execution of the race by Ragnar.  Chalk it up to it being Ragnar's first time running this type of race in Texas.  Regardless, our team had a lot of fun and laughs along the way.

Our next adventure will be in Kentucky this October when we run in the Kentucky Bourbon Chase Relay.  "The Bourbon Chase celebrates the best of Kentucky. It is a 200-mile journey across the Bluegrass State – through their historic bourbon distilleries, across their majestic horse country, and into their enchanting small towns."  It finishes in downtown Lexington.  We know it will be a hilly and challenging race.  But I know that "We Run for the Hill of It" will be ready to run and ultimately have fun doing it.

Apr 11 – 4.10 miles (35:48, 8:44 pace) 

Apr 12 – 6.20 miles (59:03, 9:31 pace) 

Apr 14 – 2.70 miles (21:55, 8:07 pace) - Ragnar Austin

Apr 15 – 10.00 miles (1:24:33, 8:29 pace) - Ragnar Austin

Apr 15 – 5.00 miles (43:43, 8:47 pace) - Ragnar Austin

Apr 17 – 4.10 miles (35:04, 8:33 pace) 

Apr 19 – 6.20 miles (57:01, 9:03 pace) 

Apr 21 – 6.20 miles (59:12, 9:33 pace) 

Apr 22 – 4.10 miles (35:26, 8:39 pace) 

Apr 23 – 7.30 miles (1:43:28, 14:11 pace) 

Apr 24 – 7.20 miles (1:08:22, 9:30 pace) 

Apr 25 – 5.50 miles (56:46, 10:19 pace) - Hill Repeats

Apr 26 – 6.30 miles (55:48, 8:51 pace) 

Apr 28 – 6.30 miles (57:06, 9:04 pace) 

Apr 29 – 5.20 miles (45:12, 8:42 pace) 

Apr 30 – 8.10 miles (1:10:49, 8:44 pace)

May 1 – 9.20 miles (1:25:36, 9:18 pace)

Total Miles:  110.9 miles 

2016 Total Miles:  683.2 miles