Skaters, Door County, Paul, 20 Miles, etc.

This morning I attended the World Sprint Speed Skating Championships . . . sort of. I went to the Pettit Center to run my 20 miler this morning at it just happen to be the first day of the International Event. The announcer mentioned all the countries where participants were from and I remember hearing Canada, Italy, Finland, Norway, Germany, Netherlands, England, Russia and of course, the USA. Masters would consist of skaters over 40 years old.

While they skated, I ran lap after lap after . . . 73 total laps. I stayed slow most of the time with miles in the lower to mid 9:00's. After 15 miles, my legs were getting quite tired. I am not sure if it was from the great tempo run I had this week or if it was still from the marathon 2 weeks ago. I knew I was close to finishing so I kept p the spirits and trudged along. With about 10 laps to go, I found myself running the same pace as another guy so I caught up to him and started a conversation. Greg is training for Boston and is a former track coach so we had a nice chat for about 20 or so minutes.

I finished, I was tired, my legs were spent so I went home, took a shower and then took the car in for regular maintenance at Firestone. The girls and I also watched the movie "Up" tonight. We had not seen it. It was cute and good. A little sad at times but I would recommend as a good rental.

I posted a few days ago about a gentleman named Paul who is 86 years old and has run 100+ marathons, ran the Icebreaker Indoor Marathon, and also lives in my city. Little did I know I had more in common with him that I knew. Turns out Paul and I are members of the same church. Our church is not a small church so I did not recognize him during the race. But then again, when I am in church, I don't look around and ask myself "Is that 86 year old guy a marathon runner?" I will definitely look for him in the future and introduce myself to him. I wonder if he attends the same service I do?

Here is another bit of interesting things to me. I mentioned before I use Site Meter to see how many people go to this blog site and I can see where the come from. It is very interesting to see where everyone comes from and how the found me. Well, this past Thursday was the highest amount of people to come to my site and read. I checked the tab "By Referrals" and saw that a bunch of them came from an email site. I know I did not send my site address out to anyone so I wondered who did? after a little searching it turns out that my site was linked to a mass email sent out about the Door County Half Marathon. I ran the race last year in early May and posted my race report here. I guess they liked what I had to say (I did like the race) so they linked it saying "One Runner's In-depth 2009 Race Report - One 2009 runner posted a blog with a detailed report about his training for the race and his Door County Half Marathon Experience." I had no idea they were going to do this but it is pretty cool though.

I ran a total of 35.3 miles this week with 20 today so I am going to take tomorrow off and look for Paul at Church. It is only 4 weeks from my next adventure in the state of Georgia. I have 1 more long run planned for next weekend.

Happy Running!

What Does It Take To Run A 9

If you look to the right side of my blog, you will see that I have a Runner's World Running Totals. It gives weekly, Monthly, Yearly, and Total distances that I have run since January 1, 2009. I have a log on Runner's World dot com that I log all my runs and it totals in all up for me. On the log, I can rate my workout on a scale of 1 to 10 for effort and quality. It is rare for me to rate my runs above an 8. Well, today I gave myself a a 9 for both effort and quality.

Mike joined me for 2 loops after work on our 2 mile route. We were going to do a tempo run, at least it would be tempo for me, just a slightly faster run for Mike. I did not wear the garmin as I did not want to wait outside in the cold for it to synch up with the satellites in the 24F temperatures. It can take a few minutes sometimes.

I knew were were running pretty good on the first loop and after 1 mile, Mike thought we were at about 7:30 pace. The roads were pretty clear so there wasn't much snow to contend with so a fast pace was safe and we took full advantage of it. After 1 loop (2 miles), I wanted to pick it up some but didn't know if I had it in me for 2 more miles at that pace. Mike was ahead of me by about 15 meters at 1 lap and I tried to catch up to him but he inched away little by little. Not too much though as after 2 laps, he was only maybe 30 meters ahead.

I was spent pretty much after the run and that is why I rated the effort a 9. And my average pace for the 4 miles was 7:05! That is why I rated the quality a 9. If i was under 7:00, I may have given myself a 10 but feel it takes quite a great run to get a 10.

I am back to the long runs this weekend. I am planning on 20 miles at Pettit with Paul (my friend, not the 86 y/o). On Saturday it will only be 4 weeks until the Snickers Marathon Energy Bar Marathon in Albany, Georgia. So far it looks like Mike will be joining me down in the Peach State and quite possibly Paul as well. That will be pretty cool if they can make it. I will let you in on my goals and plans soon.

Meet Paul Gionfriddo, 86 Years Young

I may have been a slacker this past weekend by no running at all but I haven't been a complete slacker since the Icebreaker. On Friday, after work, I was able to get in 6 miles and felt surprisingly well. I ended up averaging about 8:05 pace and didn't feel the marathon still in my legs at all. Then today, Mike and I went 5 miles and I did feel the marathon in my legs. I think I averaged close to 8:45 pace tonight. It was good though.

I do now want to introduce you to one amazing marathon runner. His name is Paul Gionfriddo.

Paul is a young 86 years old and ran this year's Icebreaker Marathon. He ran last year's Icebreaker as well. So far Paul has run 105 (I think) marathons total so far. The crazy thing is that he didn't start running until he was 68 years old! He was just featured on one of our local TV News stations. I had a chance to talk to Paul for a short bit during the marathon. Every time I passed him, I gave him encouragement and sometimes a high 5. He was always courteous and very kind to all the runners. After I was done and was picking up my stuff, there Paul was trudging along now at a half the time running, half the time walking. I was able to walk with Paul for a bit and just chit chat with him. Turns out Paul lives in the same city as I do and only about 5 miles down the road.

The Icebreaker officially ended when the clock hit 6 hours and at that time, there was only 1 more runner still on the track. Paul. But something that the race director, Chris Ponteri, does, is that he does not let anyone behind. Chris stayed there and encouraged Paul the entire way. When the official timers and lap counting equipment was taken down, Chris became Paul's official lap counter. The running track was now open to other runners but Paul kept moving. I really wish I would have stayed to see this but on his final lap, Chris was able to get some of the walkers and runners to give Paul a big hand and applause as he finished. Paul is not listed in the official results but as far as the Icebreaker is concerned, he is an official finisher.

Paul is a pretty cool guy and I hope to be able to be running when I am 86 years young. He is a true inspiration to me as well as a lot of other runners in the area.

Congratulations Paul!

Thoughts on the Icebreaker and a few Photos

My last 2 posts were about my races during the Icebreaker Marathon and Half Marathon. I detailed how I did and how I felt during the races. Now I would like to tell all of you what it was like to run the race and other perceptions I had of the entire event.

To start, the package pick up was extremely easy. I arrived less than 1 hour before each race to get my timing chip and packet. There was maybe 2 people in line and many at the packet pick up table to help. After that, there was a room upstairs with windows looking over the track to stay and relax before the race.

I know a lot of you are thinking that running either 47 laps (Half Marathon) or 95 laps (Full Marathon) must be extremely boring. I know this because even my friends I run with think this when they haven't ever run there. I did not hear one person who thought that during the race and the posts on Marathon Guide say the same. Others have said that they thought it would be crowded on the track. Again, not the case. Each race had a little over 100 runners and with them all spread around the track, it was quite smooth. There was a rule to run in the outside lane unless passing and most everyone followed this making the race go very smoothly. In fact, the ONLY time I ever had to say "Track" to get someone to pull over was on my final lap of the Full Marathon when i was sprinting pretty fast.

The announcer was great! In both races, I was announced as a runner of note being the Race Director of the WELS Kid's Marathon. Paul was mentioned because he ran a marathon only 1 week earlier and many others were named for other various reasons that were fun to hear. I will talk to Chris, the race director, and suggest that people could mention something on the entry form and the announcer could mention that at some point during the race. I would think most people would like to hear their name during the race. In fact, most everyone did hear their name as the announced when each runner was on their last lap and then congratulated them after finishing. I hope they get the same announcer for next year. He did a great job.

I know some of you also like to run with headphones. In this race they were not allowed for good reason. The rack is only 2 lanes wide so being able to hear other runners was very important. Besides, when registering for the race, they asked for 3 songs you wanted to hear during the race and then they played them at some point. This year they even turned up the volume as last year it was too soft.

Another thing that was unique to this race is that you could watch the entire race unfold in front of your own eyes. The announcer kept everyone informed on how the leaders were doing. How often do you get to see the winners of the race when you are running in the same race? Well, unless you are the winner or just behind them, you can't. But here you could see leads forming or shrinking. Passing and changing of leaders and even some of the problems the leaders encounter. My friend Dana was leading the race by 2 laps at about the 21 mile mark until he had to pull off and drop out because of an ankle tendon injury. I saw him on the side of the track stretching it before he dropped out which caused me concern as I was pulling for him to win, but in a regular marathon, I never would have seen any of that.

Do you have family or friends that like to watch you run marathons? There is no better place than at the Icebreaker. With 95 laps of running, they can just sit in the bleachers and cheer you on every lap and even give you high 5's. No need to drive ahead and wait until you come by not knowing how long it really would be. The only thing you need to be aware of is that you should bring a jacket if you plan on cheering, it is dry and cold in there, about 45 to 50F. But they were selling hot coffee! And you could go upstairs to the "Hall of Fame" room where is was warmer and watch through the windows.

Water stops? How about 95 of them with them handing you your own person bottle. Also they were very friendly and enthusiastic. Bathrooms? 190 portolets along the course. You never go more that 220 meters before the next one! Don't want to carry your Gels or want to start with a warmer shirt before you take it off? Each runner has a personal bag drop area that is no more than 15 feet from the track.

In case you can't tell, I love this race and plan on doing it again and again. But not everything is good. The track is about a 1/4 inch of hard rubber on top of cement. Not very forgiving at all. But proceeds of this race are collecting to purchase a new running track for the Pettit Center. I am not sure how many years that will take though. The medal is only marginal as well. I can't complain too much though because they get it from the same place I get the Kid's Marathon medals from.

There was a group in the Marathon Relay from Fit Milwaukee that put a video on YouTube so if you would like to see a little of what the race was like, just visit there.

Here is Paul and I only 30 meters into the Full Marathon. Wonder what I am looking at on the ground?

Here I am somewhere in the first 10 laps of the full.

Chris running in the first Half Marathon.

Dana looking smooth before his ankle injury.

Paul running well in the Half Marathon. You have to love the girl's ponytail mid-air behind Paul. She is a local news TV Sportscaster. The girl next to her is running across the country starting in March in San Fransisco all the way to New York raising funds for MS.

I am going to try to post 1 more time about one special runner in the race.

Race Report #2 - Icebreaker Indoor Full Marathon

I finished the Gold Medal Challenge of the Icebreaker Indoor Marathon and Half Marathon here in Milwaukee at the Pettit National Ice Center. The good news is just that, I finished, the bad news is...well...not too much. I did not meet my main goal but did achieve some minor goals. I finished the full marathon today in 4:23:48 good for 55th place overall. Combine that with the 1:54:53 I ran yesterday in the half marathon, I ran the 39.3 miles in 6:18:41. This earned me 19th place overall in the Gold Medal Challenge out of 35 Gold Medal Finishers. The one goal, besides finishing, that I did achieve, was that I beat my time from last year in the full marathon by a mere 21 seconds and last year I did not run a half the day before.

The day started at 6:00 AM and did the usual before the race, same as yesterday. This time, though, my legs were already tight and sore before I even left the house. My hope was that they would loosen up once I arrived or after a few laps of running. I did not loosen up during the pre-race time and hoped for better results during the race. I decided, as planned, to go out a bit slower and I did just that. My first 20 laps were all between 2:33 and 2:39 which equated to a 9:20 to 9:40 pace. It was about at this time I knew that I could be in trouble if I kept this up as the legs were very tired and still tight.

My other plan was to take my usual 30 second walk breaks every 10 laps (~2.75 miles). My plan was to do this through 70 laps and then possibly change that to a break every 5 laps for the last 26 laps. I know from experience that if I take an "unscheduled walk break" that this spells doom for me and I might as well let the crash and burn commence. So far I kept to the plan.

Since I was still tired, I backed off the pace a little to the lower 2:40's. I kept this for quite a lot of laps and I went through the half in about 2:06:30ish. By lap 50 or so, I slowed down slightly to about 2:50 per lap. I was getting quite tired but still kept to the plan but now that plan had changed some to avoid the complete meltdown and try to keep running. By lap 70 or so, I has slowed down some more to the upper 2:50's and some laps in the low 3:00 minute range. 3:00 per lap equates to a pace of 10:55 per mile and I really didn't want it to get much slower if possible.

It was at this time that my girls showed up to watch me the rest of the way. This was the first time they saw Daddy run a marathon. It was great to get high 5's from theme EVERY lap the rest of the way and from some of their Teddy Bears as well. But just after they showed up, I had the defining moment of the race for me. On lap 74, my legs said, "that is it, I need a break", but I concentrated a lot and said "no, I will not stop to walk some" and kept moving knowing that if I stopped, it would be curtains for me. It was a very hard lap for me to bear but I was so glad to get over it and keep going. I had another problem suddenly when I started noticing a little problem with my vision that I know means I am getting dehydrated. I listened and picked up my water bottle that lap, kept running, but got some more water in me.

Lap 80 came and I took my scheduled break and took an extra packet of salt to hold off any cramps that may be forming. I now knew that I only had 5 laps until the next break but I did stop where my girls were and got a quick salt kiss on the cheek from each of them before I kept going. Lap 85 came and I took my break and continued on. After starting up again, I heard Paul was on his final lap from the announcer and I looked at my watch and it said 3:58. He passed me at 3:59 and I began yelling at him to sprint it in so he cold break 4 hours. He did with a final time of 3:59:28 (he had one hell of a kick). Paul ended up finishing in 34th overall in the marathon and 9th overall in the Gold Medal Challenge.

I took my last break at lap 90 and had only 5 laps to go when I started up again. There was a lady I talked to quite a few times in the race that was in the Gold Medal Challenge as well that had passed me 2 laps before to be only 1 lap down from me. She finished 10 seconds ahead of me in the half marathon so I knew it could be close for final Gold Medal standings so I used her to motivate me to the end. I also knew that if I put up a herculean effort, I might be able to beat my time from last year. So with 4 laps to go (1.1 miles), I pick up the pace and suddenly feel pretty good as I begin to pass other runners at a fast pace. Suddenly lap 92 was at 9:30 pace. Lap 93 was at 8:51 pace. Lap 94 was at close to 8:00 pace and the final 1.37 laps were at 7:31 pace. I found something that was hidden very deep in there. The final mile was by far my fastest mile.

So I finished 21 seconds ahead of last year but more importantly, I finished. I didn't feel good during any point of the full marathon but that doesn't mean I didn't have fun. I had quite a few friends there cheering me on as they volunteered during the race. It is really unique to have so many opportunities for friends and family to cheer you on during a marathon. My girls had lots of fun with the 2 medals I earned today (Silver for the full marathon and Gold for the Gold Medal Challenge).

The Icebreaker Marathon and Half Marathon is a really great event that I plan on doing every year that I can. I am going to do one more post on this event next time detailing more of what happened during the race and my observations and opinions of the race as well. Most of them good, a few maybe not so good but I really want to share them with for those of you maybe interested in entering in future years.

Thanks to all of you who were cheering me on from all over the US (and maybe the world). I think I will take tomorrow off from running!

Race Report #1 - Icebreaker Indoor Half Marathon

I woke up at about 5 AM this morning for the start of the Icebreaker Indoor Marathon and Half Marathon's Gold Medal Challenge. I slept pretty good all week and pretty good last night so all was well so far. After getting all my stuff packed, ate 2 packs of oatmeal, and off to the Pettit Center I went. It wasn't really cold this year like last year so the drive in was no problem.

I get to Pettit, sign in and get my packet, running numbers, and racing chip and head upstairs to relax a bit and get ready. I decided that I was going to tun the first 10 laps in a long sleeve shirt before I took it off and ran just in my singlet. This was a good decision as they raised the temperatures a bit in Pettit so it was probably in the lower 50's. I find Paul and Chris we head to the start line. I remind myself of the plan which is to break 2 hours but do it as effortlessly as possible saving energy for tomorrow.

The gun goes off and about 100 of us start circling the track for a total of 47.68 laps of pure enjoyment. My first few laps were a bit fast by about 6 seconds or so per lap but it was all good as I settled down and maintained lap times of 2:26 to 2:28 for the next 20 laps or so. I was getting past quite often and really wasn't passing too many myself but I expected this. I was in the "fast heat" of the half marathon (there was a second half marathon after the first one completed). About half way I was at about 58:30 so all is going according to plan.

Chris and Paul seem to be doing good as they pass me every once in awhile. Chris happens to be the Race Director of this entire event but was able to get into the first half marathon and mix it up some. He ended up running 1:29:49. Paul, like me, is doing the Gold Medal Challenge and tried taking it a bit easier and finished in 1:42:46.

During the second half of the race, I found myself picking it up a bit without trying to about 2:23 per lap. And in the last 7 laps, I felt really good and even though I tried to maintain a slow conservative pace, I was doing laps near 2:15. I finished strong in 1:54:53 for 65th place in the fast heat. I think about 6 runners beat my time in the "slow heat" so I ended up in 71st place overall. I am happy with this time but I hope I didn't use too much and risk crashing tomorrow. I don't think so but time will tell.

I was surprised how easy it was to run with the extra runners on the track. We all seemed to run smoothly though I can't speak for the leaders who had to pass runners the entire race. they played the music a lot louder this year which was good and the announcer did a great job keeping everyone informed. He did something I thought was cool, he started announcing some of the "notable" runners in the race. He mentioned Paul because he ran the Rock & Roll Marathon last week. He mentioned some other runners who were minor local celebrities like a local TV Sportscaster woman and a former Milwaukee Brewer TV announcer. Then out of the blue, I hear him welcome me saying "Bill is the Race Director or the Wellness Kid's Marathon". He was close! It is the WELS Kid's Marathon but it was fun hearing myself getting announced to all.

So now I will relax some and get ready for the full marathon tomorrow. I will stick to the plan and try to go out a bit slower and see how I feel halfway to see if I can get a sub 4.

After the half, I volunteered for the second half marathon. My job was to help call off laps if requested but I ended up being more of a gopher and going where needed. I helped the announcer with some stats, was a cheerer for the runners on the track, water jug filler, etc. There was one instance that happened that was odd. Everyone was told to put there chip band on the ankles. Well one guy asked how many laps he had left but there was no record of him on the scoring sheet. I ended up going down the track and talked to him and found out he had his chip on his wrist and no laps were being registered for him! He kept running but I found Chris (Race Director) and after some discussions with the timers, it was determined that he could finish the race and they "calculated" how many laps he should have finished based on his current pace. It was nice to see that he was able to get his half marathon medal but I don't know if he had an official finishing time or place.

After the second heat of the half marathon, they started the Marathon Relay. I ended up only staying for about 45 minutes of this before I headed home but it was wild to see. There were 68 teams running and some really fast. There were 3 teams that ran faster than 2:30 and the winning time was 2:20:20 for a pace of 5:22 per mile. Now that is fast!

I need to go to bed now and get some sleep and rest. 8:00AM tomorrow is the full!

Icebreaker Preview

I did my last run before this weekends Icebreaker Marathon Gold Medal Challenge at the Pettit Center. I ran an very easy 3 miles and felt pretty good. I have been having a little problem this week and I hope it does not affect me. My left quad is a little tight and sore. I think it has to do with the stress from work. I am not sure how stress can make your quad tight but I didn't do anything (that I can think of anyway) to my quad to make it feel this way. I felt this before the Indianapolis Marathon as well. Maybe it is my bodies way of preparing for a marathon. Odd, isn't it? I am not at all nervous about the race, heck it is my 20th marathon, but I still can't figure it out. Oh well, it won't stop me from running.

Here is the time table and my goals/plans. The Half Marathon begins at 7:00AM on Saturday morning. I am in the first of the 2 half races which is the faster runners. My plan is to run easy and finish in about 1 hour 58 minutes. That would be to average 2:28 seconds per lap. this should be no problem barring any unforeseen issues. I am going to keep a pace chart at my personal running area to make sure if I need to pick it up, I can. Sub 2 is definitely the goal here but also do it while using as little energy as possible.

After the race, I am volunteering to help out with the second half marathon. I don't know what I will be doing, maybe handing out personal water bottles (no cups all lowed), maybe something else. Whatever it is, I am glad to help.

Sunday morning is the Full Marathon and that starts at 8:00AM. Here my goal will be to go out at somewhere between 2:30 to 2:35 per lap. This is just at and a bit over 4 hour pace. I will try to keep this pace up for 3 hours and at that point in time, decide if I am going to go for it and go sub 4 hours. This is the ultimate goal, sub 4. I don't think I am all that confident I can do this, but then again, why not? If I can relax in the half and for 3 hours in the full, and then have myself completely mentally into the race, I should have a good shot at it. Realistically I should be aiming for a 4:10 finish time or maybe 4:15.

There are a lot of things about this marathon that you don't encounter in a regular outdoor marathon to take into consideration. The good would be that there are no hills, zero elevation change. The temperature will be in the upper 40's lower 50's the entire race and there will be no wind. There is a water stop every 1/4 mile and I don't have to carry any Gu's, drinks or salt. There is a portolet every 200 meters as well. The bad is that is will be crowded the entire race and I will be passing and being passed the entire race. It is also a very hard surface. About a 1/4 inch of hard rubber over cement.

I am looking forward to a good race this weekend. 39.3 miles is a far way to run but I am up for the challenge, goofy as it is. Wish me luck, I will try to post between races.