January Weight Loss and GWB Marathon
Coming out of the fall marathon season, I was encouraged by a few results. In the Hartford Marathon in October, I ran 4:22 and some seconds, just a tick above a ten minute per mile pace. That was the fastest time I had done in a couple years. If I could duplicate that time a year later, when I will be 69, I would have a Boston Qualifying time for age 70 (4:25 being the cut-off). But while I'm still 69, could I qualify, which would mean running under 4:10?
In December I ran the Fortitude for First Descents Marathon at Cape Henlopen State Park in 4:26:21. While that was more time than Hartford, I considered it a better effort because the course is rolling and incorporates a section of trail on each of four loops. That time was nine minutes faster than the previous year on a slightly easier course (less trail).
The result got me pondering whether I really could run under a 4:10. That meant I had to get faster. I can think of two ways to do that:
1. Train harder and get stronger, something I've not done in years. I've been content to stick to the long run as my main training element, throwing in some 5Ks as my speed work.
2. Remain just as strong, but carrying less weight, which should translate into faster times.
My decision came after my conversation with Bruce Hubbard, who had lost 15 pounds after undergoing a surgical procedure. I had noted his recently faster times and he said he had basically gotten back three years of speed from the weight loss. Well, if I went back to the times I was running three years ago, I would be running a marathon under 4:10. I decided to concentrate on the second idea first and resolved that on January 2 I would start a calorie restriction for a solid month. I wasn't calling this a diet since I was having my regular meals, but I was cutting out all the extras - beer, chips, cookies, chocolate chip granola bars, Peppermint Patties. I added an orange as an after-dinner snack to stave off going to bed with any hunger signals.
Some of you are probably asking: "Skinny as you are, what weight do you have to lose?" Well, the fact is that when I first started running, I was 14/15 pounds lighter. Although it was not obvious, extra weight had accumulated around my waist or nearby fat deposit areas. A number of my pants had gotten tight around my waist. So the time was right.
The day after New Year's Day I started. In two days my weight dropped two pounds. I figured that was mostly water weight retention that comes with beer consumption. After that, the weight loss went more slowly. On day two of my new regimen, I added walking to my routine. I realized that when I lost weight twenty years earlier (before I started running), I was much more active at work. Now I'm retired. So I figured I needed more activity, but being in my late 60s, I didn't think going from about 30 miles of running a week to 50 was a good idea. So I decided to take a three mile walk every day in addition to whatever running I was doing. This has added up to 50 miles or more a week with 21+ miles of walking as part of it.
Between the two elements, less calories and more activity, I lost nine pounds in a month. A nice gauge of my progress was the Icicle Ten Miler, which I did at about 5/6 pounds lighter than the year before. I was several minutes faster - proof that the weight loss was working.
Once the month was up, I began to consume some of my favorite "junk food" and alcoholic beverages. But, so far, I've maintained my mindfulness about not consuming as many calories. I'm also keeping the walking going. I found that in the beginning, my shin muscles were getting kind of tired, but now I'm more used to it. I got to the point were I was walking at close to a 15 minute pace and have even considered trying a bit of racewalking at some point in the future.
I figure that over time, I may be able to lose the last five pounds that I want to drop. When I came off the calorie restriction, my weight went up by a couple pounds, which I figure is water retention. Now my weight is back to what it was at the end of the restriction. So if I stopped drinking a beer or two for a couple days, I'm sure my weight would drop by another pound of so. I'm getting there!
I figured a major test would be my first marathon of the year. I had been chomping at the bit to run another marathon since early December, but I am reluctant to spend the money to travel for just a day or two to run a marathon in southern climes, which is the only option in January.
February couldn't come soon enough with the nearby George Washington's Birthday Marathon in Greenbelt, MD. It was at this event two years ago when I tore a gluteal muscle while running and had to walk the last nine miles in order to finish. So in one respect I was "seeking revenge" on my slowest yet marathon time of 5:40:17. Three weeks previously, I had completed a twenty miler and three weeks after the date, I was already registered for another marathon. So if I didn't run it, I was going to have to do another 20 mile training run anyway. Might as well do it!
But Mother Nature was not being cooperative. I waited on registration to make sure that it wouldn't be snowing. A week out it was clear that wasn't going to happen. But the forecast was for cold, blustery conditions. In fact the forecast got colder and windier as the day approached.
Finally on Friday, I bit the bullet and registered, saving five bucks over the day-of entry fee. Then I had to figure out how to stay warm enough during the race. The last day forecast called for a high of barely above freezing with sustained winds of 20 mph and gusts in the upper 30s.
Saturday I went to EMS and got a pair of gloves on which the fingers could be pulled back when better grip was needed. I decide to put a thin pair of gloves on first, then the thicker gloves. In-between the two sets of gloves I would put charcoal heat packets help keep my hands from going numb. Rolling back the fingers of the outer glove would help me when I wanted to record a mile split or have a shot of my gels.
For the rest of my outfit, I would wear a long-sleeve wicking undergarment with turtleneck, a long-sleeve wicking shirt and a windbreaker jacket. Since the jacket had big, deep pockets, I would carry my six ounce gel bottles (two on each side) in them and not have to use a gel bottle belt. On my head I would put a thin mask-like covering, leaving only my face exposed, another headband covering my ears, and a cap with visor, which helps make one a bit more aerodynamic when heading into the wind.. I had a pair of tights, with shorts overtop for my legs and torso, and some Smartwool socks.
Driving to Greenbelt is pretty much of a breeze on Sunday morning. The 10:30 A.M. start allows one to sleep at home and not have to arise in the wee hours of the morning to get there. Once there, I got my number and shirt, saw Dave Baca and his relay teammates, and went back to my car to get prepared. With 20 minutes to go, I headed back to the community center and awaited the word to head out. It was about a 3/8 mile walk to the start from the center and you didn't want to miss it or you'd be lost.
Last word instructions were to watch out for frozen ice patches on the road, especially at the start of the first serious downhill. And off we went. Near the end of two miles, we made a short left-hand turn, right into the strong wind. Oh baby! What a wake-up call! But in less than a quarter mile we turned and for the next four miles we had the wind behind us - except that we didn't. The first half of each of three 7.3 mile loops went toward the east, but through woods. So, although the wind was at our backs, we didn't feel it. It wasn't pushing us along. On the first loop, the sun was shining brightly. I was feeling pretty warm and conceded enough to the heat to roll my glove fingers back.
But when we turned to run in a northerly and westerly direction, it seemed like we were exposed about 75% of the time to the winds. At times we were running up hills, straight into the teeth of the winds and a gust would hit. For a second or two, I occasionally felt like I came to a complete stop. As soon as I turned in that direction, I was glad for every bit of clothing I was wearing. As the wind grew stronger through the afternoon, there was only one another time when I felt a bit too warm. Some hardier runners had on short sleeve shirts. By late in the race, some of the ones I passed like that had arms which were rosy red. It looked painful. If I had arms exposed like that, my hands would have gone numb - heat pack or not.
Between the rolling nature of the course with the wind on top of it, energy was gradually deleted from one's body. At the halfway point, I was at exactly a ten minute pace, but each successive hill became tougher to climb maintaining the same pace. So the second half averaged a bit over an eleven minute pace.
The final ignominy of this course is the brutal climb from about 24.7 to 25.7miles. After a third of mile of mild climbing, it becomes rather steep. For those familiar with Wilmington, it's not Adams St. steep, but pretty close to Market St. steep. The climb became one step at a time and don't look up because the view was discouraging. I had previously passed and been re-passed by two young women. On the hill they eventually started walking. So that became a carrot. Now I could catch them, which kept me in a "running" motion, instead of walking, and after the crest of the hill, I did. It was downhill and then flat to the finish. After a mile 26 which was over twelve minutes long (including a quarter mile of downhill, I at least had a little something left for the relatively flat two tenths of a mile at the finish, running it at a 9:30/mile pace. Done in 4:36:14.
My time was about fourteen minutes slower than Hartford, but under the conditions I was content. Checking later on race results, I found that not only had some of the guys in my age group run 14 to 17 minutes slower than they had in the previous year or so on this course, so did some of the best runners in the field. I figure without the wind, on this pretty tough course, my time would have been right around my Hartford time. A very good sign indeed!
After the race in the community center, I saw Liz Recto, who is the director of the Lower Potomac River Marathon, which will be my next one on March 10. She ran the GWBM loop herself as part of a relay team. She said, "After this course, Lower Potomac will be a piece of cake!" I believe her! Hopefully, it will be a truer test of what I am capable of running.
