Summer 2016 Marathons

Finally the End of Elevation

In the past couple months I ran three more marathons in hard to reach states.  None of them were easy.  So I am glad they are over.  Here's a quick summary on each one.

FRANK MAIER MARATHON, Juneau, Alaska, 7/30

When traveling to a state like Alaska to do a marathon, the question is:  Which is more taxing? Running the race or the travel to get to and from the event?  I chose Juneau because it is the closest town in Alaska that has  a marathon, thus cutting off up to an hour each way from the flight.  Still it was a long haul from Philadelphia to Seattle and then to Juneau.  Leaving in the early morning, I got in at 2:30 pm Juneau time, which means 6:30 on the East Coast.  

The temperature was around 60 degrees, which is normal for Juneau standards in July.  The driver, who took me to the motel, talked about the day it was 80 degrees, as if it had been monumentally hot.  Indeed, many people were walking around in shorts and tee-shirts, which was not enough for me.

After getting to the motel, I waited until Ricky Singh came in on a different flight about an hour later.  Once we were together, we walked the few blocks to where we could pick up our numbers at a community center.  Later we walked down to the harbor and had dinner looking out on the water.  Downtown Juneau is pretty small, with the inlet leaving probably less than a half mile of relatively flat land before the mountains pop-up.  It was pretty neat seeing the small waterfalls coming off of various spots of the mountains, as the snow on top was still melting.

Going back to the motel, we retired by 8:30 pm.  We had to be up early to catch our ride from Steve and Paula Boone, who had agreed to pick us up, thus sparing the need to rent a car.  It never did seem to get quite dark that night.

The next morning the Boones picked us up at 5:00 am.  We went out to the start onto  an island across a bridge and several miles to the South.  The road was basically the only main road on the island.  When we started, we went up the road from south to north, then veered to the west and somewhat south again, before turning around and returning.

While we were basically at sea level to a couple hundred feet above sea level, I found the constant rolling nature of the course to be taxing.  A couple miles from the half-marathon turnaround, we ran past a bay on the other side of the island.  Across the bay, I could see a glacier meeting the water.  At twelve and a half miles, there was a long uphill segment to the turn.  It took a lot out of me.  I was running well back down, but at the bottom I had to stop at a portajohn and the necessary stop took over five minutes.  When I started running again, all of my motivation was gone because any time goals I had were shot.

After a couple more miles of flat running, when the rolling terrain came again, I did a lot of walking.  It just did not matter.  There were no age-group awards.  My only goal was to finish, which I did in 4:55:27.  Ricky had long finished.  I had a little bit to eat and changed into dry stuff while waiting for Steve Boone to finish.  When he did, he immediately got in the car and drove us back.

After cleaning up, I went out to eat and had a burger and a couple of beers.  I spoke with some other runners who had also patronized the same establishment.  Then I went back to the motel and gathered my things together for the ride to the airport.  Yes, I was leaving the same day.  I had figured that if I waited until the next day, the travel would take all day and I would arrive in Philadelphia after 11:00 pm.  I figured that I might as well fly overnight and get home during the day and take a nap at home.

Recommendation:  I like Juneau.  There is enough to do there that a short stay could get you to a ride up a mountain and a whale-watching excursion.  The marathon is very small and the local club is having trouble getting people to direct it.  I hope it keeps going.

LOGANVIEW "RAIDER RUN" MARATHON, Loganview, NE, 8/20:

In an attempt to fit in a marathon in Nebraska, I choose this one, which was three weeks after the one in Juneau.  It was put on by a high school booster club, which also had a 5K, a half marathon and a 50K ultra going.  They all occurred on a Saturday evening, starting a 5:00 pm. Still, between all of the events, there were less than 100 participants.  At least the marathoners had the 50K people for company.

I flew into Omaha, rented a car, and drove to the town where I had reserved a motel room.  Driving outside of Omaha, for over 20 miles the dirt roads in between corn fields were still numbered as if they were a street of Omaha, going all the way up to about 300th Street.  I checked in about 1:30 pm and went out and had a meal, before going back to dress for the marathon.  Fortunately the weather was cool as a rain front had gone through the Midwest.  There was a downpour when I was waiting at O'hare for the Omaha flight.  So the temperature stayed below 70 until about the time the marathon started, when it warmed a few degrees.

What a coincidence it was that while I was picking up my number at the school parking lot, I heard a man say he was from Delaware.  I came up and said "Guess where I am from".  Then I had a conversation with him and his wife, Peggy Strang.  She is the marathon runner.  He does half marathons.  She has also done 47 states.  They are from Hockessin and I never knew them, but it turns out that I have been in a number of races with Peggy Strang.

So here I was on a relatively cool evening, with a headlamp for when it got dark in Nebraska.  Should be pretty easy, right?  Wrong!  Nebraska, at least not this part, is not flat.  It was rolling terrain.  The roads for the most part were gravel, sometimes pretty thick gravel.  Then the headlamp, for which I had substituted batteries before I left home to make sure it worked, died after a few minutes.  I had to stumble through the dark, mainly by following others who had good lamps, for well over an hour at the end.  Although I had started out by passing Peggy a mile into the race, she passed me in the dark and beat me by 15 minutes.  My time was over 5:10.

Recommendation:  Well this was an experience for me that I won't forget and it fit my schedule.  But I would not tell people to do it when Omaha has a marathon.

BOZEMAN MARATHON, Bozeman, MT, 9/11:

Here are a few lasting impressions I have of Montana.  As soon as I got off the plane and looked up, I understood immediately why it is called "Big Sky Country", as it was a clear day and a deep blue sky.  The colors of the plants seemed "different", kind of giving me the same impression as when I have worn orange lensed sunglasses.  The populace I saw was 99% white. I can't remember as uniform group anywhere else I have been in the US.  Bozeman houses Montana State University.  It sort of reminded me of Newark, DE, but with less traffic.  The airport is in Belgrade, 15 miles from Bozeman.  I stayed at a motel there.  But the highway speed limit is 75 mph and the traffic is very light.

For the marathon, we had to go to the Main St. in Bozeman to catch buses which took us out to the start.  The previous day, I had scouted out where the race would end and found a place to park the next street over, right across from a bar, which I would patronize after the race.  

The buses stopped along the Gallatin River at a place where there seemed to be a slight pass through the hills.  The wind was blowing strongly through there.  After getting off the bus to relieve myself, I got back on the bus like everyone else to stay warm.  Ten minutes before the start, we all piled off, got rid of our drop bags, and huddled behind the bus to shelter ourselves from the wind until a couple minutes before the start when we finally lined up.

In the early miles we were running with the wind at our backs and slightly downhill.  Although we were at more than 5,000 feel altitude, the running seemed relatively easy.  But I have been through this scenario before, most specifically when I ran the Revel Rockies Marathon outside of Denver.  Going downhill in the beginning was faster than I figured.  But by six miles we had bottomed out.  We turned directions, and started to go uphill.  It was very gradual at first and then a little steeper.  Then we turned again and were going into the wind.  My time per time rapidly went up.  It was all uphill until the half marathon point, at least 600 feet of climbing.  While the first six miles took a little over an hour, the next seven took 96 minutes.  I was done already. 

The half second took 2:55 as I could not run much without becoming breathless in just a few hundred yards.  I walked any sort of uphill incline.  I talked with a couple young woman - asking them if their slowing was more due to the altitude or the nature of the course.  They agreed with my opinion that it was the altitude.  Eventually I made my way into Bozeman and the Main Street for the finish in 5:31:34, one of my slower marathons.  Oh well!  It was done and I did get first in my age-group, netting me a huge belt buckle in the shape of Montana.  Yeehaw!

Somewhere along the way, I misplaced my watch, irking me because I am obsessive about recording my mile splits.  But I did remember a couple of the splits, so that's the way it goes.

Recommendation:  Well, nothing in Montana is going to be at a lesser altitude.  Bozeman was OK.  This is the place you would fly to in order to go to Yellowstone National Park.  So a visit there would be good to link with doing this marathon.

Seven Marathons in First Half of 2016

So here it is in late July 2016 and I have not entered any posts on my blog this year.  None of the seven marathons merited an article to themselves (or my imagination is just lacking right now).  But I will attempt to summarize a bit on each of them.

Carlsbad (CA) Marathon, 1/17:  I flew out to San Diego on my own for this one, rented a car and drove the 30 some miles north to Carlsbad.  A marathon that runs along the beach sounds pretty flat.  Wrong!  The first half winds toward the beach and away again, culminating in a steep hill at about halfway.  Getting back to the beach area, I found that the road was on incredibly up and down rolling terrain.  There was never a real flat section to it.  But Southern California in January is a great location for a marathon with the temps staying below 60 until the end when the sun was beating down.  It was interesting seeing surfers in wet suits heading for the beach.  Time: 4:40:04, 1^st 70-74.

Birch Bay (WA) Marathon, 2/14:  Ricky Singh went with me to this one.  Having just been to an event close to the southwestern corner of the contiguous 48 states, this one was certainly the most northwesterly one, Birch Bay being right up near the Canadian border.  My lasting impression of the Seattle area and the 90 miles north is of constant rain of some sort.  I don’t know how people live there.  Birch Bay is a tiny town on the bay of the same name, serving as a possible summer getaway for some people, but in February only locals are there.  I never saw the mountains around the bay because of the cloud cover.

  We showed up the day of the race and drove into the town to pick up our numbers at a local restaurant.  Then we drove back to the state park, had to pay for parking at a time that no one would be there (except for runners) and lined up.  Even with a half marathon, the entire group was under 200.  Sixty of the 75 marathon registrants actually showed up, the rest probably bagging it because of the rainy weather.  We started, ran four miles to get through the town, did two nine mile loops and headed backed to the park.  In the first loop, the humidity became fog in the lower areas of the wooded road.  In the second loop there was more drizzle.  I had started with a plastic bag over my clothes, but the bag was ripped by15 miles, so I chucked it at a water stop. 

  Near the end of the second rolling loop I was feeling pretty tired.  There I got exposed to the wind coming off the bay.  It had picked up quite a bit.  I ended up walking a lot as I just had no energy to push through the wind.  Ricky, whom I had passed at about halfway, was faring even worse as he became nauseous.  He finished almost a half hour behind me.  Time: 4:52:48, only 70+ in the event.

Chattanooga Marathon, 3/6:  This one fell at a good time and I figured the temps would be good in early March in Tennessee.  I was correct on that score.  I flew to Atlanta and drove up to Chattanooga because another leg of flying there was prohibitively expensive.  The day before I picked up my number at a rock gym downtown.  I asked if I could take a shower the next day and they agreed I could.  That allowed me to simply leave my motel, not worrying about late checkout.  This was also where the race would start the next day.

    Note the person below the plexiglass of the building.  There are climbing routes outside.

After eating, I found my motel and then visited Ruby Fall just a couple miles from the motel.  It was a long wait to get in (probably because it was Saturday), but worth seeing the falls and the stalactites. 

  The next day the weather was great.  The race turned out to be a fair size.  Off we went. In the first four miles I was averaging 9:51 miles.  In the fifth mile there was a turnaround.  I got to the mile 5 sign in 8:48.  Well, I knew that was off.  Up a step hill, which required some walking, and back down the other side.  I was looking for the six-mile sign.  But only 10:08 after mile 5, I crossed the 10K mat.  Now I knew the mileage was way off.  That was confirmed when I got to mile seven in another 7:22 (remember, I never saw mile six).  So by the math, my pace had gotten down to 9:20 after doing the first four miles in 9:51 pace.  After mile seven, the course got hillier.  I passed halfway in 2:09:53.

  In the second half there was more hills.  My pace seemed more normal with uphill miles as slow as 12:38 and downhill as fast as 10:03.  It was definitely more reasonable for the course - that is until I got to the last mile. The last few miles back into the middle of town were more like the early miles – fairly flat.  I was running about an 11 minute pace for 24 and 25.  So imagine my surprise was I attempted to pick up the pace for the final mile that it never seemed to end.  It took me 15:05 to do mile 26 and 2:30 to do the last two tenths.  Something was wrong – again.  I decided the distance cut early in the marathon had been made up in the last 1.2.  When I got home, I recorded my official mile splits, but also an extra set based on where I thought the splits were.  I assumed the entire distance was correct. 

  A few days later news traveled through the 50 states running community that the course was short, by a quarter mile.  It had apparently happened at the turnaround in mile 5.  Of course that should have meant only mile 5 should have been off if they had marked where their miles were supposed to be in advance.  Obviously they had made up the mileage points as they marked the course.  I am informed that if I want a plaque from the 50 states club that says I did 50 “certified” marathons, I will have to do another Tennessee Marathon.  I’m looking at November in Nashville.  Meanwhile, I’ll never recommend this one.  Time: 4:39:53; 2^nd 70-74.

Lake Lowell (ID) Marathon, 4/22:  This venue is located about 15 miles outside of Boise, ID.  It was strange to be flying in and seeing snow on mountaintops and then descending into 80 degree weather.  Lake Lowell is an artificial lake/reservoir.  It is out in the middle of nowhere, only some farming country.  Not much to see, but the skies were crystal clear and dry, which did get a bit warm near the end.  The main annoyance for me was the two-mile bridge across the reservoir.  There were two paved lanes and a gravel area on one side.  Going out, with the lighter morning traffic, I could run in the lane until a car came and then get over on the gravel until the car passed.  But coming back, the traffic in that lane would be coming up on me.  Everyone had to stay on the gravel.  I found it impossible to run on with the fairly large stones, not fine gravel.  So I had two fifteen-minute miles of walking.

  The altitude was also a factor at several thousand feet.  After a few early miles in the 10s, I was running in the 11s the rest of the first half and 12s and 13s in the second half when I wasn’t walking.  With about a third of a mile to go, I tripped on a crack in the pavement and fell forward.  It was not as bad as the two falls in 2015 when I cracked a rib each time.  I did tear up my hand and knees.  I held up a bloody hand for the photographer who was taking pictures at the end.  Ricky was not bothered as much by the conditions as I was and he finished under five hours.  This one worked out for me in terms of scheduling, but there are better ones in Idaho, even though they advertised this one as the flattest.  Time: 5:15:59, 1^st 70-74.

    As David Lee Roth once said, "You got to bleed for it baby!"

Delaware Marathon, 5/8:  This was the 13^th consecutive time I have run the Delaware Marathon.  There are only a handful of us (less than 12) who have done them all.  It was a bit warm this year.  I did the first half in just a little over a ten-minute pace.  Then as has happened in the past, the wheels came off, starting when I was running along the sunny Christina River area to start the second loop.  Time: 4:47:51. 1^st 70-74.

Fargo (S.D.) Marathon, 5/21:  Ricky Singh went with me to this one.  We flew into Minneapolis and drove four hours to the Fargo area.  I would say that this is the must-do marathon event in North Dakota.  It is the nearest to Minneapolis, making for cheaper travel, just barely over the river from Minnesota and the weather was mild enough, if a tad warm in the latter miles.  We started and finished inside the Fargodome, the stadium of North Dakota State, the school where Eagle draft pick Carson Wentz starred.  That meant we could dress down at the start without being cold and enter an air-conditioned environment at the end when it was getting warm.  The course wound around Fargo, across the river to Moorhead State University, and back. 

  By 20 miles, I was warm and slowing.  After stopping in a portajohn in the 22^nd mile, my will to push hard was gone.  I got in a conversation with a younger woman, whose husband, kid and parents were waiting at the end and I was content with 13-minute miles.  Nearing the stadium, I saw a man who could have been in my age group, so I asked the woman if she felt like picking up the pace.  So we did run a fairly strong last half mile.  However, I discovered later that if I had not been talking and had been trying a bit harder, I would have placed in the age group, instead of finishing 4^th.  Time: 4:55:02

Heartland Series, Clinton (IA) Marathon, 6/8:  This race really had no official name.  It was put on by Mainly Marathons, which conducts series of marathons.  For instance, this marathon was the fourth of seven marathons in seven days.  People travel around to a number of close states and the outfit sets out marathon courses for them to run.  In the 50 States Club newsletter the outfit invited anyone who had never run with them before to do one marathon for free.  I signed up to do it and urged Ricky to do it also, but he forgot and had to pay a fairly substantial fee before we traveled out there.

  The day before the race, we flew into Chicago, drove out to Clinton, IA, had some lunch and then went to check into our motel.  Turns out the advertising totally misled me as it was a real dump.  We left after seeing two rooms and started looking for another.  The first two places were all full with a lot of the rooms rented to runners.  We found another one that looked a bit rundown on the outside, but fine inside.  That evening we went to the restaurant that I had read the runners would meet at for dinner.  We ate on the deck overlooking the Mississippi River and had good conversation with a couple from Michigan.  They were traveling with the group.  The man had done a marathon that day, just across the river.  The woman was going to walk a half marathon the next day.  The man would be working for the outfit, getting paid a bit, which helped to defer the expenses and helped the outfit with experienced people who knew what runners needed.

  The next morning we met in the dark for the 5 a.m. start.  We would be running out and back on the paved path on top of the levee.  Each time out and back, we covered 3.275 miles and when we got back we would take a rubber band and put it on a wrist.  After we collected seven of them, the eighth time back we finished at the timer.  The weather, which had been predicted to go into the upper eighties, was much better.  It was cloudy and the temperature was in the sixties.  Halfway through, it started to drizzle, which helped me stay cool. 

  After starting out slowly and going back and forth past Ricky, at about five miles I started feeling better.  Part of my incentive to pick up the pace was spurred by the fact that Ricky had gotten into a conversation and pace with a young woman.  Her talking was bothering me as I preferred to concentrate of my own signals about how I felt.  So I took off.  Each time I saw them I could tell I was pulling farther ahead.  It was great that other runners would encourage you as you approached each other or passed by.  I was eventually passed by a number of the faster runners, just as I passed slower participants.  Ricky stayed with the woman for the entire race.  He said she helped him with her encouragement.  I don’t know how he does these marathons without any training inbetween.  He finished in 4:56.  My time:  4:44:57.  The series does not give awards, but I was the only runner over 70.

   

Annoying Things Runners Hear

I saw a Runner's World article about annoying things runners hear. Some I never heard, but here's my take on the ones that ARE truly annoying:

1. "Run, Forrest, Run!" I don't hear this much lately, but 20 years ago I did, usually from a passing school bus of kids.

2. HOONNNKKKK! This is related to the previous and I've heard it a lot over the years. You don't have to be on a road either, just near enough for a bunch of punk kids to see you.

3. "Won't all that running ruin your knees?" NOPE, not if you didn't have an earlier knee injury (usually from playing a sport as a youth) OR you don't have an innate musclo-skeletal imbalance.

4. "It's all downhill from here." In a marathon with a lot of uphill and downhill, your legs accumulate soreness as the race progresses. Unless you are on the rare course with very moderate downhill, by the time you get to the "all downhill" section, your legs are too sore to enjoy it. You just want flat terrain.

5. "You're almost there!" People say this to encourage, but they really do not realize that unless you are close - in a marathon say a mile - that it is actually discouraging. Hearing it at mile 20, with sore legs and every mile getting slower, you know you've got six painful miles to go. BTW, most runners are pretty obsessive and they know exactly where they are on the course and don't need to be told.

6. I have never actually heard "Hurry up! They're running out of beer!" But I have been in races which promise beer, but don't have it when I get there. I've also been in races which ran out of food. I ran the Philadelphia Marathon nine times, but the last time was the first time there was also a half-marathon. The half finishers ate all the food. I got an apple and a bottle of water. I haven't been back.

7. I also have not heard "The guy in the banana suit is catching you." But I have been passed in races by people in costumes, people with masks on their faces. It is annoying to have characters pass you. One time at Boston, there was a guy in some sort of super-hero costume, near me for miles. People along the course kept calling out the name of the character. I wanted to get away badly and eventually I did. But I caught his website that he advertised as he was ahead of me and looked him up. He once ran in a race as a telephone booth. Now getting passed by that would have been REALLY annoying!

HOW MANY CALORIES IN A MARATHON?

How many calories should a runner consume during a marathon? Years ago I read a scientific study which said most runners do not consume nearly enough. As we know, the body holds enough glycogen for two and a half to three hours of running. As it starts to deplete, the body has to rely more and more on burning fat for fuel, which is much more inefficient. Thus as a race progresses, one's breathing becomes increasingly greater to supply enough oxygen to break down the fat. The best thing to do to counter the depletion is to consume calories - gels and electrolyte drinks, which also contain some calories. This article emphasizes that we should be trying to replace about one third of our glycogen stores with sugars during the marathon. That would amount to about 1,000 calories for a four hour marathoner:

11 Marathon Fueling Tips for a Faster (And More Enjoyable) Race
Learning how to fuel properly will help you improve your marathon time by up to 20%. Here are 11 fueling tips to help you run a marathon personal best.
FUELMYRUNAPP.COM

Fuel My Run - App to help runners fuel for half and full marathons.

FUELMYRUNAPP.COM

Following up on the previous post: I first started doing this by carrying a lot of gel packs. But I found the carrying cumbersome and also did not want to do the pinning of them to a belt. I eventually decided to put gels (eight to ten) into a 24 oz water bottle and then add water and shake the mixture until the gels dissolved in the water. I then had enough to take two ounces every two miles. By buying boxes of gels online, I kept the expense down, but I wondered if there was an even cheaper method of fueling. I eventually found that I could buy maltodextrin powder I have gotten it in twelve pound bags from Now Foods, making it much cheaper than using gels. I'll put about eight ounces in a 24 oz water bottle (filling it about 3/4 of the way and add one gel for flavor. If I am traveling on a plane, I carry it that way without adding water. Sometimes it gets examined by TSA. When I get to my destination, I'll add the water. It needs to be hot to dissolve the maltodextrin. It requires some shaking and leaving it sit until it all dissolves. I put it into a simple belt, which I wear during the race with the bottle behind me, shifting to the front when I want to take some. Here is an article on the usefulness of maltodextrin. It is a bit technical and, of course, the company uses it in its own product, but now I have told you how to make your own: http://www.hammernutrition.com/hnt/1275/

Caloric Intake - Proper Amounts During Endurance Exercise | Hammer Nutrition
HAMMERNUTRITION.COM|BY THE HAMMER NUTRITION TEAM. DEVELOPMENT: THE ZANERAY GROUP (WWW.ZANERAY.COM)

Caloric Intake - Proper Amounts During Endurance Exercise |…

HAMMERNUTRITION.COM|BY THE HAMMER NUTRITION TEAM. DEVELOPMENT: THE ZANERAY GROUP (WWW.ZANERAY.COM)

HAMMERNUTRITION.COM|BY THE HAMMER NUTRITION TEAM. DEVELOPMENT: THE ZANERAY GROUP (WWW.ZANERAY.COM)

Following up on the previous post: I first started doing this by carrying a lot of gel packs. But I found the carrying cumbersome and also did not want to do the pinning of them to a belt. I eventually decided to put gels (eight to ten) into a 24 oz water bottle and then add water and shake the mixture until the gels dissolved in the water. I then had enough to take two ounces every two miles. By buying boxes of gels online, I kept the expense down, but I wondered if there was an even cheaper method of fueling. I eventually found that I could buy maltodextrin powder I have gotten it in twelve pound bags from Now Foods, making it much cheaper than using gels. I'll put about eight ounces in a 24 oz water bottle (filling it about 3/4 of the way and add one gel for flavor. If I am traveling on a plane, I carry it that way without adding water. Sometimes it gets examined by TSA. When I get to my destination, I'll add the water. It needs to be hot to dissolve the maltodextrin. It requires some shaking and leaving it sit until it all dissolves. I put it into a simple belt, which I wear during the race with the bottle behind me, shifting to the front when I want to take some. Here is an article on the usefulness of maltodextrin. It is a bit technical and, of course, the company uses it in its own product, but now I have told you how to make your own: http://www.hammernutrition.com/hnt/1275/

Following up on the previous post: I first started doing this by carrying a lot of gel packs. But I found the carrying cumbersome and also did not want to do the pinning of them to a belt. I eventually decided to put gels (eight to ten) into a 24 oz water bottle and then add water and shake the mixture until the gels dissolved in the water. I then had enough to take two ounces every two miles. By buying boxes of gels online, I kept the expense down, but I wondered if there was an even cheaper method of fueling. I eventually found that I could buy maltodextrin powder I have gotten it in twelve pound bags from Now Foods, making it much cheaper than using gels. I'll put about eight ounces in a 24 oz water bottle (filling it about 3/4 of the way and add one gel for flavor. If I am traveling on a plane, I carry it that way without adding water. Sometimes it gets examined by TSA. When I get to my destination, I'll add the water. It needs to be hot to dissolve the maltodextrin. It requires some shaking and leaving it sit until it all dissolves. I put it into a simple belt, which I wear during the race with the bottle behind me, shifting to the front when I want to take some. Here is an article on the usefulness of maltodextrin. It is a bit technical and, of course, the company uses it in its own product, but now I have told you how to make your own: http://www.hammernutrition.com/hnt/1275/

Caloric Intake - Proper Amounts During Endurance Exercise | Hammer Nutrition

HAMMERNUTRITION.COM|BY THE HAMMER NUTRITION TEAM. DEVELOPMENT: THE ZANERAY GROUP (WWW.ZANERAY.COM)

Following up on the previous post: I first started doing this by carrying a lot of gel packs. But I found the carrying cumbersome and also did not want to do the pinning of them to a belt. I eventually decided to put gels (eight to ten) into a 24 oz water bottle and then add water and shake the mixture until the gels dissolved in the water. I then had enough to take two ounces every two miles. By buying boxes of gels online, I kept the expense down, but I wondered if there was an even cheaper method of fueling. I eventually found that I could buy maltodextrin powder I have gotten it in twelve pound bags from Now Foods, making it much cheaper than using gels. I'll put about eight ounces in a 24 oz water bottle (filling it about 3/4 of the way and add one gel for flavor. If I am traveling on a plane, I carry it that way without adding water. Sometimes it gets examined by TSA. When I get to my destination, I'll add the water. It needs to be hot to dissolve the maltodextrin. It requires some shaking and leaving it sit until it all dissolves. I put it into a simple belt, which I wear during the race with the bottle behind me, shifting to the front when I want to take some. Here is an article on the usefulness of maltodextrin. It is a bit technical and, of course, the company uses it in its own product, but now I have told you how to make your own: http://www.hammernutrition.com/hnt/1275/

Caloric Intake - Proper Amounts During Endurance Exercise | Hammer N

The Rest of 2015: Six More Marathons in Five Months

It has been a while since I have written in this blog.  In the meantime I have been diligently working on doing a marathon in all 50 states.  I added six more marathon in the last five months of 2015.  Here is a brief rundown of each event, none seeming memorable enough to me to expound about:

August 15, Run With the Horses Marathon:  

  Wyoming is one of the more difficult states to which to travel.  I went with Ricky Singh, flew to Salt Lake City and drove four hours plus to Green River, Utah.  The driving was memorable for two things - a large wind turbine area along the Interstate (turns out Wyoming produces more wind power per capita than any other state) and the signs above the highways as we would exit a town that said "If sign is flashing, turn around and go back to town".  These signs were for the snow season when highways can quickly become impassable.  

  The motel where we stayed in Green River was at mile two of the course, just as it begins to ascend the dirt road up White Mountain, making for scenic surroundings.  The race started and ended on a small island on the Green River.  The area is the town's community center and there were other activities going on the day we were running.

  The start is at 6,100 feet elevation and the ascent up to the White Mountain Plateau was too much for me to run.  By the time I got a quarter of the way in at the half marathon turnaround, it had taken me an hour and thirty minutes and we had climbed to 7,500 feet.  The run on the plateau was memorable for the wild horses we saw - they looked at us, appearing as if they were wondering why we were running when the food (brush) was right on the ground.  The other sight on the road was of a run over snake.  We were warned that if we had to relieve ourselves that we should do it right in the road since wandering off into the brush could bring on a rattlesnake strike.  At one point we could see over the side of the mountain to the ribbon of interstate highway, then over a thousand feet below.

  The run on the plateau seemed endless.  It rolled and any uphill brought me to a walk.  The last quarter was downhill and since I had been going so slowly, I was not beat up as I would normally be towards the end of a marathon.  So the last quarter was my fastest.  I finished in 5:28:14.  Despite the fact that I usually win my 70-74 age-group with so few men that age running in most marathons, I was actually second in my age-group, despite only 40 overall finishers.  The guy who beat me is another 50 stater whom I have met although I was not aware of his presence in the event.  Ricky finished eight minutes behind me.

September 13, Sioux Fall, S.D. Marathon:

  With all the traveling I am now having to do, saving money on flying has become important.  For South Dakota, I choose Sioux Falls, which is in the southeastern part of the state.  That way I could fly to Minneapolis on Frontier for a cheap price, rent a car and drive four hours to Sioux Falls and then drive back and fly from Minneapolis back to Philly.  Although it involved three nights, it was still cheaper than flying directly to Sioux Falls, which would have required two nights at the least.  When I flew into Minneapolis on Friday and when I returned on Sunday after the marathon, I had dinner each evening with an old friend who lives in the area.

  Sioux Falls is known mainly for its falls, which go through a park right in the middle of town.  After driving there, I went and looked at the area on Saturday.  The next morning we went right over a little bridge that gives a great view of the falls.  That was the highlight of my marathon.  The course had a number of hills until about 17 miles and the place is at about 1,500 feet, putting this flatlander into a bit of extra lung work - not like Colorado or Wyoming, but harder than one wants if you are trying to run a good marathon.  Later the course flattened out along the river, but it was windy in one direction and after going over a bridge and heading the other direction, the sun and no clouds made it feel pretty warm.  I finished Sioux Falls in 4:37:50 and won my age-group.

October 4, Milwaukee Marathon:

  I flew to Midway Airport in Chicago and drove to Milwaukee, which is 106 miles, but again much cheaper than flying to Milwaukee.  My hotel was not far from the finish and I walked over to see it.  Later I went to eat at the area along the Milwaukee river, which has probably 60 or 70 restaurants and bars in an eight block area.  I got in a conversation with the bartender, who has run a marathon.

  The next morning I drove to the community center where we had picked up our numbers, parked and caught a bus to the start, which was more than 20 miles north.  The race curls around near to  the Lake Michigan shoreline.  We started running east, before heading south.  When I once had to turn north, I felt how strong the wind was and was glad my exposure to it was only momentary.  The course overall is slightly downhill, but in the beginning it rolls and we had to deal with some uphill until mile 21.  

  I ran fairly conservatively from the beginning and my caution paid off.  With a 2:09:04 first half and a 2:13 second half, I ended up with 4:22:04, my only Boston Qualifying run in 2015, almost three minutes under the standard for my age.  I was pleased with the small difference from the first to second half.  After the race, I went back to the same bar to show off my medal and talk to the bartender.
  Milwaukee is one race I would recommend for a possible fast time.  Remember the course is along the Lake, so weather could be a factor.

October 18, Duke City (Albuquerque, New Mexico):
  This was another marathon I did with Ricky Singh.  It was sort of a whirlwind as we flew out on Saturday, ran on Sunday morning and then hurried to the airport to fly back home.  Once we landed, we immediately headed to the casino, which is on a reservation, to pick up our numbers.  Once we did that, we decided to eat at the restaurant there.  When we had gotten on the shuttle at the airport to go to the rental car area, we had gotten into a conversation with two guys from Chicago, who were also running the marathon.  When we were seating in the restaurant, there were the same two guys.  So we all sat together and shared our stories about how we got into running marathons.  One of the Chicago guys was doing his first after having been drawn into running with the other guy.
  Later we checked into our motel, scouted out the start/finish area and later went out to eat.  There was a strip of restaurants, similar to Newark's Main Street area, near the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque.  We picked one that was originally a Texaco gas station (with the old pump island featured in the outdoor seating area).
  The next morning the race began at 7:00 A.M. when it was just barely light.  Marathoners and half-marathoners went off together as well as marathon relay teams.  We made our way after a couple miles to a trail that went along the Rio Grande River.  In Albuquerque, the Rio Grande isn't much more than a small creek, but it had levees built up on the sides.  With flash flooding and little vegetation to hold water, I could imagine the water would occasionally rise to raging levels.
  Albuquerque is at almost 5,000 feet.  So I knew I was going to be running with less oxygen than usual.  I felt the lack right away and knew this was going to be a slow one.  I tried to maintain a slow running pace and did manage about eleven minutes a mile in the first half.  But I really felt the oxygen deficit once my glycogen stores ran low and I had to rely on the more inefficient burning of fat for fuel.  By 3/4 of the way through, as slow as I was jogging, I was breathing like I was in an all-out finish of a 5K race.  So I tried something different.  I would walk as fast as I could while my breathing recovered to a more normal rate.  Then I would run as if I were in a shorter race at a faster pace.  I think was basically running about an eighth of a mile and then walking to recover for a quarter.  I finished in 5:05:15, about 15 minutes slower than I had predicted.
  Ricky had already finished and he was anxious about getting to the airport for the flight out.  Although I was first in my age-group, I could not wait around for the results to turn up on the computer and so I could not claim my award (nor has it been sent to me).  We fast walked back to our rental car and I drove to the motel in just a few minutes.  In less than a half hour we had both showered and dressed and were on the way to turn in the car.  We got there quickly and once through security at the airport, we actually had time to buy a meal.
  I should mention that Albuquerque and the surrounding area is a place I would definitely visit for a vacation.  The races took place the week after the hot air balloon festival there.  At about 8 A.M. during the marathon, we saw about two dozen balloons rising.

Nov. 8, Gobbler Grind Marathon, Overland Park, KS:
  This marathon I had to do on my own as Ricky Singh had already done one in Kansas.  I had planned out where I was going to drive every leg of the journey.  After the flight into Kansas City (in Missouri), I drove into Kansas.  The area is all part of the Kansas City suburban sprawl.  I drove directly to the start/finish area and, after scouting it out a bit, then drove from there to the Gary Gribbles shoe store a couple miles away where we were to pick up our numbers.  I had seen that age group winners would get a gift certificate to the store.  Since the odds were good that I would get one, I wanted to know the way there from the finish so that I could use the certificate right after the event before I went on my way.  When I got to the store, after picking up my registration pack, I saw some thin Saucony gloves, costing a bit over $30 and figured that would be the right purchase with a $25 gift certificate,
  The next morning I was awake early, after having gone to bed early and with the later time zone.  I drove out to the business center where the race would start.  The car thermometer said it was 32 degrees, but with no wind, it did not feel that bad to me.  The sun started hitting us before the start.  I killed time talking to another older runner who parked next to me and pounded down a quart of Gatorade before getting in the portajohn lines.
  As the race started, the first five miles were pretty flat and I was averaging under a 9:30 pace.  Then the course got tougher with some uphills.  Mile 10 had a long uphill and then long downhill.  When I got to the mile marker, my watch was giving an 8:31 split.  I knew that was short.  Then we came off the road and got on a paved trail.  The trail was not smooth, but rippled constantly.  It was hard work, later confirmed to me by a couple people who ran much faster than I.  I hit the 11 mile marker in 8:43.  Again, I knew that was wrong.  Soon after one of the pacers went by me.  I commented that the last two miles were off and he agreed.  He said he didn't not know if the distance would be made up.  After these two fast time miles, my splits went back to what I would have expected in the middle miles of a marathon - upper nines and low tens.
  We ran out and back in one direction and then hit another out and back section.  In this second section, mile 20 had a long uphill.  The pavement had a number of cracks.  A foot snagged a crack and I went down hard.  My body twisted some, so I landed somewhat on my right side, hitting the outside of my knee, my hip, my shoulder, but also driving my elbow into my ribs.  It hurt, but not as badly as when I fell in Martian Marathon in April. I later realized it was cracked, which I felt when lying down, but I did not feel it when running.  I was also angry - partly at myself and partly as the lousy condition of the trail.  I got up and continued on.  I still ran fairly even with miles in the mid tens and then a couple in the low elevens.  Mile 25 got tougher with an 11:41.  Then there was the endless "Mile 26".  It took me 14 minutes and 7 seconds.  I knew I had not slowed down that much and realized that this was where they were making up the distances for the shortened miles 10 and 11.  I finished in 4:27:41.
  I claimed my award and certificate.  I went to an EMT about my skinned up knee and was handed bandages.  Oh well, it wasn't bleeding at that point.  I drove to the shoe store and bought the gloves.  Then I drove to a local gym which I had called before I went out to Kansas.  Since I was getting away from the store at 1:30, I knew my motel would not have allowed that late of a checkout.  The gym allowed me to take a shower at no charge.  I also used my iPad at the gym to email my results to the News-Journal since it was already mid-afternoon in the East.  I drove to the airport, turned in my car and had a couple of beers while awaiting to boarding of the plane.  On the flight home I watched football on my iPad.  Another one night stay and back to Delaware.

Dec. 12, Buckeye Marathon, Buckeye, AZ:
  This was the last marathon of the year, my 13th.  Again, Ricky had not done one in Arizona, so we went together.  Flying to Phoenix is a pretty long flight.  We got there about 1 p.m, but it was really 3 p.m. back East.  From the airport, I drove directly to the place where we picked up our numbers.  Then we settled on a Mexican restaurant for late lunch.  Ricky stuffed himself.
  We went to the motel in Surprise, AZ.  It was quarter to five and the room was not ready although it was two hours after the usual check-in time.  Since we were next to a mall, we walked to Target and bought water and Gatorade.  Then we checked in.  Ricky was tired and did not want to eat anything else.  There was a Chili's close by.  So I went for a beer and some dessert.
  We both got a good night's sleep.  I woke early (Arizona being two hours behind Delaware time) and went to an IHOP for breakfast.  Ricky slept in.  We hit the road about 6:20 and were in Buckeye by 7:10.  The start was at a school.  The group was under 140 people. There were three races of shorter distances going on also, but they started at the Buckeye Airport where we were to finish.
  The course profile indicated a gradual drop of 650 feet.  I was imagining a time better than I ran in Milwaukee.  The first mile was slightly uphill, but the next two were downhill as I imagined and my splits were in the mid-nines, so I was feeling good.  But then the miles started going up, not steeply, but still uphill, not downhill.  Up went on and on through 15 miles.  My visions of a good time disappeared.  
  Then we turned to do an out and back in a development.  This involved about five miles of running. The wind had picked up and I felt it going in both directions, but especially coming back out.  My ten minute miles went to a couple of elevens and then a couple of twelves.  At mile 21 we were back out on the main road.  This part was mildly downhill and the wind was behind me.  Despite my tiredness from dealing with hills and wind, in these last miles I maintained pretty close to a ten minute pace.  The last mile was on hard packed dirt on the side of the road because the road had become two lanes and both ways were open to traffic. At mile 26 I turned and ran up the entrance to the Buckeye Airport, which isn't much to see.  I headed into the wind again.  The last two tenths of a mile took me 2:30, even though I was trying to give it my all.  Done in 4:29:06.  I was happy that I had at least been able to push the last five miles to stay under 4:30.  As the only person over 70, I won my age group and become the oldest person to do the marathon in its two years.
  Ricky had finished a little over a minute before I did.  The wind was blowing and it was not conducive to hanging around to hear the music or drink the available light beer.  We got on the bus after I picked up my first place "award", a little strip of metal that I could attach to the finisher medal. We went back to the start, got the car and drove back to Surprise.  After showers, we walked to Chili's and I had a post-race burger and a couple of brews.
  The next morning we drove to the thirty miles to the airport.  Since if was Sunday the traffic was light, but some were driving ninety mph +.  Being unfamiliar with the roads, I found it unnerving for these speedsters to be pressing me and not willing to allow me to change lanes.  But we did get to the airport with plenty of time.  We even found that I could change seats on the plane to a window seat from a middle seat.  I was a bit disappointed that the plane did not have wifi as I was hoping to watch some football on the flight home.

That does it was 2015 races.  I have now done a marathon in 39 states.