Marin Memorial Day 10K

Last week I was telling Dana (my lovely wife for those who don't know her) that I was really excited for the next two races - the Marin 10K and the Dipsea Race.  This spring season hadn't featured the consistently high mileage (by my standards) and epic workouts that I logged the prior spring, yet my race results have been much much better.  I decided to not get so caught up on how my training looked on paper, rather be patient - work really hard when I'm able, but rest when I needed to.  Also, a big mistake I made last year was trying to train through competitive races.  It has been a small adjustment, and if you compared my training log year over year you might say I'm not training as hard, but it's tough to argue this is working better when my 5K races have been ~30 seconds faster than the prior year. 

On memorial day I laced up the flats for the Marin Memorial Day 10K.  The race is on a flat, fast course in the shadows of Mt Tam (where I'll be racing the Dipsea in a week).  While it's a great opportunity to run fast, this race really had my number the prior two times I ran.  The only question mark for me was whether the 5K focused training would translate to twice the distance.  I just had to hope the occasional progressive tempo runs, the two 10 mile races from the early season, and even the Bay to Breakers centipede effort would fill the gap of not doing longer interval sessions.  Regardless, I told myself to push it all out of my head and just be confident as I've had great momentum recently.  The goal was to run 5:15 pace - a mid 32 minute effort.

The race went off & I just didn't feel very smooth.  In the 1st mile I settled in behind a couple masters runners, including the mighty 55 year old Brian Pilcher.  I was a little concerned with how I felt, but tried to stay as loose and relaxed as possible.  I hit the mile mark in 5:11, not a bad split, just wanted it to feel easier.  By the 2 mile mark, teammates Rookie and Gus ran by & opened a small gap.  I hit that split in 5:19.  It was a very slight uphill, but had to make the decision to ignore how I felt, and just trust the training that I'd be fine to push a bit harder.  So I threw a surge and caught up to my teammates, and even led the train for a while running the 3rd mile in 5:06.  There wasn't a 5k split but from the 3m I guessed half way was about 16:10.  Feeling more energized, on pace, and even thinking how I just ran the first half faster than most my 5K races last year, I kept pressing on. 

Our group strung out a bit in the second half of the race, but just kept as close to Gus as I could, telling myself to relax, and throwing little surges when I needed to catch up.  From half way I moved up 1-2 positions each mile.  The 4 mile split was 5:13, the 5th in 5:14, then the 6th in 5:21 (with a slight headwind).  The race ended with 250 meters on a track, and I kicked it in when I heard some footsteps behind.

The final time was 32:26 for 19th place - my fastest 10K since the 90s!  Our West Valley team had a very strong day with 7 guys under 33 minutes (I was the 5th).  It's exciting to see how well our team is doing, and that it's a combination of new guys joining, and existing guys working hard and getting faster.

The race was satisfying one because I set a challenging goal and accomplished it.  It also was good to have a day where thing didn't just automatically click - like those rare days you always dream about - but was able to stay tough and confident, and race hard the entire way. 

Next up is the 102nd Dipsea!  I've been pretty tired this week, but that's to be expected.  I'll take a decent taper week, and can't wait to show up in Mill Valley Sunday morning feeling strong.

* The finish

The Bay to Breakers Centipede

The annual Bay to Breakers race is one of the biggest events in San Francisco.  The 12K race offers big prize money to attract some of the best road racers in the world, and a great overall scene for serious runners, to joggers, to walkers, then finally to party goers.  All throughout there are creative costumes, and um a few people with no clothes on at all.  Last year I ran the 100^th annual race – which was first known as The Cross-City race.  Having raced 3 previous times (and joined the party a few times before that), I was still missing out on a very unique twist to the competition - The Centipede!

In 1978 a group of 13 guys from the Aggies running club said “hey let’s enter the race and see how fast we can run tied together” (or something like that).  After that the centipede division was born.  The Aggies have run every year since, although recently a group of mostly Bay Area Track Club runners sponsored by Linked In has stolen the show setting new centipede world records. 

I always wanted to run a ‘pede.  My West Valley teammates had discussed in the past, but never found the numbers to field the 13 members.  This year, with our ranks of open male runners growing, we finally got everyone on board and entered a centipede!  

It took a bit more planning than showing up for a normal race.  With 13 guys there was a fairly wide range of running abilities.  So we had to determine the right paces to run and have people communicate throughout the race.  Also there was the gear.  Turns out you can’t just show up at your local running store and ask for standard “centipede gear” so each team gets creative.  We bought some clipping nylon straps to wear as belts, with 4 foot carabineer bungee cords. 

*6am meeting spot

The race was an absolute blast.  People were soaking up the festive atmosphere, and chatting with various other runners we knew who were running near our group.  The bungees gave us a margin of error if you strayed too far out of our zig-zag formation, but let the stronger runners assist the less fit up the hills (the steep Hayes Street Hill in particular). 

*Nick feeling tired on the rollers

A smartly planned race got us through the first two miles at 5:45 pace, next two which included most the hills at 6 flat.  Through Golden Gate Park, some of the stronger runners were working the hardest from pulling on the cords during the rolling hills at low 5:30s pace.  Then on the downhill last couple miles most people were ready to roll, and we ran 5:17 and 5:18 for the last two full miles – both downhill.  At the faster pace we had to be careful not to run over the photographers up on their ladders.  The finishing time was 42:11 for the 3^rd place centipede – a 5:40 average.  It was also cool that we were passing runners most the way - some people various ones of us knew, and others we chatted with along the way. 

*Rolling through the park

My first centipede is in the books.  I have the gear stored away, and can’t wait for next year! 

Various people posted pics on Facebook, and some were great.  There was even a random picture on Instagram which was the best of all – and I don’t even know what Instagram is other than the company that Facebook bought for a gazillion dollars. 

Here's the random Instagram shot... pretty good! 

Here is the Linked-In team running 36:44 (4:56 pace)

The Aggies

West Valley making the turn for home!

Post race pose

Beating the Nemesis

Almost exactly a year ago, I wrote a frustrated post about my Nemesis - the 5K.  Over the last two years I had trained hard to race a good 5K, only to end in frustration again and again.  I imagine the frustration of Gold Glove second basemen Chuck Knaublach when all of a sudden he couldn't throw the ball to first base anymore!  There just didn't seem to be any good explanation. 

Last Friday, I returned to the track to give it another shot at the SF State Distance Carnival.  I really could have come up with more than a few reasons why I shouldn't run fast.  The main reason was the race was only coming 5 days after a 10 miler on the roads (a PR in 54:41 although not entirely happy with where I placed).  In the past I've rarely bounced back well from long races like that.  I also could have pointed to feeling a bit run down in the weeks prior, and overall not running the mileage that I like to before heading into the racing season.  But for a change, I blocked all the noise out, and went into the meet with nothing to lose. 

The Distance Carnival has turned into a deep college meet attracting athletes from all NCAA levels, plus some open runners like me.  The 5000 is one of the last events on Friday afternoon, and this year expanded from 3 heats to 4.  I entered myself with the 15:49 time that I ran there two years ago (and my best time post-college) which seeded me in the middle of the slowest of the 4 heats.  I was satisfied being in that heat as I'd rather try to compete toward the front than have it be a time trial where I'm hanging on for dear life. 

As the gun went off, the plan was to find the rail somewhere in the middle of the pack, get into a rhythm, and move my way forward if people ahead of me started to fall off the pack.  By the first turn I was on the rail and in a spot where I wasn't getting jostled around.  I felt a moment of anxiety seeing the clock at the finish line for the first time and the lap counter reading 12 to go.  I told myself to relax and just run for a while.  As soon as my brain quieted down I was in a good rhythm and somewhere around 15th in the 23 person heat.  There was no clock at the start line, but plenty of people yelling splits.  First lap was 77 seconds - a little on the slow side, but I didn't give it much thought.  The next few laps went by quickly and easily, and all of a sudden I'm still relaxed and moving forward to the 1600 meter (~1 mile) split of 5:02.  No problem so far. 

Six and quarter laps is the half way point.  In my last 5k on the track last year, I hit halfway wanting to quit, literally not knowing how I could run another 2500 meters.  This time I'm definitely working hard, but I feel like there's a lot left in the tank.  The field is more strung out but I keep moving myself forward.  At one point I feel my arms start to ride up really high.  Sorry Christopher McDougall, that might be a good way to run a very long distance, but it's not how you run fast!   I consciously dropped the arms, and I immediately feel more relaxed.  The 3200 meter split was 10:04.  I know these next 4.5 laps will be tough, but I'm going to get through it.  The field was strung out in the last mile, but I managed to catch a couple more runners.  I had a couple laps fall back off to a 77 second pace, but then a 73 for the final full lap and a 32 second last 200 (as I tried to unsuccessfully to kick down a kid about half my age) brought me home in 15:41 for 6th place in my heat. 

I've probably had races that would be considered a stronger performance, but this was one of my more satisfying races.  I had struggled at the 5K for so long, and when I least expected, just ran my fastest time in 10 years.  Have I defeated the nemesis?  Who knows, but at least I've won the battle!  I can't wait to hit the roads for another 5K in two weeks with some momentum behind me! 

It's worth noting that there was an American record in my race.  No, the winnder didn't lap me twice to run 12:52.  It was actually 56 year old Brian Pilcher clocking an amazing 16:05 for his age group record.  He even gave me a "let's go Jamey" when were running near each other around the mile mark.  I think we'll be seeing a lot records from him this year!

California International Marathon - Part 1 - The Race

If you had talked to me recently (or read my blog update), you might have known I was gearing up for my first marathon in 6 years.  I often like to write down what I was thinking and how I was feeling before a race, and similarly record my post-race reaction.  I want to circle back, and fill in that part, but since I have 26.2 miles to cover, I'll break with my normal practice and jump right into the race.

The background info I'll quickly note is when I signed up for the race my goal was 2:33 - 2:35 (5:50 - 5:55 pace).  After running most my "marathon pace" workouts in the low 5:40s, I was more optimistic, but still wanted a conservative race plan - to run the first half marathon in 1:16:00 - 1:17:00 (5:48 - 5:52 pace).

The race morning was much like my last marathon 6 years ago - clear skies, calm winds, but pretty chilly (in the high 30s).  Just after daylight broke, I found myself on the starting line with a pair of gloves and arm-warmers.  Even though this wasn't a Chicago Marathon type field, I knew there enough elite runners - particularly those gunning for their last chance to make the Olympic Trials next month - that I didn't need to be anywhere close to the front row.  I figured spotting some of my eventual competitors 10 seconds early on was easily worth the trade off of not getting sucked into way too fast of an early pace.

As the starting horn went off, and I cross the start line 3 seconds later, it just didn't feel like a race.  It felt like a long run with a ton of other people, just a bit faster than my normal everyday running pace.  I chatted with other runners I knew as we all settled into our paces.  Shortly after the start I saw a large pack of women who I figured were gunning for their Olympic trials standard of 2:46 (and sure enough quite of few of them nailed it).  As the first few miles are mostly downhill I eased into a smooth comfortable pace, and slowly moved forward in the large pack.  The first mile was 5:48.  I was almost relieved - I was going fast enough but not too fast!  The second split was 5:52.  I quickly questioned - was that too slow?  was that too much effort?  But just as quick, I shut the mental rambling off - I had well over 2 overs left to run, and I was still getting warmed up, and there would surely be a lot of ups and downs.

In the 3rd mile I definitely started to feel good.  I figured out pretty early in the race that I was going to run my own race, rather than try to key off other runners.  Mile 3 was 5:38 - faster than I should be running this early, but didn't concern me as we're still going downhill.  Now I'm reeling in a large pack that includes the 3 female leaders, plus a couple West Valley teammates who are shooting to run sub 2:30.  The 4th mile was 5:33.  WHOA BUDDY - CHILL OUT!  At this point I pretty much slam on the breaks.  The last mile felt totally relaxed, but I knew there was probably no better way to torpedo a good marathon opportunity than to run way too fast in the first quarter of the race.

From the 5th mile through the half way point, I established a really smooth consistent rhythm.  Through that stretch - every mile split was 5:42-5:44 (other than one 5:40).  I was doing exactly what I told myself not to do - running faster than the 1:16 pace I set as a speed limit, but it just felt too easy not to put myself in a position to possibly break 2:30.  The short uphills would strain my breathing ever so slightly, but it would quickly return to normal on the flat & downhill sections.  At some point - probably around 6 miles - I felt the first hint of lactic acid in my legs, but nothing to fear, it had to happen at some point.  I just focused on keeping a smooth relaxed stride.

The pack of runners who I almost caught in the 4th mile, remained 50 or meters ahead.  Right around the 9th mile I finally caught up to them, announcing my presence to teammates Jonah B. and Jason "The Rookie".  The Rookie let out an excited "Hey Gifford!" while Jonah said much more calmly "Jamey's going for it."  I really thought I would relax and just run with this pack for a while.  However, the pace I had settled into slowly eased me ahead of the group.  Just ahead, I caught the three lead woman - one American and two Africans.  There were a handful of bicycles riding along side along with a motorcycle cop.  It was unclear if they were on course support for the leaders or just interested spectators.  One of the bikes was almost blocking my path to a water station; I knew getting worked up would only take away energy I needed to run, so I just eased off for a couple strides and cut over.  Just before 11 miles I pulled ahead of the women, but didn't realize I was serving as their temporary rabbit until I heard some words in Swahili (I assumed) right behind me.  That was a new experience for me!

I hit the half marathon split - now just clear of the lead women - in 1:14:53.  So much for my planned pacing.  While I wouldn't call the effort really hard at this point, it definitely wasn't easy.  Mentally the first half of the race went by very quickly.  I knew the second half would be a lot harder.  Different parts of my legs and feet would ache, then go away.  I could deal with discomfort, I just didn't want to see anything turn into a muscle cramp.  The 15th and 16th miles were tough.  The mile 15 split was 5:52 - my first mile slower than 5:45 since the 2nd mile.  I'd lie if there wasn't a little concern that my early pace might be catching up with me.  Shortly after that, I hear footsteps behind - and it's The Rookie and Gus Gibbs (who had taken a pee stop) blowing past me as their running ~5:30 splits.  They invite me to jump on the train, but I'm not feeling it; I just need to keep my own race on track. 

After a rough couple miles, I hit the mile 16 with a 5:43 split.  I was back on pace.  I felt a big confidence boost.  Only 10 miles to go.  This might be the toughest 10 miles I'll run all year, but how many times have I run 10 miles the past 4 months (that was rhetorical)? 

From mile 16 - 20 it was back to focusing on a smooth stride.  My legs were hurting pretty consistently now, but I could deal with it.  I would see runners well ahead and slowly reel them in.  Mile 19 was my second fastest of the race in 5:37.  I started having visions of throwing the hammer down in the last 6 miles to put myself well under 2:30. 

The 20 mile mark was announced with a couple fake walls that you run between & a couple women dressed in grim reaper costumes.  I grabbed my last Gu gel, which just about made me barf.  After taking as much sports drink as I could, I figured I wouldn't need much more water.  Mile 21 was 5:43, but the legs were feeling really beat up.  The last hill of the course was the ramp to a bridge over the American River just before the 22 mark.  It's not a steep hill, but it HURTS at this point.  I tried to hold my pace up the ramp, but it hurt, and my legs never came back to me after that. 

The last four miles were rough.  I knew I was slowing down a little, but it was time to just grit it out.  Somehow I was still mostly passing people.  Miles 23 and 24 were both 5:53.  I'm slowing down, but the wheels aren't falling off.  With two miles to go a couple runners catch me, and I just try to latch on.  I'm even thinking I can find a gear and manage to run a couple fairly fast last miles.  But where the brain was willing the legs weren't.  Mile 25 was still a respectable 5:48, but then I just hit a level of pain I hadn't felt all race.  The 26th mile is a long straight shot down L street by the state capitol in Sacramento.  I keep looking ahead toward the first of two left turns before finishing right in front of the capitol.  As I look ahead it just doesn't seem to get closer.  Spectators cheer my effort, but as I grit I had to yell "let's go Gifford".  Somehow I thought I was thinking my finishing time might be 2:32, but that was clearly a lack of mental capacity late in the race. 

I hit the 26 split - 5:55 - my slowest of the race, but was elated I made the first left turn too see a race clock just over 2:30.  There was a huge crowd, and I made the final turn to the finish line with a huge smile on my face. 

The final time was 2:30:29!

I'll say more in part 2, but have to say a quick thanks to my wife Dana - of course for supporting my training, but for getting out on the course to cheer and support me.  Also to our coach Jack, for preparing us, and for great race day support as well.

Being the excel dork I am, here are a couple charts - the first with each mile split, and the second my projected finishing pace at each mile mark:

Finally - it was great to see little Jack at the finish line :)

PA Cross Country Championships

My life hasn't been all marathon training.  On November 20th, I laced up my spikes for one of my favorite annual races - the PA Cross Country Championships.  The race - 3 times around a hilly 2 mile loop in SF's Golden Gate Park.  It's a nice challenging race to cap off the cross country season, and fun to get all the club teams together in the same race. 

With rain falling for much of the week leading up, I knew it would be muddy one!  Here's a quick recap.

I have to say in all my years of cross country, that this was probably the sloppiest course that I have ever run on!  It was muddy last year, but my footing was firm enough with spikes on. This year I was sliding all over the place even with my spikes on.  After watching the men's master's race, I noticed there was a tight lead pack of 5-6 runners but after that the field spread out quickly.  In past PA Champs I liked to go out pretty conservatively on the first loop, then work my way up, but this year I was thinking "track position" (to use a NASCAR term) seemed pretty important.  I had confidence from my increased mileage and the longer tempo work from marathon training that I could hold on after a quicker early pace.  It was a weird experience to be within 5 seconds of teammate Neville Davey (who has won several PA races recently) & others at the mile mark, but a quick internal systems check told me the pace was ok.  I gave up a few positions at the end of the first loop as I let myself regroup, then started moving forward again at the bottom of the hill on the second loop.  Close to halfway the race seemed to be going by fast.  3 miles in I felt confident I could keep pressing hard without blowing up, so I made an effort to surge by any runners who appeared to be falling back.  On the 3rd and final loop I was battling with a strawberry canyon runner.  He opened a 5 second gap on the flat section by the polo field.  Up the last hill and down into the meadow I was reeling him in, but just ran out of room near the finish as he crossed 1 second in front. While this wasn't my best time ever on the course (I ran about a minute faster under dry conditions), I feel pretty good that this was my best effort of the 5 PA champs I've run.  Final results - 32nd place in 33:34 (6.1 miles)


It's now the day before CIM.  We're about to load up the car for Sacramento.  I'll check back in after the race!

Feeling the Marathon Groove

For most of my life, most of the people who have known me, know that I'm a runner.  And man, if I had a dollar for every time I heard:

How many marathons have you run?
Oh you so run a lot of marathons?
What's your fastest marathon?

I always kept a few snarky responses in my repitoir like "I like to run fast, not far" or "Oprah ran a marathon, real men run fast."  Usually I would be far more gracious and briefly explain how I like traing to get faster at shorter distances (as if running 5K's and 10K's makes me a sprinter).

In 2005 - when I was 3 years out of college, I felt like I needed a project outside of work.  It's not terribly far from the truth to say that I finally realized it would be less work to just go run a marathon rather than keep explaining why I've never run one.  I turned my 3 - 4 days a week of afternoon 4 or 5 mile runs into the same distance 5 days a week plus a weekend long run.  I showed up at the California International Marathon, and dispite some digestive complications ran a solid 2:43.  That 20 mile bonk never happened, in fact I didn't slow at all in the later miles, it just started to hurt worse and worse!

After that 2005 CIM I was excited to run another, but as other interests crept into my life, I was running less and less...  A few years later, I joined the West Valley Track Club & started training again, but I was having so much fun working on getting my speed back, that I never looked toward the 26.2 distance, at least not in the near term.

Heading into this fall's cross country season, I knew I needed more overall endurance.  The couple years I have been comfortable rolling on fast intervals on the track, but couldn't hold paces anywhere close during races of 5K and longer.  I always like hearing what elite runners have to about their races, and something that my college teammate Lauren Fleshman said really struck me.  Lauren finished a very impressive 7th at the World Championships 5,000 meter race, staying in contact with the leaders until 2 laps to go!  Afterward she was asked if she would work on her speed so that she could run a 60 second last lap like the best in the world could do.  Her response (paraphrased) - I've run 60 seconds at the end of a 5K before, but off a slower pace.  I don't need more speed, I need more strength so I can tap into my speed at the end of a fast pace like this. 

I had been realizing the same thing about my running.  All the track speed in the world won't help me run a 5K or 10K if the wheels are going to fall off after 10 minutes of hard running.  I also looked back at prior seasons and just saw myself taking way too many short cuts.  I needed that true pyramid style training program.  First build the volume, then the endurance, then after the foundation was in place start working on the higher quality work. 

Over the summer I looked to build my mileage to consistently be at 60-70 miles per week, with frequent tempo and progression runs, and finally long runs around 2 hours (~17 miles).  Other than occasional strides, I wasn't worried about tapping into speed and fast interval work until well after the cross country races started in late August.  Somewhere in the back of my mind, I had the thought - if everything goes well, let's look toward finally returning to the Cal International Marathon, 6 years later.

Building endurance (or as runners call it "strength") over sharpness worked well.  Out of the 6 PA cross country races I ran, I hit my fastest times ever on 4 of those courses.  In late September & early October, when it came time to add more race specific fitness, the workout paces felt fast, but I found myself just not getting as tired toward the end of workouts as I used to. 

Encouraged by my mileage, and the consistency of my longer workouts, I decided to pull the trigger and enter this year's CIM.  Still I felt the need to cap my training cycle with a good 3 weeks of high volume, and marathon specific workouts.  Over the previous three weeks, I hit weekly mileage over 70, and long runs of 20, 20, 23, 21 miles.  Toward the end of last week, the training was taking it's toll.  I was tired most the time, and ALWAYS sore.  I told my wife that I was loving the feeling of being fit, but really looking forward to starting my taper. 

Finally last Sunday, the last day of that three week (plus one day counting the previous week's long run) stretch, was the day to do my toughest marathon workout.  The idea was to run 8 miles, starting slow then progressing the pace, then finishing with 12 miles at marathon pace - targeting 5:50 to 5:55 per mile.  I woke up super early to eat so that I could start the workout at 7am - the time the race would be starting.  Sawyer Camp in San Mateo is a favorite place to work out with it's half mile distance markers and scenic views.  The first 8 miles went smoothly, I started at 7 min per mile and ended just over 6 min pace, averaging 6:25 / mile.  Back at the car I quickly changed to some lighter shoes, ate a gel, and headed out for the fun part.  The excitement got to me quickly as I rolled through the first mile in 5:35.  That was lesson 1 of what not to do in the race.  I settled down and then ran between 5:45 - 5:50 for the next 3 miles. I was going faster than I intended but felt comfortable enough.  Miles 5 and 6 were uphill, so I wasn't worred the pace was slower than 6:00.  At the turn around, I let gravity do the work running 5:25 and 5:30 for 7 & 8.  I knew the last 4 miles would be tough as I'd be tired and going from downhill to flat running again.  Regardless the pace never wavered as I hit splits of 5:34 - 5:38 for the last 4.  My average pace for the 12 miles was 5:43 pace - exactly 2:30 marathon pace! 

It's great when you have that one workout that gives you a huge confidence boost heding into a big race.  I was feeling the marathon groove.  The race is 15 days away, I'm ready to go!

What's new?

This little guy!

Jack Gifford was born on September 6th, and Dana & I have really been enjoying being a family now. 

So, I think I can be forgiven for not updating my blog in a while.  Right?  I've mostly used my blog as a platform to write about my training, racing, and recovering.  Before we had our baby, I talked to Dana about wanting to keep training.  I've found that I have to be much more efficient with my time (stretching, huh?) but after taking a consistent & balanced approach, I'm healthy and in as good of shape as I've been at any point since college. 

As if parenthood isn't enough of a challenge - and believe me it is - I've signed up for the California International Marathon on December 6th. 

I'm sure Jack will make occasional appearances here, but in the coming weeks (hopefully) Dana and I will set up a baby blog.  I love when people I don't know stumble across this blog, and take it as a very nice compliment to receive comments.  But in a crazy occupy this occupy that world, I think it's best to have a private blog if we're going to give info about the comings and goings of our family.  So, if you're a friend or family I'll be happy to give access once we set it up (you can email trackgiff@yahoo.com).

Finally - let's go Stanford & beat those Ducks!