Oklahoma City Marathon 2016/04/24; OKC, OK

_goal

Injury free.

I went to the pacing booth at Expo.  I was greeted by Lindsey Gin.
“Which group do you want to run with?”
“I want to run 4 ~ 4.5 hours.  Which pacer in this range is the prettiest?”
“If you run 5 minutes faster, you can run with me.”
“OK”

6:30am start was a challenging with uncertain parking in the unfamiliar city.

_race
I ran by heart rate--10 beats within Maff.  Pace hovered around 9:00 min/Mi.  Lindsay’s group caught me at mile 6 when I ran with a Marathon Maniac.  3 marathons in 90 days was the qualifying standard to wear the loud shirt.

Lindsay was a rock.  She held constant pace expect for her potty break.
The co-pacer Brandon was a rock star—like Norm in “Cheers,” everyone knew his name.
Brandon struggled with me during the final miles.  I didn’t really hit the wall—the brain just got tired of holding the same speed.

_shoe
I had a blister 1 hour into the race.  Altra Provision didn’t work as well as Instinct.


_alcohol
Endurance races seem to inspire spectators to offer food and beers.  They usually came in the form of small cups holding watered down alcohol—Miller 64 and Michelob Ultra.  The sole beer stop at OKC offered real beer (Ironically OK was infamous for its 3-point beers).  My heart rate spiked within seconds.

[spike screenshot at 3:00]

I never felt so strong at end of a marathon.  Brandon and Lindsay encouraged sprinting the final yards.
Finishing pace: 6:04
Finishing HR: 178

_#’s
GPS Garmin Forerunner 910XT
Distance: 26.42mi
Time: 3:54:21
Pace: 8:52
Heart rate: 155/184

Chip
Distance: 26.2 mi
Time: 3:54:13
Pace: 8:56
Place: 261/2225

_afterward
Visited with Coopers for couple hours.  It was great to get to know Chris.
3.5-hour drive from OKC was hard on lower back.

Irving Marathon 2016/04/17; Irving, Texas

_goal
4:29
Run with John for a few miles for his first marathon (John’s guesstimate pace 9:00min/M).
Save enough legs for OKC Marathon following weekend.

_race
John was feeling good and seemed to run a little faster than he should.  I felt OK at 9:00 pace.  The elevation change was barely noticeable.  Casey volunteered and handed us his private energy gummies.  Yummy.

_cramp
John’s longest run prior to the race was 17 miles.  John cramped near half marathon.  We started to walked small sections.

The course has several out and back U-turns.  We re-passed the same runners several times

_ flirting with the Oprah Line
In-trouble runners tend to bunch up near the Oprah line after mile 22.  We averaged just below 10:00 pace by now.

The girl from Mexico felt discouraged and required a human pacer.
The Baylor kid also lost motivation to run.
The big-bicep guy in neon looked about to pass out.
Everyone seemed ready to quit, but our cars were parked at finish line.  We continued the march.

I was proud of John's maintaining sense of humor.

[happy and skinny.  I need to eat more.]

It felt good to be part of John’s athletic milestone.

_#’s
GPS Garmin Forerunner 910XT
Distance: 26.29 mi
Time: 4:23:23
Pace: 10:01
Heart rate: 144/169

Chip
Distance: 26.2 mi
Time: 4:24:30
Pace: 10:06
Place: 83/205

_afterward
Indian buffet at Our House was delicious.
Signed up for OKC Marathon in 8 days.

Big D 2016/04/11; Dallas, Texas; my slowest marathon

_motivation
After watching Barkley the documentary, I felt I shortchanged my running life by craving too much comfort.  I decided to run more marathons.

_nutritional experiment
After years of learning from Maffetone and others, I liked to think I was fat-efficient at lower heart rate.  I tested running a marathon with minimal carbs.

I made a point to minimize carb intake 48 hours prior to race.  I skipped the usual jelly bean at the start line.

“How bad can it be?”  I mentally go through the worst case scenario: passing out after mile 20; the runner behind me or a spectator would alert volunteers or law enforcement.  But chances are I’d just walk during final 10k—like Ben Greenfield’s 2013 ketosis for his farewell Ironman Kona.

My past emulation of Greenfield’s experiment: minimizing electrolyte intake at Montreal 24-hour.  I ended up with sever cramp and a story to tell

_goal
Go easy enough to recover for next 2 marathons.

_race
Pace Raluca for 5 miles at 9:30 pace.  We ran with Tanisha for a few minutes.  It was great to see her.  The twin from Cowtown passed me.  They looked serious.

I pace a 6’6” 25-year-old Mark at northern bridge.  His long legs were awkward at the pace.

_dehydration
The twin stopped after out-and-back.  One was puking against a tree.
I didn’t feel too great myself.  I felt dehydrated and lacked energy.  I tapped out planned pace but felt weaker with each mile.

_hypoglycemia
I started to crave sugar.  This hasn’t happened in years.  I came to water station near mile 14, “anything with sugar?”  “Sorry we only have water.”  Can’t say I didn’t ask for this.  This would be a long day.

Help came at next stop at mile 16.5.  It had banana.  I foolishly assumed calories would also be available at upcoming rest stops.  The remaining calories came from spectators.  I didn’t expect I’d beg for food.

_4:15 pace group
I was caught by the pacers after half way mark.  They shielded me from wind for couple miles before I let them go at a climb.

_walking
I started to walk all the climbs.  My brain urged me to stop running but legs jogged at comfortable pace—this was Ironman all over again.  I ran-walked and waited for 4:30 pacer.

_ flirting with the Oprah Line
4:30 pacers were 2 Japanese ojisans.  They made it clear the most important thing at marathons and life was post-race cold beer.  Their enthusiasm was contagious but not enough to make me chatty.  I focused on tapping out 10:30 pace.

_#’s
GPS Garmin Forerunner 910XT
Distance: 26.37 mi
Time: 4:29:11
Pace: 10:12

Chip
Distance: 26.2 mi
Time: 4:29:51
Pace: 10:17
Place: 184/546 (491 finishers)

Oprah’s 1994 Marine Corps time: 4:29:20
My April 2014 Irving Marathon time: 3:23:48

_aftermath
I felt dizzy walking toward the car and went to the ambulance to measure glucose—it matched how I felt.  Coconut water + Starbucks Frappuccino resolved the immediate medical issues.

We left Fair Park on schedule.  Garden Restaurant was out of lobster—of all the emotional up and downs during last few days, missing out on cheap lobster felt the most tragic.

Picked up Aiki from her first boarding after hot tub.  Seeing a happy Aiki was so gratifying.

Order too much food at Sichuan Folk dinner.  Very tasty.

Walking wasn’t too difficult after the satisfying meal.  The immediate challenge was to get enough sleep before work.  Mazda and Amex projects continued passed their deadlines—life is a constant stream of little and big struggles.