Race Reports

Sacramento Cowtown Half-Marathon Race Report

I really had no business running a half-marathon yesterday. I’ve run a total of 7 pain-filled miles over the last two weeks. But I’m a stubborn bastard, and after stupidly registering for a bunch of races in advance, I simply forced myself to run them. I toyed with the idea of running the 5k, but I figured it would hurt just as bad for less payoff. So I went for it.

The Lovely Mrs. A. and I got to William Land Park in plenty of time (she ran the 5k – without a chip, because she just likes running. I should learn from her.) and sat in the car until about 15 minutes before start time. Except as we approached the start, I realized I really, really needed to use the latrine. So I got in the humongous line. People in front of me started to freak and bail out of the line because the race was about to start, and I was fruitlessly trying to explain to them that there was a timing mat at the start, so it didn’t much matter when the race started. There were more than 3,300 half- and full marathoners, so it was going to take awhile anyway.

I finish my business, trot out to the start area, and guess what? I’m by myself! I begin my run, and as I cross the timing mat, my friend, race director Rich Hanna, announces over the loudspeaker, “And there goes Mike Antonucci, giving the rest of the field a head start.” Awesome.

So, here I am, absolutely dead last, running behind 2,863 other half-marathoners. It was a weird and wonderful experience. If you’ve never done it, you should try it, but not in a race in which you hope to PR. It’s a whole different scene back there. For one thing, there’s a LOT of chatter going on. It’s more like a party than a race. People spread out and there isn’t much jockeying for position. I tried not to waste energy dodging people, but when they’re strolling nine abreast, having a great old time, well, you’ve got to work around them.

In the first mile I passed people right and left, and since the race had pace leaders, I soon caught up to the 2:30 leader, then the 2:20 leader. At mile 2 I caught the 2:15 group. It was great fun speeding by everyone but I realized I was eventually going to find my peers and then run an actual race.

Mile 1 – 9:13
Mile 2 – 8:52
Mile 3-5 – 26:34 (8:51 avg.)

I found a pretty steady pace, and things were going much better than I had anticipated.

Mile 6 – 8:44
Mile 7 – 8:50
Mile 8 – 8:52

The best part of the day was hitting the turnaround point and while running the next stretch, seeing a LONG, LONG line of people, all of whom I had passed to get to where I was. It made me feel terrific even though I was running a very sub-par race.

Mile 9 – 8:51
Mile 10 – 9:09

All good things must come to an end, and while my leg held up pretty well throughout, my poor conditioning began to take a toll. I took two three-minute walk breaks on the home stretch.

Mile 11 – 10:45
Mile 12 – 10:32
Mile 13 – 9:23
.1 – 1:03

I thought I had an outside chance at breaking two hours, but I couldn’t move them any faster. I was struggling at the finish, but got a good laugh when the race announcer called my name over the PA system, then added, “That’s the guy who gave everyone the head start. He must have passed a lot of people.”

Finish – 2:00:50
986th out of 2,864
53rd of 111 in 50-54 age group

They loaded us down with food, then gave us the coveted Cowtown cowbell medal (my fourth one). I located the Lovely Mrs. A. and she led me over to the Fleet Feet tent, where I sat and chowed down. After about a half-hour, I had some trouble getting up, then I limped my way back to the car. I iced the leg for a long time, but this morning it hurts to put any weight on it.

So I’ve managed to go more than a month and run four races in three weeks on a bad leg, but the silliness must stop. I’m out of commission until this gets better. It puts my targeted marathon in the extremely unlikely category, but I’m used to that. In the meantime, I can soothe myself with thoughts of those 1,879 people I passed.

Maui Half Marathon Race Report

Let me begin by saying I’m THRILLED with how my race turned out. You may wonder why I say that because it was my third worst half-marathon time of the 12 I’ve done. The only two that were worse also took place in Maui. That’s because Maui may be the best place on Earth to relax, swim, snooze or meander, but it’s not that great for quality distance running. Just for context, the winner of the women’s marathon ran a 3:14 – seven minutes ahead of the second-place finisher.

The half-marathon begins and ends at Whaler’s Village, in the middle of hotel row at Kaanapali. The course is flat and much of it is along the shore, making for a very scenic run. We all lined up in the dark, and while the clock started at 5:30 (which is when the marathon began on the other side of the island), our race didn’t begin until five minutes later. Also, they didn’t use chip timing, which meant clock time was different from gun time, which was different from individual time. Needless to say, I started my watch when I crossed the starting and finish lines and relied on it exclusively.

My goal was to go sub-2, which should have been a piece of cake considering my training runs leading up to the race and my mile race on Saturday afternoon.

Mile 1 – 9:49
Mile 2 – 9:21
Mile 3 – 8:38
Mile 4 – 9:45

The first four miles take you down the highway to Front Street in Lahaina, and two things became clear very early on: 1) the sun had just come up, but it was already hot with no breeze; and 2) at least a few of the mile markers were off. I had grape Gatorade with me, and there were plenty of aid stations, so I figured it would be fine.

Mile 5 – 9:14
Mile 6 – 8:46

I hit the turnaround point at 59 and change, so I was right on target, but I was soaked to the skin and I knew my heart rate was way up. I resolved to keep mucking along until mile 8 and then see if I needed to revise.

Mile 7 & 8 – 16:37

My average pace to this point was 9:01, which I was pretty happy with, but I was boiling over and dialed it way back for the home stretch. The mile markers on the return were massively screwed up, since the half-marathon markers should have been 0.1 further down the road from the marathon mile markers, and they were more like a half-mile down the road. I crossed the finish line 6:25 after I crossed the 12 mile marker, to give you some idea.

I took it nice and easy the whole way back, enjoying the supportive crowd and the view. My only complaint is there were no ice-cold sponges this year, and we could have used them in the 74 degree heat and 83% humidity.

I took 54 minutes to cover the last 5.1, giving me a finish time of 2:06:12. As pathetic as that was, it was a Maui PR of more than 11 minutes, and good enough for 278th of the 1,020 finishers (18th of 37 in age group).

I got my plastic lei and medal, then posed with my grape Gatorade tongue.

Then I availed myself of the freezing cold shower.

One large Americano later, and I’m almost human.

If you ever get a chance to run in Maui or any other Hawaiian island, don’t pass it up. It’s a terrific addition to any vacation. But if you want to run for time, train in the heat and humidity and keep your goals realistic. Apparently there were quite a few heat-related problems for the marathoners.

Over the Puke Threshold with Maui Tacos

It was quite a week.

I won’t lay it out in one post, but it was a great experience all around. We arrived in Maui on Wednesday afternoon. The three-hour time difference led me to wake up at 4 a.m. on Thursday, so I had a little breakfast and got out there just before sunrise. I had a terrific run of about 8.5 miles along the coast, but the heat, even at that early hour, let me know what we’d be in for.

I’ll skip ahead to Saturday afternoon and the Front Street Mile in Lahaina. I’ll give you the photo-essay treatment. We checked in at about 2:30 and I got my T-shirt.

There were dozens of kids of various ages and the old dudes had to wait for all their heats to finish.

It was almost 5 p.m. and 83 degrees before we toed the line. Then we got our instructions from Forrest Gump.

And we’re off!

It isn’t always true for longer races, but standing at the start of a mile race, you can pretty much tell right off who’s going to be in front of you the whole way and who’ll be behind you. And I was right. I held a pretty good pace the whole way but the shirtless winner came in at 5:21.

Here I am at the finish. Though it looks like I’m moseying along, I came in fifth with a 6:46.

 It was good enough for a medal.

Unfortunately for me, there was no water or sports drink at the finish line and I was feeling a bit queasy. I sent the Lovely Mrs. A. to buy some. Fortunately for her and you, I was alone and unobserved as I retched up my lunch – fish tacos, rice and beans from Maui Tacos. While I was spewing, I could only think about how proud Viper would be. I’ve run a mile faster, but it was an excellent effort under the conditions, and the vomit just proved I gave it my all.

I felt immensely better afterward, and once I drank two liters of cold water, I was ready for dinner. After a shower and a change, we headed to a pizza place where I had an excellent dish of tomato-basil pasta. And I had less than 12 hours before the start of my half-marathon.

Buffalo Stampede

It was time to pay the price for pre-registering for all those races. I’m less than 100%, but I’ve been aggressively treating my leg with ice, rest and, when necessary, Advil. So I got up on Sunday morning for the Buffalo Stampede 10-miler, put on by the Buffalo Chips Running Club. I love this race because it’s a great distance and instead of a generic t-shirt, we got a fleece vest. Cool! Or should I say, Warm!

The race also has an unusual arrangement: If you travel slower than 10 minutes per mile, they start you out an hour earlier. It had little effect on middle-of-the-packers like me, but the front-runners probably ended up dodging a lot of walkers on the way back.

Anyway, it is a well-organized race on a flat course. The weather was breezy but pleasant. My only complaint was I failed to spot – if they existed – mile markers at 4, 5 and 6. I don’t have a Garmin, so there was an extended period where I wasn’t sure how I was doing. As it turned out, it didn’t matter much.

I ran the first mile in 8:57, then ran the remaining nine miles within the 8:26-8:34 range. It’s rare for me to find a pace and hold it so closely for that length of time. I felt pretty good the entire way and the leg wasn’t much of a problem. I would have liked to have been about 20 seconds per mile faster, and I had no extra gear at the end, but considering how I felt just seven days ago, I’m pretty happy with my performance.

I finished in 1:25:17 – more than 7 minutes off my PR, but a decent improvement over a similar distance just two months ago. I should probably give up looking at positioning. We have many, many amazing runners in this area. My time placed me 265th out of the 836 total participants, and 35th of 69 in my age group. Normally it would be a bummer for me to finish so low in my age group, but if I had PR’ed, I would have only moved up to 21st. These old guys are nasty fast.

No rest for the leg weary. I have two more races this week. I’ll explain tomorrow.

Race for the Arts 5k

This was my first time running the Race for the Arts 5k. I have avoided it in the past because it’s held in the late afternoon, in late August, and I hate being late. But I wanted to see if I could improve my ranking in the Buzz Oates Run Sac Race Series and this was the last short race on the schedule that I could do.

It was 93 degrees at start time – I cut my usual 10 minute warmup short because I was drenched in sweat after a quarter-mile. I tried not to let the weather psych me out, but I wasn’t expecting anything special. There was a pretty good crowd (481 finishers) but that is far short of what you usually see at a 5k around here.

There was a starting mat, so I was comfortably ensconced in the first third of the pack when the horn went off. And of course, since I was already warm, I started off like a maniac, passing a lot of runners right off the bat. Even while I was doing it, I began to worry about the last half-mile. Nonetheless, I maintained the pace I was on.

Mile 1 – 7:21

That’s an awesome first mile split for me, and it usually predicts disaster for the latter stages. I settled into a steady pace behind two young guys and one white-haired old-timer who matched them stride for stride. I distracted myself by watching how they were doing.

Mile 2 – 7:26

I slowed a little, but I couldn’t hear anyone behind me and the three guys in front of me were starting to flag. I heard the old-timer say to one of the young guys, “Let’s pull each other along.” Their fatigue encouraged me a lot, and I took the opportunity to pick up the pace and pass with authority. I spent the rest of the next mile trying to ensure they didn’t come back on me. Strangely enough, I hardly noticed the heat.

Mile 3 – 7:21

A PR was out of the question now, but I was determined to come in sub-23. There were two older runners just in front of me at the final turn (where the hell do they get the speed?) and I put the pedal down and managed to nose them out at the finish.

Mile 3.1 – 0:42

Finish – 22:50
91st out of 481
7th out of 27 in 50-54 age group

That time is 22 seconds off my PR, but it constitutes a 2 minute improvement in 3 months, and a 46 second improvement in a month. I absolutely credit the track work. I’m kicking myself for waiting all these years to find a track for such crucial workouts.

This was a real confidence boost and now I’m looking forward to the longer races this fall.

Memory 5k Race Report

Another gorgeous day for running in Northern California. The Alzheimer’s Aid Society Memorial 5k meanders in and around a cemetery and an upscale neighborhood with lots of shade, and the temperatures were moderate. Sacramento mayor and former NBA great Kevin Johnson was in the field, as well as former state assemblyman Lloyd Levine, but the real celebrity today was Austin Ramos of Fair Oaks, who won the race in 14:56. I can’t remember anyone else ever going sub-15 in a 5k around here. The second-place finisher was more than a minute-and-a-half behind him.

I ran an excellent and steady race, finishing with a strong kick uphill over the last 200 meters. But it did illustrate how ill-advised my Funny/Viper Challenge was two months ago. Even healthy and with some solid speedwork under my belt, I didn’t approach that whippersnapper’s 5k time.

Mile 1 – 7:41

Mile 2 – 7:35

Mile 3 – 7:34

Mile 3.1 – 0:46

Finish – 23:36
146th out of 953
14th out of 35 in 50-54 age group

I’ve only got one more 5k this year, at the end of next month. I might shave a little more off that time, but distance and endurance take center stage for the rest of the year. I’ve got a 14-miler tomorrow.

Coronado 15k Race Report

I had a good time today running the Coronado 15k. For those of you unfamiliar with California geography, Coronado is an island off the coast of San Diego with about 26,000 residents and a lot of Navy ships. I’m staying in a hotel near the San Diego Convention Center, so I had to come up with a reliable and cost-effective way to get to the 7 a.m. start. Unfortunately, since it was the 4th of July it required getting up at 4:30 so I could get ready and walk the half-mile to the bus stop to get the one and only bus that would get me there on time – actually, about an hour early.

I can tell you there aren’t many people standing around at bus stops in singlets, shorts and bib numbers on a holiday weekend at 5:30 a.m. in downtown San Diego. There were, however, a couple of other runners on the bus when it arrived, so it was all “hail fellow, well met” after that.

I expected to see the 3,000 frighteningly fit runners in the start area. Even the old ladies look like they could crush your spleen. San Diego weather is so perfect you rarely have an excuse not to run. What I wasn’t expecting was how friendly everyone was. Total strangers started conversations with me about PRs, the route, and what pace I expected to run. A charming German woman practiced her English on me while I explained the old school, run-down-the-chute-in-order-and-tear-off-the-bib-tag-to-hand-in-at-the-finish timing system.

I brought a Clif Bar to while away the hour and then lined up at the start in the middle of a baseball diamond. The weather was wonderful… mid 60s with a steady ocean breeze. We started on time, but almost immediately bottle-necked for almost the entire first mile. But it had little overall effect on my race.

Mile 1 – 9:27
Mile 2 – 8:34
Mile 3 – 8:47
Mile 4 – 8:40

I’m pretty sure the second mile marker was a little off, so those last three splits are actually more even than they appear. The crowded start insured I didn’t go out too fast, so I was pretty comfortable.

Mile 5 & 6 – 17:28 (8:44 average)
Mile 7 – 8:33
Mile 8 – 8:31
Mile 9.3 – 11:12 (8:36 average)

Everything was exceedingly smooth, my splits were negative, but I didn’t exactly set the world on fire. I ran it at about the same pace as my last 10-mile training run. No better. No worse.

There was no chip time, but my watch read 1:21:12 at the finish, an 8:42 pace. I finished 473rd out of 1204, and 35th out of 60 in my age group.

So I’m neither thrilled, nor disappointed. It was “fine.” Time to start bumping up the distance when I get home.