I’ve
run a 50K in California. The New York Marathon - twice. I’m not fast, but I’m not last. 2:07 PR in the
half set at the Ruskamaraton in Levi, Finland in 2002 (very fun race BTW).
Yet
somehow, between deciding to start running again in June 2012 (after an inexplicable
4 year hiatus) and toeing the line at the Zappos' Rock n' Roll Las Vegas Half Marathon on December 2, I forgot everything
I knew about running and had the worst race experience ever...
What
did I forget?
1) Stay
Warm
It gets cold in Evergreen, CO where I
live when the sun goes down. It does the same thing in the desert. Las Vegas is
in the desert. The race is called “Strip At Night”; i.e., you run after the sun
goes down. I bought arm sleeves on the way to the airport in Denver. I brought
a jacket with I could “leave” at the starting line. I had light gloves. I was
all set to stay warm. Left it all in my hotel room. The sun went down. I got really chilled waiting
in Corral No. 21 for my wave to hit the start line 40 minutes after the gun
went off. Started cold, stayed cold, ran cold. Not good for reasons that will
be even clearer in a couple of bullet points.
2) Asphalt
Is Not The Same As Dirt
I run on dirt trails in the mountains
around Evergreen. Love running on dirt trails. They go every which way but
straight. They go up. Down. Around. They are easy on your knees, legs and
everything else. Dirt is forgiving. Plus, for some reason, you can feel fast on
a trail even if you are going snail slow. Las Vegas is a city. Its streets are
straight, flat and have not been made out of dirt for a long time. My feet,
legs and everything else did not like Las Vegas’ asphalt very much. I hurt the
next day. Everything hurt. And I did not feel fast.
3)
Don’t Run in Shoes You Hate
When I started training for Las Vegas,
I at least realized that I couldn’t run on asphalt in trail running shoes and
so I bought a pair of Hoka OneOne road running shoes. And used those for my
long runs. And never, ever, liked them. They are weird and over-cushioned. As
far from barefoot running as you can get and still actually be touching the
earth. I ran in shoes I was not comfortable in on a surface I didn’t train on.
Much as you hate to give up on shoes you paid a bunch of money for, it beats
running in them in a race for which you trained months and months and hating it.
4) Get
There The Day Before.
Out of town race. Couldn’t get there
until the day of the race. No expo. Had to pay $40 for the privilege of picking
up my race packet the day of the race (Dear Zappos, This
seems like an extra horrible money grubbing price gouging exercise to me since
I’d already paid way more than $100 for the privilege of running the thing to begin
with). Stressful. Frazzling. Not conducive to being rested either. Need I say
more?
5)
Drink the Water
I know how to stay hydrated. I run
with two hand held Ultra bottles every time I go out on the trails even if I don’t
need them. With GU in the water and GU Gels in my pockets. I thought – great to
run a race where I don’t have to carry water – that will be fun. But not only
didn’t I carry water, I didn’t drink much of it either. In the desert. Partly I
blame the crappy water station set ups that they had, but that is not much of
an excuse.
So at this point, the halfway into my
story, I am frazzled, tired, cold, dehydrated, running in shoes I hate, and on a
surface I didn’t train on. But there’s more!
6)
Treadmill Miles Don’t Equal “Real”
Miles
No matter what anyone says, running inside
on a treadmill in front of the TV is not the same as running outside on the
road. I got the miles in but they were not
strong miles. And running on a treadmill is also not running on asphalt. I mean
it’s a great fall back, but it ain’t the same, and when you get to mile 12 or
so, you figure it out. Too late.
7)
A Long Taper For A Short Race Is A Bad
Idea
I tapered for two weeks. Two. For a
half marathon. I lost some edge in doing that. Too rested can be as bad as too
tired. This wasn’t the main problem by far, but it didn’t help.
8) Running
Up Hill Doesn't Train You For Running Flat
I ran hills. Lots of them. The only
flat spot around my house is the floor of my garage. Just taking the garbage
cans to the road at my house is exercise in mountain climbing. There are no
hills in Las Vegas. As far as I can tell, Las Vegas is so flat that every place
in town is slightly lower than every other place else in town. That’s flat. You
need to train flat to run flat. And IMHO the treadmill doesn’t count.
9) Don’t
Run Sick.
I ran sick. But I didn’t realize how sick. Its dumb. You can’t possibly have a good race. I felt it coming
on for a few days before the race. “Bronchitis,” I thought. “No big deal.” I’d
put in the miles, the time, the preparation. My sisters, nephew and S.O. and
spouse were there to cheer me on. I had set a modest goal of 2:16 vs. my PR of
2:07. I convinced myself I was OK. The first 5K was on target pace. After
that, on the flats of Las Vegas Blvd., it was all downhill to a final overall pace of
11:45 or something like that.
So,
let’s review, I ran the Las Vegas Half Marathon:
- frazzled,
- tired,
- cold,
- dehydrated,
- in shoes I hated,
- on a surface I didn’t train on,
- without enough real road miles,
- following too long a taper,
- on a pancake flat course having trained for hills, and
- I was sick - with pneumonia as it turned out afterwards.
And
I now that I have remembered all the things I forgot? I’m looking forward to my
next race. Which will be:
- on trails,
- in the mountains,
- in shoes I love,
- hydrated,
- rested.
- warm,
- and, with any luck, not sick.
You see, I may have forgotten everything I knew about running, but I haven’t
forgotten that I am a runner.
Thanks for reading!
