4th Best Day Ever (aka Nike Women's Marathon San Francisco 2012)

Writing this, I realized the attention span of the internet seems to have shortened significantly since my last race report. So here's a bunch of pictures and if you're still with me, down below I'll write a little bit about the race experience. 

The expotique @ union square

Heeyyyyyy Sexy Ladies - gangnam style at Nike (k)town SF

Crossfit Golden Gate

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Seeing some sights and eating some foods

Carbo-loading with Team Bernard. b.strong.

Getting my outfit ready

 Finish line at Lincoln & the Great Highway.

"Ready?" - Everyone and their mom

Constantly asked this. All I could say was 'I think so.' I said that, but I believed that of my 10 marathons, I was a much stronger runner both physically and mentally.


Fast Matt, a ridiculously fast marathoner and fellow CrossFit 858 member, had 11 weeks to get me ready for this marathon. After 3 weeks and an extremely slow half marathon finish, he was afraid I didn't have enough time. Normally, people spend 5 months training for marathon. With the second child on the way, time to train was something I soon will not have a lot of. It was this race or it might be never. Hesitant, he continued to  send me my training programs and kept track of my progress weekly via email. Fast Matt's training plan consisted of lots and lots of miles and lots and lots of circles ran around a track. His feedback was almost always positive and reassuring.

"You are going to feel great and the first half of the race will be the easiest first half you have ever run.  Try to stay relaxed." - Fast Matt 

I'm not going to bore you with the details of the first half, but the above was far from true. There were hills and then there were more hills. I barely came in at my goal split at the halfway point 1:59:19. One thing I'll note is that with 25,000+ women and (as I heard several times during race weekend) a few good men, I've noticed there's 2 kinds of women in the world: the kind you chase and the kind you run from. lol?  I finally ditched a group of chatty cathy's I encountered at golden gate park by mile 16 where I was met with JG, Roger, Cha and Lyman (who had been finished w/ his half for a while now). JG had a bottle of nutrition on me.  I wasn't necessarily relying on this, but glad she had it and the location couldn't have been more perfect. I had just over 90 minutes to traverse 10.5 miles

"19-21, you are going to start to feel heavier. There is going to be a tremendous desire to slow down...you are much stronger than in the past and... can maintain your pace and effort. At 22 miles, start thinking about all of the mile repeats you have done and how 4 miles is nothing." - Fast Matt

The lollipop out and back down the coast along the Great Highway and around Lake Merced was filled with slight rolling hills. Around mile 18 is where I started bargaining with myself. I knew I had banked some time despite the slow first half. If i held my current pace for the next mile, I can afford to slow down before I pick it up for the last four miles. As each mile passed, I found I didn't need or want that few seconds per pace slower relief. I was on the south end of the Lake now making my way back north and it was time to go.

The 23rd mile was met with hills that naturally slowed my pace. Shortly after passing the 23 Mile marker I came across a cheer station of Chinese drummers. Their enthusiasm got my feet turning over a little faster. As I passed directly in front of them, my left calf seized up on me. Cramp. I pulled off to the left and I stretched. Only the second time I've stopped in 3.5 hours (the first was to hit the porto-potty).

"When it starts to suck... don't quit. Because we haven't quit on you." - Bestie

I had been looking for a reason to quit and I found it. I stretched it out for about 30 seconds and weighed my options. I could hobble in for a PR or I could harden the fukc up. With just over 3 miles and about 30 minutes to go to meet my goal time (36 minutes to a PR), I chose the latter. There were people at the finish line waiting. There was brunch to be had. And the last thing i wanted to do was quit.

I still managed a 9:15 in the 24th mile despite stopping to stretch and it wasn't until the 25th mile that I realized how fast I was going - 8:30s?! The cramp had magically resolved itself and I was picking people off left and right. Kill shot - pew pew pew! I passed several people that had resorted to walking. I wanted to offer them words of encouragement because I've been there several times and it's the worst feeling ever, but I was in a zone. Mile 25 was complete in 8:34. With the exception of an all downhill mile in the early miles, this was my fastest mile of the race, until mile 26. With 1.5 miles to go (the total course per my garmin was 26.48), I knew I was going to cross well within 3:59:59.

"When we hear the music, we're going to go" One random NWM finisher to another with about 3/4 mile left.

I liked this strategy. And while still moving faster than ever, I didn't drop the hammer as I've often pictured myself doing. I was going to do this and I was going to do this comfortably. Mile 26 was complete at 8:29.

"Is that a tent?!" - same girls as above

The last few miles were spent focused on the road in front of me and when I heard this my feet picked up even faster. I looked up to see that she wasn't lying. There were tents now in eye shot and within a few strides I could see the finish line in the distance.

(Thanks Cha for the picture - the only friend that saw me finish)

 

I've often visualized what it'd be like to cross the finish line w/ my wife and my friends looking on. It was the best feeling ever and it kept me going during training when I was running mile repeats in the dark. With the crowd growing with each step I became more aware of my surroundings. I searched for my wife and friends, but I couldn't find them - they would've been hard to miss as they're a group of fairly attractive individuals. They weren't there. The personal record that I was about to set was just that, personal.

"3:56:29"

I took off my shirt and dropped to knees onto the red carpet lined finish area. A volunteer quickly pulled a wheel chair up along side me. Another volunteer handed me water and when I realized they were carting me off toward a medical tent and away from the finish line festivities, I thanked them and told them I'd be okay. Volunteers lined the next 50 feet, where I was met with a foil blanket, water, a banana, my finishers T and a bag to put them in before I came across what 25,000 women came here for: tuxedo clad fire fighters bearing gifts of silver wrapped in tiny blue boxes. One word: Magical.

"How'd you do?!" -wifey

 

I found an open space to sit, and found the nearly 8 month pregnant wife within minutes. I told her and she was super happy for me. The only person that has been at the finish line for all my marathons was almost unable to make the trip out to San Francisco. I'm glad we decided to ignore the doctor's orders. The weekend would've felt incomplete without her. Alanna, Marco, Phil, Janelle, Roger and Lyman followed shortly after and for a moment I felt like a champion. It was the 4th greatest day ever.

Three-Fifty-Six-Twenty-Nine

Yup, that just happened. A full race report to come over the next couple days...

"Tear it up....then burn it... then urinate on the ashes"

This was in response to a sample of a training program that I shared with a fellow crossfit 858 member, who's been nicknamed 'fast matt' (which is unfortunate for the other matt as he is, by default, slow matt despite being in the top 5% of all runners at our gym). Some of fast matt's PR's here.

Harsh? probably. Accurate? definitely.

If you're not familiar with my blog, it's the training methodology that I've followed strictly for my most recent 4 marathons over the span of almost exactly one year. Short, intense runs designed around my heart rate zones. It got me faster in every distance with PRs in the 5k, 15k and half marathon. But with each of my four marathon attempts, I came up short of my goal.

What fast matt was trying to convey was something I probably was in denial of admitting to: there's no substitute for miles on your feet. A strong heart means nothing without the proper training on your legs to carry you across 26.2 miles.

So 11 weeks ago I committed to a marathon program. I'm proud to say that for 11 weeks, I've trained to the best of my ability and 6 days from now I'll find out if my best is good enough.

Nike Women's Marathon. San Francisco. October 14, 2012.

Run Essentials/Excuses

Brooks Running's Facebook page asked the following question today:

While some people took this opportunity to be silly with comments like the one two below mine, the majority of others cited a number of material objects as 'essentials'. From a specific sports bra to iPhones; are these essentials or more excuses?

I can run if I brought the wrong pair of shoes; I look at that as cross training my feet. I can run if I forgot my watch; not everything has to be timed and exact. But I find if I don't have something to drive me, a purpose, it's next to impossible get up out of bed and run.

SMART goals

76 days ago I swore off alcohol. that lasted about 30 days or so. what i should've done was swear i'd stick to my training program. I could say work got in the way. Maybe blame it on an injury, but I just did not commit hard enough to the running. I found myself so consumed w/ getting stronger at crossfit, that i lost sight of why I started crossfit to begin with: to become a faster/stronger running.

What I've learned recently was the above was not a "S.M.A.R.T." Goal. SMART goals are Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant and Timely.

Specific & Measurable? Sure. You can't get too much more specific than 'no alcohol'.

Attainable? probably not with this work schedule and the stress/hours that come along with it. not to mention the happy hours, 'holidays', and bday celebrations in between.

Relevant? I'm not really sure. If I drink the day before the race, sure that's going to affect me. If i drink and it affects my training schedule, sure that makes sense too. But if i'm not committed to the training program to begin with, does my alcohol consumption have any relevance?

Timely? Definitely not. 110 day goal was a pretty lofty goal.

So with that said, I'm going to refrain from posting outrageous goals and focus more on putting one foot in front of the other. Today's goal. Crossfit 858 & CFE wod shortly after with the pup. btw, if you did the math, it's taken me approximately 46 days to sack up and admit defeat.

PM Update -

CrossFit858 wod (Workout of the Day) complete which consisted of heavy back squats and a met con of snatches and double unders. my last set of back squats was 3x185. I'm pretty stoked about this as this was my 1RM (rep max) ending 2011. I scaled the snatches on the metcon (metabolic conditioning wod) significantly as 135# is my 1RM (the below from crossfit games open workout 12.2)



CrossFit Endurance wod also complete. I almost didn't do this as I saw tomorrow's WOD on the running, but coming home to a puppy with way too much energy, I figured it'd be good for both of us. The Usnavi is a mix between pug, beagle and chihuahua and despite his size, is surprisingly fast. He's, at the moment, actually faster than me! towards the end of the 10x100M workout he would catch me, and actually cut in front of me slowing me down.

Crossfit Ry tackles 26.2

It's been decided: San Diego Rock 'n' Roll marathon 2012. Also decided: no alcohol to help facilitate training.

110 days.

Marathon Ry | Crossfit Ry

Marathon Ry ran up to 50 miles a week, with training sessions lasting up to 3 hours at a time | Crossfit Ry trains on average 15-30 minutes at a time

Marathon Ry was supported by friends and family at the finish, a fraction of the race | Crossfit Ry is cheered on by friends and family throughout.

Marathon Ry outran his wife | Crossfit Ry wods alongside her.

Marathon Ry ran to eat | Crossfit Ry eats to fuel.

Crossfit Ry takes better race pictures than Marathon Ry.



Check out Crossfit 858, like it on Facebook and tell them THE ryry sent you!

Marriage, like marathonin', ain't easy

My best man speech yesterday. One of the hardest things I've had to do, mostly because I didn't want to mess it up.



Hello, I'm Ryan. If you know me, you know that i'm horrible w/ names. If i met you today, I've probably already forgotten your name and if we've been friends for years, there's no way i remember how we met. Someone has to make a really huge first impression for me to recall these details. for example, there are only two people in this room, I remember the exact moment we met. the first is my wife Joangrace (who is as beautiful as the day i met her during senior prom) and the second, this man, Joey Ting. Somehow, he found his way to my 25th birthday 8 years ago. All i could think was, 'dude, who brought this dork.'

based on that first impression alone, you're probably wondering how Joey and I came to be BFF - that's a little tricky to explain. you see that which had brought us so close together is sadly no longer a part of Joey's life. he'll say he's better now, but i think he may be permanently injured...I'm talking about running. up until the point where he blew out his knees, Joey and I ran several races together, including two marathons.

Through the miles Joey and I became best of buds. And best buds by my definition help you move, let you crash and take you to the airport. Believe me, I've hit him up for all three. He's the ninong of my child and had I met him any sooner, he would have been giving the same speech at my wedding.

my most memorable moment came in our longest training run leading up to the 2007 Rock 'n' Roll marathon. I was late and rather than running ahead of me with the rest of the 200-300 people in our training group, he waited. The course was 22 miles long and although joey's way faster, we were side by the whole time and some 3+ hours later, that's how we finished, side-by-side, sweaty and shirtless *unviels giant card board cut out of the two of us running*. and yes, this will be raffled off along w/ the centerpieces.

that year Joey and I ran the first 7 or so miles the marathon together before he sped off to finish w/ a 37 minute Personal Best. And although I came in well behind Joey, I finished nearly 1 hour faster than the year before, a Personal Best at the time. I know i couldn't have done that without Joey's support each and every Saturday morning in the 5 months leading up to that day and i like to think I helped Joey to his fastest marathon to date.

Recalling these moments made me realize that marathons are like marriage. They're both long. have their ups and their downs. all your friends think you are crazy for doing it.

Now i'm no expert, but I have run 9 marathons and I've been married for 5 years... 7 years. And the bottom line is Marriage, like marathonin', ain't easy. both need to be respected. Both take work, require commitment. and neither should be entered into lightly. Dont think about today as your finish line. because like marathonin', it's about the journey and who you choose to take with you. Erika, take comfort in knowing you've found the best training partner possible. I hope you both push each other to personal bests on a daily basis.

to joey and erika!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Fail

This morning I was tired, it was cold and it took everything I had to roll out of bed to just be able to hit snooze. I did get up and put on my clothes, laid out the night before, but I was missing something. Motivation? Inspiration maybe? Maybe I'm just feeling run down from working the first 10 days of 2012.

In an effort to find some motivation/inspiration, I took the long way to the box for the 6am class. the way where I would almost always find a track club running doing his morning workout. he's a masters runner w/ race times a man in his early 20s would love. if it's raining, he puts on a coat. if it's dark, he wears a head lamp. and that's a how i spotted him this morning. he was a little farther along than normal and that's only because i was the one running late.

Get up. get out. get moving.