RECAP---THE TOLEDO GLASS CITY MARATHON

Mile 22

That pained expression was frozen on my face for the last 4 miles!

 

 



I had a great day on Sunday at the Toledo Marathon with family and friends. The race was enjoyable but unexpectedly challenging. The support from family and friends was amazing. I am now recovering at home. I felt terrible for about an hour after the race-extremely sick to my stomach and fatigued. I had to sit down and slowly rehydrate. After a long soaking in the bathtub, I started feeling better. Man, does the marathon beat up an old body!

The course had a lot of turns in the first half. We hung out with the 3:15 pace group for the first six miles. Unfortunately, we kept getting stuck on the outside of the turns. This forced us to run extra distance as indicated by my running partner's gps watch. We moved ahead of the group to get a better angle on the turns and ran 7:20s until we turned back into the wind at the halfway point. The last 12 miles were brutal against the wind.

The last six miles of a marathon are the ultimate test of mind and body. Yesterday was no exception. There were times when I thought I was in trouble, times when I thought the mind or body would fail me. Fortunately, I was able to keep putting one foot in front of the other to the finish line.

Good news! I was able to set a personal record of 3:14:08 (old record--3:16:31 at Pittsburgh) which should qualify me for the Boston Marathon. I was also fortunate to win my age group.

I had several friends and relatives do well today. Chrissy Lewis, my training buddy, also qualified for Boston with a 3:18:05, finishing second in her age group, and also establishing a new pr . Melanie Schulte ran a 3:14:39 and qualified for Boston and finished second in her age group. Josh Marshall, my daughter-in-law's brother, ran his first marathon in a good time of 3:25:47. My son-in-law, Josh Taylor, ran the half in 1:35:32 as a training run , and my other son-in-law, Ryan Shirley, ran the 5K in 27:21.

So many things can go wrong running a marathon. I am thankful and humbled I made it through today. I look forward to the possibility of running Boston in 2015  and continuing to post my progress and cartoons on this blog.

Happy Running!

Joe C. Ellis

THE DAY BEFORE THE MARATHON

Here we are, the day before the Toledo Marathon. The Moment of Truth is one day away. Will our difficult winter training pay off?--those days of running ten to fourteen miles into winds that took the temperature below zero. Will those exhausting long runs, those eighteen and twenty milers make a difference? Can I accomplish my mid-range goal of breaking 3:30 in order to confidently qualify for Boston? Will I be able to eclipse the more challenging goal of running under 3:20 and possibly place in my 55 to 59 age group?

Today these questions are running through my mind. The answers will definitely be influenced by decisions I make today and early tomorrow morning. Decisions, decisions, decisions--simple decisions like what will I wear? What will I eat? What pace should I go out at?

I took a look at the weather for tomorrow morning in Toledo on weather.com. Race time: 7:00 a.m.-- 40 degrees and 8 mph winds. Finishing time: approximately 10:30 a.m--44 degrees and 10 mph winds. For me, the conditions are almost perfect except for the wind, which isn't that bad. Right now my decision is to wear a mirco-mesh short-sleeve shirt. It will be cold, especially if the wind kicks up, but I'm worried that a long-sleeve shirt would contribute to more dehydration.

Right now my most difficult decision is what shoes to wear. My racing flats are like feathers but don't provide much support. My training shoes are at least twice as heavy as my racing flats but have plenty of cushion and support. Right now I am leaning toward my light racing flats, knowing how heavy my legs got on the long training runs.

What to eat? I definitely don't want to overeat today. I had a light breakfast of waffles and coffee. We will eat at a restaurant, probably in Dover, Ohio at lunchtime. I think I'll get some kind of pasta dish. This evening a big family dinner is planned at my daughter-in-law's brother's house in Toledo. I'm sure there will be plenty of great runner food there because six of us are running the next day. However, I need to be careful not to overload, leaving too much undigested food in my system. I'll try to dish out medium portions. For breakfast tomorrow morning I plan on bagels with peanut butter and jelly two hours before the race.

Pacing? To break 3:20 I need to average 7:37. I may go out slower than that the first couple of miles and then slowly catch up to that pace halfway through. I'm sure the crowd will help to keep me from allowing the adrenalin rush to take over. Running too fast in the early miles would definitely be a tactical error I would pay dearly for later in the race.

I hope to post my results sometime tomorrow afternoon on this blog and on Facebook. Thanks to all of you who took this journey with me. If I don't qualify for Boston, this will be my next to last post. If I do qualify, I'll keep posting until I make it to the Big Show. Thanks for all your prayers and support.

Happy running,

Joe C. Ellis

ONE WEEK UNTIL THE MARATHON and a new Running Cartoon.

First of all, I want to wish all those who are running the Boston Marathon the very best! Keep safe. Run hard. Be Boston strong. My prayers are with you.

One week and one day until the Toledo Glass City Marathon. I'm excited, definitely, but also a little fretful. I've only run one marathon before--the Pittsburgh Dick's Sporting Goods Marathon back in 2009. Back then I had a good day, running 3:16:31 and finishing 6th in my age division. That was five years ago. I feel like I'm in fairly good shape, but I'm five years older. The good news--I get to move into the 55-59 age group.

To qualify for Boston provisionally, I need to run a 3 hours and 40 minutes. However, that time is not guaranteed to garner a Boston entry. To do that I need to run 3:30 or better. I'm aiming for 3:20. I've read that for every year you age over 40, you lose at least a minute on your marathon time. That makes 3:20 a fairly challenging goal. Hopefully, the ten-minute cushion will be enough if things go south.

I've looked over the entries in my age group. Several men 50 to 59 have entered predicted times faster than 3:15. I entered 3:25 which ranks me about 7th or 8th. I hope to go out under 7:35 per mile and hold it as long as I can.  I ran a 13-miler today at about 7:20 pace. Right now I don't feel any pulls or strains, but tomorrow morning will be the real test. Next week I'll run easy five and six milers in order to fully recover.

My biggest worry--sciatica. I haven't had sciatica pains in the last 8 years but earlier in my running career sciatica took me out of competition for about ten years. Excuse me. I need to go knock on wood. Sciatica pain would be torture during the marathon.

Running the marathon is one of the most difficult physical and mental challenges a person can take on in life. However, I know many people who are facing much more difficult challenges than running a marathon. I have friends who are battling cancer. I know others who are working difficult jobs and then rush home to take care of elderly family members and grand children. Others have lost several loved one in the last few months. These kinds of valleys are much more exacting than running 26 miles.

Yes, I'm looking forward to running the marathon. It will be challenging. But my prayers are with those who are facing much greater challenges. May God give strength.

Happy Easter!

Joe C. Ellis

WEBARK 5k RECAP and a new Running Cartoon of the Week

What a beautiful day for a race--the Webark 5K in Glendale, West Virginia. This is one of my favorite Ohio Valley races. The race director, Tom Rownd, is a veteran director and veteran Boston Marathoner. He and his crew put on a first-class event with plenty of awards for both walkers and runners, door prizes, food, and drink. This is one of the most popular races in the Ohio Valley with over six hundred participants. The money raised from the race goes to the Webark "no-kill" animal shelter, an organization dedicated to providing homes for abandoned and mistreated animals.

Although the drive over to Glendale was foggy and the air a brisk 45 degrees, by 9:00 a.m. when the race started the fog was burning off and the temperature climbed into the 50s. I actually prefer the 40's, but I'll take the 50's any day. The race has become so popular that it can be crowded at the start. Old guys like me have to be careful not to get trampled by young studs and kids full of adrenalin. By the mile, the crowd had thinned out a little. I went through in 6:04, maybe a little fast for me.

I went through two miles in 12:15 and finished the race in 19:03. At 57 years old, I am having a more and more difficult time breaking 19 minutes. Hopefully, at some 5K this season, I'll break it. One of my former cross country runners, Cedric Robinson, won the race in around 16:30. My training buddy, Chrissy Lewis, took the women's race in 19:55. My son-in-law, Josh Taylor, surprised me by finishing fourth overall and running 18:29. I thought for sure I'd beat him today because of injuries he had been nursing most of the winter. No way did that happen. He was over 30 seconds ahead of me.  He hopes to qualify for Boston in early September. Another notable time was posted by my friend Wayne McCracken--18:34--that is fast for a 54 year old! All in all it was a great time, great weather, and a great race.

The last two weeks before the marathon has arrived. We will basically be doing easy distance and cross training every other day. Nest Saturday I hope to run an easy 13 miler, the last long run before race day. Time to cut back and rest up. Have a great week of running!

Webark 5K finishers: Ryan Shirley (son-in-law), Josh Taylor (son-in-law), me, Chrissy Lewis (training and coaching buddy), Ed Liberatore (fellow teacher)



LAST LONG RUN BEFORE THE BIG RACE and New Running Cartoon of the Week

Yesterday we finished the last 20-mile run before marathon day in three weeks. I wanted to average under 8 minutes a mile. At 10 miles we were at 7:53. Unfortunately, a storm was rolling in. When we turned around, we were hit in the face with 20 plus mph winds. The rain felt good on the 65 degree afternoon, but soon we were soaked, running the last eight miles with soggy shoes. We gave up trying to keep it under 8 minutes a mile and ended up running an 8:10 average.

We felt incredibly exhausted and sore at the end of the run and wondered how in the world are we going to run 7:27 miles for 26 miles on race day? Right now it doesn't seem possible, but hopefully, after a few weeks of tapering, we will have fresh legs.

After the run we tried drinking chocolate milk. We keep getting reports that chocolate milk is the perfect recovery drink--it has just the right combination of proteins and vitamins to speed healing. When you're dehydrated and your throat is dry, chocolate milk isn't the easiest thing to get down.

Today I'm feeling tired but okay. No severe aches or pains. Monday we'll run some kind of speedwork, take it easy the rest of the week, and race at the Webark 5K in Glendale, West Virginia on Saturday. In two weeks we'll do an easy 13 miler and then fairly easy runs until the race.

Before you know it we'll be standing at the starting line. The day of destiny and time of testing will be upon us! Have a great running week . .. . . . .  Joe C. Ellis