Denver Marathon - Freakin', Freezin' Rain

What can I say about the Denver Marathon on Sunday, October 14, 2007? A lot of things can be said. Sure there was Gatorade and water every two miles or so and the usual amenities. Bands conspicuously absent, hmmm. Even a water stop at 26 miles…26 miles. I was so strong that I skipped that one. That would prove to be my only strength that day. The rain, the freakin’ freezin’ rain was pouring early on Sunday. We all hoped it would stop soon. In fact, moments before the start, the rain did let up but, we all kept on our plastic bags and Saturn logo ponchos, just in case. Those dang exhibitors, always wanting you to “register to win” a car or something just to get a thin poncho to protect yourself from the freakin’ freezin’ rain. Of course, we swarmed around to fill out the form like Chicago marathoners vying for water.

Eight thousand of us were on hand this day. The Air Force jet fly over was called off due to the poor weather conditions. Was this some indication of what the day would look like? After the National Anthem we went off to the start line. For some unnatural reason I climbed over the barricade to jump into the 3:30 crowd. Funny, I know. But, I was not wanting to make the same mistake I made in San Diego or at Marine Corps, (lining up too far back and fighting through waves of folks holding hands, etc). We started right in front of the State Capital building, adjacent to Civic Center Park. Great venue for a race start and finish. Anyway, as soon as the race started it began to rain again. WTH? That would be the last time there was no rain. Let’s not forget the temperature made it up to only 36 degrees that day. I don’t remember ever been so cold. I was chilled to the bone. By mile14 I remember not being able to even feel my arms. From the shoulders down people, I was completely numb. This would have been an exciting sensation if it had not been for the additional 12.2 miles I had to finish and the freakin’, freezin’ rain.

Enough on my misery, let’s talk more about the race. The route was actually very scenic. It wound through the entire city and passed by the Governor’s Mansion, Coors Field (Where the Colorado Rockies whisked their way into the World Series – on Monday the news was remarkably absent of any marathon day events because the Rockies took over the imagination of every sports fan), and the bizarre Arts Museum. See photo, this place has been known to cause vertigo in some visitors. We ran through City Park, Cheeseman Park, and Washington Park before we headed to the finish back at the Capital building.

Because of the rain I bet there was positively no bands to speak of. Imagine that, me and 8000 other people can run in the freakin’ freezin’ rain but a few bands coward at the notion of getting wet for the benefit of our entertainment. I do faintly remembering one house where there was music playing through some cheap speakers in an open doorway. I chuckled at the conscientious attitude of the Denver spectators. They were not out in full force, but they were all very friendly and supportive. It is what I’ve grown to enjoy. Chicago and New York are notoriously too crowded with fans and Tucson is simply deficient supporters whatsoever. Denver on the other hand, is just right. I imagine there would have been more, conditions permitting.

Don’t think that I have forgotten to mention that Denver is literally a mile high. For us sea level runners this is a pretty big deal. Somehow though, the freakin’, freezin’ rain overshadowed the altitude. Sure, I noticed the insufficient levels of oxygen circulating in my thighs and my lungs burned a bit after mile 18 but, it was no real big deal. I was surprised actually. I thought for certain I’d throw-up by mile 6 but, I was OK.

On the Thursday before the marathon I was in Denver and wow it was so pretty. Warm but not hot, sunny but not too bright. It was perfect.

Fridays are usually perfect for visiting marathon expos and Denver’s was no exception. The web site boasted of the over 100 vendors to expect at the expo. I’d say they were short by 50 as the ball room was pretty small in comparison to a Dallas, Marine Corps or Chicago expo. Somebody could have made a mint on selling those tyvek jackets and pants. What a missed opportunity.

I was blessed to stay with real good friends I’ve known for nearly two decades so I did not have the worries of hotel accommodations or even menus at some quaint, Italian restaurant. Another friend in Denver took me around every place I needed or wanted to go. Therefore, I did not bother with renting a car or concern myself with any transportation issues. Sorry, I have no advice on that. The official hotel was the Adams Mark though, so I’m sure it wasn’t the lowest cost place in town.

This year the Denver Marathon welcomed the disappointed and disenchanted participants of the Chicago Marathon that unceremoniously ended the previous Sunday. Interestingly enough, I met one of these at the Expo on Friday. She didn’t seem too worse for the wear, though I don’t know if she ever finished Denver. Just think about it, one week earlier these poor slobs ran the hottest marathon ever, then the very next week they face the opposite extreme. They just can’t catch a break.

Overall, a great experience. I would certainly recommend this one if you’re a fan of medium sized, fast marathons. It was not hilly at all, I remember two, mild inclines. The finishing 352 yards was a kool, downhill sweep to the tape. On my way to 50 marathons, one in each state – no, I’m not a member of any 50 in 50 club. This was a slightly ignominious marathon completion for me but, 8 down and 42 to go. Never, never, stop running.

Tribute to My Running Group

I've been running with a group of runners in the area since 2004. Actually before that the only running I did was the occasional 2-3 miler at the gym on the hamster wheel. Or in my early days in the Military I thought 3 miles in 30 minutes was pretty good. I laugh out loud as I read what I just typed. 10 min./mile for 3 miles. That's hardly worth getting out of bed for these days. Unless it's the second part of a 2-a-day and you're just trying to get the miles under your feet. Even then your short distance fast runner friends would call you a bum.

But, I digress. Like I said, I've been running with a group of runners in the area since 2004. This group has been the best thing to happen to me in a while. Every morning, every morning, they run. Now not the whole group but, there are factions (all friendly) and between either the core group or any faction of the group you can find a run somewhere in the city every single morning. I don't know about you but, the thought that someone is "waiting" on me just helps me to show up. Now they are not really waiting on me and everyone expects that if you want to run with the group you show up on time. Because they won't "wait". So, I guess it's something like, "We will wait for you until it is time to go and then we're going". I like that because I can safely say that at 1 minute past 6am they are gone but, they positively will not leave before 6. I mean 5:59 is unacceptable to the group and is considered rude, we all leave together and we wait just in case that last minute person is still trying to get there on time.

I certainly would not be running still if it had not been for the group and all the new relationships I've developed out of it. Bunch of fun folks all ages and all speeds all backgrounds. Imagine that, a diversity of runners. Well they're income must be pretty up there. After all, the simplest, most natural sport on the planet still requires expensive shoes and technical shirts and shorts. And if you can afford the Garmin 305, you've got to get that, too.

Interested in more Garmin related stories? See these fine sites:

How Accurate is a GPS Running Watch? | ClearPathGPS - How Accurate is a GPS Running Watch? By Mick Doolan. There are many times that I have been asked, just how accurate is a running watch with GPS? Can they really tell you how fast and far you are running? As a case ... Timex Run Trainer (R.I.P. Garmin 305) « Running With T1 - After many, many miles of running with my trusty Garmin Forerunner 305, it recently kicked the bucket. I used RunKeeper on my iPhone for a while and I like it, especially for programming intervals and for the automatic posting ...

Finally, A Decent Long Run

So, this Saturday I ran 20 miles with my running group. It was the first long run in a while where I did not feel like I might not finish. The 18 miles two weeks earlier and the 16 miler two weeks before that both left me feeling like I might be done with marathons. OK. we all know that cannot be the answer. I'm really not sure why I've been so energy depleted. But, this run was quite a bit different.

When we start on Saturdays for our long runs we begin at the lake and run along it for about 4 miles before head out into the nearby neighborhood. The neighborhood is where the butt whipping begins. Between the numerous hills (mere inclines for some but, they're all hills to me) and the nasty camber of the streets, it seems like the stress never ends. After the neighborhood whipping we return to the lake for another 5k before reaching the end. The humidity adds its own brand of malaise to the run. No matter, we all prevailed.

Since I'm resting all my efforts on a strong performance at the marathon in December, West Palm Beach, I really should not over do it on the miles for the next few weeks. My plan is to run 20 miles of the Denver marathon and walk the final 6 miles. Of course, I'm not certain that I can walk 6 miles. Imagine that. I must have run 700 miles this year but I have little belief that I can do anything like 6 miles of walking. Maybe I'll do some form of the Galloway thing. How about 10 minutes of running then walking for a minute or run 5 miles then walk a mile. I'm still working out on some ideas.

Where Have You Been?

Well I've been through the desert on a horse with no name...It has not rained in this town in about a month. Funny thing is that just last month it rained 22 days. In June it rained 23 days and in May we had 25 days of rain. Dallas is not known for this so all us runners have had to spend the month of August getting reacquainted with the dreaded humidity and pure, hellayshish (yes, made up word) heat.Over the last three weekend I had a tough 16 miler, a nonexistent 12 miler, then a painful 18 miler. Today was a little different. I ran 12 miles again but, I did pretty well. I actually had a couple more miles in me for the first time in a while.

I failed to mention that during the week I've been doing those tempo runs with my fast running buddies. A little advice...It's always good to keep a few fast friends in your line-up so they can push you to better performance. The problem this month has been that they are just too dang fast. They're doing so well these days that when they run they talk the entire time with no real problems. Oh well, I guess they talk the whole time, they run so fast that they lose me after about 15 minutes.

That's OK. I'll muster up something for this week's tempo and be sure to hear their entire conversation.

14 Miles Today

On my way to the October 14th marathon in Denver I ran 14 miles today with my training group. This is the longest run I've done since the Austin half marathon in February. Felt pretty good. I'm trying to run with my own hydration system these days. I've tried the water belt, twice and hated it each time. Now I'm simply carrying a 16.9 oz Ozarka bottle. They have this new nipple deal that's very easy to pop open and sip on without getting too much in. Not bad, still mastering the technique of switching hands and all that.

My formula in my hydration kit includes one NUUN tablet. It is suppose to have 700 mg of electrolytes. I think this is important because I lose a lot of water weight during my runs. Somewhere in the neighborhood of 8-10 pounds in a marathon. You know that's all water and in order to maintain the proper weight you must take in water with electrolytes. So, I'm giving this NUUN a try to see if it can give me what I need without upsetting my stomach. I tried the Electrolyte Stamina Replacement powder but it was giving my belly all kinds of trouble. Additionally, my taste buds get very sensitive somewhere around mile 15. Too sensitive to tolerate the flavor in ESR.

One of my running buddies said I'm always trying something new and experimenting. Darn right, I'm going to find the right solution to give me all the advantage I can get. Too many times I found myself too weak to perform well near the end of a 26.2 and I know it's not because of my training. I bet losing 10 lbs during the process has something to do with it. If I can keep half that weight wonder how much better I can do. More to come. We'll see how it goes.

My Return to the Road

The most humid day of the year yet and I choose today to return to my running. I only ran the short 4.6 miler since taking two weeks off due to the relentless plantar fasciitis. How did it feel? I'm not 100% for sure but, I'm close to 80% or so. Let's see how the morning hits me. If you've had this itis before then you know that the morning is the tell tell sign that alerts you to your condition. Will I wake up with renewed pain or will my healing continue on? Check with me in eight hours.



If all goes well on Friday morning getting out of bed then I will prepare for a longer run on Saturday. Saturday is the day that our marathon training group does its long runs. Since we're just starting up, only 3 weeks now, Saturday's run is only 8 miles. That is no big deal for most of my running buddies and me because we run around our lake every weekend, which is about 9.5 miles. We do this when we're not in marathon training season and just want to keep up a base. All that to say, I'm fairly comfortable running 8 miles even if I've been away for a couple of weeks. The challenge is in the condition of my left foot. Running that distance this early in the game my lead to prolonged problems with my foot. I'm not really interested in risking that. Maybe I should just run out 2 miles and return, then grab a bike and meet the gang as they make their return trip to the starting point.



I think deciding to run the shorter distance would be a demonstration of genuine wisdom. However, I am a runner dag nab it, and we runners don't need no stinking wisdom...just run hard! Wait, wait, I'm a coach. Along with four other coaches, I'm leading a group of about 100 people who all wish to run a marathon or two this year. If one of them develops a minor injury and I recommend they rest for a couple of weeks or even three, how can I expect them to listen to me if I'm unwilling to listen to me? I would be truly disappointed if someone was forced to end their marathon pursuit for the year simply because they did not take enough time to heal from an injury. Basically, I must practice what I preach.



A guy at my job said to me today, "I know how much you love running and you plan to run until you're eighty. Right? Then it would be stupid to run too much now and risk a chronic injury". Good advise I imagine. I will listen.



BTW - There's no real chance that I will begin biking regularly. This bike I have now is a loaner from a kool running buddy who let me take it at the last minute last Friday afternoon. I was able to use it to keep pace with my group last Saturday morning. Clearly riding a bike works different muscles because it was quite challenging to get around on that thing. It really has been years since I was last on a bicycle. Sure you never forget how to ride a bike but, you certainly won't be as good at it as you were before.

Oh No, My Forerunner 305!

OMG! I get to my Friday run this morning (I don't usually run on Fridays, only when I've been slacking during the week) jump out of the car and turn on my trusty Forerunner 305. What? Turn on! Maybe I need to re-push the button. Nope. What the $#@$? OK, so when I get home I'll simply plug it back into the adapter. Nope, that didn't work either. Dag gum it. What is the problem? Will I lose all my saved data? My last ditch hope is the try plugging it back in and hoping that through some electronic miracle it will "fix itself". I'm no idiot, I'm just hopeful. If this does not work then I will capitulate and send it in for repair or replacement. I cringe at the very notion.