Monday, November 13, 2017

The challenge of finishing last




Profile

Last Sunday I ran the Val Nolasco Half Marathon as a tune-up race for the Honolulu Marathon in a few weeks. The course is challenging in that it goes over Diamond Head out and back, with an extra bit up the backside of Diamond Head followed by a steep downhill on the outbound portion. The return route bypasses this section, but still includes a not insignificant climb up from sea level to what is know locally as Triangle Park, where the return route connects with the outbound route to head back to Waikiki. The marathon covers this same territory, it just starts in a different place and does an out-and-back before going over Diamond Head, and goes east a lot farther before returning to Waikiki.

At this point I intended to slip in a simple course profile, but ran smack into one of the challenges of data collection. My lovely Garmin 935 uses a barometric altimeter, much more accurate than GPS alone, but like all such sensors suffers from changes in barometric pressure. The weather in Hawaii has been especially unstable this week, and on Sunday there must have been significant upward change in pressure. The result is an altitude track showing a forty foot change in altitude for Kapiolani Park. You would think we lived on a floating Island.

Here is the altitude track from Training Peaks. I added the two red lines, which begin and end at the same location, just different times.


Did I hear you say, "No problem. Use altitude correction."

Yeah, in the past I tried that. For some reason the altitude data for areas where I do most of my running, and especially Diamond Head, is so far off that it only makes the data worse. Altitude data is not just to look at; Training Peaks actually uses it to compute intensity. Here is the same data with altitude correction previewed as a red line. I did not apply it.


Goals

My goals for this race were simple. Run all except the aid stations. Including that nasty climb up from Kahala Ave to Triangle Park, the one affectionately known as "That shitty little hill." You can spot it on the profile on the last big bump, the first part that drops a little before going up and over the top. That incline is deceptively steep, all the worse when your legs are tired. A related goal was to choose an intensity that I could hold throughout -- no walking -- but higher than my usual long run. Notice I did not say "pace." I have recently added a Stryd power meter to my collection of tech goodies. This would be my first time using it in a race. I also had a nutrition goal, to carry concentrated Infinit and consume with water from the aid stations. No gels, no salt pills.

I am a true believer in Matt Fitzgerald's 80/20 training concept. One problem with it is you never run much at race pace, until you have a race. This was my first race using Stryd, so I did not have any race power data to work from. I my review of recent runs I came up with this plan:

Run flat sections at 140 - 150 watts (zone 2)
Run hills at 150 - 160 watts (zone 3)
Recover at 130 watts (zone 1)

My long runs have been averaging around 130 watts, so I knew that would be an easy pace that I could always fall back to when needed. Those expectations were much too optimistic. As it turned out, my normalized power for the entire race was 130 watts. Average power was 126, so variability index came in at 1.03. This is a good thing in an endurance race. There were times I got into the higher zones. In fact I ran much of the beginning in zone 2, and hit a few peaks at zones 3 including that shitty little hill. I just did not sustain those higher levels for long.

Here is a plot of power showing zones (the extra wide light area at the bottom is zone 1, the others are more narrow and get progressively darker.(The entire race data can be seen here.)


I have been working on raising my cadence, and have made progress, but I am still well below what is generally considered desirable. Training Peaks give my cadence distribution as

30% 70 - 75
61% 75 - 80

The remainder is probably walking through the aid stations. The good news is the consistency, even on the hills, which means I am regulating my speed by shortening and lengthening my stride, which is good. Here, cadence is the yellow line.

In yoga, your world is your mat

I always do my run workouts alone. I have a plan, I execute the plan, some days better than others. I see other runners coming and going. Some I know by name. Others, just a nod. Running in races presents another challenge. Some races, like the Honolulu Marathon and the Great Aloha Run, attract a wide variety of participants, including people who never train and only plan to walk the route. Then there are races that attract only serious runners. This is always one of those. Quite the opposite of a fun run. As soon as the starting horn sounds they take off like hounds on the scent of a fox. You would never know from watching the start that this was an endurance event.

I lined up midway back. The route goes west a bit, then north on Monserrat, then east on Paki around Kapiolani Park to Diamond Head road. By halfway along Paki I was passed by everyone, including moms with strollers and a young Marine carrying an enormous backpack which I learned later in the day weighed 70 pounds. By the time Paki reached Diamond Head road, twenty minutes into my day, I seriously considered dropping out. I really did not relish being that guy everyone waits for at the finish. It is not as though I am 87. Plenty of runners older than me.

My first personal test was running up Diamond Head. I made it, and it didn't kill me. My power hit 160 watts a couple times, just like my plan, although my legs refused to sustain that level of intensity. As I rounded the top I felt pretty good, and had a nice recovery running down the east side to Triangle Park. From there I could see a few runners up ahead, so I was not completely alone.

If there is one thing I am worse at than running, it is yoga. I have had two yoga teachers, and both frequently remind the class not to compare your ability with others around you. Focus on yourself, on doing the best you can and striving to improve.  

When I got to the bottom of Kilauea I stopped and turned around to look up the hill towards Kapiolani Community College to see who was behind me. Nobody. I was in last place. Once again I was bombarded by thoughts that I should turn off at Elepaio and head back. Again at the aid station at the Aloha gas station. Only that would mean joining the throng already heading back only to be passed by everyone behind me, again. No, I drank my Infinit, which tasted great, and headed out on the highway. At first I was running past dozens of runners already on the way back from the turn-around, but by Wailupe they were gone, and I was really alone.

Just before Wailupe I passed the Marine, who had stopped to adjust his backpack. For a while it did not occur to me that I was no longer last. I must have figured he would pas me again. At Wailupe they told me the turn around was just head, at the flashing lights. As I approached I realized that the flashing lights where on the truck picking up the cones. They had already taken down the turn around spot. I ran to where I thought it might have been, at West Hind Drive, then headed back. That was when I met the Marine again. I told him he might as well turn around here. There was no timing mat, nobody checking. He was walking, so I walked with him a bit, which is how I learned he was a Marine. After a hundred yards or so I told him I better start running again, and left him behind.

After Kahala there was no more thought of turning back. I just did the same things I had done all along. Focus on good form. "Relaxed smooth ease," as Matt Fitzgerald likes to say. Watch the right foot strike, don't swing in and land on the outside edge. Hands high and relaxed. Back straight, shoulders back. Lift, lift, lift up out of the hips. Feeling too tired? Check the power. Throttle back to 130 instead of walking. Feeling better? Take it up a little. Uphill? Don't pull up the hill, shorten my stride instead. I always have the voice of Coach Dorian in my head, so in that sense I am not alone.

Back at Wailupe I tell the workers to cheer for the Marine. Again at the Aloha station, he is the last runner and not going well, give him encouragement. One more time at Triangle Park, the ten mile point. From there it was up and over Diamond Head. I was surprised I could still run, all the way up. No other runners in sight but lots of encouragement from other folks walking and jogging.

When I reached the east end of Kapiolani Park I realized that the Marine was probably just a few minutes behind me. I had already missed my sub 3:30 goal, so why not wait for him and finish together? Nobody wants to be the last to finish. So I stopped and waited a bit, then decided I was foolish to wait much longer with no idea how far back he was.

A funny thing happened at the finish. Absolutely nobody cheered. Nothing. Everyone there was packing up. The time keepers had already packed up the timing mats. This has happened to be before at these events, but there was always someone sitting there with a clipboard manually logging in the stragglers. I stopped my watch, then went off in search of someone to give my time to. I wonder if I will get an official time. I had to find my own shirt. The last one, a size gargantuan. Not at all like the marathon finish.

It was then that I learned that the Marine had dropped out at the mile 10 aid station. Possibly with a stress fracture in his ankle. He told the aid person he had not trained for this race, that he just decided at the last minute to do it and with a heavy backpack. Ah, youth.

So as it turned out I was the last to finish. I admit I cringe when I see times posted by friends, less than half of my time. My PR for this race is just over 3:30 so I would have been thrilled to get below that, but my time of 3:51:36 was what I predicted.

I may have been last, but I ran my race as close as possible to my plan, and finished without injury or duress. Tired, of course. But not too tired to drive home, shower, and have lunch with Pattie and her sister Lynne, and Mike, at Goma Tei. Their kontatsu shoyu ramen makes a great post-race meal. After that I slept for a couple hours.

Now, I suppose you can call this good news, it is my hip flexors at the front that are sore. Usually it is in back, the top of the glutes or the piriformis. That tells me I was standing straighter, not hunched over. One of my goals.

Thursday, November 9, 2017

Val Nolasco 2017 race plan




First off I must admit it has been awhile since I posted here. A few small changes resulted in greater demands for my time. Something had to give, and one of those things was this blog. Going forward I will try to be more regular. I might even return to the weekly summary. That review actually helped me to stay focused.

Since September I have been focused on running. As soon as the Honolulu Century Ride was behind me I switched my weekend schedule, doing long runs on Sunday and short but hard FTP bike workouts on Saturday mornings. I prefer it the other way around so that my legs are a bit fresher on Saturday, lower risk of injury, but Saturday afternoon gamelan rehearsals after a long morning run just was not working for me.

A typical marathon training plan has long runs ramping up to 20+ miles a few weeks before the race. The plan I originally devised followed that pattern, but eventually I ran into a problem (pun intended!) I was coming home dead-dog tired, and carrying high fatigue well into the week. The issue is pace. I am slow. Getting better, but still slow. My slow run pace does not get much above 18 min/mi. Several good coaches, including Joe Friel and Bobby McGee, say that training runs longer than three hours are of limited benefit. The musculature is as beat up as it ever should be while the risk of injury goes up significantly. Running beyond three hours means more time to recover, all the more so for us old guys. So, at my 18 pace a three hour run will get me about 10 miles.

One thing I changed was my route. Instead of walking to my starting point at Kahala Aloha gas station I now drive to Kapiolani Park and run over Diamond Head to Wailupe Park and back, which come out to be around 11 miles. Last Sunday I did it in 3:16. Not too bad. Average pace 17:50 and that includes running the hills. Intensity factor was 0.76, a bit higher than I would like but still OK. Average power was 123 watts, normalized power 129, VI 1.05 so good consistency. Average cadence 71, which comes as a surprise because I have been working on getting up to 80. But the cadence distribution bar chart shows I spent 56% of my time at 75-80, and 20% at 70-75. I guess I spend too much time walking at the water breaks. The good news is, when I am running I am close to the cadence I want to be at.

A couple more things before I get to my race plan. I now run with a Stryd power meter. I held out until running power was integrated into Training Peaks and my Garmin 935. Not quite there yet, but good enough to jump in and get started. Very happy with it, highly recommended to anyone already familiar with bike power meters. The other thing is not as profound. I read and follow Matt Fitzgerald's 80/20 Running. His premise is that too many runners spend too much time running fast. He spends a lot of time building a case for slowing down, doing 80% of their runs at a very comfortable pace and just 20% at a hard effort. As much as I want to go faster, I keep reminding myself of his advice and not push on the long run or the easy morning runs. Tuesday mornings are hill repeats, Friday mornings are tempo runs, the rest are all very easy. Turning to the power meter, my easy run effort is 130 watts. Quick note: running watts do not correlate to bike watts, and do not compare usefully between runners. So far it run watts seem to be highly individualistic. The key is to establish your zones and use them to regulate effort.

Which brings us to this Sunday's Val Nolasco half marathon. The key to my plan is to start easy at 130 watts, then beginning at the foot of Diamond Head run hills at 150-160 watts and flat sections 140-150. This is my first race using Stryd, so I will also be watching heart rate and RPE -- how I feel. That cruise power range may be too high, so I will keep 130 as a recovery effort should it become necessary.

You cannot have a race plan without nutrition, and here I have more news. I have started using Infinit sports drink. For the bike my mix includes some protein, same as Hammer Perpetuem, but for the run I leave it out; too hard to digest while running. Both include electrolytes, so I will not carry pills. Infinit works well at high concentrations, like Perpetuem, so I will carry three hours worth in a short water bottle. This requires that I take a mouthful of water before and after a swig of Infinit. I have been doing this for several weeks and it works great.

I really do not know what to expect in terms of finishing time. In 2012 I did it in 3:38. I did not run it in 2013 due to hernia surgery, and for some reason I did not run it in 2014. In 2015 I did 3:39. If I run at the pace I ran last Sunday, ten miles of most of the same course, I should come in at 3:53, so clearly I ran that well below race pace. Based on some short race pace intervals I did last Tuesday I predict 3:36. Why not reach a bit a try for under 3:30?