Ocean Drive Marathon~Post Race Thoughts (#27-NJ)

A Marathon First! (Warning: The immediate PP following may contain language and suggestions not appropriate for some audiences and may be just plain TMI)

This weekend was my New Jersey Marathon (state #27) at the Ocean Drive Marathon in Cape May, NJ. Ok so before I go into "The Good, The Bad, The Ugly" I need to address a "first time" event I had at this particular marathon. Today, I experienced... Boob chafing!!! Ok, ok I’m not going to lie (and you’ve seen picture)-- it’s definitely more of a sternum chafing-- but this is my blog so I’ll call it what I want… Deal? Ok Deal. I’ve never really had any sort of chafing, aside from the time or two I wore a textured tank top and the inside of my arms were a little tender after. This is good and bad-- Good because I’ve lost weight (I guess my controlled carb attempts are working), Bad because my sports bras are now too big.

The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly (This is the start of the G-Rated portion of the post)
The Good…
The race is run (mostly) near or along the ocean! The course is pretty nice-- mostly flat, with a few decent hills, mostly on bridges. Other runners were very friendly and I had a “you know you run too many marathons a year” moment when I realized I recognized a LOT more faces than usual. This is one of the few Jersey marathons, so of course a lot of 50-staters and maniacs would be in attendance. The weather was decent… cold with just a little sun. Once in a while I would feel a gust of wind with a little rain, then it would go away. Kind of like a little cooling system
The Bad...
Race shuttles-- This was a one-way marathon, with shuttles available to take runners from the finish to the start. Well we made it in time for the first one, but it was full (and small). The second one didn’t come for an hour (although the website promotes shuttles every 15-minutes), and still had a 30-40 minute drive, dropping us at the start just 15 minutes before the gun was to go off. There weren’t enough port-a-johns and with the 15-minute window to the start, we had no hope of waiting in line.
Race Port-a-Johns. I noticed quite a lot of potty stops in the first half of the race, but in the middle, they seemed to have disappeared a little. Of course, this was the exact time my body decided it desperately needed a stop! I made it to one at mile 17 and from then on I saw a stop about every 1.5 miles. Just my luck!
The Ugly...
Post-race food… ugh! They had bagels, some fruit, Chicken broth and water. Seriously? Now you’ll know how I feel about my food-- Kyle often refers to me as a fat kid stuck in a little persons body-- and I probably put more emphasis on food in my “race organization” category for my race ratings. The funny part was that last night at dinner I told MB that I was excited for the post-race food and hoped they had something good. My hopes were slightly crushed
No Timing Chips-- Now, this race isn’t HUGE, but judging from the port-o-john lines, it wasn’t exactly the kind of race you could forego timing chips either. This made the long shuttle wait even worse-- if we were late, we were losing time! Also, people were trying to line up toward the front to get a more accurate time, including some slower runners that clogged up the first quarter mile of the start.
Mile Markers-- The mile markers were extremely off! Mile 2 was at approximately mile 1.6-- making mile 3 very long. Then the miles seemed to consistently be .001 to .002 off through the rest of the race, then the last “mile” (as they had marked on the course) made up about a tenth of that. I was happy I had my garmin!

Overall: This 12-years of experience running this race, did not shine through in organization. If you’re looking for a quieter marathon with a subdued atmosphere near a beach (albeit too cold to jump in) then this race is decent, at best.

More information to come with my Ocean Drive Marathon~ Race Ratings!!!

Bataan Memorial Death March ~ Race Ratings (NM-#26)

Tagline: "Like no other race you've done before." Ratings...

2010 Bataan Memorial Death March ~ March 21, 2010
White Sands, NM~ White Sands Missile Range
Registration Fee: $65 early ($130 late) Teams (5): $225. No Discounts
Runners: 2614 Individuals & 224 teams of 5... total: 3,734 Competed
Available Races: 26.2m March or 15.2m March for individuals or teams of 5. Civilian and Military divisions. Light and heavy carrying divisions.
Average Finish Time: 7:43:39 (individuals)
BQ %: .5% (individuals)

(Pic Rt: The happiest pic of me running a marathon I've ever seen)

Overall Race Rating (weighted): 4.9/5.0

Average Calculated Rating: 4.7/5.0

~ This is an unbelievable race with a challenging, but fun, course. The only down side is that the race is in the middle of nowhere so you're going to face a little extra travel time.. but it's well worth it for the beautiful scenery, a VERY well organized race, and to show your support for the thousands of soldier there!

Race Director: Let's play race director...
~ The only issues I saw with this race, were not controllable by the organizers. The distance to an airport, obviously can't be changed. And it's hard to get a ton of spectators to the top of a mountain in a desert with no homes around. The only changes I would suggest-- that the organizers are in control of-- are medals! In lieu of medals, they gave out dog tags, but I think it would be nice for everybody to get a medal as well. I'm not sure how this is handled for other "marches."

Event Organization: 4.2/5.0 (now broken into 2 parts, see below as well) As far as "event organization" we'll go ahead and include things like Host hotel, website use, ease of travel to the event and to the actual race, etc.
Distance from Airport to Expo/Race: El Paso Airport... ~50 Min Drive
Rental Car Required: Yes!!
~ This marathon is not the easiest to get to... but then again we don't keep our military bases in the middle of crowded cities. And the treck out to White Sands, NM is well worth the trip for the unbelievable scenery. They suggest for travel to stay in El Paso or Las Cruces, NM-- we stayed in Las Cruces and it was definitely an experience. You get the true New Mexico feel-- I suggest finding a Mexican restaurant while there! Their website is well maintained with all the information you need. And they sent out reminders and important information by email in the weeks leading up to the race. Registration for teams is a little complicated-- the captain has to register everybody and only 1 name is confirmed in the active.com registration database. We were required to get to the base VERY early (4am-4:30am for a 7am start) due to the security at the base. This was a little annoying, but they had a giant tent full of breakfast foods so you could eat and get all your marathon prep in there.

There should also be something said about including all of the bataan survivors and all the branches of the military, encouraging them to take part. I think that's what really helps to make this race what it is! Also, if you chose to stay on base you had that options-- they gave you a bunk and breakfast!

Race Organization: 5.0/5.0

~ I never doubt the military with race organization! Similarly to Marine Corp and Dayton AF Marathons, these were well stocked and well organized for anything you may need. Port-a-johns galore! The aid stations had anything you needed-- water, real gatorade (some thought this was too much), fruit. In the middle of the giant uphill there were several trucks forming a giant misting cloud to cool you off-- I've NEVER seen that before! There was a spot going out of the sand pit with chocolate chip cookies! The course was very well marked-- I believe the posts may be permanent fixtures for the missile range. There is also a giant medical tent midway in the march that you pass twice.

~Post Race Food: Every runner was given a lunch after with burger/hotedog/veggie burger options, chips, drinks, fruit, fruit bars, etc. You could also go back up and buy more later if you wished. Oh and they had beer! There was also Karaoke availble post-race while we ate... Beer + Karaoke = not soooo great lunch music, but fun!

(Pic Rt: Some horrible entertaining singing done by some of the marchers.

Course: 5.0/5.0

~MarathonGuide Rating

Garmin Distance: 25.95

~ This course is unreal both for the challenge and the view! The desert-scenery is amazing!! (See pic). The climb to the top of the mountain is well worth the trip! The other scenery you get is the treck back down-- as you're coming down there are hundreds of people (mostly military) coming up and watching the heavy pack marchers is unreal!

The course itself is very cool-- but challenging. You start with a nice warm up on the flat base, but at mile 5 you slowly start the climb... up a mountain. The climb end around mile 13-14, followed by a roller coaster of small steep hills, bringing you back down the mountain! Then there is the sand pit... 2 miles of deep sand that's definitely not easy to run through, especially with the little dips and hills! Garmin distance was about a quarter mile short for just about everybody... but who minds a shorter distance???

Spectators: 4.5/5.0

~ Oddly enough, even being in a desert and climbing a mountain mid-course there are spectators scattered throughout hte course. Not huge heards of them... but small groups here and there. We also have a few miles where we spectate each other as the course crosses itself. The aid stations were also stocked with spectators which was really nice to have the cheering! The end of the race had a ton of spectators, including the survivors of Bataan there to shake your hand...










Pace Group: /5.0
~ NA

Runner/Corrals: 5.0/5.0

~ I LOVE running with members from the military-- they are always so focused and serious, but as soon as you yell to them, they are very excitable!!! We even found our own AF LT and commandeered him for the remainder of the course! We encouraged him and he encouraged us. We had a ton of fun being part of a team too! What a great twist on a marathon.

Expo: 4.7/5.0

~ "In Processing" (as they called it here) was pretty cool. You were able to get all of your things (bib, chip, dog tag, etc), then you could get a finishers certificate printed with your name on it, followed by a long table full of all kinds of marathon gear from Tshirts and hats, to chairs and commemorative coins. In the next room they had all the survivors from Bataan who were able to get in. You could get their autograph, including a popular author of a book about the march. Then there was another room where the team captains were sent to get a formal reading of the rules and needed to sign off. Very organized!

Swag: 4.4/5.0

~T-Shirts: The cotton t-shirts were very military in color (tan), and they had a very neat, simple design. Almost nice enough to wear casually. 4.6
~Medals: There aren't medals given out for this race, but in keeping with the nature of the march there are Dog Tags with the marathon logo and information. We were also given professional finisher certificates with our names printed. 4.2
~ Goodie Bag: N/A
Results...
Team Beauty and the Geeks...
Time: 4:18:24
Place: Overall Teams 3/224~ Division 3/24 ~ Gender NA ~ Age Group NA

 

(MB finishing strong... and looking like me-- kind of creepy)

(MB and I in post-race!)

Chicago is the new NYC! & Mega Marathoning Weight Gain

If you're subscribed to the Chicago Marathon updates, you probably received this by email yesterday...

How freaking crazy is that?? When did Chi-town become the new NYC? I guess it has been growing in popularity over the past few years. My senior year of college was the first year that they had to cap the race off early. I ended up happy to miss out, because that was the major heat-wave year when half the runners had to be turned around and couldn't finish. Well good thing I'm signed up...

10.10.10

Chi-town!!!

Mega Marathoning & Weight Gain?...

I'm almost half-way through these 2 months of what I'm going to call "Mega Marathoning"-- trying for 6 marathons in about 7 weeks: 3 in March and 3 in April, including the tough Bataan Death March and a double at the end of April. This weekend I'll be completing my NJ marathon (more details to come later this week).

One of the challenges I find that come with so many marathon is... (believe it or not) Weight Gain! As I've said before, I don't do a full taper because, well-- I'd be in a continuous taper! But, I do a sort of mild-taper, lowering my mileage a little toward the end of the week. Usually I take off the day before a marathon, and sometime I'll have to take off after, depending on how my legs feel. This becomes a problem as over time, my body has been totured so many times during a month, that it sucks up any and all calories that come in its path, soaking up fats and storing them for when it is sure to be taken through 26.2 again.

I've noticed that as I've increased the pace I participate in marathons and ultras, my body has started to handle weight loss and gain, similarly to a guy! If I take a few days off, I can put on weight like crazy. But, if I workout without a break for a few days in a row-- I shed lbs almost instantly and can't seem to consume enough calories. I also gain muscle very very quickly. Between the muscle gain, and the days off I need to take when I participate in so many marathons, I've started to gain weight. I'm fairly in tune with my body, so I can definitely feel the extra few lbs.

Carbs & Advanced Marathoning

Keeping that in mind, I've started following some of the philosophy from "Advanced Marathoning"-- or at least trying to. If it's a marathon week (as most are these days) I try to consume few carbs at the beginning of the week, and keep my runs at a slower pace that burns calories faster. Toward the end of the week, I'll pick up my pace a little and take in many carbs, hoping to store them for the marathon. This way I'll be carb-ready for marathons, but I'm not packing them on all week. They also note in the book, that starving your body of carbs like this, helps to actually store more when you finally allow your body to consume your favorite pastas and breads-- yummm :)

I'll try some of these methods for a few weeks... and keep you posted on what more I find in the book.

As always, check the Upcoming Races tab above for the states that are coming up and let me know if you'll be participating in the same races!

Happy Running,

Stephanie

Bataan Memorial Death March ~ Post Race Thoughts

Team Beauty and the Geeks:

This weekend I was joined by a team to take on the Bataan Memorial Death March. Teams weren’t organized in the 2 typical fashions we normally see: Relays and team avg times. Rather, in keeping with the military spirit of “no man left behind,” we were tasked with the goal of starting, running, and completing the challenging marathon together—only allowed to finish within 20 seconds of each other. If somebody dropped out, the whole team was disqualified, but could finish the race. This wasn’t a requirement for the race (you could run as individuals) but I managed to convince 4 others to join me for team “Beauty and the Geeks.”

(Pic: Team Beauty and the geeks-- the far left guy is not on our team)

My team consisted of myself, Dave C. (Cinci runner), Jeff R. (Cinci Runner), John K. (Albany runner), and Brent S. (fellow 50-stater). We were also joined by 3 other Cincinnati runners (Kim R., Steve T. & Tony A) and MB (Albany) who were unable to find a 5th member to create a team but had a great time running as individuals. Team Beauty and the Geeks, also adopted an unofficial 6th member. As we approached the top of the climb, we found an Airforce 2nd Lieutenant (I’m hoping I got that right) named Roman who made us look bad, as we had to catch up with him and he was running in his full uniform (boots and all). He stayed with us the remainder of the race, answering our many questions and keeping us entertained and motivated. Roman ended up first for military individuals. My vote is, every individual and team be assigned a military personnel to run with!! You know... here is your timing chip, here is your t-shirt, and here is your soldier, enjoy the race!

Kicked out of NM??
It was a close call on getting my 26th state in, as MB nearly got us kicked out of NM twice! The first was at the military base. As we approached the base there were many signs indicating that we were NOT to take pictures at the entrance to the base. What does MB do? Rolls down her window as we’re approaching the guard shack and starts taking pics. What does the US military do? Aside from (likely) pointing missiles at our car—they told her to delete the pics and put the camera away, then they spent extra time on our ID’s getting into the base.

Close call #2 occurred about 2 hours later when we were leaving the base. MB was speeding (as per usual) and got pulled over by a state police officier. The flustered MB yelled that she’s not from that state and is here for the marathon, and any other excuse she could use. Luckily she managed to get out of the ticket. Since we were so very close to the Mexican border I thought for SURE she would find a way to get us involved with border control—but lucky for Brent, John and I (who were riding with MB) she avoided those guys!

Overall:
The march was definitely a little challenge—There is a pretty good sized climb, mixed with altitude, as well as 1-2 miles of what they call the “sandpit” (very loose sand on small rolling hills), and the weather definitely started to heat up, but we lucked out with a cool breeze in the air.

(Pic: Elevation chart by water stops, not miles)

However, at the top of the hill you definitely realize the climb was worth the view! The desert mountains (some topped with snow) are absolutely beautiful!

(Pic: Bataan Start-- Sunrise on the beautiful scenery!)

Our team was in the civilian co-ed division and we ended up with 3rd overall, losing to a seriously fit national guard team that ran as civilians. Unfortunately they only give out medals to the top 2 in each division. Our team actually came in with a time of 4:18:23 and 3rd overall for ALL teams entered into the competition. Not bad! Note: My T-shirt is from the flying pig marathon... at the finish people were yelling out "GO PIG!" Ummm... not wearing that one in races anymore.

(Team Beauty and the Geeks at the finish!)

But, our results were definitely not the focus this weekend. The focus on this march (NOT a run) was the past and present soldiers fighting for the US. In most races, we break out all the results for individuals overall, in age groups, divisions, etc. This race had very little focus on the individual—the closing ceremonies didn’t even include the race results. Rather, it honored our military personnel, especially those who were part of the real Bataan Death March.

I would definitely reccomend this marathon to anybody! The amazing experience is worth the trip from ANYWHERE. There is a little challenge with the hills and heat, so I wouldn't go for time-- but hey, sometimes the 26.2 isn't enough and an added challenge is fun!

Note: Thanks Jeff R. for the pics!
Note 2: Thanks team Beauty and the Geeks for a great run and a great weekend!

Happy Running,
Stephanie

Birfday Status and A/G Analysis

Ok, so we're over the halfway point of the day and no major catastrophes have occured so far (knock on wood!!! Cross fingers, good luck dance). See my last post if you don't know why I'm afraid of my own birthday. I've had one close call. I wore "birthday heels" which have a little bit of a platform front. Well the shoe slipped and got caught on the clutch of my car so I couldn't depress it. I did not panic and managed to get it out without and accident-- then I promptly took my shoes off and drove barefoot. PHEWWWW

In keeping with the positive spirit and hoping the birthday gods stay on my side, I'm listing the many reasons why THIS is a good birthday....

1) Birthday Drink! This past weekend D made me a special birthday drink and it was AMAZING!! Bad news-- somebody spilled it while opening the fridgerator when I had only partaken in 2 cups. Good news... The 2 cups was more than enough-- if I had more I probably would have ended up over the toilet.

2) Birthday Watch! I already posted about my new birthday watch from Kyle. Want to see it again??? Ok twist my arm...

3) Birthday Pictured Cookies?? I came home last night and had a package sent from MB to my house that said "perishable" on it. --uh oh-- When I opened it I found these...

Yeah, that would be a giant chocolate cookie and a dozen chocolate pops with pictures of me printed into the chocolate. Ok settle down-- I know you want one!! But unfortunately there are not enough to share.

4) See analysis below... I've decided: 25 means that I'm getting faster!

F <25 and 25-29 Age Group Analysis...

This morning MB wrote on my facebook wall... "NEW AGE GROUP FOR RUNNING 25-29!!!" as if it was a good thing. I replied with "Uggg that is NOT good in my case." Then MB replied "No its good. you ger rid of all those college kids." ... I guess MB has a point there. But, I always though the sub-25 goup was slower because most people don't start running marathons til their late 20's. Also, running is the one sport that, for many reasons, we actually peak at later in life-- 30's and sometime in our 40's. So being the finance dork that I am, I did an analysis pulling data from the last 4 big marathons I was in (females 20-29 only) and compared the age groups. Results....

Overall the 25-29 group kicks serious butt on the youngsters. Even when the under 25 group does better on average, the top contenders in the 25-29 group KILL the top runners in the <25 group. Basically, there are more 25-29 year olds, dragging the average down, but they have also gotten a LOT faster.

There are 3 ways to interpret these numbers....
A) We are truely getting faster as we get older. We're improving, growing, and muscle memory is kicking in.
B) The newbie runners are friggen fast!!! Most people don't marathon til their later 20's, 30's or even later in life. Most young 20-something are busy going to college, finding jobs, starting their lives. Well when they start in their late 20's, they're fast and their good.
C) We drop out! As we get into our later 20's, the slower runners drop out. Unlikely!

Going against the econometrician inside, I'm going to create a cause-effect relationship and say... Option A--we get faster as we get older!! :) So, that means I'm going to get faster! Phew-- good thing too because I have some sub-3:30 marathon goal times in mind ;)

That's it for now kiddies. I'll update ya when I fall off a cliff. :)

-Stephanie

No Running = No Posting???

We're halfway through week 2 of the cold and I'm actually starting to feel a lot better... Ok I'm not 100% sure that's 100% accurate. I'm either feeling better or I'm keeping myself pretty dosed up on sudafed :)

So, I've attempted to blog several times but then I start thinking "what can I write on a running blog when I'm not actually running???" I promise I DO have a life outside of running... but I always feel kind of silly writing about other aspects of life, when people would obviously follow my blog for running/training purposes. Anyways-- what I'm trying to say is that I won't be offended if you choose to stop reading now and move onto other running-related posts out there (albeit there is a little bit about running below).
----------------------------------------------------
First... Happy St. Pat's Day!!! I've always loved St. Pat's because it means it is birthday time!!! My B-dizzle is the 18th :) I'm slightly less excited as I've had some serious BAD luck on my birthdays!! Something pretty bad happens just about every year. I won't go into details about last year, but let's just say it involved my work computer taking an impromptu flight to Atlanta without me on it--- and no I don't mean securely in a bag-- it was flying in the cabin.

Second Birthday problem #2-- I'm turning an age I don't agree with. As you can see from my last post, I'm choosing not to discuss the actual number. Maybe the number WILL be the bad luck? Turning 24+1 seems bad enough to me-- please can that be all that goes wrong??? Don't worry-- I'll keep ya'll posted if I fall down a flight of stairs. I'll even keep a camera handy in case something tangible happens I can take a pic of.

This weekend is Marathon #26 (yes people, this is the running portion of the post) in White Sands, NM. I'll be running in the crazy heat and sand, but lucky for me I'll have a team with me! Team "Beauty and the Geeks" (guess which one is me? I'll give you a hint... it will surprise you, considering I keep a blog). So the plan for the week is to "Just keep drinking"-- water that is. Allllllthough the birthday will end in a drink, of the martini variety, either in 1) Celebration 2) Recovery after the "bad" thing happens or 3) Depression when the 24+1 sinks in. 

That's it for today I believe. Thank you so much for updating me with your racing schedules that overlaps mine! I've updated even MORE marathons recently so please take a look and let me know which ones you'll be participating in!!! *Link at top for "upcoming races"* :) If you've told me and it's not up there please please please remind me--and forgive me, I've been sick!

Happy Running!!!
Stephanie

Annndddddd this is why I run...

When I was much younger than my current ALMOST 24+1 year old self, I had a hard time sitting still. Boredom wasn't exactly something I handled well and I tended to take it out on my hair! I would get into things that seemed harmless at the time-- but later I would find out weren't "OK" by most adult standards and my hair tended to be the defenseless victim. This has led to poor self-haircuts and even worse dye jobs. Once my hair was actually orange with pink and red highlights because I had picked a color with red in it-- bad idea. No there are no pictures!

Well apparently by the first anniversary of my 24th birthday, much hasn't changed. This Saturday I woke up even sicker than I've been all week. My cold just doesn't seem to be budging and I knew I shouldn't run. So, what is one to do on a Saturday afternoon that involves sitting still and getting rest? .... Hey~! I can go get my hair cut off!!!! Yeah, that sounds like a good idea!

So, I called my friend/hair dresser extroidinaire and guess what? She had a cancellation at 1 and I could have it. Uhhh ohhhh.... hey at least at 24 (plus a little) I've smartened up a little and went to a professional instead of doing it myself!!!! I would say that is definite progress!

So.... I cut ~8 inches off my long hair ! Now, mind you I'm NOT feeling my loveliest in this picture so don't judge too harshly.

So the hair is gone and I haven't run in a week!!! A WEEK!!!! Seriously??? I'm going a little stir crazy. Let's hope I don't find hair dye anywhere soon. 

I have a marathon in NM this weekend so I'm trying very hard to get better by just sitting still, drinking fluids, and rest rest rest. Since I wasn't feeling well, Kyle gave me an early Bday present to help me feel better!! Wanna see? Of COURSE you do! This is my new watch!!!

This is my new "boyfriend" style watch with an oversized face, white band and totally blinged out... I LOVE IT!!! Kyle is the best!!! 

Ok now, back to resting... joy. Does anybody know ANYTHING I can do to keep from going stir crazy??? I want to runnnn :(