Proud to be a Turkey

In my immediate family, I have always been "the athlete." I played baseball, ran cross country and eventually went into marathon running.

Yeah, I had my little hiccup in college and had to shed 50+ pounds to get into the marathon shape I'm in today, but for the most part sports and I have always been tied together.

I've got to say, it's nice to be able to say that I've finally got company.

My big sister, Melissa, is a great source of inspiration for me, and I know many others would say the same. She is currently on a journey of turning herself into a completely new person, dropping around 100 pounds so far in her quest to one day complete an Ironman.

She always kids that someday she's going to buy a shirt that says, "Oh, you run marathons? She reminds me often that she's going to beat me fair and square in a race one day, and no one is rooting her on more than I am. Come and get me, sis. How cute." They are jokes now, but I really can't wait until it becomes reality.

On Thanksgiving morning, finally feeling better after Sunday's marathon, and FINALLY rid of my swollen feet, I decided to join Melissa for a Turkey Trot. The 5K race was in Long Grove, Ill., with a gorgeous little course. The weather was cold, but the rain stayed away, allowing for a pretty impressive race.

Nearly 1,000 people lined up for the 5K. I had a couple reasons for wanting to take part. First of all, this was my sister's first event since finding out she has Crohn's disease. It's just one more thing for her to compete against and I wanted to be there to see her back out there running. Second, I was still kicking myself over how my marathon went, so I wanted a race to help me put it swiftly behind me.

I was happy to take care of both wishes.

It was a blast to get ready for the race with Melissa, chat in the car while we were freezing our butts off, making fun of other runners stretching routines... just having a good time together. And it was a thrill to see her cross that finish line. When she turned the corner at one point, I barely recognized my sister. It's like she's this brandnew person, and it's been amazing to watch that process over the past couple of years.

My sis blogs at http://www.mommymeepa.blogspot.com/ and tweets under the handle @306to140.

Beyond that, it was great personally to get back on the roads and perform the way I know I can. With a pair of sore legs and a couple of beat up feet, I ran a 7:13 average (6:55 for my first mile) and placed 48th out of 977 runners. I was fifth in my age division, just two freakin' spots away from earning a medal! Boooo.

I came away from Philadelphia upset and disappointed. This run helped me shake that experience off and walk away with a smile.

And, it helped me feel better about shoving my face at Thanksgiving dinner!

~JB

Yo Adrian! I did it!

Well, I did it. I ran my fifth career marathon. That, right there, is just about all there was about the race that brought any sense of satisfaction for me. I've had a hard time feeling happy with this one.

I knew going in that this was going to be one of the harder marathons I took on. I had a handful of obstacles to overcome and I knew that realistically I probably wasn't ready to tackle a full 26.2 miles at a consistent pace.

Whether it was the old self-fulfilling prophecy or not, the race went just about exactly as I expected. I held strong for 9 miles, was still good through 13, was hanging in there through 16 miles... and then I fell apart. Utterly and completely fell apart. My body was done, and I still had 10 miles to go.

The course was beautiful and reminded me a lot of the Chicago course. There were a few sections that were more hilly than I anticipated, but that was hardly my worst problem in this race. The marathon and half marathon ran at the same time and at Mile 12 I was seriously considering dropping out at 13.1 miles, and trying to persuade them to give me a medal for the half and calling it a day.

Instead of turning right and calling it quits, though, I turned left and sucked it up. I ran the first half in roughly 1:49, and I remained on pace for about a 3:40-45 finish through the first 16 miles. After that, my body just couldn't keep up the pace. It felt like I was running hard and my watch showed I was averaging over 10 minutes per mile.

Once a PR was out of the question, I opted to listen to my body and ease to the finish line. I finished in 4:13:35. Depending on how you want to look at it, it was either my fourth-best marathon, or my second-worst. Off the top of my head, though, I think that might have been my fastest first half of any I have run so far. So, there's that.

Actually, thanks to archived results on the ol' internet, I just found all my first-half splits for my marathons. Here is how they rank, with final time in parentheses.

1:44:49 -- Tampa 2010 (3:43:43)
1:49:16 -- Philadelphia 2010 (4:13:35)
1:50:36 -- Chicago 2008 (4:22:22)
1:51:06 -- Chicago 2009 (4:09:04)
1:53:22 -- Disney 2009 (4:04:05)

So I had a fantastic first half and then a terrible second half this time around.

My unofficial splits, according to my watch, looked something like this: 8:17, 8:04, 7:50, 8:09, 8:10, 7:44, 7:51, 8:15, 7:50 (here comes the first wall), 8:48, 8:43, 8:27, 8:40 (here comes the second wall), 9:35, 8:59, 9:10 (And here comes the collapse), 9:57, 10:45, 10:17, 10:49, 11:23, 11:27, 11:46, 12:54, 12:10, 11:29, 3:26 for final .2 miles.

The end result brought on two thoughts: 1. Maybe I am built for, and should stick to, half marathons; 2. I need to run another full soon to put this one behind me. I might revert back to No. 1 later in life, but I'm not done with the marathons. I'm already giving serious thought to the Cleveland full in May, and I might plan on a fall marathon as well (Chicago again? NYC if I make it through the lottery?).

The best part about this marathon was meeting up with a few friends in Philly. I met up with a friend I've known through Twitter and we ran together for the first 8 miles before she bolted off and qualified for Boston with a 3:28. Another friend who I've talked running with on Facebook completed her first full marathon as well. Great accomplishments for both of them.

And, as bummed as I might be about certain aspects of this marathon, I'm proud to add a fifth medal to my display in my office. I'm also proud that I went through with this one even though I knew it was going to be tough sledding. I'm also happy that I turned left and kept on with the full when my body and mind both wanted to quit at the halfway mark.

On that note, I'm going to leave you with this, a photo of my swollen right foot from Monday morning!

... I warned ya.

~JB

Gonna Fly Now

Just got back from dinner with some friends here in Philadelphia. I'm carbo-loaded and ready to go. My fifth full marathon is roughly 10 hours away.

I'm not satisfied with how my training went this time around. But, I guess who ever really is when going for a marathon? There's always more you could've done, ways you could've been better, areas you could've improved.

In the past 18 weeks, I've logged 303 miles, which is, oh, about 200+ miles short of where I wanted to be over that same time period. But, I got the key long runs in, did squeeze in speedwork and certainly have experience on my side.

Last night, I had an odd dream. First off, I was late to the start of the marathon. I bolted to the line and had to sort through my goodie bag (the one you pick up at the expo) to find my bib number and timing chip. Then I darted off to run the race, long after it had started.

The next thing I remember... was not being able to remember if I ever finished. It was like I woke up from a dream, in my dream (or from a blackout in my dream?) and I had no memory of my finish. I remembered starting, but not crossing the finish line. I'm sure some psychiatrist would analyze the heck out of that.

What does it mean to me?

Well, it means the obvious: that this is the most unsure I've been about a race. I'm still fighting some heel pain in my left foot, my training was not as good as it should've been and I'm a little over my race weight. That said, the "injury" only hurts when walking, not when running, I trained decent enough and have tons of experience, and I've completed one marathon at a heavier weight.

So I fully expect to cross the finish line tomorrow. I just am not sure about setting a new PR, which I've done in each marathon I've run. I'll go out at a solid pace -- one that puts me on target for a 3:30-45 finish -- and see where that gets me. If I finish under 4 hours, I can walk away happy with how I performed. If I beat the 3:43 I put up in Tampa, fantastic. If not? Well, hey, I ran another marathon and that should be enough to bring me satisfaction.

The problem is, if I ever was satisfied, I wouldn't keep running marathons.

I keep coming back because I am hooked on the feeling you get when you complete one, and I'm also hooked on trying to get better each time. Whether or not I do set a new personal best, at least I'll be better for following through with this one. That's one thing I do take pride in, that I am going ahead with this daunting task when it'd be easy to throw in the towel.

Now that I've got that all out of my system, it's time to get some sleep. I've got a marathon in the morning.

~JB

Still Here, Still Running

Man, I really did not plan on going so long between posts. One day I'm a shirtless wild man running through Arizona mountains and then I disappear off the face of the Earth. Well, I'm still here. And, as the title of this entry says, I'm still running.

In fact, I've logged 376 miles and moved into a new pair of Saucony shoes since I last wrote. My training has been sporadic -- to put it mildly -- but a lot has happened. Life events that constantly threw wrinkles in my schedule and tested my endurance, on the roads and otherwise.

Let's see...

I moved into a new house in a new country (back in the USA!) and my family said goodbye to Grandma Bastian. As it turns out, I've learned that I do not use running as a form of stress relief. While back home during the time my grandma was ailing in the hospital, I had absolutely no interest in logging miles. That hurt me right in the heart of my marathon training plan.

I've managed, though. Since I last wrote, I took part in the Garden of the Gods 10-miler in Colorado Springs (holy hills!), and logged runs in Philadelphia, along Lake Erie in Cleveland, through NYC's Central Park, along the Charles River and around the Cherry Hill Reservoir in Boston, all over Toronto, here and there in Baltimore, through the wall of heat in Kansas City and over the bridges of Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Along the way, I've fought back soreness, calf tightness, some stomach isues, sharp heel pain and, oh yeah, I stabbed myself in the bottom of my left foot with a knife while installing a baby gate.

And now? Now, I've got the Philadelphia Marathon in less than two weeks.

I'm in good enough shape to finish, there's no doubt about that. Two Sundays ago I logged 20 miles in roughly three hours, so I'm more than ready and able. As for breaking the 3:43 I posted in Tampa in February, well, we'll see. I'm gunning for under four hours and am hoping to crack 3:45 again.

When I get to Mile 16 or so on Nov. 21, I think I'll know how realistic that finishing goal is for this fall. One way or another at least, I'll have another medal and a fifth marathon on my resume. I'm already looking ahead to No. 6, too. Cleveland has a marathon in May that just might work for me, and I think I'll be better prepared.

I also hope to begin blogging more again...

~JB