Trust Your Training - Rock n Roll Savannah Half Marathon 2014

This is a race that almost didn't happen. With Rock n Roll Heavy Medal Series announcing a new Hall of Fame for anyone doing 15 races in North America in 2014, we just needed to add one more. The only weekends we had left were Cleveland (the second weekend on October) and Savannah (the second Saturday in November). We already had The Biggest Loser Six Flags Discovery Kingdom scheduled for the day after Savannah, so we opted for Cleveland.

Then Clevelend got cancelled due to low turnout.

This may send ordinary traveling marathoners into full panic mode, but Susan took it in stride. She found a flight that would get us back from Savannah in time to get to our hotel in Vallejo Saturday night. It looked tight, but doable.

Then TBL got cancelled, again due to low turnout.

Since changing the flight to Sunday would have cost us an extra night in the hotel and another $200 in higher airfare, we decided to keep the Saturday flight back.  We loved racing the Inaugural Savannah Full in 2011 so we were bummed that we were only there for a little while. After Denver, Vancouver and Panama City Beach and with Disney/Vegas the week after I have to admit I was getting eerily used to the traveling.

Oh, and did we mention the flight was in and out of Jacksonville, a two hour drive south? Thanks to Kevin for suggesting the route so we could take use the Southwest credit from Cleveland. Flying east, with the drive at the end, made for a really long Thursday. We landed after sunset, hopped in the rental car to head up highway 95.

Then the blue flashing lights showed up behind us.

One thing I need to do when I get behind the wheel of a rental car is to make sure I know the controls. Mirrors, seats, and ESPECIALLY the lights. The Ford Focus was equipped with running lights so I could see ahead of us on the highway, but the tail lights were out. Fortunately, the patrolman let us off with a warning.

Halfway to Savannah and 10 hours into the travel day, we stopped at Taco Bell in Oakdale for drive through. Apparently I wasn't speaking clearly enough to get my order for a crunch wrap, but she DID hear me ask for extra mild sauce.

The Friday visit to the expo at the Trade and Convention Center went a lot better than it did in 2011. Parking monitors kept traffic flowing really well, even when the cars stacked up close to closing time. Joe Harris reminded us that even though this was 3 races past our Rock Idol 10th for 2014, its still an achievement we should be proud of. Back in 2011, the first year they offered the Rock Idol Heavy Medal, Susan and I made matching shirts to wear for RNR Miami Beach.  The sappiness factor was pretty high.

At the Expo, Thao introduced us to Erin Zeman. Her husband Jake passed away at the finish line at Savannah in 2013 and Erin started a fund for their son's college tuition under the name Team Trust. Jake was fond of ending emails and texts with a single word -  "Trust". We've been blessed to support a number of charities that we encounter on the circuit. It just seemed right to honor the memory of a many who loved to run. Erin has raised almost $29,000 so far. If you'd like to make a donation, follow this link.

This was going to be a pretty low key race for us so instead of doing lunch and dinner in the city, we grabbed some snacks and picked up fresh pasta, veggies and bread from The Fresh Market near the hotel to make dinner in our room and watch The Amazing Race. I did manage to get in a quick heart rate training and take a really nice sunset picture from the Convention Center parking lot.

And no, the tub of Parmesan did not survive the evening. Susan saw to that.

About this time we were hearing from folks at other races. Kevin was heading to Wine and Dine at Disneyworld and forecasts were for non-stop rain. Santa Barbara had highs reaching into the high 70's and New York was looking like low 40s and brutal winds.

Then I realized we really owe the weather gods big time. The Savannah forecast would be high 40's to start ending in the mid 60's. It was pretty much perfect race weather.

Those are absolutely NOT brand new shoes that have never been worn for training. Nope. Nope. Nope.

Very little has changed on the course. The full and half marathons stay together until about mile 12. I remember in 2011 thinking how easy it would have been to just turn off for the last half mile, but that was back when we wanted to have at least one full marathon a year. We also knew how fast the course was. Savannah ended up being Ron's PR that stood for over 3 years until Punta Arenas.

The sun rises behind us up one of the only hills on the course.

About mile 2, I passed multiple world record holder, Larry Macon. Savannah was his 1380th full marathon life time. He's on track for 1400 by the end of this year.

The parts of the course through residential sections had a lot of classic southern feel to it with Spanish Moss just about everywhere you look.

We committed this year to educating ourselves about training and getting smarter about racing. After checking some data using the Firstbeat Training Effect metric, I found that I'd been pegging most runs at the top end of 5.0 "Overreaching". I tried to keep my heart rate down in the 140's for at least the first 10 miles. I kept a walking pace of about 12:30 minute miles.

That's when mind numbing boredom set in. Good thing Rocker Dude showed up. I know he's usually around mile 10 so it wouldn't be long.

I stopped the watch, reset the workout and tried to see how much I had left in the tank for the last 5K. I was able to push down to about 11 min/mile, finishing just under 2:40, a relaxed race by all standards for me. Sadly, neither the long slow 16K segment or the fast 5K segment were relaxed enough to get below the 5.0 TE.

Susan had no such restrictions and was enjoying the course. She finished at 2:35 which is her 8th fastest time. Eight of her 10 fastest races are this year and her Training Effect values are between 2.6 and 3.4, meaning that she's got a lot of speed left in her, should she choose to use it.

I nearly got ran over several times trying to cross the finish chute to say hi to John Bingham.  He has two more Rock n Roll races left before his retirement in San Antonio.

Thanks to Cassidy at CGI, we were able to get a parking pass as a thank you for loyalty after the RNR Cleveland cancellation. We had a great location between the start and finish lines that gave us an extra half hour to say some quick goodbyes and catch up with more of our RNR Gypsy friends.

Joe was a few days out of the ER with a kidney infection. He still got down to Savannah to finish RNR number 16 for the year.

Juan finished his 17th RNR in Savannah. Jessica flew a red-eye, drove four hours and set a PR for the half. 

If we had more time, we would have found the bigger fountain in Forsyth Park, but you know how hotel check out deadlines can be.

Many, MANY thanks to Juan for navigating through Luggage Gate.

With three more race weekends planned this year, we didn't have as much time to enjoy the trip as we would have liked. We didn't even have time to stop for hush puppies. 

When we get back to Savannah - and that's a WHEN, not an IF - we'll be sure to make that right.

~//~

Rock n Roll Savannah is in its fourth year. Other than St. Patick's Day, its one of the bigger tourist events in the city. Locals turn out early and with great enthusiasm, making this race one of our favorites. In 2014, the half had 10,631 finishers (median finish time 2:20), 2,796 finishers in the full (median time 4:34). There were also 5K and 1 Mile options available for the Remix Medals. About 1500 participants finished those distances.

Race temps were pretty much ideal, starting in the mid 40's and warming to the low to mid 60's by the end of the half marathon. The course started on East Bay street next to the Savannah River, heads east about a mile and a half before doing a counter clockwise loop ending in Forstyh Park. The full splits from the half at mile 11.5 to loop south towards Daffin Park. There is minimal elevation change to the course, making this an ideal PR race.

US Air and several other airlines do fly straight to Savannah from the west coast, but if you're cautious and don't want to risk the change fees like us, Southwest goes into Jacksonville (2 hour drive) or Charleston (3 hours).

RNR Savannah crossed off our 20th state for Half Marathons and our 4th new state this year. We've also checked off British Colombia to add to Quebec (2013) for two Canadian provinces. We're up to 148 halfs, 26 fulls and an Ultra lifetime with 4 more events each left this year.

We haven't signed up for RNR Savannah 2015, but may have it on our 2016 or 2017 calendar.

Taking the Plunge - BodyFatTest.com

"And now for something completely different"

We've been using MyFitnessPal for tracking our caloric intake and FitBit trackers for our step counts for a few years now with good success. I posted a blog last year about how we started and how important it was to keep track of things, even if things are going well. Now that we're in maintenance mode and training to get faster, we're taking more steps to get even more information to form a baseline. Our next adventure - Body Fat measurements.

Why should you care about body fat? On the extreme high end, excessive body fat can cause a variety of issues like heart disease, high blood pressure and type 2 diabetes, not to mention stress on joints trying to support the added weight. Conversely, you can actually have too LOW a body fat percentage and be susceptible to chronic fatigue, decreased athletic performance and increased risk of infection.  Overall, body fat percentage is just one other way to measure overall health.

There are a number of ways to measure body fat percentage. The quick and easy way is a calculator based on measurements, gender and height. Active.com has a variety of calculators including the sometimes over-generalized BMI, a range for ideal weight and your projected caloric intake to maintain your body weight. For the record, my calculated BMI is 23, Body Fat is 13%. I think their 2512 calories per day (for 'low active' level) for me is overly generous, but I'll go ahead and remember to order dessert the next time I'm out for dinner. 

Our Fitbit Aria scale gives a body fat reading, but for the last year, it's been unreasonably low for me. I mean really low. 5% pretty much all the time. That level is telling me that I have nothing other than "essential body fat" required to keep my body functioning. The Aria measures body fat by electrical impedance and can be affected by hydration levels in the body. Accuracy is directional, but not something you want to depend on.

Last week, Clorox had an in-house wellness vendor using an e-InBody machine which uses a similar method. Again, since the impedance method can be affected by hydration, readings can vary widely. Having the device in the cafeteria after lunch may or may not have been the best way to do the testing, but at least people used it.  I came in at a reading off 11.8% body fat.  The vendor gave me a standard chart of 'normal ranges' saying I was getting close to the bottom of where I should be. Naturally, I took that advice and went to In-n-Out burger for lunch. I walked a half mile both ways. And ordered a protein style cheeseburger and tossed half of the fries before I sat down.

The gold standard for measurement is Hydrostatic Body Fat testing (aka, 'the Dunk Test'). We missed a chance last year at Sports Basement Walnut Creek because it was on a weekend we were out of town for a race. I know. Big surprise.

First, we have to find the truck (Thanks, Al for giving us the heads up!). Body Fat Test runs a mobile testing center that parks outside of gyms, sporting good stores or other locations to conduct the test. Appointments are encouraged since the walk-up service can be hard to time well. Check their calendar for national times and locations. Northern California test schedules can be found here.

Outside of Anytime Fitness in Newark. You can't miss it!

We showed up for our 4:30 appointment with Mike. The trailer has two changing areas, a scale, the dunk tank, a scale, a laptop station where the measurements get turned into the analysis for you to take home, share or post on a blog. We were told to bring a swimsuit that won't catch air bubbles since buoyancy is the key measurement for this test method. It's not as sensitive to hydration levels as the Aria or e-InBody, but they suggest not having a big meal within an hour of testing.  The test costs $49 per person for the first time and $39 for a retest.

Note to self. Refrain from dairy... or burritos.. before this test.

There are two variations of the tank configuration. In one, the subject is put in a seated swing. BodyFatTest used the prone tank with a wide scale. It has the advantage of using less water (about 10 inches deep. The water is filtered, chlorinated and dumped at the end of each day. It's also at a comfortable 90 degrees.The grey belt around my waist is a weight belt to ensure total submersion. To get the best result, you're supposed to blow out ALL of your breath. Mike would pound on the side of the tank when it looked like you were out of breath so you could come back up. It took me the three tries to get a constant result.  It took Susan a few extra tries to relax enough to feel like it was safe to stay under. Note to self: if doing this in pairs, let the water-lover go first to build confidence.

It looks scarier than it actually is, considering I'm face down in a tub of water and I've totally exhaled every bit of air that I had in me. The short sleeve shirt and sock tan lines, you'll just have to deal with.

Results? 8.8% Body Fat, somewhere in the 97th percentile, well into the "athletic range" and safely above the 5% lower level of 'essential fat'. An added benefit of this test is knowing my Base Metabolism Rate which is what my body would need to maintain weight if I never even got out of bed. It still sounds pretty high to me at 1920 calories per day. Even MyFitnessPal calculates the BMR at 1583 calories. 

After all this, I'm going to choose to stick with my current net calorie target. I have a feeling I underestimate my portion sizes and I try to add more steps on my FitBit. We'll come back and retake the test in six months or a year after our race schedule has a month break in December. Maybe we'll build up some 'room for improvement'.

Ron will be going to his first Spartan Race on Saturday in San Francisco at AT&T Park. No, he won't be racing. He'll be working as a volunteer security for The Biggest Loser Run/Walk participants VIP tent. Since its a local race, I still plan to get my slow mileage in by walking to Bart, taking the train to Embarcadero and walking to the race. Even though parking is only $10 at the event plus the toll across the Bay Bridge, it looks to be a beautiful day to be outside.

The Hills are Alive With the Sound of Rock 'n' Roll - Rock 'n' Roll San Francisco 2014

Anyone who lives or trains in San Francisco encounters some pretty significant hills. Races in the city are no exception. With plenty of hill training opportunities, you would think that we would be pretty strong at maneuvering hills, but after climbing 44 hills during the Bar Harbor marathon in Maine, we know that “HILL” can quickly become a four letter word.

The Rock 'n' Roll San Francisco Half Marathon gave us the opportunity to climb some challenging hills and also cross the roadbed of the Golden Gate bridge on foot. What was unique about this year’s course was that we crossed San Francisco “backwards” compared to other races. Both the Wipro San Francisco Marathon and the Nike Women’s Marathon courses approach the Golden Gate Bridge from the East. For those races, we happen to think the best views of the Golden Gate Bridge come on Lincoln Boulevard by stopping to turn around at the top of the hill to look back. Most people are focused on the road ahead and miss the view.

Oh, did we mention that there are a few significant hills (or inclines) along the way before and after the bridge? San Francisco East Bay Team in Training Coach Alphonzo Jackson posted a great resource for hill running and hill training. Coach Al always told us not to go up a hill but to rather, “Run/Walk THROUGH the hill.” This visual image of moving forward while moving upward does help. As Coach Al would say, “Mind over matter. If you don't mind, it don't matter.”

The big race was actually getting onto the bridge before the course cut off. Participants were instructed to be at mile 4 by 7:50 am or they would be diverted to mile 7.9 and miss the chance to cross the bridge. An average page of 17 - 20 min/mile was recommended, but CGI also offered a 6:15 am early start for participants expected to finish between 3:30 and 4:00. Race officials stationed a monitor at mile three who counted down the time and distance to the cutoff. Keep in mind that there are several steep hills along the way for the first four miles and some amazing photo opportunities once the Golden Gate Bridge is within sight so maintaining this pace was a challenge for some. If you're in that speed group, plan ahead! It turns out fewer than 20 were listed in the 9.2 mile Diverted Course results out of 8550 total finishers.

The race took up three lanes of the bridge - one lane going north, one going south and an empty buffer lane to protect the runners from traffic. This was crowded until the last participant passed going north and race monitors opened the second lane to the returning, southbound runners. Hopefully, next year the bridge course can be widened or participants can be staggered even further if the race grows. Even opening the pedi-path might be a good idea since the views are actually a bit better than from the road.  Remembering course etiquette is key in these types of situations. Never walk or run more than two people side-by-side. Walkers and slower runners should always move the right. Faster participants should call out that they're passing on the left especially if things get tight. And for pete's sake, pull over to the side if you're going to take a picture!

This race was more training for American River Parkway at the end of April. We worked on heart rate training so we can be at our best for the Walk division race and take a shot at winning our age groups again. Given the pacing and the scenery, Ron decided to wear the Garmin Virb for more hat-cam moments.

We have a bet going for how many races John Bingham calls out for Kevin Gonzalez. Apparently, John was busy interviewing former 49er great, Roger Craig when Kevin crossed the starting line and missed him.

We ran into The Marathon Show host, Joe Taricani near the end of the race. With Joe branching out into the new TV Pilot, we expect his audience to grow.

And just for grins, a bunch of the old #SA2LV gang got together near the toll plaza to do the hustle. YouTube video here.

Though the title says otherwise, CGI made the choice to use circus performers at the early miles instead of bands. At 6:30 AM, I'm sure the locals appreciated the chance to sleep in.

Faces in the Crowd:

This year, the "Chaser" Melody Jones raised $7569 for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. That's one dollar for every person she passed after starting at the back of the pack. The way I see it, having a bigger event can only be better for the charity.

Congrats to our friend Tawni who reached a milestone with her 50th Half Marathon! (Left to right: Ron, Susan, Al, Tawni, Caryn, Bridge, some random guy)

Thanks for another fantastic half marathon Competitor Group! Next up, Rock 'n' Roll Raleigh!

~//~

This year's Rock 'n' Roll San Francisco was held for the second year under the Rock 'n' Roll brand name. The new course is definitely a departure from the former loop course that started and finished in Aquatic Park. There were 8550 finishers in 2014 with 18 people completing the 9.2 mile diverted course. Median finish time was 2:21, slower than the typical RNR course which is probably because of the big honking hills.  

The course started at Ocean Beach, went north and east up Lincoln Boulevard, crossed the Golden Gate Bridge, down through Crissy Field, the Marina Green and over the hill to the finish at Civic Center. There were a few significant climbs between miles 0.5 and 1.5, 2.5 and 3.5, and 10 and 11.5 with a few smaller but still steep hill climbs in between. The longest and steepest climb on the course was 300 feet over approximately one mile. Since the courses seem to be changing year to year, I'm downloading the latest maps as GIFs and storing them for comparison at our Marathoning For Life page. Weather was clear and sunny with temps starting in the low 50's and warming to 65 at the finish. 

The Golden Gate Bridge is one of the Wonders of the Modern World by the American Society of Civil Engineers. It spans the Golden Gate strait, the mile-wide, three-mile-long channel between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. While the clear day made for postcard-perfect pictures, having a half foggy day can be just as nice a backdrop. Heck, the whole city has a lot of good photo ops!

Susan and Sylvia at the top of Lombard Street

We had a few in-room meals this weekend but wanted to highlight one: Hot Spud
If you're looking to fill up and still eat light, check out this hidden gem just off Fisherman's Wharf on Beach Street. Hot Spud uses Jacket Potatoes the size of your head and has all local ingredients and a great range of gluten free offerings for less than $8.

If you're headed to Rock n Roll Raleigh with us next week, be sure to check out Shayne's CGIEats - Raleigh Edition for dining suggestions!

We haven't signed up for RNR San Francisco 2015, but with the Tour Pass program, we plan to do so as soon as we can. 

Racing with Heart(-rate Training) - Rock 'n' Roll Dallas Half Marathon 2014

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It's been 50 days, the longest we've gone without a race in year and that includes Ron recovering from surgery last August. We went from doing five races in the space of five weeks, capped off by doing two full marathons in the span of 4 days on different continents and we somehow forgot to plan a race for the month of February. So what's a Marathoner For Life to do?

After going three and a half years without setting a half marathon PR between 2006 and 2009, I improved my PR twice in 2010, 3 times in 2011, twice officially in 2012 (we have timing mat and traffic questions that may have made it four PR's), and three times in 2013. I've been getting faster, but the incremental improvement has been getting smaller every year. 

We've dedicated 2014 to heart rate training. After eight years of marathoning, it felt like the right time to take greater advantage of our Garmin technology and educate ourselves more on the nuances of the heart. We’re only a couple months into this journey and yet we’re already learning a lot.

First things first. We've been in recovery mode ever since completing the White Continent and Punta Arenas marathons. Since then, our weekly long training has been slow and steady, keeping our heart rates in the 130 - 135 beats/minute (Zone 1 - 2, depending on your calculation method) as long as we can. The idea here is to elevate your heart rate, but only to the point where your body can easily clear out any lactate build up easily and you never go into a state of oxygen deprivation.

Thanks to the advice of veteran marathoner, Al, we've been monitoring our heart rate on flat ground for miles at a time. We end our training when we can no longer sustain the low heart rate regardless of how slow we go. For a benchmark, the training pace was anywhere from one to three minutes per mile slower than race pace.

Susan has successfully experienced this phenomenon of spiking heart rate once,  after about 11 miles, with her heart rate coming up into the mid 140's without being able to bring it down. It was alarming when it happened so it was good to know what was coming in advance. Ron went nearly 20 miles before he spiked into the 140's. Regardless, our race in Dallas was going to be the test to see what affect this novel (to us) approach had on our race performance.

The results are now in. Apparently we've successfully increased our level of metabolic efficiency. Since we’re still new to the physiology of heart rate training, bear with us as we do our best to communicate our understanding of what is going on.

• Both of us were surprised to notice that we ate less during the race - a sign of greater efficiency. Ron actually didn't eat anything at all, a first for a half marathon.
• Both of us were surprised to notice that we drank less during the race. This could have just been due to the colder weather that day, but again, it's a sign of lower overall exertion.
• Negative split accomplished: a strong indicator that you tackled the course well is having reserve energy at end such that your second half split time is faster than your first. 
• Susan’s last mile of the half marathon was not only her fastest mile that day but it smashed her best timed mile pace by 18 seconds. An eight-time half marathon walker Elana paced Susan at the end of her 58^th half marathon, proving that anyone can inspire even the veterans among us.
• No muscle soreness later that day or the next day. Susan was quite tired after the race but physically our lactic acid clearance threshold seems to have improved preventing muscle soreness.

How did we feel right after the race? Ron felt great, like he didn't even work for a 2:36 walking half marathon that would have been a PR three years ago. Susan said, “This race seemed relatively good, but I didn't feel like I did very well”. It wasn't until Ron reminded her that a 2:40 walking half marathon was as fast or faster than most of her run/walk times.

Heart rate training further engaged! Stay tuned for more as the year progresses. 
Random References:
Heart Rate Zone Calculator at Digifit. Use as a starting point only. It does not take into account individual situations, weather, humidity, hydration and sleep.
Recent article at Competitor.com about training with the Lactate Threshold method as a different direction in building endurance.

Faces in the Crowd

On another note, Susan’s most vivid memories on the course often come from things that she overhears and observes. A shout out goes to the Team in Training Texas participants and coaches on the RnR Dallas half marathon course on Sunday. 

Overheard: “If you ever get into any trouble on the racecourse and need help, look for a TNT coach; they will always help you even if you’re not with TNT.” Great to hear! Most TNT coaches absolutely abide by this philosophy that they are there to help anyone in need to the best of their ability. In addition to it being the right thing to do, you never know who might sign up for TNT next season because a supportive encounter out on the race course.

Observed:  A non-TNT race participant was sitting down on the curb surrounded by several people. A TNTer ran up to her and said, “Don’t worry, my TNT coach is just ahead. I’ll call him and he’ll come help you.” Later that TNTer ran by me and I thanked her for what she did to help out a fellow racer who wasn't with TNT (not yet at least). It’s that spirit of camaraderie out on the course and the feeling that, ‘we’re all in this together’ that makes me proud to have been affiliated with the Team in Training organization for so many years.

Keep up the good work – GO TEAM!

Dallas was a great trip for the Rock n Roll Gypsies. We haven't seen Kevin since his 5-second walk-by at RNR Las Vegas.

Pre-race dinner at Ravenna. Kevin was able to get his Alfredo fix.

Al goes old-school with the original RNR Las Vegas singlet in 43 degree weather. He's also one of the hundred or so Legacy runners who've done all 5 RNR Dallas races.

Al, Susan and The Biggest Loser Season 5 contestant Dan Evans. Dan caught up to Al and me at the finish line, just in time for the three of us to have our pictures taken gawking at the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders. We were a little distracted in the last 50 yards of the race.

If you're looking for more races, The Biggest Loser Run/Walk has added a Theme Park Race Series with 10k and 5k races in the Six Flags locations. We've signed up for the two in California that landed on free weekends. Yay!

Veteran Rocker Joe Harris celebrated his 100th Half Marathon. Michelle Bogush, Jim and Beth Austin were also at the race, but we didn't see them at the finish tent, probably because they were freezing their butts off.

Joe at the finish line VIP tent. The 100 Medals were a gift from fellow Gypsy Beth Deloria-Austin.

This year's Rock 'n' Roll Dallas was the 5th year of the event. There were 9678 finishers in the half marathon compared to 10711 in 2013. The median finish time was 2:15:14. Weather this year was a typical (for March) low to mid-40's during the race and it didn't warm up much until noon. Bring some warm clothes if you are waiting at the finish line for a ride back since its a point to point course. Note that Uber operates in Dallas and there was a $20 credit for first time users in the Rock n Roll goodie bag. We splurged for VIP for Joe's party, so we were able to take the CGI Shuttle back to the Omni.

This was our second Rock 'n' Roll Dallas, last coming to the city when Susan was doing the commute in 2011. Ron had a goal of setting a personal best for the state of Texas, which he did by over 14 minutes. It was Ron's 57th half marathon (43rd Rock n Roll event) and Susan's 58th (44th). While we aren't likely to register for RNR Dallas 2015, we'll come back in the next few years.

We had a few good dining experiences to add to a great list complied at #CGIEats Dallas edition, written by the CGI superstar Shayne McCoy. Look for Shayne's Rock Blogs before your next Rock 'n' Roll race for some great tips!

Y.O. Ranch Steakhouse
We started with the YO Queso and had the Buffalo Filet and Pecan Crusted Trout for our early dinner. Top that off with the Pecan Pie and Apple Tart and you should be set for your post-race celebration.

Price: $$$

Tiff's Treats:
After hitting Slickables after Rock n Roll Arizona earlier, I've learned to appreciate the fresh-baked cookie/ice cream sandwich. Tiff's uses Blue Bell Ice Cream. And they deliver.

Price: $

Yumilicious Frozen Yogurt:
Some of the more interesting flavors include Mango Habanero, Avacado Tart and Maple Bacon Donut. Flavors rotate daily, but there's always a selection for the adventurous and main-stream dessert aficionados. 

Price: $

Down Time. Regaining Perspective.

I sometimes forget how lucky we can be. Life rolls along great and you don't think about how good you have it until something comes up and you're back at square one.

Since I started my marathoning career in 2005, there have only been two times where I physically couldn't race. In 2008, hamstring strains kept us out of the Big Sur Marathon back when walking under the 6 hour cut off was a bit more challenging than it would be today. In 2010, I had the ACL in my left knee reconstructed and I was on the sidelines for 5 months.

This year, I had a hernia flare up in the middle of Rock n Roll Seattle and I needed some down time to have it patched up. We have six weeks between Rock n Roll Chicago and Rock n Roll Montreal, so there is a decent window of recovery time. I figured I'd better get it taken care of before the schedule got crazy - seven half marathons and four 15+ miles support weekends for Nike between now and Thanksgiving. After that, we ramp up training for the back to back full marathons in Antarctica and Chile.

Some people think we're obsessed. I honestly have no idea what they're talking about.

After surgery, I woke up groggy and apparently had about 40 minutes of coherent conversation with Susan that involved a lot of "I love yous" that I don't for the life of me remember. Just like the 2010 knee surgery, she was an absolute angel taking care of me for the first week. She brought me ice packs, copious fluids and took care of the dogs while I was moving slowly. I can not say enough how blessed I am to have her in my life.

I remember how to reset expectations. Between the knee surgeries, broken legs and twisted ankles, I've had to learn how to walk 6 times in my adult life and since good walk form demands a lot of core strength and flexibility, this was going to be number 7. Starting over is nothing new to me. It was nice that between Facebook posts, Fitbit, Runtastic and Garmin Connect and Project 365, I've been able to track how quickly I've been progressing. The day after surgery I was supposed to get back on my feet and keep things moving. I did a half mile to the creek and back with the dogs at a blistering 40 minute per mile pace. Four days of forced rest and a liquid diet made me lose eight pounds. I had almost no stamina. Breathing was painful and labored. I had a ways to go.

I set goals realistically and followed the doctor's guidance of 'activities as tolerated'. I hit 10,000 steps on day 5 and started climbing stairs to hit my daily goal of 20 flights by day 6. The doc cleared me to get back to whatever I wanted to do short of lifting anything over 10 pounds. I couldn't pick up either of the dogs, but salsa dancing was an option. He did mention that it probably would hurt for a while. Ice packs became my friends.
 
On day 8, I was able to walk the three mile loop at work without stopping. I started with just getting through the mileage, then pushing my times down from 16 minute miles to 15, then down to 14. By day 13, I was on the Alameda Creek trail doing 6 miles, two miles at a time to Starbucks and back. This Sunday I was on the road walking the first extended mileage and speed since surgery. Six miles in the morning at 12:30 min/mile pace. Four miles in the late afternoon heat at a 13:10 min/mile pace. I think I'm ready to string a full dozen miles next week during our coached workout at Heather Farms.

I'm nowhere near full speed yet, but I know that will come in time. I can't help but think how these last few weeks are like my last eight years in fast forward. I started from the couch and each day got faster, stronger.  Yesterday, I reached the pace I was in 2010. I hope to be at 100% in a few more weeks.

I miss being on the trails. And while it's frustrating to have to wait to get out for a real road test, it's good to have perspective and look back on how far I've come.

I'm grateful for this break. It'll make it all that much sweeter when the next race rolls around.

A few days after my surgery, Susan and I did an interview for Runner's World for their November issue. We may be included as a part of a panel of experts giving tips to first time run/walkers who want to complete a marathon. Thanks to Erin Allday and TNT alum Victoria Colliver at the San Francisco Chronicle for the exposure in the article back in March!