Here’s the synopsis of my marathon recovery:

Taking a hot shower
Driving a car home for seven hours
Sleeping six hours
Working at a desk all day
Sitting on the couch after work
Sleeping six hours
Riding four hours in a car
Standing on a concrete floor all afternoon observing a manufacturing line
Sitting in a hotel room chair typing on my computer.

So far, that hasn’t really helped my legs feel better. Who’da thunk it?

Team Flash descended on Little Rock, Arkansas this weekend to participate in the race weekend they planned for us (race tagline – It’s a Natural). Kathy ran the 13.1 distance while Jason and I took on the 26.2. This race was a nice change from our two previous marathons – Marine Corps and Disney. There were about 5000 runners in the marathon, the half, and the relay combined so it was a relatively small race. And what a great change! The logistics for getting to the start and getting away after the race were all beautifully easy. No ridiculous crowds, no trouble parking, no heavy traffic getting to and fro. We discussed this race on the way home and it has probably moved into first place in the Team Flash favorite marathon rankings. I definitely won’t be scared of attending other smaller races if they are run anywhere near as well this one was.

There was also a refreshingly friendly attitude from pretty much everyone we interacted with during the entire trip. I’m not sure I can live among people that are this friendly, but for a visit it was enjoyable and charming. The race organizers had the same kind of attitude. They act all strict in their printed race instructions. “No iPods, strollers, dogs or you will be disqualified.” “If you are running the half or the relay you must wear this extra tag on your back or you will be disqualified.” “If you leave the course, you will be disqualified.” But in person, it is more like, “We ran out of the extra tags – you don’t need them.” “Headphones – don’t sweat it unless you are planning to win the race.”

We drove into Little Rock on Saturday and went to the expo. The expo was quite small, but we were able to stop and talk to our Comrades’ comrade, Bart Yasso. He was pretty animated talking about Comrades. His training plan differs a bit from mine though. He runs a marathon every other weekend and doesn’t run another step. He said he does a little elliptical and a little biking, but that’s it. His chronic Lyme disease forces him to train gently. Of course, on this training he is banging out four hour marathons.

After the expo, we took a look at the Clinton Presidential Library. This is an interestingly designed, non-photogenic, metallic building with a huge amount of interior space and not all that much stuff in it. But it is contemporary American history. While viewing Clinton’s Cub Scout cap and some childhood drawings Jason came to the realization that he would never be President of the United States because, “I don’t have any artifacts of when I was kid.” One of my favorite items in the entire museum was an essay written by Hillary when she was a sixth grader. She penned the classic line “I want to be either a teacher or a nuclear physics scientist.”

Post library, we checked out Central High School. This is where the confrontation between the governor of Arkansas, Orval Faubus and Dwight Eisenhower played out. Federal troops were sent in after Faubus used National Guard troops to keep black students from attending the school. It seems incredible to me the President needed to use military troops on our own soil to uphold a Supreme Court decision! As an aside, the school itself is pretty impressive. It was named most beautiful high school in 1953 and I wouldn’t be surprised that it is still in the running today. They just don’t build schools like that anymore. After our sightseeing, we checked into our suburban hotel, had dinner at a local bar-b-que place, and then an early night.

On Sunday, the running gods reemphasized an ongoing lesson. Running a marathon (or even a half marathon) is very, very hard. The human body (and I) would be much happier if the marathon was 32K long.

The weather was glorious. Lightly cloudy and 47 degrees at race start. We ate breakfast in the hotel and chatted with a few other runners. One extremely nice woman (reference friendliness) gave Kathy a bracelet that got her into the post race perks tent. The main perk is a free massage but they also had special food and drinks and they treat you more like a VIP.

We drove in and were able to park for free about five blocks from the race start. I used my Disney marathon space blanket while waiting around, but didn’t really need it. It did draw a few people over to comment about the race this year. Like about how much fun the race was (the sleet in your face was fun?!) and how cold it was (right on brother). Using the porta-pots required almost no waiting and there was no crush or hurry to get to the starting corrals. Little Rock was militant (in a friendly way) about making sure you got in your correct starting corral – just another reason to love the race – they enforce the rules that make the runners’ experience better.

The confetti cannon started blowing millions of paper streamers onto the course and off we went. In short order, I caught up with the 3:40 pace team and planned on settling in for the race. The guy leading the group was an trail runner and very personable. He gave me advice on training (stay off the pavement) which I will ignore because I like the roads and he discussed strategies for running in ultras (don’t worry about the distance – just keeping moving the feet). Around mile 5, I checked my watch and noticed our last mile was a little slow. Our pacer had no worries – he said we’d get right back on and we’d be good to go. But I decided I needed to pick it up a bit. It was not very likely that I’d be negatively splitting this race due to the serious hills early in the second half of the race.

Mile 1-5: 7:53, 8:01, 8:23, 8:14, 8:43

Mile 6 the slowness continued and I thought I should pick it up a bit. So I left the comfort of the pacer behind and struck out on my own. These were pretty basic miles for me. I just ran and tried to keep a reasonable pace going. Part of our course took us up a nice little rise to the capital building and then in front of the governor’s mansion. It turns out, the governor was out front waving to the runners! I didn’t recognize him, but that’s pretty cool.

Miles 6-10: 8:33, 8:24, 8:15, 8:21, 8:16

At this point, I interrupt this race report to report that the first 6.66 miles of this marathon are my official entry in the “Global Warming, My Ass!* 6.66 Mile Run” sponsored by Razz. Those were my fastest 6.66 miles of the run – my time was 55:20. I assumed that during mile 7, I ran with perfect pacing so I multiplied my time for that mile by .66 and added to the remainder in order to calculate my time. I’m super good with math like that.

Right around mile 11 or so, I heard someone behind me tell a fellow runner that they were trying to ‘keep up with that guy.’ Meaning me. The runner caught up to me and I made a throwaway comment about how I hadn’t lost her yet. She answered emphatically, “No way!” So we starting chatting a bit. Turns out Jennifer was going for her Boston qualifying time (3:45). My pace was a bit faster then that, but she kept up and we chatted on and off for a couple miles. At the half way point, I broke the electronic tape at 1:49:38, 22 seconds ahead of 3:40 pace. I was still feeling pretty good – good enough for me to jokingly ask a group of spectators how many runners were ahead of me. They responded with the morale draining “A lot!” I started girding my loins for the advertised hills. It didn’t take long to find them. Whoa! It turns out there were only two of them. The first began at 13.5 miles or so and was fairly short. But it was immediately followed by the second hill that went on for over a mile. It curved around, so you couldn’t see the top of the hill. Jennifer told me to go on ahead somewhere near the end of this hill. Hey, it wasn’t like I was holding up – I just couldn’t run any faster! But I did push just a bit harder thinking that as soon as I got over this bump in the road everything would be OK.

Miles 11-15: 8:15, 8:11, 8:24, 8:34, 8:39

So with two miles of up hill done, you’d think the downhill would also be two miles or so. Well, you’d be wrong. The course jammed all the downhill into a short half mile stretch. That baby was steep! So now I have just a hint of what I’m facing in the second half of Comrades – going down steep hills after running 30+ miles. Adding insult to injury, here comes the 3:40 pace team. Team might be a little too strong a description at this point. The entire group consisted of the pacer and two other guys, one of which sported a running shirt with “Finish Strong” on the back. They were flying down the hill, so I latched on. When we reached the bottom of the hill, I expected them to pull back to an 8:20 pace again, but no. We kept cruising at a very quick sub 8 pace. It didn’t take long for them to lose me. Off they went down the road. I did what I could to keep up a decent pace thru mile 18, but that was pretty much it. After that it was all about damage control as fatigue rapidly set in.

Miles 16-20: 8:29, 8:09, 7:53, 8:42, 9:13

The course headed northwest to the turnaround point. When the heck were we going to turn around? I passed a single volunteer at mile 20 ringing her cow bell and still we ran further from the start of the course. Finally, I got to the turnaround point. Less then 100 meters from the turnaround, I see Jennifer coming up to the turn. She gave me a quick lie “You’re looking good” but I’m sure she was thinking, “I’m getting ready to bury this dude.” That was no lie – she caught me around mile 22 or so. And my bonk was complete – mile 22 was my last sub 10 minute mile. At mile 23, a guy asked how we (he and I) were doing. I told him I wasn’t doing very well. But his goal for the race was less then four hours and I said that it was in the bag – we’d only have to do 13 minute miles to beat that. We then approached an overpass. I walked and he ran away from me. Then another overpass and more walking by me. Those last couple miles were hurtful. Near the end of the race a runner/walker asked me if I was the sole member of Team Flash. Perfect opening to promote the blog! And a great excuse to walk a bit further. But I finally sucked it up and ran to the finish.

Miles 21-26.39: 9:17, 9:28, 10:44, 10:19, 11:35, 13:33, 10:33

Final time – 3:56:31, new personal record by 10 minutes! So I am able to move up one more corral for Comrades. Because running a marathon is very hard, I didn’t get my goal, but I did have significant improvement. Team Flash as a whole was disappointed with their efforts – Kathy did the half in 2:23 and Jason completed the marathon 11 seconds under five hours. He was greeted by Bart Yasso at the finish though – after Bart finished the marathon, he started his public address announcing of the finishers and greeting them as they came in. I found out later that Jennifer did get her Boston qualification time (3:44:51), coming in 9 seconds early. Now that is a plan executed – great job!

Kathy got her post race massage while waiting for us to finish. We all got our free food and sat for a while commiserating about the course and our difficulties on it. Literally, my only complaint about the entire race experience is that they handed out cups of water and Gatorade at the finish instead of bottles and when you exited the food area you couldn’t get back in. And I really could have used some more liquid while waiting around. But that is an unbelievably nitpicking complaint about a race that was really stellar in almost every way. I could easily see me running this race again and again.

One last thing – Little Rock’s medal is impressive. In fact, they advertise the biggest marathon medal in the business. I was completely shagged out when I got to the finish and one of the volunteers put this dinner plate around my neck. Frankly, I thought it might cause me to fall over! But I stiffened up and made it out of the finisher area where I promptly collapsed on the grass. Here’s the medal (with my hand to help show scale):

The most popular running location in the greater St. Louis metropolitan area has to be Forest Park. This large green space in St. Louis in the place to be, hosting large numbers of runners nearly all the time. Also, it seems that every running group hosts either races or training events there. There are many different trails and roads spread throughout this two square mile haven. Jason is the resident Team Flash expert on these trails since he runs on them almost exclusively, but the rest of Team Flash joins him at times, particularly for the longer weekend runs. One of the most popular routes is the trail that roughly follows the park perimeter; that’s the one that Team Flash wears out on those long runs.  Picture quality is due to the throwaway camera provided by Disney

We typically meet at the History Museum and then make the fateful decision – clockwise or counterclockwise. I think clockwise is easier, but the last time Jason and I ran the trail, we went anti, so that’s the direction I’m taking you. The trail starts flat and straight paralleling Lindell Boulevard. This stretch was ‘The Pike’ when the World’s Fair was held in Forest Park in 1904. All the food and amusement booths were along this stretch. The clockwise runners frequently use this stretch for speed work because it is straight, flat, near the end of their run, and a great place to impress the babes. So you’ll see people just flying along here. I always justify their speed by saying very quietly to myself, “They haven’t run 14 miles today so that’s why they are so fast.”

At the Lindell/Skinker intersection, the path takes a sharp turn to the south and follows Skinker Boulevard. This is my favorite street name in St. Louis for obvious reasons. The trail continues nice and flat, but that is deceiving. In short order you come to the hill. This is a nice incline, about 1/3 mile long and 3.5% grade. At the bottom of the hill, you can take the Jason detour which heads you around the Art Museum. This adds about 1.5 miles to the route and forces you to climb the hill twice. We’ll be taking advantage of this extension frequently in April.

After cresting the hill, you are treated to a shot of Americana – the largest Amoco sign in the world. I estimate this baby is 30 feet high from bottom of ellipse to top of ellipse, but it might be taller then that. Of course now it is over a BP station, but there you go. The trail then heads back east. This is the rolling hill portion of the trail and the section that goes thru some forested areas. This is very nice in the summer – providing a nice break from the sun. After running by the St. Louis Zoo (one of the last big zoos to offer free admission) you go thru the newly installed tunnel under Hampton Avenue (sorely needed – this was about the only spot where cars threatened pedestrians regularly. Then you pass Aviation Fields, a set of sports fields and approach a fairly nondescript building hosting the St. Louis Police Mounted Unit Division. This building may hold horses now, but it was originally built as a hanger for an airfield. Trivia Fact: The first US president to fly in an airplane, Teddy Roosevelt, took off and landed from this very spot! Now the distinctive roof line of the St. Louis Planetarium comes into view. This entire section of the route is up and down rollers, so the pain sometimes cancels out the nicety of the scenery.

Time to head back north. There is a statue of a Tyrannosaurus Rex taking on a Triceratops just past the planetarium. Then the path goes past the public fishing ponds and the Steinberg Ice Rink. Even in the winter, I see people fishing there, but I never see anyone actually landing a fish. Maybe the act of fishing is the fun, not actually hauling in lunch (not that I’d eat a fish out of a pond in the middle of an urban area). In the winter when the ice rink is in operation, you get the sweet melodies of calliope music. Then the trail curves back to the west. This part of the trail is back on the flat again, going past a statue and cannon, the Park Visitor’s Center, and then back to the History Museum. 5.7 miles done!

The trail is separated in most places featuring both a wheels path and a foot path. The footpath is mostly tightly packed crushed gravel, but is paved in some places. During winter thawing, everyone heads to the wheels path to stay dry and the Lancers find a different place to ride. There is a ton of traffic going both directions on the trail so personal safety (at least in the day) is not an issue. You will often see training groups out running – everyone from local high school and college runners (I was chicked by an entire college cross country team last fall, but they probably hadn’t just finished running 12 miles) to the TNT folks and the Fleet Feet training teams. The visitor’s center provides all weather bathrooms and water fountains, but scattered around the trail are water fountains and bathrooms available when the weather warms. No need to carry water if you don’t want to. Also, when St. Louis starts heating up, a local fitness shop will show up and hand out Gatorade or its equivalent.

This trail has almost everything you would want in a normal (non adventure) type path. There is a bit of construction at the moment around the zoo which is forcing the wheels and feet people together, but it is for a good cause – separate paths all the way around. Nice varied terrain that helps you keep from getting bored and lot’s of options for route extensions. Team Flash rating – four and ½ feet on the five feet scale. No question, the best path to run on in the St. Louis metro area.

The ads for the new Alice in Wonderland movie just remind me of this song and video that is featured on my iPod:

Don't Come Around Here No More

That’s all…

This is from a newsletter my health insurance company put out promoting personal fitness:

Who the heck is getting fit here?!

My readers spoke on my weekend training plan. And there was no clear winner. The comments were equally split between ‘stick to the plan’ and ‘taper you fool!’ So I decided I’d stick to the plan unless something came up during the runs.
Kathy and I headed down to Forest Park Saturday. [...]

Another self centered training post. Sorry about that.
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