Saturday recap

Busy, busy day yesterday, didn't come close to fitting everything in. Started off with some core work and a short run, shopping with Bonnie, ice cream walk with the kids, the usual chores around the house, pasta dinner, catching up on some reading, and finally (eight days after the fact) wrote and posted the recap of my first half marathon. Can't wait to see what today holds!

1st Annual Kruse-Savage #virtualhalfmary Recap

It was a dark and stormy morning...well, not really - but it sure was cold.

Me and my running partner/best friend Zeus

Having started running in May of this year (2012), I was planning on working my way up at a moderate pace. I ran two 5K races this year, and had planned a third when a broken foot sidelined me at the beginning of November. I subsequently volunteered both days of the Williams Route 66 Marathon, and had such a blast working the Center of the Universe Detour during the full marathon that I decided, the next day, to sign up for the 2013 Williams Route 66 Half.

Then I got wind of a virtual half marathon that was being planned on Twitter by @marathongrl71, her sister Brenda in California, and @runnermommy2008. (If you're reading this and you're not following both of these awesome ladies, you should do so now - I've linked their profiles above. I'll wait...) Both Michelle's, along with sister Brenda, were encouraging everyone to run 13.1 miles on December 22 and then tweet their times along with the hashtag #virtualhalfmary.

And so I altered my training so that I would be able to run most, if not all, of the 13.1 that day. My original plan had me running six miles and walking three that morning, completing the rest of it that afternoon. My final (and only) long run of 9.5 miles was completed the weekend before, and I felt ready to run most (if not all) of it.

My phone beeped at 4am the morning of the 22nd, and I dragged myself out of bed and downstairs to down some coffee before saddling up my trusty running partner, Zeus, and heading out.

My planned route was to run the 1.5 miles to the LaFortune Running Trail, run two laps (each lap being 3.1-ish miles), walk a third, and then run as much of a fourth lap as I could manage, hitting 13.1 right at the end of that fourth lap.

We immediately headed out into the cold, cold morning, running west towards the park. However, less than a half mile into it, the idea of running laps left me cold (pun only partially intended), so when we got to Sheridan, we turned right and headed south towards 71st street. I was already frantically mapping a new route in my head - we'd run down 71st street to Riverside drive, then either proceed on to Turkey Mountain or follow the Riverside running trail down to 61st street.

I was amazed at how quiet the normally packed 71st street was at 5am, and quickly realized that, in my haste, I had neglected to think things through.

First, 71st street is hilly. Really hilly. As soon as I hit the Sheridan intersection and turned west again, it was a steady uphill jog to (and past Yale). Then, a little past Yale, it was a steady downhill incline to Harvard, at which point it was another long uphill then downhill slog to Lewis, before it leveled out.

Second, I had failed to anticipate how dark it would be along some stretches of 71st where there were no streetlights. I adjusted my trusty headlamp so that it was shining on the sidewalk directly in front of me, and pressed on through those areas.

We finally hit Riverside and turned north to follow the trail towards 61st street. Shortly after crossing 61st, we hit the 6.6 mile mark (unofficial halfway point!) and stopped for a breather and some quick pictures, which Zeus did NOT cooperate for and which didn't come out anyway. Then we turned around and ran back (at least most of the way), but on the opposite side of the street, which was slightly better lit.

It really didn't hit me what I was doing, and what I was about to accomplish, until we were on the final long downhill section towards the 71st Street/Sheridan Ave intersection. At that point, I had surpassed twelve miles, the furthest (and at just over two hours at that point, the longest) I'd ever run. More than that, though I was about to complete a goal I had envisioned for late 2013 - the successful completion of a half marathon.

Sure, it wasn't an "official" half marathon in the sense that it was a certified course with cheering crowds and race officials and bibs, but I was about to complete a 13.1 "race" (along with dozens of Twitter friends all over the world who had run or would be running the same "race" with me), and best of all, I'd soon be getting a medal in the mail, testifying to my accomplishment!

We got home, I stopped my GPS, let Zeus loose in the backyard and went it to the house - I'd been gone two-and-a-half hours, and EVERYONE WAS STILL ASLEEP! No one to tell about what I'd just done, but more importantly, no one to take a picture of us! So I got my tripod, attached my wife's camera to it, figured out how to set the timer, and snapped a couple of pics of us - one is at the top of this post, and here's the other:

Having just run 13.1, ready for a long winter's nap...

I set the timer, sat on the ground...and as this was the first time I'd been off my feet in almost three hours, I immediately collapsed, the camera catching the moment for all posterity. I don't know what had Zeus' attention - perhaps a stray cat or a bunny or something.

And so that's it - nearly a year earlier than I'd anticipated, I had my first half marathon in the bag. I'm expecting my medal in the mail any day, and I'll append a pic of that when it comes.

As for the rest of the day, it was business as usual - housework, Christmas shopping, time with the kids, and plenty of vitamin "I"...all the usual weekend stuff.

And Zeus did his usual weekend stuff as well:

After logging many miles, time for a nap...

Here are the overall stats and some photos for the #virtualhalfmary.

Here is my Daily Mile post for the #virtualhalfmary.

-Steve

Coming soon...!

Recap of my first half marathon!

New Years Resolutions!

Daily Updates via the new phone app I'm testing this very moment!

And more running and non-running nonsense than you can shake your head at!

Please stay tuned!

#virtualhalfmary stats and photos

[Stats and pics provided by Michelle (@marathongrl71) - follow her on Twitter if you're not doing so already...!]

#virtualhalfmary Stats

60 total runners

4 Countries:

US 44

AU 10

CA 1

UK 5

17 states : 

NY, CA, OH, MI, IN, Il, GA, MA, SD, NC, OK, MD, NM, NE, AL, TX, VA

NE:  13 runners

Weather: 

Warm sun, freezing drizzle, bitter cold, snow, ice, strong winds, pouring rain….Some had temps in the 60’s, others 16*. Some ran on the treadmill, some on trails, some all over their town. For one person, at least, this was their 1^st half marathon. Some runners went over the 13.1 mileage.

Pictures shared by the runners before, during and after their runs:

Like I Hadn't Missed A Beat

So I'm going to be upfront with you right now - I'm posting this for two reasons:

1. I have a pathological need to tell everyone how stupid I am sometimes.
2. I need an excuse to publish the cool pic of my bloody hand at the end.

Having said that, first let me say how glad I am to be back running again.

Neighborhood Lights

That's not to say I didn't enjoy the walking. Made some fun trips with Zeus around the neighborhood and beyond. We saw Christmas light displays (some guady, some beautiful, some that definitely fell into the "why even bother" category), explored areas I'd never been to before, saw a coyote near a green belt area one night, made neighborhood dogs bark and stray cats cower in fear - the fun was never-ending!

More Neighborhood Lights

The thing about walking I liked the most, though, was the opportunity to get caught up on a lot of music I had missed because there wasn't time to listen to it with the attention it deserved. Walking around a near-deserted Tulsa neighborhood at 5a.m. for a couple of hours really allowed me to listen to the music with no distractions (other than Zeus tugging the leash to chase after the tenth rabbit that morning that didn't have the good sense to sleep in).

Even More Neighborhood Lights

I'm no doctor - I don't even play one on t.v. - but I firmly believe that the reason my rehab went so well (and quickly) is that I didn't stop. I couldn't run, but I kept moving, and I think that made all the difference. This was never more evident to me than when I stepped on the scale this past weekend, a full three weeks after I broke my toe and had to stop running, and found that I had actually lost a full pound during that three week stretch! Trust me, my eating habits didn't change - I'm not that disciplined! - so the only thing I can "blame" it on is that fact that, while I had my share of "poor Steve can't run" pity parties, I didn't let that stop me from being active.

__________

Driving home from the dog park with Zeus last night, it occurred to me that I hadn't felt any pain in my foot for nearly 24 hours...and being the OCD mess that I am, took that to mean it was time for me to start running again.

I had originally planned to go out the Saturday morning, December 1st, and run a mile just to see how it felt. That would have been exactly one month (well, four weeks) since I broke my toe - a nice round number, I felt.

We pulled into LaFortune (fortunately I had worn sweats and sneakers to the dog park) and I got out of the car and started my normal pre-run stretch routine, starting it off with a 2:00 plank. Oh my God! was I out of shape, stretching wise. It was a cool (but not uncomfortably cold) evening - any colder, and I would have used that excuse to not go through with it. But I finished my stretching, plugged in my earbuds, leashed up Zeus, and off we went.

I was only going to run a mile then turn around and walk the mile back to the car. However, as we approached the mile marker by the old tennis courts, I was just getting the rust out of my joints and was starting to hit my stride, so decided to push on for a second mile. After that, we could easily walk the last mile around to the parking lot.

But I actually got stronger (and felt great) as we approached the second mile marker. My first mile clocked in at 9:13, my second at 9:04. I was still bound and determined to walk the final mile as a cool down, but wanted to run one more mile, so as Julia announced in my ears that I had completed my second mile, I swung Zeus around and we headed back the way we came.

(As an aside, "Julia" is actually her name - I'm using a new app, Runtastic Pro for WP7, and it specifically states that her name is Julia. She'll always be "Bambi" in my heart, but it would be rude not to use her actual name, I suppose.)

The third mile was a little tougher - I hit a bit of a wall about halfway through (2.5 miles at that point, which is about where I was walling it a month ago). It was settled, we'd finish the third mile and walk the fourth.

This is what running four miles after a month off
looks like!

But as we approached the third mile marker, I thought about the course ahead of me, the trail that I had just run eighteen minutes ago. Primarily uphill going one way, we had a lot of downhill going back, so we decided to try and run the fourth mile.

We completed the third mile with a decent split of 9:17, and as we crested the second to last hill just after that third mile marker, we poured it on, finishing a strong fourth mile in 8:21! It was like I hadn't missed a beat...



__________

And so now the moment you've read this far for, my first-ever faceplant.

I woke up this morning feeling great! No ill effects from the four-miler the night before. I had convinced myself that I would need to walk this morning, but I felt so good following my plankaday and coffee that I decided we'd try to run three miles or so, just through the neighborhood.

I saddled up the mutt, started the music and GPS app, and off we went. We cruised west towards one of the main roads that frames our neighborhood, and I made the turn onto the sidewalk and headed north. (Tulsa is notorious for it's lack of sidewalk infrastructure - the four-square-mile block I live in has sidewalks around 75% of it, virtually no sidewalks within, which means I do a lot of walking and running in the streets or through front yards.)

And that's when the sidewalk reached up and grabbed me. I never saw it coming. I stumbled, tried to catch myself, then down I went like Joe Frazier. Lying on my side, my first thought was my foot - slight tingling, but seemed okay. Then the palms of my hands started to hurt. It was cold enough and I had peeled enough skin off of them (and the top of my right hand somehow, as well) to make them hard to use. Then I realized the GPS was still running, so I painfully fumbled for my phone, and finally got the app paused. It was too late, however - the split was pretty well shot at that point.

Zeus just stood there, annoyed that we had stopped.

How I scraped the TOP of my hand I'll
never know...!

After about thirty seconds, I pulled myself up, picked up my glasses from the ground, restarted the app and started running again. We completed the first mile and were well into the second, but the throbbing in my palms wouldn't stop, so we turned for home to call it a morning.

In the end, I seem no worse for wear - hands and right knee skinned up, shoulder a bit sore from where I stopped my fall - but no apparent damage to anything I need to actually run (feet, legs, joints and phone all made it through unscathed). So I'll be back out again tomorrow morning, basking in the glow of being able to finally run again.

A Tale of Two Runners

I'm going to take a few minutes, as painful as this will be to my ego, to turn this spotlight away from myself and on to two very special runners I met this past weekend.

Tracey and I - downtown Tulsa following
the Fleet Feet Black Friday 5K Run

I've known Tracey Posey online for a little while now, but this was my first opportunity to meet this amazing guy in person. Tracey, a single father with three kids, has lost over 80 (!) pounds this year, and though he just started running again seriously in September, he completed the Fleet Feet Black Friday 5K Run in under twenty-eight minutes! Let me say that again - running for fewer than two months, ran a sub-28:00 5K. In my book, that's pretty amazing - great job, Tracey! You can (and should) follow Tracey on Twitter at @tpoze - you won't regret it!

Claes and his running buddy Elton

Just as amazing (if not more so) is my brand new Twitter friend Claes Heiming. On the opposite end of the running spectrum from Tracey and I, Claes has been running since 1969. What's so amazing about him, you may ask? Well, Claes is amazing for three reasons:

1. He follows me on Twitter all the way from Sweden.

2. He, like me, runs with his dog - nothing better than that, they make the best training partners!

3. Claes is training to run in a 140 mile run in July 2013.

That is no typo, my friends! Claes will be running in a 140 mile race on July 17, 2013 - followed by a half marathon immediately after! That's some serious miles! Claes told me his target is 24-30 hours to complete the course - it gives me chills just thinking about it!

Claes is another runner you must definietely follow - follow his thoughts on training for this incredible run on  his blog and follow him on Twitter at @flexirun - well worth your time to do so!

And just in case you haven't had your fill of amazing runners for one day, check out my friend Becky's recap of her first 5K run in over 15 years - definitely a good read!

-Steve

A Most Incredible Weekend

Parking sign nabbed from Maple Ridge

Well, it's been awhile since I've posted anything - been a little busy hosting a number of pity parties over being unable to run because of my broken toe. However, I just had to take a few minutes to share my experiences from this weekend's Route 66 Marathon!

I had originally signed up to run the 5K on Saturday. Well, with that registration comes the prerequisite emails, and one of those mentioned volunteering. I'd never considered volunteering before, but went to the website to check out the opportunities, and one immediately jumped out at me - handing out coins to runners who made the Center Of The Universe detour.

Official Center Of The Universe
Metal Coin

Doing the detour increased the mileage of the marathon from 26.2 to 26.5, thereby making it an Ultra (which is technically anything over 26.2). On top of that, the detour was being sponsored by Michelob Ultra, which meant the runners would get a free beer beyond the two they were already anticipating at the end of their run! So, the marathoners would take this three-tenths-of-a-mile detour, receive a fine coin and a free beer, and be on their way. Sounded like fun!

Then my injury occured and my first thought was "Oh, no! I'm not going to be able to run!" followed by "OMG, this really hurts!" followed by assorted pain-induced obsenities. It wasn't until a few days later, after a visit to the doctor confiming it was broken, that I considered volunteering on Saturday as well. I figured that if I couldn't run, at least I'd be amongst "my people," i.e. runners.

5K Runners - on your mark, get set...

I arrived bright and early Saturday morning at Veteran's park to help set up for the 5K and 1-mile fun run - the first 45 minutes was spent unwrapping and hanging individually wrapped finisher's medals for the 12-and-under 5K and Fun Run runners. Then we got the runners lined up for the 5K, and they were off! It was a lot of fun watching as runners of various skill and ability crossed the finish line - some were intense, some were overjoyed, some were just relieved to have made it to the finish line!

Fun Runners!

Then it was time to get the fun runners lined up and ready to go! Despite the still-chilly morning, these kids were ready to go! Had a little fun teasing them - arguing that it was 10 miles instead of one, making them stand behind the line only to have them creep back up when my back was turned - and then the rifle went off and they were gone. And seeing them cross the finish line and the looks on their faces when we gave them their medals - some were old pros at it, but some of the younger kids were so astonished to get their medal - it was a series of pretty touching moments, and definitely the high point of the day.

Met up with Mark Cato before the race!

Sunday was an entirely different experience. I arrived early (in time to see the start of the race) and wandered around the corrals, looking at all the full and half marathoners going through their pre-race routines - it was really quite a site. Even ran into a couple of friends at the starting corrals - Twitter friend Mark Cato was getting ready to run (I think) his 20th marathon, and my co-worker Becky who ran a stellar 5K the day before and was now volunteering on this chilly Sunday morning!

 Once the race started, I headed over to the Center Of The Universe, and that's when the fun began in earnest! We spent a little time setting up the coin station on the top of the Main Street Bridge, getting the beer station ready at Main and Archer, making foil hats, hanging signs, etc.

The hardest working volunteer crew at
The Williams Route 66 Marathon!

Then about 9:45, the runners started showing up! The first wave consisted of those serious runners still trying to make time, but wanting the coin and the "Ultra" designation. Next came the not-as-serious runners who were trying to complete the course in a decent time but weren't so intense that they couldn't take the detour for the coin (and free beer!). Then finally came the marathon "fun runners," those runners that were serious about running but were there mostly for the experience! Here are just a few of the runners we saw that morning:

One of the first runners to hit the detour!

My co-volunteer Brenda handing out coins!

Taking his coin on the run!

Second female to hit the detour!

Even cowboys gotta run!

Our first costumed runner of the day!

We even had a proposal - she said "yes"!

Glen was our first detour runner!

Best of all was the opportunity to meet some of my Twitter tweeps who had come from out of town to run the marathon! If you're on Twitter and you need motivation from great runners who are also great people, follow these guys!

Met up with Darron Tytler (@datman65) Saturday at the 5K - he
PR'd his marathon by 23 minutes, on his birthday no less!

With Nicholas Norfolk (@absolut_zer0) and Mark Cato
(@supermancato) at the Center of the Universe!

I had a most incredible weekend, and you can be sure that whichever day I'm not running next November 23rd & 24th I'll be volunteering somewhere at the Williams Route 66 Marathon weekend!

-Steve

The 2012 Tulsa Run 5K

Shirt/bib/tag - what
more do you need?

As episode two in my three 5K race trilogy - beginning with the 2012 St. John's Tulsa Zoo Run and concluding with next month's Route 66 5K - this race was definitely my Empire Strikes Back, my Dark Knight. Like Empire, I was excited for it but after the sheer exhilaration of the first installment, held little hope that it would compare favorably to the one before it. And like The Dark Knight, it was a beautiful experience that I'll soon come to realize was merely a transitional phase between where I was and where I am now.

I've been anticipating this race since about three hours after the end of last one, and though I (successfully) braved the Expo on Friday during lunchtime to get my bib and D-tag, the jitters didn't begin to set in until later that evening. That's when I made the mistake of walking the course through downtown Tulsa.

I really didn't have to go out of my way to do this - one of my boys takes piano lessons downtown, and so I had ninety minutes to kill anyway. On Tuesday, I had anticipated walking it but instead ended up going on a little walking tour of the downtown area. Tonight, I was determined to focus on the task at hand - familiarize myself with the lay of the land and the course I'd be running the next day.

Boy, was that ever a mistake! I had driven downtown thousands of times on the very streets I was walking now, yet never did I realize how steep some of the hills were, or even that there were that many hills. On top of that, it was cold and windy, and the wind whipping through the buildings made it seem that much colder.

The final leg of the run was to be northbound on Boston Avenue - much of the final kilometer would be uphill! When I mentioned this to a friend who's wife is running the 15K (and ran it last year), he commented that she hated that final approach last year.

When I arose this morning, I drank some decaf (Bonnie's new dietary kick) and saddled up Zeus for a walk around the running trail we usually visit every morning. We ended up doing five kilometers - four walking and one running. I ran that last one because a) I couldn't resist the temptation to run a little, and b) it was 32 degrees and I was a little chilly, and thereby in a bit of a hurry to get back to the warmth of the car.

I am by no stretch of the imagination a superstitious person, but something happened on the run this morning that made me believe I was going to, if not do well, at least not embarrass myself. We found a tennis ball by the new tennis courts just as we hit the three kilometer mark. This took me back to the Friday before the Zoo Run, when I found a stray baseball by the baseball diamonds on the other side of the running trail - a sign from above, maybe? I pocketed the ball, which was not a popular decision with Zeus, who thought HE should get to keep it. Finder's keepers, I told him. I pouted the rest of the way back to the car.

Dad and Ian, cold but ready to run!

After an early breakfast, we packed up the family and headed for downtown. Ian and I were doing the 5K, while Bonnie and the rest of the kiddos were doing the 2K Fun Run.

Ian and I lined up halfway between the 8-minute-mile and 9-minute-mile signs (a happy coincidence, as it would turn out, as I ended up running an 8:30 pace) and waited in the cold, jumping around, taking pictures and engaging in general silliness to pass the time. Then the announcements, a beautifully sung national anthem and the starting gun!

To be honest, I don't remember much of the actual race. For the first kilometer, Ian and I paced each other before he moved to the side and began to slow a little. I took that opportunity to begin weaving my way forward through the bunches of runners, which never really thinned out until after the turnaround over the bridge and well into the third kilometer.

Midway through the first kilometer, rushing
headlong down Boulder Avenue.

I can remember passing specific buildings, but there was really nothing of note in this race for me. I never hit the wall, never struggled with pace or breathing, and the uphill/downhill nature of running out of downtown to Veteran's Park and back didn't seem to make an impact. I held a nice, stead pace throughout the entire run. Had the same issue breaking out of the crowd during the first kilometer that I had at the Zoo Run, and posted my slowest split of the five at 5:13.

Approaching the turnaround on the 23rd St. bridge

After making the turnaround and passing Veteran's Park, I stuck the earbuds in and let the Dave Matthews Band and David Gray sing me to the finish line. I'd agonized over this decision - one, whether to even bring the earbuds, and two, what to listen to should I need or want to. I've been listening to the Life Is Good radio stream from their website, and it's really had a calming effect on my psyche this week, so it seemed a good idea to move some DMB and Bruce Springsteen to my phone. This proved to be a good decision - my splits for kilometers 2-4 were right around 4:50, but I clocked a 4:01 (!) on the final kilometer, which was surprising considering the unrelenting uphill nature of the section of Boston Avenue.

Finish line in sight...! Major props to the woman
going sleeveless in the 30 degree weather!

And then as we passed 10th Street (the finish line was at 4th and Boston), the cheers started to pick up as you could hear families and friends cheering on the runners - that more than anything prompted me to kick it into a higher gear for the final half mile. There were also a couple of humorous signs that made me chuckle - "You're doing great, random runner I don't know" and "Why do all the cute guys keep running?" were two of my favorites.

And then I was crossing the finish line, getting my bling and bottle of water, and being herded down the chute towards the free beer, bagels and candy bars. Here's how I felt at that moment:

And here's the official line:

276th overall, 10th in my division. For only my second race, I'm happy with that...

...and I'm already counting down the days until the Route 66 Marathon weekend and the 5K race I'll be running that Saturday. I know one thing - I'll be ready for it!