The Runners Edge gave a presentation of marathon tips last night at the Garry Gribble store on Ward Parkway. As Coach Eladio Valdez explained his approach to running a marathon it occurred to me that almost everything he said not to do, or that could go wrong, described my experience at Oklahoma City last April.

Eladio promotes what he calls the “smart pace” strategy, where you start out slow to warm up, and take some strategic walks in first half of the race, particularly at the first aid stations. You also back off on steep hills to avoid over heating. Some say a marathon can be divided into two “halves:” the first 20-miles, and the last 6.2 miles. The smart pace strategy is a conservative approach to the first 20 miles so that you don’t hit the wall in the last 6.2 miles.

The main point of the smart pace is to start out slow and warm up for the first mile or two. The hardest part of that strategy is forcing yourself to actually slow down, especially with all the race day excitement and everyone blazing past you. Trust me, I know. I tried and failed to start out slow at two half marathons and a marathon this year, and two of those races turned out very, very badly.

Eladio emphasized taking extra time at the first few aid stations to hydrate. As he put it, your body will use every ounce of fluid that you drink at the first aid stations, but only a portion of what you drink at the last one. By then it is too late.

Strategic walks allow your body to release built up heat. The length of the walks depends on your time goal. With a time goal of 4:45, I can walk briskly for 45 seconds while passing through the aid stations, or alternatively, I can save that walk for an upcoming steep hill. The time lost walking is made up by a slightly faster pace between aid stations, thus preserving your overall goal pace.

My plan for The Kansas City Marathon is to take it very slow the first mile and a half, up to the crest of the hill at Barney Allis Plaza. I’ll open it up a little bit going downhill between Barney Allis Plaza and Union Station, but still slower than my overall goal pace of 10:53/mile. There, at mile three, are the steepest hills of the race. The biggest of these is on Kessler Street. It’s a half-mile climb from Union Station up to the Liberty Memorial. I will run that conservatively and may even walk 45-seconds in the middle. I’ll also take it slow on Trinity Hill, just past the Liberty Memory. You can see the hills on this elevation chart that I made last summer after riding the route on my bike.

By the time you get over Trinity Hill you are four miles into the race and ready for a nice long descent through Westport and down to Country Club Plaza at mile seven. That stretch only has a few short uphill sections. It will be my first opportunity to run at race pace, or slightly better on the steeper declines.

There is a relatively flat stretch through Country Club Plaza and past UMKC, followed by the second steepest hill on the course, Sunset Drive, leading up to Loose Park. We ran that part of the course on our last 22-mile training run. It didn’t seem that bad at the time, but nevertheless I plan a 45-second walk in the middle of it too, just like at the Liberty Memorial.

Once past Loose Park there is a slow climb from mile 12 ½ - 15 ½, finishing with a short, steep rise at 75^th Street and Summit Road (aptly named).  There is no need for a walk at Summit Road since the climb is short and is followed by a long downhill stretch.

Miles 16 – 21 are an enjoyable descent passing Waldo and Brookside on the way back down to Country Club Plaza and the UMKC campus. This is another chance to pick-up the pace and make up some time.

The biggest challenge of the race will be in miles 21 – 24. Just as people are starting to hit the wall there is a climb from Brush Creek up to the intersection of Linwood and Paseo Blvd. The steepest part of the climb is on Harrison Street between Gillham Road and Armour Road. There is supposed to be an aid station with Gu Energy Gel at mile 21 just before the climb begins. I’ll probably take my time at that aid station rather than walking on Harrison. That’s easy to say now, but who knows how I’ll be feeling at mile 21 on race day.

Once you get to Linwood and Paseo Blvd it is downhill to 18^th Street and Vine and then most of the way to finish line. This is where I hope to be reaping the benefits from running a smart race. I would like to still have enough gas left in the tank as I crest Linwood to open it up again on the descent to 18^th and Vine. The elevation chart is deceiving/wrong. I remember it as pretty flat from 18th and Vine to the finish where there is a slight hill at the end.

I’ve been remiss this summer blogging about my preparation for the Kansas City Marathon, October 17, perhaps because things seem more routine the second time around. The big change this summer was the addition of speed sessions with The Runners Edge. Those are kicking my butt.

The speed session group includes about 70 people and we meet for twelve Tuesday evenings. Each week we alternate between a hill/road workout and a track workout. I’ve yet to complete an entire speed session, mostly due to the heat. I tend to last from 6:30 – 8:00 or 8:15 PM. To do everything I that I am supposed to do would take at least until 9:00. Looking back at my Garmin logs I see that my heart rate steadily climbs during each successive activity. Once my heart rate gets over 180 BPM, that is about the time the wheels fall off.

Heat and humidity have been a constant problem this summer, even though it has been relatively mild. With my high sweat rate the heat and humidity are my number one running impediment. The last two weekends have been cooler, which has been a real Godsend.

Last week was my first 22-mile training run. My longest training runs for the Oklahoma City Marathon were two 20-mile runs, both of which were a real challenge. I remember barely making it up the final hill of my last 20-mile run and wondering how I could make it six more miles in a marathon.

By contrast, last Saturday’s 22-mile run wasn’t that bad. I ran with our pace group leader who is recovering from an injury so we took it pretty easy. The strategy for all our long runs is to run a mile, and then walk a minute. We managed to keep our running pace between 10:00 and 11:00/mile most of the way. My legs felt rubbery after about 12 miles, as usual, and I felt fatigued, but most importantly I felt like I had more in me when we were done. That was a very nice feeling to have at the end of my longest training run.

Still being somewhat new to running, I have just now begun to realize how rare it is to be able to run without a challenge of some sort. What I wouldn’t give for a long stretch of healthy running. After my first half marathon it was a pulled groin muscle that derailed my running, and discouraged me from running for a few years. This spring, during preparation for my first marathon, it was shin splints that challenged me. Now I’m dealing with an apparent Morton’s Neuroma.

Even if you are not dealing with chronic issues, there are the inevitable ups and down from run to run. Saturday was definitely one of my down days. Having missed my scheduled 18-mile group run while on vacation, I tried to get in a long run on my own. It turned out not to be my day. My feet felt like lead, and I gave in to post-vacation fatigue after only 9 miles.

Running, beyond the obvious physical challenge, is a test of will, whether fighting a snooze alarm at 5:00 AM, or toughing out an extra mile. Running also requires common sense, listening to your body, and knowing when to compromise. Perhaps I am a little too skilled at compromise.

This summer, as my training for the Kansas City Marathon gets into full swing, I hope to find the will to push myself a little farther and a little faster, while still being smart about my health. I’ve signed-up for 12 weeks of speed sessions with The Runners Edge. My goal is get below an average pace of 8:00/mile on a two mile run, and ultimately to finish a marathon in under five hours.

Last week I missed the group time trials for the speed sessions. I was on vacation and had to do my time trail on my own. Since I was in St. Louis, I did it around the Gateway Arch. I warmed up for about 10 minutes before starting my two mile hard run. I started out at a pace below 8:00/mile, but eventually slowed down. I finished with an average of 8:46/mile. Not as fast as I wanted, but faster than I’ve ever run for that distance. I don’t know if it is possible to shave off 45 seconds in just 12 weeks, but I’ll try. Where there’s a will, there’s a way, or at least so I hope.

A week from tomorrow the bus chartered by The Runners Edge will be rumbling out of Kansas City destined for the The Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon--my first marathon.  Tonight I squeezed in a short run after supper which turned out to be a veritable nature tour.

Aside from the plethora of rabbits, squirrels, and chipmunks that have come out this spring, I was treated to the sight of a couple of woodpeckers in a territorial dispute over a dead tree next to the trail.  Their red caps flashed in the light from the setting sun at eye level as I approached the tree. They were surprisingly large.  They moved their fight elsewhere as I jogged by.

On the return trip I caught site of large owl sitting at the top of a tree next to the trail at Switzer Road, not far from where I broke my wrist earlier this month. It appeared to be a Great Horned Owl, about a foot tall.  I stopped and pulled out my camera phone, hoping to get a shot for my girls, but without a zoom it was just a bump on a far away branch.  I've been hearing owls a lot during my night runs for months now.  It was nice to finally see one.  After watching me fumble with the camera the owl decided it had seen enough and dropped from its perch in a graceful dive, wings outstretched, turning to fly deeper in the woods.  I would like to think my owl encounter was a good omen--okay, maybe I'm reaching a bit.

I know bats are not a good omen.  The Indian Creek Trail follows a park and some fields west of Switzer Road and the bats had come out in droves in the fading sunlight to sample the spring crop of flying insects.  This was the first time I noticed bats this spring.  I was so intent at watching the small bats dive and dart through the twilight sky, not far above my head, that I came inches from stepping on a large toad that had parked itself on the trail.  That could have been a disgusting mess! I wonder if any runners have injured themselves stepping on a toad?  Leave it to me to pull something like that a week before a marathon.

All that was missing from my nature run were the deer I've seen on my last two runs in a field near Nieman Road where I exit the trial. As I approached the field I was disappointed not to see any deer silhouettes, but then, as if on cue, a large doe crossed the trial not 40 feet in front of me. It stopped to graze near the side of the trail.  As I ran past her, maybe 15 feet away, the deer was looking in the opposite direction, not seeming to care about my presence.

Seeing the deer again so close was a nice ending to a pleasant run.  It is hard to believe that a week from tonight I'll be packing my gear for my first marathon.

The The 2009 Olathe Marathon has been canceled due to the approaching snowstorm.

Marathon runners were given three options:

1. Run in the 2010 Olathe Marathon.

2. Run in the Olathe Half Marathon (rescheduled for next week).

3. Take your participant medal and go home.

I opted to run in the half marathon next week.  That still gives me time to taper for The Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon a month from now.

I'm not really that disappointed.  Oklahoma City was going to be my "main marathon event" anyway.  The Olathe Marathon was just a warm-up event that would have allowed for my family to see me finish.  My only disappointment is that my family won't be in OKC to cheer me on.  This is probably going to work out better for my shin splints though.

My training schedule is screwed up now since I ran my last 20-mile run three weeks ago.  I'm going to head out for a seven mile run tonight before the weather turns bad.  If the snowstorm has not begun by 7:00 AM I'll probably join The Runners Edge on its Saturday morning run too.  I wish there was a way for me to work in a 20-mile run this weekend. That can't happen without a road trip.

The Olathe Marathon is in eight days.  I just finished my run for the night and I'm icing my shin as I type.  My pace is deliberately two-minutes/mile slower, I'm walking longer after each mile, and it's helping. 

My first weeknight run after my last twenty-mile run was downright painful.  I was uncomfortable for the first six miles of my run last Saturday.  Tuesday it took about four miles before the pain in my shin subsided. Tonight my shin bothered me, but I wasn't "limp running," and it was barely noticeable after two miles.  I can't say I had a normal run, but it was getting closer to normal.

This Saturday I will just be running eight-miles with The Runners Edge and I'll be running with the 11:40 pace group instead of the 11:20 pace group.  After than I have two short weeknight runs, and then it's marathon time.  I can't believe that it's almost here.

I ran my last 20-mile run Saturday and now I begin to taper for the Olathe Marathon, March 28.  I honestly don't know how I would have made it this far without Coach Valdez and The Runners Edge. Nor do I know how I would have stood all these hours of running without the wonderful companionship of the people in my pace group -- they make the hours and miles fly by.

It was already in the 60's when the run began Saturday, making it possible to wear shorts and a short sleeve shirt for a change.  The heat began working against me as the run progressed though.  In the final four miles I was really huffing and puffing. Lisa, the pace group leader, is still injured, so I ran with Dan and Becky most of the way, though I kept falling behind the last few miles, catching up briefly at the mile markers.  I really enjoy running with Dan "Mr. Motivator" and Becky.  I was off my "name game" Saturday, so I didn't get the names of some of the others running with us out to mile-8, or the woman who ran with us out to mile-9.

I have to confess that my two twenty-mile runs have been hard on me.  My shins stay sore all week, I've bruised a nerve on the ball of my foot, and my legs are "tore up."  As I fought my way up the final hill in mile-19 I wondered how on earth I would be able to run an additional 6.2 miles on race day.  It is going to be tough. 

Honestly, though, I have no room to complain compared to so many others I met on this wonderful journey. For instance, last week I visited with Tami Martin.  Tami has run 54 marathons, including a marathon in all 50 states.  In February Tami went down to Huntsville, TX for the Rocky Raccoon 100 Mile Trail Run.  Tami ran 50-miles, and her friends, who were attempting 100-miles, ran 75-miles.  I cannot even comprehend what it would be like to run 50 or 75 miles.  And, on my first 20-mile run, two weeks ago, as we were on the final leg of the run we ran into some people training for an ultramarathon on the way back out for their 32-mile training run.  My pair of 20-mile runs are just a warm-up to those people!

Next week I plan on running the Olathe half-marathon route for my last long run before the marathon. Looking at the 0lathe Marathon course map I noticed that the half-marathon is a loop from which the full-marathon route does an out-and-back before rejoining the loop.  Since I had a 12-mile training run scheduled anyway, it just made since for me to run a half-marathon on the Olathe course to get familiar with the route.

Three weeks to Marathon day!

What I really like about The Runners Edge Saturday runs are the people.  I meet so many interesting people and have some great conversations.  I assumed that I would just be keeping to myself today, since I was running with a new pace group, but that wasn't the case.  I met several people, and spent all of the last five miles talking to one individual in particular.

The conversation with my new acquaintance began with the usual small talk.  She has run the Oklahoma City Marathon, and five others, and is considering running the Abilene, KS marathon. As we talked, I learned that she has a painful, chronic medical condition that has required multiple surgeries. And yet, here she is, pushing through a 10-mile workout, and planning her seventh marathon!  I asked if this kind of training helped her condition, and it didn't sound like her doctors were very happy about her running.  She just likes to run.

The strength and determination of the people I meet on my runs amazes me, like Julie, the woman I met on my 8-mile run, who completed an IronMan and is training for another, and now this woman today. I can't help but be inspired and humbled. Each time I hesitate to run on a frigid night, or feel like giving up, like I was tempted to do on my 16-mile run, I draw from inspirational stories like these to keep going.

My new friend and I went on talking about kids, work, nutrition and training, how running makes us feel, and the next thing I knew we were within sight of the finish line.  That is how it goes when you get caught up in a good conversation.  Coach Valdez is always reminding us that we should be running slow enough to get out six words without taking a breath.  I certainly did that today.

Despite all my gabbing, my “time in motion” was 1:54:31, covering a distance of 9.96 miles, at an average pace of 11:29. I started out with the 11:40 pace group, but when we caught up with the 11:20 pace group at the 2-mile aid station I decided to switch groups. I've been working on lengthening my stride since the Topeka Half-marathon, and have come to the conclusion that a little faster pace feels more natural.

Next week - 18-miles.