Race Preview: 2013 Outer Banks Marathon

Nov 7, 2013 by Greg Fowler

Hey, guess what?  I’m running the Outer Banks Marathon on Sunday, November 1oth.  If you’ve read my posts over the past four months, then you are probably tired of hearing about my preparation.  I understand. I am certainly tired of training!  Here’s some information on what I’ll be facing on Sunday.

Why Outer Banks?

After my disappointing second half on the killer hills of  last March’s Columbia Marathon, I decided I wanted to go back to the coast for a flat marathon.  My personal best was at Myrtle Beach in 2011.  I also wanted a fall race, where most training would be in the summer heat, but race day would be cooler.  This is the opposite of spring races where I’ve trained in the cold only to be hit with too warm conditions late in the race.

So, given those requirements, a few close races meet the mark.  There is Kiawah Island near Charleston, SC in December.  Also, there are two November races, Savannah (Georgia) Rock ‘n Roll and Outer Banks, North Carolina.  I decided Kiawah was too close to Christmas and, besides, I’d done it once.  So, that left the other two.  Despite not visiting Savannah in quite some time, I decided to go to Outer Banks, where I’ve never visited.

The Course

The course is a point to point layout, mostly north to south.  At least it is not a double loop. We’ll start in Kitty Hawk and end with trip over the Washington-Baum bridge into Manteo for the finish.  Here’s a picture, courtesy of TazRunning.com:

For a slideshow tour of the course, click here: http://obxrunners.appspot.com/route/agpvYnhydW5uZXJzcgsLEgVSb3V0ZRgBDA/play

For videos of the sections of the course by Village Realty, click here: http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLC0DEB5774A8B363B

Elevation Changes

While the course is extremely flat compared to the Columbia Marathon and my usual training routes, there are two spots that will make it harder for me to reach my goal of qualifying for the Boston Marathon.  The first is around mile 10.  The course organizers decided to showcase some local trails and threw in about a 5K’s worth of cross country running.  The first 2 to 2.5 miles of this appears to be on hard packed dirt roads, but we take a turn about the 12.5 mark onto mulch covered sand dunes trails.  Hmmm.  Sounds like quicksand to me.

The second point of concern is around the 22-23 mile mark, the Washington-Baum bridge over Roanoke Sound.  On the elevation map, it is barely a blip, but at mile 23 it will seem like Mount Everest.

 

Here’s the elevation map for the entire course (courtesy of FindMyMarathon.com):

Weather

Looks like my plan for perfect running weather is looking good.  I run best with temps in the 50’s. Here’s the forecast for Sunday:

 

 

Personal Goal

My goal for this race is to beat 3:25:00.  This is over 22 minutes faster than my previous marathon best and would qualify me for the Boston Marathon.  The goal may be quite a stretch, but my training has come together nicely over the last two months.  I’ve completed all my planned workouts and feel great.  It is gonna be close.  Click on the image below for more details on my training with the Run Less Run Faster program.

 

Now I just have to make it to the starting line.  I’ve made some planning and logistics mistakes, but that’s another story.

Now I’m off to complete my playlist…

POFIFOTO!

 

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Race Preview: 2013 Jailbreak 5K

May 21, 2013 by Greg Fowler

Just a quick note to let you know I’m still kicking and running.  This year is Jailbreak VII and will be held on May 25, 2012 in Lexington, South Carolina.  The race supports the Lexington County Sheriff’s Foundation.  Last year, an out of towner named Scott Wietecha came in and put a whippin’ on all the usual local favorites with a 14:47.  This year, I hope to see some of the Lexington High cross country and track team guys come out to give the regulars a run for their money.

The Course

I wouldn’t necessarily call this a guaranteed PR course, but in the past, I have PR’d here.  Most of the first two miles is flat to downhill.  The third mile has some rolling hills with a short tough stretch up Church St.  The final half mile or so is pretty flat.  Here’s the map:

In addition, here’s the elevation map:

Personal Goals

I rarely go into a race without at least one personal goal. This race is no different. I guess I have two for this outing. The first is to avenge myself from the beat down I took last week in the Run Hard 5K when my son whipped me by over a minute and a half.  Now, I’m not going to make excuses. I ran an OK race at 22:43 for having some sort of cold/virus bug. I’m over that, and I’ve had good training of late. My plan is to let him go out his usually too fast pace, and catch him on the last mile, as the hills take their toll. This plan assumes that I am immune to the hills.  I have no historical evidence to support that, but let’s just go with it.

The second goal is to establish a good baseline 5K time for my next marathon training. I’m thinking of doing the Outer Banks Marathon in November, so serious training will pick up in July. I plan on going to back to using the Run Less Run Faster book. In this book, workout speeds are based on your 5K ability. Since I want to improve my marathon time and maybe catch a glimpse of a BQ (Boston Qualifier), I would like to set a PR, just to help with the mental edge of training.  My 5K best is 21:36 and the book says 21:06 puts you in the ball park for having the ability to BQ, based on their statistics.

So, it is time to go work on my playlist. Being Memorial Day weekend, I’m thinking of going with a patriotic theme. This will at least allow me to justify Night Ranger’s You Can Still Rock in America. I will not be including Billy Ray Cyrus’s Some Gave All, though, in case you were wondering.

POFIFOTO!

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Race Preview: 2013 Columbia Marathon

Mar 6, 2013 by Greg Fowler

After the 2012 Columbia Marathon, I didn’t know if I’d run it again in 2013.  Oh, there was nothing wrong with the race.  In fact, it was an extremely well organized event, and I had a good race.

Here’s the deal though. I’ve always told myself I wouldn’t repeat the same marathon.  Originally, my thinking was ‘Hey since you can only do a marathon every so often, perhaps one a year, you might as well go somewhere new each time.’

I still feel that way a little bit, but one thing that has changed that I really didn’t count on – my ability to do marathons more frequently than I ever imagined (I’ve done a road marathon and a trail ultra marathon since the last Columbia Marathon).  So, when race director Dan Hartley announced some route changes and an awesome shirt, well, I was in.  Plus, I get to sleep in my own bed the night before!

Route Change = Better Finish

With the circus in town during this year’s race weekend, Dan Hartley had to make some route changes and avoid the Colonial Life Arena side of Assembly Street. The start has been altered to begin on Sumter Street next to the South Carolina State House.  The finish has been modified to come down Main Street and finish in front of the State House at the corner of Main and Gervais Streets.  Then, all post-race festivities will be on State House grounds.

Although, I appreciated (and needed!) the downhill finish at last year’s event, this is a very nice change for 2013 (and beyond?).  Unfortunately, these changes didn’t take out any of the toughest hills on the course!  For course map and elevation click here to go to the official website for the marathon.

The Number Twenty-two

Growing up, I played a lot of organized basketball. Early on, I had the number twenty-two and it became my favorite.  I was able to keep that number most years.  Now that I run marathons, the number twenty-two has a different meaning.  Now, it means twenty two miles is all I have in me before I hit “The Wall”.

Below I’ve included a chart of my marathon splits (minutes per mile) from each of my first four marathons.  Being a nerd, I record this info.  For the last three marathons my GPS watch did it for me.  On my first, in 2009 before my GPS watch, I had to press the watch split button at each mile marker, then go back and review.   I threw the numbers in an Excel spreadsheet and made a chart of the data.

Here’s a chart with the average split for the four races:

You can see that the wheels get wobbly after mile twenty, then completely come off after mile twenty-two.  My goal for this week’s race is to beat this trend.  Unfortunately for me, the second time up the long Trenholm Road hill is about the twenty-two mark.  We’ll see.  My time goal is to beat 3:45, which would be a personal best.  Off to work on a playlist!

PS. The weather forecast looks good. Should be around 40 degrees for the 7:30am start, then warm up nicely to almost 60 by finish.

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Race Preview: Lexington Race Against Hunger 10K 2013

Feb 17, 2013 by Greg Fowler

I can hardly believe it, but on February 23rd, I will be running the Lexington Race Against Hunger 10K for the 5th time!  Much has changed in four years.  in 2009, the LRAH was my first oranized race, and I had only run over 6 miles once before the actual race.

These days,  6 miles is a pretty short workout for me.  And though I’ve run many races over the last fours years, the LRAH is still one of my favorites.  The race organizers do a fantastic job, and there is a large turnout.   Last year, I came close to a personal best for a 10K, and this year I hope to actually set that PR.  I haven’t set a PR in a 10K since 2009!

The course is tough, though, so a PR will be extra special.  Here’s the course elevation map:

There’s still time to register, and there is a 5K walk if 10K is too much for you. Visit the official website at http://www.lrah.org.

For my race review from last year, click here.

POFIFOTO!

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Race Preview: Spinx Run Fest Marathon 2012

Oct 24, 2012 by Greg Fowler

This quote hung as a poster on the wall of my 11th grade U.S. History class and has stuck with me ever since.  Unfortunately, that is about all I remember from that class. I guess I’m no good at remembering my marathon past, either, especially how much the last few miles hurt.  As a result of this memory loss/denial,  this weekend on  October 27th, I’ll run my 4th marathon, the Spinx Runfest, in Greenville, South Carolina.

Earlier this summer, I planned to run Kiawah Island as my next marathon.  Plans changed, and I had to switch to Greenville.  The early bird low price made it a good choice, too.    Unfortunately, the race is six weeks sooner than Kiawah, so my training cycle was a little shorter.  That’s OK.  I was tired of the long Saturday runs.

Switching to Greenville is going to have one disadvantage to Kiawah, though – the hills.  The race starts in downtown Greenville and make its way up the Swamp Rabbit Trail (a reclaimed railway path), over to Furman University, and then on to the town of Travelers Rest.  There, we’ll turn around and pretty much reverse the route back to the finish in the Greenville Drive’s stadium.  So, generally the first half is uphill and the second half is downhill.  Sounds like the perfect time for a negative split.  Here’s the elevevation map, courtesy of the Runfest web site & MapMyRun.com:

Back to history.  Since this will be my fourth marathon, I suppose I should look back on the first three to identify some big mistakes and try not to repeat them.  Here are the biggest mistakes from each of my first three.

1. Kiawah Island, December 2009.   Mistimed my final pre-race trip to the port-a-johns and the lines were too long.  Not wanting to mis the race start, I decided to wait until I really had to go on the course.  This occurred about mile 15.  Unfortunately, my legs thought this 2 minute break was for good and really balked about restarting.

Kiawah Lesson: If you cannot take a last restroom break immediately before the race, at least stop in the first few miles.

Likelihood of remembering this on Saturday: Excellent.

2. Myrtle Beach, February 2011.  After training all winter in cold weather, the race day starting temperature was a balmy 55 degrees.  This was great running weather for a while.  As the sun climbed, though, so did the temperature.  By about mile 18, it was around 70 degrees and sunny, much hotter than anything I’d trained in for months.  Since the first part of the race felt so good, I did not do a good job of taking in fluids, and I was about to pay the price.  The last two miles were a big struggle as I was severely dehydrated.

Myrtle Beach lesson: Take in fluids early, even if you don’t feel like it you need it.

Likelihood of remembering this on Saturday: Very Good.  Weather forecast very similar to that day in Myrtle Beach.

3. Columbia, SC, March 2012.  Around mile 16, I was running all alone and my focus was starting to drift.  Then, the 3:45 pace group passed me. I hadn’t been too concerned with pace up to this point and was just enjoying the day.   As they passed, though, I had the crazy thought of ‘Hey, I’m feeling OK.  If I can keep up with these guys, I’ll set a PR on my toughest marathon course yet.’  That went well for about 6 miles.  I then crashed and burned on the Trenholm Road hill, watching the pacer pull away.

Columbia Lesson: Don’t make unrealistic pace decisions during the race.

Likelihood of remembering this on Saturday: Hmmm. Still pondering!

POFIFOTO!

 

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