There are just two more runs left in the cycle and I will be hosting a celebration run January 5th, 2020 (the day after the Daf Yomi cycle completes).

http://nofrillsnowasterunning.com/

There is no good reason I am combining these marathons in one post. This year was a transition year as I started a Masters program and my time both for training and writing was greatly diminished. I will say, the extra challenge was thrilling and I am about to finish both my MBA and this Daf Yomi cycle together.

The past 5 marathons had their ups and downs. The down side was evident in the lack of training time as my completion times edged back up past 4 hours and even had two events that injury or health was a serious consideration. On the positive side, I also completed many more triathlons and added another 1/2 Ironman event during this time.

I see this period as a transition period as the Daf Yomi cycle is nearing it's completion so I have been focusing my time more on expanding into triathlon events. Once this cycle is complete in January 2020 (just weeks away at this point), I will continue to run marathons on occasion but focus more on triathlon events.

To celebrate the Siyum, I am hosting a running event in my area:

http://nofrillsnowasterunning.com/

Apparently Coffee Milk is a thing and the official drink of Rode Island.  Not worth running a marathon for but the race was fun and FLAT!  Weather turned out to be fairly good for me, but not so pleasant for other folks.  It hovered in the low 40's with a STRONG wind for most of it.

I came in at 3:51 which put me at 20th overall and 8th in my age division http://www.3craceproductions.com/raceresults.php?raceId=1965&type=LINKS0 which and had a great time.  I had Nili and Tal cheering for me and they came up with some really fun cheers with some stuffed animals from our friends Aaron and Valerie who we stayed with.

"Aligators, Snakes, and Lions!  We can see you're really try'n!"
"Porcupines, Bears and Snakes!  We all think you're really great!"

It has now been 5 years complete of running marathons and this was my 30th!  Felt really good to be under 4 hours again.  I tried a new approach: 10,10,10

10 miles at warmup relaxed effort (heart rate under 150)
10 K at effort (heart rate below 164)
10 miles whatever felt good but heart rate under 160

I'll try this strategy again.

So most folks I spoke to about running an entire marathon indoors along the concourse level of an arena looked at me with pity and confusion (and a little disgust).  Why would you do that to yourself?  The timing for a marathon was perfect for my schedule and it was so close I could have biked there.  Plus there was the appeal that based off the last year's participants I could place in the top 10...WHICH I DID!  I came in 8th place.  Also since it was indoors, we could set up our own aide station, which was nice.

But that being said....not sure I would do it again, or recommend it. Unless I was desperate for a marathon.

I went into the race mentally thinking this will be one of my long runs in prep for the April 8th marathon and my 20 miles was right on track with a great 20 mile run around 2hours 45min....but after that, mentally I fell apart.  And it was really hard to want to finish.  I mean it was only taking about 2 minutes to do a lap and every two minutes you were passing your table with all your stuff and the exit.  There was no incentive to finish like in a regular marathon where you have to get somewhere because that is where all your stuff is or at the very least, the finish.

The race was a fundraiser for the Women's Ultimate Frisbee team at UMass and they were there as the volunteers helping at registration, the one water station, and keeping a manual track of laps at the finish as a back up for the computer.  They were fantastic and very enthusiastic to a point where I might want to go back for that experience.  Usually in a race you have a friend or a family member there to cheer for you.  But here there were about 30 young ladies cheering your name! And they got to know you a bit because certain ones were assigned to be your cheerleader and lap tracker so you kind of wanted to come around the corner to hear them chanting your name or cheering you along.  They were the only redeeming value of the race....and it was absolutely flat.

But speaking of the course, it was on ceramic tile and the laps were just over 300 meters.  The temperature for most of the building was probably low 60's and pleasant to run, but by the entrance they had the heaters on and there was a segment of the course that was very unpleasant.  I had to get ice a few times from the first aide folks to keep cool.  Which I managed to do and not throw up.

Over all, it was a fine run, but not an experience I look forward to doing again.  I did it, and that was enough.

This was my comeback attempt since last year I had to leave at mile 18 due to illness.  This year was much better and I finished with only a minor interruption at mile 23.

The weather was perfect.  50's with a light misting rain most of the time and overcast the rest of the time.  There was a strong wind on the bridge but that was to be expected.  I was at my best and was excited to give it a go.  Everything was really smooth until around mile 22 when I realized I might PR and was feeling fairly good.  With only 4 miles to go I felt good enough to stop paying attention to my hear rate monitor and just push it a little more than normal.  Bad mistake.  ALWAYS STICK TO THE PLAN.

By the time I realized I was pushing it too hard for too long I needed to throw up.  It was right at mile 23 and right in front of a med tent.  I had nothing in me to throw up so it was just heaving and being light headed.  It would have probably only been a 2-3 minute stop had it happened anywhere else, but being right in front of a med tent they had to process me.  Now granted every time I said I was good to go they would offer me something like salt or gatorade  or ice and each time I obliged and I did feel markedly better than had I not taken it, but all in all, sitting on the cot for as long as I did, I lost my mojo and tempo.  When I started back running I knew I wasn't even close to breaking 4 hours so I just plodded along feeling a bit zapped.  The kick from throwing up had run out and I was a bit drained.

As I crossed the finish I was feeling fine and the short walk to the medal and water shoot I was feeling good.  Now it was estimated to take about 30-40 minutes to walk out from the finish to the park exit, but I had a train to catch.  It was 2pm and I had a 3pm train.  I think I had the fastest exit time of 10 minutes.  I got my food bag and poncho (nice poncho) and caught a subway to go to a hotel some friends had near by for a quick shower and then a taxi to Penn Station.  I made it to my train with 5 minutes to spare...however, the train was late.

From the train I went to my friend Noah's wedding and got there just as everyone was saying their goodbyes.  I gave him my medal.

It was hot.  So hot they moved the start time back an hour.  That was a good move.  By the end of my run the course warnings were up to Red (at Black they stop the race).  Knowing that it was going to be hot and humid I came into it with a  different hydration and fuel game and I think it was the right move.  I didn't bonk like last race.  I didn't throw up, like a few recent races.

I decided to forgo the Electrolyte pills as they always made me feel a bit queazy even when I hadn't been running and stuck to Banana, a little baggie of salt, and instead of just water using a GU electrolyte tablet in my water bottle.  That poor banana made it to mile 18.5 before it was not pleasant or useful to carry any more.  I started eating it around mile 10; had some near mile 15; took my last bite at mile 18.  The stub that remained was quickly turning to mush so I ditched it in the woods.

The course is really lovely in the beginning first 10-11 miles mostly downgrade quiet forested roads.  But then it hits a bit more commercial and residential and some ups and downs.  Of course that is when the heat really started to hit.  I had been doing 8:30-8:45 pacing until around mile 19 then the slog started.  Pace dropped and dropped due to stopping to walk a couple of times.  Started to hover around 10:30 for the last few miles.  But in the end, I felt good (and ready to finish).  I had thought I was finishing around four and half hours so coming it at 4:07 was a pleasant surprise.

I did the entire race based off of keeping my heart rate under 145 for the first 9 miles, then under 155 for the rest of the race.  That seemed to suite me well for not over exhorting myself.

The start was a 7am start so that meant leaving at 4am.  Fortunately I road with my friend Rachel R who was running the half and was a big support for my finish.  It was a nice road trip and made coming back fun to talk about how the race went for the both of us.  She had finished with a 1:54 which was right on target with her training for NYC marathon which is coming up for both of us in a month and a half.

It should have been a 3:50, I was on track for a 3:50 finish...all up until that last 3 miles...then BONK! First time experiencing a muscle fatigue bonk.  Legs turned to jello and concrete at the same time right around mile 23.

I knew what it was right away and just stopped.  Hardly walked...hardly could walk.  But stopped to just take it in what happened and to cool down a bit.

I had been so concentrating on staying salted and properly hydrated (not too much) because last year was a scorcher (they stopped the race because of heat), that I didn't eat at all during the second half of the race.  Just managed salts and liquids and electrolytes.  An occassional half a banana but clearly not enough.  I needed to have been taking in more sugar fuel because when it ran out of my legs, my tank was out.

After a slow walk for a mile, I decided I should at least trudge it in for the finish.  My legs just wouldn't work right.  People were cheering for me and I felt bad, because it looked like I was running with cerebral palsy the way my feet kind of dragged skew.  I felt bad because they kept cheering me on and in my head I was say, "Don't cheer for me....this is stupidity...I should have been fueling up correctly."

But in the end, I crossed with still a very reasonable time of 4:07 and had a smashingly good time with my friends Eli Bass, Danielle Morse, and Rachel Hannah.

I was so close to having a PR but the heat eventually got to me and at mile 24 I had to stop to throw up.  It only took a few minutes to feel back to normal and once I did get back on my feet I had a very strong finish....even passed a few guys you stopped to ask if I was OK.

The nausea started around mile 20 and would come in waves, usually dissipated by burping or passing gas....but at one stretch climbing a modest hill I just was overwhelmed and tired of fighting it and just fell into the grass and started throwing up.  I did feel better and might consider it a strategy for next time around, but it wasn't so pleasant and could have gone very bad.

I have to give a great shout out to my brother for setting me up at the downtown Hilton....feet from the starting line...and finish.  I have never had the opportunity to wake up, have breakfast, get dressed, then go back to sleep for an hour.  That was super nice.  Plus being able to walk back to my room after the race for a shower and easy lunch before having to pack up for heading to the airport.  Felt really nice.

I had a chance to catch up with my brother and his wife and two friends I've know since middle school, but haven't seen for about 20 years.  That was really nice.

It slipped my mind for this entry, but I had a great time in New Orleans.  Definitely worth the trip and would recommend the visit.  The marathon was kind of blah though.

It was my first 'Rock-n-Roll' marathon and I kept a skeptical eye about the event.  I really don't like big events and this was just so commercialized that it made me even more skeptical about it.  The theme being rock-n-roll music along the way and it's a big party.  I'd say that's true for the 80% of the runners doing the Half Marathon, but once we split from the first half, the back half felt pretty neglected.

It also got really hot and the back half was almost entirely exposed with little shade.  Right around mile 20 I really started to feel the heat and took ice packs from a med tent on my head for the rest of the run.  It was the heat that eventually got to me and I had to walk a bit to keep from throwing up.  I did do some video blogging along the way (not live streaming as that turned out to be a disaster at the NYC marathon) and posted it after the race.

Bonus was having Nili run me in the last 200 yards to the finish.  Got a great photo of us together running.

It was bound to happen.  A cross over between a date when I was sick and a date to run a marathon.  First let me say, that despite my reservations about NYC Marathon being a logistical nightmare (which is certainly wasn't easy), it was a really really fun marathon.  I would certainly recommend it and look forward to actually completing it.  More about that later.

So Starting on Thursday prior to the race I started to get a bit of a tickle on my throat and by Friday it was clear I had a sore throat and something coming on.  I was taking Elderberry, ginger, vitamin C, zinc...whatever I could get my hands on and whenever I could get my hands on it...but in the end, I was hit with a double wammy of Strep Throat and some flu like thing.

On Saturday night I was up every hour with the chills and a fever.  I was drenched in my sweat but decided that if I woke without a fever I'd head to the start and play it by ear.  So come the morning I was feverless and starting to feel excited about the race and pushed onward.

I knew something wasn't quite right as I was monitoring my heart rate and it just was too high early on in the race and I couldn't get it to lower even as I slowed my pace or headed down hill from the Verazano's bridge.  My body was working overtime on dealing with the illness.

But the crowds were crazy!  Not just the sea of people running, but the sheer volume from the spectators was insane.  I had to shout to my friend Chris running next to me so we could talk.  It really made it easy to keep going.

Up through mile 9 my pace was on track for a sub 4 hour race, but I was still worried that my heart rate was as high as it was.  By mile 10 things took a turn and I wasn't feeling good in a bad way.  Feeling overheated, slightly nauseous, and raging sore throat.  I actually started to look for a subway and at one point when I grabbed a cup of water from  a spectator I asked how far to the nearest subway.  I was looking to bail.  But some how I managed to get to mile 13 which was the start of bridge that led back over into Manhattan and figured that would be my exit plan...get to Manhattan.  Just as I got on the bridge, I threw up....but since there were no race martial or real spectators on the bridge, I just kept going.  I walked most of the bridge....which was about a mile long.

On the exit of the bridge leading on the upper east side of Manhattan (probably from walking for the past 15 minutes) I was feeling better and decided to try for another mile.  That lasted until Mile 17 when I got dizzy, the chills, and the flu showed its nasty face and though I didn't vomit from my mouth, I did not have clean pants on anymore....that was the final straw to go get to a med tent.  I saw one just past mile 18.  The wrapped me up with a nice blanket, hydrated me, let me use the back of an ambulance to warm up and clean myself up.  Then I looked for an official and gave notice.

I had a metro card on me so I walked the few blocks to the subway and headed over to Times Square to find my friends Dave and Susie who were with Tal....they had my change of clothes and I was so happy to see them.

Though I shouldn't have actually started the race, I'm glad I got a taste of it and super glad I bailed when I did.  This way I had a nice afternoon with Tal and my friends and not ending up in a hospital.