Athens Marathon 2010 Closed?? WTF??

I cannot believe it!!!

Last year I ran the Athens Marathon (in Greece) and enjoyed it. This year (2010) it is the special anniversary of 2,500 years from the Battle of Marathon (490 BC) so I was thinking of doing it again.

Then, my wife, who has not run a marathon yet, threw the idea of making this her FIRST marathon. I told her that she is crazy (it is a very hard course)but we talked about it and became comfortable with the idea, and started making plans. Sounded like a wonderful idea to go and enjoy the experience together. I loved it!  I even got a stack of books and started reading about the history of the Battle of Marathon.

The registration opened a month ago. They sent me an email saying that I should register early because of the increased interest due to the anniversary. They said something like the race could fill by the end of Spring. Last year I waited until the last minute, just a couple of days before the deadline, sometime in October (!), and there were openings. There were about 3,500 runners last year. This year they said they will limit the field to 12,000 runners.

So, I go today to the web site, and what do I see? The race is filled and the registration is closed!!

("as the best race ever" you did not run!)

I did a bit of research and found that it closed in 2 weeks! (by April 1 - no joke!)  In two weeks they filled 12,000 spots, while last year they only had 3,500 runners? Hard to believe.  But they say that only 4,000 registrations were open to the general public.  The rest were distributed to different groups and tourist organizations outside Greece, ahead of time. I really don't understand this.  2 out of 3 registrations go to organizations and let the general public out of the race? 

They also say that around June (no date specified) they might free some registrations from cancelations (no specifics, nothing), so check the web site around this time.  This is unacceptable and irritating.  One needs to make plans, make flight reservations, train for the race, etc., so now we have to wait until June, just in case we get lucky?  I say, screw them!  Who needs that?

Who would have thought that the 2500 year anniversary from the Battle of Marathon would generate such an interest? Someone said that the anniversary is really next year (2011) since there is no year zero :) So I decided to buy the commemorative medal this year (anyone can buy it at http://www.2500marathonanniversary.com/ - only 10 Euros each, they come from South Africa from all places) and run the race next year (ha, ha!). Actually I bought 3 medals, one for me, one for my wife and one for ebay (50 years from now it might be in high demand).  Here is a picture of it:

So I missed Boston 2010 and now Athens 2010. It's a terrible year!!! This puts a lot of pressure for people to register early for key races. Like the Summer Buckeye 50K. Some people put an alarm to wake up and register in the middle of the night. As if we did not have enough stress already. Running is supposed to be fun and here it becomes a source of stress and disappointment. Oh well, at least this shows an increased interest in running.

Legs NOT hurting?

Please help resolve this on-going marital dispute!

What does it mean if your legs are NOT hurting after a hard race?

My legs always hurt after a race. Later the same day. Even more the next day. And the day after that, and so on. Sometimes I am even unable to run for a couple of days. This is especially true for long races, of course, but it also happens with short races, like a 5K. For example, after the Half Marathon on Sunday, my legs (quads, etc) were hurting later on Sunday, also on Monday, even today (Tuesday).


<--- Liz struggling at mile 13 the half. Yet, her legs did not hurt after the race. What gives?

On the other hand, my wife's legs NEVER hurt! I keep asking her after every race: "Do your legs hurt?" Her response: "No". "Not even a bit?", "Not at all".

"Then," I say "you did not try hard enough".

And there is where the argument starts. She insists that she ran as fast and as hard as possible, but still her legs do not hurt. How is this possible?

How is it possible to give 110% and not pay for it (with pain)?

I don't get it.

After I wrote this, and posted in a running email discussion list, most people said that they did not understand it either and offered explanations like "maybe she does not want to admit that she is hurting".

I had a long discussion with her. She says that her hips felt a bit tight and her Achilles tendon slightly tender (she had problems with both Achilles tendons and her hips in the past) but she has absolutely no muscle pain. If you hit my quads right now, I will jump up and screem. She feels nothing.

She also shows another unusual characteristic: Her training runs are even and fast. But her race pace drops and her final time in the race is slower than a training run!

Example: 2 weeks before her first half, she ran a training run at the Towpath, 13.2 miles at 9:32 fairly even pace. The Towpath is flat but slow due to less friction. This good training run led her to believe that she could achieve 2 hours in the race. Her target race pace was 9:20. Sounds possible, based on this training run.

In the actual race her mile splits were: 8:57, 8:55, 8:46, 9:04, 9:13, 9:22, 9:37, 9:33. Up to this point (first 8 miles) things look good. But look what happened next: 9:52, 10:03, 10:39, 10:34, 11:04.

Average pace = 9:45.

Most people (myself included) can race faster than they train. If I could cover the distance at 9:30 pace when training, then for sure I could do a 9:00 average pace in the race, most likely 8:30 (one minute faster in the race vs. training).

Maybe she started too fast and this caused the melt-down at the end (the last 11 min/mile is very uncharacteristic for her... even her slowest training miles are faster than 10:30 min/mile). She swears that the first miles did not feel fast and she has no explanation for the melt-down at the end. She likes to blame the hot weather & sun, but the weather was not hot and the course was well-shaded :)

So, she remains a mystery to me :)

50K 2009 - Aftermath

<-- At the Buckeye Trail, right after Boston, heading for Pine Lane.

The day after the 50K I went for a 6 mile “recovery” run and all the systems tested OK. The results are out and it appears that this is the fastest 50K BT race ever. Two examples: 1) There are 21 runners with time under 5 hours, vs. only 6 last year. 2) The first female runner (Beth Woodward) finished 12th overall with time 4:42. Last year (with a slightly better time) she was 3rd overall. I finished 25th. If I had maintained my pace (for a 4:55 finish) my placement would have been 19th.

About hitting the wall: I have always been proud of my strong and fast finishes in races, including marathons and previous 50Ks. I have never hit the wall in a race. I did not even think that a wall exists for me (for my body, nutrition routine, and distances that I run). So I was surprised how quickly and unexpectedly this came about.

Some people might say, you've run for 28 miles and there were only 3 miles left. Couldn't you just dig deep inside and find the strength to run them, even slowly? It was impossible. It's like saying, this car has been running for 300 miles and now it is out of gas. Can it just run 10 more miles? There was nothing left in the tank, so to speak.

My new system of eating a large breakfast before the run has served me well for up to 24 miles, but it needs to be fine tuned for longer races. If you are curious, here is what I ate at 6:00 am on race day (just one hour before the 7:00 am start): A large bowl of hot cereal with a sliced banana, raisins, walnuts, two teaspoons of peanut butter and honey at the top. Plus, an orange, and I had a glass of Gatorade. Not many people would think of running after this. A nap sounds more appropriate.

I am still glad that my collapse came from lack of energy and not from an injury (common among other runners).

After having completed 5x 50K runs (3 summer, 2 winter) I would like to try my hands (legs?) into something longer. I think I am ready for a 50 mile race. 100 miles is insane (for me, at this point). I wish the Burning River 100 also had a 50 mile section. I guess I can look for something further but I like to run/support local races.

Cleveland Marathon – The Aftermath

It’s been 2 weeks since the Cleveland marathon and things are going fine. I recovered really quickly with only minor pain/discomfort for a couple of days. My time has been officially changed to 3:22:47 (pace: 7:44) My placement is 191 out of about 2000 marathon runners, and 16/495 in the 45-49 age group. For the fun of it, I tried some other statistics, and I see that I am 5th out of 20 Brecksville residents, 1st out of 10 named “George” and 1st out of 42 marathon runners who are 49 years old.

Here is a picture of me at the finish... I was well aware that my picture will be taken at the finish, so I made an effort to look happy :). Actually, I felt great. I was not too tired or ready to collapse.

When my wife tells me that her legs do not hurt after a race, I tell her that she did not try hard enough. Applying this to myself, yes, my legs were hurting for the next few days, but they did not hurt bad enough. I did not feel the need take an ice bath as I did in previous marathons. And I felt fine at the finish. So, maybe I could have gone faster too. I feel I could have finished at 3:20, but I had no reason to push myself. Also, I have not done any speed training (not only for this marathon, but in general).

The bottom line is that I feel I can improve this time next year with better training and equally good running weather conditions.

3 Weeks to Akron (& 5 weeks to Towpath)

This year I am attempting, for the first time, to run both the Akron and Towpath marathons. I have run the Towpath 4 years in a row, from 2004 and on. It is my first Akron marathon. Since these two marathons are separated by 2 weeks (first time ever) I think I have the time to recover from Akron and do the Towpath. And since I have already qualified for Boston (from the Cleveland Marathon in May) I don’t care for time in either marathon so I plan to run them easy and relaxed. I think this will work.

From my last two long races (Cleveland Marathon, Buckeye 50K) I have developed a crazy plan. Instead of tapering, I put my most miles 3 weeks before the race. I also go on a diet the last 2-3 weeks. I keep running almost every day. I only rest (and eat well) the two days before the race. This goes against anything published regarding marathon preparation, but somehow it has worked for me. Why mess with something that works?

So, here is the plan for next week: Tomorrow I am running the Buckeye ½ Marathon. This is a test. It will show in what shape I am. I hope to run most miles at 7 min/mile average. The next day, I go on a diet. I plan to fast on Monday (I have not done this for a long time). At the same time, I will run every day 6-10 miles/day, plus a long run on Saturday. I plan to put more than 50 miles this coming week. It should be fun :)

Finish Line Sprinting – Does it Annoy You?

<- Finish of the "Perfect 10 Miler". I am sprinting, finishing ahead of Susan and another female runner. Bad running etiquette?

In the September issue of “Runner’s World” there is an article titled “Don’t be annoying”, listing some of things that runners find annoying. I agree with some of them. For example, when people yell “you are almost there!” at mile 20 of a marathon. Well, I’ll be “almost there” when I can see the finish line, so please don’t give me that nonsense, OK? :) I still have an hour to go and I can barely move my legs.

But what I don’t get is this: A reader from Tallahassee FL writes: “What annoys me? Guys that can’t handle being beat by girls and try to sprint by me at the end!”

Excuse me?

Why do you think you are so special and guys are trying to beat YOU? I bet most guys are like me. I always sprint by the finish line. I am trying to improve my time and I think it is a good running practice to give everything I have left, when I see the finish line. I am running against the clock, trying to improve my PR, or break the course record. That’s what I like about running. I am not running against other runners, but against myself.

One exception is if I see someone who I know is in my age group and we are both competing for the same age award. So, I don’t care about any woman that happens to be around me because we are not competing for anything in common.

Case in question, the “Perfect 10 Miler”. See that attached picture. I sprinted at the end and passed Susan. Did I do it because I cannot stand to be beaten by a woman? Of course not! I was already beaten by a bunch of women. Everyone was sprinting at the end. This is the right thing to do. Granted, if there was no one in sight, I would be less inclined to sprint at the end. Having runners around me is an extra incentive. But if Susan was Joe, I would still be sprinting. Sex, age, race, are not important.

Now, here is the interesting part… Looking at the 10 Miler results, there are 5 runners finishing around me within 3 seconds:

41 4/25 John Sobolewski 34 M-30-34 35:28 1:09:56
42 7/43 George Themelis 49 M-45-49 34:41 1:09:57
43 2/33 Lisa Robertson 38 F-35-39 35:00 1:09:57
44 3/33 Susan Louis 38 F-35-39 34:54 1:09:57
45 8/43 Ron Disidoro 46 M-45-49 34:25 1:09:58

John is too young, but Ron, finishing one second behind me, is in the same age group. Of course at 7 and 8 in our age group, we have no chance for an award.

But Lisa is the same age as Susan and finished first in her age group, while Susan finished second with exactly the same time. I bet Susan would have sprinted a bit harder if she knew how close she was to getting first place in her age group.

Here is a funny story that happened a few years ago. I was running a local 5K when someone caught up with me. I looked at “him” and “he” appeared to be younger. "How old are you?" I asked. "41" “he” said. "OK, I am 46, we are not in the same age group, you can pass me."

So “he” passed me and when we hit mile 3, “he” was a few yards ahead. At this point I went into an amazing sprint, passed “him” and finished well ahead. After I finished, I looked at the “guy” and he appeared to be a woman (short haircut, flat chest, etc). Later I looked at the results and indeed she was a woman. I could think of some smart things she could have said to me when I said "you are not in my age group”. "I am not even the same sex, you moron!". That would have been quite embarrassing.

BT50K - Aftermath

I woke up on Sunday with pain in every muscle and tendon in my legs! From hip to toes. Clearly my quads were hurting, but also my hips and my lower foot. What a difference from last year!

Last year I ran the BT50K and I was fine the next day. A few months later I ran the Towpath Marathon and then I was in pain for a week. So I concluded that a Marathon is much harder on the body than a 50K. Others agreed, and different theories were proposed to explain this: The 50K is run at a slower pace, with walking breaks (“It is not the distance but the speed that kills”.) There is a variety of terrain, leading to a variety of muscle work, which is much better for the body than the monotonous constant pounding of the pavement during the Marathon.

All this sounds good, but how do you explain what happened this year? My Cleveland Marathon was a piece of cake. I was ready to resume running the next day. And now, 2 days after the 50K, I can barely walk. With great pain (and lots of swearing) I can get down the stairs. I am suffering!

This leads me to believe that it is all relative. I was well prepared for the 50K last year and the Cleveland Marathon this year. I was under-prepared for the Towpath marathon and the 50K this year, and I tried hard in these two races. The 50K felt harder this year because I put (a lot) more effort to it. And now I am paying for it. It is that simple.

<- This picture (of me finishing) was taken by LloydT. My wife is in the back holding a camera (click to enlarge). Thanks Lloyd!

Photos and reports on the BT50K are coming in… The unofficial results are posted with 25K splits (new this year). There is some interesting information from the 25K times.

First, it appears that there are only two negative splits (someone actually did the math and posted the info in Vertical Runner's discussion list). You must make a special effort to go very slow in the first half, in order to have a negative split (run the 2nd half faster than the first). I think Vince mentioned that last year Jeff Hirt had a negative split. Maybe he was running with friends in the first half and then decided to go ahead alone. But this year, looking at the first page of the results it looks like the closest to an even split is a 4 minute difference. 2nd half times are from 4 minutes to over an hour slower. This from just looking at the first page. (Correction: finisher #84 Roy Heger who finished in 5:42 actually has a negative split: 2:55/2:47)

My 25K split is 2:33, so I ran the 2nd half 15 minutes slower than the first. No surprises here. I knew this was going to happen and I did not care. I thought I would be much worse than others, but, looking at the results, it appears that my second half was better than most.

Another good piece of information from the 25K splits is how many runners passed me and how many runners I passed during the 2nd half. Everyone who finished ahead of me had a faster 25K time, which means that no one passed me in the 2nd half. From the 9 people who finished after me, 7 had a faster 25K split, which means that I passed these 7 runners in the way back. That makes me feel good. :)

Since this is only my 2nd Summer BT50K, I am trying to figure out how I did, compared to last year. My time this year (5:21) is 7 minutes slower than last year (5:14), but my placement is better (19th vs. 28th). I see that Kam Lee ran 15 minutes slower this year. If I reduce my time by 15 minutes, my placement is about the same in both years, so I conclude that 15 minutes will account for the weather difference between the two years.

I am now looking forward to the next 50K race!

Lessons Learned from Recent Marathon

Ready for a bit of controversy? Before my marathon race I did a lot of reading. I read all the recommendations and then, as usual, I did my own thing. Here are my observations.

1- Mileage: It is disturbing to read (for example in the Cleveland Marathon official literature) that to run a marathon you need to be running 50-70 miles/week. My first 3 marathons were done with only 20-30 miles a week, peaking to 35. This year I was up to 40 miles/week, peaking at 50 mi/week. Yes, maybe you will run a better race with 70 miles/week (at what cost?) but please do not tell people that they need 50 miles/week to complete a marathon.

2. Long Runs: Yes, I know, they are important. But somehow I have managed to complete 5 marathons with basically only one 20 mile run.

3. Tapering: I never understood or experienced “Taper Madness”. For me, cutting down on mileage is a welcome relief after hard training.

After the experience of last year’s marathon, I became a believer of shorter tapering. They say that you cannot gain fitness the last two weeks before the marathon. Maybe, but you can lose fitness if you are not careful. This is what happened to me last year. An injury forced me to do very little running the last two weeks before the marathon. I did not mind it, thinking that tapering was good, and I paid for it.

This year, against the usual recommendations, I peaked mileage-wise two weeks before the marathon. A week before the marathon, 8 mi. long run is recommended. I did a 12 mile run at near marathon pace and then 7 more easy miles with my wife in the afternoon. I only tapered one week. The last week I ran every day, but shorter runs, but I did not run the last 2 days before the marathon. That's enough rest for me. And it worked well, since I had plenty of strength in the last part of the marathon.

4. Eating & Diet (my favorite topic!): Against most published advice, I went on a diet 3 weeks before the marathon. I kept the diet until the last days before the race. On Friday morning I was 162.5 lbs. I then ate well for two days. On race day (Sunday) I was 166.5 lbs. 4 lbs of glycogen and water that I needed for the race.

I am wondering about some of the things I read... "4 hours before the race eat a small meal...." Do they really expect me to wake up at 3 am to eat? All my eating was done on Saturday. When I got up on Sunday I only ate a 1/3 slide of bread with almond butter and half an orange. And a sip of water.

During the race I did not have anything to eat. No energy bars, liquid packs, gels, nothing. No food at all. It is not that I have sensitive stomach (I do not). It's just that I was not hungry, or weak, or anything like that. I did not need to eat and I was not going to force myself to eat. And I did not hit the wall. I did not come anywhere near feeling weak. I think I have large glycogen reserves. One day of eating (the day before the race or a long run) is enough for me.

4. Hydration: In my opinion, hydration is overrated. :) I made no effort to hydrate before the race. The morning of race I only had a sip of water. I was not thirsty and I did not want to force myself to drink water. This extra water will only be a problem at the race. Having to pee, holding it, looking for potties, and wasting time to pee. Who needs that?

The weather is a big factor. It was rainy and 50F. That's not weather for needing water. I took a bit water and gatorade at the aid stations and that was all I needed for the race.

5. Pacing & Walking Breaks: Even pacing is a myth that does not apply for ordinary runners. There is no way you can maintain the same pace for 26 miles. You have to plan for a at least 30 seconds difference in pace between the first and the last miles. You have to run the bulk of the marathon at about 10-15 second pace faster than expected time, to account for expected slowing down later on.

My first 3 miles were slow/cautious. I then settled in a comfortable pace for the next 19 miles. This pace was 15 sec faster than projected time. I built up a 3 minute buffer which helped me psychologically. I slowed down the last miles by about 30 seconds/mile but I had enough strength to finish with a fast last mile. I finished 2 1/2 minutes faster than goal time.

In past years I had taken walking/stretching breaks, even a break to change clothes, including shoes! This year I did not need/use any of that. I even ran through the water stops (trying to drink while running, something I had not practiced before). No potty breaks either. Just running.
Considering the good outcome, I plan to stick with this plan, until I have a problem next time :)

Why Blog?

Hi, this is my first blog! Which begs the question, “why blog”? I like to run and I like to write about running. I like to post race reports. Until today, I posted my reports and running thoughts in one of two running mailing lists, mainly joy_of_running. Lately, I have been searching the internet and found that many of my running friends have blogs. I came to realize that a blog is a useful way of communicating. I can post my race reports and thoughts here. So, here it is! DrT’s Running Blog!