Side Benefit of Shutdown

I usually go to the gym after work; it just works much better with my schedule. And given that, my running workdays is on the treadmill, as I don't dare run on the local streets during rush hour nor do I want to run in the heat that still abounds at that hour despite a trail behind my apartment complex.

But now that I'm temporarily furloughed during this shutdown, I get to wake up later than normal if I want, and I can run on the W&OD trail in what looks to be glorious, cool running weather. Heck, I may even need to wear my sleeves to stave off the chill in the early miles. Nice!

After all, it's all about my running -- naturally! :-)

Applications Almost Opened

Boston Marathon charities officially open their application processes on Monday, Sept. 29. The full list will be available on the BAA website. (There are actually a few that have already opened a bit early.) There are lots of different options to choose from. Last year there were 176. According to the BAA's press release this past June, the combined total of donations raised across all of these charities was a whopping $50.4 million. And since the charity program started nearly 40 years ago, donations to the myriad charities have raised an astonishing $600 million+.

Whether you are directly fundraising, on a charity team or not, please donate to charity. Choose one that speaks to you and what you care about. If you work for an employer that does some form of company match, investigate how you can take advantage of that to augment the impact of your donations even further. While $5 or $10 might not break the bank for you, when multiplied by a large number of donors, those dollars add up to serious funds that can have a profound impact for the better. 

For those with children, encourage them to donate to a charity, too. At some point when I was in elementary school, I saw my neurologist on the MDA Telethon every year. From the first time I saw him on the program, I donated, even though at such a young age it was a very small amount. But it got me in the habit, not just of donating to that one charity (which I've done likely for well over 40 years, now), but it fostered the willingness to donate to others. At different points over the years, I have also been part of various fundraising efforts. 

Yet again, I will be going beyond "simply" donating to a charity to actively fundraising for it. More details to come in the near future.

4:34 -- Squeaked Out!

("Squeaker Pack" items created by "Boston Squeakers 4 Lyfe" Facebook member Lani Teshima)

Well, it's finally official. Earlier today, BAA announced that they accepted 24,362 runners out of the 33,249 applicants.

What was the breakdown of these speed demons:

BQ minus 20 minutes or better: 5,397

BQ minus 10 minutes to 19:59: 8,961

BQ minus 4:34 to 9:59: 10,004

Apparently 719 accepted applicants are Streakers -- they have completed at least 10 consecutive Boston Marathons. These individuals do not need to have any buffer. Those who have 10 to 24 consecutive Boston Marathon finishes simply need to achieve any BQ (irrespective of buffer) to get a spot. Those who are in the Quarter Century Club (25 Boston Marathon finishes or more) simply need to finish the Boston Marathon within the time limit to earn their spot in the subsequent year's race -- no BQ time needed at all.

If I can manage to obtain a bib for next year's marathon via one of the 160 charities that partner with the marathon, I will have my 10th consecutive Boston Marathon and become a Streaker -- needing any BQ irrespective of buffer. And given that I "age up" in time for the 2027 marathon, I will gain an additional 10 minutes to work with in achieving it. (Hopefully they won't tighten the standards again QUITE so fast, eating away at this benefit.)

More in the coming weeks with respect to the charity team I wind up being accepted onto. (Positive mental attitude!)

Air Force Marathon (part 2 of 2)

Morning finally arrived, after a somewhat restless night. Somehow, I managed to wake up exactly at 4:45am. And it was not because of the alarm that I had set for that exact time. Confused by the fact that the phone had NOT gone off, I checked my alarm. And, wouldn't you know it, even though I was wide awake when I set it the prior evening, I left it at PM. D'oh!

Given how many people were staying downstairs, part of the time that I was getting ready I chose to come upstairs. And, already laid out (presumably from the night before) was the spread of breakfast snacks at our disposal:

When recounting my alarm situation a little later to pacer Paul (who had been there last year, too), and to Charles and Diane, I noted that the spot that Alex had slept in last year -- which is the spot that I was sleeping in this year -- was officially "cursed." Last year, Alex fully overslept (being on the wrong time zone and having just arrived a day earlier from a trip to Mt. Kilimanjaro) and wasn't awakened until the time we were all set to get out the door, only to be the navigator in the lead car. Hopefully that didn't bode poorly for our trip to the parking area.

We left only a few minutes later than originally planned and actually made it down to the parking area we intended. But the inefficiency of the coordination between the race and the Air Force was evident at this point with a huge back-up of cars both arriving from the highway we were on and on a separate feeder street. Very slowly, each car had a separate conversation with an officer who would either shuttle them along (like us) because of having the appropriate parking pass or, quite frequently, have them take a U-turn to go to the parking area for the majority of the runners and spectators. There had to be a better way of doing this, but even though this was the 29th running of the marathon, they haven't figured it out yet.

We arrived close to 6:30, as planned, to make our way over to the pacer tent, gather up with the other pacers, hand out the signs, have a quick meeting and photo, and get going.

OnPace Race video

As happens at many of the military races, there were some service members parachuting down with the flag. Always a neat sight to see.

(Photo by Tom Gilliam)

(Photo by Tom Gilliam)

I barely managed to get my phone out in time to catch the second one landing just a few yards away (there was no time to set it to capture video), so it's a drop blurry:

Just before the start of the race, we had a flyover from the Stratotanker, and there were a couple of additional flyovers during the initial miles of the race.

(Photo by Tom Gilliam)

(Photo by Tom Gilliam)

And we were off! While it was comfortable to stand around at the start, we were in for a hard day with the forecast.

While I didn't get a terribly loud reply from the people who were running for 4:20 with me and my co-pacer Edward when I tried to engage them early on -- so I didn't really know how many there were who were looking to stay with us -- after the race spread out a bit and we had a clearly defined core group, it was approximately a dozen who were with us.

A few people would engage in conversation (bucket list races, who were the first-timers in the bunch, etc.), but most of my interaction was reminding everyone at each water station to not only drink but to throw water over their heads to try to keep cool. And given how tiny the cups were, to do so with many cups.

This brings me to my biggest pet peeve with most races, and certainly for this one. The size and organization of the water stations was horrible! 

1) There were maybe two tables' worth at each station. It's a VERY SHORT zone to have to hit on the run. Mercifully, Edward and I had planned from the get-go to be walking the water stops to help us bleed off some excess time that we know would be continually baked into running a slightly over-fast pace. While it didn't affect us TOO much, there were still bottlenecks and near collisions on multiple occasions.

2) The cups were CRAZY SMALL. You know the size cup of water you get at the dentist's office to swish and spit? Yeah -- THAT small. I'm sorry, but you have a notoriously hot race with a forecast that jibes with your typical high temps, and you have cups that can hold MAYBE 2 ounces in them when filled to the brim? And you expect people to be properly hydrated? Come on! (Boy, am I glad I carry my own water for drinking on-course.)

3) There was ZERO consistency in terms of the order of water and Hoist (which is similar to Gatorade). Sometimes one came first, sometimes the other. Sometimes they were intermixed. And not all of the stations had signage making it clear on approach -- but those that did I appreciated very much. But still, every time I was looking to grab a cup of water to douse over my head, I looked into the cup before taking. On a good number of occasions I withdrew my hand ("No!") because it was Hoist. While I'm fine drinking Hoist after a race, my eye was on water for dousing and keeping cool.

4) All of the tiny cups were the same -- plain white. There was no way to distinguish on approach which had water and which had Hoist.

While the Air Force Marathon weekend (between its 5k, 10k, half marathon, and full marathon) gets 8500 participants, the full marathon is a small field (fewer than 700 finishers this year) and the half marathon doesn't overlap much. And much of the time is spent on a portion of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, so it is not possible to have spectators along much of the course. That makes it all the more difficult -- at least for people like me who thrive on the energy of the cheering crowds.

At a couple of different points on the course, I noticed some in the group struggling -- huffing and puffing rather quickly. Each time I engaged, asking whether they ever paid attention to their breathing; both said they never did. I advised them to try to slow down their breathing -- that such fast breathing was a clear signal of over-exertion, and that they should typically try to keep a slow steady rhythm to their breathing (noting my breathing in 3/4 time to any songs that I think about). While the advice temporarily helped (and will hopefully be something they keep in mind in the future), they each were not able to stick with the pace, unfortunately.

That makes the Fly Zone in Fairborn a really fun relief just after Mile 14. Not only do they have a couple of unique aid stations (popsicles -- which I avoid, but co-pacer Edward took advantage of) and bacon (which I gleefully took advantage of, but Edward totally avoided), but by this time, there were multiple houses and stores that already had some great Halloween decorations up. Alas, given my pacing duties and not already having my phone out primed to take photos, I didn't get any photos.

Then, a few miles away, we departed from Fairborn, and just before one of the many sprinklers that homeowners set up to spray runners on the course, there was a tray marked "Bacon Candy!" Naturally, I had to investigate. Sure enough, it wasn't candy, but it was candied bacon -- in this case, bacon that was coated in honey. Scrumptious! While, sure, bacon is technically something "new" on race day (as it is not part of my normal training regimen), I always feel it's worth the risk. It's a short enough time that I'll be running afterward that the grease (typically not a runner's friend shortly before or during a run) could possibly hit my system poorly, the extra salt, change of flavor profile, and boosted endorphins are a great benefit.

The other main logistical problem was three missing mile markers. While missing the marker at Mile 8 and somewhere shortly after half-way weren't really big deals, not having a Mile 25 marker is a huge issue for pacers. It is our last opportunity to "course correct" our pace -- something we should be doing at every single mile marker. 

It is at this point that we know just how much time we need to either make up (because it looks like we will be finishing over our time goal) or bleed off (because it looks like we will be finishing more than one minute under our posted time goal). As I clicked a "manual lap" at each marker, I had a reasonably good idea of approximately where the marker should have been, and that we were a little on the fast side, but still within our good range. Take it steady, don't get caught up by the energy of the finish line, and we'll be fine.

Air Force Marathon video

Sure enough, we finished just inside our target zone.

We were waiting until the last of the OnPace pacers finished before departing, since Bekah needed to have all of the pacer sticks to ship back to the company for subsequent races -- I took as much advantage of that time as possible for my near-term recovery, eating and drinking what I could. Silly me, though, I didn't wind up switching out of my sneakers and socks and into my flip-flops before departing, as I should have. Hello beginning of blisters!

On the way back to the car, I managed to get a photo with Tailwind, which I didn't get at the expo.

Finally back at the Shininger household for another shindig. After showering and changing, it was time to have a good post-race cookout lunch: hamburgers (I had two), cheese-stuffed brats (others had several), potato salad, baked beans, cookies, various chips, etc. Definitely hit the spot. 

While originally I wasn't planning on going in the hot tub, I ultimately decided to join in. It was just three of us, as by that point most of the other pacers had departed (given other plans for the day/weeekend -- including a couple of them pacing another marathon on Sunday). But, boy, the hot water overall, and the water jets both on my back and the balls of my feet were really helpful for the recovery (having already used my Normatec boots earlier, post-lunch).

Sunday morning arrived, and after a simple breakfast and sitting around chatting for a while, Charles and I headed over to a nearby park (Charleston Falls Preserve) for a short hike -- get out of the house and aid my recovery my continuing to move a bit. Pretty scenery and a decent chat, both about our respective backgrounds and details I could provide about the various Marathon Majors (Bekah has several more majors to run before she completes her six-star journey).

After a final reprise of the pasta dinner for lunch, Charles generously drove me over to the airport rather than my taking an Uber.  Short flight later, and I was finally back home, after rather a whirlwind of a weekend.

The biggest "pro" for being on the pacing team for this particular marathon is the overly gracious and generous hosts -- the Shiningers. They very much help foster a sense of camaraderie among the portion of the pacers that join the shindig. The biggest "con" is the race itself -- it is just so HOT and difficult. I don't know about repeating again at least for next year -- especially as there are SO many other races in and around this same time which I would also have the opportunity to run as a pacer. We'll see. I need a little temporal distance from the difficulty of this race so I can come to a more rational decision.

Air Force Marathon (part 1 of 2)

Last year was so hot and I was committed to running a fast enough pace that I wound up failing on the day, despite finishing in an otherwise-fine time. My aim this year: redemption. I chose a slower time to pace to help guarantee that I could keep the needed pace and finish OnPace. 4:20 was ideal, given that yet again (as seems to always be the case for the Air Force Marathon), it was PLENTY hot (even if not quite as hot as last year). As I understand it, sometime shortly after I finished, the organizers changed the status of the race from "green flag" (good conditions, no specific precautions needed) to "black flag" (dangerous conditions, technically they could simply end the race prematurely -- but it sounds like they were merely advising people still out there to severely drop their paces, if they hadn't already). But I am getting ahead of myself...

Once again, the Shiningers (pacer Bekah's parents Charles and Diane) hosted about half a dozen or so pacers Friday night (complete with homemade pasta dinner and lodging), race morning snacks, and post-race cookout. For those of us who weren't departing until Sunday (which, this year, turned out to only be me), dinner again and another overnight. But rather than my feeble attempts at describing the situation, Bekah can do a much better job of it: Shininger Shindig

I'm not someone who uses Uber all that often, so I'm not totally familiar with how some things will appear in the app. When I landed in Dayton and got my gate-checked bag, I ordered an Uber. And it was taking quite a while to connect. So, as I was walking through the airport to get outside, I figured that if I didn't have a car on its way by that point, I would simply take a taxi. When I first clicked the button to confirm the ride, it looked like it was saying it would be 4 minutes for a car to arrive. Great -- that's about how long it would take to get outside. However, it was actually telling me the amount of time to get to the meeting point. Turns out the ride I was connected with was 20 minutes away, and once the app actually told me that, the ride was considered booked, and I had no way to cancel. I was set to arrive at the Shiningers' 30 minutes later than desired in terms of getting underway to the expo to help man the OnPace Race expo booth. They were totally gracious about the timing, and a few minutes later, Bekah, Diane, fellow pace Thi, and I were underway to the expo.

As per usual, there was a customized sign with all of the pacers' names and assigned times listed.

And, yet again for this marathon, Mush was our sponsor. Not only did we have plenty of overnight oats to give out as samples, but their new product line of protein mini bars. My personal favorites are the apple cinnamon overnight oats and the peanut butter chocolate chip protein mini bar.

While there are additional vendors (not pictured from the earlier high angle) that are located upstairs in the arena, it is still a relatively small expo; smaller than one would expect for an event weekend that has 8500 total registered participants.

This is my fourth bobblehead (the others being runner, superhero, and ice cream cone) and first-ever playing card (this was folded in half and put into its own sealed collectible card case).

Oh, and you want to know what we were set to run?

Shortly after we returned from the expo, Diane starting prepping dinner. Several of the pacers had yet to arrive in town, so the spread was going to be available (and being made in batches to remain fresh) for several hours. A traditional pasta dinner: salad, pasta with spaghetti sauce, and Texas toast. And plenty of other goodies (cookies, and various types of muffins that some of the others brought).

A little later, I compared directions I had pre-written from GoogleMaps with Charles, so that we could avoid the semi-fiasco that we had last year getting there. What I had mapped out jibed with what Charles had been figuring would be the case. Phew! Hopefully things would work out in the morning. Shortly thereafter, it was time to head on down and try to get some shut-eye. Always tricky on marathon eve, no matter how experienced you are.

33,267

Ugh!

What do I have against that seemingly random number? Well, earlier today, BAA announced that is the number of people who have submitted applications to run in the Boston Marathon next year.

"OK, so what?"

Well, the total field size is approximately 30,000 -- but about 20% of the bibs are reserved for charities and sponsors. So, only about 24,000 time-qualifiers actually make it in. About 28% of the time-qualified applicants will be cut.

Even with the tightening of time standards after last year's registration, the prediction is now about 5 minutes or so.

My BQ-2:36 won't cut it if all of the analysis that others are doing is accurate. (We'll know for certain in the next 1-2 weeks.) I'm already starting to do some research to figure out which of the MANY charities that offer bibs are ones that I have the best chance of connecting well enough with to get onto their team, spread their message and, yes, secure a bib. 

Challenge Accepted

I will be pacing the 4:20 group (9:54/mile) at the Air Force Marathon next weekend. Partly because I was concerned when originally signing up to pace that running the Erie Marathon for a BQ time two weeks prior would take too much out of me, and partly because my pacing the 3:50 group last year did not go well, given the heat of the day.

Thankfully, my recovery from Erie is going quite well. But it looks like the weather will be very warm on Saturday, starting at 62F (the race starts 7 minutes after sunrise) and certainly getting into at least the mid-70s by the time the group is set to finish at about 11:50am.

I did both my long-ish runs (10 miles and 13 miles) this weekend outside to practice the pace some, without having it forced on me by the treadmill -- especially since the conditions are very similar right now. Most people would think that hitting this pace, more than an hour slower than what I just ran, would be a breeze. Not true. There are definitely some speeds that much slower than one's recent fastest that are very easy to hit, but when you go sufficiently slower than that, it's actually very tricky.

These practice runs have helped solidify my likely plan for next weekend. While I'll generally do my usual even effort (so, a bit slower uphill, a bit faster downhill, and average on flats), I suspect that my paces will wind up being a bit too fast compared to desired. Not much where it would be difficult on the group, but enough where I will likely be able to afford to walk through many/most of the water stations. Not only does the brief walk break help one's legs during the run, but it will also make it that much easier for people to take both water/Gatorade that they need to drink, but also at least one cup of water to throw over their heads to try to regulate their core temperature. As is my wont on hot race days, I will be continually exhorting my group to "drink and douse" throughout the race. And during the expo on Friday, I will definitely raise the thought with many runners that they should consider moving back at least 1 or 2 groups compared to what they would otherwise run if conditions were cooler.

While I was starting to feel the temperature a little bit towards the end of my runs this weekend, I didn't have the opportunity to douse. So, hopefully I chose my pace wisely enough so that I hit the target and redeem myself from last year's fail (more than 5 minutes over time). Sure, it was crazy-hot last year, but that expectation should have been factored into my requested group. Live and learn - certainly. Everything should line up well enough that I can come pretty close to "the pin" which, for me, is 4:19:30.