Rock'n Roll St. Louis Race Report

DISCLAIMER: This will be the first Race Report I've ever done and I know it won't be the best one you've read. However, I will do my best to make it entertaining and keep you on the edge of your seat. Also this will be a post about my entire weekend in regards to RnRSTL, not just the race itself. So, here goes...

This past weekend was one of the greatest I have had in recent memory. It started Saturday (as most weekends do) at the Rock n Roll STL Expo. For some time now I have bee selling Altra Zero Drop running shoes locally and online. Just a side job to produce some income to support my running habit. So far, so good by the way. Luckily the guys at Altra were in town for the Expo and invited me to work the booth them. For about 8 hours I got to talk running, shoes, and all kinds of other random stuff with complete strangers. I had an incredible time and it only confirms my beleif that these shoes are great. The people behind the product really are awesome.

At the expo of course I did a little shopping. Thankfully I was busy at the Altra booth and didn't leave that vicinity much. When I did get out, I bought some CEP Calf Compression Sleeves. I am surely going to review these and from the little bit I have used them, me likey.

As we get into the race report of this, the packet pickup was at the Expo. Now, I will give credit on this one. Rock n Roll knows how to check people in and keep them moving. Packet took less than 2 minutes to complete. This was achieved by having the Race Numbers, Shirts, and Swag Bags all at separate locations as you walked in. It was efficient as hell. The one thing I will say about the check in was that after you got your packet you were dumped into a wonderland of RnR & Brooks Running products. It was massive. A little too in your face for me as the other vendors were crammed into something the size of my closet at home.

Finally just a quick note before we get to the Race part of this. Auditions for America's Got Talent were also being held in the St. Louis Convention Center. That show is the Walmart of Reality Singing & Dancing shows.

Ok now on to the self promoting part of this blog, the race. the last Half Marathon I completed was back in 2007. I was about 45lbs heavier and I finished with a 2:08. I knew going into this I was going to break 2 hours just on weight alone, but I didn't know how much under I was capable of. My runs range anywhere from 7:30s - 9:30s depending on where and who I am with. Most of my long runs where in the 9 range and I had only had one long run under an average of 9 min/mile. So I set a goal for myself of 1:50 with a stretch goal of 1:45. Anywhere in this range would have been suitable for me.

Start your engines and don't pee on yourself

The morning started off  perfectly a bit of cloud cover and 50s. I woke up early (4:15a) in order to give myself plenty of time to use the bathroom the standard 27 times it takes me to deplete my system. I was feeling good and empty by the time I left the house to pick up a friend to drive downtown. We made it downtown with not too many traffic issues considering an expected field of 22,000 people in a city that doesn't have too many large gatherings. We arrived around 7am (30 min before the start), maybe cutting it a little too close, but luckily my friend had a double secret parking pass to a garage at her husband's work so we were able to get into a virtually empty space. This came in very handy when I changed after the race.

The excitement level was pretty awesome downtown. You could tell this by the lines to the bathrooms. I will never understand how my body can literally be bone dry of urine and then when confronted with a race, needs to pee again. It also likes to take miniscule amounts of urine and exaggerate them to my brain. It is incredible. So we spent about 25 minutes waiting in line to pee 4 ounces. We then had just enough time to get back over to the corrals and hop a fence into a mob of people (think cattle) to start the race.

I knew going into the race the first 5 miles where going to be crazy with turns. They were almost every block it seemed. I just happened to read a blog post by @katieRUNSthis on Running Tangents about 4 days before the race that really saved me from running extra distance when i didn't have to and helped me plan my route instead of just following a bunch of runners.

After the first 5 miles the course straightened out and it was relatively uneventful. The course took us through some parts of the city that typically get overlooked during big events like this. Little areas like The Grove & St. Louis Hills have a ton of beautiful homes and are just great little neighborhoods. I am glad that out of town runners got to see these little areas. The crowd support was spotty but the areas there were people, there were a ton of them. It would be great to get folks line the streets for the whole course but I understand that's kind of a pipe dream unless I go to a Chicago, NYC, or Boston.

Here is my only real criticism of the race itself: The Bands. I think its great that there were bands willing to play at 7:30 am probably the night after they just got finished with a gig but the majority of the ones I heard were ok. Mind you I am only running past them for a brief period of time and could possibly hear 1 whole song. So I didn't get to experience their body of work per se. Here's what gets me the most. The Headliner for the even was Sugar Ray. I will admit 10 years ago they were something. They were relevant (arguably). They at least had a song on the radio.

Ok back to the race. As the race was comnig towards an end I was caught off guard. I checked my watch and I had already gone over 10 miles. I knew how much I had left to go and it was doable. I had stuff in the tank. After the initial shock of this revelation, I just pushed myself repeating how much time I had left to run (rounding to an 8 min mile). Finally I checked my watch and there was about 0.3 miles left and I heard a dude next to me try to rally the those around him to make a break for the finish. I was game. There was the final turn in my sites and up ahead (& a bit uphill) looked to be what I thought was a finish line structure... What I really saw was one of the flags lining the street and it was bent over farther than the others. So while  I am realizing this and pushing it pretty good the hill starts to kick my arse. I check the watch and I am running pretty fast but my heart rate was way up in the upper 170s so I had to ratchet back down. So now I am pissed that not only did i think there was the finish line, now I am out of breath for my final charge. Luckily at the top of the hill, the most glorious sight all day was in front of me. The finish line and its a slight downhill to get there. Renewed with whatever, I again pick up the pace and get my kick in to finish strong. I looked at the time when I crossed and saw 1:42 something. Not only did I PR the half, I made it my rented mule. I was so pumped when I crossed the finish line, I let out a big 'ol WOOOO!

I am still in shock that I could keep it up for that long.... That's what she said.

For you nerds like me out there. Here's a breakdown of stuff I used.
Watch: Garmin 305 & HRM
Nipples: Bodyglide
Manspanx: Sugoi (blk)
Shoes: Altra Instincts
Splits From Garmin:

Split	Time	Distance	Avg Pace
Summary	1:42:25.7	13.16	7:47.0
1	7:43.5	1.00	7:43.5
2	7:59.8	1.00	7:59.8
3	7:41.2	1.00	7:41.2
4	7:52.0	1.00	7:52.0
5	7:47.1	1.00	7:47.1
6	7:36.6	1.00	7:36.6
7	7:52.9	1.00	7:52.9
8	7:59.6	1.00	7:59.6
9	7:57.1	1.00	7:57.1
10	7:51.0	1.00	7:51.0
11	7:49.0	1.00	7:49.0
12	7:42.8	1.00	7:42.8
13	7:24.3	1.00	7:24.3
14	1:08.1	0.16	7:13.2

Chip time:

There you have it. I don't know if I did this Race Report correctly but damn its fun to write one when you actually do well in a race.

Taper? damn near killed 'er

Yeah that was a bad title but I am sleep deprived. So it is officially 1 week away from Rock 'n Roll St. Louis where I am doing the Half Marathon. The last time I ran a half mary it was 2007 and I was about 40lbs heavier. I finished in 2:08. I was happy with that but it gave me a different kind of feeling. Like I could do it faster. This is my year to prove that. With the training I have put in and how my average runs go, I don't have much doubt in my head that I will break 2 hours. But by how much? So with this forum, I am publicly stating my goal is 1:50 with a stretch goal of 1:45. The whole not knowing how the race will go is killing me. I am already on anti-anxiety meds and I may have to double up this week to keep my nerves at bay.

Lets do This!

So other than crawling up the walls at home and being a complete idiot at home, I need to taper. I've never really tapered before. I mean I was really fat and lazy in college but I don't think you are supposed to taper for 4.5 years. I do remember the swimmers in my fraternity tapering before their big year-end races. They were little bundles of energy by the end of the week. That's what I want to be like by the end of this week. However,  I don't know how to do it. I mean I know I am supposed to back way off the miles which won't be a huge problem, but what am I supposed to do when I eat and the other 22 hours in the day? I am going to give up the booze for starters. While I am getting back to liking beer again and wine is a sweet, sexy lady, I need to give it up. Now the question that has me stumped... What am I supposed to eat?

I have read different things from different corners of the internet that give anything from upping the carbs (whole wheat type stuff) and cutting out proteins from animals to a dropping carbs and stacking up on protein. There are many different opinions out there and I don't know what to do. To kind of follow up that question, I have also been experiencing some Exercise Induced Explosive Arse. Anywhere from mile 8 - mile 12 of my runs over the past several months, I have experienced... well, the runs. I think if I can solidify up my diet this week I can nip that problem in the butt (pun intended).

So what has worked for you when tapering and with your diet? I'd like to know.

Nu Shooz: Altra Instincts

I have been pretty pumped for the opportunity to write this post for some time. I really like running and I really like shoes. Several months ago I decided that I would give the minimal running thing a try. I had nothing to lose. I found some New Balance 101's for $65 because I needed a pair of trail shoes. The rest as you can read in that link is history. As I was researching the minimal running technique, a shoe company kept popping up as a somewhat revolutionary minimal shoe, Altra Running and their Instincts. I had never heard of them and didn't think too much of it. A few months of this company showing up on Twitter and after reading some reviews, one in particular from someone who I consider to be the best running shoe resource on the internets, Pete a.k.a. Run Blogger, I thought I might like them. Pete likes the NB 101's and the way he described the fit it sounded like we might have a similar foot shape & preference. I read this review in March of 2011.

Six months later I am finally able to write my opinion of the Altra Instincts. A couple factors got in the way of this review for 6 months: 1) If I bought another pair of shoes in March, my wife would probably kill me. She still may as it looks as I am hoarding them and may need to dedicate a room of my house to running crap. 2) You can't buy Altra's anywhere within 450 miles of St. Louis. I would hate to buy a pair of shoes I've never tried and be stuck with them. So I like to try them on before I make my decision.

Within this 6 month period, I actually became somewhat internet-friends with Jeremy over at Altra. We had chatted back and forth and I even went into a few running stores here in St. Louis to try and get their product in here. It was the least I could do. Unfortunately, like most other things clothing/fashion, it takes new things about a year or two to come to St. Louis. So, that's when Altra and I started talking a bit more about business. To my surprise they were willing to set me up basically as a shoe store here in St. Louis. So, I now have the ability to sell their shoes to the public. Kind of a weird thing if you look at it. I've never stepped foot into one of their shoes and here I am now authorized to sell them, and essentially I have started a small side business because of it. So anyway, I had to buy a pair to make sure I believed in what I was pushing. Funny how life works out.

Ok, back to the shoes. I took them out (today) on a Sunday morning for 5 easy recovery miles. This was going to be a good test of how far I had come as a minimal runner since putting on the NB's. We started running and immediately it stared raining. Well this was definitely going to be a good test for them. The route we took at a local park is a mix of asphalt, dirt, grass, & gravel. The shoes performed well on all surfaces. I was a little weary on their grip with it being wet outside but they held onto the ground quite nicely. The shoes also handled the rain remarkably. In past runs, I had noticed that my shoes (Brooks Adrenaline) would become water logged and heavier. These shoes seemed to take the water in, but more importantly, let the water out which kept the shoes from getting weighed down. They felt really light on my feet and I liked them on the pavement. Since switching completely over to the 101s, even for road running, I forget what padding feels like between my feet and the ground. 

The fit of the shoe is great also. I have large, wide feet (14EE) and my feet had room to move around. I kept the typical lacing pattern that most shoes use, but I think I will switch it up to the hybrid lacing style that Altra promotes on their website. I think I need just a tad bit more room width wise. Well either this or I will slap some Yankz on there and call it a day.

Alternate Lacing

So after only 5 miles, I am a fan of these shoes and incredibly happy with the progress I have made as a minimal runner. I am about a month out from the Rock 'n Roll St. Louis Half-Marathon and I hope I can do it in these shoes as its going to be all pavement and I want to save my feet a bit. 

Oh and I wouldn't be a good business man if I didn't say this... So if you want to buy some of these bad boys or any other Altra products, drop me an email  or DM me on Twitter (@RunShepRun).

Finally, just a disclaimer, if these shoes would have sucked, I would have written so. While I stand to profit from these if I sell them, I wouldn't BS my readers. The fact that I can regard these so highly, strengthens my decision to sell them, I just went about it a bit backwards.

Selfish Goals

As discussed in my last post, I've ran a half marathon. It was barely running but I will take credit for it. I've actually ran 2 in my short running career. Both were the Lewis & Clark Half Marathon here in the St. Louis area. However, the Halfs were completed back in 2006 & 2007 and the website for them is non-existent right now so you will just have to take my word for it. Regardless, it has been awhile since I've tackled something like this distance.

With the previous two races, I've gone in expecting nothing more than to finish the first and to beat my time on the second. Both goals accomplished. Now that I've signed up for the Rock n Roll St. Louis Half I am trying to figure out what kind of goal to set for myself. My dilemma is that I want this goal to be achievable but I want to work to accomplish it. The first two Half goals while difficult at the time, in retrospect really weren't that tough. The first Half was finished in 2:38 and the second in 2:08 (there is about a 30lb weight difference when I was running these).

So what do I do? How do I figure out a goal that's tough but fair? I'll be honest and admit that I am a little vain when it comes to my running and I am first and foremost out there to make myself happy. The reciprocal of me being happy is I am a better husband/father, I am more productive at work, and I am an overall nice guy. So, I want a goal that is achievable with substantial effort not just to benefit myself, but all of those around me. It's pretty messed up that a race could actually make or break my mood for some time, but where's the fun in not challenging myself?

My fastest 5k'ish distance is just over 21 min or right at a 7min/mile. My PR for a 10k was just this past July and I came in at 47:01 which is a 7:33 pace. Consequently if I were to stay around a 7:33 pace I would be close to beating my first half time by 1 hour, but I want to be honest with myself here also and I don't think I am able to sustain that pace for that distance, yet.

So, being still kind of a newbie at running I have no idea how to figure out how how these times carry over to a longer run like a half for me. I am asking for some help from you. Thankfully, I have somewhat of a decent following only after one post and the running community across the Internet is very supportive and helpful. So supportive/helpful running community, what's a realistic goal for me? A sub 2hr Half would be awesome but I think I can do that and a 1hr 38 min Half is an uncomfortable stretch for me. I need some happy medium. I should probably just sack up and just pick a time, but that takes the whole "Social" aspect out of this and being self admittedly vain, your opinions matter to me. At the end of the day, I am essentially looking for a time to beat here,but I am also willing to accept other goals to achieve during this race that don't put my dignity at risk.

I am excited to hear your feedback.

Oh also if you want to play around with a pace calculator there is a good one here.