After the race I promptly sat down and was offered help by many volunteers.  At first I refused.  I just wanted to catch my breath and rest a bit.  But then the center of my chest started to hurt.  It hurt at the top of my inhale and the bottom of my exhale.  All I had to do was look at a volunteer and they were at my side helping me to the medical tent.  The volunteers did a great job.

Chest pains are taken very seriously especially at endurance events.  Somewhere between 1 in 50,000 and 1 in 75,000 participants will die due to heart related problems.  In almost every case it is due to a pre-existing and undiagnosed heart condition.

The EMTs talked asked me a bunch of questions and did an ekg.  They didn’t really like what they saw and recommended that I go to the hospital for further evaluation.  I wasn’t about to argue with them even though I never felt that I was in any danger.

At the ER they took blood, did a chest x-ray, and monitored me.  The blood work was, among other things, to look at some blood markers that appear during heart attacks.  One of those markers is troponin.  I’ve was told that this chemical is released into the blood when heart cells die, and only when heart cells die.  I’ve since learned that troponin can be present in the blood from other sources (other muscles).  Still, it’s an excellent tool that doctor’s can use to determine if a heart attack has occurred.  If the levels rise over a perioid of time then the liklihood of a true heart attack increases.  My troponin levels rose beyond the pre-defined thresholds and so they recommended that I stay over night for fruther testing and to have a stress test the following morning.

So, instead of going out on the Vegas strip to celebrate my friends and family stopped by to see me in the hospital.  Ugh.  As unhappy as I was sitting there it was the right thing to do.  Over night they took more blood samples and my troponin continued to rise.  The following morning I had the stress test done.

The stress test was not the typical treadmill based test.  This test included nuclear imaging.  Instead of increasing my heart rate via exercise they injected a chemical agent that made my heart race.  They took nuclear images for my unstressed heart and when it was stressed.  About one hour after this test I was released because the stress test showed no damage.  I was instructed to follow up at home with my primary care physician.

I followed up at home with a cardiologist.  The outcome of talking with him (and taking an exercise induced stress test) is that I’m completely fine.  None of the tests indicate a heart problem.

So what happened then?  Why did my troponin rise?  What was the source of the pain?  I believe the pain was respiratory in nature and at least one person at the cardiology center agreed that I was likely correct.  The elevated troponin is expected in marathon runners!  The limited data available shows that almost every participant will have elevated troponin.  The source of that might be from the heart or from other muscles in the body.  I ended up being hospitalized because doctors don’t have data about marathoners.  They have to base their decisions on the data that they do have.  When the troponin levels rise in a sedentary person it is cause for concern.

The cardiologist printed journal articles for me related to the topic and said “bottom line: there’s nothing to worry about.”  The data indicates that elevated troponin is normal in endurance events.

My theory is that some heart cells die as part of the normal adaptation process.  When you develop muscles you damage them and they grow back stronger.  Why should the heart be that much different?  It is known that the hearts of endurance athletes grows larger and adapts to the stresses we place on them.  I suspect it is not dangerous and is in fact beneficial.

That single incident cost almost $30,000.  My primary care physician said “that’s criminal.”  I hope my insurance company investigates the charges.  If they are legit that’s fine but 30k seems like an awful lot of money for something like this.

My next marathon is in 1 week.  In one way I’m glad I went through this ordeal.  I’m now more confident than ever that I do not have a heart condition to worry about.  I can train and run races and enjoy life.

Get out there and run!

Four years ago I could barely run a single mile in 10 minutes. Three years ago I struggled to finish my first marathon in 4:18 (about a 10 minute mile). Today I ran a marathon fast enough to qualify for the Boston marathon. Every marathon I run I achieve something that I didn’t think I could do. That’s why I run them.

On the morning of the race I got to the “runners village” early but I still had to hurry to the start line. It was getting close to 6 AM and I was in the first corral which meant I really had to be at the start when the gun fired at 6:15 AM. There was confusion at baggage drop and I really didn’t have time to wait in line. A nice (and pretty!) girl took pity on me and let me cut in line. Even after cutting the line short I had to rush due to the massive number of people trying to get to the starting area. 27,000 people funneling over 8 foot wide walk ways is a recipe for being late to a race. I made it to the start on time but closer than I cared for.

In true Las Vegas style the start of the 2009 Las Vegas Marathon was pretty crazy. There was a band on top of the start line. There were tigers in the sides of the start line. There were fireworks. There were celebrity impersonators. The only thing about the start that was not true to Las Vegas was the air temperature. It was 32F. My ideal racing temperature is in the 50s. I wasn’t pleased with the temperature but it’s one of those things that you can’t control. It didn’t rise much about 40 during the race. At one point my shirt sleeve actually froze when I spilled water on it.

I set out with my race plan in mind. I was to run at a 7:10 pace as consistently as possible. That would have me finish at about 3:08 nearly 3 minutes ahead of my ultimate goal of 3:10:59. If I felt good near the end of the race I would run faster but I would not allow myself to run faster at the beginning. The first mile showed a 6:48 pace. That was way too fast so I slowed down. The second mile showed an 8 minute pace. I slowed down but I knew I didn’t slow to an 8 minute per mile pace. The first mile marker was too early.

At the half I was running according to plan. It was 1:34:29. I had said if I came in much above or below 1:34 that I was in trouble. At that point in the race I felt that I had a good chance of getting below 3:10:59 (Boston Qualifying time). But then things changed. My mile splits started getting slower. I turned in a bunch of 7:20-7:30 miles. I didn’t panic because I knew that wasn’t a big deal but it was a little troubling. At mile 18 things started to get difficult and I lost faith. I was almost certain at that point that I would miss my goal. Oddly I didn’t mind.

At about mile 20 everything changed again. The gentle but relentless 12 mile uphill battle was over. The wind and cold was slightly more at my back. I felt good. My music was good. I ran and I ran fast. My mile split for mile 21 was 6:49! I couldn’t believe I had gone that fast that late in the race. I became convinced that I could meet my goal. I ran the last 10k of the race in about 43:45 (7:04 pace), which is technically a 10k PR for me (but I’d blow that away if I ran a 10k right now).

All through the race the 3:10 pace group was ahead of me. I knew they had started out too fast and I didn’t want to burn out trying to keep up with them. Around mile 21 I thought I was going to catch up but they must have experienced the same feeling of rejuvenation that I had. I ran fast but the gap between us barely closed.

The last 6.2 miles is partly a blur. My mind stopped working correctly. I couldn’t remember if I was at mile 24 or if I had 4 miles to go. It didn’t matter. My training paid off here. I knew all I had to do was to maintain my current pace which is exactly what I did during training runs. It got more and more difficult to hold on to my pace but I knew I could do it because I really didn’t have very far to go. Surely I could deal with 45 minutes of discomfort?

It felt like forever but I finally rounded the corner by Mandalay Bay and saw the finish. I gave all that I had left. I could see on the clock that I had done it. I crossed feeling the exhilaration of achieving a difficult goal as well as utter exhaustion. I finished in 3:09:17, a 7:14 average pace. I received my medal and promptly sat on the ground. Within minutes at least 5 people asked me if I was OK. I said I was fine, that I just needed a few minutes. Then the chest pains started…

The pains were not normal, but then running a marathon isn’t strictly normal either. I played it smart and asked for medical assistance and so began my trek to the hospital in an ambulance and my first stay at a hospital, a story that deserves its own post. Everything turned out OK and I was released the next day to finally celebrate with my friends and family.

For any runners that are reading this please always fill out emergency information on your race bib especially at large races. The folks at the hospital need that information to contact your loved ones. Do not expect them to contact race officials. The race officials might not be able to provide the information right away (for example the computer systems weren’t working for a while at Vegas). A gentleman next to me in the ER who ran the half marathon could not speak when he arrived. He filled out his emergency information and the hospital was able to contact his fiance and family when he was not able to speak. I must also commend the race officials. A race official came to the hospital to award him his medal after he became alert. Sadly he passed away the following day. He was 32 years old.

This was the first marathon that I raced. I had a plan and I executed it. I corrected mistakes I’ve made in the past. At MCM in 2008 I went out too fast and didn’t take in enough calories. This time I trained properly and was able to maintain my pace through the end. I took gels approximately every 5 miles.

This race was very special to me. I was able to share it with lots of friends and family. It was the first marathon that my sister and I ran together. I had 5 friends other than my sister there. For two of them it was their first marathon. I haven’t really said so but I’m incredibly proud of them. My wife and daughter were there to cheer for me. I would have missed them dearly if they weren’t there. They made special shirts that wished me “luck” on the front and congratulated me on on BQing on the back (if I failed they planned not to show me the back!).

The title of this post is “Boston Didn’t Qualify For Itself, I did” but that’s a lie. We qualified for Boston. I couldn’t have done this without an understanding and loving wife, parents who drive me home from my 20 mile runs week after week, friends that support me and my craziness, and a work environment where I can put in 15 mile runs in the middle of the work day.

Some splits, just for the record:
1: 6:46 (I’m sure the 1st mile marker was too early in the course)
2: 8:04
3: 7:03
4: 7:00
5 & 6: 13:59
7: 6:56
8: 7:04
9: 7:11
10: 7:18
11: 7:23
12: 7:31
13: 7:28
14: 7:21
15: 7:15
16: 7:27
17: 7:20
18: 7:29
19: 7:29
20: 7:28
21: 6:49
22: 6:59
23: 7:00
24: 7:07
25: 7:10
26: 7:15
.2: 1:31

Official Splits:
5 Km 22:37
10 Km 44:29
10Mi 1:11:29
Half 1:34:29
16 8 Mi 2:01:38
20 Mi 2:25:29

So now I rest and try not to worry about things I can’t control. I took some time to compare my training from my last marathon to my training for this marathon. At my last marathon I was too confident and inexperienced. I went out too fast and too hard and payed for it. I met my personal goal of breaking 3:30 (with a 3:29:44) but I felt I was capable of more. My training lacked raw distance and overall mileage.

In my preparations for this race I tried to avoid the mistakes of the past. I needed to make my body capable of truly running long distances. That meant running more than two to four 20 mile runs. My last training cycle included about 900 miles and I averaged about 40 miles per week. This time I’ve run more than 1400 miles averaging about 55 miles per week. I had hoped to average closer to 60 miles per week but I wasn’t able to do so.

I worked on my distance by starting at 13 mile long runs and running them every week until they were too easy. Then I bumped to 16. Then 18. Then 20. For my third marathon I ran 5 long runs of 18 or more miles. For this marathon I’ve logged 16. Out of those 16 long runs 11 have been 20 miles or more.

My race plan is to start the race at a 7:15-7:20 pace. I’d like to fairly quickly bring that down to a 7:10. I will not let myself run faster than 7:10s for the first half. If, at the halfway point, it’s been unbearably easy, then I will allow myself to increase the pace a little bit but no faster than 7:00 per mile! At 20 miles I’ll give everything I have. I’ll cross the finish somewhere between 3:05 and 3:10:59. …At least that’s the plan.

My runs suffered.  I suffered.  My family suffered.  Looking at my log you can see my running gradually got slower and slower.  I lost motivation and was pretty miserable.

I’ve been taking iron pills for almost 3 weeks now and I can’t believe the improvement.  I feel like I’m myself again!  For the last two weeks I’ve cut back on training.  I’ve also lost some key training time due to illness.  Still, I have to believe that I have enough in “the training bank” to buy myself a Boston Qualifying time in Vegas.  I ran an awesome half marathon in September and I’m feeling good when I run now.

I haven’t given up.  I’m still running.  I took about a week off while I was on vacation.  I took a break from everything.  I ran only 6 miles, I ate whatever I felt like at any time of the day.  I didn’t exercise.  I tried not to worry about anything.  It should have been refreshing but I started to physically feel like garbage.

But things happen in cycles right?  Last Sunday I went went for a long run even though I badly didn’t want to.  It was late at night (7:00 PM), I was tired, and I wasn’t in a good mental state.  Mary encouraged me to get out the door and I did.  I’m very glad I did.  I had a fantastic run.  It was supposed to be 20 miles with the last 10 at marathon goal pace (7:15 per mile).  The first 10 miles were effortless and went by quickly.  The last 10 felt great too.  I ran faster than I thought I possibly could on a 20 miler.  My average pace for the entire run was 7:16!  If I could run 7:16 during a marathon I can qualify for Boston!  I didn’t think I could hold such a fast pace and feel so good for so long.  When I finished I felt like I could have kept going strong for another 3 miles.

I am hoping that there will be more ups than downs and that the ups will be steep and the downs gentle.  I’m hoping I can hold on to my motivation long enough to achieve my goal.  I think I can.  It won’t be easy but if it were it wouldn’t be worth trying.

Rain is fun when it starts during a run.  It is not fun if you start in the rain.  The feeling fades quickly and it becomes fun but it is a huge mental barrier.  Luckily for me the rain stopped 5-10 minutes because my scheduled departure.  I stowed refills in my mailbox and stuffed a bunch of gels in my pocket.  I created a new playlist and shuffled it so I had no idea what music was coming next.

…And then I ran.  And ran.  And ran some more.  I forced myself to take it easy.  I’m trying to keep my paces very comfortable for at least the first half of my long runs.  My strategy for Vegas is to run a nice easy and even paced first half and then kick things up a bit in the second half.  “Practice makes permanent.”

After ten miles I felt really good but I didn’t pick up the pace much.  I’d been running for quite a while and wondered if things would blow up in the next 10 miles or not.  There were no explosions.  Nothing blew up at all.  Things got better and better.

The first 6.5 miles of miles of my route were the same as the last 6.5 miles.  I ran the final 6.5 miles almost 5 minutes faster than the first!  I have never felt so strong at the end of such a long run.  I’ve had some great 16 mile runs and some really good 18 mile runs but I’ve never felt anything like this after 20 miles.  I’m pretty sure my last mile was at about a 6:20-6:30 pace.

My training is working.  First I held my long run at 13 miles until it felt like child’s play.  Then I bumped to 16, and then 18, and now I’m at 20.  I want to build that up to 22-24.  I want to run those distances without fear and with (relative) ease.  20 miles used to be a very frightening distance for me but not anymore!

The full marathon is on the strip for the first 10 miles.  After that it cuts to the west.  I plotted the course on RunningAHEAD so that I could get an idea about the elevation.  Click on the funny arraow on the map toolbar for an elevation profile.  The elevation will appear below the map.  The worst climb is 500 feet over about 12 miles.  That is nothing.

The course is really good.  I love that the Vegas strip is a huge part of this race but somewhat unfortunately it occurs at the beginning of the race.  The excitement on the strip is going to make it hard to control pace.  Controlling pace on the first half of the course is integral to running a good race.  I’m sure it’s easier to get approval to close the strip in the wee hours of the morning (when most visitors are heading home in for some sleep) than for late morning and early afternoon.  Besides, if they did that the half marathoners (who make up a huge portion of the profit for this race) wouldn’t get much/any strip exposure.

The only other thing I see that I don’t particularly like is the 2 mile switchback starting at 17.5 miles.  It’s late in the race and switchbacks can be demoralizing.  2 miles is pretty long for a switchback.

The finish looks fantastic.  There should be good crowd support from mile 24 through to the end.  The course loops around like a cursive f (or that’s what Mary says at least).  The last mile goes right by Luxor and Mandalay Bay so we’ll have some good sights.  At that point in the race I probably won’t notice anything except my fatigue/misery, the crowds that make finishing feel possible, and the clock.

I’m really excited about this course.  It’s far better than I expected it would be.

As for Boston I’ve said I want to qualify before I’m 35.  Why 35?  When I turn 35 the qualification time gets easier and I want to qualify at the more difficult pace.  Until I’m 35 I need a 3:10 marathon (3:10:59 to be exact).  A 3:10 requires a 7:15 minute per mile average pace.  I’ve said that I wouldn’t even think about qualifying until I could break 1:30 in a half marathon and that I’d need to be running 7:30 minute miles on easy training runs.  Both of those things have happened (though not all of my easy runs are in this range).

I’ve plugged my GI Half time into race time predictors and they all say that a 3:05 is possible for me for the marathon distance.  These predictors assume that you are properly trained for the distance.  You can’t just plug a 5k time in and assume that you’ll run a marathon in the pace that comes out.  In the past the race predictors have been off by 10 minutes.  For Marine Corps. last October the predictors said I could run a 3:20 (ish).  I ran a 3:30.  I believe there are two factors at work here.  First I went out too fast and paid dearly for it at the end of the race.  Second I wasn’t properly trained.  Yes, I did my 20+ mile training runs and I pushed into 50 mile weeks.  It just wasn’t enough.

I’m targetting the 2009 Rock and Roll Marathon in Las Vegas as my Boston Qualifing race.  That should be a very flat course (the course isn’t finalized yet).  It should also be in good weather.  On top of that there will likely be a lot of people I know there which, assuming I succeed, will make it all the more special.

For my previous marathons I’ve had public and private goals with my public goal always being much more conservative.  I can say with complete honesty that this time my public and private goals are one in the same, to qualify for the Boston Marathon by running a sub 3:10 marathon.