As I laid in my hotel bed with the legs propped up on pillows, relaxing my body after a taxing 1/2 marathon earlier today, I decided it was time for an update on the website. It’s crazy to think that it has been almost one full year that I’ve had the privilege of being a member of the US Army’s World Class Athlete Program. This has definitely been the best year of my life with all the adventures as well as living in the state of Colorado. I feel that my fitness level has achieved a level that I have never even come close to before. As I think of all the races I’ve done this past year, I can’t think of what a roller coaster the past 12+ months have been. Today in Seattle for the 1/2 Marathon, I averaged exactly 5:00 per-mile pace, running well over a 2-minute personal best with an official time of 1:05:31. Exactly one year ago today, June 25, 2010, I was out in the New Mexican desert on a 30-day field training exercise. This time last year I remember was pretty crazy. Running wasn’t even close to a priority at this time with the responsibilities of leading Soldiers. However, my orders for WCAP had just come down the pipe from Army Human Resources Command and in less than a month I would be moving up to Colorado. I was so excited to start this new journey in my life, but at the same time I felt like I was letting down my Soldiers. I had been in charge for a little over 9 months and our platoon was finally getting to a point where everyone was on the same page and things were clicking. After a long talk with my Troop Commander and Platoon Sergeant, we new the incoming PL would be fine and that was easily the most reassuring part of having to leave my platoon. By mid-July 2010 my time was over in Fort Bliss and my new journey in Colorado was about to begin.
What a roller coaster this past year has truly been. Once I arrived in Colorado Springs, I adjusted to the 6,000 - 7,000 ft. elevation as quickly as I could and literally “ran with it.” The next month, August, Christie and I married, honeymooned in Jamaica for 4-1/2 days, then I was back to business. September was filled with great training in preparation for the Army 10-miler in October. Trying to keep up with WCAP teammates - Robert Cheseret, Nate Pennington, Troy Harrison, and John Mickowski greatly benefited my running and I prospered that next month in competition. At the Army 10-miler I ran a personal best time of 50:26 for 10-miles and finished 4th on the team to give us the edge over our Brazilian rivals. What transpired next I don’t think anyone could have predicted.
One short week after the Army 10-miler I was still suffering from joint pain and muscle fatigue that I figured was simply post race symptoms mixed in with a bad cold/fever. One week later with the same symptoms and I found out that I had somehow contracted an infectious disease known as Rickettsia Typhii. This disease is contracted by a flea bite (.....yep) that has a bacteria known as rickettsia rickettsii. Little did I know I would spend the next 6 weeks either on the couch or in bed with over a 103-degree fever. I would wake up in the middle of nights with a pool of sweat around me. Horrible, horrible, horrible disease. By Christmas I was back to doing speed workouts, but I had easily lost all fitness as well as all of the red blood cells I had accumulated through workouts at altitude. The beginning of 2011 was tough. My first race back I opened up with the US Half Marathon Championships. Perhaps not the best idea to run your first race back. Although I technically did run a new personal best time, I felt my 1:09:01 performance was well below my capabilities. I’m not even sure what I placed...I never checked, but maybe top-50. The NEXT week I did another race....this time the US Cross Country Championships for the All-Army team. I’m not even good at cross country, but they didn’t really have anyone who could take my place. Once again, maybe a top-50 performance, ran 39:58 for 12k. After that, I was able to train hard for 6 weeks and get ready for the US 15k Championships in Jacksonville, FL. By the time mid-March rolled around I was finally getting some good leg turnover and I had a performance I was satisfied with. Although I still placed high (36th) I ran 46:31 for 9.3 miles averaging 4:59 per mile.
By April, my coach and I thought I was ready to tackle a marathon. We traveled across the Atlantic Ocean to Rotterdam, Netherlands only to find out I was not ready to run a marathon just yet. I did accomplish a PR at the half marathon distance (1:07:53), but I fell the $*&# apart at 30k. Not just going from 5:15 pace to 5:20-5:30-5:40, but from 5:15 pace to practically stopping. Never had my legs felt so bad in a race. My legs locked up....my arms locked up....every muscle just STOPPED in my body. I basically had to walk and jog from 30k to the finish. Unfortunately can’t quit out of a race that WCAP funds. Rotterdam was a learning experience and I treated it as just that. I didn’t look at it as a complete failure. Although I didn’t get my Olympic Trials ‘A’ Standard, I did come away with knowledge about the marathon I never had before.
I took a restorative training period of 2 weeks with very easy and light running. By the first week of May I was ready to train hard again and get back into the weekly training routine. Opened up in Cleveland with a 30:49 10k, which was a high note. I was happy to run 4:57 pace with only 2 weeks of speed training prior to that race. Went to Boulder for the Bolder Boulder 10k. Low note. Ran 32:48....at altitude, but still...had great workouts the next 2 weeks after Bolder Boulder, then traveled to Carmel, Indiana for the US Men’s 8k Championships. I could not sleep at ALL the night before this race. I was literally scared $#!*less going into this race. I’m not sure of the exact number of athletes registered for the championship race, but I’m not really known for my speed...so running the 8k distance is a sprint for me and I max out at 4:55 pace with distances over 5 kilometers. Luckily the conditions weren’t favorable with the humidity and the course wasn’t a scorcher. I placed 16th overall, which wasn’t bad and I maxed my pace with a time of 24:27 (4:55 per mile). I was actually looking to run a sub-24 that day, but didn’t quite have it in me. I wasn’t overly excited about that race, but I wasn’t entirely disappointed either.
After Carmel, I came back to Colorado Springs, ran easy on Sunday, then had a killer workout on Monday, June 13th. I ran myself so hard that I was buried on the couch for the rest of the day. My next scheduled workout was Wednesday....woke up Wednesday morning and I knew I wasn’t feeling it so I pushed it back to Thursday. Wasn’t feeling great on Thursday but went to the track anyways. The workout was 10 x 1k repeat at goal half marathon pace...so, anywhere from 2:58 - 3:05 w/ 200m jog in between. Went 3:02, 3:06, 3:12...done. Didn’t even cool down that day...no stretch, nothing...I was really irritated my body hadn’t recovered yet, but I did do the smart thing by taking the rest of the day off and running very easy on Friday. Luckily I had two great workouts before the Seattle Half Marathon so I did come into the race today with some confidence.
Today, however, things just clicked. I was planning on running a conservative first mile and going through in 5:01-5:05. Didn’t know the first mile would be as fast as it was. I was probably not even top-10 through the first mile and I went through in 4:51...the leaders went out in around 4:40. After seeing the first mile mark, I zoned out until 5k...I remember trying to tell myself to just slow down and be calm, but I would go through the 5k in 15:08. Mile 4 was a 5:16 and definitely the slowest mile of the day with the majority of it uphill. Mile 5 was the exact opposite and I believe I clicked off my fastest mile of the day with a 4:45. After that though the course was honest and generally flat until the big hill after the 8-mile mark. Ran miles 6-10 all around 4:58 - 5:08...crossed the 10-mile mark in 50:01. I knew at that moment I needed to run a sub-15 minute last 5k in order to get my Olympic Trials standard. Honestly I didn’t come into today’s race with the expectations of running under 1:05. I simply wanted to PR and I felt if I had a good day I’d run in the 1:06 range. I hadn’t done any tempo runs prior to the half marathon today after Rotterdam, just interval work, and I was really surprised to go through 10-miles today in a PR of 50:01. I ran as hard as could that last 5k but mixed with the lactic acid I simply didn’t have it. I ran the last 5k in about 15:30 and stopped my watch at 1:05:31. I was ecstatic when I crossed that finish line today and it was really good to have that feeling again. The feeling of knowing what you’re doing is actually paying off and you’re not wasting your time chasing dreams. Today was kind of like a validation for me. Up until this race today I knew I was running some faster time than I had previously, but I didn’t feel like I was really improving all that much.
(Start of the Seattle Full and Half Marathon - I'm on the far right in the yellow US Army jersey)
Well, to PR by over 2-minutes was definitely validating enough for me to know that I just need to stay on the path I’m on and things will continue to progress. My PR before today’s race was the 1:07:53 I ran half way at Rotterdam back in April and before that was a 1:09:01 that I ran after recovering from my sickness at the US Half Marathon Championships back in January.
It has definitely been a roller coaster these past 12 months, but I’m crossing fingers, praying at night and hoping the path I’m on continues to prosper. My next race will be a 10k in Atlanta, Georgia on July 4th (humidity...yep)....after that I’m going to try the half marathon distance again, heading to San Francisco on July 31st. Was hoping to run the Boilermaker 15k in Utica, NY but evidently I’m not good enough to get a bib number there so I’ll be dedicating that time back in the Springs. Had to give them a little shout out.
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