The marathon is not an easy event...

"...The marathon is not an easy event. You cannot predict..." Haile Gebrselassie

So says, "Da Man" and so it is.

For the Houston Marathon, I was an official pacer. Yep, I was supposed to pace the 3:10 folks. You know, keep them running steady in the early miles, hold 'em back in the middle, and encourage 'em in the last 3-4 miles when it's really tough. Basically, try to keep the group running at an average of 7:15 per mile. I was really excited to be a pacer. And I was looking forward to a good, tough, workout.

On Thursday evening, before the marathon, I felt a "tickle" in my throat. By Saturday I was sick with the crud. On Sunday morning...well, let's just say that had I not been a pacer, I may not have run at all. Certainly not as a hard workout.

But, I took a hot bath, felt a little better, and thought, "maybe I can get the pace group through 20 miles." In hindsight, it's just amazing how one can rationalize ridiculous decisions. I mean, 26.2 miles is tough if you have both lungs working perfectly. And when they are not...things get ugly.

Anyway, things got ugly.

The plan was to start out slow, and pick up the pace gradually. We did; and hit the half at 1:34:38. Just a hair early but certainly not a bad pace for a 3:10 marathon. As we continued toward the 14 mile mark, it was a struggle. I couldn't seem to get enough air. At first I thought that maybe I had picked up the pace too much. At mile 14, I looked at my watch. 7:33. I knew it was over...I had been slowing down.

After that, every single water stop was a slow walk, then a jog, then stop for coughing, then jog...well, you get the picture. And that 7:33 for mile 14....it was my fastest mile of the 2nd half. I finished in 3:33:44. Over 23 minutes late to the party....

Oh, the pace group? Fortunately, the Marathon Veteran's group understands the need for two (2) pacers. Peter took the group in just under 3:10 on a very steady pace. Nice work Peter!

I love this sport. Especially the marathon. But it is truely humbling.

Everything has to be perfect.

Pacing in the 2008 Houston Marathon

This year I have the honor of pacing folks who want to run a 3:10 marathon in the 2008 Chevron Houston Marathon.

If you are interested in running a 3:10 marathon, please join Peter Prescott and me for at 11:30am on Saturday morning (1/12/08) at the Marathon Expo (George R. Brown Convention Center). We’ll give you the details.

If you miss us on Saturday, we’ll be at the starting line on Sunday morning with a 3:10 sign and balloons.

Here’s a graph of my pacing plan. Yea, I know I’m overly detailed…

Bib scalping: A suggestion

See my earlier post to get what's going on re: the Houston Marathon.

No doubt, there are folks on the Houston Marathon Committee getting more emails, phone calls, and advice about this than they care to…

I understand capping a race. It happens all the time in several marathons. The logistics and resources necessary to put on a marathon are immense and health and safety issues are critical. One only needs to look at the 2007 Chicago Marathon to realize that there is a limit to how big a race a city can handle.

That said; it seems like there could be a better plan in place to get folks in the marathon who did not register prior to the cap.

The current plan is to help provide an open market for the buying and selling of bibs. In addition to the bib scalping, there’s another downside. Suppose that later in December, lot’s of folks are willing to sell there bibs at face value. And suppose that many runners hook up with these folks and get bibs. Well, that’s just great…but it sure is a hassle for everyone involved.

Here’s my suggestion…

If a registered runner finds out that they won’t be running, they let the marathon folks know asap. At that point, they get either a partial refund OR a guaranteed deferral to next year’s marathon. Bingo, there is now one more person who could sign up for the marathon.

If you’re one of the unlucky folks who missed the cap, you get on an alternate list. If you’re first on the list, you just got the spot from the runner listed above. Simple huh?

What about no-shows and last minute cancellations?
On the day before the marathon (Saturday in the case of Houston), a few of hours before the Expo closes, the marathon folks count up the number of race packets that have not been picked up.
For the sake of argument, let's say it's 500 race packets
Take some percentage of that...spose ~80% or 400 (gotta save some packets for those last minute pickups)
Then, start issuing RESERVED bib numbers to folks on the alternate list.

For folks in town, this should be pretty easy as they can hang out at the Expo. For folks out of town, they would need to know where in the alternate line they were to help them decide if they should come to Houston. If you're number 10 on the alternate list, you are 99% sure you're in (if, as Steve Karpas indicated earlier, ~10% of runners are no-shows).

Bingo, you just got up to 400 runners in the marathon.

Yes, there are logistics and details to printing out alternate bib numbers, keeping track of the alternate list, setting deadlines for refunds, etc.

However, you do eliminate (or minimize) the bib scalping that is making quite a few folks unhappy. You also eliminate the head-ache of either banning, or attempting to ban, someone because they sold their bib number on eBay for $201.

And most importantly, you provide a real service to the runners.

Houston Marathon: Setting bib prices in the 21st Century

You may have heard that registration for the Houston Marathon is closed. Yep, the darn thing capped out at 17,000, about a month ago…and it’s still 11 weeks away!

Now, don’t get me wrong here. I like the fact that it’s a relatively small marathon. But what’s a runner to do if they missed out on a bib number for Houston? Well, the Houston Marathon Committee has set up a forum on the Houston Marathon web site where folks can go to buy and sell bib numbers. The idea is that some folks may have signed up to run but may not run for various reasons. Typical reasons include injury, family plan changes, and/or training program interruptions.

I applaud the fact that the marathon committee has made an attempt to resolve the bib supply and demand issue. Unfortunately, one of the results of the bib forum is to create yet another reason to sell one’s bib number….profit. Yep, there are folks out there buying and selling bib numbers for *more* than the approximately $100 price paid…a lot more.

Capitalism is alive and well in the running community.

However, the latest news on the Houston Marathon web site is that if you attempt to sell your marathon bib for more that $200 (or half-marathon bib for more than $140), you could risk being banned from the 2009 event.

Evidently, the marathon committee has decided that 100% profit on a marathon bib is okay but any more than that is out of line. So, capitalism may be alive and well…but so is Keynesian economics.

I wonder if this has really been thought through. One can only wonder what will happen if/when someone is “caught” selling a bib number for more than $200. Is the “risk of being banned” an idle threat? If banned, will the banee protest? And then what?

It’s gonna be interesting.

Me. Well, I plan on running the Houston Marathon and I have a bib. No, it’s not for sale at any price. Ah, well, it could be if you can cover my 2009 registration and travel costs to Austin ;)

Runbayou - Survey for the 2008 Houston Marathon training program

Ladies and Gentlemen:

It's getting close to that time again. If you are interested in marathons and/or marathon training programs, please take a moment to respond to these four (4) questions. If you know of others who may be interested, please forward this to them.

Are you planning to run the Houston Marathon in January 2008 and/or another marathon from November 2007 to March 2008?

Would you be interested in the Runbayou marathon training program?

If yes, please answer the following questions.

The speedwork sessions would be held at Memorial Park at 5:00am on Tuesdays and Thursdays starting Tuesday August 28, 2007. Would you attend these sessions?

If there is interest, and if there is a Runbayou marathon training program, would you like to have your name added to the 2008 Houston Marathon Runbayou distribution list?

That was easy......

Info....

The Runbayou marathon training program in a nutshell.
Phase 1 - base building (easy runs; build up your weekly mileage at ~10% increase per week)
Phase 2 - Primary speed sessions are repetition running (200s, 400s, & some hills)
Phase 3 - Primary speed sessions are interval pace training (800s & 1200s) plus tempos and thresholds
Phase 4 - Primary speed sessions are marathon pace runs plus tempos and thresholds

More information on runbayou can be found at: www.runbayou.com
Note: The specific speedwork sessions for the 2008 program are not available yet.

If you have questions, feel free to contact me.

Cheers,

-j
"all my times are Chip Tymes"
www.runbayou.com

A new champion!

Anyone out there a tennis fan?

Earlier this week, the UIL Texas High School State Tennis championships were held in Austin/Lakeway.

Here are a couple of pics of the 2007 UIL Division 1A Texas High School Tennis Champion in action

Just look at the focus...eyes on the ball and ready.

And check out the intensity on that kid's face!

Did I mention his name? Eric Hendrickson.

Yep, that's my son.

Top 10 things to remember in amateur racing

I recently had an occasion to ponder amateur racing.

Here are my TOP 10 things to remember.

10. Show up on time. If the race is supposed to start at 8am and you arrive at 8:01...believe me, folks have been racing for a minute. If being fashionably late is more your style, take up bicycle racing.

9. Your race packet will hopefully contain your race number and instructions. It will also invariably contain discount coupons (e.g., local running store, Chick-fil-A), some sort of kitchen magnet, tiny first aid kit containing 2 band-aids and a Q-tip, and a t-shirt that is 2 sizes too large.

8. Line up for the race according to your pace. Look, if you know you're not a contender, please don't to line up on the starting line. No, you're not going to get run over. You will however be a hinderance to folks who run much faster than you and that's just plain inconsiderate.

7. If you have a complaint about a race, file a protest...that's what they're for.

6. Do not demand appearance fees: Consistant 3rd place age group finishes does NOT make you a professional runner in demand.

5. After the race, don't jump up on stage during the awards ceremony and gripe about it. You make an ass of yourself and it embarasses your friends.

4. Running is a sport. You'll have good days and not so good days. But all the days should be fun. After the race, smile and remember that not everyone can run. Oh yea, get to a towel as soon as possible after the race. No one likes to stand next to a sweaty, dripping wet, smelly runner...especially at the results wall.

3. Don't cheat. If you really need that, "hardware" (typically a plastic trophy, medal, or ceramic tile painted by 3 year olds) go rob a bank and buy a case of 'em...they cost about $2.99 each.

2. Remember the folks working the water stands, post-race food tables, starting and finishing lines? Well, they're volunteers. Try it sometime...

1. If you have an aversion to port-o-cans, racing is not for you. But if you join the Bayou City Road Runners (BCRR.org), your worries are over. We have two private privies!!!