Earlier in the year I wrote about the Baker brothers from New York, Brian and Jeff, and their ongoing streak of running (now) 33 straight Falmouth Road Races. I have to congratulate Brain Baker for reaching yet another significant (and magnificent) milestone. Earlier this month on December 10th, he ran the Rehoboth Beach Seashore Marathon and just dipped under 3 hours with a time of 2:59:53. The 7 seconds under 3 hours are very important. Back on December 2 in 1979 Brian first ran a marathon faster than 3 hours when he ran the Jersey Shore Marathon in 2:56:29 . That marks a span of time of 32 years and 8 days between his first and most recent sub 3 hours marathon. Soon Brian's name will appear on this international list for longest time spans between sub 3 hour marathons. He will be in 25th place and will be keeping fast company with a list of high quality runners, some with national and world class performances. This is the list I want to recover for and try to make some day. It may take awhile, but it is my primary racing goal, if I ever get up and running healthy again. For me it is just a far in the future dream right now, but the competition is getting stiffer to make the list. It is great to see an extremely consistent runner like Brian make this list. Congratulations and well done!
I think this shows how good it must feel to finish and beat your goal! It must have been harrowing the last few miles trying to get under the 3 hour barrier!
Monday: 11 miles mountain bike
Tuesday: 2 miles on Treadmill (first time post surgery on treadmill).
Wednesday: PT
Thursday: 4 miles
Friday: 4 miles
Saturday: 6 miles
Sunday: 6 miles mountain bike followed by 4 miles running.
The goal this week was to try to hit 20 miles of total running without doing any 8 milers. It wasn't easy. It still feels like I need a full day off after each run, so to do four days in a row of running was stretching it. I feel OK when running, it is after running that the muscles around both hips get really tight. I have been doing strength work using ankle weights to work on the hip muscles, but there is a lot of work yet still to be done.
I am still very happy to be out running as I am way ahead of schedule. I have an appointment with my hip surgeon at the end of this month and I thought then when I had surgery and was given this appointment back in July that I would not start running until after seeing the surgeon.
My main goal is to be able to run pain-free and to get back to the conditioning that I had a year ago. Being able to run each day would just be great. Of course, I would like to be able to run as fast or faster than I had been doing before the surgery. Unless some setback happens, I can't see why this would not happen, although I am giving it a year post surgery to regain what I lost in my year off from running (and paradaoxically to lose what I gained in the year of not running- ice cream weight!). I feel I am well on my way towards this goal as the surgery seems to be a huge success for me. Before surgery, I wasn't sure if I would ever be able to run again.
I do have specific time and race goals I would love to reach once I am fully recovered. If I get to that point I would be thrilled, but I know it will take time and a lot of work. I won't publish those as some may think I am nuts. I do have one specific goal for the next couple of years that I truly wish to make as long as I remain injury free and can run more efficiently . I would like to go sub 3 hours in a marathon again. If I can do the training without the pain and imbalances that I have had for years, then I think that after 2-3 years of solid running I could reach this goal. In May of 1980, I ran my first sub 3 hour marathon and if I run another one I would make this international list of longest time spans between first and last sub-3 hour marathons. I am a long way off from even racing a 5k, but a healthy me will definitely put a year or two of dedicated effort to reach this goal.
Back in 1985 I could swim 2.4 miles, bike 112 miles,
and run 26.2 miles in 10:20:13, could I ever
do those same distances again?
This week, I finished reading Iron War about the epic Hawaii Ironman battle between Dave Scott and Mark Allen back in 1989. It reminded me how much I loved doing triathlons in the 1980s and being somewhat of a pioneer in the sport in New England during that time. I completed 5 Ironman distance triathlons between 1983 and 1987 and always wished to get back into triathlons again. I have also come to realize that the way I set up my bike and pedals for triathlon racing probably is what started to destroy my hip as I have been fighting that bad hip ever since that first year of triathloning. It would be a a great statement to my body to complete another Ironman distance triathlon one day in the future. I could get truly behind that goal, but I am not sure I want to make it a real goal as I have already done that in my past. I do think once I have done a marathon again, that I could do a 2.4 mile swim (easy), and then get back to biking and build up to complete 112 miles on a bike. I wouldn't have to do the events on the same day in race, but to do all three distances again in the same year, season, month, or week would be a goal that I could someday certainly accomplish and I think that doing so would be a wonderful goal for me. So I have goals, they are a long way off as I just try to get a few miles in at a time right now, but I have goals, and that makes for good motivation!
Total mileage for this week was 43 miles. I did five 8 mile workouts and a 5k race. The previous two weeks I did between 30-40 miles. I won't call many of the workouts runs, rather let's just say that I "moved" that many miles. I have lost the improvements I had been making and my left hip is not working correctly. If I do get it working right then the next day or two it is vey sore and unstable and I can't make it move properly.
I did show up for the Tuesday night race down in Lowell. I got lost and arrived 15 minutes before the start so there was little warmup. The results show this top 3 finish in the 50-60 age group.
18 BRIAN BIGELOW 50 MANCHESTER NH 19:30
19 JIM HANSEN 51 NASHUA NH 19:38
20 MIKE MERRA 51 AMHERST NH 19:43
Since we are all friends and teammates and in the same age group, it looks like we had a nice group run together. Don't let the results fool you. This is how it really happened. I took off at the start (with just a few strides as a warm-up) and my hips were already not functioning right, but I figured I'd run hard anyway. I had a difficult time controling my stride, both legs were moving differentlly and at different angles, but my breathing and pace felt OK. For most of the first mile (I don't know where the markers are) I was in 7th place. It was getting harder and harder to control my form and I was getting very frustrated. Then all of a sudden I completely lost the plot on how to move and I quickly slowed and about 10 people swiftly went by. I was having a hard time running at all and was ready to stop and walk back to the start, but Brian had not passed me yet, so I figured I'd keep going. I felt like I was running at about a 22 minute 5K pace. After about a mile I started getting a little bit of control of my hips and for some reason Brian still had not passed me. I still felt awful but the finish was approaching and with about 1/4 mile to go Brian caught up and ran behind me a bit. I wasn't sure where the finish was and at one point Brian said it was about 100 yards away. I know 99 times out of 100 I could never outsprint the chiropractor, but I gave it a shot and took off for 15 yards but I had no speed and it was more than 100 yards to the finish. Brian just picked up the pace and easily put 8 seconds on me. I finished and then saw Mike, who I didn't even see before the start. I think Mike was just out of an easy run and ended up almost catching me. Anyhow, even though it was my best 5k of the year, it felt like the worst. The good news is, I have some speed and conditioning in my legs, if I can only get them working properly again, I should be running well. I think I did my first mile in sub 6 minutes. I just need to get the next two miles going at that pace.
I am not sure what I am going to to about my hips. I feel like stopping and walking home at various times on my recent runs. I think I am trying too many things to keep them working right. It is getting a bit frustrating. I need to get them fixed so I can train at a higher level and get the mileage in so I can start training for my marathon goal. I won't be able to do that until I get them working smoothly and without pain and imbalance. But that has been my story for a few years now!
Longest Time Spans Between First and Last Sub-X Marathons
Men
Sub-3:00
36y 4d 15 Apr 1974 => 19 Apr 2010 Doug Kurtis (12 Mar 1952, USA)
35y175d 26 Oct 1974 => 19 Apr 2010 Kerry Green (05 Apr 1954, USA)
33y184d 23 Oct 1976 => 25 Apr 2010 Steve Smythe (18 Mar 1958, GBR)
33y162d 07 Nov 1976 => 19 Apr 2010 Reno Stirrat (19 Apr 1954, USA)
32y373d 19 Apr 1967 => 17 Apr 2000 Laurence Olsen (14 Nov 1946, USA)
32y143d 10 Sep 1977 => 31 Jan 2010 Terrence Stanley (05 Sep 1952, USA)
32y 92d 06 Dec 1959 => 07 Mar 1992 Barry Magee (06 Feb 1934, NZL)
31y278d 15 Jul 1978 => 19 Apr 2010 Gary Allen (29 Jan 1957, USA)
31y180d 21 Oct 1978 => 19 Apr 2010 Dennis Kurtis (01 Nov 1953, USA)
30y355d 05 May 1979 => 25 Apr 2010 Chris Finill (31 Dec 1958, ENG)
30y220d 29 Jul 1979 => 06 Mar 2010 Vladimir Kotov (21 Feb 1958,BLR)
That is a list of some quite accomplished runners (most are on the sub 3 hour marathon in 5 decades list). My first sub 3 hour marathon was on April 13, 1980 so if I can do another, I would be close to being on this list. I know I can do it if I can get my hips working properly, that is what is holding me back on my running, but it is also a very big problem. Of course, the longer I wait, the higher up on that list I can go! I am sure that there are hundreds of other people that have accomplished such a large time span between sub 3 hour marathons, but they are probably more ordinary runners like me, and haven't been found by the listmakers yet.
Here are some photos from an old Runner's World booklet (booklet 46- 1975)that I have called "Running With Style". These are examples of wonderful running form (which is why these were such great runners). See, the title of this post has nothing to do with me!
That is me and Runner's World editor Amby Burfoot before the 2000 Boston Marathon (long story here). That is a picture of him in the background winning the 1968 Boston Marathon.
So Amby Burfoot and Gary Allen have recently created a Facebook page called "5 Decades of Sub 3:00 Marathons." If you are on Facebook check it out. The premise behind the page is to find marathoners with the speed and longevity to have run a sub 3 hour marathon in five straight decades. Amby wrote about Gary Allen and added a few names of runners who he knows have achieved this feat here. I would assume hundreds if not thousands have accomplished this (and maybe they have) but there are only a few names on the list so far. The names include Derek Turnbull, the late Larry Olsen and a few others. A few name runners are also ready to achieve this feat at the start of this coming decade. Interestingly enough, even the great Johhny Kelley did not quite achieve the 5 decades of sub 3 hours. He missed it by 3 minutes in his fifth decade.
I had already thought about the fact that I am approaching the running of a marathon in my fifth decade (post -see the last paragraph).
So I got to wondering if I could place on this list. I lost the list of marathons I was trying to keep over 10 years ago due to a hard drive crash and I have never tried to start the list going again. I know I have done about 40-50 of them, I just have to do some research and get all the times and dates correct. At first I thought that I would just miss being on the list (if I could run a fast marathon this decade-by less than 5 minutes, but I am thinking the last 10 years went by too quickly and times I thought I ran a few years ago where much further back in time).
This is the list I can come up with for now.
1970's November 25 1979 Philadelphia Marathon 3:03:57 (close!)
1980's April 26, 1981 Lake County Heart Fund Marathon (Illinois) 2:48:36
1990's September 28,1997 Clarence Demar Marathon 2:56:11
2000's Octber 15, 2006 Bay State Marathon 3:09:30
So unless I find a missing faster marathon. I can join the sub 3:10 club as soon as I go sub 3:10 this decade.
Another way to look at decades of running is to go by teens, twenties, thirties, forties, fifties, and if needed sixties. This is probably a more fair way to count decades as it relates to personal decades and not just a point on the calendar. According to this way of counting races. I have come up with this list showing that I have already accomplished 5 decades of marathon running.
Teens: Dec. 3, 1977 (18 years old) White Rock Marathon (Dallas) 3:25:44
Twenties: April 26, 1981 (21 years old) Lake County Heart Fund Marathon 2:48:36
Thirties: September 28,1997 (38 years old) Clarence Demar Marathon 2:56:11
Forties: Octber 15, 2006 (47 years old) Bay State Marathon 3:09:30
Fifties: October 25, 2009 (50 years old) Cape Cod Marathon 3:22:44
Well I got in five decades, but I am not that close to a sub 3 hour club. According to this list, I am in a sub 3:25 hour club for 5 decades).
I wish I thought of going for such a feat in the previous years. For example I didn't decide to run the Bay State Marathon (fastest in my 40's) until a spur of the moment decision the night before. I took it easy the first half and lost about 3 minutes waiting for port-a-john halfway through. I ddn't race and recovered nicely enough to run 8 miles the next day and a marathon (only 12 seconds slower the next week). I did no training run over 16 miles before that race either. In fact, I have never truly trained for a marathon by following a marathon training plan in all my years of running. I never did any runs over 16 miles training for marathons until 10-15 years ago, although I often ran back-to-back marathons throughout the years.
So, like most things running related with me, I get close to achieving something, but never close enough. It reminds me of a great song by The Alarm called "Close." "I've been close, closer than close, so close, not close enough."
BUT WAIT JUST ONE MINUTE!!!!!!!
I started thinking about decades. There is some debate about when a decade officially begins and ends. According to the experts, a decade really begins on the first year of the decade such as 2001 or 2011.
If we use this as our criteria, I actually have a chance to run five decades of sub 3 hour marathons. Can I do it? It might be close, but will I be close enough?
Here is a picture of the 1980 Gill Dodds Marathon listed below. Back in 1980, you had to run a sub 2:50 to qualify for Boston (see a Runner's World daily news article from last year referencing my blog) . I missed it by 7 seconds. I did run into a parked car with less than one mile to go, stopping me for a few seconds and then after running onto the track for the finish in the stadium, I assumed we were to do a full lap like in the Olympics. No, as I went to finish the lap, I didn't notice that at the top of the track you were supposed to run onto the infield and finish on the football field. I lost a few more seconds turning around to finish correctly. Close, but not close enough to run Boston the next year. Oh yeah, I finished 11th. The top ten got awards. Always close!
Take a look now at my results according to this "mathematic" definition of a decade:
Decade starting in and ending in...
1971-1981 June 1980 Gill Dodds Marathon (Ill.) 2:50:07
1981-1991 April 26, 1981 Lake County Heart Fund Marathon (Illinois) 2:48:36
1991-2001 September 28,1997 Clarence Demar Marathon 2:56:11
2001-2011 Octber 15, 2006 (47 years old) Bay State Marathon 3:09:30
BUT, I still have until the end of this year to go sub 3:00 in my fourth decade. Someone explain to me if I have my math wrong. Can I do it? There is a good possibility. I am finding the balance in my muscles that have been missing for years. If I can train without getting injured, I believe by the fall, I could go sub 3:00 with effort and dedication. In fact, if I decide this is a worthy goal and my math is correct, then maybe I will have to follow a marathon training plan for the first time in my life! Then I would have to do a sub 3 hour one more time after the "new" decade begins in 2011. It sounds like I might just be developing a running goal in my mind. This could get fun, but would probably be noteworthy to no one else but me. It is a goal, however, and this old runner could really use one. If not. I am keeping fit until my 60's and going for 6 decades of marathons, but I really do not want to think about that just yet!
And I might add, I may not have been very fast, but I guess I have had longevity in the sport!
