Sandy Runs

From the blog title, I'm sure you can tell that the Mexico City Marathon didn't go well for me. In short, I was feeling unwell, and almost didn't start the race, but I gave it a shot, and decided I needed to drop out. It was not a fun decision to make, but it was a sound decision and I stand by it. And now I'll go into the details. One of the buildings in the Plaza de la Constitution (aka Zócalo) On Friday afternoon Scot and I arrived in Mexico City (Ciudad de México), also abbreviated as CDMX or D.F. ("day eyfey" which is short for Distrito Federal - kind of like Washington, District of Columbia going by D.C.). It was the first visit to CDMX for both of us. We took a taxi to our hotel in the historic district, freshened up a bit, then took the Metro to the race expo at a race track. The city has a very extensive public transportation system, with the Metro as its showpiece. Trains go everywhere, are frequent, and are cheaper than any subway system I...

On Saturday I ran the newest race in the Marine Corps Marathon series, the Quantico 12K . This running-only event was added to the Quantico Tri, which has been going on for a few years. I liked the opportunity for non-triathletes to join their friends and family members who were also doing the swim and cycle. Quantico isn't too far from home, so I decided to go. Packet pick-up was on Friday at Quantico. Imagine my delight to visit MCM headquarters! I didn't stay long because I drove down before work and needed to get back to Arlington to start my work day. But now I knew exactly where to go the next day. MCM HQ - Oorah! Front of 12K shirt Back of 12K shirt On Saturday I started out a little later than I planned, and then there was traffic on the base getting to the parking. But once I was parked, everything was right in the same area: start, finish, parking, port-o-potties, beer tent - which I visited not in that order. The weather wasn't too hot, but...

I can't stop thinking, and blogging, about Mexico City Marathon preparations. I'm definitely nervous about making the cut-off of 6 hours. Why? Because the race is not only at altitude (7,200 ft/2,200m) but it is also uphill. Those are two strikes against me. I've run other marathons at altitude, but they've either had a more generous time limit or an early start. I've actually trained for this race, though I don't feel as prepared as I'd like. I will need to make some tweaks to my usual race day logistics. Wish me luck, because I'll need it! First, I am going to adjust my run/walk intervals. I've been training with 4:1 intervals, but I know I'm going to get tired and winded in Mexico City, so it will be better for me to start off with more frequent walk breaks. I'm considering 3:1 or 2.5:1. I've used both intervals successfully when running half marathons as a pacer. The 3:1 ratio was good for the very hilly Georgia Half Marathon ...

Well, this is it. Mexico City Marathon is coming up at the end of the month. I have only two and a half weeks of solid training before I travel. My training in June and July suffered because I allowed the heat to affect me, skipping workouts. But now I need to give it my all. I need to do every hill session, every speed session. No slacking. That uphill course at altitude requires my best. This morning I met up with my Marine Corps Marathon Facebook Group buddy Jeremy at Roosevelt Island (well, in the parking lot) in Arlington VA. He was planning to run the 15 mile "Arlington Loop" which includes the Custis Trail, the W&OD Trail, the Four Mile Run Trail and the Mount Vernon Trail. I only planned to run 5 miles, but it was good motivation to get out of bed an get it done by meeting Jeremy. I knew I couldn't stick with his pace for long, and in fact I urged him to go on ahead not far into the run. I would run west on the Custis trail and turn around after 2.5 miles....