6:30am Start – up early, 5:30 shuttle last transport from my hotel. One block from the Outdoor Memorial. National Anthem, followed by 168 seconds of silence – respect for the lives lost in 1995.
Chilly start – gusty wind & light rain. Running in shorts again…gotta check the weather app before I leave home. LOL> 25,000 runners, corral start. Lotta local crowd support, much appreciated.
Started tenth-mile behind the 4:15 pace group. Hung close thru mile 2. Chickasaw Bricktown Ballpark (home to OKC’s Triple-A Dodgers). Past two [Phillips 66] oil derricks, 500 feet outside the Oklahoma State Capitol. Caught the 4 hour pacers at mile 5. Halfers peeled off before 8.
Gorilla Hill, Nichols Hills, Rose Hill, Heritage Hills – not a flat course 🙂
2:01 first Half. Couple minutes slower than last Saturday…on a more technical course – I’ll take it. Struggled the two miles ‘round Lake Hefner. High gusty winds. Head lowered, pushed thru the day’s weather obstacle. Misty rain blew sideways. 4 hour pace group matched me, moved past me.
Tree cover at mile 16, more at 18. Downhill stretch [thru mile 20] before a quad-burning 4 mile climb…topping out in OKC’s scenic Heritage Hills. Mighty late in the day for 4 miles of UP.
Run/walk combination last 2 miles. Mental dip/endorphin drop but not a bad performance – maintained posture, felt good in my shoes. Hilly run…third straight weekend marathoning – finished just over 4:15, an Oklahoma PR. 2nd fastest of 2017, 16th best of my 88. 128 consecutive run days – feelin’ STRONG!
2017 Results – OKC Marathon
Haga, K R LOUISVILLE CO 4:17:20
6 hours to burn before my Colorado flight home. Fried pickles at Toby Keith’s (while in Oklahoma, gotta/hafta), feet up/giant Coke & a movie….then, 2 stops of interest: Oklahoma’s Land Run Monument & a brief pull-over at the State Capitol.
More than 50,000 Americans lined up at noon on April 22nd 1889 for our country’s last great Land Run. Towns were formed, homesteads staked. Ironically, monuments outside the state’s Capitol Dome celebrate Oklahoma’s Native American population (from whom the land was taken). Cowboys, Indians & Oil. American history is kinda messed up, huh?
Far North next weekend, adventuring with my Canadian bestie Sarah. Marathoning of course but ALSO…Niagara Falls!
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- marathon #88; an Oklahoma PR
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- Oklahoma Land Run of 1889
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- “one of the world’s largest bronze sculptures featuring 45 heroic figures of land run participants, frozen in motion as they race to claim new homesteads”
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- OK’s Field of Flags
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- Cowboys, Indians & Oil
Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon
REDEMPTION WEEK.
Gotta say – last week’s marathon result really really stung. Been putting in the time, working hard. Heat or no heat – never expected to throw a 5 hour marathon result again. Aside from the mental struggle of a sub-par performance, took ‘til Wednesday to bounce back physically. Nauseous, early week pace all over the place in my training runs.
8.7 miles Wednesday, 12.2 miles Thursday. Back on track. Unlike last week, took a taper day [on] Friday. Easy 2 mile jog, marathoning Saturday morning in Brighton – 2nd weekend my run commute would be under 30 minutes. Nice 🙂
FUN FACT: to keep costs down, Director reused old race bibs. Tomorrow I’d be running a Ladies 9K event from 2014. LOL>
Early wake-up, early Start. Cold morning. 35 degrees, woke to rain. Swapped rain for sleet as Brighton temps dipped just under freezing. Small race, 20 laps ‘round a flat 1.3 mile course. 20 laps, ugh. Packed a run bag with all my fave food & drinks. Tucked under a picnic area awning – would have 20 opportunities to grab a snack.
6am Start. Went out fast, hung a quarter-mile behind the lead pack. Followed the flags, made my way once around the course. Multiple mud crossings, developed a rhythm. Lap 4: gloppy cold rain, mix of wet snow & rain. Increased speed, held an 8:20/min pace, started picking off runners. Slowed — ran an easy 9:30/min mile — every third interval.
1:56 Half marathon. Not a personal best…but the fastest I’d run post-cancer. Mentally knew: pacing too quick – it’s a marathon, not a 10K. Would keep running STRONG 3 more laps, then reassess. Not targeting a new PR ‘til September…but what if. What if today everything came together for my first sub-4 since 2015. Logged a slow loop, but surprisingly followed with two sub-9/min miles.
Rain stopped at lap 17 (22 miles). Fizzling, running empty/outta gas, 9:40 lap. Refueled, sucked down 2 packets of soft food. A minute+ under sub-4, quickly eating thru my time bank. 2 laps remaining. Lap 19, run clock read 3:51. Legs like lead, breathing labored. Pushing hard, forward thru mud, sloppy conditions – no longer avoiding the muddiest stretches. Everything I have this day, no holding back.
Finish time – unfortunately, just missed – 4:01:34. No sub-4, not today…but almost there.
Fastest run of 2017. Strike that – fastest run since March 2015 & a new Colorado PR. 3rd place Male, 4th overall.
2017 Runs With Scissors – April 22, 2017
Male Marathon Results
Place Name Age Time
- Nicholas Ferron 34 03:00:18
- David Jepsen 41 03:22:44
- K R Haga 50 04:01:34
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- cold wet day: rain, sleet & snow
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- 3rd place Male
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- new Colorado PR
Sometimes you’re the windshield, sometimes you’re the bug… MARY CHAPIN CARPENTER
Tough day. Heat fail.
Training hard all month – Bighorn just over 60 days away. Completed another 10K Friday: 6 mile run, quarter-mile swim. Slept hard, probably some of my best [the] day before a marathon. Haven’t yet acclimated, deep sleep after every swim.
Today’s run only 20 minutes away in Westminster. Can’t beat that commute, huh?
Sunshiny skies, 8am Start, expecting a warm Finish. Commuted with my North End neighbor, Larry – he’d run the 10K today. Beautiful morning, well organized event. All-Out Beat the Heat Marathon. ‘Beat the Heat’ was exactly the plan.
Cool comfortable temp, Star-Spangled Banner blared proudly. Dropped my hat, hand over heart & sang along. Countdown from 10, our marathon journey began. Briefly started on asphalt (ran past an alpaca farm), then adjusted to packed trail (dirt). Climb, Climb, Climb – course incline the first 8 miles…that’s a lotta climb, luckily I’m a fan of hills 🙂
Marathon athletes will start out heading west on Big Dry Creek Trail toward Standley Lake Regional Park. At about 2.5 miles athletes will begin 4 miles of the gravel trail & road system within the park, including the spectacular views along a north / south dogleg near the dam, then exit the park to continue west toward the south trailhead and the west turnaround. As they return they way they came, athletes will skip the dogleg to return to Big Dry Creek Trail and follow it east for about 16 miles to the east turnaround.
Sun kicked in at 10 – rays were always there, but didn’t feel the heat ‘til 2nd Half. 70, 75, 81° F. Perfect for a casual walk with the pup – but on a marathon run without any tree cover, our high-altitude sun baked. Number of participants dropped off significantly — folks opting to finish the Half, avoid the exposed bike path east to Denver. Today’s first Half highlighted shots of Standley Lake, backdropped by the Flatirons. 2nd Half however was dry, flat, cracked earth, patches of dried salt littered the landscape.
Mentally broke at 21. My friend Larry doubled his 10K effort, met me just past mile 23. Walking now. Notta lotta chatter. Notta lotta options – small race, no golf-cart to the Finish should you call it quits. UGLY…nearly 2 hours to finish those last 5 miles. Dehydrated, sweat-caked salt ‘round my eyes, dried to the sides of my face.
A finish is a finish, collected my medal…but today’s fail stung.
2017 All-Out Beat the Heat – Full
April 15, 2017 in Westminster, CO
2587 K R Haga 5:11:18
Shoes off, home. 2 hours sleep, briefly woke to shower. 3pm: bowl of soup.
6:15pm: my quarterly Boulder Dinner Theatre date with Ash, Tom & Stephen. “Disenchanted!” – comedy depicting the now adult, middle-aged Disney princesses. Time to turn that frown upside down. Good laugh.
10 hours sleep, 2 easy miles on the treadmill, quarter-mile swim at CAC. Weekend over? Heck no, it’s Easter Sunday! Afternoon-celebrated at Casa Alegre — our Mexican Easter tradition — 4th year with Ash & Tom. Mexican fiesta, olé!
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- tough day but “a finish is a finish”
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- baked in high-altitude sun
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- middle-aged Disney princesses – what’s not to LOVE!
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- our annual Mexican tradition
