Little Rock Marathon course

You know the way you feel when you and whoever's in the car with you are horny as hell and you can't wait to get home? I felt that way this morning with a box of donuts. First I ran three miles on the Little Rock Marathon course. I wanted to go 20, but my legs were dead and it was 41 degrees with a 20 mile-an-hour blowing from the north, so I jogged off the course to my car, where the idea of donuts occurred. This was my first time at Daylight Donuts (located in the middle of the parking lot of the shopping center on JFK where those two old ladies sell used paperback books, close to Paul's). It's run by an old guy Central Casting would send if you called down for someone who looks like a donut-shop proprietor; kind of like Ray Miller. He sold me three glazed and three chocolate-covered for $3.60; quoted the price the second I ordered, laughed and said, "You ain't the first one's wanted that combo." They were hot and my car smelled like Daylight Donuts. The glazed were as good as any donut, almost anything, I have eaten, like a perfect fried chicken thigh right out of the grease. I'm tempted to drive back for more.

Levy Loop

I walked the Levy Loop in 27:55. It's windy and 39, but that's not a complaint. I'm unlikely to again walk or run below 40 degrees until November, unless I take a trip to, say, fucking Canada.

Orange Street Loop

I jogged the final two minutes of each five almost as slowly as I can, and walked like an African-American teenager at a school crossing, to cover the Orange Street Loop in 37:47, with splits of 13:01, 11:55, and 12:51.

Park Hill Loop

After losing $100.10 at Oaklawn Park, but also after eating nothing there except a salad of brown and white lettuce and over-ripe tomatoes, I ran the Park Hill Loop in 43:40, with splits of 8:47, 9:08, 8:33, 9:32, and 7:41. Tim Cooper and Tom Zaloudek also lost, but not goddamn $100.10.

Oh. I tried out the new version of the Asics DS Trainer tonight. I like this model more than the last; they're firmer and lighter and get better traction. And, heck, I loved the old green ones.

47th Street Loop

I jogged the final minute of each five to cover the 47th Street Loop in 38:31.

Levy Loop

I walked the Levy Loop this morning in about 28:50. I did not run tonight, at first because it rained, and later because of hypoglycemia. My left hand hurts as a result of the latter; and a plant is damaged.

Levy Loop

I walked the Levy Loop in 28:30 this morning.

River Trail/Hash

I ran and walked 10 miles on the River Trail, out and back from the I-30 bridge, in 1:48:01 this morning, with splits of 11:52, 11:40, 11:36, 11:19, 10:52, 10:50, 10:36, 9:49, 10:02, and 9:25. I walked six minutes each of the first three miles; five the next two; four for one; three for one; two for the next two; and one for the final.

I walked 90 percent of Liz Taylor's Hash run this afternoon and evening in west Little Rock, but, Jesus Cricket, I got caught in no-man's land and was out for 1:25, probably covered five and a half miles. It sucked. We spent about an hour walking straight through the fucking woods, no trails, just sticks and leaves and rocks and holes and briars and big, steep hills for goddamn three miles. I literally thought I was going to have to pick Corky up and carry her.

Levy Loop

I jogged and walked the Levy Loop in 22:16.

Orange Street Loop/Levy Loop

I walked totals of six minutes the first mile, four the second, and two the third to complete the Orange Street Loop this morning in 30:40, with splits of 11:17, 10:08, and 9:16. About four minutes later, my pulse is at 88.

This evening, starting at about 8 Central, I ran the Levy Loop in 16:48, with splits of 8:35, and 8:13.

35th Street Loop

QUOTE OF THE DAY: "Shit. Motherfucker. Hell."
— woman at Oaklawn Park immediately after the fourth race

Considering Tom Zaloudek and I spent seven hours at Oaklawn Park, where I lost $43, I was delighted to feel borderline fresh on the 35th Street Loop tonight. I walked the first minute of each half mile to complete the loop in 42:13, with splits of 10:49, 10:30, 10:36, and 10:15. Nothing hurts. I am no longer sore. This was easy, and I believe I am ready to resume training.

Orange Street Loop

I jogged and walked the Orange Street Loop in 35:15, with splits of 12:07, 11:33, and 11:35, and felt a little livelier. On Sunday I ate a large pizza at U.S. Pizza, and a large at Larry's on Monday. Yesterday I ate 24 ounces of ribeye, two big piles of mashed potatoes saturated with butter, and three-quarters of an apple pie with ice cream and cheese. Today my diet returns to normal.

Levy Loop

It took me 28:12 to cover the Levy Loop, though I jogged for five minutes. I'm sore and tired.

For the second time in the last three races, I won the Little Rock Marathon's negative-split category. Thirty-nine of the 1,382 finishers ran negative splits. I won at 21:43 faster for the second half. Don Marshbanks finished second at 16:48. No one else broke 10 minutes. Actually, they should've given the trophy to Marshbanks. He ran a 2:02:33, followed by 1:45:45 to finish in 3:48:18, or an improvement of 13.7 percent. I was 2:38:57-2:17:43-4:56:40, to improve 13.3 percent.

I passed 431 people in the last half.

My over-under for next year is 4:30.

Maple Street Loop/Rebsamen Park Golf Course

I walked the Maple Street Loop at about 8 a.m. Central in 31:19. I didn't think I was sore, until I jogged for four or five steps to keep from being run over on 47th Street.

Erin Vratil is a genius; a fucking over-under genius. She bet under on the Morning Line over-under of 5:22 on my marathon, and over on the over-under of 92.5 for my round at Rebsamen today. I had a 59 for the front, was somewhat proud of a double bogey on No. 10, but picked up on No. 11 after, I think, five strokes left me 100 yards out. I just practiced the rest of the round, playing with Rob Wistrand and John Hankins (who joined us at No. 11; he's the guy I played with in early December who I wrote reminded me of my dad and big brother). Man, I am exhausted, and hungrier than two motherfuckers.

Little Rock Marathon

4:(motherfucking)56:41, with splits of 12:45, 12:17, 12:28, 12:13, 12:50, 11:00, 12:38, 11:38, 11:54, 12:30, 12:02, 11:40, 11:43, 11:48, 12:10, 11:01 (at 16 miles, by Walt's old house; and then, onto the fast part of the course) 9:56, 10:06, 10:20, 10:07, 10:41, 10:11, 10:27, 10:27, 10:36, 9:25, and 1:47. I'll write more later, after I have written a love letter to Emily Jones in the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

BY ROCKAMUNDO
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE
It seemed possible, but just barely.
I told someone last summer I wanted to break five hours in the Little Rock Marathon: “That might not be very realistic. We’ll see,” I said.
Fifty years have passed since my birth. I have endured 27 of those years as an insulin-dependent diabetic. Generally speaking, a lack of discipline during the first decade of my disease decimated my potential, robbed me of physiological characteristics that once placed me consistently among the upper five percent of finishers in road and track races. I still brag about the “glory days,” the 1:54 half mile, 4:22 mile, the 34-minute 10Ks, a 3-hour, 36-minute marathon as a 15-year-old. I reminded friends of those last year, after I struggled from the start to finish the Little Rock Marathon in 7:03:52; ahead of 47 of 1,241 finishers.
Sunday afternoon, a little after 1 p.m., I walked slowly through the parking lot of the post office on Capital Ave., on the eastern edge of downtown Little Rock, past the drone of traffic on Interstate 30.
“How’d you do?,” I heard.
I looked to see a man about my age as he walked with a teenage girl.
“I had a great day,” I said.
I told them of my sub-five goal, then showed them my watch, still set to its “chrono” mode. It read: 4:56:41.
Terry Jones, and his daughter Emily, traveled from their home in Springfield, Ill., to run the half-marathon. Both finished a minute or two over two hours, times which seemed remarkable to me.
We cannot know how our smallest gestures impact those around us. Terry and Emily Jones, I am sure, had no idea the joy they added as they celebrated the numbers on my watch. It was clear they understood the extent of my delight.
They didn’t know of my debacle last year, of my nine months of 30- and 40- and 50-mile weeks, that I have dropped 20 pounds since the 2008 marathon, or that the improbability of my time extended from last July to somewhere in the neighborhood of the 20-mile mark, perhaps two hours before we met.
Tom Zaloudek, a fellow Little Rock Hash House Harrier, called a few days ago to ask if I would run with him. Tom was once a borderline star. He completed a marathon under 2:40 in the early 1980s. I responded to his request with a qualified “yes.”
“Tom, I will run very slowly,” I said. “If you think you can tolerate that, then, sure, come along.”
We ran the first 13 miles of the 26-mile, 385-yard race in 2:37:38, an average of 12:07 a mile. We walked as many as seven minutes each mile.
“I’ve never walked in a race before,” Tom said.
He stopped to use a portable toilet as we passed the Capitol Building at the halfway point. I ran ahead and did not see him again, not until late in the race in Murray Park, when we met going opposite directions on the out-and-back section of the course. Tom was at 19 miles, I at 22. He limped, and said something about tight quadriceps. I said something about breaking five hours and he spoke encouragement: “Go for it.”
It seemed possible.
As a diabetic, I have developed tests independent of technology for an assessment of blood glucose levels. Foremost among them for races is an ability to work simple math in my head. I passed 16-miles, high up in Hillcrest, in 3:12:37. It was easy to calculate I would have to run the final 10.2 miles in 1:47:22 to break five hours, or would have to average about 10:30 a mile, so suspected I was not hypoglycemic, and that five hours remained elusive.
But the slow first half left me as hoped with a relatively fast feeling, and I cranked out mile after mile in under 10:30, fueled and protected from hypoglycemia with a 100-calorie tube of energy gel extracted each 3.5 miles from my plaid golf shorts.
I went through 20 miles, after the 19th in 10:07, in 3:53:06; “OK,” I thought, “you have to finish in 1:06:53. That’s roughly 10:45 a mile. Let’s go.”
My splits to the finish were 10:41, 10:11, 10:27, 10:27, 10:36 and 9:25 through 26 miles completed in 4:54:53. With 385 yards left, my sub-five goal conceived last summer was a lock.
I spoke with Dr. Jim Sheffield, the Little Rock Marathon’s medical director, on Thursday. Sheffield has completed many marathons, and said he usually has an emotional response to finishes. I remembered that as I ran the last yards into the River Market and became aware of tears.
My blood-glucose level was at 130 milligrams/deciliter when I measured it in my car, about 20 minutes after the finish. That is slightly above the normal range (80-120), but, under the circumstances, easy to accept.
By then, about five minutes after my conversation with Terry and Emily Jones, my eyes were dry.

Maple Street Loop

I got up this morning at 6 a.m. for the fifth consecutive day as practice for tomorrow. A couple of hours later I walked the Maple Street Loop in 29:52. I'm a little sleepy at 7:35 p.m. Central, and hope to be asleep by 10 or so. We'll see.

Levy Loop

My legs frequently have a bulky appearance accompanied by a lifeless feel. Much more rarely, they look to me as they do today, lean and slim, as if they belonged to a fast runner; a look that simultaneously appears, without exception, with the way they felt on the Levy Loop this morning. I ran and walked it in 23:14, with splits of 11:42 and 11:33, and hope to feel so good through the first two miles of the Little Rock Marathon. We'll see.

My over-under falls to 5:22, and that seems about right. I cannot recommend a betting choice.

Aborted 35th Street Loop

I chose not to wear mittens because it was raining so hard. That wouldn't have been a problem, since the rain turned to solid sleet about a half mile into the first mile of the 35th Street Loop. The two-mile mark is by the T-Shirt Shop on 47th Street. I got there, said, "Fuck it," or "Screw this," or "What the fuck are you doing?", turned around and ran home. My splits were 12:12 and 11:38. I hope my legs feel as good 72 hours from now. My hands hurt.

Orange Street Loop Intervals

I will complain about the cold tonight, and simultaneously recognize that at least 25 percent of my readership is faced with the same experience, a temperature nearly 40 degrees lower than yesterday's high. Given this day most likely falls into the category occupied by 99 of 100, I assume 100 percent of my readership, the south Texans, know of which I write. It is 41. Yesterday it was 80. Plus, it's raining. I jogged the first mile of the Orange Street Loop, ran intervals, scaled back to brisk 60-second runs separated by slow, slow 60-second jogs, through the second, and jogged the third to complete the loop in 30:47, with splits of 10:46, 9:11, and 10:50.

The Little Rock Marathon starts exactly one hour and 28 minutes short of a half a week from this moment. This was a nice and I hope appropriate final spin.

My over-under again drops, to 5:25. Tonight I recommend the under.

Gimblett Loop

I guess there are training effects inherent in efforts like this, but it's too late for that to matter. This was practice. I ran the Gimblett Loop in 59:15, with splits of 12:04, 12:22, 12:04, 11:42, and 11:03. It was easy; far easier than the first five miles of last night's run, though I am a little sore.

The same brown dog I reported a few weeks ago joined me this evening, but only for a couple of blocks. She got under my feet and licked my calves, the latter adequate to compensate for the former. She turned away as I approached the Gum Street Gang. I like her.

Oh. Let's see. That was a 5:10:42 marathon pace. The over-under drops to 5:26, but I'm tellin' ya. Take the fucking over. Fly to Vegas. Go. Bet big.

Levy Loop/Little Rock Marathon course

It's 75 degrees with a breeze soft as Pam's belly crawling from the southeast. I ran and walked the Levy Loop in 22:52, with splits of 11:33 and 11:19. That's a 4:59:46.06 marathon pace. It was easy. I hope to go 10 miles at about 12 minutes a mile tonight and finish feeling full of run, like it wouldn't be dick to run another 16 miles at the same pace.

It's 72 at 10:19 p.m. Central. I guess it was a little warmer when I started my run of the first ten miles of the Little Rock Marathon course at about 7:30 p,m. The weather was comfortable, except for the wind. I ran it in 1:57:02, with splits of 11:55, 11:42, 11:47, 11:54, 12:26, 11:19, 11:54, 11:15, 11:20, and 11:31, or an average of 11:42.2; a 5:06:51 marathon pace. It was work at the end. I don't think I could have maintained that pace for more than another five miles.

My over-under for Sunday is 5:27. I recommend the over.

Still alive/Hash

My streak lives. Last Sunday I ran about three miles with the Hash from John Kelley's house. On Monday I ran and walked the Orange Street Loop in 35:47. Tuesday morning I ran three laps of the Gimblett Loop, 15 miles, in 2:50:17, an 11:21/mile pace, or a 4:57:35 marathon pace. Wednesday I walked and jogged for 30 minutes in Pine Bluff, so probably covered a bit over two miles. On Thursday I jogged as easily as possible for 45 minutes in Pine Bluff, or about four miles. Friday I jogged and walked the Gimblett Loop in 56:12, and yesterday walked for 30 minutes in Pine Bluff. This morning I walked the Levy Loop in 28:50.

And this afternoon I ran Hash, again from John Kelley's house. Basil Julian and I mostly walked, jogged a little (maybe a total of a half a mile), for 52 minutes, so we covered three and a half miles or so. It was nearly 80 degrees, the warmest it's been for a Hash run since September.