2011 Race Plan: Down, Up and Around

How do you top running every Rock n Roll Marathon in a single year? Well, you don't but you can take on some new challenges that "rise above." For 2011, that's exactly what I plan to do. After running 282 miles over 8 Rock n Roll Marathons, 6 Rock n Roll Half Marathon and completing The Relay's 199 miles from Calistoga to Santa Cruz with 11 of my best friends. It was time for a break. But I'm now training for some of the biggest challenges of my life - some of the biggest challenges in running. I call it my Down, Up and Around tour.

It's earned that name because the challenges this year will take me down into the deepest canyon in the United States, up and over one of the highest peaks in the Rocky Mountains and around the largest lake in the West.

I finished my first 20 mile training run this morning, on the course I think is the prettiest in the world. It starts in front of the historic ferry building in San Francisco, goes out along the Crissy Field, up and over the Golden Gate Bridge, down into the quaint town of Sausalito, up through the marshes of Mill Valley and on to the town of Tiburon for a victory breakfast overlooking Angel Island and the San Francisco skyline. It's a 20-24 mile trek that rings the western edge of the San Francisco Bay with views the entire time. It rained most of the day but we didn't care because this beauty can't be matched and its a thrill to see it all different conditions. I do this run with my SMS friends at least twice a year and it never disappoints. Today was a light team of just John Rymer and myself who are both training for the first event of the year - the Golden Gate Trail Marathon. This mid-February run starts at the beach and takes you up through the Marin Headlands where you get sweeping views of the Pacific Ocean and the bridge. If you haven't spend time in Marin, you have to see the headlands. Incredible green hills with lush vegetation and oceanfront trails that will leave your mouth agape.

This even is a half, full and ultra marathon and runs a similar course to the Stinson Beach marathon where I ran my first ultra marathon, by mistake. I missed a turn along the course and ended up at the finish line after just 13 miles, when I was planning 26.2. With permission of the race director, I ran back out, repeated the original 13 and this time found the turn market I had missed before and ended up doing a 50K.

There will be no mistakes this time (I hope) but I may do the ultra again. Not because I'm switching sports and moving up to ultras but because I'll need it as a training run for the bigger event coming up in April.

After the Golden Gate event I'll be off in March to England for a work conference and on these trips I always scan the International marathon schedule for possibilities. This time, I'll be heading to Pembroke, in the south west of England for a small town marathon. I really like these events because I get to see a part of the country that I normally wouldn't see and meet the local running community who are always very proud of their town.

The only downside of doing this marathon however is that southwest England is pretty flat and I will be in strong need of hill training in March. Hill and valley. That's because April's goal is a biggie. Along with the other coaches on the summer Team in Training team, I'll be heading to Arizona to run the Grand Canyon rim to rim to rim. This will be the biggest run of my career, covering over 40 miles and 8,000 feet of climbing and descending. It's hard to train for the Grand Canyon because there aren't many runs you can take that start with a big downhill and where you can experience over 80 degrees of temperature change in a single run. This will be a significant challenge for me and I'll be starting with a deficit on my fellow coaches. All of them are experienced ultra marathoners with at least a 50 miler under their belt. Yikes.

Assuming I survive this trip, I'll be taking a long break to recover - six days. because the very next weekend is The Relay. I can't miss this event as SMS has teamed with Are We There Yet? one of the original teams for the inaugural season. They have retained team #4 and we must uphold the consecutive streak of appearances. We're recruiting for this year's event, on the weekend of May 1st so please let me know if you want in.

After that, then I'll really take a break. No events planned until Up. Where the Grand Canyon will take me down, down, down, the next event does just the opposite, packing 13,000 feet of climbing into a single 13 mile stretch. Pike's Peak Marathon is one of the hardest races in America as you climb from the base up to the top of the mountain, then down the other side. TNT head coach, Terry Lee said this was the toughest race he's ever done, and he's completed the Western States 100 miler. Gulp!

So maybe May through August won't be as much of a break as it will be intense hill training.

I figure if I survive the Grand Canyon and Pike's Peak then I'll be feeling pretty invincible by September. Anticipating that I've decided to test my resolve with Around. In 2009 I took on my first crazy mutt-event challenge by running the Goofy Challenge in Disneyworld. This January event is a half marathon Saturday and a full marathon Sunday garnering big honkin' gold medals. I was nervous as could be about how I would feel Sunday morning and was planning on just finishing and not even worrying about time. After a 1:34 half I turned in a 3:36 full which is par for me. And we walked around the parks all day each day. So if I can do that, I surely can take on the Tahoe Triple. Especially if I am feeling invicible, like I hope I will.

The Tahoe Triple is a marathon a day for three days which when combined takes you all the way around Lake Tahoe. I chose to do this event in support of coach Cam from the TNT summer team who will be making his second attempt at the Tahoe 70, which circles the lake on that Sunday finishing on the same marathon course that I will be on. Assuming we both survive, the fin a marathon will give me a chance to support Cam and hopefully help him bring home a victory. And if invincibility passes from me to him, he can hopefully help me slog through to the finish.

That will just about do it for me for 2011, although I usually can't let the fall season end that early, so I might add on one or two other events. Under consideration are the Mesquite Marathon in Nevada, the newly added Rock n Roll Savannah Marathon. I'll decide later in the year if I'm up for these.

What are your plans for 2011? What keeps me going is always having a goal in front of me and shaping a training plan that ensures its success. And for me that means always running. I hope you will share your goals for the year here or at the SMS site and that you will join me for any of our fabulous SMS training runs. And even if you can't join us get out there and exercise in whatever way you enjoy. Good health awaits you.

My 2011 running schedule:

• Golden Gate Trail Run (Marathon) - 2/19/11 - Sausalito
• Duchy Marathon - 3/12/11 - Penbroke, UK
• Grand Canyon Rim to Rim to Rim - 4/22-24
• Pike's Peak Marathon - Aug 21 - Boulder, CO
• Tahoe Triple - Sept. 23-25 - Lake Tahoe, CA

And Maybe:

• Mesquite Marathon - Nov. 19 - Mesquite, Nevada

or

• Savannah Rock n Roll Marathon - Nov. 5 - Georgia

A victory lap in Arizona

After a year filled with Rock n Roll Marathons you might think the last place I'd be in 2011 would be at another Rock n Roll Marathon, but suffice it to say these are some of the best organized, fun events around and I had a slightly different purpose this time. This was a victory lap. In fact I was invited to PF Chang's Rock n Roll Arizona Marathon by the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and Competitor Group Inc. to honor my accomplishment and promote the 2011 series and the spring TNT season. And we couldn't have picked a better event or a better day for everyone involved.

The weekend began with a morning flight to Phoenix and the usual ritual of the marathon expo. Here I picked up my bib and ran into CGI's Dave Hussa, the director of their charity relations program. LLS is the official charity of RnRAZ which is why celebrating my feat of being the first person to run every mile of every Rock n Roll event in a single year would be honored here. I first met Dave at the Country Music Marathon, then again at RnR San Diego and RnR Seattle. If you've run an RnR event in the last couple years and seen the Elvis at the marathon/half marathon split directing you where to go, you've seen Dave. At the Rock n Roll Series booth, he handed me a VIP pass and said he looked forward to seeing me at the TNT Inspiration Dinner tonight. Then followed this with, "You don't know what we have for you, do you?" No, I didn't. CGI had provided me with a framed gold record and RnR series jacket at RnR Las Vegas where I set the record and I certainly didn't expect anything else. He wouldn't tell me what it was so I went away curious.

I then met up with Adam Ricklefs, the author of one of the most popular endurance running blogs, The Boring Runner. I first met Adam on an episode of The Runner's Roundtable podcast and then in person at RnRAZ last year. He was volunteering in the Brooks booth and enjoying being a new father.

This weekend was NFL Playoff weekend so I left the expo and hit a local bar to catch the Ravens\Steelers game before the TNT Inspiration Dinner. I'm glad I did, as it turned out to be a classic and definitely the best game of the weekend. Congrats to the Steelers.

Around 5pm I, along with over 400 TNT runners, descended on the Phoenix Ballroom for the Inspiration Dinner. John Bingham, long time friend of TNT and author of the Penguin Runner column on Competitor.com was the host and started with a great comedic monologue about what to expect tomorrow during the race. I first heard John speak at the Mayor's Midnight Sun Marathon in Anchorage, Alaska, my very first marathon and Reesa's first half. John calls himself the ultimate back of the pack runner and spins some great yarns about how long it takes him to finish which puts all the TNT first timers at ease. If you haven't heard John at one of these events, you really should (there's a video from his speech at the TNT dinner before RnR Seattle on his blog). He's terrific.

After his remarks, the SVP for CGI came to the stage, Tracy Sundlun, to talk about tomorrow's race and the relationship between TNT and CGI. Tracy, is a former Olympian and long time marathon coach for the US Olympic team - an impressive resume. I met him at the speaker's table shortly before the event began. He struck me as a very serious, executive, focused on his speech. But when he took the stage his real personality popped out and I saw how funny and witty he was. He opened with an awkward silence that got everyone giggling again, and had a great little quip. "Look to your right. Now to your left. One of the three of you will do something stupid tomorrow." Everyone laughed and pointed at each other. His point was that tomorrow one of the three would try something new - a new drink or breakfast food. New shoes, a new routine. Something that would throw off your game. This is a really bad idea and something we preach endlessly in TNT, but it is inevitably ignored. The lure to try all the new stuff from the expo is usually was does people in.

After his remarks it was time to honor the top fundraisers who had come to RnRAZ. From the local Arizona team was a woman who had secured a $5,000 grant as a donation and Lori Jomsky from Los Angeles who I had seen pop up on Twitter several times last year who had raised over $10,000 for this event getting nearly half, she said, from social media, from people she hadn't ever met. Impressive. And not my experience with social media at all.

Then Tracy turned to my accomplishment. After mentioning what I had done, he reached down under the table and slid free a large black leatherette case. I knew immediately what it was. "No, you didn't!" I said with surprise and excitement to Dave Hussa. He acted innocent. "No!" I repeated, this time to Tracy Roseboom, the TNT national director for this event. She gave me a wry smile. After Tracy finished describing my 2010 feat and the money raised (thanks again to EVERYONE who donated to my cause) he pulled out a brand new classic, Fender Squier Bullet Strat electric guitar. It had a steel plate mounted below the strings commemorating my completion of the entire Rock n Roll Marathon Series with congrats from TNT and CGI. Dave leaned over and said, "Looks like you will need a larger shadow box for all your medals."

I grasped his shoulder in gratitude, hugged Tracy and leaped onto the stage to shake Tracy's hand. What an incredible gift and a fantastic honor. Upon holding the new guitar and feeling its heft and incredibly perfect construction, I knew this one wasn't destined to be locked away in a frame. It demanded to be played. I gave it a few mock strums for the cameras demonstrating my complete lack of experience. But I'll change that. Incredible. Just incredible. I can't thank you enough, CGI and TNT for this.

On the way back to my room I exchanged congratulations with the high fundraisers, wished good luck to all the TNTers in attendance and made my way back to my room to give the guitar a closer examination and to dress my chair for tomorrow's run.

That evening, I was interviewed by the local Fox affiliate who featured me and other runners on the 10 o'clock news while warning viewers to avoid the road closures tomorrow as me and 30,000 of my closets friends would be taking over the city, Scottsdale and Tempe for the day.

No matter what the event, whether a marathon or not, I can never seem to sleep the night before a race. I was in bed by 10 but up until 12; then up at 4, 5 and 6am. I finally pulled myself from bed at 6:45 so I could meet Tracy and other TNT half marathoners in the lobby at 7:15. Today's half marathon would be very different for me because I was going to watch the start knowing I wouldn't be jumping in until later. That was because local channel 3 wanted an interview 10 minutes after the start. As someone who usually starts in the first few corrals I wasn't sure how I'd feel watching all these people take the course while I sat on the sidelines.

We gathered some fellow mid-pack TNTers to join me for the interview, then we were off. I crossed the start line with corral 18 and commenced weaving through the crowd hoping to get up to my normal race pace by the second mile. Competitor does a great job with its wave starts as each group isn't so crowded that you can't get room to run shortly after crossing the line. But the best part of starting here was the chance it gave me to see so many other TNT runners and wish them good luck. A few recognized me from the night before calling out, "Hey, guitar boy! Way to go!"

Rock n Roll Arizona is a fantastic place to do your first marathon or half because it is dead flat, the weather is mild and on this day, it was sunny and beautiful. I set my marathon PR on this course last year and once I was able to get up to speed I was feeling fantastic. I'm not fully healed from the RnR series last year and the muscles around my right knee were talking to me through the first 6 miles. They shut up (or more accurately, fully warmed up) by the half-way point and I couldn't have felt better. At mile 7 I passed a guy dressed as Slash, the guitarist from Guns n Roses and gave him high horns, the metal god salute. Three female Elvis impersonators were next up on the left and before the next water stop was a cheer squad all dressed as the cookie monster from Sesame Street. It's always interesting seeing the costumes along a marathon course. Two younger guys were running in Mexican wrestling masks, sewn tight to the backs of their heads. Didn't want to know how they would be feeling by the end.

Near the finish, the most impressive guy was the mid 30s muscle man who crossed the line with a large tree trunk slung over his shoulder. He had carried it all 13 miles and had run in work boots. Wow.

Around mile 8 I caught up to runners my pace and ran alongside Nick, a college student from Reno. He was running his first half marathon and already had the endurance bug. He had biked around Lake Tahoe and was planning a fantastic event for the summer - cycling 2,000 miles from Washington state to Canada then back down to Southern California. I told him it was a fantastic idea and encouraged him to add a charity element to his adventure. He said his grandmother suffers from Cystic Fibrosis and I let him in on the secrets of fundraising - it's actually easier than you think.

Nick and I ran together swapping stories, goals and ambitions through to mile 12 where I lost him at the last water stop. I always pick up the pace in the last mile of a race, if I can, and I was more than able today. I crossed the line in a respectable 1:40:33. Later, after Reesa had looked at the online results, I felt pretty good about this time as the first mile had been far slower than my normal pace due to the weaving.

After grabbing a banana and bottle of water, I headed over to the VIP area getting there between breakfast and lunch to find little more to eat than, well, a banana and another bottle of water. But the timing was good because American half marathon record holder, Kara Goucher was there with her newborn. I asked her how she did on this her first event since having her child. "Ok considering. Seventy-four minutes." Here's the difference between the elites and the rest of us. They express their times in minutes. The rest of us: hours and minutes. It certainly wasn't her best time but darned impressive.

A few minutes later Josh Cox came into the area with an entourage of K-Swiss handlers. Josh had set out today to break the American record in the 50K by adding 6 or so miles to today's marathon. He met his goal, beating the prior American record by 3 minutes and nearly smashing the world record. He fell just 7 seconds shy. Wow. No wonder he looked tired.

I had an early afternoon flight so I left shortly after that and on the way back to the hotel sat on the shuttle with a young shoe designer from Brooks, named Dana. She had just finished her first half marathon and did so in prototype shoes she had helped create. They were minimal, racing style shoes - just the kind I liked. She had a good race but was fearing the whole time that the shoes, being prototypes, might fall apart on her. No worries with quality Brooks construction, apparently. We had a good chat and I learned about the Brooks wear-testing program. Something to consider since I love to try new shoes.

This race was my testing ground for the Innov-8 f-lite 195 racing shoe. These flashy red racers are designed for the efficient strider who lands midfoot and likes a barefoot-like feel but with enough cushioning to handle the pounding over 13-26 miles. I had run in them a few times prior for training and found them to be very comfortable and responsive. Much like wearing next to nothing on your feet. Fantastic. But I felt a little embarrassed talking to Dana with them on my feet; Brooks being the series sponsor and all. But who knows. Maybe my experience in Mizuno, Asics, Brooks Green Silence, GoLite and Nike Frees will make me a good candidate to help Brooks with its latest designs.

Overall, I couldn't have asked for a better experience in Arizona. Running this first leg of the 2011 Rock n Roll Series made me nostalgic for last year's feat and ready to start my 2011 season. More Rock n Roll this year? Maybe. But not the full series. I have new goals to conquer. I'll fill you in on my next blog post.

Happy running!

Reflecting on a grand achievement

About this time of year I started spreading the word that I planned a crazy feat for 2010, to run every event in the Competitor.com Rock n Roll Marathon Series. Well here I sit, 12 months later having completed this crazy objective and ready to reflect on what was a wonderful experience.

In December 2009, Competitor had just announced its final events for 2010 -- Rock n Roll Los Angeles Half and Rock n Roll Denver Marathon -- bringing the series up to 14 events. Having run no more than five marathons in a single year I wasn't sure I was up to adding three more and tacking on 6 half marathons to boot, but was bound and determined to try. But I certainly wasn't going to do this alone or just for myself. I knew this would be a great way to spread the word about my love for running, encourage others to give it a try and to promote healthy living. But the higher cause was to help spread the awareness about blood cancers and the need for more research, support and funding. So I set a second goal, to raise $10,000 for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society.

I'm proud to say that I not only survived the series but set two personal bests in the marathon and the half, exceeded my fundraising goal with over $11,000 collected and made it through the year mostly injury free.

The series provided some incredible highs and very few lows. I met some great members of the running community and dodged some harrowing weather. Here's a look at the highlights from the year that will hopefully provide some inspiration for your future experiences. I highly recommend putting a few Rock n Rolls on your calendar of events.

There are plenty of reasons to run Rock n Roll marathons such as:

Reason #1: The courses. Each Rock n Roll event is a fantastic tour of the host cities. Competitor does a great job of taking you past all the highlights so you really get a feel for these cities. But of course, they leave you wanting more and there's no better way to recover from a tough run than to walk around the city - in compression tights of course.

Best Marathon - Mardi Gras Marathon (Run it Feb. 13, 2011). Its hard to top a run through the Big Easy. The new course, changed to accommodate a 3-fold increase in participants in 2010 was a fantastic tour of the city going through all the famous districts, past Tulane University and finishing in a fantastic park. The city shows itself off beautifully and how can you go wrong with so many fantastic restaurants, hotels and music halls to help you celebrate.

Runner Up - Country Music Marathon (Run it April 30, 2011). Like Mardi Gras, Competitor set up a fantastic course that really showed you all the big sites near downtown. I especially loved seeing Music Row where all the record companies were located. Downtown is beautiful and its party central after you cross the finish line. We had some exciting weather last year, which should mean smooth sailing for 2011.

Best Half Marathon - Rock n Roll Dallas (Run it March 27, 2011). This was a first-time event in 2010 and at first, having lived in Dallas when I was younger, I had to say I was skeptical about how good this could be. But Competitor really found a course that shows off Dallas better than I could have imagined. The course passes by all the best sites, the old historic neighborhoods and finishes at the Cotton Bowl. The course is fast, mostly flat and very festive. Despite a tragedy at the finish line, they couldn't have had a better inaugural year.

Runners Up - Rock n Roll Virginia Beach & Philadelphia (Run them Sept. 4 and 18, 2011, respectively). These two events stand out for different but similar reasons. For Virginia Beach, how can you argue against an event that starts and finishes along the gorgeous eastern seaboard. With waves crashing to your right, a fantastic little surf town and a tour through Camp Pendleton, how can you go wrong. Plus the music festival going on all that week makes it worth an extended stay. Phillie gets props for being, well, Phillie. Its a fantastic town with a great spirit and the course really shows it off, especially Museum Row.

Best marathon course to run a half: Rock n Roll Seattle (run it June 25, 2011). For some reason it seems there are always more people signed up for a half marathon if that same event is also a marathon. Maybe its aspirational, in that if you can complete the half there, you can shoot for the full the next year. Well some events (and some runners) are very different their second 13.1 miles. Seattle is a good place to run half way because the front 13 are a great scenic tour of the Pacific Northwest. You wind through pretty little tree-lined towns and past a vast lake before a tour of downtown Seattle and the finish near the home of the Seattle Mariners and Seahawks. It's not a PR course, necessarily but a great experience.

Reason #2: To Set a PR. A lot of people might tell you that if you want to set a PR you should avoid the big races because the crowds can slow you down. That's true if the start isn't well coordinated and if the course isn't well designed. That was never true of any Competitor event - and I ran them all. Competitor has clean starts down to a science. They break each race start down into corrals based on your expected finish time and for the most part, I rarely found myself weaving though slower runners. At the very biggest events, such as Rock n Roll Las Vegas you may take a bit more time to get to the start line but the timing chips they use are very accurate. Not every Rock n Roll marathon is good for a PR.. A few are rather hilly, like Rock n Roll Los Angeles and the Country Music Marathon. And weather can sometimes be an issue as it was in the Country Music Marathon, Rock n Roll Chicago and almost was at Rock n Roll Virginia Beach.

Best course for a PR: Marathon - PF Chang's Rock n Roll Arizona (Run it Jan 16, 2011). This is a flat, fast, low altitude course with some nice scenery and awesome bands. If you use winter to rehab, interval train and prep for the coming marathon season then you will be ready to run fast through the Phoenix downtown area. I know because I did. Great way to start the year.

Best course for a PR: Half Marathon - Rock n Roll San Jose (Run it Oct. 2, 2011). It's my hometown half marathon and I set a PR here its inaugural year. It was the first RnR event I'd run at that time and was surprised at how pretty the course was. This year was special because so many of my TNT and SMS friends were running it and the bands and cheerleaders along the course were just the best.

Reason #3: The Bands. Competitor's marathons are best known for having lots of bands along the race course which definitely make the events more festive but recently the company has become known for the headliners it bring in as well and they mostly perform right at the finish line. And we're not talking no-name headliners either. Main stage acts in 2010 featured Bret Michels (Rock n Roll Las Vegas), Rick Springfield (Rock n Roll San Antonio), Sister Hazel (Mardi Gras Marathon), Big Bad VooDoo Daddy (Rock n Roll San Diego) and Semisonic (Rock n Roll Denver).

Best band - Cowboy Mouth at Mardi Gras Marathon. If you haven't heard of these guys seek them out. They are an old school party band and just reached out and grabbed us and demanded to be loved. Their lead singer, drummer Fred LeBlanc is a total showman and no matter how bad your legs may have felt you couldn't help but dance around.

Runner up - Neon Trees at Rock n Roll Los Angeles (Run it in costume on October 30, 2011). I had only heard one song from this alt rock band prior to this event and you just can't tell from the radio how amazing this band is in concert. Their lead singer, Tyler Glenn reminded me very much of Michael Hutchence of INXS - massive kinetic energy and emotion on stage. Highly recommend seeing one of their shows.

Reason #4: The Bling. Who doesn't like to receive a big, heavy piece of brag-worthy hardware when they cross a finish line. And Competitor rocks some of the biggest, heaviest medals of them all. And they are the pioneers of progressive medals. After your first event in 2011 you become eligible for their Heavy Medal series which rewards you with medals for completing combinations of events throughout the year. If you are crazy like me you can try to collect them all. Last year the highest medal went to any person who completed 7 Rock n Roll marathon events in a single year. Expect them to up the ante in 2011 when the series goes from 14 events to between 18 and 20.

Best single event medal - Rock n Roll San Diego (run it June 5, 2011). This is the event that started it all and of course you'd expect it to have the best medal and it was. It's hard to top a big 1.5 pound depiction of surf and sand.

Best Heavy Medal - Rock Legend. It's shaped like the head stock of an electric guitar, it weights nearly 3 pounds, requires two anchor points to attach around your neck and signifies 7 Rock n Rolls in a single year.

Reason #5: The Unexpected. I guess you could say this is a possibility at just about any race but I recommend the Rock n Rolls even when this happens because of their professionalism and experience. We had three unique incidents in the 2010 season but all were handled with grace and understanding. When you put on so many races in a single year you'd think the staff would burn out and crack under the pressure but somehow Competitor always manages to perform like, well, rock show roadies, making it all come together.

Tragedy struck at the finish of Rock n Roll Dallas in the form of an unexpected death right at the finish. A 32-year old former Texas Tech baseball player, completed his first half marathon alongside his brother, then collapsed at the finish and never regained consciousness. The cause, an undiagnosed heart condition that resulted in a fatal attack. While tragedies like these tend to make the news and cause a rise of "experts" calling out the risks of endurance running, these tragedies are exceedingly rare. They are also preventable. Many european marathons and other endurance challenges require participants to have an MRI which can find these heart problems. But thanks to the US health care system, which de-emphasizes preventative care, requiring the same here would be cost prohibitive. If you have this condition, it's not the marathon that will kill you - anything high endurance might. If you are concerned you may be at risk for this problem, get tested. There's no other way to be sure.

Weather is always unpredictable and we got a full reminder of this at the Country Music Marathon where a Tornado curtailed the race. A tornado watch had been in effect for that whole weekend and there was talk on Saturday of potentially canceling the race. Hourly updates were pushed out to racers via e-mail and the web site and while there was no all clear, the forecasts suggested the race could go on. It was clear at the start but got progressively worse as the race went on and finally too bad to continue about 3 hours after the start. When a tornado touched down about a mile from the race course, Competitor and the city of Nashville called the race and started turning participants around. Those that didn't finish certainly were disappointed but the rain came down so hard at 3:30 minutes in that you could barely see five feet in front of you. Competitor made the right decision.

Weather caused a sense of deja vu in the days approaching Rock n Roll Virginia Beach as a hurricane made landfall at the start line. That was Friday, the race was Sunday and thankfully the storm had moved up to Boston by then leaving a gorgeous day and very little damage in its wake. The race went off without a hitch but after Nashville I was running through every contingency plan I could think of.

Transportation can also sometimes ruin your day. One incident happened to us, the other was self-inflicted. At Rock n Roll San Antonio, Competitor touched base with every city service, state agency, and transportation service to make sure the course would be clear, the right roads would be blocked off and that nothing would impede the runners. But sometimes you just can't prevent a train running late that refuses to be even later. About a mile into the race, said freight train pushed over the tracks that crossed the course, causing a 15 minute delay. Competitor, that evening, sent a note to all participants apologizing for the incident and within two days credited every runner affected for the lost time and offering them a discount on another Rock n Roll event, including next year's RnRSA.

There's a reasons race organizers are always harping on you to get to the race start early. Sometime the unexpected happens. That was the case for me at Rock n Roll Denver. I was driving down from Boulder to the start of the race and thought I had given myself enough time, but found this not to be true when I sat in line to park my car at the University for 45 minutes. As the race start grew closer and closer, I made a call to jump the line, head downtown and try my luck with either street parking or a local lot. Neither was successful and with just 5 minutes until the gun went off, I had to ditch my car in a private lot. I then spent 3 1/2 hours running with the added stress of losing my rental car and $350 to a towing service. Not the way to enjoy a marathon at altitude.

Reason #6: The Truly Unique. Another big reason to run Rock n Roll is to have an experience you will never forget. For me, each of these events has one special memory that makes it unique but some are more unique than others.

Best Stand Out: Rock n Roll Las Vegas. What happens here, everyone should hear about. Las Vegas pulls out all the stops. First, they close the strip, which only happens for one other event all year. This means you get to run all the way to old Vegas and the Fremont Street Experience with no cars, no cabs and no vans advertising Girls Direct to You. Second, there's two great fun runs the days before the marathon - the Santa run and the running of the Elvises in which every participant dresses up. Third, is the on-course wedding ceremonies that happen in front of the Venetian Hotel. You'll see some great costumes at this event which is another reasons to run it - heck the best costume might just be yours!

Reason #7: To Be First! While yes, there is a chance you can win a Rock n Roll event - if you happen to be Kenyan, five feet tall, and expert at chasing down wildlife - being first means taking home chotckes from an inaugural event. And you will have at least three chances to do that in 2011. Last year was the first for Rock n Roll Dallas, Chicago, Philadelphia, Denver and Los Angeles. Next year you can be among the first to run Rock n Roll Providence (run it August 7), St. Louis (run it Oct. 23) and Savannah (Nov. 5).

Reason #8: Run for Others. Finally and perhaps the best reason to run a Rock n Roll event is to honor and help others. Each Rock n Roll marathon supports a number of charity groups and nearly always has an official charity for each event. I ran for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society who has a fantastic endurance training program - Team in Training. If you know someone who has suffered from Chrones disease, heart disease, breast cancer or a number of other causes, you will find a program and a Rock n Roll where you can honor them. Raising money and running for others is just as rewarding as the race itself.

Just finishing any half marathon or marathon is an accomplishment to be proud of. So get out there, start training and set your goals for 2011. There's no better way to get in shape, stay that way and stick to a program than to have a data circled on your calendar and a race entry bought and paid for. Having a schedule of events keeps me going and motivated. Let me know if I can help you decide what's next on your schedule.

8 minutes to history: Rock n Roll Las Vegas ends a fantastic season

It's mile 26 of the Rock n Roll Las Vegas marathon. For the last 12 miles I have been teased, taunted, twisted and denied. But not deterred. My mantra since mile 15 has driven me onwards, "11 more miles to history." For those who haven't been following my running saga this year, history means being the first person to complete every mile of every 2010 Rock n Roll Marathon series event. This collection of marathons and half marathons, put on by Competitor Group has taken me back and forth across the US and the 14th and final event is here in Sin City.
While others have run every event in the series in prior years, and some had run in every event this year, there has never been 14 Rock n Roll events in a single year and none of my Heavy Medal compatriots would run every mile - completing all 8 marathons and 6 halfs.
With every remaining mile I ticked down the distance to the final finish line. But it was feeling more like a cruel death march than a victory lap.
Rock n Roll Las Vegas started with a lot of anticipation and planning. Since much of our running club, SMS, and our local Team in Training group knew about my plans, many had registered for the event and would be running it with me and helping me to celebrate when it was all over. Close to 30 people were expected to come be part of the festivities.
Reesa and I arrived in Vegas the Saturday before the race, dropped our bags at THEhotel, a special tower in the back of Mandalay Bay that is reminiscent of a W Hotel. We then met some friends for breakfast and headed over to the race expo. While the event was being hosted at Mandalay which would serve as the start and finish line, the expo was up the strip at the Sands Convention Center behind the Palazzo Hotel. While inconvenient, I don't think Competitor had much choice as Mandalay's own convention center was over taken by cowboy central. The National Rodeo was in town and a western wear supercenter had moved into Mandalay. This created an interesting juxtiposition of country and western fans and Rock n Roll athletes for the weekend.
At the expo we picked up our race gear as usual then I got a nice surprise at the Competitor Group booth where Kyle, who runs the Heavy Medal program, presented me with a framed gold record commemorating my completion of the 2010 series. That plus a nice jacket and running bag from Brooks completed the prize. Thanks, Kyle, this is going in my office.
That afternoon we chilled in the room then hit the official pasta party which featured appearances by Sarah Rinertson, one of my personal heroes, and the voice of all things excess, Robin Leach.
That evening we walked off the pasta with a tour of City Center before returning to our rooms to dress our chairs, set the alarms and prep for the next day's race.
It doesn't matter how many times I run a marathon, I always have nerves the night before. With all the anticipation of finally being done with this incredible feat, I was feeling it extra strong this night. I woke up pretty much every hour and my dreams in between were filled with projections for the following day. The usual scenes took place: waking up late and running to catch everyone who had already started, working my way up to my corral just as I realized I didn't have my timing strip, not finishing because of injury, and a cavacade of other disasters. When I remembered the dreams upon waking I'd look over at my dressed chair, double-check the alarm on my iPhone and my Timex Ironman watch, then fall back to sleep confident I was prepared.
I finally awoke for the last time at 5:40am, five minutes before my alarm, and got ready.
The corrals at the start were arranged in a U shape. The start line, heading up the strip was followed by corrals 1 through 11. Twelve and 13 were on a curve crossing the strip and just ahead of 14 through 33 which headed down the strip the opposite direction. This made it easy for everyone to walk right up to their corral, that is until they closed the passage through the U. This, of course, happened just as I was making my way to the corrals so I had to run around the complete U to get to corral 2. It served as a nice warm up and killed time before the start. When I got into the corral I met up with Tim, a fellow Heavy Medaler from Canada who was wearing a commemorative bib denoting his status having, with Vegas, compeleted 7 RnRs in a single year.
We didn't have to wait long for the start for just 10 minutes later a Cher impersonator appeared on the deck above the start, in full feathered gown, to do a Vegas rendition of our national anthem. It definitely sounds different in Vegas, especially with the storytelling interlude in the middle of the song. At least she (it was a she, right?) didn't cut to a runner and ask, "Hey, where ya from?"
After we all took our hands from our hearts and replaced our caps the wheel chair start commenced and our corral started moving up. Within minutes we were off.
The first half of RnR Las Vegas is a scenic trip up the famous strip, then up to old Vegas where some of the original hotels dating back to the 1960s are located. We turn around in front of the Fremont Street Experience a covered road that turns into a free light show every night.
What makes this trip up the strip so special is that Vegas closes the road to runners, something they only do twice a year and don't even do on New Year's Eve. As we passed by several of the enormous hotels they had switched their large promotional boards that face the strip to live coverage of the race provided by the KLAS TV 8, the local CBS affiliate. It was quite a treat to see the sea of runners streaming down the road on a 5-story electric billboard.
Two quintessential Vegas traditions were on full display during the race. The first was the constant stream of Elvis Presley impersonators peppered throughout the course. There were several very fast Elvi - I have no idea how they kept from overheating in their spandex suits - and a few back of the packers. All, to a fault, were portraying old, Vegas Elvis, none went for the teen heartthrob version. My favorite was SpongeBob Elvis. Loved the jiggly nose, stapled-on sideburns and cape.
The other Vegas tradition was the running wedding chapel. On the steps of the Venetian Hotel was a run-in altar complete with preacher and corrals for runner and non-runner guests on both the groom and bride sides of the aisle. None from my corral were taking part as I went by but I heard there were between 70 and 90 people who got hitched that day. Classic.
As we left the strip Vegas reminded us why its called Sin City as a proliferance of advertisements for strippers, tatoos, and escorts lined the streets.
After returning down the strip and approaching Mandalay Bay the course split with half marathoners carrying forward to the finish while we broke right and headed away from Mandalay for another 13 miles. Suffice it to say that the first half of this race is the scenic part. Now began the challenge. The second half started with the first "hill" of the day, an overpass crossing Luxor Drive. Off in the distance was the fabulous Red Rock Canyon state park, which would have made a great destination, but no, we would be denied this vista - and the view of the finish line many, many times today. After the first overpass it was time for another, this one crossing the freeway. After a few miles down Hacienda Avenue we turned right for what would feel like a thousand times. At first the miles went by fairly quickly thanks to all the bands on the course as well as the cheerleader squads who were there to pump us up. If you start dragging in one of these events just veer over to a cheer squad to get some high fives. It's instant energy.
I was also kept company by another Heavy Medaler, Nicole, a student at UCLA who was also completing her 7th Rock n Roll of the year. In all, I would see or run with three other heavy medalers including Guitar Girl who also completed 7 events, all while wearing a guitar headdress. Nicole and I traded paces from mile 12 through 18 where her youthful energy separated us.
I got another boost of energy starting around mile 15 where I came across Andre, a colleague from work who was there to cheer me on, Android phone at the ready. The second half of this marathon could be best described as a corkscrew since you basically do a series of out and backs and loops along Hacienda Avenue before eventually returning to the strip for the finish. This turned out to be good planning for spectators like Andre for the corner he chose I ran past four times. I needed his enthusiasm and friendly face at each one.
If you haven't toured Hacienda Avenue, you aren't missing much. Behind Mandalay and on the opposite side of the freeway it doesn't provide much to write home about. The area is filled mostly with industrial complexes, body shops and warehouses. The low-light was Dean Martin Drive which borders the freeway but without a sound wall.
What drove me crazy all these final miles was the torturous teasing. Countless times we turned onto Hacienda Avenue heading towards Mandalay Bay and the finish just to be denied that goal with another right turn down yet another industrial road. Thus the importance of the mantra. Seeing the finish before you is a tease but a false one when the mile marker ahead reads mile 19. Eventually, you know you'll be turning away from the finish so mentally it made more sense to count down the miles than look forward.
At mile 25 we made the final turn back onto Hacienda and faced what you hate to face this close to the finish - a hill. To get back to Mandalay we'd have to cross the last two overpasses to get back to the strip. With the 25 sign behind me, I picked up the pace. With just over a mile left, at my new pace, I was 8 minutes from the finish line - the last version of my mantra.
I was passing people on both sides as I ran up the first overpass' incline and was telling my talkative right hamstring to be quiet, this was almost over. I passed more people on the second and final hill, then picked it up a bit more as I rounded the corner onto the strip. What?! Where's the finish! It was nowhere in site. Was this yet another tease? I did read that last mile marker correctly, right? We were now passing in front of Mandalay Bay and I was beginning to think I had picked it up a little too early. But then the course turnede right, into the Mandalay parking lot and there it was - the finish line. I stepped up the pace once again and started seeing familiar faces and hearing my name. I waved to the crowd, my wife Reesa, her best friend Brooke, SMSers Stephanie, Randy, Kari and Regina as I started to sprint. I then thrust my fist in the air as I crossed under the banner. Three hours and 34 minutes later and it was over.
Twelve months earlier this crazy quest had started on a desert road in Arizona. Now, 288.2 miles later complete. What a relief. What a feeling.
I shook hands with Tim, Nicole and several other runners in the finisher's corral, then made my way over to the Give Your Sole booth. This great charity collects lightly-used running shoes for children in Africa and poor countries. I had already given them 3 pairs and with two marathons and two halfs and two 10Ks on these, they were ready to serve another.
With flip flops soothing my sore feet it was time to dance.
I met up with family and friends in front of the stage where the day's winners were crowned and onto the stage came Bret Michaels. And he put on a hell of a show. The former Poison front man pulled out the classics including Talk Dirty to Me, Look What the Cat Dragged In, Every Rose Has Its Thorn, Unskinny Bop which had us swinging and singing. What pain?
That evening we celebrated.
An incredible year - complete.
My great, great thanks to everyone who supported me throughout this endeavor. I really could not have done it without you. Together we raised nearly $12,000 for the fight against blood cancers and raised the awareness of this worth cause.
This season's accomplishments were run in honor of those dealing with this crippling disease.
Father Mason of Haverhill, MA, Kristen, Jim, Doug, Betsy, and all the rest of my honorees, this was for you.