2:29:06!!!! Pocono Marathon

Steve and I headed to the OKC airport early Thursday morning where we met Josh.  Our Flight was at 6:00 AM.  We landed in Newark, NJ at 12:30 PM eastern time.  From there we headed to NYC!  We spend Thursday and Friday night in NYC.  Saturday we picked up Chris from the airport and drove to Stroudsburg, PA.  After the race on Sunday, we drove back to NYC and caught our flight back home on Monday.  First, I want to talk about NYC then I'll talk about the race.

After checking into our hotel, which was only blocks from Time Square,  we headed to the Empire State Building!  The Empire State Building was the highlight of the trip for me!  We went to the observation deck on the 86th floor.  Here are a couple of pictures and I posted a video on facebook.

Josh and I decided to go for a five mile run and it turned into seven, because we wanted to make it to the Brooklyn Bridge.  The coolest part about this run is that I found $100 on the side walk.  I really cracked up these girls when I was looking around to see if anyone was looking for it!  My run the next day was exciting for other reasons.  Steve and I ran in Central Park, which is amazing!  The bad thing about the run is that we ran by a crime screen with a dead body.  The body was covered but you could tell that it was a body.  Anyway both my runs in NYC were eventful!

Friday, We took a ferry out to Ellis Island and Liberty Island.  The Statue of Liberty is massive!  That night we ate at Bobby Flay's restaurant.  It's was very good!  After the meal we headed to the Yankee - Red Sox game at Yankee Stadium! 

Saturday, we picked up Chris and headed to the race in Stroudsburg, PA.  Sunday after the race we went all over NYC.  Downtown, Chinatown, Little Italy, and the Brooklyn Heights Promenade.  In Chinatown we got awesome ice cream and massages, Little Italy had amazing pizza, and the Promenade had breathtaking views of the Manhattan skyline, the Brooklyn Bridge, and the Statue of Liberty all light up at night!

Okay, now about the race!  Josh, Steve and I ran the marathon.  Chris had planned on running the marathon but didn't due to injury.  He was planning on moving to the half but there was only a relay.  The race found him a partner, but the next day at the race when he finished the first half she was not there.  haha!  I guess the rain scared her off.

At the start it was 60 degrees and raining.  I like it a little cooler but I could handle this.  The goal was top 5 and sub 2:30.  The main thing was to go under 2:30!!!!  The race took off and I hit the first mile in 6:10, only 27 seconds off the 5:43 pace I needed to run. haha!  That was bad considering it felt like 5:40 pace.  The next couple of miles were better but I was still slower then the pace I needed to run under 2:30.  Around mile six I caught the 7th place runner.  We ran together for two miles.  He asked me what I wanted to run and after I told him he told me I only needed to run 5:41 pace the rest of the way.  He must have been a math genius!  About that time I took a cup of water instead of Gatorade, which I had taken at all of the other stops.  It seamed to give me a boost and everything started to feel easy!  I came through the first half in 1:15:10.  I was worried because I was slower then goal pace and I had been told by everybody that the second half is much harder then the first.  But I was feeling good!  The second half was flying by as I was hitting high 5:30's for my mile splits.  I passed a couple of more runners on the way to the finish  When I crossed the line in 2:29:06 in 5th place,  it felt amazing!  Both goals accomplished!!!  I then went and got my camera to get pictures of Josh and Steve finishing.  Josh finished in 3:09:18 and got 58th.  He had just ran the OKC marathon two weeks before or he would have ran better.  Steve put on a show finishing 71st in 3:12:21!  This is a huge PR for him and qualified him for the Boston Marathon!  The whole trip was an awesome experience!  Now I'll get some rest and then start preparing for my next race.

See you on the roads,

Matt         

Way Behind!

Okay folks, I have been a total bum with this blog.  The plan was to post a blog about each race.  Sorry, that has not been happening.  I have three races which I will tell you about below.

On April 4th, (yes, I know this is May) I ran the 5000 (5k)  at the University of Texas in Arlington.  I ran in the second heat and finished 5th with a time of 15:56.  It was a pretty good race for me.  I went out pretty conservative and was actually in next to last place for most of the first mile, but like always people started to fade!  Anyway, I was happy with a sub 16.

April 10th, I ran the Redbud Classic in Oklahoma City.  They have a 5k and a 10k; I ran in the 10k.  It was a hot and humid day for this time of year.  My hope was to run a low 33:00.  As we took off there was a group of about 5 of us.  Two of the guys I didn't know, but the other two were Johnathon Pillow, who ran for the University of Tulsa and Casey Kreger, who is the grad assistant at Cameron and one of my former athletes.  I just tucked in behind Casey and Johnathon, because we were running into a headwind.  Between the 2 and 3k marks Johnathon and I began to pull away.  Casey ended up dropping out of the race.  I know he was fit enough to stay with us but he was just having a bad day.  The first 3k was at a pretty easy pace and made me think that I would be closer to high to mid 33's then low 33's, but then we really began to pick up the pace and came through the 5k in 16:48.  Right after 7k the 10k runners and the 5k runners meet and run on the same road for about a half a mile.  This was terrible, because this was the 5k runners at the back of the pack and they were covering the whole road.  We had two motorcycle cops that were leading us that got on the left side of the road and would hook that horns so people would get out of our way.  The only problem was that some were wearing headphones and some would get out of the way for the motorcycles but get back in my way!  One lady that had headphones on didn't get out of the way so the cop had to slow way down.  I went to pass him and ended up hitting his mirror with my arm!  Crazy I know, but I was okay!  Once we got out of that mess the police officer pulled up beside me and asked if I was okay and apologizes.  In all that mess I managed to get about a 20 meter lead with a km to go.  I really thought this would be enough, but boy was I wrong!  Johnathon had one of the craziest kicks I have every seen!  He passed me with about 50 meters to go and there was nothing I could do.  But I was happy with my time of 33:06.  It's not a PR, but that time made me believe that I would have a shot at one at the Kansas Relays.  In Kansas the 10k would be on the track, at night (cooler), and not at the end of a 130 mile week.

April 21st, KU Relays!!! This is an amazing meet!  I have been bringing my team here for the past couple of years and this would be the first time for me to jump in a race.  I was a little nervous at first because this was only my second 10k on the track and I was seeded 37 out of 41 runners.  Flotrack was there broadcasting the races online, so if I bombed everyone would get to see :)!  The race started at about 9pm.  It was raining, but the temp was great about 50 something.  The plan was to start out in dead last, because the last thing I wanted to do was go out to hard.  The plan didn't work, because there were a couple of other guys that had the same idea.  But it worked out well, because now we had a pack that all wanted to run negative splits. We slowly moved up throughout the race hitting 79 and then 78 second laps.  At the 5k our pack had picked a couple people off and came through in a 16:20.  At that point our 78's become 80!  We had two laps of 80, but I didn't want to leave the pack and fight the wind and rain myself.  Then all of a sudden we got lapped, which is bad, but it worked out well for me.  I jumped on the the back of the second group of guys that lapped us.  Then those 80's started to drop again.  At this point I was catching a ton of guys that had went out to hard!  I ran my last 2 miles in sub 10:10 and the last mile in sub 5.   I felt amazing and had to much left.  22nd  place out 41 and an 8 second pr 32:20!  This was a great confidence booster for the Pocono Marathon on May 15th.

I promise after the Pocono Marathon I'll have a blog up within days of the race.  Thanks everyone for your encouragement!

See you on the roads,

Matt      

The Right Way!

I know this is a little late, but the saying goes better late then never!  I have two races I want to write about today.  The first was a 10k in Kyle, TX on March 12th.  It was a very small race with about 100 people participating in the event.  After about a half mile in to the race I was all alone.  It was a little windy and some nice rolling hills along the course.  I won with a time of 33:00.   I was pretty happy with that. 
The second race was in Fort Smith, AR on March 19th.  It was a half-marathon.  The night before the race I called up my nephew Jonathon to see if he wanted to run the 5k.  He was down!  So, my mom, Jonathon and I all headed up to the race Saturday morning.  The temperature was great, but the wind made it a little chilly!  The half started 5 minutes before the 5k.  The plan was to just run it at marathon pace, which is 5:40 per mile. I just wanted to use it as a workout, because I was in the middle of a pretty big mileage week.  The gun goes off and I am out to the lead with two other guys about a step or two behind me.  The first turn was about 100 to 150 meters into the race.  There was a man on a bike at the middle of this intersection.  You could only turn right or left, so when I reached him I yelled "which way?".  He didn't respond so I just turned left.  I have run a few other races at this area and they have always went left.  The man on the bike turned and went in front of us.  This made me think that I was going the right way.  I also started noticing blue arrows on the road showing me where to go.  I started to worry a bit when there were no mile markers, but when I looked behind me I saw a long line of runners.  I had about a 200 meter lead when I saw my first mile marker.  It said 4!  I was thinking they only have mile markers every 4 miles?  The next marker I saw said 12.  That's right I was only a mile from the finish, but I shouldn't be!  When I hit mile 13 I was able to get my first mile split, which was a 5:35.  I had only run about 42 minutes so far; so I just ran past the finish line.  I decided I would just keep that pace for 1:14.  When I finished my run I made it back to the finish line and had my chip cut off.  Apparently, we were suppose to turn right at that first turn where we went left.  I was bummed, but not mad.  Some of the runners were pretty ticked off!  There were a couple of dudes that just needed to settle down.  I really felt bad for the race director, because it wasn't her fault.  Anyway, it got me thinking that this race could totally be a sermon.  To many times we go left instead of going right.  To the right were mile markers, signs, people blocking roads, aid stations with food and drinks.  To the right God has all these wonderful things for us, but it is so easy for us to follow the crowd and turn left.  When I made that turn everyone followed me.  I want to make sure that I am making the right turns in my life and not following the crowd, but following God's path for me!

See you on the roads, 

Matt


PS - Jonathon got 3rd overall in the 5k!   

Livestrong Austin Half-Marathon

The Austin Half-Marathon was not very kind to me and I'm the only one to blame.  I'm pretty sure I had the flu all week or if not I had the baddest cold known to man!  I only ran 5 miles Monday and then took 3 days off.   I was pretty beat down but I started feeling better so I thought I would give it a try.
Race morning was fun, because I got to ride to the race with Lorena and Dani, who were both doing their first marathon.  They were both jacked up, but nervous!  lol!  I told them both good luck and headed my own way.  As I headed to the line they started to name some of the favorites for the race over the loud speakers.    It was pretty cool when they announced my name and said I was from southwest Oklahoma!  As, I'm trying to get in to the elite corral; Joan Benoit Samuelson and some other runners were right behind me trying to get in the corral too.  A worker opened up the gate and then this dude ran over and started yelling "hold on this isn't going to happen!".  We told him we were elite and he let us in, but I wanted to be like dude this chick won a gold medal when I was like 4 so you better hold on!  Anyway, Joan wasn't the only star I saw.  Lance Armstrong also ran in the half.  He walked right past me and a couple of other guys and said I better get behind them so I don't get run over.  By the way, I beat Lance.  He ran a 1:22.
As the race started off I felt okay.  It was a little hot at about 62 and pretty humid.  After I hit the first 2 miles in 5:37 and 5:38 I knew I was done, because it felt about like 5 flat pace.  I told myself let's just slow it down to 5:45 which is my marathon pace.  Nope that didn't work next thing I know I'm struggling to hold a 6 min pace!  At mile 6, I wanted to drop out!!!  I almost stopped and waited for Lorena, so I could just run the marathon with her.  The reason I didn't is because at that point I didn't even know if I could make a full marathon.  Then I thought I could just slow down and run with Lance.  HAHA  However, I begin to think he would be coming by me any second.  I went on and finished in 1:18:33, which is 5:59 pace.  I got 12th.  For being sick not bad.  I think I could have been top 3 in better circumstances, maybe even pulled out a victory!
After I finished I took a sec to recover and then ran about 3.5 miles to mile 21.  I got to see my cousin Jennifer run by and she finished in a time of 3:50.   It was pretty cool to sit there and cheer on all these runners running by!  I expected Lorena to come by with the 4:15 pace group but she was about a minute ahead of them at 21.  I ran the last 5 miles with her and it was so fun.  She got faster each mile!  She never hit the wall and ran a marathon the way it is meant to be run!!!  Lorena finished in 4:12:50!  She must have a really good coach lol!

Even if the race didn't go how I wanted it was a lot of fun!!!  Now I'm back at it and getting ready to hit up some crazy mileage to prepare for May!

See you on the roads,

Matt

Athens-Big Fork Trail Marathon

I should have know things were not going to go my way when I work up a few days before the race feeling sick.  It wasn't nothing to bad just a cold, but still!  Don't worry I'm feeling all better now, but that was the first of many things this weekend that went downhill. 

I headed to Poteau Friday and caught a ride with Coach Hall to the race Saturday morning.  There was a good crew from Poteau that competed in the race.   If you don't know much about the Athens-Big Fork Trail Marathon the elevation chart should just about sum it up.  I stole it from Tom Brennen's Blog along with another pic. 

As you can see this is not a race for beginners!  If you go to the race website they actually discourage people from running unless they are experienced runners.  Maybe I should have listened to there warning, haha!  Well, the race plan was to go out hard, because the first couple of miles are paved or dirt roads and flat.  One other runner went with me.  That was Nick Lewis.  I didn't know him before the race, but I did hear someone behind us say that he finished 2nd at the Leadville 100 Mile Run.  I then knew he was good.  Leadville is known as the toughest 100 miler out there.  When we hit the trail I let him take the lead.  I figured I would chill on the uphills and then fly on the downhills.  After the first downhill I realized that this was the wrong strategy.  Nick was like a deer down that hill!  I stayed with him, but I knew I better not let him get away on the uphill if he can run like that downhill.  We then came up to the first creek crossing.  I should have been paying attention to the trail, but instead I wanted to make sure I didn't take a swim in the very chilly water.  As you cross the creek the trail splits and Nick and I both took it the wrong way.  There are white blazes on the trail, so if you go down the wrong trail you will stop seeing blazes and know you need to turn around unless you take the trail that we went down.  We saw blazes for miles!!!  There is an aid station on the trail around the 8.5 mile mark so you would think once we got there we would know we were lost.  The only problem is right around the time we hit the 8.5 mile mark the trail we were on crossed a parking lot.  There were a couple of trucks there and bathrooms, but no people.  Nick turns to me and says man we beat the aid station here.  He also told me about a 50 mile run he ran where he beat the first three aid stations!  So on we went!  Nick had a GPS on so we finally turned around after we had run 14 miles out.  We were having doubts about the trail at around 10 miles because it became pretty flat.  As you can tell by the elevation chart it is never flat!  Anyway, we ran back together and got in a good 28 miler. I wish we would have took the right trail.  I would love to have battled with Nick!  The Poteau crew did great!  Tom Brennen came in first and broke his course record!  Josh Snyder, who is another Poteau guy set a PR for the course and finished 3rd.  I'm proud of those guys, plus Chris, Coach Hall, Kristen, and members of the Poteau XC Team ran the 17 mile fun run.  That's right they call it a fun run!!!

While heading back to Poteau I look in my bag and grab my phone and it will not work.  LOL!  It was gone for good, but I have a new one now.  Then when I need to leave and head back to Lawton on Sunday a snow storm hits!  It wasn't all bad, because I got to spend an extra night in Poteau.  I'm back in Lawton now and ready to start preparing for some spring track meets and the next big marathon in May!

See ya on the roads!

Matt

The Results

Below are the results from the 5k in Poteau last Saturday. 


1   1/3    M3539 Tom Brennan            Poteau          OK  39   17:57  3:36
2   1/15   M1619 Edgar Rosales          Poteau          OK  17   18:20  3:40
3   2/15   M1619 Nico Hall              Poteau          OK  16   19:14  3:51
4   3/15   M1619 Jerrad Badders         Poteau          OK  17   19:48  3:58
5   1/4    M5054 Keith Willsey          Acorn           AR  54   20:08  4:02
6   1/4    M4549 Tim Hall               Poteau          OK  49   20:10  4:02
7   1/6    M3034 Chris Montgomery       Wister          OK  33   20:38  4:08
8   2/6    M3034 Bud Ellis              Wister          OK  33   21:14  4:15
9   3/6    M3034 Jimmy Allmon           Poteau          OK  31   21:40  4:20
10   4/15   M1619 Nick Parker            Poteau          OK  17   21:57  4:24

Well, I was right like always! haha!  Tom pulled off the win.  I heard that Edgar took the race out hard.  Tom and Nico set back the first half of the race.  In the last 1.5k Edgar started to come back to Tom.  Tom went on to win the race by 27 seconds. 

Everybody take a look at who finished 6th.  That's right Coach Hall.  He is making a come back.  Nico better watch out! 

I hope to see everybody at the Jingle Bell 5k Run and Santa Chase this Saturday at Fort Chaffee. 

See you on the roads,

Matt

The Showdown In My Hometown!

Tomorrow is a big running day in my hometown of Poteau.  It's time for the Sleigh Bell 5k!  I wish I could be there to run.  Actually, I am more interested in watching the race.  It should be quite the showdown.  There are several guys that can run in the low to mid 17's.  You have the vet Tom Brennan, who is shooting for a PR.  If he gets one he will be hard to beat.  Then you have the young guns, last years Sleigh Bell Champ Nico Hall and Poteau High School stud senior Edgar Rosales.  If Edgar is in the same kind of shape he was at the end of his cross country season then Tom and Nico could be looking at his back!  Also, I need to mention a new guy named Zach that I have not met yet, but rumor is that he is capable of running with any of the above mentioned guys.  On a sad note I must mention that rumor is that Josh Snyder is not running the race due to having some sweet tickets to the big 12 championship game.  I know Josh is a great Christian man and I hope that he repents for this mistake in judgement at his service on Sunday morning.  I'm kidding.  If Josh is in the race he will be in the mix.  I have been debating on whether I should make a prediction on a winner or not.  I guess I will and I will have to go with the old vet.  That's right look for Tom Brennan to break the tape.  Okay, you other guys don't get mad at me just prove me wrong.  I wish all the runners in the race the best!

See you on the roads,

Matt