Strategizing the Pittsburgh Marathon

The countdown to the 2015 Pittsburgh Marathon has reached the single digits!  The big day is even appearing in the 10-day weather forecast, so you know it's getting serious here!  (The weather forecast, however, is NOT making me excited yet at highs in the 70's and rain.  Hopefully this changes as we get closer...)

Taken on a training run.  Hopefully the 'Burgh will look like this come race day!

The training and the physical preparation are pretty much in the bag at this point.  There's not a whole lot a runner can do in the week leading up to a marathon to become physically more prepared, other than sleeping and hydrating.  Mentally, however, I'm using taper time to strategize about my race.

Race Map and Elevation Profile from the Pittsburgh Marathon website.

This will be my fourth marathon, and my third consecutive Pittsburgh Marathon, so I am familiar with both the distance and the course.  I know from experience that I can divide the race into roughly three parts:

One of the 5 bridges runners will cross - this photo taken at the 2014 EQT 10 miler.

Miles 1-13  - Keep Calm and Don't Go Out Too Fast!

I expect to feel relatively strong and happy, but I know that I'll need to pace myself from going out too fast on fresh legs and a mostly flat part of the course.  I've felt great in the first 13 miles of most of my training runs, including last month's Run the Bluegrass half marathon.  For those familiar with the Pittsburgh course, you may recognize that there is a significant elevation gain at mile 12.  I have run the uphill of the Birmingham Bridge and Forbes Avenue many times in training, and actually feel pretty good about it!  I've learned that this is another place where I need to be smart and not go too fast, taking walk breaks up the hill if needed, since there are many more hills to come.

The Pittsburgh Soul Steppers around mile 18 in Homewood.  A pleasant and happy distraction!

Miles 13-20 - Distract Myself

If anyone out there is running the Pittsburgh Marathon for the first time, there's something you need to know about the hills.  Everyone talks about the big hill in mile 12.  What nobody talks about is that  miles 13-23 are full of rolling hills in the form of slight grades, often on long stretches of road.  This killed me the first time that I ran Pittsburgh.  I expected a flat, easy plateau at the top of mile 12's hill, but the slight elevation gains of this section of the course have felt brutal to me on tiring legs.  I plan to turn on kind of an autopilot mode, to trust my training and use the scenic urban neighborhoods and  friendly crowds on course to distract me from any tiredness in my legs.

The city as seen from high up on one of the East End's hills.

Miles 20-Finish - Dig Deep, It's (Almost) All Downhill from Here!

For me, the undisputed most challenging part of the Pittsburgh Marathon course is climbing the hill of North Highland Avenue at mile 20.  Mile 20 is often the "Wall" a runner has to overcome in a marathon.  In Pittsburgh, that wall is made even more impassable seeming by the slow, steady climb of the course.  Fortunately, once you get to the top of the hill at Bryant street, runners get rewarded with a corresponding downhill in mile 21.  Then, more ups and downs before the course gets it's huge downhill at mile 23.  As much as it seems like a giant downhill should be easy, its still tough on my tired body to complete these last few miles.  Once I get to the top of the hill in Highland Park, I'm going to try and push my pace, and make the last 10K my fastest 10K!

Crossing the finish line at my first Pittsburgh Marathon in 2013!

I'm hoping that this strategy will bring me home a new marathon PR.  My 2015 goal race is ultimately the Marine Corps Marathon in October, in which I hope to break 5 hours.  Pittsburgh is going to be something of a "practice marathon" and, while I don't know that I'll be able to break 5 hours yet, I'm hoping to beat my best previous time.  Let the countdown continue, and I'll see everyone in 1 week at the Expo, 5K, Pet Walk, and Pittsburgh Marathon!

3 Rivers, 5 Bridges, 26.2 Miles - A Pittsburgh Marathon Race Recap

I finished myself another marathon.  Pittsburgh 2014 marks my third full marathon. With Disney 2014 only 4 months prior and my first Pittsburgh Marathon only 364 days prior in 2013, Pittsburgh 2014 marks my third full marathon within a year.  Three races in, I haven't yet cracked the secret to improving my speed, or not feeling faraway and exhausted in mile 18.  There is one thing that I am certain of though: the feeling of exhilaration and accomplishment that the races provide is addictive and I will keep another marathon on the calendar as long as my mind and body allow me to keep running them.

It seems that the strategy for recounting an event of this magnitude should be the same as the strategy for running it, focusing on one mile by mile, neighborhood by neighborhood.

Corral C runners wait not-so-patiently at the starting line.

Pre-race:  Pittsburgh had runners wait in a corral system.  While previous years had 5 or more corrals, this year the runners were broken down into only 4 of them.  I'm not sure the reason for this change, but it provided some difficulty as there was not physically enough space for all of my corral's runners (Corral C) to fit in the designated space!  Many of us waited outside the corral fence in front of the Fairmont Hotel as corrals A and B left to make space.  I'm sure this traffic jam created some nerves at the start.  The slight sprinkling of rain gave me some cause for uncertainty, as the weather report had been fluctuating between rainy and sunny for days.  Luckily, the rain was brief, the runners eventually all got to the starting line, and we were off!

The green, orange, and red segments map the Pittsburgh marathon course.

Mile 1-2: The Strip District

Coming off the start, the streets are predictably crowded.  According to the marathon's race results page, the event had almost 5,000 participants in the full, 15,000 participants in the half, and almost 2,000 relay teams.  This means that 22,000 runners and walkers would make their way through this stretch in just about 30 minutes time!  Luckily, the Strip is fast, flat, and full of cheering crowds.  On non-marathon days, this Pittsburgh neighborhood is known for it's food and farmer's markets, and it was oh-so-tempting to smell some of that food cooking as we ran by, but we soldiered on!

Running in the Strip District.

Mile 3: The 16th Street Bridge

My mom walks around town during the first half of the course to greet me in different locations, and I saw her while approaching the 16th street bridge in the Strip.  Having someone to look for is a great periodic distraction from the facts like having 35+ more kilometers to go!  As for the bridge itself, 16th Street is mostly flat, and the first of 5 bridges that runners cross in this "City of Bridges."

Mile 4-6: The North Side

Pittsburgh has almost 100 distinct neighborhoods and the North Side is one of my two favorites.  Nestled between the Allegheny and Ohio rivers, the North Side is a spot many Pittsburgh athletes frequent to run and bike along the riverside or to kayak out on the water.  Professional athletes also call it home as the Pirates and Steelers home stadiums reside in the neighborhood.  Maybe it's because I love the North Side so much, but both years I've felt really fast in this part of the course.  We cross two more bridges in this part, the 9th and 7th Street Bridges, and their slight grades up to their center prove a bit steeper than that of the first bridge crossed.  There a rolling hills throughout this neighborhood, but the crowd is still dense and vocal including a group having a mimosa party on their front lawn.  Not only did I feel fast, but this neighborhood pushed me to some of my fastest miles in the race.  We shall later see that it's too early to run so fast, but it was fun in the moment!

The West End Bridge looms overhead.

Mile 7: The West End

Bridge number 4 takes us from the North Shore to the West End, and this bridge also challenges runners with a slight grade to race up to the center of the structure.  One of the best parts about running an urban race is getting to run on the road and all of these places pedestrians could never go, and the West End includes a lot of this.  It also includes a spin through the small West End Village neighborhood where the band played "Sweet Caroline" and the runners all sang along.  Mile 7 and we were still feeling fine!

Found my very own Pittsburgh Dad in the South Side!

Miles 8-10: The South Side

This stretch is long, but it's mostly flat.  The city's busses, bike trails, and light rail train all converge here, so the spectators are plentiful.  My dad rode his bike down to meet me here, and I enjoyed talking with him during a much-needed walk break (and selfie-break).  I'm always amused running through the South Side, as it's the city's nightlife mecca and most Pittsburghers have found ourselves out to all hours of the night carousing here at some point.  Today, however, it was about the run, and I enjoyed this straight, flat part of the course.  In fact, mile 10 boasts the title of "flattest mile" on course.  Remember this fact for later.

The flattest mile on the course - enjoy it while it lasts and beware!

Mile 11: The Birmingham Bridge

Remember when I told you mile 10 was the flattest mile on course?  Mile 11 is the opposite of that.  Remember when I said that the other bridges sloped slightly up to their center and then sloped back down?  The Birmingham bridge mostly just slopes uphill.  The Birmingham bridge also holds a surprise.  After climbing the bridge, half-marathoners turn left and full-marathoners turn right, but both are treated to another hill after the bridge!  Somehow, the post-bridge road that we split on to really does go uphill both ways.  The elevation chart for the full marathon is posted below, and I will let you guess where the Birmingham Bridge resides on this chart.

Mile 11 climbs about 200 feet, and the course just keeps climbing!

Half marathon on the left, full on the right, but everyone is having the same thought about this bridge right now.

Mile 12-13: Oakland

Topographically, Pittsburgh is known for its rivers, its bridges, and its hills.  After Birmingham, runners won't cross another river or bridge, but we sure see a lot more hills.  The climb into Oakland is arguably the toughest part of this race, and I chose to walk much of it, hoping to save some energy for the second half of the course.  Along with the North Side, Oakland is my other favorite Pittsburgh neighborhood, stuffed full of libraries, universities, and museums.  During the race, however, my love of Oakland's ambience is overtaken by my exhaustion after the hill, and my anxiety of having another 13 miles to go!

Mile 14-16: Shadyside and Point Breeze

This part of the race feels like a bit of a blur to me.  The first time I ran it, I was shocked to learn that the infamous hills don't end at the crest of the big hill into Oakland.  This year, I was more prepared for the low-grade, steady climb of Fifth Avenue.  I kept a pretty good pace here.  Shadyside is also where I saw one of my favorite inspirational signs on the course:

For my Game of Thrones fans.  If you're not into Game of Thrones, I really can't explain this any better than by saying "Hodor."

Mile 17-18: Homewood

Homewood has a reputation for being one of the liveliest neighborhoods on course.  This is a place where runners will see residents having their own dance parties and cookouts up and down the street. I don't even think I stopped at any official course aid or water stations in Homewood, as residents lined the street handing out their own cups of water and pieces of fruit.  Homewood is unique in that the spectators range from little children to the elderly, and they all seem to have more energy than I did at even the start of the race.  It's a good thing that Homewood is so upbeat, because this is also where I start to lose it as a runner.  People talk about hitting a wall.  In all three marathons I've run, mile 18 is where I start to feel unhinged, I slow down, and I doubt my abilities to finish.  Luckily, the residents of Homewood cheered me on, even when I slowed to walk, and entertained me with their relentless spirit.

The Pittsburgh Soul Steppers held their own marathon - a dance marathon!

Mile 19-21: East Liberty and Highland Park

The good thing about hitting the wall at mile 18 is that I find myself on the other side of the wall by mile 20.  I am certain the the course has something to do with this.  Mile 19 is another long, steady climb into Highland Park.  Mile 20 resides at the peak of this climb, and then mile 21 is back down that same long, steady hill.  In each of my three marathons, mile 20 is the point where I am confident that I can finish.  Pittsburgh just really makes you work for that 20 mile marker with the climb up North Highland Ave!

Up, up, up the mountain in Highland Park.

Mile 22-23: Bloomfield

This is another favorite neighborhood.  Self-described as Pittsburgh's Little Italy, Bloomfield is a place for amazing restaurants, amusing residents, and seemingly year-round festivals and parades.  Bloomfield is also where runners reach an amazing milestone.  Spectators like to say "it's all downhill from here."  Around mile 22.5, this sentiment is really true!  This stretch is also where I met a few new friends.  Running on Liberty, I met Lauren, a Team in Training runner who had just run the Big Sur Marathon the previous weekend, and her coach, Jeff, who invited me to some upcoming speedwork sessions in the South Hills.  Exiting Bloomfield, I met the Pittsburgh Hash House Harriers, who were offering their own form of aid to runners in the form of cups of beer.  I took a beer, hoping for a hoppy pep-up to carry me through the last 3 miles.

Pittsburgh Hash House Harriers.  They like running, food, and beer?  Sign me up!

Mile 24-25: The Strip District

Back in the Strip District, the only way I can describe these two miles is LONG.  They're straight and flat, but Downtown and the finish line seem so far away.  As a back-of-the-packer, I mostly see people walking and looking generally exhausted in this area.  I've heard tales from faster runners that this is where people's bodies physically give up on them, and many a runner chasing a PR or a BQ have collapsed or fallen in the final stretch.  As long as it felt, I knew that I would be chasing down the finish line soon.

Mile 26: Downtown

Mile 25 felt like the longest mile of my life, but mile 26 felt like one of the shortest.  The final stretch of the Pittsburgh Marathon twists and turns runners through the city streets of Downtown Pittsburgh, with the finish line being around several corners.  This is also where my mom comes to greet me again on Smithfield street and my husband, probably still asleep in the early miles, comes out to see me finish the race.

So happy knowing that in 3 minutes I'll be finished and in 30 I'll be eating brunch!

By the time I finish, the crowd of both runners and spectators has thinned considerably, but the bagels and Smiley Cookies at the finish line are still plentiful.  I knew back in Highland Park that I wasn't going to beat last year's time, but I was still a bit disappointed to learn that my first marathon was still my fastest to date.  I already have the wheels turning in my head, however, as to how I can improve my time in races to come.  PR's aside, no matter how slow, there is always a tremendous amount of satisfaction over crossing that finish line and hearing the roar of the announcer:

"You are a Runner of Steel!"

Pittsburgh Marathon finisher medals from 2013 and 2014.

By the Numbers:

• 26.2 Miles
• 5 Bridges
• 3 Rivers
• Approximately 6 hours
• 3,170 Calories burned
• 3 Marathons in the bag!

Thank you to the staff, volunteers, and spectators.  Thank you to my Mom, my Dad, my Husband, and my Dog for cheering me on.  And Congratulations to all the other Runners of Steel!

Pittsburgh Marathon Purina Pro Plan Pet Walk

Yesterday, I ran a marathon.  Blogging about a 26.2 mile race seems roughly as exhausting as running one, at least when you're still emotionally and physically exhausted from the trek, so I've decided to tackle something a little bit lighter while I regain my energy.

The Hotdog Princess, ready to run!

Puppies!  Specifically, the Purina Pro Plan Pet Walk on the Saturday of Pittsburgh Marathon weekend.

Greg, Spencer, and I enjoy the Pet Walk course along the Allegheny River.

This year marked the second annual Pet Walk.  While the rules seem to imply that any well-mannered pet would be welcome, and my husband and I always hope to see some sort of exotic animal companion, the field seems to consist solely of the canine variety.  The Pet Walk enjoys a stroll of roughly one mile around Pittsburgh's beautiful and historic Point State Park.

Human and canine participants gathered at the Point State Park starting line.

In the spirit of Pittsburgh spring sports, the family and I donned our favorite Pittsburgh Pirates gear as well as an assortment of accessories from our friends at the Animal Rescue League and their charity racing syndicate, Paws Over Pittsburgh.   The Animal Rescue League not only cares for homeless dogs, cats, and domestic animals, but they also are the only shelter in Pittsburgh that rehabilitates wild animals and helps reintroduce them to their natural habitat.  Needless to say, this family of animal lovers is always happy to support this worthy organization.

Spencer models the Paws Over Pittsburgh bandana.

I'm hoping that we will continue to see the pet walk each year as part of the marathon weekend.  I suspect, based on the Pittsburgh Marathon's push to secure entrants for the Pet Walk in the weeks leading up to the event, that the participation is not what they hoped.  I don't know enough about event planning to estimate the cost for the walk or whether the event makes a sizable amount of money for the Animal Rescue League, but I do know that my pet and my family had a blast!  My hope is that participation in this event will grow each year so that all Pittsburgh pet lovers can enjoy it while raising funds for this cause.

Dogs big and small enjoy a walk around Point State Park.

The main event consists of the one mile walk, and an assortment of other activities abound in the park.  The walk itself is a great way for pets and their owners to enjoy the unique 36 acre state park nestled in the middle of Downtown Pittsburgh.  Having grown up in Pittsburgh, I take the park somewhat for granted, but it's pretty remarkable that our city includes three beautiful rivers and a park with remnants of a fort (Fort Duquesne) from the French and Indian War.  At the apex of the park's point and the halfway mark of the Pet Walk course sits the newly-remodelled and locally-famous fountain.

Pet walk participants traverse the fountain steps.

The Pet Walk takes place immediately following the Pittsburgh Marathon's 5K race and Kid's Marathon, and shares the park with their finish line festivals.  Purina Pro Plan was there with a ton of giveaways including the same freebie treats as they had at the expo.  Spencer also got a tennis ball and frisbee from Petsmart while we collected handouts of coupons.  One of the coolest festival activities was an agility course where pets and their owners could learn some agility basics from trainers and then test out a four-obstacle course.

The weave poles proved to be Spencer's best event.

Not pictured - the other two obstacles as Spenny did not successfully complete them!  He preferred to walk around them and find treats in the grass.

One thing we will certainly remember for next year is that awards are given, not for speed like in the human races, but for the cutest pet, best costume, and pet/owner lookalikes.  Not much competition was had in the costume contest, with trophies going to dogs simply wearing their Steelers jerseys.  My wheels are already spinning to get our guy an award in this category next year.  Hot dog?  Banana?  Wookie sidekick?  One thing's for sure.  The pets and humans that have attended the first two years of the Pet Walk hope to see this event stay a signature fixture of the Pittsburgh Marathon weekend lineup for years to come.

Throwback to Corgi Party 2013 at last year's inaugural Purina Pro Plan Pet Walk.

Spenny's final thought about this year's walk.  So much fun, maximum Derp was achieved!

Pittsburgh Marathon Expo

Among the most exciting parts of participating in a medium or large race is attending the expo.  While it doesn't have the slickness of a Nike Women's Expotique or the sheer enormity of a RunDisney extravaganza, Pittsburgh puts on a pretty good show complete with everything from massages to a speaker series to live spin classes.

The expo opened at 11:00 this morning.  11:00 on a Friday seemed like a reasonable time to go, a time that would be relatively uncrowded and drama free.  Needless to say, I was surprised when I turned the corner on Liberty Ave towards the Convention Center to face this:

Is this the line for Space Mountain?

Kennywood opens this weekend.  Could this be the line for the Potato Patch?

Despite the fact that the expo was advertised to open at 11:00, runners waited in queue until 11:20 to be let in.  A last minute volunteer shortage?  Some sort of snafu with bibs or shirts?  Nobody seemed to know.  For a medium-sized race field, this was a positively Disney-sized line!

Eventually, doors opened.  After heading to the right and grabbing bibs and shirts, the expo cleverly winds runners through a sea of vendors before we could retrieve goodie bags and race shirts on the far side of the Convention Center. This was my second Pgh Marathon expo, so I had a sense of what vendors to expect.   

So many yinzer-approved choices at Fresh Factory!

The Yinzer crowd was predictably thick at Fresh Factory, where I snagged a new shirt to be worn at the pet walk tomorrow.   A ton of apparel was available from other vendors including local shops like True Runner and 'Burgh-headquartered sporting goods superstore Dick's.  

The Dick's Sporting Goods pop-up shop on a mock Pittsburgh bridge.

Dick's Sporting Goods set up their pop-up shop on a "bridge" modeled after Pittsburgh's three sisters bridges over the Allegheny River.  The mock bridge was an aesthetic highlight of the expo and will no doubt win the award for "Most Instagrammed" feature.  Dick's also sold the official marathon gear, manufactured by Asics.  Personally, I had mixed feelings about the selection.  The women's gear appeared to be mostly pink, purple, and geared toward the half-marathon.  I assure you, I wasn't too thrilled about this.  However, on the men's side of things, I found a shirt that I loved both the design and the fit of.

Running up the incline is probably easier than running into Oakland in mile 12.

A lot of the features at the expo were expected - t-shirt sales, massages, info for other races.  There was one thing this year that was new and fairly interesting.  Dormont (and soon to be South Side) cycling studio Club Cycle set up a cycling studio in the expo and held classes throughout the day!  Their unique concept involves spin classes underscored by a live DJ where cyclists track the stats of their ride real-time on a digital scoreboard.  Once I'm recovered from the race, Club Cycle is definitely on my to-do list.

Cycling class with instructor Stacie and DJ Bill Bara

There were a ton of other activities.  I didn't attend the speaker series, but I did talk for a while with members of the NuGo pace team about pacing strategies, got the skinny from the Garmin rep on their family of watches (there may be a Forerunner 220 in my future), and enjoyed a deep discount on the EQT 10-miler and the Liberty Mile by registering at the Expo.  Other highlights included the modern Expo standard wall of all runners' names as well as the Every Runner Has a Reason wall where runners used metallic markers to pen their personal reasons for running.

Haley Buchanan - That's me!

An inspirational note on the #RunFor wall

And a mouth-watering one!  I too run for booze milkshakes!

In the end, I learned some things, I bought some things, and I generally got geared up for this weekend's races.  However, as is always the case, there is someone else in my life that got the lion's share of the swag.  Thanks to the Pet Walk's generous goodie bag and the cornucopia of canine treats at the Purina Pro Plan booth, someone's got a lot of new treats and toys in his life:

This isn't even all of his loot.

I will wear bandana if I can has treats!

Have a great race weekend everyone!

What I Blog About When I Blog About Running

I've been sitting on the idea of starting this blog for a while.  Running is something I do for a lot of reasons.  I like the fresh air in my lungs and the Vitamin D on my shoulders.  I appreciate the opportunity to get away from the rushed business of work and other obligations, and take a long slow distance run at my own pace.  I enjoy the unique way to explore the world around me.  But was running something that I wanted to worry about documenting, cataloguing, and sharing with others?

Like David Letterman, Buzzfeed, and the narrator of High Fidelity before me, I love making a good list.  The more I thought about it, there were a number of compelling reasons to stop simply going out for runs and start also writing about it.

The Momma and I after the Pittsburgh YMCA's Turkey Trot - November 2013

1. The Camaradarie - 

As I got more involved with the Running community, something magical started to happen.   I started to find supporters and allies in all corners of the Internet.  People I've never met before, who live time-zones away, started sharing helpful tips or encouraging words on my Instagram feed.  I found the Running community to be chock-full of these quirky, friendly, fun organizations, such as Nerd Herd Running who sponsors, among other things, highly-themed virtual runs to raise money for young adults with cancer.  For every new race or new distance, there was a wealth of knowledge out there on everything from pacing to selecting the perfect running outfit or costume.  The more places I exist on this world wide web, the more chances I get to make these connections.

Finishing my first marathon in Pittsburgh - May 2013

2. The Accountability -

Two marathons into my running career, I'm still far slower than I'd like to be at that distance.  I want to break 5 hours.  Then I want to break 4:30.  Certainly dedication to training and purposeful speed work are going to be my greatest allies in this battle, but there's also something to be said about putting a goal in writing.  If you put that goal online, it will be there forever, for people to hop in the WayBack Machine to read even years after it's written or deleted.  Similarly, if I have a goal to raise funds or recruit volunteers for a race, this is where that commitment can forever live.

There exists a career where I can just sit on this beach with the dog and write about what I see, right?

3. The Experience -

I have a dream of the perfect job.  The husband, dog, and I live in an Airstream or a Winnebago and we travel the world, sitting out in the sun, eating, drinking, without a care in the world.  Of course, to fund this lifestyle, I write about my travels.  While I'd love to one day make a vocation out of writing about my adventures, I know that the path to a writing career is the same as the one to Carnegie Hall or the Boston Marathon.  I can't get away with out the practice.

And, last but not least:

Donning my Marathon and Goofy Challenge medals at the Swag capital of the world, Walt Disney World - Jan 2014 

4. The Swag -

Hear me out.  I know that I'm not gonna start blogging and instantly score a free race entry to the New York Marathon or a complimentary pair of Newtons.  But I also know that the Running community is one that knows the power of word-of-mouth endorsement.  I know that, if I am diligent and resourceful as a blogger, I could have the opportunity to test drive new gear, taste new energy supplements, or be invited to run, dine, and converse with other bloggers.  I love getting to experience new races or play with new gadgets, and it would be amazing to talk about those with others!

So why do you blog?  Why do you run?  Hopefully I'll make some new friends, earn some new PR's, gain some experience, and score some swag on this new journey.  Run along with me!