Nobody Cares About Jerry Report

2011 White Rock Marathon

One day sometime before Thanksgiving, I was cooking for dinner and watching the soccer game on TV at the same time, while my wife was on the phone with a family friend. My heart clicked when I heard: no, no, why don't you guys come over for dinner at Thanksgiving.

That means weight gain, a week before White Rock Marathon.

No PR last year in marathon distance, I desperately wanted a PR and maybe more importantly to put me in sub 3 marathoner category the 2nd time. And I had tried very hard to get under 128 lbs by that time.

But Who cares about Jerry?!

Luckily I survived the Thanksgiving dinner well(had to run 5 miles right before the meal and drank only one beer). The bad news came the day after, I caught the cold, very mild, but I was on drug till Thursday before the race and was fully recovered at the race day.

I had no idea how much a cold like this would affect my performance and asked. But everyone was busying on their 2012 planning.

Who cares about Jerry?!

Texas had been experiencing extreme drought. We have been going through water restriction stage 2(two lawn watering per week) to stage 3(once every other week). Finally we got what we really needed, rain, but starting from the day before the December 4th race. That suddenly made the 40 degree temperature from a perfect race day weather to a huge unknown. The wind forecast was 12-15mph race morning.

Jerry doesn't handle cold well.

But who cares about Jerry anyway?!

The race plan was pretty much contemplated well right after DRC Half 4 weeks ago, where I did a 1:21:06. 6:35 - 6:40, preferable on the slower end, for the first 10 miles gentle up, 6:30 - 6:35, preferable on the faster end, the 2nd 10 miles flat course, give some back mile 21 hill, then whatever left. That would give me a 2:52-2:55, a minimal 3 minutes PR.

The key decision here was to run by feel in a range like Schuey, a method I had been admiring, but felt difficult and a little uncomfortable to execute before and finally felt ready.

With the weather, I decided to go out 6:40 for the first 10, then adjusted by feel later. 6:40 all the way and a 2:55 would be a very satisfying result.

As the weekend approached, my little girl changed her mind and wanted to have a birthday party. We are leaving for China Wednesday and planning to have the party there at her birthday weekend. The problem was that gave us little time to plan and it settled into a sleep over with 5 other girls the night before the race. And they wanted to camp in the living room, right outside our bedroom.

They were playing all night. I had no sleep and got up at 3. Before 5:00am, I was in the start, Dallas Fair Park.

It was raining. I couldn't find the indoor facility and eventually went back to warmup in my car with both feet soaked. 6:00am, I went back again and ended up the first one in the 1600 capacity facility. I used the restroom etc, then sat down on my big trash bag to relax. This ended up with my best decision of the day.

I had a terrible time to decide what to wear. Long story short, I ended up with a short, a singlet with a black loose style water resistant Nike wind breaker.

The start was actually very nice. The rain stopped, no much wind. I looked at the dark heavy cloud in the sky and was telling myself: maybe we can get lucky today eventually.

The start was smooth. Once I realized I was a little fast, I pulled back and just reminded myself 20 minutes for every 5k.

20:18 for the first 5k, not bad.

41:16 for 10k. I was not worried and focused on how I felt. I didn't feel I should go any faster with the rain now coming right at my face. Luckily I put a shower cap on my hat and didn't feel cold at my head at all.

Mile splits: 6:44, 6:29, 6:32, 6:39, 6:35, 6:43

The body, however, was not that luckily. I started feeling cold at mile 8. I looked down, my wind breaker was soaked. The good news was it seemed to work at certain degree. At that time, I regretted I didn't wear my rain jacket instead.

At mile 10, the situation got worse, especially the hands. Now on the flat land, my legs felt ok and I decided to pick up a little hope it warmed up my body a little. It seemed to work. I decided not to check the Garmin often and put my hands inside my wind breaker sleeves. After all, I wanted to run by feel. "Here you go!" I told myself.

Mile splits 7-10: 6:44, 6:41, 6:48, 6:40.

I arrived at half, 1:28:06. I couldn't see the seconds at that time, but was honestly surprised. I checked my body signal, thought about my feeling last year around here in the race and decided I could pick up a little, which I did. We were lucky that there was not much wind around the lake, at least not big as forecasted. I forgot about the rain.

I arrived mile 16 about 2-3 minutes short of 2:55 goal. It didn't affect my mood as then I knew I couldn't do any better. My legs were a little tight that I decided to slow down 1 or 2 miles to recover.

Mile splits 11-16: 6:32, 6:44, 6:36, 7:43, 6:33, 6:36.

Oh, I had to release the extra water that I couldn't sweat out before mile 14. I did try to let it go, but was unsuccessful. What do you want me to do?

Oh, never mind, who cares about Jerry?!

The slow down turned out to be the right decision. The mile 18, 19 became difficult that I started worrying a blow in the later miles.

Mile splits 17-20: 6:46, 6:44, 6:51, 6:48.

Anticipating the mile 21 hill, I decided to another water stop after mile 20.

I thought I handled the hill pretty well and took the time to recover. At this point, I knew I didn't have a fight and the best was to hold the pace.

Mile splits 21-24: 7:54, 7:15, 6:55, 6:42.

Oh, mile 24, that was not really split. It should be pace, as 405 died on me, again.

Even my dear Garmin didn't care about me!

I probably held the pace for mile 24. The rest of the race was definitely a struggle. I kept asking runners passing me about the pace, most didn't have a clue. With a mile to go, I finally asked two passing me steady and strong. The guy replied: no worries. We got the sub 3. We are on 6:49 overall.

The only problem was I couldn't follow them.

As I turned to the final finish, I was still surprised to see 3:00:xx and finished at 3:00:54.

When I checked out my bag, I was asked if I finished sub 3. I realized the clocked started for the elites, a little while before we started. Then, I was disappointed to find out my chip time: 3:00:09.

So my January 2010 PR of 2:58:35, my only sub 3, still holds. Almost 2 years with 2 minutes improvement on my half time, I couldn't PR, nor dip under 3 hours one more time.

It really hurt, but who cares about Jerry?!

Feeling much better today, cold is something I need to study. Cold rain? I will just write it off. I don't really want to know how to deal with it.

We are heading to China soon for our vacation. Who cares about this stupid marathon thing?!

Some great news from the weekend, a 37 years old Chinese runner I helped train online finished his 3rd marathon in Shanghai Marathon at 2:56:26, a month after his 2nd marathon at 3:08, which he didn't do well with his lack of race experience.

We love you Jerry and you were oh so close to that sub 3. Don't worry about it and enjoy your time in China. When you get back perhaps we should setup another challenge so I can win back some of what I owe you.

Oh so close!!!! Great job with all the hardships though!

And I do care.

I got one paragraph in, and realized: I just didn't care.

I kid, I kid.

We care about Jerry - Jerry does things that some of us can only dream about. Jerry runs fast. Very fast. We are proud of Jerry's accomplishments. Seriously, good job on the race. Enjoy your vacation!

I care about Jerry - and Jerry knows that. Nice run considering the less than optimal conditions - don't beat yourself up over that, Jerry. One of my training partners ran and he fell apart in the latter miles as well when he got too cold and wet. He liked the race though and isn't too disappointed as he was 2nd in his AG (M65-69).

Enjoy your trip and congrats regarding the runner you trained. I bet he cares about Jerry.

Awesome run, Jerry. I care, buddy. I care.

Jerry, valiant effort, and yes, I do care also. Thanks for sharing.

I am thinking about caring , Jerry!

Jerry...you shouldn't beat your self up so much. 3:00:09 in those conditions is a great accomplishment. I hope that you enjoy your time in China and that it takes your mind off of the race.

I do have to add, though, that it looks like Jerry is not a very good racer either. You joined the ranks of Chris, Dave, and myself as your proclaimed "bad racers"

oh Jerry your right no one cares! ha ha I would really like to see a picture of youwith the shower cap on your head. A sleep over with 5 girls on marathon night really?????? what were you thinking? Sorry about the cold,it probably affects you mentally more than anything. You are very fast Jerry and I hope you enjoy your trip with your family,and your perfect race will come one day .............don't worry you work too hard it will be there

I definitely care. I looked up the results online over the weekend before you had posted anything here and saw that you were the first one to cross the line after the clock flipped over to 3:00. The runner just ahead of you? Nabbed the 2:XX by a couple of seconds. I then debated in an email exchange with Dave and MVW whether or not it mattered to you about just missing Sub3 when you already had a Sub3. I think we decided you would be bummed but not nearly as much as you would be had you not already run a 2:XX. But see all the time spent looking at and contemplating and trying to decipher The Wonderful World of Jerry? Yes, I care. Have a great time in China!

First of all, I had to keep checking to remind myself whose report I was reading. I'm not used to Jerry writing about himself in the first person!
Second of all...like everyone else, I care about Jerry!
Third...Jerry ran a heck of race in really lousy weather.
Seriously, that was a great effort, and obviously in better conditions you would have nailed sub-3:00 and probably a heck of lot better than that.
Happy birthday to your daughter, have a great time in China, and congratulations on a great marathon!

If the above statement is true, I cannot be 'Nobody' if I don't care about Jerry.

Ergo, I don't care about Jerry.

Jerry should enjoy his visit to the Tianxia.

I just wanted to see whom else didn't care about Jerry, but realized this was just a post-padding thread.

More to show I care....maybe care too much about details like this....but WTF with the bathroom stops?! You do these every race and I don't get it. I can't think of another sub3 runner that does that every time. Do you realize that if you take the 2 miles where you had bathroom stops and run "normal" 6:40 miles there, that's a 2:17 improvement in your time giving you a nice new shiny 2:58 PR?!? I've had to make emergency stops before in a race but they are only the more serious (#2) kind. You are honestly telling us that you stop multiple times in every marathon JUST TO PEE?! That's something you need to address and change and at the very least if you can't simply hold it until the end of the race, at least keep running and just do what you gotta do while staying on pace.

Chris M wrote:More to show I care....maybe care too much about details like this....but WTF with the bathroom stops?! You do these every race and I don't get it. I can't think of another sub3 runner that does that every time. Do you realize that if you take the 2 miles where you had bathroom stops and run "normal" 6:40 miles there, that's a 2:17 improvement in your time giving you a nice new shiny 2:58 PR?!? I've had to make emergency stops before in a race but they are only the more serious (#2) kind. You are honestly telling us that you stop multiple times in every marathon JUST TO PEE?! That's something you need to address and change and at the very least if you can't simply hold it until the end of the race, at least keep running and just do what you gotta do while staying on pace.

That means a lot to me. I appreciate it very much!

But I had two potty stops for a total 1 minute in my 2:58:35 PR. I had tried and was frustrated for a long time for this issue. My theory is if I had any physical problem, I would have had an instance in the half, which I never did. So the problem is with the food as one part of food holds 3 parts of water, somehow when I starts moving, the water starts dropping down. I have established a routine to abstain from water from 5:00pm the day before the race, but had only once success. The fact that in mile 14 my urine was clear as well as other observations showed I was not dehydrated.

Long theory short, I have not figured it all out yet definitely. Cutting food intake will be my next experiment.

In another cold day, I hope not, I may try tights to keep my body warm. I don't know. This thing truly becomes a humbling sports.

Thanks again for all the cares!

Edit:on another thoughts, maybe it is time to see a specialist who may have a simple "fix".

Oh, Jerry. I'm sooooo disappointed in you.

NOT. Have fun in China.

Jerry who? Just kidding, nice race, Jerry!

T Miller wrote:We love you Jerry and you were oh so close to that sub 3. Don't worry about it and enjoy your time in China. When you get back perhaps we should setup another challenge so I can win back some of what I owe you.

Tim, you know I checked your Chicago time and was hoping I would beat it.

carleenp wrote:Oh so close!!!! Great job with all the hardships though!

And I do care.

Thanks Carleen! As a southerner, this was indeed the hardest condition I have raced a marathon. Chicago doesn't seem to be a too bad deal after this.

Glenn wrote:I got one paragraph in, and realized: I just didn't care.

I kid, I kid.

That's fine with me. I sucked anyway.

John Kilpatrick wrote:We care about Jerry - Jerry does things that some of us can only dream about. Jerry runs fast. Very fast. We are proud of Jerry's accomplishments. Seriously, good job on the race. Enjoy your vacation!

Could be faster. Thanks John!

Michele "1L" Keane wrote:I care about Jerry - and Jerry knows that. Nice run considering the less than optimal conditions - don't beat yourself up over that, Jerry. One of my training partners ran and he fell apart in the latter miles as well when he got too cold and wet. He liked the race though and isn't too disappointed as he was 2nd in his AG (M65-69).

Enjoy your trip and congrats regarding the runner you trained. I bet he cares about Jerry.

I bet your partner doesn't think Dallas is a hilly course. Still I will get hill work next year, this course will be an easy one to me. Just don't rain.

healdgator wrote:Awesome run, Jerry. I care, buddy. I care.

Thanks!

Jeff F wrote:Jerry, valiant effort, and yes, I do care also. Thanks for sharing.

Thanks Jeff!

charles.moman wrote:I am thinking about caring , Jerry!

That's a start!

Nick Morris wrote:Jerry...you shouldn't beat your self up so much. 3:00:09 in those conditions is a great accomplishment. I hope that you enjoy your time in China and that it takes your mind off of the race.

I do have to add, though, that it looks like Jerry is not a very good racer either. You joined the ranks of Chris, Dave, and myself as your proclaimed "bad racers"

Seriously, the joke backfired.

amyjoann wrote:oh Jerry your right no one cares! ha ha I would really like to see a picture of youwith the shower cap on your head. A sleep over with 5 girls on marathon night really?????? what were you thinking? Sorry about the cold,it probably affects you mentally more than anything. You are very fast Jerry and I hope you enjoy your trip with your family,and your perfect race will come one day .............don't worry you work too hard it will be there

Check on the sports photo later. My bib 2845. The first time I put the bib on short. With the wind breaker, I hope I got some as I too want to see myself. I did skip the finish photo though. Too cold to wait in line.

Seth Harrison wrote:First of all, I had to keep checking to remind myself whose report I was reading. I'm not used to Jerry writing about himself in the first person!
Second of all...like everyone else, I care about Jerry!
Third...Jerry ran a heck of race in really lousy weather.
Seriously, that was a great effort, and obviously in better conditions you would have nailed sub-3:00 and probably a heck of lot better than that.
Happy birthday to your daughter, have a great time in China, and congratulations on a great marathon!

Thanks Seth! Maybe after this, I can deal with Boston and see you sometime there.

KBFitz wrote:

Nobody Cares about Jerry.

If the above statement is true, I cannot be 'Nobody' if I don't care about Jerry.

Ergo, I don't care about Jerry.

Jerry should enjoy his visit to the Tianxia.

Not sure what you meant by Tianxia. If I were in DC, we could help each other on our foreign language skills.

ounce wrote:I just wanted to see whom else didn't care about Jerry, but realized this was just a post-padding thread.

Haha.

wendy_miller wrote:Oh, Jerry. I'm sooooo disappointed in you.

NOT. Have fun in China.

Who else would care more and love to see miserable Jerry more?!

Jim Lentz wrote:Jerry who? Just kidding, nice race, Jerry!

Thanks Jim!

NCAJ,NCAJ,NCAJ,NCAJ,NCAJ, ...... NCAJ!

Love it. I think Jerry had a very good race. Where in China will Jerry head?

Diego wrote:NCAJ,NCAJ,NCAJ,NCAJ,NCAJ, ...... NCAJ!

Love it. I think Jerry had a very good race. Where in China will Jerry head?

We are landing at Shanghai, then transfer to Wuhan, where both my wife and my parents live.

Ooo! So close! Jerry will have to make another try at sub-3 soon.

You should talk to Garmin about your unit. There's no way it should die after such a short time. Their customer service is so good, I think they would even care about Jerry.

Save travels!

Nice job Jerry! You are still really close to your PR. Travel safely and enjoy your time in China!

Mark B wrote:Ooo! So close! Jerry will have to make another try at sub-3 soon.

You should talk to Garmin about your unit. There's no way it should die after such a short time. Their customer service is so good, I think they would even care about Jerry.

Save travels!

Will talk to Garmin when I come back.

Thanks Mark!