Indiana Trip and Indianapolis Marathon and Half Nov. 2017

Indianapolis Marathon

November 4, 2017

John: 4:08:15 2216/4586 Overall  1485/2599 Male  14/52 in 65-69

Jodi-Half: 1:54:39 1794/8092 Overall 589/4555 Female  39/459 45-49    

                                                           

Jodi and I headed to Indiana on Tuesday to visit some of her family that still resides in Kokomo where she was raised.  We also wanted to run the Monumental Marathon and Half in Indianapolis. Our trip got off to a horrible start as we had to deplane in Fresno before leaving the ground and wait 2 hours to get started again. This resulted in us having to get rebooked and go to Indy via both Denver and Houston. In Denver we had to run about a mile dragging our carry-ons in order to make our connection. Denver is called “The Mile High City” and we could sure feel the thinner air as we were running. And again in Houston we had to run to catch our flight and this meant no hot dinner, only Chex mix and crackers and cheese on the plane. We finally arrived in Indy at midnight (it was supposed to be at 7PM) where we were picked up by Jodi’s dad and step-mom, John and Judy. We went directly to Steak ‘n’ Shake and enjoyed a pumpkin milkshake with our burgers. J We didn’t get to bed until after 2AM. L

            On Wednesday we enjoyed “carbo-loading” at some favorite spots with Jodi’s brother and sister-in-law, John and Jenni and their son Zachary:  Cracker Barrel, Blondie’s Cookies and J. Edwards’ Cupcakes. We also visited the mall and saw the special Christmas trees that are raffled off in a fund-raiser that has been a long-time Kokomo tradition. That evening we met up with the parents again for a nice dinner at Texas Roadhouse.

            The next day we had a unique tour of a glass factory that specializes in producing colored glass similar to stained glass. We went with Jodi’s step-mom Judy, her adopted daughter, Morgan and her friend, Ronnie along with John, Jenni, and Zachary. It was fascinating to see the furnaces heated to over 2000 degrees to turn sand into molten glass and then transported by ladles to the presses for shaping. We also got to see glass-blowing and glass cutting. That night we got to visit with Jodi’s cousin, Clint, and her Aunt Marcia whom she hadn’t seen in 20 years. It was a special time to eat with them all at Cracker Barrel.

            On Friday Jodi and I headed to Indy for a great expo where we actually bought a few useful items and learned a few things and were treated to t-shirts from Chipotle! Clint joined us for a little walk around downtown where we went on the Riverwalk, saw the 9/11 exhibit and visited the Colts’ football stadium. We stayed for the pasta dinner and then headed to our cute Airbnb place 2 miles from the start/finish.

            It was a little too far and too cold and dark to walk to the start, so we got an easy Uber ride there. The temperature was 45 with light winds so perfect for running, but a bit cold standing around. We warmed-up and started in the 2^nd wave at 8:05AM. With the race being on Sat., a day before the time change, it was barely getting light. I eased into my goal pace the first two miles, but was right at 9:30 for the 3^rd mile. I ran in the 9:10-9:20 range through 15 and was feeling good, hoping to stay there for as long as I could. My halfway time was 2:03:37 and I was hoping to get under that the second half. But on the way back we faced a headwind that slowed my times to 9:40s for 3 miles. I did get mile 19 under 9 and 20 at 9:12. The next 5 miles stayed within a few seconds of 9:30. Jodi met me at 25 and I was able to run my second fastest mile of the race at 9:10 to finish up.

            I was really pleased that I felt strong the whole race and could run without the pain of strained hamstring injury for the first time in a year and half. My 4:08 is a BQ time, but I was hoping to be closer to 4:06. The headwinds put a damper on that plan, but I was just so happy to run the whole race and not take extended walk intervals like I’d had to do at WDW, Napa, Boston and SF earlier this year. The course was basically flat and fast so that helped with the pace and the lesser amount of soreness I felt during the days following the marathon.

            Jodi ran a 1:54 which was not as fast as she was hoping for, but was in the top 8% of her age group which is pretty impressive. She had trouble with getting a sense of her pace because of the tall buildings affecting the Garmin. So she tried to “run by feel” keeping the 1:50 pacer in sight but lost him after the first aid station. Once out of the downtown area she was able to settle into a consistent pace. The legs weren’t quite feeling (possibly related to all the pre-race goodies consumed) it so it wasn’t as fast as she would have liked, but it was a strong effort. After the race she had to wait in the cold for close to 2 hours and then run out to 25 mile mark where she helped me greatly in my finish.

            Uber then came to the rescue and whisked us home to hot showers. (No ice bath neededJ as it was getting chillier and windier and more overcast. It poured rain on Sunday so we were glad that the race was on Saturday.) After the race we drove with John and Jenni to see her daughter, Kristina and her husband, John’s place and see their youngsters and animals out in the country. (How many Johns can you count in this story? Lol)

            Sunday was a restful day beginning with a breakfast milkshake (Frosted Flakes), only our 3^rd milkshake of the week at Steak n Shake.  We watched Zach bowl in a tournament and then spent the afternoon watching the rain and eating at John and Judy’s after also having another Blondie’s cookie, a pretzel and a White Castle cheeseburger J

            Monday we flew back and it was a totally on-time, uneventful flight, marking a good end to a very fun trip!

------

           

Photos: https://photos.shutterfly.com/story_invite/d561e234-c988-461d-ab53-c7e94c2bf48b/70181856872

This was Marathon #156; 23 states on 2nd go round; All 10 Canadian provinces. Next up: Houston Marathon on  1/14/18

San Francisco Marathon July 23, 2017

San Francisco Marathon

July 23, 2017

John: 5:02:06 4229/6585 Overall  2980/4221 Male  26/62 in 65-69

Jodi: 4:56:45 3981/6585 Overall 1143/2364 Female  121/259 45-49    

“As you can see by my PW at the Boston Marathon…” So began my last marathon write-up. This is becoming too common: San Francisco was an all-time PW. (It’s been hard to run and train with a strained left hamstring, so I have been taking 3 weeks off and doing a lot of PT sessions).

So let’s turn this recap over to Jodi:

The sights, sounds and smells of SF Marathon

The clanking cable car bell, which signaled  the start of the race.
The smells of seafood along the Embarcadero, not always pleasant.
The aroma of fresh sourdough bread baking at Boudins at 6am.
The sound of the foghorn as we approached the iconic Golden Gate Bridge.
The sound of yelling and screaming when we witnessed the proposal at the top of the bridge.
The sight of John at Mile 10 when I decided to run with him instead of by myself.
The sounds of thousands of running shoes through GG park.
The smell of eucalyptus trees.

(John: Jodi running with a guy dressed as a shark. I passed him in the last 2 miles; no way was I letting a shark beat me!)
The sights on Ashbury street: original Rasputin and grown men smoking pot while cheering for us.
The sight of an Otter Pop being handed to me at Mile 21.
The sound of Chariots of Fire blaring from a loudspeaker with little kids proudly handing out fruit around Mile 22.
The grand sight of AT&T park at Mile 25. (And-for John-sound of Journey’s “Don’t Stop Believin’”; Giants’ adopted fight song—Although I think it’s safe to stop this year! Lol)
The grander sight of the finish line.
The joy of being able to stand at the finish line and watch John finish and then collecting our medals together.

Seeing the words “personal record” scroll across my Garmin when I stopped.  I literally laughed out loud as I said “What??”, only to see the rest “New Distance Record:  26.7 miles”.

Despite the slow finish time, this was by far my favorite marathon!!

------

            Here are some comments on the pictures to help you enjoy them:

            2017 was the 40^th anniversary of the SF Marathon so I included a few pictures of when I first ran it in 1983. You’ll see Mom as my personal aide on the course. Jodi and I saw a number of Fresno runners at the expo; such a small world. Jodi got us reservations at the host hotel (Hyatt) so we had a 2 block walk to the start/finish and great views out our window. You’ll see some pictures on the bridge and then the Presido where Jodi waited 2 hours (lol) for me. At the finish I got a special “40” medal for doing 40 or more miles worth of events at SF Marathon.

            After the marathon we took Uber (We had parked our car in Hayward for the weekend and taken BART into the city to avoid the $70/night hotel parking fee and to avoid driving in the city traffic) out to Golden Gate Park to go to see the “ Summer of Love” 50 year anniversary of 1967 and San Francisco music/hippie scene. I knew some of that stuff especially the music, but learned a lot of other things. It was fun to share the slice of history with Jodi since it was all new to here.  Afterwards, we got special burgers at the Burger Bar at Union Square and “Summer of Love” sundae at Ghirardelli.

            Monday morning we rode the cable car (which started and ended in front of our hotel) from beginning to end. We had a lot of fun with the driver and saw some fun spots along the route. After that we walked around the Ferry Building enjoyed some unique shops and watching the seagulls outside.

Photos: https://photos.shutterfly.com/album/70154308209 OR

https://photos.shutterfly.com/story_invite/d13d7c8d-7d7f-4c98-a409-36141c354c72/70154308209

This was Marathon #155; 22 states on 2d go round; All 10 Canadian provinces. Next up: Indianapolis Marathon on  11/5/17

Boston Marathon 2017

Boston Marathon

April 17, 2017

4:53:21 23405/26411 Overall  13100/14438 Male  320/426 in 65-69    

         As you can see by my PW at the Boston Marathon, this year was not so much about running the race as it was showing Jodi and Katie the Boston area and enjoying all the great sights and history of it. I expected to run the race slowly and just enjoy it, but it didn’t quite work out that way as it turns out that I did it with a strained left hamstring. I went to Barrows Physical Therapy the day after we got home and was told that I need to rest it at least 1-2 weeks and rehab it. And I thought it was just the 70+ degree weather that made me feel so awful running the whole race. Erghhh It was no specific moment when I felt the pain, but an accumulation of things. Hard to pinpoint what might be the cause: the marathons in Oct, Nov, Dec, Jan, Mar.; the Cal Classic Half 2 weeks before; the 14 miles in the hills the week before; the Boston 5K on Sat.; or the 38 miles Katie’s Apple Watch told us that we’d walked the week before the marathon. Maybe a rest period would be in order!

            Many thanks to Bill Hastrup who has been on all of our Fleet Feet teams since I started coaching there in 2013. We ran into each other at the Runners’ Village in Hopkinton and decided to run together most of the way. Even when I had to walk longer at the aid stations or on the uphills, Bill waited for me. We had a great time chatting and taking pictures. We even got one with Brad Castillo who ran with us for a couple miles. We also got some cute pictures with one of the Wellsley women who had a sign that said: “Kiss me for free speed”. When I told her I was married, she said to wait a second. Not until I saw the pictures, did I realize that she had a double-sided sign and had flipped it to: “Kiss me; I won’t tell your wife.” Notice I have my fingers in an “X” indicating a “no-no”. No more 20+ kisses in Wellsley for me; I’m a happily married man!

            Bill somehow got me up the Newton hills including Heartbreak and finished strong the last 4-5 miles in which he gained 11 minutes on me. I just tried to run 2 minutes and walk 1 minute most of those last miles. And wow, was I so happy to see Jodi and Katie a hundred yards from the finish. What a relief to see them and the finish line. (You can see my grimace and forced smile with Jodi there.) I can’t remember feeling as tired as I did after this marathon in a long time. Jodi and Katie had to deal with a barely moving zombie, but got me back to the motel. After cleaning up, resting a few minutes, and getting some dinner, I was starting to reenter the land of the living…sorta.

            Meanwhile….Here’s Jodi’s view of race day:

            After dropping John off at the Boston Common, Katie and I started the day with a great run along the Charles River.  We stopped at Starbucks for some chocolate milk at about the time the marathon must have been starting because we heard the fighter jets flyover. 

At the sound of the roaring jets, everything came to a standstill.  You could have heard a pin drop and I won’t forget the fearful and nervous faces as everyone wondered what the loud noise was all about. There was a collective sigh of relief and nervous giggles once everyone realized it wasn’t a bomb. We changed clothes and “cleaned up” in the back of our rental car with some baby wipes, deodorant and body spray and then shared breakfast at an amazing little café on Charles Street. 

            Once we were nourished, we made our way to the T.  It was incredibly hot as we were packed like sardines for the quick ride to Arlington station. Unfortunately, we proceeded to the wrong side of the marathon course, only to be turned away and told there was no access.  “This is for the mayor and VIPs”. At about this time, the elite athletes were beginning to finish but we had to watch the results on my BAA app.

            We were directed back the way we came, which included multiple security stops to have bags checked and tagged.  Not sure the purpose of the tags because bags had to be rechecked at about every block, coming and going.  Our goal at this point was to make it to Hereford and Boylston and by now we had already walked about 2 hours trying to navigate the crowds and street closures.  Since we missed the elites, we decided it would be a good time to sit down and have some sushi on Newbury Street, which was amazing!  Interesting to see vendors along the streets handing out samples to spectators.  We saw apples, Nestle protein drinks, sunscreen and sunglasses being handed out. 

            Once we were nourished again, we made our way over to Boylston near the finish line.  The crowds were too heavy to see anything and it was getting really hot.  At this point, the finishing marathoners were at about the 3:00 mark.  SO many were collapsing due to the heat.  It’s so hard to describe the crowds.  Every time a runner was suffering from cramps or heat exhaustion and being assisted by another runner, this sent the crowd into a frenzy.  The noise from the crowd was deafening and this continued for hours. 

            Feeling like Zacchaeus, we found a balcony outside Supercuts right at the 26 mile mark.  This is where we stayed for the next several hours in the hot sun.  We tried to walk away for a while to get a smoothie on Newbury but the line was too long.  Other struggles:  finding a bathroom that wasn’t “broken” and being careful about my cell phone battery life as I got update after update on our Fresno runners.  And speaking of updates……..so disheartening to watch updates on John and knowing he was struggling out on the course.  My last update had been the 35K when he was running with Bill.  Worry set in when I got updates that Bill was at 40K, and then that Bill had finished, but no John.  What a relief it was when he arrived at the 26 mile mark!!  Throughout the day we got to see Stephanie Ormond, Laura Fenster, Michael Tejada, Brad Castillo and Becky Cutler finish. 

            At the end of the day, Katie and I walked 10.2 miles according to her Apple watch.  In addition to the morning run along the Charles. Next time I’m in Boston I will be running the marathon.  I think that’s probably easier than spectating.

            We started our Boston vacation by flying into Logan on Monday 4/10 and driving to the suburb of Woburn about 15 miles from downtown Boston. Part of what we needed to do was to be sure that Jodi and Katie got in the workouts that their coaches had for them. Jodi had found a nice lake for the distance days and the local high school track for the speed work days.                                        Our touring started on Tue. with a walking tour of Harvard conducted by a member of their football team. We then took a “Duck” tour via the land/water vehicle and ended with dinner at Quincy Market. Wed. morning we had a great tour of Fenway Park where we saw lots of pictures and statues of famous players; saw the view from the top of the “Green Monster”; sat in 80 year seats; and saw where Ted Williams’ 502 foot homer is comemorated by a red seat. Going downtown we visited the Adidas store where Jodi pulled up a screen that showed all the Boston Marathons that Bill and I have run. Great to see all 8 years where we both ran it. I also loved seeing the newly remodeled Boston Library (which is located at the finish line of the Marathon).

            Thursday we drove to Plimoth Plantation and saw what it probably looked like to the Pilgrims and Indians 400 years ago. Really impressed with how authentic it is and how the people are so “in-character”. We had our best “fish” meal in Plymouth and then saw Plymouth Rock and the impressive National Monument. On our drive back we stopped in Foxboro to see the Patriots’ Stadium and also to see little-known “Candlepin” bowling.

            On Friday we headed to the expo first thing and saw Anita Lee by the library. Immediately after getting my packet, we ran into Michael and Rita Baumann. And then Becki Cutler and Joe Amendt appeared so we had a Fresno/Visalia reunion right off the bat! I wore my new Boston Marathon jacket with the 18 Boston patches now in order sewn on them. Going through the expo, I was stopped many times to pose with ones who wanted a picture of the jacket and me. Included were ones from China, Taiwan, Australia, and Missouri. Very fun! Afterwards we went to the top of the Prudential and got some amazing views of the city. Dinner was at Maurizio’s where we had the best gnochi I’ve ever had. We then stood in line at Mike’s Pastry for their famous cannolis as well as a slice of Boston Cream pie that we saved to share the next night. J

            Saturday we headed down to the Boston Common for the 5K and who should we run into but Stephanie Ormond and Amanda Rycraft. All 3 of us ran and enjoyed seeing the elites and going over the Marathon finish line. After the race we ran into Shawn and Dorina Young and Michael Sanchez. I also saw Brad Castillo and Stephanie Benchener that afternoon. Really something how we run into Fresno friends in such a large city!

            In the afternoon we went to the Boston Common and rode the Swan boats and saw the duck statues from the “Make Way for Ducklings” picture book. That Caldecott Medal book from the 1940s is set in Boston and one my mom read to Bill and me when we were youngsters. It’s also one I read to Jodi at Woodward Park when we were dating so it has special meaning to us and we wanted to be sure Katie got to see the statues. We also rode a bus around town that took us by the site of the Boston Tea Party, Paul Revere’s home, Bunker Hill, and the USS Constitution. We ended the day with dinner at the original “Cheers” on which the TV show was based.

            Easter morning started with Jodi doing a long run around the lake while I waited in the car. She got to search for Easter eggs I’d hidden for her “cool-down”. Katie got to do her Easter egg hunt in the motel room when she got up. We went to Easter services in Marlboro with John and Linda Duncan and enjoyed a wonderful lunch and time with them afterwards. We took some time to visit the Longfellow Wayside Inn and Grist Mill in Sudbury. The original little red school house from “Mary Had a Little Lamb” is also located there.

Photos: https://photos.shutterfly.com/gallery/c202e305-05ea-4074-bf35-0dd8d1620bce?type=shared

This was Marathon #154; 19^th Boston; 22 states on 2d go round; All 10 Canadian provinces. Next up: Fargo, ND Marathon on  5/20/17

5K results:

BIB      NAME  AGE    M/F      CITY    ST       CTRY  CTZ     DM     

2913    Volkman, Jodi 48        F          Fresno CA       USA                             

Official Finish  Overall Gender            Division

24:37   1758 / 8921     555 / 5154       47 / 547

3726    Volkman, John D        66        M         Fresno CA       USA                             

Official Finish  Overall Gender            Division

26:34   2721 / 8921     1697 / 3767     15 / 82

BIB      NAME  AGE    M/F      CITY    ST       CTRY  CTZ     DM     

417      Nili, Katie         16        F          Fresno CA       USA                             

Official Finish  Overall Gender            Division

19:31   315 / 8921       66 / 5154         7 / 117

 Napa Valley Marathon

March 5, 2017

4:12:55 589/1267 overall  6/19 in 65-69    

            Originally, Jodi was going to run Napa and shoot for a BQ time, but when we realized that a nagging injury wouldn’t allow her to train hard enough, we were able to transfer her entry to me. I figured I could run Napa for fun and as a training run for Boston in April and Fargo, ND in May. We found a cute place to stay on Airbnb which was much cheaper than the high Napa weekend hotel rates.

For a couple of weeks we had watched the weather predictions going from warm and sunny to cold and rainy. Saturday was cold and rainy and windy. We got into Napa mid-afternoon and went to the expo and talked to Michael and Rita Baumann. As usual Michael was on the panel describing the course. This was his 21^st Napa and my 15^th, but my first since 2012. We had our pre-race meals with Estella (and Ben) Salcido, Charlene Graham, Lindsey Sorondo and Cheryl Aleman. Great to have another group of TNT alumni running Napa!

            Saturday night I could hear the rain falling, and we could feel and see it on the drive to Calistoga. Jodi noted that there was even snow on Mt. St. Helena and on the “High Rocks”. We parked in our usual spot and jogged to the starting area where we got to see Charlene, Cheryl, and Lindsey. Jodi ran out past the start and got to see Michael Baumann in the front part of the start. The rain stopped as race started. However it was still chilly so I was glad to have my arm-warmers, gloves, and cap with earflaps. But, the sun came out so when Jodi met me at mile 7.5, I gave her my gloves and arm-warmers.

            I started out the first two miles just under 10 minute pace and then settled into a pace that stayed in the 9:30 area for most of the race. I was pleasantly pleased that the pace seemed quite comfortable, and since it was a “training” run, I tried to stay steady and remember to enjoy the green hills and vineyards. I was 2:05:49 at the half so got very close to even splits for the two halves. After seeing me at mile 11, Jodi drove to the finish and then ran out to meet me. However, about 2 1/2  hours into the marathon we got hit with rain and hail for about 20 minutes and I thought to myself, “Is Jodi going to keep coming or head back?” But there she was at about mile 21.5! We had a lot of fun running together and I appreciated her pulling me along. After the race, we got cleaned up and then got burgers at Gott’s in Napa. There is one in St. Helena that we’ve gone to for years so it was fun to go to the one in Napa this year.  

Photos: https://photos.shutterfly.com/album/70132219336

This was Marathon #153; 22 states on 2d go round; All 10 Canadian provinces. Next up: Boston Marathon on  4/17/17