Rock n Roll Philly Half 2013

Race strategy: even pace at 6:40-6:45 minutes per mile to finish at 1 hour 28 minutes.

Race preparation: 6 weeks of solid training; hitting target paces for most of my training runs.

Night before: Stayed out too late at the Frontrunners Philly 30th Anniversary party & Breakaway Racing party for an Ironman 70.3 world champion. No alcohol but lots of standing on my feet.

Race morning: uneventful walk to the start. Stretched & relaxed in my Coral #1.



Mile 1: went out fast at 6:20
Miles 2 - 4: held back to 6:35-6:40 pace. Saw Todd & Rita!
Miles 5-9: ran with random runners Tom & Maggie at 6:30 pace. Feeling great!

Miles 10-13.1: increased my pace to 6:20-6:25 range. Fast & steady all the way to the finish line.

Post-race: got a powerbar from Adam Furlong & jogged / walked home. Cheers for runners / walkers who were still between miles 3 & 4.

Result: 1:25:37 chip time.
5k = 20:30
10k = 41:00 (personal best?)
10mi = 1:05:42 (personal best)
13.1mi = 1:25:37 (vs. previous personal best of 1:32 at this race last year)

The difference: training! This was my focus race so I structured 6 weeks of training leading up to this race. Speed work with Breakaway at Temple track certainly helped. My weekly runs at race pace gave me the confidence. The cool weather was ideal.

Personal Bests - Marathon

4:56:53 Philadelphia Marathon 2004

My marathon debut! I didn't know what I was doing. I reached the halfway mark after 2 hours and 4 minutes, and ran out of energy soon after. The second half took nearly 3 hours. My legs cramped up. I was in pain. I could barely walk on Kelly Drive heading out to Manuyunk. I actually had to sit down on the curb for a minute to pull myself together. My running buddy Betsy, a 50-something woman, passed me on her way back to the Art Museum. She told me to hang in there and that she was praying for me to finish.



4:42:24 New Jersey Marathon 2005

I ran slightly better but I still had trouble in the second half. I ran out of energy around mile 16. My body tensed up. Legs started to cramp. My pace significantly slowed down. I was running at about a 15 minute per mile pace, which equivalent to walking. When given orange slices at Mile 18, I ate everything including the orange peel. Food never tasted so good. 


4:15:31 Mount Desert Island Marathon 2005

This was my first destination marathon. This was a small marathon with lots of hills. Martha Stewart was the race starter. It was a rainy day and I ran mostly by myself as the race was really small. I finished at No. 184 overall out of 510 finishers, with a time of 4:15:18. My pace was 9:45 minutes per mile, which was a minute a mile faster than my previous best.

3:48:02 Flying Pig Marathon 2006


Wee! Wee! Wee! Even in my wildest dream, I would not think I would be able to run a sub four-hour marathon. I lined up with the 4:10 group. After a crowded first mile, I used a few hills (and bridges) to gain ground. I passed the 4:00 pace girl by around Mile 10. More hills, more people I left behind. My quads were a little tight, but they didn't slow me down a bit. I caught up with the 3:50 pacer around Mile 20. 
Who would have thought that after running 25.2 miles, I could run the last mile in 7 minutes and 27 seconds? I even took time at Mile 26 to wear my piggy noise!

3:43:53 Chicago Gay Games Marathon 2006

After a week of intense soccer, and a heart-breaking penalty shootout loss the night before, I ran my first Gay Games marathon. It was not the regular Chicago marathon route. It was on the lakefront only. The race course consisted of four loops. My splits were 54:00, 52:21, 56:56, and 1:00:30. It was a lot of fun running along other festive gay runners on the last day of the Gay Games.





3:39:27 Baltimore Marathon 2006

My parents came to Baltimore with me. We had a fun time walking around the Inner Harbor. I saw my parents during the marathon. After the marathon, my mom got lost and it took my dad over an hour to find my mom. I tried to help but I was too exhausted to stand around so I walked back to our hotel a few blocks from the start/finish area.



I was not in the mood to celebrate this personal best, as I thought I could have done a lot better. Here is what I wrote about this race: "I had an unspectacular run in an unspectacular race today. Lack of hill training cost me about five minutes on the second half."

The Baltimore marathon was my 9th marathon overall. I didn't know at the time that this personal best would stick around for 4 years. I needed t0 run 20 more marathons until I finally broke this personal best.

3:28:42 Philadelphia Marathon 2010

Well, kids, training does make a huge difference. I trained well for the Philadelphia Marathon in 2006, and I had my most amazing marathon race ever. I set a personal record. I went under 3:30 for the first time. It was the race that I had always wanted to run since I started running in 2004.
I started out with the 3:30 group and hung in with them for the first 9 miles. I broke away after mile 9. Half way through, I knew I was in a position to break my personal best, and that reason gave me a huge motivation to push through. By mile 15, I was between the 3:30 and the 3:20 groups. I slowed down a little bit the last 5 miles but hung in there to finish under 3:30.



3:15:13 Steamtown Marathon 2011

I was on a mission training for this marathon. I knew it would be a fast course. I ran fast downhill, and reached halfway at 1:29 which was faster than any half marathon time that I ever finished. The second half was mostly flat, and there were some small hills in the last 3 miles.
I definitely wasn't able to maintain my 7:00 pace after the downhill portion was over. I started to slow down a little bit around Mile 10 but still maintained a 7:30 pace through mile 22. For the last 3 miles, the rolling hills did me no favor. I struggled to keep my pace under 8. I was hoping to finish under 3:15 but ended up with 3:15:13.

I could loosely claim that I qualified for the 2012 Boston Marathon. However, the Boston race was already full by the time I got my BQ. Starting with 2013, there would be a new qualification standard which is 5:13 minutes faster than my Steamtown time.
















3:08:35 Philadelphia Marathon 2012

Wow, could this be real? I qualified for the 2014 Boston Marathon with a time of 3:08:35 at the Philly Marathon 2012. I was pumping my fist and tearing up as I crossed the finish line while the race clock time was showing 3:09. In the Male 35-39 age group, a marathon time of 3:09:59 or less qualifies a runner for the Boston Marathon.

I was able to execute my plan because I trained well. I followed a good program, and pretty much put the rest of my life on hold for 2 months during this training process. I focused on intervals and hills. I ran slow during my long runs and fast when I needed to run fast. I monitored my pace and progress via the Garmin 910XT with heart rate monitor. I even used a foot pod to be aware of my running cadence.

Millersville Turkey Trot 2012 Race Report

Five days after my Philly marathon, I took on the Millersville Turkey Trot. The 5k race was held at Penn Manor High School. It was a big race for a small-town 5k, with nearly 1,000 entrances. While I was waiting for the start in the high school gym, I looked around but did not see anyone from my high school days.

Runners were given disposable time chips to wear on our shoes, but there was no timing mat at the start.  I lined up at the front, by the left side, along with some 10-year olds and a stroller. All the obviously fast cross country high school and college boys lined up front and center.

Mile 1: I felt strong and fast. I reached 1 mile before 6 minutes.
Mile 2: All the rolling hills got to me. I slowed down, but strangely, no one passed me. I reached 2 miles around 12:30.
Mile 3: I was dying. My stomach was turning upside down. I felt like I was moving in slow motion. As I entered the high school track for the finish, I could not kick for a strong finish. I tumbled toward the finish line, clearing up a spot to get rid of some nasty stuff that came out of my mouth.

My final time was 19:41. I came in 36th out of 917 finishers and 3rd in my 35-39 age group. Technically, it was a 5k personal best for me. I had done better in training so this PR wasn't as sweet as my marathon PR but it was nice to have a 2nd PR in less than a week!

Philadelphia Marathon 2012 Race Report

Wow, could this be real? I qualified for the 2014 Boston Marathon with a time of 3:08:35 at the Philly Marathon this year. I was pumping my fist and tearing up as I crossed the finish line while the race clock time was showing 3:09. In the Male 35-39 age group, a marathon time of 3:09:59 or less qualifies a runner for the Boston Marathon.



How did this happen?

Prior to this race, my personal best was 3:15:27 at the Steamtown Marathon last year. I trained hard for the Poconos Run for the Red Marathon this spring but sadly, I failed to qualify by over 30 minutes. I shifted my focus to triathlon in the summer; got used to a very rigorous training regimen and achieved some personal bests.

Coming off my triathlon season, I ran the Rock N Roll Philadelphia Half for charity on Sep 16. I did not train for it. Did not expect much. I did apply some lessons learned from my recent triathlon races, and finished the half marathon in a surprisingly fast time (for me) at 1:32:54.

Around Sep 20, two separate events happened. First, my college friend Ross Snyder @beamrider9 contacted me to ask about my experience at Steamtown Marathon last year. Ross was planning to run Steamtown under 3:10 to qualify. Ross took up running around the same time I did. Five years ago, his running times were slightly slower than mine, but recently he had surpassed me at every distance. His focus on Boston qualification got me thinking maybe I could do it too. Second, around the same time, I somehow found Adam Heiser @sellrunrest on Twitter. I read Adam's blog and realized that I briefly ran with him at the beginning of the Poconos marathon. He went on to qualify for Boston, while I couldn't hold my pace. Adam shared some very personal details on his blog, and someday I hope to meet him to share my prison stories. After reading Adam's blog, I kept thinking about his visual reminder of his BQ goal. He wrote it down and posted his goal on this door.

Between my surprising half marathon success and my interactions with Adam and Ross, I decided that I was going to attempt a BQ at the Philly marathon, and I was bringing a new attitude to this training process.

In past marathon training, I gave myself a target time of within 30 minute range. This time, I was not shy about attempting for a BQ. I wrote it down. I trained with this goal in mind. I executed my plan on race day.








I was able to execute my plan because I trained well. I followed a good program, and pretty much put the rest of my life on hold for 2 months during this training process. I documented some of my training experiences here and here.

I walked to the start line with confidence. I believed that I was ready to have a Boston qualifying race. I banked 2 minutes in the first half, despite a pee break. I was slightly behind pace miles 20-25 but I never doubted that I was on my way to a BQ. Here are my splits that got sent to my Twitter feed:

Marathon: Anh Dang - 10K in 43:24. Pace 6:59. Est: 3:03:05. ETA: 10:06:47.
Marathon: Anh Dang - Half in 1:32:37. Pace 7:04. Est: 3:05:13. ETA: 10:08:55. 
Marathon: Anh Dang - 30K in 2:12:25. Pace 7:06. Est: 3:06:14.
Marathon: Anh Dang - Finish in 3:08:36. Pace 7:12.

Here is my technical race data for running geeks.



This race is getter bigger every year. The crowd support was amazing. Many of my friends were out cheering. My partner Dan was out all day taking photos, some are shown below.











Celebrating with friends at Taboo after the marathon



Overall: 642nd out of 11624 total finishers.
Males 35-39 age group: 107 out of 1010 finishers

Philly Marathon One Week Away

It has been a fantastic training season. I followed an aggressive high-mileage plan with lots of intense intervals and tempo runs. I had hill repeats each week. I stuck with my training schedule when I traveled. I used my Garmin 910xt on all my runs, including those on treadmills. I tracked my heart rate, my pace, as well as my cadence.

My training plan was set up for me to run a 3:09 marathon. I am ready!

Rock N Roll Philadelphia Half Marathon

Wow ... an unexpected PR is always nice! This race was not part of my racing program. I had a terrible run the previous weekend at the Delaware Diamondman Triathlon.

I signed up for this race to be part of the William Way LGBT Community Center's new fundraising running team. I figured 1:45 would be my realistic time, and actual wore a 1:45 pacing bracelet. One thing that I did differently for this race was to depend on my heart rate monitor to pace myself. This was a new toy. Based on limited data from the DDT run the previous weekend, I decided that I should be able to stay at a heart rate range of 160-165 bpm.




The morning of the race, I met up with a fellow Philly Fins swimmer and walked to the start of the race. Met up with members of the Philly Frontrunners and Team WayGay RunWay for photo ops. I think I was too distracted by all these activities that I checked my gear that contained a water bottle I needed. As national anthem went on, I picked up a discarded water bottle so I could take my salt pills and pre-run gel.

I started in Coral 4, by the way, along with my Fins buddy. I was assigned to be in Coral 1 based on my seeded time of 1:29. Coral 4 seemed to be my realistic pace group.

As the race run started, I felt good. I started to surge through the crowd. I was very aware of my heart rate so I knew I wasn't going out too fast. There was a problem, though! After the first 1/2 mile, I realized that my GPS wasn't turned on. I was getting my heart rate but not my pace and mile count! Luckily, I was able to keep running at the same pace while turning on the GPS function. My device started to receive my location around the Mile 1 marker. My first mile pace was around 7:15.

I studied the course map the night before, so I knew the course very well. It has changed slightly since its hey day of the Philadelphia Distance Run. I helped that I had trained on a large portion of this course for the past 8 years. I felt great turning back to the Art Museum area. I gained confidence as my device was finally functional. I adjusted my pace based on my heart rate while being aware of my pace.

Once I reached Kelly Drive, I stuck to the river side of the road so I covered the minimal distance of the course. Everything was working out so well. I passed one runner after another. My triathlete buddy/rival Vinny in his usual Spiderman costume. Shirtless Kevin of the FRP. Many nice female runners actually cheered me on as I passed them!

I executed my nutrition plan perfectly: Gu every 30 minutes, water every station!

I felt strong crossing Falls Bridge onto the Martin Luther King Dr, or West River Dr as most of us still called it. Four miles to go. I was running sub 7:00 pace. At this point, I figured I should be able to go under 1 hour 40 minutes, even if I slowed down a little. But I never slowed down. My heart rate started to inch north of 165 and I decided that I could take it.

One mile to go, I saw my partner taking photos of me! At this time, I started to feel the intensity of the race. I didn't even smile for the photos. I pushed on, and ran a 6:45 for the last mile!



All I could say as I crossed the finish line was ... 'oh, my god ... oh, my god...' After I stepped on the electronic timing mat, I felt onto my knees. I crawled to the right side and stayed on four for a minute. A concerned volunteer came over to ask me if I was ok. I said yes, and I only needed water. I found a bottle of water and started making my way through the exit chute. Picked up some more fluid bottles and some food. I drank and ate everything in sight, and slowly came back to life.

My official time of 1:32:54 was a personal best for a half marathon. Unofficially, I ran a faster half marathon split at Steamtown Marathon last year in the downhill first half.

I still can't believe I ran this well without much training. This run gives me confidence as I decided to train hard for the Philly marathon this year.

New York City Marathon 2011

I ran the New York City Marathon last weekend. I finished at 3:32 which was among my best time. Unlike most participants, I never thought that this marathon was special and I didn't feel any extra excitement coming into this race. Here are a few things I remember:

1. Getting to the start line took a lot of coordination. I had to take a subway, a ferry and a bus to get to my participants' village. Then I had to wait around for about 2 hours to get into my corral. Once my corral got moved toward the start line, it would be about 20 more minutes until I crossed the start line. Wisely, portable toilets were readily available without long lines throughout the waiting ordeal.
2. The Verrazano-Narrows Bridge at the start was beautiful. I had to cross about 5 bridges but the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge was the only one that made an impression on me. The rest I was probably too tired to pay attention.
3. This was a big race! There were people everywhere. For most of the 26.2 miles, I was surrounded by runners with barely enough elbow space.

4. The crowd support was amazing. People were everywhere cheering for all runners. It was so noisy and fantastic!
5. Fluid stations and electronic timing mats were on every mile. This was definitely a benefit of a big marathon.
6. Once I crossed the finish line, it seemed like I had to walk a mile in the runners-only zone until I could reach the general area.

Steamtown Marathon 2011

I ran a personal best of 3:15:13 at Steamtown Marathon last weekend. I can loosely claim that I qualified for the 2012 Boston Marathon. However, it's full. Starting with 2013, there is a new qualification standard which is 5:13 minutes faster than my time for my age group. Now I have a new goal time for next year!

2011 Winter and Spring Races

New York City Frontrunners Indoors Masters Track Meet
1 mile and 2 mile races.
Not a lot of expectation for my first time running on a short track.

From Dan Anders Photography

Cherry Blossom 10-Miler
Personal best for this distance in a very hilly course! This was definitely my best race so far this year.

From Dan Anders Photography

From Dan Anders Photography

Garden Spot Village Marathon
I started out slow, and got slower and couldn't keep up with my 3:40 pacer ladies.

From Dan Anders Photography

Dirty Germans 50k Trail
Kind of easy course for a trail run. I had a modest goal of finishing under 6 hours, and I did.

From Dan Anders Photography

JWJ Beach House Memorial 5k
Bethany Beach, DE
I had problems breathing in this race due to the high humidity and my lack of training. I still managed to get 3rd place in my age group!

FFrom Dan Anders Photography