Day One

Ok, it's time to get back to work here. I've pranced lightly this past month. No matter the excuse, bogged down by work, tired, etc., I won't settle for 2 or 3 measly runs a week. I have to get back in the groove.

I am now beginning to realize I need a work/life balance, and morning running is the trick! Something about running in the AM makes me energized for the rest of the day. So I am treating today as day one after a full healthy recovery. Step one, I need new shoes, so tomorrow I am shoppin til I drop.

That being said, a couple weeks ago I brought my GWM number and medal to a local frame shop to get them... well... framed. Check it out!



My parents came back from China this week, and they brought me a little gift, another frame!


They framed the original art of my tattoo, and it ties the room together :).

All this encouragement around me it shouldn't be a problem to get up and get out in the morning, rain or shine.

Time to catch up on all of yours blogs! Very lack luster post, but they will be better once I get back in the swing of things.

Have a good start to the week :)

Market Square Day 10k Report & My GWM Trophy

Another brick on the wall ;)

Early to bed early to blog! Yesterday was Portmsouth’s Market Square Day 10k, race number 11 and the first race since the Great Wall Marathon last month. The absolute best part about this race was it started about 200 feet from my apt, very convenient.

Portsmouth is a runner’s town for sure. This is my first race here since moving in September. I didn’t have PR in mind because I was still coming off the recovery from the marathon, but I still wanted to run a good race. I met up with my friend and we went up to the starting area. My one gripe about the course was they crammed 1900 runners into some small streets to start, which led to a lot of runners weaving in and out and trying to get ahead of the pack, ugh. The course was somewhat familiar to me because 80% of it was on roads I run daily. The course was also pretty turny and had some small hills but other than that it was a solid race.

I hadn’t run a 10k since March so I considered this race to be a warm-up for 10ks to come this summer. As usual I started out a little fast, but calmed down early. At mile 5 I looked at my watch and thought I could make it pretty close if not beat my PR, which I wasn’t expecting. Instead of sprinting the last mile I picked up the pace and finished strong. I am sure I can speak for all runners when I say the ending was a killer. The race ended on the bottom of a pretty steep uphill! Not to long of a road but steep enough to be out of breathe right before the finish.
I finished at 48:30ish, which isn’t a PR but I am getting used to sub 50 10ks :).

I’ll admit it has been crazy around here so blogging took a HUGE backseat. Last month after the marathon my parents took me to get my trophy. Many of you who follow my twitter had some hints along the way but nothing official. I present to you…. the tattoo:




A year ago when my dad got his leg tattooed, I was the only one in the family without one, and vowed never to get one. Then I started to think. I came a long way to get to my health and to get to the wall. If I got a tattoo I wanted it to mean something and be something no one had seen before and would actually appreciate the story behind it.

I think my calves are my best feature. I had never seen a tattoo on a calf before until I saw my dad’s. So I made a bet with myself. If I finished the marathon I would get a tattoo of the Great Wall on my leg. I went to the place in Shanghai where my mom and dad got a tattoo, so it wasn’t some place we hadn’t heard about. I sent the artist some pictures and she came up with the drawing which I thought was beautiful. How many people do you know that have the Great Wall of China tattooed on their leg? I also added the Chinese characters for 262 (not shown in picture because its to the side a little), to commemorate my first marathon (no decimal because of the vertical characters, but runners know what 262 is!). Also by coincidence, 262 was my dad’s number so that’s pretty cool too! If your running and you see this, you know its me :). What do you guys think?

This will be my only tattoo because it means so much to me. I look at it when I feel like I’m slowing up in my running. I’ll stare at it and think of the wall, and how both of my legs are what got me through it.

Took about 4 hours to complete, with a pizza break in between. It didn't hurt much. I look at it as an annoying pain that I could deal with. Ting, the tattoo artist is amazing and I wish her all the best in her business. Special shout out to Dylan and Ting @ Shanghai Tattoo. Check out some of there work here.

That’s all I got for now. I will at least try to get a post up once a week and check back with you guys! Keep up the good running!

Let the Recovery Begin

I have finally caught up on your posts, even if I didn't comment I did read (which goes against every essence of my blog reading, but just this once! Promise :) )

I have been eaaasssing back into running and it really has been easy. Running the marathon has given me a new view on my running. Now I say to myself that if I ran the Great Wall, I can run anything. Keeping this mentality I have gotten 3 quality recovery runs in. Even one in the rain, which is not me! I also went to spectate at a local 5k last week which again, not me. I would've loved to run it but I'm smart enough to know I wasn't ready to run yet. I got a shirt though :). I also sported my GWM shirt to show off, I know people were jealous!

I have been showing off pictures to friends and co workers, because I deserve at least a couple months worth of bragging before it gets old (for everyone else, not me!). Here are a couple that are hot off the press.



Here's looking at you!


My signature move! For those who are new readers, I started this move a couple races back and just stuck to it. I love giving myself applause at the finish line of a race, check past race reports if you don't believe me.


Here I am at mile 23ish, on the 2nd leg of the Great Wall. Everyone walked and I remember looking at the camera man just shaking my head with a semi sarcastic "what the hell?" look. It was funny.


And here I am at my 4ish, the first leg of the Great Wall, notice the mood swing from this picture to the previous :) .


This one is kind of a Where's Waldo type photo. My mom saw me finish the race and ran over and gave me a HUGE hug. I didn't feel bad about giving her all my sweat because I was so psyched. In the bottom right you will see the "awwww" moment hug. It was what I needed.


I have a few more I will post later but those are the most important ones!

Contest Winner

After a very scientific approach, listing all the names in a spreadsheet, then using Random.org to give me a number, hitting the "Generate" button 4 times (my lucky number), we have a winner.

Drum roll please......

Congrats to:

J (Morning Runner)!

Send me your contact info and I will make up a nice GWM gift pack for you. I may have enough for 2 winners so stay tuned for that.

All your songs kept my mind in the right place when I was over in Beijing, listened to it on the plane, and on the bus to and from the race!

Have a good long weekend everybody!

Great Wall Marathon Report Part 2- Hitting the Wall

Where was I?

Oh yeah, so after running into my dad at mile 16, his mile 13, I got a new surge of energy. Running my first marathon with my parents is memorable, but actually running into them on the course was fun. I never thought of the course in terms of miles. I always said “x amount of miles until reaching the wall”. I knew counting miles wouldn’t help anything in this race. Around mile 18 the course took a turn through some of Beijing’s big open crop fields. The path was supposedly a cart path and the farmers were in the fields minding their crops. The only problem was this 1.5 mile stretch was not flat, but layered with rocks and stones puncturing through the ground.

I ran behind a woman who seemed to have a groove going. Even though my foot never touched on flat ground for that whole stretch I managed to prance and tip toe through the whole thing without tripping. I knew if I tried to stop myself I would most likely trip and fall, so I held a steady pace and ran.

Side note: Earlier the past week, even the day before, my dad has tripped at least once on flat ground. Clumsiness? Maybe. But I thought that this point in the race would be his falling out point. Not that I didn’t have faith in him, I just knew he would trip once on these rocks :).

Around mile 19/20 we were back on the same road we started at, heading back towards the wall. My watch read about 4:00:00 which I was very psyched about. I had given myself enough time to traverse the wall again and I knew I would finish. As I was coming in the starting area again I heard some people cheering me on, as the half marathoners and 10k racers who were finished stuck around to cheer. But one cheer in particular caught my ear, and I looked and there on the side of the road was my mom, running up to me!


She, being a mom, was crying form the second she saw me, and gave me a hug and a kiss. She didn’t finish. She took her time on the first part of the Wall and decided today was not her day. I was extremely glad she didn’t try to run the full after coming off the wall, I would have been worried sick the whole race, and I was until I saw her (I was also glad to see the Bruins hat). “You’re going to do it!” She yelled as I nearly started to tear up. She was so excited to see her son in this ridiculous transformation. I had told her I ran into dad some miles back and he looked great. With another kiss and a hug, I headed toward the starting area to get up on the wall.

“From the United States heading to the wall for the second time, Brian Aldrich!” Yelled the race announcer as I ran in among some other marathoners. After hearing my name I was amped and ready to go. I got to the bottom of the wall steps, stopped and looked up and shook my head. I was going to take it easy but I knew how tough it was going to be after running 3 miles, then 2 miles of the wall, then running 15 miles, now I am going back. I didn’t know the half of it.

I got my wrist band, signifying to the pointers at the end of the race that I had done the wall the second time (which I wear to this day). With a little jog I got to the bottom of the stairs to the goat path. What I saw and heard was unreal. A line of marathoners, struggling to get up the hill, legs shattered and no one is saying a word. I hadn’t pictured it being as dead silent as it was. No one wanted to waste any energy so early. It was nowhere near as crowded on the wall this time, as all of the marathoners had spread out. My heart was racing with every step, and I drank a lot of water, I think about 3 or 4 bottles just on the wall itself. Then came the reality check.

I was doing well, I knew that. However when I reached the top of one of the towers I began to see the reality of it. People laying on the wall, back against it, completely drained of all energy. Some shaking their heads and some sponging their head to cool down. It was like another world the second time though the wall, extremely scary. I didn’t say much except some simple words of encouragement, and then I was off. There was a camera man on the wall taking pictures of the struggle. I just put my hands up and gave a confused “what the heck am I doing here” face. He loved it and I kept going.

Everyone was trying to figure out the best strategy to walk/climb up the stairs. Some did the all-four limb crawl, which I tried and seemed to work. But I did pretty much what my dad described he did. Walk up x amount of stairs, take a rest, repeat, constant motion.

The wall was coming to an end for me so I took it in a little bit. At the end of the wall their was a couple taking wedding pictures and it was a nice site. I got off the wall and only had 5k to go. This was the same 5k I ran at the beginning of the race, only downhill this time. I did a combo of light jog and walk to save energy. Ran by some Aussies who were passing out apples to which I appreciated since I ran out of Gu. I did 1 Gu every 5 miles, so I was out right before the 2nd wall.
I got to the bottom of the hill and saw the 41k sign and it was time for me to get this over with.

I grabbed a final wet sponge for my head and a swig of water and headed down the final road, back to the starting line, only this time to finish. The directors made sure I had the wrist band on so they wouldn’t send me up the wall again. I wasn’t going to let that happen, I showed it with pride. I raced into Yin Yan square and started clapping. I find that it’s my signature move, to applaud myself as I am finishing. This time it meant much more. I raced through the finish line, pointing at the camera and landed on the mat at 5:36:40. I did it. I ran my first marathon. I got the medal around my neck and immediately get hugged from my mom who was probably still crying from the previous time she saw me.
I couldn’t catch my breath, but once I did the first thing I said was “where’s dad?”. My mom said the happiest thing I had heard that day, “he went up the wall about 45 minutes ago”! I was so excited my dad pulled through it and had the energy to get up the wall again.

After I finished I refueled with a little pizza and recovery drink. I quickly changed into dry clothes and began the anxious wait for my dad. The math was right. If he had gone up at about 5:00:00 he would have 3 hours to do the wall that just took me about 1:30:00, and he would make it before the 8 hour cutoff. After some more runners go by, through the tunnel comes my dad. My mom and I were the loudest ones in the square, as he finished at 7:00:00. This was his 10th marathon and he made it count! This also goes to show you what an experienced marathoner does on this tough course. First place was 3:40:00, a runner who is usually mid 2’s, which says a lot about this course.

I am still extremely baffled by the fact that I did this race. Sitting on the bus ride back to the hotel was confusing. It all happened so fast, as they always do, but this meant something. After this experience which definitely brings my running family closer together, I can now say I am a marathoner and completed one of the toughest courses around. The rest of the week was spent celebrating and learning to walk up and down stairs again. Handicap ramps were my best friend. This course tears your legs apart but the pain didn’t come without a serious accomplishment.
Thanks to everyone for your support a long the way. I made a lot of new Twitter friends and am now following a ton of runners on their journeys!

I knew I had to do something significant and special for my first marathon. Now I figured I needed to do something as big to commemorate it. What you ask? Looks like a bonus Part 3 is in order.

Great Wall Marathon Report Part 1- Go Time

Race Report Part I – Definitely a 2 part to save the length. Feel free to skim as I am writing a lot for my memory. Pictures taken form the Course Inspection day. Didn't bring the camera during the race.

If you told me I was going to be writing a Marathon Report 3 years ago I would’ve laughed until milk came out of my nose. Let’s be honest, guys like me didn’t think about stuff like that back then. I figure I would make my first marathon a memorable one! Now here I am, 24 hours after completing my first marathon and the hardest thing I have ever done.

Day Before

The day after walking the 2 mile portion of the race, the 2 miles of the Great Wall that marathoners would have to traverse twice, I was skeptical. The reason they have you inspect the course is to allow people who signed up for a race (5k, 10k, half or full) to change their mind once they walked the wall. I woke up the day before the race sore in the knees and nervous that I wouldn’t be up to full condition for the race. Throughout the day I spent massaging my calves and knees wondering “if this is how I feel after walking 2 miles of the course, how will I get through 26.2 miles of this shit”? The race held a big pasta dinner at a Chinese attempt of an Italian restaurant, which was actually really good. After that my parents and I returned the hotel and I went to bed early knowing a 2:45am wakeup call was about to happen.
Race Day

After a restless night of sleep, my dad calls from the other hotel room telling me to get ready to roll. I had all my stuff laid out and packed up to meet the bus at 3:30am. The parking lot was filled with dazed and confused runners who hadn’t woken up this early for a race before. The bus took us 2.5 hours to the start line where we were 2 days prior.

The Yin Yang Square was the start and end to the race. Everyone met up there to get ready to race. I was worried about my knee and the fact that I hadn’t eaten breakfast. Who eats breakfast at 3:00 AM , not to mention start a marathon at 7:30? My parents were all ready to go, this being another feather in their cap, another marathon on their belt. This wasn’t an ordinary race. We talked strategy on and off for the past week, thinking about how we would go about completing this.
For the first time in the race’s history, they had all the racers start at once, bad idea. At 7:30 the countdown was on and we were off on the road. 10k, Half and Full racers were all running the same course for the first 10k. The first 3 miles were up hill heading toward the great wall. Marathoners had a time limit, in that we had to run the wall twice, and had to enter the second time (approx mile 21) before 6 hours into the race. More on that later. Knowing this, there were a lot of frustrated racers running up hill. I split from my parents without saying a word. I knew I had to run my own race and felt I needed to reach that wall as fast as I could without over doing it. Once I got to the wall there was a big line. Everyone walking and taking pictures, etc.


This 2 mile stretch of wall was 10% run-able. This included about 8 towers, 10 upward ladder style staircases and a couple of goat paths, a true endurance test. There were parts to the wall with only one side, making it impossible for anyone to pass without risking their life literally from falling straight down off the wall. Some of these death traps had railings, some ropes, some didn’t have anything. Everyone took it slow but kept it moving, knowing us marathoners had to get off the wall asap.

After the first part of the wall, getting off right where the race started, the marathoners and half marathoners hit the streets to the villages.

Mile 6-9
I got off the wall at about 1:30:00, for those at home that’s only 6 miles in 1:30:00 ish, give or take, I didn’t look at my watch right when I got off. I started running down the road into the villages. Right from the start the villagers from the surrounding area crowded the sides of the roads, cheering us on. This was the coolest thing and a true joy. I ran by a classroom of little kids who had class outside for the day it seemed. Little kids sitting in little chairs waving and yelling “hello” and “ni hao” (hello in Chinese).
The fact that I had no idea where the 15 mile village trot would take me helped me out. I liked not knowing where I would be running so I didn’t focus on the mileage and took in all the scenery for what it was worth.
Mile 8 or 9 came along and the half marathoners split from the marathoners. “This is it”, I thought, I am now a marathoner running with marathoners. We ran down this dirt road which was a comfort from the road and wall. The roads were packed again with spectators as we weaved in and out. Little kids holding out their hands for high fives. There were a lot of workers and elderly people with baffled looks on their faces, probably wondering why these people are running through their village.

Mile 13-16

I had been looking at my watch all along the race. The Garmin was synced perfectly with the mile marker signs, so that was a comfort. I just had to make it back to the wall with enough time to go back over it. Mile 13 to 16 was the first big uphill battle. I mainly focused on what other runners did. They were all walking the hill, which was for the best considering it was only mile 13. I have never seen heart break hill in Newton (Boston Marathon) but my dad told me this was worse. I kept up with everyone just to have people to run/walk next to. Exchanging smiles and waves to the villagers, still amazed people would think about running through their streets. This was a loop that started at 13 and ended at 16.

I kept hoping I would get a chance to see either my dad or mom when I came back around, just to make sure they were ok. Mile 16 after the big uphill village loop I saw my dad starting mile 13. I stopped and gave him a high five and a hug. Looking at his watch he goes “It’s reachable”, meaning the Wall can be reached before the 6 hour cutoff. “Oh, it will be reached” I said, and he told me to take care and take it easy as we parted. Running my own race was important to my parents, knowing I had trained hard for this. I hesitated at this point for a couple minutes looking back see if my mom was coming up the road. Didn’t see her, but I knew she would be fine.

I kept running.

Part II on the way.

Hardest 2 miles of my life

I'll be short and sweet with this one. Yesterday was course inspection day for the GWM. Took a bus 2 hours to the course start/finish, which is in this "Yin and Yang" square. The whole purpose of the inspection is to give runners a chance to WALK the Great Wall piece of the race, and to solidify that they indeed want to do a full marathon or a half, etc. After the walk, we could change our minds if we wanted to. Boy am I glad I got a chance to walk it first.

The marathon course is split into 3 chunks. 5k swerving up hill to 2 miles on the wall which will be the hardest 2 miles of my life. Parts of the wall is missing, with no railing, etc. It is really more of a hike than a run for these 2 miles. But after you rush through that your back in the Square where you started, and have 15 miles around the villages of Beijing which should be cool. Once you return from the 15, you have about 8k left, going back up the wall and down the hill, doing the reverse of the first 5 miles.

Unreal. As you see in the picture and you can see a lot more from today HERE, it's a tough course. Neither of us (me, mom, dad) changed our minds from doing the Marathon. We know we can easily do the half, why not at least try the full. Working out various strategies in our heads to get this done in under 8 hours. I am pretty sure I can get this done in 6-7 if I focus.

My legs feel much better than I had imagined they would after this ridiculous climb. If I didn't get a chance to climb this part before the race I think I would've been frustrated. Now that I know what I am really getting myself into, I am much more confident.

Another thing keeping me going is this. (click to enlarge)

There is no doubt I am physically ready for this and the results show. 4 years ago on the wall a marathon wasn't even a thought in my mind. It will be a fun/interesting day tomorrow when the gun goes off and I head for the wall!

Some more quick pics.



What mile is this? Only 4? How many more to go? Yikes.


I think this sign says "Runners are about to run through the gates of hell", maybe not.


Where we all met up for inspection day.

All for now. Day off today before the run tomorrow. Checking out the Olympic stadium and some other stuff. All my US blog readers think about me on Friday night!

Do Work!