Dr., Dr., give me the news...

I've got a bad case of the running blues.

I decided to pay a return visit to the Dr. after I left work yesterday. I apparently still have my bronchitis, which didn't surprise me given my ongoing cough and trouble breathing. I was a little surprised however to learn that I may have another bug that could be more problematic. I was prescribed a couple of different antibiotics and told to come back in on Saturday. Not the way I want to spend the weekend.

I write all of this to partially explain my troubles recently and to also preface my recounting of today's Tidal Basin 5K. Yes, I ran today's race knowing I had bronchitis. I also knew I felt like crap and I had barely slept the last 2 nights. But I identify myself as a runner and it's what I do. So I got myself down to the Tidal Basin with about 5 minutes to spare. I saw several people I usually speak to before the race...Peter Blank, Shirley Sameshima, Kirk Gordon, James Moreland...but I just didn't feel like talking to anyone today. After I signed in, I walked across the street to the bus stop and sat on a bench by myself until the start of the race.

It was a wonderful day weather wise which certainly helped me today. It was 71 degrees under clear skies. Perfect would have been about 15 degrees cooler but this was pretty darn good.

I did something different today...I started slow. This was partially by design and partially by necessity. I slipped in behind John Winkert and Bob Weimer (who was suffering from a bad back) with the Joggler, Barry Goldmeir, in close pursuit.

Barry passed me as we crossed the first bridge. He can't really juggle here so he can show of his non-jugling speed here. He exchaned places a few times with Bob and John over the next .4 miles, slipping behind whenever he dropped a ball.

I finally stopped for a walk break after crossing the 2nd bridge, which is also the 1 mile mark, which I reached in 10:15. Not bad, but I needed an extended break at this point...about 90 seconds. By the time I started running again, the 3 guys were almost out of sight. I only ran for a couple of minutes before needing another short walk. Then I hit the downhill by the Jefferson and fell back into my slow trot. I ran to the 3rd bridge where I took another short walk before the final K. I ran all the way in from here, getting encouragement from a few runners that were heading back to work, including Kirk.

I crossed the line in 20:14 by my watch. Surprisingly, I wasn't too displeased by this even though it was over a minute slower than last month. It was a second slower than my time from just a couple of months ago and I obviously had a lot more issues to deal with today.

Bob Platt announced before the start of the race that another 3K will be held at the Tidal Basin this Friday at Noon. Unfortunately, I have a meeting here in Tyson's until Noon that day so I won't be able to make it. Probably for the best anyway. Today was race number 38 for the year. Number 39 will just to wait another day (Navy 5K?) or two.

Certainly not Im-PRESS-ive

After battling bronchitis for the last 2 weeks, I attempted the Press Club 5K on Saturday, September 13. The race is an out and back course that essentially runs between the Press Club and the Capital. It's a pretty flat course and I had one of my best races of the year last year in this race. And then there are the pancakes! They have a great post race party in the Press Club after the race featuring a pancake breakfast. I wasn't going to miss that!



I ran 1.3 miles two days before the race just to see if I could even run. I managed to run it at about 10 minute pace so I thought I might do OK. Nonetheless, a 2 week illness and layoff had me worried. At the starting line I was thinking a 37 minute 5K might be the target.



I got through the first mile in 10:24. That was a comfortable pace and included a 1 minute walk break. However, after a mile I just didn't feel very good. My heart felt like it was running fast and any running at this point was difficult. I walked up the hill by the Capital, made the turn, had a couple of cups of water and ran down the hill I just climbed. The 2 mile mark was at the bottom of the hill...it took me 13:57 to complete that second mile! Doing some quick math in my head I realized that I needed to run at a 10 minute pace for the entire rest of the race just to come in under 36 minutes. Well that wasn't going to happen. Given my difficulty breathing from the bronchitis, my elevated heart rate, and pain in my left foot which I have to think is a stress fracture, I decided to shut it down for the day. I walked the final 1.1 miles in 16:58. My final time was 41:18....probably my worst 5K time in years.

I hope I get better soon. These times are just dePRESSing!